Random Curiosity

Note: All times are given in a 24 hour format, using what I call relative day time where times are extended to show which day they belong to. For instance, Friday morning at 1:30AM would become Thursday at 25:30 to show that the episode aired late Thursday night.

By no means is this list complete, these are just the series I’m planning to watch. Check out MOON PHASE for an entire listing and AndrewLB’s Winter 2006 Wiki for who’s tentatively subbing what.

A brief run-down on my choice of shows:

There are three shows – Ergo Proxy, Bincho-tan, and Rakugo Tennyo – which I am very iffy about, enough not to put them on the schedule. I’ll watch the first episodes of these (or in Ergo Proxy’s case, the mini-program/preview), but they won’t get blogged unless I feel like I can commit to watching the show. I’ve also got my eye on a few JDramas, but I’m waiting for first episodes to air before I decide on any of those.

Suggestions/Corrections/Questions are welcome :)

Well, we’re at the end of 2005, which was my first year blogging anime. These past few seasons have had their share of good and bad series, but I’m writing now about the ones that deserve to be recognized. Without further ado, here are my choices:

Best Opening Song

And The Winners Is… ▼

「少年ハート」 (Shounen Heart) by HOME MADE 家族 and 「創聖のアクエリオン」 (Sousei no Aquarion) by AKINO
I really couldn’t decide on this one. There have been plenty of good opening songs this year, but only 「少年ハート」 (Shounen Heart) by HOME MADE 家族 and 「創聖のアクエリオン」 (Sousei no Aquarion) by AKINO stood out. The Aquarion OP is part of what got me so interested in that series (from watching the first episode), and the Eureka Seven OP is just a lot of fun to listen to.

Best Ending Song

And The Winner Is… ▼

「ほうき星」 (Houkiboshi) by Younha
Unlike opening songs, there were a LOT of good ending songs this year. It ended up being between 「ほうき星」 (Houkiboshi) and Suneohair’s Waltz, and this won out. Younha’s song about becoming a comet has been my favorite ever since I heard it way back spring of this year. She’s is quite the talented singer, but I have to admit that I haven’t liked anything else of hers nearly as much as this song.

Best Soundtrack

And The Winner Is… ▼

Kamichu! Original Soundtrack
It’s really hard to choose a favorite OST because every one of them features a few songs that I like. But one of the defining features of Kamichu! is how much it resembles a Miyazaki work, and I think that the OST truly exemplifies that. My favorite tracks include 「自転車で帰ろう」 (Jitensha de Kaerou) and 「神々Cガール」 (Kamigami C Girl), which are some of the slower pieces.
As a side note, the only reason Honey and Clover didn’t win this category is because few of the insert songs made it onto the actual soundtrack. If you include all the Spitz and Suga Shikao, then H&C wins this in a heartbeat.

Best Animation

And The Winner Is… ▼

AIR (by Kyoto Animation)
Done by Kyoto Animation, AIR has very cleanly animated characters, almost unnoticeable CG integration, and most importantly, breathtaking sky backgrounds. The sky I see in AIR is more beautiful than any I’ve ever seen in real life. AIR is definitely one of the prettiest, if not the prettiest, series I’ve ever seen.

Favorite Character

And The Winner Is… ▼

Honey and Clover’s Shinobu Morita
For me, Shinobu Morita became the comedic face of Honey and Clover, and he was quite good at it. But aside from his wild antics, Morita had many a hidden talent along with a great concern for the other people in the H&C group. He’s simply a loveable character and the kind of guy you’d want to be friends with.

Best Sequel

And The Winner Is… ▼

Full Metal Panic! The Second Raid
Sequels are very murky ground. Too often, they feel empty, like the producers just wanted to eek out a little more cash from a franchise. Fortunately, Full Metal Panic! The Second Raid turned out to be nothing like that. With a very good set of novels to work off of, every aspect of this series is as good as, if not better than, it’s two predecessors, with the exception of comedy (which was what Fumoffu was all about). From when it opened in the Republic of Balic to the final battle in Hong Kong, FMP! TSR had me hooked.

Best Ongoing Series

And The Winner Is… ▼

Bleach
There’s really no contest here. I don’t watch any other the other long-running series (i.e. Naruto or One Piece), but Bleach’s Soul Society arc is one of the best written shounen stories I’ve ever seen. Plot twists and turns abound with a massive cast, yet everyone gets their own bit of development. Bleach this year never had me bored, and always had me wanting the next episode.

Best Comedy

And The Winner Is… ▼

Honey and Clover
I know some people are going to argue that Honey and Clover isn’t purely a comedy series, and I’d agree that it’s more than that. However, this series got more laughs from me than anything else I’ve watched this year. Notable scenes include the Christmas party in episode four, the Twister game in episode eight, and all the scenes with Takemoto’s teachers in the later episodes. In fact, the later episodes used a lot of the supporting cast – Takemoto’s teachers, Leader, the Fujiwara brothers – for hilarious comedic relief.

Best Romance Drama

And The Winner Is… ▼

SHUFFLE!
If I remember 2005 as anything in terms of anime, it would be the year of romance dramas based on h-games. But out of all the series I followed, there is only one clear winner: SHUFFLE!. For me, SHUFFLE! simply did the romance and drama aspects better than any other series. That’s with heavy emphasis on drama because this really had some of the best character relationships and interactions in recent memory.

Best Action

And The Winner Is… ▼

Full Metal Panic! The Second Raid
There are a lot of strong contenders in this category, including Bleach and Sousei no Aquarion, but in the end, FMP! TSR had the best action. Armed with its R-15 rating, this show was not afraid to display blood, gore, nudity, and fast-paced mecha battles. And with Kyoto Animation behind the helm, it never failed to impress on the battle sequences, whether it was the underground battle in Nanjing or the high-speed car chase in Sicily.

Biggest Surprise

And The Winner Is… ▼

Futakoi Alternative
If you watched the first Futakoi series, you’d know that it was an average harem series about sets of twins who liked the main character (whose name I don’t even remember). So imagine our surprise when they took those same sets of twins, gave them a strong male lead that was Rentarou, and completely changed the landscape by arming them with guns. Add in killer squids and now you have a series that had most of us asking if this were the same Futakoi characters we had seen angsting in the previous series. I don’t think I can see Sara and Souju in the same way ever again. Futakoi Alternative definitely goes down as the biggest surprise of the year (in a very good way).

Biggest Improvements

And The Winners Are… ▼

Tsubasa Chronicle, Sousei no Aquarion, and Lamune
A lot of series start off well and then get boring, or just start off poorly, but some series manage to pick it up again at the end. This year, Tsubasa Chronicle, Sousei no Aquarion, and Lamune were such series. Tsubasa had a good manga behind it, but the story doesn’t really get interesting until they get to Outo country. In the anime, it seems like it was then that the budget went up for animation and music. Everything was suddenly more interesting. Aquarion, on the other hand, started off with a bang, but tapered off in the middle. However, the story got quite good again in the final set of episodes, and made this series a great sentai mecha show. As for Lamune, the first half of the series is just plain boring, but once they got past introducing the characters and moved onto focusing on the main couple, I really started to enjoy the series. The ending even brought tears to my eyes.

Good Shows I Probably Should Have Watched

And The Winners Are… ▼

Best Show You’re Not Watching

And The Winner Is… ▼

Mushishi
Each story of Mushishi is like a folk tale complete with heroes, heroines, mystical creatures (usually the Mushi), and the main character Ginko, who plays the wise-man part. At the end of every week, there’s always a moral or some understanding about human nature. And despite it’s episodic nature, Mushishi has one of the deepest storylines I’ve seen in a long time, not to mention some of the best instrumental pieces of music. However, it feels like this is one of those series that doesn’t get a lot of viewership, which is why I vote this to be the best show you’re (probably) not watching.

Runner-Up for Anime of the Year

And The Winner Is… ▼

SHUFFLE!
If you had told me at the beginning of the year that one of my favorite series would be based on an h-game, I probably wouldn’t have believed you – for me, SHUFFLE! really is one of the most unexpected hits of the year. You always wonder at the beginning of such a series who the main character will end up with (if anyone), but I never predicted that Asa would be Rin’s choice. And then there was the journey getting to that point, including the Lycoris/Nerine/Primula arc and then the Kaede arc, all of which was way above and beyond what I thought I’d be seeing in a series like this. The gut-wrenching drama is really some of the best I’ve seen in years.

Anime of the Year

And The Winner Is… ▼

Honey and Clover
It’s a close contest between SHUFFLE! and Honey and Clover for best series of the year. What clinches it for Honey and Clover was the bevy of musical talent. Between Suga Shikao, Spitz, YUKI, Suneohair, & THE BAND HAS NO NAME’s songs and Hayashi Yuzo/Salon’ 68′s compositions, this show gave me something new to listen to almost every week. Meanwhile, the animation had a very unique, watercolor feel to it. And as I mentioned in the best comedy series blurb, this really is more than a funny show, because it explores the intricate relationships between Takemoto, Morita, Hagu-chan, Yamada, Mayama, and the large supporting cast. We grow to love these characters and share their moments of laughter, romance, and friendship. And the final theme/lines about finding what you’re looking for someday is really something that I feel I can connect with. For all those reasons, I feel that Honey and Clover deserves to be number one this year.

So, 2005 has been a surprisingly enjoyable year for anime. There’s been good and bad, sequels and original series, and overall it’s been pretty exciting. And with all of the upcoming shows (NANA, School Rumble, xxxHOLiC), here’s to hoping that 2006 will be even better!

As a disclaimer, these were chosen from a pool of series that I have seen, and are thus my own personal opinion. Also, I am somewhat counting out certain very good shows that are still in the middle of their broadcast (i.e. Mai-Otome). Please feel free to leave comments and thoughts about my choices and/or your own.

Summary:
Yukari has been picking up more and more modeling work, and even does a photo shoot with George. At George’s place one night, their love-making is interrupted by Kaori at the door. At the sight of Kaori, Yukari gets jealous, but George lets her in anyway. Kaori is there trying to dissuade George from stopping designing clothes and becoming a hair and make-up artist instead, a decision that Yukari had been kept in the dark about. After Kaori leaves, George even stands up for her by saying that he’s never slept with her because she’s not that kind of woman, a statement that doesn’t make Yukari feel any better. Meanwhile, Miwako and Hiroyuki have been exchanging cell phone messages, except that Arashi finds out and breaks Miwako’s phone in a rage. He later regrets it and tries to pay her back for the phone. George interrupts their conversation to announce that the one dress they had cosigned to a store was actually sold, which makes everyone quite happy. Afterwards, George, meeting with his father, learns that Kaori paid a visit to Joichi and begged him to support George’s mother so that George can pursue his dreams.
On New Year’s, Arashi and Miwako make up and go, with Hiroyuki, to the shrine, where the rest of the ParaKiss group is also visiting. After ringing the bell, George and Yukari enjoy the sunrise together, and George tells Yukari that because his dad is supporting him, he’s not going to be doing hair and makeup anymore, but he is still going to Paris. He asks Yukari to come, but she refuses because her own work and study.
Yukari ends up failing her college entrance exams, but is excited about her work opportunities, including an upcoming TV commercial. After graduation, Arashi is going to work at a senpai’s studio and Miwako is going to work for her sister’s company. With Paradise Kiss breaking up, they have a final dinner together, and George delivers Yukari home, which is the last she sees of him. After his car pulls away, Yukari cries, missing George’s touch and his voice. When the time comes, Arashi and Miwako are the only ones to see George off, but as it turns out, Isabella actually left with George on the boat. After he’s gone, Yukari gets a package with a key and a map. She rushes to the indicated spot, a storage warehouse, and finds out that the key George left her opens up a room full of his clothes. Remembering his words about wanting her to wear the clothes because they were important to him, Yukari breaks down crying.
Ten years later, we find out that Yukari is getting married soon, and that her honeymoon will be in America. She’s going to be seeing a hit Broadway musical, with costume designs by none other than George Koizumi. Though she knows it’s a comedy, Yukari thinks that she’ll definitely feel like crying.

It feels like for this final episode they were just rushing to get through the important parts, which means that they didn’t have much room for all of the conversation and inner monologue that deepen the characters. The episode suffers from jumping from point to point too quickly, but it’s still a fairly good ending that wraps up all the major plotlines (more or less). The Arashi/Miwako/Hiroyuki parts could have used more work, but I guess they were pressed for time.
I still can’t believe they really went through NINE chapters in one episode. That’s one chapter short of covering all of volume five! For what they had to get through, I’d say they did a good job covering all the important points and they did it with some decent animation quality too. But I am pissed off they didn’t even mention who Yukari is getting married to at the very end (Hiroyuki). Granted, that does make the end more about George and Yukari, but I had really been looking forward to the entire ending kept intact.

Final Thoughts:Paradise Kiss is another one of those series where you’re probably better off watching the animated version before reading the manga. I think that a person who hasn’t read the manga would enjoy the series to its fullest, and then reading the manga afterwards would add to the experience. For me, the best episodes of this series are found in the middle, where they settled down for roughly a three-chapters-an-episode pace, which was the ideal speed. But with a limited time and a limited budget, it seems that they were limited to what they could do. Here’s to hoping that the NANA anime, coming in the spring, will turn out better.

Summary:
After Suzuka gets home, she ponders her conflicted feelings and stares at her photo of Kazuki. Yamato, after calling off Miki’s search for her, goes to Suzuka’s door to apologize, but stops himself. The next day, the two see each other as they’re leaving for school, but Suzuka doesn’t say anything to him. Yamato knows that he still has to compete with Kazuki and feels that he won’t lose to him. Miki, who notices that Yamato is running so hard to be number one and for Suzuka, suggests that Suzuka face him. When the two pass each other outside of their apartments later that day, Yamato confronts Suzuka about ignoring him and says that he won’t apologize. Yamato refuses to back down until she faces him, but Suzuka just runs away. The next day, Honoka sees Yamato staring at Suzuka fail to make a jump, so she finds Suzuka after practice and the two walk home together. Honoka, who admits that she’s leaving the manager position, encourages Suzuka to patch things up with Yamato.
Sometime later, Yamato learns from Miho that Suzuka is going back home to visit a grave. He rushes upstairs and tells Suzuka, who is just leaving, to stop visiting Kazuki’s grave. To his surprise, she asks him to come along. At the grave, Suzuka spends a very long time praying, until she finally, speaking to Kazuki, apologizes and says that she’s come with the person she likes. She says that this person is clumsy, irresponsible, meddlesome, and overbearing, but this is the person she really likes. The next day, Megumi and Yuuka find Suzuka outside waiting for Yamato. When they ask her about it, she gets embarrassed and runs off to school. Yamato comes out late and has to chase after her. He takes her hand and, since Suzuka doesn’t pull away, the two hold hands on the way to school.

As I thought, the end of chapter 72 is really the perfect place to end the animated version. Suzuka admits her feelings for Yamato in front of Kazuki’s grave, and the two end the series holding hands together. A very suitable ending for the anime, though many of you who read the manga know the turbulence that’s still in store. But that’s a different story altogether. Anyway, I’m glad that Miki and Honoka both ended up getting parts that allowed them to play important roles in changing Suzuka’s attitude and bringing her and Yamato together.
I think my only critiques of this episode are the “….” screens and the ending shot of Kazuki’s grave. The former just seems unnecessary and the latter places the final focus away from the main couple. Otherwise, I was happy with the changes they made to lengthen two chapters into a full episode, and I enjoyed the overall production value, especially their choice of music. And yes, that means that the animation is actually decent in the final episode.

Final Thoughts: The thing that comes to mind, and this has come up several times in my conversations with Mentar, is that I shouldn’t have read the manga after watching the first episode. It’s a great story, but reading it in the manga killed all of the surprises the series had in store. That’s a big part of why I have been so critical – because I knew what was going to happen and thus rated episodes more on the production aspects, which this show sorely lacks for the most part. So I can understand how some people regard Suzuka so highly, because it really is a good romance story. But for me, it’s just not as good as the manga.

Summary:
After Tsugumi has a vision through Ai’s eyes of a secondhand bookstore, Hajime goes to investigate. He eventually finds the store, staffed by a gap-toothed owner and his parrot. An old magazine there has a story titled “Rengoku Shoujo” (Purgatory Girl). Hajime reads the article, published in 1950, and it turns out to be very similar to what he’s been told thus far about the Jigoku Shoujo, except that it refers to mailing a letter instead of using the Internet. Since the article is written under a pen name, Hajime tracks down the editor and learns that the real author is named Fukumoto – a man whose wife apparently committed suicide and his friend also died. Hajime is also given a drawing that Fukumoto originally did, one that looks exactly like Enma Ai.
On the outskirts of town, Hajime finds Fukumoto’s apartment, but Fukumoto lets Hajime in only after he mentions the Rengoku Shoujo and slides the picture under the door. Fukumoto, who’s grown old and doesn’t have much time left, tells Hajime that back then, the system used a blank space in the newspaper and people with a strong grudge could see what was in it. Only after his friend Ookouchi assaulted his wife, which led to her suicide, did he develop a grudge that allowed him to see those words. The Jigoku Shoujo showed up as soon as he mailed his letter and told him the usual conditions. Fukumoto then shows Hajime that he still bears the mark today. He tried everything to forget about his fate, but couldn’t. Instead, he ended up devoting himself to drawing Enma Ai, including a mural of her. Fukumoto tells Hajime that the only thing that he’s looking forward to is meeting Ai again because she is the one he’s thankful towards. When Hajime wonders what the Jigoku Shoujo is, Fukumoto notes that there have been texts about her dating back to the Edo period, though he thinks that it probably goes as far back as the Azuchi-Momoyama Era (late Sengoku Period, which is the late 1500s). To top it off, Hajime and Fukumoto realize that the reason he wrote about the Jigoku Shoujo, which he attributes to Ai’s will, was to convey the information to someone, and that someone is Hajime.
After Fukumoto touches up Ai’s eyes in the mural, he steps back and realizes that the painting has started to cry for him. His own candle soon burns out and he dies. When he opens his eyes again, he finds himself on Enma Ai’s boat and notes that Ai hasn’t changed since he last saw her. He then asks her if he’ll meet Ookouchi again, and Ai replies that hell is quite big.

This is an important episode about Ai and the system in the past, though I have to say that I’m a slightly disappointed because I was hoping for an episode about Tsugumi and Ai’s relationship or about Ai’s own past. Still, there’s a lot revealed this episode, starting with how the system worked back then and how Ai’s probably been around for hundreds of years. What I’m curious about is why Ai is wearing her special kimono in the flashback when she gives Fukumoto the doll. Isn’t that the kimono she dons to send people to hell? And if she’s been around for so long, then why is she normally always wearing the school sailor uniform? I’ve always attributed that to having something to do with her past.
They’re giving more and more hints that maybe Ai isn’t so happy doing this and/or is looking for a way out. With the revelation that the intent of the story Fukumoto wrote was for Hajime, we’re led to believe that perhaps Ai had planned this long ago and has been waiting for someone to figure it out. And then there are the tears from the mural, which I think is a really nice touch. Ai, who normally doesn’t show emotion, is indirectly crying for the victim (of a crime and of her system).
So, there are a lot of questions raised, but we don’t learn much about Ai’s past – which I assume is going to be left for a later episode. Next week seems to return to the normal format, though I’m wondering what they’re going to do for the next thirteen episodes if Hajime knows so much already. I guess we’ll have to wait and find out…

Summary:
Ever since Kenji’s accident, Nanami hasn’t been going to school, and is instead spending her time by his bedside. But despite how much she talks to him and wants him to wake up, he stays in his comatose state. Summer turns to fall, and fall turns to winter. Everyone seems to be moving on in their own way: Hiromi is making new friends at her new home, Hikari is studying for college, Misora is back at her own home, and Tae is getting ready to work after graduation. Finally, one snowy day in December, Nanami’s emotions burst as she cries and asks for Kenji to wake up because his debts have accumulated up to 100 (remember back in episode three when Kenji tapped Nanami’s hairpin, she took offense and said he owed her, and then in episode eight Kenji tried to present Nanami with the blue hairpin as compensation, but they ended up agreeing that when the debts accumulated to 100, one would listen to anything the other had to say).
When spring comes, Nanami returns to school again, having cut her hair short. But since she missed so much school before, she’s held back in the second year, though she ends up in Suzuka’s class. Spring becomes summer and Nanami hangs both hairpins onto a bell and hangs it up as a wind chime. She remembers one time in her childhood when, because of the 100 debt deal they made, Kenji told Nanami that he liked her and she returned the feelings. Back then, they both quickly took it back, but Nanami admits now that it was a lie because she really does love him. A strong wind starts to blow the bell, so Nanami goes over to close the window. But then from behind her, she hears a voice say that it’s a good sound – Kenji’s voice. With tears in her eyes and in disbelief, Nanami tightly hugs a smiling Kenji. In the aftermath, Kenji recovers and eventually leaves the hospital. We see he and Nanami are enjoying lamune on the beach, but Nanami is unable to pop open her bottle. Kenji does it for her, but accidentally squirts some on her face. She tells him that it’s another debt, and the two enjoy the view of the ocean and the sky, together as a couple.

How good was the final episode? It brought tears to my eyes…
They built up to the ending just right with the flashback, Nanami admitting that she loved him, and then her adjusting the hairpin bell. Coupled with the music, it really did make me all teary-eyed to see Nanami crying and the two finally reunited after almost an entire year. So the ending here is quite a happy one. We even get to see the developing feelings between Nanami’s mother and Kenji’s father, though that relationship seems a bit unnecessary.
I was a bit surprised that the debt thing became a recurring theme, and ended up tying together several of the main points of the storyline, including the epilogue with Nanami saying that Kenji owed her for squirting lamune on her. And of course, for a series named as such, they had to end with Nanami and Kenji together drinking Lamune.

Final Thoughts: Honestly, if I were recommending Lamune to someone, I’d tell them to watch episode one, the first few minutes of episode three, and episodes eight through the end. This is a show that, after the first four episodes of boring story and poor animation, I was ready to drop. But I stuck with it and am glad that I did because I really like how the last five episodes turned out, both in the plot and in the improved production quality. So, overall, Lamune is a good and solid pure-romance series about the growing love between two people.

Merry Christmas Everyone!
I hope that everyone gets to enjoy their holiday with friends and family. :)

Canvas2 is off today, but look forward to tomorrow’s finale of Lamune!

OP Sequence

Special OP: vestige by TM Revolution

Mostly stuff from the other OPs, with a scattering of new images – mainly the ones you see above.

Summary:
In the aftermath of the war, ORB and PLANT made peace, and at the request of the council, Lacus returned to PLANT. Sometime later, Shinn, Lunamaria, Athrun, and Meyrin visit the memorial spot by the sea. They are joined by Kira and Lacus, and Shinn finally gets introduced to the pilot of Freedom Gundam. The two shake hands and agree to fight and defend together from now on, along with Athrun. In the final moments, we see Lacus entering the PLANT council room looking very important.

I didn’t summarize the first 36 or so minutes of the episode because it’s basically the extended version of the final episode, so although there is additional footage, the story is still the same. Some of the biggest additions I saw include one near the beginning with Athrun hugging Cagalli goodbye before going into space, and a scene between Gilbert and Rau Le Creuset where Gilbert says that man really likes to fight. It also looked to me like a lot of the added stuff was merely stock footage spliced in and mixed around.
As for the extended ending, it only sheds a little bit of light on what happened afterward. We all could have guessed that they made peace, and in addition to that, they showed us that Kira and Shinn finally get introduced to each and that Lacus seems to be returning to PLANT looking quite powerful, perhaps as the new chairwoman (that’s just speculation though). Oh, and it appears they don’t give CagalliXAthrun fans anything to work with, as Athrun walks away from the meeting with Meyrin and Cagalli seems pretty occupied with being the leader of ORB. They did give plenty of KiraXLacus screen-time though, from the OP shot to Lacus putting her head on Kira’s shoulder as they walk away.
Overall, I’m not horribly impressed by this episode, though it does give more closure than the final minutes of episode 50. But even though I’m a sucker for closure, this episode alone can’t redeem Gundam SEED Destiny as a whole. Ah, well…Here’s to hoping that the next Gundam series is better.

Summary:
Aisia, seeing Nemu’s tears, runs out of the house and bumps into Junichi, who collapses in front of her. The next day, Aisia notices that everyone has a sullen attitude, especially when Junichi doesn’t show up for lunch. In the infirmary, Nemu starts to ask Akishima-sensei about the letters, but the power of the sakura tree takes effect and causes her to run out in pain. She doesn’t get very far though, running into Kotori, who stops her. Meanwhile, Suginami shows Junichi the relationship graph that he made, except with Nemu written in, reminding Junichi that she’s a candidate for his love. But when Junichi opens his mouth to say something, the sakura tree once again takes effect, causing him pain. Suginami has noticed the strange sakura blossoms, and asks Junichi if he knows what he should do now. Junichi runs off, but stops when he sees Nemu and Kotori. Nemu hands him a letter she wrote – in it, she addresses him lovingly and ends by calling him her number one, most liked brother. The present Nemu feels that it’s strange that siblings would communicate like that, but Suginami throws the word lovers in. Aisia sees everyone smiling as they watch from above, but she then sees Nemu collapse after a breeze full of sakura petals blows by. She realizes that it’s all her fault, and rushes to the old sakura tree.
Aisia wishes for Junichi and Nemu to stop suffering, but the tree does not respond. Sakura, however, does appear behind her. Aisia wants her to do something, but Sakura knows that it’s impossible for her. However, Sakura reminds Aisia of her grandmother, which in turn causes Aisia to realize that now that she truly understands everyone’s feelings, she can do anything their sake. Junichi, who has been searching for Aisia ever since Alice told everyone that she was missing, finally finds her all aglow in front of the tree. Aisia apologizes for what she’s done and bids him farewell. Junichi tries to stop her, but Sakura holds him back, saying that Aisia finally understands everyone’s feelings. Aisia has a few final words for each of the girls and Junichi, and then says goodbye as she disappears at the same time the old sakura tree’s petals do.
In the aftermath, life appears to go on normally, with Misaki joining the group. The seasons pass quickly, and one spring, wedding bells are ringing. Junichi and Nemu appear in front of a crowd, apparently just married. When Nemu throws her bouquet, a mysterious hooded girl catches it. After she throws it back into the air, it explodes, and mini-bouquets fall into the arms of all of the girls. As this hooded person walks away, Sakura smiles at her. However, Junichi’s voice stops her, and Aisia turns around and throws herself at him, calling out, “Junichi!” As the series draws to an end, we see that each of the girls is pursuing her own dreams. And the girl who is leaning on Junichi’s shoulder as he admires a photo album is indeed none other than Nemu.

So the ending itself didn’t turn out to be anything too surprising, though some of the details were. I didn’t think Suginami would play as big of a role as he did, nor was I expecting a marriage to end the series. The letters come back to play a part in reminding Junichi and Nemu of their love, which Suginami affirms. I’m not sure if Aisia killing the old sakura tree brings back their old memories or if it just stops interfering. Either way, Junichi and Nemu end up happy as do all of their friends, including Aisia. As for Aisia, I liked how her character turned out in the very end, but I could have done without all repeated the magic/happiness stuff from most of the series.
Thinking about it, the wedding is a nice touch to finally solidify Junichi and Nemu’s relationship. That in itself really made me enjoy this last episode, since it gives a much more concrete ending than what I remember from the original Da Capo.

Final Thoughts: DCSS ends up being quite a mixed bag for me. There are several good episodes (I’d consider the finale to be one of those), but there are also several that feel like wasted time. So I agree with a lot of people in saying that this probably didn’t warrant the entire 26 episodes. It ended up being a lot about Aisia, but not so much about Kotori, as had been mentioned by the director before (which I’m sure got lots of people’s hopes up). But ultimately, Junichi and Nemu remain the couple.

Summary:
After David explains to Saya that the person who protects Diva is a Chevalier, their group is joined by four more Red Shield people: Kurara, Spencer, Makkoi, and Rodgers. As they head down the river past Vietnam War ruins, Saya starts having more and more flashbacks of her past. The group eventually arrives at a landing spot and makes their way towards the building where Van Argeno, Solomon, and Karl are at. Karl opens the container to reveal something that surprises even Van. Kai, who was captured along with Riku and Mui, escapes from their prison and frees his brother. But with the container now open, the boys are surrounded by a bunch of red-hooded children who are attracted to a woman singing. These kids, who are all experiments of Delta 69 and are themselves singing, run out of the house and apparently follow Karl, who welcomes Saya and company. Their armed force is surrounded by the children, and Hagi throws a dagger at one of them. Kurara starts to scold him for attacking a child, but stops when she sees the dagger pop right out and the wound heal. The red cloaks mask the grotesque births of small Chiropterans out of these children’s bodies. The group fights their way into the building, but Makkoi and Rodgers are killed while guarding the rear. Inside, Kurara demands to know why Saya isn’t helping them fight, but Saya replies that it’s because of the song. As they get overwhelmed, one of the Chiropterans approaches a wide-eyed Saya, but she can only sit, frozen in place. Hagi has to behead the monster with his claw, an act which splatters blood over Saya’s face.

Well they turned the violence level back up after a streak of fairly tame episodes. As soon as I saw the children, I knew they were gonna turn into Chiropterans, though the goblin-like creatures and violence that followed was a bit more than I bargained for. I get the feeling that Mui is going to turn vampire too, since she was taking medicine from the pharmaceutical company guy. Still, the big question is what is inside the container (ie. what Diva is) that surprises even Van Argeno. Actually, it seems that he’s been kept out of the loop for most of this, and Solomon has a better grasp of things than I had previously thought. I don’t expect Karl to survive for too many more episodes, so I assume that Solomon and Van Argeno will be the main bad guys, Solomon in particular.
The preview shows a lot of fighting, including what appears to be the full Chiropteran form of Karl. It should be an interesting battle episode, though it won’t air until January 7th, 2006 since Blood+ is one of the many series taking next week off.

The last week of December and first week of January are typically on-break weeks for anime series. Here’s a quick list of all the shows I’m following and if they are affected or not.

Angel Heart – Off-air 12/26 and 01/02
Lamune – Not affected: Ep. 11 airs 12/19, Finale airs 12/26
Bleach – Off-air 12/27 and 01/03
Jigoku Shoujo – Not affected
Shakugan no Shana – Off-air 12/28
Suzuka – Not affected: ep. 25 airs 12/21, Finale airs 12/28
SHUFFLE! – Off-air 12/29
Mai-Otome – Off-air 12/29
Karin – Off-air 12/29
Paradise Kiss – Not affected: Finale airs 12/29
Blood+ – Off-air 12/31
DCSS – Not affected: Finale airs 12/24 (tomorrow)
Mushishi – Off-air 12/24 and 12/31
Canvas2 – Off-air 12/25 and 01/01

As you can see, the shows that are ending this season (except SHUFFLE!) are not going on break, but the on-going shows (except Jigoku Shoujo) are affected. That means that these next two weeks are going to be very boring around here – good for me because that’ll give me time to play Kingdom Hearts II. :)

PS. Stay tuned though because I’ll be posting a schedule for the upcoming season sometime in this next week.

2 Brief Notes:

Summary:
George’s father and mother both arrive to see the fashion show. His mother Yukino was ready to break it off with his father Joichi, but she melts when she sees him again. Inside, the fashion show has started and George holds Yukari’s hand while they wait. When her turn comes up, she majestically walks onstage with blue rose petals trailing away from her. After wowing the entire audience, she returns and embraces George, who says that he’s feeling unbelievable right now. The celebration afterwards takes place in the studio, but Yukari wonders why everyone is celebrating if they didn’t win grand prize. The group isn’t too worried, and Isabella feels happy that they got a close second. As Yukari watches them celebrate, she knows that she was the one who wanted to win the top prize and be number one.
After she gets drunk and has a dream of the fashion show, Yukari wakes up in George’s room. She laments about not winning the grand prize, but George tells her that everyone worked so hard on it, and so it’s their dress despite the fact that George would have been the only one to get the study abroad scholarship. In the end, he feels that the blame for their loss falls on him because of his lack of ability. Yukari apologizes for complaining and realizes that she’s just like her mother, wanting to be number one. She decides to stay there instead of going home, but George then gets a phone call from Kaori. Yukari leaves angrily at the thought of another woman, but George drives her home and explains along the way that Kaori is a classmate who worked very hard and won that scholarship to study abroad by winning a previous fashion show. When Yukari gets home, her mother slaps her on the face even after she tries to protect it (since a model’s face is so important). Meanwhile, George and Kaori first talk about Yukari’s physical features and about London. Since Kaori is leaving the next day, their time is limited to this, but she invites him to go to London someday.
Some days later, Yukari, in the blue dress, participates in the awards ceremony with the ParaKiss group, and George notices and worries about the mark on her face from her mother hitting her. When she goes home, Yukari purposefully leaves the photograph of her holding the award on the living room table. The next morning, she notices it’s not on the table anymore; instead, it’s hanging on the wall.

I think they did a fairly good job considering all the material they covered and all the stuff they ended up cutting. Yukari’s runway walk is by and far my favorite part of the episode – the music, the cheering, and how closely it mirrors the manga all attribute to that. But like I was saying, despite all of the stuff they cut out from the four chapters (36-39), they handle the main parts fairly well and keep in all of the story critical stuff (though I guess story critical is kinda subjective). They surprised me by how well they handle the Kaori aspects (so far anyway), but I’m still worried about how the series is going to end with one episode left and nine chapters to go. I’m all for them skipping the rest of the Kaori stuff and covering the remaining important bits. I really want them to keep the entire ending and epilogue intact, but we’ll see how it goes.
Next week, the final episode of Paradise Kiss!