Natsu no Arashi - Episode 25

It rarely takes much for the Hakobune café to be thrown into chaos, but this time around all sorts of scandal and insanity breaks loose thanks to the visit of a girl who seems to have an unfounded desire to kiss whoever tries to serve her.

It turns out that the woman in question is in fact a manga artists, looking for inspiration so that she can draw the final kissing scene required to finish her work before the deadline for it expires. Eventually, Arashi finds herself compelled to offer her help, and so that aforementioned insanity ensues, with the decidedly difficult decision of who should pose alongside Arashi causing plenty of red faces and controversy.


You can probably pretty much guess how the rest of the episode goes from here, as it swings between teasing us with Arashi posing wiht the likes of Kaya and Yayoi, Hajime attempting to kiss Jun while completely oblivious to her true gender, and both Hajime and Arashi getting more than a little jealous when the other appears certain to kiss someone else, even though they refuse to pose together for the scene.

All things considered, this is an utterly daft instalment even by Natsu no Arashi's standards, but to be fair it does manage to carry itself with some degree of poise on account of higher than usual production values and a few moments that proved to be quite amusing scattered throughout like a handful of salt. While none of that is enough to even bring this episode up to the level of what you could call "good" per se, it just about scrapes together enough entertainment value to remain watchable, even though it once again leaves me calling into question the purpose of this second half of the series when I consider how it's almost entirely consisted of what you would label as filler.

Kūchū Buranko - Episode 10

As Kūchū Buranko hits its penultimate instalment, so we meet Mitsuo Tanabe, a man who it initially appears shouldn't have a care in the world; incredibly rich, the head of a successful newspaper firm and owner of a top baseball team - what's not to like?

However, as with every patient of Doctor Irabu's, Tanabe has a problem - He's started suffering from panic attacks, belying his usual calm demeanour when faced with press swarming around him and causing him to basically black out. So, what is the cause of these attacks? Needless to say, Tanabe's need to "find himself" to discover the root cause of the problem beyond the fact that it's triggered by darkness is the main focus of the episode.


To be honest, I'm actually not too sure what to make of the way this particular episode of Kūchū Buranko handles itself - It's revelation regarding Mitsuo Tanabe's problem is certainly a clever twist in the tale that was hinted at but otherwise pretty difficult to see coming, and I can only respect it for that, but at the same time the way the whole thing was revealed felt oddly unsatisfactory to me, as though we weren't exposed to enough of Tanabe's journey to really appreciate why he became stuck in the rut that he did.

It could just be that I was expecting something different from this particular episode, but the upshot of all this is that I felt a little detached from the whole process in a way that I haven't with previous episodes of Kūchū Buranko. That isn't to say that there weren't some great moments of humour to enjoy, but this instalment as a whole simply feels less memorable than some of what has come before.

Darker than BLACK: Ryuusei no Gemini - Episode 11

Every week it seems that writing about Darker than BLACK: Ryuusei no Gemini becomes a more daunting task as further revelations get thrown onto the fires that keep the series burning, and this penultimate episode certainly fits the bill on that count. In fact, it barely feels like a penultimate episode at all given how much seems to be going on as this instalment closes out.

After beginning with a glimpse at the sheer brutal horror that Izanami can be capable of, Hei and Suou go their own separate ways once again, with the former clearly looking to reach Yin's location while Suou needs to find her brother more than ever. Meanwhile, we learn that the moon which appeared at the end of the last episode is another part of the prophecies concerning what will happen should Izanami and Izanagi ever meet, adding further to the foreboding surrounding Yin and whatever she has become.


That aside, much of this episode deals with Suou's search for her brother, which takes her first and foremost towards a reunion with her father - A shock for Suou as of course she still presumed him to be dead. This meeting allows us to learn exactly how any why the "current" cloned Suou was born, from her sex (despite being a clone of Shion in a sense) through to the memories that she holds. Of course, there's little time for sentimental family reunions, with the location where Shion and her father were hiding out soon under assault from multiple forces, not least the Americans who seem to have taken an interest in nabbing both Izanami and Izanagi for their own ends. Suou's powers help her to escape the attentions of any pursuers, but at a high cost, leaving her free to find her brother as other previously disparate elements start to get together. There's certainly peril all around for the major characters by the time the episode preview rolls however.

As per my comments last episode, this really is a reminder of the Darker than BLACK we know and love - A tangled and endlessly shifting and moving story which seems unfathomably complex at times, yet never to the detriment of the show's entertainment value. While I worry that there simply won't be enough time to resolve everything to my satisfaction in that single, final episode, this instalment was another fantastically paced and developed offering which again balanced new revelations on one hand with further mysteries on the other. Now, all we can do is hope and pray that it can keep all of those plates spinning at lightning speed for a further twenty minutes to bring us a conclusion worthy of what has come before.

Seitokai no Ichizon - Episode 11

After this eleventh instalment of Seitokai no Ichizon begins with Sugisaki looking to improve himself via an online bulletin board, so we find that he surprisingly ends up with a day off sick from the student council after running up an insane temperature.

Now, the thought of an entire episode without too much focus on Ken appealed to me personally, but needless to say he still somehow ended up being the centre of attention, albeit after the other council member's attempts to carry out a "normal" meeting without him. For them, such a meeting involved a discussion of what constitutes an acceptable part-time job, before we get a glimpse inside the mysteries that lurk within Sugisaki's bag.


Eventually, the girls decide that they should really pay him a visit to see how he's doing (especially after somehow jumping to the conclusion that he's away saving the world or something) - So, after stocking up with provisions they head off to his place. On the way they meet a couple of Ken's former class mates, who spill the beans about what a terrible guy he allegedly was at his last school; revelations which get short shrift from the rest of the council members. Thus, Ken gets a brief glimpse of his ideal harem ending, although we're left with a shocking confession (quite literally) come the end of the episode.

As so often seems to be the case with Seitokai no Ichizon, there really isn't a lot to be said about it - The vast majority of the jokes were unfunny truth be told, and the sentimental aspects of the episode proved to be dull and tiring as ever. There really seems to be nowhere left for this series to go aside from accidentally hitting the spot with a decent gag every now and then, and I don't see confessions or other attempts to shake up the status quo changing that in the slightest.

Nyan Koi! - Episode 12 (Completed)

As Nyan Koi enters its final episode, the curse of the cat deity Jizou is finally catching up with Junpei after Mizuno finds out about said curse, leaving him in more than a slightly tight spot given his allergy to cats.

But what on Earth can Junpei do to reverse the accelerating transformation to which he is now subjected? While he calls upon Kotone and Akari for help, it's actually Nyamsus who comes up with a plan, and so it goes that Junpei puts on his best acting hat to try and convince Kaede about a fake curse, before having it lifted before his very eyes.


Just when it looks as though all is well, along comes Nagi to inadvertently reveal those rather fetching cat ears, plunging Junpei into even deeper levels of peril. Of course, Nyan Koi being what it is everything ends up coming up roses (well, relatively speaking at least) as Mizuno saves the day without even realising it, before all-out chaos ensues in the aftermath of Junpei's transformation back into a human. There's still no resolution in sight for any of the character's love interests, Junpei's curse is still very much active until he completes his penance, and everything is left pretty much as you'd expect for a show that seems pretty confident that it's getting a second season.

But you know what? I hope it does get a second season. I started watching Nyan Koi without really expecting anything of worth to come from it at all - In fact, truth be told I was expecting not to like it much at all. However, while this series has hardly blazed new trails or scaled new heights for its genre, it has proved to be a largely well-animated and, more importantly, occasionally hugely funny series. A lot of comedy anime tries to get by with madcap shenanigans played at a million miles an hour, but frequently Nyan Koi manages to traverse this route with genuinely good reason, not giving you time to consider that some of the gags might be a bit stupid before peppering you with the next moment that's liable to at least make you smile. This scatter-shot humour isn't consistent, but when it works it does so very well, and thankfully this series managed a high enough hit rate with its comedy to keep me entertained while also serving up a bunch of characters who you couldn't really help but like - Even Junpei was a pretty decent guy for what was effectively a male harem lead. Thus, this all combines to make Nyan Koi my surprise show of the season - It's still no classic, but for pure mindless fun it frequently hits the spot.

Kimi ni Todoke - Episode 11

With the end game for Kurumi's behaviour becoming very much apparent come the end of the last episode, it seemed as though she had quite possibly gained the upper hand in her rivalry with Sawako over Kazehaya - Surely Kuronuma is simply going to accede to Kurumi's request to help her?

Well, that's what I thought would happen, but the reality was rather more surprising than that, with Sawako actually flat out refusing to help complete with an instinctive reaction to Kurumi's confession that was easily my favourite moment of the episode, while even going as far as to explain her own feelings towards Kazehaya to some degree (although I still don't think she's quite got a handle on those feelings herself). Needless to say Kurumi is left furious at this, although Sawako's naivety means that a lot of that anger doesn't really permeate her senses as they might with anyone else. Sawako most certainly wins this round then.


Of course, all of this talk of love and romance has to be put on hold for more important matters - Football! Yes, that's right, this episode also allows us to see the girls in action taking part in the "soccer" segment of the school sports competition, complete with some route one football from Sawako that Sam Allardyce would be proud of. I have to confess, I did cheer at Sawako's display of footballing prowess, and needless to say it only goes further to established her as an integral and appreciated member of her class.

With the football game over, it's time for the guys (Kazehaya included) to try their hand at softball, in a match which both Kurumi and Sawako end up going to watch together. This actually makes life rather difficult for Kurumi as she tries to balance her frustration and anger with Sawako without letting the halo that everyone else around her sees slip, but even that doesn't stop her from hatching another plan to try and draw Sawako's interest away from Kazehaya so she can have him for herself. Good luck with that though...

As is pretty much par for the course with Kimi ni Todoke throughout, there were some great moments here, with this episode managing to blend the serious side of the story (Kurumi's anger and frustration in particular) with the comical (Sawako's nonplussed and confused responses). That aside, any actual plot progression was actually pretty subtle this time around, with any major movement pretty much bookending the chance to make the most of the sports festival and have some fun with the characters. This prevents episode eleven of Kimi ni Todoke from being a classic, but it doesn't stop me from continuing to enjoy and appreciate the series as it draws towards the half-way mark.

Kara no Kyoukai 7 - Satsujin Kousatsu (Part 2)

And so it comes to an end... well, sort of, if you don't count this series epilogue chapter which will be released as either a movie or OVA further down the line. After countless hours and six movies of wonderful animation and fascinating storytelling, we've finally reached the seventh and final "proper" instalment of Kara no Kyoukai, which finds itself with quite a bit to wrap up in its two hour running time.


As the name suggests, in a sense this final movie is closest in theme to the series second instalment, but naturally the overall narrative here takes in aspects of all six of the films which have gone before. As we rejoin the world of Shiki Ryougi and Mikiya Kokuto, we find TV reports filled with talk of a "homicidal maniac" on the loose, with murders (or slaughter, as Shiki would prefer to have it, with "murder" versus "slaughter" an important theme which runs throughout the movie) occurring in the style of a killer still at large from three years ago. Despite Shiki having lost the part of her split personality which turned her into a cold-blooded killer in the past, Mikiya naturally suspects that Shiki is in some way responsible for this new and disturbing series of deaths, particularly once he realises that she has no alibi at the time of any of the murders.

While you might expect this almost traditional murder mystery aspect of the movie to continue to the very end, the "is she the killer?" question is actually resolved quicker than you might suspect, albeit not before taking the viewer on a rollercoaster ride where it seems as though the truth about something is revealed only to have that particular rug pulled out from under you as the story shifts and distorts. This part of the movie is set against a backdrop of back street drug dealing as Shiki wanders the streets for reasons we begin to understand but perhaps never quite grasp fully, while revelations slowly unfurl both from the incident before Shiki's accident that left her in a coma through to the appearance of an old face from previous films who is watching her from afar and trying to lure her into fulfilling the idealised world he has built around her.


This gives the second half of Satsujin Kousatsu (Part 2) an even darker tone, as Shiki confronts Lio Shirazume (the just mentioned stalker) but finds herself torn between her desire (or perhaps more accurately her need) to kill him and her loyalty to Mikiya and his assertions that murder is wrong, no matter the reason for it. This internal struggle seems to pin down another of the key tenets of this movie - The importance of instinct and the nature of a person. In Lio's case the urge to kill is purely predatory, a trait he has "inherited" from past incarnations, while in Shiki's case her urges are far more complex, a blend of the "missing" half of her former split personality, a need to protect Mikiya (which is where the real duality of her situation stems from) and the need to fulfil a prophecy of her grandfather's.

With the three main players in this drama swirling around, we inevitably reach a climactic half hour that is in turns brutal, disturbing, bloody and inevitable as the various battles both internal and external between Shiki and Lio in particular come to a head. It's at this point where the movie finally loses a little lustre, with Lio's supposed predatory instinct letting him down in what I found to be a most surprising fashion at a key moment in favour of what can only be described as a happily ever after ending (or at least as close as Kara no Kyoukai was ever likely to get to it). That said, the major storylines that ran through the series are given the requisite amount of closure, while there is still enough left unresolved to merit that epilogue instalment in whatever form it might take.


Even with my slight feelings of disappointment at an ending that felt like either a bit of a cop-out or just clumsily written depending on how you look at it, you can't help but marvel at Satsujin Kousatsu (Part 2) as a cinematic and animation tour de force which easily takes its place as the most impressive of the seven films. The cinematography is absolutely spot on throughout, with both the lighting and camera angles in every scene seemingly thought through to perfection and accentuating the tone of the film perfectly. When it comes to action sequences, again there's little to do except watch wide-eyed at the frenzy of speed and violence depicted before you - It's not quite up there with Sword of the Stranger or CANAAN perhaps, but it works in its own lightning fast and vicious way.

Despite my misgivings about the handling of its climax, as an entire body of work I can't help but have the utmost admiration for Kara no Kyoukai, which almost transcends simple story-telling to become an "experience" in its own right - The kind of experience that makes you want to sit down and watch all seven movies consecutively to gain a greater appreciation of. That so many occasionally complex or subtle devices and concepts have been weaved together so compellingly over the course of so much material is an achievement in itself, and if you haven't done so before then now is most definitely the time to clear some space in your diary for a Kara no Kyoukai marathon.