We’re at an interesting and highly unusual point in the development of Koi wa Ameagari no You ni as a franchise, one I don’t remember seeing too often over the course of my anime fandom.  That is to say, the anime is about to end, and the manga just did – which is in itself not that rare, but where things diverge from the norm is that the anime has covered only about half the manga (or so I’m told).  That leads one to imagine the timing is coincidental, and that the anime probably always intended to come up with an original ending of some sort.  It’s hard to believe that there was a plan to skip ahead 40 chapters in the final episode – but then, even harder to believe that Koi wa Ameagari was ever considered a ripe candidate for a second season.

I don’t suppose I’ll read the manga ending even after we get next week’s anime finale, in case I ever decide to read it in full (though it’ll be hard to avoid spoilers).  But I feel as if I have a pretty good handle on where the anime intends to leave things, and that’s because the romantic side of the Masami-Akira relationship has largely slid to the back burner in recent weeks.  No, Koi wa Ameagari doesn’t seem to be about that in the end – in fact it’s more about friendships than romance at the moment, and the pursuit of dreams and the cost that levies on the soul.  So if the anime ending doesn’t primarily focus on that, it will be something of an upset.

This is one of the more gentle episodes in spirit and quietest too, but there is an undertone of something melancholy in the air.  While Masami and Akira obviously have a huge role to play in pushing each other to prioritize their dreams over their fears, this episode seems to hint that in order for each of them to soar, they may need to leave the security blanket the other provides behind.  Obviously these are both little swallows whose nest is under the eaves, safe and dry but forever blocked off from the sky – that was the point of last week’s episode.  But the suggestion of this week’s is that for the other, these two may just be the nest.

A girl named Kurata has just won a regional meet, though with a time well off Akira’s personal best – and it so happens she’s recovered from the same injury (as expected, a ruptured Achilles’).  Haruka is stubborn and diligent – she hasn’t lost her desire to bring her old friend back into the bosom of the track team.  In fact she even follows Akira back to garden – where I was afraid at first she might attack Masami as a molester and cause a scene.  But at this point her prodding may be doing more harm than good, as Akira is plainly getting very sick of it.

Meanwhile, Masami’s old pal Chihiro’s book has been optioned for a movie – and Masami seems genuinely happy to see it.  Chihiro shows up unannounced at Masami’s apartment, ostensibly to ground himself before his life becomes a zoo but in truth, mainly to keep pushing Masami to get back in the game.  These two have a fantastic chemistry (as do their seiyuu), and their mundane moments together have a heartwarming and hilarious quality to them.  Let me add, too, that the coffee siphon is the best brew method there is – not only does it make the best cup of coffee, but there’s something very Zen about watching it work.

The whole notion of “one-minute novels” (the idea being to beat the brew time of the coffee) is such a charmingly college lit thing to do.  What’s great about these two is that it’s clear they’re speaking the same language – they understand each other in a way no one else could.  They’re able to laugh at their own flights of pomposity as they probably couldn’t when they were in college, but Chihiro and Masami are in many respects the same guys they were at Waseda – it’s just that one of them made it, and the other didn’t.

What happens next?  That’s the $64,000 question, of course.  Masami is trying to be the mature one here, gently encouraging Akira to perhaps not take all the extra shifts she’s requested, but who is anyone to say that Akira wanting to work as much as possible isn’t a valid choice?  If she loves Masami more than track. so be it.  The problem is, I don’t know that track and he can co-exist in her life – or that Akira and being a novelist can in his.  This is awkward, painful – because even if these two have become a crutch for the other, they also hold legitimate and profound affection for each other – probably love, though that’s a broad term with many subtle shadings…