This episode was meh for me. While I do love the aspect of a Hime centered episode, this all seemed a bit forced. Let me rewind for a second first. So we’re at the second to last episode, the astronomy club decides to do some joint field trip with another school. At first I was like fuck year more Oumi, then that quickly turned into disappointment when I learned she was a no show. I wasn’t that bothered as I said to myself that this Hime episode will surely be awesome. So anyways, she gets jealous of Mihoshi and gets lost in a blizzard. All of a sudden shit gets serious. People start crying and the atmosphere really tenses up fast. I think a bit more build up would have developed the scenario better as things took a dramatic turn way too quickly. And there’s really no point where I was pulled into the drama happening so it all seemed stupid to me. Anyways, Mihoshi finds her and that reunion led to what could have been interesting character development on both character’s parts, but no the writers said fuck that and hit the reset button. It really feels like I’m watching School Rumble all over again.

This episode could have been a lot better especially for the second to last one of a two parter. I didn’t mind the poorly written script so much, but I couldn’t enjoy this overall it because I was irritated that they couldn’t at least keep the character development. With this, I’m assuming we won’t get a decisive pairing at the ending. The main pairing anyways. The president at least scored big time with Oumi. Edogawa might be alone for the rest of his high school life, but he has a delicious imouto so it’s all good.

This didn’t even feel like the last episode. Mostly because nothing note-worthy really happened with the main cast. Except for Roma. His date with Oumi was the best part of the finale. I lol’d when Saku said Roma was enjoying his campus life with her. He better enjoy it to the fullest. Well at least that happened. I was expecting Mihoshi end at least or a relationship defining scene but it was the usual “omg stars xD” routine. That means Hime is back in her endless loop of trying to appeal towards Saku. The other high school students on the trip managed to shine more than our main characters. I don’t what their names are, but it’s pretty weird how all the development went to some sideline characters. Anyways, like I mentioned already, there was nothing big going on here for the most part and so as a series finale it fell flat for me. I suppose you learn a few things like with the air becoming clearer and darker in the winter and the camera tricks, but for the most part none of it sticks to the viewer. Especially the astronomy trivia. It’s all just fucking connect the dots with those scenes.

I suppose there’s room for a sequel, but I think one season of star gazing shenanigans is enough for me.

[ Review ]

Story: 6/10
An extra point for trying to be original with the astronomy theme. I don’t know how other people categorized this, but the show felt like slice of life for me because there’s rarely any development in plot or the romantic relationships. In short, the show felt like it was dragging and I just wanted something to happen. Fluffy-chan chasing after Saku felt like a cocktease and a main pairing didn’t even fucking happen. So after realizing that I asked myself what the point of this show was. The astronomy theme is interesting for the first couple of episodes, but just becomes a bore after that. The writers try to incorporate some deep, meaningful message after each star gaze but it feels forced after a certain point.

Cast: 6/10
I really wanted to love the cast at times, but sometimes it was hard. First couple of episodes in, I could tell they had potential. Sure the male lead is a book worm, but the dynamic between everybody provided for some good comedy. But unfortunately in the later half of the show, they grew bland along with the story and humor. Except for Edogawa. He’s always awesome.

Production Values: 7/10
Average in all departments. Character designs are simple and clean. The animation and music, while nothing noteworthy, gets the job done. And I did appreciate Studio Comet’s effort in 3D star gazing scenes as dull as they were.

Enjoyment: 5/10
My interest in this show started to dwindle around the second half. While I can see the writers tried to keep it fresh with new characters such as Souma and Oumi, that wasn’t enough. The main problem in this show is that nothing really happens. Sure, the star gazing scenes look all nice and pretty, but you start to not give a shit after the third time of seeing connect the dots in the sky. I wanted to appreciate astronomy on a much better level after watching this show, but to be frank I learned nothing. Even Bakemonogatari’s Summer Triangle was able to stick to me. But twelves episodes of Sora no Manimani failed on every attempt to teach me something. And with each failed attempt, it becomes harder to watch.

[ Final Thoughts ]
I can’t remember where I read this from, but I came in watching Sora no Manimani expecting a romance comedy. Well, the romance is there somewhat, but the focus is more on “astronomy is fun!” This wouldn’t be so bad if those particular scenes didn’t become repetitive so quickly. Most of the episodes end with a deep star gazing scene that you can’t appreciate by the time you’ve seen it for the fourth time. The show was funny at times (mostly because of Edogawa), but half the time the humor fell flat especially when I lost interest in the show. The astronomy scenes did not stick with me at all (putting random images in the sky does not help) and the characters seemed to get weaker as the series progressed (hence one of the reasons why it took me so long to finish this). To be honest, I can’t say I enjoyed this show that much. Sora no Manimani is not necessarily a bad show. But it’s not a good one either.

[ Overall series review: 5.5/10 ]