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「さくやこのはな」 (Saku ya Kono Hana)
“The Flower Blooms”
It’s always a little scary waiting for that first premiere of the season that you love – what if it never comes? But it’s also pretty exciting when it does – and for me, Chihayafuru is that series this season. It’s love at first sight.
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「時よ止まれ」 (Toki yo Tomare)
“Stop Time”
The ending for the anime of the manga that isn’t ending anytime soon wasn’t really an ending at all. But stay tuned for the movie…
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「まだ見ぬ明日の詩」
“Poetry of unseen tomorrows”
Dantalian no Shoka ends with a very powerful, visually stunning and (finally) emotional episode. But in looking back, I can’t help but feel I’ve just watched a pretty, well-produced 12-episode teaser trailer for the light novels.
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「夏目遊戯帳」 (Natsume Yūgi-Chō)
“Natsume’s Book of Play”
It’s great that season three ended with what I think even the harshest critic would call a superb episode. But it’s as if the gang at Brains Base had a direct line to my brain, because they used a story for the finale that tackled all the issues I’ve been kvetching about all season head-on.
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「魔神の落胤」 (Satan no Ko)
“Satan’s Children”
It’s pretty easy to see what cards everyone is holding as we get set for next week’s anime-only finale of Ao no Exorcist, but there’s still a wild card – or perhaps it’s a joker – that’s yet to be played. And I suspect that as he goes, so goes the battle.
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「ラジエルの書架」 (Rajieru no Shoka)
“Raisel’s Library”
Dantalian no Shoka continues to nibble around the edges of the truth, giving us tantalizing glimpses of the deeper reality behind the episodic stories we’ve been given so far and the characters that drive them.
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「帰る場所」 (Kaeru Basho)
“A Place To Go Home To”
Natsume Yuujinchou gives us its strongest episode since 08 with its penultimate effort, a nice hybrid of the themes of the third season with the emotional tug of the first two. But whether I was supposed to or not, I felt a little conflicted about events at the end of the episode.
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「真実」 (Shinjitsu)
“Truth”
Whatever else you might care to say about A-1 Pictures’ anime-original ending for this season, let this be clear – they’re definitely going big.
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「幻曲」 (Genkyoku)
“Phantom Score”
I like this series, but I’d really love to love it. It has style, it’s extremely smart and literate, the OP is beyond beautiful and it offers an engaging premise. But Dantalian no Shoka – at least the anime version – is a tease. It only lets you see so much of what it is, occasionally shows you brilliance, but always pulls away before you can get too close.
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「伝えてくれ、ありのままを」 (Tsutaete kuru, Ari no Mama wo)
“Tell Me the Truth”
Like it’s NoitaminA stablemate Usagi Drop, No. 6 ends on an understated, restrained and reflective note – a quiet and dignified final episode that reflected the nature of the series as a whole.
Oh, wait – no, it didn’t do that at all. It was a gigantic FUBAR.