URAHARA

Episode 12

“It's fun to create stuff” is a positive message but not a revolutionary one. So for the final episode of URAHARA, “Goodbye Parfait” to hinge on such a simple theme is a bit of a letdown. This show was always beautifully drawn and well-styled, but when it came time to make its final impression, it harped on a message of creativity that viewers are already familiar with. Like URAHARA as a whole, this finale had some good moments but was mostly just okay.

The shrimp is not an intimidating final boss, but the show sure treats him that way. Rito, Mari, Kotoko, and Misa are unconvincingly running for their lives while Misa tries to use her burgeoning creativity to summon more than just beads. But thanks to the power of friendship, the girls all work together to think outside the box and transform the beads into something that's stronger than so many individual shiny pieces of plastic. It's a very basic metaphor for the way the girls amplify their creativity with teamwork time and again. And since they've had so much experience doing this for the duration of the show, it's no surprise when they defeat the Big Bad halfway through the episode. Commence the sluggish falling action.

“Creativity begins with imagining what you want to create” so dreaming is okay, Kotoko blandly deduces. Perhaps that's why the girls allow their fantasy version of Harajuku to linger on a little longer while they gorge on a massive parfait—which they created together, nudge nudge. By now I'm beginning to suspect that Misa's idea of creativity is just “glue two different things together:” She attached a shiny star to Super Bead Kitty, and she dumped shrimp tempura on the parfait. But either way, her creative awakening is a milestone in Scooper evolution, indicating that even these dull-minded thieves can be inventive if they're willing to learn. Sure enough, our trounced and reformed Ebifry is among that group. It's an indication of how URAHARA's theme of creativity can be downright bland when it's reiterated over and over like this.

Finally, it's time to say “Goodbye, Parfait” and shatter the illusion. Without the veil of imagination, Harajuku is looking pretty busted. But with the help of the Scoopers, Harajuku denizens, and the real Sayumin, we're led to believe it'll be back to normal in no time. I'm not entirely sure what the significance of the cat being trapped in the fantasy world with them means—maybe that their time wasn't wasted because not all of it was fake? I do have to give URAHARA kudos for making a wrecked Harajuku look just as lovely as the fantasy one. Even when the animation is choppy, like during the Ebifry fight, the show's most enduring consistency is the stylistic beauty of its art.

With that, URAHARA is done and dusted without even hinting at a second season. By the time this episode wraps up, everything has been explained, partly because of the show's slow pace and basic thematic message about creativity. The rest of the credit is due to the artists and animators who transformed URAHARA into such a pretty self-contained fantasy world that admittedly didn't have much going on under the surface.

Rating: C

URAHARA is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Lauren writes about geek careers at Otaku Journalist.