Wrapping up the fall season
Fate/Stay Night - Unlimited Blade Works 5-12! Shirou and Rin call a truce so that they can defeat a Master and Servant targeting students at their school. Their heart-to-heart is actually sweet. Archer is proving to an attractive badass. His confrontation with Castor and his amusing arguments with Shirou were fun. Shinji was easily booted from the game in episode 8, but whines his way in. Shirou learns to project some familiar weapons similar to Rin's vision. I like this version of everyone's relationships and interactions. Everyone is less stupid....well, Shirou is slightly less stupid. Episode 12 is the end of the season and with its extra long episode, throws some surprising twists into the story. Saber's face is so sad. And Kirei looks to be trouble. Ugh, a four month break until the series picks up again. ~10/10 rating~ for this season.
Sailor Moon Crystal 10-13! Nephrite and the others briefly remember their pasts before Queen Beryl wipes their memories again. It's a shame the animation is so bad here. They could be bishounen if they weren't so weak as characters and so badly drawn. Mamoru also gets brain-washed. To someone knew to anime, Usagi isn't the best hero in the original manga. She plays the tragedy card and tries to kill Mamoru and herself, gets absorbed into Metalia, the other Sailors know they are too weak but are at least able to wake Usagi up enough for her to use the Crystal after she realizes everyone is still alive. I still don't understand why the production is so bad even when this is so marketable. Plot flaws aside, the nostalgia is fun. The next episode will conclude this arc and move onto Sailor Moon R.
Shingeki no Bahamut Genesis 6-12! the end. So Amira (half-demon girl with the god key), Favaro, Kaiser and Rita get captured by the kingdom. The angels come and decide to use the king so that Amira will reveal where the other key is. They wish to use the key to seal the Bahamut..or so they say. Jeanne D'Arc defeats the demons when they attack. The king feels threatened by her, burns her at the stake, she turns into a demon. Amira is captured by Beezlebub and remembers who is 'mother' is. Things get near the climax as everyone tries to prevent the Bahamut from getting free. This is still a messy anime as far as the plot and dialogues goes. ~7/10 rating~ for an unusual cast, bounty hunter with an orange afro, former knight with elvis hair, zombie girl, standard pink-haired girl...talking duck. The angels and demons were also interesting.
Garo: Honoo no Kokuin 6! I thought that the plot would pick up by now. zzz...dropped.
Orenchi no Furo Jijou 6-13! the end. Bubble bath mischief and then the sister visits. More sea-creature characters are introduced. This is cute, and random...maybe I like the half-bishie sea creatures. ~6/10 rating~ other than the attractive characters and sometimes funny skits, the 4 minute episodes were of little substance.
Mushishi Zoku Shou 16-22! the end. 16 is about two girls with a connection in the dream-like world. 17 is about a mother, son and a robe she weaves. And 18 is about a girl and a well full of stars. 19 is about a mother and her water baby. 20 is about a boy who attracts lightening and his mother who cannot love. These keep getting a little darker. 21 is about a man who murdered his brother. 22 is the last episode of this season and thankfully was more uplifting. It was also about a mushi that Ginko couldn't do anything about, but helps the infected man share a tree's history to help his village. This season contained more diverse mushi stories. Episodes that were about Ginko's past, stories that weren't too positive and of course, ones that were the usual poignant stories. ~8/10 rating~ for this season.