(L) BLUE DROP ~Tenshitachi no Gikyoku~

[Mentar]

Several reasons against that:

Spoiler:

o Hagino responding "Sayonara" (Farewell) to Mari's tense "Hagino! You'll come back again, won't you?" - at the end of the crisis before, she confirmed that she'd be back for sure. This time she KNOWS she won't be back.

o Hagino's tears when she grits her teeth and orders Blue to set off on collision course to Novaal, over running Mari's shouts. Again, she knows that this flight has no return ticket, and parting is hard.

o Hagino's formally standing up and giving Tsubael a military salute. Once again, this was a final goodbye and thank you to her trusted and loyal subordinate. Tsubael ALSO knew that Commandah was going on a suicide mission, look at her reaction.

o Hagino's reaction right before/during the impact. She made her peace, finishing the drama script like this. That's not the look of someone who is timing an exit via escape capsule.

o The whiteout of her serene face immediately morphing into the terminal explosion.

o The fact that there is no sign of her till after the time jump.

I mean - more power to you, if clinging to this feeble hope is the only way to make the bitter pill better - but I definitely like the show even with (and to be honest, PARTICULARLY because of) this ending.

[Diodati]

Originally Posted by Mentar

Several reasons against that:

Spoiler:

o Hagino responding "Sayonara" (Farewell) to Mari's tense "Hagino! You'll come back again, won't you?" - at the end of the crisis before, she confirmed that she'd be back for sure. This time she KNOWS she won't be back.

o Hagino's tears when she grits her teeth and orders Blue to set off on collision course to Novaal, over running Mari's shouts. Again, she knows that this flight has no return ticket, and parting is hard.

o Hagino's formally standing up and giving Tsubael a military salute. Once again, this was a final goodbye and thank you to her trusted and loyal subordinate. Tsubael ALSO knew that Commandah was going on a suicide mission, look at her reaction.

o Hagino's reaction right before/during the impact. She made her peace, finishing the drama script like this. That's not the look of someone who is timing an exit via escape capsule.

o The whiteout of her serene face immediately morphing into the terminal explosion.

o The fact that there is no sign of her till after the time jump.

I mean - more power to you, if clinging to this feeble hope is the only way to make the bitter pill better - but I definitely like the show even with (and to be honest, PARTICULARLY because of) this ending.

I do agree with your points.

But humour my delusion just a bit longer:

Spoiler:

That was a major explosion at the end, but then there is a similar looking one in episode 5 - BLUE does the damage and then shifts out of it.

If a time 'jump' is 29 years, then it is somewhat coincidental that the final scene is set 30 years in the future. Basically Ekaril would 'miss' all the ruthless Bokura years -- but reappear to coincide with this negotiation meeting thingie organised (with Tsubael, Azanael and Micchi all involved - that seems the era where the Arume begin to split into two different attitudes). Ekaril might be saying a very tearful farewell because 29 years is a very long time - and thus she won't be back soon, and that Tsubael should really not be involved in it also. It doesn't matter that Ekaril isn't shown in the final scene - because neither is Mari. I think it could make sense - even if self delusion is a dish best served warm heh.

I guess most people are going to take the ending as indicating Hagino/Ekaril died anyway - the emotions of all involved (beside Mari's ambiguous ending) were extreme to make you think something heartbreaking was about to happen. It was profoundly touching, but it's also hurt like hell.

[-Nyu-]

@Mentar

Spoiler for ep13:

Yeah, I agree with your reasons, can't imagine Hagino survived. I think I can also say I like the series, but I don't like the end. The last time the really good anime often had bittersweet endings or similar ones and it's annoying..
Furthermore there are a couple of questions left. It felt the same for me like Simoun in the end.

[Kieli]

Originally Posted by Diodati

I do agree with your points.

But humour my delusion just a bit longer:

Spoiler:

That was a major explosion at the end, but then there is a similar looking one in episode 5 - BLUE does the damage and then shifts out of it.

If a time 'jump' is 29 years, then it is somewhat coincidental that the final scene is set 30 years in the future. Basically Ekaril would 'miss' all the ruthless Bokura years -- but reappear to coincide with this negotiation meeting thingie organised (with Tsubael, Azanael and Micchi all involved - that seems the era where the Arume begin to split into two different attitudes). Ekaril might be saying a very tearful farewell because 29 years is a very long time - and thus she won't be back soon - and alsoy Tsubael should really not be involved in it also. It doesn't matter that Ekaril isn't shown in the final scene - because neither is Mari. I think it could make sense - even if self delusion is a dish best served warm heh.

I guess most people are going to take the ending as indicating Hagino/Ekaril died anyway - the emotions of all involved (beside Mari's ambiguous ending) were extreme to made you think something heartbreaking was about to happen. It was profoundly touching, but it's also hurt like hell.

Spoiler:

Well you definitely have the "hurt like hell" part right. I don't think I've ached this much for two characters ever. It was painful. I know that I said that about a previous episode but this just about killed me. Hell yes, I still want the DVD.

[-Nyu-]

@Kieli

Spoiler for ep13:

Yeah, it also hurt me a lot, although I have to say that I was expecting such an ending, no way they'd done a "happy" ending, they are not "in" anymore :P
I know, you wanna the DVD cause you want to see the opening in HD quality, ne? xD

[Kieli]

Originally Posted by -Nyu-

Yeah, it also hurt me a lot, although I have to say that I was expecting such an ending, no way they'd done a "happy" ending, they are not "in" anymore :P
I know, you wanna the DVD cause you want to see the opening in HD quality, ne? xD

Oh most definitely...

[oneplusme]

Originally Posted by -Nyu-

Spoiler for ep13:

Yeah, it also hurt me a lot, although I have to say that I was expecting such an ending, no way they'd done a "happy" ending, they are not "in" anymore :P

Spoiler for episode 13:

Happy endings? In yuri anime? Have they ever been in?

<sniffle> Poor Mari... Widowed on her first day with her new lover. That's harsh. I mean, it was obvious to everyone that Hagino was a tragic character from the get-go, but it was still a particularly cruel way to have to go.

[-Nyu-]

@oneplusme

Spoiler for ep13:

Sure, you can't say Simoun doesn't end good, or Strawberry Panic! or Kannazuki No Miko..
I'm not only angry about Mari being left alone, but Hagino was such a cool character, damn it, just damn it..

[Zippicus]

Spoiler for Episode 13:

I'm only able to base this on just seeing the raw and when the subs come out it might change things. It seems like they killed off Hagino just for the sake of killing her off. Her death really has no meaning. It's not like she averted the invasion or anything. The earth is still boned whether she lives or dies, if anything the earth might be worse off having someone so sympathetic out of the picture. As far as protecting Mari it would be a temporary measure at best, if the master commander figured out something was special with Mari then anyone else can too and now Hagino isn't around to protect her anymore.

Overall a good series, but like most anime the ending could have used a little work. They could have stood to get rid of one of the slice-of-life'ish episodes to make room for tying up loose ends.

[Mentar]

Originally Posted by Zippicus

Spoiler for Episode 13:

I'm only able to base this on just seeing the raw and when the subs come out it might change things. It seems like they killed off Hagino just for the sake of killing her off. Her death really has no meaning. It's not like she averted the invasion or anything. The earth is still boned whether she lives or dies, if anything the earth might be worse off having someone so sympathetic out of the picture. As far as protecting Mari it would be a temporary measure at best, if the master commander figured out something was special with Mari then anyone else can too and now Hagino isn't around to protect her anymore.

Not quite right, IMHO

Spoiler:

Shivariel had Novaal go into "Genocide Mode" and was planning to kill off Mari right away, due to her telepathic abilities. Had Hagino not intervened, this would have happened.

And keep in mind that Shivariel had been playing her cards very close to her chest, due to her own prior crimes she had to cover up. With her gone, I don't see anyone who would have an immediate interest to have Mari killed.

In the end, Hagino went all the way to fulfil her promise to the best of her abilities. Protect the Horime, and particularly Mari. And we know that at the very least Micchi, Tsubael and Azanael are still alive, so she most likely succeeded.

[Solace]

Oh god the urge to read all these spoiler tags! Must...resist...clicking.....

This might be worth the raw download.

[Lesca]

Originally Posted by Mentar

Not quite right, IMHO

Spoiler:

Shivariel had Novaal go into "Genocide Mode" and was planning to kill off Mari right away, due to her telepathic abilities. Had Hagino not intervened, this would have happened.

Spoiler for ep 13:

I still wish they would have explained why the strangling, Mari seemingly hurting Hagino just by touching her and the other things happened, I know it's something to do with the thought arresting weapon most likely, But I have a curious mind and would have liked them to explain it more.
That thing in space at the very end looks like a tear? is that a tear to the Arume's dimension?
I hope they update the timeline or something, I'd love to know what happened to Mari during the war and stuff.

Anyone know if there's going to be any nice extra's with the DVD's?

[Zippicus]

Originally Posted by Mentar

Not quite right, IMHO

Spoiler:

Shivariel had Novaal go into "Genocide Mode" and was planning to kill off Mari right away, due to her telepathic abilities. Had Hagino not intervened, this would have happened.

And keep in mind that Shivariel had been playing her cards very close to her chest, due to her own prior crimes she had to cover up. With her gone, I don't see anyone who would have an immediate interest to have Mari killed.

In the end, Hagino went all the way to fulfil her promise to the best of her abilities. Protect the Horime, and particularly Mari. And we know that at the very least Micchi, Tsubael and Azanael are still alive, so she most likely succeeded.

Spoiler for Thoughts on that:

Well I'm not sure who the target of that genocide mode was, it looked more like Azanael and her squadron was the main target there. Granted she could have been targeting that city full of civilians for whatever reason, but that's not how I saw it, seeing the subs might clear that up. And the deal with Mari was that the master commander wanted her as a test subject rather than just wanting her dead. Way back in whatever episode it was that she went after her the first time the order was to retrieve her alive if possible. We know that the Arume developed the thought arresting weapons, it sure appears that the basis for those weapons were from the initial incident with Blue so it's not like the data disappeared with the master commander hence my conclusion that Mari isn't exactly safe from lab rat status. Granted Hagino did stop the master commander from doing whatever she was doing but in the end that's like a small consolation prize, the earth and it's people are still boned.

Anyways this is why I thought the ending could use some work since there's a bunch of stuff left up in the air.

[foux]

Originally Posted by Lesca

Spoiler for ep 13:

I still wish they would have explained why the strangling, Mari seemingly hurting Hagino just by touching her and the other things happened

In my oppinion they kind of explained it with all those episodes. First Mari touched Hagino and it hurt her, because Mari was afraid of her. Then they went to buy materials and stayed night at some shop, thats when there was second step when they shared a dream trough telepathic abilities. And third time was on episode 12 when Hagino returned and they talked to each other telepathicaly.
So you can see the progress and that the "touch hurt" was caused by the telepathic connection ( Mari didn't know about it at that time ).
No clue about strangling, there has been many speculations about it here. At that strangling time there were no real feelings between them, so my guess is it was reflexes. Arumes plan was to invade the earth and Mari was the only eye witness.
Not that earth could have done anything anyways :P

[Dark Wing]

This is well just wow...

Spoiler:

At least it's a classic bad end...Anyone remember Simone from Shiroi Heya no Futari? Well at least Hagino got to sacrifice her life for what she loved, as opposed to Simone who got stabbed after a drunken argument.

[Haruyasha]

Originally Posted by Lesca

Spoiler for ep 13:

I still wish they would have explained why the strangling, Mari seemingly hurting Hagino just by touching her and the other things happened, I know it's something to do with the thought arresting weapon most likely, But I have a curious mind and would have liked them to explain it more.
That thing in space at the very end looks like a tear? is that a tear to the Arume's dimension?
I hope they update the timeline or something, I'd love to know what happened to Mari during the war and stuff.

Anyone know if there's going to be any nice extra's with the DVD's?

Spoiler:

Like I said earlier.. a probable response from Hagino for Mari probing Hagino's mind.

Extra content will probably be revealed later, either through DVD extras.. or through more website secret pages.

[changeup]

I literally freaked out when I heard Hagino said

Spoiler for :

Sayounara

No, you cannot do that to Mari... Hagino... After Mari spent the episode 11 and 12 telling you she did not want you to shoulder everything yourself. How can you just leave her behind? Do you think she can still live on after all this?

Or maybe Mari is pregnant...

[Kaoru Chujo]

Spoiler for ep13:

Wonderful final episode. Sad ending, but well done, and very fitting. Especially sad because we don't know what happened to Mari in the first decades of the occupation.

The only things I'd complain about are (1) Azanael coming "back from the dead." She could definitely not have survived that pool of blood from a chest wound that traversed the body. And (2) I don't think they really explained the strangling scene or Hagino being knocked unconscious. Maybe the subs will help, especially Shivariel's speech.

I think it's just about impossible that Ekaril is still alive, but they fooled me with Azanael, so I guess anything's possible.

Great scenes of all kinds: the intertwined hands, the revelation of Hagino/Ekaril, the sayonara to Mari (my heart broke), the farewell to Tsubael, Mari running along the dock, parts of the battle, the falling Arume (which I now believe were emul-force projections).

Everybody has their own scale, but at the moment this series is a 9 for me: "excellent, should be in anyone's collection." We just don't see many anime that have real emotion and real characters, who develop, as well as an interesting plot and a deep and fascinating larger context. But I've only seen the ep once, and with incomplete understanding of what they all said, so my rating could change.

I think the sad endings of some yuri anime have to do with the fact that there was no place for a yuri relationship in adult society -- or that it was not considered proper to make an anime that claimed there was. But Simoun had a happy ending, in my opinion, and it wasn't really that ambiguous.

Spoiler for Simoun ending:

Aaeru and Neviril were eternal shoujo, glorious and together, and their friends caught mysterious glimpses of them flying by from time to time.

[Kieli]

Spoiler:

I have to agree with Kaoru, even though I am seriously in heartbroken for the both of them. It is highly rare for me to get this emotional over an ending. I have to wonder what Azanael's and Tsubael's roles were in those later years of occupation. I would have thought that they would have been tried as traitors against the Arume.

[scr]

and then the play ends, the audiences applaud, the curtain falls.

Spoiler:

- it's cute, two girls holding hands. especially if it signifies strong bond between them.
- the television went "Nice Boat" to prevent mass hysteria. sweet, just the right thing to do.
- Ekaril Hagino selfishly went for the play.
- the Blue has OVER9000 firepower, singlehandedly defend the island from countless aircrafts
- OTOH, Arume's fighter craft has unbelievable maneuverability
- sadly, even the play must be interrupted, regardless of many effort put into it. and it even went flawlessly too !
- the way that Ekaril Hagino run into battle ... it's as though she's fading into eternity. "sayonara..."
- Azanael is ALIVE ! and she's here to avenge Onomil. way to go, nakama !
- come to think of it, the way Azanael's squadron dance above the Blue reminds me of Ri Maajon ... is she trying to merge with Tempus Spatieum ?
- it seems that until the very end, Masutah Commandah love to torture people. even killing Azanael must be done in such a grandiose way.
- Ekaril Hagino's monologue at the very end is just... well, i can't put a word into it.
- is the Blue really a mere scout ship ? it's at least half of Novaal
- until the very end, Ekaril Hagino is a solitary person. i literally desperates when it's clear there's no way for Mari to board the Blue. zetsubou shitaaaa !!!
- overall, this is TEH ANIMU for me this year. (last year was obviously Simoun)
- btw, is it Tsubael and Azanael in the escort ship flying along the U.N. ship ?

BLUE DROP = "The Fall of Battleship BLUE"
one word: tragic !
and there's not even a post-credits scene to make the fans happy even a little bit *cough* kannaduki *cough*

-thank you for watching-