Chihayafuru - Episode 17

Come school sports day, you'd rather expect the members of its karuta club to hide as far as possible from such activities.  Not so Mizusawa's ragtag bunch, who not only participate in an inter-club relay competition but go on to win (albeit rather improbably) in the final.

Such is the driven nature of those within the club since their exploits at Omi Jingu, as all of the members on-hand have their own goals - goals that they covet and work towards fiercely despite their odd moments of self-doubt.  Nowhere is this better expressed than within Taichi - so driven is he to reach Class A as soon as possible that he breaks up with his girlfriend without a second thought and sneaks off to far-flung karuta tournaments to try his hand and improve his game... not that he's the only one on that count.

While reaching the top rungs of the karuta ladder aren't as easy as Taichi and Nishida hope, their troubles are relatively transitory compared to those of Chihaya herself.  Following her defeat at the hands of eventual karuta queen Shinobu, her focus has been solely upon her speed and reactions in light of that defeat - but is this really the correct approach?  Her karuta teacher suggests otherwise, even going as far as to suggest that her speed might well be her downfall - a thought that leaves her confused and bewildered until her fellow club members being to dissect what he might mean and point Ayase down the path towards improving as a player in some entirely different ways.

Although this episode meandered hither and thither a little too much, removing some of its more normal pin-point focus as a result, there was still a fair amount to enjoy here, if only in terms of seeing the group we've followed for a little while now working so hard and improved because of it - no full-on special powers or abilities are on show here, just good and honest practice.  More notably, Taichi's place in the series becomes ever more fascinating - particularly now that his girlfriend is out of the picture (if she was ever really in it), it's becoming more and more difficult to discern what really drives him - is it love of Chihaya, love of karuta or rivalry with Arata?  The answer most likely sits somewhere in-between those three points, but it's an intriguing facet of this fascinating little series that keeps me coming back for more.

Daily Lives of High School Boys - Episode 4

Ever wondered what your friends talk about when you're not around?  Of course you do!  If you plan on listening in on their conversation however, make sure you're listening in on the right people and not just someone who looks incredibly similar...

This minor error on Tadakuni's part takes us onto the mainstay of this week's episode of Daily Lives of High School Boys, with East High and North High foisted upon one another to work together towards a joint festival, thus effectively merging an all boys and all-girls school for the duration in the process.  Thus, the various segments which make up this arc give some surprisingly sharp insights into how boys tend to view the opposite sex, trying their best to ignore the airs, graces and constant complaining about them which comes from the female contingent.  Meanwhile, East High's student council president, and more specifically her competitive streak, causes all sorts of hassle before finally culminating in that most ladylike of past-times - a full-on fist fight in the school hall.

That's actually pretty much it from this week's episode - not as laugh out loud funny as previous episodes, but occasionally very much on the ball with its observational comedy to somewhat make up for any shortfall in belly laughs.  If nothing else, Daily Lives of High School Boys gets by from daring to be different and poking fun of things from an entirely male point of view, and that alone is often enough to make it wholly fun to watch.

Ano Natsu de Matteru - Episode 4

There are a fair number of things you wouldn't want a girl you liked to do to you, whether it's suddenly starting to ignore you seemingly at random one day or walking off to catch the nearest train after you've made a half-baked confession of sorts to her one evening.

It's the latter problem which confronts both Kaito and Ichika as this fourth episode of Ano Natsu de Matteru begins, and neither of them knows how to handle the situation, leading to a decidedly awkward morning greeting between them.  While Kaito knows how he feels about Ichika, our leading lady seems a little less certain - she likes Kaito well enough, but the problem of what is likely to be a fleeting stay in the area weights heavily on her mind.

As both parties come to a decision in their respective heads about how to handle things, so a spanner is thrown into the works courtesy of Tetsurou's older sister Manami - her decision to "kidnap" Kaito for a binge of shopping and leisure is totally misunderstood by Ichika as she sees the couple drive by, and her stalking of them does nothing to dissuade her mistake to the point where she sets about trying to forcibly drag Kaito out of the house before finally learning the error of her ways.  Although her behaviour proves a point about her feelings for Kaito, the situation between them is ultimately put to the back of their minds as they focus on other things - studying, primarily, as the group build up and then break up for the summer holiday which, it seems, is where the real fun is going to begin.

Following a pretty decent past couple of episodes, this week's Ano Natsu de Matteru felt a little weak - for the second instalment in a row we had a main story based on a misunderstanding, only this time around there was no real novelty to it, instead taking on the clichéd old idea of "girl sees guy with another female, girl stalks couple, girl gets wrong idea until misunderstanding is resolved".  It was all a little bit dull really, and spiced up only marginally by Ichika's extra-terrestrial powers and Remon's... well, similarly impressive powers.  At least with the summer break upon its characters, it seems that we're about to reach the meat of this particular series - it has everything in place to deliver, so I can only hope it has something more innovative in mind than the fare delivered here.

Bakuman Season 2 - Episode 17

With serialisation meeting time approaching once again, the pressure is on for Takagi in particular as both marriage and serialisation become inextricably tied together - this is as nothing to the pressure felt by editor Miura however, with Ashirogi Muto's latest work getting a muted reception in the serialisation meeting preamble while Business Boy Kenichi looks likely to be put out of commission at the same time.

So it goes that Aoki Kou's new effort makes the grade effortlessly, while its one-shot winning status in Jack Next isn't enough for Takagi and Mashiro's latest outing as it gets passed over for serialisation.  There's little time for either joy or despair from the relevant parties however, as the crows finally come home to roost for Nakai after burning all of his bridges of late - rejected at every turn, he seeks to return home and quite the manga business, despite Mashiro imploring him to stay and continue to fight.  With Takahama's aforementioned manga cancelled, his complaints about Miura sees both himself, his editor and Ashirogi Muto brought before the Chief Editor with a view to giving a stern lecture on the relationship between artist and editor.

Away from all of this, it seems that Hattori is having the time of his life, as his new find and rival to Takagi, Aiko Iwase, proves to be more than a little adept at following his instructions and creating an impressive manga manuscript.  But who is going to draw the artwork for such a piece?  Hattori has a cunning plan which could well propel his career forward considerably - a potentially risky scheme which involves (and reinvigorates) none other than Eiji Nizuma.

Aside from being more than a little glad to see the back of Nakai after recent events (even if there's still a possibility of his return) this was a pretty decent episode which kept any romance at arms length and instead made the most of the twists and turns surrounding its artists - an arch mixture of elation, excitement, disappointment and soul searching that was eminently watchable.  The intriguing developments just keep on coming, and as a result I can't help but keep on watching no matter how often Bakuman threatens to falter or fall entirely flat on its face.

Another - Episode 4

After that incident with the umbrella last week, worries about the "curse" of class three have understandably amplified - even more so considering the fact that Sakuragi's moehter was also killed in an accident on the same day as her daughter.

Our protagonist Kouichi misses the direct aftermath of the incident out of a requirement for a check-up on his lung, although the hospital does seem to be suspiciously busy, leaving nurse Mizuno working overtime as a result.  Still, she finds time after Kouichi's check-up to shoot the breeze about the latest gossip, as they discuss the accident and the odd nature of classmate Mei Misaki, which Mizuno has some interest in given that her brother is also a member of class three.

Mizuno aside, Kouchi finds himself with nobody to speak to about what's going on - a visit to the creep doll store brings him into contact with Mei but offers no further clues, while neither his aunt nor his classmates will fill him in on any further details, with the recent accident making him more of a pariah than ever before as his terrified cohorts try to plan some new "countermeasures" to ensure their safety from the curse.  With Kouichi and a friend narrowly avoiding one nasty accident which the former writes off as a mere coincidence, the sense of foreboding only grows until we reach some more decidedly gruesome scenes come the end of the episode.  I can see myself taking the stairs for the foreseeable future - provided I'm not carrying an umbrella at the time, of course.

Although Another continues to be quite a slow-burner overall it's most certainly beginning to pick up pace, turning its creepy aura into creepier incidents and behaviour via its slickly driven visuals and fantastic use of audio.  My only real worry at this point is that the show is going to spiral into a "violent death of the week" structure - it'll need more to keep itself afloat than lots of mystery with the odd outpouring of blood, so I really hope that the coming instalments shake things up a bit and strike out in different directions.  Only time will tell, but it's time I'm willing to give this darkly gorgeous and fascinating show.

Future Diary - Mirai Nikki - Episode 16

Having muddled through much of the series thus far, Yukiteru finally tasted defeat at the hands of Seventh, with this lovey-dovey pairing outdoing both himself and Yuno to leave them both hospitalised and with their respective cell phones stolen.

Thus, we rejoin Yukkii as he undergoes his rehabilitation under the watchful eye (literally, just the one eye) of Uryuu, who has been brought in with a "secret plan" to defeat Seventh - at least, that's what Yukkii's been told so that his future diary can fool Seventh into expecting something that isn't coming.  Given his tough rehabilitation regime, Yukiteru is more than a little happy to receive a visit from his errant father, as we learn the reasons for his parent's divorce and Yukkii's desperate desire for his folks to remarry.

This is, of course, the world of Mirai Nikki we're talking about, where nobody can be trusted, and before we know it Yuno has clocked Yukiteru's father hunting for his son's diary in the promise of having his debt wiped out if he provides it to an unknown party.  While this is more than enough of a good reason for Yuno to kill him, Yukiteru ensures that his father remains in the land of the living, before a call from Seventh brings Yuno and Yukkii, together with his father, for a rendezvous.  The events that follow proves the real aim of Yukiteru's dad and allows Yuno to grab back both her own and Yukkii's mobile phones, but as Uryuu arrives in her usual explosive style there's new danger in store for our protagonist.

I really should have learned not to doubt Mirai Nikki by now, shouldn't I?  Here I was, internally bemoaning the introduction of Yukiteru's father into a plot which seemed to be going nowhere in particular, only to have it all turned on its head in typical dastardly fashion as the greed and selfishness of all come to the fore, while also granting us some more opportunities to see Yuno in her frequent lunatic bouts of action.  It might have started slowly, but this week's Mirai Nikki was fun and compelling stuff once again come its second half as it shows no sign of falling flat overall right now.

Rinne no Lagrange - Episode 4

From saving the world (or at least the town), it's back down to earth for Madoka with this fourth episode of Rinne no Lagrange - but what's this, a new and mysterious transfer student at her school?

The new "student" in question is Muginami, the odd girl which Madoka previously met on-base during her previous adventures in robot piloting - intriguingly, it turns out that Muginami wasn't supposed to be in the facility at all, and it seems that she isn't affiliated in the slightest with that faction, which is both a cause for concern but a problem the powers that be seem willing to ignore even after she pops up in Madoka's classroom.

One person who does seem concerned with Muginami is Lan, who watches the newcomer like a hawk even as the school takes part in their annual swimming contest.  Realising that she's being watched, Muginami puts paid to Lan's spying, unaware of the fact that the latter can't swim and leading to both Madoka and herself having to save the day and rescue her (although Muginami clearly hasn't learned her CPR from Vinnie Jones...).  This only serves to deepen the friendship between Muginami and Madoka, much to Lan's irritation - although is she worried about this situation professionally or personally as her own friendship with Madoka is under threat of being overshadowed?  Either way, come the end of the episode Madoka is both living and attending school with these two girls - a trifling matter as further developments in space and with the prisoner taken in Madoka's first skirmish come to the fore.

After the pretty fast and furious giant robot action of the past couple of weeks, this was a pretty heavy change of pace for Rinne no Lagrange - its comic moments were absolutely spot-on throughout (Lan's cafe slapstick in particular was sublime), but beyond that we were treated to the same old transfer student and saving someone from drowning schtick that's been done to death.  This episode was necessary in terms of bringing Muginami's part in proceedings to the fore, so I can't begrudge it that much, but couldn't she and her rivalry have been introduced in a more imaginative fashion?  I'm still warming to this series in some ways, but hopefully it can think outside the box a little more going forward... or at the very least give us bash some big robots against one another for a while again set to the show's awesome soundtrack.