Summary:
In the end, Yunyun ran back to Maria’s car to pull the useless lump to safety, and Canaan input a dodging hack to make it so that Alphard couldn’t hit her. Canaan is very calm and insightful now, and reveals that she knows Maria is alive because she can still feel Maria’s kindness. Furthermore, Maria is more than just a light and a source of strength; she’s also Canaan’s lover and friend with benefits. At this point Alphard starts freaking out a little, and calls in yet another helicopter (followed by more incompetent teamkilling), but Canaan’s not about to let Alphard escape again.
Alphard is upset that Canaan’s moved on while she herself is still trapped by her memories of Siam. Meanwhile, Canaan realizes that Alphard’s white light means that Alphard’s heart died when she killed Siam. Alphard takes a swing at Canaan, but because Alphard doesn’t have no-slip traction on her shoes like Canaan does, Alphard slips off the edge of the train, only to be saved by Canaan. Alphard can’t bear to be entrapped by Siam’s memory and so amputates her arm with Canaan’s pistol to escape into the water below. When Maria wakes up, Minoru tells her that Canaan left, but the two girls can be together in their hearts. We then get some short scenes of where everyone ended up, followed by Yuri calling Canaan up to track down that one-armed girl who stood her up at the picnic.
Reaction:
So in the end, Minoru couldn’t get the stains out of that plushie, Yunyun got a job at a fruit stand and became another Nene fan, and Cummings shaved his head so he could enjoy the punishing life of a monk (and kept those cracked glasses)? It seems like very little changed, and it wasn’t clear if Minoru saved Cosplay Santana or not. I’m not sure I can believe that Maria even took enough pictures to put up a gallery, although at least she got a sharp image of Alphard despite getting shot at the same time. I also laughed when Minoru mentioned he couldn’t reach Canaan by phone without Maria’s ahoge to boost the signal. Don’t worry, the booty call will come eventually.
This episode had great action but felt pretty crappy in terms of story. There even was a whole bunch of BS symbolism stuffed in, like Maria’s B&W gallery (so groan-worthy) and the cat’s cradle string breaking in Maria’s dream. We never found out about why Maria was supposed to remember Alphard, and all along I felt like Maria was some crappy last-minute addition to the story. Siam was really annoying in all the flashbacks, giving names to all his students. Alphard as “Loneliness” (kodoku, I think)? Bleh. I also noticed that somehow Alphard’s melee skills fizzled at the end, and she even got mounted (gives new meaning to “take that arm home with you“) by Canaan, WTF?! The parts of this episode I did like were Canaan stealing Alphard’s hairstyle and Minoru lamenting the loss of Hakkoo’s fine derriere.
Related posts:
21 Comments
I thought it was a bit better than you make it out to be. Perhaps I am wrong but in the end I think the it part of the series was about Alphard making things right again and freeing Canaan Mk II from Siam’s ghost. Given how Canaan Mk II is now Alphard Mk II I believe that it was MISSION ACCOMPLISHED for Alphard. The Maria stuff was a bit over blown, but in the end Maria is left all alone, Mino-san found a megane who might be his Katie, and Alphard despite losing her left arm SHINES IN THE NAME OF ZEUS and is still deadly despite the loss of her arm.
Canaan not only adopted Alphard’s hair style when she leveled up and became Alphard Mk II, but also the short coat Alphard wore when she killed Siam. In time I think that Alphard Mk II will dye her hair black and become a ojou-sama that would make Alphard proud.
Cummings becoming a monk was amusing since his discovery of a seed brought back fond memories of the airsoft pellets that Alphard and Liang Qi used on him.
Why do I think of Corin Nander with how Cummings turned out…
One day some thug is going to try to jack those monks and that thug is going to get his ass kicked by Brother Cummings.
I can’t help but think that now Alphard has added a moe moe factor to her appeal. She just needs someone to give her a hand!
There’s this scene in Family Guy where Brian tells Stewie: “Why don’t you just shut up for about a week?” That’s what I wanted to say to the characters during this episode. I’m cool with the crash-and-bash action sequences, even the ones that don’t make sense (like Maria surviving the train bomb). I wasn’t cool with the characters seemingly trying to outdo each other for the most tacky and/or cliched lines. Some of the lines the characters had were just cringe-worthy.
I just can’t stand Maria and her retarded lines. What was all this crap about walking with Canaan? Maria couldn’t even walk with Minoru! Everyone else, including Minoru and Yunyun had heroic moments where they rose up to do something special. Maria just babbled and got everyone in trouble. GRRRRR, the only thing Maria is good for is boosting cell phone reception!
I stopped paying attention after the fight and pretty much ignored everything that Maria had said. It made the last 15 minutes a lot more bearable. I suppose you have to give Maria an indirect assist for giving Canaan the power-up to beat Alphard, but otherwise she was just a piece of baggage.
Yunyun was awesome in the last two episodes. Whoever said two appendices don’t give you superpowers don’t know what they are talking about.
Really the mushrooms that Canaan was tripping on when she got Siam’s advice were the catalyst that powered Canaan up, since Maria did… nothing. The thing that really gets me about Maria is that everyone else got moments of heroism, and Maria was just baggage/a punching bag the entire time.
Although it was kinda cool watching Alphard and Liang beat up Maria…
Absolutely agree that the only thing good about Maria was her ahoge boner.
I’m still bitter about how we were cheated of the potential winback fandom fanservice scene of Canaan x Maria’s love love cuddle in bed together in Ep 12!!! >_<
So it finally over, the action sequences in this episode were pretty good. I didn’t expect Alphard to actually show weakness at the last moment. And Cummings, wow I didn’t expect him to become a monk. Yea it seems Alphard is going to continue to live a little longer. Who would have expected that her name means loneliness. Siam really has a weird way of naming his trainees. And Yun Yun omg, how the hell did she pull off that rescue. I guess her second appendix really does give her super human powers. Maria…I really thought she became a hostess at the end.
You know, if Cummings survived, isn’t it conceivable that a naked Hakkoo dragging a mummified Santana could appear a few months later?
Yunyun’s extra appendix must give her super speed and slightly increased strength.
I’m starting to notice that once you hate a character, you almost never let go on that, from what I’ve seen from other shows. Either way, I enjoyed the last episode, though I did wish that Taxi Driver saved the day.
And that the “in your heart” stuff was a hell of a lot more short distance than Maria and Canaan never seeing each other again.
I agree with you Kabitzin. Overall, that was a pretty dumb last episode. There are so many things left unanswered in this anime, overall it was mauve, the colour of meh.
I think that Minoru summed up my thoughts on the series perfectly with that one – it was pretty, but it represents a hell of a lot of wasted potential. Plus we didn’t get nearly enough Hakkoo time. I think an OVA detailing a day in the life of Hakkoo, along the lines of the Tessa OVA after FMP! TSR, is definitely in order.
Except that a day in the life of Hakkoo would involve quickies with mummified Santana and brain-destroying karaoke…
Oh come on now, a little necrophilia never killed nobody. Oh wait….
i agree! if ppl didnt want necro to be around then cremation would be a lot! lot! more popular..
Dead people need love, too.
Disappointing!
How the hell can someone survive a fall that high up, bleeding profusely and with one arm swim to shore? Stupid story!
What’s the point of having Maria? If they’re not going to be hanging out as friends then what was her purpose (besides to annoy the audience)?
I assume Alphard had one of her hundreds of disposable helicopters swoop in and pick her up.
At least Maria has mastered the rule of thirds. That is more than I expected of her!
2 Trackbacks
[...] in the end many will have written this off as a “B” Movie but I sincerely think that the symbolism that [...]
[...] can’t believe that Maria actually got together enough photos for an exhibition either, personally I’d rather go for a Maria Ozawa exhibition. But getting clear shots of Alphard [...]