Hi, this is yukipapapa, the writer.

Overview

NEWGAME’s final episode is coming real soon.
Now I’d like to do a quick review on the anime!

最終回！#ニューゲーム pic.twitter.com/heV7VMOrZy

— 得能正太郎 (@tokutaro) September 19, 2016

ついに！！『NEW GAME!』最終話です…！
青葉たちに負けないくらい、スタッフの魂が込められております(۶•̀ᴗ•́)۶
どうぞ、お見逃しなく！#ニューゲーム#newgame#最終話 #動画工房#ありがとう藤原監督 pic.twitter.com/JhJ1v4N6qP

— 動画工房(制作/管理部) (@doko_kanri) September 18, 2016

Highlights!

1. Strong bond between Senpai and Kohai

Bond between Nenecchi and Umiko

Umiko gives Nenecchi a toy gun at a party.

While Nenecchi tells Umiko that she is going to do some research on toy guns until the next debug session,
Umiko tells her that she won’t take any more debug jobs.

When Nenecchi is disappointed that she won’t get to see the people from Eagle Jump anymore, Umiko says that it’s up to her whether she will meet them again or not while giving Nenecchi her business card.

This scene made it clear that Umiko was actually trusting in Nenecchi even if she was pissed about Nenecchi’s bad behaviors before.

Cool-headed Umiko and cheerful Nenecchi.
At first glance, these two girls look quite mismatched but since these two both have passion and sympathy for their jobs and others, I’m sure they are great together.

I’ve got to say that I’m really sad I won’t be able to see what kind of future they will have.
However, I’d like to continue to root for them!
Congrats and good luck, Nenecchi!

TOKYO MXにてごらんいただきありがとうございました！お次はテレビ愛知にて1時35からオンエアです☆　#ニューゲーム pic.twitter.com/UAgbh9mMxv

— TVアニメ『NEW GAME!』公式 (@nganime) September 20, 2016

Kou and Aoba’s strong bond

During the celebration party to commemorate the completion of their game, Nenecchi and Hifumi were approaching the voice cast to get their autographs but Aoba rejects Nenecchi’s invitation saying ‘There’s someone I want an autograph from before the voice cast.’.

このあと、第12話「ひとつ夢が叶いました！」はAbemaTV夜23：00～、BS11深夜0：00～オンエアです！最終話…！お見逃しなく！https://t.co/y1AUqyIwtV 　 #ニューゲーム pic.twitter.com/eZKvnkzML4

— TVアニメ『NEW GAME!』公式 (@nganime) September 21, 2016

And then Aoba gets together with Kou at the corner of the party venue.
At that time, Hazuki paid a visit to those two and showed her respect for their hard work and offered them to work as assistant directors.
However, Kou was quite upset to hear that saying ‘Nobody would come after me if I become an assistant director.’

‘You know why Hagami doesn’t take an assistant directing job?’
In response to the question from Hazuki, Aoba asks her the reason why.

Kou used be in the assistant directing position during the production of Fairy’s Story 2.
According to Kou, she was very serious about the job that she was overly hard on the surrounding staff members and it led a young fresh recruit to quit and this incident made her terribly depressed and she ended up backing out of her position.

Then, Aoba says ‘You are a very kind person.’ to Kou.
‘If you were a callous person, you wouldn’t have been depressed to see someone in pain.’
That’s how Aoba was seeing Kou.

While Kou is having a break alone after leaving the party venue, Aoba shows up and tells Kou her true feelings in a straightforward way. ‘I’m really grateful to you. You taught me lots of things and I was glad when you casually talked to me. I don’t know what kind of person you used to be before but now you are my great superviser who I look up to, so I will keep following you after I become an assistant director.’

第12話「ひとつ夢がかないました！」あらすじを公開！いよいよ最終回…長かったようにあっという間です。いよいよフェアリーズストーリー3発売です！ぜひご覧くださいね！　https://t.co/01eOtlJHz3　#ニューゲーム pic.twitter.com/H7A7eptyLA

— TVアニメ『NEW GAME!』公式 (@nganime) September 16, 2016

After hearing Aoba’s honest feelings, Kou sheds a string of tears.
Kou gets back her confidence, owing to Aoba and she finally returns to where Hazuki is, having a big smile.
Even though she was suffering from her past traumatic event, she was still a perfectionist when it came to work.
While there have been so many scenes where Kou struggled with how to treat her younger colleagues, her longtime effort has finally paid off with Aoba’s kind words.

AT-Xにてご視聴いただきありがとうございました！AT-Xリピート放送は水曜午後2時30分〜、土曜朝6時30分〜、日曜は時間変更がありますので深夜3時〜放送です！　#ニューゲーム pic.twitter.com/ch8Qs8lDeY

— TVアニメ『NEW GAME!』公式 (@nganime) September 19, 2016

This was the moment they became great partners who can make up for each other’s deficiencies.
I am really looking forward to seeing their future achievements.
Keep going for your dreams Aoba!

TVアニメ「NEW GAME!」12話まで青葉たちの活躍を見届けていただきありがとうございました！9/28にはBD&DVDや、ドラマCDも発売するのでまだまだNEW GAME!は盛り上がっていきますよ！お楽しみに〜！ #ニューゲーム pic.twitter.com/TgUFD574cc

— TVアニメ『NEW GAME!』公式 (@nganime) September 21, 2016

My Overall Impression

I kept an eye on Aoba’s growth throughout the first season.
The anime depicts the characters’ various aspects focusing around Aoba and I liked every character.

I could enjoy both of the bittersweet and peaceful everyday episodes.
It made me feel like I was also a part of Eagle Jump.

The anime has delivered me a lot of various emotions.
Since the comic series will still go on, I’m hoping that the anime’s second season will be broadcast some day in the future.
Thank you everyone for your great work!

改めまして「NEW GAME!」をご覧頂いた皆様、ありがとうございました！
そして藤原監督はじめ、関わって頂いたスタッフの皆さんもお疲れさまでした！
感謝！🙏#ニューゲーム pic.twitter.com/LjPqhiTCTh

— 得能正太郎 (@tokutaro) September 21, 2016