Episode 11 Production Details

Episode Director: Makoto Hoshino ( Episode Director on Sword Art Online episodes 7 and 20 / Episode Director on Sword Art Online II episode 10 / Storyboard on Rail Wars! episodes 2 and 4)

Storyboards: Shinpei Ezaki ( Director on Sengoku Basara Ni‘s Opening Sequence / Storyboard, Director and Producer on Guilty Crown OVA Lost Christmas / Episode Director on Kimi no Todoke episodes 8, 18 and 24 (alongside Norhihiro Naganuma) / Storyboard alongside Tsuyoshi Yoshioka and Tomoki Kyoda on Eureka Seven AO episode 13)

Script: Taku Kishimoto ( Series Script Writer on  Gin no Saji / Series Script Writer on Haikyuu!!)

I was very shocked that Gaku Yashiro’s backstory would be the part they would cut out. His interest or ‘spice’ as he calls it and referring to Satoru as his new ‘spice’ makes sense in giving anime-viewers an understanding of his spider’s string that he sees from his victims and his appreciate for Satoru’s deduction.

Very creative to omit Satoru from every scene of the opening sequence! Love how this brings mystery to those that don’t know what happens to him.

We are in a new timeline, 2003 with a large change in character dynamics and narrative. This episode focuses on Satoru regaining his now scrambled up memory rather than having a long set of intense moments building up to an ending cliffhanger.  I really like how the creators decided on using his child’s voice as his inner monologue. A small detail that illustrates how he hasn’t truly grown up in his mind yet. Satoru saved the lives of Hiromi Sugita, Aya Nakanishi and Kayo Hinazuki at the cost of losing 15 years of his life.

When I read that the director would be following the manga’s ending I was ecstatic to finally see how they would animate all this content in 12 episodes.  I guess I was wrong.  As there were a ton of instances this episode diverged from the manga.

The opening is nice because we get to see how determined Sachiko is at reuniting with her son.  She truly is the best mom ever!  Reuniting with Kenya and Hiromi but most importantly the scene that will probably upset a lot of anime fans of this show.  Kayo Hinazuki is married to Hiromi and has a baby.  Boku Machi built up relentless attempts to ensure the audience believes that Satoru’s relationship with Kayo would become much more than just friends.  Airi was the initial love interest of this series and I feel that this series including the manga is trying to come full circle to that.  It’s a nice way to establish closure between Satoru and Kayo as they’re older.  Catching up on lost time so to speak. The last time we saw Hinazuki she was staying with a relative and hadn’t been at Satoru’s school since her mother’s situation had been taken over by Social Services.  This was a huge change from the manga as she’s in just about every scene during the Aya Nakanishi arc in the manga.  The impact is what makes this episode strong.  Seeing Kayo after so long reminds him that he saved her and was able to give her a life that makes her happy.  The tears he has during that scene visually intensifies this.

There are issues I have with this episode however.  While the Satoru and Kayo segment is neatly wrapped up.  The story goes back into the mystery of this show at full force. Perhaps too fast actually.  At the end of this we’re seeing a final confrontation between Yashiro and Satoru on the rooftop of the hospital.  I felt this was somewhat anti-climatic because he is sticking around the hospital waiting for the right time to catch his spice, Satoru.  All the pieces of the puzzle regarding the killer fall into place so conveniently this time around.

It was nice to see Sachiko remember the train to Ueno that Satoru had mentioned back around episode 2.

An ending can make or break a series I just hope this one doesn’t disappoint considering how much they’ve cut out and altered.

OVERALL IMPRESSION: 7/10

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