Quick Summary
In Caligula episode 2, “Anxiety, Irritation, and Other Such Negative Emotions Spread to Others,” Ritsu Shikishima can’t believe his eyes or the testimony of Shougo Satake — vague as it is — to explain his friends transforming into creatures — creatures that attacked him! Meanwhile, Kotarou Tomoe and Suzuna Kagura, while being no less incredulous, nevertheless accept that they’re in danger and try to protect themselves. Their results are mixed. Mifue Shinohara recognizes that her mom’s fake and tries to escape to Tokyo. But what can all of them do when they literally hit a wall while μ apologizes profusely?
Note: This post may include spoilers, so be cautious.
What’s In This Post
Quick Episode Summary
3 Favorite Moments
Thoughts
Related Posts
3 Favorite Moments
- If you’ve seen one “here’s the kind of magical/parallel universe/artificial world you’re in” talk, you’ve seen them all, right? Apparently not! After Satake leads Shikishima to safety, he tries to explain the world to Shikishima, but he stutters and mumbles so much that Shikishima says he can’t trust the man and starts to walk away (5:24). Instead of the expected info dump, I got an interesting character-based conversation! Even better — Frustrated at her partner’s (friend’s? acquaintance’s?) inability to explain the situation, a pint-sized floating sprint named Aria shows up and says to Satake (5:37), “Ah, jeez! Shogo, you suck at explaining!” I’m not sure what I found more hilarious: That she was so blunt with Satake or that she had this furious expression — and she was only about 20 centimeters tall! I think I’m going to like Aria. She’s tiny, but she’s fearless! As a side note, it was Aria’s voice that Shikishima heard in μ’s music in the previous episode.
Thoughts
I have to say that Mai Fuchigami, the voice actor for Marie Mizuguchi, has the most amazing musical tones in her voice! It’s a treat just to hear her dialogue, especially the questions! I shouldn’t be surprised, though, since she also voiced Iona in Arpeggio of Blue Steel, and I loved that show and its cast!
The last scene was a fantastic way to bring home the idea that they’re in a limited, artificial world called Mobius. No long, drawn-out metaphysical explanations. Just clear shots of the edges of a map — much like you’d see in Unreal Tournament or other level-based video games. As μ apologizes for her inability to make a better world, you get exactly what’s going on. Very cool!
I’m enjoying how this series uses “show, don’t tell” to get its points across. This episode showed us two key facts that I think are going to drive this narrative arc.
First, we learned that μ is being deceived (by the Ostinato Musicians?). We don’t know why they’re deceiving her, but I think it’s a safe bet that it’s a power thing. Some human wanted power, and they saw μ as a way to get it. That’s one constant in human history, after all — with precious few exceptions.
Second, they’re in a Mobius, a world of Mu’s making. She’s building out the world to look like modern Japan. Apparently, her motivation is to make people happy by giving them what they want, including new families and friends! It’s hard to deny that μ herself has a laudable intent, at least from her perspective as a virtual idol. That perspective, and its attendant naiveté, make her ripe for manipulation.
As an Aristotelian Thomist, having earned a dual degree in English and Theology, I’ve often wondered if some of the core philosophies and theologies that our institutions have foisted on us have a similar purpose? The idea that we should behave in a particular way and according to a particular code, or else we’ll be punished — doesn’t that sound a lot like what’s going on here? I’m speaking at a high level, of course, but I think we can all remember examples of an institution, whether it be a church, a business, or a government, propagating ideas to make their rule easier. Why oppress a people, or a congregation, or a society, when you can get them to oppress themselves?
If my hunch about the Ostinato Musicians plays out, it’ll be a fictional example of an implication of this line of thought. Namely, that — speaking from the perspective of my Theology degree — I think we’ve been taught wrong. I don’t think we should be afraid of demons. I think we should fear humans behaving badly.
Given our propensity to misuse power and inflict harm on ourselves and everything around us, I suspect that the demons are actually afraid of us.
What’d you think of this episode? What were your favorite moments? Let me know in the comments!
Other Posts of Interest
Other Anime Sites
This Site (Crow’s World of Anime!)
- Caligula Episode 1
- Caligula Episode 3: Why do we live? The further we pursue the meaning of life, the more confused we become
- Caligula Episode 4: People who do not respect themselves will not be respected by others
- Caligula Episode 5: Everyone gets hurt. But those who don’t realize they’re hurting can’t be healed
- Caligula Episode 6: Looking forward doesn’t equal progress on its own. Understanding one’s situation is also an important step.
- Caligula Episode 7: When you’re in a desperate situation, it’s all the more important to keep smiling
- Caligula Episode 8: Your life shouldn’t be built from someone else’s blueprint. No matter how unskilled you may be, you should draw it yourself
- Caligula Episode 9: Even if something has already happened, you can still choose what you do
- Caligula Episode 10: Caligula
- Caligula Episode 11: People constantly seek out the right answer. Yet, is being right really all that matters?
- Caligula Episode 12: Destroy your ideals and self, and return to hell and reality
