Short Synopsis: An old classmate of one of Ouri’s classmates turns into a shikabane.
Highlights: Wonderful animation.
Overall Enjoyment Value: 8/10 (Excellent)
Really, at this point you can consider me a fan of this series. I’m not often impressed by Gainax (at least, not as much as most people seem to), but I can’t deny that they’re a very unique production-company, and they can make some real hits when they get a concept right.
What was so awesome about this episode was the animation, in the way that it EXACTLY showed what happens if you combine the Gainax that likes bombastic visual effects with the down-to-earth and subtle director of Gilgamesh: it takes the best out of both worlds. This episode was really nicely animated, but the animation never forgot to remain realistic. There were so many subtle touches added that added a really raw feeling to the different fight scenes. there were no cheap visual effects used.
I’m also still surprised at how much I’ve come to like Ouri. He’s a whiny teenager who involves himself with the others against their will. Normally I’d hate his character, and yet I hardly ever feel annoyed at the guy, and he’s perfect to shed light at the strange nature of the Shikabane Himes.
In terms of the plot, since Keisei still is out of the count, this episode gave a proper introduction to another Shikabane-pair, who’ve taken over his duties while he remains out cold and unable to heal Makina’s arm. It seems that he and Keisei were introduced to the concept of Shikabane Himes by last week’s bad guy. Whatever he did with his own Shikabane Hime still remains a mystery, I guess.
Wow, this episode was superb! It’s nice to have a change of characters now and again, and the animation, artwork, villian specifics, character design, and even the humour was great! This show just gets stronger and stronger.
Still wondering if Ouri is going to do more than just be there in important places. I don’t particularly mind him at all, it’s just that this show is eventually going to need an actual logical reason for him to be in the way all the time, even if it’s predictable and overdone. He does at least help out and make for some interesting character interaction, though.
I was really glad to see more of Minai. Her monk handler treats her like an object, so it was nice to have some human interaction between Ouri and her.
****** spoiler ******
From what I’ve heard, Ouri eventually pairs up with Makina in the same way that Keisei has, so he’s not totally useless. Still wish he would be a little more assertive though.
nah, Ouri should get his own Shikabane… that cat I guess.