Now this is more like it. I’m not a big fan of the new and angsty Ken, but he does spice up things a bit if he continues to develop like that (which is very likely, considering the nature of this series). This episode pushes the plot forward again, and I’m glad to see that some actual meaningful villains appear, rather than those goons of the previous episode.

It also seems that the supernatural research for the past world war is going to play a big theme in the rest of this series. In this episode, a doll, carrying Nijuu Mensou’s pendant appears in front of Chiko. In the meantime, Chiko’s aunt is still trying to poison and kill her (if I understood correctly, Chiko faints in this episode due to the poison that she was fed). Tome and Chiko also get a lot closer together in this episode.

The next episode is going to be the halfway-point of this series, so I hope that that one will give a few more hints as to where this series seems to be going. There are a lot of storylines going on, but no goals, apart from finding Nijuu Mensou. I want to know why the creators bothered to forcefully introduce such a supernatural element in this series, and what difference it would have made if they were just excluded.

Hoshi no Umi no Amuri

Well… it certainly is original. I’m really not sure what to think about this series. It’s definitely better than I expected: I expected another one of those cheap fanservice OVAs like Koharu Biyori or Ryofuko-chan, and what I got was… well… I’m not even sure what I got. The best thing to compare this series with is a very strange acid-trip that’s gotten way out of hand. Throughout the 30 minutes of airtime, the creators toss all kinds of flashy graphics at your face, they literally bounce from one strange thing to another (including what’s probably the most bizarre parody of Dragon Ball Z EVER). I’m still not sure what the point of the plot was supposed to be, but I guess that this is one of those anime as art OVAS. I must say that I admire the creativity, but the huge wtf-factor of Hoshi no Umi no Amuri DOES REMAIN.

Candy Boy

Oh my god, I am SO late with this anime. It’s good to see another yuri-series again, they’ve been painfully absent since El Cazador and Blue Drop. Candy Boy is another one of those very short series (episodes are only 12 minutes long and there seem to be only 7 episodes in total…), but it’s focused and rather charming, especially when the two main characters are together. There’s a very annoying side-character, though. Whenever she pops up, she breaks the flow of this series with her endless rambling. I feel that Candy Boy could have been better if it just left out this character, especially considering the length.

Chocolate Underground

This is one of those “What if”-series. It asks the question: what if the government massively banned all sorts of chocolate. It does make sense in a strange kind of way. Kids these days keep getting fatter due to lazy parents and the overabundance of sweets, so it would be interesting to see what would happen… but that giant robot really came from nowhere. With five minutes per episode, this series also is criminally short, so I wonder whether it’ll really be able to go into the depths of its topic. Still, it’s fun to watch (especially seeing those government people tease the hell out of these children).

Gosenzosama Banbanzai

Yeah, I know that this ova is already two decades old, but I just had to mention it. Liam recommended it to me, and after watching it, I have to agree that this one’s brilliant! I think the only thing you need to know about it is that it’s basically Mamoru Oshii’s attempt at comedy. Despite its age, this OVA was still a breath of fresh air. If you liked Mamoru’s work on Twilight Q, then you’ll love Gosenzosama. The entire thing feels like it’s being performed inside a theatre, rather than a cinema. Combined with a smashing soundtrack from Kawai Kenji, Gosenzosama is an excellent recommendation if you’re looking for an OVA that’s something different.

Ikkitousen - Great Guardians

There’s a fine line between a bit of innocent fanservice here and there and tasteless fanservice meant to milk money from otaku. Ikkitousen crossed this line and then kept going for forty more miles before it realized the concept of “brakes”. I admit, the soundtrack has some good tracks among it and the story about the Chinese mythology is at least interesting enough, but the characters ruin any trace of potential in this series. Scenarios are written way too obvious, the yuri lacks a lot of subtlety and ends up as just plain old fanboy-bait, and I’ve lost count as to how much time I wanted to punch Hakufu, her mother, the blue-haired girl, etc etc in the face for being so god damn annoying. I’m not a big fan of fanservice, but if it has to be included, it should be inserted into the story, not the other way around. What surprises me the most is the huge amount of fansubs this series is getting: six groups have already released the first episode after it aired. I mean, what?!

Telepathy Shoujo Ran

The first thing that catches attention is the unusual art style: there’s a stark contrast between the very simple character-designs and the rich and colourful background art, and the result works pretty well. Overall, I must say I’m impressed so far. This series is like a cross between Kamichu and Kaze no Shoujo Emily: it’s got the heart-warming slice-of-life feel of the former, and this episode already showed the powerful drama of the latter. Especially the slice-of-life parts in this episode were really nicely done, and they’ll probably form a good base for this series to work with. I did fear a bit when this series suddenly introduced the pretty transfer-student (a way too overused cliché, IMO), but I’m glad to see that this isn’t one of these series where the powers of the main characters are kept secret.