Just because I don’t hate him as much, doesn’t mean he’s not a douchebag.

Episode 13

I’ve always loved the relationship between Yunko and Ishu, they’re so supportive in each other. DRINKING FIXES EVERYTHING.

The further we get into this series, the more Kakisu looks like a villain, which funnily enough is the exact opposite of how I thought he’d turn out to be. He’s just so cold and unfeeling, ready to turn in the son of the man who saved his life without batting an eyelid. You could perceive that as dedication to his military, but considering the fact that most of the way the military works seems to irritate and/or sicken him, that doesn’t seem like a viable option. What exactly is his stake in all this?

Best greeting ever. Akiyuki just shows up at his father’s house after disappearing for weeks and they’re like “Yo, I’m back”, “Welcome home” and revert to their normal style of conversation. Father son bonding ftw. We already know that Ryuzo knows all about the Hiruko, but now he knows Akiyuki’s a Xam’d, maybe he’ll be able to support his son in some way (though from far, far away. Akiyuki ain’t comin’ back for a while).

This and the later scene of episode are a great turning point for Haru’s character. Hearing her say she loved can’t live without Akiyuki after all this preamble was really gratifying. With this, the HaruXAkiyuki combo seems pretty set in my mind; previously, Nakiami and Akiyuki never seemed to give off that vibe of hot passionz loving each other.

That was a really well done scene, showing just the right amount of love, loss and desperation (whoever gets the reference gets a cookie) with the paralells between Akiyuki’s reminiscence at the beginning of the episode and Fusa’s description of his mischievous youth. Seems kind of harsh that Akiyuki would leave a tantalizing memento for his mother, then run off, but it’s probably due to the fact that had he met her, she would’ve tied him up, shoved him in his room, locked the door, bolted the windows and never, ever, EVER let him go outside again. This way, she can at the very least know he’s safe. (Side Note: Love the half-face shots in the episode, though I’m not sure why.)

B’AWWWWWW. Already said, delicious Haru emotional development.

Hey look, Furuichi’s gone insane. 12 CENTIMETERS OF HEIGHT GET. Can’t wait to see Akiyuki Kick his ass next ep.

Episode 14

Well, Akiyuki kicked Furuichi’s ass this ep. But not without him crying like a little baby over how he was never accepted, always in the shadow, always played second fiddle to Akiyuki blah blah blah. Okay, okay, he’s not as annoying or as easily hate-able as he’s been up to this point, and I did empathise with him. Ever so slightly. LOL at how his hatred kept him from turning to stone. Remember kids, the more you hate, the longer you’ll live. There were some weird transformations in this episode, Ghibli style. Though it was more hilarious than anything else.

Kakisu the new douchebag. Gets kidnapped and a broken arm after trying to deceive Akiyuki then using his golden PIMP revolver to take him out. Well, at the very least, Akiyuki knows not to trust that guy. Though the state he’s in now doesn’t mean he’ll remember that useful tidbit of information.

Yay memory loss! I can only assume that Akiyuki lost himself to the Hiruko beacause he stopped “thinking”. God knows what happened to Furuichi, with this final scene:

I don’t know if he’s dead or alive.

Well, just took a look at L/Ibrevis’ post (What’s your name now?) and these momentary thoughts of sympathy popped up:

And it seemed to me (and I’m the last guy that should be justifying Furichi the Douchebag’s actions) that the feelings of hatred and inferiority that he had were just amplified by the Hiruko. I think he does deserve our sympathy, as a boy sway to the supernaturl elements that seem rife in this crazy ass world.

Also, see Omo on some thoughts on “hands” in this episode. Delicious symbolism.