It’s episodes like these that truly make Fuuka shine. Once again, fan service rears its ugly head, but the characters at this point have blossomed with wonderful progression as the show heads towards its final stretch. The performances are incredibly moving by all the voice actors involved and the animation truly tells the story of how hard love can be.
It’s a rollercoaster ride of emotions in this episode. Heartbreak, loss of faith, joy: these are all tenants of this episode and Diomedia does such a wonderful job. Immediately at the start of the episode, there is a crushed Yuu sitting on his bed. It hits you like a bus – like the one that almost hit Fuuka – and there are multiple moments like that in this episode.
The faces and the eyes are animated really well; you know exactly how they’re feeling from the animation alone. The scenes are quiet, and the tension is in the air. It’s so impactful and your heart will break at the sight of it. With each scene, the voice actors give a soul crushing performance. You believe how they’re feeling and the actors are really one-on-one with their roles. The voice cast overall has done a stellar job and with each scene, performances are never out of place.
The series has maintained its realistic, powerful, and emotional writing and Episode 11 is even more of a reflection of that. This episode is able to dive into other characters than just Yuu, Fuuka, and Koyuki, and it’s refreshing. How the characters react to the situation that is occurring feels so natural to the point of giving this writer flashbacks. Yuu, in particular, progresses as a character in this episode. Without giving any spoilers, he steps up and like previous episodes, moves on from his shy persona; he doesn’t use Twitter once. There are moments in Episode 11 you won’t expect as the plot reaches its crescendo, and they are laid out in a perfect way. What spoils the progression piece are the fan service moments of this episode. They’re obtrusive in this heart-filled plot; for the majority of the episode, it is an emotional journey, but then for a few seconds, there are random shower scenes and butt shots (one which includes a mom’s!).
What pieces these scenes together is the beautiful score by Takurō Iga. The accompaniments to the emotional scenes are powerful with effective strings and a sweet melody from the piano chords. The music added another dimension to the superb voice work and animation.
This show continues to deliver a truly special narrative that touches the heart. Fuuka has emotionally engaging characters that, while caricatures at first, progress in a delightful way. The production quality from the outstanding animation, music and voice acting just adds to the already engaging script. It doesn’t need the fan service and honestly without it, this could have been a standout for many. Regardless, next Friday cannot come soon enough.
Eleni-chan and I will be recording a full series review on the Bago Anime Cast in a few weeks’ time. Stay tuned! While you wait, you can check out our review of Episodes 1-8 on the first Bago Anime Cast.