Jealousy, luck, and friendship make for a messy combination.
What They Say:
Episode 16: “The Whispers of the Faraway Waves”
The Review
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Time moves on and so does NagiAsu. It’s interesting to realize that Hikari has been forced to endure some rather large life changes in a short period of time. He’s basically transferred schools twice, and after having lost his old uniform for good needs to finally switch to the one he should be wearing. As evidence of how he’s grown as a character since the show began he puts on a good act of being upbeat and cheerful, even though he must be tortured inside. However, ever since the switch to the second half of this series we’ve been devoid of his inner monolog. That narration has been taken over by Miuna.
Miuna isn’t giving up her pursuit of Hikari, even though she knows how it looks to everyone else. Hikari certainly doesn’t see her as anything but a friend and relative, teasing her about her new shoes and acting more or less like a brother. To Sayu it looks like flirting, and she makes sure that Miuna knows exactly how she feels about that. There’s more than a bit of jealousy at work here. Sayu may not have let on about how she felt about Kaname back in the day, but it’s now clear that she’s still harboring her crush as well. An argument breaks out and a trip to the city turns sour, leaving Hikari to fix the situation as best he can. He doesn’t have to do much, he can tell that the spat will be quickly mended.
The world building in this show is surprisingly strong. With yet another return trip to the city we see that there are many closed storefronts and a comment from the tailor reveals a decline in the general student population of the surface. I love the three wheeled cars that are so prominent. There are many elements of the show that seem old fashioned, but we know they have computers and other things like that. Also, I’m not sure if Akira coming down with rubella is significant or not. In our world that’s a virus which, in the US, has been practically eradicated due to the MMR vaccine. Either their world doesn’t have the vaccine, or it’s just a reflection of the actually use history of vaccine in real life Japan.
I’m also happy to note that several episodes in to this second season and the animation hasn’t suffered. It remains one of the prettiest shows I’ve ever seen.
The ending of this episode is the most mysterious part. As soon as they showed that crane I knew it was going to be trouble, but the results of Miuna failing into the sea weren’t expected at all. Is her ability a temporary gift, or is there some deeper change going on with the way the world works? With the declining population, maybe the two separated worlds will become one again by the end of the series. After all, if half-breeds could live where ever they choose, then that would solve one of the problems the cast faces.
I want the answer as to why the sleeping sea kiddos seem to have lost their clothing during hibernation. Now we have the return of Kaname to deal with, who, judging from the preview, appears to be about to move in with Chisaki and Tsumugu. I’m sure that won’t be awkward at all!
In Summary:
Watching Hikari put on a brave face and meet his situation with laughter and a smile is somewhat inspiring. Watching Miuna fall all over herself trying to be mature and help Hikari adjust, knowing full well that the odds are stacked against her, is a bit painful. Especially since she ends up alienating her friend in the process. It’s a cute episode, and the unexpected twist towards the end elevates it. The fallout from that discovery could be huge. I’m eager to see the reaction from Saya when her elementary school crush returns to her world next week.
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.
