r/anime https://anilist.co/user/AutoLovepon Sep 20 '19

Episode Araburu Kisetsu no Otome-domo yo. - Episode 12 discussion - FINAL Spoiler

Araburu Kisetsu no Otome-domo yo., episode 12: The Colors of the Hearts of Maidens

Alternative names: Maidens of the Savage Season, O Maidens in Your Savage Season

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Episode Link Score
0 Link 1.91
1 Link 6.76
2 Link 7.79
3 Link 9.24
4 Link 9.4
5 Link 9.44
6 Link 9.15
7 Link 9.03
8 Link 9.6
9 Link 8.31
10 Link 9.24
11 Link 8.12

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u/theonetruedragon Sep 22 '19

A little late to the discussion, but I figured I'd give my two cents. The fact that Momo and Sugawara's relationship is left vague at the end bothers me. The main reason being that it's a typical copout in animes not dealing with LGBT relationships — IE. yuri-baiting. It leaves it open enough for interpretation that you could assume they might be together, while at the same time giving no actual closure to the relationship to avoid any potential backlash. That's not to say I'd mind if they ended up only as friends, but that the ambiguity of the situation makes it so her character arc is never fully closed. Even though Momo's sexuality was handled tastefully up until this point, the fact that their relationship is left ambiguous does a massive disservice to a character who's story has been slowly progressing since the start. You could argue that her story is still progressing, but in a story where everyone else on the main cast gets tangible closure, it undermines her development

Even Sugawara's rejection in episode ten wasn't black-and-white, nor were any of their interactions in episode twelve. It all seemed to skirt around the idea of Sugawara attempting to figure out Momoko's feelings and how she feels about Momo herself. When Niina chased after Momoko, it was to tell her that she hadn't rejected her yet, and simply that she wanted closure with Izumi. That, at least in my mind, is the biggest takeaway between them. Even with their interaction later in the classroom, Momoko realizes that Niina is still working through her feelings and hasn't gotten the closure she needs. By tagging her in the way that she did, while she accepts the fact that they might be nothing more than friends, it's also her letting go of the jealousy she felt earlier in the episode. Sugawara realized she hurt her friend, and Momoko realized that her friend still needed closure. Niina did get her closure from Izumi, but Momoko never really got hers, and in the end, their relationship is ambiguous.

Everything from the hug in the classroom, which is far more intimate of a gesture than something regular friends would do, to the little sleeve tug in the ending credits could hint at something more, but that's all it does. At the same time, there's equal evidence to suggest they are, in fact, just friends. tl;dr While I wish Momo and Niina got together, the fact that they didn't isn't what bothers me. It's the lack of closure and ambiguity of their relationship that does.

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u/staysinthecar https://myanimelist.net/profile/chiibug Sep 29 '19

yeah i agree. momo really got the short end of the stick. hopefully the epilogue that comes out with the final volume of the manga explores or clarifies this more.