Random Curiosity

Summary:

Having never found Sakura, Yoshiyuki goes to school the next day and sees all the students gathered outside because they’re boycotting class. When the announcement had been made about Minatsu’s expulsion, Maya had gone to the faculty room to protest the decision. Many students went with her, but it was to no avail, so the students didn’t return to their classrooms. With this going on, Minatsu now finds Yoshiyuki and confirms with him that everyone is doing this for her sake. She’s happy about this, but she knows that this’ll just cause trouble for everyone and that they can’t overturn the expulsion decision. Minatsu doesn’t want everyone to destroy their future for something that’s futile, and so she asks Yoshiyuki what to do to get everyone to stop. Yoshiyuki suggests that she just convey her feelings to everyone, and they’ll respond. To do that, he has Suginami and Nanaka help her work the PA system in the broadcast room.

Once she has everyone’s attention, Minatsu first expresses how happy she is and thanks the students for what they’re doing. She then explains how she feels the decision can’t be overturned, but this just leads to all the students chanting her name in support of her. After quieting them, Minatsu says that she doesn’t want everyone to get into trouble for her. She was happy for the school life she was able to lead with everyone, and she really only wants three more days to enjoy at school. Minatsu would leave this school satisfied if she could do that. Hearing this, all the students beg the teachers to let Minatsu do this, and they eventually approve. The next day, Minatsu does all the normal things she’s always done, such as eat lunch with everyone. That afternoon though, Koko asks Nanaka if it’s really okay to leave things like this since she thinks that Yoshiyuki doesn’t intend to do anything more for Minatsu. Koko still wants to do something, but she worries what Yoshiyuki will think, so Nanaka reminds her that she broke up with him. Nanaka feels that it’s Koko’s turn to be honest with what she wants to do for Minatsu and how she wants to face Yoshiyuki.

At the end of the second day, Yoshiyuki returns home to find Sakura back from what was apparently a sudden business trip. In talking to Sakura, Yoshiyuki admits that he wants to do something for Minatsu, but she doesn’t personally want that because she prioritizes everyone over herself, and Yoshiyuki wants to respect those feelings. The following day is the third and final one, and after it’s over, Minatsu meets with Yoshiyuki on the school’s rooftop. There, she formally thanks him because she knows all the trouble she put him through, and she wonders what she would have done without him. Thinking about all the friends she made, she asks Yoshiyuki if she was able to become the bridge between humans and robots, but instead of answering, he emphasizes what she thinks. In response, Minatsu takes out her notebook on world domination and tears it up, letting the pieces scatter in the wind. She now feels that her wish was fulfilled.

Yoshiyuki then gets a phone call from Koko asking him to come to the gymnasium with Minatsu. To their surprise, they find that the entire student body has gathered inside the gymnasium for a graduation ceremony for Minatsu. As it turns out, Koko was behind all this, and even Sakura is there to award Minatsu her diploma. As everyone is applauding and cheering for Minatsu, Yoshiyuki gets a message from Koko telling him to hurry backstage. In celebration of Minatsu’s graduation, their band is putting on a concert, and Koko hands Yoshiyuki his guitar. As she watches the subsequent performance, Minatsu can’t hold back the tears any longer, and she’s thankful to everyone.

Okay, I was hoping they’d do something more with Koko and Yoshiyuki, but I guess not - this episode was pretty much all about Minatsu, even the Koko parts. It wasn’t bad (the graduation scene was even a little touching), but if you were expecting anything other than Minatsu, you might have been disappointed. And while it makes sense that Yoshiyuki doesn’t end up with anyone if he’s going to pursue a different path in the future, it makes me feel that parts of this season were kind of wasted. There really wasn’t any particularly deep story regarding Koko and Yoshiyuki’s relationship, and I would have much preferred them to have used the time to explore another girls’ path. Knowing that there’ll eventually be another season makes it more acceptable, but if I just look at these 13 episodes on their own merits, I don’t think it was worth the time invested. I probably shouldn’t even put “END” in the title since I’m not going to write final thoughts until I see the rest of it (and yes, I will most likely watch any future seasons), but until then, this is the end.

Update: Well that was quick: Second Season was just announced for Spring 2008.