Simoun – 17 – So Many Questions



The previous episode ended the previous arc quite wonderfully. It almost couldn’t have been better. You would expect some intermezzo, though the events immediately start again, as some very interesting facts get revealed.

The Messis-arc clearly dealt with the conflicts going on inside the Chor Tempest. By now, almost all of these seem to be solved. Only Paraietta still has her issues, Aruti also shows signs of being unhappy and shouldn’t there at least be something wrong with Yun?

In any case, this isn’t really enough material for another arc like that, so it seems that this arc will be focusing at the enemies. All of the events which happened during this episode seemed to point towards this direction as well. The Archipelago and the Highlands have formed an alliance, and more will probably follow. The Arcus Prima meanwhile is heading for the Ruins, in which the Simoun originally came from.

I’m wondering whether the enemies will be able to deliver a blast of the same caliber as Limone and Dominüra managed to do. The previous arc was just totally awesome, though it’ll be very hard for the last episodes in order to top that one. Ah well, they make a very good start with all the events which happen during this episode:

– It becomes clear that the Chor Kaputo and the Chor Riboru all have fallen at the time when the Arcus Prima was in repairs. This makes the Chor Tempest the only Chor on the Arcus Prima.
– Once at the ruins, enemy crafts come flying by, equipped with the same Helical Motores as the Simoun.
– To make it only better, these crafts are able to perform Ri Maajons.
– Paraietta, Aruti, Mamiina, Yun, Kaimu, Rödoreamon, Morinasu and Furoe chase after them.
– Aaeru’s wind machine makes sound, even though it’s closed. She decides to check out the ruins.
– There are three enemy “Simoun”. Paraietta and Kaimu chase after the first one, though Paraietta has lost her confidence, so it escapes. The other three Simoun are chasing the other two enemies. Rödoreamon is able to hit down the second, though when Morinasu chases after the third, she can’t keep up for some reason, and they retreat.
– Aaeru and Neviriru, meanwhile, discover that the Ruins lead to the Spring, with Onashia in the middle of it.
– Onashia claims that she’s everywhere and nowhere. She never mentions the enemy Simouns at all.
– Meanwhile, Yun checks out the fallen Simoun, with Mamiina following her. They’re shocked when they find out that the pilot was Angurasu, the one from episode eight. Yun suddenly gets serious, claiming that everyone’s waiting for her.
– Aaeru reveals that her grandfather knew about the fact that the spring connected to more than one place.

This episode alone raised so many questions.
– How did the enemy get their hands on a Simoun?
– What is Onashia’s role in this?
– In fact, what exactly is Onashia?
– Why did Aaeru’s wind machine make sound while closed? Why did the sound stop when they reached the ground?
– What exactly is Aaeru’s grandfather? He was a Simoun Sibylla himself. He must’ve found out something during these days.
– How did Angurasu survive her self-destruction-treatment? Twins?
– What’s Yun up to? Has she finally decided to go to the spring? Or is she planning to follow her friends, who died in combat?

Overall, this could promise to become very interesting. The enemy also really surprises me. They’re trying all sorts of different tricks and strategies, and everytime, it becomes more effective. Not because of their strategies, they remain the same. It’s because they keep improving their technologies, while the Simoun stay the same. That makes you predictable. It’s only a matter of time before they really begin to overpower the Simoun with ease. I’m wondering where the creators plan to carry this next.

Memorable Moment: Rödoreamon missing her stuffed toy, which Limone kidnapped. ^^

Saiunkoku Monogatari – 16 – Such Harsh Treatment



This episode continus where episode 14 left off, and makes it two times worse. The hate towards Shiurei continues to increase, and people are actually plotting to get rid of her. Still, the first signs of people appreciating her also start to show.

So, to recap, the bad things:
– Wa remains as horrible as ever.
– People actually start throwing dirt at them like little kids.
– Ro keeps burdening Shiurei and Eigetsu with the most horrible jobs. His treatment actually was the saddest to see.
– Remember the ring from the Sa-family which was stolen? It seems that some person is plotting to do something with a fake version of that ring. I have no idea what it is, I have no idea how it’ll happen, though Shiurei and Reishin will end up worse with this.
– Someone’s spreading rumours that Reishin cheated with the exam in order to let Shiurei in.
– Because of this, Reishin gets arrested.
– The guy from the Sa-family has hired Kochou in order to do something to Shiurei. We’ll have to wait till the next episode in order to find out what, but it’ll involve a bunch of big strong guys equipped with a bunch of big, sharp swords. Poor Shiurei. T_T

Still, if Shiurei doesn’t overcome these things on her own, she’ll never be able to rise. Go Shiurei!!

Anyway now the good things:
– Hakumei has taken pity in them. He uses the excuse of the two of them fainting being disadvantageous to him, but he doesn’t fool anyone when he says that he does it only for himself. He’s quite an ambitios fellow as well. He seems to see Kouyuu as his great example.
– Some mysterious person keeps sending Shiurei and Eigetsu tea and buns. I’ve got several persons in mind, Shouka, Ryuuki and Seiran all could’ve done it. For now, I’ll put Shouka in the seat of major suspect.
– At one department, people are starting to appreciate Shiurei. More of them will definitely follow!

Apart from that, another few interesting facts were revealed:
– Shouka has yet another younger brother: Kurou. Much isn’t revealed yet. He seems serious.
– Something seems to be going on at the Department of Protocol (the one in which idiot Wa works). Shiuei and Eigetsu decide to write their final assignment about this. Further details are yet to be revealed. That, or I just didn’t manage to pick them up.
– Kourin and Ensei are returning from the Sa-province. Kourin said that she wants to see Shiurei. When that happens, it’ll be pretty interesting. After all, Shiurei never managed to know it was Sa Taifu who attempted to kill her, and Kourin’s role in all this. The fact also remains that Kourin still loves Sa Taifu, even after his death, so I’m eager to see her reaction.
– Both Ryuuki as Seiran as Shouka are looking over Shiurei. And all of them are having huge troubles not to help her. Especially Ryuuki really has to convince himself not to go. ^^;
– Kouyuu and Ran seem to be bothered by a huge load of guys who offer their daughter for marriage. (Talk about shamelessness. It’s a good thing they declined every single one of them).

Some other very amusing things happened:
– Ran really had problems trying to restrain Ryuuki from helping Shiurei.
– The mud-throwers accidentally hitting Kouyuu.
– Shiurei noticing Ryuuki who kept spying on her.
– Shiurei’s methods of dealing with Wa’s treatments. (Go Shiurei! ^^)
– The flashback in which Kouyuu accidentally burned a random person’s toupet.

Overall, I just couldn’t help but feel pity with Shiurei. She has to put up with so much. Still, when she gets acknowledged, she really can show everyone what she’s worth. ^_^

Saiunkoku Monogatari – 15 – Poor Kouyuu



This episode was focused on Kouyuu. It becomes clear why he was taken in by Reishin, and he feels rather unappreciated by him. Shouka is, again, the person to show him the light.

Reishin has been treating Kouyuu very indifferently lately. He’s been very cold towards Kouyuu, and this begins to gnaw on the latter. Kouyuu begins to feel underappreciated. The very reason he entered the National Exams was because of Reishin. The fact also remains that Reishin gave Kouyuu the name Li Kouyuu when he took him in. Not Kou Kouyuu. When someone speculates that this means that Reishin’s planning to let go of him some day. This gets even more to him.

Not to mention that Kouyuu’s already feeling gloomy when he watches Shiurei and Eigetsu work all day. The fact that he notices that Reishin only seems to be out to please Shouka only worsens this, up to the point at which he thinks that Reishin became Shiurei’s sponsor only to please Shouka. Eventually, he goes to drink sake, along with Shiuei, Ryuuki and Seiran, and then he blurts out Reishin’s reason for adopting him. Kouyuu was just a normal street kid back then. He made a lottery by himself, with as consolation prize plum blossoms. Reishin then decided to take him in, like it was nothing. This all happened thirteen years ago, right after Shouka took in Seiran. In Kouyuu’s eyes, Reishin only took him in in order to please Shouka.

Shouka then tells Kouyuu a few things, which make him think differently about Reishin. As Shouka refused to be the head of the Kou family, Reishin was forced to pick up this task, and get involved with some pretty dark stuff. he wanted to protect Kouyuu in this by not giving him the name Kou, but Li. The “Kouyuu”-part all have something special, which shows his love for Kouyuu. Reishin also seems to be very introvert. He doesn’t really show his true feeling often. It’s indeed right. In front of Kijin, he acts a bit business-like. He tries to impress Shiurei, though he’s too scared. He tries to please Shouka and he acts cold towards Kouyuu. Though his real self remains cropped up inside. Another interesting detail is that Reishin seemed to love plum blossoms, which seems to be the reason why he took in Kouyuu, of all persons.

Whether Reishin still loves Kouyuu as a son remains a mystery, though one thing is clear. He did love him when he took him in and raised him.

Ryuuki and Seiran, meanwhile, have their own problems, as they begin to feel a bit useless towards Shiurei. Both are only able to watch her. At the end of the episode, they decide to solve this by helping the ones near Shiurei. Ryuuki goes to Eigetsu and gives him the Imperial Stamp. It seems to be significant. Don’t ask me why. Seiran goes to Kouyuu, and brings him to Shouka. This way, they’re both helping a bit.

Official Ro makes an interesting observation, by the way. Shiurei is extremely lucky. Even though she did a lot on her own accord, she was helped. She only took the aptitude test and the final Kaishi test, while normally, you’d be spending a whole year passing exams before you can get in. This indeed shows that there still isn’t any equal treatment for men and women. lets hope it’ll change to the better side.

Overall, I like Kouyuu’s case. It’s interesting to see a different side of his.

Memorable Moment: Ryuuki, thinking that Seiran was alone while actually, Shiuei and Kouyuu were near him. I wonder what would’ve happened if they didn’t. ^^;

.Hack//Roots – 16 – Too Much Emo



I’ve got some major issues with .Hack//Roots. It just tries to be more than it actually is. The third episode was awesome. Why? Because Haseo had to think in order to make his decision. A whole episode was spent on it. What do we have when we reach episode sixteen? He goes to attack random monsters with an emo-face.

The fact is that .Hack//Roots seems to be forgetting that it’s an MMORPG. Haseo’s reaction just isn’t possible. Tabby’s reaction isn’t possible either. Everything is just virtual. The PC’s are just PC’s. When they cry, it happens offline. Right here, we have absolutely no clues at all that there are persons who are controlling the PC’s. That was one of the beauties of .Hack//Sign. It really made me feel like we were dealing with an MMORPG. .Hack//Roots feels more like a fantasy adventure.

The fact remains that Haseo’s strong now. How the heck did he manage to do that? The basic laws of the MMORPG’s say that the longer you play the game, the stronger you become. After all, the longer you play, the more experience you get. Still, this is a ridiculous amount of experience. If that’s the case, why can Haseo grow stronger than anyone out here when he just started?

Ah well, in any case, Tri Edge really had an impact on Phyllo, as he loses his cool against Haseo for the first time ever. The two of them fight a bit while Tabby stands on the side-lines, doing nothing. While this may have been interesting, it seemed a bit too direct. It felt like it was missing something.

Overall, I like the shy Haseo more. He’s really getting annoying right now. .Hack//Roots just doesn’t feel like an MMORPG anymore. Still, I wonder what Ovan’s planning to do. He hasn’t returned to Haseo yet. Yata also makes an interesting point: Tabby. Saburou gets sent after her, after she makes another cryptic remark towards Pai. I have no idea what that means. Also, why did Saburou claim that she’s on good terms with Haseo? Could she be the reincarnation of Tawaraya?

Simoun – 16 – Awesomeness



This episode was just… incredible… It focuses mostly on Dominüra and Limone, with a bit of Paraietta. The title of the episode already gave away what was about to happen… but god… I never expected it to be this awesome.

We continue with where we left off at the previous episode. Neviriru, Morinasu, Kaimu, Dödoreamon, Aruti, Furoe, Mamiina and Yun are still gone, and most of the episode therefore only shows Aaeru, Dominüra, Limone, Paraietta and Wauf. (Interesting note: the OP has changed. Okay, not a bit, though there are small parts which are different).

Wauf is worrying about the things which are happening. After all, things are quite strange, with four Simouns gone. Dominüra meanwhile is praying to Tempus Patiem. Limone, meanwhile, managed to find Rödoreamon’s doll. She and Aaeru have a bit of fun, and Paraietta gets angry at them. After that, another alarm goes off. This time, it’s not just one enemy plane, it’s an army of them. Wauf commands the Messis to dive into the trees for shelter (it seems that they haven’t been spotted yet).

Paraietta, Aaeru, Dominüra and Limone head off to scare the enemy planes away. Dominüra surprises Waporifu by admitting that the Simoun are God’s Crafts. Meanwhile, Paraietta feels quite left behind when she suggests to charge in, while Dominüra and Aaeru find it a better idea to defend the Messis. Limone was too cute when it appeared that she brought the stuffed toy along.

On a side-note, the background music definitely changed for the Simoun-battles. The accordion is totally gone, and it has made way for a psychedelic, futuristic tune. I have to say, that it fits perfectly! The enemy manages to leave without being able to spot the Messis. Paraietta gets even more confused when it seems that she acted too rash once more. When everything seems clear, she doesn’t notice the scouts of the enemy. Only because of Aaeru, they don’t get sighted.

Dominüra and Limone meanwhile have a touching discussion about the Emerald Ri Maajon. Limone understands how Dominüra feels. Later in the Messis, Wauf comes with two possible options, if the enemy were to attack again. 1. Wait for the four Simouns to return and hold defences until that happens. 2. Flee, and leave the other Simouns to die. Paraietta is so confused that she immediately assumes that it’ll be option 2. She then suggests to look for the others (aka Neviriru). The others disagree with her. Paraietta answers this by slapping Aaeru, in order to make her point. I wonder how she’ll turn out, as the rest of the episode focuses around Dominüra and Limone.

The former enters the church again, in which Waporifu is praying. Dominüra then fully acknowledges the existence of Tempus Patiem, and forbids Waporifu to mention the incident, a couple of episodes back. Then the alarm follows, and Wauf makes the logical decision: wait for the other Simoun to return. After all, he values their lives more than his own.

Limone again forgot to put Rödoreamon’s stuffed toy back. The Simoun head out, and they start to attack the enemy crafts. It then seems, however, that the enemies have exponentially increased their speeds, and they’re starting to be able to dodge the Ri Maajons. Dominüra and Limone try out all sorts of highly destructive Ri Maajons, but they don’t work. Dominüra then suggests the Emerald Ri Maajon. What follows is Dominüra claiming that what she saw a couple of episodes back completely destroyed her beliefs. Does that mean that she abandoned her superiors as well?

What follows is Wauf deciding to use the Messis as decoy for Simoun to escape. Neviriru, meanwhile, begins to feel that someone’s making the Emerald Ri Maajon. Paraietta also begins to yell at them, without any success, as well as the other Sybylla. Neviriru even screams, though Dominüra and Limone are totally relaxed, accompanied by an awesome background tune.

In the awesomeness which follows, Dominüra and Limone have disappeared, with the enemies still intact. Then, the other four Simoun return and the Arcus Prima appears. Even though this is a Deus ex Machina, I don’t care at all. It cleans up neatly after the major events of the scene. This also closes the Messis-arc.

Overall, this was just totally awesome. Without a doubt, this was the best episode of Simoun yet. And that has to say something! I can’t wait to find out what the last part of Simoun will be like.

Just one thing…

What the heck happened to Limone and Dominüra?

The Third – 09 – Paife



The Third really continues the awesome path it set before. It especially managed to deliver during its climaxes, when it really needs to. The rest of the time, it spends building up. While this building up may seem a bit boring when you see it, the effect it gets is awesome.

In short, the woman from the previous episode indeed has an important role in the anime. Her name is Paife, and she’s sent to spy on Honoka by the same company that hired her. For some reason, Paife acts totally different near Honoka than the way she acts normally. I guess she’s probably fascinated by her. That’s shown in the previous episode, when her strange hypnotization technique doesn’t work, and this episode, when Paife really gets astonished by Honoka’s fighting ability.

Interesting points:
– Paife has heard of Ikus. (I’m still calling him Ikus, by the way. I like that more than Iks)
– Ikus has something to do with the warped space. He either caused it, or he tried to prevent it.
– Honoka really has put her mind on Ikus ever since he left. She was very glad when she saw him again.
– The Third are planning to blast the warped space with something called the Wormhole Driver. It’s something that the Great War left them, though they never had to put it to use.
– We still have no idea what the “Great War” is (that, or I simply forgot), though it seems it was pretty significant for the story.
– Honoka’s extremely tolerant to people she trusts. That becomes clear when she sees that Paife’s an ordinary murderer.
– In this world, people are known to transform into monsters. Why this happens and what it’s got to do with the Great War still remains unclear.
– Honoka’s too nice, when the managed to give Joey an opportunity to study further. He was really happy when he found out. ^^
– The music really was amazing in this episode. It really accentuated the climaxes.
– There are a lot of things unclear about the cult, though they seem important to the story in some way. And what were they doing near the warped space?
– What’s Gravestone?
– Honoka was shocked after the mutant guy was killed. NOT after she saw Ikus. That happened afterwards.

Overall, The Third was amazing, it is amazing, and hopefully, it’ll continue to be amazing. So far, all signs point to yes.

Memorable moment: Paife killing off every person Honoka knocked out, while Honoka watches her.

Simoun – 15 – Paraietta



OMG Paraietta! She really was incredible in this episode. The episode wasn’t really focused on a select number of characters, but Paraietta’s case was amazing. Apart from that, Furoe, Neviriru, Aaeru, Limone, Dominüra, Morinasu, Waporifu and Yun also received a healthy dose of character development.

We start the episode with Limone and Yun, outside of the Messis. Yun is collecting a few branches in order to make a cradle. Yun’s a tough nut to crack. The fact that she’s serious, and exactly knows her goal give her a very strong and level-headed personality. Though she’s still hiding something, I believe. It’s also very interesting to see Limone opening up more and more to others beside Aaeru, as we see her later in the episode trying to make a cradle of her own.

Yun also suggests Limone to stay by Dominüra’s side, as she’s the closest to her. Meanwhile, Aaeru and Neviriru get back from their day-long journey. Neviriru leaves immediately, along with Paraietta. We switch to Morinasu and Waporifu, who seem to have gotten into a fight. Last episode totally destroyed Waporifu as well, as she indeed sees the Simoun as sacred crafts, who shouldn’t be touched by anyone.

Later, the Alarm goes off, as an enemy has been spotted. Dominüra still is in shock, so somebody else has to take control. Aaeru still tries to go with Neviriru, though Paraietta stops her. Paraietta feels that with Dominüra gone and Neviriru tired, she has to yet again act as a leader. Still, there’s one major difference with the beginning of the series, when she had to do this as well: at the beginning of the series, it was only natural for her to take the lead. This time, she forces herself in the lead. Most of the Sybilla don’t really like this. Although Aaeru’s the only one who listens to her.

Still, Paraietta’s so occupied with being in the lead, that she forgets the most important thing: determining who gets to be sent out. All she does is forbid Aaeru to go with Neviriru, nothing more. She keeps clinging to protect Neviriru so that she can’t see the big picture anymore. Yun corrects her mistake by taking the initiative, to go along with Kaimu.

Back in the dorms, Mamiina, Rödoreamon and Aruti wonder why Aaeru was so obedient. Furoe gets pissed off by this. It seems that she kind of enjoyed Aaeru’s cool and direct personality, and it must be annoying to see Aaeru different like that. Furoe then gets too cute when she tries to hide her jealousy of Aaeru to the others. ^^

Furoe then notices Aaeru walking outside, and goes after her. It seems that Aaeru headed to Neviriru, in order to apologize for making her feel horrible. Neviriru, however, simply walks away from Aaeru. Quite cowardly, and Furoe indeed scolds her for that. This finally makes Neviriru see that both Aaeru and Amuria were using her as a tool to get them higher. I don’t think Neviriru will be flying with Aaeru anymore. It was also nice to see Neviriru break down when she realizes this.

Then, another enemy shows up. Furoe, Aruti, Mamiina and Rödoreamon get sent out, even though Yun and Kaimu still haven’t returned. Aaeru begins to wonder about the enemy’s plans, and wonders whether Paraietta, who sent them out, made the right decision. Paraietta takes this way to highly, and thinks of it as an insult. Though Aaeru does make sense. The enemy has only been spotted, it hasn’t attacked. All Paraietta’s been doing is sending out troupes, without using some kind of plan.

Meanwhile, it starts to rain, and Aaeru, Morinasu and Limone are left alone in the dormitories. Quite bored. Morinasu then suggests a play of hide-and-seek. It’s quite interesting that such a thing can be included. It seems interesting to play hide-and-seek in such a huge ship. It’s got lots of opportunities to hide. ^^

In any case, Limone runs into Dominüra’s room. For some reason, Dominüra is singing the song of Aaeru’s wind machine. Could it be a coincidence that she was singing this, or was there some kind of meaning behind it we still don’t know? In any case, Dominüra has a strange look in her eyes. She’s like a zombie, though she does recognize Limone, and talks to her.

It’s still raining, though Paraietta’s still standing on the same spot since we left her before. It seems that she’s in deep thoughts after what Aaeru said. She decides to check up on Dominüra, though when Limone emerges from her room, she gets doubts. She’s incredibly indecisive, and she knows it. What follows is an amusing scene in which she relieves her anger on a wall, not noticing Aaeru, who still is hiding, near her.

What follows is an amazing scene. Even if it was just because one of the most awesome background tunes being played. Another enemy has been spotted, and Paraietta forces herself to send another pair after them. She chooses Aaeru as her pair, though Neviriru, of all people corrects her. Neviriru then decides to go for herself, and take Morinasu, of all people, as her pair. Paraietta tries to stop her, in order to protect her, though Neviriru refuses to listen to her. This is what breaks Paraietta. An amazing scene. Probably the best scene of Simoun yet.

Another thing I love is the fact that something is going on with the other Sybilla. Something is keeping them occupied, but we never know what. Right now, they’re just plot devices in order to remove some characters so that some character development can be more focused without other people unnecessarily arriving. While that in itself is amazing, there has to be something happening with the other Sybilla. But what?

We have to wait for that answer till the next episode, as the story focuses on Dominüra. Limone tells Aaeru that Dominüra’s eyes looked like the eyes of a dying person (interesting note: how does she know what the eyes of a dying person look like?). Limone was wrong about this, as they see Dominüra walking in one of the corridors. After eating A LOT, Dominüra seems to recover. When Paraietta sees this, she asks for advice, though the former quickly blows the latter down with a snide remark. That’s the last we see of Paraietta in this episode.

Meanwhile, Dominüra and Limone agree to do the Emerald Ri Maajon some day. Limone wants to make the most perfect Ri Maajons, while Dominüra is the former member of a Chor whose sole existence was to make the Emerald Ri Maajon. We’re in for an amazing sixteenth episode. 🙂

Overall, Simoun is just getting better and better. Paraietta was amazing this episode, and Furoe also had a very nice role.

Memorable Moment: Neviriru choosing Morinasu.

.Hack//Roots – Kuhn Will Be An Interesting New Character



This was a very enjoyable episode. Even though it was just a filler, it had some great moments. Almost all of the main characters, Haseo, Ovan, Shino, Tri-Edge, Yata, Naobi, Pai, Ender and Savuro are all cast aside, and stay out of the entire episode, in order to make it focus around Tabby, with Phyllo, a new main character called Kuhn and two newbies as side-characters as support.

Tabby’s still struggling with everything that happened, though she does decide to remain in The World. Unlike others. Then, she runs into a couple of newbies, and decides to help them. It’s a shame, however, that Tabby herself is a complete newbie as well, so the three of them end up dying. Phyllo, meanwhile gets visited by what seems like an old friend. I immediately was reminded of Kurim from .Hack//Sign, though Kuhn (the name of the guy) seems a bit more playful than Kurim.

Still, I like Kuhn. He’s pretty funny. Especially when he tried to beat some sense into one of the newbies. (^^;) The two newbies also have their own story, which was pretty interesting to watch. The two of them are brothers, and the youngest one is currently in the middle of studying for his high-school entrance exam. The older one failed that same exam. This made their mother turn a bit desperate, and she now absolutely wants the younger brother to succeed in the exam, which results in lots of studying. The older brother felt sorry for the younger brother, as he didn’t have any free time at all. That’s why he decided to take the younger brother to The World, while their parents were away. In the beginning, the younger brother doesn’t like this. Though Tabby and Kuhn make him glad in the end.

Another thing which made me glad is that finally some moral issues were introduced. Finally, some issues which forced the viewer to think appeared. I’ve been waiting for that. Now that I’ve seen this episode, I indeed realize that that is what .Hack//Roots has been lacking all this time, and why .Hack//Sign always was the better one. If the show can keep this up, I’ll be very happy.

Tabby also revealed something about herself in real life, inspired by the two brothers. It seems that she has an older sister. While Tabby isn’t really great at studying, her sister is really smart. I think that she can relate to the younger brother in a way.

Overall, this may have been a filler, though it does remain a very enjoyable filler. It also finally made me realize the thing which .Hack//Roots has been lacking. If the creators also realized this, the results can become awesome.

Memorable moment: Kuhn chasing the younger brother.

Simoun – 14 – Awesomeness



Okay. That was an AMAZING episode! It’s centered around Waporifu, with Morinasu as an important side-character with a healthy dose of Dominüra. The results are just incredibly awesome!

We start with Aaeru and Neviriru flying around a bit, in search of the enemy carrier. They can’t find it anywhere. The enemy either moved it in order to retreat, or in order to use it for a nasty little plan. In any case, we won’t be seeing a lot from them, as they keep flying around for the entire episode, which equals about a day. It’s very interesting to see that even though Neviriru’s scared about Aaeru, she still managed to fly for more than 24 hours with her, inside a Simoun.

We then switch to Dominüra and Wauf, who conclude that the enemy has been forming alliances. Dominüra wonders about what the “Center” might be doing. I think she means her employers by this. Wauf also tells her that the Messis has to be stationed at the ground for a small while, in order to conduct some small maintenance. Dominüra reckons that there’ll be lots of sad things happening. And how she’s right. Haha! But not in the way she thinks.

Meanwhile, we turn to Waporifu and Morinasu. Morinasu reveals that she’s planning to become a man. Morinasu also is still surprised about the fact that the Simoun Gems can read the Sybila’s heart. It also seems that Morinasu and Furoe had a relationship once. ^^ They broke up, though. Waporifu couldn’t bear the fact that he (she?) was defiling a holy image. What follows is a scene which might be the start of the first actual couple in this series, as it seems that Waporifu starts to get feelings for Morinasu. Morinasu also wonders if the Sybilla really are the big-wigs they’re rumoured to be.

We then switch to the other Sybilla, having fun catching fish in a local stream. Furoe, Limone and Kaimu really are enthusiastic about a fish-trap that Mamiina managed to set up. Paraietta also smiles for the first time since ever. Yun is reading a book as usual. ^^ Dominüra, meanwhile has a little conversation with Waporifu. Dominüra wants Waporifu to dismantle one of the Simoun. Something which has never been done before. After all, if the Simoun were God’s holy image, how come they were shot down? Waporifu also reckons that the Simoun are just machines. Dominüra wants to find out about the secrets the Simoun have been keeping for so long. Waporifu, however, refuses. Like she refused Furoe and tries not to get too close to Morinasu. (On a side-note: Kyuukoku seems to be Simulacrum. At least, I think it does).

We then switch to later, that evening. Waporifu gets some interesting thoughts. When Amuria disappeared, the Simoun was not distorted in a way which did not suggest that she was dragged out. If that was the case, then where did Amuria go? That’s thus far, the only evidence pointing towards the fact that the Simoun indeed are godly. Dominüra, meanwhile, tries to put even more pressure on Waporifu. Morinasu catches the two of them on this, and she finds out that Waporifu’s a terrible liar.

Paraietta and Yun then have an interesting conversation. Paraietta’s getting worried about Aaeru and Neviriru, and she asks Yun to be her pair in case they needed to save the two of them. Yun then holds a cryptic speech. I’ve no idea what she meant, though it seems that she wanted to subtly make something clear to Paraietta.

Things really get awesome when we switch back to Waporifu and Morinasu. Waporifu reveals that she got the request to dismantle a Simoun. Morinasu then comes with quite an interesting opinion. Getting in the Simoun has made her realize something: the Simoun are indeed God’s crafts. I wonder what made her think that way.

We then switch to the evening. The Sybilla all go to sleep, except for Dominüra, and of course Aaeru and Neviriru, who still haven’t returned. Dominüra meanwhile has a conversation with Wauf. He has discovered that she belonged to the Chor Dextra (wait a minute… wasn’t she in the Chor Kaputo?) In any case, the Chor Dextra was only formed in order to complete the Emerald’s Ri Maajon. She’s now member of a certain “Audid Organization”. Wauf then comes with the interesting revelation that somebody’s watching the thing she’s trying to do. This only gets her cornered more and more.

Waporifu, meanwhile, has been thinking. She then heads to Morinasu, in the dormitory. What follows is the first kiss which actually feels like a kiss, if we ignore Limone in the previous episode. That was a great scene. Waporifu exits with her own conclusion: the Simoun are just machines. She spends the rest of the night dismantling one of the Helical Motores of one of the Simoun. Dominüra then returns to her the next morning, for some amazing results.

The Helical Motores were just empty! They just had one big spiral in them, and that’s all. Waporifu is quite astonished when she finds out, though when Dominüra sees this, the breaks down. The other Sybilla are woken up by this, and they see a mentally destroyed Dominüra getting carried away by some staff of the Messis.

Overall, that was just amazing. It’s probably the best episode of Simoun yet. Dominüra, Morinasu and Waporifu were just awesome. I wonder if it’s got something to do with Aaeru and Neviriru being absent. In any case, that was a nice touch.

Memorable Moments: Dominüra seeing the dismantled Simoun. Waporifu and Morinasu at night. Everything was just perfectly built up.

Simoun – 13 – Aaeru Can be so Incredibly Dense at Times



This was a fun episode. It centered around Aaeru and Neviriru. Aaeru’s thick-headedness and Neviriru’s hestitant nature were put in the spotlights, with some satisfying results. The other characters also provided some nice development.

We start the episode with the characters reflecting the previous episode. Dominüra seems to have put Kaimu and Aruti together as an experiment. To see whether they would go well together. Kaimu and Aruti then acknowledge that the two of them can’t pair anymore. It’s because Kaimu rejected Aruti as her pair. Rejecting your pair is the same as rejecting your Simoun, hence the distorted Simoun-gem from the previous episode.

We then switch to the dormitory, in which the lack of enemy movement is getting on Furoe’s nerves. She’s getting bored with the lack of activity, Yun scolds her about this. Furoe unleashes her anger upon Rödoreamon’s stuffed animal, who doesn’t quite survive this ordeal. This provides some funny material for later in the episode. ^^

Rödoreamon meanwhile has decided to help Mamiina with the households, and she keeps getting impressed by her. The bond between the two really has increased a lot.

Meanwhile, outside, the inevitable happens: Aaeru learns about the Emerald Ri Maajon (Doremi translated this as the Jade-Remergon, for some unknown reason. Emerald seems to be the right way to translate it, though). In any case, I was expecting her to do something stupid, though Aaeru really surprises everyone when she does the most stupid thing you can ever imagine.

She runs towards Neviriru, in the middle of the dining room, and promptly asks Neviriru to do the Emerald Ri Maajon with her. Aaeru speaks about Amuria like she was just ordinary dust. Aaeru doesn’t seem to realize that Amuria’s a sensitive subject. But that only makes that scene more fun. Aaeru really proves that she’s able to do things nobody would dare to.

The others have interesting reactions when this happens. Neviriru gets incredibly scared and walks away. Paraietta begins to yell at Aaeru, though she follows Neviriru in the end. Limone wants to help Aaeru, though Rödoreamon stops her. Mamiina rushes off immediately when a couple of plates fell on the floor (an interesting reaction. She, didn’t really care enough about Neviriru, so she noticed that she needed to take action). Yun and Kaimu both scold Aaeru after Neviriru left. Dominura observes everything which happened without involving herself and Furoe takes Aaeru towards a quiet place in order to teach her a few things.

As Aaeru’s incredibly thick-headed, Furoe isn’t able to make clear to Aaeru that Neviriru loved Amuria. Aaeru hasn’t fallen in love yet, so it’s only natural. Still, Aaeru does seem incredibly oblivious to the phenomena called “Love”. Aaeru did, however, pick up one thing about the definition of love: if two people want to kiss outside of a Simoun-flight, then it’s love. Overall, Furoe was quite funny in this discussion. You can really see that she’s having trouble with Aaeru’s incredibly to-the-point personality. ^^;

Neviriru, meanwhile, locks herself inside an empty room, gets some freaky flashbacks about Aaeru and Amuria, she begins to scream and faints. In one way, Aaeru acted like an incredible idiot. But on the other hand, Neviriru has been locking herself in. She still has a trauma from when she lost Amuria, which keeps haunting her mentally. At the moment, Aaeru keeps bringing this trauma to the surface. It may be painful at first, but it does make Neviriru confront her fears. That, or she might totally lose it. Depending on her own strength.

Paraietta managed to find Neviriru, and put her on a solitary bed in a dusty room. Aaeru, meanwhile, tells her new discoveries about love to Limone. The results are quite amusing when Limone ends up kissing Dominüra, later that evening. (^^;) Dominüra was a bit agitated before, as permission to go after the enemy carrier from the previous episode kept getting delayed. She was also getting worried about a certain “Kyoukoku”. It was interesting to see Dominüra worrying about the decisions of the officials like that. It was even more interesting to see Limone’s actions towards Dominüra, and seeing her reaction to this. ^_^

Aaeru, meanwhile, keeps trying when she enters Neviriru’s room through the window. After this, another kissing scene follows. (I bet the yuri-lovers will be very enthusiastic with this episode ^^) Neviriru keeps ignoring Aaeru, though. Paraietta gets to be the one to break them apart. Neviriru then wants to be alone again.

Meanwhile, a very funny scene follows in the dormitory. Every main character except for Neviriru, Paraietta, Dominüra and Aaeru’s there, and they first reflect a bit about Amuria. It seems that she was a very strong person. Everyone was scared to mention this to Neviriru. Then the amusing things begin when Rödoreamon finds out about Furoe’s treatment to her stuffed animal. It seems that Furoe tried to sew it afterwards, while she can’t sew at all. The results are quite hilarious. It’s great that they people can still laugh, even with such a gloomy atmosphere. It was a nice touch. ^^

The next day, Dominüra decides to not wait for official orders to destroy the enemy carrier from the previous episode, and she sends Aaeru and Neviriru on a solo-mission. Aaeru’s very enthusiastic when she hears this, though Neviriru and Paraietta object. It’s the first time that Neviriru really objects, and Paraietta manages to send her out anyway. It’s probably because Neviriru believes that the Simoun-gem will probably get corrupted, just like in the previous episode. After all, after what happened, she believes that she’s got no other choice than to reject Aaeru as a pair.

The look on her face, when she saw the Simoun-gem shining to its full extend was amazing. What was even more amazing was the statement with which she ended the episode. She wonders how it could be possible for her to accept Aaeru, when she’s actually scared of her. This can promise to be incredibly interesting for future episodes.

Overall, this was a very fun episode. Especially Neviriru’s development was awesome. Dominüra also was quite interesting. It seems that she indeed has a personality. Furoe’s also quite funny, despite her bratty behaviour.

Memorable moment: Limone x Dominüra ^^