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Summary:
Matsuri raises Takeshi’s sword to stab Aono, but Aono pushes Yorito off of her and manages to only get hit in the shoulder. When Aono prepares more paper projectiles to fight with, Yorito steps between them to get his sister to stop. Since he refuses to get out of the way, it is Aono who leaves the old theater and discovers that her wound won’t heal. Matsuri is also heavily injured from having stabbed herself, but she needs to get to Aono, so Yorito carries her on his back. Along the way, Matsuri is reminded by the early morning sky of when they first met and starts reciting types of clouds, causing Yorito to apologize for not being able to show her the real sky after all. Matsuri, however, disagrees and feels that he did show her many times through his own eyes the sky that he saw and chased. Yorito then grimaces in pain and Matsuri notices how he is literally falling apart, making her realize that the Yaka power has weakened. Since she doesn’t want him to see any more of her fight with Aono, Matsuri decides to leave Yorito there and tells him not to worry because they’ll definitely see each other again.
As they head towards their final battle, Aono and Matsuri both remember how Aono had stayed with Matsuri after coming to the cave as the village sacrifice to calm the curse of the Yaka. Back then, Aono had known that Matsuri wasn’t the type of person to make others unhappy and had brought her berries to eat. Since Matsuri had found the berries delicious, Aono had taught her to smile when eating something good. The two girls now come face-to-face again, and Matsuri thanks Aono for teaching her about a person’s heart. Aono thinks that this brought a lot of pain and sadness, but Matsuri feels that it’s far better than not knowing at all. They then charge at each other with Aono using another blade made of paper that gives her an edge because she can manipulate it to become like a multi-segmented whip. She uses it to slam Matsuri into the ground, but because her own Yaka powers are weakened, she has to grab Takeshi’s sword to finish Matsuri off. Aono charges forward, but both girls are shocked when Yorito suddenly appears in way of the blade and gets stabbed. As he disappears into sheets of paper that blow away in the wind, Yorito thanks his sister.
With Aono grieving for her brother, Matsuri decides not to hesitate anymore and stabs Aono while hugging her. Takeshi’s sword glows brightly before disappearing, showing that Matsuri has succeeded in giving her life to make Aono into a human again. As the morning sun comes up, Matsuri remembers how Yorito and Aono had in the past painted the cave’s ceiling to resemble the blue sky, and the three of them had looked up at it together. Sometime later, a boy heads into an abandoned house during the rain to feed a white kitten. He hears a noise in the box next to the kitten, and much to his surprise, a girl – Mayuko – pops out. The boy then runs out in fear just as Takeshi is returning with food. After Takeshi comments on how her fashion sense has worsened over the years and subsequently gets slapped by her, Mayuko asks why Takeshi didn’t run away. He eventually answers that there’s no way he would run away, and the two move on to their next destination hand-in-hand, with the kitten joining them.
It is now springtime, and Koyori is practicing her origami folding again at home with Mana. It has already been one year since Takeshi left town with Mayuko, but Sae still cries for him. Mana’s friends think that she should go back to working in the family restaurant with Sae, but Mana admits that she quit because she wanted to change something. Koyori meanwhile visits a bookstore, but the origami book she wants is out of her reach on the bookshelf. Fortunately for her, someone gets it for her: Aono. The two girls then head to the waterfront where Aono watches as Koyori make origami, and she almost hits Koyori out of habit when the younger girl says “Mana-san” instead of “onee-chan.” When it’s time for them to part ways, Koyori asks for Aono’s name, and Aono doesn’t hesitate to answer Morimiya Aono. On this same day, Mana is at school getting a notebook when she notices the cloudy sky outside. She heads to the roof and is surprised to find an unfamiliar girl – Aono – standing there wearing a school uniform. Mana thinks that Aono is a transfer student and notices that she had been looking at the sky.
Commenting on how the sky is beautiful when seen from here, Mana admits to always coming up after school to look, though she doesn’t know why except that she thinks she loves it. Hearing this, Aono reveals that she loves the sky too. She feels that this huge sky connects the people, the ocean, the towns, and the night in every place. The sky and the night sky form the same connected sky, and this is the sky that Aono walks under, the sky that that two people gave her. Mana then yells to the sky that she likes it, and afterwards, the two girls run off hand-in-hand. One morning a little while later, Koyori, Mana, and Aono head out to the waterfront by the park together. While Mana gets ready to take a picture of the morning sky, Koyori is having trouble with the drink machine, so Aono runs forward and kicks it, successfully getting the drink out. They then hear something in the direction of the gazebo overlooking the waterfront, but there’s no one there – only two cans of tomato shiruko.
.
.
.
When I first watched this episode, I had been disappointed at the conclusion to the Matsuri and Aono storyline because it felt rather anticlimactic after all that happened last week (and even before that). Matsuri did go ahead and give up her own life to return Aono to being human, so there weren’t any big surprises there. Perhaps the only real unexpected thing for me was that Aono was indeed able to continue living by herself, which I originally had thought wouldn’t be possible without Yorito around in some way. In any case, once I got over the fact that there weren’t any huge plot twists, I enjoyed the episode a lot more, particularly the second half that showed that Aono had changed and was surrounded by friends who shared a love for the sky. In that regard, the ending is more like AonoXManaXKoyoriXSky, and I liked how it gave a good sense of closure. Still, they do hint in the final shot with the tomato shiruko cans that Matsuri and Yorito perhaps aren’t truly gone.
Oh, and for anyone who’s wondering, the special ending song was 「見上げるあの空で」 (Miageru Ano Sora de) by 結城アイラ (Yuuki Aira).
Final Thoughts: Back when I was researching this show before the spring season started, I thought that it would be a solid romance series with the highlight being Noto Mamiko voicing the female lead character. I can say now that sola ended up developing in a way that exceeded all my expectations for it. The storytelling certainly wasn’t perfect – for one, I would have liked there to have been a better connection between the Takeshi/Mayuko/Matsuri storyline and the Matsuri/Aono/Yorito storyline – but it managed to stay exciting with plenty of plot twists and a surprisingly large amount of action. It was definitely one of the better offerings of the spring season for me, and the question is now what the two upcoming DVD extra episodes will be about – I would guess side-story fun stuff. Those two episodes will be available on DVDs IV and V coming on September 25th and October 26th, respectively.
Se acabó….
i really hope they make a good ending in the dvd…..
i think the ending was nice on this series but i am wondering to what the dvd specials will be like i hope there as good as the series was.
the looks great but i nedd to see the chapter^^
I hope Matsuri doesn’t die.
great ending to a great series… one question… did aono forget about yorito and matsuri or did she really move on?
https://randomc.net/image/sola/sola%20-%2013%20-%20Large%2023.jpg -> is this a boku lookalike costume mayuko is wearing? she must be tired of the desu outfit…
w00t
🙂 so its technically yorito x matsuri in the end
OMG….CANT BELIEVE ITS ACTUALLY OVER…..T_T…….GONNA NEEN TO SEE THOSE DVD EPISODES!!!!!!
Yep its over all that is left is to wait for code geass.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
BREAKING NEWS:
IN WHAT CAN ONLY BE DESCRIBED AS A “LANDMARK TANKING”, SOLA SUFFERS THE WORST EVER DROP IN RANKINGS TO DATE WITH THE RELEASE OF EPISODE 13
well, no.. it wasn’t THAT bad… kinda like the rest of this series. i keep forgetting, i have to assign a different set of expectations and standards for each show, with sola scoring quite well on my lowest tier.
wow that was quite a nice ending, everything came back into a full circle with mana taking a picture of the dawn and aono kicking the vending machine like the time when yorito and matsuri first met.
aono is really likable now that she managed to stop dwelling on the past and move on. matsuri was also finally able to see the sun rise before her eyes before she died. it was also quite heartwarming to see mana and koyori become friends with aono all over again.
sola is now definitely one of my animes of all times and i’ll be looking forward to seeing the dvd special episodes.
I enjoyed this show more than Code Geass, myself. Yes, it wasn’t a show in the highest tier, but it did some wonderful things, for me. I thought the final episode worked beautifully, and was highly appropriate to the good but not great quality of the show.
I think the story was consistent with all that happened in the earlier episodes. They didn’t invented anything for everyone live and have a cheesy ending. I think that it was a great finale, especially for Aono, since she had, like, centuries to really grow up and realize that she didn’t need Yorito to keep on living. Too bad that Matsuri disapeared (died?), but I couldn’t see another end for her, except, maybe, killing everyone else, but then she would be alone again, and thats what I think she realized when the movie started to play that sky scene. She didn’t wanted to be alone and suffer again like in the past, and choose to finish things off, and still kept the promise with Yorito to finish him as well. All in all, it’s a good ending, fitting the panorama of the anime. Not too melancolic, nor too cheesy. Almost blend. But great if you see the thing as a whole.
omg >_> must have that ending song… naaaao….
ARRGGHHH!!! It’s…
BITE BITE CHEW CHEW RIP’N’TEAR REND’N’CRUSH…
DAMN YOU MATSLUTRI AND YORITARD!!! WHY CAN”T THE TWO OF YOU JUST FUCKIN’ DIE!!?
what to expect from a crap anime like this????….CRAP 😀
Looks like it’s Aono and Mana in the end for some yuri love! And after all that, how can Yorito still be alive? If he is, and Matsuri also, that kinda kills the whole story right there. A happy ending for them just doesn’t fit.
They’ll be back, otherwise what can they put in those two DVD releases? I mean like… Aono & the gang still living all happily? Or a epilogue/prologue, where they will try to explain things better? Or maybe the history of Matsuri? None of that seems like it will happen, so in the 2 DVDs you can expect some sort of revival for there to be a climax whats so ever.
Any word on the release date for these DVDs though?
I hope 2 episode in DVD will be another ending (yorito X matsuri). This episode is too sad & lonely ending -3-. But now sola is one of my best animes.
humm.. did u watch all the way untill the end… if u did… u should had notice the 2 tomato can?? i think thats the proof of matsuri and yorito still alive in the world!!!
i hope… >.
Deadlyrain, the two DVDs that will contain extra episodes are DVD 4 (release 2007-09-25, also contains episodes 10 & 11), and DVD 5 (release 2007-10-26, also contains episodes 12 & 13). So basically, late September and late October.
How could Matsuri and Yorito survived? Unless Takeshi make a major mistake: the sword will take away all the powers of Yaka and transfer to the sword bearer. In this case, Yorito can still survive. Baka Takeshi… Just a simple guess…
@relentlessflame: I literally found that out one minute before I came here to post about it. Thanks though. XD
Sounds interesting. Still waiting for Red Garden’s DVD to com out also to see about that. XD
OoO
You know i didn’t think much of this anime at 1st until about the 3rd episode when things started to take some plot twists. I was hooked then and have never let it go. I look forward to the day when this gets released here in America. Until then…. we’ll always have Youtube!
And Logically this was the only way the story could have concluded to bring the story to a good close. I wish Aono luck with the rest of her now normal human life!
@Zzz… If you don’t like the show, then why do you have to be a pillowbiter and post? >_> No one gives a shit about your opinions.
does the tomato juice even taste good?
XSky LOL, that is hilarious.
for all those that are wondering if yorito and matsuri are alive, they’re not…
Can’t think of a better way to end the story. As for DVD specials September and Ocotober, that’s some time till then lol.
“The storytelling certainly wasn’t perfect”
Ah well, depends on your personal taste I guess. For me it was fine, even when they left out some background info here and there. And we have the DVD episodes left~
I wonder about the special song in the end, thought 晀姶側晽宨 would be a good way to end the series, will watch the raw and check this other song out.
All in all I must say I was quite hooked by the story in this anime, character design, animation quality and soundtrack did the rest. One of the best shows I’ve seen in 2007 so far.
i just hope the dvd extra isnt just recap-_-
and i think is quite sad that popl want this to end in a unhappy way.
As the story go both happy and sad ending suit this anime i prefer the happy one though ^_^
maybe ppl want sad ending cause there isnt many anime with sad ending lately
Since Aono meets Koyori & Mana for the first time (again), i assume she left town for a full year presumedkly to learn how to “live again” since her purpose (yorito) is gone. This will probably be in one of the dvd releases and will also host the significance of losing her Ribbon (representation of her being a yaka, notice that now as a human she does not wear it! see above pictures). No doubt there’ll be a scene where it flies into the sky freely & sadly.
dvd 2, i hope will show MORE of what happens after or some in-the-past experiance.
so sad it ended, it was perfect from begining to end with the exception of Yorito who was at times: pure annoyance.
it was a decent diversion, none too good, none too bad.
I have a strong feeling the 2 episodes, 1 must have something to do with Takeshi and Mayuko ^^;
@ Lost Seeker, they lost their memory. Remember the part where they were suppose to departure away from their current place? Practically after Mana’s final visit with Yorito and Koyori’s with Mana, they forgotten about this family.
i was just wondering where you watched that ep cause i can’t find it anywhere D8
look at http://tokyotosho.com/ for ep13 raw torrent
sola is in jaalin’s lowest tier of shows? Suddenly everything makes sense. (No, wait, I already knew that since Nagasarete.)
Only surprise in the ending is that Aono is still sane.
AonoxManaxKoyorixSky FTW! (Bwhahahahahaha)
I search everywhere but can’t find 「見上げるあの空で」 (Miageru Ano Sora de) by 結城アイラ (Yuuki Aira) endind song of sola ep 13. It’s not release,is it?
hmm
“Sometime later, a boy heads into an abandoned house during the rain to feed a white kitten. He hears a noise in the box next to the kitten, and much to his surprise, a girl – Mayuko – pops out. The boy then runs out in fear”
I think that boy looks like yorito, so perhaps yorito and matsuri went reborn as humans. But this would not make much sense since it would only be needed 1 DVD not 2. ^^;;
hmm
“Sometime later, a boy heads into an abandoned house during the rain to feed a white kitten. He hears a noise in the box next to the kitten, and much to his surprise, a girl – Mayuko – pops out. The boy then runs out in fear”
I think that boy looks like yorito, so perhaps yorito and matsuri reborn as humans. But this would not make much sense since the ending will be 2 DVDs ^^;;
I’m pretty sure the two tomato cans represent that Matsuri and Yorito are alive….
Well, that was quite a ride. It figures though. I see someone as (more than?) obsessed with the sky as I am, and then he goes and dies. Ages ago. And then he goes and dies twice. Figures.
Thoughts on the tomato cans: Nah, Yorito and Matsuri are gone, may they rest in peace. I think it was just sort of..the staff’s tribute to them, in a weird sort of way. They probably got very attatched to their characters.
Also, I think that one or both DVD specials will explain a bit more about Mayuko’s loliyaka-ness.
Finally, to “Zzz…” and “TENSAI OTAKU”, I believe you’ve earned an Aono-chop. With a two by four.
I really think the cans are just representing that Matsuri and Yorito live on in another sense. It’s not that they are back or reincarnated or something like that. Just they will be remembered by Aono and Mayuko. But also traits will survive, like Mana’s sudden obsession with the sky and Aono kicking the machine. Just don’t feel there is a good reason for them to be alive in that sense. Call it a tribute, or symbolism I think that’s all it is.
Think the DVD’s could be fleshing out the Yorito/Aono/Matsuri previous life, how they got along and just delving more into that. Could also be more about Mayuko and Takeshi and what they are doing with their lives. Maybe even what Aono was doing for the time after becoming human and coming back into the lives of Koyori and Mana. How she dealt with being human and learning to survive without Yorito around.
Pretty good series and I like how things finished off.
I finished Sola in one sitting… it was good though I had hoped for something more at the ending… I had really wished that Yorito and Matsuri will hook up… darn ending of the story pulled my mood down for the evening… Kinda sad and touching in a way if you had dived into the whole relational development thing… *sigh* They were so couple like and yet together they decided to restore Aono. I think that’s ok but had they developed more background story… Yorito and Matsuri would have had a chance… *sigh*… oh well no anime is perfect… but I truly liked the songs in Sola… meaningful (towards the anime) and quite soothing especially the common Ed. Cheers…
I actually thought this anime had the best ending of any anime, kuz it feels like Matsuri and Yorito are still living in their friends.
LOL at comments! just finished this..
i find this anime boring..BUT i found dat the ending was one heck of a feel good ending dat i havent felt since strawberry panic…lolx
n also…the fact dat this show has the best seiyuus eva! [4 me dat is] w 3 top favs mamiko noto, nakahara mai n shimizu ai…they made the show much better
n oso….throughout the whole anime…i keep thinking dat mamiko noto should hav done aono’s voice n nakahara mai did matsuri’s…i dunno but after watching the stuff dat they’ve worked on…it just gets stuck to my head dat mamiko should do soft-like voices like aono’s n mai does loud-playful kinda voice like matsura’s
but the one dat mesmerized me was shimizu ai as koyori…she’s my fav character in this show…i find her talent really amazing when she did the little-spoiled-brat makoto in mai-hime…the matured tamao in strawberry panic…n here the ever so polite koyori..i just like da part when she says ‘mana-san’ then she gets hit for it..lolx
hopefully the dvd eps are good..really anticipating to watch it! =)
a surprising ending, if i only ever saw one… bittersweet to the bones, yet somewhat leaving a sense of harmony and balance restored…
Um, i loved sola, the ending was a tad weak but it ending perfectly right. i found out that one of the side episodes is an onsen episode~!!! so any hot spring anime fans out there get ready~!!!! yorito and matsuri are in it too! its gonna be awesome!!! AND I’LL KILL TO WATCH THOSE 2 EXTRA EPISODES!! XDDDD lol
saikou dattakedo…
sugee zankoku na hanashidattana
After watching the Ending, i was no all that happy with the two DVD episodes, i mean there were episode 0 and episode 4.5 or 5.5 or 6.5 so it had no meaning, its just showing the past which does not matter anymore
That was a stupid ending in my opinion, it would have been much more mature to realise that although the current Yorito wasn’t the old Yorito, he was still a new living entity, and killing him wasn’t a happy and good choice by any means. He wasn’t “nobody” as he liked to call himself during the show, but just not the Yorito. To realise that and try to make her realise that instead of having to kill him and sacrifice Matsuri…would have been way more constructive. And there would have also been no memory loss, so it would also have been much happier for the persons concerned.
I think the biggest error the characters made was to believe that the current Yorito wasn’t really someone. Idiots.
And I don’t think that last two cans shot implied that the two were still alive, more like Aono and the little one reliving the moments the other two lived together.
i loved sola, easily my 3rd favorite anime of all time (spiral is 2nd, and Inuyasha is 1st). It was sad, i expected matsuri and yorito to be together especially after the kiss, perhaps when he died and in the ende with the two cans symbolizes they are still together, easily my favorite anime couple ever! i loved sola from beginning to end, and while we are all wondering what’s happening, im sure they are together somehow =)