Welcome to another Late Edition of Annotated Anime, the weekly recap that would totally rock a swimsuit episode, if only it weren't banned from all public swimming locations by court order.
Tonight, Bob sees Highschool of the Dead more wet than ever, Sengoku Basara II takes Ben on a flying horse, K-ON!! cuts Brad's bangs off, and Ookami-san kicks back to do some babysitting.
Looking for this week's other recaps? Try checking the Early Edition, and return at (business) week's end for Fighting Friday, the perfect start to any weekend warrior's weekend.
Brad Rice
K-ON!! episode 21
Hair. That's all the episode was about -- the girls trying out new hairstyles as yearbook photo time approached. The big drama was when Yui accidentally cut her bangs off with safety scissors, being the dolt that she is. We get to see some freaky Ui-Yui switching and Mio being cute as per usual.
I was wondering how the show was going to carry itself after the final-episode worthy performance we saw last week, and this does not bode well, in my mind. The show is back to the cutesy, single-event acts that we saw plague last season and part of this one. It'd be nice to see a few more episodes be musically or plot-driven, and end with a bang.
Bob Muir
Highschool of the Dead episode 9
This week's episode was especially great for me for one reason: no Shizuka-sensei AT ALL. It was astounding how relatively normal the cast can seem without a big-boobed nurse bouncing uselessly around doing nothing but squealing.
After getting separated from the others, Takashi and Saeko journey to Saya's mansion. Along the way, they delve into Saeko's tragic past, including the reason why she seems to enjoy fighting so much.
After holing up overnight in a shrine, they awake to find a horde of zombies drawn by...they're not really sure, but they guess it was the sound of the leaves, which is really reaching. Saeko feels she can no longer fight, and here's where it gets stupid. Takashi violently grabs her from behind, tightly squeezing her boob, to give her a pep talk. This gives her enough bloodlust to take out the zombie horde - which turns her on. Not just "Oh I like this it's fun," but it gets her wet.
I cannot possibly think of one more thing to say about this episode after disclosing that information.
[Watch Highschool of the Dead on The Anime Network]
Ben Huber
Sengoku Basara II episode 7
Riding into the Tiger of Kai's territory, Date Masamune is preparing his men for a dramatic encounter. He doesn't realize how dramatic is may be, as Toyotomi's troops that are surrounding Takeda's territory suddenly drop their own flags and replace them with raise up flags with Takeda's symbol on them. Date sees them intercepting and engages them, not knowing their true identity. That is, until Oyakata-sama rides his axe down into the midst of battle and confronts Date head-on. They almost come to an alliance, but Date declares that he'd prefer to do it alone, as usual.
Meanwhile, Yukimura encounters a young man in Kyushu who gives him quite a bit of trouble in trying to find the leader of Satsuma. The wooden sword-wielding Miyamoto Musashi finally leads Yukimura to Shimazu Yoshihiro, who readily accepts the offer for help against Toyotomi. Lastly, just before the credits, we again see Toyotomi and Hanbee scheming and laying out their plans. But Keiji shows up on their doorstep asking to speak to Toyotomi, still heopful for peace I suppose... I got to say, though, Keiji: that outfit is ridiculous.
[Sengoku Basara episodes are available on FUNimation's website]
Josh Tolentino
Ookami-san and Her Seven Companions episode 9
It's the swimsuit episode for this week's Ookami-san. Or would that be the second one, since there was a beauty pageant episode - which also involved swimsuits - back in episode 3?
Well, if it's not the swimsuit episode then, it's a character-building one, this time for Ringo, in a touching story about domestic disturbance and homewrecking, performed by Ringo's mom on the household of one Himeno Shirayuki (a very blunt wordplay on "Snow White"), who is forced to move into an apartment and care for her seven short siblings. Yes, very Snow White, except with divorce rather than attempted murder.
To be frank, this is probably the most dull episode in the series so far, especially in light of the wondrous episode 8. About the funniest things in it are seeing Ringo's mom teach Ringo how to be a manipulative shrew, and Ryouko's dream sequence at the end.
With just three weeks until deadline for the show, it's probably best that J.C. Staff start the ball rolling on that plot-stuff that's been crouching in the corner for a while now, lest we suffer another Demon King Daimao-esque incident of Things Of Great Importance happening without anyone know how they happened or why they should care.
[You can watch new episodes of Ookami-san on Hulu]
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