I didn't watch last week's episode at the time. If the series was going to end the way the first book did, frankly I didn't want to see it. So I waited until today, dipped into ep 13 enough to see that it had an entirely different ending, and then watched the two episodes back-to-back. I definitely like the way the anime ended a lot better. It wasn't a FUCK-YOU ending directed to the audience.

Kurumi-chan wins the episode. A lot of good performances by a lot of people (Ruru is the runner up) but Kurumi was genuinely awesome.

Our team (they're called "Team E") has the highest score in the school, and they are no longer looked down upon or laughed at by the other students. They've figured out how to combine their attacks in interesting ways. For instance, if Koito and Reina attack a powerful phantom from opposite sides and don't outright destroy it, they can pin it in place, which gives Haruhiko time to draw it and seal it.

Kurumi continues to be a significant asset. Ordinarily a kid that age wouldn't be expected to fight, but she's so good and is such an asset to the team that an exception has been made for her.

And, of course, no one teases her about carrying around a teddy bear because everyone knows about Albrecht.

Seeing now how they had decided to end the series, I can look back and see how they have been laying groundwork for it all along. A lot of episodes I thought were just girl-of-the-week and filler actually did help set things up for this ending two-parter.

And it was very satisfying. Lots of fireworks, and Haruhiko got a huge powerup at a critical moment. Plus we finally found out the truth about Ruru, and it was really neat. It could easily have come off as a deus ex machina, but it was handled so well that it didn't.

The way it ended, it is still possible for it all to go to hell the way it did in the books, but only in the sense that they didn't foreclose that possibility. It's a completely happy ending as presented in the anime.

And the best thing of all? It isn't a harem show. Not even slightly. It's one guy and a lot of girls, at least two of which are very desireable, and there isn't any romance going on. None.

They even tossed in a sight-gag about that.

And that represented discipline on the part of the director. Tossing in romance and accidental-compromising-positions and similar cliches would have damaged the story they really were telling, and it's definitely to the director's credit that he knew it. So the girls are close to Haruhiko, but as close friends.

Thumbs up, and another success for KyoAni.

UPDATE: Oh, and Marchosias and Cthulhu were awesome, too.

Posted by: Steven Den Beste in General Anime at 12:09 PM | Comments (7) | Add Comment
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