Turns out not a single character or their story is significant in any way other than ‘Ritsu’ so all of those backstories and things we’ve sat through, just purge them from your mind and watch the world fall apart.
For all that this show did a last ditch attempt to help the audience identify with any of its cast by expositioning us to death with backstory, it ultimately turns out not one of these support characters has any purpose other than to show us that everyone looks for happiness in their own way. Realistically, they are interchangeable and pointless to the overall narrative. And what is that narrative? Not much. Creator made or met AI (that part is unclear), didn’t answer her when she asked him about happiness, and then after being trapped in the AI’s world shot her in the head because somehow that ended the situation. Okay a bit more happened than that, but really that is what it boils down to.
Caligula episode 12, is just unsatisfying. There’s no buy in with the cast so their fate doesn’t matter and ultimately isn’t important, even though we do get a nice montage of them all picking themselves up in the real world and facing their demons. The villains are ultimately pointless and their actions amount to as little as the main cast. And Ritsu essentially deus ex machina’s the situation out of existence just because he’s decided its time to do so.
I’ll get to a series review soon, but what did you think of Caligula?
Linked Reviews:
- Episode 11: I Did It
- Episode 10: That Grenade Should Have Been Dropped About Ten Minutes Earlier
- Episode 9: Mystery Door, Locked Door
- Episodes 7 + 8: Absolutely Nothing Of Note Happening Here
- Episodes 5 + 6: Six Episodes For An Origin Story
- Caligula First Impressions
Thanks for reading.
Karandi James
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i was on the fence about this anime but now that I’ve read your blog I don’t really need to watch it. Thanks and I’m patiently waiting for the series review. 🙂
I enjoyed it. The music stood out, but that wasn’t the main reason I liked it. The main reason was the respect with which the show treated the individual psychological conditions. I would have liked to have seen the show delve a little more deeply into that.
I think that might have addressed your point that “all of those backstories and things we’ve sat through, just purge them from your mind and watch the world fall apart.” I think they were relevant for the individuals themselves, and we got to see many of them resolved, but without a closer tie to the main plot, I can see how that would feel dissatisfying.
While they might have been relevant to the individuals, the anime never did anything to make those individuals people the audience should care about. It was almost the end of the season before we even learned a tiny bit about any of them and to be honest I can barely remember even a single supporting cast members name.
I think the show wanted to say something about the psychological conditions of its characters but it never gave enough time to that aspect or fleshed out the cast enough to let that aspect have any real impact.
Just my thoughts though. I’m glad you enjoyed watching it.
I agree 100%