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Well, my initial reaction was "how conventional..."
Much of this episode felt a lot like scenes from countless other anime and video games I've played, where one character stops and confronts the approaching villain so that their allies escape. And what was that stuff at the end, where they were all talking with Hanyuu after they were dead? Blah...
Takano was 100% pure evil to the nth degree, which I find terribly uninteresting. I like my villains to be more than one-dimensional, like my heroes. (Actually, the more I think about it... I thought every character in higu was kind of one-dimensional at first, and they showed me wrong with shining brilliance every time. Takano's past will be next. Let's hope the make a truly fleshed out villain.)
Well, I suppose my complaints are probably because of my very high expectations. There was a lot of good in this episode to be sure...
I got the impression that Rika wanted to be conscious when she died because her memory of past Hinamizawas was imperfect, and she wanted to make sure she remembered.
The most poignant part for me was Mion's reaction to K1 being shot. (I've really become big on K1xMion these last few weeks)
Rena's last words to Takano were pure awesome, even if Rena is just as delusional herself :P
The quiz just came out of nowhere. It was amazingly horrible and cruel, and REALLY showed just how heartless Takano was... it served only to remind Satoko (and the viewer) how Takano knew everything about Satoko... her disease... her suffering... all the things she's faced right down to her colorblindness. And Takano just killed her anyway, with a smile on her face.
So, mixed feelings. Maybe I'll like it better with time. I felt similarly when I first finished Meakashi-hen, but now I like it, so I suppose there is still hope.
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