sola - Overall Series Impressions & Total Series Rating

[Triple_R]

Originally Posted by Archon_Wing

It's pretty easy for me to see why the ending didn't sit will with you; as the chain of events did seem to create a tragedy that was avoidable.

My feeling is that an average Diplomat and Psychologist could easily have resolved the issues of this anime, and needless deaths would have been avoided.

Basically, Jean-Luc Picard and Counselor Troi could have resolved all of this.


Just to be clear, I get what you're saying, but a life is a terrible thing to needlessly throw away, imo. A lot of the issue is that I just didn't see where things were all that bad for Yurito and Matsuri. It's not like they were outcasts that absolutely nobody cared about it; far from it, in fact.

I still can't help but think that if Yurito had told Mana about what he really was, that Mana (after a brief initial shock) would have talked him out of his suicide pact. I really do think she would have done that. And... here's the thing... I think that Yurito knew that she'd talk him out of it too, which is precisely why he didn't tell her about it.

[0utf0xZer0]

Originally Posted by Triple_R

My feeling is that an average Diplomat and Psychologist could easily have resolved the issues of this anime, and needless deaths would have been avoided.

Basically, Jean-Luc Picard and Counselor Troi could have resolved all of this.


Just to be clear, I get what you're saying, but a life is a terrible thing to needlessly throw away, imo. A lot of the issue is that I just didn't see where things were all that bad for Yurito and Matsuri. It's not like they were outcasts that absolutely nobody cared about it; far from it, in fact.

I still can't help but think that if Yurito had told Mana about what he really was, that Mana (after a brief initial shock) would have talked him out of his suicide pact. I really do think she would have done that. And... here's the thing... I think that Yurito knew that she'd talk him out of it too, which is precisely why he didn't tell her about it.

I don’t think that the issue is whether or not people care about them. I still basically hold to the theory I mentioned on your blog, which is that the issue is really, well, Aono.

Basically, my theory is that Matsuri and Yorito agree to a suicide pact because they can't be together. Matsuri and Yorito are totally willing to accept what Yorito is. What they aren't willing to accept is Aono's insistence that Yorito is hers.

The important thing is that unless Aono can be convinced to share, they're stuck in a no win scenario: there is no way to "free" Yorito, only to destroy him.

If one assumes that neither Matsuri or Yorito wants to live separated anymore, then the question for them becomes "Can we accomplish something for Aono through our deaths?" I personally think this assumption is warranted: it's heavily implied early in episode 12 that Matsuri doesn't want to be alone now that she has met Yorito (in other words, she's now aware of her own loneliness in a way she wasn't previously), and accepting Aono's conditions means (for Yorito) that he has to live with a sister that is essentially oppressing him, which probably isn't "sustainable" as Archon puts it. Of course, Matsuri is capable of freeing Aono from her own deception… but she has to die to pull it off.

Using the intepretations of the characters I do... I really can't see any other possible way out except to convince Aono to give up. I actually agree with Archon that this is kind of the weak spot of the show... Aono's yandere mode is never so convincing as to remove the nagging suspicion that maybe, just maybe she can be talked out of it, making all the bloodshed pointless.

To tell the truth, I actually kind of like the ending, at least when I interpret it the way I do… the whole “lover’s suicide” thing gives it a different feel than if you assume they’re only doing it for Aono’s sake.

And yes, if anyone could have resolved the situation peacefully, it would have been Picard and Troi.

I do admit that this interpretation isn’t exactly something that the average first time viewer is necessarily going to come up with. I know I had to think about it for a bit to really hammer out my thoughts, but it does make sense to me.

@Archon: glad to see someone agrees with me that Matsuri is basically how more moe characters should be written (she's gorgeous too). Not quite sure I agree with you that her relationship with Yorito felt rushed though. The rapid development of their relationship may be emotional rather than logical, but it is justified: Yorito has a tremendous appeal to Matsuri from a nostalgia standpoint, while Yorito is simply falling for a very skilled cougar (seriously, she’s like his age… SQUARED). Also, I’m not convinced that she’s been running from her actions so much as simply only now becoming aware just how badly she screwed Aono up. I’ve always interpreted her reluctance to kill Takeshi as more a moral thing than a preference for running in and of itself.

[Triple_R]

I pretty much agree with you there, 0utf0xZer0. It's just a shame that talking things out with Aono was never even tried.

Mind you, in fairness, perhaps Matsuri and Yurito were afraid that if talking it out with Aono failed, that Aono would then use her rather impressive powers to effectively shut them both down, hence giving them no further recourse.

I do like the Romeo and Juliet-esque take on Matsuri and Yurito. Maybe in time I'll settle on it.

[0utf0xZer0]

Originally Posted by Triple_R

I do like the Romeo and Juliet-esque take on Matsuri and Yurito. Maybe in time I'll settle on it.

I do have to admit the fact that I saw the series three years back may make it easier for me to accept it's flaws. I remember feeling some qualms about the show when it ended too, but my opinion has improved with age. In a way, I wonder if the fact that the six months after the show ended featured a) the second half of Gurren Lagann and b) the first season of EF actually helped, just because they pulled my attention elsewhere.

Maybe I should try and host a screening for some of my anime buddies just to see how it holds up three years later... I'm not sure when it'll be my turn to pick a series again though.

[Archon_Wing]

Picard and Troi? What's Picard gonna do? Bore them to death? And Troi's just gonna say "I sense hostility" Honestly, I would think Kirk would work much better, since hitting on beings much older than him is his speciality.

Anyhow, enough about trek. I like the ending because even though it feels like they never existed, there are still there in what they changed. They were there. Perhaps the greatest way to show you existed is by what you leave behind.

There is one major complaint I have. What the heck are Mayuko's powers?

[Triple_R]

Originally Posted by Archon_Wing

Picard and Troi? What's Picard gonna do? Bore them to death? And Troi's just gonna say "I sense hostility" Honestly, I would think Kirk would work much better, since hitting on beings much older than him is his speciality.

Anyhow, enough about trek. I like the ending because even though it feels like they never existed, there are still there in what they changed. They were there. Perhaps the greatest way to show you existed is by what you leave behind.

There is one major complaint I have. What the heck are Mayuko's powers?

I personally felt that the happy ending was more than a bit contrived, and a case of writer's fiat. So I'm not inclined to give the actions of Matsuri and Yurito a pass for the happy ending alone. Still, I certainly don't fault anybody else for being satisfied with the ending because it does in fact show happy scenes for the people left behind.

I just can't suspend disbelief for it, honestly.


But... this isn't worth arguing a lot over. I still gave Sola a 7/10 and would recommend it to anime fans of Sola's genre(s) for the middle portions alone.


Edit: I also have to admit that I was hoping for a nice romantic resolution here. I didn't particularly care if Mana or Matsuri ended up with Yurito, but I was a bit bummed that neither truly did.

[0utf0xZer0]

Originally Posted by Archon_Wing

Honestly, I would think Kirk would work much better, since hitting on beings much older than him is his speciality.

So I'm not the only one who has noticed that Matsuri is a tremendous cougar?

Originally Posted by Triple_R

I personally felt that the happy ending was more than a bit contrived, and a case of writer's fiat. So I'm not inclined to give the actions of Matsuri and Yurito a pass for the happy ending alone. Still, I certainly don't fault anybody else for being satisfied with the ending because it does in fact show happy scenes for the people left behind.

I just can't suspend disbelief for it, honestly.

Heh... and this is what I mean about how the show aged well for me. I'm forgetting about some fairly sizeable flaws.

I actually like the resolution of Matsuri and Yorito's story (albeit like Triple_R I wouldn't have minded seeing a few more scenes of them before the end), but I didn't much care for the epilogue. The memory wipe itself was kind of strange but honestly, most Key works are far worse when it comes to supernatural plot twists. The problem with the epilogue is that for me at least, it felt like a kind of weak follow up to what had just transpired.

[Archon_Wing]

I think the most important thing for an ending to me is that the ending is thematically consistent with the rest of the story, kinda like the concluding paragraph of an essay. I could be like "oh, so that's what the point of the whole thing is". By outlining the story, I should be able to tell what they were aiming for. Anime that fails in doing that can never reach higher than a 6 in my book, regardless of how fun to watch it was.

In Sola's case, I think they did though you really would wonder what a full season would have done.

But in any case There are no therapists

[0utf0xZer0]

Originally Posted by Archon_Wing

In Sola's case, I think they did though you really would wonder what a full season would have done.

But in any case There are no therapists

Mmm... I have a preference for dramatic anime that keep their pacing up (consider that Iriya no Sora, UFO no Natsu is one of my favourite shows ever), but even I find myself thinking recently that a lot of the shows I like might have been better with more episodes. Iriya is one such show, Sola is another. Even EF - apparently they cut loads from the game to make it fit into two twelve episode seasons.

Flip side, I often wonder how they'd have padded the stories out if given twice as many episodes for those shows, even if more episodes would be great. Sometimes standardized series lengths (six episode OVA, thirteen episode TV, twenty six episode TV) seems like a bit of a curse, although I guess almost everyone has to deal with them.

[Cosmic Eagle]

Originally Posted by 0utf0xZer0

Mmm... I have a preference for dramatic anime that keep their pacing up (consider that Iriya no Sora, UFO no Natsu is one of my favourite shows ever), but even I find myself thinking recently that a lot of the shows I like might have been better with more episodes. Iriya is one such show, Sola is another. Even EF - apparently they cut loads from the game to make it fit into two twelve episode seasons.

Quoted for truth....although sometimes I think that having too much eps like 20 or so may spoil the broth...Imagine Sola with 24 eps. EF could have easily lasted three seasons though. More than enough material for it to do so.

[Seitsuki]

Sola as a 24/26 ep season would have been nice. To be perfectly honest I feel that many elements were rather rushed- Mana and Koyori don't really serve any purpose except to provide *d'awwwww* moments, the Takeshi and Mayuko sidestory (while explained) really could have used more fleshing out and generally I feel that more scenes developing the relationship between Matsuri, Yorito and Aono wouldn't have gone amiss. While there were plenty of action episodes (they really packed them in -_- ) I think that more episodes dedicated to the emotional side would have been great- case in point, Bakemonogatari, my favorite ep ended up being 12 where nothing really happens but by damn it really makes you care for the characters so much more.

And for a series like, Sola, it really is all about the characters. Even now, whenever I look at the sky I think of Matsuri and how much she woulda enjoyed the view (d'awww Matsuri <333 ). Still tho, a great job overall.