Well, so here it finally is: the ending I’ve been looking forward to the most this season. And indeed: this really was the best ending of the season for me. It was a wonderful wrap up of all of the build-up that this series has done.
So in this episode, Watashi continues to wander through all of the parallel worlds of his own life that he’s been trapped in, but the big difference with the previous episode was that he finally starts piecing everything together in an attempt to get out of that maze in which he can only eat castella and fish burgers that are lying around.
Most of this episode actually was a summary of what happened in the previous episodes, but by finally thinking about them and piecing everything together, Watashi finally started to notice that Mochigumo that kept hanging above him. Like expected, that was indeed the opportunity that kept dangling in front of him. That part really was the only potential pitfall of this episode: many shows have failed with such a cheesy romantic conclusion, but the way in which Watashi finally realized that he developed a crush over Akashi was well portrayed, and subtle. In fact, his entire confession was wonderfully different from what you usually see. It wasn’t dramatic at all, and instead just felt very natural. Or as natural as you can get a guy to act, wearing nothing but a scarf and talking about disappearing underpants.
Instead, the dramatic climax was… about Oz. Watashi finally came to terms with Oz as a character, and accepted him for who he was. Interestingly, Oz’s facial expression also completely changed here. It shows even more that we see all of this from the perspective of Watashi, in which he’s this evil bastard and therefore also has this continuous grin on his face. the same goes for the fortune teller: she also looks totally different now.
Overall though, it’s awesome to see that Masaaki Yuasa is constantly trying to improve himself. The big weakness of Kaiba was its rushed ending, so here instead he comes with a perfectly planned out series across eleven episodes, in which the final episode is really meant to give closure to everything. Whether Yojou-han surpassed Kaiba… nah. The rest of Kaiba was just that good. Nevertheless, Yojou-han was a really well written character-study that has a good chance of becoming the most unique series of 2010.
Rating: *** (Awesome)
One of the more interesting bits in this episode, for me anyway, was the fact Watashi accepted his current reality, probably one of the worst overall, and yet still managed to make it work out.
What was that part in the beginning about? The short tidbit before the OP/ED.
I assume it was him reversing the events of episode 10. In that case, why was he still trapped in the tatami maze? That was somewhat confusing.
It was funny seeing him get stronger and stronger by smashing down walls (I think he didn’t even need to use the TV after a while), and then running so fast his clothes broke off.
I think the reversing of OP and ED would be more like the story is finally ending at that point so it plays the ED first to emphasize that point. However, at the same time just because he’s finally realized what he needed to realize its also a new beginning that’s why rather than playing the ED it played the OP, as a nice way to convey things are only beginning (which they are now for Shimogami Yuuiso, who finally has an identity after finding himself in that maze).
He wanted to start over again. But of course he couldn’t. But he lived like a hikkikomori for quite a while so getting out is a actually a “start” for him.
The consistency of this series just makes me love it. It was intricately planned from the get-go, and it was just full of depth. Beautiful, beautiful show.
@Puran, but the clock tower turned back and there was a fast rewind exactly the same as every other episode. He even mentioned travelling in time after the OP (or rather, ED). Was there an explanation for why it did or didn’t work?
I wasn’t that crazy of the series in the middle of it, but it really had a great build up to the ending and an awesome way of realising it. Awesomeness.
The ending was also Kemonozume’s big flaw, so it’s great the director’s improved on that 🙂
One thing I really liked with this episode was how Watashi took same role towards Ozu that Ozu had to Watashi previously, even showing the same devilish smile for a short moment.
It really shows how big role the first impression between people can have in forming their relationship.