Goyshusho-sama may be trying to develop a plot after all. It’s doing it in fits and starts, and I don’t know whether to believe it or not after that last head fake. Moreover, I don’t know if I should consider believing it… we’ve already developed two women with odd characteristics (one a succubus, the other has MPD), and then promptly forgotten both traits. Now we’re throwing in two more people with odd abilities, strong hints that another girl might be a succubus, a strange fellow with incubus-like powers that may be appearing in the flashbacks (and is also in class B) — he’s got an interest in Mayu, whose fear doesn’t trip around him.
Is it nonsense, or clues? I just cant figure out if some of the strange things we’ve seen happen are indications of super-powers, or if they’re all supposed to be covered by the SEP field. Nor can I tell if the manga-ka was lousy with his continuity, or if this is an incredibly deeply-laid set of clues meant to look like silliness and fanservice. My money is on a lousy manga-ka; the audience isn’t supposed to be as confused as I am at this point. If there are Mysteries about, it should be clear that they exist, and aren’t just confusion caused by inconsistent gags. If there are super-powers in this show, then nearly everybody at the school is unusual (at least all the major characters). Why do all the girls like to tease Shungo, even tie him up? Why do the guys not mind all the attention he gets? Why does the hotel have the master breaker switch for the entire wing in an open hallway? Wait, now we’re really getting stupid.
Shungo, upon witnessing two of his classmates desperately attempting to ascend a sheer cliff (“we have transcended human abilities!”) by jumping from one falling rock to another: “That’s bullshit.” Why were they trying to climb the cliff? To view the girls bathing, of course. Class field trip time.
Question: If Reika is so rich, why is she passing time playing crappy old video games from the early 80’s? Evaluating a “nostalgia release” for Houjou Electronics, maybe? Sigh, even the omake was relatively disappointing this time.
Then there’s Shana II. My memory was playing tricks on me about the character known as Outlaw. Yuri, is as doomed as he initially appeared to be. He plays the hero, but in the end, he buys the farm saving Marjorie.
The part that surprised me is that Yuri was not stupid or inexperienced, which is what I expected. He was brave, smart, and he did push past his limits, but that wasn’t it. No, the answer was much less clichéd and more painful. Yuri destroys Annaberg while Marjorie faces off with Sydonay. Both Marjorie and Sydonay have been badly wounded in the earlier fighting, but Marjorie worse, so Yuri goes to help. If Marjorie attacks at the same time, they may take Sydonay down, but he still might kill one of them…and she can’t die until she has her revenge on Silver Knight. She holds back until too late; Sydonay kills Yuri and escapes. Tanaka thinks Marjorie is the greatest, but Satou, having received this story in response to his request for training, understands her real message: “You do not want to follow me into battle, because if it’s a choice between you or my revenge, I will let you die.” I’m foreseeing some bad things there.
Aside: The writer surprises me at times; his teen angst stuff is total crap, but the other parts of the story are done very well. If he’d just learn to ditch the angst, these would be top-notch stories; I have to assume (due to the sheer amount of “romangst” out there) that it’s a distortion forced by pandering to the Japanese market. Would Misaki Chronicles have been more popular in Japan if it included a bunch of romance & angst? Maybe. Would it have been improved? Hell, no.
Meanwhile, Yuiiji succeeds in casting a fuzetsu for the first time….and much to Shana and Alastor’s shock, it is silver in color. Cue dramatic fanfare.
I was on the verge of saying “You know, this might not be a bad series if you just skip episodes 4, 5, 6, and 7…. then I saw the preview. Back to schoolgirl follies. Groan. On the bright side, it will have Chigusa, and there’s a hint that Yuiiji’s dad might be about to show up!
