Amagami SS Ep21: The Fading Facade

November 28, 2010

Amagami SS Ep21: The Fading Facade

Yeah, the reason why I didn’t blog this last week was that I didn’t really approve of the ending.  Rihoko got the really short of the stick in her arc.  Even though such an ending was really expected given the entire approach of the arc itself, Rihoko got nowhere as close in 4 episodes that the other girls got in their first ones.  You gotta feel bad for her.

Well anyway time for the final arc and the final girl, Ayatsuji.

Dammit!

Moody and relatively depressed Junichi decides to volunteer for the Founder’s Festival committee after telling himself that he needs to stop moping around.  In the flashback we see that Ayatsuji headed the committee last year but seems to feel like she was missing something.  She decides to join again this year, and now the two of them end up working together.  Junichi may be a clumsy goof, but there’s always computer-like Ayatsuji to keep the committee running like a well oiled machine.

But as we’ve all been expecting since day one, most of us think that she’s not at all what she seems.

This would have been ideal for Sae's arc.

The Junichi in this arc has some similarities with the Junichi from the Haruka arc.  A moody, slightly depressed and directionless young man who almost impulsively joins something he really has no idea of, telling himself it’s for the better.  Maybe he really does intend to change and to be more proactive, but just deciding isn’t enough.  He needs to act it, and the episode shows that he’s still got a lot to learn.  Perhaps Ayatsuji has things she can teach him considering how seemingly responsible she is, but again she seems to have rather different motives of her own.

Her devilish side is peeking.

Ayatsuji had always been something of an enigma to me.  If I’ve learned anything about facial expressions, the more consistent a facial expression is maintained despite changes in events, the less likely that the expression is, shall we say, “honest”.  I had always found her perpetually wide and easy smile very disconcerting, like she’s hiding some mysterious agenda or secret behind that facade.  She’s such a ridiculously hard and diligent worker, and while people like this do exist, they usually do it for a reason.  For the most part, Ayatsuji’s motivations have been hard to decipher let alone notice.

This is likely to be the center of her arc.

The facade begins the crack...

The notebook, whatever is inside it, is the probably one of the secrets she carries with her.  Her rather violent reaction is something of an impulsive move to me, though at this point I’m no longer surprised seeing sudden acts from previously calm and quiet characters.  There must be something there that would cause her to pretty much almost attack Junichi.  He’s naturally shocked at the entire thing, what with Ayatsuji telling something that qualifies as an outright threat of sorts.  Personally I’d rather not have this show go down the violent yandere road.  I think there’s enough of those shows going around already.  This show has always been laid back romances (or friendzones, sigh), so yeah I think even if he does deserve it I’d rather not see Junichi’sguts hanging out his abdomen.

... and now it is broken.

Yes it does end with a cliffhanger.  I think it’s safe to assume that Junichi’s head will remain attached to his body when the next episode rolls around next week.

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