Episode 3 of Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 drives home the very fact that major earthquakes are not going to be a one-off thing – their effects can be felt a few days afterwards as a result of the readjustments the crust has to perform in order to stabilize itself after the major stress release. Further, episode 3 was a development in the characters of both Kusakabe Mari and Onozawa Mirai, as well as a good look at the psychological aspects of fear and crowd behavior in a disaster setting. You will also notice I used a capital “S” in the title; this episode does not just cover the aftershocks from a major quake, but also the fallout in real shocks for people.

The good thing, I have to admit, about watching this late is that I also get to read other bloggers’ takes on it (those that watched it before me at any rate). Agreement, or disagreement, with these blogs is in order; to go so far as to say they are right or wrong is not. Everyone is entitled to what they think, as everyone has their own views and opinions. I am not however limited as to agreeing or disagreeing either way (with reason of course) as to what they wrote.
 

Seinime believes Mirai is still a bitch; E Minor goes one step further and calls the whole episode “the trials and tribulations of two little kids and their surrogate mother” and that “it could be much better” by giving “us a true ground level experience–weaving multiple narratives about everyone affected by disasters”.

ghostlightning, kanzeon, Hanners and psgels all praised this episode for the heart-stopping moments and the way they portrayed humanity as well as Mirai; ghostlightning and kanzeon also praise Mari as the undoubted hero of this episode, though kanzeon believes Mirai still has a “socially defunct attitude”.
 

From here on out, I am not referring to their posts anymore, but I would urge that you give their posts, and their posts’ comments, a read before you proceed to read mine. Just for the record, I am in almost complete disagreement with the “Mirai being a bitch” hypothesis, and I am also more gravitated towards the feelings of the latter four mentioned above.
 

The first indication that they are allowing their own fear and doubts to swallow them (Mirai at least at any rate) is when she tries her phone and finds out it is still not working. I think many miss the point here in relation to the scene right afterwards when Yuuki asks his sister about their parents – Mirai’s conscious foundation was her cellphone (as has been evident since episode 1) and to lose contact with it and what it represents (notably the ability to contact their closest ones) must have quite the impact on Mirai. The earthquake shook the ground and made her lose her foundation physically; the phone’s lack of functionability causes her to lose her emotional one.

The phone is an outlet for her feelings (remember when Yuuki said she was a cellphone alien and all those words she typed into it like a private diary) and this and the other functions it is supposed to be there for (like finding out if their parents are ok) is all gone. She definitely shows the consequences when Yuuki asks her a second time about their parents. Yet can we blame Yuuki here? Yuuki is, after all, looking for reassurance himself, and the best way he can get it is from his elder sister, whom he looks up to. And of course, Mirai is hardly dependable, nor is she used to being depended upon. All her feelings out into that outburst; blaming her personality solely for it is unfounded.
 

And so Mari appears at this point to prevent Yuuki from crying at his sister’s outburst. Of course, we all know her reason is moot. Yet she knows a situation when she sees one, and a good excuse to stop it and also get them to eat at the same time would be this one. A nice touch. Mari, from this point onwards, stays optimistic throughout the entire episode and tries to drive on her new charges. I will have more on Mari at the end of this post; for now, we focus on other things as they happen.
 

A fine piece of work by Kaida Yuko in this scene (and throughout the rest of the episode). I particularly like the way she said “ah ha”. Mari is so likeable as a character in this series. She portrays the maturity required as a mainstay for the kids, and also knows her responsibilities, yet keeps a happy outlook and puts on a smiling face, even going into jokes, to keep the mood light for the kids and stop them from worrying. This is what one should do when faced with kids in such a situation, and Mari is one of the best examples so far that I have seen for that. So now you know what to do if you are in Mari’s shoes and have kids with you in a disaster – stay positive, not just for yourself, but for their sake too.
 

Unfortunately for Mari all this was totally random – there is almost no way to predict earthquakes with great accuracy even with all our technology right now. Of course, what she means is that the quake happened, they met before it, met again after it, and all that. A strong belief to hold for Mari and quite frankly, it tells us a lot more about Mari than about the situation they are in.
 

Again, Mari steers Mirai cleverly off a negative line of thinking using the onigiri as an excuse. Like I said earlier, keeping people positive is the way to go. Sure there are negatives in a situation such as this, perhaps in overwhelming numbers, but if you are going to keep worrying about them, it is not going to do you any good either. Mary Schmich said it best, “Don’t worry about the future. Or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubble gum.”
 

YYYYYYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

Sorry, I just had to get that out of my system. No I do not think Mirai as big a bitch as most others do, but this scene was gold.
 

There are three things that are going to be touched on here, but the last one, I will leave it for my impressions at the end. The first is the number of people dead. This is an absurdly small number of people dead considering the scale of the earthquake; then again thinking on it a little, it makes sense. They could not have been able to find many bodies in the short time after the quake; rescue efforts are still going on during the news report. They also mention that numbers are likely to rise – I am no expert on such an estimate, but my guess is well over 100K dead within the first major quake alone and possibly more in the aftereffects. This is of course, base assumption on my part with no real basis, so take it with a pinch of salt.

What the professor said would partially support my hypothesis, but then again, it could be moot. Still, that is a lot of people that are suddenly homeless. The logistical problem of finding homes or rebuilding them for such a staggering number of people is however left for another day (and totally out of this anime, not that I mind).
 

The second thing is the channel. I never noticed it in episode 2. 8ch does not exist; Japan (and the net world as I know it) only has up to 7chan. Other than it being a total coincidence (or maybe BONES planned it that way) that it is the same number as the Richter scale of the quake that is so prominent in this series, it also relates to the last thing I will mention at the end of this post. More on that later, of course.
 

This is a surprising fact for me – so aftershocks do last for a few days. I had no idea they would be for that long, but then again thinking on it, it makes a lot of sense. It just depends, I should think, on the plate size, but I have absolutely no confirmation or proof, so some geologist or quake expert will have to tell me the research/historical results so far. Out of curiosity I decided to check the size of the plate Japan is on, and to my surprise (and no small shock) I now realize why Japan is so prone to earthquakes; just take a look at the Okhotsk plate’s Wiki article to know. Japan is not made up of one plate but a few and bounded on all sides – interaction between all these plates just means Japan is one of the world’s most earthquake-prone areas to live in.

It did not tell me anything about size affecting the duration of aftershocks in regards to quakes though. My hypothesis is that the smaller the plate the possibility of a longer duration allowed for aftershocks. Big plates should have enough mass to prevent extreme fissure and breakage within the crust; small plates are unlikely to have such a stability. But, like I said, this is all conjecture, so I will leave it at that.
 

Reclaimed land is naturally more unstable and prone to sinking than natural land. But as Mari put it, a lot of reclaimed land is unlikely to sink at once. However, again, this is an area which I have no knowledge in, so I will not assume that there is actually no danger. Since artificial land by itself might sink at any time to a major quake, it still will not hurt to get off reclaimed land as soon as one can even if there is no immediate and/or apparent danger.
 

Hidden point in case here – statistical and consistent research about people in emergency or disaster situations are always able to take it better and adapt easier if they were in a familiar group; that probability of surviving the emergency or calamity increases if someone within that group is a natural leader and well trusted. Thus a family or a group of close friends will be more likely to get through the whole thing than two kids and someone they just met, especially if the two kids have no idea if their parents are fine or not, making their social foundation shaky, to say the least.
 

The scale of destruction as portrayed by BONES throughout the whole episode is stunning – you are left to imagine for yourself just how strong the quake was. Note that this is actually the first time we have seen the consequences of the quake elsewhere other than the original spot where Mirai was – no doubt Rainbow Bridge being shaken was very shocking, but the scenes of devastation elsewhere are no less as impactful as that once you go through them. Devastation on a large scale, that is what BONES is trying to show us throughout the episode, and it has been done effectively, at least in my opinion.
 

Since a few mentioned this scene in particular and how people were all not bothering to help her out in the situation because they were trying to fend for themselves, I suppose I should have to mention that other from that very obvious fact, this scene is also artful and significant because it shows us group behavior and a simple sociological research result. An example would be best.

Imagine if you were in a large crowd on a train and someone suddenly collapses. Assuming that person was just another stranger on the train and also had no friends or any people he or she knows nearby, what are the chances of him or her being rescued or of someone showing concern? An even more vivid example is if someone collapses on a busy street. You might be surprised – statistical research shows that most people will not lift a finger to help.
 

This is a shocking example and is known as the “Bystander Effect” – the individual is liable to believe that “we are in such a large group, someone will go forward and help, I do not have to do it”. This is precisely the kind of thinking that lets the person’s already precarious situation tumble downward further – no one wants to help because everyone thinks someone else will do it.

For some odd reason I could not find in my sociological text the exact case that was ruminated to illustrate this perfectly, but I found it elsewhere, you can read it here. Below is an excerpt describing the case and the power of the Bystander Effect:

“I read a psychological study once about the Bystander Effect, using as an example an incident in a US city where a woman called Kitty Genovese was murdered in the forecourt of an apartment block, in full view and full light. She was screaming for someone to help her all the time, but no one came to help. When the police investigated, they discovered that many of the residents had opened their windows and were looking out, watching it happen. The murder took 35 minutes, during which the killer left twice and returned to continue attacking the woman. If there were residents who opened their windows and saw Kitty being attacked, there were even more who heard the screams but didn’t even call the police. I always thought that kind of thing didn’t apply to me, but it looks like it does. The bystander effect. That’s a really nice and scientific word to describe cowardice and apathy.”

 

In episode 3 we clearly see this illustrated in the case of the mother’s pram being stuck in the debris – no one offered their help except Mari, who broke out of the “norm” relative to the others around her through the kindness of her heart.
 

Now then quite a few folks were pinpointing this particular part and saying that Mirai was a true bitch for not knowing the kind intentions of Mari, but in fact these two screenshots should be used in conjunction to illustrate what Mirai is really feeling – she is afraid, unconsciously, of Mari leaving them in the lurch (not through the latter’s own will obviously, but there is the chance of Mari dying on them or leaving them after all, and having made that promise, Mirai was afraid Mari would not keep it, or would not be able to). Mirai, in other words, was not being a bitch; she just did not see why Mari should help others in distress at times like this.

Yuuki of course brings her to her own realization that it was, after all, a good thing that Mari had done. Mirai did not argue with that.
 

Though there was probably no real need to point this out, I will anyway. In any such situation, a mess is more than likely. Keeping things organized is going to stretch the logistical capabilities of the rescuers, so if you ever come across such a situation, I suppose being patient and calm and not irrational or impulsive would be the best thing to do. Follow the guides, stay alert, keep close, keep your cool and you will do fine barring any incidents.
 

And so there were a few picking up on Mirai insisting she was not a kid and landing herself in trouble. Say, what? Her insistence on being treated as “not a kid” is actually pretty common around her age; are you trying to tell me you were not like that at the time too? At this point anyway, Mirai still holds some of her previous pride and prejudices about the world, until the aftershock happens and she is separated from both Mari and Yuuki and for the first time since she went searching for Yuuki, alone. When she is saved by Mari once more she realizes just how her pride might have made her lost from both Mari and Yuuki for quite a long time. A good development in Mirai’s character here.
 

Potent portrayal of the collapse of the highway here. As people die in front of her, Mirai is exposed directly to the shock of people dying and, like any other kid in the same situation, instantly realizes, at least in her own world, that she was indirectly (or perhaps even directly, because of her text message right before the quake) responsible for the deaths that now occur in front of her. Overwhelmed, she sits down and sobs. A very good demonstration of the fright and responsibility a child must feel. A child who also watched his or her parent get run over by a car while chasing him down, for example, might believe for the rest of his or her life that he or she was directly responsible for the death of his or her parent.

It will be difficult to tell the child that it was not his or her fault. In Mirai’s case though she never confides in anyone else and bears it all alone. Truly painful.
 

Another great illustration of the power of fear in a crowd – panic drives the people to push forth in their eagerness to escape this forsaken disaster-stricken land and in doing so creates a powerful human landslide that will likely injure and even kill a few. In the mad rush that is this human landslide, Yuuki gets separated from his sister and Mari, but thankfully, in this case, nothing happens to all of them. A human stampede is more likely however to seriously injure and even kill a few people in the more extreme cases, and it happening down a flight of stairs is even worse.
 

I have been on a similar situation though not as bad as this one, just similar. The incident was similar to what happened at Wonder Festival last summer – an escalator gave way to the sheer weight of people on top of it and just started going straight down. Unlike the one at Wonfes, mine was originally going down, but I happened to be near the top (it was the same height as a normal 2.5-3 storey drop) when it first started and thus almost got caught in the rush. In that kind of situation, you can only go through one of two things – either you think quickly, react quickly and get out of the way as you land, or you get caught in a panic and freeze. There is no room for anything else. In a human stampede however, it must be far worse. Jammed in a sea of people, unable to move anywhere, with the fear of falling and being trampled at any moment…one can only imagine the possibilities of what might happen.

I also like the way they showed how Yuuki found his sister right after – they drowned out all the sounds of the crowd around him, much as a real child might do in the same situation. There are no familiar faces; every stranger is just another face in the crowd. Afraid, alone, unable to move, the child might just go into the same mode as Yuuki did, listening unconsciously only for voices he knew well. A touching scene showing the bond of siblings.
 

There were more than a few “LOL’s” raised at this guy’s “fail”. The only thing I could think of when I saw this was “for once they did something realistic in anime when it comes to scenes like this.” You want to try doing the same in such a situation, folks? You think you can succeed catching the boat’s narrow handhold as in this screenshot in one try? Jump through the distance he did, land with a huge thump on the boat (and possibly a lot of pain to your frontal area) in a desperate situation, and I can tell you less than 50% of people in the same situation would be able to achieve it, even on desperation.

Calling it fail and laughing at it in such an anime is most inappropriate, I feel. If it were in an anime like Needless, then that would not only be appropriate; I would have to say you either found the humor full of shit or have a weird sense of humor. But here in TM8.0, no. It is most definitely not a laughing matter.
 

The collapse of Rainbow Bridge is artfully demonstrating, among the other aftershocks throughout the episode, that the effects of a major quake can be felt long after it ends. Destabilized by the initial quake, any number of aftershocks can further weaken the structural integrity of most buildings, and in this case, fire too compounds the problem. Maybe a taut cable holding the bridge in place with many others snaps, causing a domino reaction in all the other cables; some pillar finally falls under the extreme stress, etc. Whatever it is, nothing can be considered safe after a major quake.
 

I cannot even begin to describe the kind of impact this scene was meant to have on viewers – it seems all too real with the people being swept off. Their deaths are of course not confirmed – it is quite likely that unless they were pushed deep under or had involuntary breathing at the moment of being swept under by the wave, they would be surviving by treading water or staying afloat waiting for rescuers (who are not far away anyway). But the collapse triggering the wave, the shock of it all, and the subsequent riding out of the wave by the boat Mirai and company are on – all of it is very skilfully done.

And the old man who says that if he had been a little late, he would have been on that boat, had a point. Such things are all things of chance – no one can predict what will happen. It just happened to be extremely good luck for Mirai, Yuuki and Mari (and all those on the same boat as them) that the other boat was closer and took the brunt of the wave.
 

Mirai redeems herself and shows that she has mellowed out throughout the whole experience of the quake so far. Definitely, as she comforts Mari here with just the touch of her hand, she realizes that Mari is the one who needs comfort and reassurance way more than herself or Yuuki. On the part of Mari, she feels responsible for putting the kids in danger, perhaps extrapolating it to the fact that it might very well have been her own daughter, Hina. She definitely does not want the same thing to happen to Hina; it is only too painful for her, and all too easy I might add, to paint Mirai and Yuuki as her own children.

Definitely a high point in both the development of Mirai and Mari – we see that Mirai is mellowing, and that Mari is not always strong and has a weak side to her too.
 

This scene at the end is notable for the fact that the Tokyo Tower, long considered the symbol of Tokyo, has gone down, together with the Rainbow Bridge from earlier. The impact of this upon the Japanese would probably be the same as London Bridge and the Big Ben going down for the British, and the Versailles and the Eiffel Tower for the French; it should not be underestimated.
 

Further Impressions

Kusakabe Mari gets a lot of exposure in this episode – she is the mature one among the three, a mainstay, as I have mentioned, for the kids. Further, she knows, as I said in the previous episodic, that there is nothing she can do for her own kid, but she can indeed make the most out of situation, and try to save two more. She is also not happy-go-lucky person as Mirai would suggest – she is just optimistic, and Mirai also does not realize that she is being so mostly for their sake, and by extrapolation, for her own kid’s. Her husband’s death must be quite the blow on her; her daughter is still young after all and does not know what it means to have a father that is no longer around.

Yet she has decided to grow stronger and this current situation of her being with Mirai and Yuuki can only serve to reinforce that, if nothing else. It will be quite the test for all of them to continue down this road to their own homes.
 

Other than Mari, the other thing I wanted to point out that was related to the 8ch and magnitude 8 thing, was brought to my attention by Orange on MSN. He had heard from other sources that Japan has their own system for measuring quakes, and so I decided to look into it. It turns out he was right too.

Wikipedia has an article on the seismic intensity scale, measured in shindo, that both Japan and Taiwan use. The notable thing about this scale is the highest number on that scale – 7. In other words, if this shindo scale were to be used, this is an earthquake that is on an unprecedented scale according to the Japanese – that of the scale of shindo 8. Of course, since the shindo scale is somewhat unreliable as it has different implications in different areas, the Richter was used. But the coincidence is probably not accidental between the two scales’ usage and the impact of the title is more fully brought to the front by this revelation.
 

Lastly, I would like to announce that I am officially blogging this series episodically. I am still not sure if I will have something to say on such a scale each episode, but I am nevertheless going to try. A new category has been created for this series’ posts under Anime.

Related posts:

1. Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 02 – Aftermath
2. Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 09 – Kyou, Sayonara
3. Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 04 – Tokyo Tower Collapse
4. Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 06 – Abandoned Choice
5. Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 11 – Yuuki e…