Hello everyone and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today, it seems we’re overdue for a check-in with Yuki Yuna and her brave companions in the Hero Club, as they continue to fend off all those who intend to harm the Tree God. Despite the lack of any intense fight scenes, the final episode of Yuki Yuna is definitely my favorite to date, for its exploration of Fu and Itsuki’s unequal yet cherished relationship. The feeling is profound and convincingly real, underpinning the commonalities of the show’s genre. structure suitable to a family’s specific circumstances. The belief in the distinct humanity of the show’s characters is what elevates the otherwise dry narrative into an emotionally resonant show, and episode four does a great job of demonstrating that humanity. convincingly.
Getting all this personal context is appreciated, but judging by episode four’s dramatic arc, the time for singing lessons and cat-carrying exercises is now behind us. As expected, the deaths of the sisters’ parents are revealed to be linked to the Peaks, meaning Fu ends up involving his classmates in a personal quest for revenge. Between those issues, her current problems with leadership, and the flipping of Itsuki’s ominous death card, I expect some tough times ahead for the young heroes of we. Let’s get started!
Episode 5
“There are seven left. And it looks like they’re all here.” Oh man, what a fascinating convention drama. These creatures messed with the usual monster-of-the-week formula, but having the entire enemy team appear en masse even before the show’s halfway point was something else entirely. Such a choice seems to deliberately mislead the audience’s understanding of the seasonal structure – it raises the immediate question of “if they were all here now, what might happen?” out next?”
“This will be so satisfying that I will need more supplements.” Karin cemented its reputation as a beloved health nut. You’d think more magical girls would be like this!
Always in tune with the group’s emotions, Yuna tickles Itsuki to calm her down
Karin’s transformation sequence is confident and aggressive, just like her. Instead of beauty or elegance, it focuses on her carefully practiced swordplay
We get a look at a montage of all their other transformation scenes, which in magical girl parlance usually means they’re using the footage in the bank to fill out an episode that’s going to be special Animatedly impressive. It is the distribution of economically essential resources that essentially becomes a medium-specific form of aggregate foreshadowing; after watching a thousand One Piece episodes, my brain instinctively reacted to the lightly animated first half of the episode by thinking “man, they’re gearing up for some craziness in the second half”
Their seven opponents make for a particularly strange and unsettling group fight, their lack of humanoid bodies or facial features emphasizing that there can be no mutual understanding or negotiation with the this creature. There’s a reason why Ramiel is one of the most iconic Eva designs
“If we get through this, I’ll treat us to a meal!” Fu’s petty encouragement only emphasized that they still considered this an extension of school club activities and not a true life-or-death situation.
The first enemy quickly falls, but Togo suspects a trap. And at that moment, a giant peak began to ring at its peak, overwhelming the senses of our frontline warriors.
After the two sisters made a combined attack that pushed back the front line, the enemies retreated and combined, four of them merging into some kind of bizarre superstructure
As expected, lots of nice action choreography and especially some massive, smooth effects animations for explosions and dust clouds created by enemy attacks
Despite the vague, fluid nature of these adversaries, I appreciated how the show continued to establish clear enemy attack patterns that required specific, creative solutions. You can really feel the strategic progression in these battles, as specific enemy attacks are met with unique countermeasures, forcing the enemy to adjust tactics for Fit
The team is quickly overwhelmed by this combined threat and the creature continues on its path towards the Divine Tree. Another idea that feels reminiscent of Evangelion—the way these beasts move slowly, inexorably toward their fated point of oblivion, seemingly indifferent to anything that doesn’t directly get in the way their path. It’s a great way to make our heroes feel much smaller, like they’re ants trying to stop the movements of the gods.
Determined not to disappoint the people she had dragged into this mess, Fu mobilized all her energy at once.
“She… is blooming.” Karin links this power directly to the show’s imagery of nature and the enduring flower—she is a flower that blooms to protect the magic tree. Of course “blooming flowers” also has its own meaning in the context of the girls’ coming-of-age story
Togo also transformed. Their second form also makes them look more like priestesses or shrine maidens, wearing white ceremonial robes with a large halo behind them.
“They always die in strange ways…” The death of these peaks is a visual depiction that closely resembles the power of our heroes – the peaks erupt into rainbow fountains of light, while the heroes draw rainbows of light downwards to infuse them, seemingly implying that they are tapping into a common source of energy. Additionally, both processes reflect the way roots reach outward from a tree, perhaps implicitly hinting at a deeper connection between both parties and the divine tree
The fire particles combined with this larger attack are interesting – not CG animated, but so fluid that they don’t seem to have any lines at all. I wonder if this is the animation effect that Kou Yoshinari was consulted on? Those brothers are often responsible when it comes to animation that doesn’t look like a human could actually create that animation
Also just a great combination of filters and smoke animations to create the right sense of chaos as this giant fireball pushes our heroes down
The core of this combined peak is even larger than the monster itself, its shape extending backwards into space
“No matter how big it gets, I won’t give up. That’s what being a hero means, right?” Yuna embodies the true spirit of anime heroes, embracing stubborn stupidity that always seems to bolster their confidence. From Goku to Hibiki and beyond, the most persistent heroes in anime have always been somewhat stupid
I suppose you could more kindly define it as “optimism despite all possible obstacles,” which is certainly a spirit I can identify with. My favorite stories tend to advocate hope in the face of a fundamentally hopeless world; That’s why I find Madoka so inspiring, because it acknowledges how bad things are and preaches hope despite that, instead of just assuming the world is kinder than it is.
“Our sealing power is about to run out!” Not sure if this additional meter is necessary, but it will certainly strengthen Eva’s feelings
Great mix of CG and traditional animation as Togo and Yuna take charge of the massive core. CG is often useful in emphasizing a sense of scale between opponents of wildly different scales – Land of the Lustrous used it to create a similar effect
It also had the effect of cutting through the silence as the two exchanged a few final words
Yuna’s mankai form even gives her larger robotic fists for punching. Really shows off that Hibiki spirit
Damn, some great composition and color design as Yuna breaks through the core
Bathed in rainbow light, Yuna fell towards Togo like a star falling to earth
Their loving and wistful exchange truly feels like an end-of-season affair. Extremely curious as to where we go from here
Itsuki used the last of his strength to create a series of nets for their spaceship to help it land more gently. Once again appreciate the clever application of this program’s differentiating strengths
And done
You did it, heroes! Through effort, teamwork, and endless determination, you have defeated all twelve peaks and ensured the survival of the God Tree! The only problem is, we’re actually only five episodes into the first arc of the story, which means this whole divine protection situation clearly involves some fine print that hasn’t been mentioned yet. I’m quite curious to see exactly how this production goes beyond its own premise, but for now, I’m also pleased by the energetic combination of tactical ingenuity and Impressive flourishes of animation are provided by the bombast of this episode.-finale. The production goes above and beyond to ensure that this truly feels like a climactic triumph, leaving both hero and audience looking out at a vast, unknown horizon. The next episode can’t come soon enough!
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