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Rating: 7.8/10

Impressions:

Judging by the preview, it looks like FINALLY, Louise and Saji are gonna get involved in the bigger picture, as for the past 15 episodes, they’ve just been random duds as characters that had nothing to do with anything. It seems like Louise is going to get into some (physical) trouble, though the kind of involvement I’ve been picturing has a lot to do with them and Setsuna, since they seem to see each other enough. Speaking of Setsuna, wow, that kiss that he got must’ve crushed him hard…not that I care—I don’t even see Marina as a good pairing for him…ah well.

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Popularity: 4% [?]

Rating: 6/10 (it’s a recap, can’t help it…)

Impressions:

I really don’t like the idea of the three world superpowers actually defeating Celestial Being in any way. It would be much more entertaining if the Thrones or something defected to their side and ended up being the main retaliating force. I find Graham, Ali and that super soldier girl annoying (I think I got their names right), though I really love Patrick’s character, as he’s so bad it’s just a joke now. Speaking of annoying characters, surprisingly, I didn’t find the Throne members that bad. I was expecting a lot of cockiness from them after saving the original Meisters, but only one of them really says the nasty things.

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Popularity: 4% [?]

Rating: 7.5/10

Impressions:

We get a lot of action this episode, but yet again no character personalisation. But I won’t complain about it right now, since the plot itself is enough to make for a good watch. It’s interesting to note that Sumeragi already knew about the plan to capture the Gundams, so it’s unlikely that things are NOT going to plan at the moment. She never seems frustrated or upset about the supposed ‘MIA Meisters’, so it would seem like she’s just gone and fooled the world into thinking they’ve succeeded in capturing a few Gundams, then BAM, sends in three one or perhaps more to own all the unexpected Mobile Suits and cocky bastards like Ali.

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Popularity: 3% [?]

Rating: 9/10

Impressions:

Clannad’s return after the new year was meh. I reckon it got worse. Shana’s return was very nicely done, though it was something I had been expecting. Gundam 00’s return was nothing special, though I did feel that it’s story had become somewhat deeper than the usual. BUT, wow, this episode sure changes things. It has now begun the second half of this first season, fresh with a new OP and ED, which I will get to later. The animation keeps up as expected, but with a serious turn in the story, one which seems to set the main and eventual plot in motion. If I have any complaints though, it would be the lack of character development—but I can see a lot of that coming soon.

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Popularity: 4% [?]

Rating: 8.5/10

Impressions:

Since I don’t like the OP, I never watch through it, but I noticed recently that the animators place a certain amount of significance on the relationship between Setsuna and Marina. Which…I don’t really like, since I’m not too fond of Marina’s character, and any possible relationships that might ensue between them. I had been hoping for a more spunky girl to give Setsuna a new perspective on life, but then again that could still happen. Personally, I’m only really interested in him at the moment, despite his background having been pretty much fully revealed now. I guess it’s more to do with his character and youthfulness/naivety.

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Popularity: 5% [?]

Rating: 8.3/10

Impressions:

For once, I had thought that an anime focused too much on the bigger picture than the individual character. For many shows, it’s a matter of finding a balance between the too. When too much focus is placed on the overall story, character development and character empathy is lost. However, if the individual character is prioritised too much, the lack of an underlying flow brings the whole show down as well. For drama, slice-of-life and school life shows, these two aspects are often one in the same. But for more ‘complicated’ shows, those that have tertiary factors such as fantastical or science fictional properties, tend to fall to this problem more often.

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Popularity: 3% [?]

Rating: 8.2/10

Impressions:

Ah, so apparently, Allelujah simply developed his split personality as a result of some kind of defect in his ‘programming’. This means that all the duplicates of him that we’ve seen were all probably just hallucinations, or visual representations of his inner turmoil. Either way, it looks like this recent development arc aimed at Allelujah is now over, so I wonder who’ll be next to take the spotlight. Setsuna had his a few episodes ago if I’m not mistaken, but if he’s the main character (like it originally appeared to be so), more should come in little pieces. I’m still waiting for his potential girlfriend. =) Or when Marina discovers Setsuna IS a Gundam Meister—that will be fun.

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Popularity: 3% [?]

Rating: 8.5/10

Impressions:

This episode shows that even with Gundams, Celestial Being’s triumphs aren’t always black and white. I love how the entire ordeal is expressed as a failure by both sides. As for Alleluah, I’m beginning to think that he’s actually a clone of Halleluah. That would explain the conflicting personalities (well, not really, with our technology today…but with the time-setting of the series, it would be). Also, the revelation of Nadeeh (or whatever it’s called) gets me excited to think that the Gundams’ performance we’re accustomed to seeing now is probably only the tip of the iceberg. It’s also interesting how the Gundam Meisters are regarded as failures…yes, this show is getting good.

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Popularity: 2% [?]