Bleach 470

Rukia vs. Riruko, and Ichigo & Uryu vs. Ginjou.

It's Deviusako, you fools.

Summary:
Despite being trapped in a plushie, Rukia manages to outrun Riruko. Rukia then discovers that she can do shunpo which leads her to try a hado spell, but hado blows up inside the plushie and in her own face. This allows Riruka to catch up and Riruka decides to teach Rukia about the Fullbringer's "survival of the fittest".

Meanwhile in another pocket dimension, Ichigo and Uryu are hiding among the buildings to scout out Ginjou, but Ichigo is tired of waiting and goes out to confront Ginjou. Ichigo attacks with a Getsuga, but Ginjou breaks the Getsuga and attacks with his own Getsuga. Ichigo gets burned a little, and Uryu attacks to force Ginjou back. Uryu states that Ginjou probaby has all of Ichigo's powers and thus they need to approach this battle carefully.

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Rukia vs. Riruka is really turning into a joke fight. Rukia running around as a plushie and blowing herself up with hado was kind of funny, but still is that the way to treat a main female character? It looks like Riruka is going to do story time about some version of "survival of the fittest", and I'm sure that will be mighty interesting... well, probably not, but hopefully it won't be too boring. I'll take "laughably ridiculous" over boring. As for Ichigo vs. Ginjou, Ginjou does get the power up and has Ichigo's moves to make the fight a bit more even, but I'm sure Ichigo will pull a bankai or some other transformation to beat Ginjou when the time comes. Out-transforming people has always been Ichigo's key to victory. Hopefully Ginjou vs. Ichigo and Uryu will be decent, but I hope Kubo won't drag out the battle too long either.

One Piece 644

Fukaboshi tells Luffy to take care of business.

Wouldn't be an One Piece emotional moment without someone crying with snot coming out their nose.

Summary:
Over the PA system, Fukaboshi tells everyone that Hody is just an empty bag of hate, and all the hatred for humans in the Fishman District is a grudge that haunt the island. The speech is interspersed with scenes of Hody growing up under the hateful environment and Arlong's venomous influence. Fukaboshi concludes that something must be done now to stop the hate and set things back to the way it should be. Luffy takes over the PA and promises to protect Fishman Island. While Fukaboshi was giving his speech, the bubble gun team encloses the falling Noah with a giant bubble. Meanwhile, the crazed Hody chases after Shirahoshi and Luffy, and Luffy powers up and pummels Hody with a big Gear Second armed attack.

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Not too much happening this week. Most of the chapter was Fukaboshi making his speech with some flashback of how Hody grew up to be a hater, and then Luffy gives the expected hero declaration and punches Hody once. Can't say that was the most interesting chapter of One Piece I've ever read. On the bright side, the speech making is probably over and so the we can go back to the battle full time.Hody has proven to be glutton for punishment, so it won't surprise me if he is still up after Luffy's super punch. Even if Luffy KOs Hody with this attack, there is still the problem of the falling ark, so there is still plenty left to this battle.

Naruto 561

Madara unleashes destruction on the Shinobi Army forces.

Two asteroid strikes in the same spot! What are the chances of that!?

Summary:
Madara summons an asteroid to crush the whole battlefield. Oonoki flies up and uses a jutsu to lighten the asteroid and Gaara tries to hold up immense rock with sand, but Madara summons another asteroid to smash it on top of the first asteroid and the entire battlefield is crushed. The impact is so great that even the not-so-close Shinobi Army HQ is shaken, and Tsunade decides to head out.

Gaara's forces have taken heavy damage and Oonoki is badly hurt, but Naruto, Gaara and the important people managed to survive. Madara and Muu/Kabuto regenerate after the attack, and Madara continues to question Kabuto. Kabuto correctly guesses that Madara didn't die immediately after losing to the 1st Hokage and gained some of the 1st's wood powers. Kabuto assures Madara that they are on the same side, but the fake Madara might be up to something else. Sensing that there are survivors, Madara tries to summon the nine-tails which fails but gives Naruto a stomach ache. Kabuto points out Naruto among the survivors but note that the Naruto is just a clone. Madara then tries a Wood release and sends giant tree limbs flying in the survivor's direction. Naruto is out of chakra, but the nine-tails decides to lend Naruto some chakra because he doesn't like Madara. Naruto uses all of the chakra at once by making shadow clones with Great Raesangans to beat back the wood attack, but now he is really out chakra. Despite being badly hurt, Oonoki tells Naruto that he'll take care of Madara.

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Madara really did summon an asteroid... wait, two asteroids. Sharingans and Rinnegans are so overpowered lol. With the closest Naruto clone out of chakra and Oonoki in rough shape, it doesn't look like Gaara's group is going to beat Madara zombie on their own. I don't know what Oonoki will be able to do given that he can't even do his dust techniques. Tsuande is coming from the rescue. She probably won't be able to do much to Madara by force, but she probably has some secret knowledge she can use against Madara given that she is the 1st's granddaughter. Naruto might get another crack at Madara, but he'll need fox mode so likely it won't be using the current clone. From what we've seen so far, Naruto isn't quite ready for the big leagues quite yet against people with crazy eye powers.

Now that the real Madara has caught everyone's attention, where is the fake Madara and his Six Paths of Pain?

Deadman Wonderland 49

Ganta fights Hagire.

Add "wall-walking" to Senji's already impressive resume.

Summary:
The rest of the Deadmen venture back into the prison to rescue Ganta and Senji. Meanwhile, Yosuga also leaves the submarine with a pistol in her hands.

Back inside, Ganta returns to save Senji and confront Hagire. Hagire fires the blade feathers but Ganta is able to to counter by quickly firing his Ganta Gun. Ganta powers up for an attack, but the crystal in his chest starts hurting and Hagire uses the opportunity to smash Ganta through a few walls. Ganta is smashed through the outer building wall and is hanging by the edge. Hagire goes in to finish Ganta, but Ganta is pulled out of the way by a wall-walking Senji. Senji brings Ganta to the top of the building with a giant sign. Hagire follows and Senji attacks, but Hagire easily dodges the attacks. However, Senji was aiming for the support of the sign which falls towards Hagire. Hagire cuts up the sign with his blade feathers, but then notices that the scene looks familiar. Hagire then notices that Ganta has his palm right on Hagire's chest similar to how Ganta beat Senji in their Carnival Corpse fight. Ganta then powers up for a shot to take down Hagire.

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The fight against Hagire continues. Ganta shows that he is no longer a wimp, but he still needed a bit of help from Senji who now can walk on walls using foot blades despite taking a horrendous amount of punishment from Hagire. Senji's endurance is superhuman, although you have to give some props to Ganta too for standing up after being smashed through a couple of walls. The throwback to Senji vs. Ganta Carnival Corpse fight was a nice touch, but I doubt Hagire will be finished right here. I think Ganta will land the hit and hurt Hagire, but Hagire probably won't be KOed. The story has to leave some room for Yosuga and the other Deadmen to play their parts.

Gantz 350

The Tokyo Team decapitate the giant skeleton monsters.

Muscle Rider triumphs over evil once again.

Summary:
After Yoshikawa discover the giant skeletons' weakness to decapitations, the rest of the Tokyo Team proceed to decapitate the monsters using various methods such as the Gantz sword or just by ripping the skeleton's head off by force (as in the case of Kaze). Back in the alien city ship, the aliens watch the big screen in stunned silence as the Tokyo Team knock the skeletons' heads off. Meanwhile, Fra leads Kurono #1 to the square where Tae is, and Kurono #1 spots Tae near the group of aliens watching the big screen.

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Looks like the skeletons are not so tough after all. Good job to the Tokyo team for shutting the aliens up even if it's just for the moment. You gotta love Kaze and his head ripping. Anyways, the Tokyo team defeat this wave of enemies, but they are far from out of the woods yet. On the other side, Kurono #1 finally locates Tae. Hopefully this will be an actual reunion, but given that this is Gantz there is a possibility that series will troll us right here and kill Tae right in front of Kurono. I hope that doesn't happen, but it is a distinct possibility. Another note of interest is the behavior of Fra. Does she really have Stockholm's Syndrome? What is she really up to by helping Kurono #1 after calling him an insect not so long ago? As with any questions in Gantz, it might be a while before we find out the answer.

Mobile Suit Gundam AGE 03

The Diva tries to pull out Nora's core before the colony implodes while Flit and the Gundam battle two more UE mobile suits.

I'm gonna destroy you!!!... Hahaha just kidding!

Summary:
Two more UE mobile suits show up, and the super fast fighter-model flies right to the Diva's command bridge but then leaves and flies into the colony. The dragon mobile suitl engages Flit and the Gundam. Flit has trouble hitting the enemy and grows frustrated, but Yurin holds his hand and lends him some of her NewType psychic abilities, and this allows Flit to destroy the UE mobile suit with the Gundam's Dot Rifle.

Took 30 shots to kill a grunt... well I suppose Flit will get better over time. He'd better since I don't think Yurin will be sitting on his lap during every single battle.

Back inside the colony, General Bruzar is in the command center trying to disengage the colony's core, but the command center is attacked by the fighter-model UE. Bruzar is hurt and the command center is destroyed, but Bruzar knows of a back up command console near the center of the colony. Having destroyed the command center, the fighter model UE goes back into space and runs into Flit and his Gundam. Since the fighter-model is faster than the dragon-model, Flit has even more trouble and wastes ammo taking pot shots. Yurin has to tell Flit to calm down and lends him some psychic powers once again.

Inside the colony, Bruzar makes to the backup console and successfully disengages the core, and the Diva starts to pull the core out of the colony. Outside, Flit is tasked with stalling the UE mobile suit so that the core can be pulled out. With Yurin's help, Flit clips the UE mobile suit with a few shots but then runs out of ammo. Flit then flies in front of the UE and spreads the Gundam's arm to signal that the UE shall not pass, and surprising the UE mobile suit takes the hint and retreats.

Hmmm okay so how are you supposed to stop me from flying right by you... 

Oh shit it's dinner time, gotta go.

The Diva has pulled out most of the core, but a column collapses inside the colony and jams against the core, preventing the Diva from pulling any further. With only a minute left before the colony implodes, there's not much the Diva or Flit could do. Suddenly, Bruzar appears on radar in a loader mobile suit carrying explosives and flying towards the jammed column. Bruzar entrusts Flit with the fate of humankind and then runs into the column and kills himself in the process, but the ensuing explosion breaks the jam and the Diva pulls the core to safety just before Nora disintegrates.

Time to go out in a blaze of glory.

At the Diva's command bridge, Grodeck announces that the ship is going on a mission after help arrives for the civilians inside the core. At the hangar, Yurin gives Flit her hair ribbon just as Emily and Dique arrive to greet Flit. Somewhere inside the ship, a silver-haired man awakens from a stasis pod.

No Gundam series would be complete with an ace pilot character

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That wraps the initial colony-escape adventure/battle. Everything is still very Gundam-esque, but tuned more for the younger audience. The mobile suit fights were pretty decent and the episode as a whole wasn't bad, but it wasn't anything too special either... other than that the Gundam is piloted by a little kid (who is supposed to be 14 but looks like he is 8) rather than an emotional 16-18 yr old teenager. I still prefer the more "mature" Gundam series, but hopefully the little kids thing wouldn't hold the series back too much.

Anyways, Flit, the Diva crew and most of the civilians escape with their lives, but the this seems to be because the UE let them. The UE could easily have destroyed the core or the Diva, but they didn't and the fighter-model even left and Flit's Gundam did the arm spread "you shall not pass" sign. However, the same UE mobile suit also purposely targeted the command center inside the colony to make it hard for Bruzar to disengage the core. So the question is still what exactly are the UE trying to accomplish by attacking Nora in this fashion. They are not trying to kill all of the civilians, but they did want to take out the colony and make it sufficiently hard for the colonists to escape. Are they trying to scare humans from space or toughen up the colonists and prepare them for war? Either answer don't seem to be that great. Anyways, I'm sure we'll learn more as the series unfold, and plenty of UE mobile suits will get blown up during the whole story.

One Piece 643

Fukaboshi reveals Hody's "true face".

That's Hody's true face in the middle. Given how ugly he really looks, it's no wonder that Hody hides his true face with a fake face lol.

Summary:
The battle continues in the plaza, and Robin frees the human slaves who turn against the fishmen pirates. Suddenly, the public announcement system comes alive and the soldiers up at the bubble tank above the island tells everyone to evacuate as Noah is falling back down. The subsequent conversation between the soldiers at the bubble cannon and Luffy are also aired over the PA, and then Fukaboshi is on the air as well when he is about to reveal Hody's "true face". Fukaboshi declares that Hody is a monster born from circumstance and Hody hates just because he can and not because the humans have done him wrong in the past.

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We went through two extra chapters to wait for Fukaboshi to make his announcement about Hody... and the results are a little disappointing. Hody being a hater who just likes to hate is what I expected Fukaboshi would say, but I was holding out hope that the revelation would be more drastic such as Hody is an agent of evil planted by some bigger evil or something like that. Either way, the battle continues and Luffy still has to find a way to steer Noah clear of Fishman Island somehow. Given that the match-ups in the plaza are still unfolding, the whole battle may still take a fair number of chapters before it reaches its finish.

Bleach 469

Byakuya vs. Tsukishima continues, and Rukia vs. Riruka.

So disappointing...

Summary:
Tsukishima cuts Byakuya and retreats before Byakuya can retaliate. By cutting Byakuya, Tsukishima now knows all of Byakuya's moves and their weaknesses such as the fact the Senbonzakura has a minimum range within which it deals no damage.

Meanwhile, Riruka finally comes out of hiding after firing giant stuffed animals at Rukia. Rukia states that she has no interest in killing a "normal human" like Riruka. This causes Riruka to get angry and she uses her power to trap Riruka inside a small stuffed animal.

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So much for Byakuya not letting Tsukishima land a hit. The Kuchikis are not doing too well this week, and both Rukia and Byakuya were disappointing. Rukia didn't take Riruka seriously and ends up being turned into a small stuffed animal, and Byakuya probably didn't Tsukishima seriously enough either and now made the fight more difficult for himself. I guess we can't have all the shinigamis win without challenge, but regardless I think the Kuchikis will still win or take back the advantage one way or another.

Naruto 560

The real Madara battles Naruto, Gaara and company.

The story ends as a giant asteroid crashes into the earth and destroys the world.

Summary:
Madara looks around and asks about who resurrected him, and Kabuto talks to him through Muu. Kabuto states that Madara's resurrection is special and Madara's current state should be even more powerful than when he was alive. Gaara tries to sneak attack Madara, but Madara dodges and attacks with a massive fire breath. Dozens of Shinobi Army ninjas counter with water breath, but Madara breaks through the steam and starts attacking the Shinobi Army. Naruto clone bears down on Madara with a giant Rasesangan and Oonoki pushes up the ground Madara is standing on towards the Narutos, but Madara calls Susanoo and bounces the Naruto clones away. Naruto can't go into fox mode, so Naruto uses Sage mode and makes a Rasen Shuriken. While Madara is busy attacking the foot soldiers, Gaara pulls Madara out of Susanoo with his sand and sends Madara into the path of Naruto's Rasen Shuriken. However, Madara uses the Rinnegan to absorb the Rasen Shuriken which surprises everyone except Kabuto. Madara jumps back up the cliff and wonders how Kabuto knew the Sharingan will unlock into the Rinnegan when Kabuto cannot read the secret message on the Uchiha monument, and Kabuto answers that he and Orochimaru had guessed this after many years of research. Madara powers up with Susanoo again and the sky begins to darken, and Naruto and company stare up as a huge object appears in the sky.

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Naruto is getting really interesting again. The last chapter revealed that the real Madara is Kabuto's secret weapon, and now we learn that the Sharingan will unlock into the Rinnegan and Madara had done it just before his death. Given that Sharingan was supposedly descended from the Rinnegan, it isn't too surprising that the Rinnegan ends up being the ultimate form of the Sharingan. When you think those haXX0r eyes couldn't get more haXX0r... Anyways, Gaara's group looks to be in a lot of trouble especially since the Naruto clone can't go into fox mode, The only things that seem to work against super-hax Sharingans are other super-hax Sharingans and the First Hokage's techniques, and nobody in the Gaara's group has any of the above. However, Orochimaru does have a history of getting screwed over by Sharingans, and if Madara was powerful enough he might be able to break control from Kabuto just as Itachi did. If history was any indication, Madara isn't exactly the type who listens to other people's orders. Maybe Itachi will also show up at Kabuto's camp too. The point is, I don't see Gaara's group surviving without a bit of outside help. On a related matter, what exactly was the huge thing that Madara created at the end of the chapter? It looks like a giant asteroid crashing towards earth.

Guilty Crown 01 - First Impressions

My last anime first impressions post for the season is for Guilty Crown, another one of those futuristic sci-fi mecha shows that I tend to watch.

Yes! Heaven has answered my prayers for a hot girlfriend!

I shouldn't try to be a hero. I shouldn't try to be a hero... ah screw it, I'm going to be a hero.

Summary:
In the year 2039, Japan has lost its independence due to an epidemic 10 years ago and is ruled under martial law by an international organization called the GHQ. Shu is a high school student who keeps to himself even though other people try to talk to him. One day, Shu heads to his hideout in an abandoned warehouse to work on a movie, but to his surprise he finds a girl named Inori Yuzuriha at the warehouse. Inori is the vocalist of the band Egoist and Shu is big fan, but unbeknownst to Shu, Inori is also a member of a resistance group called "Undertaker" and is injured from a previous chase. Before Shu gets a chance to get to know Inori better, government officials show up and takes Inori away. However, the government people lets Shu off the hook, and they also failed to spot Inori's robot which is carrying a vial of something special. The robot (named Funnell) displays a map and Shu decides to take the robot to the destination on the map, but he puts the vial in his blazer's pocket. The journey takes Shu to the rough and derelict neighborhood where Shu is confronted by a gang of street thugs, but they are taken out by Gai, the leader of "Undertaker". Gai's helpers take Funnell and Gai asks Shu where Inori is, but suddenly the part of town comes under attack from the GHQ. Shu is separated from Gai by some wreckage, and Gai tells Shu to go rescue Inori.

You should have been able to tell from my beautiful blond hair and awesome coat that I was going to kick your ass.

Squish.

It turns out that after the GHQ failed to get the location of Undertaker's hideout from Inori, they decided to attack instead. Inori is also taken along during the attack so she can be disposed of. The GHQ forces claim that everyone in town is contaminated and starts blasting everyone in sight. Gai and his group responds, and in the heat of the battle the truck holding Inori is flipped over by a nearby missile impact. Inori gets out and climbs onto a nearby mound of debris only to find two GHQ mechs nearby. Shu arrives just as the mechs spot Inori, and Shu runs to Inori as one of the mechs fire its pistol. Instead of being killed, the vial Shu is carrying breaks. Inori and Shu are then enveloped in a strange field and a mark appears on the back of Shu's right hand. Inori tells Shu to "use her", and female voice explains that Shu now has the "power of kings" which can use the heart and spirit of other people as weapons. Shu starts seeing a bunch of visions, but then he somehow understands and he materializes a giant sword from Inori's chest. The GHQ mech fires missiles, but Shu deflects them with a shielding field from his sword. The mech then charges with its blades, and Shu jumps off the mound and slices open the mech with his sword. The mech explodes, and Shu is on the ground not sure of what just happened.

What exactly are you doing to her??!

My sword trumps your mech.

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A good episode that could have been really good if not for some shortcomings. The production quality, the action, and the character designs were all pretty nice. In particular, I loved the climatic battle scene where Shu pulled the sword out of Inori and killed the mech with a jumping slash, and I thought the insert song was perfect for that scene. Shu's ability looks great so far, and I want to see if he can pull weapons from other people too.

The things that I didn't like about the episode was some of the plot related things that didn't make sense, and that I find Shu a bit annoying. Shu is not an unpopular guy, but it seems like he wants to be left alone, but then suddenly he decides he is going to be the conquering hero and risk his life for Inori, and that I don't really understand. On the other hand, Inori is very pretty and Shu is big fan of hers, and I suppose heroism is spontaneous. I still find it weird that Gai would entrust Shu with rescuing Inori and also let Shu keep the vial (which was clearly visible in his front blazer pocket). Didn't Gai want that vial (which is presumably the source of Shu's new power) for himself? Now that we are on a row for nitpicking, the GHQ isn't much better. For an organization who is supposed to be ruthless in squashing opposition, it made no sense that they captured Inori but didn't even take Shu in for questioning. Even if they weren't going to make Shu "disappear" at least search the place and give take Shu in so he wouldn't go all hero on them later in the episode. I guess the bad guys have to be stupid sometimes to give the heroes a chance right?

Anyways, the first episode of Guilty Crown has a bunch of plot holes, but it did look and sound great, and that's good enough for a watch in my books. I don't think I'm to blog any show other than Gundam AGE though since I need time to write my Master's thesis these days.

Mobile Suit Gundam AGE 02

The military tries to evacuate Nora while the UE continue to attack the colony.

That's one big shoulder-mounted missile.

How dare you talk back to me?! I'm the love interest, while you are just the lowly supporting friend!

Summary:
The colony Nora is critically damaged by UE missile strikes from outside and is quickly losing air. As the colony will only last a few hours before collapsing, the leadership on the colony devises a plan to evacuate all inhabitants to the center core of the colony and then use the new warship Diva to pull out the core. At the military depot where the previous battle happened, Flit is about to set off with the Gundam towards the Diva, but Emily and Dique catch up to him before he leaves. Flit tells Flit and Dique to heed the evacuation order and get to the core, but Emily refuses to lose track of Flit and runs off, forcing Dique to follow her. Emily and Dique drive to the military elevator that leads to the space dock, but they are told to leave by the captain of the Diva. Emily and Dique sneak in to the facility anyways, and they overhear that captain plans to leave with the Diva without helping with the evacuation plan because the ship doesn't fall under the command of the colony. The captain and his two men are then confronted by the vice commander of the colony Grodek Ainoa. Grodek had foreseen that the captain wouldn't follow orders, and so he stuns the captain's two men with a pistol and forces the captain to come along with him. After Grodek and the captain leaves, Emily and Dique continue on their way towards the Diva.

They let 13-14 year-old kids drive? May God have mercy on their souls.

Up close and personal.

Meanwhile, Flit is walking the Gundam towards the elevator, but on his way he rescues a young girl named Yurin from the streets. Flit and Yurin almost make it to the elevator when the colony is struck by another missile and the Gundam is sent crashing down to a sub-surface tunnel. At colony HQ, the commander tells his staff to head to ship while he stays to detach the colony's core. The command lies that he has a secret escape path but such a path doesn't exist. The staff arrive at the Diva but can't find the crew or the captain. To their surprise, Grodek appears and declares that he is now captain of the ship, and his credentials are verified by the ship. Grodek had forced the real captain to hand over command of the vessel, and the previous captain and his men are tied up and unconscious somewhere. Emily and Dique also arrive at the ship much to the surprise of (Emily's grandpa and the ship's mechanic) Vargas, but the two kids are able to board regardless. The Diva launches, but they quickly pick up a UE mobile suit on their sensors.

In the tunnels, Flit isn't sure where to go, but Yurin seems to have some premonition abilities and leads Flit down the tunnel. The two arrive at a blocked path, but suddenly there's an explosion and the Gundam is ejected into space just as Yurin had predicted. By sheer coincidence, the Gundam bumps right into a UE mobile suit. The Gundam's puny beam pistol proves useless against the UE,and Flit is forced to run and try to evade the enemy fire. The crew on the Diva see the situation, and Vargas goes to the back of the ship to activated the AGE system. Conceived by Flit, the AGE is basically a miniature factory that can rapidly manufacture weapons and accessories for the Gundam based on enemy data. Vargas feeds the AGE system data of the UE from the previous battle, and the AGE system quickly produces a beam rifle call the Dots Rifle. Vargas launches the beam rifle towards Flit and the Gundam. Flit receives the rifle and fires just as the UE mobile suit fires its beam cannon, and the Gundam's rifle blast overwhelms the UE's blast and destroys the UE mobile suit. However, there is little time for Flit and friends to celebrate as two more UE mobile suits arrive on the scene and one of them is a bit different than the ones Flit had destroyed.

Now that's rapid manufacturing.

Obligatory strike a pose moment.

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A decent episode. We are still in the middle of the initial colony attack, and also still in the process of introducing more characters. All of this will probably lead to Flit and friends flying around space in the Diva just like what happens in various other Gundam series. Yuri the psychic girl turns out to be useful right away and helps lead Flit out into the space, and she may also be around to make Flits relationships a little more complicated. On the mechanics' side, the Gundam finally receives its beam rifle which finally gives the good guys an effective weapon to use against the UE mobile suits. The AGE system is pretty cool in its ability to rapidly conceive a weapon based on enemy data. Like the Gundam, the system is probably so new that nobody is thinking to use the technology to mass manufacture equipment, or else the Earth Federation military wouldn't have so much trouble against the UE attackers.

It is curious that one of the Earth Federation officers mentioned in the episode about why the UE is just attacking the town and colony surface instead of just killing the colony by destroying the power plants. Maybe the UE is trying to scare the Earth Federation into going back to Earth or something. If the UE's goal is not outright destroying colonies and killing all colony citizens, then maybe the evacuation can work. Otherwise even if the Gundam can beat the UE mobile suits, the UE can easily destroy the colony core once its pulled out as the Gundam can't cover the entire colony. We'll see what happens though. I also want to see how much better the UE fighter-transformable mobile suit is better than the dragon model.

Mirai Nikki 01 - First Impresions

A super late anime first impressions post, but never late than never right... haha if I had a dollar every time I write that on this blog. Anyways, this post is for the series Mirai Nikki, which is about a boy whose imaginary friend gives a cellphone diary that can predict the future.

Stop eating corn on my bed!

My imaginary friend is better than your imaginary friend.

Summary:
Yuki is a loner at school, but he keeps himself occupied by keeping a diary on his cellphone, throwing darts, and having imaginary friend named Deus Ex Machina who happens to be the God of Time and Space. One day, Deus gets a great idea and gives Yuki's cellphone diary the ability to predict the future. Yuki initially uses the diary's future entries to his advantage (ex do well in quizzes), but then he reads an entry that he'll be killed by the serial killer that's terrorizing the neighborhood. To add to Yuki's troubles, the class hottie Yuno also seems to know about Yuki's future diary and imaginary friends. Yuki tries to avoid Yuno and runs into a building under construction, but Yuno catches up to him. Yuno also alerts Yuki that the serial killer is nearby and coming after him. Yuki is creeped out by Yuno but follows her directions in an attempt to save himself. Yuno explains that she and the killer are also future diary users, and Yuki can kill him by destroying his diary/cellphone. Yuno's diary actually predicts Yuki's every move, and thus Yuno is able to track down Yuki. Yuno and Yuki go to the roof of the building and wait for the killer to arrive. When the killer arrives looking at his own diary to see where Yuki is, Yuno runs out to distract the killer so that Yuki can hit the killer's diary with a dart. After the diary is hit, the serial killer is sucked into a vortex and disappears.

Mmmm... tastes like strawberry.

Time to do the Twist!

After the incident, Yuki goes into his imaginary world to confront Deus, and Deus calls a meeting with all of the future diary users. There are 12 users in total, but no. 3 the serial killer is dead. Yuki is no.1, and Yuno is no. 2. Deus explains that all of the users are taking part in a competition, and the goal is to use their diaries to identify and kill one another. Although the diaries predict the future, the user can use the information given by the diaries to change their own future. The last person left standing will succeed Deus as the God of Time and Space. Since Yuki survived and killed the serial killer, all of the other users now see him as a major threat in the competition. After the meeting, Yuki ends up in Deus' usual office. Yuki still isn't quite sure what to do, and to add to his shock Yuno appears and declares that she will protect Yuki.

Let the games begin.

Scary or alluring? You be the judge.

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

A pretty good first episode. The episode did a fine job introducing the male and female lead, explaining the workings of the game to succeed Deus, and also had some thrills and a little action to boot. It's what I would call an efficient introduction. I have heard that Yuno gets a little crazy in the story, but she's not that creepy in this episode. She is definitely showing the signs though. As for Yuki, I liked how he is still very wary of Yuno despite Yuno being the class hottie, professing her love, kissing him and saving his life. It's not that easy to accept someone who can enter your imagination, talk to your imaginary friends, correctly predict your every move and behave like an obsessed stalker. Yuki's dart throwing was a nice touch. Obviously I don't expect him to beat a serial killer in combat, but the darts came in handy.

I liked what I've seen so far from the series, and I'm intrigued by the future diary competition. I'm looking forward to seeing how the participants will use their diaries to outwit and kill each other, and also I'm looking forward to see how crazy Yuno gets in this series.

Last note is that after rewatching some scenes of the episode to write this post, I finally figured out who the serial killer was... took me long enough though haha.

Rosario + Vampire II 46

Ruby unleashes her secret forbidden technique against Raika.

I enjoy getting shocked by you, but you don't enjoy being punched by me? That's so not fair!

Summary:
Ruby unleashes her secret forbidden magic spell "Iron Maiden" which encases Ruby in a battle angel armor with giant gauntlets that have lots of punching power. Ruby swings at Raika who quickly teleports away, but Ruby figures out where Raika will end up (because lightning is too quick so the destination of the teleportation is fixed) and clobbers him with a 1-2 combination. However, Raika is gets back up, and instead Ruby bleeds more because her Iron Maiden armor drains her own life force. Ruby attacks by launching feather ribbons from her hand, but Raika teleports above her this time and hits her with a huge lightning strike.

Deeper within the fortress, Moka is near Alucard in a barrier that will unlock the seal on the rosary. Moka can sense the battle between Ruby and Raika. Akua arrives and confirms that Tsukune and friends have infiltrated the base but tells Moka to give up any hope of being rescued. However, Moka is happy that her friends came to the rescue and promises to try and hold back Alucard's awakening.

Back to the battle, much to Raika's surprise Ruby actually enjoyed the shock. Ruby then nabs Raika with her feather ribbons and hangs him in the air so he has no conductors to use to teleport. Raika tries to break free, but Ruby finishes him by stabbing him with more feather ribbons and wins the fight.

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

I'm glad the chapter finally got translated. Anyways, Ruby actually managed to take down a subdivision leader by herself, prevailing using her spells, some smarts, and her SM tendencies. Even Raika's ultimate technique couldn't knock her out and instead gave her the ultimate pleasure LOL. This really was a bad match up for Raika. I thought Ruby's forbidden technique would be a bit more self-damaging, but she still had enough to make the cool pose after the victory. Maybe Ruby will collapse and be completely incapable of fighting in the subsequent battles, but she earned her paycheck and is probably not in danger of dying. I don't think any of the harem members are going to die anyways.

Overall, the battle wasn't bad, but in the end Ruby vs. Raika was a rather typical shounen one-on-one "fight through the bosses" battle. This is not exactly the most creative way of advancing the story, and I have a feeling it might be something similar for the next subdivision boss. Maybe Rosario + Vampire will surprise us though and go in another direction, but the chances of that are probably not great. If the series is going by the order of significance for the harem members, I suppose Yukari and maybe Fang Fang will be next. Mizore and Kurumu will get the later fights. Let see if Rosario + Vampire is really this predictable.

Gantz 349

The Tokyo team face off against the tough giant skeleton monsters.

Tough, but still can be killed.

Summary:
The Tokyo Team is now faced with a group of alien creatures that resemble giant skeletons. These skeletons are impervious to Gantz guns, and before they even wiped out a group of Gantzers with power suits. The Tokyo team fire their X-guns, H-guns, and Y-guns at the skeleton but the shots do no damage. The injured Gantzer the Tokyo team had met starts screaming doom and gloom, but Yoshikawa charges in with his Gantz swords. The big skeletons are fast, but Yoshikawa manage to stay a half step ahead. Yoshikawa loses one of his swords, but he then gets the opening he needs and decapitates one of the skeletons.

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

Another batch of new and tough enemies for the Gantzers.The skeletons are tough because most of the Gantz weapons are useless against them, and this is the first time the Tokyo team had encountered such enemies. The skeletons are not unbeatable though if one has the speed and sword skills. Don't know about the others, but Kurono #2 and Kato should be pretty good at fighting with the Gantz sword. I guess they'll have to kill off a couple of characters before things get any better for the Tokyo team. The narrative has been sticking mostly with the Tokyo team for a few chapters now. I wonder what's happening with Kurono #1 and also Nishi.

One Piece 642

Checking out the action back down in Fishman Island.

I shall crush you... with the power of FAT!!!

Summary:
While Luffy and company struggle against Hody above the island, an evacuation order was issued in Fishman Island because Noah is falling towards the island, but many residents want to stay and help the Straw Hats. Back in the plaza, the battle continues with the Straw Hats and Jinbe going up against Hody's pirates and Wadatsumi. Sanji goads Wadatsumi into expanding himself to crush Hody's other pirates, while Jinbe tells Robin to free the human slaves being used by Hody's pirates. Hyouzou attacks Zoro but Zoro blocks Hyouzou with some kind of barrier, and Zoro is ready to finish the fight.

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

I wanted to see what Fukaboshi was going to say about "Hody's true form", but instead the the narrative jumped back down to the ground (and a few minutes prior) to check out the rest of the Straw Hat crew. Now that the crew is back together, I guess everyone needs their share of the spotlight, but can't we check on them after Fukaboshi says whatever he had to say? I suppose this is one way to build anticipation, but I hate it when a series push off a big reveal by diverting the focus to somewhere else. Hody's crew isn't that strong, so I don't think any of the Straw Hats are going to lose their match-ups. I guess we'll have to wait at least another week to see what Hody really is.

Bleach 468

Byakuya vs. Tsukishima.

Watch where you step.

Summary:
Shsihigawara recovers from the headbutt knockout and still wants to fight for Tsukishima. Ikakku questions Shishigawara if Tsukishima is worth dying for and if Tsukishima would die for Shishigawara, and this takes the air out of any potential comeback by Shishigawara.

Meanwhile in another pocket dimension, Byakuya has scratched up Tsukishima a bit. However, Tsukishima is unfazed and lures Byakuya into stepping onto a trap. It turns out that Tsukishima's ability can affect inanimate objects as well, allowing Tsukishima to instantly set traps. Byakuya avoids the trap and attacks, but Tsukishima gets behind Byakuya and gets ready to cut Byakuya down.

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

The battles are still unfolding somewhat slowly, but at least we are on to one of the more important fights now with Byakuya versus Tsukishima. This fight will probably take a couple of chapters to resolve especially given how both Byakuya and Tsukishima have to constantly talk during the battle. Despite the ending not boding well for Byakuya, I doubt Byakuya really be harmed. The guy is a shinigami captain hasn't even used his bankai yet, and Tsukishima is already trash talking as if he had won. It would be a major fail if Byakuya was to fall right here in battle. Tsukishima's powers are quite annoying, but Byakuya should still have enough to at least beat Tsukishima up to the point where Tsukishima has to run.

The rest of the chapter had Ikkaku giving an educational talk to Shishigawara which wasn't all that interesting... or even necessary for that matter. I find it curious that Byakuya vs. Tsukishima came up before Rukia vs. Riruka, but maybe the narrative will leave us hanging on the Tsukishima vs. Byakuya fight and jump to the girls.

Naruto 559

Naruto and clones help out all over the battlefield, but Kabuto summons one more zombie...

Naruto always has a piece of the action because he is literally everywhere at the same time.

Summary:
In the desert, Mu summons a casket containing a zombie. The zombie walks out and Mu is surprised by who the zombie is.

Meanwhile, Naruto and clones are helping out in the different battles and turning the tide in the Shinobi Army's favor. The people back at HQ are happy with progress, but suddenly Ao detects a new presence near Gaara's group.

Back out in the desert, Naruto's shadow clone, Gaara, Oonoki and company see Mu approaching again, but this time he is accompanied by the zombie of Uchiha Madara, and this makes Gaara and company wonder who is the "Madara" that is behind the mask.

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

Ah ha! So Kabuto's "trump card" is actually the real Uchiha Madara. Many people suspected that was the case given how the masked "Madara" reacted after Kabuto showed him the zombie. This of course begs the question of who is really behind that mask, but that will probably be one of the biggest reveals in the Naruto storyline, so we probably won't see it for a while. Back to the present though, the real Madara should be quite a test for Naruto and friends given that he is an elite Uchiha, and of course all Uchiha featured prominently in the story have haXX0r eye powers. If Naruto can take down the zombie Madara, then he might stand a better chance against Sasuke or the masked "Madara". Naruto didn't exactly do too well against zombie Nagato, so he has yet to prove his fox mode against elite opponents (with totally unfair eye powers).

Mobile Suit Gundam AGE 01

In the first episode of the brand new Gundam series, a teenage boy pilots a Gundam when invaders attack his hometown. Bet you didn't see that coming, did you?

Watch where you are going!

So now Gundams are the stuff of legends...

Summary:
In A.G. 108, Flit Asuno and his mother lived in the space colony Ovan when it was attacked by the mysterious UE mobile suits. Flit's mother was killed, but before her death she gives Flit a device containing the blueprint to a powerful weapon of the past called a Gundam. Fast forward a few years, Flit is now 14 and an aspiring engineer/mechanic in the space colony Nora. With the blueprints from his mother, Flit helps the Earth Federation armed forces build their first Gundam. Flit also thinks that the UE will attack Nora soon, but no one believes him. Unfortunately, Flit's prediction turns out to be correct and three UE mobile suits enter the colony and starts blasting everything. The Earth Federation weapons and mobile suits are no match for the UE, and Flit decides that their only chance is to use the not quite ready Gundam. Flit goes out in the Gundam which actually withstands UE weapons unlike the other Earth Federation equipment. As the Earth Federation weapons are useless, Flit disables a UE mobile suit by stabbing it several times with a beam blade. The other two UE mobile suits scan the Gundam, destroy their fallen comrade and retreat. However, the battle is not over yet and the colony is attacked from outside.

Regardless of which universe we are in, Gundams are still tanks.

Stabby stabby.

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

Brand new series, but this was a very typical Gundam first episode. We have enemies with superior technology, a teenager with no piloting training and a new, unproven Gundam lying around waiting to be piloted by said untrained teenager. Granted, Flit does know the Gundam inside out because he had the blue prints and helped design the thing, but still it was a very classic Gundam-esque beginning. Seeing something a little different would be nice, but sticking with a working formula might not be a bad thing, and it's way too early to say much about the story. It's rather curious 14 year old such as Flit is helping to design the Earth Federation's latest and greatest weapon, but then again this is Gundam and sometimes Gundam shows don't make much sense.

What I can say from this episode is that the "retro-kiddie" character designs are not as bad as I thought. I'm still not a big fan of the look, but it's tolerable. The animation and mecha combat is still high quality as we come to expect from Gundam. I don't know if we'll see any super impressive battle scenes like those from OVAs or movies, but Gundam AGE should be able to deliver a stream of decent or better mecha combat. As for the mechanical designs, I like the look of the dragon-transformable UE mobile suits. The retro-looking Gundam AGE is not bad, although I prefer more intricate designs like those from Gundam 00.

Despite being very predictable, this was by no means a bad first episode. We'll see where the series go from here and the multi-generational story will pan out.

Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon 01 - First Impressions

My first anime first-impressions post for the Fall 2011 season is for Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon, a scif-fi brawler show with a very convoluted setting about dimensions crashing into each other... and stuff.

Quite the cast of characters. So which video game did they escape from?

Only running forward and trying to stab with the lance isn't quite good enough.

Brief Summary of the first episode:
On a flying city ship, Makiko, a teacher in a combat school, tasks all of the students in her class (mostly humans but some non-humans as well) to try to land a hit on her or even just touch her. All of the students then proceed to chase Makiko throughout the city creating havoc. The students come close but never quite manage to land a hit. The chase goes from one end of the city to the other end when the students finally surround Makiko, but Makiko beats them all up and also beats up a nearby demon. The class slacker Toori then shows up and gives a speech how he skipped class to buy a hentai game and will do something about the time-dimension mess that the world is in. Toori then proceeds to grope Makiko, but he gets kicked through a building for his indiscretions.

If you wanna cop a feel...

... you gotta be willing to pay the price.

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

I have no idea what's going on with the story involving war, dimensions collapsing and jumping in history, and this episode doesn't spend too much time trying to explain things. I also have no idea who any of the characters' names are because there are just so darn many of them. There are around 20 characters that make up Makiko's class, and then there seem to be maybe another 20 or 30 being shown in the ED and near the end of the episode. Remembering names for this show is going to be a pain. Makiko's class look like a line-up from some over-the-top fighting video game. Most of the characters are human, but some of them have impossible hair, funny get-ups and/or balloon boobs, and then we have a couple of weird creatures. As for the episode itself, it was quite fun. The chase sequence was well-animated and coordinated, and the fact that the show obviously doesn't take itself seriously makes it more enjoyable. The pop-up windows that open up when one of the students try to do a move was neat.

I guess the show has to give a detailed explanation of its story some time, but as long as the episodes feature a lot of well-animated, fast-flowing action scenes like this episode then I don't really care. I'll likely keep watching this show, but I don't think I'll have enough time to blog it episodically.

Deadman Wonderland 48

It's been a while since we saw a new chapter of Deadman Wonderland. In this chapter, Senji battle Hagire and the twins to buy time for Ganta to escape.

Opening up a can of Zuppashi on your asses.

Summary:
Yosuga finally makes it back to the submarine and tells Makina and the others about Ganta's capture. From Sorae's journal, Makina has figured out that the Mother Goose is biological computer created using Shiro's flesh, but the key to Mother Goose is actually hidden inside Ganta. Karako and the other Deadmen don't understand but they are eager to go rescue Ganta.

Inside the prison, Senji faces off against Hagire, but the twins Chan and En step in. Chan and En take Senji by surprise with their speeds, but after taking some hits Senji figures out their movements and sends them both flying and bloodied with his blades. Hagire takes the opportunity to run after Ganta but Senji chases him down. Hagire combines a bunch of Branches of Sins and downs Senji by shooting him with bladed feathers. Senji is down, but he has a flashback of why he is friends with Ganta and receives a second wind. Hagire pins Senji to the ground with more feathers, but Senji gets up suddenly and is about to slice Hagire's head off. However, the twins return at the last moment to shove Hagire away and take the blows. It turns out that the twins used to be sick and immobile but they used their medical monitors to hack onto the internet. That caught Hagire's attention and he brought them under his care and gave them the ability to move and speak. The twins sacrifice themselves by hanging onto Senji, and Hagire releases an attack that slices the twins and Senji's right arm to pieces. Hagire tries to finish Senji off, but he is shot in the right shoulder by Ganta who gives his Ganta gun some ridiculous name in honor of Senji. Ganta declares that he is not going to run away anymore and is going to stand and fight.

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

Once again, Senji was awesome. Senji almost single-handedly killed Hagire and his twin cronies despite the fact that Hagire had a lot more powers, the bad guys had more numbers, and Senji was already beat up to begin with. Senji is a real fighter, while Hagire and his cronies are just people with powers. The chapter gave the twins a little back story, but they are just tools for Hagire and ended up being fodder. I'm not too surprised that Ganta showed up for the save at the last moment. Running away may be the strategic thing to do, but you can't make our protagonist Ganta look like a complete sissy. I was actually expecting Ganta to show up sooner, but Senji kept having comebacks or flashbacks.

I don't think Ganta will be able to beat Hagire on his own regardless of what the Ganta Gun is called nowadays, but things may change when Karako and the other show up as reinforcements. The final showdown should still be against the Wretched Egg though, and I also hope that Hagire ends up being killed by Shiro.

Now that MangaStream has picked up this series, maybe we'll see more consistent releases.

Fall 2011 Anime

It's a new anime season once again, and thus it's also time to look through the line up and see what's worth watching and blogging. As always, a list of anime season previews from blogs more awesome than mine are at the end of this post.


Will Watch/Will Blog

Gundam AGE
I will watch and blog this show because it's Gundam. I am intrigued by the story that spans several generations of a family, but on the other hand I am not a big fan of the "kiddie" look of the show. Given this is Gundam, we are sure to get at least above-average mecha action, and that's enough for me to watch the show. As for the story, I am not expecting a lot given what happened to end of Gundam 00, but maybe this new Gundam series will surprise us.


Will Check Out/May Blog (although probably not)

Guilty Crown
It's a slick looking mecha show. The promo videos and all the designs looked pretty good, and thus that's enough reason to at least watch the first one or two episodes.

Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon
Seems like this is the season of sci-fi/fantasy action shows for me. Another show from Sunrise, Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon is a school battle fantasy with a somewhat complicated setting involving dimensions crashing into each other. Well, as long as the school battle fantasy (involving mostly attractive female participants) is good then the show is watchable.

Mirai Nikki
I will check this show out because I heard good things about the manga it's based on, and also I should watch something else other than sci-fi/fantasy action shows. Mirai Nikki has a psychological thriller type story where participants have to kill each other using special diaries that can foretell the future. Supposedly the main female character gets a little crazy... let's see if there will be some nice shocking moments from this series.



That's my list for the Fall 2011 anime season. I'll be busy with school this season because I have to finish my master's thesis and get my degree, so I'll probably only have time to blog one anime series which will probably be Gundam. Although I keep saying about blogging faster, my summary writing is too detailed and slow.

Finally, here are the list of previews from anime blogs on my blogroll:

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

One Piece 641

Luffy, Shirahoshi and the princes continue to struggle against Hody and the falling Noah.

The guy is a shark. No doubt about that.

Summary:
The giant ark Noah stops falling Shirahoshi and starts falling towards Fishman Island below. Luffy tells Fukaboshi to get close to the ark so he can smash it to pieces, but Fukaboshi wants Luffy to try to save the ark if at all possible. King Neptune had told his sons that Noah is very special and needs to be protected until a "promised day". Fukaboshi suggest that they should try to wake Vander Decken up, but Luffy argues that what if Decken is already dead. Hody goes after Shirahoshi again which prompts Luffy to grab Hody. Hody bites Luffy on the shoulder, and Luffy hammers Hody into the falling ark. Hody sees through Luffy's plan to access the air around Noah and slices open the big bubble enclosing Noah. Fukaboshi goes after Hody and gets cut, but Fukaboshi grabs on to Hody. Fukaboshi demands to know what Hody is trying to accomplish by destroying the entire island and everyone on it. Fukaboshi suddenly sees something shocking about Hody, and Hody cuts Fukaboshi and breaks away.

At this moment, Luffy gets a call on a Denden Mushi from soldiers at the nearby giant bubble gun. Before confronting Hody, Fukaboshi and Luffy told some soldiers to prep the bubble gun and shoot a giant bubble at Noah when the time comes. The bubble won't be able to make Noah float, but it'll give Luffy a better environment to fight, and so Luffy tells the soldiers to launch the giant bubble. Hody hones in on Shirahoshi and Luffy again. Luffy grabs Hody, rips off the bladed fin, and blasts Hody with a punch. Hody is knocked away but recovers and starts talking crazy. Luffy's Denden Mushi rings again, but this time it's Fukaboshi on the line and Fukaboshi states that he knows Hody's true form.

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

I was a little confused by the chapter at first because of bubble gun part. It took me a little while to figure out that the bubble gun set up scene was a flashback. As with any meaningful showdown, things are getting worse before they'll get any better. Noah continues to fall towards Fishman Island, and Luffy and company don't have a good way to stop it yet. Hody continues to hound the good guys as well and still keeps going even after taking multiple hard shots from Luffy. It's obvious the Hody has lost his mind once he wanted to destroy Fishman Island with the ark, but what's this talk from Fukaboshi about Hody's true form? Is there something more to Hody than being a crazy xenophobic fishman pirate? Hmmm...

Naruto 558

Naruto and clones arrive on the front lines.

Sakura is always in need of saving.

Summary:
Naruto arrives just as Gaara seals the Mizukage. Gaara notices that Naruto is a shadow clone and wonders where the real Naruto is, and Naruto explains that his band of clones is running all over the place to root out the White Zetsus in disguise. The real Naruto is still running around with Killer Bee in the forest, but the other clones have arrived on the front lines and started helping the Shinobi Army pick out the White Zetsu impostors.

Back in the desert, Muu emerges from a pile of crumbled rocks near where Gaara had sealed him. Muu actually split himself in two and one half of him was sealed while the other half hid in the rocks and sand. The fact that one half is sealed makes Muu much weaker. Muu cannot undo the seal on the other half of his body, so he waits and then performs a summon.

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

Just as foreshadowed from a few chapters before, Muu is still around and thus the battle with the zombie Kages isn't over yet. Muu can actually split himself in two (instead of just using clones) and thus is able to fool the good guys, although I thought fox-mode Naruto had super-sensor abilities? I guess Muu is known for being hard to detect. Hopefully Muu will be summoning something good. Maybe Kabuto's secret weapon? We are still all waiting for Madara and Sasuke to show up too.

Bleach 467

Shinigamis vs. Xcution continued.

They don't make zanpuktos like they used to.

Summary;
Yukio is about to be crushed by his own monsters but Hitsugaya saves him at the last moment. Hitsugaya then freezes Yukio except for his face and arm and tells Yukio to disable the pocket dimensions in 5 minutes or turn into a permanent popsicle.

Meanwhile, Ikakku still can't figure out why Shishigawara's punches can break trees, so he gives up trying to figure it out and pulls out his zanpukto. However, Shishigawara breaks Ikakku's spear with a punch, and Ikakku decides to slug it out with Shishigawara in a fist fight. The two keep punching each other and Shishigawara realizes that his jackpot powers are not working well anymore because he is using it in quick succession and Ikakku refuses to fall. Ikakku then KOs Shishigawara with a headbutt.

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

Not much stuff this week. I guess Bleach is going to take care of the side battles first before it moves onto the main fights. I was hoping the Shishigawara fight would turn out to be a little more interesting, but apparently Shishigawara wasn't lucky enough and the fight went in the typical Ikakku-slug-it-out fashion. We all saw that coming. As for Yukio, maybe he will release the dimensions just in time so that Ginjou and/or Tsukishima can run away, but hopefully we'll still see a bit of fighting first from the main villains before they turn tail and scram.

Summer 2011 Anime Final Thoughts

Now that the summer 2011 season has come to an end, it's time again for to write down some final thoughts on the series that I followed but didn't blog weekly. I've given up on writing individual reviews for anime series these days, so this final thoughts post will probably become the de facto format to end the season. Without further ado, here are some quick thoughts on Blood-C, No. 6, and Usagi Drop.

Warning: contains major spoilers.


Blood-C

The show is literally a bloody mess.

Synopsis:
Girl with sword tries to protect town from man-eating monsters, but things are not as they seem.

Thoughts:
The most difficult show to watch for this season, but for different reasons during the different parts of the show. The show started off quite slow, and took its sweet time building up. Despite the fairly good monster fighting action, the rest of Blood-C was boring in the early goings. In the latter parts, the show becomes harder to watch because it turns into a gore fest with people being killed and eaten in increasingly gruesome ways. The final episode was gruesome to the point of being sickening and disgusting. I like action and violence in anime, but Blood-C goes too far for my tastes. The monsters don't just kill the humans; they bash their victims against the ground, rip them apart, eat them like kabobs, and blend them in a pouch... you get the idea. This is one show that needed to be censored, but of course the censoring just blurs the gore, but you can tell how the victims are killed and your brain fills in the details. The show is called Blood-C for a reason I suppose.

As for the plot, the whole school life and town-protecting thing turns out to be a farce, and our protagonist Saya was a part of an experiment by the evil mastermind (playing cafe owner) Fumito to see if he can change Saya's personality. Throughout the show there are hints that something is amiss about Saya's life, but the build up is too slow to my liking. Overall, the show had some good to even great fighting action, but the story moved too slow and the gore was a bit much. On top of that, the whole series is basically a prequel to the Blood-C movie coming out next summer. Now that Saya has her old personality back and all her fake friends are either wicked or dead (or both), the movie will probably just have Saya killing waves of Fumito's soldiers and monsters, and I'm sure people will die in really nasty ways. I don't Blood-C was good (awful is probably the better description), but I still want to see the movie just to see Saya kill Fumito. In this case, I suppose the series accomplished what it set out to do which is to get people interested in the movie sequel.



No. 6

11 episodes only delivered a total of 2 kisses.

Synopsis:
Burgeoning boy love mixed in with a conspiracy behind a Utopian futuristic city.

Thoughts:
No. 6 was one of those shows that started out strong but then languished in the middle, and by the end the show ran out of time and gave an unsatisfying conclusion. The first two episodes were quite effective in throwing main character Shion from the Utopian No. 6 to the shantytowns outside of the city, and the conspiracy with the killer parasitic wasps was kind of interesting at first. Production quality of good, and so was the action. After that though, things slowed down to a crawl. Shion spent time washing dogs, Neizumi was being emo, and that was mostly it. Not much happens with the killer wasp stuff, and not all that much BL happens between the two main characters either (we only get one "goodnight" kiss). The middle took up too much time and didn't leave enough time for the conclusion and the final raid on the research facility. The fact that the whole conspiracy had something to do with controlling a wasp-shaped forest god was kind of a letdown too. I was hoping for something a little deeper than that especially given the amount of time the show took to get to any significant action. Overall, No. 6 turned out to be a bit of a disappointment.


Usagi Drop

So cute...

Synopsis:
A 30 year old salaryman becomes the guardian of a six-year-old girl who happens to be his grandfather's illegitimate daughter.

Given the pool of average to not so good shows in my line-up this season, Usagi Drop was the best series I watched for the summer 2011 season. At least it was the most consistent show, and it never fails to deliver a weekly dosage of cute, heartwarming goodness. Rin is adorable, and Daikichi is believable as her new found guardian. It's a simple yet enjoyable show. I don't have much else to say so I'm just going to leave it at that.

Although I enjoyed watching this season of Usagi Drop, I'm not sure if if I want to watch the next season if it comes out and follows the manga story. From what I can gather this season of the anime covers up to the 1 yr point of the story, after which the story will undergo a 10 year time skip so that Rin is a teenager. With Rin being a teen, the dynamica are probably going to be quite different, and I'm not sure if the show will have the same type of charm.