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「散ずる桜花」 (Chizuru Ouka)
“Falling Cherry Blossoms”
Progression-wise, the continuation of the Hakuouki story has been good, but has yet to struck an emotional chord with me like the finale did in the first season. That is, until this episode, which was undoubtedly the most powerful one to date. What’s even better is that it was full of good twists — ones that no understanding of history could have foreseen.
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「絢辻詞編 第二章 ウラガワ」 (Ayatsuji Tsukasa-hen Dai Nishou – Uragawa)
“Ayatsuji Tsukasa Chapter 2 – The Other Side”
Imagine my surprise when the other side of Tsukasa turned out to be more tsundere than anything else. And here I thought only Kaoru would be filling in that stereotype in this series. Tsukasa is a lot scarier with the way she threatens Junichi into keeping her secret, but there’s something kinky about the way she goes about it as well.
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「大きな壁の中と外」 (Ookina Kabe no Naka to Soto)
“Inside and Outside the Large Wall”
If there’s a book girl that needs to be played, Hanazawa Kana is poised for the task regardless of whether or not the series is titled Bungaku Shoujo. For this first episode of Shiomiya Shiori’s arc, we didn’t really get to see too much of the girl behind that quiet, intellectual, and shy exterior though. In lieu, there was a fair bit of spillover from Elsie’s episode last time, which I rather enjoyed given all of her quirky interactions with Keima.
Ika’s glammed up like a porcelain doll and ready to make mankind fall for her.
「ピンポンダッシュしなイカ？／メイクしなイカ？／秘密兵器じゃなイカ？」
(Pinpon Dasshu Shinai ka? / Meiku Shinai ka? / Himitsu Heiki Janai ka?)
“Won’t You Doorbell Dash? / Won’t You Put on Makeup? / Isn’t That a Secret Weapon?”
For whatever reason, this series isn’t getting nearly as much attention as it should be among English-speaking fans, so I thought I’d spark some more interest by having Ika Musume invade Random Curiosity in the form of a banner. Those who have stopped by the IRC channel have already heard me go on and on about this series, so for everyone else who hasn’t been checking out this little gem of the season, I’ll say the same thing I’ve been saying there. Go watch Ika Musume! (…and Samurai Girls.) You know what they say, once you go squid girl, you can never go back (…or something like that).
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「将（ジェネラル）の帰還」 (Shou (Jeneraru) no Kikan)
“The General’s Return”
First off, congrats to Kanetsugu for winning the first Hyakka Ryouran Samurai Girls popularity poll and getting an official wallpaper to commemorate the occasion. It looks like I’m not the only one that’s grown really fond of our idiotic samurai, who managed to edge out the top spot from the very adorable Jubei.
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「全自動楽団」 (Senjidou Gakudan)
“Full-auto Orchestra”
I think I’ve created the perfect formula for having a great slice of life. It needs to have a character who everyone LOVES, some sort of concert involving instruments being played, and some kind of pantsu shot (being tasteful wins bonus points). Sounds like Sore Machi to me!
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「ハルカナオモイ」 (Haruka na Omoi)
“Distant Feelings”
Sparks fly in the conclusion of this arc to settle things once and for all between Nao and Sora. Haru is nowhere to be seen either, as the bus stop goes up in flames when the two girls meet. It was a life and death struggle…
With that look of disbelief, I can finally see that Kirino is related to Kyousuke. Who says they don’t look alike?
「俺の妹がこんなにエロゲー三昧なわけがない」 (Ore no Imouto ga Konnani Erogee Sanmai na Wake ga Nai)
“There’s No Way My Sister is This Into Eroge”
As if to calm our souls since Kirino’s personality seems to have so few redeeming traits, the producers have graced us with an episode about her getting a taste of her own medicine. Given how fed up she got playing the latest kiss x kiss Re:Version eroge, I would’ve gladly bought a copy too. Unfortunately, the sad reality is that Kirino doesn’t even realize that the Rinko character (Igarashi Hiromi) is the spitting image of herself. If only there were a little sister character in this show who acts just like her, then she’d truly know what Kyousuke has to put up with day in day out. 100% tsun, 0% dere? Kirino, you’re more like 110% tsun, -10% dere.
