Naruto 631

The Hokage zombies and Sasuke show up to help against Madara and the Juubi.

WTFBBQ?!

Summary:
Minato arrives at the scene first, followed by the other three Hokages. Minato transforms into the Fox Mode that Naruto has and the four Hokages get to work trying to box in the Juubi with seals while ignoring Madara for the moment. Sasuke and his lackeys then arrive. Naruto and friends question Sasuke's motivations, and Sasuke states that he decided to protect the village and wants to be Hokage much to the surprise of everyone except Naruto. Naruto of course reiterates that he is going to be Hokage, and he and Sasuke are called by the Hokages to help take out the Juubi. Sakura decides to tag along, and Team 7 is together once again.

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This chapter was hilarious. I never though team 7 would reform, but it really happened. I wonder what Sakura is going to do tagging along, since the Juubi and Madara are dangerous enough that there is no need for a damsel in distress. Maybe Sakura will finally have her big moment and do something pivotal, but I'll believe it when it happens. My reaction to Sasuke wanting to be Hokage was the same as the reactions of Naruto's friends. It sounds like a joke, but I guess they need a reason to keep his rivalry with Naruto going now that Sasuke supposedly wants to protect Konoha. And perhaps they want to draw parallels between Sasuke/Naruto and Madara/Hashirama. Sasuke had better plan on killing Naruto and all of his friends if he wants to Hokage, but of course he'll never become Hokage unless Kishimoto really want to throw us for a loop.

Bleach 538

Ichigo returns to Soul Society and other shinigamis are training.

Well, that was easy.

Summary:
Isshin wonders how Ichigo is going to get back into Soul Society, and right on cue Mera appears and brings Ichigo back to Nimaiya's hut. Nimaiya explains he planned to give Ichigo another chance all along. Ichigo is in the pit surrounded by Asauchi but instead of attacking, all of the Asauchis kneel before Ichigo. Ichigo chooses one whose face turns into Ichigo wearing a hollow mask, and Nimaiya promises to reforge Ichigo's zanpukto personally.

Meanwhile in other parts of Soul Society, shinigamis are busy training. Hitsugaya enrolls himself in a kendo class because he lost his bankai. In some woods, Kensei order Mashiro to attack Hisagi in her Vizard form to help Hisagi develop a bankai. Outside a cave, Iba is lifting boulders for exercise and waiting for Komamura to return from the cave. Inside the cave, Komamura meets a giant sentient dog who is not too happy to see Komamura.

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Lol so after listening to Isshin's story, Ichigo is magically able to tame an Asauchi and have Nimaiya repair his blade? Leave it to Bleach to make an interesting obstacle into something meaningless. I can't say I'm too shocked given how Ichigo always magically pull tricks out of thin air. It looks like Ichigo will continue his journey to visit the Zero Division captains and finally the Soul King. Meanwhile, the other shinigamis aren't sitting around, although the effectiveness of their training methods might be questionable. The giant dog at the end was a bit surprising, but I suppose Komamura must have come from somewhere. Maybe Komamura has some non-shinigami powers and the giant dog will teach him how to bark.

Kakumeiki Valvrave 06

Saki becomes the pilot of the green Valvrave as the Dorssia fleet launches an attack.

We have our Green Ranger.

Didn't know Haruto was such a player.

Summary:
Saki surprises Haruto with a kiss and then goes to the green Valvrave and becomes its pilot against Haruto's wishes. Saki then takes the green Valvrave (Valvrave IV) out for a test flight. Eventually Haruto catches up to her with his red Valvrave (Valvrave I) and gets her to land. Saki explains to Haruto that she doesn't have anyone to care for her and her parents are awful and abusive. To escape her parents, Saki joined an idol agency. Haruto tells Saki he considers her an important friend, and Saki thanks him by biting him in the neck and taking his body out for a joyride, including teasing Tahaki in the process. The next morning, Haruto learns of Saki's handiwork (where she posted a photo of her sleeping beside Haruto) and confronts her about it. Shouko also joins the discussion which leaves Haruto in an awkward spot. Saki explains that she is only using Haruto to get more famous because she doesn't want to disappear.

Love triangle? Not quite...

What sort of protagonist pilots are you, can't even deal with a little missile spam?

At this moment, the Dorssia fleet attacks the module and cuts them off from their ARUS escorts. The ARUS ship carrying Figaro is quickly destroyed. Saki rushes out to battle with her green Valvrave and has no trouble schooling some grunt mechs with her Valvrave's boomerang ring weapons. The Dorssia Ideals piloted by H-neun, X-eins and Q-vier however came with a plan of using missile spam to keep the Valvraves at distance and only go in when the Valvrave becomes disabled from the damage. Saki gets battered by the missile spam, and Haruto flies out and fares no better. Saki then gets a panic attack and does nothing while Haruto gets owned by the continuous missile spam. Shouko and other students are watching from the control bridge of the module, and Shouko gives Saki a pep talk which snaps Saki out of her funk. Saki then tells Shouko and the others to send the feed from her cockpit to all over the world so she can get all the attention. After seeing the social media feeds explode with herself in the headlines, Saki regains her confidence and starts dodging and destroying the missiles. Saki gets hit a few more times at first, but then she gets into a groove and her Valvrave powers up and easily overpowers the missile spam. Saki gets close to X-eins' Ideal and destroys it with a flying ring, although X-ein survives using an escape pod. The other two Ideal want to continue the fight but are ordered to retreat. While the Dorssia fleet has retreated for now, A-drei has sneaked into the module with a grunt mech.

Look at me, I'm the world's biggest attention whore!

Taking advantage of the lack of border security.

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I was beginning to like Saki due to her courage, calmness and not being quirky like Shouko or Haruto, but apparently her sad childhood has made her into a slightly crazy attention whore. Saki is so dependent on fame that she needs the attentions of millions of people in order to focus for a fight. Supposedly she doesn't even like Haruto that much and is only using him to get famous. If the only thing Saki wants is fame, then taking the green Valvrave was a great idea. Saki might be fame crazy, but at least she seems more intelligent than the rest of the school.

Other than Saki needing a Shouko pep-talk and the attentions of millions of audiences in order to fight, this week's battle was pretty funny in that the Dorssia military resorted to using missile spam as a strategy against the Valvraves. In many notable echa anime series (Gundam and Macross), missile spam is widely used but it's not a particularly effective strategy against top pilots, so it was funny how missile spam was so effective against Haruto and Saki, and the only reason they survived is because their robots can withstand getting hit over and over again. Haruto and Saki have no prior training, so they are certainly not ace pilots at the start, but it seems like at Saki has figured out how counter continuous missile spamming (by utilizing the abilities of her vastly superior Valvrave). It was also funny how Figaro and the ARUS ship got killed so quickly and unceremoniously. I thought Mr. Slick Senator Figaro might be waiting for a time to get back at Haruto and the students, but the series decided he is not needed anymore.

So the Red and Green Valvraves have been claimed, so which three characters are going to pilot the other three Valvraves. L-elf seems to be implying in this episode that every student in the Academy is a viable pilot, and it makes sense since why else would the Valvraves be hidden in this particular module. In other news, A-drei has no trouble sneaking into the module, which is no surprise given that the students aren't guarding the points of entry. A-drei will be looking for some payback against L-elf, but he'll have to find L-elf first.

To Aru Kagaku no Railgun S 06

Mikoto battles Accelerator.

Biri-biri is mad! Don't make Biri-biri mad or you'll be sorry.

Unfortunately, Mikoto isn't going to kick ass today.

Summary:
After seeing 9982 being killed by Accelerator, an enraged Mikoto attacks Accelerator with iron-sand whirlwind and throwing steel beams but the attacks have no effect. Accelerator figures out that it's the original Railgun that's attacking him, and Mikoto starts to realize who she is up against. Mikoto demands to know why Accelerator is going along with this inhumane experiment if he's already so strong, and Accelerator states that even though he is the strongest in Academy City, he wants his power to be absolute so no one would dare challenge him. Mikoto is pissed off and fires her railgun but Accelerator easily bounces the shot away. Accelerator gets ready to attack, but a group of Sisters appear to advise Accelerator from fighting Mikoto and deviating from the experimental plan and causing too much damage. Accelerator walks away after introducing himself to Mikoto, and afterwards Mikoto falls to her knees feeling dejected and helpless. Mikoto wonders why the Sisters would go along with such a plan, and one Misaka answers that it's because they are created for the purpose of completing the experiment. The Sisters then bid goodbye to Mikoto and start to cleanup the scene of the battle.

Hi there, beautiful. What'cha doin', lookin' so shook up?

Mikoto is disappointed that she cannot use her clone army to help her do chores so she can have fun and fight crime all day.

Mikoto ends up spending the night outside on a bench having nightmares about her clones. In the morning, Mikoto is approached by Shinobu. Shinobu explains that she had been dismissed when the Radio Noise Project was canceled, but was recalled to tend to the Sisters when they were reassigned for the Level 6 Shift project. Shinobu at first went along with the project, but after seeing a Misaka clone experience the outside world for the first time made Shinobu change her mind, and she had been spreading the cash cards in alleys to hinder the experiments. Shinobu wonders what Mikoto is going to do, and Mikoto answers that she is not going to let the people behind the experiment get away with using her DNA map like this. Shinobu informs Mikoto that there are over 20 facilities affiliated with this project, and Mikoto vows to take them all down by herself.

Let me cheer you up with a little song. Lalalala lala, lalalala. 

Girls, I dunno how to tell you this, but... I'm dating a guy.

Mikoto returns to her dorm later in the morning much to the relief of Kuroko. Kuroko can see something is wrong but Mikoto doesn't say anything. Instead, Mikoto invites her friends (Kuroko, Kazari, Ruiko and Haruue) to have some ice cream to divert attention. The other girls also can sense that something is bothering Mikoto, but instead of pressuring her they suggest that everyone go to the arcade to let off some steam.

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The previous episode was very good. This week's episode was not bad, but the pace slowed down again. Shinobu's flashback with the Misaka clone put a stop to all the momentum. We are still have a lot of the story arc left to go though, so things will pick up again. It wasn't really much of a fight between Mikoto and Acclerator. It was more of Mikoto throwing her best attacks, failing to do any damage, and realizing that she was hopelessly outmatched. We really shouldn't be expecting anything more though, although it would have been nice if Accelerator attacked and we had Mikoto running around for dear life for a bit. Mikoto isn't going to stop the experiments by defeating Acclerator, so she has to do it the other way by taking care of the facilities that are helping with the project. Mikoto seems to have made up her mind that she is not going to involve her friends, so all Kuroko and the others can do is watch and wonder why Mikoto is looking the worse for wear.

Naruto 630

The fight against the Juubi continues.

Interesting that the Juubi turned into one of those giant, stinky parasitic flowers.

Summary:
In the pocket dimension, Kakashi and Obito are busy arguing about Obito's views on the world. Back in the real world, the Juubi grows a giant flower from its mouth and starts forming a gigantic tailed beast bomb to finish Naruto and friends. Naruto is still down and needing to recover, so Sakura rallies the rest of the troops. Shikamaru gets Ino to link him to Kitsuchi so he can learn the seals to a simple earth barrier. Instead of trying to block the Juubi's attack with one big wall, Shikamaru plans for everyone to keep making walls and block the attack with many walls. Shikamaru and Ino then relay the instructions to the rest of the troops. The Juubi unleashes its attack and it crashes through the walls like a wrecking ball. Bee/Hachibi dives in to slow down the energy ball but suddenly the ball is teleported away and zombie Minato arrives on the scene.

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It sure took long enough for Minato to show up given that he was supposedly the fastest Shinobi ever. Of course, since he didn't have a kunai on location for the Flying Thunder God, it probably take Minato a bit of time to actually run the distance from Konoha to the battlefield. The battle against the Juubi isn't going well for Naruto and friends despite Naruto's efforts to try to power up everybody, so now it'll be up to the Hokage zombies, Orochimaru, Sasuke and friends to turn the tide. There are a lot of ways this battle can go since Orochimaru and Sasuke aren't exactly the most trustworthy, and Madara isn't going to sit around and hide anymore. Still, it should be pretty neat to see the four Hokages fight as a team. The Kakashi vs. Obito fight is losing my attention however. They are talking too much and not fighting enough. I also don't see how Kakashi would be able to win by himself.

Bleach 537

Isshin reveals to Ichigo why Masaki died.

Thank you, Isshin. That was a good story.

Summary:
Isshin explains to Ichigo that under normal circumstances, Masaki should have been able to fend off Grand Fisher on that day. Unfortunately, Bach happen to be reawakening during that time, and to regain his power he stole the powers of all of the Quincies he considered impure, and this included Masaki and Uryu's mom Katagiri (who died from sickness after losing her powers). Without her powers, Masaki was killed by Grand Fisher, and Isshin couldn't do anything at that time since he had no shinigami powers. Isshin explains that Bach is the one where all Quincies originated, and his blood flows in every Quincy. After hearing Isshin's story, Ichigo decides he is leaving. Outside the clinic, Ichigo sees Ikumi who gives back Ichigo his substitute shinigami badge.

Meanwhile, Bach has a meeting with Uryu.

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The explanation of why Masaki couldn't fight off Grand Fisher was a bit underwhelming, but it brings the story back to Bach and brings up more hate for the guy. I'm not surprised that Uryu is talking to Bach since Uryu is the living heir to the Quincy. Of course, I doubt Uryu will actually switch sides and fight against Ichigo, especially if he knows the truth behind his mother's death. Uryu might be trying to gain Bach's trust and find a time to stab Bach in the back, but chances are Bach will be on the lookout for that. Ichigo looks like he is going back to Soul Society, but before he can fight he probably has to figure out how to fix his zanpukto first. I'm guessing Ichigo will end up seeing the Soul King and the rest of the Zero Division anyways despite getting sent home by Mimaiya.

One Piece 709

The Block B battle comes to a conclusion.

Faaaaaaaaalllconnnnnnnnn PUNCH!!!!!

Summary:
Bartolomeo finishes off Hack, while Blue Gilly knocks down gladiator Ricky with a high kick. Blue Gilly then starts attacking the guys guarding Elisabello, and Dagama uses the opportunity to stab the guards in the back. Dagama then tries to back stab Blue Gilly but gets kicked into the water for his trouble. Bartolomeo is beating up Bellamy, but Bellamy is resilient and ties up Bartolomeo. At this moment, Blue Gilly and the other remaining participants attack Elisabello, but the king unleashes his massive, one-hour charge-up Falcon Punch which knocks out everybody... except for Bartolomeo who has the Devil Fruit ability of making extremely durable barriers. Bartolomeo knocks out Elisabello with a barrier strike and becomes the victor of the block.

Meanwhile out in the corridors of the coliseum, Franky and the toy soldier has a secret discussion. The toy soldier also wants to bring down Doflammingo's factory, but he tells Franky they must tread carefully as the plan will bring down the whole country as well.

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One Piece continues to entertain with the action in the coliseum. Elisabello's Falcon Punch is no joke and he succeeds in using it at the right moment to KO all of his opponents... except good old Bart the Cannibal of course. Bart has the Devil Fruit ability to erect powerful invisible barriers, and apparently it was strong enough to stand against the king's KO punch. I guess it either means Elisabello's punch wasn't that good (and everyone who got KOed by the punch were also not that good), or Bartolomeo is just a tank. I'm a little disappointed that Bellamy got finished by the punch though. The series was giving him some spotlight again but he ends up being no better than the likes of Blue Gilly. At the end, Bartolomeo won, which wasn't a surprise since he was the biggest favorite to win. We'll see if Bart's barriers can stand up to Luffy's haki-infused power moves. Before that though, I'm looking forward to seeing Luffy take on Don Chinjao and the rest of the block C opponents.

While Luffy is busy watching the fights, Franky is only one out of the factory assault team who is still concerned about the objective of destroying Doflammingo's factory. With some great luck, Franky actually found someone who also want to destroy the factory, and it looks like taking out Doflammingo's factory is going to have a pretty big impact on the whole country. I don't think the attack on the factory will come any time soon though since Luffy, Zoro, Sanji and Kinemon are all busy with their own problems.