Sora wo Kakeru Shoujo - Episode 23

With Akiha and company able to make it back to Leopard safely, Benkei onside to help with the fight against nerval and Xanthippe at least temporarily on the retreat, all is looking well for the forthcoming struggle as this episode begins.

However, there is still much work to do - Benkei's hyperjump will doubtlessly have alerted Nerval as to the location of Leopard, who is himself still incomplete and in need of further parts, while Akiha remains in a state somewhere between denial and distress at the demise of Imo. Leopard's uncaring attitude towards the "boiled potato" hardly helps matters, although such emotions have to take a back seat once Xanthippe returns, sporting Existence and all, in an attempt to recapture Akiha before dealing with Leopard.


After wavering in the face of being "boxified again" on account of her distraught state of mind, Itsuki (of all people - how much she's grown as a character during this series) snaps her out of it, while the return of Honoka with Professor Fon in tow and the completion of Leopard's upgrade/repair work turns the tide in their favour. Thus, Xanthippe is repelled and her plan left in tatters, while the fate of Imo is suddenly called into question....

So, once again Sora wo Kakeru Shoujo proves itself to be magnificently entertaining here, pacing itself near perfectly to keep both the action and emotional content flowing effortlessly, while keeping that almost "old school" science fiction anime feel in tow which somehow adds to the charm of the offering as a whole. I do have to admit that my eyes almost rolled clean out of my head at the news that Imoko isn't dead however - After using it to fuel the last two episodes almost entirely from an emotional perspective, it feels like a very cheap and nasty cop out. That's a pretty hefty black mark against a series that is otherwise succeeding yet further at burrowing a small place in my heart.