Episode 22 Final - HS





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A fine ending. I wasn't sure which way the story would choose for an ending, but I'm satisfied it was this one. There a certain ruthless sense of realism about it, yet this episode was really beautiful with both the piano performance and then the letter. Despite how he was earlier, now you can see Kousei had strength in him. Perhaps it was born from both experience and the fact he realised he's not alone despite the loss. When his mom died, he had neither of those.

A perfectly executed death of a main character is a powerful story element indeed. If a death is used cheaply, it won't amount to much or might even annoy, but there were no such worries here. If Kousei hadn't come to terms with this, the ending would have been bitter and thus bad. We saw enough emoness from him as it was, so this was real character development. Yet it was clear, already during the piano performance when he got the premonition, that it wasn't easy for him.

This was definitely one of the best shows of the seasons it covered. Maybe I'll need to check out the manga as well, to see if it's different. Although if Kaori's fate wasn't the same in the manga, I wouldn't know what to think.

Tsubaki is still a pesky musclehead. I hope the ending didn't suggest Kousei actually accepted her. Nagi, Emi, or anybody would be much better.