Courtesy of “RonPaul2008,” I finished Denno Coil this evening. Although the final revelations, ingenious though they were, were perhaps a little too tidy — has there ever been a really good mystery for which the ultimate explanation wasn’t a bit disappointing? — the resolution of the story of Yasako and Isako was satisfying. The focus of the last episode was on Isako’s choice, where it belonged, and not on the technology and gimmicks. Although the comparisons to Miyazaki and Lain are valid, in the end Denno Coil reminded me most strongly of Haibane Renmei in its concern with grief, guilt, despair and pain, and friendship.
*****
Before I watched the end of Denno Coil, I viewed the conclusion of the utterly different Oh! Edo Rocket. The final episodes are of a piece with the rest of the show, as off-the-wall as ever, with cat-people and references to Gurren-Lagann, and just enough drama to keep the story from dissoving into sheer silliness. There may have been a few better shows this year, but none were more fun. I posted on my video weblog a brief excerpt from the epilogue which reveals a fact that NASA has hitherto kept secret.
Oh wow, fun indeed.
Your comparison between Haibane and Coil interests me. – both are two of my favourite shows at the moment, and both have a fantastic combination of wistful visuals and strong characterisation. They are different in a lot of ways but now that you mention it, there are quite a few similarities too. The ending certainly showed where its priorities lay though – it put the people before the technology, although it excelled at portraying both right from the start. The best series of the year I think.