Quick Summary
In In/Spectre episode 6, “Logical Fiction,” Kotoko Iwanaga put her prodigious experience as goddess of wisdom to work on the problem: Coming up with a more satisfying yet less dangerous interpretation of the Steel Lady Nanase. Kotoko needed data, and a great source of data would be the original police reports. It just so happened that Kotoko was sitting in the living room of the police officer Saki Yumihara. Not only that, Kotoko’s current boyfriend, Kurou Sakuragawa, was Saki’s ex-boyfriend. Can the two of them convince Saki to give them access to the files? Will asking some of Kotoko’s ghost friends help their cause? And will the Steel Lady Nanase be so good as to give them time to come up with a plan — before killing any innocent people?
Note: This post may include spoilers, so be cautious.
Best Moment in the Show
In his unguarded moments, Kurou makes little gestures or statements that suggest Kotoko means more to him than nothing. But how much more? Does he even know? Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.
Kotoko and Kurou have a complicated relationship, and this episode gave us some tantalizing glimpses into just how complex.
Most of the time, I think Kurou gives us plenty of evidence that he doesn’t even like Kotoko, much less love her romantically. In the previous episode, after he came back to life and drove off the Steel Lady Nanase (and I still think I-Beam Idol is a better moniker), he approached Kotoko and Saki. Kotoko threw her arms open for him, but he walked right past her. That doesn’t seem to be the action of someone in love, does it?
Then in this episode, we get two more moments that threw that interpretation into doubt. I’ll mention the first (I swear I’m not cheating!) because it places the second event into context. As they were trying to figure out how to approach the problem of convincing people they had a different less dangerous interpretation of the Steel Lady, things looked bleak. Kotoko was sitting on a chair with a laptop. Kurou sat to her right on the floor. He couldn’t come up with any ideas, and he was starting to get worried that Nanase might kill someone. He gently placed his hand on Kotoko’s knee (02:20), and in a quiet voice, he asked what they could do.
Let me repeat that, because I had to replay that section to see if I saw what I thought I saw.
What’s that look in his eyes? Vacancy? Longing? Despair? It’s been a long time since a relationship caught my attention like this! Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.
He willingly, without her prompting, placed his hand on her knee. He didn’t make any strange face; he wasn’t being sardonic. It looked to me like he forgot he should pretend he didn’t like her and acted as if they were intimate.
Later, and this is actually my Best in Show moment, Kotoko convinced (tricked?) Saki to share some information from the police reports. After listening to Saki share the police investigation’s results, Kotoko said that she thought someone had actively worked to establish the Steel Lady Nanase in the public’s imagination.
Almost under his breath, again almost as if he had forgotten to pretend he didn’t like Kotoko, Kurou said (12:21), “Considering how things usually go, you probably know what happened.”
What a statement of confidence! And what a complex relationship! I’m beginning to suspect that Kurou doesn’t see himself as someone who is capable of receiving love, is capable of giving love, or both. He’s starting to look like quite the tragic character, and I think Kotoko sees it, too. Remember her quote near the end of the episode? But that would be too many moments, and I’ve already (almost) cheated by bringing up the first!
What did you think of the way our heroes unraveled Steel Lady Nanase’s past? What was your Best in Show moment? Let me know in the comments!
Other Posts about This Series
Other Anime Sites
- Reddit: Kyokou Suiri – Episode 6 discussion
- Believe in Geek: IN/SPECTRE // KYOKO SUIRI : LOGICAL FICTION
- 100 Word Anime: In/Spectre Episode 6 Review
This Site (Crow’s World of Anime!)
- In/Spectre Episode 1: One Eye, One Leg
- In/Spectre Episode 2: What the Guardian Serpent Heard
- In/Spectre Episode 3: The Rumors of the Steel Lady
- In/Spectre Episode 4: Idol Dies by Steel Beam
- In/Spectre Episode 5: A Monster of the Imagination
- In/Spectre Episode 6: Logical Fiction
- In/Spectre Episode 7: Preparing to Conquer the Steel Lady
- In/Spectre Episode 8: She Who Spins Fiction
- In/Spectre Episode 9: The Committee to Conquer Steel Lady Nanase
- In/Spectre Episode 10: Dueling Factions
- In/Spectre Episode 11: The Ultimate Fiction
- In/Spectre Episode 12: She Who Defends Order
