There sure is a lot of crying going on in this finale (mine included, MANY TIMES), and that was one significant factor Tsuki ga Kirei pulled off in their last episode – they go for big emotions here – for better or for worse. The “worse” part, this emotional outburst goes completely against the show’s quiet tones presented in earlier episodes, and those scenes unfortunately bring Tsuki ga Kirei into an ordinary romance anime territory with all their usual cliché – “boy gets girl, boy loses girl” stuff. The “better” part then, after following their relationship for 12 episodes, Kotarou and Akane more than earned the emotional impact they presented here. The stakes are much higher now, as they have issues both from external threats and internal fallouts. Having Kotarou screaming “I Love You” to a running train, or Akane crying whenever she has a chance feel rightfully resonate with us viewers. Just like hidden waves just keep bubbling up under the surface to transform into massive tsunami, this is a stage where those two need to be actively acknowledge how much they are meant to each other. So in the end, not the best ending I could have hope for, but still an emotionally satisfying one.
I love how Tsuki ga Kirei wasted no time telling us the main conflict, as Kotarou receives a “rejected letter” seconds into the episode. Thus, the two will have to do with long-distance relationship, but will they survive? Akane is insecure about their status: her sister feels it’s better for both of them if they break up, her best friend Chinatsu tells her AGAIN that she confessed to her man, and Kotarou doesn’t address that issue, or any issues at all, instead taking the load all by himself. Now about Chinatsu, I know many of you would absolutely hate her by now, what’s up with all the confession again and again that she knows would hurt Akane and break their friendship? I just say it’s how extrovert works, they have to let it all out and no hard feeling after all said and done. They move on. Akane understands that trait of her friend so she can take it well.
But she won’t take it as well when it comes to Kotarou, because he doesn’t tell her any of that. Indeed, he doesn’t tell her lots of things, one of them is his ongoing online novel – about their relationship (poor Akane just aware of its existence by Chinatsu, again – just to show you how attentive Chinatsu is with the world around her). His novel, I take it as the literary version of this series, takes a lot of viewers’ hearts for its true and honest depiction of first love. But the true question remains, raised by a random user named Akane “What happens next?”. That’s for you to know and for me to find out, kids – It’s an ongoing question that both Kotarou and Akane need to search for themselves, and in that extend all the lovers out there. I think this question hits home hard, so that I remain a bit baffled by the ending credits. Cute and heart-warming, yes, but we don’t really need to know the outcomes. We’re here to witness their first love in a very first stage, and whether they gonna be together for the rest of their lives or not isn’t our main concern. In fact, I believe this story is stronger if the two can’t make it till the end (yes, I’m cynical). This end credits make me again want to pair up Tsuki ga Kirei with Flowers of Evil as a companion double-edge piece: one depicts the light, the brightness of first love relationship, and the other details how such relationship can go horribly dark and twisted.
As a whole, Tsuki ga Kirei has been a wonderful ride. I won’t say much here as I will save my thoughts for the final review. Just let me say I really respect the efforts studio Feel put in for this little gem. I know they were having productions issues in the latter half of its run, judging by the constant delay in their broadcast. But knowing all that made me even more impressed with the final products, as save for one episode they were exceptional. Also, I’m very happy you made it till the end, Kotarou and Akane-chan. Bravos.
