Tag Archives: Charlotte Episode 10

Review: Charlotte, Episode 10: Looting

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Review:

Shun walks Yu and Nao through the story of how, by the use of multiple time skips, he managed to build the reality that they all currently live in. As with any power, Shun’s came with a price—he lost a little bit of his sight with each time skip, eventually going completely blind after making the skip to build the current reality. Though he is no longer able to use his powers, he acknowledges that they still exist, and explains his plan to have Yu save Ayumi. By taking Shun’s power, Yu is able to travel back in time and stop the tragic event from ever happening. Of course, this doesn’t go unnoticed, and he prepares to meet the Shun of the present time line.

Charlotte’s story keeps getting better at this point, which makes it a real shame that this type of storytelling wasn’t used early on. The back story of how widespread the abduction of children with powers was and how Shun set out to save them makes the episode extremely compelling, and honestly feels like it would have been a better central plot for the overall show than what we have seen. It makes Yu’s story feel like more of a subplot in a grander story. It still raises questions about where things will go from here, as it would seem that Shun has created a system that does a decent job of protecting children with powers, and Yu has managed to save Ayumi. What more could be done at this point is unclear, but at least the writers have finally created a story that makes us want to come back for more.

The only point of criticism comes from a detail of Yu’s story. In the previous episode, we saw Yu freak out when ZHIEND played a “new” song that he had actually heard in a different reality. Initially, it seemed that the characters came from that reality to the one that we have followed so far; however, this episode seems to paint an image of multiple time skips that culminated in a reality where Shun, Yu, and Ayumi did not end up in a facility at all. It would seem that there had to at least be a few time skips in between the facility escape we saw last week and the reality we have come to know, as Shun’s final jump seemed to take place not in a facility, but in the hiding place that he and other children had formed. The contradiction here is how the ZHIEND song could have been a trigger for Yu if the Yu in the show’s reality was a Yu who never experienced the facility life (where he was shown listening to the song in the first place). This may seem like a fairly insignificant plot point, but when you consider the fact that this is what ultimately triggered Yu’s memory—leading him back to Shun and to his solution for saving Ayumi—you realize that it is actually pretty significant.

Charlotte’s latter episodes still continue to fare better than their earlier counterparts, even with the previously mentioned plot inconsistency. This particular episode provides plenty of backstory, along with plenty of laughs, and should be a welcome entry to anyone who considers themselves a fan of the show.

A Christian Perspective:

This is a good episode for reflecting on the selflessness that love should bring about. Shun repeatedly (we’re not told how many times) jumped back in time and relived the same events over and over, working each time to figure out a solution to the problem of children being hauled off to the facility. While it is fairly safe to assume that protecting Yu and Ayumi was a large part of his motivation, he seemed to also care for all of the children who would be impacted. Even after he realizes that every use of his power costs him a portion of his vision (eventually rendering him blind), Shun does not give up—he continues fighting for these people that he cares about, eventually succeeding in exchange for his sight. After learning all of this, Yu then takes Shun’s power with the intention of saving Ayumi. It is not entirely clear if Yu could also experience the loss of his vision—and one jump doesn’t seem to be enough to noticeably impact one’s sight—but Yu doesn’t let that stop him from making the jump for Ayumi’s sake. The overall point is that both of these characters allowed their love for others to inspire them to risk themselves fort he sake of those that they loved. While not as powerful as what Jesus did for us (but really, can anything ever be that powerful?), it still serves as a message of how fully we should be willing to serve each other.

Content Guide:

Language:1”g**z”, 1 “d*mmit”

Alcohol/Drug Use: None

Nudity/Sex/Fanservice: There is a flashback to Yu possessing a girl and making her look down her shirt—another shows him possessing a different girl and using her to look under another girl’s skirt

Violence: There are still shots of various acts of violence; Yu hits himself in the face with a book

Blood/Gore: At least one still shot shows a bloody scene