No.6 – 05

Boys Love, thy name is No.6!

Oh no, it’s that starting paragraph where Overcooled talks about herself! When will the torture end?! In two days I’ll have been writing for Metanorn for a year. Hato and Hoshi have already passed that milestone of 365 days since their first post, and I’ll be soon to follow. It’s kind of nostalgic, really. Thanks for putting up with me for this long!

No.6 is still infecting people with wasps, even in the thick of Winter. So much for Shion’s hibernation theory…those things will bust out of people’s necks no matter how cold it gets. Speaking of No.6 civilians, Safu makes a triumphant comeback. We get a peek at her painfully average school life, which only differs from normal people in the sense that she still sees love as just a step towards sexual reproduction. Yeah, she’s still a weirdo.

Meanwhile, Shion reads The Happy Prince to some kids. Nezumi scolds him for being so benevolent, but Shion tells him he’s a hypocrit. Afterall, he did give Shion’s ugly sweater to one of them. Instead of admitting it, Nezumi just grumbles and goes out to work. Shion follows suit, to his less dangerous job as a dog-washer for Inukashi.

Shion’s new job: lure in children and then use them for soup

This might backfire later, but for now, Shion goes to Inukashi for relationship advice. He just wants to be a good husbando, so why is Nezumi so mean all the time? During his shift, the guy who Shion strangled last episode makes another appearance. He’s here to buy information, but Inukashi demands he pays extra since he’s a dirty pimp. Receding  Hairline Man challenges Inukashi by outright telling her that he knows she’s been smuggling materials out of the correctional facility. They come to a reluctant agreement to do the exchange after Nezumi’s rat breaks up the tension.

He has been hearing rumours of the wasp infestation, and wanted to know if it was true. Shion just spills the beans without much restraint about the whole situation, and even how he himself was a victim. Once he realizes that the wasps are active in Winter, unlike his predictions, he panics and begs to be taken to Nezumi’s workplace immediately. Cowardly Moustache Man takes Shion to the playhouse where Nezumi is performing Hamlet, and that’s where things get…interesting.

Let’s just say the casting wasn’t exactly what I had expected. Nezumi plays Ophelia, which means that you hear a husky voice coming out of a frail-looking beauty in a dress. Nezumi spots the awestruck Shion and panics at first, worried some audience member might slaughter him or something…but that eventually fades to happiness that he can show Shion what a pro drag queen he is. It’s a shame his performance is cut short by the wind blowing and playing a song that only he seems to hear. Back in No.6, Safu is experiencing the same phenomenon during a trip to the musuem. They both end up collapsing.

Nezumi has a hallucination about lying in the grass while wasps surround him. He can’t move, but a voice promises to sing a song of protection if he comes towards her. IT’S A TRAP, DON’T DO IT! The dream shifts to one where he’s a kid and is being sucked into a tar pit. He screams out Shion’s name, and wakes up with a jolt to see Shion there. Like, right there. A few inches in front of his nose. He frantically asks Nezumi a million questions to make sure he’s okay, but it just pisses him off.

NOW IS MY CHANCE TO…Awww, he’s awake now

Once Nezumi recovers enough to get out of his dress, Shion tells him about the wasps. Nezumi proposes they celebrate. Shion would probably protest, but I guess once he had Nezumi’s body pressed against his, the political correctness of it all just faded away. Nezumi teaches Shion to dance to celebrate the inevitable fall of No.6. They go at it for a long time, until Shion is sweaty and exhausted. I swear to God these double-entendres are not necessary.

Shion sucks at dancing, but he’s clever enough to realize that Nezumi was trying to teach him how capable Nezumi is compared to him. Despite this, Shion still worried about Nezumi because he’s the most important to him. Moreso than his mom, Safu, or even himself. This should be a shocking confession for Nezumi, but he’s more alarmed that Shion managed to move from the couch to right in front of him without as much as a rustle of clothing. So why does Shion have secret ninja reflexes? I sure as hell don’t know, and it keeps Nezumi up all night in confusion as well.

Bonus Screenshots:

Safu does some “research” for the future

GAH! INVISIBLE TACKLE!

Shion with Bowtie Guy AKA Pimpy Pimperson AKA The Man Who Stole Kotetsu’s Hat

We need to look less racist. PUT A GINGER KID AND A BLACK GIRL IN THIS SHOW, STAT!

 

Welcome to this week’s caption THAT DOESN’T NEED A CAPTION. Enjoy.

End Thoughts: Why is this show so perfect? WHY IS THIS SHOW. SO. PERFECT? It’s not an understatement when I say I absolutely adored this episode. It was mostly development between Shion and Nezumi, which had me a bit worried considering how short this anime is going to be. But then I remembered that they revealed quite a bit about No.6. Shion and Nezumi now have less time than they originally predicted if they want to stop the wasp infestation and now the wind has been mentioned again. That’s no normal “wind.” It seems like only Safu and Nezumi were affected by it, which is seriously suspicious. Safu said she saw Nezumi when the wind blew, so could they be linked together somehow? Has the government messed around with their minds? Are those two just innately special? Will it get worse than just hearing voices and fainting? I have a lot of questions about what the wind is doing, but not enough evidence to do anything outside of wild speculation.

I like how the government’s corrupt side was shown even more this episode. Funny how both No.6 and the outskirts are essentially corrupt in nature, but No.6 likes to pretend it’s perfect. Those poor bystanders might be subject to more than just interrogation after witnessing that gruesome death. I wouldn’t be surprised if they were “disposed of” for knowing too much. I like how the anime flips back and forth between the two parts of the same society for contrast, but couldn’t help but want the No.6 segments with Safu to end faster. I don’t dislike the girl, but I’d rather see Nezumi in drag. DON’T INTERRUPT MY NEZUMI TIME! But seriously, the flipping back and forth could really take off if Safu becomes the inside spy of sorts to figure out what the government is up to. She’ll probably end up helping Nezumi and Shion if they ever do go back to the city to stop whatever conspiracy is going on. Come on sperm girl, you’re smart…you’ll figure out the government’s tricks in no time!

Now all that No.6 related jazz was great and all, but I really want to talk about how well Shion and Nezumi are developing. The BL man, it’s all about the BL. Inukashi didn’t meddle in their affairs any more this episode, so their relationship was able to bloom. I guess they have a fragile truce that could break at any moment…but for now, the two of them are getting unbelievably attached to one another. Shion looked like he was about to have a heart attack from Nezumi’s acting prowess…and I think I was too. Come on, Nezumi dresses in drag for his job, can we just say they’re gay and stop holding back? It’s only half a step up from what they’ve been doing up until now. It’s not just the wistful thinking of a fujoshi, it would actually help to improve the story. It makes more sense that Nezumi is losing his edge because of love, and Shion’s dedication is so unwavering that calling it “friendship” just seems lacking.

They even danced together. It was a long, well-animated scene of intimacy, BL, and my heart nearly self-destructing from euphoria. So first of all, for my fellow fujoshi: HHHNNNGGGGGG. For everyone else, that scene also doubled as Nezumi proving a point to Shion that he’s physically too weak to go out like Nezumi does. Nezumi is so harsh because he’s worried about Shion getting hurt. Nezumi is capable, Shion isn’t, etc. etc. The startling part is that Shion actually shows the opposite almost immediately after when he grabs Nezumi by the throat. Perhaps he has some latent, fighting ability? That would be nice, he’d be less useless that way. Either that, or Nezumi is REALLY getting soft after dedicating so much time and care to Shion.

Preview: Ooo, a nice, long preview. Safu laments the death of her grandmother, but seems to be proactive in finding out more about her death and No.6. Is she going to start uncovering the truth now? As for Shion and Nezumi, they seem to be undergoing some tension. Either Nezumi is super pissed, or he’s trying to get Shion to use those lightning fast reflexes again. It’ll be a good one, that’s for sure!

I don’t understand you, hand. Why do you hold so many mysteries?