Final Impression:
FFFFFF——
BRAINS BASE YOU WERE DOING SO WELL UNTIL THIS FUCKING ENDING HAPPENED.
I have mixed feelings about the finale, I honestly do. One of the things… Oh my god. I just realized that Ukyou and the heroine didn’t get their kiss.
WHAT IS THIS BULLSHIT?! NOPE. NOPE. I DON’T BELIEVE IT. HOW COULD THEY.
NOW I AM PISSED. I MEAN KENTO DIDN’T GET A KISS BUT— FAAACCKKKKKKKKK. /RAGE QUIT
First of all, I felt it was very underwhelming (WHAT IS WITH ALL THE UNDERWHELMING ENDINGS THIS SEASON?!?!). Maybe I had my hopes up too much, but then again lets be real here, there was something missing and I can actually pin point what it is. It is that obvious.
As you may know, when it comes to delivering heart wrenching scenes, tragic moments of being overwhelmed by emotions I ALWAYS. CRY MY. EYES. OUT. But this time, I didn’t. And honestly throughout the entire weekend, this was the exact thing I was so concerned about.
I think it would have had a much greater impact if we were able to see firsthand of Ukyou’s rounds of despair of ending up killing the Heroine every time he had attempted to save her. This is because this whole parallel world jump ‘reset’ scenario is very similar to Homura’s (Mahou Shoujo Madoka) determination of going back into time to prevent Madoka from her cruel fate ahead of her (which still, no matter how many times i rewatch has a strong delivery). When Ukyou freaking STABBED HIMSELF so that he wouldn’t let his insane!side kill her and then told us about how he had killed her so many times- it failed to come anywhere close to that. That is why I felt the delivery was weak and I was genuinely disappointed that I wasn’t crying.
Of course since this is an adaption from a game, and I am sure that the game does not show us the flashbacks of Ukyou’s tragic experiences. Still… I WANTED TO CRY FOR UKYOU! I REALLY DID. THIS GUY HAS BEEN THROUGH SO MUCH ALL IN DESPERATE ATTEMPTS TO SAVE HIS LOVE, SO IT MAKES ME UPSET THAT THEY JUST COULDN’T DELIVER THAT! I don’t know, maybe it all has to do with the Seiyuu. I have noticed but decided not to pick on it for the past two episodes that Ukyou’s voice, it lacks delivery on both personalities. At first Insane!Ukyou did scare me, but now I find his voice not exactly ‘psychotic’ or rather to be more accurate, I don’t feel threatened by it and I don’t sense that killer intent from him like I would for other characters in other shows.
The next thing is, (this may be bias it’s because I am a Ukyou x Heroine shipper) I desperately wanted a beautiful animated reunion of the two reuniting with each other (no not a fucking still-image thank you very much). I mean come on! After all the despair he had gone through, Ukyou’s wish had finally come true and we don’t even get a decent reunion? I understand the concept of how she had five entrances to decide which one is her original world, and lets face it- in a way that’s a win win situation because they dodged the open ending. We know that whichever door card she chooses, she will end up with one of the five guys.
With that rant aside, I am glad they tied up the loose ends and filled in most if not all the remaining questions.
Such as:
– How Ukyou was able to travel to different worlds
– The reason behind the Heroine’s random jumps between different worlds
– How Orion came to be by her side
– What was the Heroine’s original fate
– How Ukyou’s split personality came to be
Lets address the first and the most important one. We learned that there is a Fairy like Orion (except higher status) who is the Creator named Neil. Because of his interest in Humans, he has been granting wishes- and Ukyou is one of those people. It was because of Neil’s power that Ukyou was able to jump around to different worlds, but because his wish to save the Heroine was difficult to fulfill and Ukyou had to go through a lot of painful experiences. Neil was also the one is who was partially responsible for the Heroine’s amnesia because Orion was meant to merge with her and guide her through the worlds. Then during that time when the Heroine fell off the cliff, Insane!Ukyou was intending to let her die, but Ukyou broke down and Neil sent her to another world as an emergency measure. However as result he lost control of his power and that is the reason why she kept on randomly being tossed around to different worlds.
The reason why August 1st is an important date because it would determined whether the Heroine lives or not.
The Heroine’s original fate from her true world was dying in her coma after having been caught in an explosion at the University. Everything else after that was part of Ukyou’s death experiences and since she did not belong in that world (Foreign Existence if you would), Fate was trying to set things back into order.
When it comes down to fighting against fate, I always loved these scenarios because they are inspiring and they are also very meaningful. Again, Mahou Shoujo Madoka reference, while Homura couldn’t stop Madoka from becoming a Magical Girl, Madoka instead after having learned what Homura had gone through and experienced decided to tweak her fate a bit. While she did follow her fated path, the only different is that she changed the outcome, so Homura’s efforts of fighting against fate was finally a success.
Ukyou’s split personality took form after having experienced death so many times. Makes sense since well dying over and over and over again with cruel deaths and killing your lover when you intended to save her is bound to cause psychological issues.
Last but not least, the farewell scene with Orion moved me. My eyes were starting to sting a bit, (finally!) and I felt very sad that once the Heroine regains her memories, she will not remember nor see Orion anymore. They have had quite an adventure together and Orion has been a great guide and supporter. So it was sad to see them say goodbye to each other. The promise the Heroine asked Orion to make was very sweet, and I hope that she does instinctively respond to him even when she can’t hear/see him.
In the end, despite the underwhelming ending, AMNESIA is still a fantastic show to watch. The plot made it worth it, the romance… hmm, it is ultimately up to you I guess. It isn’t the primary focus, it’s more of a… side quest if you know what I mean. However even though it was a side quest, it was still good. The characters were likable, my favorites being Ukyou, Kent and Orion. One of the things I really liked about this show besides the plot was that despite the circumstances I liked the Heroine’s growth. No she is not flawless, there are a couple of issues and I do wished that she had a bit more firepower during her last fight for her life against Insane!Ukyou without needing Orion’s encouragement to not give up yet, but I still like her. At the very least she gets off her ass and is capable of making her own decisions.
I am just going to wrap it up here. I think I am going to snap if I think about this anymore. My shipping-conscious needs to cool down. I STILL CAN’T GET OVER THE FACT THAT THEY DIDN’T KISS OH MY FUCKING GOD. AND I WAS LOOKING FORWARD TO IT TO, AND YET I FORGOT ABOUT IT AND THEN I REMEMBERED AND NOW I AM SAD. GOD DAMN IT BRAINS BASE, YOU WERE SO CLOSE, SO FUCKING CLOSE TO MAKING THIS ONE OF THE BEST OTOME ADAPTIONS I’VE SEEN IN AGES BUT NOOOOOO, YOU JUST HADDDDDDDDDD TO WITH THIS ENDING. FAACCCCCCKKKKKKK.
BRB JUST GOING TO SULK IN A DARK CORNER.
The Overall Review will be posted separately and be out shortly.
EDIT: THERE IS SOMETHING WRONG HERE IF I AM MORE EMOTIONALLY UPSET ABOUT HOW THE ENDING TURNED OUT THAN I WAS WHILE WATCHING THE EPISODE.
EDIT2: If you are up experiencing another FEELS wave, I suggest you hunt down some Ukyou x Heroine fanart, there are PLENTY of heart wrenching ones about his cruel routine that I felt was missing from the show. /BRB DROWNING IN A SEA OF FEELS
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aha i do agree on the ukyo not getting a kiss :/ i mean even Toma (although it was forced or whatever, not that i care) got a kiss and wen ukyo just stabbed himself i practically flipped a table .-. poor guy. i found the ending ok (since i didnt have to be upset if she didnt end up with Toma or Shin) but i lovd this series and am so upset its over ;_; i mean HNK got 26 episodes and i found it rushed D: now like tegami batchi im going to sob in an isolated room since its over
It’s really sad that it’s over
now i am off to hunt down any info on Later and Crowd mwahahaha. Just UGGHHHH I had gut feeling last night that Brains Base was going to pull this and was was desperately hoping that they wouldn’t, obviously it was too late. But when you look at the whole show, it was definitely enjoyable and they did a damn good job with balancing out the plot and tying up the loose ends.It baffles my mind how HNK even got 26 episodes, I tried watching the first season and bored me to death. And to hear that it was rushed… man that’s pretty bad. Despite that, I am still all for playing the game. XD
Same as you, I wanted to feel sad for Ukyou but didn’t really. I feel like the show needed just one more episode before this one to really hammer out Ukyou’s struggle, like a whole episode showing all the times he failed to save her or something. I don’t know. Maybe we’ll get some OVAs showing the different endings, that would be nice.
But OH MY GAWD ORION!!! I was almost crying. I was making the noises but wasn’t quite in tears. It was so touching to see the Heroine become emotional enough to smile like that and then cry over leaving him. It felt like I got MY ENDING, the Orion ending lol. With this I am satisfied, although I’m still hoping for an OVA where he called out to her and she hears him (or even better, an ova where he becomes human and reunites with her, I know that happens in one of the Amnesia games fufufu).
*SOBS* I KNOW RIGHT. Yeah you make a good point that perhaps it would have been good to have an extra episode just so that we can see Ukyou’s despair. That would be such a painful, but awesome heart wrenching episode- and it would be totally worth it if they ever did it right.
Yes you definitely got your ending with Orion ahaha. I think those who, like you ship Orion with the Heroine are probably the happiest of the fandom right now. XD
I have this artbook, Orion is so precious omg and Neil is gorgeous, and *sobs as she flips through the pages of all the Ukyou x Heroine kiss CGs* FEELLSSSS (seriously you should get the artbook if you haven’t already IT IS SO WORTH IT!!!)
AKSYS PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE LICENSE THE GAME!
Hahaha ^^ well I would get the art book if I wasn’t SO DAMN CHEAP!! I tend to be really frugal with my hobbies so that I can really splurge when I need to. At the moment I’m conserving funds for cosplay materials and whatever I might like to buy at Toronto’s Anime North convention this May. I’ve never bought any artwork or figurines though- its crossed my mind often enough, but I always rationalizing my way out of it- “sure it looks pretty, but do you really NEED it?” which, if prolonged, inevitably turns into “it’s SO BEAUTIFUL but I’m just SO POOR DX” lol
TTwTT I can’t make cosplays for my life. If I could I would have loved to cosplay as the Heroine. /SOBS But I think I’m going with the cheap route as casual Ayase Chihaya 😀
Yeah it’s better to rationalize. xDDD
This will only be my second time cosplaying, but my wishlist of cosplay choices is mostly made up of characters with relatively simple outfits so here’s not much work to do. I can see how the Heroine’s outfit would be hard, it’s like everything either has to be altered somehow (provided you can find the right stuff) or custom-made from scratch >.<
One of my strategies for avoiding this is to choose an outfit the character doesn't wear as often- for example, I'm cosplaying as Morgiana from Magi this year, but I'm going in her original slave attire because it has less to it. You could cosplay as the Heroine in her festival kimono or work attire (kimono are actually easy to make if you can find suitable patterns) or her hospital clothes (she does wear those a lot lol), the nightgown Toma gave her, anything else she's worn before! It's kind of a cheat, but at the same time it does set you apart XP
Hmm. I actually was pretty happy with the ending, but maybe that’s partially due to coming off of Ib, where the focus is on a 9 yr old and 16-19 trying to escape an inverted art museum nightmare alive (and their let’s-protect-each-other-and-learn-courage relationship is just so innocent and precious like H+O GUH).
I agree that Ukyo’s bit could have been handled better–such as quick flashbacks of his deaths and you know, not having a long as hell speech with a dagger stuck in his heart (REALLY =__=)–but once they cut-out to the world of consciousness and explained things, I realized something.
This may be the Heroine’s story, but it isn’t a story of her finding her true world ; more like, it’s a story wherein a god calls upon a girl in a latch ditch effort to save himself and a suffering boy because she’s the only one who can. And in this quest that has been thrust upon her and a fairy boy, they see and experiences strange and new sights and grow and become kinda friends. The people and encounters in each world are just add to a colorful patchwork of life.
So, I really liked it. Strange that an Otome game became scarcely about the romance, but I don’t mind it much. It was sweet. It gave thought to its ending and turnabout my expectations in such a way that was surprisingly nice. It didn’t matter which world she was from, just that she was willing to help out.
A brief and forgotten moment in a girls life; ah, so fleeting, so Japanese~
It should be noted that I may have cried during the Orion montage.
Maybe. come to me baybeee.Oh I think I know Ib, through fanarts XD.
Long as hell speech indeed. I was like, “Dude, how are you still alive? There should be blood coming out your mouth by now.” XDDDD
Hmm that’s an interesting perspective. I never thought of it that way.
It’s actually not that uncommon for Otome Games not be focused too much on romance. I think most titles with the romance as a side-quest or being saved for the sequels are not as well known- or their plots are overshadowed by the fandom’s focus on the bits of romance making it bigger than it actually is.
*passes tissue* There there.
Ib is fairly new to me so the feels are bleeding over. (Fighting For You /sob)
Not knowing how he wasn’t suffocating due to his heart not, you know, pumping oxygen to his body was incredibly distracting during the drama moments. “Stop crying and explain this to me, Ukyo-san!” I wanted the Heroine to say.
I’m amazed you could read that and understand anything through all the crappy auto-correct.
I dunno. I like being surprised and being proven wrong about people/situations. The anime made us believe she would be romancing-all-the-guys or that there was one-true-route, but in reality she was on no one’s route! I wouldn’t have minded an Ukyo ending, but… I dunno. Brains Base’s decision to make her ‘unattached’ felt more freeing? I have no doubt she cared about Ukyo, but while she’s an amnesia I don’t think she could give love it’s due weight without the foundation of that relationship. Orion’s goodbye was so moving because the two of them had built one up, innocently and openly, without even meaning to.
Too, it’s almost fitting that she isn’t necessarily ‘choosing’ someone who ‘seems better’ like it’s a game (ha ha). She belongs where she belongs, wherever that is.
Tl;dr, the real romance will start when she’s no longer braindead. …pfff. :b
(I see what you mean about the Otome stuff. My favorite Otome, Hatoful Boyfriend, is more about tragedy and comedy and what love (of all sorts) will drive a person to do than romance. Still, it’s pretty rare for an Otome adaptation to not end with the Protag end on somebody’s route or everybody-loves-her-harem-end-GO. It’s nice.)
thank you for the tissue. *cries over Orion hoodie pictures on the Internet*
OMG AHAHAHAHAH HATOFUL BOYFRIEND IS HILARIOUS. LETS DATE BIRDS. XDDD
I keep on dying though. I can’t seem to get through. XDDD;;; Like either the ninja birds get me or Iwamine Shuu kills me before I can get any further.
DATING BIRDS IS TEARS AND SUFFERING AND NO REGRETS.
Shuu killing you is his good end. Now, his best end… 😛
If you keep dying it’s ’cause you’re not on anyone’s route by September or managed to jump off that route with an unfortunate choice. Are you playing the demo or the ~$5 full version?
*COUGHDEMOPROBABLYTHEREASONWHYCOUGH*
SHUU KILLING YOU IS A GOOD END?! ARE KIDDING ME. I DON’T EVEN WANT TO KNOW WHAT HIS BEST END.
unless its the part when you eat one of your friends- that i know aboutPfff. XD
There’s only one ending per bird in the demo version (plus the general bad end). You know you’ve got their ending when you’re still alive on Legumentines.
His best end is AWESOME
but why it’s the best end isn’t properly explained until you reach the hidden route (full version only), and the sequel expands on his psyche even moreso so.Oh i found something out :O at the endn of episode 12 in the middle its a moon card! and ukyo’s card is a joker card! so whats up with that O_O;;
wait what end of nagase (library dude) did i get? b’cuz nagase kinda vanishd and i cried my eyes out :/ ahh the memorys~ ;_;
Are you referring to Nageki, the mourning dove in the library? :O