For example, the study that Luaren and P-Meister are arguing about only pertained to the learning of fundamental sound distinctions. If you hear a great deal of a language at an early age, you are subsequently able to pick up the distinctions between sounds in that language when you are older (case in point: Cantonese has nine sounds, some of which are nigh-impossible for even speakers of other Chinese dialects to grasp.) At no point does it mean you will automatically know the language. But neither does it mean your time spent is totally worthless. According to the theory, you should have a much easier time making the correct sounds (or have less of an accent) when you finally do learn the language.

Both sides are guilty of manhandling the facts to suit their own preconceptions.

Incidentally in case you didnt know theres a seperate ending which is called Last Episode as a part of the Realta Nua PS2 version which id much rather not spoil but suffice to say its less of a rip out your heart end to Fate

In looking at the social aspect of the game, one must also consider how necessity and capability may define social boundaries.

For example, we find cannibalism wrong in our society, but when people are in a life threatening situation and there is no other way, eating the flesh and muscle of another human being becomes acceptable because it is necessary to survive.

Perhaps closer to the reality of Wanko to Kurasou is that before people could normally live much past 30, it was acceptable to have sex with younger teenagers/older pre-teens. This was necessary for reproduction while allowing ample time to raise the child to a suitable age for further reproduction.

So getting to why sex with these anthromorphoid animals is acceptable, it is stated in the game that having these animals fixed is actually an overly expensive procedure (to the extent that only Service Providers have this done typically). Still, there must be a way to keep a pet animal from reproducing constantly and beyond the ability of the owner to care for them. Because they have bodies similar to humans, it seems only fitting that it would be considered acceptable to relieve them in this manner.

This game also seems to show a world where such anthromorphoid animals have been around for enough time to get people past the association of small sized “dogs” and pedophilia.

Some social artifacts stay around in Wanko to Kurasou, however. Pets are still thought of as mere property, despite their human appearances and ability to communicate and learn. In part, this has a parallel with how our current laws look at injustices to other animals (i.e. – speciesism). On the other hand, it also has a strong parallel with how we thought of African Americans as animals during slavery even though they were human (i.e. – racism). Even Kuu, who is more intelligent than most human beings, is still only considered a cat.

Still, these anthromorphoids are seemingly more accepted into society than regular animals because of their ability to communicate in a way understandable by human beings. At the same time, this may not be good for them if they still have the mind of a dog/cat. Being more accepted into larger society also means a higher expectation to follow social norms. With pets, we often assume what they mean and assume the best in many cases precisely because we cannot communicate with them. This false security doesn’t exist with anthromorphoids, who can be understood.

Your argument is compelling and I don’t disagree. Although I’m a little (or a lot) late finding this post I still found it a compelling argument.

To respond to a few comments:

I believe CC’s crying could be her grief at Lelouch’s death, however, it could also very well be her grief at Lulu becoming an immortal. She didn’t have the best canonization (I’m using this word to describe her becoming immortal instead of its intended sainthood or whatever). For most of the series she seemed to be giving the message that she found immortality painful as she spent most of it alone. She could be sad because Lelouch is giving up his own life/sister/friends to be with her. He can’t go back to a normal life if what this blog post postulates is correct.

I feel like I have more to say, but overall I was just really impressed by the analysis. You saw more connections than I did. The writing wasn’t always brilliant, but it certainly had its brilliant moments. I love this show (although it’s not the best thing I’ve ever seen).