Irozuku Sekai no Ashita kara Episode 13 [Final Impressions]

Oh. My. GOODNESS. I honestly had to wait a little bit to calm down from my emotions after watching this episode. I’m not even sure if I can type out all of my feelings coherently but I’ll do my best.

Having a final word to everyone was really touching and I had hoped that the series would give Hitomi the chance to talk to everyone and not just Yuito. Though I couldn’t help but chuckle at how Yamabuki said he loved her… photos. It honestly reminded me of Uta no prince-sama when a couple of the guys told the MC that they loved her… Music. Sure guys… SURE. But in all seriousness, I can understand why he didn’t restate his feelings since Hitomi already knows how he feels and saying it again would probably just hurt him more. Chigusa’s farewell was probably the least emotional considering out of everyone, Hitomi probably had the least amount of interaction with him. However, he did manage to squeeze in a meaningful farewell of telling Hitomi to smile more.

Kawai and Asagi’s final words hit me the hardest probably with their tears of friendship. I’ve always had a big soft spot for Kawai (maybe even more than Kohaku for reasons I don’t  even know lol) and just seeing her start crying all the while sobbing for Hitomi to not make her cry… UGH MY HEART. While Kawai and Hitomi didn’t have the closest relationship, Kawai was always one of the main mood makers and constantly watching out for the younger students. They still had a meaningful relationship and I appreciate that even Hitomi brought up how Kawai would constantly cheer her up. And then Asagi… freaking Asagi. She was always the character I had the biggest problems with, however, I appreciated how she was able to shove past her jealousy over Yamabuki and pursue a genuine friendship with Hitomi. And honestly, she felt a little fake for the first half of the series. But once she was able to get around her jealousy, she felt so much more genuine and allowed her to truly focus on a true friendship with Hitomi. Asagi has truly come a long way from who she was at the beginning and I honestly teared up when Asagi told Hitomi that she wanted to graduate together. MY HEART CAN ONLY TAKE SO MUCH.

I’ll talk about Kohaku in my final impressions, but after Yuito gave a rather stiff farewell, I DID NOT EXPECT THINGS TO GO FROM 0 TO 100. And I thought this episode would just be a feelsy ending with no serious things happening. BOY WAS I WRONG. I feel like Hitomi’s magic kind of went out of control again since she had a lot more to say to Yuito, which interfered with the time magic. A part of me felt this was unnecessary, but I guess it was to kind of cap off Hitomi and Yuito’s relationship and arc in a very dramatic and touching way. Since it was the main relationship in the show. While I personally loved Hitomi’s relationships with Kohaku and Asagi more, I can understand why they’d want to push the relationship with her and Yuito in the finale. I liked how they decided to expand on the more quiet scenes between the two where we didn’t know what Yuito was thinking, especially when he first was transported into Hitomi’s mind and saw her past self. And while we didn’t get to see the full picture of Yuito’s background (which is a shame but I’ll get into that later), I did like the subtlety of Yuito’s struggles. Throughout the series, we don’t know exactly why he had given up on drawing, but Hitomi’s presence and encouragement really gave him the push that he needed to continue and pursue it as a profession.

But man, this show always comes through with its great visual representations. When Yuito breaks through to Hitomi, the representation of her insecurities and fears just crumbling down was SO GOOD. Maybe I just like destruction lol. But that whole scene had so much emotion and meaning behind it. I always loved the transition from black and white to color and the show really delivered in showing the different impacts of it. Now that I think about it, the times where Hitomi saw color in the real world, it just sort of faded from black and white into color. But with this final demonstration, it showed the black and white pieces flying off, revealing color. As if the blindfold she put on herself was torn off rather than showing her bits and pieces of what she could possibly see. But man was Yuito’s statement “I’m sure we met to put the color back into each other’s lives” SO FREAKING MEANINGFUL UGH.

And finally seeing her friends’ true colors was also a powerful moment. In previous episodes, it constantly drew emphasis on how she only saw her friends in black and white. As if there was some sort of unconscious barrier between herself and them, even after she had opened up to them. However, after this final display, she had finally broken past the barrier that was preventing her from completely seeing her friends, seeing their true colors. To see her friends in color before she leaves… there goes my heart again.

But the feels don’t end there. NOT BY A LONG SHOT. After Hitomi gets sent back to the future, Kohaku shows her all of the things that her friends left behind for her. The book that Hitomi grew up reading and the only thing she saw color from was actually written and drawn by Yuito. I’m still a little confused why it was only from his drawings that she could see color, but I suppose you can pass it off as fate connecting the two to bring color back into each other’s’ lives. I started screaming when it showed that all the animals in the book were representing all of her friends. As soon as I saw the bunny with Asagi’s ribbon I started tearing up like there was no tomorrow. It was really cute, especially when the show always hinted at an animal motif for each of the characters. (Don’t think I didn’t notice that cat Chigusa had on his phone case lol) I just wish we got to see what the others looked as their animal representatives.

This whole episode felt really bittersweet. However, I couldn’t help but feel myself smiling during the final half of the episode after Hitomi got sent back to her present time. It felt so hopeful with Hitomi finally deciding to take steps in changing her present life like going out to find her mother, making friends and even helping out at her family’s magic shop. I keep saying it like a broken record, but Hitomi has come so far from where she started. Her taking the initiative to hug Kohaku first held so much emotional weight since it was always Kohaku who initiated their hugs prior. Whenever Kohaku hugged Hitomi, it always felt as if she were silently telling her “I’m here.” And with Hitomi hugging her first, it was as if finally acknowledging her grandmother’s feelings and being grateful for all that she’s done for her. Not to mention Hitomi saying it’s okay for her to be happy just hit me SO HARD. YOU’VE GROWN SO MUCH HITOMI.

I felt so happy just watching the final montage of Hitomi’s new life. But man did I laugh hysterically when it showed who her grandfather was. CALLED IT. I knew it had to be him.

Though I am concerned at whose grave Hitomi visited. Was it Yuito? Since I feel like she’d seek him out the first chance she got. I’ve heard people think its Hitomi’s mom because of Kohaku’s reaction to Hitomi saying she wants to look for her. But I felt like Kohaku reacted that way because this is the first time Hitomi has taken initiative and is taking steps to try and change things for the better. Something she never would have done if she had not gone back to the past.

I actually went back to episode 1 to look to see if there was anything foreshadowed. And my attention immediately fell on those two girls that Hitomi befriended after coming back from the past. When I first saw them, I immediately had my suspicions of them being the granddaughters of Chigusa and Kawai. Seeing them again in this episode made me realize that both of them look like a combination of all four of her friends (Kawai, Chigusa, Yamabuki and Asagi). With the black haired girl obviously being a mix of Chigusa and Kawai but having a similar ribbon to Asagi. And the brown haired girl looking like a mix of Yamabuki and Asagi but also having wavy hair like Kawai. It’s highly possible that the group remained close and their kids eventually marrying each other or something along those lines.

I’m just sad we didn’t get to see the rest of the group as older versions of themselves. I honestly would have probably lost it and cried if that had happened. However, I’m just glad knowing that my OTP (Chigusa x Kawai)  went somewhere, even if I didn’t actually get to see them.

Final Impression

Boy, was this series A RIDE. I didn’t know what to expect from this series. But I got way more invested in it than I would have guessed. The visual storytelling throughout the series is what probably sold me. The friendships between all the characters were also a joy to watch. As someone who treasures friendship and family bonds more than anything, I got invested in the relationships pretty easily.

However, MVP of this show had to be Kohaku. While I love Kawai just a little more, Kohaku was literally the heart and soul of this show. I wouldn’t have gotten so invested if not for her. She brought the energy and fun into the group and seeing her support and care for Hitomi was just so touching to watch. In this final episode, I felt my heart going out to her again and again. Especially when she said all she wanted to do was use her magic to make those around her happy but failed to help the ones closest to her. GAH MY HEART. YOU ARE A GOOD GRANDMOTHER KOHAKU. While she’s a little more subdued compared to her teenage self, Kohaku still showed to have her pep by texting her past self that Hitomi made it home (which gave my heart another hit) and her caller name was Kohaku Lv 77. I didn’t even notice that at first but I started laughing pretty hard when I saw it. It must have been hard for granny Kohaku to see Hitomi so downtrodden all of those years of her growing up. But held onto the hope that Hitomi would allow herself to be happy once more after sending her to the past. I almost wished her familial bond with Hitomi was the main relationship of the show rather than the romantic one between Hitomi and Yuito. Especially since we knew that Kohaku would still be there for Hitomi while there was almost no way that Yuito and Hitomi could be together. Thank you Kohaku for all that you’ve done. You were truly the best grandmother anyone could have asked for.

While I did thoroughly enjoy this series, there were a few things that were a little disappointing. Such as the dumb love triangle business. It felt just so one-sided the entire time. Which I suppose it was more of a love line than a triangle now that I think about it. I also felt like there was not enough time to delve into some of the characters a little more like Chigusa and Yuito. We almost know little to nothing about Chigusa aside from his family owning that cafe he works at and his growing relationship with Kawai. Which is a shame because he actually turned out to be a pretty interesting character. I just wish we got more of him. And for Yuito, we didn’t really get that much background on him either. We never got an explanation as to why he had given up on art.

Despite all the hiccups, I can say with confidence that this had to be one of my favorite anime in 2018. Visuals were AMAZING, very real characters, solid character growth (specifically from Asagi and Hitomi) and lots of solid foreshadowing. And it was honestly a lot of fun just watching the characters be their goofy selves and some shining examples of great friendships transcending time. PA Works did a fantastic job with this series and I’m glad that they gave us a near perfect ending to close this wonderful story.

I’m giving this series a solid 9/10.