Angel Beats! - 09

エンジェルビーツ Episode 09

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis: Tenshi is unconscious and Yuri leaves her in Otonashi's care. The SSS gather in their meeting place where Shiina's speaking up during the meeting reflects the gravity of the issue -- which Tenshi will wake up? Otonashi falls asleep at Tenshi's bed and dreams of his final days on Earth. After the subway crash, he and a few other survivors (including a guy named Igarashi) lived for seven days. Otonashi took charge and though there were a few problems and a death, the others lived to get rescued after they all followed Otonashi's lead and signed their organ donor card. Unfortunately, Otonashi died just as the rescuers arrived.

Otonashi awakens to Tenshi patting his head. She has successfully reincorporated her other selves and Otonashi tells her of his life. Now that he has no regrets, he should be disappearing, but he isn't. Further, he realizes that Tenshi has been guiding them, trying to get them to live a normal life rather than the harsh life they had as kids and thus be able to pass on. As Otonashi and Tenshi continue to talk, he realizes he wants to save Yuri and thus forms a partnership with Tenshi whereby she will resume her role as president of the student council, giving something for Yuri to be distracted by. With an enemy to fight again, Otonashi plans to learn all of their live stories and get them all to pass to the other side. With Tenshi back in charge, the members of SSS, including Otonashi, are punished for framing her.


Thoughts/Review: Of all the episodes to date, this one has been the most contemplative if you will. Otonashi's further remembrance of the events leading to his death seems to shut the door on the theory that people here did commit suicide. I rather tend to believe that this place they are at is nothing more than what it seems -- a place for high school kids with regrets to attempt to either come to terms with their former lives or to live a normal life and thus pass on. I don't think there are coma folks here (though I admit that hasn't been ruled out from what I can tell) and I don't think this is a virtual video game either.

Now, I do tend to think that Tenshi might be the "god" of this world, so to speak. She denies being an angel, but clearly she has a role in getting the kids to pass on. That explains why she allowed SSS to do what they did in the hopes of using this as a means of getting them to pass on. It worked for Iwasawa, who wouldn't have gotten to play her music were it not for SSS and their antics. So, if the same "alternate reality" concept from Kanon is used here, Tenshi, as Kanade, could have created this world with the purpose of helping others. If so, the souls of those troubled kids would gravitate to her world and then move along. We'll see though.

In some ways, this episode felt rather preachy with the organ donation aspects. This wasn't just because of how in your face things were, aided by the convenient flashback in a flashback of Otonashi remembering his sister needing an organ donor. I couldn't help thinking of how worthless their organs would be if they weren't found soon. After a week with no rescue, it might have been another week and by then, they'd all have been dead far too long to be of any use to the living.

Still, this was an interesting episode with Tenshi apparently being returned to her former adversary role and Otonashi making it his mission to send his friends on. What do you want to bet that in the end, Otonashi will take over as president and allow Tenshi to pass on?

Angel Beats! Episode 10 Spoiler Images

The 2CH gang have posted these images from episode 10 of Angel Beats! entitled "Goodbye Days." Click image to enlarge. ^_^

Isekai no Seikishi Monogatari - 12

Isekai no Seikishi Monogatari OVA Ep. 12 Review
異世界の聖機師物語 OAV Episode 12 (Blu-ray version)

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis: With Dagmyer suffering from panic attacks after his last encounter with Kenshi's Seikijin, Lan takes command of Dagmyer's forces with Ulyte's tacit blessing (in spite of Emera's concerns). Her orders are to have Swan destroyed no matter what. As her forces track Swan, it changes course to Yukine's home country so that Kenshi can take the sacred giant pillar and compress it into a powerful sword capable of defeating Gaia. As the Seichi student council works with the Pope and the principle to attempt to restore order, Lan's forces stop outside of where the Swan is to observe. Ulyte figures they are making a compressed sword, so Lan decides to hold off her attack until Kenshi's people are most vulnerable.

Using a couple of upgraded Seikijin, the Seikishi, including Ceres, take it in shift to support the weight of the pillar as Kenshi slowly compresses it, stopping to take breaks for sleep and food. As the giant pillar gets smaller and smaller, the gravity ring Wahanly has to place the base of the stone in as a grip is positioned and with the Seikishi exhausted, Lan's forces attack. Chiaia and Aura, who are supporting what's left of the pillar, cannot react and have to take fire as does Kenshi, who cannot stop compression at this point lest he be unable to complete the job. Yukine uses a regular Seikijin to try to shield the other three but the attacks are too much and the support from Wahanly and Ceres in Wah's mecha is pinned down. However, Lithia arrives with a large number of Seikijin who repulse Lan's attack. Kenshi now has his sword, named "Tenchi-ken," and a mere swing of this rock sword defeats Lan's forces.

The battle won, Lithia stuns Kenshi by taking a knee before him as she asks to join "Kenshi-sama's" forces along with all of the other Seikishi from the various kingdoms. As the girls fawn over "Kenshi-sama," Vanessa and Angela not this to Mahya, recalling the older woman's words when Kenshi first joined Lashara to go to school. Kenshi is collapsing, suffering from exhaustion, and thus is ushered to bed.

Lapis and the principle are left in charge but that night as they sleep, Doll sneaks aboard in her Mexiah form to pass some information to Kenshi that she learned from her adoptive father. It seems that since Gaia actively sought to destroy those brought over from the other worlds and the people of the Senshi area could not bring over fresh people from the other worlds. However, they could send over an artificial human to another world where it could produce offspring with a real human and said offspring would be more powerful than the original. Then said offspring would return. Mexiah states that since it is embedded deep within them to not fight each other as they are the same type, this is the reason for Kenshi's fever. With that, Mexiah removes a bracelet and Babalun's image appears as he attempts to take control over Kenshi.

Outside, Lashara and the others are having a war council and are unaware of Kenshi's plight. Flora and the King of Shurifon (Schlieffyo?) make the stunning announcement of Kenshi's betrothal to both Aura and Maria, signaling an alliance between Shurifon, Schutreiyu, and Havoniwa. Meanwhile, Kenshi breaks the binding spell that Babalun had placed on him and the ruckus causes Chiaia, Aura, and the others to come in.

Having been ordered to destroy the Swan, Mexiah remote releases the gravity ring on Tenchi-ken, causing the giant stone sword's weight to be too much for Swan. Mexiah turns to Doll and escapes as the Swan's crew attempts to keep the airship from crashing. Kenshi makes it to the modified Seikijin and uses it to stop and hold Swan until Wahanly can replace the ring. Babalun is furious and vows to take out Kenshi since Kenshi defies him.


Thoughts/Review: "Tenchi-ken," eh? *lol* Well, Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-ohki had a Tenchi-ken (the energy sword and "master key" that Tenchi used which came from his grandfather) so it isn't surprising that Kajishima-sensei would use the name again. Kenshi didn't react to the name, thus I wonder if he knows that's the name of the energy sword, assuming he knows much beyond the standard legend told to the Misaki family until they become an adult.

I do find it interesting that Kenshi is apparently the offspring of an artificial human from the time of Senshi and a regular human (or rather a human of Juraian decent). Considering the issue was raised over Kenshi's mother being named "Rea" and it sounding like "Leia" (Neizai's other name), one could argue that Rea may be the descendant from Senshi. However, Nobuyuki has already sired Tenchi, whom as TM!R fans know turned out to be quite special, and so he might be the descendant, aided that he's also supposed to be Yosho's descendant as well though Yosho's first marriage. That combination may have been the one-two punch needed for Tenchi and Kenshi.

Well, no matter which of Kenshi's parents is the "fake" (or descended from the artificial human), clearly Babalun didn't expect Kenshi to be able to overcome and frankly, I didn't either. Why? Because the standard, cliched story would have been that Kenshi is controlled but the harem gets him to break his bonds and go to the next level. Frankly, I've enjoyed Kenshi just kicking keester at encounter after encounter, taking some licks along the way.

Somehow, I suspect that the sabotage of the Havoniwa railway won't end up mattering much. I tend to think that Flora would be prepared for such an eventuality, considering the limitations of rail service.

While I'm thinking of it, the stage has been set to have the harem ending with Kenshi betrothed to both Maria and Aura. There's no doubt in my mind that Kenshi will end up with them all (Maria, Yukine, Lashara, Chiaia, Wahanly, Aura, and possibly Lithia) since Kajishima-sensei is such a fan of the harem ending. Considering the political justifications for such a wedding arrangement, considering how many countries there are in this world, Kenshi could end up marrying into each ruling family.

Just when you thought no more characters could be introduced, Kajishima-sensei introduces us to Morga-sama, Lithia's predecessor at the role of student council president. That suggests to me some sort of blowout for the final episode -- a battle of battles if you will. We'll see though.

Going back to when Swan first arrived at Yukine's homeland, the issue of Kenshi being able to penetrate the barrier to access the "holy place" reminded me of a similar scene in GXP where Seina activated the "god." Kajishima-sensei does love his parallels of story concepts even if they are played somewhat differently.

Anyway, after such a big deal was made over no one having been able to penetrate the barrier and the obvious comedy stuff of reacting to Kenshi doing so, it all seemed like a red herring as the barrier was forgotten while Kenshi started compressing the humongous pillar-rock. I likely need to rewatch the episode but at the moment, I'm just wondering about it all.

With only one more episode to go, it seems that there are a lot of unanswered questions to be addressed and a lot of things to be resolved. Based on how Kajishima-sensei does things, I rather doubt well get 100% explanation of things and the doujinshi and/or novels in the future might address some of those issues. Also, it is looking more and more unlikely that Tenchi and company will have a cameo, which if true will be a bummer for me.

I'm sure there are other things I'm forgetting to address, but the main thing here is that I enjoyed this episode, and ultimately that's what watching anime should be about -- enjoyment. I'm looking forward to the series finale, after which I'll need to rewatch the entire series before writing a final review. If it holds true to most Kajishima-sensei works, the rewatch will be more enlightening than the first time through.

Negima! -- The Latest Negi Pactio Moment Collage

OK, so it is no Negima! chapter 291 spoilers, but since our Japanese cousins are sharing (and speculating to boot) the latest collage of Negi's pactio moments, I'm going to share alike. ^_^


Heh! I wish I knew which of our Japanese cousins to thank for this as they continue to update it with each pactio made.

The spoiler watch continues, but now that RP is dead, there doesn't seem to be much kick for the 2CH posters to post. Besides, with no pictures, people are free to say anything about the latest chapter and there's nothing to prove them wrong until the chapter's official release on Wednesday. ^_~

Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood - 58

Hagane no Renkinjutsushi - Fullmetal Alchemist Ep. 58
鋼の錬金術師 FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST Episode 58 review

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:

Ling's battle with Bradley ends up with both of them clinging outside the wall, Bradley holding to Ling's body. Lan Fan attempts to help but the strain is too much for her automail arm. When a Briggs soldier attempts to help, Bradly tosses a knife at him, injuring him. Bradly gets shot and falls into the mote below. Ling grieves over the loss of Fu until Buccaneer calls him over, asking him to protect the giant door from being taken by Central forces. Greed agrees to work with Ling and as the Briggs forces run out of ammo for their machine guns, Ling attacks the Central troops attempting to work their way to the roof. He slaughters them, clearing the stairs down before clearing the gate and the area outside the gate of Central troops. Buccaneer, hearing that Ling Yao is helping them, says farewell to his men and dies in peace.

On the stairs down to the sub-levels of the HQ building, Sig calls for Izumi as Alex tells Olivier what little he knows from Ed and Al about those black arms and the Gate of Truth. Olivier is given a verbal report on what happened with Captain Buccaneer, including the death of King Bradly, something their captive Central general finds hard to believe. Oliver decides that they must find Izumi and so downward they go.

Ed feels the same sensation as when he was at the Gate of Truth and finds himself in another location along with Izumi. Al arrives shortly after but is not speaking. They see a dark, humanoid monster with Hohenheim partially absorbed into its body. Hohenheim tells them this is Father but before he can relay more information, Father sucks Hohenheim completely within his own body.

The gold-toothed doctor has his Wrath candidates press their attack and they soon overcome Roy, Scar, and Riza. The doctor is pressed for time and offers Roy a chance to bring back someone from the dead with human transmutation, thus opening the door to the Gate of Truth. Since Roy knows the truth of human transmutation, he refuses to cooperate. The doctor is not amused since time is short and has Riza mortally wounded with a throat slash. The doctor says he can heal her with his alchemy skills and a philosopher's stone and all Roy has to do is open the door to the Gate of Truth. In the end, Roy agrees to the doctor's demands after getting a look from Riza.

Thoughts/Review:

I thought Buccaneer was dead last episode, but the old bastard hung on for one more episode to have a heroic death. I liked how Olivier handled the news after she heard he died with a smile on his face and simply ordered the people with her down the stairs.

I don't understand Bradley's throwing a knife at that soldier, but I don't believe he's dead yet either. (Update: I just saw the teaser for next week, which I hadn't seen when I originally wrote this. *_*) This is playing much to much like the supposed train death and although we saw Bradley fall into the water, until we see a corpse, he ain't dead as far as I'm concerned. If Bradley isn't dead, then the knife incident may have been to give the impression he was dead so that he could act again and take folks by surprise.

Ling Yao got to kick some serious butt by teaming with his Greed self. With the story killing off one homunculus after another, there's only himself, Pride, Father, and likely Wrath remaining. So why do I feel that Greed will be the lone survivor in the end and somehow controlled by Ling Yao?

As expected, Ed, Al, and Izumi were transported and not slain despite being labeled as sacrifices. Well, I suppose they need to be in the proper position for the final transmutation circle. Since Al is not responding, I'd say he was still at the Gate of Truth since his body is still there.

What Father did with Hohenheim was rather unexpected though. Whew! Talk about being eaten alive, though how Father intends to retrieve the philosopher's stone from Hohenheim is more of a mystery to me seeing as it rejected him previously.

Finally, there's Roy and Riza. Well, I'd speculated that he was the likely final pick since he was nearby story-wise and that seems to be where things are headed. As I said before, the moment I saw Riza alone with Roy in rescuing Ed's group, she seemed like a dead lady walking. Now, she's dying with a slashed throat. It seemed like she gave him an odd look before looking to the ceiling which he reacted to, but I don't know exactly what it means. She wouldn't have an explosive on her person to take out some folks, would she?


Either way, I can see both choices for Roy as being valid. If he does the human transmutation, he might save her himself at the cost of something from himself but then he'd also be the fifth sacrifice they need. However, if he doesn't save her, then it seems to me that the gold-toothed doctor would have to force Roy to do it anyway. He twice mentioned being pressed for time so if Roy refuses to go along at the cost of Riza's life, the gold tooth doctor gains nothing and I tend to think that Roy's refusal has been accounted for and they'll force him to do it somehow. Roy has to know this as well and so might choose to save Riza despite the doctor's condescending way of addressing Roy as "Mustang-kun." Which choice is ultimately made, I couldn't say but it will be interesting.

So, another good episode. ^_^

xxxHOLiC Manga Volume 15 Review

xxxホリック

SPOILERS to follow.

CLAMP returns to the cooking arc in volume 15 of xxxHOLiC with Watanuki attempting to teach the unnamed, soon to be wed woman how to cook while at the same time, attempting to get he to eat her own cooking. This arc, which as before is scattered throughout this volume of the manga, is one that frustrated me a great deal during my chapter reviews. Frankly, I never cared a wit about this wacky woman or her eating disorder. If she didn't want to eat her own cooking, that's her business. Watanuki sticking his nose into this aspect of her life just struck me as annoying.

However, reading the cooking arc as part of the manga as a whole, I can now see the bigger picture that CLAMP was attempting to make while at the same time, dealing with the last of the Tsubasa crossover materials (more on that in a bit). Yuuko-san knew she was going to leave and had set up Watanuki to grant the woman's wish as his final act as Yuuko-san's apprentice. Since the root of the woman's cooking issue was her dislike of herself, Watanuki took a long time to get her there and grant that wish. But he did and though Yuuko-san did not "live" to see the results of it, she obviously felt Watanuki could handle the job and when Watanuki sees her the final time, he does tell her about it.

Now, onto the major aspect of this manga -- the departure of Yuuko-san.

If you haven't been reading the Tsubasa manga (and I know, at this point, reading that manga can be quite trying), the final interruption of xxxHOLiC by the events in Tsubasa can be jarring. Yuuko-san's discussion of ending the dream and her departure can also leave you scratching your head if you haven't read Tsubasa. Thankfully, since Tsubasa ends, future volumes of xxxHOLiC won't be burdened by the crossover.

Still, it is sad to see Yuuko-san go. Watanuki had to watch her go twice. The first was the final dream when she dissolves and the second is the last goodbye when she is swallowed up for good (at least, for now). Their final goodbye is very touching with Yuuko-san finally granting Watanuki's wish of not having to see the spirits/youkai/etc. and that they won't be drawn to Watanuki's blood. It should be noted that she doesn't say he won't see them.

So now, Watanuki vows to stay in the shop until he meets Yuuko-san again and thus becomes master of the shop, starting a new direction for the manga. Sadly, now that xxxHOLiC has moved from a weekly seinen magazine (Weekly Young Magazine) to a monthly shounen magazine (Bessatsu Shounen Magazine), we'll only get two volumes of xxxHOLiC a year from Del Rey. Well, at least now it won't be so inconsistent as it was before.

There were some nice cameos this volume. Himawari-chan and Kohane-chan show up for a bit before the final phase of the cooking arc. The doubled Sakura's and Syaoran's show up for their final interruption. The female twins from volume 4 show up to help with the story element of Yuuko-san not only disappearing, but not even being remembered by folks. (Which reminds me, did those twins have a name?)

On the Del Rey side of things, translator William Flanagan does a great job handling some of the more difficult aspects of translating CLAMP. His translator notes are always a welcome thing. ^_^ Del Rey also includes four color pages at the beginning of the manga, something I was afraid they might drop for good. However, the book feels flimsier in my hand, almost like the TokyoPop volumes did when they went to a cheaper paper but not quite as bad. I compared it to xxxHOLiC Volume 6 and the two volumes felt roughly the same. So, I guess I'm being a bit over sensitive there. ^_^;

It will be interesting to see where CLAMP takes xxxHOLiC now that it is a shounen manga.

Angel Beats! -- Some New Hairstyles (and some blog housekeeping)

As regular and semi-regular readers of the blog have noticed, I've made some changes to widen things out more. Naturally, that means that there are many articles with images that need to be fixed now and that's going to take some time (sadly). Eventually, I'll get 'em all done but hopefully, the readability factor of the blog has gone up with a wider column for articles. Thanks to everyone who made suggestions during the Aniblog Tournament. ^_^

I've also implemented the change in the comments section, so no more "anon"comments or even people using a name but nothing else. Instead, you'll need to use either a Google account or an OpenID account. I know it is a pain and I didn't want to do it, but it will remove the so called "anon confusion."

In the meantime, here are some photoshopped Angel Beats! images, courtesy of our Japanese cousins, showing Tenshi and Yuri with different looks. ^_^


OK, back to the grind. *_*

Gakuen Alice Manga Volume 10

学園アリスmanga review

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis: It is New Years day and it is also Mikan's birthday. Though she drops hints, no one seems to know or care about her birthday and that depresses Mikan. A chat away from her classmates with Narumi-sensei makes Mikan feel better and returning to her classmates, we learn that the class knew and even set up a surprise party, but pretended not to know thanks to Hotaru's love of teasing Mikan.

Hotaru receives an invitation to the Junior Division's "secret garden" party, where the female head of that school has a thing for pretty girls in all grades. Initially, she doesn't want to attend but then changes her mind as does Mikan. However, the joke Tsubasa pulled on them with the mochi they were making means that some people are stuck together. As such, Mikan finds herself attached to Natsume and Hotaru finds herself attached to Luca and the young male Yu-chan. Things are complicated when Mikan gets the special prize invitation as this means that for Mikan and Hotaru to attend, they will have to bring Natsume, Luca, and Yo-chan along even though the head of the Junior Division dislikes males.

The guys are given a pass to attend and though Natsume's bond with Mikan is released, he won't release her hand and silently warns her to go along with the ploy even though she doesn't want to. At the party, the guys make a stir with the females and Nobara is afraid for Natsume when she sees him. The headmistress, Hii-sama, likes Hotaru but not the boys. When Luca and Yu-chan come free of Hotaru, Natsume has no choice but to release Mikan, who's very relieved. However, many of the other girls do not like Mikan being there, thinking she did something bad to win the prize invitation.

As Mikan finds herself and Yu-chan led into a room where they are locked in, Natsume goes exploring for Aoi, his sister whom he believes is held captive here. Persona is alerted to this as Hotaru becomes suspicious of Mikan's absence and goes to look for her, finding her and a much older-looking Yo-chan, who'd consumed the candy to make him appear 10-years older. The girls who did this to Mikan are punished and apologize before the conversation turns to Natsume. The girls reveal that Hii-sama is forced to allow Persona through her territory, something no other male is allowed to do. Meanwhile, Natsume thinks he's found Aoi in the dungeon but instead finds Nobara.

The omake story in the manga is about young boys Sakurano and Subaru (Hotaru's older brother) and is set when Yuka, Mikan's mother, was in high school at Gakuen Alice.

Thoughts/Review: Hotaru is a pretty sadistic friend when it comes to Mikan. Bringing the normally cheerful Mikan down by forcing the class to pretend they'd forgotten about Mikan's birthday just because Hotaru finds it cute is rather harsh. Yet despite this, Hotaru does care deeply about Mikan and always seems to be on the lookout for her friend even if she pretends to be cold and distant at times. That's what made Hotaru's decision to go find Mikan at Hii-sama's party so much more powerful in my opinion.

Hii-sama is a weirdo like Hotaru declared. It is strange that initially both Hotaru and Mikan were against going and Mikan could think of all the reasons why Hotaru shouldn't accept the invitation. However, Mikan's conversion from seeing the Junior Division headmaster as weird to wanting to attend Hii-sama's party seemed a little odd, but I chalked it up to kid logic.

I liked seeing Nobara again and clearly, she knew that Natsume's arrival would be bad for him. What I don't know is if that's Nobara in the cell at the end or if it is an impersonator since Nobara was trying to get some help and then I lost track of her (may need to reread to see if she shows up in a panel someplace again before the end). Natsume, who clearly had a reason to want to stick close to Mikan even before that reason was revealed, appears to have a sister named Aoi at Hii-sama's place and as a prisoner of sorts since Hii-sama likes to collect special girls. *_* To be honest, everything about Hii-sama smacked of unwholesomeness at best and pedophilia at worst, though Higuchi-sensei tries to tone things down a bit by having characters say that certain rumors about Hii-sama are false.

So, what is Hii-sama's connection to Persona? What is so special about Aoi that Hii-sama locks her up? Why is Nobara apparently in the cell and not Aoi? Why does this all appear to be an elaborate trap just to snare Natsume?

On the TokyoPop side of things, the printing has returned to the older form, meaning a better quality paper and a manga that doesn't feel weird in my hands. Alethea and Athena Nibley do the translations again and so honorifics are retained which is good. However, I noticed that brother and sister honorifics are dropped in favor of the unnatural sounding addressing of people as "brother," "bro," "big sister," etc. Further, the western honorifics "Sir" and "Lady" are used which comes off as odd. This is where TokyoPop's lack of translator notes fails.

It turns out that the term being used is "kimi," which in this case is not being used for "you," but is an archaic title meaning monarch; ruler; sovereign; (one's) master; (P). So many of the times, instead of "Sir X" or "Lady X," it would be "X no Kimi" in the Japanese. Since that is an odd expression and there are no translator notes, I understand why it was decided to uses "Sir" or "Lady" in these instances. Interestingly though, Persona is called "Lord of the Mask" in the English and he too is in essence called "Mask no Kimi" in the Japanese. So I suppose that one could argue that instead of "Lady Flower" or "Sir Flower," the term "Lady of the Flower" or "Master/Lord of the Flower" could have been used to reflect the original Japanese's non-honorific yet ultra-formal means of addressing people in an unusual way.

Less understandable is when one of the girls, given a flower nickname, is addressed as "Lady Flower" (whatever that flower happens to be) instead of "Flower-sama." That happened for a few of the "Lady" honorifics and is odder since other English terms were matched up with their original Japanese honorifics.

Still, this is an interesting (and sometime humorous) continuation in the Gakuen Alice manga series with more questions being raised about what exactly is going on at this weird school for students with special powers. Therefore, despite my concerns mentioned above, I still say this is buy-worthy. ^_^

Angel Beats! - 08

エンジェルビーツ Episode 08 review

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis: Tenshi-2 drops from the roof and Yuri engages her in combat. Her skills are superior so Tenshi battles Tenshi-2, getting injured in the process. Taking Tenshi to the infirmary, Yuri decides she needs time to investigate how to undo Tenshi's Harmonics ability and remove the clone, which is not restrained like Tenshi was. As such, the SSS members attend class and pretend to be good students to keep Tenshi from going on the hunt. Yuri enters Tenshi's room and discovers the clone has added more skills like Howling. Yuri makes a modification to the Harmonics program so that after ten seconds, the clone automatically returns to her (Absorb).

Yuri figures that the clone has hidden the real Tenshi in the Guild that they destroyed and so it is decided to go down and rescue her with no diversions. They soon encounter Tenshi-2 but she proves far superior to Tenshi in that she already has her skills active. Further, Tenshi-2 has activated her own clone and SSS is forced to retreat down a side tunnel. Naoi scoffs at the groups stupidity, stating that Tenshi-2 likely had prepared for this and made multiple clones of herself in preparation, thus there could be numerous clones waiting for them. Sure enough, another Tenshi is waiting at one of the door's, so Matsushita sacrifices himself to trap this Tenshi beneath his body. All of the other members of SSS end up doing the same until it is only Yui, Yuri, and Otonashi.

Heading down to the pit ruins of the Guild, Yui is taken out by a plank on the way down. Yuri has Otonashi go find the real Tenshi while she battles the Tenshi clone. The Tenshi clone activates the Howling ability but Yuri was prepared with ear plugs and gets in a blow on her foe. Otonashi finds the real Tenshi and she agrees to activate Harmonics to create another clone. This clone realizes that the program has been changed and tells Otonashi that when all the clones are reabsorbed into Tenshi, they will incorporate their own wills with hers. The ten-second timer is up and all the clones return to Tenshi, causing her great pain as Otonashi embraces her.



Thoughts/Review: So, I was right about this being Tenshi's use of Harmonics, but I still wonder why she didn't make the clone return to her in the first place. The way Harmonics has been created, it is almost as if this is a last resort weapon since the clones obtain their own personalities. I tend to suspect that the clone personality is the original "core program," if you will. We still know so little about Tenshi and yet she seemed to be both "human" and special. The human stuff we've seen in that she had to create her Guard Skill abilities as well as the fishing trip. The special stuff comes from her apparent role as enforcer of the rules to ensure folks pass on. As such, the clones have that and are determined to implement the rules no matter what.

What I don't understand is why the clones decided to hide Tenshi in the former Guild site which SSS destroyed.

Regardless, the clones showed just how restrained Tenshi had always been with SSS. Now that she's absorbed all of the clones back into herself, how will she react?

I still say that there's more to Yuri than meets the eye. Look at how quickly she made programs for Tenshi despite the manual being in English. As the founding member of SSS, I figure she had to be the one to teach them weapon making skills, 'cause how many Japanese students even own a gun much less know how to build one, even with magic dirt?

As before, the trip down to the subterranean areas proved to be an excuse for dark humor (and maybe that's why the trip was written). Everyone falling on the sword was funnier to me than some of the earlier black humor, mainly due to it being not very gory. Naoi's disdain for everyone except Otonashi made me chuckle. The bickering between Yui and Hinata is always good for a smile at the minimum, especially their final fight and aftermath. They really are like siblings in that they enjoy picking on each other. Yui's demise was predictable to me, but still funny, in part thanks to the traditional "bonk" sound effect when she smacked that plank.

So an interesting episode that manages to include a bit of fun but didn't really move the story forward (at least, not that much).