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As much as I enjoyed this episode, it almost felt like a waste as a season one finale. This decisive turning point marks the end of the season and opens the door to future events in Season 2. However, I wish we could have had all the elements of this episode earlier in the show. A polemical underdog story in which an outsider slowly brings people together through her unique charm is a great premise. Why did I have to wait twelve episodes before I finally felt like this story was starting? This type of ending makes me look back at the show as a whole and realize that not only was there a lot of crap, but there were things that contradicted what the show was trying to set up.
I loved every second of Kuze and Yuki’s dynamic. They exude the most intense sibling rivalry energy I’ve seen in a while. I love how the show blurs the lines between what Yuki wants and the character she wants to play. Yuki’s motivation for becoming student council president isn’t very strong, you can tell she’s just doing it for her family. Despite this, she also wants to prove that she is a worthy opponent to her brother. Maybe there was a little inferiority complex there, and by the end of the battle of wits, it was revealed that she wasn’t trying to play the bad guy, but she was trying to win. The show’s ability to break different modes of communicating with its audience in a very accessible way should not be underestimated. We are getting a simplified version of political drama. The fact that I was involved in student government presentations and campaign announcements is a testament to how powerful this piece of writing can be.
But when we get to Arya, I’m confused at best. I like the idea of her using her fluency in Russian as an icebreaker to de-escalate the situation. This is supposed to be Arya’s moment of determination, but the speech isn’t as profound or inspiring as the show tries to make it out to be. Arya thinks she is the best person for the job because she works harder than anyone else. While she knew she lacked the skills needed to be a good board president, she believed she would eventually get there. I don’t think I have any reason to think Arya works harder than anyone else on this show, especially when Kurtz does so much of the heavy lifting for her. While she was the one giving the orders, he was the one coming up with the plan, he was the one responsible for getting them done, and even the compliment I just gave her for starting the speech in Russian was his idea.
If anything, we’ve seen just as many instances on the show where she’s borderline compromised because she’s distracted or egged on by others. Twelve episodes in, but I can’t think of anything worthwhile she’s accomplished in terms of effort or perseverance at all. If her idea is that she’s going to keep trying to win everyone over, that’s fine, but this doesn’t feel like the kind of speech that should be given at the end of season one. This speech is supposed to set the stakes early in the show, and then we see the gradual build-up to this ideal.
Kuze gives a speech about how Arya brings people together and how he finds himself drawn to that, but she doesn’t have any friends outside of the student council. I don’t know if he’s hyping her up or if he actually believes it, but I’m not sure that’s part of the problem. I gave the show chance after chance to win me over for its titular character, but it didn’t succeed. There’s all kinds of things to appreciate in Kuze and Yuki’s relationship. Still, I’d rather watch a show about them than watch Arya end up becoming the better character the show promised she would be. Maybe things will get better in season 2, but I’m not holding my breath.
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AJ is also regularly at twitch As an independent Vtuber bolt machinist They’re there to talk and play retro media!
Arya sometimes hides her feelings in Russian Currently streaming on Crunchyroll.
Disclosure: Kadokawa World Entertainment (KWE) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation and the majority shareholder of Anime News Network, LLC. One or more companies mentioned in this article are part of the Kadokawa Group of Companies.
