Well, this one was a bit of a misstep. It wasn’t bad, it was amusing enough, but the style of humor was very different from the norm, resulting in something decidedly more run of the mill and boring than usual.

The first half turned out to be more about wacky vending machine food than anything else. Which was certainly quirky, but not all that funny. It was just cute girls doing cute things, without any hook, and that has already been done to death in the anime world. It’s not fun anymore. The faraway and silhouette shots, which Shaft usually uses to good effect, were actually kind of ugly and only served to remind us of how much money they must be saving. And I don’t know what to make of Harue’s surprise appearance at the end of the segment, other than that maybe they wanted to get their money’s worth from Ryoko Shiraishi, as she had to be in the 2nd half of the episode.

Seriously, this was this show's Chocolate Cornet Moment. I was impressed that Hotori knew what Esperanto was, though.

And no sooner than I start drawing comparisons to The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya does Yet the Town Keeps Going bring out a concert-at-the-culture-festival episode. I appreciate that it didn’t go the Haruhi/K-On/Angel Beats route of having (what’s supposed to be) a normal, poppy rock song, but rather stuck with the old timey whimsical tune similar to the ED. The peculiar collection of instruments certainly fit well with the whole off-mainstream feel of the song.

But they could have milked this culture festival concert story a lot more. I don’t even mean stretching it out over more episodes or even to a full episode, though either would certainly work given that over a month passes through the course of the half episode. I mean using the story to show us more interesting interactions between the protagonists. They are what have made this show entertaining, after all. Instead, the sequence of events was surprisingly straightforward. Futaba wants to perform at the culture festival. She gets a time slot at the stage. She recruits Harue on drums (with some manipulation using table tennis), learns that Toshiko and Hotori play instruments, recruits them, then they perform. Not much else.

The pan-up of Futaba before this scene was great. If Shaft still did the still-pan-ups that they used to do so much of in the Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei shows, I would've had a great stitched shot of her.

There were many chances for humor that were simply missed or glossed over. How about that whole month when the 4 had to learn the song and practice? When did they choose to go with the maids theme, and why? Who made Futaba’s stunning outfit? Then what about the days of the actual festival? How did they spend their time? What sorts of fun misadventures did our unique heroines run into? They’re not for us to find out.

I did like how the ED sequence ended up being genuine; just as Futaba had been revealed to play the bass a couple episodes back, Hotori does play the accordion – an instrument that fits her eccentric nature, taught to her by the head maid – Toshiko does play the violin, Harue does play the drums, and they all do perform together in maid outfits. But then again, this sort of gag had been done before, in Lucky Star, with the OP sequence. Except that Kyoto Animation is much better at animation than Shaft is. As cute as the concert was, the fact that the instruments didn’t exactly match up to the music was a huge distraction. That’s just one of those things that I’ve come to expect in this post-Haruhi anime world.

This should look familiar to anyone who's seen the ending to Lucky Star. I am unfortunately one of them.

So this week’s episode was lackluster, especially after the both hilarious and powerful episode it was following. In fact, it was the worst since the bland first episode. The show bounced back strong after that initial misstep and kept going to this point, so I’m hopeful that it will start hitting its marks again next week and continue on to the end.

If the first eight episodes focused on fish girl, it appears that the next set of episodes will focus on Mizuno, who may be come to known as bird girl. With the updated ending featuring Mizuno’s face instead of fish girl’s on the bus(it finally occurred to me that having her picture on the bus meant something given the nature of the last episode), it is clear that the show has entered a new phase, but not just for this reason.

She's smitten

The show opens with some clarification on Takuto and Sugata’s friendship status and all seems well. However, the real core of this episode was the proper introduction for Mizuno, and her sister Marino, and things get complex pretty quickly. As most had already guessed, and as the show revealed at its end, Mizuno is the Western Maiden, but the real kicker was that her sister is the new leader of the Glittering Crux Brigade, since Head apparently doesn’t want to bother fighting Takuto until they unlock the third phase. That by itself isn’t that big of a deal, but since Marino, and her soon to be regenerated Cybuddy, will be able to locate the Western Maiden, how will she feign ignorance or stop that process, so that she can keep the promise she made with her sister?

New theory: there are two types of people in this world. Those who like Mizuno more, and those who like Marino more. Since I think Marino is far more interesting (how could she not be with a Crux name like Manticore) than Mizuno, I’m only going to focus on her character introduction. Marino’s introduction to the Glittering Crux members was classic. That whole I have bombs all over the island bit was so childish and stupid, and so atypical of what seems to be her typical behavior. Plus, the reactions of all the other members while not played up, was pretty funny.  I’m guessing she is doing this on purpose, as her promise with her sister leads us to believe that she may be trying to destroy the Crux from the inside, but if Head trusts her it may be just the opposite.

She's awesome

But the real cool part was getting to see the real Glittering Crux meeting in a back room. The way those guys half heartedly gave the Kiraboshi hand sign was pretty cool (plus far more realistic), and shows that they have a somewhat different perspective as to what is really going on. The way they continually insulted Marino and Head (that hand raising shtick was pretty funny, and that throwing away the can reference was pretty grim), plus their reluctance to fight were all very different from any of the Crux members we have seen so far. Anyway, Marino certainly has some decisions to make in upcoming episodes, but it is hard to see her not falling for one of the bishies, as was the case with Midori and Benio.

The glamor of the real Glittering Crux Brigade

Speaking of the members we have seen fight so far, they may finally have an opportunity to pilot a Cybuddy again with the brigade close to mastering regeneration. While I’m hoping that some of the past characters return, the nature of the show’s set up with 22 Cybuddys and 25 episodes makes it seem like a fat chance, unless we get to a tag team battle (which almost happened in this episode, and now seems like it will happen before the series is over).

The show continues to tell some ok stand alone battle stories as it advances the main plot. The scene with Takuto and Sugata battling right before being dragged into zero time was a nice touch, even if you could easily tell that Sugata’s advice was critical to the upcoming battle. As for the battle, I was expecting more from a member of the real Brigade, although I guess it goes to show you how powerful Takuto really is. Nonetheless, I’m hoping that the Brigade does catch Mizuno, if for nothing else, so that we can finally see the Galactic Pretty Boy lose.

This arc seems pretty interesting, so if you haven’t been watching the show so far, I’d recommend catching up quick, as it seems like we may finally be getting to the good stuff. Plus with quotes like “mines a little longer”, how can you lose?

You could say I’m a pretty big rhythm game fan.  I have a custom build Dance Dance Revolution pad and can pass some 10s on a regular basis.  I play Expert guitar on Rock Band with little difficulty, for the most part.  I even bought the rhythm indie-game pack on Steam today.  The rhythm genre has come a long way over the years, and now a variety of gameplay mechanics have risen from using music as a base.  When I first got into the genre, I never though something like Rock Band would end up becoming mainstream.  However, I’ve recently determined developers have left a little something out of the equation: the story.

Please, sir, may I have some more?

Now, to be fair, I’m sure there’s a fair number of people out there who couldn’t care less about story in their rhythm games.  They just want to play the song and get on with their lives.  I’ve actually been of this mindset for a long time.  When the newest installments of DDR added a “story” to the single player mode, all I wanted to do was punch the person at Konami who came up with it.  I even played the new Guitar Hero game, another franchise which has added story to its career mode, and I just couldn’t bear it.  No one seems capable of coming up with a good narrative, and perhaps this is why no one really cares.

So what changed?  Well, I bought Elite Beat Agents and started playing it.  For those of you unfamiliar with it, EBA is essentially a game about a cheer squad.  People cry out for help, and the director of their organization dispatches a crew to pep them up with a strong beat and some snappy dancing.  Each song has a little story associated with it as well, and naturally, much of it is ridiculous.  The very first song has a character throwing hot dogs like footballs into a kid’s mouth.  The insanity steadily escalates until you eventually have music hating aliens abducting the entire cast.  All this said, one stage in the game plays the formula very differently.

It starts out very subdued, with a father about to depart on a business trip.  His daughter makes him promise he’ll be home in time for Christmas.  It jumps to six months later.  The father never returned, he died in an accident.  Unfortunately, the child doesn’t really understand what’s happened.  All she wants is for her daddy to keep his promise.  She doesn’t call for help, nor does the director bombastically dispatch his squad.  It leads directly into “You’re the Inspiration.”  Even the normal sound mechanics have changed from clapping to gentle chimes.  When you finally get to the end of the song, the girl and her mother briefly reunite with the spirit of their love one.  The whole package, from the introduction into the song and finally the conclusion, is completely in sync.  It’s beautiful.

You the meaning in my life, you're the inspiration.

Reviewers have been clamoring for some sort of storyline in their games.  It’s a reasonable request, when you consider the career mode for most of these games is literally playing songs in a certain order.  Developers have only made half hearted efforts at meeting this criticism.  Putting in a little narration between songs does not make for a good story.  In fact, it can actually make things worse, as oftentimes the story and the songs don’t resonate with each other.  They completely miss the point, and don’t see the potential they have in front of them.

Most songs tell some sort of story.  Even beyond it though, we have joined songs to tell greater stories for centuries now.  Opera has been around since the late 16^th century, and the Broadway musical is the American take on telling story through music.  Some musicians have even developed concept albums made up of songs with a single unified theme or story.  In particular, the band Coheed and Cambria have built their careers on it.

Now, there have been games based largely on their music.  Eternal Sonata is literally an RPG based on the life of Frederic Chopin, and has been widely praised for its scoring.  However, I’m not asking for just any game.  I want a rhythm game with a story.  Take your narration and have it lead into song, just like EBA did with “You’re My Inspiration.”  It doesn’t have to have some serious tone to it either.  Some of my favorite games are lighthearted or ridiculous.  This shouldn’t be terribly difficult when you look at the previous paragraph and think about it.  Yet, to my knowledge, it hasn’t really been explored.

So, what do you think?  Would you like to see a good story in your rhythm game?  And if you know of any games which do tell a story through music, please, share them.

For a more extensive look at the scene from Elite Beat Agents, check out this post from Destructoid.

This was actually a very good episode, but there were a lot of things that left me scratching my head. The single biggest question mark relating to this episode’s events was how the hell did Sion get so damn strong, because it seems like all he has been doing in the past 10 episodes (aside from letting Ryner help him get rid of Tiir) is sitting in a chair in that room full of glass muttering to himself.

Twenty/Twenty hindsight, I suppose you could have seen this one coming with Ryner calling Sion the devil like 10 times in this episode, not to mention countless times in previous episodes, which was actually a pretty nice touch if it was done on purpose. While there had been more than enough foreshadowing in earlier episodes to show that Sion was going to turn evil, especially after Fiole was killed in episode 5, this shows that the original creators (presumably?) planned ahead well, so I would expect more of those aha moments in the future.

Sexy time

Also, this episode (finally) took the show in a more adult direction. Sure, there had been gory battle scenes and some heavy emotions in previous episodes, but the only adult shot was when Claugh rescued Noa in a previous episode. This episode threw them out so often it was like they were going out of style. Back to Sion though, it is pretty reasonable to assume that he at least has some hand in the use of the forbidden magic infused soldiers that Riphal’s men found in Runa, if not the mastermind.  Then there was his somewhat surprising change in his morals, as for no apparent reason he decided to start killing Roland’s nobles (including Milk’s parents) without even informing Miran. Then there was the phrase I hate hearing any anime, in which Sion said there was more going on in this world than lines being drawn on maps. You can read my thoughts on this type of plot device here, but suffice it to say, it seems we have been down this road before.

One sided sexy time?

That’s not to say that Sion is the only character who seems to be going down a dark path in this episode. First there was Claugh getting his arm back (and a little action on the side), though there was conveniently little explanation as to how this happened. I think it is hard to ignore the symbolism of Claugh having a black arm, though I am having a little difficulty seeing what role that is going to play in the future. And then what would Legendary Heroes be without making you hate both Sion and Riphal, who had resorted to torturing (but in what way?) Kiefer after she had reacted to Ryner’s name in a previous episode. You have to feel for what she may face in the future, as I doubt she knows anything about Sion using forbidden magic, but I guess you never know.

Finally, there was the revelation that Milk’s foster parents had been killed, and that it was likely done on Sion’s orders, though I don’t think she or anyone else in her squad made that connection, but the scene cut off after she asked about what is going on in Roland. I found it pretty weird that she was so broken up about her parents dying even after she found out that the only reason she was adopted was so that her parent’s real  children wouldn’t have to go fight. Then there was that dream sequence she had with Sion before she woke up. There have been hints earlier in the show that she and Sion were connected in some way, but how important the two are to each other is still in question. Then, just to throw more wrenches into the plot, Milk came up with a reason as to why she shouldn’t trust anyone in her squad. Though I guess this isn’t really a surprise, as it seems like nobody trusts anyone in this show, but that will make for a good conclusion.

This was a good scene, with some new, but welcome, eye movements from Ferris.

Then there was that whole back and forth between Sion and Miran about Ryner. Why Sion still considers Ryner so important to his identity is a little weird, but I’d imagine that he will eventually change his mind, like he did with the nobles (because, really, what are the odds that Ryner is dead?).

Oh yeah, Ryner also got stabbed.

Even though this disc had 4 episodes, it effectively only had 3, as episode 16 was completely a recap episode.  In any case, we finish the first half of the series with the defeat of the Spiral King and his warnings that he was actually protecting humanity, and that once “a million apes” were on the surface, basically something bad would happen.  However, beyond this we don’t really know anything, other than the fact that the Spiral King seemed to believe that he was acting as a guardian against Simon’s spiral power.

You might to get that checked out by a dermatologist

As for the “7 years in the future” part, it’s going to be hard getting used to the characters being older now.  However, the new government under Shion seems to be suffering from the same ills of many revolutionary governments: it starts out strong as a result of the initial enthusiasm and idealism, but soon gets weighted down under the weight of the fact that many of the people leading the nation are neither very competent to do so, and don’t really want to in the first place.  While Shion seems competent, he doesn’t seem very enthusiastic, and while others may be enthusiastic, they aren’t very competent.  Meanwhile, people who see this, in this case Rossiu, get frustrated and radicalized by the fact that his fellow revolutionaries, well, suck at governing (and, in conjunction with the attack of the anti-spirals, cause mass unrest) and decides to take over the place himself.

I’m still not sure why the anti-spirals think that the spiral energy will cause the destruction of the universe, though I guess my thought is this:  if the spirals have a tendency to advance rapidly, and have rather unchecked passions, that could lead to several consequences such as, say, the destruction of their own planet.  However, if you expand this thought upward, perhaps they fear that spirals wouldn’t stop at a planet, but might cause the self-destruction of a galaxy or even the universe itself.

In any case, this series seems to have gotten a bit more interesting now that we’re in this new time frame.  We’ll have to see if it just resorts to massive mecha battles like it did to begin with, but hopefully the plot will start getting expanded some.  There is already evidence that it is, with Rossiu taking over.

I have to say that Star Driver is beginning to have me question why I watch it. At some moments the show delivers kick but action scene after scene, but it increasingly seems to be borrowing frame rate lessons from Evangelion at other moments, though I guess if you’re a fan of two bishies panting for what seems like an eternity this is probably right up your alley. More on point though, this series is moving at quite the breakneck pace, what with fish girl (and her awesome battle song) leaving after only a third of the series is complete. Suffice it to say no one really knows where this thing is headed, but then again, did anyone ever really?

=(

Starting with episode 7, it seems like Mami was in reality nothing more than a one timer meant to induce Sugata into unleashing his King’s Pillar in the previous episode, though I guess you never know for sure. I mean the way Takuto completely ignored her during their fight, only to defeat her in an instant was surprising as it was awesome. That said though, it does seem like the series is breaking away from its established routine given that neither Mami or Benio were shown giving up their badges after their defeats. Speaking of breaking from the routine, what was more unexpected than the sudden departure of fish girl? Sure, I didn’t know what the hell she was talking about half the time, and I’ll definitely miss Monochrome every time Takuto summons Tauburn, but I guess the adventure of life must go on.

As most people have surmised, I also think that the bus scene featuring Wako, fish girl, Keito, and the newly introduced Mizuno has some sort of special significance, with the most likely scenario being that the four are the four shrine maidens on the island. While it certainly surprising to see a member of both the Midnight Flight and the Glittering Star as maidens (if that is indeed the case), it is certainly going to make for some interesting storylines, especially for Keito. I mean, as a member of the Glittering Stars, it seems that she may be one of the keys to unlocking either any phase or a phase after Wako’s. It will be interesting to see if other members of the Brigade already know this, or what will happen to Keito should they find out. Perhaps, she will be forced to change sides in the future.

I just like this shot.

But the most pressing matter on my mind is who will Head have replace fish girl, so that he won’t be bored before bed time. If he does need some sort of replacement, as it seems he does if the Glittering Stars are to move on to the next phase, who will he choose. Regardless of whether he chooses someone to be in his birdcage, I would like a little back-story as to how fish girl ended up in that birdcage in the first place (plus a whole lot of other things). If he does manage to “capture” another girl, I’d imagine the process wouldn’t be that different that fish girls, so that would also suffice as a pseudo back story, I suppose.

The series continues to expand on the use of the first phase, both in and out of zero time. I thought it was quite brilliant of Benio to come up with the idea of using her First Phase ability in zero time after kissing Sugata in the previous episode, even if she failed on the execution. However, I fail to see where the already introduced first phases (by my count there are four of them thus far: Kanako, Benio, Mami, and Midori, though if there are more let me know) will have any pivotal impact on the plot, unless perhaps they have enormous side effects as episode 7 hinted at. The last thing this series needs to do introduce new first phases right before using them at a critical junction, as that would be pretty cheap.

Though I’ve mentioned how I thought some characters were far less important than they initially appeared, Mami for instance and perhaps Kanako, it almost goes without saying that there are likely many characters that may be more important than I would have initially guessed. For example, it seemed like Sarina had a thing for Takuto during their conversation about Wako in episode 7. Perhaps, she may play a more important role as the series progresses, and who knows, if she does like Takuto and he doesn’t reciprocate the feelings, or even notice her, Sarina may join the Glittering Star. It wouldn’t be unlike a teenager to completely switch her group of friends over a boy because as we know by now, the adventure of life must go on.

I guess this post wouldn’t be complete without some mention of Sugata’s short lived fit from being slapped by Takuto. I guess if anything, this means that Sugata truly values bros before h*es, as he was able to overcome the power of Benio’s kiss, and do who knows what with Takuto in zero time. I’m a guy, and that seemed way too dramatic for any resolution to any disagreement I’ve ever had. That said, I suppose the overall concept of the idea was good especially considering Wako was at the center of it, but the execution again was poor. And what happens now? I mean, Sugata can apparently summon his Cybuddy in zero time now, so is that going to mean we are going to see Takuto and Sugata versus all comers, though tag team battles would be pretty cool. That sort of development would sort of mesh with the whole adventure of life goes on thing, but I don’t really know if it would work.

What is this guy's role?

Regardless, the next episode or two will tell us what the departure of fish girl means. Will the series enter some sort of second phase ala Utena and the Black rose arc, or will it squander its good foundation with too many unanswered questions?

This close to a zero time wardrobe malfunction

Like Kaoru way back a few months ago, Rihoko was someone who already shared a friendship with Junichi, though, in her case, it went way back to childhood, not just a few years. At points while watching this arc and Kaoru’s, the same thought occurred to me several times: what if Junichi doesn’t “win” this time around? What if these girls who start out as friends, end up as friends as well? I thought it would be a great idea, the ultimate FU to the viewers expecting the couple to end up together as expected.

Well, be careful what you wish for.

The arc started off giving me hope, especially with Rihoko’s narration stating outright that she had an unrequited love for Junichi. The problem was that things never went further than that. Instead of focusing on the relationship between Junichi and Rihoko, the show focused on the succession of the tea ceremony club. With the ice skating and Christmas festival, the show showed sparks of impending romance at times, but in the end, Rihoko explicitly gave up – though I don’t know that she even tried – and remained “happy” remaining still with her unrequited love.

Rihoko’s arc was even more similar to Kaoru’s arc in that way – sterile and devoid of emotion, which is why they didn’t end up together in this arc and why everything felt so forced and artificial in Kaoru’s. Except Rihoko’s arc suffered in all 4 episodes instead of just the last 2. Also like the Kaoru arc, this one didn’t exploit the preexisting friendship between the 2 enough. Since Rihoko was a childhood friend, there was a lot more material there to use, but besides a few amusing flashbacks in the first half of the arc, the fact proved to be inconsequential. Really, for these 2 heroines, the “friends” thing was more of a feature to be checked off than a genuinely meaningful character trait.

The arc needed more scenes like this. Many more.

It’s telling that the climactic moment of the arc and the final scene was about Junichi and Rihoko running the tea club. Where was the charged emotional content? Where was the romance? When I envisioned Junichi “losing,” I pictured it as a true loss, a separation of two people who have feelings for each other but who can’t be together for whatever reason. I was foolish to hope for such complexity and drama from Amagami SS, I suppose.

Another source of hope at the beginning that was quickly dashed was that Rihoko was narrating at the start. Could the arc switch around the main character, have it follow her instead of him? Unfortunately, no. That particular narrative trick was abandoned quickly. Shame, because it could have made entertaining what was otherwise rather boring, much like how the sarcastic narration made Sae’s arc not only good but great. This arc began and ended following Rihoko as the main character, but everything was same old run of the mill in between. Or rather, it was less than run of the mill.

This Winnie the Pooh gag was pretty funny. Everything else relating to Rihoko's weight? Dull and overdone.

And what of our heroine? Rihoko was great as a side character in the other arcs, but as a protagonist proper, she was just boring. Her spinelessness with respect to Junichi’s ignorance of her feelings – even in the face of constant encouragement from her friends – was what really took down this arc. With the parties lacking the desire or the initiative, no chemistry could develop. At least she always looked cute while eating. Speaking of which, her complex about her weight stopped being funny or endearing a long time before the arc even began. And like everything else about this arc, this trait of hers didn’t develop at all and remained nothing more than a running joke.

The ED was decent, nothing to write home about. Not as good as Ai’s, which remains the best. But the cutesy animation went well with Rihoko’s innocent aura. And as I learned just recently from watching Kurenai, in which she sings the EDs, Ryoko Shintani has a fine singing voice. Ironic that the one “real” singer of the lot – Haruka’s voice actor Shizuka Itou – has had the worst singing in her ED so far, excepting Sae’s squeakfest (though everything in Sae’s arc gets a free pass thanks to the fact that the whole arc was meant to be ironic).

So this one was just a whole lot of nothing. I do give credit to the writers for having one arc end in “failure.” And I did like how it twisted the now standard format of ending things on Christmas Eve, instead placing the festival in the 2nd episode, not even halfway through the arc. But high concept alone isn’t enough to make a work good; what really matters is execution, and the execution just wasn’t there.

The tea club succession was the real story in this one. It could've been good, but too much time was spent showing Junichi and Rihoko go nowhere in there relationship. Double fail.

We’ve got one arc left, Tsukasa’s. I’m looking forward to finding out if there really is something dark behind her perfect image, but I’m certainly not looking forward to seeing how the story will fail once again. At this point, it’s safe to say that Amagami SS has been a huge disappointment. In order to redeem itself, Tsukasa’s arc will have to be the perfectly told high school love story in 4 episodes. It can be done, but I for one am not holding my breath.

And, to no one’s surprise, Sora did see Nao and Haru getting it on when they were last in town, and Sora sees it as Nao trying to steal Haru away – something she finally can’t hold in anymore when she catches them doing the deed again.  Though, Sora’s hatred for Nao still seems to go deeper than one would expect from her just seeing Nao and Haru getting it on, so I’m wondering if there is still more to it than that.  This arc looks like it will go for at least one more episode, so we’ll find out I guess.

You can't get with Haru unless you let me join in too!

I figure that, since Haru and Nao are trying to get Sora to forgive them, that’s the most likely final result for this arc, though Sora is pretty stubborn.  The way this episode went, I could also see Sora doing something rash like trying to throw herself of a bridge or something, but it doesn’t seem like this series would do that.  But then again, with us resetting for every arc, something like that could happen and then “reset” for the next arc.

As for trying to get Sora to “forgive” them (for what, really? It’s not their problem she’s jealous, really), I’m not sure just being nice to her is going to be enough, though I’m not sure what more they can really do.  Maybe someone will finally go off on Sora for being selfish or something and that will finally make her snap out of it.

The one girl we haven’t really seen anything of since the first episode, however, is Kuranaga, the class President, whom was one of the first girls Haru ran into in the first episode (I think Akira was first and she was second).  However, she is still hanging around in both the OP and second ED, so I’ll be surprised if we don’t see more of her.  Let’s say episode 9 is the last episode of Nao, that would give us 2 episodes each out of Sora and Kuranaga.  If what I’ve read is right about episode 7 being a shared episode between Nao and Sora, just like how episode 2 was shared between Akira and Kyou, then perhaps that means the final arc – and the winner – will ultimately be Kuranaga.

So we learn about Niche’s background: that she was born 200 years ago, after a pregnant woman drank from the holy lake of the Maka and…has a twin. As the twin daughter of the woman who drank the holy water, the residents of Blue Notes Blues consider her to be cursed, which is why she warned Lag not to tell the townspeople about her (though based on their description of the twins, it didn’t take the Mayor long to figure out what Niche was)

Niche's REALLY big sister has a bone to pick with the townspeople

Naturally, the citizens of the town had the story of what happened completely wrong after hearing the story from Niche’s very grown up sister.  She also revealed an interesting tidbit about Spirit Amber being mined quietly from the land, which caused it to become cold, and not the Maka’s disfavor (as the Maka never really cared about humans in the first place).

Unfortunately, Niche’s sister didn’t really finish her story in this episode, so we’ll have to wait until next week.  However, we have several mysteries:

1) who mined the spirit amber?

2) why did it remove the geothermal energy from the land, and did those who mined it know it would have that effect?

3) why didn’t Niche grow like her sister?

4) why can’t the Maka converse with humans anymore?

5) why are the Gaichuu frozen in the cave, and why did Noir/Gauche go there to get one?

6) why were the children born half Maka?  was that the price for letting the woman live until her twins were born?

7) why didn’t either the Maka nor Niche’s sister sense Lag as a human? (which just adds to the mystery of why he has a spirit amber as one eye that was already there)

I was wrong about Niche being a byproduct of the experimentation that Reverse says the government is doing, but is it possible that Lag is a result of said experimentation?  His mother was kidnapped to the capital after all.  This episode just made this show jump over Yosuga no Sora for 3rd and it might challenge Index II for second best that I’m watching if the next episode is as enlightening as this one is.  A lot of questions answered, but just as many new ones created.

One thing Hotori certainly doesn’t lack for are males in her life. We had both parts of an entire episode focusing on her relationship with her math/homeroom teacher, and now we get to see her interacting with her classmate-cum-secret-admirer Hiroyuki Sanada, then with her little brother Takeru. We’ve passed the halfway point now, and the show has hit its stride, as this was the best episode yet, giving us plenty of its distinct brand of humor while also hitting us with heartfelt and emotional content.

One thing I haven’t touched upon or really paid much attention to is the non-chronological order of this show. Part a of this episode was based off of the 5th chapter of the manga, and thus it took place before most of the events we’ve already seen. At first, I thought it as being inconsequential, much like in Hidamari Sketch, a function of its “slice of life” and “gag comedy” nature, but part a has me questioning my initial reaction. That is, Yet the Town Keeps Going just might have some grand narrative underneath all the gags, specifically relating to the specifically relating to the love triangle that had been referred to in the very first episode.

Of course, it’s not like this segment with Sanada shot the romance story forward by any stretch of the imagination. After all, we know he and Hotori have yet to get together. But if you weren’t hit with warm and fuzzy feelings from watching this segment, you truly have no heart. Watching Sanada struggle and fumble and endure through all the embarrassment and awkwardness to get what he really wants was both hilarious and heartwarming. The calculated call back to the morning horoscopes that got Hotori into so much trouble a few episodes ago and drove the plot in this segment was much appreciated. Both for the touch of humor it added and its effect of showing us something that these two have in common. Maybe all this will lead nowhere, but the insertion of this playing-hooky day into the time line of the story makes me hope that this is just a step in a longer journey with a set destination.

Shaft has a knack for selectively using exaggerated faces for comedic effect and to properly portray emotion.

And that’s where the consideration of the narrative comes in. I see potential for this show to tell a high school romance, paced in a way that makes sense for a show such as this, mixing in different bits from different times yet maintaining a continuity that not only works in this non chronological format, but exploits it to make the story even more compelling than a standard one. There’s one show that the previous sentence should remind you of, and that show is The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. Comparisons to that show may seem rash at this point in time. To be sure, it would be unfair to expect any show to live up to the quality of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. And Yet the Town Keeps Going has not even proven itself to have a central narrative, much less one as excellently conceived and told as the one in Melancholy. But at the surface, the formats of the 2 shows are similar, and I can definitely see a path that this show can follow to become a show like Melancholy.

That I’m even entertaining this thought should tell you volumes about how well executed the first segment of this episode was. Again, it’s not that Sanada hit a home run. The satisfaction of the nothing that was accomplished that day was part of the charm and, more than anything, it was wonderfully sweet.

What a great moment of role reversal here, as Takeru almost ends up teaching Hotori something about love.

But as sweet as the first segment was, the second might have been even sweeter, just because there is something more innocent about sibling love compared to romantic love. Of course, given shows like My Sister Can’t Be This Cute or Yosuga no Sora this season, you would be excused if you thought the two were one and the same in the world of anime. But no, Yet the Town Keeps Going keeps things classy, and even as we watch Hotori and Takeru in the bath together, the only thing we find disturbing is the idea that we might have seen this as anything other than wholesome.

I can think of no better word to describe this segment than that. It was good, wholesome fun, giving us another slice of the lives of a couple of the Arashiyama siblings. The way Hotori and Takeru acted toward one another was natural, in a way that only siblings can be to each other. Hotori’s previous interactions with her younger siblings did not paint her in a good light, and this segment showed us the other side of the coin, that she is actually a very considerate and caring older sister who can go out of her way to help her little brother. She was clearly proud to play the role of the older sibling, showing him around the after-dark hangouts and fascinating him with something as simple as a convenience store or the moment when tomorrow becomes today. The aforementioned bath was a great way to cap off the night and to emphasize the skinship they share as siblings.

Nowadays, it seems like the exception for a bath scene in anime not to be completely tasteless. This is one of them. From Shaft, no less.

All in all, this was the best episode of this show yet. It was undoubtedly the sweetest and most emotionally affecting. Part a has me speaking of it in the same breath as The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, and part b provided great moments of sibling love made all the cuter by how matter of fact and innocent they were. I’m nothing if not skeptical, but I’m hoping that the best is still yet to come and that this episode was just a glimpse into the deeper narrative that drives this show. As I wrote at the very beginning, this show has hit its stride. Even if the story doesn’t end up playing out the way I’m hoping, if Yet the Town Keeps Going can keep up the light but meaningful humor of these past 2 episodes, it will be remembered as a great show.

It’s the start of season 3, and Sakura and Kero have been bored since Sakura captured the last of the Clow Cards, Mrs. Mizuki is away in England for an overseas trip, and Shaoran is planning on heading home to Hong Kong now that the Clow Cards have a new master.  However, there is a new transfer student from England in Sakura’s class, Eriol Hiiragizawa, who takes an unusual interest in Sakura.

Eriol Arrives, but for what reason?

Once again, this series pull out an excellent episode to start the third season off, and they aren’t exactly hiding what, generally, Eriol is.  He’s clearly a magician there for Sakura in what way.  However, for what reason he’s there and what powers he has, is still a mystery.  Also, the fact that Toya had a new transfer student in this class likely isn’t a coincidence either.

This will really be Sakura’s first test as master of the Clow Cards, especially since, for whatever reason, she can’t seem to activate them anymore.  This could also have something to do with the fact that the Clow book changed as well.

This episode also had several funny points in it, such as Tomoyo teasing Shaoran about liking Sakura, and the fact that he has a new “rival” in Eriol.

Full HD gallery is below the fold

This show seems to get better and better.  First, we have another one of Saori’s line (this time via text – and oh by the way, she has got to be my favorite character outside the primaries). Next, we have Kuroneko giving a perfect impersonation of Kirino, which just made Kuroneko look totally out of character but was still hilarious.  And then of course the massive battle over Meruru (where I feel like I took sides with Kuroneko for most of it, though Kirino had some fair points too, I guess)

Kirino is wet...and wants to take Kyou to a hotel

Also, I”m sure someone is taking Kirino’s idea of a planet filled with nothing but little sisters and turning it into an anime series as we speak.  Though how can one have a planet with only little sisters.  Don’t they have to be little compared to something else? (not to mention how were they born, unless the planet has some form of female-female or asexual reproduction).

In any case, Kirino seemed to let her guard down quite a bit when they went into town for “research.”  First, she wants Kyou to buy her a ¥30,000 (~$360) ring, letting out that it’s only natural if she “gets it from the one she loves” (and then pretends to be talking about her story).  It obviously doesn’t take long for Kyou to figure out that the trip is less about her research and more about her getting stuff for herself, which ultimately led to Kirino dumping cold water on her head to prove she wasn’t selfish, then a trip to a hotel she could clean up.

Since this show is put up on ANN a week after it airs, I’ve gotten bits and pieces about the episode elsewhere, and I thought I’d add my thoughts to it:

1) No, I didn’t think much of the shower scene.  She was wearing a robe, and not a revealing one at that, and I don’t find the act of her wearing one after showering to be particularly shocking or even abnormal (maybe it is in Japan, but I don’t find it such).  I’m sure it was meant to add to the tension, but it seemed like people were overreacting to a scene that I felt was pretty tame.

2) No, I didn’t get any major sense that Kirino has a brother complex in this episode, other than her comment about the ring.  Otherwise, it just felt like an episode where Kirino has been lonely and wanted to be pampered by Kyou, but is too proud to actually admit to the fact, and so came up with “story research” as a cover story for it.

Given the first comment I saw on twitter about this episode was “why don’t they just fuck already,” I was rather expecting more from this episode in that regards than what was there.  I’m not saying I don’t like the episode.  Just saying that, once again, it seems like people are overreacting over not very much.  Maybe the writers will finally do a “real” scene like that between the two, but there is still little to suggest that either character is going down a true brocon or siscon road to me.

Anyway, while maybe not the best episode of the series, though the first half was pretty good, this series still hold a stranglehold as the best series I’m watching this season.  Of course, Kyou leaves us with the teaser that “never expected what was to happen later.”  Since this series is basically been teasing over the whole siscon and brocon thing all along, I would expect something similar regarding Kyou’s comment.

Since school kind of took up most of my time the past week and a half, I decided to combine the past two episodes into one somewhat longer post. While it would seem like a lot of things have happened in these two episodes, and a lot has, it also is clear that for many characters, especially the main ones, change is a slow process.

I guess the biggest surprise from episode 19 was that Tiir wasn’t such a bad guy after all. I mean, sure he has probably killed thousands of people and used the logic that he isn’t human to justify his actions (which I am sure he will reassess at some point), but still not a bad guy. It was also interesting to see that he had run in to and basically been defeated by Lir in the past. So when Lir came back in episode 20, you would have thought that Tiir would have been the one to get revenge, but it seems that he can’t really use his powers to his full effect unless he consumes others, and in episode 20 that would have meant consuming all the children which he refused to do. This kind of puts him in a bind in fights that don’t involve large amounts of humans, so it will be interesting to see what kind of role he can actually have in smaller, one on one type fights, as was the case when he initially fought Lir. (Also, did anyone else get Alien type vibes when he mentioned how he consumed his mother from the womb?)

That brings us back to Gastark, and what better place to start than with what looks to be the death of Sui nii-chan. Frankly, I don’t really care whether he lives or dies anymore since most the characters from this show’s first half, Miran Froaude included, just don’t offer the same level of intrigue and mystery of some of the show’s newer focuses, like Riphal and Luke. In reality, it seems that his character’s only purpose was to fight Ryner a few times, and then mention to Riphal how powerful he was, which would then elicit a response from Kiefer. It will certainly be interesting to see what will happen between Kiefer and Riphal in the upcoming episodes. Since Riphal has been trying to put the moves on Kiefer for the past few episodes, and even going so far as to say he would marry her in episode 19, what will he do now that he knows she is from Roland, his current foe? What will Kiefer do? From the preview, and from the little we know about Riphal, it seems like he is going to do whatever it takes in order to accomplish his dream of creating a peaceful world.

It was also pretty interesting to see that Gastark has a crap load of crystals, which Gastark presumably gained from killing an untold number of magic eye users (which makes you wonder how many magic eye users there really are, but I digress). While I know one of the main themes of this show is supposed to be that there isn’t no good guy, there isn’t no bad guy, there is just two sides who just disagree, it’s hard not think badly of Riphal for ordering his minions to go around the continent and massacre people, but this is something we kind of all ready knew. What we didn’t know was how Gastark was able to crystallize eye users.

Fortunately, episode 20 cleared that up. It appears that Lir’s legendary relic, in the form of a big green ball that allows him to crystallize the powers of magic eye users, which he can then use in the form of a Rule Fragment. While the plot possibilities this relic provides for are interesting, especially if it could take away powers without killing the user, it is in and of itself a pretty powerful weapon. The ease with which Lir was able to kill both Lafra and the Alpha Stigma chick was pretty remarkable. Unfortunately, Luke and Ryner just let Lir kind of walk away after they had him on the run, which was a bit perplexing, as was the large amounts of talking between Ferris and Ryner during the fight scenes in which no action actually took place. Kind of disappointing that episode 20 didn’t handle these timing issues better, but it’s a minor flaw.

However, the real core of this series has been the relationship between Ryner and Ferris, and the last two episodes seem to have finally moved them to the next level, though what that means isn’t exactly clear. That said, the one thing has surprisingly upset me was the limited amount of time Ryner was able to mope around after he decided to leave Ferris and Sion to go with Tiir. I mean is one episode enough time for Ryner to completely change all of his ideals, and did Ferris say anything to Ryner in episode 20, that she didn’t already make clear in episode 10.

I guess that this speaks to a bigger problem that this series has. I really don’t think it was necessary to spend as much time as the series did in having Ryner decide to leave Ferris and Sion, but I do think it should have spent more time in having Ryner coming to the realization that people still care about him even if he is a monster. Ferris’ promise to kill Ryner should he every go berserk again near the end of this episode seems a bit extreme to me, but if this is what it takes for Ryner to feel comfortable around her then so be it. It would be nice to see a bit more comedy put back into this show by having these two together, even if it the series doesn’t really need it anymore.

Speaking of things that have taken this series too long to get to, we finally got a conclusion to the Miran/Luke fight from a few episodes ago. To see Miran just give up on his plan, whatever exactly it was, and release Milk without incident was a little disappointing, but understandable considering he was up against a legendary relic (everyone on this show has a relic it seems, but Ryner and Ferris). It seems like Miran was able to convince Luke to move against Ryner, but given the events in episode 20, Luke now seems convinced that Ryner must live.

Long term, the biggest thing in this series is that Ryner is the solver of all equations. Lir’s mention of this in episode 20 was only the second time in the series (I think) that this has been alluded to. What this means is anyone’s guess, but with Ryner now seemingly capable of holding back the monster inside of him and with the promise he made with Ferris, a bunch of possible pathways have been opened. If Ryner can only access these potentially earth shattering powers while under the control of the Alpha Stigma, it is possible that a situation may arise where his powers are needed to save a large group of people. I guess the real question is whether he would open himself up to possibly being taken over by the monster inside of him (and thus killed by Ferris), if it meant saving others.

One other interesting note was the conversation Claugh had with Calne in episode 19 after they learned about Sion’s use of Ryner. I got the feeling that Claugh was somehow able to understand what Ryner was going through, as a lot of what he said echoed what Ryner had said in previous episodes. While we haven’t much back-story on Claugh up until this point, except for his past with Tiir, it would be interesting to know what he had to do to get the power he had in his right hand. From the previews, it looks as though he is going to somehow get another arm, but if Full Metal Alchemist as taught us anything, it is that something must be lost, for something to be gained. It will be interesting to see if we find out what sacrifices Claugh made in the past, and may make in the future all for the sake of power.

However, with all of these plotlines, I don’t know if the show can adequately wrap up everything that is going on in six episodes without it feeling rushed. At this point, it seems possible that this show will have a sequel. Whether that is the case or not, I hope we get some sort of conclusion to this series, and not a cliffhanger.

Soo…that’s it for the “remnant” arc?  I so thought there would be more to this (and maybe there will be eventually), but this arc basically consisted of Awaki and Kuroko fighting each other (with Kuroko pretty much on the losing end of all of it) and Awaki demonstrating that she’s both crazy and can move heavy things.  In the end, the Misaka’s network together and tell Toma to…catch Kuroko out of midair I guess, because he didn’t do a heck of a lot else.

In Soviet Russia, the Accelerator puts down you

As I said before, I wouldn’t be surprised if this Tree Diagram remnant stuff didn’t pop up later, though obviously the suitcase that Awaki was carrying was obliterated, and she (and her comrades) weren’t exactly in the best shape either.  At least we got to see some Accelerator action, though he still seems to be sore about losing to Toma, so I’m guessing that will come back eventually.

As for what Awaki wanted the remnants for…I still don’t get it.  She basically wanted to ask it if animals could gain abilities which, while a fascinating question I guess, I find it difficult to find out it’s relevant.  She had issues accepting being an ability user, so perhaps she was trying to find some meaning as to why she was by having that question answered.

Overall, with a lack of any obvious future extension of this arc, I found this arc to be pretty lame, with a somewhat lame premise, lame battles, and a lame conclusion.  Again, if we come back to it again later, then maybe this episode and the last one will become more important, but as they stand now, they seem kind of pointless to me.

You know what?  Lag makes a piss poor undercover person.  Lag hides away on the carriage of the people investigating Reverse, and at the first sign – the very first sign of anything bad (in this case, one of the guys knock over a kid) – he blows his cover.  I’m surprised he didn’t start balling too.  Lag may very well be the pinnacle of innocence in this series, but he’s also full of stupid as well.  He may very well have discovered the truth that the very investigators sent to investigate Reverse were the moles if he had stayed hidden.

Note to self: Never make Sylvette Angry

At least we’re back into the story dealing with Reverse and Gauche, which has made the series a bit better over these three episodes.  I still think it’s still too early to say it’s risen from the cellar of the shows I”m watching, but it’s gotten better.  The reason Reverse appears to be fighting against the government seems to be somewhat justified – if it’s correct – though I seem to doubt that Reverse is planning on doing anything better if they were to take over.  And it looks like in the next episode we might learn the history of Niche.

Speaking of which, since Niche is a Maka, it’s possible that she’s a result of these experiments being run in the capital, much like Roda apparently was.  I’m still not totally clear on what those experiments were trying to do, but it seems clear it was some sort of human experimentation for some nefarious purpose – again if we can trust what Reverse has to say on the matter.

Oh, and what is up with Sylvette’s wheelchair.  I knew it was somewhat automatic, but really? It can outrun a rampaging rhino thing?