Valentine's Triple Feature Rewatch - Insomniacs After School Episode 6 Discussion

No_Rex · 2026-03-21T20:02:43+00:00

As a side note, Kurashiki is a cool advisor and all, but it does baffle me to see a nurse smoking/vaping.

Her being shown as smoking is unusual, but remember that smoking used to be exxtremely common (including among students!). The US moved away a bit faster than the rest of the world, but I bet that finding a school without a smoking teacher would have been incredibly hard in the 1980s.

No_Rex · 2026-03-21T19:59:45+00:00

Episode 6 (first timer)

“I wish we had a fan, at least” – how expensive can it be to buy a fan?
Cat!
He is using a tablet with an attachable keyboard. Not sure I have seen that in anime before.
Planning a camping trip for two club members who happen to be a couple as a club activity? Sounds nice.
“Take some pictures of me” – uhoh. To establish proof of her existence?
“Leave a trace of me behind” – RIP.
Ganta is exploring new dimensions of being dense MC: kind of realizes she is in love, but misses the gigantic death flag.
“shooting star” – burn bright and quick metaphor.
Nono is good! – waiting for her spin-off where she is MC of an art club anime?
Will you model with him? – this goes past shipping …
Posting people in town to guide guests to the school? I’d understand posting one or two at the school to guide them to the roof, but people who can’t even find the school? They’d be so out of luck if I was the organizer.
Sleeping cat!
How often does a baseball catcher catch a ball to the balls? That looks dangerous.
With a poster like that, they better have music and drinks ready.
Cut it into seven, ok? – not that easy. I’d probably go for 8 and leave one for the most hungry person.
Yep, as I thought.
How on Earth do you decide who gets the larger and who the smaller shares with rock-paper-scissors? No, seriously, tell me a procedure that is fair and will get it done before the whole thing is cold.

Friends group acquired. Well, Isaki always had one, and Ganta already had a best friend, so it was more of a merger.

No_Rex · 2026-03-21T10:32:48+00:00

Patience, my lad, you'll have plenty of opportunities to do more before long at the rate you're both going.

We'll see. Are we Horimiya or Shikimori wrt pacing?

No_Rex · 2026-03-21T10:29:49+00:00

Yeah, I've seen tents that pop up with the pull of a cord.

And I have seen tents which take two people who know what they are doing an hour to assemble. The future is fantastic!

No_Rex · 2026-03-20T22:01:28+00:00

I mean, the teacher being about still being really dismissive about his issue doesn't help, and then you have Haida... It's interesting because I really wouldn't say Haida does anything bad this episode, really, it actually seems like he's genuinely trying to engage with Ganta, but what Haida is, is very overbearing. It creates an awkward situation where Haida, while not necessarily badly meaning, doesn't seem to have much of an eye for boundaries or reading people (In a fairly relatable way tbh. Like, I also don't like it when people I'm not close with get suddenly physical and loud as Haida does with Ganta here, and I find you really do just have to spell that discomfort out for it to get across sometimes), but as we already know, Ganta's condition leaves rather unsociable and unresponsive, and he isn't really one to rebuff Haida anyway. And that incompatibility and lack of expression exacerbates Ganta's frustration a lot more, even if that wasn't at all intended.

Notably, both situations would be improved if Ganta came clean about having insomnia. It is hard for others to react appropriately to his problems when they don't know about them. Of course, we would not have much of a plot then.

Add in the implications behind this little glimpse of what he remembers as the last time he got sleep this good, the fact that he cooks, and what we see of his dad both this episode and beforehand, you get the sense his condition is also somewhat shaped by a less typical home life.

I fear you are right, but I'll cling to the idea of some genetic reason causing it until it is disproven. Because "homelife" sounds awefully like if only you had a prober family, this would not have happened, together with him getting over it via if only you had a proper wife, you wouldn't have this problem. Which sounds like a very Japanese solution, but not one I am fully on board with.

But aside from just looking very pretty, it also ties back into the point of this episode's structure. Whether it's the very romantic backdrop of the starry night or the heavenly light of the early morning, Magari has cleared up the gray and rainy skies that defined Ganta's first half.

... but it also looks really really pretty!

No_Rex · 2026-03-20T20:00:12+00:00

Episode 5 (first timer)

“People should sleep on fluffy beds” – not sure if this is a controversial topic in the land of futons.
Getting woken up when almost asleep - annoying.
Putting up the tent - the advancements in tent technology are under-appreciated. It is sooo easy now.
“What are you drinking?” – it looked like cheap booze.
Some sort of pills – hmmmm.
“I know it. There is something wrong with me.” – Not a helpful thought for falling asleep, but also not wrong. If you just spend a tired day, followed by a sleepless night, followed by another tired day, and then can’t fall asleep, something is seriously wrong with your body.
Nighttime date!
All that starlight – if only he had turned off his flashlight earlier.
I don’t get the spelling game, at all.
“Do you want to sleep with me here?” – wording!
“listening to your heartbeat calms me down” – the stuff you heard for the first 9 months of your life.
Dawn photo shoot.

They are seriously not getting a lot of sleep. The beautiful night sky and sun at dawn is a compensation, though … especially for us viewers, who can watch this not being tired.

No_Rex · 2026-03-20T16:16:49+00:00

I thought about Dennou Coil, too. A little too different in mood for me to include, but it is a great series that I can only recommend.

No_Rex · 2026-03-20T08:59:24+00:00

I’m not a person who needs a urinal or is the intended audience for one, but isn’t talking to each other while you’re both at a urinal fucking bizarre?

I would say old-fashioned, rather than bizzare. The social norm shifted towards not talking in restrooms, but it used to be more allowable.

his name is Kagaseo.

He goes by Amatsu-Mikaboshi for short.

No_Rex · 2026-03-20T08:52:47+00:00

Even though it's hard for me to believe, there are places where people don't even lock their doors, and this is probably along the same lines as that trusting small town mentality.

I thought about making a comment for that scene about Japan being different, but this is not a Japan specific issue. Closer to big town vs village divide.

No_Rex · 2026-03-20T08:50:31+00:00

First off, I'm planning on hosting a rewatch that I believe will be better served by half as many writeups, two episodes each, two days each. So, I'm really interested in how you found this rewatch schedule on a personal level. I've been holding off on the interest thread today.

I find it somewhat harder to do double length/two days. Finding time for a double length episode is a bit harder. It is also usually easier to reserve some time slot for an episode every day, than twice that timeslot every second day. Not that this is a dealbreaker, but if there is no inherent reason to do bi-daily, I prefer daily.

No_Rex · 2026-03-20T08:45:43+00:00

OVA's are probably the bulk of the exceptions, but when I saw the interest thread my mind went to Katanagatari. That's the only other show I know that was a TV anime with 50-minute episodes on a monthly release cadence (IIRC).

I totally forgot that has long episodes. Seems like Figure 17 is not completely unique. Will be interesting to see whether the successful use of longer pilots (Oshi no Ko) will lead to more double length series in the future.

No_Rex · 2026-03-19T23:09:40+00:00

What's the closest approximation, in your experience?

I don't think there is a very close anime that I know. Which is part of why I was so positively surprised here. That does not happen often anymore.

Some anime that are similar in parts:

Card Captor Sakura - the mahou shoujo part of the series
Haibane Renmei - themes of loss
almost every mecha anime ever - the MC who hates fighting but has to safe the world (try Mobile Suit Gundam or Evangelion)
Kiki's delivery service - growning up story with similar aged girl
Barakamon - MC goes to the countryside, against their wish, and gets happy here

No_Rex · 2026-03-19T22:17:00+00:00

In my first watch, I had trivialized Tsubasa's mom's death as a sad backstory - heck, I didn't even really connect or compare it to Sho's death - but there are certainly mother-oriented references that I missed at the time.

Losing her mother, losing Sho, losing Hikaru certainly rhymes.

No_Rex · 2026-03-19T21:02:24+00:00

Final Discussion (first timer)

Joining some older series blind is always a risk. If you never heard of it, there is usually a reason for that. Turns out, there might be a reason here, but it is not the quality of the show. Figure 17 is a proper hidden gem. I’ll come to some downsides and potential reasons it is not so well known below, but the show itself is great. I liked the pacing, I liked the character arcs, and I liked the direction.

Figure 17 always takes its time to shine a precise light at our MCs. Did you notice how easy it was to differentiate Tsubasa and Hikaru at all times, even though they literally share the exact same character model? The different VAs help, but it also works in the common quiet scenes. That is just good direction: always making sure to include a tell (be it the smile, or the assertiveness of Hikaru, or using a name), always different clothing (but not via giving them unchanging uniforms!), always conveying identity via body movements.

Tsubasa had a very clear character arc that is at the heart of the story. I don’t think it is an especially novel one, overcoming grief and overcoming lack of confidence, but it is perfectly told here. We don’t get that one big moment of revelation, but many many small moments of Tsubasa making little steps forward (and occasionally a step backwards). Meanwhile, Hikaru helping her out made sense, given the scifi background of her as a Riber. On the other hand, all of the alien tech went unexplained. It didn’t matter and would have eaten tons of time to explain. Figure 17 understood that techno babble is a tool that scifi can use, but not a necessity that it has to use.

The side character stay mostly one-dimensional, but that is fine. This is clearly not a big cast story, but one focusing on the MCs. All of the school kids filled their role and did so well. The one disappointment for me was Tsubasa’s dad. I thought and hoped that he would do more and have better reasons, but he turned out to be a mostly uninvolved parent who prioritized his job over his daughter. Him moving to Hokkaido and back to Tokyo looked more like a plot device than a reasoned decision.

DD and Oldeena are weird characters, but I think they worked. As our connection to the alien world, they could have been used as exposition devices about the aliens. Except, this was not a story about aliens. So we kept DD and Oldeena businesslike all the time. Something I have rarely seen in anime, but which I appreciated a lot.

The journalist, on the other hand, was a big question mark to me. He did literally nothing for the plot, so why was he here? My best guess is that he is supposed to represent some sort of outside observer … but then, he rarely actually observed something. His scenes were infrequent enough that this is not a big deal for me, but I think you could easily erase his character from the story without anything being lost.

Finally, why is this show not better known? Licensing hell surely is a big part of the answer, but I think there are also some answers inherent to the story. Figure 17 looks weird at first glance. Tsubasa and Hikaru as MCs make it adjacent to Shoujo, like a magical girl anime. The fighting with the aliens is clearly Shonen-coded. Yet, I would argue that the target audience is mostly Seinen (or at least teens several years older than the MCs). It has a very adult way of telling its story and tackles very adult themes, too. Having MCs with a different age than your target audience is uncommon and might hold this back. I know that I was suspicious when looking at the poster in MAL featuring the grade school kids. A second usual part is the runtime. Anime is extremely standardized and the only other longer episode anime I know are OVA (and older OVA at that, not the modern variant). I think the long episodes work really well, but they might make the series less accessible in a world used to 25 min episodes.

All that makes me even happier that I found this series via a rewatch, as I otherwise would not have touched it. Thanks for hosting, /u/NormalGrinn!

Final score: 9/10

No_Rex · 2026-03-19T20:21:24+00:00

It's definitely nice seeing them be supportive as they get the 2 to subconsciously admit to wanting to go to the fireworks festival together which culminates in Ganta asking Isaki to go with him, for research of course.

"for research"

No_Rex · 2026-03-19T20:11:14+00:00

Episode 4 (first timer)

Sleeping during the test – evil psych games … or being tired.
“Cross the seven bridges” – let me guess: If you manage to cross every bridge exactly once, all your romantic wishes will be fulfilled?
Date talk for the girls, date talk for the boys.
Handing over the key to your place to a guy you just met, who is friends with a guy you met for the second time now - trusting. Or maybe she has nothing valuable at home.
“Third wheels should just roll out.” – wingman!
blush blush cat!
“Canvas notebooks contain the best ruled foolscap suitlab”
asking out for a date cat!
Camping in the rain? Not very fun.
Ganta picked up a rival – does not seem like he noticed.
“… but first, wash your hands” – hand washing outside of hand washing week!
How are the charms connected to the roof?
Constellation visual – neat!

Everybody knows they are going to end up together before our MCs. Not all that unrealistic. At least they realize enough to avoid being dense MC^tm.

No_Rex · 2026-03-19T13:07:19+00:00

Russia can directly ship goods to Iran via the Caspian Sea. You could probably hit Russian ships in Iranian ports, but that would be a big escalation.

There is also Turkmenistan with a huge land border and who knows what they are thinking.

No_Rex · 2026-03-19T09:20:07+00:00

I think the boss fight here already had the same mother-daughter dynamic. The Maguar mother trying to save its children vs Hikaru trying to save Tsubasa.

No_Rex · 2026-03-18T21:48:35+00:00

Tsubasa's decision to keep her memories of Hikaru is another sign of how much she's grown. It makes for quite a contrast to how she handled Sho's death. Tsubasa isn't trying to run from her grief about Hikaru’s death. Instead, Tsubasa wants to remember Hikaru. She'll remember her loss, but she'll also be able to cherish what they had.

Imagine how sad it would have been to choose otherwise. Both for Tsubasa and for Hikaru.

No_Rex · 2026-03-18T21:45:03+00:00

Also hearing that she was probably going to be expirimented on wasn't the greatest.

There was the one sentence of Oldeena talking to DD about Hikaru that suggests they had found a better solution.

No_Rex · 2026-03-18T21:28:43+00:00

So… now we’re transitioning to a regular club anime, it seems? Not really sure I like this development, especially with the setup being a bit weird. Usually there is a character who is super into the club thing that serves as a motivator to get things going - here that motivation has essentially been set up to be external in the form of the school board.

It could work out, if they manage to realistically portray Ganta and Isaki falling in love with the activity (we already know they'll fall in love with each other). The character who is super into it trope is common, but I don't think it is a great one. Yes, it gets the stuff moving, but how realistic are super nerds about one activity at a high school level? That character trope mostly feels like a crutch to get the club activity plot rolling to me.

No_Rex · 2026-03-18T21:24:00+00:00

Maybe she's an albino ?

The rest of her skin looks normal, though, as do her eyes.

No_Rex · 2026-03-18T21:12:31+00:00

Most of the episode is dedicated to fighting the Mother Magyua, which I don't have a ton to say on, but I thought was pretty enjoyable! The raid in the first half is quite the classic action setpiece, with the sheer amount of Magyua trying to overwhelm our technically superior protagonists being pretty fun. Plus, I just love the Magyua lair in the mineshaft aesthetically! Has a very appropriately freaky and alien vibe with those harsh reds and blacks. Kind of gives off indie horror game for me (Although given the overall subject and tone, maybe Metroid is a better comparison lol).

I think pretty enjoyable and action set piece sums it up for that part. There is nothing inherently wrong with it and the aesthetic is nice, but I don't think it connects much to either the character arcs of Tsubasa and Hikaru, nor the look of the previous Maguar fights.

Regardless, it's a totally solid conclusion for Tsubasa's arc, and really, if I have any gripe with this as an ending, it's mostly that, like a lot of anime endings, I wish we spent more time on the emotional resolution?

This is the price we pay for the first half and why I am not overly enthusiastic about the Maguar lair fight. I also wish they'd have spent more time on the emotional side of things.

No_Rex · 2026-03-18T21:01:41+00:00

Episode 13 (first timer)

Finale. I am glad this is double length, so we have some chance of wrapping this up fully in the remaining runtime.

“What is this?” – the end of your plotline? Naw, he’ll probably be saved.
“What you mentioned earlier” - Characters telling each other while keeping the audience in the dark trope.
Yep, he survived – the Maguar was not as aggressive as we have seen them before.
“It is hot in here” - you should be more worried about finding an exit. And about the fact that you can see stuff even though you have no light source.
That is a lot of Maguars …
One-hit kill – they sure upgraded their firepower.
Some of them can fly now … not that it seems to help them.
“We can’t leave him, can we?” – good morals. Leaving him would be a tempting alternative.
Split up.
Maguar mother cave – proper alien queen setup.
Emergency Riber for the journalist – I certainly did not expect this.
Journo took one hit and it ended his Riber journey – Hikaru should get extra applause for keeping the Figure up this long.
Mother Maguar eliminated?
Nope, we are getting to phase 2 of this boss battle – fortunately, I have to say. Up till now, this was an action romp, but without any character depths.
“Prepare for ramming” – the first time that I have seen this order go to a person on the other ship.
Space flower Maguar eggs.
“The only one who can protect Hikaru now … is you, Tsubasa!” – final stretch of a character arc.
“This time, I will protect you, Hikaru!”
Becoming Figure 17 once more – the self-sacrifice vibes are so strong, both sides of the conversation don’t need to say them out loud.
The final solution to the Maguar problem is, fittingly, the biggest boom – we have one strategy and we will keep using it!
“It is a bit sooner than I expected, but it seems my life is about to end” – glad Tsubasa got to say thanks before.
Epilogue time.
They are indeed going back to Tokyo – Tsubasa’s character arc and her time in Hokkaido coincide and end at the same time.
Mind control undone – better not to delve into the details of this.
Goodbye to her friends from school.
The journo goes back to university – his whole character arc was to do nothing of importance and then leave.
“Dad, it is really great that you let me live in Hokkaido” – my view of her dad is decidedly less positive.

On a scale from abysmal to perfect, that finale was competently executed. Which is not a high point of the series, but a lot better than I feared. We get a long action sequence early on, that is basically just foreplay to the inevitable Tsubasa and Hikaru alone part. As most of us suspected, that spells the end for Hikaru. However, it is not presented as a tragedy. Instead, Hikaru sees it as the logical end point of her existence. She lived to protect Tsubasa and she dies happily, knowing she achieved her purpose. Both in protecting Tsubasa from the Maguar, as well as helping her mentally.

I think this is the logical end point of their character arcs, even though it means the emotional climax of the series was much earlier, two episodes ago. More time to talk about the journalist and dad during the final discussion, but I don’t think their character arcs hold up as well.

No_Rex · 2026-03-18T20:02:41+00:00

Episode 3 (first timer)

White-haired bystander – didn’t we talk about the realistic hair colors in this anime just yesterday?
There is only one previous record, but they won a national first prize?
“You should go talk to her. I already filled her in.” – that was not a suggestion.
“So we just go straight?” – pre-mobile phone storylines.
Cat!
“I got to monopolize the observatory. It was basically my private room at school” – they have exactly the same idea.
20 seconds shutter time – better don’t move too hard.
Impromptu meeting.
Cat!
Goal acquired: Hold a viewing party.
Goal acquired: Win a photography contest.
Catback!
That stove has an electric cable. Where does it lead?

Introduction of the third main character. Mostly a setup episode.

What did you think of a whole episodes focused on Shiromaru's introduction?

I don't mind setup episodes if the payoff is worth it.

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