Recap: Yura and Sonora finally meet each other. In a bid to recruit Yura, the rest of the C3 club challenges the two to a match.

Gee’s Thoughts:

In a surprise I’m sure everyone saw coming, C3’s budget took a massive hit compared to its excellent debut episode. Since I came into this for airsoft antics rather than the cute girls doing cute things angle, this was definitely a little discouraging. You’d think a venerated studio like Gainax would know how to animate, even on a budget. Alas, between the close-ups, still frames, and jarringly stilted action, C3’s second episode definitely brings the show down in my eyes.

That said, Sonora makes for a great addition to the cast, and she became an instant favorite in my eyes. Between the coat-on-shoulders look and her ability to kickass even without a gun, she’s definitely one of the better characters in the anime, and it certainly helps balance out the shy introvert thing Yura’s all about. In addition, the soundtrack continues to be quite enjoyable, utilizing some sweet jazzy tunes that while initially seemed like an odd choice, totally works in the show’s favor.

Overall, while I’m a little disappointed compared to the crazy fun antics of the first episode, I’ll continue to keep my eye on this one.

Lifesong’s Thoughts: The animation quality dropped, but the voice acting more than made up for that as far I am concerned. Listening to Miyuki Sawashiro yelling at Ai Kayano was fun. I do wonder why they didn’t just cut those backgrounds characters out entirely. Or fade them to grey or something. They look pretty silly without movement. Hopefully they just ran out of time and will do better in future episodes. Also, great music choices in this episode.