(L) Yosuga no Sora

[Primary Consult]

Great end to a great series.

Kozue's final remark makes it seem she has her own possibly unorthodox relationship she wishes to pursue.

As far as "whether they're dead", +1 for both columns:
+alive: might not be too difficult to buy another bunny
+dead: there is no one else on the train (then again we never see anyone else at the train station either...).

But ultimately, they could have been saved by a third party:
+Akira knew someone was there, she could have investigated and found them.
+Nao is seen saving them at the shrine during the omake ED. She also would be the type to leave them alone after making sure they were ok. Of course this same ED has Akira eating Kazuha.

[relentlessflame]

Originally Posted by Primary Consult

+alive: might not be too difficult to buy another bunny

Incidentally, I did think of this as well, but thought it a bit too silly to mention in a way. But, doubtless, that is technically correct; it's just a doll! (But, of course, it's also not just a doll. If they wanted to make this point, I think the new doll would have looked a bit different.)

[Kagatob]

Originally Posted by blitz1/2

nahh. That train belonged to Yukari Yakumo, she spirited them out.

Manipulating the border between illusion/reality, life/death or nice train/boat. Take your pick.

Spoiler for 12:

Lots of drama in this episode, I was surprised that there was such little confrontation at the beginning of the episode, but it still fit the characters perfectly.

This episode reminded me of the final part of the Akira arc where Haru had his heart in the right place but went about things the wrong way, the difference here is that Sora did the same thing as he did. She was correct in her 'what the others think doesn't matter' attitude, but the ways she professed such feelings to Haru were very blunt and almost selfish, she pretty much said 'F*** everyone else I'm getting what I want, now come kiss me Haru' as opposed to acknowledging that they were in very dangerous territory but being ready for it as long as Haru was by her side, in my opinion her actions were a big part of what drove him to start denying his feelings again. Haru on the other hand, most certainly wanted to save his sister from the hole that they dug themselves into, regardless of how much it was going to hurt him in the process, his problem was that he at this point still didn't realize that Sora seriously would choose death over life without him.

I agree that the ending of the episode could be taken either way, but I believe that they did live happily ever after at the end of the show. To me anything other than Sora ending with a smile on her face living a happy life with Haru is unacceptable.

The 'plausible' explanation for the stuffed rabbit doll at the end of the episode for me would be that they happened to see one in a gift shop at the airport or at some shop on their way out of Japan and Haru would ask Sora if they wanted to have a fresh start and do things the right way from the beginning, which Sora would agree to and they would have a d-aww moment ending with Haru purchasing said doll for Sora.

Nao was definitely the wisest character of the bunch who still to my amazement took 'defeat' with a smile. I was very glad that my hopes with her characterization came true and she did indeed love the two of them enough to wish them happiness regardless of how it affected her. I only wish the Nao in her own arc was half the woman that this Nao was.

Akira/Kazuha hardly showed up in this episode (heck Kazuha had 2-3 lines at most in this entire arc), I wonder if it was the same in the game, or if it was a choice by the directors of the anime due to limited time within so many episodes.

Kozue played a necessary role of the common attitude towards the situation, but even considering that, I greatly disliked her this episode as she was the catalyst to a lot of the tension that built up in the middle of the episode.

One question that I had for anyone who played the game, is a point of contention that never came up that I had actually expected to see. The heated argument scene when Sora started talking about 'what if's' and children that pretty much set Haru off, I was honestly expecting the topic of "what would their parents have thought had they still been alive?" to come up, especially considering that moment she had looked back at the stuffed doll, which according to Sora in Nao's arc was 'a memento from her mother'. A step even further that makes me wonder why it never came up, at the end of the Motoka omake, you know who are actually sitting on the rooftop of the house next to Akira. Did that question ever come up in the game?

[Lilith]

Ep 12
I love Haruka. His explanation to Nao, his argument with Sora and finally his search for her gripped my heart. Haruka is in a conflict but he decided to search for the anwers with Sora. *sigh~*

The music worked wonders in this episode (as usual!). And I really started to like Nao.

And the omake! LOL @ Motoka's cosplay. I wish we get a pic of Haru and Sora's wedding. >_<

Overall
Great series, I enjoyed it a lot. It has comedy, drama and sex. Most scenes were funny except in Sora's arc. The incest theme was done in a VERY GOOD way. And I love Haru. :3

But I still think it can be executed in a better way.

[nines]

Wow so much walking in on people during in this anime lol. Sora walking in panned out well with anger and past events but....Dang this was just beyond awkward to watch lol.

Still the twincest is wincest in this lol.

[Knightrunner]

I'm actually enjoyed the show even though there was twincest going around. Makes me wonder how I would feel if I meet people like that in real life. I guess it wouldn't really bother me as much as long as they don't have kids.

[Kanon]

Wonderful final episode.

Kozue's reaction at the beginning of the episode felt a bit exaggerated. It was as if she had just seen a ghost lol. The drama throughout the rest of the episode was excellent though. Great execution as always. There were a lot of powerful scenes, like Haru and Nao's confrontation, and Haru about to violently rape Sora (who doesn't mind at all!). Haru's distress over this whole affair was masterfully portrayed, you could tell he was torn between his feelings for Sora and society's moral judgement, represented here by Kozue.

Even though I don't share her views at all, I don't feel any animosity towards Kozue for reacting this way. I even felt a little bad for her, I never realized she liked Haru so much until now. Nao, once again, impressed me. She's a very mature, kind hearted and open-minded girl. She didn't resent Sora one bit even after the latter rubbed her "victory" in her face (which wasn't a very admirable thing to do, by the way... but I forgive you, Sora <3).

I'm glad this episode answered the question I asked myself last week:

This arc raises an interesting question: did Haru truly fall in love with the other girls in the previous arcs, or was he trying to escape his feelings for Sora (at least at first)? "Everything up until now has been dream. A caused by Haru's indecisiveness."

Haru himself confessed in this episode that he's been in love with Sora ever since she came back into his life, and that he tried to fall in love with Nao to escape those feelings. I don't think it was that different with the other girls. Of course, that doesn't mean he didn't truly fall in love with them later on.

The hypothesis that Sora and Haru died is interesting. I didn't even consider it until reading the posts here, or rather, I didn't even want to consider it. I wish for Haru and Sora to live happily ever after together. In the end, I guess it doesn't matter all that much, as Kaoru said, whether dead or alive, they are together, and it's all that matters. The final scene was obviously made ambiguous to allow both interpretations, so I think I'll go with them being alive. The biggest problem is the bunny, and you know what? I think Wolfwood2's explanation isn't all that far-fetched. Parents often buy the same toys for twins, so it's plausible the same bunny was given to Haru.

Motoka's arc ended well too~ You know, I think she's my favorite character after Sora. She's just so much fun.

P.S: Sora casually walking around naked at home was nice (`･ω･´)

[Haak]

Man it was going so well until Haru came back from drowning. At that point it just went downhill...

[Essa Maneira]

gosh, what a great ending....
well, incest is wincest!

now, i know how forbidden love was formed, overall its a EPIC series..

i'll recommended to my friends!

[Fnights]

The best adaption from a visual novel for sure. Great serie expecially the end (even if they made it ambiguous compared to the game).

9/10

[thundrakkon]

It was a sad ending. The friends believe that Sora and Haru are alive, but the ending points otherwise. That one text was suspicious, since who would send it? It seems like it was sent in class, so it had to have happened after the incident.

As far as the lake scene goes, Haru went after Sora since Sora didn't look like she could swim. Haru couldn't swim either, apparently, so who would have saved them? Did they just suddenly float to shore?

Also, the other issue is the rabbit. The rabbit was torn to shreds, and it was there again on an empty train. It is possible that they bought another one, but that seems strange. Btw, both rabbits were black with button eyes and a "white" ribbon.

Other than that mystery, which I believe that they are in two alternative universes, I liked the character development a lot in this arc. Nao was more well-rounded, Sora was understandable, and Haru was believable. I really wished they had an arc for Kozue because she really intrigued me, and the ending was heartbreaking for her.

[Zeroryoko1974]

Poor class prez, crying till her eyes are bloodshot, because the dude you like would rather F his sister then even go out with you

[Haak]

Oh wait, they died. Okay, I like it a lot more now...

[ars89]

Nice way to end the series. They were definitely together in th end.

I think they honestly died in the end. If somebody indeed saved them they should have waited until one woke up or go to get help. Since Sora was awake before Haru she should have seen who saved them. Also the rabbit was torn to shred and the train seen showed an intact rabbit. They were together in heaven.

If they are alive then i think either Nao or Akira would have saved them. The text is the big wretch that messes everything up. Also if Nao saved them i don't think she would tell anyone what happened. She seemed happy at the end, so maybe she did save them and just let them be together. Sora could have easily bought a new rabbit.

Spoiler for game question:

I understand in the game they go to Europe, but is there anything about the Uncle's text?

The Omake had a great ending as well

Overall the series was enjoyable.

[MeoTwister5]

It's bitter irony that the only way they can be together is in death, because life would not approve of them. Reversal of "Til death do we part" I suppose.

Yes I do find myself convinced that both are dead. Poetic effect or whatever you wanna call it. Symbolic gesture of how it takes more extreme measures to achieve something you know society might never approve of. This may as well be the only way they can get a "happy" ending, because from what I see they won't be able to get that while alive. Happy ending for them at least, bittersweet for the rest of us.

So in a way, it does justice to the line "In Solitude, where we are least alone", because death IS their solitude, and here they are not alone for they have each other.

Comments and blog post... uh... tomorrow I guess.

[eplipswich]

This is indeed an ambigious ending of whether they lived or not,

Spoiler for Game:

though if you care about originality, they didn't die, since in the game they didn't die ~ ~

Either way though, they are together.

Anyway a great episode to close the series. I really feel sad for Kozue (class prez) but I can now guess why she barged into their house just like that. If she didn't love Haruka, she wouldn't have done that. But I would believe she is the immature one, since Nao herself didn't do that, being the more matured one.

Guess Nao didn't save them from the lake after all (although this can be in debate since we didn't actually see who saved them), and if one looks at it as a sad/bittersweet ending, they died in the lake and were reborn, therefore explaining their sudden reappearance outside the lake. If one sees it as a happy ending, a miracle happened to keep them alive. What form of miracle is up to viewer's imaginations.

However, whether they are dead or not (just based on the anime alone), they are definitely happy together, so it's a happy end altogether.

[Kameruka]

Spoiler for From what I learned from another forums:

Akira discovered Haru's and Sora's corpses. Akira told to Kazuha about that and she made a fake message. Her father, one of the influential persons in the village bury or cremated the twins secretly. They all teamed up to fake the twins' departure from the village.

However I don't agree with this theory since it has too many plot holes. I remember how Code Geass fans debated wether Lelouch is dead or not.

[Peanutbutter]

Spoiler for Ep 12, after subs:

I'm assuming the subs got everything covered. So, assuming what Ryouhei said at the end was true, then the end does tend towards a happy end.

*reads the post above*

Okay, now I'm even more confused. I want to believe the twins continue to live on and make sweet, sweet love to each other, but the first impression I got from watching the raw is that of a tragic end. (Damn you rabbit). It's still kinda hard to shake this off, but I'm trying.

But then there are two things that point towards a happy end, namely, the luggage on the train (which is consistent with the text), and namely my own guess that they survived the drowning thanks to the lake itself, namely low tide.

It seems the lake is really big and deep, and there are bird stands constructed, perhaps all the way down to the bottom of the lake, which explains the trees seen during their sinking.

Perhaps low tide came, and swept the twins to dry ground. That's what I like to believe on how they survived. In a way, they are "reborn" and maybe, live on happily ever after.

Excellent piece of work, and great work by everyone involved. I admit myself that I picked this up thanks to the tabloid and that it contains ecchi and twincest content (almost became a habit to pick one up every season), but I'm pretty amazed at how everything was executed, in such a limited air time.

Glad to have picked this up. And, oh, Sora is definitely one of the most delicious girls I ever laid my eyes on. I should now burn the image of Sora's dere-ness when she was being deflowered in my memory forever.

Twincest FTW!!! Wincest BANZAI!!!

[Kanon]

Originally Posted by Kameruka

Spoiler for From what I learned from another forums:

Akira discovered Haru's and Sora's corpses. Akira told to Kazuha about that and she made a fake message. Her father, one of the influential persons in the village bury or cremated the twins secretly. They all teamed up to fake the twins' departure from the village.

However I don't agree with this theory since it has too many plot holes. I remember how Code Geass fans debated wether Lelouch is dead or not.

That's so messed up I don't even know what to say. Why would Akira and Kazuha even do that in the first place? Don't you think Akira would be seriously traumatized after witnessing such a thing? She was fine in the epilogue, just a little bit depressed her new best bud Sora left without saying anything.

I don't consider the bunny to be solid evidence:

- It could be a new one they bought during their travel( it's possible it was a very popular type of bunny)
- There could have been two bunnies from the start (one for Haru, one for Sora)
- It could simply be an animation error (will have to wait for the BD/DVD release to confirm)

The biggest enigma is how Sora managed to pull both herself and Haru out of the water. While it's not impossible, I admit it's a bit hard to believe. That lake seemed like it was as deep as hell too.

[Justice Knight]

haizzzz this ended so quickly and it taught me a valuable lesson

be good to your schoolmates
be good to everyone close to you
???
profit!!!

u know what i mean