[Julius Firefocht]

The animation may not be up to Kyo-Ani standards, but it's still good enough for most viewers, including me.

This episode is carried forward by its story, there is no fancy animation this time round to wow us. I was impressed with the mood in this particular episode, Kitagawa spoke for me when he said he felt melancholic. It's like...there's really nothing much to be depressed or sad about in this episode, and yet KyoAni somehow managed it. It could be the music or the flashbacks. I don't really know.

Ayu climbing the tree gave me a bloody heart attack.

Nayuki's Raising Heart was amusing, and I was quite surprised to find that she was that well-built. Now we know what she was hiding under all those jackets and school uniforms that she usually wears.

I feel for U1. That poor guy is finally cracking after all the events he experienced in the past few weeks. At least he lasted this long, I am pretty sure any of us in his shoes would have been destroyed after seeing what happened to Makoto, much less Mai and Shiori.

I absolutely love the

Spoiler:

kissing scene. In my eyes, U1 and Ayu did not kiss out of just love for each other. It was a way of comforting each other, a simple way of saying "I am here for you, so don't cry anymore." That single tear drop between Yuuichi and Ayu symbolized everything; they were sharing their grief, and the kiss would make all the pain go away, if only for a while.

All in all, a very nice episode, and I gave it a 10.