There are quite a few situations that can bring out the true nature of the human race. Whether that nature be good or bad, you never really know how someone will react, in dire times, until it actually happens to you personally. In this case, I want to look at an anime in an apocalyptic environment, where most things are okay as long as no one finds out.
You might think of Shingeki no Kyouji, better known as Attack on Titan, as far as currently airing series; however, the one I want to focus on is Kamisama no Inai Nichiyoubi, or Kami-Nai for short. It is obvious that this series was overshadowed by the colossal hit Attack on Titan was -- I'm also surprised that sekijitsu never covered it, but I'm here to change that.
So what is this Kami-Nai? The story is that the world is abandoned by God on Sunday; as a result, no one can die or have children. We follow the little girl named Ai, who is the gravekeeper of a small town. Gravekeepers are the only way people can pass on, any other way you essentially turn into the living dead -- but not in a zombified state, your consciousness is kept intact.
Living in this type of world, where the only type of conflict is between people, and you don't know who to really trust would put anyone on edge. And that uncertainty seeps into the problems Ai faces as they show up. Which is where I want to aim my focus on when it comes to how Ai deals with things that are, for the most part, not that clear cut or black and white of a decision.
So before I continue, there will be spoilers from this point on.
The most recent arc, Class 3-4, is at it's climax and we have found out the Dee Ensy Stratmitos is the main reason why the loop in the class even began. Because she has died -- by falling out the window to her demise -- the class wished for nothing bad like that to happen again; and now we have an isolated space in time that resets itself right before the day Dee dies.
Disrupting this would make the event happen again and Dee would most likely disappear. So the decision is sacrificing one person, Dee, to save the entire classroom from what is a time prison. Of course, Dee wont let this one slide from her without a fight. She just wants to live in her peaceful prison, even if it does require an entire group of people be stuck with her.
With the help of Alis Colors — the person who asked Ai to help — Ai tries to figure out how to break the cycle as the reset date closes in.
Although the situation itself seems straight forward, Alis knows Dee and he has been with her since they first escaped Class 3-4; and Ai knew her before even agreeing to help Alis with his problem. So throw in the fact that at best Dee is a good acquaintance, is one of the reason Ai is hesitant after hearing why Dee is protecting this world.
Dealing with this decision is a bit more complicated, where on one hand you will be hurting someone you know while saving many other you don't. And on the other is keeping someone you know safe, but the others are still trapped. Alis is a lot less hesitant than Ai, considering he has been trying to solve this mystery for a while. And Alis not really showing any mercy in his choice, I feel a bit sad for Dee — even more so knowing the fact that Dee has a crush on Alis.
There are other examples of this kind of decision making for Ai Astin -- which is strange to see a 12 year old make these type of choices -- in the 3 other arcs in the season; however, the sad part is each one ends quickly not really exploring the parts that make it gray, leaving the decisions looking more clear than they should be. It might be better to call them light gray, but gray is gray and much better than the pure contrast of black and white.
Orginally posted to the now shutdown sekijitsu.com: No Archive Found