First Impressions / Hyakka Ryouran Samurai Girls

Hyakka Ryouran Samurai Girls – 10

「魔眼の牢獄」 (Magan no Rougoku)
“The Evil Eye’s Prison”

Who would’ve thought that this would turn out to be one of the sleepers of the season? Ever since the second episode, this series has far exceeded my expectations for a high school comedy set in a fictional alternate universe where the Tokugawa shogunate won the Boshin War (unlike in Hakuouki), and now it goes a step above that by mixing in a fair degree of interesting plot to go with all the laughs thus far.

First Impressions / Shinryaku! Ika Musume

Shinryaku! Ika Musume – 10

“Booyah! Who’s the squid!? Who’s the squid!?”

「てるてる坊主じゃなイカ？／好かれなイカ？／野球しなイカ？」
(Teru Teru Bouzu Janai ka? / Sukaranai ka? / Yakyuu Shina ka?)
“Isn’t that a Teru Teru Bouzu? / Aren’t I Liked? / Won’t You Play Baseball?”

Ika may draw like a two year-old with her hands, but it’s a completely different story when her tentacles grab hold of a pencil and she churns out masterpiece after masterpiece. Best of all, her drawings were in “squid vision” and gave us an inside look at how she perceived everyone. Eiko and Chizuru’s amazement over her artistry combined with their shock from her perception of them as a killer robot and demon respectively resulted in some priceless reactions.

Final Impressions / First Impressions / Hakuouki

Hakuouki Hekketsuroku – 22 (END)

「夢幻の薄桜」 (Mugen no Usuzakura)
“Light Cherry Blossoms of Dreams”

With Koudou dropping out of the picture earlier than I expected and Kazama intent on settling his score with Hijikata, the possibility of this series ending on a promising note looked rather bleak. In addition, the series has been faithfully adapting the Shinsengumi’s historic events up until now, so Hijikata’s fate looked like it was more or less guaranteed.

First Impressions / Yosuga no Sora

Yosuga no Sora – 10

「トリノソラネハ」 (Tori no Sorane wa)
“A Bird’s Fake Cry”

Either the producers are aware that Sora’s going to be the hot thing that boosts DVD/BD sales or there’s some serious bust-size discrimination going on with the censoring of her solo bedroom scene. I’m thinking it’s the the former due to the taboo nature of a Haru x Sora pairing, but it’s a lot more fun when I assume it’s the latter and demand that smaller-sized girls receive equal treatment.

First Impressions / Ore no Imouto ga Konnani Kawaii Wake ga Nai

Ore no Imouto ga Konnani Kawaii Wake ga Nai – 10

Ooooh, that’s gotta hurt.

「俺の妹がこんなにコスプレなわけがない」 (Ore no Imouto ga Konnani Kosupure na Wake ga Nai)
“There’s No Way My Sister’s This Into Cosplay”

I felt a bit shortchanged by an episode title that clearly suggested a certain younger sister would be doing some cosplaying, but where Kirino didn’t dress up as Meruru (or Rinko, lol), Kanako of all people made up for it. Things would have never gotten there if it wasn’t thanks to Ayase, whom I’m surprised Kyousuke will still meet up with and help out after that… incident.

First Impressions / Super Robot Wars OG

Super Robot Wars OG: The Inspector – 10

「月下に妖精は舞う」 (Gekka ni Yousei wa Mau)
“The Fairy Dances Under the Moonlight”

I was expecting “big” things to happen once the Hagane and Hiryuu Custom crews met up, but even I didn’t anticipate the better part of the full twenty minutes dedicated to action upon action upon action of robot battle goodness. Did I mention there was a lot of action this episode?

First Impressions / Tegami Bachi

Tegami Bachi REVERSE – 10

Little Lag Riding Hood and the Big Bad Roda. Yikes.

「ベリタブリィー修道院」 (Beritaburii Shuudouin)
“Veritably Monastery”

Even with Niche momentarily out of the picture, Lag continues to stumble upon some big things on his own. This time it’s a Reverse hideout, where Connor just so happens to be smitten by a girl at the monastery selling cookies. I can’t really blame him though, seeing as the girl is none other than Roda. It’s just too bad she’s a Bee’s sworn enemy and one that even eclipses Gaichuu.

First Impressions / Sora no Otoshimono

Sora no Otoshimono Forte – 10

An overheating angeloid is an amazingly cute one.

「節穴世界（ファンタジーフィールド）を覗け！」 (Fushiana Sekai (Fantajii Fiirudo) wo Nozoke!)
“Peek into the Peephole World (Fantasy Field)!”

The silly over-the-top high jinks continue this week, but surprisingly slip in a few big developments with regards to Ikaros’ feelings and Chaos’ interpretation of love. Leading up to that, it was nothing but Tomoki falling victim to the angeloids’ refusal to give him some alone time — not even in a man’s safe haven, the bathroom — before the master pervert himself got everything he deserved with the realization of the TOMOKI Peeking System.

First Impressions / Hakuouki

Hakuouki Hekketsuroku – 20, 21

「散ずる桜花」 (Chizuru Ouka)
“Falling Cherry Blossoms”

Progression-wise, the continuation of the Hakuouki story has been good, but has yet to struck an emotional chord with me like the finale did in the first season. That is, until this episode, which was undoubtedly the most powerful one to date. What’s even better is that it was full of good twists — ones that no understanding of history could have foreseen.