Short Synopsis: Yuzuki’s past.
Episode Rating: 8.5/10 (Awesome)
Muaha, this episode obviously was meant to explain how Yuzuki died, and it did a great job at it. while extremely exaggerated of course, this episode also featured the problems that single moms face, and oh my god that small version of Yuzuki was cute. The most disturbing thing of this episode wasn’t the death of her parents, but rather how she ended up dealing with it, burying her mother under cherry blossom leaves in the end and simply falling asleep alongside her teddybear.

And yeah, at the end of this episode the inevitable happens: Ai disappears and Yuzuki becomes Jigoku Shoujo. In the end, it was Ai’s knowledge that Yuzuki’s ghost hated modern day society that made her so confident that Yuzuki would be a worthy successor of hers, but at the same time she’d better not be gone forever!

And of course the next episode is going to feature the scene we’ve all been waiting for: that bloody spider. since this series has gone exactly according to Ai’s plans, I really wonder what that total bastard is going to do this time.

This is just pure speculation at this point, since it’s a total mystery what that next episode is going to be, but I’ve got a hunch that the creators still aren’t finished with this series. Think about it: there is one character who hasn’t received any background at all: Kikuri. Something’s telling me that the entire third season was just one big build-up for that possible fourth season, which is going to put Yuzuki and Kikuri against each other. I mean seriously, with a series so focused on build-up, there has to be some sort of meaning between Kikuri’s constant “I’m going to be the next Jigoku Shoujo!”, and there’s no way that that’s going to be able to be resolved in just one episode. But let’s not count chickens before they hatch. First we need to wait for that fourth season to actually get announced… that might take a while.

The first season of Birdy the Mighty Decode was a pretty good series that unfortunately got held back by its own formula and never really hit any heights, and especially the male lead Senkawa caused quite some annoyances. Then the second season came, and surpassed it in just about every aspect. I’m not exaggerating here: the second season managed to take a good series and made it utterly incredible.

To begin with, those who were turned off by the annoying teenaged romance in the first season are going to be delighted, as Senkawa plays a much smaller part in the series and his romance is now something of the past. Instead, it’s time for the female lead (Birdy) to have her taste a bit of romance and it’s so much more memorable. What also surprised me was that the plot of the second season takes place on a much smaller scale: instead of trying to save the world from some sort of evil, the second season instead is about the past of the characters, and revenge for what happened in it. The amazing cast of characters turns this into an incredibly emotional story.

But through all the drama, what’s so special about this series is that it never forgets that this series is taking place inside a world that’s alive, instead of a bunch of places that serve just to tell the story. Even though this is a very dark series, it never forgets to insert some slice of life moments in order to bring this setting to life. Even though Senkawa’s classmates have absolutely nothing to do with the main story, they make countless reappearances as the creators show how they continue to lead their lives after chaos that was caused in the first season. Even in the final episodes, this doesn’t change (compare that to most other similar series, which at that point are too busy saving the world to care about such a thing), and yet the series closes off with an amazing ending.

And the production values! The action series in this series are absolutely stunning. The animation is very messy, but because of that there is lots and lots of movement and even more detail in them. The brutality of the hand to hand combat in this show continues to surprise, as the creators aren’t afraid to show the most graphics deaths and beatings on the screen without any cheap tricks to hide it whatsoever. Combine that with the single best soundtrack of the entire season, and you have a visual feast.

Series like this one really are the reason why I’m still a big fan of anime. This series is utterly incredible in just about everything it does, and it’s an incredible contrast with the first season, which simply looks mediocre in comparison and it’s been without a doubt my favourite show of the past Winter Season.

Short Synopsis: Birdy finally gets the chance to bring Natoru back to earth.
Episode Rating: 9/10 (fantastic)
What an utterly incredible episode. I’ve seen a lot of disappointing endings this season so far, but this one did EXACTLY what it promised, with some of the most amazing results. What a ride. And what a huge shame that this incredible series is already over.

And seriously, this episode had some of the best fights I have seen in a long, long while, showing that Kazuki Akane has in no way lost his touch since Noein. It’s been a very long time since I’ve seen animation that was this good; even Bonen no Xamdou’s final episodes feel inferior compared to it. Unlike Shikabane Hime, which promised a huge ending and instead got resolved within five minutes, this episode made optimal use of its time, and yet nearly everything got resolved, and the things that haven’t been resolved (Natoru’s past) are being saved for the OVA.

This show seriously has set such a high standard for the rest of the year, and it’s been an amazing ride from start to finish, and I loved how even at the final episodes, it never forgot that Senkawa’s classmates also are supposed to have a life (something that many other series seem to forget at this point). Some of the most touching scenes in this episodes included those parts about the presentation that the series has also been building up for.

This series has really confirmed how Kazuki Akane is my single favourite director. His works of Escaflowne, Noein and Birdy the Mighty have been utterly incredible, and a true work of genius. I am SO going to watch his next work when it airs in a few years’ time.

The thing I like about the Tales of-games adaptations is that they’re all done by different animation companies with different ideas. This way, the shows remain fresh, and are prevented from getting milked out, since all of them have their own styles now. Tales of the Abyss, while it suffers from some of the major pitfalls of RPG-adaptations, also manages to avoid quite a few of them, and is worth the watch if you’re into fantasy series.

The biggest pitfall it failed to avoid is of course the very questionable power management: teenagers have enough magical powers to save the world compared to adults with much more experience, little girls can control monsters as if it’s nothing, and trained royal guards die as easy as flies. It’s something that’s very hard to avoid in this genre, but it’s still pretty grating.

Thankfully though, the show has enough to make up for this. It really stands out in its character-development, which is pretty much a trademark of the Tales of-games by now. A lot of emphasis is put on internal trust: a lot of the main characters in this series are pretty flawed, and because they all have their own mistakes and secrets, a memorable bond grows between them. Especially the lead character, Luke is notable for this, as even though he may look like it, he’s far away from your typical male lead in such fantasy series. To explain why would be too much of a spoiler, though.

The storyline is also very well done, and impressive for an RPG adaptation. For once the king of an empire can be something different from either a fascistic pig or an incompetent flower-child. The show has plenty of villains, but all of them have at least decent motivations for their actions. The storyline is pretty complex, and no episode is really wasted, and I especially liked how th emagic system in this show has turned into a sort of science. Especially how it affects the world that the characters live in is very detailed and full of imagination.

Near the end of the series, the show does get a bit rushed, though: it wants a bit too much in too little time, and especially the ending of the series just feels too lazy, but apart from that we have ourselves a very good series here. While it never really hit any heights, it’s been a solid and enjoyable series.