Claymore 117

The history of Roxanne and Cassandra, and Cassandra shows off her real skills against the current warriors.

Cassandra's secret Bobble-Head technique.

Summary:
While watching Cassandra struggle against Audrey, Rachel and Nina, Roxanne recalls how she met Cassandra. Roxanne started off as a low-ranked warrior, but she quickly rose through the ranks because she had the ability to learn the yoki of other warriors and copy their skills. Roxanne climbed the ranks by copying the skills of higher ranked warriors until she was finally at no. 5, and all of the warriors she copied her skills from all met their ends soon after Roxanne had mastered their skills. Roxanne eventually took interest in the then no. 1 Cassandra. Cassandra always worked alone and no one is sure how she fights. Roxanne made an effort to befriend Cassandra, and despite Cassandra's reputation as a loner the two actually struck up a friendship of sorts. After following Cassandra, Roxanne finally witnessed Cassandra killing an Awakened One. After the battle, Roxanne decided to give Cassandra a nickname.

Back to the present, Roxanne wonders what Cassandra is doing not using her secret technique. On cue, Cassandra changes tactics and starts moving her head around. The three current warriors notice the change but attack anyways, but one by one Casandra sweeps in really low and slices off their legs. Roxanne notes that Cassandra battles by using her feet as an anchor and swinging her body around really low to the ground, and most opponents are not used to being attacked from that angle. And this is why Roxanne gave Cassandra the name of "Dust Eater".

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A flashback and battle chapter focused on the newly resurrected Cassandra and Roxanne. Cassandra isn't as weak as she was made out to be in the last chapter and there is a valid reason why she was a former no.1. However, if the "Dust Eating" leg slicing is her only trick, then she isn't that strong for a no. 1. Beating three single numbers from the current generation isn't that impressive given how Miria took out almost all of the current generation by herself. Roxanne and Hysteria are likely still a level above Cassandra. I'm still waiting for Deneve's group to arrive to swing the odds back in Miria's favor, and then lets hope the three resurrected will awaken so that all hell will break loose.

Oh, and when will Clare be back on the show?

1 Million Unique Visitors!

After almost three years on the net, A Product of Wasted Time has finally drawn its 1,000,000th unique visitor! In the same amount of time, this blog has generated almost 1.7 million page views. Once again, a big thanks to all the people who bothered to drop by and read this little blog. When I started this blog, I never thought it would reach 1 million visits, but you guys made it happen, so thank you.

The blog is probably past its glory days (if there has been any) and traffic is on the decline probably due to my lack of effort in blogging or making connections with other blogs. Graduate research is rather time consuming, so my time for blogging is limited. I'll still try to keep the blog going though. Lets see if we can get to the 2.5 million unique visits.

Mayo Chiki! 04

After getting kicked out of the mansion, Subaru crashes at Kinjirou's house and serves as Kinjirou's butler.

What would you do if a cute cross-dressing cat girl showed up at your door asking to crash at your house?
The answer is obviously "yes".

The slip was on purpose to test Kinjirou's reaction. Looks like Kinjirou still has a ways to go.

Summary;
It's the start of Golden Week and Kinjirou is home alone getting ready to get some rest, but the doorbell rings and Kinjirou finds Subaru outside. Kinjirou gets a call from Kanade explaining that Subaru has been kicked out of the mansion and lost her wallet, and so Kinjirou decides to take Subaru in. To repay Kinjirou, Subaru serves as Kinjirou's butler, but instead of letting Kinjirou relax, Subaru makes Kinjirou spar with her in the wrestling wring in the basement. Afterwards Kinjirou takes a bath but Subaru insists on helping scrub Kinjirou's back. At the moment, Kureha unexpected returns because she broke her arm fighting a bear and puts Kinjirou and Subaru in an awkward situation. Luckily, Kureha faints after seeing Subaru in the bathtub and that nullified any threat she posed.

Can an ojou-sama pretending to be a maid actually out-serve a butler?

I fail to see how this is supposed to make Kinjirou better.

After recovering, Kureha is delighted with Subaru staying at her house. Kanade also joins the fun by moving into the house as a maid and challenges Subaru in a competition of service skills. During the "feed an apple slice to Kinjirou" competition, Kinjirou faints when Subaru is about to feed him, prompting Kureha to break down and thinking that her brother had died. Kinjirou is down with a bad flu and Subaru is in charge of taking care of him. Unfortunately for Kinjirou, Subaru's care consists of force-feeding him super-spicy soup and applying other uncomfortable remedies ending with a tasering. While Subaru is offing carving ice cubes, Kanade wants Kinjirou to help her get Subaru back into the mansion. Kanade brings Kinjirou to a river bank where Nagare is camping, and Kanade explains that her father kicked both Subaru and Nagare out because Nagare and Subaru are fighting over the fake kidnapping where Nagare beat Kinjirou up. Kanade wants Kinjirou to forgive Nagare to end this little spat, but Subaru shows up to kick Nagare away and take Kinjirou back home. Subaru states that she hates her dad and doesn't want to leave Kinjirou's house because she is really worried about Kinjirou. Subaru saw Kureha's reaction to Kinjirou fainting (Kinjirou's father died of illness), and this reminds Subaru of when her own mother died of illness. Kinjirou gets woozy and falls down again, but he struggles to get back up after seeing Subaru in tears. Kanade is about to call a ride to take Kinjirou to the hospital, but Kinjirou tells Kanade to get out of his way and goes back to Subaru. Kinjirou promises Subaru he won't suddenly die and relieves Subaru of her job as butler at his house before fainting again.

Kinjirou didn't nosebleed this time, but then again he is out cold.

After school starts again, Kinjirou has recovered and hangs out with Subaru on the roof garden. Subaru tells Kinjirou that that she'll cry if Kinjirou breaks his promise before thanking Kinjirou and going off to check on Nagare (who now has the flu). After Subaru leaves, the always mischievous Kanade appears and in an unexpected move kisses Kinjirou in the lips. Kanade then further shocks Kinjirou by stating that was her first kiss.

Surprise kiss!

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A bit better than last week's episode. I was expecting Mayoi Chiki to be a pure comedy show, but they are still going with the family drama angle by making Kinjirou woozy from the flu and Subaru getting kicked out of the mansion because of a fight with her dad. At least it was better than the obvious fake kidnapping from last episode, and Kureha and Subaru's fears about Kinjirou suddenly biting the dust seem genuine. If Kinjirou does end up dying young due to some sort of illness, I think Kureha and her mother will some blame due to how they abused Kinjirou. Kinjirou can take a hit better than most, but all the beatdowns he has received via the women his family adds up over time lol.

It looks like Kureha still hasn't figured out that Subaru is actually a girl despite seeing Subaru's bra and panties before barging into the washroom to find Subaru in the bathtub. It's good to see the show remembering that it has a cross-dressing female butler. I would like to see more focus on this aspect from Mayo Chiki!, but maybe the show is going to some of the other stuff to keep things from being too repetitive.

One thing that's always curious about the show is what exactly is Kanade up to, and she makes things even more interesting by giving Kinjirou her first kiss. A part of Kanade is obviously toying with Kinjirou, but is there something more? On the other hand though, Kanade may be mischievous enough to go as far as kissing Kinjirou to toy with him further. The show looks like it'll expand into the harem territory given all the girls in the OP and the new girl in the next episode.

Neon Genesis Evangelion 84-3

So it turns out the last "chapter" of the NGE manga I posted about was the second part of Stage 84, and now we have the third (and I believe last) part of Stage 84.

Your prayer has been answered.

Summary:
Unit-02 runs out of juice and Asuka is a sitting duck for the mass-produced EVAs. The EVAs get ready to rip Unit-02 apart, but Shinji and Unit-01 appear and start beating back the mass-produced EVAs. Asuka scolds Shinji for trying to be cool and showing up late, and Shinji states that he promised Misato to save Asuka. Shinji stabs one of the mass-produced in the head with Unit-01's knife, skewers another with a double ended sword and punches another to the ground.

Meanwhile, deep with NERV, Gendo leads Rei to the deepest chamber to see Lilith, but Ritsuko is in the room and points a pistol at Gendo.

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Aha, just what I was hoping for. Unlike in the End of Evangelion, Shinji actually arrives in time and stops the mass-produced EVAs from ripping Unit-02 apart. That's a big departure from the movie, and lets see if this will lead to a very different conclusion for the manga. Meanwhile, the Gendo-Rei-Ritsuko scene is starting, and we'll see if anything different happens there. I still expect the Third Impact to be initiated in some capacity so that we have a final climax, but Gendo may initiate it this time since he has some sort of Angel component in one of his hands. Too bad it might be a long time before we find out what happens though.

One Piece 633

The Straw Hats arrive on the scene.

Is that a booger coming out of Hody's nose when Luffy kicked him in the chest?

Summary:
Shirahoshi reveals that Megalo had told her that Hody was responsible for her mother's death, but she kept the fact a secret because she promised her mother not to spread the hate. Hody laughs at Shirahoshi and states that because of the promise, King Neptune will die and Ryuuguu Kingdom will be destroyed. Hody proceeds to blast King Neptune and the princes with more water droplets and get ready to finish King Neptune for good. The crowd starts to hope that the Straw Hats would show up and stop Hody, and Shirahoshi screams for Luffy to help. Suddenly, Luffy is barfed out of Megalo's mouth and send Hody flying with a kick. Nami then reveals herself from a mirage she created after having stolen the keys to King Neptune and the princes' locks, and Robin uses her skills to free the royals from the chains. Franky swoops in in the Thousand Sunny and causes chaos by firing the main cannon, and King Neptune's whale uses that as cover to scoop up the king and princes. After all of the Straw Hats (including Zoro's group) gather, the crowd begin asking question about Shirley's prophecy and why Luffy kidnapped Shirahoshi, but Luffy tells to crowd to decide for themselves if his crew is friend or foe.

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So Shiraboshi and Jinbe fell for that stupid trap on purpose. That's good, since it would make Jinbe look really bad if he actually fell for the trap. The plan of getting the crowd to ask for the Straw Hats as the "lesser of two evils" is actually not bad. On the other big revelation, Shiraboshi learned about the truth behind her mother's death from Megalo, but she didn't tell anyone because of the promise to her mother. She probably should have told her brothers or father, but you can't blame her too much for keeping the promise. Anyways, the Straw Hats have finally appeared and are ready to throw down with Hody's crew. The Straw Hats are probably still stronger and more resourceful than Hody's crew regardless how many pills they pop, but the bigger worry right now may be the giant ark that Decken has sent flying at Shiraboshi. Hopefully Hody and company will still put up a good fight though. It'd be disappointing if we have a really one-sided battle.

Naruto 549

Naruto and Bee vs. Nagato and Itachi.

What has Naruto been eating?!

Summary:
Naruto and Bee run into zombies Nagato and Itachi on the forest path. Naruto and the zombies want to catch up on old times, but Kabuto tries to ruin things by making Nagato and Itachi attack. Still, Naruto, Nagato and Itachi continue talking, and Naruto revealed that Madara used Itachi's story to turn Sasuke against Konoha. After learning that most people in Konoha still don't know the story, Itachi tells Naruto to keep this a secret to maintain honor for the Uchiha Clan. Itachi also tells Naruto to take care of Sasuke. The fighting continues and Itachi starts using the Mangekyo Sharingan. Naruto doesn't pay enough attention and a crow comes out Naruto's mouth.

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Looks like we are going to get an actual fight between Naruto and Bee against zombies Itachi and Nagato. I guess this is better than just talking, although even Kabuto's antics can't stop Naruto and the two zombies from catching up on old times. This will probably be a decent fight, but I don't expect Naruto to go all out. I'm guessing this fight is probably here to show how much more powerful Naruto had become and put Naruto over Nagato and Itachi. Of course, Madara can always show up and make things more interesting.

Bleach 458

Uryu joins the battle, but...

You know what this means...

Summary:
Ginjou is sliced by Tsukishima and falls down to the roof. Ichigo follows Ginjou down to the roof but wonders if Ginjou has fallen under Tsukishima's technique. Ginjou tells Ichigo he is still thinks Tsukishima is the enemy and tells Ichigo to watch out from Tsukishima who is sneaking in from behind. Ichigo blocks Tsukishima's blow and Ginjou tells Ichigo to defeat Tsukishima. Suddenly, Uryu appears and points his bow in Ichigo's direction. Uryu states that he is on Ichigo's side and tells Ichigo to come over to his side, but Ichigo wonders if Uryu is friend or foe. Ishida reveals that the one who attacked him before was actually Ginjou, and Ichigo senses Ginjou standing behind him. Uryu fires his arrow, but Ginjou blocks it and then slices Ichigo, and Tsukishima cuts Uryu down. Ginjou then lets out an evil laugh and explains that he didn't become Ichigo's enemy because the last slice. This is the actually the second time Tsukishima cut Ginjou and this allows Ginjou to return to his normal self. Ginjou then declares he is going to take Ichigo's Fullbring and stabs Ichigo in the chest.

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Ha! I was right! Ginjou was the bad guy all along and was putting on a charade with Tsukishima to trick Ichigo. There was always that feeling that Ginjou was fattening Ichigo up and leading him on about something, and the fact that Ginjou tried to get Ichigo to become suspicious of Urahara and Isshin means that Ginjou is always a possible culprit. The whole charade has dragged on long enough, but this moment makes the last 20 or so chapters somewhat worthwhile. So Ginjou wants Ichigo's Fullbring huh? I guess Ginjou is another one of those power-hungry villains. Uryu got owned pretty quickly, but at least his appearance revealed Ginjou's true self.

Now that Ginjou has revealed himself, what happens next? Hopefully Urahara and Isshin should show up, make the save, and explain what they've been up all this time. Ichigo appears beaten physically and emotionally after Ginjou's betrayal, but given he is Ichigo he may miracle his way (surprise power up!) out of the bind as well, but I'm hoping for the first scenario.

Deadman Wonderland 46

So actually there is a chapter 46 which comes after 45-B and precedes 47. In this chapter, more of the Wretched Egg's story is revealed.

This is even worse than all those contorted scary crazy faces.

Summary:
Senji is seriously hurt from the fight against Hagire, but he tells Yosuga to go back to the submarine while he walks off to rescue Ganta.

Back on the sub, Hitara notes that Ganta's group is late as Makina and others are going over Sorae's journal and learning about the Wretched Egg's creation. With the birth of the Wretch Egg personality came the birth of the Branch of Sin which allows Shiro to destroy nearby objects. Mesmerized by the progress, Hagire continued to experiment on Shiro and further discovered that Shiro can regenerate. In the middle of all this, Shiro did play with Ganta one more time, and this was the time where Shiro beat Ganta up and commented Ganta was too weak. Even though Ganta stood up again and struck the Aceman pose, Sorae came by and took Ganta away.

The inhumane experiments on Shiro continued. Sorae and Hagire extracted pieces of Shiro bones and flesh and stored them into vials, but Shiro/Wretched Egg continues to regenerate. Wretched Egg then comments that Shiro is lucky because Aceman wouldn't show up for the Wretched Egg.

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This chapter adds a bit more to the flashback and fills in some details such as why Shiro remembers Ganta as weak but resilient and how Shiro's flesh got into the Chorus Boxes. Hagire is the classic mad scientist and continued to perform awful experiments on Shiro which eventually led to Shiro going out of control, and it also explains why Hagire was so obsessed with Shiro. Sorae feels extremely conflicted and sorry for Shiro, but she still went along with all the experiments so it's hard to be sympathetic to her. The scene where Sorae and Hagire were extracting Shiro's body parts was just awful. I'm guessing that Sorae will eventually sacrifice herself to activate Mother Goose once Shiro/Wretched Egg goes out of control and cause the giant earthquake. That's probably the only way Sorae can redeem herself in any manner.

Deadman Wonderland 47

The last Deadman Wonderland chapter I read was 45-B, but now we have chapter 47. So where is chapter 46? The content of this new chapter seems to continue on from 45-B, as Hagire continues to download his memories and personality onto Ganta.

Going to take a lot more than that to keep Senji down.

Summary:
Hagire continues to download his personality into Ganta and Ganta continues to witness Hagire's memories. One day at the research lab, Hagire tries to get Shiro to kill a sheep with her Branch of Sin, but Shiro goes wild and kills all the nearby scientists instead. The young Ganta sees this and runs away from Shiro. The lab is evacuated but Hagire prevents emergency response from going in. Sorae tells Ganta to go to his father's place. When Ganta asks why Sorae is staying, Sorae states she can't just leave Shiro like this, but Ganta appears to have suppressed his memories of Shiro and doesn't recognize the name. Watching these memories unfold, Ganta finally understands why he didn't recognize Shiro initially.

Suddenly, the download cuts out again, and Hagire and his twin henchmen notice that the physical link has been cut. Senji then appears after cutting the wall to pieces and effortlessly knocks them away. Senji goes to get Ganta out of the tube, but Hagire gets in the way. Hagire explains that Ganta is the key to deactivating Mother Goose, and thus Hagire will download his personality into Ganta's body, erasing Ganta's current personality in the process. Hagire cuts Senji with his Branches of Sin, but Senji figures out Hagire's movements and manages to hold his own. Senji then cuts open the tube and gets Ganta to run by kicking Ganta in the face. Ganta escapes down the path where Senji appears, and Senji stays to hold off Hagire and the twins.

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Is this really chapter 47? The story seems to start right after where 45-B left off, but it's possible the 46 is all flashback. Regardless, Senji comes to save Ganta and once again made an awesome entrance, swatting the twins aside like they were nothing. It's very similar to the time where Senji showed up and sliced apart the two Undertakers who were going to execute Ganta. Unlike last time though, Senji is up against a stronger opponent in Hagire. Senji seems to have Hagire figured out a little bit, but Hagire probably has more tricks up his sleeves. This may end up as Senji's heroic last stand unless Ganta or the others come back to save Senji. Given the nature of the series, I wouldn't be too surprised if a few more of Ganta's allies bit the dust before everything is settled. If Senji is going to go out though, hopefully they'll do him justice and let him go out in a blaze of glory.

Sacred Seven 04

Tandouji and Kagami try to stop an Ashi from ruining the school festival.

Explanation: Too many energy drinks.

If you going to be the star of the show, you gotta remember your lines.

Summary:
It's Saturday, but students including even Tandouji are back at school busy preparing for the school festival. Ruri is especially enthusiastic because this is the first festival since she took over as school president. While everyone is busy setting up decorations, Onigawara alerts Kagami that there is a weak Ashi on school grounds. Tandouji also senses the Ashe and eventually runs into Kagami. Kagami tells Tandouji to leave the Ashi to him and also don't tell Ruri about the Ashi. Kagami doesn't want Ruri to have to cancel the festival that she is looking forward to so much. Once Kagami goes off to retrieve his robot, Onigawara suggest to Tandouji to distract Ruri by asking to talk to her on the school roof. Onigawara supplies a few corny lines to make Tandouji sound convincing. Tandouji doesn't quite get the lines right, but Ruri has enough of a crush on him so that it didn't matter. Tandouji states that he wants to get more practice with his Sacred Seven form, and Ruri supplies a smaller (but still very expensive) "practice" gem to transform Tandouji. Wakana walks in the office just after Tandouji transformed, but she thinks Tandouji is cosplaying to help promote the Stone Club. Tandouji then goes out looking for the Ashi with everyone thinking that he is cosplaying.

Tandouji is the one of the most expensive superheroes ever.

Nice paint job.

Meanwhile, Kagami brings in his battle robot which is thinly disguised as a festival prop, and he also get the maid army to track the Ashi. Kagami eventually runs into Tandouji and the two chase the Ashi together. At a point of the chase, the Ashi splits into two, and so Tandouji and Kagami splits up. Tandouji chases one of the Ashi to a big sign where three guys are working. The three guys tease Tandouji about his outfit, but suddenly the scaffolding starts to collapse. The Ashi turns anything that it has crawled near into stone, and this damages the billboard supports. Tandouji holds up the scaffolding and two of the students climb down safely, but the third is hanging upside down by his pants and is slipping. A crowd has gathered and Tandouji doesn't want to use his powers in front of the crowd. Elsewhere in the school yard, Kagami catches and destroys one of the Ashi and wonders why Tandouji has stopped chasing the other Ashi.

Back in front of the school, the student slips from the billboard, and Tandouji catches the guy as the billboard falls down on them. Kagami arrives in his robot to pull the scaffold structure back up which reveals that Tandouji and the guy were both safe. The guy is thankful that Tandouji saved him, but Tandouji quickly runs off with Kagami to chase down the remaining Ashi. The remaining Ashi crawls to a corner of the school and merges with some fireworks, turning into a floating spiked ball. Tandouji tries to destroy the Ashi, but his gem runs out of power and Tandouji turns back to normal. However, Tandouji still had enough strength to toss the Ashi to Kagami who tries to crush the Ashi with his robot. The Ashi tries to self detonate, but Kagami tosses it into the sky for one big fireworks explosion. A crowd gathered to watch, but Kagami and his maid helpers manage to pass the battle off as filming for the festival.

Perfect...ly awful timing for the transformation to wear off.

Kagami's pose striking is what sealed the deal for first place.

After the battle, Kagami and Tandouji are summoned to Ruri's office. Ruri demands to know what Kagami and Tandouji hid the Ashi situation from her, and Kagami explains his reasons. Ruri understands, but tells her butler and Tandouji not to keep her in the dark again. The next day, the school festival goes off without a hitch. Kagami and Tandouji's "act" wins first place, while the gem and stones club wins second place for their exhibit.

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Compared to the previous episodes, this episode was a bit toned down. It was more about the school life and less about over-the-top battles, and for Sacred Seven that's not really a good thing. It was kind of cute to see Ruri blushing and flustered thinking that Tandouji was going to confess to her, and the bit about Wakana thinking Tandouji was cosplaying was funny (partly because that's exactly how I imagined she would react), but between the school life/festival fun and super-powered Ashi battles, I prefer the latter. The episode wasn't bad, but it just wasn't as fun or exciting as the previous episodes with the big battles. I guess we can't have those every episode, but then again isn't this a Sunrise show?

One thing I found interesting was that the training gem Ruri used this episode actually lasted a good few minutes. If Tandouji didn't need to save the three jerks, maybe he could have gotten the job done already. Or did the gem overload when Tandouji needed to use his gun-hand powers? Regardless, making Tandouji transform is still one expensive proposition. Even the training gem was 140 million yen. It's less than the 9 million pounds Ruri spent last episode, but still it's by no means a small sum of money.

It's unknown if Night had anything to do with the Ashi in this episode, although the Ashi does look the kind that Night uses to cause trouble. It doesn't look like we are going see Night next week either. Instead, we get a beach episode and no signs of Ashi in the preview.

Neon Genesis Evangelion 84-2

Ha, a "new" NGE manga chapter more than a year and a half after the previous chapter. Anyways, in the chapter, Asuka continues fighting the mass-produced EVAs as Unit 02's power is running out.

NGE has a knack for making giant mecha/cyborg battles look painful.

Summary:
Unit 01 emerges from NERV HQ in a cross-shaped explosion, surprising the attacking soldiers. Meanwhile, Asuka is struggling against three mass-produced EVAs as Unit-02's internal power is running out. Unit 02 gets stabbed from the back, and one of the mass-produced EVAs bites off Unit 02's right arm and this causes Asuka a lot of pain. Unit 02 runs out of internal power, and another mass-produced EVA then raises its blade to stab Unit-02 in the front.

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It's been about a year and a half since I read the last NGE manga chapter. Due to the highly irregular release schedule, I didn't notice this chapter which was released two months ago. I'm also not sure if this is chapter 85 or a continuation of 84 since the chapter labels itself as Stage 84 like the previous chapter. Regardless of the numbering, the manga is still mostly following the End of Evangelion scenario with slight differences. I'm mostly interested to see what happens to Asuka now that Unit 02 is out of juice. Will Unit 02 get eviscerated just like in movie, or will something a bit different happen?

EDIT: looks like this is part 2 of Stage 84. The next "chapter" is the third part of Stage 84.

Gantz 344

More trouble with aliens for the Tokyo Team.

Remember to look up.

Summary:
The Tokyo Team get ready to fight the huge monster nearby, but the monster doesn't seem to be interested and lumbers away. Meanwhile, Yamazaki and the nerdy guy are wondering what to do with the refugees and the humanoid aliens that are approaching them. The two then notice that the ceiling is full of big bug-like creatures, and suddenly the refugees are jumped by giant spider-like monsters.

Back in Tokyo, Takeshi is following Nishi around. Somewhere in the alien city ship, Kurono #1 follows Fra back to her apartment. Fra uses a program to get an image of Tae from Kurono's memories and tries to search for her as a lost pet, but suddenly another alien walks in. Meanwhile, Tae is still in the factory district trying to escape capture, but her leg has been hit by a tow dart. Tae finds another man who has been hit, and the man explains that the alien are toying with them, letting them run a bit before towing them in. Soon enough, the two humans are dragged in by the aliens. The aliens kill the man by ripping his head off, and they are about to do the same to Tae.

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Looks like Tae may be at the end of line... yeah right. Although Kurono #1 won't be able to get to her in time, chances are something else will come to save her. My guess is a group of armed humans or something along those lines. Would be kind of stupid for the manga to follow Tae for so long and have her die inconsequentially without any of the other characters around.

As for the Tokyo Team, the giant monster fight has been avoided for now, but they'll probably have to go back up Yamazaki and the nerdy guy to blast the bugs that are attacking the refugees. I wonder how long it'll be before the Tokyo Team finally figure out where they are.

Finally, Kurono #1 is actually getting some help from Fra. I wonder what Fra is up to by helping Kurono out after calling Kurono "cockroach" a couple of times before.

Mayo Chiki! 03

Kinjirou, Kanade, Subaru and Kureha go on a double date at the local water park.

To be a well-rounded bodyguard, one must be proficient with hand to hand combat as well as guns.

Summary:
After finding out that Kureha has developed a crush on Subaru, Kanade suggest that Kinjirou, herself, Kureha and Subaru go on a double date to the local water park and pretends to be Kinjirou's girlfriend.

At the water park, Kureha and Subaru go off to play (Subaru wears a hoodie to hide her gender) while Kanade and Kinjirou have a chat. Kanade reveals that when she was young, she and Subaru were kidnapped from the water park and held for ransom. Kanade and Subaru were released safely and the culprits were caught, but Subaru had always blamed herself for the kidnapping and Kanade feels that she and Subaru started further apart at that point. Kanade also mentions that Subaru has a weakness, but doesn't elaborate on it. After the chat, Kanade drags Kinjirou through the water park rides, and Kinjirou gets several nosebleeds because of Kanade pressing too closely to him.

All to help Kinjirou overcome his gynophobia... right?

Kinjirou and Kanade meet up with Kureha and Subaru again, and this time Kanade goes off with Kureha. Subaru reveals that she had a fight with her dad yesterday because Mr. Konoe wanted to kick Kinjirou's ass after hearing about Kinjirou and Kanade's episode in the school lab. Kinjirou suddenly spots a little girl struggling in the pool and jumps in for the rescue without a second thought. Only after rescuing the girl does Kinjirou realizes that he is touching a girl, and this causes him to nosebleed and then faint.

Kinjirou wakes up being watched over by Subaru. A little kid appears and hands Subaru a phone, and the phone rings. Subaru answers to a video call from a guy with a wolf mask saying that he has kidnapped Kanade and Kureha and tells Subaru to come to a certain location. The kidnapper flashes a knife on the screen before hanging up, and Subaru seems to freeze. Subaru explains that she has a fear of knives stemming from the previous kidnapping, but she has to rescue Kanade regardless. Seeing that Subaru is really shaky, Kinjirou decides to take Subaru's place and punches Subaru in the guts to knock her out.

Kinjirou knows how to take a hit better than most. Too bad he hasn't learned how to hit back yet.

Kinjirou arrives at the place to confront the wolf mask kidnapper. The kidnapper beats Kinjirou up, but Kinjirou manages to remain standing due to his training at his mother and sister's hands. The kidnapper then pulls out his knife, but Subaru shows up in times and overcomes her fear of knifes to knock out the kidnapper with a roundhouse kick. Subaru then tends to Kanade and Kureha and she and Kanade share sentimental moment, but soon Kanade reveals that it was all a setup for her and Subaru to become closer again, and the kidnapper is actually Subaru's dad Nagare. This revelation proves to be too much for Kinjirou who faints yet again.

Overcome fear by stepping on it.

Kinjirou wakes up in a room in Kanade's mansion being watched over by Nagare. Nagare and Kinjirou express their dislike for the other before Kanade walks in to dismiss Nagare. Kanade then tells Kinjirou that he and Nagare are alike, and Nagare and Subaru are very close because Nagare is the only family Subaru has (Subaru's mother passed away). Kanade then reveals that Subaru was her first love. After Kanade leaves, Subaru walks in and gets emotional because she was scared Kinjirou would be stabbed and she and Kinjirou share a hug. Suddenly, Kureha barges in after she heard from Kanade that Kinjirou was molesting Subaru, and Subaru also gets angry after Kureha states that Kinjirou is dating Kanade. Kinjirou is forced to escape out the window and happens to find Kanade nearby. Kinjirou then grabs Kanade as his "hostage" and runs from Subaru and Kureha.

Since we are a pretend couple, lets "pretend" to elope together!

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

An okay episode. This week's show just wasn't quite as fun as the first two episodes. Kureha's crush on Subaru has a lot of comedy potential, but the show didn't do too much with it this week other than to set up the water park double date. The Kanade fan service wasn't bad, but the main kidnapping plot wasn't that great. It was obvious from the start that the kidnapping was a setup by Kanade given how mischievous she can be. The fake kidnapping was also more about Subaru overcoming her fear of knives and her relationship with Kanade, so it was more on the emotional side rather than the comedic side that focuses on Kanade's plan to "cure" Kinjirou's gynophobia, which meant that this episode wasn't as funny as the previous ones. There was plenty of violence, but not that much in terms of laughs. Since I watch Mayo Chiki! as a comedy series, I rather have more laughs and awkward situations.

Maybe next week will turn out better. Kanade in a maid outfit looks promising.

Bleach 457

Ichigo and Ginjou battle Tsukishima and allies.

Nah, the slow screaming is just a cover for a body kick!

Summary:
Ginjou is outnumbered against the other Xcution members and Shishigawara, and Shishigawara uses his "Jackpot Knuckles" Fullbring to break the guard of Ginjou's sword. Meanwhile, Ichigo continues to go after Tsukishima. Ichigo kicks Tsukishima out the window and unleashes a white Getsuga which Tsukishima is able to deflect. Tsukishima is impressed by Ichigo's powers and the melding of his shinigami and fullbring abilites, and so Tsukishima decides to hide behind Chad and Orihime. Ichigo tries to get past his friends, but Tsukishima suddenly appears from behind. Ichigo doesn't have enough time to react, but Ginjou gets in the way and gets sliced by Tsukishima.

Meanwhile, Uryu is heading somewhere by jumping building to building in the town.

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

The fighting continues and it looks like Ginjou goes down trying to save Ichigo. I put "it looks like" because there is still a chance that Ginjou is playing Ichigo, but at least to Ichigo it looks like Ginjou sacrificed himself to take the hit. The fighting is the usual affair, but the chapter did reveal that Tsukishima knows Ichigo well enough that he recognized the Getsuga as Ichigo's shinigami move. Tsukishima could have gotten the info out of Chad or Orihime, but more likely he has been watching Ichigo for a while just like Ginjou. Maybe Tsukishima is Aizen 2.0 lol?

Anyways, Ichigo is on his own now and is driven even more into a corner, but the good news that Uryu is on the way. Unlike Ichigo's other allies, Uryu didn't seem like he fell for Tsukishima's memory manipulation technique, so maybe he has something interesting to say about the situation. Ultimately though we still need Isshin and Urahara, and lets hope it doesn't take them 20 chapters to appear again.

Naruto 548

Gaara and Oonoki's forces continue to battle the four zombie Kages.

Gaara? Crying? Really?!

Summary:
Gaara's dad tells Gaara that his mother loved him. The previous Kazekage then admits that he told Gaara's uncle (Gaara's mom's brother) to tell Gaara that he was not loved and did other awful things to Gaara. Gaara then remembers that his uncle actually did state that his mother loved in prior to the lie, and tears stream out of Gaara's eyes. The previous Kazekage states that he is not fit to be called Gaara's father, but Gaara state that this is the first time his father had shown some love towards him and seals up his dad inside the sand structure. The previous Raikage and Mizukage are willing to be sealed up as well, but their bodies respond and break out of Gaara's sand and the two start fighting Gaara's troops. Meanwhile, Oonoki battles his predecessor. The previous Tsuchikage becomes invisible, and Oonoki responds by making rock clones of himself.

In a forest path somewhere, Naruto and Killer Bee run into zombies Nagato and Itachi.

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Part of the zombie setup was so that there could be drama between the zombies and the people they know who are still alive, and we got a bit more of that this chapter. The coverage on Gaara's front lasted long enough for Gaara's dad to admit that he was an asshole that treated Gaara badly and gets sealed up. It's not exactly reconciliation, but at least they got as much out of Gaara as they could. The battle is not over though and will probably play out in the back just like most of the other ongoing fights (whatever happened to Kakashi or Fuu's groups?). Things move back to our protagonist Naruto, and it looks like he might have to fight Nagato a second time. Itachi is also around, but Naruto has Bee's help. This match up sounds like an epic battle on paper, but I have a feeling that Nagato and Itachi might use their haxx0r eyes to mess with Kabuto's control so Naruto get a not-too-difficult win. Let's see what happens.

Sacred Seven 03

It took me a while, but finally I'm starting to do episode blogging for the summer 2011 anime season. In this episode of Sacred Seven, Tandouji and Ruri are recruited to protect a man who researches Sacred Seven powers from an escaped research subject who holds a grudge.

That's going to leave a mark for sure.

Always be on the lookout for hazards while driving, especially when you are riding on a way-too-small moped.

Summary:
While Ruri is half way across the world spending exuberant amount of money to buy gems at an auction, her butler Makoto is escorting researcher Yuuji Kenmi back to the Aiba mansion. On the way, Yuuji's vehicle is attacked by a dark winged Ashi with Sacred Seven powers. Makoto fights the Ashi with his mecha, and Yuuji also transforms into an artificial Ashi using the power of a gem. Tandouji happens to be nearby looking for stuff in the river and he is drawn to the battle. Tandouji arrives in the middle of the battle, but without Ruri there Tandouji just falls to the ground losing control of his powers. The dark Ashi is eventually driven away by an attack helicopter from the Aiba Foundation, and Tandouji is taken back to Ruri's mansion.

After Tandouji wakes up, he and Ruri talks with Yuuji who asks Ruri's foundation for protection. Yuuji explains that the black Ashi that attacked is Night Kijima, who was research subject at his lab. Night had escaped with a girl named Fei Zui Lau, and Night has a grudge against Yuuji. Night is also responsible for the previous Ashe attacks. Other than the grudge, Night also will come after Yuuji's lab to get drugs to control his powers. Without the drugs Night would be consumed by his powers and lose his humanity. Yuuji wants to capture Night, and Ruri and Tandouji agree to help and they head to Yuuji's lab.

That's one nice laboratory in one nice location.

Meanwhile, Night returns to his secret hideout and is starting to lose control of his powers, and Fei has to quickly inject him with the drug. Realizing they are low on the drug, Night plans to attack Yuuji's lab. Fei wants to come along but Night refuses to let her fight.

Classic good vs. bad pushing match.

Nice kick combination. Too bad it didn't do any real damage though.

At Yuuji Kenmi's elaborate research lab, Makoto is assigned to guard to roof with some guards, while Ruri uses a gem she just bought to transform Tandouji so Tandouji can guard Yuuji. As expected, Night attacks. Night goes for the roof first and summons a few giant centipede Ashis to tie up Makoto. Night then goes after the drugs, but it turns out to be a trap and the drugs are destroyed. Night battles through incineration, electrocution, and a girl with an artificial power suit to go after Yuuji, but he is confronted by the girl and Tandouji. Night eventually retreats by detonating the centipede Ashis as cover. Night didn't get the drugs, but he now has a new plan centering on Tandouji.

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I didn't realize that Tandouji consumes a gem every time Ruri helps him transform. The yellow gem Ruri bought cost 9.9 million pounds (although the English voice said 990 thousand). Using Tandouji to fight the bad monsters is turning into one expensive proposition, but it doesn't look like Ruri isn't running short on funds... just yet.

There was more action this week compared to previous episode, but it wasn't necessarily better. Last week's airboarding was pretty cool, although the finish was way too quick, while this week the fights were all inconclusive with Night escaping. Still, the action was still pretty good, and it is the primary reason why anyone would watch this show.

We are introduced to a few more characters this episode. Night is the current antagonist and was responsible for the Ashi attacks in the previous two episodes, but his character seems to be more out for revenge (against Yuuji and/or against the world) than someone who is truly evil. It doesn't mean Night can't be the chief villain, but you'd expect the villain of a show like Sacred Seven to be some crazy evil mastermind who plans to take over the world. Researcher Yuuji Kenmi could be that evil mastermind given his resources and knowledge about the Sacred Seven powers, but he hasn't given anything away in this episode. I guess we'll play who is the real bad guy in the coming weeks.

Summer 2011 Anime First Impressions

Prior to this season I usually wrote a first impressions post for each series that I planned to follow, but since we are already two episodes into the current season, I am just writing one combined post with a short blurb on each series. I'm going to keep my blogging lean and mean from now on... yeah, like any of you would buy that excuse.

Anyways, here are my impressions so far on the series that I am following:


Blood-C

There is a good reason why the word "blood" is in the title.

The good: the samurai sword girl vs monster action, which makes up about ~25% of the show.
The not-so-good: The other 75% of the show.

Other than the action, so far the rest of Blood-C appears to be a rather mundane school life setup. Mostly it's just Saya walking around, humming songs, stating how her father is best etc. Saya's twin classmates are amusing, but the "normal" Saya isn't that much fun unless she is schooling her classmates in basketball. I'm not sure how someone who is so good at basketball and killing monsters can be clumsy at the same time, but anime often don't make sense. Normal school life stuff is fine, but hopefully it'll become a little more interesting. Right now the show hasn't really put Saya's monster-fighting into context because of lack of background info, but maybe it'll get better once we learn more about Saya's abilities and Saya's monsters killing begins to seep into her school life.


Mayo Chiki

It's funny because it's violent.

The ecchi/fan-service show in the line-up, Mayo Chiki has been amusing so far. It's not truly laugh out loud hilarious, but the first two episodes were fun to watch. A gynophobic guy getting blackmailed by the school ojou-sama because he found out her butler is actually a girl... and if you add a sizable dose of comedic violence the how can that not be fun? Subaru is very cute as the reverse-trap butler, Kanade strikes a good balance as the somewhat caring but also scheming ojou-sama, and Kinjirou is tolerable as the gynophobic and frequently-abused male lead. Now that the initial set up is out of the way, the show is probably going to add more girls into the mix, and hopefully more girls = more fun.


No. 6

It'll just be a benign buddy adventure. I swear.

No. 6 seems like a promising sci-fi action-thriller show. Main character Shion loses his life of privilege because of sheltering a supposed criminal boy Neizumi, and four years later he is forced to escape from the city with Neizumi because Shion probably saw something he wasn't supposed to see. The first two episodes did a good job building up the intrigue, and the production quality is very good as we'd expect from a Bones production. People joke about the hints of BL between the two male protagonists, but that hasn't been too bad in the first two episodes. I'm looking forward to see how the story will play out.


Sacred Seven

All about the action, baby!!!

Sacred Seven is about meteorites mutating objects and people into super-powered monsters, and our male protagonist Tandouji is one of the super-powered people who has been recruited by super rich girl Ruri to fight the other evil monsters. Tandouji looks like a video game superhero while fighting the bad monsters, and to make things even more over-the-top Ruri has a mecha-piloting butler and a literal army of maids to back Tandouji up. So basically, Sacred Seven is one of those ridiculous Sunrise shows that's over the top and doesn't make much sense, but because it's Sunrise you know you can get good production quality and excellent action and thus the show is at least good for visual entertainment if nothing else. I'll probably look to this series (along with the 25% monster fighting of Blood-C) to satisfy my action craving.


Usagi Drop

Awwww... so cute...

Billed as the most heartwarming and endearing show of the season, Usagi Drop has been very heartwarming and endearing just as expected. Rin is quite mature and independent for her age, but she is still absolutely adorable, and Daikichi comes off as very sincere as the Rin's new found guardian. Daikichi has no experience taking care of kids, but it's obvious he cares for Rin and tries very hard and Rin is aware of it. The bonding between the two main characters is going to generate quite a few of "awwwwwww..." moments, and this could turn out to be a nice, relaxing little show to watch.


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That's it for my first thoughts. By coincidence, four shows out of the five I picked airs on Thursday in Japan (the only exception being Sacred Seven), so that means Friday is anime day (since it takes a little time for subs to come out). Out of the five, I'm probably going to blog Mayoi Chiki and/or Sacred Seven. The reason for the picks is that I probably have more to say about these two shows than the other three. Blood-C hasn't really shown its true colors yet, while I probably won't have much to say about Usagi Drop other than "cute", "adorable", "endearing", "heartwarming", and "awwwwww". As for No. 6, it airs on the same day as Mayoi Chiki, and while No. 6 may turn out to be the better series, I just felt like blogging a comedy show. Of course, the episodic blogging will start on the third episode now that we are already two episodes in.

Deadman Wonderland 45-B

This chapter came out about a month ago, but once again I didn't notice it because it was another one of those B chapters with the same chapter number. What a confusing naming convention. Anyways, in this chapter Hagire Rinichirou (the chief warden in Toto Sakigami's body) starts to download himself into Ganta's body.

When Shiro said "not yet", she really meant it.

Summary:
Hagire Rinichirou and his twin henchmen start the downloading process and Ganta starts seeing Hagire's memories from the time at the medical research lab. At the lab, Ganta's mother Sorae is worried about Shiro after seeing that Shiro is reacting badly to an injection, but Hagire states Shiro is just a guinea pig and tells Sorae to keep on experimenting.

The memories jump to after Shiro saved Ganta from the mad dog (which was also one of the lab's experimental subjects). Ganta and Shiro play hide and seek, and while hiding Shiro's left arm falls off due to the effects of the experimentation. Hagire reviews Shiro's files and decides to do another experiment on Shiro. During the experiment, Shiro (having her limbs sewn back on) is tied to the bed and injected with one experimental virus after another. The injections cause Shiro to convulse in pain, and Ganta can't believe what Sorae and Hagire are doing to Shiro. Ganta tries to comfort Shiro but he can't touch her because he is viewing Hagire's memories. After more convulsions, Shiro suddenly stops and lets out a wicked smile, and thus the Wretched Egg is born.

The download process is interrupted because Ganta became too emotionally excited. Hagire explains to Ganta that it's not uncommon for a child to create a split personality to handle the pain. Hagire then continues the download process.

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

So the important flashbacks begin and we are finally learning the details of how the Wretched Egg came to be. The flashbacks weren't too surprising, as Hagire turns out to be crazy evil scientist while Sorae had more conscience but still went along with the inhumane experiments on Shiro. They haven't gone into too much detail as to what Hagire is trying to accomplish with the Nameless Worm or the other experimental viruses the lab was playing with, although at this point it might not matter too much. The scene where Shiro's arm fell off while playing hide and seek with Ganta was one of those signature Deadman Wonderland disturbing moments. After seeing cute little Shiro being used as a guinea pig and turned into a monster, I really hope that Hagire gets what's coming to him. Ganta is the protagonist hero, but it would be more appropriate if Hagire would meet his end by Shiro's hands.

The flashbacks aren't over yet, so lets see what the next chapter (or chapter 45-C if it comes to that) will reveal.

Bleach 456

Ichigo battles against Tsukishima, Orihime and Chad.

Someone is getting really mad.

Summary:
Orihime heals Tsukishima, and Ichigo has to take on both Chad and Orihime as well. Ginjou is also busy against the other Xcution members along with Tsukishima's lackey Shishigawara. Ichigo has his hands full against Chad and Orihime who firmly believes that Tsukishima is a great ally. While fighting Tsukishima explains that he can insert himself into other people's past, and right now Ichigo is the one living with the wrong past. Ichigo tries to get to Tsukishim but both Chad and Orihime get in the way, and this pisses Ichigo off even more.

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

An action chapter mostly, but it did a good job showing Ichigo's predicament. Tsukishima has successfully driven Ichigo into a corner, and even former allies are on Tsukishima's side. We still don't have any ideas about what Tsukishima really wants, but Ichigo is driven to kill Tsukishima and may be that is part of someone's plans. It doesn't look like Ichigo will "miracle" his way out of this current predicament on his own, so either something bad happens or there will be outside interference (Isshin, Urahara, Uryu etc.) or perhaps both. Knowing Bleach though, it might be a couple of chapters before we get to the turning point of the battle.

One Piece 632

Everything goes according to Hody's plans.

You three should be ashamed of yourselves, falling for such a stupid trap.

Summary:
At the plaza, Hody and his gang have defeated and captured the three princes. Shortly after, Jinbe and Shiraboshi are also brought to the plaza after falling for a trap that used a fake King Neptune to lure in the two. To take over Fishman Island, Hody had amassed 100,000 outlaws over the years in the Fishman District. Madam Shirley interrupts and state that it's Luffy not Hodi that will destroy Fishman Island, but Hody shuts her up. Hody then reveals he was the one who orchestrated Queen Otohime's murder, but surprisingly Shiraboshi already knew this.

Back at the Fishman District, Vander Decken sends the giant arc "Noir" flying towards Shiraboshi.

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

The three princes being defeated during the break is fine, but Jinbe and Shiraboshi getting captured so easily was a bit stupid. Not too surprisingly, everything is going according to Hody's plans right now, and Hody even go ahead an reveal what many of us had suspected: that he was the one behind Otohime's murder. Of course it made perfect sense since Hody was the most anti-human of them all. As for Shiraboshi knowing that Hody was responsible, we'll see how that plays out.

While everything went Hody's way this chapter, things are not going to go so smoothly for Hody in the coming chapters, since I'm sure Hody isn't expecting Decken to send the giant ark flying his way. And of course there are still the Straw Hats. Chances are they went to rescue Zoro and company first, but they'll show up to the main battle sooner or later.

Naurto 547

Gaara, Oonoki and their forces fight the four zombie Kages and some history between Gaara and his dad.

I'm not sure charging is the best tactic to use here.

Summary:
Gaara's dad can't believe that Gaara is now the Kazekage and has friends. Gaara's dad only remembers Gaara as a child who frequently had violent outbursts because Gaara can't control the one-tails power. And thus, To "evaluate" Gaara, Gaara's dad pondered whether to keep or get rid of Gaara, and he even told his sister in law to tell Gaara that his mother didn't live him. Back to the present, Gaara's dad promises determine Gaara's worth. The other zombie kages don't want to fight, but they have no choice as their bodies are not under their control. The two sides start fighting, and Gaara nabs the zombies except the previous Tsuchikage with his sand, and his sand is in the shape of his mother Karura. Gaara's dad then reveals that Gaara's sand comes from his mother and not the one-tail, and Karura had truly loved Gaara.

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

The battle officially starts and we get a bit of family drama between Gaara and his father. In other words, nothing too much out of the ordinary. It's safe to say Gaara and his dad weren't exactly on good terms, but it's understandable given how Gaara was a murderous maniac back then. I guess it's time for some reconciliation if they are going with the predictable route. Other than Gaara's dad and Muu (the previous Tsuchikage), the other two Kages haven't been doing much. I also find it funny that the Kages except Muu keep on getting grabbed by Gaara's sand. Given that the opponents are Kages, this battle will hopefully have a little more depth to the fighting... unless Naruto shows up then it should quickly just to show how Naruto is super strong right now.

XBlade Volume 12

In the 12th and final volume of XBlade (chapters 46-49), Kazunari continues his path into darkness as swords continue to clash outside of the 13th District.

Summary:
Souji has been taken to the doctor that Touya Yagyuu knows and his condition has been stabilized. In the waiting room, Tsukasa and Kaori apologizes to Touya for all the trouble they've caused and they talk about the current situation. Tsukasa knows a bit about Touya's affiliation with the Tokugawa Shogunate which would means he should be allies with Hollyhock, but Touya states that Matsu and the current Hollyhock Institute seem to be bent on becoming the next Yamata. After Kaori goes to the kitchen to prepare food, Touya asks Tsukasa about their encounter with Juubei Yagyuu. Meanwhile, Kaori is headed to the kitchen when she suddenly receives a call from Kazunari, and Kaori quickly departs for the park where Kazunari is.

At the park, Kazunari thinks about how Kaori has been supporting him for all these years and starts crying. Adakura suddenly appears and states that Kazunari reminds him of someone he once knew, and that someone was a crybaby as well. Adakura went to a convenience store to get food, and he also got a pair of wooden swords (from a bunch of punks he beat up) and tells Kazunari to spar with him. Kazunari tries his best but Adakura is unimpressed with Kazunari's skills and knocks Kazunari around. The sparring session ends and Kazunari is beat and tired. Kazunari asks why Adakura is letting him live, but Adakura doesn't care to answer. Kazunari and Adakura's attention is then drawn to a commotion nearby where delinquents are beating up a man. Adakura tells Kazunari to watch because the strong dominating the weak is a fact of life, but when the victim starts apologizing Adakura gets a murderous look in his eyes.

Not the scene you want to stumble upon when strolling through the park at night.

A while later, Kaori arrives at the park looking for Kazunari, but instead she stumbles onto a bloody scenes of bodies with severed limbs and heads. Kaori eventually calms down enough to call Tsukasa back at the hospital. Tsukasa promises to go get Kaori, but Touya and Yuki offer to go instead. After Touya and Yuki leaves, Tsukasa notice that Souji had gotten out of his bed. Back at the park, Kaori tries to find Kazunari, but she finds Kazunari's cell phone nearby.

On a street in the city, Kazunari is running like mad after witnessing Adakura killing all the punks and the man they were beating in a rage. However, Adakura catches up and cuts off Kazunari's escape, and Adakura comments that Kazunari is cowardly just like the person he once knew. The person Adakura is talking about was En's older brother who bears a striking resemblance to Kazunari. Like Kazunari, En's brother lacks the killer instinct, but he studied kendo regardless in order to prove himself to his peers. En's brother is favored by the local lord, and this draws the jealousy from other samurais. Adakura and En's brother were "friends", and once day Adakura saw En's brother defeating a samurai in a sparring match. However, all the samurais got angry and ganged up on En's brother. En's brother was beaten to the ground and he was trying to apologize, but the samurais killed him in the end. This memory is thus burned deeply in Adakura's psyche.

Adakura is about to strike Kazunari down, but suddenly he sees Souji (still in his hospital garbs) with his sword nearby. Adakura senses that Souji is injured and is not far from death, but yet Souji seems to be extremely calm. Adakura attacks, but Souji manages to bounce him away with what Kazunari sees as Aikido through a sword. Souji's wound has opened up, but Souji is still calmed and collected. Kazunari recognize that Souji's stance is not that of the ancient style but of modern kendo. Adakura charges but he misjudges the distance between himself and Souji, and to Kazunari's astonishment Souji uses the classic kendo technique of striking the arm, forehead and torso to cut down Adakura. On the verge of death, Adakura tells Kazunari to use his own sword to deal the finishing blow, and Kazunari complies with a lot of tears and screaming. After the battle, Souji collapses and Tsukasa turns back into her human form. Tsukasa then tells Kazunari that Kaori is waiting for him.

Flawless finisher.

Meanwhile, Touya and Yuki are looking for Kaori when a Hollyhock SUV stops nearby. Touya is surprised when Juubei Yagyuu and Kuzunoha get out of the car. Touya tries to draw his non-existent sword, but Juubei has already walked by him and states that he made a mistake thinking that Touya was a challenger. After Juubei and Kuzunoha leave, Yuki slaps Touya for his lack of battle-readiness.

After leaving the scene of the battle, Kazunari is wandering the streets and he sees the spirit/hallucination of Adakura. Kazunari demands to know why someone as strong as Adakura can lose to someone who looks to be on the verge of death, and Kazunari still can't believe how Souji won using techniques that Kazunari himself has studied over and over again. Adakura disappears stating that Kazunari belongs to him and he won't let Kazunari inherit Souji's sword techniques. Kazunari then sees images of Zin Estark and concludes that what he really needs is a guardian blade.

Crazy faces sure isn't going to convince her to become your girlfriend.

The next morning, Kaori visits Kazunari's grandpa Tomonari at the dojo. After leaving the dojo, Kaori suddenly spots Kazunari standing nearby. The two of them head to a park where they played as kids with Haru and recall their fun childhood memories. Kazunari then explains that even though he has been the popular class act, he has always looked up to Haru and his reckless ways. Kazunari took up kendo because he didn't want to be left behind and wants to surpass Haru some day so he can always be with Haru. Kazunari then confesses to Kaori and asks her to come with him to find Haru. To find Haru, Kazunari explains that he needs power of a blade. Kaori recognizes that Kazunari is talking about a guardian blade, and so she declines and reveals that she is in love with Haru. With the rejection, Kazunari bids Kaori goodbye and walks away, and Kaori can't do anything to stop him from leaving.

Back at the hospital, the doctor has stitched up Souji's wound again and wonders if Souji and Tsukasa are gluttons for punishment. Touya and Yuki walk into the room, and Tsukasa sees that Touya has traded in his maid-cafe boss uniform for a much more serious look.

Somewhere in the city, Kazunari is wandering aimlessly and screaming in frustration and hopelessness. Suddenly, Aki and Zin appears in front of Kazunari, and Aki leads Kazunari into a dark portal.

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And that's a wrap for this "arc" of XBlade's story. Despite Souji dispatching Adakura in an exciting battle, Kazunari completes his fall into the darkness, and the next time we see him he'll probably be one of Zin's evil swordsmen. The future confrontation between Kazunari and Haru is all but guaranteed. We'll have to see if Kazunari can be redeemed or will have to die, but that's probably far off into the story.

I am glad that Kaori did not become Kazunari's guardian blade. Reason 1 is that it would really, really suck for Haru (not that having to fight Kazunari wasn't bad enough), and reason 2 is that it keeps Kaori in her current state as an observer. Kaori is deeply involved in the tournament because of the people around her, but in another sense she is not directly involved because she is not a swordsmen, guardian blade or member of any of the organizations involved in the conflict. Since Kaori declined on becoming Kazunari's blade, I wonder what sort of sword will Kazunari get? Zin can probably give Kazunari something similar to what Kuushirou has right now or some other random sword, but there might be an outside chance that Aki becomes Kazunari's blade, and that again would be really, really bad for Haru.

To recap the series, a new guardian blade tournament has been started and swordsmen/guardian blade pairs are time traveling to modern Tokyo to fight. Meanwhile, Haru, Mana and company are inside the 13th District with the ultimate goal of stopping Zin and rescuing Kuushirou and Aki. In other words, things are getting really complicated.

As indicated at the start of this post, Volume 12 is the final volume of XBlade. Of course, the story is obviously not over, and in fact the story is continuing in the sequel called XBlade Cross (which has one volume out at the time of writing). It'll probably be a while before we see any chapters from the new series.

I also found out a few days ago that XBlade itself is actually a continuation/sequel to a manga called Blade which was both illustrated and written by the writer of XBlade, Ida Tatsuhiko. Blade covers the previous guardian blade tournament four years prior to XBlade and follows the swordsman/guardian blade pair of Saborou and Takemi Shingouj as they compete through the tournament. Saborou and Takemi Shingouj are mentioned in chapter 23 of XBlade as acquaintances of Seiichi, and so Seiichi along with Touya, Hyakume, Kaya and Amakusa Tokisada also appear in Blade. Blade is quite similar to XBlade in that has very bloody sword fighting, although the art of Ida Tatsuhiko doesn't quite compare with the excellent art of Shiki Satoshi who draws for XBlade. The manga is a decent read especially for giving some background information on XBlade, but given that it's even more obscure there'll probably never be English translations for the series.

Summer 2011 Anime

A new season of anime is already upon us.

Really? I didn't even notice until a few days ago. As such, even though the season has already started I still haven't decided which shows that I'll take a look at. Skimming through the season previews and first episode posts from other blogs, nothing really stood out to me as a must watch, so I'm just going to pick a sample of "agreeable-looking" shows and see how it goes from there.

Currently on the list:

Blood-C
Blood+ is a show on my "to-marathon" list, but since I'll probably never get through the list I might as well watch this new interpretation featuring art design by CLAMP. Girl with swords fighting monsters is one of my favorite genres.

No. 6
Need a show to satisfy my science fiction fix, and Bones has always been great on production quality. As for the implied BL... we'll just see how far the series goes with that haha.

Usagi Drop
I'm going to try something little different than the sci-fi/action/mecha/fan-service shows that I usually watch, and Usagi Drop seems like it has potential to be a very endearing and cute show.


That's my current list, but more will probably be added. My anime blogging is getting lazier and lazier, but I'll blog at least one series so that this blog is still an anime/manga blog instead of just a manga blog. Perhaps I will just skip the summary to cut down on blogging time.

Finally, here are a list of summer 2011 season previews from the anime blogs on my blogroll just in case any of you are like me and haven't decided on what to watch yet.

- Bokutachi no Blog
- METANORN
- Rabbit Poets
- Random Curiosity
- Star Crossed
- Sea Slugs!
- Tenka Seiha
- T.H.A.T.

Sekirei 118

Ashikabis and Sekireis gather up for the fourth round of competition.

The pluses and minuses of having a fearsome reputation.

Summary:
On the day that the fourth stage of the Sekirei Plan is supposed to start, Ashikabis and their Sekireis start to gather at the designated area. Two Ashikabis who know each other start talking about people to watch out for. The two of them fear Seo, the Disciplinary Squad, and the four bigs (North, South, East, West), but the group they fear the most is the Demon and Death duo (Yukari and Shiina). Right on cue, Yukari and Shiina appear asking around about Kusano, but they are recognized and the other Ashikabis and Sekireis instantly run away from them. Minato (accompanied by Kusano), Seo, and Sanada arrive wondering where all the people are running to, and one of the other Ashikabis becomes more scared when he finds out Minato, Seo and Sanada's identities. At the end, five Ashikabis and their five Sekireis decide to quit the match.

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Sekirei is taking its sweet time to get things started as usual. We meet some new Ashikabis and Sekireis in this chapter, but most seem to have quit before the fight can even get started. The round will likely still come down to the big players that we've already seen, but it'd be fun if a new strong Ashikabi emerges during the competition to mix things up a little. It looks like Minato and Yukari are finally going to discover that the other is also an Ashikabi and bring about the Kusano-Shiina reunion, but the happy times probably won't last long once Minaka makes the rules for the match.

Gantz 343

Tae's group are led into a trap, while the Tokyo Team and refugees run into some strange creatures.

Time for another giant monster battle?

Summary;
Tae's group discover their "contact" is actually some sort of walking doll. The soldiers shoot the doll and tells everyone to be on alert. Suddenly, a man in the group is shot with a cable gun and towed away. The humans spot a group of aliens (including kids) not far away with cable guns aimed at them. Tae and the others try to run, but many of them tagged by the cable guns.

Meanwhile, Yamazaki and the nerdy guy are having trouble rounding up the refugees in the abandoned alien district. Two little kid refugees split the group and they discover a turkey-like alien creature. At the same time, the main group of refugees come upon a group of human-sized humanoid creatures sitting together. Elsewhere in the district, Kurono #2 and the rest of the team are wondering what's taking Yamazaki so long, but suddenly they discover a giant monster is hanging around nearby.

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The narrative is still jumping all over the place as usual. Tae is in trouble... again for the umpteenth time since the alien invasion began. However, since Kurono #1 has to see her again somehow there's not much real chance that Tae is going to bite the dust or be seriously wounded, so her storyline isn't that interesting unless something really bad does happen to her before she reunites with Kurono #1. I guess the peace deal thing between humans and the aliens was just propaganda as the aliens in this chapter seem to be hunting Tae's group for fun.

As for the Tokyo Team, it'll probably be a while before they find their bearings, but to kill time they can either make friends or blast all the strange aliens they find. Giant monsters aren't really much of a threat to experienced Gantzers unless they have special abilities or incredible speed/attack power.

Hopefully this is all going somewhere, but it'll probably take a long time before we get a sense of where the overall story is really headed.

XBlade Volume 11

In the 11th volume of XBlade (covering chapters 42-45), the story continues outside the 13th District where Kaori and Kazunari gets dragged into the business of samurais and guardian blades.

Summary:
At the park, Kaori is shocked to see Kazunari standing over the dead body of a samurai. Kaori is then grabbed from behind by Tsukasa who motions for Kaori to be quiet, and Kaori also spots Souji standing nearby. Kaori then sees that Kazunari has his attention on an evil looking samurai and his naked female companion who is licking up the blood of the fallen samurai. Kazunari draws his sword and charges in but the samurai knees him in the stomach. The evil samurai then turns his attention to Souji and releases an wicked aura that forces Souji back. The samurai then kicks Kazunari into Souji before disappearing with his female companion through a dark portal. After the confrontation, Kazunari gets back up and runs away before Kaori can talk to him.

Kaori follows Tsukasa and Souji back to their apartment which happens to be a mess thanks to Souji. Tsukasa and Souji decided to leave Seven Sheathes and are now trying to live a "normal" life. Tsukasa explains to Kaori the whole business regarding the guardian blades and the tournament. Tsukasa wonders where Haru had gone, and Kaori is sure that Haru had gone back into the 13th District. Kaori is worried about Haru, but right now she is also concerned about Kazunari. Tsukasa states that Kazunari appears to be drawn to the samurais and that puts him in a lot of danger. Going back to the topic of wielders and guardian blades, Tsukasa notes the evil samurai and the girl are a wielder/blade pair, but it doesn't make sense since there should only be four true guardian blades (including Mana) left after the tournament four years ago. Kaori suggests that the evil pair they saw are from another time, but Tsukasa has trouble understanding why there would be another tournament. At this time, Souji turns on the TV where Matsu is on the news. Tsukasa states that Matsu is the leader of the Hollyhock Institute, and Kaori wonders what Matsu is really up to.

At Hollyhock HQ, Matsu is telling his subordinates to make sure that Mana is still okay and also to determine the number of wielder/blade pairs that have arrived at the present time. After the subordinates leave, Matsu laughs and looks up to pledge his allegiance to Zin Estark who has appeared on the ceiling.

The next day, Kaori calls Kazunari's grandpa but finds that Kazunari hasn't returned. Tsukasa and Kaori then call their boss at the maid cafe and lie that they were injured in an accident and thus can't go to work. Meanwhile, Kazunari finds the evil samurai and his companion sleeping on a park bench, but the samurai soon discovers Kazunari. The evil samurai takes Kazunari's sword, but instead of killing Kazunari the samurai tells Kazunari to pawn off the sword to get some food. Kazunari takes the pair to a restaurant for breakfast, and the samurai doesn't mind Kazunari tagging along because he can see the desperation and dark emotions in Kazunari's eyes. Kaori, Tsuakasa and Souji are also at a restaurant talking about the situation, and the two girls agree they have to find Kazunari.

At night, Kazunari follows Adakura Den and En (the samurai and his companion) to a back alley when Adakura and En are confronted by another samurai/guardian blade pair. The other samurai is buddies of a samurai that Adakura had slain and is seeking to avenge his friend. Adakura and the challenger start fighting and the challenger manage to dodge Adakura's strikes. Adakura tosses his sword at the challenger, but challenger deflects it high. The challenger thinks he has the match now that Adakura is without a sword, but suddenly he finds himself being wrapped up by En. This allows Adakura to take the the challenger's sword and kill the man with his own sword, ending the fight. The loser's guardian blade shatters as Adakura and En laugh in delight, and Kazunari's eyes also light up because he is impressed by the power of the guardian blades.

Definitely hanging around with the wrong crowd.

Elsewhere in town, Kaori, Tsukasa and Souji are running away from a bunch of gangster who are chasing them. Tsukasa had gone to an information broker, but it seems that the guy gave her some information on drug deals and now they are targeted by gangsters. The trio run into a narrow street and Kaori collides into a big guy sitting at a ramen stand. The gangsters catch up with their guns drawn and state that they are going to kill all witnesses. Kaori stands in the way to protect the big guy she ran into, but the big guy thanks Kaori and quickly beats up the gangsters. Kaori notices the guy is wearing an eye patch over his left eye and is decked out in a samurai outfit. After the gangsters are taken care of, Souji suddenly attacks the big man with a knife, but the big man fends Souji off with his chopstick. Tsukasa tells Kaori to back off as this is business between samurais. The big man wonders if Souji and Tsukasa are in the tournament, and Souji and Tsukasa decide to join. The big man summons his guardian blade, a woman in kimono named Kuzunoha, for the battle. Souji and the big man exchange one lightning quick strike as Kaori watches in amazement. Souji cuts loose the big man's eye patch, but the big man gives Souji a big cut across the backside. Souji is hurt bad but refuses to give up. The big man looks to finish the fight, but suddenly a black SUV pulls into the middle of the battle. Men in black suit emerge from the SUV and refer to the big man as "Juubei" and an important guest, and this distraction allows Kaori, Tsukasa and Souji to escape. Juubei and Kuzunoha get into the SUV, and Juubei comments that like in the old times this area of Japan has never been very peaceful.

The guy definitely has the classic Yagyuu Juubei look.

At a park, Kazunari wakes up after having a dream where he and Haru are riding motor scooters but Haru gets further and further away from him. Meanwhile at the maid cafe, the boss of the cafe is approached by Tsukasa and Kaori who begs him to help the injured Souji. The boss takes Souji into the cafe's backroom and manages to stop the bleeding. The boss tells Tsukasa and Kaori that he has dealt with these kinds of injuries before and has contacted a doctor to give Souji further treatment. Tsukasa and Kaori are surprised that their boss didn't call the cops and concludes that there is something not normal about their boss. The girls then recall the guy Souji was fighting with, and judging by the man's appearance and the words from the men in black suits, the samurai Souji had fought could very well have been the legendary samurai Yagyuu Juubei Mitsuyoshi.

Back at the park, Kazunari has been staring at Adakura and especially En. When Adakura goes to the washroom, Kazunari approaches the sleeping En out of curiosity but Adakura suddenly appears and puts Kazunari in a choke. After Kazunari explains his curiosity about En being a sword, Adakura shoves Kazunari to the ground and explains that En is a guardian blade: a sword made from a human being. However, only a man's most beloved woman can be made into a guardian blade, and so it's not something that a brat like Kazunari can have. As Adakura engages in foreplay with En, Kazunari thinks about Adakura's words and comes to the conclusion that only Kaori can become his guardian blade.

Moping the floor on these guys... with a mop.

Back at the cafe, Tsukasa, Kaori and their boss are waiting for the doctor to come by to pick up Souji. Tsuakasa and Kaori try to explain what happened, but the boss doesn't want to hear it because he doesn't want to be implicated. Soon after, the boss senses that someone is breaking into the cafe and tells the two girls to get under the table. Men in black suit break in through the storage area into the main cafe area to find the boss alone, but suddenly the lights go off. The boss catches a mop from his assistant Yuki and proceeds to beat up the men with the mop. Yuki turns the lights back on and the boss recognize that the men had come from Hollyhock Institute and figures out that Tsukasa is a guardian blade. The boss then explains that his name is Touya (note: I think that's the pronunciation based on the kanji 冬夜 ) Yagyuu and he was one of the swordsmen to survive the tournament from four years ago.

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The story continues to focus on the going-ons outside of the 13th District, and things are starting to become a mess outside in the "normal" parts of Tokyo as well. For some reason, another tournament has been started and time-traveling samurais have arrived and are fighting it out on the streets. Evil samurai Adakura kills two opponents in this volume, and Souji gets into a random fight with Yagyuu Juubei. What's more, even Kaori and Tsukasa's boss is involved as the boss was one of the surviving swordsmen from the previous tournament. We don't know why there is suddenly another tournament, but my guess is that Zin Estark somehow started the tournament again so he can claim the three sacred treasures. We learned that Matsu serves Zin, and thus the Hollyhock Institute is not exactly on the side of the good guys.

Kaori and Kazunari are both drawn into the events, and in this volume Kazunari is really starting his descent into darkness. He is already hanging around with the wrong crowd, and he also seems to be a little mentally unstable these days. The story is definitely setting up Kazunari as an antagonist that Haru will have to fight some day, but the question is how Kazunari will get the skills and a guardian blade. I hope Kaori won't become Kazunari's blade, but what are the other options for Kazunari?

Overall, a decent volume with good story progression. There weren't any "key" battles, but the sword-clashing action was still excellent as usual. The story is becoming more and more complicated with the emergence of the time-traveling samurais and the swordsmen from the previous tournament, so lets hope things won't become too convoluted.