What piques my interest here is that there are nails in the finger joints, which might make Mion a killer loli in this chapter, and that the body resembles a certain blond 12 year old killer loli. Poor poor Satoko-chan.

Well, maybe I should be saying poor Keiichi. His mom has to go to Tokyo to tend to his father's teacher…or something of the sort. Her leaving isn't the bad part though. It's that Keiichi has to fend for himself and somehow find food. He discusses the topic with the killer lolis at school, but the only advice he gets is out of an unusually nice Satoko, who says he should just cook for himself. Rena agrees, most likely because Keiichi will end up taking himself out so she wouldn't have to sharpen the machete, and Mion and Rika follow suit. Keiichi heads home and attempts to cook, but he ends up creating a gigantic fire that almost burns the house down. Fortunately, or unfortunately, Satoko and Rika barge in and stop the fire. Satoko scolds Keiichi, and Rika does those cute little sounds that she's prone to do ("The fire would be going 'bou bou' and the firetrucks would be going 'woo woo' right about now ~desu!"). After this disaster is averted, Satoko, still being nice (I'm scared), decides to cook Keiichi's dinner, and she invites herself and Rika too. As Keiichi and Rika set the table, Keiichi comments on Satoko's unusual niceness, and Rika says that it's because Keiichi reminds Satoko of her nii-nii. Keiichi asks what a nii-nii is, and Rika says that nii-nii obviously means onii-san. Ah, Rikaisms. Adorable. Rika also mentions who Satoko's nii-nii is…Satoshi. Oh teh noes. This is gonna get bad real quick. Rika says that Satoshi and Satoko are "separated" now, and that it was Satoko who wanted to go over to Keiichi's house. Aw.

Random Rika Cuteness Break ~desu!

Ahem. The conversation during dinner turns from how good the food is to Satoshi running away. I thought he was…"transferred" away…via Rena's machete. Hmm. The girls eventually head home, and Rika stays behind to tell Keiichi that he got a perfect score and to "Pachi pachi pachi nano ~desu!" for him. She says that it was just like if Satoshi had come back, and that it made Satoko happy. Then, after an "Ayasumi nassai nano ~desu!" she takes off to catch up to Satoko. The next morning, Keiichi gets a call from Satoko, who tells him there's a big fight at school. He grabs his golf club and gets there as fast as he can, only to find that the fight in question is between Hinamizawa's kids baseball team and their rivals. Oops. Keiichi participates in the game, and does terribly, but Satoko, in all her 12 year old glory, hits homer after homer. Keiichi sits down after the game and meets adult character that's probably going to die #4: Irie, who happens to be the doctor that runs the clinic that suicidal nurse lady hails from. Irie also has a nickname, 'The Manager', which also happens to be the same word (kantoku) that Rena and Mion used to describe their boss in the first arc. Uh oh. The manager jokes that he wants to marry Satoko, and mentions Satoshi and his "transfer". He also mentions Satoko's parents falling off of a cliff while they were on vacation. Irie says that he's thought about adopting Satoko, as she lives alone with Rika (whose parents are also dead, both due to the curse), but he's not married and he doesn't know how to raise a child. Keiichi asks what he would do after adopting Satoko, and a familiar voice interrupts him and says that he will make her his meido. The familiar voice belongs to everyone's favorite twin (and I still can't figure out why I like her more…) Shion, who happens to be the team manager, although she doesn't show up to any games anymore. There's a lot of vagueness here, as it's kinda implied that Shion might have had a thing for Satoshi. It was implied during the first arc that Mion might have too, which means the twins have fought over the same man before. Keiichi, you lucky poor bastard.

Keiichi runs off to clean off his plate, and Shion follows. Keiichi starts talking about how athletic Satoko is, and Shion says that she's the complete opposite of Satoshi. Shion expresses a bit of surprise at Keiichi's knowledge of Satoshi's existence, which leads me to believe that there is far more here than meets the eye. Keiichi tries to confirm that Satoshi was "transferred", which sends Shion into "Emo Killer Loli SEED Mode", and she beggs him to never say that Satoshi was simply "transferred" away. Keiichi later heads home with Mion and Rena, and the subject of Satoshi is raised once again, this time by Keiichi himself. I swear, mentioning this guy so much is gonna get Keiichi killed…again. The pair try to walk around the question by saying that Satoshi was "transferred", but Keiichi says that he heard that he ran away. Mion agrees with Keiichi's version of things, saying that Satoshi was saving up money and that his account was emptied before he disappeared. Rena, however, slips into "Emo Killer Loli SEED Mode" and begins her account. She and Satoshi had both done something to anger Oyashiro-sama, and Rena had apologized, but Satoshi didn't. That means that Satoshi was afflicted by Oyashiro-sama's curse. She begins to freak out during her little story, and as she's ranting on how she hates people that don't believe in the curse, Mion slaps her and she comes to her senses and runs on home. After she leaves, Mion says that Satoshi is a touchy subject for Rena, because she whole heartily believes in the curse. She reveals (again) that Satoko's family were supporters of the dam project that would flood the town, and that Rena says that she was afflicted by the curse once. Mion asks that Keiichi not bring up Satoshi again, and he agrees with her before heading home.

And so, the killer lolis return :p. What's interesting about this chapter is that it appears to take place after the first episode of both previous arcs (eps 1 and 5), because Keiichi knows about the dam and Shion. Rika was in rare form for this one as well, and I hope to all that I can hope to that she survives long enough to pump out a few more Rikaisms.

By the way, to the 1.2 of you that actually read my blog regularly, forgive me for not posting last week. I was traveling, then I forgot to…eh. This week was a little odd too, as I was busy literally all weekend. That's gonna get fixed though. Hopefully I can do a Fate/Stay Night entry for this week, but I will do it next week for the finale.

Kazu-kun is carted off, and we're treated to an extended version of what happened, that would have made Mai-Otome sooo much better if it was in the actual episode. Akane stays on the ground, lamenting her loss, and the limo that carried Kazu-kun away returns. A soldier exits and hands her an envelope, then forces Kazu-kun back into the limo and drives off. The envelope has some sort of money card (complete with the Mai-Otome logo), and Akane starts crying again before Maaya-onee-sama shows up. Maaya says that under some Otome laws, she's putting Akane under arrest, because Akane kept the Gem when she ran off. Akane tries to escape (which made my spleen explode). Akane says that she was going to return it once she lost her…"qualifications", and accidentally reveals that she hasn't finished the deed yet, which prompts Maaya to draft her once again. With Maaya as a witness, Kazu-kun accepts Akane as his Otome, which makes the both of them happy…until Maaya unceremoniously tells them that they can't have sex. Aw . Maaya also comments that she might make a good Mother-in-law…which makes no sense since she's a virgin. Eh. Screenshots time!

Hikari and Yaya go to Nagisa and Tamao's room to share some cakes that Yaya ordered from a prestigious patisserie, but Nagisa has locked herself in the bathroom because she doesn't want anyone to see her in her new school swimsuit. The girls manage to coax her out by teasing her with images of the cakes.

Nagisa acts like a baby when the girls comment on her swimsuit, but Tamao cheers her up by mentioning the cakes. After the usual nighttime party is over, Yaya and Hikari head back to the Spica section of the dorms, but are surprised to hear a girl crying. They can't see anybody, so they use their powerful Japanese senses and proclaim that it has to be a ghost. Why the hell is everything haunted in Japan? The duo eventually tell Tamao, who tells Nagisa during class the next day, who promptly freaks the fuck out. Tamao, instead of calming her, runs through the traditional 7 mysteries (I read somewhere that every school in Japan has 7 mysteries, although most of them are made up to scare the ichinensei or whatever) with another student, and is surprised to learn that the 7th mystery is different between them. The girls argue over whether or not the mysteries are true, but they're cut off by the bell signaling the beginning of class (Psalm 147, verses 1-14. Look it up, I'm lazy.). Later, at lunch, Tamao tells Nagisa that she's started investigating the discrepancies in the mysteries, and that she's found that the older a student is, the less they know about the mystery Yaya and Hikari saw, "The Girl of the Hallway". Tamao decides to use the subject as her report for the Literary Club, and she recruits Nagisa to help her gather information.

The pair's first stop is the Spica showers, where Hikari and Yaya are washing off after a swim. Tamao asks them a bunch of questions, but their answers don't help her any. As Tamao is talking to Hikari, everyone looses sight of Yaya, who jumps at Nagisa in order to scare her. Nagisa jumps and turns around and becomes frozen in place when Yaya's towel falls off. Line of the week goes to Tamao: "It looks like the naked Yaya-san has more impact than a monster…". Props to Yaya for the big…keiki. Ahem. Later that night Tamao goes over the facts again with Nagisa, and finds that nobody older than 6th year (3rd year normal high school, or 12th grade) knows about the "Girl of the Hallway". Tamao tells Nagisa her version of the tale, and scares Nagisa so much that she can't get to sleep. Nagisa wakes Tamao up in the middle of the night to ask if they can sleep together. Tamao, of course, agrees, and Nagisa says that since she was scared in her first few weeks at Miator, and that Tamao was her only friend, she wanted to sleep with her earlier. Tamao is, of course, thrilled, and Nagisa eventually drifts off to sleep with Tamao holding her hand.

The next morning Tamao and Nagisa ask Rokujou Miyuki, the Miator Student Council President, about her thoughts on the "Girl of the Hallway". She refuses to answer, and suggests that the pair research something more scientific. Nagisa then goes to the greenhouse to ask Shizuma-onee-sama, who asks if they asked Miyuki, and then gives the same answer. Next is Chikaru-sama, the Le Rim Student Council/Transformation Club/Mystery Club president, who, unlike Shizuma and Miyuki, is a 5th year. She gives them a straight answer: in her first year (she didn't say what year that was…) she saw the "girl". Tamao goes over her figures, and finds that all 5th years know about the legend, but only a few 6th years do, of those that actually answered. Chikaru gives the pair a brief history of the Ichigo-sho, and says that it's been around since Miator was built, over 100 years ago (which makes no sense. Japanese people 100 years ago would rather commit sepuku then let a school that focuses on an outsiders religion be built in Japan). Later that night Nagisa and Tomao decide to actually go and see if they can experience the "Girl of the Hallway" themselves, and are quite surprised when they do. Nagisa freaks out, and Tomao leads her over to a potted plant, where they find a cat, who is responsible for the noise. The cat runs off, and the two consider the case closed.

Unfortunately for our heroines, the "Girl of the Hallway" is actually still running around. She's actually Rokujou Miyuki, who went into that hallway to cry because she was homesick, spooking any girl that heard her. The only person that could coax her out was her roommate…Shizuma. My my, the pieces fall into place . Shizuma lead Miyuki back to their room and made Miyuki promise that she wouldn't cry anymore. Miyuki said that she would try, but that she wanted to sleep with Shizuma one last time. Back in the real world, Miyuki is pulled from her flashback when Shizuma pokes her to get her to read the lines their teacher asked her to. Shizuma chides Miyuki for the daydreaming, and tells her to work harder, which causes Miyuki to smile as she looks out the window. At the Miator pool, Nagisa is finally enjoying herself and her swimsuit. Tamao tells her that she's given up on the "Girl of the Hallway", but that there are 6 more mysteries to look at. Nagisa freaks out, and cute Tamao finally rears her head once again!

Well now, they've finally gotten around to animating one of my favorite scenes from the manga (which is very different btw). It seems like the episode is just useless filler at first, but there is definite progression between Tamao and Nagisa (I for one wouldn't be surprised or disappointed if Nagisa does go with Tamao) and they've finally delved into the past between Shizuma and Miyuki, which has only been hinted at so far. Huzzah for plot progression! And since it's there, huzzah for more Tamao cuteness! By the way, you may have noticed that Nagisa and Tamao are wearing cooler looking green uniforms. The ladies of Spica and Miator switched to summer uniforms (Le Rim most likely did as well, although they don't look any different). Anyway, next week it looks like Nagisa is going to get a personal tutor. Something tells me that it's gonna be Shizuma-onee-sama…that should be interesting, eh?

Oooh. I forgot about that. Poor Rika-chan.

Rena visits Keiichi at home to find out that he's decided to not go to school for a while. Rena hands Keiichi her notes on the facts about Rika and Sakamoto's disappearance. She seems to know what's going on, and Keiichi comes clean about entering the storage shed. She tells him that Mion was pissed when she found out, and slaps Keiichi to scold him because no one else had done it yet. As Keiichi bends down to pick up the papers he dropped, he notices a letter telling Rika that the writer has some gourmet quality soy sauce, and that she should come over to get some. The writer? Someone from the Sonozaki family. Uh oh. Keiichi decides to go to Mion's place and apologize (Don't do it! You're gonna die!), to stop her from doing anything else. Before he can set out, Oishi shows up to cough up more info.

Rena and Keiichi jump into Oishi's car, and Keiichi tells him about the shed. Oishi and his men have been monitoring the Sonozaki residence, where Mion is still holed up. Unfortunately, they can't go in, because they don't have enough evidence. Rena goes into "Pissed off Killer Loli SEED Mode" and tells Oishi off for trying to get Keiichi to act as bait so that they can catch Mion. Keiichi just shrugs it off and goes to see Mion anyway (NOOOO!). Rena rings the doorbell of the huge compound, and Mion immediately pokes her head through the door and lets them in (Not Rena too ). Inside, Keiichi gets on his hands a knees to apologize. Mion accepts the formal apology, but not with the same formality, and gets told off by Rena, who still seems to be in "PoKLS Mode". Rena and Keiichi run through the evidence they have and present it all to Mion, accusing her of "hiding" Rika and Satako, and killing camera-guy and nurse-lady. Mion responds by laughing like some evil female villain (Get out now! You be fucked!). After the laughter stops, Mion gives up, and suddenly shifts to formal language to explain everything.

Mion explains everything that nurse-lady told Keiichi in the shed, including the demon blood thing. The Sonozaki family has the blood passed down, and every Sonozaki heir has the word "demon" in their name (demon=oni, but Keiichi says that the "Mi" in "Mion" is the same thing) and a demon somewhere on their body (there's a tattoo on her back in the OP). Mion offers to show it to them, and Rena refuses (Keiichi, WTF? Say something dammit!). Mion says that she's been involved in all of the murders in the past five years, either directly or not, and that the recent ones were all her, including Rika and Satako, who she confirms are dead. There was one person that she spared though: Keiichi. Mion resolves to surrender, and asks Rena to leave her and Keiichi lone for half an hour before that (here it comes…). Keiichi and Mion walk around the huge compound, and Mion admits that she and Shion both like Keiichi (she starts using the third person here). She asks if she can hold his arm, and he says she can (whoa there. She's hot and all, but she just killed 4 people! One of them was Rika-chan!). Mion tells Keiichi that Shion is still alive, which makes him happy (too happy…don't make her jealous!). Mion decides to show him everything, and he promises that no mater what, she'll always be his friend (WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?!? She killed two little girls and you don't seem to care! GET OUT NOW!). Mion shows Keiichi where she did the murders, and her instruments of torture (You're still unfazed by this? You have SERRIOUS issues man. And what's with the third person stuff?). The duo head to the "prison" area, where Shion is in her undies in a tiny cell.

Shion is excited to see Keiichi, and she crawls up to him. Keiichi tries to tell her everything is going to be okay, but Shion spots Mion and starts to freak out and scream (told ya. You be fucked.). She says that if Mion hates her so much, she should just kill her now. Mion just smiles, and promises to…after she kills Keiichi. She picks up a large rock and knocks him out (I FUCKING TOLD YOU!). Keiichi wakes up strapped to a table, with Shion still screaming in the background. Mion finally comes out and says that the demon has a hold of her, and that the real Mion was holding the demon back. Unfortunately, the demon has complete control now, and she describes what she's going to do to him: put a nail in every finger joint. That's just for starters. Keiichi begs her for two things: Shion's release, Mion's freedom, and his life spared. Oops, that's three. Too bad the demon must kill Shion out of jealousy, because Keiichi likes her better. And the demon doesn't want to give up Mion's body. The demon gained control when Keiichi gave the doll he won to Rena instead of her, and it got worse when he started to find more interest in Shion. The demon starts to bring the hammer down, but Mion manages to stop herself just in time. The sounds of the police trying to force their way in start, and Mion retreats, somewhat in control of her mind now.

A few days later, Rena stops by Keiichi's place to find out that he's moving away, and she's the only one left. Later that night, Keiichi hears pebbles hit his window, and looks out to find Mion (Don't do it!). He quickly runs out to meet her (for the love of God…). Mion starts to get a little freaked out, and it seems that she can't hold the demon back any longer. She starts to do the freaky killer loli laugh again, and as Keiichi gets closer to see if she's okay, she stabs him in the gut (I swear you're the stupidest person alive…well you were anyway.). She starts laughing like a lunatic, and says that she's finally killed them all. After Keiichi collapses, it cuts to Oishi standing over a body. It's Shion's. Mion pushed her out the window of her apartment. Oishi goes to visit Keiichi at the hospital (you got lucky foo) and tells him some startling information: they found the well where Mion stashed the bodies, but Mion's body was there as well. She had died the night Oishi raided the compound. They also found out something interesting about nurse-lady's body. She had been dead for 24 hours before they found her, which means that it wasn't her who took Keiichi and Shion into the shed. Oishi leaves, and as Keiichi ponders what the fuck had just happened, a blood soaked Mion grabs his hand and says that she's taking back his wish. She pulls out a hammer, and slams it home. Oh teh noes!

Keiichi wins the "Stupidest Anime Character of All Time" award for this…she was trying to kill you, why the hell did you go outside?!? I laughed the whole time though, it was more funny than scary. Keiichi=teh funneh. Ah well. Hopefully Rika-chan won't die in the next arc, although it looks like she is the bad guy this time. I probably won't do SP! this week, because I'm lazy, and I didn't have time to do it. I might do F/SN though, because it was awesome. Here's the short versions for now:

Strawberry Panic! – 8

• It's raining
• Nagisa lends her umbrella to a little girl from Le Rim named Kagome
• The Le Rim Student Council/Transformation Club/Mystery Club helps Kagome and her bear return the umbrella
• Tomao tries to get Nagisa to share her umbrella, and is foiled by Shizuma and Chiyo-chan before succeeding
• Hikari knows Yaya likes her
• Le Rim people run around, loose umbrella
• Nagisa gets her umbrella back, adds Kagome to harem
• Funny scene with Shizuma and Amane sharing an umbrella

Fate/Stay Night – 21

• Emiya tries to take on Goldie, gets pwned
• Saber tries to take on Goldie, gets pwned
• Goldie's real name is Gilgamesh
• Emiya tries to use Caliburn, gets pwned
• Emiya traces Sabers sheath, they pwn Gil, he runs
• Emiya has dream about Saber's death by her daughter (Mordred)
• Emiya tries to convince Saber to stay
• Emiya teaches Saber how to cook
• Emiya and Saber kiss (OM TEH G!!)
• They might have done more than that…
• Emiya visits priest dude
• Priest dude summons Lancer, his Servant
• Lancer stabs Emiya

Hell yes! Read on for summary and more yummy Tess fanservice.

Tessa is on the bridge, and the TDD-1 is under attack. Just before Tessa can order countermeasures against a pair of incoming torpedoes, Mardukas interrupts her…and he turns into Sousuke. In fact, the entire bridge crew turns into a swarm of Sousukes, each and every one of them confessing their love for her. Right when Tessa seems like she's about to faint from embarrassment, the radar officer shouts that the torpedo is about to hit. When it does Tessa falls over…and finds out that the whole thing was a dream. Unfortunately for her, she was sitting in the Captain's chair on the TDD-1's bridge, wearing nothing but her underwear and her uniform's shirt. Fortunately for us, she doesn't realize this and she still thinks she's in the bizarre dream.

Tessa looks around the empty bridge demanding a damage report from the people that aren't there. She grabs her blanket and wanders off the bridge, and eventually finds herself in the hangar, where Sousuke and Al, the Arbalest's AI, are running simulations. In typical Sousuke fashion, he freaks out when he first spots Tessa. Tessa immediately runs to him and hugs him, and asks him to call her Tessa. Al continues to comment on on the simulation, but his word choices tie into what's happening to Sousuke ("The chest is taking hits." "I know that!"). Sousuke accidentally calls Tessa by her name, then corrects himself and asks her to let him go find a medic. The word "medic" makes Tessa think for a bit, and she suddenly comes to her senses. She tries to hide herself and her undies from Sousuke, bu she trips over herself (typical Tessa ) and ends up exposing much more than she ever wanted to. She eventually runs off, apologizing as she scampers back to her quarters.

I'm not the best photoshopper in the world, but damn is she still hot…

Ahem. Anyway, Tessa's next stop is the shower (as if I'd pass up pics of that ), and after a bit of primping and getting her uniform put on (and tripping on the small ledge that the bulkhead to her room has), she heads out to see her people. Her first stop is the base (not TDD-1 like earlier) hangar, where Mao listens to her story while prepping her newest project. Tessa whines that she worked hard to be free today, just because Sousuke was on base and away from Kaname, but she can't face him because of what had happened. Mao asks why Tessa was sleeping in the commanders chair, and Tessa starts to go over what had happened the night before. Tessa paid a visit to Mao in her room, and Mao was doing the usual: drinking herself to death. Tessa stayed for a while, drinking some juice that Mao gave her, and eventually fell asleep in Mao's room. Mao suggests that she wandered off after Mao left the room, and Tessa laments that she lost her "sleeping companion" (a Bonta-kun plushie). Tessa asks Mao if she had seen it, and Mao accidentally lets slip that the juice that she gave Tessa that night wasn't juice, but a cocktail. Tessa gets all pissed because she doesn't like alcohol, but Mao just shrugs and shows off her project: tangoing M9s. Tessa gets angry because Mao is misusing billion-dollar machinery like that, and when the "male" M9 throws the "female" one into the side of the hangar, Tessa says that the repairs are coming out of Mao's paycheck. Ouch.

Tessa then heads to the Lost and Found looking for her Bonta-kun, and instead finds Kurtz turning in a bag of anime he found in the locker room. Kurtz runs off before he can sign the mandatory ledger (I have a bad feeling about where this is going ), and Grouseaux shows up to claim the missing anime. Grouseaux asks Tessa not to tell anybody about his hobby, as it would make him seem "sentimental" to his men (namely Kurtz. Told you this was gonna be bad) and they would loose respect in him. Tessa jokingly suggests that he stop watching, and Grouseaux freaks out before Tessa has a chance to tell him she was joking. Kinda reminds me of when A-chan suggested that Densha stop being an otaku…

Tessa hurries out of the Lost and Found to avoid telling the person in charge what she was looking for. She suddenly remembers her phone ringing the night before, and finds Kalinin was the last one that called her cell. She heads to his room, and is surprised to see him in an apron. He has been cooking borscht, a dish from his native Russia. Kalinin offers Tessa some, and calls Sousuke as well, who declines (this should have set off an alarm in Tessa's brain. Sousuke would have never refused an officer…unless it was a threat to his life). Tessa and Kalinin go over the events that had happened the night before, with Kalinin pausing every few seconds when his stopwatch beeped to stir his borscht. Kalinin had called Tessa to ask permission to start a test of the base's alarm system. Tessa had given permission, but had said that she would attend the test. Kalinin had later received a call from Mardukas that Tessa would be unable to attend so he started the test without her. After testing the borscht with litmus paper, Kalinin serves some to Tessa, who has her first near-death experience. The taste was apparently there on purpose: Kalinin's late wife made it this way when he occasionally returned home from the Russian Army, and he could never bring himself to tell her it was terrible. Poor guy.

Tessa manages to escape Kalinin's clutches, and wanders aimlessly down the hallway, pining for Bonta-kun and wondering where Mardukas went. Kurtz suddenly comes barrelling down the hallway and hides behind a bunch of boxes. Grouseaux is not far behind, and he explains to Tessa that Kurtz had replaced the "important scene" in his anime with pigs…doing something. I'm not too sure what it was that they were doing…Grouseaux runs off, and Kurtz leaps over the boxes to try and avoid him, only to be stopped by a lecture from Tessa. Before she can get an agreement out of him, Grouseaux finds them, and they get into a fight, Grouseaux with a broom and Kurtz with a grenade launcher loaded with rubber pellets (a la Fumoffu). Mardukas comes out of nowhere, and gets the two to stop fighting. He gives them all a long lecture that lasts until nightfall, and eventually lets them go. Tessa asks Mardukas who told him that she wouldn't be able to make it to the test, and he reluctantly reveals that it was Sousuke. He also says that Sousuke's plane back to Tokyo is leaving soon. Tessa's memory comes back, and she remembers that Sousuke found her drunkenly wandering the hallways. He tries to direct her to her room, but she insisted on sleeping in the commander's chair on the TDD-1. Tessa runs to the runway and finds Sousuke on the plane, ready to leave. She musters up all of her courage and confesses her love for him, which he, in typical Sousuke fashion, mistakes as a confession that she loves booze. He lectures her on the badness of alcohol (remember, he's a pseudo-Muslim), and tells her that Bonta-kun is with Mao. Tessa tries to explain, but the plane takes off before she gets another chance. Aw. Back on base, Mao asks her how her day was, and Tessa says it was horrible…but that she never wanted it to end. THE END!

Well now, wasn't that interesting? I've been aching for some more FMP! after The Second Raid ended, and the Tessa fanservice definitely helped feed my hunger. After the next novel in line to be animated (A Dancing Very Merry Christmas) Tessa takes a back seat to Sousuke and Kaname's budding relationship, so hopefully the next series (which BETTER be after the totally useless Kanon remake) will have an OVA like this to alleviate that. I absolutely loved this whole thing, but the scenes between Sousuke and Tessa at the beginning were absolutely hysterical, as was the scene where Grouseaux "comes out" as an Otaku . I need more FMP! ASAP…stupid Kanon remake and your taking up KyoAni's time. Speaking of KyoAni, the animation was superb, as usual. I love these guys, they're fast becoming my favorite studio. I might actually watch the Kanon remake just for the eyecandy. Anyway, more Tessa is always good, so hows about another OVA, eh KyoAni? Onegaiishimasu?

Let's start with the overall plot. It's 1983, and Maebara Keiichi has just moved to Hinamizawa, a small Japanese town. Hinamizawa is so small that there is only a one room school, and the same teacher teaches all of the children, who range from 5-ish to Mion's 16. It seems like nothing eventful happens in this quaint little town…except for the organization attempting to flood the town in order to build a dam. Or the presence of an evil deity, Oyashiro-sama, and his sick and twisted yearly festival, the Watanagashi. Or the fact that someone dies and someone disappears every year at the Watanagashi festival. Or the killer lolis…

(also note that each arc resets itself, so while Keiichi, Mion, and Rena meet a very bad end in the first arc, they're all up and running for the second. Each arc starts out with a flash of the end, as a teaser.)

First up, our "hero" (if you can call him that…): Maebara Keiichi (as always, mouse over for wit)

Keiichi has just recently moved to Hinamizawa, and is completely unaware of how messed up its inhabitants are. The plot focuses on him, and the killer lolis that make his life miserable. He has a bad habit of lying to the killer lolis, which pisses them off. In the first arc (Demoned Away), Keiichi met his end after clawing his throat out while under the influence of a drug that Mion and Rena gave him. This all happened after he beat the pair to death with a baseball bat, of course. So far in the second arc (Watanagashi), Keiichi has gotten on Mion's bad side, and is under the protection of little Rika-chan. Oh yes, a 10 year old miko will so help your chances…likelihood of surviving the latest arc: abysmal. He lies to the lolis, and that makes them mad. Don't make the lolis mad, Keiichi.

Now it's time for killer loli #1: Ryuugu Rena

Rena is the…instigator of the first arc. While seemingly cute, and obsessed with cuteness herself, she is, in fact, a killer loli. Rena seems to be the most "off" of the girls, as she's the only one who's actually tried to do something really bad to Keiichi (she put fucking sewing needles in some food she gave him!). She also has a thing for carrying a really big machete… Rena is the same age as Keiichi (15), and she most likely has a crush on him. Until she injects some kind of hallucinogenic drug into him and he goes berserk, smashing her into a pulp with a baseball bat. In the current arc she doesn't do much, except act cute. Thank God.

Here comes killer loli #2: Sonazaki Mion

Mion is the daughter of a Yakuza boss, and heir to his throne, so she carries a gun (apparently fake, as nobody comments on it) around to fit the part. She might have a crush on Keiichi as well. While she's a lot more stable than Rena, she has a habit of going into some kind of psycho mode, with face contortions and a really creepy voice. In the first arc, she seems to be a part of the same shady organization that Rena is a part of, and she meets the same fate. In the second arc, she's kinda the bad guy, and gets onto Keiichi's case after he and her twin (see below) go into the temple storage shed.

But wait! It's killer loli #2.5: Sonazaki Shion

Shion, as you can tell, is Mion's (younger) twin sister. She, like her sister, might have a thing for Keiichi. She has only appeared in the second arc so far, although the identity of the "Mion" in the first arc can still be speculated apon. She seems to be the less dominant Sonazaki twin, although it's really hard to tell who is who (Mion has disguised herself as Shion at least once, to give Keiichi a bento). She was the one that convinced Keiichi to venture into the temple storage shed and learn the true nature of the Watanagashi festival. Shion becomes concerned for her and Keiichi's safety after the other two people that were with them at the time died (just in time to be affected by Oyashiro-sama's curse), and she frequently calls Keiichi's house afterwards to warn him. Unfortunately for Keiichi, the caller couldn't have been Shion, because she's been missing since the day after the festival…

GOGO killer loli #3: Furude Rika

The cutest of the 4 killer lolis, Rika is the youngest of the group and the miko (priestess) for the local shrine for Oyashiro-sama. She is also is a top contender for the "~desu Queen" title, and has been known to use the phrase "boku wa" (both of these are considered extremely cute when used by young girls in Japan). In the first arc she doesn't do anything but act cute (and she does a damn fine job of it). In the second arc she's in the know about the true meaning of the Watanagashi, and is trying to protect Keiichi from whatever grisly fate Mion has cooked up for him. Unfortunatly for her, she eats it by slamming her head repeatedly onto a very big kitchen knife while Mion (or Shion. My head hurts…) gleefully watches on, as seen in the small foreshadowing scene in episode 5.

RANDOM RIKA-CHAN CUTENESS BREAK

If you haven't been able to tell already, she's my favorite .

And finally, killer loli #4, Houjou Satako

Well now, what do we know about Satako-chan? She lives with Rika-chan. Her parents died as a part of Oyashiro-sama's curse. Her brother, Satoshi, who Mion might have had a crush on, disappeared for the same reason. That's it. The OP hints at her future killer loli aspects, so the chances of her being the central character of the next arc are pretty high.

Now for the non-lolis!

Takano Miyo and Tomitake Jirou

Takano Miyo is a nurse at the local clinic. In the first arc she does nothing but appear then disappear as a part of Oyashiro-sama's curse. In the second, she leads Keiichi and Shion into the temple storage shed to shed (heh. I made a funny) some light on the true nature of the Watanagashi. She dies by lighting herself on fire, again due to Oyashiro-sama's curse. Or perhaps because she went into the shed…? Tomitake Jirou is a freelance photographer that spends the summer in Hinamizawa. In the first arc he explains Oyashiro-sama's curse to Keiichi, and then falls victim to it by clawing out his own throat with his bare hands. In the second arc he serves the same purpose, as well as entering the shed with the other three. He also gets the same fate: death by bloody fingernail. Note to self: don't fuck with Oyashiro-sama.

And last (but not least): Oishi Kuraudo

No screen for Oishi-san, because I'm lazy and because he's old. He's the local detective that used to be on the Oyashiro-sama murder case, but retired because he couldn't solve it. He pretty much serves the same purpose in both arcs so far: giving Keiichi info, especially when it makes the killer lolis seem even more dangerous. He's the one who fingered Mion and Rena as being a little "off" (a little?) in the first arc, and he informed Keiichi of Shion's disappearance in the second.

Well that's all there is to tell. Now do go and download it, and watch the rest. You'll thank me for it. Or make me buy you a new pair of pants.

EDIT: The win and goldness of the Higurashi OP is now up on nipponsei. Creepy…

When Emiya returns home, Rin asks if he was at Kotomine's place. When he tells her he was, she shrugs and doesn't ask what he was doing there. She comments on the fact that Saber, the most powerful Servant, was the most incomplete. Emiya says that Saber should have never become a Servant, and Rin notes that Archer had said the same thing. Oh noes, foreshadowing time! They mull over the prospect that Archer could have been one of Saber's knights, although Saber never seemed to recognize him. Rin asks what their next move should be, and Emiya decides to go on a date with Saber, which sends Rin into a fit of laughter.

After Rin calms down, she actually wishes him luck, and teases that she likes ("suki", translate that as you will) them both. Looks like that's the end of any more Saber x Rin action . Rin then lays out a strategic plan, and likens a date to a battle, which makes Emiya rather confused. Saber is eventually called in, and Emiya invites her out, which makes her confused. Emiya tries to explain, and Rin finally tells Saber that a date is meeting with your lover in secret, which makes Saber blush. Ilya shows up to try and tag along, but Rin takes her out with a karate chop to the back.

Emiya and Saber escape the clutches of the killer crazy cute loli and head into town. Their first stop is a clothing store, where the saleslady tells them they can open the packages if they want to. Saber takes the words literally and rips a sweater in half. Oops. Next up is a Star Wars-esque movie, complete with lightsabers. Emiya uses the darkness to try and hold Saber's hand, but just as he's about to, she raises her fist and starts to play along with the on-screen action. They then hit up the aquarium, where Saber says that it's unnatural for the normally free fish to be trapped in a tank with nowhere to go, although she is dazzled by the beauty of it all. After lunch, where Saber discusses the advantages of teabags over the better tasting leaves, the pair continue shopping and end up at a store that sells plushies. Saber finds a lion and takes a liking to it. Emiya starts to laugh, because he thinks that a lion would suit her. Saber gets uncharacteristically flushed, and shoves the lion into his hands before storming out of the store.

The pair wanders around a bit more, until they find the remains of a ship near the pier. Saber says that it's her fault that the ship sunk, because she was forced to use her Noble Phantasm in a fight on board. Nobody was hurt, but Saber still seamed a bit distressed that she had destroyed the ship. As the day winds down, Emiya and Saber watch the sunset from a bridge overlooking the river. Emiya suggests that they go on another date later, but Saber turns down the offer, and refers to her "Servants are weapons" mantra. The conversation eventually drifts towards Saber's wish and Emiya's desire to keep her in this world. He says that she's not suited for fighting, that she never actually wants to even if she's always ready to. Saber takes offence to this, and says that the only reason she exists is to find the Holy Grail and to undo her selection as King. Emiya insists that she lives for her own sake, and Saber lashes back that he never thinks about himself, but puts others, especially her, before him. Emiya gets angry and Likens her wanting to change the past to a child's selfishness. This sends saber into emo-mode, and she says that no mere person could ever understand her. Emiya gets fed up with Emo-Saber, and tells her to do whatever she wants before running off. Does this guy have any backbone at all? And what's with the always running away from Saber? She's hot! The answer? Emiya's gay. That's gotta be it.

Emiya returns home by himself, and resolves not to apologize to Saber, because he cares about her. Oh, he's not gay, he's just an idiot. My bad. Emiya is suddenly awakened by Rin the next morning, only to discover that Saber hadn't returned home. He runs out of the house and finds her exactly where he left her. She was still there because, although Emiya had given her permission to do whatever she wanted, she couldn't decide what she wanted to do. Emiya grabs her hand and starts to lead her home, but they're interrupted by the one person they're trying to avoid: Goldie.

I gotta tell you, I love this new WordPress thing. More screenshots, more space to type…I could go on, but I won't. Anyway, things sure are shaping up between Emiya and Saber, eh? I wanted more lion plushie and less Emo-Saber, but the plot has to progress somewhere. The previews for next week don't look too good, as both Saber and Emiya look a little…beat to a pulp. With all this foreshadowing on how Emiya and Archer are related, we might just get a little taste on how badass Emiya can actually be. I'm such a tease :p.

I've imported my posts from Blogger, sans the ones I don't really care about. The one screenshot per line thing is no more! On new posts at least. 

Y y'ellow thar!

Shion asks Amane about “the matter she spoke of last time”, (the Etoile nomination? Partnering with her in the Etoile battle?). Amane replies the same way she had before: no. Shion likens her refusal to her refusal to take gifts from her fans. She thinks that Amane refuses the presents because it would make her ineligible to be the Etoile. Shion then asks if she would accept a present from Hikari, and Amane doesn’t respond. Meanwhile, Hikari is at the statue of Maria-sama, praying. Yaya finds her there, and notices that Hikari didn’t give her gift to Amane. She tells Hikari about the rumor that Amane doesn’t accept gifts from anyone, and says that she should move forward, or her feelings won’t be heard by the other person. The student council meets to discuss Amane’s entry into the Etoile battle. Kaname (the girl that claims Amane is her rival), the Vice-President, insists on finding another candidate, but Shion disagrees and says that Amane still has a chance. After the meeting, Kaname and Momomi (the girl that was with her on the rooftop) consider their options, and Kaname decides to divert Hikari’s attention to her. In other words, seduce her. Win.

Ichigo-Sho's Local lesbian bitches in action.

Later that night, Tomao and Nagisa gossip about Amane and Hikari’s relationship and how it’s going nowhere fast. Tomao thinks about helping, but Nagisa is more focused on her French book. Way to help out the good guys. Nagisa seems more like a side character nowadays then the main one, like she was meant to be. Across the dorm, Yaya listens in as Hikari sings in the shower and ponders on how to help Hikari win Amane over, or at least convey her feelings. Momomi and Kaname work on their plan to seduce poor Hikari, which results in not only the first official pantsu shot of the series, but the first official lesbian action. 7 episodes? It only took Tomari 2 episodes to grope Hazumu! The good part is that it was preceded by awesome sexual innuendo. Kaname says that Momomi is the “bee”, and that the “bee”’s job is to spread the “pollen” (the note that Kaname wrote). The following exchange is word for word: Momomi “But…bees need water every time they want to pollinate the flowers.” Kaname: “Whatever water that is, drink as much as you need then.” Not the best translation in the world, but damn…

Can Tomao be next? Please?

The next morning Momomi successfully gives the letter to Hikari. Because of the wording that Momomi uses when she gives Hikari the letter, Hikari thinks that it’s from Amane (note that Momomi drops another bee comment here as she walks away. The bitch-o-meter is off the fucking charts for these two). Hikari reads the letter in front of the Maria-sama stature. We don’t actually see the letter, but it does make Hikari blush. Later on, the Amane fanclub (read: the entire student body of Spica, plus Tomao, Nagisa, and a few more Miatre girls) waits outside of the Spica building to wish Amane-sama good luck. Yaya enters the crowd and flashes back to the night before. Hikari said that Amane wanted to see her before the departing ceremony, and that she would give her the present then. Hikari waits, far from everyone else, in the small wood outside the church, for who she thinks is Amane. Of course, it isn’t Amane who shows up, but Kaname. Back at the ceremony, the girls anxiously await Amane’s arrival. Shizuma shows up, which puts them into a bigger fervor. Shion looks around nervously, noticing that Kaname and Momomi, both of whom are on the Spica student council, are missing. I the woods, Kaname’s evil lesbian side comes out, and she begins the…procedure. Heh. A chorus of screams alerts Yaya that Amane has finally arrived. Hikari still hasn’t shown up, which makes both Amane and Yaya uneasy. Kaname pins Hikari against a tree, and likens Hikari and Amane to Icarus and the sun (look it up), telling Hikari to stay away from the sun that is Amane. Right about when Kaname tries to force herself on Hikari, Hikari remembers the promise she made to Amane about sending her off. She manages to slip away from Kaname and runs off towards the ceremony. As Shizuma shakes Amane’s hand to send her off (making the fanclub squeal with delight), Tomao notices that Hikari is missing, as does Amane and Shion. Hikari continues to try to make it on time, only to be cut off by Momomi, giving Kaname enough time to catch up. Yaya finds where Hikari and Kaname met, with the letter next to it. Nagisa and Tomao’s shortcut back to the dorms happens to run into Yaya in her frantic search for Hikari, and Yaya enlists them to help her out. Kaname finally pins Hikari to the ground, and starts to force herself on her, with Momomi looking on. I have a feeling that the two were just waiting for the opportunity for a threesome :p.

With that one quote, Kaname has entered the Evil Lesbian Hall of Fame, right next to Chikane. She's got nothing on Hime-Shizuru though.

Amane suddenly senses that something is wrong, and she grabs her horse from the trailer and rushes off to find Hikari. She manages to get to her before Kaname could do much more than talk. Dammit, couldn’t you have waited like five minutes? Momomi manages to slip away, but Kaname is caught red handed. Amane still lets her walk away though. Hikari gives Amane the gift, a yellow scarf. Tomao, Nagisa, and Yaya happily watch on. Back at the dorms, Momomi convinces Kaname not to give up, and the pair enjoy another night together.

Woah. I always thought that Kaname was the dominant one…

Well now, after 7 episodes we finally get some girl-on-girl action? Took em long enough. At least the show finally has some bad guys (Kaname and Momomi), which is a welcome addition. Every show ever needs at least one evil lesbian. Unfortunately there was no Tomao cuteness this week, because the story focused more on Amane and Hikari again. Not even Chiyo messing someting up or slamming her head on a table for no reason . I’m loving this series so far, unlike the other Yuri series this season. Simoun is just…flat. As a sidenote: sorry about the lack of posts, but I’ve been busy working on a Haruhi fansite with some other guys. Check it out at haruhiism.com. I'm Kyon over there btw.

Saber and Assassin are still at it, while Emiya and Kuzuki fight on in the background (is it just me, or did Emiya suddenly become pimp daddy sword master in a span of 3 episodes?). Saber manages to bend Assassin's blade with one hit of her own, but Assassin finally gets his feet on flat ground and is able to use his Noble Phantasm, "Tsubame-Gaeshi". Caster closes in on Rin and Sakura, both of which seem to be alive after the events of the last episode. Assassin unleashes "Tsubame-Gaeishi" at Saber, who hurries to retaliate. The two end up in the classic Samurai-style "after slash" stance.

Dum dum duuuuuummmmmm!

Saber looses a few hairs, and Assassin looses his life. 4 down, 2 to go :p. Kuzuki manages to bust Emiya's swords with his bare hands (this guy isn't normal) and hits Emiya hard enough to throw him down into the pit below where Caster is confronting a very defenseless Rin and Sakura. Caster asks her Master to stand back while she takes care of Rin and Emiya (Sakura being the sacrifice for the Grail). Caster charges up a spell, and Saber arrives just in time to stop her. Caster taunts Saber with the fact that she can no longer use Excalibur's power due to her being cut with Rule Breaker and that she's not strong enough without it to defeat Caster. She offers Saber a deal: she'll spare Emiya if Saber joins her. Before Saber has a chance to answer, a mysterious man calls Caster a fool for trying to take what is his. The man, who is dressed in golden amour and has about a billion swords and other sharp pointy objects that are used to kill people floating in the air behind him, points at Saber and says that she belongs to him, the "King". The swords behind him then streak towards Caster, who casts a shield to protect herself and Kuzuki. The man grabs 3 swords out of the air and targets Kuzuki, throwing them into a small spot that Caster's shield wasn't protecting. Caster jumps in front of the swords and takes the brunt of the attack for her Master. She flashes back to when Kuzuki accepts her as his Servant, and how happy she was to be wanted (even though Kuzuki didn't really look like he cared). Caster limps over to her Master and asks if he's alright, because it would be very bad for him to die now that she's found what she was searching for. He promises to achieve what she desired in her stead, and as she fades away, she says that that's impossible, because her desire has already been fulfilled. Kuzuki watches Caster's cloak and dagger fall to the ground, and after staring at them for a bit, collapses right next to them, two very large gashes marring his back.

How the hell…?

Goldie looks pissed…

Aw. She isn't evil, just misunderstood. Bitch.

5 down, one to go! Where the hell is Lancer anyway? Gold Guy disappears after asking if Saber remembers the question he asked her, so the gang runs out of the cave before it collapses due to Caster's death. When they get back home, Saber reveals the identity of Goldie…kinda. All she can say is that he is actually a Servant, Archer class, which makes him number 8. Ouch. 5 down, 2 to go. She says that she fought him in the last war 10 years ago, and that she lost before she could learn his identity. Even if she hadn't lost, she wouldn't have known his name anyway, because he has thousands of Noble Phantasms. She also says that he proposed to her during the fight (hence the "question"). She answered him…with her sword. Heh. Rin surmises that Goldie won the War ten years ago and used the Grail to let him live in this world without a master. Rin runs off to tend to Sakura, and Emiya asks Saber about Goldie staying in this world by using the Grail. Emiya gets excited at the prospect, but before he can say what he was thinking, Saber cuts him off and says that she has no intention of staying in this world. Emiya finally figures out why she wants the Grail: to change the selection of the king so that she would never have become the Arthur of legend. Her reasoning was that because she wasn't strong enough to protect her kingdom, a new king must be chosen that can change the course of history and govern the people better. Emiya gets mad and says that that's all in the past, that she should change herself now instead of going back. Saber blows him off, and says that even if they got the grail, it doesn't guarantee that she can stay in this world, because there is no way Goldie got ahold of the grail last time. The Grail was destroyed ten years ago by Saber on orders from her former master: Emiya Kiritsugu, Emiya's adoptive father. Emiya gets pissed and asks why she never told him. It was because Emiya's dad betrayed her by using his last command spell to force Saber to destroy the Grail, which caused the fire that killed Emiya's real parents. She didn't believe the stories that Emiya told or the dreams she saw about how nice he was, because his father was a cold and uncaring man, although he wasn't evil. Emiya eventually goes to see the priest guy from the beginning, and asks him about the 8th Servant, much to the priest's surprise.

Well now, isn't that interesting? I've heard stories of a guy named "Gilgamesh" in the F/SN storyline, although I have no clue as to if that's Goldie or not. Now it's just down to Lancer and Goldie…let's hope that Saber gets a happy ending this time . Next week we get to see the uber cute side of Saber, because she finally gets the plushie I've heard so much about. Yay for more harem action! Emiya almost has th perfect harem, even mirroring everything that Keitaro had (girl with sword, outgoing girl, shy girl…loli girl) except for the "crazy as shit inventor" and "random strange girl". Ah well.