Whoa. This episode hit me hard.
Before watching these two episodes, I had lost a bit of my motivation to keep up with Sakurasou because it seemed to head into the predictable finale direction: love triangle angst with forced drama for Sakurasou closing down. It all sounded so “been there, done that”, and seemed so far away from what made this series so good. And then… Aoyama failed her auditions.
Damn, these two episodes had some bleak themes: with hard work and guts alone you ain’t gonna make it, because there will be enough people who also have that. Just because you put in all of your effort, doesn’t automatically mean you’ll succeed, and both Sorata and Aoyama found this out the hard way. With such an inspirational series, I did not expect this direction, but I also really liked how the creators used Shiina here: All the while, she had been inspiring everyone, and yet here it becomes clear why she pushes everyone away: again her art was the thing that got noticed. And she did land the job incredibly easily. Life is just unfair that way.
The one thing I’m a bit iffy about is the plot with Sakurasou closing down and all, but even there this series makes very good points: so what if it’s closed down? You can always find other housing. The main problem underlying here is that people are trying to foce Shiina to give up her ambitions.
Rating: 6/8 (Awesome)
I didn’t really feel -that- much of a difference between these episodes and some previous ones, but maybe that’s because I was kind of expecting some of the failures to come along. Cue the rain and all, but I guess it worked.
Anyway, if there’s a positive conclusion to this arc, which is what I would assume, I think Mashiro’s secret painting could be the key. I’ve been kind of wondering about that the whole series.
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Despite my bitching here and there, maybe I have a soft spot for this show because I attended a fine-arts-focused boarding high school. If you want to be cynical and think of it that way, many of my friends gave up on music school because they weren’t good enough (good enough to be a professional and teach, but not good enough to be where they wanted artistically). Almost nobody makes it big. Most of them are doing okay and have found other dreams though. That’s the reality.
Maybe I was never hurt like they were, because I never really dreamed big like they could. I was mostly just there to have fun and do something interesting before college. Actually, because I had more talent than the average student there (including those who did care and had dreams)–but not like the top students or enough to be really good, definitely nothing like Mashiro–I’ve always felt a little guilty about the whole thing.
Apologies for personal miniblog ramble.
It’s always great to make comparisons and reflect upon one’s own life. It’s what connects us to the “entertainment” we watch the best. And it’s nice to read about others’ feelings and thoughts like this, too. Thanks for sharing. =)
I personally was really satisfied with these two episodes, particularly that last one, because they managed to bring attention back to the theme that has really made this series interesting. And that theme, in my mind at least, is an examination of the differences and the interactions of those who are essentially “brilliant” and those who are simply hard-working, mundane.
It’s something that most people don’t often like to think about, that they might try all their life to excel at something and that there will always be someone who is better than them, and often better with far less effort. And if they are that one in a thousand or more who is the best at what they do, what have they given up in the process?
I may be over-dramatizing this theme and reading a bit too much into the series, but the way in which the characters are presented takes the show beyond a simple “slice-of-life” show and begins a bigger discussion.
One last note, the way the love-triangle plays into this is really interesting, because the romantic interests represent the “mundane” and the “gifted,” making the choice that the male lead ultimately makes all the more interesting. Can normal and brilliant people really relate to each other, or is there something too fundamentally different?
I’m glad the whole Jin x Misaki thing is finished because quite frankly that arc was simply stupid and boarding on misogynistic. It almost ruined the whole series for me!
I agree that the whole conflict between hard work versus talent has been portrayed really well, and even more I think portrayed realistically. Often anime plays the ‘hard work will always pay off in the end’ trope so it is really nice to see this played straight.
It was almost hard to watch actually. With as hard as I’m working to accomplish something I already think is impossible for me it really hit home. I like the direction, and I think we’ll see a strong finale.
Shiinas come a long way in my eyes from being a flat empty kind of character to someone who makes my heart shake. The excellent voice acting really brings the emotions to point. Her increasing self awareness, which is something I haven’t really seen anyone point out, I think, is a really interesting part of this story, and I think that holds some meaning.
I didn’t know that she was going to fail the auditions, but I also can’t say I didn’t see it coming.
What really hit me in episode 21 was the sheer intensity of the depression and rage at failing. I’ve been there, and it really brought some dark emotions out of me. And, when Kanda see Shiina was reconized once again, his face was SO DAMN CREEPY.
But I’ll definately watch it to the end now.