Now this is why I originally was looking forward to this series. This definitely was the best episode of this show since the first episode. This fully let the characters show their characters off, without divulging in annoying fanservice. This show already had the best dialogue of the series that premiered during the summer season, and this episode finally showed the heights you can reach with it.
I really like how natural this episode progressed. Little by little the past between the Fourth and the guy with that strange haircut became clear, and just about everything was well acted. The scenario was very creative, and I liked how Narumi also got to hang out with some of the side-characters for a bit. Alice’s part in it as a bystander was also top notch. Everything was just really well written. I’d go as far to say that the characterization was even better than during the first episode.
The weird part though, is that this doesn’t really have anything to do with Kami-Sama no Memo-Chou. Alice was just a side-character here. A role she fulfilled really well and all, but this series is acting like it’s got 24 episodes, while it actually has just 12. This is a mystery series, but instead of that this was much more a character study. A very well written character study and all, but I still believe that this show has a bit of an identity crisis.
Overall, Narumi does have the “Kamijou Touma”-syndrome of having very vague reasons to want to risk his life in order to help others. The people he meets thankfully are a lot interesting than with To Aru Majutsu no Index and all, but it still stands out especially with the actual mysteries of this series. This arc has managed to avoid that, though: with this, I can see why he wants to involve himself. He’s a guy who very easily makes friends and attaches himself to people who treat him with respect. I guess his family situation also has a lot to do with that.
The fact remains though that it remains a bit annoying that anime keep pulling the dead parents thing. It makes sense for things set in the past and all, in modern times it just happens way too often.
Rating: *** (Awesome)
Unlike JC Staff’s other male lead, Narumi lacks the Imagine Breaker and many other things as well. He’s also not very tolerable.
So, whay is this show called ” God’s notebook” or whatever? Is there any actually correlation to the title?
@Loz, yes, they explained it in episode 1.
This is a good switch back to the darker themes. It’s good to see Yondaime’s band acting like a real gang, instead of just a bunch of clowns.