Natsu no Arashi - Episode 26 (Completed)

After teasing us with what looked to be a glimpse five years into the future of Arashi and Hajime's relationship, only to realise that it's anything but, normal service is resumed for this final episode of Natsu no Arashi as the series comes to a close.

In short, yet again we're offered up an episode filled with fruit... fruit which is in turn filled with a veritable cornucopia of hot spices. This time around however, there isn't just a single spicy "bomb" to worry about - While Hajime's spice-filled kiwi kicks things off, a vengeful Kaya ends up making one of her own to catch out Hajime for something (and I have no idea what) that he's done and Arashi also makes one because it seems like a fun idea.


Needless to say, these kiwis end up getting mixed up with the "good" fruit at the cafe, which leads the trio who made these "devices" (plus Jun) to travel back in time and try to rectify things, only to fail to do so, at least in part due to Yayoi and Kanako's usual inability to get an order right (even though it seems like they were doing so well).

Truth be told, this was a decidedly odd way to finish a series in which we've had to much time invested - Aside from that teasing opening and a slightly sweet end to the episode there was no real closure or progress in any discernible fashion, with this instalment feeling like little more than yet another layer of filler upon a series that already had far too much of it in the first place. While the first half of Natsu no Arashi succeeded in bringing us some truly fantastic moments in the midsts of its overall mediocrity, so this second half has failed almost entirely to bring anything of note, instead concentrating on rather trite little stories that rarely hit the spot in terms of humour or content as they were designed to. Shorn of those occasional moments of genius, this second half of Natsu no Arashi has been nothing short of a rather dull disappointment.