I remember the first time we watched this at our anime club. The newbies were mesmerized by the weird imagery, but we old-school otaku were laughing our asses off at the in-jokes. When the Haruko transforms herself into the Daicon bunny, I totally lost it.
There is something about the last panel that makes me very emotional. The protagonist takes a sip of the drink, which if I remeber correctly is coffee. He didn't like it, but he thought he had to take it because it made him more "adult" or something like that. Coming of age is a very recurrent theme in this show, and seeing that scene at the end means, for me at least, how the protagonist finally embraces becoming an adult, and that strikes me. It hits me hard because while I was watching this show, a surge of teenagehood memories burst into my mind. Those were truly good days. I'm still young, but those days of discovery, sexual awakening, curiosity, love, dolence... and ultimately maturity, are gone. And take a sweet spot in my heart. Maybe the panel strikes me, because I relate to Nahota. Maybe the panel strikes me, because watching that scene speaks of how I'll never see Nahota's adventures (and misadventures) ever again (or at least in the first season, I haven't watched the rest). And it's been a long time since I have felt like that. You know a show is good if it made you feel this way. in summary, that last scene overwhelms me with nostalgia
I’m just now finding this gem of an anime and what a treat. Each time I need to be inspired to do art projects, I just turn this anime on. This anime is so good!