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A young girl with long red hair drifts slowly to the bottom of the ocean, and she points a finger towards the surface. On a small ship there is a team investigating the sudden disappearance of an entire submarine crew. Later a helicopter arrives to drop off a man called Kanzato Ryo. While traveling on plane to visit this man, Kanzato Shin wakes up with a start after having another nightmare. His younger brother, Jun, questions if his dream was about battling monsters again. Shin changes the subject by saying that if they had stayed back at auntie’s place; they would’ve just gotten in the way since she now has a boyfriend. However, this is hardly Jun’s concern. After a while, the plane finally lands and the siblings wait inside the airport in hopes that their elder brother, Ryo, will come to pick them up. In this case, however, it seems very unlikely that he will arrive, so Shin and Jun go out to find something to eat. In the meantime, Ryo contacts another man via phone and informs him of the missing person’s case. He then gets a call from a woman who tells him that she is done with the report on the “Powers”. Next Ryo comes to see the woman and she shows him the body of a high school student who suffered autopsy. With the thought that it had been a high school student who had this illness, the woman asks how Ryo’s brothers are doing. Bluntly, he replies that they are well.
Shin and Jun finally come home, but the lock to the door had changed so they cannot go in. Jun wonders in the backyard and finds that the forest is still there. Shin follows his younger brother to the place, where he reminded of the many things that had happened in the past. Jun mentions their sister, Yuki, who had played with them at this time. He then tells Shin about how Ryo never played with them before, but Shin says that he had but Jun just can’t remember. Meanwhile, Ryo scans through a list of victims when he’s suddenly disturbed by a fellow co-worker, Kataima. On the other line, the man screams and so Ryo knows immediately that something bad has happened. He drives to meet the man and finds that he’s already dead, and the student he was supposed to protect is now gone. Another officer tells Ryo that he cannot connect to the other officers who are protecting the other students, and straight away Ryo gets in his car to find them. Shin and Jun are dining out at a café when Shin tells Jun about how worried he is when he will meet Ryo. He says that because they haven’t seen each other for ten years, he doesn’t know what to say. The conversation is interrupted by a near-by couple who are having an argument. The girl goes to slap the man, but she misses and stalks out the building. Jun then looks at what his brother and drawing and Shin tells him that it’s the monster that he had dreamt of that had killed him.
A little while later, Ryo finds the other officer and interferes a man who is about to eat a girl’s persona. Ryo’s own persona comes out and attacks the man and the man’s persona attacks back. A battle ensues but almost immediately ends when the man gets harmed. He retreats and so Ryo was able to save the girl. Two other officers arrive and Ryo tells them to take care of the other officer while he will take the girl to the hospital. The men demand for an explanation, but Ryo has no time so he just drives off. Shin and Jun walk by an eerie fortune teller on their way back home and just as they pass the fortune teller greets him by saying they have met again. He then goes on to tell Shin that he has already awakened. This occurrence is just another one of Shin’s dream and he wakes up to see Ryo standing before him. Shin and Jun had fallen into slumber at the entrance of their home, and Ryo asks Shin why he couldn’t remember the password to the house or that the key is always hidden under the hat of a gnome. The three enter their home and Jun keeps looking at Ryo, but once they have eye-contact, Jun looks away and walks upstairs to his room. In his bedroom, Shin begins taking out the statues he had packed in his bag. One of them turns out to be the fortune teller from his weird dream. Alone in his own room, Jun takes out a girl’s dress and lays it out neatly on the floor. Shin suddenly comes in and tells Jun that he is going out to the store because school starts tomorrow. Jun warns Shin to knock next time, and Shin thinks it is because his younger brother is finally growing up. On the way downstairs, Shin bumps into Ryo, who says that he wishes to talk to him and Jun. Shin refuses for the moment because he has to go to the store. Ryo is about to enter Jun’s room, but stops when he hears Jun talking to a girl. Shin goes to find the fortune teller he had seen in his dream, but when he gets there, the place is absent. So Shin walks back home but halts in his steps when he hears a man moaning. He draws nearer to the sound and enters a building, where he sees the source. The man drops a bottle of pills and continues screaming in agony while clutching his head. Shin comes closer and asks what is wrong, but then all of a sudden the man’s persona appears. This man is actually the man Ryo had fought earlier and had tried to steal the girl’s persona. When the man’s persona attempts to attack Shin, without warning a transparent blade reveals itself within Shin’s stomach, and Shin’s persona awakens and easily kills the man’s one. The man is stunned, and all he can manage to say is that it was destroyed.
Thoughts: I must admit, for some reason I was really drawn into this anime. The first episode didn’t have much, but I still enjoyed it overall. I think I might continue blogging this since it really appeals to me. The music fits well with the things that are happening and the fact that high school students are being murdered and left “inside-out” is really gruesome, but in a way which I find just plain original. I love anime that involve brutal homicides, a lot of sweet action, characters with awesome traits, fantasy related creatures/happenings, some romance and of course, mystery. I’m really looking forward to the next episode! This anime is so totally worth blogging.
One of Remi's friends wonders aloud why the only photos she had taken during the practice kendo match was of Miyako. Remi answers by saying that everything else was meaningless, and her friend suggests that she introduce Miyako to him. This angers Remi to a great extent. Satori continues denying that she wants to join the kendo club, but as she leaves the room, Kirino and Sayako can see yearning in her eyes. In the meantime, Ishida is playing a video game which he keeps losing at. Yoshikawa sees his failure and so she shows him how to play it properly. Then she says they should have a match, but she's interrupted when Kirino and Sayako enter the office. They show off their list of various nicknames for Satori, but Ishia waves if off and tells them once more that Satori can't join the club. The girls disagree and describe Satori's crave to participate in kendo, but Ishida is hardly convinced. This saddens them and Kirino and Sayako cry as they dash out of the room. Miyako sees this and decides something on her own.
Later Dan asks if Miyako wants to go to the club with him, but she refuses because she has to do cleaning chores. It was a lie so that she could talk to Satori alone. She goes into Satori's homeroom to see her cleaning all by herself, and offers a hand because she had helped her previously. When Satori mentions how much she enjoys kendo, Miyako jumps straight to the point by ordering her to join the club. Satori says no because she still has a lot of studying to do in order to get into a university, but Miyako informs her that if she doesn't join kendo, she will never become any smarter. Miyako then takes Dan, Yuuji and Kirino as examples because their intelligence is very high and top-notch. After exposing the last and best benefits of joining the kendo club, Miyako has Satori completely hooked, thus caught in her web. Hence, Satori signs up for the kendo club and this pleases everyone on the team, especially Kirino and Sayako. Later Ishida tells Kenzaburo that he now has an official kendo club team, but the matters of preparing for a national tournament are suddenly mentioned.
After a while, Ishida tells everyone in the kendo club how happy he is and how much things have changed since it was just him and Kirino. Then Satori enters the room, telling everyone that she has finally convinced her parents to let her join the kendo club, and that Yoshikawa helped her. Dan and Kirino instantly decide to help her study, naturally becoming her tutor. Shortly afterwards, Ishida introduces his students to a new program he had been planning: a training camp. However, Kirino and Satori's motivation plummets once they find out that it will be happening in the kendo club room. But Ishida comforts their depression by telling them that Kenzaburo's club members will be coming to help out. While taking the usual route home, Yuji tells Tamaki that he had been to a training camp before as well. When Tamaki returns home, she tells her father about the training camp. However, her father easily becomes unsettled when she says that Yuji will be there too. Before Tamaki falls asleep, she tells herself that she is glad that she will not be missing her favourite anime series, and dreams of what will take place at the training camp.
Thoughts: Oh, I've missed Bamboo Blade so much, even though it didn't air for only one week. Seriously, Bamboo Blade has got to be one of the best sport anime ever. This episode was truly hilarious, especially since we were able to see more of Kirino and Sayako antics. I wonder why Tamaki's father grew worried because Yuji was going to be at the camp as well? Hopefully we find out in the next episode. And I wonder why he left the Kawazoe kendo club in the first place. Anyway, I'm never really fond of anime that have too many girls in them, but I think my opinion on that had changed ever since I started watching Bamboo Blade.
After three years of being hospitalized, Haruka is finally able to leave. Her father, along with Takayuki and Shinji, wait outside and pick her up. While the car is driving out, Haruka senses someone standing on the rooftop and is certain that that person is her dear friend, Mistuki. Haruka reminds them that Mitsuki will be leaving town soon. Later Takayuki gets a message on his phone from Mitsuki. She tells him that she will keep her promise and asks if she can hold onto the ring a little longer.
Haruka wakes up with a start one morning after having a nightmare about the car accident she experienced long ago. She rushes downstairs to meet Takayuki, who is waiting at the entrance to take her on a date. The pair watch as Akane leaves for swimming club, and Haruka sadly admits that because Akane devotes so much time in helping Haruka study, Akane cannot practice swimming properly. Takayuki denies this and tells Haruka to just believe in her little sister.
Takayuki and Haruka decide to go shopping. Haruka easily gets frightened when she hears the sounds of cars passing by, so Takayuki helps her cross the road. They pass a store where Takayuki has his eyes set on a microwave, but when Haruka questions him about this, he brushes it off and tells them to continue walking. Then the pair visit an aquarium. Instantly, Takayuki remembers the time he and Mitsuki came here, and he grabs Haruka into an embrace. It is now that he tells Haruka how Mitsuki had brought him back to life when he thought life was pointless after losing Haruka.
Next Takayuki takes Haruka back to his apartment. Haruka asks if he likes Mitsuki and he says yes. Haruka agrees that she likes Mitsuki too. Before Takayuki and Haruka can get into an intimate moment, Takayuki's phone rings. It is his boss asking him to come to work early, so he does so. Haruka is saddened by this because Takayuki had to be with her all day, and now he has to go to work. Takayuki says that he's doing this for her and that she shouldn't worry.
Several days go by and the couple go on several dates, one including the amusement park. Takayuki tells Haruka that he has brought tickets for them to take a specific train, so then the two go on the train and stop at the place where they had their very first date. Then he takes out a meat pie he had cooked especially for her, and Haruka realises that that was why he kept looking at the microwave in the store. Haruka tastes the pie and compliments it by saying it is very delicious. Takayuki is very happy because he had difficulties cooking it.
Takayuki and Haruka hold hands before getting on the train, but as Takayuki steps in through the doors Haruka lets go. She suggests that it is time they say good-bye and before Takayuki even gets the chance to answer, the train drives off.
Thoughts: This episode was very decent, but I expected more drama. I also wanted to know what happened between Takayuki and Mitsuki, although that might have to wait for the next episode, which will be airing in February. This episode ran smoothly, and I think the pictures may be different from season 1. Takayuki is basically suffocating Haruka by devoting himself too much into spending time with her, and I think she knows this too, and is probably why she dumped him. I mean, I think he's doing all of this out of guilt.