Miuna struggles with her feelings, while Hikari stays the course.
What They Say:
Episode #20: “Sleeping Beauty”
The Review
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
In this second half of Nagi no Asukara we haven’t been given the clear window into Hikari’s thoughts that we got during the first half of the series. We know what makes him tick now, and he’s become far more likable than when he first appeared on screen. He can laugh off most things even if inside he’s a wreck, and getting Manaka back has only made him more of a mess. Especially since she’s been asleep for about a week at this point.
That concern has boiled over into his physical well being, as Hikari has been diving nearly every chance he can get to go search for Uroko. He’s not alone in his search, even Chisaki and Kaname have been looking. The minor deity is avoiding the humans, and no one has been able to question him about all of this. Exhaustion sets in and Hikari has a very vivid nightmare about Manaka which uses some excellent sound direction to be very unsettling. The exhaustion leaves Hikari venerable enough to catch a fever, which Miuna fakes on herself in order to stay home out of guilt, leaving nearly half of Akari’s household in some sort of state of bedridden.
Watching all of this play out is Miuna. She has been longing for Hikari ever since he returned, knowing his heart belongs to another. When she sees Hikari threaten to take time off from school to broaden his search time for Uroko she asks him ‘what if Manaka never wakes up?’ It’s a very real concern that no one has voiced, yet she had to go and say it to the worst possible person. She immediately recognizes her mistake and then realizes that maybe she doesn’t want Manaka to wake up.
That’s when Tsumugu steps in and does what he does best, talks things over with Miuna. He tells her that even he thought at one time it might have been better for him if those left in the sea never woke up, but it wouldn’t have been good for Chisaki. He also notes that the sea kiddos were also so much more emotionally open than him, but to be fair I’ve seen rocks with more emotion than him.
NagiAsu likes to play with the notion that not everything that happens is supernatural, and not everything is scientific either. The idea that a stress on her body caused Miuna’s latent sea person half to manifest leads to the kids wondering if they can invoke that response in Manaka. They resort to talking to her and playing songs for her, the sort of thing that people do for comatose patients. Then come the sleeping beauty bit, what if a kiss will wake her up? In the end, it’s uncertain if Manaka wakes up on her own naturally or if their attention helped.
But what a way to wake up!
In Summary:
What a fantastic ending for this episode! Everyone is gathering and the circle is almost complete. I think we’re entering the homestretch for the series. It is now that relationships will finally fall into place, and I expect the emotions to start pouring out faster than the have before. The ending of this episode was fantastic, and I can only hope that sleeping beauty will be able to settle things once and for all in the love department. However, nothing comes easily in this show. Someone’s heart is going to be broken in this fairy tale.
Episode Grade: A –
Streamed by: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment: 27” iMac running OS 10.8.4, via Safari 6.0.5, FIOS 15/5 Mbps connection. Your milage may vary.
