カリギュラ – Anime QandA

Caligula Episode 12 – Anime QandA Review

An Anime QandA review for Caligula Episode 12

What’s the show? Caligula, Episode 12.

Well here we are… the season finale of Caligula, a show you’ve had strong feelings for—mostly good, but occasionally not so. Does the finale deliver or disappoint? It had every opportunity to fail, it could have easily fumbled at the finish line… but it didn’t! Thankfully! Though the opening few minutes had me fearing for the worse.

Oh, why’s that? Well, let’s just say it’s hardly the most flawless of starts, its clumsy and kind of silly—I actually audibly chuckled when I saw Ritsu and Aria flying through ‘space doors’ (not sure what else to call them) with gold sparkles shooting out their feet. It’s the kind of visual design decisions that maybe seemed like a good idea at the time but come across as cloyingly cheesy.

It’s almost hard to imagine what you’re talking about being executed well anywhere, let alone here. Exactly. And the cheesiness, while thankfully not ever-present does pop up from time-to-time throughout the episode, but it’s kind of unavoidable considering the kind of story they’ve wanted to tell and the resolution they wanted to give to the characters.

What do you mean by that? Well, spoilers obviously, but Ritsu re-enters Mobius to rescue his friends in the ‘Go Home Club’ from μ’s reign of terror and destruction. Aria has regained some of her powers and whisks them all away to safety with a few magic words, leaving Ritsu to monologue his heart out in order to bring μ back in line and smiling again.

And how does him talking to her save the day? Basically he lays out his feelings, his ideas about happiness and his various philosophies on life and yeah, it’s all perfectly relatable and understandable stuff—and even though it is a finale built around talkingrather than action I was hanging off Ritsu’s every word. Several times this season this show has proven that words are more powerful weapons than violence and I’m glad the show leant into this in its final episode because—at least for me makes a greater impact than just a messy action spectacle.

And does it work? Well it takes him stripping down his ‘fictionalised’ self and revealing his true irl form, and then confessing his love for her—but yes, it works and everyone lives happily ever after.

And that’d he the ‘cheese’ you were talking about then, huh? Pretty much, I still stand by the opinion that that this show would have been stronger if they’d lost a couple of characters a long the way, the stakes would have felt more real and the drama would have been more palpable. But I guess this is what in video game terms would be classified as the “good ending” where everyone lives and has learnt and grown stronger as people from their various experiences in Mobius.

So what’s your opinion on the ending as a whole? All in all I thought it was a very good ending—perhaps better than I expected—but then again my expectations were lowered by wariness. I don’t think this finale will change the mind’s of people who don’t like this series, but personally I think it told a story well—albeit slightly overlong, and I’m happy to have spent my time with Caligula!

Previous Caligula Reviews:

Episode 1 Review
Episode 2 Review
Episode 3 Review
Episode 4 Review
Episode 5 Review
Episode 6 Review
Episode 7 Review
Episode 8 Review
Episode 9 Review
Episode 10 Review
Episode 11 Review

If you liked my post and want to support my content, please consider supporting my Patreon page, or donating by buying me a coffee on Ko-fi!

Caligula Episode 11 – Anime QandA Review

An Anime QandA review for Caligula Episode 11

What’s the show? Caligula, Episode 11.

So, going by the previous reviews this’ll either be a really good episode or a not-so good episode. Which is it? Thankfully a good one!

Great, so what happens in this episode that sets it apart from others? Well~ for one thing most of the episode takes place outside of Mobius in the real world! And what’s more we get the classic bait and switch where the audience thinks Ritsu (the protagonist) is the guy we follow around for half the episode only to find out that irl Ritsu is ~actually~ a socially awkward guy who looks completely different to the Mobius persona, and the good looking guy we’ve been following for the first half of the episode is actually irl Ritsu’s team leader.

And is this a big deal? Well, not really… but it’s interesting at the very least that our suave, well-read and confident protagonist has none of the charm or social confidence that his real life counterpart has–it’s all modelled on his out-going team leader. Also, irl Ritsu is the one responsible for μ’s creation (and probably Mobius by extension) and therefore is responsible for her twisted ideals about happiness.

So why’d he leave Mobius and all of his friends inside in the last episode? Well if he’s the one who made her this way then he can be the one to fix her–something he evidently needed to be outside of Mobius to do. Yes it’s time to patch μ!

Right. And is the entire episode set in the real world? Or are there some scenes in Mobius too? There’s a few sporadically interspersed between, Marie–or Wicked as she goes by now–continues to throw explosives at the members of the ‘Go Home Club’ and to very little effect I might add… I mean I know glasses girl has a shielding ability as part of her powers, but the fact no one so much as gets a scratch is uniquely annoying. Mostly the scenes in Mobius felt like ‘action padding’ as if to maintain a sense of momentum and add “high-stakes” in this–the penultimate episode.

So aside from the non-threatening action scenes, it’s a good episode? Yeah I enjoyed it for what it is, it gave us some context for certain important plot-points. Namely that Ritsu and his team-leader work for a company that’s made an AI that inadvertently ends up putting certain people into a coma by contracting what seems like a digital disease. And that’s where Mobius is getting its new inhabitants from. It’s quite interesting stuff, and while I can’t help but feel it’s come a little too late in the narrative it still makes for a very interesting episode that hopefully pays off in full come the finale!

Previous Caligula Reviews:

Episode 1 Review
Episode 2 Review
Episode 3 Review
Episode 4 Review
Episode 5 Review
Episode 6 Review
Episode 7 Review
Episode 8 Review
Episode 9 Review
Episode 10 Review

If you liked my post and want to support my content, please consider supporting my Patreon page, or donating by buying me a coffee on Ko-fi!

Caligula Episode 10 – Anime QandA Review

An Anime QandA review for Caligula Episode 10

What’s the show? Caligula, Episode 10.

Last week you lamented that the show had it’s “worst episode”, or close to it. Have things picked up this week? In true Caligula anime style, it’s slumps are never longed lived. In fact, nearly everything that I said that I missed in the previous episode has come back (at least in part) and something I said I wished would happen may in-fact have happened!

Hmm, the only thing I remember you saying you wanted to happen that hadn’t happened was a character death… Did a character die? Well, no. At least I’m assuming not, but an attempt was made! But that’s right at the end of the episode—we’re skipping too far ahead…

She’s still best girl, even if her backstory doesn’t paint her character in the best light.

Right, so what happens in this episode that makes it better than the previous? Firstly it’s a lot more introspective than the previous one, which always makes for a good time—at least as far as this show is concerned! 99% of the episode takes place in the ‘Go Home’ club room, where the majority of our ‘good guy’ cast has been trapped by ~unseen forces~. They panic a little, try and get out before starting the blame game and pointing fingers at who could be the possible “spy” among them that sold them out to the ‘Musicians’. Our protagonist Ritsu is still M.I.A. so naturally he’s suspect numero uno.

And in what ways is the episode “introspective”? I was getting to that!

I know, I just thought that paragraph was getting a bit long… Right, so Musician defector and all around suspicious guy Kagi-P probes into each character’s back story, as they go around the room and explain what kind of people they were in the real world and what sought them to come to Mobius to escape their real life lives. As far as character exposition dumps go it’s about as overloaded as it gets, literally going from one character to the next as they give their backstories. I admit it’s not the most nuanced or subtle way of giving character development but it gets the job done. I thought Shougo’s tale was quite haunting and I like that despite the fact he’s the suavest, tallest and most adept fighter among them he’s the one who seems more emotionally broken up by recent events than any of them. I’m glad they didn’t go the tired cliche route and make all the girls emotionally weaker to the surroundings.

Wait, so is it good or bad, you just complained that it was too much character backstory all at once? It is, but it’s at least better than incomprehensible action and poor dialogue like we saw last episode. Plus there’s a great quote in the episode that especially resonated with me.

Do tell. It’s a simple one, after learning Kagi-P’s rather low-key real life troubles Kotarou complains to which Kagi-P says “Your hell and my hell are different types”. Which is a nice succinct way of saying just because you’re suffering doesn’t seem equal to another person’s doesn’t mean it’s any less significant to the individual that’s suffering it—a sentiment I can especially relate to.

Fair enough. So what was this potential ‘death’ you teased at the start of the episode? Well Marie comes a knocking and manages to open the door to the club room, except she’s not their to rescue them, she’s there to kill them and throws in a grenade. Turns out she’s actually a ‘Musician’, the one referred to as ‘Wicked’, with barely enough time for the smoke to clear and her school-uniform torn off to reveal her battle form she throws two more grenades into the smouldering chaos at which point it cuts away, and we’re left wondering who—if anyone—survived!

Those are grenades, not Princess Leia buns.

Dramatic. Except you’re already sure no one died, right? Yeah, I don’t hold it hopes that this show will do anything so dramatic as actually killing one of the main cast, even if so many of them are dispensable. After that scene it cuts to Ritsu, who is looking a bit different than normal and just relaxing on a sofa before the episode just ends.

I assume that’s significant? Well I guess the conclusion that could be drawn is that Ritsu’s back in the real world now. Which if that’s the case he’ll either have to save the ‘friends’ he left behind from the outside, or go back in to save them. Or just abandon them—but again—I don’t think this show would do something that dark. Only time will tell what will happen, and whether this show will end on a ‘good’ episode, or a ‘bad’ episode.

Previous Caligula Reviews:

Episode 1 Review
Episode 2 Review
Episode 3 Review
Episode 4 Review
Episode 5 Review
Episode 6 Review
Episode 7 Review
Episode 8 Review
Episode 9 Review

If you liked my post and want to support my content, please consider supporting my Patreon page, or donating by buying me a coffee on Ko-fi!

Caligula Episode 9 – Anime QandA Review

An Anime QandA review for Caligula Episode 9

What’s the show? Caligula, Episode 9.

So how’s this episode? I don’t know, kind of wasn’t really feeling it this week. Like I was kind of almost dreading writing this review because I didn’t think I’d have enough to say to fill out a blog and make it a worthwhile read? (Edit: Turns out I had plenty to say!)

Then why didn’t you put it off and make next week a double-episode review like you’ve been doing for Hinamatsuri? Well I figured I owed it to the people who are keeping tabs on these reviews to at least give my impressions of the episode and why I wasn’t ‘feeling it’.

That line is probably the highlight of the whole episode. Slim pickings.

Oh? What did it do—or rather—what did it do wrong? Not any one thing drastically wrong but rather a lot of things ~slightly~ wrong. Forgoing complaints about animation as I never like to talk about superficial things like that (and it’s never been the best looking show anyway), there’s a lot of odd choices throughout this episode. The characters kind of feel like secondary window dressing to a plot that’s going on around them and that they have very little impact on. Nothing really gets accomplished other than to put doubts in your head about characters motivations and there’s some mediocre incidental dialogue that felt like they were padding for time.

So what is the central plot point of this episode? Basically, the Musicians are angry, specifically and especially Shadow Knife, who we get some tragic back-story about before he’s killed. A plot point that kind of only exists to let the main cast of characters know that if you die in Mobius—you die in real life. An overused plot device for sure but one that at least ups the stakes? Or at least would if they didn’t all survive an explosion on top of a skyscraper mere minutes beforehand—totally unscathed.

Uh-huh, stakes without stakes. Anything else? Protagonist Ritsu is up to something. Which will end up being a red-herring for sure, they just needed something ~interesting~ to end the episode with…

Wow, sounds like you’ve really soured on this show and quickly too! This show has always been inconsistent week-to-week, some weeks have high quality storytelling and literary references and whatnot and other weeks scrape the creative barrel with Alice in Wonderland-esque plots. I’m not writing off the show entirely, the show is great when it’s more intimate with one-on-one scenes between characters talking about the nature of reality and what it means to be happy and all that juicy philosophical stuff. But it doesn’t seem to know how to do ensemble scenes as well. This show has too many characters but I don’t think is brave enough to kill any of the ‘main ones’ off. Time will tell if it will end high or low but right now the chances are 50/50.

I can think of at least 3 characters who add little to this plot and could be killed off. Is that harsh?

Previous Caligula Reviews:

Episode 1 Review
Episode 2 Review
Episode 3 Review
Episode 4 Review
Episode 5 Review
Episode 6 Review
Episode 7 Review
Episode 8 Review

If you liked my post and want to support my content, please consider supporting my Patreon page, or donating by buying me a coffee on Ko-fi!

Caligula Episode 8 – Anime QandA Review

An Anime QandA review for Caligula Episode 8

What’s the show? Caligula, Episode 8.

So after the slow first half the episode got back on plot with μ waking up and things being set in motion, how are things going forward? It takes place a week before the previous episode.

Oh… so not really moving forward at all then? Funnily enough, this is probably one of the strongest episodes in a while. Even though it’s something of a flashback, or rather a telling of the Musician’s side of the story from after μ’s destructive outburst but before her awakening, it’s a pretty great episode and helps flesh out the “villains” a little more.

Doesn’t anybody else find sleeping with headphones on incredibly uncomfortable?

How so? Well with μ ‘asleep’, the Musician’s power—namely getting whatever their heart desires served up to them on a platter—is waning, to the point where their utopia is looking more like the hell that they left behind in the real world. This episode mostly follows the Musician; Ike-P a playboy who’s idolised by fawning high-school girls wherever he goes and kudos to this show, it actually makes his plight at least passingly sympathetic. Like you kinda feel sorry for the guy, he’s just an unpopular dude who’s made fun of in the real world and here in Mobius he ~finally~ had a taste of the good life but it’s slowly being taken way with μ’s power fading.

Well I guess if they can make that sympathetic the show must be doing something right… It helps that you can tell beneath his flashy and smug exterior he is actually a nice guy, when a shop-clerk has a pile of clothes he was carrying knocked over and some school-girls look on and laugh he admonishes the jeering girls and helps the clerk out. The other musician’s also get a taste of ‘reality’, but I don’t think their scenes or the characters neither benefited from this reality check, nor seemed too affected in the long run—nevertheless—still interesting to watch.

And what about the rest of the episode? It’s probably the most tonally consistent episode so far, and narratively consistent too. It gave context to a few things from the previous episode that didn’t make sense while also preparing for the inevitable battle that’s no doubt about to take up a few of the final episodes. I also liked the small but important scene between our protagonist Ritsu and ex-Musician Kagi-P (or Kensuke Hibiki).

The enemy of my enemy etcetera etcetera…

So it’s a great episode then? Anything else to add? I’ll leave you with this, every episode of this show has had exceedingly verbose but nonetheless interesting titles, and while I don’t ~normally~ talk about them I felt like this episode’s title was especially good: ‘Your life shouldn’t be built from someone else’s blueprint. No matter how unskilled you may be you should draw it yourself.’ Wise words.

Previous Caligula Reviews:

Episode 1 Review
Episode 2 Review
Episode 3 Review
Episode 4 Review
Episode 5 Review
Episode 6 Review

If you liked my post and want to support my content, please consider supporting my Patreon page, or donating by buying me a coffee on Ko-fi!

Caligula Episode 7 – Anime QandA Review

An Anime QandA review for Caligula Episode 7

What’s the show? Caligula, Episode 7.

Last week, as I recall, the stakes were raised considerably when μ went on a bit of a rampage? How does it follow on from there? Hot Pot in the club room!

Huh? Yep, the first half of this episode is just the majority of the students in the ‘Going Home’ club having hot pot made by Aria.

Oh…kay. Didn’t expect the stakes to fall so quickly. What happened? I don’t know, I guess the writer’s thought we needed some downtime between the more cerebral, action-oriented and plot-centric episodes? That’s not to say the second-half doesn’t have a bit of this but the laid back pace of the first half is particularly jarring after last week, I imagine it’d be even more so if you were binge-watching it!

So… does the hot pot look tasty? Yeah, a bit. Though that expensive meat looked amazing.

Are we seriously reviewing anime food right now? Hey, you asked!

Right, right. So the second-half then? Things get weird, good weird to begin with as our protagonist Ritsu is walking to club, minding his own business when he’s mentally summoned to this purple-tinged limbo world, and it’s considerably eerie. There he meet with μ and the two talk about what happened last week, and why she went berserk and reiterates the fact that she just wants to help people and we get glimpses at what Ritsu may have been like outside of the simulation and it’s not explicit but it’s heavily hinted that this whole AI thing might have been Ritsu’s doing, at at the very least his idea.

The creator in his own trap? Interesting. It’s a thoroughly interesting, though messily edited sequence that’s not quite up to this show at its heady best but still poses a few interesting questions. Like how happiness isn’t something that can be quantified or portioned to people en-masse and that it’s a very personal and fragile thing.

Fair enough. Anything else? We get to see more of the Musicians, the people who are pulling μ’s strings, though it seems there somewhat dependent on her too, which is a small but very important detail which will no doubt factor into the end-game, with our heroes having to win her over to their side in order to relinquish them from this artificial world—or so I’m guessing.

Right, so a “good” episode, first half not withstanding? I didn’t mind the first half it was just a bit overlong, and didn’t really add all that much to the story or the characters. There were a few interesting interactions and we learnt that Shougo is older in the real world than his virtual avatar and that Kotarou has an alter-ego of a masked hero that helps perform good deeds around the city. Either way, while I foresee a somewhat predictable ending I do still enjoy the show’s sometimes surreal visuals, literary pretentiousness and overall aesthetic.

Previous Caligula Reviews:

Episode 1 Review
Episode 2 Review
Episode 3 Review
Episode 4 Review
Episode 5 Review
Episode 6 Review

If you liked my post and want to support my content, please consider supporting my Patreon page, or donating by buying me a coffee on Ko-fi!

Caligula Episode 6 – Anime QandA Review

An Anime QandA review for Caligula Episode 6

What’s the show? Caligula, Episode 6.

And what happened this week? Um, a lot actually. To compare it to a video game (which I suppose is apt, considering it’s based on one) it felt like the tutorial was over and we’re finally getting to the main game. Not to say that previous episodes were lacking in drama, it’s just the stakes feel a lot higher and more of the key pieces seem to be being put into place.

Okay, *fine*, I admit it, I like Aria now…

That’s a lot of episodes spent on a “tutorial” as you put it. Maybe, but at least things are well established at this point that hopefully they can ratchet up the drama a bit more and take a few more chances with the narrative. While the show has been content to march to it’s own drum and often be quirky and literary it’s never really established the dangers of this world. Sure there’s people being chased by angular looking student monster things, but we don’t know if anyone can actually die here.

And do we have an answer for that yet? Well, no. But having μ go full dark-side, alt-rock has to mean things are getting serious. If not it was at the very least a pretty cool scene…

And what else signifies a possible ‘upping of the ante’ going forward? So last week, a girl we’d just met got her ‘Catharsis’ effect activated, basically meaning she’d come to the realisation she was living in a simulation and that no matter how much worse her ‘real life’ was, she wanted out. And by admitting this to herself she gains edgy new attachments and a cool weapon that’s fused to her body. This week, every character of the main and supporting cast goes through this. And while at first I was like, “wow, really, just like that and everyone’s battle ready” upon reflection I realised this was a smart choice, at least considering this show is only going to be 12 episodes.

Smart how? Well if they’d given us full episodes for every character in the show I think it might have grown quickly repetitive and stymied the forward progression of the plot. This way we can get to the more meaty plot developments and just throw a little bit of character development and backstory where and when it’s needed.

Gettin’ dem Persona vibes, except this doesn’t feel like a video game (for the most part).

So overall this was a good episode huh? Yeah more or less, definitely among the more tonally consistent episodes although it was a bit light on the philosophising, which is a shame because I do enjoy this show’s approach to it—and the literary references—which were all but absent. I’m not as confident about this show’s ability to tell a complete story by the end of the series, I don’t know why but I get the feeling it’s not going to end with a satisfying conclusion but I’ll be happily proven wrong.

Previous Caligula Reviews:

Episode 1 Review
Episode 2 Review
Episode 3 Review
Episode 4 Review
Episode 5 Review

If you liked my post and want to support my content, please consider supporting my Patreon page, or donating by buying me a coffee on Ko-fi!

Caligula Episode 4 – Anime QandA Review

An Anime QandA review for Caligula Episode 4.

What’s the show? Caligula, Episode 4.

So how are things in The Matrix? Yes, it’s easy to compare this show at least superficially to that once popular science fiction franchise, but it’s a lot more than that movie series.

But has it recovered from the “messy” third episode? And then some, yes Episode 4 is much improved over the previous one. Not the least because it decides to reference literature that hasn’t already been done to death in so many other medium and do it in an analytical and intelligent away, as opposed to last week’s ‘tea party’.

Right, so last week was Alice in Wonderland, what is it this week? Surprisingly, The Lord of the Rings, never thought I’d hear the name’s ‘Smeagol’ and ‘Frodo’ spoken by a cute anime girl but here we are!

Oh yeah? So what’s the episode about specifically? It’s an intensely personal episode taking place mostly in a library. Marie is happiest when she’s alone, and while reading the Lord of the Rings she strikes up a conversation with a mysterious, cute-sounding boy who seems to say all the right things. They talk about ‘Smeagol’ and the painful tragedy of his existence, or perhaps… his intended and joyous death? Inevitably the conversation turns towards Marie’s own painful existence as an outcast and loner amongst her classmates and what it means to be on the outside, on what it means to be wanted.

Sounds deep. At the risk of sounding pretentious, it is. I’d never bothered to consider the duality of Smeagol’s desires, and what possessing the ring really meant for the pitiable creature. But this review isn’t about The Lord of the Rings, it’s about Caligula, Episode 4!

And by the sounds of it, it’s back to being unique and learned and moody? Correct! This is the Caligula I fell in love with in the first episode! And even the Chibi-chan know-it-all Aria actually serves a genuine purpose here as we learn how her and μ created this artificial world for everyone in the ‘real’ world who was suffering from unhappiness. Aria, despite all that’s annoying about her design and what not is on track to become an enjoyable side-character!

And in the end? Despite the impending threat of violence breaking out as Ritsu, Shougo and Kotaru storm the library looking for Marie and finding her at the mercy of the inherently appealing ‘Shounen Doll’ things aren’t ultimately resolved by a flurry of fists or aggressive words, but rather with one soul’s understanding of another and the simple offering of sharing a lunch with another lonely soul. It’s honestly a brilliant subversion and makes me believe in this show all over again! Do not be surprised if ‘Caligula’ ranks among my favourite shows of the season once all is said and done.

If you liked my post and want to support my content, please consider supporting my Patreon page, or donating by buying me a coffee on Ko-fi!

Caligula Episode 2 – Anime QandA Review

An Anime QandA review for Caligula Episode 2.

What’s the show? Caligula, Episode 2.

Ah, the pretentious show that you raved about last week… still pretentious? Not nearly enough!

Oh, so things have changed in this second week? Somewhat, a lot less literary references, less psychoanalysis, less stream of consciousness.

So basically everything you liked about the show is gone now? Not gone, just less. And I mean I get it, I should have realised that it wasn’t something the show could have kept up. It’s not Bakemonogatari quality after all, but—and this is a big but—but I’m actually okay with it.

Gives a new meaning to the term ‘Hand Cannon’.

Huh? So even if it dispenses or reduces a lot of elements I really dug, it adds enough different things that made me appreciate the wider vision the show has, even if it takes until the end of the episode to become clear (or at least as clear as this show want’s to be at this point).

That’s the look of a girl who’s just discovered her whole world is a lie.

You’re being kind of vague about it, I doubt people reading this expect these episode to episode accounts to be spoiler free. Oh so I’m allowed to spoil now, am I?

Sure, go nuts. Well it seems like the show’s got a Matrix thing going on, or at least we’ve got some elements of it, our protagonist and the side characters have all now realised they’re world is artificial (or they’re about to realise it), and it’s being created by a virtual idol program called μ who’s controlling people with her music? Again it’s all kind of vague and I kind of love it about the show, I’m never fond of shows that have great, big exposition dumps at the start of the first episode that explains everything about the situation. I love being as clueless as the characters in the show, especially in this genre of show.

How does the one on the left even stand on those legs?

Anything else? Oh there’s an annoying little floating chibi character that makes a brief appearance, Aria I think it’s called. Not fond of it at the moment but maybe it’ll have a point later on.

She’s annoying, but I do like their rapport.

So despite it losing a lot of what drew you to the show in the first place you still sound pretty positive about it. I am! I want to know more about what’s going on but I’m content for it to be dolled out gradually over future episodes. And while it’s very entertaining and interesting I am fully prepared for it to let me down by either giving too much away too quickly or never answering anything in a satisfying way, but right now I’m happy with how things are progressing!