PhoenixItachi said:
HectorBlaze said:I'm for Rikuo x Haru because when they’re shown together they feel natural. When Rikuo and Shinako are together things are awkward and they appear weird. I don’t care too much about who ends up with Rikuo but I would prefer Haru.
I completely with you, it just doesn't seems all that good when you see Rikuo and Shinako, but it can be very well the author intention considering that neither of them has too much experience with dating/being in a relationship. In addition, Rikuo has relatively low self-esteem, very low confidence and because of that is less pushy (just like Shinako sad some episodes ago), combined with the Shinako's stubbornness to move past her previous love. So the only two logical conclusion for why the atmosphere is so tense and awkward are scarce experience or Shinako not knowing if she is really in love with Rikuo. Besides, Shinako thinks is unfair for her to be with Rikuo knowing that Haru is genuinely in love with Rikuo, and her is more or less just testing the water to see if Rikuo is worth moving on past her past. Another point I think is Rikuo's general behavior and attitude (and the fact that's maybe too nice) that makes Shinako want to not hurt his feeling. All three characters are good people at heart, maybe to much so, and this created the whole situation. If even one of them were to be more straightforward, the situation would have been a lot simpler (e.g.: Rikuo telling Haru that he can't see her more than a friend, or Shinako realizing earlier if she loves Rikuo or not).
I really love this anime and story. All seems pretty grounded, down to earth and believable. The only think that worsen the whole series, in my opinion, is how is structured (and maybe this is only the anime's fault). The problem for me is that the anime starts with Haru for the first 3 episodes, describing her as a very likeable, with a cheering personality and a big little mystery about her past, which makes the viewer (and me) to want to see her more and to root for her. And after these episodes, she just appear less and less, and we are introduced more and more to Shinako, neglecting Haru almost completely, and if nothing else, for me, this structure tries to shift the audience's mind from Haru to Shinako without giving them to much of a reason other that the fact that Haru is barely present in the story anymore, and that Shinako is more or less the winner. And I don't dislike Shinako at all, it's just that I got really attached to Haru in the first episodes and I don't really think Shinako has almost any good traits (or quirks) that Haru doesn't have. For me Shinako is Haru but more depressed, not so cheerful and that tries to hide to much because she believes that's how adults are or should be.
Today is the last episode and a season two is pretty unlikely because of the material (there isn't much more) and at maximum will get maybe 3-4 Specials to and the story or that this episode will rush to the end, or it will be an anime original ending.
Anyway, sorry for the long read (hope you enjoyed my point of view) and I'm still hoping my girl Haru can make it at the end (even if the chances seems really low).
Still the anime is worth to watch 100% in my opinion.