Shikabane Hime and Sailor Moon and Madoka Magica are seriously spoiling me for girl fighting anime.
► FARMVILLE:
THAT'S RIGHT. MORE PICSPAM OF MY FARM. :D :D :D
I have had the worst time keeping my giftbox under control because of the goddamned English Countryside that hasn't hit yet. I've been trying to keep stocked on Special Deliveries and the usual Boards/Bricks/Nails, but also I've kept a bunch of horses and chicken and sheep in my giftbox because I'll want them to go onto the English Countryside. You can't move things from one farm to the other, I've heard? Which means I have to leave them in the giftbox. Okay, this should be doable, right? I have 500 spaces to work with, I can do this! Except, I have 70 Fertilize All, I have about 30 Farmhands, I have about 40 Arborists, and I want to try to aim for 150 Special Deliveries. That's nearly 200 items right there. Okay, I still have over half the space to go.
Then I started collecting some cute knicknacks to go over there, like the fruit crates or the stone archways, that takes up another 30 to 40 items. I have probably close to 30 chickens (because of the clover chickens especially) and probably around 15 sheep and 20 foals and 10 cows. That's another 80 items right there. I collect about 70 to 100 watering cans a day, but those are easy to drop onto my seedlings and grow them right away. Any gold pieces (not that I collect them anymore, but if you exchange crafting goods made with green roses, you automatically get them) can be immediately put into the pot of gold. I have nearly 30 building items, 10 shovels, 10 cats, 20 ducklings, and on and on it goes.
It's getting really frustratingly hard to keep things down! And the final item of the spring collection is a green patch cow! HOSHIT, I AM SO GRABBING TEN OF THOSE, which is only going to make my life harder, re: the giftbox.
However! Some good things happened!
You know what that is? THAT IS A FUCKING RAINBOW CHICKEN. I TOTALLY SHRIEKED WHEN I GOT IT. I am kind of tempted to leave it out on my farm (instead of in my chicken coop) because it's so fucking cute. If I'd been thinking, I would have posed it next to the giant rainbow trees.
SPEAKING OF CHICKENS. It is driving me a little nuts that none of the other chickens ever seem to come around. I used to see some candy cane eggs, but even those seem to have disappeared all together. And there are several chickens that I have never seen once. I gather that a lot of them are limited edition chickens (like the Super Chicken was only available during Halloween last year and the Silkie Chicken was for Thanksgiving last year) and that's just. asdl;fkjaslkj ARGH FRUSTRATION. It's like the game is taunting me! Not just on chickens, but some of the ponies, too. I mean, how goddamned badly do I want a candy corn pony or the foal? THEY ARE SO FUCKING CUTE:
SPEAKING OF HORSIES, TWO OF MY PRIDE AND JOY:
I don't have nearly as many colorful horses as I would like, but I do have a knight foal and a black cherry foal and I love them soooo much omg. The knight foal is especially adorable for the fairy tale theme and BY GOD I WILL USE IT IN A FAIRY TALE CORNER SOMEDAY. Also, I love the black cherry foal, it is my baby.
Not that those were new, but I'd never flailed over them. What was new this morning was FUCK YES A TREE I HAVE BEEN TRYING FOR FOR WHAT FEELS LIKE AGES. A GIANT BLACK CHERRY TREE:
It might not be that exciting to other people, but I almost never see those trees floating around and I had never gotten one from a mystery seedling before! I have a bunch of the other purple trees (the golden plum, both the giant and regular heart candy trees) but never a black cherry one! I AM GOING TO LEAVE IT THERE FOR AWHILE AND ADMIRE IT. (Ignore the monkeying around with the platform there, I'm going for a sort of tunnel/trellis look and I"m not sure if I like it yet.)
► ANIME:
→ Sailor Moon Super 110-116: Boy, I am going to have a lot to say about these episodes! It's the mid-point in the storyline (which means a lot of things get shaken up, the overall arc gets moved forward a lot) and then there was an episode that focused on Mamoru a lot. I am going to talk a lot. :D SPOILERS for everything in there, of course.
I hardly even know where to start with all this! So, I'm going to take it episode by episode again.
Episode 110-112:
» The hands scene in this episode is just as romantic as I remember. ♥ Haruka thinking her hands are stained with all that she's done, but Michiru likes her hands and they gently touch each other. For a series that was aimed at young girls, that was almost a little intense there.
» The whole episode was really intense! Michiru going across the bridge! Haruka and Michiru both screaming each others' names! I am totally a sucker for ships that go through that kind of battle for each other, each wanting so desperately to protect the other. (I think this is why Usagi/Mamoru hits a big kink of mine as well--they both are willing to put their life on the line for the other, without a single thought of hesitation.)
» I think I really knew I loved Haruka forever and ever when (and you knew she'd do it, that only made the inevitableness of her actions all the more painful) she pointed Eudial's gun at her own chest and pulled the trigger to pull out her heart crysal to get the talisman.
» Setsuna showing up was still really badass, especially the triangle between the three talismans to separate out their heart crystals from the weapons and now they can actually use them. It did make me wonder a little about how much she knew, how much the timeline was written in stone. She seemed to know that this was going to be a huge battle for Michiru and Haruka--but how much of that was because it had already happened for her OR because she simply knew it was inevitable, given that they were the holders of the talismans?
» In a lot of ways, Super is reminding me of Classic, one of which was the search for the Messiah (like the search for the Princess in Classic) but I like that the flash of the Messiah when Haruka talks is much more vague than the image of Mamoru's dream of the Princess. This time it's believable that Sailor Moon might not be the Messiah because it's not the same obvious twin trails of hair and she gets super tired out using the holy grail, which they say the Messiah wouldn't.
» Continuing with that comparison... I have to confess, I have had vague thoughts about how Haruka and Mamoru are not entirely dissimiliar in a lot of ways. (Which may explain why Haruka/Usagi pings on me just a tiny bit.)
» Mimette cutting Eudial's breaks to kill her was kind of hardcore, I have to say.
Episode 113 -> 114:
» One of the most interesting parts of these two episodes was Setsuna calling Mamoru out (whom she first addresses as Mamoru-san, but then changes to Endymion-sama) to talk with him about the Outers' role and Haruka explains why they won't be joining Sailor Moon-tachi. It's a bit of an odd scene, I'm not quite sure of the purpose? It's nothing we didn't basically already know (just confirmation that the Outers have stronger powers than the Inners), so why bring Mamoru out there? I'm not complaining, I think it makes sense, especially given how he's been in their position before (not that they'd know that?) but I'm wondering that's what the anime was trying to say. That he's sort of been where they are before?
» Posessed!Hotaru is creepy as all get out, omg.
» Wait, so Kaolinite is still alive? What?
» Usagi thinks that Kaori looks just like her (Kaolinite) but acts differently... yet doesn't notice her name??? orz ....okay, whatever. I don't care, it gives me my Tomoe/Kaolinite ship anyway. I know I shouldn't, she's a total witch to Hotaru because she's jealous, but the shipper heart wants what it wants.
» No, seriously, I love how completely over the top BATSHIT Tomoe is. :D
Episode 115:
» I found it interesting that Setsuna refers to Chibi-Usa as "Small Lady" without any honorifics on it.
» This episode had another scene with Haruka, Michiru, and Setsuna saying that they had to find the Messiah, especially before the Death Busters found the Messiah of Silence and it made me wonder... shouldn't Setsuna know who the Messiah is already? On the other hand, it was a recent-ish episode where Setsuna was talking with the Inners about a few things, but left before she answered all their questions. They mentioned that she probably had her reasons for not explaining everything, implying that they understood that she could only tell them so much or it would put the timeline in jeopardy. Maybe it's the same with the Outers when they're looking for the Messiah and she's there to help? She can only explain/do so much, otherwise the timeline would go all askew.
» Setsuna never really quite says that she needs to find out who the Messiah is, just that, to prevent the silence, we have to make sure the holy grail lands in the hands of the holy messiah at any cost.
» I get why Setsuna came back to the past, because Haruka and Michiru were about to face Eudial and have their heart crystals taken out to get at the talismans inside and Setsuna needed to be there to separate the two out and put the holy grail together. But... why is she staying in the past, then? I suppose it doesn't matter, the holy grail has been created anyway, so it's not like taking her talisman back to the future would keep the grail out of enemy hands.
» When Haruka is driving Hotaru and Chibi-Usa home, she has an electric moment of recognition even before Mimette's Daimon is pulled out of the box. Is she reacting to Mimette? To the Daimon even inside the box? The situation in general? The Outers seem to have some sort of psychic ability, Michiru has often said that the seas are stormy today, meaning there's a Daimon about to come. They both had the dream about each other (thus recognizing each other instantly) and they both had the same dream about the Silence approaching. They also often sense Pharaoh 90 whenever it starts to rise up in Hotaru a bit. They both had a premonition before the big fight with Eudial, too. So it's not like it's not there, just... I wish the anime had been better about explaining certain powers.
» I liked that Haruka didn't fully explain what she saw Hotaru do to the Daimon, it makes sense that she would only give a vague warning (which was for Chibi-Usa to stay away from her, because Haruka promised to try to not hurt her), rather than the anime just having a character be vague for no reason.
Episode 116:
» This was just a silly episode, I know! But it got me thinking. orz
» Mamoru picking out a super cute backpack for Chibi-Usa! My heart! Helping her put the straps on! So cute!!
» I know the anime staff didn't put nearly the amount of thought into this episode that I'm doing, but the scene where Usagi growls at the scene after Chibi-Usa gets the cute new backpack, why is Chibi-Usa getting all the stuff!? Mamoru says he can't help it, Chibi-Usa is the one going to a picnic. Luna agrees that this makes sense, so Usagi naturally squeezes the hell out of her, and Chibi-Usa says not to take it out on Luna, and Mamoru says (a bit playfully, actually) that's right~. (That she shouldn't take it out on Luna.)
» It made me wonder why Mamoru wasn't more doting on Usagi sometimes... and then I thought, well, Usagi is Chibi-Usa's mother... but she doesn't really act like it... and I think Mamoru is much, much more aware that they're her parents, so maybe he doesn't dote on Usagi's childish antics as much because he's thinking of their future. He hasn't really doted much since Chibi-Usa showed up, has he? Not that it's that simple, of course, because he loves Usagi for who she is and her enthusiasm for everything, just being near her makes him feel alive, but I think that situation could very well be weighing on him and affecting his behavior.
» The way the scene plays out makes me think that as well--he's genuinely amused when they both want to go on a picnick with him. Where they're saying, "Me, too! Me, too!" rather than, "No! Just me!", he seems to react much better--to the point that when Hotaru watches them, she thinks of her own happy childhood memories, of a mother and father playing happily with their baby girl. Which makes me think Mamoru enjoys the enthusiasm, but it's the fighting they usually do that frustrates him.
» OH MAN. When Hotaru runs away from Chibi-Usa (because she only hurts the people she cares about, that other personality inside her taking over sometimes), Mamoru and Usagi watch a little ways behind. As she runs off, Mamoru says, "That girl.... She must have some big reason behind all this...." Wh-what...? Is... is that continuity from R I just saw? I mean, certainly, if anyone is going to understand pushing away the people you care about for their own good, it's Chiba Mamoru. And I think that one might have been deliberate, even!
» They go to the park and Mamoru takes pictures of the three girls playing around--a cute Chibi-Usa picture, a beautiful picture of Hotaru with flowers, and... Usagi falling flat on her face. And Mamoru takes a picture of that. I know Usagi tripped suddenly, but I totally think Mamoru did that on purpose. I love it when he's kind of a dick. ♥
» The picnic inside the greenhouse! Where they're all eating and Usagi notices that Chibi-Usa isn't eating her bellpeppers! W-well, Mamo-chan isn't eating them either! I totally fucking cooed. Especially when Usagi bullied both of them into eating their bellpeppers and OMG FATHER AND DAUGHTER UGH GROSS FACES! I hope Neo-Queen Serenity had to deal with a million of those. ♥__&Hearts; Also, it's nice to see little touches of Mamoru in Chibi-Usa, since she's so like Usagi in so many other ways.
» I really like to think that they were playing up a lot of that scene for Hotaru, who really was quiet and tense the whole time, who probably really needed some bright, cheerful, silly people around her. ♥
» I laughed really hard when Mimette spotted Mamoru instead of the older research guy, because I had been waiting for that! No way was guy-crazy Mimette going to just walk by someone as good-looking as Mamoru! And then they gave me a delightful scene. With Mimette literally ELBOWING USAGI IN THE FACE to push her out of the way when talking to Mamoru! And are those two your sisters? No, they're my future wife and daughter! a;sldkfja;lksl;kj I laughed so hard.
» This episode also had the return of the almost completely ineffective Pink Sugar Heart Attack from Chibi-Usa. I laugh every time.
→ Shikabane Hime Kuro 04-07 (16-19): I've still got five or six more episodes to go, so these episodes are still moving things along, but we're not at the ultimate climax of the arc yet. Still, loads of SPOILERS here.
Picking the series back up, it finished off the two-episode arc with Itsuki and Takamasa's background and their tragedy, which was paralleled against Ouri's feelings for Makina. I still can't blame Ouri for his feelings, especially considering how little anyone really tells him about the inner workings of the Kougonshuu or the Shikabane Hime, beyond just telling him it's impossible to love a Shikabane Hime, but I think this was at least a decent-sized bucket of ice water to the face for Ouri. Seeing how much Itsuki and Takamasa clearly loved each other, even to this day, even after everything they'd been through, and why it could just never work out, had to be somewhat eye-opening to Ouri.
I like the way it was handled, I was surprised at how much the Takamasa/Itsuki storyline stood on its own (rather than just being a vehicle for Ouri's story--as much as he's a blank, uncharismatic character at times, I think the series does well at establishing everything around him and letting those stories stand fairly well on their own, even if they are centered around him/being told as a parallel to his situation) and how heartbreaking it was. I ship it like crazy, but I don't think I could entirely wish it on them, because a relationship would just make things harder, messier, and more heartbreaking in the end.
But what really kills me? Itsuki's regret is that she never did anything. She gets this second chance, she could be out there doing things, even if she is dead, but... she falls in love and it can never happen. So she just has to sit back and not do anything again.
After what happened, though, I don't think they could go through with it anymore. Not after she was hit with several cars (jesus, show, way to be extra brutal) by Tomoharu controlling them and it ripped her apart enough that she transformed a bit, showing just why Shikabane Hime are abnormal, that they're not human anymore, not even when they still think and feel and (most of the time) behave like a human. I think the Kougonshuu isn't right in the way it treats these girls, but... I can see how the rules came about in the first place and why they're necessary. These are corpses, these are girls who are defying the natural laws of life and death, these are girls with the potential to curse and kill and harm. They're still human, they're still feeling, but they are still dead. And I think the show has done a really excellent job of showing that without condemning them. It's done a really excellent job of showing the dark side of the Kougonshuu, even!
Some things are also finally starting to get explained, even a little bit. Tomoharu said that he and Itsuki were the same, that made him a Shikabane Hime as well--no, a Shikabane Ouji! Which I'd always wondered why there weren't any Shikabane Ouji. In the episode after that (Kuro 05/ep 17), one of the priests said that only girls of a certain age could become Shikabane Hime, because that's the only spell the Kougonshuu knew. Which sort of implies that it's theoretically possible for other types to become Shikabane Hime/Ouji, but they don't know how to do it? Or maybe that's what they tell the lower-ranked members of the Kougonshuu to keep them from wondering? I'm not sure how much to really pay attention to that plot point.
The next couple of episodes got really brutal again. Not that the show really stopped, but it was sort of extra painful because Ena impersonated Keisei to go after Makina. And she knew the whole time, that it wasn't really Keisei, that he'd definitely gone to heaven, but she still couldn't fight back because it was Keisei's face. My heart just breaks for Makina and how much she really loves him. Ouri won a lot of points for me in this arc because he was really trying to do the right thing, he believed that Makina should keep Keisei's Rune, even knowing that it would hurt him and put both of them in danger, because that's what Makina wanted. And because, that way, the three of them (Ouri, Makina, and Keisei) would defeat the Shichisei together!
But also because Ouri said that he would fight Ena (while still appearing as Keisei) because he already had to live with the memory of stabbing his brother, nobody else should have to live with that pain! It already make him want to vomit every time he remembers that night, so he was trying to protect Makina and Sadahiro here.
I'm still pretty much where I was before with Ouri's character--I'm often on the fence, but every time he loses points with me, he gains them back, and I'm never going to think that he's the most interesting character, but I enjoy his connection with his brother and want to know what's going on with him, re: the plot. Especially the teasing bit in Kuro 07/ep 19 where he's called a "Shikabane's son", which made my brain immediately explode with... was he a normal human's son, but his father died, turning into a Shikabane and that's why he was wandering around lost until the age of three? Or was he the product of a Shikabane after they died? Or was his mother the Shikabane? Was she turned while she was pregnant? Is it that he saw a lot of death when he was a kid or was he born from death?
Nozomi's story was pretty heartbreaking all along the way, too. She was so desperate for something and so fascinated with death, but in reality she wanted to live (and I'm not sure why she wanted to be with Ouri so badly, when it seemed like she was first attracted to Makina, but, whatever, I just roll along with Ouri being the center of the story here), so of course she died. ;__;
The entire amusement park story was heartbreaking, too. The little girl inside the adult-sized costume, the story of her one day at the amusement park to get anything she wanted, the family suicide that she didn't even know she was a part of, jesus.
Stray observations:
→ I couldn't not screencap this moment from Kuro 06/ep 18 because it made me laugh super hard:
Whatever. I know my mind is in the gutter. I'm at peace with myself.
→ Also from Kuro 06/ep 18, just because it's super pretty and Makina is hardcore:
THAT'S RIGHT. MORE PICSPAM OF MY FARM. :D :D :D
I have had the worst time keeping my giftbox under control because of the goddamned English Countryside that hasn't hit yet. I've been trying to keep stocked on Special Deliveries and the usual Boards/Bricks/Nails, but also I've kept a bunch of horses and chicken and sheep in my giftbox because I'll want them to go onto the English Countryside. You can't move things from one farm to the other, I've heard? Which means I have to leave them in the giftbox. Okay, this should be doable, right? I have 500 spaces to work with, I can do this! Except, I have 70 Fertilize All, I have about 30 Farmhands, I have about 40 Arborists, and I want to try to aim for 150 Special Deliveries. That's nearly 200 items right there. Okay, I still have over half the space to go.
Then I started collecting some cute knicknacks to go over there, like the fruit crates or the stone archways, that takes up another 30 to 40 items. I have probably close to 30 chickens (because of the clover chickens especially) and probably around 15 sheep and 20 foals and 10 cows. That's another 80 items right there. I collect about 70 to 100 watering cans a day, but those are easy to drop onto my seedlings and grow them right away. Any gold pieces (not that I collect them anymore, but if you exchange crafting goods made with green roses, you automatically get them) can be immediately put into the pot of gold. I have nearly 30 building items, 10 shovels, 10 cats, 20 ducklings, and on and on it goes.
It's getting really frustratingly hard to keep things down! And the final item of the spring collection is a green patch cow! HOSHIT, I AM SO GRABBING TEN OF THOSE, which is only going to make my life harder, re: the giftbox.
However! Some good things happened!
You know what that is? THAT IS A FUCKING RAINBOW CHICKEN. I TOTALLY SHRIEKED WHEN I GOT IT. I am kind of tempted to leave it out on my farm (instead of in my chicken coop) because it's so fucking cute. If I'd been thinking, I would have posed it next to the giant rainbow trees.
SPEAKING OF CHICKENS. It is driving me a little nuts that none of the other chickens ever seem to come around. I used to see some candy cane eggs, but even those seem to have disappeared all together. And there are several chickens that I have never seen once. I gather that a lot of them are limited edition chickens (like the Super Chicken was only available during Halloween last year and the Silkie Chicken was for Thanksgiving last year) and that's just. asdl;fkjaslkj ARGH FRUSTRATION. It's like the game is taunting me! Not just on chickens, but some of the ponies, too. I mean, how goddamned badly do I want a candy corn pony or the foal? THEY ARE SO FUCKING CUTE:
SPEAKING OF HORSIES, TWO OF MY PRIDE AND JOY:
I don't have nearly as many colorful horses as I would like, but I do have a knight foal and a black cherry foal and I love them soooo much omg. The knight foal is especially adorable for the fairy tale theme and BY GOD I WILL USE IT IN A FAIRY TALE CORNER SOMEDAY. Also, I love the black cherry foal, it is my baby.
Not that those were new, but I'd never flailed over them. What was new this morning was FUCK YES A TREE I HAVE BEEN TRYING FOR FOR WHAT FEELS LIKE AGES. A GIANT BLACK CHERRY TREE:
It might not be that exciting to other people, but I almost never see those trees floating around and I had never gotten one from a mystery seedling before! I have a bunch of the other purple trees (the golden plum, both the giant and regular heart candy trees) but never a black cherry one! I AM GOING TO LEAVE IT THERE FOR AWHILE AND ADMIRE IT. (Ignore the monkeying around with the platform there, I'm going for a sort of tunnel/trellis look and I"m not sure if I like it yet.)
► ANIME:
→ Sailor Moon Super 110-116: Boy, I am going to have a lot to say about these episodes! It's the mid-point in the storyline (which means a lot of things get shaken up, the overall arc gets moved forward a lot) and then there was an episode that focused on Mamoru a lot. I am going to talk a lot. :D SPOILERS for everything in there, of course.
I hardly even know where to start with all this! So, I'm going to take it episode by episode again.
Episode 110-112:
» The hands scene in this episode is just as romantic as I remember. ♥ Haruka thinking her hands are stained with all that she's done, but Michiru likes her hands and they gently touch each other. For a series that was aimed at young girls, that was almost a little intense there.
» The whole episode was really intense! Michiru going across the bridge! Haruka and Michiru both screaming each others' names! I am totally a sucker for ships that go through that kind of battle for each other, each wanting so desperately to protect the other. (I think this is why Usagi/Mamoru hits a big kink of mine as well--they both are willing to put their life on the line for the other, without a single thought of hesitation.)
» I think I really knew I loved Haruka forever and ever when (and you knew she'd do it, that only made the inevitableness of her actions all the more painful) she pointed Eudial's gun at her own chest and pulled the trigger to pull out her heart crysal to get the talisman.
» Setsuna showing up was still really badass, especially the triangle between the three talismans to separate out their heart crystals from the weapons and now they can actually use them. It did make me wonder a little about how much she knew, how much the timeline was written in stone. She seemed to know that this was going to be a huge battle for Michiru and Haruka--but how much of that was because it had already happened for her OR because she simply knew it was inevitable, given that they were the holders of the talismans?
» In a lot of ways, Super is reminding me of Classic, one of which was the search for the Messiah (like the search for the Princess in Classic) but I like that the flash of the Messiah when Haruka talks is much more vague than the image of Mamoru's dream of the Princess. This time it's believable that Sailor Moon might not be the Messiah because it's not the same obvious twin trails of hair and she gets super tired out using the holy grail, which they say the Messiah wouldn't.
» Continuing with that comparison... I have to confess, I have had vague thoughts about how Haruka and Mamoru are not entirely dissimiliar in a lot of ways. (Which may explain why Haruka/Usagi pings on me just a tiny bit.)
» Mimette cutting Eudial's breaks to kill her was kind of hardcore, I have to say.
Episode 113 -> 114:
» One of the most interesting parts of these two episodes was Setsuna calling Mamoru out (whom she first addresses as Mamoru-san, but then changes to Endymion-sama) to talk with him about the Outers' role and Haruka explains why they won't be joining Sailor Moon-tachi. It's a bit of an odd scene, I'm not quite sure of the purpose? It's nothing we didn't basically already know (just confirmation that the Outers have stronger powers than the Inners), so why bring Mamoru out there? I'm not complaining, I think it makes sense, especially given how he's been in their position before (not that they'd know that?) but I'm wondering that's what the anime was trying to say. That he's sort of been where they are before?
» Posessed!Hotaru is creepy as all get out, omg.
» Wait, so Kaolinite is still alive? What?
» Usagi thinks that Kaori looks just like her (Kaolinite) but acts differently... yet doesn't notice her name??? orz ....okay, whatever. I don't care, it gives me my Tomoe/Kaolinite ship anyway. I know I shouldn't, she's a total witch to Hotaru because she's jealous, but the shipper heart wants what it wants.
» No, seriously, I love how completely over the top BATSHIT Tomoe is. :D
Episode 115:
» I found it interesting that Setsuna refers to Chibi-Usa as "Small Lady" without any honorifics on it.
» This episode had another scene with Haruka, Michiru, and Setsuna saying that they had to find the Messiah, especially before the Death Busters found the Messiah of Silence and it made me wonder... shouldn't Setsuna know who the Messiah is already? On the other hand, it was a recent-ish episode where Setsuna was talking with the Inners about a few things, but left before she answered all their questions. They mentioned that she probably had her reasons for not explaining everything, implying that they understood that she could only tell them so much or it would put the timeline in jeopardy. Maybe it's the same with the Outers when they're looking for the Messiah and she's there to help? She can only explain/do so much, otherwise the timeline would go all askew.
» Setsuna never really quite says that she needs to find out who the Messiah is, just that, to prevent the silence, we have to make sure the holy grail lands in the hands of the holy messiah at any cost.
» I get why Setsuna came back to the past, because Haruka and Michiru were about to face Eudial and have their heart crystals taken out to get at the talismans inside and Setsuna needed to be there to separate the two out and put the holy grail together. But... why is she staying in the past, then? I suppose it doesn't matter, the holy grail has been created anyway, so it's not like taking her talisman back to the future would keep the grail out of enemy hands.
» When Haruka is driving Hotaru and Chibi-Usa home, she has an electric moment of recognition even before Mimette's Daimon is pulled out of the box. Is she reacting to Mimette? To the Daimon even inside the box? The situation in general? The Outers seem to have some sort of psychic ability, Michiru has often said that the seas are stormy today, meaning there's a Daimon about to come. They both had the dream about each other (thus recognizing each other instantly) and they both had the same dream about the Silence approaching. They also often sense Pharaoh 90 whenever it starts to rise up in Hotaru a bit. They both had a premonition before the big fight with Eudial, too. So it's not like it's not there, just... I wish the anime had been better about explaining certain powers.
» I liked that Haruka didn't fully explain what she saw Hotaru do to the Daimon, it makes sense that she would only give a vague warning (which was for Chibi-Usa to stay away from her, because Haruka promised to try to not hurt her), rather than the anime just having a character be vague for no reason.
Episode 116:
» This was just a silly episode, I know! But it got me thinking. orz
» Mamoru picking out a super cute backpack for Chibi-Usa! My heart! Helping her put the straps on! So cute!!
» I know the anime staff didn't put nearly the amount of thought into this episode that I'm doing, but the scene where Usagi growls at the scene after Chibi-Usa gets the cute new backpack, why is Chibi-Usa getting all the stuff!? Mamoru says he can't help it, Chibi-Usa is the one going to a picnic. Luna agrees that this makes sense, so Usagi naturally squeezes the hell out of her, and Chibi-Usa says not to take it out on Luna, and Mamoru says (a bit playfully, actually) that's right~. (That she shouldn't take it out on Luna.)
» It made me wonder why Mamoru wasn't more doting on Usagi sometimes... and then I thought, well, Usagi is Chibi-Usa's mother... but she doesn't really act like it... and I think Mamoru is much, much more aware that they're her parents, so maybe he doesn't dote on Usagi's childish antics as much because he's thinking of their future. He hasn't really doted much since Chibi-Usa showed up, has he? Not that it's that simple, of course, because he loves Usagi for who she is and her enthusiasm for everything, just being near her makes him feel alive, but I think that situation could very well be weighing on him and affecting his behavior.
» The way the scene plays out makes me think that as well--he's genuinely amused when they both want to go on a picnick with him. Where they're saying, "Me, too! Me, too!" rather than, "No! Just me!", he seems to react much better--to the point that when Hotaru watches them, she thinks of her own happy childhood memories, of a mother and father playing happily with their baby girl. Which makes me think Mamoru enjoys the enthusiasm, but it's the fighting they usually do that frustrates him.
» OH MAN. When Hotaru runs away from Chibi-Usa (because she only hurts the people she cares about, that other personality inside her taking over sometimes), Mamoru and Usagi watch a little ways behind. As she runs off, Mamoru says, "That girl.... She must have some big reason behind all this...." Wh-what...? Is... is that continuity from R I just saw? I mean, certainly, if anyone is going to understand pushing away the people you care about for their own good, it's Chiba Mamoru. And I think that one might have been deliberate, even!
» They go to the park and Mamoru takes pictures of the three girls playing around--a cute Chibi-Usa picture, a beautiful picture of Hotaru with flowers, and... Usagi falling flat on her face. And Mamoru takes a picture of that. I know Usagi tripped suddenly, but I totally think Mamoru did that on purpose. I love it when he's kind of a dick. ♥
» The picnic inside the greenhouse! Where they're all eating and Usagi notices that Chibi-Usa isn't eating her bellpeppers! W-well, Mamo-chan isn't eating them either! I totally fucking cooed. Especially when Usagi bullied both of them into eating their bellpeppers and OMG FATHER AND DAUGHTER UGH GROSS FACES! I hope Neo-Queen Serenity had to deal with a million of those. ♥__&Hearts; Also, it's nice to see little touches of Mamoru in Chibi-Usa, since she's so like Usagi in so many other ways.
» I really like to think that they were playing up a lot of that scene for Hotaru, who really was quiet and tense the whole time, who probably really needed some bright, cheerful, silly people around her. ♥
» I laughed really hard when Mimette spotted Mamoru instead of the older research guy, because I had been waiting for that! No way was guy-crazy Mimette going to just walk by someone as good-looking as Mamoru! And then they gave me a delightful scene. With Mimette literally ELBOWING USAGI IN THE FACE to push her out of the way when talking to Mamoru! And are those two your sisters? No, they're my future wife and daughter! a;sldkfja;lksl;kj I laughed so hard.
» This episode also had the return of the almost completely ineffective Pink Sugar Heart Attack from Chibi-Usa. I laugh every time.
→ Shikabane Hime Kuro 04-07 (16-19): I've still got five or six more episodes to go, so these episodes are still moving things along, but we're not at the ultimate climax of the arc yet. Still, loads of SPOILERS here.
Picking the series back up, it finished off the two-episode arc with Itsuki and Takamasa's background and their tragedy, which was paralleled against Ouri's feelings for Makina. I still can't blame Ouri for his feelings, especially considering how little anyone really tells him about the inner workings of the Kougonshuu or the Shikabane Hime, beyond just telling him it's impossible to love a Shikabane Hime, but I think this was at least a decent-sized bucket of ice water to the face for Ouri. Seeing how much Itsuki and Takamasa clearly loved each other, even to this day, even after everything they'd been through, and why it could just never work out, had to be somewhat eye-opening to Ouri.
I like the way it was handled, I was surprised at how much the Takamasa/Itsuki storyline stood on its own (rather than just being a vehicle for Ouri's story--as much as he's a blank, uncharismatic character at times, I think the series does well at establishing everything around him and letting those stories stand fairly well on their own, even if they are centered around him/being told as a parallel to his situation) and how heartbreaking it was. I ship it like crazy, but I don't think I could entirely wish it on them, because a relationship would just make things harder, messier, and more heartbreaking in the end.
But what really kills me? Itsuki's regret is that she never did anything. She gets this second chance, she could be out there doing things, even if she is dead, but... she falls in love and it can never happen. So she just has to sit back and not do anything again.
After what happened, though, I don't think they could go through with it anymore. Not after she was hit with several cars (jesus, show, way to be extra brutal) by Tomoharu controlling them and it ripped her apart enough that she transformed a bit, showing just why Shikabane Hime are abnormal, that they're not human anymore, not even when they still think and feel and (most of the time) behave like a human. I think the Kougonshuu isn't right in the way it treats these girls, but... I can see how the rules came about in the first place and why they're necessary. These are corpses, these are girls who are defying the natural laws of life and death, these are girls with the potential to curse and kill and harm. They're still human, they're still feeling, but they are still dead. And I think the show has done a really excellent job of showing that without condemning them. It's done a really excellent job of showing the dark side of the Kougonshuu, even!
Some things are also finally starting to get explained, even a little bit. Tomoharu said that he and Itsuki were the same, that made him a Shikabane Hime as well--no, a Shikabane Ouji! Which I'd always wondered why there weren't any Shikabane Ouji. In the episode after that (Kuro 05/ep 17), one of the priests said that only girls of a certain age could become Shikabane Hime, because that's the only spell the Kougonshuu knew. Which sort of implies that it's theoretically possible for other types to become Shikabane Hime/Ouji, but they don't know how to do it? Or maybe that's what they tell the lower-ranked members of the Kougonshuu to keep them from wondering? I'm not sure how much to really pay attention to that plot point.
The next couple of episodes got really brutal again. Not that the show really stopped, but it was sort of extra painful because Ena impersonated Keisei to go after Makina. And she knew the whole time, that it wasn't really Keisei, that he'd definitely gone to heaven, but she still couldn't fight back because it was Keisei's face. My heart just breaks for Makina and how much she really loves him. Ouri won a lot of points for me in this arc because he was really trying to do the right thing, he believed that Makina should keep Keisei's Rune, even knowing that it would hurt him and put both of them in danger, because that's what Makina wanted. And because, that way, the three of them (Ouri, Makina, and Keisei) would defeat the Shichisei together!
But also because Ouri said that he would fight Ena (while still appearing as Keisei) because he already had to live with the memory of stabbing his brother, nobody else should have to live with that pain! It already make him want to vomit every time he remembers that night, so he was trying to protect Makina and Sadahiro here.
I'm still pretty much where I was before with Ouri's character--I'm often on the fence, but every time he loses points with me, he gains them back, and I'm never going to think that he's the most interesting character, but I enjoy his connection with his brother and want to know what's going on with him, re: the plot. Especially the teasing bit in Kuro 07/ep 19 where he's called a "Shikabane's son", which made my brain immediately explode with... was he a normal human's son, but his father died, turning into a Shikabane and that's why he was wandering around lost until the age of three? Or was he the product of a Shikabane after they died? Or was his mother the Shikabane? Was she turned while she was pregnant? Is it that he saw a lot of death when he was a kid or was he born from death?
Nozomi's story was pretty heartbreaking all along the way, too. She was so desperate for something and so fascinated with death, but in reality she wanted to live (and I'm not sure why she wanted to be with Ouri so badly, when it seemed like she was first attracted to Makina, but, whatever, I just roll along with Ouri being the center of the story here), so of course she died. ;__;
The entire amusement park story was heartbreaking, too. The little girl inside the adult-sized costume, the story of her one day at the amusement park to get anything she wanted, the family suicide that she didn't even know she was a part of, jesus.
Stray observations:
→ I couldn't not screencap this moment from Kuro 06/ep 18 because it made me laugh super hard:
Whatever. I know my mind is in the gutter. I'm at peace with myself.
→ Also from Kuro 06/ep 18, just because it's super pretty and Makina is hardcore: