After an enjoyable three month ride, the Ano Natsu train has finally arrived at its final destination. The finale ended up being more of the same, with some romance, some drama, and some comedy. I didn't really mind as long as we got some form of a happy end, after all, isn't that why we watch these kinds of shows in the first place? Overall, the ending was less than perfect, but I found it to be surprisingly satisfying.
Hahaha, I burst out laughing at this part. I guess those of us who speculated that Remon's part of the Men in Black were right on the mark. They definitely dropped enough hints to push us in that direction. A little bit I liked was that Nanami's husband is part of the MIB as well. No wonder he's rarely home to keep his wife happy.
It turns out that the evidence that there was indeed alien contact with Earth was a sign on a tree, but the tree has already been destroyed, probably by natural causes. Though I haven't watched Onegai Teacher, the voice in the stored memories seems to be Mizuho, and the name scratched on the tree is Mizuho. This confirms that the show takes place in the same universe, but some time after it. With no evidence, Ichika really has no choice but to be taken home.
This was something that I really hoped would be in the show at the end of the series: the crew being able to watch end product of all the movies as well as the various candid scenes that Remon shot. Being able to see their various reactions to what they all went through that summer was nice. Again, the ED placement was nice as well.
 |
| I'm pretty sure this should be translated as "Special Advisor" rather than "Special Visit" |
Because there is no longer evidence of alien contact in the past, the MIB seems to be working on researching the alien technology. What I'm sure they were going for is that if they advanced their technology, they will no longer be classified as a Class F civilization, and thus alien contact will be allowed. My small gripe about this is the fact that they're probably using the drones that they destroyed and Rinon's help to replicate one of their space ships. I'm pretty sure the reason Ichika's sister came to Earth was that one of the drones went missing. How could they possibly leave a couple of the drones and Rinon unaccounted for?
Then again, I don't care so much about the plot in a romance anime. At the end, it is implied that Ichika eventually came back to Earth, so I'm sure MIB was successful. This ending sort of reminded me of the ending of another JC staff work, Toradora: have the main girl leave, but show up during the final seconds of the final episode. I'm sure a lot of people were hoping for a bit more closure, me included, but I felt that the ending stands well on what it is right now. Another small gripe that I had was that they could have been more explicit about Tetsurou and Mio getting together, even though they gave a slight hint near the end. Overall, an acceptable ending to an enjoyable watch.
-Bern
