From the Sidelines: Fractale Episode 8: Secret of the Underground

Much about Phryne is revealed and a rescue mission goes very wrong when Fractale journeys into a deeper level of darkness. Warning: The TV-14 rating is very much earned by this episode due to extremely disturbing content and mild profanity in the English dub. Fractale: Reiterated continues with updated text and HD screen captures.

Secret of the Underground goes straight to the story instead of opening with the main title credits. We are greeted with the sight of Enri and the remaining Blues Brother returning to the Danon in the scout ship without Clain and Phryne. Subdued and upset, the blond girl reports the events at the end of the last episode to her brother, Sunda. Mainly concerned about Nessa, he is informed they brought her back but she is hiding in the computer systems again.

We then see the Temple airship, Odin, land in an underground base and Clain is seen struggling to breath. Yes, he somehow survived being shot but he is in very bad shape. He can hear people talking and briefly makes out the sight of Phryne over him trying not to cry. That capture says a lot about what the boy means to her, doesn’t it? Once again, the expressive facial animations of the series impress.

The distraught priestess desperately tries to negotiate with Sir Barrot to be allowed to stay with Clain, but he seems to be enjoying making her suffer over the situation. But it is his calling himself her father that the fading Clain hears just before passing out.

Cue the opening credits and the theme has never sounded sadder. It is a grim introduction to what turns out to be an even grimmer episode.

Mr. Creepy has returned and he’s far worse than previously hinted at as he is all over Phryne while making very inappropriate remarks. Now we see why Phryne tries to be stoic all the time, as it is clear this is nothing new from the man. Here we see her try to keep her composure while attempting to get medical help for Clain with Barrot being very manipulative.

Her relationship with Clain concerns him and he point blank asks if she has had intimate relations with the boy. With that one question Barrot makes Phryne lose her composure and the fear begins to show. A deal is struck where she will be examined to see if she is still qualified to be “the key” so that Clain will be treated. Yeah, they actually went there.

Things aren’t going great back on the Granite’s airship either. Enri and Nessa want to stage a rescue but Sunda wants time to prepare. That invites some choice words from his sister about his manhood while Nessa is in full tantrum mode like a two year old. Some great voice acting is shown by the feisty doppel’s Japanese actress in this scene.

Unable to be calmed, she sets out to rescue Clain by herself and vanishes in an electrical arc through the systems of the ship. Whereupon Clain wakes up to see her standing over him. Or does he?

Ah, it is the little priestess last seen in episode four. Clain is very surprised to be alive and mostly recovered – the medical technology of the Fractale system must be amazing. Strangely unemotional, Nessa’s lookalike has an awkward exchange with the boy after he starts asking questions.

While Clain gets nowhere in getting answers, Sunda is getting nowhere with recruiting other Lost Millennium factions to do the rescue. The other leaders are all much older and far more cautious to his irritation. The only one willing to help is Dias and he is curious about “the Key.” That doesn’t bode well.

Clain slowly makes some progress with the Nessa lookalike, but their interactions are hampered by the excruciating literal mind of the girl. She is so unlike Nessa that it is jarring. Even more so is her revealing her name to be Phryne when Clain asks where his love interest is. Yes, it becomes obvious when Clain clarifies, asking where “his Phryne” is and that she is “special.” The English dub is far more specific having him slip and call her “my girlfriend.”

Things with the little priestess get even more confusing after that. For the moment, I’ll dub the little priestess “Phryne Too” for the sake of brevity. The camera angles are interestingly discordant during these encounters between Clain and Phryne Too, contributing to a feeling of unease in these scenes. Something feels terribly, terribly off and it builds tension in what would be otherwise quiet moments.

Eventually, Phryne Too leads Clain to a room filled with capsules filled with copies of her. They are all Phryne, explains the girl to clear his confusion. Clain is dumbfounded by all this and first thinks they are doppels, but Phryne Too proves they are real the hard way by decanting one. The soulless eyes and mute non-reaction of the clone creeps the boy out even more. But they aren’t clones, explains Phryne Too. They are “keys.” Here the English dub changes things considerably by explicitly saying they are clones.

Confused and somewhat sickened by the discovery, Clain exits, trips, and injures the hand of Phryne II. This gives him an opportunity to bandage her hand so that he can tell her apart from the others. It is a sweet moment as she asks if that makes her “special.” What Clain says nets him directions on how to get to his Phryne.

He’d better hurry, because Phryne is entering her own personal hell.

From here on things actually get darker as rescues are attempted, secrets are revealed, and it all builds to the bleakest ending of an episode of Fractale.

Thoughts

I have to give credit to the creators of Fractale for manipulating the emotions of the audience so thoroughly in Secret of the Underground. Never before have I wanted to kill a two dimensional cartoon character in a messy and painful way like I did with Barrot. In fact, I had to walk away in the middle of writing this review for awhile after watching the episode again.

While a dark episode, there are moments of sweetness in it. The interactions between Clain and Phryne Too show what a fundamentally decent guy he is, if still quite innocent. I particularly liked the brother and sister relationship being very believable between Enri and Sunda. Like last episode, the pig tailed blond gets a chance to shine and I find myself becoming a fan of her despite her shouting “ecchi” all the time.

The moral questions about the Fractale system intensify with the revelations in this episode. Mass production of the Phryne’s is immoral and repugnant, as is the apparent treatment of them. Having explored more Japanese pop culture since first watching this, I am struck by the possibility this is a shot at the idol system.

Pretty young Japanese girls are trained and marketed in a very cookie cutter style that has them all l0ok and act alike. They even have large girl groups that dominate advertising, such as AKB48. In the end, they are mass produced and replaceable, just like Phryne.

Then there is the behavior of Sir Barrot, who is very high up in the Temple leadership. His abuse of power is of the most disgusting kind, that of a sexual predator. But all too familiar these days as the news is often filled with people in authority abusing those under them.

Episode 8 goes by way too quickly, always a good sign when watching something. Now that we understand Phryne, the questions around Nessa are increasing and it seems like Dias knows something we don’t.

And now we know what the opening sequence image of fractal Nessa’s is about:

BEWARE! HERE BE SPOILERS!!!

I loved the sudden appearance of Nessa in the examination room. Hovering like Dark Phoenix, she is in full angry techno-goddess mode and won’t take crap from anybody. While relieved to be saved, Phryne makes the mistake of telling Nessa to go back. The doppel will have none of that and is truly frightening in her anger. She will find Clain no matter what.

The two of them search for the boy while hiding from the guards. Again, hide and seek is mentioned because Nessa is being too noisy. That reoccurring game comes into play in the last episode as well and seems to be a special bond between Phryne and Nessa. It also leads to an amusing moment when Clain pops out of an air vent under Phryne when she playing older sister. Nessa is a wee bit too joyful to see himand alerts the guard. It is a rare light moment in the episode.

Escaping to unused crude tunnels, Clain finds out a lot more about Phryne and is very relieved to find out that Barrot isn’t Phryne’s real father. He’s just the man who raised her. Still too sick for words in my book. Being unusually open, Phryne explains that she didn’t want to stop being herself and that’s why she ran away. Here we have the big hint dropped about what she and Nessa are to each other. Of course, Clain doesn’t pick up on it.

But there is a wonderful moment shared between Clain and Phryne as she ends the explanation by trailing off after saying “Then I met you…” So much is said by the long silence as the two stare at each other.

Then they get lost. I liked that because it was so simply human.

Stumbling into a nightmarish chamber of horrors, Phryne begins to break down at the sight of multiple Phryne’s being literally liquidated, since they are all younger versions of her. Clain is horrified and Nessa short circuits as the scene is too sad for her to handle. Interesting how she can’t handle sad things well and hides from them. It is massive foreshadowing of the reveal about the original Phryne in the final episode.

A tube arrives on the conveyor belt with Phryne II in it and Clain tries his best to stop it. The emotional exchange between Phryne and her beau is the real highlight of the episode. Between this and the abuse by Barrot, it is no wonder she doesn’t value her life.

But Clain steps up and proves himself a man with what he says about her. For all his naiveté and occasional wimpy behavior, the teenager knows what really matters and proves to be a romantic. The reactions from Phryne as he speaks are terrifically emotional.

The hectic events that follow lead to the saddest scene in the series to this point: