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Impressions:

The final episode was pretty good, though the entire series as a whole is only average in my opinion. The major concern is its simplicity, which was quite apparent in the last episode as well. When Henrietta offered to command the army herself, no one objected. I’m pretty sure this would not happen normally; the princess of a country being allowed to go and fight on the front lines – that’s crazy! Although, the reason for this was probably lack of time, as the producers had to get through quite a few things in the last episode, and that is one thing they did pretty well as it didn’t feel that rushed.

The only part that was far too brief was Louise’s destruction of the Albion ship. There were 12 episodes to build up for Louise’s amazing display of power, and we only get a few seconds. Her attack didn’t even seem like a void attack. Although this is pretty generic, I was expecting something more on the lines of actually making the enemy disappear, or get sucked into some other dimension and sealed away forever. Perhaps it should have had the effect of nullifying all other magic, since it is the element of nothingness. Would’ve made more sense than some explosion of light.

I understand as the series is based on novels, there’s heaps more material to get through, so in the books this would only be Louise’s first chance to shine. There should definitely be a second season, as there are quite a few unresolved things. The restaurant episode (when Louise had to pretend to be a commoner) and the holy spirit episode introduced new characters, yet we never see them again. A second season would give them the opportunity to reappear. Not only that, Saito and Louise have yet to get together, as the stubborn Noble pretends that the last kiss was just a renewal of their contract. I’d also love to see some more of Tabitha, as she has such an interesting background. I wonder if her mother ever returns to normal.

The epilogue was awesome, just how I imagined the ending would be, although the ED didn’t really suit those last scenes. And it seems Siesta is still not out of the picture. Hm…I feel like fantasising. No, not about perverted stuff…just thinking about the possibilities of Saito returning home and taking Siesta with him for a visit. Perhaps he’ll take Louise and the others. And new characters – there must be new characters! Dammit, I’m thinking about this too much. Now I really want a second season, or at least read the novel. Is anyone translating it? Must go look for it now…

So, the end of another series. Overall, it was above average. The quality remained high throughout the series, and the animation fairly consistent. However, there are little details that if done properly would make everything so much cooler. Organisation is one thing. What I mean is (and I noticed this in the last episode), Henrietta’s army doesn’t seem to be very disciplined. The cavalry were all standing around in a bunch, instead of lined up neatly. It would looks far better if they were. Numbers is another thing. There should’ve been far more troops, and Albion should’ve had more than one giant ship. And lastly, Saito should’ve stood out more. Yes, he did a great job in his warplane but he should’ve fought on the ground as well. Anyways, time to start checking out the fall season series…

Epilogue:

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