Thoughts of Summer 2010 Anime Titles

The German girls use MG42s, except Gertrud who dual wields MG42s and swaps between other German manufactured machineguns.

Any Lynette Bishop is using the Boy's .55 Anti-tank rifle.

But anime wise:

Strike Witches 2: Freaking awesome so far.

HSoTD: YAY ZOMBIES! ^_^ that is all...

Asobi ni iku yo: Watched it this morning randomly and I actually like it!

DLing Cat Shit One as I post... >_>

Five_X wrote:The German girls use MG42s, except Gertrud who dual wields MG42s and swaps between other German manufactured machineguns.

A lot of the stuff the Witches are listed as using on wikipedia isn't used in the anime, at least the TV version. I do seem to remember the MG-42 being mentioned in the OVA that was the prototype for the series. However while the weapons used in the TV series do have some MG-42 features the feeding and ejection systems are totally different (which was why I guessed they were MG-15s). MG-42s are right hand feed, left hand ejection using a belt feed. These guns are fed with top mounted double drum magazines and would basically have to eject from the bottom because of it. That being said the barrel shround, buttstock, and several other features do resemble a MG-42 a lot more than a MG-15.

Amigami SS (Episode 4): The serious scene towards the end of the episode was arguably kind of melodramatic, but the episode as a whole was still rather fun. Morishima Sempai's arc as a whole has been rather fun, actually -she's a pretty awesome character. It'll be interesting to see how the show does now that her arc is finished. With luck, the fact that it resets itself to cover the various girls who the lead could end up with in the dating sim it's based on won't be too awkward and the rest of the girls will also be a lot of fun. I noticed Morishima's strangeness brought out a certain strangeness in the series lead as well -I'll be interested in seeing whether his characterisation remains relatively consistent when they keep resetting and pairing him with a different girl for each arc.
So yes, overall Morishima's arc was pretty good, next I guess we get to see how the show does when it's focusing on other characters.

I'm watching Kuroshitsuji II but I'm thinking I may not bother commenting on it too much unless someone else does.

Asobi ni Iku Yo (Episode 3): Man this show is fun. I think a good way to describe it would be as an ecchi romantic action comedy (ERAC?). It's also got some surprising depth at times considering it's general craziness, sillyness, and gleeful indulgence of anime cliches. I do have to admit they hiked the fan service level up for this particular episode, but at least it was fairly well utilized. My only real complaints would probably be the overly obvious and intrusive censoring that required and the fact that apparently all the female Catheans (alien cat people) who aren't specifically supposed to be relatively flat chested are all ridiculously busty. Also while it's fairly common for loser male leads to get violence inflicted on them by girls who jump to conclusions it's pretty rare for one to get shot at by one. But I guess most loser male leads don't have childhood friends who are aspiring CIA agents either.
So anyway, this show is made of win.

Yeah, Asobi ni Iku Yo is easily the best harem comedy ever. It's amazingly cliched, but it's also incredibly original and fun. And yes, the ecchi was ramped up for this episode.

So out of curiosity, which girl do you favor? Crysis-tan or CIA-tan?

Actually I was reading in some blog comments recently that the author behind the Asobi ni Ikuyo novels wrote some actual hard science fiction in the past. Apparently the "Beautiful Contact" cult that tries to stop first contact with the Catheans because they're not what they think aliens should be may be based on the people who kept telling him his stories weren't realistic enough. Though I doubt the people who criticised his stuff for being unrealistic were packing uzis.

In spite of knowing that authors often like to try writing multiple types of fiction it's kind of odd to find that something as ridiculous as Asobi ni Ikuyo was written by someone who used to write hard sci-fi...

I find CIA-tan more interesting. She's a hilariously awesome tsundere, and a badass gun nut.

Some of the reactions to this show are pretty intriguing. Some people thought it would be similar to Elfen Lied, and others think that it's trying to be too many things at once. To be honest, I don't see why either one could be an issue. The possibility of the show being completely serious was kinda thrown out the window the minute Eris started doing stuff. And I think it's more genre busting than trying to cover too many levels at once.

On another note, Eris has the best introduction ever: she's literally just 'there' at a party, and no one cares. This series is great.

One could theorise that part of the reason no one cared about a random Alien Cat Girl showing up at a party was because a lot of the people at said party look like their eyesight is going a little. Plus a lot of them were drinking too.



I'm actually a big fan of CIA-tan myself, although I think Crysis-tan would probably be better for my life expectancy. She strikes me as the more capable of the two in a dangerous situation and she won't try try to ventilate you with a machine pistol if you happen to accidentally see her naked.

Hisghschool of the Dead 4: Mostly a clip show (drat!), but a good depiction of how the end of the world brings out the worst in people.

The best thing from this episode was the preview of the next episode, which shows Rika Minami, the female SWAT officer. My favorite character in the show.

Looks like I'm slowing down a bit with the rapid fire updates...

Amagami SS (Episode 5): With this episode, the series successfully transitions from it's first arc to it's second. The intro initially seemed kind of painful, but things quickly turned around with the appearance of this arc's girl, who gives her predecessor in the first arc a run for her money in the awesomeness department. I can't say how the series will be overall as of yet, but it looks like at least the first two arcs will be worthwhile. Guess good characters can really help overcome an iffy premise.
High School of the Dead (Episode 4): I'm finding my desire to watch this series is waning somewhat. I suspect that's partly because this week's episode was kind of weak compared to it's predecessors, though I'm not sure that's entirely it. My feelings towards this show kind of remind me of my feelings towards Arakawa Under the Bridge -I was initially impressed, but then I quickly lost my desire to watch when some of the other shows of the season started showing their strengths. It probably doesn't help that HSotD ends up coming out just after the much more bright and cheery Asobi ni Ikuyo -it's really not the type of series I want to be watching when I still have "Now loading... SKY!" (Asobi's OP song) stuck in my head.
Occult Academy (Episode 4): This was a pretty solid episode. It seems Fumiaki is actually something of a wuss, though he's got plenty of time to improve since the series is only on it's fourth episode. Maya, on the other hand is pretty badass. Crossbow with taped on flashlight=Made of Win (even if it wasn't quite enough in this case).
Shiki (Episode 3... kind of): I intended to watch Episode three of Shiki, but ended up missing it due to technical problems. And while I could probably see it now, I just find I'm not really compelled to. So I think at this point I'm pretty much dropping it.
Strike Witches 2 (Episode 4): A pretty decent episode. The Jet Striker unit was a bit fun from a geek perspective, although I think Barkhorn might have been better going with the quad 30s over the 50mm cannon given the nature of the target she had to take on. I often find the idea of "sniping" in a dogfight environment really kind of bugs me (both here and elsewhere -Macross Frontier also had a bit of that problem). There's a reason fighter aircraft are equipped with rapid fire cannon. Also I do seriously have to question why a flaw as simple as the one the Jet Striker had wasn't identified during initial testing before it was given to an actual line unit for field testing. But oh well, it's Strike Witches, best not to sweat the little stuff.
Next Episode looks like it's going to focus on Franscesca, who is pretty much my favorite character in the show. Hopefully it'll be fun.

So I suppose at this point I've more or less got my ordered "watch list" for the season. These are the shows I really look forward to watch each week:

1) Asobi ni Ikuyo
2) Occult Academy
3) Strike Witches 2
4) Amagami SS

Seitokai Yakuindomo and Shiki are basically dropped. HSotD is sort of in a limbo category as I generally don't feel much desire to watch it but I am sort of curious about it (kind of a difficult feeling to explain). Ookami-san is also in a sort of limbo status; I've been thinking it may make for passable light entertainment but then I'm not finding it really compells me to want to watch it the way Asobi, Occult Academy, Strike Witches and Amagami do.

Ookami-san (Episode 5): I may have done this show a disservice when I described it as merely "passable light entertainment." No, the show is not deep, and at least one of it's characters doesn't seem to serve much of a purpose, but at it's best the show is actually pretty funny. It did have that slump after the first episode, but it's track record has been improving with the last two episodes, and I think there's cause for hope that it will manage to keep things up. So I guess basically I'm thinking that if it can keep delivering as it has for the past two episodes then the show is worthy of being upgraded from "passable light entertainment" to "solid light entertainment." That being said this show is still far behind some of this season's other contenders. It might have a chance of threatening Amagami SS' fourth place spot at some point in the future depending on how things go, but it will have to do darn well if it wants to get withing striking distance of Asobi ni Ikuyo, Occult Academy, or Strike Witches 2.

Latest Strike Witches was pretty awesome. The Me 262 striker and the whole plotline was great. I really like how this show does its historical references. They're really accurate, but made fun and comic.

High School of the Dead episode 4 was also enjoyable. I do wonder which chapter it's going to end on, though. It may just go on for 26 episodes, who knows.

Also, related to Strike Witches, FUNimation has officially picked up the license for the second season, as well as Evangelion 2.0, which I've really been waiting for.

Five_X wrote:Latest Strike Witches was pretty awesome. The Me 262 striker and the whole plotline was great. I really like how this show does its historical references. They're really accurate, but made fun and comic.

I actually kind of felt the thing was a bit more like a Me 163 in terms of it's limitations. Although I guess a Me 163 wouldn't pack that level of firepower.

I guess it's unlikely that we'll be seeing much else in the way of jet strikers showing up this season. Although then again, their are those familial connections...

I didn't know where to post this but I just came from
a bandai panel at otokon
And k-on will get an English release
Stephanie shee as yui and Christina vee as mio
Thought kisk and the other k-on
Fans would approve will be a DVD and
Blueray

R1 Blu-ray works for me!


As for Strike Witches, episode four was pretty good, but I still think I should feel embarrassed, if not ashamed, for watching this show (and the original).

And more Francesca Lucchini next week!

standard armament was 4x30mm cannon, however,Four 262A-1as were modified to carry a single 50mm Mk 214 cannon which extended almost 7 feet beyond the nose of the plane, but the blinding flash from the barrel limited the effectiveness of the device.

Five_X wrote:Latest Strike Witches was pretty awesome. The Me 262 striker and the whole plotline was great. I really like how this show does its historical references. They're really accurate, but made fun and comic.

Frankly, I'd love to hear what the real Chuck Yeager has to say about his anime doppelgänger...

Asobi Ni Ikuyo (Episode 4): This episode didn't seem as strong as it's predecessors, but it was still pretty funny. Gotta love seeing Eris high on catnip. Also, I found the cult of cat people worshippers funny, perhaps in part because my brother is obsessed with cat girls. I shudder to imagine what sort of fate would befall a group which made Eris it's leader though. Also, apparently all major non Japanese human characters in this series have absurdly long names.
On the negative side, I think the series suffered somewhat from the change in setting in this episode, and we haven't seen any of Kio's crazy uncle in two episodes. Hopefully he'll make a reappearance soon enough. Also hoping that next episode involves much dakka, since the scene with Aoi and Minami at that secret customs agency arsenal reminded me of a certain scene in the Matrix ("We're going to need guns. Lots of guns.").
I wonder if I'd get Aoi's pair of assist-roids better if I understood more Japanese pop culture. I did kind of get the bit about Minami's assist-roid being called "Yun-Fat."

Highschool of the Dead 5 - Only need to say: Rika Minami

Also a fucking awesome fight scene on the bridge. Much better than the manga where they just merely met up as planned.

rusty-spring wrote:Also a fucking awesome fight scene on the bridge. Much better than the manga where they just merely met up as planned.

Ditto on the fucking awesome bridge scene.

Sadly from the previews I am not looking forward to the next episode for apparent reasons.

Sakura wrote:

rusty-spring wrote:Also a fucking awesome fight scene on the bridge. Much better than the manga where they just merely met up as planned.

Ditto on the fucking awesome bridge scene.

Sadly from the previews I am not looking forward to the next episode for apparent reasons.

Yes the fight scene was EPIC! X3

I agree Sakura. The next episode looks like it's going to be something I might skip parts of. It's not tasteful to me, just hardcore fan-service. -_-

Asobi ni Iku Yo 4: That was AWESOME. Seriously, this show is just great. Next episode appears to be a direct continuation of this one, featuring CIA-tan and Crysis-tan. I also spotted a bunch of pop culture references, including this one:



It looks very similar to the cover of The Beatles album Abbey Road. There are even four of them! Here's the original picture for reference:



Just invert it and it's a match.

Tenchi Muyo has alsp paid homage to The Beatles:

MadHatChemist wrote:

Five_X wrote:Latest Strike Witches was pretty awesome. The Me 262 striker and the whole plotline was great. I really like how this show does its historical references. They're really accurate, but made fun and comic.

Frankly, I'd love to hear what the real Chuck Yeager has to say about his anime doppelgänger...

I know what David Bowman (of 2001) would say:

"My god... It's full of boobs!"

Five_X wrote:Asobi ni Iku Yo 4: That was AWESOME. Seriously, this show is just great. Next episode appears to be a direct continuation of this one, featuring CIA-tan and Crysis-tan. I also spotted a bunch of pop culture references, including this one:

Personally, I get a kick out of this shot, even though I missed it while actually watching the episode.

Also, I keep forgetting ot mention this outside of the chat, but while Eris seems to be stuck in that one outfit of hers (aside from swimgear or that one shirt she borrowed to wear around the house) Crysis-tan and CIA-tan both change clothes fairly frequently, just like you'd expect a real person to do. It's a small thing, but it shows some nice attention to detail. And some of CIA-tan's outfits are pretty awesome too. Maybe I should grab some screens at some point.

Piero wrote:

Five_X wrote:Asobi ni Iku Yo 4: That was AWESOME. Seriously, this show is just great. Next episode appears to be a direct continuation of this one, featuring CIA-tan and Crysis-tan. I also spotted a bunch of pop culture references, including this one:

Personally, I get a kick out of this shot, even though I missed it while actually watching the episode.

Also, I keep forgetting ot mention this outside of the chat, but while Eris seems to be stuck in that one outfit of hers (aside from swimgear or that one shirt she borrowed to wear around the house) Crysis-tan and CIA-tan both change clothes fairly frequently, just like you'd expect a real person to do. It's a small thing, but it shows some nice attention to detail. And some of CIA-tan's outfits are pretty awesome too. Maybe I should grab some screens at some point.

Is this anime good? I watched the opening and I didn't look that appealing to me.

Triela wrote:Is this anime good? I watched the opening and I didn't look that appealing to me.

I just pulled down the first four episodes and will give it a try, since the only other anime I am following from the Summer season is Strike Witches 2.

After all, if Piero likes a show that has a big-breasted cat-girl, it must have one hell of a story behind it.

I was literally bouncing in my seat with giddy glee during the brilliant bridge fight scene in this week's HotD. Why do I watch anime? Outrageous stylised action is one of the reasons why. That and the... art.

I highly recommend Asobi Ni Iku Yo. It's surprisingly awesome, and the latest episode I found particularly good. The first episode is pretty ecchi, but it seems to have toned down later, especially in this episode. Plus the action scenes are really cool, and the attention to detail, as Piero said, is considerable. Hopefully Piero and I aren't the only people watching this and commenting on updates.

Kiskaloo wrote:

Triela wrote:Is this anime good? I watched the opening and I didn't look that appealing to me.

I just pulled down the first four episodes and will give it a try, since the only other anime I am following from the Summer season is Strike Witches 2.

After all, if Piero likes a show that has a big-breasted cat-girl, it must have one hell of a story behind it.

Sorry to disappoint, but I do watch stuff for fun sometimes. (I know, shocking isn't it?) In fact, I'd say one of the keys to enjoying Asobi ni Ikuyo is not taking it too seriously.

As for plot, at first glance it's pretty generic. Generic loser guy meets busty alien cat girl. One of the things that makes the series interesting though is that basically everyone around said generic loser guy has a secret identity -including his childhood friend from next door who is an aspiring CIA agent. The show is also good at mixing in some fresh elements alongside the many cliches it willfully indulges.

Now as a point of note Triela, the show will test your comment about being able to watch anything since you've watch Elfen Lied. There's quite a bit of fan service, especially in the third episode. But while it is heavy on the fan service, it's not like Queen's Blade where the fan service is the main point of the series.

Also, since I was mentioning this last post, I thought I'd throw in a picture of one of my favorite CIA-tan outfits:



I have the feeling Kisk is going to prefer Crysis-tan though. Speaking of which, much as I like CIA-tan, I think Crysis-tan is by far the more deadly of the two. She knows how to incapacitate an enemy with a freaking pen!

Edit: Five_X, I know my brother is watching it. In fact, he's the main reason I am, since he mentioned the secret agent stuff in one of his posts. Otherwise I might still think this was just another lame guy gets alien girlfriend kind of show.

holy shit HOTD ep 5 was actiony

Maybe it was an apology. "Yeah, okay, fair do's, we screwed you over by putting in a clip show after just three episodes. Are we made up now?"

Robert Frazer wrote:Maybe it was an apology. "Yeah, okay, fair do's, we screwed you over by putting in a clip show after just three episodes. Are we made up now?"

That's a good way to see it. I was disappointed that they had a clip show last week.

Occult Academy 5 was frakkin' trippy. Very funny, but seriously trippy. That's all I have to say. High School of the Dead 5 had an awesome action sequence, as others have said. Probably the best episode yet and, remembering the next few manga chapters, it should be getting better. Yay Junichi Suwabe!

Occult Academy (Episode 5): The last few minutes of this episode were indeed very trippy. Unfortunately based on Five_X's comments I was expecting the episode as a whole to be rather trippy, so I spent the whole time waiting for said trippiness to appear. I also wasn't feeling at my best this morning, which may have affected my impression somewhat (I noticed my opinion of Asobi ni Ikuyo Episode 4 relative to its predecessors improved when I rewatched it at a time when my cold wasn't bugging me as badly as it was the first time I watched it). Overall though my impression was that it was a generally decent episode but not quite as good as some of its predecessors.
Hopefully I'll be over my cold by the time the next episode roles around and will thus be able to make a clear headed judgement on it.

Strike Witches 2 (Episode 5): As promised in last week's preview, this week's episode focused on my favorite member of the Strike Witches, Franscesca Lucchini. While perhaps not a great episode, it was a fair bit of fun, and it was nice to finally see Franscesca take center stage in one of the air battles. I do have to wonder if there will ever be an episode focusing on her where she doesn't manage to get into deep trouble with the rest of the unit though. Also, Shirley is freaking insane, and as much as I like her Franscesca is also insane for thinking that riding in a Lorry with Shirley is fun.

Also:

Yes, that is Barkhorn in that picture. Kind of.

Strike Witches 2 this week was great. Lucchini was the star, of course, and she got to hang around Rome while Shirley and Yoshika ate cake. I personally think Shirley's driving skills are awesome, but put to insane use. Next episode appears to be focusing on Eila and Sanya, the most obvious yuri couple of the show.

Five_X wrote:Strike Witches 2 this week was great.

Yes it was. If they keep this up, it will surpass K-On!! as my favorite summer show.

That one scene with Miyafuji is so Kara:

Kara: "Mister Croce! Mister Croce!"

Jean: "What? Did you find the Padania hideout?"

Kara: "No, but I found this cute kitten! Can I keep him!"

Jean:



I'd be inclined to create an OC based on Francesca Lucchini, except that between her and Marisa, nothing - and no one - would be safe.

---

Francesca: "Come on, Mari! It will be fun!"

Marisa: "I don't normally say this, but I 'm not sure this is a good idea..."

---

Two hours later.


Francesca: "*huff* *huff* I think... *huff* ...we lost her... *huff*"

Marisa: "I've...*huff* never seen Triela so... *huff* angry before!"

---

Marisa: "We should hide out in Michele's garden until dark, and then sneak back in."

Francesca:

Even in Italy, pants are illegal on girls thanks to the Wartime Pantsu Act of 1939.

some of the strike witches merchandise is unusual

They just released a Francesca Lucchini body pillow case:



It's $110 US - on sale.

I spent $75 on the figure, instead:

I think I definitely prefer the figure as well. Those body pillow things are creepy enough when the characters aren't jailbait.

Amigami SS (Episode 6): I initially caveated my praise for this series with concerns about the premise, but I think it's getting to be about time I stopped being so lukewarm and started to go to bat for the series a little more. Okay, so it's a dating sim adaptation and it resets it's timeline each story arc so that we can see the main character go after a different girl each time. But so what? The show is a lot of fun. It's playful and it's a lot more down to earth than a lot of comedies. And you know what's a nice change of pace? The fact that the show doesn't have a bunch of girls falling all over some personality challenged shmuck all at once just because he happens to be a little bit nice. Junichi actually made an effort to get and keep Haruka's attention in the first arc (second arc is playing out a bit differently than the first due to different circumstances). Admittedly I still have some concerns about the later arcs in this series (especially the one with that really shy girl), but at this point it seems to be doing pretty well for itself.

Just finished the first episode of Asobi ni Iku Yo. The fan service, while prevalent, was not oppressive. Overall, the episode didn't hook me, but the ending was intriguing enough to give episode 2 a try.

On the flip side, nice to see Claes is still making a good living as an assassin outside of the Agency.

Kiskaloo wrote:On the flip side, nice to see Claes is still making a good living as an assassin outside of the Agency.

I figured Crysis-tan (that's the character's fan nickname) would likely be your favorite character. Well, okay you didn't exactly come out and direcetly state that she was your favorite, and it might be a little early to start talking about favorite characters when your reaction to the first episode is lukewarm, but I do find it notable that she was the character you made mention of.

Highschool of the Dead 6 - This episode was full of moments (mostly because of the over-the-top fanservice), but for those that read the manga before knew it was going to happen.

I find Rei to be completely annoying, and was glad Takashi snapped on her.

Also, if you're a gun nut, I guess his episode was a good one. Lots of Kohta rambling about various guns.

Saw HotD. The fanservice was annoying, and distasteful. I didn't like it, but I watched it all and pulled though. -_- I LOVE Takashi!!! X3 Saeko is awesome too! I like Rei, but she was getting kinda annoying in this episode.

Highschool of the Dead 6 had two kinds of porn. I'm afraid I've been quite desensitized to ecchi, so I didn't find the fanservice and such all that off-putting. Also, the dog is totally voiced by a person.


Hirano is a sexy, moe man.

Asobi ni Ikuyo (Episode 5): Not quite what I expected, but still a pretty good episode. It'll be interesting to see where the show goes from here, especially with regards to how it's going to use the new cast members it introduced in this arc. I already feel the show needs to make better use of some of it's cast, particularly Kio's crazy (and awesome) uncle, who appeared again in this episode but didn't have as big a role as I thought he would. Also, I wonder if I'd have gotten some of the stuff in this episode more if I was a Japanese film buff (which Crysis-tan apparently is).
Also noting that the OP sequence has been updated to include the new, more unique assist-roids that first appeared in the last episode.

When is the full opening of High School of the Dead coming out?? I got the full op of Shiki (tis awesome) but HotD is still no where to be found! >_<

I've got it downloaded already. I forget where I got it, though.

Asobi ni Iku Yo episode 5 was hilarious! A lot of completely oddball stuff, and plenty of action. The Chow Yun-fat reference was great. Characters other than the main cast has larger appearances than before, which was nice. Ah, poor Crysis-tan has to compete with an alien catgirl. And CIA-tan still is very tsun. I'm guessing that she will be getting an episode with her in a greater role soon. As usual, Asobi is still making me wonder where the plot will go next. It's definitely quite interesting. I do agree with Piero in that Kio's cool uncle needs more screen time.

Well it may be a tad late, but here's the picture Five_X and I agreed on for the "defining screenshot" for Episode Five of Asobi ni Ikuyo. It's a freeze frame of CIA-tan's custom modified assist-droid "Yun-Fat" during the attack on the Androlago.



There was another one I was considering as well, but I figured it might too weird to show to a bunch of people who haven't seen the show.

Going off on a tangent here, but over the last few days I've been introduced to Katanagatari, the OVA series being released over the course of this year, and it's cracking stuff. The atypical art style is lovely, and the character designs, particulalry with the animal-inspired outfits of the Maniwa Corps, have great variety, vivid colour and real appeal. The music is strong, and while the budding romance between the hero and heroine is a chaste one, for once that's not because the hero is a spineless weed as with too many other animes. It's very dialogue-heavy, and a case could be made for some of the talk being empty gab - but on the other hand, it's nice to see relationships develop in detail through characters' conversations rather than attraction or repulsion just being assumed with a couple of quick markers. Overall, it's simply a pleasant thing to watch.

I've tended to like Nisioisin's works. The Bakemonogatari anime was great, and I bought the first volume of the Zaregoto novels - that was more of a curate's egg... the scenario was incredibly contrived, the hero was your usual angsty teen and the ending was frankly bizarre; but at its heart it was an absorbing slice of Murder Most Horrid with suitable riffs off of And Then There Were None. His samurai quest in Katanagatari seems to be reaching up to another peak.

Robert Frazer wrote:Going off on a tangent here, but over the last few days I've been introduced to Katanagatari, the OVA series being released over the course of this year, and it's cracking stuff.

Isn't it? One of my favorites this year, hands-down.

Kara and Noël have both adopted "Cheerios!" as their fight exclamation.

If you have not yet watched Episode 6, when the narrator starts talking at the end, turn it off. She drops a massive spoiler for Episode 7.

As for Episode 7, let us only say "Shit just got real!". It is totally different in tone from the episodes that came before it.

Heh, thanks for the courtesy of the warning, Kiskaloo, but as I've binged the episodes over the last couple of days that's already been and gone! Episode 7 definitely did have a queerly surreal aspect to it - it's amazing how cutting away the shading and leaving the characters as flat colour has this disorienting effect. The same could be said for peppering an episode with videogame references (even with a paper-doll dialogue!) when it has what I suppose is meant to be one of the more meaningful deaths of the series - it's definitely odd but... it works. I'd say that that sense of dislocation, detachment and disorientation probably conveys what's going through Shichika's head a lot better than a scene bawling over a body.

I have my doubts that giving K-On!! 26 episodes was the right call, but I did find Episode 18 to be a gem.

I wasn't much impressed with the first episode of Katanagatari, but I keep hearing it gets way better, so maybe I should give it another try at some point.

Anyway, updates:

Occult Academy (Episode 6): This week's episode was really good. Bunmei got to redeem himself, and we also got to see Maya go majorly dere. Although I am reminded of one my thoughts about last week's episode (which this week's episode is a continuation of), and that's what sort of school is going to be willing to put a student -even a volunteer- in a freezing chamber so that they can study near death experiences? I know Japan is less sue-crazy than the US, but seriously... what sort of administration would be willing to touch something like that with a mile long pole?
Ookami-san (Episode 7): There are some things about this show I'm not entirely comfortable with at times, but at it's best it is highly amusing, and the show was at it's best for most of this week's episode. Very fun stuff. I'm thinking maybe I should nominate the lead girl for Five_X's tsundere tournament.
Strike Witches 2 (Episode 6): I've often felt that this second season is better than the first one was, and for much of it's length this episode was a good example of that. I had some issues with the later parts however. It's nice to see how strong a bond Eila and Sanya share, however I think it would have been better if it had been done in a way that didn't make them seem so immature, since I think that undermined things somewhat. Also, I realise Strike Witches is more of a "mildly military" show, but in all seriousness this episode took that a bit far. If I was Eila and Miyafuji's commanding officer, I would figuratively speaking skewer them, skin them, and then cook them alive for the stunt they pulled. Helping your friends work out personal problems is nice, but you don't seriously endanger the success of one of the most complex, dangerous, and important missions your unit has ever undertaken in order to do it.

You mean Eila, right, Piero?

Yes, and it appears I got her and Sanya mixed up too. Although frankly I don't think that Sanya was entirely blameless on that matter either.

Also, I often have mixed feelings on certain types of fan service, but I also find overly obvious and intrusive censoring kind of problematic. And some of the censoring in this episode was really obvious.