Ace wo Nerae! Final Stage

well it's the finale of the tennis show that rocked the world and became one of the best selling shoujo manga of all time. Farewell Oka!
In a very bittersweet goodbye to one of the most surprising additions to lifelong favorites, I look back at the series with fondness. Mainly upset that I won't be able to rush to review something I'm so in love with so others might have insight into such a forgotten series, or be the sole commenter on streaming sites.

Final stage is a direct continuation of Aim for the ace:2. I would barely call them separate seasons as the story is ... basically just chopped in two and called couers.

The biggest change is the focus on the romantic subplot finally that we got glimpses of back in the second season. I was honestly shocked to see Oka take ahold of her own life for once - being influenced by her coaches for so long! We also get a bit of a Madame butterfly side arc which was a nice break. It flowed well into the final episodes.

Note that the budget reflects on the amount of pastel freeze frames (Dezaki...) and still shots to stretch the time to reach the airing slot as well as just lower frame rate in some places. And i did find myself slightly peeved but,if you're going to watch this then you know from the past its expected. Not to say there weren't some nice moments and animations. Highlights include Episode 8's mini battle of the sexes, the queens match! (which i wish had a higher budget, oka is growing!) Reikas match in episode 11 which flipped my expectations! The ending had a lot to be desired but it was simple goodbye.