Summary
The class reads a story. 180 years ago, there was a boy who was very
intelligent. Unfortunately, he was also very proud of this, and his arrogance
caused others to shun him. Since he failed to heed the lessons of his school
and elders, his pride persisted and created more and more negative karma, until
he was transformed into a Karmic Demon. Realizing that such a creature cannot
be allowed to exist, he vanished into the lake.
The school holds its annual Carryball Tournament, which involves the
students creating balls and playing pieces out of clay, which they manipulate
using their Power. Saki’s group makes it to the final match, but just as their
ball has almost reached the opposing goal her friend Shun is suddenly unable to
move it any further, and then an opposing piece collides with their Pusher – an
illegal move, shattering it and causing the ball to roll away. Even the other
team seems surprised, but one boy insists it was an accident, and the teacher
seems to agree, calling the match a draw. However, Saki and her friends are
certain the attack was deliberate. Not only is interfering with a Pusher
against the rules of the game, using one Power against another is itself
dangerous and therefore illegal. The boy responsible soon vanishes. It’s
implied to involve a certain not-very-nice kitty. However, no one pays his
disappearance much notice and focus on planning their upcoming field trip,
where each group rows up the Tone River to spend a week camping in the
wilderness beyond the Sacred Barrier, independent of other groups and the
school faculty.
Shortly before the trip, Saki and the gang spot two Monster Rats, sentient
but otherwise normal rats used for labor purposes. They worship those with
Power like gods, but they’re kept away from the children because the adults are
worried about how they’ll react to those who haven’t developed their Powers
yet, so none of Saki’s group has seen one before. One gets trapped in the
garbage they’re trying to clean from an irrigation ditch, but Saki saves it,
despite not being allowed to use her Power without permission. The two rats
thank the ‘god’ for her help, and Maria makes everyone promise not to tell.
Satoru recognizes a mark on the rescued one’s forehead that identifies it as a
member of Stemborer Colony 619.
Thoughts
I got some Nineteen Eighty-Four vibes
from this episode, what with children disappearing from the class and their
names removed from the roster, and this not really being acknowledged (funny,
though, that the first time this is shown it’s Satoru’s name that gets stamped,
rather than Reiko’s right under it. Either that’s a goof in the subtitles or
something unpleasant is in store for Satoru). Not to mention how Manabu, the
boy who cheated, disappears. Remember how in Nineteen Eighty-Four Julia speculates that the Party itself may be
the one dropping the rocket bombs, to keep the Proles cowed? Well, here Manabu
cheats, and presumably that same evening a shape that looks like a large cat is
seen following him. Not only does it suggest that the Trickster Cat does go after naughty children, but that
there’s a deeper connection between it and the adults. This is a society that
makes underperforming or excessively rule-breaking kids unpersons, and that
makes use of modified animals – it wouldn’t surprise me if they have at least
some control over a creature or spirit said to go after those who misbehave, while
using it as a typical boogeyman (‘be on time for dinner or the Trickster Cat
will get you!’) to hide the fact that it’s real. We already know that at least
some of the adults hide things, such as Saki’s mom – this time she denies that
anything happened while she was in the Unified Class, but since we know she’s
keeping things from Saki, it’s easy to take what she says with a grain of salt
– and the Cat showing up right after Manabu cheated is too convenient to be
written off as a complete coincidence. It makes me think the teacher did know that he cheated and called a
draw to avoid arousing suspicion after the latter disappears.
Still, though, people disappearing doesn’t seem to be a case of
everyone having to pretend the vanished never existed so much as it not being
polite to bring them up or acknowledge the disappearance. The narrator at the
end freely mentions both Manabu and Reiko and is implied to be an adult Saki
(through the use of “me” relative to the latter’s friends), so it’s not like
everyone just forgets they exist.
Also: many people would have lived if Maria had never been born?
Whatever that means should prove to be interesting…
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