Subete Ga F Ni Naru 4: Clues, clues

CHAPTER 4: The Rainbow-Colored Past

The group makes a cursory examination of the director's corpse and Nishinosono makes the following observations: (1) his body is still warm, which means he hasn't been dead for long; (2) he is stabbed with a knife on the back of his neck, which means he didn't do it himself and that his killer is someone he knew; (3) the helicopter radio is destroyed, which means the police have not yet been contacted; (4) since there are only ways to get to the rooftop and they didn't meet anyone at the elevator, the killer must have used the other door and he must still be in the lab.

The group goes back to the main room where they check the security logs on the two doors leading to the rooftop. The logs reveal that only Yamane has used the elevator to the rooftop but the time does not match the timeline of the murder. The other door has not been accessed since yesterday. This leads them to conclude that the Deborah program is not entirely perfect. Next they examine Magata's room through Yamane's voice and palm biometric data. It is established that the door can be opened from the inside the same way using Magata's voice and palm biometric data. Once inside the room, they observe that Magata has a receiving room although she never sees anyone, her library does not contain a single work of hers and that she appears to have been working on metal.

As they explore the room further for more clues, they come upon a closed door that is locked from inside and someone with Magata's voice asks them who they are. Yamane immediately identifies himself and asks for the door to open. However, it revealed that the voice belongs to a robot that Magata made and named Michiru. The room also hides a large lego British guard, a box of legos, a teddy bear and three pieces of party balloons. Magata's bedroom appears neat as though nothing horrible happened in it. They find nothing there, not even Magata's limbs, which makes Saikawa wonder about a trash chute in the room. However, the chute turns out to be too small.

Next, they check Magata's desktop computer and they find out that Magata has designed a new platform, Red Magic ver. 6 when the lab is still using ver. 4. An entry on her calendar from the day before contains the mysterious phrase: "Everything becomes F." They also find a text file that contains what apparently are the last words of Magata and her other personalities.

Later, Nishinosono and Saikawa check out a room in Magata's apartment that contains the single window. Saikawa mulls over the meaning of "Everything becomes F" while Nishinosono wonders about the wedding dress that Magata's corpse is wearing. Although they find a sewing machine in Magata's room, the wedding dress was bought three years ago. The wedding dress leads to a talk about dolls, which reminds Nishinosono about Magata's saying that a doll murdered her parents. However, doll seems to represent Magata's personalities, Magata also revealed in her conversation with Nishinosono that Magata is the only one who knows about her parents, making her the only suspect in her parents' murder.

In a flashback, the director is revealed sitting in a hotel room with a drink in hand. He talks about hearing Magata alone in the bathroom, talking to one of her personalities. The persona appears to have already slept with the director and Magata is asking her advice on what she's going to do, which is to sleep with the director, too. When Magata finally steps out of the shower, the director tries to tell her to stop but Magata throws herself on him.

COMMENTS:

Alright so now we have two bodies and we're all assuming that the killer is one of these characters inside the lab. So far the characters that have been fleshed out are Yamane and the director's wife. 

Yamane is implicated because, being the vice director, he is the one guy, save the director himself who is already dead, with the highest level of access in the lab. He is also the only person who used the door leading to the rooftop. As for motive, his being vice-director to a dead director is plenty of motive. Yet, our intrepid investigators do not seem to consider him a suspect. Perhaps, because Yamane has been with them from the moment they arrived at the lab and so on. He hasn't really left our investigor's side, which diverts suspicion from him.

Our next suspect is the director's wife. We don't know much about her except that she seems to be taking her husband's gruesome murder very well. She's baking cookies and exchanging gossip about Magata's multiple personality disorder. Her motive is of course that of an avenging wife who finds out that her husband has been cheating on her with a kid genius. But there seems to be no indication whatsoever that she knows about Magata's affair with the director. Besides she doesn't appear to be smart enough to be able to pull off such a murder.

As a subplot, we are also trying to solve the murder of Magata's parents fifteen years ago. Magata is the prime suspect but she cryptically told Nishinosono that a doll did it. Incidentally, the latest murders may also involve a doll, Michiru, who is one of Magata's personalities.

Some nitpicking about the show: it is a leap for Nishinosono to assume that the police were never contacted just because the radio is destroyed. There's no showing that the director didn't already make the call and then got murdered. Likewise, I don't remember how they end up concluding that Magata was murdered only a few minutes before the director's murder. Sure, it narrows down the timeline and is a plot device to ensure that the killer remains in the building. But if Magata has only been dead a few minutes or hours, why is Nishinosono covering her nose when she checks the corpse?

It appears that Magata is the person who designed Red Magic, the program that controls Deborah security system, and that she is able to freely move about the lab. Yet, somehow I had the impression that Magata is supposed to be a prisoner? What kind of prisoner has freedom to get in and out with her prison and tinker with prison's security? 

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Subete ga F ni Naru 2-3: A surprising turn of events

EPISODE 2: Azure Encounter

The whole gang -- and by gang, I mean the lab rats -- go on a company outing. Nishinosono invites herself to the event despite the fact that she's just an intern and shocks her co-workers with a display of her wealth. While in camp, Nishinosono and Saikawa discuss Dr. Magata with the former baiting the latter once again. Nishinosono agrees to let Saikawa go with her to her personal meeting with Dr. Magata, who is living in isolation in a secure facility on an island. They are met on their way there by the Vice Director, who explains how the facility works. While there, Nishinosono pretends to have a headache in order to be allowed to enter the facility. However, her ruse is found out by the Vice Director, who is nonetheless cool about it. Their casual conversation is interrupted by a power outage. Something goes wrong with the programming of the facility's security features. While the staff tries to fix the problem, the door to Dr. Magata's room suddenly opens and out comes a figure in white, seemingly gliding in the air. The staff is terrified due to the fact that Dr. Magata had murdered her family as a child. In a flashback scene, a young Dr. Magata is seen going on a car ride with the Director of the facility and her actions seem to suggest that she is trying to seduce him although he is married.

EPISODE 3: Red Magic

The power comes back on and the system resets. It is revealed that the white figure is Dr. Magata. Nishinosono and Saikawa try to approach but are deterred by a strong, rotting smell. Just then, another member of the facility's staff arrives and, after he is told that Dr. Magata is out of her room, the staff member investigates the body. He concludes that Dr. Magata is dead, her arms and legs severed. He also deduces that the killer could still be inside her room, prompting them to immediately lock her room. They attempt to call the police but the place has no signal and no cellphone service. Fortunately, the facility's director is arriving any minute now on a helicopter with Dr. Magata's younger sister, Miki. When the helicopter arrives, the Vice Director tells him about Dr. Magata's death and to call the police from the helicopter's radio. Meanwhile, Miki disembarks from the helicopter and she is escorted in by Saikawa, Nishinosono and the Vice Director. Miki is allowed to look at Dr. Magata's body and she looks understandably shocked. Saikawa and Nishinosono try to figure out what happened and who killed Dr. Magata. It is mentioned that with Dr. Magata dead, the only living relative of the Magata family left is Miki. And if the killer is after the Magata family, she could be next. While Saikawa and Nishinosono look for clues and analyze the facts, the Director is found dead in the helicopter with his throat slit. In a flashback scene, a young Dr. Magata successfully seduces the Director while they are on a cable car ride with fire works in the background.

COMMENTS: 

This just became interesting. I can't believe the body the summary was talking about belongs to Dr. Magata. Damn. It's definitely a surprising turn of events and just made the show doubly interesting. I mean, I am still annoyed by the forced romance between Saikawa and Nishinosono mainly because I see Nishinosono as a spoiled ditz. But this episode showed me a different side of her: she is smart and has good analytical skills. Hmm.

I also found it strange that Dr. Magata seemed fixated on Nishinosono's attraction to Saikawa. Indirectly, Dr. Magata seems interested in Saikawa, who has admitted to being obsessed with Dr. Magata.

I wonder if Dr. Magata is not really dead and she just faked her own death. She's certainly smart enough to do it. At the moment, that is my guess for the murderer in this whodunnit anime.

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First Impressions: Subete Ga F Ni Naru

EPISODE 1: Chapter 1 - White Meeting

Nishinosono Moe is the pampered daughter of the president of a college (deceased). Every morning, she goes to see Saikawa Souhei, a multi-awarded college professor who was her dad's old student, to banter with him while just barely hiding her attraction to him. Saikawa appears insensate to her amorous leanings and philosophizes through their conversations. The brief entrance of Gido, a colleague of Saikawa, makes it seem that Saikawa is at least, on a subconscious level, aware of Moe since he apparently talks of nothing but her, according to Gido.

In the course of the episode, it is revealed that Moe had met a programming prodigy, Dr. Magata Shiki, through her aunt who is the wife of a politician. She rubs this meeting in Saikawa's face since Saikawa admires Magata, whom he considers a genius. The staff in Saikawa's lab appear to be planning a seminar on an island and Moe invites herself there in order to meet Dr. Magata again. Saikawa, who was not planning to go at first, decides to go to meet Magata.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS:

This is a noitaminA anime and seems really interesting. Reading the plot, it's supposed to be a mystery thriller with the main characters trying to solve a serial murder case. However, the first episode is purely introductory, establishing character dynamics which will play a vital role as the story progresses into its plot. That said, I couldn't wait for it to be over so we can get to the good part.

I don't care much for the philosophizing. It all seems pretentious. The banter is okay I suppose. The most interesting character I find is Magata. I really liked her conversation with Moe which was framed like an interview. I suppose it was a interview for all intents and purposes but one that the interviewee (Magata), rather than the interviewer (Moe), controls right up to the very end.

The art style is nice. I like the muted colors and the simple lines. The BGM is composed of mostly classical pieces which blends well with the anime's style. I skipped both the opening and the closing theme so I have no comment about those.

My overall impression of the first episode of this anime is good. But, as I said, I can't wait to get to the real meat of the story.

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