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「綺羅星十字団の挑戦」 (Kiraboshi Jūjidan no Chōsen)
“The Challenge of the Holy Order of Glittering Stars”
Well, this certainly was a fairly risqué episode, with the formal introduction of Watanabe Kanako (Niina Ayano) bringing with it plenty of sex appeal to the series.
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「スキヤキ・ウエスタン・マツサカ」 (Sukiyaki Uesutan Matsusaka)
“Sukiyaki Western Matsusaka”
Not to be overshadowed by the females, Kuranosuke continues to visit the Amamizu complex, for the sole reason of seeing Tsukimi.
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「桜井梨穂子編 第一章 オモイデ」 (Sakurai Rihoko-hen Dai Isshou – Omoide)
“Sakurai Rihoko Chapter 1 – Memories”
The childhood friend arc has arrived, and with it a much cuter Rihoko than all the previous ones had me believe. I guess it’s true what they say about how one’s perception of someone can drastically change once you get to know them. As this is only the first episode, I’m nowhere near jumping on the Rihoko bandwagon just yet, but can definitely see some of her cuter charm points.
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As a treat for manga readers, the trend these days seems to be bundling Original Animation DVDs (OADs) with volume releases that animate a few parts of the original source material. In the case of ones that had already seen an adaptation like Yozakura Quartet, these bonus episodes also tend to please the purist crowd, who strongly feel that the anime should be an exact moving and talking version of what they read.
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「今そこにある聖戦」 (Ima Soko ni Aru Seisen)
“The Crusade Happening Over There”
There’s gamer pride over maintaining one’s reputation and then there’s obsessive compulsive disorder. In Keima’s case, the line between the two blurs badly when’s he’s faced with the buggiest romantic simulation game ever and still tries to get through it. While it wasn’t quite Endless Eight, there was a lot of looping going on as well. For those with traumatizing memories of that Suzumiya Haruhi debacle, don’t worry, it was actually funny here.
Well I’ll be damned. There’s tentacle rape going on but the clothes are staying on!
「買わなイカ？／乗りこまなイカ？／ニセモノじゃなイカ？」
(Kawanai ka? / Norikomanai ka? / Nisemono Janai ka?)
“Won’t You Buy It? / Won’t You Come In? / Isn’t That An Impostor?”
Compared to last week, this episode was a lot cuter than it was funny and had some slightly unsettling moments to boot. However, by the time the third skit rolled around (with gigantic mechanical Ika Musume heads and all), the laughs were aplenty again thanks to Ika’s tunnel vision perception of what her squid species’ looks like. i.e. A squid hat with blue tentacles. de geso!
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「ねえ忠してよ？」 (Nee Chuu Shite yo?)
“Hey, Kiss Me?”
I don’t know what the heck a “Sky Love Hurricane Kiss” is, but if Yukimura is the one delivering it, I’m guessing some air time is involved, much like when she busted out some master samurai abilities of her own.
I may not be covering the Otomoe Youkai Zakuro, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been watching the military/youkai mash-up series whenever I can make time for it. I mentioned back in the Fall 2010 Preview that the series came off a bit generic to me despite its all-star cast (both male and female); however, its shoujo-esque nature has made it a lot more entertaining to watch than I originally thought. An initial impression that hasn’t changed since then is the one I had about the opening theme, “MOON SIGNAL”, performed by seiyuu group sphere. The short clip of it featured in one of the fifteen second commercial message at the time had me looking forward to hearing more of their sixth single, which much like their previous ones, is very pop-like and well-suited for anime themes. It’s kind of hard to believe that the group was only formed back in April 2009 and has already had four of those six singles featured as opening themes (of which I’ve posted about two of the previous three), but it’s a welcome trend in my books since I tend to like their songs.
..More after the jump.
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「魂をつなぐもの～憑依～」 (Tamashii wo Tsunagu Mono ~ Hyoui ~)
“Connecting Spirits ~Possession~”
This week’s Yakumo is probably the best one so far. I think this show can finally hold the title Shinrei Tantei Yakumo. From the continuing murder spree on high school girls, malicious spirits trying to possess people for their own gain, to Yakumo finally exposing some of his past and opening himself up to others. Finally, there seems to be an over arcing plot that is bringing together what this anime is supposed to be about – detective work involving some kind of supernatural phenomenon.
