「森島はるか編 最終章 レンアイ」 (Morishima Haruka-hen Saishuushou – Renai)
“Morishima Haruka Final Chapter – Love”

In this final chapter of Haruka’s arc before the reset, they somehow managed to cram in both a pool scene and a hotel one before time-lapsing ten years into the future. There was no shortage of service from Haruka in her swimsuit thanks to a full-length shot, but her Christmas Eve night with Junichi in the glamorous hotel remained behind closed doors. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out what they were up to — especially when Haruka came out of the bath in only a towel and was visually upset about Junichi not peeking — but the build-up towards her teary-eyed confession in that scene was the real focus this episode and what I felt played out really well. I attribute that primarily to how it was revealed that their feelings for one another stemmed from a meeting well before the first episode. It was also showcased in a way that made it clear that romance wasn’t something either of them was really looking for at the time, yet innocently came about given their situations.

In Junichi’s case, it was naturally about feeling depressed over being stood up last Christmas Eve and being reminded of it when he’s at the overlook he was supposed to meet his date at. In Haruka’s case, it was being reminded of her pet dog John who passed away the year before and being unable to leave a depressed Junichi alone. In other words, it was the whole “fateful encounter” background info that was slipped in that made the happy ending a lot more heartfelt. The lesser part of year was all the time that passed between their first encounter and their return to that same location to reflect on it, but it was enough to give off that impression that these two were meant for one another. As a result, it made the time they spent together on Christmas Eve much more meaningful in my eyes, since it not only involved Junichi overcoming his broken heart and opening up to the idea of loving again, but also the perfect girl for him to fall in love with to that end. All the scenes with the dusk sky gave their flourishing relationship a true love story-type of feel and even a bit of a surreal one as well.

During all this, the more lighthearted moments involving the matchmaker arcade game that gave dire results, Haruka revealing that she’s a quarter British with the middle name “Lovely” (hence the blue eyes I guess), and her using the initials “L.H.” to score a 95% result with Junichi did keep me guessing on how things would turn out. Subsequently, Haruka misleading Junichi into thinking that they were stopping at a hotel room to “work up a sweat” (double meaning of “wash off sweat” in Japanese) before meeting up with her family only served to misguide both him and me further. Their time at the pool more or less masked Haruka’s upcoming revelation that they’d actually be spending the night alone together since her grandfather’s flight was delayed, which in combination to everything else that happened in this episode, allowed the eventual confession from Haruka to totally sneak up on me (…in a good way). The way she unexpectedly came out of the bath and declared all her worries about being unable to be honest about how she felt and fearing that Junichi would give up on her made that scene really sweet. It wasn’t cheesy nor overly emotional despite Haruka’s tears, but the culmination of their feelings for one another finally being realized made it work well from a romance perspective. Ah, isn’t love sweet?

I did get a chuckle out of the time-lapse ten years later that shows the two of them married, yet still very much into the kinky role-play. Looking back, I’m admittedly a bit sad to see the Haruka arc concluded already, but I am looking forward to the ones we have in store. Next up is Junichi’s middle school friend Kaoru, with Sae, Ai, Rihoko, and Tsukasa lined up in that order. For those hoping to see the childhood friend Rihoko or the class president Tsukasa, you’ll have to wait awhile since they’re saved for last.

 

Preview

110 Comments

  1. I wish I understood enough Japanese to watch episodes raw cuz I freakin hate waiting.I think it would be better if each arc was with a new male lead also, thats just MO

    infinite
    1. new male lead, guess u don’t watch a lot. j/k no diss. but i think it wouldn’t have been liked my many guys, i mean we have a hard time liking 1 male lead and sometime tolerating him, add 4 more that would make us crazy.

      Chimasternmay
  2. YES u said it the Journey Getting there, which is also important and sometimes get dissed at, but its great that its gonna be good ends for all. but we can never know but its most likely now.

    im just glad it wasn’t the bad end for her tho series have no Real bad ends her BadIf was i think the highest of the non bad end endings they had for each in the u know.

    and next is Kaoru it seems will be fun to watch as well. but gonna miss that pale face blue eyed brunette Haruka.

    Chimasternmay
  3. I got a bit surprised when the 10 year after sign popped up, but at least we know now that we’re in for total resets. Plus it’s nice for once to see what happened after, epilogues are always nice.

    I’m curious if we will se some scenes from different perspective / point of view in the different arcs. At least you get the feeling that there might be some. For example the scene in the first episode when Junichi helped the first year girl Sae.

    Greg
  4. This episode made me smile from ear to ear 🙂 A very well done episode, lets hope for more just like this one 🙂

    Divine, it seems that you are really taking a real liking to this show because in your summer anime 2010 preview you said that Amagami SS was a maybe depending on how it was executed. So do you think that AIC is doing a good job because you definitely didn’t predict the ending to this arc, which is a good thing by the way. You’re really good at predicting upcoming events like in your Naruto manga blog.

    By the way, I was the one who said that I was looking forward to Rihoko and Tsukasa story arc’s in your last Amagami blog. However, I all ready knew that they were going to be last because the opening gave it away during the first episode. After seeing the preview for the Kaoru’s arc, I am now really looking forward to her story now because of how different it feels from Haruka’s arc. Am I the only one saying that?

    I predict that I will probably be saying that for all of the story arc’s, lol.

    silverwind7921
  5. Only thing missing to make that a perfect ending would have been to see the reactions of his sister and friends at school that the underclassman snagged the school idol.

    Karmafan
  6. i was expecting there to be lots of flirting and stuff between them but ultimately when it came to the xmas eve hotel/overlook thing she stands him up… resulting in a kind of groundhogs day reset

    and then next episode starts off with him being depressed yet agn like the first episode
    and we find ourselves in an endless eight kind of scenario but he pursues a different girl

    wishful thinking cuz that would at least explain the resets

    dossun
    1. Biribiri Sex Hair?

      And Sae Nakata (a.k.a.: “Kouhai”) is next after Kaoru? Hell yes!

      The alternate ending scenarios idea should ensure no shipping wars for Amagami SS… (Or is there?)

      Either way, the Haruka Morishima arc definitely delivered and is a good start to this series.

      Incognito
      1. Lol… You read the manga/played the game? After reading the Ai Nanasaki manga, and the fact she’s like my girl is win! I can’t wait lol, though I’m quite satisfied with this one too.

        Sora no Kaze
      2. Yes, I did read the manga and I wish I could play the visual novel to this show. However, thats not the reason why I know. Amagami SS started at the beginning of July and each story arc is 4 episodes, right? Each month has 4 weeks, so think about it this way. Haruka is July, Kaoru is August, Sae is September, Ai is October, Rihoko is November, and Tsukasa is December. Get it?

        silverwind7921
      3. Oh… I didn’t mean how you knew that part. I figured that out once you noted the month and everything. I would like to play the Visual Novel as well. Though I would have to do it during summer for certain reasons lol. I also have to make sure I don’t get to excited during the Ai arcs XP. Speaking of which, Kaoru seems to be an interesting arc, just cause she reminds me of a friend I had in middle school.

        Sora no Kaze
      4. Oh…I guess you didn’t, my bad lol. I doubt that you will be able to contain your excitement because I can’t even contain my own excitement for the next story arc at all. Kaoru’s story arc looks like a lot of fun, I can’t wait!!!

        silverwind7921
      5. lol… yeah, I hope I can, but I’m probably going to be excited anyways lol. I’ll figure something out.

        Speaking of which, I definitely see more eye to eye with Junichi Tachibana from the Manga. I guess cause he’s not as desperate lol. Though I like looking over this one too XP.

        Sora no Kaze
      6. Lol, I bet you will find a way. Are you talking about the Junichi from Amagami Precious Diary, the manga with Tsukasa as the main love interest because I don’t really like the Junichi’s from the other two Amagami manga’s.

        silverwind7921
      7. You don’t like the one from Ai Nanasaki manga? He’s a little bit more down to earth which is probably the only reason why. Or did I just interpret what you wrote wrong lol.

        Sora no Kaze
      8. I thought that Junichi was ok however I need to read more than 3 chapters, which are all that there is by the way, to get a better impression. I hate the Junichi in Amagami Sincerely Yours and I love the Junichi in Amagami Precious Diary, that one has 11 chapters so far.

        silverwind7921
  7. This series has become one of my favorites in such a short time, mainly because of the inusual way they aproach the relationship of junichi with each of the girls. I´ ve never seen something like this and I love it.

    haseo0408
    1. And I just realized that even though I commented the right person… it was the wrong comment lol. Ai Nanasaki <3! Look at my comment on silver as other reasons why XP.

      Sora no Kaze
    2. Im really liking this series too. But Im a little worried that after seeing the first pair, it will feel like Junichi is “picking the wrong one” in later arcs. I guess I will just have to wait and see.

      Feik
  8. Somehow I knew they would save Tsukasa for last, since they are ALWAYS showing her around and kind of focusing way too much on her for a char that got not much to do in the Arc besides just being there

    babawaba
  9. You have 1 series 2 characters and you build their relationship with meaningful plots, developments and settings and end with a conclusive ending of the journey. Here (IMO) you just have quick masturbation, take away all the build up and just put in the interesting parts or highlight moments (dates, kiss etc) which don’t become interesting because they don’t have any substantial reasoning,feeling, realism to it.

    Some could find this interesting but I would rather watch something that builds up to certain important parts to a romance series and be left with a fulfilling story (although I’ll prob still continue to watch this). Maybe I’m wrong I did just wake up, maybe not enough blood may be going to my head and just wants to rage because the uni semester is about to begin :(:::

      1. Build up, you do know that the series will reset after each girl?, by build up you develop the characters giving them a personality, history together which gives the story meaning. Here you have 4 episode where the girl falls for the guy quick conclusion of the journey, girl is thrown away new one enters and will most likely follow a similar pattern.

        BTW I think you took the masturbation part literally it was more of an analogy of how the series doesn’t have any substantial developments just quick progression of the relationships, only having time to show the interesting parts or key moments.

        Secondly I don’t think I was purporting it to be an Eroge game, perhaps my slander of the series was suggest full of that. What I was more intending at was, a lot of writers and authors spend a lot of time and skill on creating a story where you care for the characters, using modern conventions certain characters are portrayed so that you become to hate them, love them, cry when they die and at the end be left with a fulfilling story. Here you have a story which really doesn’t do that (for me, once again this might be different for others, I require a bit more realism and story telling to be interesting).

    1. This is why I pointed out that it be nice if the arcs were longer. As they’re a lot of potential they can do with this. 4 episodes are good, but more might and probably will be better. It has to fit season timeline though from what I understand. Also… I like how they end their last girl in the actual month of December which in a sense is connected to the show Christmas ending every arc.

      Sora no Kaze
    2. Again, thats exactly what build up is. It doesnt matter that the arc ends in 4 episodes, the show is still all about the build up, then it resets just as if you were playing the actual game and starts a NEW story. The show is made by different stories with the same chars.

      babawaba
  10. Well Junichi is one lucky guy…To take the school idol away, marry her and they’re still lovey-dovey for 10 years? Amazing! this episode made me smile too. Glad we have a feel-good arc, just wondering if it will be the same for the rest of them.

    Shinjiro
  11. On a separate note from my waiting on Ai. For some reason… I really got into a back and forth conversation with Junichi thought… probably because I tend to talk to a lot of friends about their relationships or general advice on what to do. The only thing I didn’t expect was a complete wtf Why didn’t you peek. I was like…. WHAT!? What in the world… I just failed in giving advice. I mean I though it was fail enough that they were practically close to couplehood and Junichi didn’t notice… but dang Haruka, that coming out of you was unexpected.

    This whole time I was thinking that this girl was embarrassed because, she was practically naked and it was going to be interesting… until that came out. When Junichi goes SHIMATA! I was like… WRONG! YOU DIDN’T DO ANYTHING WRONG!

    Sora no Kaze
  12. I liked the ending quite a bit. I thought it was kind of cheap how they put in that fated meeting this episode but never mentioned it before hand, but I can easily overlook that with the “dai sabisu” we got from Haruka and the heartwarming scene in the hotel. Haruka’s a lot more daring than I thought, I never would have expected her to trick Junichi into going to a hotel with her and then making the first move on him. I’m a bit weary of her reason for liking Junichi, though. He reminds her of her dead dog. Really? I guess Haruka was into bestiality too lol.

    As for the arc overall, I think the producers did a great job of focusing completely on Junichi and Haruka’s relationship, but it was compounded with Haruka’s completely unbelievable character and felt rushed just a tensy bit. In future arcs, I hope they focus more on why the girl likes Junichi rather than the other way around, since Haruka’s love just came off as completely unrealistic, even though admittedly that might be what they were aiming for.

    Since Kaoru is a childhood friend and not an admirable senpai, I’m assuming that it will be her that is trying to win over Junichi’s affections rather than Junichi trying to win her over, which was the case with Haruka’s arc. In that situation, I think we’ll get a much more plausible reason for Kaoru’s love of Junichi, so I’m looking forward to the beginning of her arc next episode.

    On a side note, I’m wondering if every arc will end with implied sex in a hotel. :p

    Oh, and “KUMA-CHAN GETTO!!!” was so moe >.<

    Suzuku
      1. Oh yeah that’s right, thanks for the correction. ^^;

        It’s a bit confusing, middle school friend and childhood friend. I didn’t know there was an archetype distinction between them before watching this show. :p

        Suzuku
  13. duh!!! for me it was fine until the “10 years” after. I knew the reset is next but that closure (imo) will have been better saved for the end of the series (episode 24-26) and for only 1 of the 6 girls. Showing it here made me feel raped. Only 4 episodes per girl doesn’t cut it for me 🙁 Also 6 happy endings? Will stay in my watch list but the show dropped to the bottom of my list. There’s no motivation or twist to watch, if they include a stroke and he dies on her, or 1 of the girls dies giving birth after the 10 years. I mean 6 rosy pink stories don’t cut it for me. I like to suffer, make me feel the pain of the thorns too. Not only the sweet tender caring loving of the petals.

    Island Esper
    1. The other ends of the girls’ routes aren’t too intense in the visual novel, save for 2 heroines. If you want a taste on how this omnibus format is going to be like, I suggest reading Kimikiss – Various Heroines. It’s a manga based on Kimikiss, which came from the same game company as Amagami.

      coffeemug
  14. i didn’t like the episode, it give me a feeling of void, idk. It seems to me that the Haruka’s arc was too rushed, even though , an omnibus format like this is kind of audacious.
    Hey divine, is this the first anime series using such way of storytelling?? i mean, reset the series at the end, and start all over. I just can remember Higurashi no Naku Koro ni, but it was different, it was a result of a phenomenon that was already in the original plot.

    Dave
  15. Nice, a very nice ending indeed.
    Though I was surprised about the sudden ’10 years later’, its still a very nice ending.
    Can’t wait for the next arcs to the point of me wanting to read the mangas.

    Hagiri
      1. That suplex also puts a different angle on how Morishima-senpai wanted to join the wrestling practice :)I wonder if it will be a similar situation too? A lot of settings will be reused of course. The watershed will be used for kissing more then one girl I am sure 🙂

        Znail
      2. I can’t say that there wouldn’t be some scenes reused since this series main setting is at their school. However, the preview for Kaoru’s first episode showed some new locations in it. I believe that each story arc is going to be different from each other and not just a rerun because that would be just down right boring to watch.

        silverwind7921
  16. I felt a bit rush to be honest, we all know he likes her but I never really got the feeling that she love him yet she like him but not yet love. If only they have a few more episode to built up the relationship I think would have play out a bit better.

    Andy
  17. When I was watching the episode, I was ok then the hotel scene and I was like WHAAAAT?!!^(*o*)^
    Four 24 minute episodes was not enough. It did felt rushed. I hope that they will add more slower progressing development in future episodes, not something on the length of 24 ep but come on! when the 10 years later thing happened I was like WTF?

    justsomeguy
  18. I think it would be interesting if they started each new arc from where the first major relationship wall is. Like after he gets rejected the first time instead of being persistent he gets all depressed and is comforted by, say girl No2. and so on. It would be a neat way to show all the different paths in life and how even minor choices determine who you will be with and so on. Since reality doesn’t have a reset button 😛

    will
  19. 4 episodes enough? Yea…. and i can understand why some people got turned off by how fast the relationship developed. I mean dude just made 2 confessions and he already got to do kinky stuff like kissing haruka behind the knee? Yea, its surreal but its anime at the same time so i tried to stray away from real life logic. In the end, it wasn’t extravagant or flat out boring. I guess the only I would put it is that the arc was…..cute? The characters were cute, their interactions were cute and the ending was cute. But some might just think the whole thing was bizarre.

    Kururu
  20. I think to sum up many peoples impressions:

    The 3 episodes were okay leading up, some quite fast paced and at time, awkward-to-watch HNNNGGHHH moments, but then the 4th episode comes and you hear the voice of sadness, you can’t help but understand the emotions running here.

    When you look at it in retrospect, it all ends up not being bad at all. Actually, admirable for a 4-episode timeframe. All those awkward moments, all those subtle hints finally show up in play, when it wasn’t the male who was being weak, but the heroine herself. Kind of like a ninja tsundere variation.

    Honestly wasn’t expecting the confession to come out like this. We all KNEW that they were going to hook up, but (at least I think) most of us thought that the male lead would do something amazing and finally get her to say yes. It’s that final twist that makes you finally appreciate this series at least more than you would if you just watched the first 3.

    I feel like this is going to be the trend for future episodes too: unable to judge the arc until you see it in whole and see how it all comes together. I hope that the studio continues to surprise us, and break more conventions ^^.

    P.S: Of course, if they gave a few more episodes to this, it’d be drastically better in my opinion.

    Zanibas
  21. Awww, that was sweeeett. That’s my 156% of my W.A.F.F. quota for the week met.

    I’m glad they’re doing this in mini-arcs. It actually works quite nicely, showing all of Junichis paths through the game. I could almost see the decision boxes come up from time to time with this, its amusing…

  22. i dont get it, so the male character is just going to date a other girl and marry a other ? same thing will happen for 6 different girl ? wow, just wow. doesnt sense right to me ? well, lucky bastard for marrying 6 different girl.

    justin2010
    1. Consider it a a ‘What if’ type of setup. Each of the stories handles what happened if he had acted in different ways. So he wont get all 6 girls at the same time, but in alternate story lines.

      Znail
  23. W8, let me get this straight. I never watch this anime but from the pictures and the review, this anime will show all the girl as the main heroine in a seperate arc? which means they all have their own story?

    amc9988
  24. …WHAA?? How could anyone have liked this episode? XD it was ridiculous in my opinion. Randomly getting upset that he didn’t peek at her, then them confessing their love?? It seemed way too rushed, and completely unrealistic. 😛 but I guess that’s what they go for when they want a male audience.. I really hope Nanasaki and Sakurai’s arcs are much better, they seem like the most appealing of the girls. I really don’t see how anyone could have like Morishima, she was way annoying.

    Urs
  25. Yeah I was wondering about how the rest of the series was going to unfold. I find it a bit awkward falling for the HarukaxJunichi pairing and then seeing it being reset. I actually wanna stop watching it here and say I watched Amagami SS. lol 😀 I mean.. Wow.
    (By the way, I love how Morishima says that.)

    Haruka was the best. I can’t see anyone else but her. The epilogue for them was a great touch. I loved how lovey-dovey they were. And the little games they play are hilariously charming! :] I couldn’t stop laughing at the “Criminal Scum” accusation. C:

    So yeah. Best arc so far. Not really looking forward to anything more after it. xD

    Shirt
  26. Amagami is F**king amazing!

    Though I would’ve liked more from this ‘arc’, more scenes and episodes of the transition from the hotel scene to the future, I have to say I’m still 100% fully satisfied. God damn shes so moe – I hope to see her a bit more in the later episodes too.

    Fate
  27. Haruka has the best confession technique I have ever seen! Alone in a hotel room wearing a towel. [sarcasm] Turning her down would obviously be the first thing a healthy male would think about! [/sarcasm]

    But its nice that she took action instead of keep waiting for his third confession. Of course, she obviously planed for them to spend the night at the hotel anyway, just that she had hoped for him to confess again before she did it. But I think it would have been a lot worse if he had confessed again as it would have seemed more like she grudgingly agreed after being asked several times. It may have hurt her pride, but it helped their relationship.

    Znail
  28. Man, I thought four episodes would be short but I thought it fit together nicely. Not that I don’t like Junichi, but from their conversations I can’t really see why Haruka was so interested in him. He seemed pretty ordinary during their original conversations. The whole kidnapping thing made me feel a bit better about it though. That and him busting in at the end as a cop.

    LaN
  29. after watching, i am satisfied and could end the series here, overall i think haruka is my fav of the six, but im looking forward to how the other stories turn out

    armando001
  30. I will never understand the mindsets of women…
    One minute, it’s “don’t peek”
    The next, it’s “why didn’t you come peek!?”

    May some chick magnet/pimp come explain to me the greatest mystery of the world?

    Daniel
  31. Well, Haruka’s arc was fun and a good start. I only know a little about the series, but from the order, does anyone else feel like they’re going from most to least emotionally stable? Ending with Tsukasa has me thinking that at least…

    Aex
    1. You’re only hope for that is Tsukasa (class rep), and seeing as how she’s the very last one, I wouldn’t bet on it. Going out on a “bad end” doesn’t seem likely when Haruka got “best end”.

      Aex
  32. Unfortunately 4 episodes per girl will make it rather rushed compared to the game.That said l really prefer this kind of format to a “many male leads+parallel relationships or a main girl+other girls as side characters.In the first case it would turn to some kind of shoujo drama and in the second all the other girl’s stories would be sacrificed for the sake of one.

    The focus in series like this is the girls and their different personalities(stereotypes).It’s supposed to be lighthearted and simplistic.At least we get to see all the girls stories albeit in a a very rushed/edited way.If only someone would translate the original game…

    wanka
  33. Hi I found this web-site by mistake when i was searching yahoo for this issue, I’ve to say your site is really useful I also adore the theme, its awesome!. I don’t have the time at the moment to totally read your website but I have bookmarked your internet site and also signed up for the RSS feeds. I is going to be back in each day or two. thanks for an excellent internet site.

Leave a Reply to Sora no Kaze Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *