Even though the vast majority of anime take place in a school of sorts, the setting for Makeine still feels pretty unique and this episode solidified that feeling for me. The school feels much more alive. Previously I felt this way because it’s not a pristine looking school, it actually kinda looks rundown at times, like it’s been there for a long time in a small town and the student body that’s not the main cast seems to have a lot of personality. This episode added a school festival that is not the bog standard festival. From what we’ve seen, there’s so many actually creative ideas. Not just a simple haunted house and a maid café for example, but a really cool literary exhibition about food with activities for children, and short plays at various locations throughout the school. It feels much more intentionally crafted instead of just the cliché ‘school festival’ because it’s a school setting.
Final episode already.
This entire anime didn’t go the way I thought it would at all. It’s wild to look back at the 1st few eps to see where it started with really mundane stuff. It was really interesting to see it progress the way it did. Kobato’s past is more or less clear, but Osanai is still a mystery to me, though it’s clear that despite her timid appearance, she’s quite ruthless.
Now that they’ve gone their separate ways, I’m very curious where this’ll go. Thankfully, a 2nd season is already announced. Sadly, we’ll have to wait until Spring 2025 for it.