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Last episode, we got a fresh start to Cue. Second seasons were announced and girls finally changed clothes once. Thank the gods!
My Thoughts
So we start this episode pretty normally, just the radio show girls doing their thing. Nothing out of the ordinary. They announced that they auditioned and didn’t get the part. Then they flash to one of their fans watching on their computer in some dimly lit room. I laughed it off, thinking that’s exactly how their listeners would probably look, but things get more sinister as time goes on.
Apparently, this weirdo is sending them emails about being their fate. I think they’ve got themselves a stalker! Not the turn I expected, but it’s interesting if nothing else. “I want to be your fate.” Doesn’t that just scream trustworthy? The guy also can’t use grammar to save his life, even worse than me. This guy writes like one of those emails saying to send your money to some other country or else they’ll hunt down your children that you don’t have or something. It’s a creepy scam guy.
The girls seem to be pretty accepting of this, happy that they finally have a really passionate fan, which, in and of itself, is a cool direction for the anime to go. I’m very surprised by some of the themes they tackle here. Anyway, stay away. That guy is clearly bad news. He’s a fan, yes, but not one they want. And they’re all aboard. They literally want to go do “the work of fate.” with this guy. Granted, they don’t know it’s some sweaty weirdo, but I think these girls need to reevaluate their self-preservation abilities a bit.
I’m writing a lot because this episode is really grossing me out. I feel really bad because I see so easily how people could fall into this situation. You believe in what you’re doing, and you don’t want to believe that your biggest fan is just some creep. The dangers of the internet, am I right? In case you didn’t know, you should never go on a wild goose chase trying to track down a creepy fan so long that you run out of gas and get stranded somewhere. It’s bad news.
How do you be even more irresponsible? Go into the strange build that the riddle leads you to and not only take an elevator to god knows where but also follow creepy arrows exactly where the creepy guy wants you to go. I know this will end up having a very innocent reveal at the end, but this is a very real, very unsettling episode so far.
At the end of the dungeon office, they all see a screen with RPG class versions of their characters that move in real-time. It’s neat. Then Masapi, who’s the creep, shows up as a mask on screen like some Jigsaw wannabe. If that sentence was confusing, just try watching it happen. Well, they agree to help with this real-time animation thing. They don’t die, so there’s that. Cool. That’s the end.
I have to say, that was probably the most unexpectedly creepy episode of an anime I’ve ever watched in my life. From beginning to end, they tried to make it as unsettling as possible, and it was only made worse by the fact that these girls are absolute morons. Seriously, nobody with half a brain cell would ever even attempt to do this stuff. Also, I disagree. It was definitely shady, not just dodgy. I can think of nothing shadier, actually!
Want my advice? Do not do this! Be wary of anyone and anything on the internet! Even if you feel like you’ve known somebody, they could still be a freaking creep! Value yourself more! That’s not to say you can’t trust people you’ve never met. You can, but it takes time and enough interaction with someone to be like, “yeah, I think they’re ok.” It’s when the things they’ve told you line up with their actions. That’s when you know you can generally trust someone. Not when they write fanmail about fate!
I honestly don’t know what the intended message of this episode was because I guarantee you, I bet my entire fortune I don’t possess that if you did this in real life, it would not turn out the same. You wouldn’t even be reading this because you’re probably dead. With that aside, good episode. I liked it a lot. Cue always shows me new things, and creepy super fans in definitely something anyone has to deal with when they start to get fame, especially if you happen to be female. That increases the creeps by at least five times.
So Cue’s really covering their bases here. I have to give them credit. New start, new creeps, new uncomfortable episodes! Good stuff. Very good, very good. I would say more, but I think both me and this series have said everything we wanted to.
Thank you very much for reading
Don’t do anything you saw in this episode. Ignore all of it.
This episode may have a few framing issues for sure. For example, the music could’ve been less creepy when they’re walking up the stairs, or the inside of the building could’ve had more windows in order to ensure that indeed things would end up light-hearted. But only Riko really wants to chase that fate at first; the others are pretty suspicious. The others tagging along is for Riko’s safety, and Mahoro always wanted to go eat omurice too. Of course, Riko should’ve never pursued it in the first place without the work being officially approved.
Something else caught my attention though upon re-watching this episode. Miharu joins Riko when she first goes off not just because it’s definitely a good idea to not let someone potentially venture off to get kidnapped on their own, but because Miharu wants to learn more about Riko. I say that because she does the same thing with Mahoro in episode 16. Riko revealing things about herself and the duo journeying together is more pleasant with this in mind.
The inclusion of Masapi is a little strange, but it’s something new. It makes me wonder what the writers were thinking that led them to incorporating this specific way of spicing up series such as this.