Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood 56-59

Catching up on four FMA:B episodes. I'm only providing a detailed summary for episode 59 because I don't want this post to be too long.

Who's up for some Bullet Time?

Episode 56
Briggs troops and Ling/Greed battle Wrath and Central troops at Central HQ front gate, while Hohenheim faces Father. For detailed summary, see posts on manga chapters 97 and 98 (first paragraph).

Buccaneer's Moment of Awesome.

Episode 57
Wrath takes on Greed/Ling, Fu and Buccaneer in a fierce battle, while Ed, Mustang, Scar and Riza run into the gold-toothed alchemy doctor who works for Father. For detailed summary, see posts on manga chapters 98 (last two paragraphs) and 99.

 Riza!! NOOOOOOOO!!!

Episode 58
The conclusion to Wrath vs. Ling/Greed and allies. Also, Ed, Izumi, and Al are transported to Father's chamber while the gold-toothed doctor tries to collect a 5th human sacrifice. For detailed summary, see post on manga chapter 100.

Vanilla? or Chocolate? Why does it have to be so hard to pick!?

Episode 59
In the underground tunnels, Riza is bleeding badly from the cut on her neck while Mustang and Scar are both restrained. The gold-toothed doctor states if Mustang performs a human transmutation then he'll heal Riza, and he even shows up his vial of Philosopher's Stone to taunt Mustang. Mustang looks at Riza in desperation, and Riza gives him a look in return. Getting Riza's message, Mustang states that he refuses to perform the human transmutation much to the surprise of the doctor. The doctor is suddenly grabbed from above by Jerso's mucus, and Zapano and May drop in and take out some of the swordsmen, allowing Mustang and Scar to free themselves. While being suffocated by Jerso's mucus, the doctor drops his vial of Philosopher's Stone. Both May and Mustang scramble for the vial but it is kicked away in the midst of the battle. One of the swordsmen charges Mustang but he is kicked away by the arriving Darius. With the Philosopher's Stone lying in one direction and the injured Riza in the other, May is forced into a tough decision and she decides to seal up Riza's wound first. After Riza's bleeding is stopped and all of the swordsmen are defeated, May goes to grab the Philosopher's Stone but the vial is picked up by Wrath who had swum through the sewers. Wrath asks Mustang if he would consider human transmutation if someone important to him is about to die. Mustang answers that the old him would have of considered it, but the current him will just move forward. In response, Wrath states that the notion that humans can change and adapt really pisses him off.

Mustang might be bad-ass, but not THAT bad-ass.

Suddenly, Jerso is cut up and falls to the ground along with the doctor, and Pride makes his way in from the overhead tunnel that Jerso was occupying. As Pride forces the other away with his tendrils, Wrath picks up two swords and stakes Mustang to the ground through the alchemist's palms. Using his tendrils, Pride pierces the doctor and forms a transmutation circle around Wrath and Mustang. Afterwards, Pride grabs hold of Mustang and forces Mustang to open the Gate of Truth using the gold-toothed doctor as the subject. Pride and Mustang then disappear, leaving Wrath to face Scar and the rest. Jerso mentions that the center of Father's operation is right below their current location, and with that in mind Scar blows a large hole in ground.

Homunculi using alchemy is cheating.

Meanwhile, Mustang is brought in front of the Gate of Truth to face Truth. Soon after, Mustang and Pride materialize in Father's chamber. Ed goes to check if Mustang is okay and at first it appears Mustang has all of his body parts, but the colonel soon discovers that he has lost his sight. Both Pride and Father take the opportunity to make snarky remarks about the Elrics, Izumi, and Mustang, stating that Truth has dealt the proper punishment for each one of them.

Not sure how this caused an explosion, but no one really cares.

Up a few levels, May, the chimeras and Riza are heading down the hole Scar created in the ground. Wrath attempts to stop them, but he is confronted by Scar instead. Wrath asks for Scar's real name but Scar answers that he abandoned it long ago. Wrath states that he doesn't know his real name and that he likes the prospect of two nameless warriors fighting to the death.

Ha, I'm still a lot taller than Ed.

Back in Father's chamber, Father suddenly notices a disturbance from above and May manages to force her way into the chamber. May arrives to see Al lying on the ground and urges Al to wake up. Meanwhile in front of the Gate of Truth, Al is reunited with his body. Al is initially ecstatic about the prospect of getting his body back but he soon realizes that his malnourished real body is unsuited to the upcoming battle. Al then leaves the through the Gate promising to return once again to retrieve his body. As Al leaves, his body mentions that Al's return to this realm may bring nothing but despair and ruin.

Time to face the final boss.

In the real world, Al wakes up once gain in his armored body, and Father is happy that all five of his sacrifices have arrived.

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That was a nice string of four exciting episode as FMA:B moves closer to the final showdown. A lot of things happened over these episodes, and I can't really cover all of them in this post. I'll just say what I can.

The best storyline/fight over the last four weeks was without question Wrath vs. Greed/Ling and allies. Before leaving on vacation I said (based on what I've seen in the manga) this fight would have some of the best melee action we'll ever see in the series, and Bones really delivered on the animation department. It was a well-planned battle by Arakawa-sensei in the manga, and Bones managed to put their own spin on it without missing any of the moments in the manga. Wrath's bullet dodging and slicing was a bit over the top, but that stuff emphasized how utterly bad-ass Wrath is. The best scene in the battle was of course when Buccaneer stabbed through Fu to injure Wrath. To me, that is one of the most memorable moments in FMA. Kind of sad that the big guy and Fu died, but at least they went out in style.

While not as good as the Wrath vs. Greed/Ling in the fight choreography department, the underground battle between Ed and allies and the gold-toothed doctor was very entertaining as well, mostly because how quickly the tides changed during the ordeal. First it was even, and then in favor of the bad guys, then the good guys and then back to the bad guys. Riza fans who didn't read the manga probably received quite the scare when her neck got slashed. Ed, Al, and Izumi getting summoned was a big development, and Mustang being forced through the Gate and losing his eye sight was very significant as well. Have to hand it to Wrath: even after being stabbed in the abs, slashed in the left eye and shot in the shoulder, Wrath still fights like a king. It certainly helped that Pride was there as well. This battle ended with Scar facing Wrath and everyone else (who's still alive) heading downstairs. A part of me wished that Wrath would continue to face Greed/Ling given their history, but Scar vs. Wrath is by no means a bad alternative.

Overall, the action sequences in the last four episode were animated very well, but some of the other parts are inconsistent and the quality noticeably dipped during some scenes. Also, the flashing faces with Wrath and Scar was kind of stupid. With four episodes left to go, we are pretty much on the doorsteps of the final battle against Father. As expected, things aren't looking too bright as Father has all the pieces he need for his plan. The final manga chapter should be out in the next two weeks. I'm looking forward to see how this series ends (and then watching the ending again in animated form as FMA:B).

Now that I have finished this post, I think I have caught up to every series that I was covering. There is still the mid-season impressions post that I'm supposed to write, but I might just skip it since it's two-three weeks past the mid-season point.

Angel Beats! 06-09

I finally started watching anime again after returning from my vacation, and I managed to marathon (okay, maybe more like a 5km run) through the last four episodes of Angel Beats!. Here is my sloppy catch-up post for the series.

A hug from Otonashi can mend all emotional problems, just like duct tape can mend all physical problems.

Episode 06
The interim student council president Naoi tries to rule the school with an iron fist and his first goal is to crush the SSS. In the midst of the struggle, Otonashi takes Tenshi out on a secret lunch date but they are locked up by the student council. Otonashi and Tenshi break free only to find that the SSS has been decimated by Naoi's forces. It turns that Naoi is a person with a soul just like SSS members. Naoi wants to become the new god of the world now that Tenshi is out of favor, but Otonashi manages to save the day by giving Naoi a much-needed hug.

Who's doing the fishing here?

Episode 07
Thanks to Otonashi's intervention, Naoi has joined the SSS. Yuri quickly puts Naoi to good use by asking to perform hypnotism on Otonashi so Otonashi can regain his memories. In his past, Otonashi was a guy working odd jobs with no real prospect, and the only bright spot in his life was his little sister who was sick and stayed in hospital. Eventually Otonashi's sister passed away, and after that Otonashi decided to turn his life around and started studying. Unfortunately, Otonashi gets into a bad train accident while on his way to med school entrance exams.

After Otonashi regains his memories, Yuri organizes a fishing trip to help him and the other members relax. Otonashi invites Tenshi along as well, and during the trip Tenshi manages to catch the giant monster fish that lives in the river. Afterwards the SSS and Tenshi hand out fish soup to the entire school, but after the feast Yuri and the SSS are attacked by a red-eyed violent clone of Tenshi.

Why can't the evil Tenshi move even though the victim isn't pinning her?

Episode 08
As the evil Tenshi clone attacks Yuri and the SSS, real Tenshi intervenes and fends off the evil clone, but she is hurt bad and remains unconscious. The next day, Yuri sneaks back into Tenshi's room and discovers that the evil clones are a product of the Harmonics guard skill. Yuri reprograms Tenshi's skills so that Tenshi will absorb all the clones after she uses Harmonics. However, the evil Tenshi clones counter by kidnapping the real Tenshi, and the SSS are forced to go down the (now abandoned) Guild to rescue the real Tenshi. Once again, Otonashi and Yuri are the only two to make it down to the bottom after the other members sacrificed themselves against Tenshi clones. At the bottom, Yuri faces off against the last clone and defeats the clone using knowledge she gained from accessing Tenshi's computer. Meanwhile, Otonashi finds the real Tenshi and gets her to use Harmonics. As per Yuri's programming, Tenshi absorbs all the clones, but in the process she also absorbs all the evilness from the clones and becomes unconscious once again.

Of course going to class makes you happy. Our teacher said so.

Episode 09
With Tenshi unconscious once again, Yuri and the SSS decide to take precautions and goes to delete all the programming off of Tenshi's computer. Meanwhile, Otonashi waits by Tenshi's side at the infirmary and falls asleep. During his sleep, Otonashi remembers more of his past. It turns out Otonashi didn't die when the train crashed, but he did sustain significant injury. Otonashi and other survivors are trapped in the tunnels which had collapsed, and Otonashi uses his medical skills and selfless attitude to help the other survivors. On the 7th day, rescue crews finally reach the survivors, but Otonashi had succumbed to his injuries.

Back in the infirmary, Otonashi wakes up and discovers that Tenshi had awakened too. Otonashi realizes he has completed his wish to save someone (he saved Tenshi) but he can't pass on just yet because he doesn't want to leave the other SSS members behind. After Tenshi confirms that the world is a place for young souls with unfulfilled wishes in life, Otonashi decide to work with Tenshi to help Yuri and the others fulfill their wishes and pass on. Some time later, Tenshi is reinstated as student council president.

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Angel Beats! hasn't changed all that much over the last four weeks. The content is still a varying mixture of slapstick comedy, drama and action. The story still likes to wander (random giant monster fish etc.), but episode 09 has set up a somewhat clear direction for the rest of the series. Here are some of the thoughts I have on episodes 05-08:

- I thought Naoi had potential as a new villain when he took over the school in episode 05/06, but his reign came to a disappointing end via man-hug by Otonashi. Even more ridiculously, Naoi instantly fell in love with Otonashi and joined the SSS. Are man-hugs that effective? On the other hand, Otonashi was some kind of reborn saint during his last few days of life, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised.

- We finally learned Otonashi's story over the last three episodes, and it was the saddest complete story so far (can't really comment on Yuri's since we don't know how she died yet). Otonashi's story is similar to Iwasawa's in that each found a way to turn their life around when everything seemed to hit rock bottom, but Otonashi's was more inspirational because he bounced back after losing his little sister who was the only light in his life at that point. Have to feel sorry for the guy to just not quite make it after surviving for days after the train wreck.

- I found Otonashi's expression of surprise to Tenshi explanation about the purpose of the world to be rather amusing and a bit puzzling, because I thought Otonashi and the others have already figured it out. Or maybe Otonashi didn't believe in Yuri's theory? Not sure what happened there.

- Tenshi had a central role in these four episodes, but she doesn't appear to have changed much despite all the things that have happened to her. I guess her character is supposed to be like that, since she was never evil from the start. However, I do wonder if the SSS' continued tempering of Tenshi's computer will have any unforeseen effects on Tenshi.

- TK doesn't know English? Then what the heck does he speak?


So it looks like the rest of Angel Beats! will have Tenshi and Otonashi working together to make the other SSS members fulfill their lifelong wishes and pass on. The easiest way would be to recruit Naoi and have him use hypnotism, but Otonashi probably thinks that's too underhanded. Otonashi is now a double-agent, and I wonder if it'll ever get to the point where the SSS wants to kick his ass. I'm sure Yuri wouldn't be too happy if she found out what Otonashi is up to. It's possible that Yuri will be last obstacle for Otonashi, but I have a feeling that there will be some issues with Tenshi as well.

Deadman Wonderland 34

Hitara vs. Hajime.

Don't play with fire if you don't wanna get burned.

Summary:
Hitara is being beaten up by Hajime's yo-yo-like branch of sin. Hitara keeps getting hit from his blind spots, and soon he discovers that Hajime has an identical twin named Ichi who is also attacking. Hajime and Ichi are actually adults who look like kids and they were thrown in jail for butchering a couple who offered them kindness. The twins continue to punish Hitara, tossing him and impaling him with spikes. Hitara comments that the twins aren't educated enough, and this makes the twins even more angry and they continue to beat Hitara. While being beaten up, Hitara thinks back to just after the earthquake when he was caring for his daughter. Hitara's pretty daughter became an actress/model against her father's wishes, but she was badly disfigured in the earthquake. Depressed and fed up with her dad, Hitara's daughter stabbed a fork into Hitara's left eye during an outburst, but Hitara just calmly cleaned the fork and gave it back to her daughter. After the incident, Hitara's daughter committed suicide by setting her bed on fire, and afterwards Hitara confessed that he was responsible for the death.

Back to the present, Hitara gets up again despite taking an inhuman amount of damage. Hajime and Ichi try to react, but Hitara snaps his fingers and suddenly the twins are engulfed in flames. Hitara explains that he was purposely spreading his blood around so that he can burn up his opponents. Stating that since Hajime and Ichi aren't children that need to be educated, Hitara turns up the flames and torches the twins, ending the fight.

Elsewhere, Makina is getting tired killing wave after wave of Forgeries, but her special forces buddies arrive to back her up. Deeper inside the tunnels, Ganta, Shiro and Azami move towards the transmitter, and Ganta spots Madoka crying in a corner. Somewhere else, Senji is fighting with Akatsuki in a tunnel. Senji declares his name to Akatsuki but he is surprised when Akatsuki knows that he was a policeman before.

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Another one of those one on one fights between side characters, and this time it's Hitara, one of the least vocal and prominent Deadmen in the story. The fight wasn't much to talk about: Hitara spends most of it being pummeled by the twins and then suddenly comes back to win. The one thing that this chapter demonstrates well is that Deadman Wonderland is full of f'ed up, disturbed people. I'm not sure what happened to Hitara at the end though (did he burn himself to death?).

Anyways, the spotlight has now moved on to Senji vs. Akatsuki, and this should be a better battle. Senji is a prominent character in the story, and he and Akatsuki appear to have some history together (police-criminal relationship I'm guessing). Ganta's group might also fight against Madoka too, and that should be interesting as well.

With this post, I think I have caught up on all the manga chapters I have missed during my vacation. The anime catch-up posts will take longer though since every episode needs ~30 minutes to watch while each manga chapter can be skimmed through in 5-10 minutes.

Amanchu! 17

Futaba begins her first ocean dive.

Into the abyss we go.

Summary:
Early in the morning, Futaba meets up with Katori-sensei and the other members of the diving club, and the group drives to a diving destination called Osezaki. Even though it's early, a lot of diver have shown up on the beach. After a short briefing, the group gears up and snorkels over to a float. While swimming to the float, Futaba looks down and becomes a little scared of the depth and limited visibility, but she makes it to the float thanks to Hikari's help. At the float, the group notices that Futaba missing one of her flippers. Futaba becomes even more nervous, but suddenly a diver rises up from below and returns the flipper to Futaba in a stroke of good luck. Futaba quickly puts her flipper back on and dives down a little, and at that depth she can see streams of bubbles rising up from all around her. Hikari dives down beside Futaba and explains that the bubbles are coming from all the divers below. With Hikari by her side, Futaba is not anxious anymore and is ready to dive down deeper into the ocean.

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I guess Amanchu! must have taken a break last month since I didn't find a chapter in April. Regardless, I'm glad that the series has finally gotten to Futaba's first ocean dive. Well, actually Futaba just snorkeled a bit to the float, and the story was the now typical Futaba "OMG I'm scared -> with Pikari by my side, I can do anything!" setup, but at least Futaba is in the ocean for the first time. Osezaki is a real diving destination in Japan and supposedly has abundant sea life near the bottom, so the next chapter(s) should be good if Amano-sensei works her artistic magic.

Gantz 318-319

After returning from the unexpected mission, Kurono #1 tries to rescue Tae from the aliens.

Should have gotten a better grip first, Kurono.

Gantz 318
The Tokyo Team along with the other Gantzers are teleported back to the park in Tokyo. Now that they have captured an alien, the leader orders all the Gantzers to be transferred away to random locations despite the protests. Kurono #1 is teleported to Roppongi and desperately tries to make his way back to Tae's hotel, but he only finds his gravely injured teacher who states that students were butchered. Meanwhile, Tae walks around the street while crying. Eventually she comes back to her home and finds a large pile of bodies nearby with her mother among them. Tae's mother is actually still alive and is playing dead, and Tae starts playing dead with her. Unfortunately, a bunch of aliens (the smaller, six-armed ones) starts shooting at the bodies at random to flush the life ones. Tae's mother is hit and Tae and the other survivors are herded into one of the flying cages. Kurono arrives just as the cage flies away. Kurono jumps at the cage but fails to get a grip, and as he falls he promises Tae that he'll rescue her.

Gantz 319
Kurono #1 chases after the flying cage to rescue Tae. After scaling a few buildings, Kurono manages to jump onto the top of the cage, but he fails to breach the cage and is then falls off. With Kurono gone, the flying cage returns to the giant mothership. Tae and the other captive humans are unloaded and then sprayed with some sort of liquid by a couple of big aliens in bio-hazard suits.

Elsewhere in Tokyo, Sakurai discovers that his girlfriend Tonkotsu has been killed.

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After the side trip to the alien homeworld, Kurono and company are back in Tokyo which is in even worse shape than before. The attack organized by the black ball Gantzers didn't accomplish much, and we still have no clue what those guys are trying to pull. Eventually someone will kill those assholes though, be it Gantzers or aliens. For the rest of these chapters, it's mostly Kurono trying and failing to save Tae, and Tae is now in the hands of the aliens. Given how the aliens were slaughtering people left and right at first, things don't bode well for Tae and the other captives. Becoming the subject of inhumane experiments is probably worse than just getting killed in the attack. Operation Rescue Tae isn't necessarily the most compelling thing that Oku could have come up with, but at least the story might actually have a direction now. All Kurono #1 has to do is to find a way up into the mothership.

Fullmetal Alchemist 107

The final battle continues.

The reason why Hohenheim was kept around for so long is to block the blast for Ed.

Summary:
Underground, Greed and Ran Fan join up with Alex Armstrong's group. On Greed's recommendation, Olivier, Jerso, Sig, and the other Brigg soldiers stay behind while the others head up towards the surface. After Alex's group leaves, Olivier sits down near Wrath's body after remembering that Buccaneer had helped soften up Wrath. Nearby, Scar faints due to his injuries.

On the surface, most of Central HQ has been blown away by Father. May wakes up and discovers that Al had shielded her from the blast, while Ed and Izumi discover that Hohenheim had blocked the blast for them. Father appears and tosses Hohenheim away to go after Ed and Izumi, but he is interrupted by gunfire from Brigg soldiers. While Father is held back by the attacks, Ed, Izumi, and Hohenheim are carried away by soldiers led by Lt. Henschel. The attacks from the soldiers appear ineffective against Father's defenses, but soon Mustang and the others from underground join the fray. Mustang (with Riza serving as his eyes and using clapping transmutations), Alex, Ran Fan, Zampano, Darius, Izumi, and the Brigg soldiers combine their efforts, but they are unable to penetrate Father's defense. Greed also joins in but he is snared by Father who wants to absorb Greed's Philosopher's Stone. However, this falls right into Greed's plans as Father's back is left open for Ed. Father blocks Ed's punch with alchemy and destroys Ed's automail arm, but he is forced to block Ed's kick with his arm. All of the previous attacks have worn Father down and now he can't control his powers, and as a result Father releases a big shockwave that sends everyone sprawling.

After the shockwave, Father desperately tries to find souls to use as energy, and he sets his eyes on Ed whose arm is pinned to a wall by a piece of rebar. Seeing Ed in trouble but unable to walk on his own, Al tells May to help him with a transmutation. May uses her daggers to make transmutation circles around Al and near Ed's missing arm, and Al transmutes himself despite Ed's protests. Al is immediately sent to the Gate of Truth to rejoin his real body. Afterwards, Al is met by Truth who wonders if Ed will come back for Al. Al believes that Ed will come back for him, and Truth wonders what Ed will sacrifice next time as the right arm he received from Ed fades away.

Back in the real world, Ed has his real right arm back again. Ed quickly frees himself and pummels Father with a variety of attacks while everyone else cheers him on. From the sidelines, Greed watches the fight and realizes that all he wanted was to have friends like Ed and the others.

Funny that Ed now favors his left hand now that he has his real right hand back.

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If you are wondering why I'm writing a summary for a three week old chapter, I'm doing it so that I don't have write the summary for the corresponding FMA:B episode (which I still have to catch up on). Anyways, it was another big 70 page chapter last month. The progress of the battle still stuck to the predictable routes with Hohenheim sacrificing himself to protect Ed and Mustang returning with Riza as his eyes, but the chapter was still exciting. However, I thought the part where Al traded himself for Ed's missing arm was kind of dumb. Al must be delirious after blocking Father's blast. There were a ton of better things to do than Al having to trade his soul. With the state Father was in, May could have easily sent him flying with a giant alchemy fist or something. That is not to mention that there were tons of other friendlies around. I suppose the story has set things up so that Ed finishes the job and goes to the Gate of Truth, but this wasn't the best way to do it. A commenter pointed out that apparently Al was dying because a crack was running through his blood seal, so I guess it made sense for him to transmute himself. Still, the transmutation feels a little tacked-on.

The chapter ends with everyone else standing around cheering Ed on while Ed fights Father mano a mano. It seems that all the supporting characters know that they should leave the spotlight to the main character at the end. Sarcastic comments aside, FMA has come a long way and this final battle and possibly the manga itself will end next chapter. Ed will definitely win and somehow end up back in front of the Gate, but the question is what will he do? For a really happy ending, Ed can transmute Father to trade back his leg and Al and maybe even Mustang's eyes, but I don't know if FMA will end that happily.

One Piece 584-586

Catching up on the flashback chapters from One Piece.

Terrorist Revolutionary alert!

One Piece 584
Luffy is interrogated and beaten by Ptolemy but refuses to sell out Ace and Sabo. Ace and Sabo eventually rescues Luffy and beats up Ptolemy. After the rescue, Ace and Sabo accept Luffy into their group. Meanwhile, Ptolemy is executed by his captain Bluejam.

One Piece 585
Luffy, Ace and Sabo manage to sneak into town. While escaping from a restaurant after jumping a bill, Sabo is recognized by a nobleman. Later, Sabo reveals that the man from town is his dad. Sabo admits that he was born from a noble family but ran away from home because nobles are too snotty, and Ace and Luffy are fine with that. The three kids continue to hang out and cause trouble together until Sabo is taken away by his father with help from the Bluejam Pirates.

One Piece 586
After Sabo is taken away, Ace and Luffy are "enlisted" by Bluejam to take part in an operation. Back in town, Sabo's family tries to force Sabo to return to the noble ways. Sabo eventually learns that the Grey Terminal will be set on fire and sets out to warn Luffy and Ace. Meanwhile, Ace and Luffy find out that they are supposed to set fire to trash mountain and attempt to resist, but they are restrained by Bluejam's pirates. At night, the Bluejam Pirates carry out the operation and then attempts to enter town as promised by the nobles, but the town gate is closed. Meanwhile, Ace and Luffy escape from their restraints and try to get away from the fire. Back in town, Sabo arrives at the gate but is forced to backtrack because of nearby soldiers. The distraught Sabo runs into a hooded man and voices his disgust for the nobles. The hooded man turns out to be Dragon, and after hearing Sabo's words Dragon is even more motivated to do something about the corruption.

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The flashback arc continued over the last three weeks. Chapters 584 and 585 were fairly predictable and not that exciting, but things became more interesting in chapter 586 with the appearance of Luffy's dad Dragon. Looks like this will be a little more than your average childhood experience flashback. We'll also finally get to see the escapades that made Dragon so infamous. Whatever Dragon is trying to do, it'll probably have an (indirect) impact on Luffy and Ace's relationship. I wonder what will happen to Sabo though since Luffy and Ace never mentioned him after they grew up.

Naruto 493-496

Another catch-up post, this time for everyone's favorite/least favorite ninja series.

It sure took long enough to get to this stage.

Naruto 493
Naruto faces against his evil clone/true self without much success and is kicked back into the real world in front of the waterfall. Motoi then starts going off about how awesome Killer Bee is (handling all the hate and becoming a host to help his bro). When Naruto asks Motoi to assist in his training, Motoi declines because he's no qualified as he has tried to kill Killer Bee before.

Naruto 494
Motoi tells the story of how he tried to kill Killer Bee. Motoi and Killer Bee were childhood friends before Killer bee became the host. During that time, Motoi's father was killed by the eight-tails when the beast rampaged. As the previous host died during the battle, Killer Bee was chosen as the replacement. This caused Motoi to hate Killer Bee and eventually Motoi tried to assassinate Bee, but Bee stopped attack and still treated Motoi as a friend. After hearing the story, Naruto meditates on his own near the shore to think about things, but he, Motoi and Yamato are attacked by the giant squid. Naruto misidentifies the squid as Killer Bee and fails to do anything, and the real Killer Bee shows up to rescue Motoi from the squid.

Naruto 495
Killer Bee agrees to help Naruto tame the nine-tails and immediately rips off Naruto's signature "dattebayo" for his rhymes. Under Bee's guidance, Naruto goes back to the Waterfall of Truth and quickly disposes his evil/true self with a hug. Killer Bee then leads Naruto and the others into a temple behind the waterfall for the next stage of training.

Naruto 496
Inside the sacred temple, Naruto and Killer Bee play a joke on Yamato where Naruto makes Yamato thinks that his head was bitten off by a statute. After fooling around, Killer Bee leads Naruto and Yamato into a white room where Naruto is to confront the nine-tails. Inside his own spiritual plane, Naruto releases the nine-tails from its seal and tries to pull the beast's chakra towards himself. Killer Bee tries to help, but the nine-tails kicks him out so Naruto is left to win the chakra tug-of-war on his own.

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Nothing out of the ordinary happened over the last four chapters. As expected, Killer Bee agreed to help Naruto, but Naruto is still a few chapter away from completing his training. I thought the waterfall training was dragged a little longer than it should have been. The waterfall training was actually really short, but it was extended by Motoi's story which sounded half-assed. I suppose Killer Bee needs the extra background info. The training is only beginning to build up. Naruto vs. the nine-tails will probably take a while to finish. Hopefully something interesting will happen along the way (such as Kisame attacking Killer Bee).

Bleach 403-405

Time for me to tiptoe back onto the blogging scene after going away for three weeks. Because three weeks isn't that long of an absence, I'm planning to cover all of the episodes/chapters that I missed, but for these catchup posts I'm going to lump together chapters/episodes for weekly series. Anyways, here are the Bleach chapters for the last three weeks.

Like son like father.

Bleach 403
Aizen survives Urahara's attack and turns into Bagman. Bagman Aizen starts gloating as usual, but he is soon tied up by Urahara and Isshin and is then stomped on by Yoruichi, but Aizen survives yet again and gloats some more.

Bleach 404
As Aizen prepares to attack, Yoruichi and Urahara start arguing and this allows Aizen to make the first move. Meanwhile, Gin suggests to Ichigo that they should get some popcorn and watch the fight, but Ichigo refuses and the two start fighting again. Elsewhere in fake Karakura Town, Kira spots Rangiku running in the streets.

Bleach 405
Kira tries to catch up to Rangiku but he is too injured to follow. Meanwhile, Ichigo is getting worn down in his battle against Gin, and Gin tells Ichigo to run. Up above, Yoruichi continues to blame Urahara for supplying crappy equipment, but Aizen thinks the two are just putting on an act. Urahara and Yoruichi then doubles teams Aizen and after a series of attacks, Aizen is left wide open for Isshin's Getsuga Tenshou.

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

Bleach is still ambling along as usual with these action chapters. Yoruichi showed up, and Aizen transformed (by putting a paper bag over his head...), but neither developments have had much of an impact yet. All in good time I suppose, and good time is probably =>5 chapters. Urahara, Yoruichi, and Isshin are using the new-look Aizen as a punching bag, but their efforts are probably futile as Aizen still looks invulnerable. Kubo is probably obligated to give Urahara, Yoruichi and Isshin a decent run before letting Aizen mow them down. As for Ichigo, he seems to be in his "sucking" phase where he can't beat anyone, but we all know he'll survive at the very least. Not sure what Gin is up to by telling Ichigo to run, but hopefully it has something to do with Rangiku running around (and is not a translation anomaly).

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

...and that's all I'm going to write today. I still have to recover from jet lag, so I'm not sure when I'll get this blog back to normal again. For those who are wondering where I went on vacation, here are a few snapshots I took along the way.

Zettai Shougeki: Platonic Heart

The story centres on the Platonic Heart, a jewel that — according to an old urban legend — can grant any wish when collected. Only a chosen few are allowed to compete in the Platonic Heart hunt, and high school junior Iseshima Aya is one of 11 girls and women who are taking part in this gruesome battle.


Type OVA, 5 episodes
Year 29.10.2008 till 25.02.2009
Categories Action, Ecchi, Female Students, Large Breasts, Martial Arts, Shounen, Violence

Size: +/- 300 Mb
mkv
Japanese Audio/English Subtitles

Episode 01 http://www.megaupload.com/?d=8L8D70SF
Episode 02 http://www.megaupload.com/?d=KL2UZ2FT
Episode 03 http://www.megaupload.com/?d=V6DX7QH6
Episode 04 http://www.megaupload.com/?d=8V66UYDJ
Episode 05 http://www.megaupload.com/?d=4QWMNSPT


Watch online Stream:

Episode 01 http://www.megavideo.com/?v=9J1WX49X
Episode 02 http://www.megavideo.com/?v=F90O51ES
Episode 03 http://www.megavideo.com/?v=IFSK839X
Episode 04 http://www.megavideo.com/?v=N1QZOATM
Episode 05 http://www.megavideo.com/?v=44L2SSOU

Ichiban Ushiro no Daimaou

* Based on Mizuki Shoutarou's Ichiban Ushiro no Daimaou magical fantasy romance novel series with illustrations by Itou Souichi.

The story of "love, magic, and battles" revolves around Sai Akuto, a boy who aims to become part of his country's highest order of magicians and contribute to society as one of its clergy. On the day he is admitted into the Constan Magical Academy, his aptitude test predicts the following: "Future Occupation … Devil King." Thus begins his difficult school life in which he is resented by his studious female class head, desired by a girl with mysterious powers, and guarded by a beautiful female android.


Type TV Series, 12 episodes
Year 03.04.2010 till 19.06.2010
Categories Action, Comedy, Ecchi, Fantasy, Harem, High School, Novel, Nudity, Pantsu, School Life, Seinen, Violence, Violent Retribution for Accidental Infringement - [similar]

Size: +/- 200 Mb
avi
Japanese Audio/English Subtitles

Episode 01 http://www.megaupload.com/?d=57CYC2CV
Episode 02 http://www.megaupload.com/?d=T1PGFNVX
Episode 03 http://www.megaupload.com/?d=34B9CYS0
Episode 04 http://www.megaupload.com/?d=OQFC3J17
Episode 05 http://www.megaupload.com/?d=2R37YB98
Episode 06 http://www.megaupload.com/?d=SDE6YWQT
Episode 07 http://www.megaupload.com/?d=KDEBYEZD
Episode 08 http://www.megaupload.com/?d=ML90RGNL
Episode 09 http://www.megaupload.com/?d=IL2S8UZ5
Episode 10 http://www.megaupload.com/?d=227IARGI
Episode 11 http://www.megaupload.com/?d=5O4H1V86


Watch online Stream:

Episode 01 http://www.megavideo.com/?v=PCI8MWHR
Episode 02 http://www.megavideo.com/?v=0W5RID2Y
Episode 03 http://www.megavideo.com/?v=PM2QYJPH
Episode 04 http://www.megavideo.com/?v=7LRSQY98
Episode 05 http://www.megavideo.com/?v=S24J2N5G
Episode 06 http://www.megavideo.com/?v=2LPKOV4C
Episode 07 http://www.megavideo.com/?v=LIZOLGX4
Episode 08 http://www.megavideo.com/?v=6OF5NW14
Episode 09 http://www.megavideo.com/?v=02HY7R8C
Episode 10 http://www.megavideo.com/?v=V8JNC62R
Episode 11 http://www.megavideo.com/?v=RTTEXV70

Vacation Time

I've been bitten by the hiatus bug...


Nah, this is just a real life vacation. I've been posting regularly on this blog since its creation in August of 2008, so it's about time I took an extended break. I'll be gone for three weeks, and since there are no other authors on this blog, don't expect any new posts here until the end of this month. I might update on my personal blog, but I doubt it. I know I'm going to miss the chance to cover a couple of awesome FMA:B episodes, but it's not like the show lacks coverage, and I also have to take advantage of the last extended vacation I'll have in the foreseeable future. I know you'll all miss me... the dozen of you who actually read this blog lol.

Rosario + Vampire II 30

The history between Moka and Akuha.

This is one way to get to know your sisters...

Summary:
Inside Moka's dream world, Lord Shuzen (Moka's dad) welcome Akuha into his castle which happens to be the only vampire gathering place in Japan. Akuha greets her new sisters, stating that she was raised in China and is glad to have a family now. Meanwhile, Tsukune, Mizore, and Dongfang Bubai are watching from outside a window. Mizore is a bit surprised because vampires have a fearsome reputation, and Dongfang Bubai confirms it, stating that vampires are a violence-loving breed and their reputation is well known among the criminal world in Asia. As if on cue, Lord Shuzen orders Akuha to fight Kahlua. Kahlua is reluctant but is forced to defend herself as Akuha goes on the attack with her kungfu. Akuha catches Kahlua with a powerful blow to the midsection, but Kahlua becomes charmed and opens a cut on Akuha's shoulder with a punch. Akuha is ready to step up her game, but Lord Shuzen calls a stop to the fight because he already has a good idea of how strong Akuha is. After telling his daughters to get some rest, Mr. Shuzen receives a report of intruders on castle grounds, and he orders his underlings to deal with the intruders. Outside the window, Tsukune wonder if he was the intruder the vampires were referring to, but Dongfang Bubai said it was impossible as this is a replay of Moka's memories.

In the real world, Kurumu, Yukari, Fanfan and Linlin are trying to get Tsukune, Moka, Mizore and Dongfang Bubai to wake up, but the three remain unconscious. Even worse, Fanfan receives the news that the Miao family has arrived at the mansion for unknown reasons. In front of the Wong family mansion, a hooded woman gets out of a car and notes that Moka is inside the mansion. The woman then assumes the leader's position and leads the Miao henchmen towards the mansion. Back inside the mansion, Linlin is worried that the dreaming trio won't be able to escape if the Miao family busts into the mansion. Kurumu then frantically tries to get Tsukune to wake up but to no avail.

That is one scary little girl.

Back inside the dream world, the young Moka is walking in the woods trying to find the intruder (Tsukune), but suddenly she is captured by five Chinese speaking youkai. From the sky, Tsukune sees this and wants to interfere but he is held back by Dongfang Bubai. The leader of the intruders reveals to Moka that his group is here to kill Akuha and wonders if Moka knows where she is, but another youkai grabs Moka and wants to kill her. Moka is unable to fight back because she was smothered with a drug earlier, but Akuha suddenly appears out of nowhere and kills the youkai. Akuha largely ignores the other intruders and goes to check on Moka, stating that she's sorry that her past has caused Moka trouble. Moka then quickly defeats all the intruders without breaking a sweat, and Moka is both frightened and amazed by Akuha's power. After downing all the intruders, Akuha gives Moka a hug, and Moka thanks Akuha for rescuing her.

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

The story between Moka and Akuha is starting to unravel, but the big reveal is yet to come. So Akuha turns out to be quite the piece of work: a kungfu gangster girl who has a history in the Chinese underworld. No wonder she looks so devious. We don't really know the details of Moka and Akuha's relationship, but it's obvious that Akuha has an interest in both Moka and Akasha. If the story follows a predictable manner, there will be some sort of traumatic event somewhere down the road. While Tsukune's group is busy going down Moka's memory lane, it looks like the older Akuha is coming after them in the real world with the help of the Miao family. I wonder what Akuha looks like nowadays. The story is ramping up in both worlds, and hopefully it'll build up in a nice battle.

Overall, this was a decent storyline/flashback chapter. Looks like Rosario + Vampire is finally back on track after a string of non-serious/fillerish chapters.

Bleach 402

Urahara vs. Aizen.

As a store owner, Urahara knows how to gift wrap large items (including people).

Summary:
Aizen gloats to Urahara that he is now able to control the Hougyoku even though Urahara was the person who made it, but Urahara is unfazed. Aizen quickly rushes and stabs Urahara in the chest, but that turns out to be a clone. Urahara uses the opportunity to hit Aizen with a barrage of bakudo spells and then blast Aizen with hado #91. While Ichigo is watching slack-jawed from the sidelines, Urahara notes that Aizen is becoming overconfident after gaining control of the Hougyoku. Suddenly, Aizen reappears behind Urahara, and Urahara turns around only to be slashed in the chest. Aizen boasts that he can now attack without care because he has the Hougyoku's power, but he suddenly realizes something is wrong. Urahara calmly explains that during the last exchange he had secretly sealed the reiatsu release points on Aizen's wrists (all shinigamis have them). Aizen's own reiatsu then builds up to a point where Aizen himself is engulfed in a big explosion.

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

Another one of those action chapters, but at least the fighting was decent enough. As with most of the "sudden appearance" characters, Urahara is going to kick a little ass and show off his skills for a bit. Aizen is becoming uncharacteristically careless, but perhaps he is just trolling Urahara. Urahara will probably put up a good fight, but we all know he isn't going to beat Aizen. Even if Aizen was truly blown to bit, he'll probably come back somehow. Look for Aizen to strike back in the next few chapters as he always does.

One Piece 583

The young Luffy tries to become Ace's friend.

Welcome to Luffy's Jungle Adventures!

Summary:
Luffy is now living with the Dadan mountain robbers, and during a meal he wonders why he gets so little food while Ace and everyone else get so much food. Curly Dadan tries to intimidate Luffy, but Luffy isn't scared. Luffy notices Ace leaving and starts following him in order to become his friend. On the way, Ace tries to get rid of Luffy numerous times. Thanks to Ace's efforts, Luffy is lost in the forest for a week but he makes it back to Dadan's headquarters. For days and weeks afterwards, Luffy continues to follow Ace around and eventually he comes upon a smoldering dump/slum known as the Gray Terminal. At the terminal, Ace meets up with his friend Sabo. Ace and Sabo steal and rob people in the area to collect money to buy a pirate ship, and they have collected a sizable amount of valuables over the last 5 years. Suddenly, Ace and Sabo notice Luffy snooping in on them nearby. The two older boys tie Luffy up and both agree that they should kill Luffy to silence him, but neither of the boys has the guts to do the deed. Luffy screams for help, and his screams are overheard by a couple of nearby pirates. It turns out Ace has robbed someone from the Bluejam pirate crew, and now a big pirate named Porchemy and his cronies are out looking for Ace. Ace and Sabo untie Luffy and go into hiding, but Luffy is caught by Porchemy. Having no experience lying, Luffy lets slip that he knows Ace, but he refuses to reveal where Ace is. Porchemy decides to take Luffy with him for interrogation, and Ace and Sabo are wondering what they should do.

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

A really early release for One Piece this week. Thanks to The5th for the heads up. Anyways, the flashback segment continues in the expected manner. Usually it takes a small crisis to make a hardened character (Ace) to accept our bumbling main character (Luffy), and this is precisely what the story is setting up. Ace (and maybe Sabo) will eventually decide that they have to rescue Luffy, and in the ensuing action Luffy will impress Ace enough that Ace will open up to Luffy... at least that's my prediction anyways. I have to laugh at Garp's irresponsible ways again though. Although Ace and Luffy had pirating aspirations before being to sent Dadan's place, the environment certainly helped push the two kids towards the side of the criminals.

Tenjou Tenge 133

Masataka chats with Aya after the tournament match.

Masataka has been reduced to the status of a barf bag.

Summary:
In the school tournament, Bob has single-handedly defeated the 2nd Karate Club and the victory propels the Juuken Club into the finals. After the fight, the first thing Bob does is to puke on Masataka's shirt. The Juuken Club's opponent in the finals is the 2nd Kendo Club whose main fighter wants to forfeit because he doesn't want to get his ass kicked, but his teammates manage to intercept him, and so the finals are set for the next day at 2pm. From the VIP box in the stadium, Mitsuomi comments to his followers that the Juuken Club is without a doubt the strongest group of people the school has ever seen.

Back at the Juuken clubhouse, Masataka is busy washing his shirt and arguing with Bob, and Aya accidentally stumbles into a scene where Masataka is naked and trying to pull Bob's pants off. After explaining that he was trying to "borrow" some clothes, Masataka walks home with Aya. On their trail is the group of Madoka, Bob, and Chiaki. Madoka is angry because Masataka is walking with another girl and she takes out her anger on Bob, but Chiaki manages to appease Madoka with ice cream. Meanwhile, Aya uses an old song/poem about whale-hunting to talk about the battle with Souichirou. Aya states that the whale (Souichirou) has already been hit with one harpoon (imaginary Reiki stabbed into Sohaku), but still Masataka is no match for Souichirou. However, Masataka understands that in order to defeat Souichirou, he must inject his ki into imaginary Reiki so that Sohaku and all of the abnormal powers that Souichirou has absorbed can be destroyed. Aya is surprised that Masataka has figured this out, and she adds that in order to destroy Sohaku for good, Souichirou will have to die as well. Aya wonders if Masataka has the resolve to kill Souichirou, but Masataka confidently tells Aya that he will kill Souichirou because they made a promise. Aya is not sure if she should feel happy or sad about the response. Instead, Aya tells Masataka that she only understood what true strength is after meeting Souichirou, and she admires Masataka for having the strength to accept all this. Masataka tries to deflect the praise for saying that Aya is the strong one since she already saw the ending with her Dragon Eyes, but this leads to an awkward moment of silence between the two before Aya finally states that she's not strong enough to accept everything.

After the conversation, Aya wishes Masataka luck in the finals and is about to head off in a different direction, but suddenly Masataka calls out to her. Masataka tells Aya that he wants to grow stronger with her and that he likes her.

Time to make the move.

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

Masataka finally went for it and confessed to Aya. I suppose it might be now or never given the showdown with Souichirou is coming up soon, although the story seems to be pointing towards Souichirou dying at the end. Masataka had better watch out for Madoka though. I wonder what Aya's response will be, although my guess is that she'll try to deflect the confession or the story will jump past that point.

This was actually a decent chapter and answered some of the questions I had regarding how the last big battle ended. Oh! great did go for an analogy with the whale-hunt song/poem (the Japanese and their whale-hunting ways...), but for once the analogy wasn't hard to understand. So imaginary Reiki managed to stun Sohaku enough that Souichirou can control his body again, but now the good guys want to get rid of Sohaku and all the freaky powers for good and that inevitably involves Souichirou dying. It'd be nice if this was explained (in a nice and straight forward manner) a few chapters ago, but better late than never. The most interesting bit of the conversation was the end about Aya's Dragon Eyes. Did she already foresee how it'll end and what are the implications if she did?

It seems all that's left of Tenjou Tenge is the big battle between Masataka and Souichirou. The school tournament seems to be a foregone conclusion already. The Juuken Club's opponent is running scared, and Mitsuomi's group is not participating. Unless something surprising happens, it's going to be Masataka and friends against Souichirou. Maya was conspicuously absent in this chapter, and I wonder if she's preparing something special.

Note: no new chapter next month.

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood 55

The Armstrongs get some help against Sloth, while Hohenheim faces Father.

Summary:
Somewhere in the underground, Ed and company have lost track of May. While Mustang and Ed are busy blaming each other, Riza thanks Scar for helping to bring Mustang back from the edge, but Scar states that it's not worth mentioning.

After taking over the main control room in Central HQ, Buccaneer and company announce through radio that they have taken Brigadier General Clemin hostage and warn the remaining Central forces against fighting the Brigg soldiers or Mustang's forces. Meanwhile, the Armstrongs and the nearby soldiers are busy fighting the one-eyed zombies. Olivier gets word of the announcement and uses a nearby phone to call Buccanneer, ordering her subordinate to lock down Central HQ and hunt down the one-eyed zombies. Meanwhile, a Central officer tries to assume command and walk into the Fuhrer's office with his subordinates, but they are attacked and killed by a group of mannequins.

Have to give the Central soldiers some props for being able to slow down someone as big and fast as Sloth.

Back in the big hallway where the Armstrongs and soldiers are fighting the mannequins, Sloth recovers from being impaled and uses his super-speed again in an effort to kill Olivier and Alex. Alex and Olivier are grazed by the attack and fall to the ground. As Sloth is poised to finish off the Armstrongs, the soldiers manages to use Sloth's shackles and chains to slow the big homunculus down. Some of the other soldiers offer to clear a path for the Armstrongs to escape, but Alex isn't ready to run away just yet. Sloth finally escapes from the chains and charges at the Armstrongs, but he is sent flying with a giant stone fist created by alchemy. At this moment, Izumi walks into the room after blowing up a couple of zombies. Sloth reaches for Izumi, but Izumi tosses Sloth to a waiting Sig who sends the homunculus crashing into a wall. Alex is re-energized after seeing Sig, and the two muscle men double-team Sloth, impaling the homunculus onto a spike. Sloth tries to get up again, but he is finally out of regenerative powers and dissolves into nothingness. After the fight, Izumi introduces herself to Olivier and wonders if her students are fighting nearby. Olivier and Alex plan to continue fighting the mannequins, and Izumi agrees to help out for as long as she can, but she knows that she is one of Father's "sacrifices" and might have to run away when more dangerous opponents come after her.

Up and away!!

Izumi: I've tossed bears since I was 18, so I'm used to this.

Job well done.

On the bright side, now you can sleep forever and ever.

Deep underground, Hohenheim faces off against Father. Hohenheim wonders why Father expelled his emotions as homunculi, and Father states that he wants to be a perfect being instead of being a human. Father starts attacking Hohenheim, but Hohenheim is more interested in talking. Hohenheim refutes Father's claim of not wanting to be human and states that what Father really wants is a family, and the statement seems to touch one of Father's nerves. Father disappears into the ground, reappears behind Hohenheim and tries to extract Hohenheim's Philosopher's Stone, but Hohenheim is somehow able to thwart the attempt. While Father is wondering what went wrong, Hohenheim states that someone without emotions won't beat them (as a plural) so easily.

Being able to transmute with your feet is such a convenient ability.

In Central HQ, the Brigg forces and allies have taken over most of the fortress. Izumi saves a high-ranking military official from being killed by the mannequins, and afterwards she demands that the official tell her about who's behind the mannequin soldiers and forbidden research. Meanwhile, the Armstrongs arrive in the Fuhrer's office where there is a secret tunnel leading to the underground, leading the Armstrongs to conclude that the mannequin soldiers came from this tunnel.

Buc knows how to impress the ladies.

Meanwhile Buccaneer and Falman's group have taken over the front gate, and the Brigg's tank is on the way in. Suddenly, King Bradley appears in front of Central HQ and declares his intentions of taking his castle back.

He's back, and he's not happy.

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

Another homunculus goes down. This time it's Sloth, who is probably the least developed (character-wise) of any of the homunculi. It seems like Sloth's character was conceived just to dig the tunnel and participate in this fight, so unlike Envy there isn't too much to say about the guy. When I was reading the manga, I was hoping that Alex and Sloth will finish things mano-a-mano so Alex can show off more of his GARness, but the muscle men double-team plus Izumi wasn't bad either. If you are wondering how Izumi is able to toss someone ten times her size, watch the third FMA:B OVA. Izumi is used to tossing big things around lol, although the Armstrongs don't know this given their slack-jawed looks.

In other news, Hohenheim and Father started their battle. It was an interesting conversation between the two. If there is one person who really knows Father, it'd be Hohenheim. I never thought that one of Father's reasons for creating the homunculi was because he wanted a family, but it all kind of makes sense now. Of course, there is also the reason of getting rid of his emotions to become a pure being to rule the world or something along those lines. I loved how Hohenheim was initially nonchalant during the fight and yet managed to walk out of every one of Father's alchemy attacks. Hohenheim seems to have the upper hand for now, but we all know he's not going to beat Father on his own. This is Ed and Al's show after all.

Generally things went pretty well for the good guys in this episode, but Wrath is back to take back his castle. Alex Armstrong and Mustang have their moments, but there isn't really anyone in FMA who is quite as badass as Wrath. What's more, we know Buccaneer and some other badass characters will be involved in the upcoming battle. The next two episodes should feature some of the best melee combat action we'll ever see in FMA. Too bad I'll be on vacation though.

Angel Beats! 05

The SSS tries to make Tenshi look bad in the exams.

Has Tenshi always been that short?

Summary:
It's exam week at the school, so Yuri comes up with a plan to make Tenshi looks bad by making her score zeroes on all her exams. Yuri recruits Otonashi, Hinata, Takamatsu, Oyama and Takeyama for the operation, and the plan is for some of the team members to provide distractions so that whoever sits in front of Tenshi can switch Tenshi's paper for one that's filled with idiotic answers. With Takeyama drawing the seat in front of Tenshi, everything seems to be set but suddenly the group realizes they don't know Tenshi's name. Otonashi is tasked with finding out Tenshi's name from the school records, but he ends up talking to Tenshi and learns that she is named Tachibana Kanade. Otonashi thinks that Tenshi isn't as terrible as the others make her out to be, but he keeps the thought to himself.

It's a known fact that exams make people burn out.

I just wanted to tell everyone that...

...I'm a Rocket Man!!!!

The first exam starts and the SSS go ahead with their operation. Otonashi is surprised that he knows that answers to the exam questions, but he remembers Yuri's warnings about taking the exam seriously would lead to disappearance and starts erasing answers. Through the various exams, Yuri distracts the whole class by launching her team members into the ceiling with rocket chairs and Takeyama switches the papers. and during each intermission Otonashi has to make excuses to Tenshi when Yuri and the others argue about the operation.

Oh no! Hinata succumbed to the pressure of the exams and hanged himself!

On a day after exam week, Otonashi spots Tenshi coming out of the teacher's office not looking too happy. Later at SSS HQ, Yuri states that rumors of Tenshi's horrible exam scores have started to spread. Days later during an assembly, the school administration announces that the Naoi, the former student council vice president, will replace Tenshi as the council president. While Otonashi is feeling bad about what happened, Yuri thinks it's an opportunity to press on the attack and calls for a Tornado operation during the night.

Yui has a surprisingly good singing voice. I thought she would sound like a chipmunk.

Tenshi can't even have her favorite meal in peace.

At night, Girls De Mo (with Yui as the new lead singer) puts on a surprise concert in the cafeteria yet again. The SSS members on guard outside spot Tenshi approaching, but Otonashi notices something is different and tells his comrade to hold fire. Tenshi enters the cafeteria and is spotted by Yuri and the other SSS members inside. Yuri also notices something is different about Tenshi as Tenshi goes to the meal ticket machine and buys a ticket for the super spicy tofu. Yuri decides to with operation anyways and turns on the fans, and the meal tickets of many students, include Tenshi, are blown away. Tenshi's ticket is later picked up by Otonashi who finds the tofu to be really spicy but quite tasty. Yuri tells Otonashi that the spicy tofu had belonged to Tenshi, and Otonashi starts feeling bad about what the SSS had done. Meanwhile, Yuri starts to think that Tenshi may just be a human after all and is fighting the SSS just because she's student council president. Suddenly, Naoi and a large group of student council members rush in and surround the SSS members, and Naoi declares that the SSS will be apprehended for violating school rules.

If you guys are wondering which rules you broke, just take a look at the guns on your tables.

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

Another episode full of randomness. I was a little surprised that no one was in danger of disappearing in this episode. The episode was slapstick during the first half and then they tagged on a concert at the end. Presumably they wanted to give Yui some screen time now that she has become the new lead singer for Girl De Mo. The exam scene was not that great. The rocket chairs (with the ED song playing) and Takamatsu's beefcake were pretty funny, but the other students' (including Tenshi's) reactions to the rocket chairs were rather disappointing. A guy getting launched into the ceiling by a rocket is not exactly a normal occurrence during an exam, but everyone just went back to business as usual shortly after. Or maybe they are just so used to the SSS causing trouble that they don't think much of it. With six SSS members in the room, you'd think Tenshi would be a little more alert, but then again Tenshi doesn't seem to be as devious as Yuri.

This episode made me feel sorry for Tenshi. Whether if she's a real angel or just a person who programmed her powers, Tenshi is just doing her job as student council president, and Yuri and the SSS are harassing her. The SSS' motivations and actions have always been questionable, and Yuri came off as a bit spiteful and cruel in this episode. Maybe Yuri is just trying to prove or disprove her own theories, but she's getting a little too much enjoyment out of making Tenshi's life difficult. The exam operation was the first time in the series that Yuri and crew managed to deal a significant blow to Tenshi, but it's hard to say who got the worst end of the deal now that the militaristic Naoi has taken over as student council president. The SSS might even need Tenshi's help to get out of the bind. Given that possibility, it was probably a good thing that Otonashi is warming up to Tenshi.

Claymore 103

Priscilla battles the infected Dauf.

In his infected state, Dauf might actually be a little smarter than his normal self as he managed to fake Priscilla out with the fake punch transitioned into a spike shower.

Summary:
With Priscilla is busy with Dauf, Helen (carrying Clare) and Deneve head for Luciela/Raphaela. Deneve realizes that Priscilla will eventually come after them again, and the only thing that may be able to stop Priscilla is Luciela/Raphaela. Priscilla notices that Deneve and Helen are running off, but Dauf doesn't allow her to give chase. Priscilla destroys Dauf's remaining arm, but Dauf quickly regenerates both of his arms which now have jaws instead of hands. Dauf peppers Priscilla with a shower of small spikes from one of his arms. Priscilla flies up, but she is forced to block a flying rod from Dauf, and Dauf catches Priscilla with his left which destroys a large portion Priscilla's body. Priscilla quickly regenerates but she remembers that she had this feeling of pain and breaking apart a long time ago. While allowing Dauf to pound on herself, Priscilla tries to remember her forgotten memories. She remembers holding a sword and standing over a beheaded body, but she doesn't remember who was the beheaded person. Suddenly, Priscilla remembers and she quickly destroys both of Dauf's arms. Having recovered her memories, Priscilla quickly finishes off Dauf and she is happy that she now has the opportunity to kill "that person" once again.

On to the next fight.

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

Looks like we are finally heading towards a showdown between Priscilla and Luciela Raphaela. Good job to Deneve yet again for thinking up the plan to lead Priscilla towards Luciela/Priscilla, but then again it's the only real option they have of escaping from Priscilla. Dauf put up a valiant effort against Priscilla, but no one is expecting him to actually stop Priscilla. At least Dauf managed to buy some time for Deneve and Helen to get a head start. In a somewhat related matter, Riful's body is still lying around somewhere on the battlefield since Helen nor Deneve picked her up (not that they really have a reason to). I wonder if Riful will ever come back or is she dead for good.

The biggest development in this chapter was Priscilla regaining her memories. It was explicitly stated in the manga, but given all the clues, the memory is probably of the battle between Priscilla and Teresa. The beheaded body and Priscilla's statement of "killing that person once again" more or less confirms it. I'd be really surprised if Priscilla wasn't thinking of Teresa. Priscilla is definitely coming after Clare now given Clare has Teresa's flesh and scent. The real battle between Priscilla and Clare will happen eventually, but for now I'm hoping for an epic showdown between Priscilla and Luciela/Raphaela.