Previous episode above.
How many times has a window been smashed in this anime by now?
Michika was a character I wanted to build around the theme of Beauty, one part of the triad of Truth, Goodness, and Beauty. At the same time, I wanted her to remain someone full of contradictions and instability. Early in the series, she presents herself as calm, detached, and slightly condescending. But through glimpses such as her self-destructive tendencies in Episode 6, we gradually reveal how much she wavers beneath the surface. It was a difficult balance to strike. In some ways, she may be the most realistic personality in the cast. Yet when you bring reality directly into animation, it can paradoxically start to feel less real.
She's angry the entire episode.
The storyboard artist for this episode is someone extremely experienced with action scenes, and you can tell from the camera angles alone that they were eager to make things move. Even during recording, I found myself thinking, "Michika can move like that?" It was a great lesson in how visual storytelling can prioritize motion above all else.
Against Michika's escalating emotions, Kache remains relatively composed while still confronting her head-on. Her voice actress really gets a chance to shine here. With a character like Michika, the only option for the ordinary person is to get angry and confront her directly. In that sense, this development was always part of the plan when writing a gothic lolita character.
And despite the fact that a confrontation with KAngel is still waiting down the line, Kache doesn't hesitate to throw a full-strength punch. She's pretty unhinged herself.
If you're going to deal with themes like drugs and self-harm, they can't be treated casually. The early episodes were built to unsettle viewers from every angle. But if those themes were expressed solely through Ame-chan, everything would remain trapped within her perspective. So Michika ends up carrying that burden as well. In the end, she becomes a gothic lolita defined by a life of dependence, fear, and dignity. She relies on others. She's terrified of accepting the value of friendship. And yet she chooses to live alongside people anyway. Vulnerable, but proud. That became Michika's version of "gothic lolita."
By the way, the music choice for her middle school years came from a very strong recommendation by Ohisashiburi-san.
Middle school Michika. Very cute. Nobody even comments on how naturally she's already wearing colored contacts.
As for dealing with self-harm and dependence on psychiatric medication...
I wanted to present one answer. A straightforward one, even. "Receive proper treatment with the help and support of trusted friends."
No matter how idealistic that sounds, it's something I never wanted people to forget. Because I never had that myself, I wanted Michika to have it. It's the reward she earned through her own efforts.
Ame-chan, on the other hand, never had anyone like that.
Cute.
I didn't write anything about rye fields in the script. Then suddenly, during storyboarding, a rye field appeared and completely caught me off guard.
It was wonderful. One of those moments that made me realize how many people are contributing their own interpretations to this work.
On the other hand, I only wrote "burning Kinkaku-ji" in the script. The storyboard transformed it into "burning an old photograph taken in front of Kinkaku-ji."
Brilliant.
The Internet Angel she once was had become too beautiful in her memory. That's exactly why she had to burn it.
The short animation segment was handled by Hamafugu-san. Very cute.
When Michika is rendered entirely in black, she almost looks like Ai Enma.
Please check out Synthchan's music video too.
Miyazawa Kenji. Dostoevsky. Marilyn Manson.
The series continues scattering all these different influences, only to gradually pull them together toward the final confrontation. When I look at it now, I can't help feeling, "We've actually managed to do something pretty remarkable." These are all things I've spent years following and obsessing over.
But Lollipop never reached out and took Ame-chan's hand. The two of them simply don't hold the same ticket.
I spent a lot of time in the recording booth refining how low Ame-chan's voice should be around this point.
The humor in these scenes also lines up perfectly with both my tastes and the storyboard artist's. There's a slightly late-night-anime parody flavor to them that I really enjoy. It feels like being carried somewhere I never could have reached on my own. A very satisfying episode.
Dividing the three brothers from The Brothers Karamazov into Truth, Goodness, and Beauty is admittedly a rather forceful interpretation on my part. Still, I wondered whether following that interpretation throughout a single cour might reveal something interesting. In that sense, the entire screenplay was built around exploring my own reading of the novel.
I'm really fond of the paper-cut artwork.
I want merchandise of it so badly!!!!
Kokamumo and Odayaka... Thank you, as always.
I'm happy you chose Kache.
The key visual for Episode 10 has also been revealed.
It's finally starting to feel like the series is coming to an end. Well, there are still thirteen episodes in total.
There was even a poll asking viewers to vote on who would win.
The outcome is already decided, so unlike Ryuki, the route won't change based on everyone's wishes. That said, if you've been paying attention to the clues present since the very beginning, you can probably already figure out the answer.But I'll leave that for Episode 10. The direction next episode is incredible. Episode 9 was fantastic too, but Episode 10 is something special.
They're loved, aren't they?
This commentary ended up being shorter than usual because the next episode marks a major turning point. I'll pour all my thoughts into the Episode 10 write-up.
We've worked unbelievably hard to make this series.
Really.
Truly.
And that makes me happy.
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