Another week, another round of anime. Let's do this!!
Anime discussed: Akane-iro ni Somaru Saka, Chaos;Head, Clannad ~After Story~, Code Geass R2, Kannagi, Kyo no Gononi, Library War, Mobile Suit Gundam 00 s1 + s2, Shugo Chara! Doki, Spice and Wolf, To Aru Majutsu no Index, Toradora!, Yami no Matsuei
-- Akane-iro ni Somaru Saka eps 9-10: The show is finally moving forward full force with the romantic relationships. I guess I care about the show a bit more now, since it is actually grounded in something now, but I am frankly still amazed that I am watching it. You are all probably tired of hearing that week after week, right? Haha. Also, WTF @ Japanese Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck.
-- Chaos;Head ep9: More crazy intrigue, and now pretty much everyone on the show is suspicious in one way or another. The end of the world is nigh, and I am still not sure where all the pieces fall -- will Sena value vengeance over saving the world? Will Yua and the detective stumble upon the path to NOZOMI? What the hell are Rimi and Shogun up to? (This episode makes it more clear Rimi is on Takumi's side, although she is at odds with Sena and Ayase, and even with Shogun to an extent.) What is Nanami's role in all this beyond being a Gigalomaniac? So many questions. My favorite parts were Sena and Rimi throwing down briefly, and then the killer ending, which lends credence to Sena's theory that the world split when Takumi wrote the Ir2 equation.
-- Clannad ~After Story~ ep10: Man, I am really glad to see Tomoya take charge in his life. He's got some rough times ahead of him working with Yoshino, but I think Tomoya will be able to weather the rough times. His first day on the job wasn't so great, though. I could really feel how tired Tomoya was when he collapsed upon coming home. Poor guy. Aside from that, I like seeing the more serious side of Yoshino after he is so goofy in the first episode of the season.
-- Code Geass R2 ep5: Now we're getting into unfamiliar territory for me. This is an exceedingly strange mirror of the student council fair from the first season, right down to another attempt to bake the world's largest pizza. Only Code Geass would do this, I swear. The result is a barrage of CC falling into pizza sauce, Kallen ass shots and lots of general zaniness that feels totally out of place but is funny in a really bizarre way, so it doesn't matter much. Then the show sweeps everything under the rug with a crazy plot twist that makes you want to keep watching. Sounds like business as usual for Code Geass to me.
-- Kannagi ep10: I have been hearing rumors that Kannagi may get a second season, which I suppose is why it can afford to take its time with episodes like this, which is pretty funny but does not do much to advance the plot. Hey, I'm not complaining, though. Lots of fun karaoke action here, with Nagi singing a commercial jingle, Takako morphing a weird, seductive anime girl and Jin begging to be Daitetsu's (singing) partner while everyone looks on like, "WTF?" Poor Tsugumi gets the short end of the stick a lot in this episode. At another forum I go to, there's a joke making the rounds that Jin pays so little attention to Tsugumi and Zange these days that Jin/Daitetsu is the only canon coupling at the moment. lolz
-- Kyo no Gononi ep10: My favorite skit from this episode is easily the fairy tale spoof. Aihara fills the dual role of fairy and narrator, and she's awesome, while poor Ryota desperately searches for the cure to the curse that gives him short legs. Best part is where Tsubasa and Ryota have a fight that consists of them comparing their short legs, and then Tsubasa allows Ryota to pass to the princess' castle out of pity.
-- Library War eps 5-6: Pretty good pair of standalone episodes. I especially liked ep6, which further establishes how smart and resourceful Kasahara can be under her dopey exterior, and also deepens the connection between her and Doujou. They're definitely of the same mold -- Doujou was a wild card like Kasahara before his promotion made him wise up and temper his attitude.
-- Mobile Suit Gundam 00 eps 5-25: So awesome that it caused three avatar changes (one here, one on MAL and another on MSN) and a wallpaper change. While the first six or so episodes definitely are not bad, I could see what people mean when they say those are the "slow" episodes -- the rest of the series totally leaves them in its dust. This is what Code Geass would be if I actually cared about any of the major characters aside from CC anymore. Freaking great story, and I cannot think of a single major character I dislike (well, maybe the Trinity, but I am of the opinion that you are supposed to hate those little shits). Lockon and Graham are epic on a scale I've not experienced since Gurren Lagann, and the other three pilots -- Tieria, Allelujah and Setsuna -- grow into awesome characters by the end of the season. My opinion turned around on Setsuna in particular, whom I actively disliked at the start of the series but whom I now like quite a bit. He gets friggin' great when he makes it his personal mission to DEFEND THE HONOR OF GUNDAM~! Also, I am quite glad I watched this now, and not when it first aired, because it would have been murder waiting for the second season after the finale. Yeesh.
-- Gundam 00 Season 2 eps 1-9: Picks up right where Season 1 left off by heaping boatloads of action and awesome upon the viewer. Some of the twists are quite crazy (Lockon's brother is now a Gundam pilot?? LOUISE is a pilot?? There's a Tieria clone who looks like a chick but is actually a guy, too??), but in an awesome way. I am enjoying the character development of a few characters (especially Tieria and Graham), and the plot is advancing well so far. Joy! <3
-- Shugo Chara! Doki eps 7-8: A couple of really fun episodes here, with the charas being swept away to Ami's kindergarten class (which leads to a hilarious Mystery Egg battle) in one episode, and in the other episode, Amu working hard to ensure the success of Utau's first big concert since her split with Easter. I like how the series slowly chips away at Ikuto's personality, revealing little bits and pieces here and there. In a way he is a lot like Amu -- stubborn and reluctant to reveal his true self to others, instead hiding behind a cool, indifferent facade, but he will help the people he cares for when they truly need it.
-- Spice and Wolf eps 5-6: Awesome end to the "Horo gets snatched!" mini-arc. This storyline really shows how intelligent Lawrence is, and how much he has grown to care for Horo, since he risks his life and dreams to save her. Poor guy got really screwed on the profits after everything went down, haha. Chloe's switch to a cold, calculating enemy is kind of weird, but it is more understandable the more I think about it; actually, that might be Lawrence's influence. Before he met Horo, Lawrence was certainly a businessman first who thought mostly of the bottom line and how to profit most from every situation. That is what Chloe does, I think -- she analyzes the situation and tries to come up with the solution she believes will most benefit her (in this case, selling Horo out to the church and using that to twist Lawrence into opening a shop with her). Douche move, for sure, but it's the kind of thing Lawrence might have pulled before Horo opened his eyes. (Although I think Chloe abandoning Lawrence to his death is beyond what Lawrence might have done.)
-- To Aru Majutsu no Index ep10: Really strange episode that mainly features Touma conversing with one of the weirder characters in the show thus far, Mikoto's sister, MISAKA. I think this show is at its best when it mixes good action with fun character interaction, so I didn't like this quite as much as previous episodes. Still, I am surprised at how good To Aru has become.
-- Toradora! ep10: Not quite as funny as the previous episode (although Kitamura's purposefully lame traps had me laughing), but it makes the same amount of strides with the relationships in the show. I love how a few seconds of conversation can reveal so much about these characters; these past couple of episodes have made Minorin into much more than an awesome comedy figure. Ami also straddles the line between sympathetic and annoying quite well. Then, of course, there's the natural chemistry between Taiga and Ryuji. Honestly, I could see Ryuji ending up with any of them by the end of the series.
-- Yami no Matsuei eps 8-9: Muraki is one of the creepiest weirdoes ever, but he is the best part of this show by far. I love that he took his simple plan (research via murder) and then added all these needlessly complicated elements for the fuck of it just because Asato and Hisoka were on the ship, too. What a bastard, haha.
