I could have been watching Darker Than Black, but I chose to stick it out with another one of these re-reviews of Kanon (Though sometimes I wonder if it's worth it, not because of the show, but for other reasons):
Spoiler:
Different beginning this time without the Makoto prank (for obvious reasons), and the cat seems to have joined the household. The irritating voice Yuuichi makes his return in the opening scene of this episode when trying to decide on a name for the cat. After his slightly grating but nonetheless productive speech the decision is made to name the cat Piro (And My God What Is Going On With His Face!). This time its Makoto's turn to get walked to school (apparently her memories have also returned, you've got to love how they keep washing over these plot points at the beginning of each new episode). Whoa Yuuichi apparently sparkles (I want to sparkle too
). Mai is shown and she mumbles something about not knowing, but knowing about Makoto (Yay for screwy dialogue). Good lord could she have a more boring voice, I somehow doubt it, although she sounds more interesting when she's tense. Lunchtime already and then Makoto is hanging outside the school, and who the heck is this girl that popped up last episode and just keeps popping up again from time to time (hmmm..... I wonder. Actually she's clearly one of those characters in tragedies whose main purpose is to point a character in a specific direction and provide them with critical information that will greatly impact the storyline. An example would be King Hamlet in the play Hamlet). That's right Yuuichi that's her name and whoa where'd Mishio go. Yuuchi calms down substantially after this I might add. Wait Yuuichi goes into Makoto's room without knocking (think of the possibilities
). HE SAW HER NAKED (Oh wait I remember that now). However the viewership is cruelly denied another peek at Makoto (Come on we don't have that much time left here). I think the music just jumped in the Piro scare scene (Where Yuuichi considers the wisdom of Mai in being nice to Makoto and not freaking out on her, why he needs advice on this I don't know). Makoto also seems to be losing control of her thought processes in this scene as well, which may have started as early as the last episode when she absent mindedly dropped the cat off the bridge. Mishio and Yuuichi discuss some things that are sure to become significant later on, and there is a lot of continued forshadowing in this episode. We thene see a scene at what is clearly stated to be an important spot for the two and then PLOW! the tension is killed as Makoto falls straight into the ground. The music in the next slideshow scene is quite nice. Yuuichi later noticed that she's opening up more (The same can be said of him too. Makoto stopped with the pranks and he seems to have stopped with the freak outs and punching her on the head). Whoa wait that was Naiyuki (Her character design can become almost indistinguishable from Akiko's when viewed from below, since for some reason the perspective is messed up and she looks taller). No what are you doing to the kitty Naiyuki, she's trying to kill it (Lucky Yuuichi jumps in to restrain the mad woman, or cop a feel, I'm not entirely sure). Wow they are really close together on the bed (You don't deserve this Yuuichi, you should have to earn it by passing flags and scoring points. Perhaps the wisdom of one Izumi Konata should be shared with you). Again Yuuichi seems to have some bizarre fascination with bowel movements in this scene (and if Makoto says AUU~ one more bloody time
). Hey, that's a real manga, I think its in my history of manga book, but I can't remember the name. What's the matter Makoto, can't use chopsticks (or have you forgotten how). OH COME ON! Now they are sleeping in the same bed, this relationship has gone from Zero to Sleeping together in like 1 episode. Oh don't cry Makoto, geez that's a bit of a bummer. The episode ends with Mishio piecing together what Yuuichi has recalled in the most fanstastical dialogue imaginable (he is a bit slow on the uptake after all).
Plot/Character: 3/5. Although the plot focuses entirely on Makoto this episode and it seems like they are rushing the relationship and plot points to make up for lost time during the pranks part, it nonetheless gets the job done decently. Things aren't looking good as Makoto continues to slip away physically and mentally and well....
Animation: 4/5. Better than last episode. That's it really.
Voice Acting: 3.5/5. Yuuichi was alright if a bit irritating early on and Makoto almost, almost made me cry a little during her scene in bed with Yuuichi. Still we didn't here much from the other girls, Mai wasn't so good and Shiori didn't make the appearance she had made since the last episode. Makoto carried the episode in this department.
Music: 4/5. Only because the tracks jumped around quite a bit and even skipped at one point.
3+4+3.5+4=7.25 rounded down to Seven out of Ten again. The series has been better for the last couple episodes. Let's hope to see it continue. With this my reviews have reached a third of the series episodes. A milestone that is sure to be reviled by those who feel I should have shut my mouth about the series a long time ago.