「絢辻詞編 最終章 ヤクソク」 (Ayatsuji Tsukasa-hen Saishuushou – Yakusoku)
“Ayatsuji Tsukasa Final Chapter – Promise”

Well it looks like my hunch last episode about Tsukasa’s drastic change in personality was pretty spot on, as Junichi’s unsettling feeling about it brings back the girl she truly is. Looking back, it probably wouldn’t be wrong to consider the good girl persona as another act, except it’s difficult to see it as just that when Tsukasa had every intention of making that personality the new her. Much like I was suspecting, it was all brought upon by Junichi saying she wasn’t acting like herself when the pressure was on to get the Founder Festival preparations completed on time. However, the one thing I wasn’t foreseeing is that it is partly due to her disillusionment of Santa Claus when she was younger, and her childhood wish to become a pseudo one and spread the joy of the holidays after she attended one of the previous Kibitou Founder’s Festivals. For the most part, the late addition of that information felt like it was more of a means to add an extra dimension to Tsukasa’s complexity, but also seemed to suggest that she may not have problems with family members at home. They never did really suggest that there were any issues to begin with, other than showing that Tsukasa doesn’t maintain that facade with her sister Yukari, meaning that her changes in personality likely come from something more fundamental.

Insecurity and loneliness are a couple of ideas that come to mind after a split personality was quickly ruled out by Tsukasa, though I somehow perceive it as a obsessive compulsive “need” to conform to other people’s expectations of her. Junichi’s confession and hug from behind weren’t able to shake the new personality she had undertaken after all, but as soon as he told her that he misses the Tsukasa that scolds him for his incompetence and loves that part of her just as much as the current one, a flood of emotions erupted from her along with a three-hit combo to show how that side of her was being forcibly suppressed. Tsukasa was quick to blame Junichi for being the cause of her change before completely breaking down tears too, reaffirming that suspicion. Incidentally, her reaction did leave me wondering how long she would have lasted without Junichi as her new outlet for all the feelings she bottles up inside. I gather she would’ve had to resort to using a notebook again had Junichi not told her that he’s happy that the Tsukasa he loves is still there. That scene also made me think that Junichi deserves credit for saying the right things at the right time, especially in an arc where he was just strung along for the most part. He may have not been much more than Tsukasa’s lackey for the vast majority of the past four episodes, yet that one moment him much cooler than prior stories where he took the initiative.

Along the same lines, both Umehara and Takahashi-sensei played pretty prominent roles in helping all of that happen. In Umehara’s case, his elementary school regret of ignoring a girl’s love letter served as motivational support for Junichi’s eventual confession, whereas in Takahashi’s, she gave him and Tsukasa their moment alone together despite how it looked like they were going to make a “Christmas memory” in the classroom. Without interruption, the end result was pretty sweet with Tsukasa’s confession in return and a ten years time lapse to show them with a daughter who’s the spitting image of Tsukasa herself, as the three of them attended the Kibitou Founder’s Festival. Peering into the future was a nice addition since it’s been noticeable absent since Haruka’s arc, and served as a means of providing a fulfilling ending. As such, this was probably one of the more “complete” arcs, though I’m still hesitant to consider it my favorite. It did surprise me with the complexities in Tsukasa’s character, which was foreshadowed various times in the arcs leading up to hers, but I never really feel the emotional build up as prominently as the tail end of Ai’s third episode and its eventual conclusion, nor Kaoru’s incredibly sweet confession in the Port Tower. The last one was particularly surprising, since all the focus on Kaoru’s family troubles somehow culminated to what I feel is the most romantic moment out of all the arcs. The fact that she’s a middle school friend of Junichi’s and didn’t get the short end of the stick like his childhood one Rihoko makes it a noteworthy conclusion as well, and one where I was really happy for Kaoru.

In any case, I’ve included a poll as promised for which girl’s arc you as the readers enjoyed the most, whether it’s simply for the character itself, the romantic development, or a combination of both. You can find it on the sidebar. I’ll post the results next week to coincide with the extra episode on Junichi’s stalker-like fan, Kamizaki Risa. She’s voiced by Kadowaki Mai, who’s been playing Kaoru’s friend Keiko up until now.

 

Preview

127 Comments

    1. You guys missed an important point here:

      If you recall correctly that every girl get on spot or body part that emphasize on by Junichi, Tsukasa was her hair. By cutting her hair, it is a metaphor for losing the burdens and unhappiness she once possessed. The weights are off her shoulders.

      chaos
  1. They built up all that complexity for Tsukasa and yet never bothered giving any reason for it, this let down the arc for me.

    Also, long hair > short hair. Tsukasa in the +10 year scene looked 40.

    duh
    1. I must agree. Maybe they purposefully didn’t tell us the contents of the notebook, but dammit, I want to know! They also seemed to not build up enough on Tsukasa’s family life, such as not building on the Santa notion or her sister.

      But I have to admit, this was a great episode, and the time skip made me smile! =).

      Zanibas
    2. You are better off reading the manga of Ayatsuji. They did a really good job explaining why she had these layers of walls where she hides her true feelings. Plus the Christmas on there was actually pretty good. 4 episodes doesn’t give the amount of time needed for someone like Ayatsuji.

      Silentcid
  2. now i know what the notebook was for. since tsukasa was very lonely and that her pride of doing it alone, i have obeserve that see would right everything that will keep her up like “Tsukasa you can do it, everything is going to be all right”. But since Junichi entered her life, she substitute him as her note book and her life became more lighter that she can already express some of the emotion. (hehehe read some monologue)
    I still dont get why Tsukasa doesnt like her sister. Maybe because she already know who Tsukasa was or She was also manipulative.
    The 3 combo thing was the best in this episode. Well in the end things turned out to be fine and didnt make a pact but a promised.
    Well all in all this wasnt my favorite ending but good story though.
    At least next is the Stalker-arc
    Show Spoiler ▼

    ♛Croosboy♛
    1. As I understand it from the manga, the original storyline was that Tsukasa’s elitist parents always pressured her to meet their high standards, and her sister was always oblivious to her hardships, which led Tsukasa to dislike her (in the manga, on his way out after Tachibana visited Tsukasa, he makes a comment about Tsukasa’s health to her sister, and she reacted as if she completely forgot that Tsukasa was sick). Anyways, I really think that focusing more on this aspect of Tsukasa’s past as the manga did would have been much better than explaining her personality as some santa-related childhood trauma.

      Lee
      1. there is actually more to it such as her real personality not being acceptable and would prevent her from being the high achiever that she is and some other stuff. i would love to explain more but i have an exam tomorrow =\

        Syllen
      2. Well It isn’t about achievements but she doing everything by sheer willpower. She’s using school to hide from her home and using her other cheerful personality to hide her feelings from people knowing about her problems at home.

        Silentcid
  3. I do agree that they kinda left out lots of plot hole in this arc. That why i was on the opinion that this arc deserve more episode…Nevertheless this arc was the best for me.

    ps:I really like the ending scene.

    Zone
  4. 5 things

    1: This episode was quite nice, awesomeness probably to say the least, enough to leave it open ended for personal conclusions, yet closed enough that we have a sense of what has happened, overall quite nice, quite nice, and I wouldn’t mind rewatching it two or three times

    2: I love how Junichi can cover what looks like miles in a mere instant.

    3: Gundam Legs, we’ve seen them before in previous arcs at the festival, it’d be interesting if they do something with it xD .. well .. perhaps not >.> but you get my point

    4: We get another arc … actually I don’t know how many we get and apparently I’m too lazy to find that by googling it, but I think it’s something we should all be excited for

    5: If ANYONE knows where to get a sweater that looks like Junichi’s I’d be very happy if you could tell me … I need a new winter coat since I’m schooling in a much … colder atmosphere >.> … this whole concept of snow is rather quite new to me

  5. OMG this ending is one of the best. as i said before i am a sucker for this kinds of endings and the scene where Junichi is carrying his daughter with Tsukasa at his side.

    i only wish hey had reviled her name.
    i have to say that Tsukasa with her short hair indeed looks more mature but still not too old. i venture a guess to say 26-28 years old looks(cant say actual age as she would have to be older than that cuz of the daughter….. unless she had her at a very young age…go Junichi)

    anyway for me Tsukasa’s ark is fighting with Haruka’s ark for first place in my heart.
    second place goes to Ai.

    Part of me still hates Junichi for pushing Rihoko into the friend zone when she was the main character in her own ark.

    karnos
  6. I’m glad Tsukasa got the happy ending I wanted her to have. Yes there were a lot of plotholes, but it’s still my favourite arc. Thankfully I got the game now so I’ll be playing through it when I get time to sort through those plotholes.

    Haruka are you trying to kill me or something with that outfit? I already loss enough blood as it is through nosebleeding. Are you trying to finish the job? You look hot btwXD

    Gekokujou
  7. Just marathoned this arc, and boy it was great! Tsukasa’s character was one of the funner ones to reveal. Her “it’s a promise” line made me smile and almost HNNNNGGGG. If she said something uber romantic like what Kaoru did, I might of died.

    But my god Haruka, it’s not even your arc and you’re still dominating the scene in that outfit. And seeing Rihoko still breaks my heart ;_;

    fall3nbs
  8. “I’ll post the results next week to coincide with the extra episode on Junichi’s stalker-like fan, Kamizaki Risa. She’s voiced by Kadowaki Mai, who’s been playing Kaoru’s friend Keiko up until now.”

    Ha! It’s Atelier Rorona! Gomenasai!

    Roy Mustang
  9. The only part I’m sad about for the episode is not being able to see Hibiki in that santa outfit as initially planned by Haruka. She decides to steal the spotlight from her. =( (Not that seeing Haruka in the outfit was bad, quite the contrary, but imagining Hibiki in it…*drool*…yeah, lol).

    Anyway, a wonderful (main) ending for a very wonderful series. And very fitting that it ends with a “10 years later” bit just like how it ended in the very beginning, with Haruka’s arc, with a “10 years later” piece. We got to see various sides of Junichi that he got to develop as well as the unique sides to each of the girls he encounters and various rates and styles of development for their relationships, so each arc doesn’t feel repetitive nor anything really overused.

    I’m also sad that it’s all but over and also surprised at how fast time flew by with it. 24 episodes, 25 weeks (as one week was skipped for the transition from the 1st and 2nd OP)…half a year gone by…it feels like yesterday that it all began with Haruka’s arc. Next thing you, we’re up to Ai’s arc and then we finally hit the end of Tsukasa’s arc.

    *sigh*

    Definitely a series I’ll be watching over and over again.

    HalfDemonInuyasha
      1. True….it did, but it did it in a subtle way. As for the Santa childhood incident, it seem made up to move the story along.

        Her split personality is the result of her family and public doing. As she try desperately to act her best in front of people, yet behind the scene she hate herself and how she has to act in front of them. Her notebook was her outlet for secrets, emotions, and failures. She dislike her sister because her sister get off free from the pressures her parents and other people have place on her to be perfect and the best all the time.

        chaos
      2. I shouldn’t have to read the manga or play the game to get her background history. They never explained her utter dislike towards her sister. The Santa thing at the end was a complete cop out to wrap up complicated issues without having to actually dive into the matter.

        Jaysus
    1. Just check wiki, it is a 24 eps series with 2 OVA. One for Risa and one for Miya.

      “Two OVA episodes which will contain two story arcs for Risa Kamizaki and Miya Tachibana, including their own ending theme songs, will be released on the 13th Amagami SS Bluray and DVD”

      chaos
  10. They combined a bit of best and good ending, which was what I hoping for. Considering the previous arc, I think this is the best they could have done within 4 episodes. If they were to cover more of ayatsuji’s material then they most likely would have totally neglect the screen time for other characters. Even with a plothole, I thought the arc was interesting due Ayatsuji’s two-face personality. It helped to spice things up a bit and prevented my from dozing off. Plus, call me cheezy mofo if you will, but I’m a total sucker for timeskip endings were the couples marry and live happily ever after with their kids.

    Kururu
  11. interesting conclusion for the arc… I thought our class rep had multiple personality though…
    Junichi didn’t do much this arc… save for getting slapped and combo-ed a lot XD
    can’t wait for the extra episode to show what happened back then…

    jrj
  12. Watched the episode and damn! wonderful!

    The Lectro Volpi Academy Award for “Best Arc” goes to… wow! almost made it but:

    1.- Morishima Haruka’s arc! yes, while this episode was amazing, Haruka’s arc was the most consistent in the romantic-development department.

    2.- Ayatsuji Tsukasa’s arc is in second place for such an amazing end, so much emotion! time skip helped a lot too!

    3.- Tanamachi Kaoru’s arc ranked third (first in my heart *snif*) for family drama and the triumph for the “almost” childhood friend!

    4.- Nanasaki Ai’s arc came in fourth place for “kinky hot springs”; sadly I “disliked” the third episode.

    5.- Sakurai Rihoko’s arc in fifth for extreme consistency, yet “Childhood Zone” in her own arc was the eight capital sin!

    6.- Nakata Sae’s last but not least… well yes. While I liked the arc I disliked the “alpha male” domination from Junichi.

    See why Kanae won in other arcs? Haruka wins over Kanae every Xmast! was she this busty!?

    Loved MiyaxSae, so moe I died!

    For some reason I like the third girl of the “Bullies” (now not so bullies).

    I like Risa too, she is like a puppy… we’ll see that next week.

    Lectro Volpi
  13. And to think i almost dropped this series during the Haruka arch. Luckily someone mentioned that the series had 6 mini arcs or else i wouldn’t have given this series another thought.

    With the acceptation of the first arch, this series was pretty good over all. Though i found it a bit odd that Rihoko got ‘friend zoned’ at the end of her arch and we got an anime original at the end of Sae’s one.

    It would have been nice to have some more back story on each of them, but then that would of probably resulted in one of the arcs getting cut.

    Overall good series, a few issues with some of the arcs (mentioned above). But still good.

    Also it looks like the OVAs are gonna be of that stalker girl from the game.

    Snicket
  14. Schizophrenia is a general term for a wide array of mental disorders (mostly to do with paranoia and hallucinations), but it doesn’t cover ‘split personality’. the appropriate term would be ‘dissociative identity disorder’ or simply ‘split personality’.

    Nadavu
    1. I am so sick and tired of hearing this. Every time somebody has a problem, somebody else has to say “Oh, it’s a disease.”

      Back in the old days, if you were caught stealing, they cut your hands off. Nowadays it’s okay because you have Kleptomania. If you’re in a bad mood, it’s okay you’re just bipolar and need your meds.

      Does everything has to be a disease to you guys?! What ever happen to “Oh, I did it because I was weak” or “Because I just felt like it and I don’t need a reason or excuse”?

      chaos
      1. …and what does this little outburst have to do with anything?

        But since you’ve brought it up, Schizophrenia is as real as cancer (or do you think ‘cancer’ is just an excuse for some people to lay off work, shave their heads and smoke medical marijuana?). That probably can’t be said about Dissociative Identity Disorder, though. Yet another reason why the two shouldn’t be mixed.

        Nadavu
      2. I think he’s arguing not that its not real, but that it’s an excuse.
        “Oh you poor thing, you only went on a rampage and killed/molested these people because your dad beat you as a kid. Obviously jail is not for you, you just need counseling to get over your childhood trauma and become a well-adjusted member of society” etc etc

        rsquirrel
  15. having watched all 6 arcs, I am surprised to discover that my favorite was Kaoru. I thought it would be Nanasaki, since she’s the prettiest and coolest (in my opinion), but her arc turned out to be pretty boring. Kaoru’s ended up being the arc I enjoyed the most.

    Nadavu
  16. And here I thought Umehara would start doing something like this

    Anyway, I’m glad the wait was worth it with Tsukasa’s arc ending on a high note. And combining the “Best End” (Junichi and Tsukasa spending Christmas together) and “Good End” (10 years later with a cute daughter) just gave me terrible, terrible da…HNNNNNNGGGGGG!

    *ahem* Let me add a little something to that damage:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=td8RWNq3B9Q&fmt=34 (Tsukasa’s character monologue, open the Closed Caption button for sub. WARNING: May cause HNNNNNNGGGGGG-inducing seizures.)

    And Risa’s arc…*glasses pull*…is next. (YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!)

    Well, a lot of people have been asking if Tsukasa is yandere, but she is not. Risa, however, is one. How yandere is she? We’ll just have to wait and see.

    As for my arc rankings (most favorite to least):

    1. Tsukasa Ayatsuji
    2. Ai Nanasaki
    3. Kaoru Tanamachi
    4. Sae Nakata
    5. Morishima Haruka
    6. Rihoko Sakurai

    All this could change once Risa’s arc comes out, as well as the extended versions on BR/DVD, which I hope to see somehow.

    Incognito
  17. The Tsukasa and Haruka arc are the best, purely because they’re “completed”. Having an epilogue really brings it all together and ties the whole story up. Rihoko’s arc was totally blah with the way it ended. Kaoru’s and Ai’s ended on a less ambiguous note than Rihoko, but again, the lack of an epilogue doesn’t give off the impression that their love lasted very long. Sae’s ending was just weird.

    Still though, I like Tsukasa’s and Ai’s characters the best, followed closely by Haruka.

    Kyuusei
  18. What a wonderful ending to Tsukasa’s Arc T.T Much more complete than the manga’s ending, despite the manga delving into her backstory a lot better. Given the time constraints in the anime though, that’s totally understandable.

    My order of favourite heroines:

    1. Tsukasa – After watching this last episode, and reading the manga, she is definitely my favourite. I relate to her in real life as well (as scary as it sounds), and it isn’t quite as extreme as people think. She’s a fun, hardworking and cute tsundere, and she brought out a very mature side of Junichi as a result. The ending was so complete and adorable, I couldn’t help but squeal when I saw it.

    2. Kaoru – Her arc really tugged on my heartstrings. It’s always difficult coping with sudden changes, especially when it’s family related, and I admired her for being so strong and hardworking, and standing up for what she believes in. She’s very loyal as well. I was totally cheering when she and Junichi crossed the friendship boundary into something “more”. Her ED is one of my favourites as well.

    3. Ai – The main thing I liked about Ai’s arc was the level of emotion in it. Though some scenes such as the haunted house one were rather weird and totally threw me off, I really enjoyed seeing how she opened up to Junichi though. And I loved the fact that he, in return, went as far as jumping into a pool to go after her and comfort her. Though the hot spring scene was cute, and so was the ending. It was a bit hard to find closure with how it ended.

    4. Haruka – Though Haruka is one of my favourite characters (She, Kaoru and Tsukasa are my top 3), her arc was… not quite as high as the others. I love her personality, and her affinity for cute things, but I felt that her arc didn’t delve as far into her character as they could have. It made me even feel a bit awkward watching them roleplay at the school caf though. Overall though, it was still fun to watch, and I definitely liked how the ending had closure to it.

    5. Rihoko – Despite her staying in the friends zone, even in her arc, I felt her arc was nice and realistic, and very stable. Rihoko is a cute character, and her clumsiness is something I can relate to. After finishing the arc, I also read the manga so it satisfied me a lot more to see a better conclusion with her.

    6. Sae – I love Sae’s shyness and her willingness to learn, but the relationship they had seemed a bit more unrealistic to me. Junichi’s pervertedness shone through quite a bit in this arc too, which put me off his character at the time T.T The ending was a bit strange to me as well, so in the end, it didn’t score as many points with me as it could have.

    That’s my two cents. Can’t wait for the Christmas Eve episode! <3

    Amiena
  19. So no one wants to comment on the fact that Junichi took Tsukasa’s three-hit combo and still kept a straight face to confess? I though that was pretty awesome.

    Definitely my favorite arc.

    fragb85
  20. Wow, this ending broke me. I expected something better than just “But I erased my past self because you said that” and then 10 years later Christmas tree and happy memories.

    But loli Tsukasa is fine too.

    Anon
  21. lol
    This arc is my favourite. Loved it.

    By the way, @Divine:
    This is rather unrelated, but Tsukasa (10 years later version) looks like my mother lol! My mother too is just like Tsukasa (yes, she’s a devil lol). At home she’s rude and scolds me for anything, but when we are with other people, she’s gentle and nice, as if she’s putting an act. This is embarrassing, but dammit Tsukasa is the anime version of my mom! lol
    Though my mother did not have any notebooks or whatever… I think.
    Even the short hair style, since mom used too to have long hair, but now she has a short hair. lol

    Well, this strangely makes me think my pop may be just like Junichi lol. Well, he’s always getting scolded by mom. So, that may be it, huh? 😛

    P.S.: This reminds me that I “put an act” just like my mother. Talk about similarities!

    Lysferd
  22. There are no plot holes.
    It’s obvious that diary contained Tsukasa “true” thoughts about calssmates, people and things she does.
    It’s obvious that she put a facade to succeed in school, because her true self was too elitist, prideful and smart and it’s hard to be such a person in school.
    It’s obvious that her sister was successful in attracting people, but Tsukasa wasn’t, this is why she chose this exact facade.
    It’s obvious that Juinchi saw the Tsukasa without facade _only_ because she though he have already read her diary.
    It’s obvious that she burned the diary because she now had a person who will listen to her instead.
    It’s obvious that she gradually started to remove the facade and she found out that some people are still supporting her even after the “outburst” in class.
    It’s obvious that she thought that Juinchi tried to persuade her that her facade is needed and there is no way she can succeed without it (which was the reason for putting that facade in the first place, be it because of parents, classmates or sister).
    It’s obvious that she has no split personality schizophrenia or anything else, she is always in control and always just acts, which is why Juinchi said that she cannot fool children.
    And so on. Everything is explained, just watch closely, and think, dammit.

    psorcerer
    1. Sorry but I totally disagree with you on many of these conclusions.

      “It’s obvious that her sister was successful in attracting people, but Tsukasa wasn’t, this is why she chose this exact facade.”

      This is false because unlike the anime which didn’t explain why she didn’t like her sister nor did she even say it to Junichi in the four episodes. The Manga does and she explains it to him and why she doesn’t like her and it’s not for this statement.

      “It’s obvious that she gradually started to remove the facade and she found out that some people are still supporting her even after the “outburst” in class.”

      She didn’t remove it she put it back on at the conclusion of the third episode. Manga wise she does her outburst but later was quick to apologize because she rather not make enemies with anyone and in a way simply to make it easy to manipulate people later.

      Silentcid
      1. I don’t see how manga can be better in “explaining” something if the manga is just another take on the same source material, which is the game.
        Let’s just say that manga creators interpretation was not same as mine. But it’s still just another interpretation and not the “truth” of any kind.

        psorcerer
    2. Manga, anime and Game are considered “Word of God” so… pretty much any fan-explanation is render useless. If they say “Tsukasa is like this because she lost her shoes on christmas” then that is the reason.

      Lectro Volpi
      1. They are officially recognized, you can’t just serialize something for the kicks and the manga takes most things from the game (still makes them better than our thoughts), but hey! I’m just sayin’~

        Lectro Volpi
  23. I said that I wanted the show to follow the manga ending when this all started but wow… they blew it out of the water and did something a whole lot better! Kaoru’s arc is my personal favorite but this is so close. Such a great arc and basically makes stickin’ with this show for 24 weeks worth it.

    solarguardian
  24. I preferred the Anime’s Ending over the Manga’s It’s a lot simpler yet well fairly explained as opposed to the Manga where it was to Dark, cryptic and inconsistent. there also wasn’t a proper conclusion/solution to tsukasa’s behavior. so Yeah. This one’s definitely my Favourite Arc 🙂 I can pretty much relate this with our relationship 😛 Lotsa Ups and downs but still good after many years :3

  25. Haven’t seen the game nor manga, but till the end there’s still no explanation on why Tsukasa dislikes Yukari, but if she’s the one faking Santa and giving Tsukasa presents for her to find out and apparently crushing her dream, the we may see the connection.

    Hmmm… Yandare next…

    Considering we still had Risa’s and Miya’s story on hand, somehow I found the poll comes too early.ww

    An
  26. I didn’t know that a behind hug was considered sexual harassment — I always thought it was supposed to be the most romantic move a man could pull out (I was gonna use it when the time was right, too…)

    Kirino
  27. The best ending overall but not the best Arc, because one it feel so rush and two after seen her apologize to those bitches last episode I dislike this arc.

    But best character and best Arc for me is still
    1. Nanasaki
    2. Kaoru
    3. Haruka’s
    4. Tsukasa
    5. Sae
    6. Rihoko

    arixx

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