|
|
Home
|
R1 DVD Reviews
|
|
Written by maehara
|
|
Thursday, 17 January 2008 16:00 |
 After a series of misunderstandings that need to be sorted, Kashimashi comes to a satisfying and believeable ending - and then unpicks it all and tries again with a less-successful OVA episode. Have these people never heard of the concept of leaving well alone!? Whether you've been rooting for Tomari or Yasuna, though, this volume has something for you...
10 - Small Storm
Tomari and Yasuna have decided that, for Hazumu's sake, it's probably for the best if they both settle for being friends with her rather than force her to choose between them - but when Hazumu plans a trip to a local theme park and it turns out that only Yasuna can make it on the day she's planned, will Yasuna be able to resist temptation? Tomari's happy enough with the idea of them spending the day together - they have a deal, don't they? - but the more she thinks about the possibilities, the more worried she becomes. When Tomari meets the other two on their return from their day out, though, a misundersanding leads to Tomari seeing them apparently kiss on the railway station platform - and Tomari believes her doubts have been borne out. Meanwhile, Sora has enough information from his observations of Hazumu, and is heading back to his homeworld - but Jun Puu doesn't want to leave Hazumu...
11 - Things That Disappeared from Yasuna's Eyes
Hazumu and Tomari kissing is not what Yasuna wanted to see, and she immediately confronts them about it - she had a deal with Tomari to share Hazumu, and having it apparently broken drives her into a rage, and neither girl initially realises it's all just flowed from a simple misunderstanding. But there's a more serious consequence than just hurt feelings, as Yasuna soon finds she can no longer see Hazumu and Tomari - the shock of her 'betrayal' has worsened her 'man blindness' to the point where she now can't see anyone. She's quite clear in her mind of what's to blame for her worsening condition, too: Hazumu's inability to choose between her and Tomari, and the insecurity she's been feeling as a result. Fortunately, Sora has some past experience with Yasuna's affliction, and his obesrvations of the girls have given him a possible solution...
12 - Love Begins at Last
Hazumu heads up Kashima Mountain once again, thoughts of Yasuna and Tomari in her head and Ayuki's lecture still ringing in her ears. Given time to think up there, she finally makes up hiers mind which one of the girls she really wants to be with, unaware that Tomari's already decided to 'step off the stage', as Ayuki would put it. Her decision made, her first port of call is Tomari, to tell her of her decision and spend some time with her, just as friends as they've always been. But while they're enjoying themselves, Yasuna's getting ready to leave town...
13 - The Girl Is Whom the Girl Once Loved
It's been four months since Hazumu and Yasuna became an 'item' - and subsequently broke up. With most of her circle of friends, life continues as usual, but Tomari's a different matter. They haven't really spoken in the intervening months - despite Hazumu having made a few attempts, Tomari's been keeping her distance, although it seems to be more out of not knowing how to deal with Hazumu than anything else. With Christmas approaching, though, Hazumu's hoping she'll at least come to the Christmas party she's planning. And maybe a little more than that. Getting Tomari to deal with her feelings, though - already run through the shredder once - isn't an easy task, until a little Christmas miracle intervenes...
Disclaimer: I've been a Tomari fan all season. The childhood friend aspect, the way she's always supported Hazumu (both as a male and female), and her general personality endeared her to me a lot more than Yasuna's more wishy-washy personalilty. Yasuna may have known what she wanted, but it was Tomari who was the one who had the guts to really do something about it. So when Yasuna "won" Hazumu in episode 12, I was disappointed. That said, as endings go it worked really well, and I was prepared to live with it. Along the way to that ending, we had plenty of angst, a lot for poor Hazumu to think about, and some really good scenes while the girls tried to figure out what they were feeling for each other and what they should do about it next. The only thing that really annoyed me was yet another "stage" speech by Ayuki, but that's almost expected by now and she did show her softer and more caring side as well. In short, it was all good - until the final scene of episode 12, where Yasuna takes Hazumu to one side, "Ano ne...", and the episode ends. What happens is left unsaid, but you know it's a breakup, and it throws the whole thing in the blender again.
That was actually a really good ending, as it has just the right amount of "WTF!?" to really get you going - and left unspoken, both Yasuna and Tomari fans could use their imaginations and believe that their girl won in the end. Unfortunately, the writers didn't leave it there. While the anime was being produced, the manga it was based on was still being written - so while the first few episodes follow the manga closely, by this point in the series we're into anime originals. With episodes 12 & 13, the anime tries to tie up the story in its own way - episode 12 works, episode 13 makes a hash of it.
Why? For a start, you get time to think about what Yasuna's done to Hazumu - all that time spent between them, and the rivalry with Tomari, thrown out the window in what seems to be a very short space of time, all so that Yasuna can develop an Ayuki8-like tendency to talk about "standing on her own" that took whatever sympathy I had for the character (admittedly not much) and tossed it away - from a kind and caring girl with issues, she's suddenly heartless and self-centered.
Meanwhile, Tomari gets to "win" through a fairlytale ending that was completely out-of-place with the rest of the series. One of Kashimashi's great strong points was the way it handled the three girls and their relationships straight down the middle - there may have been a lot of comedy & sci-fi madness along the way, but it was never allowed to interfere with the love triangle. The final episode breaks that rule, and left me feeling completely underwhelmed - even as I got to see the girl I'd been rooting for reach the finish line.
I suppose it just goes to show that duff endings aren't the sole territory of GAINAX. In much the same way as I love Mahoromatic and choose to ignore its final episode, though, I love Kashimashi - it's an emotional roller-coaster that has been very well realised and presented, giving you the feelings that the girls are going through without feeling that you're being blackmailed into sympathising with them, while Sora and Jun Puu add a level of fun that helps break up the angst a little. Just ignore the final episode, and it's a thoroughly enjoyable series that comes highly recommended.
|
|
