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Originally Posted by LaniGuy
Like Anna, I too am a hopeless romantic and am constantly shut down by the Japanese creators lol Either it never works or someone dies... why must they torment us with such depressing endings?! Quite frankly I think him not coming back to her is just another sad ending that the Japanese love to do  |
If the writers really wanted a definitively sad ending, they wouldn't have left such a huge opening in the scene after the credits. Why end the whole story with directions to a taxi driver, given with urgency? Sure, it could be another random stop, but the whole story is filled with subtle hints at this and that, and I find it hard to believe that the entire story ends with a random turn on the street. It's clear Akira's got a place he needs to go to after fulfilling his desire to give Mr. Outside a good whack for what he's been through, and isn't seeing Saki the most obvious thing for him to do?
And I really do think there's a special significance to putting the scene after the credits. I think it's a reward for those who sat through the credits--you thought we'd have a tragic love ending for the two lead characters? Here's a whimsical scene for you, with a giant hint otherwise. It fits the whole sense of whimsy that marks the story and Akira's character, beginning with the crazy opening scene in front of the white house. A sad story of unfulfilled love just doesn't fit the story's overall tone.
However, like so many other anime endings, it's up to the viewer to interpret what follows after the ending--those who want tragic plots can think Akira never comes back. Western literature has its own tradition of love stories always ending badly; indeed, bad endings once helped define the genre. And anime is no stranger to love that goes unfulfilled. But my point is that there's plenty of evidence for the other side, too--the last scene after the credits, and the blatantly obvious chemistry between the two throughout the whole story. Heck, it doesn't fit the reaction of Saki's and Akira's friends who see the kiss, who look like they didn't get the memo that this was a depressing end. In fact, on its merits, it makes much more sense within the logic of the plot and story for Akira to return. But for those who enjoy being lachrymose, there's a opening left to them.
Besides, I've always thought writers are sometimes right to keep a "happy" ending off-stage. The kiss at the end of Paradise Lost is powerful, partly because it might a goodbye. And it in fact looks like that, until the closing scene *after* the credits. And even for my reading of that last scene in the taxi, for the specific story Saki is telling, it is the powerful end. But another story comes afterwards, and while it won't be worth telling in the same way East of Eden was, I think it'll have a happy beginning with the two reunited.
So, bottom line, don't be sad; take advantage of the hints the writers have given you!
