The events in this episode make it seem like the series is already nearing the end. Some things I didn’t expect to occur until later in the series. Without a doubt, this will greatly impact the relationships between most of the characters. Nevertheless, I think it’s a good opportunity to develop the more minor characters of the series. I’m glad that things are moving quickly though. It keeps things a lot more interesting for this kind of series. This is one of the few times where I’m quite looking forward to the next episode. I’m also quite curious to find out the names of the other villains to come. I expect them to be just as cheesy as “Moon Face” or “Captain Bravo”.

I thought this episode turned out better than I had anticipated. They spent a fair amount of time on the Hayasaka twins’ past. At first I thought I understood the situation since it’s a common theme; a single mother trying to raise to children while working long hours. When we found out the details about their mother however, I admit I was surprised by the truth. It seems highly likely that they will make another appearance in the series if they don’t end up having recurring roles from this point on. Even though this short arc hasn’t advanced the story much, I still had a good time watching it. I can only hope the rest of the series will be as entertaining, but with villains like Moon Face I can’t help but worry.

Continuing directly from the previous episode, we get to see the Hayasaka twins engage in battle against Kazuki and Tokiko. If you have been wanting to see some action, then this episode should do the trick. I probably enjoyed the action sequences in this episode more than the other episodes thus far. It wasn’t perfect of course, but I guess sacrifices had to be made due to its early evening time slot. We do get some information that develop the twins a bit further, but we still don’t know all the details behind their motive. From the looks of it, the twins’ story may wrap up in the next episode. As long as the rest of the series can keep up with this level of entertainment I think I can bear watching it until the end.

I’m glad to see the story has gotten a better with the introduction of the Hayasaka twins. Although much about them still remains a mystery, it is likely most of it will be revealed in an episode or two. I am now convinced the LXE is meant to look like a joke. Besides the awkward names of the villains, they also display their own signature poses when it was hardly necessary or expected. As low-brow as the comedy may have been, I found myself enjoying some of those moments. We get a little information regarding Kazuki and Mahiro’s parents. It may not be important to the story, but it was something I’ve been wondering since pretty much the beginning of the series. All in all I thought this was one of the better episodes thus far.

I was expecting them to move forward with the plot in this episode. There was a bit of progress, but overall we’re not much further than the previous episode. Although we are now one step closer to finding out the origin of Tokiko’s scar. From the brief flashback we saw, it looked like something pretty traumatic happened in her past. I am interested in learning more about her background. We don’t get to see the details of Kazuki’s training with Captain Bravo, but with the way regular shounen series work we can expect him to be a lot stronger in the near future. This episode wasn’t a complete waste of time for me. On the other hand, I thought there were lots of things they could have improved upon. My biggest problem with this episode was how they neglected to show much of the fight scene.

When I first heard the name “Papillon Mask” I didn’t there would be any names worse than that. To my surprise I was mistaken. I swear these names must have been chosen purely for its comedy factor. There’s no other logical explanation for it. With a name like Captain Bravo, you’re just asking for people to laugh. Then we get to see many new villains, one in particular who has a head shaped like the crescent moon. I just had to find out what his name was in the credits. I couldn’t help but laugh when I found out his name was “Moonface”. Needless to say, his name follows the trend of comical names. Starting with this episode we begin what looks to be the real plot of the series. It’s definately nothing original, but I’m confident it will still be able to provide at least moderate amounts of entertainment.

Those who have watched or read “Rurouni Kenshin” should recognize the parody in this episode as Shishio Makoto, the greatest villain in the series. Luckily this episode concludes the Papillon Mask arc. I thought he was unimpressive as a villain. He only became more and more bizarre with each encounter. Besides Papillon Mask, however, I enjoyed the rest of the episode. It may not have been a mind-blowing episode, but it fulfilled what it set out to do. With the way the series has portrayed Tokiko thus far, she gave Kazuki’s lance an unexpected name. I won’t deny that I find it kind of an odd name right now, but I’m sure it will grow on me in time. Based on the preview for the next episode, it looks like things will become much more interesting than the previous episodes.

I actually thought this part of the story would wrap up this episode. It looks like there will be at least another episode to go. Since Tokiko is down to her final day, the next episode should be the last one for this first story. This episode was mediocre at best in my opinion. Nothing in particular really stood out to me. Without any outstanding scenes to speak of, it felt like they tried to include a bit of everything such as drama, action, and comedy. Instead of focusing on some of the more vital parts of the story to make it enjoyable, they ended up producing a mildly entertaining episode. I am trying my best to enjoy it for what it is, a stereotypical shounen series. Hopefully once the story is more developed it will get better.

They conveniently provided an answer as to why nobody really knows about this bizarre student who missed school 4 days in a row. We do learn quite a lot about Papillon Mask in this episode though. It partly explains his actions and whatnot. Even after watching this episode I still can’t take him seriously as a villain. It was too bad Mahiro’s scenes were so limited in this episode. She did make some pretty nice comments about Chouno though. I’m sure many viewers have been thinking the same thing as Mahiro when we first got a glimpse of Papillon Mask. I hope they’ll wrap this part of the story up soon. It’s not that I didn’t enjoy this episode, it’s just that I’m hoping there will be a more sinsiter villain coming up.

The clock’s ticking and Tokiko is running out of time. Tokiko and Kazuki begin their search for Papillon Mask within the school. I’m not sure why Kazuki has so much trouble figuring out Papillon Mask’s identity. Someone with such distinct features like Papillon Mask should be well-known throughout the school. In any normal school he would probably be identified as “the creepy third year”. This episode provides us with a bit more information about busou renkin. In the midst of a fight we get to see Kazuki learn how to use another ability for his lance. I can’t say it’s one of the cooler-looking abilities I’ve seen in anime, but at least Kazuki’s making some progress. We haven’t found out what Papillon Mask’s motives are, but it will probably be revealed in the next episode.