I finished Agito
Jun. 12th, 2009 11:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
That was really fucking awesome. \:D/
Seriously, it's so normal for the ball to be dropped right at the end, but that was so SATISFYING. And I like that it proves that you CAN have a feel good ending and have it be good writting... it doesn't have to be grim to be good.
Now that I think about it that way... in a lot of ways, the end of Agito is pretty much the exact opposite of the end of Faiz. I mean... they're both open ends in that humanity's ultimate fate is not resolved within the particular story being told, and they both end with the characters living out ordinary, fairly good lives... but thing is that in Faiz, there's a sense that that peace and wellness is temporary. It's the calm before the real storm, and the Orpenoc WILL rise up again and Smart Brain is still around and all they really did was delay things. Not to mention... the Orphenoc ARE still doomed, so Takumi may have his temporary happiness but utimately he's on borrowed time and WILL die.
And then on the other hand, there's Agito, and dark twin lord dude is gone, possibly for good. And yes, it IS open ended, in that we don't know how things will play out, and there IS the possibility that he's right and humans are petty and will fear and destroy Agito (and thus their own potential)... but the thing is, there's the very real sense of hope. There's real!Tsugami's absolute conviction that he's right, that humanity is better than that and will accept Agito and that in the end it'll be okay. And the tone of the series, specially as personified in Hikawa, seems to be making the statement that he's right and that that hope won't be betrayed.
And of course there's Shoichi, and they really had me going there for awhile, but then he's there, and he's got his restaurant, and he's living his life and is happy, and you think, yay, he got to be happy. And in the end, the same goes for Ryoh. There's no sense of impeding doom. They both came out on the other side of it as human beings and get to live.
And then HIkawa. Daaaaamn. Hikawa totally made the episode AND the end for me, and I was pretty much squealing with delight at EVERYTHING he did. Starting with NOT getting on that plane, and the lost puppy look on his face when Ozawa sees him, and the determination that's just seething below the surface and apparent uncertainty. And then they AWESOMELY HIJACK THE G3 TRAILER TOGETHER. Daaaaaamn. And Ozawa's absolute, unwavering faith in Hikawa ("Who do you think he is? He's Hikawa Makoto, a man that will never give up!") and the Unknown wondering how he can have so much power if he's not Agito and "TADA NO NINGEN DA!" *_____________*
In case it's not clear, Hikawa is at the top of my ichiban Rider list, right up there with the awesomely dysfunctional Yaguruma and Super Lawyer Kitaoka. And it's kind of really amusing to me that when you look at those three that are my franchise favorites... they're all extremely different from each other.
Oh, and because it must be said... "If the fate of humanity is in your hands, I will take it back!" and then... he kicked god in the face. He KICKED GOD in the FACE. XDD
Oh, Tsugami Shoichi... you are quite awesome. XD
Seriously, it's so normal for the ball to be dropped right at the end, but that was so SATISFYING. And I like that it proves that you CAN have a feel good ending and have it be good writting... it doesn't have to be grim to be good.
Now that I think about it that way... in a lot of ways, the end of Agito is pretty much the exact opposite of the end of Faiz. I mean... they're both open ends in that humanity's ultimate fate is not resolved within the particular story being told, and they both end with the characters living out ordinary, fairly good lives... but thing is that in Faiz, there's a sense that that peace and wellness is temporary. It's the calm before the real storm, and the Orpenoc WILL rise up again and Smart Brain is still around and all they really did was delay things. Not to mention... the Orphenoc ARE still doomed, so Takumi may have his temporary happiness but utimately he's on borrowed time and WILL die.
And then on the other hand, there's Agito, and dark twin lord dude is gone, possibly for good. And yes, it IS open ended, in that we don't know how things will play out, and there IS the possibility that he's right and humans are petty and will fear and destroy Agito (and thus their own potential)... but the thing is, there's the very real sense of hope. There's real!Tsugami's absolute conviction that he's right, that humanity is better than that and will accept Agito and that in the end it'll be okay. And the tone of the series, specially as personified in Hikawa, seems to be making the statement that he's right and that that hope won't be betrayed.
And of course there's Shoichi, and they really had me going there for awhile, but then he's there, and he's got his restaurant, and he's living his life and is happy, and you think, yay, he got to be happy. And in the end, the same goes for Ryoh. There's no sense of impeding doom. They both came out on the other side of it as human beings and get to live.
And then HIkawa. Daaaaamn. Hikawa totally made the episode AND the end for me, and I was pretty much squealing with delight at EVERYTHING he did. Starting with NOT getting on that plane, and the lost puppy look on his face when Ozawa sees him, and the determination that's just seething below the surface and apparent uncertainty. And then they AWESOMELY HIJACK THE G3 TRAILER TOGETHER. Daaaaaamn. And Ozawa's absolute, unwavering faith in Hikawa ("Who do you think he is? He's Hikawa Makoto, a man that will never give up!") and the Unknown wondering how he can have so much power if he's not Agito and "TADA NO NINGEN DA!" *_____________*
In case it's not clear, Hikawa is at the top of my ichiban Rider list, right up there with the awesomely dysfunctional Yaguruma and Super Lawyer Kitaoka. And it's kind of really amusing to me that when you look at those three that are my franchise favorites... they're all extremely different from each other.
Oh, and because it must be said... "If the fate of humanity is in your hands, I will take it back!" and then... he kicked god in the face. He KICKED GOD in the FACE. XDD
Oh, Tsugami Shoichi... you are quite awesome. XD