Now the final two episodes however are a different beast. Kobato's wish that has been eluded to but has never been explained in more detail than "there is a place she wishes to go" gets revealed and it's actually pretty disappointing. There is no buildup to any of it, and there is a certain character relationship that develops gradually and fairly nicely, until in episode 23 the director decided to tell us that it was totally much further than the show ever presented and it feels unearned. The nicely weaved in details about the history of characters like Ioryogi and Ginsei are entirely ignored. It feels like the decision on how to end the show was made far too late.
Going into a little more detail, and spoilers from here on out - so proceed at your own risk! - let's get into the relationship between Kobato and Fujimoto.
At no point in the show does it feel anywhere near romantic. It progresses naturally, with stoic and efficient Fujimoto being annoyed with Kobatos childish antics at first, only to realize how her childlike innocence instills hope and has the power to mend relationships of those around her. He grows to care for her and to enjoy himself more. It's kind of understandable that Kobato grows to like him romantically, but not the other way around. Until the very end of episode 22, her keeps her at a distance, but by the beginning tof episode 23, we suddenly see a flashback of someone resembling him and someone resembling Kobato in what's clearly a setting different from the one of the show? It feels like the moment Kobato is gone from the apartment, Fujimoto just summons love for her out of nowhere and tries everything to get her back. Admittedly, he never says "I love you" or something like it, but it's still a huge jump with what he was comfortable expressing towards her beforehand.
And the whole "reincarnated previous lovers bound by fate" thing was just lame, dumb and comes out of nowhere. It feels like a shorthand for a development that was supposed to have been there, but ended up being cut out in favor of episodes that while not really considered filler, do have self-contained stories that don't amount to much.
Likewise the moment in episode 24, when all of a sudden, the reincarnated Kobato just gains her "memories" back through magic and that's the end of the show. It was really, really disappointing and kind of turned other exciting developments in the show sour for me since they didn't amount to anything and felt a little pointless in retrospect.
Overall, the show was enjoyable enough. If you like your calm, relaxing (if not quite Iyashikei) shows you'll enjoy this one, but don't expect the background details to amount to anything.
