Natsuyuki Rendezvous Episode 11 Discussion

Lelouch22 said:
That was an occasionally beautiful and emotionally satisfying episode, but it served as an ultimately unsatisfying conclusion, due completely to the rushed nature of nearly every single significant development. Although, it was certainly more conclusive than I had expected. The finale was a bit of an improvement over the dull monotony that had pervaded the majority of the latter half of the series, however, I can’t begin to excuse it’s wasted potential and the plethora of flaws that permeated the build-up to the end of this story, thus creating a distinct inevitability that this episode would be, at the very least, a bit underwhelming. I mean, all the events that occurred in the first half of this episode could have just as easily happened two or so episodes ago, leaving plenty of room for the development of a certain relationship and pair of characters that seemed to be the primary focus throughout the first five episodes. This, I feel, would have created the potential for a far better and more fully realized conclusion.

It's great that, carrying over from the last episode, Rokka realized who she had truly fallen in love with, and wasn't content to leave things as they were, particularly in regards to Hazuki. For the most part, the last conversation between Shimao and Rokka was an excellent scene, and easily the most emotionally resonant moment between them. For once, I could actually sympathize with Shimao's suffering, due to the absence of his typically selfish nature. However, it was pretty damn ridiculous that she would actually suggest dying alongside Shimao. That really seemed wholly contrived and unnecessary, since it effectively undercut the strength and emotions of her earlier decision. I felt like that bit of uncertainty only existed to temporarily and cheaply lessen her character for the sole purpose of highlighting Shimao's change in resolve, thus making said change seem a bit more profound. Though beautiful, their final conversation took far too much time within the episode. Due to this lengthy farewell, Hazuki, once again, continued his "secondary character" existence in an episode that should have featured him almost completely.

Following Hazuki's return, the few moments between Hazuki and Rokka were exceedingly beautiful and emotionally poignant, but only bore to remind me of how much I had missed the dynamic of their relationship for quite a while.

Most of all, despite enjoying the bit with their children and grandchild, I really disliked that these occurred rather than actually showing all the amazing moments that were instead relegated to a few flashes of some photos. Those developments felt entirely tacked-on, when they certainly shouldn't have been. I also thought that ending the episode with a scene involving Shimao's ghost was quite unnecessary, considering all that had been left out.

Despite the rather solid conclusion, my thorough disappointment in the story's shift of focus was only strengthened. Following the body swapping, the most significant flaw that persisted through the latter half of the story was the needlessly stretched structure of it’s narrative. Leaving specific character and relationship development for the very end was an unfortunate mistake that resulted in a concoction of earlier ideas and emotions to never completely form and resonate, much to the detriment of it's over-arching story. As such, the story and characters, particularly Shimao, would have benefited considerably if Shimao had decided to disappear when he had initially resolved to spend only one more day with Rokka. He should have kissed her for the last time beneath the fireworks and then he should have left for good, which would have created more then enough time for a suitably significant amount of relationship and character development between Hazuki and Rokka. This would also have allowed for Shimao to leave on a high note, never to have deteriorated into the extremely selfish, completely inconsiderate version of him that we see in the majority of the last few episodes. Basically, a more balanced approach would have been ideal.

Hazuki is by far the best and most interesting character, so it was quite disappointing to see what became of him throughout the second half of the story, having been forced into an isolated role. Although initially interesting, the storybook segments with Hazuki were, in the end, largely useless, artificially stranding him in this bubble that seemingly disallowed any amount of particularly significant character development or involvement. Hazuki and Rokka’s relationship was simply fantastic and one of the strongest and most enjoyable elements of the story, yet all of this potential was temporarily, but lengthily, discarded, in order to insert Shimao into the story in a much more prevalent and contrived manner, which wasn't nearly as engaging, unfortunately.

Even though that shift of focus should have improved his character, Shimao instead became a constantly uncertain and completely unsympathetic character with hardly any development at all. His apathetic lack of conviction and vague sense of resolve created a massive contrast between him and Hazuki, and how much they each cared for Rokka. While there seemed an initial desire to make Shimao sympathetic, his very selfish and cruel actions only led him to becoming a wholly inconsistent and ambiguous identity; one that continually failed to derive any sort of sympathy from me. Perhaps that was the point though. Although I strongly doubt it, it’s certainly possible that Shimao wasn't supposed to be a particularly likable character, but the focus on him and his rather sorrowful past seems to distinctly say otherwise.

There's a strange, but obvious dichotomy between it's few mediocre qualities and it's many exceptional ones. As for those terrific qualities, the direction was remarkably consistent, elevating a story that would have likely crumbled completely had it not been able to very deftly carry and properly convey the many emotions and subtle nuances that were swirling about in nearly every episode. The tone that was brought about by this masterful direction created a beautifully bitter and melancholic atmosphere almost all the way through. The mature, naturalistic dialogue aided this tone superbly.

All in all, Natsuyuki Rendezvous was an impressively beautiful story that excelled in many areas, but was weighed down by the numerous flaws and shortcomings that were illuminated in the latter half of the show. As such, the early episodes amazed while many of the others disappointingly dragged and stumbled. It's just a shame that what originally began as my favorite show of the season had, all too often, resolved itself into merely being passable, resulting in a pretty good show that could have been something truly great. 7/10 for me.