No.6 – 03

The birds and the bees

I’m finally catching up to all the anime I’ve had to neglect for driving school. I’d better get on the ball now, because I’ll be picking up Catherine soon and I’m going to need a lot of time to play enough of it to write a review…I think I’m just going to have to sleep less or something to keep up with everything. NOPE, CAN’T DROP ANYTHING, MUST DO EVERYTHING ALL AT ONCE. I’m just a little stubborn, so forgive me for bringing you this No.6 post a bit later that I’d have liked to.

Shion makes himself at home in Nezumi’s cozy little library full of Shakespeare and mechanical little mice. Apparently Nezumi is quite the actor and literature enthusiast. The two of them bathe (not together!) and spend pretty much the rest of the episode sitting and talking about a range of things. The first topic is trying to get Nezumi’s survival theory through Shion’s skull. The only way the naive little boy can survive is if he forgets his past life and moves forward. As if the government would let him just waltz in and see his mother or Safu.

Like what you see~?

No, Shion is not dying because of Nezumi’s harsh comments, it’s because the government sent a wasp after him. As the creepy crawler starts to drain Shion’s life force he FREAKS OUT. Creepy visions, screaming, flailing…the whole nine yards. Yuuki Kaji, I salute you for groaning in pain so convincingly. Nezumi manages to pin him down and calm him enough to not thrash off the bed as he extracts the larva. Once the whole ordeal is over, Shion passes out.

Shion wakes up after 3 days to find his hair dyed white and red marks snaking all around his body. Once again, he has another breakdown and starts sobbing, half-naked, in the middle of the floor. Nezumi gives him a stern talk that brings the boy to his senses and reignites his will to live. Ironically enough, he tells him to remember people from his life in No.6 to cheer him up after telling him to forget all about them a few days ago.

Food heals all wounds. I don’t think that is actually how the saying goes, but I’ve decided that IT DOES NOW. Over soup, the two of them discuss what might be going on with the government. They come to the conclusion that the wasps were the government’s creation, and are sent after traitors of No.6. Nezumi scoffs at the government and the stupid citizens of No.6 with zero remorse, which upsets Shion. This leads to a lot of slow, careful stroking.The stroking leads to Nezumi suggesting they go to a hotel…Oh God, I’m so glad I’m not even exaggerating, this all really happened!

Homolust at critical levels!!!

In order to further reveal the truth to Shion and show him why he hates No.6 so much, Nezumi takes him to a hotel. Along the way, they see a normal wasp. That suddenly reminds Shion that the wasps will hibernate in Winter and all bust out in spring in a mass murder-fest. Creepy.

The hotel is not just a place for people to stay (while being heated by cute dogs), but an information exchanging place. Inukashi, literally meaning Dog-loaner, managed to contact Shion’s mother from Nezumi’s request. SEE? HE REALLY CARES! But then he goes and turns around and threatens to treat Shion as his enemy if he continues to defend the city after he learns the truth.

Leftover MacBeth Soup:

Achievement Unlocked: Make all moments even more homolust-y by screencapping during a blink

WAKE UP, IT’S RAPING TIME

Kyaaaa nooo, don’t look! *hides chest*

The joke is that it’s too easy to take every. single. screencap OUT OF CONTEXT

End Thoughts: As I thought, this was mostly one of those explanation episodes. There wasn’t a lot of action going on, but it was still delightful to watch. Unless Nezumi is lying, I was right in suspecting that the government was the one to develop these man-eating wasps. I didn’t think they could somehow get them to pinpoint specific people though. That’s pretty insane. Especially planning it so a bunch of wasps are going to spurt from people’s necks on the Holy Day. I’m getting some 20th Century Boy levels of government conspiracy vibes right here. I thought THAT was the thick of it, but Nezumi apparently hasn’t even told Shion the real reason he hates No.6 yet. If that isn’t something to look forward to in the next episode, I don’t know what is.

If you couldn’t tell, I’m still very much impressed by No.6 thus far. It’s a shame that some people are turned off by the homoerotic vibes when there’s actually some really nice characterization going on. I think you can all tell I’m extremely pro-BL and I love that they care for each other a great deal in the show. Luckily, it doesn’t just end at being two cute bishies who are enamored with one another. Despite the amount of heavy petting and suggestive dialogue that goes on, this show actually has a different focus.

I’m really enjoying the character-driven approach to the sci-fi theme. It’s not all about the big, oppressive government…it’s also about how the heck Nezumi and Shion cope with it. Expect lots of Nezumi and Shion fangirling because I love them both. Shion’s reaction to learning the dark truth about the world he blissfully lived in all this time was interesting to see. He was shocked, but didn’t go into denial. I’m amazed he’s actually accepting this sudden revelation so well considering how unaware he has been his whole life. Not only that, he wants to do something about it. Despite his sniveling over his hair changing colour (priorities man, priorities), he’s actually quite hardy. He matches Nezumi’s strides every step of the way.

As for Nezumi…yeah, he may be an insensitive asshole, but you can’t really blame him. He’s been living by the skin of his teeth for years, and is so rough around the edges he wouldn’t think something as trivial as blunt statements would upset someone so much. Despite his obvious animalistic side and “survival of the fittest” attitude, he’s got a surprising soft spot. I mean, he reads Shakespeare and recites the plays by himself. The guy must’ve been close to someone before to have the capacity to be so kind. I wonder if he lost someone important to him. Hmm…

Preview: Shion says “I’m drawn to you.” as a picture of Safu is shown. Unless that’s directed to her, expect more delicious homolust.

About

A neuroscience graduate, black belt, and all-around nerd. You'll either find me in my lab or curled up in my rilakkuma kigurumi watching anime.
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24 Responses to “No.6 – 03”

  1. animeluv04 says:

    I want Shion and Nezumi to get together NOW!!! Pardon my fan girl craziness.

  2. Jrow says:

    I’m curious about your preview note. I watched on Crunchyroll, and Show ▼

    I didn’t see what you mentioned.

    This ep does fall more in line with what I was hoping for from the show, as it gave me a better understanding about No. 6 being corrupt and now actually having a motivation to attach to Nezumi. Though, laughing at the idea of No. 6 being eaten alive by bees makes me more suspicious about Nezumi; as though his reasoning for exposing No. 6 is purely of selfish reasoning rather than someone like Sion, who actually would want to save No. 6.

    • anaaga says:

      YES HOMO SEX NEXT WEEK

    • Overcooled says:

      Weird. I downloaded Doki subs and that’s what I got. :/

      Nezumi does seem to be pretty malevolent, but I don’t think I’d go so far as to call it selfish for wanting to reveal the government for what they’ve done. They’ve probably done a lot of horrible things to him as well as the other people who live in the same place, and revenge doesn’t seem so far-fetched. Not sure why he hates the citizens as well and not just the government…they can’t help being brainwashed, :/ Hopefully the 2 of them come to some sort of compromise.

  3. death says:

    For this, I can only say: Yooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

  4. anaaga says:

    THEY WERE ON THE SAME BED.
    Shion is totally different, I like that part about him. He doesn’t deny Nezumi but he doesn’t go all depressive about it either. He’s taking everything with his open arms.
    As for the bee, I think they grow as each person doubts No. 6? Like, the doubt triggers the bee to grow. But that’s too emotional.
    And I hope next week is homolust. Who cares about Safu

    • Overcooled says:

      They were. Every screencap I took can be interpreted sexually, I don’t even have to try. <_< I like Shion, he's an uke with a backbone! Maybe, but not everyone has the wasp in them, do they? It seems more like a time-released thing since he said they'd all hatch in spring.

  5. Metalsnakezero says:

    Can this shows gay undertones get any highter!?
    The relationship between the two is pretty interesting when it comes to what is the right thing to do.

    • Overcooled says:

      It’s worse than Tiger & Bunny now XD But gay undertones aside, they do have a really interesting dynamic going on. They both have different concepts of justice and what’s right…I hope they can still work together when Shion finds out the truth.

  6. Moni Chan says:

    i havent watched this anime yet and OMFG i’ve been missing out i need to watch this now * goes on anime website *

    there’s a character in this anime named Shion. All I thought about that was Higurashi

  7. Foshizzel says:

    Shion now upgraded to Allen walker mode! Just needs a magic glowing eye.

    Fun episode this week and more new characters! Lol yes yes sooo much fabulous going around this series, not that Bones would ever go with anything dude x dude >.> But fangirls can do whatever xD

    • Overcooled says:

      Give him a crazy arm too and we’re all set! The white-haired look suits him well.

      Haha, hang in there Fosh! The BL will never go all out, so you’re safe! I think!

      • Foshizzel says:

        Ahaha yes! Shion does need a large metal looking arm…xD

        True I was just messing around mostly ;P

  8. Snowley says:

    Shion – another guy obsessed with his hair. Like half of my male friends. IDK, what’s up with that?

    No.6 is soooooo grrreat. But why is it so short? 11 episodes? ;_____;

    • Overcooled says:

      I don’t know. My friend tells me every time I meet him whether he’s washed his hair that day or not and what shampoo he used :/ Guys liek their hair.

      I don’t know, I guess they thought they could wrap it up that quickly? D: I wish it were longer though…

  9. Mad Chemist says:

    Ah, the plot becomes clearer. It looks like the conflict between Shion and Nezumi about the vaccine and saving lives in No. 6 is going to be a theme for the next few episodes. I’m sure we haven’t seen all of Nezumi’s reasons for hating the city, either – being shot and chased by secret police probably wouldn’t help his disposition, but there’s probably something more that we don’t know yet, or even why they went after him in the first place.

    • Overcooled says:

      It seems like the main thing they need to stop for now, so yeah, it should be a main topic for a while. That and learning more about Nezumi, who’s past is a bit of a mystery. We have much to learn about him~

  10. Elyon says:

    Whahaha those screencaps! They’re making it too easy to make yaoi jokes now. XD

    I really can’t wait to find out what this “truth” is that Nezumi keeps talking about. No matter what it is though, I don’t see Shion abandoning the people in the city any time soon. It should be interesting though to see their clashing ideals. I just hope they don’t break up over it. ♥

    • Overcooled says:

      Far too easy indeed.

      I hope they come to some sort of compromise so they don’t break up or anything. They both seem to be firm in their beliefs though, so I’m not sure how that will happen.

  11. BlackBriar says:

    Killer bees? Is nothing safe anymore? And look at Nezumi’s back. He was obviously a victim of torture. Shion, nice white hair. I’m liking the grandpa look.

    • Overcooled says:

      Nothing is safe. If it’s not torture, it’s bees. I really hope those marks on Nezumi’s back are from torture and not..bee-testing or something. I’m just suspicious of all pink markings now.

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