Flowers of Evil - Episode 7

The opportunity to meet Saeki in her own home might have been rather sullied by Nakamura's comments to Kasuga which sets his mind racing, but there's no escape now that Saeki's mother has answered the door.

If you're expecting Nanako to spout off a tear-filled explanation of why she was off school and how Kasuga was at fault for the whole thing however, think again - instead, she calmly asks Kasuga what he thinks a relationship should consist of while asking him if he's hiding anything from her.  Missing an opportunity to come clean on all or some of his misdemeanours up to this point, he insists that he has nothing to hide - something which Saeki duly expects.

All of this is enough to send her protagonist into another headspin, to the point where he begs for Nakamura to tell Saeki about the whole gym clothes incident so that he can "atone" for his sins.  Sensing this moment of weakness as an opportunity for some more enjoyment at Kasuga's expense, she insists that he meet her at midnight before leading him on a jaunt to their school classroom with a view towards making him admit to his deeds by way of a written confession on the blackboard.  This isn't exactly what Kasuga had in mind when he imagined freeing himself from his guilt, but after another manic rant from Nakamura it seems that her lunacy is rubbing off on him somewhat, and before we know it the pair of them are trashing the classroom in what can only be described as the throes of near-orgasmic delight.

Every time I think that Flowers of Evil has reached its high point, it raises the bar a little further, somehow managing to make the ever more insane goings-on feel natural and in keeping with its cast of characters, and even making you doubt your own sanity as you begin to detect threads of common sense in what Nakamura is saying at times as she berates Kasuga for looking for an idealistic escape from his guilt.  The entire thing remains fascinating to watch scene by scene, and by the end of the episode its final scenes stand as a perfect embodiment of the mixture of emotions which come from adolescence, be they emotional, sexual or some noxious blend of the two.

Attack on Titan - Episode 7

Mikasa's performance notwithstanding, things are looking dire for the military forces currently tasked with facing off against the Titans as this week's episode of Attack on Titan opens.

While elements of rebellion within the ranks begin to surface, the more pressing problem for those on the front lines is that, quite simply, they're running out of gas - given that Titans are also currently over-running the supply building that would provide more of said gas, most of those still alive within the breached city walls are resigned to their fate and seemingly without hope.

When word reaches Mikasa about Eren's death, you'd be tempted to suspect that her resolve will also be broken as a result, but far from it - instead, she attempts to rouse her comrades into a final do or die assault before racing off to take her pain out upon any Titans in her way.  Such is her fervour however that she quickly runs out of gas, leaving her at the mercy of the Titans herself.  Cue a moment of clarity as she regains her will to survive, followed by a moment of sheer, exhilarated confusion as a Titan appears and starts systematically attacking and murdering its own.  Perhaps all is not lost for humanity after all...

Every time I worry that Attack on Titan might run out of gas (do you see what I did there?) it somehow manages to find more life - Mikasa's "promotion" to protagonist has worked better than I might have expected, and given the insanity of the show's entire premise throwing in a Titan-killing Titan seems within the realms of plausibility.  This leaves the floor open for another episode of outspoken emotion, shocking violence and bursts of slick action, all given a lift by that striking aesthetic and insistent soundtrack.  No matter your thoughts on it, Attack on Titan is certainly an experience, week in and week out.

Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet - Episode 7

Never mind all of that introspective pondering, the Hideauze are back in the forefront of Ledo's life as his training kicks in once he and Chamber detect an enemy within their sights... but is it really the Hideauze?

As far as the inhabitants of Gargantia are concerned, the creature in question is a whalesquid, but even salvaging partner Bellows can do nothing to prevent Ledo from going all out and quite literally crushing the life out of the creature.  The trouble is, the whalesquid is seen as a sacred beast by many within the fleet, which means that Ledo once again is the subject of much suspicion amidst the residents.

If you think this will give Ledo pause for thought, think again - no matter the local opinions on the matter, he's determined to exterminate anything and everything that has anything to do with the Hideauze no matter what, and DNA analysis of the whalesquid only serves to further drive this agenda in the face of everyone else around him.  His concerns even look like they may be justified for a moment as a horde of whalesquids approach the fleet, although they pass by safely with nary a scratch upon its craft.  The whole commotion has, however, awoken the opportunist in some members of the fleet, and let by Pinion this close-knit community could be on the verge of breaking up before our eyes.

All of this makes for an excellent instalment of Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet - as over-the-top as Ledo's reactions towards the whalesquids/Hideauze might be, you can also appreciate the logic and emotions behind his reasoning, while the entire affair also brings up wider questions about whether these creatures simply are passive Hideauze which could rise up and attack at any moment or not.  What's more, there are more fascinating times ahead, as it seems that the fleet itself is now in danger of splitting into factions, which makes for another intriguing facet of the episodes to come.  With so many tantalising possibilities on the table, this series seems to be getting better by the week presently.

Ore no Imouto ga Konnani Kawaii Wake ga Nai 2 - Episode 7

Now that all the chaos and confusion surrounding Kirino's little boyfriend "stunt" has settled and everything is back on track within our groups of friends, Kuroneko has an important proposal for Kyousuke.  And by that, I mean a confession.

Amazingly, Kyousuke decides that he needs some time to think over the prospect of becoming Ruri's boyfriend (really, what is there to think about here?!), and so goes off to ponder matters with a deadline of giving her his answer by the end of their reconvened post-Comiket party the next day.  Not that there's any shortage of advice for Kyousuke to mull over, as the school rumour-mill seems to work much faster than our protagonist's head, ensuring that everybody is already up to speed with what's going on.

With relations between Kyousuke and Kirino back to normal and the latter all-but giving her blessing for her brother to accept Ruri's confession, the pair finally go ahead and become a couple.  But what do they do now, exactly?  It's that question which ensures a sleepless night for them both, although thankfully while Kyousuke's head is filled with more... well... physical questions about what is to come, his girlfriend has a more practical and romantic view on proceedings which looks likely to set them down the right track.

Although it's still missing some of the magic that seemed to have been worked upon its first season, and while Kyousuke still has moments that feel entirely out of character for him, this was nonetheless another pretty fun episode of Oreimo as the series continues its recent trend of improvement now that it's settled down somewhat.  Now that Kyousuke and Ruri's relationship seems set to take centre stage, hopefully the progression into new pastures will give this second season the injection of life that it needs to strike out and make its own mark.

Chihayafuru 2 - Episode 19

Two games down and on the ropes, it looks as if the wheels are about to fall off of Mizusawa's national team tournament campaign.  However, with passion still burning strongly in the three remaining members of the team whose games are not yet decided, the match as a whole is far from a foregone conclusion.

With the end of the match in sight, this week's episode of Chihayafuru ramps up the tension to eleven, pure and simple, starting with a focus upon Taichi as he eschews some of his teachings and goes for broke to force his way back into his game - something which he manages to go with a mixture of mind games and (unusually for him) blind luck.

Meanwhile, Chihaya has finally gained the upper hand against Rion, and she forces home her victory to make it 2-1... not that she has time to celebrate when there's sleeping to do.  With Nishida also coming back from the brink in his game, we're suddenly all set for a nightmarishly tense finale, with the two deciding games coming down to the final card and a luck of the draw face-off.  Given their previous experiences however, this time around Mizusawa have done everything right to put themselves into as healthy a position as possible - from there, it's just up to the heavens to decide on which way the drawing of cards should fall.

You really couldn't ask for Chihayafuru to bring this particular tournament to an end in a more compelling fashion than this - much like onlookers within the episode itself, I could barely watch the final moments before the game came to a close, and the outpouring of emotion when it was all over was also something I ended up sharing with the on-screen cast, such was the power and thrall it had held over me.  As I've mentioned previously, when it wishes to do so this series can engender emotions that fans of any game or sport will be able to recognise, and it's this ability which is one of Chihayafuru's strokes of genius, bringing us the equivalent of a penalty shoot-out and dragging us into all of the tension and emotion that goes with it.  It's stupendous stuff, and it works wonders on a pure, emotional level.  What other series could make you cry at the end of a game of la-di-da Snap?

Space Brothers - Episode 58

Considering how neither Vincent Bold nor Pico had particularly taken a shine to Mutta initially, it's a sure sign of progress that he finds himself invited out drinking by the latter and as a result spending some time chatting with the former.

Bold being Bold of course, the drive to the bar where this pair are scheduled to meet Pico is in itself a challenge for Mutta, as Vincent tries to unnerve his guest with his trademark fast driving (which doesn't seem to faze Mutta at all), while quizzing him on who he considers to be an "enemy".  In Bold's case, it seems that anyone who isn't willing to accept that manned space flight is important is an enemy, which confuses Mutta somewhat as he sees anyone with a genuine interest in space as being on the "right" side.

All this aside, much of the episode concerns itself with looking into the past of Bold and Pico - of course, the two of them are childhood friends, and we delve into their time building rockets together in their youth with another mutual friend.  While this is all well and good, it still isn't seen as a worthy of pursuing as a career path by either Vincent's parents or anyone involved with the group's school, as they are encouraged to set more achievable goals.  Of course, we know how this ultimately pans out, for two of the trio at least...

Just as things were getting interesting, I'm a little down-hearted to see us headed off into another arc that concerns itself with filling in back stories - I can't help but feel that Pico and Bold's presents are more interesting than their pasts beyond some cursory examination of how they reached this stage in their lives, but instead it seems that this is going to be covered over several episodes.  That said, the episode's damning view of the pair's parents and school in their disdain for the two of them having lofty dreams struck a chord with me - I'm sure I'm not the only person out there who was told time and again that I'd never achieve any of my desires or career goals, yet here I am having achieved them all.  The idea of not giving up on a dream is an important message that it's nice to see Space Brothers espousing, if nothing else.

A Certain Scientific Railgun S - Episode 6

Having met and spent some time with a member of the so-called "Misaka Network", it was only going to be a matter of time before the real deal was inadvertently dragged into the experiments of which these clones are an integral part.

Thus, having seen her "sister" brutally attacked by the centrepiece of this project to create a Level 6, Misaka understandably loses her cool as she goes all-out against said clone's assailant.  However, this only brings about a scenario which our Level 5 is rather unaccustomed too - one of relative weakness, as even her most powerful and vicious attacks don't so much as scratch her opponent, and indeed most of them are simply deflected right back at her.  "Why would somebody with so much power already search for more?", she wonders aloud, to which the response is a chilling one.

With nothing left in her arsenal, it looks as if the game is up for Misaka - but then again, there are benefits to having thousands of siblings, as the Misaka Network brings the cavalry to rescue her, if only physically.  Mentally, the entire experience has left Mikoto battered, defeated simply unable to comprehend what she should do next, although another meeting with Shinobu at least regains her resolve to fix the problem.  As her friends rally around her in spite of not knowing exactly what's going on, it's time for Misaka to try and put an end to the Hell unfolding around her.

Having brought such harrowing final scenes to close out last week's episode, this instalment of A Certain Scientific Railgun S ensured that it made the most of its emotional payload, leveraging all of the time we've spent with its protagonist and her usual confident, breezy nature to really hit home the emotional toll of the cloning project that originated from her own DNA.  This also leads us nicely into what should be some action-oriented episodes to come alongside that emotional turmoil, as this series continues to do a thoroughly accomplished and entertaining job of adapting its source material.