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Rating: 9.5/10

Impressions:

Ah, so the emo guitarist isn’t the guy who attacks Kyouichi and the others last episode. He ends up being the oni, and is actually a past close friend to the guy who attacks out heroes from last episode. This whole episode simply focuses on the confrontation between the two close friends, with Tatsuma and company on the sidelines, getting involved only somewhat. And I think Kyouichi’s mended his friendship with Aoi…aww how sweet! Daigo doesn’t seem to be irritated by Tatsuma’s presence, as he does look rather angry some time ago when he picks a fight with him. And so with this, it seems like the common shounen (genre) team has been formed!

Around this time, it seems like Tatsuma and everyone else are only just awakening their hidden powers. It looks to me like their demonic in some form, especially with the angry red markings. It almost seems like a hidden evil, which would be really cool if it is. It would be boring as hell if everyone is purely good with the same idiotic supporting of justice…well, in my opinion of course. The first episode takes place two months after these past episodes I believe (Tatsuma seems to be able to predict the future…), so perhaps quite a bit of the series will be based on how the group of school kids get to the stage they are at in episode one.

I hope this doesn’t take long though, and only be used for character development. I was rather disappointed with Aoi’s lack of involvement, as she seemed to be the candidate for this episode’s fight. But anyway, with this, it becomes more conclusive that ambiguous man and psycho girl are pretty high up enemies. The fact that they stay alive until two months later means that they definitely aren’t another grunt for the students to defeat as an appetiser. I especially want to see them fight again. The girl especially has some cool moves and a nasty attitude. Her psycho face is priceless! xD

I’m surprised Toono has such an unusually large roll for a character with no abilities, clueless about everything, and just another fun side character to lighten things up. I doubt she actually holds much importance, though the show is even getting into how she finds out about Tatsuma, Kyouichi and the other’s escapades. I wouldn’t really mind if she becomes a main character, even though I doubt it. She’s pretty likeable, though only in comedic situations. You wouldn’t want her getting in the way of some major fight and cause the enemy to succeed. I would instantly hate her if that happens, though it would probably only last for a single episode (the hate I mean).

The quality this episode dips a bit unfortunately, though the fighting is still pretty awesome, with the nice usage of camera shots. The only real problems are a few not-so-well drawn faces. I especially noticed a few in Aoi’s case, though that’s because I tend to focus on her more (she IS my favourite character!) Sure, she might just be your average female shounen sidekick with supportive abilities, but she’s incredibly cute, and that’s all I’m going on at the moment! I hope there will be more day-based episodes soon, as the contrast is just too poor during the night. I tend to like brighter settings anyway, as the colouring is a lot better.

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