So I skipped blogging episode 04, partly because I was too lazy at the time, but mostly because an abundance of Aono and a severe lack of Matsuri made it fail beyond all comprehension. Even the presence of Koyori couldn’t save it, so I decided to just skip it. But to sum it up: Koyori is released from the hospital, prompting an onslaught of guilt for leaving Aono alone, and a flashback to when they first met.

Episode Rating: 8.5/10

Fifth episodes must be prime time for flashbacks or something. Claymore and StrikerS started with them, and Sola follows suit. The flashback seems to be from Kyoshiro Zwei, seventeen years in the past he is standing over a dead body in what looks to be a mansion.

Back to the present, it happens to be raining quite hard, with enough cloud cover to block out the sky. With the sun hidden, Matsuri and Yorito are free to go on a date in the rain. Yorito shows Matsuri the best places for viewing the sky at various times of the day and is dragged onto a boat ride where he helps Matsuri imagine floating under the clear blue sky.

Later that day, Yorito goes to visit Aono at the hospital, leaving Matsuri at home, alone. Suddenly, she hears someone sneak into the house. It turns out to be Koyori, who had been sent by Aono to get a sowing kit to patch up one of Yorito’s plushies which had torn. Promising not to tell anyone she was there, Matsuri sees her off.

But the real intruder shows up afterwards, Matsuri is confronted by Kyoshiro Zwei after Koyori leaves. He chases Matsuri around the house, using the light to corner her. But as he’s about to deliver the final blow, he lets his guard down and Matsuri manages to grab him. She uses her accelerated aging tech on his arm to temporarily incapacitate him and run outside.

Sitting helplessly in the sun, Matsuri doesn’t have the energy to fight anymore. Kyoshiro Zwei finds her and attacks, but Yorito jumps in at the last second, scapegoating the attack. He stands his ground in front of Kyoshiro Zwei, refusing to break his promise to show Matsuri the open sky. Conveniently, Mana shows up at this time, forcing Kyoshiro Zwei to retreat for the day.

Thoughts

A much better episode than the last, to say the least. Although I’m still concerned about the pacing, major plot elements haven’t been explained yet, and the action scenes never seem to resolve a thing. There have been two encounters between Kyoshiro Zwei and Matsuri, but in each, neither has the guts to finish the other off and we end up back at square one.

About the only development in plot we saw this week was Kyoshiro Zwei’s brief flashback. Seeing as the plot doesn’t seem to be overly complex, I’ll go ahead and assume that it was one of Matsuri’s kind that killed the girl. I doubt that it was Matsuri herself, seeing as she doesn’t seem like a killer, but it’d be interesting if it were. Though we still don’t know the stories behind loli in a box, Aono, nor the details behind what exactly Matsuri is.

According to the main site, Sola is going to be 15 episodes long, 2 of which will be DVD only specials. Meaning that this will all have to be explained within 8 more episodes. Not to say that it’s impossible, but if they don’t start explaining things soon, this ending is going to suck hard.

Character development is progressing nicely though, which is always a plus. Dorito-kun in particular surprised me by taking that slash for Matsuri. I thought of him as a typical wussy male lead with only soraphaelia distinguishing him from the rest, but he’s proven himself sufficiently manly in this episode by protecting Matsuri and having the determination to see his promise through no matter what.

Although, all things considered, that slash would not have killed Matsuri. It gave Dorito-kun a shallow flesh wound, and he’s human. Unless it was aimed at her jugular vein (assuming she has one) or another vital point, that wasn’t a fatal blow by any means. Kyoshiro Zwei probably wasn’t going for the kill, possibly because Matsuri had an opportunity to kill him just minutes before, and she let it slide. Chivalry lives!

Obligatory “Ponytails turn me on” screenie

Aside from story elements, I’m amazed at how consistent the animation is managing to be. There haven’t been any noticeable drops in quality, which is surprising given the animation quality is above average. They even went as far as changing Matsuri’s hair style and clothes for a scene, a sure sign that they have some budget to blow. So at the very least, Sola won’t pull a YoakeNa on us.

Although…on that note:

Huge stairs are huuuuge

So even though I have no idea where Sola is going with itself, it’s still a worthwhile watch and I can only hope that some serious plot development is to be had in the episodes to come. I’d hate to have to classify Sola as yet another series which wasted infinite potential.

Is this what passes for moe these days?

~ Shirukii ~