Churasan 4 (2007)

"Even if we are far apart, the bonds between our hearts will never break."

"Churasan 4" is the third sequel to the 2001 asadora "Churasan." As stated in my previous reviews, the amount of sequels is indicative to how popular this asadora was at the time. Of course, "Churasan 4" is only two episodes which tells you that this was very much the swan song of this series as a whole. Strangely enough, I preferred "Churasan 4" to both of the previous sequels. It was very much what I always wanted from "Churasan," but it was also a case of too little too late.

The plot of "Churasan 4" is relatively simple. Eri (Kuninaka Ryoko) and Fumiya (Kohashi Kenji) are finally back in Kohama permanently. Kazuya (Suzuki Shogo) is a little older now and acting very obstinately towards his mother, which is rather cute. The family spends the New Year with Eri's family and there's some shenanigans with her father Keibun (Sakai Masaaki). The second plot follows Yoko (Yo Kimiko) who decides that she wants to move her family to Kohama. Shibata (Murata Takehiro) agrees and they arrive with their daughter to their new home, which they plan to turn into a lodging house. Eri and Yoko also reaffirm their sisterly relationship with Mariya (Kanno Miho), reminding her that they will always be connected despite the distance between them.

The latter half of the original "Churasan" and the two sequels always seemed afraid to make huge changes, instead opting to have everyone be the same place (i.e. that stupid boardinghouse!!). This final sequel evidently realized it was the FINAL and finally made some decisions and stuck by them. As I said before, this is everything I had wanted before. I just wish I hadn't had to sit through 30+ episodes of the original and eleven episodes of the sequels to get here...

While I prefer "Churasan 4" to the previous sequels, it would've been better had it been extended to four episodes in total. There's also some missing fan favorite characters like Keitatsu and Haruka. Poor Keitatsu couldn't even be redeemed from his treatment in "Churasan 3." So, in conclusion, I can't really recommend any of these sequels unless you're just "Churasan"'s biggest fan. I'm happy the series ended on a high note, but it honestly should've just been left with the original "Churasan."

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