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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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「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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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.
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「惨禍ノ地」 (Sanka no Chi)
“Land of Calamity”
Less than a month later, we have the Blu-ray release of the fourth of six movies. Surprisingly, there were some lighthearted moments, which I attribute to Rygart speaking his mind and making Sigyn snap just as much as Narvi (enough to make her point her unloaded gun at him anyway).
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「眠れ、地の底で」 (Nemure, Chi no Soko de)
“Rest, Beneath the Earth”
Even with all the Sanger/Wodan build-up last time, it was all about the Branstein brothers’ revenge like the preview suggested. Their cousin Leona Garstein (Sakakibara Yui) was eager to help out as well, which had me eagerly looking forward to seeing Archibald get what he deserves.
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「リビドーなお年頃」 (Ribidoo na Otoshigoro)
“Libido Coming of Age”
Well, it looks like the possibility that Tokio’s nude paintings of Sora were a figurative thing was put to rest, as one more flashback quickly indicated otherwise. What was more interesting though is that Head is aware that he’s lost a lot in his pursuit for power, which includes Sakana among them.
Noir at odds with Lawrence? Could this be the return of Gauche?
「ロレンスの野望」 (Rorensu no Yabou)
“Lawrence’s Ambition”
I’ve been hoping there’d be something about Reverse’s radical means of revenge that would make Noir think twice about cooperating with them, and this recent revelation on did just that and more. It’s probably safe to assume that Roda is one of the motivating factors for him to stop the government’s human experimentation, so I have no idea what Lawrence was thinking when he was going to sacrifice her along with all the other people who couldn’t become a spirit.
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「Pandora Queen」
Seeing as I was expecting a date at the amusement park this week, the episode title struck me as rather odd. It only took me a few minutes in to quickly realize why, as we had an anime original episode centering around a yearly prom where Pandoras and Limiters get a chance to mingle. That’s what the West Genetics tradition is promoted as anyway, when in reality the Pandora Queen beauty pageant is the only thing that matters.
