A crapload of UNMEI KAIHEN posts before I get into this: Ep21 of FMA: Brotherhood, ep18 of Cross Game, eps 1-3 of Kare Kano and eps 7-8 of Genshiken.
Now for moar animu. :O
Anime discussed: Axis Powers Hetalia, Bakemonogatari, Canaan, Cross Game, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Genshiken, Hayate no Gotoku!!, Kanamemo, Kare Kano, Le Chevalier D'Eon, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya 2, Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny, Phantom ~Requiem for the Phantom~, Shugo Chara! Doki, Spice and Wolf II, Tokyo Magnitude 8.0, Umineko no Naku Koro ni, Zan Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei
Axis Powers Hetalia ep32: Haha, Roman Empire is awesome. His disbelief at Germany's lack of action is hilarious. "Oh, so you're into boys and older women? That was popular once in Naples, too." Germany is totally the best straight man in this series; he's great when everyone is screwing with him. (Puns not intended.)
-- Bakemonogatari ep8: Not a ton of surprises in this episode, but I gotta say that Oshino is pretty badass. Just like Araragi says, he is a total magnificent bastard. He rips into Kanbaru, actually shredding the defenses she built for herself and lays the blame on her for secretly desiring all the outcomes that came from her wishes on the monkey's paw, and then he arranges for Senjougahara to save Araragi from a brutal ass kicking from the Rainy Devil-enhanced Kanbaru. Well done, sir. Well done. The fight scene between Araragi and Kanbaru is excellent. It's like something straight out of FLCL, haha. For Araragi's sake I hope he doesn't have to partake in any other fights for a while, though. Kanbaru has already beat the holy crap out of him twice! I also like that Kanbaru is apparently working as Senjougahara's assistant now. lolz
-- Canaan ep9: Lots of questions answered in this episode -- including the nature of Borners and Unblooms, how they came about and so on -- but Alphard's motivations are still a mystery, and she seems to change things on a whim, such as when she decides to keep both Liang Qi and Cummings (who was ready to kill Alphard to protect Liang Qi) alive. (Alphard replacing both Cummings' and her own guns with airsoft guns is pretty hilarious in a really morbid way.) From earlier episodes, it appears as though Alphard is trying to pull one over on the U.S. vice president, and she is also destroying the (Borner and Unbloom?) factory, which would seem to be a good thing. But she is also a pretty vicious killer, and I do not trust her in the least. We'll see what happens with her, I guess lol. The scenes with Yunyun are kind of sad. She is really funny at the beginning, and then she's coming to terms with her own limited lifespan and wanting to make peace with the way her village was destroyed.
-- Cross Game ep18: Pretty good comedy episode that also puts Risa on the bus. Guess they can't do much more with her now that the dickweed manager and the jerkoff "acting principal" are both gone. But my respect for Risa definitely goes up in this episode -- she actually works hard for something she wants to accomplish, and even though she sucks ass at baseball, she still learns that it's rewarding to put in an effort toward something. Pretty simple lesson, but it works in this episode. Risa is also funny in the beginning of the episode when she practices lines for an audition on Seiichirou (who mistakes it for a confession), and then tries the same lines on Akaishi, who makes the type of "WTF" face only someone like him can make. Not too much plot development, but a good episode.
-- Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood ep21: Solid episode. The Mustang/Havoc scene gets to me in the manga, and it gets to me here. I feel so bad for Havoc, because he is trying to be realistic about his post-paralysis life, but I am also like, "EFF YES" at Mustang because he absolutely refuses to leave a comrade behind, even if said comrade appears to offer nothing of military value. Go, Mustang! The Xing characters' Homunculus-sensing powers are introduced in this episode, so I guess Brotherhood isn't going to show the Envy vs. Xing fight that was skipped in ep19, which makes me sad. Envy is getting the shaft a bit, actually, since he is the one who kidnaps Marcoh in this episode. Needs moar Envy imo. :( Good fights at the end of the episode, though, even if Scar's thought process makes me laugh a bit. I know he wants to kill all State Alchemists, but all he hears about is Ed helping for free, and he's still all, "DIE MUTHAFUCKA!!!!!!" Scar is a tough man to please, and a tougher man to fight, because Ed has his hands full at the moment. The Xing characters are also going to have their hands full with Wrath. His fights are good in the manga, but actually seeing the guy in motion adds another level of scariness to him. I'd hate to have fought him when he was younger!
-- Genshiken eps 7-8: lol, I totally forgot about that other douche who wanted to join Genshiken. Also forget if Kuchiki actually joins the club (OMG SPOILERS) during this season, or if it doesn't happen until the OVA. It remains to be seen! Madarame's run as club chairman gets off to a somewhat rocky start in ep7. Poor guy just does not have the personality to be a strong leader -- he keeps wanting to delegate things to other people. And because he does not have that control, the n00b intro party pretty much turns into a good ol' college drink-a-thon. Ohno is a sweet drunk, Kuchiki is an annoying drunk and that 'tard who also wanted to join the club is a dumbass drunk. He gets his comeuppance when Kohsaka beats the holy shit out of him in Guilty Gear. Saki even gets to cheer him on! Yay! The next episode is MODEL MAKING IS SERIOUS BUSINESS. It's probably the geekiest Tanaka is in the whole series, haha. I mean, he is passionate about cosplay and photography, but man, he is something else when models are the subject. I also lol'd at all the Gundam jokes that flew way over my head the first time I watched Genshiken. (Poor Sasahara likes the grunt machines. Grow some pelotas, soldier!) Totally agree with Fasterisk that the sense of total doom in this episode -- due to Saki mishandling the models -- is outstanding. It also shows how tight Ohno's friendship with Saki is. No way Ohno lets some random scrub touch her model.
-- Hayate no Gotoku!! eps 11-15: The romance elements of the series are really being focused on this season, haha. I kind of like it, just because it is nice for the series to have a solid focus to go along with the gags and zaniness. The whole ancient butler stuff from the first season feels half-assed and isn't really used that often, so it never feels like something to consistently drive the story. Focusing on the romance takes care of that problem while also allowing the show to highlight the humor. Anyway, eps 11-12 are the best of this lot. The first involves another Hayate cross-dressing story (which are always funny), which gets Hayate into a bit of trouble when Izumi's butler, Kotetsu, believes Hayate is a hot chick and falls in love with him. That Hayate certainly is a looker. There is also a complicated (and oddly specific) curse attached to Hayate's cross-dressing, which dictates that he defeat the person in the tallest tower in the land (Hinagiku in the student council building), and they think Hinagiku will gladly lay down for defeat because she'll want to help Hayate. Because Hinagiku cannot deal with her budding feelings for Hayate, she believes he is paying her back for their last duel (which ended inconclusively), so she decides to give the fight her all. So much complication behind this love! All the while Nagi and Maria are rampaging/d'awwwwwwing at Hayate and all the attention he is receiving.
Ep12 is awesome because Hinagiku sings "Cruel Angel's Thesis" and everything turns into a giant Evangelion OP reference. Maybe one of my favorite references in the whole run of the series.
-- Kanamemo eps 7-8: A couple of nice episodes. Ep7 -- which implies that Kana's recently deceased grandmother comes back for one night in the form of a small girl to have a bit of fun with Kana at the Odon festival -- is a particularly sweet episode. But I think Haruka has really crossed the line from funny to outright creepy by now lol. I can't really laugh at anything she does now because it's all so weird, haha.
-- Kare Kano eps 1-3: Wow. Kare Kano is a show I liked a lot upon first watch ... but seeing these first episodes again, I am absolutely smitten with it. What I love the most about the beginning is its absolute boundless energy. Whether they're having fun, or expressing their deepest troubles, or snapping at someone, or whatever else, what sets these characters apart is their utter passion. You can feel the heat bursting off the screen. When Yukino Miyazawa declares herself the Queen of Vanity because her entire school life is a contrivance meant to get her endless amounts of attention, you're not put off by her shallowness but instead you're laughing and grinning because she is so serious and intense about it, and she's being so open about it at home of all places. (I think that is part of why her family is so "eh" about it. They can see it won't last forever, even if she's been doing it since elementary school.) Arima could be really annoying (and he's definitely a jerk in the beginning), but in his own way he has the same kind of passion for life Miyazawa has ... he just has a much tougher time finding it because his past is so screwed up. But, yeah, he definitely has it. Not just any guy would jump out of a window to follow Yukino Miyazawa, after all.
Even the other characters, who are pretty solid archetypes, become that much better because of that lively energy that permeates Kare Kano. The protective dad, the mom who sees her daughter growing up, the teasing sisters -- all a wonderful family because they have so much life to them. Who wouldn't want to grow up with them? Obviously these characters wouldn't have half the life they do, though, if the visuals weren't so astounding. Kare Kano is the type of show that reminds you why you fell in love with animation. I can only imagine what it must have been like for the people who saw this when it was first released way back when. It's been about nine months since I first watched Kare Kano, and yet it makes my heart race as much as it did when the first frame of the OP started in January. You would never think Hideaki Anno would be the right guy for a romantic comedy of all things, but holy shit am I ever glad he took an interest in this series. I keep throwing out "energy" and "life" and whatever; however, that is really the only way I can do justice to the visuals. Everything works, from Yukino's grand Queen of Vanity poses to her delusions of grandeur about beating Arima at his own game to her cracked out monologues about her angers and fears to the subtle blush of her face as ep3 fades to white with Arima's confession that he will love Yukino no matter what. These are young people with the whole world ahead of them -- the world will never seem as seriously wonderful as it does during this age, and Kare Kano nails it perfectly.
Agh. I wish every series could be so visually inventive as Kare Kano. It's like I'm watching the essence of love and warmth being poured onto the screen in front of my eyes.
-- Le Chevalier D'Eon eps 1-6: Definitely enjoying this so far. Needed a good, crazy series after all the heaviness of Gundam SEED and SEED Destiny! I'm liking the supernatural elements of the series -- the zombie-esque creatures, the light magic, the underground religious groups (although I don't know yet whether they're using religion as a front, or if they're just extreme believers) and the occasional possession of the title character's body by his recently murdered sister, Lia, who is seeking vengeance both for herself and against those who are betraying France. (Kind of a cool way to blend fact and fiction, since the series is based on a real historical figure, Chevalier D'Eon, who lived half his life as a man and half as a woman.) Hopefully more with Lia will come eventually. She seems pretty cool, and there is always a kickass sword fight to be had when she is around. D'Eon's pals, Durand (a swashbuckler who gets D'Eon out of some trouble with fake French policemen) and Teillagory (D'Eon's old master), are pretty cool, too. Robin, a page sent by Queen Marie to accompany D'Eon, is OK, but he has time to grow in awesomeness.
I'm trying to piece together the mystery right now, even though there is not that much I know for sure. The men behind the plan are the Duke of Orleans (who is verbally pwned by Louis XV), Vorontsov (who is a link to Russia, where Lia was investigating when she was killed), Marquise de Pompadour (one of Louis' mistresses who is putting in a lot of behind the scenes work) and a poet with crazy powers, Comte de Saint-Germain. What they are planning, I don't know, but if there's a link to Russia and a French traitor involved during this time, then I expect the political situation is going to get messy soon. Then there is Queen Marie, who seems to be working against all of this (she has been helpful to D'Eon's crew, anyway), but I don't know much about her motivations yet, so she could potentially be planning something under the surface while appearing to help D'Eon. We'll see.
One thing that stood out to me in the last episode is Anna's (D'Eon's girlfriend) reaction to initially seeing D'Eon as Lia. She didn't look too pleased to briefly see Lia. Maybe there was some bad blood between the two before Lia died? If so, it is kind of ironic that D'Eon gives Anna the flower that Durand meant to place upon Lia's corpse, haha.
eps 7-12: D'Eon and friends have a pretty fruitful trip to Russia! They now know who has the Psalm of Kings (the traitor to France, Maximilien Robespierre) and what the guy's plans are (he wants to unite the world under one ruler). But, you know, it is not really this overall story so much that is attracting me to D'Eon; rather, it is D'Eon's struggle to understand what his sister, Lia, wants that is interesting to me. Lia is on this crazy blood journey to spread her vengeance everywhere (and I imagine she will be really pissed one she finds Maximilien, who actually, you know, killed her), but with the way everyone describes Lia, I cannot imagine it was the simple act of killing her that made her spirit so restless. There's something else behind it, and D'Eon actually seems frightened of it. He has certainly been very hesitant of late about his sister possessing him to do battle. He's definitely been resisting more since Marie helped him get closer to Lia's spirit and better sense what she is after.
I'm also interested in the relationships the characters have with each other -- in particular, Durand seems to have his hand in everything. In the earlier episodes, it's clear he had a thing for Lia (whether his feelings were returned or not is unknown right now), and he also recognizes Maximilien when they run into each other in the hall. Seems pretty clear to me that Maximilien is using this association to set up a trap (you don't drop your plans for no reason this early in the game), and I don't doubt that D'Eon's crew knows this, but I guess they have no choice but to follow Maximilien to England lol. Hopefully the twists and turns in the story start to beef up a bit. I've enjoyed the story, but it has been pretty basic so far. The one twist that really made me go, "Oh snap!" was Maximilien zombifying Elizaveta's cabinet and killing her off, with adding gruesome sound effects. (I'm not as up on European history as I should be, so I was like, "Duh ..." until I realized that Ekaterina is Catherine the Great and went, "... Oh yeah, I guess she should be in power." lol @ me) Also, more sword fighting plz.
-- The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya 2 ep12: lol, Haruhi is a real asshole sometimes. If I were Kyon, I would also be pissed off at the way Haruhi berates Mikuru before they reshoot the fight scene between her and Yuki's character. The funniest part of this episode, to me, is both of Itsuki's "wtf o_o" reactions because they are so rare. His little twitch, along with the slight hesitation before speaking, when Haruhi approves of his idea and gives him more screen time because of it cracked me up. Oh, the sacrifices Itsuki must make to keep Haruhi happy. Wish there could have been more of Yuki in action, but her taking down beam spam!Mikuru is amusing enough, so oh well. And I am happy to see Tsuruya, Taniguchi and Kunikida show up. Their participation in the movie is one of the funniest parts of the story, so I am looking forward to that!
-- Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny eps 34-41: I have read a bit about how the original storyline for SEED Destiny was scrapped about halfway through the series. I'm kind of curious about where it would have gone, because I bet it did not involve the SEED characters taking over the story and making the newbies look like idiots lol. While the action is exciting enough, the end is basically turning into a repeat of SEED -- there's the Earth Federation leadership (holed up in Orb) against ZAFT, and Kira and crew are trying to stop them from killing the shit out of each other. A lot of the Character Derailment SEED Destiny is famous for is rearing its ugly head here. Shinn, especially, is all over the place. In one episode he'll be an arrogant jerk, in the next he'll be a kind person, in the next he'll be a barely restrained psychotic killing machine, in the next he'll be hesitant to fight, and so on. It's not really a case of being a multi-faceted character; it's more like the writers pick a personality at random for him to assume throughout the episode.
Rey Za Burrel's characterization is weird as well. He goes through a lot of the series as a self-composed soldier and peacemaker -- especially between Athrun and Shinn -- but in recent episodes he has become more of a hardline soldier, brainlessly going along with Durandal's plans. I guess he has some sort of relationship with him, which makes him more inclined to go along with Durandal's plot (the series has drawn many parallels between Rey and SEED's Le Creuset), but sheesh, he is being super zealous about supporting Durandal's ambitions. At least some of the other soldiers are raising their eyebrows a bit. Lunamaria's behavior is also making me go, "o_O" She accepts immediately that Athrun and her sister are traitors (yeah she saw Athrun with the Archangel crew, but she also heard about the fake Lacus Clyne there, and she saw that Athrun didn't exactly leave them on good terms), and she pretty much leaps into Shinn's arms, even though HE KILLED THEM BOTH. INCLUDING HER SISTER. wtf, at least be a bit angry with him. Don't just throw away the memory of your friggin' sister. Gah.
But the crappy characterization is still being countered by the intensity of the action. Both Shinn's battle with Kira and his battle with Athrun are really good bursts of action, and the latter battle is suitably epic due to the lightning and whatnot. I'm also enjoying the current battle between ZAFT and the Orb forces. Very glad Cagalli is given the opportunity to be a badass and actually defend Orb rather than let Kira and/or Athrun do all the dirty work. Her golden Gundam looks kind of silly, but eh. Can't win everything.
eps 42-50: Man, I don't think Gundam SEED Destiny's final third is as bad as SEED's first half, but it's actually more disappointing in its own way. The first half of the series is pretty good (not perfect, but good), but as the series goes on, all the momentum built in the first half dissipates bit by bit until all the excitement is stripped away at the end, and what's left is really shallow. Now I can see why this series pisses so many people off, haha. It's not exactly necessary, so it really has to prove itself, and the very end just ... fails. There's no other way to describe it. Even disregarding that there are two recap episodes in the final nine (which is ridiculous), the final stretch is just really generic and lacks all the intensity of SEED. Why? Because it's pretty much SEED all over again! Sunrise tries to lampshade it with Neo/Mu's faux heroic sacrifice, but it fails because it isn't even 1/1000th as meaningful as it is in SEED. The final battle is weaksauce, too, because the original SEED characters own the hell out of the SEED Destiny characters with little expended effort. Shinn is basically just short of a god throughout the series until his final battle with Athrun (whose ass he kicked about 12 episodes prior), and Rey is completely bastardized. He goes from stoic to semi-evil to Rau Jr. to a fucking loser. In basically a couple of episodes. Yeah.
Overall, I guess SEED Destiny is about as good as SEED, but man, the ending really leaves a bad taste in your mouth. It's just so ... boring. Blah. Total waste of a legitimately good first half.
-- Phantom ~Requiem for the Phantom~ ep20: LOL, the first half of this episode is awesome -- it's like a Phantom dating sim, except the aim is to get bargaining chips instead of finding true love. (Also, I totally did not catch that Ami Koshimizu is Mio at first, although upon further reflection, I realized she uses her breathy Horo voice lol.) The OP cracked me up. It's hilarious watching Reiji and Ellen going around doing normal things. Ellen can really wolf down that food! Damn! Scythe Master must not have been feeding her much at all. But who he has been feeding is Cal. Good lord! Girl grew a friggin' mile! How old is she supposed to be?! She looks pretty badass, though. Maybe Scythe Master has the power to make people look twice as old as they really are. Also, I barely learned that Reiji and Ellen are supposed to be around 15 when the series begins, which means they are around 17-18 now. WTF? I always figured they were older. Was wondering the whole time how they managed to pass themselves off as high school students, haha. (Imouto!Ellen is awesome and weird btw. So bizarre to see her so cheerful.)
-- Shugo Chara! Doki ep47: Oh snap, Temari is back! And Nagihiko's new Character Transformation is traptastic. I approve. (I also approve of that douche Rhythm subbing out!) The friendship Nagihiko and Rima have formed is cool, too. They were so antagonistic before, but their personalities kind of complement each other -- Rima is intense and passionate (in her own way), while Nagihiko is cool and logical. They make a good team. (They make a good comedy team, too. Rima being playfully hesitant about keeping Nagihiko's secret, while Nagihiko is all, "... Pretty please?" made me laugh a lot.) Can't wait to see more of Nagihiko next episode. Hopefully Nikaidou finds his way to the Guardians as well. He is always great in the limited time he gets in the series now. It's really funny to see him act like a normal guy and do things like get angry at the kids for eating food in his car, haha. And wtf Nobuko Saeki is appearing everywhere now. She is the master of convenient appearances.
-- Spice and Wolf II ep8: Oh snap. Abe is pretty awesome. I'm totally suspicious of her -- most especially because she is so eager to speak with Horo -- but she is awesome nonetheless. She's not only a rare female merchant, but she also completely holds her own in conversation with Lawrence, and she manages to own him before he even starts: She explains that she knows she could be quite pretty if she tried, but she doesn't like compliments about her looks, so they should be avoided at all costs. Lawrence's flirtation method -- rejected! Their conversation seems innocuous enough, but of course Abe knows more about what is going on than Lawrence, so he should not forget that she has the upper hand for now. The last shot of the episode, with their handshake being framed by the fire from the fireplace, is rather ominous, haha.
There is also Lawrence's extended hug with Horo, which is total "AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW" bait, and I fell for it hook, line and sinker. Well played, Spice and Wolf. Well played. At least the two seem to be closer than ever now. Also, I demand more saucy barmaid! Horo is at her funniest when she is jealous of Lawrence shamelessly flirting with some other woman, and I get the feeling the barmaid would be a worthy foil for Horo in that area.
-- Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 ep8: Oh man, this episode punched me right in the gut. It lulls you right in with Mirai's two dream sequences about Yuuki's death, and Yuuki showing up seemingly all recovered later. However, nothing about it felt right to be. The setting when Mirai wakes up and first sees Yuuki -- happy and energetic as usual -- is distinctly otherworldly. There's a light mist all around, the sound of kids playing is focused on to a heightened degree and Mirai emerges from the small tunnel into the light (she even shields her eyes briefly) to see Yuuki playing soccer with some kids. That set off just about every red alarm in my mind. It's the kind of scene you would think about after a loved one dies -- all of us would hope they are in another place, doing whatever it was they loved to do in life, wouldn't we? Then there are the other clues like Mari and Yuuki not interacting at all during the second half of the episode, Yuuki consistently walking way ahead of Mari and Mirai, Mari's reactions to Mirai talking about Yuuki, Mirai carrying Yuuki's bag all episode, and so on. All this has inspired intense debate, but I am on the side that believes poor Yuuki is dead.
Now, I am not completely certain how I feel about this episode yet. The biggest thing, of course, is what exactly this does for Mirai. I mean, most of Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 has been about her maturation from a bratty pre-teen to someone who can grow into an empathetic adult. If Yuuki really is dead, then where Mirai goes from actually facing that truth is absolutely crucial to the series. The harshest criticism I have seen leveled toward this episode is that, if Yuuki is dead, then the behavior we are seeing from Mirai is not the maturation of a young girl. It is someone going insane, which goes against everything this series has built from the start. And, with things they are right now, I can definitely see why someone would make that criticism. I don't think Mirai will slip down that road, but this is something extremely delicate the series is dealing with, so I hope BONES can take it somewhere worthwhile rather than somewhere cheap. (I can at least commend BONES on the bravery of going in this direction.) But when we look back on the series, we'll see ep8 as the point where Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 either becomes something truly special, or where it lost its way. I don't think there will be any in between here.
But, for now, I don't think there is any denying it is an emotional experience. The dream sequences straddle the line between working and feeling a bit cheap. I can see why the trauma would make Mirai's mind wander, so I am hesitantly accepting their existence in the episode. Mari's dual struggle with worrying about her family, and with worrying about Mirai's emotional state, is quite strong, because it is one of the few times where we have seen chinks in Mari's armor. Physical ailments she can deal with just fine -- she immediately springs into action to get Yuuki medical care. (Although it is a bit weird that Yuuki is rushed in so quickly when the series makes a point to show how backed up the hospital is when they get there.) Helping Mirai get through a tough spot, when both believe Yuuki will emerge alive and well, is something Mari can do as well. But helping a young child come to grips with the reality of her younger brother's death? That is a difficult task for anyone. And Mari breaks down a bit because, I think, she believes Mirai is being strong for her sake, and because she can sense that, despite that, Mirai is having trouble reconciling her brother's death in her mind. It's a really heartbreaking moment.
-- Umineko no Naku Koro ni ep10: Beatrice is such an asshole in this episode. I love it. First she throws another closed door mystery at Battler, then she mocks Battler by saying she will tell Rosa that there is no spare key if he'll become her servant, and then she scares the crap out of Gohda, Shannon and George in the chapel and chases them down into Natsuhi's room, where her cronies kill Gohda and are threatening to kill Shannon and George, while Beatrice is laughing her ass off the whole time. Might as well call her Bitchatrice now. (Or maybe Biatchatrice to match the pronunciation of her name!) Most of the episode is pushing along the inevitable doom of everyone involved, although I do think an important hint is revealed when Maria mentions that there is a risk and reward system involved with Beatrice's magic. Basically, there is a way to combat everything she does; the more destructive the action, the easier it is to combat. (I'm guessing solving that riddle is about as easy as it will get for these people, though.) Don't know if it is important right now, but I could see it becoming important down the road.
I've seen it suggested that this whole arc could be an illusion manufactured by Beatrice to get Battler to break down. Really would not be surprised by that at this point. What else is Battler supposed to think, looking at this situation? The potential list of suspects is rapidly shrinking, unless multiple people committed the murders. Rosa is a prime suspect, but she is with Battler while Beatrice is gettin' her lulz. One of the other servants (say Genji or Dr. Nanjou, whose death could have been faked somehow) could be a suspect, but then of course there is the problem of their deaths in the first arc (along with Rosa's, as well). Is there one, consistent culprit in the family? Argh. I'm just confused right now, haha.
-- Zan Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei ep7: Zetsubou Sensei skits go in the weirdest directions sometimes. The first skit in this episode starts off as a riff on companies that sucker people into buying things with good deals, and the revealing hidden strings to make them pay more money. (One example: Majiru wants to buy some magazines that include a piece of a model mecha with each issue. He buys the first issue at a cheap price, but the second issue is nearly triple the price of the first.) But by the end it morphs into Kiri building a model Nozomu in her closet, Majiru breaking it and then replacing it with the real Nozomu. To make sure Nozomu is obedient, Majiru drills the Three Laws of Robotics into Nozomu's mind (although he mistakenly says the second rule -- total obedience to human commands -- is the first rule). How it gets there, I have no idea. It just does. It also has an appearance by two random characters played by Yui Horie and Michiko Neya. APPEAR MORE PLZ. There is also some funny lampshading of Chiri's Flanderization in the last skit, with Harumi and Abiru commenting that it would be surprising if Chiri didn't do something insane for Nozomu's surprise party. (I also lol'd at Nozomu taking the term way too literally and commenting that nothing in the party was a surprise.)
