Although Natsuki had told Shizuru in ep 24 that Shizuru was important as the person who befriended Natsuki and thus prevented her downfall, Shizuru probably believed that Natsuki would not accept the demon she had become. So when Natsuki tells her, “Omae ga suki”, Shizuru finally realizes that Natsuki accepts and loves her, not just for what Shizuru had done for her in the old days, but also as a person, in the present. A person who had sinned by falling in love with her best friend and gone on to kill people in the name of love, who had no right to be loved in return.

But Natsuki did, and without a doubt cared for her more than anyone else in the world (evidenced by the double suicide decision). And so Shizuru died happiest of all. Or so I want to believe!

GUTB
Urk… I dunno if I can agree with everything. The way I see it, Shizuru isn’t really evil, although I do agree that she’s pretty whacked from the beginning. Her desires have left her with a warped sense – she doesn’t act the way a rational person does, and probably thinks to herself that this is the only way to go about things. I dunno if she really enjoys killing people. And I would say that consoling Natsuki was not an act, was motivated by real love and a desire to be as much help to Natsuki as she could, but in the end… *snap*

Although it’s kind of a pointless exercise, I do wonder what would be the outcome if Shizuru and Natsuki had not been HiMEs – under “normal” circumstances, would Shizuru have contemplated murder if say a classmate spied the kiss and threatened blackmail? I guess it’s a real possibility; she seems to have spiralled down pretty far. All I know is, Shizuru isn’t a terribly healthy person on the mental front. The whole thing might well end in total disaster under normal settings, so you could argue that the HiME conclusion actually turns out for the best ^^;;

I think that she realizes that Natsuki hasn’t only “forgiven” her, but also ACCEPTED her feelings. And while she can’t respond to the sexual romantic 20%, she is able and willing to requit the other 80%. They started as friends and have progressed, to something not quite lovers, but also not only friends anymore. This is the cause for Shizuru’s “ureshii”. IMHO ^_^

1. Before the “rejection” scene in 23, we recall that she moved in to save Natsuki from Nao in 21. After having completely beaten Nao, with her Child thrown into the sea and its master on the ground struggling weakly, Shizuru is shown with glowing demon eyes right before cutting the cliff face out from under Nao, also symbiolically slicing her cell phone in two. No matter how you look at it, Shizuru must have meant to kill her. There’s no way you would expect someone to survive that.

2. After defeating Yukino, she smiles at Haruka as she disapears. Why would she take joy in essentially killing a long-tiem classmate and comrade if she was just desperate for Natsuki’s feelings?

3. She is shown personally stalking and supposedly murdering several old people while smiling. Why would she take joy in murdering complete strangers that haven’t done a thing to her? If she was just doing it on a misguided attempt to get rid of things natsuki doesn’t like, does that mean she must also like commiting mass-murder? Sorry, but it doesn’t.

The best theory is that Shizuru was never all there in that she had become warped after a long period of time. In other words, the dependable, easy-going, insightful Shizuru is the same Shizuru who molests friends in their sleep and comitts mass-murder. She was just hidden before, and aftwards simply did what she wanted. The show should have played that up for maximum effect and had a real resolution. There should have been a scene in which the striken Natsuki demands what happened to the “real” Shizuru, who replies that everything — consoling her, taking care of her, counseling her, being a dependable friend, etc, was all just an act in order to get into her defenses and to fullfil her desires.

1. Before the “rejection” scene in 23, we recall that she moved in to save Natsuki from Nao in 21. After having completely beaten Nao, with her Child thrown into the sea and its master on the ground struggling weakly, Shizuru is shown with glowing demon eyes right before cutting the cliff face out from under Nao, also symbiolically slicing her cell phone in two. No matter how you look at it, Shizuru must have meant to kill her. There’s no way you would expect someone to survive that.

2. After defeating Yukino, she smiles at Haruka as she disapears. Why would she take joy in essentially killing a long-tiem classmate and comrade if she was just desperate for Natsuki’s feelings?

3. She is shown personally stalking and supposedly murdering several old people while smiling. Why would she take joy in murdering complete strangers that haven’t done a thing to her? If she was just doing it on a misguided attempt to get rid of things natsuki doesn’t like, does that mean she must also like commiting mass-murder? Sorry, but it doesn’t.

The best theory is that Shizuru was never all there in that she had become warped after a long period of time. In other words, the dependable, easy-going, insightful Shizuru is the same Shizuru who molests friends in their sleep and comitts mass-murder. She was just hidden before, and aftwards simply did what she wanted. The show should have played that up for maximum effect and had a real resolution. There should have been a scene in which the striken Natsuki demands what happened to the “real” Shizuru, who replies that everything — consoling her, taking care of her, counseling her, being a dependable friend, etc, was all just an act in order to get into her defenses and to fullfil her desires.