Celestial Method

Episode 10

And the crown for “Queen of Well-Intentioned But Ultimately Destructive Meddling” goes to...Shione! As we saw last episode, Shione plans to remove herself from both town and her would-be circle of friends, resuming her cold attitude towards Nonoka, after learning that Noel will vanish once the group's wish is granted. Being Shione, she doesn't tell anyone about this plan until Noel, far from her saucer in the anticipation of seven years' waiting coming to fruition, collapses. In possibly the first honest move we've seen from her, Shione confesses to Nonoka and the others what she's doing with all of the perfectly reasoned logic of a middle schooler. We as viewers, however, can see the flaws in her plan even before they begin to wreak havoc on the group of friends, the main one being this: if Noel's whole existence is for the purpose of granting wishes (as her arrival in town implies), then by not allowing her to grant their wish, isn't Shione ultimately making the one person she wants to be truly happy unhappy? There are corollary issues as well, such as the wishes Noel isn't granting while she hangs around waiting for the gang to get their collective act together, but what it really comes down to once again is Shione's innate selfishness as she seizes upon the easiest possible solution.

Perhaps at its heart, Celestial Method is really going to prove to be about growing up and the sacrifices we make to our childhood dreams. This episode, one of the most compelling with everything finally coming into the light, starts to lead down that path in a more real way than any of Yuzuki's silly blame games or Shione's early posturing. Noel is representative of what the group wanted seven years ago, but as we have seen, a lot changes in seven years, particularly those between ages seven and fourteen. While some things never change, others do in a big way, and perhaps the wish that the group shared is one of them. Letting Noel go may represent letting the winter Nonoka's mother died, Shione's life fell apart, and the twins' separation began fade into the background as life goes on.

Right now, however, no one seems quite up to that choice. The scene at the end of the episode where everyone snubs Nonoka when she shows up to get her telescope is difficult to say the least, though Koharu, consistently the most level-headed of the bunch, admits that she's not sure this is okay. Next episode will likely be painful for most of the characters, particularly Nonoka, but I'm fairly confident that she can pull through it and get the rest of them to snap out of it. Ultimately, however, it will be up to Noel to make them all realize that it's all right to let her go. Life is about changes, no matter how much we want to resist, and when one wish is granted, another one takes its place. (Not that I want to see them keep wishing Noel back again and again – I feel like that would sort of ruin the story.) With only a few episodes left, Celestial Method has finally gotten its feet firmly on the ground, and I'm hopeful that it can pull through to a satisfying finale...even if that means watching Noel fly away.

Rating: B+

Celestial Method is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Rebecca Silverman teaches English and is ANN's senior manga reviewer.