As the story for Miyako, Kei and Hiro ended, my eyes are wet. EF has never failed to bring lots of emotions into me and Episode 10 is no different. I have put the spoilers after the more button for those who have not watched this. Yes, I am still rather ethical and nice. On unrelated news, I stopped watching Ghost Hound and Blue Drop recently as they somehow just do not fit my viewing habits anymore. I do not know why but Ghost Hound is extremely underwhelming for me lately.
The ending really fitted well because it is perhaps quite clear how Hiro treats the two girls. Despite Kei’s liking of Hiro, Hiro only treats her only as a sister and nothing more. Hiro definitely loves his “sister” a lot to do anything for her, but their form of love is one of a brotherly-sisterly love. The relationship is sadly not one that can possibly develop since they are too slow to realize that there might be a chance of developing in a different direction. I guess, if Kei has shown explicitly her love for Hiro early on before Miyako appears, she might have a chance. Well, that is a big maybe.
In addition, I found the timer during the public telephone sequence to be an excellent portrayal of the anxiety building up in the plot. When the timer starts to go down to the 50s and slowly falling, I felt the tension tightening as I wondered what will happen by the turn of 0. It does not disappoint me when Hiro drove his bicycle all around town to find a public phone stand with Miyako. If that does not prove that Hiro loves Miyako, nothing does.
Despite Miyako’s selfish behavior and extreme fear to trust someone, I finally think that she is able to find companionship from Hiro. He is half hearted in all things he does earlier in the series, and it is somewhat getting on my nerves because he keeps making excuses. What he is doing is simply hurting everyone quietly without anyone noticing. He tries to be nice to everyone, as stated by the nun, but he will eventually hurt everyone the way he deals with things. I am glad that he already knows the answer for it and resolves it by this episode.
EF ~ A tale of memories ~ really glitters with the story telling, and much of it has to do with SHAFT’s pacing of the story. As much as people can consider the “conclusion” of the story to be rather quick, I found it smooth and direct, making it easier to accept it. It is apparent that he cannot forsake Kei, because he does have love to a sister that he holds dear. In that way, he does not truly give up on anything, but he is definitely fair to Kei by explaining his feelings carefully to a crestfallen Kei. He is also willing to accept everything of Miyako, the way that a boyfriend will do if he is in love with someone.
You accept all their faults when you decide to go out with them. That is the sign of maturity. So to the three, I applaud you for a story well done.
3 Comments
Impz, I agree with you. The more I see Ef, the more I become like a raging 16 year old otaku girl reading yaoi. From the start of the ep I went:
“Awww….”(drooling at op)
“Yay, back to Miyako!”
“Beach walking, this is promising…”
“WAIT wUT? They kissed! Yes! Finaly!”
“ARGH OMFG WTF? He got laid????? BRAIN DOES NOT COMPUTE!” (At this moment I was in a endorphins induced coma…..)
It’s interesting that I don’t support either of the love for Hiro. Neither Kei nor Miyako. But have their issues but I think Miyako’s problem is much bigger. I’m a firm believer that before one can love someone, he needs to ascribe to a healthy self-worth which Miyako is seriously lacking. Her existence now revolves around Hiro and we know how unhealthy that is in a relationship. Balance and self-love are building blocks for love for each other. Given Miyako’s fragile state of mind, it’s unlike she’s be able to go through the rigours of relationship building which can be turbulent in the initial stages especially when his childhood friend is out to disrupt. Miyako is emotional bankrupt. Hiro needs to be come out with almost all the emotional capital. He has my utmost admiration if he does it.
Anyhow, great is a series that invokes such thoughts from its viewers.
nice…boat…