and once again Natsume gets closer to the people around him. Seriously, are the creators really planning to keep this up for the entire season? There are two episodes left at this point (yes, this series has been confirmed for 13 episodes), and I’m eagerly anticipating what they will end up delivering.
Looking back, Brains Base really has been dominating this season. My two favourite shows that premiered back in July come from them, and heck: their third series Kamisama Dolls is currently fighting with No.6 and Kami-Sama no Memo-Chou for my third place. It’s been a while since the company with the most releases of a season actually delivered so well.
I already thought that Tatsunoko last season did well if you ignore Pretty Rythm. Studio Deen of Winter 2010 meanwhile was a complete disaster, while JC Staff delivered an impressive batch of four series, albeit it was flawed by both Bakuman and Index II dragging on for too long. Meanwhile AIC of Summer 2010 failed to deliver on every single series they came out with. I think it’s not until Autumn of 2008 when I can recall a single studio dominating an entire season more, bakc when Madhouse was on fire with six new series in one entire season, including the classics of Mouryou no Hako and Casshern Sins. Next season will have three studios with three or more series: Sunrise (4), JC Staff (3) and AIC (3). All of them are really looking out to be mixed bags, unfortunately: AIC has one very promising series, next to their usual moe shows again. Sunrise meanwhile has Phi Brain, next to the questionable Gundam Age, next to the even more questionable Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon, next to another kiddie show. JC Staff meanwhile has Bakuman, whose first season while impressive does seem to lack something, Kimi to Boku, which I really fear is going to be overshadowed by Tamayura, and… more Kugimiya Rie with Shana. To be honest, I really doubt that they can get anywhere near the level that Brains Base are currently delivering.
Anyway, I’m digress. The youkai in this episode was nice, but what really made this episode was Takeda getting a taste of what it’s like to be Natsume, and being able to understand him a bit more. By actually being able to see Youkai, he finally could relate to him in the same way that we have been for the past thirtysomething episodes. It was a great little premise for an episode.
For the final two episodes, I really hope that they make use of this development. I know that the story is still going on and that the manga is nowhere near finished and all, but that would be the perfect time for a great climax.
Rating: ** (Excellent)
Aw, that’s a bit disappointing. Doesn’t seem like they’ll be animating the Houzuki/Fuzuki arc. :/ At least we’ll get to see more of Shigeru and Touko this time around.
Just wanted to point out:
1. Haganai is not your usual moe series, it’s more akin to Ika Musume than Oreimo.
2. You will be very surprised by Horizon. It’s hard to explain but just read this thread.
http://forums.animesuki.com/showthread.php?t=102980
There are no spoilers but you will get a better sense of what the story is actually like. I mean, there is boobs and fanservice but that’s not anywhere near the focus. It’s sort of like Index-on-steroids in terms of the amount of information and imagination put into the world, and the amount of characters, although I expect the pacing and exposition to be handled better in Horizon since the first season will probably only cover the first novel, which would be perfect pacing. Also like Index it has those moments of fanservice in it that annoy you but I don’t believe they show up at random times like Index. Meh, either way, it sounds good.
Sorry to hijack the comments lol (although you were sort of asking for it by hijacking the post :p).