Thursday, 13 March 2014

Nagi no Asukara - Episode 23

The revelation that Manaka has lost the ability to love, alongside her memories of who she might once have been in love with, is clearly not good news - what's more, it also opens up a period of open reflection from all of those around her.

For Hikari, his thoughts all remain firmly focused on what he, or anyone else, can do to resolve this issue for Manaka - unfortunately, this coupled with his own emotions leaves him with a massive blind spot as to who Manaka's love might have been directed towards, as he asserts over and over again that it must be Tsumugu who was the object of her interest.  It's a thought process which leaves Miuna unsure of what to do given her own feelings, putting some further pressure on her own conflicting desires to be with Hikari and ensure Manaka's happiness.


In the midst of all of this, the rest of the group find themselves considering whether living without the ability to fall in love is actually a bad thing at all - Chisaki certainly doesn't seem to think so, and neither does Kaname, much to Sayu's chagrin.  It's a prospect that certainly sets things in motion for a number of characters, as Sayu swears she's going to confess to Kaname, Hikari steels himself to tell Tsumugu to get on with it and date Manaka, and Tsumugu himself ends up making an inadvertent confession of his own which has major consequences for both himself and, possibly, Chisaki.

If last week's Nagi no Asukara was a relatively quiet one, this week's instalment was packed with seismic activity to shake up the goings-on amongst its cast - it isn't the kind of episode that will cause sudden outbursts of tears from the viewer, but it does a wonderful job of setting its tone and contemplative, slightly melancholy mood which it then follows through on as its story continues to twist and turn like the emotions of its characters.  The show is going to have to start wrapping things up soon given the tangled web of relationships now at its core though, so I hope that it's left itself sufficient time to do so.

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