The gang is off to the private island resort for fun, sun and a whole lot of seriousness. What They Say: Summer camp Eternity Loveis held on the headmaster’s private southern island. Her classmates talk of nothing but the graduation audition, but Haruka’s mood is darkened by the unbridgeable gap between her and Tokiya. Then a mysterious teenage boy appears before Haruka, with a message to give her…
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
After the ups and downs of the series, culminating in a fun piece the last time around that involved the revelations about Hayato to Haruka and the things he’s going through, this episode offers a chance to shift us to a different perspective for a bit. As luck would have it, the headmaster has a private island and is taking everyone there to do the summer camp for the students. While it’s obvious that we’re getting a beach adventure, I have to admit I was looking forward to it since the preview last time around because of the animation design of this series. Putting these great looking characters, colors and designs in a tropical beach setting is just highly promising from an aesthetic point of view alone.
Naturally, time spent in this kind of location offers up potential for romantic feelings to surface. And while romance is not a heavy, heavy part of the show, it’s certainly bubbling there to varying degrees. Putting so many attractive young men and women there with hormones running, it’s very much working that feeling. While that is there, it’s also amusing that what most of them talk about are things related to school, mostly in the form of the graduation and the pairings that will come from it in order to win the day. Everyone is looking out for what they need to move them to the next level in the right way and there’s plenty of feeling everyone out. Well, except for Haruka and Tokiya, as Haruka is focused on Tokiya’s problems just as much as Tokiya is. They’re both worries to be certain, even in paradise.
The episode does deal with a lot of emotions when it comes down to it, including an interesting choice of song later on in English, which I was disappointed but not surprised to see wasn’t subtitled. Not everyone has volume on when watching anime (and not everyone can hear either, making subtitles a requirement) but it was a welcome piece that shows a time in Tokiya’s life when he truly understood the meaning of song and the real power of it. While it’s not a song I myself find to be powerful, it is one that can definitely lift spirits and using that to showcase how Tokiya really came to understand it all works very well. It certainly humanizes him a lot more and makes him more accessible in a way.
In Summary:
With the eighth episode of the series, we have the chance for the cast to have a whole lot of fun with a private resort, beach and all that it entails. What we get instead is a more somber piece overall, especially towards the end, that deals with the graduation side of things and the pairings themselves. The focus on Tokiya in the final half is definitely welcome as it manages to push him into the realm of a character you want to see succeed more rather than just being a simple stereotype. Haruka is the problem once again though as she’s a complete cipher still. We get some minor points on her earlier in the series, but since then she’s just been the blank face that occasionally shows a little emotion and nothing more. The lack of connection to her, the supposed lead, is a big problem for the series. It’s made a bit easier to watch because of the animation, but it’s still not what it could be under more capable hands.