I assumed the story from the previous episode didn’t finish yet, but it turns out I was wrong. The only thing carried over from the previous episode was Belldandy’s one-week suspension. It was somewhat entertaining to see many of the more minor characters all show up in this episode, albeit only very briefly. While Keiichi and Belldandy were discussing things to do together, I thought they would at least come up with something interesting. Unfortunately I felt that everything they did was rather boring. Although I guess this should have been expected considering both of their personalities. The whole episode wasn’t a waste though. There were some parts I enjoyed. Basically all the scenes with Chihiro in them were the ones that caught my attention. We may finally get some sort of continuous story starting from the next episode, which will hopefully last until the end of the series.

The final mission officially started in this episode. They managed to provide answers for many of the questions from other episodes which allowed us to enjoy the episode without being left in the dark. It took a minute to let Shima’s real identity sink in since it was quite unexpected. Although many of the questions have been answered, we still don’t know everything about Shizuno. During the final briefing we get to see all the other captains of the other ships. I didn’t think there were that many of them around. Since they made them appear so insignificant, some of them, if not most of them, probably won’t survive. This is the first time that Kyo and Toga have met, but they acted like they knew each other. Their personalities are pretty similar. If Toga had been in the series more I think there would have been quite a few more interesting scenes. I have faith that they will do a good job with the remaining four episodes.

This episode basically focused on building up towards the climax of the series. Masane had never wanted to live so badly after realizing herself that chances are she doesn’t have much longer to live. Although by the end of the episode it felt like she had accepted her fate and wanted to make the most of her remaining time with Rihoko. If the data Takayama and Rena collected are correct, then it seems like Masane’s death in the very near future is inevitable. The writers will either somehow keep her alive or go through with killing her off. I can see good endings for both scenarios, so hopefully they won’t end up giving us a disappointing ending. I’m rooting for a happy ending, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it turns out to be a sad ending.

I wanted to watch this episode pretty badly after seeing the preview last week. After finally seeing it though, I have mixed feelings about it. I found this to be an unexpected and bizarre episode. We get to see who or rather what Hakuoro really is. I think I have an idea of just what is going on, but I’m not too confident about it since it doesn’t really make a whole lot of sense. With a few more episodes left I expect a complete explanation in the very near future. For a while I was worried this episode was going to be Aruru’s final appearance. Luckily this isn’t the case, although things have now become extremely odd. On the bright side, the crisis caused by the invasion appears to be over at least temporarily.

I had fairly high expectations for their New Years episode. Luckily I wasn’t disappointed by what they had to offer. I thought there were lots of good parts from the beginning until the end. The episode begins with one of its longest introductions yet. It’s another “Initial D” parody, which I don’t think they have done since the first episode of season one. As for development, I guess one can interpret the events as somewhat developing the key relationships further. Of course, it just isn’t a “School Rumble” episode without their style of comedy. There wasn’t any particular scene which I felt was extremely funny, but the many moments of moderate humour adds up.

The only word to describe the first half of this episode is “interesting”. Aria-shachou ends up in a parallel universe where everyone’s gender is the opposite. I personally didn’t think this was one of the series’ better episodes, but I still had fun watching it nonetheless. This is one of the rare chances we get to hear the seiyuu’s try to change the gender of their characters. That in itself makes it worthwhile regardless of how good the episode is. My biggest issue with this episode was the subpar quality of the art. They weren’t able to maintain the series’ usual high standard. As for the second half of this episode, I felt it was better than the first half. We get another look into Akatsuki’s silly childhood. Although Akatsuki’s mother wasn’t in it much, I thought she had potential to be a pretty good character. At this point in the series I kind of doubt we’ll get to see her again though.

The Red Shield finally figured out Diva’s, or rather Amshel’s plan. Many of the questions we still had were answered in this episode. We see that Diva has already given birth to her two children. If the latest ending song is of any indication, we may have an idea of what the finale will be like. Solomon attempted to take Diva’s head, but of course he was no match for her. It’s obvious that she won’t be taken down quite so easiliy. We also get to hear from Saya just what she asked Hagi to promise her when everything is all over. It shouldn’t surprise anyone what the promise was since it was really the only foreseeable option considering the circumstances. Nevertheless I really liked that scene. I felt the dialogue for that scene was well written. I am pretty confident that I won’t be disappointed with the remaining episodes.

The plan for the final assault was revealed in this episode. So as it turns out it looks like they can get actual bodies once this is all over. Now that I think about it, it doesn’t sound so impossible afterall since the Gars-orm have been doing something similar. I just never really considered returning to the real world as an option. We briefly see two new characters, Sara and Toga, who were piloting a Zega. In all likelihood this was just a minor introduction to allow us to realize there will be others to help with this last battle. I’m really glad they put in Kuroshio’s resistance to the plan. It adds a whole other level to the story by getting us to think about whether it really is better to “live forever” or to exist in the real world with death as something inevitable. With Kuroshio threatening to betray Celebrant, the last few episodes of the series should be good.

After all her talks with Hakuoro I thought there was a chance she wouldn’t end up becoming just a puppet. With the sheer power of the mechs I think it’s inevitable that at least one or two of our beloved characters won’t make it through to the end. Hopefully I’m wrong, but I’m prepared for the worst case scenario. It looks like it will be difficult, if not impossible, for even the highly skilled people like Benawi and Karura to make a big difference in this war. I’m still waiting for Camyu to do something to turn the tide of what looks to be the final battle. We’re quickly approaching the finale of this series, but many questions have yet to be answered. I shouldn’t have watched the preview. Now I want to watch the next episode pretty badly.

This is yet another Cait Sith episode. Whether or not that’s a good thing is up to each individual viewer. If I knew it was another Cait Sith episode I would have probably been more hesitant in watching it. Luckily it turned out quite well. I thought all the elements in this episode ended up working out nicely. We got to see Akari wear something else other than her uniform, which is a rare sight. It wasn’t anything flashy, but rather a simple ensemble well-suited for someone like Akari. Watching this episode reminds me of just how mysterious Aqua remains. As much as I enjoyed this episode, I could really do without anymore Cait Sith episodes. The next episode looks like it’ll be a lot of fun, even though it doesn’t seem like there will be any sort of development.