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oneplusme · 2006-09-28, 04:14

I'm still trying to work out precisely what my reaction to the end of this series is, but I think I'm at least coming to understand the why.

Spoiler for episodes 25 and 26:

As I posted a fair way back up this thread beforehand, I was initially expecting (and hoping for) an ending which tied up all the threads of the plot - Amuria; Aaeru's grandfather; Dominura and Limone's journey; Aaeru and Neviril's relationship. So when I finally saw the ending, my initial reaction was disappointment - it did none of those things.

Having considered it, however, I'm finding I love this ending more and more as time passes. Not only is it beautiful and melancholy (as all fond partings should be), it's very much true to the style of the story itself. Throughout the series, with the exception of the very start of the story, everything we've seen has been from the perspective of the central characters. We know what they know; we see what they see; we only hear about the things they hear about. To tie up all the threads of the ending neatly would have required the story to step outside those characters, to reveal to us the things that they themselves would never know. Part of growing up is to accept that there are things they can't change and things they can never know, so perhaps the ending that we have is the truest of all.

On a slightly less waffly note, there's one other thing I only recently noticed that I thought was interesting: from the moment that Aaeru finally confesses to Neviril we never see the two of them touch one another in the "real" world. We'd expect a first (romantic) kiss after that confession, but if there is one, we don't see it. When they're thrown into the brig, their only contact is with a wall between them. When they walk into the garden, they aren't holding hands. They don't need to kiss one another to activate their Simoun for their final journey. Aaeru even says "I want to touch you", but she doesn't. Somehow this seems quite striking and very much intentional to me, but I'm not entirely sure what its meaning is. A symbolic chastity required for their final ceremony? A way to presage their unearthliness, to indicate their transcendence of their physical world? An acceptence that they must, after all, be "eternal maidens"?

2006-09-28, 04:14	Link #1994
oneplusme Simoun-Fans Editor Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: UK	I'm still trying to work out precisely what my reaction to the end of this series is, but I think I'm at least coming to understand the why. Spoiler for episodes 25 and 26: As I posted a fair way back up this thread beforehand, I was initially expecting (and hoping for) an ending which tied up all the threads of the plot - Amuria; Aaeru's grandfather; Dominura and Limone's journey; Aaeru and Neviril's relationship. So when I finally saw the ending, my initial reaction was disappointment - it did none of those things. Having considered it, however, I'm finding I love this ending more and more as time passes. Not only is it beautiful and melancholy (as all fond partings should be), it's very much true to the style of the story itself. Throughout the series, with the exception of the very start of the story, everything we've seen has been from the perspective of the central characters. We know what they know; we see what they see; we only hear about the things they hear about. To tie up all the threads of the ending neatly would have required the story to step outside those characters, to reveal to us the things that they themselves would never know. Part of growing up is to accept that there are things they can't change and things they can never know, so perhaps the ending that we have is the truest of all. On a slightly less waffly note, there's one other thing I only recently noticed that I thought was interesting: from the moment that Aaeru finally confesses to Neviril we never see the two of them touch one another in the "real" world. We'd expect a first (romantic) kiss after that confession, but if there is one, we don't see it. When they're thrown into the brig, their only contact is with a wall between them. When they walk into the garden, they aren't holding hands. They don't need to kiss one another to activate their Simoun for their final journey. Aaeru even says "I want to touch you", but she doesn't. Somehow this seems quite striking and very much intentional to me, but I'm not entirely sure what its meaning is. A symbolic chastity required for their final ceremony? A way to presage their unearthliness, to indicate their transcendence of their physical world? An acceptence that they must, after all, be "eternal maidens"?