The jokes in this episode all really hit the right spot! The sequence with the class rep was the best part. After she told Takuto that wanting to be an idol was childish, and it cut to her singing at Karaoke, complete with dancing and hand motions, I was completely cracking up. This was funny enough, but after a minute of dancing when Takuto walked in as a waiter was just priceless. The timing was just perfect.
One thing that still bothers me though is those two new villains. I just can’t take them seriously. So far the most villainous things they’ve done are challenge Wako to a volleyball match and crash a party. It’s not really their villainousness that I can’t take seriously though; it’s more their entire existence. So far all they’ve done is play pranks and act like lesbians.
But really, the best part of this episode was the trolling.
This episode was an enormous improvement over the past two. We have a new character Kondou who is into BL magazines, runs into Shuusuke in the middle of the night, exchanges magazines and blackmails him into becoming her pet. By far the best part about this episode were the reactions of Shuusuke and Nao though – Shuusuke begging Kondou not to tell his sister because she would disown him. As Nao is watching and drooling about her brother becoming Kondou’s pet. And later when she pieces together the BL magazine and then worries that he would get into that was the perfect setup, I thought she was serious, until she broke down rolling around laughing on the floor and then began drooling over what Shuusuke would look like buying a magazine.
Nao certainly drives the humor in this show, but Shuusuke is starting to get his time in the sun too. The scene with the AGE’s meeting to plan a counterattack against Mr. X was funny as well, as was Kondou’s letter she stuck on his back and Shuusuke’s unknowing counterplot. Shuusuke’s delusions were entertaining as well.
I love the facial expressions in this show.
My main complaint though is still Iroha – she doesn’t really contribute much and is more of a one joke pony. I mean, we get that she’s a stalker already, can’t she do something else? And why does she suddenly seem somewhat friendly with Nao? Didn’t they hate each other before and were just acting friendly?
I just love how this series does its storytelling with showing and not telling. In most other series, after Momo tells Takatsuki that she looks very womanly, Takatsuki would have somehow ended up telling Nittori that she wished she wasn’t as feminine or getting into a fight with Momo. But instead, Takatsuki just sinks to the bottom of the pool and curls up into a ball as Nittorin watches from the distance. It’s little touches like this that really bring out the potential of anime as a visual medium, which are so often neglected by shows which seem to think their viewers are idiots who needed to be pounded in the head with a fifty pound hammer to get a point across. (in defense of the creators of these shows, their assumptions may not be entirely wrong)
And I must sound like a broken record here, but the way the show continues to portray the relationships between the characters continues to be fantastic. I loved it when Ana was worried that she made Shuu cry, and Maho just told her not to worry because he does that all the time. Now this is what an actual sibling relationship is like! The way Maho rudely interrupts Shuu’s daydreaming in the bath was great as well. Same with everyone’s complete misinterpretation of Ana’s gift strap.
Chiba = Win
So I am shipping for the Chiba x Mako-chan ending. And Shuusuke would do well to remember:
In this episode Madoka worries about how Sayaka has become a magical girl. Sayaka, meanwhile, celebrates the recovery of her friend’s hand, and begins a hunt together with Madoka for witches. Yes, they are both idiots. Sayaka is attacked by another one of Kyubey’s magical girls, and Madoka almost becomes a magical girl to help her out but Homura arrives in the nick of time.
Overall, this episode was pretty enjoyable, but I did have to suspend my sense of disbelief a few times. First of all, why are Sayaka and Madoka so stupid? Madoka is no good in a fight so why would they decide she should come? And second, Homura’s goal is to stop Madoka from becoming a magical girl, so why does she tell her so bluntly that Sayaka is going to die? This doesn’t exactly encourage her not to become a magical girl… Also, when they were crossing the bridge, the way three cars in parallel passed by them at the same time on each side of the road was just ridiculous. Although I’m not sure why this bothered me so much.
The fight this week was simply spectacular. Magical girls need to fight each other more often and just forget about the witches. And Kyubey was a bastard as usual. Perhaps the most interesting thing that was revealed this week is that Kyubey doesn’t know about Homura. The strange part is that he doesn’t say he didn’t make a contract with her, but that he doesn’t know whether or not he made a contract with her. My theory is that it has something to do with Homura’s wish. Maybe it is something to do with saving magical girls. Also, the question of why the girls need grief seeds still remains to be answered.
"You're so fat! If you didn't have such a big belly, you could have run away faster! You fat idiot!"
I would never have expected this, but Nessa is really starting to grow on me. I expected her to be the umpteenth cheerful moe girl who always smiles cheerfully and likes to play games but is disturbingly polite. (most recent example – purple haired Ika girl from Yumekui Merry) These characters are too perfect and fall right in the middle of the uncanny. Kids should be selfish little brats. And Nessa is just that. Until this episode Nessa was also cheerful all the time, but this isn’t the part I object to in other characters – she’s still selfish in how she has fun, doing whatever she wants like screwing with people in the toilet and turning umbrellas into rockets. Clain’s relationship with her is great as well – he treats her how older people generally do treat kids, he plays along with her like she’s a kid.
But this episode really brought Nessa to the next level as a character with her strong, (seemingly) unreasonable dislike of Phrynne. It isn’t all rainbows and flowers anymore. I really like how it brings out the darker, less socially developed side of children that tends to be glossed over in anime. Because seriously, whoever thinks children are angels clearly has a pretty terrible memory.
What is this... I don't even...
With Phrynne’s return it certainly seems that things are moving along quickly. The temple people really do a terrible job at keeping an eye on her. And I’m not sure that the best way to capture her is by shooting at her? But whatever. I hope that the bogeyman that the temple sent doesn’t last very long. His voice and his face both piss me off for some reason.
My theory is still that Nessa is Phrynne’s sister’s original personality, which was replaced by the Fractale system. Still, I wasn’t expecting Phrynne to be upset that Clain had met Nessa. I’m with him on this one – if she leaves without saying anything and left some data behind, any reasonable person would assume it was left so that they could read it. Not the best of plans on her part.
