The Best Episodes Directed By Koji Sawai

Natsumi gets chewed out by her mother over her poor school grades whilst also trying to hide her poor test results from her. Afterwards, the girls visit Hotaru, who attempts to hide the vast number of handmade Komari plushies in her room. This ultimately fails, but she manages to pass them off as part of a school project. Later that night, the gang have a test of courage at the shrine, which proves a bit too much for Komari.

After sleeping through the New Year, Renge joins Kazuha, Hikage and Kaede as they decide to go up a mountain to watch the first sunrise of the year. Along the way, Kaede recalls five years ago when she was first asked to look after the one-year-old Renge, initially finding her to be quite a handful but soon taking a liking to her. They eventually manage to reach the top of the mountain and watch the sun as it rises.

As everyone is cleaning up the school on the last day of the semester, Natsumi and Hotaru end up weeding and watering the garden together. Natsumi realizes she’s never been alone with Hotaru before and tries to come up with things to talk about… Then summer vacation begins and the kids start to work on their summer homework, but quickly grow bored. Hotaru then tells everyone her parents are going to buy some fireworks…

Renge goes to visit Natsumi, but she and her family aren’t home. She’s about to give up and leave when a hand starts talking to her from the other side of the fence! She thinks it’s a monster, and is relieved to learn that it’s the next door neighbor Konomi. But Konomi then tells her that she is, in fact, a monster… Later, the Koshigaya sisters tell Renge they were in first grade when they took off their training wheels, so Renge starts to practice riding her bike without the training wheels.

It's been several months since their training, and the girls' trip to Antarctica is drawing near. With Rin's help, Kimari manages to sort out her luggage, and in doing so, finds a game she borrowed from Megumi a long time ago. When she visits her friend to return it and talk about old times, though, Megumi doesn't seem to remember it at all...

At last, the girls have arrived in Antarctica, and are awed by the scene before them. No one's been at Syowa Station in three years, so there's a lot to do to get it cleaned up. As the girls keep themselves busy, Yuzuki seems to make up her mind about something.

The joint operation by the police and the strike force to eliminate the group of parasites led by Hirokawa has begun. Yamagishi's unit uses their special sensor system to hunt down the parasites. Amidst the chaos, human victory seems all but confirmed. But the tables are about to be turned by a single parasite...

Shinichi's secret becomes known to Kuramori, the private investigator hired by Tamura. Shinichi tries to confide in Satomi, but his unsuccessful attempt only drives a wedge between them. Shinichi recruits Uda's help to break the impasse.

Shinichi has regained some semblance of a normal life. However, with Migi's cells dispersed throughout his body, his physical abilities have greatly increased to the point that not even Mitsuo poses a threat. Shinichi fears that the changes go beyond the physical and into the psychological. Just as peace returns to his school, a new parasite appears!

As the number of mincemeat murder victims grows, Shinichi, alone in his knowledge of the truth, is in turmoil. When Migi suddenly alerts him to the presence of another parasyte, he is aghast to find that it is in his own school. Paranoid, Shinichi attends a schoolwide assembly, where the staff introduce a beautiful new teacher...

Jinko may be making a comeback in their game against Keijo thanks to prodigal first-year, Oharano Etsugo. The match begins poorly under their opponents' skillful assault. In order to change the flow of the game, Sekizan subs in the amateur Gion! Will Gion have a chance to shine in his first match? The match between Jinko VS Keijo finally comes to a close!

With their game against Todo-dai Sagami over, the Jinko rugby team has even more work to do. At Komori's suggestion, they engage in a slightly unusual practice session on the beach! While there, Gion begins to wonder if there's a better position for him on the team... After receiving advice from Oharano, Gion and Kamo head to Ryoin Academy to scout out the best flanker in Kanagawa!!

Joint practice with Keijo High. Since meeting Sekito, Gion has begun to see his own path. In order to become a flanker, he chooses to particiate in the fowards' practice. Gion is inspired by the hard work of the fowards of one of the best teams in Kangawa. To wrap things up, a practice game of Jinko & Keijo mixed teams is held!!

With the Sugadaira training camp starting tomorrow, Sekizan and Hachioji take their brief day off to go out together. In contrast with Umeno and Rie's wild fantasies, the two of them are simply going to a lunch meeting at Coach Komori's house. When Gion discovers what they're up to, he tries to go with them, but Sekizan sends him away! Then the persistent Gion comes up with a plan to accompany them to lunch!!

With the Ryoin match coming up, the stagnating Gion practices tackling with Kasuga, Hyosu, and Ise! On the complete opposite end of the spectrum is Susa. Susa tells Oharano he doesn't know how it feels to just barely make the cut. Oharano becomes enraged by Susa's words, and the two end up in an argument...

Hubb and Quent are still traveling together, searching for Cher and Blue respectively. When they get to the next town Hubb finally finds Cher but she tells them that they must all travel to Darcia's keep or all may be lost. Meanwhile the wolves also decide to travel to Darcia's keep to rescue Cheza.

There are rumors of a mysterious rag demon that has been massacring humans in the capital. Hearing this, Nina decides to try to catch this wanted criminal. Nina is a young girl who has come to the capital to work hard and earn money to send back to her mother in her rural village.

Homecoming focuses on one of Master Chief’s fellow Spartan-IIs as she assists UNSC forces in battle against the Covenant. During the firefight, she experiences a number of flashbacks to when she was a young girl growing up within the top-secret and morally questionable Spartan program.

In the second volume of the .hack//Liminality series, Yuki Aihara was a school girl who one day went to a school theater and while watching a movie, the words "The World" suddenly appeared on the big screen and suddenly, the entire town of Yokohama was blacked out due to power shutting off. People are desparately trying to escape and Yuki tries to get out as well. Suddenly, a mysterious woman who claims that she happens to work at the school theater helps Yuki find the way out of the theater. Can Yuki escape from the black out crisis and join up with Junichiro Tokuoka to get the answers about "The World"?

Several weeks after the meeting in Hida-Takayama on Christmas Eve, Junichiro Tokuoka, Kyoko Tohno, Yuki Aihara, and Mai Minase all gather on a dinner boat in Tokyo Bay, to prepare for their risky (and most certainly illegal) mission. Despite their nervousness, each one is dedicated to helping Ichiro Sato complete the mission sent from Helba. Ichiro himself soon arrives on a different boat. While traveling to their destination, Ichiro reveals the true nature of the problems that have been plaguing The World. Harald Hoerwick's program, Fragment, had been nothing more than a program to create an "Ultimate AI". The system to create this A.I. had somehow become self autonomous, and was working to delay the birth of the A.I. known as Aura, to keep itself from finishing its purpose and ceasing to exist. If the problems are to be solved, the Ultimate A.I. must be born, and it's up to Tokuoka and his team to help that event occur.