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I wonder whether those who have no knowledge of Onegai Teacher would be able to better appreciate this series better than those who did. I watched Onegai Teacher long time ago so I don’t remember much detail btw so I apologize in case if I made some mistake recalling what happened in that series.
I think one of the mistakes Kuroda and his fellow production team made is trying too hard to connect this series with Onegai Teacher. Small dose is fine for nostalgia feelings among his long time fans, but he gone overboard during what supposed to be the story climax. Because of this, OT fans tried to make connections with the flashback at the pond with event at the end of OT resulting in people complaining about the inconsistency and implied bad end for OT. Ending could’ve turn out better if he hadn’t tried connecting both series during climax in which he’s, I admit, very bad at it.
MIB plot twist should’ve been a shock factor for viewers since MIB references in the first few episodes are supposed to be a series joke so that it would turn into a big surprised when they found out that MIB really does exist. By associating Remon with Ichigo too much and the obvious hint in episode 9 I think that had reviled more than necessary. OT fans already had the impression that she might have known about aliens and could’ve joined MIB so it wasn’t much of a surprise anymore. Had Remon resembles Ichigo a little less in both her appearance and mannerism and is actually a new character who is secretly part of MIB, things could turn out more surprising to the audience.
Anyway, I believe I can come up with an explanation for previous two paragraphs above. What you need to understand first is:
Remon = Ichigo
Ichika’s ancestors =/= Mizuho
Technically speaking, explanation about earth having no contact with alien is an assumption made by people on Ichika’s home planet. This may not be true on the earth side of things as they might have already made many contacts with other alien species from the opposite side of the universe including Mizuho’s planet. MIB is earth’s secret organization established to contact new species of aliens. Remon’s superior probably assigned Remon to observe Ichika, an unidentified alien species, as they never made contact with her people before, therefore, had no idea of what her intention is for coming to earth even by accident. After collecting enough data, Remon report back to her chief claiming that Ichika alienforks aren’t hostile and is actually nice to her so we should send people there to make contact with them. When Remon said that Ichika is the first alien she met, she meant it in a sense that she never made contact with her people not the first alien she had ever seen. Can you honestly believe that she is part of MIB and never met an alien before? Besides, I don’t remember Ichigo being that close to Mizuho either.
One thing I can’t deny is the issue of leaving Tetsurou relationship in the opened end. Just like at the end with Ichika wearing poncho, episode 11 should’ve given enough clue about who Tetsurou picked. He even invited her on a date at the movie theater, but they had to ruin it at the end with the small conversation at last moment.
Looking on the bright side, Ano Natsu is fundamentally a series about bonding between true friends which can be a beautiful thing if done properly and I felt that this series manages this aspect quite splendidly. This series outlines the concept that bond between friends can overcome various obstacles and is at times can be more powerful than bond between lovers. Overall, this series has been an enjoyable ride for me than I originally anticipated when I first start watching this series. In the end I gave this series an 8 out of 10.
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