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「虚飾の街」 (Kyoshoku no Machi)
“Superficial Town”
After all the flipping back and forth between lighthearted and serious moods, it was probably only a matter of time before this series pulled out one of its bigger trump cards in an attempt to blow viewers away. This time around, it looks like it’s done just that, going for that “oomph” factor with not one, but two big turn of events in rapid succession.
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「Godspeed of the East」
I wasn’t sure what to make of Kugimiya Rie cast to play Cathy Lockharte at first, but she brought out the best of the powerful yet soft-spoken Pandora and left me thinking this is her new calling in anime. Less loud, violent, little girls and more kind ones like this would probably make me look forward to her roles again, which I haven’t been able to do for some time now.
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「薔薇色の頬 ～Growing pains～」 (Barairo no Hoo ~Growing pains~)
“Rosy Cheeks ~Growing pains~”
Well ready or not, puberty is coming and Nitori will have to say goodbye to his baby face and hello to acne. Obviously he’s quite distressed over his first pimple, going as far as to ask Anna for help then sleeping at seven in the evening. Result: pimple count doubled.
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「海に着いたら十一時（オーシャンズ・イレブン）」 (Umi ni Tsuitara Juuichi-ji (Ooshanzu Irebun))
“Arriving at the Ocean at Eleven O’Clock (Oceans Eleven)”
I think I need to add a favorite beach/hot spring episode to the year-end post, because Infinite Stratos’ one reminded me of what it means to have a perfect balance between plot, character development, and fan-service. It also highlighted how cute the series’ female cast is and avoided the pitfall of having a completely senseless battle on the beach for Ichika’s affection.
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「そんなの、あたしが許さない」 (Sonna No, Atashi ga Yurusanai)
“I won’t allow that”
First, all of you who said Homura had the ability to stop time — you were right. The question I pose to you is, are those powers from being a Mahou Shoujo or something else? Getting back on topic, it felt like this episode was used specifically to close up some loose ends. Once again, after the proper context is brought in, I can’t help but feel that Kyubei is not completely evil.
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「届け」 (Todoke)
“Reach”
Kimi ni Todoke finally reaches the golden milestone of all romances, the confession. Like literally, she only reaches the confession point. Most difficult cliffhanger ever.
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Another month, another monthly post. We’re two-thirds the way through the season now and many shows are approaching their conclusions. There’s a fair bit to look back upon, particularly for the two-cour series, as next month will be mostly final impressions.
Some changes compared to last month is the addition of titles we’ve caught up on and the omission of ones we’ve fallen behind on for whatever reason. Below are the changes for each writer.
Note: Once again, please be considerate of others who may be interested in picking up a series after reading about it here by placing discussion of any major spoilers in <spoiler></spoiler> tags. There will be little to no tolerance for anyone intentionally spoiling the enjoyment of others.
