Rejoice, I'm back again, maybe. (OK, so I ran out of good screen shots. Whatever.)

TAAN: Right, so I wasn’t here for the longest time. That’s annoying, but it doesn’t really matter now. Anyways, instead of making a bunch of posts for every episode (which I actually did) that probably no one would read, I’ve decided to have a recap and get on with the latest one. So now, here is a collection of tl;dr I wrote to myself for each. If I have time later, I’ll publish the original reviews for each and add links, and possibly add pictures so that this isn’t a wall of text.

Episode 3:
Melt got super rich and took over a stratum, but it all collapsed because of mistreatment of ropers. He was also collaborating with the Yellow Knights for business (he sold out Jil’s team to get permission to continue his business practices), but he ended up being captured by them instead. The avalanche was a lie.
Rating: 10/10

Episode 4:
Gilgamesh is immortal because of Druaga’s curse which created a shadow version of him at the top of the mystic tower that feeds off his bitterness. Kaaya wants to kill the shadow to free Gilgamesh, Jil wants to see Neeba and Kaaya again, Gremica wants to revive the Sumar Empire, and Uragon wants to look good. Thus they all enter the tower.
Rating: 7/10

Episode 5:
Everyone ends up in a desert filled with creatures that dislike shadows. They manage to get through the gate to the next area using various clever tactics. Gilgamesh becomes slightly more evil.
Rating: 7/10

Episode 6:
Four mysterious robotic assassins are introduced, attacking everyone they meet. Henaro seems to have some kind of device that responds to them. Also, Neeba and Kaaya are shown not far ahead of Jil and the others. One of the four assassins is taken out in a battle and Uragon’s team stumbles upon her later and takes care of her. The next area is revealed to be the mansion Neeba and Kaaya were at in the first episode.
Rating: 7/10

Episode 7:
The mansion turns out to be a place where things lost forever (including dead people) can reappear. All three important people who died last season show up again, Ahmey to Jil, Melt, and Coopa, Kally to Fatina and Utu (and surprisingly the assassin Uragon was carrying), and Pazuz to Henaro, who turns out to be her father. Henaro reveals that her mission is to regain control of the assassins Pazuz brought with the device. The assassin Uragon was taking care of seems to believe Kally is her master, and gets the order to protect everyone. The other assassins attack and everyone escapes into the next area.
Rating: 9/10

Episode 8:
Jil’s team catch up with Neeba and Kaaya. They split up to avoid one of the assassins, and Jil meets Neeba alone. He finds out that Neeba’s reason for climbing the tower has something to do with hating the gods toying with people’s lives, and not anything to do with the Sumar Empire like he used to say. After they defeat one of the assassins, Jil goes back to the rest of his team only to find everyone knocked out and Henaro and Coopa missing. Back at Meskia, Ethana is planning a rebellion against Gilgamesh, who has become increasingly tyrannical.
Rating: 8/10

Episode 9:
Henaro was the one who knocked out everyone, revealing that she was working for Amina to prevent Gilgamesh’s shadow from being killed. She gets the assassins she’s gained control of to attack everyone before Jil gets back, and wounds Coopa. She takes Coopa and Kaaya with her and leave to meet with Gilgamesh’s shadow. Neeba catches Ki to use along with Succubus and heads for Gilgamesh’s place, too. Gremica and Uragon meet up with Jil’s team and explains that the assassins are actually the four knights from the original Tower of Druaga, remade with special armor, and the girl Uragon’s been carrying is actually the Mirror Knight. They use her abilities much like Henaro did to warp to Shadow Gilgamesh’s area. Finally, back at Meskia, Ethana’s rebellion starts and Gilgamesh is completely taken over by his shadow after killing Amina. Now, without hesitation, he orders the rebellion to be crushed. That’s when Kelb returns.
Rating: 9/10

Episode 10:
Battles occur on all sides as Ethana’s rebellion goes ino full swing and Ji and everyone else rush Shadow Gil’s castle. Gramica and Melt ditch the others for their own reasons. Everyone else gets through the initial rush, but meets with Henaro who gets the assassin “Tear of Ice” to attack them. Uragon leaves with her, since he still serves Gilgamesh. Eventually, Fatina defeats Tear of Ice and Neeba defeats the other one. Neeba then finds Gil who gives him the task of killing Kaaya to obtain the Rod and his throne. Jil’s team meets up with Melt and Coopa, and Kelb appears with the armies of several other parts of Uruk and instantly helps Ethana’s rebellion succeed. All that’s left is Gilgamesh.
Rating: 9/10

Episode 11:
Everyone fights Gilgamesh now that they’re here. Even Henaro turns on him and gets the last assassin to fight him, but Gil overpowers them all. After many desperate attacks, Gil finally falls… to Uragon, who madly attacked him because he killed the Mirror Knight. Jil finished him off though. Everyone’s all happy and stuff until Henaro picks up the Blue Crystal Rod to give to Jil. Neeba kills her after avoiding death through sheer willpower and steals the rod for himself. The Mythical tower merges with the bottom one and becomes a weapon that can destroy gods, with Neeba controling it. He dumps everyone else down the tower much like at the end of the first season, only this time, there’s one more episode to resolve everything (or not).
Rating: 10/10
Anticipation: 10/10

Yumemi: The Goddess of Deus Ex Machina?

Minnie: This is the week of finales eh? Right after I’m done with my ToraDora finale post, Munto decides to update two weeks late with its finale. I don’t know how Munto will end and I don’t care much for how it will end to be frank, but I do want to see if Yumemi and Munto will get together. I’m hopeful for this pairing. They will at least have a scene together at the end. Anyways, here comes the end at nine episodes~

PEDO PEDO!!!

I just had to caption that picture… this episode in my opinion is very disappointing… the ending is like every other ending of fantasy anime in general… I don’t even want to review this episode because it’s so stereotypical. The dialogue and open ending are stereotypical too. What lesson have I learned from this? KyoAni should stick to animating non-original sources, like Kanon, Haruhi Suzumiya, and others. Yeah…

Though, I did collect a lot of quotes and a lot of pretty Yumemi pictures:

“Your method won’t be able to restore the flow of Akuto, you fool!” -Gntarl

“If this pillar of light goes, the space-time portal will close and the balance of both worlds will break. The Heavens will then fall immediately, and our futures will be lost.” -Munto

My Lovely Quote

There is no need for a full explanation for this quote. This is Munto’s declaration of love for Yumemi!!! Munto/Yumemi forever! Make it happen off-screen.

“Munto, I’m sorry. I can’t leave without them.” -Yumemi

“Even if you trap a person in stone and deceive their heart, the future won’t open.” -Yumemi

My Quick Summary

~to be continued~

“The world had its flow of spirits stopped and, while engulfed in darkness, forgot what it looked like- just like it’s about to lose its own shape. But it still hasn’t ended yet. The destruction hasn’t been written in stone yet. The future isn’t lost.” -Yumemi

“You can protect the world without having to sacrifice anything. You just have to protect your own spirit and the people who are most important to you. Don’t give up and abandon them. -Yumemi

~to be continued~

“I am Munto… no, I’m Lord Munto so call me Lord Munto.” -Munto

“My heart is safely with me. Right here.” -Yumemi

~to be continued~

“It seems like I’m being lectured by you again. I finally understand now. It’s just as you said. The one I should protect is already here.” -Munto

“Is this his fetish?!” -Ichiko

My Minnie Ramblings

Meh. Like I said before, a pretty disappointing end to an anime that had a lot going for it. They can make this anime a lot more powerful with all the concepts and characters they introduce but instead, the producers decide to take the easy route out with a cheap ending of friendship, heart, and a lot of other cliches. Everything is too fantasized and unbelievable to actually happen. Also, I still don’t understand the hype around KyoAni. Aside from Haruhi Suzumiya, all their other anime I’ve watched so far either have a deus ex machina ending, a predictable happy ending where even dead characters are brought back somehow, or something like that. I’m not that impressed with their anime and I am clearly not a fan even if I do admit all their animation are beautiful beyond belief. However, animation is not the only quality to a good anime is it? No! Plot, character, etc make up the rest of awesome anime. That is why I prefer other studios like Shaft (artistic is always nice) and BONES (they haven’t failed me once yet). Don’t even get me started on Sunrise which I think is spending a lot of money on weird anime after they milk the cash cow call Code Geass. XD

“The reflection in the mirror is my heart.” -Yumemi

“That small reflection of courage will one day reach the spirit too. The shape of the heart will continued to change. The shape of the world will also continued to change. The world will become more beautiful.” -Yumemi

My Overall Impression

Munto had a strong start and premise, but then, it faltered from what it promised, very much like White Album. I am not too fond of any of the characters too much even though I must admit I love taking screen shots of Yumemi because she looks gorgeous. Munto is awesome at first but then he becomes lame later on by being too much like a typical male lead without the harem. The minor characters are also very weak in that they don’t have much role in the story and they didn’t develop much. Aside from Suzume who I believe is adorable and has some back story with Akira, everyone else is kind of there. I’m just bitter at this ending and how they even leave it open without solving the Munto/Yumemi or pulling it off successfully like Code Geass. The best parts of this show- its first three episodes, pretty character designs, graphics, and BGM. Oh well… I’m not watching K-ON next season. I have enough of this nonsense. XD

Minnie’s Overall Rating for Episode: 8/10

Minnie’s Overall Rating for Munto: 7/10

Minnie and Garrick have left~!

Minnie: Reminder and news! To both Hey, Say, Anime bloggers and followers, the blog Hey, Say, Anime! has moved to our new server:

http://heysayanime.kokidokom.net

For writers, please blog there and log in your account using the log in option at the very top of the blog with your respective username and new password (look at forums for more information). For readers, please continue to support us at the new server. Thank you very much! See everyone there~

Best. ToraDora. Screenshot. Ever.

Minnie: The last episode of ToraDora is here and I’m a bit emotional because this anime has brought out so many emotions in me with how far it has developed. At last, we will see how the tiger and the dragon end up together. After twenty-five episodes, it’s bound to happen right? Make it happen and with a happy ending too~

“Families are amazing. Even though they haven’s seen each other in about ten years, they’re still… We’re a family aren’t we?” -Ryuuji

“Even though everyone told me to get an abortion, I really wanted to protect you. In the end, I couldn’t protect you and things broke.” -Yasuko

My Lovely Quote

The episode officially makes Taiga and Ryuuji into a couple or a family in this case. There’s no question who Ryuuji will end up with anymore. There never was a question in the first place. From start to end, it is pure Ryuuji/Taiga. Not only did Yasuko get along with her parents, Ryuuji manages to patch things up with his mother. The concept of family is so important in this episode that Taiga literally leaves Ryuuji behind to catch up with her mother. The ending of this episode also suggests Taiga/Ryuuji will form their own family in the future.

“I’ll become an adult. I’ll do it right in front of you, not in some place far away. That’s why you have to look at me… always.” -Ryuuji

“Since we’ll be happy anyway, why not sure our happiness with everyone else?” -Ryuuji

My Quick Summary

This summary will suck because I’ll try to cram everything into a couple of paragraphs. Thanks to a fake voice mail from Taiga, Yasuko rushes to her parents’ house, only to find Ryuuji a-okay! In a matter of minutes, Yasuko reconciles with her parents, though she did get scolded. We get a quick scene between Ryuuji and his mother in which she reveals that Ryuuji’s father got her pregnant and then ran away. However, Ryuuji thinks his motehr is great nevertheless because he’s not broken at all. On the other hand, he has grown up to become a great young man. That night, Ryuuji’s grandmother allows Ryuuji and Taiga to sleep in the same bedroom. They talk and kiss many times.

The next day, the three of them return home with Taiga going back to her apartment to see her mother. Instead, she finds an empty apartment and listens to all the voice mails her mother left her. Even though Taiga wants to be with Ryuuji, she leaves to find her mother after she takes a picture of the sky. On the table, she leaves Ryuuji a note of goodbye. The next morning, Yuri-chan announces to the whole class that Taiga will no longer be part of their class. They all begin to text her and the following day, they all receive a text message from her of the night sky. Ami is smart like always and gets everyone to take this group picture to send to Taiga.

How does the episode end then? Well, it ends with all of them graduating from high school. Ryuuji notices someone with Taiga’s hair up in the classroom. He runs up the stairs and goes into the classroom to find Taiga nowhere in sight. I begin to chant closet. He opens the closet and out comes Taiga. They have a moment in which Ryuuji confesses his love to Taiga. Her respond is… a head butt! The end~

“If we kiss, it’ll definitely hurt… a lot.” -Taiga

“I blamed my lack of confidence on my parents and my surrounding, but Ryuuji still loves me.” -Taiga

My Minnie Ramblings

I love the pacing of this episode. It wasn’t rushed or slowed down tremendously. It ends a lot of the questions we have in our heads and the ones we didn’t have. I like the short and bittersweet Ami/Ryuuji moment in the storage room. Ami is really an unbelievably awesome character, even to the very end. I like Minorin and Kitamura by the end too. I’m glad that the episode ended with Ryuuji and Taiga with their usual relationship. The kiss scene is also really sweet and believable. I want more even after their reunion at the end but it’s still a good ending nevertheless. A bit stereotypical and clean for my taste but nevertheless, a well-wrapped ending to finish off an amazing series. There’s nothing really to complain about this episode except the ending was a bit more shocking.

“As long as we all shine, no matter how far away we are, we will definitely be able to see each other doing our best.” -Minorin

“Since ancient times, the dragon has been the only beast to equal the tiger. Even if you’re not by my side now, I will leap through space and time and always be by your side. These feelings will never change.” -Ryuuji

My Final Thoughts

Overall, I like this anime a lot. I know Ric and Koala probably like this series than I but oh well. I must admit there are a lot of weak episodes in this anime, like Episode 3 with Minorin’s jobs and Episode 24 when everything moves way too fast with no strong build-up. On the other hand, there are priceless episodes like Episode 6 when Ami finally gets rid of her two-faced personality and Episode 21 when Taiga unconsciously confesses her feelings to Ryuuji. With a blend of excellent and terrible episodes, Toradora is really hard to rate. But if there is one thing Toradora does right, it is developing all its characters and relationships into this intricate web that is worthy of its genre. Cross that. It sets the standards of its genre way up, like Lovely Complex did. Toradora is a worthy anime and definitely a worthwhile anime to blog. I don’t think this blog has ever missed an episode of ToraDora because it’s that good.

Again, a satisfying anime. It’s not a masterpiece by any means but it’s a must watch for those who enjoy love comedy-type animes with excellent characters and emotional dialogue. I hope we get more gems like ToraDora in the shoujo genre. Bravo.

Minnie’s Overall Rating for Episode: 9/10

Minnie’s Overall Rating for ToraDora: 8.5/10

To our wonderful Toradora cast of characters:

Oh, you know it's serious when Rina's serious.

Richie: Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my, gosh, oh my gosh! Man, this episode was so overwhleming, a lot of things happening at once. Well, this is the second last episode before the second season so, this was to be expected. Still, this was a really watchable episode and could possibly be one of the best. So what are you waiting for? You’ll learn of this episode with a single click~!

Prelude

A serious tone had been set right at the start with Rina talking to Touya about his affair with Yayoi. Rina tried to stop Touya from being with Yayoi, but failed in doing so. This was shown the next day, because Rina arrived at Echoes to have a date with Touya — only to find out that she was dumped after all. While that was going on, Yayoi was dropping Touya right at his house I. HATE. THAT. WOMAN. Instead of going alone, Touya invites Yayoi over to his house. Confused, Yayoi wondered why she brought him over. In response, he by hugs her from behind *Raises fist in the air*, tells her that she’s his Goddess of the Day *raises both fists and growls* , and takes her down with him on his bed AHHHHH!!!! To add salt to this horrible! scene, a picture of Yuki & Touya was shown sitting on a bookshelf.. RGGGGH!

The Letter

After that disturbing scene, we’re brought to a new scene with Rina jogging in the pouring rain on a track field. Of course, the weather conditions prove to be unsuitable for jogging, but Rina continues to do so after ignoring all pleads of stopping by Touya and the other members present. Touya was basically chasing Rina, but is always left behind because Rina speeds up whenever he was close. After completing the circuit, lays flat on her back along the grass after grabbing a towel from one of her staff members. Rina constantly pants in frustration as she furiously clutches onto her towel & punches the ground beneath her back I think.

If you can't catch 'em, cut 'em.

At the studios, Touya knocks on Rina’s dressing room door. She let’s him inside, and starts to address him by his full name. She then tells him that what he’s about to hear are Yuki’s words, not her’s. What is it you may ask? Well, remember that letter that Yayoi ripped up in her office? Remember Rina putting the pieces of the said letter back together? Well, this is what she was talking about. A letter written by Yuki for Touya, now being orally presented by Rina.

First, Yuki realized that she was mistreating Touya by keeping secrets from him to save as surprises in the future. She then reminded him about her first concert being on Christmas Eve and requested him to come. Now, the bombshell of the letter. Yuki stated that she hated who she was in the past — and her nightmares revealed this. In general, her nightmares had her in a state of classic Stage Freight — she was on stage, unable to sing her song — which she concluded was due to her lack of practice. She didn’t want to be the Yuki she saw in her dreams, so she decided to change herself into a whole new person. However, this change required her to not see or call Touya anymore. She wanted him to forget about the old Yuki, and take care of her no matter who she was.

Closing her letter with a final apology, Touya broke into tears. Rina shared the same feelings too, but as a professional singer, she fired him for harming her fellow idol. Poor guy cried when he left her room… With Touya out of sight, Rina crumples the letter she just read to him in utter frustration. Back and forth, pictures of Yuki were fading in and out from black as a transition to our next scene. Touya attempts to contact Yuki at a local phone booth, but was unable to get a hold of her, so he left a message. Upon arriving to her room, Yuki notices the answering machine & listens to message. He informed her that he got the message from Rina and ends up apologizing to her after remembering that he couldn’t call her anymore. The piano music brought tears to my eyes.. ^_^; Yuki was about to call Touya back, but resists the temptation because she wanted it would send all her hard work down the drain. T_T She cries to herself afterward…

Aww, it's okay Yuki! I honestly cried here too...

The Aftermath

Acting quickly, Touya starts contacting different ticket revenues to see if there were anymore tickets for Yuki’s concert. Sadly, they were all sold out. Basically, Touya’s issue comes across Mana, Haruka & Misaki. All three felt the need to help him out Technically, Misaki didn’t help, but it’s help nonetheless. Mana delivers to Touya a ticket from her mother, the Sakura president!? O_O and a gift for Yuki, Misaki delivers a ticket and some kind of cake & Haruka also has a ticket. The three Goddesses have guided Touya to the right path, but he starts to feel guilty for all this after taking a bite out of Misaki’s cake.

Akira & Misaki got into a little dilemma themselves. After agreeing to ditch Yuki’s concert together, hence Misaki’s ticket for Touya, the two went out for a walk in the evening. Suddenly, they meet that really freaky director guy from the play. The two were defensive at first, until he stated that he just came to apologize I don’t think he is though. Just as Misaki closed into that creepy director, the director literally pulls off possibly the only (a) life-threatening situation by thrusting a toy dagger at Misaki. Akira checks up on Misaki, but she appeared to be fine. She shows Akira the book that Touya gave back a long time ago (Remember, the Browning one?) which revealed to have a dent on the cover. Akira — after realizing what it meant — just laughed hysterically, complaining that Touya always had to butt into their relationship.

Akira finally snaps... Over a book.

Another meeting with Touya & Yayoi the next day somebody please stop me. After leaving Echoes from some kind of conflict, I dunno if he was fighting with the Master or Akira… =/ Yayoi’s outside waiting for him again. Inside the car, Touya finally uses his morality and prevents Yayoi from seducing him. Do you think that would stop Yayoi though? Nope. She even revealed to him that she ripped up Yuki’s letter for him. Obviously pissed, Touya struggles to avoid Yayoi, but Yayoi literally licked her way up to his mouth, and kissed him. Tears fell from Touya’s face as she did this I would do the same Touya, she’s freaking disgusting.

Finally, Touya arrives at Yuki’s concert — armed with a bouquet of flowers and his gift courtesy of Mana. He takes a deep breath, remembers what the three Goddesses had told him, and realizes that he was about to meet the New Yuki.

Really, a solid episode for White Album this week. My personal highlight would have to be the letter revelation to Touya by Rina. It seriously caused tears to well up in my eyes (But they didn’t fall!). The episode did feel a little rushed when all three girls were obtaining the tickets. It was like the anime was telling me, “Okay, we gotta finish this quick because the season is about to end!” (Because it is, actually, but eh.). Otherwise, everything else in the episode was top-notch. It’s interesting how the later episodes of White Album have been pretty magnificent lately. I mean, sure it started off on a rocky start, but once you stuck with it, it started to treat you with episodes as high quality as this. I’m glad to have taken this anime up, and I can’t wait to see how the season will end next week~ =D

Now, for the ratings~

Once again, I’ve changed my blogging style. This is just to make my posts actually look like reviews rather than be a synopsis of the entire episode… I’ve thought of the change half-way through editing this article, so it may look a bit disorganized, but trust me; next episode’s review will be a lot more organized.

Also, it’s the last episode of the season! Disappointing, yes. But I happen to have a special project for HSA that’ll fill up the time while the second season is coming. So stay tuned after next week’s episode, because White Album has not left HSA yet~! =D

Ouch...

Steve: My blogging streak never end does it? Next season, I am tackling more than I can handle again. I don’t mind since I like to blog. This week, I don’t have as much work so I am good to go. This anime is ending with a finale. Let’s see if they pull this off correctly. A mediocre series with a good ending will prove to me that I didn’t waste my time blogging it. Make me happy Akikan!

What is this? Another straight out review from me. Yes but only because it’s an important Akikan episode for once.

New Strong Akikan: 1, Budoko: 0. Budoko is defeated before the episode even started.

New Strong Akikan: 2, Yell: 0. She completely destroys Yell after luring her out.

Najimi is hospitalized thanks to the Akikan incident between the newcomer and Yell.

However, Yell returns to take out Melon. But is it really Yell? Nope. Kakeru proves this very well.

Melon/Kakeru moment after they successfully defeated the fake Yell and Bukodo.

Unfortunately, that didn’t last very wrong and the new strong Akikan comes out of nowhere and beats Melon to a pulp.

The new, strong Akikan might be a sadist. Maybe.

Never mind. She’s definitely a sadist. New, strong Akikan: 3, Melon: 0.

Melon is defeated and she will evaporated before Kakeru’s eyes. How will Kakeru take this?

^ That’s how. The end?

NOOOOOOOOOOO THE END ALREADY?

Conclusion

This episode introduces the final enemy- the strongest Akikan. She is on a quest to defeat Akikans and absorb their powers for herself. From the looks of it, she either doesn’t have an owner or she was abandoned by one.  This strong Akikan manages to defeat Budoko, Yell, and Melon in one episode. With only 1 or 2 episodes left, how will this be resolved? Will love win over everything? I am placing my money on a happy ending, but how will it be executed? Be tuned for next week’s episode to find out. Steve out.

Steve’s Overall Rating Meter: 10/10

Steve’s Addiction Fix: 10/10

Yes. This quote just REEKS of second season. Or something. I hope.

Garrick: Yeah, I’m making time so I can blog all the final episodes. After all, that IS the only thing you all care about, right? Of course… not. *sigh* Yeah. I’ve missed a lot, forgive me. But, I’m here for the finale. I’ll try to have a better post than my Clannad: AfterStory final post.

Garrick: This episode starts off with Kazakiri, the “monster”, going after Golem Ellis. Touma and her know that the Golem is going after Index now, and Kazakiri, who can jump down that huge hole without getting hurt, goes off ahead. The slower Touma runs toward where Ellis went, and… as he’s running, Sherry, the summoner of Ellis, confronts him. Yeah.

Garrick: … Hurrah for his right hand. As Sherry begins to collapse the walls to kill Touma, he recalls one of the magic “lessons” from Index. He realizes that Sherry would only need magic carvings on the wall to collapse the sides. The carving on the ground is only there to protect her. So… Touma realizes this, and runs at her, and touches his right hand on the rune on the ground. Then… he punches Sherry in the face. Then… she rationalizes her reasons to create a war… but… when Touma tries to get her to stop, she goes… sort of berserk, yelling out her magic name (for those of you that don’t remember, saying her magic name is like a death confirmation for Touma).

Garrick: But, of course… Touma doesn’t die. He punches her in the face again, rendering her… unable to fight. Yay. Now, on to saving Index. Kazakiri stops the first punch that would have killed Index, and… when Golem Ellis decides to attack Kazakiri, Touma uses his right hand and… well… ends Ellis.

Garrick: Later on, in the hospital, Touma’s getting atacked by Komoe-sensei and Aisa. Meanwhile Index is talking to Kazakiri, who… as it turns out, is bound to disappear. And… in the end, she does… but reassures Index that she’ll always be there… perhaps not seen, but she’ll always be there.

Garrick’s Rating of Episode Twenty-Four: 9/10

Garrick’s Overall Rating of To Aru Majutsu no Index: 9/10

Woosh~~~~~!!!!!!!

Marissa: Ride back is coming to an end soon……….. ;___________;

Steve: You didn’t even want to watch this in the first place…

Marissa: YOU BE QUIET STEVIE BEARIE!!!!!!!!!!!! PEOPLE CAN CHANGE THEIR MINDS TOO YOU KNOW???

Steve: Enough chitchat Marissa. I will provide the screenshots and you provide the commentary. Deal?

Marissa: *_______* DEAL~~~!!

Steve: Warning- the following commentary has nothing to do with me. I do not affect, edit, or review the commentary before I publish this post. Everything is copyrighted to Marissa and Marissa alone. The screen shots however are mine and should not be taken or published elsewhere without asking first. Thank you.

Marissa: …………………

WOW~!!! Did Rin just say that Shoko is “the light of my life”?????????? SHOKO/RIN END!! I CALLED IT NOW~!!!!!!!!

All sexy bishies pose like this…………… *_____________* I WANT HIS PANTS……… OR HIS GOGGLES <3

Beacon of hope *nods*

Shoko…………. are you cheating on Rin???????????? LOLLLLLLL Joking. This scene made me ;_________;

TOO. AWESOME. FOR. WORDS. BISHIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE~~~~~~ HOLD ME!!!!!

Awwwwwwwwwww………. Poor Rin……………… at least she gets some LOVE from her leader~~~~~~~ WHOOO!!!

;___________; Char deaths make me sad……………….

HOLY ****!!!!!! There are SOOO many of them!!!!!!!!!!! STUPID GGP!!!!! GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR…….

DON’T STAND THERE!!!!!! RUN GIRL RUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Two badass guys driving to the evil dictator of a bastard…….. KICK HIS ASS PLEASE????????

Missiles………. @______@ I’m scared now………..

OMG HE WORE THE GOGGLES~~~~~~~~~~~ I WANT THEM!!!!!!!!! ;_________;

…………………….SO BEAUTIFUL…………………….

To make up for lack of fangirling and commentary, I’ll leave a few words…….. BISHIE MUST WIN AND LIVE TO THE VERY END or else I’ll be VERY MAD!!!!!!!! >=( Also, Rin must KICK ASS a lot next episode too~~~~~ I LOVE RIN AND I WANT HER TO BEAT THAT CREEP’S HEAD OFF (You know who you are!!!). As for Shoko, she must reunite with her love Rin to end this series OR ELSEEEEEEEEE!!!!!! >_____< I want more Ride Back………… this episode is just SOO unfulfilling…………. ;______; WAHHH I don’t want it to end though………… -______-

I don’t have anymore to say……………. uhhhhhhhhh………. See you all next time, my lovelies~~!!!!

Marissa’s Kawaii Rating: 7/10

Marissa’s Anxiety Rating: 10/10

We are happy together ~ <3

Minnie: Hello everybody! This week, I have more episodes to blog than usual because others are busy with school work again. Plus, Koala gave me permission to blog Shugo Chara so I will do so once I have enough free time on my hands. The new server is being fixed right now so I have to blog here again. That’s okay though because I like this website a lot. I just don’t like all the errors wordpress throws at us from time to time. Anyways, expect a couple of more reviews from me this week, including ToraDora’s last episode! For now, please read on for my Natsume review. I am replacing Katt this week. I hope she is able to tackle the finale!

Last episode, Natsume and Natori meet up once more to tackle another youkai situation. This time, Natsume discovers there are others like him, though they are far more dangerous than he imagine them to be. This episode, our heroine Taki will return with a new, young male character! Let’s see how this episode unfolds shall we?

“You want to protect him? You’re so kind.” -Taki

“That’s the first time someone’s ever said they had to protect me.” -Natsume

My Lovely Quote

Yup, I am using a Taki quote for my Natsume review! Not only do I love Taki as a female character, I also believe that this quote summarizes this episode quite well. Kai is a boy that is being chased by something or someone. Natsume feels for the boy and wants to protect him, which like Taki said, is a very nice thing to do, though we all expect it from Natsume right? Natsume is one of the few nice characters that is so genuine that I can’t dislike him for being nice. The irony is of course, Kai wants to protect Natsume too! I really like that quote too because this relationship between Natsume and Kai is precious to both of them. Let’s not forget Nyanko-sensei and Taki as part of this “loving family”. ^^

“You put me in that box, didn’t you?” -Kai

“This is seriously disturbing…” Tanuma/Sasami

My Quick Summary

If there’s one thing Natsume can’t do, it is say no to his two friends as they drag him to an abandon house to meet up with Sasami. Since they know she likes him, they leave those two alone in the house together. Sasami is really happy at this until Taki shows up and ruins it for her. I love Taki. Right after Nyanko-sensei appears and warns Natsume to leave, Natsume hears the cries of a boy for help. Apparently, he is stuck in a coffin so Natsume frees him and the boy flees without a thank you. The girls walk in and ask Natsume what’s up. Natsume lies and says nothing. That’s the end of that until Natsume picks up the boy’s name tag.

“I think I took more damage from that than the last huge youkai I fought.” -Natsume

“To be honest, I feel like I’m a magnet for trouble. I used to blame it all on the youkai, but now…” -Natsume

Even though Natsume is nice enough to want to return the name tag to the boy, his friends call Natsume a lot of names and throw things at him. Natsume runs off and rests in his room, a bit hurt by the attack. Still, Natsume is firm in returning the name tag to the boy so he gives it to Nyanko-sensei to deliver in exchange for 200 yen. Later that day, Natsume runs into trouble once again when he meets up with Tanuma and catches a youkai with a weapon. The youkai successfully injures Natsume before Taki appears and tells them to leave the area since it’s dangerous. This area lures youkais according to her. Soon enough, the three notice that the boy name Kai is following them. Natsume and the boy make up and they become friends, along with Taki.

“I made a kid cry… How can I prove that I’m worried about him? It’d be easier if he were a youkai…” -Natsume

“Taki can’t see him, but… You can, right?” -Natsume

After Nyanko-sensei returns the name tag and Kai gets to know Natsume and Taki better, they become playmates. Every day, they would walk home together and play. One day, Taki teaches Kai how to make crowns out of flowers. The cute boy makes one for Natsume. However on that same day, the three of them are attacked by that youkai with the weapon on the way home. Kai and Natsume can see it but Taki can’t. The three split up with Taki by herself. When the youkai tries to attack them, Natsume pushes Kai out of the way and is nearly sliced up when Madara come out of nowhere and bites the youkai, sucking its energy. It turns out that Taki is the one who told Madara to come and save Natsume.

Everything isn’t over yet because Natsume catches a suspicious person watching them. Sure that this is the person who tried to lock up Kai, Natsume runs after the suspect, who turns out to be none other than Natori! Back so soon Natori? Anyways, Natori is hunting youkais again and his latest hunt is none other than Kai! Natori tries to seal Kai in the box! In other words, Kai is a… youkai? What is going on here?!

“You dunce! I’d be overjoyed if you were eaten and I got the Book of Friends, but I’m not sure I like the idea of something of mine being hurt by that runt over there! Not sure at all! Do you understand the degree of ambiguity I’m getting at here?!” -Nyanko-sensei

“You’d nag me if I ate him. Besides, I’m a picky eater. I took a good amount of his spiritual power, so he won’t follow you anymore.” -Madara

My Minnie Ramblings

First of all, I want to apologize for the lousy graphics in my screenshots. I watch my anime stream you see and well, this episode especially has bad graphics for stream videos. I look all over the place to fix this but oh well, I hope everyone forgives me for this! It’s the words in this blog that counts more right?

Anyways, I must admit this episode is not the best for me even though we get to see the majority of the cast from Taki to Natori again. Oh, Tanuma and Sasami too! I’m glad to see everyone in one episode. Other than that, the youkai aspect of this episode is on the weak side. It’s not as emotional as a couple of other youkai-centric episodes. However, despite this, it brings a lot of questions in regards to the finale: Will Natsume choose youkais, humans, or neither like Reiko? Natsume is starting to get along with youkais, even comparing them to humans this episode. On the other hand, there are a lot of humans close to Natsume too, as seen in this episode. Is it impossible for him to be with both?

From the last few minutes of this episode, my mind scream out “FINAL BOSS” when Natori reveals Kai to be a youkai in disguise. What to do… I actually like the kid. Maybe this is why I can’t wait for a Natsume episode! I have a feeling that the ending will be open one like season 1, making a season 3 possible. I hate it when an anime has more than two seasons though since it usually goes downhill from there. Still, Natsume Yuujinchou is one of my favorite anime of all time and I will be sad to see it end. I want more~ I can’t wait for the finale. Please surprise me!

Minnie’s Overall Rating for Episode: 8/10

Minnie’s Anticipation for Next Episode: 10/10

Because I love this picture, I have to put it somewhere:

The moment of truth... Kanako's brother?!

Steve: I’m not sure whether Angel will be back in time for the last episode of Maria Holic but since we haven’t heard from her much, I will take over this episode since I love it so much. This episode is full of classic Maria Holic humor. Please enjoy my take on it.

I am almost certain a male character will show up and he will be voiced by the incredible Hiroshi Kamiya since I’ve been making jokes about Nozomu appearing out of nowhere and joining the rest of his Sayonara Sensei cast of seiyuus in Maria Holic. Unfortunately, SHAFT thought it was too predictable and sent Tomokazu Sugita to voice as Father Kanae instead. What a disappointment. I must credit Sugita for doing a great job. He really is a fine seiyuu. I’m just too bitter about Kamiya not taking on the part to make this anime complete…

The many sides of Father Kanae:

Side #1: Hopelessly in love Kanae.

In this episode, Kanae has shown his infatuation many sides, especially when he thinks about Mariya.

Side #2: Frighteningly help Kanae.

This episode reveals that Kanae did poorly in his class and therefore, he tries really hard to help her succeed, even to go as far as to ask if she has any worries outside of school.

Side #3: Dramatic and shocked Kanae.

Kanae is also very dramatic and gets shocked by the easiest things. For example, at the mention of an unknown disease, he panics and tries to figure out what it is.

Side #4: Annoyed and angry Kanae.

Accused of having lecherous thoughts, Kanae becomes extremely angry even though he indeed does have thoughts that are considered sinful.

Side #5: Flashy gentleman Kanae.

At times, Kanae can become quite flashy. He has a perfect smile and nice hair and Shaft exposes this well.

Side #6: Gullible and nice Kanae.

Poor Kanae. He is no match for the manipulative Dorm Mistress aka God. She tricks him into buy her a plasma TV and a DVD player in order to allow him entrance to Kanako/Mariya’s room.

Side #7: Kanae in complete disbelief.

There are times when Kanae cannot say or think anything to what he just heard. Instead, he falls into this endless black hole. That’s awesome.

The Conclusion of Truth

Conclusion

In this blog entry, we are able to examine the many sides of Father Kanae. Like all the Maria Holic characters, Kanae is a very quirky character and thanks to Shaft’s methods of overdramatizing events, Kanae’s personality and quirks are blown out of porportion. They are so extreme that I find it hilarious. I love the jokes in this episode. I especially love how Mariya and God manipulate the entire situation in their favor, making Kanako feel more hopeless than usual. I am sad that Father Kanae is introduced so late in the series. I would have loved to see more of him earlier on. What a waste. Anyways, Steve out until next time.

Steve’s Overall Rating Meter: 9/10

Steve’s Addiction Fix: 9/10