Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai - Episode 5

It's time for another episode of Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai, and Kodaka is having as much trouble as ever keeping his demanding sister satisfied as she continues to spend her time acting in character as some kind of anime vampire.

Given her dedication to her brother (or at least, to annoying him), Kobata is not too pleased at Kodaka making boxed lunches for Maria in an attempt to wean her off a diet of nothing but crisps - an attempt which proves to be surprisingly successful, truth be told.

Anyhow, worries about dietary requirements aside, club activities see Rika bringing a virtual reality fantasy game for them all to play, which generally involves everyone dressing in skimpy outfits (Kodaka aside, thankfully) and working together to defeat the game's boss.  Well, that's the plan at least, but of course working together isn't something that the Neighbour Club's members are all that hot at, particularly when it comes to Yozora and Sena's constant state of conflict.  Still, in the heat of battle the club does find itself with another newcomer to add to its fold - none other than Kobata herself as she comes to see where her brother is spending his afternoons.  Cue another rivalry in the offing (between Kobato and Maria as they fight over their "big brother"), and the completion of the show's harem... sorry, I mean club members.

I'm not quite sure why we had to have another video game centric episode of this series so soon after the last (it was only a few weeks ago!), I have to confess that once again this week's instalment of Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai produced a few laughs from me even though it was all pretty typical, predictable fare.  As I've discussed on previous occasions, the show is clearly geared at pushing otaku's buttons at the expense of everything else, and it's almost frustrating just how good it is at doing just that.  It's no Ore no Imouto ga Konna ni Kawaii Wake ga Nai by any stretch, but it at least has some of the stronger elements that made that series so enjoyable to watch in evidence.

Guilty Crown - Episode 4

Just as it looked as though Shu had completed his latest mission for Gai flawlessly and without bloodshed, he suddenly finds himself very much thrown to the wolves by the friend he thought he'd saved thanks to his actions, as Yahiro Samukawa casually pushes him straight into the hands of the waiting GHQ forces on the way to school the next day.

Needless to say, GHQ have a lot that they wish to learn from Shu about the nature of the Funeral Parlour group, and more specifically Gai - information that Shu is naturally reticent to give.  In fairness to GHQ and the man handling his arrest, Galty, torture, detainment and the like are foregone in favour of an all-out attempt to convince Shu to give up his secrets by showing them the positives that the group have brought to the world as they vaccinate the people and treat those suffering from the virus which caused so much damage and decimation to the country.  Is that enough to gloss over the people we saw killed by those same forces earlier in the series though?

There's little time to ponder such questions as things soon move forward apace, with Funeral Parlour commencing a raid on the internment facility where Shu is held - not, admittedly, as a direct attempt to free Shu himself, but rather to release a supposed serial killer named Kenji Kido, although of course they'd love to have Shu on-board to help with the operation.  Cue another fast-paced, excellently animated action scene which kicks into gear as Shu realises that Inori is disobeying orders to come and save him, complete with a sweet gravity gun and, of course, Shu making full use of Inori's Void to escape his situation.  Is he now well and truly a fully-fledged member of Funeral Parlour?  The door is still open for him to betray them at any moment...

Despite its flaws (most of them residing under the name of "Shu"), and in spite of a pretty poor instalment last week which took a hefty chunk of the energy out of the series, this was another highly enjoyable episode of Guilty Crown that gave us a look at the flip side of the coin as it pertains to GHQ's function in its world before delivering some more great action scenes that seem to have become the show's hallmark.  Yes, it still doesn't feel much like a noitaminA series in a lot of ways, but it has a lot of entertainment value (especially when Inori isn't over-used) and that's good enough for me right now.

Un-Go - Episode 4

Last week's instalment of Un-Go left us with the unlikeliest of cliff-hangers, revealing that the young head of the Sasa family isn't so much dead as he is currently operating as some kind of cupboard.

Given that fact, it's pretty obvious that Kazamori isn't in fact an adopted child of the Sasa family, but rather a RAI - a now-outlawed cyborg built and created by his "father" Komamori.  So, that's one mystery answered, but a more pressing question remains - if Kazamori is "alive", then who did burn to death within the Sasa residence?  No matter who it was it seems likely that Kazamori was the culprit, but Shinjurou thinks otherwise, transferring this digital suspect into the body of a small toy before leaving the house as the powers that be arrest what they believe to be Kazamori.

With no ability to lie (even without Inga's powers), quizzing Kazamori on whether or not he's a murderer seems simple enough, but his silence proves none too helpful before Shinjurou finds himself the subject of some rather aggressive government types.  Avoiding their attentions thanks to some of the other strings to Inga's bow, it's time to unravel the truth - a truth which brings with it surprise after surprise right the way through to the introduction of the long-thought dead Komamori, while also revealing both killer and victim in the case which started this entire chain of events.

So ends a two episode story arc which far surpassed its predecessors to create an excellent and clever piece of story-telling that revelled in its twists and turns while providing some thought-provoking fare to boot.  Let's also not pretend that there wasn't an eye inwardly turned towards the anime industry in this episode, with its tale of non-human individuals being used in depictions of sex and violence, leading to their being banned for adversely affecting the health of the youth.  "But it's okay, they're not real!" cries Komamori Sasa, but does that make using them for those acts okay?  It's a question that this story doesn't explicitly answer, preferring instead to dwell on the definitive wrongs of murdering a man, but it's an interesting one to chew on nonetheless.  Aside from such things, this was still a nice little piece of science fiction detective story-telling, and hopefully it paves a way for more similar exploits in the future - spreading stories out over two episodes like this certainly allows the plot and characters more time to grow, and it really paid dividends on this occasion.

Bakuman Season 2 - Episode 5

The initial chapters of their début manga caused plenty of consternation for Moritaka and Akito as they fretted about rankings, but as we hit this second season of Bakuman's fifth episode we move forward to see their decision to stick with the formula they set their hearts on finally being to pay off.

With their seventh chapter ranking a lowly thirteenth, both individuals within Ashirogi Muto consider changing their style, whether it's to inject more comedy into proceedings or to sharpen up the dialogue, but as Takagi begins to do his research into making these changes it seems as if readers are finally warming to TRAP as it slowly but surely rises through the rankings.

Even though he's already losing weight at an alarming rate, Mashiro puts his heart and soul into improving his artwork alongside his colleagues efforts in the writing department to push their series to greater heights still, and as we witness the various artists introduced within the series suffer the highs and lows of their particular industry as they pertain to survey rankings, we finally begin to see evidence that Ashirogi Muto can seriously challenge Nizuma Eiji's genius as the release of the first collected volume of TRAP looms large.  With Mashiro working harder and harder however, he has little time to enjoy Miho's success (or failure, if you ask me) in landing a part on SKET Dance, and come the end of the episode it seems that he might just have reached the end of his tether....

Much like my comment last week, the whole reason I watch Bakuman is to enjoy its tales and adventures within the manga industry, and once again this episode delivers fully on that promise, succinctly portraying the difficulties of knowing when you're on to a winning formula despite (or even because of) the existence of regular reader surveys to keep you on your toes.  This allows us ample opportunities to both cheer on and worry about our pair of protagonists, while also keeping track of their rival artists into the process in a simple yet compelling episode that also reminds us of the dangers of burning the candle at both ends.  I guess I really should listen to this equivalent of a public service announcement myself, shouldn't I?

Working'!! - Episode 5

Is there any better way to end the day than with an episode of Working?  Wait... actually, don't answer that you deviants.

It's amazing that it's taken this long, but it seems like Takanashi has finally had enough of manager Kyoko's laziness, attitude and constant eating to the point where he's about to flip his lid.  Enter Poplar to try and calm things down by assuring him that she isn't all bad, and that there are plenty of good points to be found within Kyoko.  Now, if only she could remember what those good points were...

Just as even Sato tires of her attitude and Souma hatches a plan to stop Kyoko eating all of the restaurants food with surprising success, all work is disrupted by Takanashi's discovery of a little girl outside the restaurant.  Amazingly, he didn't snatch her from her parents or anything, and it does seem that she's genuinely lost - with Koyko the only unencumbered individual in the workplace, it's eventually left to her to look after the little one, with some surprising results that, if nothing else, generates enough sympathy from the other employees for their manager for relative normality to return.

As always, this was a fun little episode of Working, and another pretty funny one at that with a decent helping of laugh out loud moments to well and truly help it along its way.  It's also arguably quite nice to see Kyoko in the spotlight for once given her usual place in the background of most episodes - overall though, it's surprising just how much material this series can pull out of what is effectively the same set of jokes and character tripes week in, week out, and at the moment it shows no sign of running out of steam.

Chihayafuru - Episode 5

Just when it seemed like everything was going swimmingly for Chihaya as she finally fought her way up to the "A" ranking of her karuta society, so a celebratory phone call to Arata shot her down in flames as he told her that he doesn't play the game any more, nor does he want to hear from her again.

Of course, this does nothing to dissuade the ever-impulsive Chihaya - worried about her childhood friend she drags Taichi onto the train at the next available opportunity to make a trip to visit him, via a journey which tells us a lot about the relationship between Taichi and Chihaya these days, with the former proving to be well and truly tsundere for the latter while Chihaya herself proves to be as clueless as ever as to what other people think or feel for her.

Upon arriving in Arata's hometown, a visit to his home proves initially fruitless until a neighbour points them in the direction of his workplace.  On the way there an alert Chihaya spots Arata riding past on his bike, and in her normal "act first, ask questions later" fashion she literally leaps at him, pulling them both into the mud at the roadside.  Despite that "warm" welcome, Arata remains as cold towards his former friends as he was on the phone previously, humouring them only while Chihaya changes and cleans up before telling them to get lost and reiterating that he never wants to see them or play karuta with them again.  The reason for this becomes clear soon enough (if you couldn't guess it already, that is), but it still leaves a distraught Chihaya to return home with Taichi with the feeling that they've lost a friend.  Or have they?  A letter left behind by Chihaya might just have the words required to make Arata realise the precious friendship staring in him in the face that he's about to lose.

Yet again, what we have here is a wonderful episode of Chihayafuru, as it beautifully depicts and outlines its relationships (however odd or karuta-centric they might be in places) before really putting the emotional pedal to the metal in terms of delivering a tear-jerking final few scenes to an episode that would have worked perfectly as a standalone piece, never mind as part of all of this wonderful series.  Altogether then, this is another emotional tour de force that again exhibits everything that's great about this show, from its characters through to the relationships between them.  If it can continue in this vein, all is well with the world.

Last Exile: Fam, the Silver Wing - Episode 3

Thanks to dropping an Exile out of the sky which in turn obliterated everything in its path, it seems as if this freshly conceived war is now very much a case of "advantage Ades" - an advantage which they seem to be pushing on with in the opening to this third instalment, which also introduces us to a little more of this particular nation's back story.

From here however, our focus shifts back to Millia, as we find her angry at her (and moreover Fam's) inability to rescue her sister, and further still distraught as she sees her nation's prize ship, the Lasas, literally being taken to pieces and sold to the highest bidder.  Not only that, but even the contents of the ship are being flogged - when Millia sees the sale of a particular item precious to her take place, she's finally seen enough and tries to follow its new owner even if that means taking to the skies.

Of course, Millia is no pilot, so enter Fam with an offer to help retrieve what she's lost, while the second half of the episode delves into the back story of the Sky Pirates as well as Fam herself and her goals for the future - the most immediate of which seems to involve stealing a rather important battleship....

Following a couple of break-neck early episodes, Last Exile: Fam, the Silver Wing needed to slow down and put some thought into its back story, and this it duly does in the show's third instalment.  This does leave us with rather a disjointed experience as it jumps from one topic or point of interest to the next before rushing to set up its premise for the following instalment, and somehow the way it serves up its back story never really feels particularly compelling or interesting, leaving us instead with an unremarkable experience that it was hard to keep any real interest in.  Still, things look set to return to more high-octane stuff next week, so let's see what it can serve up there.