Back together again

Another good episode, I thought. Again, pretty slow paced, so if you don’t like episodes that kinda laze along, you may not like this series, but I think it’s a good pace for this show. We finally get to see what Fu’s childhood friends are like. Kaoru is kind of the leader and most mature. Norie is extremely excitable and hyper. Meanwhile Maon is silent, but will speak up when she wants to. She also often responds by whistling.

So this episode was mostly about the four friends catching up and introducing some of the other side characters in the show. We got a hint of this in the first episode, but we hear more about “tamayura,” which are flicks of light that show up on a picture, and how Fu enjoys taking pictures with them on it. Once again, I’m looking forward to seeing more from this show.

We aren't stalking you. For realz we aren't!

This was a rather disjointed episode that had a ton of stuff going on. I realize that’s not uncommon for 4-koma based series but it seemed to be that way more so than usual this time. The main threads were Poplar trying to help Souta and Mahiru together and Aoi seeking attention from various people.

I’m not sure if all the Aoi stuff is really going anywhere other than her being cute or annoying, depending on her point of view. The Mahiru/Souta thing is where it’s at, but, of course, Souta is still focused on Poplar because she’s so cute, and because Mahiru still can’t get over her punching guys.  Overall this was an OK episode I guess, but it didn’t seem to progress the plot very much.

Fam, and her co-pilot Giselle lead an Sky Pirate attack on a ship, capturing it. Back at the base, they run into Dio (!!), who is as lazy as usual. Meanwhile, two rival nations, Turan and Ades have agreed to sign a peace treaty. However, the treaty is a ruse by Ades in order to attack the Turan fleet, which has stood down in preparation for the treaty. Fam and the pirates then decide to save the princesses of Turan…in exchange for their flagship.

Hey look! It's Dio! What..what?

I was under the impression that the amount of time that had passed between the two series was more, but I guess not with Dio not only alive (apparently surviving the events from the end of the first series) but pretty much the same age. Meanwhile, it looks like this series is taking place on earth, though with a similar feeling with the two nations going to war against each other. The Sky Pirates are essentially acting the part of the Sylvania. So far there isn’t an overwhelming controlling organization like the Guild yet, at least that’s been revealed.

I’m interested in knowing the relationship between Earth and Prester. Presumably the people who lived on Prester and Earth were separated for quite a long time, which makes it interesting that they should have similar technology, unless everyone who is on Earth now came from Prester (though it seems like these nations have existed for quite a while). I guess that was just something nagging at me.  Also, since we’ve seen Dio, does that mean we’ll see (or at least hear about) any of the other original characters at some point?

Shana is fighting a horde of Rinne when the Crimson Denizen appears and…is Yuji. We then flash back to the end of the 2nd season when it appeared Yuji and chosen Shana. Instead, he vanished as if he ran out of power of existence, though Yoshida still remembers him. However, Shana and the other flame hazes don’t believe he’s gone and think his disappearance is part of a major plot by the Bal Masqué. Meanwhile, Yuji, apparently trapped in the Midnight Lost Child, tells Silver that he wants to “change it” and takes his place as the leader of the Bal Masqué.

But Yugi...what about our threesome!?

So…something happened to Yuji, probably caused by the Bal Masqué, that caused him to become somehow trapped inside the Midnight Lost Child. There he is having a conversation with Silver about the cycle of Flame Hazes and Crimson Denizens, and then at the end says that he wants to “change it.” Presumably this means he wants to change the cycle of never-ending battle between the two sides, though I’m not really sure how Yuji would think this would be accomplished by becoming head of the Bal Masqué.

Otherwise, this episode was kind of a catchup. We are reminded that Satou wants to work for Outlaw now, and that Tanaka and Ogata are an item. It also appears like we’re about to be introduced to yet another Flame Haze: Sophie Sawallisch. One other item of note is that Shana is learning to use her Flame Haze powers much more effectively, which I’m sure will come in handy later.

A fairly interesting, and plot twisting, first episode of the third season here. Interested where this series will go now that it looks like Shana will have to fight Yuji instead of be his guide.

Fu is a girl who likes photography. However, her father, who taught it to her, tragically died  a few years prior and she stopped taking photos. Now, in her final years of middle school, she spends most of her time with her best friend Chihiro, who is overly sensitive to anything that might remind Fu of her lost father. When she gets home, she finds that her little brother Kou was bug out their father’s old photobook and decides to take up photography again. She then decides she wants to return to her childhood home at Takehara to go to high school.

Fu takes up her old hobby

If the first episode is any indication, this looks like a serious I’ll really enjoy. I was kinda sad that Fu and Chihiro’s friendship only really lasted the first episode (at least on screen) because I thought they were excellent together, and how Chihiro was always worried about Fu was kinda touching. But now Fu enters a new chapters of her life as she returns to her childhood home, where her childhood friends, whom she hasn’t seen in years, still live.

This is a pretty easy going show so far, though certainly not lacking in emotional impact. I guess my only worry is that it’ll run out of steam before the end, but we’ll see I guess.