Apr 6 2009 09:54 PM Finally got around to finishing the last three episodes of the series. Overall I'm very disappointed in this series, especially when I found out that this was only going to be 9 episodes. KyoAni has been lazy and that really ticked me off here for something I was expecting after the cliffhanger from 4 years ago. This was essentially saying OVA 3...and the fact that the movie is going to simply repeat the same 9 episodes with some extra footage doesn't help much either.
Going episode by episode, episode 7 was rather helpful where they finally explained a few bits of terminology that they never did, as well as the past of the Heavens. The only thing that bugged me was KyoAni made a few things more cheesy than needed.
Episode 8 was rather well done for the most part. The whole scene with Yumemi looking into the "mirror" was fantastic. However, the part that followed wasn't that great since it was predictable, but still dramatic and not bad considering I did want to see some more development between Yumemi and Munto. I also found it amusing that Tadashi was completely left behind on the hanging ferris wheel. I also didn't like Yumemi's reason when she saved Ichiko and Suzume. It sounded really weird and awkward during the moment.
Episode 9 was good up to the epilogue. The epilogue simply left a cliffhanger and the fact that things "reverted" back to normal all of a sudden was clearly rushed. Hopefully the movie will give a much better closure, though the DVD won't be coming until October at the earliest unfortunately.
If anything, Yumemi has become even more likeable, even more so than when I liked her as a character back in 2003 and 2005. I really like her hime outfit as well as her "battle" outfit in the final episode... Very nicely done....Anyone have more images? They seem rather scarce for this series, especially all those from the final ending. Also, does anyone have the final ending theme? I haven't checked the image album released last month.
Overall I give this a
8/10. I really didn't like that they smashed the two OVAs into the first 6 episodes. This series could have been much better had they not only made it into a 12 or 13 episode series, but also giving it a complete remake. The ending really felt like there was not enough closure. Hopefully the movie will completely close the series. Otherwise, KyoAni will continue to trash this series over and over. This is one of my favorite series from them and the fact that they keep toying with this series really hurts since the concept is fantastic, but they don't put enough effort into it unlike Haruhi or Clannad.
