In this episode, the town has now become snow-covered, Kakeru is a long-time resident, and Touko and her family have just moved in. He introduces her to Yanagi, Yukinari, Sachi and Hiro (who are now his friends), but as the annual fireworks display looms, the four completely forget about her. Touko then realises this world is completely imaginary, and that this could be a possible ‘fragment of the future’.
Summary of Glasslip Episode 13
- After witnessing the ‘alternate universe’ at Kakeru’s home, Touko collapses. She chooses to spend the night at Kakeru’s home and come to terms with the possibility that Kakeru might disappear at the time she needs her the most. When she returns home the next day, Touko spends the whole day making glass beads, where Touko’s mom tells her, out of the blue, that she used to see hazing images as a young girl, making Touko think that these events she sees won’t necessarily happen at all. Later that day, Kakeru is surprised when Yanagi comes over and makes peace with him, putting the summer’s hostility to an end. When they stop to the cafe, Kakeru decides to tell the truth about his relationship with Touko concerning so-called ‘fragments of the future’. She finds it hard to believe but, as she doesn’t want to hurt Touko, she accepts it when Kakeru says he was entirely in the wrong. That night, Touko and Kakeru meet in the forest, where they scatter the beads she made into the air, which somehow create a meteor shower for the town to see.
My take
- After being so terribly mean to the last few episodes, I’m actually very happy with the ending, despite some of it being rather implausible. A lot of topics were crammed into 25 minutes: Touko understanding that these visions are only just ‘waking dreams’, and not things that aren’t things that might really happen in the future…Yanagi making peace with Kakeru (I honestly didn’t see that coming!)…the town returning to normal as school recommences.
- …but while a lot was covered, a lot of topics were left unanswered at the end. Did Kakeru decide to stay or leave town? Has Yanagi genuinely come to terms with her relationship with Yukinari? We didn’t know. In my eyes, I just assumed that life carried on where the summer break started, plus a few other things, like Onee-chan hanging out with Yanagi more, and Yukinari accepting he isn’t in love with Touko.
…but don’t get too friendly, boy!
- And I finally understood what ‘fragments of the future’ actually were!!! They could have merely worded it differently; that way so many of us would have understood it sooner. Doesn’t matter now. End of show, truth behind visions are understood, the end. A bit of an awkward ending, but here we are. As for where Kakeru is now? Is he still in town, or did he leave with his mother after all? Do we even want to know? See, that, I think, is where the show is at a disadvantage. The male protagonist just ups and disappears when school starts up again; he was all ready to be a transfer student and everything. Yet life returns to normal, and it’s like his whole time of being there was like some kind of huge dream. No shots of him in school uniform, and no shots of him packing and leaving (or that quintessential plane scene). This whole question could be put as a poll but, to be honest, we were all glad that he was no longer in the show by the time the show completed.
Series review
My final thoughts on the show? It had way way too many lows than ups. So many characters I disliked: Hiro, Yukinari, Hiro’s sister and you-know-who…3 characters out of the 6 main youngsters in the show. When a show has this many unlikeable characters, one starts to think whether P.A Works has it in them to produce an quality anime at all anymore…Angel Beats!, Hanasaku Iroha and Nagi no Asukara being the only real outstanding shows. Touko’s manner and behavior was too predictable; seen in so many other shows. While Yanagi was no different, I liked how she stood out a little. But while I thought I was going to warm to Sachi, her whole personality refused to change. So for me, it was Hina, the onee-chan, and Jonathan.
So saying Glasslip was mediocre would kind of be an understatement. It relied too much on style over substance. I don’t deny that the show looked pretty: colours sparkled in HD, landscapes were created with splendour (summer and winter), but the plot was so poorly strung together, it was too hard for many of the viewers to keep up with the story, whether it be the relationship between Yanagi and Yukinari, or Touko and Kakeru’s fling which angered her friends, or those so-called ‘fragments of the future’ which turned out to be completely imaginary. Even the romance between Hiro and Sachi was poorly executed; while he was trying to hold back his feelings (and failing to), all we could establish from her was that she merely admired his will to woo her. By the end, we were made to assume that they were officially a couple, but by then, we just didn’t care because that whole part of the story was just too obvious to take any genuine notice of.
It almost felt like, by the time the final episode arrived, the writers realised so many questions were left unanswered, so a rush decision was made to put together a script that attempted so solve all the questions, only to leave more ones. I’ve been a long-time follower of slice-of-life shows, and this show left me questioning whether I should carry on watching the genre in the future, or to find something else to follow (or even return to my old times of following magical girl shows!). I liked Angel Beats! and Hanasaku Iroha a lot, and considering P.A Works’ history of shows that have mixed reviews, I won’t be surprised if this show will be a turning point for me…to change genre of anime shows. Don’t get me wrong though…the fall season has some shows that have caught my eye: Amagi Brilliant Park looks very interesting, as does Denki-gai no Honya-san (which I’m actually reviewing for the fall season). But next time I might have to seriously think before I act; my old habit of looking at the hype came and bit me on the behind this time.
NOOOOO~!!!!!
But remember, if a show like Glasslip is so bad, then turn to the secondary characters. That’s my philosophy.
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Neomo
I’m British, and live about an hour outside of London. My first encounter in anime was with bargain bin DVDs at my local rental store, but it was only until around another 5 years later when anime took over me properly...so to speak. I used to turn to fantasy shows a lot (including magical girl shows) but now I’m more of a sucker for school and slice-of-life shows. Don’t even turn to me when it comes to mecha; can’t stand it. I’m also a Final Fantasy 14 addict. And I’m allergic to mushrooms.
Latest posts by Neomo (see all)
- Notes of Glasslip Episode 13 + Series Review - September 28, 2014
- Notes of Glasslip Episode 12 - September 20, 2014
- Notes of Glasslip Episode 11 - September 13, 2014
- Notes of Glasslip Episode 10 - September 6, 2014
- Notes of Glasslip Episode 9 - August 29, 2014
