Talk:Episode 1 - Rough Sketch/@comment-6052796-20141203013522/@comment-397235-20141203042305

I've always seen Izumi beating Tomohiko to death as her exercising a lot of her pent up rage and frustration on him. She's absolutely furious by that point; she's not hitting him for his benefit, I promise. She yells at Chibiki for the same reason; the fact she's justified doesn't change the fact under normal circumstances she wouldn't be doing it.

I don't really see her as having much of a positive influence on Tomohiko, anyway. I don't think, until after she kills him, the two ever actually speak on screen. I'd assume, at some point, they probably did while not on screen (there are hints at relationships between quite a few characters that are never more than alluded to).

I think that interpretation really boils down to how you view him. I see him as Chaotic Neutral, since he made it abundantly clear he didn't care who he hurt and was only interested in gratifying himself; this, I suppose, makes Takako Lawful Evil since she did. Granted, I think that simplifies them both, since Tomohiko isn't especially vicious (until, you know, he is) and Takako, I imagine, is probably either the worst (or best, depending on your point of view) sort of antagonist, since she genuinely thought she was doing the right thing.

I think you may be applying Catholicism to Shinto with your allegory, however. Shinto is all about harmony with oneself and nature, and if you approach it that way, the four most dramatic deaths (i.e., the ones people actually seem to have cared about, rather than the five nobody was fazed by) are inflicted on the people who actively and violently confronted the Calamity (not to mention futilely), rather than letting it sort itself out. Basically they stood up to Nature, and Nature swatted them down.

Granted, I don't think that really works for me; I prefer to think, on some level, Death has been egging everything on, and on some level the people the Calamity directly kills are just it trying to make things worse. That's why it doesn't ever directly effect Tomohiko: essentially he's doing the Devil's work, playing into the Calamity's hands and killing everyone he finds, so why mess with that? The same is true of Keiko in the novel; someone not something had to stop her. The Calamity seems to focus only on killing those who aren't helping it along (the Ayanos, Misaki, Sanae), though if it can use their deaths to further its own ends (Aya, Junta, Takako) then why not?

As for the tape scene, I'll agree Yuuya would be the negative influence for them both, but Takako doesn't counter that. She's simply not capable of affecting Izumi (unless, of course, you count her death); it'd be one thing if she'd been trying to slow Izumi down prior to everything going to hell (and that's sort of what she does much, much earlier on after Yukari's death), but she's not. She's far too dependent for that.