Short Synopsis: A Jean-episode. Will he really be able to give Cosette happiness with Javert after his head?
Good: The second half was as touching as usual.
Bad: The first half was rather quiet.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 8,5/10

This episode was really meant to develop Jean some more. While Javert is searching all the roads leading to Paris, he and Cosette have taken a detour to a small city with a huge church, from which he plan to go to Paris. And this is the point where he starts to have his doubts. He’s got the police after him, so he’ll have to continue to hide for a long while. That’s not exactly the safest assurance of Cosette’s happiness, now is it? The first part of the episode mainly builds up for this.

Then the second, and far more enjoyable half comes, and shows that Jean may be worrying a bit too much, as he loses sight of Cosette when he desperately tries to find a guy from Montreil-sur-Mer, who can take care of her. That results in some very touching scenes, by the way. Cosette was so sad (I loved how she took off her shoes after so much walking). The policeman was also quite interesting, right before he reveal why he’s been following Cosette, I realized it as well. He never realized Jean was a fugitive, so Jean’s worries weren’t necessary. But then again, the possibility of the policeman recognizing him also exists. I’ll be looking forward to seeing how he’s going to solve this.

And we now turn to more of the latecomers of the season, but overall, they turned out rubbish. Especially Kaze no Stigma and Kaibutsu Oujo should be avoided. And why the heck did Kaze no Stigma get subbed so soon, while a much better series like Kaze no Shoujo gets no attention from them at all?

Kaze no Stigma

Short Synopsis: Kazuma has been kicked out of the fire-clan because he sucked at throwing fireballs at people. Now, three years later, he’s back with wind-powers to prove the meanies from the fire-clan wrong.
Good: Interesting, this anime already starts off by killing its major characters
Bad: Someone please teach the writer the basics of human nature.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 4/10
Ever since I saw the plain and ordinary character-art, I sortof feared that this anime would never become good, and this episode indeed proved my fears. The bad points also don’t limit themselves to the bad character-designs, either. Most notably is the hugely unbelievable behavior of the characters. The girl’s comrades have just been killed by the main male lead, and what does the girl do? She acts as if he just insulted her. She never even looks back at her former friends who just died, and instead she shows the behaviour of a standard tsundere. Sorry, but with a start like that, I don’t feel like checking out more of this series… Oh, and grown-up guys throwing fireballs at each other definitely isn’t cool. Heck, the entire episode made it look like there was not thought whatsoever put behind the concept.

Ookiku Furikabutte

Short Synopsis: A not-so-typical loser gets assigned as the pitcher of a local baseball team.
Good: Surprisingly down-to-earth.
Bad: The main character does remain a looser, and I’m fearing for the girl we kept seeing flashes of.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 7/10
Like Kaze no Stigma, I never had big expectations of this, especially after the horribly boring Overdrive. But what do you know, this sports anime actually turned out interesting. First of all, we finally have a loser who doesn’t suddenly get introduced to Baseball, so that he can become the best baseball player ever. This episode also hinted at tactics, rather than raw power like most sports anime tend to dabble into (or so I’ve heard). We’ve also got quite an interesting cast, like the orange-squishing trainer, the very shy main character (probably one of the shyest characters I’ve seen thus far), and the other new guy. Even the girl who watched from the side-lines was quite funny, though I fear her becoming a main character.

Kaibutsu Oujo

Short Synopsis: A typical loser gets to live together with a bunch of supernatural beings, who quite conveniently all end up being cute girls.
Good: Thankfully, the ALI project didn’t turn this into a complete failure after all.
Bad: So…many….stereotypes…
Overall Enjoyment Value: 3/10
I couldn’t help but compare this series to Murder Princess, both feature a blonde princess who likes to kill others. I do have to say, though, that Murder Princess is infinitely better than the rubbish that this series tried to present. First of all, ignoring the clichés for a moment, the main character’s sister has invited her brother to come live with her. Why the heck doesn’t se get worried when he doesn’t show up? Why doesn’t she call the guy’s cell-phone to ask what happened to him. Sure, okay, she’s just a completely stupid and irresponsible girl, okay. I can forgive that. What I can’t forgive, though, is the hospital-people who don’t even notify the guy’s family-members after he died, for goodness’ sake! Now, if you add the clichés to that (big-breasted sister in maid-clothes, cold princess, small uberpowerful girl who keeps beating up the main character, a typical loser male who has been pasted right from another random harem-anime, the metal bar who chose just the right timing to fall down on the princess, and of course the fact that this princess just can’t let the guy die and I can ramble on forever like this) the result becomes nothing other than garbage.

Short Synopsis: Thaegan’s thirteen children come to take revenge for their mother; afterwards, Lief, Barda and Jasmine run into Tom’s shop.
Good: What the heck were the shopkeeper’s intentions?
Bad: Lief and Barda may have been a bit too gullible, but still: what the heck were the shopkeeper’s intentions?!
Overall Enjoyment Value: 8/10

I was secretly hoping for Shining Tears X Wind to be a bit like Deltora Quest, but unfortunately it decided to prefer fanservice and unexplained events above cleverly thought-out stories. I guess that Deltora Quest wll remain my main fantasy-adventure-fix for this season. It’s such a pity that I’m probably the only blogger who’s still watching this, as the series is quite good, and not at all like an all-fighting shounen anime.

Lots of things also happen in this episode. The scene of Thaegan’s children, beating each other up was quite intense, and good as well. For the first few episodes in this, I had my doubts, but this series has proved to feature some great climaxes. The second part of the episode also first seemed to be another trap Lief and Barda just walked in unsuspectingly, but I just can’t help but wondering what those intentions of the shopkeeper were. At first sight, he’s out to make a quick buck, but he does provide a couple of useful supplies, including horse-like creatures. And he does warn them of dangerous roads. But then again, he probably knew they wouldn’t listen to his advice. But on the other side, a serious-looking guy did buy the strange-looking rope without ever questioning him. Hrmm….

It’s also quite interesting that Thaegan’s children still don’t know that their mother has been brought back to life. I also wonder if they’re really dead now. I suspect not, due to one of the general rules of anime (which says, unless you actually see a character die, and it’s confirmed he’s really dead, he lives). Oh, and I’m glad to see that the music still is as awesome as ever

Short Synopsis: Myu are those, gifted with special powers. They’re shunned by society, and Jomi happens to be one of them.
Good: Despite his brattiness, I like Jomi.
Bad: He does have annoying points, though.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 7.5/10

For Saturdays, I also planned to blog Shining Tears X Wind, but the second episode just lapsed painfully into clichés and fanservice. I’m not sure if another show is going to take its place, I’ll decide after watching the third episode of the shows with potential. Towards the Terra, on the other hand, is proving to be quite interesting. This was another one of those episodes which served as explaining the current situation.

So, with the help of Wrex’s summaries (he doesn’t seem to like the show that much, though), I managed to find out the following. The Myu are a special kind of human being. I’m not yet sure if it just appears on random humans, but the fact remains that Jomi is one of them. His parents looked like perfectly normal people, so I guess this is true. In the current society, the Myu are shunned. Probably out of fear for their powers, and they hide in a large space-ship in the clouds. If I had to guess, then they’re planning to return to earth.

The powers of the Myu are quite diverse. Most involve telepathy, though. Leo, for example, can’t talk, and has to use his thoughts to speak to others. Blue can travel through machines and virtual reality at will (or so it seems), and I suspect that Jomi has a power that will greatly work in the advantage of the Myu, we just haven’t seen it yet. The Myu also have really weak bodies, as a fight between Jomi and one of them showed. The guy was out-cold after just one punch.

Speaking of Jomi, he spends the entire episode rather causing havoc and yelling at every Myu he meets. While it was annoying, I do admit that it’s better than him agreeing with their plans immediately, after having been taken against his will, with his whole future he had in mind ruined. It’s probably a very natural reaction for him. I did like how Blue attempted to solve the problem of Jomi’s behaviour, as it’ll be very interesting to see Jomi see his parents again. After all, he’s probably got no future whatsoever, and I think that everyone in his former surroundings now knows that the guy is one of the Myu.