Des's Week in Anime Screen Shots: Mar. 29 - Apr. 4

SCREEN SHOTS MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS
Bold text within spoiler tags are links.

Maria-sama ga Miteru 4th Season ep10-11
We're finally getting to see the circumstances surrounding Touko. The problems at home haven't been completely unveiled yet but it seems the situation between her and Yumi has reached its climax. I can see how Touko must've been a little stressed which, on top of her already defensive personality, lead to the misunderstanding. I can't say I feel especially sorry for her, since it was completely her fault, but watching her break down in tears after talking to Sachiko and realizing that was touching.

Slayers ep21-22
There were some good lines in ep22's dub. Zel calling Amelia, "Miss Sunshine," was amusing and Lina's, "Oh yeah," made me laugh. The taunting of the chicken mazoku was also funny as always.

Chi's New Address ep1-2
I've missed Chi so very much. Not as much as the father did in his dream, but still. It's great to have another series of kitten cuteness.

Hetalia: Axis Powers ep10
Haha, wussy France is now apparently gay for England. This was a really funny episode, both the main part and Chibitalia. Hungary is pretty.

Soul Eater ep35
Sigh. Apparently I have to wait for ep36 to see the fight between Maka's group and Mosquito get interesting.

Slayers Evolution-R ep11
Freaking cliffhangers. Rezo just got resurrected and now I have to wait for the next episode to see what he'll do. Koyasu Takehito's snarky tone as Rezo greeted Lina didn't tell me anything; he could either be pissed at her for killing him before or it could mean nothing at all. It kept teasing us with shots of his eyes, too. Like, "Are they going to open? Are they? I bet you're wondering if they will!" Or, in other words, "Did the piece of Shabranigdo that was sealed in his eyes get resurrected too?"

I was also a bit sad at ]Ozel seeming to lose her life and I'm wondering why exactly that happened.

Slayers ep23-26
Whoo, that makes four times watching Slayers, which means it's even with Lucky Star again for my most watched anime. I loved it just as much as always and I've gotten completely used to the dub by now. I'm looking forward to starting on NEXT again (for the third time) since it's my favorite Slayers series.

I love how Phil randomly shows up during the final battle. And Zel's comments throughout that bit always crack me up. It's my second favorite Phil moment in Slayers.

Kemono no Souja Erin ep6 (no screens)
Wow, a Kiba dies and the caretaker gets executed? Just like that? Touda are serious business.

On the other hand, it looks like all the introduction is over and stuff is going to really starting happening now. I'm looking forward to seeing what happens to Erin from here on out.

Slayers Next ep1-6
Woot, I finally caught up with Shin. And the next episode is the lake dragon one! Poor Zel...

As I've mentioned, Next is my favorite of the Slayers anime, partly because it introduces so much awesome. For one, Xellos – while not my favorite character, he's both very funny (while his eyes are closed) and very badass (when he opens his eyes). The way he toys with Lina's party is always amusing. Second, Ragna Blade, a spell that surpasses even the Dragon Slave. Without, you know, putting the existence of the world at risk like the Giga Slave does. That becomes Lina's ace in the hole for the rest of the anime and it's so very cool looking. And there's more but all of it would all be spoilers so I won't elaborate.

Next also continues to abuse Zel in even funnier ways. The lake dragon, costume party, and trap village episodes are all hilarious.

Shugo Chara!! Doki ep76
Holy crap, Ikuto looks incredibly cool during the violin transformation. He's got a frickin' scythe. And now I'm all psyched up about Shugo Chara again; I can't wait to see the showdown between Ikuto and Tadase in the next episode.

Slayers Next ep7-10 (no screens)
The action is heating up with the appearance of the two monsters that Lina's group will have to deal with for a bit. Meanwhile, Xellos continues to be a dick while casually following them and occasionally helping out. A hilarious dick, but a dick nonetheless – thus the reason he's so great.

And Lina's about to become even more badass.

Chi's New Address ep3-4
A new appartment that allows pets? I guess they couldn't hide Chi in the current one forever, but this will remove some opportunities for hijinks. I wonder what will be replacing them.

Maria Holic ep12
Of course the fates would align to stop Kanako from making it to the swimming lessons, each obstacle becoming weirder and weirder. I laughed at the final one, the, "School swimsuit sucks, loincloth rocks!" recording that Matsurika set up to reprogram Kanako with. The Hatsune Miku and Rokugo (from Pani Poni Dash) reference thrown in there was also amusing, but I completely cracked up at the Maria-sama ga Miteru one after Shizu's wardrobe malfunction. And speaking of Shizu, I'm a little disappointed that she didn't show up more often.

Second season plz.

Slayers Next ep11-14 (no screens)
Whoo, Ragna Blade, power that can smash even the souls of the gods! Such an awesome spell. Once she learns it, Lina becomes way, way more powerful. Which is pretty crazy, considering what she could already do with the Dragon Slave.

After a bit of comedy filler, such as the song and dance bit in ep14, the story starts getting really interesting from here. The Slayers universe has always interested me and Next starts giving us more details about the mazoku and the dragons and all the lore surrounding them.

I should look into getting the Slayers light novels that have been released in English.

Nyoron Churuya-san ep6-7
Resorting to straight YouTube versions since Shamisen seems to be slacking... Oh well, Churuya was still adorable in her yukata. And the Churuya video games Kyon was playing were hilarious.

The Melancholy of Haruhi-chan Suzumiya ep11-14
I don't think I will ever get tired of watching the cycle of Yuki abusing Achakura and then winning back her. And poor Mikuru. I also can't help but laugh at her getting abused by Haruhi.

Hayate no Gotoku! ep17-20
Well, I didn't even come close to finishing this before the second series started (thanks to Slayers) but whatever. The first season is still providing me with plenty of laughs so I'll just let the second series episodes pile up while I work through the rest.

I'm liking Ayumu more and more each time she shows up. Her karaoke battle with Nagi was amusing, and then Maria getting all caught up in singing after being shy about it was funny even though I totally saw it coming. Maria is also becoming funnier and funnier as more of her little quirks get revealed. I laughed at her deathly fear of roaches... Though I guess I'd be pretty freaked out by one that big as well. She's pretty normally but she's even cuter when she gets flustered.

And hell yeah, more Saki! We need to see more of her. Maid + glasses + shy + older sister type = MOE~ Her younger self in the flashback of when she first met Wataru was really cute, too. She may just end up being my favorite character and I am officially jealous of Wataru for having her as his maid.

There was also a swimsuit episode in here... And I think the show read my mind. >_>;

Finally, the reference round-up for this batch: Detective Conan, Kill Bill, Shishio from Rurouni Kenshin, Haruhi Suzumiya, DragonBall Z, and the Nintendo Wii

Slayers Next ep15-18 (no screens)
Ep15 and ep17 are two of the funniest episodes in all of Slayers and it was great to watch them together with Shin. I imagine he laughed as hard as I did when I first saw them, which was pretty damn hard. Zelgadis and Xellos are both freakin' hilarious yet for entirely different reasons.

Ep18 is where things turned serious again. We got to see what would've happened if Lina had miscast the Giga Slave against Shabranigdo in the first series; goodbye universe. And then Gaav finally made his appearance. The big fight in the next episode is pretty awesome, I'm looking forward to it. It's the first time we get to see Xellos really being serious.

Ichigo Mashimaro ep3-4 (no screens, Anime Club)
Matsuri in cat ears plus tail is adorable beyond words-nya. I don't care how much Miss A punched me, it was totally worth it-nya. And the whole visit to Ana's house – heck, everything involving Ana – was hilarious-nya. After the first few episodes the series becomes even better-nya.

Also, check the next page for a chat log from while we were watching Ichigo Mashimaro-nya.

Kanon ep3-4 (no screens, Anime Club
The show is still introducing characters with Makoto being the main one in these episodes and Mai coming up in the next. Makoto is the first girl to get a dedicated story arc... And I can't say any more about it without posting spoilers.

I'm continuing to enjoy the dub, even if it can't quite match Sugita Tomokazu and Horie Yui in the original Japanese. Makoto and Yuuichi going back and forth with insults was great and pretty much everything else has sounded natural and fitting to the roles. The Des is impressed so far; I just hope it holds up through the dramatic and heartbreaking moments to come.