No. 6 – Episode 7

I don’t know why it’s taken me so long to bring this up, but if you enjoy high concept sci-fi (which, if you’ve been following No. 6 up until this point, you most likely do) and you haven’t done so already, I absolutely recommend reading Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. It shares many common themes with No. 6 and is (in my opinion) one of the greatest sci-fi novels ever written, alongside the works of George Orwell, William Gibson and Philip K. Dick (In case you haven’t noticed, I have a thing for Sci-Fi).

Anyway, enough of that, let’s talk No. 6, shall we?

I’ve come to realise that the episode previews for No. 6 tend to make the episodes seem far more dramatic than they actually are. Take this episode for example. Going by the preview, I assumed that Shion would find out about the message Nezumi received about Safu’s capture, they’d have an argument, and Shion would leave Nezumi and go off on his own. Also, a kiss would somehow factor in. As it turns out, I was partially right, Shion did indeed find out about the note, there was a fight, and they did kiss, but it was a hell of a lot less dramatic than I thought it would be, but I’m rambling. I’ll proceed as I usually do from here on out.

So this episode begins with Nezumi hiring Dogkeeper to gather information on the correctional facility where Safu is being held, she initially refuses, but after Nezumi puts the fear of death in her, she decides to take the job. I’ve said it before, but Nezumi is a dick.

We later see Karan trying to find information on Safu after witnessing her capture, only to find that according to the government, Safu doesn’t exist within their system. Karan later spends some time in a park, mulling over her situation, when an old woman approaches her, asking about how she could look so sad despite living in a utopia such as No. 6. Just as Karan is about to express her doubts about the city, Yoming (who up until this point has done pretty much nothing) comes to take Karan away from the old woman, a while later, Yoming tells her that the old woman, may have been working for the authorities, and would have taken her to the correctional facility if she said or did anything that could have classified her as a dissenter, she’d be sent to the correctional facility.

Back in the West District, Shion is out shopping with Rikiga for tools to make a serum for the parasite; however they can’t find anything that they could use. At this point Rikiga apparently goes slightly insane, suddenly asking if Shion is getting enough to eat and scolding him for being so selfless. He then decides that he absolutely MUST buy Shion some clothes for the winter. At the shop, Shion spots Safu’s jacket among the store’s stock. Cutting to a very brief scene, we see Safu being held in a container in the correctional facility, overhearing a conversation about her being the perfect sample, which I’m willing to bet has to do with the parasites (though that should be fairly obvious).

  Having been told by Shion about finding Safu’s jacket, Dogkeeper questions Nezumi about him going to save her, and lets him know that Shion will try and save her on his own. Back at their home, Shion and Nezumi get to talking about whether or not Shion would have sex with Safu if he gets offered again, which of course leads to a romantic moment between Nezumi and Shion, with Shion crediting Nezumi for shaping him into who he is today, and then this happens:

Shion claims it’s a goodnight kiss and then leaves to go talk with Dogkeeper, but he is stopped by Nezumi who punches him in the face, for lying about it being a goodnight kiss (and possibly also for visiting Dogkeeper about Safu, but Nezumi is a dick and would punch people in the face for lying about the reasons behind a kiss)

Nezumi then shows Shion the message about Safu. So Shion, angry about not being told about this sooner, and for Nezumi not seeing him as an equal, decides to punch Nezumi in the face.

Nezumi then reminisces about the time he met Shion, and how he taught him that people are willing to help those in need, and then thanks Shion for making him the way he is now, the lesson here being: Don’t help strange injured fugitive children or they will grow up to be assholes who threaten people and punches others in the face (I could be wrong on this one)

Only for episodes left yet there are still plenty of questions that need to be answered, I’m hoping No. 6 picks up the pace here so that it ties up all the loose ends and finishes off on a good note, so that when the end comes, I’ll have very few bad things to say about No. 6.