I love series that try to do something different with their endings. There is of course a fine line between adaptations that end somewhere in the middle, and adaptations that have been carefully planned out to form a whole. Rainbow finally is another case of the latter: there probably is much more manga around, but who cares: the creators really selected the most essential parts of the 22-volume manga, and condensed those into 26 episodes, and yet the series ends completely unlike any other series I’ve seen.
Oh, it’s been a while since I’ve seen a series end with a final arc that was only one or two episodes long, without being rushed. Those are the endings that usually stand out. I’m a bit sad to see that we won’t get the Heitai-arc, but Mario’s boxing career still is very important in the series, and yet it’s so much from what creators would usually chose as a final episode: the bad guys in this series are long gone, all of the biggest drama has been resolved at this point, and instead the final episode is a simple one that will allow Mario to overcome his crippled hand, which very neatly ties his story together.
And heck, even the Suppon arc is so fresh as a semi-final arc. Suppon is one of the most stable members of the cast, who knows very much what he wants, so the drama around him doesn’t involve some dumb mistake he made, but instead it’s all about his huge desire to take care of his new family, after he lost his previous one in the atomic bombings, and coming to terms with the fact that he doesn’t have to be alone. The part in which he single-handedly got that guy to come along to pay his debt really shows that there is nothing wrong with his will power, and it really made for an awesome scene that really turned out to be the opposite of what I expected.
Rating: ** (Excellent)
I loved the part where the guy showed the bitten leg…I was wondering how the heck did suppon made the guy go with him…
Yeah, that rocks !!
Also, there’s no condensation of the 22 manga volume.The anime has simply followed the manga until now ^^
It’s a shame it comes to an end so soon! Every single episode of this series made me cry, every character has his own shining personality and a heart filled with hope towards a brighter future and they do everything they can to grasp it, their spirit permeated by their mutual unwavering friendship and the reminiscence of the challenges they’ve been through and their encounter with their “aniki” who learned them all those most most important values that would lead them all their lives.All the more because nothing is simple for them and they have to keep on struggle all the time to find their place under the sun or more accurately the rainbow.
And I really enjoyed reading all your comments!