Wow, that was an amazing episode. I had high expectations for the Asakura x Yuki battle, but they really nailed the "supernatural battle" feel. On top of that, they followed every movement, every attack in the novel almost
line for line, word for word. Since combat is rare in this series (even after 8 volumes), I'm glad to see they managed to do the ones here with brilliant accuracy and quality. I can't wait to download the 1280x720 hi-res version for this episode. ^^
The Mikuru meeting scene was also represented as-is from the novel, no corners cut. The adult Mikuru design was spot on. Good job to Gotou Yuuko-san for managing to nail the "older Mikuru" voice too.
The episode ended pretty much on a "half-way" point, just before Haruhi and Kyon sets out to Asakura's apartment. Novel wise, this episode covered page 174 - 218.
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Now then, next week's episode... (Episode 13)
"The Day of Sagittarius"
Now this is surprising. We know this is going to be a Yuki-main story, and one that foreshadows Shoushitsu at that. But if they're not going to go Shoushitsu, the meaning of this episode is a little... No matter! I already said back in April that this was one episode that I wanted to see. The poor computer club president deserves a comeback!
And if Kyoani were to follow the novel closely like they did with this episode, we might actually see some silly quality SF space combat!
Oh yeah, due to the World Cup, next week's episode airtime will be moved forward to 10:30PM. So we'll get to see it earlier than usual. ^^