Short Synopsis: Sa Sakujun has no desire to marry Shuurei. Sa Chuushou, however, wants the marriage to happen at all costs. This episode showed how desperate he can be at this.
Good: Shuurei. Amazing character.
Bad: Now I know for sure: Shuurei’s self-confidence is directly proportionate to the quality of this series.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 8/10

Yup, now I know for sure. The reason why the past few episodes have been rather disappointing finally became clear to me. It’s simply that whenever Shuurei shines, Saiunkoku Monogatari shines. The reason for the mediocre past episodes was simply because Shuurei had been thrown off her balance a bit by Sa Sakujun. This episode, however, she’s back to her usual awesome self, having turned even stronger because of her experiences. :D

I love the whole Sakujun - Chuushou - Shuurei-triangle in this episode. After the incredibly dramatic episode 26, he turned into quite a nice villain. I especially loved the hair-treatment Shuurei gave him. I think that Shuurei finally realized that Sakujun is just playing around. While he may be annoying, he isn’t really a threat, which is why she starts focusing on the real bad guy: Sa Chuushou. The bastard is planning to set his entire country aflame if Shuurei doesn’t marry his grandson! At least, that’s what he claims. It obviously isn’t enough to trump someone like Shuurei. Which makes me wonder. What measures will he take in order to get the two of them together in the end? He now knows what she’s capable off, and I don’t think he’s just going to sit around and let things happen.

I also liked how Shourin escaped Sakujun’s knowledge. It’s great to see that he isn’t perfect either. Kokujun, meanwhile, still is in his cell, turning crazy. Shuurei will probably find him in the next episode. It’ll be great to see how he’ll act from that point. The point remains that he bears a lot of resemblances to a younger version of Sa Enjun, he just was a bit too shy in his earlier episodes in comparison. Now that he’s actually turning crazy, some murderous instincts might awaken in him.

Short Synopsis: People from the investigation teams start missing, while Mai dies.
Good: That was one disturbing cliff-hanger.
Bad: Obviously, Mai didn’t really die. She really needs to stand up for herself.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 7/10

Seriously, Mai looked so freaky in the end. It would be awesome if she really died, but the fact remains that we’re dealing with episode nineteen here. That’s not the time to kill off your main characters, unfortunately.

My problems with this series continue yet again in this episode. While it’s interesting to see Mai getting pushed over, knocked unconscious, possessed, pulled by her leg, surprised by a falling ceiling, attacked by spirits, nearly eaten by ghouls, stalked by ghosts, attacked by a giant black dog, fainting, having visions, fainting once more, falling inside a well, disappearing, getting deceived by Naru, getting attacked by a windows breaking, getting knocked over by a large bookcase, getting killed, et cetera, well… you get the point, I’d much rather see her actually protecting people from getting pushed over, knocked unconscious, possessed… et cetera. She’s got a great character, but I refuse to believe that all she has to be in this anime is the damsel-in-distress.

One interesting point to note, though: why has Naru-chan stopped showing up in Mai’s visions?

This time, three shows I didn’t have much expectations for. A good example of shows that turn out rather good, despite expectations. The strange thing is that while each of these shows was majorly flawed, they still turned out interesting. Especially Rocket Girls surprised me.

Juusou Kikou Dancouga Nova

Okay, the good news, this isn’t as bad as I expected. The characters so far do look interesting somehow. The bad news, however, is that this seems to have every single shounen-mecha cliché in the book. Children who are being recruited to pilot a giant mecha? Check. One standard incompetent lazy impulsive idiotic guy, combined with three other highly skilled teenagers? Check. Characters aimed at fanservice? Check. Mecha controls which can be understood with just looking at them? Check. No preparation at all in the military? Check. An enemy who just “happens” to appear? Check. Racing cars of the good guys never break while others do? Check. Like I said, this series hasn’t been painful yet, but how can the creators ever hope to create an interesting story with these kinds of elements? The battle at the end of the episode was just ridiculous, while the two girls are just way too perfect for their own good.

Naruto Shippuuden

I decided to check this out once more, before finally deciding whether to drop it or not. Still, it pleasantly surprised me. For now, it’s actually good enough to continue. Okay, it’s nothing special, but I really like the improvements the creators made on the music. Especially the tracks featuring choirs sounded great, and the OP was amazing. :) The question still remains whether the second season will be an improvement on the first one. The first season had three major disadvantages: it dragged, the fights were way too dramatic, and Naruto was the most annoying main character ever. Now that he’s grown up, that last part should have disappeared a little, but I wonder whether this series can catch my interest. This episode also showed signs of the beginning of a Naruto-Sakura couple. I certainly do not hope the two of them end up together. Let him get together with Hinata or something. Anyway, I dropped the first season around episode 200, since I stopped caring about the fillers. Is there anything that happened in the last 30 that I need to know if I want to watch this?

Rocket Girls

When I first read the concept about a girl who had been asked to become an astronaut, due to her weight, I seriously wondered how the creators would make the rocket-company desperate enough to pluck a random girl off the street. Well, it seems that they found three reasons for this. The first: the manager is crazy, short-minded and impulsive. The second reason really became clear when the rocket exploded in mid-air. The third reason? Pure coincidence. The girl ends up involved with a small fight between the employees, gets dragged along by someone fleeing from the rocket-base, and then she gets noticed by the manager because she has the perfect weight. Overall, not very convincing. Especially when you add that to the fact that a girl from the local tribe and a girl from the main character’s school will be accompanying her. If you’re looking for a story that makes sense, then stay far away from this one. Still, I have to say that this was a pretty interesting watch. I like the sarcasm in Yukari (the main character) and the others. The story may make no sense, the CG may look fake, there may be a bit of useless fanservice, but somehow, the first episode was strangely enjoyable. (Oh, and the manager has the funniest cigarette-lighter. XD)