Tari Tari - Episode 13 (Completed)

It's finally the day of the big (but decidedly unofficial) White Festival - except its raining.  And the school's gates are locked and chained, as are the gym doors.  And the school council's chairman is laying in wait for our errant pupils to cut off their rebellion before it even begins.

Just as any hope of our group of friends being able to perform look set to vanish entirely, up steps not one but two proverbial knights in shining arm - first, the school principle, who (after making a bit of a fool of himself) is quickly followed by the vice-principle.  Despite the treat of dismissal from the chairman, the ban on entering school property is over-ruled and the festival gets to go ahead, albeit with an outdoor location instead of the gym.  What's more, the school's full music club turns out to lend their talents to the performance, while a not inconsiderable crowd of pupils and townsfolk turn up to see the event unfold, ensuring that it's a surprisingly large-scale success for the choir club.

With their short-term dreams fulfilled, it's time for the group to take a longer view as their graduation looms - a situation that brings a brave decision from Sawa in particular, while the others all look to find their niche in the world; something which they seem to succeed at entirely judging by the show's closing montage, which gives us our requisite happy ending to finish up the series.

Although not an unqualified success, Tari Tari succeeded more than it failed on an episode by episode basis - early on it had a sharp eye for humour to help carry an otherwise unspectacular storyline, then when it came to delivering some character-based drama it managed to dish out some surprisingly heart-rending stuff, particularly in the cases of exploring Wakana and Sawa's back stories.  Sure, some of its episodes and plots didn't work, and even its closing gambit looked a little leggy for a while, but the fact that its final instalment was both oddly touching while still delivering a bit of humour and plenty of feel-good factor pretty much sums up the series as a whole - a gorgeous and lightweight series that nonetheless managed to punch above its wait her and there.  It certainly won't be one of 2012's most memorable series, but Tari Tari proved accomplished at achieving almost everything it set out to, making it a pretty enjoyable summer distraction as a result.