Episode 06 – “Happy You Did Not Notice”

At the risk of simply repeating what I said last week, this series is getting better, as it actually introduces elements that go beyond simply capturing a loose, adolescent psychic. Though, I suppose you can argue that this episode is about tracking down another loose, adolescent psychic, but there’s a twist, as this time around the esper in question is Yuu’s sister Ayumi.

For the first time in what feels like forever, we’re introduced to new characters, with Ayumi’s friends who apparently had drama brewing among them from the beginning. Now, how much more interesting would things be if we got to see some of this development? Granted, I’m not saying that introducing these characters so late in the series is necessarily a bad thing, but seeing as how we’ve had the same old song and dance for five episodes, a change of pace (or a change of face, as it were) would have been much appreciated.

Looking at the mid-season ratings on MyAnimeList, both of the series that I’m covering, GATE and Charlotte, have almost the exact same score (7.79 and 7.75 respectively at the time of writing this). So, am I missing something? Why is a series I love rated so closely to a series that I so obnoxiously complain each week like a broken record? It makes me wonder if I’m truly missing something about Charlotte – that perhaps maybe there’s some appeal lying hidden beneath some unfair predisposition I might have towards the series. If this episode’s cliffhanger has anything to say about it, I may be singing a different tune come next week.

For the first time in the series, except for perhaps the scene with Nao’s brother, there’s some tension floating around. There’s the unease coursing between Ayumi and the box cutter wielding Konishi, as well as the jarring ending with Yuu supposedly crushed beneath rubble created by Ayumi’s ability to rip the earth apart. We’re led to believe that Yuu is a human pancake, or that Ayumi’s incomplete psychic power is to create illusions for those around her. And what of the mysterious characters rushing to the scene at the end?

“Maybe the ability is something so horrible that it will also rope in the person using it.” ~ Nao Tomori

B.W.