Rank	Anime	Studio	Episode	Change
1	Mawaru Penguindrum	Brains Base	23	1
2	The iDOLM@STER	Studio A-1	24	3
3	Fate/zero	ufotable	12	2
4	Chihayafuru	Madhouse	11	3
5	Un-Go	Bones	10	1

On the cusp: Mirai Nikki, Working!!, Ben-to, Bakuman 2, Persona 4: The Animation

Last week’s results, about the Anime Power Rankings

This week, Mawaru Penguindrum tops the charts with its penultimate episode. There’s been plenty of movement among the top 5 in recent weeks, with Chihayafuru making a long-awaited return and The iDOLM@STER going up to 2nd place for the first time. Lots of shows are going to conclude next week, so it should be really neat to see what kind of impressions this season’s the big hitters leave. I will be carefully watching Mawaru Penguindrum next week to see what the heck Ikuhara is going to do. I personally thought this week’s episode was terrible but democracy counts.

Whether or not you find yourself scratching your head over what Ikuhara is doing with Penguindrum, all I know is with the apparent last episode coming, if you’re still watching it, make an attempt to remember everything you’ve learned over the first 23. If somehow he manages to tie everything together in one episode, we should give him kudos. If not, then we’ll have to remember this series as too much experimentation, and too much confusing of the audience.

-Justin (Organization Anti-Social Geniuses)

I swear I’m not being biased or anything; this is the show voters voted #1, I just can’t find any comments saying nice stuff about it.

Mawaru Penguindrum this week leaves me ambivalent. The show throttles towards a conclusion at breakneck speed. The train we ride on resembles the shinkansen more than it does a subway line. Unlike most of the series before it, it doesn’t neccessarily spend much time pondering over the concepts through monologues, which made up a significant part of the show’s intellectual repetoire before. With the switch to such an action heavy flow of events, I’m left somewhat bitter to see the previous style of direction pass away. In the rush to tie up all loose ends, I hope something vital isn’t lost in the process.

-ToastCrust (Transistor Glamor)

For the first time, The iDOLM@STER claims second place with perhaps its best episode to date. It kind of changes gears since the first half of the series, and now it’s much more serious and dramatic. This episode was the glue that really made it all work in retrospect. A beautiful achievement that takes the series to the next level.

Like last week this week’s episode episode of Idolmaster was fantastic, especially with one of the memorable dramatic moments in the series aside from Episode 20 is the scene with her, Ritsuko and Miki that showed how wrong. Thankfully she pulled through by subconsciously meeting her younger self and regain faith. That and the other girls rediscovering the power of Danketsu (unity) was powerful.

-chikorita157 (Chikorita157′s Anime Blog)

I think the reason Fate/Zero kinda fell this week (it’s only 1 point behind im@s, so it’s not as dramatic as it looks) is its stark contrast with the previous, action-packed episode. Not only is episode 11 lacking epic Rider action, he’s not even in this episode — it’s just Archer and Kirei talking. Still, I expect some serious epic action for the grand season finale.

Fate/zero’s a smashing success this week, though probably one of controversial status. For me, the low-action dialogue shared between Kotomine and Gilgamesh were the highlight. The content itself is already wonderful, and knowing the man Kotomine Kirei will become just heightens it. The introduction of Irisviel’s tragedy is also worthwhile and done quite wonderfully, though there was some drop in the quality of the still frames of Saber’s face, unfortunately. Overall, this is an episode that’s going to do a lot for fans of Fate/stay Night, but I feel the emotional content and dialogue is solid enough to carry it even without that aspect.

Persona 4 on the other hand, demonstrates this week further mastery over incorporating easter egg references to its source material while weaving it in such to be relevant to the plot, on top of incorporating anime-original content into that seamlessly. The doubts expressed by the protagonists in the face of Morooka’s death, and Aiya’s support of them through the serving of the rainy-day-only gyudon challenge (on a non-rainy day) was just a thoroughly hilarious scene, and earns major props from me, as it manages to make a reference yet remain comedic to the wider audience. Furthermore, with the introduction of Mitsuo, we’ve attained our first valid suspect, and they’ve done a great job expanding on his personality and motivations, where in the game they were treated quite thinly. His scene with Nanako brings on absolute dread, being an anime-original scene, and his attempt to capture recognition on the internet by proclaiming his identity as the murderer, his obvious social problems, and egoism backed with no confidence, is all executed quite well.

-ToastCrust (Transistor Glamor)

Hey, ToastCrust wrote 5 paragraphs for his comments, so it would be a waste not to use most of it. On the subject of Persona 4, I’m quite disappointed that it’s never made this season’s top 5. It’s a great show, even for people who have never played the game. The art and animation are top notch, the story is quite interesting, and the writing is hilarious. Like The iDOLM@STER, the Persona 4 anime is a faithful yet creative and entertaining adaptation of excellent source material.

Anyhow, the end of the season is upon us. That seemed pretty quick! Next week will be quite the bloodbath, with Working!!, Mawaru Penguindrum, The iDOLM@STER, Tamayura – Hitotose, Un-Go, and Fate/Zero season finales — that’s 4 of the top 5! Which shows’ conclusion will leave the biggest impression? tune in to find out!

With only one episode left, Un-Go still has a lot up its sleeve. With all the different conflicts, motivations, secrets etc, I cannot help but fear that the finale will be a typical and rushed Bones ending. If it is, it will still be a good show. If it is not, it might be the best of the season.

-Marow (Anime Viking)

Also, happy holidays in advance!

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