Happy New Years!

It's time to bid goodbye to 2009 and say hello to 2010. I see a lot of other anime blogs doing top moments of 2009 or top series of the last 10 years to celebrate the end of this year and/or decade, but I'm not going to compile such a list. I only started to watch anime "seriously" about a year and a half ago, and even then I only follow 4-6 series a season, so I haven't really watched enough anime to make a list for the year let alone the decade. Besides, I'm too darn lazy to do lists; spitting out cookie-cutter summary posts requires much less effort lol.

As for myself, I spent the last few days of this decade doing inconsequential things like drawing and working on my websites. Since most anime and manga series were on vacation as well, there wasn't much to write about for this blog. I wanted to go watch Avatar in IMAX 3D, but the day I went the tickets were sold out for the day, so I'll probably wait 2 more weeks. I did watch The Girl Who Leapt Through Time though, and it was excellent and surprisingly down to earth for a movie about time travel. I might write a review for it later.

Speaking of my websites and drawings, I mentioned two weeks ago that I was playing around with WordPress. Well, I finally finished converting my personal site to WordPress. It was about five days of repetitive manual labor moving all the content, but I got through it. The finished product is located here. I'm pleased with WP thus far (love the plug-in system), but I won't be moving this blog to WP anytime soon. As for artwork, below is my latest attempt to draw something other than mecha. The grass and dandelions didn't turn out too badly, but the people look like cardboard cutouts. Maybe I should just stick to drawing machines.

That's enough rambling for this post. I wish all of you a Happy 2010 and good luck in the new year.

Rosario + Vampire II 26

Inner Moka attends the academy for a day.

Being so smart and good at fighting, you'd think Inner Moka would have enough common sense not to point the knife towards herself.

Summary:
In recent weeks, Inner Moka has become more active in voicing her concerns about Outer Moka's laziness and bad eating habits, so Outer Moka decides that it'd be good to let Inner Moka out for a day to experience what school life is like. So at the beginning of the next day, Moka asks Tsukune to remove the rosary and let Inner Moka roam free for the day. While Tsukune and Yukari are supportive, Kurumu and Mizore are a little worried, but at the same time they think this is a good opportunity to discover Inner Moka's weakness.

With her beauty, smarts, and athleticism, Inner Moka quickly earns herself a legion of fans among the school's students. At lunch, Kurumu and Mizore are beginning to think that Inner Moka has no weakness, but they refuse to give up just yet. The class after lunch is home economics where the girls are making pumpkin pie under Ruby's direction. Yukari is partnered with Inner Moka, but soon Yukari becomes scared of Inner Moka's pumpkin carving techniques. The end result of Inner Moka's labor is a huge mass of unknown substance that actually blew out a window. Kokoa arrives to try out Inner Moka's food and is immediately poisoned. While Inner Moka is in disbelief about her inability to cook, Kurumu, Mizore, Yukari and Ruby join and promise to help Inner Moka make the pie. Unfortunately, that turned out to be a bad idea as moments the later the whole classroom is on fire with Kurumu, Mizore, Yukari, and Ruby smashed into various walls and counter-tops. Inner Moka herself is relatively unscathed and carries a burnt piece of pie with her to the rooftops. Inner Moka passes Fong Fong on the way, and Fong notices that Moka's choker seems to creaking.

On the roof of the school, Inner Moka is about to throw the pie away, but she is stopped by Tsukune. Inner Moka reveals that she was planning to give the pie to Tsukune and lets Tsukune try out the pie. Tsukune takes a bite and finds it delicious much to Inner Moka's surprise. While the other girls watch from behind a corner in jealousy, Inner Moka tells Tsukune that she had fun today and wants Tsukune to thank Outer Moka for lending her the body. Tsukune puts the rosary back on to Moka's choker, but for some reason Inner Moka still remains. While Moka, Tsukune and the others try to figure out what's wrong, Fong Fong and Ling Ling suddenly show up and state that Moka's seal is becoming unsteady.

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

Another non-serious, filler-ish chapter this month, but it looks like the story may be getting back on track in the next issue. This was another Inner Moka chapter and as expected it shows that Inner Moka is becoming more enamored with Tsukune, this time even going out of her way to bake some pumpkin pie for him. It's a little strange that Inner Moka doesn't know a thing about cooking despite Outer Moka being a fairly good cook (as stated by Yukari). I'd think Outer Moka would at least pass Inner Moka a cooking tip or two. Anyways despite the progress, it'll probably still be a while before we see anything concrete between Inner Moka Tsukune.

Anyways, the chapter ends with Tsukune unable to seal Inner Moka which probably leaves Outer Moka in some sort of limbo. Adding to this, Fong Fong and Ling Ling chose this moment to insert themselves into the story, and next issue we might finally find out what these two are really up to. Given Fong Fong and Ling Ling's personalities, they'll probably try to persuade Tsukune into joining their crime family in exchange for helping to reseal Moka. I think Moka's seal will eventually be broken (or getting really close to that state) and that breakage will probably destroy Outer Moka. This seems to be the most predictable route to go. We'll see how wrong/right I am in a couple of months.

Gantz 310

Kurono #2 and Reika get in on the action.

Due to the bad economy, Reika has to moonlight as a superhero to make ends meet.

Summary:
In different parts of Tokyo, Kato, Kaze, and Sakurai are being hailed as heroes by surviving civiilians. Back at the high school, the other students and teachers can't believe that Kurono #1 took out the aliens. The teachers ask Kurono for an explanation, but Kurono chooses to leave with Tae instead. Back in the city, Kurono #2 and Reika join the action. While Kurono #2 takes out the troopers and beasts on the ground, Reika jumps into one of the flying cages and frees a group of civilians. After taking out of all the nearby enemies, Kurono #2 and Reika agree to go check out the Gantz apartment, but quickly their route is blocked off by half-dozen alien troopers as swarms of alien aircrafts zoom overhead.

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

Looks like everyone in the Tokyo Team except the two Vampires and Nishi have joined the battle against the aliens. Speaking of Nishi, I wonder what he is doing right now. Before the mission, Nishi was like "bring it on!", but now he has disappeared. Anyways, this chapter was another one of those action chapters that's a bit short on plot development, but at least Kurono #2 and Reika has a good idea of heading back to the Gantz apartment. I'm guessing the others might head back there as well just to meet up again. There are probably some weapons there if nothing else, and chances are there will be clues left inside the Gantz ball now that the naked guy has vacated the place. The alien troopers and beasts on the ground aren't too challenging, but things will probably change when the Tokyo team run into the alien fighters and giant mechs.

Claymore 99

After taking out the twins, Priscilla turns her attention on Riful.

Here comes the big bad wolf Priscilla.

Summary:
Priscilla has tore Beth into pieces and prepares to leave. In a last ditch effort Beth shoots two spikes into Priscilla's back to infect her, but Priscilla easily expels the spikes. Not far away, Riful tells Dauf to run, but it's too late as Priscilla is already upon them. Priscilla remembers Riful's scent but doesn't that they've met before. Dauf tells Priscilla to get away from Riful, and for that he gets his remaining limbs sliced off and his gut ripped open. Priscilla then plunges her arm through Riful's torso and states that she's been waiting for this as the villagers before didn't quite satisfy her hunger.

Some distance away, Clare is entranced by a yoki presence that she picked up as it seems vaguely familiar, but Deneve snaps Clare out of her trance as Luciela/Rafaela is about to fire another salvo of spikes. Clare concentrates and uses her yoki-sensing abilities to help herself and her companions avoid being impaled by the spikes. While concentrating, Clare thinks back to the presence that she picked up earlier and figures out the answer. The revelation causes Clare to lose some control over her yoki which makes Deneve and Helen look back towards her. Deneve and Helen then spots someone walking up from behind them through the shower of spikes, and Clare knows that the person approaching them is Priscilla.

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

I didn't expect Claymore would come out so early (it actually came out yesterday on December 27th). It's a bit of a short chapter this time, but there are quite a few developments. Priscilla continues on her tear through the battlefield, shredding Alicia and Beth, ingesting Riful and dismembering Dauf, and now she is on to Clare's group. I didn't expect that Priscilla would eat Riful, especially given how Riful miraculously survived from being killed by Alicia. I was hoping that Riful would survive since she was one of the more interesting characters in the series, but I suppose she was on the decline already. Farewell, Riful the evil loli Abyssal One. With Riful's death, all three of the original Abyssal Ones have bitten the dust.

Other than Priscilla owning people left and right, this chapter revealed some hints as to why Priscilla was traveling with Raki. Apparently something happened in the past and Priscilla lost part of her memories, but she remembered Raki's scent and traveled with him. However, the hints in this chapter only compound the mystery. The three main questions about Priscilla now are 1) how did she lose her memories? 2) why did she suddenly ditch Raki and go back to her flesh-eating ways back in the village? and 3) what is she up to right now? Hopefully we'll find out the answers soon.

So at the end of the chapter, it looks like we are going to get the epic Clare vs. Priscilla confrontation sooner than we expected. Priscilla is probably even more powerful now after eating Riful, and I fail to see how Clare and company are going to stand a chance. My guess is that Priscilla is not interested in killing Clare, or else Clare is pretty much dead meat. Clare will probably launch an all out attack at Priscilla since killing Priscilla is Clare's no. 1 goal in life, and while Clare won't be able to beat Priscilla, I still want to see if Clare picked up any new moves from Rafaela.

The next chapter is shaping up to be a dandy. I don't want to set my expectations too high because I don't want to be disappointed, but it's pretty hard to do when it comes to Claymore.

Umineko no Naku Koro ni - Final Thoughts

It's the end of another anime season, and one of the series that concluded this season is Umineko no Naku Koro ni. It's a good thing that I gave up on writing organized, paragraph-form reviews, since I have trouble organizing my thoughts for Umineko. I'm not really what to say about Umineko other than that it didn't suck nor did it impress. Anyways, here is my random list of thoughts about the series.

Giving up already?

- One of the reasons why I decided to watch Umineko is because there was supposed to be gore, but I was disappointed since DEEN blurred everything out. Maybe I should go read the manga.

- After watching 3/4 of the series, I finally figured out that the point of the game played between Battler and Beatrice is not about whether magic exists; it's just about whether if the murder scenarios can happen without magic. It's probably a good thing Battler doesn't have to explain why he and Beatrice can teleport in and out of existence since he'll probably go nuts.

- Speaking of Battler, he is a rather unimpressive protagonist. He keeps saying things about flipping the chessboard around and likes to point fingers, but thus far he has solved nothing (obviously most if not all of his wild guesses in the final episode were wrong). Battler has been somewhat whiny, not all that intelligent, and actually not that strong-willed either. Thus far, Battler has been all show but no go.

- There is a large cast of characters in Umineko, and it's probably because of this that most of them didn't receive much character development. Most the adults in the show didn't get much character development, which kind of leads me to think that they are just there to be killed.

- Favorite moment of the series: when Beatrice and Virgilia trolled Battler in the third arc. Turns out Moetrice was actually Trolltrice. If Beatrice genuinely turned good in the third arc then it would have been the dumbest suddenly character personality change ever, but thank goodness she trolled Battler.

- Trolltrice was the best moment of the series. The second and third (and maybe fourth) best highlights all involve Rosa abusing Maria.

- The two characters that actually deserved to be killed over and over again are Maria and Rosa; Maria for being annoying and creepy, while Rosa for being a horrible parent. That's why the two deserve each other.

Endless as in endlessly bleeding.

- Beatrice was the most interesting character in Umineko, but I still don't understand her suddenly personality changes. The change in the third arc turned out to be a ploy to trick Battler, but what's with the sudden change in attitude in the fourth arc? If Beatrice was going to whine about Battler not being Asumu's son, then why didn't she do it in the first arc? And why does she suddenly want to die? I guess Beatrice must have a lot of mood swings.

- Regarding Beatrice's question to Battler in the final episode, isn't the answer Battler himself? Or else it's someone who's already dead. I'm probably way off, but just thought I should throw this out there.

- 26 episodes in and we still have no concrete answers to any of the mysteries. I am annoyed when a series gives no answer whatsoever to its story. Maybe they should have waited until the answer arcs of Umineko are released before making this anime.


Overall, I thought Umineko was watchable. It has an original setting and built an interesting mystery, but the story didn't quite connect. I can't pinpoint what, but there's something about the execution of the series that was a bit off. Maybe it's because the story is only half-told, or maybe I'm not used to watching this genre of shows, or maybe I had my brain turned off when watching this show. The animation studio DEEN probably has something to do with it as well, since the visual novel supposedly has better storytelling. At this point, I'm not sure if I want to watch the sequel to Umineko. On one hand I'm interested in the answers to the mysteries, but on the other hand I wasn't too impressed by this series.

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood 38

Kimblee and the Elrics chase Scar's group through an abandoned mining town.

Summary:
In Central, Riza returns home still shaken from the run-in with Pride. The phone rings and Riza hears Mustang's voice on the other side asking if she can help him get rid of some flowers. Riza declines to accept the flowers but thanks Mustang for calling. Mustang senses something amiss and asks Riza what's wrong, but Riza lies that everything is okay.

Not the Elric May was looking for.

Up in the north, Kimblee's convoy have arrived in abandoned mining town Baschool where someone has sighted Scar's group. Since the town is quite large and filled with many buildings, the group decides to split up, with Miles leading one team and the Elrics leading another to search for Scar. Meanwhile, Kimblee will stay put until one of the teams contact him after locating Scar. The Elrics are paired with two of Kimblee's subordinates Heinkel and Darius, but a few minutes into the search the Elrics manages to lose Heinkel and Darius and begin searching for Scar's group on their own. Baschool proves to be too large for the Elrics to search effectively, but just as the brothers are about to give up they are found by May, Marcoh, and Yoki. At this time, Al also lets Winry out from his armor. May and Marcoh are happy to see the Elrics, but Yoki is not pleased and goes on a monologue about how he was ousted from this post by Ed and some of his misadventures afterwards including an unsuccessful robbery of the Armstrong mansion. Of course, none of the others pay any attention to Yoki.

Looks like super strength runs in the Armstrong family.

Hello Scar, meet Ugly and Uglier.

Elsewhere in the town, Kimblee learns that Winry had gone missing, and Miles returns and volunteers to search for Winry. In a building somewhere, Scar is confronted by Kimblee's henchmen Jerso and Zampano. Jerso and Zampano are both chimeras and Zampano transforms into a spike-firing hog while Jerso turns into a mucus-spitting toad. The two chimeras know that Scar has to touch them to decompose them, so they stay at distance and harass Scar with their ranged attacks. The strategy proves to effective, and a minutes into the fight Scar is graced in the left arm by a spike and his right hand is glued to the floor by mucus. Jerso and Zampano prepare to finish Scar off, but at this moment the Elrics arrive after hearing the commotion. Instead of helping to capture Scar, the Elrics first knock out the two chimeras. The Elrics then turn to confront Scar who has managed to free himself from the mucus. After a short exchange of blows, Scar gains the advantage but he is distracted by the arrival of Winry. The Elrics capitalize on the opportunity and use alchemy to tie Scar to a slab of floor. At this moment, Miles and two Briggs soldiers arrive at the scene. Miles pull out his pistol and points it at Scar, but Winry gets in the way. Despite the protests of the brothers and Miles, Winry refuses to back down because she wants to know the truth about her parents' deaths. Winry asks Scar why he killed her parents, and Scar answers that anything he says will sound like an excuse. Soon after, Kimblee group hears an explosion and spots smoke emitting from a nearby building.

I'm a freakin' kung fu master, baby.

The Elrics are so cruel they can make grown men/chimera cry.

In the tunnel under Briggs, Buccaneer's team arrives back at the tunnel entrance, but the 24 hour time limit may have passed so Oliver may have already sealed the entrance. Luckily for Buccaneer and his team, the hatch is still open, and the officer guarding the hatch reveal that Olivier had given him a broken watch to keep track of the time. Later on top of the fortress, Buccaneer thanks Olivier for not sealing the entrance, and Olivier pretends that she doesn't know what Buccaneer is talking about. The two then spot a military convoy heading towards their base.

For a combat-loving, rough-and-tumble soldier, Buccaneer has excellent teeth.

Back in Baschool, Kimblee and his soldiers have arrived at the building that the smoke is coming from. After another explosion, Ed dashes out of the smoke and blames Kimblee for not keeping an eye on Winry, and everyone spots Scar standing on top of the building carrying the unconscious Winry.

Hmmm... who bandaged up Scar's left arm?

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

Really nice episode. I don't remember this part of the manga very well and I was pleasantly surprised by the action scenes in this episode. Despite the serious nature of the main story, most of this episode was comedic in nature and it was actually quite funny. The action between the Elrics and Jerso/Zampano was hilarious, and it was really funny seeing Ed taking a somewhat sick pleasure in testing his lighter northern automail against the two chimeras. The segment between May and the Elrics was hilarious as well. Another funny part of this episode was Yoki's monologue, and Bones did a great job retelling Yoki's story in monologue form and added some LOL moments especially with Yoki trying to steal from the Armstrong mansion. Bones really paid attention to the FMA gaidens and omakes, especially the ones about Alex Armstrong's other sisters.

Moving back to the main story, the Elrics managed to temporarily lose Kimblee's henchmen and meet up with Scar's group, but the Elrics still have no love for Scar. Scar was rather unimpressive this episode given how he was at a disadvantage against Jerso and Zampano, but for some reason he is always capable of beating the Elrics. Thankfully Winry showed up and actually did something useful during a fight. Winry finally gets her chance to make Scar spit out some answers about her the death of her parents, but we'll have to wait until next episode to witness that drama. I noticed there were two guys standing outside the doorway while Winry was questioning Scar. Is it Darius and Heinkel? I don't really remember.

The episode ends in what appears to be a cliffhanger with Winry in Scar's hands, but if you watch the preview... well, just watch the preview. The next episode will be more of a cat and mouse game between Kimblee and Scar, so there won't be as much action but hopefully the show will build up on the atmosphere of the chase.

Sekirei 94

Conclusion to the three-way match(?)

Minaka's impersonation of Santa Claus.

Summary:
Oriha begs Higa to do the kissing power-up, and before kissing Oriha, Higa warns Oriha that he'll disown her if she were to fail. Meanwhile, Tsukiumi pulls Minato into her arms and the two kiss and perform to sacred chant. Both Tsukiumi and Oriha are powered-up and both release their power moves, but it is Tsukiumi who washes Oriha away with her waves. After being hit by Tsukiumi's attack, Oriha loses consciousness and her Sekirei crest disappears.

Shortly after Oriha is defeated, fireworks light up the sky and Minato's team is declared the winner of the match (since the Disciplinary Squad forfeited). To the surprise of Minato and his Sekirei, MBI president Minaka appears in the sky dangling from a helicopter ladder to hand Minato the jinki.

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

Minato and Tsukiumi finally performed the kissing power-up for the first time, and as expected Tsukiumi just washed away Oriha for the victory. The third match may be officially over, but the interesting parts are just getting started. Minato's team may have won the jinki fair and square, but there's no way Higa is going to leave just like that. There is probably a naughty reason why Higa has two other Sekirei around, although to take down Minato's group Higa would need more Sekirei or better yet Higa can dangle Yukari in front of Minato's face. We've been stuck in this match for so long that it's about time for some major plot development. As for Minaka showing up, I think Minaka is just going to hand over the jinki and leave. I doubt Minaka will personally take part in anything until the final part of the series.

To Aru Kagaku no Railgun 13

Swimsuit fan-service filler.

Despite not being an official Judgment member, Mikoto is well-trained in hand-to-hand combat... due to her experiences with Kuroko?

Mikoto is (not) aroused.

Miss Boa Hancock?

Summary:
Mikoto and Kuroko are invited by Kuroko's two swim club classmates to go to a swimsuit photo-shoot. The four of them are also joined by Kazari, Ruiko, Mitsuko, and Konori. After the girls pick their swimsuits, they are led into a holographic virtual reality room for the photo-shoot. The photos are automatically taken by computers, so it's just the girls posing in the room. The room starts off in beach and pool environments, but it quickly goes on the fritz and forces the girls through a host of strange and hostile environments including in the middle of winter blizzard, in a hot desert, on a boat in the middle of a storm, and on the moon (with reference to 2001: A Space Odyssey).

As expected, Konori-senpai has an excellent figure.

Nice form on the vertical suplex.

A Space Odyssey: Bikini Edition.

The swimsuit company eventually notices the room is malfunctioning and puts the room into a camp environment where the girls can make lunch. The girls choose make curry, and in order to impress/make fun of the other, Mitsuko somehow convinces everyone that she is an expert at making curry despite not knowing how to cook at all. After a few awkward moments, Mitsuko eventually tells the truth and nobody really cares, and afterwards all the girls enjoy the delicious curry they made together as the photo-shoot resumes.

That shot is going to sell a lot of curry.

After the photo-shoot, all of the girls except Mikoto meet up and they wonder where Mikoto is. It turns Mikoto is still back in the holographic room with the remote control in hand. Mikoto had her eyes on a frilly swimsuit earlier and she is now trying it out with the room set to the beach environment. Unfortunately for Mikoto, she had accidentally set the room to public broadcast in big screen on the outside of the company building and her performance is seen by Touma who is passing by.

It's the girl of your dreams, Touma.

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

Not much to say this week. This was the expected swimsuit fanservice filler episode, which meant that there wasn't much of a plot and there were lots of shots of T&A. The non-Railgun-manga character Mitsuko received her first significant amount of screen time, but we didn't really learn much about her other than that she has a snake, is haughty, can't cook, and has a good swimsuit body. Given that Mitsuko is not in the Railgun manga, she probably won't play a big role unless J.C. Staff gives us an anime-original story arc. The highlight of this episode was of course the end where Mikoto broadcasts her own joyous moment for Touma to see. I wonder what Touma will think of Mikoto now lol.

No new episode next week due to holidays.

One Piece 569

Things are looking bad for the pirates as Luffy makes one last attempt to save Ace.

It's all up to Luffy the one man army now.

Summary:
After being supercharged by Ivankov's hormones, Luffy charges towards the execution platform once again and take out Coby along the way. Luffy is then confronted by two Kuma-bots but is able to get by them thanks to a distraction by Hancock.

Meanwhile, both Marco and Joz has been taken down by the Marines, and Whitebeard is swarmed by a group of high-ranking Marines and gets stabbed and shot several times. However, Whitebeard refuses to go down and takes out all of his attackers in one blow. As the remaining pirates form up behind Whitebeard, Whitebeard declares that he cannot die until he has secured the future of his sons with his own hands. In response, Sengoku orders the executioners to behead Ace, and Whitebeard realizes he cannot save Ace in time. Suddenly, the executioners are knocked out by Luffy's haki, and Luffy charges towards the execution platform once more.

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

Looks like the conclusion of this massive battle is drawing near. We know Luffy is going to live and Whitebeard is probably going to die, but the fate of many of other characters including Ace is still up in the air at this point. Despite Luffy showing off renewed vigor and his emperor haki, his chances of saving Ace by himself are still pretty slim. My guess is that it's either going to be a miraculous save (reinforcements for the pirates) or things will end badly for the pirates. There are rumours about a time-skip after this battle flying around, and that probably doesn't bode well for Luffy and the pirates. We'll see what happens though. Let's see if Luffy can at least take down an admiral/Shichibukai or two.

Naruto 477

Sasuke vs. Danzo continued.

An eye for a life.

Summary:
Sasuke smashes Danzo ago with Susanoo and also burns Danzo with Amateratsu, but Danzo somehow survives each attack. On the sidelines, Karin wonders how Danzo's doing this since Danzo doesn't seem to be using clones or genjutsu, while Madara notes that Sasuke is going run out of chakra if he keeps using Susanoo and Amateratsu. In a change of strategy, Sasuke summons a large eagle as his mount. While Sasuke readies to attack, Karin watches Danzo from behind and notices one of the eyes on Danzo's arm closing. Sasuke charges at Danzo, and Danzo forces Sasuke to jump off the eagle with a fuuton. Sasuke and Danzo collide into each other with Danzo grabbing Sasuke's neck, but Sasuke uses his chakra blade to sever Danzo's left arm. The arm falls to the ground and another one of the Sharingans closes before the arm completely disappears, and Danzo quickly reappears on a nearby column. Switching strategies once again, Sasuke hits Danzo with Tsukuyomi and Danzo sees Itachi appearing behind him.

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

A few of us was expecting that this fight devolve into a genjutsu showdown, but that didn't happen in this chapter (until perhaps the end). With Karin and Madara around, it's probably difficult for Danzo to use genjutsu or clones without being noticed, so good ol' Danzo is using some other technique that keeps him alive despite being burned and crushed by Sasuke. The number of open eyes on Danzo's left arm seem to indicate how many "lives" Danzo has left, so Sasuke will probably win if he can kill Danzo enough times. Danzo probably has some other attack up his sleeve though (other than using kunais and fuutons).

At the end, Sasuke has laid down the gauntlet and (I presumed) called upon Tsukuyomi. Let see if now this fight will devolve into a genjutsu match. Is it better to have a pair of really sharp of eyes, or lots of not as sharp eyes?

Bleach 387

Shinji shows off his zanpukto, while Tousen...

Turn it up, turn it up, turn it upside down!!

Summary:
In the air about fake Karakura Town, Shinji swings his shikai zanpukto around. Aizen tries to guess Shinji's powers, but he guesses too late as Shinji's power propagate through scent and all of Aizen's senses are turned upside down, left-side right. Shinji cuts Aizen on the first exchange, but on the second exchange Aizen figures things out and cuts Shinji instead. Aizen then gloats that Shinji's powers are nothing compared to his.

Back down on the roof of a building, Komamura and Hisagi are watching over the injured Tousen who has reverted back to human form. The three former friends reconcile, but suddenly Tousen is killed by Aizen. Even more suddenly, Ichigo launches out of a Garganta and charges from behind Aizen.

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

Lol I thought there was no new WSJ this week since last week was a double issue, but apparently I'm wrong. Anyways, Tousen dies, and there's no one he can blame but himself for being weak sauce. A longer fight could have been interesting, but his death in this chapter was appropriate, down to the part where Aizen personally dispatched him for being weak. The reconciliation scene with Komamura and Hisagi was alright since Aizen killed Tousen at the end. It'd be dumb if Tousen survived and rejoined the shinigamis.

Moving on, we finally saw Shinji's shikai, and it seems that the "reverse petting" name was spot on. Reversing your opponent's senses is a pretty annoying power and would be quite effective against most people, but Aizen is too bad-ass to fall for that. Actually, the power would be less and less effective as the fight goes on as the opponent will adapt better the reversed senses. I wouldn't be surprised if Shinji was under Aizen's spell all along too lol. Since Ichigo has already been branded as the only one who can beat Aizen, we shouldn't expect Shinji to do much.

Lastly, Ichigo has finally arrived with his outfit back at 100% to face Aizen. Will this be the final showdown of the series? I doubt it since Aizen isn't close to his goal yet, so Ichigo is probably going to get stomped. If Ichigo does beat Aizen, then Bleach might as well be over.

Merry Christmas

It's that wonderful time of the year again. I hope everyone will have a safe and happy holidays.

As for myself, I'll just stay home and spend the holidays with my family. Unlike last year, there won't be a White Christmas in my area, and that's probably a good thing given how most people (including me) in my area don't know what to when there is a foot of snow on the ground. Shoveling snow was a good exercise, but I don't really enjoy it, so it's good that I won't have to do it this year.

Anyways, Merry Christmas everybody, and go easy on the treats and the rum.

Winter 2010 Anime

A new year is just around the corner, and with that comes another new season of anime. Like always, this post is just a list of shows that I'll check out and/or blog for the upcoming season. If you are looking for some actual season previews, there is a list of them at the bottom of this post.

Shows I'll check out:

Dance of the Vampire Bund
I looked at the trailer, and it looked sick and nasty. I don't really care about loli vampires, but gore and action/violence usually gets my attention. Hopefully Shaft won't run out budget and manpower this time (unlike certain episodes of Bakemonogatari... which consequently still isn't over).


... and that's all folks. Yeah, only one pick-up for winter 2010. This is mostly due to a real life circumstance called school, so I am going to cut down on my anime watching more than ever. Besides, there are still three series carried over from previous seasons (FMA:B, Railgun, and Bantorra), so I'm still watching four series in total and therefore not totally out of the loop.

As promised, here is the (longer than ever) list of Winter 2010 anime previews.

- Bokutachi no Blog
- Chocolate Syrupy Waffles
- Darknives
- Ganbatte!
- METANORN
- Moe Moe Rabu
- Rabbit Poets
- Sea Slugs!
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250,000 Unique Visitors!

Just for fun
For the quarter million (imaginary) dollars: In the anime series Blassreiter, which human character survived the longest (counting from the start of the series)?

A) Hermann
B) Xargin
C) Joseph
D) Gerd

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If you answered any of the above, you are wrong. Only Amanda and Malek survived at the end of the show.

Dumb questions aside, as of today A Product of Wasted Time is a member of the 250,000 club (in terms of unique visits). It took this blog about a year and four months to reach this mark, and in the same time the blog has generated about 400,000 page views. These days my humble little blog averages about 800 unique visits and 1400 page views per day, which of course isn't all that much, but I can't really claim that nobody visits here anymore. When I started this blog, I'd never have guessed that this many visitors will come through here in 16 months, and once again I want to thank all of you who bothered to visit, comment, and/or link to this boring, poorly written summary blog (unless you're a spammer). This blog wouldn't have come this far without everyone's support. Of course, I have to thank the Google Gods as well, because whether we like it or not, our websites are at the mercy of Google (especially mine since it's on Blogger). Getting my FMA:B posts high in the search results is really helping with the hits.

Now that this blog has made it past 250,000, it's onwards to 500,000!!!

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood 37

Kimblee tells Ed about the Fuhrer's orders, while Riza discovers a dark secret.

Lieutenant Hawkeye is always right. ALWAYS.

Summary:
Kimblee has brought Winry and four of his subordinates to Briggs. After Winry outfits Ed with northern automail, Kimblee calls a meeting with Ed to go over the Fuhrer's orders, but Kimblee orders that Al stay in his holding cell. Meanwhile, Olivier sends a rescue team down into the tunnel to search for the missing expedition team. After the rescue team departs, Olivier tells her other subordinate officers that she alone is responsible for Raven's death and that's what they should say if the news ever gets out.

There are bears outside of the fortress, and there are bears within the fortress.

Back in Central, Mustang talks with flower vendor who is associated with the Armstrong family. After briefing Mustang on the situation up north, the vendor states that Olivier wants to ally with Eastern army to fight against Central.

Time for Mustang to open up his own flower shop.

Down in the tunnels below Briggs, the rescue team led by Buccaneer travels down the tunnel and eventually discovers ripped-apart corpses of men and horses from the expedition team. The team then discovers two survivors who are half scared to death. The survivors warn the rescue team that there can't be light as the shadow will come back. Not far away, the shadowy tendrils spot the rescue team, but suddenly something else catches the tendrils' attention and the tendrils retreat.

Be afraid of the shadows. Be very afraid.

In Central, Riza visits that Fuhrer's residence to hand the Fuhrer some urgent documents, but King Bradley isn't home and so the documents are handed to Mrs. Bradley. While chatting with Mrs. Bradley, Riza suddenly gets a bad feeling and turns around to spot Selim. Selim states that he came out because he thought that his father had returned. After Selim is guided away by the butler, Riza chats with Mrs. Bradley some more and Mrs. Bradley reveals that Selim is from King Bradley's side of the family. After leaving the Fuhrer's residence, Riza realizes something doesn't add up as King Bradley shouldn't have any family, and suddenly she hears Selim's voice from behind her saying that she discovered his secret. Realizing she's in mortal danger, Riza nonetheless demands to know who or what Selim is, and Selim answers that he is Pride, the first homunculus. Pride harasses Riza with his shadowy tendrils and warns Riza that he is always be her shadow before disappearing.

Evil come in all sizes, big and small.

Back at the Briggs fortress, Kimblee briefs Ed on the Fuhrer's three orders. Order 1 is to track down Scar; order 2 is track down Dr. Marcoh who may be traveling with Scar; and order 3 is to carve a bloody crest at Briggs, and by this Kimblee means the killing of many people a la Ishval. Ed is shocked and angered by the third order, but Kimblee tells him to calm down as Winry is right next door. Ed asks why Kimblee is helping the homunculi despite knowing their goal, and Kimblee states that he wants to see the historic moment in the battle between humans and the homunculi. To Kimblee, there is no better purpose in life, and he helps the homunculi because they give him free reins to use his alchemy. Kimblee then tries to sweeten the deal for Ed by offering up a Philosopher's Stone upon completing of the orders. Ed asks to talk to Winry because he doesn't want to keep her in the dark forever, and Kimblee agree but will watch over the talk.

Time for a road trip!

A short time later in Ed and Al's holding cell, Ed reveals to Winry that the military is using her as hostage to force him to act as a human weapon. Ed also reveals that he will receive a Philosopher's Stone for completing the mission. After the discussion, Ed tells Kimblee to let him search for Scar first and that he needs Al's help to fight Scar, and Kimblee agrees to both requests. As Kimblee's party is about to head out of the fortress, Winry suddenly runs out and jams herself into Al and Ed's car. Kimblee initially objects to Winry coming along, but eventually relents when Ed and Winry are busy arguing with each other. As the search party heads out, Ed tells Winry that he can't ensure her safety. Winry knows this, but in her heart she is even more scared of sitting around and not being able to do anything.

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The big secret is finally out!!! Selim Bradley is actually Pride! I was pretty surprised when I read this part of the manga. Before this part of the story, there was nothing concrete to indicate that Selim was the oldest and most powerful homunculi, and that's why it was such a surprise. Compared to his cheerful and childish facade as Selim, Pride's real personality is almost the exact opposite; cold, creepy, and calculating. We have not seen the extent of Pride's abilities yet, but the fact that his shadow can extend all the way to Briggs already indicates that he is a class above the other homunculi. It's not as if the good guys don't have enough problems to deal with, but we know Pride is definitely going to make things even more difficult for our heroes.

Back to the north, the Elrics are finally able to head out now that Winry has provided Ed with the right gear. As expected, the bad guys are after Scar and Marcoh, and they also want bloodshed to complete the giant transmutation circle. The Elrics will have to play along for now and hopefully find an opportunity to resist along the way. The upcoming adventure marks the first time in the series that Winry has accompanied the Elrics on a mission, and it so happens to be a mission about Scar. We'll see if Winry can dispel the notion that she is just some object to be protected, although I wouldn't expect to actually take part in any combat. It'll also be interesting to see how Winry reacts to Scar this time.

Last notes on this episode: I enjoyed the comedic segment where Winry was fixing up Ed's automail where Ed got embarrassed after realizing Riza is right about him falling in love Winry(Riza is always right). The subsequent interaction with Buccaneer was also quite amusing.

The next episode should be start of the main action component of this story arc. As seen in the previews, Kimblee has brought a couple of chimera soldiers along to fight Scar, and that should result in exciting battles.

New Artwork & Random Personal Updates

Haven't posted artwork in a long time due to school. It's another mecha drawing as usual. This was a sketch I drew a while ago (probably during a boring lecture) and I decided to line and color it in Photoshop. Didn't turn out too badly in the end thanks to me using dark colors to cover up my sloppy lines. For my next artwork I'm going to try something different (ex not mecha) , and then I'll work on the blue counterpart to the red ranger I posted a while ago.

As for personal updates, I wrote my last final exams on Thursday, which means I'm now officially on winter vacation. I don't think I aced any of my finals, but I don't think I did too bad on them either. I don't plan on going anywhere during the holidays; just going to stay home and bum around like usual. I'll probably spend more time in my futile attempt to hone my drawing skills. I also plan on playing around with Wordpress and maybe even convert my personal website (which nobody reads) on to Wordpress to evaluate if it's worth the effort to move this blog to a self-hosted Wordpress installation. And lastly, I have to get ready for my next and final undergraduate school term, but I'm going to leave that until two days before school starts lol.

To Aru Kagaku no Railgun 12

Mikoto and Kazari try to stop the AIM Monster.

It's snowing in the summer courtesy of Biri-biri and the AIM monster.

Summary:
The giant monster baby emerges from Kiyama's head and lets out a shockwave. Mikoto blocks the shockwave and hits the monster with lightning, but the monster quickly regenerates from the damage and grows even larger. The monster retaliates by firing ice spikes at Mikoto, but after that it just hovers in the air and ignores Mikoto. The monster is spotted the surviving Anti-Skill who open fire with their assault rifles, but all that does is make the monster grow even bigger. Back in the hospital, all of Level-Upper victims start struggling as if they were trapped in a nightmare, and the doctors and nurses wonder what's going on.

Back at the bridge, Kiyama wakes up and realizes that she has lost control of the Level Upper network to the monster. Kiyama states to herself that it's over, but she's approached by Kazari and Mikoto for help. Kiyama is is initially reluctant to help since Mikoto beat her up, but she was eventually convinced by Kazari's googly eyes to help. Kiyama explains that the monster is an amalgamation of the AIM (AOL Instant Messenger An Involuntary Movement) fields of the 10000 Level Upper users, and Mikoto and Kazari may be able to stop this AIM monster by broadcasting the Level Upper antidote program. With this knowledge in mind, Mikoto tells Kazari to hand the Level Upper antidote software to the Anti-Skills while she finds a way to stop the monster.

So those guns do eventually run out of ammo.

I guess the Anti-Skill aren't completely useless, just mostly useless.

Back on top the bridge, the AIM monster grows tired of being shot by the Anti-Skills and it sends Yomikawa flying with a tentacle. The monster then tries to kill the other bespectacled Anti-Skill, but Mikoto arrives in time to save the Anti-Skill. Now that the Anti-Skills have stopped shooting, the AIM monster turns its attention towards a nearby nuclear facility, and Mikoto tells the Anti-Skill to help Kazari while she deals with the monster. Mikoto catches up with the monster and starts attacking it, and this causes the monster to haul attacks in all directions, some of them nearly hitting Kazari she is running towards the Anti-Skill. Mikoto is unable to stop the monster's progress and the monster reaches the nuclear facility. However at this moment the Anti-Skill and Kazari starts broadcasting the Level Upper antidote software all over the city, and this stops the AIM monster from regenerating with Mikoto's attacks and also calms down all the Level Upper victims in the hospital. Mikoto seizes the opportunity and fries the monster all the way through with a powerful lightning strike.

Mikoto wears shorts underneath her skirt because she knows she's going to be tossed around.

Biri-biri starts off the pwnage with a lightning strike...

... follows up with an iron sand blast...

... and delivers the knockout blow with the patented railgun coin!

Mikoto thinks the battle is over, but Kiyama arrives and states that Mikoto must destroy the core of the monster in order to defeat it for good. The monster regenerates and Mikoto can hear the voices of disillusionment from various Level Upper users including Ruiko. The monster attacks of all the tricks it has, but Mikoto turns up the voltage and slices, fries and blasts the monster with one powerful attack after another and finally destroys the monster's core with a railgun coin.

Kuroko gives Mikoto some much needed after-battle lovin'.

Back to normal.

After the battle, Kiyama is taken into custody by the Anti-Skills but she tells Mikoto and Kazari that she isn't giving up on her goal to save the orphans. Mikoto is then greeted by the worried Kuroko, while Kazari rushes to the hospital to check on Ruiko. Kazari finds Ruiko on the roof where Ruiko notes that her abilities are gone. After seeing Kazari all battered and bruised, Ruiko gives Kazari a hug and apologizes for making everyone worry and get into a dangerous situation. To show that she's completely recovered, Ruiko flips up Kazari's skirt, and the two friends play around as Mikoto and Kuroko watch from nearby.

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I was underwhelmed by this episode. It just wasn't as good as I though it would be. The special effects were nice as usual, but the fight was too drawn out and broken up. They spent too long on the AIM monster broadcasting the disillusionment and disappointments of the Level Upper users. I have a feeling that stuff was just tossed in so the episode reaches the required 24 minute run time. Inserting the OP song into the climax of the battle also wasn't a good choice. "Only My Railgun" is not exactly what I had in mind when it comes to battle music, even if this is Miss Railgun's show. They also never explained why the AIM monster was heading for the nuclear facility which was a notable oversight. The battle with the AIM monster would have been pretty exciting if it was more tightly coupled, but the way it was presented in this episode didn't work very well.

There was also some events that didn't make any sense, and after a quick flip through the manga I realized the culprits were the animators. In the manga, Mikoto and Kazari never met up during the battle, and it was only Kazari who talked to Kiyama when Kiyama woke up while Mikoto saved the bespectacled Anti-Skill from the AIM monster. This set of events is perfectly fine. In the anime however, both Mikoto and Kazari talked to Kiyama when she woke up. You would think that both Mikoto and Kazari would act simultaneously given that they were together, but that wasn't the way it happened. Mikoto went on to save the Anti-Skill and battle the AIM monster on the way to the nuclear facility, but it was only after that did we see Kazari heading towards the Anti-Skill which doesn't make sense. Kazari might not be the fittest girl out there, but I'm sure it doesn't take her five minutes to run up three flights of stairs. Why J.C. Staff decided to change these scenes from something that made sense to something that didn't make sense is beyond me.

Overall, the ending to the Level Upper arc was okay, but not as good as it could have been. At least it wasn't as disappointing as some of the arc conclusions from Index, and there was plenty of Biri-biri pwnage. In the end, Mikoto and Kazari save the day; Kiyama is arrested; and all is well. Hopefully Ruiko and the other Level Upper users have learned their lessons about the evils of performance enhancing music/drugs. Looking back at the whole story arc, the Level Upper arc was decent. It had drama, action, and comedy, some of which worked well and some of which didn't work as well, but as a whole it was somewhat enjoyable. Looks like the next episode is going to be an anime-only filler. I look forward to the episode where the Misaka-arc starts.

Last note: who was the lady at the nuclear facility? I didn't see her in the manga so it could be another anime original character.

Bleach 386

Tousen reveals his true form.

Komamura: Why don't you go look at yourself in the mirror, bug eyes.

Summary:
Tousen undergoes resurrecion and transforms into a giant black fly hollow with two large bulbous eyes. Tousen opens his eyes and sees for the first time and comments that Komamura is even uglier than he thought. While dodging Tousen's attack, Komamura thinks back of how he met Tousen and remembers that he became Tousen's friend to help Tousen learn to love again. Komamura swings down with his bankai, but Tousen blocks the giant's blade and blasts the giant in the chest with a powerful attack. Komamura is badly hurt by the attack (since his body takes any damage that the giant takes) and Tousen flies in to finish him off, but suddenly Tousen is stabbed in the back of the neck by Hisagi. Hisagi states that the old blind Tousen would have evaded this attack, and he releases his shikai which stabs all the way through Tousen's neck. Tousen then sees images of the girl that he loved before his vision is swallowed by darkness.

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

That was a pretty weak-sauce and not to mention ugly ressurecion by Tousen. I guess Tousen's ugly appearance is a reflection of the person he has become. It's quite the nice contrast to his sleek and white Hollow-mask form. I have mixed feelings about the ending of this chapter. On one hand, it'd be pretty disappointing if Tousen just died like this without showing off his real abilities. Given that Tousen has demonstrated significant regeneration abilities, Hisagi's stab might not be enough to take down Tousen. On the other hand, Hisagi taking out Tousen seemed like the perfect ending to the fight. In being able to see, Tousen actually lost the "vision" that he had when his blind which allowed Hisagi to land the sneak attack, and this is another way of metaphorically saying that Tousen has lost his way which is pretty cool. Besides, I don't like Tousen and his yapping ways, so a part of me would prefer if Tousen died quickly. We'll have to wait for the next chapter to see if Tousen is alive or dead.

An interesting note in this chapter is that Tousen's resurrecion actually has a hollow hole, which makes sense given resurrecion is an arrancar ability. This also supports the theory that the horned tribal form Ichigo (that whooped Ulquiorra) may be Ichigo's resurrecion.

Oh, and what happened with Shinji vs. Aizen? I wanted to see Shinji's release damn it!

One Piece 568

Whitebeard and crew continue to struggle while Luffy tries to rejoin the battle.

That must have hurt for Luffy to scream this loud.

Summary:
Whitebeard is fighting Akainu when suddenly Whitebeard is stunned by his previous injuries and starts spitting blood. Marco tries to fly in for the rescue but he is shot in the back by Kizaru, while Joz attempts the same but gets his arm frozen by Aokiji. Akainu seizes that opportunity and jumps in to land a big hit on Whitebeard. While the battle is happening below, Ace is thinking back to his younger days when everyone still hated Rogers. Ace once asked Garp if he should have ever been born, and Garp told Ace that he can only find the answer by living. Back to the present, a tearful Ace wonders why he suddenly wants to live and why he is so happy when his comrades are dying in front of him.

Down below the execution platform, Luffy wants Ivankov to inject him with the vigor hormones again. Ivankov is initially reluctant, but eventually he give in and administers another shot of vigor hormones into Luffy.

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

Looks like it's once again up to Luffy to save Ace now that Whitebeard, Marco, and Joz have been injured. Predictably, Luffy is back in the fight with another shot of Ivankov's vigor hormones, but he won't be able to rescue Ace by himself unless he gets an even more miraculous power-up. There's an outside chance Luffy can beat one or two admirals, but he definitely won't be able to beat all three admirals and teh Shichibukai. From the looks of this chapter, Whitebeard is probably going to die given how hurt he is, but Ace is probably going to live given that he has declared that he wants to live, and this kind of manga you don't kill good characters who suddenly wants to live. If I remember correctly, some of the pirates from the archipelago will arrive to provide reinforcements for Luffy and Whitebeard's side, but Luffy and the Whitebeard pirates will have to hold out until then.

Naruto 476

Sasuke vs. Danzo.

Is it true... that girls swoon whenever they see my handsomely emo face?

Summary:
Sasuke asks Danzo whether if Itachi really sacrificed himself for the peace of the village. Danzo doesn't answer and forms a few seals before attacking Sasuke, but his attack is blocked by Sasuke's Susanoo ribcage. Sasuke then grabs Danzo with his Susanoo and tries to squeeze the answer out of Danzo. Danzo confirms the story but states that Sasuke will never understand Itachi's sacrifice. Satisfied with his findings, Sasuke crushes Danzo, but Danzo suddenly reappears behind Sasuke.

Back at the snowy village, Kakashi decides that he'll go retrieve Sakura while Naruto and Yamato go back to the village. Kakashi will also dispatch his ninja hounds to spread the news about the summit. While Kakashi, Sai, and Yamato are planning this out, Naruto is thinking about all the discussion about Sasuke and starts to hyperventilate. Naruto then falls to the ground and loses consciousness.

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Naruto faints from thinking about Sasuke? It must be a case of love-sickness lol. I have a feeling the fainting is just a device to keep Naruto out of action for a while so he can do some internal soul searching and wake up just in time to make a big save. By some miracle, maybe Naruto will actually get over Sasuke, but I doubt it. As for Kakashi's plans to stop Sakura from reaching Sasuke, it's probably going to fail one way or another. Sakura may be no match for Sasuke, but a cat fight with Karin would be quite entertaining.

Back to the fight, I'm a little surprised that Danzo actually confirmed Madara's story about Itachi. Madara never seemed like the honest type, but he'll probably tell the truth if it means screwing Sasuke around, or maybe both he and Danzo are lying. As expected, Danzo doesn't go down easily despite Sasuke using his Susanoo at the very start. Sasuke probably got hit with a genjutsu at the beginning of the fight since he should be able to tell if Danzo used a cloning technique. I want to see what Danzo can do with that gross Sharingan arm of his. I wonder if that arm is vulnerable to dust, lemon juice and salt?

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood 36

Olivier tries to get more information out of Raven about the plan for immortality.

Hohenheim is crying because he's allergic to kids.

Summary:
In the wilderness somewhere in Amestris, Hohenheim calls out the names of several people and stabs his own chest with his fingers. Several splatters of blood fall to the ground and they quickly slip into soil. Afterwards, Hohenheim takes a trip down memory lane to 13 years ago when he was still living with Trisha and his kids. Hohenheim initially thought of himself as a monster, but after some convincing from Trisha Hohenheim decided to find a way to live and die with his family. However, in the process of his research, Hohenheim discovered something related the Philosopher's Stone and this made him leave his wife and kids.

Nowhere to run and nowhere to hide.

Somewhere underground at Briggs, an expedition team is traveling down the tunnel that Sloth dug and they loose communications with home base. The team decides to continue on, but suddenly they are attacked by shadowy tendrils. Back inside the fortress, Raven asks Olivier if she wants to join in on the immortality plan, but the conversation is interrupted when 2nd Lieutenant Henschel reports that they've lost contact with the expedition team. Olivier goes to investigate what happened and Raven insists on tagging along. Since the meeting between Olivier and Raven is over, Buccaneer and Falman transfer the Elrics, and on the way they have a short run-in with Miles and Kimblee.

Don't worry Olivier. You'll get to cut him up soon enough.

This happens so often that Ed is used to it by now.

At the base level of the fortress near the hole Sloth created, Henschel reports that only a horse returned with a soldier's arm. Olivier is about to send a rescue team, but Raven interrupts and tells Olivier to throw Sloth back in and seal the hole. Olivier follows the command despite Henschel's protests and Sloth is towed back into the base and let back into the tunnel to resume digging. After Sloth is put back into the tunnel, Raven explains to the Briggs soldiers that Sloth is a chimera created by Central and is on an important mission, so the soldiers should quickly seal the hole.

In the cabin out in the Briggs wilderness, Marcoh runs into more difficulties with Scar's brother's book as part of the research is written in ancient Ishvalan. Outside the cabin, two Briggs soldier spot May in the window, but the soldiers are quickly knocked out by the arriving Scar. Scar and Yoki then meet up with May and Marcoh and the group journey towards another location.

That's for putting your grubby hands on me!

Several days later inside Briggs fortress, the hole in the base level is almost sealed up and Olivier and Raven are personally overseeing the concrete pouring. Meanwhile, Kimblee phones into Central and receives new orders. Kimblee wants to relay these orders to Raven, but Miles has other ideas and confronts Kimblee in order to buy time for Olivier. In the base level, Raven tells Olivier that there will be a new seat waiting for her back in Central, but Olivier pulls out her sword and stabs Raven in the arm. Olivier states that the only seat she needs is the one that Raven will vacate, and she kills Raven and pushes him into the hardening concrete. After killing Raven, Olivier orders work to continue and tells Buccaneer to contact Miles. Henschel asks Olivier to unseal the hole and send a rescue team for the missing soldiers, but Olivier soon reveals that there was another entrance to the tunnel. Meanwhile, Miles gets the news and tells Kimblee that Raven has gone missing, but instead of being concerned, Kimblee is quite happy because now he is in charge on the Fuhrer's orders.

Is that any way to greet your childhood friend?

In the holding area of the fortress, one of the automail mechs tells the Elrics that Olivier had disposed of Raven. The Elrics are then visited by Kimblee, and to the Elrics' surprise Kimblee has brought Winry along to equip Ed with northern automail. Kimblee then reveals that it was the Fuhrer's idea to send Winry.

In Central, Mustang is meeting with a woman in his car, and Mustang learns from the woman that Raven and Kimblee went to Briggs. After the woman leaves, Mustang is approached by a flower vendor who claims to have a message from Olivier.

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The episode started off on a bit slowly with that segment of Hohenheim that didn't really fit in anywhere, but the rest of the episode continued strengthening the Briggs storyline and brought several important developments. The Hohenheim flashback was kind of touching and explained why Hohenheim left, but it really doesn't give us much information about Hohenheim's origins. Back to the north, Raven finally shows his true colors, but he forgets about Olivier's reputation and that he is not in Central anymore. The scene where Olivier finally disposes of Raven was quite satisfying to watch since he was the very definition of "corrupt". Raven got what he deserved, and what's even worse for Raven is that Kimblee and the other people on his side don't really give a damn about him either.

Another notable scene was that happened down in the tunnels. I'm not going to reveal who is behind those shadowy tendrils to avoid spoiling the secret for non-manga readers, but you can probably guess from the shape of the tendrils (they resemble the tendrils from within the Gate of Truth) that it's someone from Father's side who's killing the soldiers.

The final big development in this episode was Winry's arrival, but it's not a big surprise. She had to show up sooner or later to equip Ed with northern automail. Now that Winry has shown up, it's obvious that the Elrics won't be stuck inside the fortress for very long. The bad guys still have plans for the Elrics, and with Winry dangled before their eyes, it'll be hard for the Elrics to resist.

With Scar arrival, the stage is set near the Briggs for some explosive confrontations. Let's see how Olivier proceeds from now on and what Kimblee has in mind for the Elrics.