The End of an (Internship) Era

Warning: boring personal filler post, so read at your own risk.

As of yesterday I became unemployed once again as my co-op (internship) work term came to an end. This was my last undergraduate co-op term, and so I won't be working full time until I've earned my bachelors degree. I spent the last eight months working for the same company, and it has been an enjoyable and educational experience. I spent most of my time coding in Python and C, but I've also had to do some hands-on work as documented in these posts. Soldering was a particularly frustrating fun experience, and I think I hold the all-time office record for number of test boards killed by bad soldering. A dubious distinction, but it's something my coworkers can remember me by.

Other than the obligatory send-off lunch for us departing co-ops, the company also took all the employees out for an afternoon of pitch-and-putt as a team event. If you don't know what pitch and putt is, pitch and putt is basically a version of golf where the course is a lot shorter and you only play with 7/9 irons and a putter. The last team-event was curling which I didn't do badly compared to my coworkers, but this time I absolutely sucked. The fact that I haven't played pitch and putt or golf at all probably had something to do with it, but I'd rather blame my shirt (a Mike Weir golf shirt, and Mike Weir hasn't won anything important for like forever). The clubs supplied by the pitch and putt place were also too short and I had to either lean forward a lot or bend my knees to hit the ball. All of this added together means that I usually just clipped the ball and it went off for ~10 yards, and that's after swinging and missing several times (nobody counted those as strokes). Not exactly a winning recipe. All of the holes in the course were par 3s, but for most of them I couldn't hit the ball into the cup in 6 strokes, and the rule is if you can't get it in 6 you move on to the next hole. My best hole was a double bogey (5 strokes). No one in my group had played pitch-and-putt before, but I was just a bit worse than everyone else.

Other than my inability to hit, there were also some other embarrassing highlights. In one of the earlier holes I hit my golf ball into one of those trees that has branches all the way down to the ground. I went to the tree and managed to fish out a golf ball, but it wasn't the ball I was using. Nobody really cared though I just continued with the ball I found. Another dubious highlight was that despite the course saying that there was no hazards, I managed to hit my ball into a little creek. Luckily I managed to fish out the ball and was able to continue on to triple bogey+ that hole.

The pitch and putt was the last fun event I've had at my co-op employer. Compared to my other co-op terms, there was less company parties and events, but this is probably due to the recession and different company cultures. Can't really complain though since I got paid more than any of my previous terms. I also received some cool swag including a pen with an USB key, a key chain flashlight, and an insulated mug (better than the regular mugs that I got from my previous employers). I also received the case of a solid state drive as a memento. As sleek as the case looks (and it is the sleekest SSD case out there), I'd rather have the circuit board that's inside.

And thus ends my career as an undergraduate co-op. In total I've worked 20 months with four different companies in four different fields, and it has been rewarding experience. Working co-op sure beats going to school, There's no homework, no exams, no important responsiblities, and on top of that the pay is better than finding a job on your own (usually). I'm going miss co-op, and I feel sad that a significant portion of the money I've saved up from co-op will have to paid back to my university as tuition.

Now that co-op is over, it's time to go back to school. It's the last year of my degree, and the next eight months will probably be stress-filled as I try to get through my courses in one piece and apply for grad school at the same time. I won't have nearly as much free time when I'm back at school, so blogging will probably be cut back. I'll try to cover all the series that I'm following, so I'll have to shorten the summaries or do away with them all together. It's not like anyone read the summaries anyways. Luckily I have the next week off, and I'll be spending most of my time reading up on what I've forgotten over the last eight months and polish my grad school application essay(s). The next eight months are going to be some trying times, but I'm cautiously optimistic and I'm looking forward to the challenge. Wish me luck :D.

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood 21

Scar returns to Central, and the Elrics battle Scar in an effort to draw out the homunculi.

Summary:
In a dark stairwell, Envy and Gluttony argue to Wrath that they should go kill Mustang to avenge Lust, but Wrath states that Mustang is still useful and he has Father's permission to handle the situation.

Don't blame your shortness on Al. Drink milk!

The Elrics and Fuery pay a visit to Mustang and Havoc, who are recovering in hospital after the battle. During the incident at Lab 3 Riza had counted to steps to the giant stone doors but didn't remember the direction, so she took a map and drew a circle centered at the lab. After examining the map Mustang and the brothers realize that the stones doors could be under the Fuhrer's office, and this leads them to speculate that the Fuhrer might be in cahoots with the homunculi. After the Elrics leave, Mustang gets ready to plan out his next step, but Havoc states that he can't continue because he is paralyzed from the waist down. Mustang feels bad about Havoc's injury and mentions what happened to the coroner Knox who had faked Maria's autopsy to help Mustang. Mustang wonders what to do, but Breda informs Mustang that the Elrics said Dr. Marcoh might be able heal Havoc's spine with a Philosopher's Stone. Mustang then dispatches Breda to visit Marcoh.

Dinner time?

After leaving the hospital, the Elrics went back to Lab 3 for a visit and Ed discovered that the path to the stone doors had been sealed by alchemy. On the way back to the hotel, the Elrics run into Denny Brosh, who informs the brothers that Scar is back in town. Back at the hotel, Ed reveals the Al that Scar probably killed Winry's parents, and the brothers agree not to tell this to Winry for now. Ed plans to battle Scar to draw out the homunculi, but the plan is risky as both Scar and homunculi are very dangerous. Ling and Ran Fan climb through the windows and offers to lend a helping hand in exchange for the secrets of a homunculi, and the Elrics agree. Planning ahead, Ed also tells Winry to stay in Central for a little longer just in case his automail arm breaks.

I'm gonna bet that Winry will be the one to kill Ed.

Havoc is jealous because now Mustang has all the hot girls to himself.

Next day, Breda pays a visit to Dr. Marcoh's clinic and finds only signs of a struggle inside. Breda phones in to Mustang to report his findings, and Mustang walks dejectedly back to his hospital room only to spot Havoc's mother and a military official leave. Inside the room, Havoc explains that he has signed the paperwork to be discharged from the military. Mustang doesn't want to lose his loyal subordinate, but Havoc insists that Mustang leave him and move on. Mustang eventually agrees, but he tells Havoc to try and catch up and this leaves Havoc in tears. Mustang then decides to check out of the hospital.

No. Just no.

Mustang had always wanted to be a radio personality.

Meanwhile, Ed and Al are going all over town doing good deeds to attract Scar's attention. The brothers are picked up by Mustang and Riza, and Scar arrives just as Mustang and Ed are making fun of each other. The brothers tell Mustang and Riza to handle the military response while they handle Scar, and the two officers run off to a secret room to mess up the military's radio communication with equipment that Fuery had set up. Meanwhile, the Elrics and Scar battle it out in the narrow alley. Ed gets clipped by some flying debris and can't dodge Scar's next attack, but Ed is able to counter Scar's destruction alchemy with his own alchemy. As the Central soldiers are confused to where Scar is thanks to Mustang's efforts, King Bradley/Wrath uses Gluttony to pinpoint Scar's real location. Gluttony picks up Scar's scent and runs along the rooftops, but he gets kicked off the roof by Ran Fan. Ran Fan and Ling can sense the difference between homunculi and humans, and they have no trouble identifying Gluttony as their target. As the Xingese warriors get ready to fight Gluttony, Wrath charges in with swords drawn and quickly slices off Ran Fan's mask.

Palm strike showdown!!

I've said that Scar looked like the Terminator. Well Wrath looks like one too.

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

After a more emotional episode two weeks ago, Brotherhood is back for another round of action. We are on to the second big homunculi fight with Ling and Ran Fan vs. Wrath and Gluttony and that should be a dandy as Ling, Ran Fan, and Wrath are all accomplished martial artists. Bones did a terrific job adapting the Mustang vs. Lust fight, and hopefully they'll do the same for this fight. While the Xingese warriors are busying handling the homunculi, the Elrics are busy fighting Scar, but as seen by the preview the focus on the battle won't be on the combatants but on the past history between Winry and Scar. The fight probably wouldn't be as exciting as Xingese vs. homunculi fight, but there will be an added emotional and component due to unfortunate events that connect Scar and Winry.

As for this episode, the relationship between Mustang and loyal subordinate Havoc was portrayed very well. Havoc wants to stay with Mustang's group, but he knows that without the use of his legs he'll just be a burden. Mustang is also reluctant to let Havoc go and eventually realizes that he has no other choice, but this doesn't mean he has given up on Havoc and that Havoc should give up on himself. I also liked how Riza and Breda were very concerned about Mustang and Havoc. Even though Riza and the other subordinates diss Mustang from time to time, you can see that they are really a close-knit group. Too bad Havoc has to leave due to his injury, but hopefully this won't be the last we see of him. On the lighter side of things, Ed served some comedy by going around doing good deeds with alchemy. I wonder why other alchemists don't do this as well lol. The part where Ed asks Winry to stay because his arm will break was pretty funny as well.

Overall, this episode had a nice mix of drama, comedy, and action. Next episode will mostly be more action and probably some drama as well.

CANAAN 09

Canaan and company pay a visit to Hakkoo and Yunyun's home village.

Santana really wants those buns.

Summary:
At an abandoned building, Cummings reports to Alphard that Liang Qi is hiding out at "the factory", and Alphard states that she's going to go kill Liang. Meanwhile, Liang is making plans to kill Canaan.

To kill off some time, let's pinch the twin-tail loli!

I'm surprised. Maria actually has a decent left hand.

Back in the desert roads, Canaan and company pick up Yunyun and continue on their road trip. During a pit stop Yunyun explains that she's going back to her home village to die since she doesn't have the life-sustaining drug anymore, but Maria and Canaan tell her not to give up on life so easily. Santana suggest that they head to "the factory" to get the medicine, but suddenly the group is attacked by a masked man wielding a submachinegun. Canaan goes to confront the attacker but almost gets shot as she doesn't have her magic eyes. As Canaan lines up the man for a shot, Hakkoo screams for Canaan not to shoot and her voice stuns everyone nearby. The attacker loses his mask and is killed by the Ua virus within his body. While Hakkoo runs to the SUV to have a moment alone, Yunyun explains to everyone else that the man is a resident of her village. Santana states that the man was a "Unbloom" that was not able to become a Borner, and Minoru tells Maria to take a photo of the corpse. Minoru then tries to cheer up Hakkoo by making funny faces while Santana watches on.

Not someone I'd recommend for American Idol.

Minoru knows how to cheer up the girls.

After burying the Unbloom, Canaan and company continue on their trip and eventually arrives at the abandoned village. While the girls go off to sight see, Santana tells Minoru the story about the village. Santana states that he was a former CIA agent who was dispatched after Alphard had spread the Ua virus in the village. The CIA team worked under the guise of giving the villagers medicine, but in truth they were using the villagers to guinea pigs. The operation was dubbed "Flower Garden", and the successful mutants, or the Borners, were taken away to a facility run by Alphard. Disillusioned and angered by what he saw, Santana quit the CIA and joined the NGO to uncover the truth about "Flower Garden". Santana states that he must make amends with his past, and he tells Minoru to take care of Hakkoo if anything bad were to happen to him.

Piloting a helicopter while psycho is not recommended.

At this moment Liang Qi arrives in a helicopter armed with rockets to take out Canaan. Canaan splits off from the group and she runs into a building which is quickly blown up by Liang Qi. Alphard suddenly appears out of nowhere in her own helicopter and damages Liang Qi's helicopter with machinegun fire. Alphard tells Cummings to hand her an ammo box, but Cummings is unwilling to let Alpahrd kill Liang Qi and tries to shoot Alphard, but Alphard had switched his replaced his pistol with a BB gun. Alphard then pulls out her own gun and pulls the trigger, but to Cumming's relief it's also a BB gun. Alphard explains that she had changed her mind and now finds Cummings and Liang Qi interesting.

Couldn't you have thought of some better last words?

After Liang Qi retreats, Alphard lands in the village and finds Canaan lying the rubble. Alphard quickly figures out that Canaan doesn't have the magic eyes anymore and starts taunting Canaan about Siam. Alphard then tells Canaan not to die until she's ready to show her true abilities. Just before fainting from her injuries, Canaan states that Alphard's "color" is light brown just like Siam. After Canaan faints, Alphard comments that Siam was wrong to place his hopes on Canaan. Alphard then drags Canaan back out into the streets just as Maria and the others arrive. Santana draws his weapon to confront Alphard, but it's in Santana's best interests to let her go since she's also going to "the factory" to clean up the mess. Before leaving, Alphard tells Maria to relay to Canaan that Canaan's real name is "despair".

Lean a just a little closer, you two.

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

Finally, an episode with answers! So it appears that the US government (or at least parts of it) was in cahoots with Snake all along in order to human experiments with the Ua virus. The mechanism of the co-operation between the CIA and Snake still doesn't make much sense though, since why would the CIA go through of the trouble of telling Snake to spread the virus just so they can run some experiments in the middle and hand the finished products back to Alphard? Why can't the CIA do everything in house by themselves? I guess they can't answer everything in one episode, but at least we have bearing now on the big conspiracy that's going on. The explanation about the Unblooms was appreciated as well, although it wasn't clear why they were being kept alive. I suppose it's for study purposes, which still doesn't make much sense.

This episode also revealed more insight into the relationship between Alphard and Canaan. Alphard appears to be somewhat jealous of Canaan and unconvinced of Canaan's abilities, and this suggests that perhaps Siam had dumped Alphard in favorite of the current Canaan. Even though Siam is dead, I think Alphard still wants to prove that Siam was wrong to choose the current Canaan, and the most obvious way for Alphard to convince herself is to defeat Canaan while Canaan is using magic eyes. It seems that Canaan's synesthesia came back just before she fainted, so Alphard is going to get her wish. Beating Canaan is probably not the only thing that Alphard is after though, and what she's trying to achieve with the Ua virus is still a mystery.

Everything is now set up for a big showdown at "the factory" (aka the "Flower Garden"?). All the important characters are going to be there, including Liang Qi who is crazier than ever now that Alphard has tried to kill her. Overall this was one of the better episodes of the series. The only complaint I have is that there wasn't much development in the yuri department, but I suppose Yunyun sitting on Hakkoo's lap and getting beaten up by Maria counted for something.

Sekirei 88

Minato's battle plan hits a little snag.

Aren't you missing something... like your Ashikabi?

Summary;
Before the match, Matsu had formulated a battle plan for Minato's team. The plan involves Minato's Sekirei destroying the arena to create confusion among their opponents and thus giving Minato's team the chance to ambush. After Musubi takes down the overpass with a powered-up Kuma-ken, Homura and Tsukiumi ambush one of Higa's Sekirei, and after a little hot & cold treatment Homura deactivates the enemy Sekirei with a chant to the Sekirei mark. Elsewhere, Benitsubasa is really ticked off by the fallen rubble and she takes out her anger by KOing another one of Higa's Sekirei. In another part of the arena, Haihane has protected her Ashikabi Natsuo from the falling rubble, but the two of them are soon confronted by Oriha.

Meanwhile, Musubi meets up with Homura and Tsukiumi, but the three Sekirei notice that Minato is missing. During the flight up to the overpass, Minato had lost consciousness because of the g-force and fell to the ground, and unfortunately he landed right beside where Haihane and Oriha are fighting.

Note: Sekirei is taking a break next issue.

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

Even the best laid plans of mice and men often go astray, and that was the case here. Musubi should probably have hanged on to Minato though, since it's unrealistic to expect Minato to hang on by himself with that kind of acceleration. Minato is now caught in a Sekirei battle without his Sekirei, and it'll be interesting to see how Oriha and the Disciplinary Squad reacts to Minato. Capturing Minato might be a good idea to force his Sekirei to submit, but on the other hand Haihane and Oriha should also be concerned about each other. Higa is quickly down to only one Sekirei (kinda disappointed that the two Higa Sekirei's went down so easily), but he probably has some devious plan lined up to cheat his way to the jinkis. The match is (hopefully) far from over, and I'm really looking forward to a Benitsubasa vs. Musubi rematch and more Sekirei power-ups.

To-Love-Ru 162 (Final Chapter)

Rito confesses to...

Surprise ending!!!!

Summary:
Near the changing room at the water park, Rito manages to get a moment alone with Lala in front of the changing room. Rito confesses his love to Lala, but states that he also likes another girl, but Lala already knows that it's Haruna. While Rito is flustered, Lala is very happy since Rito admitted that he likes her and assures Rito that he can marry as many girls as he wants once he marries her and becomes the king of the universe. Lala then sends Rito on his way to confess to Haruna by strapping him to a jet pack. After a run-in with Yami, Rito find Haruna is about to confess. Nearby, Oshizu tries to use her mind powers to bring Rito and Haruna together, but she gets distracted by Celine and ends up ripping off Haruna's bikini. Haruna runs off to fix her bikini, but Rito has his eyes closed and ends up saying “I love you” to Nana, Yui, Run, and Misato-sensei. Lala arrives and suggest that Rito marry everybody, and Rito is in even more trouble than ever. THE END (!?)

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

… and that's a wrap, folks. After 162 chapters, To-Love-Ru has come to an abrupt end. Given how sudden the cancellation announcement was, this was the disappointing, rush-job non-ending that everyone had expected. It was just a standard chapter; no color spreads; no special features; no nothing. Other than Rito confessing to Lala, nothing was really resolved and a lot of the storylines were left hanging (Kyouko helping Run, Yami's friend Train Black etc.). It's funny that Rito still failed to confess to Haruna at the end, but he'll have plenty of opportunities later I suppose, especially when he becomes the king of the universe.

Overall, To-Love-Ru has been an enjoyable series. There's not much in terms of the story, character development, or action, but the series did a decent job serving up a weekly dose of lighthearted fan service and comedy. It's a shame that the series ended so suddenly, but rumors of its demise has been swirling for a while, and it seems that the authors themselves might have become disinterested. The non-ending leaves the possibility of a sequel, but I doubt it given how the series went out. At least there are still three more OVAs to look forward to (the Trouble Quest mini-arc is getting animated, and that should be fun), and maybe we'll get another season of the anime as well. Looking back, I've made more posts about To-Love-Ru than any other series (this being the 61st To-Love-Ru post on this blog), and it was sad to see the series go out the way it did.

Now that To-Love-Ru is over, Black Cat fans can start praying for Black Cat II lol.

One Piece 555

Oars Jr. tries to reach Ace among the chaos.

Just like a scene out of a giant monster movie.

Summary:
Using his massive size and strength, Oars Jr. opens a path through the bay towards the execution platform. Meanwhile, Boa Hancock starts attacking everyone in her way including the Marines. Oars is bent on rescuing Ace, because Ace was his friend and sewn a giant straw hat for him. Unfortunately, Oars' size makes him an easy target and he is hammered by cannon fire and Kuma's attacks. Oars tries to swipe at the Shichibukai, but Doflammingo cuts off Oars' legs, and Gecko Moria pierces Oars with a giant arrow just as Oars was about to reach Ace.

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

The big battle claims its first major casualty as Oars Jr. is taken down by the Shichibukai. Looks like Oars. Jr. wasn't nearly as powerful as the Oars zombie that had Luffy's shadow. I thought Doflammingo might use his unknown mind control abilities to take over Oars Jr.'s body, but the Shichibukai wasn't interested. Named characters don't die very often in One Piece, so Oars' death will probably have a significant impact for Ace and Whitebeard's crew.

On a related note, Luffy's group should be pretty close to Marine HQ by now. I wonder when they'll actually show up to the fight.

Bleach 371

Barragan gets some last words in before dying off for good.

Please just die already.

Summary:
As Barrgan fades into nothingness, he remembers the time when he was the King of Hollow-Land before he was razzled and dazzled by Aizen's zanpukto. After Barragan disappears, Stark gets ready to battle Rose and Love.

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

Extra-short summary for extra-slow chapter. I can't believe Kubo devoted a whole chapter to Barragan's death. Barragan is just some crony for Aizen; nobody really gives a damn about how he came to be. I guess the Barragan's back story also shows how Aizen took over Hueco Mundo, but it wasn't that interesting since Aizen did what he always does: walk into hostile territory, show everyone his sword and then own everyone. The perfect three step takeover plan. Overall, this was a filler-ish chapter. Hopefully the Stark and Harribel fights will provide a bit more entertainment.

Naruto 461

Sasuke's crew engage Raikage and his guards in battle while the other Kages do more talking.

Sasuke and his friends look like a fine group of trick or treaters, but unfortunately the Raikage only gives out knuckle sandwiches.

Summary:
Sasuke is attacked by Raikage and his two bodyguards. Jugo and Suigetsu jump in to backup Sasuke despite Sasuke's insistence on going solo. One of the Raikage's guards Shi starts looking around to see if there's another member from Sasuke's group, and this forces to Karin to hide her chakra.

Back in the meeting hall, the other Kages are in a stand-off. Danzo bluntly tells everyone else to hand power to him so he can save the world from Akatsuki, but nobody believes him and Gaara (despite himself being a former homicidal maniac) lectures Danzo on the importance of morals. Tsuchikage makes fun of Gaara for being a noob, but Gaara responds by stumping the Tsuchikage with a philosophical question. One of the Tsuchikage's guards decides to go watch the Sasuke vs. Raikage fight. Danzo's guards also want to go watch the fight for a chance to grab Sasuke's eyes, but Ao demands that they stay put.

Back outside, Jugo has transformed into crazy killer mode, but the Raikage is unimpressed.

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

I'm glad this chapter mostly focused on what's going on at the summit and not the part about Madara reciting his version of Sasuke's story to Naruto. The battle between Sasuke and Raikage's groups is in the early stages so not much to talk about there, but that talk between the other Kages and their guards was quite amusing. Good ol' Danzo is as hilarious as ever. It's amazing how he doesn't even bother to hide his intentions and just tells everyone to hand over the power despite all the other parties being hostile. At least he knows what he wants lol. The Mizukage also seems to have her eyes set on Gaara, which is bound to set off cougar alarms. It's implied that she likes young and innocent boys, but Gaara is far from innocent. And finally, was Gaara partly making fun of Tsuchikage's height by asking the old man "when did you rise above yourselves?" Or maybe that was just a funny translation by the scanlators.

Review: Record of Lodoss War (OVA)

I usually don't watch oldies, but the Record of Lodoss War OVA was a show that I had been wanting to finish for more than a decade. I probably saw the first one or two episodes of Lodoss back in 1995 when it aired on a Hong Kong TV station, and about a year later I watched that last two episodes after borrowing the video from the library. I must have been impressed or else I wouldn't have remembered the show for so long, although after watching the video the show slipped off my mind until about two months ago when I discovered the show's English name by chance. Although I've titled this post as a review, it's more like a list of random thoughts on the show. While I was intrigued by Lodoss 14 years ago, I can't say I'm too impressed after watching all 13 episodes.

Animated by Madhouse and released in 1990-1991, Record of Lodoss War is a medieval fantasy OVA series based a franchise of novels. Set on an island where kingdoms are constantly at war, the story of Lodoss is about a group of adventurers who tries to prevent the resurrection of an evil goddess. It's a fairly typical story for the genre, and the show features a standard cast of fantasy characters including knights, elves, wizards and other beings of legend and lore. Out of all the heroes, the dwarf Ghim had the most interesting back story with trying to rescue a young woman who was possessed by an ancient witch. In comparison, the protagonist Parn was rather uninspiring. The problem with Parn doesn't lie with his background; it lies with his lack of skills and growth. No matter who he is up against, Parn has only one strategy which is to charge forward recklessly despite being obviously outmatched, but he always survives either because someone saves his behind or because of blind luck. Not exactly what I would call an inspiring hero. It certainly didn't help that I watched the English dub of the series and the voice acting for Parn and all of the other characters were horrible. The voices sounded tired and lacked emotion, and this made it even harder to like the characters.

Another thing I disliked about Lodoss was the ordering of the events. The first episode starts off in the middle of the adventure with the heroes going on a journey to visit a sage, but on the second episode the story suddenly jumps back to the beginning with the heroes forming their group. A couple episodes later the story jumps over the sage visit that the heroes were going to in episode 1, and the visit to the sage is only touched upon later in a flashback. . I understand that the story was laid out to the audience into the middle of the action in episode 1, but the jumping around makes the plot a little hard to follow and a simpler chronological approach might have been more effective. In trying to start off with a bang, Lodoss also set the bar too high for itself, as the first episode was better animated than all of the remaining episodes.

Speaking of animation, the animation in Lodoss left a lot to be desired even when compared to other anime from that era. The show featured a lot of image stills, moving cutouts, and stock footage, and this is especially noticeable in a show where action is a prominent element. The worst offenders were the giant dragons that appear near the end of the series, and basically the dragons were giant cutouts that moved in and out across the screen. There were some stock footage of the dragons breathing fire, but that was it for the real animation. It's really a shame since the dragons had such great designs. Unlike the animation, the character and creature designs in Lodoss were well-executed. I especially like the designs of the elf girls and Ashram. Ashram might not have much of a personality, but he was one cool customer in that shiny black armor. However, the nice designs do not make up for the lazy animation, and overall Lodoss' production quality was lacking.

In conclusion, Record of Lodoss War was merely okay. The show had good designs, but the story and characters were average, and the animation needed improvement. The first episode was decent, but everything after that (including the end) was mediocre. I think the main reason why I remembered the show was because of the OP song, which was one of the genuinely good aspects of the show and was fitting for a medieval fantasy adventure. Too bad the show didn't match up to the quality of the song. I don't think I'm going to watch the sequels since this series didn't quite live up to my expectations, but my expectations were probably too high due to my fuzzy memory.

CANAAN 08

Canaan, Maria, Minoru, Santana, and Hakkoo go on a road trip together.

Now both of you lean forward a bit more.

Summary:
Canaan wakes up from a nightmare and finds herself being watched over by Maria in a hospital room. In the main hospital lobby, Mr. Osawa and his doctors are checking the other guests from the anti-terror summit, but Mr. Osawa is actually talking over the phone to Minoru, who is sitting in the back of the room with his cellphone. Mr. Osawa and Minoru talk about the UA virus and the Borners, and from the conversation Minoru realizes that Snake used the people in the village for testing.

Elsewhere, Alphard calls the US vice president to do a little taunting and to offer Snake's services as a terrorist organization (in order to keep the US in power). The vice president is not entirely convinced, but he has his own agenda and tells his aide to delete the record of the phone call. Back in her hideout, Alphard tells Cummings that the next thing to do is take care of the "factory" that Liang had set up.

Alcohol and sex to forget all of your troubles?

In Santana's bar, Hakkoo is drinking at the counter recalls some bad memories about how she accidentally killed a kid with her voice. To take her mind off of her memories Hakkoo goes to kiss Santana. Meanwhile, Canaan and Maria have been discharged from the hospital. While Minoru and Maria are busy with paperwork, Canaan phones Natsume and reveals that she had lost her ability to see "colors". At Canaan's rundown apartment, Natsume and her partner talk about the current situation with China threatening to sell all of its US treasury bonds in response to the bombing. Natsume's partner states that with Snake becoming more active, the NGO (Natsume's organization) also becomes more important because they are the "good guys" after all, but Natsume isn't so sure.

If you keep singing then nobody else is going to be alive anymore.

After finishing the paperwork at the hospital, Maria drags Canaan off to a date despite Minoru's protests. Maria and Canaan stumble in on an outdoor concert by the idol Nene and they run into the awesome taxi-driver in the crowd. Hakkoo is also in the crowd, and as Nene starts her first song Hakko begins to sing along, and her voice gives everyone else a huge headache. Not knowing where the danger is coming from, Canaan pulls Maria out of the crowd and away from the concert. Canaan feels depressed because she thinks she can't protect Maria anymore, and this makes Maria feel bad as well.

While not as deadly as Hakkoo's voice, the duet between Santana and Minoru is still more than capable of inducing headaches.

Minoru pays a visit to Santana's bar to ask for info on the missing village and its connections to Snake. At this moment Hakkoo returns and after seeing Hakkoo's gestures, Santana offers to take Minoru and his companions to see the missing village. With Minoru and Hakkoo on board, Santana picks up Canaan and Maria along the way and the company of five head inland in Santana's SUV. Maria seems to think its a tour and behaves like the tourist, while Canaan notices that Hakkoo seems to be apprehensive of her. During a pit stop at night, Maria tells Canaan about what Alphard had said to her and also confesses that she want to be at Canaan's side. Canaan returns the feelings and states that even though she can't see "colors" anymore, she can still feel Maria's gentleness and the two girls hold hands.

This is a perfect moment for a...

Later at night while everyone else is asleep in the SUV, Hakkoo tries to choke the sleeping Canaan but Canaan breaks free. Hakkoo then runs out of the SUV prompting Canaan to give chase. The commotion also wakes up Santana and Minoru, and Santana reveals that he was the person who wiped out Hakkoo's village. In the lonely, rocky landscape, Hakkoo tries to avoid Canaan but ends up stumbling down the slopes. Canaan catches up to Hakkoo and states that she doesn't know why Hakkoo hates her, and Hakkoo eventually states (by silently mouthing the words) that it's all Canaan's fault. Elsewhere, Alphard is shooting at some maps and paper with her pistol.

Hakkoo is angry that Canaan and Maria have neglected her.

The next day, the seating arrangements in the SUV has been changed so that Maria separates Canaan and Hakkoo. As the SUV continues on the lonely road through the rocky landscape, Santana and company spots a bicycle up ahead with a banner that states that it's selling buns. To Minoru and Maria's surprise, the rider turns out to be Yunyun.

Yunyun is back!!!

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

Another puzzling episode of CANAAN. The show keeps dropping hints everywhere, but nothing solid has come out of the hints yet. Alphard makes a half-hearted effort to get the US vice-president to cooperate with her, and the VP is half-heartily receptive to the idea, but whether anything is going come out of this is still anyone's guess. We still don't know Alphard is really up to. I also don't understand why Alphard randomly shot at the maps and papers at the end of the episode. That kind of behavior seems more characteristic of Liang Qi than Alphard.

Other half-hints that were dropped in the episodes were that Canaan has some connections to Hakkoo and the missing village, and that Santana probably has some connections to Snake given how he takes care of Hakkoo. In a weird way I thought the scene with Hakkoo singing along to Nene was kind of funny, especially since the lyrics was about how everyone was still alive. I guess not everyone is meant to sing along. The other Hakkoo scene when she tries to choke Canaan was kind of dumb, since if Hakkoo hated Canaan that much she should have at least grabbed a rock or some sort of weapon. Front chokes are pretty ineffective especially against people who are stronger, and attacking while three other people are in the car isn't a good idea. Hakkoo could have used her voice on Canaan while the two were out in the wilderness, but it seems that she didn't really want to kill Canaan. Hopefully the next episode will give us some real answers about Hakkoo, the village, and their connection to Canaan. At least the preview looked promising.

As for our main characters, Maria and Canaan finally professed their loved to each other, although they still haven't done anything more than holding hands. It seems that Canaan losing her Synestheist powers actually had a positive effect on her relationship with Maria since it allowed Canaan to show her vulnerable side. I'm sure Canaan will get her magic eyes back somehow, and hopefully she has learned that too much hacking is bad for the eyes.

To-Love-Ru 161

Rito and company battle it out with the mineralun (giant alien amoeba) at the water park.

Rito must have been working out to be able to toss two girls like that.

Summary:
The mineralun has engulfed Lala and Haruna and the girls are unable to swim out. Without thinking about himself, Rito jumps into mineralun and tosses both Lala and Haruna back out, but he becomes trapped inside the mineralun's watery body. Nana suggests that the mineralun can be defeated if its nucleus is attacked, and Yami dives into action by transforming into a mermaid. Inside the mineralun, Yami quickly finds the nucleus and whacks it with a hammer. With the mineralun dazed, Lala pulls out an energy sword and slices open the alien amoeba, thereby freeing the unconscious Rito. While he is recovering in Lala and Haruna's arms, Rito realizes that he loves both Lala and Haruna. Soon after, Mikado-sensei arrives with the owner of the mineralun to take now platter-sized amoeba away.

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

As expected, the chapter didn't make Rito choose between Lala and Haruna; he just saved both of them at once. However, there was some development in the love triangle, and now Rito admits that he likes both Lala and Haruna. I'm not sure if this implies that Rito is leaning towards Lala more and more, or rather Rito realizes that two waifus are better than one lol. Supposedly there will be more developments in the next chapter, but I'll believe it when I see it.

Oh, and Yami-chan makes an awesome mermaid. Well, she's pretty much the best character (except maybe for Riko) no matter what.

Bleach 370

The conclusion(?) to Soifon + Hachigen vs. Barragan.

No one scratches my bling and gets away with it!!!

Summary:
Hachigen and Soifon think that they've won after Soifon blew up Hachigen's kido box with her missile, but Barragan survives and is incensed by the damage he suffered. Barrgan reaches out with his decay beams at his opponents. Soifon and Omaeda barely get out of the way, while Hachigen puts on his hollow mask and tries to block with a kido spell. Barragan's beams drill through the kido shield, break Hachigen's mask and engulf Hachigen's right hand. Suddenly, Barragan notices that something is wrong, and Hachigen explains that he had purposely let Barragan take his right hand so he can attack Barragan from within. Within Barragan's stomach, Hachigen's right hand activates a spell that renders Barragan into nothingness.

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

Looks like Barragan is really done for this time. Thank goodness, since watching Barragan the one-trick pony got boring after a while, and Soifon wasn't that great either (only one missile per 3 days? No wonder Yoruichi dumped her). I'm not sure what Hachigen did at the end there to defeat Barragan. It seems like Hachigen reversed Barragan's powers onto the arrancar himself or something, but it wasn't really explained. I guess it doesn't matter as long as Barragan stays dead.

Overall, the Barragan battle was mediocre. Hopefully Stark and Harribel and their opponents will put up better performances. At the end though I'm pretty sure Aizen will just pull his bankai or some secret weapon/trick and own all the shinigamis and Vizards before moving on.

Naruto 460

Sasuke's group is tracked down.

Well, at least the samurais got one panel of coolness before they became fodder.

Summary:
At the Kages' summit, White Zetsu appears out of nowhere and urges everyone to look for Sasuke. The Raikage grabs Zetsu by the throat to get more info, but he grabbed too hard and appears to have killed Zetsu. The other Kages and their guards get ready for combat, while Mifune orders his samurais to search for Sasuke.

In the snowy town not far away, Naruto is woken up by the voice of Madara. Yamato and Kakashi spring into action and Yamato manages to bind Madara, but the three Konoha ninjas know that their attacks can't really hurt Madara. Madara states that he is here to talk and wants to know how Naruto convinced Nagato to betray him, but Naruto wants to hear about Sasuke and Madara agrees to serve up the story.

Back on the summit grounds, Sasuke's group is tracked down by the samurais. The samurais attack with their chakra-powered weapons, but they are no match for Sasuke and his Sharingans. Suddenly, Karin senses a powerful presence approaching, and soon Sasuke is confronted by the Raikage and his bodyguards.

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

It's been a decent number of chapters since we saw any real action on Naruto, so this development is a good one in my books. Sasuke vs. the Raikage should be an interesting and pretty competitive match-up. In his last major fight, Sasuke was getting his ass kicked by Killer Bee until he used the Amaterasu hack. Supposedly the Raikage is even more powerful than Killer Bee, but Sasuke looks stronger too, so hard to tell who's going to get the advantage off the start. The other Kages might join in on the hunt though so I'm guessing that Sasuke's group will have to retreat or get captured.

In other news, Madara is still trying to pull off his plan for world domination, although how he is going to do it remains a mystery. For now he seems to be content telling Sasuke's story to Naruto, probably just like how he told Itachi's story to Sasuke. Hopefully we'll get more coverage of the fights than the storytelling.

One Piece 554

The battle at Marine HQ rages on.

YEAHHH!!!! Random characters bashing each other!!!

Summary:
First division commander Marco counters Kizaru's beam attacks with his mystic phoenix powers and then knocks Kizaru to the ground. The Marine's giant squad prepares for action, but Joz tosses a mountain sized iceberg towards them. Admiral Akainu springs into action and blasts the iceberg with a burst of lava, and the explosion creates a shower of volcanic projectiles that sinks one of Whitebeard's ships, but Whitebeard is unharmed. As the battle rage on between the Marines and Whitebeard's forces, a gargantuan figure appears behind Whitebeard's fleet. This massive being is Little Oars Jr., the descendent of the legendary Land-Pulling Oars (the massive zombie that Luffy and crew fought on the Thriller Bark), and Oars Jr. is allied with Whitebeard. The appearance of Oars Jr. draws the attention of Shichibukai who are about to make their move.

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

This is turning into one chaotic battle. Instead on focusing on specific match-ups, the chapter just shows characters from both sides hurling attacks at one another. It really creates the sense of mayhem and chaos, but on the other hand the chapter was slightly hard to follow since the focus keeps jumping around, and it's even more confusing when you are not sure who is who. Anyways, Whitebeard's forces have brought out a secret weapon in the form of Little Oars Jr. The gargantuan Oars Jr. is obviously quite powerful (it took Luffy's entire crew plus a shadow power-up to bring down the Oars zombie), but the Shichibukai don't look intimidated at all. While Moria wants to replace his giant zombie, Doflammingo may be the bigger threat since he might have the power to control people's bodies. If he can gain control of Oars Jr.'s body then Whitebeard's forces could suffer a lot of damage.

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood 20

The meeting with Hohenheim prompts Ed to continue his search for the truth.

Hohenheim can't believe he has such a short son.

Summary:
At Resembool cemetery, Hohenheim comments that Ed has grown, while Ed is hostile towards Hohenheim. When Hohenheim asks about the house, Ed states that he burned it down so he can move on, but Hohenheim states that Ed did so he can remain in denial. Later at night in Grandma Pinako's house, Ed overhears Hohenheim wondering if the person Ed and Al transmuted was really Trisha, and this has Ed thinking about if he and Al lost their bodies for nothing.

Back at Central, Al explains to Ling and Ran Fan about his soul seal. Al mentions that there are serious side effects with putting a foreign soul into a body as demonstrated by Barry, and this has Winry worried. Ling, however, thinks that one can just keep transferring his/her soul to different bodies and live forever, and this angers Winry who then storms out of the room.

What did you give Ed for breakfast, Grandma?

The next morning, Ed is woken up by a nightmare. In the living room, Hohenheim is about to leave, and before leaving he warns Pinako that she should think about leaving since something bad is going to happen in the country. After Hohenheim leaves, Ed and Pinako climb up to the Elric's house to dig up the person that Ed and Al had transmuted. The weather turns nasty, and Ed pukes all over the place, but Ed is determined to check the body. After a lot of digging, Ed finally finds a few strands of hair and determines that they are black instead of Trisha's hazel-colored hair. After digging up the remaining bones, Pinako determines that the person is definitely not Trisha and may have even been a male. Ed laughs crazily for a bit after finding out that he and Al had lost their bodies for nothing, but he soon calms down and states this also means Al's body can be brought back.

It takes a big man or a crazy man to laugh it off like this. Not sure which one Ed is.

After returning from the dig, Ed calls Izumi to explain his findings and to tell Izumi to check the baby that she transmuted. The next day, Ed visits the cemetery with Pinako. Ed wonders where Hohenheim went, and this reminds Pinako that she had a message for Hohenheim from Trisha. In the message, Trisha wanted to say that she couldn't keep her promise and has to go first. Pinako wants Ed to deliver the message when he sees Hohenheim again, and Ed states that he'll relay the message after he punches Hohenheim.

Ed just loves Al's new look.

Ed then take the train back to Central, and at the hotel he is surprised by Al's beat-up state and Ling and Ran Fan's presence. After tossing the Xingese visitors out of the room, Ed repairs Al by thinning out Al's armor. Ed then shares his findings with Winry and Al, and Al also recalls some of his memories during the human transmutation. Ed and Al come to the conclusion that bringing back the dead is impossible, but Al's body is still around somewhere and they also did not create another soul during their attempt to revive their mother. Soon after, Ed receives a call from Izumi who states that the baby she transmuted couldn't have been hers and Sig's. Izumi knows that Ed is on to something and thanks Ed before hanging up. Ed doesn't know what Izumi is thanking him for, but Izumi is relieved that she didn't kill her child twice. Back at the hotel, Ed and Al have renewed their determination to get their bodies back, while Winry notices that Ed has grown more manly.

I have to admit, the shining reflection "tears" is quite ingenious.

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

After the great action episode last week, this week is a transitional episode mainly for Ed and Al to renew their determination in getting their bodies back and searching for the truth. Hohenheim makes his first appearance, but it was just a teaser and the purpose was get Ed to start moving. The revelation after digging is more of a closure for Ed, Al and Izumi; they know they made mistake and their lost body parts was in vain, but they didn't kill their loved ones for a second time. Of course, Ed and Al also realize that Al's body is still around somewhere, and this will probably be the main driving force for the remainder of the series. At the end of the episode, Winry is also starting to show some signs of romantic feelings towards Ed, but we all that was going to happen sooner or later.

The next episode should put the brother back into the action, but too bad it's airing next week but the week after. Oh well.

Neon Genesis Evangelion 79

It's still like the End of Evangelion.

You can slap Shinji all you want, but no matter what he's still a wuss.

Highlights:
- NERV HQ is still under siege from the military. The military may be trying to capture the MAGI system, but they also drop a N2 mine on top of NERV HQ.
- Shinji tries to chicken out again but Misato drags him along towards Unit 01
- Asuka wakes up in Unit 02 at the bottom of the lake
- Gendo goes to meet Rei to complete his plan

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

After an almost two-year hiatus, looks like the official NGE manga might be back in regular serialization again, although we'll have to see how long this lasts. The story is matching up with the End of Evangelion thus far, but there are some notable differences as seen in the last chapter. I'm interested in what Gendo plans to do with his Angel-like left hand. To be honest, I'm hoping that the manga ending will be different than EoE's, since EoE's ending was too weird for my tastes although I preferred it to the series' "out-of-budget" ending. Something more concrete would be nice.

CANAAN 07

Canaan races against time to save Maria.

It seems everyone can do Bullet Time these days.

Summary:
Canaan makes her way into the convention center and starts taking out the PMC mercenaries with a little help from her magic eyes. At the control room, Liang Qi wants to take care of Canaan, but Alphard isn't interested. Alphard tells Liang Qi that she has no need for someone without decision-making skills, and this causes Liang Qi to throw her pellet gun into Cummings and run out of the the room.

Why onee-sama!? I thought we had a great thing going here!?

At this point, the news of what's happening at the convention center has been spread around the world. At the White House, the vice president and other high ranking officials are deciding how to proceed. They know Hebi is behind the attack, and they know the president is trapped in a chamber with the UA virus. The US officials are hoping that Maria's dad Kenji would come to the rescue with the miracle drug, but unfortunately Mr. Osawa's car gets blown up just as he was leaving his company. With the miracle drug gone, a rescue is out of the question as the UA virus might be spread all over Shanghai. And so the US officials decides the best thing to do is to order a B-2 to drop a 2000 pound bomb on to the convention center.

Alphard thinks Maria would make a nice foot stool.

Alphard already knows what's going to happen, but she can't resist the chance to taunt the US president. Before Alphard calls in to the shelter room, Maria asks why Alphard is using the UA virus but Alphard's response is a kick to the ribs. After telling the captured officials that their fates are sealed, Alphard drops some hints to Maria about her relationship with Canaan, telling Maria that she was once named Canaan as well. A short time later, Alphard, Cummings and their remaining troops leave the control to make their escape via an underground route just moments before Canaan breaks into the room. While walking in the underground tunnel, Cummings wonders about Liang Qi but Alphard states that she has discarded Liang.

Santana shows Natsume his giant stash of pr0n.

Minoru butt-crack fan service!?

Good ol' Mr. Osawa has come to save his daughter's sorry behind... again.

Having learned of the decision to bomb the convention center, Natsume arrives at Santana's bar and borrows his satellite equipment in an effort to stop the bombing. Back inside the convention center, Canaan has disable jamming so Natsume is able to call in and give her instructions. Not far away from the convention center, Minoru tries to get pass the blockade but is stopped by the military police. Moments later, the military police retreats after learning about the approaching bomber, and this allows Minoru and the awesome taxi driver (don't know his name) to proceed. The bomber arrives over Shanghai and drops the bomb, and Canaan only has ~40 seconds to use her magic eyes to disrupt the bomb's GPS system so that it misses. At this moment, Maria's father (having somehow fooled the terrorists) arrives near the convention center via helicopter with the medicine, but the bomb has already been released. Using all of her mental might, Canaan is able to make the bomb miss by 50 meters, thereby saving Maria and herself plus all the officials. Maria and Canaan go out on to the roof in celebration, but Canaan gets a bad headache and then realizes that she has lost her ability to see "colors". Meanwhile, Liang Qi is looking at the convention center from not far away and she still hasn't gotten over the fact that Alphard had dumped her.

Finally, we get some action!

Liang Qi longs to be in Alphard's arms again.

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

It's impressive how this episode managed to (partially) resolve the crisis without giving any concrete answers as to what everyone is doing. We still don't know what Alphard is trying to achieve by attacking the summit and infecting the officials with the virus. Some people are guessing that she's trying to start a war, but that's just speculation and Alphard herself hasn't revealed her true intentions. If Alphard really wanted to start a war, it would have made sense that she made an effort to stop Canaan, but she didn't. It's more or less the same situation with Natsume and Santana; both are doing things that seem to be relevant to the story but we don't have any hints as to they are really after. Basically, the story is still as murky as it was in episode 1.

Looking at how the crisis was handled, I'm guessing that in CANAAN's world the US and China are in some sort of alliance, because otherwise I don't understand how the US would have the authority to drop a bomb on to Shanghai (unless the US is trying to start a war). And is dropping a 2000 pound the best solution to the situation? Granted, the US official didn't know that Mr. Osawa was still alive and on his way with the miracle cure, but was it that pertinent to kill all of the people who are trapped in the shelter? I have a feeling that they didn't think thing through before ordering the strike. It's also funny that Canaan can find a way into convention center and Alphard has a way out, but the Chinese police doesn't seem to aware of these paths. Speaking of funny things, CANAAN does a pretty thorough job using English and Mandarin in news broadcasts or command dispatches as in this episode, but it seems pointless since all the notable characters (including all the US officials) speak Japanese. Speaking Japanese isn't strange given that this an anime, but having inconsistent languages switching is.

So at the end of the episode, Canaan save everyone with her haXX0r eyes, but she becomes "color-blind" or some other disadvantaged state. Judging by the preview, the crisis is not entirely resolved, but Alphard and especially Liang Qi seem to be out of the picture. Alphard was pretty cold towards the other ladies in this episode, and so despite all of the our sick-minded suspicions and previous hints, it looks like Alphard is not interested in having a yuri harem lol.

Fullmetal Alchemist 98

Greed vs. Wrath, Take Two.

Turns out Bradley just stepped off the train to escape the explosion.

Summary:
At the front gate of Central HQ, Ling/Greed wonders how Wrath/King Bradley escaped the train explosion, and Wrath states that he saw the explosion coming with his Ultimate Eye and merely hopped off the train as the bridge crumbled into the ravine. Greed attacks Wrath in a bid for retribution, and thanks to Ling's martial arts background Greed is able to hold his ground, but Wrath still gains the upper hand. The Briggs soldiers try to help Greed but they are quickly cut down by Wrath. Buccaneer joins in on the attack only to be stabbed in the stomach by Wrath, but Buccaneer is able to force Wrath to let go of his sword. Greed tries to take advantage while Wrath doesn't have a weapon, but Wrath quickly re-arms himself with two military knives. Several trucks carrying Central troops arrive at the gate, and only Falman and one Briggs soldier are left to fight off the reinforcements as Greed has hands full with Wrath. Suddenly, the Central troops are taken out in a flash by Fu, who then joins Greed in fighting Wrath. After a brief exchange of attacks, Fu finally learns of Wrath's identity and is eager to get some payback for Ran Fan's severed arm.

News of King Bradley had spread to the radio station, and Breda is forced to tell Mrs. Bradley that Olivier Mira Armstrong is responsible for the coup. Downstairs, Maria Ross and Fuery are notified by some comrades that someone from Central wants to join their side, and Maria is happy to see that someone is none other than her old friend Denny Brosh.

Come on Maria. Denny just misses you.

Back in the Fuhrer's office at Central HQ, the Brigadier General who Izumi had rescued spills the beans on the plans to destroy the country so it could be reborn, but nobody, not even the surviving Central soldiers, are convinced by the plan. Olivier phones in on her subordinates in the command room, and her subordinates report that a new wave of Central soldiers is invading the HQ and has probably surrounded the Fuhrer's office. Olivier orders her troops to escape through the tunnels and leave her behind if the situation becomes too dangerous. After hanging up, Olivier and company note that their only possible way out is the secret stairway leading to the underground.

Somewhere in the underground, Ed and company have lost track of May. While Mustang and Ed are busy blaming each other, Riza thanks Scar for helping to bring Mustang back from the edge, but Scar states that he doesn't need gratitude. At this moment, Ed and company are confronted by a strange man wearing glasses.

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

Interesting ending. I think the guy at the end is the alchemy doctor who healed Kimblee after Kimblee was injured by Scar. We don't know this person's name or much else about him other than that he probably has Philosopher's Stones at his disposal and knows how to use them. The ability to use Philosopher's Stones alone would make this guy more dangerous than Envy or most of the homunculi for that matter, so Ed and company might have a tough fight ahead of them.

Moving on to the Greed vs. Wrath fight, Wrath might be one of the bad guys but you can't deny that he's pretty kick-a$$. He semi-casually hopped off an exploding train that's following into a ravine! You can't classify that as anything but awesome. As for Greed, I wonder why doesn't go into his fully hardened form. That way Wrath wouldn't be able to hurt him with just regular knifes. I guess Greed/Ling just can't bear not showing his handsome, squinty-eye face. Fu has joined the fight to avenge his grand-daughter's lost arm, and looks like Ran Fan will be joining them soon. Last time Ling and Ran Fan vs. Wrath ended with Ran Fan losing an arm and she and Ling running with tails between their legs. This time Fu is added to the mix, and Ling also has Greed's ability, so it'll be a more competitive battle.

Other notable events in the chapter were Olivier and company heading downstairs and Maria being reunited with Denny. Olivier and company might eventually join up with Ed's group, but they'll probably visit the puppet soldier storage room first. As for the radio station group, I don't foresee characters like Breda, Fuery, Maria, and Denny staying put and doing nothing, so the group will probably have to move or better yet, be attacked by Central soldiers or maybe even Pride. Hopefully we'll get some coverage on Pride, along with Al's group and the Hohenheim vs. Father fight in the next chapter, but then again there are the big battles involving Ed's and Ling's groups. There is just so much going on right now in FMA. It's hard to pick which battles I want to see.

Sekirei 87

Minato's group goes on the attack!

Benitsubasa and Musubi just love seeing each other again.

Summary:
With the painful memories from the battle at the bridge still fresh on her mind, Benitsubasa leaps towards Musubi to get some retribution, but Tsukiumi and Homura combine their abilities to engulf Benitsubasa and the other enemies with a big steam explosion (water + fire). It turns out that Minato had consulted Matsu and formulated a battle plan for this group match, taking account of the possibility for Sekirei to combine their abilities. In the next phase of his plan, Minato kisses Musubi for the flying power-up. Musubi takes Minato up on to one of the overpass bridges, and Musubi sends the bridge crashing down with a Kuma-ken.

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

Another painfully short chapter of Sekirei. Being such a short chapter, there's not much to talk about. Mostly, the chapter is about Minato showing off some smarts by coming up with a plan for the battle. Despite failing his college entrance exam twice, Minato is supposedly pretty intelligent, which is not a surprise given that both his mother and implied father Minaka are geniuses. I'm pretty sure the Disciplinary Squad and Higa's group have their own battle plans. That's all I can say, because this chapter was so darn short. Why can't the chapters be longer?

In other news, supposedly there will be a new season of Sekirei anime coming out probably in the next year. I'm guessing it's going to be another 11-13 episode season, but I wonder if it will cover up to the end of the manga (which obviously hasn't ended yet). If I'm still blogging at that time I'll probably cover that series.