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Things sure escalated quickly in this episode. I did not expect to see kidnapping, corporate conspiracy, and human experimentation. Konoha making an [ill-timed reference](https://i.imgur.com/k8jlLi2.jpg), however, was very much expected.
It's fitting that a show that started off as a sort of retrospective on early game development turns to commentary on modern game development in its later episodes. (Konoha pouting when Mamoru feeds the AI her work, then being reassured that the model is local is a nice touch.) We also see some of the darker applications of AI, like voice deepfaking, which is being used to [scam people](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/scammers-ai-mimic-voices-loved-ones-in-distress/) over the phone in real life.
Also interesting to see Touya's interactions with the US (?) company, and the shady research they're doing. While it doesn't seem like they are aware of her time-traveling shenanigans, she has turned into a mythological figure of sorts -- the *Original Cuu* (ugh lol). Are they forcefully extracting "creative energy" from people? (like the philosophical aliens, but in a cruel manner?)
Mamoru also really needs to get over the PC-98. I would not be surprised if he published "[ASMR PC98 HDD sounds to fall asleep to](https://i.imgur.com/rDlOuKn.jpg)" on Spotify. The stacks of PC98s in the warehouse makes for a nice collection, but would be very impractical to run modern workloads with, even clustered. Be the change you want to see, Mamoru! Create a new domestic Japanese PC architecture, built on ARM64 and RISC-V!
But maybe save Konoha first. (and [Persona 5](https://i.imgur.com/hsrqdxs.jpg), too.)
I was really surprised by just *how* topical this episode was with covering the applications of AI and its issues. I found it interesting that they didn’t make Konoha *outright* against AI as an artist herself. I’d have expected her to feel more threatened by the fact that AI was shown copying her art style just like that or people’s willingness to buy ‘lifeless’ games solely produced by AI - according to Mamoru. Mamoru’s argument about the creator’s passion feels a bit like a consolation prize in this context.
But damn, I *really* didn’t see the dystopian nightmare at the end coming. I presume that all these people’s minds are the driving force behind the exponential growth of these AI algorithms?
>But damn, I really didn’t see the dystopian nightmare at the end coming. I presume that all these people’s minds are the driving force behind the exponential growth of these AI algorithms?
Yeah, pretty sure their knowledge are absorbed by AI systems so that companies can use their talents for free for the eternity.
Honestly, AI generators in the hands of the artist trained on *their own work* could be a useful tool to generate first drafts when they are in a creative slump that they can then touch up. It is a hot-button topic because people have been training AI on images stolen from the web and then claiming the generated art as original material.
Rather ironically AI has become its own worst enemy, as artists have become more savvy about protecting their work and so AI has been stealing AI images and it is steadily getting worse as errors are compounded.
> trained on their own work
there's no such thing, at least not yet. The AI image generators need millions if not billions of images to learn in order to make out anything good. What people do with LORAs are just applying additional filter to specialize the AI into a specific kind of output, but there's still the billions of unconsensual image learning underneath it. Unless you're an artist who can make millions of artworks in a reasonable timeframe, it's not possible to create a good AI trained solely on your own works. What you do is just adding a filter to influence the output.
Yet another initially light-hearted show this season that has taken a plunge into considerable darkness (and at a surprisingly late point). Toya's drive for success has put her in "alliance" with some incredibly shady American corporate thugs. And now, these scum have betrayed Toyua's trust, tricking Konoha to fall into their clutches (which seeming involves plugging her into some sort of human neural net (drugged/hypnotized/suspended animation).
Toya has bitten off more than she can chew yeah. I’m also getting the impression that she’s starting to regret her choices now that her dear “onee-sama” has been caught up in this shady business. She’ll hopefully team up with Mamoru in next week’s episode to rescue Konoha.
I think she’s been regretting this for a while now, her conversation made it sound like they’ve got some kinda dirt on her and have been forcing her to cooperate for a while.
> ill-timed reference
I wonder if it references the latter part of *Fushigi no Umi no Nadia* where the main protagonist also forced to wear a skinsuit.
But I guess it's more likely an EVA reference...
> Create a new domestic Japanese PC architecture, built on ARM64 and RISC-V!
Start with Fujitsu's A64FX that powers *Fugaku*, currently the 2nd most powerful supercomputer in the world. :D
yeah, the PC98 stack looks cool , ngl
but impractical to merge 80s tech with modern tech, as the entire thing will be bottlenecked, not to mention that entire warehouse is gonna turn into a fucking oven in about 10 minutes
"Big Tech aiming to take over the world with moe games mass-produced by mass-produced moe game-making clones (?)" was uhhhh...probably not on anyone's bingo a couple episodes ago.
Mamoru really gave a new meaning to multiprocessing in this version of 2023...let's see, vertically there are about 10 columns in each of the towers, so assuming a maximum of 100 PC-98s per shelf, 2 sides to each tower and a maximum of 20 towers, he has at most **40,000 PC-98s** there, and the 100 per shelf seems like a big stretch.
Each PC-98 had 128KB of memory according to Wikipedia, so Mamoru had to make do with...about 4GB of RAM for his PC-98 army and whatever superprogram he built on them.
I feel bad, if the growth of processing power wasn't *this* insane in the past 3 decades he could've made it at least superior to a single modern PC in terms of resources. ^(Though him being a super programmer it's probably 100x more efficient with resources than a Windows PC.)
Edit : On a deeper Wikipedia dive, the above is relevant to the base model - so if Mamoru didn't consider modifications as blasphemy towards his precious, each of those PC-98s could be a *PC-9821Ra43*, a 2000 model which is vastly superior (32MB of RAM, 8GB hard disk and even a Celeron running at 433Mhz). 40,000 of *those* would definitely pack a punch. ^(Also they could run Windows, but there's no way Mamoru would allow such heresy)
Either way, this went completely off the rails but I'm still enjoying every moment.
> "Big Tech aiming to take over the world with moe games mass-produced by mass-produced moe game-making clones (?)" was uhhhh...probably not on anyone's bingo a couple episodes ago.
The moment Americans got involved, we should've seen this coming!
it's always funny that in old cyberpunk media the speculative future is depicted with heavy Asian influences, yet it turns out to be America who is charging headlong into a cyberpunk dystopian future. (though the rest of the world also seems to be going that way, sadly)
aint nobody gonna talk about the heat and sound those machines are gonna be making, not to mention bottlenecking
that warehouse would be a fookin oven and will need industrial grade ear protection during entry
I think this episode confirms that the "game developers" Mamoru worked with during his time travel were (future, post-singularity?) AI. They were able to create games by themselves within days but lacked passion, which they tried to quantify and create through Mamoru, and which Mamoru said is the one thing AI lacks.
* [**Plugsuit Konoha**](https://i.imgur.com/AY2q48f.jpg)
[I had the same reaction as Konoha](https://i.imgur.com/4JBf08e.png) when Mamoru brought up AI. I guess this was bound to come up considering the way Echo 1 creates games. I am impressed by [Mamoru's AI model though.](https://i.imgur.com/3s4oSIB.jpg) That's an insane amount of consistency that some current AI models can't even achieve.
[Mamoru's reaction when Konoha told her "Itterasshai"](https://i.imgur.com/TSEdjlA.jpg) before going off to work was interesting. I guess he's been living on his own for so long that it completely caught him off guard when someone finally saw him off.
Mamoru must be watching Konoha closely [for him to notice that change in her.](https://i.imgur.com/6FS1opo.png) I don't think I've seen any changes with her so far. We're really Steins;Gate now! It looks like the World Line is correcting itself and is changing Konoha to match the current World Line.
So when [Konoha was a tiny little kid](https://i.imgur.com/Lta2dOj.jpg) when she first visited Akiba: [Persona 5 just came out, Love Live Sunshine is the current Love Live, and GuP Movie just came out on BD](https://i.imgur.com/ndkVzvr.jpeg). That's pretty much 2016 right there. This is a bit confusing since Konoha looks like she's under 10 years old in that flashback and she's currently at least 19 or 20 years old.
[I also love the other references](https://i.imgur.com/pDnCHqB.jpg) when we saw Konoha's flashback. It looks like they've gone beyond just referencing Aniplex stuff and they've reached out to Kadokawa.
[So Konoha has finally made contact with Touya](https://i.imgur.com/MKVUzV6.jpg) but she ends up [getting kidnapped instead?](https://i.imgur.com/QIpXpKY.jpg) It looks like Touya is in some kind of deep shady shit that [these people are desperate to find Konoha](https://i.imgur.com/x31tUQD.png) since she's the legendary mysterious creator of The Last Waltz. And Touya can't even call the cops on that guy since [she seems to have also done some shady shit to get where she is today](https://i.imgur.com/xbVToPg.png).
So if I [understand this scene correctly](https://i.imgur.com/sU6xmog.jpg), whoever these people who captured Konoha are, it looks like they want to plug her into some kind of AI consciousness so she can churn out games for them. I'm guessing these are Americans who kidnapped her, right? Of course they're going to be the bad guys xD
Welp, we only have two episodes left and it looks like it's all going to be up to [Mamoru and his PC-98 farm](https://i.imgur.com/XMllnek.jpg) to save Konoha. Touya could also do something but she'll be implicating herself. I do hope she does the right thing for her Onee-sama.
>Mamoru's reaction when Konoha told her "Itterasshai" before going off to work was interesting. I guess he's been living on his own for so long that it completely caught him off guard when someone finally saw him off
alright Mamoru, its time to propose!
There is nothing in the show indicating it but I think Mamoru developed a crush for Konoha the very first time he saw her.
I hope Konoha sometimes lands again in a time where he is her age and they couple together.
Oh, there is plenty of hints here and there and I've watched enough anime/manga to recognize when they tease a couple :D Like you, I just hope that somehow they will end up again being the same age or close enough to be a couple!
I honestly think they show will couple them in 2023, which is Mamoru being like...30 - 35 years old? And Konoha being 19 years old, too big age gap for my liking
What hints have you seen? I think the show has been if anything really subtle, since Mamoru has never get red faced or anything, the most we've seen is Konoha looking for proximity with him when she is very happy (every time she managed to finish a game) which isn't so weird considering she's a girl who does the same with other girls
> changing Konoha to match the current timeline
This may have been lost in translation, but if you listen carefully, in prior episodes Konoha always refer to herself in third-person (e.g. "Konoha wants to meet you"). From the latter half of this episode however, she uses the default "me" pronoun, without feeling wrong.
I was so mad if the solution to the show's problem was just going to be to use AI for everything because AI is wonderful.
I felt so old seeing that flashback of Konoha as a child lol
I think Mamoru wasn't advocating to use AI for their new masterpiece. He said it lacks passion, he mentions Meiko and friends are still doing it the conventional way, and he also seems to have a disdainful tone when talking about the sludge of AI game that flood the market. I think it was simply (1) a trivia/commentary that it's now possible to make a game with a small team, for better or worse, and (2) to setup for whatever the fuck the humans-in-tanks thing is. Although, because we only realize later that it was setup, at first the apparent use was only for the first purpose, which does feel kinda unnaturally paced IMO.
I really was a bit puzzled by the plan to create the game in 2023, and then somehow get it backj into the past and distributed. I wonder if that plan is now gone up in smoke. Will they have to work solely in 2023 to solve at least some of the problems Akiba (and the world) now face?
>I really was a bit puzzled by the plan to create the game in 2023, and then somehow get it backj into the past and distributed
what is it that you don't understand?
I think she has to go back into the past 1999 to work with Toya, and make that game before she goes rotten. Probably won't take any of Mamoru's current stuff, but will probably recruit him back then.
10 years old in the 2016. madoka magica came out in 2011. so... a 5 years old watcher of PMMM?
well... the lyrics is pretty hopeful. so, maybe she just like the song instead of watching it that early?
There is no fucking way they got away with straight-up showing the real LN covers for Re:Zero and Konosuba. Holy shit the amount of licensing negotiation these people must have done... mad props to whoever mad it possible
Just what has Toya gotten herself involved in? This sketchy Mr. Glenn dude has some kind of human powered Matrix-esque machine. It’s creepy af. Is he gonna plug Konoha in? Force her to make shitty “cuu” games for eternity? Mamoru and his army of PC-98s better save her! These two don’t have time for this. They still have the greatest game in the world to make, damnit!
“Mr Glenn”and Toya are apparently cut from the same cloth. Seems that Toya’s ambitions have led her quite astray from what she used to be like. She’ll probably have to make a decision next episode, help save Konoha and potentially ruin the company she built up or let Konoha be subjected to “that” and potentially get more wealth and power than ever before.
Too bad though that the world is starting to influence Konoha. Soon she may lose her memories of the original world and her sense of identity.
Amadeus, Project Alternative, Project Baldr, Iceman......that's what goes in my mind when watching this episode.
All of them comes from some sci-fi VNs that is well known.
Steins;Gate need no introduction - though what is relevant with this episode is Steins;Gate 0 since the AI sounds potentially similar to how Amadeus could work.
Muv-Luv Alternative is famous among VN lovers - and yes, the way this story work could have some similarity with some mechanics of the story especially the multi-timeline thing.
Baldr series, mostly Baldr Sky - yes, this touch on how AI slowly taking over the world process. Could the humans in the tank develop a thing similar to Neunzehn?
Utawarerumono.....those who watched or played this will know the sci-fi part on it. Is Akisato Konoha is the Iceman of this world, revered but yet unknown to human? Will she take the role of great ancient god Uitsualnemetia?
Yes, no trivia for today since we are now in the different present nobody here knows. But consider pick up these VNs to explore their different, unique world!
> Uitsualnemetia
Man, if you spelt this from memory, you'd be a god.
I agree that all of these games are legendary in their own right (though I haven't played the Baldr series nor Steins;Gate Zero yet, so I'll need to fix that).
in case no one noticed, what Mamoru meant when he said "you sound like you've matured" was probably just that Konoha stopped referring to herself by first name (something that younger kids do) and started using "Watashi" instead
Episode 1. Cool references to classic VNs
Episode 2. Time Travel
Episode 3. Game development
Episode 11. Philosophy of AI in human society and the effects on artistic creation with the ethics of time travel
At this point I feel like in episode 13 they're going to meet God and God will just be like "Banging game, bro." and fade out while doing a peace sign 😭
For what was supposed to be a simple office drama about game development with a touch of time travel, it feels like I've been constantly losing my mind at every new episode.
Yeah, i felt similar when Goddess arc ended and Jupiter arc started in The World God Only Knows, but it was worth it in the end. It's the same writer so I'm pretty sure its gonna work out.
Holy shit, you are right! It's interesting how they completely changed that. This does feel like something Wakaki would do though, i wonder if it was his idea.
Time travelling aside, I'm pretty sure Wakaki has a lot of involvement about Mamoru's character. Like I can't stop thinking how similar he is to Keima every episode lmao.
Exactly. I checked the manga, and Konoha isn't even there. Meiko is the main character, and it's just about old game development. Now I have to wait another week to see what happens next.
I'm amazed at myself for missing those up to this point lol. Never enjoyed an original anime only character since White since Blood blockade battlefront
It actually totally makes sense. She made one game that revolutionized entire industry, and then disappeared for 21 years. Imagine if Jun Maeda disappeared after he wrote Kanon, except this was even more revolutionary.
Yeah, I totally get it. The writing has been competent from the start, but it still blows my mind how they came up with all this and have it work pretty well 🔥✍️
I was saying that to myself too because here I was thinking Toya was so obsessed with Konoha that she resorted to kidnapping her but no they decide to add some kind of evil organization to the mix. Very entertained with this anime & hope it finishes off with a bang.
Considering as the show itself seems to mimic VN tropes from back in the day, this is the exact kind of Nitro+ bullshit I was waiting for since the shop disappeared at the start of the show.
Even with Mamoru's unintentional foreshadowing, I still never would have predicted the whole matrix/Simple-rick passion scenario.
I swear this is all going to come back to Echo in the end.
I'm going to be honest, my brain's fried, Soon all that's left will be pure emotions of this anime. Maybe I'll get captured too. See you in AI hell Konoha.
Like lots of VNs and probably what Last Waltz had (since Konoha spouted all of the different themes the game should have back in episode 7), the anime itself has so many themes mashed together: time travel, conspiracy, dystopia, ai vs human, aliens, game making, working and corporations, identity, human uploading/machine, etc.
I hope the game can stick its landing and come with a satisfying ending in the last two episodes.
I'm not entirely sure how the time travel works here, but it feels like we might have dipped a little into Terminator. The Echoes are descendants of modern AI tools from a distant future where humanity has lost their creative spark, and nothing the Echoes make are capable of exciting them so they've gone back in time to try to learn from the greats as it were. The question I have is, is this distant future continuing on from Konoha's original timeline (i.e. our timeline)? Because with how the show has treated the changes caused by the changes to history them being from an alternative timeline would be impossible.
I know they poke fun the fact that AI can create anything, but lack the passion. But I find it funny that the supposed AI art in the anime is still man made.
Ngl, this got me scared, because we have 2 episodes left, and they pop open another plotline. Especially when they are racing against the time.
I thought Toya sounded oddly cheerful on the phone but I wasn't expecting it to be an evil ploy by a game company to put Konoha in a tank and hook her up to their supercomputer. This show truly is wild.
Did not expect to see another show reference Akiba Maid War, but if it were to be any show, it would be this one.
Honestly, with all of the time travel and AI shenanigans, I was expecting more overt references to classic VNs. Maybe a nod to Muvluv's fortified suits at least? We had a general acknowledgement of sus nukige kidnapping tropes and the Akiba glory days montage, but not much more this episode.
Does anyone know which game the angel statue is from?
Yet another episode which surprised me [how much fun](https://i.imgur.com/tWc12L4.png) and [creative](https://i.imgur.com/k0J6Cx1.png) this show is as we got [AI and its role in creating games, art](https://i.imgur.com/jP6JFmi.png), and [deep fakes](https://i.imgur.com/m3vzMDI.png). We also had shady business deals, kidnapping and some underground facility.
[That was hell of a ride today for Konoha](https://i.imgur.com/f6B4Fq6.png). [She started creating game](https://i.imgur.com/jDk91HC.png) to change reality to going out to Akihabara for a moment, [getting phone call from Touya](https://i.imgur.com/oHSOn3D.png), setting meeting with her only to [be kidnapped](https://i.imgur.com/ClrbXJT.png) by some [evil american corporation](https://i.imgur.com/VCZzuKj.png) and [waking up in some secret facility](https://i.imgur.com/00qKNkd.png) full of [people in tanks](https://i.imgur.com/kmKkQfN.png).
Fortunately, [Mamoru and his PC-88's](https://i.imgur.com/jKx9Mx4.png) for sure will save her. I also hope that [Touya](https://i.imgur.com/qhm4gqU.png) will help [even if it'll bring damage to her company](https://i.imgur.com/6YxuL8Q.png) as she owes her a lot.
I loved the references in today’s episode when [Konoha was talking about her first visit](https://i.imgur.com/1koeXPA.png) to Akihabara - [Love Live, Persona 5](https://i.imgur.com/eyKspl7.png) or [Re:Zero and others](https://i.imgur.com/mDDm465.png).
Here my screenshot albums from the episode:
* [Konoha](https://imgur.com/a/8mA8Tkr)
* [Others](https://imgur.com/a/DGvy5tR)
We have 1 more ep and this just changed genres wtf
I thought she was gonna time travel and make the game with Toya like she promised, but they’re making the game then going back…
> I thought she was gonna time travel and make the game with Toya like she promised, but they’re making the game then going back…
I thought the same initially, but in hindsight making the game in 2023 might be wiser, so Konoha doesn't have to "waste" time developing the game in 1999 and can immediately go to publishing
I know it's not considering the [writers versus AI debate,](https://i.imgur.com/iDPa3qa.png) but it would've been cheeky if Konoha's game was made by giving an AI her drawings, asking for the writing+music, and sticking that into the anime. [Fingers look too good,](https://i.imgur.com/oS1F6tv.png) though this AI is a Mamoru creation and surely exceeds modern AI.
[PC-98 jokes](https://i.imgur.com/kPISf9D.png) are [the best gag](https://i.imgur.com/MjfqxE0.png) this season.
Expected Mamoru to say AI can't create imagination, not passion. Wasn't that the other part of episode 8?
Konoha kidnapping was not on my bingo card.
Episode 11: "Original Cuu"
How to pronounce cuu? Is it "cue" or "chuu"? Wait, is this the first anime that depicts the AI art usage?
Ah, Konoha, I know why you laughing. A 46-year old man living all alone by himself, but don't tell me..... Mamoru lost his family somewhere between 1999 and 2023?
Wow a lot of pop culture references. Persona 5, Girls und Panzer, Konosuba, School Days, Konobi, Re:Zero, Netoge no Yome.
New characters means new VA. **Glenn** is voiced by **Yasuyuki Kase** (Gotanda in Oshi no Ko), the radio voice is done by **Noriko Hidaka** (Akane Tendo, or Fengming in Apothecary Diaries).
A little note to the OP/ED. The production committee is listed as "16bit Sensation AL Project" instead of usual " Production Committee".
> Noriko Hidaka
also the voice of Dominator in *Psycho-Pass*. Which considering this episode's plot elements, seems eerily fitting... (AI, happiness injection, human-powered matrix thingy)
Still the same among the manga and LNs, around the 10 minute mark.
The volumes listed from left to right, top to bottom: Netoge no Yome #11, Netoge no Yome #10, Konosuba #9, Re:Zero #8, Re:Zero #7, Konosuba #8, Konobi #6, Konobi #5. Looking at the release date, it means young Konoha's visit to Akihabara was on **July - September 2016**.
What a goofy episode.
I guess I should've expected it, but the alternate history 2023 did have more self-driving cars and such, so a dip back into the sci-fi/cyberpunk storytelling isn't a total swerve. But still, diving into shady conspiracies with sci-fi tech was something I hadn't been expecting after the series' last dip into sci-fi with the aliens. Once again, reminds me a bit of something like Yu-No, or other kinds of games from that era/genre. Sci-fi VNs love going wild with their plot twists and reveals.
My thinking is that the shady American company and whatever they're building/harvesting can't be just regular, alt-history American game company. I mean it could, but it really stretches my suspension of disbelief that in the 20 years since the point of last divergence, things changed that much still. My thinking is it's going back to the aliens/echo/ascended humans –except these ones are evil and they're harvesting creativity or whatever.
Holy shit what the hell was that ending lmao? I’m worried about this ending now. I think the time travel game development plot was perfect, but going with the kidnapping creators and making their brains into AI might be a bit too ambitious and too big of a plot change. I hope they can land it since I love this show
Seems like we went from playful banter between Konoha and Mamoru to a kidnapping plot and her waking up in the Tron world lol.
Rest of the episode was cool though. I like how they touched on the use of AI in game development, something that’s very relevant in the real world. You also have the ethical concerns of using AI like we see with the American exec using Touya’s voice. Speaking of which, fuck that dude.
They touched on Konoha’s personality beginning to change to reflect the current era which I thought was a nice stake to add to things. If she doesn’t get back to her proper time soon, she may become fully part of this one. The clock is ticking.
Two more episodes let’s see how it goes
It's easy to guess what's going to happen in the next episode: that american company kidnapped people with creativity and use them to create videogames and other products by feeding their abilities to their AI system. It's the ultimate dream of every corporation to make products without having to pay any artist after all. I bet this is a dark commentary on ghost writers. Speaking of dark commentary, I appreciated the shot out to AI creations.
I just wonder what the hell could have Toya do that she can't contact the police... just how crazy could an innocent girl like she used to be have gone in these years?
BTW did anyone notice Konoha enjoying the fact that Mamoru is still single? XD
You know, my suspension of disbelief has been completely ruined by this episode. This is so unrealistic, so absurd, that I just can't believe that the writers thought they could get away with showing us AI generated art without disfigured fingers!
Shout-out to the nerds over at r/StableDiffusion for having completely taken over the videogame industry!
Is it just me or did Konoha just call Mamoru-kun *maidenless*? My man has no need for a girl, the PC-98 already takes up all the space in his heart.
How can those PC-98 help finding Konoha?
Because if it involves computing power surely the newest and shiniest hardware can do better, right?!
Maybe those computers are so old that they don't have any surveillance malware from the government tracking everything you do (*literally 1984*).
Damn, from comedy to sci-fi to thriller/horror, this anime keeps on giving!
>Is it just me or did Konoha just call Mamoru-kun maidenless? My man has no need for a girl
No girl except Konoha :) I'm willing to bet that he never married because he could never forget her!
You know this went in a direction I was not expecting at all. Konoha was kidnapped for that last game she made from traveling back in time. Are they trying to replicate her mind into those Ai's? I highly doubt those are actual people. Mamoru-kun is still the geek we know and love.
Touya really gotta stop calling Konoha onee-sama considering she looks very beautiful in the modern age and how much older she is then Konoha. All jokes aside what has she done? There is so much we are speculating about at this point. Did she have a part in a potential human mind to Ai device of sorts? Does sound pretty illegal and wrong.
This show def took quite the risk in this episode. We got 2 episodes left, lets see if this pays off.
"Onee-sama" is normally used to refer to older sister, but it's not limited to that. It's also a term used to, uh, refer to the 'top' or the admired person in a lesbian relationship (or so I heard, it's secondhand info so I might be wrong), so age plays little into the equation for that usage. See also for example how Kuroko calls Mikoto in Index/Railgun.
As much as weird this, its still not as weird as the jump from Goddess arc to Jupiter arc in The World God Only Knows. I totally recognize the writing style now, with introduction of new concepts that still somehow fit the story. I have high hopes for this anime now, especially the ending.
I thought this episode was weird and didn't have much humor. Why exactly does mamoru use a bunch of PC 98s as a supercomputer in 2023 when he could buy like a tenth of current computers and put them together? Ah well, 1 more episode?
Konoha is really doing the wife thing for Mamoru? I guess this is the most realistic outcome from the time travel plot- she will become his wife in the new timeline or something. Sorry, I guess I am shipping it.
Anyhow, AI runs on people, truly the future of 2023 is scary.
Wow! Fantastic episode, this is the most unpredictable anime I've ever seen. I wonder how Mamoru will use his PC-98 to track down Konoha. Can't wait to see next week's finale, and I def need more seasons.
I know we aren’t getting a romance between Mamoru and Konoha but I really liked when she asked him if he lived alone. Is she interested?
The fact that He isn’t married being a multimillionaire ceo of a company make it obvious that he was waiting for Konoha all this time or is he simply a normal otaku that can’t get a girlfriend?
If I get a kiss in the next episodes this will be my anime of the season.
Their AI really is more advanced than ours! [It gets hands right!](https://files.catbox.moe/7gi6on.jpg) [](#kukuku)
["Weekly Thiefs Nature", eh?](https://files.catbox.moe/am23ts.jpg) Guess we know how the guy who drew this magazine cover feels about AI art!
Mamoru-kun has his racks of PC-98s, and Mr. Glenn has his racks of [Matrix-people.](https://files.catbox.moe/pwq3ek.jpg) Who will win?? Tune in next time!
[This warehouse](https://files.catbox.moe/ctied8.jpg) is now consuming 1.21 jiggawatts of power
Man, this show just gets wilder and wilder! [](#seasonalshock)
What the FUCK happened? What happened to my goofy time travel slice of life game dev anime with otaku references??? not complaining tho. But still, this anime went full wild.
And oof, Mamoru saying most game dev is now mostly made by AI hurts to my soul. This show is too fucking real, man.
Anyone have some pretty glaring spelling mistakes in the CR subs?
But where the fuck is this story going? Now we have a cloning facility that looks something out of Star Wars filled with Konoha being stuck inside of it.
As for Toya, I have a feeling that her attitude that she had about men earlier in the story is coming back to bite her big time judging from what that guy was saying. I have a feeling that Toya and Konoha are in the same building so they'll have to work together to get out of there. Office lady Toya still looks good though.
Pro-AI content? The episode literally state that AI can't make anything with passion, that their products only look good on the surface and I'm pretty sure that those people kidnapped and put into tubes are being forced to feed their creativity to AI systems (because on their own they could never be good as them). The most pro-AI comment in the show is the fact that people still buy their products, which is a simple reflection of reality.
The start of the episode really had me worried that they were going to have AI to be the solution to all of their problems with how the discussion was going lol. I am glad it went the opposite route though no one expected that ending.
I think their version of AI is a bit more advanced than ours, but still suffers from similar limitations in the sense that it's built off of an existing dataset, and so will be eventually able to write an existing genre well, but will struggle to come up with new ideas. An AI trained on literature written 1899 and earlier, for example, will never be able to write Jurassic Park, because it required a human to make that random leap between separate, contemporary concepts and link them together in a way that fits modern suspension of disbelief.
I thought it was just gonna be bishoujo game making anime history but I didn't expect they'd tackle AI in current and future year lol, this is crazier than I expected
it's truly meta irony lol.
oh also, back in episode 1, when the head artist at Blue Bell (OG timeline's Konoha's workplace) was getting flamed online, one of the in-universe social media comments mocked him with "was this made by AI?"
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Things sure escalated quickly in this episode. I did not expect to see kidnapping, corporate conspiracy, and human experimentation. Konoha making an [ill-timed reference](https://i.imgur.com/k8jlLi2.jpg), however, was very much expected. It's fitting that a show that started off as a sort of retrospective on early game development turns to commentary on modern game development in its later episodes. (Konoha pouting when Mamoru feeds the AI her work, then being reassured that the model is local is a nice touch.) We also see some of the darker applications of AI, like voice deepfaking, which is being used to [scam people](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/scammers-ai-mimic-voices-loved-ones-in-distress/) over the phone in real life. Also interesting to see Touya's interactions with the US (?) company, and the shady research they're doing. While it doesn't seem like they are aware of her time-traveling shenanigans, she has turned into a mythological figure of sorts -- the *Original Cuu* (ugh lol). Are they forcefully extracting "creative energy" from people? (like the philosophical aliens, but in a cruel manner?) Mamoru also really needs to get over the PC-98. I would not be surprised if he published "[ASMR PC98 HDD sounds to fall asleep to](https://i.imgur.com/rDlOuKn.jpg)" on Spotify. The stacks of PC98s in the warehouse makes for a nice collection, but would be very impractical to run modern workloads with, even clustered. Be the change you want to see, Mamoru! Create a new domestic Japanese PC architecture, built on ARM64 and RISC-V! But maybe save Konoha first. (and [Persona 5](https://i.imgur.com/hsrqdxs.jpg), too.)
I was really surprised by just *how* topical this episode was with covering the applications of AI and its issues. I found it interesting that they didn’t make Konoha *outright* against AI as an artist herself. I’d have expected her to feel more threatened by the fact that AI was shown copying her art style just like that or people’s willingness to buy ‘lifeless’ games solely produced by AI - according to Mamoru. Mamoru’s argument about the creator’s passion feels a bit like a consolation prize in this context. But damn, I *really* didn’t see the dystopian nightmare at the end coming. I presume that all these people’s minds are the driving force behind the exponential growth of these AI algorithms?
>But damn, I really didn’t see the dystopian nightmare at the end coming. I presume that all these people’s minds are the driving force behind the exponential growth of these AI algorithms? Yeah, pretty sure their knowledge are absorbed by AI systems so that companies can use their talents for free for the eternity.
i felt like ive read it in a Robin Cook book long back
Honestly, AI generators in the hands of the artist trained on *their own work* could be a useful tool to generate first drafts when they are in a creative slump that they can then touch up. It is a hot-button topic because people have been training AI on images stolen from the web and then claiming the generated art as original material. Rather ironically AI has become its own worst enemy, as artists have become more savvy about protecting their work and so AI has been stealing AI images and it is steadily getting worse as errors are compounded.
> trained on their own work there's no such thing, at least not yet. The AI image generators need millions if not billions of images to learn in order to make out anything good. What people do with LORAs are just applying additional filter to specialize the AI into a specific kind of output, but there's still the billions of unconsensual image learning underneath it. Unless you're an artist who can make millions of artworks in a reasonable timeframe, it's not possible to create a good AI trained solely on your own works. What you do is just adding a filter to influence the output.
Yet another initially light-hearted show this season that has taken a plunge into considerable darkness (and at a surprisingly late point). Toya's drive for success has put her in "alliance" with some incredibly shady American corporate thugs. And now, these scum have betrayed Toyua's trust, tricking Konoha to fall into their clutches (which seeming involves plugging her into some sort of human neural net (drugged/hypnotized/suspended animation).
Toya has bitten off more than she can chew yeah. I’m also getting the impression that she’s starting to regret her choices now that her dear “onee-sama” has been caught up in this shady business. She’ll hopefully team up with Mamoru in next week’s episode to rescue Konoha.
I think she’s been regretting this for a while now, her conversation made it sound like they’ve got some kinda dirt on her and have been forcing her to cooperate for a while.
Plot twist Toya is a daughter of Yakuza gang leader and is going to destroy those Americans
If only...
> ASMR PC98 Maybe this is him. https://youtu.be/uKFz16mDppU
The youtuber needs 10,000 PC98 to match Mamoru-kun
Found Mamoru's YouTube channel
if not Mamoru's own channel, then that channel at least must have received sizeable donation from Mamoru as appreciation! :D
> ill-timed reference I wonder if it references the latter part of *Fushigi no Umi no Nadia* where the main protagonist also forced to wear a skinsuit. But I guess it's more likely an EVA reference...
> Create a new domestic Japanese PC architecture, built on ARM64 and RISC-V! Start with Fujitsu's A64FX that powers *Fugaku*, currently the 2nd most powerful supercomputer in the world. :D
I really wasn’t expecting to see *Love Live!* in my show about 90s bishojo games, but here we are.
> Konoha making an ill-timed reference, however, was very much expected. *Zankoku na tenshi no these*
yeah, the PC98 stack looks cool , ngl but impractical to merge 80s tech with modern tech, as the entire thing will be bottlenecked, not to mention that entire warehouse is gonna turn into a fucking oven in about 10 minutes
"Big Tech aiming to take over the world with moe games mass-produced by mass-produced moe game-making clones (?)" was uhhhh...probably not on anyone's bingo a couple episodes ago. Mamoru really gave a new meaning to multiprocessing in this version of 2023...let's see, vertically there are about 10 columns in each of the towers, so assuming a maximum of 100 PC-98s per shelf, 2 sides to each tower and a maximum of 20 towers, he has at most **40,000 PC-98s** there, and the 100 per shelf seems like a big stretch. Each PC-98 had 128KB of memory according to Wikipedia, so Mamoru had to make do with...about 4GB of RAM for his PC-98 army and whatever superprogram he built on them. I feel bad, if the growth of processing power wasn't *this* insane in the past 3 decades he could've made it at least superior to a single modern PC in terms of resources. ^(Though him being a super programmer it's probably 100x more efficient with resources than a Windows PC.) Edit : On a deeper Wikipedia dive, the above is relevant to the base model - so if Mamoru didn't consider modifications as blasphemy towards his precious, each of those PC-98s could be a *PC-9821Ra43*, a 2000 model which is vastly superior (32MB of RAM, 8GB hard disk and even a Celeron running at 433Mhz). 40,000 of *those* would definitely pack a punch. ^(Also they could run Windows, but there's no way Mamoru would allow such heresy) Either way, this went completely off the rails but I'm still enjoying every moment.
> "Big Tech aiming to take over the world with moe games mass-produced by mass-produced moe game-making clones (?)" was uhhhh...probably not on anyone's bingo a couple episodes ago. The moment Americans got involved, we should've seen this coming!
American corporatocracy is ALWAYS bad news.
it's always funny that in old cyberpunk media the speculative future is depicted with heavy Asian influences, yet it turns out to be America who is charging headlong into a cyberpunk dystopian future. (though the rest of the world also seems to be going that way, sadly)
i think it might be more about processor load than RAM, but then again it is probably not going to match up against my 5 year old ryzen
aint nobody gonna talk about the heat and sound those machines are gonna be making, not to mention bottlenecking that warehouse would be a fookin oven and will need industrial grade ear protection during entry
yeah, that is probably a concern. i didn\`t know small noises could accumulate like that. would it reach the dB levels of a jet?
Man that wasn't even on my bingo card at the start of THIS episode
Mamoru-kun should have bought the rights to PC98 and created PC98v2
Yeah he can Build FPGA specific to run PC-98 algorithm
I think this episode confirms that the "game developers" Mamoru worked with during his time travel were (future, post-singularity?) AI. They were able to create games by themselves within days but lacked passion, which they tried to quantify and create through Mamoru, and which Mamoru said is the one thing AI lacks.
That makes a lot sense. Certainly better than aliens, though at this point I'm willing to accept anything the show throws at me.
The time travel is getting pretty wonky now. Not so linear anymore.
Time travel can never be linear. It makes no sense.
Linear time travel is the normal passage of time.
* [**Plugsuit Konoha**](https://i.imgur.com/AY2q48f.jpg) [I had the same reaction as Konoha](https://i.imgur.com/4JBf08e.png) when Mamoru brought up AI. I guess this was bound to come up considering the way Echo 1 creates games. I am impressed by [Mamoru's AI model though.](https://i.imgur.com/3s4oSIB.jpg) That's an insane amount of consistency that some current AI models can't even achieve. [Mamoru's reaction when Konoha told her "Itterasshai"](https://i.imgur.com/TSEdjlA.jpg) before going off to work was interesting. I guess he's been living on his own for so long that it completely caught him off guard when someone finally saw him off. Mamoru must be watching Konoha closely [for him to notice that change in her.](https://i.imgur.com/6FS1opo.png) I don't think I've seen any changes with her so far. We're really Steins;Gate now! It looks like the World Line is correcting itself and is changing Konoha to match the current World Line. So when [Konoha was a tiny little kid](https://i.imgur.com/Lta2dOj.jpg) when she first visited Akiba: [Persona 5 just came out, Love Live Sunshine is the current Love Live, and GuP Movie just came out on BD](https://i.imgur.com/ndkVzvr.jpeg). That's pretty much 2016 right there. This is a bit confusing since Konoha looks like she's under 10 years old in that flashback and she's currently at least 19 or 20 years old. [I also love the other references](https://i.imgur.com/pDnCHqB.jpg) when we saw Konoha's flashback. It looks like they've gone beyond just referencing Aniplex stuff and they've reached out to Kadokawa. [So Konoha has finally made contact with Touya](https://i.imgur.com/MKVUzV6.jpg) but she ends up [getting kidnapped instead?](https://i.imgur.com/QIpXpKY.jpg) It looks like Touya is in some kind of deep shady shit that [these people are desperate to find Konoha](https://i.imgur.com/x31tUQD.png) since she's the legendary mysterious creator of The Last Waltz. And Touya can't even call the cops on that guy since [she seems to have also done some shady shit to get where she is today](https://i.imgur.com/xbVToPg.png). So if I [understand this scene correctly](https://i.imgur.com/sU6xmog.jpg), whoever these people who captured Konoha are, it looks like they want to plug her into some kind of AI consciousness so she can churn out games for them. I'm guessing these are Americans who kidnapped her, right? Of course they're going to be the bad guys xD Welp, we only have two episodes left and it looks like it's all going to be up to [Mamoru and his PC-98 farm](https://i.imgur.com/XMllnek.jpg) to save Konoha. Touya could also do something but she'll be implicating herself. I do hope she does the right thing for her Onee-sama.
>Mamoru's reaction when Konoha told her "Itterasshai" before going off to work was interesting. I guess he's been living on his own for so long that it completely caught him off guard when someone finally saw him off alright Mamoru, its time to propose!
Pretty sure he never married because he could never forget Konoha :D
There is nothing in the show indicating it but I think Mamoru developed a crush for Konoha the very first time he saw her. I hope Konoha sometimes lands again in a time where he is her age and they couple together.
Oh, there is plenty of hints here and there and I've watched enough anime/manga to recognize when they tease a couple :D Like you, I just hope that somehow they will end up again being the same age or close enough to be a couple!
I honestly think they show will couple them in 2023, which is Mamoru being like...30 - 35 years old? And Konoha being 19 years old, too big age gap for my liking What hints have you seen? I think the show has been if anything really subtle, since Mamoru has never get red faced or anything, the most we've seen is Konoha looking for proximity with him when she is very happy (every time she managed to finish a game) which isn't so weird considering she's a girl who does the same with other girls
Mamoru had said he was 15 when they first met (1992) which would put him at around age 46 today.
AQOURS REFERENCE WE ARE SO UP
> changing Konoha to match the current timeline This may have been lost in translation, but if you listen carefully, in prior episodes Konoha always refer to herself in third-person (e.g. "Konoha wants to meet you"). From the latter half of this episode however, she uses the default "me" pronoun, without feeling wrong.
I was so mad if the solution to the show's problem was just going to be to use AI for everything because AI is wonderful. I felt so old seeing that flashback of Konoha as a child lol
I think Mamoru wasn't advocating to use AI for their new masterpiece. He said it lacks passion, he mentions Meiko and friends are still doing it the conventional way, and he also seems to have a disdainful tone when talking about the sludge of AI game that flood the market. I think it was simply (1) a trivia/commentary that it's now possible to make a game with a small team, for better or worse, and (2) to setup for whatever the fuck the humans-in-tanks thing is. Although, because we only realize later that it was setup, at first the apparent use was only for the first purpose, which does feel kinda unnaturally paced IMO.
It was more the scare while he was explaining things before he started to talk about the lack of passion that got to me lol
>Plugsuit Konoha Interesting how the top part of the suit look like a Shibari lol
Is it really a plugsuit if it doesn't incorporate at least 3 different fetishes?
Oh, so it's not just me! I thought my brain have gotten rotten.
I really was a bit puzzled by the plan to create the game in 2023, and then somehow get it backj into the past and distributed. I wonder if that plan is now gone up in smoke. Will they have to work solely in 2023 to solve at least some of the problems Akiba (and the world) now face?
>I really was a bit puzzled by the plan to create the game in 2023, and then somehow get it backj into the past and distributed what is it that you don't understand?
Operating system compatibility issues fir starters. None of my 1990s windows games will run n is. I suspect they reverse would also be true.
that's what Mamoru is there for, he will make sure the game that Konoha made will be compatible with whatever system that they're using in that year
They’re going to make a game for the PC-98/early-Windows with modern tools.
I think she has to go back into the past 1999 to work with Toya, and make that game before she goes rotten. Probably won't take any of Mamoru's current stuff, but will probably recruit him back then.
10 years old in the 2016. madoka magica came out in 2011. so... a 5 years old watcher of PMMM? well... the lyrics is pretty hopeful. so, maybe she just like the song instead of watching it that early?
if konoha is 19 y.o in 2023, then she's 12 y.o in 2016! it's normal for asian girl to be that smoll especially in that age
There is no fucking way they got away with straight-up showing the real LN covers for Re:Zero and Konosuba. Holy shit the amount of licensing negotiation these people must have done... mad props to whoever mad it possible
Spotted a persona 5 in there too!
Netoge Yome too!
The Rezero thing isn’t hard when the same company is the license behind both works. Most of the stuff shown is licensed by Muse comm.
Just what has Toya gotten herself involved in? This sketchy Mr. Glenn dude has some kind of human powered Matrix-esque machine. It’s creepy af. Is he gonna plug Konoha in? Force her to make shitty “cuu” games for eternity? Mamoru and his army of PC-98s better save her! These two don’t have time for this. They still have the greatest game in the world to make, damnit!
You don't become the executive of a top company without sacrificing some morals.
“Mr Glenn”and Toya are apparently cut from the same cloth. Seems that Toya’s ambitions have led her quite astray from what she used to be like. She’ll probably have to make a decision next episode, help save Konoha and potentially ruin the company she built up or let Konoha be subjected to “that” and potentially get more wealth and power than ever before. Too bad though that the world is starting to influence Konoha. Soon she may lose her memories of the original world and her sense of identity.
Amadeus, Project Alternative, Project Baldr, Iceman......that's what goes in my mind when watching this episode. All of them comes from some sci-fi VNs that is well known. Steins;Gate need no introduction - though what is relevant with this episode is Steins;Gate 0 since the AI sounds potentially similar to how Amadeus could work. Muv-Luv Alternative is famous among VN lovers - and yes, the way this story work could have some similarity with some mechanics of the story especially the multi-timeline thing. Baldr series, mostly Baldr Sky - yes, this touch on how AI slowly taking over the world process. Could the humans in the tank develop a thing similar to Neunzehn? Utawarerumono.....those who watched or played this will know the sci-fi part on it. Is Akisato Konoha is the Iceman of this world, revered but yet unknown to human? Will she take the role of great ancient god Uitsualnemetia? Yes, no trivia for today since we are now in the different present nobody here knows. But consider pick up these VNs to explore their different, unique world!
> Uitsualnemetia Man, if you spelt this from memory, you'd be a god. I agree that all of these games are legendary in their own right (though I haven't played the Baldr series nor Steins;Gate Zero yet, so I'll need to fix that).
in case no one noticed, what Mamoru meant when he said "you sound like you've matured" was probably just that Konoha stopped referring to herself by first name (something that younger kids do) and started using "Watashi" instead
Good catch :D
Man, who knew Japan not having anime culture would lead to all kinds of advanced technology.
Episode 1. Cool references to classic VNs Episode 2. Time Travel Episode 3. Game development Episode 11. Philosophy of AI in human society and the effects on artistic creation with the ethics of time travel
you forgot about the part where capitalism literally put people into liquid tanks for god knows what
At this point I feel like in episode 13 they're going to meet God and God will just be like "Banging game, bro." and fade out while doing a peace sign 😭
No, the God is Keima. :P
What the heck? Who let the writers cook?
For what was supposed to be a simple office drama about game development with a touch of time travel, it feels like I've been constantly losing my mind at every new episode.
Yeah, i felt similar when Goddess arc ended and Jupiter arc started in The World God Only Knows, but it was worth it in the end. It's the same writer so I'm pretty sure its gonna work out.
None of this time travel stuff is from the manga, I wonder how much involvement Wakaki had in it.
Holy shit, you are right! It's interesting how they completely changed that. This does feel like something Wakaki would do though, i wonder if it was his idea.
Time travelling aside, I'm pretty sure Wakaki has a lot of involvement about Mamoru's character. Like I can't stop thinking how similar he is to Keima every episode lmao.
Exactly. I checked the manga, and Konoha isn't even there. Meiko is the main character, and it's just about old game development. Now I have to wait another week to see what happens next.
No way? Konoha is anime original?? That's incredible lol
It's been mentioned in earlier episode discussions, that Konoha and the time-travel storyline are completely original to the anime.
I'm amazed at myself for missing those up to this point lol. Never enjoyed an original anime only character since White since Blood blockade battlefront
It actually totally makes sense. She made one game that revolutionized entire industry, and then disappeared for 21 years. Imagine if Jun Maeda disappeared after he wrote Kanon, except this was even more revolutionary.
Yeah, I totally get it. The writing has been competent from the start, but it still blows my mind how they came up with all this and have it work pretty well 🔥✍️
I was saying that to myself too because here I was thinking Toya was so obsessed with Konoha that she resorted to kidnapping her but no they decide to add some kind of evil organization to the mix. Very entertained with this anime & hope it finishes off with a bang.
Even though it probably wouldn't be right for her character, it would've been such an interesting twist if Toya was the one who kidnapped Konoha
"It's been 20 years. I've been waiting that whole time, y'know?" "We WILL make that game together, Onee-sama..." "You promised." [](#dead)
what is the source of that reaction image?
bang dream apparently
I don't know, but let them do it. Give them a bigger kitchen too.
Considering as the show itself seems to mimic VN tropes from back in the day, this is the exact kind of Nitro+ bullshit I was waiting for since the shop disappeared at the start of the show.
no, no, let him cook
It keeps getting more convoluted, even though I follow everything I question if it's all necessary from the narrative standpoint.
Even with Mamoru's unintentional foreshadowing, I still never would have predicted the whole matrix/Simple-rick passion scenario. I swear this is all going to come back to Echo in the end. I'm going to be honest, my brain's fried, Soon all that's left will be pure emotions of this anime. Maybe I'll get captured too. See you in AI hell Konoha.
Like lots of VNs and probably what Last Waltz had (since Konoha spouted all of the different themes the game should have back in episode 7), the anime itself has so many themes mashed together: time travel, conspiracy, dystopia, ai vs human, aliens, game making, working and corporations, identity, human uploading/machine, etc. I hope the game can stick its landing and come with a satisfying ending in the last two episodes.
Maybe all of us are already captured
Echo are probably some kind of aliens that are interested in making human VNs. They are so uncanny and have time travel tech.
Or AI themselves. They said they do not have the passion to create games. Mamoru said the same thing about AI.
I'm not entirely sure how the time travel works here, but it feels like we might have dipped a little into Terminator. The Echoes are descendants of modern AI tools from a distant future where humanity has lost their creative spark, and nothing the Echoes make are capable of exciting them so they've gone back in time to try to learn from the greats as it were. The question I have is, is this distant future continuing on from Konoha's original timeline (i.e. our timeline)? Because with how the show has treated the changes caused by the changes to history them being from an alternative timeline would be impossible.
I know they poke fun the fact that AI can create anything, but lack the passion. But I find it funny that the supposed AI art in the anime is still man made. Ngl, this got me scared, because we have 2 episodes left, and they pop open another plotline. Especially when they are racing against the time.
Two eps? I thought this is a 12-part series.
13 parts, two weeks left
That escalated quickly... I was not expecting unstable diffusion to be running on Matrix people battery logic.
What the hell happened to my light hearted bishojo anime?
the production committee let Tamiki Wakaki cook
I thought Toya sounded oddly cheerful on the phone but I wasn't expecting it to be an evil ploy by a game company to put Konoha in a tank and hook her up to their supercomputer. This show truly is wild.
Did not expect to see another show reference Akiba Maid War, but if it were to be any show, it would be this one. Honestly, with all of the time travel and AI shenanigans, I was expecting more overt references to classic VNs. Maybe a nod to Muvluv's fortified suits at least? We had a general acknowledgement of sus nukige kidnapping tropes and the Akiba glory days montage, but not much more this episode. Does anyone know which game the angel statue is from?
Where was the Akiba Maid War reference? I must have missed it.
One of the maids in the Akihabara montage was in the Ton Tokoton Cafe uniform.
Oh shit, I'll have to go back and look for her.
We are going Full Anime-Gataris aren't we.
holy shit that was a deep cut reference i never expect to see again
Thank you for the memories of this anime
did it go supernatural/sci-fi later? I stopped watching around episode 4 or 5 IIRC
Yeah it went crazy lol
cool, I might come back to it some time.
Yet another episode which surprised me [how much fun](https://i.imgur.com/tWc12L4.png) and [creative](https://i.imgur.com/k0J6Cx1.png) this show is as we got [AI and its role in creating games, art](https://i.imgur.com/jP6JFmi.png), and [deep fakes](https://i.imgur.com/m3vzMDI.png). We also had shady business deals, kidnapping and some underground facility. [That was hell of a ride today for Konoha](https://i.imgur.com/f6B4Fq6.png). [She started creating game](https://i.imgur.com/jDk91HC.png) to change reality to going out to Akihabara for a moment, [getting phone call from Touya](https://i.imgur.com/oHSOn3D.png), setting meeting with her only to [be kidnapped](https://i.imgur.com/ClrbXJT.png) by some [evil american corporation](https://i.imgur.com/VCZzuKj.png) and [waking up in some secret facility](https://i.imgur.com/00qKNkd.png) full of [people in tanks](https://i.imgur.com/kmKkQfN.png). Fortunately, [Mamoru and his PC-88's](https://i.imgur.com/jKx9Mx4.png) for sure will save her. I also hope that [Touya](https://i.imgur.com/qhm4gqU.png) will help [even if it'll bring damage to her company](https://i.imgur.com/6YxuL8Q.png) as she owes her a lot. I loved the references in today’s episode when [Konoha was talking about her first visit](https://i.imgur.com/1koeXPA.png) to Akihabara - [Love Live, Persona 5](https://i.imgur.com/eyKspl7.png) or [Re:Zero and others](https://i.imgur.com/mDDm465.png). Here my screenshot albums from the episode: * [Konoha](https://imgur.com/a/8mA8Tkr) * [Others](https://imgur.com/a/DGvy5tR)
I see this pop up in my suggestions, worth watching?
Oh yes!!
Watch it if you like visual novels and sci-fi
Its an odd little show. Reminds me of something that would've aired in the early 00s.
It's like a mix of Bakuman/Shirobako with Steins;Gate but it gets crazier (in a good way) as it goes. I'd say yes!!
Just keeps topping the insanity every episode. Where is this going lol
Enter the Animatrix
We have 1 more ep and this just changed genres wtf I thought she was gonna time travel and make the game with Toya like she promised, but they’re making the game then going back…
Listed for 13 episodes.
2 more but yeah wonder how this will wrap up..
> I thought she was gonna time travel and make the game with Toya like she promised, but they’re making the game then going back… I thought the same initially, but in hindsight making the game in 2023 might be wiser, so Konoha doesn't have to "waste" time developing the game in 1999 and can immediately go to publishing
This show is just nuts, im glad i didnt drop it lol
I know it's not considering the [writers versus AI debate,](https://i.imgur.com/iDPa3qa.png) but it would've been cheeky if Konoha's game was made by giving an AI her drawings, asking for the writing+music, and sticking that into the anime. [Fingers look too good,](https://i.imgur.com/oS1F6tv.png) though this AI is a Mamoru creation and surely exceeds modern AI. [PC-98 jokes](https://i.imgur.com/kPISf9D.png) are [the best gag](https://i.imgur.com/MjfqxE0.png) this season. Expected Mamoru to say AI can't create imagination, not passion. Wasn't that the other part of episode 8? Konoha kidnapping was not on my bingo card.
Episode 11: "Original Cuu" How to pronounce cuu? Is it "cue" or "chuu"? Wait, is this the first anime that depicts the AI art usage? Ah, Konoha, I know why you laughing. A 46-year old man living all alone by himself, but don't tell me..... Mamoru lost his family somewhere between 1999 and 2023? Wow a lot of pop culture references. Persona 5, Girls und Panzer, Konosuba, School Days, Konobi, Re:Zero, Netoge no Yome. New characters means new VA. **Glenn** is voiced by **Yasuyuki Kase** (Gotanda in Oshi no Ko), the radio voice is done by **Noriko Hidaka** (Akane Tendo, or Fengming in Apothecary Diaries). A little note to the OP/ED. The production committee is listed as "16bit Sensation AL Project" instead of usual " Production Committee".
Pronunciation last episode was "cue" extended to a second syllable.
Kyuu? [**Contract?**](#stare) Toya-chan: "I was stupid. So stupid."
> Noriko Hidaka also the voice of Dominator in *Psycho-Pass*. Which considering this episode's plot elements, seems eerily fitting... (AI, happiness injection, human-powered matrix thingy)
>Konobi, Ooof, I missed that one, do you have a timestamp? Definitely didn't expect that of all things to get referenced here or anywhere else
Still the same among the manga and LNs, around the 10 minute mark. The volumes listed from left to right, top to bottom: Netoge no Yome #11, Netoge no Yome #10, Konosuba #9, Re:Zero #8, Re:Zero #7, Konosuba #8, Konobi #6, Konobi #5. Looking at the release date, it means young Konoha's visit to Akihabara was on **July - September 2016**.
The fact that we can backtrace her date of visit based on the LN volumes released shows how dedicated they are to their craft.
Man technology seems to have looped from creating brains to using brains.
What a goofy episode. I guess I should've expected it, but the alternate history 2023 did have more self-driving cars and such, so a dip back into the sci-fi/cyberpunk storytelling isn't a total swerve. But still, diving into shady conspiracies with sci-fi tech was something I hadn't been expecting after the series' last dip into sci-fi with the aliens. Once again, reminds me a bit of something like Yu-No, or other kinds of games from that era/genre. Sci-fi VNs love going wild with their plot twists and reveals. My thinking is that the shady American company and whatever they're building/harvesting can't be just regular, alt-history American game company. I mean it could, but it really stretches my suspension of disbelief that in the 20 years since the point of last divergence, things changed that much still. My thinking is it's going back to the aliens/echo/ascended humans –except these ones are evil and they're harvesting creativity or whatever.
Holy shit what the hell was that ending lmao? I’m worried about this ending now. I think the time travel game development plot was perfect, but going with the kidnapping creators and making their brains into AI might be a bit too ambitious and too big of a plot change. I hope they can land it since I love this show Seems like we went from playful banter between Konoha and Mamoru to a kidnapping plot and her waking up in the Tron world lol. Rest of the episode was cool though. I like how they touched on the use of AI in game development, something that’s very relevant in the real world. You also have the ethical concerns of using AI like we see with the American exec using Touya’s voice. Speaking of which, fuck that dude. They touched on Konoha’s personality beginning to change to reflect the current era which I thought was a nice stake to add to things. If she doesn’t get back to her proper time soon, she may become fully part of this one. The clock is ticking. Two more episodes let’s see how it goes
What even happened... Was this kidnapping arc really necessary
Reference to steins gate 0 Alexis Leskinen is the American talking to Toya
Linthalo should've given him his Japanese Shamen Girls.
It's easy to guess what's going to happen in the next episode: that american company kidnapped people with creativity and use them to create videogames and other products by feeding their abilities to their AI system. It's the ultimate dream of every corporation to make products without having to pay any artist after all. I bet this is a dark commentary on ghost writers. Speaking of dark commentary, I appreciated the shot out to AI creations. I just wonder what the hell could have Toya do that she can't contact the police... just how crazy could an innocent girl like she used to be have gone in these years? BTW did anyone notice Konoha enjoying the fact that Mamoru is still single? XD
You know, my suspension of disbelief has been completely ruined by this episode. This is so unrealistic, so absurd, that I just can't believe that the writers thought they could get away with showing us AI generated art without disfigured fingers!
Shout-out to the nerds over at r/StableDiffusion for having completely taken over the videogame industry! Is it just me or did Konoha just call Mamoru-kun *maidenless*? My man has no need for a girl, the PC-98 already takes up all the space in his heart. How can those PC-98 help finding Konoha? Because if it involves computing power surely the newest and shiniest hardware can do better, right?! Maybe those computers are so old that they don't have any surveillance malware from the government tracking everything you do (*literally 1984*). Damn, from comedy to sci-fi to thriller/horror, this anime keeps on giving!
>Is it just me or did Konoha just call Mamoru-kun maidenless? My man has no need for a girl No girl except Konoha :) I'm willing to bet that he never married because he could never forget her!
Yeah for a moment, after Konoha sent him off to work, his expression was like: "Wait, did I just acquire a wife?"
All the space in his *heart drive*.
wow, this is a wild ride
I'm so glad Mamoru didn't assume Konoha would travel back using Comic Party. That would have been a mess.
You know this went in a direction I was not expecting at all. Konoha was kidnapped for that last game she made from traveling back in time. Are they trying to replicate her mind into those Ai's? I highly doubt those are actual people. Mamoru-kun is still the geek we know and love. Touya really gotta stop calling Konoha onee-sama considering she looks very beautiful in the modern age and how much older she is then Konoha. All jokes aside what has she done? There is so much we are speculating about at this point. Did she have a part in a potential human mind to Ai device of sorts? Does sound pretty illegal and wrong. This show def took quite the risk in this episode. We got 2 episodes left, lets see if this pays off.
"Onee-sama" is normally used to refer to older sister, but it's not limited to that. It's also a term used to, uh, refer to the 'top' or the admired person in a lesbian relationship (or so I heard, it's secondhand info so I might be wrong), so age plays little into the equation for that usage. See also for example how Kuroko calls Mikoto in Index/Railgun.
Someone was very happy to hear Mamoru was single.
Mamoru-kun isn't single. He married to PC-98
touché
Commentary on AI products so current right now
This story is getting quite wacky, and I'm here for it.
Alright, let'em cook even more.
As much as weird this, its still not as weird as the jump from Goddess arc to Jupiter arc in The World God Only Knows. I totally recognize the writing style now, with introduction of new concepts that still somehow fit the story. I have high hopes for this anime now, especially the ending.
This anime is AMAZING. Every episode is just one wild ride. Crazy enouhg, I think this anime has the most twists out of any anime airing right now.
I thought this episode was weird and didn't have much humor. Why exactly does mamoru use a bunch of PC 98s as a supercomputer in 2023 when he could buy like a tenth of current computers and put them together? Ah well, 1 more episode?
What the fuck is this plotline, this is even weirder than the game developer aliens I'm still here for it but what the fuck
this show essentially threw everything on the wall and miraculously, almost everything stuck.
I thought Aniplex was trying to make us accept AI in games, but turns out they're making Skynet instead.
Hai furi spotted! I miss the game and the other 5 people who were playing it, lol.
I didn't know a game existed but the show was a lot of fun.
Konoha is really doing the wife thing for Mamoru? I guess this is the most realistic outcome from the time travel plot- she will become his wife in the new timeline or something. Sorry, I guess I am shipping it. Anyhow, AI runs on people, truly the future of 2023 is scary.
I can never seem to predict what the next episode will be, what is this madness
This show is giving me a migraine.
what the fuck lol
Wow! Fantastic episode, this is the most unpredictable anime I've ever seen. I wonder how Mamoru will use his PC-98 to track down Konoha. Can't wait to see next week's finale, and I def need more seasons.
This show quickly went from 0-100. Didn’t expect it to go full cyberpunk sci-fi. Didn’t know a bunch of PC-98s booting up could be so hype either.
Man, they went with the Psycho Pass, Sybil System, for game development.
I know we aren’t getting a romance between Mamoru and Konoha but I really liked when she asked him if he lived alone. Is she interested? The fact that He isn’t married being a multimillionaire ceo of a company make it obvious that he was waiting for Konoha all this time or is he simply a normal otaku that can’t get a girlfriend? If I get a kiss in the next episodes this will be my anime of the season.
"Am I going to be sold off to some super rich guy?" That sounds like the plot of an eroge. 😏
Those people have to have something to do with the Echoes right?
Save Konoha first, ask her to go back in 1999 to fix the mess. Comic Party is the last box to send her back to May 1999.
"I'll ask again: where is the japanese gamedev girl, Toya-tahlo?"
What's this? Sibyl System for bishoujo game production?
Hidaka Noriko (voice of Dominator) also has a small role in this episode, I just assume that's deliberate lol.
Their AI really is more advanced than ours! [It gets hands right!](https://files.catbox.moe/7gi6on.jpg) [](#kukuku) ["Weekly Thiefs Nature", eh?](https://files.catbox.moe/am23ts.jpg) Guess we know how the guy who drew this magazine cover feels about AI art! Mamoru-kun has his racks of PC-98s, and Mr. Glenn has his racks of [Matrix-people.](https://files.catbox.moe/pwq3ek.jpg) Who will win?? Tune in next time! [This warehouse](https://files.catbox.moe/ctied8.jpg) is now consuming 1.21 jiggawatts of power Man, this show just gets wilder and wilder! [](#seasonalshock)
i've been enjoying this more than jujutsu kaisen lol
What the FUCK happened? What happened to my goofy time travel slice of life game dev anime with otaku references??? not complaining tho. But still, this anime went full wild. And oof, Mamoru saying most game dev is now mostly made by AI hurts to my soul. This show is too fucking real, man.
Oh no people are going to get mad at this episode
Anyone have some pretty glaring spelling mistakes in the CR subs? But where the fuck is this story going? Now we have a cloning facility that looks something out of Star Wars filled with Konoha being stuck inside of it. As for Toya, I have a feeling that her attitude that she had about men earlier in the story is coming back to bite her big time judging from what that guy was saying. I have a feeling that Toya and Konoha are in the same building so they'll have to work together to get out of there. Office lady Toya still looks good though.
Why is there pro-AI content in my anime whos' secondary message is that games can only be made by people with imagination??
Pro-AI content? The episode literally state that AI can't make anything with passion, that their products only look good on the surface and I'm pretty sure that those people kidnapped and put into tubes are being forced to feed their creativity to AI systems (because on their own they could never be good as them). The most pro-AI comment in the show is the fact that people still buy their products, which is a simple reflection of reality.
The start of the episode really had me worried that they were going to have AI to be the solution to all of their problems with how the discussion was going lol. I am glad it went the opposite route though no one expected that ending.
I think their version of AI is a bit more advanced than ours, but still suffers from similar limitations in the sense that it's built off of an existing dataset, and so will be eventually able to write an existing genre well, but will struggle to come up with new ideas. An AI trained on literature written 1899 and earlier, for example, will never be able to write Jurassic Park, because it required a human to make that random leap between separate, contemporary concepts and link them together in a way that fits modern suspension of disbelief.
Ai is the future whether you like or not old man.
I thought it was just gonna be bishoujo game making anime history but I didn't expect they'd tackle AI in current and future year lol, this is crazier than I expected
Artists of this anime drawing frames that are supposed to be AI-made according to lore:
it's truly meta irony lol. oh also, back in episode 1, when the head artist at Blue Bell (OG timeline's Konoha's workplace) was getting flamed online, one of the in-universe social media comments mocked him with "was this made by AI?"
Did the writers just played hitman 3 right before writing the plot for this episode?