Kon gets an upgrade in this episode. After this episode they will probably start producing Kon version 2.0 backpacks. I wasn’t expecting them to include Kon in this episode. Who would have thought Kon would be so useful. Thanks to Ishida we find out just who Claud, Nova, and Ririn really are. The odd plushies in the new ending song make sense now. It seemed kind of random when it was first used. This filler arc for the moment is faring better than “Naruto” filler arcs. It’s without a doubt more enjoyable. I thought the omake at the end of this episode was pretty funny. It adds nothing new to the characters featured in it, but it was still entertaining.

A new opening and ending song starts in this episode. These will likely be the last opening and ending songs we get, unless they do a special opening and/or ending song for the last episode. Once again I didn’t find the opening song to be all that great. The first 5 seconds made the song sound intense, but after that point it went downhill. The ending song was more tolerable than the new opening song. The best thing in the new opening is we get to see Eureka with her new hair style. The fate of the world rests on Eureka and Renton. The mission to get them to Sakuya commenced in this episode. As soon as we saw Maurice, Maeter, and Linck eyeing Nirvash we knew the mission wouldn’t go smoothly. We are left with more questions than answers by the time the episode ends. With the new opening song and the events in this episode, it really feels like the beginning of the end. Eureka has her new hair style in the preview for the next episode so I’m looking forward to seeing that.

This episode is the kind of episode I have been expecting from this series. I find it hilarious just to see Yuna do what she does best; being a total ditz. For the audition to become an idol Yuna sings her original song. It was a horrible song, but it was meant to be so that’s what made it funny. Towards the end of the episode we see that Yuna is going to become an idol after getting selected by Zunku. This was a parody based on “Tsunku” of course, the person responsible for creating “Hello! Project”. It would have been funny for them to run with the parody a little longer, but we only get to see him for that one short scene. In the end Yuna declines the offer to become an idol and we’re back to square one, ready for more wacky adventures.

We’re now back with the main cast who just reached Russia and board a Siberia-bound train. This episode was pretty laid back until Elizabeth’s corpse gets thrown off the train by someone or something. Things got intense when Saya and the others were attacked. I thought the way they killed the first yokushu was pretty awesome with Saya thrusting the katana from below and through the roof of the train. By the end of the episode we still have no clue as to who the person with the blue jewel ring is. Until now we haven’t seen anyone who is able to change their appearance to that of their victims.

With Saya’s story finished, this week they move onto Erika. We find out that Erika is half Brazillian, which leads to problems living in a xenophobic society. It wasn’t anything too severe until Haruka shows up at Erika’s place. She definately crossed the line, but I think this will work out better in the end. The more we hate her now, the more enjoyment we’ll get when she gets cut. There was one comedic scene I liked in this episode. It was pretty funny when we found out that Miki is a fan of Erika’s brother who is a member of the popular group “Third Sence” (note: that is not a typo on my part). It was brief, but we got to see a completely different side of Miki.

The fight sequence in this episode is a bit longer than the previous ones. We get to see just how powerful Ilya’s servant is when he injures Saber. We’re told by Ilya herself that Beserker is none other than Hercules. I guess that just shows how much confidence she has in her servant’s abilities. Shirou “dies” once again but is saved thanks to Saber’s ability. I hope this isn’t going to be a trend where Shirou starts dying left and right. Rin reveals more information on the servants which just adds a bit more depths to the story. Even though we did get more scenes with Saber in it than previous episodes, her scenes were still pretty limited.

It looks like I was totally wrong. Rose is now officially dead. I admit I wasn’t expecting her to die so soon after finding out she was Roy’s daughter. We will probably see her again though. There were multiple hints in the episode that we haven’t seen the last of Rose. Since I was wrong about Rose not dying last week I don’t have complete confidence in my new theory. I hope Rose will be a part of the story again though, it would feel kind of odd to have her completely written out of the series so soon. Even though this was probably the darkest episode thus far, I really enjoyed it. It gives the series much more depth which is always a good thing. It’ll be interesting to see how what happens from this point on.

This review is the first out of a series of special reviews I will be doing over time. Basically these will be one-shot reviews on entire series. In other words, these special reviews are for series I should have reviewed normally.

Anyone who watched this series knows this is the second season of “Rozen Maiden”. Personally, I enjoyed the second season a lot more than the first season. In terms of music, I’m glad they kept some of the BGMs from the first season because I thought it had exceptional BGMs. A couple of the new BGMs were good too. I found the humour in season two to be better. The humour was definately cuter than the first season. They were able to incorporate drama pretty nicely too. One of the best episodes this season was without a doubt episode 10. Hinaichigo’s final scene was done really well in my opinion.

As for the last episode I thought it had both good and bad parts. I think the ending could have been better than it was. It seems quite likely there will be a third season eventually. I haven’t read any confirmation that season three is already being planned, but season two’s ending would be a horrible way to end the entire series. I thoroughly enjoyed the fight between Shinku and Barasuishou. It was pretty cool seeing them use the powers of the other dolls. Too bad it was such a short scene. Many of the questions from the first episode of this season were answered in this episode, but there are still a few unresolved issues. I can only hope they will release a third season. This is one of the series I would recommend to most people. It pretty much has something for everyone.

There is a new opening song starting from this episode. I think this new song is a lot better than the first opening song. Unforunately the ending song is left unchanged. There are lots of spoilers in the new opening, but it definately gives me high hopes for the rest of the series. The first part of the episode wasn’t too interesting since it was pretty much just about Tomoe being mischievous. There seems to be more to Erstin because of her odd behaviour in this episode. Anything that is somehow related to nanomachines seems to concern her. Currently I only have theories pertaining to her situation, but for a definitive answer I will have to wait and see. This episode is a turning point for the series. An army of Slaves fly across the sky at the end of the episode signifying the beginning of the real plot of the series.

So the aliens are now staying at Hazumu’s place so they can observe humans. I was surprised when we found out Jumpu is actually the ship that killed Hazumu. Jumpu’s mannerisms were fun to watch, but if they do it excessively it may just become an annoyance. You gotta love Hazumu’s family. They easily welcome the aliens into their home. Hazumu’s dad may be disturbing with his intentions but I still find his scenes hilarious. Hazumu was able to set things straight (no pun intended) with Yasuna so the drama will probably begin soon. Well, the preview for the next episode already gives it away so let me rephrase that. The love triangle begins next week.