I can’t think of a “School Rumble” episode that was as random as this one. Besides the characters there was nothing else relating it to the rest of the regular episodes. Similar to the previous episode, this one was split into two very distinct stories. The first one was a pretty good parody-filled vignette. The parodies ranged from “Doraemon” to a mix of your generic mahou shoujo series with “Card Captor Sakura”. If I’m not mistaken, the very beginning of this episode was a parody of “Sazae-san”. At first I wasn’t sure if the episode would be any good with such a minor character as the lead, but I was pleasantly surprised by what they presented. There were lots of hilarious lines in the first story. The second story is based on the basketball manga we have previously seen. I thoroughly enjoyed itthe first time around but this time I wasn’t nearly as impressed. Regardless of the second story’s inability to be funny, I felt the first story made up for the second.

This episode was split into 3 distinct short stories. The first two stories had some meaningful development. After focusing on the main characters over the last few episodes we get to see them devote entire stories to some of the other characters. I didn’t find the second story all that great. It wasn’t very fitting for the series in my opinion. The other problem with it is simply the fact that we haven’t been given the opportunity to become attached to those characters for us to fully appreciate that story. The last story in this episode was a completely random episode that fits in no particular part of the actual series. That didn’t bother me at all though since I found it to be written in the true “School Rumble” style. Overall I definately liked Karen and Imadori’s story the best. We got to see their relationship flourish somewhat and to top it off it was hilarious as well.

The episodes lately have been pretty exciting. I was hoping this episode would carry on with that trend, but unfortunately it didn’t. Although I thought it still had its moments, it just wasn’t on the same level as the previous few episodes. It was pretty evident that Carmen was going to die soon, but I never expected Moses to die the way he did. I don’t think it really makes any sense when you take a look at their situation from the beginning. The other thing that kind of bugged me in this episode was the way nearby buildings were drawn. You couldn’t see any sort of depth when you could clearly see windows and whatnot on the buildings. I expected more from Production I.G. to say the least. Hopefully the next episode will make up for the problems in this one.

Quite a lot happened over the course of the episodes I missed. Although when the development was spread over 7 episodes I kind of expected more. They made up for the moderate amount of plot development with this episode. We learn that the Maihama data is on the Moon. It isn’t a big shock since it all makes sense if we think back to the first episode. We also find out that Kyo was the one that gave Shizuno her current name. Kyo really was a completely different person in the past. His personality is nearly the polar opposite of what it used to be. After watching this episode we can see that the climax of the series is fast approaching. This is one of the few series where I can’t decide on an ending that is more probable than the other possibilities. I look forward to seeing how they’re giong to end this series.

I find things in this series get better and better as time goes on. Lots of stuff happened since my last review of this series. The previous episode was probably the most significant out of the last couple of episodes. Besides the advancement of Takayama and Masane’s relationship, we also got to see Masane’s new Witchblade form. I personally think it looks pretty awesome. I like the look more than the original form, but I’m not sure if I like the new colour scheme as much. As comedic as Rihoko’s date with Takayama was supposed to be, it was kind of hard to watch because both of them had trouble enjoying their time. Although by the end we get to see some real improvement between the two. With the way the episode was progressing, I thought it was going to be a fairly laid back episode. At least that was the case until they got assaulted. This episode may not be as great as the previous one, but it was still very worthwhile to watch. The more episodes I watch, the more I wonder if Masane will survive in the end. They’re dropping signs all over the place that her time is limited and she may not pull through. I’m rooting for her to survive, but I wouldn’t be surprised if she doesn’t.

I have decided not to continue my reviews on Bleach until the filler arc is over. I’m not particularly keen on watching the 6 or so episodes I have missed since my trip. Once they get back on to the real story I will probably pick it up for review again.

I was 8 episodes behind this series so it took some time to get through it all. I must say I like where things are going though. The last few episodes have all been good. It was only a matter of time before a new incident involving Camyu came up after seeing her drink water nonstop. We learn why her wings are black, unlike everyone else’s. For now we still don’t know why she bit Aruru. It seems highly unlikely they will just leave it at that. I’m expecting something big to happen involving Camyu. Ever since Kuuya mentioned the use of “special powers” I’ve been wondering about its identity. As it turns out they’re giant mechs. I never thought I’d see mechs in this series. Although their appearance don’t look so far-fetched to look completely ridiculous in this setting, it will take some time to accept having them in the series. This episode continues the streak of entertaining episodes. I’m anticipating the next episode to keep this trend up.

Marller is once again up to her usual schemes to cause havok. As far as her previous plans have been, this one was probably the most interesting albeit futile. Of course, since this short story has not concluded yet we don’t really know the full extent of her plans. I didn’t find the whole story involving Kodama and Hikari all that interesting. I couldn’t help but think what role the writers were trying to give these characters. The only part that really caught my attention was at the very end of the episode when Belldandy reads the letter. That should add a whole new twist to the usual pattern. Unfortunately, the next episode is not scheduled to air until August 31st. I don’t see this short story lasting for more than another episode. I hope they don’t try to drag it on either.

Some pretty big things happened in the series during my trip. Akari says farewell to her old gondola and Aika gets a brand new hairstyle. I don’t know about anyone else, but I’m a big fan of Aika’s new hairstyle. I have to agree with Aika, it really does make her look more mature. As for this episode, it’s yet another episode involving the supernatural. Except this time they attempted a horror theme. Personally I don’t think it fit the series at all. I felt like it somewhat tarnished my image of a utopian setting. Nevertheless, I still had a good time watching this episode. On one hand I think it’s nice that they’re trying to branch out a bit. On the other hand, this series never had any real need to diverge from the usual formula in the first place. Hopefully the rest of the series will stick with what works.

I happened to come across two posters in Akihabara which I found to be suitable for this review as well as the previous one. Click on the photo to view a larger version.

I realize there are 6 episodes of this series I have not reviewed thus far. As much as I would like to review each and every episode of this, I’m far too lazy to write a total of 7 reviews for one series just to be up to date. The level of drama in the series seems to have increased dramatically lately. I still found it to be entertaining and meaningful as it actually created some development in many of the characters. It did feel a little odd seeing Tenma act so serious for an extended period of time. I didn’t think Harima could really embrace Tenma like that considering his behaviour around her in the past. Even though this episode was primarily drama-driven from beginning to end, it was still very worthwhile to watch. We’ll be getting two back-to-back episodes next week. The next review in line is “ARIA The NATURAL” episode 20. Something extra will be included in that review.