Random Curiosity

Summary:
Ayumi is going home one day when a girl with a spear shows up and tries to attack her. However, she trips and smacks right into a tree. She introduces herself as Witch Hunter Marin and is here to purify Ayumi. Ayumi gets serious and starts to use her magic, but Haruo shows up and throws off her aim. The subsequent blast knocks Marin into him, causing Ayumi to put Marin in a tornado until after she escapes with Haruo. The next day, Ayumi finds Marin dressed in their school uniform. Marin attacks again, but Ayumi manages to scare the girl off. Marin’s decides to revise her strategy and find Ayumi’s weak points. Haruo tells her that Ayumi doesn’t like sad stories, and the sisters tell her that Ayumi doesn’t like eels or mice. Marin tries to use those against Ayumi, but to no success. However, she does get Ayumi pissed off enough finally to fight her. Marin is clearly outmatched, but it’s once again Haruo’s interference that throws Ayumi off. Her attack gets redirected at him, but he has a shield (cast by Maika) that reflects it right back at her. Seeing Ayumi knocked out in Haruo’s arms, Marin quickly jumps to the wrong conclusions and thinks that Haruo must be a saint with holy powers.
The next day, Ayumi, Marin, and Yuri have all prepared special magic-infused boxed lunches for Haruo. Marin tells Ayumi that she won’t bother her anymore, but when she tries to give Haruo the boxed lunch she prepared, Maika, Ayumi, and Yuri all step in to stop her. The four girls become determined to give Haruo their boxed lunches before any of the others. At lunchtime, they all rush to Haruo, but crash into each other instead. Everyone tries to lay claim to the right to give Haruo their lunch, but Maika notices something strange about the other girl’s food. After Maika declares that she’ll taste test it first, they all decide to taste each other’s food just in case. The lunches seem to be ok, so Ayumi starts running for Haruo, but Yuri grabs her because she notices that Ayumi has grown smaller. Yuri knows that all of their lunches were laced with magic, and tries to figure out whose had what effect. Maika’s lunch had anti-magic to counter Ayumi and Ayumi’s was laced with magic that awakened magic powers. But since eating Maika’s anti-magic lunch doesn’t counter the spell that’s made them younger, the girls realize that it must have been something in Marin’s lunch. They find her and show her that she’s smaller than normal, but she refuses to give up her lunch and instead throws it into the pond. She does, however, save one onigiri, along with the tea she made, and gives it to Haruo. The girls arrive too late and see Haruo eat it. But Haruo is more concerned about Marin, who has fainted. When he gives her some of the tea she prepared, she turns back to normal size. Seeing this, the girls all drink some and return to normal. Of course, since they were in their underwear to allow them to run faster, they quickly knock Haruo out.

Well, it’s been a while since I’ve heard Momoi Haruko’s voice (no, Utamaru does not count). Good to see that she can still do the loli part. Her character was nothing like the serious witch hunter that the end of last episode and first minute of this one made her out to be. As soon as she tripped, you could tell she was gonna be no match for Ayumi. As for the episode, the first half is a bit more amusing in terms of story, but the second half did have younger versions of all the characters (oh wait, we’re back to the loli thing again). Animation quality didn’t really change from previous episodes, meaning that it’s still pretty high.
The cast is growing bigger and bigger, but I think there’s only a couple more girls that they can introduce and probably not until later. Next week, a swimsuit episode!

Summary:
Hajime and Tsugumi are driving along a road in the middle of a forest filled with fog when they start to hear a music box. Suddenly, a figure appears in the middle of the road and forces Hajime to brake. But when he gets out to check, there’s no one there. He drives up to the sanatorium nearby, but finds the place empty save for a girl’s laughter. As the two go further in, Tsugumi says that she heard a girl’s voice calling for help. They then start to hear a music box again, and this time they find it sitting by a windowsill. A girl with long blonde hair and blue eyes appears behind Tsugumi and leads them outside where she introduces herself as Nina. When Tsugumi introduces Hajime as her father, Nina comments that she doesn’t have a father. While Nina and Tsugumi get acquainted, Hajime chases after a nurse, but she disappears. He instead finds a doctor hunched over his desk extracting blood from a caterpillar. Upon going back, Nina asks him and Tsugumi to stay, but when Hajime tries to turn her down, Nina tells them that the fog makes it impossible to return.
Away from Nina, Hajime and Tsugumi discuss the girl and how she has to be the one who accessed the Jigoku Tsuushin. Tsugumi gets scared and wants to go home, so Hajime promises that they will as soon as the fog clears up. Outside, Ai’s companions comment about how they don’t understand Ai these days. Ai has gone inside to tell Nina that she can’t clear her grudge. Hajime and Tsugumi find Nina pounding against the wall where Ai disappeared, but upon seeing them, Nina them that it’s ok. She takes them to dinner, where a meal has mysteriously appeared. Nina tells Hajime that she used the Jigoku Tsuushin on her father for leaving her alone. But Nina reiterates that it’s ok now because she now has Hajime and Tsugumi as her family, and they’ll always be together. Scared, Tsugumi pulls away from Nina, which causes her to cut off the lights and break the glass above them. Hajime tries to run away with Tsugumi, but the girl whose hand he’s holding turns out to be a plant that wraps him up and tries to choke him. It’s only a volley of daggers from Hone Onna that saves him from being killed.
Meanwhile, Tsugumi is running through the forest when she spots Hajime. But when she sees that his face is actually plant vines, she faints. Before Nina and plant-Hajime can pick her up, Ichimoku Ren jumps in and takes her. He is unable to escape the deadly vines, however, and has to use one of his powers – a flash of light from an eye on his head – to free himself. The real Hajime finds Tsugumi and tries to escape in their car. But with vines entangled around the wheels, they are unable to go anywhere. Nina reaches through the car window and starts to choke Tsugumi while more vines choke Hajime. It is Enma Ai herself who has to step in and tell Nina to stop. She reveals that the girl in front of her is not Nina and asks this girl to remember. It seems that the real Nina, this girl’s master, was sick and died a long time ago.
Hajime and Tsugumi wake up the next morning to find the sanatorium vacant and in ruin. In one of the rooms, they find the music box, a doll that looked exactly like Nina, and a photograph of Nina and the doll. The doll had apparently watched on as Nina had cried tears, longing for her father because she was lonely. As the music box song ends, the entire doll turns to dust in Tsugumi’s hands. The only remaining pieces roll onto the floor: its two large blue eyes.

Another amazing episode of Jigoku Shoujo. For once, no one went to hell! I would assume that Nina’s father was already dead, and that might be the reason Ai denied doll-Nina’s request (the other being that she’s a doll). I thought it was a nice touch, if not a bit creepy, that the only things left of the doll were the eyes. Overall, this plot wasn’t the most original, but I felt that it was very well executed.
And Ai and her helpers actually saved Hajime and Tsugumi! Ichimoku Ren and Hone Onna have some pretty impressive and useful powers, but they didn’t seem too happy to be using them. Perhaps we’re in store for a revolt from them towards Ai or from Ai towards the system. As we’re now well into the latter half of this series, I hope that they’ll continue to change up each episode so that it’s not send-someone-to-hell each week.

Summary:
Ichigo leaves his real body in the care of Urahara, and then receives a call from Ririn telling him to go to the museum so that they can continue the game. This time, Kon gets to come along, but only after Ishida turns him into a backpack. Inside the museum, Ririn wants to play hide and seek, saying that if Ichigo finds them, they’ll return Inoue and Sado. But first, Ichigo and Renji are required to hang up their zanpaktou in special (and mislabeled) cases. The three advance to the next set of rooms, but Ishida feels something weird as they pass through the doorway. They see that the room they are in connects infinitely down the three paths to their front, left, and right. As they quickly find out, the rooms are arranged weirdly, so Ishida takes some string out of Kon and has Kon unravel the ball as they progress through the maze, leaving a trail.
The group reaches a room with three empty display cases with their names on them, and Inoue and Sado already in their respective cases to the side. The room darkens and all three find themselves stuck in the cases, unable to move. But Ichigo suddenly feels punches – Kon’s – and wakes up. They return back to the sequence of infinite rooms, and reach an impassable room with a giant pit in the middle. The three eventually find the string that Ishida originally tied, meaning that they’re back to where they started. Ishida realizes that the entire place is a Moebius circle with all of the rooms warped to tie together. But the three are unable to find the way out, and after endless searching, Ichigo and Renji start to argue. The two head in opposite directions, but Ishida notices something in the door in front of him. Using his deductive skills, he figures out the maze and calls for Ishida and Renji.
The three make their way out of the labyrinth by passing over the giant pit, that turns out to be only an illusion, and find Ririn waiting for them back in the front room of the museum. After explaining how he figured it out, Ishida is grabbed from behind by Nova. However, Ishida had borrowed Ichigo’s shinigami battle license and is ready for his assailant. He uses it to knock a ball out of Nova’s mouth – a mod-soul. However, Claude retrieves the mod-soul, returns it to Nova, and the three villains make their way out of the museum. In pursuit, Ichigo and company also go outside, but they find Sado and Inoue waiting for them. Ririn has honored her deal, and Nova even returns the zanpaktous. As she disappears into the gate, Ririn tells them that the next game is starting, and this time it will involve their school and classmates.

Well I think it’s official: My Pace is my favorite part of this filler arc. I’m becoming more and more inclined to call this a filler arc because of the level of story quality (or lack thereof) that we’re getting. For the most part, this episode amounts to Ichigo, Renji, and Ishida wandering around a labyrinth until Ishida’s Scooby-Doo deduction skills save them (with help from Kon along the way). That being said, I did find the mod-soul development interesting, and at least Inoue and Sado were returned. But, the next “game” of Ririn’s will involve the school. I really hope they do something more original than just kidnapping Ichigo’s classmates. The preview does show Soi Fong and Ukitake, so maybe they’re going to get some captains involved.
Actually, the Female Shinigami Association extra at the end is kind of amusing. How ever did Yachiru become their leader?

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Summary:
The Nerima Daikon Brothers get visited by a female police detective name Yukika who is investigating the three recent events that have occurred in Nerima. Mako makes the mistake of calling her an obasan (middle-aged woman), so Yukika buries her in the ground with her whips. Yukika’s song is interrupted by Ichiro needing to go to work at the host club. Yukika decides to lay off the ND Brothers and rushes off on her bicycle. At work, one of Ichiro’s customers tells him a story about the police dealing with a criminal organization and the money stored away in a safe. She even gives him a rough sketch of the police station. Of course, the woman is actually Yukika in a costume and the entire thing is a setup.
After Hideki and Mako hear about the dealings, they decide to do something about the dirty money. From Nabeshin, they rent a large drilling vehicle and use it to drill up into the police station where Yukika and the cops ambush them. Yukika tries to use her handcuff chains at a long range, but manages instead to break open the safe. To everyone’s surprise, the police chief and the yakuza boss actually are exchanging money inside (meaning that Yukika’s story turned out to be true). The two leaders send their troops after Yukika, and the Nerima Daikon Brothers take the cash and make their escape in the chaos. Realizing what happened, the police chief and yakuza boss give chase and surround the drill vehicle after it runs out of gas. Fortunately, the two forces start fighting amongst themselves so the ND Brothers once again escape. Yukika lets them go for now, but promises to arrest them eventually.

Overall, a disappointing episode that wasn’t as funny as the previous ones, and I didn’t really enjoy any of the songs.
Having watched the episode again now that I’m not half-asleep, I can truthfully say that I enjoyed it a lot more than I had originally felt. This episode isn’t quite as funny as previous episodes, but it is still quite a joy to watch. Yukika (voiced by the lovely Inoue Marina) is probably going to be a recurring character and I suspect she’ll be a part of any ultimate plot this series has (if any). And her rich-woman costume is just a bit reminiscent of Total Recall.
Next week, Ichiro and the host club. I have my fingers crossed for more Pandaikon screen time…

Summary:
Ryo takes Tanya back to the shopping plaza where Shanin found her. After sending the girl off, Ryo confronts the bear handing out balloons, who turns out to be none other than Kurahashi Katsumi. Meanwhile, Shanin has been preparing to assassinate Kishimoto. But when the time finally comes, she’s unable to pull the trigger. Ryo shows up to tell her that it’s because her heart and body refuse. Instead, Ryo has taken care of things by exposed Kishimoto to the media with Lee Taijin’s help.
The two of them along with Tanya’s mother go to pick Tanya up from school. Ryo breaks it to Tanya that he’s not her father, but she already knew because she always had a photo of her real father in her bag. Of course the reason he’s telling her now is because he’s brought the man in the bear costume – her real father. Though the case is closed, Ryo still has something to take care of. Shanin has been feeling frustrated ever since she was unable to pull the trigger to kill Kishimoto. She angsts about being incapable of being City Hunter, but Ryo reminds her of how she’s similar to the kind-hearted Kaori. At home, Ryo finds Shanin asleep and touches her chest to feel her heartbeat. From it, he hears Kaori’s voice, and realizes that it was Kaori who stopped Shanin from killing. Kaori tells Ryo that although Shanin is very fragile, she’s got a strong heart. With that, Kaori leaves Shanin, who she calls their most important daughter, to Ryo.

They played 「Gloria」 (by Kanon) again! It’s such a good love song, and so fitting for this series. It’s my favorite song out of all the ones in this series so far, including the OP and ED. It’s a huge reason why I liked this mini-arc’s conclusion, and the episode, so much. Tanya being reunited with her father left me a little misty-eyed (the shot of the solitary bear standing in front of the school seemed perfect), but I liked the final minutes even more. I had predicted that it was Kaori who was still the driving force behind Shanin’s actions, but I really liked how they made such a bittersweet scene out of her leaving Shanin in Ryo’s hands. I hope Kaori’s character doesn’t disappear after this. It’s really the Shanin/Ryo/Kaori relationship that has me sticking with this series. *Goes to listen to Gloria a few more times*

This is the Mai-HiME the Movie trailer that came out on the first Mai-Otome DVD. Keep in mind that this is a fake trailer in the sense that there’s not actually going to be a Mai-HiME the Movie.
The fact that this trailer seems so very serious all the way until the very end actually made me hopeful for a HiME movie. But with an autumn 20006 (no that’s not a typo) release date, I think it’s safe to say that this was an example of Sunrise having too much fun. But fun is the key word, and this trailer succeeds at being both incredibly exciting and funny. The ending really is the best part, with Mikoto having discovered her brother…Mikoto the cat. Anyway, it’s good to see all of the original HiME versions of the various characters, including Arika as a hilarious bad guy. Also nostalgic to hear 「小さな星が降りる時」 (Chiisana Hoshi ga Oriru Toki) again. The second DVD (out February 24th) is supposed to have a “This Week’s Armitage” special. Something more to look forward to…

The first Shakugan no Shana DVD came with this mini-parody episode as an extra. By shrinking Shana and chibi-fying her voice, along having her eat melon bread and yell “urusai” all the time, they succeed at bringing out her funniest and cutest moments to make this hilariously funny short. It’s even better because they start it off so seriously with Yuuji saying lines just like the ones he had from episode one. And plus there’s stalker Kazumi and stranded-on-a-desert-island Alastor. I loved watching this and hope to see more on future DVDs.

Summary:
With an approaching deadline, Kana shows up at Hiroki and Elis’ place. She faints from hunger, so Hiroki cooks her something. After eating, Kana tells Hiroki and Elis that she has a deadline the next morning, but that she hasn’t started writing. Kana is afraid of her editor Sugihara Shie, whom she calls an ogre. At that time, Sugihara, after being unable to contact Kana, is out drinking with Kiri; the two were apparently acquainted in school. Seeing how worried her senpai is about Kana, Kiri recounts the time she wanted to go Tokyo to see the person that she liked, but ended up not going.
Meanwhile, Kana changes into her pajamas and falls asleep. With time running out, Elis decides to call in her friends to help come up with ideas. They start to fill in different parts of the story, with Elis starting and Tomoko ending. But Tomoko keeps messing them up by killing off the characters. For example, one story they come up with has a brother and sister in love, but Tomoko has them die while calling out each other’s names. Tomoko says that a brother and sister pairing is impossible, and instead suggests a pair of cousins (to die calling out each other’s name). Of course, Elis is against that idea.
At home, Kiri pulls out the plane ticket from that time she wanted to go to Tokyo. She and Sugihara discuss her being recently reunited with the one she liked and about having regrets. Back at Hiroki’s, Kana finally wakes up and sees all of her friends who fell asleep while coming up with ideas. Kana spends the few hours she has before morning writing and manages to finish the story to make the deadline. At school, Kana meets with her editor who is quite pleased with the story, much to everyone’s relief.

Canvas2 meets 24! Actually, the timer is a bit confusing at first, but it kind of makes the deadline more dramatic, even though the episode overall really isn’t. I like this week’s episode better than last week’s, and a big part of that is because Kana is just a more fun character. But the best scene is definitely the one where the girls come up with ideas and how Tomoko’s conclusions all involve death. And once again, there are minor elements of the overall story added in. This time, it’s from Kiri’s point of view with her plane ticket that she never used to go see Hiroki.
I think next week’s episode might actually go back to the main plot. At the very least, there doesn’t appear to be a girl-of-the-week type story for next time.

Summary:
Locked up in a trailer, a girl named Yumi with bruises all over summons Enma Ai. Tsugumi has a vision of that scene and directs Hajime to the circus – the Happy Circus. After watching a show which included a performance where a man put swords though a girl in a box, Hajime becomes positive that the person who used the Jigoku Tsuushin is that girl. However, when he goes to see her, she has no idea what he’s talking about. Hajime ends up causing a scene and Ichimoku Ren, posing as part of the troupe, makes him leave. It’s not until Tsugumi has another vision of a girl being beaten by the ringmaster that Hajime realizes that there are two girls – twins. He rushes back to the circus and finds Yumi locked in her trailer, with a solitary red string at her feet.
Knowing that the ringmaster’s life was in danger, Hajime rushes to the other girl’s trailer and tries to save the man. As Tsugumi watches on, Ai comforts a Yumi who has been singing a sad lullaby the entire time. Apparently she and her sister Yuki were raised together in the circus, but her sister gained favor with the ringmaster. Back at Yuki’s trailer, Hajime realizes too late that Yuki is the target and not the ringmaster. Yuki is pulled into her mirror and emerges in a torture world where Ai’s helpers try to get her to apologize to her sister. She refuses and it’s obvious that Yuki is quite selfish in wanting the spotlight for herself. Ai arrives to complete the ritual and take the girl to hell. Back in the real world, the circus packs up and leaves. Tsugumi and Hajime watch on as the ringmaster pats a smiling Yumi’s head. The marked girl is apparently his favorite now.

This is such an impressive episode that I regret not having watched it earlier. I’ll start off by saying that my only problem with it is that I felt the plot was a tad predictable. As soon as I saw the circus act, it became apparent to me that there were most likely twins and that the target was the pampered one. But maybe that’s just me.
In any case, the episode’s good points far outweigh that. For starters, they gave Ichimoku Ren and Hone Onna key roles to play, even more so than last episode. Hajime now knows what Ichimoku Ren looks like and Tsugumi knows what Hone Onna looks like. I think their problem is that Ai’s helpers don’t know of Tsugumi’s ability. If they had somehow tried to sabotage Tsugumi and her visions along with Hajime, then Hajime wouldn’t have been able to witness everything in the second half of the episode. Granted though, once again he isn’t able to make a difference. Also, the Hone Onna in a box part was funny.
I wouldn’t blame Yuki or Yumi for what happened because I feel that those two were more victims of their situation. Based on how happy Yumi was at the end, I think that if the roles were reversed between the twins, things probably would have ended up exactly the same. It’s more the ringmaster’s fault for picking favorites and creating such an environment for the girls. I would have liked to see Yumi try to send two people to hell, but that’s a plot for maybe another episode (who knows, it could happen). I’m also curious what would have happened if Yuki had actually repented and truly apologized.
On a side note, Yumi’s song is definitely my favorite part of the episode. It’s so sad, yet I love the tune. Anyway, next week our heroes visit a sanatorium.

Summary:
On the XYZ board, Shanin spots a note taped onto the corner and decides to take on the job herself. She calls the number on it and locates a young girl named Tanya who is searching for her father. Shanin takes on the role of City Hunter and brings Tanya to the Cat’s Eye. Tanya describes her father to look a lot like Ryo, and to complicate things, the man himself walks in just at that moment. Tanya identifies the confused Ryo as her father, and Ryo decides to take the girl on as his daughter temporarily. Outside the cafe, Ryo tells Shanin that he decided to act as her father after seeing her happy face, but she does look like a certain club hostess that he knows. As the three go to visit her mother, Shanin remembers being forced to shoot a picture she drew of her parents while she was in training camp. At the club, Tanya’s mother Irina identifies her father as Kurahashi Katsumi. Ryo remembers six years ago a person by that name who embezzled aid money from the Luzen Republic and then escaped. But Irina doesn’t think that Katsumi was the criminal and instead implicates Katsumi’s superior, a politician named Kishimoto, as the person pulling the strings. Shanin decides to take the case, and the next day, Ryo finds that one of his guns is gone. Indeed, Shanin is already out checking out sniping positions.

Once again, the animation quality fluctuated quite a bit. I do like their choice of BGMs though, especially the one playing when Ryo discovers a gun missing. Definitely gave a fast-paced feel to that scene.
Fortunately, this episode isn’t just a simple case of Shanin helping a little girl find her father. Because to do that, Shanin is going to have to kill the politician Kishimoto so that her father will come out of hiding. I’m waiting for Kaori to pop out again and say that killing isn’t the solution, but we’ll have to wait till next week to see if that happens. I suspect though that we haven’t heard the entire story, and that Ryo will have to end up coming in to clean things up.

Summary:
Yuuna is entered into an idol contest thanks to Airi and is forced to participate in the second round. Also in the competition are Tsubaki and Yamame. First up is Tsubaki, who shows off her sword and calligraphy skills, but refuses to don a swimsuit. Yamame, on the other hand, does performance where she separates into several copies of herself and forms a dance line. Her special skill is her ability to fit her body into a small bag. Finally, we have Yuuna, who clumsily trips as she goes on stage. She sings a very unique song about bananas, leaving everyone quite speechless. To Airi and Mamoru’s surprise, Yuuna advances to the third round. Before it starts, the judging committee chairman wants to speak with Yuuna. He brings down a bed and hints that he wants to sleep with her, but Yuuna gets on the bed and fall asleep. Before the chairman can do anything bad, Mamoru (in ninja form) appears and knocks him out. Meanwhile, a famous producer, Zunka-san, has his eye on Yuuna and wants to make her a super-idol. However, when Yuuna wants to call Mamoru to tell him, Zunka-san forbids her from associating with boys. Yuuna thinks about it, but ends up turning down the offer because she doesn’t want to be separated from Mamoru.

This episode is probably the funniest one yet. The biggest laugh for me came from when Tsubaki screwed up writing Samurai (侍） with Wait (待） and had to correct herself by using her sword to slice off the extra stroke. I’ve been warming up to the series as the cast list grows and we get to see the comic interactions between the various girls and Mamoru. As cool as the ninja aspect is, I think I enjoy the series more when there’s no bad guy (like the Yakuza boss). I don’t really count the chairman this episode because he was a bad guy for all of like one minute before Mamoru knocked him out.

Summary:
There was a time when Nanaha tried to help Hyousuke with his studies, but he got so flustered at the sight of her tube-top that he couldn’t concentrate. Flash forward to the present and Hyousuke has returned; it seems that he’s been assigned back onto the ship. Unfortunately, there is a problem with storing the crew’s leisure equipment and it ends up getting put in Hyousuke’s room. That leaves him with nowhere to sleep, which leads to the girls offering their own rooms. Nanaha eventually has heard enough and steps in to say that Hyousuke will be staying with her. That bodes poorly for Hyousuke, and he has trouble sleeping that night with Nanaha just on the other side of a curtain. Rumors about the two of them start spreading on the ship, getting both of them quite frustrated. Hyousuke does happen to encounter Tsubasa, but she barely says anything to him. In her hurry away, she trips over a toolbox. Hyousuke catches her by the arm, which gets Tsubasa embarrassed and rushes her off clutching her hand. That night, Nanaha is undressing when Hyousuke accidentally drops his gyro under the curtain and it rolls onto her side. He tries to get it and instead catches a glimpse of Nanaha’s pink underwear. The blushing Nanaha attempts to give him back the gyro without turning around, but she trips and falls on him. By chance, their lips meet. The two pull back and Nanaha tries to convince herself that it was an accident.
When the Pascal Mage and another ship arrive at their destination, they are greeted by the girl they are escorting: Estrela Jarim-Mar, a 14-year old prodigy and vice-president. To everyone’s surprise, instead of shaking Nanaha’s hand, Estrela gives her a kiss on the lips.

That’s right – not one, but TWO kisses for Nanaha: one with her brother and one with a girl. So that means not only did they decide to throw in some incest, they thought yuri was a good way to follow it up. I should applaud them for making such fanservicey decisions, but I think that this pretty much seals up my blogging of this series. Next week is an action episode where the ships get attacked and maybe even boarded, but don’t count on me writing about it unless the episode turns out to be really good (which I highly doubt will happen, but you never know).

Summary:
Arriving in Vladivostok, Russia, the group meets a Red Shield agent named Elizabeth. Kai gets all flustered when she greets them with kisses to the cheek. They are headed for Yekaterinburg via the Trans-Siberian Railroad, and while getting on the train, Riku and Hagi help an elderly woman wearing a mysterious blue ring. The first leg of the ride is relatively uneventful except for Kai making a ruckus about room assignments. In the dining car some days later, Lewis shows off a box of candy he got from a pair of kids going to Paris who wanted to be introduced to Julia and Elizabeth. Riku spots the elderly lady he had helped earlier, and Hagi gives up his seat for her. She tells him that she’s going to Moscow to see her great-grandchildren. Across the aisle, Elizabeth tells the Red Shield members about her experience in Afghanistan where her entire force was annihilated by the Chiropterans. When Elizabeth gets up from the table and leaves, she is being watched by the elderly lady. That night, Elizabeth’s naked body – complete with a neck bite mark, is dumped off the train.
Saya is getting a blood transfusion when she asks Julia about her past and what happened in Vietnam 30 years ago. But Julia tells Saya that she has to remember for herself. Meanwhile, Hagi is teaching Riku to play the cello when both of them and Saya detect Chiropterans; it seems that the boys going to Paris were injected with something. Saya and Hagi quickly take up arms and start to fight. Hagi chases one of them on top of the train while the rest of the group runs for the rear. He goes for a lunge, but instead gets impaled by the Chiropteran’s feet. Fortunately, Saya is under him and pierces through the roof with her sword, killing that one. Lewis gets the stored armaments from the rear compartment and starts blasting the remaining one. They manage to shoot it until it falls off and gets crushed by the train. Or so they think until it grabs Riku’s leg and pulls him off. Saya cuts off the Chiropteran’s arm while Hagi leaps to grab Riku. Unfortunately, all three of them are no longer on the train. Kai wants to jump after them, but David holds him back. They hear Julia’s yell from the other side of the car, and turn around to see Elizabeth (who is now sporting the blue ring) jumping off. Lewis gets the train to stop and the rest of the group initiates a search. Somewhere in a field of snow, Saya lays unconscious.

Oh, the things you learn from anime: the group is headed to Yekaterinburg, Russia, which is a place famous for *drumrolls* its Cathedral on the Blood. That cathedral is built on the spot where the last Russian tsar, Nikolai II, and his family were executed by the Bolsheviks during the Russian Revolution. Just a bit of history trivia to go with your anime.
I hope they don’t plan on keeping everyone separated for a long time again. As amusing as Kai is for comic relief, I really don’t want them to do a repeat of the Vietnam arc. Yes, Kai is still trying to find his role and his strengths, but he’s pretty whiny while doing it. Riku, on the other hand, seems to be like the prodigy of the family as he even starts to learn to play Hagi’s cello. As for Saya, her fight (and Hagi’s) is quite impressive, and she’s really showing that she’s gotten the hang of controlling her powers, even though she doesn’t fully have her memories yet.
I’m a bit disdained that they introduced Elizabeth only to kill her off so quickly. Well kind of, since the person/thing that took on Elizabeth’s form is still around. I wonder if she’s going to be the big villain for this arc while the Chevaliers work in the background. Anyway, next episode is going to be about Hagi and Saya. Looks like Saya is going to be learning more about her past.

Summary:
The young girl introduces herself as Ilya – Illyasviel von Einzbern. Not wasting time, she orders Berserker to kill her foes, but Saber runs forward to parry the hit. Much to Ilya’s delight, the two start fighting, though Saber is mostly to be dodging Berserker’s blows. She makes her way over to Ilya, but Berserker gets in her way and smashes her into a pole. It becomes apparent that Saber is still recovering from Lancer’s earlier blow, but Rin doesn’t allow Shirou to try to stop his Servant. Instead, Rin herself shoots Berserker with magic, though it doesn’t faze him at all. And even as Saber tries to move away, Berserker’s connects with a devastating blow. Saber’s eyes turn red, but she motions for Shirou not to come. He watches as bloodied Saber gets up with the support of her sword. Ilya brags about Berserker by saying that he’s Greece’s strongest hero – Hercules. Berserker raises his arm for another swing, but Shirou has seen enough. With the symbol on his hand resonating, Shirou pushes Saber out of the way and takes the blow. Everyone is completely surprised by Shirou’s actions, and Ilya even retreats for the time being. She promises that she’ll kill Rin the next time they meet.
Shirou dreams about a time when he and his father Kiritsugu were talking. Kiritsugu had wanted to be an ally of justice when he was a child, but had eventually given up the idea. The young Shirou had proclaimed that he could do it in his father’s place. Shirou wakes up from his dream, seemingly ok from the events of the night before. He finds Rin still in his house, and she tells him that his body healed thanks to one of Saber’s abilities. When Rin asks about Shirou’s plans, Shirou says that he’s not interested in the Holy Grail and only wants to prevent a repeat of 10 years ago. Rin replies that the Servants themselves desire the Holy Grail because they have their own wishes that they want granted.
Shirou feels that Saber is human and bleeds, but Rin tells him that if a Servant dies they just return to their original place. Rin then asks Shirou if he’s just going to wait around for the other Masters to challenge him, but Shirou himself is unsure about what to do. When Rin notes that Berserker is on a different level than Archer and Saber, Shirou is reminded that Berserker is really Hercules. He asks Rin what Saber’s true name is, but Rin thinks it’s best that Saber doesn’t tell him because she’s afraid that he’d go blabbing it to other people. She also reminds him that she’s technically still his enemy.
As she’s walking home, Rin encounters Sakura and makes up the excuse that she’s just taking a walk. After Rin hurries off, Sakura comments to herself that she smelled blood. Meanwhile, Shirou finds Saber in the dojo. After checking to make sure he’s ok, Saber lectures Shirou about how it’s unnecessary for a Master to protect the Servant. Shirou says that he has the will to fight, but he thinks that they don’t have much chances of success. Saber promises that in that case, she’ll create those chances. Hearing that, Shirou is afraid that she’ll attack other people, but Saber replies that it would go against her oath as a knight. As they go off to eat, Shirou thinks that although there have been a lot of unbelievable things, one thing he can believe is that Saber isn’t a cold-hearted killer.

That was a pretty and impressive bloody fight for the first half of the episode, complete with squishing and bone-cracking noises and all. I thought Saber would do a bit better, but I guess she’d have a hard time against Berserker without help, especially since she’s still injured. Ilya is pretty much the evil brat I expected her to be, but the one I’m most curious about is the shrouded woman watching them via her orb. Shirou seems to hold pretty well onto his ideal of being the ally of justice, doing right, and not hurting others based on his talks with Rin and Saber. He’s got no choice but to participate in the war, and I get the feeling we’ll get a lot of ideological stuff from him in the process.
Sakura is the other person who surprised me this episode, when she smelled blood on Rin and showed her serious face (dead eyes and all). Perhaps Sakura will have a more important role to play than just the childhood friend.
Next week, the first of a two-parter – I assume the two mages the title refers to are Rin and Shirou.

Summary:
After Yuuichi collapses, he’s brought back to the hospital by Tanizaki and Rika. His condition isn’t severe, but this does mean that his hospital stay has been extended. That night, Yuuichi dreams about Tada-san telling him to live without regrets. When he’s feeling better, Yuuichi sneaks to Rika’s room, but since she’s worried about him, she just puts him back in bed. Yuuichi learns from Rika that he said something before he collapsed, something he can’t remember, but it makes her blush. Nurse Tanizaki arrives to take him back to his room, but Yuuichi can only wonder about what he said. The days pass and Yuuichi continues to visit Rika’s room. Rika thinks that Yuuichi is wasting his time with her and that nothing good can come of staying by her side. But Yuuichi is ok with that. Rika says that because of him, she’s going to have a surgical operation that has the possibility to extend her life.
Sometime later, one of Yuuichi’s friends comes to visit and to see his porn collection. Rika catches the two of them looking at a magazine called MOELOLI, and although she doesn’t act it then, it’s apparent later that she is mad after she booby-traps her door and kicks Yuuichi out. He tries to catch her on the roof so that he can apologize, but she just locks him up there. As a result, Yuuichi gets sick from being stuck in the cold for so long. He’s checked up by Natsume Gorou, a doctor who had just returned to the hospital from the mountains. Talking with Natsume later, Yuuichi learns that the doctor has been talking to Rika and that she’s still really angry at Yuuichi. According to Natsume, Rika usually keeps to herself, and this is the first time she’s told someone about her heart condition. He wants Yuuichi to be friends with Rika (with much emphasis on the word friends) for the sake of her health.
But Rika continues to not speak with Yuuichi. Nurse Tanizaki tells him that Rika’s been feeling down lately, but she’s called Rika up to the roof so that Yuuichi can apologize. However, Natsume shows up first and gives Yuuichi another porn magazine. Rika arrives on the roof just in time to see Yuuichi reading it, and goes off angry, locking the door behind her again. On the stairwell, Natsume laughs evilly since his plan worked. He then takes out and stares at a lighter that he got from Rika as a present some time ago. Tanizaki yells at him for messing with Yuuichi and Rika’s relationship, but he promises to fix things after the nurse kicks him. Rika does indeed eventually go up to the roof and make up with Yuuichi, even though she says she still hates him. But Yuuichi is shocked to learn that the reason Rika forgave him is because the doctor told her to. This time, Yuuichi is the furious one, especially after he learns that Rika came to this hospital because of Natsume. The two start arguing and Rika throws her father’s book at him, but it bounces off and drops onto a window ledge below.

Arg, that doctor really makes me mad. Yuuichi and Rika were doing so well, with the words Yuuichi said before he collapsed on the mountain probably being a confession. But then the porno magazine problem got compounded by the meddling doctor. The evil laugh is pretty over the top, but he’s probably got feelings for Rika (and/or her for him). I think that it’s understandable that Yuuichi gets angry after learning that Rika considers the doctor much more highly than him.
The story is feeling somewhat rushed at this point because Yuuichi and Rika’s relationship seems to have been built up (and subsequently torn down) very quickly. The six-episode format doesn’t leave room for much, but I think they’re at least doing a good job fleshing out the characters. Next time, Yuuichi is going to try to get Rika’s book from that ledge and maybe make up with Rika.