Thankfully this episode was more entertaining than last week’s disaster. Nevertheless it’s feeling more and more like I’m wasting my time with this series. The series is gradually straying away from what I envisioned it to be based on the early episodes. I don’t really want to drop the series at this point in the series, but if it doesn’t turn around in the next episode I may just stop watching it. This episode spent quite a lot of time on Mina. By the end of the episode I think she’s becoming more interesting and likeable. On the other hand, the way Sayuri was portrayed in this episode makes me actually think less of her. Of course, at this point in time Sayuri is still a fairly undeveloped character so things could change once we understand her more.

This was probably the most unique episode out of all the other “Jigoku Shoujo” episodes I’ve seen. Unfortunately it was much too different that it affected the episode negatively. On one hand I thought it was interesting to see a whole other side to Hone-onna. On the other hand, the episode itself wasn’t all that entertaining. Normally an episode would unfold in a manner that allows us to make some sort of connection with the main characters. I thought that factor was missing from this episode. There are also usually emotional highs and lows throughout the episode, but this episode seemed relatively flat. I’ll give them credit for trying something different. I just hope the rest of the series will adhere to the winning formula.

I was beginning to feel a little “Code Geass” withdrawal since last week’s episode was just a recap. We knew from early on that Kallen is half Japanese, but we didn’t know what her current family situation was like until now. It was surprising as well as sad to see her family life. The story doesn’t progress all that much in this episode. Nevertheless I still thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. We do get somewhat of a happy ending at the end so there was some positive development. I’m perfectly content with the pace the series is going at right now since we still have any episodes to go before the end. I would have to say this episode was my favourite episode of anime this week so far. There was pretty much no major flaw with the episode in my opinion.

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.

The anime I have been watching this week haven’t been overwhelmingly great this week. Luckily I can always count on this series to provide an exceptional episode. For the majority of this episode it didn’t feel like the story was moving all that much. The final scene, however, adds some needed twist to a seemingly slow-paced episode. Something I found really entertaining in this episode was the fact you could never really say whether L or Light was outwitting the other. One moment it seems Light is ahead, but the next moment L seems to have gotten the upper hand. They have little trouble keeping us entertained from beginning to end. With the turn of events in this episode things can only get better from here on out.

We finally get to see the conclusion for this file. It ended up more like a mystery case than something I had expected to focus on horror. With all the clues they have been dropping over the last 2 episodes it wasn’t exactly a shock to find out who was behind all the incidents. Nevertheless, I still had a good time watching this episode. At first I thought we had a better understanding of Kazuya, but after this episode we’re pretty much back to where we were before this case began. As for Mai, however, we do get some character development. Although this new information may not seem like a big deal just yet, in my opinion it will definitely affect the way the other people treat her.

The story seems to be moving a bit faster than I had expected. Then again my memory of the exact length of events that took place in the manga is cloudy at best. The flashback of Linali’s past felt extremely short. It ended before we were given time to let things sink in. With all the new information this episode had regarding Miranda, one could quite easily guess what will eventually happen to her. This wasn’t a flawless episode by any stretch of the imagination, but by taking into account all the parts that were good makes it a worthwhile episode. Road revealed her identity in the last scene, which I thought was a great spot to end the episode. I thought it was a unique twist in the story when I came across it in the manga.

As much as I would like to praise this episode, I can’t bring myself to do it without really pushing the envelope. This episode put me to sleep. I ended up having to re-watch about half of the episode because I missed the second half. My expectations for this kind of series is never set very high, but an episode like this one makes me regret even spending time to review it. The only real positive thing I can say about this episode was the fact the art wasn’t the worst yet. I guess I should also include the little bit of character development regarding Sayuri. If you still watch this series, I would suggest you skip this episode and save yourself 20 minutes. I for one would love to get that 20 minutes of my life back.

I found this episode to be quite sad on multiple levels. I’m not implying this was a bad episode at all. It’s just the combination of the subject matter with the events in the episode that make it a depressing episode. There were many ways they could have portrayed the main characters of this story. The path they decided on was unique for sure. You could really see the consequences of not knowing how to deal with fear and confusion. Ren’s interest in this specific case might be an indication that his past may be somewhat related to this situation. More specifically, the woman we saw in his flashback a few episodes ago may be his sister. I would be interested in learning more about his past as well as the pasts of the other characters.

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.