Episode 6 – Dusk Beyond the End of the World

I don’t have a preface for you this week, I’m just going to let it rip because when the episode ended, there was only one thing on my mind: When I finally visited a more renovated library (one that was much hyped), it felt a little clunky, and what was considered the history section was an almost empty bookshelf, barely filled with a few books, while all the other bookshelves in the area were full. I know it’s a small, seemingly insignificant detail, but I really can’t understand how off-puttingly unsubtle it is. Subtle doesn’t necessarily equal automatically better – a lot of times loud and bold are excellent – but in a series like this duskSo far it’s tried to play directly with the Orwellian nature of its world, but that feels too rudimentary and melodramatic.

Allow me to explain: last week, I talked about what I thought was the best way to suppress historical research in the following context: dusk—More specifically, the study of a specific part of history. After all, OWEL is suppressing knowledge about AI warfare, but I can’t imagine they have any particular qualms with people who want to study ancient Egypt or the Hundred Years War, for example. In summary, they can go further by making history available for study, but by not teaching people about AI warfare, they systematically render people ignorant or apathetic about AI warfare and make the pursuit of studying it unfeasible. But again, a lot of it is research that technically makes history available, but not this particular part. Even then, you have to do it in a way that’s not exactly what’s advertised. However, the empty history bookshelves we see in this episode suggest that historical research in general is almost non-existent. It feels like the anime thinks that if it doesn’t instill in us the idea of ​​OWEL being involved in censorship, the audience won’t notice it. Again: this works in some anime, but not here.

To be fair, we never heard anyone specifically say “ugh, that’s a whole accessible part of history”, even though it felt like it was implied. For example, it’s possible that this is just part of the history of the 21st century. But if this is really the whole historical part, it really feels too over-the-top for this anime. Maybe it’s because I’m more interested in the world this anime is building than the main story, but I hope this can be clarified. Nonetheless, our team is about to leave for Tokyo in the hopes of further developing their research, so maybe – hopefully – this will lead to something more substantial.

I think the suppression of information can be a very interesting theme for a novel to explore, not to mention a poignant one, but I also think it’s much harder to do it gracefully than a lot of people realize. Orb This is the most obvious example. Without turning this into a screed that could be turned into a 3 hour long video article, this is an animation about misinformation and information suppression, which itself relies heavily on several (very disproven) broad myths about the Middle Ages. I suspect this was intentional on the part of the creators, as it makes its message sound completely hollow – if not downright disingenuous. This is an anime that touches on the very thing it criticizes. Although I don’t think dusk So far, its messaging has proven to be rather sloppy (although we’re only at the halfway point, so that may change), but seemingly minor details like this bookshelf make me hesitate as to whether it executes this increasingly important theme well.

I know no one is as obsessed with this abandoned bookshelf as I am. I think this has a lot to do with the fact that I think the world this anime has built has proven to be more interesting than its characters and what they’re doing. Speaking of which, yes, I guess there was a date between Yugure and Akira in the first half of the episode. But if I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a thousand times: I have no feelings for our protagonists, and the less this anime gives them the spotlight, the better. Even the supporting characters are pretty random so far, with the hottest being the couple who run the inn, who have a better story than what we got from Akira and Yugure. I say this partly because there seems to be more to the couple’s story (it’s simple, but executed well enough), partly because I love the weirdness of it all, and partly because, as we’ve seen, Akira wasn’t born to be the protagonist. Even the cute dating interlude couldn’t move my heart when it came to him and Yugure. But as always, I’m tempted to take my words back by the end of the series.

Halfway through, the series still has a little time to turn things around. This series has cool ideas and the visuals are great. The potential is huge. The problem is, all that delicious world-building and lore is given over to a cast of completely sauceless protagonists that I can’t find anything to care about myself, and I doubt I ever will care about them. But if its priorities change in the second half and it can do more in terms of exploring the ways in which censorship and information is suppressed, I think this anime has enough momentum that it might be able to save itself.

grade:

Dusk at the end of the world Currently live broadcast
lurking.