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Outbreak Company Ep 11 Review – Quick Summary
In Outbreak Company Ep 11, “Plot Silent, Plot Deep,” scenes of students bickering over sparse copy of manga troubled Shinichi. He was even more alarmed when he, Myucel, and Minori witnessed one student refusing to do his chores because he wanted to read manga. As a good company executive, Shinichi, flanked by Minori, brought his concerns to Jinzaburou Matoba. After carefully describing all of the scenes they’d witnessed, Matoba shocked Shinichi by saying, “Isn’t that splendid?” Manga scarcity wasn’t an accident. It was a deliberate policy to increase dependency! But Shinichi’s shock was nothing compared to his reaction to what he learned moments later.
Note: This post may include spoilers, so be cautious.
Favorite Quote from Outbreak Company Ep 11
Minori couldn’t even look Shinichi in the eye when she explained the situation in more detail. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.
Minori tried to give Shinichi context for the massive reveal that Matoba had dropped on him earlier. She said (12:02), “Eldant was a nation without any recreational culture. and bringing otaku culture into it would be like dropping a biological weapon that rapidly spreads its infection… It would be an outbreak.”
I think there’s evidence Minori knew all along (see below). At the same time, I think it’s clear she doesn’t want Shinichi to come to any harm. I think telling him this was her way to emphasize just how big a secret was — and what lengths their government would go to keep it secret.
Best in Show Moment for Outbreak Company Ep 11
Myucel had a much more clear idea of the purpose of politics than Shinichi did — or Matoba. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.
Setup: Politics – One of The Highest Moral Sciences
Huh? Have I Been Working from Home Too Long?
That headline might lead you to conclude that I am a) I am stupidly naïve, b) hopelessly optimistic, or c) utterly insane. There’s actually a fourth option. What is it? Well, this episode reminded me of something I’d forgotten. Something that my blossoming cynicism was all too happy to bury. It’s also something that it seems to many of the people I grew up with (at least according to their Facebook posts) reject out of hand.
I have a Bachelors in English and Theology. I was going to teach both, until I saw the starting salaries for teachers in Catholic schools. The point is, my education included a wonderful class called Principles of Education. Dominican Sister Mary Michael Spangler taught it. She also wrote the text book. Have you ever talked to someone who has the talent for understanding deep philosophy, a talent for teaching the material, and a joy in sharing what she’s thought? It was so uplifting that it’s astonishing. I had never experienced an intellectual high like that before. I don’t know that I have since.
Minori knew what she was doing was morally wrong. But she still followed her orders. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.
The text book she wrote had a section about arts and sciences. Among the sciences, theology, was, of course, considered the Queen of the Sciences. This was a Catholic college, after all. But do you know what was considered the second highest of all the sciences? Want to take a guess?
Here’s the quote from page 155 of the book Principles of Education, A Summary of Aristotelian Thomism Contrasted with Other Philosophies: “The highest level of the moral sciences belongs properly to the political scientists or the politicians who practice their art for the common good.”
Okay, Was Aquinas Working from Home Too Long?
Think about that for a second. Thomas Aquinas, who inherited most of his philosophical underpinnings from Aristotle, suggested that politicians were pretty close to the top of the food chain in terms of morality. Aquinas considered politics a high and noble science, because it supported the common good.
Now, with that thought in mind, take a look at almost any news feed. If I read Facebook (my wife tells me that it’s called doom-scrolling in some places), I see that a lot of folks in one party call folks in the other party demon-crats for “reasons.” Apparently, demon-crats are hell-bent on destroying the country. Again, for “reasons.” I am still unclear how demon-crats will weaponize universal health care to bring about the Death of Democracy. But the key idea here is that the concept of common good is not only dead. It’s forgotten.
Shinichi might not ever had read Aquinas. But he knew how it felt to be on the receiving end of politics that weren’t applied for the common good. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.
That’s why the moment I’m about to describe was so hard for me to acknowledge. It’s almost alien now. It relies on an idea of plain goodness or affection or love are in and of themselves enough reason for a political decision. Maybe the best reasons.
People deride that idea. If others try to bring it up, they get slammed as being naive. The thing is, making a decision out of concern or love or anything positive doesn’t make one weak. It makes one moral.
Put another way. A doctor can use medical knowledge to heal. Or they could use it to torture and kill. If a doctor or nurse treats someone because they’re concerned, does that make them weak?
Delivery
Myucel Is Very Wise
Shinichi learned that he had been the unwitting instrument of a cultural invasion. Matoba had made it clear that if Shinichi tried to quit, the government would send agents to kill him. All to preserve government secrets. After all, if he died, no one would miss him. Matoba thought that lack of connections made Shinichi attractive for the job.
Shinichi, heart-broken and guilt-ridden, stayed in his room all day. When he came down to the kitchen well after dark, he found that Myucel had cooked many plates of omurice for him. She had added uplifting slogans to cheer him up. Of course, it just made him feel worse.
It took a lot of courage for Shinichi to confess to Myucel — even if deep down he might have trusted that she would support him. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.
He confessed to her. “I am an invader,” he said, hands shaking (17:11). Saying it might have been better had he never come here, he said wasn’t sure they should be together.
Myucel feigned ignorance about such political matters and said (17:41), “But I know that you’re a kind person, Master. That much I do know.” When he tried to protest, she shook her head and explained that his influence had not only helped her learn to read and write, but it had allowed her to interact with Petralka. She reminded him that despite how he’d been tricked, he had done some real good. Her cheerfully expressed confidence put him back on the right track.
It’s about Doing the Right Thing
Myucel knew the secret hiding in plain sight. Namely, that if politics can’t be used to make peoples’ lives better, then it’s not being used right, or it’s being used for the wrong reasons. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.
That’s the thing about politics. Sure, it can be used to crush your political opponents. But it can also be used to improve lives. No — it should be used to improve people’s lives. It should be used to protect lives. How can anyone not get behind the idea that politics should be used to improve the human condition?
I mean, seriously…
Myucel’s attitude reminded me of a lot I’d forgotten, not the least of which is to embrace what’s right even if it seems naïve. If something’s right, it’s right. Its other properties only add spice.
Do you think Minori knew about why Matoba had selected Shinichi? What was your Best in Show moment? Let me know in the comments!
Outbreak Company Ep 11: Other Posts
Other Anime Sites
- Reddit: [Spoilers] Outbreak Company Episode 11 Discussion
- The Fandom Post: Outbreak Company Episode #11 Anime Review
- Random Curiosity: Outbreak Company – 11
This Site (Crow’s World of Anime!)
- Outbreak Company Episode 1 Review: I Landed in Another World
- Outbreak Company Episode 2 Review: I-I’d Better Watch It
- Outbreak Company Episode 3 Review: Thou Art Invaders
- Outbreak Company Episode 4 Review: Furry Spy
- Outbreak Company Episode 5 Review: This Really Is Another World
- Outbreak Company Episode 6 Review: Soccer… Soccer?
- Outbreak Company Episode 7 Review: Maid in Japan
- Outbreak Company Episode 8 Review: The Melancholy of Her Imperial Majesty
- Outbreak Company Episode 9 Review: Swimsuit of the Dead
- Outbreak Company Episode 10 Review: Magical Girl Petralka
- Outbreak Company Episode 11 Review: Plot Silent, Plot Deep
- Outbreak Company Episode 12 Review: Shoot the Invaders!
“I had never experienced an intellectual high like that before. I don’t know that I have since.”
Might I recommend rewatching Highschool of the Dead and pay attention the number of times people rejected the pandemic as a hoax. Daisuke Sato was a prophet!
You know, you’re right. Daisuke Sato had a much better handle on humans than I do! I worked as a Disaster Recovery Architect for a few years, and pandemic response was part of the package. If you want an example of how fall the US Government has fallen in this regard, check out President Obama’s Presidential Policy Decrees 8 (PPD-8). It’s a fantastic outline of how to respond to that kind of thing.
I was so wrapped up with understanding how to fashion a response that it never occurred to me someone would actually deny that a pandemic that’s killing hundreds of thousands of people across the planet doesn’t exist.
I guess for some people, there is no war in Ba Sing Se…
It’s staggering the level with which people can deny something that’s happening right in front of them. They’ll believe one person that says what they want to hear over the rest of the world all saying the opposite. It’s a conspiracy, man…