Go Gundam Go! Oh wait...what?

I think the start of this series of episodes was going pretty good – it continued on the arc dealing with the political instability of the human’s new society, and I thought that was going in a good direction.  However, I think it started going a little downhill when Rossiu decided to try and sentence Simon to death.  I could get the arresting him part, but just realistically, I’m not sure how Rossiu would be able to survive by doing such a thing when pretty much literally everyone else in the government disagreed with him. I suppose the temporary calm he brought might have been enough to not go against him, but I just felt that there would be no way Simon’s friends would just stand by at let Rossiu execute him.

After that, it was basically fighting, fighting, and more fighting.  I think Gurren Lagann leveled up twice in one episode, first by joining with the arc, and then joining with the Moon, which naturally was a Gunman itself. And what happened to all the debris that fell off the fake moon when the gunman was activated? I’m sure that did a nice piece on the earth when it crashed into it.

Anyway, after they started fighting again, the series seems to have devolved into people screaming, Gurren Lagann leveling up, people screaming, leveling up, more screaming and so on.  Hopefully now that they’re going after Nia and the anti-spiral homeworld, things will start to improve again on the storytelling front.

Lopsided Ear Bunny

So Rin and Kouki, who are both kind of anti-social, get along pretty well, as seemingly do Daikichi and Kouki’s mother. They seem to hit it off, though one wonders whether that will work out.  It’s kinda interesting anyway.

Most of the rest of this episode was more DAWWWW along with learning a bit more about Masako.  Apparently, she thought herself a failure as a parent, and was perhaps too immature to be a parent.  This has apparently led Daikichi to try to contact her, which he just gets an answer on the phone when this episode ends.  It’ll be interesting to see whether Masako is interested, or still feels in adequate or what.

Also, it’s almost elementary school time, huh? That should open up a new chapter in the life of Rin, and I look forward to it.

Dawwwww Overload

So Daikichi finds out from Rin that Souchi had a maid – who just happened to have the same name as Rin’s mother as listed in her health booklet.  But Rin doesn’t like her because “she hated Rin and was always angry.”  He also discovers that Rin is confused about death and is worried about her or Daikichi dying, but he reassures her that everything is OK.  He also asks for a transfer at work so he doesn’t have to work overtime. He also finds a permanent day care for Rin.

The best description for this series so far is still “DAWWWWWW!”  I love it when Rin gives Daikichi the Stare of Doom whenever he does something she doesn’t like. Even though she’s only six, she sure is full of personality, which just makes this series all the better so far.

The bit about Rin’s mother apparently being Souchi’s maid – and the fact that Rin doesn’t like her – adds in a little bit of intrigue into the series.  It probably will make it easier for Daikichi to contact her, but will Masako be interested? Did she really hate Rin and was she always angry? And if so, why? Maybe she was mad because Soichi only ever treated her like a maid, I don’t know. I guess we’ll probably find out eventually.

Everyone finally found Menma

I kinda wish that either Menma’s brother or mother had been able to see her go, though I guess it’s just as well the five who knew she was there were the ones to see her. At least Menma’s mother finally seemed to get over her resentment for them.  While I like touching endings, it seemed like they said goodbye one too many times in this one.  I mean, it didn’t make the episode bad really, but I think it was getting to the point of “OK, is she ever going to actually, you know, disappear?” Not that I was cheering for it, but you knew it was going to happen, and the scene seemed to linger for just a bit too long.

Also, while we get a hint of future things, such as Naruko and Jinta getting along, it’d been nice to have it be more definitive.  I know, most series don’t bother to do that, but I always find it nice to be more assured of the happy ending you’re looking for than merely “they seemed to be on good terms” which they already were.

Overall, I’d say this was a pretty good and touching series, though interestingly enough, perhaps the least interesting character of the whole series is the one who is the center of it all: Menma.  Sure, she’s cute, and one really sympathizes with her when she tries to communicate with the others, but can’t, but in a sense, that is almost all she is. We really don’t learn much about her personality except that she’s childish and she likes Jinta, which is presumably why he is the one who can see her.  She does finally get some depth in the final episode, but by that point it’s pretty much too late.

Everyone else’s characters are far more developed.  That doesn’t make it a bad series, but I think it may have been better if we really got to see what about Menma made her the center of the group, besides just being Jinta’s and Yukiatsu’s crush (and by extension, Tsurumi’s and Naruko’s rival).  The reincarnation bit also seemed to be a little out of place.  It gave Menma the motivation to want to go, but seeing no definitive result from it also just kind of made it seem like something thrown in as an afterthought.

I also never really got into Poppo’s character. Again, we never really find out his real motivation until the final episode, and even then it just comes off flatter than everybody else’s.  Naturally, it can’t be easy to be the one to see your friend die, and I’m sure he’s haunted by that image, and in a way, perhaps he is the one who is the worst off because of it.  But his exuberance and his willingness to believe Jinta from day one just doesn’t seem to fit.  The other characters were more believable, either not beleiving Jinta from the start, or playing along until they finally decided he had gone too far, before Menma was actually able to show she was there.

Having said all of this, I think the journey one takes through this series still makes it a good watch, and one still feels for all the characters in the end, despite the flaws in the series.  Many times you can cut the tension between characters with a knife, because of the cloud Menma has left hanging over them, and it’s nice to see all of them finally accept their loss and move on with their lives in the end.

Reopening Old Wounds

It only took Menma 8 episodes to finally use her ability to interact with the physical world to prove she existed, though she only did it when pretty much everyone but Poppo was about to rebel on Jinta because they thought he was just pushing his pain of losing Menma onto everyone else.  However, she seems to have some limits in interacting, though, as she appears to only be able to write with the pen that came with her diary.

As I said last time, Jinta and Naruko aren’t going to be able to make any progress while Menma’s spirit is still around, though Naruko is making it even harder by reminding Jinta that if he does indeed grant Menma’s wish, she’ll likely disappear.  We also have a possible future problem between Naruko and Tsurumi as Tsurumi didn’t seem to happy with Naruko and Yukiatsu commiserating together.

At first I thought the fireworks thing might be another false track regarding Menma’s wish, but they’ve spent so long on it I”m wondering if they’re on the right track, especially since Yukiatsu finally convinced Menma’s father to let them building one.

With only two episodes left, we obviously don’t have time left, but we still have several issues to resolve, including those between Jinta and Naruko, the possible friction between Naruko and Tsurumi, the situation between Tsurumi and Yukiatsu, and with Jinta’s increasing fear that Menma will disappear.  I kinda hope that, at the end, Menma is able to show herself to everyone one last time, and that people are able to properly get over her themselves.