First Impressions / STAR DRIVER

STAR DRIVER: Kagayaki no Takuto – 06

「王の柱」 (Ō no Hashira)
“The King’s Pillar”

Despite what the preview showed last week, I was half-expecting this episode to end up in Zero Time again, with Sugata in the pilot seat being the only difference. Going into the episode with those mixed feelings, I must say that I was pleasantly surprised that that was not the case. Instead, we were given some nice action scenes outside of Zero Time, something we haven’t seen since the little scuffle between Takuto and George in episode 1.

First Impressions / Yosuga no Sora

Yosuga no Sora – 06

「アキラメナイヨ」 (Akiramenai yo)
“I’m Not Abandoning You”

Thanks to the overlap between arcs, the conclusion to Akira’s story has already arrived only two episodes after Kazuha’s. Despite the relatively brief feel as a result, I actually like how the story comes at us fast and “heavy” without all the introductory preamble again, which is seen here when Haru confronts Akira about the missing birth records.

** WARNING: NSFW **

First Impressions / Shinrei Tantei Yakumo

Shinrei Tantei Yakumo – 06

「格安の物件」 (Kakuyasu no Bukken)
“Cheap Property”

I never thought that a show like Yakumo would make me question the basic fundamentals of how anime girls worked. Being that this week’s episode was a lot more laid back then the previous two I found it crazy how much they focused on how seriously girls take their looks (where did the “shinrei” and “tantei” go?!).

First Impressions / Super Robot Wars OG

Super Robot Wars OG: The Inspector – 06

「桜花幻影」 (Ouka Genei)
“Cherry Blossom Phantom”

After five episodes of going into detail on various aspects of the Super Robot Wars universe, this sixth one marks the first episode where I feel there’s been enough shown that following no real explanation is necessary to grasp what’s going on. For those who are jumping into this series somewhat blindly, this means that the main protagonists and antagonists have been established and you should have enough to go on from simply watching.

First Impressions / Tegami Bachi

Tegami Bachi REVERSE – 06

Lag’s been noticing exactly how cute Sylvette is already, but just give her a few more years and she’ll be totally irresistible.

「少女人形」 (Shoujo Ningyo)
“Doll”

For a seemingly episodic showing, this Sylvette-centered one quickly proved to be much more relevant to the overall plot than it initially appeared. Starting with a doll that looked very similar to Sylvette herself, the unexpected adventures on Lag’s day off work had him working as her dingo and crossing paths with a random, cross-dressing thief named Autobahn, who will be as quickly forgotten as he was introduced.

First Impressions / Ore no Imouto ga Konnani Kawaii Wake ga Nai

Ore no Imouto ga Konnani Kawaii Wake ga Nai – 06

Kirino didn’t have a lot of screen time in this one, but this more than made up for it.

「俺の幼馴染みがこんなに可愛いわけがない」 (Ore no Osananajimi ga Konnani Kawaii Wake ga Nai)
“There’s No Way My Childhood Friend is This Cute”

As the title suggests, we have an episode on plain old Manami this week that depicts how she’d probably be the perfect match for Kyousuke. Together, they’d probably make one of the dullest couples ever (albeit most normal), which was made plainly obvious when her grandparents showed that they have more youth in them than they do. In the case of an age identity crisis, we have young geezers and old teenagers mixing things, and not a whole lot in the younger sister department.

Bakuman. / First Impressions

Bakuman. – 06

「アメとムチ」 (Ame to Muchi)
“Carrot and Stick”

I really didn’t know what to expect when our dynamic duo arrived at the offices of Shounen Jump Jack. I really didn’t give it a lot of thought whether or not their manuscript would really be good enough to become an instant hit. Seeing how this is a shounen, I should have already came to the conclusion that there wasn’t enough leveling up growth yet. When they finally presented the manuscript to Shounen Jack editor Hattori Akira (Tone Kentarou) for judgment though, I was sorta surprised.

First Impressions / Hakuouki

Hakuouki Hekketsuroku – 16, 17

「誠心は永遠に」 (Seishin wa Towa ni)
“Devotion is Eternal”

Following the revelation of Koudou’s demon revival plans and the departure of Nagakura and Harada, the situation only gets worse for the Shinsengumi. Amagiri explains to Saitou that Rasetsu destroy themselves by expending all their life energy over a short period of time, prompting Hijikata to forbid the further use of Ochimizu to expand their secret unit.