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Chise and Shuji walk up Hell's Hill on the way to school.
The background wording of Saikano's title screens says it all about this series -- it is "The last love song on this little planet." On a micro level, it is about the relationship between Chise and Shuji; on a macro level, it is about nothing less than love itself, in its many guises and levels of pain and pleasure. The plot of Saikano involves a worldwide war, but the show is consumed with love -- desire for sexual passion, the need for companionship and the certain undefinable something we recognize as true love.
Saikano begins with Chise (voiced by Fumiko Orikasa) and Shuji (Shirou Ishimoda), who have recently entered into a relationship, although not without some trepidation on both sides. Both Chise and Shuji are inexperienced in the realm of love and don't quite know how to handle the complexities of each other's feelings. Just when it seems they have it all figured out, an outside force attacks the city. Shuji is separated from his friends and happens upon Chise, who has just destroyed the remnants of the invading force. To Shuji's horror, he discovers Chise has been changed by the army into a cyborg who will protect Japan from the rest of the world.
Admittedly, the story seems ridiculous. That is part of why it took me a few episodes to truly become immersed in the series. The other part of that is that it took me a while to really get into the relationship between Chise and Shuji. The lightbulb turned on for me during a powerful moment at the beginning of episode five, during which Chise's unrelenting need for love and life burned itself into my mind. However, I could see reactions to the relationship running the gamut -- maybe some will be able to get into it right away; perhaps some will never get into it; and everywhere in between. The ability to connect to Chise and Shuji's relationship is crucial to the series, because their struggles are the main storyline.
My only other real criticism of the series are that certain moments definitely come off as contrived -- hell, it could be argued that the entire basis for Chise and Shuji's relationship is contrived. However, I believe Saikano's raw emotional power and poignancy more than justifies any contrivances pulled off by the writers. What is arguably the series' most powerful moment -- which comes in episode nine -- comes as a result of a contrivance, but the resulting scene is one of the most powerful, painful and emotional scenes in all of anime. That is a good example of what Saikano does: It has its flaws, for sure, but it minimizes them and sweeps them under the rug with excellent, emotional character development.
One criticism of the series that should be countered is that it is "depressing." It is a sad series, for sure, but "depressing" implies Saikano buries people in sadness purely for the sake of sadness. However, there is a definite reason for the sad, melancholy path the show follows. An aspect of love that tends not to be recognized by people is its inherent irrationality -- because of love, people do things for others at the expense of themselves and the expense of other people. Saikano's story struggles full force with this irrationality.
"How can I love this person when it hurts me so much?" Saikano's characters constantly wrestle with this question, and yet they go on loving. I think that is the aspect of the series that speaks to me most -- that love is this thing we struggle so hard to understand but is so powerful that we are pulled into it despite the hardship and pain, for better or worse. The ability to make that feeling come alive is what makes Saikano a truly great love story. It is not just a story about two people in love; it is a story about love itself. You will not find many anime with ambitions that sky high.
As a closing gift, I offer Saikano's wonderful OP, "Koisuru Kimochii" by Yuria Yato:
