#I wonder if I should put all the rewatch posts on thier own tag...?

[laggs-cringe-corner]

once again posting the whole ending because why bother rerecording it on my awful mic. unenthusiastic yapping under the cut

I still think this is one of the weaker endings, but I remember being a lot more frustrated about it the first time i watched through all the endings at once. I think what happened was I mentally mixed up Baldhead's ending with Chipp's ending, because Chipp has a bit where he kinda argues with Justice about survival as a philosophy(?) and it didn't really get much across, character-wise. Or maybe i just dont like chipp so i'm not getting why that was important to his arc. Anyway

I think most of my problems are translation-specific. Like, the script is legible enough, and it gets the ending across, it's just that it feels clunkier than it should be? The part where the only words are fragmented bits of dialogue, i like this in concept, but there's just not enough room for the words to get all the conflicting emotions across while individual ideas still get space to breathe.

I'll point at one example, to keep it brief.

<…octor…? Um, doctor…? I'm getting better, right…? Oh, boy! I can't wait to…>

Ok so the purpose of this line is clear: this is the voice of the kid who Baldhead was gonna save, but then died. She's talking to him before the operation. My gripe is,, why would a kid going under anesthesia say "[D]octor? Um, doctor? I'm getting better, right? Oh boy, I can't wait to [go home]!" It just feels too cartoonishly artificial, like someone was trying to pull at the reader's heartstrings, but then just went and slapped at them with a rubber chicken. I mean, I can't read japanese directly, I don't know if this problem existed in the original text and the translators didn't have much to go off of, but from what I've heard through the grapevine from people actually translating these things, the localization hasn't had much of a problem being inaccurate with other lines.

If you'll allow me to put on my writing-critic hat, I think this was a missed opportunity. With so little room to work with, the utility of word choice is more crucial here than anywhere else. Not to mention, this feels like the place to put some kind of detail that could be expanded upon with speculation or later context. Imagine if the kid said something about being scared of the dark, or saying that everyone else gave up on her, or her parents didn't even visit because they think it's hopeless. Maybe even,,, something about how the nurses said it would be risky, but she trusts the 'miracle doctor.' How it looks like she's getting more sick, but if the doctor says she's getting better, then he'll believe him.

Take this critisism with a grain of salt; all those ideas are probably too wordy to have made it in. It's a functional ending, that's all. My entitled ass is a little frustrated that it wasn't one of the ones that had more meat on its bones, but I should be greatful there's anything to chew on at all.