On the other hand, I loved this episode. Lots of good emotion. Serious and sad and uncertain and with good rhythms. I liked the sad, slow version of the music, too. Tsugumi is wonderful. And the club president continues to steal the show.
The storyboard this week was by a big name:
Okamura Tensai, the director of Wolf's Rain and Darker than Black.
Director this week was
Kamakura Yumi, who did storyboards for some eps of Simoun and Blood+, and directed episodes of Blood+, Eureka Seven, Utawarerumono, Saiunkoku. She also directed ep2 of Kannagi.
I liked the animation this week, in some places. Seemed like smooth drawing, somehow, especially near the beginning. Animation was directed by two people:
Noda Yasuyuki, a long-time animator who has directed animation for a couple of shows over the years; and an apparently young animator called
Kawai Takuya, who has never done more than key animation, according to ANN.
I loved the ending illustration. Of course, I tend to like Photoshopped backgrounds. And the figure seemed to match the episode beautifully. As serenade_beta said, it was by
Azuma Kiyohiko, the mangaka of Yotsubato and Azumanga Daioh. I would never have guessed.