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「楽園」 (Rakuen)
“Paradise”
There was definitely no shortage of surprise developments to make this episode befitting of a finale, but I admittedly found the impact of them all much less than it could have been. I attribute that primarily to quickly tying up all the loose ends and leaving little time for anything to sink in, such as the deaths of various characters.
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「放浪息子はどこまでも ～Wandering son’s progress～」 (Hourou Musuko wa Doko made mo ~Wandering son’s progress~)
“Always a Wandering Son ~Wandering son’s progress~”
This was certainly a satisfying finale. Slice of life doesn’t really ever conclude since there is no central plotline to start with, but there was some closure and previous events were alluded to, making it feel somewhat like the conclusion of an essay. For one, I would say the three main characters Nitori, Takatsuki and Saori have definitely made up, after their friendship broke up before the events of the anime.
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「祭りのあと」 (Matsuri no Ato)
“After the Festival”
The new couple find some difficulties with acceptance, but eventually pull through as the series smoothly wraps up into a beautiful close.
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「君の名は（ユア・ネーム・イズ）」 (Kimi no Na wa (Yua Neemu Izu))
“Your Name Is”
It’s no secret that I’m a fan of Charlotte just as much as the next person after seeing the amazing chemistry she had with Ichika, but deep-down inside I have to root for the girl who’s loved Ichika the longest and suddenly had to deal with a swarm of foreigners flocking around him.
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「はい、まだ続きます」 (Hai, Mada Suzukimasu)
“Yes, There’s Still More”
The infamous beach/pool episode — who would have thought that something so simple could be done so skillfully? With the actual story finishing last episode, all I can say is that this final episode left on a really happy note.
The light of Lag’s heart… dual-wielding style!
「こころの光」 (Kokoro no Hikari)
“The Light of the Heart”
This finale caught me emotionally off-guard when I least expected it and made the entire two seasons so much better because of it. I have a real soft spot for those who pour all their heart into what they believe in and try their earnest to see it through, so once Noir entrusted his Gymnopedies to Lag and the latter showed to the world that he’s the embodiment of a second artificial sun, I couldn’t help but get a little teary-eyed.
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Another month, another monthly post. We’re two-thirds the way through the season now and many shows are approaching their conclusions. There’s a fair bit to look back upon, particularly for the two-cour series, as next month will be mostly final impressions.
Some changes compared to last month is the addition of titles we’ve caught up on and the omission of ones we’ve fallen behind on for whatever reason. Below are the changes for each writer.
Note: Once again, please be considerate of others who may be interested in picking up a series after reading about it here by placing discussion of any major spoilers in <spoiler></spoiler> tags. There will be little to no tolerance for anyone intentionally spoiling the enjoyment of others.
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「みつごは続くよどこまでも」 (Mitsugo wa Tsuzukuyo Doko Mademo)
“These Three Girls will keep going on and on”
I can’t believe such a great show is done already! Only after eight episodes, seven if you don’t consider the Gachi Rangers special, I have to live without my weekly dose of Hitoha, Futaba, and Mitsuba?! All in all, while I don’t want this show to end, I must admit that this final episode managed to wrap things up nicely — full of the funny gags I love which had me laughing until the final heart melting scene.
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「ジェリーフィッシュ・オブ・ドリームス」 (Jerīfisshu obu Dorīmusu)
“Jellyfish of Dreams”
Well what an incredibly anticlimactic solution to last week’s cliffhanger huh? To be honest, I didn’t give it much thought, and sadly, I don’t spend every waking moment wondering what the next episode of Kuragehime will reveal, but I seriously expected the Amamizu-kan to be a plot milestone this time. That said, the episode managed to tie up the series rather nicely, faithful to the manga or not (I wouldn’t know).
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「失意の果てに ～久遠～」 (Shitsui no Hate Ni ~ Kudou ~)
“The Limits Of Despair ~ Eternity ~”
In a surprising turn of events, just about nothing is revealed this week. Instead, my mind was pretty blown away after watching Gotou get shot. But besides watching one of my favorite characters go down pretty hard, I thought it was pretty crazy watching Yakumo’s father try to actually take over Yakumo’s body.