Nanaka practices a special dance for the upcoming Sakura festival. Because she’s busy practicing, she has to turn down an invitation to go out with Sana and the others. She feels like she has to do this for her uncle. Later, Sana goes shopping with Asami at a pet store. While she doesn’t own a cat, she’s buying a collar for one at a nursing home where she volunteers. She invites Sana to come with her, who agrees. The two are spotted by Nanaka, who immediately becomes jealous. She decides that she can come with them too, instead of practicing. They all go there one day, and find that Syuri is working there too. While there, Sana plays fighting games with one of the residents and Nanaka investigates the disappearance of a pet bird. She also asks about another resident, Kaiji, who she learns has been sick lately. Apparently, she’s been acting strangely since the death of her grandchild. When they visit her, she mistakes Nanaka for her grandchild, Makoto. After calming down, she asks for Nanaka to play the violin for her, but Nanaka gets a strange flashback and apologizes because she’s unable to right now. Eventually, it’s time for the festival. While there, Sana wins a plushie of the yeti that Hinako likes. He plans to give it to Nanaka, but Hinako sees it first and wants it, so she gets it instead. This makes Nanaka jealous. Soon, everyone watches Nanaka perform her dance. Afterwards, Sana goes to talk to her, and comments about how pretty she looked. While they talk, something runs by, scaring Nanaka. She clings onto Sana. They soon realize that it was just a raccoon and become embarrassed. Their time together is cut short when Hinako finds them. Later, Kaiji is seen again looking creepy.

Interesting, though I have no idea what that last scene was supposed to be about. Nanaka seems to have some kind of mysterious past too. I wonder if the flames she saw have anything to do with Sana and the knife thing. Anyway, I hope this is explained eventually. Regardless of what it was supposed to mean, I doubt she’s really Kaiji’s granddaughter. She’s not dead and they have different names. Maybe they were just trying to do a freaky thing for Halloween. Next week they seem to be doing another Hinako episode, which seems a bit out of place. Since she’s not even a part of Sana’s harem, it would make sense for them to keep focusing on Nanaka and Asami. Although, it’s possible that Hinako could switch over. She did manage to get Nanaka jealous this week. Did she even realize she was getting jealous over a ten-year-old? It’d be quite an interesting plot twist though if Sana actually did pick Hinako on the end. I don’t think the series is going to take that wild a twist though. Still, I’m kinda hoping that they’ll pull something surprising in the future. Maybe that’ll happen when Sana’s (and/or Nanaka’s) past comes out.

Akane and Anzu convince Koko to ask Yoshiyuki on a date, and she gets tickets to go see a movie with him. They’re allowed to skip band practice, so they go out. Suring a romantic scene, Yoshiyuki tries to put his hand on Koko’s but becomes too embarrassed and moves it away. Later, they go out to eat, and are spied on by Anzu, Akane, Nanaka, and Wataru. Eventually, the spies make too much noise and are noticed. They try to apologize, but Yoshiyuki runs away with Koko. He realizes afterwards that he had been holding her hand the whole time they were running. Looking around, he notices that other couples are holding hands, and decides that from this point, they’ll start their real date. The two then spend the day going to various stores. Later, Koko buys and ice cream, and lets Yoshiyuki have a lick, which he thinks might be an indirect kiss. She leaves the ice cream with him to go help a little boy who lost his mother. While she consoles him, his mother shows up. Yoshiyuki is impressed at Koko’s abilities to act motherly. When the two walk back home, Yoshiyuki finally gets the courage to hold Koko’s hand again. A cat runs by, causing a dog to bark and scaring Koko, who clings onto Yoshiyuki’s arm. He lets her stay that way. At school the next day, Anzu and Akane apologize to Koko again. She says it’s fine, because the day was like a dream come true to her. However, then they proceed to tease her over whether they’ve kissed yet.

At this point, I don’t think I’ll be surprised anymore if Koko wins. She and Yoshiyuki are getting much more comfortable together, so I can’t even use the excuse that they’re far too nervous around each other anymore. Now that they’ve gone on an official date and have started holding hands, they’ll probably only get closer. They haven’t had any real kisses yet (because the ice cream doesn’t count) so maybe that will happen soon. Still, if they do stay this perfect couple until the end, how is that going to be interesting? If they are going to be the final pairing, they should at least run into some kind of drama or relationship trouble. I don’t want to see them continuing to get close since the series isn’t even halfway done yet. One of the other girls should at least try as well. Even if they can’t split up Yoshiyuki and Koko for good, it’ll at least give them something to do. They almost seem purposeless. Even Anzu and Akane get to do more than Yume and Otome, and they’re mostly comic relief characters. I still find this to be an enjoyable show, but it’s absolutely nothing like I expected it to be.

I’ve been lazy/Stressed/etc., but I must try and catch up with anime. Wouldn’t want to fall too far behind.

ef- a tale of memories 03
I’m trying to figure out exactly why I’m still following this show. Despite the good things it has going for it (some really fascinating characters and an interesting story) it also bothers me somewhat. Normally, it takes both of the above qualities to sell me on a show (especially the first) but there’s something here that’s still missing. I’m not even sure if I can blame it on the bizarre directing. While I still find that weird, I’m getting much more used to it. I think at least part of the problem is that the show just feels so loosely assembled. It’s almost like what I’d expect from a slice-of-life anime, that doesn’t need much to connect things together. However, this isn’t as much a slice-of-life series as it is a drama/confusing weird things type. I’m starting to understand how the various sub-stories are intertwined, but unless they tie themselves up a bit more soon, it seems more like I’m watching three different mini-shows in one, that keep jumping from show to show without warning. Studying it closer, I’m thinking the main connections between stories will probably rely on Yuuko (whoever/whatever the heck she is) and the twins. Anyway, about this actual episode, there were some interesting things. I was right about Chihiro writing to remember things. She seems to have such a terrible life, that I can’t help but wish she’ll find some way to be cured of her memory problem. Mizuki’s presence throws yet another character into the mess. I have no idea if she’ll be recurring though. Since she’s Kei’s friend, and already had some significance, I’d say she has her chances.

Bamboo Blade 04
MiyaMiya pretty much makes this show, just because of her crazy side. Apparently, now she’s sadistic too, seeing how she enjoyed hitting Kirino repetitively. There’s just a surprising amount of fun things in this show, that I wouldn’t have expected when I first learned of the concept. This week, basically, Sayako rejoined the kendo club (and was immediately labeled as “blue,” despite having no idea why) and MiyaMiya had to hide her identity from her, because of the past incident between them. When she finally did decide to apologize, it was funny to see just how terrified Sayako was to be confronted by Miyamiya again. Speaking of her, I hope we still get to see more of her black side in the future. The pink, sparkly MiyaMiya is cute, as is her relationship with Dan, which seems to bring it out, but I like the psychotic one better. I wonder when the last girl is going to be introduced. I figured they’d get to it next, but she wasn’t on the preview. I see this is going to be 26 episodes, so they still have time. I’m just trying to figure out what route this series will take in the future, having so many episodes to work with. I’d prefer it if they kept it fun and cute for as long as possible, and not made it all fighting. If they do, at least put MiyaMiya in action often, so I can see her smash at people again.

Da Capo II 04
How on earth is Koko still winning?! That makes no sense. No matter what, they keep getting closer. They may be doing so at a very slow pace, but it’s way more than I ever expected. And I’ve got nothing wrong with Koko, really, but the other girls could at least try. Nanaka may have some interest in Yoshiyuki, but I doubt they’ll even get together temporarily now, at the rate this is going. I’m guessing that either it’ll be Koko all the way, or half way through, he’ll switch to Yume, the only other girl who might be interested in him at all. But anyway, on the topic of this episode, it was quite entertaining. Suginami and Anzu in particular did some interesting things for the sake of creating fanservice. I also liked how in that one borrowing relay that every paper Minatsu took said “banana” on it. Poor robot. ^_^; Yume’s borrowing of Yoshiyuki’s pants was also quite strange. So basically, I guess that was just a near-pointless fanservice episode. At least it was fun.

Myself;Yourself 04
It’s like Kodomo no Jikan, only not as controversial. Okay, not really, but it did contain a loli hitting on an older guy. Syusuke helps a 10-year-old girl named Hinako, who falls in love with him and starts to become his stalker. For whatever reason, she seemed like she could be annoying from the preview, but I actually like her a lot. She’s cute. Also, I don’t think I realized just how young she was. Regardless of age, she doesn’t have a chance with Syusuke, because she fails at having what he most wants in a woman, big breasts and the ability to cook. Of course, she’s still young, so she could improve on these things in the future. She uses Aoi as a coach to help her (who happens to possess both these assets) but still can’t change herself. Anyway, I have to root for her now (unless of course, she’s moved on to Sana). I’m actually not sure how old Syusuke is, but since he’s still in school, the age difference can’t be that bad. Or, maybe it is, but I’ve seen worse. It doesn’t look good for Hinako though. I’m starting to think Syusuke has a thing for Syuri. O.o

Edit: Fixed post, and somehow it’s even shorter.

I knew I just needed to be patient, and interesting things would start to happen. The fate of one of the few characters I actually like is in question already, I guess. By that I mean the guy with the scar, whose name escapes me. They didn’t show a body or anything, but his mobile suit did end up rather torn up. For now, I’ll say that he’s probably alive, but just badly hurt. The most interesting thing though was the revelation at the end that Saji and Setsuna are neighbors. This just creates a lot of potential, and I hope they use it well. While it’s pretty apparent that Saji doesn’t know anything about Setsuna’s identity, I could see him getting involved with the Gundam pilots some time in the future. Maybe he won’t become a pilot himself, but in any case, it’ll at least complicate his relationship with Louise. They seem to already be having difficulties though, and I can’t see it lasting. I want more drama, please.

After an average day at school (for her standards anyway) Amu is confronted by Nadeshiko. She knows about Amu’s feelings for Tadase and thinks she should do something about it. Eventually, she convinces her to make him a cake. Nadeshiko helps for a while, but then has to go out. Amu isn’t sure if she can finish alone, but is being helped by an unforeseen force. She finds that Ikuto is sitting at the window and he attempts to steal the green egg. When Amu tries to stop him, she ends up pinned to the floor, staring up at him. However, Nadeshiko comes back to save her. She does a chara change, though in her case, it doesn’t affect her physical appearance, and starts to lash out on Ikuto. During the fight, the crust she’d baked so far falls from the table. She’s distracted though when she sees the green egg hatch. The guardian character who emerges introduces herself as Su. After some chaos, they find that the crust has broken, and Ikuto leaves. Fortunately, Su helps Amu quickly make some cookies, who writes Tadase a letter to go with them. Once it’s done, they wrap it up and tie it with a green ribbon, but Amu decides it’s too embarrassing to give to Tadase, so she makes another package. This one, she puts a red ribbon on. The next day, when it’s time for her to give him the package, Su brings over the other, because she liked the green ribbon better. When Amu learns that they accidentally gave him the wrong package, she and her guardian characters have to infiltrate his house to switch it. In his room, they’re stopped by someone, who happens to be Kiseki, Tadase’s guardian character. Amu starts to play with him (and choke him in the process) and by that time, Tadase finds them. Amu talks with Tadase, who convinces her to become a guardian. However, Amu makes the mistake of accidentally calling him “prince,” which somehow activates his chara change and makes him go insane. Once he’s back to normal, the other guardians have all arrived, and she also gives him the proper bag of cookies. Yaya wants some too, so he decides to share. At the next school assembly, Amu is announced as the newest guardian, but much to her dismay, she’s the joker.

I like the fact that while the plot of this episode was quite a bit cliché, it still managed to turn out well. I’m not sure how many times I’ve seen cases of a character accidentally giving someone they have a crush on something embarrassing, due to the packaging looking the same. It’s not even a plot line I normally like. I guess there was just a lot of other fun things going on. First off, Tadase’s chara change is freaky. He’s totally maniacal and psychotic. It’s an interesting side of his personality, considering how refined and gentlemanly he seems to normally be. Nadeshiko’s was pretty crazy too, though in her case, she was trying to stop Ikuto, so I guess I didn’t think as much of it. Also, that one scene with Ikuto and Amu was quite amusing. Right when I first saw him, I thought they were going to try and pair him up with Amu somehow (because mahou shoujo always have to go for the dark bishounen.) Actually, I don’t know if they’ll really end up together, but there was definitely a lot of blushing going on in that scene. It was rather cute. I’m totally a sucker for romantic drama, so it would rule if there was a big Tadase/Amu/Ikuto love triangle going on in the future. (Or maybe, a love square with Nadeshiko, or that yet-to-be introduced blonde girl?) Oh, and now we have all three guardians. Su is a bit on the annoying side, but not too bad. I remember the little fairies in PC/PCSS were all annoying at first, and they grew on me, so I don’t care too much.

The students are given an assignment to write about their dreams for the future, and most are very unenthusiastic. Kuro, however, knows that she wants to be with Rin. Rin’s dream is to be Daisuke’s wife, and she announces this in class. Later, Kuro expresses her unhappiness about what Rin is doing, but she says that it’s alright to tease someone she loves. The reason she doesn’t tease Kuro too is because the love of friends is different. Of course, hearing that she’s only a friend does not make Kuro happy. Later, Daisuke reads the assignments from his students, seeing the crazy things Rin, Kuro and Mimi wrote. He’s greeted with plenty of stress the next day in school, such as the fact that most of his students are doing poorly. There’s also the fact that Rin continues teasing him. She talks to him after school, trying to convince him to reward her if she does better on her tests in the future. Rin continues trying to help Daisuke, by getting the class to pay attention. Rin also gets a perfect grade on her next test, and so Daisuke decides to reward her now by carrying her home. To do this, he also turns down an offer to have dinner with Kyoko. On the way home, Rin manages to convince Daisuke to admit that he likes her. She tells Reiji about this later on. Meanwhile, Kyoko attempts to deal with rejection by getting drunk.

This show makes me wonder if third graders are really this troublesome. It’s been a while since I was that young, but I don’t think they were as bratty or dispassionate as most of Rins’ class. I know Rin, Kuro and Mimi are somewhat extreme, but in the case of the various unnamed students, they too seem fairly bratty. Who knows? I love overanalyzing. This was quite an interesting episode, especially towards the end. I seriously doubt that when Daisuke said he liked Rin, he meant it in a romantic way. It’s be too weird. If they ever do become a couple, then I think I’ll be able to see why everyone makes such a big deal over this title. Either way though, it’s still just entertainment. It’s not meant to be taken seriously or anything. Some people just can’t separate cartoons from reality, I think. Proof that this is meant to be silly entertainment can be further shown with Kuro this week. Her crush on Rin is cute I suppose, but some of her actions and fantasies are pretty over the top, especially counting in the OAV. Hopefully, Mimi gets some development soon, because she was my favorite in the OAV. She hasn’t really done much in the anime yet.

Button is so cute! He’s not as awesome as Potato, but I officially love the way Key designs animals. They’re just like little balls of pure fluff. *dies*

In other news, Kyou is attempting to compete with Tomoyo for who can do more awesome moves, and Fuko is gaining major favoritism points from me. Maybe it’s just because she’s so weird. I hope they get into some of the girl’s individual arcs soon, even though mostly crack episodes like this are fun, just so that she and everyone else can start making some sense. I think it took them until about the 4th or 5th episode in Kanon though, so I’ll be patient through what looked like more crack on the preview. Clannad is still an enteraining show.

This short post bought to you by one who has been very lazy this week. >_<

In order to help Sana and Nanaka, Syusuke and Syuri come up with the idea of going on a trip to a spa. Later, at school, Sana accidentally breaks Nanaka’s mirror, but surprisingly, she isn’t angry, saying that it wasn’t expensive. Nanaka later sees Sana shopping, but notices that Asami is with him too. It turns out that he was buying her a new mirror. Nanaka looks at it later and reminisces about her childhood. Soon, it’s time to live for the trip, but to everyone’s surprise, Sana wants to invite Asami too. On the bus, Syuri notices that Asami has the same mirror as Nanaka. She says that Sana bought it for her while they were shopping. Unfortunately, Nanaka sees it too. They stop for a while and go fishing, and despite Syusuke’s boasting, he catches nothing. Aoi ends up catching her dress and Sana manages to get one fish. While Aoi and Asami prepare dinner, Sana sees a bloody knife and seems traumatized by it. While he goes away for a while, he notices a pink rock in the water and takes it. Syuri calls him back for the barbeque. Afterwards, it’s time for dessert, and Nanaka goes to get the cookies she made, but Asami reveals her cake first. At the spa, after everyone’s changed into bathing suits, they enjoy the water. Once it’s time to go, they part ways, leaving Sana, Nanaka and Aoi alone. Sana and Aoi remember the time when Nanaka made them cookies. She says that she made them again. When Sana gets to taste them, he comments that they’re delicious, just like in the past, and he and Aoi devour them all. Then, Sana gives Nanaka the rock, making her very happy.

That was really sweet. Now I think I’m actually kinda glad that Nanaka isn’t mad at Sana anymore. It was even kinda painful to see that the mirror he bought for Nanaka wasn’t a gift just for her, and that he gave Asami the same. I’m glad he gave her the rock at the end. I felt bad for Nanaka throughout a lot of this episode, especially when Asami also beat her to giving the dessert. Aside from the love drama, another interesting thing came up here, with Sana and the knife. His fear of blood is probably going to be important later. Exactly what it means I don’t know, but I’m guessing it has something to do with why he left. Besides the serious stuff, there was also a lot of fun things this episode. Aoi’s fishing was rather amusing, as was her reaction to the water slide. Also, Syuri finally did something other than exist. She seems to be very concerned about letting Sana and Nanaka become close again, and she also seemed to be concerned for Sana when she saw that he had went off by himself. I wonder if she knows about his trauma, or if it was just the fact that he left that made her worry. Next week, the last girl is being introduced (who, Like Aoi, probably won’t be competition, since she’s not on the ED.)

Uh… MiyaMiya is actually a revenge seeking yandere? Awesome!!!

Also, everyone is given colors to make up a sentai team. Of coruse, Tamaki is red, so she’s the leader. She’s quite happy about that. Kirino and Danjurou are both yellow. Miyako is pink. Apparently, being yellow is a bad thing. Hmm… I don’t know much about these teams except that red always leads. The next girl, Sayako, also made an appearance and seems to have some issues of her own. At least, enough to yell hateful things at paper and slash it up, while angsting about having no talent, before running away from home. Her encounter with MiyaMiya at the end was interesting to say the least.

Yoshiyuki attempts to explain to Otome the situation with Minatsu. Yume seems to be jealous. When he goes to speak with Koko about it, she believes him, and they make up. Yoshiyuki is even able to hold her hand. Later, the school idol Nanaka, who turns down every guy who tries to confess to her, helps Yoshiyuki buy the bread he wants when there’s a huge crowd. She also adresses him by his name. He becomes the envy of every boy in school. It turns out that Nanaka is also a good friend of Koko’s, and so Koko will be helping with Nanaka’s band. To surprise Yoshiyuki even further, Nanaka also requests that he address her by her first name. Eventually, they convince Yoshiyuki to help with the band, and it turns out he’s an excellent guitarist. He spends a lot of time practicing with them. One day, Yoshiyuki has Koko over. It turns out to be very awkward, and Yoshiyuki eventually trips and falls on top of Koko. Fortunately, they recover from this before Otome checks in on them again. Yume is out at the time, and sees Minatsu looking at school uniforms. She comes back in time for dinner, bringing Minatsu with her. Minatsu is enjoying the food, until she learns it was made with bananas. Later that evening, Yoshiyuki and Koko go on a walk, and discuss the band. Koko is very happy that Yohiyuki is involved now.

Koko and Yoshiyuki still manage to remain a couple, but the competition is building. Nanaka definitely seems to have a thing for Yoshiyuki too. She probably rejects the multitude of guys who ask her out for a reason. There’s also the fact that she knew his name without him telling her, went out of her way to help him, and wanted them to be on a first name basis. Regardless of all of that, she still probably won’t win either. Now I’m trying to figure out what will eventually motivate Yoshiyuki to break up with Koko. They are very close now, and they seem to be getting more comfortable with each other (though they were still embarrassed for most of the time Koko was over his house.) I could definitely see Yume having something to do with the break-up. Her feelings for Yoshiyuki are rather apparent, with her constant jealousy. Otome, on the other hand, really hasn’t shown anything at all. Unless some development happens soon, I’d be rather surprised if she’s the chosen one in the end. About this actual episode, it was pretty entertaining. Yume’s engrish was awesome. For a minute I was freaked out, because it sounded really accurate. Minatsu is also becoming a fun character. I liked her reaction during the dinner to eating bananas. The only thing about her that bothers me is her voice. It’s weird. Otome’s voice doesn’t bother me anymore though, so there’s hope.