These last two episode had a different way of opening the story than most Mushishi episodes do. Mostly, it Ginko meets up with person, person explains case, Ginko tries to solve. Or something in that direction. Last episode, however, Ginko was already aquainted with the main character, giving a nice twist. This episode, the creators carry this even further, by not letting Ginko and the main character meet until thee quarters of the episode have already been passed.

The first half of the episode tells the story of a man who moves from the countryside to the city in order to become a famous painter. He succeeds, but he becomes so engulfed in his work, that he starts to forget his old family, and finally ends up in stress. As ten years pass since he left his village, he becomes more and more nostalgic, however, wanting to meet his father and sister again. Finally, a combination of stress, doctors and homesickness manage to convince him to go back. The sighting of him returning, and seeing what happened to the place he grew up in, was just too sad to see, I loved it. And this was just the first half of the episode.

The second half features that man staying in the village. He’s lost all of his inspiration, as if all the life has been sucked out of him. When he gets to take care of his niece, he brightens up a bit. But still, he’s got no trace of liveliness inside of him. Then he has a rather “peculiar” meeting with Ginko and with the help of some mushi, he gets his energy back. It was very entertaining to see that this time, the mushi weren’t causing any problems, but were rather helpful to the cast. The effect of this is wonderful. I also loved Ginko in this episode, especially when he shows his “merchant”-side and his strange meeting with the mushi. That shows that even Mushishi work themselves into a lot of trouble.

I also love the way some of the episodes feature some variation of an epilogue. Like they show what happens after a few years passed. This way, the impact on what happened before becomes huge, with magnificent results. When normal anime does this, the main focus lies on the present, while a couple of flashbacks show what happens in the past. This is cute and nice and all, but it doesn’t really capture the impact created by these moments. When these anime do try to show aftermaths, they almost always show the direct aftermaths, in the range from a couple of hours to a couple of days at maximum. It really doesn’t give the characters the true opportunity to recover from it.

Another brilliant story. This time it focused even mre about the delicate relationship between humans and Mushi. In most episodes, the Mushi-incidents are just coincidental meetings between humans and mushi, which sortof go wrong. This time, however, we have an accident happening between people who knew very well what they were getting themselves into, and they were aware of the huge risks.

Two girls, who can see mushi, move in with an old man, to help him maintain an ingenious mail-system which makes use of certain mushi. This one lives in a silk-cocoon made by two caterpillars, instead of one. That means that these cocoons are made out of two wires, intead of one. The mushi living inside these cocoons can teleport itself from one location through another. In this case, these locations are marked with the two wires. So, that means, if you seal them, put them in nice packages and make a small opening for the messages to go in and out, you have an alternative to e-mail.

Of course, a lot can go wrong, and if you’re not careful, even humans can get teleported. At least, they they vanish and get stuck in the “timespace” between the two locations the mushi is traveling. That’s what happens in this episode. I like the way she vanished. In normal anime, there would be some kind of slow-motion scene, with lots of action, close-ups, yelling and heavy music. Mushishi, however, brings it far more naturally than I could’ve imagined.

Anyway, that person’s twin-sister carried over the old man’s business when he died, hoping to find her sister one day. Five years pass, and during that time she meets Ginko (we don’t get to see that moment, by the way). After those five years, she still hasn’t been able to forget, and she’s still hoping for a safe return. Ginko tries to talk her out of it and to give up. At this point, I thought that the “just give up”-bit might’ve been used a bit too much in Mushishi. The ending totally changed my mind.

The ending of this episode was, like almost every other Mushishi episode, brilliant. Probably even one of the best. It was so extremely adorable, accompanied by some very fitting background music. Not to mention the fact that the ending was open, though everything felt resolved.

This episode, again, takes its time in telling the story, ending in a very satisfying climax. The scenes are more focused around one place then in the previous two episodes, this finally gives for some neat opportunities to get to know the characters. This is especially the case for Vincent and Pino, as they finally get a good amount of screentime.

So many questions arose after watching this. Like, what were they both doing there? Why is Vincent involved in all this? Why does his eyes change color at times? What was that dream he had? And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. I found myself liking this episode very much. Especially Pino made a very good impression of both cuteness and seriousness. The climax really made me thirsty for more, as I doubt that everything will just end after this.

This also was the first episode of Ergo Proxy featuring an OP. Apparently, I was right about the three main characters, and Iggy seems to be playing a big role as well. The bad guys also made sense, although there was a bunch of guys I didn’t recognize. These will probably arrive at the next couple of episodes.

Today, Ichigo&co fight off a bunch of gigantic blue slime blobs. Yes, I refuse to believe that that was actually water. The viscosity was just way too high, and not to mention very badly animated. Anyway, the way the creators introduced these blobs was very creative. After all, you don’t suspect a leaking faucet for being evil. It’s a neat trick that the creators managed to perform: start with something totally common, and then mess it up enough so it becomes totally uncommon. The contrast created by this gives a nice effect.

These fights also prove that the Bleach-cast is as dumb as a pig’s behind. After all, the cores of the dolls are clearly visible. It’s obvious that without these, the dolls would be nothing, otherwise they wouldn’t be there. What do Ichigo and the others do? Right, they try to cut the water, in an attempt to stop it. Not once, not twice, not trice, but they just keep going and going, attacking it without the slightest use of their head…

I did like Ichigo’s idea with the lighter and the tube filled with gas. Even before you see the results, you can already predict that something’s about to go horribly wrong. The creators managed to assimilate this very neatly into the story.

The bad guys themselves are just horribly boring. Nothing but two-dimensional characters, brought in for the sake of being brought in.

Okay, some anime show a few scenes before the opening theme rolls in, in order to warm the viewer up a bit and make him or her curious. Ueki does this as well. Most of the times, it’s just a summary of the previous episode, which can be tedious when you want to avoid spoilers and click on a few wrong buttons. Anyway, this episode, instead they show some new scenes…

That was the best EVER! They made me so curious about the episode, before it even started! First we see that Mori has some kind of horrible condition she has to face (I knew it!). We still don’t get told what it is though. The Law of Ueki really is a master in these kinds of tricks: give a few hints but save the clue for a few episodes afterwards. Anyway, then the first match will be Rinko against a guy named Ban Dicoot. I should have suspected something at this point, but didn’t. The result was that the next scene almost threw me on the ground laughing, when the entire mystery about this guy shifted from one pole to the other. Not only that, but then they show one beautiful picture about what will happen in the episode, featuring Rinko being heavily beaten up. That made me so enthusiastic about the rest of the episode, and the OP hadn’t even started yet.

Anyway, about the episode, I’m officially a Rinko-Fan right now. Firstly, her fight was probably the best combination of comedy and seriousness ever. It so had me cracked up at moments, while mere seconds later I was clinging to the creen and wondering whether whe would make it or not. The fight really ended in an anticlimactic way, but that doesn’t say that I didn’t love Rinko at that point. This really shows that you really don’t want to get on her opposite side. >:)

This episode was very fast-paced, as we get to see the beginning of Sano’s fight as well, which will be continued in the next episode. This guy really is different from the last one and perfect for someone like Sano, as he likes to use his head in combat as well. Needless to say that I’m really looking forward to the next episode.

Overall, the assumption I made in the previous entries was right. You so can not expect things like these. The final goons of the show all prove to be very interesting, and they’ll probably give a very good introduction to the final episodes. These next episodes will also prove to be awesome, as Team Ueki already won one of the four matches. Therefore, it only needs to win one more (wait… that’s not true, because then the score would be even. I’m predicting that the two parties will both end up with two wins, and that there’ll be some kind of decisive match held, otherwise it’s just too easy to predict the outcomes of the next couple of matches…). Anyway, this does mean that a couple of good guys will have to lose their matches. I doubt that the creators will let this go without something very big. :)

This time, we have a Kuina episode. We get to know him a bit better, and just like in the last episode with Kosagi, we get to see his breakdown. I guess it was meant for these two episodes to focus on the La’Cryma cast, before Noein is to introduces his final schemes. I’m wondering if the future version of Ai will get her part in the next episode. But then again, I’ve noticed that Noein only brings the number of consecutive episodes which closely relate to each other to the level of two. I’ve seen that in lots of cases, but never have I seen more. Especially not when it’s so obvious as here. I do believe, however, that she’ll play some part further in the show.

Anyway, this episode, even though it had a lot of similarities with the previous one, also featured a lot of difference. Especially now you could clearly notice them between the similarities. For example, Kosagi goes in because she’s angry at Karasu and wants revenge. Kuina only goes in out of fear and despair, as a last possible option, while Kosagi wanted to go no matter what. Kosagi remained in the current timespace afterwards. Kuina is back in La’Cryma. (It’s just a hunch, but the moment he’ll be in the spotlights again could be awesome, depending on the creator’s choices). Fans of the Noein-fight-scenes will also love this episode, as we get another piece of art in front of our nose. It wasn’t as good as the Fukurou vs Karasu-fight, but there were certainly plenty of influences to see.

There were a lot more other events happening during the episode than just the scenes about Kuina. We get some more overall info about La’Cryma, the researchers learn some more things the viewers already knew, Haruka sortof ‘awakens’ (she has a weird voice when she does, by the way. I can’t help but like it) and Noein takes another step in his plans. This step will probably have a great influence on the rest of the story. What kind of influence? Well, we have to wait for the next episode to find that out.

What we have here, is the Tsubasa Chronicle movie. Like I said before: the characters seem to have gotten a total restyling for this. Syaoran is more confident and less hestitant. Kurogane’s become more energetic. Fye lost a bit of his sarcasm. Sakura’s more outspoken and less shy. Mokona has become less energetic and more calmly, which is totally different from his black counterpart. But the thing that’s really different from the series is the character art. It takes a bit to get used to, but once you do, it looks awesome.

The main reason you should watch this is because of the incredible graphics. Both traditional art as the CG look absolutely astonishing and the choreography is some of the best ever. Especially the flooding scene was beautiful to watch. The battles themselves shine like none other.

The story is also a masterpiece. As the movie took just half an hour, in comparison with xxxHolic, which took more than whole an hour, the scenes followed each other in a fast pace. Nevertheless, the movie didn’t really feel rushed. The setting is just perfect for a show like Tsubasa Chronicle. After all, what’s better for a story which revolves around wings and feathers to play in a bird-country? In this bird country, everything has been locked up in a gigantic bird cage. The bad guy wants to use this cage to make him uberpowerful. It may seem dull, but it were the actions surrounding this story which saved it.

For example, the character development between Syaoran and Sakura was just great (but then again, they were put together in a perfect situation *wink wink*). The royal guards performed a nice twist in the beginning, and it was just awesome that the wound from Fye’s boot was still clearly visible in the aftermath, while nobody seemed to notice.

Okay so what if the bad guy is bad because he’s bad? I had a very enjoyable time watching this. This movie never leaves a boring moment. You’re either gaping at the awesome graphics, or you’re trying not to miss any of the plot elements thrown in. Oh, and if you plan to watch both this movie and xxxHolic, then I recommend to watch xxxHolic before seeing Tsubasa Chronicle. This way, you’ll enjoy the easter egg the creators put in even more.

The people with small amounts of patience will probably find Ergo Proxy hard to endure, as it really takes its time to explain the situation, with no possible forms of rushing. On short terms, it may cause a bit of boredom, but on long terms, it makes for some great storytelling.

After seeing this second episode, it seems like there are three, maybe four main characters. First of all Lil, which is obvious, since most of the episode turned around her. Second, we have this guy who’s found Lil, and appears to be stalking her or something like that, anyway, a mysterious guy in an unusual body. Third, we have the automail of the rich lady. I have no idea whether Iggy will make a main-appearance in the show, or that he’ll be forced to spend the rest of his life as a side-role. For bad guys, we have Lil’s grandfather (either that, or he’s being manipulated), the long-haired guy, and apparently the entire police-force and investigation service. I’m still waiting to see which side the two Proxys belong to, but I’ll put them along the bad guys for the time being.

This episode, there was exactly one action scene. The way the creators brought it, was incredibly original. Partially because it’s been one of the rare fights that didn’t include a prelude. We just see a guy escaping from Proxy, totally unexpected or unintroduced. I loved it. (At least, not that I think back, there was a one-second prelude… but at that time you so don’t see it coming). It was also nice to see an actual bad guy space out like that. These kinds of things rarely happen in anime. At least, they rarely happen without characters having some strange fetish-like fantasies.

Lil herself was also very interesing this episode. She was a good actor. At least, half of the time. At other times, you could just really see that she was acting. She’s also totally different from last episode. There, she was just confident in herself. Now, it seems like a bit of despair and stress have been added. Add this to the pressure from the government, and you have a recipe for succes. The government kinda reminded me of a mild version of the book 1984 by George Orwell. Everything is being controlled, people are captured like in a prison and the freedom of speech has become an urban myth.

As expected, we have another intermezzo here before the next matches begin. The main theme of this episode is called “father”. We don’t really see much character development from Ueki’s side this time, but his family gets a healthy dose of it.

The episode starts off with the aftermath of the previous “battle”. Basically, Anon stole Robert’s body to get into heaven unnoticed, as the hellions were forbidden to enter it, which totally makes sense. Afterwards, we learn that Mori still doesn’t know the condition in order to use her power. This can prove to be great for some of the future scenes. If I had to guess, I’d bet my money on either sitting on the ground, being hurt, or speaking slowly. But then again, knowing the nature of the show, the real thing’s got to be something else.

Then we switch to the heavenly audience, and for the first time in what seems about twenty-five episodes, Ueki’s heavenly father comes into the picture again. He looked really ragged down, but that’s logical, as the plan he sacrificed everything he had for failed. But still (I have no idea if my memories are correct, by the way), when he met up with Kobasen, he was happy that Ueki still made it through. Why did he get so depressed afterwards?

Then we get a sudden twist, as Ueki’s suddenly at his earthly home, sitting in his underwear, eating dinner. We learn later that Ueki&co were able to go back home for one night, which they immediately make use of. It’s also been the first time in twenty-five episodes since we saw his earthly father and sister again. Earthly father is weird, earthly sister is cute. Anyway, like any anime-main hero with superpowers, Ueki never told his mom and dad about what was happening. Apparently, the creators thought this as well, so they decided to take “hard” measures to set this straight. The result is quite hilarious. Anyway, afterwards, we get to see the fatherly side of the earthly father, and the group sets off to heaven again.

Back in heaven, the group stumbles upon the heavenly father, who, of course gets invited to stay over in Ueki-style. He first hates Ueki, but after spending one night within his vicinity… well, let’s just say that no one can survive that without being converted. We also get another interesting fact to hear. At least, Ueki does. Everyone else has to wait a couple of episodes before it is revealed.

The next round reminds me of the second Roberto-Jyuu round. Everyone gets randomly assigned one opponent, after which one-on-one-matches will occur. And what kind of trump card will their opponents hold? Overall, this was a pretty enjoyable episode, worthy of an intermezzo. I don’t know why, but the both the heavenly as the earthly father really ‘look’ like fatherly types to me. Especially seeing the heavenly father getting ‘converted’ was just great to see.

…

…

Okay, this was officially the best episode EVER! Mori shines like no other, she gets to fight again, and FINALLY discovers her power. There has never been an episode in which I laughed more and harder than in this one. Partially because of Mori’s very *ahem* “peculiar” power, including the way she hopelessly tried to guess what it was, and the way she finally found it out belongs to the Most-Hilarious-Moments-In-Anime-List. Kami-sama was just awesome again, just as the way the creators thought up to make the other team members not to interfere with Mori’s fight. The cliffhanger in the previous episode was just horribly misleading, but that only adds up to the awesomeness of this episode. Rihou was also just hilarious. It’s a very good thing that even the most serious guy like him can get surprised like that.

I just love the way that these kinds of fights, who begin serious, end up so creative. Each and everyone of the fivesome goes down in the most enjoyable way ever. Thanks to the incredible creativity of the authors.

The second half of the episode went back to the main plot (after all, we’re finally down to the last quarter of the series. Something had to happen). We apparently learn that Anon wants to fight Ueki at his strongest, so he decides to let them skip the weak enemies. Or it could just have been a way for the creators to keep the caption team out of the picture. Anyway, the next couple of episodes will feature the fight against the mysterious masked guys. It wasn’t really surprising when I found out for whom they worked… Anyway, that will be the last team Ueki has to face, after which the main plot will probably kick in. But still. These masked persons, they look so serious. I watched Ueki for too long to not doubt this…