This ending wasn’t exactly the stuff of legends, as it packed in a sequel hook and cut things a bit short. Still, it was a microcosm of the show and an enjoyable watch.

Yorunami’s submitting to Arata during his battle with Kadowaki worked for the scene in question (Arata definitely needed backup). Even so, I feel like the timing could have been coordinated a little better. Since his character arc basically wrapped up last episode, it feels weird to have it happen now. It was, however, a funny coincidence to see his palace collapse the minute its owner died.

The whole Arata-Kadowaki fight this episode was a microcosm of the show, as we watched Arata go from being beaten down to confident, worthy wielder of immense power. Since this was taking place on a shorter timescale, that made it a lot less subtle, what with the raising a continent from the sea and the golden angel wings and all.

On the whole, this was a good way to wrap up the Arata-Kadowaki arc, though I regret that the two didn’t end up talking things out a little more. It’s fairly certain from the credits that there’s a second season that at least one person is planning to make, and I’m definitely on board for it. There are enough plotlines out there (particularly between Akachi and Kannagi) to tie together 12 more episodes’ worth of material.

Final Scores:

Character Designs: 1/1 (Well-suited to showing varying degrees of emotional pain present throughout the story)

Soundtrack: 2/2 (Fit nicely with the large-scale fantasy adventure feel of the show)

Writing: 3/3 (A unique take on the “transported to a fantasy world” genre with standout characters who felt extremely real)

Direction: 2/4 (Was good enough to hold scenes together, but it felt like pacing very rarely hit its stride)

Overall: 8/10 (There were definitely flaws that I noticed, but the strengths more than made up for them. Overall, it’s a show I’d definitely recommend to other people looking at a somewhat fresh take on the fairly common “high-schooler in fantasyland” premise.)