Anime Spotlight #41

“Matrix:  The Anime.”

Those who have seen the Matrix movie trilogy will probably find a number of similarities also present in this particular game-turned-Anime.

Coming to realize you actually live in an illusory world built by some self-aware AI entity.  Coming to realize you actually have special abilities that can be used to fight off non-human characters made to hunt after those who have seen through the illusion.

Ritsu is Caligula‘s “Neo,” starting off as some random guy who soon comes to realize he’s totally not in the world he thinks he’s in.  Worse, there’s a cabal of people using the AI entity — named Mu — to help keep those caught in this simulation…caught in the simulation.  Because Mu loves singing, it makes sense that the cabal that control her call themselves the Ostinato Musicians.  In Italian, “ostinato” means “stubborn” (etymologically related to English “obstinate”); in music, “ostinato” refers to a specific musical segment repeated largely unchanged throughout a musical piece.  In other words, the Ostinato Musicians in Caligula do as their name suggests:  They prevent those in the simulation from changing, improving themselves, etc., and they do so through Mu’s songs.

For much of the show, there’s a lot hiding beyond the pretty animations (similar to the Matrix).  Like other Anime I’ve posted on here, full appreciation of Caligula comes from “reading between the lines”….

Season 1’s all wrapped up now, so go ahead and binge-watch it!