3/5. Enjoyable.
I really liked some of the smaller details they put into it. Like, a loli running with a smile on her face with a bunch of blood scattered in the background.
Nao’s expressions were fantastic as well.
As for the girl she blew up at (Honoka?)… I was pretty bothered by her personality as well. Even without being in the same position as Nao’s at the time of that episode. Of course, Nao’s reaction was definitely not composed at all, but that’s what gives that scene impact. I don’t feel it’s forced when considering everything she’d have been doing and going through.
Additionally, Nao’s mind was never read at an inconvenient moment for her. Perhaps she was trying very hard to control her thoughts? (Series spoiler: She knew all about Yuu’s power after all. It would be very bad if she let him know that, maybe.) I guess you could say that this mind reading power was more of a “This is what you would’ve said had you not just stopped yourself.”
The ending was “we all just got lucky here,” basically. I mean, not for Iori, but for Nao it was a super lucky ending in multiple ways. (Series spoilers, again: What if Yuu took control over Nao’s body to keep her from going berserk at the girl? Granted, that could’ve happened anywhere throughout the series, but even so it seemed especially dangerous here. At least to me, anyway.)
Also, unless I was just skim-reading the subs or I’m forgetting, they didn’t emphasize that just because someone knows something doesn’t mean they understand it. Thoughts that you have but don’t say are filtered for a reason. Or to put it a little differently: “Knowing what someone thinks isn’t understanding why they think that.” While they certainly don’t need to emphasize that sort of thing, the whole episode felt like it was building up to that… and then just skipped it. Was disappointing in a way, but not disappointing enough to warrant how many words I’m putting into describing it. ^^;;
Like the rest of the series, we also had basically no Takajou and Yusarin here. That’s a bit of a pity, but oh well.
Anyway, as a side note, that “mind projection” thing would be soooo nice. In real life I almost never speak unless it’s actually necessary to, or it would be less efficient otherwise. Being able to just think your sentence and not waste any breath would be fantastic! I don’t think I’ve ever been in as much agreement with Nao (see diner scene) before now. (Pun intended.)
TL;DR: It was alright. Not the best, not the worst, a little better than what I’d consider a “general average” at least.