First Impressions: Futakoi Alternative – 13 (END – SPOILERS ALERT)

Summary:
The explosion from the end of last week’s episode had left the floor under Sara crumbling. Luckily, Rentarou rushes across and makes it just in time to grab her hand. Downstairs in the chapel, Souju boards the plane and takes off so that she can retrieve Rentarou and Sara. Outside however, the Ikaros folks have something else planned; a giant squid rises from the waters. Rentarou is holding onto Sara with all his strength as it emerges behind them. With tears in her eyes, Sara questions why he’s there and wants to leave Rentarou and Souju together. Rentarou refutes it all, screaming on the top of his lungs that it should be the three of them together. A stray missile suddenly hits the ledge and Rentarou and Sara are sent plummeting down. Fortunately Souju comes to the rescue and scoops them up in the plane. The giant squid fires a barrage of missiles, which Rentarou uses to missile hop and jump his way over, using his signature kick to hit it in the eye.

Rentarou wakes up to Sara dropping a bowling ball on his stomach. Things are back to normal as Sara and Souju are arguing about Sara’s cooking. Rentarou gives a brief recap of what happened afterwords: the townsfolk were able to defeat all the mechs with Zenji’s help. Rentarou, Sara, and Souju were locked up by the security people of the castle, but they are finally freed thanks Lulu and Lala (in dress uniforms). In his office, Kimihiko stares at a picture of Sara and Souju.

Back in the present, Rentarou watchs over a sleeping Sara and Souju. He thinks of feeling isolated from his father when he was young. However, this time, his father turns around, walks up to him, and offers his hand to a grown up Rentarou. Rentarou takes it and for the first time, we can see his father’s eyes and smile.

Fast foward a bit and Rentarou, Sara, and Souju are all dressed up. It’s a fair outside with everyone dressed up. Our friendly neighborhood cops announce the arrival of the wedding couple: Gen-san and oba-chan. Rentarou is encouraged to say some words. He gets up on the stage, thinks for a bit, and asks if everyone is happy (and they are). We end with several shots of the sakuras in full bloom and Sara, Souju, and Rentarou running around playing happily.

Final ED Sequence:

And here we are, the final episode of Futakoi Alternative. This episode mixed action with epilogue and concluded all the major storylines. They caught me off guard by having the interstitials at the four minute mark, right after the title screen. But I guess they really wanted to do the episode uninterrupted.
I’m glad that Rentarou, Sara, and Souju all ended up together, but I guess that was to be expected from the episode title (“3人でいたい”). I feel a bit bad for Kimihiko, but otherwise it’s a very good ending. I really enjoyed the scene with Rentarou coming to terms with the memory of his father. That was one of the key things I had hoped they wouldn’t forget. The last scene was very serene and all the sakuras blossoming at the end just made me want to watch Da Capo S.S. >.>
Final Thoughts: I enjoyed everything ufotable has done with this episode and this series in general as this was everything the original Futakoi wasn’t. We definately weren’t sure what we were getting ourselves into when this series started, but from animation to ufotable’s signature claymation to music to drama to humor to action (and boy was there action), this series did it right and amazed us at every turn. Futakoi Alternative is an absolute must-watch, one of the best shows this season.
Ah damn, now I’ve got ぼくらの時間 stuck in my head…