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Kanon 12: 9.5/10

One of, if not the, best episodes thus far. Screentime for Nayuki, Ayu, Shiori, Kaori, some fugly ichinensei and of course Mai <3. And as if that wasn't enough, there was the beautifully animated waltz (which was actually a waltz in the truest sense, gotta love KyoAni). I still prefer Live Alive better, but that's probably because of the state of shock I was in whereas the dance was a long time coming. I still miss Makoto.

Code Geass 10: 8.5/10

Truthfully, I never really appreciated/liked mecha, it’s always been my downfall as an anime fan. However, among the slew of relatively crap mecha shows, once in a while a diamond in the rough will appear, last time it was the FMP series and this time it’s Code Geass. The reason why these two rise above all other mecha shows I’ve watched is because of the battle tactics. It’s not simply two overpowered mechs going head to head, it’s armies of them being strategically placed to set up ambushes, flanks and feints. Geass goes as far to compare the battles to an intricate game of chess, that’s mecha at its finest. Much more entertaining than watching a Gundam rip through 50 lesser models. (Gundam fans, please don’t hurt me. Better yet, correct me if I’m wrong, I’ve only watched a couple episodes.)

Episode 10 of Geass was the best since the Shinjuku Ghetto raid. Lelouch is a master tactician, using the elements against his opponents and backing them into a corner predicting their every move. Though, one complaint I do have about the series is that Lelouch has become obsessed with his conquest to crush Britannia. The Black Knights has completely engulfed his life as he now completely ignores his school life and his pseudo-harem. As a contrast, Sagara, despite being a military otaku, had a life outside the Arbalest.

Gift ~eternal rainbow~ 12 [END]: 7.5/10

A very anti-climactic ending, the sheer amount of angst built up in the previous episodes fell apart in the ending. I was expecting Kirino to go Kaede-level psycho and offer her body to Haruhiko or something, anything to capitalize on the build up, instead we got a rather predictable and generic harem ending. But I still crown Gift as this season’s best original harem/romance drama. It wasn’t anything truly innovative in terms of story or animation, but it was the standard triangle romance plot done exceptionally well. This is what I was expecting heading into DCSS, but instead got Aisia, orz. Kudos to Haruhiko for sticking with Riko for the entire series, sis-cons everywhere rejoice! Kirino can go die.

Negima!? 9: 8/10

Negima continues to confuse the hell out of me. With the series being comprised of seemingly random non-linking events and no discernible overlying plot I’m left wondering where Shaft is going with this. I never finished watching Pani Poni Dash so I don’t know what to expect in terms of an ending, or if there will even be one. In any case, Negima!? still looks amazing and manages to get me laughing out loud once in a while, at the very least it’s an entertaining waste of 20 minutes of life.

That’s all for this week! Due to the lack of subs I don’t have any material to make fun of Happiness and YoakeYori, nor can I continue praise Death Note. Stupid recap episodes. Oh well, off to watch Ouverture.

Merry Christmas Eve!
~ Shirukii ~