Yesterday, I decided to take a little break and watch this special OVA episode and I have to say that it was well worth my time. It gave me a very nostalgic feeling seeing the characters of sola in motion again. Even though I don’t generally have an opinion for Mamiko Noto’s role, I just can’t help but love her voice as Matsuri here. It’s slightly different from her usual voice and I think that it’s very fitting.

This episode was just absolutely hilarious. I didn’t want to cause a ruckus over here (as I’ve been told by Sam that I can laugh pretty loud) so I covered my mouth throughout most of the episode, but let me tell you, it wasn’t easy. I particularly liked the part where Takeshi first meets Yorito at the pool. The way Takeshi just starts fighting and then suddenly stops once he realizes that Matsuri wasn’t with Yorito was just so funny.

Watching this episode was a painful reminder to me that sola has ended. At least there’s still the final OVA from the fifth DVD and the manga. I definitely need to get my hands on the manga though I need to first double check to see if my cousin secured a copy of it or not while he was in Japan. If not, it’s totally going onto my list of items that I want my cousins to get me when they go there next month.

I watched episode thirteen some time last week but I got held up with other things so I wasn’t able to write up a blog entry about it. I also wanted to recollect my thoughts about the series as a whole so that I could write up a good, honest entry about it.

NOMAD really put in a solid effort in this episode. I noticed very few animation slip ups besides some awkward faces early in the episode, Koyori whilst folding origami next to Mana, and the last bit when Aono and Mana are walking together. Barring these issues, the animation for this episode has been excellent and is on par with the rest of the series. The music needs not be commented on as I’ve praised it several times in my past entries. They played a shorter variant of “カスカナヒカリ” during the very brief fight scene that this episode had and I can safely say that nothing could’ve pleased me more.

The conclusion of this series caught me off guard during my first run through the first episode. Yorito’s sacrifice was just really hard to swallow. It just seemed way too rushed. He dies, Aono cries, Matsuri dies, Aono turns back into a human, and now we queue the epilogue. The conclusion didn’t evict any sad emotions out of me, which displeased me greatly. I’ve been clamouring for a sad ending throughout the series’ run and these two deaths just didn’t do anything for me.

I slept on the issue (as implied since I watched the episode last week) and pondered over it before returning for a second run through the episode yesterday. The second run felt different, much different. Maybe because I knew who was going to die and how the episode was going to play out, I don’t know. It just felt different. The episode gave me a very fulfilling experience, something I obviously didn’t feel during my first run. I think it was probably because I wasn’t sitting on my chair looking for a sad ending. I just watched the episode “as is”…and I enjoyed it. By not simply staring at the screen in anticipation of something sad to come flying at my face, I was instead able to look past the deaths, beyond the simple emotion of being sad simply because somebody died. Yorito sacrified himself not only to protect Matsuri but to also tell Aono that she should let it all go. His death also helped wipe out Matsuri’s hesitation and she was then able to follow through with their plan, granting Aono her life back, reconciling what she did centuries ago. I didn’t get it when I first heard Matsuri say it, but now it’s all come together. To put it simply, there was a real purpose in Yorito’s death. Maybe you all saw it during your run through the episode, but in my burning desire to see something tear jerking happen, I waved off Yorito’s sacrifice as being completely out of place, not sad in any way, and merely helping to accelerate the series’ conclusion, giving it the rushed feel I was talking about previously.

Evaluating the series as a whole, there really has been no major flaws to sola. The pacing has been good, the animation is excellent and very consistent, its soundtrack is brilliant with great opening and ending themes (including the first episode’s opening and this last episode’s ending), and the fight scenes are a true testament to NOMAD’s animation skills and choreography, building on top of the great stuff that they had produced for the 「ローゼンメイデン」 series. The seiyuus for this series has been excellent though additional kudos has to go to Nakahara and Noto for their lead roles playing Aono and Matsuri. On the plot front, the series has kept me on its tail since the first episode and the conclusion has me very satisfied with my personal stamp of approval. The fact that sola was able to somehow get me to forsake my wish for a sad ending and to accept its more mellow (which isn’t really what I want to say, but you know what I mean) conclusion speaks volumes about the series. To end on this high note, I’d like to announce that sola has officially entered into my annals of “Top 10 Japanese Animation”.

My oh my, why can’t every studio produce fight scenes that are as awesome as NOMAD’s? Coupled with the awesome soundtrack that was playing in the background, this episode’s fight scenes were truly awesome. I know that I’m often critical about people that note that something is “the best” of some category upon experiencing something new because I often wonder whether they actually compared this new “best” with the old “best” properly to allow any first impression to settle first before judging. However, I have to say that compared with all the other fight scenes that have been in sola, this episode’s takes it over the top. I am given the fight that I yearned for greatly back in episode nine and this just didn’t disappoint at all.

One thing that I didn’t totally get from this episode was why Matsuri stabbed Aono with the sword near the end. You could say that the sword doesn’t actually work if you don’t actually will it and place your life on the blade or something, but then how would it have worked if Takeshi had just stabbed Matsuri? This bit’s a little fuzzy here and I’m curious as to whether this is actually a loophole or not. It’s possible that this may be addressed in the next episode, but if it’s not, I’ll just ask around on some forums or something and check out what others have to say about this.

From the looks of it, the prediction I made in episode eleven about the series concluding in the early parts of episode thirteen should be correct. The question I posed then still holds though. Why should Aono continue living if Yorito is gone? Will she have her memories wiped out and just live on as a normal person? I don’t think that’s going to happen and I sure hope not as that’s a rather lame way to conclude this awesome series. sola, I’ve followed you faithfully for the last few months and you have brought me great viewing pleasure (as well as listening pleasure thanks to the amazing soundtrack), let us meet again one last time when the last episode airs. :)

Alright, so nothing much happened in this episode. Now I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little disappointed by this, so there you have it, I was a little disappointed by this. This really goes back to the question I raised after viewing the last episode of just what exactly are they going to be talking about in the last three episodes of the series? I’m going to guess that the series will probably reach its conclusion around the beginning of episode thirteen and then the rest of the episode will just show what the surviving characters are doing (this of course assumes that some person or persons have actually died).

So will anyone actually die? Is this really the end of Mayuko and Takeshi’s role in this show? Personally, I don’t think that we’ve seen the last of them. It’s obvious that Mayuko is concerned about Matsuri, so she may have a second thought and try to come back and stop her. I don’t know what Yorito’s going to be doing, but I hope he does something besides dying (or disappearing or whatever). After all, he really hasn’t done anything of importance throughout the series if you ask me.

With episode twelve, I just might get what I wanted out of episode nine if Aono and Matsuri’s going to go at it. I’m not sure as to what Matsuri is up to carrying that sword around though. My own theory would be that she’s going to somehow get Aono to kill her with the sword. I don’t know how the whole reverting process for yakas is going to play out and all, but that’s just a minor detail per se. So anyway, if Aono returns to normal, will Yorito cease to exist? Is that how Matsuri and Yorito are planning to both leave this world? How does that bring happiness to Aono? I don’t know. Disregarding all that, I really do hope that there’s an awesome fight in the next episode, the music that was being played at the end of this episode was simply amazing. I hope all that build up isn’t going to be for naught.

So this episode rules out my original theory of Yorito being spawned from the thoughts of Aono and/or Matsuri from before. Thinking back, I should’ve really at least ruled out the Matsuri out of that equation since it was clear that Matsuri found it odd that Yorito actually existed. Looking at a different question, how will Yorito die? Would Aono have to die first? How is Matsuri going to disappear with Yorito? Will they? I guess since yaka powers don’t work on the sword, you would think that Yorito would’ve died…except he didn’t. With Matsuri’s death, will Mayuko or Aono return to normal? Will both of them refuse and just accept their fate?

With three episodes left, I’m curious as to what else this series is going to throw my way. Nearly all information has been revealed already (or so we think), so I’m not sure as to how the rest of the episodes are going to play out. I think one flashback episode that was dedicated to telling the story of the original Yorito would be a good idea as I’d like to learn about what his original plan for showing Matsuri the sky was. As my train of thought lead from sola to Kanon (as sola is authored by the main writer of Kanon), then to AIR, I’m wondering if the thirteenth episode will actually be a real episode or not since AIR’s thirteenth episode was just a recap episode. sola’s thirteenth episode is going to be named ソラ, so this could really go two ways. I really hope that it’s going to be an actual episode.

The series is shaping up to end in a manner similar to AIR. The series is not over yet but you have a general idea of what’s going to happen in the final episode. You know how it’s going to end but you wish it would end differently. This powerful thought of “wishing it ain’t so” is the key reason why AIR is a series that is so dear to me. Though you never know, they could pull a 『舞-HiME』 even though I can’t really see that happening. Of course, to be completely fair, I wasn’t expecting that series to end the way it did, so I guess sola could possibly do the same and end up being a huge disappointment.

Well, the art quality of this episode is noticeably a lot better than the previous ones we’ve had so far. Both fight scenes were done very well although I have to say that it’s unfortunate that we couldn’t actually see Matsuri fight due to her injuries. I’d say that the fights are definitely on par with NOMAD’s work on the 『ローゼンメイデン』series. The execution for the end of the second fight was a bit weird though in my opinion. Why was there a huge splash of water when Matsuri fell down when she had actually hit the ground instead of the water? Did she just somehow manage to make such an enormous splash solely because of her contact with a random puddle on the ground after falling down from (maybe something like) ten stories up? I don’t know, maybe they’ll rework that scene on the DVD.

So, Takeshi and Mayuko’s backstory has been revealed in this episode. No surprises there for anyone, I presume. I hope they’ll explain as to how a dead yaka can help turn another yaka back to normal as I’m rather interested in how that works. I’m also wondering what Takeshi and Mayuko is going to do now. Will they do nothing important now for the rest of the story? Is this the end of their “arc”? I don’t know if NOMAD was purposely trying to parody Fate/stay night or not, but Takeshi definitely looked like Shirou with that shirt and hairstyle and of course, let’s not forget Aono’s Unlimited Paper Works or I guess more appropriately Gate of Origami.

Now that we know that a dead yaka can somehow help turn a yaka into a normal being, will this series conclude with the death of Aono or of Matsuri? Since I don’t think Mayuko’s going to die at the end of the series, I’m not including her in my equations. Matsuri mentioned that yaka are born from people’s “malicious” thoughts (per se), but she was able to turn Aono into a yaka, so I’m guessing that that process is only for “originals”? I’m assuming that Matsuri’s an original since she’s never seen the sky before. I’m not sure which of the two do I want dead (that sounds really sadistic if taken out of context now that I think about), but heck, you might possibly need two dead persons. If Aono dies or she turns back into a regular human being, will Yorito cease to exist? Well, I guess we can’t really assume that since we’re still not sure as to how Yorito manifested himself in this world. Now if Matsuri dies, will Yorito want to go on living? Maybe Aono will sacrifice herself to let Matsuri live, and in that process Yorito also disappears. Aono wouldn’t have to live on without Yorito and Yorito would be able to grant Matsuri’s promise as a result. Is this a win-win situation?

This episode provides us with the cliffhanger of an impending fight between Aono and Matsuri that I jokingly brought up in the last episode. Since Matsuri is injured, one would have to assume that she’s probably not going to win this fight. There are three ways that this fight could be ended. One, Takeshi intervenes (for whatever reason), this doesn’t seem likely since the guy probably has to sleep. Well, okay, that’s not a great reason, but in all honesty, I just don’t feel that this is going to happen. Two, Matsuri gets serious and puts Aono in her place. Surely, age must play some role in the strength of a yaka. Regardless, we’ve seen Matsuri enter into SEED mode in episode five, so she must have something up her sleeves, right? But Aono did seem to have entered SEED mode too in the previous episode when she was manipulating Yorito, so is Matsuri doomed? Well, she could be saved if Yorito and Mana arrives to the scene, which would be the third way that this fight could end. I’d prefer that we get a good fight since I’m not sure what having Yorito intervene brings to the table, but if the writers have got this written out in a sane way, I could accept it.

So, it doesn’t seem like Mayuko has any feuds towards others of her kind. So…what does she want with them? Lord knows. If we go by the manga about something or another of some sorts that happened ten (or whatever) years ago, let’s just say that she’s looking for the yaka that turned her…for some reason. However, mjaybe that’s not even Matsuri. She travels around a lot, no? Perhaps the culprit was actually Aono? Going back to this hunting business, the question that has now arisen since now we know Mayuko doesn’t seem to care, why oh why does Takeshi want to slaughter yakas?

The show now is basically about two-thirds of the way complete since it’s supposedly going to be thirteen episodes long (although there will be one additional episode each in the fourth and fifth DVDs) and it continues to leave me wanting more after every episode. Admittedly, the art quality is always wavering randomly. It seems as though the close-ups are either done really well or done really poor. Farther shots of the characters are generally pretty crappy although the backdrops are always done very nicely, especially the skies (one would certainly hope that the skies are done right given the name of the series). The music is great too. I don’t think I dislike any of the major themes that have been replayed throughout the episodes and am looking forward to listening to the whole soundtrack when it is released on the 27th. The story? Well, I don’t think I really need to say anything about that, now do I?

This series just keeps getting better and better. Unfortunately, the art seems to be deteriorating quite a bit on the contrary. Every new episode brings us new questions to ponder over and answers that enlightens us all. I wasn’t sure as to what I was expecting from this episode. I guess it would have been naïve of me to believe that they might have thrown a filler episode in here since Matsuri has disappeared. That wouldn’t have made much sense when you think about it given how much Yorito cares about Matsuri. You just can’t have a filler episode when the main character is clearly busy worrying about something else.

So what exactly are Aono’s motives? The events of this episode seems to back up the predictions I made in my last entry about how Yorito isn’t exactly human. Well, could her motives be as simple as wishing to live with her (presumably “imaginary”) little brother for the rest of eternity? Sounds fair enough I guess, but how long can she hide for? What if Yorito tries to get her out into the sun? Will she have to manipulate him all the time to prevent such things from happening? Is that even a happy life? I don’t know, this one’s really got me stumped.

Now why didn’t Matsuri just leave the city? Of course, if she did, the series would’ve ended, but putting that aside, what held her back? Did she bump into Mayuko somewhere? Wouldn’t Mayuko know that she’s a yaka? I guess this goes back to the question of just what are Takeshi and Mayuko doing on their search? While I wasn’t expecting this initially, the table could be turned around with Takeshi trying to take out Aono if he realizes that there’s some kind of a bond or link between Matsuri and Mayuko. Maybe Takeshi will come to Matsuri’s aid when Aono tries to take her out? Who knows.

Wow, this episode was great. Some questions that I posed last time around seems to have been answered this time. So we find out that Aono was turned by Matsuri some time ago and they’ve both apparently grown up…although one has to wonder what’s up with Mayuko. I guess what I theorized last episode may be incorrect and that she’s actually not a yakabito but something different. Maybe a yakabito’s blood or something can…do something about her? Who knows.

So now what’s the deal with Yorito? Could Matsuri and Aono both have thought he died (given Aono’s words at the end of this episode) but that he actually didn’t and has somehow managed to recover? Aono seems so certain that Yorito is her brother despite Matsuri’s doubting expression during the train cart conversation. Could he have died but am now being manifested in the real world because of Aono’s and Matsuri’s feelings? If that’s the case the aging thing with Mayuko could be explained since it seems heavily implied that the flashbacks are events that occurred centuries ago. I actually didn’t have this theory when I started writing this entry, but I guess it could be plausible since Matsuri mentioned that the yaka are born from people’s hatred and all that good stuff, so Yorito may have been spawned from the two’s more happier thoughts? Maybe.

With Matsuri gone off somewhere, who will Takeshi be attacking next? Is Aono going to leave the hospital soon? If Takeshi comes looking for Matsuri instead and finds Aono, I presume he wouldn’t really mind taking her out instead, though one has to wonder whether Aono will be capable of defending herself since she says that her powers have not returned completely yet. In the manga it seems to have implied that Matsuri did something to hurt a girl (presumably Mayuko) some time ago, so will Takeshi just ignore Aono? Does Takeshi know about Aono? Perhaps with Aono’s suppressed powers, Takeshi hasn’t been able to pick up the scent that there’s another yakabito lurking in this town. Oh, there are so many questions that needs to be answered, I can’t wait until I can find out more.

This episode was definitely a lot better than the last one as it is not a filler and actually revealed some information about the antagonists of the series. It was a little hard on the eyes in a few scenes but since they weren’t really that important, I suppose I can let it slide (or not). Given the events of this episode, it wouldn’t flow too well to have another filler episode so I think everything from here on out should be all on the main plot train track, which is good news to me. I can’t wait to see how Yorito will deal with Aono now that she knows about Matsuri.

There was a fight scene in this episode although it wasn’t really much of a fight since it was essentially completely one-sided like what happened in episode one. It didn’t feel as urgent as the action wasn’t as fast-paced despite the fact that the situation was a lot more dire than before (since the sun was shining brightly outside and all). I have to say that I didn’t really get the last bit of the fight where Matsuri just dissolved Takeshi’s dart. I mean, if you could do that in a weakened state, why didn’t you just do that from the get go when you were physically fit? Maybe she can’t use her powers to their full potential unless she’s in a darker place? Nah, if that was the case, she should’ve been dissolved some darts in the first fight.

With this episode, we can practically confirm that Mayuko is a being like Matsuri. Alternatively, she could be from some rival sect and have similar characteristics but actually not be completely the same. We’d need to figure out how one exactly turns into these things or if they’re just born with it before we can draw further conclusions. For starters, Mayuko’s stature is a lot smaller than Matsuri’s, though this could be an age thing if you’re just born this way. If they don’t age after they’ve changed, they’d be following a formula similar to Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire.