Just more proof that “glomping” never has nor never will be appreciated. Wasn’t cool in the ’60s, still not cool now. 

——

I am finally back in the Sakamichi no Apollon camp. This episode was beyond phenomenal. I haven’t really had a chance to sit down and really review anything because I was so busy with Fanime, but this was definitely best one to get back into it with. I haven’t really been able to stop watching the last three and a half minutes of the episode. It was so much more than it being an awesome showcase of the show’s animation and playing an incredible medley of the music insofar. The emotional baggage the whole sequence unpacked was surprisingly cathartic. Plus, I haven’t really been wrong about the relationship between Sen and Kaoru; it’s one best expressed through their music. As cliche as that sounds, it’s really the one thing that makes the whole thing work. 

As far as the rest of the episode goes, it made the ending worth the wait. Given that the last couple episodes were building up to that performance, I can no longer say anything about any of it. It was great storytelling and much more far-sighted than I could have ever been. It looks like a lot of the love problems have been pretty much resolved as well, except for maybe Jun’s breakdown and how it affects Yurika and everyone else. But as far as I’m concerned, that’s fine. Having multiple romantic plot lines left loose was making the show more complicated than it absolutely needed to be. Right now, I’m just looking forward to what direction the remaining four episodes are going to go in.

This show is proving to be much more visceral and emotional than I gave it credit for. Even when writing all this, I can’t stop rewatching the episode. Not gonna lie, I’m looking forward to next week immensely.

GO Rating: 4.5/5