[Kaoru Chujo]

1. I'm rewatching season one as we go forward here, and I'd say that the first six episodes of that were pretty dark compared to this (woman to doll to dead; girl to moratorium to contractor to dead). Ep7 (lost cat detective agency), however, was more comic than anything we've seen here yet. I love season two, but I can sympathize with the people who don't. Certainly there's more fanservice here: I'm happy with it myself, but I can sympathize with those who aren't.

2. Okada Mari, who wrote the script for episode 4, didn't just do Kodomo no Jikan, she did many episodes of Simoun, as well as being the lead writer on true tears and Toradora and Canaan and Bantorra and Vampire Knight. I'm not sure KnJ is the best example of her work. But she's certainly not the darkest writer, as hei (the poster) rightly says. However, she is just one of the episode writers here, carrying out someone else's plan, and not the lead writer. No lead writer is credited, which means to me that the show is firmly in the hands of Okamura Tensai...and of the producers representing the firms who provide the money. I wouldn't be surprised if the extra fanservice is at their behest. But maybe Okamura hired writers who could do the new tone he/they wanted for this show.

3. In that screencap of Hei watching Suou's midsection, he is not being an "ass man," lol, he is training her, making sure that her belly muscles are strong enough for the kind of elusive fighting she shows later. Not that the scene isn't meant as fanservice. She could have defeated that whole gang easily, if she wasn't distracted by her belly-ache. Of course, at her age (13, according to the official site), I thought it might be something other than ramen that caused her discomfort. More fanservice?

4. I wonder how old Norio really is. Could he be as young as 16 -- or even 14 (his dad wonders if he's going through puberty)? If he were that young, the difference in ages between him and Suou would not be so remarkable. The scene from the preview of Suou and July sleeping together in the bathtub was awfully kiddy-cute, though. Neat idea. Both embody such a contrast between youth and power.

5. I'm normally pretty revolted by violence against women in anime. Too darn much of it, if you ask me. But to be truthful, I didn't find this as awful as some other shows have been. Maybe because it fits so well with Hei as a contractor at the end of his rope. Gives him more depths to recover from. Or not. I just wish people didn't enjoy seeing it. Scares me for the future of society. I thought we were getting past that.