Kurogane’s Anime Blog

Cliffhanger ending episode for the win?

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Ball Masque’s ultimate plan; To create a huge replica of Rodin’s The Thinker.

Ball Masque’s plan is finally set in to motion, with the retrieval of the Reiji Maigo, that is then placed inside the Silver armor back in Seireiden.

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Saved by the bell?

Okay, so Sabrac didn’t die. Guess that’s expected anyways.

On to this episode, it serves more as a “calm before the storm” episode than another “angst-ridden romance” drama episode.

Kantarou returns again, to drop “Yuji-niisan” a nice bombshell of a future addition to the Sakai household. I personally hope for a girl. It also made Shana curious about how to “make” children, and she shamelessly asks the question to the Sakai household, as well as Alastor, who all dodge the question, until Yoshida tells her how embarrassing that question is.

After that though, Shana decides to end their romantic rivalry once and for all, by having both of them write love letters to Yuji inviting him to the different locations at the same time during Christmas Eve. Kinda puts him in a bind heh. Ike-kun alss realizes that all his friends has changed and he decides to change as well, finally confessing to Yoshida on the same Christmas Eve, telling her that she doesn’t have to answer it yet. That scene was much more epic in the first opening animation though.

Unfortunately, before Yuji can decide where to head to, he is ‘conveniently’ attacked by Hecate. I swear he looked relieved for a moment there. Hecate summons out the Reiji Maigo from within Yuji and separates it from him, ending in another cliffhanger.

So another chance to resolve the romance battle is foiled yet again by impeccable timing from Hecate and her gang. I’m kinda surprised though with the development of Chigusa’s pregnancy, even if I was prepared for it already. Still, it’s good news. Gotta love how Shana was innocently asking everyone how to make babies after knowing of that .

Anyways, back to the main story with the next episode, and will we see Yuji fading in to sparks or will he join the Dark side?

Wow, this season of Shana is definitely shaping up to be pretty epic.

The fight against Sabrac continues, and Yuji theorizes that Sabrac’s actually the whole city itself, and the form that Wilhelmina’s been fighting is only part of it. He proceeds to lay out a plan for Margery and Shana to execute, and with Wilhelmina’s secret trump card, the Unrestricted Method to counter Stigma made by Johann, Margery lays out the trap, while Shana and Wilhelmina deal with Sabrac.

Shana retreats in the middle of the fight, to conserve energy, while Margery finishes up the trap, just in time to take over from the tired-out Wilhelmina. Sabrac is lured in the trap, which is basically Margery lifting a whole portion of the city upwards, cutting Sabrac’s links off, and Shana deals the final blow, in a pretty epic manner.

The plan works and Sabrac is finally vanquished, and peace returns back to Misaki city. Yoshida and Shana’s relationship with Yuji is back to normal, and for the first time in a while, we get to hear Shana’s trademark “Urusai, urusai, urusai!” line.

Really awesome action scenes this time around again, and they even inserted JOINT in at the final moments of the battle. This episode is what we all really are looking out for in the Shana franchise. Girls with fiery swords kicking up massive whoopass, yeah!

However, it’s not all smooth sailing, and I must say the repeat of what happened last season where Shana tries but hesitates to say her feelings to Yuji strikes me off as a bit cheesy, and so was the ending portion of this episode, with everyone in a happy situation. Considering the series is going to reach an end soon, it feels kinda… weird.

What’s more, next episode preview seems to hint that the show will head back in to the romance drama angle…. not exactly the part I like about the series the most.

Sabrac shows himself with a bang, using his Unrestricted Method, Stigma, which causes wounds that continue to open over time. He immediately aims for Wilhelmina and Yuji, and even Wilhelmina has a hard time fighting off Sabrac, who seems to be truly invincible, taking all of Wilhelmina’s attacks without a scratch. Wilhelmina’s explanation of Sabrac’s abilities combined with Yuji’s weird feeling that he felt earlier leads him to realize something, and he takes off to confirm it out while Wilhelmina baits Sabrac.

Meanwhile, Shana and Margery are both injured by Stigma as well. Yoshida finds Shana and helps bandage her wounds, and Keisaku does the same, as they watch the ensuing battle.

Wow, a solid full episode of Wilhelmina fighting. That was pretty freaking awesome. It’s just too bad that Wilhelmina takes on a serious handicap against Sabrac, with his hax Stigma spell, combined with his invincibility. Truly Sabrac is a frightening opponent, and I’ve gained a new understanding of Wilhelmina’s skills, as she had to take him on like this every time.

Yuji gets demoted back to “damsel-in-distress” but at the least he seems to have caught on to Sabrac’s weakness. I sure hope he’ll pull out something brilliant next week.

Badass Yuji?! Surely you jest!!

Yuji is confronted and threatened by Zarobi, who leads him over a city-wide walk. While Yuji desperately tries to figure out Zarobi’s plan, he passes by Ooga and Tanaka, who are on a date, and purposely makes a commotion to attract their attention. His little idea works, and Tanaka, after some deliberation decides to inform Margery about it, and afterwards, apologizes for leaving.

Back to Yuji, based on information on Zarobi he has obtained from Outlaw, he finally figures out Zarobi’s plan of luring him to a crowded area, then setting up a fuzetsu as a target for his partner, Bandela, who will shoot at it. He takes the initiative and sets up a city-wide fuzetsu, and easily disposes of Zarobi, finally realizing why Yoshida and Shana are mad at him. Shana and Wilhelmina arrive on the scene soon after, and they finish off Bandela. Yuji tries to apologize for the matter earlier, but a sudden explosion distracts them.

So, for the first time in the series, Yuji has finally participated in the real fighting and I must say it’s surprising on how angry he can get, especially when he breaks the neck of the red Zarobi, who I must say, is a rather weak Tomogara.

Next episode will finally see the appearance of Sabrac, the infamous assassin, and it looks set to be another action-packed episode. Finally, this show is getting things done right.

Making up for the lack of Valentine mood in the episode :P

More drama again, with Yuji losing himself in his “training”, with Margery even helping out now by teaching him to use jizaishiki. However Shana and Kazumi start to feel that Yuji is not himself ever since, not surprising as Yuji perceives himself as not human anymore and he already belongs to the other side.

Things come to a boiling point soon after Chigusa falls ill and Yuji decides to reject Yoshida’s meals and apologize for the trouble he’s caused. This brings the opposite effect instead, making both Yoshida and Shana angry. Soon thereafter… Yuji, on a walk, is confronted by a Tomogara sent by the Ball Masque.

Well… Yuji continues to be as dense as usual, even after the upheaval of the Seishuu Festival. Really, I’m surprised how he finally manages to notice something, yet manages to bungle it. Well… it’s not like he’s trying to be a bastard or something.

Quite shocked to see Chigusa-san collapsing though… she didn’t look too sick thankfully. I loved how Shana was worried sick about her and rushed to visit her, she was really cute when describing on how Wilhelmina nursed her when she was sick.

Just as the title and the previous episode preview implies, this episode has Eita finally making a decision to part ways from Satou and Margery, for his love towards Ooga-chan.

Meanwhile, Satou, continuously frustrated with his inability to help out, asks to join Outlaw, since humans also work in it as information agents. His request is given some serious dissuasion by Margery, who tells him that Outlaw bases worldwide have been attacked by Tomogara, which is shown to be Sydonay.

Yuuji also finally decides to get serious on his training, and actually manages to disarm Shana for the first time. Good to see he’s not going remain useless as usual.

There was also a short flashback on Wilhelmina’s part when she was targeted by Sabrac and how Pheles and Johann saved her from imminent defeat. I sure hope we see it animated fully :).

Next episode preview shows a bunch of new baddies, apparently forming an organization confronting the cast. I dunno why, but it sounds filler-ish to me. Has anyone who has read the novels confirm it’s a canon arc or anime original?

I just love this eyecatches for providing an easy source of post pictures.

A much more reflective episode this week, as the cast deal with the aftermath of the chaos last week.

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Yoshida-san….*drools*

Yes! More Shana-tan specials.

Not so LOL-inducing as the first season ones, but it’s more disturbing in a way. Ike has gone the stalker way, Yoshida-style. Yoshida herself shows a really pissed off face. Finally… ever wanted to know what was inside the book Marchosias dwells in? We now know it’s actually Margery’s picture diary… orz.

“Che, this damn chibi.”