Mahouka - ep03

Now with Tatsuya's victory they go into explaining how he obtain his impossible victory against Hattori. The first point is that since magic is focus on a location instead of being project from the caster, then this means that if you remain on the move then you are immune to magic since it can't catch up to you. This is where he ninjajutsu training is a benefit to him because he can remain on the move and only need to stop momentarily or not at all to cast magic. Then for the most part this voids is slow cast time. The other things is his CAD is design with the loop cast system that allow him to load the spell once instead of having to reload each time he wants to cast it as is the norm.

Then once the explanation is done Hattori apologize for his shortsightedness, but with this Tatsuya has no more room to escape his appointment to the Moral Committee so he accepts his fate. The rest of the episode focus on Tatsuya's integration into the Moral Committee as well as his first day on the job. That coincides with beginning of club recruitment, that it turns out this is a troubling time for the Moral Committee because it has been coined “the battle to acquire the freshman”. That it doesn't take long to see why it received this name when Erika is almost striped naked in public with people fighting over her to join. Then things get more out of had when two clubs began to fight over who has right to use the floor or demonstrations. This leads to a dual between Mibu and Kirihara, but things become problematic when Kirihara is dissatisfied with the results and cast a spell on his shiai to turn it into a real sword. This forces Tatsuya to get involved revealing another one of his secret skill the ability to void magic, this gain him some unwanted attention from the Blooms on Kirihara side as well as the scheming eyes of Tsukasa the captain of Mibu's club.

Date A Live II - ep02

Now that the brief introduction is over with, things return to Shido pursuit of the spirits. Although things are going to be more complicated with a third parties involvement. This third party is called DEM industries that they seem to be responsible for switching Shido's school trip from Okinawa to Arubi. Along with this they have sent their own insider under the guise of a school photographer name Ms. Okamine. This seems to implies that if they are going to be a continuous threat then this season is going to confined to this school trip. However what interesting is that they have the same technology that Fraxinus has but the question is what is their goal That it seems that currently they have their eyes set on kidnapping Touka, which make it question how well this will go with Shido's bond with her.

Although there is not a lot of focus on this new threat other than announcing it. Where the larger focus is place is the introduction of the next spirit which made an appearance in the OVA. Things are complicated with this spirit is because Shido is focus to deal with twins. It appears that Kaguya and Yuzuru use to be one spirit called Yamai but somehow it body got split in two creating Kaguya and Yuzuru. That they desire to become whole but the destruction of the previous self creating two separate identities the question become which of them is going to be sacrifice for this goal. That to present they have had 99 competition to decide who become Yamai. The result what 49 draws and 25 win to each so everything comes down to this final competition that the victor is the one best suited to become Yamai.

That in the end Shido get caught in the middle by being to one that the final competition revolve around. Since which ever of the twins successful seduces Shido is declared the winnner, that they will abide by what ever decision that he makes. Although there is a problem to this competition since Shido will not want either one to die, which leads to the question of why is there a need for them to become whole again. However it seems that this competition isn't going to come to a conclusion anytime soon since both are incompetant at seduction so Shido has time to figure out a way to save both. Although it seem that he is going to have a lot of mishaps along the way.

No Game No Life - ep01&02

The premise of the two NEET sibling abandoned their world for a different one is interesting. The reason is it applies toward the modern structure of society. Currently in society it is greatly motivate by it's desire to be entertained more so than any other moment in history. This is why a large portion of societies economy is structure around the production of television, movies, video-games, books, and music. That the mass seek a form of escapism and this is manifested in the entertainment industry and the sibling recognize this that is why when the provide a chance the leave their world they take.

Now with their arrival in this new world where everything is decide by games the sibling are very much at home. Things real get started when Sora scams the woman out of all the she owns with a single hand in poker. This illustrates to point of the world is not fairness but the 10 commandments that the world is founded on. If Tet wants overall fairness he would have had it illegal to cheat like all the other crimes, instead you are only punish with an automatic loss if you are caught. This seems to be the theme of the world everyone cheats the most successful just aren't caught. Then through seeing how honest and straight forward Stephanie is he feels for her because he know that her opponent is cheating. This leads him to warn her about it, which would have allow her to win by calling her on it but she does nothing about it.

This sets up the second half of the introduction with Stephanie confronting Sora about what he said even-though it's clear what the outcome was. This leads to Sora provoking Steph into playing a game with him since you can use game to solve disputes. That use the game of rock-paper-scissors to show her why she lost and to prove to her that just because it is a game there is no assurance that it is going to be fair. This proven when he says that he won't choose paper that in the end she choose scissor which can only win against the on thing he can't pick but she choose it because of his stare cause her to doubt herself. That Sora show her how naïve she is by making it clear what he wanted if he won it just that she assume he wanted a place to stay since he is new to this world.

That what he ask from her is for her to fall in love with him. Although this results in Shiro belittling him on his choice and should of said for her to become his property instead. However that wouldn't have been as funny as seeing Steph trying to prevent herself from falling for Sora. It is also very telling on how absolute the rule set forth by Tet are. Then from her we learn a lot more about the world how there are 16 race and Humanity is the lowest because they have no affinity for magic. This is also why they are in the worst position in this world because the other races use it to cheat, while they can't even tell if it is being use are not. That things are even worse because the kingdom of Elkia is Humanities last territory, that this also express the importance of yesterdays game. However it seems that Sora believes that everything would be over as soon as the next king is crowned. That this leads us into Sora next goal in this world is to become king. The question is how will he be able to carry this out since the direct approach is the worst tactic to use in this world.

Nobunaga the Fool - ep14

Now with Ichihime being married off and with the growing tension with the west things are going to start taking a dark turn. Although to transition into this the first half of the episode largely focus in on the interaction between Ichihime and Caesar. It is natural that she would be spiteful of Caesar since he did kill her father, and she only did it out of a sense of duty. However Caesar doesn't want to physical possess her but what Ichihime to be his loving wife. Which leads him slowly winning her over but it seem like he has a long road ahead of him, but this relationship is going to be key to Nobunaga's survival later on.

The assault by the west is started by Charlemange and Hannibal. That before they begin their assault they combine their Shinki's power to create more favorable conditions to better suit their Shinki's elements. Since Hannibal uses the power of water and Charlemange uses wind combine they create a field of ice. This allow them not to just freeze the lake to create a home field advantage but also allows for taking of hostages. That the first on to fall victim to their power of ice is Hideyasu when they completely encase it in ice. The second are his people, but the expected that he would just surrender his Shinki once his people lives were threatened.

Thought they didn't expect that he was prepare to throw away his peoples lives. Then when Nobunaga was about to strike back with fire against their ice. Jeanne gets in Nobunaga's way and with her bleeding heart she sacrifice her Shinki for their freedom. However she gets her wish but not in the way she intended, since they were freed of this moral coil. That with this betrayal Jeanne pass her shinki to Nobunaga before she is captured by Hannibal. However Nobunaga intents to save Jeanne but is force to stop because Hannibal threatened her life. Then Charlemange capitalizes on Nobunaga's weakness.

When everything looks hopeless Caesar helps Nobunaga because of Ichihime. That Caesar was hesitant to help Nobunaga because it would mean point his sword at King Arthur. However he change his mind when he was give an ultimatum by Ichihime to choose between his service to his lord or his wife. That in the end he choose love over duty, but in the end if both die before they can make it back his betrayal will never be known. Then things are made worse with the appearance of Uesugi Kenshin tear the enemy apart. This results in Charlemagne sacrificing his life to send Hannibal back into space, However ironical she is kill by on of the members of the round. Now the question is how will Nobunaga act now that they have captured Jeanne.

Mahouka - ep01&02

There are many things that make this series interesting, probably one of the most interesting factors is the scientific approach to magic. This reflect on a sci-fi theory that once technology advance far enough it is indistinguishable from magic. The other thing is the amount of parallel it has to another light-novel anime called Chromo Shell Regios. The first aspect that was similar is how the protagonist tries to hide their true potential, it going to be interesting since Tatsuya is vary successful in this extent in making himself look incompetence. The second aspect is the use of CAD is very similar to DITE that where use Chromo Shell Regios but the series differ in how they are used since this is able magic and not chi. The last aspect is how there is an emphasis on competition between school even though the anime hasn't gotten to this point yet.

Then you have the progression of the series itself where it seem that every episode is going to end in a cliffhanger. There also the existence of prejudice between the haves and the have not defined by the terms of Weed and Bloom. This ultimately is represented by the pressure of the bloom to tear Miyuki away from her brother because he is a weed. Although at the same time within the school there are parties that want to abolish this unfair discrimination. That through the fight with Jun Morisaki, Tatsuya reveals his ability to read the activation sequences that are a major part of modern magic. That with this Mari Watanabe the head of the moral committee is justified in bring Tatsuya into the moral committee, with hopes with him join will alleviate some of the existing prejudice.

Although this position see as being a disadvantage, since to a degree he is faking his incompetence so that he can protect his sister from the shadows. This is a natural decision since he was train by a ninja, so he tries to turn it down by stating he is a weed because his practical skills are weak that he would be unable to forcefully stop a Bloom's magic. However his plan back fires when they return to the discussion after school when Gyobu Hattori issults Tatsuya over having a weed joining the Moral Committee. This lead to Miyuki taking offense and defending her brother, but this cause an unfortate issue for Tatsuya since he wants stay hidden in the shadow. That is because he now has to defend Miyuki honor by proving she isn't misguide in putting her faith in him. Although this would also remove his ability to reject to Mari's request to have him join the committee since it is base on lack of strength. This would be prove false if he beat not just a bloom but one of the strongest magicians in the entire school. Then when he does it so effortlessly, he loss all rights to reject Mari's request to join the committee.

Date A Live II - ep01

It's been about a year since the first season of Date a Live finished, and the series has returned with a slightly dark than it was before. The first series with how it comically mocked light-novel japanese games or what is otherwise know as dating sims. Although unlike some series that are continue with a sequel they did a very brief introduction, because they are assuming that everyone has already seen the first series. It's interesting to see the first episode focusing on Shido's and how he lives with Yoshino and Touka. That in the first series they really didn't highlight the problems that they cause him as they did here because the previous series was more focused on the problem that the spirits existence cause.

That in this episode we see how insecure Touka is or has grown into being through her interaction with Shido. That at this point Yoshino is not much of a problem for Shido expect when something happens to her puppet, while Touka is more of liking to fall victim to emotion distress. Which is more likely to happen when she watches a soap opera with Yoshino. This is made worse when she finds Shido's suitcase packed but doesn't bothers to think of the most likely explanation rather goes to the least likely. It almost terrifying to think what would happen if Touka was his wife or worst yet pregnant. This leads to quite a few comical situation where he is having to calm her down only for her to get worked up again by the soap opera that Yoshino is watching put another misconception in her head.

It also seems that they are not wasting anytime jumping back into the madness, with the illusion to new threats on the horizon. That is connect to the people that bailed out Origami. Then you have to potential return of Nightmare, and hint to the reason that she was pursuing Shido in the first place. That it has something to due with the first that brought the rest of them into existence. It also seems likely that this source is connect to everything, from the first space quake 30 years ago to the truth behind shido powers. That this spirit might be the origin of the voice that Shido heard when he first meet Touka back at the beginning of the previous season. If nothing else the ride isn't going to be boring.

Nobunaga the Fool - ep13

This episode is mostly a prelude of things to come, the most immediate issue is how Ichihime acceptance of Caesar's proposal has cause friction within Nobunaga's camp. This drives Mitsuhide mad that Nobunaga did nothing to stop it, but in way he is also at fault because he could never find it in himself to express his true feeling for her. This results in his misplace anger being direct toward Nobunaga when he is angry with himself for no acting when he could. However this marriage is not something that Ichihime desires, being force to marry the man that kill her father. Although she is only doing out of the desire to fulfill her duty and protect her people. Although this also put her in a position to kill Caesar when he betrays Nobunaga, because it seem not so much a question of if but when.

This leads into the second point that is developing the downfall of the western star. That next part is going to focus on the clash between east and west. That with Caesar action and the cracking of the western star, the round table see this as a sign that Caesar betrayed them. This result in their need to capture the eastern star to use to stabilize their star. While this situation is dire for both side, the destabilizing of the western star will in time lead to the collapse of the eastern star as well. The rest of the series is going to become increasingly interesting as it diverse more from the historical retelling. This grown war is going to be interesting when more western historical figure get involved since it seem that all of the western figure are from different period in history. That they were never alive at the same time to began with. That it will be interesting to see who come out on top, Nobunaga or King Arther.