Continuing off from the last episode, Kuu and Kyoshiro are falling down while catgirl (who I’ll call Tarurotte now for political correctness) continues on the attack. Right at that moment, Setsuna crashes through the wall to save the day. Well, sort of. She keeps Tarurotte at bay but Kuu and Kyoshiro fall to the ground. At the bottom of that fall is an abandoned academic building. Kuu drags a wounded and unconscious Kyroshiro inside and eventually finds an infirmary to place Kyoshiro.

I think the one important thing to note here is that despite the passive character that Kuu is presented in the previous three episodes, she’s actually of some use as she attempts to help Kyoshiro the best she can instead of doing nothing.

Despite being in the infirmary room, there are no medical supplies available. Kuu tears off some pieces from her uniform to serve as bandages for Kyoshiro’s wound. Kuu gathers some water from a small stream of water outside. As Kyoshiro regains consciousness, he and Kuu discuss his past involving his dead brother Kazuya, who died during an experimental accident ten years ago while researching on creating the Absolute Angels.

Here we have more thoughtfulness and usefulness from Kuu. And then we are given a chance to see what happened ten years ago that caused the seven days of hot snow as mentioned in the first episode. Plus we get confirmation that Kuu’s red-haired prince is indeed Kyoshiro’s older brother and he has a name.

At the research center was Kyoshiro’s grandfather along with his brother. Kyoshiro went to the research center to visit and while there, Kazuya tells him that no one should ever come in contact with the Absolute Angels. Shortly after was the research center’s accident and Kyoshiro is forced into an escape pod while he watches his brother stay behind to take care of the situation. Unfortunately, the research center was destroyed, but managed to contain the damage to avoid massive fatalities in the area.

For some reason, the image of the explosion with the angel wings stretching out into space looks a lot like Evangelion if you ask me. Heck, the whole Absolute Angel thing carries the tune of the theme of Evangelion. Back to this particular scene of events, we see how Kyoshiro’s vision of the world is influenced by what he is told by his brother and what he sees while at the research center.

Kuu goes out to get more water, but comes in contact with Tarurotte’s human controller. Kyoshiro confronts him and identifies as his other brother Sojiro. They talk about their differing views and goals, such as Kyoshiro’s goal to destroy all four Absolute Angels, including Setsuna. Tarurotte and Setsuna crash in from above still heavy in battle. Tarurotte quickly puts Setsuna on the defense. Setsuna cries out in pain, but Kyoshiro won’t let her quit. Kuu grabs Kyoshiro from behind pleaing him to stop. Suddenly, a bright light emits from Kuu covering the area. Kuu awakens to find that the confrontation is over. At Mika’s temple, Kaon is on the floor. Mika destroys a previous marking on Kaon’s arm and replaces it with her own. As Kaon gets up, the only person she’s paying attention to is Himiko.

If Kyoshiro plans to destroy all the Absolute Angels, I wonder how he’s going to destroy Setsuna. If I were her, I’d probably turn against him if he said something to the degree of “Hey, hold still so I can destroy you.” Anyway, they need to start explaining the mysterious powers that Kuu carries so she can have some weight in this show because so far she’s more of a liability than anything else. As for Kaon and Himiko, it’s hard to tell whether Kaon is giving Himiko a friendly look or an evil look. The preview’s leaning towards the evil look.

Overall, for a show that only has 12 episodes, the series is taking a while to pick up the pace. The next episode doesn’t look all too promising either. So I’m guessing things will pick up somewhere between episodes 6 and 8.

Summary:

At school, Kyon finds Haruhi still in a melancholic state as she complains about the weather and how boring life has become. At the clubroom, Kyon is on the computer and as he notices no one looking, he accesses the folder with the images of Mikuru. As he is browsing, Mikuru places a cup of tea in front of Kyon. He immediately closes the image and the folder. However, Mikuru notices on the screen that there is a folder with her name on it.

She struggles with Kyon for the mouse to see what’s in the folder as Haruhi comes into the room. The place falls quiet for a moment before Haruhi declares that she will be changing clothes. Kyon doesn’t leave the room, which pisses off Haruhi and he is quickly kicked out of the room. After the wardrobe change, the rest of the day is spent with Kyon playing games with Itsuki while Haruhi braids Mikuru’s hair.

Back at Kyon’s house, he prepares to go to sleep. As he is sleeping, he is suddenly woken up by Haruhi. He finds himself at the school in his uniform, but he soon realizes that he is in closed space. He’s surprised that Haruhi is there with him. The two can’t seem to exit the school grounds, so they search around the school to see what they can do. They eventually end up at the clubroom to think things over.

Haruhi ventures out on her own while Kyon remains at the clubroom. Kyon looks out the window and notices a red ball that eventually takes the shape of Itsuki. Itsuki explains that Kyon and Haruhi have completely disappeared from their world and it would appear that the world Kyon is in now is going to be the new world that best suits Haruhi. Before Itsuki had to go, he tells Kyon that Yuki wanted him to turn on the computer.

After he turns on the computer, the words YUKI.N> appear on the screen followed by Yuki asking if Kyon can see the text, which he can. Yuki tells him she wishes for him and Haruhi to return as Haruhi is an important observational subject and that Yuki herself prefers to have Kyon return as well, mentioning another visit to the library. Before total contact is lost between the two, the last statement on the screen is “sleeping beauty”.

A Celestial appears in front of the clubroom window and Haruhi storms into the clubroom. She is absolutely excited by the sight of the monster. Kyon grabs Haruhi’s arm and drags her out of the building. As he runs towards safer grounds, Haruhi explains to Kyon that she has a feeling that everything will work out in this world. Kyon tells her that he wants to be back in the old world. Haruhi is upset that Kyon would prefer that option. She truly wants to be rid of the old boring world and have this new, entertaining world.

Kyon starts thinking about his relationship with Haruhi and what she means to him. Everyone in the SOS Brigade had a different interpretation of Haruhi, but what about himself. He thinks back to what Mikuru and Yuki told him. Snow White and Sleeping Beauty. At that moment, he faces Haruhi and tells her that ponytails turn him on and that she looked great when she tied her hair like that. He then kisses Haruhi as the world starts to be sucked in towards the two. Kyon rolls off his bed afterward finding himself back in the old world.

The next day at school, he finds Haruhi with a ponytail tied. Haruhi tells him she had a nightmare last night and couldn’t get any sleep. Kyon tries to cheer her up by telling her that her ponytail looks good on her. Kyon meets up with the other members. Yuki tells him the two disappeared from the world for two and a half hours. Mikuru breaks down in tears as she is glad that Kyon had returned to the world. Kyon then tells Mikuru that she has a star shaped mole on her chest to the surprise of Mikuru who checks to be sure.

A number of days later after the incident, Kyon explains that he finally turned in the paperwork for chartering the SOS Brigade. Instead of the original name that the SOS stood for, he reworded it to say something to the degree of “supporting the student body by overworking to make the world a better place Student Service Brigade”. And on the second city-wide mystery patrol event, Mikuru, Yuki, and Itsuki were all suddenly unable to go leaving only Kyon and Haruhi. Kyon plans to tell her about time-travelers, aliens, and espers.

Review:

This particular episode was the pivotal moment of the series, and therefore the series had to be structured the way it was, since there was not enough content in the original Melancholy story to span 12+ episodes. There were only six episodes devoted to the actual story while the rest were small events that happened later on, and the anime followed the Melancholy story very closely as well. At most, they would only be able to squeeze a 7th one.

Anyway, I noticed that Yuki was expressing her feelings toward Kyon as she tells him she would like to have him back. And despite her message about visiting the library fading away before she could finish her statement, I assume that she was going to say that it would be nice for the two of them to go to the library again.

As for the kiss between Kyon and Haruhi, the anime didn’t quite show it, leaving it up to our imagination. The light novel clearly explains how it went down, though in terms of Kyon’s narration.

As for the series as a whole, it was well made. The reason for it is because they practically followed the story of the Haruhi light novels to the teeth. I’ve noticed that whenever an anime strayed away from the original source, it usually didn’t end well, such as Kenshin. DBZ more or less followed Toriyama and it came out pretty good. And it goes on.

Despite the series ending so quickly, it’s bittersweet because it comes down to the preference of quality vs quantity. I personally prefer quality since the production of this series was top notch. The animators actually put in the time to draw out facial expressions instead of using over-the-top exaggerated emotions that are usually found in comedy animes like School Rumble. Well I’m pretty sure there’s going to be a second season to this anyway, so there’s nothing to worry about. The next season might feature one of the two stories: The Sighs of Haruhi Suzumiya (which encompasses the story behind the making of their movie) or The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya (which is quite self-explanatory). Both are quite entertaining, but if I had to choose, I would pick the second one, just in case they never plan for a third season.

Finally, I would like to thank the fansub group a.f.k. for subbing this series. Excellent work.

Note: Damn. Usually I try to get these summaries up as soon as I get the episode, but I was just too tired. Now that it’s Friday and the work week is over, plenty of time and energy to go around. Screen caps will come later though. Like tomorrow. Anyway, let’s begin.

Episode 2:

The day after, Sumire is still fatigued by the effects from being in Berserker mode. At the organization, they plan to perform more tests to make the Berserker mode more stable and safer. During the tests, they test different concentrations on Sumire while locking her within an energy barrier. The tests aim to have her be in conscious control of her powers, instead of being on a rampage. They also notice during the tests that the symbol on her shoulder has been changing in pattern.

Depending on how many episodes are slated for this series, Sumire will either be able to learn how to control her powers or they go out of control at the end and Lucia has to put an end to her. I predict that if it’s a short series (12 or 13 eps), Sumire will be pushed to the limits and her Berserker mode will remain permanent. If it’s a long or longer series (24+) chances are that Sumire will somehow find a way to control her powers at a very important time to save the day. And the strange symbols.. it’s definitely a ticking time bomb.

Sumire thinks back to her earlier experiences when she runs away from the Venus organization in an attempt to regain an ordinary life again, which is about two weeks after joining forces with Lucia. During that time, Lucia tries to persuade Sumire that she can’t return to the world she knew. Eventually her body might go return to normal, but in the meantime, she needs to put it to use. Sumire refuses to accept the facts.

When I first saw this episode, I didn’t realize she was having a flashback. Of course, on the second time around, things made a little more sense. And I’m guessing the hopes that Sumire’s body returning to normal is nothing more than wishful thinking. I doubt the viewers will stand for it, considering the subtle relationship that is portrayed between the heroines in the opening, ending, and intermediate stills.

At school, she’s unable to avoid staring at the Virus that stalks the campus. She finds herself in trouble when her eyes meet up with the Virus. Sumire runs back to her classroom and pulls out the antivirus gun in her bag. The Virus chases her around until he is hurt by one of the antivirus bullets. Sumire goes on the chase but is led to the roof of the building where she is cornered.

Despite the fear that Sumire displayed when seeing the Virus and running away from it, she sure had some guts to go chasing after it. Then again, she does have a trump card if it came down to it.

After wasting her second to last bullet on a missed shot, she runs out of options and shoots herself with the last bullet. In Berserker mode, she makes short work of the Virus. Lucia appears shortly after and locks Sumire in a barrier, but Sumire breaks out of the barrier. That is the last thing that happens before Sumire wakes up and sees that her altered self had injured Lucia. She tells Lucia that she realizes that she can’t go back to an ordinary life.

With this flashback, does that mean that that particular Berserker mode is a lot stronger than the one later down the road as this one can tear apart the barrier or is it that they developed a stronger barrier? And what do all the symbols mean? It does look like from the vantage point that the symbols reshape themselves to provide special skills to Sumire. Gotta wait and see (or get my hands on the manga).

Back in the present day, Sumire is less troubled by the testing. She finds a playground on the way home and finds a person there reading a book. He happens to be the same person she bumped into on the street in the previous episode.

I had a feeling that guy would make a second appearance. In the first episode, there was a slightly longer pause to show his face in that scene than it would for just some nobody. Of course, someone could as easily point out that the guy is in the opening credits. However, although very unlikely, I have this feeling he’s working for the bad guys. Because what other purpose does he really serve besides a possible love interest for Sumire?

Here’s the full dance sequence from the ending credits of the Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. The song in the video is Hare Hare Yukai by Hirano Aya.

It’s also streaming for easy viewing. Enjoy.

The three masters of the Absolute Angels, Kyoshiro, Mika, and that dude with the X scar on his face (also from Kannazuki, if I remember correctly), start giving some back story as to what happened ten years ago. They explain that there were four Absolute Angels that were created at that time and the three of them each had one, which leaves one more. And then there’s Kuu who doesn’t quite fit into the equation at all.

Well, it was a nice idea to have all the controllers of the Absolute Angels to be discussing the same thing and all, but do they all have to be thinking about while bathing? Pretty awkward moment to start off the episode. I didn’t want to see some dude’s butt cheeks, but a least I got some back story for the show.

At Kyoshiro’s residence, Setsuna is preparing a meal. Kuu joins in to help, but ends up overcooking some eggs in comparison to the masterpiece dishes that Setsuna made. After the table is set, Kuu volunteers to brew some coffee to avoid the awkwardness by the lovey-dovey mood that Setsuna and Kyoshiro create when together. She accidentally trips and lands face first into a vanilla cake. Setsuna appears jealous as Kyoshiro helps wipe the cake off Kuu’s face.

I found myself cracking up at the sight of those eggs that Kuu fried up along with the look that Setsuna gave at the sight of those eggs. How Kuu planted her face into the cake is beyond me. It must’ve been one hell of a miss step on her behalf. Then there’s the jealousy in Setsuna’s eyes. I guess she’s not used to sharing Kyoshiro with others.

The two girls end up bathing again as Setsuna helps Kuu wash off the cake from her hair. Taking advantage of the opportunity, Kuu asks Setsuna more about her relationship with Kyoshiro. Setsuna shoots down her intrigues of whether or not there’s any romantic relation between the two of them. Suddenly, Setsuna approaches Kuu and gives her a quick kiss. Kuu is completely shocked and surprised.

It feels like the show is finding every excuse to stick Kuu and Setsuna into the bathroom. I don’t mind, though. And I must say, I kind of saw it coming eventually, but I didn’t think it would happen so suddenly. Obviously, I’m talking about that quick kiss. Could it be ignorance on behalf of Setsuna since she’s not human? Impossible. She was blushing quite a bit afterward. Again, I don’t mind. Moving on..

Elsewhere, we have a rejuvenated catgirl feeding on the energy of some students at a campus pool. Her human counterpart, the guy with the scar, pulls the students out of the water so they don’t drown. At Mika’s temple, Kaon is strapped down by mechanical restraints and getting hit by a large piston with Mika watching the whole time.

For being part of the bad guys, the scar headed guy, Sojiro, sure seems to be nice enough to pull the victims out of the water. And Mika is like the absolute villain, seeing how she is applying torture-like techniques to raise the endurance of Kaon. Pretty brutal, but also very smart since there’s going to be a showdown towards the end of this series.

Back at the residence, Kyoshiro wants to move Kuu to the academy for safety. He strikes up a plan with Jin as to how to get her there without attracting danger from the area. The plan would be him and Kuu taking an abandoned railway while Setsuna takes the main route and Jin’s forces acting as backup.

From what I can see so far, Kyoshiro’s one of those guys who wants to emulate his brother, who is somewhat hinted to be the red haired guy talking to Kuu at the beginning of the first episode. Anyway, his no fun attitude makes him such a horrible character.

They give Kuu a uniform that matches the academy. Before they set out, Setsuna gives Kyoshiro a bento since he hasn’t eaten yet. Kyoshiro gives her a long stare, making her look sad that she has wasted her efforts in preparing the bento, but in the ends takes the item and also gives her a kiss (to replenish her energy). However, by the looks of Setsuna, it looked like it wasn’t necessary.

As I was watching this scene, I thought Kyoshiro was such an ass, but he redeemed himself, kind of. He didn’t look like he really cared much for the packaged food, but having upset Setsuna, he gives her a kiss to make her feel better. It had nothing to do with replenishing her energy. Well, that’s my interpretation anyway. As for the rest of the episode..

Kyoshiro and Kuu go by horse, and Kuu fantasizes about her and Kyoshiro being together at the academy. Her daydreaming is ended abruptly as catgirl appears identifying the smell of vanilla from Kuu. Setsuna senses the trouble and immediately heads off to help Kyoshiro. Catgirl sends a train car flying at the two. While avoiding it, Kuu slips off the horse, but Kyoshiro catches her, but the weight of them and the horse causes the ground to break from under them and they start falling.

Taking into consideration that this series is only 12 episodes in length, every episode more or less at this point is probably going to end in cliffhangers where it’s one troublesome scenario after another. As for Kuu, she sure falls for Kyoshiro pretty quick. Short series right? Sorry, I have to keep that in mind for all of this to make sense.

So here’s another song I’ve dug out of my archives. Again, this is a song I’ve encountered while listening to internet-broadcasted radio. The song as you can tell is called Strangers from the anime Wolf’s Rain and performed by Raj Ramayya. I never watched Wolf’s Rain, but the moment I heard this song, I had to hear it again. There’s just something about it that makes it somewhat of a timeless song. For me anyway. I guess it has something to do with the brass instrument used for the majority of the song’s instrumental sequence. I’m pretty it’s a trumpet, but I could be wrong.

Anyway, it’s a fabulous song and I’m sure a lot of others can relate. The beginning sequence of the song already seems to pull the listener in. I just like how the song eases itself in and slowly picks up as the snare kicks in. The lyrics are quite catchy, while at the same time, there is a lack of a constant chorus. There is a chorus, but it’s rarely used and is merged with the lyrics in a very subtle way, thus making an enjoyable listen throughout.

It’s just unfortunate that it feels like this song is not readily available. Then again, I’m the kind of person who goes out in search of rarities.

Summary:

Leaving off from episode 10, Haruhi and Kyon head off to check out the residence where Ryoko was staying at before she “transferred.” It turns out that she stayed at the same complex as Yuki, which makes sense since Ryoko was Yuki’s assistant for her alien organization. Haruhi and Kyon get to the apartment room, but find it locked. Talking to the manager, he describes Ryoko as having purchased the apartment with cash three years ago with no signs of any parents. This only fuels Haruhi’s curiosity.

As they exit the building, they bump into Yuki. Haruhi notices Yuki’s glasses had disappeared, but shrugs off the anomaly. At some train tracks, Haruhi reveals that one night at a baseball game, she realized how insignificant she was when compared to the entire population of the world. Also, the things in the world interesting and special could be found elsewhere as well. That was when she wanted to be the one person who wasn’t ordinary. Haruhi heads home as Kyon politely waits for Haruhi to head off before he headed home in the same direction.

As Kyon reached his house, Itsuki appears and calls forth a taxi and tells Kyon he wants to have a discussion about Haruhi. While in the taxi, Itsuki tells him they are going to a place where the conditions are right for him to display his esper powers. Along the way, Itsuki describes he came into awareness of his powers three years ago along with a few others. He then goes into a long explanation of why the universe exists and his theory of how Haruhi can potentially change the world and the likeliness that Haruhi changed the world three years ago.

The two get out of the taxi and are in a city environment. Itsuki has Kyon close his eyes and then pulls him into a world called “closed space” that represents the world but is devoid of people. This spaced is created when Haruhi is mentally unstable. Itsuki directs Kyon’s attention to the distance where a giant humanoid figure, which he later refers to as a Celestial, as tall as a skyscraper, reaping destruction on the city. Itsuki generates a field of energy around him and join his esper friends to battle the giant. They quickly dispose of the giant and the closed space breaks apart.

On the car ride home, Itsuki explains that these giants have to be stopped. If left unchecked, their destruction expands the closed space until it covers the entire world, and eventually that world becomes the new world. As the taxi reaches Kyon’s home, Itsuki tells Kyon to observe Haruhi’s behavior before heading off. Kyon foreshadows that trouble awaits him the next day.

Review:

The tone of this episode is completely different from what it was from the previous episodes. In this episode, there were practically no moments of comic relief and everything was completely serious. It does indeed represent the kind of mood that Haruhi is currently in. Plus, the series is coming to an end and this is where all the fun and games end and the showdown begins. Fortunately, since we already know that there are events that happen after this particular junction in the storyline, there’s nothing to worry about. The only interesting thing left is to find out what happens and how it’s resolved.

As for interesting tidbits, after rewatching the episode, I realized that the taxi driver is none other than the butler from the island murder mystery. Obviously, the mustache gave it away.

This movie teaser is badass. Many people claimed the first movie was horrible, despite the sales at the box office. I can’t say since I haven’t seen the movie, but I’ll just assume it wasn’t Spider-Man good, but probably wasn’t as bad as what I heard about Elektra. So I guess it was at the level of Daredevil and Hulk. Decent. For now though, this second movie looks promising. And Silver Surfer took Human Torch to school. But that’s expected considering the Silver Surfer possesses the Power Cosmic and is practically invincible in comparison to the likes of the Fantastic Four.

Rumors have it that Galactus is slated to make an appearance as well as Doctor Doom. I’m slightly worried as to what Galactus is going to look like. His purple attire with the bucket helmet is just so impractical these days, especially in a live action film.

As for the movie, the Fantastic Four are probably going to find a way to change Silver Surfer’s mind and have him persuade Galactus to spare Earth. Otherwise, Silver Surfer is going to beat the crap out of them because he’s just that damn powerful.

Episode 1 - Blue Invitation

In an old church building, we have a light-blue haired girl with an eye-patch on her left hand, wielding a revolver. She quickly disposes of the strange black swirls appearing out of thin air. Outside, there’s a short-haired girl waiting for her. The gun-slinging girl unloads her empty shells, and the two pull out daggers and engage in fight.

Well, I have no idea what’s going on, but at first sight, the girl with the eye patch kills ghosts and spirits that linger in the world. As for her relation to the other girl, they could be enemies. But, it doesn’t quite seem to be the case as the opening credits begin.

The credits show the two girls at the beginning, along with the supporting cast along with the bad guys. Then we see the eye-patch is covering a different colored eye and the other girl possesses a darker side to her that I believe turns her into a dangerous foe. Why not, right? On first impressions alone, they seem to be friends, if not even friendlier; if you know what I mean.

At a school, we soon find out the short-haired red head is named Sumire. She also has a secret admirer, who has a sister, and the three of them know each other. Though not identified well, the boy is most likely Riku and his sister is Nene. Sumire hurries off in a rush out of the school at the time.

Here we’re introduced to a few more characters who more or less pop in and out of the episodes. It’s all speculation right now for me, but from experience, I’m sure it’s going to be less of them, and more of the two main characters.

Underneath a train overpass, Sumire reaches her destination and apologizes to a person named Ruchia, who we quickly find out is the girl with the eye-patch. Ruchia tells Sumire that they have a client. This client, Risa Toudo, shows them a pamphlet called the Venus Vangard. In it advertises that Ruchia’s services (I’m assuming she runs the show at this mysterious place) can solve all problems. Ruchia explains that only a select few are able to read the wording on the pamphlet.

For some reason, this whole scenario reminds me of the TV drama Angel as people come looking for help against strange and dangerous phenomena. Anyway, from what I can tell, this organization that Ruchia runs is probably referred to as Venus. And it would seem the pamphlet is disguised as a jewelry catalog from what I can tell.

Risa explains that one day she discovered a shadow following her. Risa explains further that since then, her friends have gone missing. Ruchia accepts the case, calling the incident caused by a “Virus,” an evil spirit. They manifest when a human-like existence’s soul has been snatched. Therefore, they hunt for other souls. Only a select few can see the viruses.

At least I don’t have to do much work in guessing where Virus comes from in the title. On one end we have Venus and the other Virus, and hence the title. It’s quite a catchy title too. It’s simple, it’s explanatory, and it’s a quick three word alliteration.

Risa leads the two girls to where she’s seen the virus the most. Risa and Sumire are suddenly attacked by the enemy and left unconscious. Back at their headquarters, Ruchia takes off her eye-patch to find the truth from Risa. She falls to the floor moments later after using her eye.

Here’s where we see what Ruchia’s hiding beneath that eye-patch. It does seem like this theme echoes along the lines of Kakashi’s Sharingan eye and Allen Walker’s Akuma detecting eye, but I guess I can live with that. We are also shown some of the nightmares that Ruchia endures because of her eye.

Later that night, as Sumire is to stand watch over Risa as she sleeps, Sumire falls asleep as well. Then, Risa sits up and the shadow she casts on the bed takes on another form headed towards Sumire. Ruchia stops the advance, and explains that she found out that the virus was inside Risa the whole time. The virus jumps out of the room with Ruchia following suit. The two engage in battle. After a momentary victory by Ruchia, the virus comes back grabbing Sumire as a hostage.

I had a feeling that was going to happen considering the virus healed his wounds during the fight. It wouldn’t make any sense if suddenly he were to be defeated by a single bullet.

Ruchia fires a bullet into Sumire’s head, and suddenly Sumire becomes full of rage and attacks the virus. The old man who indirectly identified himself as Ruchia’s father, but also identified as Rola’s uncle (Rola being another character in the Venus organization), explains that Sumire turns into a living “anti-virus” when she comes into contact with the vaccine that they use to fight viruses. However, this form is dangerous as she becomes uncontrollable and attacks at random. As Sumire grabs Ruchia and is ready to lay in a powerful attack, the trance wears off and she faints.

Watching this whole fight is a winged eye beaming a visual back to a woman in a dungeon. Pretty safe to say she is part of the bad guys. Also, there are three shadows cast on the wall, which means there are two more villains.

After watching this pilot episode, it now makes sense why Sumire appears to have an evil side to her. Because she does! What doesn’t make sense is the very beginning of the episode because under the trance form, Sumire has starred pupils. However, she has regular eyes in the opening sequence. I’m going to guess it’s foreshadowing how this series is going to end.

So this series looks promising enough. Hopefully it doesn’t end in 13 episodes or less. I would like to see a full 26 if not a massive 52. At least the Bleach fillers are over.

Summary:

Kuu writes to her prince explaining the strange events that happened in the last episode. Events such as having her first kiss with Kyoshiro, the beauty of Setsuna, the battle of the mechs, and so forth.

At the medical center, Kyoshiro is patched up. Here we find out he has an older brother that he strives to be similar to. Jin comes in and he and Kyoshiro leave for other matters. In the
meantime, Kuu and Setsuna bathe together. Kuu finds out that Setsuna is not human (not a big surprise). Setsuna refers to herself as an Absolute Angel and the kiss she had with Kyoshiro
was just a method to transfer energy to her.

The two suddenly are attacked by one of the two girls that were at the shrine watching the battle in the previous episode. More specifically, the one who I identified earlier as Chikane
(unfortunately, this character goes by the name of Kaon in this series, so I’ll refer to her as Kaon from now on). Setsuna is no match for Kaon and Kuu is quickly abducted away. It turns out Kaon is also an Absolute Angel.

Kuu awakes on a bed where another girl is finishing up on dressing Kuu since Kuu was abducted in her underwear as she finished her bath with Setsuna. This other girl is Himiko (as predicted). Himiko takes her to see Kaon. Kuu is astonished by Kaon’s beauty. Kuu is shown a film where Kaon explains that a group of people in the past wanted to create super humans, which developed eventually to Absolute Angels; humans who cannot be destroyed. The film shows Kaon destroying a bunch of military war machines by just herself or with her mech. Kaon further explains that Absolute Energy is what powers all of the Absolute Angels’ abilities. This energy is known as Eternal Mana which is the life and knowledge found in humans. And the best way to transfer this energy is through kissing.

After explaining that, Kaon suddenly falls to her hands and knees in pain. Kaon tells Himiko that she’ll be fine, but Himiko won’t accept it and therefore holds up Kaon and kisses her. Kuu is surprised by what she sees while another woman atop a temple is mad at the sight of it. Kuu sees the kiss as both the forbidden type and beautiful at the same time. Setsuna suddenly flies in with an attack.

Elsewhere, we see the cat girl from before with the person who retrieved her in the woods. He kisses her to give her some energy back. As she awakens, she is surprised that he’s kissing her and goes on the attack, but quickly passes out as she doesn’t have enough energy to continue.

Back at the shrine Kuu is at, Kaon and Setsuna summon their mechs and begin to battle. Setsuna still appears undermatched, but she takes advantage that Kaon has to protect Himiko from danger and so opens enough space for Kyoshiro to pop in to grab Kuu and the three run off as quickly as they came in.

Over at the temple where the angered woman was, we find out she is Mika who controls Kaon and Himiko. Kaon is ready to take punishment for having lost Kuu, but Mika instead chooses to punish Himiko leaving Kaon in a very frustrated state.

Kyoshiro explains to Kuu that the two different Absolute Angels who she has encountered are two dangerous factions that are a threat to the world and Kyoshiro needs to defeat them. He asks for Kuu’s strength to help him. Kuu agrees, though she’s not sure about how she can contribute.

Review:

In comparison to the first episode, this episode is a little more down to earth. The first one was just an explosion of introductions to all the elements that we’ll see in the later episodes. As for this one, we’re introduced to the two characters who share a striking resemblance to the two main characters in Kannazuki no Miko. Himiko keeps the same name, and the two have their Yuri moment.

While on the kissing theme, I think it’s just an excuse to show a lot of kissing between characters and raise sexual appeal to the show. Not that I have anything against it though. Not only is there a lot of that going about, the whole bathroom scene was crazy enough. Setsuna battling with Kaon in her underwear is classic, though shortlived. I guess in the manga, she was probably naked.

Though I was hoping for a little more fighting between the characters, I was disappointed that the fights were barely there. However, this anime isn’t exactly about that, from what I’ve seen so far and from what I know about Kannazuki no Miko. The most likely path this series will take is for Kuu to end up with Kyoshiro while the other characters constantly attack Kuu. Setsuna might betray Kyoshiro, while Kaon and Himiko will betray Mika. Setsuna already looks quite evil with the way she squints her eyes when it comes to Kuu and Kyoshiro.