All the money seemed to have gone to this episode, owing to how much glorious action and (actually good) CGI was used. This episode was only musical extravaganza and an orgy of awesome mecha dog fighting… and I loved it. 

Ozma has his Kira Yamato moment. I loved the action from before but it got spectacularly better on the large scale. The CGI really works well in this environment somehow. It was a spectacular show especially when Ozma released that volley of missiles. 

And a little Sheryl fan service… The other half  of the episode, mostly in the background to the fighting was a lot of music, mostly from Sheryl. Although some scenes were reused for her ‘Iteza Gogo Kyuu Ji Don’t be late’ it was a nicely choreographed scene between her and the action. 

When the huge Vajra battleship/creature came out of warp, I was so stunned. This thing is massive and looked pretty unnerving. It was at this point, the Vajra reminded me more of the Tyrannid forces from Warhammer 40000, with their biological weapons and creatures even moving through space on a huge creature. I guess I never made the connectin before because the Vajra looked more bug like (though I have seen a swarm decked in beetle green with yellow markings) and are more freaking huge normally. 

Is this the villiant then, perhaps behind the Vajra or another exterior force looking on to the battle. He just turned up for a small bit and then was never showed again, I am intrigued. 

I loved here when Ranka joined in with Sheryl to sing the final song, although I wish we could hear the song clearer as there was a lot of loud action happening during most of this song, which sounded good to begin with. 

And the backpack steals the show. I want one, even if I would never wear it. It was kind of sad how despondent Ranka looked on seeing Alto wasn’t there, and even worse when she realised that Ozma and Alto are probably out fighting as pilots. Although she pulls through and sings with Sheryl. 

And you knew this thing could transform as soon as you saw how the bridge looked like an oversized head unit already… but it was still a cool moment to see it transform and then lay down its huge beam cannon attack. And the thing is, it was only using one, it had another one that it stored for that one shot. 

Finally the dude from the opening has appeared. Although he actually saved Luca and Alto, it is still pretty suspicious what he was doing there and such. Perhaps I am suffering from already stereotyping him as a villain but you were all thinking it looking at the OP.

And I do have to say, this was an epic episode of a perfect blend of action and sound track. The next episode preview looks pretty low quality in terms of art, but after what they did for this episode, I am not surprised. The next episode looks to be interesting because of Sheryl at Alto’s school and in the flight suit. 

I find myself startled at how absolutely brilliant Kurenai has turned out. The summary of the show as I was preparing for the new season did not entice me at all and I brushed it off to my will-watch-eventually queue. Little did I know as I picked it up to watch, that I had unexpectedly struck gold. 

Now, normally I don’t like little kid characters… well the ones who are really obviously brattish and at first, I hated Murasaki. But I think the pull of this show is Murasaki really growing out of this old disposition and learning to have more fun with Shinkurou. The whole cast of character around actually are wonderful. Yuuno with her obvious crush on Shinkuro, Ginko with her aloofness, Tamaki with her teasing, Benika with her cool autority and Yayoi with her stoicalness really bring a spark of life to this anime. 

I love the subtlety of the story telling… nothing outrageous happens. There are no big reveals just allusions, well accept for Shinkurou’s arm thingy. The animation is splendidly fluid and where the need for action comes to play, it happens well and looks great on screen. 

Episode 6 was an especially fun episode. When the idea of practicing for a musical came up, I was expecting Macross like music acts, but I was treated to hilariously bad singing (apparently all acted) and even when the quality went up, it was all natural and I liked that. A lot. Although I have some qualms about how weirdly they acted but hey, they were trying to do a musical. Particularly Yayoi, I enjoyed her coming out of her shell a bit here especially after seeing 5 episode of her loitering guarding outside. 

This has turned out to be one of my favourites of the season. I definitely want to see where this will lead. 

Every week, I sit down to watch this and it keeps on delivering me cool and slick action. I love it. I have been taking a large detour away from my shounen start into the anime scene but this is a great series to get back into the genre. 

This soul resonance this is pretty cool actually. It was expected in a shounen action to get some form of power up, but I love this for its style. Death the Kidd’s one is one I look forward to seeing, coming from manga knowledge. 

Black Star is an idiot, most of the time. If he could be more serious like he is at rare points, he would be pretty cool. Black Star is pretty cool, being one of the only ones so far to be able to attack with a lot of force without his weapon, but it just wasn’t enough this time. 

Introduced was one of my favourite characters in the bits of the manga I have already read - Dr. Franken Stein. He has that whole cool ‘I can beat you with minimal effort’ feel when he goes on to give the team a thorough beating. The way he took out Black Star was amazing. 

What I had in the manga, and also here was the feeling that this whole Soul Wavelength concept came out of nowhere. When it got layed on us, it was pretty thick and heavy. I loved the analogy to the Guitar and the Amp. Death the Kidd comes to school next episode, it should be awesome. 

May I just say this is the best look I have seen from Ranka yet! I was expecting this episode to get back to the ‘pew pew’ flashy action after a nice date episode last time but we got a pretty good set up episode instead. So Ranka has been spotted by an agent and Ozma actually is allowing this, after the sissy fit he threw last episode. This guaranties a bunch more Ranka songs (not like that wasn’t obvious before) - I await the CDs!

What the Hell is up with the costume Ranka is wearing here? Ranka is in a little kind of funk. She knows for one that Alto is lying to her, telling him he was alone the other day so she is probably dealing with the idea that Alto and Sheryl are with each other. I think she needs less thinking and more seducing of Alto. 

So yeah, the secret is out. The whole of Frontier now knows of the threat um well, threatening them… I was expecting mass panic actually but not so yet it seems. 

And the SMS pull a fancy looking ship, getting ready to probably reach the graveyard of a site where the Galaxy last was looking for survivors (obviously a trap too). This does mean there will be all too delicious space dog fights and action coming up. I am salivating already. 

Sheryl and Alto have really been getting a lot of intimate time together lately. Sheryl really opens up to him here with a little bit about her past and why she really wants that ear ring back, that being a momento of her mother. And even though it is a shame what happened to Galaxy, she never really liked it because she had no relatives there. 

And Alto gets to borrow it and has it hanging in his cockpit now as he gazes on it lovingly. Sheryl does seem to be winning this pairing war at the moment but if the OP is to have any significance, Ranka is going to have to make some awesome moves for Alto. It’s only the start and I believe it has only just hit the main leg, Frontier can only get better at this point. 

Oh my, Lala was adorable and somewhat creepy with her want to dissect Rito. The reflections in the scalpel had me freaked out a bit. When Rito left her to his friend who promptly laid down ready for disection…. his screams afterward has me in stitches. 

I like how people are so oblivious of the strange things going on. The principle thinks the alien is just someone in a suit. No one notices the green fellow peeking in on you class. Large craters are never noticed. I like that little abnormality, one of the things that made me first like the manga. 

Anyone else find it creepy why she has Rito’s underwear on hand, to give a smell sample to the tracking robot thingy (forgot the name, probably sniff sniff kun). 

One thing for ToLoveRu is that it does not have a lot of fanservice. But when it does, it is intense and marginally more eechier than what one usually expects. The show is continuing on a tentacle theme as well, with poor Haruna-chan the victim this time. This confrontation here ended just as much a cop out as I remember but then again, I liked Rito better as the average guy who actually can’t beat up super strong aliens. He just lucked out with this weakling and it was enjoyable nonetheless. 

I’ve been a bit ill since yesterday, so I’ve been kinda late on my usual episode coverage. This week I am probably gonna forgo the raws I usually watch as it has been quite a while already since it was released and pick them back up when they are subbed. Weirdly enough, ToLoveRu has been subbed pretty fast recently…