They totally messed up this wonderful work. I've only reread upto
volume 4, so it's possible that I missed it, but Chise never tried to
save anyone but Shuuji. There was no attempt, or even thoughts of
protecting the village from the "end." It was simply an "end." There
was nothing to protect it from.
The anime ending is ridiculous. It hides the realism of the "end,"
and is therefore completely devoid of what made the manga ending so
wonderfully painful. Chise has worked hard --and that's a monumental
understatement-- to save Shuuji. She's become a ship. The image of
the fallen earth seen as the "ship" leaves the planet is missing in
the anime.
And the final conversation between Chise and Shuuji, which is meant
to provoke the feeling of joy (as two are together finally) and an
overwhelming pain at the same time, is also missing. As they leave
the planet, little conversations between the two about Shuuji being
hungry and Chise forgetting about the fact that he needs food to
survive; and Chise saying, "Don't worry. I'll take care of it." is
missing. It is meant to be an open-ended ending that remains
realistic.
Oh and on a slightly lighter(?) note, one of my favorite scenes in the
manga is missing from the anime. When they elope, they get a ride
from the military transport. I really loved that scene because it was
very funny. Shuuji was worried that the troop might recognize Chise,
Chise thought they wouldn't, and all the soldiers were scared to
death of Chise. They obviously knew it was Chise, but were in
absolute belief that if they spoke out, Chise would kill them all.
Anyway, this officially marks the end of my GONZO purchases. Unless
they clean up their act big time, my simple rule will be (Produced by
GONZO == I don't buy).
Note that Volume.5 comes with set of 5 postcards as limited edition item.