Patches alluded to this bit of news earlier today, but now, it's pretty much confirmed: Episode 10 will have or mark the start of a new ending theme.

Sources: alan – official website

Episode 9: Sesshoumaru in the Underworld

Chapters covered: 466 through most of 471

First off, Viz may be in a bit of trouble this week. Because the episode aired two hours later than usual on NTV, Viz thought it would be appropriate to violate NTV's first-to-air rights and uploaded the complete subbed episode while it was still airing.

With respect to the episode itself, while I watched it on the rather fugly KeyHoleTV stream, the screencaps were quite definitive in establishing this week's episode as extremely well-animated. The background music was not as good though. The original theme for Tessaiga was used during Tenseiga's 100 soul revival. Sessmom's (voiced by Yoshiko Sakakibara) dry wit and Mother-of-the-Year (trademarked by Rosa Ushiromiya) qualities were left in tact. Unfortunately, the Hell scenes, which seemed like hours in the manga, felt slightly rushed. When I say rushed, I don't mean rushed like the first few episodes of Final Act, instead I mean that the Hell scenes would've benefited from an additional 1-2 minutes.

Anyway, next week is Kaou and he is apparently being voiced by Ryuusei Nakao (best known for the voice of Frieza in DBZ/DBKai and Mayuri Kurosutchi in Bleach).

HD screencaps (click to enlarge)

Episode 8: Among the Twinkling Stars

Chapters covered: 459-465

Note: NTV is still on my shit-list. They delayed the broadcast of the episode by 70 minutes. Next week will be delayed by 2 hours.

Lots of action and emotion this week for Kikyou's send-off. Despite news of anime-only material being inserted, relatively little was actually changed aside from a short scene with Loli Kaede and the predicted flashback. An instrumental version of "Dearest" (3rd ending) was used to set the tone of Kikyou's death and was quite a great choice in my opinion. Plenty of time was given by Sunrise in order to properly pull this off and they certainly did a great job of getting everyone's reactions perfect.

My only complaint is that this was done at the expense of a fulfilling battle with Naraku. It was too short and lacked the tension that the manga had. I guess this couldn't be helped since Kikyou was a higher priority for the episode.

Anyway, next week is Kouga's departure, the Hell arc, and Sessmom (voiced by Yoshiko Sakakibara). Should be interesting.

HD screencaps courtesy of 2chan/Futaba (last image is a stitched panorama)

Episode 7: The Mausoleum of Mount Azusa

Chapters covered: 452-458

(To hell with NTV for delaying the episode for an extra 15 minutes!)

Just as predicted. A literal cliffhanger ending. Sunrise accomplished everything that needed to be accomplished this week: Spiderwebs, Kohaku/Sesshoumaru vs Byakuya, Mount Azusa. They could've given another minute or two to Kagome on Mount Azusa, but I think Kagome's rant coupled with the use of  "Futari no Kimochi" that old background song whose name currently escapes me (please help me out!) really made up for it. Also, poor Kochou and Asuka.

Next week will mark the end of Kikyou. Much like how episode 124 was the defining moment of the first series, episode 8 will be the defining moment of this series. While I expect a well-done episode that not only does chapters 459-465 justice, I'd also expect that Sunrise uses the opportunity to make the scenes as powerful as possible beyond what might be necessary. This is perhaps where Patches' mention of new anime-only material for next week may come into play.

One final note: SUNRISE BETTER KEEP THE CHEST ARROW!

720p high definition screencaps:

A kind anonymous on 2ch has scanned a newly published programming guide that gives us the titles for episodes 9 and 10 as well as summaries for 7 through 10. Sunrise kindly gave us the 11th.

Episode 9: 冥界の殺生丸 (Meikai no Sesshoumaru | Sesshoumaru in the Underworld) *Hell arc*

Episode 10: 悲しみに濡れる花 (Kanashimi ni nureru hana | Sorrow-soaked Flowers) *Kaou story*

Epsidoe 11: 神無の墓標 (Kanna no bohyou | Kanna's Grave-marker) *Mirror Monster story*

Episode 6: The End of Mouryoumaru

Chapters covered: 439-448

Despite covering pretty much an entire volume this week, Sunrise managed to pull it off practically panel-by-panel and make it look beautiful.

I'd like to point out that this still doesn't make up for how poorly Mouryoumaru and Akago have been treated up until this week. Every upgrade Mouryoumaru received seemed horribly executed and done for naught. Of course, the same can be said of him with respect to the manga, but in that case, upgrades were spread out and acquired through huge battles as opposed to "I've absorbed your Kongousouha! HAHAHAHA!" or the mangled Kinka and Ginka storyline.

At any rate, I have no complaints about this week and I think both manga readers and anime watchers will be able to agree.

As for next week, I'm expecting chapters 452-457 with a literal cliffhanger ending at Mount Azusa.

Edit: Once again, Viz is showing their dedication and has the episode up on their Shonen Sunday site.