Houkago no Pleiades has finally come to an end. The finale was a bittersweet one, but I think it probably could have been handled a bit better. The primary problem I have had with Houkago no Pleiades since the beginning was the way they deliver their information along with how they open and wrap up development. Although it depends on the individual of whether or not they were able to understand all the points that were being said, but it still as clustered as ever. This is precisely why I wasn’t fazed by the fact I constantly found myself getting lost of what was happening finale. However, I think many can agree it was a bit all over the place and there were some awkward transitions in this episode which had ended up spoiling some sweet moments such as: the kiss between Subaru and Minato (something I wasn’t expecting to actually see!). It was a long and sweet kiss, and in most cases, we would see a post-reaction of a sort, but for some odd reason they immediately jumped to the alien’s spaceship. And so because of that they basically forgot the kiss because of the stupid spaceship.
Although the finale was kind of all over the place, I really loved how Subaru took all of the initiatives. When Minato was going on how he didn’t mind the idea of being erased from existence, Subaru wore her heart on her sleeve, telling him how important he was to her, and when he couldn’t say what he wanted to say, she did it for him and freaking kissed him!
One of the other things that I find amusing is how Minato can have all the doom and gloom talk, but as soon as Subaru stubbornly follows him, he forgets about the gloom and ends up putting her first because he cares more about her than disappearing.
The way it was wrapped up, I felt it was a bit open-ended. We know each of the girls went back to their own origin worlds, and Minato and Subaru, were the only two to have gone back together to the same world. It is a bit unclear to me whether or not Subaru remembers the girls and Minato (since she had his sweater), but the one thing I do know is that she returned to her world with the mentality she had grew in the alternative world. The girls were all given an opportunity to start over, and one of the things Subaru had done was to talk to Aoi, who she hadn’t spoken to since they applied to different schools. She was able to hear Aoi’s reasoning, and assure her decision does not affect their friendship.
Also by the look of it, seeing how Subaru has encountered all the girls again, it is likely she will become friends with them in her world.
See, this show has a great concept and many original ideas that makes it a very fresh magical girl series, but I felt they had failed to execute it properly. The mouthful explanation that tends to fly over the audience’s heads if they get lost to struggling to determine what to be the main focus is what throws the series out of whack. It’s too bad because Houkago no Pleiades is by all means not a bad show, but it’s not the greatest either. It’s biggest downfall is the excruciatingly slow first half of the series. To be frank, it is a flat out snooze fest and is uninteresting until Episode 6. As result, many people have chosen to drop it at no later than Episode 4.
In the end I am still happy Houkago no Pleiades received a TV series and am at least satisfied with what we got. Initially I was going to drop the coverage of this show at Episode 5, but I picked it up again because it suddenly became interesting. Was it worth it to continue covering? To be honest, I am not quite sure myself. Perhaps I would feel more confident about saying yes had I had an easier time understanding the explanations. What made me stick around was potential of their original concept. Like I had said, Houkago no Pleiades is quite original and has a very fresh take on a magical girl series. It’s not a try-hard to break the mainstream, it simply focused on something many of us struggle with, accepting and loving ourselves. The adventure of collecting the fragments was not the focus, it was the girls and Minato learning about themselves and growing to change into the person they aspire to be. The girls were all afraid of not being able to change/be true to themselves and Minato was struggling to find a world where he can live again.
Besides the lack of focus, one of the biggest downfalls of this show was the lack of development and air-time with the girls other than Subaru. What had happened was, due to the fact Dark Star/Minato’s character had a stronger presence than the four girls, they (except for Nanako who was the only one who had a strong character central episode) were forgettable. I can’t even call them main characters because they felt more like minors/background characters due to the lack of presence and significance in the story. Aoi’s was slightly stronger due to her conflict of misunderstanding with Subaru, but even that wasn’t enough. Had the girls’ characters been more fleshed out during the first half of the series, I think it could have been way more engaging which opens the possibility of creating more exciting or fun episodes. The one thing I notice was the fact Subaru was the only one (every single time) to be the one being engaged with during these character central episodes. The fact none of the other girls (except for perhaps Nanako’s episode’s) participated in any meaningful way. And that itself created a missed opportunity.
Houkago no Pleiades has a simple story with complicated explanations. The original concepts and fresh take to a magical girl series is all there (along with a touch of romance), but while it had somewhat failed to deliver, it certainly doesn’t mean it’s not worth to watch. However due to lacking execution, it lacks the re-watching value. This show is best to marathon in one-shot, but it will require patience for the first five episodes. It is only at episodes 6 when it finds it’s stride, so hopefully you will find it rewarding. I will note however this is not for everyone.
Overall Score: 7/10
Story/Plot: 6/10 – Strong concept, struggled to deliver in an impactful way
Characters & Development: 6/10 – Although the characters aside from Subaru and Minato were forgettable, they all undergone development, but not always in the most significant or memorable way.
Animation Quality: 8/10 – Consistent quality and stellar backgrounds
Original Soundtrack: 8/10 – The soundtrack didn’t have much of a presence, but when it did that was when it made it count. Both OP and ED songs were enjoyable to listen to every week.
Recommendation: Not for everyone, but good enough to watch at least once.
There are definitely some parts of this show that’s hard to wrap your head around. For me the most confusing part is with Minato’s back story. If, as Elnath/the president said, that Minato was in a coma the whole time, then how did he meet Subaru in the first place? The best explanation I can think of is that after Minato started collecting the Crystallized Potentials, he and Subaru did meet, but Minato’s health suddenly turned for the worst and he was moved to ICU, and that’s why Subaru never saw him again. But that still doesn’t explain how mahou shounen Minato didn’t know this, or how Elnath’s magic worked to have kept him from knowing.
Beside that, I actually enjoyed the story, and the finale, quite a lot. The space imagery and elements of astronomy were beautiful, even if I question some of the scientific accuracy. Some people feel that Minato got the short end of the stick in the end, but I think there are subtle clues that there’s hope for him still. When we see him previously he’s on a ventilator. When we see him at the end of episode 12 he’s off the ventilator, suggesting he can breath well on his own now, and that his condition might be improving. Medically it’s not unheard of for someone to recover from a coma after many years, a process that is gradual and not instantaneous. So I have hope that he will be able to meet Subaru again (I already have an idea for how this will happen; might write the story this weekend :p).
DO IT.
I think Subaru and Minato had met before he fell into the coma, which resulted him moving to a different room. Since he no longer has mask on him, I do have hope that he will awaken soon. ; v ; I was hoping though to see Subaru and Minato reunite in this world, and it wouldn’t have mattered to me had he been still unconscious or not while Subaru goes to visit him. ; v ;
The scientific/astronomy aspect of the series was one of my favourite parts. I love astronomy, so it’s fun to have a mash of magical girls and science mixed together. It was always fun to be able to recognize some of the matter and terms used in the series, and it shows they did do their research. Of course there is bound to be some fictional twists, but the foundation of the facts are there. 🙂
So remember how I said I wanted to write a fanfic? Well, I did end up writing it. >///< You can find it on fanfiction dot net. It's under the category Wish Upon the Pleiades, and the title is "A Bridge Across the Milky Way".
*ends shameless plug; goes back to lurking*