Sakamichi no Apollon – 12 (Finale)

In an era where ambiguous and open-ended finales are the norm, an unspoken prayer for the chance of a fiscally-successful sequel in the unforeseen future, an anime receiving proper and satisfying closure has become an rare indulgence.  Conclusions such as these leave the audience with a sense of gratification and completeness, as we like to believe we just watched the tale of a beautiful story rather than 12 half-hour segments of some manga/light novel advertisement that cuts off at whatever rushed or broken point seemed to be the best in the pre-planning stages.  No, what Sakamichi no Apollon was able to do with its story, its characters, and its themes is truly refreshing and rewarding.  It’s a shame not every anime can end the way Apollon did.

Last Exile: Ginyoku no Fam – 23 (Finale)

After an immeasurable amount of loss, destruction, pain, and death, Luscinia readily backs down at the simplest idea of a young girl having dreams of a better world.  And with that, the wars have ceased, peace is realized, and the world can forget about its problems and work toward the future that everyone wants.  Seriously, why is it that anytime ‘hopes’ or ‘dreams’ or ‘I believe in you’ or any of that bullshit enter in at the end of an anime, nothing makes sense anymore and the story goes from respectable to ‘why the hell should I care anymore?’  Seriously, this is the ending they were aiming for?

Guilty Crown – 22 (Finale)

Guilty Crown was a catastrophe.  From its clichéd and generic origins to its illogical, unsatisfying, and mismanaged conclusion, Guilty Crown was an anime without a structured plot, a direction in which to explore, or a team capable of saving it from its numerous faults.  What began as an uninspired and derivative work ended here in headache and disappointment.  That is Guilty Crown.  And yet, despite all that, I watched the entire anime.  Despite frequent storytelling confusion, irrational actions by its characters, poorly explained details, and countless other gaffes, I watched Guilty Crown in its entirely and actually enjoyed most of the series.  Rather than continue to berate the beleaguered anime in its last post, let’s recall for what reasons I watched this anime.

Nisemonogatari – 11 (Finale)

When an anime does not meet expectations, it is frequently portrayed as a negative on the series rather than on the individual’s expectations.  Regardless of how unrealistic or grandiose the initial expectations are, the unfortunate outcome usually places the blame on the anime, often times summarized as, “it wasn’t as good as I expected.”  While that method is certainly fair and appropriate for some anime, it isn’t for others or anime in general.  Evaluating Nisemonogatari based off my expectations alone, which is what I did after watching this finale, is a misstep I took in properly judging this anime.

Shinryaku!? Ika Musume S2 – 12 (Finale)

The second season of Shinryaku!? Ika Musume retained the same charming, soothing, and above all amusing themes from the first season.  But unlike the first season which needed to build its world, mold its characters, and establish central themes, this anime had a foundation already completed and went from there, almost like a baton was passed from season one to season two for it to complete what was started.  And now that the second season has concluded, let’s evaluate how the continuation of Ika Musume performed.

Dantalian no Shoka – 12 (Finale)

Preseason expectations provide a reference point when judging an anime once the final episode has aired.  It’s a basic way of evaluating an anime, seeing how well it performed over the course of the season compared to how you initially expected it to be.  And from here, we can begin to formulate a grade or score for the anime.  Besides developing an overall opinion, it’s also fun is to see what expectations were right, wrong, and what came as a surprise.  And the purpose of this post will be to examine the latter.  So let’s see what went right, wrong, and surprised for Dantalian no Shoka.

Usagi Drop – 11 (Finale)

One of the hardest parts about watching a finale is that moment immediately following the end.  At that point, the anime is complete.  But you don’t always feel the same way.  And for a series like this with half of its material still ahead, it shouldn’t really feel complete either.  It’s finales like these, where you know it is not the true end, that are some of the hardest to deal with.