[lackofcheese]

I've just finished watching the series, and this is my first post here, but the moment I came on I encountered all this tendency of people to obsess over Haruka while hating Mitsuki, and sometimes Takayuki too. I can't say that's something I appreciate.

And so, the first thing I'm going to say is, beatiful post, KholdStare.
And going back to the first few pages, Perishthethought has some brilliant ones too.

When Mitsuki got together with Takayuki, no-one had any idea when, or even *if*, Haruka would wake up... Despite that, Mitsuki spent almost a year looking after Takayuki, getting nothing in return.. Surely that is demonstration of her worth?

As for Takayuki himself, well, he spent a year by Haruka's side before he was kicked out by her parents. That's an entire year of his life, down the drain. That devotion is worthy of great credit, surely you can't ask for more?

When Haruka woke up, a couple of things were made pretty clear:-
1) She needed Takayuki to aid her recovery.
2) She wasn't in any condition to handle the truth.

As a result, Takayuki tried to help her recovery, and at the time she thought she was still in a relationship with him, making things very difficult. Had Takayuki been forced to choose, isn't it clear that he couldn't have chosen Mitsuki for fear of doing great damage to Haruka's psyche? His hands were tied.

Of course, at this time we realise Mitsuki can't handle Takayuki giving his attention to Haruka also. Takayuki tries to stop seeing Haruka for Mitsuki's sake, but he can't give up his duty for fear of what might happen to Haruka. Now we see just how weak Mitsuki really is - she goes into a depressive spiral. Even then, however, we see that she still has it in her to come back and look after Takayuki. Not only that, but she even managed to confess what she did, and dump Takayuki. At this point, you really have to give credit to Mitsuki for being able to do that. She proves to us that she isn't as weak as she seemed just before. An even greater moment for her is when she goes to see Haruka, and denies her feelings for Takayuki, all for Haruka's sake.

As for Haruka, she has finally reached a moment where she can handle the truth. I must say that it is at this point, and only this point, that Takayuki is really free to make a choice for himself. His obligation to Haruka when she was still trapped in the past was far too great. It is here that we see Haruka's own strength, when she pushes herself into recovery, although we can see that she is doing it for Takayuki.

Then we come to the final episode, which begins with the greatest moment for both Haruka and Takayuki.

Takayuki comes out with it and admits to Haruka just what Mitsuki means to him, and how he regrets making her suffer. I guess we can call this Takayuki's final choice, if there is anything at all we can add that label to - the choice was really made for him.

As for Haruka, she manages to let go of Takayuki, and she's doing it for his sake, and Mitsuki's too - it's clear she does still really love him. In part, she's returning the favour Mitsuki tried to do her, with interest. However, the main part is probably that Haruka realises that it's really Mitsuki that Takayuki wants to be with.

In the end, then we see that Haruka was truly stronger than Mitsuki - she even returned to a proper life, and may even have rejoined her friends. While it does seem that Mitsuki could manage on her own too, we don't see real proof.

As such, I think the ending worked out best for everyone - Haruka was more able to handle leaving Takayuki than Mitsuki was, after all. It was certainly the closest thing to a happy ending that could've happened.