Random Curiosity

OP Sequence:

OP: “FEELING” by AciD FLavoR
Watch the OP!: Mirror 1, Mirror 2, Show Streaming ▼

ED Sequence:

ED: “my fairy” by Edgar J.C. Ashenbert (エドガー・J・C・アシェンバート) : Midorikawa Hikaru (緑川 光)

「あいつは優雅な大悪党」 (Aitsu wa Yuuga na Daiakutou)
“He’s a Huge Refined Scoundrel”

First Glance:
While the “official” start of the fall season is this Wednesday, Hakushaku to Yousei (Earl and Fairy) breaks ahead of the pack with a special early broadcast premiere. The regular broadcast on AT-X starts Friday, October 10th @ 10:00AM with a reshowing of the first episode, but here we have a sneak peek at what this series has to offer a week and a half in advance. (Note: Chiba TV will premiere on Tuesday, October 7th @ 25:15.) From my understanding, the exact length of this series is still unconfirmed, but early reports indicate that it will likely be one season long (i.e 13 episodes).

After watching the first episode, I’m still not sure what to make of fairy doctors who come from a fairy country ruled by Lord Ibrazel, a.k.a. the blue knight earl, but the story revolves around a fairly doctor named Lydia Carlton, who inherited her mysterious powers from her mother. With her talking, newspaper reading cat Nico (which normal people can’t see), Lydia boards a ship headed to London so that she can see her father, but runs into a brown-haired, purple-eyed man asking her to help him escape from a man named Huskly. Seeing the rope burns on his wrists and hearing how he’ll be killed if he’s caught, Lydia decides to help the stranger escape, only to later find out that he’s really a blonde-haired earl named Edgar J.C. Ashenbert. Shocked by this revelation and by how he knows her name, Lydia learns that Edgar purposely let himself be captured in order to get close to her, and that she’s now onboard another ship. Over dinner, Lydia is confused as to why Edgar is flaunting her in front of the other guests, but is more surprised to find out that Edgar is a descendant of the blue knight earl, who can take a wife back to the fairy hometown. Edgar later reveals that he knows about Lydia being a fairy doctor, and needs her help finding the treasured sword Mellow that his ancestors hid, since he doesn’t possess the powers they did. Most of all, he needs to recover the sword before Huskly and his group do, who are currently pursuing their ship.

While the premise doesn’t sound overly interesting to me, I think it’s mainly due to the fact that I don’t know what to expect from a series about an earl and a fairy doctor. As such, I can see this series turning out to be a real sleeper this season or one that’s easily forgotten. With that said, the main appeal of this series to me is the fact that Mizuki Nana stars in it, whose portrayal of Lydia is reminiscent of the two female leads she played in Allison & Lillia. Edgar on the other hand is played by Midorikawa Hikaru, who’s hot off the CODE GEASS cast as Li Xingke, but is probably more well-known for his roles as Heero Yuy in Gundam Wing and Zelgadis in Slayers. Aside from those two, there’s also Sugita Tomokazu (Kyon in Suzumiya Haruhi) as Edgar’s attendant Raven, with Miyano Mamoru (Setsuna F. Seiei in Gundam 00), Kamiya Hiroshi (Tieria Erde in Gundam 00), Koyasu Takehito (Mu La Flaga in Gundam SEED), Oohara Sayaka (Milly Ashford in CODE GEASS), and Ookawa Tooru (Roy Mustang in Full Metal Alchemist) set to appear later on. Their respective roles can be found below.

Aside from that, I noticed that the opening sequence mainly features scenes from this episode, which will hopefully change for regular broadcast. I haven’t heard of AciD FLavoR before, but I find the opening song “FEELING” quite catchy after listening to it a few times. There was no ending sequence this time around, but the the ending song played through the last part of the episode. Because of this, I refrained from posting a video on it, but will note that “my fairy” is performed by Edgar’s seiyuu, Midorikawa Hikaru, whose singing I haven’t been a huge fan of in the past — I don’t particularly hate Hikaru’s singing, but I’ve never taken notice to it either. From what I’ve seen so far, I quite like the shoujo-style character designs (especially Lydia), but I don’t think I would’ve bothered with this series if it weren’t for the cast to draw me in. The setting reminds me a lot of Hatenkou Yuugi, but the story thus far comes off a bit more serious and intricate. Since this first episode was mostly an introduction to the story, I’m going to watch a couple more before I make a decision about this one.

Notable Cast:
- Lydia Carlton (リディア・カールトン) : Mizuki Nana (水樹 奈々)
- Edgar J.C. Ashenbert (エドガー・J・C・アシェンバート) : Midorikawa Hikaru (緑川 光)
- Raven (レイヴン) : Sugita Tomokazu (杉田 智和)
- Ermine (アーミン) : Oohara Sayaka (大原 さやか)
- Nico (ニコ) : Yuuki Hiro (優希 比呂)
- Kelpie (ケルピー) : Koyasu Takehito (子安 武人)
- Tomkins (トムキンス) : Chafuurin (茶風林)
- Paul Ferman (ポール・ファーマン) : Kamiya Hiroshi (神谷 浩史)
- Ulysses (ユリシス) : Miyano Mamoru (宮野 真守)
- Prof. Carlton (カールトン教授) : Ookawa Tooru (大川 透)
- Huskly (ハスクリー) : Yasumura Makoto (保村 真)

The new fall season is almost here, and it’s going to be quite a doozy with big names like Gundam 00 alongside sequels like Nodame Cantabile Paris and new titles like Michiko to Hatchin. There are a whopping 35+ series premiering – that’s not even counting the kiddie shows – and there should be something for everyone, from mecha to space operas to slice-of-life comedies to dark romances and more. As usual, I’ll try to watch the first episode of most shows within certain parameters (in other words, not the kiddie shows), and what I list here are the chances of me actually blogging something based on my initial impressions from promotional material – which incidentally there is a ton of this time around. However, even if I list the chances for a show as good or guaranteed, it doesn’t necessarily mean I’ll stick with it for more than a few episodes.

By no means does this list reflect every single anime series that is going to be aired, though I did try to be as comprehensive as I could. Check out MOON PHASE for an entire listing, syoboi’s calendar for specific air-times, and Fansub Wiki’s Fall 2008 page for who’s tentatively subbing what.

Technical Note: All times are given in a 24-hour, relative-day format 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.

	Hakushaku to Yousei http://www.myfairy.tv/index.html Special Early Broadcast Premiere on September 28th, 2008 Airtime in Japan (JST, GMT+9): Tuesdays at 25:15 Airtime in U.S. (EST, GMT-4): Tuesdays at 12:15 Information Links: ANN Encyclopedia, AnimeNfo, AniDB, syoboi Based on a long-running set of shoujo light novels, this series is about a female “fairy doctor” who heads to London to see her father and meets a young knight-earl who she ends up joining on a quest to get a treasured sword. It stars Mizuki Nana and Midorikawa Hikaru in the lead roles, and is being animated by Artland under the direction of the same guy who did Bokura ga Ita, but the story doesn’t sound horribly interesting and the the promo video didn’t do much to improve that, so I’ll probably skip it. Odds I’ll Blog This: Poor
Show Hakushaku to Yousei Promo Video ▼
	Toradora! http://www.starchild.co.jp/special/toradora/ Premieres October 1st, 2008 Airtime in Japan (JST, GMT+9): Wednesdays at 25:20 Airtime in U.S. (EST, GMT-4): Wednesdays at 12:20 Information Links: ANN Encyclopedia, AnimeNfo, AniDB, syoboi Toradora! follows a guy and girl who are in love with each other’s best friends and decide to help each other out. Along the way, they develop a very unique and close relationship. The female lead here is a role that was tailor made for Kugimiya Rie due to the way she acts and how she treats the male lead like a servant (much like Louise or Shana). Being animated by J.C.Staff as well will probably only increase the likeness. Horie Yui also has a role in this, and put all together, this is a series generating a lot of buzz – I’ve even heard it called the next Suzumiya Haruhi. I don’t think it’ll have quite that much impact, but I’ve liked what I’ve read of the light novels and manga so far, so I’m tentatively planning on watching this. Odds I’ll Blog This: Good
Show Toradora! Commercial ▼
	Noramimi 2 http://noramimi-anime.jp/ Premieres October 1st, 2008 Airtime in Japan (JST, GMT+9): Wednesdays at 25:29 Airtime in U.S. (EST, GMT-4): Wednesdays at 12:29 Information Links: ANN Encyclopedia, AniDB, syoboi This is the sequel to the first Noramimi series which aired earlier this year about a world where children can have special “characters” who keep them company through their elementary school years. If you missed it, you can read impressions of the first episode of that here. It doesn’t look like much has changed for the sequel, including the fact that I probably won’t watch it. Odds I’ll Blog This: Poor
	Casshern Sins http://casshern-sins.jp/ Premieres October 1st, 2008 Airtime in Japan (JST, GMT+9): Wednesdays at 25:30 Airtime in U.S. (EST, GMT-4): Wednesdays at 12:30 Information Links: ANN Encyclopedia, AnimeNfo, AniDB, syoboi Casshern is a series that’s stayed moderately popular through the years with various incarnations, from the original 1973 series to a 1993 OVA to a 2004 live-action movie This latest incarnation follows a similar story of a cyborg fighting in a post-apocalyptic world ruled by robots. Having never seen any of the versions, I can’t really say that this excites me any, but the PV at least makes it look like a decent action series. Given all the other Wednesday shows though, I probably won’t feel too bad about skipping this. Odds I’ll Blog This: Poor
Show Casshern Sins Promo Video ▼
	Rosario + Vampire CAPU2 http://www.rosa-vam.com/ Premieres October 1st, 2008 Airtime in Japan (JST, GMT+9): Wednesdays at 26:25 Airtime in U.S. (EST, GMT-4): Wednesdays at 13:25 Information Links: ANN Encyclopedia, AnimeNfo, AniDB, syoboi Rosario + Vampire is back after half a year for a second series, and it looks to build on what was introduced in the first one – which, given that the Gonzo staff is the same, probably means a lot more panties and fanservice. For those of you who don’t know, this series is about a human boy who gets stuck at a youkai school and becomes acquainted with a beautiful vampire girl (voiced by Mizuki Nana). CAPU2 will introduce a new character (see image at left) from the second manga series despite the fact that the original series didn’t cover the entire first manga series. Despite not having watched the entire first series, I’ve read a lot of the manga, so I could still blog this if I wanted to, but the odds aren’t great because I tend not to like comedy shows based mostly around fanservice. Odds I’ll Blog This: Poor
Show Rosario + Vampire CAPU2 Promo Video ▼
	Hyakko http://hyakko.jp/ Premieres October 1st, 2008 Airtime in Japan (JST, GMT+9): Wednesdays at 26:35 Airtime in U.S. (EST, GMT-4): Wednesdays at 13:35 Information Links: ANN Encyclopedia, AnimeNfo, AniDB, syoboi Hyakko is a slice-of-life school comedy that reminds me a lot of Manabi Straight. It takes place in a large private school and follows the lives of a group of four girls who are led by a very active and spunky girl. It also features music reminiscent of Manabi Straight (see the PV below), and both Hirano Aya and Horie Yui are voicing characters – in fact, Hirano Aya is going to be singing the ED, which, depending on how much you like/dislike her music, might be a bad thing. Anyway, the manga actually made me laugh – a rarity these days – so I’m curious to see if the anime can do the same. Odds I’ll Blog This: Decent
Show Hyakko Promo Video ▼
	Shikabane Hime Aka http://www.starchild.co.jp/special/shikabanehime/ Premieres October 2nd, 2008 Airtime in Japan (JST, GMT+9): Thursdays at 10:30 Airtime in U.S. (EST, GMT-4): Wednesdays at 21:30 Information Links: ANN Encyclopedia, AnimeNfo, AniDB, syoboi From the director who who brought you Jinki:EXTEND and the team at feel and GAINAX who brought you Gurren Lagann comes a story about a girl known as a shikabane hime (corpse princess). This girl is tasked with hunting undead corpses and is herself relatively unkillable due to the fact that she’s also a corpse – the story can get pretty violent in exploiting that fact (heads cut off, blood everywhere). Judging by the PV though, I doubt the anime will be quite as bloody as the manga is. In any case, I’m curious about this adaptation, but I can’t give it better odds because of all the other Thursday shows. Odds I’ll Blog This: Decent
Show Shikabane Hime Aka Promo Videos ▼
	Kuroshitsuji http://www.kuroshitsuji.tv/ Premieres October 2nd, 2008 Airtime in Japan (JST, GMT+9): Thursdays at 25:25 Airtime in U.S. (EST, GMT-4): Thursdays at 12:25 Information Links: ANN Encyclopedia, AnimeNfo, AniDB, syoboi Taking Macross Frontier‘s timeslot is a show about an incredibly powerful and skillful butler who serves an aristocratic family. More specifically, he serves the 12-year-old boy head of the family, and he’s capable of taking out entire armies of bad guys. This might sound a little like Hayate no Gotoku!, and it does have a lot of lighthearted moments and characters, but it’s far from that kind of a comedy series and much more an action series where people get shot, killed, and there’s blood everywhere. I found the first volume of the manga very intriguing, and there’s an added bonus of a fairly strong voice cast in Sakamoto Maaya, Ono Daisuke, and Fukuyama Jun. The only downside is that this airs on Thursday, and there are a lot of other promising series on that day (see below). Odds I’ll Blog This: Good
Show Kuroshitsuji Promo Videos ▼
	Akane Iro ni Somaru Saka http://www.mmv.co.jp/special/akasaka/ Premieres October 2nd, 2008 Airtime in Japan (JST, GMT+9): Thursdays at 25:00 Airtime in U.S. (EST, GMT-4): Thursdays at 12:00 Information Links: ANN Encyclopedia, AnimeNfo, AniDB, syoboi Akane Iro ni Somaru Saka is a series I would watch for two main reasons. The first is that are a truckload of big names present in cast, from Hirano Aya to Kugimiya Rie to Inoue Marina to Tanaka Rie – the list goes on. The second is that, for better or worse, it’s got the TNK staff that did School Days working on it. The story doesn’t sound like anything to write home about – it involves a boy who finds out that he’s engaged to a girl who hates him after a less-than-pleasant first encounter – but the combination of the two aforementioned things is more than enough to pique my interest in this series. Odds I’ll Blog This: Good
Show Akane Iro ni Somaru Saka Promo Video ▼
	Hokuto no Ken Raoh Gaiden – Ten no Haoh http://www.haoh.tv/ Premieres October 2nd, 2008 Airtime in Japan (JST, GMT+9): Thursdays at 25:28 Airtime in U.S. (EST, GMT-4): Thursdays at 12:28 Information Links: ANN Encyclopedia, AnimeNfo, AniDB, syoboi As part of the 25th anniversary of the Hokuto no Ken (Fist of the North Star) series, Satelight is animating the manga that centers around Kenshiro’s brother and nemesis Raoh. Given that the Hokuto no Ken series really isn’t my cup of tea and since the PV doesn’t really do anything to change those feelings, I’ll keep this short and just say that it’s highly unlikely that I’ll watch this. Odds I’ll Blog This: Poor
Show Hokuto no Ken Raoh Gaiden – Ten no Haoh Promo Video ▼
	Yozakura Quartet http://www.tbs.co.jp/anime/yozakura/ Premieres October 2nd, 2008 Airtime in Japan (JST, GMT+9): Thursdays at 25:29 Airtime in U.S. (EST, GMT-4): Thursdays at 12:29 Information Links: ANN Encyclopedia, AnimeNfo, AniDB, syoboi Yozakura Quartet is a series that reminds me a little of Rental Magica in that it involves a group of powerful teens (one of whom is a catgirl) who work freelance cases protecting a city from various youkai. I’m usually more inclined to talk about plot, but the main appeal of the manga for me was the art and characters drawn by Kamisama Kazoku illustrator Yasuda Suzuhito . The anime adaptation – which is being animated by Nomad and brings back together the Rozen Maiden/sola staff – looks pretty good as well judging by the promo material. I do have some reservations about the overall story though, and I’m hoping the production quality will at least make the first episode worth watching. Odds I’ll Blog This: Good
Show Yozakura Quartet Commercial ▼
	CLANNAD AFTER STORY http://www.tbs.co.jp/clannad/ Premieres October 2nd, 2008 Airtime in Japan (JST, GMT+9): Thursdays at 25:59 Airtime in U.S. (EST, GMT-4): Thursdays at 12:59 Information Links: ANN Encyclopedia, AnimeNfo, AniDB, syoboi As the name implies, this is the continuation of the first Clannad series that ended earlier this year. If the visual novel is any indicator, this should focus on Nagisa’s path now that she and Tomoya are more or less a couple. I know a lot of folks weren’t completely happy with the way the first series ended or with how it treated the stories of certain characters, and I personally thought the first series was good, but not great, so I’m hoping that Kyoto Animation will make this second series really shine. Odds I’ll Blog This: Guaranteed
Show CLANNAD AFTER STORY Promo Videos ▼
	Tales of the Abyss http://www.tv-toa.jp/ Premieres October 3rd, 2008 Airtime in Japan (JST, GMT+9): Fridays at 21:00 Airtime in U.S. (EST, GMT-4): Fridays at 8:00 Information Links: ANN Encyclopedia, AnimeNfo, AniDB, syoboi One of the two major series Sunrise is working on this upcoming season, Tales of the Abyss is based on the PS2 game of the same name. It involves a rich guy who has no memories of his childhood because of the shock of being kidnapped when he was young. He gets thrust into the middle of an old prophecy after a mysterious girl attacks his home, and they magically get transported far away. I haven’t played the game myself (which is good for keeping the material here fresh), but I’ve heard a lot of positive things about the story, and despite the ups and downs I’ve experienced with Sunrise shows, having them working on the animation production is still a plus for me. I’m also going to assume that it’s a good thing that all the game’s voice talent are reprising their roles for the anime, including Yukana and Koyasu Takehito. On a side note though, the Pizza Hut tie-ins have already begun. Odds I’ll Blog This: Decent
Show Tales of the Abyss Promo Videos ▼
	Tentai Senshi Sunred http://www.sunred.jp/ Premieres October 3rd, 2008 Airtime in Japan (JST, GMT+9): Fridays at 24:45 Airtime in U.S. (EST, GMT-4): Fridays at 11:45 Information Links: ANN Encyclopedia, AniDB, syoboi The staff of Seto no Hanayome are back with a new comedy series, this time about a masked hero going up against an evil organization that plots world domination. Being a gag series though, it makes fun of the tokusatsu genre, so the hero does things like abusing the hapless bad guys and smoking. They’ve even hired comedic duo Higedanshaku to play two of the main bad guys. I don’t know if the animated adaptation will actually turn out to be funny (the manga was amusing, but not uproariously so), but it might be worth checking out. Odds I’ll Blog This: Decent
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	Linebarrels of Iron http://www.linebarrels.jp/ Premieres October 3rd, 2008 Airtime in Japan (JST, GMT+9): Fridays at 26:25 Airtime in U.S. (EST, GMT-4): Fridays at 13:25 Information Links: ANN Encyclopedia, AnimeNfo, AniDB, syoboi The big series Gonzo is pushing for the fall season – to the point where they’ve released a PV in English – starts with a boy who meets a naked girl with no memories and obtains a mecha via an accident. He subsequently becomes a powerful pilot and has a to fight a lot of battles and such. My initial reaction to the plot was that it’s rather generic sounding, and it doesn’t help any that this is being animated by Gonzo and has character designs by Hirai Hisashi (those of you who have been reading RC for a while now will remember that, thanks to SEED Destiny, I get a bad feeling whenever I see a show with his character designs). On the other hand, this has a pretty strong cast including Fukuyama Jun, Hirano Aya, and Noto Mamiko, and the PVs don’t look that bad. Fridays are likely going to come down to a choice of this or Tales of the Abyss. Odds I’ll Blog This: Decent
Show Linebarrels of Iron Promo Videos ▼
	Jigoku Shoujo Mitsuganae http://www.jigokushoujo.com/ Premieres October 4th, 2008 Airtime in Japan (JST, GMT+9): Saturdays at 17:00 Airtime in U.S. (EST, GMT-4): Saturdays at 4:00 Information Links: ANN Encyclopedia, AnimeNfo, AniDB, syoboi Enma Ai is back for a third Jigoku Shoujo series, this time with a new girl who’s got some deep connection to the Jigoku Tsuushin (Hell Correspondance). I’ve always felt that the episodic nature of this really detracts from what could be a much more compelling title – Shigofumi did better in that regard – and that (along with time) is one of the main reasons I didn’t end up watching the second series. I’ve heard that the second series ended in such a way that’ll make it interesting to see how Enma Ai will return in a third series, but given my past experiences with this show, I’m not really inclined to want to watch more. Odds I’ll Blog This: Poor
Show Jigoku Shoujo Mitsuganae Promo Videos ▼
	Kannagi http://www.nagisama-fc.com/anime/ Premieres October 4th, 2008 Airtime in Japan (JST, GMT+9): Saturdays at 22:30 Airtime in U.S. (EST, GMT-4): Saturdays at 9:30 Information Links: ANN Encyclopedia, AnimeNfo, AniDB, syoboi Kannagi is the story of an art student who carves a statue of a spirit, only to have it come alive as the embodiment of a goddess. She turns out to be a very spunky girl who takes her cues for doing her job (purifying the land) from magical girl anime. I enjoyed reading the manga which was amusing and cute, but the main draw for the anime is probably the fact that Yamamoto Yutaka is directing. For those of you unaware, he’s the mastermind behind the hugely popular Suzumiya Haruhi ED and the Lucky Star OP dances, and he’d worked on a lot of KyoAni’s productions before being fired off of Lucky Star. I’m curious to see what he’ll cook up for this, and the PV makes the series look pretty good. Odds I’ll Blog This: Good
Show Kannagi Promo Videos ▼
	To Aru Majutsu no Index http://www.project-index.net/ Premieres October 4th, 2008 Airtime in Japan (JST, GMT+9): Saturdays at 25:35 Airtime in U.S. (EST, GMT-4): Saturdays at 12:35 Information Links: ANN Encyclopedia, AnimeNfo, AniDB, syoboi To Aru Majutsu no Index mixes religion with magic and the supernatural powers in a modern city where such ability development is part of the school curriculum. The main character finds a girl dressed as a nun hanging on his balcony one day, and it turns out that this girl has all of the church’s magical texts stored in her mind. Things get messy from there as the main character has to protect the girl from those who come after her. Parts of the story – including the main character and his ability to negate magic and supernatural powers – remind me of the manga Mx0 (though it should be noted that this came first), but the anime adaptation reminds me much more of Shakugan no Shana because of J.C.Staff’s animation style (which is very apparent in the PV) and how I’ve sound and Kawada Mami are onboard with the project. In any case, I’m optimistic about this series, but not enough to guarantee that I’ll blog it. Odds I’ll Blog This: Good
Show To Aru Majutsu no Index Promo Videos ▼
	Kemeko-DX http://www.kemeko.jp/ Premieres October 4th, 2008 Airtime in Japan (JST, GMT+9): Saturdays at 26:00 Airtime in U.S. (EST, GMT-4): Saturdays at 13:00 Information Links: ANN Encyclopedia, AnimeNfo, AniDB, syoboi The Kemeko in the title of this series is the name of the powersuit that bursts into the room of the main character one morning and declares that she’s his bride. She’s short, stubby, and not much to look at, but it turns out that inside of her is a beautiful girl whose mission it is to protect the main character because of his hidden special ability. The story can get a little crazy and sometimes gives me To Love-Ru vibes from it), but I thought the manga was overall a decent read. The anime adaptation will include some strong voice talent (Saitou Chiwa, Kawasumi Ayako, Kugimiya Rie), and it could be a good watch if the Hal Film Maker team creates a good balance of action, humor, and harem elements. The promo videos certainly show a lot of the action. Odds I’ll Blog This: Decent
Show Kemeko-DX Promo Videos ▼
	Gundam 00 Second Season http://www.gundam00.net/ Premieres October 5th, 2008 Airtime in Japan (JST, GMT+9): Sundays at 17:00 Airtime in U.S. (EST, GMT-4): Sundays at 4:00 Information Links: ANN Encyclopedia, AnimeNfo, AniDB, syoboi Taking over CODE GEASS R2′s Sunday timeslot is the continuation of last year’s Gundam 00 series. This picks up four years after, and in that time, the Earth Federation government has established an independent security preservation force named A-LAWS that is actually oppressing people under the guise of peace and unity. All signs point to Saji playing a pretty significant role this time around along with Setsuna, and things should get pretty interesting since Louise is going to be a mobile suit pilot on the Arrows side. I’m pretty excited about this series, and hopefully story will get off to a faster start than it did in the first series. Odds I’ll Blog This: Guaranteed
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	GA-REI -zero- http://www.ga-rei.jp/ Premieres October 5th, 2008 Airtime in Japan (JST, GMT+9): Sundays at 24:00 Airtime in U.S. (EST, GMT-4): Sundays at 11:00 Information Links: ANN Encyclopedia, AnimeNfo, AniDB, syoboi Ga-Rei Zero shares the same basic name as the Ga-Rei manga, but it won’t be following the same story. So instead of two high school kids fighting evil spirits for a government agency, this will chronicle an older special forces unit that’s fighting evil spirits for a government agency. It looks to be a lot darker and grittier than the manga as well, though I find the anime version’s character designs still pretty appealing. Also, for better or worse, this is being produced by asread in conjunction with AIC Spirits and has a lot of the SHUFFLE! staff on it, so I’m not quite sure what to expect. Odds I’ll Blog This: Decent
Show Ga-Rei Zero Commercial ▼
	Macademi Wasshoi! http://www.macademi.tv/ Premieres October 5th, 2008 Airtime in Japan (JST, GMT+9): Sundays at 24:30 Airtime in U.S. (EST, GMT-4): Sundays at 11:30 Information Links: ANN Encyclopedia, AnimeNfo, AniDB, syoboi Based on the Magician’s Academy set of light novels, this series is about boy who summons an incredibly powerful girl capable of destroying entire countries. She has the maturity of a little kid though and ends up living with him. The premise sounds a little like Zero no Tsukaima, but from all the promo videos, the style and speed of the anime adaptation reminds me more of Kyouran Kazoku Nikki. I’ve had poor luck with these kinds of comedy series though, and I’m not a big fan of the character designs here, so odds are pretty low that I’ll watch this, even with Koshimizu Ami and Kawasumi Ayako on the cast. Odds I’ll Blog This: Poor
Show Macademi Wasshoi! Promo Videos ▼
	Kyou no 5 no 2 http://www.tv-tokyo.co.jp/anime/5no2/ Premieres October 5th, 2008 Airtime in Japan (JST, GMT+9): Sundays at 25:30 Airtime in U.S. (EST, GMT-4): Sundays at 12:30 Information Links: ANN Encyclopedia, AnimeNfo, AniDB, syoboi Compared to Macademi Wasshoi, odds are a slighly better that I’ll watch Kyou no 5 no 2. Despite the focus being on fifth graders in often perverted situations, I found the manga quite funny, and I’ve been meaning to watch the OVAs that were released a while back. What’s rather unappealing however – based on the commercial (see below) – is the art style and animation quality which look rather simplistic and even cheap. You’d think Xebec would try to put their best foot forward to promote the show. Those of you who have seen the OVAs should also keep in mind that the entire cast is different for this new version: Kobayashi Yuu instead of Kuwashima Houko, Mako instead of Noto Mamiko, etc. Still, I’ll probably watch at least a little of this to see if it can make me laugh like the manga did. Odds I’ll Blog This: Decent
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	Skip Beat! http://www.tv-tokyo.co.jp/anime/s-beat/ Premieres October 5th, 2008 Airtime in Japan (JST, GMT+9): Sundays at 26:00 Airtime in U.S. (EST, GMT-4): Sundays at 13:00 Information Links: ANN Encyclopedia, AnimeNfo, AniDB, syoboi Skip Beat! starts with a girl who’s been working her ass off for a rising star who happens to also be her childhood friend and lives with her. He treats her like crap though and the final straw comes when she overhears him badmouthing her and hitting on his manager. Wanting revenge, she decides to become a star as well, and the bulk of the story chronicles her climb up. It’s not a bad story, but it’s one that I lost interest in after reading a number of volumes (there are currently 19 total and still going) several years back, and I was never motivated to try to get back into it. This means that I’m curious about what the anime will turn out looking like – especially since Inoue Marina and Miyano Mamoru are voicing the two main characters – but I doubt I’d watch or blog this long-term. Odds I’ll Blog This: Decent
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	Vampire Knight Guilty http://www.vampire-knight.jp/ Premieres October 6th, 2008 Airtime in Japan (JST, GMT+9): Mondays at 25:00 Airtime in U.S. (EST, GMT-4): Mondays at 12:00 Information Links: ANN Encyclopedia, AnimeNfo, AniDB, syoboi Interestingly enough, the director for Skip Beat!, Sayama Kiyoko is also directing the sequel to Vampire Knight this season. Guilty (I still don’t understand why they chose that title) continues the love triangle story started in the first series of a human girl caught between a pure-blood vampire and a former human vampire. One of my main complaints about the first series was the pacing – some parts went quickly and others dragged on – so I hope this second one has better balance. The reason I’m not guaranteeing that I’ll blog this series is because I’m already watching Soul Eater on Mondays, and I’m also interested in the new ef series (see below). Odds I’ll Blog This: Good
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	Bihada Ichizoku http://www.lovelabo.co.jp/anime/ Premieres October 6th, 2008 Airtime in Japan (JST, GMT+9): Mondays at 25:30 Airtime in U.S. (EST, GMT-4): Mondays at 12:30 Information Links: ANN Encyclopedia, AnimeNfo Apparently they are making an anime based on a manga that was created to promote a line of beauty products. It’s billed as a cosmetic love story (whatever that means), and I really have no idea who they’re catering to with this show because it’s airing in a late night time-slot, but anyone who’s watching at that hour probably isn’t the type to go out and buy these beauty products. Regardless, I’m pretty sure I won’t be watching this. Odds I’ll Blog This: Poor
	ef – a tale of melodies http://www.ef-melo.com/ Premieres October 6th, 2008 Airtime in Japan (JST, GMT+9): Mondays at 26:15 Airtime in U.S. (EST, GMT-4): Mondays at 13:15 Information Links: ANN Encyclopedia, AnimeNfo, AniDB, syoboi ef – a tale of memories was one of the better series from last year, and it was popular enough to warrant a sequel. melodies brings back the same SHAFT staff and cast, and it will explore the relationships not covered in the first series – Yuuko/Yuu and Mizuki/Kuze. Aside from the story, one of the strongest parts of the first series was the animation quality and the music, and if the promos are any indicator, the style hasn’t changed. I’m looking forward to this, but as I said above in the Vampire Knight Guilty section, I can’t guarantee I’ll blog this because of everything else on Mondays. Odds I’ll Blog This: Good
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	KUROZUKA http://www.bs11.jp/anime/212/ Premieres October 7th, 2008 Airtime in Japan (JST, GMT+9): Tuesdays at 22:00 Airtime in U.S. (EST, GMT-4): Tuesdays at 9:00 Information Links: ANN Encyclopedia, AnimeNfo, AniDB, syoboi The director and studio (Madhouse) that produced the Death Note anime have another adaptation in the works. This time it’s Kurozaka, the 1000+ year journey of two vampire lovers from medieval to future times. It includes a ton of fighting and a good deal of sex & nudity, and it ended up reminding me of Blade of the Immortal crossed with maybe Final Fantasy 7. It doesn’t have the best of stories though and can be quite confusing at times, but the manga managed always to stay exciting enough to keep me reading. The anime version also has a nice cast list too, with Miyano Mamoru, Paku Romi, and Kuwashima Houko, but the downside is that the style and character designs will take some getting used to. Still, I’m probably interested enough to take a look. Odds I’ll Blog This: Good
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	ONE OUTS http://www.ntv.co.jp/oneouts/ Premieres October 7th, 2008 Airtime in Japan (JST, GMT+9): Tuesdays at 24:59 Airtime in U.S. (EST, GMT-4): Tuesdays at 11:59 Information Links: ANN Encyclopedia, AnimeNfo, AniDB, syoboi Speaking of Madhouse, their Akagi and Kaiji team is back with a baseball series. This one in particular follows a professional baseball player who’s lacking something that will allow him to win a championship with his team until he meets an amazing pitcher who plays a type of “one out” gambling baseball. If I were a big baseball or sports anime fan, that might sound interesting, but I’m not, so it’s highly unlikely that I’d watch this. Odds I’ll Blog This: Poor
	Mouryou no Hako http://www.ntv.co.jp/mouryou/ Premieres October 7th, 2008 Airtime in Japan (JST, GMT+9): Tuesdays at 25:29 Airtime in U.S. (EST, GMT-4): Tuesdays at 12:29 Information Links: ANN Encyclopedia, AniDB, syoboi This is yet another Madhouse show, and it’s not even the last one on the list. The biggest distinction production-wise is probably that this series has character designs by CLAMP, but it’s is a mystery thriller series, not a mecha one (sorry Geass fans). It involves a group of detectives and writers who come together to solve the case of a murder spree where beautiful girls are being mutilated. That sounds like it could have potential, and in the absence of more promotional material, all I can say is that I’m a little intrigued. Odds I’ll Blog This: Decent
	CHAOS;HEAD http://www.chaoshead.jp/ Premieres October 9th, 2008 Airtime in Japan (JST, GMT+9): Thursdays at 23:00 Airtime in U.S. (EST, GMT-4): Thursdays at 10:00 Information Links: ANN Encyclopedia, AnimeNfo, AniDB, syoboi The final Madhouse show on the list is one that reminds me a lot of Myself; Yourself because of the character designs by Sasaki Mutsumi and the opening song by Itou Kanako. It’s about a reclusive high school boy who gets caught up in the middle of a series of mysterious murders when he receives an Internet link detailing the next one. This one looks like it could get pretty bloody – I saw an image of a severed hand as I was researching the series, and I’m pretty sure that’s not the worst of it. I tend not to be drawn towards those kinds of titles, but I like what I’ve seen in the promo videos, and I think this could be exceptional. Odds I’ll Blog This: Good
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	TYTANIA http://www.tytania.jp/ Premieres October 9th, 2008 Airtime in Japan (JST, GMT+9): Thursdays at 23:32 Airtime in U.S. (EST, GMT-4): Thursdays at 10:32 Information Links: ANN Encyclopedia, AnimeNfo, AniDB, syoboi For those of you who’re itching for a good space opera, TYTANIA might just be your cup of tea. It’s based on a set of novels by Legend of Galactic Heroes creator Tanaka Yoshiki, and the anime adaptation is being helmed by LoGH and SDF Macross director Ishiburo Noboru. The story involves a city-state engaging the powerful Tytania family in battle, and what happens there leads to more people acting against the Tytania dominance. This sounds like one of those series with a lot of political intrigue as people vie for power and control of the Tytania family, but despite the staff credentials, I suspect the complicated plot won’t appeal to me as much as it will to others. Odds I’ll Blog This: Decent
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	Nodame Cantabile Paris http://www.nodame-anime.com/ Premieres October 9th, 2008 Airtime in Japan (JST, GMT+9): Thursdays at 24:45 Airtime in U.S. (EST, GMT-4): Thursdays at 11:45 Information Links: ANN Encyclopedia, AnimeNfo, AniDB, syoboi Nodame Cantabile is back in the noitaminA time-slot this fall, and the new series will cover the main characters’ rise to fame in Paris. Given that the current manga story is still taking place in Europe, the anime won’t be able to cover it all, and supposedly it’ll include material from volumes 10 to 16. It’s also worthwhile to note that although most of the J.C.Staff crew is the same, the director will no longer be Kasai Kenichi but Higurashi director Kon Chiaki instead. Hopefully the general feel of the series won’t change too much, and I’m looking forward to hearing Kawasumi Ayako as Nodame again. Odds I’ll Blog This: Good
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	Junjou Romantica 2 http://www.suzukisan.info/ Premieres October 11th, 2008 Airtime in Japan (JST, GMT+9): Saturdays at 25:00 Airtime in U.S. (EST, GMT-4): Saturdays at 12:00 Information Links: ANN Encyclopedia, AnimeNfo, AniDB, syoboi The boys’ love series Junjou Romantica is back as well, and after seeing screenshots of what happened in the first series, I’ll say upfront that I have absolutely no interest in this and am not even going to attempt a brief summary of what the second series will be about. Instead, if this is your kind of series, I’ll point you to Hinano who covered the entire first season and provide the video below. Odds I’ll Blog This: Poor
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	Michiko to Hatchin http://www.michikotohatchin.com/ Premieres October 15th, 2008 Airtime in Japan (JST, GMT+9): Wednesdays at 26:08 Airtime in U.S. (EST, GMT-4): Wednesdays at 13:08 Information Links: ANN Encyclopedia, AnimeNfo, AniDB, syoboi From the studio – manglobe – that brought you Ergo Proxy and Samurai Champloo comes a new series about two girls on the run. One destroyed a prison that’s supposedly impossible to break out of, and the other wants to live freely away from her strict foster parents. I guess they’re kind of like an odd couple Thelma and Louise, and I can already tell from all the promotional material that this’ll be full of South American style and flair. This looks like it’d be a fun series, and if nothing else, I’m probably going to watch at least one episode just to see how good the animation quality is. Odds I’ll Blog This: Good
Show Michiko to Hatchin Promo Videos ▼

Note: I have uploaded all of the promotional material to Yahoo Video streaming, but I am currently away from home and have a very poor connection, so I can’t provide a torrent for the 700MB batch of all the files until Wednesday at the earliest. If I find a solution or a better connection, I’ll update this post with the appropriate download links.

There are many promising shows this upcoming season – so many that I’m probably not even going to be able to write about everything I have marked as “Good”. I’m committed to blogging Gundam 00 and CLANNAD, but pretty much everything else is up in the air. Having said that, I’ve also been itching for another true tears type show, so Akane Iro ni Somaru Saka, ef – a tale of melodies, and CHAOS;HEAD are all fairly high on my priority list. Also, divine has expressed an interest and has already started in reviving the old Snapshots category, so he’ll probably end up covering more first episodes than me, though probably not full series.

As always, comments, questions, and suggestions are welcome.

「心紡いで」 (Kokoro Tsumuide)
“Spinning Heart”

Episode at a Glance:
Feeling responsible for everything that’s happened, Yoite no longer desires to be erased and has chosen to die alone. Miharu however claims that everything’s his fault and explains that he wanted to help Yoite disappear if that’s what Yoite really wanted. After hearing how everyone sees him as an invaluable friend though, Yoite decides to live out his remaining days, so that he doesn’t waste the sentiments that everyone has shown him. Yoite also decides not to change the fact that he learned the Kira even though it would save his life, because he feels it’s the reason why he was able to meet Miharu and everyone else. Eavesdropping outside, Kotarou is disappointed that the Shinrabanshou won’t be used like he was hoping and decides to take off. Likewise, the Shinrabanshou is shocked about being cast off Miharu, who tells her she’s not needed anymore.

Back in Banten, some of Miharu’s regular okonomiyaki customers are surprised at how much he’s grown and how lively he is, while his grandmother surprises herself by recalling memories of Akatsuki and Asahi. Miharu, Raimei, and Kouichi then stop by Kumohira and Hana’s place, where Yoite and Gau are now both staying. With a lot of free time on his hands, Yoite has taken up knitting and hopes to finish a scarf before it’s too late (or too warm to use as Miharu puts it). Gau on the other hand is growing accustomed to going to school in Banten and has joined the kendo club to feel closer to Raikou. Hearing this, Raimei is reminded of how Gau searched for Raikou’s body at the temple but only found a charm he was carrying, which she asked him to hold onto instead since Raikou will always be in her heart.

In the kitchen, Hana tells Kumohira how having everyone around seems like they have children, and wonders if this is motherhood even though she’s never thought about having kids before. Shocked by the notion of children at first, Kumohira reveals that he never imagined he’d be able to live such a peaceful lifestyle and figures it makes him happy. Coming by to see if there’s anything they can help with, Raimei and Kouichi inadvertently walk in on their kiss. Over tea and cookies, Miharu and Kouichi catch sight of Shiratama outside, prompting Miharu to ask about Kouichi’s secret and if he’s okay with things like this. While he’s not sure what Shijima plans to do, Kouichi explains that he’s decided to live as Aizawa Kouichi with the parents that raised him. Elsewhere, Shijima discusses with Kotarou how he was quick to accept Miharu’s decision not to use the Shinrabanshou, which the Fuuma leader suggests can’t be helped. Despite being a bit disappointed, Kotarou adds that there were a lot of hosts that were unable to control the Shinrabanshou, but Miharu was the first to conceal it and refrain from using it. Feeling that there’s more to look forward to in the future, Kotarou is content for now, but Shijima points out that he’s not immortal like her and Kouichi. However, Kotarou retorts that she’s mistaken him for Fuuma Kotarou the human, when the successors of Fuuma Kotarou exist among the information collected about the Shinrabanshou.

Needing to pick up a few groceries for the restaurant, Miharu leaves early but Hana sends Kumohira with him to pick up a few things. On their way there, Miharu confirms that Kumohira knew the truth about him all along and finds out that he didn’t want to forget about his grandfather or Miharu’s parents despite how painful it was. With Kumohira feeling grateful to Asahi now, Miharu suspects that his mother purposely left Kumohira’s memories of that day because she felt that the feelings then were important. At the shopping district, Miharu asks Kumohira to cherish his memories of his mother, after which Yukimi and Kazeho run into them and drop off medication for Yoite. While Yukimi is concerned about Yoite’s health, he haven’t visited him once and refuses to do so since he’s a Kairoushuu. Kazeho on the other hand explains that the medication is merely a placebo now, but hopes it can relieve some of Yoite’s suffering. Before taking off, Yukimi entrusts the recipe of Yoite’s favorite hot lemonade to Miharu and says they’ll never be involved with them again. At the bottom of the recipe, Kumohira notices an address. Meanwhile, Kazeho thinks that Yukimi plans to go help Yoite, but he shows no signs of doing so and says he’s fine with things the way they are.

Some time later, Miharu and Yoite head to the address at the bottom of the recipe, which turns out to be where Yoite’s parents live. There, they run into Yoite’s father, but Yoite merely comments on how nice his garden is before taking off. Yoite later thanks Miharu for bringing him here, feeling that it was a small house with a beautiful garden, before expressing how he thought his father was taller than that. Not quite sure if he’s disappointed about this, Yoite simply feels grateful that he met Miharu. Back at Kumohira and Hana’s house later on, Miharu and Yoite are waiting for everyone to come by to visit. Miharu then steps away for a bit to get some drinks and comes back to find Yoite’s body dissolving into the air. Clutching onto the scarf that Yoite’s been knitting, Miharu vows to never forget him.

Impressions:
I don’t think the culmination of everything that Nabari no Ou represented really hit me until the credits started rolling. While there wasn’t quite enough impact from Yoite’s death for me to shed tears, the music leading up to that point resonating a real sense of bittersweetness, which comes off loud and clear after becoming fond of these characters for the past six months. Yoite moving in with Kumohira and Hana, dressed up in grandmother-like clothes and knitting a scarf, may inadvertently draw a lot of gender-type jokes, but it came across to me as someone on his last legs, trying to enjoy his last days as peacefully as he can. Gau attending school at Banten and learning kendo so that he can be closer to Raikou was a nice touch, as was Yukimi entrusting Yoite’s favorite hot lemonade recipe to Miharu. I was also glad to see that Miharu no longer held a grudge against Kumohira anymore, and instead asked him to cherish his memories of his mother. Most of all, it was nice to see Yoite make peace within himself by visiting the parents that didn’t want him, even though his father didn’t recognize him. It was a long epilogue, but I found myself glued to the screen listening intently to all the dialogue.

Final Impressions:
Despite Nabari no Ou not being the ninja action series that a lot of people expected it to be, I didn’t mind it one bit. While Miharu and Yoite’s relationship could easily be turned into a yaoi one, I never quite understood why a lot of people used that as the reason not to watch the series. In actuality, the whole yaoi premise never took off (nor did I ever think it would), so I imagine it was there just to appeal to the female viewers out there. Regardless, I still really enjoyed the unconvential ninja premise presented in the series and would recommend it to the more mature viewers out there, who are looking for something different than your usual shounen action or Sunrise mecha/politics. Looking back on the past spring and summer season, I kind of wish there were more shows like this, which proved to be relatively unpopular because it strived to be different from the norm. Since the anime is an alternate conclusion to the Nabari story, I think it’s time for me to pick up the mangas I bought and enjoy the ongoing one.

Cast:
- Rokujou Miharu (六条 壬晴) / Kugimiya Rie (釘宮 理恵)
- Yoite (宵風) / Saiga Mitsuki (斎賀 みつき)
- Kumohira Thobari Durandal (雲平・帷・デュランダル) / Namikawa Daisuke (浪川 大輔)
- Aizawa Kouichi (相澤 虹一) / Hino Satoshi (日野 聡)
- Shimizu Raimei (清水 雷鳴) / Fujimura Ayumi (藤村 歩)
- Yukimi Kazuhiko (雪見 和彦) / Tsuda Kenjirou (津田 健次郎)
- Fuuma Kotarou (風魔 小太郎) / Okiayu Ryoutarou (置鮎 龍太郎)
- Seki Hanabusa (関 英) / Mitsuishi Kotono (三石 琴乃)
- Shinrabanshou (森羅万象) / Tamura Yukari (田村 ゆかり)
- Shimizu Raikou (清水 雷光) / Suwabe Junichi (諏訪部 順一)
- Meguro Gau (目黒 俄雨) / Okamoto Nobuhiko (岡本 信彦)
- Amatatsu Kazuho (天立 和穂) / Kano Yui (鹿野 優以)
- Kurookano Shijima (黒岡野 しじま) / Shindou Kei (真堂 圭)
- Yoite’s father (宵風の父) / Koyatsu Hisanori (小谷津 央典)
- Grandmother (祖母) / Takizawa Kumiko (滝沢 久美子)
- Regular customer (常連客) / Saitou Jirou (斉藤 次郎)
- Regular customer (常連客) / Mori Natsuki (森 夏姫)

Summary:

Facing Lelouch with her eyes open, Nunnally notes that it’s been eight years since she’s seen his face, and she calls it the face of a murderer. However, she thinks that she has the same look as him because she’s been the one firing the FLEIJA warheads, and she’s determined to stop him and refuses to hand over the key to the Damocles even if he uses Geass. Nunnally thinks that he is unfit to obtain the world and accuses him of trampling on people’s hearts, so Lelouch questions if she would have preferred to live a life of always having to hide in fear of assassination. He explains that he was doing it for the sake of her future, but Nunnally retorts that she never asked him for that and claims that she’d have been fine with just living with him. Lelouch counters by noting that reality is ruled by various people and that it’s necessary for them to fight.

Regardless, Nunnally considers the Geass power that distorts people’s hearts and tramples on their dignity to be despicable, and when Lelouch points out that the Damocles is the same in how it subjugates people, she surprises him by revealing that the Damocles is to become a symbol of hatred. For the sake of everyone being able to welcome the future, she intends for all of the hatred to be collected there. Realizing Nunnally’s goal, Lelouch decides to use his Geass power on her to force her to hand over the key. She tries to resist, but she soon falls victim to it. Kneeling down in front of her, Lelouch compliments her on how she’s living and acting on her own accord, and he tells her that he loves her as he takes the key. The Geass effect disappears soon after, and when Nunnally realizes what her brother did, she tries to chase after him, but she falls out of her chair and can only curse his name as he walks away.

Meanwhile, in the battle outside, Jeremiah’s Sutherland Sieg gets destroyed by Anya’s Mordred, but he uses the Sutherland unit to grab onto the Mordred and blow itself up. This damages the Mordred’s cockpit, allowing Jeremiah to jump onto it and peer inside at Anya. He wants her to remember his name – the name of the man who defeated her – but Anya knows that memories don’t mean anything for her. Hearing this leads to Jeremiah opening his Geass Canceler eye. Nearby, Kallen and Suzaku’s battle has gotten to the point where the Guren can’t use its radiation surge anymore and the Lancelot is out of shield energy. The two are forced to fight each other in close-quarters combat, and the battle ends only after Suzaku disables the Guren at the same moment that Kallen plunges the Guren’s arm into the Lancelot’s torso. The result is Kallen losing consciousness and Gino saving her while the Lancelot explodes.

In the ocean below, C.C. gets picked up by Kaguya and observes that Kaguya, despite only recently learning of Lelouch’s real face, understood a part of his true nature. Their conversation is interrupted by the detonation of another FLEIJA warhead in the skies above, but this time, it’s Lelouch who fired it. Declaring that Schneizel has surrendered to him and that the Damocles and the FLEIJA warheads are now his, Lelouch threatens everyone with FLEIJA’s power and forces them to obey him. Everything goes according to plan – despite Suzaku now being dead – with Lelouch succeeding in unifying the world, and two months later, he’s in Japan riding in a parade towards the executions of all who opposed him, including the Black Knight leaders and Schneizel. The common people are discontent with his tyrannical rule though, and Cornelia and Villetta are part of a resistance who are planning a strike. Before they can act, a man dressed as Zero suddenly appears in front of the parade, charges through all the guards, and goes straight for Lelouch.

Despite acting surprised, Lelouch smiles because he knows that this Zero is Suzaku in disguise. Some time ago, he had agreed to let Suzaku kill him once he got all of the world’s hate onto himself. The goal was an end to the chain of hatred. He had handed Zero’s mask to Suzaku because the identity of Zero was perfect for this due to the legend of Zero with the Black Knights and due to Schneizel serving Zero. Lelouch believed that this would allow the world to come together through talks rather than military might, and they could face the future. This was the Zero Requiem. Back then, the two had talked about how they knew that people hope for the future, and Lelouch commented on how wishes are similar to Geass in that both are requesting from someone else something that you can’t accomplish with your own power. He had also thought that Suzaku would become a hero by doing this because he’d be saving everyone from the enemy of the world.

As Suzaku now thrusts his sword into Lelouch, he can’t help but shed some tears. Slumping down, Lelouch quietly notes that the punishment for Suzaku is that he’ll be unable to live as himself anymore. He now has to wear that mask as an ally of justice and has to sacrifice his own happiness for world. Suzaku accepts this and pulls the sword out of Lelouch, allowing Lelouch to tumble down the platform towards where Nunnally is chained up. Touching his hand causes Nunnally to get a vision of the truth behind all this, and when she realizes what her brother is doing, she starts crying and declares that she loves him. Losing blood rapidly, Lelouch sees his life flash before his eyes, and his final words are about destroying and creating the world. Shortly after Lelouch closes his eyes, Cornelia appears with her men to declare him dead, and she gets all the prisoners freed. By now, Toudou has figured out who the masked person is, but Kallen insists that it’s just Zero, and the entire crowd starts cheering Zero’s name.

In the aftermath, everyone pursues his or her own path: Milly continues to be a TV reporter, Ougi is an important government official who meets with Zero and Nunnally, Villetta has married Ougi and is quite far along in her pregnancy, and Anya and Jeremiah are working as orange pickers. The matter of the Damocles is even settled by sending it towards the sun. Kallen returns to a normal life at Ashford Academy, and as if talking to Lelouch, she explains how much better the world has become. All the energy put into war is now being applied to hunger and poverty, and hatred was pushed onto Lelouch. Kallen surmises that it’s easier for people to understand a person with a name rather than a system called Damocles, and for that same reason she thinks that everyone is able to move forward without getting caught in the past. She acknowledges that there are still problems, but even so, she’s hopeful.

Meanwhile, in the countryside somewhere, C.C. is riding on a hay cart with her belongings. As she stares up at the sky, she notes that the power of the kings known as Geass makes people lonely, but – addressing Lelouch – she remarks that that wasn’t quite true.

My immediate reaction to this episode was something like disbelief or consternation because of how suddenly things ended. I probably shouldn’t be surprised though that the epilogue felt rushed, and it certainly didn’t help that they chose to use that ALI PROJECT song that I’m not a big fan of to close it all out instead of something better like Colors or Mosaic Kakera. Of course, I said “immediate reaction” because the more I thought about what happened, the more positive I felt about the conclusion. If you’ve been paying attention in the series and didn’t get lost in all of the complexities and plot twists (which even I acknowledge was a little overboard in R2), then you can build a case about Lelouch still being alive based on the Code he might have received. C.C. thus might have been talking directly with Lelouch at the end there instead of her talking with the dead or whatever. Taking that one step further, you could say that Lelouch would now be R.R., aka. R2, the title of the series.

On the other hand, Lelouch might just be dead – that’s the beauty of having a semi-open-ended finale. The ambiguity allows you to interpret what happened however you want. Incidentally, since I’ve spent all this time talking about Lelouch, I should mention that – given all he did – I thought that the burden of having to be Zero forever was a suitable fate for Suzaku. I also thought they did a good job with Lelouch’s death – it was a sad scene, much of it due to the Hitomi song Continued Story playing in the background. But anyway, my point is that for a series that looked at some points like it was going to end in a horrible jumbled mess, this turned out to be a fairly good way to conclude things. How much closure you get out of it depends on how you interpret Lelouch’s fate. And ultimately we’ll never know for sure if he’s alive or dead unless Sunrise makes another sequel with him in it – and I hope that they never do.

Final Thoughts: I think it’s fair to say that R2 is a strong series, but maybe not quite as good as the original. It felt like they were going one direction in the first series and then switched to a completely different direction for the sequel, and the latter just never matched up. But despite the ups and the downs, I still think of CODE GEASS as a really good show – it has some great characters, plenty of excitement and plot twists, and if nothing else, it’s been entertaining the entire way through. That’s more than I can say for a lot of shows. In any case, it’s a little sad to think that a series I’ve been following for so long is finally over, but fortunately the premiere of Gundam 00′s second series next weekend should bring something new to enjoy.

The commercial that aired after today’s CODE GEASS R2 finale is probably the last Gundam 00 second series trailer before it actually begins airing next week. The wailing in the background of this one was rather jarring – it reminded me of Diva’s song from Blood+ – and made the mood of the series seem a lot darker than in the previous commercials. Anyway, it looks like Setsuna will start the new series off with the Exia in a battle against an Ahead mobile suit, but the Exia will probably get destroyed or Setsuna will realize that it’s no longer sufficient, and that will lead to him getting his new Gundam. The thing that caught my eye in the character montage part of the commercial is that in the next to last shot where Sumeragi is in bed while Billy is nearby. Did she sleep with him?

Also, for anyone who’s wondering, the Fall 2008 Preview is now 95% done. I’m going to add the finishing touches after I write up the CODE GEASS R2 finale.

Minami’s house and Cherry-chan:

MMORPG:

Cinderella Kagami attending… a wrestling match?:

Tsukasa trying to outshine Kagami in volleyball!:

Lost in the woods thanks to Konata:

Horror:

Live-action Lucky Channel!:

Impressions:
I wasn’t sure if I was going to blog the Lucky Star OVA at first, but after seeing the massive amount of anime references/parodies they put into it, I felt that it couldn’t go unmentioned. Sectioned off into seven mini chapters, this OVA runs at an amazingly long 42 minutes and is reminiscent of the short skit format used in (the amazingly awesome) Azumanga Daioh. One of my favorite chapters out of the bunch definitely had to be the MMORPG one, since we finally got to see the game that Konata and Nanako always play together—in actual 3D no less! Can you imagine if they actually turned this into a real online game? While I’m sure nothing will ever quite catch up to World of Warcraft in the MMORPG genre, I think there will be an occult following of otakus in Japan who would gladly play it. Heck, I’d even want to try it.

My other favorite chapter is definitely the volleyball one, with that being my “sport of choice” to play in real life. I can’t even tell you how much I’ve longed to see a new volleyball themed anime to be made, so this was probably the next best thing. In fact, the only anime that I can even think of is Attack No.1 waaaayyyy back in 1969. I think it was relatively popular too, since a real-life drama of the same name was aired in 2005. While volleyball may not be that big in North America (even though U.S.A. beat out longtime reigning world champion Brazil at Beijing this year), it’s actually a huge sport in Japan and Europe, so I often wonder why we get baseball, tennis, boxing, racing, etc. anime, but no volleyball. My only qualm about the animation in this chapter is that a lot of characters were shown to be left-handed, which makes me wonder if it was intentional. (I forget if Miyuki, Kagami, and Tsukasa are all left-handed.) In any case, the best part was Kagami’s jump serve packing Tsukasa in the face though!

Other than that, I think the most distinguished chapter is the live-action Lucky Channel, featuring Kogami Akira’s seiyuu, Konno Hiromi and of course, Shiraishi Minoru as himself. While I don’t know what to make of Minoru’s permed wig, Hiromi looked pretty damn cute and is undoubtedly the best real-life Akira you can get. She even dressed up in a sailor uniform with extremely long sleeves to fit the role. However, the best part of that bit had to be Minoru taking a hose to the face for an extended period of time as I couldn’t help but laugh at that.

Cameos, cameos, cameos. Lots of references/parodies too, including CODE GEASS‘ “I’m Zero and I have returned!” and “I’ll use you and throw you away like a dirty rag” lines, Konata referring to Miyuki as the “galactic songstress”, Konata trying to get her team to perform a Jet Stream Attack (originally from Gundam, later Gundam SEED Destiny), Konata’s “Mi-mi-mi-Mikuru” ring tone plus her “Hare Hare Yukai” victory pose à la Suzumiya Haruhi. They even pulled a 24 (TV series) type clock countdown in the scene where Kagami woke up from her dream, and had Shirashi Minoru wear a “Yaranai ka?” necktie (possibly from Minami-ke but just funny in general). There was also Konata transforming Kagami’s outfits into a Tousaka Rin cosplay (Fate/stay night) and eventually Hatsune Miku, the Japanese virtual idol. One of the more subtle cameos had to be Miyuki passing a serve to what looks like Saotome Alto, which is evidently a parody on Miyuki’s seiyuu, Endou Aya, who plays Sheryl Nome in Macross Frontier. Another was Kagami telling Konata that cats aren’t witches and Konata saying she won’t take its soul à la SOUL EATER, where Katou Emiri (Kagami’s seiyuu) plays Blair. There’s a whole slew more too, but those are the ones that come to mind after watching the OVA once through.

「ララ」 (Rara)
“Lala”

Episode at a Glance:
Making his way towards Gid’s spaceship, Rito is left wondering if it’s okay for him to be helped, but Saruyama doubts that anyone’s going to criticize Rito about this unreasonable game. Yui on the other hand is surprised she’s doing something this reckless and is envious of how Lala has a “prince on a white horse” type of hero, so she tells Rito to make sure that he makes it to the goal. The road in front of them is then suddenly destroyed, but Saki, Aya, and Rin come along in a small chopper and offer to help. Onboard the spaceship, Lala wants to leave and help Rito, but Gid orders her to stay, claiming it’s her duty as the imperial princess. With everyone uncomfortably stuffed inside the chopper, Saki reveals that her motivation for helping Rito is because she feels beating Gid is akin to beating Lala. Their chopper is then bombarded with attacking spores causing them to crash, but Yami comes along and bails everyone out, claiming that she’ll be the one that kills Rito.

Meanwhile, Risa and Mio drag Haruna out to help Rito as well, so the three of them take off in Ren’s futuristic, transforming, space taxi. Forced to proceed on foot, Rito’s group soon runs into a clothes dissolving, female molesting slime, which Yami decides to help out with. With everyone stalling the slime so that Rito can continue on, Gid takes notice of Rito’s judgment, guts, and number of friends he has willing to risk their lives for him. Lala is only concerned about her friends though, so Gid reveals that the slime won’t endanger their lives and that the purpose of this game is to make Rito an example for others. Nearing the spaceship, Rito gets paralyzed by spore gas that causes him to fantasize about Lala and Haruna calmly having their way with him. While Rito suspects that this is a dream, he’s overwhelmed by the thought of having both girls to himself and slowly gets sucked into the delusion.

Outside in the real world, Lala and Haruna call out for Rito, which brings him to his senses and makes him realize what he has to do. With everyone cheering him on, Rito manages to make it to the goal just before sunset, where Lala tearfully greets him. Having acknowledged him as the greatest man in the universe, Gid instantly gets Rito to marry Lala, but Rito is hesitant about it with Haruna on his mind. Realizing this, Lala lies about it being a problem with her –- how she wouldn’t be happy marrying Rito without taking his feelings into account –- and annuls the marriage engagement. This comes as a shock to Gid, since the repercussions of annulling a Deviluke engagement would require the destruction of the Earth, but Lala explains that she’ll erase everyone’s memories of her with her Bye Bye Memory device. Despite everyone’s protests, Lala tearfully tells Rito that she knew he’s the nicest person on Earth all along and that she loves him, before pulling the trigger.

At school sometime later, Lala transfers into Rito’s class as a new student, but quickly finds out that her device didn’t work. With everyone welcoming her back as if nothing happened, Lala starts tearing up in relief. Rito then tries to tell Haruna how he feels about her, but she simply stops him with a smile. Unable to hold back the tears any longer, Lala jumps into Rito’s arms.

Epilogue:

Impressions:
For a final episode to a series that started off well but quickly lost wind in the middle, I would say that it was a lot better than I was expecting. First off, they brought in the entire cast at some point (including Ren and Run this time!), plus had everyone get involved with helping Rito. To me, this is almost a necessity for a two season series with a cast this large. Next up, they gave us the obligatory fan service in the form of some alien slime bondage, which admittedly comes off as a form of tentacle rape, but will surely please those with such fetishes. (Yui is looking particularly good there in my opinion…) In an unexpected turn of events, the finale also gave us a glimpse at the potential harem ending that everyone pretty much figured wouldn’t happen. While it was only a delusion Gid placed on Rito to test him, I can’t help but wonder how many guys out there would be able to resist this kind of predicament. That’s right Rito, you keep your hands down there!

While nothing was really resolved in the (26 episode) long run between Rito, Lala, and Haruna, I can’t imagine anyone expecting some closure from a harem anime. It’s usually the angst of the ongoing perverted interactions that this genre revolves around, so having any form of serious closure would only defeat that purpose. With that said, I was happy to see them add some drama the best they could, with Rito’s valiant struggle to the finish line backed by everyone cheering him on being one of the most prominent. The other of course being Lala deciding to erase everyone’s memories on Earth about her existence and trying to win over Rito anew. With Lala so serious about her decision that it even shocked Gid (mainly due to the repercussions of annulling a Deviluke marriage), I was naturally taken back a bit by it as well. It’s almost as if Gid didn’t want to see the Earth destroyed after he just acknowledged Rito as the greatest man in the universe, so I really wasn’t really fond of that idea either. Of course, it would be simply wrong to end on such a depressing note, so let’s all be glad that Lala’s inventions never work for a change! I know Lala is.

Final Impressions:
While To LOVE-Ru was met with a lot of opposition when it first started airing, I found it as an ample opportunity to try and show the other side of harem anime. i.e. The simple realization that it’s meant to be kind of idiotic, comedic, ecchi, but most of all fun. Keeping those goals in mind, this genre never aspires to be overly profound with its plot, so if you come in with unreasonable expectations, you’ll undoubtedly leave disappointed. Evidently, lack of a thick plot turns some viewers away instantly, as does any signs of a series being overly fan-service, but there are a lot of people out there who enjoy their To LOVE-Rus with their CODE GEASSes and Macross Frontiers—myself included. In a real world analogy, if you go into McDonald’s expecting a gourmet burger, you’ll probably end up giving up on fast food chains altogether. However, if you look at McDonald’s for what it is, you may find that it’s pretty good in moderation. Much like our diet, I find that having a well-balanced selection of anime to watch really helps diversify one’s tastes and opens one’s mind to the other shows out there. When everything’s seen in the broader sense, one might even grow to like a genre they usually simply disregarded without giving it a chance.

With that said, there is of course varying degrees of quality within a genre so I’m not advocating To LOVE-Ru in particular here. In fact, I was disappointed with how several episodes were completely devoid of the love triangle between the main characters. While I don’t mind that the anime strayed completely from the manga, I wish it focused a bit more on the love triangle theme rather than the new aliens they kept introducing week after week. Because of this, I almost wish they took the good portion of the series and compressed the number of episodes down to a single season instead of dragging it out for two. However, unlike a lot of people though, I actually didn’t mind the Saruyama-centric episodes, as I found him rather amusing being played by Yoshino Hiroyuki (Allelujah Haptism in Gundam 00, Treize in Allison & Lillia). To me, he was sort of the unsung hero in the series as he was always openly perverted, but never really acted on those urges despite being the only other male close to Rito’s harem.

Looking back, I felt that this series had a lot of potential (which is why I was pretty excited about it after reading the synopsis), but fell short in terms of what I was hoping for from a harem anime. It did have its moments though, but unfortunately the inconsistent quality of the content week to week had my anticipation of each new episode declining. We can’t expect every harem anime to turn out into a Love Hina, so to be objective about it, I would say that the series was “fun” but by no means “great”. I did like it more than Kanokon though, which started airing at the same time. If anyone has checked out the DVD versions of Kanokon, you can see exactly what kind of show they were going for, so To LOVE-Ru was a much better series in comparison.

Overall, it’s been fun covering To LOVE-Ru (with some weeks being a lot more fun than others), so if nothing else, I hope you enjoyed all the ecchi screenshots I included. =P

Cast:
- Yuuki Rito (結城 梨斗) / Watanabe Akeno (渡辺 明乃)
- Lala Satalin Deviluke (ララ・サタリン・デビルーク) / Tomatsu Haruka (戸松 遥)
- Sairenji Haruna (西連寺 春菜) / Yahagi Sayuri (矢作 紗友里)
- Gid Lucione Deviluke (ギオ・ルシオン・デビルーク) / Nakamura Hidetoshi (中村 秀利)
- Zastin (ザスティン) / Koyasu Takehito (子安 武人)
- Saruyama (猿山) / Yoshino Hiroyuki (吉野 裕行)
- Tenjouin Saki (天条院 沙姫) / Kawasumi Ayako (川澄 綾子)
- Momioka Risa (籾岡 里沙) / Yuzuki Ryouka (柚木 涼香)
- Sawada Mio (沢田 未央) / Chiba Chiemi (千葉 千恵巳)
- Kotegawa Yui (古手川 唯) / Nadzuka Kaori (名塚 佳織)
- Ren/Run (レン／ルン) / Ooura Fukuya (大浦 冬華)
- Peke (ペケ) / Arai Satomi (新井 里美)
- Konjiki no Yami (金色の闇) / Fukuen Misato (福圓 美里)
- Mikado Ryouko (御門 涼子) / Jou Masako (城 雅子)
- Yuuki Mikan (結城 美柑) / Hanazawa Kana (花澤 香菜)
- Kujou Rin (九条 凛) / Hashimoto Mai (橋本 まい)
- Fujisaka Aya (藤崎 綾) / Mizuhashi Kaori (水橋 かおり)
- Honekawa-sensei (骨川先生) / Asou Tomohisa (麻生 智久)

「秘密です！」 (Himitsu Desu!)
“It’s a Secret!”

Episode at a Glance:
After making her grand appearance with her parents, Haruka notices that Yuuto isn’t among the guests yet. Just outside the ballroom, Mika runs into Yuuto, who’s still dwelling on what Shute said about his present. Heading inside, the two of the witness Haruka blowing out the candles on a gigantic birthday cake. After Yuuto wishes her happy birthday loudly, he receives a number from Mika for his turn to give his present to Haruka. Noticing Ruko and Yukari in their usual drunken stupor, Yuuto avoids them and inadvertently runs into Shute, who riducules Yuuto about his Dojikko Aki-chan present after finding out what it is. Seeing first hand the expensive presents that Haruka’s receiving (gold, accesories, dresses, cars), Yuuto retrieves his figurine and decides to leave the party, feeling that he’s an unwanted guest.

On his way out, Yuuto runs into the old man from yesterday and explains why he’s leaving, making the latter disappointed that Yuuto’s not the spirited man he thought he was. The old man then questions how the first person Haruka’s every invited can be an unwanted guest, reminding Yuuto of everything he’s been through with Haruka up until now. Remembering that the Haruka he knows is a little clumsy, airheaded, and only shares her secret hobby with him, Yuuto heads back just in time for his number, which happens to be just ahead of Shute. With everyone pleased to see Yuuto, Shute wonders what he’s still doing here, especially after cutting in on his turn. However, Yuuto completely ignores Shute and wishes Haruka a happy birthday while presenting her with the figurine. Despite being amused that Yuuto didn’t heed his warning about giving a toy as a present, Shute and all the other guests are shocked to see how happy Haruka is about it, with her adding that any present from Yuuto makes her the happiest.

Since it’s a day of celebration, Gentou offers to shake Yuuto’s hand as well, which draws more attention from the guests. Shute on the other hand wonders just who Yuuto is and runs crying to his father about being insulted by Yuuto. The old man then appears, claiming Yuuto didn’t do anything wrong since it was his turn and that Yuuto simply gave Haruka the present that made her the happiest. Annoyed by another interference, Shute questions who the old man is, but his father soon realizes who it is and punches Shute out before making his stupid son apologize to the old man and Yuuto. Seeing this, Gentou questions why the old man is dressed up like that again, after which Hazuki announces the old man’s present—an illusionary Rainbow Snake which is supposed to bring happiness if presented on one’s seventeenth birthday. Hazuke then introduced as Nogizaka Ouki—the current head of the Nogizaka family. Shortly after, everyone’s enjoying the fireworks and Gentou is surprisingly lenient towards Haruka’s relationship with Yuuto in front of Ouki.

Later that night in her room, Haruka shows Yuuto her beloved anime treasures and explains that if it wasn’t for the boy that gave her the first edition of Innocent Smile, she may have never met Yuuto. Reminded of what Nobunaga said, Yuuto recalls that it was Haruka who he gave the magazine away to in order to cheer her up. Laughing at how this could be either a huge coincidence or destiny, Yuuto refrains from explaining to Haruka, prompting her to inadvertently push him over. Caught in the moment, one thing leads to another and the two of them are about to kiss, when all the eavesdroppers outside come crashing through the door by accident. Among them is Ouki and Akiho as well, but Gentou soon comes along questioning what the hell Yuuto’s doing to his daughter. With everyone scrambling, Yuuto invites Haruka to go to Akihabara again when they return and together they tell Gentou that what they’re planning is a secret. Unable to catch up, Gentou soon gives up in tears.

ED Sequence:

Impressions:
So as suspected by myself and many others, the old man last episode is none other than Haruka’s grandfather, Nogizaka Ouki. Also, Shute turned out to be nothing more than a bother as there was realistically no way for him to get close to Haruka like Yuuto has. I was a bit worried that Shute was going to break Yuuto’s present at the beginning of the episode though, after him and his group of “thugs” bullied Yuuto like a group of kids at a playground (… which was pretty pathetic). While I would’ve like to see Yuuto punch those guys in the face, all that was really needed to restore his confidence was a little reminder of how far things have come between him and Haruka. While I reveled in Shute’s “wtf owned” reaction, I still enjoyed watching him get beat up by his own father for disrespecting the head of Nogizaka family. I was rather sick of hearing him refer to Haruka as “Fräulein” over and over again too, so I was glad someone shut him up.

Other than that, Yuuto’s realization that he gave Nobunaga’s first edition of Innocent Smile to Haruka way back when finally hit him. I found it interesting how he was able to laugh it off as a huge coincidence and/or destiny and how he decided not to tell Haruka about it. In any case, I’ve lost count of how many times we’ve seen this flashback all blurred out, so I’m rather relieved that finally showed us Haruka’s face, even though we already knew it was her all along. As for their first kiss together, it befittingly turned out to be a big tease, especially with the “dominating approach” that Yuuto decided to use. While I was left wondering about whatever happened to innocent first kisses, I guess this approach gives us a lot more Haruka fan-service (including a brief underwear shot). Seeing as the two of them claim they have another secret now, I’m under the impression that they actually did kiss, but you can blame the illusionary Rainbow Snake for blocking our view when it happened. So yeah, big tease. Oh right, you can blame these people too. =)

As for Shiina, she didn’t have a part in the finale, but did show up in the ending sequence working at a cosplay cafe in Akihabara. Also, Satou Rina played a minor role as the maid in the beginning

Final Impressions:
As I mentioned before, this series didn’t turn out quite like I expected, but I found it interesting viewing things from a different perspective than other series about otakus or Akiba-kei. At first, I pictured Yuuto to be more of a sarcastic type of character that would tease Haruka a bit about her hobby before getting closer to her; however, Yuuto turned out to be the most realistically believable male protagonist I’ve seen in a romance comedy in a while now. With the series being completely devoid of any sarcasm between Yuuto and Haruka, the whole Akiba-kei thing really took a backseat to the relationship aspects of the series. Personally, I was hoping to see a fair bit of romance in addition to the otaku comedy, but was surprised when it turned out to be basically all romance in an otaku setting. Luckily, this formula proved to work well for me, so I wouldn’t really use it as a reason to knock the series, unless of course you were hoping to see something more along the lines of Genshiken.

In retrospect, I assume that some people will be unhappy with an ending that barely advanced Yuuto and Haruka’s relationship, but I found that it’s the little nuances of their relationship — going on that first date in Akihabara, protecting Haruka’s secret from everyone, going to their first comiket together, defending Haruka’s hobby in front of her parents, sharing in their first school festival together — that made the series enjoyable to watch. As such, I find the series going out on a comedic note rather appropriate. If Yuuto and Haruka’s relationship instantly became more “serious” than an innocent high school-like one, I imagine it would feel out of place given the context laid out by the series thus far. The two of them got closer, struggled their way through various obstacles, and are in a “good place” right now, so I’m content with the “coming full circle” type of ending here.

Overall, I enjoyed the series, so I hope you did too. As usual, thanks for reading!

Cast:
- Nogizaka Haruka (乃木坂 春香) / Noto Mamiko (能登 麻美子)
- Ayase Yuuto (綾瀬 裕人) / Hatano Wataru (羽多野 渉)
- Nogizaka Mika (乃木坂 美夏) / Gotou Mai (後藤 麻衣)
- Sakurazaka Hadzuki (桜坂 葉月) / Shimizu Kaori (清水 香里)
- Nanashiro Nanami (七城 那波) / Ueda Kana (植田 佳奈)
- Ayase Ruko (綾瀬 ルコ) / Nabatame Hitomi (生天目 仁美)
- Kamishiro Yukari (上代 由香里) / Matsuki Miyu (松来 未祐)
- Asakura Nobunaga (朝倉 信長) / Takagi Reiko (高木 礼子)
- Nogizaka Gentou (乃木坂 玄冬) / Tachiki Fumihiko (立木 文彦)
- Nogizaka Akiho (乃木坂 秋穂) / Hisakawa Aya (久川 綾)
- Nogizaka Ouki (乃木坂 王季) / Naya Rokurou (納谷 六郎)
- Shute Sutherland (シュート・サザーランド) / Majima Junji (間島 淳司)
- Shute’s father (シュート父) / Taniguchi Takashi (谷口 節)
- Maid (メイド) / Satou Rina (佐藤 利奈)
- Celebrity A (セレブA) / Akashi Kaori (明石 香織)
- Celebrity B (セレブB) / Manaka Keigo (真仲 恵吾)
- Celebrity C (セレブC) / Oda Hisafumi (小田 久史)
- Celebrity D (セレブD) / Nakata Hayato (中田 隼人)

「犯人は密かに笑う」 (Hannin wa Hisoka ni Warau)
“The Culprit Laughs Secretly”

Episode at a Glance:
With their train surrounded, Travas learns that the poorly dressed and armed men outside are after the gold they believe to be onboard, making him suspect that the real motive is elsewhere. On the other train, Treize passes on Allison’s request to summarize a thick history book she’s borrowed from Travas, after which the prince is led on about a potential marriage by Lillia, only to find out that she’s talking about Allison and Travas. Feeling that Travas sometimes has a sad look in his eyes, Lillia thinks that marrying Allison would make them both happy. Meanwhile, the long-haired man informs Weasel that Lillia doesn’t appear to be the girl they’re after, but suspects that she’ll likely be more frantically protected than Treize. Realizing that she’s the daughter of Allison, a soldier, Weasel decides to use Lillia instead.

Back on Travas’ end, him and his men are given five minutes to disarm themselves and come out, but he refuses and gets Izuma to start up the train again after they learn that the instrumentation hasn’t been damaged. During this time, Lillia discusses with Treize about the school dance that she has no partner for, and forces Treize to practice with her when her motivation to attend is renewed. Axe on the other hand reassures Matilda that Travas’ plans have never failed, but is shocked to learn that Lillia is her leader’s daughter. Being pursued by some of the men in cars, Travas worries about being rear-ended by the next train, but is surprised to learn that the junction behind them has already been switched. Deducing that all of this was a trap, Travas gets Ozette to shoot out the tire on their pursuers’ vehicle, forcing them to abandon it. With the car surprisingly staying on course with no driver, Travas jumps onboard to commandeer it as their new form of of transportation (after a tire change). Updating Matilda on the change of plans, Travas is surprised to see Axe diverting her eyes from him.

Outside, Axe questions Travas if he knew that she’s the daughter of Captain Graz, prompting him to reveal that he killed her father when the mural was discovered. Understanding that she has every reason to want to exact revenge on him, Travas felt that keeping her closest to him was for the best, making Axe wonder if it’s because he was hoping it would calm her desire for revenge. However, Travas surprises Axe by claiming that he doesn’t expect to do so, leaving her confused and on the verge of tears. Another one of the hijackers then suddenly shows up in a car, so Axe instinctively jumps in front of Travas and disarms the attacker, after which she explains that she’s simply following through with her father’s philosophy of upholding the mission until the very end. Travas then explains that the true target isn’t Matilda, who comes out of the train suspecting that it’s actually Treize they’re after. Having considered the possibility, Travas makes the difficult decision of continuing to escort Matilda and disregarding Treize, Lillia, and Allison, but the princess decides to head back to save the other passengers and has them accompany her.

Back on the other train, Lillia wishes that Treize was at her school so that she could go to the dance party even though he’s no good at dancing. Another female passenger then comes by asking Lillia to help her with a broken dress strap, but is led into another room where Weasel knocks her and the woman out. Thinking to himself, Weasel suspects that “they” will be coming this way soon. With the long-haired man distracting Treize, Allison and him notice that the train unexpectedly changes tracks and is forced to stop. While Allison originally suspects that they took a wrong turn on an unmarked military junction, her and Treize soon learn that the train has been separated and that the other half has taken off with Lillia.

Next Episode:
「私の王子様」 (Watashi no Ouji-sama)
“My Prince”

Impressions:
Well I was close in suspecting that the target is actually someone other than Matilda, but was a bit surprised that it doesn’t appear to be Treize either, even though Travas and his group suspect that it is. I’m somewhat thrown into the loop on who they actually plan to lure out with Lillia though, after Weasel figured that she’d be more useful than Treize. Given how things have unfolded, I want to say it’s Travas since having him around can’t be beneficial to certain people, but unless it’s some grand scheme to have him separated from everyone first, I can’t see what the purpose of this roundabout plan would be. (Keep in mind, Weasel was simply asked to do a hit.) With that said, I love how this is leading towards a dramatic conclusion to the series, but get the feeling that the revelation of Travas and Treize’s true identities to Lillia may end up a bit rushed. The last episode’s title, “My Prince”, evidently foreshadows a lot of how things will turn out, but I love how Lillia continues to lead Treize on in the preview narration.

Overall, the episode was fairly straight-forward, so if you’ve been following all the plot foundation that has been laid before hand (which I’ve tried to be detailed about in my summaries), it comes off as a natural unwinding of events. I would say that the biggest revelation this episode was confirmation that Captain Graz is Axe’s father (my apologies if I my over-analyzing spoiled this prematurely) and her learning that Travas inadvertently killed him when the mural was discovered. I sort of expected that Travas isn’t the type of person to keep Axe nearby in an attempt to tide over her desire for revenge, but was happy to see Axe loyally protect her commanding officer as his right-hand woman when the time came up. I’d imagine it’d be difficult serving and protecting the person who killed your father, regardless of it happening during a war that has since ended though, so that was a big plus on Axe’s character.

Last but not least, it’s sure been a while since we’ve seen Allison and Wil riding a two-seater plane together, so it’s quite nostalgic to see how they look now compared to before. All that’s left now is the finale that’s coming up next week and it looks like it’ll be a good one! I know I’m looking forward to it.

Note: The finale will be aired in the wake of the slew of new fall shows premiering next week, but I’ll do my best to ensure that it’s not overshadowed too much.

Cast:
- Lillia (リリア) / Mizuki Nana (水樹 奈々)
- Trieze (トレイズ) / Yoshino Hiroyuki (吉野 裕行)
- Allison (アリソン) / Kuwashima Houko (桑島 法子)
- Travas (トラヴァス) / Morikawa Toshiyuki (森川 智之)
- Benedict (ベネディクト) / Yamadera Kouichi (山寺 宏一)
- Fiona (フィオナ) / Noto Mamiko (能登 麻美子)
- Matilda (マティルダ) / Fujimura Chika (藤村 知可)
- Axe (アックス) / Toyoguchi Megumi (豊口 めぐみ)
- Ozette (オゼット) / Hoshino Mitsuaki (星野 充昭)
- Izuma (イズマ) / Nishi Rintarou (西凛 太郎)
- Uno (ウーノ) / Kobayashi Toshio (小林 俊夫)
- Ed (エド) / Konno Jun (金野 潤)
- Weasel (ウィーゼル) / Kawashima Tokuyoshi (川島 得愛)
- Man 1 (男1) / Egawa Hisao (江川 央生)
- Man 2 (男2) / Hirai Keiji (平井 啓二)
- Long-haired Man (長髪の男) / Kazama Yuuto (風間 勇刀)

Summary:

With Alto’s Valkyrie destroyed and one of the Vajra capital ships about to fire its main cannon at the Battle Frontier, the situation looks bleak for Sheryl and the Frontier fleet. Fortunately for them, the Macross Quarter defolds at that exact moment and destroys the Vajra ship. The ensuing explosion hits Brera’s Valkyrie, and the shock from it destroys the device on his head that was controlling him. Jeffery then surprises the Frontier high command by announcing that the Macross Quarter has returned to destroy the ambitions of Grace and her Galaxy allies. Leon tries to dismiss this as nonsense, but Alto suddenly starts broadcasting to everyone, saying that there’s proof. Before he had ejected from his Valkyrie, he had seen through the giant Ranka and realized that the real Ranka was being held captive, and he now urges the fleet to shoot the deception. The Macross Frontier does exactly that, and the result of the blast is the disappearance of the giant Ranka and the appearance of the Battle Galaxy. Jeffery isn’t quite done though: he also accuses Leon of assassinating President Glass, and Leon subsequently gets arrested.

Grace meanwhile interfaces with the Vajra Queen and has the Battle Galaxy send out its full complement of Ghost V9s. As these start shredding through the Frontier’s forces, Kuran and Luca bring Alto the Valkyrie he left behind on the Macross Quarter. Before getting onboard, Alto messages Sheryl with a vow to save Ranka and a call for her to help by waking Ranka with her song. This motivates Sheryl to start singing again, and as she does, Alto thinks about how he had heard Ranka’s heart crying out and how he had once told her to feel instead of think. He then joins Ozma, Kuran, and Luca in an attack on the enemy fleet, and his yelling for Ranka to wake up and regain her true song causes a reaction in her that shatters the harmonica that Brera gave her. However, right as Ranka regains consciousness, Grace takes control of the Vajra Queen lets out a massive Fold wave. This creates a network structure that allows the Galaxy group to feel the galaxy, and Grace announces that they’ve obtained the entire universe. She claims that even Protoculture fears this power, and as the massive Vajra Queen rises from the planet, Grace explains that they’ve become a super dimensional life form.

When none of Ozma’s missiles can penetrate through the Vajra Queen’s barrier, Luca realizes that there is a dimensional dislocation at play. Grace notes that songs are meaningless to them since they’ve connected directly with the queen, and she wants everyone to grovel in front of the power that rivals a god. Her commands even cause Vajra to defold in places as far away as the Macross 11 fleet and Macross City back on Earth. The subsequent Vajra attack destroys numerous ships of the Frontier fleet, and Alto suddenly senses something happening to Sheryl. It is at this moment that everyone starts to hear Ranka singing, and Brera urges her to put all her feelings into her song because he feels that stopping this fighting is their atonement. Her singing causes an immediate halt in the Vajra attack, and Ranka then reaches out to Sheryl, telling her to stand back up. Sheryl, however, thinks that her job is done and that there’s nothing left. This leads to Ranka slapping Sheryl, and Ranka cites how she and Alto were able to fly because of Sheryl. Alto joins in on the conversation to remind Sheryl how she had vowed never to give up, and he calls both girls his wings. Urging Sheryl to fly again, Ranka heals her and moves the bacteria from Sheryl’s head to her stomach.

As a reinvigorated Sheryl starts singing with Ranka, Jeffery tells the Frontier fleet that the Vajra are not their true enemies – Grace is. Then, with the help of the Macross Quarter, Alto makes his way into the Battle Galaxy and rescues Ranka. Grace doesn’t let this bother her though and instead has the Vajra Queen fire a massive blast at Island 1. To everyone’s surprise, the Vajra not under Grace’s control gather around Island 1 and use themselves as a shield to protect it. Afterward, Ai-kun flies to Alto’s Valkyrie, and Ranka figures out that her and Sheryl’s song reached the Vajra. She now knows that the Vajra have feelings, but they are different from humans and found mankind strange. Ranka finally realizes that they’re all different, and if they don’t properly convey their feelings, then they won’t understand each other. She continues singing in conjunction with Sheryl after Alto returns her to the Macross Quarter, and between the two of them and Ai-kun, they convert most of the remaining Vajra. These very Vajra open up a hole in the field around the Vajra Queen, but the Battle Galaxy uses that hole to fire its massive cannon at the Macross Quarter and the Battle Frontier.

Unwilling to let things end like this, Canaria flies the König Monster onto the Battle Galaxy and fires her main cannons at its head. Jeffery uses this opportunity to order a Macross Attack which results in the Macross Quarter destroying the Battle Galaxy’s cannon, and the Battle Frontier follows that up with a punch that finishes off the Battle Galaxy. Armed with Mikhail’s sniper rifle – given to him by Kuran – Alto then charges the Vajra Queen, but he comes under attack by Grace’s VF-27s. Luckily for him, Brera comes to his rescue, and Brera tells Alto to aim for the Queen’s head because the Vajra’s heart is in their stomach, not their head. With Sheryl and Ranka’s song spurring them on, the two make their way right up to the Vajra Queen and manage to detach its head with a volley of missiles. Alto then aims for the pod containing Grace with Mikhail’s sniper rifle, and one perfect shot later, it’s all over. As Island 1, the Battle Frontier, and the Macross Quarter descend onto the planet, everyone can hear Aimo, and Bobby wonders what this song was for if the Vajra didn’t need to communicate. Remembering what her mother had once told her, Ranka explains that it’s a song of love. Ranshe had said that Vajra meet a swarm from another galaxy every several hundred million years, and this was the mating call.

In the aftermath, once everyone is on the planet, Sheryl finds Ranka in an open field. The two see Alto come down and eject from his damaged Valkyrie, and he uses his EX-Gear to soar across what he calls a genuine sky . Seeing the look on Sheryl’s face as she watches Alto, Ranka declares that she won’t lose in song or love, and Sheryl accepts the challenge. Both of them know that it all starts from here now, and they run to Alto as he flies towards them with his hand stretched out.

All things considered, I thought they did a pretty good job with this ending. It wasn’t amazing but it still had tons of great music during an epic-scale battle – “mecha porn” so to speak – that concluded most of the important parts of the story. In fact, I think they went through pretty much every single Ranka or Sheryl song ever featured in this series, sometimes in quick succession. It sounded a bit too much like a mashup at times, but I still liked it, especially the Diamond Crevasse and Seikan Hikou parts. I also found it noteworthy that several of the scenes, particularly this one where Ranka and Sheryl were singing Lion, mirrored various shots from the OP sequences. Directors often say that the OP is important for clues about what will happen, but this is one of the few times I’ve seen scenes copied out of an OP like that. Not that that’s a bad thing – I actually found it kind of cool.

I’ve noticed a lot of people saying that this ending was rushed, but I really didn’t feel that way as I was watching the episode. There was a lot to cover, and I thought the director and writers got through it all in a fairly good manner. The main thing I didn’t like about the ending is the fact that Alto never explicitly had to choose between Ranka and Sheryl. Part of me was expecting something like this (it led to my previous comments on how Alto might end up with no one), but I still wish Alto had made a decision in the end instead of just flying around enjoying the sky. That part of him just didn’t mature enough to make him a better male lead, and the fact that so much of the series had focused on the love triangle made it all especially unsatisfying. One consolation/clue about which way he’s leaning is how he’s still wearing Sheryl’s earring at the very end, and it even sparkles as if the director wanted us to pay extra attention to it. Or maybe that’s just the preference I have for Sheryl speaking. Regardless, there was a movie version of Macross Frontier announced after this finale, so that could potentially give a more conclusive ending.

Final Thoughts: It’s only been half a year, but it feels like I’ve been watching Macross Frontier for much longer. That’s probably because of the special first episode debut all the way back during Christmas-time last year, and I can still remember how damn impressed I was by it. I’d say the rest of the series more or less lived up to my expectations, and I have to take a moment to applaud Yoko Kanno, Nakajima Megumi, May’n, and the rest of the folks who worked on the music and songs because that was undoubtedly the best part of it all. I can’t wait to hear everything that’s on the second OST coming out October 8th. In any case, it’s sad to see a series like this come to an end, and I’m looking forward to seeing what the movie brings – hopefully more great music and some closure on the love triangle.

Coming up next week: Kuroshitsuji will be taking Macross Frontier’s time-slot!

「Misty 振り下ろされる刃！」 (Misty. Furiorosareru Yaiba!)
“Misty. The Blade Comes Swinging Down!”

Episode at a Glance:
Using the Sword of Light, Gourry is able to inflict some damage on Zanaffar, but Pokota reminds him that the sword’s a replica and they’re finished if it dies out. Meanwhile, Ducuris explains that a dark magic user such as Lina wasn’t expected in his plans, thinking that Pokota and his replica Sword of Light would be the only threat to Zanaffar. Surprised that Ducuris knows about her forbidden spells, Lina learns that the information came from Ozel, making her wonder what else the doll knows. With Ducuris refraining from talking more about Ozel, Lina retorts how his actions are contradictory on two fronts—Zanaffar absorbing all humans will leave it nothing left to eat, and Ducuris attempting to kill her out of fear of the powers the beast would obtain if she were absorbed. During this time, Zanaffar hides itself underground and tells Zelgadis and the others how it’ll show them fear and despair.

Claiming that he doesn’t know whether humans are on a path of self destruction or have hope, Ducuris declares that he’s entrusted everything to fate, including how people overlooked Taforashia’s epidemic, Gioconda’s treachery, and Zanaffar’s revival, adding that if fate wants the world destroyed, then so be it. Back in the underground coliseum, Ozel awakens and rhetorically questions Rezo if this is fate, before revealing that the Red Priest has entrusted “it” to those who have the power to break free from fate. After Lina and Sylphiel exchange a few blows with Ducuris, Zanaffar appears and attacks his supposedly ally, revealing that it wants to speed up his transformation into Zanaffar—a fate distilled on him as soon as he put on the armor. With Lina and the others trying to fight fate, Pokota runs off to check on Ducuris, who has already accepted his impending transformation.

Having evacuated all the civilians, Phil orders an all out attack on Zanaffar and tells everyone not to hold back because the town can be rebuilt. Meanwhile, Pokota learns that Ducuris’ consciousness is already being taken over by Zanaffar and that his excitement at the thought of humans dying rising; however, Ducuris reveals he still can’t forgot the abandoned people of Taforashia. Looking on at the carnage that Zanaffar is causing, Weiser runs into Xellos and neither have any intent on getting involved, with the latter claiming his job is unrelated to the beast. On the other end, Lina and everyone else continue their struggle with Zanaffar, who finds an opportunity to explain how he was created by the proud and magically-powerful inhabitants of Sairaag. A supposed perfect fusion of magic power and absorption power, Zanaffar was created as the invincible weapon that could go up against the gods and Mazoku themselves; however, the creation went berserk in its incomplete state and destroyed the city. With Zanaffar thinking that it’s complete now, it reveals its ambitions to potentially rule the world. Hearing this, Lina figures that the beast is trying to take the place of the gods, but proclaims that the only one that rules over her is Lina Inverse.

Lina then leads the attack and calls for Sylphiel to create a rain shower like they planned. With Zelgadis, Amelia, and all the other Seyruun mages casting ice spells to freeze Zanaffar, the beast finds itself trapped from being overconfident about its immunity. Gourry then tries to go in for a killing blow, but the Sword of Light suddenly loses power, so Lina starts casting her Ragna Blade. Zanaffar starts to break free though, making Lina realize that she doesn’t have enough time to complete the incantation, but Ducuris comes along and attacks Zanaffar’s eyes to buy time. Using a combined Ragna Blade/Sword of Light attack, Lina and Gourry are able to severely injure the beast, after which Lina finishes it off with a Dragon Slave. With the corpse of Zanaffar still giving off its consciousness, Phil decides to block off the area while Pokota plants a Fragun seed from Taforashia to help absorb the beast’s influence.

Ducuris then suddenly reappears and attacks everyone head-on, but Pokota protects him having realized that he’s still human. Not quite sure why he’s still able to retain his normal self, Ducuris wonders if it’s because of the body’s he in. He then asks Pokota to cast judgment on him as prince of Taforashia, claiming that this is his last lesson to him. However, Pokota finds that he’s unable to kill Ducuris, so Phil steps in explaining that Pokota was able to carve his duty as a royalty in his heart. Questioning who can cast a perfect judgment anyway, Phil then proposes to give Ducuris a more difficult fate—living on with the burden of the lives he’s taken. The prince of Seyruun also asks that Ducuris come back to them if they’ve made a mistake in letting him go, but the half-transformed Zanaffar wonders if he’s even capable of that. Leaving Taforashia in Pokota’s hands, Ducuris leaves and bids farewell to him.

With Seyruun rebuilding, Pokota reflects on his arrogance and inability to do anything, vowing he’ll never forget his mistakes. With everyone shifting their focus to Taforashia, Lina’s left wondering about the situation with Rezo.

ED Sequence:

Impressions:
Seeing as Lina hadn’t used her Ragna Blade or Dragon Slave on Zanaffar yet, I was left wondering exactly how effective they would be. Well to put those questions to rest, we were treated to a “little” Ragna Blade/Sword of Light combination slash followed up by a Dragon Slave.

Anyway, there sure was a lot of talk about fate/destiny in this episode, with Ducuris trying to prove that everything (especially misfortune) happens because of it. Since he was willing to use Zanaffar to help ascertain this, saying he wasn’t dealing with Taforashia’s fate “well” is putting it ever so lightly. Despite how together he appeared all this time, I’m inclined to say that he had already gone mad deep down inside. Case in point, it was pretty contradictory of him to want to kill Lina so that Zanaffar can’t absorb her and obtain her darkness magic, simply because he feared it would make the beast ridiculously overpowered. However, he did sort of redeem himself at the end, helping Lina and the others out and asking Pokota to kill him, but lo and behold our little prince couldn’t do it, making me wonder what’s going to happen with a semi-transformed Zanaffar running a muck. While Phil has stipulated that Ducuris come to them later on if they’ve made a mistake about letting him go, I question how that will even be possible when his consciousness is consumed by Zanaffar’s. Needless to say though, this probably isn’t the last we’ve seen of Ducuris, but the ending sequence hints at more of Zuuma‘s involvement in the second half of the series.

So as it turns out, Zanaffar was created by Sairaag in an attempt to have the perfect weapon that can go up against the gods and the Mazoku themselves, but went berserk and destroyed the city due to flaws in its design. Naturally, created beings never like to think they’re incomplete, thus explaining the beast’s path of destruction to establish itself as an existence above the gods and the Mazoku. This subsequently explains why Xellos has been hanging around and why the Mazoku don’t want to see Zanaffars multiplying to the point where they could possibly challenge them. Aside from that, they broke out “Plenty of grit” again during the epic fight at the end, which gave me goosebumps while watching it. I’m not sure what it is about seeing a bunch of people band together for a seemingly hopeless fight and succeeding against all odds that tugs on my emotional strings so much, but it seems like it works every time. During that scene, I was cheering for Lina and Gourry in my mind as they pulled out the Ragna Blade/Sword of Light attack on the frozen Zanaffar, before Lina obliterated it with a Dragon Slave. While I realize that this is only halfway through the series, this made for an awesome finale for the first half.

Since the series is scheduled to continue after a break with Slayers GLORY (tentative title), I’ll reserve any final impressions for now. I still haven’t heard exactly when the second half will air, but the earliest date will obviously be in January 2009. With that said, I never expected to complete my coverage of Slayers this season after Omni dropped it, but managed to do so somehow with it as the ninth show I was covering. As such, I hope everyone enjoyed it. =)

Cast:
- Lina Inverse (リナ・インバース) / Hayashibara Megumi (林原 めぐみ)
- Gourry (ガウリイ) / Matsumoto Yasunori (松本 保典)
- Amelia (アメリア) / Suzuki Masami (鈴木 真仁)
- Zelgadis (ゼルガディス) / Midorikawa Hikaru (緑川 光)
- Pokota (ポコタ) / Kobayashi Yumiko (小林 由美子)
- Xellos (ゼロス) / Ishida Akira (石田 彰)
- Weiser (ワイザー) / Ootsuka Akio (大塚 明夫)
- Prince Phil (フィル王子) / Inaba Minoru (稲葉 実)
- Sylphiel (シルフィール) / Touma Yumi (冬馬 由美)
- Ducuris (デュクリス) / Matsuyama Takashi (松山 鷹志)
- Zanaffar (ザナッファー) / Ishii Kouji (石井 康嗣)
- Ozel (オゼル) / Oomura Haruka (大村 はるか)
- Zuuma (ズーマ) / Tobita Nobuo (飛田 展男)
- Gunner A (砲兵A) / Miyake Kenta (三宅 健太)
- Soldier B (兵士B) / Sugisaki Ryou (杉崎 亮)
- Soldier C (兵士C) / Nakanishi Toshiharu (中西 としはる)
- Girl (女の子) / Takagaki Ayahi (高垣 彩陽)

With the finale of To LOVE-Ru coming up this week, I thought this would be as good a time as ever to post the PV for the opening theme. When I first heard this song back in April, I admittedly had no idea who THYME was, but found the song itself surprisingly catchy—a sentiment that only grew the more I listened to it. While the fan-service filled opening sequence definitely added to the song’s appeal, it’s actually pretty good on its own, especially in the full version we have here.

Originally an indie band, THYME (pronounced “time”) was formed in 2004 by Thyme (vocals, lyrics) and Shimizu Teppei (arrangement, composition, guitar), but Hoshino Takafumi (music engineer) joined the group a couple of years later when his skills were deemed necessary for them to progress. Prior to forming the band with Teppei, Thyme (real name: Kamiyama Sayaka 神山 さやか) was pursuing a solo music career, but needed someone to help her compose music, thus leading to the THYME we know today. It wasn’t until September 2007 that they had their first major debut though, releasing their single “Hello” after signing with Geneon Entertainment. Under Geneon, their involvement in anime naturally followed suit, which is (probably) why “forever we can make it!” was used as To LOVE-Ru’s opening theme. This trend continued on to the summer season, where their song “Fly Away” was used as the opening theme of Mahou Tsukai ni Taisetsu na Koto ~Natsu no Sora~, which some of you may recall I originally started blogging.

Seeing as I hadn’t heard of THYME half a year ago but am already a fan of this song and “Fly Away”, I guess this goes to show what a little anime exposure can do for new artists. While these up-and-coming artists probably never pictured having their music used in anime, I doubt they’ll complain about having a few otakus buy their CDs. On a separate note, is it just me or does Sayaka only look half Japanese? I haven’t come across any information stating that she is, but there’s something about her eyes (and straight teeth) that make me think she is. In any case, enjoy the video!

Summary:

Despite all eight Death Scythes having been called, only three other than Spirit (aka. Maka’s father) have shown up at Shibusen: Justin, Marie, and Azusa. Marie in particular doesn’t want to be there and would rather get married and retire. The more practical of the two, Azusa convinces Marie not to marry a toilet. Stein meanwhile finds Spirit polishing a candle holder in order to try to score some points with Shinigami-sama because he thinks that he’s going to get demoted and transferred away after what happened with the Kishin’s revival. The four Death Scythes plus Stein eventually meet with Shinigami-sama to talk about Ashura, and Shinigami-sama explains that they don’t need to worry about Ashura’s movements so much as how to deal with his wavelength of madness. This wavelength stirs the madness that sleeps at the bottom of every person’s soul, and it’s contagious. The problem, however, lies not in an outbreak among normal people but rather in the awakening and strengthening of evil forces. Because of this, Shinigami-sama decides on some reassignments, and luckily for Spirit, he gets to stay at Shibusen as Shinigami-sama’s weapon. Marie is the one who gets reassigned as Stein’s new partner, and Azusa gets to both search for Ashura and take over Marie’s Oceania area responsibilities. Shinigami-sama, however, decides not to do anything with Justin for now.

At around the same time, Soul drags Maka outside for a game of basketball with Black*Star, Tsubaki, Kid, and Patty. Soul decides that a normal basketball game would be boring, so he proposes having the captain of the losing team be subjected to a punishment: if Kid’s team loses, then they’ll adjust all the picture frames in his house by two centimeters, and if Maka’s team loses, then she has to go on a date with her father. Marie and Stein are there to watch the kids as the game begins, and though Marie is depressed about not being able to find a husband, seeing the kids play brightens her mood about the task at hand. Spirit arrives at the basketball court a little later than everyone else because Shinigami-sama had spoken with him privately about how Stein is being controlled by madness. Shinigami-sama had assigned Marie to Stein because her soul wavelength will have a positive influence on Stein’s soul, and he asked Spirit to care for Stein as well. Spirit now observes out loud to Stein and Marie that the kids are trying to get back their normal lives after all the abnormal things that happened. Maka’s team ends up losing, so she’s forced to ask her father on date, much to her embarrassment and his delight. Meanwhile, Sid comes to see Shinigami-sama about what to do with Chrona, and Shinigami-sama decides to let Chrona experience Shibusen as a student.

Preview

For a transition episode, this was pretty good. It even managed to be funny with the toilet scene. I’m liking the new characters as well, though it seems like only Marie (voiced by Honda Chieko) will be around for the time being, and that’s a shame cause I enjoyed hearing Azusa being voiced by Yukana. The most interesting thing out of it was probably the fact that Stein is being controlled by madness, especially since it appears from the preview that Medusa embodies that madness (either that or she’s back already). I’m curious to see how the new woman in his life counteracts that and if he’ll ever go rogue. The main focus next week though should be on Chrona getting to experience Shibusen, and I found it a little odd that the preview barely shows Chrona at all. The new OP and ED should also be coming soon – either next week or the week after.

「二人」 (Futari)
“Two People”

Episode at a Glance:
In a panicking mess after killing Hattori, Yoite apologizes repeatedly but ends up ripping the Kairoushuu leader’s lifeless body to shreds with his berserk Kira. Feeling that he can’t make himself disappear, Yoite is about to kill himself, so Raimei tearfully calls out for Miharu to help him. Seeing that Miharu isn’t responding, Yae uses her Idzuna Shingan on him and finds out that he wants to be left along after being deceived for so long. The Shinrabanshou appears reiterating that thought and convinces Miharu to use her powers. Yoite is hesitating during this time, so Ichiki sends Hyou and Shigure to finish him off, but Yukimi stands in their way proclaiming that their leader is already dead. Yukimi ends up getting wounded for interferring, but manages to make his way over to Yoite and tells him that he has to live on, before collapsing in a pool of blood. Despite Yae’s protests, the Shinrabanshou releases its powers, causing Miharu to grow to gigantic proportions and leaving Ichiki wondering what she’s supposed to do now without Hattori. However, Asahi appears within Miharu’s mind asking him to forget everything and apologizing for burdening him with Nabari affairs. In response, the Shinrabanshou tries to stop Asahi but fails to do so, after which Miharu surpresses the hijitsu like his mother asked.

Waking up in a hospital, Miharu tries to leave, but Kumohira tells him to rest and that Kouichi is currently looking into Yoite’s whereabouts after he suddenly disappeared. Raimei then shows up and reveals that Miharu’s been in bed for the past five days. Out in the hallway, Kotarou amusingly shows Kumohira the Kairoushuu’s cover up for the incident, which they claim was an earthquake that resulted in no casualties. The Fuuma leader also bugs Kumohira about how painful it must be revealing the Engetsurin that he’s been hiding all this time. In Miharu’s room, Gau and Raimei bring him some food, prompting him to say they don’t have to be nice to him and can hate him for getting Raikou killed. Hearing this, Raimei slaps Miharu and tells him that there were lots of reasons why Raikou died, but that she nor Raikou would’ve wanted him to bear all the responsibility. Raimei then storms off, with Gau telling Miharu that he would’ve hit him if she didn’t. Meanwhile, Kotarou is still bugging Kumohira about what he’s going to do now that this “game” is over, adding that there’s no guarantee he’ll participate in the next one. Well aware that the Shinrabanshou still remains within Miharu, Kumohira gets annoyed and questions what the Fuuma leader is expecting. Dodging the question, Kotarou says he’ll just observe for now, so Kumohira leaves and chooses not to tell him where he’s headed.

Convinced that Yoite is still alive, Kumohira stops by Yukimi’s hospital room and asks him for his help, but the heavily injured Kairoushuu simply tells him to get out. He then meets with Kouichi, who’s figured out Yoite’s real name, but doesn’t have any other leads at the moment. Yukimi then comes along with Kazeho and provides them with the information Hattori gave him on Yoite long ago, adding that he’s counting on them to help the Kira user. Some time later back at the hospital, Juuji tells Miharu that he’s mostly recovered, making him hope he’ll be discharged soon. Kumohira then arrives, telling him that they believe they know where Yoite is and explains that he felt it was his duty to protect Miharu from those who sought to use his powers, after making a promise to Asahi and his grandfather. However, he tells Miharu that he’s decided to let him handle everything himself if he’s prepared to do so. Hearing this, Miharu questions if that’s why he used the Engetsurin on him, which Kumohira acknowledges. Miharu wonders if this means he’s free to use the Shinrabanshou now then, prompting Kumohira to say that it can’t be helped if it happens, even though he still doesn’t want him to. While that’s the case, Kumohira reveals that he’ll still try to stop Miharu if he does, even if he doesn’t have the power to do so. Figuring that this isn’t any different from before, Miharu proposes a condition.

Miharu later leaves the hospital and asks Raimei to let him go alone after running into her and Gau. Figuring that he’s leaving to find Yoite, Raimei agrees to let him go alone, but not before getting Miharu to promise to return with Yoite. On the train, Kotarou suddenly shows up asking to sit next to Miharu, saying he’ll tell him about how his mother’s life was snatched away by the separation jutsu. Miharu refuses though, saying there’s no point in hearing it now, which annoys Kotarou because Asahi apparently acted the same way. Upset about not being able to get the Shinrabanshou before, Kotarou reveals that he convinced Asahi to join Fuuma before, but she ended up joining Banten instead. He adds that he still wants the Shinrabanshou like he mentioned before, claiming that he’s similar to Hattori—in terms of ambitions as well. Instead of wanting to revert the world to a uniform state though, Kotarou wants to see how the world changes with the Shinrabanshou, without his involvement. Hearing how he’s willing to do anything to see this happen, Miharu figures it means he can do as he pleases. The two of them then reach their stop and Kotarou suddenly disappears, but Miharu suspects that he’s still around. Using a map given to him by Kumohira, Miharu makes his way to a church, a place that Yoite (Sora) used to feel at ease away from his parents. Inside, Miharu finds Yoite sitting on a bench.

Next Episode:
「心紡いで」 (Kokoro Tsumuide)
“Spinning Heart”

Impressions:
Wow, I almost thought they were going to kill off Yukimi during the fallout of everything, but I was glad to see that he survived. On that note, if there was any doubt that Hattori was killed last time, watching his body ripped to shreds from Yoite’s berserk Kira pretty much settles that. While I can’t say for sure what the Shinrabanshou was going to make Miharu do after growing to gigantic proportions, the real question is how Asahi is still connected to the Shinrabanshou and how she’s able to surpress the mighty hijutsu’s powers. If I were to make a speculation, I’d say that the transfer technique Kumohira used on Asahi years ago failed, but somehow kept her connected to the Shinrabanshou.

As for Kotarou, I still find he’s twisted in his own way (especially seeing how amused he was about Kairoushuu’s cover up of the incident), but at least his type of ambition differs greatly from Hattori’s. Regardless, I was still happy to see Kumohira tell Kotarou off after he was literally in his face about everything. It was also nice to see Miharu get under the Fuuma leader’s skin as well, when he refused to listen to his explanations regarding how his mother’s life was snatched away by the separation jutsu (which is what my speculation above is based on). So as it turns out, while Hattori tried to change the world into some uniform order, Kotarou was interested in seeing how mankind can advance/evolve with the Shinrabanshou. He’s still goofy in his usual way, but is dead serious about wanting to see how mankind handles the hijutsu (for better or worse) without getting involved himself. I guess this explains why he was overjoyed to see Miharu going berserk earlier and didn’t care to help in the slightest.

Overall, this episode was really anti-climactic compared to the last one, so it looks like we’re well into the epilogue phase of the series. There’s still the lingering issue with Miharu and Yoite, but it looks like they’ll devote the entire final episode to that. Personally, I don’t mind that they’ve decided to allocate two episodes for “wrap up”, given how amazingly awesome the last episode was. In fact, I find that doing so helps emphasize the character interactions that I found so appealing about this series to begin with. This episode was a prime example of that, with everyone confused as to what they should do in the aftermath of the Shinrabanshou’s awakening. Members from Fuuma, Banten, and Kairoushuu no longer have the will to fight one another anymore and all seem to be trying to find their own paths from here on.

With that said, I really like how they chose to leave the narration out for the preview, which makes the next episode come off terribly depressing due to the music, but gives me hope that there will be a bright side to everything in the end.

Cast:
- Rokujou Miharu (六条 壬晴) / Kugimiya Rie (釘宮 理恵)
- Yoite (宵風) / Saiga Mitsuki (斎賀 みつき)
- Kumohira Thobari Durandal (雲平・帷・デュランダル) / Namikawa Daisuke (浪川 大輔)
- Aizawa Kouichi (相澤 虹一) / Hino Satoshi (日野 聡)
- Shimizu Raimei (清水 雷鳴) / Fujimura Ayumi (藤村 歩)
- Yukimi Kazuhiko (雪見 和彦) / Tsuda Kenjirou (津田 健次郎)
- Oda Yae (織田 八重) / Yukino Satsuki (雪野 五月)
- Fuuma Kotarou (風魔 小太郎) / Okiayu Ryoutarou (置鮎 龍太郎)
- Saraba (サラバ) / Watanabe Akeno (渡辺 明乃)
- Minami Juuji (南 十字) / Koyama Kimiko (こやま きみこ)
- Katou Sourou (加藤 候) / Kakihara Tetsuya (柿原 徹也)
- Shinrabanshou (森羅万象) / Tamura Yukari (田村 ゆかり)
- Hattori Toujuurou (服部 柊十郎) / Nakata Jouji (中田 譲治)
- Ichiki (一季) / Amano Yuri (天野 由梨)
- Meguro Gau (目黒 俄雨) / Okamoto Nobuhiko (岡本 信彦)
- Amatatsu Kazuho (天立 和穂) / Kano Yui (鹿野 優以)
- Hyou (雹) / Suyama Akio (陶山 章央)
- Shigure (時雨) / Mizuno Risa (水野 理沙)
- Rokujou Asahi (六条 旭日) / Okamoto Maya (岡本 麻弥)
- Kurookano Shijima (黒岡野 しじま) / Shindou Kei (真堂 圭)
- Juuji’s mother (十字の母) / Dodo Asako (百々 麻子)

-Well I’m fairly impressed. I would say things felt rushed and that there were some glaring plot holes (like Louise mysteriously being unable to use her magic), but overall I can’t complain because what was there was pretty well done, especially the battle and the really good animation quality during it – might be the best I’ve ever seen for the ZnT series. This certainly beat season 2′s final episode, and despite all my gripes, I’d say season 3 was overall better than season 2 as well.
-Of course Joseph is still out there and he laughs after the Jörmungant gets defeated, so he’ll definitely be back in season four – and I’m sure there will be a season four, sooner or later.
つづく