First of all, a disclaimer: Anything you’ll read in this entry will have a high probability of being completely irrational, stupid, and simply driven by the emotions instilled by the last few episodes of Gakuen Alice. Thank you, that is all.

So I just finished watching the last three couple of episodes for Gakuen Alice and it was a weird experience. Usually a show will have all the good emotions somewhere in the middle or near the end and then end with disappointment and anger over the horrendous finish but Gakuen Alice flipped it all around bringing the bad emotions first and then ending with the good ones.

The bad emotions in this particular show involved dramatic feelings such as deceit, anger, injustice, and ironically enough because I was cheated of said features in the show! Throughout all of the show we had these constant hints of Natsume living in his private hell because some dark figures in the academy were forcing him to, I don’t know, kill small innocent kittens or something along those lines. All this culminated with the second last episode were Natsume collapsed and still was taken away to do the academy’s biding. Riots and revolts ensued with student boycotting classes and storming the faculty armed and dangerous with live animals.

All the while I was exalted over their struggle against the unjust establishment, I was cheering for their righteous cause while pondering the occasional need for rebellion and strife for greater justice. Then out comes Natsume, the party pooper, dropping lines like “Hey it’s not that bad, I was just moping around before because they made me work the weekend. I didn’t think you guys took it so seriously.”. Like a slap to the face I realized that I was, in fact, still watching Gakuen Alice and not some dark cynical political drama and even though I fully know that the show never ever tried to be dark and gloomy, I couldn’t help but feel robbed of all the buildup from the rest of the show. I mean what was the point of all the secrecy and hints of dark deeds during Natsume’s missions if they were just gonna toss it all away in the end.

Luckily the last episode made me remember why I enjoyed this show from the beginning and instantly transformed me from the bitter cynic to a moved mushy pile of happy emotions. I was totally feeling Mikan’s sadness of being treated, from her perspective, as a doormat when it really mattered and the following happiness of realizing it was just a big misunderstanding. I was proud of her for growing as a person and giggling over the familiar abuse she received from Hotaru. By the end of the episode I was grinning from ear to ear and left with a really good feeling. I never thought an innocent and simple show like this could move me in this way before. Truly a remarkable feat.

And for the record, Mr Bear is the coolest character ever.

Posted by Matte on Sunday, May 20th, 2007 at 4:09 am.