Short Synopsis: Ah, of course. Misa didn’t reveal exactly how she convinced Higuchi that she was the second Kira. Because of this, L was able to come up with a plan to capture the guy and reveal his method of killing.
Good: Ah, Finally the Yotsuba-arc stops playing around and this series turns interesting again.
Bad: L’s obsession with sweets is turning more ridiculous with every episode; Good Light still remains annoying.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 8.5/10

Ah, I’ve been waiting for this. Death Note has been getting worse with every episode progressing, I almost gave up on this. Luckily this episode fixes a lot of things when it stops with the out-of-place comedy and finally brings some kind of climax. The second half of the episode was awesome, due to the high stress it puts on Higuchi. Not only that, if the plan actually works, L will actually be able to figure out the secret behind the Death Note.

The first half was decent, though. It featured a bit out-of-place animation at times, and quite frankly I’m beginning to get a bit sick of L’s obsession with sweets. He isn’t Blossom, you know? The way Watari brought in sweets like a butler as if he’s got nothing else to do really was ridiculous. I liked when this was still rather subtle, like the first time the police officers met with L, and he put an unusually large amount of sugar lumps in his coffee.

Still, I’m glad to say that the other members of the Yotsuba-arc finally turned a bit interesting, when three of them showed that they’d actually wish to get rid of Kira as well. Misa had a small role, so her usual annoying blabbering also was pretty much absent from this episode. Overall, it’s a very good episode, and I’m really hoping that this episode marked the end of Death Note, trying to make fun of itself. Still, that climax was definitely worth watching.

One final note about Light: he made a mistake this time. This just shows how much the Death Note changed him. After all, when he made the call, his life wasn’t really in danger. The guy basically doesn’t have to fear for his life at this point. That very much was a different case when he still was Kira, when he came up with some crazy plans, in order not to get caught. It’s the basics of human nature, when something very important is at stake (especially your life), you start to unconsciously perform better. At least, if you manage to keep your head cool ;)

Okay, I just finished Lunar’s wave of new Ayakashi Ayashi, and I know I’m not blogging it, but I just had to say something about this series. While I originally thought that this would be just another shounen-fighting series, it has pleasantly surprised me on so many levels. First of all, its characters. It comes with a wide variety of characters, some of them had some kind of problem, worry, which has something to do with their history and the way they grew up.

The great thing is that these problems and worries really are different from what you usually see in anime. Never have I seen an anime which put so many emphasis on longing for another place, or different faces of yourself. Not only that, but Ayakashi Ayashi combines this with some very complex storytelling. It’s based on arcs of two or three episodes, but somehow these small arcs end in great multi-layered conclusions.

Another thing which makes this anime stand out is its huge roots in Japanese history. Bakumatsu Kikansetsu Irohanihoheto may have a lot of historical references, that series is nothing compared to Ayakashi Ayashi. While Bakumatsu looks at history from a higher-up’s perspective, Ayakashi takes this a step further when it shows the story from the perspective of people with a low to medium status, and it does this with great detail. For example, I’ve seen my share of anime which involved a brothel, but never did I see it this detailed as in Ayakashi Ayashi.

It’s too bad, though. This is an excellent series, it’s got great storytelling, but the fact remains that it’s hard to understand. Because of this, it’ll never be really popular. And still this series has been scheduled to air at the prime-time date of anime, the former place of popular series as Blood+, Gundam Seed Destiny and even Full Metal Alchemist. The result: it got cut down from 52 episodes to 26. -_-

I’m actually wondering how this will take out. There’s no doubt that there will be rushed parts, but it’ll be interesting to see if the creators actually managed to pull this off right. The results are noticeable even now, though. The past five episodes have had a sudden increase in comedy, and Saizou often turns into chibi-mode when she’s astounded. Often by Atl’s new found relationship. So far, especially the comedic note has done the series good, the creators actually knew when to use it, and when to keep serious.