Natsuzora Spin-off: Aki no Dai Shukakusai (2019)

A fun watch but easily skippable

Popular asadoras will occasionally receive a spin-off special after they finished airing. "Natsuzora" is one of those popular ones, which is no surprise if you've seen it. These specials rarely get subbed by fansubbers so I'd like to think ECOTV Subs for taking their time to sub it. You can join their live journal to access the subs.

The special is split into two stories. The first focuses on Toyo Obaa-chan's voice acting adventure in Tokyo. As unrealistic as it was, I think a fun time was had by all and I did cry at the end. The second is about the "Tokachi's Wives Bragging Contest." Basically, the men of Tokachi have to profess their love for their wives in the contest. It mostly focuses on Yukijiro and Yumiko, whom have a marital spat at the beginning of it. I thought it was funny that Kikusuke suddenly had a wife out of nowhere, but his song actually made me cry. Does this drama just make me emotional? Lol.

My sole complaint about this special is that Natsu isn't in it much. However, I will concede that her reduced role probably helped the side characters have some nice shining moments. I recommend watching this if you really liked "Natsuzora" because it's nice to revisit this world once more. I will admit that you're not missing much if you decide skip it. It feels like those extra chapters in shojo manga after the final chapter. It's nice to know what the other characters are doing, but not necessary.

Also, the special includes a top ten scenes that were popular on social media and three unaired scenes. This was a nice touch and rewatching these scenes again made me cry (again lol). An interesting note that Natsu and Jii-chan essentially are hosts for the special. There's a running bit with Jii-chan declaring that he's not dead. Funnily enough, in the last scene with Jii-chan in "Natsuzora" I hadn't realized that that was him dying (lol). The special makes it clear that he's dead T_T.

Lire davantage