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「真実の嘘・虚構の真実」 (Shinjitsu no Uso Kyokō no Shinjitsu)
“True Lies, False Truths”
I’m pretty sure that never in this history of anime – and maybe any other medium – has one boy kissed another full on the lips, then said “I better go to bed. I have to get up early to shave the dogs.” And that exchange tells you pretty much all you need to know about No. 6.
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「怨嗟断絶のアポトーシス」 (Ensa Danzetsu no Apotōshisu)
“Disruption of Apoptosis”
I’m going to resist the urge for a general “I told you so” because I’m sure that by tomorrow, the combination of microanalysis and thoughtless spoilers will have found 20 things wrong in the next few paragraphs. But for now, it feels good to know that we’ve finally reached the point I’ve felt this series has been building towards.
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「祓い屋」 (Haraiya)
“Exorcist”
There’s no doubt that the highlight of this week’s Natsume Yuujinchou was the preview, but that’s more of a comment on how great the preview was than a knock on the episode itself. And we’ll get to the preview in a minute…
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「颶風」 (Gufuu)
“Hurricane”
I can hardly wait to see the response on this one. An almost purely anime-original episode – and based on the preview another one next week, and a slice-of-lifer about Shima to boot – will surely set the masses to grumbling. Yet this was a really good effort, I thought, and did a nice job tightening up some of the loose ends surrounding the issue of acceptance between Rin and his little playmates.
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「魔術師の娘」 (Majutsu-shi no Musume)
“The Magician’s Daughter”
We’ve had six separate mysteries unraveled so far, but in terms of the main characters this one felt by far the most personal.
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「隠し危険」 (Kakushi Kiken)
“Hidden Danger”
I confess the notion of Safu and Nezumi’s paths crossing – and an ensuing battle royale over Shion – is a fascinating notion I’d quite like to see…
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「無限連鎖のアポトーシス」 (Mugenrensa no apotōshisu)
“Infinite Chain of Apoptosis”
A couple of words come to mind when considering this episodes of Steins;Gate. Intense, certainly. Dark, definitely. But the one that really captures it for me is “joyless”. And while it was probably a necessary evil at this stage in the story, that didn’t make it any easier to watch.
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「人ならぬもの」 (Hito Naranu Mono)
“That Which is not Human”
I’ve had many things said about me over the years, but never let it be said that I’ve taken the pleasures of squid away from a middle-aged man.
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「誘惑」 (Yūwaku)
“Temptation”
I’ll confess a certain reluctance at wading into the debate over the direction this series is taking, but I guess that’s sort of the point of being an anime blogger, isn’t it? I think this episode did a pretty good job encapsulating all the challenges the produces of AoEx are facing, what they’re doing well, and what they’re struggling with.
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「換魂の書」 (Kan Kon no Sho)
"Book of Soul Exchange"
With two very solid and dramatically different episodes back-to-back, I can’t help but be encouraged about Dantalian no Shoka and where it’s headed. As a little bonus, both thematically and visually this felt more like GAINAX than any of the earlier episodes.