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What do you do at the end of the world? Are you busy? Will you save us? (SukaSuka)
Episode 12

by Paul Jensen,

How would you rate episode 12 of
WorldEnd ?
Community score: 4.4

If you've been hoping that SukaSuka would go out with guns blazing, this episode should fit the bill. As Willem and the fairies fight to defend the airship, Chtholly asks Elq to let her go back one last time, regardless of the consequences. Nephren pushes her powers beyond their limit and falls from the ship, prompting Willem to leap off after her. Chtholly follows them down to the surface, where she fights one last battle to defend her friends. With the rescue mission finally over, the survivors mourn their losses and attempt to move on.

This episode pushes hard for a “desperate last stand” ending, and for the most part it hits the mark. As the show cuts between the different characters struggling to hold their ground against the beasts, the situation itself is enough to impart that choked-up feeling of impending tragedy. The dialogue tends to be the weak point here, and the show overreaches in its pursuit of thematic depth with Nopht and Rhan's musings on life and death. The visuals are more consistently strong than the script; the beasts look appropriately horrifying as the fairies chop them into bloody pieces, and the occasional flashes of magic add some bright color to the airship's dark metal hallways.

Chtholly's final blaze of glory is easily the most important scene, and SukaSuka pulls out all the stops for this climactic moment. The visual of her standing in a doorway before jumping out of the ship is significant, and not just because it wraps back around to the show's first episode; highlighting the few strands of blue hair tells us that she's still herself without needing to spell it out through expository dialogue. Once she reunites with Willem, there are two more major callbacks to the first episode: the opening monologue is repeated with a part added in for Willem, and we get a reprise of “Scarborough Fair” as Chtholly charges into the crowd of beasts. Put it all together and you end up with the distinct impression that this is how things were always going to end for Willem and Chtholly. That feeling of inevitability gives the scene its strong dramatic punch.

As effective as that emotional appeal is in the moment, it's also satisfying from a critical perspective to see an anime series actually conclude at the end of its run. Being a light novel adaptation, SukaSuka operates in a field full of titles that fizzle out into anticlimactic commercials for ongoing source material. Thankfully, that's not what we get here; even though parts of the epilogue feel somewhat noncommittal, the story of Willem and Chtholly is thoroughly wrapped up. By embracing a proper ending, SukaSuka creates a sense of emotional and narrative closure. This feels much better than watching the main character proclaim that the adventure is only beginning while grinning like an idiot. After stumbling into typical genre pitfalls throughout the season, SukaSuka has successfully avoided one of the biggest ones possible.

This finale caps off a strong recovery from the show's mid-season slump. Yes, there are still flaws to be found: the dialogue still gets clunky whenever it tries to deal with a big idea, and subplots like Souwong's grand plan and Elq's ultimate fate remain unresolved. Still, what matters most is that this episode hits hard where it needs to and uses all the tools at its disposal to deliver on the promise of a tragic romance. It's not what you'd call a happy ending, nor should it be.

Taken as a whole, SukaSuka remains a mixed bag. An intriguing opening and an emotional conclusion bookend an uneven series full of awkward plot points. I can't help wondering what would have happened if the script hadn't inexplicably skipped over Chtholly's first big fight, or if the series hadn't wasted so much time on the detour through Corna di Luce. Even a reasonably good show can be frustrating to watch when it so clearly misses an opportunity to be better. Still, it's the first and last impressions that most often stick with us, and SukaSuka's best content is conveniently concentrated in its start and finish. For the right audience, that could be enough to justify sitting through the middle.

Rating: B+

What do you do at the end of the world? Are you busy? Will you save us? is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.


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