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Rating: 6/10 (when the last five episode screenshots look like they’re from the same episode, you know something’s wrong)

Impressions:

There are far too many flashback references to Sasori’s parents, and his separation from them. It makes the episode extremely ‘drudge-y’ and slow. If the excessive flashbacking are supposed to increase sympathy for the puppet master, it fails pretty badly. At least they portray Sakura and Chiyo with little or no remorse. Sasori’s end is pretty anti-climatic. The trouble with shounen series is, a seemingly impossibly powerful character will appear to be merciless and overwhelming in the beginning, but go down stupidly, as there would be no other possible way for the protagonists to defeat him. Sasori’s demise makes him almost seem weak.

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Popularity: 15% [?]

The polls plugin only allows for 20 answers, but there are almost 40 new shows premiering next month, so I really have no idea in choosing what to put as an option. And I usually choose badly. So I’m trying something new. The poll is in the sidebar on the right—just pick the best answer. I’ll probably do a ‘What’s your favourite anime so far’ poll a few weeks in, once the good ones start to shine. If anyone’s wondering, I’ll be looking forward to Shakugan no Shana II, Minami-ke, Kodomo no Jikan, Genshiken 2, Da Capo II, ef – a tale of memories, Gundam 00, CLANNAD and Bamboo Blade.

Popularity: 8% [?]

Rating: 8/10

Impressions:

Wow, I ended up really enjoying this episode, despite my disappointments in Linali’s ascent to level 2 occurring in an anime-original episode, instead of in a manga-created situation that actually requires a powered up exorcist (this is the ‘Linali’s turn to shine’ part I mentioned a few D.gray-man posts ago). I’m glad a new exorcist has been found, and this new character, being so young, should become an excellent addition to the existing cast. That is, if she becomes a main character. There definitely needs to be more female characters around as well. And when I say that, I mean ‘normal’ characters, so Miranda doesn’t really count… >_>

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Popularity: 10% [?]

Rating: 8/10

Impressions:

The first episode of the final arc of the series starts rather slowly, with much talk, though reveals a lot about the recent past. Apparently, Hei doesn’t develop contractor powers until after the incident in South America. At the same time, his sister, Bai, had contractor powers. Amber apparently needed her power for her plan, and now she need’s Hei. It’s still unclear what this power is, and how it will be used to achieve Amber’s goals. Regardless, things are being put into operation now, with the mobilising of many contractors and dolls in the end. I have little hope in Amber surviving, but I predict that Hei will be relieved of his powers and continue to live his usual life as a human.

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Popularity: 13% [?]

Rating: 7.7/10

Impressions:

So the real battles finally begin. The fight simulation at the beginning of the episode is something I would have expected to see from the first episode of Sky Girls. Background information, development, and explanation on the Sonic Divers and their unique Delta Lock attack—they would all come later. Shows that plunge into action immediately, and save talk for later, are generally better than those with a standard plot structure, with a gradual build-up of characters, action etc. Well, I guess you can treat the OAV as the first episode that takes viewers straight on to the battle field.

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Popularity: 6% [?]

Rating: 8/10

Impressions:

Heh, I’ve only recently realised that Naruto Shippuuden has only covered 28 chapters of the manga. And I can’t believe it has already been 26 episodes since the time skip—a WHOLE 26 episodes. In other words, an entire double season has passed with like…nothing happening. Well at least this episode is pretty awesome in my opinion. The fight is animated with utmost quality that this anime has seen since Shippuuden, which is quite a feat. Sakura has certainly proved herself to a great extent, and it’s great to see her finally be of some use now. Of course, Naruto needs to buff up as well, and I have no idea how long that’s gonna take.

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Popularity: 13% [?]

Rating: 8.5/10

Impressions:

Technically, Lucky Star has finished, though A.F.K. has been stalled in the subbing of the series, which is quite frustrating for me as I don’t want to waste my bandwidth getting a different subber. I’ll see how it goes though—I’m trying to finish everything up before the new season starts, as well as write the Autumn preview. Anyway, I dunno why—maybe it’s because I haven’t watched Lukcy Star in the while—but I really liked this episode. The jokes suddenly seem a lot stronger, although it does mean I relate to them less. At least, I for one have never collected trading cards, or anything similar.

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Popularity: 14% [?]

Rating: 8/10

Impressions:

There are two more episodes in this arc, and it seems like the real action has just begun. We now know that Takano is and always has been the culprit, and I wonder if she’s going to start killing people off now. The name of this arc, “massacre”, might simply refer to the Hinamizawa Disaster caused by Takano, or some other, brutal form of killing. I would like to see the latter idea, though I’m guessing it’ll be the former in the end. With the mastermind revealed, with no obvious change in fate where it matters, it doesn’t look too good for Rika and her friends, once again. I just hope that she doesn’t go back on her statement about never giving up.

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Popularity: 17% [?]