Okay, that’s something I NEVER would have expected! The Third gives us more and more proof that this will probably be the best series of the Spring Season. And that has to say something, when more than 50 shows came out. It’s just such a pity that the fansubs are coming in so slow. Honoka’s almost reaching Alice in terms of awesomeness.

We start the episode with Honoka and Bogie travelling towards Emporium. They hear some trampling, see a lot of sand blow up in the horizon, only to realize that they’re being chased by a rampaging herd of sandworms. Bogie takes off, attempting to get out of the sandworms’ track, accompanied by a very nice background tune. Just when you think that they made it, they get hit by a sandworm, which really beats up the sand-tank. If Honoka wasn’t in her PSP for protection (yes, mechas can be used for other things than just fighting ;)) she would’ve ended up in the hospital.

It seems that Joey is not enough to fix it completely, as he hasn’t grown enough to reach Zanka’s level, so Honoka has to think of something. Still, Joey does what he can. Bogie is meanwhile taken to the hospital, as it seems he also suffered some damage (why the hospital? Does it have a special section for AI?). Meanwhile, Honoka runs into Kevin, who seems to be tracking some kind of cult which is said to have appeared in Emporium.

Honoka runs into these guys later in the episode, in a cafe. She first has hallucinations about Ikus, after which a group of three guys enters. They try to hit on another main character, introduced this episode: Sensei (for now, I’ll just name her Sensei, as I don’t think her name became clear in this episode). She’s one of Millie’s teachers, and a fairly interesting character. She also seems to have some strange power, which she can use to get control over people for a short while. For some reason, this doesn’t work with Honoka. Her third eye probably interfered.

Millie and Honoka also got to meet each other again. Millie’s turning more amazing by the minute as well. Because she loves Honoka, she wants to study to become a mechanic, so the two of them can be together again. She was so adorible when she said that. Though indeed, Honoka and the doctor fear that she might become a bit too attached to Honoka. I’d love to see how her case gets developed. ^_^

This episode also took another turn you wouldn’t expect so soon in the anime. It seems that there is something in the desert, nearby the sandworms’ nest, which can get out of control any minute now, with the possibility to destroy Emporium within ten days. Honoka also gets sent to investigate in the sandworms’ nest, so this should promise for some awesome scenes. The scenes which introduced this also were perfectly built up, I just loved them.

Overall, The Third is awesome, and it doesn’t show any signs of weakening. It’s another one of these series in which I like every single character, and it deserves to be subbed. I really can’t wait to see more of this.

You’ve got to admit one thing about this anime: the music rocks. Every tune seems to fit, and the ED really is breathtaking. Still, it’s got a long way before it can reach the awesomeness of the 1998-series.

For one, it’s got annoying characters. Pinon and Papu aren’t exactly the best characters ever. Their voice acting is a bit off, especially when they kept calling for each other, it really got on my nerves. Still, Pinon’s got some good points, mostly his struggles to get away from his father’s shadow, though I haven’t seen any good points about Papu.

Basically, in this episode, Papu gets lost and ends up in a lone island offshore. It’s basically meant to show how much Pinon’s willing to do for his new friend. It’s interesting that he’s able to make friends with Papu so easily, while he has troubles with ordinary humans. I guess it’s because Papu was the first who didn’t see him as Pietoro’s son. (Star Ocean Ex, anyone?)

Three new characters are introduced this episode, and we get some signs that Gamigami’s still alive! Woo! We get to meet his children during this episode. This, of course, brings up a very interesting issue: who is the mother? Who would be crazy enough to give a guy such as Gamigami two children? In any case, they do have some antics, though they haven’t reached the brilliance of their father yet. Gamigami was just 100% chaos, while the two of them try to be like him.

The final character to be introduced is Luna. She somehow reminds me of Hyuu in a way. She’s an extremely good swimmer, and the ED seems to suggest that she indeed has affinity with water. It seems that she’s really surprised when she finds out the lengths Pinon’s willing to go through in order to save his friends. The episdoe ends with her, Pinon, Papu and Gamigami’s children being sucked into some kind of portal. Star Ocean Ex all the way.

Still, 2003 did make me see one thing. 1998 doesn’t have any animals or monsters at all! It’s just a character study of each of the different characters, nothing more. The RPG-elements are almost nearly gone. This is totally different in 2003. Last episode, we ran into Papu, a walking skeleton and a big huge monster, and this episode we get treated by some angry horned penguins. I guess the creators were trying to create a better RPG-feel out of it.

Overall, I’m still waiting for the awesomeness. But then again, 1998 also started out slow, so I’m suspecting that this one’s also building up perfectly. After all, we still have a huge amount of characters left to be introduced. And did Shirokishi ever find his Great Knight Sword?

Memorable moment: Punpun and Kogoto waiting for hours for Pinon to return from the cave. ^^

This was another incredibly exciting episode. One of the best in Simoun so far. Dominüra gets the strange idea of messing up the pairs, in order to let Kaimu and Aruti work together. As she’s in love with Paraietta and hates Aruti, Kaimu doesn’t really like this.

The major part of the episode really illustrated this. Kaimu kept getting angrier and angrier. Simoun is great in portraying angry characters. The background music also really helps in this. It’s a really sad tune. Especially when Kaimu and Aruti make their first test flight, along with Aaeru and Neviriru, the scenes kept getting more amazing by the minute. It indeed seemed that they were sortof close once before they came to the Arcus Prima, though on the night before Kaimu’s first flight, one of them seduced the other, and well, you can guess the rest.

It isn’t clear who seduced who, but Kaimu clearly blames Aruti for this. Aruti, however, still remains nostalgic. Both of them are at fault this time, and both manage to learn a bit. Kaimu learned that she doesn’t need to get so angry with Aruti (still, I doubt whether these scars are totally gone). Aruti learned to stop living in the past, and stop depending on her sister to make her grow.

Aaeru meanwhile tries to get even closer to Neviriru, though that doesn’t really work. She also looked very cute with her hair loose.
Yun also displays a cute side when it seems that she doesn’t like onions. I’ve also noticed that she’s along with Limone the only one who likes to read books. She’s also the last one to go to sleep in the evening.
Furoe still doesn’t seem to have forgotten what happened at the previous episode. It’s a shame that we don’t get to see the two of them meating again. The soldiers seem to have left the Messis.

Overall, this was an awesome episode. The tension was just perfect. So far, we’ve had an episode dedicated to Neviriru, Paraietta, Limone, Furoe, Kaimu, Aruti, Mamiina and Rödoreamon. That only leaves Morinasu, Aaeru, Dominüra and Yun. I can’t wait for them. :)

Memorable moments: Seeing the Sybilla actually fixing the leaks on the Messis. Limone trying to comfort Rödoreamon.