The final week of the Winter season arises! Who will win and who will fail?

This week’s challenge: The end of your show has occurred, but was it the right ending? No! Then let us know how you would have liked it to end.

Wake Up, Girls! (Episode Twelve)
Player: Kanashimi
Class: Boss

Back to Nanase being unsure what to do about her swollen ankle… Man, this is such a downer. She’s practically in tears as if she might have a breakdown. The girls have no idea and everyone forms a circle to prep themselves. Nanase is off tempo during their practice, and everyone notices. Once she reveals it though everyone is fairly shocked. They tell her to rest, but she states she wants to perform. At the very least, perform without her. Most of the girls want to withdraw since performing without Nanase would be horrible.

One of the I-1 girls is eavesdropping, but she surprisingly shows up with medical help. She refuses to let them quit, which to be fair is kind, but also for selfish reasons. Let’s push this girl who has injured her leg to dance. Maybe when she ruins her leg for life people will stop being so derp-tastic.

Nanase seems more confident and they decide to remove a jump to ease the pain. As a group they represent Wake Up, Girls!, without one of them they represent nothing. A story about friendship, teamwork, and other super meaningful things.

The guy in charge of I-1 introduces the event while Wake Up, Girls! otaku fans stare him down. Afterwards, before the girls go on, they do some sort of nostalgic trip on how it’s been a year. For me it’s felt like twelve weeks, but maybe the show needs to work on pacing. As the girls move out, the crowd begins to question Mayu being with them. The otaku fans however go nuts for them and cheer them on like never before. Nanase begins to introduce themselves to the crowd despite the murmurs.

The animation takes a massive dive as they dance, like wow. They became fat, chibi-eyed monsters, but otherwise the performance seems to be going well. As more time goes by more and more lights are added to the audience until it’s full of glow sticks. Nanase surprisingly jumps at the end, but to cover the two girls at her side ensure she lands by placing their hands behind her. As the I-1 girls watch, they recognize how fired up the audience is and refuse to lose. However, it’ll be hard to compete with some of the crying, wild otaku fan who are going absolutely nuts and have continued to cheer their name.

The I-1 club performs to stall for results and every single girl from Wake Up, Girls! is sobbing backstage. I suppose all the support was like an on pour of emotion to them. Annoyingly enough a different group wins, despite even the head of I-1 Club agreeing that they have in fact won. So a different group won for random plot development? Well, whatever, Avex… er, Bivex calls to make all their dreams come true with a record deal.

God, I feel so bitter. Everything up until they didn’t win was going exactly the way it should have. Then they didn’t win. Why? They obviously had the best fan reaction. That entire “twist” was silly and unnecessary. We also really don’t know who beat who in the I-1 V.S. Wake Up, Girls! rivalry. If there is one thing I could change in the ending it’d be that. What a crock!

Watch Wake Up, Girls! on Crunchyroll or talk about this episode on our forums.

Gundam Build Fighters (Episode Twenty-Four and Twenty-Five)
Player: Elk
Class: DJ

Welcome to the last 2 episodes of Gundam Build Fighters! Why 2 episodes you might ask? This season has an odd number of episodes, so I’ll be covering both last week’s and yesterday’s episode.

We’re getting ready for the grand final of the tournament, and Chairman Mashita is unwilling to lose. He brings in Aila’s handler, the evil guy in charge of the Embody system, and some thugs to hold down Allan and Yuuki as he fits Yuuki with this system that will warp his mind.

OP break! Speaking of OP breaks and ED breaks, it seems we’ll have two of each this review. It’s a Simulblast first!

So, now that the brainwashing is out of the way, let’s get back to this amazing series and this action filled tournament. Wasting no time, the final starts and we finally see the Exia Dark Matter, which looks incredibly intimidating for sure. Somehow the adults are all able to feel the intent and aura of Yuuki, and the fact it matches the second Meijin’s. You might recall he was the reason Julian quit gunpla.

As soon as the fight begins the Star Build Strike is on the defensive. Yuuki is so offensive however that he quickly fills up the Strike’s Plavsky shield. They fire their giant mega cannon, but the Dark Matter cleaves it in two like Nils was able to do. The fight continues with the Exia taking the lead. The adults again see the comparison to the second Meijin. Apparently he was also being mind controlled by Mashita?

Apparently the PPSE science team were able to find out how to use the Plavsky crystal as a brainwashing tool. We also hear of Mashita’s backstory. Turns out Baker is a hardcore Gundam fan who was cosplaying Sayla Mass when he met her, and his desire to be rich and her love of Gundam is what created Gunpla? Or at least Gunpla Battle using the Plavsky crystal.

The PPSE cheats again switching the field mid battle into one more suited to the Dark Matter Exia, who again is able to land some serious hits on the Build Strike. It takes so much damage it seems like it’s shutting down. The Exia continues to beat on it’s lifeless body. Takeshi, Sei’s dad says he’s going to complain about the field change officially as a Gunpla ref, but Mao’s master and Mr.Ral remind him he shouldn’t interfere in a battle.

Aila starts hearing wishes through the Plavsky crystal she has, and realizes Yuuki’s being controlled by the embody system. Meanwhile Sei is wondering why Yuuki is acting this way. Reiji is notified by Aila that the mask is the cause, and Reiji becomes determined to defeat Yuuki to wake him out of the mask’s control.

It’s time for man mode.

They jettison the Build Strike’s right arm, and pull a sword out of it’s chest. Mashita’s crystal lodged in his pocket watch starts shining even more and he demands the Exia defeats them. It enters Trans Am and the fight continues in the original field as they change it again. The Build Strike starts pulling off a bunch of crazy awesome moves, which ends up destroying the Dark Matter’s booster.

Sei and Reiji put the Star Build Strike into RG, and it’s a battle between RG and Trans Am. The Exia is still faster than the Build Strike and dodges a Build Knuckle. Sei notices their other arm though, and they reunite with it. They clash, the Build Strike using a Double Build Knuckle, which breaks through the Exia’s swords and punches into the Gunpla. The dark matter coating is shattered and the Exia is back to it’s Amazing colour scheme. As the Plavsky particles clear, the Build Strike makes a victory pose.

Sei and Reiji are declared the winners, and everyone cheers.

The two main characters are worried about Yuuki though, and when they get to him he apologizes for the battle, since he wasn’t himself. Yuuki reveals who was controlling him, and Mashita with his strong wishes sends the Plavsky crystal into overdrive. Particles start bursting out of everywhere, and A Baoa Qu appears.

ED Break! Yeah… Talk about a cliff hanger. Thankfully I’m reviewing both episodes right now, though the last episode won’t be as in depth. And it really doesn’t have to be as it’s 90% pure action.

So lets go! A Baoa Qu has appeared, and the field is no longer constrained by any sort of stadium as it breaks through the stadium roof. All of the side characters help with the evacuation while Fellini, Nils, Caroline, China, Aila, Sei and Reiji all set their Gunpla.

What follows is 15 minutes of pure action. A seemingly endless number of CPU controlled Gunpla knockoffs come flying out of A Baoa Qu, and everyone except Reiji and Sei battle them. They head into A Baoa Qu as soon as Mao shows up and blows a hole through the Asteroid base with his giant Skull chest cannon. China and Aila follow them in.

Just when the odds seem impossible, Mao’s master (in a custom Master Gundam from G Gundam) and Ramba Ral (in a custom Gouf) show up. They decimate a large number of the enemy force impressing absolutely everyone battling, and all of us watching at home.

The A Baoa Qu fires a giant from inside, and we find out that China and Aila sacrificed their Gunpla to save Reiji and Sei. When the laser charges up again, Sei’s dad Takeshi shows up in a pimped out Gundam, and destroys it, staying back to hold off all the enemy forces flying in the hole the laser just made.

And for the finale of the finale, they have to destroy the Plavsky crystal. This means the end of Gunpla. But when they get there, the power the crystal is giving off pins them to the wall of the core. Sei removes the Build Booster from the Mk II and attaches it to the Build Strike. They enter RG Mode and use the boosters thrust to propel them forward. With a final Hyper Build Knuckle, they shatter the crystal, and everything disappears.

Mashita is transported back to Arian, and Baker goes with him. The Plavsky particles are fading fast. Reiji and Sei, and Yuuki know what must be done. They have to fight before all the particles are gone.

All the Gunpla took a heavy beating, so they have to massively kitbash(a Gunpla term for mixing parts from different models). The Amazing is built from Exia and Kampfer parts. The Strike has Fenice’s arms given to them by Fellini, and guns from the Crossbone Maoh, given by Mao.

Sei thanks Reiji for battling with him, because he’s a bad controller and could never have made it, and Reiji lets him know he’s not bad, he just loved Gunpla so much he didn’t want to break them. With the experience and knowledge of the tournament, Reiji turns control to Sei, and Sei and Yuuki fight.

Right before the last strike lands, the final particles die out and the Gunpla stop moving. Reiji says he has to go back to Arian, but that Sei needs to get stronger so they can battle in the future.

As soon as Reiji gets back, Aila is there with him. Queue tsun tsun moment when he asks her why she came back with him.

The epilogue involves Baker and Mashita making Gunpla popular in Arian, everyone building Gunpla, and finally, thanks to Nils and Caroline making their own Plavsky discovery, the rebirth of Gunpla battling, and Sei participating with his new Build Strike Cosmos( Potential second series? Please? Pretty please?).

I thought from the get go that we’d have Arian be a setting for full sized Gundams, and that all the characters would eventually become real soldiers in a real war in space. Either Arian would be in another dimension with a war going on, or it would be a space colony. I figured the ending would somehow involve a more serious tone, as the second half of Gundam series sometimes do. Although mind control and potential death of everyone near the stadium is fairly serious.

I’m glad you all stuck with me through both seasons of this series, and I have to say I’m pumped to find out what my new series will be!

Watch Gundam Build Fighters on Gundam.Info or talk about this episode on our forums.

Sakura Trick (Episode Twelve)
Player: Midnight
Class: DJ

What is it with slice of life shows adding new characters two episodes from the end? I swear, I’ve missed two episodes and I couldn’t be more lost, who is this green haired girl? I think these are some of the student council members with Mitsuki but when did they start hanging out with the group? Why were they introduced so late in the series? Anyway, like we’re graduating from this seasons simulblast to next seasons, Mitsuki is graduating and the girls are giving her a party.

There are food and presents (hand made mustaches…weird) and what the heck did I miss in two episodes? Why does Mitsuki know about them kissing? What promise? I probably should of doubled back and watched the other episodes. Oh okay, I think I get what’s going on now and perhaps I’m picking up a little of what happened on the episode I watched without subtitles. The entire conflict here is that Yuu hasn’t told Haruka that she loves her yet. Oh hey! I didn’t see this coming.

Mitsuki asks Haruka out! She flat out says she loves her and asks Haruka out, in front of Yuu! No! No! That is not a place to end part one of the episode! That is crazy! You can’t cut scene there! Well…they did and we cut to the school, where the graduation ceremony had begun. After the ceremony Mitsuki asks Haruka out behind the tennis court where she asks for an reply to what she said at the end of the previous episode part.

I’m not even sure what this scene was going for, if it was trying to be funny or dramatic in the end if ended up just being confusing. It tried to do word-play at the worst possible moment for it. The entire point of it fell totally flat. Anyway, Yuu saw everything including the kiss on the head that Mitsuki gives Haruka and then Mitsuki has to leave.

Haruka and Yuu visit their classroom and begin talking about how they define love. Yuu says she loves Haruka and kisses her. Wow, I was pretty convinced that was going to cross the line into hentai for a moment the way they were making out and saying I love you. The graduating class leaves on a violin solo and we skip to the next school year. The girls go to school together looking forward to a happy school year. Yuu and Haruka kiss and jump across the threshold to a new year together. Alright, the show is over and after last nights disappoint over the “How I Met Your Mother” (I was so upset I was up for hours) I almost can’t find anything to complain about in an ending as fit for the series as this one. However! That doesn’t mean I think this ending is perfect. I would of liked some kind of epilogue saying what happened between Shizuku and Katone. I would of loved it if Yuzu and Kaede turned out to be a couple. What about Mitsuki, does she go on to find love with another girl? Do Haruka and Yuu even last? Do I need to read the manga to find out?

Overall: It was what you’d expect out of a cutesy anime about girls kissing, while I didn’t get the dramatic school wide hearing about the lesbians being thrown out of school that I predicted back in the first challenge of this season. I did get the part where they officially become a couple and that’s something I suppose. I still think the court idea would of been really dramatic and cool. I mean seriously, can you imagine that, in particular if you kept in the part about Mitsuki the student council president being in love with Haruka? That would of just made it like a thousand times more dramatic and awesome! I digress, I’d give Sakura Trick a solid, three out of five. Why not a four? Because I really would of liked more development of the other couples! I hope there’s more in the manga.

Watch Sakura Trick on Crunchyroll or talk about this episode on our forums.

Nobunagun (Episode Twelve & Thirteen)
Player: Bobby Henshin
Class: DJ

Episode 12 of Nobunagun! Everything is going down! Explosions everywhere as monsters are being shot up and sliced left and right!
But lets slow down and give you the jist of what is going on. Operation Stone Forest is going extremely well, until this new armored squid shows up. Turns out that the first battleship was holding an egg inside its head ready to hatch and evolve as soon as it is destroyed. These things and hidden eggs I swear. The new ship also has a coned shell that looks like a cannon. The cannon is lined with line mine type Objects that explode in a domino effect, or the scientific term is the Munroe Effect. The Munroe Effect is when a series of explosions are focused into a single point like a funnel and shot out in an extreme force. So an explosion fire cannon to be short. We are getting action with a history lesson here people. But I am getting way ahead of myself. Lets go back and start with the situation with the others as the battle with the Object army is underway. Jack and Geronimo make a bet to see who kills the most. Hunter also wants a part of this bet. Each go into new modes we have yet to see. Geronimo goes into a mode change which changes her axe into a bigger more creepier axe and kills almost a hundred of them in a single swing. It was awesome because when she was about to swing she turned into the glowing persona of Geronimo in the Objects eyes. Which I hope they were showing fear because everyone would be afraid of a giant muscular man with a axe about to end you! At this time, Cyx and Gandhi are pushing the last of the army out of the hole and the true final battle begins. Gandhi and Hunter go off in on direction while Cyx and Gaudi fight off in another. Geronimo and Jack go slice crazy on a good chunk of them as well. Hunter is terrified as Gandhi tries to protect him. He pins down an Object for Hunter to kill. Hunter goes frantic and wont stop stabbing. Gandhi calms him down as Hunter is breaking down saying that he is a scientist and not a fighter. Gandhi just bluntly tells him that he has to fight. Nice pep talk Gandhi. More Objects come swarming in as them attack Gandhi but they are ignoring Hunter for some reason. Hunter realizes this and looks at himself. He is covered in the guts of the Object he just killed.

Using his powers he runs to the Object he just killed and takes blood samples and cuts out a certain organ. With a few mixtures he sprays a orange goo on the Objects and they start killing each other. Turns out that since they are sea faring creatures that they use scent to tell friend from foe. So he reversed the fluid to make foe and friendly switched so they would just kill each other. And the plan worked. Jack and Geronimo’s weapons are nearly spent as a large force comes for them. Jack starts to run at the Objects when he is stopped in his tracks and is shown a vision saying that he needs to go help Nobunagun. Jack tells Geronimo to handle the rest as he pulls a Batman and disappears with feathers falling down to the ground. Sio is grabbed by the tentacles when all of a sudden Jack comes swooping in with…metal wings. That’s right , Jack is flying on metal wings with bladed feathers. This is what he calls the Nightingale Mode. Thus ends episode 12.

Wait a second what about the ending of the series? That’s right! You guys get a two for one review today to end the series. Oh snap! So we see Jack in his Nightingale Mode as we cut to a flashback of a woman in pain as she is suffering from what looks like an infection. An old woman comes out with a lantern in a wheelchair and asks what is wrong. The woman says there is something wrong with her. The old woman apologizes and the lantern turns into a knife and cuts the throat of the young woman. Turns out this woman is Florence Nightingale. A famous nurse in the Crimean war. She was also known as, “The Lady With The Lamp”, for her many nightly rounds during the war. She is also the mother of modern nursing. Turns out that she has a power that allows her to sense when danger is about to befall the human race such as disease or danger. In this story she was also a secret agent for the London secret service. She warns them of this bacteria which is being injected into poor women to start a bio-terrorism event. There are also four more women who have been affected by this virus. Florence takes it upon herself to deal with the infection. She also starts the rumor of Jack The Ripper to throw off Scotland Yard. So according to this anime, Florence Nightingale is the true identity of Jack The Ripper and is the true E-Gene belonging to Adam. The first female E-Gene everyone! I was wondering why they weren’t using famous female figures. Using this new mode he has Sio tell the captain to tell the tank drivers to shoot at him when he gets to the ships outer shell. Adam jams his sword into the shell and makes a shield with his wings.He plans on using the force of the cannon fire to break through the shell and get Sio to the brain. Also the true power of the Nightingale Mode is to see enemies weaknesses. With one final push they make it into the shell and aim for the brain. Jack, or Florence…or…Ok we are just going to call him Adam from now on, is attacking the landmines inside the shell to protect Sio and she runs for the brain.

Meanwhile back with the others. The army is almost dead as the last of them are attacking the original cells to finish off the Objects once and for all. But it looks like a new massive Object has come and is trying to save the cells. Everyone now pulls out all of the stops to kill this new Object. Cyx turns her arm into a launcher and launches Geronimo at the thing while at the same time Nobunagun fires at the brain. Both objects go down and Operation Stone Forest is a success. All around the world the other teams are telling of their success and the battle is over…for now. Cut to a break room where all of the E-Gene holders are having a well deserved nap. Sio is having a dream about Asao saying that she is no longer alone and now has many friends so she doesn’t have to be sociably awkward anymore. She wakes up to see Cyx looming over her. She talks to Sio in what sounds like German I think and asks her to call her Ensui. She gets close to Sio and just reaches around and grabs her boob and yelling at her for putting her on a team that didn’t have Geronimo on it. Also Newton decided to join in saying that she was mad that Sio made her do all that work. With the look of doom on her face she is dragged to the bathroom where Newton and Cyx decide to give Sio a very intense shower. Just to meet our lesbian quota for the series. We cut to everyone dressed and visiting Galileo in the hospital where Hunter brags about how he killed the most of them and that the others would have failed without him. Geronimo and Jack had to comply because they lost the bet to him. Sio tugs on Adams shirt and asks him to go to the roof with her. She wanted to thank him for saving her but he ended up thanking her instead for not telling people the truth of his E-Gene. She is thrown off because she though he did it because he liked her. Saying all this in her mind and crying, Adam comes closer and kisses Sio on the lips. He pulls back and says, “By the way, that kiss was all me. My E-gene didn’t tell me to do that.” This makes Sio actually have a nose bleed and thus the series is over.

All in all it was a great series I think. I would’ve loved to see it go into 24 episodes and let us meet the other teams we never got to see, but it was a good ending I think. Also the shipping of Sio and Adam was met which made me happy. They became a cute couple. So for the challenge I think the series ended perfectly and I wouldn’t change it. Well everyone I hope you enjoyed Nobunagun. I will see you all next season.

Watch Nobunagun on Crunchyroll or talk about this episode on our forums.

Log Horizon (Episode Twenty-Three)

Player: Siege

Class: Content Provider

This player did not turn in their episode summary for the week. As such, they will not be awarded 50 flat points or the additional 30 for doing a challenge. Siege is considered a no-show and as such has lost a dollar of his original bid. He has three more chances before he will be kicked out of the competition.

Watch Log Horizon on Crunchyroll or talk about this episode on our forums.

Kill La Kill (Episode Twenty-Three)
Player: Knightshade
Class: DJ

This player did not turn in their episode summary for the week. As such, they will not be awarded 50 flat points or the additional 30 for doing a challenge. Knightshade is considered a no-show and as such has lost a dollar of his original bid. He has four more chances before he will be kicked out of the competition.

Watch Kill La Kill on Crunchyroll & Daisuki or talk about this episode on our forums.

Engaged To Unidentified (Episode Twelve)
Player: Kayarath
Class: Content Provider

It’s the last episode of Engage the Unidentified! Time for a grand finale where Kobeni must make a perilous journey to the mountains in order to convince her beloved to return home! Except that’s not the plot at all. It turns out that Hakuya and Mashiro returned home just to show their report cards to their parents and would be coming back soon. They took their stuff home with them because old textbooks and winter clothes wouldn’t be much use to them for the spring. To top it off, the lack of communication was because of Hakuya was too concise and was out of range to receive Kobeni’s messages! Look’s like Kobeni’s trip to the mountains was in vain. I never suspected such a curve ball from TOHO animation. It was such a surprise I was laughing out loud over it.

However, being a finale, something dramatic has to happen so Kobeni suddenly goes ill! Emotionally stressful situations do make her sick and there’s nothing more emotionally stressful then suddenly losing and finding people. Oh yeah, there’s a blizzard too just to keep things interesting. While Hakuya and Mashiro go on various fetch quests, Kobeni struggles with abandonment and inferiority issues. It looks like those things weigh on her a lot more then she ever lets on.

Pushed on by fear and fever, she gets up and gets going again. By the time Hakuya and Mashiro return with help, they discover that Kobeni left the place they left her in. Looks like the rescue mission turned into a search instead. Once again, Kobeni finds herself falling off a cliff (in her defense, a large chunk of land did suddenly collapse from under her). Hakuya, armed with his Kobeni sense, rushes in to save her again, as he did so many years before.

As Hakuya carries Kobeni to safely, they have a rare moment together. Kobeni tells Hakuya that they shouldn’t keep stuff from each other since they’re engaged. Hakuya responses by smiling back at her, which means a lot coming from Hakuya. Soon they reach the rest of the group; only to be found by Benio hanging from a helicopter. She really does remind me of Tamaki from Ouran High School Host Club.

Soon the cast returns home to continue life. While a few things do change, it’s really more of the same day to day activities. Mashiro does cute things, Benio goes gaga over it, and Kobeni keep the house running. Everyday life isn’t so lonely if you’re surrounded by people who care for you, right? Honestly, there’s only one thing I would like to add to the ending; an announcement for season two! Will it ever come?

Watch Engaged To Unidentified on Crunchyroll or talk about this episode on our forums.

Nisekoi (Episode Twelve)
Player: Zero Gravity
Class: DJ

This player is officially out of the competition, but can join again for the Spring season.

Watch Nisekoi on Crunchyroll or talk about this episode on our forums.

Week 012 Tally

1. Kanashimi: 2,967
2. Elk: 2,538
3. Midnight: 2,441
4. Bobby Henshin: 2,025
5. Siege: 1,710
6. Kayarath: 1,680
7. Knightshade: 1,670
8. Zero Gravity: 900

Next week’s challenge: There is none! But be back soon for the conclusion of who won this season’s Simulblast!

Make sure to vote for your favorite review below! You can give your favorite an extra 20 points.