I don't know what to feel.... Prima facie, it would seemed a reasonably good ending. There was real closure to the story, all the characters are accounted for and yes, it was a happy ending. Maybe that's the problem. After being emotionally drained to the point of ep 14, I could not expect a realistically happy ending. It just wouldn't be congruent with the flow of the anime. And kiminozo was an anime I gave much credit for details and emotional realism despite the occasional over-the-top drama. That probably gave me the feeling of being shortchanged. It could also be that Takayuki didn't pick Haruka, which I thought would have been the natural choice judging from the direction of the anime since ep 9ish. I didn't play the game though I have read that the anime follows the Mitsuki track. Nevertheless, I somehow kept getting the feeling that Takayuki loves Haruka deep down and only pays lip service to Mitsuki. In the end, it also seemed to me that Takayuki picks Mitsuki out of gratitude and guilt. It was mostly talk of what she did for him and how badly he had hurt her. In spite of the consistent maturity of the series, I would say if the producers are making Takayuki pick Mitsuki out of guilt, sympathy or duty, their reconciliation is headed for destruction. Well, I guess it's all very subjective. Some would have argued Mitsuki is the only fair choice after all she suffered so much for 3 yrs when Haruka was sleeping. My personal take is that in love, it is never fair. The focus should be on maximising bliss and minimising suffering(long term) which of I also know always never go hand in hand. But being with a person other than out of love, definitely does not contribute to these dual objectives (the effects may not be immediately apparent though) OK, I'm probably just idealistic and maybe a little too hard on kiminozo. It truly has been a great series, a wonderful 14 weeks and easily the most engaging anime for me for 2003. In addition, I get to aquaint myself with one of the most babelicious anime char of ALL time.. Suzumiya Akane! I wish sincerely for Takayuki that he will never, ever come to realise the wonderful person he had missed in Akane. The full measure of the realisation will probably cripple his mind and devour his sanity. Regret will mark all his days and his grief will be inconsolable..... Actually I compare his loss to Yukito's (Cardcaptor Sakura) who also rejected Sakura. However, at least Yukito had a better excuse for it.....

Watched ep 10 before I went away for my 3 weeks of holiday. It was agonising. It really felt like I had something lodged in my gut for the 3 weeks. Images of Haruka/Akane finishing with Takayuki tormented my sleep. Occasionally I do get the good dream of Takayuki getting stabbed by Mitsuki or of all the girls finally walking out on him. (Though I rather they walk out of my screen :p). Well I guess I did get to watch 3 eps in succession.

Ep 10: This is by far the most powerful ep in the series (Ep 2 comes very close) And of course it is also my fav because there's plenty of Akane goodness. The focal point of the ep was Akane's harsh revelation to Haruka about the passing of ice age. Haruka fans' response was swift and decisive, calling a boycott on all Akane merchandise and severence of frenship/kinship with all bearing the name Akane. Of course there's another school of thot that claims that Akane had enuff of squeezing into that small, suffocating middle school uniform. Let me, as an obviously biased Akane fan, try to defend her actions. Without the benefit of ep 11, I had known that Akane was terribly tormented by her deceit to her beloved sister. This is probably compounded by her own guilt of liking her sis's bf. On top of that, she sees first hand, the suffering of Takayuki and surely feels for his pain (yeah we are always ultra-sensitive to the ones we are passionate abt, are we not?) Her own pain, Takayuki's and even the pathetic/sad circumstances of the sister probably pushed her over the edge. Granted, her revelation was quite clumsy with seemingly a hint of malice but hey she snapped alright? She's been so strong since the accident (as compared to Takayuki and Mitsuki), caring for the sis and getting with life (winning swimming championships on top of that), I would give her that little space to show that she is also only human.

Ep 11: This ep is characterised by the closure of Akane's involvement with Takayuki in the series. That little speech by the beach was both a confession to Takayuki and also a 'break-up' speech. Akane would now sought to care for Haruka for Haruka's sake alone, drawing upon her(Akane) own strength and not on her feelings for Takayuki anymore. That's integrity man. The will to do what seems to be the right despite it being utterly heart-piercing is one of the many things I really like Akane for. On the other hand, Mitsuki completes her headlog plunge into total self-destruction, drawing poor Shinji into this vortex of heartaches. Takayuki really don't deserve any of them. One really wonders about Takayuki and his alien brain processes. He's dog-sick, cannot find his girlfren but is contended with only finding her bag and yet just the night b4 he pulls an overniter to look for Akane on the streets? Well if he could reason properly, I wouldn't have been so hooked to kiminozo anyway. Go go Bakayuki!

Ep 12: Mitsuki dumped Takayuki. Sigh, Mitsuki needed to totally obliterate any remaining self-worth/self-esteem b4 she could finally let go of Takayuki. It really hurts. Mitsuki uses her body (she seems to use her body a lot as a tool to solve problems) to invoke a response from Takayuki and she gets nothing. No reaction. The worst possible outcome of her gambit has to be non-response. I really wonder if Takayuki truly loved Mitsuki despite all that he says. Maybe he is consciously trying to commit himself in loving Mitsuki as he says but deep down it seems to be Haruka. Whispering Haruka's name in his sleep really should count for something. Haruka wakes again and this time I wonder about her dubious claim of not remembering her earlier recovery from coma. My suspicions come from her immediate address of the mistakes she made in her previous awakening; the instant reconciliation of time, inquiring Takayuki's status etc (yes I am jumping a little to ep13). Is she pretending? If she is, she is much much stronger that I had thought she was. I personally felt that the story was structured such that Mitsuki and Akane had much more room for development and expression as compared to Haruka. Maybe they are trying to make it up to her in the last 3 eps.

Ep 13: Yes, the climatic slap that rocked the anime world. I must say Mitsuki may have tried to trivialise her relationship with Takayuki to make Haruka feel better but her version of the story only served to cheapened their love and her frenship with Haruka. I'm sorry but that slap was well deserved. Now b4 I get flamed by Mitsuki fans who felt that their heroine had suffered enough abuse, let me say that all the chars in the series, including Takayuki himself have suffered tremendously at the hand of fate. Much as we would like to point our accusing fingers at Takayuki, I have come to believe that there's not a single point where we can decisively say that/he is the genesis of the whole tragedy. Both Haruka and and Mitsuki like Takayuki for his kindness and thotfulness. But it is also these exact attributes that concoct a lethal brew when mixed with the tragic destiny that binds these 3 lives. As moths are drawn by the brilliance of candlefire and later consumed by that same brilliance, can we blame the flame for being radiant as it is fiery? One's closest attempt in faultfinding would have to be the folly of the moths in their love of the light/warmth. If so, it would have to be Haruka and Mitsuki's fault for loving Takayuki so completely and irrevocably, which is no sin at all to me but wonderful objects of praise and songmaking.

It will be heartrending, whoever Takayuki ends up with. I am prepared to bawl come ep 14.

Woah, creepy episode. Mitsuki's mournful "lost kitten" song, the floating ragdoll on the water... I had half expected Haruka to speak with a deep voice on a trembling hospital bed. This ep seems to focus more on character development rather than plot. Takayuki continues to treat Mitsuki badly. Mitsuki reminisces about the past. Shinji confesses his love for Mitsuki. Daijuuki is a rich brat. Akane struggles with for feelings for Takayuki. And oh, they managed to inject an anti-smoking message in the midst of all that. But the fact that it is Takayuki who rejects smoking may sell the idea that only jerks don't smoke. The plot development comes in the last min where Haruka seem to realise it's not the ice age anymore. It about time really. Can't she see her sister is literally bursting out of her middle school uniform?

On other note, I'm just a little puzzled by why Takayuki had to hunt for another picture book for Haruka? Why not give the one in his possession? And how will the employment issue integrate with the story? The implications of his acceptance?

At this point of time, the series can literally go anywhere. I wonder if Studio Fantasia does a poll on which character is the most popular and gear the ending towards the audience's liking. I would like to start voting for Akane... Then again, a jerk like Takayuki don't deserve Akane (yes, it's for your own good, dear). I think I will vote for Daikuuji.

Now Bakayuki has done it. Lost ALL respect for him in this ep. Come on! Be a man! Don't use petty, spiteful acts to get back at Mitsuki for stopping your hospital visits. Take a stand, declare it and be firm! Haruka or Mitsuki, choose the one you love and stick with it! When the whole boat is sinking, you have to throw something over, a necessary evil. (is anyone considering my bigamous suggestion earlier? saves sinking boats you know...) Well, if I were in Studio Fantasia, it would be BAKAyuki that I throw overboard.

Studio Stripey's "Kimi ga nozomu KGNE"

Haruka: What!! Takayuki got knocked down? How is he!!??

Mitsuki: Alive... *unfortunately.. should have floored the accelerator* he's in the ward next to yours.. *not for long... pulling the plug should be easier than hitting a moving target*

Mitsuki: Can I come visit you everyday now? Since Baka, I mean Takayuki can't do that anymore? Can we do the spell too? *actually I just want to yuri you up... men are all jerks*

(Hmmm.. this is going to degenerate into another Yami to boushi to hon no tabibito.) On another note, guess who just jumped into our sinking boat? Our lovely Akane chan! Now we know why she's always seem soo angry. She's using it to veil her feelings for her Onii-chan.... This explains quite a lot of her earlier reactions. My heart really goes out to her. She's not even in the race. It will either be Mitsuki or Haruka (of course if I had my way, it would be Haruka with Mitsuki and Takayuki with Daikuuji) I forsee she's going to be the saddest character. As of now, my money is on Mistuki; that she gets Takayuki in the end. It's really a matter of the no. of episodes left.

Difficult choices. I definitely don't want to be in Takayuki's shoes. I bet he doesn't know who he loves either. Hmm maybe even both? You can really see the torn soul of Takayuki. His struggle is immense but I must say Mitsuki's pain and uncertainty are even more torturous. In fact, her insecurity really shows. The assurances she needs, verbal, or non-verbal; the brooding nights. Sigh, Mitsuki's a really sad char. She's come a long way to be with Takayuki and it had been a really painful path. What I'm going to say next does not reflect my monogamous beliefs but wouldn't all these problems be solved if he have the both of them? A necessary evil only because we live in an imperfect world......*Ok ok, I take that back!! Sorry!! plse keep that M16, thank you... and yes the chainsaw too* Yeah this is an anime ranting blog ok? So don't virus-crash blogspot because I was ranting about something I don't even believe in, yah? *Ahhh now we understand why there's no comments tabs*

Among the 3 of them, I guess Haruka has it the easiest (for now at least). She sleeps for 3 yrs, oblivious to the love and suffering of people who cared so much for her. When she wakes, people continue to tread very carefully around her, to protect and love her. I personally feel whoever Takayuki ends up with (Haruka or Mitsuki), it wouldn't be fair. I wonder if people would burn down Studio Fantasia if Takayuki ends up with Daikuuji or MayuMayu.

I was truly impressed with Ep 2. Again yet another 40 min worth of plot and character development skillfully woven into 20 min. The accident was a stunning twist. I personally was shocked to the core. There and then I knew this is not the typical high school romance anime I'm looking at. However I was slightly disappointed that they had fast forwarded 3 yrs into the future at ep 3. I personally would have preferred the anime to be kept during the high school days. No not for the seifuku (though I admit they really look very cute in it) but rather, I had always viewed the school days as a sphere which protected students from the harsh reality of society (in most anime at least). To set an anime outside this sphere would be to forgo its protective powers. ie, the producers/writers are not obliged to keep the anime saccharine nor are we to assume a feel-good ending. I had better prepare myself. On another note, I have read that this is an adaptation from a H game? Well this is good news cos I had really enjoyed Kanon (the anime). Hoping this would be as moving as Kanon.