Surprise surprise. Was just about to give up at ep 4. Mikura chan is cool but the flagging standard of animation and disjointed plot were seriously turning me off. I thot ep 4 was just another bout of poor storytelling. Ep 5 debunked that. In fact it was an ingenious way to execute the 2 eps with their apparent limited budget. Almost 1/5 of the scenes found in ep 4 was used again in ep 5. But as ep 5 fills in the gaps of ep 4, the reused scenes were essential enough for me to overlook the fact they were repeated. (I tend to find most reused scenes redundant. Viewers of Noir may know wat I mean). I guess money (or rather the lack of it) results in much creativity.

Mikura really has attitude. I'm so used to the "Hi! I'm your wife and will unreservedly give you all my heart and soul" anime girls that I find Mikura is soooo refreshing. Ah! And we know it runs in the family too. The supposed sister, Momomi Momokichi (don't try to pronounce this, I almost sprained my tongue) can kick some serious ass too. I hope the story builds on Mikura and Momomi relationship. Ok, Mikura supposed to have killed her but I suspect it would not be the last we see of Momoi....

Good ep. Some Mikura backstory thrown in with Kuro's first involvement with her. My only complaint is that the animation has not improved since it sharply deteriotated in ep 3. Hope they get some funding soon. This series has promise.

[Afternote 10/2/04] Apparently Momomi's involvement with Mikura was covered in Mezzo Forte (OVA). I guess I would be watching that soon though I've heard not so good things abt it. Well since Mezzo has supernatural stuff anyway, maybe Momomi can come back from the grave somehow...