Forum - View topicTokyo Magnitude 8.0 (with completed index)
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LeanGreen
 Posts: 323 Location: New England |
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I agree, DuskyPredator. Although Mari must obviously be very worried about her daughter, she wants to set a good example for Yuuki and Mirai and not panic in this situation. Mari seems to be a very level-headed person and I'm sure that she has reasoned out that her worrying is only going to waste time. After the incident where the group almost got on the boat after them, she will probably be even more inclined to try her best to get everyone home safely and as quickly as possible. Also, considering the age of her daughter, I seriously doubt that she left the child home alone, so she knows that there is someone to look after her. A quick question, in the second episode did Mari mention anything about her child's grandmother watching her, or was that just my imagination? |
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dtm42
Posts: 14084 Location: currently stalking my waifu |
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No, Mari merely said that she and her daughter lived with Mari's mother. However, grandmothers make excellent babysitters, so it is entirely possible. |
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rainbowcourage
 Posts: 1216 Location: what is commonly known as "hell week" |
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Actually ever since they were sitting on the steps I was praying they would start walking. If I were ever in their situation, the government would be the last entity I would hand my life over to. You saw what happened with the boat-those people were totally trapped. The government is in chaos right now, and it doesn't really care about individual lives-it cares about quantity of lives saved. It's up to personal action to make sure one makes it through alive. That said, I would accept government supplies, which are sure to be on the way if they're walking. There should also be tons of abandoned stores with supplies that the three of them can raid, and plenty of shelter. If they stay away from the ocean they should be okay in terms of tsunamis. There will be road signs, and tons of other refugees to share information and trade food with. The biggest problem you mentioned that I can see are roving gangs, but I see so many more risks in a government transport than walking through late civilization chock-full of supplies. |
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dtm42
Posts: 14084 Location: currently stalking my waifu |
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Sure, they could walk and simply loot on the way, but it will take them ages to get anywhere. Mirai said their home was too far to walk, and Mari agreed with her, so I don't think Mirai was being especially negative in her assessment. Therefore, if they do loot, it means they will be doing so for days after the event, putting them at risk of being arrested by police deployed specifically to combat looters and vandals.
If they don't loot and instead try and scrounge food out of garbage cans they run the risk of one of them getting sick. If they try and beg citizens for food it may or may not work. Will they be able to find enough people who have food and fresh water - both precious items - to spare that they can continue the rather strenuous task of walking dozens of kilometres in the burning heat? I question how easy that would be. And ponder this. They don't even know if their houses are still standing. What will they do if they get all the way there only to find their neighbourhoods are wrecks and their respective families have retreated towards the shelters? They won't know which shelter, which means having to wander around even more. You are right in that governments will try and save as many people as it can. And though no Civil Defence plan survives contact with a disaster, you can bet that a woman with two children will find it easier getting aid than most people. Proper government-supplied shelters such as churches and schools will be a reasonably protected environment, not just from thieves but from the elements (though being summer cold isn't such a big issue). It will have food and water, people trained in basic aid, basic medications, power and communications, stretchers and blankets. That's more than what anyone walking goodness knows how many kilometres through rubble can expect. It's only human nature to want to reunite with your family after a big disaster, but it isn't the smart thing to do. I do agree that getting off the island was a good idea, but the smartest thing to do now would be to find a shelter and stay put. It's safer and surer that way. They'll see their families eventually. Right now they need to take care of themselves. |
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rainbowcourage
Posts: 1216 Location: what is commonly known as "hell week" |
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This is one debate where I see the validity of both sides of the issue--I guess it just depends on how much faith you have in the government. First of all, I estimate that it would take the government a while before it had the manpower to spare to prevent looting. General havoc, I suppose, but not specifically stealing. However, the main problem with your argument is that if our main characters were to wander through an area with police, there would undoubtedly be refugee food supplies around. If not, I doubt a policeman would prevent a woman and two children from taking food from an abandoned building. And in areas without policemen, there will be free food.
Water could be more of a problem, but if they stuck to main roads I imagine government aid is available. The heat is probably the biggest problem you mentioned, but with a good map it might make sense for them to travel at night and sleep during the day. And it can't take longer than a few weeks, right? It could be uncomfortable, and even tough, but certainly not life-threatening. Shelters could always be a last resort.
It may be smarter from a logical stand point, but I would not be able to wait weeks to find out if my family were still alive. Even if they started announcing deaths over the news (which I imagine will take a while to do considering the last body count was 800, and many bodies were severely burned by fire) I would be frantic wondering if I missed a broadcast-and our characters don't even have a source for news, much less a way to transport to be with said family. I think from an emotional standpoint, human beings will do anything in any situation to find their family. The exception is war zones when people have signed up for conflict and the family is somewhat mentally prepared for bad news. Honestly, from a mental standpoint taking action is better emotionally than waiting patiently for God knows how long. It could literally be a month, or months plural. It would be hell on Yuuki and Mirai, especially if they found out their parents were dead. Since it's not a war zone and they can conceivably travel, if I were in their shoes I would do it for my sanity. |
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dtm42
Posts: 14084 Location: currently stalking my waifu |
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I probably would travel too, to be honest. I'm only human, and the temptation would be too high. But it wouldn't be a good idea, other that to relieve boredom. I can still worry about my family whether I'm walking or sitting, and the sense of Doing Something could easily be matched - if not outweighed - by the hardship.
As an aside, of course there isn't a perfect place to learn about their parents' deaths (should that happen). But a shelter is a better place than most. Going to their neighbourhood only to learn from a neighbour that their parents are dead would be terrible. |
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LeanGreen
Posts: 323 Location: New England |
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Thank you for answering my question before. Although learning that their parents are dead would be terrible, I'm sure that closure is the most important thing for the group right now, besides the safety of their families. Their priority right now is not to find a safe place to stay but to find the fate of their loved ones. I also think that a major reason that the group isn't staying put is that they can't rely on the hospitality of the people living in Odaiba or anywhere else to give food and water to complete strangers (even in a time of crisis) when there is a limited amount of supplies available. At least at their homes there will be people they know, neighbors and relatives, to help supply them with food and whatnot. I'm sure that Mari has also considered that wherever their families are is located is likely to be in roughly the same shape as where they are now (though I admit I did not listen to where Mirai and Yuuki's home was in relation to the epicenter) so if shelter is available on Odaiba, in whatever form, there must be some alternative at the group's homes. A lot of this has probably been said before, mind you. |
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DuskyPredator
 Posts: 15505 Location: Brisbane, Australia |
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There is still a lot of danger in walking in the city in for the next couple of days. The aftershocks will continue and who knows if building might colapse and crush people or fires and stuff, it may be best to stay some where safe to wait out some immediate danger.
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LeanGreen
Posts: 323 Location: New England |
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Although staying put may lessen the danger, aftershocks don't pick and choose where they hit next. If they stay in one place an aftershock may hit where they are staying and then they may be forced to move. But how long do you really think it is going to take for the aftershocks, fires, and collapsing buildings to stop? As rainbowcourage said, waiting for such a long time without any news from or about your family in such a time is dangerous to your mental health. I think to understand the group's logic behind moving besides just human nature, we need to consider other factors in the characters' lives. Obviously it is much harder to keep calm in such a situation and make the right decisions than it is to decide from the sidelines. Although Mari is keeping a cool head, we can't forget that her maternal instincts are bound to get the better of her and may be one of the reasons that she took Yuuki and Mirai under her wing. Mari is probably the only one able to make decisions for the group, considering that we have been shown how Mirai breaks down in situations (as when searching for Yuuki) and she isn't an adult. Mirai can't be trusted to make decisions based on facts and probabilities and is much more likely than Mari to act on emotions. Yuuki on the other hand is, well, a young child. He probably doesn't even have a firm grasp on the magnitude (oh haha) of the situation. |
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Ausdoerrt
 Posts: 481 |
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I dunno, I find the show deadly boring. It probably would've done much better as a movie, because the length is a bit too much. I wonder if they ever run out of big things to destroy every episode to keep people's attention. The animation quality seems to have been slipping as well. Plus, the whole thing stinks of pro-gov't propaganda. Bleh.
Other than that, a completely boring and generic personal drama that has gotten old for me. BTW, I laughed extremely hard at the portable toilets scene. Portable toilets! LOL. Being unable to take a dump without a toilet is sure a difficult hurdle. Japanese have strange complexes. I wonder if this series is going anywhere other than a teary ending with the parents apologizing to kidz "lol we were so worried!" etc etc. Or maybe I really just don't get the appeal of catastrophe films/series. So I guess I could see why some people would appreciate it. And at least this one can be praised for the effort put into research. |
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LeanGreen
Posts: 323 Location: New England |
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I think it's more an issue of the government not wanting excrement strewn across every street or forest or park in Japan, and an issue of a young girl's embarrassment than a widespread complex. 
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Ausdoerrt
Posts: 481 |
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It's all in ruins anyway, so who the hell cares? Plus, I was also talking about the fight in the line for the toilet. |
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Emerje
 Posts: 7354 Location: Maine |
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You know, I've been watching this show specifically looking pro-government propaganda, can't say I've really seen much. Certainly they've deployed faster than the US did during Katrina, but it's also showing a lot of their flaws. They're already showing signs of running out of emergency supplies only days after the quake, they're deficient in ways of transporting civilians (seemed like they only had a couple boats to get everyone off the island, then had one destroyed and another switch to water rescue), and they seem to lack sufficient shelter with many people continuing to sleep outside. Not exactly a glowing reflection on the government if you ask me. But even more so it makes the Japanese people look like a bunch of selfish jerks. Pushing and shoving each other around, cutting in lines, practically trampling children, yelling and fighting. Having been in a state-wide disaster myself I can honestly say we pull together and unite much better than this anime shows the Japanese people doing. Emerje |
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LeanGreen
Posts: 323 Location: New England |
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Well, I know that if I were the government I would try to avoid every type of problem that could come back to bite me. Many things are in ruins, but having excrement all over the place would make things worse. Wouldn't you want to at least try and supply methods of dealing with all sorts of problems? The government might care considering that they don't want yet another thing to clean up after everything settles down. Things aren't in such a state yet that there isn't time to think about the little things. The fight in front of the toilet was, I think, just trying to show that everyone is tense and worried about the situation. Plus it was more a matter of the type of people the conflict was with, as in a middle-aged man with a certain sense of justice and a young adult who the older man was mad at since he didn't seem to be taking the situation seriously.
I was surprised at this too, since what I'd always thought about the Japanese was that they take pride in being Japanese and I'm wondering if they would really be that cold to each other. Perhaps the show is just trying to show the worst case scenario, however. |
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Ausdoerrt
Posts: 481 |
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What I'm saying is, it seems unnatural that the people care. Sure, the gov't may be concerned with all of the above, but if the people in the anime are all such jerks as Emerje said, I'm surprised they're all lined up nice and proper, and follow the authorities' instructions. I'd expect some sort of chaos there; pushing in the crowd isn't that uncommon even without the disaster (even been in an Asian subway in rush hour?), but the real "jerks" are specifically pointed at and shaken finger at by the director. That's what I meant by saying it smells like propaganda - an educational video on how to obey the authorities. Especially the Mari-godie-two-shoes-san, who should've died by now because she puts herself in danger all the time, but in the show is made immortal like the two kids, and an "exemplary human being". |
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