Kotoura-san - 11

"Stand By Me"

Should I be expecting the end of the world? Somehow, Bones is outstripping almost everything this season in terms of pulling off a good finale.

I don't hate this episode, nor do I think it's terrible, but I feel it isn't really Kotoura-san as we've come to know and enjoy it. There are a lot of conventions shoved into this episode, conventions I feel cheapen the impact of what the series has already established. It's true that I definitely didn't see Tsukino's split personality coming, and it's true that I always knew that Haruka is prepared to forgive anyone in her self-hatred, but somehow a good deal of the events this week feel hollow, and it's a shame this was the case for the penultimate episode. Luckily, since this arc seems to be swept under the rug now, it leaves the last episode open to hopefully close in a more satisfying way.

By far, what most annoyed me this episode was Moritani and the way in which Manabe reacted to her confession. I understand that Moritani feels guilty for what she did to Manabe and Kotoura, but it's an entirely different matter to know that and act as if she has the right to expect an apology from Manabe for not realizing how she felt about him. Even if he was thick and never noticed the obvious clues, she still did horrible things under the excuse that she was doing it for the sake of his feelings. She nearly killed him after all, and even if they hang out in the same group of friends, it feels wrong for his anger to dissipate just because he realizes she has feelings for him. What really got me going, however, was that he felt the need to apologize for not returning her feelings. If anything, she should have been doing the apologizing, and he should have been upset to know that she was willing to do what she did using her feelings as an excuse.

Yuriko too gets off the hook a little too easily for the way in which she plans to use Kotoura and the consequences of her bad decisions, but far worse is the actual culprit of the attacks, Tsukino-san. It's arguable that her split personality does give her some leeway as to the viewer's interpretation of her guilt, but it doesn't change the fact that she did attack various students and tried to kill Haruka. It's understandable that she was jealous, just as it was understandable that Moritani was jealous, but this never justifies either of their actions. However, Haruka, like always, is willing to forgive anyone but herself, and while that's typical of her character, it paints Tsukino (and Moritani) in a sympathetic light that I frankly feel they don't deserve. They're not victims in the same way that they victimized innocents, but Haruka's absolution makes them seem like they should be treated as such. It's unnatural to see the whole cast follow Kotoura's lead on this, especially since it doesn't help her self-hatred very much, but I digress. I just hope this isn't too big an impediment for the final episode.

N.B.: Thanks to Ivan for the wonderful screencaps!