We have reached half time and I'll see about doing the Midway Review somewhere this week (provided my PC doesn't suffocate before that ^_^). Until then, let's see about this week's episode. They had some downs but also a few surprising ups. At this rate, I would say Euphonium may have permanently stolen the top spot from Plastic Memories which just doesn't seem to know its own strengths and continues to squander potential repeatedly. On the other hand, I actually liked this week's Rinne... and even more surprisingly Pleiades finally felt like a magical girl show!
Note: Since Danjon ni Deai o Motomeru no wa Machigatteiru Darou ka according to Wikipedia is shortened into DanMachi which is far easier to handle and doesn't eat so much screen space, I will be referring to the anime as DanMachi from now on.
DanMachi: This episode really hit all the emotional and atmospheric buttons exactly right. The finish, overlaid with the music might have been the best part of the series so far. Dungeon Girls remains high up in my personal ranking and may have just made a big step forward. But can it keep that quality I wonder?
Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha Vivid: Well, I guess for all my fears there wasn't much to complain about the execution of the magic battle. I don't really have much to say here, only that I think the adaption has been done well enough.
Plastic Memories: ... I really don't know anymore what to make of this. At its best, Plastic Memories is still my highest regarded anime of the season, at worst... Well, at worst it isn't bad per se but it hurts, really hurts what could be so much better if it consistently stuck to its strong parts. The random sitcom parts are not just rather... low, they are also increasingly unnecessary. They simply have no place in this setting. In this episode the attempt of humor distracted severely from what should have been a coping episode full of dark/angsty/tragic mood after the fallout of last week. But no, we spend an increasing amount of time watching the mechanic dragging Isla around to "observe" Tsukasa... instead of, I dunno... Just asking him? PM remains solidly good but these parts unfortunately bog it down continuously before it can reach a top rating. Kind of makes me mad.
Highschool DxD BorN: A somewhat slow episode. We finally get some new direction of what will happen next.
Show by Rock!!: Nice. It was light enough to not get overdramatic but also resolved the buildup emotional tension from the revelation of Cyan's origin in a tasteful manner. I continue to be surprised how much I am growing to like this after my initial reaction of almost throwing it away after the first week.
Sound Euphonium: Despite being a character-centric episode, once again almost everything hit just right here. With Plastic Memories hiccups, Euphonium has pretty much secured first place this season so far because it simple does not squander its potential, knows its strengths and can even do other things than the main themes well enough. Looks like KyoAnime is going for another memorable Slice of Life one after K-On! and Amagi Brilliant Park (which I recently watched).
Kyoukai no Rinne: I think this series is finally coming together, for me at least. I still have a lot of issues with Sakura's personality but I liked how this episode played out for the most part. The cast isn't exactly appealing but the handling of the story in each episode is getting better.
Mikagura School Suite: So, the third "main" character from the opening and ending showed up. The biggest problem this episode had was trying to cram too much events into one episode. The character background for the painter plus the entirety of the remaining rookie battles. It's clear by now, this series just wants to have fun instead of diving into dark and angsty bits. Thus the potential antagonist of last week turned out to be a hoax after all and fell quickly without even getting to face Eruna who then went to face and defeat Tonkyun who defeated her... And then lost in the next match – which was simply mentioned – before missing out on the final which was won by our third "main"... Yeah. This whole thing felt a tad rushed and more like something that should have been handled in two instead of one episode. While I can live with the tournament not turning out THAT important, I took some issues with the way Eruna's loss was treated like no big deal and mentioned more like a side note. Still, this series continues to be fun and if it continues to do so, I am all for forgiving minor hiccups like this.
Hougako no Pleiades: I was thoroughly surprised. After a couple of decent character episodes, this one shifted into high "gear" (I couldn't resist ^_^) and actually FELT like a magical girl show should at a midway point season climax. It's still a rather... weak plot but for the first time since its run, this week's episode actually had me fully focused and engaged with what was happening instead of trying to puzzle out just what exactly the producers were trying to do and finding it altogether too dull. That it took half its run to get me this far and came almost out of nowhere (-> bad pacing!) pretty much shows how much of a letdown Pleiades still is. However, this week was promising. It stands to wonder if it can keep up. Of course, if it can't do so now after making such a big leap, Pleiades' engine might really fall apart.
And now for the actual continuing stuff/real episode comments.
Assassination Classroom: Well, that was a resounding victory. It WAS nice to see that not the primary characters, but mostly the ones who had little screen time brought home the victory. But yes, it was a pathetic defeat for one who seemed to shaping up as a good antagonist for Class E.
Go Princess Precure: Heh, not quite what I expected to go along with the human forms. So, they were just for their training, huh? Personally I think it is rather weak that it took Aroma this long to realize. The truth was pretty much spelled out to him... At least he did get it now and learned from it. Not much more I can say about this one.
Fairy Tail: I think I just about reached where I stopped reading. This episode showed where it is good at... When Natsu goes full power and overboard. ^_^
One Piece: And again with the episode title... Are we always getting episode titles now about scenes that barely take up a fourth (if at all) of the episode? Of course, it was nice to see some Zorro action again. I am still wondering whether we will get even a second screen time for Nami and Brook... I know from my friend this is how it is in the manga too but the anime squanders easily five minutes with previews EACH week. Can't they take one or two minutes out of their time to show them briefly?
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