Subculture Anime Blog

OP: “BLAZE” by KOTOKO – Woah! This one snuck up on me. The animation is great, and features a lot more fighting with Shana and the Bel Masque among others. Some of the other scenes hint towards some drama involving Kazumi. I love pretty much anything Kotoko, so the song itself is pretty pleasing.

Summary:

As the cleanup of festival decorations take place, Matake brings up Kazumi and the others’ “skipping out” previously. Ike starts to get to work, but he is quickly dragged off by Fujita Harumi as usual. Overhearing some of the girls discuss the costumes from the march, Shana and the others realize that everyone has completely forgotten about Konoe. Meanwhile, Hecate returns her bracelet to Bel-Peol, as it was actually a part of her chain. The Bel Masque does not see their failure to retrieve the reiji maigo as a large set back, and Hecate proceeds to transfer magic to the armored suit to make it move. Shana and Kazumi have to make a slight effort to get Yuuji’s attention at school and ask him a simple question. Keisaku appears shortly afterwards, telling Yuuji that Margery wishes to meet him again later. Keisaku also notices that Kazumi is distracted. This is because of the previous event, where Kazumi received a pendant from Pheles. This item gives Kazumi the confidence to go with the rest of the group, but she really worries about its properties. The pendant has the ability to summon Pheles, but at the expense of the wielder’s power of existence. The price of using the hogu is death, but Pheles wishes for Kazumi to use it for her and Johan’s sake.

While Margery examines Yuuji that night, Marchosias brings up how pitiful it was for the Bel Masque to get so far in their plan. Learning about what Konoe really was, Keisaku and the others are put in disbelief about the experiences they previously shared with her. After Margery is done checking out Yuuji, she reports the changes that have occurred in his Reiji Maigo. A seal has been placed on it, as well as a tracking spell. Yuuji is again troubled about the complications his body holds, as the group mentally prepares themselves to defend against the Bel Masque. Yuuji, Shana, and Kazumi see Kantaro off as he goes on a date with Chigusawa before his departure. When Shana tells Yuuji that Wilhelmina wishes to talk to him, he also brings up questions he has for Shana and Alastor. With this, the two leave Kazumi alone once again. Kazumi struggles with her inability to stay with Shana again, remembering that Pheles realized her need for power to stay with the rest of her friends. Her thoughts are interrupted, however, by a pat of the back from Matake. As the two pass by a familiar park, Konoe wonders if Matake has really forgotten everything about Konoe. Of course, Matake is unable to understand her questions.

Yuuji and Shana are shown the abundance of Outlaw information Wilhelmina has, and they are asked to help look through them. Yuuji takes the chance to ask for the Blutsauger from Shana, as he wishes to have any power he can use. Wilhelmina realizes that he would not request this for no reason, however, instantly becoming suspicious. In the meantime, Hecate and the others in the Bel Masque continue making the armored suit move. Margery is troubled about what has happened to the Reiji Maigo in Yuuji’s body, but she is confident now that she knows where her enemy is. Still struggling over the item she has, Kazumi almost throws her pendant away. She finds herself in a fuzetsu before she has the chance, however, as she looks down to see Yuuji and Shana practicing with the Blutsauger. In tears, Kazumi realizes that she wants to be with Yuuji. In the morning, a bird lands on Hecate’s hand. This annoys her, but she has a shot of realization as she watches it fly into the sky.

ED: “Sociometry” by KOTOKO – To be honest, I don’t feel like this song fits with an ED at all. I don’t have any major complaints about it though. The animation is much like the last, with the characters shifting from black and white to color.

Preview: More dorama!

Impression:

HELLO SAITO. Haha!! Wow, this is getting silly…..and by silly I mean awesome. The new OP had me going “Woah” as soon as I had the video playing, and it looks like it’s hinting towards a lot of awesome stuff. Probably the most anticipated point of the episode was the revealing of Kazumi’s hogu. As it triggers death, a lot of interesting possibilities are brought up. I wonder if I’m getting ahead of myself here, but isn’t Yuuji “dead” too? I really can’t get over this new magic using Shana and sword wielding Yuuji combo. What is this, Fate Stay Night? It also looks like my guesses aren’t completely off base with Hecate, especially with that dumb bird from the Konoe days. The more the plot actually progresses, the more I remember what a waste of time most of the first half was. The only thing I really didn’t enjoy about this episode was the annoying doctor’s voice with the Bel Masque. I’m pretty sure he’s played by the same guy who plays that lame mod soul in Bleach that I despise. Speaking of Bleach, isn’t Yuuji’s dad too mysterious for his own good? Wow, now I’m just making too many anime comparisons.

Kazumi is coming off as kind of annoying with her emo attitude in this episode. It reminds me of the first season where I just thought she was completely in the way. She’s like the annoying hot chick they have in movies for no reason. You’re not the main girl. You have no chance. Go away! Haha, but I kid. I’m sure she will probably be getting a bigger role with this new twists, and I’m a total sucker for Kawasumi Ayako anyways. We’ll save the character over plot rant for another time. Anyways, the next episode looks as slow as this one. It’s a necessity after all the action packed episodes that have been thrown at us recently though. I’m looking forward to more developments, especially with Eita seemingly wishing to stop being involved with the others for Matake.

Now back to studying for psychology….oh wait, maybe I’ll watch the OP one more time….