Oh boy. Oh lord. Oh god. You just had to be there when I first watched it during the premiere. It took me off guard as I was scrambling to record it for posterity and I was definitely NOT expecting in a million years to see Yosuke first thing (and young Yosuke of all things). The color work just blew my mind because you have to understand I was expecting to be disappointed like I was with Soul Salvation but NO, they actually did this right!
And holy shit, I'm fed for an entire decade with just the OP.
Seriously, having Nana Mizuki singing this was the best thing that could have happened. My favorite part of the OP has to be the first 10 seconds though, because the visuals are amazing but also the lyrics touch something deep down. "Don't take a life of imitation, I want to stay true to myself" has been basically the mantra that was taught to me when young and it became especially relevant by the time SK came into my life and I had to make choices.
And moving on from personal rambling territory, Hao singing was a nice thoughtful touch too. The scene with Yoh is kinda of weird seeing Hana with such a specific outfit that doesn't mach the one he met Yoh with but oh well, still nice. The transition with that being a dream Hana is waking up from is great though these couple inn scenes feel kinda choppy with the composition and the animation but it picks up with the long pan of every character which is awesome and BLACK MAIDENNN AND THE MUNTZERS finally!! Yohane and Tamao's expression are particularly exquisite here.
The next scene with Hana running and Sakurai in the back turning into smoke made my heart race with how cool it was and then YOSUKEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE AGAIN??!?!?!? being the deranged maniac he is.
Hana going through the different stages of his transformation was fucking EPIC, yami oni and then ike oni I GO BALD
AND IT DOESN'T STOP THERE BECAUSE ALUMI SHOOTING HIM WAS SOOOO GOOD like the camera movements were so vertiginous and i like feeling like i'm in a rollercoaster when i see an OP.
And just when i thought it couldn't get better seeing Hana falling with everyone... Oh where could this lead to? Since we didn't see alumi in the back maybe he wakes up next to her? or at the beach with sakurai?
FUCK IF I WAS WRONG
Mentally I'm still here.
Takei might be allergic to skinship but anime staff are not cowards.
But seriously, what in tarnation...? How did we get here? I know the homoerotic innuendos are everywhere but this is next level artistic interpretation. I'm on the floor... This was approved by Takei? It has to be.
I believe in you, power of fujo bait...
Hearing the recording, there's a whole second of silence before it hit me what was happening and started gasping for air and screaming like I was a newborn. My brain couldn't fully proccess what I was looking at but it did its best. I will never get over this. Thank you Studio Bridge.
Apparently there's a connection between the moment Hana's reaching for the sun (sun? star?) when the song says something about going forward despite the despair and the moment in Courage Soul when Yoh also reaches for the sun/bird as the song talks about collecting flowers. It definitely seems done on purpose and I love that subtle detail.
I don't really have many coherent words to offer other than I love this and I owe my life to the staff for it (and unfortunately it exposes me and unleashed my feral side).
Just, gosh. I was out of service for at half the episode and when I was recovering from it the ED hit me full force.
How is this a real anime again? How am I not dreaming this?
Anyway, as for the ED, I already liked the song from the previews so I was intrigued.
Admitedly I wasn't into the OP song but it grew on me thanks to the amazing video.
So this starts with more screaming and losing it when they show the families and Gakko travelling and baby Yohane crying like thank god for all these backstories anime staff, you managed to do more than Takei could in a decade (no shade it's just facts, I love you Takei-sensei I owe you my life).
The Omokage reference hit immediately when I saw Alumi crying and the reflect of Yosuke. That might be my favorite part because again, the OP and ED condense everything that gets kinda lost in the manga like... you know... the main characters... Like one of my favorite aspects of the manga is Alumi's story and her development. She's such a fascinating character that didn't get to shine much in Flowers proper, but once you start gathering the pieces it starts making more sense. Anyway, seeing her crying was very moving, because I know she wouldn't cry in front of anyone (not even Hana, at least not yet), so this was a very intimate moment and it makes you think of all the stuff she has to carry on her shoulders without breaking apart. Ugh I love her so much...
I also like that the song was very purposeful and revolving around the themes of inheritance which is, quoting Uesaka but also it's a fact, one if not the main theme of the sequel. Alumi herself mentions it in TSS and it's also touching on actual generational problems irl.
Someone also mentioned that Hana's Oni Kabuto looks like a spider lily and that blew my mind because I can see it and it's genius.
And then there's the beautiful scene of Hana watching the planes in the distance and the song feels like building up to something amazing but then there's repeating scenes from the episode so that was kind of disappointing... But at least it makes up for it when the last scene comes that looks like you know what moment and I went bananas. Chara-designer-style-I'm-not-a-fan-of aside, that picture looked better than the manga one. It's infinitely better with Alumi offering her hand to Hana (and Ryuuji not being there like who are u honestly).
I will just say that all things considered and taking into account what I expected vs what I got, both OP and ED are perfect and I'm so happy with them. It's full of intent and crafted with so much love I can actually FEEL it and that's the most important.
