#final thoughts

Along the way to this finality there were many exciting moments! We started with two rounds of 16 polls (never let us do that again), the winners of the first facing off against the popular submission in the second.

It did surprise us how many of our selected orphans made it through both rounds, and who they bumped out! Elsa and Anna each failed to more on and Mama Coco took out Eugene! But the biggest surprise for use was how devoted the Gravity Falls fans were in this tournament. They managed to defeat some other popular franchises, like King from The Owl House, only falling to the one who took the title: Quasimodo. In fact, the most popular poll was the Shape Shifter v Quasimodo (677 votes!)

Thinking of all the orphans, they were from a fantastically wide variety of stories. The famous animated features did dominate, from the original Snow White and other classic eras to more forgotten films like the Rescuers, revival ear and modern icons. There were also actual human children, from the always positive Pollyanna to Pete (without his dragon). Some of you dabbled in the acquired and borrowed ips: Star Wars and the MCU had a few and there was an Annie and another Cinderella too. Disney also put orphans on the small screen, with five of them making the cut. And we had single reps from the Broadway Stage and international publishing/franchises. We love it all!

In all 48 polls we didn't get any ties, but there were a few decisions! The closest was the single point victory of Lewis Robinson over Princess Elena! Number two was animated Cinderella's victory over Oliver, the cardboard box kitten. There were also some pretty clear preferences, both Pelekai sisters won early rounds with over 85% of the love.

It's been a blast this month! We hope you'll return for the next game!

And as a reminder that all of these orphans (except apparently the Gravity Falls ones?) were able to get through their struggles and find happiness with the support of those around them. So always know that things do get better and try to be that better for those around you.

The finale of the anime has Sei and the others going back to the church to put an end to the suspicious activities once and for all. Like they (and the viewers) predicted, Cipriano is the culprit behind the assassination attempt on Sei and is the one doing the embezzlement and storing Yua’s magic behind her back. What is his motive? He’s actually a heretic who believes in a goddess called Melke and ridicules Abran. He hates everything related to Abran, especially anything revolving around the Holy Maiden and purification. It’s to the point that he reveals his purpose of gathering Yua’s magical power—making a magical bomb that he plans to detonate inside the church. Fortunately, Yua’s powers have grown to the point that she’s able to stop the bomb with ease now. It makes me so happy to see her grow into a capable person. While Cipriano is stopped, he isn’t forgiven, so both he and Bishop Mateus, who was his accomplice in a way, got punished.

Other than that, the episode is mostly Aresh swatting away the other men trying to get too close to Sei as Kamil and Siegvold both express fondness towards Seiichiro that Aresh isn’t having; poor Nor for being the third/fourth wheel in the cafeteria scene. Fortunately for him, Sei is falling for Aresh to the point that he initiates a kiss towards him for the first time. It’s also revealed that Sei wrote a reply letter when he got Aresh’s first letter that he never sent, but Aresh received it when Valtom found it in his drawer. His feelings for Aresh is also apparent when he is protected by him as the bomb was about to detonate. Knowing how much Aresh risked his health and safety for him before, he realizes that he wants Aresh to be safe too. It’s definitely a nice conclusion to how he behaved throughout the story—not that it’s bad.

Still, it is unfortunate that the story ends with Sei and Yua still trapped in the isekai world and whether they will return or not is still left ambiguous. I do wonder how the overall story will end since it’s still on-going. Will they really go back? Will Sei leave Aresh behind? I honestly might have to buy the manga going forth… Regardless, I do like that the ending is happy in that the private school is finally in session and Yua and Julius are getting closer.

Regardless, one thing I really like about Bean Counter as a whole is that, while it’s BL, it doesn’t focus just on the romance aspect, but more on the world building and the characterization. It kind of shows that BL has gone a long way from being just a story about two guys falling in love and getting together. Now, there’s entire storytelling in addition to romance, which is what I enjoy most; it used to be uncommon back in the day. As a writer myself, I personally enjoy narratives, hence why Bean Counter was interesting.

Though, I do admit that this adaptation was mediocre in terms of quality, but it was still decent to watch. I know some of my moots on Twitter loathe the quality, but I’m someone who takes what I get and try to find the good side to things. Still, it’s nice to have BL animes in general. However, I do think the manga version is better than the anime. If you want to read the manga after watching this, the anime basically covers six volumes, which are what’s available in English. Basically, it’s incentive that you start the journey over and look at much prettier art as you do. By the way, the story is actually a light novel series, but I don’t think the light novel got licensed in English—please correct me if I’m wrong.

Overall, this wasn’t the best BL anime adaptation, but it’s still a decent watch for those curious about the genre. Hopefully, this will be an opportunity for more BL media to get anime adaptations. Let me know your thoughts on the finale and the anime as a whole!

There are a few things I wish they had wrapped up better- what will happen with Clarissa and Eleanor in more detail, for example.

Can the Skyscale Rathalos Twins cure Crystallisis?

Since the Covenant was rewritten, how many Vermeilans will cross the Maridian for a new start? How about any Azurians?

All of these are things I think the story could have wrapped up better. But there is one thing I think they handled well- Amara's amnesia.

I am honestly fine with the fact she doesn't get her memories back, and stays with the Scriveners. As satisfying as it would have been for her to remember it all and come back to her husband, King Arken, and the player in Azuria... I think this is also a good outcome.

Not everything needs a perfect, happy ending. Instead of waving away her amnesia with a trope or something, the writers allowed Amara to remain an amnesiac, but also showed that she and the player are able to have a new, healthy relationship. It isn't perfect, and maybe one day Amara will remember it all, but for now, she is at peace with not knowing, and the player still gets to have her in their life again.

It isn't clean-cut, it is messy, and honestly it is a real representation of what can happen when a loved one loses their memories in real life. The game presents a valid and positive outcome for the Azurian royal family, without a magical fix-it.

Even the things I wish were clarified more that I listed above can also fall into this category. And as much as I want to know more, I also appreciate the open-ended approach the developers took. And if we never get those answers, that is okay.

I will just go to my own head canons and fanfiction, as I am sure many of us will do.