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「桜井梨穂子編 最終章 サヨナラ」 (Sakurai Rihoko-hen Saishuushou – Sayonara)
“Sakurai Rihoko Final Chapter – Goodbye”
They could have gone several ways with a childhood friend character and while I feel this was a unique way of going about it, I’m not entirely sure it would’ve been anywhere near the top of my list.
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「Shining Star」
After three episodes, Kanon’s arc finally comes to a close. Given its progression, I question whether three episodes was really necessary to begin with though. Looking back, they probably reiterated her insecurities a lot more than they had to to get that point across, and also took the better portion of an entire episode to show how Keima was being supportive of her — something that Ayumi’s arc managed to do just as well in a single episode.
Remember the third Anime no Chikara project last season that turned out to be a little bit of a surprise hit? Well, the first two volumes of DVD/BD releases have been available for some time now, and included with the first one is an anime PV of Hikasa Youko’s cover of Morning Musume’s 1999 hit song “LOVE Machine”. For those with a 3DTV, the Blu-ray release also included a 3D version of this little bonus, which is a part of the character cover songs included in each volume. The theme for the character songs in this series is covers of popular songs from the 1990s simply because the series takes place in 1999. Unfortunately, the later ones don’t feature PVs of the other characters’ songs, but the second volume does include the first of four mini side stories. The first one is titled “Welcome Tsucchii” and is more or less an animated short akin to what you’d expect from a picture drama, and shows Maya with Ami when they were kids and found a legendary snake known as a Tsuchinoko and made it their pet. It’s cute in the sense that we get to see more of Maya’s occult fascination when she was a kid, but doesn’t really add anything to the overall story. I actually prefer the video above with the characters all busting a move near the end of it and Fumiaki freaking out about Junichirou’s corpse’s head falling off. See the full post for some caps of the side story.
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「大日本を覆う影」 (Dai Nippon wo Oou Kage)
“The Shadow Cast Over Great Japan”
“My cottage!!!” That may sound ridiculously random if you haven’t watched this episode yet, but those who have should know what I’m referring to after Kanetsugu decides to make the doghouse outside Yagyuu dojo her new home. I actually went back to that scene several times and found it just as funny as the first time, thanks to Toyosaki Aki’s haughty yet amiable portrayal of our purple-haired disposable samurai.
“Oogly boogly boo! Fear me!”
「狙われなイカ？／研究しなイカ？／働かなイカ？」 (Nerawarenai ka? / Kenkyuu Shinai ka? / Hatarakanai ka?)
“Aren’t I Being Targeted? / Won’t You Research? / Won’t You Work?
Nagisa tries to foil Ika’s invasion, Cyndi puts Ika under the microscope, and the fake squid girl returns as the newest Lemon employee. It may not sound like much on paper — much like the idea of a squid girl doesn’t — but it’s a whole bucket of laughs in execution.
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「ツミナオトメラ」 (Tsumi na Otomera)
“Sinful Maidens”
With Kazuha and Akira’s routes wrapped up, the series takes us all the way back to the end of episode one to explore a couple of other possibilities, namely Nao and Sora. As the shared episode between their routes, this was mostly about Nao and much less so Sora, which may explain why Haru’s twin sister will be getting five episodes to tell her story.
** WARNING: NSFW **
「俺の妹がこんなに小説家なわけがない」 (Ore no Imouto ga Konnani Shousetsuka na Wake ga Nai)
“There’s No Way My Sister is That Much of a Novelist”
You know how you sometimes get into an discussion with someone who seems to be beyond reason and start wishing for a gun so you can either shoot them or yourself? Well I felt sorry for Kuroneko this week as she had to deal with just that in Kirino, the self-proclaimed best novelist that has yet to be discovered.
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「黒い潜入者」 (Kuroi Sennyuusha)
“Black Infiltrator”
This was an episode about the Hagane crew resupplying in the Dukedom of Riksent and Kyousuke, Rai, and company serving as bodyguards for Princess Shine Hausen (Kaihara Reina), but the late arrival of Gilliam Yeager (Tanaka Hideyuki) and his Gespenst stole the show for me by reminding me of the Super Robot Wars 4 days.
The nameless girl soon receives the name Roda from Gauche, indicating that the latter hasn’t lost all his memories just yet.
「Film noir」
The search for Gauche is underway and Lag is sent up north to the town of Blue Notes Blue to look for him. However, upon stumbling on some clues, he uses his Akabari to find out more on how Gauche ended up with Reverse, while Zazie has the unfortunate pleasure of running into the man himself.
