Past the Midpoint (updated)

So, before I disappear into my RIFT-imposed exile from blogging tonight (it’s Head Start for those who pre-bought) I thought I’d post a quick update on what I’m thinking of the season.

Fractale: Still the winner, but I’m annoyed with all the skipped weeks, so it’s holding position by a hair — mainly because I don’t know where it’s going. I’m hoping that’s not a bad sign. The final score for both it and Madoka will both be made or broken by their endings.

Madoka: After the last few episodes, I’m just about convinced that Kyubey is the bad guy. If he’s not, he’s the most clueless “good” guy ever. Or perhaps the concept of good and bad don’t apply to him; he’s just a semi-random force that appears on the side we think of as good, and the mannerisms/appearance/actions that we interpret as “good” are simply things he’s learned to do over the years to obtain the willing cooperation of the puella magi. This is a deep enough show that it’s entirely possible.

Gosick: After several mediocre mysteries in a row, they’re on to the one surrounding Victorique’s origin, and it’s a humdinger. Creepy village leader is creepy, especially when foreseeing the future. Interesting thing is that he seems to be fortelling that they’ll be separated by WWII.

Koreha wa Zombie: It’s still a bloody horror flick, and I never thought I’d see the show that would make me cheer for a crossdressing guy brutally and repeatedly murdering a cute defenseless girl. Well, mostly defenseless; she made a bloody mess out of him first. After that episode, they decided to turn up the quirky comedy and introduce a new haremette. It made the episode seem kind of scattered, but it needed to unwind and let some hair down after two heavy episodes. And boy, did Sera let her hair down in that costume, hubba, hubba! It really wasn’t on-screen long enough.

Freezing: I can’t believe I’m getting tired of the tits. Or maybe it’s just that whenever they show, the girl in question is getting the crap kicked out of her. Next episode looks like an anime original…a pandora beauty contest? Oh, God, it’s starting to smell like Ikkitousen in here. Just don’t get any on me!

Dragon Crisis: It’s mediocrity is beginning to show. Odd Eye was cute, but her story arc was so sub-par as to put it on the bubble. Wait… did I say “beginning to show?” How sloppy.

Infinite Stratos: Oh, of course Ichika picks “Charles” for his partner in the 2v2 tourney, to stop all the (overt) women from begging to pair up with him to make war (and a little love on the side, no doubt). Meanwhile Houki gets partnered with, who else, Laura the club founder, president, and sole member of the “IH8ICHIKA Club.” At least we found out a little bit about why Houki is such a touchy/cold bitch at times; she’s just beginning to realize that she has issues thanks to her sister. After that worthy announced the creation of the IS cores, they had to move repeatedly, as the government put them into hiding — and Houki took it out on everyone around her. Apparently she’ll succeed in bringing Laura around, since I went back and re-watched the opening fight, in which Laura is clearly taking direction from Ichika without hesitation. I finally realized that it wasn’t a 2v2 battle, but a 5-on-1 in which Ichika and the entire harem is taking on another IS, possibly also robotic. Judging from their tension, it may be a real battle. Unfortunately, I jumped ahead in the translation (Baka-Tsukai has part of Vol. 7) and it’s jut more of the same. Charles/Charli may now be public as a female but is still his rommie. Ichika is being so dense it’s GOT to be on purpose, or someone removed his testicles. (My guess: Houki has them in a jar beside her bed.) Then there’s the mystery IS attacking an American base and stealing one of their 3rd gen models. Based on my reading, I was wrong — it’s a mecha show with harem elements, not the other way around, at least in the original form.

Index II: Well, it’s concentrating on Last Order, and Accelerator, who are big parts of the story. Mikoto, Mikasa 10032, Index, and Touma have had some light-hearted moments, but we’re now in the deep, dark parts, and it’s going to stay there for a few episodes, as the attention will soon center on Touma again. Especially given that the Pope has signed a fatwa for his assassination. Despite that, there is still going to be a lot of Accelerator, Index, Last Order, and Mikasa… and one other character returning from the past….

Update: Puella Magi Madoka ep; #8. Oh. My. God. What we have here is an f’ing EPIC. And it looks like one of Steven’s theories was right….