OMG Paraietta! She really was incredible in this episode. The episode wasn’t really focused on a select number of characters, but Paraietta’s case was amazing. Apart from that, Furoe, Neviriru, Aaeru, Limone, Dominüra, Morinasu, Waporifu and Yun also received a healthy dose of character development.

We start the episode with Limone and Yun, outside of the Messis. Yun is collecting a few branches in order to make a cradle. Yun’s a tough nut to crack. The fact that she’s serious, and exactly knows her goal give her a very strong and level-headed personality. Though she’s still hiding something, I believe. It’s also very interesting to see Limone opening up more and more to others beside Aaeru, as we see her later in the episode trying to make a cradle of her own.

Yun also suggests Limone to stay by Dominüra’s side, as she’s the closest to her. Meanwhile, Aaeru and Neviriru get back from their day-long journey. Neviriru leaves immediately, along with Paraietta. We switch to Morinasu and Waporifu, who seem to have gotten into a fight. Last episode totally destroyed Waporifu as well, as she indeed sees the Simoun as sacred crafts, who shouldn’t be touched by anyone.

Later, the Alarm goes off, as an enemy has been spotted. Dominüra still is in shock, so somebody else has to take control. Aaeru still tries to go with Neviriru, though Paraietta stops her. Paraietta feels that with Dominüra gone and Neviriru tired, she has to yet again act as a leader. Still, there’s one major difference with the beginning of the series, when she had to do this as well: at the beginning of the series, it was only natural for her to take the lead. This time, she forces herself in the lead. Most of the Sybilla don’t really like this. Although Aaeru’s the only one who listens to her.

Still, Paraietta’s so occupied with being in the lead, that she forgets the most important thing: determining who gets to be sent out. All she does is forbid Aaeru to go with Neviriru, nothing more. She keeps clinging to protect Neviriru so that she can’t see the big picture anymore. Yun corrects her mistake by taking the initiative, to go along with Kaimu.

Back in the dorms, Mamiina, Rödoreamon and Aruti wonder why Aaeru was so obedient. Furoe gets pissed off by this. It seems that she kind of enjoyed Aaeru’s cool and direct personality, and it must be annoying to see Aaeru different like that. Furoe then gets too cute when she tries to hide her jealousy of Aaeru to the others. ^^

Furoe then notices Aaeru walking outside, and goes after her. It seems that Aaeru headed to Neviriru, in order to apologize for making her feel horrible. Neviriru, however, simply walks away from Aaeru. Quite cowardly, and Furoe indeed scolds her for that. This finally makes Neviriru see that both Aaeru and Amuria were using her as a tool to get them higher. I don’t think Neviriru will be flying with Aaeru anymore. It was also nice to see Neviriru break down when she realizes this.

Then, another enemy shows up. Furoe, Aruti, Mamiina and Rödoreamon get sent out, even though Yun and Kaimu still haven’t returned. Aaeru begins to wonder about the enemy’s plans, and wonders whether Paraietta, who sent them out, made the right decision. Paraietta takes this way to highly, and thinks of it as an insult. Though Aaeru does make sense. The enemy has only been spotted, it hasn’t attacked. All Paraietta’s been doing is sending out troupes, without using some kind of plan.

Meanwhile, it starts to rain, and Aaeru, Morinasu and Limone are left alone in the dormitories. Quite bored. Morinasu then suggests a play of hide-and-seek. It’s quite interesting that such a thing can be included. It seems interesting to play hide-and-seek in such a huge ship. It’s got lots of opportunities to hide. ^^

In any case, Limone runs into Dominüra’s room. For some reason, Dominüra is singing the song of Aaeru’s wind machine. Could it be a coincidence that she was singing this, or was there some kind of meaning behind it we still don’t know? In any case, Dominüra has a strange look in her eyes. She’s like a zombie, though she does recognize Limone, and talks to her.

It’s still raining, though Paraietta’s still standing on the same spot since we left her before. It seems that she’s in deep thoughts after what Aaeru said. She decides to check up on Dominüra, though when Limone emerges from her room, she gets doubts. She’s incredibly indecisive, and she knows it. What follows is an amusing scene in which she relieves her anger on a wall, not noticing Aaeru, who still is hiding, near her.

What follows is an amazing scene. Even if it was just because one of the most awesome background tunes being played. Another enemy has been spotted, and Paraietta forces herself to send another pair after them. She chooses Aaeru as her pair, though Neviriru, of all people corrects her. Neviriru then decides to go for herself, and take Morinasu, of all people, as her pair. Paraietta tries to stop her, in order to protect her, though Neviriru refuses to listen to her. This is what breaks Paraietta. An amazing scene. Probably the best scene of Simoun yet.

Another thing I love is the fact that something is going on with the other Sybilla. Something is keeping them occupied, but we never know what. Right now, they’re just plot devices in order to remove some characters so that some character development can be more focused without other people unnecessarily arriving. While that in itself is amazing, there has to be something happening with the other Sybilla. But what?

We have to wait for that answer till the next episode, as the story focuses on Dominüra. Limone tells Aaeru that Dominüra’s eyes looked like the eyes of a dying person (interesting note: how does she know what the eyes of a dying person look like?). Limone was wrong about this, as they see Dominüra walking in one of the corridors. After eating A LOT, Dominüra seems to recover. When Paraietta sees this, she asks for advice, though the former quickly blows the latter down with a snide remark. That’s the last we see of Paraietta in this episode.

Meanwhile, Dominüra and Limone agree to do the Emerald Ri Maajon some day. Limone wants to make the most perfect Ri Maajons, while Dominüra is the former member of a Chor whose sole existence was to make the Emerald Ri Maajon. We’re in for an amazing sixteenth episode. :)

Overall, Simoun is just getting better and better. Paraietta was amazing this episode, and Furoe also had a very nice role.

Memorable Moment: Neviriru choosing Morinasu.

This was a very enjoyable episode. Even though it was just a filler, it had some great moments. Almost all of the main characters, Haseo, Ovan, Shino, Tri-Edge, Yata, Naobi, Pai, Ender and Savuro are all cast aside, and stay out of the entire episode, in order to make it focus around Tabby, with Phyllo, a new main character called Kuhn and two newbies as side-characters as support.

Tabby’s still struggling with everything that happened, though she does decide to remain in The World. Unlike others. Then, she runs into a couple of newbies, and decides to help them. It’s a shame, however, that Tabby herself is a complete newbie as well, so the three of them end up dying. Phyllo, meanwhile gets visited by what seems like an old friend. I immediately was reminded of Kurim from .Hack//Sign, though Kuhn (the name of the guy) seems a bit more playful than Kurim.

Still, I like Kuhn. He’s pretty funny. Especially when he tried to beat some sense into one of the newbies. (^^;) The two newbies also have their own story, which was pretty interesting to watch. The two of them are brothers, and the youngest one is currently in the middle of studying for his high-school entrance exam. The older one failed that same exam. This made their mother turn a bit desperate, and she now absolutely wants the younger brother to succeed in the exam, which results in lots of studying. The older brother felt sorry for the younger brother, as he didn’t have any free time at all. That’s why he decided to take the younger brother to The World, while their parents were away. In the beginning, the younger brother doesn’t like this. Though Tabby and Kuhn make him glad in the end.

Another thing which made me glad is that finally some moral issues were introduced. Finally, some issues which forced the viewer to think appeared. I’ve been waiting for that. Now that I’ve seen this episode, I indeed realize that that is what .Hack//Roots has been lacking all this time, and why .Hack//Sign always was the better one. If the show can keep this up, I’ll be very happy.

Tabby also revealed something about herself in real life, inspired by the two brothers. It seems that she has an older sister. While Tabby isn’t really great at studying, her sister is really smart. I think that she can relate to the younger brother in a way.

Overall, this may have been a filler, though it does remain a very enjoyable filler. It also finally made me realize the thing which .Hack//Roots has been lacking. If the creators also realized this, the results can become awesome.

Memorable moment: Kuhn chasing the younger brother.

I decided to check out this anime, which aired in 2004, as it’s another one of Ghibli’s works. I have to say, it was pretty interesting and unique. Though, unfortunately, not memorable.

The movie is mostly a love story, between an ordinary young woman who makes hats as her profession and a strange, evil wizard. While this may sound cheesy, about ten minutes in the movie a twist happens you so wouldn’t expect. Starting from that point, the “woman” gets to live with the evil wizard, she gets to know him, she gets to know his dark secret and in the end, she attempts to save him.

This movie is a massive two hours long, and manages to fill this time perfectly. There are almost no chances to get bored, as there’s always something happening on the screen. Each of the characters also acts very naturally, nothing seems to feel rushed. The world in which the movie plays also looks amazing and full of imagination.

Still, despite its originality, the movie does remain cheesy in the end. The minor plot sequences are very imaginative, though the major plotline has a lot of bugs. A lot of things also don’t make any sense at all. The two main characters’ cases also don’t get explained at all. Especially the ending left me with a bad feeling.

The graphics also are an interesting issue. While they do look amazing, Spirited Away, which was produced three years earlier, looked much better for some reason. You would expect the opposite, as both movies come from the same studio. The music, while not memorable, remains very fitting and enjoyable.

Overall, I’ve always wanted to watch Howl’s Moving Castle, though I never knew what to expect. I’m pretty happy with the outcome, though it could have been done much better. If you want to see a good movie, I’d suggest to check out Nausicaa or Spirited Away first.

The series had normal episodes, and it had awesome episodes. It’s the same with the OVA. Episode 21 was perfect in every
single way. Episode 22 was amazing, despite its flaws. Episode 23 shows us a standard Mushishi-story again. It’s about a disease, which causes limbs and body-parts to become stiff and unmovable. It’s being spread through the voice of one girl. Ever since the girl found out that her voice spread the disease, she’s stopped talking. Though the disease remained. The girl has stopped talking for ten years now. It’s also one of the stories with a more happy end.

Still, that doesn’t mean that I didn’t love the episode. It’s still as calm as always, and the situation gets explained very quietly. It seems that the woman had been screaming at the top of her lungs inside a deserted cave, in order to ruin her voice. By the time this episode plays, she hasn’t quite lost it, though her voice does sound very creepy and sad. It’s probably one of the first times in anime that such a voice was added.

The great thing about this episode was the ending, though it does leave a few bugs. The girl had been isolated, as everyone thought of her as the culprit. There was one man, from another village who didn’t treat her that way. This man then fall off a cliff in the mountains, and she had no other choice than to cry for help, with her already distorted voice. That sounded too sad. It seems that to cure the disease, the woman had to scream towards the village, with the see straight behind her. She’ll probably have to scream for years in order to fully remove the disease, and her voice will most likely die before the disease does. It’s so awesome to see someone willing to give up her own voice in order to save others. Still, the way Ginko came to this conclusion bugs me. We get no clues to his plans until he reveals them. And the things that made him realize the solution don’t make any sense at all. And how come, in fourteen years, nobody has even bothered to go to the see and check what happens?!

Overall, another great Mushishi-episode. Not the best, but definitely enjoyable.