Fractale 06

The Granitzes make a brief stop, and during the stop Clain meets a man who collects antique electronics and another branch of Lost Millennium called Alabasta.

First the violence, now the full body nakedness... what's this show turning into?

On the other hand, I'm impressed by how fast Phryne managed to strip off all of her clothes.

Summary:
The Grantizes decide to land for a brief stop before traveling into zones under the coverage of the temple. Nessa, Sanko and Phryne play in the water which attracts Clain's attention, and Clain and Enri then notice a middle aged man taking pictures of them with an antique digital camera. Clain chases after the man because he's interested in the camera but he loses sight of the man. Clain then spots a group of people traveling on a dirt road, and Sundas explain that these people are migrating because they can't receive signals from the Fractale system. The people are so dependent on the system that they would travel to an area where they get coverage. Clain then spots the man with the camera among the traveling crowd, and another man is trying take away his bag. Knowing that the camera is inside the bag, Clain runs up to intervene, but suddenly two jeeps arrive bringing a group of armed militants. Dias, the leader of the group, puts the problem-maker in a hammer lock but then he notices Sundas and company nearby and says hello, but Sundas isn't too happy to see Dias. Dias then announces his group as a branch of Lost Millennium named Alabaster. Dia tells the migrating people to follow his crew back to camp where free food will be handed out, and most of the migrants decide to follow Dias' group.

Clain is in heaven.

After Alabaster and the migrants leave, Clain tries to talk to the camera guy but the guy runs off again. Clain follows the guy back to his house which has a giant array of old antennas sticking out. The guy greets Clain with a double-barreled shotgun, but Clain convinces the man to let him inside. Inside, Clain is amazed by all the antique electronics. The man asks what Clain thinks of Lost Millennium and Clain responds that Lost Millennium are terrorists, but they don't seem to be that bad. The man states that Clain doesn't know anything yet and tells Clain to come back at night so he can show Clain something special.

In the night, the Granitzes put Clain on guard duty, but Clain plans to desert his post to go meet the camera guy. Clain is about the sneak off, but Phryne appears and forcefully tags along. On the way, the two come across Alabaster's camp where food is being handed out, and Dias is also telling people to go to a tent to get immunized. Clain thinks that Alabaster are pretty good people, but Phryne doesn't think so, and the argument leads to the two running all the way to the camera guy's house.

Cardiovascular exercise is an important part of keeping your body healthy.

At the house, Phryne barges in and spots some photos which she quickly pockets. The camera guy doesn't mind Phryne and tells the two kids to follow him up the antenna tower. On the tower, the camera guy works some electronics and suddenly an image of a pretty town during day time is projected over the landscape. The man tells Clain and Phryne that it's his goal to eventually link the area back into the Fractale system so that people don't have to migrate anymore searching for coverage. The man then tells Clain and Phryne to go into the town to see the truth.

Clain and Phryne run into the town and find the migrants from before. Some of the migrants can see the town and are amazed by the sight, but others can't see it and are in a state of confusion. Dias' group then arrive and a man who can't see the buildings wonders what's wrong, and Dias explain that the purpose of the "immunization" was to permanently disconnect people from the Fractale system. The migrants try to run away but they are rounded up by Dias' group, and a man who tries to run off on his own is shot dead.

The true methods of Lost Millennium.

After seeing the truth, Clain and Phryne run back towards the camera guy's house as the Fractale projection finally disappears. The camera guy runs out to greet the two but he is noticeably sick. Clain suggest that they guy follow them into a Fractale coverage area to get medical treatment, but the guy states he has to finish his work at his house. The guy then gives his digital camera to Clain and walks back to his house, and Clain takes a picture of the man's backside with the camera.

Who is the baby?

The next day, the Grantizes, Clain, Phryne and Nessa depart in their flying ship. In the mess room, Enri finds Phryne checking out the photos she lifted from the camera guy. Most of the photos are of Clain from the day before, and there is one last photo of a couple and their baby boy. Phryne then claims she knows who the baby boy is.

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I was hoping that we would see an attack from the temple to take back Phryne and Nessa, but instead we have an episode that was once again about showing the state of the world that Clain and the other characters live in. People within Fractale's coverage area are happy and healthy, but those living outside appear to be poor and hungry and are desperate to find coverage once again, and this is a pretty good way to show how being dependent on the system can be bad for the people. On the other hand, Lost Millennium is far from honorable, and Dias and Alabaster appear to be even worse than Sundas when it comes to stepping over people for their own goals. All this just serves to support the fact that neither the temple nor Lost Millennium are that great, and so we'll have to see if Clain, Phryne and Nessa will strike out on their own and find a better way.

The story about the camera guy wasn't too interesting until the episode reached the end. It seems that the guy has a photo of Clain when he was still a baby, and also has somewhat an interest in Clain judging by the photos he took. The camera guy obviously can't be Clain's dad (unless Clain's doppel dad is a fake... I don't think Fractale will get that strange), so I'm thinking the camera guy might just be a photographer who took a portrait of Clain's family or maybe even a friend to Clain's parents. I don't know how much this will play into the rest of the story though, and we don't even know for sure if the baby in the photo is actually Clain.

Overall, this was an okay episode. The show likes to show things in an indirect manner sometimes, but I hope the series will start getting into why the Fractale system is collapsing and significance of Phryne and Nessa.

To Aru Majutsu no Index II 20

Accelerator kills some Hound Dogs, while Touma runs into Vento.

It turns out Accelerator actually wanted the tissues back.

Summary:
Index stumbles of the scene of Amata and Accelerator's battle. Amata tell his men to kill Index, but the distraction caused by Index allows Accelerator to hijack one of the Hound Dog's vans and driver and then escape with Index. Amata grabs a missile launcher to target the van, but Vento suddenly appears and Amata shoots Vento instead. Vento is unharmed by the missile, but Amata decides that he has something better to do and drives off, leaving a few soldiers to deal with Vento.

Accelerator order the driver to stop nearby the hospital and tells Index to find Heaven Canceler and ask for a battery for the Misaka Network communicator. Later, Accelerator calls Heaven Canceler from a phone booth. Accelerator wants to wipe out Amata and the Hound Dogs, but Heaven Canceler tells Accelerator to focus on saving Last Order first and bringing her to the hospital.

Wouldn't it hurt to send the cross flying since it's attached to her tongue? But then again, she does have a cross attached to her tongue.

Meanwhile, Touma and Last Order return to the scene of the battle but only find the wrecked van and bodies of several soldiers. Shortly after, more Hound Dogs arrive and they chase Touma and Last Order into an alley. Touma and Last Order enter a restaurant to hide, but the soldiers find them. Suddenly, Vento arrives and all the soldiers are knocked out. Vento then confronts Touma and attacks him by hitting the cross hanging from her tongue with her mace which generate energy balls that fly at Touma. Touma doesn't have much trouble repelling the attacks, and after getting Last Order out of the restaurant Touma decides to stand and fight, but Vento suddenly coughs up blood and is forced to retreat.

You sure you dropped your ring here? I'm not getting any readings on the metal detector.

At least she's motivated. We could care less about the reason.

At the Judgment branch office, Kazari and Kuroko are swamped with paperwork. When the two finally take a break, Kazari turns on the TV and learn of Vento's attack on the city, but soon after she loses consciousness.

Once a killer, always a killer.

At a chemical plant somewhere in the city, Accelerator is trying to find a chemical that would erase his scent and thereby stop the Hound Dogs from tracking him. A group of Hound Dogs track Accelerator to the plant, but Accelerator slaughters them. However, a couple of Anti-Skills witness one of Accelerator's killings. Elsewhere in town, Yomikawa is driving about trying to find Last Order and Accelerator, but she receives the report about Vento and subsequently loses consciousness. A while later, Yoshikawa locates Yomikawa's car, but then she sees that Accelerator is on the wanted list.

In a back alley somewhere, Motoharu is investigating a strange spike, and is forced to jump back when more spikes emerge from the ground. Motoharu thinks the spike are planted to kill all the unconscious people in the city, and near the spikes Motoharu spot a glowing white figure moving about.

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

This was a very "busy" episode with lots of characters getting involved and the narrative jumping around between them, but it didn't feel like the story was building up. Things started off decently with Accelerator escaping with Index while Touma and Last Order are chased by the Hound Dogs, but after that things fell a little flat. Vento was pretty disappointing in her first actual fight. Her energy balls didn't really put Touma to the test, and then she started coughing up blood and retreated. I hope she has some other abilities other than the energy balls and making people faint (which obviously doesn't work on Touma), or otherwise she'll be a really easy target for Touma to sock in the face. Accelerator wasn't doing much more either and spent the rest of the episode killing Hound Dog grunts horror-movie style. I guess it's in Accelerator's character to brutally murder people who get in his way, but I'd rather see him murder them and then started doing something towards saving Last Order. Judging from the conversation between Accelerator and Heaven Canceler, it seems that Last Order has some sort of health problem. I thought she was supposed "conditioned" before she was allowed to leave the hospital?

Onto the other characters, Kuroko's rants on Touma was really random and somewhat out of place given everything else that was going on. There is also the spike and glowing white ghost thing that Motoharu was investigating which came out of nowhere as well, but it's probably part of Vento's scheme if we are to believe Motoharu. It was also a little strange that Amata disappeared after running into Vento, but I presume that he went to summon Hyoka (who might not appear next week either judging but the preview) as ordered by Aleister.

Overall, this was an okay episode, but the different parts didn't work together very well to build up the level excitement. Maybe things will be better next week?

Naruto 529

The Shinobi Army comes up with a plan to deal with Kinkaku.

It's too late to say sorry, but you can't fault Darui for trying.

Summary:
Kinkaku puts on the tailed beast cloak and starts wreaking havoc. Darui can't steal the rope from Ginkaku, and therefore can't use the sword and gourd. This prompts Darui's forces to call the command center for help. At the command center, A explains that the brothers ate the stomach meat of the Kyuubi after they were swallowed, so they have a lot of Kyuubi chakra. A then tells his subordinate to send the Amber Purifying Pot, the fifth of the Five Ultimate Treasures to Darui. Unlike the gourd, the pot can seal anyone who answers the call of the pot's wielder. Since Kinkaku knows how the pot works, Shikaku also comes up with a plan to get Kinkaku to answer the call.

Back on the battlefield, Kinkaku has destroyed a large area but Darui has managed to survive. Kitsuchi's forces arrive to back up Darui's division, and Shikaku calls Shikamaru, Choji, and Ino via a telepathy technique of a communications ninja to outline his plan. The Shinobi Army ninjas start showering Kinkaku with kunais, and then Choji jumps and hits Kinkaku with the Meat Tank. Kinkaku tosses Choji aside, but he is then caught by Shikamaru's shadow mimic. Kinkaku easily breaks that, but the momentary pause allows Ino to execute the mind body switch. Darui receives the pot and calls out to Kinkaku, and Ino answers as Kinkaku and Kinkaku is sucked into the pot (with Ino switching back to her own body just as Kinkaku was being sealed).

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It's good to see Ino, Shikamaru and Choji doing a team attack once again. Despite the fox chakra cloak, Kinkaku went down rather quickly too and without killing anyone notable. I guess Naruto is still not quite willing to kill off some named good characters. Using the gourd against Kinkaku was a no go since Kinkaku still had the rope, but the Amber Purifying Pot is even better since it's an one-step process rather than a three step process. I'm guessing the pot can only hold one thing at a time though, or else it would be such an easy way to counter all the zombies. With the rope sealed with Kinkaku, the sword and gourd Darui stole are pretty useless.

With the Kin and Gin brothers gone, what's the next battle? Zombie Asuma vs. his three former students, or will it be Gaara and Oonoki vs. the four zombie Kages?

Bleach 438

Ichigo passes the training, while Orihime deals with her attacker.

Orihime's new attack?

Summary:
Mr. Pork Chop is knocked out by Ichigo's attack and reverts to his normal form, and so Riruka sneezes on the dollhouse and the stuffed animal to release Ichigo and the fat yakuza guy. While Ichigo is wiping off Riruka's spit and snot, he notices that the reiatsu from his representative badge automatically retracts. Ichigo then hears a voice from the badge which he believes to be Rukia's. Meanwhile, Ginjou is looking at Ichigo with a calculating look.

Meanwhile in front of Chad's apartment, Shishigawara is about to attack Orihime but is stopped in his tracks after noticing that Orihime is hot. Shishigawara eventually gets back on track and mentions that he took out Uryuu, and this gets Orihime into serious mode. Orihime starts questioning Shishigawara about his group and motives, but suddenly Tsuchishima, the guy who actually took out Uryuu, appears behind Orihime.

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Most of the chapter was taken up by two attempts at humor (Riruka sneezing on Ichigo; Shishigawara stopped by Orihime's hotness) which were merely okay, but there were some interesting developments in this chapter. It sounds like Rukia might be getting back into the picture in the not too distant future as Ichigo can hear her talk through the badge, and Ginjou is looking rather suspicious again. While the other members of Xcution might not be bad guys, Ginjou is definitely hiding something. On the other front, the guy sent out to take out Orihime was a total failure, but fortunately the guy who actually injured Uryuu showed up at the end. Things aren't looking good for Orihime. I wonder if something really bad will happen to Orihime, or will Bleach pull back and have someone come and save her? Let's see if we'll get an answer next week.

One Piece 616

The New Fishman Pirates invade Ryuuguu Palace.

Don't mock your king, especially when he's right.

Summary:
At the palace, Zoro and the Straw Hats manage to defeat all the human pirates that were tossed into the palace, but the Straw Hats failed to notice that the enemy pirates have opened the main gate.

Meanwhile near a bus stop, Robin manages to escape from pursuing soldiers and she is trying to find the poneglyph on Fishman Island. Near the Sea Forest, Franky has recruited a merman named Den (who is the younger brother of Tom) to re-coat the Sunny, and Den teaches Franky a thing or two about merfolk/fishfolk genetic inheritance. Franky also notices Jinbei sitting not far away, and Den explains that Jinbei can't enter the city because he is a wanted criminal.

Since the main gate to the palace was left open, Hodi, Decken and their forces make their way to the palace lobby with no opposition. Thinking that Decken had taken Shiraboshi, King Neptune demands for his daughters return, and this prompts Decken to throw a giant piece of coral to find out Shiraboshi's bearings. When the coral flies away from Shiraboshi's tower, Decken jumps onboard and vows to make Shiraboshi his bride or kill her.

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The whole misunderstanding with the Straw Hats has given the bad guys an easy entry into the palace, and half of the crew is now caught between the conflict of the Neptune Army and New Fishman Pirates whether they want to or not. Zoro's policy seems to be beating up whoever comes at him, but Hodi's crew is probably a lot tougher than King Neptune or the tossed pirates so things might get a little dicey for the four crew members at the palace. Luffy and Shiraboshi are also not safe as Decken is headed their way, but Decken is on his own so Luffy can probably beat him (especially given how Decken can't swim and doesn't have the environmental advantage that other fishmen would have). I found it a bit strange that the princes are nowhere to be seen, but I guess they took off to look for the other Straw Hats before the gate was opened.

So it looks like we are going to get a couple of fights very soon, and there is also Robin looking for more stuff on the Blank Century. The New Fishman Pirates and Decken aren't too impressive at first sight, but maybe there will be more to it to this arc other than just beating up these guys.

Sekirei 111

Miya is about to tell do some storytelling, but first Minato and Sekireis have to clean up themselves.

Story time will begin... next chapter =|

Summary:
Miya promises to tell Minato and friends about the bloody past of Sekireis and Ashikabis, but first she orders Minato and crew to get themselves cleaned up and patched up. The group is still feeling down about losing Uzume, but Musubi tells everyone that they'll see Uzume again and that boosts Minato's spirits a bit. Before going in, Musubi sense that Karasuba is watching her from the distance and declares that she will become the winner of the Sekirei Plan.

Inside the inn after Minato and Sekireis has had the chance to take a bath and patch wounds, Miya gathers everyone and starts to tell her story.

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Ugh... one of those chapters whose sole purpose is to delay the big reveal until the next chapter. I agree Minato and Sekireis could use a bath and some band-aids, but that should take at most half a chapter. It's not as if Sekirei isn't slow enough already.

Despite the letdown this chapter, I'm still looking forward to hearing Miya's story. It sounds like Miya's story may start before the Sekirei Plan and perhaps have something to do with the origins of Sekireis, and that would be very interesting indeed. Given how Miya was the only adult specimen found in the spaceship, she is likely the only one who still has memories of anything before the spaceship crashing onto Earth. It's a big piece of the puzzle that nobody has talked about so far, and that's why I'm looking forward to it. Let's just hope that story time will actually start next chapter.

Mid-season Anime Thoughts Winter 2011

Time for another edition of my mid-season anime impressions post. I'm following five shows this season, and here my thoughts on what I've seen so far.

Post contains some plot spoilers.

Fractale

Despite the dancing right now, Fractale is not always fun and games.

One of the new shows of the season, Fractale has been a decent show. It started out with a cheery atmosphere and taking things slow, but episodes 3 and 4 had a surprising amount of violence that added a more urgent and darker tone to the story. We are five episodes into the 11 episode show, but the whole business between Phryne, Nessa, the temple and the Fractale system remains a mystery. Rather than providing answers, what we've seen so far only added more questions. I guess you can say the show is doing a good job building up the mystery for the big reveal, but on the other hand it's a little frustrating seeing Phryne acting strangely because of her secrets. Clain, Phryne and Nessa are caught between Lost Millennium and the temple, neither of which appear to be desirable factions. Lost Millennium is more "human" than the temple, but Sundas and the old man are jerks, and Enri is starting to become annoying, so we''ll have to see if Clain, Nessa and Phryne can find a better path.


Freezing

Freezing is a show about crazy bitches. Here are three of them.

Appropriately named for the winter season by coincidence, Freezing is another one of those "girls fight while clothes disintegrate" shows that I seem so keen on watching, but difference is that Freezing is much more violent than other shows of the genre. The fights have a lot of blood and bone crunching along with other things, but the animation leaves a bit to be desired. Despite production quality issues, the action is generally decent. All the girls are pretty, but the show's violence overshadows the fan service.

One doesn't expect much of a story from a show from this genre, but Freezing is pretty much devoid of a plot. So far, the "story" consists of main protagonists Kazuya and Satellizer getting picked on by other girls (mostly other Pandoras) from the school and getting into one fight after another, and most if not all of the enemy girls turn out to be violent, sadistic bitches who love to inflict pain on others. You'd think a military academy would focus more on discipline and teamwork, but apparently the academy in the show encourages the Pandoras to bully and beat the shit out of each other (so we can see their breasts explode out of their shirts during a fight). Kazuya might be annoying and Satellizer might not have much of a personality, but they are much more tolerable than most of the students they've come across. Maybe the other Pandoras will act nicer after Satellizer beat some sense into them.



IS: Infinite Stratos

"Almost getting it on" is a part of any self-respecting harem show.

A harem show with mecha elements, IS has been quite average. It's not bad, but there is nothing particularly good about the show either. The production quality is there, but the show feels like it's missing a little something that'll make it into a good show. The mecha combat has been good some of the time, but it's not very consistent in terms of quality. The harem situation is somewhat predictable, and Ichika has to battle all of the initially hostile harem candidates to win them over. Laura is the latest in line and she looks rather overpowered with that AIC, but I'm sure she'll be falling all over Ichika once he gives her a spanking. Out of all the girls, Charles the reverse trap has my vote just because she is so darn cute (and taking advantage of her status as a "boy"), but the other harem candidates haven't been too impressive.Chifuyu does have a commanding presence in that form-fitting black suit though.

Most of the show has been about Ichika's harem building and school life stuff so far, and there hasn't been much about the history of the IS and the looming threat likely related to Houki's sister. Let's see if thing will improve once the show starts delving into that mystery.


Star Driver

History does repeat itself... or does it?

Continuing on from the Fall 2010 season, Star Driver continues to be a somewhat quirky and offbeat mecha show, but over the last 13 weeks it has developed into a pretty good show from a story standpoint as well. Although there are giant robots, the mecha battles take a sideline compared to the other elements in the story. Every time Kiraboshi come up with something, Takuto and the Tauburn would pull something out of thin air or get help to win the battle, making the fights quite repetitive.

What makes the show interesting to watch is its offbeat style/comedy (two crazy lesbians claiming to be "galactic pretty boys" and Keito's karaoakeing among other things) and moreover the complex relationships connecting the characters. There is the love triangle between the three main characters and the various girls connected to Sugata and Takuto which eventually extends to many members of the Glittering Crux and its dominant subfaction Vanishing Age. As many had suspected, Head is Takuto's father, and what's more, he, Sora (Takuto's mother), and Ryousuke (the older eye-patch guy in Vanishing Age) were in a similar love triangle as Takuto, Sugata and Wako are in now, and that situation with nobody being particularly happy with the outcome. One of things I look forward to is finding out how everything will work out at the end in regards to these relationships. I'm sure our main trio will have a happier ending than Takuto's parents and Ryuosuke, but who will each of them end up with? Of course, there is also the whole plan about bringing Cybodies into real time and how Takuto and friends will put a stop to that. Overall, Star Driver is the best show I'm watching right now.


To Aru Majutsu no Index II

The story is making progress, but Mikoto isn't making much progress with Touma. She probably needs to take some notes from #10032

Another show from the previous season, Index II has been going fairly well. There hasn't been a really boring story arc so far this season which is an improvement over the first season, but the show still has those moments where things drag along slowly (ie. the middle of the Stab Sword arc). Touma also appear to be somewhat slow at times (although he is not a genius to begin with) and forgets to use his right hand from time to time. All of the Roman Catholic-related story arcs are building up to something bigger though, and hopefully that'll mean more exciting episodes in the future.

Gantz 334

The new Tokyo team begin their mission to save people from the aliens; Kurono #1 learns that he's a wanted criminal; and Tae tries to escape from the alien apartment.

You've been here before, Kurono... well it was the other Kurono.

Summary:
At the Tokyo Gantz apartment, Kurono #2 and Nishi want Gantz to revive someone, but Gantz is unable to just as Yoshikawa had said. Kurono #2 then tells Gantz to call an out-of-country location, and Gantz calls the New York team. The Americans don't understand Japanese, but thankfully Sekine from Kyoto can speak English, and the Americans give the team a map of the ship including where the captured humans are being held. Kurono #2 then tells Gantz to transmit them to the captives and transmit back any people they find. Kurono #2 is transported first and arrives at the human slaughter/processing area of the city ship.

Meanwhile, Kurono #1 and Fra are still riding the elevator out of the city ship. From the news feed on her visor, Fra learns that Kurono is a wanted criminal because he killed the brother of a war hero (the special trooper with long light-colored hair). Fra then continues telling Kurono #1 that there's nowhere he can run, and Kurono #1 tells Fra to shut up.

Back in the alien apartment, Tae manages to get out of the bowl by using one of the taller pets as a ladder to jump out. Tae makes her way down to the floor, but suddenly the room door opens and an adult alien is standing outside.

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Good to see that the new Tokyo team is making their move. For some reason the revival mechanism in the Gantz balls are turned off, but from a technological standpoint the Gantzers still stand a decent chance of beating the aliens. Even with level 0 weapons, Gantzers are smaller and much more agile and maneuverable, especially the guys who know what they are doing. The NYC team seems to have made quite a bit of progress and already know the map of the city ships and their weakness. I understand that Kurono #2 want to save people, but not asking about the weakness was pretty stupid. After you rescue the people, you can then destroy the ship. Let's see if new team can a permanent stop to the slaughterhouse.

While there was progress on Kurono #2's side, Kurono #1 is still riding the oh-so-slow elevator out of the ship with Fra taking jabs at him from time to time. Fra is certainly not helping herself with the insults, but it's probably a good thing for Kurono #1 to hate her since the last thing we would want is for Kurono #1 to think that aliens are people in need of a home too. It's a war of survival and the aliens crossed the line first, so there shouldn't be any mercy shown to them either.

Lastly, it looks like Shun is finally out of the picture and Tae is on her own. I'm guessing she'll make it out the door, but don't know what she can do after that.

--------------------

Other than this chapter, I also read the two special chapters about the Osaka team focused on the nerdy guy who brought back Yamazaki. The chapters came out not too long ago, but flew under my radar until now. The contents were pretty interesting, and it turns out that the nerdy guy participated in the Italian mission to gather enough points to revive Yamazaki. It was a fluke that he managed to survive both the Nura and Italian missions, but the guy kept his word and you have to give him some respect for that.

Fractale 05

Clain tries to locate Nessa aboard Lost Millennium's flying ship.

You'd think they'd have invented self-cleaning toilets in the age of giant flying ships,

Summary:
Now stuck aboard Lost Millennium's flying ship, Clain is forced to help with the chores. Phryne is missing from dinner on the first day, but Clain finds her on the second day when Clain is going to hang up the laundry. Clain and Phryne start chatting with Clain asking Phryne about why she's running away, but Phryne doesn't answer. Clain also wonders if Phyrne hates Nessa, and Phyrne states that she can't afford to like Nessa. The two then notice that the ship is getting warmer and warmer.

Clain might be dressed conservatively on the outside, but his undies are quite risque.

Up at the bridge, Sunda and the bridge crew realizes something is wrong with the ship. Clain comes to the bridge to offer his help but is shooed away, so he taps into the system using the terminal in the washroom and discovers that the source of the problems is moving. Clain believes the source is Nessa who is somehow making herself invisible to him. Due to the problems, the Granitzes can not steer the ship and the ship flies into a thunderstorm, and at this time Sunda decides to listen to Clain. Everyone except for the bridge crew gather at the glass window room (where the laundry is hanged) and Clain outlines the plan to find Nessa. Suddenly, the ship tilts to one side and everyone falls into a pile. Clain climbs out and notices Nessa looking at the group with curiosity. Everyone then spends the next little while trying to find Nessa with Clain giving directions, but Nessa keeps disappearing on them. During the hide and seek, Nessa finds a spider Doppel from the temple which allows the priestesses to confirm that both Nessa and Phryne are on the ship.

Impromptu disco party!!!

While directing the searchers, Clain overhears Grandma and Enri banging on the cargo room and realize that Phryne has locked herself inside. Clain goes to room door and discovers that Phryne is trying to escape through the cargo doors, but the attempt is futile as the door is jammed due to the troubles on the ship. Phryne tells Clain to leave her alone and hides behind a shelf, but she then discovers Nessa sitting on some boxes in front of her. Nessa wonders if Phryne is sad, but seeing Nessa lifts Phryne's mood and Phryne states that she is just hiding. Phryne states that Nessa is "it" and has to tag her, and Nessa jumps down and grabs Phryne's hand. After that, Phryne starts joining the others for dinner.

No one can resist Nessa! No one!

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Fractale returns more to the light-hearted side this week. There wasn't any combat, and the episode was mostly devoted to finding Nessa and Clain and Phryne getting used to hanging around with Granitzes. It seems that Nessa has completely gotten over Clain ditching her for Phryne and has even made friends with Phryne. I was hoping that Clain and Phryne would do something rebellious, but instead the two of them are accepting their role as guests/hostages/chore boy in the case of Clain. Phryne did make an attempt to escape, but the door was jammed and she didn't have a parachute either so it was for naught.

Compared to the two previous episodes, this episode slowed things down again and nothing really important happens. The relationship between Phryne, Nessa, and the Fractale system is still as much of a mystery as ever. However, the temple knows where the ship is, so maybe the sense of urgency will pick up again next week.

To Aru Majutsu no Index II 19

Accelerator and Last Order are attacked by someone from Accelerator's past, while Vento of the Front invades Academy City.

If you didn't like the costume, you could have just said no instead of running through a wall.

Summary:
Somewhere in Russia, Sasha Kruezhev (whose body was taken over by an angel during Angel Fall) is researching about angels when she is approached by her superior Vassilisa. Vassilisa wants Sasha to change into a magical girl costume which prompts Sasha to run through a wall to escape.

Getting hit in the face once wasn't enough, Accelerator just had to make sure that Kihara can hit him by letting Kihara punch him in the face again.

Accelerator and Last Order are walking back to Yomikawa's place when Last Order slips and scrapes her knees. Accelerator tells Last Order to sit at a bench and goes to a store to buy some band-aids for her. While walking back to Last Order, Accelerator is attacked by a heavily-armed and masked paramilitary soldiers but they are unable to do any damage to Accelerator. Accelerator is then confronted by the leader of the soldiers Amata Kihara who also happens to be the researcher that helped develop Accelerator's abilities. Amata and Accelerator are not exactly happy to see each other and both vow to kill the other. Accelerator thinks Amata can't do anything to him but is knocked around by Amata. Amata has intimate knowledge of Accelerator's ability and also has a sonic device that screws up the redirection, and thus Accelerator is quickly left bloodied and lying on the road. Amata then explains that the primary objective for his squad is to capture Last Order and Amata's soldiers bring an unconscious Last Order forward, but Accelerator manage to generate a whirlwind to blow Last Order away. Amata orders his men to go look for Last Order and then gets ready to finish Accelerator, but suddenly he notices Index standing nearby on the road.

Last Order would have enjoyed flying if she was awake.

Meanwhile, Touma is busy looking for Index in the underground shopping district. Index had run off to return some tissues she had gotten from Accelerator. Touma runs back to the surface and sees a lot of Anti-Skills around, but suddenly all the cops drop to the ground. Touma checks that the Anti-Skills are uninjured but for some reason have been rendered unconscious. Touma is then approached by Last Order who begs Touma to save Accelerator.

I'm impressed that she can still talk so clearly despite a cross hanging off the tip of her tongue. Must be magic.

Not far away, Vento of the Front renders more Anti-Skills unconscious and picks up a radio to call Aleister. Vento declares she'll destroy Academy City along with Touma and Index, but Aleister tells her that there is far more to the city than she knows. Aleister then orders Amata to sic Hyoka Kazakiri on Vento.

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After a two episode plot-filler break, Index is back on the serious side again starting with Accelerator receiving his second beating of the series. Whatever happened to the Accelerator from earlier in the season that destroyed half a block and flew on tornado wings? Just like the fight against Touma, Accelerator doesn't know how to deal with an opponent who can bypass his redirection and gets suckered into close combat in which he is at a distinct disadvantage. Accelerator would be extremely hard to take down (even for Touma and Amata) if he just keeps his distance and tosses debris, but I guess one beating at Touma's right hand wasn't quite enough for Accelerator to learn the lesson.

Despite Accelerator's stupidity and how one-sided the fight was, this was a decent action episode. Accelerator ends up bloodied but he'll live, but I wonder what happens to Index who walked into the end of the battle. Vento makes her first appearance within the city, and Aleister is going to use Hyoka to deal with Vento which should be quite interesting, but it doesn't look like it'll happen next week. The preview for next episode was all over the place, but I'm hoping the action will continue.

Naruto 528

Darui continues to battle the Kin and Gin bros.

Let's see if these treasures work on zombies.

Summary:
With Atsui and Samui sucked into the gourd, Darui figures out that if you stay silent you also get sucked into the gourd. Ginkaku tells Darui that he is just the Raikage's tool and Darui refutes it, but saying "tool" seem to trigger the gourd and Darui is appears to be sucked in. However, Darui suddenly appears behind Ginkaku and knocks him into Kinikaku's ropes. It turns out that Darui's favorite word suddenly switched from "dull" to "sorry". Darui then takes the gourd and the sword, blasts Kinkaku with homing lasers and then cuts and sucks in Ginkaku's soul. The two treasures quickly consume Darui's chakra, but Ginkaku was stupid enough to say his favorite word "Kinkaku" and gets sucked into the gourd. Seeing his brother sucked into the gourd, Kinkaku transforms into semi-transformed tailed beast form (similar to Naruto's tailed beast forms before he could control the fox's chakra).

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I'm confused about how the favorite word thing works. So "dull" suddenly turned into "tool", but then Darui suddenly turned his favorite word into "sorry". Does the sword/gourd read the mind of the target to determine which is the activation word? Anyways, Darui had the right strategy by going after the treasures and turning them on the brothers, and Ginkaku was disappointingly helpless once Darui took away the gourd and sword. Everyone keeps saying how bad-ass the brothers were in their lifetimes, but other than the chakra and treasures, they haven't really impressed and Darui has no trouble hitting them. Unlike useless Ginkaku, Kinkaku seems to have rubbed off more of the nine-tails chakra and can even transform in the semi-tailed beast form which makes the fight more difficult. On the other hand though, Kinkaku seems to have lost the rope, so if Darui can locate the rope he might be able to trap Kinkaku with the gourd as well.

Bleach 437

Ichigo uses his Fullbring against Mr. Pork Chop.

I wonder what they'll call this attack... Spinning Jet Black Rim of Glory?

Summary:
Ichigo activates his Fullbring, and black reiatsu extends out from his representative shinigami badge in the shape of Zangetsu's flange. While Ginjou explains that Ichigo's badge somehow remembered some of Ichigo's powers, Ichigo tries to figure out how to use his Fullbring. Ichigo tries to use his Fullbring a ninja star and tries to slash Mr. Pork Chop with the edges of flange but neither methods work. Mr. Pork Chop takes a swing at Ichigo, and Ichigo blocks the blow with the badge. Ichigo then gets a feeling that his Fullbring is similar to the Getsuga, and so he runs close to Mr. Pork Chop and launches a spinning black round symbol. The symbol hits Mr. Pork Chop in the eye and Mr. Pork Chop is knocked out, and thus Ichigo has passed the first training session.

Meanwhile, Orihime visits Chad's apartment again as she hasn't seen Chad or Ichigo in the past few days. Orihime is then approached by a guy named Shi Shigawara who reveals that he is here to kill Orihime.

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

Ichigo's Fullbring was... not as "cool" as I thought it would be. I guess Bleach is intent for Ichigo to start back at square one and a transformation is probably too much to ask for, but a flat spinning stamp thing hitting Mr. Pork Chop with a thud was still a bit underwhelming. Where is the blood... or in this case stuffed animal innards? I did find it amusing that Ichigo tried to use the badge as a ninja star (ala wind shuriken from Naruto) The chances of Ichigo's Fullbring having special abilities is probably low given how Zangetsu was all about straight offense, but I'm sure Ichigo will become more powerful with time. I'm glad the first training session is over, and hopefully any subsequent sessions will be a bit more entertaining.

The more interesting part of the chapter is the end where Orihime is about to be attacked. Let's see if we'll find out more about the people that took out Uryuu and whether or not they are connected with Ginjou and Xcution.

One Piece 615

Luffy helps Shiraboshi leave the palace, while Hachi warns Sanji and Chopper of an impending attack by the New Fishman Pirates.

Haven't washed in ten years... man I don't want to know what it smells like.

Summary:
Brook and Minister of the Right witness Luffy and Megalo flying out of the tower, but they don't notice that Shiraboshi is inside Megalo. Only after Megalo and Luffy has left does the Minister realize that Shiraboshi is gone. The minister and Brook are then attacked by the human pirates tossed into the tower, and the pirates explain that they have no choice but to attack.

Meanwhile at Coral Hill, Sanji and Chopper have beaten up all the people who are bothering them. Chopper then hears the call for a doctor and he and Sanji end up finding Hachi who is heavily wounded by arrows. Hachi tells Sanji and Chopper to gather the crew and leave asap as the New Fishman Pirates are coming to attack.

Some time ago at "Noah", Van Der Decken is about to demonstrate his Devil Fruit powers when Hachi comes out to try to convince Jones to turn back. Jones had welcomed Hachi to his group due to Hachi being a former Arlong Pirate, but now he is tired of Hachi. Der Decken proceeds to demonstrate his powers by touching Hachi with his bare left hand and then tosses a knife upwards, and the knife turns around and hits Hachi's back like a guided missile. Der Decken is then given a bunch or arrows which he also tosses. Hachi dashes into the water, but gets hit by the arrows anyways. With Hachi's departure, Der Decken explains that he can remember two targets at the same time, and his gloved right hand is the one that he touched Shiraboshi with and thus can throw stuff at her all day. Jones takes over and explains to the human pirates that they will be tossed into the palace by Der Decken, and if they want to live they had better follow orders.

Back at the present at Koukaku Tower, the human pirates explain they have to open the entry corridors or they'll be killed. Brook carries the minister back to the throne chamber to report the invasion and the missing princess, and the Straw Hats aren't sure what they are supposed to do about it.

Somewhere on Fishman Island, Luffy, Shiraboshi and Megalo are heading towards a grave in the Sea Forest. The grave belongs to Queen Otohime (presumably Shiraboshi's mother), and Jinbei happens to be there right now.

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

Hachi and Jinbei finally showed up, and we also got an explanation of Van Der Decken's powers. From the explanation, it sound that Van Der Decken has a Devil Fruit power and thus he is unable to swim despite being a fishman. That gloved right hand of his is probably going to become important down the line. The situation at Fishman Island is starting to become a mess, and there is probably still more to it given how Hachi and Jinbei didn't want Luffy and the Straw Hats to get involved in the conflict. I'm guessing the reason is something other than "the bad guys are too strong", since that'll never hold up to Luffy who has faced Marine Admirals and other extremely strong opponents. Maybe it's about fishmen not wanting to stand in the way of other fishmen or something along those lines.

Deadman Wonderland 42

Ganta and the Deadmen return to DW to confront Shiro and Sakigami.

Welcome back to DW. It's even more of a hellhole than before

Summary:
Makina manage to blackmail Sansa Aohi (the bald general that conspired with Tamaki) into giving her a state-of-the-art stealth submarine to sneak back into DW with. Most if not all of the surviving Deadmen signed up for the mission including a girl named Yosuga who Minasuki and Masaru do not recognize. Ganta ends up being the last one to arrive, and the group departs from the dock towards Deadman Wonderland.

Makina's task force arrives at DW on their submarine and begin to unload. As Ganta is climbing out of the submarine, everyone notices that Shiro is on top of the submarine holding her hand out to help Ganta. Ganta stares at Shiro for a moment but takes her hand and Shiro pulls Ganta up. Ganta starts crying and asks why Shiro is the Wretched Egg, and in response Shiro/the Wretched Egg lifts the research ship from before and drops it onto the dock. The Wretched Egg then explains that Shiro is locked inside her mind and asks if Ganta has the resolve to kill Shiro. Ganta falls onto the dock where Karako tries to pull him away, but Ganta shakes Karako off and states that because that he doesn't want anyone to kill Shiro, he will kill Shiro. Ganta fires several shots using the Ganta gun, and to everyone's surprise the Wretched Egg just stands there and let the shots hit her. The Wretched Egg is knocked down, and Ganta breaks down and starts crying besides her, but Senji notices that the Wretched Egg is regenerating and is starting to get back up.

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So much for the plan of sneaking back into DW, but on the other hand there was no way Ganta and company could hide from the Wretched Egg and Sakigami anyways. I'm surprised that the Wretched Egg herself came out to meet the visitors though, but this is probably not the decisive battle quite yet given how sudden Shiro/Wretched Egg appeared and that Sakigami is conspicuously missing. I'm guessing Sakigami probably needs Ganta's branch of sin to turn off the Mother Goose system completely and then really set the Wretched Egg loose on the world. If that's case, the Wretched Egg probably won't kill Ganta for now. We'll see if my prediction is right.

To Aru Majutsu no Index II 18

Touma hangs out with Misaka #10032 and Last Order while Accelerator goes out to look for Last Order.

Look at the water bill! This is what happens when you run 100 tubs at the same time!

Summary:
In her bathing room with many tubs, Laura is dipping her feet into a tub to get ready for a bath, but Stiyl suddenly busts in, causing Laura to fall into the water. Stiyl is angry over a report from Laura and even brings his fire magic into the mix, but Laura isn't really taking him seriously and Stiyl is even more incensed. Meanwhile at the Necessrius dorms, Kaori, Sherry, Orsola, Agnese, Angelene and Lucia are trying to figure out how to use the new washing machine, and Kaori ends up getting soaked and reduced to tears.

How many Necessarius girls does it take to figure out how to use a washing machine?

Back at Academy City's underground shopping district, Touma leaves Mikoto to fawn over her new Gekota merchandise, but he is approached by Misaka #10032 who wants her goggles back from Last Order. Touma ends up buying a necklace for #10032 (so he can tell her apart from Mikoto) and also treating her to chicken-shaped donuts. Mikoto arrives on the scene and confronts Touma about ditching her for #10032, but #10032 concludes that Mikoto is just tsundere for Touma. When Mikoto denies it, #10032 puts a claim on Touma by holding onto his arm and showing off her necklace, but at the same time Last Order appears and holds onto Touma's other arm. #10032 and Last Order then resume their chase, leaving Touma and Mikoto wondering what's going on.

#10032 accomplished in 10 minutes what Mikoto couldn't accomplish in months, and that is to get Touma to buy her a piece of jewelry.

Somewhere out in the city, Hyoka materializes, but most people including two Anti-skills thinks that she's an elaborate hologram.

While Mikoto is taking her frustrations out on the boxing machine in the arcade, Touma is sitting outside when he is once again approached by Last Orders. Touma ends up treating Last Order to popcorn and helping adjust the goggle straps so Last Order can wear #10032's goggles. #10032 thanks Touma for hanging out with her and also for helping to save the Misakas, but she tells Touma she has to get back to someone (Accelerator) or he'll get worried.

Touma totally did that on purpose.

Didn't anybody teach Accelerator not to pick up random strangers?

While all this was going on, Accelerator has gone out looking for Last Order. With Yomikawa's help, Acclerator knows that Last Order is in the underground shopping district. Along the way, Accelerator bumps into Index who is hungry and looking for Touma. Accelerator treats Index to food, and as thanks Index tags along to help Accelerator look for Last Order. After a while, Index and Accelerator both spot the person they are looking for. Index runs to Touma, while Last Order runs to Accelerator, but Touma and Accelerator can't see each other because of the crowd and both pairs decide to head home.

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Second episode of plot-fillers with Misaka #10032 and Last Order taking most of the spotlight and stealing Touma away from Mikoto. I found #10032's part to be the most enjoyable. As expected, #10032's submachinegun was mostly for show, but it would have been hilarious if she or Mikoto ended up getting arrested for running around with a gun. It's fun to see that #10032 does take after Mikoto with the electrifying when getting angry and the instant attraction to Gekota, but what's more fun is that she is much more direct when comes to Touma. Too bad she never got her goggles back from Last Order though and disappeared in the middle of the episode.

As for the rest of episode, the situation with Index running into Accelerator and Touma hanging out with Last Order but without the two guys seeing each other was somewhat clever. However, the five minute conversation between Accelerator and Yomikawa was somewhat boring. There were some other interesting bits, such as Hyoka materializing again. I also wonder what was on the report that Stiyl was so angry about. It must be pretty bad to entice Stiyl into attacking the archbishop.

Naruto 527

Darui, Samui and Atsui vs. Kinkaku and Ginkaku.

Puking during a fight... should have had a smaller lunch.

Summary;
Samui and Atsui join Darui to battle the Kin and Gin Brothers. During their lifetimes, the Kin and Gin Brothers were reviled criminals from the Hidden Cloud Village. They wielded the Sage of Six Path's "five treasures" as weapons, and in their lifetime they almost took over the village and wounded the second Hokage badly, and they were also swallowed by the nine-tails and managed to come back out alive. On the battle field, Kinkaku and Ginkaku summon four treasures, with a rope, sword, and gourd that are used to seal away people and their souls and a fan that can use any or the five elements. The brothers quickly use their treasures to steal and suck away Samui and Atsui's souls, and to not be sealed away for good Samui and Atsui cannot say their favorite word. Atsui then gets burned and says his favorite word "hot" and sucked into the gourd. Darui manages to deal some damage to the brothers, but the zombie brothers quickly regenerate and suck Samui into the gourd even though she didn't say her favorite word. Darui then loses his soul to gourd, and now he cannot say his favorite word "dull".

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The Hidden Cloud ninjas get the spotlight this time with a pair of legends vs. some up and coming young bloods. The battle was okay, but not spectacular. I liked Darui's lightning lasers, but Kinkaku and Ginkaku's items were just too cheap. I like ninjas that have crazy techniques rather those that rely on items, but having haXX0r items (and the chakra to use them) is just as effective. As for Samui and Atsui, they didn't end up doing much other than serving as examples of how the brother's treasures worked. The brothers only showed four treasures and it sounded like they were supposed to have five, so maybe the last one has something to do with how Samui was sucked into the gourd even if she didn't say anything. It's curious that the brothers were able to summon the treasures even though they died a long time ago. They must have taken the treasures to their graves, since items that are currently possessed by someone else supposedly can't be summoned (like some of swords of the Seven Swordsmen)

If the brothers are as bad-ass as everybody say they are, Darui is going to be in trouble. It's probably about time the good guys start losing some fights.

Bleach 436

Ichigo tries to activate his Fullbring while hiding from Mr. Pork Chop.

Guess who's still the no. 1 girl in Ichigo's heart?

Summary:
Mr. Pork Chop transforms into a larger and less-cute form and starts tearing up the floor inside the dollhouse. Chad tells Riruka to put a stop to the training, but apparently Riruka let Giriko use his Fullbring to put some "timers" into the training. The first timer at 15 minutes is Mr. Pork Chop's transformation, and the second timer is 30 minutes at which both Ichigo and Mr. Pork Chop can leave. If either try to leave the dollhouse before the timer is up they will be incinerated by the "Flames of Time", and the timers cannot be deactivated once set. And thus Ichigo is still stuck in the dollhouse with Mr. Pork Chop. Back inside the dollhouse, Ichigo throws a button into Mr. Pork Chop's eye and gets behind some cover, but he isn't sure what he's supposed to do. Chad runs over and tells Ichigo to look into his "pride" in being a shinigami to activate his Fullbring. Ichigo holds his representative shinigami badge and thinks of all the moments and finally thinks of Rukia, and the badge suddenly activates and turns into a large, black "ban" (as in bankai) symbol.

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The training setup is getting more ridiculous by the chapter, but at least Ichigo is getting somewhere his training. Trapping Ichigo (sans shinigami powers) with a giant, crazy stuff animal with no means of escape for 30 minutes... I guess Xcution must be so confident in Ichigo's ability to manifest a Fullbring they think that there is no way Ichigo will get himself killed. Or looking at the other way, if Ichigo dies during training, then he ain't worth the effort lol.

It's appropriate that Ichigo's Fullbring activated when he thought of Rukia. Seeing the symbol, the first thing I thought was it's a giant ninja star. And then I thought it's the "ban" symbol in bankai (卍解). It is a swastika-shaped symbol, but I doubt there is anything to do with Nazis here. If it is the 'ban' symbol, does it mean that the new ability will be similar or related to Ichigo's bankai? I guess we'll just have to stay tuned to the transformation sequence next chapter.

One Piece 614

The Straw Hats take over Ryuuguu Palace.

A giant bloated shark stuffed with a giant mermaid isn't really less conspicuous than a giant mermaid.

Summary:
At Ryuuguu Palace, Zoro and the rest of Straw Hats have subdued and tied up King Neptune and all his subordinates and King Neptune's forces tried to put them in jail. The Straw Hats aren't sure what to do at this point as it wasn't their intention to get in a fight with King Neptune, and at this moment Fukaboshi's ship returns and knocks on the gate. Zoro answers and demands that Fukaboshi find the remaining Straw Hats members (Robin, Franky, Sanji and Chopper), give the Thousand Sunny a new coating and allow the Straw Hats to leave in peace in exchange for the hostages. Fukaboshi agrees and then asks Zoro to pass on Jinbei's message to Luffy. In the message, Jinbei wanted to tell Luffy not to fight with Hodi and that Jinbei is waiting in the Sea Forest.

Back at Coral Hill, people have gotten word of Straw Hats' takeover of the palace, and Chopper and Sanji decide to head to the palace.

At Koukaku Tower, Shiraboshi reluctantly tells Luffy that she wants to visit the Sea Forest, and Luffy agrees to protect her along the way. Luffy then comes up with an idea to make Shiraboshi less conspicuous after leaving the tower. Back at the central chamber of the palace, Brook decides he'll go check out the princess and agrees to bring to Minister of the Right along. Brook and the minister arrive near the tower and they see that Van Der Decken has tossed a crew of human pirates to the tower. Just as the pirates are about to get up, Megalo busts out the door with Luffy riding on top and Shiraboshi stuffed into his mouth.

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For reason I thought the Straw Hats would just escape from the palace (sans Luffy) after fighting off King Neptune's forces, so I didn't expect that they would defeat all the guards and take over the palace. It's going to take a lot of effort to clear up the misunderstanding now. For now, there is a stalemate between the Straw Hats and Fukaboshi as there is only one corridor into the palace, but that probably won't last long as Luffy is going to take Shiraboshi out for a stroll. They say that there is only one corridor into the palace, but it seems that Van Der Decken can toss stuff through anyways. I guess whatever he throws just goes right through the bubble layers. Decken probably can't toss himself though, or else he would have invaded Shiraboshi's tower already.

We finally heard Jinbei's message this week, and coincidentally the Sea Forest is where Shiraboshi and Luffy are headed. So Jinbei is still in the picture, and Luffy will probably see him soon enough. As for not fighting with Hodi, I am thinking there might some other reason other than "Hodi is really strong", since the latter reason would never be enough to convince Luffy to not fight someone. Given Hodi is a bad guy, Luffy will probably fight him anyways, but we'll see what kind of consequences that will have.

Rosario + Vampire II 39

Tsukune starts training to rescue Moka, but Kurumu isn't happy about it.

Half-naked Gin, and spatter on blood on the bed sheet... it can only mean one thing...

Summary:
Kurumu wakes up from a dream where Tsukune states that he wants to stay by Moka's side (a scene from Moka's inner world). Kurumu then finds a half-naked Gin lying beside her and immediately attacks him. Kurumu then notices a spatter of blood on the bed sheet and thinks that Gin may have violated her. Kurumu was on her way to killing Gin, but Mizore appears from underneath the bed and reveals that she put the blood there as a practical joke. Mizore explains that Gin was actually here to look after Kurumu, as Kurumu had fainted after the battle due to overuse of her yokai abilities. Kurumu wonders where Tsukune is, and Mizore states that everyone else already went to train with Dongfang Bubai.

Kurumu follows Mizore to a room where they go through a magical portal on the floor and enter a training space created by Dongfang Bubai that's modeled a part of Hong Kong. Ruby appears and leads Kurumu and Mizore to the group consisting of Kokoa, Yukari, Haji, and Fong Fong who are in the midst of deciding training partners. Meanwhile in a nearby park, Tsukune is fighting Dongfang Bubai but gets kicked around. Dongfang tells Tsukune that at this rate he'll never be able to defeat Akua, but the old master states that there is a way to make Tsukune stronger faster. The method requires Tsukune's body to be modified so he can use yokai magic, but the body modification is extremely risky and may lead to death. Tsukune quickly accepts the method, but at this moment Kurumu arrives, and having overheard the conversation Kurumu begs Tsukune not to undergo the body modification. Tsukune reassures Kurumu that he's going to be fine but then states that he has to rescue Moka, and Kurumu thinks that Tsukune only cares about Moka right now and runs away in tears. After Kurumu's departure, Dongfang starts the spell to modify Tsukune's body.

Tsukune, you heartbreaker!

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Mizore... that was not a very nice joke to play on Kurumu (and Gin for that matter), but you gotta love Mizore's deviousness. Gin came out the worst after the joke, but he has himself to blame for his reputation and lying half-naked beside Kurumu when she's waking up.

This chapter marks the start of Tsukune's training to become strong enough to tackle Akua and Fairy Tale, but the main focus was on Kurumu and her fear that Tsukune only has Moka in his eyes. Tsukune is bent on saving Moka, and it's understandable that his single-mindedness has Kurumu worried about her chances. Is Kurumu's tearful departure a sign that Tsukune's harem is breaking up? The girls can't probably all end up with Tsukune, and Moka will always occupy the number 1 position, so maybe it's time for the other girls to look elsewhere? Gin seems to be eager on catching Kurumu on the rebound lol. I'm sure that despite what happened in this chapter, Tsukune and his girls will unite at least in friendship to rescue Moka.

It sounds like Tsukune will get his power-up next chapter via Dongfang's spell. It's probably going to painful for Tsukune, but it doesn't sound like the training is going to drag on for very long which is good thing.

To Love-Ru Darkness 05

Yami feels down and seeks out Mikan for support. Meanwhile, an intergalactic assassin arrives on Earth to seek revenge on Yami.

Admit it Mikan, you'd like to sneak into Rito's bedroom and play video games with him too.

Summary:
Out in the woods somewhere, Mea meets Azenda who has just arrived on Earth after being called by Mea's master Nemesis. Azenda is an intergalactic assassin who was defeated by Yami towards the end of the war and has been holding a grudge ever since. After learning that Yami is on Earth Azenda couldn't pass up the opportunity to exact revenge, a this is all part of Nemesis' plan to make Yami get her killing instincts back.

The next morning at the Yuuki residence, Mikan wakes up to get ready for school, but she hears Momo's voice coming from Rito's room. Mikan bursts into the room thinking that Rito and Momo and doing something indecent, but Momo and Rito are just playing video games with Celine. Mikan is relieved but warns Momo again about sneaking into Rito's bed at night. Momo reassures Mikan that she is rooting for Lala, but also silently states that she is rooting for Mikan as well. Momo then returns to the attic apartment for a shower, and afterwards she teases Nana about not being able to use a bra due to Nana's flat chest.

Later at the high school, Rito and friends are fooling around in the hallway again which ends with Haruna's crotch landing on Rito's face. Everyone except Yami is eager to check out the commotion. Feeling down for some reason, Yami goes to meet Mikan after school. After sharing taiyaki, Mikan takes out a pair of taiyaki-shaped key chains and gives one of them to Yami as a sign of their friendship, and Yami is cheered up. Unbeknownst to the two, Azenda is watching them from a nearby building.

After saying goodbye to Mikan, Yami soon runs into Rito who is out buying art supplies for his father. Yami tells Rito of her time with Yami today, and Rito thanks Yami for being Mikan's friends since Mikan has a lot of responsibilities and stress. Yami starts going off saying that she doesn't deserve happiness, but Rito tells her to do whatever and enjoy life, and this leads Yami to joke about killing Rito on the spot. Suddenly, a bunch of traffic signs and bikes fly right at the two and Yami pulls Rito out of harm's way. Azenda appears and challenges Yami to a fight. Yami tells Rito that Azenda mostly uses her whip for combat, but she has some psychic abilities as well (which are not as strong as Oshizu's). Yami is confident she can beat Azenda, but Azenda reveals that she has Mikan under her control.

 Yami's first real battle of the series is here!

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This chapter was mostly some Yami + Mikan moments plus the set up for Yami's first real battle of the series. Yami and Rito vs. the new assassin and Mikan under mind control... sounds like a pretty good fight, and all the participants except Mikan should be very motivated for the battle. Yami will probably have to carry her team for most of the battle, but you can never count Rito out in the crucial moments especially when a girl he cares for is involved. Since Darkness is more "adult" than the original To Love manga, I wonder if the battles will be more graphic as well. I'm sure we'll see shredded clothes on the females, but what about some blood?

As for the contents of this chapter, I thought it wasn't as entertaining as the previous chapters in the series, mostly due to the lack of Momo's antics. Momo's crazy harem scheme and perverted mind really add a lot of fun to the series. The friendship between Yami and Mikan is kind of cute, but not nearly as fun. Comedy isn't really Yami's forte unless it involves Rito getting her into a compromising situation, so let's hope she'll be able to provide an entertaining action component to the series.

Gantz 333

Another familiar face answers the call of the Tokyo Team, while Kurono #1's group heads out of the city ship.

Kurono #2 isn't the only one with his female companion on the team anymore.

Summary:
At the Gantz apartment, the nerdy guy from the Osaka team tells Kato that he kept his promise, and on cue Yamazaki is transported into the room. Kato fights back the tears and thanks the nerdy guy for reviving Yamazaki. With the new recruits all here, Kurono #2 tells Yoshikawa (one of the new guys who asked if everyone was ready to die) that they have control of Gantz and can bring anyone back, but Yoshikawa laughs it off and states that nobody can be revived or healed by the Gantz ball anymore.

Meanwhile, Kurono #1 and Fra are heading out of the city ship on an elevator platform, and Fra takes the opportunity to curse Kurono for what he has done. Kurono complains about Fra's race invading Earth, and Fra reveals that her race certainly wasn't the first alien race to arrive at Earth. This makes Kurono realize that all the aliens in the hunts are actually aliens who have made Earth their home.

Back in the alien apartment, the gravely ill Shun tells Tae to climb on top one of the taller pets and escape the tank.

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Ha, I was right. The nerdy guy did bring Yamazaki back, and she was the last out-of-town Gantzer to answer the call. The guy kept his word, and he actually managed to survive long enough and gather 100 points for the revive. It's Good to see Kato getting one of his love interests back, although I did remember Kato making a pass at the real Kei Kishimoto some time before the big alien invasion.

In other news, this chapter also had a bit of interesting info on the aliens and Gantz. Yoshikawa stated that Gantz can no longer heal or revive people, but I'm not sure how he's so sure about it given that he was just transmitted into the room. Moments ago the Tokyo Team also had their brain bombs removed, so it seems a bit strange. On the alien side of things, Fra confirms that all the previous aliens are actual aliens, and that might make the Gantzers sort of like Men in Black (but much more trigger happy). The Gantz suits are black after all. The true mysteries behind Gantz are still a long way from being fully revealed though.

To Aru Majutsu no Index II 17

Mikoto exacts "punishment" on Touma for the bet during the sports festival, while Last Order, Accelerator and the Misaka clones are released from hospital.


Summary:
Accelerator and Last Order are released from hospital, and Yoshikawa takes them to Touma's school to meet Yomikawa (who Last Order and Accelerator will live with from now on). Yomikawa then brings Yoshikawa, Last Order, and Accelerator back to her apartment where Accelerator would eventually walk in on the three females taking a bath together.

Never knew the Misakas can be so scary... even to their own.

At around the same time when Last Order and Accelerator were released, four Misaka clones were also released from hospital, and three of the Misakas discovers the fourth had gone on a diet and is therefore skinnier than they are.

A great start to the new term.

It's gotta be breezy wearing a short skirt in the cold months.

Uiharu is much better at getting closer to Mikoto than Kuroko. The secret is to not to be openly perverted.

Meanwhile, Touma returns to school in his winter uniform and fools around with his classmates and ends up being knocked out by a headbutt from Seiri. After the half-day of school, Touma is found by Mikoto who wants Touma to honor their bet and follow her orders. Mikoto orders Touma to meet her at 1pm, but Touma ends up being late due to having to cook lunch for Index. Mikoto then drags Touma into the mall and wants Touma to sign a couple's cellphone contract with her so she can get a Gekota cellphone accessory. To sign the contract the company require a photo of Touma and Mikoto together. Touma and Mikoto go out of the store to take a picture with Touma's phone, but they have a hard time acting as a couple. When it looks like the two finally gets it right, a jealous Kuroko arrives to kick Touma away, and this eventually results in Mikoto spraying electricity everywhere.

This picture would be perfect for getting the "Love Triangle" cellphone plan.

#10032 still has a lot to learn about human trickery.

Back at Yomikawa's apartment, Last Order has wandered outside and is locked out of the building. Misaka #10032 happens to pass by and Last Order tries to get some sympathy, but Misaka #10032 only makes fun of her. Last Order then wants a pair of the goggles that all the other Misaka clones have and tricks Misaka #10032 into bowing forward in order to steal her goggles. With the goggles in hand, Last Order taunts #10032 and runs away, but #10032 pulls out an assault rifle from her bag and states that it's time for a revolution.

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Touma gets a break from his hero duties to fool around like an average teenager this episode. The story is from the light novels, but it's clearly filler material. For a lighthearted filler, this episode wasn't too bad since we had Touma and Mikoto go out on a date of sorts and also the Misakas clones and Last Order doing goofy things. The comedy was amusing enough, especially Kuroko's reactions. I was a bit surprised by the aggressiveness of the Misaka clones. So individual clones can actually keep secrets from one another, but it seems like that most Misakas don't like individuals that deviate from the group such as Misaka #19090. I wonder what happened to #19090 afterwards. Misaka #10032 pulling a gun on Last Order was also slightly shocking, although from the preview it doesn't look like #10032 will do anything bad to Last Order. Maybe the Misakas did inherit Mikoto's short temper.

The other thing to mention this week is that we finally have a new OP sequence. The song was decent, but better yet judging from the OP animation we'll have plenty of action in the remainder of the season. Hopefully that'll actually be the case. As for next week, there is more of this filler-ish stuff, but this time the crew from Necessarius is also joining in.