Ben Huber

Durarara!! 10

This episode focuses on Mikado and is a refreshing change of pace compared to the previous episodes (not that they were bad or anything, this is just different pacing). We get to see a bit more of the inner monologue Mikado has and the way he thinks on his feet surprisingly well. Beginning with some explanation of the previous episode's event, then segueing into our intrepid trio at school. Mikado and Kida confront a fellow student about being in the Dollars, and later Mikado is confronted by someone from earlier episodes (followed by a hilarious invention by Celty and Izaya). And Izaya rides an invisible motorcyle.

Mikado's personality goes from being "wimpy protagonist" to "awesome protagonist" during this episode, but it hardly feels forced or unnatural. Instead, it's the progression of his understanding of the nature of the Dollars and him piecing the puzzle together we've been exposed to these past couple of episode. In the end, you might think you have a pretty good idea of who Mikado really is, but be prepared for unexpected events, especially as the show ramps up for the next few episodes. Plus Mikado's mouse makes sparks!

And I'm still totally in love with the soundtrack.

 
Katanagatari 03
This episode seemed to have a much more reflective tone than the previous two episodes. Shichika and Togame press onward for the third sword, and reach the Sanzu shrine. There lives the possessor of the third sword, Meisai Tsuruga. She protects many abused and injured women who live at the shrine, and gave each of them one of her thousand swords (however, only one is the original). As can be expected, Shichika and Togame get their sword and move on, but it is particularly interesting the conversations that go on between them and Meisai. While Meisai desires to protect the girls in her shrine, she's also not completely against giving the sword to Togame. She's not evil, in fact, she could be described as generous in some respects, but...

SPOILERS!

...by the end of the episode, she is slain like all the previous "enemies" and Shichika hardly bats an eye. Before, all the sword-owners they would encounter were evil or at least unscrupulous, but here we have someone who simply wants to protect something (granted, she committed many horrible acts before she arrived at the shrine, but by the point we encounter her, she's done her best to atone for said acts). I find it interesting, and am interested in seeing how things progress from here, as I'm sure we'll encounter a sword-owner sooner or later who Shichika definitely doesn't want to kill.


Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood 47

In this episode we get the much awaited reunion between Edward and his father. While Al received his father much easier, Ed is resistant for a bit. However, the action kicks up as Selim heads after Ed, and temporarily possesses Al. The fight that ensues is pretty much shot-for-shot the same as the manga, but it works great. BONES' animation is top notch as well, and if you've been reading the manga, you know we have some awesome scenes coming up. The lead-up for the next episode is also pretty well done, foreshadowing a "sacrifice" that will need to be made. The background music is fine, if a little repetitive (we've heard it so many times through this show, it's kind of getting old). But to be completely honest, most of us watching this are anxious for the upcoming episodes, so this one works perfectly well as a lead-in.

Jon Snyder

So Ra No Wo To 10

As the girls begin installing mechanical spider legs on the Takemikazuchi, Rio is still languishing in a state of depression. When Kanata asks her for Rio's help dealing with an old woman named Jacott, Rio reluctantly accepts.

Jacott lives up in the mountains, where (despite her poor health) she is constructing a second house for her son, who she believes will return to her one day. Kanata and Rio try to convince her to stay in Seize for the winter, since she lacks the supplies to survive the cold. However, Jacott refuses to leave her mountain home until her construction project is complete, so Kanata and Rio decide to bring her firewood and food.

As they shop in Seize, Rio indirectly reveals that she is actually an illegitimate child and the half-sister of the deceased Princess Illiya. Illiya's untimely death two years ago ruined plans to forge a marriage alliance with the enemy Roman Empire (!), which is why the world is once again on the brink of war.

After returning to Jacott's place with the supplies, Kanata and Rio stay the night when snow begins to fall. Jacott tells Rio the story of her life: she fell in love with a young traveler, and eventually bore him a son. Unfortunately, the traveler was already married. He took the child and left, promising to return one day. Since then, Jacott has been patiently awaiting her return. Rio and Jacott then argue about the merits of living such a solitary life for the sake of lost love. After Rio falls asleep, Jacott sees the traveler, exactly as she remembers him, beckoning outside her window. She happily runs out into the snow, never to be seen again.

The next morning, Rio and Kanata mourn the loss of Jacott by playing an Amazing Grace duet, for the whole town to hear. Afterwards, Rio gives Kanata her trumpet, then reveals that she is leaving Seize to try and prevent the upcoming war.

WOW. This episode of So Ra was the best yet... better than even the Filicia-centric episode from three weeks ago. This is likely due to the heavy focus on Rio, who is by far So Ra's most interesting character. The subplot involving Jacott bore striking similarities to Great Expectation's Miss Havisham, and fit in perfectly with Rio's ongoing character development. Kanata also matures quite a bit in this episode, and she graduates from being merely a hapless moeblob into an emotional anchor (not to mention duet partner) for Rio. Overall, So Ra is moving along nicely, demonstrating that it is far more than a simple moe-fest... and I'm constantly refreshing Crunchyroll to see if the next episode is up yet. HURRY UP, DAMMIT!

Dance In The Vampire Bund 09

As of press time, the ninth episode of Bund was not available from either fansubs or FUNimation. Perhaps Shaft is dragging their feet again?

A Certain Scientific Railgun 23

When Uiharu and Kiyama try to see the comatose children, Telestina goes batshit insane and gives Kiyama a blow to the stomach... then rips out some of her hair. Ouch. With Uiharu sobbing her eyes out, Mikoto and company discover that Telestina is actually the granddaughter of the mado scientisto Kihara Gensei, as well as Gensei's first test subject for the 'crystallized esper essence."

Mikoto storms off to confront Telestina by herself, only to fall victim to an improved version of the Capacity Down system. Telestina, clad in a mech exoskeleton, promptly launches into a villainous monologue, laughing maniacally and engaging in typical 'crazy bad guy' facial expressions. She then pulls out her RPG launcher and tries to blow up Mikoto, before finally strangling her until she passes out. Fortunately, Kongou rescues the unconscious Mikoto from MAR.

After a rousing friendship speech delivered by Saten, Mikoto and company (including Kiyama and Antiskill) gear up for the final battle against Telestina...

Hmm, not bad. With a more action-oriented plot and virtually no technobabble, this episode of Railgun was loads of fun. Of course, the villain was pretty cliche, and Saten's friendship speech was groan-worthy... but the action scenes were kick-ass as always, and I certainly enjoyed seeing Mikoto taken down a notch. This episode did a great job of building up momentum towards Railgun's finale; now they just have to finish off with a bang next week.

Oh, and for your enjoyment, I present... Telestina's crazy face.

Karen Gellender

Chu-Bra!! 10

I'm slightly disappointed that this episode wasn't devoted entirely to Komachi and his fabulous Man-Bra, but we can't have everything we want in this world.

Kiyono, otherwise known as "the sexy one", gets the opportunity to do some professional underwear modeling. She's got a bit of an unfair advantage since her mom is the designer, but unfortunately, that's pretty realistic. In any event, Kiyono lies about her cup size before the shoot, and then spends the next week desperately trying to make her breasts larger. This might sound like typically boring fanservice, but Kiyono's complete desperation puts it a notch above- She tries vacuuming her chest, for crying out loud. Her plan naturally backfires as much as possible, with the camera crew discovering that her bra is too loose the very moment her crush shows up on site. I'm actually curious to find out who he is, because I think we should know something about him already, but there are very few male characters on this show who remain unaccounted for.

However, after Nayu basically saves the photo shoot with her amazing underwear powers, the catalog comes out and the star of the Underwear Appreciation Society seems to have risen quite a bit; apparently, having a professional underwear model in the club makes the whole thing seem a lot cooler. Even the guys who've been picking on Komachi have come to their senses and realized that he's actually a super-pimp for getting to hang out with hot underwear models all day (what took them so long?). Naturally, Nayu's old enemies are not happy with this development, so we can expect the Bitches Three to complicate things in the last few episodes.

Also, it looks like Keigo might have to move to Kyoto for a promotion, and the drama club makes their presence known....fuck, there's a lot going on in Chu-Bra!! right now. I'm going to stop here for my sanity, even though there's more.

Hanamaru Kindergarten 09

We're finally introduced to the artist in the opening credits, who is the mangaka behind Hii-chan's favorite Panda Cat. I could tell you about things like "the plot", but honestly, everything in this episode pales in comparison to the Panda Cat dance- about thirty seconds of Anzu, Koume, and a cosplaying Hii-chan dancing and doling out more kawaii-value then you've ever seen. Seriously, it's like weapons-grade kawaii. We get to know a little more about Yamamoto's little sister, who's almost-but-not-quite as oblivious as she is, but who cares really.

In the second half, we get to see a glimpse of what the girls want to be when they grow up. In order of ambition: Hii-chan wants to be an astronaut and discover new life in the universe, Koume wants to be a baker (or perhaps a bride), and Anzu just wants to marry Tsuchi and live the same kind of life as her mother. Interestingly, I think the uber-shy Koume may be the most mature of the three- Hii-chan's ambition is wonderful, but Koume knows herself well enough to know that she's going to be pulled in different directions, something the other two can't conceive of yet. Something has got to happen to Anzu to make her realize that Sakura's way is not the only way, but I have no idea how that might happen.

I was a little bit disappointed by the absence of Hinagiku, who was so entertaining in the previous episode, but I think the creators might actually be doing the right thing by bringing her in sporadically- not knowing when she's going to show up to challenge Anzu adds a much-needed element of unpredictability to this show.

Baka to Test to Shokanju Episode 10

Look, all that matters is that we're getting back to the plot, okay? The necessary three months have elapsed (in both real time and Bakatime), and Class F is ready to declare another ESB, or summoning battle. Episode 10, which involved the group teaming up to open a vault for a variety of Baka reasons, was a filler episode with a couple of funny jokes, but not much more.

Without much else to say about this episode, I have come to the stunning realization that I HATE Himeji's voice. I mean, I'm fine with the character in general, but when she gets emotional, her voice becomes grating to fingernails-on-a-chalkboard level. I'd noticed it before, but only in this episode did it really stand out to me.

Oh, and I wish anime had never gotten a hold of the whole "love letter" concept- I don't want to see another love-letter episode again. I think I'm starting to dislike love-letter episodes even more than swimsuit episodes, because at least swimsuit episodes serve some sort of purpose. Just give him the fucking piece of paper, bitch! Give him the paper and get your dot-matrixed ass out of my face!

Jeff Chuang

Seikon no Qwaser 10

As expected, the second of the two-parter is much less light-hearted. Aoi spills the beans for us, about the usual child experiments similar to what Sasha and Katja went through. And to my surprise, the dinner-time conversation wasn't followed by a bath scene! Aoi and her brother probably edge all the previous Adepts out for being totally bizarre. I have to give it to them for being creative and sneaking yet another variety of mind-controlled betrayal though. 

Perhaps more importantly the story is pushing Mafuyu closer with Sasha in terms of their feelings for each other. In fact for the first time Mafuyu donates her power to Sasha, all the while including some ominous signs about the secret religious symbol that her adopted father tries to keep as secret. There are quite a few surprises this episode beyond that too. But at the same time, all these plot elements are still incredibly over-the-type. Worse of all, the oxygen Qwaser fell without nearly as much resistance as I expected last week. I was hoping for a solid fight scene!

The uncensored episode 9 was most notable for including an entire scene that the censored version removed. It added a lot to the surprise in episode 10, because they were setting you up with that scene. It doesn't change the story at all however. Not that you were watching the censored version anyways, right? One last note: I feel a lot of the censoring done in the past few episodes are probably unnecessary; half the time the characters aren't even naked and the audience couldn't see anything anyways. Maybe they were just giving it up since so much is taken out at the editing table now...