IT’S OVER! And what a finale it was. The conclusion was a bit unexpected for me, but the more I think about it, the more it makes sense for them to have such an ending. I’m wondering how other people feel about the series now that it’s over. I for one have enjoyed it since the very beginning and I’m quite satisfied with how it ended. Maybe other people may not have the same feelings about it as I do, but everyone is entitled to their own opinions.

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Summary

We pick up right after the events of episode 11 with Shinkurou heading into the Kuhouin mansion yet again with Benika and Yayoi chasing after him. Meanwhile, back at school, Ginko and Yuuno are worried about the disappearance of Shinkurou (he possibly did not tell them about his mission). Benika, still driving in that car of hers, is found by Lin who manages to break the car window as Benika speeds by.

Shinkurou manages to make it back into the Inner Sanctuary and meets Murasaki’s father, Renjou. A conversation of clashing ideals between them follows as Benika is chased by Lin in her own car. Benika manages to find Shinkurou in the Inner Sanctuary by crashing her car right into the building. Shinkurou and Benika immediately run off to Ryuuji and Murasaki while Yayoi re-challenges Lin to a fight.

Ryuuji and Shinkurou engage in a battle as well as Yayoi and Lin. Shinkurou and Yayoi emerge victorious by not relying on Benika’s teachings but by the use of the Houzuki’s fighting style. After Ryuuji and Lin were quickly defeated, Murasaki tells everyone that she wants to leave the Inner Sanctuary. While Shinkurou and everyone else first thought that this meant that she wanted to leave the Kuhouins altogether, this was simply not true. Murasaki explains that she wants to leave the Inner Sanctuary, but remain as a Kuhouin woman. She says that she wants to fight against the Kuhouin system with her own strength and not live as her mother did in the Inner Sanctuary.

Shinkurou and the gang accept Murasaki’s wishes and try to convince Renjou into accepting them as well. Ryuuji manages to get up from his beating and stabs Benika in the side of her chest. As Benika collapses and Ryuuji about to deliver another attack on Benika, Shinkurou’s horn activates and automatically strikes Ryuuji multiple times in an instant. Shinkurou almost kills Ryuuji with his horn, but Benika prevents him from doing it at the last minute.

Renjou and Murasaki are shocked to see the horn extending from Shinkurou’s arm. Shinkurou explains to Murasaki that he had it attached because he thought that he needed it to become strong alone. He goes on to say that it was a mistake because he did not need it as he had everyone’s support.

Renjou finally decides to free Murasaki from the Inner Sanctuary and tells her to fight against the Kuhouin customs and him as well. He also tells Shinkurou to come back if and when Murasaki would lose that particular fight.

Murasaki and Shinkurou say farewell to each other and some sweet words are said between them. The episode concludes with Yayoi, Benika, and Shinkurou driving home. Ginko, Yuuno, Yamie, and Tamaki all get short mails from Shinkurou saying that he’s on his way home. Renjou asks Murasaki if she learned anything while in the outside world and Murasaki goes on to tell him of the many things she experienced.

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Impressions

NOOO MURASAKI NOOO! Of all the people who get to keep Murasaki in the end, it’s the one guy who did pretty much nothing but talks the entire series. While we all probably hoped for Murasaki to return with Shinkurou, it is probably best this way for Murasaki to grow up as a stronger woman. It’s true that if she left with Shinkurou that she’d just be running away and more problems would have probably came afterwards. The Kuhouin tradition would have probably continued and more women would suffer. Now that Murasaki is attempting to break the trend, there may be a possibility of the Inner Sanctuary dissolving. Of course, Ryuuji didn’t like that one bit since he’s an incestuous pedophile. But overall, I think Murasaki made the right decision.

I kind of liked the car action scene. Sooo much better than Initial D or Fast and the Furious. Just kidding… I never watched either. Benika has some smooth driving skills. Anyways, back to more relevant material. -.-

The fighting in the episode seemed a bit anti-climatic. Ryuuji I could understand since he’s just a spoiled rich boy, but Lin also fell way too easily just by a switch in fighting style. It can’t be because they were worn out from the fighting before either since Shinkurou and co. had it way worse than either of them.

The horn bit was a bit weird yet cool to watch. It almost looked like Shinkurou lost consciousness and his body did the work for him. But he snapped back to life once Benika got a hold of him. The whole horn thing may still be a bit mysterious, but I think they explained enough of it for the purposes of the show. If the series was any longer then maybe it would have been nice to see more of its background.

And yet again, the writers still find time to put in some humor and jokes into what is supposed to be serious stuff. It seems like Yayoi likes old men who act cool and tough. Benika is awesome since she can make jokes even in the most serious of situations. Shinkurou is just as awesome as he almost does the same thing as well. He must have learned to make casual comments like that from Benika.

Now, about the final question that Murasaki forgot to ask Shinkurou. If you remember, she asks if he loved her or not. Shinkurou does not give a direct answer (probably because she never asked him!), but he mentions something about a dream where they were walking together on a narrow path with violets blooming beside them. The violets were mentioned before by Renjou when he was telling Murasaki about the times where Souju was the happiest. There could be tons of symbolisms and imagery that I’m not aware of, but the best connection I could make is the violets. I found this quote from somewhere on the web (and if it’s on the web then it HAS to be true).

“To dream of violets is a promise of advancement in life.”

Whether or not this is really true is beyond me right now, but I think it’s a good fit as Murasaki and Shinkurou are both advancing in their lives and are trying to become stronger people.

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Final Thoughts/Series Review

I have to saw that this series was by far one of the better ones this season. A series very similar to this, in my opinion, would be Dennou Coil. While both series are described to have a “slice-of-life” aspect to it, I think the uniqueness and alternative style is what makes them so similar. Both series as well have been a personal favorite of mine.

The ending of Kure-nai, I think, was pretty well done. In terms of the main plot (which was pushed aside for most of the series), there was not much left to be desired. I think they wrapped up everything nicely. The only things I wished to possibly see more of are more back story on all of the side characters. They almost had a thing going with Tamaki’s secret nature, but they didn’t seem to dwell on that any more than they have. Although, it may not have been appropriate to drag on about that aspect of the story with the limited time frame of the series.

I figure with Kure-nai and the issues they deal with that there has to be some message about society and the world we live in. Kure-nai is, of course, fantasy and its main purpose is for entertainment. However, there’s too much going on for there not to be some deeper meanings. I’m by far not a very “deep” person. I actually consider myself pretty shallow. Therefore, I can’t really come up with any thoughts about the meanings or messages that Kure-nai is probably sending to us. The only things I can think of relate to the whole foundation of the Kuhouin family and the ideals surrounding it. Of course there were many other themes such as, true strength, relationships, happiness, etc and etc. But the oppression thing really stood out the most to me. To oppress their own daughters into such servitude, becoming locked up only for the purpose of giving birth to their own family’s children, would seem wrong to most normal people in this world. However, not only did the Kuhouins find this to be okay, they even protected it for many generations. This really comes down to a battle of ideology. What I think is right isn’t necessarily what you may think is right. I believe Renjou even mentioned that in this episode.

Even royalty in the past saw it fit to marry within their own families and have children to possibly keep out outside influences. The Kuhouins probably did this as well, to keep the family “pure”, but they did it on a larger scale. But the problem isn’t so much the incestuous relations that go on, but the oppression that is brought along with it. This is where the Kuhouin ideology falls apart. In order to keep their family “pure” they have to, in their minds, “keep it within the family”. But in order to do this, they must control every woman (and man in a sense) that is born into that family and force them to only have children with each other. And as a result, members of the family have their freedoms taken away in order preserve what they think is “right”. Freedom is a lovely thing. Of course, some freedoms are taken for granted, but freedom wins over oppression any day of the week.

Sorry for the long rant this time. I saw it fit to include my final thoughts as it IS the end of the series. I don’t usually like to talk this much but I guess it was necessary. I’d like to thank all of you who have been following my posts on Kure-nai and thank you for all the comments (although, there was probably not many of you). Overall it’s been a fun ride and I hope to see possibly an ova or some sort of continuation of the series, but that might be wishful thinking.

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