These last few episodes played out pretty much exactly as I had predicted. Our two main characters fall back in love with their passions and follow their dreams. They’re going to go their separate ways, and they’ll meet again. Probably. The ending left it a little ambiguous for fans so they could create their own theories and interpretations.
In the end, Akira has decided to go back to track and field. She most likely quit working at Garden and placed herself into rehab and is going to work her way to recovering so she could return to the team. The subject kept presenting itself to her when she had the career path paper to fill out, and Yuto asking Akira for help with running. Giving her wise words he learned from his father about never giving up, and with Kondo (kind of) giving her a little push, Akira made her decision. I say kind of because Akira mostly made the decision on her own, but Kondo sprinkled some great words of advice throughout the story so he was encouraging her without even knowing her full situation, which was last episode. In the end, she exchanges her own promise with Kondo, about…I’m not entirely sure?
After they complete their promises (finishing the novel, being part of her school’s team) they’ll meet up later in the future and: fall in love, date, marry, or just continue to be friends? The imagined embrace, which I’m pretty sure was Kondo’s perspective, makes it seem like he did fall in love with Akira and he meant that when they meet again, after maturing and accomplishing their goals, they can start a relationship?
So they both were in love with each other, I guess.
The ending itself was fine, but was lacking for me with some things. We got some flashback scenes of Akira and Haruka when they were younger, but I think those would have fit well in other episodes. The side characters ended up being pretty one dimensional. And the romance was never touched on ever again, which I’ll talk about in a bit. This ending was probably the best and only ending we could have gotten, so in that sense it did a great job but I felt like it lacked in execution.
Final Impression
After the Rain took a big shift in the second half. It had started with a taboo romance and made viewers curious how things were going to play out. I had admitted to being wary of the anime because of the premise, but had fallen for how mature and pure they were handling the subject matter. Akira’s girly happiness when she took another step further in forming a relationship with Kondo was adorable and made me smile, and I liked Kondo a lot because he never took advantage of Akira and took note of the taboo relationship. It wasn’t until the second half, when the show completely disregarded the romance and went for the “follow your dreams” plot, where it sort of started losing steam. The episodes still had a great quality to them, and I really did enjoy watching these two people get up and follow their dreams they had let go of. They both supported each other and encouraged the other, and they both shared a sweet friendship. What I think bothered me, and other people, was the romance disappearing. The episode with Kase mentioned Akira falling in love with Kondo because she latched on to him after her injury, making it seemed like she really wasn’t in love with him, and I agreed. I had thought in the finale, Akira would have gone over her feelings once more and realized that, yes, she did do just that. She could have admitted to Kondo that the only reason she had fallen for him was to keep herself from falling into a deeper depression. HOWEVER, in the end she really did fall in love with him because he was always there to encourage her and cared about her. That’s basically the reason why Kondo (probably) fell in love with Akira too.
The show started off as a romance, but finished as something else. I’m not saying I didn’t like the subject matter of the second half, because I enjoyed it, but when you present yourself to be a romance show, you should keep the romance in there. Giving the characters room to breathe and letting them build their friendship is a great thing, but leaving out the romance in the end throws it off for me. Unless their promise to each other in the end was romantic, but again it was pretty ambiguous. I think this is what is bothering me the most, but because of that “promise” in the end, I also felt the ending to be a little rushed.
Other issues were the side characters being a little boring and one note, because most of the screen time was spent on both Akira and Kondo. But, I liked Akira and Kondo’s characters, and their interactions with each other were sometimes so incredible and heartwarming. The apartment scene with the hug still lingers in my mind because of how amazing it was. Even with the plot switch, it was great to watch them help and encourage each other to follow their dreams. Kondo’s issues were incredibly realistic, and it shows no matter how old you are, and where you are in your life, you can still accomplish your dreams. His feelings of being old, how could anyone love me, how can someone like me write novels, I’m sure many people have those same issues, and it was great to see an anime touch on something like this! Having the spotlight on an older anime character is rare, and Kondo’s journey was a treat.
The animation and music were gorgeous and the direction was genius from beginning to end. It may not be perfect but I’m glad Wit Studio can make shows like these! I really liked this show a lot, particularly loving the first half more than the second. I felt like the second half lost a little bit of its quality and was rushing some scenes, but it was still a sweet little story of two people using their love for each other (romantically/platonically) to aid each other in difficult times, giving them the strength they needed and accepting them for who they are. It was a lot of fun to watch, and I wonder how their going to tackle the live action movie? :o
8/10
I have to say, I am amazed at Shirase’s journey. Of course going to Antarctica was a big deal, and was the physical journey, but her personal and emotional journey was amazing to see from start to end, and if you had to ask me who my favorite of the girls were, I would have to pick Shirase. Even though I love Mari, Hinata, and Yuzuki as well, but when I look at how far Shirase has come, I just feel like a proud mama! In the beginning of the show, she was a stern and ambitious girl that did things on her own. She hid a funny and awkward side to her personality, but she was very driven to achieve the things that she wanted, such as taking on all kinds of jobs and raising a million yen in three years in order to go to the place her mother was waiting for her. And she did that all on her own. She harbored emotions of denial and bitterness against her mother’s fate and Antarctica in general. Meeting Mari, Hinata, and Yuzuki, she learned to open herself up to others, even if it was a little hard at first. Once being the girl to do things on her own, she formed a group of friends who she cared so much about that she would never want to be separated from them. And finally coping with her mother’s death, she was finally able to properly grieve and take a new step into her life. Her cutting her hair is an important symbol in Asia signifying a new start in life, which is exactly what Shirase is ready to do. Smiling as she handed Gin her mother’s laptop, and smiling when receiving the message her mother had never been able to send shows her acceptance and confidence about herself. That confidence showed as she gave that wonderful speech to the crew. But, she’s still awkward as hell and that’s just fine. Looking back on her character development is such a treat, but of course that isn’t to say that the other girls didn’t have their own because they certainly did.
Antarctica made a huge impact on their lives. It gave them new perspectives on their lives and strengthened their friendship. They’ve enjoyed their journey so much, that they’ve all promised to return one day together. Mari had wanted to stay for the rest of the year, but things such as their school, their families, and Yuzuki’s drama are in the way, so plans for another trip would have to be much later. Mari made the most of her youth and found something she would continue to do in the future, Hinata has learned to depend on others, and Yuzuki has learned a little lesson in friendship. The journey has been nothing but positive for them all.
From the beginning, I knew exactly what Mari felt when she said that she felt like she wasn’t doing enough in her youth because I felt, and still feel, the same way. I also feel like I haven’t done much of anything in my life, and I feel a little worse because I’m in my 20’s. I want to do more, and after watching this show where these girls went out and beyond to get what they wanted, ignoring what people thought and said about them made me smile. Obviously, this anime hit close to home at times and it feels really important to me. There are other people that feel the same way, and I hope that those people felt as much motivation as I did to go out and do something. It can be tough, but the end result will probably be amazing. And as a female, it’s great that all of this was done my a mostly female cast, both young and older. I always have to mention Kanae and Gin, as they were just important as mentor figures and also as friends. I’m glad Gin was also able to cope and have a sense of closure as she formed a strong and positive bond with Shirase.
There are absolutely no negatives I can think of. It’s always a little nerve wracking watching an original show, because you don’t know how it’s going to play out and don’t know what to expect. Also, on Madhouse’s side, it’s not that easy to create such a perfect story in only 13 episodes, but that’s exactly what they managed to do. They completed the story perfectly, that a second season or a movie would be absolutely unnecessary. The characters have grown, they’ve done what they needed to do, and we know they’re going to always be friends and return to Antarctica someday. Shows like this one are hard to come by, and Madhouse’s execution is something to marvel at. I mean, this is why they’re my favorite animation studio. 9 times out of 10, I know to expect a great show from them. There’s nothing I would change about Sora yori mo Tooi Basho, and this has been my favorite show of the Winter season. I’m gonna look back on it with a smile and hope more stories like this can be made.
In the first chapter, Akamatsu teams up with the Ultimate Detective, Shuichi Saihara to try to find the ‘mastermind’ behind everything and investigate the mystery of why they are being kept locked up. Meanwhile, Monokuma introduces two motives to the group. The first motive, the “First blood perk.” meaning you could kill, own up for it, graduate, with no class trial involved. So basically, a get out of jail free card for the killer.
so at the end of chapter 1. We are left with the realization that all of the promotional material has duped us completely and that Akamatsu is not the protagonist but instead it’s Shuichi Saihara, the Ultimate Detective, which is both a good and a bad thing if you ask me. It’s interesting to have a detective as the main character as opposed to a support character like in Dangan Ronpa 1. However, it takes away the satisfaction of having a female protagonist in a main series game, something that a lot of the fandom was really excited for.
This is where the writing becomes questionable and the fandom splits down the middle on how they feel about it. v3, the v being the roman numeral 50 is the 53rd season of a popular reality show produced by Team Dangan Ronpa. It claims that all 3 games have been a part of this franchise and none of it from the Hope’s Peak saga to now was real.
This may not of been the intention that Kodaka was going for. Honestly, in the end, v3 left a lot of fans of the series polarized about how they felt. Which can be both a good and bad thing, was it the best ending for the franchise? No. Was it worth playing and exploring the ideas and getting to enjoy the colorful cast that Kodaka laid out for us this time? Absolutely.
