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「あのとき」 (Ano Toki)
“That Time”
I think this might be the last episode where we get any hand holding.
Megu-nee
After getting a glimpse at the world right before whatever out there started turning people into ravenous zombies, I think the best way you could describe a majority of the episode would be bittersweet. Focusing on specifically Megu-nee, it really kind of sucks that she never got a chance to really reaffirm that her decision to become a teacher was the correct one. Seeing her in action, it’s clear to us viewers that she’s the type of teacher who really empathizes with her students by creating a strong bond that in-turn opens up an avenue of communication that only the two share. Something which I’m sure we’d all want something for our own kids (if you have them). Sure, she may have her weak points when it comes to establishing the boundaries between teacher and friend, but without that she would be a completely different person! And my goodness, don’t even let me get started about how she never got a chance to talk to her mom before all hell broke loose. Seeing how many messages she missed to realizing just how gruesome her demise was based off of that quick call from the other sensei, it’s amazing that our beloved Megu-nee didn’t just break down on the spot.
God damn was this episode good. With the huge reveal getting closer and closer, I love how the anime managed to really flesh out Megu-nee as a character. Sure, some of the minor details may have been different but in the span of a few minutes you really felt like you could understand her as a character. That said, all of this awesome build up is for sure going to get the waterworks running when the anime decides to reveal just what Megu-nee has been up to. That glimpse of her at the end in what I can only assume is the safety bunker really hit me right in the chest – mostly because the only reason why she’s there is because that was the last thing she needed to do. She needed to get her beloved students to the supplies that could save their life and keep them going.
Yuki’s PTSD
I’m sure most of us already understood that Yuki’s condition was probably related to some traumatic stress and this week finally confirmed it. I mean, even under ideal conditions (is there even an ideal condition for a situation like this?) seeing someone killed right in-front of you is pretty terrifying – zombie or not. At this point though, you have to wonder what’s going to happen should everything fall apart and Yuki ends up in literal danger? Sure everyone else is good at managing the situation but if everyone ends up stuck in a sticky situation, do you think she’ll be able to pull through?
Man, another huge “I’m going to tear up moment” is going to be when Yuki finally snaps out of her delusions. God, there’s so much to worry about.
Looking Ahead
With the third episode done and over with, I think this series has done a great job at luring in unsuspecting viewers and keeping them on the edge of their seats each and every week. Dropping in tons of hints and clues about the past and how it’ll affect the future, an observant viewer will probably get twice the value from each episode. But even if you aren’t looking too deep, there’s more than enough going on each episode to keep your mind from wandering. In any case, I can’t wait for next week’s episode since it looks like it’ll dive into Mii-kun’s back story! One that I’m very interested in how they’re going to tell or alter since there’s only nine more episodes left and a lot more stuff to deal with.
Thanks for reading the post and I hope to catch you around for the rest of the season! On a side note, please refrain from posting spoilers in the comments. Not only are you ruining someone’s experiences, but because this is an adaptation, it’s possible you could be spreading misinformation! So, please abuse that spoiler tag and if you want to talk about anything related to this anime or if you wanted to ask me something specific, shoot me a tweet @rctakaii!
See you next week!
Preview
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This was a great episode! Although I’m a little confused about the camping scene. Was Megu-nee alive during that scene or was it Yuki’s delusions again?
I was wondering if this was true considering the way only Yuki talks to her, and the others tend to talk around her.
Yep, I was hoping this wasn’t the case but I remember in EP1 they had the white cross planted in the garden and I went back and yea, she was gone already 🙁
We don’t know because the anime is doing its own thing. In the manga chapter the camping scene comes from she was still alive. Now I’m still reading the manga myself but from what spoilers I’ve read she dies before Mii-kun shows up. Mii-kun being here serves to make things more confusing. It could honestly go either way.
Wrong.
I think you might be confused, sinceshe’s already dead by chap.1 of the manga as well. Every time you see her is either as a delusion or a flashback. She dies in a flashback. The cross in the rooftop garden is for her, and it’s her cross hanging off of it. Those are already there in the anime, so unfortunately there’s no chance she’s still alive.
To think the translation of her diary on Batoto was posted less than a day before from this episode aired.
…ooh. I hadn’t actually seen that before you mentioned it. That extra is chilling, and manages to avoid the common pitfall of not sounding like something natural to write in such an extreme situation. I like.
You know, I think this show breaks my heart worse than any other I’ve seen. Instead of a fast break like a character death you might know is coming but still just happens, it’s a slow one, like someone is turning a knife inside a friend’s gut while I just have to watch. The suspense, intrigue, and desire for the girls to somehow get out of this alive are just so good you can’t stop watching, though!
The other part has a lot to do with the genius that was the first episode. That set up a feeling that for me has only grow: that this show could have been any SoL/RomCom before all this. Pick your favorite, then imagine as soon as the last episode ended, a zombie apocalypse broke out. That’s some Grade-A attachment they’ve given us to the characters, especially with this little glimpse further into who they were before. They were just normal, happy, incredibly sweet girls, then…
It was good how they kept drawing attention to Megu-nee’s cross this week, considering where else we’ve seen it. Major props to that teacher that called her. Even with hell breaking down her door, she still managed to get a final warning out to a friend and save four lives.Even though you’ll later find out the principal was holding out on all of them and could’ve saved a lot more…
Takaii, about Yuki:Not sure how far you got in the manga, but you come to understand that she knows and maybe always has known that she’s delusional, but she also knows that her delusions and her approach to the situation are helpful for the others. It gives them something else to focus on, something to smile about even with death literally walking around outside. When things get real, she can basically turn it off to get stuff done, then slip back into happy-mode until everyone is good again. She’s basically an emotional genius in a strange way.
I’m caught up, I know. But I’m trying to write from the perspective of the anime-viewer 🙂
SPOILER TAGS THOUGH. I’LL LET ALL MY FEELS COME OUT IN THERE NEXT TIME ;__;
Also, just a little question about the recent manga chapter that’s been bugging me(sorry for the double-post, feel free to ignore):Why do I feel like the girls just fell into a bad clique? That they ran away from the nervous, awkward good guys and just shacked up with three cute cannibals? I really hope that isn’t the case since I’d hate for the manga to start getting predictable, and I think I’d lose it if one of the girls got eaten… really hope I’m just jaded and we get three more good characters, especially with how far gone Rii is now.
I’d be so mad if these new girls are asshats.
@Shocked: Take a hard look at her outfit when she first appears, then think about where/when she was found. Only open this if you really want to know right now:She’s Yuki’s bear that was left as a memorial. Her necktie is the mustache, her pockets are the paws, Rii found her inside the school all by herself, no one else heard her when she woke Rii up screaming in ch. 36, and look at ch. 36 pg 17, Rii’s holding the bear. Sadly, it seems Ruu’s the new Megu-nee. Yuki can interact with her so well because the bear is physically there and she can imagine what Rii is seeing by how she reacts.
I’ve seen a lot of people talking about chapter 36 but i can’t find it anywhere.The last chapter uploaded on Batoto was 35 and i looked at the site of group and couldn’t find it there either. Are you reading the Raw?
MangaHere has 36 and 37, but some aren’t happy with it because they translated a Korean translation. They seem fine, but I dunno.
Yeah, I got that feeling too.
That boy’s reaction was a bit excessive, but rational given the circumstances. I can’t imagine anyone seeming so…normal…as these girls without there being some serious insanity behind it.
So we finally get to see the “z-day”.
One thing that amused me to no end was how everyone who survived was due to free tomato samples from the gardening club…
Yuki’s spontaneous antics were saving people even before she lost it! XD
I can see why Megu-nee became the one she imagined for protection and guidance.
….well. That was really, really expanded from a few short panels in the manga, and really, really effective – that lack of sound during Kurumi’s first time with the shovel was goosebump-worthy. I’m not quite a fan of the continuous news reports, explosions in the city, and such – that kind of thing’s been overplayed a lot, even High School of the Dead used it – but otherwise that was top-quality anime original material.
Darn
that dark message at the end
http://images.randomc.net/Gakkou%20Gurashi/Gakkou%20Gurashi%20-%2003%20-%20Large%2039.jpg
http://www.mangahere.co/manga/gakkou_gurashi/c023/14.html
Just noticed something but could this be
Yup.
If you remember, Megu-nee is hovering around there after her death because of just how passionate she was about getting her girls to the safe zone. That and, it’s really sad to think she might be sitting at a desk just thinking about writing in her journal.
The “censoring” of the scene where Kurumi killed her Senpai was beautifully done.
This is a perfect example where you don’t even need to show the actually event happening for it to have an emotional impact on the audience.
regarding Megu-nee, erm, Sakura-sensei status… SPOILER!!!!
http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r45/ewok40k/vlcsnap-2015-07-24-09h37m16s943.png
glimpsed in the first pisode already
http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r45/ewok40k/d017.jpg
manga confirmation
http://images.randomc.net/Gakkou%20Gurashi/Gakkou%20Gurashi%20-%2003%20-%20Large%2019.jpg
The initial hints of an outbreak.
The town eventually overrun by them zombies.
First contact with the enemy and realization dawning upon the main characters.
Damn, the first half of this episode really reminds me of Resident Evil 2, and that’s a good thing for me.
On slightly off-topic to RE fans; RE 2 is getting a fan-made remake which will be released in this summer for free soon. Just google Resident Evil 2 Reborn if you’re interested.
just a bit off topic but still related, i wonder how the zombs spread fast in this story? because if we think of it, this are just walkers and correct me if i am wrong, i havent even seen special zombies, that can actually run and chase you in manga. because the point is, they are slowpokes that are just waiting to get their heads smashed with anything solid. and i dont think that zombs having some sort of thinking abilities like humans or “retain their memories” would even give the zombs in this story some sort of a real major advantage to actually cause an uncontrollable outbreak like in the story because they are limited with their own speed. any able human with good strength stamina and endurance can just smash-dance this zombs to their 2nd death once it is realized that the zombs “are not humans”.
or was the shock too high enough to paralyze those people in the story’s thinking processes (specially if it was their love ones who turned) and let themselves get a bite and join the Z league because even our MCs are technically prone to this with,kurumi getting bitten because she let herself lose to emotion as an example
— or lets just say this is one of those unexplained secrets of anime like how some non magic MCs suddenly wield objects that are pulled from a certain pan-dimension?
Kinda agree with this… And also learning about the enemy is the best way of survival once you got that covered the undead would be just like ants getting flamed in their own anthill.
ANYWAY do you have an idea what timeline is covered in the anime? It is evident thatMegu-nee is dead based on various evidences in the anime so it means its after that event in the manga right? Or there is no timeline in this adaptation?
Miki already being at the school skews things a bit, but it’s mostly the same as the manga. It just means that one of the first thing they did was go to the mallafter Megu-nee died. That’s still before any of the events take place since Miki never met her, but not really specified how long after the outbreak though.
That’s pretty much always the question with slow zombies, I think. I’m guessing a lot of it has to do with the time-period between the people thinking it is some kind of disease that can be treated and realizing that once someone is bitten, they’re gone. Everyone gathers to treat a disease they think they can help with, a lot get exposed before anyone knows how deadly it is, and once word gets out about being bitten, people scatter, prioritize their own interests. There isn’t anything left to break the growing horde’s momentum, while the ignorant and those in denial infect their families and form new hordes. Pretty soon the uninfected are vastly outnumbered.
Also remember that human strength is held in check by our brains–an average person can rip a wooden door off its hinges and put a fist through a car window, but the pain it causes our muscles or the thought that we’re doing something wrong stops us. Zombies have that pain and thought turned off, hence when they seem slow and someone gets careless, the person is screwed as soon as they’re grabbed if they’re alone. You have to know what you’re dealing with.
Another thing(and my main question/issue with this story) is how fast the government takes the situation seriously. In most stories it’s the old “we got serious too late,” but here the principal of their high school knew an outbreak was possible, someone had enough foreknowledge to make outbreak guide booklets, and there are buildings like the school and the radio station that were built to be survival shelters with an actual “cure” available. So something is off about how the outbreak spread here that I think is supposed to have us confused/curious, and I’m guessing we’ll learn about it as the story develops. At this point, I have no problem at allsaying that I have faith in the writers.
Oh WTF, I know I put spoiler tags in there!! Damnit, I’m sorry! Takaii, hope you grab that before too many people read the last paragraph!
I hope the city name is not racoon city (or anything near the same meaning with it)….
In manga chapter 37, the theory of infected people who looks healthy is explained why the survivor on the university try to shoot these girls with arrow, they do not trust anyone even the one without bitten marks
@Alex your posts remind me of one of the few zombie materials/media that have handled the topic of spreading. If you’re curious, and if you haven’t yet you should check out World War Z (the book), not the movie. iirc the author also had another zombie book where he tackles zombie outbreaks throughout history.
What’s interesting in his book is how it starts off as an isolated unknown case, with a varied gestation period per victim. The infected would unknowingly spread the virus through blood transfusions, and organ donation. And he ties it with black market organ selling/transplants, human trafficking and illegal immigration all contributing to the spread. At which point once the virus sprung it already had multiple starting points, most of which I assume in high density 3rd world slums.
Really good read.
Gotchu.
I think the first infection was caused by something else, like contaminated food or water and then it took hours/days/weeks to turn the infected into real zombies. All those news seem to imply that the outbreak happened simultaneous at different places causing all kinds of accidents that allowed the zombies to bite the helpers and spread the infection during the chaos.
Even at school it didn’t look like a horde of zombies marched through the front gate but instead some of the students turned and infected everyone else. Yuuri even mentions that the other members of her club didn’t show up for some reason and i think they didn’t show up because some of them turned into zombies first.
So right now they could be turned into zombies by beeing bitten or if they stumble about the stuff that created the first zombies. Which means even if some people managed to get to some safe space, there is always the chance that someone infected was with them, even if none of them were bitten.
So basically this is highly similar to the events of the zombie outbreak in Resident Evil 2 & 3 video games…
You have to wonder if there’s also a secret bio-organic weapons research facility somewhere in the lore of Gakkou Gurashi.
@Techim: given what we learn later, it’s a safe bet SOMETHING was going on.This didn’t just happen with the way people were planning and preparing for it, but everything else is a mystery.
Zombies are completely out-of-whack creatures to begin with – if they’re dead, muscles dont work, period. And living ones would have to get basics like water and food which is impossible due to lack of mind capacity. Thoretically zombies could work if they devoured their victims but that would limit the spread of the disease… Kinda similar case is with rabies in the natural ecosystem, infected animals die due to dehydration, and most cases of infection is not by bite, but by carnivores eating dead victims…
So this is like counting how many devils you can fit on a tip of the needle…
yeah, i had this idea. What will happen to these Zombies bodies. An normal human body would run out of energy when you do not eat and drink. But perhaps their body cells transformation need lesser water to run.. But even then, sometime they dry out.
And perhaps that is the Outside rescue idea. Give them 1 week or more then this Problem would die out from alone…
But Zombie movies, was never that easy right?
And i am not watching for the Zombies, no i am watching of their social behavior with themselves
The only thing I can think of that could work would be an parasitic organism that could grow it’s own fibres to move the body, feeding off the decomposing tissue. But how would it sense without keeping the eyes and visual cortex alive? Without a massive supply of oxygen and energy, the head would just be a big chunk of meat.
@Rob
What you wrote, the Film “the Thing” come near to it.
Watch for spoilers man :’)
maybe its the writer choice to not elaborate on my question since the plot is technically SCHOOL LIFE with zombie apocalypse?
Game: The Last of Us, Resident Evil series
Army: Hold a City under Control, to prevent spreading the Virus. So, they wait until this Virus die out from alone. Or worst Case Scenario, Nuclear Strike. A Bomb of 1000 Suns to burn the Virus and all living things inside
Background somehow: With this Examples, you can get the Outside World reaction for this here. the Anime is focusing on the surviving Peoples of inside.
you can’t complain a story as plot hole before you’ve seen the whole plot
Perhaps it could be some sort of Blood-C type situation where the whole city, somehow secretly, minus a few “key” people or something, is just one giant testing site of some sort and all the “news broadcasts” and whatnot could be fake.
in the 1970 Year, there was a film, that perhaps is the inspiration here. An Alien Lifeforms fall together with a Satellite back to earth, and these Crystals turned the Human Blood into material that was poison for them. The Air was the spreading them. And some Nuclear Self-destruction security, would even spread this Virus over the World. So, a last change to stop the self-destruction, and simply Rain and Ocean water salt, was the Solution
Link to wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Andromeda_Strain
Modify this with Zombies, and voila, you could get the same Base for the Outside World in this Anime, or perhaps the Source of this all.. But of course this is my Speculation to give myself a background so far
Did you guys notice Megu-nee hair in this ep?
– Megu-nee has short-hair in the scenes where she is the only character on the screen
– Megu-nee has long-hair in the scenes where she’s with Yuki and co. and in the flashback.
Y’know, it’s easy to get cynical about a show like this. Zombie apocalypses are rather overplayed lately (especially in the west), and just throwing a bunch of cute girls in one seems to be rather lacking in creativity from a writing standpoint. Despite those misgivings, however, it manages to use its elements well to an utmost degree. This show just nails it. The horror of the situation, the feeling of a life of survival, the looming threat in the background, all of it.
I especially love the show’s subtlety. It doesn’t need to show us gore, because letting us imagine it is so much worse. Every cute-girl element only serves to give a bigger contrast with what reality’s like. The show takes its time with its character,- and worldbuilding, letting it flow organically. And characters don’t even have to say anything to give us hints about the situation – the looks on their faces often tell us enough. It’s a show that rewards your attention, and you constantly notice new things on repeat viewings.
This episode especially exemplified all those things. We see society collapse from the eyes of a bunch of happy girls and their teacher, all that they have taken away from them in an instant. The scenes of Kurumi killing the boy she liked, the phone call from the teacher’s office and even simple things, like Megu-nee’s interactions (of lack thereof) with her mother have a special type of horror to them. And Mii-kun’s face always betrays whenever they’re hiding something from Yuki again. Makes me wonder about that camping trip, I very much doubt it was actually Megu-nee outside that tent…
If Gakkou Gurashi keeps up this level of storytelling, it’s a fast rank up to my favorites of the season at this point. Gah, I hate having to wait another week for the next episode!
I’m glad you’re enjoying it! I know I am too 😀
Do not Forget, Japan is an Land with Earthquakes.There is surly some emergency’s Storage Rooms in some basements, for just that case. Right? To survive some days without food and Water from outside, and perhaps even an little fuel driven Energy Generator (but here it would be impossible to use it, of its noise)
While I can’t comment about schools in Japan because I’ve never been (yet), the manga points out on a few occasions that the school they’re in is pretty high tech. Episode one in the anime brought up the solar panels and I’m sure they’ll give a decent explanation about the shelter later ;D
Yeah. But if you take the idea further with Fuel Driven generators…
i mean, if some writer need an inspiration for energy sources. These Fuel Driven generators are just rotating some Magnets in a circle. Why not combine a windmill alike construction as external force, and voila, you have nearly noiseless generator.. okay, perhaps with some Car gear in between to rotate the generator faster..
i mean, if you try to combine the Nature as an external drive to replace electricity (post Nuclear worlds). Some kind of combine Today’s community with Nausicaa and the Valley of the Wind
I am looking to someone special here… *cough*
so if you take my Example, this is my Mind Picture:
And Half Car Wreck, where some Windmill construction is combined with the drive-shaft, and this Drive-shaft is still combined with the gearbox and works, the shaft after then drive a modified Generator at Home, combine it with rechargeable batteries for the Night or less wind… You have your today’s standard civilization.. Of course there is nothing that prevent power from working (ESP effect of Atomic Bombs). Yeah, you could use some Mad Max universe for the world building. But also “Akira” could fit here
Okay, i hope i could bring you my Mind Picture near. And perhaps you (dear Writer) can use it
I just noticed something based on the flashbacks, Yuki’s life isn’t as happy as it is, being bullied by classmates, having bad grades,having no friends and the fact that zombie outbreak appeared andMegu-nee’s death, which is the only person who she can rely on may actually triggered her delusions. And the irony is that her classmates that bullied her are her friends in her delusion.
http://images.randomc.net/Gakkou%20Gurashi/Gakkou%20Gurashi%20-%2003%20-%20Large%2010.jpg
http://images.randomc.net/Gakkou%20Gurashi/Gakkou%20Gurashi%20-%2003%20-%20Large%2011.jpg
http://images.randomc.net/Gakkou%20Gurashi/Gakkou%20Gurashi%20-%2003%20-%20Large%2019.jpg
So this is what happens huh…i wonder who or where is the root of it…NAH! kinda bit a edgy if you ask me!
Also, I kinda bit amuse for some scene there when…
http://images.randomc.net/Gakkou%20Gurashi/Gakkou%20Gurashi%20-%2003%20-%20Large%2026.jpg
…take that…
http://images.randomc.net/Gakkou%20Gurashi/Gakkou%20Gurashi%20-%2003%20-%20Large%2027.jpg
and that…XD
Another show I couldn’t watch because of illness, but catching up felt great. Megu-nee’s past told us more about the cast than her, and fittingly since she lives on inside them.
More of my thoughts here: https://unnecessaryexclamationmark.wordpress.com/2015/07/28/gakkou-gurashi-03/
Shovel Knight’s way of getting over unrequited love is something many girls should learn from; if you can’t win his heart, spade him as many times as you possibly can.
LOL. Giving you a thumbs up for the last sentence.