Shuffle! 13 - Sad Shuffle! in grass field/house/other house/school/park/etc

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Where'd all the Shuffle! posts go? Anyone? Hello?

Now, where were we?

Still planning on blogging Shuffle! to completion, got all the notes prepared and the screenshots captured and all it needs is a little writing up.

Coming back to 13, this is the second of the Primula arc, which features, among other things, a more serious tone, a new dark title card/eyecatch, and 100% more loli.

Except for the fact that Rin just sent the loli back to her residence in the demon world, because he's a meanie like that. Seriously! It's not a bright move! The whole group seemed to have developed quite a connection with the quiet loli who was there not in words and in presence.


And not even Rin's really lousy lies and attempts to brighten the mood will improve anything. Kaede seems really down with the dissapearance of another member of her household - even despite the whole idea that it's just her and Rin now. Kaede needs more self-confidence - this is a perfect time to strike, no?

Or perhaps it's good that she values Rin's happiness over Rin. Right?

Carrying on after the jump. This time I'll keep it spoiler-free for those following the series, so this entry is safe for all who have reached episode 13...

Although it sure is tempting to spoil, as there are plenty of story threads opened in the Rimu arc and very few are closed quite away.


First of all we get a rather solemn Sia forming conspiracy plans with Rin to hide their secret relationship the real truth about Primula, which we're not close to knowing yet. They say stuff about how powerful she is (as Lucky Akira would put it, it's the control over the pedophiles), and her lack of control over...something...eheheh.


In addition we get shots of Primula who doesn't look very Rimu-like at all in the test tube. Demon and God talk about the high likelihood of her ending up like the other predecessors to her - or, in other words, dead. Hmm, that could be a problem.

But yet, in all it's cliched glory, there is but "one solution left" that could save her. What is it...? Wouldn't you like to know. Wouldn't I like to remember!

Also, finally for this scene, we get one more bit of foreshadowing when they mention a person called Licorice, which can be assumed to be one of the predecessors of Rimu. Who is she exactly? Of course you claim not to know, but you've already met her before...

Anyway, we get Sia who, despite the situation is still fighting to be the pleasantest of all the characters, which doesn't work out well with the very depressed Nerine. It's almost like she has ties to the whole thing. Hmm. Together, Sia forms the daring dinner date plan, which for once doesn't involved winning Rin's heart (your arc's over Sia, get back to the corner) but rather involves trying to get God and Demon to spill the plans, preferably through the spilling of wine they love so much.


But it's rather a lot easier than that, as while God and Demon speak in foreshadowy, nonrevealing terms such as "Rimu won't last much longer" and "she won't come back anymore", Metal Gear Rin is paying full attention, and catches them with their hands up. Time for plot, right right?

Actually, yes, a bit, as they discuss the connection between Rimu and emotions hinted at earlier. Emotions of happiness and love cause Rimu's power to activate (feel the magical girl-ness) and, since she has very little power over them, causes her to lose control, go crazy, and freeze lots of stuff. So, the reverse theory is the apparent 'only solution' here; if her emotions are erased, then things should all work out.

You can figure out the logical drawbacks.


Anyway, after this is revealed, Rin and everyone else gets more depressed. We get some great camera angles to show this - the lighting in this show is really spot on and helps to reflect the mood. It's interesting how hard Rin takes the removal of Primula - perhaps because it's something he caused himself - and it'll be interesting to see how hard he takes some of the other plot twists, such as when Asa falls out of a tree and dies, Sia turns out to be secretly plotting to kill her entire family, and Kaede turns into a bird and flies away.

500 bonus points if you can understand what characters I'm referencing.

Also, Rin seems to care a lot about Primula for something who's supposedly not a lolipedofiend. But maybe it's Harem Nice Guy theory, in that he's annoying nice to everybody.


Oh yeah, Nerine's depressed too, but she has an "I heart Rin" button, which is five flavors of cool. She needs to wear that around school and pass some out to all of the harem. Give Rin one of them write-in stickers. "Hello, I'm Rin and I love ___".


Asa pops out of nowhere at school again and plays the Naive Girl Who Doesn't Know Anything (for once). Rin brushes her off pretty hard after her demand to confess his undying love for her tell her what the hell is going hard. Probably, he doesn't think he knows either.


And Rin, the emotional fool he is, heads back to the arcade, the source of all the memories of Rimu. This is like after hearing that a loved one got run over and going by the scene of the crime on the way to the hospital. It's irrational, stupid, and a reference that's worth another 500 points.

Luckily, who else but Asa shows up to keep Rin from going broke. Yay, Asa cares! It's good to know he chased Rin after hearing everything from Kaede.


Rin still is guilt-tripping himself to death, and references another event when he talks about how happy Kaede is trying to act still, and how he'd rather have Kaede condemn him for it - 'like she did before'. Hello, foreshadow bat!


Asa takes Rin taking himself hard pretty hard herself, as she seems almost similar to Kaede in that Rin influences her and her mood a lot. It's one of the interesting aspects of Shuffle, in that all the characters are already established as wildly in love with Rin; even Asa, who isn't as blatantly obvious of it shows all the signs.


Asa gets some bonus points this episode for helping to drag everybody out of the gutter with good pep-talks which really show the confident, helpful and selfless side of her character. Rin gets a very fast turnaround to epiphany in this episode with Asa's mention of all the good things he did for Rimu.


And finally, Rin ends up back with Nerine at the point where they met for the second time, and for the first. She is the only one, at this point who has not been moved by the Shocking Shigure Speech, and is the most resistant to going to see Rimu, because her situation is 'hopeless'. As always, there is more to Nerine's plight than the eye sees...

Would you believe me if I said her voice was important?

-CCY