Steven opens Figure 17, and it's a good trip so far for the readers. For example, he mentions off hand that Hikaru must be returning into a human form because her containning capsule was broken. I did not even think of that. As we see, usually the crack in Ribbers' container means that it dies, yet I did not bother to give a second thought to the one sole exception of Hikaru. I'm intellectually lazy.

Also, there's a quote I want to save:

Our Girl is having a hard time coping with her mother being dead. Then an Alien Girl comes into Our Girl's life. The two end up partnering, and they eventually become close friends. Alien Girl has to learn a lot, and Our Girl helps teach her. But as she's doing so, Our Girl also learns a lot, about herself and about her life. In the end, Alien Girl has to leave forever. But even though they won't ever see each other again, they'll remain friends. There's a tearful farewell, but Our Girl gets over it, and is happier and more well adjusted because of what she's been through. The last scenes show that she's doing much better.

I'm not going to comment on the substance, because of Steven's request, but one thing: how can they "remain friends" if they'll never meet again? I suppose all that can be claimed is that they part at friendly terms.

UPDATE: I can't believe he's dissing portball:

Pete mentioned that when he watched it, he felt as if he had to struggle to get through it. I've been feeling the same. I started skipping through the post-ball parts of ep 3, and I felt like skipping through parts of the first and second episodes.

Portball may be the best part of the anime!