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Rating: 9.5/10 & 9.3/10

Overall Series Rating: 8.5/10

Impressions:

Wow, this is the first double season series I’ve finished blogging…It’s been a long time since this show started, and even though I felt like dropping it a few times in the middle as it just isn’t really my thing, the more I blogged the more I refused to give up (since that, to me, is like wasting all that time blogging the show if I dropped it). Oh well, at least this ending leaves me on a positive note. The last two episodes are highly impressive, especially the 23rd, and the ending, in my opinion, couldn’t have been better. Satou may have escaped his hikikomori life, but life in reality dictates that you can’t overcome hardships so easily, and thus Satou is left still extremely poor and in a rather bad situation. However, of course as he now works and is not as afraid of society anymore, he should be fine, and this sort of happy ending is a big relief. Misaki too, goes back to studying (I didn’t know she dropped out of school) and is planning to get into university, so her life should not be a problem either. I guess everything works out.

It’s pretty ironic how the whole series revolving around Satou’s counselling ended up being a waste, as the real push that forced Satou out of his hikikomori-ness is his own body. He really didn’t need much help to begin with; all he needed was to feel starvation and finally do something about it. But if I think like that, it would be pretty troubling as that would mean the whole series was a waste of time, so I’ll just accept that Misaki gives him the foundation for his recovery, in order for that final push to take effect. I’m still wondering about Misaki’s original motives though. Is she already in love with Satou when she starts counselling him, or does it develop along the way, and her original goal is just to have Satou make her feel better? Another thing to think about is how Misaki tried to kill herself…the descriptions given suggest she overdosed on some drug, though I’m pretty sure that when she explains it to Satou, there is a close up of her bandaged arm…meaning she tried to cut her veins. Oh well, it’s not really something to think too deeply about anyway.

Well, out of the whole series, episode 23 just has to be the best. It is the most dramatic and also thrilling episode there is. I was quite amazed when I finished watching it, as it didn’t seem like 20 minutes had passed at all. I thought afterwards that it felt like almost nothing happened at all in that episode, yet for some reason it finished in a flash. The execution of that episode is truly great. The cliff-hanger make the events of the final episode rather predictable, but the overall outcome of both Misaki’s and Satou’s situations would remain a mystery until the last few minutes of the show. Seeing Satou and Misaki together on the cliff was really touching as well. I didn’t think the barrier below the cliffs would do much, although thinking about it, it’s likely that someone who had enough courage to jump once would not have the courage to do so again, so the barrier is more of a mental security. There’s also the possibility that the height from the barrier would be too low to die on impact. And yes, of course I changed my mind about Misaki, as I expected to do so from when I was disgusted with her a few episodes back. It’s only natural for the main characters to at least not be hated in the end.

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