I wonder if she would have committed suicide if she didn't find that Cub.

>>35656
Besides being alone and not having too much money her existence seemed completely placid. Even the place she lives seems really nice.

>>35657
Grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. She hardly seemed content with life before the events of the anime.
The anime starts with her monologuing about having no friends, no family, and not even having any hobbies. She says she's poor too, and is barely getting by. Everything looks really de-saturated and bleak in her world. She then jumps at the opportunity to buy a bike that killed three of it's previous owners. It's only then that some color enters her otherwise drab boring and routine existence.

She doesn't seem depressed to me, more ennui and apathy.

>>35659
That sounds more accurate.

So if I buy a Honda, my drab boring lame life will be full of colorful fun exploration, and people will like me and want to be my friend? Is that the message I'm supposed to be getting here?

Fellow cub riders, not friends.

>>35674
No, that's not the message you should be getting, that's what happened to Koguma. It's not a message, it's a plot of fiction. Please don't expect what happened to this fictional character in this fictional story to apply to your real life in any capacity.

>>35674
Yes.
But no, I'd say it's more about a person finding a novel item that makes life easier and thus makes them a little happier and more refreshed. I've felt similar feelings of dumb happiness around mundane things, and I'd imagine motor vehicles are one of the easier things to feel that for. She essentially traded the arduous bike ride she usually takes to school for a much easier cub ride.
That being said, it is a little silly how much having a motorcycle seems to have impacted people's views of her, where some people seem to say "oh you're that girl who rides the cub! wow!" At least that's just what I've noticed. I don't think people would necessarily care how she gets to school unless she specifically bought it up, minus Reiko who also uses a cub. From what little I've looked up, I think there might be a cult following around cubs, perhaps they're the Thinkpad fans of motorcycles.

While it might seem like it, I don't think Super Cub was designed to be a commercial. A commercial would probably be a lot more generic and there'd be better ways of going about creating one than making a seasonal anime show. That being said there's explicit mention of working with Honda so that they had the design of the Super Cub right (or something like that) and they were allowed to use the 'Honda' name in the show.

This was a weird episode.

Hungry bear

I'm still a bit concerned the message here might be a bit too materialistic.

This is a relaxing show, and I'm a sucker for SoL that features directionless, apathetic girls discovering something that brings them happiness.

>>35659
The two aren't necessarily orthogonal; persistent ennui and apathy for long enough will lead to that. Either way, her prior life was clearly joyless and somber.

>>35674
>>35677
The message I took away was that it wasn't the motorcycle itself per se but rather the thematic motif of unbounded exploration that it represents which becomes her source of joy. Of course the anime's portrayal of this is a bit glorified (think of the contrast mythical image of the "american dream" versus the current reality), but some elements of it can still be found even in real life – for instance, that ephemeral feeling of discovery that results from taking a walk outside at night in the crisp air, following random roads until you stumble upon a scenic, secluded spot (*).

The motorcycle itself is just a catalyst that helps get her off the "beaten path" and gives her an opportunity to spontaneously explore.

(*) Depending on your location, mileage may vary; trying this in a suburb might not be as succesful, but there's probably at least a creek, hiking trail, or pond nearby.