Just going by how much progress the main couple has made, this is probably the best romantic comedy anime that I have ever watched.
However, as great as this episode was, I do have a nitpick I'd like to get out of the way. I was really looking forward to the big reveal of Ichika's real identity and was curious about how the characters would handle it. While I figured that knowing she was an alien wouldn't really change their opinion of her, since they've all grown to be friends over the summer break, I was a bit surprised by how quickly they all wrote it off. Before Ichika revealed her ship and her costume change, I had thought that someone (probably Tetsurou) would ask if what she was saying was a joke, since the setup is almost identical to the movie they've been filming this entire time. Instead, they just looked around the ship for a while and went home. I realize that this is something that the plot needed to get out of the way in order to move forward, but I was a bit disappointed that none of the characters showed a little incredulity about the situation, or at least had some questions. If I found out that one of my friends was an alien, I would probably ask them about their homeworld or how their technology worked or something. Instead, the show treats it a bit like checking off an item on a list. "Now that's done, we can get back to the romance!" Given how this show has handled its scenarios up until this point, this was a letdown for me.
To be fair though, romance really is what this show does best. Kanna's decision to give up on Kaito was heartbreaking to watch, as was seeing Mio cry as Tetsurou ends up comforting Kanna. Someone was always going to get hurt in the end, making the preview comments about someone being sad in the shadow of others' happiness very fitting given that scene. The pain of these characters is extremely relatable, since I'm sure that all of us have been in a situation similar to Kanna's, or Mio's, or Tetsurou's. I know that I have. But even with the heartbreak of the other characters, seeing Kaito and Ichika get together definitely made the whole episode, if not the entire show. I think that this is the first time I've seen a romantic comedy have the main couple get together and share their first big onscreen kiss (I'm not counting the times Kaito was knocked out) before the end of the series, and I think that's something this show should get a lot of credit for. I'm pretty sure that Lemon's screenplay is going to continue being prophetic and that the characters will have to deal with Federation Officers (I'm pretty sure that Lemon is one; either that, or she really is a member of the MIB like she said) but we now have an opportunity to see how these two decide to start their relationship, which is something that we hardly ever see in anime. Whichever path the show decides to take, I'm still pretty excited to see how this will all turn out.
Images from Crunchyroll.com.
I'm glad I'm not the only one who liked this episode. It was very emotional and I agree that seeing them get together like this is both refreshing and a sigh of relief.
ReplyDeleteYeah, this whole series has been an emotional rollercoaster.
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