Random Curiosity

Summary:
While Hazumu is still adjusting to being a girl, the media is in a frenzy over her. Even her parents are acting weird, with her mother going crazy giving her new clothes and her father wanting to take a bath with her. For school, Hazumu now wears a girl’s uniform, much to the surprise of Tomari and Asuta. With the crowds of reporters outside, Tomari has to pull Hazumu out of her house and the two run the way to school. Hazumu has also become something of a spectacle for the students, so Tomari has to protect her there too. While they’re in the locker room, Tomari can’t help but remember Hazumu as a boy, and asks her if it’s ok that he’s now a she. Hazumu replies that there’s nothing she can do about it since her DNA was changed, but that even if her appearance is different, she’s still the same person. As the day progresses, it becomes apparent that Hazumu doesn’t know the finer points of being female, so Tomari has to stop her from doing things like flapping her skirt up and down because it’s feels refreshing, offering to show her breasts to Asuta, and flashing her panties while going up the stairs.
At the end of the school day, Hazumu briefly runs into Yasuna, but then goes with Tomari, Asuta, and Ayuki to buy bras. After finding out her measurements (70C), Hazumu asks for Tomari’s help in choosing a specific bra and putting it on. The entire situation once again reminds Tomari of her times with Hazumu when they were young. She goes home alone, still having a hard time accepting Hazumu as a girl, and pauses at a bridge to think about the time when she defended Hazumu from some bullies. Ayuki comes running to tell her that Hazumu is in trouble: the media crowd surrounded her. It’s Tomari who once again shows up to defend her and scare away the reporters. Hazumu’s tears and words of apology are the same as that time when they were young, and they make Tomari finally realize that Hazumu hasn’t really changed. Standing down the street, Yasuna, who followed Tomari, now sees Hazumu in Tomari’s arms.
After the ordeal is over, Hazumu goes home to find two strange looking people waiting for her in her room – the aliens.

ED Sequence

ED: 「みちしるべ」(Michi Shirube) by ゆうまお (Yuumao)
A good chorus on the song, and a good song overall. ED sequence just shows some stills of the girls, highlighting HazumuXYasuna and HazumuXTomari.

I like how they’re combining manga chapters to create episodes where a particular girl is in focus (Tomari and Yasuna thus far), but I’m slightly (only slightly) upset that they gave Yasuna’s role during the bra scene to Tomari. I guess that’s the tradeoff for giving Tomari basically the entire episode, but it kind of balances out since Yasuna got lots of extra screen time last episode and next week is about her too. Anyway, I enjoy the episode because it gives a deeper perspective for Tomari than we get in the manga. And a lot of the Hazumu-learning-the-ropes stuff is pretty funny.
The end of the episode introduces Sora Hitoshi and Jan-puu (the aliens), but their roles should be pretty minor for now – probably comic relief. But like I said, next week is a Yasuna episode and a pretty important one from the looks of it.

Summary:
Even as she’s surrounded, Wilhelmina escapes Orgone’s troops by running and jumping away. Orgone himself is kept busy when Tenmoku Ikko appears and inflicts a deadly blow. Back on the Tendou-kyuu, Shiro’s attack has finally ended, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake. Shana apologizes to the skeleton since it’s her fault for playing a joke on him and starting the whole mess. To complicate matters, Vine has made it to the top of the island and now threatens Shana. Though she’s not yet a Flame Haze, Shana quickly decides that she will become one. And fortunately for her, Wilhelmina strikes by throwing Vine off his motorcycle. To Shana’s delight, Wilhelmina thinks that it’s time for her to be a Flame Haze. Vine’s not done yet and repeatedly fires energy blasts at the pair, but Shiro jumps in the way to block them and allow for the two to escape.
While bandaging Shana, Wilhelmina reveals that she is indeed a Flame Haze contracted to Tiamat. The reason she didn’t tell Shana earlier was so that Shana wouldn’t have any preconceptions about being a Flame Haze so that she could decide on her own. Suddenly, something changes in the situation outside: Tenmoku Ikko arrives and cuts Shiro in half. As he approaches Vine menacingly, Wilhelmina explains to Shana that Tenmoku Ikko is searching for a strong Tomogara to fight – Alastor in this case. Shana decides to form a contract with Alastor, but first goes out to challenge the Misutesu. Tenmoku Ikko is interested at the proposition of fighting the Enpatsu Shakugan, so he carries Shana away. That leaves Wilhelmina to take care of Orgone, who’s apparently still around. She transforms into what appears to be a combat form, complete with a mask. Inside the building, Tenmoku Ikko clears away Orgone’s troops until they reach Alastor’s room. Shana and Alastor are ready to start, but Vine followed them in and shoots Shana with another blast. At her request, he’s cut in half by Tenmoku Ikko. Alastor urges her to quickly make the contract, but Shana doesn’t want Alastor to be hiding anything from her. He tells her about the secret Tenpa Jousai technique, which is how the previous Enpatsu Shakugan died. In turn, Shana admits that she had doubts about the Flame Haze’s great cause of fighting the Tomogara to protect the balance of the world. After exchanging their vows, Shana steps into the flame, taking it in and becoming the new Enpatsu Shakugan.

ED2 Sequence

ED2: 「紅（あか）の静寂」 (Aka no Seijaku) by 石田耀子 (Ishida Yoko)
I like the new ending, but it doesn’t quite have the same starting oompf that the last one did. But then again, this also isn’t the same type of song as Yowake Umare Kuru Shoujo, so it’s understandable. Like the last ending, this ending sequence shows artwork, including a character we haven’t been introduced to yet (Khamsin). They made good use of just one art piece.

Well I guess that solves the mystery of how Shana became a Flame Haze. There’s still some fighting left, and Tenmoku Ikko still has to give up his sword somehow. I think a lot more highly of Alastor and Wilhelmina after this episode, and I definitely want to know more about Shana’s predecessor. Wilhelmina’s masked form reminds me a bit of the main character from Kamen no Maid Guy, and it’ll be interesting to see if she has anything up her sleeves other than the deadly ribbons.
The animation quality seemed a bit lacking for the first half of this episode – Shiro in particular looked a lot different from last week – but I really enjoyed watching Shana becoming a Flame Haze at the end (very good lines to the end the episode on too). The only other thing that comes to mind is the question: is it normal to go running around with only bandages on? Because that’s exactly what Shana did…
I assume this arc will finish next week and then we’ll move back to the present with Yuuji and all. It’ll be good to hear from them again.

Summary:
Ayumi is working hard around the house, but Maika still doesn’t trust her. Those suspicions seem well-founded when Maika wakes up in the middle of the night and finds that her sisters sleepwalking into Ayumi’s room. When she herself enters, she’s transported into a different world where she finds a Haruo ready to love her. But Maika figures out that he’s an illusion and that she’s in a world where all desires become true. After she drags her sisters out from their own dreams, Maika runs into Yuri, who entered the world when she saw magic being used from outside their home and is now about to kiss Haruo. After dispelling that dream too, the four of them head to the nearby castle where they find Ayumi and the real Haruo together. Ayumi explains that they’re actually all in Haruo’s head, though the dream is created by Ayumi. Her goal is to plant dreams in his head in order to make him into her ideal man – the very muscular type. The girls and Ayumi are ready to fight each other when the alarm clock rings. As a result, they have to work together so that they can get out before Haruo wakes up. They’re ultimately successful, but it appears that Ayumi’s plan actually worked and a muscular Haruo appears before them. Fortunately, the girls have their hammers ready.
Sometime later, Maika’s closeness to her brother finally gets to Ayumi. She learns from Chiaki that there was a time when Maika hated Haruo. Intrigued, Ayumi decides to find out the circumstances of that hate so that she can use it in the present. By traveling back in time, the girls (Ayumi, Chiaki, Yuri, and Fuyuno) arrive during the first year of junior high. But the Maika there is over-protective of her brother (from a younger Yuri in this case). Moving further back, the girls sees a scene of Haruo sleeping while Maika chants that she and her brother will always be together. Another time jump later, they see what they came to see: Maika yelling that she hates her brother and even calls him a murderer. Based on their conversation, Ayumi starts jumping to conclusions, but as it turns out, it was all an act. It seems that the kids were just reciting lines from Hansel and Gretel. In desperation, Ayumi and the girls jump to when Maika was a baby, but even there they find Haruo comforting a crying Maika. Ayumi just can’t believe that Maika has liked her brother since she was born.

I can’t say that I expected them to split the episode into two separate stories (which is what this was). The dream story is chapter three from volume one and the time travel story is chapter eleven from volume three. I guess they’re kind of similar since the first is about Maika trying to foil Ayumi’s plan and the second is about Ayumi trying to find out Maika’s past so that she can use it against her. Interesting thing is that Yuri was in neither of those chapters of the manga, but they managed to involve her in both halves of the episode in an amusing, if a bit predictable, manner. The craziness is still here and definitely isn’t going away anytime soon.
I think I’m going to stick with blogging this series for at least a little while longer. It’s amusing enough to watch and write about, though I’m not sure when the actual plot (Ayumi getting rid of her curse) will come into play. Not next episode anyway, which will involve a theft from the hot springs.

Summary:
Hajime and Tsugumi arrive on an island where they try to learn about a girl, Mina, who is living with her aunt. The villagers refuse to tell the two anything, and even the one person who does talk to them is scared off by an eye on Hajime’s chest, courtesy of Ichimoku Ren. In fact, Ai’s companions seem to be getting more and more aggravated at Hajime. They even push him off a cliff at one point, though he’s uninjured. Anyway, Mina has a boyfriend Yuuji, and she knows that her aunt tried to kill him while he was diving. After using the Jigoku Tsuushin, she brings the doll to Yuuji and convinces him to pull the string. However, Hajime comes onto the scene in time to stop them, and as a result they decide to elope instead. When Mina is packing her stuff, she hears her name called out from the shed behind the house. She investigates and sees her aunt talking to her dead mother’s body. It seems that her aunt killed her mother after her mother tried to leave the island again. And now, the aunt is ready to kill Mina too. Mina tries to pull the string on the doll, but her aunt cuts it out of her hand with an axe. Yuuji arrives in time to stop the aunt, creating a diversion long enough for Mina to pick the doll back up and pull the string. On Ai’s boat, the aunt says that she loves her sister and wants always to be together. In the real world, Hajime and Tsugumi leave the island feeling dejected, and Mina is now marked.

The whole premise is that the people on the island didn’t like outsiders, a mentality which lead to the aunt killing Mina’s mother because she wanted to leave the place. Hajime almost succeeded in stopping Mina from pulling the string, but the hated person this week was truly evil/psycho and deserved to die. That doesn’t change anything in terms of the deal they make though. I found the episode’s mood to be quite creepy and horror-ish, especially near the end because of the axe murderer and multiple personality bits.
The preview shows that next week is about a girl in the circus.

Summary:
Kagariki Kirika is a girl at the center of all the other girls’ attentions. But it seems she has an interest in Aruto and summons him to her laboratory. The ever wary Kiraha and Arisu go with him, but he ventures into the room alone at first. She congratulates him and tells him that he’s been chosen to cooperate with her research. Aruto cries out after she gets really up close, which brings Kiraha and Arisu running. Kiraha tries to push Kirika away but ends up tripping and destroying the lab’s computers. As a result, Aruto feels obligated to help. Kirika reveals that she is also has Alice abilities, but her transformation makes her into a young girl. For her research, she’ll need Aruto to wear a special bracelet for 24 hours, one that reacts when Aruto expresses interest in something.
So the next day, Kiraha and Aruto go to an art gallery and the bracelet lights up when Aruto first sees Kiraha and while they’re looking at paintings. The two encounter Arisu, and that starts a competition between Kiraha and Arisu to see what will stimulate Aruto and the bracelet. When Kirika analyzes the data, she finds out that Aruto wants to assemble and copy the Endless Alice book, and he got the biggest reaction when he was writing. Sometime later, Kirika visits the siblings to tell them that she’s moving into the house across the street from them.

This episode ends up being fairly bland and boring. Kirika comes off as a cross between Washuu (from Tenchi Muyo) and Natsume Maya (from Tenjou Tenge), but as interesting as the sum of her parts. As usual, Kiraha and Arisu fight over Aruto, but the episode doesn’t do much more than introduce Kirika.
In short, I am horribly unimpressed by this episode and by this series so far. This was a crucial third episode (in terms of trying a series out), and I think it’s safe to say that I won’t be blogging this anymore. Tuesdays are pretty busy, and I really don’t have time for a mediocre series like this. I may still watch it, but that’ll be about it.

Summary:
With Ichigo back home, family life in the Kurosaki home returns to normal. At school, everyone is returning from summer break, and Inoue almost spills the beans to Tatsuki about what happened in Soul Society. After class starts, Ichigo hears a voice from outside calling his name: Renji’s. Ichigo rushes out and tackles Renji into the bushes. It seems that Renji is now in charge of Karakura City, though Ichigo makes fun of him for getting a demotion since he’s supposed to be a vice-captain. Their argument is interrupted by the arrival of a Hollow, which Ichigo dispatches before it gets to the school building. Renji is actually staying at Urahara’s though they constantly make fun of him over dinner for being a freeloader.
In the evening, Inoue and Sado are still training themselves up, wanting to get stronger. Of course that’s put to an abrupt end when Sado accidentally punches a hole through the wall, and the two have to run away. At home, Inoue dreams of when she was young and still with her brother. She wakes up and remembers Rukia with Byakuya, which brings tears to her eyes. Surprisingly, the doorbell rings, and it turns out to be none other than her brother himself. He reassures her that he won’t return to being a Hollow, and he seems to know about her trip to Soul Society and about the dream she just had. He then opens the window and a gate appears outside. Renji gets a notice on his cell phone and rushes off to get Ichigo. They, along with Sado and Ishida, arrive in time to see Inoue pulled into the portal. Ichigo tries to slash at it, but it’s too late – Inoue is gone.

ED6 Sequence

ED6: 「マイペース」 (My Pace) by SunSet Swish
I love the new ED song, but the animation for it is a bit weird. And the dancing things…I don’t even know what the heck those are… Like I feared last week, the new villains don’t look very original, but I guess we’ll see how it plays out. For the record, the single is due out March 1st, 2006.

This episode isn’t entirely original material, as they’re using some of the everyone-back-to-normal material from chapter 183 of the manga. That’s probably the only manga stuff we’ll see for a while. As for the new stuff, it’s not a bad start to the new arc. This episode shows these are still the same main cast with the same goals and character relationships. And it introduces some new villains to get the story started. I definitely didn’t expect them to use the Orihime’s-brother angle again, though it remains to be seen if she will be the central character this arc. The preview does show Inoue back with the group again, so I kind of doubt that this is going to be a “rescue Inoue” arc.
So basically, the new arc had a decent first episode and a great new ending song. Definitely still worth my time to keep watching (and blogging). My wishes for this arc are: get Aizen somehow subtlety involved so that this arc doesn’t seem out-of-place in terms of the whole Aizen betrayal, get some more Captains and VCs involved, and don’t screw anything major up (like Rukia in relation to how the next manga arc is supposed to go). Oh, and again, I hope that the villains are better than they look, though the female one is kind of cute in the ending sequence.

HOME MADE Kazoku’s latest single, due out January 18th, is 「サルビアのつぼみ」 (Salvia no Tsubomi). I’ve been wanting to hear this song since they started playing it on HOME MADE Kazoku’s website. I really like the beat, and song is very feel-good. The PV tells the story of a photographer, who collects photos of people smiling, capturing on film a father teaching his daughter to ride the bicycle. The focus is on the relationship between the photographer and his parents along with how the girl is let go by her father while riding the bicycle (in a leaving-the-nest sort of way). So like I said, it’s a very heart-warming and feel-good song about the bonds between a child and their parents.

Summary:
A South Korean pachinko parlor has recently opened in Nerima and is attracting the attention of all the older women in the city. The big draw comes from all of the pretty boys being employed there as hosts. In fact, even Mako is caught up in the excitement and blackmails Hideki into giving her money to play there. Ichiro learns that the boys in that parlor all have undergone plastic surgery to look beautiful and are very good at separating the women from their money. Also, the parlor accepts vegetables (for kimchi) instead of money. In any case, Mako uses all of their money there and Hideki has to drag her out. And after seeing that the pachinko parlor is raking in the cash with even pachinko tours, the three decide to do something about it.
From Nabeshin, they obtain some vegetable costumes, and the commotion they make gets them taken straight upstairs. But Mako betrays them with a sob story to the owner, who ends up sending Hideki and Ichiro to be pickled as kimchi. Of course the owner has his perverted eyes on Mako’s cabbage costume and making her into kimchi. Meanwhile, Hideki and Ichiro are stuck in a pickling jar when Pandaikon comes to break them free. Or rather, panda “stimulated” Ichiro into breaking them out. Apparently the kimchi made the three of them super powerful. And fortunately for Mako, they arrive just in time to save her from the owner. They knock down the pachinko parlor with their new kimchi-granted powers and take all of the money (which was stored in kimchi jars). But while washing and drying the pickled money, the pachinko tour buses arrive and let loose a horde of women who take it all. So in the end, the Nerima Daikon Brothers still have no money.

Another great episode of ND Brothers. I’m slightly disappointed that they reuse several of the songs, but they did give them new lyrics to fit with the episode, so it’s OK. They’re still very funny and enjoyable songs. Well, mostly – I do hope they get some better singers to play the villain parts, whose songs so far I haven’t really liked. The humor is also a bit more hit-and-miss this episode, but I thought the whole kimchi thing was hilarious. Remember kids, eating your kimchi can make you super powerful. Kinda makes me wonder what type of underlying message they’re trying to send here about (South) Korean-Japanese relationships, especially in the wake of fairly recent conflicts.
Actually, while writing this entry I added the word “Pandaikon” into my MS Word dictionary lol. That panda is really developing into my favorite character on this show. Anyway, next week looks to be filled with nurses and needles.

Summary:
With the message board back up, Ryo gets his first client in the form of a girl named Nagisa who is being chased by yakuza. But it turns out that she incited them by drugging one of them and stealing his money. Ryo decides to assign Shanin to take Nagisa back to their apartment. Being the type of girl she is, Nagisa doesn’t really want to go in the straightforward manner Shanin does. Instead, she tries to have fun by stealing jewelry and picking up guys, but Shanin stops her at every turn by using her knife and scaring away the guy with a kick.
Fed up, Nagisa says that Shanin is weird and goes too far. But Shanin replies that her mission is to only take Nagisa to the apartment and that if Nagisa were attacked, Shanin wouldn’t save her because that’s not part of her mission. When Nagisa tries to run away, Shanin chases her, and the two end up in an alley. Unfortunately, the yakuza after Nagisa had spotted her from the earlier commotion, and now surround her in the alley. Shanin watches on as they slap Nagisa around and start to drag her off, but Shanin’s own conscience eventually kicks in, so she saves the girl. The next day, as Shanin is trying to grapple with why she did it, Nagisa arrives in her school uniform. Nagisa apologizes to Shanin and then gives her a love letter. It seems that Shanin has made a friend, and that makes her quite happy.

I get the vague feeling that this set of episodes will go something like “City Hunter picks up a case and then gives Shanin a task. In doing it, she learns something about being human and leading a normal life.” That’s certainly how this episode went, though I’m not really saying that it’s a bad thing (so far anyway). Shanin’s learning about herself, and Ryo gets to play the part of the wise father. What is a bit iffy is the animation quality, which fluctuates quite a bit this episode. But I imagine they’re not going to be putting in the big budget (good animation, insert songs) until we hit another major arc. As for next week, it looks like we’re going to see an episode about a little girl searching for her father.

Summary:
Yanagi is surprised to find Kiri also teaching at the school with Hiroki and is even more surprised to learn that Hiroki is working on becoming a teacher himself. After Hiroki goes home, Kiri explains that teaching isn’t his real goal and that Hiroki still wants to be a painter. At home, Elis compares Yanagi’s face is like that of a criminal’s on TV. But after seeing a copy of the drawing Yanagi stole from Hiroki, Elis starts to figure out their relationship with Kiri. During class, Yanagi critiques Elis’ current work and points out a spot that he thinks she should put some green, but Elis refuses because Hiroki had suggested ultramarine to her.
After school, Hiroki and Elis go to a reunion dinner at Kiri’s place. But Hiroki stops partway there and tells Elis that he’s going back to get the present that he forgot. While she, Kiri, and Yanagi wait for him to show up, Elis, because she’s seen that drawing, asks Yanagi how he feels about Kiri. Yanagi decides that it’s time to come clean about it and tells the two that the work was originally Hiroki’s and that he stole it. At that point, Hiroki calls to tell Kiri that he won’t make it because some business came up. Elis comments that it’s because Hiroki doesn’t want to meet Yanagi, and then she goes home herself. Kiri starts to cry because she feels that she didn’t consider Hiroki’s feelings and instead pushed her own feelings onto him.
Elis gets home to find Hiroki sitting on his bed in the dark. She confronts him about lying, but is even more pissed off that he let his work be taken. But when Hiroki doesn’t answer her, she can only stomp out in anger. Hiroki runs into Kiri the next day, but she’s too embarrassed to speak to him. He then hears that Yanagi is not going to be the special instructor anymore. Yanagi tells him that he wants to see Hiroki’s art once more, and leaves Kiri with Hiroki. As soon as Yanagi leaves the room, Hiroki pulls out a blank canvas and tries to draw on it, but he is still unable. Since Yanagi is the one feeling responsible for everything that happened, Hiroki opens the window and him that it’s not his fault that Hiroki stopped drawing. After Kiri says her thank-you and goodbyes, Yanagi walks off the same way that he came.

As everyone has noticed, the big surprise here is that Yanagi is leaving already after only two episodes. I really thought that he was here to stay for at least several episodes if not the rest of the series. His character served his purpose in revealing some of Hiroki’s past to everyone and having Hiroki find out that it was not in fact Yanagi’s fault that he is unable to draw. Still, I feel that they could have done more with Yanagi’s character, if even just to put someone between Kiri and Hiroki. Though Yanagi didn’t stand much of a chance, especially since Kiri talked about Hiroki every conversation she had with him.
There’s still plenty of story left (Hiroki regaining his drawing ability, Elis overcoming her past and her fear of red, Hiroki finally hooking up with Kiri), but now I’m not sure how they’re going to fill up all twelve remaining episodes, since I had assumed that Yanagi’s return would directly lead to Hiroki drawing again. As a side note, I bet Hiroki will regain his ability to draw because of Kiri, probably in a similar fashion to what was shown in last week’s episode with Hiroki getting inspiration after watching her. Anyway, the preview shows that next time is going to be about the director of the school. I just hope they don’t use a ton of girl-of-the-week filler, though I admit that the first few episodes of this series weren’t that bad.

Summary:
Ever since a ninja by the name of Kagemori Hanzouyo was ordered to protecting the Konnyaku lineage, the Kagemori family has done just that. 400 years later, Mamoru is on the job, even as he’s late getting to school. Yuuna tells him about a girl she saw earlier who had black hair and a sword. In fact, this girl is Mapputatsu Tsubaki and was told by the yakuza boss how evil Yuuna and her ninja were. Tsubaki is pursuing them now for the sake of justice and arrives at school during tennis class. She announces who she is but the teacher thinks that she’s the new transfer student. After getting through that bit of misunderstanding, Tsubaki challenges Yuuna to a match, which Yuuna interprets to be a tennis match. Even though it’s another misunderstanding, Tsubaki winds up to serve a killer shot, but Mamoru is ready with a potion that attracts a pack of dogs onto her.
Tsubaki wakes up in the infirmary with Yuuna. After Yuuna gets herself all confused about ninja and kingyo (goldfish), Tsubaki gets frustrated and reaches for her sword. But Yuuna had taken it and put it in the umbrella stand. Tsubaki is about to blow up on Yuuna again when Mamoru comes and tells her that it’s time to go home. Tsubaki gives up for the day after Yuuna calls her a friend and then gets all Bambi-eyed when she refutes it. However, Tsubaki later identifies the lingering smell on her clothes and chases after the two. Mamoru senses her coming beforehand and tells Yuuna to go home first. He and Tsubaki start fighting on the street, but they start to draw a crowd, so they move to a more secluded spot by the river. Mamoru throws up a smoke screen and then uses a chain to disarm Tsubaki, but the front of her clothes is cut in the process, leaving her exposed and making both of them quite embarrassed. Though she chases him in anger, she eventually concedes defeat. Afterwards, they get to talking about why she was doing this in the first place and how Yuuna is supposedly heinous and evil, and so Mamoru tells her the truth about the yakuza boss. Tsubaki of course then goes to take her revenge on that boss. The next day, Mamoru finds that Tsubaki is wearing the school’s uniform because she’s decided to enter their school.

The summary really doesn’t do this episode/show any justice because a lot of the humor hinges on plays on words and Yuuna being an airhead (like the ninja, kingyo, ningyo, kinja part). The show is amusing, though I didn’t get a lot of the jokes so it’s hard for me to judge. I enjoyed watching the fight between Tsubaki and Mamoru because we get to see the types of tricks Mamoru has up his sleeves (and why his mother made sure he packed all his gear at the beginning of the day lol). Production quality stayed about the same as last week, which includes the fact that faces were a little inconsistent but it’s still fairly good overall. But it looks like they’re taking the girl-of-the-week route and introducing Hattori Yamame next time. Hopefully it’ll be a bit more interesting than this one.

Summary:
After evading enemy missiles, the Pascal Mage proceeds into a storm called the Spiral Band in an effort to shake off their attackers. However, one of the pirate ships continues to pursue them. Vice-captain Kojima tells them that their sole enemy now is an experimental warship stolen by pirates and is equipped with an electromagnetic wave jamming system. Captain Nanaha decides not to try to run and wants to ambush the other ship instead. Although Hamaguchi of the insurance division objects, Nanaha goes through with the plan because of her desire to protect everyone. Once the Pascal Mage emerges from the storm, it shoots four missiles, ends up scoring two hits, and ends the battle.
Back in port, the crew is confined to the ship as punishment as Nanaha had gone to take responsibility for what happened. Nanaha is in the car with Okamachi when they get carjacked by a girl in a maid uniform brandishing a gun. Explosions suddenly rip through the headquarters building, and it becomes apparent that the girl is rescuing her sister who was on the ship that the Pascal Mage defeated. Having heard the explosions, Tsubasa and Hyousuke set out in the “Seagull” plane to rescue the captain. In the ensuing confusion, the sisters get away, and the crew of the Pascal Mage surrounds their captain. Nanaha is overcome with emotion at the sight of everyone who came out there for her sake.

The second episode offers a lot more naval action (and action in general), but it still has its share of panty shots and fanservice. Looking at the CG from last week and this, I am reminded of how much it resembles the CG from the Zoids series, except this has really crappy explosion effects. But or the most part, the animation quality remains high, though I can definitely see them using stock footage for naval battles in the near future. Oh, and it disturbs me that they introduce a pair of lesbian-ish sisters as bad guys (à la FMP! TSR).
Honestly, I was ready to stop blogging this show until I saw the preview.
Breast groping? Check.
Swimsuits? Check.
Phallic references? Check.
Breast in the face? Check.
Incest? Check.
Furries? Check.
I really can’t believe they’re animating that much fanservice on only the third episode. But hey, it does make me intrigued enough to watch it, so I guess the preview does its job.

OP2 Sequence

OP2: 「SEASON’S CALL」 by HYDE

Summary:
The group returns home to the restaurant in Okinawa where everything has been gathering dust since they left. David and Julia, who remained back on the ship, get orders to go after a person named Ted A. Adams, a man apparently deeply connected with Chiropteran and Delta 67 research. While Saya rests, Kai digs into the closet and finds some of George’s belongings, including his baseball glove. The three pay a visit to the gravesite and leave George’s stuff there as a way of sending him off. There, Kai is surprised to see the inside covered in cobwebs. Saya tells them that this is the place where she started her current life. Kai and Riku reaffirm that they’re all family, just like George always said.
After having lunch, Kai takes Saya to the park, where she’s reunited with her friend Kaori. The two quickly get reacquainted and start talking about normal life. But Saya knows that she has to get stronger and continue fighting so that more people aren’t hurt. Kaori offers support and comfort by hugging Saya’s back and telling her that she doesn’t have to suffer alone. The two, along with Kai and Riku, then go to school so that Saya can try the high jump one more time. Afterwards, Saya and Kaori buy some food so that they can hold a barbeque. Kai’s friends happen to spot Kai on the beach, and join them for food and fun. Riku even brings food to Hagi, who is standing off on the side, and tries to get him to join everyone, but Hagi keeps his distance.
While the rest are playing with fireworks, Saya and Kai talk on the beach. Saya asks Kai to always stay by her side, so that they can all stay a family. Kai promises not to be separated from her again and promises to find her wherever she goes. Saya joins the fireworks fun, and Hagi breaks out the cello for some music. In the morning, while everyone is still sleeping on the beach, Kai, Riku, and Saya take off, though Kaori wakes up in time to wish Saya a tearful goodbye. It seems that the next destination for the Red Shield group is Russia, but Saya vows to return to Okinawa.

ED2 Sequence

ED2: 「CRY NO MORE」 by 中島美嘉 (Nakashima Mika)
OP and ED are great songs (HYDE and Mika Nakashima are such amazing singers), but I think I’m most impressed – actually somewhat speechless – by how good the new OP and ED animations are. They use a different, more artsy style that I would love to see more of. And the OP hints at a lot of new bad guys, so that’s got me excited too.

This is a decent transition episode between arcs/locales. Not much happens in terms of story, so this is really just a breather episode from all the recent action. It allows Saya, Kai, and Riku to experience normal life, if only for a day, and sets up the next arc with the Ted A. Adams and Russia stuff. All of their friends get some screen time, but I am a bit curious about why Mao is shown in the preview. I kind of assumed she was just a minor character, but is she going to be joining them in this upcoming arc? Looks like next episode will focus on her and also on Akihiro trying to unravel some mysteries.
Man, I’m still trying to get over how much I like the new songs…

Summary:
Rin dreams of when she was young and was given her pendant by a man, probably her father, who was going off to fight in a war and never returned. Rin had apparently wanted to originally summon Saber, but she got Archer. On the upside, Archer apparently makes some great tea. Rin wants to know his background and his true name, but it seems that Archer doesn’t remember anything. Archer actually blames that on Rin’s imperfect summoning, but he tells her not to worry about it, especially since she’s an excellent master.
Meanwhile, Shirou and Fuji-nee enjoy another meal prepared by Sakura. Shirou tells Sakura that she should take the weekends off because she helps out every day, though Sakura says that she has no other plans. Sakura realizes when they reach school that Shirou’s arm is bleeding, but he thinks that it’s probably from working with junk the night before and doesn’t worry about it. Sakura takes her leave after Mitsuzuri Ayako comes to talk with Shirou. She tells him that Sakura’s brother Shinji has been causing trouble in the archery club and attributes it to Rin having rejected him. Being the type of person that he is, Shirou offers to help Shinji, which results in Shinji having him clean the dojo after school.
Rin and Archer meanwhile have sensed an enemy nearby, and the two wait until after sunset for Lancer to appear. Archer uses two swords against Lancer’s spear, and the two are fairly evenly matched. Hearing noises outside the dojo, Shirou goes to investigate and sees the two Servants fighting. He is quickly spotted by Lancer and gets chased into the school building. Lancer appears beside him and stabs Shirou in the heart, a seemingly fatal blow. With the battle over for the time being, Rin runs inside the school to find Shirou lying facedown. She orders Archer to chase Lancer and find out who his master is. Knowing that the dead boy is her fault, she apologizes to the body. But then she realizes that it’s Shirou, and he’s apparently important enough to her for her to use her pendant to revive him. Rin doesn’t stick around and runs off before Shirou wakes up.
Shirou is surprised to find himself alive, and goes back home. He knows that he died from the wound and thus figures out that someone must have saved him. Meanwhile, Rin learns that Archer wasn’t able to find out anything. Archer expresses his surprise that Rin used her jewel to save the witness. He explains that their fights must not attract attention and the rule is that witnesses must be silenced. For Lancer, the elimination of the witness was more important than the fight, and Lancer will sooner or later notice that Shirou is still alive.
Shirou senses Lancer and reaches for something to defend himself with, coming up with a rolled up poster. He uses his power to strengthen it just as Lancer jumps in. Shirou is sorely outmatched, though the poster does its job blocking some hits. Their fight progresses towards the storehouse, where a seal on the ground has been slowly forming. Shirou tumbles inside, but Lancer corners him and destroys Shirou’s makeshift weapon. Lancer thinks that there’s a possibility that Shirou’s one of the seven, but wants to end this in any case. Shirou’s own will to live activates the symbol on his hand and the seal behind him, and from the bright light, a figure rises out and charges Lancer. She identifies herself as the servant Saber, and asks Shirou if he’s her master. Shirou is left completely speechless from her beauty.

Now this is what I’m talking about – this episode has some really really tense action. It really had me on the edge of my seat even though I knew exactly what was going to happen; that’s just how good the episode is. Lancer is just creepy beyond words and I definitely got a little jumpy every time he took another stab at Shirou. Along those lines, the sound and music are absolutely perfect for creating the right atmosphere. Oh and did I mention that Saber shows up too? Really icing on the cake… Any complaints I had about this series from episode one were righted by episode two.
Rin is developing as a much more central character and gets a lot of screen time this episode. It didn’t seem like Shirou had a special relationship with her or even just knew her well, but she still decides to use the pendant that her father gave her to save his life only after she identifies him. There’s lots of potential for good character development here, and with this episode, I have confidence that they won’t waste it. Can you tell that I’m very pumped up about this series now? :)
And in case anyone was wondering, the message at the end of the episode merely said that next week’s airing will be at 1:45 AM, 30 minutes later than normal.

Summary:
Romulus and Remus’ tensions have made their way into the council, where the representatives get into a heated argument. Even in the school, the girls are affected since Yayoi is from Romulus and Miya is from Remus. Arika, however, seems to still be caught up in her lovesickness and dismisses the situation as something trivial. Miya blows up on Arika for that comment, and even Nina says that Arika is wrong. But Nina has also noticed that Arika is acting strange though Arika says that it’s nothing. Meanwhile, Haruka wants to go beat some sense into the fighting Otome, but Yukino stops her. Mashiro, on the other hand, has been in a rut ever since Takumi left because she feels incapable. The source of the current conflict, however, seems to be Nagi and John Smith, who had been experimenting with Slaves out on the border of Romulus and Remus.
Arika continues to angst about Sergay, remembering how happy Akane and Kazuya were, but also her vow to become an Otome. Erstin, who has figured out that Arika likes Sergay, comes to comfort her even as Arika desperately tries to deny those feelings. After Arika stops crying, the conversation shifts to her mother and then to the Sapphire of the Azure Sky. Arika is surprised to find out that Erstin knows about Rena being the previous owner, so she has Erstin tell her all about the former Otome.
With Shizuru still gone, Natsuki ponders that maybe Aswald is responsible, which elicits a shocked face from Yohko. Shizuru is actually still on the scene, investigating the destruction, when she notices the tracks on the ground. A voice behind her, Miyu’s, confirms that those were left by Slaves. Rather, these are of a new form that are more like CHILDs. Miyu also warns that the sealed-off black power has begun to move. Always the cautious one, Shizuru rushes at Miyu, but Miyu simply disappears in a flash.
That night, Tomoe, who had been listening in on Erstin explanation, asks for another favor from Miya. Erstin had told Arika that Rena had defended Vintoblum for ten years, but had one day suddenly removed the stone because she had found love. Then in the attack 15 years ago, Mashiro and Rena’s own child had both disappeared. Erstin says that Rena was one who had both realized her dream and obtained love, words which resonated with Arika. She is thus now rushing off to confirm her true feelings with Sergay. Speaking of which, Sergay is led to the home of a woman who was there during the attack fifteen years ago. As she tells him, Rena handed off her own child and put the sapphire around the neck of the princess, meaning that the person with the sapphire now (Arika) should be the real princess. But it so happens that Arika has gotten caught in a trap by some thugs who intend to have their way with her.

Another plot heavy episode that answers some questions, but introduces even more. We now know what happened fifteen years ago in terms of the baby switch, and they seem to be telling us that Arika is the real princess. I still have my doubts about her being the princess – it’s possible that there was another switch sometime or that the sapphire got transferred – but it does seem unlikely now that Arika is Rena’s daughter, which had been another previous theory. In either case, Mashiro’s not the real princess, though I still have a slight hunch that Nina might be.
Have I mentioned how much I love how they keep us guessing about basically everything? No, I’m not being sarcastic; I think it shows a high level of story planning when we the audience are so caught up in trying to figure out the series’ mysteries: who the five pillars are, where Mai is, what the deal is with the Harmonium, what’s with Miyu, the list goes on and on. Oh and speaking of Miyu, she still seems too good to be true. She’s technically on the “good guys” (Arika’s) side, she knows what’s going on in the world, and she seems to be at least on par with Shizuru’s power level. I like what they’ve done with her character, but of course I wonder what her ultimate role is. I guess I’m stuck in the mindset of Miyu being a “bad guy” of sorts.
I also have to say again that I’m quite opposed to the whole SergayXArika thing. It just seems so wrong, especially when he could be her father (I mean age-wise, but who knows, maybe he is her father). The preview doesn’t help at all, because it shows Arika and Sergay getting pretty close and maybe even kissing.