Nagi no Asukara – Episode 24: Detritus

Impression:

In episode 24 of Nagi no Asukara, Chisaki is finally forced to confront her feelings concerning Tsumugu…

But, before we talk about that…poor Akira – Nagi no Asukara’s true victim. It’s always nice to have a little comic relief amidst melancholy mania, the mother-son relationship between Akari and Akira always bringing a smile to my face whenever they’re on screen. Now that Akari’s ‘arc’ is over, she has officially become a ‘side-character’, hers and Akira’s existences appearing to transcend the dramatic turmoil and she herself (and her opinions) being portrayed vicariously through the now ‘mature‘ (and I use the word with a notable amount of apprehension) Hikari. That said, we all saw Akira’s heartrending confession coming and so it hurts all the more that he was rejected…

Or do I mean “we all saw Tsumugu’s heartrending confession coming and so it hurts all the more that he was rejected…”, because, you know, that’d make a lot of sense in this episode especially, everyone seemingly having their heart broken. But it’s Tsumugu’s rejection that stung the most, at least, in my eyes (and heart!). It feels as though both Tsumugu and Chisaki have been destined to be together since their ‘moment’ five years prior, their eventual circumstances solidifying this preconceived idea ever more so. But Chisaki is still conflicted. Sure, she and Tsumugu bond for five years, their synchronized antics making them appear as though they were married to the outside world, but Chisaki’s afraid – afraid to let go of her childhood, afraid to move away from the stagnation she herself has been sitting in for the last five years, waiting for her friends to return from their slumber. I honestly don’t even believe that she loves Hikari as she once did. Of course there’s a level of platonic love that will never waver, but when Tsumugu hugged her at the beginning of the episode and she pushed him away, I thought back to the moment Hikari embraced Manaka, she too then pushing him away. Did Manaka push Hikari away because she, Manaka, loved Tsumugu? And is that why Chisaki pushed Tsumugu away – because she loves another? It’s a tough question, and one that’ll only be answered in the run-up to that final episode, but ultimately it begs the questions: “who’s going to be left out?” and “will anyone actually returns their lovers feelings?” Again, only time will tell.

And then we had the Kaname debacle…Sayu! You were finally relevant! Let’s all give our shining star a pat on the back for a stellar performance in this, episode 24, of Nagi no Asukara, Sayu bringing Kaname to tears with her desire to make him finally face reality. After hearing Chisaki talk about the possibilities of their being…’another’ sacrifice, Kaname becomes somewhat depressed, he finally revealing unto Sayu (and therefore the viewer) that he’s lonely, that he feels as though he was the only one who had no one waiting for him and the facade wears thin once again. Only this time it’s not in anger; Kaname cries. Sayu tells Kaname that she wanted him to return and that, now, she wants him to view her as the girl she became in his absence – a girl of his own age. Kaname is forced to come to the terms with the fact that he isn’t as mature as he makes himself out to be and, in my humble opinion, the moment was the best in the entire episode. Two hugely overlooked characters received ‘their moment’ and it was beautiful. It was raw and not once did it stray into the realm of the maudlin… Kaname and Sayu shippers, this is your moment. Enjoy it – the focus will probably shift back to Hikari and Manaka in the next episode.

Speaking of the next episode…does anyone else have a feeling that something will go wrong? Something’s bound to go wrong, right? It’s the penultimate episode, after all… On a little side note, I feel as though Tsumugu would make a great sacrifice – he loves the sea and I’m sure he’d love to be the Sea God’s bitch that has been a predominant theme throughout the entire series. I don’t see how a pearl (I mean, seriously? That’s your plan? Hikari…you high bro?) is going to sate the Sea God’s desires, so I can only imagine that Manaka or Miuna or Chisaki or…yeah, anyone could die. That is all.

– Chris.