Random Curiosity

「クリスマスの願いごと」 (Kurisumasu no Negaigoto)
“Christmas Wish”

I can’t say I’m too surprised that the finale focused almost entirely around Mio, but I feel a bit cheated by the way they slipped in a completely unexpected development and made me sympathetic towards her sadistic character. Mio isn’t as nearly an unbalanced tsundere as Taketatsu Ayana’s other lead role this season either, so I even got a bit teary-eyed when I saw her crying.

「それはあの日のこと、なので」 (Sore wa Ano Hi no Koto, Nanode)
“It’s About that Day”

Something about Tamayura always makes me smile. Somehow, someway, as the anime reveals more about our main characters I feel myself growing exponentially more attached to them.

「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.

「オーバーチュア　後編」(Ōbāchua Kōhen)
“Overture Part 2″

Picking up right where we left off, Shana is continuing her search for the rouge Tomogara that attacked Junko.

「Over the rainbow」

It was pretty ambitious of the writers to slip in one more arc for Mario and go from start to finish in a mere episode, but they managed to pull it off and wrap up the second of four major manga arcs with this adaptation.

「マヤの文明」 (Maya no Bunmei)
“MAYA’s BUNMEI”

Just when we thought it was all over, the writers slip in another huge twist at the very end by reviving the threat of Nostradamus’ Key.

「#26」

It almost pains me to have to refer to this as my last post on GIANT KILLING, because this is only the start of much more awesome things to come for ETU. Unfortunately, none of it will be animated, at least not anytime in the immediate future.

「丸井さんの家庭の日常」 (Marui-san no Katei no Nichijou)
“Everyday Life at the Marui House”

There’s a second season coming in the near future, but Mitsudomoe concludes its first run with an incredibly strong showing that had me laughing helplessly on one particular skit.

「真実ノ絆」 (Shinjitsu no Kizuna)
“True Bonds”

Following the collapse of Teito Tower and the conclusion of this second season, the “to be continued” message at the very end left the door open to a possible third adaptation.

「生徒会役員共！乙！」 (Seitokai Yakuindomo! Otsu!)
“Student Council Executives! Yeah!”

After faithfully following the manga for the past twelve episodes, the series finishes animating the second volume’s material and throws in an anime original look back on the days of SYD. Best part is, it’s nothing like we and Tsuda remember.

「ずるすぎるよ鮎沢、碓氷のアホ！」 (Zurusugiru yo Ayuzawa, Usui no Aho!)
“That’s So Unfair Ayuzawa… Usui You Idiot!”

For a final episode, the writers sure had me second guessing exactly how far along Misaki and Usui’s relationship would get. Most of the episode was about their participation in a lover’s trial game where the grand prize was a “super premium ticket” for the closing festivities at night, so things could have gone whichever way depending on what the prize actually was.

「天空（そら）より永遠（とわ）に」 (Sora yori Towa ni)
“To Eternity Beyond the Skies”

After the story picked up with the full-frontal assault on the Neuroi hive, the conclusion to the series was filled with so much good melodrama that I loved every minute of it.

「All DEAD’S attack」

The cat’s out of the bag, as the last episode killed off any idea of an original ending. So what’s the verdict?

「おおかみさんとマッチ売りじゃないけど不幸な少女」 (Ookami-san to Macchi Uri Janai kedo Fukou na Shoujo)
“The Wolf and the Girl Who’s Not a Match Seller but Still Unfortunate”

K-ON‘s Satou Satomi joins the cast of characters as Himura Machiko and puts some pressure on Ryouko to speak up about how she truly feels about Ryoushi. Modeled after The Little Match Girl, Machiko wasn’t enough to force them together, but did draw out a fair bit of dishonest behavior from Ryouko to make this a worthwhile finale.