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Rating: 8.6/10

Impressions:

I know a quite a few people must be disappointed after watching this episode, which heavily develops Sumire’s character by exploring her recent past. However, I’m not the kind of person who only wants action in an action series, and it’s the same with other genres. This type of episode would otherwise turn up sooner or later, and I rather like it, so I have no problem with it coming this early. But with that out of the way, hopefully the story can really begin. Now I wonder how the plot will work. Will there be a set goal, or a loose one like ‘exterminate all viruses’ and the story will just go in a random direction and somehow have an ending.

Sumire’s elemental berserker modes sure are interesting. It’s a good thing I can read simple kanji (studied Chinese for 7 years then forgot everything except the most basic stuff T_T). Apparently, there’s an earth, air, fire and water version, or something like that; can’t exactly remember. But nevertheless, her berserker mode is awesome regardless of what element it is. The problem is, Sumire’s seiyuu is pretty crap IMO. She’s not convincing at all when it really counts, such as when she is supposed to be sounding aggressive or desperate. Luchia’s seiyuu is a lot better, though she remains calm most of the time so the job would be easier.

The quality is rather low this episode, and the animators probably took this chance to cut down on spending as quality isn’t a big issue where nothing big or important happens. Come to think about it, although I already know, they have yet to show how Sumire obtains her powers. I just hope that a whole episode isn’t dedicated to one event like that, and if it is rather long, it should be inserted into an exciting part of the story so the ‘boredom’ is reduced. Though like I said before, I personally don’t mind much. It’s also why I like shoujo, drama and slice-of-life shows. Actually, I like basically any genre in anime, except shounen-ai (and perhaps historical as well).

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