Why No. 6 is something
Can we appreciate Number Six for a moment? I'm not going to write all the plot but... the first episode really is... something.
Okay. During a storm, a bleeding, complete stranger with the eyes of a psychotic murderer shows up in Shion's room after he left his window open. And when he notices him, the stranger fucking chokes him. At this moment a little and naive twelve years old technically should start praying for his life, but... he doesn't. Shion simply ask him if he can help. When his mum calls him from downstairs he doesn't scream, he doesn't ask for help (even if he has a room filled with high-tech items that could save him in a second). So that's why the stranger, Nezumi, trusts him from the start. And really, who wouldn't? Shion is precious. He's smart and gentle and curious, filled with wonder and hope. He may seem boring compared with the strong, charming and mysterious Nezumi, but in reality they are amazing and at the same level. At least that's what I think.
Later Shion helps him and heals is wound, but he also gives him food, an hot drink, new clothes and my two personal favorites: affection and security. Maybe for only one night, but Nezumi remembered that night with a warm heart for years and you can't tell me otherwise.
Then Nezumi asks Shion why he's helping him like this. He questions that with a grinning face, he wants to seem confident, but I think in this moment Nezumi's completely insecure. "Why is he helping me? Why me? I am a stranger, a monster, a freak, while he's kind and generous and warm."
Well, even Shion can't really tell why he's doing all of this. He starts saying that he helped just because he looked like he was going to die and he thought he was a girl and... he says: "I don't know" He doesn't know why, but he knows that he's supposed to do it, that he needs it.
I dunno guys, but that's the whole point of their relationship. Of the whole anime. Doing something not for the power, the money, the love, the fame, the anger, or for charity. Doing something just because. For example trying rescue a little baby even if many would say it's not gonna help, or kissing someone to say goodbye. They've met... maybe an our ago? They don't know anything about each other, but still, the way they talk, the way they act... it seems like they've known each other for years. It all starts so simply. Shion doesn't asks him his name only because Nezumi didn't asked too, he doesn't ask ANYTHING at all. They talk like it's some every-day-shit for them. Their relationship doesn't feel forced by the events of the plot, it's just casual and chill and normal and... melancholic.
Hear me out, I'm not saying that Number Six is the best anime in the world. I know that compared with others it's irrelevant, you can say it. It has flaws, it's short and sometimes confusing. But it was one of the first anime that I saw, it has a special place in my heart. And maybe I find it melancholic because it's a lovely memory for me, but I also think that this anime, even if it's strange and confusing and short, really has got a melancholic aura. You can see it from the strong bond between the two protagonists and from the first time they met. Because it looks like they've met before. They also look melancholic, they whisper and sometimes they stay silent and that's okay. For soulmates there's no need to be talkative.
Oops, I did it again... well, what can I say? Thank you for coming to my ted talk























