Date A Live - 12 and Final Thoughts

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The final episode of Date A Live this season leaves a lot to be desired.

I was expecting more out of the fight between Tohka, Yoshino, and Origami.  Well, perhaps it’s better to say that I was hoping for more; a longer battle, like the one with Kurumi, would have been awesome.  While this battle should have been the climax of the season, the battle with Kurumi was much more thrilling and suspenseful than this one was.

As expected, nothing was really explained at all in this episode.  There are no answers about how Kotori became a Spirit, how Kotori, Shido, and Mana lost their memories (that’s right, don’t forget about Mana), what exactly happened five years ago, how Shido can seal a Spirit’s powers by kissing her…none of that.  Kurumi is also still around, apparently just killing people as often as she wants without anyone taking notice.  Another unanswered question, another loose end to this anime.

If nothing else, if no other question could have been answered, there was one I wanted an answer to: who is the blurry figure in the video of Kotori from five years ago?  Regardless of whether or not they could have actually confronted said figure in this episode (which they probably wouldn’t have even if they’d have revealed this person), I want to know who it is.  Giving us this blurred figure and telling us that it’s probably the one who made Kotori a Spirit, but not revealing a darn thing about them is drawing this out simply for a cliffhanger.

Granted, the very end of the episode reveals that there’s more to come…sometime.  There’s an OVA scheduled to come out sometime in December, but can we expect more than that?  A second season, perhaps?  Personally, I can’t say I’m thrilled at the prospect of more Date A Live.  I was sort of hoping (against hope) that everything would be resolved and finished by the end of the season.

I’m aware that this anime is popular among otaku because of two of its genres: harem and ecchi.  But if we get past the boobs, panty shots, naked girls, and borderline-hentai scenes, and really look at Date A Live for what it really has to offer in relation to plot and character development, it’s sorely lacking.  I was expecting a lot more out of this anime when I decided to review it.  I wanted to like it.  The art is good, the music is phenomenal (especially during the transformation scenes for the Spirits), and the characters have a lot of potential.  I was expecting far more plot development and far less ecchi.  My mistake.  If all the pointless scenes of Tohka trying to seduce Shido or Origami sucking on his fingers in the hospital or whatever had been replaced with meaningful scenes like when Shido promises to be Yoshino’s hero or even the ones where we find out more about Kurumi, all the unanswered questions could have been resolved by the end of this episode.

If you’re into harems and ecchi, Date A Live is definitely for you.  Otherwise, if you prefer plot and character development, there are better anime out there.

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