This show is the exact opposite of Yuri Kuma Arashi.  As much as that series plays with its metaphors this one is pure enjoyment visually and with its original story.  After seeing her friend and the woman she looked up to, Maccha Green be defeated and lose her powers, Nozomi begins her adventure of finding moonlight stones with her friends-  Yukina, Ai and Chiaya.  Ah this series is so creative!  The memory pad that Chiaya uses to show Nozomi and the others how she found her stone and the Always Comima town these girls travel to in search of more stones!  It was a visual feast with the background art where the character designs didn’t drop in quality one bit!

I’m glad Rolling Girls is taking this route–  an adventure anime that’s good for kids and adults.  This reminds me a lot of what Kyousogiga gave us a few years back in how daring it was to tell a story with themes for everyone to enjoy.  The Two Towers concept is back as the girls finally arrive at the previous capital, Always Comima.

We’ve got a strong staff working on this episode–  art director Kunihiko Inaba (art director of Giovanni’s Island and  handles this wonderfully.  What I really enjoyed were the background designs of the city–  Eriko Shibayama (Masaaki Yuasa’s Space Dandy episode 16 background art) drew this and it looks amazing and really unique!

Refreshing to see considering how ongoing the plot has been and how much his hidden behind the scenes.  So Chiaya loses her stone to ThunderRoad after the group is suspected of being members of the Dynamite Bombers.  The reveal of who this notorious clan is was only revealed in a flashback here and it develops ThunderRoad’s character quite nicely here.  I also like how there is the parallel from the first two episodes to this with ThunderRoad’s ideals in protecting the city.  Very similar to how far Maccha Green goes to protect her friends within her town.

However we’ve got a twist that introduces personal motives.  What makes the situation intriguing is now there’s a Best having lost her own stone mistakes Chiaya’s stone as hers.  ThunderRoad is an otaku enamored with the Rick & Shaw statue and wants to purchase it–  ends up finding her own stone in the statue’s hair. The President of Tokorazawa sends State of Secretary to make an agreement with ThunderRoad for her moonstone–  something big is on the horizon in terms of the main plot.  Also we finally get a chance to see here that the President is in fact Chiaya’s mother which makes a lot more sense now that she knows Nozomi, Ai and Yukina’s childhood names.  Things are coming together and with the Dynamite Bombers preparing another attack on Always Comima this is about the right time for Nozomi and the other girls to do something really cool.

OVERALL IMPRESSION: 9/10

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