Tuesday 23 October 2012

Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu - Finale - Episode 2

If the Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu story looked like it was always going to present a foregone conclusion, the first episode of its Finale OVA threatened to throw a spanner in the works - not just by being rubbish, but also by seeing Shiina confess her love to a shocked Yuuto, and right in front of Haruka herself no less!

Given the situation, what is Yuuto to do?  While common sense would dictate that his feelings would be pretty clear-cut by this point, he's instead thrown into turmoil by Shiina's confession, leaving him avoiding both Shiina and Haruka as he tries to figure things out in his head (otherwise known as "the worst thing he could possibly do").  This state of affairs also leaves Haruka trying to gauge the exact strength of her feelings, as she ponders whether her love for Yuuto can compare to Shiina's.


While all of this is going on in the midst of their school trip, Shiina is quick to make her move by inviting Yuuto out sightseeing while Haruka fumbles over what to do herself.  As Yuuto and Shiina run off to frolic together, Haruka is left distraught as the full strength of her feelings and everything she's been through with Yuuto flash before her (and rather handily for the episode's budget, our) eyes - luckily for her Yuuto also seems to be thinking about his past with Haruka, which ultimately leads to him making his decision at last.  Although that should arguably make for the end of the series, we still have two episodes left of this OVA....

If there's one positive thing I can say about this episode, it's "a proper mutual confession, at last!" - I realise it's hardly unusual to have romantic comedy shows hedging their bets on the main couple getting together for as long as possible, but given the main pairing's compatibility this was painful even by anime standards.  The real question here is... why am I even watching this?  Wait, no, I mean the real question is where the series goes from here to end its story - it seems as if we'll be at least somewhat returning to the show's otaku roots before engaging in some family drama, which can surely only be better that the tepid love drama that made up the first half of this OVA... right?

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