B – The Beginning: Season 1/ Episode 12 [Season Finale] – Recap/ Review (with Spoilers)
Like most of the season, the ending leaves you with a sort of mixed reaction. One that makes it waiting until after the credits to hin to a second season very understandable. Network Netflix Director(s) Kazuto Nakazawa, Yoshiki Yamakawa Writer(s) Katsuya Ishida Air Date 3/2/2018 Don’t You Wanna Know Why?: Gil, Kieth In the grand…
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Like most of the season, the ending leaves you with a sort of mixed reaction. One that makes it waiting until after the credits to hin to a second season very understandable.
| Network | |
| Netflix | |
| Director(s) | Kazuto Nakazawa, Yoshiki Yamakawa |
| Writer(s) | Katsuya Ishida |
| Air Date | 3/2/2018 |
Don’t You Wanna Know Why?: Gil, Kieth
In the grand scheme of things, what Gil wanted to do was challenge Keith with a puzzle. If not a challenge. For with Gil and Keith close for most of their lives, we learn it wasn’t Erika that split them apart but one thing Keith said – him not understanding murder and hating the idea. This, to Gil, felt like a rejection and when paired with Erika rejecting him for another man, that is what led to Gil snapping. Especially since Erika was one of the ways Gil tried to remain sane. However, without her, so began the cycle.
One in which, so it seems, be it Erika or someone else rejecting him, if not just feeling a twinge of guilt, so would birth a new personality. A personality which would take all these negative emotions, kill the person causing them, get a Reggie blamed for it, and then the Market Makers would clean it up. Thus resetting the cycle.
As for why he killed his father? Well, because he began agreeing with Dr. Kazama, Keith’s dad, as he got sentimental in his old age. Meaning, he was less and less for the production of Reggies and with that hurting the power of the Market Makers, he had to die.
Commentary
One thing not answered in all this: When and how did Gilbert end up the head of the Market Makers or, at the very least, having enough influence where he had, at least 100 of them, used to cover up his crimes? Much less, considering the rejection Erika caused him, which led to her death, what made Keith so special? Was it, as Lily said, later on in the episode, Gil figured Keith would be the only one who could end it all? So, with that in mind, he set out this elaborate puzzle to eventually get himself killed?
That is, alongside satisfy his more twisted side, or sides, by having it where Keith becomes just like them and becomes a murderer? Because, as of now, that is the only thing I figure kept his more psychotic sides for just taking Keith out. They wanted him to understand and so they went along with the more saner Gil’s plan.
But, with all that said, how exactly did these multiple personalities work? Was it normal Gil would black out and psycho Gil would take over? All the while, so it seems, semi-normal Gil would retain the memories? Or would it simply be Gil gave into his more crazy side but would just verbally say, and physically perform, like it was another part of him which was in control?
Koku’s Final Battle: Koku, Yuna, Laica
Laica answers a very important question: Why face someone like Koku, with a sword for a hand, instead of using a gun? But considering they are near the inscription, even without the gun, the powers which usually make Koku formidable aren’t at the height they once were. Plus, while he does have quick healing abilities, as shown after his battle with Yuna, he doesn’t heal like Wolverine of the X-Men. Small cuts, yes, but the blade he has for an arm? Nope. But, as noted in the last episode, despite being in a huge explosion, likely falling to Earth, and the impact, he is doing just fine.
So maybe his healing abilities and endurance depends on his mood? Yuna attacking him and seemingly being dead, perhaps that brought him to a state where he could barely fight or recover. However, with her being alive, even with the inscription and the Jetblack siphoning his powers, his stamina, endurance, what have you, made it so that even with him at a disadvantage, he could fight on.
And when I say fight on, I mean him taking a full magazine of bullets, being stabbed in the shoulder blade and hoisted on a rock, and even having his arm with the blade cut off. But, thanks to that blade Izanami gave him, Laica’s head gets cut off and Yuna saved!
Commentary
I wonder if this show would have been better if it didn’t have a secondary villain or made the mystery, in regards to Minatsuki and Laica, stronger. For Laica’s death honestly was barely above the rest Koku ended up killing. Yes, we got his name, some background on him, and he got a boost by Gil making him seem important, even him betraying Gil in his time of need, but it didn’t really aide making his final moment jaw-dropping.
But, perhaps epic, put it on a pedestal moments, shouldn’t be considered the goal for every show. The same goes with characters. B – The Beginning may be just wanted enough characters to justify the usual 12 episode length and, as noted in one or two episodes before, there could have been so much chaos in the creation of this, the writer just salvaged what they could.
Gilbert’s Final Stand: Gil, Yuna, Koku, Lily, Keith
Gil really wants Keith to understand him and ultimately shoot him. That rejection, which happened more than a decade ago, it still eats at him. To the point that even if he has to push Keith to shoot him for a kill, including a headshot, as long as he can get a few seconds of knowing Keith understands the pleasures of murdering someone, that’ll be enough.
However, Keith is making getting that hard. Gil tries to trigger him through images of Erika and talking about why he killed her. In the last episode, he went over being the reason Keith’s father died, but nothing. So, he even puts a gun to Keith’s head to maybe force him into action and he gets nothing. Leaving Gil with but one choice. As he hears Lily running down the hall, trying to stop Keith from killing Gil, Keith is then forced to pull the trigger and give Gil what he wants. Thus ending it all.
At least for Gil. The rest continue to live on and after 3 months of the news talking about all Gil did and the stuff he was connected to, it is assumed things will be normal now. Koku and Yuna are living a fairly normal life, Keith is going back to work, and though Kaela things may ramp up again, there isn’t any cliffhanger presented with the idea that might be true. Much less, we may have something to see in a second season.
Commentary
You ever wonder if a show was “too cerebral” or “too smart” for you or maybe it tried so hard to be compelling that it ultimately bored you? I feel like that is what happened here. Gil setting this huge, 10+ year puzzle into play, should have, by this point, seemed more interesting than it ultimately is. But, at least we got an epilogue, right? Granted, we didn’t get to really see Yuna and Koku be like siblings, boyfriend and girlfriend, or however they truly see one another, but we know they’re alive. Yay?
Question(s) Left Unanswered
- Where was Keith’s mom amongst all this again?
- What happened to Erika’s birth parents?
- Who was Erika outside of being Keith’s sister and the object of Gil’s affections?
- What was the real first trigger that made Gilbert go insane? Much less, decide to kill his victims the way he decided to over and over again? Also, why keep them to revisit them?
Highlights
- We learn why and how Gil did everything he has done up till now.
Low Points
- We don’t get to see Koku and Yuna be fairly happy teenagers or young adults together.
- The show completely skips over the aftermath of everything coming to light and just lets us know things are normal… for now.
- The prophecy remains something that, while seemingly explained, according to someone who left a comment on the last episode, seems like the product of too many cooks in the kitchen. Or maybe, considering how it got brought up when the show veered toward, “You made it this far, why quit now?” simply didn’t like an asset but just another liability. So, you just suffered through it.
On The Fence
- Laica’s final moments were lackluster but on par with how deaths were handled for the rest of his group.
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There was a scene after the credits that I think you missed?
Oh god you’re right… I really wish you weren’t though because Kirisame being alive, seemingly another one brainwashed, and wanting revenge… urgh.
But it also makes me wonder, considering the way most animated shows are, why does Netflix maintain that ability to skip or just plain downplay the credits like the show is over?
I’m glad someone brought that up. I was just about to comment that. There is definitely a lot of explaining the show still has to do.
This show really did feel overly ambitious and as a result just kind of ended up messy and unsatisfying. There are some good moments and ideas, and I would have liked to see these ideas play out a little differently. That said, I didn’t hate it, I just wasn’t all that caught up in it.
You have to give the creators props for making an original anime series though. I personally can’t recall too many anime I have watched that were straight to being a show and weren’t a manga first. Plus, I’m not sure of the full production schedule, but with Netflix announcing they were involved back in 2016, about 2 years ago, I’m sure this was considered a big deal and they tried to go all out. Hence my feelings, throughout the show, that maybe there was just a huge amount of pressure and way too many people trying to sway the show one way or another. To the point they didn’t get something perfect but good enough where it wouldn’t make the studio lose prestige or look bad.