The concluding episode. Lilith lashes out at Eve for abandoning her in the Great Library for what seems to be tens of thousands of years and Eve tries to make it up to her. Lilith notices that Eve misses Hazuki who seems not to have returned to the correct book-world. Alone again, Hazuki reflects on her dreamlike adventures but suddenly sees Hatsumi returning to the house. History repeats itself – like a universe reset but Hatsumi does not glow and disappear at the stroke of midnight. Instead Hatsumi and Hazuki share a passionate kiss and then a cuddle. Hazuki awakens the next day not remembering anything but notices the signs of Lilith’s future rebirth as her child.

I recalled some comments that Kannazuki “totally owned” Yamibou by having a full-on yuri kiss in the first episode while Yamibou left it right at the end. To that, the “real” kiss between Chikane and Himeko was only in the final KannaMiko episode and Chikane’s existence is also erased shortly after that.

Hatsumi’s seriously awful hotcakes were used to good dramatic effect in this episode even if it was a bit of joke at the start of the series and this episode. Hatsumi said in Ep 12 that no one in any of the worlds has ever loved her as much as Hazuki. I suppose Hazuki must also be the only person in the entire collection of worlds in the Great Library was has ever sincerely praised Hatsumi’s pancakes – even though they tasted awful, she could still taste Hatsumi’s love. -_-;;

On this second viewing, the first and final kiss between Hatsumi and Hazuki was quite gratifying and I think I better appreciated the scene as a result of screencapping it.

Overall, the series presented a fairly interesting range of worlds tied by the common theme of Eve’s appearances in them but the WTF quotient was pretty high even with Miyuki Fansub’s valiant attempt to explain as much as possible. I guess one has to have played the ROOT game to fully appreciate the series. E.g. I was confused right to the end – is Ayaa the Hat? Or is he just reading the Hat’s independent thoughts from the book? Is the Great Library itself a world within a book-world as well? Where did Yami go? Why does Hazuki have some of Yami’s essence – if so, why couldn’t she join Eve in the Great Library for as long as she wanted? And after the kiss, was Hazuki exposed to the door of Eve again? And why oh why is Eve reincarnating as Hazuki’s child? It spoils the yuri relationship and, if Eve also disappears again upon reaching 16 years of age, wouldn’t just be too cruel to Hazuki?

I have griped about KannaMiko’s weak ending and plot holes but Yamibou is really in its own league when it comes to those problems. On the other hand, there’s no hideous mecha or serious sexual violence in Yamibou. I’d probably only recommend this series for the hardcore yuri fan and those who have played the game before.

©2012 hontou ni sou omou?. All Rights Reserved.

Gargantua, Hazuki and Lilith all argue over Jill/Hatsumi/Eve who stops their bickering. She consents to Tamamo no Mae returning the Hat to her head and disappears back to the Great Library as a result. It seems that in most of the worlds where she has been, her disappearance has not left any major problem – except for the three who have been pursuing her across worlds. She then tries to set things right.

Gargantua finally realizes that it is Ritsuko that he loves rather than Jill. He rescues her from her cell and reshapes his world into a bright and cheerful one where he and Ritsuko, who seem to have been made immortal by the Door of Eve, can live together happily ever after. Nb: Now that I’ve seen FMA, I was half expecting the resurrected bird to burst into a spray of blood after flying far away enough.

It’s not so easy to assauge Hazuki as Eve is unable to return to being Hatsumi. She acquiesces to Hazuki’s desire to die together if they cannot live together but, after an End of Evangelion Komm Susser Todd moment, Hazuki is unable to go through with it. Hatsumi says that they should both live on in the hope of seeing each other again and prophecizes that she will be reborn as Hatsumi’s child. I found this bit to be highly dubious on two counts – firstly, what if Hazuki lusts after the reincarnated Hatsumi again? And wouldn’t it be setting Hazuki up for more heartbreak after the next 16 years? Btw, I wonder if Alastor from Shakugan no Shana also has a cute chibi form like Kogechibi?

Lastly, Eve retrieves a now seemingly powerless Lilith from the Universe Garden while Aaya is caught by Tamamo no Mae to become her drinking (and it seems other activities hur hur) companion.

©2012 hontou ni sou omou?. All Rights Reserved.

With Lilith’s help, the ship warps within reach of a suitable planet. Hazuki learns that an Eve incarnation, called Rauru, appeared and then vanished on board a hundred years ago. Felt an echo of Trigun here with the mysterious appearance of a child onboard. Reira almost repeats history by accidentally cutting her own cable and drifting out into space when repairing some crucial instrumentation on the outside of the ship’s hull. She’s rescued by her boyfriend wannabe. The children land on the planet with the DNA samples of Earth’s animals. Subbers note several Gundam parallels.

Later Lilith and Hazuki arrive in the universe garden. They meet Gargantua and his trolls, Mariel, Tamamo no Mae. The latter easily removes Lilith’s Hat, reducing her to blubbering tears. Eve/Hatsumi/Jill appears to investigate the racket.

We learn that Mariel was recovered by Tamamo no Mae but remembers nothing…

… and that the uber-cute Meirin is TnM’s weaker other self.
Just like the trolls are Garugantua’s.

To be able to remove the Hat so casually, probably due to TnM’s power
and the venue of the Universe Garden?

* Dun dun dun *

©2012 hontou ni sou omou?. All Rights Reserved.