Short Synopsis: A calm-before-the-storm episode, mostly aimed at Maori.
Highlights: Maori’s development.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 8/10
Aah! It’s been too long since I’ve watched Code-E. To think that Maori actually made a small appearance there. It was hardly a moment that stood out: a dog ran into Chinami and she freaked out, but now that this series has mentioned it, I do vaguely remember how Chinami once zapped a strange building behind fences. It’s nice to see that the creators managed to put such a cross-reference in this series. It makes the series feel more complete.
In any case, I’m glad to see that the creators clearly knew what they were doing with this series, because Maori finally starts to develop. The past few episodes have really pushed her character in a different direction, and she finally has the ability to let go of her doubts. At the same time, Adol’s doubts only increase. I’m glad to see that the foundation is also suffering from inner struggles, by the way. Even Adol’s boss has trouble with his superiors, which is a nice little touch.
As it turns out, Mission-E is only going to have 12 episodes, which means that there are three episodes left. It’s here where this series needs to prove itself. I think that the reason why the ending of Code-E felt so weird (apart from the questions it left behind) was that it went into a completely different direction from what it had been building up for. After watching Mission-E, it makes perfect sense, but I wonder whether the creators are going to pull the same for Mission-E. I think the best way to end this would be straight-forward action, though.
Overall, I must say that Code-E and Mission-E both have their great points and weaknesses. Code-E’s climaxes were much better than in Mission-E, but at the same time, Mission-E has much more solid characters and it doesn’t get held back by annoying romance. Overall, I admire the guts of the creators to go with something entirely different for Mission-E. It’s often tried, and I really like it when a series does attempt this, but it does have a nasty tendency to fail (with the most notable case Nanoha StrikerS), but it worked out pretty well here.
I recently re-watched Code E, and Maori appears in at least 3 episodes, plus she is the girl with the red umbrella (& dog) centrally featured in the closing credits.