Short Synopsis: Rui gets mysteriously transported back to a feudal version of Japan.
Highlights: Nice set-up.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 8/10
Well, so far so good. It’s episode 15 and there’s still no sign of this series getting old. The current arc is also significantly different from anything we’ve seen so far on this series, so this series is definitely heading into the right direction for me. If I recall correctly, the current arc was supposed to be one of the earlier stories in the original novels, but it makes sense to move it more to the back. The characters are now fully fleshed out, and this really is an arc that is meant to develop the characters: Rui for having to solve everything on his own, and Ran for having to worry about Rui, and so getting closer to him.

What striked me was how slow this episode felt, when compared to the previous arcs. It seems to suggest that this will finally be another arc that consists out of three episodes. It’s a nice effect, and it allowed this series to show what it can do with a slow pacing. The exposition was interesting, and this type of story would indeed fit a bit of a slower pacing. After all, otherwise Rui would get reunited with Ran a bit too soon.

It’s a shame that the blood didn’t go through the censors, though. TMS Entertainment showed with Kaze no Shoujo Emily that they’re not afraid of death, but apparently blood is a bit too much. Ah well, at least Yoshihiro Ike got a bit more the chance to show off his magic with some new tracks, and they sound very nice.

Jigoku Shoujo Mitsuganae

Short Synopsis: Our lead character returns for a third season.
Highlights: You can count on Jigoku Shoujo to make a bunch of angsty teenagers work
Overall Enjoyment Value: 8,75/10
Time for some very biased fanboyism! I am SO glad to see more of this, and Mitsuganae promises to be the best season of Jigoku Shoujo yet. This episode wasn’t just an episode that would fit into Futakomori: it would have felt so out of place at that time. The creators are really planning to evolve the show with this season, most importantly in its style of direction. While Futakomori was very solid, the direction of this episode was all over the place. The visual effects were awesome (especially Ai in a Bee-suit immediately beat the teethed toilet). The only sacrifice that had to be made was that the stellar character-designer seems to have left the series, but if the creators were going for a chaotic third season, then I can understand how such a solid character-designer wouldn’t fit the mood. I honestly feel that this episode was just an awesome first episode, and it ranks after Hakaba Kitarou as the best first episode of 2008. Ack, I want more!!!

Shugo Chara Doki

Short Synopsis: Our lead character… doesn’t do anything.
Highlights: Bloody recaps.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 4/10
After this episode, I just have to wonder yet again: is there really no way to transfer some of Shugo Chara’s episodes over to Zombie-Loan? Really, it’s a win-win situation: Zombie Loan gets continued just as its plot and characters really get interesting, and Shugo Chara is relieved from its enormous amounts of fillers. Overall, I think that blogging Shugo Chara was one of the biggest mistakes I made with this blog after blogging Bleach, and this episode, instead of trying to win back my interest ends up recapping the things that MADE ME DROP THIS SERIES IN THE FIRST PLACE. And really, from the few original scenes that were in this episode, it seemed that the only thing the past fifty-two episodes have been doing is introducing new characters. The characters that I knew were exactly the same as when I dropped this series (at about episode 15). Okay, apart from that Nadeshiko finally decided to give in to his real gender. And I do admit, it was nice to see a bit of a kaleidoscope of what I missed in that final quarter, but none of that really impressed me.

Kannagi

Short Synopsis: Our lead character is supposed to be a crazy shrine maiden.
Highlights: Sometimes funny, sometimes dull.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 6/10
Here’s my dilemma: based on my own experiences, 90% of the comedies abide by the following rule: all mediocre comedies start with hilarious first episodes (example: Potemayo), all good comedies start with dull first episodes (example: Gintama) and all bad comedies start with dull first episodes (example: too many to list). Kannagi’s first episode was dull, so it’s going to be either good or bad. I just have no idea which one it’s going to be. This episode showed a few small hints of potential and chemistry, and some jokes were quite funny, although it pretty much went south as soon as it tried to make fanservice-jokes. Based on the OP, this will also turn into a cute idol-show, which also doesn’t seem like the most interesting and original premise. And really, I don’t feel like sitting through a 26-episode bore-fest.