No empathy? For this?
K-ON!! Episode 22
All them feels! I must say, this arc that Azusa has gone on during this latter half of the season has been great, and it really does evoke memories of that overwhelming of emotion you often feel in your formative years. You know, those that you never can quite place at the time. It's so rare to watch something where your feel like your high-school experience is even remotely similar to what you see represented on the screen. But I think that K-ON! succeeds in eliciting some of that (almost) long forgotten state of existence.
The pacing is a strength here, because we (as the audience) are allowed to see what happens when the camera lingers, and aren't bombarded with just the 'highlights'. Azusa spends most of the episode in a state of confusion. She has never been a character to bear her emotions, so it's fascinating to see her so conflicted, with those feelings suddenly being pushed to the fore. What starts as a simple wish to present everyone with chocolate, suddenly becomes so much more for Azusa, as she begins to ponder the implications of their imminent departure.
So, when it comes time for her to finally hand over the chocolate she is suddenly forced to confront her own future, or to be more precise, the one without them. Her hesitation seemed to invoke memories of her introduction back in the first season, and the same uncertainty which she plagued her there. If she was once unsure what exactly it was she was looking for in the light-music club, then she was now coming to terms with bidding it farewell.
It was a bitter-sweet ending, as everyone gives her that little push, to finally accept the situation, and confront her feelings in the process. This is bookended in the contrasting visits to the shrine, with her initial reluctance (that first pray simply being a half-hearted gesture) turning into a full blown plea (for the others to get accepted into college), come the episodes end.
She got her wish!
Don't be hating on Shinji! Evangelion characters should be judged on their own terms, not the shitty archetypes that followed.
