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Mar 26, 2010 10:24 PM

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Kalbarr said:
Last ep was creepy a little. I feel angry because that was crazy. I don't realize what creator had in his mind. I know that he wants to show us this full of tears love story, but I don't understand this last scenes.
Ok. Shuji is last human on the world...and? Everything what he have is love and memories sooo he's gonna die too? When he was talking with "memories" that looks really scary.


Yeah, the ending really is kind of a mindscrew isn't. It's somewhat ambigous as to what the two main character's ending situation really is.

Personally, I liked it. I would have liked to know more about the war, Chise, and the contents of those diaries, but in this case I think it was probably best that those things were never answered. I would have been even more disappointed with half-assed answers and the time it would take to provide satisfactory answers to those questions would probably end up being longer than the runtime of the entire series.
Apr 14, 2010 6:43 AM

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What were those spikes in the sky???
Why did the war start and who was Chise fighting against?what nation...
May 6, 2010 6:29 PM
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This is what I think after reading the manga and watching the TV anime. The anime version has more or less slight differences compared to the manga, but now I'm talking about the anime that I finished today/yesterday.

Shinoda said:
What were those spikes in the sky???
Why did the war start and who was Chise fighting against?what nation...


Chise had become very big, and only part of her was in the form of Chise with Shuji. Most of her was in the spikes and where they came from, or at least Chise made the spikes move. Did you notice how one of them tried to protect Shuji when the tsunami came closer? That's also how Shuji survived. Chise gave her body to keep her dear Shuji alive like he wished, and I'm not sure if it was Chise's spirit or just memories of her that Shuji talked to in the end.

As for the second question, Chise told the reason of the war... oh no, not really. She told why the enemies were still attacking in the end: they knew that Chise, the strongest weapon on Earth was there, and they wanted to keep living, to keep their people alive, and so they tried to get Chise to themselves. (Remember how no one seemed to know what Chise was.) Unfortunately, it was too late and there was nothing to be done, and Chise knew it. She just wanted to stay with Shuji for a little while longer, so she attacked the planes that disturbed them.

It really doesn't matter who was attacking or what the cause of the war was. That doesn't change the fact that when there's war, people feel lost and many lives are lost for circumstances that they don't have anything to do with it when you give it a thought. Everyone just wants to keep on living and let their dear ones live a long, happy life, if possible. "Je veux vivre" was one of the sentences in the opening animation. Besides, the only medium that worked during the (end of the?) series was the radio where they played the love song, so I don't think the characters knew, either, what was against them.

Also, someone had referred to the enemies as "evil guys" or something like that. Do you remember the scene where Shuji and Akemi's friend gets killed? For a second, I was hoping that he and the enemy soldiers would get to know each other, but they just shot him down 'cause they didn't know what he was saying and vice versa. Just in case. :(

This story isn't about war; it's about love and awkwardness. No matter how many times one of the girls who watched this with me complained on how the characters just talked and talked and how boring it was, there wasn't any more action (like in action movies) than a few catastrophes and deaths. Though I do think that the point was more clear in the manga than in the anime.

DarkBlue said:
And Shuji said that everyone already knew why the earthquakes were increasing, but we were never told, was it because the other side of the world already was destroyed?


The earthquakes were increasing because the world was near its end. Would you still believe you're gonna live a long life when there are big earthquakes, enemy planes abd attacks, people leaving their homes and never coming back, no mass media (and people clinging on a single song played on the radio, perhaps hoping almost hopelessly that everything will be back to normal again)...

DrHouse said:
I would have liked to know more about the war, Chise, and the contents of those diaries, but in this case I think it was probably best that those things were never answered.


The contents of the diaries were told briefly in the manga. She had written about fighting enemies like it was an everyday thing ("I met Shuji on my way to school and ate lunch with just the two of us on the roof. I had to leave before the fourth period and ended up destroying two cities again. Then I came back home." or something like that, I suppose) and "I'm sorry" repeated countless times. I think.

chocho said:
Many questions unaswered - but the worst was that the series somehow encourages sex between underage kids...

Where is the good, old Sailor Moon ? There was also a big love- but they only kissed...

Well- they dont have a good plot- so filled it with sex and killings- so that nobody would pay much attention to the storyline full of holes...

Now Shuji is all alone imagining Chise- there will be no school, so they can spend their whole time making love at that balcony...


Weehee. The manga was published in Big Comic Spirits (seinen magazine, ie. meant for young men) and the anime series came out at 2:30 a.m. at least on one TV channel (the only one that was recorded on Wikipedia). How on Earth would kids see this? You know, all anime/manga is not meant for children. :)

And actually, there were only slightly pornographic scenes until the last episode(s). Every time they were about to have sex with someone, the other one said no. Besides, they did nothing but held hands and kissed before realizing how deep their feelings were.
Shuji got stopped when he saw Chise's scar, felt really guilty after the time spent with Fuyumi, couldn't have sex with her when he saw an illusion of Akemi, and Tetsu stopped Chise when he realized she was doing it out of pity. Where is my porn? Oh, yes, in the last episode(s) where I can see two naked people sitting, looking at each other and breasts being washed.

Does your life have a good, interesting plot? Of course you never get lured to do anything by anyone or make mistakes and you never hesitate, am I right? Well, my life hasn't got a plot at all.
The creator of Saikano manga has been married for 20 years or so, and somehow I enjoy the fanservice meant for guys nowadays.

I'm sorry for anything weird. I feel a bit dizzy (quite sure I've got a temperature) and it's half past four a.m. now and I haven't read to the test that'll begin after three and half hours.
FlaronaMay 6, 2010 6:35 PM

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May 7, 2010 12:07 PM

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Thank you flarona!
May 14, 2010 7:46 PM

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Thanks for the explanation Flarona

I think i wil watch the ovas before posting, i still have some plotholes left in my head. I can let most of then go by knowing that the focus of the anime is the love a store, but even tahat way there are somethings that i cant understand.
Aug 11, 2010 2:13 PM

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Well reading that explanation helped but doesn't stop the fact this series was really confusing.
Aug 29, 2010 12:33 AM

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Well I just finished this anime and really, it didn't feel sad at all. I didn't feel like I wanted to shed tears like in animes such as Aria or Clannad/Ef but instead, I felt depressed like 'what am i doing with my life again', kind of feeling.

Anyway, the last episode was definitely not a total disappointment, unlike NHK for example. My interpretation of the ending is that she used her technology to implant part of herself in him, making him a bit of a robot able to sustain life on his own.

But meh, I feel like I want to give this anime a 9 but at the same time it deserves like a 7.
Sep 24, 2010 8:42 AM

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I hated how it ended, It was like one of those weird twilight zone episode.
Oct 21, 2010 8:57 PM

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The way i'm seeing the ending. Is her useing her technology to "store" her memory of him in her, as we are told that she can't die, so that he will live forever as a memory or as "data" inside of her.
.
Dec 18, 2010 3:11 AM
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Aww, thank you, Kurogashi and kyrie_kyo! That way Shuji won't die either! You made even the manga ending less depressing to me, so thank you! ^^

Am I allowed to post without an avatar?
Jan 10, 2011 1:06 AM
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Thank you Flarona, was reading all the post and was feeling the need to explain it to them, but you did it far better then i would have. So bravo to you.

I love this anime. I didn't find it hard to see what the mangaka was trying to say with his manga/anime and i think it's a writing of brillance, if you can wrap your head around it all.
Jun 8, 2011 9:11 PM

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i agree with Daimakaicho
just finished and of to bed now (it's 6 in the morning and pulled an all nighter to finish it) i watched the series and i for some reason understood everthing Flarona explaind. in the end i didn't have any questions left. the ova gave some aditional info of what happend at the military base wich was a nice touch.

and for me the ending was like chise was tired of fighting and knew the world was going to end (that's why she was summing up all the times history fortoled the end of the earth) so she destroyed the earth and end the fighting and the war (and people getting hurt, her included) and i read it somewhere in this topic, just use your imagination a bit... sometimes you should think a bit out of the box. same deal lot's of people didn't understand madoka or yes i'm refering to THAT anime "school days"

and imho yes this is what war could/will lead to in the end
Jan 7, 2012 10:31 PM
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Thank you Flarona for clearing up a bunch of things.
I found this anime quite enjoyable, unlike the people who are hating it.
Apr 20, 2012 11:58 PM

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An emotional series that bought me almost to tears. 9/10. This is an anime that I won't forget for a hell of a long time and is considering re-watching.
Jul 4, 2012 6:56 PM

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well i loved the serie i know many people where bothered by the character design some even droped it because of that but i need to say i couldn't even pay atention to that

i give it a 10/10 many will disagree maybe but opening and ending where good the serie made there point clear about earth and humans and i just like the ending of the serie even to think he is all alone
"When a flat-chested loli hugs you, she holds you closer to her heart"
"--I am a single bullet. It has no heart. Therefore, it does not think. It just flies straight towards its target."
Aug 9, 2012 9:19 PM

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Wow. Well, Saikano was.. sad. Period. Too sad. So much of sadness, that by the end, I didn't care much, because the whole scenario was so hopeless, it's just like, whatever. Kinda. Lol. Idk. Also, the world wasn't explained enough.. I know they just wanted to focus on Shuji and Chise's relationship, but without much context, it doesn't feel very satisfying. Eh, I still shed some tears, although I don't feel anything afterwards. Most interesting characters, to me, were Akemi and Tetsu. They intrigued me, and their deaths really saddened me. The two main characters were too cliche, but they still tugged at my heartstrings at times.

Saikano is forgettable. -- I think that's how I feel in the end. Sure, there were some moments of profound thought, and if you really want to dig into it, you might find it deep, but in the end, to me it's just a hopelessly sad anime that'll make you cry, but won't leave an impression. (NOTHING at the feet of Grave of the Fireflies haha :P)

Anyway, 6/10...
fishergirl16Aug 9, 2012 9:25 PM
Nov 17, 2012 2:14 AM

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fishergirl16 said:
Wow. Well, Saikano was.. sad. Period. Too sad. So much of sadness, that by the end, I didn't care much, because the whole scenario was so hopeless, it's just like, whatever. Kinda. Lol. Idk. Also, the world wasn't explained enough.. I know they just wanted to focus on Shuji and Chise's relationship, but without much context, it doesn't feel very satisfying.
Saikano is forgettable. -- I think that's how I feel in the end. Sure, there were some moments of profound thought, and if you really want to dig into it, you might find it deep, but in the end, to me it's just a hopelessly sad anime that'll make you cry, but won't leave an impression. (NOTHING at the feet of Grave of the Fireflies haha :P)

Anyway, 6/10...


Yeah, The show seemed hopeless. It felt like it was written by someone who should be on suicide watch.

Japan seems to enjoy making series like this one. but i don't like watching them. Life can be depressing enough. I really don't need to see " no hope" stories too often.
Nov 17, 2012 12:57 PM

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This show is the reason I wish MAL would allow half-ratings.
I'd really like to give it a 6.5
It was far better than everything I've given 6 to, but not quite enjoyable enough to earn a full 7.

DAMMIT!
I really liked this show, It's such a pity that I somehow didn't enjoy it that much.
I feel like it's a true masterpiece that I just can't fully appreciate.
Dec 10, 2012 9:14 AM
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First time poster, and I've only recently gotten into anime. I watched the entire Saikano series from start to finish yesterday. I've been looking for titles that include mature romances that are also fantasy or sci-fi, and I was a bit iffy about watching Saikano at first, unsure if I'd like the characters, and I kind of wanted to steer clear of high school settings.

Funny enough, after watching the first couple of episodes, I was hooked and I felt that this series delivered a very tragic and mature romance, even though it started out as a young "first love" type of scenario. It wasn't just a cutesy-wutesy love story; it was filled with confused feelings, uncertainty, heartbreak, and this all made the love more real which is exactly what I was looking for (Spice and Wolf did an excellent job of this as well). It was through Shuji's and Chise's interactions with eachother and with others that they learned about love, and eventually were able to fully express themselves to each other.

To all those who are upset about the ending, I think there is a huge theme that was portrayed that you might have missed, and it makes the ending so much better: "Love conquers all".

As far as my interpretation of the the ending... Had Chise not fully loved Shuji, the weapon likely would have completely taken her over, to the point where none of the original Chise remained. This gave Shuji the chance to spend the time with the fully weaponized version of her, pulling Chise's memories to the surface. Had Shuji not fully loved Chise and was not able to remind her of the love they shared, he would've been killed like everyone else. While Chise was able to save Shuji, it left him alone on a barren planet devoid of life, and without Chise. It was Shuji's love for Chise that revitalized the world and restored Chise, even if it was just in his mind (or Chise's?). It was their love for one another that allowed them to still be together, even after the destruction of the world, if only for a short while longer. That to me is still beautiful.

Maybe I'm a bit sappy and a sucker, but that's what I took from it.

Overall, yes, it was a very sad story, and a few times during the series a tear rolled down my cheek, but the ending brought me back to a good mood.

All this said, after watching Saikano, I'm now in the mood for something more lighthearted.
Feb 18, 2013 5:07 PM
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Not explaining why the world ended was almost criminal...
Apr 22, 2013 8:46 PM

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I'm disappointed. I wanted to see some action in the series. For an ultimate weapon, we barely see her in action. The most was in this last episode, and it was only a few seconds. Too many secondary characters die. That's fine, but they should've gone deeper into the characterization of those characters. The last is the enemy. They never explained the conflict, why there were earthquakes, and those spiky things in the air. The world was ending, but they never explained why either.

I could excuse all of that if they showed more action scenes, or focused more on the plot. In the end, neither was able to meet my expectations. They had the right idea for a plot, but it wasn't well developed. I'd give it a 5/10
May 15, 2013 10:09 AM
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Daturian said:
To all those who are upset about the ending, I think there is a huge theme that was portrayed that you might have missed, and it makes the ending so much better: "Love conquers all".

As far as my interpretation of the the ending... Had Chise not fully loved Shuji, the weapon likely would have completely taken her over, to the point where none of the original Chise remained. This gave Shuji the chance to spend the time with the fully weaponized version of her, pulling Chise's memories to the surface. Had Shuji not fully loved Chise and was not able to remind her of the love they shared, he would've been killed like everyone else. While Chise was able to save Shuji, it left him alone on a barren planet devoid of life, and without Chise. It was Shuji's love for Chise that revitalized the world and restored Chise, even if it was just in his mind (or Chise's?). It was their love for one another that allowed them to still be together, even after the destruction of the world, if only for a short while longer. That to me is still beautiful.


You got it buddy. I hope you read my response because I think you were one of the few people here who actually got it. Everyone says the ending is unsatisfactory because the ending is just his fantasy. You guys missed the point.

The story is not about war. It's not about Shuji. It's not a conflict between her and the world. It's a story about Chise, and her struggle as she becomes less human. But the love between the two of them plays a fundamental role to the resolution of the plot. Had it not been for the love, shit would have hit the fan.

But Chise realized she could PROTECT rather than DESTROY or KILL. She did so because she LOVED Shuji, and only a human can LOVE. Her body was destroyed and her soul trapped within that body was free. It was free to live and become one with Shuji.

Was it his fantasy? No. It was real. She was set free and she realized she was human; she had a soul; she was in love.

I read online a lot of people saying she was eventually no longer human. But she was just TRAPPED. The title literally translates as "She, the Ultimate Weapon", but do you know what it is referring to? Are you sure? What was the ultimate weapon? Her body? Or Chise's spirit? Because her body was the most powerful, destructive thing on the planet, right? But at the end, remember how her body came back to Shuji, and was confused? As in, why am I here, why did "Chise" bring me [the body/weapon] here? But Chise's soul is able to push through the body/machine and show her love for Shuji. In the end, she was powerful enough to destroy this weapon, this machine.

I'm not trying to force my opinions onto anyone else, but this IS the ending. Who dies or why there was war is not necessarily important. What is important is that the conflict is 100% within Chise. She wants to know if she's human. She figures that out and destroys the weapon. I've worded it very simply but that's what happens. She sets herself free and is able to love Shuji as they had intended.

Try to think of it more abstractly rather than concretely. So and so dying or this thing being the ultimate weapon...too concrete! Look at the bigger picture!

Daturian I think you might be the only person on here who git it lol. I've learned this site is a crock for those with truly analytical and creative minds. Sorry for the harsh words but if you didn't get what i said above then go watch one piece or some shit. Saikano is easily one of the most powerful love stories and overcoming adversity stories ever envisioned.

Everything about this anime was brilliant. A complete story with only 13 episodes would ordinarily be too rushed but it was done so well. The music was absolutely amazing. No I did not like the OP or ED. I would not enjoy listening to them. But analyzing art does not stem from one's opinion. The music was perfectly used in this anime.

It was also incredibly realistic. Cheating, lies, deceitfulness, the whole nine yards. But it goes to show that love conquers all, even through the negativity. Unfortunately for a lot of myanimelist goers, death, cheating, lying, and a little blood is too much to handle. Because when you close your eyes, the monsters go away, right? Part of the reason I loved this anime so much was because it was so fucking real. People die. People often die painful deaths. People cheat. People lie. People hurt. It's like how sometimes people have a hard time finding their way through life. They fail in school. They lose their friends. They lose their money. They lose their minds. But if they keep at it and never lose sight on what they are after, they end up with what they want. That's what happened in Saikano. Through all the negativity, things worked out.

If you can't see that, then my only regret is that you did not perceive the story the way it was meant to be seen; and thus, you did not understand the theme, plot, and conflict.

I know I am bringing back an old thread no one gives two shits about but if one person reads this and realizes it, I'm happy. Think about what I said, watch the anime again from START to FINISH, and it will fall into place.

10/10 no contest
May 15, 2013 10:16 AM
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Animatronix said:
I'm disappointed. I wanted to see some action in the series. For an ultimate weapon, we barely see her in action. The most was in this last episode, and it was only a few seconds. Too many secondary characters die. That's fine, but they should've gone deeper into the characterization of those characters. The last is the enemy. They never explained the conflict, why there were earthquakes, and those spiky things in the air. The world was ending, but they never explained why either.

I could excuse all of that if they showed more action scenes, or focused more on the plot. In the end, neither was able to meet my expectations. They had the right idea for a plot, but it wasn't well developed. I'd give it a 5/10


My friend, it is not about war, or what happened in the war. Go watch star wars if you want to see that.

And there was BOUNTIFUL characterization. Yukari, remember how she died? Her bf dies, she mourns, pretends to be ok, finds another guy in haste, and realizes all of this and kills that motherfucker out of vengeance. She admits she still loves Take. Both the enemy and Yukari die, because in war, NO ONE WINS.

The characterization was perfect.
May 21, 2013 12:55 PM

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Liked this anime and hated it too. Eventually I got frustrated with all the "I love you", "I just wanted to disappear", "Don't say that!", yadda yadda yadda....ugh. Other moments (like when Masa was hit but Shuji didn't even bleed) made me facepalm. However I liked the depressing tone and situation the world was in.

When I heard about this I heard it was super depressing. It is, but while watching it I didn't feel anything. Not even a whine or sniff came out of me. I understand that it was more about Chise and Shuji than the conflict, but the rest says everything:
Animatronix said:
I'm disappointed. I wanted to see some action in the series. For an ultimate weapon, we barely see her in action. The most was in this last episode, and it was only a few seconds. Too many secondary characters die. That's fine, but they should've gone deeper into the characterization of those characters. The last is the enemy. They never explained the conflict, why there were earthquakes, and those spiky things in the air. The world was ending, but they never explained why either.

I could excuse all of that if they showed more action scenes, or focused more on the plot. In the end, neither was able to meet my expectations. They had the right idea for a plot, but it wasn't well developed. I'd give it a 5/10
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Oct 4, 2013 11:52 PM

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A tentative 8/10.
Sort of like the ending to Evangelion.

One of the most depressing anime I've seen, still I didn't cry though. I think this needs a lot more character building before the depressing stuff kicked in. It needs more of a contrast, more scenes not focusing purely on the war or sad romance.
Apr 17, 2014 6:40 PM

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The plot holes and the ending kinda reminded me of Evangelion.

Yeah it's sad and tragic but I never shed a tear for this one. 6/10
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May 21, 2014 9:28 PM

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VEE12 said:
Daturian said:
To all those who are upset about the ending, I think there is a huge theme that was portrayed that you might have missed, and it makes the ending so much better: "Love conquers all".

10/10 no contest


Agreed. The world survived its end, even if it was only in Shuji's heart. The ending was depressing to be sure; I am not sure whether Shuji's last scenes is reality or merely a beautiful delusion that will help him cope in the time he has left. I've always thought that they should re-release this series with Shuji's eventual death at its conclusion.
Sep 3, 2014 6:40 AM
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Not many Anime could make me stand up and applaud but at the end of the show, I was doing just that. It's one of my top 5 favorite Anime.
Sep 20, 2014 10:22 AM

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What a finale full of special effects, all the budget for this project was saved for this
This apocalyptic end of the world which only seems consist Japan, the US and other English speaking nations was unreal

Although the animation quality is quite bad at times I think when aired back in 2002 it was acceptable
The OP animation reminded me of Last Exile from the same studio

Saikano excels in the lines and dialogues overall (minus Shuu favorite returning words: Chise and Aho) the first half was really good with Shuuji and Chise's romantic relationship
After that with the intensifing war there were great highs like Shuuji and Chise managing to be faithful somehow and terrible lows such as the kill scenes where the survivor doesn't make any sense

At the final of the tenth run the fansubgroup had a nice warning message about things ended with a happy end and continueing till towards the last would hurt and be painful which was kind of ironic from what has been presented so far
The last three episodes turned out to be some kind of "After Story" a lot of more shows seems to be inspired by Saikano such as Freezing and Ars Nova

I liked the voicecast bringing the emotional scenes convincingly even if the script of some were horrendous
Love scenes and the complicated relations visited were interesting, Shuuji was like a Casanova while Chise battling for the Nation

A remake with a better directed and todays animation level would certainly be a masterpiece
I would watch it even knowing the story already
Dec 24, 2014 9:22 AM

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"We don't really need to know WHY there was a war and such. Going into so many details would just be tedious and make this more action than it is love and tragedy. Use your imagination, resources running out, someone set off a nuke, etc. etc. Stop asking all these questions and just use your imagination lmao"

+1000

and it would have been off topic, because the hero doesn't know that, so the spectator is not supposed to know these informations as well.

if the anime is "plenty of holes", it's done on purpose.
I can't understand why people are acting like that each time an anime ends.
sometimes, it's justified, but most of the time they don't understand why it doesn't explain things.
Final Fantasy VII is a shitty game.
Jan 11, 2015 4:12 AM

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A great conclusion to Saikano. Their world may have ended, their loved ones may not be there anymore, but one thing's never changed throughout: their undying love. Like many others, I am a fan of sci-fi and at many times did rage at the lack of logic and reasoning behind the war concept and the abrupt apocalypse - but you know, this is a love story. Surprisingly, the ending to me was a very happy conclusion, compared to the endless amount of tragedy we have endured all the way up to episode 10. (The fansubbers even gave me a warning at the end of episode 10, ironically.) In fact, from 11 onwards is when this anime shines, and did its fullest.

I may have found myself many-a-times empty and stunned, brain powered-out; still, I can't say I despise this love story, something which is decent. A surprising subtopic to consider: the dichotomy of life and death. Many times I found myself questioning the pain of living on, and the bliss of death in this anime. Obviously, in no way am I saying death is better than living, but if one is in the situation of Saikano, death may not be so scary after all.

The other recurring symbol in this anime is morality. Humanity have tresspassed on this concept in history countless of times, regressing ourselves into mindless beasts; either for survival or for power. Yes, humans are the ones that end up bringing themselves down. Saikano is one of the very few anime which dared to touch on this topic, although with a steampunk-esque outlook to it.

I have to admit that I didn't really liked the concept of a human-turned-WMD. While it did serve as the main plot device of the love story and the surrounding tragedy, I disliked it not just for its nonsense, but also for its method to evoke despair in this anime. This made it feel unnaturally forced, and also boring as it gets repetitive.

Although, I have to reiterate that the entire anime was decent at its own right, and the conclusion was excellent in my honest opinion. School is starting for me soon, and this is a great title to end off the holiday.
8/10
"If you reject me, I'll blast a hole in you!" Kanzaki H. Aria
Just kidding.

Mar 20, 2015 10:29 AM

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The first 6 episodes was horrible but the rest was really dramatic and sad which is good :) I like the ending with the imaginary scene... it makes it less painful to watch.
Apr 15, 2015 9:02 PM

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Wow, that was a depressing ending to a depressing anime. Everybody died, but him. He is living in his own world pretending to be with Chise again. When he was hugging her, and then it showed him in a black empty room with nothing, as he tries to hold onto nothing, fuuuuuuuuuuck almost made me cry. It had a slow start, but really really kicked in the last 5 episodes. 8/10
Jun 12, 2015 1:33 PM

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I felt like this show had a lot of potential, unfortunately it didnt quite deliver.
The VA's werent that great, specifically Shuji's VA, his character didnt make it that much better.

I wish they portrayed the way the world was ending and the war a bit better, I guess it can be explained why it didnt because that's the way Shuji saw the world after all, he didnt know what was going, except what was happening in his own town.

Many of the side characters were a plus though, Akemi and Tetsu especially.
It was almost to the point I cared more for them than the 2 main characters

Overall the anime was a nice little story ... depressing though.

7/10
Aug 13, 2015 2:50 PM
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757
DoctorWasabi said:
Wow, that was a depressing ending to a depressing anime. Everybody died, but him. He is living in his own world pretending to be with Chise again. When he was hugging her, and then it showed him in a black empty room with nothing, as he tries to hold onto nothing, fuuuuuuuuuuck almost made me cry. It had a slow start, but really really kicked in the last 5 episodes. 8/10


I think the real Chise is connected to his somehow through the strength of his memories of her. Anyway, let's just hope for his sake that he can bang her, else it will be boring for him real fast! :P
Aug 15, 2015 2:23 PM

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5337
9/10
Serious, moving, and beautiful story.
I think this series couldn't have a better ending, even if it is scary a bit.
I loved almost every aspect of this anime. It was kinda rushed from time to time, this is the reason why I give only 9. But you know? this is really almost masterpiece.
I don't remember when I last watched a anime in one-run.
This is a story which is totally unforgettable.
Dub = fake crap. Always.
Oct 12, 2015 2:03 PM
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Jul 2014
602
9/10
TNX Flarona, your notes helped a lot.
Unforgettable Anime.
Nov 27, 2015 9:30 AM

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Feb 2015
1170
Well ,that sucked if this is the last love song on this little planet then we're fucked
Jan 3, 2016 11:29 AM

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640
I will never forget the feelings this show transmitted to me.
KenShiRo-SamaJan 3, 2016 11:29 AM
Feb 22, 2016 1:31 PM

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25827
Damn what an ending! This sure was something!!!

At first I really didn't know what to expect from this but boy did this anime amaze me!

Really great character and story development I must say, together with a great portion of drama and romance as it should!

All in all a very good anime I must say, I sure liked it and I do wonder what the ova's have to offer us!
Jul 9, 2016 5:01 AM

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Mar 2015
2360
A little plot twist at the final episode. I never knew half of the Earth was destroyed.

Everyone died huh except Shuu, LOL. Earth is no more too.

They were together even though the world's ended, I see.

3/5

Overall 5/10
Jun 10, 2019 7:14 PM

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Nov 2016
31353
Seriously powerful ending with those kind of feels that make you tear up, but more importantly, give you food for your thoughts. This series as a whole was a completely new experiences for me when it comes to the romance genre and shed light on aspects where other series didn't even move the curtain. Furthermore, it also managed to be a really amazing intra-apocalyptic war drama and depressing to boot. And I didn't expect it would play out like this. Shuji survived and Chise in a way too, but man, this whole situation is way too sad and somehow crueler than death. Being alive without any hope left, so much taken from you, you're only able to reminisce in memories. I wouldn't be able to stand it.

I'm in awe right now and still can't process all what happened.

Easy 9/10 and if some technical aspects had been done with more finesse then I probably would've even considered a full score. Will make sure to check out the manga, I'm curious and also because it might help with getting a better grasp of some aspects.

One Piece episode 914 & 915 & 1027 were a mistake and 957 brought the salvation - FMmatron


Jan 5, 2020 6:33 AM

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1679
Jesus this was one of the most depressing anime Ive ever watched. The manga from what I heard had a slightly "happier" ending but it still basically the same. This is marked as the my most hated series ever cause it was so good at first and thought it would have a Chobits sort of story but DAM I was sooo wrong. Then you've got all that NTR shit that was put in towards the end to make things worse. I heard a fan sub gave a warning for towards the end so people could have a happy end and dam I wish I had that warning. I basically want to pretend the last 3 odd episodes didnt exist but even then its still depressing. I kept telling myself "surely it'll get better from here" and it just kept going down and down and down.
Yuritopia FTW!!!!!!!!! BANZAI TO YURI !!!!!!!!!!!!
Mar 12, 2020 12:52 AM

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6196
I didn’t understand the ending welp whatever 7/10 the drama was good especially “Chiese” voice acting was super good.
Apr 17, 2020 9:37 AM

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1167
what a horribly unsatisfying show lol
Mar 16, 2021 11:04 AM

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917
While I appreciated the bleak and depressing atmosphere that pervaded the show, especially the latter half, overall it was an incredibly unsatisfying watch. Aside from the rather ugly art and character designs (e.g. Shuji looking like a middle-aged man and Chise looking like she's about 10 despite being the same age), none of the characters were particularly interesting either.

As someone who greatly appreciates good worldbuilding in a series, the lack of explanations on so many details was incredibly disappointing, too. Is it necessary for them to explain anything? No. Would it have helped to make me more engaged in the series if they did? Definitely. Why the world was ending, who the war was being fought against, why Chise was chosen as the ultimate weapon, how she became a giant floating tentacle robot: none of these would have taken long to answer, but they didn't bother. Hell, even a name for the town most of the series is set in would have been appreciated. Sure, you can say it's all up to interpretation or that it doesn't matter, but that's just a lazy way to excuse poor worldbuilding and deflect from any actual criticisms.
Apr 25, 2021 1:05 AM

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Flarona said:
This is what I think after reading the manga and watching the TV anime. The anime version has more or less slight differences compared to the manga, but now I'm talking about the anime that I finished today/yesterday.

Shinoda said:
What were those spikes in the sky???
Why did the war start and who was Chise fighting against?what nation...


Chise had become very big, and only part of her was in the form of Chise with Shuji. Most of her was in the spikes and where they came from, or at least Chise made the spikes move. Did you notice how one of them tried to protect Shuji when the tsunami came closer? That's also how Shuji survived. Chise gave her body to keep her dear Shuji alive like he wished, and I'm not sure if it was Chise's spirit or just memories of her that Shuji talked to in the end.

As for the second question, Chise told the reason of the war... oh no, not really. She told why the enemies were still attacking in the end: they knew that Chise, the strongest weapon on Earth was there, and they wanted to keep living, to keep their people alive, and so they tried to get Chise to themselves. (Remember how no one seemed to know what Chise was.) Unfortunately, it was too late and there was nothing to be done, and Chise knew it. She just wanted to stay with Shuji for a little while longer, so she attacked the planes that disturbed them.

It really doesn't matter who was attacking or what the cause of the war was. That doesn't change the fact that when there's war, people feel lost and many lives are lost for circumstances that they don't have anything to do with it when you give it a thought. Everyone just wants to keep on living and let their dear ones live a long, happy life, if possible. "Je veux vivre" was one of the sentences in the opening animation. Besides, the only medium that worked during the (end of the?) series was the radio where they played the love song, so I don't think the characters knew, either, what was against them.

Also, someone had referred to the enemies as "evil guys" or something like that. Do you remember the scene where Shuji and Akemi's friend gets killed? For a second, I was hoping that he and the enemy soldiers would get to know each other, but they just shot him down 'cause they didn't know what he was saying and vice versa. Just in case. :(

This story isn't about war; it's about love and awkwardness. No matter how many times one of the girls who watched this with me complained on how the characters just talked and talked and how boring it was, there wasn't any more action (like in action movies) than a few catastrophes and deaths. Though I do think that the point was more clear in the manga than in the anime.

DarkBlue said:
And Shuji said that everyone already knew why the earthquakes were increasing, but we were never told, was it because the other side of the world already was destroyed?


The earthquakes were increasing because the world was near its end. Would you still believe you're gonna live a long life when there are big earthquakes, enemy planes abd attacks, people leaving their homes and never coming back, no mass media (and people clinging on a single song played on the radio, perhaps hoping almost hopelessly that everything will be back to normal again)...

DrHouse said:
I would have liked to know more about the war, Chise, and the contents of those diaries, but in this case I think it was probably best that those things were never answered.


The contents of the diaries were told briefly in the manga. She had written about fighting enemies like it was an everyday thing ("I met Shuji on my way to school and ate lunch with just the two of us on the roof. I had to leave before the fourth period and ended up destroying two cities again. Then I came back home." or something like that, I suppose) and "I'm sorry" repeated countless times. I think.

chocho said:
Many questions unaswered - but the worst was that the series somehow encourages sex between underage kids...

Where is the good, old Sailor Moon ? There was also a big love- but they only kissed...

Well- they dont have a good plot- so filled it with sex and killings- so that nobody would pay much attention to the storyline full of holes...

Now Shuji is all alone imagining Chise- there will be no school, so they can spend their whole time making love at that balcony...


Weehee. The manga was published in Big Comic Spirits (seinen magazine, ie. meant for young men) and the anime series came out at 2:30 a.m. at least on one TV channel (the only one that was recorded on Wikipedia). How on Earth would kids see this? You know, all anime/manga is not meant for children. :)

And actually, there were only slightly pornographic scenes until the last episode(s). Every time they were about to have sex with someone, the other one said no. Besides, they did nothing but held hands and kissed before realizing how deep their feelings were.
Shuji got stopped when he saw Chise's scar, felt really guilty after the time spent with Fuyumi, couldn't have sex with her when he saw an illusion of Akemi, and Tetsu stopped Chise when he realized she was doing it out of pity. Where is my porn? Oh, yes, in the last episode(s) where I can see two naked people sitting, looking at each other and breasts being washed.

Does your life have a good, interesting plot? Of course you never get lured to do anything by anyone or make mistakes and you never hesitate, am I right? Well, my life hasn't got a plot at all.
The creator of Saikano manga has been married for 20 years or so, and somehow I enjoy the fanservice meant for guys nowadays.

I'm sorry for anything weird. I feel a bit dizzy (quite sure I've got a temperature) and it's half past four a.m. now and I haven't read to the test that'll begin after three and half hours.
this is one of those guys that got the SAT question of what the author was thinking right. A decade later but ty for the post, such a shame when ppl are completely clueless about what they're watching when it's not some abstract show. From the start Shuji decided he n Chise would be in love, that's all there is to it.

"For the sake of humankind, I forsake my humanity." - Cherry
Sep 11, 2021 2:29 AM

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879
[/quote]this is one of those guys that got the SAT question of what the author was thinking right. A decade later but ty for the post, such a shame when ppl are completely clueless about what they're watching when it's not some abstract show. From the start Shuji decided he n Chise would be in love, that's all there is to it. [/quote] He only love her when he find out she was a robot, this is like School Days, ScumWish and a little of serial experiments lain together. None of the characters are likable. At first it didnt matter why there was war but having the end makes you think why was there war. It started well but that last four episodes were bad it really did ran too long.
Apr 6, 2022 6:42 PM
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Sep 2013
159
I liked the anime, very sad and I think it was devalued because of the rating. The only mistake in the anime is having a war since the first episode and they never explain the reason, apart from never explaining why Chise was chosen and what they did with her. If the planet is ending, the war is kind of fucked up, if everything is happening because of the war, why not have the chise decimate the enemies instead of fighting only when they attack? The guy became schizophrenic at the end lol but I can't complain that the ending is coherent, it has a sad but coherent ending, different from an SNK.
The anime left me with a heavy feeling although I didn't cry, I think there really are sadder animes, but this one is definitely one of the heaviest, and it left the bad vibes.
The beginning of the romance in the anime is forced, they just love each other and that's it, but after you abstract it and just accept it, it ends up convincing that they love each other. The anime has a lot of drama which is good.
I think the anime is very underrated as I commented above, it should at least be 8+.
The anime could have been much better if they had explained several things as mentioned above, but for the bad feeling I'm feeling after watching it, it deserves 8 because it fulfilled its role.
My grade is 8/10.

PT-BR
Eu gostei do anime,bem triste e acho até que pela nota ele foi desvalorizado. O único erro do anime é ter uma guerra desde o primeiro episódio e eles nunca explicarem o motivo, fora nunca explicarem o motivo da Chise ser escolhida e o que fizeram com ela. Se o planeta está acabando a guerra é meio que fodase,se tudo está acontecendo por causa da guerra, porque não mandar a chise dizimar os inimigos na vez de lutar só quando atacam? O cara se tornou esquizofrênico no final kkkk mas não posso reclamar que o final é coerente, tem um final triste mas coerente, diferente de um SNK.
O anime me deixou com um sentimento pesado embora eu não tenha chorado, acho que realmente existe animes mais tristes, mas esse com certeza é um dos mais pesados, e deixou na bad vibes.
O inicio do romance no anime é forçado, eles simplesmente se amam e pronto, mas depois que você abstrai isso e só aceita acaba ficando convincente que eles se amam. O anime tem muito drama o que é bom.
Eu acho que o anime é muito subestimado como comentei a cima, ele deveria pelo menos ser 8+.
O anime poderia ser muito melhor se tivessem explicado varias coisas como mencionado a cima, mas pelo mal estar que eu estou sentido depois de velo ele merece 8 porque cumpriu o seu papel.
Minha nota é 8/10.
Jun 7, 2022 1:11 PM

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Mar 2013
289
wtf was this ending ? it's funny because total apocalypse ending are ultra rare (3 from my 1100 anime list) and i watched 2 of them at the same time.
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