Excuse my excessive use of caps lock throughout this post but… AFTER ALL THE PAIN AND DRAMA, THIS EPISODE FELT LIKE IT WAS THE GIFT I HAD BEEN WAITING FOR. THIS EPISODE GAVE ME SO MANY HAPPY FEELS I LOVED THIS EPISODE. UGH MY HEART.
After all the frustrations I had with the love triangle business and just the drama that ensued this entire series, THIS EPISODE WAS A BLESSING. So many things just came together so nicely it felt too good to be true. But it was just so heartwarming to have a completely happy episode with an adequate amount of sadness sprinkled throughout. JUST LET THESE BABIES BE HAPPY.
Alright, let me compose myself for a moment… inhales
I really appreciate Yuito’s statement of “I’m glad, you were a mage.” Those words were what Hitomi desperately needed to hear because all throughout her life she always associated magic as something bad that stole other’s happiness (like her mother). However, after seeing the good magic can bring to others, Hitomi finally got to experience the good side of magic and Yuito’s words cemented that notion.
The Culture festival begins and thus begins the happiness. It just felt so good seeing the club being successful after all the hiccups they faced at the beginning. I was also just so happy seeing all these babies come so far from where they were at the beginning of the series. While Asagi annoyed me during the love triangle mishaps, I felt very proud of her for reaching out to people to buy her rabbit postcards. Which they did and it was great seeing Asagi proud of her herself and experiencing how her pictures actually made people happy. It was also great to see people come up to Yuito to convey their appreciation for his artwork. You can definitely tell he was genuinely touched by the compliments. Something every artist loves to hear is how touched people were from your creation. Not to mention that drawing for someone else is one of the best reasons to draw is SO TRUE. Yuito’s senpai knows what’s up!
Hitomi has definitely come a long way just as Kohaku said in the episode. From using her magic in much more confidence and control to how energetic she is, even declaring for them to do great tomorrow as well. I’m so proud of you Hitomi~ Just watching the babies be happy during the Culture Festival felt so rewarding and I felt myself smiling through that entire montage. Ugh, my heart is warm…
However, despite all the happiness, there is this constant sense of foreboding hanging over the episode due to the fact Hitomi is still at risk of falling into a time gap and has to go back as soon as the Culture Festival is over. My heart went out to Kohaku when she and Hitomi were walking back home. When she grabbed Hitomi’s hand and Hitomi was confused I was screaming: SHE DOESN’T WANT YOU TO DISAPPEAR AND THIS IS HER WAY OF TRYING TO COMFORT HERSELF THAT YOU’RE STILL HERE AHHHHHHH!!!! I also love how the series gave time for Hitomi to properly express her gratitude to Kohaku’s family for taking her in. While the other family members didn’t show up too much, they still made a big impact on Hitomi, showing her what a true family setting is and how they support and care for one another. I kind of wish we got to see more of them interact with Hitomi rather than that dumb love triangle business but I digress.
It was really sad to realize that Hitomi would not be able to bring anything she had back with her. Though I hope that Kohaku keeps them to give them to her when she returns in the future. Honestly though, now that I’m thinking about it, I feel like her friends would have it much harder since they’d have to wait like sixty years or so to see her again (if they’re alive…) while Hitomi may just get to see them back in her time period as old people.
Day two of the Culture Festival rolls around and I just couldn’t help but giggle over Asagi being a freaking wingman to Hitomi and Yuito. Poor Yamabuki though. I still feel bad for the guy, but I appreciate that they aren’t forcing Yamabuki’s feelings to change over to Asagi right away. He still needs time and I’m sure he’ll eventually see Asagi in the same light as she does him considering the show has been showing them side by side since episode 1 I presume. I should go rewatch the first episode…
But OH MY GOSH MY HEART. While Yuito and Hitomi went out on their Culture Festival date, Kawai was talking to Asagi about how it must be nice to share those types of feelings and telling someone to look at you. After she said that I literally slammed my hand down and yelled: HE’S ALWAYS BEEN LOOKING AT YOU THIS ENTIRE TIME. And then my heart just MELTED when she thought about that time when Fukazawa encouraged her to go at her own pace. She literally just confirmed her feelings for him and I just fell to the ground proclaiming “THAT’S MY SHIP!”. Earlier in the episode, when Kawai was showing her sister one of her pieces (probably), Fukazawa looks back at her and smiles. HE’S ALWAYS LOOKING AT HER AND I CAN’T HANDLE HOW CUTE THAT IS. This dumb wannabe playboy has always been looking at her and only her (I also have a sneaking suspicion he’s been looking at her on his phone all this time). I also love how when Fukazawa tried to rile Kawai up, she just rolled with it and deflected it back on him without getting annoyed. Their dynamic has come a long way and it’s beautiful. If they didn’t get married and have beautiful babies in the future, I will be so disappointed.
Back to Yuito and Hitomi, I honestly thought something bad was going to happen in the haunted house they were forced into since it’s been too happy this entire episode. Thankfully nothing bad happened and just Hitomi feeling sad she’ll have to separate from him when she gets sent back. But UGH THE SYMBOLISM OF YUITO AND HITOMI’S HANDS SLIPPING OUT OF EACH OTHERS GRASPS. No matter how hard they want to hang on, they have to let the other go.
Just when I thought the feels train was over, Kohaku and Hitomi set off magic fireworks, Hitomi comes to realize she finally feels happy…. AND THEN PROCEEDS TO SEE THE COLORS SLOWLY START TO SLIP INTO HER VIEW OF THE FIREWORKS AND I JUST LOST IT. I actually started tearing up a little bit when Hitomi started crying because fireworks have always been a sort of reminder of her mother and she grew to dislike them. But now she’s finally happy to see them in color with everyone and… welp, I guess I didn’t need my heart anyway. HER ABILITY TO SEE COLOR WAS LINKED TO HER HAPPINESS OH MY GOSH AHHHHHHH. THIS was how I felt how it would be when Hitomi sees color again in the real world and this time, it DID feel triumphant. And while she went back to not seeing color again afterwards, it still felt hopeful like she will eventually be able to see color permanently.
I doubt I was able to convey all of my thoughts, but I honestly felt so happy throughout this episode that I can’t help but gush out all my feels. AHHHHHHHHHHH THERE IS ONE EPISODE LEFT AND I AM NOT READY. This series has been a RIDE and I can’t wait to see how this series wraps up. I WANT TO SEE MY BABIES ALL GROWN UP AND HAPPY. PLEASE PA WORKS JUST LET ME HAVE THAT AND I WILL BE SATISFIED.
