If anyone remembers the scene where Yuuichi and Shiori made that second part of their promise from the game please post episode number and time index as I can't seem to remember this scene, and this would make all the difference about the ending.
There was a bit much comedy in this episode, such as Shiori's bentos being so stressful to Yuuichi. Kitagawa works as a comedy device but some parts of the dance were a bit too much for me, and his explicit question about Shiori's family name required a weird stunt by Yuuichi to be fixed. And Kanon
is a harem scenario - at least if you ask Kitagawa. ;-) The "few friends" were an awful lot, probably required for the dance to be allowed at this location. Had there been only five people celebrating and then making that much riot the owner would have called the police.
Shiori wanting to meet Yuuichi at school during her first visit would strengthen the harem element of this show by Yuuichi having made so much impact on Shiori so early. So I'm hesitant about this aspect, even though at this point in time Shiori might have been dead already had Yuuichi not been in a certain place at a certain time. Remember how Shiori was able to spot Yuuichi's classroom when she came to school in her school uniform for the first time - why should she have been unable to do the same before? Shiori not knowing where Kaori's classroom is doesn't sound plausible to me, she's 15 years old and not a little brat. And note how nobody at school seems to know the sisterly relation between Shiori and Kaori, so she wouldn't have caused any problem for Kaori by asking for the classroom of "a girl named Misaka Kaori".
Inviting Shiori's classmate to the party (and her having become Shiori's friend after that) was an excellent idea, as well as Yuuichi giving Shiori a present with the requirement to make use of it: Adding ever more little aspects how life can be great for Shiori
if she continues to live. Making Shiori depend on Yuuichi alone would have failed to work the same way as it failed in Mai's arc.
The time given to Shiori's arc was spent well, with details like her bumping into Yuuichi at the schoolyard (thus unofficially challenging Ayu in that category ;-). Her kiss was kind of announced by Shiori's previous statement how she might like Yuuichi more and more if she had the time to. But what's great about Shiori's development is how she changed her mind and decided to embrace the experience of loving and being loved, accepting the potential pain that would come along with it. Still, the most important impact on Shiori was one that Yuuichi hadn't even intended - keeping her from killing herself on the day when they first met. So Shiori's miracle has already happened, being the fact
that Ayu (!) and Shiori were at the same location on that day. If that didn't happen then Shiori's chance of surviving would have been zero. Now she has a chance, as she has something to fight for: A sister loving and supporting her, new friends at school, a drawing book to fill and at least two promises to keep.
I was focussing more on Kaori than on Shiori, and I loved how Yuuichi 'worked' Kaori slowly bit by bit. During the process Kaori always offered the will to communicate - as long as he avoided the issue of Shiori, which turned into an interesting game between these two (almost on the same level as Yuuichi trying to make Mai talk) and resulted in Kaori being one of my favourite girls of this show. Kaori was fully aware of what might happen when she went to this party, so she was already about to change her mind at this point - it's not as if she were "forced" to be with her sister, which I consider a significant improvement as compared to the game. Yuuichi had effectively told her:
"We're not willing to give up on Shiori, and this might be your last chance to see her acting happily." Perhaps this, and watching the photographs in her desk drawer, was something she couldn't resist, knowing that her own happiest memories were the same as Shiori's.
The party, while a bit over the top at times, gave the sisters the chance to establish eye contact and allowed Shiori to symbolically eat sweets with Kaori, making her wish come true (remember how important it was for Shiori to do this by herself, not accepting Nayuki's help). I was surprised that it was something silly like Shiori being considered Yuuichi's girlfriend being the last drop that make Kaori consider herself responsible for her sister - but it made kind of sense to me in the end.
Comparing 2k2 and 2k6, the most significant difference coming to my mind is
In general, I'd like the cliffhanger nature of the ending (despite the
horrible cut to happily running Ayu)
if the next episode would continue Shiori's story anyhow. But my guess is that Shiori has already been written out of the scenario like Mai and Sayuri were before, thus leaving Yuuichi uninformed about her further development (and
now it would be interesting to know the nature of Shiori's illness as to learn whether she might opt for a risky treatment that would plausibily keep her in the hospital or whatnot). Shiori being hospitalized would be no reason for Yuuichi not visiting her, and it's not as if Shiori's condition would get worse that much during the next couple of days (after all, the doctors can't be that accurate in guessing the date). We have seen Yuuichi suffer for real this time. This isn't just a magical animal like Makoto, it's
a real girl with real feelings (and even more, feelings
for him). Yuuichi has gotten involved too deeply into Shiori's issue to just quit caring for her now. I hated that at the end of the Mai arc already, and I'll hate it even more when it happens again this time. Shiori has made quite a few new friends now and is expected to appear at school more frequently, and Yuuichi is expected to be one of the people to spend time with her. Ruthlessly cutting off her arc here for the sake of starting the next one will be paying a high price to game compatibility, and a higher price than in 2k2 because of the deeper bond between these two. Citing Shiori, she had better not fallen in love with Yuuichi... Yuuichi will not accept her excuse of not letting him suffer, as he explicitly told her he knows what he's doing. Shiori now avoiding Yuuichi would be as stubborn as Kaori was earlier. And Yuuichi finding the address of his classmate Kaori in the telephone book (or even some list at school) should be a piece of cake. So my rating for this episode has to be a bet on whether we'll see more Shiori next time. I guess we won't, thus reducing my rating to 8/10.
What's good about the ending is that Kaori will be waiting for Shiori at home, and they'll be able to talk again after a long time. That's as much as Yuuichi could be able to actively do for these sisters (plus inadvertantly preventing Shiori's suicide as a bonus). Yuuichi isn't a doctor after all (even though he... no, that would be a spoiler).
One more thing, about Yuuichi crying for Mai but not for Shiori. It remains to be seen how much he will cry in the next episode. But anyway,
Yuuichi kind of confessed to Mai but didn't do the same to Shiori. I agree about Mai's "death" having been more of a surprise to him but I have the feeling that Yuuichi was more emotionally attached to Mai than to Shiori. Yuuichi spent every night with Mai
based on his own desire; he only started spending lots of time with Shiori
after he learned about her being doomed. Consequently I'll be angry if we don't see Yuuichi visiting Mai in the hospital. (Yes I know that "the oracle" permanently tells Yuuichi to take care of other girls first but if he doesn't visit Mai in episode 19 then I wonder how he actually intends to keep his promise with "Hope".)
So let's now look forward to the most interesting part of the series, as indicated by the preview:
Nayuki is about to wake up!
Graphic Designer
And that line, obviously, refers more to mental strength than anything else, but i am talking about her physical condition.... and she seemed as fine as ever in that regard. She could be hiding her pain, but since we are never shown that to be even remotely true, i believe it is not the case. (Especially KyoAni would have dropped some hints regarding the issue, because they wouldn't leave such things out.. something as subtle as Sayuri's wounded wrist is shown for a brief moment).
That being said, it would kinda spoil everything the episode has been striving for-the mood, the foreboding future Yuuichi and Kaori know would happen etc if we do indeed get to see Shiori somehow alive later without an explanation of how.
It should be on the teary side no? But I guess that was reserved for the end with Yuuichi. Hmm, it might have a lack of closure but it sure looks good on how they do it. I guess they're making the viewers guess or speculate on what happens next. 
