As Van and Wendy continue their search for the claw man and Wendy’s brother, Michael their next town that they stop at, is a town inside of a ravine, where sets of twins have been fighting each other for two decades. As I’m a twin myself, I can relate to the problems that the two sisters have in this episode, as the sisters can’t sort out their differences.

The reason of for the fighting between the two groups is that the two leaders of each faction are fighting to get their hands on their father’s inheritance, which he left behind. Van is hired by Carmen 99 to be a bodyguard for one of the sisters, while Ray (the new character from the previous episode), is the bodyguard of the other sister.

Ray you could say is an interesting individual, as he seems to be a mirror image of Van, but he is more colder than Van. Ray’s weapon of choice is a katana-shaped gun. As this episode plays out, we learn that Ray and Van share a common goal to kill the claw man, as the claw man killed Ray’s wife. What I found interesting about Ray and Van is the play on words from the name of this series, to Van’s and Ray’s weapons that they wield. A similar comparison can also be drawn from the title of the show, to the armor’s weapons that Ray and Van wield, as Vulcan (Ray’s armor name) weapon of choice is a chain gun, while Dann’s (Van’s amours) weapon of choice is a sword.

Despite the episode ending with both sisters being killed, I thought that Carmen 99 best sums up this episode when she says “It left a bitter taste in my mouth”, after the sister’s armor is destroyed by Ray. I thought that Ray’s cold comment about this town being a graveyard was true, cause of the failed dead clone’s bodies from the Carossa Project, and the continuous fighting that has occurred in this town

Despite this episode being a bit more sober in mood, I thought that this was a good episode, compared to the previous episode. As it seems that Ray will play a supporting role in this series, I for one look forward to the rivalry between Van and Ray, as their rivalry is not based on being the best at a particular thing, but is based on who can get their revenge first.

With Kurau and Christmas being captured by the GPO from the previous episode, my initial reaction to this was that I thought that the series might be over soon due to their capture, but my assumption was quickly dismissed, as Kurau managers to escape from her containment container. As Kurau escapes from the GPO early on in this episode, I was really impressed how the director handled Kurau’s escape, as there’s nothing cheesy about how Kurau manages to escape from the GPO clutches. Even tough Kurau barely mangers to escape from the GPO is in this scene (after being hit by the AR system on a GPO POD), it’s good to see that Kurau is injured during the escape, to make her escape believable to the viewer. While the scene was playing out with Kurau escaping from the GPO, I partially liked some shots that were used in this scene, as the shots used in this sequence give the viewer a good view of how Kurau escapes, while also making the scene look more spectacular then it is intended, due to the usage of camera angles that were used in this scene.

After Dag finds and helps Kurau’s tired body on the pavement, Dag carries Kurau into his car, and then Dag tries to elude the nearby GPO. After starting their escape, we get to see an unconfident Kurau while she is in the car with Dag, which is quite surprising, considering that Kurau is usually confident, and sure of her self. As Kurau and Dag are starting to feel safe that they have eluded the GPO, their relief quickly disappears as they are spotted by a GPO battle pod. To escape from the GPO, Kurau and Dag decided to head for an underground train station entrance, where they will use the opportunity to hide among the crowd of people. However, the determined agent Ayaka spots them entering the underground train station entrance, and starts to pursue them on foot.

The pacing of this episode slows down dramatically here, where we learn of the relationship between Kurau and rynax energy. Despite Kurau and Dag being pursued by agent Ayaka in the underground, this episode also manages to show that Kurau is starting to fully trust Dag, as this is symbolised by Kurau giving her hand to Dag, to help her up the underground sewer ladder. After Kurau and Dag get away from the GPO, I really enjoyed the expanding shot of where agent Ayaka, standing in the middle of the GPO search for Kurau and Dag. The camera starts with a close headshot of Ayaka, then the shot expands, so that agent Ayaka is standing in the centre shot, with other GPO agents and officers looking for Kurau and Dag. Also I thought the next scene where Kurau flies off the moon as the sun is settings, was another good feel moment, as Dag is still surprised by Kurau flying in the air, due to Dag still continuingly to be amazed of seeing Kurau flying though the air.

Despite the main objective of this episode being to setup Christmas rescue for the next episode, I thought the small scene near the end of the episode where the commissioner of the GPO is seen standing next to Christmas in her reinforced container, gave me an eerie feel, as it seems that he is planning something.

After a slip dip in terms of quality from the previous couple of episodes of Kurau, it’s good to see that this episode was able to return to the high standard that the show has set for itself.

Episode Rating: A-

Like the previous episodes that preceded this episode, this episode is a filler episode. As filler episodes can be either average, good or bad, I felt that this episode was bad, due to feeling that some scenes in this episode dragged on for to long. Despite feeling that some scenes dragged on for to long in this episode, I did like how this episode displayed the relationship that Van has with his armor, Dann.

It’s good to see that Van isn’t invincible as we may have thought from episode one(where Van survives a gun shot wounded), as Van must regular make contact with Dann, otherwise Van will overheat and feel ill, due to not making regular contact with Dann. I also enjoyed in this episode, the slight change in the relationship that Van has with Wendy in this episode, as it nice to see that Van has softened a little, in how he treats Wendy.

I felt that this episode dragged a bit, due to that I thought that the scenes were Wendy goes off in search of finding and getting some medicine for Van, dragged out for to long (as it seems that Wendy is spending more time standing in the rain and thinking to herself, then actually getting the medicine for Van). Despite my feeling of how I felt this episode dragged in a couple of scenes, I thought that the action sequence where Van rescues Wendy from the person that Van defeats in the opening minute of this episode, was well written. I thought that the slow motion of the scattering of armor pieces flying in the air, as the villain of this episode is about of hurt Wendy was a good effect to create excitement in this episode. Also I thought that when Van is rescuing Wendy in this episode, which there’s the usage of overlaying Van’s face over Dann’s body when Wendy is looking up at Dann, I thought that this scene was able to generate a nice feeling between the characters, Wendy and Van.

I thought that the episode ended on a good note, with the introduction of a new character knocking on the door of the doctor that Wendy visited in this episode, which inquires about the claw man. Despite this episode showing a slight change in the relationship between Van and Wendy, and the introduction of a new character at the end of the episode, I thought that this episode lacked something, to make this episode more enjoyable to watch.

Episode Rating: B

Even though that this episode could easily be written of as your stereotypical filler episode, I enjoyed this episode more then I had expected, due to the references that this episode contained. This episode is set in the town of Gloria, where we meet four aging armor pilots, where in their prime; they were called the El Dorado Five. The aging armor pilots spend their day reminiscing about their past battles at Yukino’s inn, which annoys the rest of the town’s people. As the episode plays out, we learn that the fifth member of the El Dorado Five is Chizuru, and that she has sadly already passed away. It is revealed later in this episode that Chizuru is the grandmother of Yukito.

Upon the four armor pilots meeting Van, and saying he is an armor pilot, the four members of the El Dorado Five take any immediate liking to Van, due to having something in common. Upon the four members of the El Dorado Five, immediately liking Van, Van starts chatting with the four pilots about his adventures, and refers to himself as “Van, the man of steel”. As this is a filler episode, the enemy that appears in this episode is a scientist that was cast out of the city, and plans taking revenge on the townsfolk, with his amour that he created.

Despite this episode playing out is typical fashion, I have got to say I quite enjoyed this episode for the sentai references that were included in this episode. What I think made this episode so enjoyable beside the sentai references, was the insert song that the character Yukino sings in this episode. Yukino sings a song in this episode to calm down the local people and the amour pilots, when the four amour pilots get involved in a fight with the other town’s people, at Yukino’s inn. As Yukino’s voice actress sang her song in this episode, a small smile crept into my face, as I appreciated the effort that production crew went through to create this nice little tender moment. As moments like these are generally few and far between nowadays, where a side character gets to sing a song in the show, I enjoyed this short but well executed scene.

As it seems that some of Gun Sword episodes will be dedicated to filler episodes while advancing the plot of the show with the claw man a little, I think that what may determine weather Gun Sword will turn out to be good or bad show, could indeed be the quality of the filler episodes that this show will showcase.

Episode Rating: B

After the previous episode of Death Note being dark in tone, this episode is more plot based, with L getting closer to learn the identity of Kira’s real identity. The episode starts off with Aizawa and L looking at video footage of Ray Penbar’s death. Upon looking at the train station footage, L notices that the envelope that Ray Penbar was carrying with him, must have played some role in his death, as Ray Penbar didn’t have the envelope when he entered the train station. While this scene was playing out, I was wondering why chief Yagami was given three scoops of ice cream from Watari that he was handing out to the investigation team, while L and the other members only got two scoops.

After L receives word of Misora death, and that her death is connected to Ray Penbar, L concludes that Kira’s real identity must be on the list of names of suspects that Ray was investigating. L decides to bug Chief Yagami’s and Assistant Director Kitamura house, as their names was on the list of people that Ray Penbar was investigating. As chief Yagami has given L permission to bug his home, L decides out of courtesy that he and chief Yagmi will observe the Yagami residence, while the other investors will watch the Kitamura’s house. With L deciding to bug the Yagami residence, the rest of this episode plays out with Light outwitting L, while still murdering criminals with L watching him.

When it is dinner time at the Yagami residence, I enjoyed the stereotypical reaction that Sayu has, when she is watching her soap opera TV show, as saying that the character Hideki is hotter than the rest of the boys at her school. After L tells the investigators to flash the message that 1,500 investigators are in Japan working on the Kira case, and Light gives his detailed explanation on how it’s pointless announcing this on TV, I enjoyed the little smile that crept onto L’s face, as it seems that L is thinking that Light might be Kira due to his intelligent response.

Even though this episode is mainly setup to have Light outwit L, while having the Yagami household bug and be able to commit murders with the Death Note, I liked how we were able to see similarities between L and Light, as L reveals that he to booby trapped his bedroom door to alert him if somewhere had been in it. Also I liked the little details about Ryku that we are given in this episode, as we learn that Ryuk’s body will start to get all twisted, and he will start doing headstands, as these are the withdraw symptoms that Ryuka will display, if he doesn’t eat apples on a regular basis. Apples to Ryuk, is like a human drinking alcohol or smoking.

Light mangers to kill criminals and do his homework while L is watching him, because Light has placed a piece of Death Note in his chip packet. The chip packet also contains a mini LCD TV that Light purchased, that cost 39,800 Yen. Light was able to kill criminals while doing his homework at the same time, by using his right hand to solve his equations, while Light uses his left hand to write down the name of the criminals on the piece of Death Note in the chip packet, and then eat the chip. Even though the animation used in this episode of where Light writes the name of the criminal of the Death Note while doing his homework, contains the same animation that was used in the first episode, but with the chip include in the scene, was executed well despite this reuse of the animation.

I thought that the CG that was used in this episode of when Light gives us a detailed explanation of the mechanical pencil being broken, via the door handle of his bedroom door, was not jarring to the eyes then compared to the CG that was used in the previous episode.

Regarding how this episode compares to the manga, is that the shots used of the adult magazine that Light buys in this episode, are the same pose shots used that are used in the manga, but of course this episode was able to give more detail to the magazine contents, than compared to the manga. Despite this episode slightly moving the plot forward a little in this episode, the thing that I enjoy the most about this episode was a slight smile that crept across L face that I have previously mentioned, as it seems that L thinks that Light is Kira, and thus L will following up on his hunch, in the next episode.

With Suzuka joining Ashford Academy last episode, this episode is dedicated to Suzuka’s classmates getting used to having a Eleven in there mist. Also some of this episode is dedicated to getting a better understanding of the friendship that Lelouch and Suzuka have. Suzuka’s life as a student at Ashford Academy is filled with an air of uncertainty in the air, as no student is willing to extend their hand into welcoming to the school. As Lelouch and Suzuka are childhood friends, I liked the little secret signal that Lelouch gave Suzuka in this episode, which tells Suzuka to go to the roof where they can talk to each other away from prying eyes. I thought that this small gesture that Lelouch does, shows how close Suzuka and Lelouch are as friends. Also I enjoyed the small tender moment when Lelouch surprises Nanali, by Suzuka greeting Nanali by holding her hand gently, when Suzuka invites Suzuka over to his place.

Even though Cornelia gets little screen time in this episode, I did enjoy the action sequence were she takes care of some eleven resistance fighters in her mecha. While Cornelia is busy attacking eleven resistance fighters, Sir Guilford informs Jerriah that they will strip Jerriah of three ranks, and if Jeriah wants to stay in the military, he will have to start again s as a beginner pilot, or work at an orange plantation. Even though Jerriah has been dubbed orange-kun due to Zero incident, and being called orange-kun, I do feel a bit sorry for Jerriah as that he has had little character development to justify him being teased by people that have a higher rank them him. I hope during the course of the series that Lelouch pawns the Royal Britiannia army, thus causing Jerriah to regain his rank, and upon regaining his rank, dish out the same treatment that he has received by his superior officers in this episode.

The rest of this episode could be compared to the panty thief episode of My Hime, where the rest of the episode is dedicated to an incident that gets blown out of proportion. The incident that gets blown out of proportion is when the cat from the previous episode, indirectly mangers to get Zero’s helmet fixed on his head. While all the students of Ashford are trying to catch the cat, I didn’t mind the small fan service shots that we got of Shirley in her school swimsuit. While Shirley and Karen are chasing the cat to protect their first kiss in this episode, I liking the small possibility of the love triangle that may occur between Shirley, Karen and Lelouch, when Shirley asks Karen will she uses the kiss reward to kiss Lelouch, due to Shirley seeing moments of Lelouch and Karen being close to each other in the school grounds.

As the episode come to a close with the 98th Royal Emperor of Britiannia is giving his speech, and where the Royal Emperor of Britiannia raises his fist in the air, I felt that the scene was setup like many speeches that are given in Gundam. Despite this episode being fairly light in tone, I thought that this episode set up the plot elements of Lelouch being a prince, and Suzuka being transferred to the technology department of the military(where Lelouch could possible gain his mecha to take on the Britiannia army) quite well, while also showing the friendship between Lelouch and Suzuka.

Episode Rating: B+

Episode ten of Le Chevalier D’Eon starts off on a nice tender note, when Anna receives a message from D’Eon, which details what he has been up to in Russia. Even though Anna and D’Eon have had some nice moments together in the series so far, it’s a nice that this episode starts off with a change in place to start of this episode, as the couple previous episodes have been heavily set in Russia. After the brief change in scenery at the start of this episode, we again return to Russia, were Queen Elizabeth tells D’Eon and the musketeer group, what is happening after the events of the assassination attempt on her life.

I thought that this scene where Queen Elizabeth is addressing the musketeer group with the captain of the royal guard was quite cleverly planned, as from the conversation that the Queen is having with D’Eon and the musketeer group, the captain of the guard is angered and upset that the musketeer group have been given permission to search Bestuzhev’s belongs and look at any coded documents that they may be there. As the captain of the guard fears that he will be a subordinate to the musketeer group, the Queen asks D’Eon of how Lia would have responded if she was given the privilege to be member of Queen Elizabeth’s royal court. D’Eon replies to the Queen’s question by saying that Lia’s duty is to protect the King and no one else. Upon hearing these words from D’Eon, the captain of the guard is assured that the musketeer group is not there to further themselves with the queen, and then takes his leave.

I thought that the next scene that involves Pyotr abusing his wife (there are bruises marks on Madam Ekaterina face) was a bit disturbing, due to how graphically well animated the burse marks appear on Madame Ekaterina face. As Pyotr is trying to come up with a plan to blame his role in the assassination attempt on his wife, he is interrupted in the hall way by Maximilien standing in front of him. Maximilien tells Pyotr what he is up to, and says that the revolution order as chosen him. We get a glimpse of Maximilien intelligence in this scene, when Maximilien calls Pyotr Emperor of Russia, to sway Pyotr to listen to him. After Maximilien Robespierre comes up with a plan that involves getting Pyotr to be the emperor of Russia, the scene shifts to the other alchemists and poets in the otel (hotel), Petropulas.

I thought this scene where Lorenza gives Voronzoff the power of the Psalm, was very intriguing, as before Lorenza gives Voronzoff the power of the Psalm, I thought that Voronzoff and Count Cagliostro were going to fight each other, after Voronzoff breaks his pen after he writes a letter (which later is revealed in this episode that the contents contain a letter to challenge D’Eon, with another piece of paper containing the word Psalm written on it).

As the musketeer group is searching through Bestuzhev’s belongings, D’Eon receives Voronzoff letter that he previously wrote. As Queen Elizabeth is informing the parliament that she plans on replacing the parliamentarians of their positions with her lovers, Pytor enters the parliament that says Voronzoff has been found. Upon hearing the news about Voronzoff, the Queen orders that the musketeer group to capture Voronzoff alive.

I thought that the duel that occurs between D’Eon and Voronzoff showed cased their fine skills that they both posses as knights, though I enjoyed the CG effects that were used when Voronzoff heals his wounds using the Paslm, that Lorenza gave to him. While D’Eon in fighting Voronzoff, Lia’s soul reappears, which should make the fight more interesting. I thought that the reuse of the same pose that we got in episode one where Lia’s soul first appears, was a nice touch, as both have served Queen Elizabeth in the past.

As last episode gave us a hint of Maximilien wanting to kill Queen Elizabeth in future episodes of Le Chevalier D’Eon, Maximilien actually accomplishes this goal, when Queen Elizabeth returns to meet with her lovers. I thought that having Queen Elizabeth killed by gargoyle version of her lovers, was a nice yet twisted way for her to die. As Queen Elizabeth is about to be killed, I thought that the way how Queen Elizabeth stood up to Maximilien before she died, was quite a congruous thing to do, as she stood her ground against the gargoyle version of her lovers.

I really enjoyed how Maximilien was able to out think Queen Elizabeth in this episode, and use her lovers to kill Queen Elizabeth. Even though I thought that killing Queen Elizabeth would be one of the major deaths to occur in the series, but the way the scene was carried out, it seems that Queen Elizabeth death is one part of many deaths that will possible occur in future episodes of this show. While D’Eon is fighting Voronzoff, we learn of the first details about something called the Paslm of the King. While D’Eon is battling Voronzoff in this episode, we learn via Voronzoff that Lia was used as a sacrifice to the Paslm of the King. As this new plot element contains the word king in it, I’m thinking that my guess about King Louis XV being the person that betrayed Lia in Russia might indeed be correct.

Overall, I thought that this was a good episode, with the revolution order’s plan starting to move forward with the death of Queen Elizabeth. With this episode spilling details about the revolution order group, and that they plan to make all of Europe have only one king, I’m excited how future developments relating to these plots will play out in future episodes.

Episode Rating: A

After the events of last episode, D’Eon finally mangers to meet Queen Elizabeth. As D’Eon is talking to Queen Elizabeth, we get some details about the relationship the Queen had with D’Eon’s sister, Lia. We learn that Lia once saved Queen Elizabeth life in the past, and that it was Lia that formed the strong bond that now stands between France and Russia. During this scene the queen shows D’Eon the portrait of Lia that she has, and upon seeing the portrait I was very impressed by the amount of details that the portent contained, as the portrait is done in a similar style like how the characters are drawn in the closing theme of the show.

Also during the conversation between D’Eon and Queen Elizabeth, we learn that Queen Elizabeth is quite a sharp individual, and that she suspects their must be more to Lia’s death, as it’s odd for King Louis XV to send someone to investigate Lia’s death. The Queen also gives D’Eon her approval to hunt down Voronoff in this episode. Before D’Eon leaves the Queen, Queen Elizabeth informs D’Eon that Voronzoff actions are planned by a Grand Chancellor member, Bestuzhov. As Queen Elizabeth tells D’Eon of this, she gives D’Eon a firm warning that by going after Voronzoff, which it may lead to the end of Russia.

After D’Eon and Robin return back to their dwellings and meet up with Durand and Tellagory, Durand and Teillagory informs them of events that occurred outside of the masquerade party in the previous episode. Here they discuss of what the next course of action is. In this scene, we get a glimpse into the intelligence that Teillagory possesses, as he guesses that the veiled person that informed them of the plot against the Queen Elizabeth’s life must be someone that has ties to the royal family. The musketeer group decides to best course of action is to prevent the assassination attempt that is about to occur.

While the musketeer group are united in the course of action that they take, the opposite can be said about the group of alchemist and poets that the musketeer group are up against, as Bestuzhov only wants Russian’s to take part in the slaying of Queen Elizabeth. Even though Voronzoff quickly dismisses Bestuzhov’s order, Voronzoff tells the group that he will be the one that will slay Queen Elizabeth.

Currently I’m liking the interaction that occurs between that the various alchemists, poets and politicians that have appeared so far, but as Maximilien Robespierre appears to have a bishounen character design, and being the more mysterious character compared to the other poets and alchemists, I’m betting that Maximilien Robespierre will be main adversary that will oppose the musketeer group.

The rest of this episode deals with the foiled assassination attempt of killing Queen Elizabeth. The attempt of Queen’s Elizabeth life was foiled due to upon hearing the plot, D’Eon meet the Queen, and they made arrangements so that it would seem to Voronzoff and Bestuzhov that Queen Elizabeth and her lover had been killed. The assassination attempt failed due to Durand and Tellagory disguised themselves as guards that took place in the assassination attempt under Voronzoff command, while D’Eon dressed up as the queen’s lover, Razumousky. I thought that the scene where Bestuzhev called Pyokr Majesty a couple times was funny, as Pyokr acts like a little kid, though I would say he acts more like fool to me.

Overall, I thought that this was a very well put together episode, despite no action taking place in this episode. Even though I for one would like to see Le Chevalier D’Eon have more action sequences in it, I for one don’t mind if action scenes are scarified at the expense of well executed plot episodes, like this episode. My thoughts regarding Queen Elizabeth is that she’s a determined, firm, yet pretty sharp character, that has a good head on her shoulders. Queen Elizabeth seems to have a very good knowledge of how her political opponents are trying to get rid of her from her position as Queen of Russia, but due to her firm determined attitude, Queen Elizabeth mangers to keep her position in this episode. As it seems that Maximeillan wants to soon kill Queen Elizabeth, with him destroying the sword that allegedly killed Queen Elizabeth, I’m looking forward to the next episode to see the reason of why Vonrosff sense of loyalty changed, as he was once a lover of Queen Elizabeth.

Lastly as this episode is entitled the lovers, the title refers to a group of individuals that have sworn to the Queen that they will help change the country for the greater good.

Episode Rating: A-

After being chased from the GPO, Kurau and Christmas have so far been able each time to begin a new way of life, after narrowly escaping the GPO each time. Even though Kurau and Christmas finally get captured in this episode, there are some things that I would like to mention regarding this episode. While this episode didn’t have any action scenes in it, the script of the show continues to be of high quality, as again it’s the emotions of the character’s, and character development that makes this episode so enjoyable to watch.

It was nice in this episode to see Kurau and Christmas on the beautiful road of San Diego, decked out in summer attire, as seeing characters in new clothes is a welcome site, instead of seeing characters in their main costume outfit. Despite some of this episode revolving around Dag trying to locate Kurau and Christmas (due to the events of the previous episode), I did enjoy the conversation that Dag has with Kurau’s father. As this episode played out, I enjoyed the little interaction and eye movements that occurs between Inspector Wong and agent Ayaka, when Ayaka confidently says that she can capture Kurau. Inspector Wong is unsure of Ayaka’s confident claim, due to Ayaka softening a little, due to the interaction that Ayaka has had with Kurau previously. The mistake that Kurau and Christmas make in this episode that allows tem to be caught in this episode, is that Kurau and Christmas decided to staying at an hotel, that is near a rynax power plant. This connection of the rynax power plant combined with the GPO being able to trace Kurau’s transactions, leads to their capture.

As this episode plays out, we learn about some details of the technology that is used in this world. The information we learn about the world of Kurau: Phantom memory, is that there are three rynax power plants on earth, and due to Blue Energy, mankind was able to expand to other worlds. Despite mankind expanding to other worlds, humans jumped at the concept and usage of using rynax energy. It seems that rynax energy is a profitable business, as it seems to make the rich richer, and those that have control of the rynax energy, have even more power. We also learn that there was previously one rynax energy plant on the moon, but after an accident, it was closed. Upon hearing this information about rynax energy, I thought that this piece of information was unimportant at first glance; but upon thinking more about the information we are presented in this episode about rynax energy, it seems that this information will form the basis of what will occur in future episodes.

With the plot of the show taking another step forward, with the capture of Kurau and Christmas, I’m looking forward to the next episode of Kurau: Phantom Memory, to see if Kurau and Christmas are able to escape from their current situation.

Episode Rating: B+

Despite Christmas and Kurau starting to get used to a new way of life at the seaside restaurant, they both agree upon to travel to San Diego in the near future. As it seems that life is currently perfect for Kurau and Christmas at the present moment, things go slightly wrong when Hiroshi (a battle pod pilot) gets drunk due to Christmas mixing up an order. To fix the mistake that Christmas has created for the battle pod team, Kurau volunteers to replace Hisohki as the driver, in the upcoming battle pod battle. While this scene was playing out, I enjoyed the in joke about Studio Bones, when Christmas looks at the team skull’s jackets. When Kurau replaces Hiroshi in the battle pod match, Kurau ends up getting disqualified at the end of the match, due to attacking the cockpit, which is against the rules. Despite this episode not having much action in it, I really enjoyed the character development that Agent Ayaka gets in this episode.

To agent Ayaka, the word Christmas is a horrible name, due to it reminders her of the day when the rest of her family died. 14 years ago when Ayaka was still a child, she went out of the house to see the snow, but upon returning to the house, she comes across the horrible site of seeing the rest of her family lying dead on the floor, with the floor being covered in blood. As it turns out during her father’s official GPO funereal, we learn that Ayaka’s father was the Commissioner of the GPO. Also during the funeral scene in this episode, we see a young agent Kieth Wong giving Ayaka a quick sincere glance as he passes by her at the funeral. Also during the flashback scene, we see a young version of the current GPO commissioner that replaced Ayaka’s father, that is trying his best to solve the allege problem of some GPO members having ties to the criminals, that were involved in the former Commissioner’s death.

What I enjoyed about this episode when we look into agent Ayaka’s past, was the scene when we see a young Agent Ayaka at the shooting range, and we get the first interaction between Ayaka and Dag. Overall, I thought this episode was good, as it was nice to see the reasons of what made Ayaka be so professional about her duties as a GPO officer.

As Kurau and Christmas are yet again forced to flee their new way of life at the seaside restaurant in this episode, it’s becoming more apparent that it’s only a matter of time before the GPO manages to capture Kurau and Christmas, due to the GPO keep finding ways to track them down. If Kurau and Christmas do manage to get captured by the GPO, it will be interesting to see what direction the show will take after this, as it’s not clear yet what subplots will carry over to the remaining episodes.