 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
「賭」 (Kake)
“Gamble”
Which direction does A-1 choose – an anime-original ending à la Kuroshitsuji, or perhaps a total “jump break” like Deadman Wonderland with the intent of waiting at least two years and hoping the audience is still there?
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
「叡智の書／月下美人」 (Eichi no Sho / Gekkabijin)
“Book of Wisdom/Queen of the Night”
I’m certainly not the first person to point this out, but one of the refreshing things about Dantalian no Shoka is that pretty much everyone in it is smart. It certainly spares us a lot of cliched moments of people doing stupid things and asking stupid questions.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
「生と死と」 (Sei to Shi to)
“Life and Death”
So here’s the dilemma I’m facing after the 4th episode of this series. I find myself laughing, repeatedly and uproariously, and not being sure whether I’m supposed to be laughing at all.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
「虚像歪曲のコンプレックス」 (Kyozō waikyoku no konpurekkusu)
“Complex Virtual Image Distortion”
I won’t pretend I know what’s going to happen next and I don’t mind that, as even the relatively unspectacular eps like this one are still entertaining and emotionally involving.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
「やさしい事」 (Yasashii Koto)
“Act of Kindness”
Last week wasn’t just another school adventure of the week, as it turns out – it was actually setting up the chain of events that would seismically shift the ground underneath Ao no Exorcist for good. And can anyone be surprised that it was Mephistopheles that was behind it?
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
「胎児の書」 (Taiji no Sho)
“Book of the Fetus”
Huey and Dalian appear to be both smart and knowledgeable, and despite a few stereotypical nods towards the tsundere from Dalian they’re refreshingly free of the “male and female lead” baggage we see in most anime. She’s a demon, and he’s a rather callous and hard man who’s seen far too much death, apparently. I guess a world war and family tragedy can turn anyone from Kana Hanazawa into a cold-hearted badass.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
「生と死と」 (Sei to Shi to)
“Life and Death”
NO.6 feels very much like an anime that was produced at the time the first novel of this series was written – 1999. And I’ll give credit to BONES for being true to that.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
「犠牲壊死」 (Gisei Eshi Nekurōshisu)
“Sacrificial Necrosis”
The theorizing and postulating and guessing and spoiling is going to be gangbusters after this episode – it’ll happen in blog comments and forums and everywhere Steins:Gate is sold. I’m not going to ignore it by any means, but the main point I want to get across here is this – that was an absolutely fantastic and emotionally powerful episode.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
「偽りの友人」 (Itsuwari no Yūjin)
“False Friend”
This is what Natsume Yuujinchou is. It’s snapshots from the life of lonely, often doomed humans and youkai passing through this life, and the impact their brief moments of interaction – and those with Natsume himself – have on them. There’s comfort in these small moments of connection, but it rarely lasts. Ultimately, even youkai leave this world as they come into it – alone.
