Seriously. The previous episode was nice and all, but it was also rather boring and dull. It really ruined my mood for the show a bit, and I was about to give up hope…

Then this episode started. Seriously, it was the best episode so far! The creators were very sneaky in this. The first minutes start out mediocre again. The Moon drop has to be found, and it’s located on the altar of the moon, which only appears during the full moon. The Dakart arrives right at the moment of a full moon, so they’ve only got less than a day to find its location, or they have to wait for a full month. Basic and convenient.

Then, when Pinon and the others actually arrived in Popolocrois, this episode actually started to get funny when it seems that Paanya has a very convenient power: mimicry. He can even copy all of the powers of the person he copies. It’s great to finally see a bad guy who tries to actually use a strategy to get to his goals. Especially because Paanya’s just a big goofball, and he screws up easily. He demonstrates his powers with a little play between Pietoro and Narcia, as he’s just waiting in Popolocrois castle for Pinon and the others to return, and he’s really bored to death. XD

His plan is simple: hide Sabow and Lulu in a closet, and pretend to be Sabow, in order to find out the location of the moon drop. His plan was so obvious when you looked at things as a viewer. It was great to see him pretend to be Sabow, without being found out. The crew of the Dakart then goes to search the castle, with lots of references to events which happened earlier in the series. I especially loved it when Aina found a picture of Pietoro and Elena when they were young and started fangirling. (^^;)

Of course, it doesn’t take long till Paanya gets discovered and the location of the temple of the moon gets found. Paanya retreats, preparing his second plan. The Moon Drop is located on the small island behind the castle, the one with the dragon temple. When Pinon, Luna, Marco, Elena and Aina walk in the forest, Paanya executes his second plan: lure Marco away from the others and pretend to be him. This plan seems to work, and he does get hold of the Moon Drop, though then Marco catches up with them again, so he’s forced to drop it. He flees and prepares for his third plan, and boy, he works fast.

In the time it takes for Pinon and the others to get back to the castle, he overpowers the crew of the Dakart, moves all the statues away, stuffs them into a closet, ties the members of the Dakart to them, and prepares himself to pretend to play for Pietoro. By this time, things really get serious when Paanya pretends to be both Leona as Pietoro as Narcia. This really does something to both Pinon and Marco. Especially the former gets incredibly happy when he sees his mother alive. So cute. (^^) Still, Paanya acquires the Moon Drop, and flees.

Things get even worse when Zephys sends out a giant crab to set the Dakart to flames. Paanya then heads for the island of petrification, which is said to resolve the spell which binds Zephys. Pinon, Luna and Marco are after him, and they reach the beach. Until they’re attacked by the same crab who destroyed the Dakart. Pinon and Luna go after Paanya, who ends up cornered. He then uses his powers to try, confuse and beat the former.

Right before the climax, something very interesting happens. Zephys, in the form of Luna’s mother appears, and takes the lunar drop from Paanya. Luna finds out that her mother is in the complot, Elena finds out that her Dakart is destroyed and Zephys heads off to the island of petrification.

The great thing about this episode is its combination between comedy and drama. The drama just keeps building up. The episode starts with a few serious scenes, which increase in intensity during every climax. During the first three quarters of the episode, there’s also lots of comedy, despite the seriousness. When the comedy stops, and some awful facts get revealed (the lunar drop being stolen, Luna finding out about her mother and the Dakart being gone in this case) they work out greatly.

IF this show can keep up with THIS level, we’re IN for something AWESOME. :)

It’s an interesting batch this time. Each of these series has the potential to become great, but each of them has one or more major flaws. It’s interesting to see how these three turn out. Also, with this, I think I’ve managed to cover the largest part of the autumn season. All that’s really left to get subbed is Jigoku Shoujo (seriously, I can hardly wait for it) and a Spirit of the Sun. Oban Star Racers seems to be aired at some kind of special location, as no raws have appeared at all. It was the same case with FLAG, I think we need to wait for the Japanese DVD’s to come out in order to see it. Same with Silk Road Boy Yuto. Master of Epic seems to have delayed its anime a bit, such a pity. And Bikkuruman Hikkariden will probably never really get enough attention to even get its own raws. Next up is waiting for shows like Souko no Strain, Tokyo Tribe, Freedom and Afro Samurai.

Bartender

I’m a big fan of the various episodic case-based anime (Mushishi, Jigoku Shoujo, xxxholic), so I was looking forward to this anime. It follows a bartender who can make the god’s glass, a way to people’s hearts. Unfortunately, the first episode has yet to display anything special. It follows a stressful bar designer, but the entire story lacked emotion. Still, I’m probably going to end up blogging this. Jigoku Shoujo and Mushishi showed that you have to warm up to stories like these a bit for them to become really effective.

Kekkaishi

I have to admit, when I read the premises, I feared the worst. It’s a nice surprise that this shounen series actually turned out above average. It’s still got the cliché of having a fourteen year old brat as main character, but he’s been given unusual character depth. Especially the part when he was just a nine-year old boy was pretty impressive. If this anime loses the fourteen-year-old brattiness, things actually could get pretty good. I just hope that the creators manage to actually bring the love relationship between the main male character and main female character in a good way. Right now, all signs point to the fact that the main female character will end up being a simple damsel in distress. If this anime can avoid this, we’re in for something worthwhile.

La Corda d’Oro: Prima Passo

There’s one thing that always annoys me with anime like this: the important characters are the only ones with obscure hair colours. Anyway, this anime is sortof like learn to play the violin, the lazy way. We’ve got our main character who seems to be the only one who can see a special fairy because of no reason. The fairy then grants her a special violin which can make anyone play beautiful. Yeah, sure. I think that this anime doesn’t want to be taken seriously. Both the main male character as the main female character are as standard as possible, though the side-characters can prove to be interesting. Of course, our main character ends up winning the music competition, but seeing how the side-characters will face of against each other will probably be worth it. At least, if the creators give them a chance for this. Overall, it’s not exactly a bad anime. It’s just got some hugely annoying flaws which sortof ruin the mood. At least let the main character be someone who’ll work hard to achieve her goals.

It’s annoying! Each episode has one or two moments which just scream potential, surrounded by mediocre scenes. This episode was the same: Luna’s worries about her mother were very sincere, but Zephys’ complot seems very basic: “I turned the people of Popolocrois to stone because now I can blackmail you into delivering the Moon Drop to me”. The adventures in the lunar castle were rather boring.

But the fact does remain that the pacing is currently huge in comparison to the first half of the anime. Everyone got turned to stone in episode 14, which seemed like a major plot event. Still, the lunar castle was reached within three episodes, and Pinon and the others only remain for just half an episode inside the castle. Next episode, it seems like they’ll be back in Popolocrois again, to look for the Moon Drop.