Cinnamon Ass - Reborn Like a Zombie

Fantastic Children Episode 21 - Dumas

Thoma and co give chase after Dumas to Kuril Island, where he reveals the tragedy of his past to Helga before taking her to Georca, who sets the final preparations for his return to Girishia in motion. Meanwhile, Gherta finally decides to confront her fears about Dumas' knowledge of her past, while Cooks and Alice resolve their search for the Children before beginning to deal with the GED Organisation and the mysterious stone once and for all.

I have a very, very embarassing confession to make. I cried during this episode of Fantastic Children. As a MANLY MAN, my testosterone rebels against this admission, as I don't cry at anime normally (seriously). Fantastic Children isn't as manipulatively emotional as, say, Air was, but the genuine depth of my feeling for the characters (except Georca, who is still nothing but a generic Evil Villain, if a particularly bastardly one) really surprised me this episode. The animation budget appears to have gone up a bit for these last episodes, too - and thankfully, it seems that we're not going to completely wrap up all the plotlines just yet. I was worried about Cooks and Alice for a moment there, but it looks like they're in for the long haul - hurray!

I'll reiterate, in case you haven't guessed - I think Fantastic Children is one of the best anime series I've ever seen. Admittedly, I don't have the breadth of viewing that many people do, but this episode in particular has cemented the series as an absolute all-time favourite. I really hope things don't spiral down from here (I've probably cursed it now, haven't I?).