I'm laughing my arse off here because of the reasons the lot of you here are lowering your scores here for. I would reply, but I think some of us here have said it oh so well already so I'll just quote them instead.
Burgerboner69 said: I don't get it, how are all of you saying this ending is open ended wtf lol?
The only "open-ended" pairing is kaname x sayu and miuna and that random surface kid (but it shouldn't matter since they aren't canon)
Manaka x Hikari ended up together
Chiaski x Tsumugu ended up together
I mean do you guys need to have sex scenes to confirm your ships lol?
10/10
^This.
Seriously, I think it was more than just "implied" by Japanese standards who ended up with who.
tingy said: Yeah not too sure about people's complaints about things being open ended...open ended in romantic relationships?
When Hikari's father walked towards him, tears started falling down. Although it was never a main theme, but more like a side theme, I always loved how well the anime executed familial relationships (as well as other issues such as discrimination or people's inability to understand each other). It's really too bad that romance drama was the main focus. I know it never tried to be anything else, but those were the parts that I really enjoyed.
Still, the whole last part when the first OP song started made me feel warm and fuzzy. Especially the part when Manaka did her fish-knee imitation and Tsumugu went along, that was adorable and felt nostalgic of the first few episodes of Nagiasu. But that very last part with Hikari and Manaka walking on the beach, that was beautiful, perfect for concluding the main theme of the series. I will really miss this anime.
^This.
The main theme of the entire anime was dubbed as the growth and maturity of our main characters in a somewhat fantasy setting. Growth doesn't necessarily mean it has to be about love.
Yes love and romantic feelings are something that a teenage kid would focus on when growing up, but I don't think familial and external "social" relationships are any less important in terms of a person's growth.
Hikari's growth and maturity in the entire series was one where he learned to trust and interact with the people on the surface which he had initially had unreasonable prejudice against.
Kaname's growth came in the form of learning when to let go of the important feelings which he held dear, but which were at the same time causing him pain and suffering.
Chisaki's growth was one where she was made to realize that she was allowed to change herself, to not conform to others, and to put her own feelings in front of others, that she had a right to be selfish for her own happiness.
Miuna's growth was that of familial relationships in the first half of the season, whereas the second part was similar to Kaname's.
Sayu's growth was in finding the courage to try for her own happiness (I still can't get enough of THAT confession, best moment ever!).
Tsumugu's growth was pretty much similar to Sayu's, but then again he had a way easier time with it all, knowing that his target was already in love with him.
Can't say much about Manaka in this, but she also grew to understand her own feelings somewhat, and also learned to express herself better than initially.
In that sense, the people of the Sea and the people of the surface also grew from hating each other in the first half of the series (all the "you stole our women!" "you guys just didn't have the ability to keep them in the first place" drama), to being able to help and support each other in the end.
Even the Sea God, in the end was able to grow after learning that he had f-ed up by stealing away Ojoushi-sama's love for him and sealing it away. I think that's why in the end he was able to provide all the half-lings (Akira to be exact) with Ena to bridge the gap between the two different people. In the end, he realized that what he had done by taking away other people's feelings was counter-productive to the world. The unfortunate thing was that it took a century and Miuna's feelings of letting go of her "First Love" to get that through to him.
Some fans want a full blown closed ending because their ships set sail.
Some fans enjoyed the "open ending" because their ships still have a chance in the future.
You just can't please the entire fan-base here.
I find it sad that most viewers can only think about love, love, love, love, love for a series which actually gives us so much more meaningful lessons.
This series had it all: Great art, Excellent music, wonderful story line, great emotions, great flow. It even ended with a romantic triangle of Hikari x Manaka x Akira as well! What more could you ask for?
Overall best girl, for all the maturity and development shown throughout the entire series: Sayu.
Overall best guy, for all the crap he had to put up with, and for still acting mature and poised as hell in doing so: Kaname
Overall god class character, for being able to withstand dead-fish eyes, for having the guts to "kancho" you're uncle, and to confess to so openly to a girl 14 years your senior: Akira!
Akira FTW!
10/10 for me because I loved and appreciated everything about this anime, not just the crazy romance stuff.
Just on the basis of the goodness of this anime, I shall eagerly anticipate Glasslip.
By the way, did anyone notice that the children of the Sea God looked quite positively like a mini Hikari and Manaka? |