Review: The Rolling Girls “The Future is in Our Hands”

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Here’s the thing about “The Future is in Our Hands.” It felt like an episode that could have been phenomenal, and grip on some feelings of Chiyaya’s impending departure from Earth. Unfortunately, the rushed finale for the surprising The Rolling Girls fell flatter than a piece of paper. I was expecting something flashier than what we got from the end of the other arcs, but the ending, left a lot to be desired.

“The Future is in Our Hands” started with Shima trying to get the Chivalry Robot going, but she is missing a coat of arms to get it going. Shima couldn’t get it started, so she took the ship so she can level the air defenses. Kaguya was able to take get in the robot, and use the coat of arms Nozomi and friends brought to her. After a “blink and you’ll miss it” fight, the ship was destroyed,and Shima admitted defeat. Everything felt rushed.

There is almost no reason to mention the latter half of “The Future is in Our Hands”, because what it amounted to was a departure of the character that had the most charm, and everyone just remembering the times they all had together when they were younger. Nozomi, Yukina, and AI all wanted to see what a sleeping Chiyaya was dreaming about, but that was dropped as soon as Chiyaya’s mother said time to go. There was a great chance to make up for a rushed finale, but it was squandered.

Therein lies my problem with the last four episodes of The Rolling Girls. I felt like the first eight episodes were some of the best I’ve seen this decade. However, once the characters split, and we tackled two towns at once, things just fell apart. There was just too much going on at once through the first two and a half episodes, then once the Chivalry Robot came into play, things just decided to go off the rails. I was hoping beyond hope that even if the battle in Hiroshima would end quickly, that Chiyaya’s impending return to her home planet. One thing that the finale did do right is keep the door open for either a second season, or the show is over. Either way, I’m not sure how the finale did the rest of The Rolling Girls‘s season. The episode on its own was a terrible let down.

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