Allison to Lillia - Episode 13

During the course of this series' Allison arc my complaints, criticisms and all-round reasons for merry-making at the expense of the show have been many and varied. However, I have to say that I can't recall an episode of anime that has left me shouting at my laptop screen for almost an entire half-hour quite like this one.

As usual with an instalment of Allison to Lillia, it's hard to know where to start, but let's try the beginning. Shifting forward a little from episode twelve, we now find Wil studying hard and living with Allison, while still managing to maintain fantastically uninterested and unromantic around his soul mate - This is a man who somehow manages to care more for his sweater than his girlfriend. Talking of sweaters, it also appears that the end of the war has finally taken its toll on poor Ker Benedict, who has now taken to obsessing over jam while wearing similarly comfortable sweaters. Indeed, his interest in jam seems to preclude taking Fiona anywhere with him, leaving her at home to fend for herself with twins so that he can visit Allison and Wil. Oh Mr. Benedict, what a modern man you are.


Anyhow, this is only the begining of the end, as Wil is one day approach by Lillia's father (who I shall continue to refer to as Major Stork as it has far more comic potential). Now, considering this man is a cold-blooded murderer who has no qualms about blowing up entire trains, he isn't really the kind of guy you want as a father-in-law, but it soon becomes apparant that this won't be a problem at all - Not content with ruining his daughter's life once by abandoning her as a child, he's now decided it would be a great idea to do so again by enlisting Wil into his intelligence agency, upon which point he'll have to move to Sous-Beil and assume a new identity. Aside from the obvious irony of Wil working for an intelligence agency (the guy can't even drink a cup of tea properly for God's sake!), watch out for "How To Be A Good Father" by Major Stork, now available in all good book stores.

So, Wil mulls over this offer, but obviously realises that spending the rest of your life with the person you love is far more important than some half-baked intelligence job working for a man who is clearly some kind of perverted psychopath. Oh, wait, no he doesn't, he decides it sounds like a great job and runs off to leave Allison alone as soon as humanly possible. However, it appears that Allison also got lucky as part of Roxche's "Two lobotomies for the price of one offer", as despite finding out that she's pregnant she decides not to tell Wil, so that he can run off and play spy games without worrying about her. Maybe these two do deserve one another after all...

The final ignomony for Allison comes as Wil's train departs, and he shouts to her "I should have told you this before, but... I love you!". Yes, Wil, you should have told Allison that before... For example, how about telling her that before you get her pregnant, that is the normal order of things I think you'll find.

This does, of course, bring us to some good news. The Allison arc is now over! However (and I suppose we can curse Wil's unfortunate fertility for this) the Lillia arc now begins, leaving us with another thirteen episodes to look forward to. The closing minutes of this episode give us a sneak peek of what's to come, with a fifteen year-old Lillia and a much older Allison. Allison has found herself a boyfriend called Travas, who works for the Sous-Beil military and finds it impossible to drink a cup of hot tea. I really have no idea who he could be, but doubtless he has learned much from Major Stork about how to be a great parent, with pretending not to be the father of your own daughter high up his list of top tips.

Okay, I finally admit it - This series is brilliant. Not in the way it tries to be brilliant admittedly, but laughing at its ineptitude and crazy plots each week is fast becoming a regular highlight for me. Bring it on, Lillia!