Gantz 295

The rest of the Tokyo team wonder about the fate of Kurono.

Summary:
After being suddenly transported back to the Gantz room, Reika wonders why Kurono is with everyone. Sakurai notices that Kato, Old Man, and Inaba are missing as well, but soon Kato is teleported to the room.

In the European City, Kurono has lost the left side of his face and his left arm, but he stays upright long enough to pull the trigger on his H-gun and take out half of the giant angel alien. Both Kurono and the alien then fall to ground from their injuries.

Looks like Kurono isn't a big fan of Renaissance sculptures.

Back in the Gantz room, Katou, Sakurai, and Reika fear the worst. Nishi is tired of waiting and demands the Gantz ball start assigning scores, and the Gantz ball starts making its usual scoring sound. The supporters of Kurono can't believe that he was killed in the last mission, but to their relief Kurono is transported back into the room at the last second. The Gantz ball then starts putting up the scores, with Sakurai getting 0 points.

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

Kurono survived. Who would have thought? Just nearly everyone who reads the manga, that's who. I'm not sure what the point was with the Kurono cliffhanger ending in the last chapter. I guess the author wanted to spice things up a bit when it became apparent that the mission wasn't important. Anyways, it's time for another scoring session, and Sakurai got blanked yet again, which is really sad given how many aliens there were (unless the weaker aliens are worth nothing). At a time like this, it's probably best for the team to start trading for weapons, unless somebody feels that bringing back Mr. Crazy aka Izumi is a good idea lol. I wonder if Reika will go through with her plan to make a copy of Kurono though. It should be very interesting if she does go that route.

RideBack 12 (Finale)

Rin runs from the pursuing Grimoire while Kiefer and Okakura attack the GGP base.

Summary:
Rin and Tamayo are riding down the streets on their RideBacks while being pursued by the Grimoire squad. The Grimoires open fire and hits the RB-Z's tailpipes, causing Tamayo to slow down. Seeing Tamayo in trouble, Rin swings back and takes a side road to lead all the Grimoires away.

Head shots always do the trick.

Meanwhile, Kiefer and his BMA comrades are fighting a heated battle with the Grimoires inside the GGP base. Most of the terrorists are having trouble with the Grimoires, but Kiefer plows through several at once and tells his subordinates that they'll have an advantage in close combat. At the GGP command center, Karenbak orders another squad to secure the gate and trap the terrorists inside the base. Back in the base, Kiefer notices GGP's change in tactics and orders his forces to retreat.

Rin discovers that Kiefer's back flip trick is useful for crash avoidance as well.

Back in the city, news helicopters are flying all over the place filming the smoke rising from the GGP base. One of the helicopters also catches Rin riding down the street with several Grimoires hot on her trail. As she rides down the streets, Rin realizes that she is entering that state of calmness just like when she was rescuing Shoko. A truck suddenly appears in the intersection, but Rin effortlessly back flips off the truck with the Fuego and continues to run from the Grimoires.

Okakura, an army of one.

Inside the GGP base, most of the terrorists have successfully pulled out. In another part of the base, Okakura has single-handedly destroyed a large number of GGP RideBacks and armored vehicles. Okakura finds out Rin's location through a GGP radio, and he heads off the help Rin. Meanwhile, Kiefer heads deeper into the GGP base to look for Karenbak, but he is stopped by Gatou who challenges Kiefer to a RideBack duel.

Rin got a little overzealous with the tricks and wiped out.

Rin continues to run from the Grimoires and she turns into covered shopping corridor. While riding down the corridor, Rin prays that the Fuego will lend her its power for one last time. Several Grimoires appear at the end of the corridor to cut Rin off. Rin tries jumping over the Grimoires but one of the automatons grab the Fuego's rear wheel and tosses the RideBack against a wall and Rin falls hard to the ground and loses unconsciousness. While unconscious, Rin dreams that she is standing on the grand ballet stage with one of her legs in a cast. Rin is tries to state that she can't dance anymore, but her faith is renewed when she remembers her mother's words about the stage being both the place of birth and death for a dancer.

Okakura gets the soldier to check out his new pants.

Rin wakes up and finds herself in the hands of three GGP soldiers from the Grimoire control vehicle. At this moment, Okakura appears on the rooftop, jumps off his RideBack, and takes out the three soldiers with his marital arts. Okakura and Rin then scramble for cover as the Grimoires are reactivated and start shooting. The bullets from the Grimoires lights some leaked oil on the ground which surrounds the fallen Fuego in a wall of fire, but Rin manages to jump through the fire and restart the Fuego. As the Grimoires chase Rin once again, the remaining soldiers in the GGP control vehicle wonder where Okakura went, but they find out the hard way as Okakura appears at the hatch with his pistol. After taking over the control vehicle, Okakura tries to deactivate the Grimoires chasing Rin, but the controls are overrode by the GGP command center. At the GGP command center, Karenbak tells the operators to let the AI control the Grimoires despite the fact that the AI has not been thoroughly tested. Elsewhere in the base, Gatou has Kiefer's RideBack pinned against a wall and he crushes Kiefer's right shoulder with his RideBack. Gatou pulls out his pistol to finish Kiefer, but Kiefer steps on the gas of his RideBack which causes Gatou to lose balance, and Kiefer uses the opportunity to put a throwing knife into Gatou's heart.

That can't be good for my heart.

Meanwhile, Shoko, Haruki and Douta are watching the news coverage of Rin from their respective dorms. Haruki and Douta depart on Haruki's scooter and Haruki tells Shoko to relay Rin's location to him. Back at the GGP control center, Karenbak receives a phone call from the higher-ups telling him to clean up the base and then disarm, and Karenbak realizes that Yokoyama has betrayed him. Somewhere in the city, Ryunnosuke and his assistant are heading towards Rin's location in their car. At the same time Ryunnosuke is talking to Yoda over the phone and Yoda states that there is now a media circus inside Hesner Corp's headquarters after their backroom dealings with Karenbak were revealed. Yoda then wonders how Rin is doing, and Ryunnosuke doesn't have the answer.

A whirling ball of ballet-powered destruction. The Grimoires don't know what hit them.

Rin leads the Grimoires squad into the city center park where Suzuri was killed, and on the way the Grimoires attack a police vehicle and a Shiro Ride for no apparent reason. After leading the Grimoires into park, Rin turns and starts taking out the Grimoires with the Fuego and in her heart Rin hopes that Suzuri is watching from the heavens.

Inside the GGP base, Karenbak is sitting in a helicopter on a landing pad with a pistol in his hands. Karenbak is soon joined by Kiefer who makes his way to the landing pad, and Karenbak states that even though he won't be in a position of power after all is said and done, right now he just wants to kill Kiefer. The two men point their pistols at each other to bring their relationship to a conclusion. Karenbak wins the draw and shoots Kiefer in the arm, but he is shot in the back by Yokoyama before he can kill Kiefer.

A ballet recital of epic proportions.

Back at the park, Rin and the Fuego are dancing in and out of the hapless Grimoires, but a problem surfaces in one of the Fuego's legs during a jump, forcing Rin to make an awkward landing. After landing, the Fuego crumples to the ground with a fatal error in its system, and the Grimoires quickly surround their fallen adversary. Rin pleads for the Fuego to reactivate again, and miraculously the Fuego reactivates and the RideBack raises its right hand as if it's ready to dance ballet. With the Fuego powered-up once again, Rin spins and leaps through the crowd of Grimoires which stand no chance against Rin's ballet-inspired attacks. Back at the dorm, Shoko realizes that Rin is actually going through the parts of a ballet recital. After defeating all of the Grimoires, Rin puts the Fuego in the finishing stance and thanks the RideBack for this one last ride. Meanwhile, everyone who watched the battle between Rin and Grimoires, either through TV or at the scene, cannot but help but be amazed by Rin's performance.

Take a bow.


It's funny how everybody wants to get along right after the villain is put away.

Days or perhaps weeks after the BMA's attack on the GGP base, the GGP has signed a new accord with Japan where the GGP would remove most of its military power from the country. Tamayo's father Nanpuu Kataoka has been cleared of charges and reinstated as Japan's government representative. Rin's brother Kenji has also been cleared of his charges and finally visits his mother's grave with his grandmother. Back at the Musashino University where the cherry trees and blossoming, Shoko waits eagerly by a building and she smiles brightly as Rin walks up the stairs.

I'm surprised that Shoko is the only person waiting for Rin. Isn't Rin now the most famous girl in Japan?

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

Yes!! My wish of Rin using ballet to beat down her enemies has finally been answered. This was a finale full of pwnage: Kiefer pwned some Grimoires and Gatou; Okakura went one-man-army inside the GGP base and then karate-kicked three soldiers while dodging bullets; and most importantly, Rin opened up a can of ballet-powered whoop-ass on a dozen Grimoires. There is nothing more I could have asked for finale. Okay, maybe Rin's fight was a little over-the-top with the ballet music thrown in, and she did win partly because the Grimoires suddenly forgot they had guns (I thought they were out of control at that point), but I liked the emotion during the fight and the fact that Rin thought of the fight as a dance to pay tribute to Suzuri, her mother, and the rest of friends and supporters. It was too bad that Tamayo had to bow out early in the episode, but RideBack is Rin's show so it's only appropriate for the star to give the last performance.

Anyways, RideBack ends with the usual happy ending where everybody comes to their senses after the bad guy dies, but in this case it's noted that most of the new GGP administration represented by Yokoyama wanted to oust Karenbak for along time and deal with Japan on friendlier terms, so big changes were going to happen one way or another. The last scene of the episode implies that Rin has been let off the hook for all of her reckless driving, and this probably makes sense since all of the charges on Rin stem from Karenbak's GGP administration. With Karenbak gone and the GGP more or less pulling out of Japan, the Japanese police probably won't be too inclined to prosecute Rin especially with Ryunnosuke leading the force. As for the other characters involved in the battle, Tamayo is probably fine due to family ties and the fact that she didn't actually fight. Okakura might have to go into hiding until things die down, but this shouldn't be too difficult for a guy this capable. Finally, Kiefer is probably in jail since he is a genuine terrorist. It's possible that Yokoyama might let him go at the helicopter pads, but I don't think the rest of the GGP or the Japanese police will be that forgiving.

Overall, RideBack was a short and sweet series. There were some things in the series that didn't make sense especially when it comes to Rin's decision-making skills, but perhaps all that can be attributed to what is known as "RideBack addiction". The relationship between Karenbak, Kiefer, and Okakura wasn't very well explained either. I also never really understood Ryunnosuke and Yoda's investigation into Hesner since it wasn't really well explained, but whatever it was it got Karenbak in hot water and that's what really matters. On the positives, RideBack had excellent production quality, and all of the action and 3DCG were done very well. Even though RideBack was only 12 episodes short, the protagonist Rin also received good character development throughout the series, and we'd expect that since the show is predominantly about her. RideBack as a whole was a pretty enjoyable series. Well, any mecha show with a semi-decent mechanical designs and a passable story is enjoyable in my books, and RideBack was a fair bit better than that.

Neon Genesis Evangelion - Gakuen Datenroku 16

Shinji and Asuka continue their adventure in the MMORPG.

Summary:
After falling down the hole, Asuka lands in a dark space and where she is surprised to see her parents. Asuka runs towards her parents but she is tripped up by a doll that appeared out of nowhere, and her parents then accuse her of killing them. In the mean time, Shinji is running for his life as the game level he is in is gradually collapsing into nothingness, while Misato and the operators in the real world are trying to guide Shinji to a safe spot. At the game development company, the two angels responsible for developing the MMORPG are wondering what triggered their game's self-destruct mechanism. The female angel wonders what's going to happen to Iruel who's still in the game world, and the male angel states that sometimes sacrifices have to be made.

If you had saved periodically then you wouldn't have to worry about the server suddenly shutting down.

At the Academy, Kaji wakes up and discovers that he has been tied to a column with the unconscious Toji and Hikari. Two blond strangers appear and one of them tells Kaji that the two students are not injured. Kaji demands to know who the two strangers are and one of the strangers stomps his boot into the column, barely missing Kaji's face. The person who spoke tells his/her companion not to hurt anyone and the two of them leave the room.

Back in the game world, Shinji has reached a safe zone, but soon he gets news from Misato that Asuka's signal has been lost. Misato tells Shinji to focus on defeating the angel and recovering its core, but Shinji insists on rescuing Asuka first, and he successfully convinces Misato to change her mind. Meanwhile, Asuka is huddled up on the ground while the apparitions of her parents are recalling how Asuka was a research experiment to artificially make the best shemhazai (angel hunter I'm guessing, like Shinji and Rei). Asuka became a shemhazai guardian and as part of her duty she killed her parents who had become angels. Asuka's parents state that Asuka had hated them all along and Asuka's mother moves in to choke Asuka, but at this moment Shinji crashes into the space and snaps Asuka out of her depression. Having regained her senses, Asuka tells the enemy to stop posing as her parents, and in response "Asuka's mother" removes her disguise to reveal her true face as the angel Iruel.

Going for a Sailor Moon pose eh?

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

A decent chapter. Asuka's depression scene in the chapter is probably a tribute to the scene in the anime where Asuka's Eva got hit by the mental beam, but she recovered rather quickly unlike in the anime. Unlike the original NGE anime, there are quite a few angels running around and doing their own thing at the same time in Gakuen Datenroku. There are the two blond strangers, the two game makers, Iruel, the music twins and Kaworu for now, and there are probably more to come. All the angels running around should spice things up a bit as Shinji and company have to deal with different groups of angels simultaneously. Hopefully the fight with Iruel will be interesting.

Spring 2009 Anime

With the Winter 2009 season coming to an end, it's time for me to look for some new anime to watch in the upcoming season. This is just a list of shows that I plan to check out as I don't have the energy to do a round up, but there is a list of round-ups by other bloggers at the end of this post.

Series I'll definitely follow:

Fullmetal Alchemist
The remake of Fullmetal Alchemist is probably the most anticipated series of the season. The new version promises to follow the manga storyline more closely, which I think will lead to better action sequences compared to the old series among other things. I'll probably blog this series since I follow the Fullmetal Alchemist manga, but on the downside FMA is a long commitment (51 episodes, not sure if I'm going to be blogging after 51 weeks lol) and I won't get to speculate about the plot since I would know the story already from the reading the manga. Speculating on the plot is basically half the fun from episodic blogging, so maybe my FMA posts will be half as fun?

Series I'll check out:

Hatsukoi Limited
I loved Mizuki Kawashita's Ichigo 100% (the manga, didn't watch the anime nor do I plan to), so I'm at least going to give Hatsukoi Limited a try. I haven't read the manga, but judging by the fact that it ended with less than 40 chapters I'm not going to get my hopes up too high, but hopefully this will turn out to be a decent series.

Shangri-La
After watching the disaster known as Linebarrels of Iron, you'd think I would stay the heck away from Gonzo. Well, actually Gonzo isn't as bad as some people make them out to be. Blassreiter was decent (mainly because Amanda and Beatrice were HOT), and Afro Samurai was pretty cool even although the sequel movie was disappointing. Moving back on topic, there has been some buzz around Shangri-La and there are some good words flying around, and since I'm always partial to sci-fi series I'll give this one a try.


These are the series that I'll check out for sure. I plan to pick up one or two more series but haven't decided which ones yet. I'm actually leaning towards watching Queen's Blade, which of course has been dismissed with laughter from a few other bloggers. I'm a loyal follower of Sekirei, which is also mostly about well-endowed girls with skimpy clothing fighting each other, but of course Sekirei actually has an interesting story if you can look past all the boobs, and this might not be the case for Queen's Blade. If you have any recommendations, feel free to leave a comment.

I'm going to keep my line-up to four or five shows to 1) leave some room for the summer season (already thinking ahead) and 2) to give me more time to do other stuff, such as marathoning through some older series and studying for the GRE. The way I write summaries takes a long time so I can't blog too many series at once, or I can just stop doing full summaries since I doubt anyone reads them anyways (for my anime posts).

Other than series, there is a To-Love-Ru OVA coming out some time in April. The To-Love-Ru anime was overall poor, with the manga-based episode being okay and anime-only stories being especially bad. The new OVA will feature the first Riko storyline, which was one of the best To-Love-Ru mini-arcs in my opinion, so I'll definitely watch this OVA episode. There is also the Eureka Seven movie, but it'll probably be a while before it's available through the usual sources.

Finally, here is a list of Spring 2009 anime previews/round-ups that I found to be useful and/or fun to read:

- Moé Moé Rabu
- Random Curiosity
- Scrumptious Anime Blog
- Sea Slugs!
- Tenka Seiha
- THAT
- 見ないで! ひとり言

Deadman Wonderland 21

Ganta powers up for one last desperation attack against Genhaku.

Hmm... I wonder why Genhaku wasn't blown to pieces with the ceiling.

Summary:
As Genhaku crazily blasts everyone else in the room with his guitar cannon, Ganta desperately tries to muster up the strength for one last attack. Arrows starts appearing on Ganta's skin and they are pointed towards Ganta's right hand. Genhaku notices Ganta's movement and swings his guitar around to finish Ganta, and Ganta fires his Branch of Sin just as Genhaku pull the trigger on his cannon. Genhaku is shocked when Ganta's blast overwhelms the cannon blast and tries to dodge, but he is held in place by Nagi. Ganta's blast levels both Genhaku and his grotesque Buddha statue and continues on to blow a big hole in the ceiling, revealing the night sky. After seeing their leader defeated, the surviving Undertakers scamper out of the room, leaving the Deadmen to mourn their dead. Nagi, on his last breaths, hands Ganta a piece of candy and states that he is glad to have died with hope in his hearts. As Nagi passes away, Karako breaks down and cries on his body and the rest of the Deadmen have tears flowing out their eyes as well.

After the battle, Hibana is limping away from the room wondering about Ganta's power when she runs into Sakigami, who had been secretly watching the fight. Hibana attacks Sakigami but Sakigami quickly kills her and wanders off.

Back at the site of the battle, Shiro wakes up and finds Ganta watching over her. Shiro wonders where everyone else went and Ganta states that Karako and the rest of Scar Chain have escaped, but he decided to stay behind because he still has friends in the prison. Ganta apologizes for hitting her before and Shiro forgives him. Shiro notices that Ganta is shaking and wondering what's wrong. Ganta lies that it's because the candy Nagi gave him is really bitter and he starts crying in Shiro's arms.

Elsewhere in the prison, Warden Tamaki is relieved that the inspectors had finally left the prison. After getting word of the Undertakers' defeat, Tamaki goes through the prisoners list to find more Deadman candidates. Soon after, Chief Makina gets the order to retrieve a certain prisoner, and Makina knows that this is the opportunity to find out about Tamaki's secret plans.

Somewhere in Deadman Wonderland, Sakigami is looking at the picture of Ganta, Ganta's mother and Shiro. Sakigami states that Ganta has quite the Branch of Sin, and he wonders if Ganta is tasty.

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

As expected, Ganta manages to come through with the big blast to defeat Genhaku, and now “Mockingbird” Sakigami Toto has a malicious interest in Ganta. Looks like Sakigami is going to be one of the villains along with Takami and Shiro when she's the Red Man. One thing I don't get about this chapter is about Karako and Scar Chain leaving the prison. I thought their plan was to expose Takami's secret Deadman program to the inspectors. Okay, perhaps they can get the information to the right people after escaping, but the problem is that all of them still have the poison collar on their necks, which means they probably won't survive long without candy. And lastly, I wonder why Ganta and Shiro didn't try to leave with them. Deadman Wonderland is at best a hellhole, so why stay. Because of Senji and the Takami siblings? I wouldn't stay for those guys, especially not the Takami siblings. I suppose we can't let our main characters leave in the middle of the show, and it's probably time for the story to move on from Scar Chain. I guess we'll be exploring Ganta's new powers and the secrets of Branch of Sin in general, and also Chief Makina's quest to unearth Tamaki's secrets.

Sekirei 80

Minato and his Sekirei have dinner while the second match reaches its conclusion.

Summary:
Minato and his Sekirei are having dinner with Miya and as always Musubi, Tsukiumi, and Kusano are trying to feed Minato. Meanwhile, Homura is thinking about what Miya had told him and Kazehana about the Jinki, but his thoughts are interrupted when Tsukiumi notice that he isn't eating. Homura explains that his hand is still injured, but this leads Tsukiumi, Musubi, and Kusano to try to feed him. While Homura is being tripled-teamed, Matsu states that the second match consist of five Ashikabi/Sekirei pairs (information she obtained with her ability to "read" electronics). Matsu speculates that the first round of matches is just for the Ashikabis to meet and gauge each other's strength, and the next round of the battles will be for real. Minato asks if most Ashikabis only have one Sekirei, and Matsu confirms Minato's suspicion and states that many Sekirei will be eliminated in the next round of battles. Matsu remembers that she had forgotten to tell everyone something important, but she is interrupted when Tsukiumi asks her about the role of Ashikabis because she is now with Minato and everyone. Matsu is about to give an explanation, but everyone's attention is drawn to fireworks outside, signaling an end to the second match.

Since there's another guy in the group, Minato can finally have dinner in peace.

Back at Matsu's room, Minato and his Sekirei watch as Minaka announces that Sekirei #73 Namiji and her Ashikabi have won the match. Minaka then announces that the time and place for the next match will be announced later. Somewhere out on the streets, Namiji and her Ashikabi are celebrating their win and Jinki, but they are confronted by Uzume who has come to take the Jinki. Namiji manages to fend off Uzume's attack with her halberd, but Shiina appears and defeats Namiji with his decay blast.

Shiina is back and looks like he received an attitude adjustment.

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

We finally see Uzume and Shiina again, but unfortunately both have been coerced into working for Higa. Looks like Higa the jerk strikes yet again, and I can't wait for Minato's group to beat Higa's group down while rescuing Uzume, Shiina, and Yukari from his clutches. I'm little miffed that the second battle wasn't shown, but it's not a big deal since it didn't feature any of the important characters. Hopefully Minato's group will see action in the next battle, or at least within the next one or two chapters.

Mobile Suit Gundam 00 Second Season 25 (Finale)

Setsuna and Ribbons face off to see who gets to lead humanity into the next era.

Summary:
Setsuna and the 00 Raiser face off against Ribbons and his Ribbons Cannon mobile suit. Ribbons announces his intention to rule over humanity because humans can't be expected to lead themselves. Setsuna disagrees and the two combatants charge towards each other.

The front side is a clunky-looking, heavy-set cannon mecha...

Back on the Ptolemaios, the crew receives a message from Veda that Ribbons' new mobile suit entering combat with the 00. Lasse returns to the bridge and states that he'll drive the Ptolemaios out of the hangar to give Setsuna support. Sumeragi also asks Allelujah, who is watching over Marie in the healing chamber, to sortie. Elsewhere in the space fortress, Lyle gets the same request from the Ptolemaios and leaves on the Cherudim.

...while the back side is a sleek, Arios-like, grey Gundam!

Meanwhile, Setsuna is having a bit of trouble fighting the Ribbons Cannon because the red mobile suit is more powerful than expected and the 00 is still trying bring its GN particle levels back up. Setsuna spots a chance and charges in with the Raiser Sword, but Ribbons pulls out a beam blade and knocks the 00 into space fortress. The Ribbons Cannon then starts transforming and the back side of the heavy-set red mobile suit is actually a sleek grey Gundam with a GN tau drive on each of its arms. Ribbons state that his Gundam has the twin-drive system as well and it will be the Gundam to lead humanity into a new era. Setsuna tries to battle back with the 00 but Ribbons lands a few hits, and then Revive and Healing join in to triple-team Setsuna. Healing's Garazzo drives the 00 into the path of Revive's beam cannon, but the blast is blocked by a shield bit from the Cherudim. The Cherudim and the Arios arrive with the Arios engaging Healing's Garazzo while the Cherudim takes on Revive's Gadessa. During the fight with Healing, Hallelujah takes over he uses the Ario to rip Healing's Garazzo apart. After seeing Healing being killed, Ribbons sends out some Fangs which disables the Arios and knocks Hallelujah/Allelujah unconscious. While Setsuna is busy fending off the remaining Fangs, Ribbons notices the Ptolemaios shooting at him from behind and he destroys the ship's engines with his beam cannon, leaving the Ptolemaios unable to move. Sumeragi orders the ship to fire smoke bombs to cover Setsuna, and Setsuna takes advantage of the smoke screen and takes off one of Ribbons Cannon's arms, and Ribbons notes that Setsuna is using the power of a true Innovator.

Halleluljah! Halleluljah! Halleluljah, hallelujah, hallelujah!!

Meanwhile, Lyle and his heavily-damaged Cherudim is not faring too well against Revive's Gadessa even though Lyle had destroyed the Gadessa's big beam cannon. After being injured by a blast, Lyle checks with his Haro and learns that he can use Trans-Am for one second. Lyle thinks it's enough and charges at Revive, but Revive damages the Cherudim some more and destroys the Gundam's pistol. Revive moves in for the kill with his beam sword, but Lyle dodges using Trans-Am, pulls out another pistol, and unloads two dozen shots into the Gadessa's torso, killing Revive in the process. After defeating Revive, Lyle thinks about Anew and loses consciousness.

Revive falls for the patented Dylandy sidestep.

Ribbons' reaction is totally understandable at this point.

Back at the Ptolemaios, the crew learns that Lyle and Allelujah have defeated their respected enemies, and Sumeragi orders Ian to launch the "R2". Not far away, Ribbons and Setsuna are still locked in combat and Ribbons states that Setsuna is only able to keep up because his mobile suit has real GN Drives. Ribbons demand Setsuna hand back the read GN drives, and of course Setsuna would do no such thing. At this moment, Ribbons is interrupted by Tieria who uses Veda's powers to appear in front of Ribbons as a specter. Tieria explains to Ribbons that the role of the Innovades is not to lead humanity into a new era but is to create new future together with humanity. Ribbons refuses to believe Tieria's words, but the distraction allows Setsuna to land several hits on the Ribbons Cannon. Both the Ribbons Cannon and 00 Raiser activate Trans-Am, and Ribbons Cannon takes off the 00's head with one of its Fangs. Ribbons move in for the kill but the 00 dodges the blow by turning into GN particles. The 00 reappears behind the Ribbons Cannon and slashes the Cannon's back side with the Raiser Sword, but Ribbons turns around and takes off the 00's left shoulder and GN drive with his beam sword, and both of the Gundams explode at their damaged spots.

Turns out Judo has its place in mobile suit combat as the antique Exia throws the older antique 0 Gundam to the floor. And we are watching the right show in case you're wondering.

Ribbons has retrieved the 00's GN Drive that he cut off but the Ribbons Cannon has sustained too much damage to fight anymore. Luckily for Ribbons, the abandoned 0 Gundam is floating out of one of the hangar bays, and Ribbons transfers himself and the GN Drive to the 0 Gundam. After activating the 0 Gundam, Ribbons flies out to look for Setsuna, but to his surprise Setsuna has transferred himself and the 00's remaining GN Drive to the "R2" which is the rebuilt Exia. Setsuna and Ribbons pick up where they left off and fights on the asteroid surface of the space fortress. The two combatants make a final charge against each other with their sword, and Setsuna is able to run through the 0's cockpit with the Exia's sword pistol while Ribbons barely misses the Exia's cockpit with the Exia's cockpit with the 0's beam sword. The 0 Gundam explodes and the Exia is sent flying into space by the shockwave.

An old-school ending.

One of the Divine clones survived and moved to Azadistan.

Some time after the battle, Marina is back in her Azadistan palace writing a letter to Setsuna. In the letter Marina writes that even though she and Setsuna come from different backgrounds and have different views regarding the world, both of them ultimately just want to achieve peace, but Marina can't help but to feel sad about the path of endless fighting and loss that Setsuna has chosen. In her conclusion, Marina writes that she believes true peace and understanding can only be achieved if people share their happiness with others, and she hopes that Setsuna will be able to find his own happiness. After writing the letter, Marina and her kids (the six orphans she has been taking care of) walk onto the balcony of the palace overlooking the plaza filled with thousands of people. Marina announces that Azadistan has been rebuilt thanks to aid from the Federation, and she will try to spread the aid to the other countries in the region.

Oh no! Anew has come back from the dead!!!

At a hospital somewhere, Saji is sitting in Louise's room. Saji notes that Louise's cell anomalies have been miraculously healed and he wonders if it has anything to do with the Trans-Am Burst that Setsuna activated. Louise calls Saji over to her bed and the two of them watch the announcement by the Federation's new president, and Saji notes that Klaus and Shirin from Katharon are among the attendees. In the broadcast, the new president announces that A-LAWS has been disbanded and the Federation military will be reorganized. The president also announces that the Federation will expedite the process for non-member to nations to join the organization to form a united Earth. At his home, former A-LAWS commander Homer Katagiri has committed seppuku.

Kati looks beautiful in that wedding dress, and Patrick doesn't look too bad in white either. Congratulations to the happy couple.

Andrei, now with the Federation military, phones Kati, who is now a brigadier general, to ask what they should do about Celestial Being, and Kati tells Andrei to keep an eye on Celestial Beings for now. After ending the call with Andrei, Kati turns her attention back to her wedding with Patrick, and soon the two happily walk out the church as husband and wife. Meanwhile, Andrei and his subordinates are handing out aid packages in the Middle East, and Andrei promises himself that he'll be a good soldier who protects the civilians and battles the people who threaten to disrupt the peace, just like his parents.

Graham: Oops, I forgot it was the finale today. No, don't cut to another scene please!! I need my screenti (show cuts to another scene)

In a lab somewhere, Billy is working on his next mobile suit design and he had placed a picture of himself and Sumeragi beside the keyboard. Billy senses that someone is watching him from behind, but he knows it's just Graham leaning on the door frame. In a cemetery in Ireland, Lyle visits the graves of his family and Anew, and he states to himself that he has decided to remain a Gundam Meister while leaving Katharon. Elsewhere, Allelujah and Marie are making a pilgrimage to a religious site. Back in space, Tieria states to himself that he will watch over humanity as a part of Veda.

Turns out a Ribbons clone survived as well and is also living in Azadistan.

Somewhere in the mountains, the Ptolemaios get ready to launch into space. Except for Tieria, Allelujah, and Marie, all of the surviving crew including Lyle and Setsuna are present, and Setsuna tells everyone that Celestial Being still have a job to do. Back in Azadistan, Marina and the kids can spot the Ptolemaios flying into space at the distant skies.

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

A standard happy Gundam ending, which means that after the main bad guy was defeated, everyone else just miraculously came to their senses and resolved all the big problems of world. Yippee. It's pretty ridiculous and unintentionally hilarious, but it is the expected ending. The finale to the second season is quite similar to the one from the first season, except of course none of the good guys died and there's that happy epilogue. I'm a little surprised and disappointed that none of the good guys got killed, but on the other hand I like happy endings.

I suppose it was already painfully obvious that everything was going to be okay after episode 24, but Ribbons and company did put out a decent effort before going down, and Setsuna isn't as godly in this episode because he overexerted himself last week by pumping out most of the 00's GN particles. Out of the three fights, Hallelujah's was the most impressive and since he just owned Healing like she was nothing. Lyle also did a admirable job beating Revive with half a Gundam, and both of these battle just goes on to cement Revive and Healing's status as some of the suckiest "ace" pilots in Gundam history. As for Ribbons vs. Setsuna, Setsuna's godliness has been toned down a bit to make the fight a little more interesting. The Ribbons Cannon, despite its inaccurate name, is actually a pretty cool and unique mecha, and it just wouldn't be a Gundam series these days if the main villain didn't have a Gundam. It'd be great if Ribbons and Setsuna just finish their business in their respective twin drive machines since it's established that the 00 Raiser is the good guy's trump card and therefore the Ribbons Cannon is the 00's bad guy counterpart, but for some inexplicable reason they just had to bring up the 0 Gundam and Exia from out of nowhere and the epic battle with the antiques. I think using the old suits was unnecessary and anti-climactic, just like Graham's fight against Setsuna after Setsuna had defeated Corners and his golden mobile suit.

Moving onto some of the other characters:
- Marina did absolutely nothing during the battle when I thought she would at least break into song, and of course she miraculously got her country and palace back along with the six orphan kids. I suppose I shouldn't be that surprised since doing nothing is Marina's expertise. Since she has her country and six kids to look after, Setsuna will be probably better off sticking with Feldt.
- Graham did even less than Marina and appeared and got about a second of screen time, and it looks like he's still hanging out with Billy.
- Homer also did absolutely nothing except committing suicide, but at this point nobody really cares what he does anymore. Billy will probably be too busy designing Graham's Masurao version 3 (aka Flag version 5?) to go to Homer's funeral.
- Andrei survives even though he didn't deserve to, and to add insult to injury he states he want to be a good soldier like Sergei... Why didn't you kill him, Soma? Why!?
- Tieria gets his happy end with Veda, and now he has the ability to project an image of his naked self to people which is more than a bit disconcerting.
- Same happy ending for Louise and Saji, and of course Louise's disease is miraculously healed by Setsuna's Trans Am Burst.
- Happy end for Allelujah and Marie as well, but I wonder what'll happen if their alternative personalities suddenly surface along the way.
- Shirin and Klaus are a couple as well and both get seats in the Federation assembly. This of course doesn't make much sense since Katharon is terrorist group no matter how you try to justify their cause, but since this is a Gundam happy end, everybody must get along.
- Patrick "the Immortal" Colasour survives as he always does and finally marries his beloved Kati. Congratulations to the happy couple.

And last but not least, Setsuna and the CB crew are flying around in the Ptolemaios, probably in preparation for the Gundam 00 movie announced at the end of the episode. If the movie is really about Gundams vs. Jupiter aliens then it'd be pretty bad... in a good way? Aeolia's plan always mentioned about space travel and meeting new civilizations, so maybe running into aliens is just the next logical step for the series. There has always been mentioning of aliens in Cosmic Era, but maybe Anno Domini will be the first Gundam universe to show some actual aliens.

Overall, Gundam 00 is pretty much what I expected it to be. It had tons of plot hole and ho-hum characters, but the mobile suits look great (especially in season 2) and the action was excellent. I don't really have a preference between the first and second season. The second season had a more straight-forward storyline and better looking mechas, but the first season had the better finale (as no one suddenly became God), so overall the two seasons were about the same in my books. Like SEED, SEED Destiny and plenty of other Gundam series before it, Gundam 00 once again asserts that democracy and mutual cooperation is better than totalitarian rule. Of course, all the complex political and social concepts are simplified in the show, but then again we don't really watch Gundam for a political science lesson anyways. The conclusion is that Gundam 00 is a decent series. It's not a great series, but it delivered on the fundamental aspects of Gundam which is mechas and action. The story was just an afterthought lol.

To-Love-Ru 142

Yui loses her panties at school.

Summary:
At the locker area in school, Yui confronts an older student about his outrageous hairstyle and clothes. The guy doesn't listen to Yui and Yami arrives stating that it's useless talking to people like that. The guy makes a rude remark at Yami, and Yami responds by shaving him bold, but in her angry Yami accidentally clips off Yui's panties which falls to the ground unbeknownst to Yui.

After the incident Yui thanks Yami and walks off into the hallways, and only after a while does she realize that her panties have fallen off. Yui then thinks about what everyone would say if they knew she wasn't wearing panties and she becomes very nervous. Unfortunately, Yui runs straight into Mio and Risa, who instantly notice Yui pulling down her skirt, but Yui manages to run past them without having her secret revealed. Yui then bumps into Rito, who states that Lala has recruited him to look for a lost puppy. A gust of wind blows through the window and lifts Yui's skirt, but thankfully Rito's attention has turned to Lala, who found the puppy. After Lala and Rito run off, Yui walks back to the locker area and wonders if someone picked up her panties. Yui suddenly hears the principal making perverted noises behind the lockers and fears the worst, but it turns out the principal is just having lunch. Yui doesn't want to stay near the principal so she quickly runs outside.

The money shot.

Outside of the school, Yui bumps into Oshizu, and the two of them spot Rito and Lala with an ugly puppy. The puppy spots Oshizu and starts jumping on her legs, and Oshizu becomes scared and starts using her PK power. Oshizu's discharge of PK power knocks Yui to her knees and flips her skirt over. Rito is shocked to see Yui's uncovered underside, but he is soon knocked unconscious by a flying kettle stirred up by Oshizu's PK powers. Rito wakes up later and doesn't remember what he saw prior to being knocked out. Meanwhile, Yami is standing behind a corner looking for a chance to return Yui's panties.

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

A decent and fairly funny chapter. It certainly didn't help Yui that girls had to wear mini-skirts as uniforms. Rito finally gets his first look of a girl's "private" spot, but unfortunately (or fortunately for Yui) he doesn't remember what he saw. It seems that Yami isn't very careful with her slicing, or perhaps she sliced off Yui's panties on purpose. I mean if Yami wasn't careful she might have sliced off a few body parts, so the chances of her just slicing off the panties are pretty slim. So maybe deep inside Yami is naughtier than everyone thinks she is lol.

Sekirei 79

Matsu reveals the real reason why the MBI is after her.

Summary:
After the conclusion of the first match, Minaka immediately announces that the second round will take place in a stadium on the east side and the rules are exactly the same as the first match. Homura asks Minato to check his cellphone but Minato's cellphone does not ring, which means Minato isn't in the match. Matsu states that perhaps Minato has been chosen as a seeded competitor. While Minato and the other Sekirei wonder what Matsu means, Matsu climbs onto her desk and pops open a ceiling panel. Matsu then retrieves an object from the storage space and tosses to Minato, and to everyone's shock the object turns out to be one of the treasure (known as Jinki). Matsu explains there are a total of 8 Jinki, and since Minato already has one he is a seeded competitor. Homura asks Matsu how she obtained the Jinki, and Matsu reveals that she stole it as she left the MBI, and this is the real reason why the MBI is looking for her and why she sought out Miya for help. As Homura is talking with Matsu, Minato suddenly gets a vision of a naked Yume stating that she'll protect him forever. The other Sekirei found it strange that Minato spaced out, and at the moment Kazehana arrives and tells everyone to go have dinner. Before leaving for dinner, Minato hands Homura the Jinki for safekeeping.

Matsu, you bad girl!... Or should I say wonderful lady?

While walking to the dining room with Musubi, Minato is wondering about the vision and states that he has more questions for Matsu. Musubi suddenly states that it is love that binds Sekirei and Ashikabi together. An Ashikabi is a person who receives love from Sekirei, and he/she is also a person who uses love to his/her Sekirei. Musubi then promises Minato that she'll protect him, and this reminds Minato of his vision of Yume. After spacing out for a little bit, Minato tells Musubi that he wants to protect everyone in return too.

Meanwhile, Homura is demanding that Matsu give an explanation about the Jinki, and Kazehana is also present. Matsu states that she can't reveal the secret, and Homura threatens to burn Matsu's hair. At this moment Miya walks into the room and reveals that she's the one who told Matsu not to tell anyone, but now Miya decides to reveal the secret, which is that all eight of the Jinki gathered together has the power to deactivate all Sekirei.

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

This chapter was released more than one week ago and it completely flew under my radar since I somehow got the impression that Sekirei was a monthly series when really it came out twice per month. Anyways, it looks like we won't have the Minato vs. Higa fight quite so soon yet, and since Minato already has a Jinki it could be a while before his group sees combat. Hopefully that won't be the case though. It's clear now that collecting all of Jinki is one of the main goals for Ashikabis to work towards, and I look forward to seeing what happens when all eight are collected together. And of course we are reminded again that the Yume/Musubi relationship will play a critical role in the future. The second match is going to start off next chapter (Raws for chapter 80 are already out) and it'll be interesting to see who's in it now that we know Minato won't be taking part.

Tenjou Tenge 123

Mitsuomi vs. Souichiro.

Summary:
Mitsuomi fights Souichiro while everybody else watches in awe since Mitsuomi is taking on a living god. Mitsuomi wails on Souichiro with his fists, but his punches have little effect and Souichiro just stands there and lets Mitsuomi wear himself out. While attacking Souichiro, Mitsuomi remembers a talk he had with Shin and realizes that he needs to forgo his pride, worries and fears in order to become more powerful. With this realization, Mitsuomi calms down and Souichiro notices a difference in Mitsuomi's punches and starts to dodge. Souichiro eventually returns fire and punches Mitsuomi in the nose, but Mitsuomi stays upright and continues attacking.

Even Mitsuomi's dad is shocked at Mistsuomi's inability to land a single punch.

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

Despite all the punches flying around, this was a really slow chapter as hardly anything happens. The first half has Mitsuomi punching Souichiro with little effect, and the second half has Mitsuomi missing every single punch, and we cut to a flashback with Shin and the other characters (who are watching slack-jawed) from time to time. Mitsuomi seems to be getting better, but there's no way he can take down Souichiro and eventually Souichiro will beat him down. I think Oh! great is just building things up for Mitsuomi's demise. You know what they say: a fire burns the brightest when it's about to go out... or was that a candle? Once again I fail at using proverbs. Anyways, I find it funny that Masataka, who was kicking Mitsuomi's ass a few chapters ago, is now so scared and shocked that his legs are frozen to the floor. I guess it'll take Mitsuomi dying to finally get Masataka to stop watching and start participating.

Sekirei OVA

A short OVA for the Sekirei anime.

Dinner is always an interesting experience for Minato these days.

Couldn't you have used something else other than a live electric pole to guide Kusano back on to the right path?


I thought Sekirei were supposed to have great sense of balance.

Bundled with the sixth and final volume of the Sekirei anime series DVDs is a 10-minute OVA that takes place some time after Tsukiumi had been winged. The story is exclusive to the anime and it's about Kusano trying to take part in the grocery shopping race between Musubi and Tsukiumi. Tsukiumi and Musubi agree to race with Kusano, but they are really there to make sure Kusano wins the race, and Matsu is also helping by monitoring everyone's position via GPS. Unfortunately for the three older Sekirei, Kusano has never went outside on her own and gets sidetracked many times along the way, but Tsukiumi and Musubi manage to get Kusano back on track at the cost of much public destruction. After everyone makes it back to the inn, Kusano reveals that she knew Musubi and Tsukiumi were helping her and falls asleep, and Minato's other Sekirei and Miya decide to take a bath.

Kusano is supposed to buy carrots... well, at least she got the color right.

I picked the least revealing screenshot from the bath scene just keep this blog family-friendly.
Watch the OVA yourself to see all the Sekirei goodness.

The prize for winning race? A chance to sleep on Minato's leg of course.

The OVA is a nice little segment focusing mostly on the comedic aspects of Sekirei. Kusano is of course cute as ever, and it's funny how Musubi and Tsukiumi found it necessary to destroy so much public property to help Kusano along. And of course the bath scene at the end is uncensored, so there is quite a bit of full frontal nudity from Minato's Sekirei, so make sure to keep the kiddies away from this one lol.

Bleach 351

The semi-hollow Ichigo smacks Ulquiorra around.

Summary:
Ulquiorra is surprised by Ichigo's sudden increase in power, but the Espada remains calm and quickly regenerates his left arm. Ulquiorra then conjures up a powerful energy spear and throws it at Ichigo but misses. As Ulquiorra calls up a second spear, Ichigo throws Ulquiorra's old left arm at the Espada and Ulquiorra destroys it with his spear, but this allows Ichigo to get under Ulquiorra's defenses using sonido (arrancar's version of shunpo or flash step). Ulquoirra tries attacking with his spear but Ichigo dissipates the spear with his bare hand, and then he almost cuts Ulquiorra in half with his sword. Ulquiorra falls to the ground and can't believe he was defeated by a human-turned-hollow, and he tells Ichigo to finish him off, Ichigo complied by stepping on Ulquiorra's face and blasting the arrancar with a powerful cero.

Ichigo: Not so cocky now, are you Ulquiorra? I hope you like the smell of my foot.

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

Uh, that's it? That was a pretty disappointing finish, but I'm not too surprised that it suddenly turned one-sided to Ichigo's favor, although that was the worst case scenario. I was hoping that Ulquiorra might have one ultimate, last resort attack to make things interesting, but apparently the weak-ass spear was all Ulquiorra can come up with. I was also hoping that Ichigo would use Ulquoirra's own arm to slap Ulquiorra around, but Ichigo just used it for a minor distraction. Now that Ulquiorra is done, Ichigo probably has to have an internal conflict with his hollow side again to regain control of his body, while good guys might have to contain him from the outside. With Ulquiorra defeated, there's no more strong bad guys left in Hueco Mundo anymore, so maybe it's time to swing back to fake Karakura Town and see how the shinigamis are doing against the first three Espadas.

One Piece 537

Bon and Luffy are taken to the Okama Queen Ivankov's secret hideout.

Summary:
Tied up and gagged in a weapons locker, Hanyabal thinks back to how Bon lured him into the locker by disguising as a beautiful girl and then knocked him and took his clothes. Meanwhile, the rest of Impel Down's forces are looking for Bon but they have no idea that he went to Level 5.

Bon wakes up and finds himself in a tavern populated by many cheerful, beer-drinking people, many of whom are okamas. A person named Inazuma states that he/she found Bon and Luffy unconscious in the snow and carried them here and that someone else will soon explain everything that has happened. At the moment, a big and especially unattractive okama appears on the stage and explains in a sing-song voice that the cave, called "New Kama Land", is a secret paradise within the confines of Impel Down, and all of the prisoners who have been "demoned" away actually ended up here. By everyone's enthusiastic reaction, Bon correctly guesses that the big okama is the Okama Queen Emporio Ivankov. Suddnely, a man with a hand cannon barges into the tavern to get revenge on Ivankov for turning his father into an okama. The man fires his hand cannon but Ivankov uses her “Death Wink” to send the explosion right back at the man. Ivankov then uses her power to transform the man into a woman, who then runs off in shame.

With a face like that, it'd be "Death Wink" even if it didn't destroy the cannonball.

After the “man” is driven off, Bon begs Ivankov to save Luffy, but Ivankov reveals that it was Luffy who begged her to save Bon first. Ivankov also reveals that Luffy has been undergoing treatments for 10 hours already, but there are still 2 more days of painful treatment left.

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

A pretty predictable development. Luffy will obviously be saved, but the 2 days of treatment will mean that Ace will be transported out of the prison, and then Luffy will have to break out of Impel Down and somehow make his way to the execution grounds. This makes sense since real showdown has to be at Ace's execution, and it wouldn't much of the execution if the star of the show is missing. Basically, this arc is long way from being over. I'm guessing Luffy will go down to Ace's cell anyways but will find that he's gone, but he might break Jimbei out while Sir Crocodile make snide comments.

On a side note, I wonder what happened to Mr. 3 and Buggy. Maybe they became the wolves' dinner already lol, but maybe the wolves don't like wax and body parts that keeps piecing themselves back together.

Naruto 441

Naruto, now back in Sage Mode, continues his battle with God Realm.

Summary:
Pain is surprised that Naruto was able to suppress the demon fox once again, and the Chibaki Tensei gravity trap falls apart as Pain is running out of chakra. After landing on the ground, Naruto realizes that he's in Sage Mode as going into fox mode made his remaining clone disappear. Naruto looks back and is shocked at the additional damage to the village, and Katsuyu informs Naruto that luckily no villagers were hurt.

Yup Naruto, it's all your fault.

Meanwhile, Team Guy are the first Konoha ninjas to reach the fallen Hinata. Tenten states that Hinata's wounds aren't fatal but they need to find healer as quickly as possible, and nearby Rock discovers the unconscious Shima.

Back in what's left of the forest, God Realm tells Naruto that understanding doesn't necessarily mean agreement. Naruto wants to talk to the real Pain, but God Realm has no plans to let Naruto near his real body. God Realm charges Naruto with his chakra blade, but Naruto takes the blade with his bare hand and kicks God Realm away. Naruto then stabs himself with the chakra blade and manages to trace back to Nagato's location. With Pain's real body located, Naruto summons two shadow clones and calls up the Rasen Shuriken. Naruto uses a smokescreen to hide the Shuriken, and God Realm sees through it and repels the attack, but the Shuriken he repelled turns out to be a fake and the real Shuriken flies in right after the fake one.

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

How come Team Guy reached Hinata first? In other words, what the heck is Sakura doing? Just watching the show and having some popcorn? Anyways, it looks Hinata will probably live now that some friendlies have gotten to her. Meanwhile, Naruto and God Realm are back at it again. Naruto's chakra tracing trick was pretty neat, but I don't get why God Realm decided to charge since Naruto in Sage Mode has a distinct advantage in hand to hand combat. I guess the only thing left to do now is for Naruto to finish God Realm and confront Nagato, since all of the other ninjas who said they were looking for Pain's real body don't seem to be doing anything useful at the moment.

Rocking it at the Curling Rink

Here is one of my personal updates that's unrelated to either anime or manga.

A good throw (the blue stone, my team) and a very good throw (the red stone), neither of which are placed there by me, but I took them both out with my stone soon after.

As some of you might know, I'm currently working full-time as a co-op at a tech company doing some hardware-related development work. Recently I went to one of those company-sponsored team-building events, and this time the event is playing curling. For those of you who don't know what curling is, curling is a winter sport similar to lawn bowling (what the heck is lawn bowling?) , but instead of playing with balls on a lawn, you play curling on a sheet of ice with heavy and polished pieces of granite. Basically, curling is a sport that puts more emphasis on control and strategy rather than pure athleticism, which is good news for me since I'm anything but athletic. This is the first time I played curling and it's only the second winter sports I've tried after ice skating (shoveling snow doesn't really constitute as a sport, but it is a good workout). I don't ski, snowboard, and I suck at skating which rules out ice hockey, so really curling is the only winter sport where I can have fun without falling over 200 times in the process.

After arriving at the local curling club, we were split up into teams of four and teams were matched up in pairs so we can start playing. The people at the curling club gave us a basic overview of the rules and taught us the newbie technique so that we can throw (proper curling term, but the action is "slide" since nobody can hurl a 40lb piece of granite that far) the curling stone/rock down to the opposite end. We are also given grippers so we don't take a spill, and curling brooms so we can look pretend to be pros, but nobody is expecting us to sweep anyways. Most of the guys who went were first or second-time curlers, and it was quickly evident that none of the eight people in my group (including me) really knew how to curl, so I wasn't at much of a disadvantage. Funny enough, I actually did quite well compared to everyone I was playing with. I scored or at least played a role in 3 of the 5 points that my team got and we won (or were leading) 5-3 after six ends (curling term for a round) before time ran out. Like pretty much everybody there, I didn't know how to control the distance since the strength difference between throwing too far and not far enough is actually quite small, but at least I knew how to keep my rocks going in a straight line. Placing the rocks inside the target circles depended a lot on luck, but I had no problem taking out rocks that were already in the circle. Takeouts are the best part of curling anyways, so at least I got that part right to a reasonable degree. Other than throwing rocks, I also actively swept using the broom, but whether or not the sweeping had any effect is up in the air.

Overall my first curling experience was quite enjoyable. Curling might not be much of a spectator sport, but playing it was pretty fun, especially since my team won thanks to my heroics lol. Having played curling, I can now proclaim that I'm a true resident of the Great White North, and I'm glad to have found a winter sport that I don't suck really bad at.

As for my co-op life outside of curling, I've been working on the same project every since I started at the company. I spend the majority of my time doing some feature implementation to Python scripts and FPGA firmware. It's a reasonably challenging and interesting job, much better than doing straight quality assurance. Time sure passes pretty fast when I'm working co-op, but there are still five more months to go before school starts for me again. In this five months I'll try to get my GRE scores, narrow down my list of graduate schools to apply to, and pick my final year courses. Definitely a lot of stuff to do, and here I am wasting time writing on this blog. Well, it's not called “A Product of Wasted Time” for nothing.

ToraDora! 25 (Finale)

Ryuji and Taiga take care of business... in more than one way.

Summary:
Yasuko, with luggage in tow, rushes back to her parents' home after hearing from Taiga that Ryuji is very ill. Yasuko arrives at the house and is surprised to see Ryuji sitting behind the front doors looking just fine. Yasuko then notices her parents standing behind her and realizes it was all a ploy by Ryuji to trick her into coming back to her parents' house. All of the pent-up emotions with Yasuko rise to the surface and she starts crying. Later at night, Ryuji and Taiga watch from the door slit as Yasuko gets a stern lecture from her father for running away from home and not contacting them for so long, but her mother is just glad she came back. Even though Yasuko's father is still angry, Ryuji and Taiga knows that Yasuko is on her way to making up with her parents.

Ah role reversal. I see what you did there.

A bit later, Ryuji is on his way to take a bath when he finds Yasuko standing in the hallways. Ryuji and Yasuko start talking about Ryuji's father, and Yasuko states that the man left her for other women when she was pregnant with Ryuji. Many people told Yasuko to get an abortion, but Yasuko made up her mind that she was going to keep Ryuji and raise him. Yasuko admits that along the way a lot of things went wrong, but Ryuji states that the fact that he had grown so big meant that Yasuko succeeded as a mother. Yasuko looks back at his son and, after recalling the moment when Ryuji ran off with Taiga, states that Ryuji has grown up into an adult that she doesn't know. Ryuji answers that he is going to become adult, but he is going to do it in front of all of his friends and family instead of running off. Yasuko is so moved by Ryuji's words that she starts sobbing again. As Ryuji becomes flustered with Yasuko's crying, Taiga quietly watches from down the hall with a smile on her face.

"Not enough tongue." thought Taiga.

Since Ryuji claimed that he and Taiga were "married", Ryuji's grandmother had arranged things so that they slept in the same room. Taiga and Ryuji are initially embarrassed about it but both realize they have to sleep in the same room eventually. Taiga and Ryuji walk to the windows the gaze upon the night sky. Taiga asks Ryuji if they should really go through with the marriage thing, and Ryuji states that he wants to get married in front of everyone, including his grandparents and Taiga's parents. Reassured by Ryuji's words, Taiga states that she won't abandon this chance to make her dreams come true and also that tiger (Taiga) and dragon (Ryuji) were meant to stand together. Afterwards, Taiga and Ryuji decide to practice their wedding and Taiga uses a sheet as the veil and dress. Ryuji awkwardly tries to practice his vows, but Taiga puts a stop to that and the two start "practicing" their kissing. The first kiss was a quick and unromantic peck, but soon Taiga and Ryuji begin kissing passionately.

The next day Ryuji, Taiga and Yasuko say goodbye to Yasuko's parents and take the train back home, and during the train ride Taiga notes that the three of them really seem like a family. Late in the afternoon the three arrive in front of their homes. Ryuji tells Taiga to come have dinner at his house and Taiga eventually agrees. Taiga states that she's going back to her apartment first to change her clothes, but Ryuji reminds her that her mother is probably still there. Ryuji offers to accompany Taiga to talk to her mother, but Taiga makes it clear that she has to do it on her own. Ryuji tells Taiga to come over to his house whenever she's done as he'll be making her favorite pork chops.

I never knew you could star gaze with your cell phone.

While Ryuji is cooking at home, Taiga enters her apartment and finds that her mother has left. Taiga checks her cell phone and notices that her mother has sent her five pieces of voice mail. In the first three Taiga's mother just yells at her daughter demanding that she come back, but in the fourth Taiga's mother breaks down and wonders if Taiga really hates her that much. In the final voice mail, Taiga's mother exclaims that she doesn't care what Taiga does anymore, and this causes Taiga to laugh. Taiga then steps out onto her balcony and looks up at the night sky. Taiga spots a small star in the sky and takes a picture of it with her cell phone. After thinking about everything that has happened, Taiga decides that she should make up with her mother's family, and so Taiga packs her up her belongings and leaves without telling Ryuji.

Yuri-sensei is right. High school students with cell phones are scary.

The next day in school, Yuri-sensei announces to the class that Taiga is now living with her mother's family and has transferred to another school. Yuri-sensei tells her students to respect Taiga's decision, but most of the students instantly take out their phones to call and message Taiga. Ryuji gets up and walks out of the classroom, and on his trail are Ami and Minori. Minori catches up with Ryuji in the hallways, slaps him, and demands to know why he came back without Taiga. As Minori is joined by Yusaku and Ami, Ryuji states that there's not a moment where he doesn't want to go and retrieve Taiga, but he had read the note Taiga left behind and believes Taiga is doing the right thing by going back to her family. After school, Ryuji walks into Taiga's bedroom in her apartment and is surprised to find her room neat and clean. Ryuji walks over to the bed and finds a bag of luggage that Taiga had forgotten to take, and inside the luggage is Taiga's student handbook. Inside the handbook, Ryuji finds a photo of Taiga and Yusaku dancing during the cultural festival celebration, but under this photo there is another photo of Taiga and Ryuji preparing for the "Wrestling Hero" play. At that moment Ryuji receives two text messages from Taiga, the first one reminding Ryuji that he hasn't said "I like you" to her yet and the second message calling Ryuji "absent-minded". Ryuji is amused by the messages, and soon after Taiga sends him and all of her friends the picture of the night sky with the one small star.

There's no doubt about it: Ami and Minori are BFFs.

Minori wants a rematch with Ami since the last fight ended in a draw.

The next day at school Ryuji's friends are discussing what the picture is, and Minori comes up with the correct answer. The others wonder what Taiga meant by sending the picture, and Minori goes off into an elaborate explanation how the star represents Taiga's efforts to better herself and how Taiga wants everyone else to work hard too. Ami chimes in to make fun of Minori's speech and to remind Minori that she once broke Taiga's crystal star. After the mention of the crystal star, the entire class decides to find the crystal star and take a class photo to send to Taiga. As the class scours the gym for the star, Ryuji and Ami end up alone in one of the storage rooms and the two starts talking about Taiga. Ami states that she used to admire Taiga for being to speak honestly and act brashly and still have friends, but now she realizes that Taiga had a fake façade all along just like her. Ami recalls Ryuji calling her childish and comments that her real childish self despises the fake adult-like personality she uses, but she uses the personality because she wanted everyone to like her. At this moment Minori walks into the room and announces that she has found the crystal star. Having found the star, the classmates assemble in their homeroom with Ryuji in the middle holding the star, Minori and Ami standing beside Ryuji, and Hisamitsu and Kouji holding up a shirtless Yusaku. As Yuri-sensei takes the photo, Minori and Ami both pull on Ryuji's face to make him smile.

Minori, Ryuji, and Ami are blissfully unaware of their impending doom.

The ladies love Minori...

...and the guys love Ami...
...and Ami and Minori love each other.

More than a year later, Yasuko is at home getting ready to attend Ryuji's graduation ceremony. While Yasuko is checking her makeup, she is shocked to hear Inko-chan say his own name. After the ceremony, the new graduates hang out in front of the school. Minori and Ami are surrounded by their many supporters, while everyone knows Yusaku is going to the US for college. Ryuji is mingling with his classmates when he suddenly spots someone who looks like Taiga in his old classroom. Ryuji makes his way to the classroom and it appears that no one is inside, but Ryuji walks to the storage locker in the back corner and finds Taiga hiding inside. Taiga is disappointed that she wasn't able to surprise Ryuji, and Ryuji makes fun of Taiga not growing a single centimeter. Ryuji then suddenly tells Taiga that he likes her, and this cause Taiga so much embarrassment that she decides to head butt Ryuji.

Since their kissing session sucked, Taiga decides that she'll use headbutts as a sign of affection from now on.

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

A pretty decent finale overall, and it managed to make up for some of the craziness from the last episode. Both Ryuji and Taiga came back to their senses, and all the issues of note were resolved in a satisfactory manner. So in the end, Taiga and Ryuji end up together (a known fact from episode 1; anyone who believed otherwise was in denial) and decide to face the world instead of running away, and Minori and Ami end up as new best-friends-forever after Taiga and Ryuji dumped them both. As for Yusaku, he's going to the States so maybe, just maybe, he will see Sumire again. Even Yasuko is able to find more happiness by re-establishing relations with her parents. Basically, we have happy endings all around, and there's not much more that can be asked for at this point.

Despite the satisfying finale, I still can't get over the craziness that happened in the last episode. The pacing of episode 24 and the ending as whole were just way too quick compared to the rest of the series, although this is not entirely JC Staff's fault as they only had an outline of the last novel to work with. Actually, my main concern is not with the events of episode 24 themselves. My main complaint for ToraDora! is that there wasn't that climactic moment where the male and female leads finally realize they love each other and confess. The "moment" is the staple of romances and it is the scene that delivers the big emotional and dramatic payoff, but it has been glossed over in ToraDora!. ToraDora! spent 23 episodes building up such a great story, but it never takes advantage of the build-up and I can't help but find that disappointing. ToraDora! could have been one of those series where I could think back and say "That series was awesome!", but unfortunately it floundered a bit at the end.

Despite the shortfalls at the ending, ToraDora! is still the best anime series I've been watching in the past 26 weeks. It has an excellent cast of characters, and I love how all of the important characters have multi-dimensional personalities and undergo development through the series. Although ToraDora! didn't have the "big moment" at the end, the Taiga moments in episodes 19 and 21 are still some of the best emotional scenes from an anime that I could remember. Again, ToraDora! could have been a great series if there was the big payoff at the end, but even as it stands now it's still a very good series and very enjoyable to watch.