Abenobashi Forum

And so another series is completed (and in record time!)

Zaldar warned me about the ending and I do see why, now. Seems like they were building it up for some dramatic moment where Sasshi learns to face reality and then it just… ends. I’m a little confused as to what happened, actually. Was the kid’s wish granted by the magic so nothing ever actually happened? No Arumi moving away? No dead Grandpa? Maybe this continues another Gainax tradition of nebulous, metafictional endings that need to be watchd five or six times to be adequately understood. 

Honestly, I bristle at the apparent message that this has all been about the kids needing to turn their backs on these fantasy land adventures in the name of “growing up.”  Considering that these toons are made by children at heart (hopefully,) it seems like an awfully hypocritical "lesson." I can jive with Sasshi having to accept his grandpa’s death and Arumi’s departure, but that was all muddled in a lot of talk about he needs to puts his juvenile "hobbies" aside.   There's some delineation between that and Arumi’s ambitions to see the world, but I don’t buy it.

I see this and I'm reminded me of that old observation about how every kid loves to draw in first grade. Only half of them then love to draw in second grade, and the numbers dwindle and dwindle over each grade as society effectively beats creativity out of them in the name of “growing up.” I did enjoy the series (especially the Hollywood one since I could catch all the references) even though I’m having a negative reaction to the ending.  

Perhaps that’s a sign of this being a more challenging, maybe even literary, piece of work?

Tom Pinchuk’s the writer of  HYBRID BASTARDS!  &  UNIMAGINABLE . Order them on Amazon   here  &   here .  Follow him on Twitter:  @tompinchuk

Chris bevridge usually says these things better than I do so I'll just quote from his review of this series:  
Unfortunately, instead of having things move forward like it should, the story cops out in the end. We get a bit of foolery with Eutus after Sasshi makes an impassioned summoning for him where Eutus realizes just who Sasshi really is when he ages him into an adult and lets him use the full extent of his powers. Sasshi's problems prior to this was that nobody took him seriously since he was a kid, and that was because he IS a kid who has unrealistic expectations of the world. Through Eutus' involvement, he lets him age briefly into an adult with his full powers but with the desires of his younger self. So that means no dead Masa, no Hokkaido and a revitalization project for the Arcade instead.

I like anime because usually they don't take the convenient or fairy tale endings. Abenobashi was on the track to a fairly good ending in that you expected to have Sasshi realize just how things really do work in the world. When we got his adult form, I expected him to realize that using his powers to change the world would be wrong and that things would then go forward properly, with his younger self now the wiser to the ways of things. Instead, the childish desires win out and he gets to keep everything around him. Does Arumi become deprived of her dreams to travel abroad as well? Quite possibly, but it's not actively said. But if Sasshi is letting his desires get the best of him this much, then I can easily guess the rest."
 This was exactly my problem with the end hear.  Yes I still use some childish things I do watch anime but adult life is about finding something worth doing as a career and doing it well and not about playing and that is what this series fails to realize.  The philosophy they were going for is not one I agree with and this really ruined the show for me.