So, according to Hinano this episode is supposed to be a filler. Still, I liked it a lot more than the previous episode, which seems to have come from the manga. The storytelling for the case of this episode (a guy who loves playing soccer, but isn’t the best at it) was way better than the messed-up stewardess that attacked with bad Engrish.

Sure, the thing was still as predictable as ever, but it’s not like Shugo Chara has been known for its dramatic twists. This actually makes me hope that the director is going to go for his own storyline, as the previous episode did show that he’s got some troubles with trying to convert the manga-format in anime. This episode also convinced me that the best things about this series are the Chara-changes. It’s hilarious to see the characters act beyond their defined characters in a totally outrageous way.

Then there’s also the matter of the heavy Utena-influences. I hope that the creators did realize that the thing that Made Utena great is how it developed its elegant characters, and not the fact that it had elegant characters in the first place. :P The best example would be Hotari’s admirer and the strange old tv-presenter-woman. It’s very unlikely that the creators will go for it, but it would be awesome if the two of them actually get their own piece of development at some point during the anime, which will make them more than just stereotypes.

Hmm, this episode wasn’t as fun as the previous ones. It also alerted me of one major flaw in this series: why the heck is Amu the only one who can transform?! In this episode, we saw another kid’s evil egg hatching, though Amu is the only one who tries to stop it, despite the fact that the student council has many chances to do so before she gets there. Why didn’t they transform to their powerful form, just like Amu does?

This episode also introduces the main villain for this series, who cleverly disguises himself as a clumsy teacher, in order to get as much access to down-hearted children as possible. Makes sense. The girl for this episode was someone who was about to be transferred to America, and got scared because of this. Because of this, her evil egg hatched and a strange black Shugo Chara started attacking everyone with very, very, very bad Engrish.

It’s not really the best of all stories, and it felt rather mundane to me, though I guess it serves as a nice build-up. One thing I did like was the scene between Amu and Neko-guy, when he tried to pay her back for the cake he smashed in the previous episode. There’s some funny chemistry between the two of them.

The Chara-Changes are awesome. Not only are they hilarious (in this episode, we get to see the Chara-changes of Nadeshiko and Hotari), they also do reflect on the hidden and real desires of the different characters, albeit exaggerated a bit. Amu wants to be acknowledged because of her talents and not her reputation (hence the blue and green Shugo Chara), and she wants to be able to act beyond the facade she puts up every day (hence the red Shugo Chara). Nadeshiko wants to be seen as a strong girl, so with a Chara-Change, she turns into a hyperactive swordswoman. I can actually see her, jealous of Amu, who is known for her tough character. Hotari meanwhile has unconscious desires for power, which is why his Chara-Change turns him into a maniacal overlord who wishes to rule the world. That does make me curious about the Chara-change of neko-guy. I think it’s more than just growing cat-ears. ^^;

This episode also revealed the ultimate goal of both the god guys and bad guys: Embryo, an egg that allows you to fulfil any wish. We also see the first sparks of romance between Amu and neko-guy, in typical shoujo-fashion, while Amu also spends a part of the episode baking cookies for Hotari. I wonder whether the creators can turn this into a good love-triangle. This can be especially good for neko-guy, as it seems that Amu and Hotari are pretty much destined for each other.

Still, I like the relationship between the two of them so far. In this episode, Amu learned that she’s not the only one who’s ashamed of his or her Shugo Chara. I’d also love to see the Chara-Change of the final female guardian-member, by the way. Will that turn her ten years younger or something?

If you’re wondering why I haven’t been picking up many shows in the past week, it’s because of three reasons:
- I am not planning to blog as many series as I did with the previous season. My studies allowed a bit more free time in the past few months, though I’m about to enter some of the busiest months of the year, so that means less time for blogging.
- This season isn’t that good in the first place.
- Nearly all of the god series are concentrated on either Wednesday or in the weekend.

Ah well, a bad season once in a while isn’t bad either. It helps lower your standards a bit. I really noticed that with the past Winter-season as well. I’ve got sorted out the shows I’m planning to blog, so they should arrive shortly. And regarding the series I’m not blogging:
- Clannad is 50% enjoyable, but 50% obnoxious.
- Shakugan no Shana II is getting really pointless right now.
- Dragonaut has the potential; it just doesn’t know how to use it.
- Kodomo no Jikan has just one major flaw: the excessive fanservice, and this flaw can potentially ruin the entire series. I want to remember this series because of the characters, not as”that pedo-show”.
- And Goshushou-sama Ninomiya-kun is just bad.

Shugo Chara is fun, though. After Master of Epic and Otogi Juushi Akazukin ended, there hasn’t really been any new worthwhile sweet series, so I’m glad that this series showed up. It is cheesy here and there, but that does fit the style. What I especially liked was the symbolism in this episode. Everyone is down-hearted once in a while, and it seems that the bad guys use that to turn the egg inside their hearts to evil eggs. It’s nothing new, but it’s solid enough. The thing this series now needs to focus on is finding interesting cases and characters, though I think we need to wait till the introductions are over until we get to see the full potential of this series.

Still, overall this series is fun enough to blog. The blue Shugo Chara that makes her appearance in this episode was really cute as well, and it seems that she symbolizes everything our heroine wants to be. I just wonder why she was the only one who got three eggs… is that because she has more worries than anyone else?

Clannad

Wow, never thought that I’d see a major anime air at a 4:3-resolution these days. Ah well, it’s not like it’s bad: it worked great in xxxHolic. Anyway, about Clannad: it turned out better than expected. There are a number of flaws, but it’s also got a few enjoyable points. The cast of characters is quite huge. I’ve heard that the storyline for Clannad is more twice the length of Kanon, so I can imagine that this series could go on for 39 or perhaps even 52 episodes. About half of the cast is original, with the other half being stereotypes. I especially disliked the uber-strong girl who somehow beat tons of punks at the same time, the rugby-team, the clumsy class-president and her sister. I especially liked the male lead: my major problem with the male lead of Kanon was the fact that he was just too bipolar, and luckily Kyoani realized this and fixed it Clannad. There was quite a bit of foreshadowing in this episode, and it sounds interesting enough so far. The animation is quite good, though the character-designs still look unappealing. Ah well, at least they’re an improvement when compared to Kanon. I’m not getting optimistic about this series yet, though. Two of Kyoani’s previous series also had some great first episodes (Lucky Star, Haruhi), but turned into disappointments quite fast.

Shakugan no Shana II

Yup, the characters are as annoying as I remember them to be. Their intelligence also didn’t really progress much since the first season. They never even question why the antagonist laughed as she went down, and Yuuji doesn’t even notice how Shana tries to avoid answering an embarrassing question. Not such a good start, isn’t it? The music did change, though, I especially like that eye-catch in a comical way. I really doubt whether this season will avoid the pitfalls of the previous one, I mean what the heck happened to the plan of Yuuji, moving away from the city? He’s still being targeted, so that would indeed be the best course of action. I really want to believe that he’s actually going to travel along with Shana at one point, but something tells me that that plan was just a temporarily plot-device to give Yuuji a bit of background.

Shugo Chara

Ah, thank goodness. I’m a big fan of Mahou Shoujo, but ever since the Winter-Season, they’ve been really meager: Precure5 was too full of clichés, Kamichama Karin had production-issues and Nanatsuiro Drops ruined itself with its dramatic storyline. Shugo Chara doesn’t disappoint at all, and I’m glad to finally see another good series of this genre. The setting is overly elegant, with a castle-like school, and let’s not forget the guy with cat-ears, but it gives off a nice style. I especially like the main character, who is already shaping up to becoming a growing and versatile character. The art and music also are pretty charming. There’s only one bad point: the horrible Engrish. I’m not sure why anime try to use Engrish to sound cool, because it doesn’t work at all. Still, this is a series to keep an eye out for. :)