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And so it has come to an end. While not anything groundbreaking, during it's 13 episodes Sola provided me with constant enjoyment and some refreshing unpredictability. Although the show has its fair share of flaws, it still remains my favorite one of the season.
Overall the show suffers from some pacing issues. It is by far at its best when it moves slowly, exploring day-to-day activities of the characters. (Matsuri's date with Yorito for example). Something just didn't seem to click when the pace picked up. Some actions/decisions of the characters felt a bit too abrupt. Mainly Yorito's wish to die upon finding out he is a sack of paper. Especially after Matsuri's reaffirmation that he is himself and so on. While it is not that hard to figure out how he came to conclusion that he must die and Aono should be able to live "freely", i don't think that keeping such major revelations off-screen is a good thing. Yes, it indeed helped the mystery aspect and kept us guessing what is going to happen, but the said mystery came at the expense of some characterdepth/development. (Him agreeing so easily to Matsuri sacrificing herself is also a bit hard to swallow. Perhaps he didn't agree easily and they might have had a biiig argument over their course of action, but we never saw that, so we can only guess).
Second "flaw" of the story - Takeshi and Mayuko. Yep, thats right. Now that i think about them, i can't say i can label them as much more than a plot device (although a very well done one) to provide Matsuri with a way to turn Aono back. They came -> messed around a bit -> Matsuri obtained the sword (and it is beyond me where Takeshi obtained the thing) and the two left. Their character dynamics and interactions are quite excellent, and Takeshi - Matsuri fight have tension and sense of urgency/desperation that Aono fights can only dream to have, but in the end i wanted them to have more of a connection with Matsuri, who turned out "a random Yaka Takeshi picked as his target". All this is just a minor nitpick, but its there.
More background on the characters would have been a good thing. The theme Sola worked with had truckloads of potential for drama, but it never got explored. I am actually beginning to wonder if it was their intention to provide a somewhat "distanced" look on the whole thing, because i can't say i truly felt for any of the characters... even for Matsuri, whom i had come to love ever since ep1. Or it is the pacing issues and lack of focus during some of the later episodes to blame. Sola had a very good start, but i feel it got a bit lost in the later part of the series. Although it did pull itself together in the final episodes, the damage was already done.
The ending is very well done and fitting, and since the pacing slowed down again it had the nice feeling Sola had during it's early episodes. It managed to kick my opinion of the series up a bit. Interesting thing is - i can give the individual episodes a very high rating, but a little something is missing when i want to connect them all together. Overall, i think this show needed more than 13 episodes.
Voice acting was very well done (Takeshi's VA takes the cake, Matsuri's as the close second), aside from one thing (which we all know) - Yorito's VA. His performance during "dramatic" moments served as nothing but a distraction, and any emotional impact the scene should have had was lost. I am one that never had complained about Voice acting before, so this case must have been really bad. Animation quality is quite good (one episode in the middle aside), and the style is something i generally like, so no complains here.
One thing i found interesting about Sola is: despite the fact that there are quite few flaws(minor) and some inconsistencies, they actually don't bother me while watching the episode. Yes, i can name them and touch upon them while thinking over the episode(s), but they don't feel like distractions while you are watching the episode itself.
But in the end i am a bit disappointed, because "good" is not doing justice to something that had the potential to be great. I enjoyed the show fully, but it could have been so much more. Alas; I cry for what could have been. 7.5/10 in my books... will vote as 7/10, because i can not muster enough conviction to give it an 8 ... i feel the 7.5 i give it leans more towards "7'' than "8".
Cheers.
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