MIA #1 MIA #2this familiar, girls?

Meh. Xam’d’s greatest strength has become its greatest weakness: the ‘what the hell is going on’ syndrome (WTHIGO). You can’t go ‘i dunno what’s happening, but FTW I DON’T CARE WOOHOO’ forever. Still, i think there’s a good chance of salvation, given the sheer amount of thought that’s clearly been put into this series. Although i’ve had issues with the frustratingly static motion in the past few episodes, Ep 19 serves to eradicate some of the irritation by speeding up some things. (At least Ishu and Raigyo have gotten a move on. Love his new outfit.) Not to mention the Ahm excuse-making, that was plain hilarious.

Moar Haru pwnage!it's called anthropomorphism

Ep 19 wrapped up the rather draggy ‘What’s My Name’ game Akiyuki was playing, as well as Haru’s escape from hell army prison to bring him to the Quickening Chamber. I never watched Eureka 7, but the general consensus in the anime community seems to be that the producers are banking too much on Eureka 7 reserves in terms of both design and plot devices. Still, Akiyuki’s dragonfly wings were an excellent sight to watch, and more Haru pwnage (this time with a rickety Kayak) is always welcome. How’d she change her clothes so quickly, btw?

O_oi refuse to say anything more on this subject.sadomasochism taken to new heightsyour creep of a son doesn't deserve the likes of Haru!

More importantly, 2 very unexpected plot twists have appeared. What is UP with Sumako? Her unexplained telepathic interaction with Mr One-eyed Tadpole was freaky enough, now they tell us she’s Kakisu-creep’s mother? I can only assume that she must play a bigger role in the approaching climax in the weeks to come. Speaking of Mr Tadpole, if you bothered to watch past end-credits (and this is a MUST), you probably already know that he’s the elusive Hiruken Emperor we’ve been hearing about all this while. Incidentally, this kinda reminds me of Samurai 7 (is the numerical coincidence or a remote connection, i wonder?) of Emperor Amanushi. Useless/unawakened body, surviving in fluid chambers (although it remains to be seen whether one of the Hiruken Emperor’s subordinates will pull the plug on him). Same old, same old. Not to mention CUNNING and PURE EVILNESS in that cryptic command for Akiyuki to find and kill him.  However, i still can’t quite shake off how ludicrous his Mr Tadpole travelling form really is. He eats everything. He plays ‘Remember your name or DIEEEE’. He’s a portable floating radio. Go figure.

don't say nobody warned youi think she's potentially MORE psycho than Furuichihey, he's actually being useful!

Also, Midori’s rather late revelation that she just sold her soul to the devils Kakisu, Prois and co. doesn’t really elicit much sympathy from me. The Nazi youth innocence just goes blah IMO. Midori is not a very well-developed character besides her repressed frustration at being crippled and being a younger, misunderstood sibling, which baffles me since now she’s a bigger pawn in Kakisu’s sick war game. On the other hand, i don’t quite agree with omisyth that Kujireika is NOT a Queen Bitch OR a less maniacal version of Furuichi (good lord, i’d all but forgotten about him), but the way she’s being presented seems haphazard, to say the least. I know 2 eps of screentime isn’t enough, though. On another note, Midori-Haru vs. Kujireika-Nakiami parallels, anyone?

geh. even the sky falling wouldn't save him.

Dr Kanba has irritatingly wobbly moral boundaries. I have given up trying to empathize with him.

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