I have been looking forward to this episode for an entire week. It was by no means a perfect episode. There were some parts that I thought could have been improved on, but it was still a pretty good episode overall. I wasn’t very fond of their choice to use a different opening song. I didn’t think the song fit the scenes well at all. As the episode progressed beyond the half-way mark, I began to worry they wouldn’t have much time left for an epilogue. Luckily they devoted enough time to show all of the major characters in the epilogue. Everything up to the point when the ending song began went the way we would have expected. The final 10 seconds or so was what surprised me. I was definately happy they included it since there’s no question how things really ended. Without the extra scene after the ending credits, I would have still felt satisfied with the ending. By adding the bonus scene it made me like the whole episode more.

Honestly I didn’t expect too much from this series after watching the first few episodes. As the story started unraveling, things changed quite a bit. The enjoyment of the episodes got better and better as time went on. I thought they did a great job with character development in this series. By the end of the series all the major characters became very familiar yet complex at the same time. The depths of the main characters allow us to overlook most of the blemishes of this series. The art was not exactly on the same level as say, Production I.G’s “Ghost in the Shell” TV series, but I still found it to be good. I thought it was a bit unfortunate they decided to use CG for the mechanics in the series. Personally I still prefer cel shaded style for its seamlessness. Regardless, there’s no doubt that this series turned out to be very worthwhile to watch. I feel that it’s a good series to watch for both mecha and non-mecha fans alike.

With some editing they could have probably made this the last episode. I’m glad they decided on devoting more time to the ending. Ever since we learned that there was something different about Shizuno, I’ve wondered what the real difference was. All of it gets revealed in this episode. Everything now makes sense for the most part. I thought once Kyo obtained a real physical body his first reaction would have been somewhat different. Without a doubt he seemed happy, but lacked the level of excitement I had anticipated. I guess the consequence of being the first to “return” and the weight of the situation drowned it out. By the end of the episode I couldn’t help but be reminded of Gainax’s “Top wo Nerae!” due to certain similarities. We get a pretty good idea of how things will play out in the finale, but there could always be unforeseen surprises.

So as you may have already guessed, the connection at the hotel somehow managed to pull through once again. Lots of big events took place in this episode, including both expected and unexpected ones. We get to meet Shima’s original. For someone who was supposed to be very important he wasn’t in the episode much. He fulfilled his role and that was the end of it. We’ll probably get to see him again at some point in the final episode. Lu Sheng’s affection for Kyo caught me off guard. The thought that he would have feelings for Kyo never crossed my mind. The thing that bothers me isn’t the fact that they are both guys since I have no problem with it, but throwing this thing in out of nowhere at this point in the series felt like a last-minute addition to the story. Anyways, I have no doubt that the last episode will be very entertaining. I really look forward to seeing how they will wrap things up.

Just as expected, a few of the vessels were taken out not long into the episode. During the scene where Kyo and the others were talking to a part of Naga we learned a lot of new things. They pretty much used that time to answer almost all remaining questions we’ve had up until this episode. We still haven’t heard anything new about Shizuno, but with 3 episodes left I’m not worried about them leaving an explanation out. As it is nearing the climax we expect things to get more exciting. I found that things are getting relatively more and more interesting, especially now that we have a lot more background information. After I thought about the facts that we have so far, I’m even more uncertain about what kind of ending would be most probable for this series. With the way the recent episodes have been, the possibility of a bad ending isn’t a big concern for me right now.

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.

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.

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.

They currently have 6 pilots, which works out nicely. Although once Ryoko joins as a gunner things will become unbalanced once again. This episode does seem to hint at the idea that some of Kyo’s other friends may not be too far off from awakening. I liked this episode mainly for the scenes with Ryoko and Kyo. She realized the world she knew all along wasn’t real without anyone telling her. We see right away that she has potential when she helped her younger brother with the game. It seems unlikely that Shizuno will keep her feelings for Kyo to herself for that much longer. Sooner or later she will probably end up telling Kyo how she feels after she sees him spend more and more time with Ryoko. That should make for some interesting drama. I look forward to seeing how quickly Ryoko will adapt to the real world.

This episode was the first episode to make me think it was a good idea to watch this series. As some of you may guess from that statement, this was easily my favourite episode of the series thus far. There was some plot development in this episode, but it was not what made it stand out so much. The Gards-Orm basically have an unlimited number of lives so they don’t fear pain of death. What made me really like this episode were last few scenes with Chris and Arc. We didn’t get to know them all that well, but Arc’s final scene still had a lot of emotional impact. Hearing Arc ask Chris what they should name the dog for the second time really showed us the extent of the damage she had sustained. That scene was just really well done in my opinion. Shizuno still loves Kyo and I can’t help but feel bad for her after watching this episode. They did great with the ending of this episode as well with Ryoko on the verge of awakening.

Finally we get an episode that has Ryoko as the star. Needless to say, I liked this episode. She’s starting to awaken just like Kyo did in the beginning of the series. The story will probably get quite a bit more interseting when she fully awakens and learns about the state of the real world. No matter how I look at it, Ryoko belongs with Kyo. I don’t think I could easily accept Kyo ending up with Shizuno, even if they were a couple in the past. Of course, depending on the events to come my opinion on this matter could change. We’re told that there were at least two other people who belonged to the Maihama server that have perished. I never thought about how they would handle deaths until they mentioned it. Ryoko ended up changing the story for her movie, I wonder if it foreshadows the actual ending of the series.