Oh gawd, an actual Christmas episode. For the majority of the first half, I was really laughing at how silly Lag looks with that fake beard and moustache of his. And yet, despite this silly premise this was a heart-warming episode, and the creators really should do more episodes like this. It’s ironic, but this filler was exactly what this series needed.

At least, I assume it’s a filler, because otherwise the timing would have been a bit too perfect. I’m not exactly sure whether I understand this premise of the Christmas of this series correctly, does everyone go around and help little orphan kids or something? In any case, it again showed the rather cruel nature of the world this is set in, in which most kids and orphans are just left to their fate, to take care of themselves. Often shunned. I’m not exactly sure where they get their money from, though.

In any case, the girl was heart-warming in the way that she still kept living her life, despite having lost her parents. A very nice episode overall and while Zazie’s little bit of development may have been a bit cheesy, it still was pretty nice in the end.
Rating: * (Good)

Now THIS really is this series at its best: a great sense of humour, a very fine selection of references to past episodes, it continues fleshing out this series’ themes in a rather clever way, and it actually has a really good story with a great main character this time. It’s really here where this show makes use of its formula that it’s built up over the past few episodes, and gives it a very interesting and creative twist.

It’s interesting how in this episode, the lead character didn’t turn into an animal. Or to be more specific: he didn’t need to be turned into an animal because he already had taken on a strange form: that of his 30-year-old self. Throughout the entire episode, we just see this version of him. There are quite a few points at which things don’t really make much sense this way: how can such a young person be president of a country, why does he have flashbacks of the construction of Tokyo Tower and why is Irabu suggesting retirement to him at that kind of age…?

It was definitely a nice twist, and out of all the Kuchuu Buranko lead characters, the personality of this guy ranges among the most colourful. With him, you can really see his development in a way that isn’t superficial, cheesy or rushed, but it’s really genuine.

And I’m actually pretty curious to see what the creators have planned for that final episode. Especially with this kind of a series, you can really put anything there. Considering that it airs at Christmas Eve in Japan, not to mention that the creators have been dropping countless of Christmas hints for the past few episodes, I really can see them doing a Christmas-themed ending. Pretty heart-warming for the holidays, if this turns out to be true.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

So this is it: the moment where this series doesn’t just need to show off the build-up of the previous episodes paying off, but the creators also need to show that even when shifting the focus to the war between countries, instead of raising beasts, it can deliver. And you know what, it actually did.

The big question-mark here of course was Damya: would such a stereotypically evil person really be able to pull off a good villain during this show’s climax? Well, he didn’t really get much depth in this episode either, but his betrayal to the queen, his plans to use the Touda army to crush the duke’s army even after Seimiya’s surrender and his constant evil presence did great preparations to the real point of this episode: the decision that Erin had to make: resent war in every way possible and never use Lilan to fight, or take up the role that was given to her, and making use of the power that she controls, even though the potential for a complete disaster is oh so great.

And that’s really what made this episode work and tied this arc in with the rest of the series. I must say, that the build-up during the past episodes has been really great, and seeing it actually pay off makes it even better. I suppose that it would have been even better if the villain was fleshed out a bit more, but ah well. This is a series about Erin. Not the country. The politics in this series were interesting, but they were always inferior to Erin and her struggles into better understanding beasts like Lilan. For a series that’s purely about politics, there’s always Tytania anyway.

Now: that final episode. I can sort-of guess what’s going to happen, so it’s all going to come down to execution. I really hope that the creators are going to be able to use this episode to create a great ending.
Rating: ** (Excellent)

Whoa! Shadow! Spoilers ahead! Do not read if you didn’t watch this episode yet!

I was already told that Pride’s identity would be the biggest spoiler of the series, that we’ve already seen his human form. Because of that, I occasionally imagined who the hell he could be, but who it eventually turned out to be… I never considered that option. I really thought that it was going to be some sort of obscure adult.

There still are a lot of questions remained about why the son of Bradley of all people turned out to be Pride. Out of all the disguises, that has to be one of hardest to keep up. The people around him (maids, et cetera) should all be aware that something is wrong with a kid after a few years. I especially wonder how long Pride has been playing for Bradley’s son anyway: if he doesn’t age, then there are bound to be people who find it strange what’s happening to this kid, and why he refuses to grow up.

One theory is that he can take up multiple forms, and only recently decided to play for Wrath’s son, because Father’s plan is about to come to fruition. In this episode we’re shown that Kimbley wasn’t just set out to catch Scar, but also to instigate the final massacre at Briggs. And finally I’ve gotten my respect for Winry: she finally ends up doing something relevant, and I admire her courage in this episode despite finding out that she’s basically a hostage.

With this, I can see the big lines of the plot that’s currently still left: protect Briggs, go after Father, and in the meantime provide adequate background for all of the important characters. Sounds promising!
Rating: ** (Excellent)

This is a question for my Japanese readers, but it’s something I’ve been wondering for ages: is it customary for Japanese High Schools to plant at least one sakura tree near the entrance or something? Or is this just one really big stereotype that you only see in anime? Seriously though, I can hardly recall any high school in anime that doesn’t have those pink petals flying around when spring hits..

Setting that aside though, the past episodes of Cross Game have been nothing but goodness. This episode yet again had a wonderful slice of life feeling to it, as the new school year starts and Kou has finally moved into his final year of high school. Oh, I wish that the upcoming baseball tournament would never come.

This episode was all about Kou dating Akane, and Azuma hanging out with Aoba. It’s quite charming in the way that this series develops its love triangles: it’s done with the same subtlety as ever. And I’m someone who usually hates love triangles with passion. In Cross Game, they’re nowhere near as whiny nor do they have any intention to take over the series and destroy its real focuses. In this series, it’s very refreshing to see that potential couples don’t immediately get incredibly angsty once their loved ones are hanging out with another member of the opposite sex.
Rating: ** (Excellent)