What They Say:
Aoi invites her mom to join Hinata and her dad on a trip to Mt. Kirigamine, for a gentle climb with lovely scenery!
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
With some decent character material allowing the girls to reconnect and move past the problems of the Mt. Fuji climb, the series has totally impressed me. Rather than having them all go up or to deal with the problems in an instant gratification kind of way, we got some small playing out of events and a gradual reconnect, albeit over two episodes with a bit of time passing in them, that gets them all back together and having fun again. Adding in a little time with the past for Hinata and Aoi with their childhood and how they got along back then was just a bit of icing on the cake.
With Aoi intent on hitting up the mountains again, she also realizes she has to win her mother over a bit more with it and to find a way to share the experience. So coming up with a very light mountain to go on, Hinata puts things together in a way that will have the two of them going with Hinata’s father and Aoi’s mother. What better way to get Aoi’s mother on board than for her to get a taste of the climbing as well and experience it. Luckily for Aoi, her mother is pretty game for it and looking forward to the adventure – and seeing what memories come back from when she used to do a touch of it when she was a young lady herself. The tone for the Mt. Kirigamine trip is well set and fun with a couple of adults included this time around.
Naturally, we get a good bit of background on the area, and a cute scare as Aoi sees chair lifts that panic her, but a lot of what we get is pretty decent mild climb material showing off some beautiful scenery. There’s also what Aoi’s mother sees and learns in watching her daughter, which with a bit of internal dialogue, helps to reinforce her as one of the good parents that’s very happy to see her daughter grow up. The journey is a simple one and it’s just really nice to see it unfold with a great view. It may not be Mt. Fuji, but it’s a different kind of beauty as they look out over it – and a really great beauty in seeing these four people just enjoying the experience together.
In Summary:
The refocus on just Aoi and Hinata has been good as those are the two that really started off the original series and drew me in. I like Kaede and Kokona, but they’re definitely playing a secondary role in the show and have been for a bit. What works here is that we see the parents being drawn in and going through the experience of a mild climb just for the simple pleasures. While there is always the draw of a challenge, there’s also something to be said for moments like this in just enjoying the view, the place and the company. That’s a big thing for all involved here and watching as the parents realize more about their own kids is definitely a well done moment.
Grade: B
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment:
Sony KDL70R550A 70″ LED 1080P HDTV, Apple TV via HDMI set to 1080p, Onkyo TX-SR605 Receiver and Panasonic SB-TP20S Multi-Channel Speaker System With 100-Watt Subwoofer.
