Life in Quadrant 4

Just a short list of things I found interesting:

The color and finish of Filicia’s fountain pen are somewhat similar to a Nakaya Long Cigar in Aka-tamenuri or Heki-tamenuri. It could also be a Neo-Standard. The nib looks to be either stainless steel or rhodium-plated gold. Strangely, the nib is rotated to the left a lot, indicating an oblique nib. However, extra-fine (judging from the line thickness) oblique nibs are exceptionally rare – I’ve never seen any thinner than a fine in fact. And she’s got some fine handwriting.

picture of said pen for comparison

On a somewhat-related note, Ed’s (from Fullmetal Alchemist) is most similar to a Waterman Charleston.

Noël using a ballpoint! A sadly generic-looking clicker. I initially thought that fountain pens would be a mainstay in the series, given their age compared to ballpoint technology. Since the show’s practically confirmed to be in some sort of post-apocalyptic setting, more modern technologies would give way to the rather antiquated ways – and what better way to imply it than with an “old-fashioned” writing implement. I guess not though. I take it she has some sort of supplier for the ink, since modern ballpoint ink is surprisingly complex.

And Noël’s left-handed too.

Going back a few frames, we can see that Noël’s using a magnetic compass without a lens. One has to wonder how she can properly navigate when a) she only has a compass without any other aids like protractors; b) the map she’s using doesn’t have any gridlines or proper marginal notes; c) the compass isn’t exactly oriented to the north – not that you need to when looking for the general direction of an objective. Oh, and the map itself has a river running straight through mountains. By the way, you probably shouldn’t use a ballpoint when working with a map! Pencils are best.

This scene was pretty interesting. A fish swims against the current in the rather pristine river waters. Seeing as the fish swims against the current, we could guess that it’s a salmon, which only goes back to its birthplace in the river to lay its eggs before swimming back to the sea. Kanata then exclaims:

It’s possible to attribute her sense of wonder to her personality, but this also kind of jives with the statement Noël made an episode earlier:

Perhaps we could also say that she was delighted to have seen a fish in its more natural habitat, than wherever else they normally see them.

This scene really reminded me of a chapter in ARIA, “Town Treasure” (v3, ch13), except rather than a lively, bustling Neo-venezian town, the three girls see a barren wasteland, which is of course beautiful in its own way.

Said scene from ARIA manga

Kanata and Rio’s names are in Kanji, and so are Filicia’s and Noël’s, but Kureha is also in Roman characters? I’m no expert in Japanese, but Kureha is quite decidedly a very Japanese name.