Episode 11 Final-
While Noitamina shows usually turn out to be great, there is one huge caveat to the time block; almost all Noitamina shows are 11 episodes in length. This short 11 episode length really does a ton of harm to series that have potential, but need more time to grow. Examples of this would be series like [C], and now, No.6. The pacing this episode was absolutely ridiculous, with some crazy out-of-character moments for both Shion and Nezumi. Oh, and let’s not forget the deus ex machina deaths and revivals, the giant tornados of light, and so forth. This episode just reeked of plot devices that were used to create a patchwork ending for this series, and it really showed in the quality of the work itself.
To be fair, this episode was fairly intense in terms of atmosphere, as well as emotionally intense with the reunion of Safu and Shion. But the reunion itself was tainted with some random plot twists, like how Elyurias was practically holding Safu’s body hostage by maintaining control over it, as well as Shion somehow doing turning about 180 degrees and completely losing his naive personality, while Nezumi gains that exact same naivety. The changes in personalities amongst Shion and Nezumi was much too sudden to be believable, whereas the change is Safu was barely passable because of the presence of Elyurias.
The ending does aim to be more bittersweet, where Safu passes away and Shion finally parts ways with Nezumi after accomplishing his goal of knocking down those walls. Technically speaking though, Shion seemed to have suddenly given up his idealistic notions not too long ago, which meant his goals had changed significantly since the time he declare his intent to destroy the wall. Nevertheless, the giant bee aka Elyurias ended up taking her wrath out on the citizens of No.6, and then disappeared after finishing up her destruction of the city.
Honestly speaking, this episode probably isn’t as bad as I’m making it out to be. Nevertheless, it was extremely disappointing, even more so after a magical glowy song revives Shion from death, as well as Shion’s miraculous save of Nezumi after he had severe blood loss from three gunshot wounds. This episode really pushes the notion of “suspension of disbelief” to it’s fullest, where I ended up really skeptical about everything that happened here. There are also a bunch of minor loose plot strings around, but those aren’t much of an issue. This was a fairly intense episode in some ways, but it just wasn’t up to par in terms of other aspects of this finale. Here, I can truly say that if this series had maybe 2-4 more episodes, the pacing and conclusion would’ve worked out perfectly. But the 11 episode constraint really hurt things here, resulting in a poorly paced, crammed finale.
Overall Enjoyment: 3.4/5
Screenshots are later in the post.
Distant Paradise 