Note: You can get a higher resolution version of all the images in this post by clicking on them. Hope all you animal ear fans and Kure-nai fans enjoy this.

Ginko is squandering all her tsundere potentials. She could be so moe, but instead she insists on keeping up her cold façade. To convince you that she would make an awesome tsundere, I made this bonus image that doubles as a credit page should you decide to upload this somewhere else:

IT’S OVER! And what a finale it was. The conclusion was a bit unexpected for me, but the more I think about it, the more it makes sense for them to have such an ending. I’m wondering how other people feel about the series now that it’s over. I for one have enjoyed it since the very beginning and I’m quite satisfied with how it ended. Maybe other people may not have the same feelings about it as I do, but everyone is entitled to their own opinions.

Summary

We pick up right after the events of episode 11 with Shinkurou heading into the Kuhouin mansion yet again with Benika and Yayoi chasing after him. Meanwhile, back at school, Ginko and Yuuno are worried about the disappearance of Shinkurou (he possibly did not tell them about his mission). Benika, still driving in that car of hers, is found by Lin who manages to break the car window as Benika speeds by.

Shinkurou manages to make it back into the Inner Sanctuary and meets Murasaki’s father, Renjou. A conversation of clashing ideals between them follows as Benika is chased by Lin in her own car. Benika manages to find Shinkurou in the Inner Sanctuary by crashing her car right into the building. Shinkurou and Benika immediately run off to Ryuuji and Murasaki while Yayoi re-challenges Lin to a fight.

Ryuuji and Shinkurou engage in a battle as well as Yayoi and Lin. Shinkurou and Yayoi emerge victorious by not relying on Benika’s teachings but by the use of the Houzuki’s fighting style. After Ryuuji and Lin were quickly defeated, Murasaki tells everyone that she wants to leave the Inner Sanctuary. While Shinkurou and everyone else first thought that this meant that she wanted to leave the Kuhouins altogether, this was simply not true. Murasaki explains that she wants to leave the Inner Sanctuary, but remain as a Kuhouin woman. She says that she wants to fight against the Kuhouin system with her own strength and not live as her mother did in the Inner Sanctuary.

Shinkurou and the gang accept Murasaki’s wishes and try to convince Renjou into accepting them as well. Ryuuji manages to get up from his beating and stabs Benika in the side of her chest. As Benika collapses and Ryuuji about to deliver another attack on Benika, Shinkurou’s horn activates and automatically strikes Ryuuji multiple times in an instant. Shinkurou almost kills Ryuuji with his horn, but Benika prevents him from doing it at the last minute.

Renjou and Murasaki are shocked to see the horn extending from Shinkurou’s arm. Shinkurou explains to Murasaki that he had it attached because he thought that he needed it to become strong alone. He goes on to say that it was a mistake because he did not need it as he had everyone’s support.

Renjou finally decides to free Murasaki from the Inner Sanctuary and tells her to fight against the Kuhouin customs and him as well. He also tells Shinkurou to come back if and when Murasaki would lose that particular fight.

Murasaki and Shinkurou say farewell to each other and some sweet words are said between them. The episode concludes with Yayoi, Benika, and Shinkurou driving home. Ginko, Yuuno, Yamie, and Tamaki all get short mails from Shinkurou saying that he’s on his way home. Renjou asks Murasaki if she learned anything while in the outside world and Murasaki goes on to tell him of the many things she experienced.

Impressions

NOOO MURASAKI NOOO! Of all the people who get to keep Murasaki in the end, it’s the one guy who did pretty much nothing but talks the entire series. While we all probably hoped for Murasaki to return with Shinkurou, it is probably best this way for Murasaki to grow up as a stronger woman. It’s true that if she left with Shinkurou that she’d just be running away and more problems would have probably came afterwards. The Kuhouin tradition would have probably continued and more women would suffer. Now that Murasaki is attempting to break the trend, there may be a possibility of the Inner Sanctuary dissolving. Of course, Ryuuji didn’t like that one bit since he’s an incestuous pedophile. But overall, I think Murasaki made the right decision.

I kind of liked the car action scene. Sooo much better than Initial D or Fast and the Furious. Just kidding… I never watched either. Benika has some smooth driving skills. Anyways, back to more relevant material. -.-

The fighting in the episode seemed a bit anti-climatic. Ryuuji I could understand since he’s just a spoiled rich boy, but Lin also fell way too easily just by a switch in fighting style. It can’t be because they were worn out from the fighting before either since Shinkurou and co. had it way worse than either of them.

The horn bit was a bit weird yet cool to watch. It almost looked like Shinkurou lost consciousness and his body did the work for him. But he snapped back to life once Benika got a hold of him. The whole horn thing may still be a bit mysterious, but I think they explained enough of it for the purposes of the show. If the series was any longer then maybe it would have been nice to see more of its background.

And yet again, the writers still find time to put in some humor and jokes into what is supposed to be serious stuff. It seems like Yayoi likes old men who act cool and tough. Benika is awesome since she can make jokes even in the most serious of situations. Shinkurou is just as awesome as he almost does the same thing as well. He must have learned to make casual comments like that from Benika.

Now, about the final question that Murasaki forgot to ask Shinkurou. If you remember, she asks if he loved her or not. Shinkurou does not give a direct answer (probably because she never asked him!), but he mentions something about a dream where they were walking together on a narrow path with violets blooming beside them. The violets were mentioned before by Renjou when he was telling Murasaki about the times where Souju was the happiest. There could be tons of symbolisms and imagery that I’m not aware of, but the best connection I could make is the violets. I found this quote from somewhere on the web (and if it’s on the web then it HAS to be true).

“To dream of violets is a promise of advancement in life.”

Whether or not this is really true is beyond me right now, but I think it’s a good fit as Murasaki and Shinkurou are both advancing in their lives and are trying to become stronger people.

Final Thoughts/Series Review

I have to saw that this series was by far one of the better ones this season. A series very similar to this, in my opinion, would be Dennou Coil. While both series are described to have a “slice-of-life” aspect to it, I think the uniqueness and alternative style is what makes them so similar. Both series as well have been a personal favorite of mine.

The ending of Kure-nai, I think, was pretty well done. In terms of the main plot (which was pushed aside for most of the series), there was not much left to be desired. I think they wrapped up everything nicely. The only things I wished to possibly see more of are more back story on all of the side characters. They almost had a thing going with Tamaki’s secret nature, but they didn’t seem to dwell on that any more than they have. Although, it may not have been appropriate to drag on about that aspect of the story with the limited time frame of the series.

I figure with Kure-nai and the issues they deal with that there has to be some message about society and the world we live in. Kure-nai is, of course, fantasy and its main purpose is for entertainment. However, there’s too much going on for there not to be some deeper meanings. I’m by far not a very “deep” person. I actually consider myself pretty shallow. Therefore, I can’t really come up with any thoughts about the meanings or messages that Kure-nai is probably sending to us. The only things I can think of relate to the whole foundation of the Kuhouin family and the ideals surrounding it. Of course there were many other themes such as, true strength, relationships, happiness, etc and etc. But the oppression thing really stood out the most to me. To oppress their own daughters into such servitude, becoming locked up only for the purpose of giving birth to their own family’s children, would seem wrong to most normal people in this world. However, not only did the Kuhouins find this to be okay, they even protected it for many generations. This really comes down to a battle of ideology. What I think is right isn’t necessarily what you may think is right. I believe Renjou even mentioned that in this episode.

Even royalty in the past saw it fit to marry within their own families and have children to possibly keep out outside influences. The Kuhouins probably did this as well, to keep the family “pure”, but they did it on a larger scale. But the problem isn’t so much the incestuous relations that go on, but the oppression that is brought along with it. This is where the Kuhouin ideology falls apart. In order to keep their family “pure” they have to, in their minds, “keep it within the family”. But in order to do this, they must control every woman (and man in a sense) that is born into that family and force them to only have children with each other. And as a result, members of the family have their freedoms taken away in order preserve what they think is “right”. Freedom is a lovely thing. Of course, some freedoms are taken for granted, but freedom wins over oppression any day of the week.

Sorry for the long rant this time. I saw it fit to include my final thoughts as it IS the end of the series. I don’t usually like to talk this much but I guess it was necessary. I’d like to thank all of you who have been following my posts on Kure-nai and thank you for all the comments (although, there was probably not many of you). Overall it’s been a fun ride and I hope to see possibly an ova or some sort of continuation of the series, but that might be wishful thinking.

Sorry everyone for the late post on this. Subs for this episode was a bit later than usual and with work and all, this was the soonest I could get this out.

Episode 11 has Shinkurou, Benika, and Yayoi launching an attack on the Kuhouin mansion in order to save Murasaki. However, despite a noble effort, things don’t go as well (not like they were expecting a nice easy outcome anyways).

Summary

Murasaki re-enters the Inner Sanctuary and has seemed to finally accept her fate as a Kuhouin woman. Shinkurou and company arrive at the Kuhouin mansion after having some traffic congestion problems and start their mission. They are immediately found after trying to enter through Benika’s usual spot and are forced to fight their way in. Ryuuji is informed of their presence and sends out his assistant, Lin (the crazy chick from the previous episodes) to stop them, but it appears the Lin has already went to meet with them. It is also revealed that Benika used to be Ryuuji’s bodyguard at one point and he mentions how dangerous Benika really is.

The gang encounters Lin and her subordinates and they begin fighting. Yayoi challenges Lin one-on-one and they square off pretty evenly while Shinkurou and Benika fight against the other men. After a while, Benika and Shinkurou fall to a lower ground and escape towards the Inner Sanctuary leaving Yayoi behind with Lin. Lin mentions something about her fighting style (not sure if she meant her own or Yayoi’s) being the same as Benika’s. This caused Yayoi to become off-guard for some reason and allowed Lin to quickly dispose of her.

Ryuuji informs his father and mother of the situation and heads towards the Inner Sanctuary along with his mother. After a interesting conversation between them (for some reason I think he’s having “relations” with his stepmother), Ryuuji enters the Inner Sanctuary alone to take away Murasaki, leaving his mother behind at the threshold. Shinkurou and Benika arrive at the Inner Sanctuary and are temporarily stopped by a lady at the front door. She appears to be Murasaki’s real mother’s maid before she died and the one who allowed Murasaki to leave with Benika in the first place. Even after expressing her distrust with Benika and Shinkurou, the maid had no choice but to let them in after two men attempt to ambush them from behind the doors.

Shinkurou and Benika arrive at Murasaki’s room to find her and Ryuuji. Shinkurou tries to talk to Murasaki, however she continues to deny that she wants to be rescued and tells him to leave. Before Shinkurou could try to talk with her more, Lin arrives and attacks Shinkurou. Benika attempts to save Shinkurou from Lin but is stopped by Ryuuji himself. Apparently Ryuuji had been trained by Benika before and is now easily overpowering her. After Ryuuji throws Benika back for Lin to handle her, he escapes with Murasaki. The maid from earlier attempts to attack Lin with a knife, but she is easily handled by Lin who ultimately kills her with the same knife. The maid tells Shinkurou and Benika to escape in which they reluctantly do so after Shinkurou’s horn is accidentally released.

Shinkurou and Benika escape to a tool shed somewhere on the property to rest before they go back and save Yayoi. Benika tells Shinkurou to wait in the car for her while she takes care of the men who were watching over Yayoi’s unconscious body. However, while Shinkurou is waiting in the car, he pulls out a photo of Murasaki and the rest of the Samidare apartment gang and returns to the mansion by himself. Benika finds this out by the time she returns to the car along with Yayoi and drives off after him.

Impressions

Well I didn’t think there would be that much fighting in this episode because of the fact of how futile the attempt seemed. However, there was lots of fighting and it was pretty brutal. The thing about the fight scenes in Kure-nai is that they’re not all that flashy like you see in a lot of other shows. I think they’re trying to be a bit more realistic and show how brutal it really is. Of course, it’s still dramatized a bit so it’s not really that realistic. But whenever there’s a fight scene in this series it almost never go “That was cool” like it may in Code Geass or something, but more like “Holy hell that looks painful”. I guess it must be part of Kure-nai’s unique charm that I’ve come to admire so much.

I kind of found it a bit interesting that they found the time to make a few jokes in the beginning of such a serious episode. That’s why I like Kure-nai so much. They do things that are a bit unexpected sometimes and it’s always so awesome. They even kept this episode a bit light-hearted before going into the crazy brutal stuff.

And we dwell more in to the persona of the evil bastard that is Ryuuji. I seriously think there’s something going on between him and his mom. It might just be me with a twisted mind, but I felt a weird bond/connection between the two during their conversation. He also told her to wait for him inside a warm room which could mean something as well. I may be thinking too much about this, but being the pervert weasel he is, I wouldn’t put it past him.

We also learned that Ryuuji’s real mother was Souju, Murasaki’s real mother as well, making him Murasaki’s actual brother (I thought he was at most a half brother). Bad Ryuuji, hasn’t anyone ever told you that making babies with your sister is bad? You’ll have retarded children.

Lin’s character was a bit clique in my opinion. Is it just me or are all crazy killers looking for that one person they consider the strongest and want to kill them? The whole “I’m crazy and I’ll kick your ass” deal was fine for her, but we she started showing signs of Benika obsession, I was all like “Oh gawd, GTFO.” Okay not really, but I still didn’t think it was necessary.

I admire Shinkurou’s bravery and commitment to saving Murasaki, but I just can’t imagine him being able to do anything unless he unleashes some crazy power like his horn or something. He was barely able to handle the no-name henchmen so how the hell is he going to even face Ryuuji or Lin. Next episode, Shinkurou meets with Murasaki’s father? This should prove to be either interesting or pretty boring, but we should be coming to a conclusion of the series (it is the last episode after all).

As with most dramas, there comes an episode where all the main character does is sits around and beats him/herself up for being utterly useless. We apparently like to call these “emo” episodes and this episode certainly comes close to being one. Due to Shinkurou’s behavior of hiding his feelings towards everyone close to him and always putting up that fake smile, the episode didn’t really feel that depressing even though we really knew what he was thinking.

Summary

Murasaki is brought back to the Kuhouin mansion and is eventually placed back into the Inner Sanctuary. We are shown a vast contrast in lifestyle when she tries to clean up some tea that she has spilled and is scolded for trying to do it herself and not telling the servants to do it.

Meanwhile back at Samidare apartment, the gang attempt to move on from the incident that occurred. Tamaki seems to be as energetic as usual, but this of course might just be her usual facade. Yamie gives Shinkurou a bit of money to go out and by oysters for everyone to eat which somehow motivates him a little.

Shinkurou meets Yayoi at the supermarket who later asks him to have a little spar with her. After Shinkurou gets to show her some of his moves, Yayoi tells Shinkurou about one of her past failed missions in perhaps an attempt to console him. She also tells him that he should just forget all that’s happened and move on.

At this point, Shinkurou seems to have “accepted” what has happened and has moved on. He tells Ginko that his mission has failed and that he’s just going to move on to the next one. Ginko for some reason seems disappointed in him, but gives him the same sort of lecturing as always. Yuuno attempts to comfort Shinkurou, but her words don’t seem to get through to him effectively.

Benika comes to tell Shinkurou to prepare to move for his next job as it is too far away from the apartment. Shinkurou reluctantly agrees at first, but after getting yelled at by Tamaki, he may have had a change of heart. He later tells Benika that he doesn’t want to move and that he wants to go and save Murasaki from the Inner Sanctuary. Benika is highly opposed to the idea at first, but as always, she gives in to his stubbornness and even offers to help him. Tamaki and Yamie overhear the conversation and give Shinkurou a warm farewell as he leaves with Benika. (P.S. This has got to be the best screen capture in this entire episode, imho. Humorous parody quotes are accepted.)

Impressions

Not that bad of an episode. At certain parts I really wanted to strangle Shinkurou for being so lame at times, but he eventually turned around for the better. Of course he’s probably going to get his ass kicked a few times, but at least he’s finally determined about something again.

I like Ginko and all, but I really wish she’d drop the attitude sometimes. It has it’s moments sometimes, but I think she should have acted a bit more seriously with Shinkurou instead of giving him a bunch of sarcastic and vague comments.

After all this time, we still don’t know of any connections between Yuuno’s family and the Kuhouins. I remember she did mention it at one point where she first met Murasaki, but they seemed to have pushed that bit of plot to the side.

The animation quality has been in a decline and this episode really had some bad moments in terms of the artwork. While some of the characters were drawn okay and were pretty consistent in each episode, Renjou, for some reason, looks different to me in every episode he’s in. Yayoi and Yamie have lost a bit of detail in their faces as well.

With only two episodes left and the plot pretty much set for the remainder of the series I can say that it was enjoyable but there’s still a bit left to be desired. I understand that its tough to squeeze in stories for every character in a series with only 12 episodes, but I kind of wished for a bit more of background from some of the side characters. They gave us some insight on Tamaki’s personality and I would’ve liked to see more of Ginko or even Yamie. I think Kure-nai had a good opportunity for some good and interesting character backgrounds with their amazing cast of characters. But perhaps that’s left for the manga or even maybe another season or ova (pretty please?).

Shikurou finally learns the truth about Murasaki and the Kuhouins from Benika. Shinkurou has vowed to protect Murasaki, but despite his efforts he simply cannot overcome the strength of the Kuhouins.

Shinkurou asks Benika if Murasaki was really a Kuhouin and brings up the information that Ginko gave him. Benika tells Shinkurou that Murasaki was a woman of the Inner Sanctuary and women of the Inner Sanctuary are to give birth to the children of the Kuhouin family. In order to hide the fact that they give birth to children from within their own family, the Kuhouin men marry women from outside their family. Shinkurou tells Benika that he wants to return to Samidare apartment with Murasaki so they could properly say farewell to Tamaki and Yamie. Benika allows him to do so saying that she believes in him.

Shinkurou and Murasaki having dinner with Tamaki and Yamie as a farewell meal. However, neither of them mention anything about leaving and they are still left with the impression that everything is still normal. The Kuhouin henchmen appear in front of Samidare apartment where Yayoi awaits. Yayoi attempts to stop them, but is overpower by the female agent. The rest of the men subdue Tamaki and Yamie and Shinkurou is beaten by the woman who beat Yayoi. During all this, Ryuuji enters Shinkurou’s room and “convinces” Murasaki to return home. Despite Shinkurou telling Murasaki to not give up, Murasaki leaves with Ryuuji.

So everything comes crashing down with this episode, and with a few more episodes to go, I think the rest of the story will involve retrieving Murasaki back from the Kuhouins. While I know Shinkurou was greatly outmatched by the Kuhouins, I was expecting him to put up much more of a fight. At least take out his horn or something like he did with the kindergarten job. But it was a pretty depressing and angering episode where the bad guys completely stomped all over the good guys.

The whole thing about the Kuhouins was pretty surprising. I mean we knew about Murasaki’s real mother, but I didn’t think it would be this big. I didn’t expect that the sole reproduction of the Kuhouin family was from inbreeding. It’s basically inbreeding right? From what I understand, the women born in the Kuhouin family are put in the Inner Sanctuary to breed more children for the men born in the Kuhouin family. Women who marry into the Kuhouins are only there to hide the fact that they’re inbreeding and for financial reasons on the woman’s side of the family. Sounds like a big house of incest to me even if they might be half-brothers and sisters. I’m sure it would probably cause a lot of handicaps as well, but I won’t get into that.

Ryuuji seemed to have a lot of influence and control over Murasaki, whether it was from her fear of the Kuhouins or the fear of letting Shinkurou die. I was very disgusted to see Ryuuji get away with all of that so casually. Hell, even his own father doesn’t like him that much. Ryuuji, please get over your loli-incest and give us back Murasaki already, please.

Next episode seems to be an emo character development episode for Shinkurou who seems to be taking the whole incident pretty badly. From the previews, it seems he develops a sort of escapist attitude by occupying himself with other things (i.e. cleaning his room) instead of dealing with what happened the night before. It may be due to the fact that he can’t do anything because technically, Murasaki left with her own free will (thanks to Ryuuji’s smooth talking). Nevertheless, I eagerly await to see the resolution of this entire ordeal.

The plot develops further as Murasaki and the gang go to celebrate Shichi-Go-San at a small shrine nearby. The Kuhouins approach further on Samidare apartment to the point where Shinkurou and Murasaki will have to flee.

Much of this episode revolved around Murasaki and Shichi-Go-San (basically a holiday for young children) so I won’t go into much of it in my summary.

Summary

Throughout the episode, agents from the Kuhouins are scouting out the area around Samidare apartment for Murasaki. Even when they go off to the shrine, the men follow them there. A new character appears who happens to be one of Renjou’s sons, Ryuuji who is possibly handling the situation with Murasaki and probably controlling the agents.

Shinkurou finds out from Ginko that there’s no girl named Murasaki in the Kuhouin family records. Not too surprising since we know who Murasaki’s real mother was. However, this seems to hit Shinkurou pretty hard. After hearing this news, Shinkurou heads back to the apartment where he is confronted by the two men scouting the place earlier. He is asked about Murasaki and attacked by the two men before Yayoi jumps in to chase them off.

Impressions

This will probably be the last episode for “fun times” before we get into the rest of the main story. Now that Murasaki has been found, there will be no time for fun and games. There was also a few bad premonitions throughout the episode, possibly foretelling a series of bad events to come soon. All I can say is that I’m expecting some crazy shit to happen in the next few episodes.

There was a few parts during this episode that I thought was charming and funny to watch. The first was when they were talking to Benika on the phone about letting Murasaki go to the shrine. I certainly wasn’t expecting to see her in that situation while talking in that manner.

The second was when Yayoi was talking to herself about the Shisa to herself after everyone else already had a discussion about it. I know that Yayoi likes to keep things to herself and not get involved in other people’s affairs, but it was kind of cute to watch he return to the topic after everyone else has already gone.

I didn’t really get this part where Yuuno was talking about Tamaki and how she apparently knows how to put on Kimonos. What was Yuuno so surprised about and why was she blushing? Is there something I’m missing here? Anyways, I’m just a little curious about that.

Seems like another bad guy appears other than Renjou (who might be considered bad or not), in the form of his very own son. He seems to have a evil and twisted vibe coming from that sinister smile of his and how he even plays mind games on his own father. I’m expecting some crazy shit coming from this guy himself.

Next episode seems to have more confrontations from the Kuhouins and in larger numbers. This shot reminds be of Kill Bill for some reason, but anyways, the plot should be strictly main storyline from now on unless they twist it up in some way we totally won’t see happening. @_@

Picking up from last week, we’re starting to see some progress in the main story again despite this being a Tamaki centered episode. Next episode will probably bring in more of the main plot as things seem to be put in to motion.

This episode was a character episode for Tamaki as we got to saw a bit more of her and her nature. Not much has been shared about Tamaki’s background, but in this episode we got to see some interesting parts about her. I certainly didn’t really expect to see that side of her. Everyone has their own problems, but seeing how carefree she acted during the other episodes, it was a bit surprising to say the least.

Summary

Murasaki, Tamaki, and Yamie are watching TV in Shinkurou’s room as a Tamaki suggests that Murasaki goes to the university with her. Murasaki is hesitant to go since Shinkurou always gets mad at her when she leaves, but Yamie tells her that she would cover for her if Shinkurou would call. At the university, Tamaki tells Murasaki about the different kinds of relationships between men and women. Tamaki encounters someone who seems to be a victim of Tamaki stealing her boyfriends away. After Tamaki brags about being with the man that this women in currently seeing, she gets hit in the head with a shoe.

After touring the campus around more and observing various couples, Tamaki’s boyfriend (now ex-boyfriend) comes to tell her that he wants to break up with her. Tamaki struggles to postpone the break-up till “next time” and supposedly even brought Murasaki in hopes that the boyfriend would not bring up the topic with her around. However, her efforts prove to be ineffective and the boyfriend still says he wants to break up with her. Tamaki even attempts to hit the cowering man, but realizes what she’s actually doing before she stops.

Tamaki takes Murasaki to a restaurant to sulk and be depressed while Murasaki drinks juice. Murasaki attempts to cheer Tamaki up and right as she was beginning to become her old self again, she sees her ex-boyfriend with another girl and drops down to depression again. Tamaki tells Murasaki how men only want women who “act familiar and useful” and not women who act strong and independent. Murasaki relates this to Shinkurou and Yuuno and suspects that Shinkurou is being deceived by her “charms”. Murasaki then rushes off and Tamaki chases after her. While Tamaki is trying to pay the bill, someone (who I think works for the Kuhouins) sees Murasaki and follows them to find out where she is staying. It seems he later informs the Kuhouins of where Murasaki is living and even the fact that Yayoi is staying on guard there.

Later on, we see a bit of the Kuhouin’s past as Souju, Murasaki’s real mother, committed suicide probably to escape the harsh reality of being a woman in the Inner Sanctuary. Souju repeatedly said how she was miserable for not being able to be with her daughter and that she could not even call Murasaki her own daughter. It also appears that Benika was assigned to handle security for the Inner Sanctuary and it is believed that Souju was influenced by Benika (although she didn’t want her to commit suicide). Renjou, after the suicide incident, expels Benika from the Kuhouin mansion and the rest appears to be what we saw from episode one. Renjou tells his informer to bring back Murasaki without causing a disturbance; events which we will probably witness in the next episode or two.

Impressions

Very interesting episode in terms of side character development. It was a bit unexpected, yet expected, to see Tamaki act that way in front of her boyfriend. It makes some sense that she would have that side to her and that her carefree attitude would be a result of her emotions often in turmoil. I didn’t expect it at first, but her type of character isn’t really that rare to see, especially in dramas. Nevertheless, it was still interesting and a bit depressing to watch.

I’m by far not an expert or anything on relationships, but this episode seemed to have a lot of interesting views on various relationships. Couples trying to keep up with each other, others forcing themselves to stick to the relationship, even a small bit of an abusive relationship was seen. Tamaki seems to be knowledgeable about relationships seeing as she apparently has been through so many, or so she says. I feel that her viewpoint is flawed as realistic as it is. Her negative take on relationships won’t really get her anywhere and is probably why she’s gone through so many different companions. She has the fear of being dumped so she either breaks up with them first for another person or abuses them so they would be afraid of leaving. Even though I feel sorry for her, I can’t really approve of her methods. But of course this is anime so what can you do? =P

It was pretty funny that they brought up the topic of Shinkurou being a “lolicon” in this episode. I mean, they have to know what kind of vibes this show would bring to some people, especially in the beginning when there wasn’t much knowledge about it. Many people were probably thinking that this would be some lolicon show even though they’ve been pretty much proven wrong at this point. But it was funny hearing Tamaki calling Shinkurou a lolicon since it kind of reflects the initial thoughts of the audience in a way. And of course, Tamaki’s influence strikes again as Murasaki even calls Shinkurou a lolicon.

Even though we returned to the main plot, I didn’t really find it that interesting to watch. I think I actually prefer the random events that Murasaki goes through as they are more interesting and humorous to watch.

Boy was I fooled by last week’s preview. Just when you though it was going to get serious, the whole cast busts into song and dance (literally). This week, the whole apartment practice for a musical play that they were asked to participate in. Yuuno and Yayoi get dragged into the mess as well.

Summary

Shinkurou gets asked by an old man to participate in a musical play at the park. While Shinkurou was trying not to get involved, Yamie and Tamaki overhears them and decide to participate along with Shinkurou. Murasaki is allowed to join in as well with the approval of Benika despite Yayoi’s reluctance. As the group practices singing, they find that Yamie, who was apparently supposed to be in the main role, didn’t quite have the singing abilities that she claimed to have. As a result, Shinkurou calls upon Yuuno in hopes that she would be a better singer than Yamie. However, the group was disappointed again.

Shinkurou and Yuuno attempt to practice singing alone in his room while everyone else is forced out. Yamie finds Yayoi sneaking around the apartment and asks her if she can sing. Apparently, Yayoi scored a 95 in karaoke and has a decent singing ability. Yamie asks her to teach her to sing which Yayoi agrees to do. Murasaki and Tamaki spy on Shinkurou and Yuuno as they attempt to get better at singing. Shinkurou decides to start a duet with Yuuno which leads to everyone start singing and dancing. After the musical part was over, the group continue on with the play which turns out to be totally different from what was originally written.

Benika heads over to the apartment after not being able to contact Shinkurou or Yayoi. She meets up with Ginko who went over to the park to find out that there was no musical play there at all. The two break it to the group that there apparently was actually no play and that everything was set up just so they could have some fun.

Impressions

Totally awesome episode I must say. I thought the little musical number was a bit corny and over the top, but I found it to be pretty amusing to watch. I couldn’t stop laughing during the parts where Yamie and Yuuno attempt to sing with their horrid singing abilities (not that I can sing myself). I also found it kind of funny that they go from horrible singing to actually decent singing during the musical part.

I found it a bit strange that they used a little bit of some wacky expressions during this episode when they haven’t used any in the previous episodes. It might just be to reflect the lack of seriousness in this episode, but it felt kind of out of place. The comedy level of this episode was above normal though so I guess it’s actually not that bad to include some funny expressions here and there.

I’m still not sure if Shinkurou has any feelings towards Yuuno, but he does certainly act differently towards her than he does with other people. He especially acted differently towards Yuuno’s terrible singing than to Yamie’s singing. It was quite humorous to watch Shinkurou squirm with the combination of Yuuno’s bad singing and her flirtation with him.

Overall I think this was a pretty good episode. We got to see a bit more of the minor characters in this episode than of the major ones as well. We also got a chance to see sides of characters we wouldn’t have imagined before. Who knew Yayoi would be a good singer? It was also a bit interesting to see a connection between Yayoi and Yamie since apparently Yayoi knows something about Yamie’s dress(past?). Looking forward to next week’s episode and hope that the subs stay on the excellent schedule that they’ve been on.

Shinkurou and Murasaki head over to Yuuno’s family’s home (the Houzukis) so Shinkurou can get some martial arts practice that he hasn’t had in a while. More of Murasaki’s stubbornness is shown while attempting to socialize with Yuuno’s little sister Chizuru. Murasaki is also showing more of how she is a naive and influential little girl when she spouts out phrases she hears on TV and from other influences like Tamaki.

Summary

On the train ride to the Houzuki mansion, Murasaki is worried that Yuuno would attack or harm her since she knew of the Kuhouins. Shinkurou assures her that Yuuno is a nice person and nothing like that would happen. At the mansion, Murasaki calms down a bit and meets Chizuru, Yuuno’s little sister, and they go off to play on their own while Shinkurou and Yuuno go to the dojo to spar. However, Murasaki’s stubbornness leads to her breaking Chizuru’s “DS” and doll. After getting whooped up by Yuuno, Shinkurou and Yuuno’s grandfather have a casual conversation about the Houzuki family and how they’re a family of killers. Yuuno’s grandfather also states that it is hard on Yuuno.

As Shinkurou and Murasaki arrive back at home, they find Tamaki and Yamie in their room eating boiled tofu and drinking lots of alcohol. During this scene, Tamaki gives Shinkurou a heater that she “obtained” from a university and pries into what Shinkurou did that day, making tons of sexual references. Tamaki’s influence is shown when Murasaki starts copying her sexual comments (of course not knowing what they actually mean).

Impressions

Ahh, what a fine episode this was. I wasn’t too into the first portion of the episode as it wasn’t that fun to watch. However, it was kind of interesting watching Murasaki interact with Chizuru and watching Shinkurou get his ass handed to him during training with Yuuno. Murasaki breaking everything she touched was kind of funny to watch and reminded me a bit of my childhood where things would get broken by friends all the time.

What I really liked about this episode was at the end where everyone was in Shinkurou’s room eating the boiled tofu. Since the apparent theme of the episode today was having fun with your family on the weekend, it was pretty nice to watch neighbors coming together and acting like family (even if Shinkurou was opposed to it). It goes to show that you don’t have to be related by blood to act like a family together.

It was also interesting to see how they depicted Yamie and Tamaki versus Shinkurou’s way of thinking when it came to being “poor”. All Shinkurou could think when he got the heater was that it would be too expensive on the electricity bill. But, Yamie and Tamaki could only think of living in their own luxury. Even though they’re all probably poor living in that apartment (I say probably because I don’t know exactly how financially secure Yamie and Tamaki are, but if they’re living in that apartment they’re probably not too well off), Yamie and Tamaki only make the best of it doing whatever they please and not worrying too much about the cost of things. On the other hand, Shinkurou is serious minded and always worries about the consequences of things.

Murasaki continues to be an epic part of the series. Without her I doubt many people would continue to watch this show. Her comments always makes me laugh especially when she says things she learns from TV or Tamaki. The last scene in Shinkurou’s room made me burst out laughing when Murasaki suddenly said “Eat me too!”. Murasaki is too innocent for her own good, but I guess it’s alright since she is still a little kid and all.

This week’s episode involves Shinkurou attempting to do his job with the trouble of keeping Murasaki out of harms way. Murasaki, despite having good intentions of trying to help Shinkurou, only causes him more trouble. The second part of the episode covers the “aftermath” of the incident as well as a glance into Shinkurou’s past.

Summary

Shinkurou arrives at Kunou Tadashi’s office to negotiate the stop of intimidation of Hanamura Kindergarten. Shinkurou states that Tadashi is suspected of breaking into the principal’s home and stealing the land rights to the kindergarten. Tadashi, at first, denies that he even knows of Hanamura Kindergarten, but after being shown evidence of his involvement by Shinkurou, he reluctantly gives up the land rights in exchange for Shinkurou and his informant to keep quiet about the evidence. During this time, Murasaki is dragged in by Tadashi’s minions and starts causing quite a ruckus inside the office.

As Tadashi gives up the papers to Shinkurou, Murasaki starts to yell out that Tadashi was being dishonest. Shinkurou attempts to quiet Murasaki down and drags her out of the office. The two about to enter the elevator as another one of Tadashi’s minions attacks Shinkurou. Murasaki attempts to help Shinkurou despite him telling her to run away. She gets knocked to the ground and another minion comes out from the room and pulls out a knife on her. After seeing this, Shinkurou snaps and quickly dispatches the two thugs. Shinkurou reenters the office revealing a mysterious horn-like bone extending out of his arm. Tadashi and his other underling attempt to shoot at Shinkurou, but he simply deflects the bullets using his horn and takes them out. During this time, Yayoi arrives at the scene and rescues Murasaki.

On the car ride home (from Benika), Yayoi yells at Shinkurou for neglecting his job to protect Murasaki and states her distrust for him handling the job. However, Benika still entrusts the job with Shinkurou. The next day, Murasaki apologizes for being a hindrance to Shinkurou that night. Shinkurou goes to school as normal and Murasaki attempts to clean up the room with the help of Tamaki. Shinkurou reports back to Ginko and tells her that while he did do his job, it might not be safe to say that there won’t be any more threats to the kindergarten. Later on at school, Yuuno notices that Shinkurou used his horn, which confirms that the “horn” is related to Yuuno’s family, the Houzukis.

When Shinkurou arrives at home from school, he takes Murasaki to the public bath again. Murasaki tries to display her independence by attempting to bathe herself. As they walk home from the bath, Murasaki asks Shinkurou about his past and it is revealed that he was saved by Benika during a hostage incident. An airport was bombed and the children that survived were taken hostages and among them were Shinkurou and Ginko. Shinkurou’s parents died during the bombing, but no word of what happened to Ginko’s parents, if anything. After being saved, Shinkurou followed Benika and was put in the care of Yuuno’s family to learn the Houzuki-ryuu.

Impressions

Kure-nai is just getting better and better. This week we were able to learn more about Shinkurou and his past as well as seeing Murasaki maturing a little. We were also able to witness a more outspoken side to Yayoi who is normally without much to say.

During Murasaki’s uproar in the beginning, all I could think was “OMG. Just shut up!” which is a bit strange. On the train scene where she was yelling at the punks, I could understand her feelings and was actually supporting her. However, due to the drastic change in situation, I couldn’t support her inability to keep quiet in the yakuza office. Her accusations could have put Shinkurou in more trouble than needed which is what kind of happened in the end. But even after the incident, Murasaki returned to her normal cute self the next day. Murasaki’s attempts to clean and bathe herself really show growth in her character. While she still has her moments, Murasaki is really trying to become independent and not the spoiled princess she used to be.

So now we finally know what the deal was with Shinkurou’s arm. It was clear that something was wrong with his arm from the very first episode, but I really didn’t expect a horn to come out of it. Seeing that was certainly surprising and to learn that it originated from the Houzukis is interesting as well. I’m thinking that part of the reason why Shinkurou didn’t beat the crap out of those yakuza guys in the beginning was because he didn’t want Murasaki to see that he possessed something so monstrous. I can’t think that his reluctance to fight was to protect Murasaki because he totally failed to do that.

Shinkurou’s past wasn’t as exciting as I hoped it would be. I was actually expecting some mysterious thing to happen and that would be the cause of his arm. But, being in a hostage situation and gaining the “horn” somewhere else doesn’t really seem that mysterious and exciting to me. It’s not really important and the story is still great as it is, but I was just expecting a little more in that department.

Kure-nai is definitely proving to be a slow paced show. Here we are on episode 3 and not much else has happened besides a bunch of random loli highjinks and a few scenes where Shinkurou actually does work (not that I’m really complaining or anything). I actually like the pacing of the show for now and find the current events to be amusing. I just hope that there would be some sort of progress or development in the plot soon. This is a show that would leave you the impression that there is an important plot behind all this after all.

Summary

Murasaki is led to Shinkurou’s school by Tamaki to find a “good man”. After a while, it seems that Murasaki goes off on her own, interacting with various other students and activities. She is, again, confused and amazed at common things at school due to her previous sheltered lifestyle. Meanwhile, Shinkurou goes on with his daily school life. Yuuno gives him bentos for lunch and Ginko gives him information for a new job. Ginko also expresses her hatred for Yuuno since she thinks her actions are “indecent”.

Murasaki later bumps into Yuuno who appears to have some connection to Murasaki’s family (Kuhouin). Murasaki sees Yuuno as a suspicious person after Yuuno makes a comment about knowing the Kuhouins. She then attempts to escape from her and runs into Shinkurou where a 3-way argument starts between Murasaki, Shinkurou, and Yuuno.

On the train ride home, Murasaki asks Shinkurou if coming to the school was a bother for him. Shinkurou replies that it was Tamaki’s fault and not hers and tells her to not do it again. Shinkurou also makes a comment that it’s his job to protect her after all. Murasaki takes it kind of hard thinking that Shinkurou is only being with her since it’s his job to do so.

Murasaki notices an old lady being harassed by three teenagers on the train. After seeing that no one on the train tries to stop or say anything to the teenagers (not even Shinkurou), Murasaki gets up to scold them herself. Shinkurou gets up to stop Murasaki and humbly apologizes for Murasaki’s rudeness. Shinkurou even continues to apologize after getting punched and spit on. After they get off the train, Murasaki yells at Shinkurou for not doing anything about the situation on the train. Shinkurou replies that you just can’t fight anywhere and that’s not how society “works”. The old lady from the train approaches the two and thanks Murasaki for standing up for her.

Later that night, Shinkurou leaves for the job he was given by Ginko. Murasaki notices Shinkurou leaving and decides to follow him. Yayoi informs Benika about the situation and is told to not interfere unless needed.

Next episode seems to have Shinkurou having some trouble with his job and Murasaki getting into some danger as well with Yayoi to pick up the pieces.

Impressions

Like I said earlier, I’m actually enjoying the slow pace of Kure-nai so far and it does seem that there will be a bit of progess in the plot in the next episode. The main focus on the show so far seems to be on Murasaki and how she interacts with her new surroundings outside of the Kuhouin mansion. While her actions are certainly amusing and fun to watch, I can’t see this same pattern going on for much longer. Kure-nai is a show that has the potential for a dark and heavy plot that’s not being utilized yet.

But Murasaki highjinks are still fun to watch. I especially liked the part where she finds the human anatomy doll and thinks that it’s a real person. She even calls Shinkurou to help her with the “injured body”. Shinkurou’s reply was great as well, “Don’t touch it! That’s an indecent thing that bad adults use!”. And innocent Murasaki believing that it’s actually Tamaki’s “man”.

Now as for Shinkurou. I think his actions on the train were a bit cowardly. He didn’t have to necessarily fight with the punks, but he didn’t have to apologize like that. I’m not exactly familiar with Japanese culture, but I do know that being humble like that is how some people must act in their society. That being said, I do understand a bit where he’s coming from. However, it still pisses me off when people act like that. Shinkurou definitely lost cool points in this episode for me.

We learn more about Shinkurou’s past relationships with Ginko and Yuuno in this episode as well. We already knew that Shinkurou and Ginko knew each other as kids and now we learn that apparently Shinkurou made some promise to take over Ginko’s family ramen shop with her. Sounds like an empty promise to me, but who knows where it will go. This also shows us more of Ginko’s possible feelings towards Shinkurou. Yuuno seems to also have been part of Shinkurou’s past as he was living at her place (which explains their closeness). Shinkurou was also taught how to fight from Yuuno’s grandfather. I, for one, am cheering on for Ginko since I have a feeling Yuuno will turn out to be an evil bitch. (._.);

Hey everyone! It’s been a while since I’ve last posted here. Dealing with school and running in between jobs have been quite a hassle. I’ll be giving you episode summaries/reviews of Kure-nai and To-Love-Ru this season so look forward to it… and if you don’t care, well… tough.

If you remember from last week, Shinkurou received a “special” job where he was put in charge of protecting a runaway girl of extremely high class, Murasaki. This episode basically picks up where it left off the first episode and involves a troubled Shinkurou trying to deal with Murasaki living on her own.

Summary

Shinkurou has a nightmare showing images from his tragic past. It seems that he was orphaned in some sort of disaster which may also relate to his mysterious body. As Shinkurou leaves for school, he gives Murasaki a lecture about not leaving the house. Murasaki seems to be a lot happier and more comfortable with staying by herself in Shinkurou’s shaggy apartment.

During school, Shinkurou occasionally calls Murasaki to check up on her. Murasaki, being the pampered young girl she is, has been having a bit of trouble trying to get used to a “commoner’s” life. Murasaki also meets Shinkurou’s neighbors, Yamie and Tamaki and after a while Murasaki stops answering her phone, making Shinkurou very frustrated. Yamie picks up one of Shinkurou’s calls and basically tells him that Murasaki wasn’t in the room anymore.

After Shinkurou gets home, he finds Murasaki trying to bathe herself in the sink. She complains that there’s no hot water and that she feels gross being “unclean”. Shinkurou decides to take her to the public bath and since she’s only 7, she was allowed to go into the men’s side with Shinkurou. Even when trying to give Murasaki a bath, Shinkurou is troubled by Murasaki’s complaining. Murasaki’s spoiled-ness also comes up again when the old bathhouse owner gives Murasaki a free glass of milk after her bath. Shinkurou asks Murasaki if she said “Thank You” to the nice old lady and Murasaki tells him that she doesn’t need to say thank you to servants. Shinkurou explains that the old lady wasn’t her servant but, just a nice old lady. Murasaki suddenly realizes what she did and very formally apologized and thanked the bathhouse owner. After they leave the bathhouse, they go and buy a new futon for Murasaki. Murasaki remembers the lesson Shinkurou taught her and thanked him properly.

During the middle of the night, Shinkurou leaves the apartment for another job he was assigned to do. He was apparently asked to settle a dispute between a bar owner and a group of harassers. Shinkurou arrives during the middle of the discussion and nonchalantly disposed of the group in a brutal manner. The bar owner, even though he was just saved, became terrified of Shinkurou, calling him a monster.

The next episode seems to show Murasaki exploring and meeting people at Shinkurou’s school. The preview shows her meeting Yuuno and the setting she’s in does seem like it would be a school.

I’m very much liking Kure-nai so far. I think it has a good balance from the “light” stuff (school, loli hijinks, and overall innocent stuff) and the “darker” stuff. I’m not sure if giving Shinkurou inhuman powers really fits into the whole setting but, I’m sure it will fit into the story eventually. Right now it just seems like the story could still be the same even without his condition.

Is it strange that both shows I’ve decide to blog have a single male character surrounded by a bunch of female characters? I assure you it’s quite accidental but, while Kure-nai would seem to have some kind of harem element to it on the outside, it doesn’t seem to have much of that tone while actually watching it. Shinkurou does seem to have multiple “relationships” with the other female characters though. If you don’t count Tamaki’s open flirtation and any attempts of making Shinkurou a lolicon in this show, then Shinkurou would probably be in a love triangle with Yuuno and Ginko. It does appear that Yuuno and Shinkurou have some sort of relationship that might be more than friendly and Ginko does show a little concern for Shinkurou when she’s “all up in his business”.

Let’s start with my initial impressions of Kure-nai. Pulling a few quotes from a previous THAT post:

• “Rieuzedx: I’m not feeling the character designs. The PV was kinda interesting looking though. Wait and see, wait and see.”
• “Rieuzedx: Kodomo no Jikan meets Persona…Kure-nai is their visual offspring. I’m not too keen on the art style here, and the first black-haired chick you see looks like she got hit in the side of the face with a sledgehammer…I like the second musical track though.”

After watching the first episode of this, I’m gonna have to say…even without subs Kure-nai has managed to grab my attention more than I thought it would.

Summary

A boy, Shinkurō Kurenai, is taking care of a stalker for a job. As Kurenai moves off, he feels an acute pain in his right arm. In the next scene, Murasaki (the little girl), Yayoi (the servant) and Benika (the deep red-haired woman) are escaping from the Kuhoin clan. Renjo Kuhoin is investigating how Murasaki is able to escape, and realizes it is due to Benika. Renjo questions one of the servants about the escape. The servant says she is the one who allows Murasaki to escape. Murasaki voiced out her interest to escape. Renjo screams that the servant should know that Murasaki is not allowed to escape.

The servant asks if Murasaki is a sad being and she has been crying all the time. Renjo crushes the servant to the floor, saying how women are just ridiculous, worthless beings. A flashback showed that Renjo is forced to betray his feelings of his love to follow the will of his family to marry Kazuho. Eventually, we realize that Murasaki already knows her real mother. Renjo says the servants have been brainwashed by Benika, but the servant adds that it is all for Murasaki’s sake. In class, Shinkuro is talking about a television show with his friends.

He discusses with Ginko (someone who gives him insider information) about his latest job given by Benika (the stalker case). The grandmother who tasked him for the job gives him some additional money for his work and he bought a television. When Yuno comes over, Ginko moves away clearly showing her dislike of Yuno. In a hotel meeting, Shinkuro appeals to Benika to give him a better job. Benika asks about his “free” body and how it is a weapon. As Shinkuro leaves, Yayoi voices out her concern about giving Shinkuro the “job”. Benika says that she never cares about competency but her gut feeling when giving a task.

Shinkuro is given a lie by a room mate about her dead boyfriend. However, she predicts that Shinkuro will have women trouble. Another room mate is sexually harassing him, as he goes into his room. Benika comes over to give Shinkuro a job: to protect Murasaki. He is hesitant due to the lack of details until he remembers a scene of him crying in the past. He agrees to protect Murasaki. As he introduces himself, Murasaki clearly shows her haughty side. She is shocked that the room is so small and rundown. She thought that she is treated as a kid as she is lied to about the living conditions, but Shinkuro replies that this is the truth.

Murasaki adds that it looks like a servant’s room. Murasaki strips down to change, as Shinkuro asks whether he should leave the room. Murasaki says that if he leaves, no one can help her dress up. Shinkuro speaks to her in a friendly way, and Murasaki warns him of his status as a servant. Shinkuro says he is not a servant, but a guardian. Shinkuro tells her to sleep well, and she should appreciate the time she can sleep peacefully. The next day, Shinkuro goes to school and Murasaki seems to be very resistant that he needs to go to school. As he leaves and tells him that he will be back in the evening, she gave a lonely look.

He also asks Ginko to find out more about Murasaki, and it is then he realizes that the Kuhiro family is reputable. When Shinkuro returns home, he realizes Murasaki is not there. He runs out and calls Benika but she did not pick up the phone. She then calls him back when he is taking a break. He did not report about the disappearance of Murasaki but simply what she likes to eat. The situation is under the keen eye of Yayoi as he remembers how he cries before. Eventually, he finds her in a park and calms her down. She is actually crying, and she adds that she will just disappear like her real mother. He apologizes for leaving her behind, and that she is no longer alone.

Tech Summary

Audio
Wtf was up with that OP? I’m kinda iffy on the song, it definitely won’t be in my top 5 songs for the season (although, I’m a sucker for a techno beat)…but what got me is the strange, chibi-ish 2D art style that was used throughout the whole thing. Not what I was expecting, and the first thing to make me pay a little more attention to this show.

Next surprise? The brat of the show didn’t have an overly annoying voice! I’ll admit, she sounds kinda old for her character, but she’s no Nel (from Bleach) by any means. Thank god. No complaints on the other voices, but is that Allen-kun (from D.Gray-Man) I hear as the main character?

Background music was good, but nothing to brag about.

OMG! I freaking LOVE the ED for this show. It starts out all subtle and chill and picks up this crazy poppy, addictive sing along. Top 5 competition in my book. (I’ve now listened to it like 10 times)

Animation

My biggest complaints about this anime were the fact that one of the central characters is a little brat, and that I didn’t like the character designs. Due to the voice and general mannerisms in this episode, I’m not seeing the brat as a big problem in the future. As far as character designs go, I HATE the design of the older people in this show, but for the most part everyone else looks fine. There’s the occasional odd moment, but the style started to grow on me after a little while.

Aside from that, the art style is definitely a bit different, and the quality seemed to bounce around from cheap to well done. There was a short fight scene at the beginning of the episode, and judging from that it looks like the animators have a good handle on things in the fisticuffs department.

Vibe

I had a very negative idea of this show before watching it, and while I won’t praise it just yet, depending on the actual story/content (once I get subs) and how the next 2-3 episodes go, it might be a contender for a main blogging spot or at least a place in the Friday Ramble. I mentioned in the above comment that this show reminded me of Kodomo no Jikan meets Persona, but I actually got more of a D.Gray-Man/Ergo Proxy feel off of it. I’m looking forward to seeing where this goes.

Best/Worst Feature
Best: The ED! (and that quick fight scene…lol)
Worst: The character design of the older man. Ugh.