Short Synopsis: Thaegan shows herself, and the lake shows to have more depth than originally assumed.
Good: Short but sweet. Just how I like it. :)
Bad: Seeing Thaegan get revived in the end was a tad disappointing
Overall Enjoyment Value: 8/10

Ah, this definitely was a great episode. I’m surprised but it seems that each arc will indeed be about three or four episodes long. Perfect for keeping up a steady pacing without getting dull or boring. The battles against Sorudeiin and Thaegan also were great. Instead of huge powers clashing, this episode is more about their characters than their powers. I loved the role of the flute for both of them. For Sorudeiin, it had a soothing effect, while for Thaegan it had an annoying effect.

It’s great to see that Deltora Quest puts many rules and twists inside the different items and characters. It’s great to play with these rules, if they’re creative enough. My only problem is the convenient full moon, and the effect this has on the Topaz which was revealed a tad too late. Still, it’s quite surprising that the people who have been abducted by Thaegan were actually turned into Sorudeiin, the statue and the fish inside the lake.

I loved Thaegan’s first death. I suspect that she’s going to play a big role as a mid-boss. I’d love to see some background from her side. I’m also curious about the next country that will be travelled to.

These are some of the major moe-shows for this season. Why is this genre so popular anyways?

Hayate The Combat Butler

Short Synopsis: A typical loser gets to be the butler of a rich girl.
Good: Hayate’s parents.
Bad: Oh god, where to begin? Ugly character-designs, thinks its funny but actually is horribly dull and much, much more.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 3/10
Ow, the pain. I knew that this series was going to be bad, but at least it was labelled as a comedy, so I would get a few laughs from it. At least, that’s what I thought. This anime just isn’t funny. Apart from that, we’ve got your usual loser who runs into a beautiful girl who quite conveniently happens to be rich and in need of a butler for no reason at all. He’s also got some inhumane powers, especially for someone of his age. Events are forced, don’t make sense or are just way too cheesy to be true. The only moderately interesting parts were Hayate’s parents. I’d love to see what drove them to neglect their child so much, but there is no way that this anime is going to focus on that. Avoid this one at all costs!

Seto no Hanayome

Short Synopsis: A typical loser gets to marry a mermaid. (Start to notice a pattern?)
Good: The Mafia-boss, concept seems to have potential.
Bad: The main character, appears to be trying too hard.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 6/10
Lots of people have been anticipating this, but I’ve yet to be impressed. The first episode so far was decent, but the fact does remain that the OP was the funniest sequence of the 24 minutes of airtime (seeing Mafia-bosses play in a band looked great :)). The rest of the episode basically consisted of the mafia-boss screaming, the main character freaking out, and the mermaid getting impressed over him. Like I mentioned above, it seemed to be trying too hard. But then again, Muteki Kanbanmusume also started off with one of its weakest episodes, so I’ll at least watch the next episode before dropping. But with a season with so many potentially good series, I’ll probably end up dropping this. I’ve also got lots of issues about the main character. Not only is he your typical loser, his character-design also looks rather ugly (luckily he’s the only character in this anime, as compared to Hayate the Combat Butler) and he’s rather annoying as well.

Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS

Short Synopsis: Ten years after A’s, we see two new (hopefully not main) characters… show their skills in a test-mission.
Good: Good to see this back.
Bad: A bit too much action and a bit too little characters.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 7/10
This one probably is the most hyped show of the season. Still, I’ve been looking forward to it myself. The original two series had some great character-studies, which is what I’m expecting from StrikerS as well. So far, the first episode hasn’t impressed me yet, but that was to be expected. Nanoha never was great in its first or last episodes. The episode focuses on two new recruits. So far, they’ve got the potential to be interesting, though I do hope that Fate will get off of her chair at one time. Her character-design looks a bit off, by the way. I also didn’t quite like Nanoha, this episode made her look like some kind of superhero, instead of a compassionate character. One final remark: why do all these new recruits have to be women? The first two seasons showed that the space-time agency also employs a fair amount of males. While it does give potential for cheesy romance, this series has proved before that it can handle a mixed cast, instead of an all-woman one.