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Originally Posted by Lupus753
I was displeased with the ending because it seemed that Zenkichi didn't rise to her level, but rather she fell to his. Which is a very shallow victory. Medaka said she was impressed that he rose up in the company, but it seemed insincere. Like she was saying, "I'm impressed that you spent a decade to get a position I could've obtained in a week, while I'm still higher-ranked than you'll ever be". It was so infuriating.
Then, Zenkichi says to himself, "While I was climbing in her company, she was thinking of how to restore the moon. Just like high school, it shows the great disparity between us". He tried to catch up with her for the whole series, but gave up when he realized how impossible that was. That's why the ending was such a shaggy dog story to me.
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I really understand your feelings, because such is a possible interpretation, and shows a lack of tightness in the plot that Nisio's other series, such as Monogatari, do not have, while still maintaining Nisio's trademark non-sensicality.
I, for one, was ultimately pleased because at the very least, Zenkichi's character arc of maturing from a child to an adult was kept mostly intact. He won by simply accepting what his limits are, something reflected in his Zero; Model Hitoyoshi, which allowed him to perceive his own limits.
Maybe he wouldn't ever surpass Medaka in her game, given that she's all too perfect, so he surpassed her in his own.
The Zenkichi who rejected eloping with her is one who realizes that he couldn't have gone on like that, without his independence, as if he were a kid. He was having fun in his Student Council, so he didn't want to leave yet. And that was when she realizes how far ahead he had gone from her. Because he understood enough about himself that he was willing to part and grow-up.
And that's where Zenkichi was always stronger in -- he just understands, and he tells you he understands in a way that you can understand. A quality reflective of him being the best potential user of Styles in the series, not to mention why the "personality" of Parasite Seeing was compatible with his.
So, to me, I'm fine with him not winning in her game, personally, because I think what you said he did to have even more value. Yes, absolutely , Zenkichi is someone working a desk job while Medaka fixes moons -- but at the same time, Zenkichi's victory is to me an indicative of something much more valuable.
Just my interpretation.