Phi Brain S2 – 16
“I drew you a pony” “THIS IS THE PIVOTAL MOMENT THAT DEFINES MY VERY EXISTENCE AS A CHARACTER”
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Are you having a rough day? Maybe the weather isn’t so great or someone said something not so kind to you. Even if you’re having a good day, it can become even better with just a little magic charm I learned. Howawan~ Fuwawan~. There, now I don’t have to think up comforting things to say to people, because this works for all occasions! |
A Shared Past
Finally, we get the full picture! Eve is Ana’s sister (not a trap! WOWZA!) and best friends with Mizerka. I’m not sure why Ana fell into a rut and needed Eve to cheer him up, but it’s the event that marked the severing of their relationship. Ana tried to mimic his older sister, but he accidentally up-staged her and became even better. It’s unclear when the two of them split ways, but apparently it was on a positive note based on how happy Ana is to see her again. Eve must have kept those feelings inside her for a long time.
Ana loves his sister, and his reaction to hearing Eve’s thoughts is pretty interesting. Phi Brain is usually over-the-top with reactions (slit screens, gasps and dramatic sound effects), but Ana just goes into shock. He says nothing. He just stands there, stunned, unsure of how to process any of this. He has so many things he wants to say, but all that comes out is “howawan, fuwawan” because that’s like an instinct. If that can’t bring his sister back, nothing will.
Let’s not forget about Mizerka, who also shares an interesting past with Eve. Since Ana doesn’t recognize her, I’d hazard a guess and say that after Eve went her own way, she met Mizerka. The two of them became friends, and Mizerka was probably the only one Eve told about her jealousy. The two of them must have been very close. Mizerka seems to have adopted a number of Eve’s traits, perhaps without even noticing it. She hates people who are carefree (like Ana), blindly follows rules without passion, and acts as an older sister figure to Melancholy. She shares the same desire for revenge as well, and so she raced forward to try and break Ana’s arms as promised if Kaito couldn’t solve the puzzle. But he did solve it. Mizerka – the one who is so strict about rules – broke them in order to carry out what she thought would make Eve happy.
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Nonoha is Sick of Your Nonsense
I give Nonoha a hard time because she has the potential to be a great no-nonsense character who keeps her swagger in a world full of puzzle-nuts. This week, she deserves some praise. She’s been stuck as the emotional support character for quite some time, and it’s been kind of boring to see her cheer people on without really having much of an effect. If she wasn’t there, I probably wouldn’t notice. However, she does a lot for Ana when he’s shocked from his encounter with Eve. She’s become Ana’s new best friend of sorts, so she does everything she can to protect him. Solving puzzles is Kaito’s way of doing things, but Nonoha steps to the plate and gives Eve a good talking too while simultaneously keeping Ana sane.
You see, Eve’s argument is dumb. You would think having a Replica Ring would make you smart enough to realize a flimsy argument when you see one. Sadly, it just makes you an emotional wreck and exaggerates all your feelings so much that reasoning them out and calming your ass down is impossible. Eve quit painting because someone was better than her. That’s like quitting painting because you saw the Mona Lisa and realized you could never be as good. Yes, I know that because it’s her own brother she’s extra resentful about it – but that’s still a poor excuse to give up on your dream. Nonoha calls Eve out on her bullshit too! Blaming Ana fixes nothing. THANK YOU, Nonoha for schooling Eve!
The truth is still obscured from Eve as long as the Ring is on, but she does try to revert back to normal. However, the new version of the Replica Rings seem to be incredibly strong and actually fight back. Once it takes you over, returning back is nearly impossible unless it breaks off.
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An Unhappy Ending
The ending to this episode is a beautiful thing. For one thing, it bucks the usual trend of ending on a cheerful note or a dramatic cliffhanger. It ends in pure misery. Everyone has mended their relationships after their Rings came off. For example, Kaito became friends with Rook again and Chieno is still buddy-buddy with Jikukawa. They all said horrible things and attempted murder while under the control of the Ring, but their relationships were mended. It was like nothing bad even happened. However, Ana has inflicted a permanent wound on his sister, and their relationship will never go back to how it was before. It wasn’t on purpose, but he discouraged Eve so much that she gave up her dream to be a painter. Even with the Ring off, that cannot be changed. She may forgive Ana, but that won’t make her suddenly able to paint with the same passion Ana had. Her skill level remains unchanged, and she hates herself for it. Ana is very perceptive of other people’s feelings, so he knows that while the two of them may get along that Eve will always be filled with a longing for a talent she doesn’t possess.
Bonus Screenshots:Show ▼
Preview: A BATTLE PUZZLE, YES! Kaito faces Pinochle in a 1-on-1 puzzle battle, and learns more about his connection to Freecell. As the supposed “weakest member” of the Order, he’s likely to have some sort of gimmick up his sleeve to secure a win for himself. Kaito’s measurements? Nonoha sweets? A limited edition photo album of Rook? Hmm…
About Overcooled
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.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
LMAO THOSE MILKY THIGHS. Why did I ever put Phi Brain off?! …Expect something more coherent from me next week when I catch up.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
It’s not too late to catch up. Well, that depends on how many episodes you have to burn through. The Phi Brain cult could use another member. Hahaha, our leader OC could use the extra hand to spread the influence.
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
Briar is doing my job for me spreading the Phi Brain cult bwahaha. Do as he says!!! DO IT FOR THOSE DRINKABLE, MILKY THIGHS.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Hahaha!! I’m happy to be of service, OC.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Interesting episode. Thanks for clearing up the explanation between Ana and Eve, OC. It was a bit hard to understand and for a while felt like Freecell’s own warped story.
Ana’s state of shock was unusual for someone of his character. I’m not sure but that smile when he said “howawan, fuwawan” felt completely forced. Like he was trying to keep himself from breaking down because his sister, who he loved dearly, was jealous and resented him.
An unhappy ending to an episode is new to me in this show. It’s either that or it doesn’t happen often. For somebody so cheerful, it unusual to see Ana like this, in a vulnerable state because he always bounces back. But this time, he’ll be carrying a permanant scar for the rest of his life as long as Eve can’t regain her lost talent. The puzzle laid out for Kaito I felt was closest thing to identifying Eve’s state of mind, showing suffering and despair over something that is lost.
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
Her reasoning for hating Ana is kind of dumb, so I guess you felt like you were missing something. Nope…that’s the whole basis for her hatred. Having less talent than Ana :/
It’s unusual to see Ana sad or afraid. I liked the change though, because I really felt like he was suffering. I like the scene when he says howawan fuwawan with that forced smile too! Yes! He could barely keep it together.
Definitely one of my favourite episodes of the season because of how it ended. A sad ending feels really new…I don’t recall having any super sad ones before now.
POWUH: Occasional (51-75) with 60 comments
I think this is the best episode of Phi Brain yet. It was perfectly “realistic”, I mean Eve’s reasonings might be completely bogus to stop painting. But literally it had me going, “oh wow damn fuck him” [when Eve did that thing to Ana’s painting] It was a pretty good episode. And yeah no sliding puzzle. And Ana’s shock was good and it was nice to see him have another emotion other than, “i’m so darn happy and carefree all the time”. Which never bothered me, but I’m glad to see Ana presented with more emotional range.
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
It’s not my overall favourite, but it ranks up there as one of my top episodes – especially for season 2. It’s surprisingly realistic for a puzzle anime, and that’s part of why I liked it too. Everyone’s reaction to Eve’s faulty logic was great. The “I’m gonna break yer arms if you lose” was the only thing that retained the base Phi Brain logic. That and the sky suddenly turning blood red, as if sunsets really look like that. XD But still, it was great for showing some believable grief and sorrow.
A lot of the Phi Brain characters are really flat, so I’m glad to see some of them showing more range. Ana is great, but this makes her even better.
POWUH: iLurker with 17 comments
KAITO IN A TOGA :). Best part of the episode! XD
Also this: “Alternate solution: this is abstract art and it is supposed to look like this”. HAHAHA! Brilliant :D.
I thought Eve had a pretty lame reason for quitting painting. She doesn’t seem to understand that art is subjective and what could be a beautiful work of art to one person could be hideous to another (BTW that painting of Ana was rather creepy). That’s why there’s so many styles of art works to cater to everybody’s tastes. All Eve really had to do was develop her own unique art style ;).
I also liked the fact that the episode ended on a bittersweet note. It felt much more realistic than the normal chirpy “howawan, fuwawan” endings Phi Brain tends to have. Ana and Eve really do need some time together to talk through their issues before their relationship starts to genuinely heal itself.
Maybe next time we will finally get to find out how Pinochle been getting his disturbingly detailed intel on the Phi Brain gang. Perhaps he’s been secretly stalking them in his spare time or he could have just simply hacked Cubic’s hidden cameras XD.
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
I have way too much fun screencapping this show…
Oh, it was pretty dumb. Her paintings look great (although kind of creepy), so she could make a career out of it. Then again, although it’s true that art is subjective, she quit because she felt her paintings were devoid of feelings. Even if they look good, she can’t fix an EMPTY HEART. She could have found another passion though, or just sucked it up and continued to paint…
It was a great ending, yes. I don’t know if the two of them will get any more screentime together, but I imagine in the future they want to stay in touch at least a little bit. A lot of issues can be fixed if they talk about them. Although, not all of them D:
Behind the scenes about Pinochle’s stalking methods! Yes, wonderful, now we’ll get that Kaito shower scene when he runs out of shampoo….