Okay, I know I had my doubts about the past few episodes. I know that they somehow didn’t feel right, and I know that I felt a bit disappointed by them.

With this episode, I take all of that back. Seriously, it was an amazing one, and the exact reason why I’m such a fan of mystery-series. It’s not the revelations that make them great, it’s how the storyline uses the questions as effectively as possible.

This episode basically has three major storylines. The first one is Haraken’s. In exchange for the access-code for the Sacchis, Isako has to show him how to get to the cyber-world, though Haraken gets carried away, and when he sees a giant keyhole like in the pictures, he just enters it without thinking. A girl looking like Kanna is in there, though Yasako manages to get him back before it’s too late. His cyber-body and real body may have separated a bit, he manages to fix it. Later, Tamako punishes him for giving the Sacchi-access-code, and takes away his glasses.

The second storyline that gets developed is Isako’s. The person she was in contact with turns out to be Nekome, of all people. It seems that he joined Tamako in order to provide coverage for her, and make Isako be able to do what she wants. I wonder what’s in it for him, though. Why is he so interested in getting 4423 back? Or is he just using Isako to get valuable information? We also see him confirm that it’s going to take a while longer to get the guy back, and I’d almost think that he’s manipulating her.

But the thing I really loved was the third storyline: Kyoko gets taken to “the other side”! I have no idea why, but right after Isako tried to open a gate to the cyber-world, whit fog started appearing, and now that same illegal that we saw gobbling up 4423 took Kyoko’s cyber-body away. It’s not sure whether she’ll be away for good (we’ll see that in the next episode), but this has so much potential.

I also wonder… why Kyoko of all people? Why now, of all times? (perhaps Isako’s opening of the gate made the Illegals from there able to enter the human world?) I remember that Wao once said that there was a possibility that the humanoid illegal was Yasako’s grandfather, and it’s starting to look more likely. After all, I can imagine the guy to be longing to see his granddaughter. I can imagine that both Kanna and 4423 were taken away because they got too close to this illegal for their own good.

The question also remains: if Kanna’s and 4423’s spirit really are with the humanoid illegal, how come they haven’t attempted to escape? Do they still have the same personalities? And if they were somehow able to return, would they be completely all-right?

Kaze no Shoujo Emily, or Emily of the New Moon as its English title, is the third of what I’d like to call the “big three” of the spring-season 2007, along with Toward the Terra and Bokura no. These three form the cream of the crop of the series that have been released for the past half year, perhaps even for the past year.

The problem is, though that there’s a good chance that many people haven’t even heard of this series. It’s a sad thing, but in addition to being one of the best series of the season, it’s also one of the most neglected ones. Seriously, only the kiddie-shows like Bakugan Battle Brawlers have gotten less coverage than this one. I’ve often said that popularity is no way to determine the quality of an anime, and Kaze no Shoujo Emily is the perfect example of this.

The biggest problem with this is probably the fact that this is a Shoujo-series. I have no idea why, but the fansubbers have always tended to neglect the Shoujo-series. Only half of them ever gets subbed, while there are some true gems among the genre, beyond this series as well.

Okay, enough blabber, what about the content of this series? Well, it consists out of standalone episodes that tell the story of Emily Byrd Starr, a eleven-year-old girl who lives in Canada, about a century ago, and her three friends Perry Miller, Teddy Kent and Ilse Barnley. It’s loosely based on the life of Lucy Maud Montgomery, who wrote it and who some might recognize as the author of Anne of Green Gables.

The series is basically a slice-of-life series with lots and lots of drama, and this formula turns out to work so well. Emily is a wonderful character; she differs from the usual Shoujo-lead by acting rude and energetic. She longs to be a writer someday, and she often fantasizes in her own world in an extremely poetic mood, and this personality of her often clashes with those of others, resulting in some amazing dramatic climaxes.

The side-characters of Perry, Teddy and Ilse provide wonderful support for it. They’ve all got their own story as well, and throughout the series, we can see the four of them clash, grow and interact. A major theme of the series is living towards your dreams, and some of the episodes are just incredibly inspirational.

One of the things I loved about this series is how it’s so delightfully consistent. There are maybe four or five lesser episodes, but apart from that, you just know that nearly every episode you’ll watch will leave you with a heart-warming feeling, unlike many other anime, which often need episodes for introductions and aftermaths.

When this already is quite amazing, this series turns even better once the characters actually start growing up. The majority of the series shows Emily as an eleven-year-old girl, but starting with episode 20, we actually see her time in high-school, and the final episodes show the major events of the last years of her youth, ending with Emily being around twenty. During this, this series becomes a real tear-jerker, delivering one awesome episode after the other.

The character-designs will take a bit to get used to, though. Emily is drawn in a really shoujo way, and it’s hard to not label this series as some kiddie-series (trust me, it’s not). The colours used in both the backgrounds and the character-designs are bright and colourful, though the production-values are quite high, and this series ends up looking beautiful, as soon as you get used to it. The soundtrack also consists out of a collection of beautiful classical tunes, which strengthen the series even more.

Overall, if there ever was a series that deserves to get subbed, it’d be this one. Not only does it deliver memorable characters, it’s also a valuable chance to see anime tackle the Canadian culture of a century ago, and I must say that it does a pretty good job. The differences between the Japanese culture are definitely there, probably influenced by the books of Lucy Maud Montgomery. If you ever have the chance to watch this series, I recommend you to take it, unless you really need action.

Yup, the dramatic climax of the series was with the previous episode. This episode closes off her story, with the final important events of her childhood: a small accident of Elizabeth, her first book and of course her marriage with Teddy, which formed the highlight of this episode. While it wasn’t as downright awesome as the previous episode, and while other series have had endings that felt better than this one, it still was satisfying enough as an end.

And Lorna (or however you spell her name) also deserves credit in this episode. I remember noting how she should get some more development, right before Emily went to Ruth to study, and that’s exactly what she got. It seems that the two of them haven’t been interacting too much ever since Emily came back, but with Emly’s new book, the rivalry between the two of them finally disappeared. They looked so awesome during Emily’s wedding. Even though things looked pretty hopeless only a few episodes ago, I must say that this episode shows yet another side of this: if people say goodbye to each other, it doesn’t mean goodbye forever.

Ah well, it’s finally time to say goodbye to this wonderful series. Let’s just hope that a generous person with enough Japanese skills will come one day and sub this series, beyond the first two episodes. I know it’s false hope (Sasami Mahou shoujo Club still didn’t get any subs at all, despite its gripping middle part), but seriously, this Kaze no Shoujo Emily is too awesome to be neglected.

The introductions for the upcoming arc are progressing quite nicely, if I have to say so myself. I’m not going to even bother writing a summary, due do my limited Japanese, and the fact remains that Impz is so much better at it.

It looks like the main antagonists of the coming arc are counterfeiters, both with paintings and money. If I had to guess, then Riou isn’t behind it (after all, what would he gain from counterfeiting? It’s not like Shuurei is directly involved in it, so it’s not a good way to get her to where he wants), but I think that it’ll serve a nice purpose of setting the chess-pieces ready for his story.

It’s also a bit awkward to see the comedy back again. The first season of this series was masterful in combining comedy with the main storyline, and it’s getting back again, especially with that new character (I’ll call him Tantan-kun for now, until I can confirm the guy’s name). Though I’m afraid to say it, but Ryuuki’s and Kouyuu’s quirks are starting to get old, especially since they’re mostly used for comic relief. I was hoping that these episodes would focus more on the relationship of Ryuuki and Shuurei, but it really looks like Ryuuki tries to avoid Shuurei at all costs.

Spring 2007 came with many excellent and unique series, and Seirei no Moribito is one of them. Produced by Production IG with extremely solid production-values, this series is a true gem for those, looking for substance.

Let me first start with the following statement: Seirei no Moribito does not have an overall genre. While the first three episodes might suggest that we’re dealing with an action or martial-arts anime, you’ll be proven wrong by the middle part of the series, which takes a more slice-of-life approach. A drama also doesn’t quite cut it because it’s got quite a few light-hearted moments, and while some episodes fall in the adventure-category, other episodes just show characters standing and talking. To be honest, apart from any World Masterpiece Production, I haven’t seen any anime that feels more like a novel than Seirei no Moribito.

The big key behind the success of this anime is the immense amount of detail that went in nearly every department of this series. The animation is truly gorgeous and detailed. Characters move more than necessary, they leave footprints on rough, terrain, random bypassers move realistic. It’s almost as if you were in a Ghibli-movie without all the over-the-top fantasy-elements. And to top things: the fight-coordination is among the best I’ve seen, even though there are only four or five of them in the entire series.

And then the characters. Don’t expect any flat characters here, nearly all of them have complex motives that can’t be described in one or two lines, they can think like normal human beings and some of them are quite smart, development is realistic and yet, as the series nears its conclusion you really begin to feel sympathy for them.

The storyline also finally doesn’t want to create the worst-case scenario in the end. All the plot-twists in the series favour realism over sensation. This series knows how to build up a good base for it, and it doesn’t want to ruin this by excessive amounts of forced drama and plot twists like we saw taken to the extreme in Code Geass. The storyline becomes so incredibly solid because of this, and because it moves relatively slow, it makes sure to put enough time to flesh out both the plotline and the characters to an excellent degree, so that it’s able to finish with an excellent finale that doesn’t feel rushed in any way.

There’s one major problem with this series, though. It may have been a tad too long, and many of the middle episodes, while they serve as a way to flesh out the characters, they also border on filler, and the story doesn’t get anywhere for about seven or eight episodes. It’s series like this one that make you pity that series can’t pick the option to take on the length of 1,5 seasons, as this would have been perfect for this series.

The first half may feel a bit tedious because of this, but everything comes together in the end like a charm. The music also fits this series perfectly and easily deserves a place in my top-3 of best soundtracks of the season. If you like series with lots and LOTS of detail, you should definitely check out this series, though you need patience to be able to enjoy it.

In the middle of this season, I didn’t think that the current Spring Season of 2007 could live up to the awesomeness of the previous Spring Season of 2006, but now that nearly all of the major series have finished apart from Kaze no Shoujo Emily and Dennou Coil, my mind has changed. The major difference in both seasons is that while most series of spring 2006 had their highlight in the middle of their run, the shows of the current season all have their final episodes as their highlights.

It’s awesome to see a season with so many quality endings. Usually, I’m extremely picky about them, but in one week, El Cazador, Bokura no, Ooedo Rocket and Seirei no Moribito all managed to provide a satisfying closure that left absolutely no bad taste in my mouth. While in terms of individual episodes, none of them really became as good as one of my favourite episodes of all time (Simoun 16), the better series of this season were much more consistent and thought-out when compared to Spring last year (Tsubasa Chronicle, the first season of Higurashi, xxxHolic and The Third all were awesome in their own way, but they did have pacing issues). Overall, Spring 2007 will go down for me as one of the top-tier seasons I’ve seen, ever since I started actively following the latest anime (which is since Summer 2005).

The current episode provides an excellent closure for Seirei no Moribito, where Chaggumu and Barsa say goodbye. There’s nothing much to say, apart from that the sentimental and nostalgic values were immense. At this point, enough room has been left for a second season, and yet it’s perfectly fine to end the series at that point as well. I guess it’s only a matter of waiting before we find out.