Long version
review. Short version: wow.
I was a little worried after last week, but unless this show has serious multiple personality issues I needn't have. I thought this week was absolutely top-notch, start to finish. So many moments I loved - Ohana's reaction to the heron, her classmates reaction to "Tokyo!", the scene in the bath, the scene at the end - which was right out of
True Tears. All beautiful.
As was, I might add, the animation. P.A. Works is blowing my mind here - this is some of the prettiest TV animation since
Seirei no Moribito. I was pausing and going back to look at a few shots again, which I almost never do. Masahiro Ando directed "Sword of the Stranger" so he clearly knows how to use gorgeous animation to its full advantage.
I feel sorry for Ko-chan, but it makes an interesting internal struggle for Ohana. There's clearly something very special between them, but Ohana is trying to grow as a person. Can someone grow without growing away from the person they left behind? I think that's one of the central questions at the heart of the series.