Tari Tari - Episode 12

After all of the build-up, if you were expecting an outcry from the students of Tari Tari's school upon the announcement of its closure and relocation, then think again - in fact, the student body is surprisingly apathetic to the whole thing.

Indeed, even the members of the choir club seem resigned to the fact that nothing can be done about their school building - however, they are willing to fight for their festival and the chance to perform and sing in front of an audience, even if that means doing so unofficially.  Thus, the group's preparations continue apace...

...only to be hindered at almost every turn, be it the loss of the props Wien worked so hard to create or the refusal of the student council and its body to back Miyamoto's plea for the reinstatement of the school festival.  Still, it isn't all bad news - the choir club's hard work seems to be drawing an increasing number of students into a state of enthusiasm about what they're doing, while the vice-principle seems to have found at least some peace with her own feelings thanks to the work and penmanship of Wakana.  However, with the powers that be involved in the redevelopment project having little patience for any inkling of interference from the school or its students in their work, will everything that they've strived towards ultimately come to naught?

Perhaps it's simply because it hasn't lived up to my expectations of its finale, but this climactic arc of Tari Tari feels a little weak - where other series would portray the current scenario as an epic struggle between students and authority to recognise their needs and passion (a la From Up On Poppy Hill as a recent example), this show feels rather half-hearted in comparison.  Not that taking a different tact is necessarily a bad thing, but it's a little tough to find anything to get behind within the current story - there's no real human drama in the choir club's desire to sing aside from a little sympathy towards them, and it certainly pales into comparison to what the series has succeeded in doing at times prior to this point.  This may sound a little harsh, but when push comes to shove I simply feel ambivalent towards the final dilemma of the club and its members - surely they could simply perform some place away from the school? - and it isn't really what I envisaged from the show at this point.