Recap: Yuuki has to find Chisato, but this puts him at risk of disqualification. Will our hero make it in time? I hoped to God no, but sadly my prayers went unanswered.

Well, we knew something had to make it difficult. Chisato getting kidnapped seems pretty stupid if you ask me, they could have just kidnapped both of them and made sure they didn’t talk. Either that or just, Idno, tell Yuuki to stay away from the school for four hours? It’s not like they needed to have him run around. Somebody had to have eyes on him otherwise they wouldn’t know what time to call the phone booths.

Most of my annoyance this episode stems from how it seems for all the power the Public Safety Commission appears to wield, they seem to be very ineffective at using it. What kind of NSA-type agency is this if, after tryin’ to off the girl in the first place, they don’t even go the extra step to check her other electronic goods to make sure there’s no evidence of their foul play? What person committing a major felony would not attempt to disguise their identity in any matter?(also, talk about super convenient mirror shot.) It all just makes it seem like the bad guy was there FOR TEH EVOLS and never cared to actually be discrete about anything, which is stupid.

I still don’t get why Satsuki is so nice. I guess baghead was getting the gain in votes. Who is doing that polling btw, they should be working for Gallup for the speed their able to do that. While I knew a last second save was the only method to make this election in any way dramatic, the way it was pulled off just made it seem unbelievable. Our hero comes in, tattered and broken, and yet somehow his ravings conveniently convince people to come back to his side in a flash.

As everything comes to an end, we are greeted with the most jarring scene. Look, don’t get me wrong, I understand that these two are obviously insane by this point, but I thought the insane at least still have some goddamn tact. Instead, we find our brave hero and his main squeeze making out in front in front of her brothers friggin’ grave. Seriously, what the fuck? God damn this show.

Final Impressions

From the very beginning I had a love-hate relationship with Chocolate. The setting is such an interesting take on your average school. Students wield the power of policemen and politicians. Intrigue and espionage is dangerous enough that people get seriously injured. In the midst of it all, one everydude tries to vie for power in an unforgiving climate.

Chocolate was always at its best when it was all politics. Grand campaign planning, detailed financing breakdowns, strategic coordination, it all really brought a legitimacy to this whole idea of an election atmosphere. Up until the final episodes President Moori was honestly my favorite character, always coming in to give the right advice to help Yuuki out.

Then, drama happened. Or more to say kept happening. Every week the show seemed to want to grab us by the collar and say “BOY AREN’T WE A SERIOUS BUSINESS SHOW COME TAKE A LOOK.” Unfortunately, every attempt at drama only furthered my irritation. Often times it was simply a cheap ploy to redirect the feelings of an entire episode. Often, the causes were unexplained, the interactions overblown. Sometimes we never even get an explanation, like when Yuuki starts crying in the arms of Haruki-sensei for basically no reason. The worst problems with how this show handled drama was how little consequence it had. When Yuuki was hit by the truck, I was ready for the drama, it was actually warranted this time too. When we actually see the aftermath however, the entire scene is robbed of its impact, and the subsequent mental breakdown made all the more tiresome.

Speaking of mental breakdowns, it almost seemed like this show didn’t know what it wanted to do in regards to the romantic subplot. For much of the entire show Yuuki is shown spending time with Satsuki and getting to know her. At the same time, much effort was spent to show how damaged Chisato was, and how Yuuki seemed to want nothing to do with her neurosis any longer. Then episode 11 happens and it’s like the entire show never occurred in the first place. I can harp on and on about this forever, but this sudden 180 turn of events with little reasoning to go behind it turned a love-hate relationship pure black.

It’s impressive how much can go wrong in such little time. In two episodes I went from mild enjoyment to total rage. While the final episode was not as infuriating as its penultimate brother, it almost was too predictable. All the cards were on the table and watching that final episode was just a checklist of what still needed to be done. MC distracted so that he misses the election? Check. Clear bad guy revealed to be clear bad guy? Check. Last minute save by totally saner and hotter political rival? Check. Save the girl? Was that ever even in doubt? It was just a culmination bringing together every reason why this show had gone downhill, and finally its last moment of mercy, let us go, to forget it ever existed.