“In the name of Tsukuyomi Sasami, I command you. O savage god…rest in peace! Diffuse and melt into the world as you sleep.”
Summary
After Tsurugi realizes that an Alteration may have occurred with so many people absent from class, she decides to investigate the unusually popular online game at Sasami’s house, Yamatano Orochi SNS. After managing to wind up Sasami far enough, Kamiomi and the Yagami sisters discover that Sasami is actually a closet addict of the game and the origination of the Alteration three years ago, which has created a huge monster causing rampant destruction in the game in order to keep it alive
Impression
First off, I’m glad we got an explanation for the strange mass of random events that occurred in Sasami-san’s opening episode, as it really does clear things up – as well as sets a few loose boundaries for the things that we should be expecting from this show. Sasami’s report tells us of how gods reside in everything, and literally everything – from physical objects like pebbles or buildings to immaterial concepts like the weather. Collectively, they are referred to as the yaoyorozu, or Myriad Gods, in which there is a solid hierarchy based on the level of a particular god’s divinity. The gods with the higher divinities can bend those of lesser rank to their will, and these are phenomena called Alterations. The highest divine god is Amaterasu, and resides in the Tsukuyomi siblings – first in Sasami, and now in Kamiomi. From what I understand of it, the entire world turned to chocolate because Amaterasu wished it so, and so all the gods of a lower divinity decided to try their best to please the ultimate god. As for the Yagami sisters…even Sasami has no idea exactly what they are, but as their goal seems to be stopping any Alterations, perhaps they act as mediators or regulators of some sort? If they’re able to overrule the changes all the other gods in the world have made though, their own divinity must be sky-high.
“I’m scared! Tsurugi-nee and Paparin are naked and doing weird things together!”
Even after diverting to action and fantasy, this show has clearly not forgotten about its comedy streak, though perhaps SHAFT has forgotten about its budget. Despite literally rolling in money now, it seems the first episode depleted the budget given to this show completely, which was rather obvious in some places with lots of background/scene re-usage as well as many comedic Sasami faces, which was entertaining until it started repeating itself. SHAFT still has its name printed everywhere though – Tsurugi’s falling bricks reminding me of many a Senjougahara scene in the Monogatari series. Anyway, the whole situation surrounding the Yagami sisters, Sasami and Kamiomi playing an online game draws parallels to a similar scenario in Welcome to the NHK, where an online RPG was played and reality was eventually forgotten. Typical of Sasami to be a closet addict to Yamatano Orochi SNS, having the rarest items and the best character set – yet suspiciously trying to cut off access to the game so the Yagami sisters wouldn’t end up shutting it down. They eventually got back at her though, with Tsurugi and Kagami conducting their own antics, while Tama – wait, what is that gooey mess, and how on earth could it have gotten there? Poor Sasami-san 😀 At least Kamiomi stayed nice and quiet, after nearly getting virtually raped by Tsurugi xD
“Well, this was unexpected.”
Yeah…no shit. I mean, I’d known about the chocolate incident before the first episode due to some resourceful searching, but I was surprised to see this get pulled out of the bag – for people playing the game to have been sucked inside it, and having their spirits consumed in order for Yamatano Orochi to grow and grow. What was slightly confusing was the sudden change to the entire classroom being covered with blood and everybody dead; you’d think that Sasami or some other player would have noticed the change – or perhaps not, as Sasami is the origin of this whole Alteration three years ago. With the game’s popularity suddenly spiking for no apparent reason from being on the verge of collapse, the monster’s only mission was to maintain the world’s existence for Sasami, who had commanded Amaterasu three years ago. There’s probably some kind of back-story behind how Sasami eventually passed on Amaterasu to her brother, maybe connected to their shrine outfits in the OP, as well as a few other characters we haven’t been introduced to yet. I wonder if Sasami’s willingness to destroy the monster (leading to Yamatano Orochi SNS’s destruction) is a step towards curing her hikikomori condition, and getting her to come to school – but meanwhile, I’m sure there’s something she can do on her ten computers to keep herself occupied ^_^
