Irozuku Sekai no Ashita kara Episode 11: Time catches up
Published on December 15, 2018
Well, this episode introduces an interesting hurdle. Recent episodes have been hinting at the idea that Hitomi has a time limit to her stay in the past, but I wasn't expecting an actual danger to her existence. Part of me wonders whether this intentionally adds too much drama to the series, but I think I can accept that it was becoming too difficult for Hitomi to go back without something extra to push her. I'm looking forward to seeing how bittersweet the ending is.
The whole idea of the time gap is actually quite intriguing. Based on the excerpt we get from Kohaku's emails, it seems to be a manifestation of the self-correcting nature of time, but we don't get too much more. It's times like this one that I wish the series went a little bit deeper into how its magic works. I'm fine with the fact that the story focuses more on the romance part, but I just get that feeling.
I'm actually curious what this scene is trying to get at. From a story perspective, I would have preferred if Kohaku had just acknowledged that she needed too much sand to gather alone before time ran out. However, this is a time travel anime, so I wouldn't be surprised if this scene was meant to show that the timing of the typhoon is important for Hitomi's return, given that a later scene shows that the typhoon brings a lot more sand to the beach.
Once again, I really do wonder why the time gap manifests itself in this way. I would have expected Hitomi to just return to the point where she disappeared without realizing what had happened, but she returns asleep.
I find myself relating more with Chigusa's response to the fact that Hitomi is leaving. When hearing that Hitomi could be in danger, it would seem more important to focus on fixing the problem rather than dwelling on losing Hitomi. I guess Asagi was much closer to Hitomi, so it would be harder on her.
I did like this scene between Yuito and Hitomi in the end. I look forward to seeing what ends up happening with their relationship, since it definitely doesn't look like it will end well.