It's an exciting season because of all of the fun settings, even if they are somewhat typical high school drama fare. All are fun and original and really represent the payoff of the ever-so-slightly slow first two seasons: now we get to see go on exciting adventures with these characters we've come to like so much.
Perhaps even more satisfyingly, the central relationship of the series finally develops quite a bit, in what I found to be a satisfying way. There is not a great deal of character development with any of the other couples, they are increasingly just becoming Yumi's sidekicks. Perhaps there was just not enough time, given the reduced length of this season. It's the only real blemish on the storytelling for me though.
I enjoyed the continued slow and deliberate character development that goes hand in hand with the relentless passage of time as we're more than half way though Yumi's high school career now. There is definite foreshadowing to the inevitable departure of the older Sachiko, and the way it's being handled is quite nice. Not melodramatic, just realistically bittersweet.
The art was unremarkable except for the final episode where they go to Italy. Again I found the music to be disappointing - there is a poppier but not memorable ending theme, and a chance for a character so sing a beautiful song in Italy seemed like a total dud to me. Thankfully the story is awfully strong and more than makes up for these disappointments.
This may have been a bit of a bridge to the final season, but it has set the stage nicely, especially with the attention to Yumi and Sachiko's relationship.
