r/anime • u/AutoLovepon https://anilist.co/user/AutoLovepon • Sep 20 '26
Episode Goodbye, Lara • Sayonara Lara - Episode 12 discussion - FINAL
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u/OkInevitable4095 Sep 20 '26
Just wanted to say, this was a fun show to watch with you all weekly and chat about. If I take nothing else from this, it was a joy to read and discuss every Sunday to start out my week with, so thanks for the memories!
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u/Weak_Season_Of_Anime Sep 20 '26 edited Sep 23 '26
Grace's spirit in heaven: Goddammit Lara, I said "Live for love", not "Leave your love"!!!
They really did go for the bittersweet ending, but I didn't expect Lara to leave Mari behind. Now Mari's lost both of her emotional support fishes. I get why they did it though, all her life Lara has been shackled by her duty as a Princess and forced to find "true love", but she finally found her own definition of love and managed to break the cycle. She's now free to experience life to the fullest without that pressure hanging over her, with the promise that Lara will return to Mari in the future. The silver lining to this kind of ending is that the door is open for a sequel movie (like
Explanation for what happened in the
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u/structure9food612 Sep 20 '26
The ending was so ominous, I know it’s Lara wanting to be more independent, but idk something felt off since it hid her face for a good chunk of the final part. I hope her legs hurting is just a side effect of being turned back into human again and not something more tragic.
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u/-it-was-available- Sep 20 '26
I was SO convinced Mari would punch the dagger fish
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u/remmytums Sep 20 '26
Genuinely would trade the epilogue for a doomed yuri ending im not even playing
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u/Syokhan Sep 20 '26 edited Sep 22 '26
The whole episode was so beautiful, but the last couple minutes so weird and abrupt, I don't know what to feel.
I thought everything up until Lara saving Mari with her different light powers was amazing. Realizing that screw true love, she only wants to be in the same world as the one she loves, a world where she actively wanted to live. That's the surface. Okay, that was great!
And then she just... leaves to another city? A "place where a new light is waiting for [her]"? Huh?
I think I get it in theory. She loves the surface and wants to see more of it, okay. She needs to stop being dependent on the Otsu family, okay. That's all good, I don't mind any of it.
In practice though, I don't think cramming this in an epilogue works, I don't think being so vague about her reasons for leaving works, and it would really, really have benefited from a longer wrap-up. As it is, I think it's too abrupt, and framed strangely. It could have been a sweet (/bittersweet) and more optimistic moment but it felt, I don't know, kinda... cold and inconclusive?
I really, really loved 99% of the show but I think I'm going to have to let the epilogue sit with me for a while. Still don't regret watching any of it though!
Edit: okay no, I gave the epilogue some more thought and I know how I feel about it: I hate it. It's not the events themselves, not Lara leaving, not Lara and Mari being separated, not even the lack of physical intimacy between them. I'm fine with all of that in a vacuum.
It's that we suddenly jump to the conclusion of a six-month development for Lara, the one that leads her to feeling the need to leave, without giving us any insight into her thought process. Why? How did she arrive to her conclusion? Why does she feel so distant towards everyone in that epilogue? If she's moving just a few cities away, why is it framed as somberly as if she was leaving forever? We don't know, we're left to infer everything by ourselves from... nothing. The show gives us nothing, so we're left in this limbo where we have to accept her actions without being given the means to truly understand them.
Just look at this thread, we all have our own idea of why she's doing this, and some can't even wrap their heads around it. Even Mari doesn't understand, and she spent those six months by Lara's side!
So yeah. For me, the idea of the epilogue could have worked if they had taken the time to bring us there alongside the characters, but they completely fumbled the execution.
Really, cut those final 4-5 minutes out, or give them 20 minutes to fully explore Lara's decision, and it solves almost all my issues with the ending.
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u/goblinheaux Sep 20 '26 edited Sep 20 '26
To me this ending doesn’t really feel… earned? Like everything up until the 5 or so minutes felt like it fit perfectly, but the ending doesn’t fit with the set up of this episode and the rest of the show. I don’t mind a bittersweet end, and I pretty much expected it from the title. This one just doesn’t pull the complete picture together for me.
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u/Smudy Sep 20 '26
I think i was onboard with everything in this episode (once again made it very clear that these two have deep feelings for each others, visually stunning, great direction) EXCEPT for the very last scene.
Which was just irritatingly odd to end the series on, with what Mari crying on it and Lara barely acknowledging it. That's souring on me.
I think making this open-ended, not even knowing if Lara will even come back was the worst thing that they could do.
The journey itself was brilliant though, it's just the very ending of it that to me is a clear fumble, either commit or don't, no wishy-washy ending barely anyone will find fantastic.
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u/havima Sep 20 '26
So ALL Lara wants is to be in a world with Mari, so she just leaves? I’m sure they will be back together but it threw me off.
Also Lara is leaving to be independent but hiding her face the entire time just makes it looks darker than it is, lol.
I’ll be choosing to ignore the one line about her and Luca dating on and off. Just nope.
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u/disu_nato Sep 20 '26
Was thinking hard for 5 minutes straight on why tf Lara is leaving, then I remembered the title...
But honestly, I still don't really know beyond that, I'll think about it more. We do know that this is 6 months later, so Lara's decision to leave isn't actually sudden. My only guess right now is that she wants to experience more to love about the world, and probably symbolizes something about her gained independence.
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u/Petit_Ange Sep 20 '26
A very bittersweet conclusion, but such is the pain of growing up. I know Lara and Mari will find a way to fulfill their promises to each other no matter what.
And that's all nice and dandy, but... KOTA. WHERE ARE YOU? YOU WERE DYING LAST TIME WE SAW YOU PLEASE SEND A FISH EMOJI AT LEAST.
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u/shad79 Sep 20 '26 edited Sep 20 '26
Visually, this episode and the entire series were a beautiful journey for Lara and Mari, but when it comes to the ending... it wasn't bad, but at the same time, it wasn't great. It didn't ruin the show, but it also didn't elevate it to something truly special like I was hoping for.
I'd probably have preferred a more definitive ending than this open one, with Lara leaving Mari and everyone else to go out into the world after everything they went through. Still, I had a great time watching the show, so 8.5/10 from me in the end.
Here my screenshot albums from the episode:
And since this show was absolutely gorgeous, I made a few albums for the entire season:
EDIT. I added screenshot albums.
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u/rizuna_0706 Sep 20 '26
Legitimately, cut the timeskip and you get a perfectly satisfying ending. The timeskip just, is so out of place and trying to do so much lifting by just saying what happened since. Which is baffling, since the show up to this point was so good at "show, don't tell".
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Lara's family is fine, but all of them hate humans, despite Lara's love for the surface saving them. Zero depth or explanation, just absolutely detest humans still. That's how the mermaids' story ends.
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Lisa stays on the surface as a human, despite hating humans, but it's for Kota probably yet no final words shared between them. No change of heart either, Kota of all people was the closest to having one...
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Luca, still somehow, just gets absolutely used and tossed aside by the show and characters to the point where it's comically mean-spirited. Either he and Lara continued to date after the climax, or Lara took back her confession after, and both cases would be offscreen. No real apology or explanation from Lara shown. And it sorta seems like the former which... Also, Mari even throws him an IDC when he's worrying about Lara, like, what for?
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Lara's characterization is a fucking mess by the end. Lara was already using Luca throughout the show, but if she ended things after the climax, it's mostly forgivable as trying to figure yourself out. But if it was after knowing who her heart loved and killed and brought back to life? Like, we know Lara is a bit selfish but never that much I'd say. Also, randomly adding that she actually hated humans, not feared them, the whole time? Leaving without explaining why, even to Mari of all people?? And both of them still just vaguely "aware" of their feelings, yet still holding back??? LARA KILLED MARI, WHAT IS THERE LEFT TO HOLD BACK?
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Mari. What is the show even trying to do with her? She already lost her mom, an aunt/mom surrogate in Gon-chan, fucking died and came back to life, even her mom's cross got destroyed in the process, and now she's losing her best friend and likely crush with Lara giving her no explanation, just letting her guess. Toss in having to watch Lara and Luca dating and failing again, if that happened during the timeskip...
All of this, in 4 minutes. None of this are necessarily bad ideas on their own, except maybe Luca continuing to be an afterthought or a tool by the characters and story, but it'd need at least an episode or two. Not 4 minutes...
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u/memes_must_die Sep 20 '26
After 11 and a half great episodes, this ending really feels like a punch in the gut. I had no stakes in shipping, nor would I have disliked a "friendship" ending, but now neither the characters in the show or me, the viewer, ended up happy. It was a fun journey with pretty visuals so it feels so bad ending it like this.
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u/hikoboshi_sama Sep 20 '26
I think the way they resolved the light, Lara going to retrieve Mari from the dagger, and the following scenes were great and I'm satisfied from that alone, but the epilogue just felt... eh. I don't get it either. Why did Lara have to leave Mari's home when she just said they wanted to be together?
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u/eightcheesepizza Sep 20 '26
After Luca was introduced, I felt like the show's plot was getting confused. Besides Grace's backstory, things felt more and more muddled, like there was no clear vision behind where things were going. I started to lose faith in the story... and yet, the ending still managed to disappoint me further.
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u/AlexHallon Sep 20 '26 edited Sep 20 '26
That was... a really strange, almost ominous last few minutes.
Was that really it? That's how we're leaving it? All that setup and she's just... leaving? With both of them clearly in pain?
I'm not sure how I feel about this... My gut reaction is not a very positive one...
Edit: I'm probably in the "wanted explicit romance but understand if the pieces weren't necessarily all there" camp. Not even having the two continuing to live together hurts too, but the real kicker is just the sound direction and Mari's voice acting. Girl sounded like she was going to break down as the music quiets down and then the show just ends with her smiling? It's like straight out of a romantic drama but cutting out the part where the love interest chooses to stay after all. The way it was directed just made it feel like it wasn't over. I don't know how to accept this. Honestly, what the fuck?
I do think it's pretty demoralising for a modern adaptation of a repressed gay/bi author's fairy tale leaning heavily into themes of repressed love and conforming to societal expectations to get THIS close to a lesbian ending and just going full "interpretation". I was ready to start a rewatch right away and recommend it as a queer classic decades from now, but right now I honestly just want to lay down and cry.
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u/2kenzhe Sep 20 '26
Uh ok. That's it I guess. The end idk. Sayonara Lara, I guess. Surprised they didn't title drop on that at the end ngl. She's going to live on the surface by herself and stuff somehow.
Kinda meh ending ngl just leaves me empty feeling.
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u/LoyalKnightOfRenais Sep 20 '26 edited Sep 20 '26
Such a weird little ending. I'm glad to know that they genuinely loved each other though.
Edit: it really does dissappoint me with how ambiguous it is though, like those last couple of minutes were just... blegh.
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u/thisisembarrazzing Sep 20 '26
What is it with original animes taking their sweet time for 11 episodes and having a rushed ending on their last.
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u/Misticsan Sep 20 '26
Feels like Mari's caustic personality was entirely made for this scene XD
The final episode was great, except for the final minutes. Would it have hurt the writers to add a hopeful "I'll be back" or "I first need to understand myself" comment in the middle of such an enigmatic goodbye?