Short Synopsis: Most of the episode centres around Jean Valean, as he’s forced to reveal his secret. Cosette, meanwhile writes a letter to her mother.
Good: Jean was very interesting; How long must Thenardier keep interfering with Fantine and Cosette?!
Bad: It took so long for Cosette to write a letter?
Overall Enjoyment Value: 8/10

Ah, so that’s why Jean Valjean was so worried. It wasn’t just that Javel thought that he was Jean Valjean, it’s that someone else had been arrested under the name of Jean Valjean. This means that this poor person was about to be judged for the sins that the real Jean Valjean committed. Because of this, Jean’s problems may be over, but the fact remains that he dedicated himself to building an upright life. Heck, he tries to throw away the chandelier that he “got” from the priest, but even that is impossible for him. He just can’t let an innocent person be judged because of the things he did, which is why he reveals his real identity in the end.

The results of this revelation will have to wait till the next episode, when Javert will probably find out. Jean managed to walk away in the end, but there’s no way he’s not going to be judged. I wonder what Aran’s role will be in this. He’s been rather absent after he warned Jean about Fantine. Speaking of Fantine, I’m really hoping for Cosette to get at least a chance of meeting Fantine before she dies. Right now, the happy times at the Thenardiers seem to be completely over, with the things Cosette did to annoy them in the past episodes. She’s especially lost the support of Gavroche, and it seems that even the priest is going to be moving away towards Paris.

Short Synopsis: The fishing scene returns, just as the main character-clone of the first episode and our two brave adventurers.
Good: Lots of Bukotsu and Chuu; Funnier than usual; An actual serious scene that works out well!
Bad: The creators were SO mean with that serious scene!
Overall Enjoyment Value: 8.5/10

You know what, Master of Epic has been getting better and better for the past few episodes. Mostly because it’s been reusing more and more characters from previous episodes. I don’t know, usually when shows of this nature do this, it feels cheap, because they couldn’t just come up with some new characters. But with Master of Epic, I’m actually very glad that these characters return, as we get to know them better and better, which makes sure of some very funny results. I’ll keep quiet about the main character, though. I’m content for now because her clone had a major role in this episode.

Sketch 1: The Introduction. This time, the two hosts talk about something called Nashi. I had no idea what this was, so I looked it up a bit in an online dictionary. It seems they were either talking about a Japanese pear, or the word “without”. Seeing as the reporters were awfully quiet when they found out about this, I’d put my money on the second option.

And CURSE that second sketch! Finally we have a serious and really touching sketch, and what do the creators do? They decide to go old-tv style by making the dialogue show up on the screen, instead of through voice actors. Okay, I can understand a bit of Japanese speech, but how am I supposed to decipher that much kanji?! The scenes looked amazing, and I LOVED the ending, but I would so have liked to know what the characters talked about. Dammit. Still, ranting aside, this sketch rocked. Big time.

Sketch 3 abandons the seriousness again when it comes with the news. The fishing scene returns again, as the reporter interviews the female Pandemos who’s been fishing on some random docks. He doesn’t get much out of her, and she demands him to be quiet, though. ^^;

Sketch 4: Bukotsu and Chuu again. This time they deviate from the usual formula when it’s not Chuu, but a random bear who does something cute. Still, you can’t deny that their reaction wasn’t cute in a strange way. :P

Sketch 5: The news, 6 hours later. The Pandemos seems to have caught something and almost explodes out of anger when her line snaps. XD

Sketch 6: Our two “brave” heroes return again. Of course, I’m talking about the courageous duo of Phillipe and Syozo. This time, Syozo tries out ways to calm ferocious animals, or in this case a hungry wolf: tempting it with a steak. Okay, it attracts a few more wolves, but it does work, doesn’t it? I mean, the wolves stayed quiet, okay… for a little while perhaps. ^^;

Sketch 7: another fishing scene. This time it features Chuu and Bukotsu. If you wondered where their usual antics were, well, it’s in this sketch, when Chuu has fun with masks. XD

Sketch 8: the news yet again, this time the next day. The Pandemos is still fishing at the same spot, and it seems that the reporter stayed up all this time, watching her catch a pile of sharks. Chuu then comes and fishes up the treasure chest the Pandemos has been searching for all along. The anchor, meanwhile, falls asleep. (^^)

Sketch 9: Waragecha V. When things couldn’t get any weirder for the Waragecha five, the huge black mecha arrives with a fake anticlimax. Yup, a fake one. First she acts like an overly emotional parents towards her child, only to reveal that she actually is on the producer’s side. The Waragecha meanwhile break up their new shiny robot, in order to transform back into it again in order to make sure that this episode also features a transformation-scene. Heh, talk about efficiency. :P

Sketch 10 closes the episode with Bukotsu, who is about to fight the copy of the main character, who is being coached by her boyfriend. I guess she didn’t slay him after all, too bad actually. In any case, Chuu is coaching Bukotsu. do I still have to mention how this ends?

By the way, this episode actually featured a couple of very nice background tunes. I like where this is going. And yes, I’m crazy for liking a show like this.

Okay, so I just finished watching the second season of FLAG (thanks to w for pointing out that it already was released). I have to say that it looked much more like an anime, with multiple climaxes, a small break, and a bit more focus at the different characters, but still retaining its original style and narrative. Even though I missed a few points here and there, I have to say that the second season was even better than the first. Mostly due to a few very strong episodes, a great climax and a charming aftermath.

For those who haven’t seen its first season, not only is FLAG a unique anime who knows no equal, it also is probably one of the most realistic mecha and war-based anime out there. It’s a war-based documentary-anime, featuring a civil war in a fictional country, somewhere in Asia. Its main character, Shirasu is a photographer, who managed to take a picture of a flag, which became the symbol of peace for the country. Peace is finally about to be formed when this flag gets stolen by rebels. Shirasu has now been asked to report and record the mission of a military team, which has been assigned to retrieve the flag.

Among others, this anime sets itself apart from all other anime through its narrative style. The entire anime is seen through camera lenses. It’s basically one huge collection of movies and pictures. Heck, we hardly ever see Shirasu, because she’s behind the camera. The camera-movements are extremely realistic. You can really see that the Shirasu’s camera is controlled by a human, instead of a machine.

But that’s not the only thing that’s realistic in this anime. We get treated to a nice dose of politics and we get to see a number of investigational reporters doing their job. Also, the military has possession of a few mechas, which finally make an attempt to deviate from the stereotype that each mecha can just be piloted by a bunch of kids. Especially the first season of Flag shows that you need an entire team behind these mechas to make them do their job properly.

The animation also is gorgeous, like mentioned before. The only small remark I have is that the creators didn’t synchronize mouth-movement with the voice-acting, but this is a minor detail. The character design also has been done in a style which bothers to differentiate from the usual, giving some very interesting effects, and the background art is just absolutely beautiful. It’s needless to say that the pictures we see flashing on the screen were very interesting to see. In terms of the musical department, this anime also delivers. Most of the anime doesn’t have a background sound, but when it does (mostly during the climax), it comes with a near-perfect soundtrack for an anime like this.

If you managed to sit through the first season, then I definitely recommend you to check out the second season once it gets subbed. I’m hoping for this to happen soon, as this anime definitely deserves some attentions because of all the new things it tried out. Still, one of the few downfalls in this anime is that at times, it spends a bit too much time preparing and building up. Especially the first three episode are just one big introduction.