aka Tasogare Otome × Amunejia
Number of Episodes: 12
What Wikipedia says: "The story revolves around a first-year middle school student, Teiichi Niiya who had just enrolled at Seikyou Private Academy. When he gets lost in one of the school's old building, he meets a girl named Yuuko Kanoe who reveals herself as a ghost with no memories. Teiichi then decides to investigate her death by looking through the school's seven mysteries revolving around her. Throughout the story, Teiichi and Yuko discover the truth about these ghost stories and help those who are troubled."
tTPO says: I must admit I was a bit unsure of this series when it started as it didn't really seem to know where it was going initially - comedy was mixed in with gratuitous fan service next to the romance, suspense, mystery and mild supernatural horror. However Mrs tTPO and I stuck with it and were glad we did. As the series progressed and more was revealed the plot and the feel of the show came more coherent, focusing more on the main characters and plot. In the process of doing this it lost much of the trivial fan service and comedy (though not quite) and gained more drama and atmosphere. The pacing at the end was pretty good and I am glad this was not a 24 episode series.
How About the Music?: The OP (Choir Jail by Konomi Suzuki) comes from the Evanescence / Paramore school of rock power ballads with female vocals. This is not my favourite genre but dammit if the song is not a) appropriate and b) a bit catchy.
The ED (Karandorie / Calendrier by Aki Okui) has a folky village waltz feel to it, and reminded me an awful lot of the opening theme to Spice and Wolf (Tabi no Tochuu). This is not necessariy a bad thing though (and I may be biased here) I felt the waltz time probably suited the medieval feel of Spice and Wolf better.
So how does it end? (Spoiler Free): As well as it possibly could have. The ending carried significant emotional weight and was consistent with its own internal logic, and I don't think you can ask for more than that. Though we were left thinking whether the final outcome was actually going to be the best outcome for Teiichi long term.
Overall Grade: This was another series that got a boost from a good ending. Despite the slightly wacky initial pacing and feel, stick with it - the latter half of the series more than makes up for it. Mrs tTPO and I agree: Grade B.
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