To-Love-Ru 138

Rito in his Riko form runs into Yui's older brother Yu while being chased by Yami.

Summary:
Yu calls Haruna's sister Akiho to ask her out, but Akiho states that she's busy. Yu then hears some noise nearby as if someone was screaming. On a nearby street, Riko is being chased by Yami because of something that happened earlier in the day.

Yami + Riko = Pure Awesomeness!!!

An hour earlier, Rito was at home reading a book when he hears Mikan talking with someone in her room. Rito opens the room door and spots Mikan helping Yami try some new clothes on. Rito immediately runs down the stairs to get away from Yami, but he bumps into Lala who is carrying the sex-change blaster (because Saruyama begged to see Riko) and consequently Rito is transformed into Riko. Unfortunately, changing into Riko did little to douse Yami's wrath and Riko runs out of the house.

Back to the present, Riko is hiding behind a corner when she is approached by the perverted principal. As the principal is about to assault Riko, Yu appears and sends the pervert flying with a punch. After driving away the principal, Yu notices something familiar about Riko. To Yu's shock, Riko suddenly transforms back into Rito as the effects of Lala's invention runs out. Rito eventually explains his situation with Lala to Yu at a park bench, and Yu can see why Yui said Rito lacked common sense. As the two are chatting, Yami arrives to punish Rito. Yu thinks Yami is cute and approaches her. Rito tries to warn Yu from getting too close, but he trips and his face lands on Yami's breasts. The incensed Yami then proceeds to pummel both Rito and Yu into the ground, but she stops short of killing them since she doesn't want to leave Earth just yet. Afterwards Rito tells Yu about Yami's story. Yu states that Rito's life is certainly not boring, and he tells Rito to come and talk to him if something is up. The two of them then notice that Yami is still around and they run away as quickly as possible.

~~~~~~~~~~~

A pretty decent chapter this week, mostly because it featured Yami and Riko, two of the best and funniest characters in the series. I guess Saruyama wanting to see Riko during Valentines did have a consequence for Rito lol. We also have an appearance by Yu who learned more about Rito in this chapter, but unfortunately being with Rito (as a guy) can be quite dangerous as Yu had found out the hard way. I don't think Yu's opinion of Rito changed that much from this chapter, but he probably has more sympathy for Rito and a better understanding of the sort of stuff Rito has to go through on a regular basis thanks to Lala.

Next week, Yami and Mikan go to the public bath... wait, didn't this already happen before, as in chapter 87-88? I suppose it'll just be Mikan and Yami this time instead of being with Rito and the whole gang.

Naruto 437

As most of the Konoha ninjas scatter to look for Pain's real body, Hinata jumps into the battlefield in an attempt to save Naruto.

Summary:
Among the wreckage, the remaining able-bodied Konoha ninjas split into groups to find Pain's real body. Meanwhile, Team Guy is moving through the forest and Neji spots Gamikichi lying on the ground not far away.

Back on the battlefield, God Realm puts a few more blades through Naruto's body in preparation for extracting the demon fox. Shima tells Naruto not to give up, but God Realm sends the old frog flying. As God Realm moves in to perform the ritual, Hinata jumps in and puts herself between God Realm and Naruto. Naruto tells Hinata to retreat, but Hinata just had an epiphany and states that she's willing to die protecting Naruto because she loves him. Hinata charges at God Realm but is knocked out by his repulsion field, and God Realm finishes her off with his blade. Seeing Hinata being killed in front of him, Naruto snaps and draws upon the demon fox chakra to turn into a six-tailed monster. God Realm is however not intimidated and states that his pain is greater than Naruto's.

Oh you've done it now, Pain.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wow, Hinata's sudden buildup of courage and subsequent death was quick... way too quick. Isn't Hinata one of Naruto's principal love interests? This has gotta suck for HinataxNaruto fans. If Hinata is going to die, shouldn't she get at least one more chapter to give her last words? I suppose that "I love you" were the last words, and maybe Hinata is not that important anyways or maybe she isn't really dead yet (a la Kakashi). Whatever the case, Naruto has gone into crazy demon fox mode like a lot of us have predicted, although this came a little earlier than I expected since Naruto still has one sage-chakra clone left. Maybe demon fox Naruto is going to get beat up, and then Naruto will go back to sage techniques to finish the job. It should be quite an interesting fight in the next chapter.

Bleach 347

Ulquiorra smacks Ichigo around and around.

Summary:
Ulquiorra blasts Ichigo and a large portion of the dome top with his black cero. Ichigo is heavily injured from the blast and Ulquiorra proceeds to knock Ichigo around some more before telling Ichigo to admit defeat. Ichigo admits that Ulquiorra is stronger but still refuses to give up. Ulquiorra then dumps Ichigo on the ground and transforms into a more terrifying form to teach Ichigo the true meaning of despair.

Ulquiorra to Ichigo: I'm wearing a lot more black now. Are you satisfied now, Mr. Style Critic?

Meanwhile, Ishida and Orihime are watching from the tower below. After seeing the cero blast, Orihime asks Ishida to get her to the top of the dome, and Ishida couldn't say no.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As expected, Ulquiorra is whooping Ichigo left and right and has him on the ropes, but just to drive the point home Ulquiorra transforms into super-bat as to give Ichigo some time to make a comeback. It looks like Ichigo won't be able to continue on his own anymore and needs help, and Orihime and Ishida might be able to provide it. Orihime might be able to heal Ichigo, or the other possibility is that Orihime is killed in front of Ichigo by Ulquiorra, and this causes Ichigo to snap and gain power from his anger and hate (kind of like this week's Naruto chapter). But for now the beating will continue into the next chapter.

To Aru Majutsu no Index 21

Touma returns to school for the first time after his memory loss, and Index follows him to school and makes a new friend. Meanwhile, a dangerous magician has sneaked into the city.

Index: If I can't find lunch... that'd mean I have to eat Sphinx!?


Mikoto just can't stop blushing around Touma these days.

Summary:
Touma and Index are having breakfast in the morning as Touma gets ready for the new school term. Index worries about being left alone at home and Touma promises her that they'll go somewhere fun after he returns from school. Index is excited by the prospect of going somewhere fun, but after Touma leaves Index realizes that her lunch hasn't been taken care of. On his way to school, Touma runs into Mikoto who is still embarrassed by the pretend-date they had yesterday. After chatting with Mikoto, Touma makes his way to school, but he doesn't recognize most of the people there because of his memory loss. Touma spots Komoe-sensei driving parking her car and wonders how his short teacher is able to drive as her feet can't reach the floor, but Komoe shows that her car has hand-operated accelerator and brake. Komoe and Touma walk to their classroom together and Komoe starts talking about AIM (An Involuntary Movement), which is an energy field unconsciously emitted by espers. Komoe states that AIM may be used to determine the location of espers and gauge how strong they are.

I'm surprised that Komoe-sensei has a car, since she likes to blow her money on smokes and booze.


Aleister to Motoharu: You know, even if you press the picture against the glass I still can't see it.

Inside the windowless skyscraper, Motoharu is teleported into Aleister Crowley's chamber by Awaki Musujime. Once there, Motoharu and Aleister discuss what to do about an intruder inside the city. The intruder is Sherry Cromwell, who is a magician from Necessarius. Motoharu volunteers to confront Sherry as the relations between the Academy City and the Church of England may be damaged if Aleister sends people after her, but Aleister once again plans to use Touma to solve the problem.

Hello, I'm Index the Necessarius nun, and I'm here to teach you everything about kittens.

Before attending the start-of-term ceremony, Komoe holds a class meeting with all of her students. Komoe-sensei announces that a female transfer student is joining the class, and she calls for the student to enter the classroom. To Komoe and Touma's surprise, Index walks into the room. Komoe quickly pushes Index out of the classroom and gives the young nun some money to take a cab home. While Komoe is busy with Index, the real transfer student walks into the classroom and she turns out to be none other than Aisa.

After being kicked out of the classroom by Komoe, Index wanders around the school wondering what she's going to eat for lunch. Index makes her way into the cafeteria and spots some vending machines. The young nun has heard of vending machines but she has never used one herself, but she decides to give it a try anyways because she's hungry. Index correctly feeds the money (that Komoe gave her) into machine but don't know how to make a selection. As Index is about to give up, a girl with glasses appears and helps Index get her money back from the machine. Index thanks the girl and inquires about her name, and the shy girl introduces herself as a transfer student name Hyoka Kazakiri. Index also wants to be a "transfer student" so she can stay at the school with Touma, but Hyoka explains that it's not that simple. Hyoka then suggest that Index change her clothing to something less conspicuous and the two head to the changing room.

After seeing Kaori naked, this just doesn't have much impact anymore for Touma (and me as well).

Animal love or animal abuse? You decide.

During the start-of-term ceremony, Touma sneaks out into the hallways and worries about where Index had wandered off to. Touma suddenly hears Index's voice coming from a room, and his first reaction is to barge into the room to scold Index. Unfortunately Touma catches Index and Hyoka changing into gym clothes, and he receives multiple bites from Index for his sudden intrusion. Afterwards Touma, Index, and Hyoka chat in the cafeteria, and Touma informs Index that he was going to be home before lunch since this is the first day of school. Touma then asks about Hyoka and Index states that Hyoka is her new friend and a transfer student. Komoe-sensei arrives in the cafeteria in search of Touma, and Touma and Index notice that Hyoka has suddenly disappeared.

Later in the day, Index is waiting outdoors for Touma to get off from school. Hyoka reappears again and notice that Index is feeling down, and Index explains that she thinks Touma is angry with her for coming to his school. Hyoka states that it's actually a good thing to have friend to argue with because this means the friend really cares about you, and this cheers Index up a bit. Touma walks out of the school and meets up with the Index to go somewhere fun, and Hyoka is invited as well. Before leaving, Touma checks his wallet and realizes his out of cash, so he first runs off to an ATM in a nearby convenience store.

Aisa just realized that she's in love with a poor bastard.

Inside the store, Touma is approached by Aisa after he takes out some cash. Aisa is wondering why Touma wasn't paying much attention to her and she is also a bit jealous about Touma going out with two other girls. Touma responds by inviting Aisa to come along with him and the other girls, but Aisa declines because she is running an errand for Komoe. Aisa then wonders about Hyoka, and after learning Hyoka's name Aisa becomes serious. Aisa states that she heard of a Hyoka Kazakiri when she was attending Kirigaoka Academy for Girls, and this Hyoka was one of the school's top students. Aisa has never seen that Hyoka in person, but she knows that Hyoka' s ability is called "Counter Stop" and supposedly Hyoka knows the truth about Academy City's five underground organizations. Aisa wonders why would such a person appear at Touma's school and warns Touma to be careful around Hyoka. Afterwards, Touma, Index, and Hyoka arrive at an underground shopping center, and Touma tells Index that she can pick any restaurant she wants as long as it's not too expensive or has a long lineup.

At the teacher's office in Touma's school, teacher Aiho Yomikawa is making fun of Komoe for having disobedient students (ex Touma) in her class. In the middle of the chat, Aiho gets a phone call and has to leave immediately, and Komoe knows that Aiho has some Anti-Skills business to attend to. After Aiho leaves, Aisa walks into the office and hands Komoe a book on AIM that she wanted. Aisa then asks Komoe about the number of transfer students for this term because Touma had mentioned that Hyoka was a transfer student.

Sherry to Kuroko: Don't hate me because I'm beautiful.

Being able to teleport away would be really handy right now.

Somewhere in Academy City, Judgment member Kuroko has tracked down the intruder Sherry Cromwell. Sherry tells Kuroko to buzz off but Kuroko pins Sherry to the ground with some creative use of her teleportation ability. However, Sherry draws a rune on the ground and summons a giant golem which grabs Kuroko, and Kuroko is unable to teleport away because she can't concentrate. Mikoto arrives and frees Kuroko by blasting the golem with a railgun coin, but Sherry manages to use the distraction to slip away.

... and they lived happily ever after.

Somewhere in the city, Sherry is drawing runes everywhere with her pastel. Sherry then performs a spell which turns the runes into moving eyes, and the eyes scatter away in all directions.

Public vandalism!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As the introduction of the sixth story-arc, this episode has a bit of everything. There is a bit of action, a bit of comedy, and also a bit of those boring and confusing speeches about ESP and magic that nobody wants to listen to. I'd prefer more comedy + action and can do without the speeches, especially the one that Komoe gave on AOL Instant Messenger… wait, An Involuntary Movement. An Involuntary Movement is a terrible name for an esper's energy field. When I think of an involuntary movement, I think of those times when a doctor taps someone on the knee with a mallet and that someone ends up kicking the doctor in the spot which hurts the most. The point is they should have just called it "energy level" and be done with it.

My random rant about AIM aside, we have two new and attractive female characters, and both have to potential to join Touma's growing harem. Well, maybe not since Sherry is the main antagonist while Hyoka is currently a mystery. Being from Necessarius, Sherry is probably after Index, but in the previews she appears to be after Hyoka as well, but perhaps Hyoka and Touma are involved because they happened to be with Index. I thought Necessarius has an agreement with Aleister about entering and leaving Academy City given that Aleister talks to both Stiyl and Motoharu, but apparently Sherry just barged in on her own. I suppose that's why Stiyl and Kaori won't be making an appearance, or else they should know that another member of Necessarius is showing up. Guess we'll find out what's on Sherry's mind in the next episode.

The action sequence in this episode was pretty good despite the short duration. Kuroko showed off some nifty teleportation skills in the fight, but everyone who reads the Railgun spinoff manga already knows that Kuroko can kick ass. Too bad her abilities didn't work when the golem grabbed her. Sherry's golem looks pretty impressive too, so the main fight between Sherry and Touma and possibly Hyoka should be at least decent... I hope. Hopefully we won't see a repeat of the Angel Fall arc.

ToraDora! 21

The school ski trip turns into a battleground for Ryuji's group as harsh words and fists fly.

Ryuji blames his lack of skiing skills on the tacky purple uniform.


Ryuji shows off his acting skills.

Summary:
Upon arriving at the resort, the students are impressed by the scenery but they are unimpressed with the guys and girls uniform they have to wear. While most of the classmates are busy having fun skiing, Ryuji is trying to learn how to ski but ends up falling, and Taiga runs into him while tobogganing down the hill. Taiga and Ryuji turn out to be the only ones in their group who don't know how to ski, and the two start talking about each other's love pursuits. While Ryuji has made zero progress with Minori, Taiga reveals that she ran into Yusaku on New Year's Day and had tea with him, but she refuses to elaborate on what exactly happened. The conversation is interrupted when Maya and Hisamitsu start arguing nearby. Hisamitsu has a problem with Maya's behavior towards Yusaku, and Maya thinks that it's none of Hisamitsu's business. Yusaku, Minori, and Ami get involved but Yusaku eventually becomes angry as well and Maya ends up crying.

Crying is one of the best weapons for a girl when it comes to going against guys.

A part of Ryuji's brain just died after listening to Minori's nonsensical blurb.

At dinner the girls are still consoling Maya, while Hisamitsu and Yusaku seem to be in a bad mood. Ryuji excuses himself from the table to think about what happened during the day. At the lounge, Ryuji is joined by Minori who noticed Ryuji leaving the dining room. Minori states that she has something she wanted to tell Ryuji, and Ryuji thinks that Minori is going to return his feelings but is disappointed when Minori starts talking about what happened between the guys and girls today. Ryuji realizes that Minori is not thinking about him at all and becomes depressed. Ryuji also notices Minori wearing the hair clip that he had originally wanted to give her, but Taiga had given it to her instead and Ryuji thanks Taiga in her heart. Afterwards Ryuji shuts himself in his room and sulks in his bed. Yusaku, Kouji, and Hisamitsu return to the room and force Ryuji to come clean about the reasons for his depression. Ryuji tells his friends about Minori's rejection on Christmas Eve and he is concerned about if Minori's real feeling towards him. After hearing Ryuji's story, Yusaku suggests that Ryuji ask Minori directly and so Ryuji is dragged by his friends towards the girl's room.

A gang of panty thieves about to be caught in the act.

Ryuji and the guys arrive at the girl's room to find the door unlocked and the room empty. Yusaku tells his friends not to touch anything, but Hisamitsu and Kouji can't resist going through the girls' belongings while Ryuji cannot hold back his urge to clean and organize the place. The guys suddenly notice Taiga walking down the hallway so all four of them jump into a closet. The guys do their best to keep quiet but Ryuji's obsession with cleanliness gets the best of him when he sees Taiga using the bath towel on her head to clean up a spill on the floor. Taiga notices the noise from the closet, but her attention is turned away when she hears the other four girls walking towards the room. Before the other girls return, the guys pull Taiga into the closet and plead to Taiga to not reveal them to the other girls.

Kidnapped by four guys... things don't look good for Taiga.

Ami, Minori, Maya, and Nanako return to the room and wonder where Taiga is. Maya starts talking about Yusaku and Taiga and tries to get Minori involved. At this moment Ami cuts in with some stinging comments about Minori and her apparent lack of response towards Ryuji, and the situation becomes tense between the two girls. Ami continues trying to provoke a response out of Minori, but Minori sternly refuses to say much about her rejection of Ryuji on Christmas Eve. Maya and Nanako eventually get Ami and Minori to break it up, and Ami and Minori agree to forget about the conversation. After the four girls leave the room to look for Taiga, Taiga and the guys come out of the closet and Taiga tells the guys to forget about everything they saw and heard in the room. Ryuji and most of the guys realize they heard something that they should not have heard, while Kouji is completely confused as to what's going on.

Maya: Nanako, can you grab me some popcorn? This is getting interesting.

Who the heck toboggans during a ski trip?

The next day Ryuji is carefully skiing down the hill when he spots Ami playing around with the snow. Ryuji stops by Ami and asks her about what's going on, and Ami starts talking about her argument with Minori last night. Ami states that she is just trying to get Minori to reveal her true feelings, but Minori refuses to. Suddenly, Ami and Ryuji hear Taiga's warning for Ami to get out of the way, but it proves to be too late as Taiga and Minori's toboggan bowls Ami over. After the accident, Taiga and Minori apologize to Ami, but Ami refuses to calm down. Ami accuses Minori of running into her on purpose because she was talking to Ryuji and because of what happened last night. Minori becomes angry at Ami for bringing up the argument from yesterday and the two girls start trading blows. Ryuji and Taiga try but fail to separate the two and a punch from Ami sends Minori's hair clip flying into the out-of-bounds area. While everyone is focused on the fight between Ami and Minori, Taiga climbs past the orange fence to find the hair clip. Ami and Minori are finally restrained when Yuri-sensei and other students arrive on the scene. After the fight, Ryuji wonders where Taiga had gone and the students start looking for Taiga.

Ami scores a direct hit!


The fight ends in a draw.


Are you people blind or something? Taiga fell out-of-bounds right behind you! It's right THERE!

It's night time and a heavy snowstorm is brewing outside. Taiga still hasn't been found and the police will have to be called if the resort personnel don't find her soon. Despite the weather, Minori wants to go out and look for Taiga one more time and Ryuji and Yusaku join her as well. The three friends return to the scene of the fight and Minori discovers a spot where someone had climbed over the fence and slide down the steep hillside. Ryuji takes a look and spots Minori's hair clip stuck in a tree a bit down from the spot on the fence, and he realizes that Taiga went to retrieve the hair clip. Minori volunteers to climb down the hill but Ryuji insists that he go instead. Ryuji slowly makes his way down the slope and retrieves the hair clip from the tree. At the bottom of the slope Ryuji finds Taiga in a semi-conscious state and covered in snow. It turns out that Taiga had hit her head and was knocked out while trying to retrieve Minori's hair clip. As Ryuji carries Taiga back to the ski resort, the semi-conscious Taiga mistakenly identifies Ryuji as Yusaku and mutters that she thought Ryuji would be the one to save her. Taiga continues to mutter that she had prayed on New Year's Day to Yusaku so that she can forget about certain feelings. However, Taiga mutters that the prayers failed and she unconsciously admits that she likes Ryuji.

Another supposedly "fun" activity ends in tears for Taiga. Good job there Ryuji.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Another cat fight! Bring it on! Seriously though, I thought the ski trip was going to be a light and comedy-filled adventure, but nobody ended up happy just like that infamous episode 19. Looks like the angst level has gone up again and everybody seems to be pissed off, with the exception of Taiga (who is bloodied and bruised yet again) and Kouji (who is blissfully unaware of what's going on between his friends). Even Yusaku got angry in this episode, although it's understandable given how annoying Maya (and Ami) can be. The fact that the students had to wear uniforms while on the ski trip might have something to do with all the hostility, but the main reason is because the series in the home stretch and it's time for the major players to make their moves.

Ami was trying to scout out the competition in this episode and ended up having a sparring match with Minori. I sympathize with Ami's position since Minori's behavior has been frustrating ever since the end of the Yusaku arc. Minori transformed from the personification of fun to a character who tries to pretend everything is normal but is brooding deep inside and refuses to tell anyone about her feelings, and this is not the kind of behavior that will win her any supporters. Minori's behavior is frustrating to Ryuji because she's leaving him hanging, and it also frustrates Ami since Ryuji has trouble moving on. Somebody had to slap some sense into Minori sooner or later, although Minori probably didn't get the message since Ami was the one who confronted her. I wish that Minori would just tell Ryuji yes or no (without using the UFO analogy) instead of pretending that the Christmas Eve episode never happened. Minori's standing in the race is dropping fast as Ryuji himself is starting to give up on her in this episode. Minori had better get her act together if she still wants to be in the running at the last episode, but it probably doesn't matter much now that Taiga unconsciously confessed her love to Ryuji.

Regarding that confession, I thought the setup to it was pretty ridiculous. There were a dozen people including Ryuji who were standing right next to the spot where Taiga fell out-of-bounds after the Ami vs. Minori fight, but it was only until later during the snow storm that Minori discovered Taiga's tracks. I don't understand how a dozen pair of eyes missed the tracks during the day. Was the sun so strong that all of them were blinded by the glare, or were they just purposely ignoring that spot? Despite the overly convenient setup, Taiga's dazed confession to Ryuji was very effective. I hate to admit it, but I'm a sucker for this kind of stuff. There is nothing quite like being hit in the head to make someone throw away all their inhibitions. The confession has eclipsed Taiga's revelation during episode 19 as the best moment of the series thus far. Ryuji is probably going to spend the next episode or two thinking about Taiga's confession and it'll take longer for Taiga to consciously repeat what she said, but at least the two has taken the first step towards togetherness (as a couple rather than a friend/master-slave relationship). We'll just have to see if Ami or Minori can come up with something to interrupt the process in the remaining episodes.

RideBack 07

Okakura and the BMA terrorists make their moves after Rin is captured by the GGP.

Kenji is being brutally tortured by an endless loop of bad 70s songs.

Summary:
Kenji is being tortured by the police using a sound blast device while Rin watches in the adjacent room. Rin begs for the police to stop, but the GGP representative sneers at her suggestion. The police are trying to get Kenji to admit to killing his senpai, who was killed when he was batted off Kenji's RideBack by one of the Shiro Rides. Kenji initially refuses to budge, but he is forced to bow down when the police threaten to torture Rin. Some time later, Rin is in her cell seeing Kenji being taken away by the police. Kenji looks back at Rin and assures her that he'll be okay before he disappears into the doorway.

This is what you get for violating every traffic law in existence.

Douta: I'm bored.
Suzuri: How dare you!? There is no way you can be bored in my company!

At the university RideBack clubhouse, Shoko, Haruki, Suzuri, and Douta are worried about Rin after seeing the news about the arrest of a group of RideBack hooligans. Shoko has tried calling Rin's cell phone but could not get through. Eventually Suzuri gets tired of the depressed mood and suggest to everyone that they should do something. Suzuri asks Haruki if she can ride the Balon and Haruki agrees because it would help lighten the mood. After preparing the Balon, Haruki and Douta lets Suzuri ride the Balon around some cones in the parking lot. As Haruki and Douta try to guide Suzuri so she doesn't wreck the Balon, Shoko takes out her cell phone and starts taking photos of the scene. Suzuri eventually makes the Balon trip over, causing Haruki and Douta to run over and check if the RideBack is okay.

It'd be a nicer shot if the RideBack was still standing.

In Okakura's office, Tamayo reports to Okakura that she has confirmed with her brother that Rin was among those who were arrested. As Okakura continues to type away on his laptop, Tamayo gets to the point and asks Okakura who he really is. Meanwhile, Ryunnosuke and his assistant barge into a GGP meeting to confront Karenbak. Ryunnosuke is angry that Karenbak is ordering the transfer of Rin to a GGP facility without consulting the Japanese police, but Karenbak sneers and states that the decision ultimately rests in his hands.

Rin's Grandma to Rin: Driving without a license and dangerous driving? What happened to my little ballerina?

In prison, Rin receives a visit from her grandmother Miyuki. After all that has happened to her, Rin looks totally devoid of energy and barely awake. Miyuki informs Rin that the police/GGP thoroughly searched her house including all of Kenji's belongings. Before visit time runs out. Miyuki states that she believes Rin would never do anything morally wrong and tells her granddaughter not to give up. Some time after the visit, Rin lies in her cell and drifts into sleep. While asleep, Rin has a dream where she meets the silver-haired terrorist. The terrorist tells Rin that she has been chosen to fight a war, and suddenly the terrorist turns into the Shiro Ride operator that Rin injured. Rin wakes up from the dream and wonders what exactly terrorist meant by his words.

Ah, so here's where you've been hiding in these two episodes.

At an auto wreck yard, Okakura climbs up and down a pile of cars and unlocks a container. Okakura then turns around and tells Tamayo, who is trying to tail Okakura, to stop hiding. After Tamayo shows herself, Okakura tosses Tamayo a key and climbs back up the pile of cars. Tamayo asks Okakura what he is going to do now, and Okakura states that he is going to "wake the sleeping spirits". Tamayo then turns her attention back to the key and she realizes the key is for the Fuego which is being stored in the container.

In prison, a GGP representative tells Rin that she is going to be transferred to a GGP facility. Rin states in a weak voice that she doesn't want to go there, but the representative tells Rin that she doesn't have a choice. Meanwhile, Megumi, Haruki, and Shoko are watching the news coverage on the arrests and the GGP's efforts to commission the Shiro Rides for police use from different places. Megumi is watching the broadcast from the streets while Haruki and Shoko are on the train, but all three wonder why the GGP isn't disclosing that Rin, aka the mystery RideBack girl, was captured.

Okakura to GGP agent: Sorry, you can't park here.

At night, Okakura is in his home deleting files off of his laptop. On the street outside, two GGP agents are watching Okakura from their car. After a while, the agent with the binoculars notice that Okakura can't be seen any more. The agent steps out of the car to check things out, but he is knocked out by Okakura. Okakura quickly disarms the other agent and instructs the agent to tell Karenbak that Captain "Goblin" will answer his call. Okakura then shoots the agent twice in the leg, tosses the car keys into the bush, and walks away. At GGP headquarters, Karenbak receives the agents' report that they have lost Okakura, but Karenbak dismisses "Goblin" as a major concern.

Not exactly knights in shining armor that Rin had in mind.

At the prison, Rin is loaded into a paddy wagon and is on her way to the GGP facility. On the way, the paddy wagon is stopped and suddenly gunfire and screams break out. As the firefight rages on outside, Rin cowers inside the paddy wagon and begs for people not to get involved with her. After the gunfire dies down, two masked gunmen open the backdoors and walk in to grab Rin. Soon, the attack on the prison transfer makes its way into headline news which is seen by Megumi, Ryunnosuke, and all of Rin's friends. The news reports that the anti-GGP terrorist group BMA have claimed responsibility and stated that they rescued the mystery RideBack girl from the GGP's unfair treatment. At the GGP facility, Karenbak is not pleased about losing Rin to the BMA. Karenbak then receives a report that Okakura has been spotted again, but he is being tailed by several BMA terrorists. Karenbak tells his subordinates to not take any action for now and follow the BMA back to their home base.

Okakura has trouble sleeping, so he needs to wear the blindfold and ear muffs.

Okakura walks into the university RideBack clubhouse but soon notices a group of BMA terrorists following him. One of the terrorists tells Okakura to come along with them because their leader Kiefer wants to see him, and Okakura wonders if the BMA took Rin just to get to him. Okakura follows the terrorists into their van where he is forced to put on a pair of earmuffs and a blindfold. As the van travels down the road, a GGP helicopter is following the van from afar.

Still not a knight in shining armor, but at least he's better than the guys with the masks.

Rin wakes up and finds herself sitting in a chair in a room she has never been to before. Rin then notices the silver-haired terrorist approaching her, and the terrorist tells Rin that at last they meet again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In my last RideBack post, I was wondering who would come to Rin's rescue, and this week's episode answered the question nicely. I said in my last post that the terrorists might have something else on their minds, but apparently everybody in the show wants a piece of Rin. If Rin wasn't sought after before, she certainly is now. The good news for Rin is that she is no longer in the clutches of the GGP and her prison stay was relatively short, but the bad news that she is in the clutches of the BMA and will probably never be able to prove that she didn't conspire with the terrorists. And of course there's Kenji being forced to admit to causing the death of his sempai. So basically Rin is in even more trouble than she was at the end of the last episode, but I'm sure she'll work her magic when Tamayo somehow delivers the Fuego back to her. The events of this episode definitely gave Rin some motivation, but she'll need some more convincing from the terrorists/Okakura to finally commit to fighting the GGP.

Okakura is starting to get on the action as well, showing that he is as formidable as his looks indicate. It looks like he and Kiefer (the silver haired terrorist lead, correct me if I'm wrong) have quite a history together back when they were both in the GGP. The two men don't seem to like each other that much, but they might have to work together with Rin to change the world.

Final note: Shoko and Haruki seems to be hanging out together now. Do we have some sparks going on there ;)?

Mobile Suit Gundam 00 Second Season 20

Anew and Revive attempt to steal the 00, while the rest of the crew tries to stop them.

Revive: This party sucks. I'm leaving.

Summary:
In the Ptolemaios, the Gundam pilots and Sumeragi tries to get Revive to reveal the location of Veda but the Innovator refuses. Sumeragi wonders what the Innovators are going to use Veda for, and Revive states that Celestial Being will soon find out. Revive then reveals that he as captured on purpose and that he can communicate with Anew via quantum brainwaves. Sumeragi and the pilots then receives an urgent transmission from Feldt who states that Anew has shot Lasse and taken Mileina hostage. Since the Innovators have a hostage, Sumeragi and the Meisters have no choice but to let Revive walk out of the room, and the ships main systems suddenly shuts down thanks to Anew's sabotage. After prying open the door to the hallway, Sumeragi returns to the bridge while the Meisters split up to search for Anew and Revive, with Setsuna and Lyle headed in one direction.

The "shoot your own comrade" trick always works wonders.

In the hangar control room, Anew is forcing Mileina to prepare the 00 for launch. After loading the 00 into the catapult, Anew and Mileina leave the control room but is confronted by Soma, who can detect quantum brainwaves. Soma is about to fire her pistol to shoot Anew, but she is stopped by Lyle and Setsuna. Lyle tries to convince Anew to give up but Anew suggests that Lyle come with her instead. Lyle agrees and gives an eye signal to Setsuna, who grabs Soma's pistol and shoots Lyle on the arm (where there is armor). Anew is concerned about Lyle and Lyle uses the opportunity to grab Mileina, giving Anew no other choice but to retreat. Elsewhere on the ship, Revive comments that Anew should have been made into a guy after receiving news that Anew has lost her hostage. Revive makes his way into the O-Raiser's hangar and jumps into the support craft after kicking Ian aside. After learning that Anew is taking off in the escape shuttle, Revive activates the O-Raiser and launches out of the Ptolemaios. At the bridge of the Ptolemaios, Sumeragi orders the 00 and the Cherudim to sortie and retrieve the O-Raiser.

Getting owned by a Haro... Revive has brought shame to the Innovator name.

Having gotten out of the launch bays, the Cherudim grabs the 00 and activates Trans-Am to catch up to the O-Raiser. The two Gundams surround the O-Raiser but Revive keeps going because he thinks Celestial Being wouldn't risk damaging the support craft. However, Revive didn't notice the pink Haro in the cockpit and the Haro bounces into its slot and forces the O-Raiser to dock with the 00. Realizing that he has no control of the craft, Revive shoots up the cockpit of the O-Raiser to temporarily disable to 00-Raiser. The Innovator uses this chance to exit the cockpit and is then retrieved by Anew in her shuttle. Lockon has a clear shot to Anew's shuttle but ends up letting the Innovators escape because he is unable to pull the trigger. In the shuttle, Anew looks back and states that she really loved Lyle.

Lyle: Why Anew? I thought we had something wonderful going there.

Within the A-LAWS fleet, Louise meets with Ribbons where Ribbons states that he'll give Louise some new medication to control her cell anomalies. Ribbons reminds Louise that she is out here to make avenge her parents and bring peace to the world. Ribbons then hands Louise the new Regnant mobile armor and uses quantum brainwaves to make Louise agree to everything that he had said.

In the Ptolemaios, Sumeragi, Feldt, and Mileina are analyzing the damage Anew caused to the ship while Tieria takes over the pilot's seat. Anew has caused major damage to the ship's software system and Feldt reports it'll take quite some time to restore the system back to its original state. Sumeragi knows that the Innovator will use this chance to attack, and she asks Ian about the state of the O-Raiser. Ian states that the cockpit needs to be replaced, and afterwards the O-Raiser's systems have to readjusted so it'll take some time as well. Elsewhere on the ship, Setsuna approaches the upset Lyle and states that they will see Anew on the battlefield soon. Setsuna offers to be the one to pull the trigger so Lyle wouldn't have to do it himself. As Lyle tries to retort, Setsuna states that Lyle's reasons for not fighting Anew are stronger than her reasons to fight her. Lyle realizes Setsuna is speaking the truth but he is still disgusted with himself.

The Regnant looks like a flying mole especially with those claws.

Back at the bridge, Sumeragi tells Tieria to get ready to sortie while she takes over the ship's piloting duties. Feldt informs the crew that Innovator mobile suits are approaching, and the pilots make their way to the hangar. Out in space, the Innovator task force consisting of Revive and Healing in their Gadessas, Louise in her Regnant, and Anew in a teal-colored Gadessa-like mobile suit are heading twoards the Ptolemaios. Revive reminds Healing that their objective is to capture the 00, and Healing comments that this is why Anew is brought along to help. The Innovator squad spots the Seravee, the Cherudim, and the Archer Arios in the distance. Louise starts off the attack by firing the Regnant's main weapon which creates a powerful beam that can change directions (once). While the Seravee and Archer Arios are having trouble dodging the attacks, Lyle in the Cherudim is confronted Anew in her new mobile suit and the two start drifting away from main battle.

With Lyle and Anew having their own battle on the side, the main battle has become a 3 on 3 fight. Tieria tries to break through the enemy by using the Seravee's powerful Burst Mode shot but the shot is blocked by the Regnant's GN field. As the Seravee come under heavy fire, Allelujah loses track of the enemy and the Arios is damaged by the Regnant's bending beam. Back on the Ptolemaios, Sumeragi asks Ian about the O-Raiser and Ian states that there's still a little more work to do.

A lover's spat quickly getting out of control.

Away from the main battle, Lyle and Anew are engaged in a fierce fight in which Anew deploys her GN Fangs while Lyle counters with his shield bits. As they lock blades together, both Anew and Lyle fire their weapons at close range and damage the other's mobile suit. Lyle tries to remind Anew of their relationship and love for each other, and when Anew refuses to give a satisfying answer, Lyle activates Trans-Am on the Cherudim. The Cherudim in Trans-am prove too much for Anew to handle and soon Lyle has Anew on the ropes. Meanwhile, Healing and Revive spots a crack in the Gundams' formation and charges past them towards the Ptolemaios. Tieria, Allelujah and Soma tries to give chase, but they are stopped by the Regnant's electric stun claws.

Lyle to Anew: You can leave if you want, but you have to give me back my manga collection.

Meanwhile, Lyle has his pistols and shield bits pointed towards Anew's heavily damaged mobile suit. Instead of blasting Anew, Lyle uses the Cherudim to rip open the cockpit in Anew's mobile suit while stating that he is here to get his girl back. Anew is touched by Lyle's words and is about to leave the cockpit and rejoin Lyle, but her mind is suddenly taken over by Ribbons. Anew takes the opportunity to destroy all of the Cherudim's weapons and prepares to skewer the Gundam with her sword, but suddenly a beam blasts through the middle of Anew's mobile suit, and the mobile suit drifts into the Cherudim's arms. The shot came from Setsuna in the 00 Raiser in Trans-Am, who has already defeated Revive and Healing. As the 00-Raiser flies by spraying its GN particles, Lyle and Anew enter a dream-like world to have one last conversation. Anew states that she's fortunate to be an Innovator because she wouldn't have met Anew otherwise. Anew then asks Lyle if they had truly loved each other, and Lyle answers "of course". Back in the real world, the Cherudim pushes off and Anew's mobile suit explodes.

Well, it's better her than you right?


The final goodbye.

After returning to the Ptolemaios, Lyle takes out his anger and frustration on Setsuna but eventually he becomes too tired to punch Setsuna anymore. As Lyle sobs on Setsuna's shoulder, Setsuna suddenly hears Marina's song in his mind. The rest of the pilots are watching the scene unfold and Saji realize that he and Louise may be faced with the same situation. Meanwhile, Louise and her Regnant are flying back to the fleet along with Revive and Healing in their escape pods. Back on Earth, Marina and the kids are sitting in a small house waiting for Shirin to return.

Setsuna to Lyle: It's okay bro. Go ahead and hate me, but one day you'll realize that I did you a huge favor back there.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The bad luck continues to run with the Dylandys as Lyle loses his true love. I had hoped for a happy ending for Lyle and Anew (and every other couple in the story as well), but this is Gundam so there has to be some tragic deaths. As I was watching this episode, I had a feeling that things were going to go badly when Lyle made his "I'm here to take my girl back" speech to Anew. At that point the storybook ending would have been too idealistic, and of course Setsuna has already foreshadowed things by offering to take out Anew when the situation calls for it. The dialogue between Lyle and Anew were a little cheesy in this episode, but the words did show that they genuinely loved each other. The only good thing about Anew's death was that there's no tracking beacon on the Ptolemaios anymore, so the good guys should be free to move around and save the world. Even though she turned a little evil at the end, Anew's death was still sad. Let's just hope the same thing doesn't happen to Saji and Louise.

Along with the Anew's tragic death, this episode showed us once again what an asshole Ribbons is. He just had to jump in and remote control Anew just as she was getting ready to return to Lyle. What a bastard. At least the operation to steal the 00 failed miserably. Ribbons' ability to remote control people does not bode well for Saji and Louise, since Louise is linked up to Ribbons' network and Ribbons will probably try to pull the same thing when Saji and Setsuna try to take Louise back. Louise will probably never be free as long as Ribbons is alive, unless of course the 00-Raiser comes up with another miracle. From the previews it looks like Wang Liu Mei and Hong Long are still alive, which means CB will receive the location to Veda and hopefully turn Ribbons' carefully-laid plans into a big mess.

Another thing to talk about is Setsuna, and in this episode he showed us why he is the main man. This guy has ice water running through his veins. Otherwise there's no way he could have shot Anew, Lyle's girlfriend and former comrade, without a bit of hesitation. This iron resolve and the awareness to do what it takes is why Setsuna is the one piloting the 00-Raiser. I did find it funny though that on one hand, Setsuna committed to helping Saji get Louise back, but in this episode he only offered to shoot Anew so Lyle wouldn't have to pull the trigger himself. It's pretty unfair to Lyle now that I think of it, but I guess our No. 1 pilot just doesn't have the time to retrieve everybody's errant girlfriends. Sorry Lyle, Saji was first.

In terms of action, this week's show was excellent especially in the second half. Lyle and Anew put on quite a show in their lover's spat with a nice combination of remote weapons usage and close combat. Louise also made an impressive debut in her new mobile armor and managed to handle Tieria, Allelujah, and Soma added together by herself, but it would be a different story if one of the Gundams went Trans-Am. The Regnant has some pretty slick equipment, but it's not really a threat to the 00-Raiser. For Setsuna and Saji, defeating Louise won't be too difficult but getting her to go with them without Ribbons interfering is another story. And finally, Healing and Revive got owned by Setsuna and the 00-Raiser again for the umpteenth time but both still survived. These two will die sooner or later though.

More Artwork

Another piece of digital artwork for all of you to look at (and make fun of).

This is my first real foray into drawing manga style characters. Originally wanted to do this as a Valentines piece, but unfortunately I'm still slow as heck when it comes to colouring stuff. Originally a picture that I sketched up. I did line it with my tablet but left some sketch lines in there so that it looked better, but on the other hand it looks a bit messy when you zoom in.

To-Love-Ru 137

Yui attempts to give Rito her chocolate on Valentine's Day.

Summary:
Yui has brought her homemade chocolate to school, but she's feeling nervous about giving it to Rito. Yui spots Rito and Saruyama arriving, and soon the two guys are joined by Mio and Risa who gives the guys giri chocolates. Yui notes how easily Risa and Mio handed away their chocolates and tries to convince herself that it'll be okay.

During break, Yui approaches Rito to give him the chocolate, but she becomes too nervous and storms away, leaving Rito dazed and confused. Back in class, Yui thinks to herself that giving chocolate is a rather tough task. The teacher ends the class and tells Rito and Yui, who are on class duty", to carry a stack of paper to the office. While walking to the office together, Yui makes another attempt but Rito misinterprets the situation and gets on the ground to beg for forgiveness. Suddenly Run appears and tackles Rito to get him her chocolate via mouth-to-mouth delivery. Rito tries to back away but he knocks Yui over and ends up staring at Yui's panties.

Yui to Rito: Here is some chocolate I made. My brother and parents wouldn't eat it so I'm giving it to you. No sense letting good (and slightly burnt) chocolate go to waste right?

After storming away once again, Yui has all but given up giving her chocolate to Rito. While walking outside of the school, Yui spots Lala and Haruna giving Rito some chocolate that the two girls made together. After seeing Rito's smiling face, Yui remembers her brother's words that boys will be happy to receive chocolate, even if it's just giri chocolate. Later in the locker room area, Rito is still feeling upbeat from receiving Lala and Haruna's chocolate when he is approached by Yui, who hands Rito her chocolate. Rito is a little surprised that Yui is giving him chocolate, but he's happy nonetheless, and Yui is secretly happy as well. After returning home, Mikan gives Rito some giri chocolates and inspects Rito's hurl for the day. Mikan is a little surprised that Yui gave Rito chocolate but she's not too surprised.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A fairly predictable chapter. It wasn't as funny or as exciting as I had hoped, but what matters is Yui did hand Rito her chocolate, which confirms her spot as part of Rito's harem. I'm not sure how Yui's position compares to Run's, but currently Lala and Haruna are still way out in front. Looks like we won't get a desperate confession out of Yui any time soon, but at least Rito knows for sure that she doesn't hate him.

So all in all, Rito received chocolates from Risa, Mio, Run, Lala, Haruna, Yui, and Mikan. Since Lala and Haruna made their chocolate together, it should be safe for Rito to eat. As for Saruyama, the girl of his dreams Riko didn't show up, but at least he got some giri chocolate from Risa and Mio, so he's not going home empty-handed.

One Piece 533

Luffy and company venture into the fourth level of Impel Down.

Summary:
While the prison is being locked down, Momonga and Hebihime have left through the back passage. Upon arriving at his ship, Momonga receives the news that Red Hair Skanks and Gaidou, two of the New World's "Four Emperors", have gotten into a dispute. Gaidou wanted to stop White Beard but Skanks interfered. Momonga knows the Marines don't have the resources to worry about this now and he tells his ship to make haste to Marineford.

Back in Level 3, Luffy, Bon, Mr. 3 and Buggy are arguing about where to go, but suddenly the ground gives underneath them and all four fall through the giant vent into Level 4 below. Meanwhile, Magellan has assembled his forces in front of the stairway leading to Level 3 in order to prepare for Luffy. A guard informs Magellan that Luffy's group has fell into the level from Level 3, and they survived the pool of boiling blood by staying on the rubble that fell with them. In response, Magellan orders Sadie-chan and the three remaining beast guards to guard the way to Level 5, Hanyabal to guard the way back to Level 3, and the rest of the guards to pursue Luffy's group.

Luffy's and company have gotten themselves on dry land, but all are suffering from the heat. Luffy suddenly smells food and runs off. Bon realizes Luffy is headed towards the kitchen and follows suit, but Buggy and Mr. 3 decide to got their own way. Buggy is hungry too and wanted to follow Luffy, but Mr. 3 states that the prison's all-stars are probably assembled on this level and so it's even more important to move around carefully. Meanwhile, Luffy and Bon run into a group of guards and the dynamic duo dispose of the guards quickly, but suddenly Chief Warden Magellan appears before them.

Time for a boss fight.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Luffy and company ran into the big boss rather quickly. With their stomachs running on empty, I don't think Luffy and Bon have what it takes to beat Magellan right now, so they'll have to get by him somehow and make it to the kitchen for some resupply. Hanyabal and Sadie-chan's group probably won't move from their locations, so Magellan is the only person Luffy and Bon have to worry about for now. It might be tough for Luffy and Bon to beat Magellan as the chief warden is poisonous to the touch, but the good guys can always whack him with hard objects.

In other news, Mr. 1 also made his re-debut in this chapter, and the trend indicates that he'll be joining Luffy's group pretty soon. Hebihime also left Impel Down without being caught, so she'll be at Ace's execution. As for the dispute between the two emperors, it'll either take both of them out of the picture or both of them will show up to the execution. It'd be a serious mess (not that it isn't already) if it's the latter.