Review of Sing "Yesterday" for Me

I'm sorry, but this is going to be more of a rant than a review. This will mostly be about the last episode, and why I don't think it ruins the whole anime, as so many others do. This is actually aimed at the people who already watched the anime, and if you haven't, I think that you should go watch it and form an opinion of your own, untainted by what other people think you should think about it. Go and watch it with an open mind (if you like character dramas, and are okay with characters so realistic they even tend to be unlikablebecause they remind you of the stupid mistakes and you've made in your own life, and even call you out on your own self-sabotaging behaviors) and when you finish, come back here to read. Because, obviously HEAVY SPOILERS AHEAD.
Here I go:

OKAYYY... So people are hating on the finale, and I can totally see why. But I wonder if... Mmm...Okey, let me break this down in parts because I just can't...
First, I would want to know how easy people get their own opinions changed by "the general opinion". Last week I was super excited about this ending, and then heard people saying that this was going to be the last episode (I thought there were 18 as many others) and that that would mean this would cramp up an incredible amount of material into 24 min.
So, YES, they did cramp up a LOT into this episode, and I did feel that. I came in totally expecting to hate this episode, and maybe it was because I'd lowered my expectation, but I also... just kind of liked it? Yes, it could've been better, but come on, people, learn to put your expectation on check when it comes to anime. You know how the industry is.
Even for an episode that went through so much in so little time, I felt it did more than decent as an ending for this story. The story is about characters that are as human as I've seen them in an anime in a long time. And yes, this means that most of them aren't actually likable. I was in for the Shinako and Rikuo ship because they started out as people with a bunch of personal baggage, and they were doing some serious advances in changing as people (I didn't like any of them at the beginning), and then they break up. I get it, people, you're disappointed, and feel it was all for nothing, but to me, it's just two people that realized that they didn't have to change to be in a relationship at all. That they were forcing something that wasn't meant to be, just because they wanted to do it a long time ago.
And all it took was for Rikuo to see Shinako chase after Rou. Yes, people. Emotions change like that. He realized he didn't do that for Haru, and that that might have meant that he still loved more Shinako than she loved him. So why keep fighting, when you're still the one putting more effort? when you're also hurting the one you're dating just by being with her? And when you realize that someone liked you since before you even started putting your life together? Rikuo even admits something in this episode that I had kept thinking the whole time: That they're too similar, and that they shouldn't be worrying about what the other is thinking. They're both introverted people, and yes, for a relationship, that can be pretty exhausting.

I don't know, maybe people don't want to read between lines. Or maybe it is because they actually think Rikuo is an asshole for going straight to Haru after breaking up with Shinako. I mean, he says to Haru "Shinako dumped me", which makes him looks like a total asshole, but we know that's not true. He was the one that told Shinako that they shouldn't be together. But again, he was nervous and he said he didn't know how to explain. So he said Shinako dumped him. Maybe because he felt guilty? who knows. But he was doing what he thought was right. Was it rushed? Yes. And Haru herself was not very much explored in the anime, which makes it even less satisfying, but her being completely infatuated by him, I feel like both their actions made complete sense.

We don't see what happens with Shinako and Rou. I don't think we're supposed to think they started dating. Just that they fixed their broken relationship. So on the whole, this finale does what it can to wrap up everything without leaving loose ends. What bothers me is that they accelerated the pacing this last few episodes when the ones in the beginning were so slow. Though they were still rushed if we think how many manga chapters they were adapting in the first place.

I only read the first volume of the manga before the anime. I wanted to be an anime-only, so maybe that bothers some people too. Fans of a manga will defend it till death for it to have a Faithfull adaptation, for better or worse. And since I saw the first episode I knew it would get rushed, because the first episode IS THE FIRST VOLUME. So I also had my expectations in check, but I prefered to be an anime-only. So, as an anime-only, I say that I really enjoyed this finale, even if it had more of the flaws the series had since the very first episode. WOW. How dare you anime, ending with the same flaws you started with?

Anyway, I'm reading the manga now. I enjoyed the anime, but I know the manga will probably be much better. Does that mean the anime is bad? Hell no. Does a rushed ending means the anime is bad? Well, if you think that, you probably didn't like it all along. Think about it.

8/10