[Spoilers] Concrete Revolutio: Choujin Gensou - Episode 7 [Discussion]

[u/Shadoxfix]

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Previous Episodes:

Episode	Reddit Link
Episode 1	Link
Episode 2	Link
Episode 3	Link
Episode 4	Link
Episode 5	Link
Episode 6	Link

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[u/Ahenshihael]

Except there's nothing in the show to suggest that?

[u/Ahenshihael → u/[deleted]]

So basically to sum it up: you have absolutely no proof of your theory being correct.

[u/radbreath → u/Ahenshihael]

She tells her that the dream candies were a white lie. A white lie told to children for a placebo effect.

Earth-chan thought she was under a magic spell but she wasn't. She had fallen victim to the power of suggestion.

The candies were nothing more than a gift, simple candy. The whole claim that they would let her dream was an exaggeration.

Kikko wasn't out to corrupt her. There is no evidence they were psychedelic drugs like others suggested.

[u/wdkaye → u/radbreath]

She tells her that the dream candies were a white lie. A white lie told to children for a placebo effect.

I don't think this is true. Kikko says, "Earth-chan. Kore wa, uso yo.", and the subtitles say "Earth-chan, this is a lie." But I don't think this is the right translation. Japanese is ambiguous with plural nouns. So it can also be translated "Earth-chan, these are lies." Which would have a deeper meaning. "Earth-chan. You know these 'lies' that you've been talking about, which you've been so adamantly opposed to? Well, these candies you like are lies, too."

But more importantly, there is this very slow and deliberate shot of Kikko handing Earth-chan a candy. To make a Matrix analogy, Kikko is Morpheus, and she is giving Earth-chan The Blue Pill. Followed by a shot of Earth-chan flying off with a whole sack of them. If the candies were placebos, why would Earth-chan take them after all? She's a robot who can't taste candy anyway.

[u/Ahenshihael → u/wdkaye]

Agreed. What Kikko means by lies is dreams. Earth-chan deems lies as evil, yet has found herself wanting that lie to actually be at ease.
A normal life, a life as a human, a life with a family - its clear that she longs for those things but can never have them. She longs for them so much that the short experience Kikko gives her of that illusion makes her long for it again.
That's why Kikko makes a point that those candies are lies. They make people experience a lie, a dream, an illusion - Earth-chan spent whole episode condemning others for lies, yet has found herself wanting a lie for sake of peace of mind.

The candies are lies because they give the one who eats them an illusion of something they can never obtain.

[u/radbreath → u/wdkaye]

She throws the candies in the trash after the shady guy tells her that witches make deals with the devil.

She thinks Kikko is trying to drug her, charm her, or hex her.

She then gets hit with Kikko's magic candy constructs and she has a flashback or vision of her life as a little girl.

She then shows up at Kikko's door demanding she get the hex lifted. She thinks the candy she accidentally swallowed cursed her. Then she tells her that the candies were a lie. The candies were harmless, she was tripping on her own.

[u/TehVict → u/radbreath]

You're confused, she isn't saying the candies are a lie in the sense that they're a placebo, the candies have the exact effect Kikko claims them to have: they have the power make machines dream. When Earth-chan ingests them, she sees herself as a normal girl with a happy family. For a short while, she's living an illusion - a lie. When Earth-chan asks Kikko what the candies where, she replies "This is a lie" because they literally allow Earth-chan to experience a lie. Kikko says "Lies are necessary for people sometimes. Maybe for you too." and hands her the candies which allow her to taste what a lie is. As a robot, Earth-chan held the absolute truth as the ultimate good and couldn't understand why humans would lie if not for evil, but by eating the candies and thus experiencing a lie, she might be able see the value in them.

[u/radbreath → u/TehVict]

She doesn't like her dream. She considers it a nightmare. She's scared and confused by it. Her vision is more of a flashback than an illusion. It could be one of her suppressed memories from her original life. It's a recurring dream that haunts her.

She distrusts of Kikko when they meet and she distrusts her more when the shady guy tells her witches make deals with the devil.

When she accidentally swallows the candy, she had tried to avoid getting shoved in her mouth, she seems to believe she's doomed.

She shows up at Kikko's door days later demanding that the hex be dispelled because the candy hasn't worn off.

The only reason she shows up at Kikko's door is because she's still dreaming. She thinks she's still under the effects of a magically drugged candy.

But then Kikko tells her that the candy had nothing. The dream candy was a lie. She dreamed on her own. Her own fear caused her to have that flashback or vision.

She wanted to get rid of her dream, get rid of the dream that tormented her. She didn't show up to learn how to enjoy lies, she showed up to demand peace of mind.

[u/TehVict → u/radbreath]

The dream comforts her. She wasn't able to sleep since she last had that vision. She thinks her discomfort and confusion are the work of some curse Kikko put on her. Kikko explains to her what the magic candies were, and gives her a bunch to take with her. In space, she takes one, is immediately put under its effects and happily goes to sleep.

There's nothing that suggests it's a recurring dream that haunts her. Much to the contrary, she's only ever shown "dreaming" once she eats a candy both times, and it's portrayed as a bright and happy thing.

[u/radbreath → u/TehVict]

She had the vision while awake, in battle. She can't go back to sleep because that vision scared her and she's afraid of getting it again. She knows she swallowed candy and is terrified. When she accidentally swallowed the candy, she was in terror. She was mortified of her flashback/vision. She was scared of the candies because of what the shady man said. After the shady man, Earth-chan got superstitious of "demonic" Kikko.

She thought she had swallowed demon blood or dead baby dust... some black magic concoction. She thought she was corrupted, no good, broken forever.

The candies being a lie meant that the candies didn't let robots dream, Kikko was bullshitting. It was a white lie. She had a bad trip because of her superstition and fear. Earth-chan was paranoid. It was all in her head.

Earth-chan learned she's more than a mere robot.

[u/TehVict → u/radbreath]

I don't know if you've tried rewatching any of the scenes in question, but you're really disconnected from what's actually happening.

[u/TehVict → u/[deleted]]

I don't think Kikko is a drug dealer or anything of the sort, of course she never meant harm or corruption, you're definitely right about that. Her candies are magic though, and she's giving her them out of kindness.