Shakugan no Shana III – 10

After what was a pretty slow buildup, Shana III is certainly dispensing the action fast and furious now.  Crimson Lords are kicking it fast and furious, with Fecor apparently eliminated last week and Purson being killed by Rebecca and Uvall by Shana this week.  In fact, the Palace of Stars itself seems to have been shot down as a result of Sophie’s surprise attack, using an army of flame haze and normal humans flown in by a fleet of jets.  With his army in disarray, Snake/Yuji is busily engaged in reuniting with the flame hazes who were imprisoned with him thousands of years ago and presumably out of communications range, so I suppose it’s going to fall to Decarabia to try and turn the tide – surely, it’s way too early for the good guys to win such a decisive battle.  Perhaps the best part of the ep was Wilhelmina’s thread, as she first has an interesting encounter with Lamies who, playing the moderate as always, cuts a deal with her to keep her away from Bal Masque’s deadliest secrets in exchange for information about Shana’s whereabouts (and something else we’re not old of yet).  It was also interesting to see how disappointment was mingled with her pride that Shana had escaped without her help – her direct help, anyway.  They sure grow up fast, don’t they Carmel-san?

Mobile Suit Gundam AGE – 10

Bon voyage, Boyage…

The body count certainly ramped up big-time this week, as The Diva joined the willing but somewhat erratic forces of Zalam and Euba to defend the colony from UE attack.  Along the way a goodly number of regulars were killed off, including Boyage and his two henchmen, in some pretty cool retro-looking explosions.  That kind of Saturday-morning rumpus is what I picked up this show for, and this ep didn’t disappoint – it looked the part, with just enough carnage to feel a little dangerous.  We also got a look at the Gundam’s newest AGE-aided form, “Sparrow” – unlike the brute-force Titus, this one was built for speed.  Specifically, to go up against Decil and his black mobile suit types, and it looks as if Decil may have pissed off his masters by allowing too many expensive toys to be destroyed without producing the results they want.  As the battle shifts to the final stage, attacking the UE nest, next week is going to bring the much-anticipated return of Surin, who might be the most interesting character we’ve met so far.  That good news capping off what might have been the best overall up of AGE so far makes this a good Gundam week.

Maji de Watashi ni Koshninasai – 11

Things are looking up on Majikoi.  After an unpleasant detour when it turned into a dour fighting anime, the last couple of episodes have seen a welcome return to form.  That political/military plot with Tachibana hasn’t gone away, but it’s no longer swallowing everything in its wake.  Instead, we got another weird conversation between Yamato and Wakamoto-san’s bandaged-face guy about Japan and justice, and lots of ecchi comedy.  The two things this show does best are comedy and especially hentai, and the scene with Yamato’s harem watching his porn collection was vintage Majikoi (one can’t help but wonder how Mayucchi knew about the Japanese Tea-Grinding Mill).  “Lick my eyeballs and violate me!” just isn’t a line of dialogue you’re going to hear in too many others series.  Frankly I’m not too concerned about what’s going to happen with Tachibana, the PM (“They’re after my balls!”) and Fujiwara Keiji’s terrorist cell, but I am curious how things end with Momoyo and the four imoutos (who had a pretty good battle this week).  I’ll be shocked at anything but a harem end at this point.