Episode 6 Production Details

Episode Director: Daiki Mori ( Episode Director on Haikyuu!! Second Season episode 6)

Storyboards: Daiki Mori

Script: Taku Kishimoto ( Series Script Writer on Gin no Saji seasons 1 and 2 / Script Writer on Joker Game episode 1)

Since Satoru began his time traveling he’s been able to put his trust into his friends— especially Kenya.  This has been a revolving theme that’s been rearing its head throughout Boku Machi and hasn’t been more important until now.  I like how this episode touches on Airi’s ridiculous story about her parents.  It shapes up this episode’s overall theme about trust.  Picking right up from last time after the opening credits Satoru rushed in to save Airi further proving that she wasn’t wrong in believing that he didn’t kill Sachiko.  This further translates nicely into the manager even redeeming himself and giving Satoru the chance to evade the police.  Not to mention that Airi’s mother chooses to believe her daughter by protecting her so that she can see Satoru again.  The scrap of paper Satoru found back in episode one ends up turning up this time and it had the name of Sachiko’s co-worker and freelance investigator.

Before I dive into the “red eye” motif, something I’ve noticed is how important two colors are in this series.  Blue and red. While red represents a foreshadows this sense of danger or ominous situation that may be occurring in this episode or the next.  Blue is shown as a signal of hope most importantly in using the idea of the butterfly effect.  One of the first scenes that we see is Satoru wondering if Airi is alright.  The long overhead shot of him against the butterflies flying around the blue streetlight represents joy and love and its a great use of it because these past two episodes have been heavily framed towards Satoru’s ability to trust people especially Airi. This very same scene is used to symbolize that he’s going to have another revival somewhere in this episode.  As blue butterflies also represent a sign of rebirth.  Shifting over to other end is the color red.  Sawada is viewed as a possible villain and could be the killer in this series considering his relationship with Sachiko.  There’s a part in this episode that uses the red eyes trick.  Overselling the idea that there is a level of distrust among these possible villains in Boku Machi.  Satoru’s investigation with him works nicely here because he is finally trying to pick up the missing pieces of Kayo’s disappearance and how that relates to his mother’s death.  The red eye motif and the film reel sequence pays a nod that the investigator was the last person to speak to Sachiko before she died.  A man that’s personally investing his time into the case without much of an alibi.  I like how they build this up to being able to connect that Sachiko’s killer and Kayo’s killer are one in the same.  It’s been hinted at a few times in previous episode but now it’s in plain view and it doesn’t help the killer any that he tried to kill Airi.  The list the investigator provides to Sachiko is pretty telling of what’s happened to Jun Shiratori and how he’s been framed.  While Jun hasn’t had a main role in this series he’s been an integral part in keep the children disappearances as a focus of this show.

As Satoru is headed to see Airi he stops at a park and helps some boys with a paper plane.  As untrustworthy the 2006 timeline has shown us so far visually, this was probably one of my favorite scenes because it puts Satoru in the role of Jun Shiratori.  The mothers whispering about how strange for an adult to be there at this time of day emphasizes this wonderfully.  It builds the framework that there is a lot more outside of this show’s reach—there are villains out there like Sachiko and Kayo’s killer.  Good way to gradually build on this with Airi’s final meeting and Satoru’s arrest!

The imagery in this episode was fantastic—the paper plane drifting down the river bank illustrates his manga story about the Grim Reaper nicely.  Losing faith in himself because he hasn’t found out much about finding the truth behind his mother’s killer.

The blue butterfly without a doubt is a clear indication he’s having another revival and it’s nice he received some reward in this episode—seeing the killer again.

Come to think of it it’s rewarding to us that we finally get to hear what Sachiko had to say to Sawada on the phone back from episode 1.

OVERALL IMPRESSION: 8/10

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