true tears has passed
Zoku Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei to become the most posted-about new show on 2channel. A month ago, Zetsubou Sensei was 50,000 posts ahead. A thread has now sprung up called "true tears - godly anime."
I have made a
blog post with more details and a full list of post-numbers on 2channel for this season's shows and shows continuing from last season.
And
wavedash, I take your point, but I was really not saying who I thought would "win," just that I loved their interactions. Yes, the love was stronger on Noe's part than on Shin's. And his love for Hiromi is more passionate and of longer duration. But he was certainly very happy, and I'd say does love Noe. Those scenes at the cage and at the seashore were a vision of paradise, to me.
I don't see him loving Noe for "what she gives him" so much as just loving being with her and finding her extremely attractive, especially as a person and a soul. As do I. Not that I have anything against Hiromi. I disagree with all the Hiromi-hate around. She is a rich and human character, a lot more than just someone to pity.
However, I am very, very sad when I say that I do think Hiromi is more likely than Noe to be Shin's final choice. But anything can still happen, depending on how the authors decide to relate their conclusion to the start of the show.
As far as the middle part of the episode being uninteresting is concerned, I don't see that at all. We had to experience love between Shin and Noe. Hiromi had to have that support from Shin's (and her?) dad and that blow from Shin's mother to prepare us for her decisions late in the episode. And the interaction between Hiromi and Jun on the court was both wonderful in itself and extremely important to setting them up to be together, at least temporarily. And it gave us new insights into both of their characters.