This is totally how heart transplants work.
What They Say:
Michiru tries to run away from reality after losing Meowmel and does something impulsive. Yuuji finds her quickly, and she survives without issue thanks to him. The next day, Michiru acts as cheerful as can be, like what happened the day before was all a lie. She’s the same tsundere and idiot as always…
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
In case it wasn’t clear from the previous episode, we are firmly on Michiru’s route now. When a galge like this gets adapted into a linear format like anime, there’s always the question of how much of each parallel route it will cover. Some may choose to go for only the “main” or “true” route, which often follows the heroine considered the female lead of the entire story. Others will try to work as many aspects of each route into one cohesive storyline, which obviously gives a more complete look at the source material as much as is possible in such a format but can yield mixed results. There’s also the option to literally have the series play out as if the viewer was going through the visual novel, resetting the story after each route is complete. Given the way this one ends, it seems extremely unlikely that that choice would be made, as the staff doesn’t really include anything that seems like it would contradict any other storylines. Since it’s certainly digging deep into Michiru’s route, though, it appears to have chosen the second option. As I said, there can be some mixed results involved in such a choice, and as most of the meat of the route plays out in this single episode, one of the biggest risks that this series looks to be running is trying to shove too much content into not enough time, as one would expect from a one-cour series with five heroines and presumably some larger overarching plot.
And so we pick up shortly after the point we last saw our characters, with Michiru now having retreated into herself thanks to the handy second personality hanging around. As she and Sachi acknowledge each other’s persistence in depicting their given archetype, Yuuji is too sharp to be fooled, and soon presses she who he determines is the fake Michiru for answers. With some slightly unintentional assistance from Sachi, Yuuji gets right down to forcing Michiru to come to the surface and, through some very questionable means and as much of a flashback as could be shoved into a few minutes, eventually realize that she wants to live.
This is unquestionably the most emotional and character-driven piece this series has gotten, but there are some things I can’t help but take some issue with. The pacing that such a plan for the series dictates is probably what will hurt it most. One of the most important aspects to all of this, the causes of the suicidal desires that define Michiru’s friend, is touched upon far too lightly. When Yuuji takes a brief detour to the US to help her reconcile with her family, it seems that all’s well that ends well, but we still know so little about what was really tormenting her that it hardly feels as cathartic as it should. The “heart transplant = personality transplant” aspect is a silly one, but at least it acknowledges itself as such. If that kind of logic will be a trend for the rest of the series, though, I can’t say I’m thrilled. Yuuji’s method for getting Michiru to embrace life is also something that really doesn’t seem like the best idea, and when it turns out that three days have elapsed, my suspension of disbelief was being pushed to its limit. Finally, while I’m perfectly fine with how much this series loves panty shots, showing them off through scenes of Yuuji forcing himself on Michiru for the purpose of shaking her out of her withdrawal and especially showing her panties getting wet from urine in an uncomfortably fetishistic way in her fear sadden me.
In Summary:
While it’s nice to see the series get into some meaningful content, it amounts to little if the execution is too rushed or the sense of mediocrity remains too prominent regardless. Many of the issues I’ve taken with the series are more significant here than ever, which is a shame to see. Some of what it sets out to do is pulled off well, though, so it’s not impossible to think that a few touchups are all it really needs to work. It’s by no means a bad show at this point.
Grade: B-
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment:
HP Envy 14.
