Bleach 422

After the big battle...

Ichigo: I'm sorry for putting on such an anti-climatic final battle and shoving all of you guys into the background. I beg of you, please find it in your heart to forgive me.

Summary:
In fake Karakura Town, Mayuri is getting ready to start the world transfer process. Nearby, Shinji thanks Unohana for patching up his group, but Unohana states that she doesn't require thanks for saving allies. Byakuya and Kenpachi, both somewhat disheveled and bloodied, and Yachiru emerge from a gate into the fake town, and Kenpachi describes his last battle as boring. Back in Hollow Land, giant Yammy is lying on the floor defeated while a little hollow dog barks at him.

In real Karakura Town, Ichigo chats with Urahara. Urahara informs Ichigo that his friends all went home because they were a bit scared to speak to him, but Ichigo states that he won't hide things anymore. The talks moves on to Aizen and Urahara has sent the seal structure back to the Seiretei and disposed once the council reaches a decision. Ichigo starts wondering if deep down inside Aizen wanted to find someone who could beat him and thus unconsciously made the Hougyoku reject him. Before Ichigo can go too deep with his thoughts, Orihime, Renji, Chad, Ishida and Rukia arrive. Ichigo gets up to greet his friends but he suddenly collapses and starts screaming in pain.

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

It seems that Aizen is really defeated... at least for the time being. I wouldn't be surprised though if Aizen got himself sealed on purpose so he can have a free ride back into Soul Society. Aizen has built up such a reputation for himself that you can never count on him to stay defeated until the very end of the manga, and it'd be a waste to spend 400+ chapter setting him up as the primary villain only to dump him aside completely before the end of the story. It's not that I miss the guy though; he is annoying as hell and I don't want to see his face for a while.

This chapter was the start of the aftermath of the continuous battles that started in fake Karakura Town. Ichigo's thoughts about Aizen were a little too self-humbling. It's sad that after training and fighting Aizen for so long, Ichigo's attitude was "Aizen let use win, we still suck" instead of "Damn, we finally won", but then again he didn't actually defeat Aizen on his own (Urahara landed the final blow). Kubo got lazy and didn't bother showing how Byakuya and Kenpachi beat up Yammy-zilla, but I suppose like all of the Espada (except Ulquiorra), Yammy is weaker than he looks. Aizen is sealed up, and all of Ichigo's fighting friends have made it back safely, but Ichigo can't join the party because he is suffering from something, probably as a result of using the final Getsuga Tenshou. It's hard to guess what's going to happen to Ichigo, but we probably won't be seeing any fights for a while in Bleach... unless Ichigo suddenly turns into a hollow lol. Now that would be interesting.

One Piece 598

One Piece is back after a 4 week break, picking up the story after the two years time skip.

Hey, the new crew member is a seagull!

Summary:
On the harsh island of Rusukaina, Boa Hancock and company arrive to pick up Luffy who has become master of the island's beasts. Two years have passed already since Luffy started training, and Luffy is ready to meet his crew again.

Meanwhile at the Saobody Archipelago, a new generation of pirates is trying to get into the New World, and supposedly the Straw Hat crew is back and recruiting members. Brook is back as a famous music star and he puts on a concert on one of the groves. Sanji has also arrived on another grove, and he bids a not-so-tearful goodbye to the newkamas who gave him a ride to the archipelago. At a bar on another grove, Nami chats with the bartender about Marine HQ moving to other side of the Red Line. Nearby, the fake "Straw Hat Crew" is causing a ruckus and they want Nami to join them for drinks. Nami refuses, prompting the fake Nami to confront her, but the fake Nami is snapped up by a giant plant unleashed by Usopp. Nami and Usopp leave the bar, and on the way out Nami unleashes lightning on the impostors, and this pisses off the fake Luffy who sends his crew out to hunt down Nami and Usopp.

Sanji has arrived at Shakky's shop on Grove 13 and learns that Zoro, Franky, Nami, Usopp and Chopper have already shown up and the Thousand Sunny is in good condition. Rayleigh is also back, having left Luffy half a year to a year ago and finished the coating on the ship. Duval and his gang are also present, but they are in bandages after fending off various assaults by people trying to steal the Thousand Sunny.

On another grove, Nico Robin is trying to evade men in black suits who are trailing her and she is confused by posters about Brook's concert and the Straw Hat recruitment. Meanwhile, Chopper is following the fake Zoro, Sanji, Robin and Chopper (a fox) by mistake. The impostors plan to kidnap Chopper, but the fake Robin and fake Chopper are bagged up by the men in black suits instead.

At Marineford (now the G1 Marine branch), the Marines learn of the "Straw Hat Pirates" presence on Saobody and decide to call HQ to assemble a force. Back on the archipelago, fake Luffy is shooting random people in his search for Usopp and Nami, but he bumps into the real Luffy.

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

A four week break is a long time for a weekly series, and so I almost forgot that I blogged the series. Just kidding lol. I'm glad One Piece is back again. The next little while is probably going to be about the crew meeting up together again and demonstrating their new powers against some mid-low level foes (such as the fake Straw Hats and some Marines) before heading out for the New World. It should be fun to see what sort of new skills each crew members has gained in their two years of training. With the new powers also comes some new looks. I have to admit, I love Nami's new look. It definitely looks like she grew up, compared to the others (who showed up in this chapter) who look like more or less the same as before despite the different clothes. Judging by the color spread, Franky has the most dramatic appearance change, although half of his body was blocked out.

The only thing that I'm a bit surprised by in this chapter is about the people guarding the Thousand Sunny. I remember that Kuma (or a Pacifista) visited the ship some time before the time skip, but he must have not attacked as I doubt Duval and Shakky had the power to hold him back.

Anyways, One Piece is finally back, and I'm looking forward to the new adventures, new characters, and bigger and better battles to come.

Sekirei ~Pure Engagement~ 13 (Finale)

Minato and Sekireis fight for survival as the MBI facility self-destructs.

Summary:
Minato and Musubi continue their way up the stairs while explosions rock the building. Meanwhile, Matsu is busy trying to deactivate the security and self destruct mechanisms from the control room while Kusano try to hold back the security bots. Just as Kusano's defense is about to collapse, Seo, Hikari and Hibiki arrive to help. Seo is tasked by Higa to steal MBI's data, and he gets Matsu to upload the data onto a memory card. Matsu manage to turn off the security bots, but upon deactivation the bots being to release knockout gas. Matsu tells Seo's group to take Kusano to safety, but midway Kusano escapes from Seo and runs back to the control room. Matsu manages to stop the self-destruct sequence, but both she and Kusano and knocked out by the gas.

......WUT?

Minato and Musubi finally reach the large open area at the top of the building and they arrive just in time. Minaka appears and points Minato to an altar containing a memory card with all the data to save Chiho. Minaka then adds that even though the explosions have stopped, the building won't hold up. Minaka then goes into the top part of the building which turns out to be an escape capsule that blasts off into space. As the building starts to collapse, Musubi drags Minato through the hallways and stairs and they jump out of an opening just as the building crashes down.

It's rather curious how they all ended up being within a couple feet of each other.

I'm pretty impressed that Musubi actually caught that strike. Karasuba must have really high standards.

Some time after the collapse, Minato and Musubi both wake up from the rubble and they also find Minato's other Sekireis lying around, alive but injured. Suddenly, Karasuba appears and wants to fight Musubi, and Musubi can't refuse as the others are lying around and vulnerable. Karasuba quickly gains the upper hand in the fight, but Minato throws himself in the way to interrupt. The other Sekireis cause a distraction allowing Musubi and Minato to kiss, and Musubi powers up for an explosive attack that breaks off the tip of Karasuba's sword. Musubi is out of energy and collapses, but the other Sekireis drag themselves to their feet to stand against Karasuba. Karasuba decides to leave things until next time and walks away, and Minato and company make their way back to the inn to heal their wounds.

Oh yeah, there is that thing we can do to get a power up. What's it called again?... 

Nor.... Norito! Darn why didn't we think of that last episode?

Group photo time, and you are not invited, Karasuba.

Screw you guys. I'm going home.

Some time later, Chiho has been cured and is walking on her own. Meanwhile, Higa opens the data that Seo gave him only to find fake information. It turns out Seo instructed Matsu to download fake info, and Seo is sitting at home waving around the deposit money. Back at the inn, Matsu is worried about the start of the next stage of the Sekirei Plan. Finally, out in orbit, Minaka steers the capsule back towards Japan in order to proceed into the next stage of his plan.

Seo is the real winner this time around.

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

A rather mediocre finale to end off this season of Sekirei. The whole thing about Minato's gang journeying into MBI to take part in Minaka's crazy games just wasn't well thought-out. Somewhat appropriately, the whole thing ends with Musubi and Karasuba having a random meaningless fight where Minato turned out to be nearly brain dead and Musubi had to initiate norito herself in order to get the power up. I guess the fight wasn't half bad, but it's hard to take it seriously when you know that no one would be hurt seriously. In the aftermath, Minaka loses his skyscraper, but he'll probably rebuild it by the beginning of next season, and nothing truly meaningful came out of the whole thing other than Uzume and Chiho taking an earlier exit out the story when compared to the manga. It's not that I was expecting anything significant to happen, but this finale was still a little disappointing.

Overall, ~Pure Engagement~ was a slight downgrade from the first season. The season started off with some promise with the winging of Kazehana (which Seven Arcs actually handled well), and the part about Homura wasn't too bad. Uzume's sudden exit was a surprise and hinted at an interesting finale, but the finale is where ~Pure Engagement~ dropped the ball. I guess it's hard to come up with a good finale when you want to stay consistent with the manga material, and having Musubi resurrected as Yume is hard to top. With this ending though, the Sekirei anime looks on track to continue with the manga storyline next season (sans Chiho and Uzume of course). As the story progress into the later stages, there should be more developments to be excited about. However, given that the manga moves ever so slowly (short chapters, twice a month release), I don't know when we'll get to third season.

Sekirei 106

Musubi and Kusano takes Chiho to MBI, but...

Turn your phone to vibrate if you want to sneak around unnoticed.

Summary:
While Musubi and Kusano are taking Chiho to MBI, Matsu is still at the hospital downloading Chiho's medical records and sending them to Takami while Tsukiumi stands guard. Most of the staff are distracted by the giant tree that Kusano erected in front of the hospital, and so Matsu and Tsukiumi are left alone to their activities. While waiting for Matsu, Tsukiumi spots Higa's bespectacled Sekirei making a phone call about the situation and calling for backup. The Sekirei spots Matsu and Tsukiumi who quickly make their exit out the nearest window.

Back at the inn, Minato receives a phone call from Takami saying that MBI can save Chiho. Minato and Takami then let Uzume talk to Chiho for a bit, and Sekirei and Ashikabi express their love for each other. Higa's Sekirei #31 Sai tells Uzume to get to work, but Uuzme declares that she's changing sides. Sai and #40 Shi refuse to back down, but Kazehana and Homura send both of them sprawling to the ground. Minato's group is getting ready to celebrate, but Sai isn't done yet and in a last ditch effort she throws her knife towards Minato in hopes of killing Minato and deactivating all of his Sekireis. Uzume spots the attack and steps into the way, and she is stabbed through the back by Sai's knife in front of Minato's eyes.

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

We all know that Minato's plan will run into some bumps along the way, but I didn't expect the story go right into the ultimate conclusion and take out Uzume. The stab looks like a very serious wound, so the chances of Uzume being deactivated is rather high. If Uzume were to be taken out by this attack, then she would bow out in a similar fashion as she did in the anime (throwing her body in the way to save someone from Minato's group while Minato's other Sekirei were staring out into space). Perhaps keeping the manga and anime somewhat consistent is the reason why Uzume is suddenly stabbed. There I was hoping for something a bit more dramatic... I half-expected Uzume to be defeated at the end of the operation, but I thought it'd happen with more of a struggle between Minato and Higa's forces. Other than the last attack on Uzume, Minato's operation has gone surprisingly smooth and it appears that Higa's crew were caught with their pants down. Maybe the author just wants to move on from Uzume and Chiho and on to the growing conflict between Minato and Higa.

Supposedly the next chapter will be in November if the translations are correct, so fans will have plenty of time to speculate whether Uzume will actually be deactivated or not.

Fall 2010 Anime

The summer 2010 anime season is almost over, which means the fall 2010 season is just around the corner. As always, this post is just a list of shows that I'll blog, watch, and/or maybe take a look at. A list of actual previews can be found at the end of the post. Let's get started, shall we?

Will watch/Will blog:

Motto To-Love-Ru
I'll admit it: the first season of To-Love-Ru was one of the crappiest animes I have ever watched. The To-Love-Ru manga was far from exceptional, but it was mildly amusing most of the time. Some of the episodes from the anime (especially the anime-original stories) however were excruciatingly painful. The main reason I will cover this series is because I feel obligated to since I covered the manga, first anime season and the OVAs. It might turn out to be alright if XEBEC decides to stick with manga material most of the time, but I'm not getting my hopes up. I guess the upside of watching one crappy series is that it will make everything else look better.

To Aru Majutsu Index 2
The first season of Index is best described as inconsistent. Some parts were very good; other parts were a bit of a drag. I love the well-animated action, but I am turned off by all the hero and pseudo-science/magic speeches. Given the series is broken down into different arcs (as per the light novel source), some story arcs are bound to be better than others, but hopefully the 2nd season of Index as a whole will feature more excitement and less preaching than the 1st season.


The upcoming season just happens to have sequels of shows that I covered, and I don't like abandoning things midway, so hence these are my picks. In addition, I'll continue to cover new Queen's Blade OVAs (again because I covered the earlier seasons). As for the other new series of the season, I'm tempted to watch Hyakka Ryouran: Samurai Girls, but I think I've watched enough "hot girls battle while clothes fall off" type of shows already. Star Driver also look mildly interesting since I haven't watched mecha in a while (Gundam Unicorn is once every half year... sheesh). I don't know if I'll have the time though.

Anyways, here are some actual season previews from the awesome blogs on my blogroll:

- Hyper Parfait
- METANORN
- Rabbit Poets
- Random Curiosity
- Sea Slugs!
- Star Crossed
- Tenka Seiha
- T.H.A.T.

Naruto 511

Madara gets his new eyes, and bye bye to the three friends from Amegakure.

Finally, a mask with two (or is it three) eye holes.

Summary:
Madara nabs Nagato's Rinnegans and sets off back to his hideout. There is one final flashback featuring Konan, Yahiko, and Nagato starting with the time when Jiraiya was teaching them. Jiraiya taught the three to use flip cards at their hideout to guard against intruders and the trio and their gang eventually outgrew the old hideout. Back at Madara's hideout, Madara now sports a new mask and is wielding his war fan, and Zetsu has received the intel from Kisame. Madara then declares it's time to go capture the nine-tails.

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

Madara gets what he came for, and Konan joins her two best buddies in the afterlife. That was expected outcome from the start, but at least Konan put up a decent fight. The flashback was a formal send off for the trio and that's it for their run in the story. I suppose Kabuto can always bring them back using zombie-no-jutsu.

With a new set of eyes, Madara actually gave himself a makeover and retrieved his old war fan from the closet. Madara is more of a threat now that he has the Rinnegans. It was interesting that Madara continued to insist that the Rinnegans were his to begin with. Hopefully we'll eventually find out the story behind that claim. I'm also looking forward to how Madara and Kabuto will try to back stab each other.

Bleach 421

Aizen gets hit with the Final Getsuga Tenshou and...

Urahara: Haha just as planned, baby! How'd you like a taste of your own medicine, Aizen?

Summary:
Ichigo unleashes the Final Getsuga Tenshou and the dark energy swallow up Aizen. After the dramatic explosion, Ichigo begins to return to his normal form and is losing his shinigami powers. Meanwhile, Aizen has been blasted back several transformations, but he starts to regenerate. Aizen gets up and taunts the weakened Ichigo and boasts about how he'll evolve again, but suddenly spikes start shooting out from within his body. Urahara shows up to explain that he planted a kido seal inside of Aizen earlier and this kido spell is designed to seal Aizen after he fused with the Hougyoku. Aizen doesn't think much of the seal, but he soon realizes he is losing his power and the seal is taking hold. Urahara explains that the seal is designed to activate when Aizen loses his powers, and this means that the Hougyoku no longer thinks Aizen is its master. Realizing he had lost, Aizen barks at Urahara about not doing anything about the Soul King, but Urahara doesn't care and Aizen is consumed by the seal.

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

Hmmm... that's certainly a surprise conclusion to the battle. Aizen appears to be actually defeated... the formerly untouchable, "haha, you think you got me but you didn't" evil mastermind has finally been silenced. What a shocker. And this isn't even the end of the series right? The thing is Aizen has been sealed but not killed, so I suppose he might escape somewhere down the line. I don't want to see him escaping next chapter though (or for the next little while for that matter), because that would be absolutely stupid. Can you imagine if he came out and said "It has been my plan all along to be sealed" or something along those lines?

If Aizen was actually sealed up in this chapter, then that means the series may be in need of a new villain. The last exchange of words between Aizen and Urahara seems to be pointing at the Soul King's direction, so looks like we are still going to learn who or what the Soul King is despite Aizen's plan getting knocked off track. In addition, Kubo can always write 50 chapters on how Ichigo is going to get his shinigami powers back. Despite what happened this week, Bleach may still have a long, long way to go.

Air Doll

Air Doll (空気人形 Kūki Ningyō?) is a 2009 Japanese drama film directed by Hirokazu Koreeda. It is based on the manga series Kuuki Ningyo by Yoshiie Gōda, which was serialized in the seinen manga magazine Big Comic Original.

Middle-aged Hideo lives alone with an inflatable doll he calls Nozomi. The doll is his closest companion. He dresses it up, talks to it over dinner, and has sexual intercourse with it. However, unbeknown to Hideo, Nozomi was created with a heart. After Hideo leaves for work each day, Nozomi dresses in her maid's outfit and explores the world outside their apartment with a sense of child-like wonder.

Also Known As: "Kûki ningyô" - Japan (original title)
Country: Japan
Language: Japanese
Subtitles: English (Soft-subbed)
Genre: Drama | Fantasy
Release date(s) 14 May 2009
Running time 125 minutes
Director: Hirokazu Koreeda
Writers: Yoshiie Goda (manga), Hirokazu Koreeda (screenplay)
Size: 1.38gb

CD1
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=5WT40BPO
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http://www.megaupload.com/?d=7L3M2VP2
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=WS6QDWIM
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=10OEGEMQ


CD2
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=4CSW907U
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=5XI8NH29
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Subtitles
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=U026E1D0


Cast
Bae Doona as Nozomi (Air Doll)
Arata as Junichi
Itsuji Itao as Hideo
Joe Odagiri as Sonoda (the doll maker)
Sumiko Fuji as Chiyoko
Masaya Takahashi as Keiichi
Susumu Terajima as Todoroki
Kimiko Yo as Yoshiko

Highschool of the Dead 12 (Finale)

The Takagi compound is overrun by zombies.

Hi zombies, long time no see.

Summary:
Four tactical nukes were launched somewhere in the world. Three of the nukes are shot down by naval vessels, but the fourth escapes interception and detonates high about the surface, creating an EMP that knocks out all the electronics around the Tokyo area and nearby airport. At the Takagi compound, Shizuka just got through to Rika on the cellphone when the EMP knocked out all communications. The EMP also disabled all the working vehicles in the area, and people from the Takagi compound are unable to close the roadblock with their fork lift. Meanwhile, Shido also looses control of his bus and the bus crashes right into the roadblock, creating a gap in the cement blocks and allowing zombies to walk through.

Looks like someone is ready to party.

Saeko always knows how to make an impression.

They make a nice couple, don't they?

The horde of zombies make it to the Takagi mansion and break down the front gate. Chaos and carnage spread throughout the compound and many refugees are killed by the zombies. Souichirou and Yuriko lead what remains of their forces to round up survivors, and Souichirou tells Takashi's group to head out and search for their families. Takashi and friends fight their way to the garage where the mechanics report that Rika's Humvee actually has EMP shielding and therefore can run. Takashi and friends then drive out of the compound in their Humvee while Souichirou and Yuriko are trying to fight off wave after wave of zombies.

Rei's primary purpose in the series.

Didn't realize Shizuka knew how to stunt drive.

Is there a reason why Saeko always stands on top of the Humvee (other than to show off)?

After the driving for a while, the Humvee breaks down, and Takashi and friends walk and fight their way to a shopping center.

That's right, friends. Killing zombies can be an enjoyable and fun group activity.

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

After going missing for two episodes, the zombie action returns just in time for the season finale. This episode was definitely better than the previous two in that there was some actual zombie carnage, although the scenes were a bit restrained compared to some of the better/more outrageous episodes of the series (the crazy Humvee driving was pretty nice though). Actually, the battle at the compound wasn't really as impressive or desperate as I had hoped, and leaving Saya's parents to fight against wave after wave of zombies by themselves seemed a bit stupid, but at least there was blood, biting, slashing and zombies heads being blown apart. In the end, this was an okay season finale, although it didn't really feel like a finale given how things led right on to the next part of the storyline at the end. Takashi, Rei, Saeko, Kohta, Saya, Shizuka, and Alice are still out running from place to place, fighting zombies and having fun doing it, and so season 2 will likely be in the works once there is enough material from the manga.

Overall, the first season of Highschool of the Dead was a decent show if you know what to expect. If you are looking for an intricate plot, in depth character development, or enlightenment of any sort, this series is not for you. HOTD is only designed to appeal to people who like zombies, blood and gore, action, fan service or combination of the listed items. The first three episodes were the best part of the season as it really sets the tone for the series: a bloody survival horror with gratuitous and hilariously-timed fan service in between the action. The series wandered a bit after the introduction and sometimes lost track of its core formula, but the show was entertaining whenever it stuck to the ridiculous violence + fan service combo. That didn't happen as often as it should have after the first three episodes, but as a whole HOTD was watchable, just with some parts a lot more watchable than others. The production quality of the series was solid overall, although once again the most visually impressive scenes were in the first three episodes.

As for the cast,  I have to say I don't like most of the characters in the core group.The only character that I have a positive opinion of is Saeko, whose composure, ass-kicking sword skills and sophisticated sexiness (compared to the other girls) makes her a winner. She is the only one who can standing atop of a moving vehicle while wearing a thong and apron and still look like she knows what she's doing. Kohta used to be cool with his personality-switching, but his breakdown in episode 10 lowered my opinion of him by quite a bit. The rest of the group are either not worth mentioning or not great, particularly Takashi and Rei. Takashi got to be leader because the other guy in the group is socially awkward and Saeko has a thing for him. He also has emotional issues and likes to manhandle girls which aren't great qualities. As for Rei, she always seems to be the one who needs saving despite knowing how to fight, and her relationship with Takashi just doesn't seem to be leading anywhere. Saya is annoying, but has become more tolerable as the series progressed. Shizuka is just your classic big-boobed airhead, and Alice is just a random loli at this point of the story. I guess the good thing about not liking most of the characters is that I won't feel sad when they get eaten by zombies, but so far all of them have managed to stay alive.

That's all I have to say about the first season of HOTD. I'll probably watch the second season when it comes out, but given the pace of the manga it might be a while.

Sekirei ~Pure Engagement~ 12

Minato and company are caught in Minaka's game.

This is the greatest challenge we've ever faced: stairs and a long hallway!

Summary:
In the MBI building, Minaka declares that Minato's group has only one hour to reach the top, and Minato's group travels upwards through the stairs as the elevators are disabled. On the way, Minaka activates various traps using his PSP and uses Benitsubasa and Haihane to draw away Kazehana and Tsukiumi respectively.

Good job there starting a forest fire, Homura.

Back in the forest, Homura unfreezes himself and sets the woods ablaze, forcing Akitsu and Taki to retreat. Homura then gets a call from Takami telling him that the backdoor path to the control room is full of booby traps. Homura wants to get back to Matsu and Kusano, and so he runs right into the underground tunnel and has to dodge booby trap after booby trap. Elsewhere in the tunnels, Matsu and Kusano are forced to hide atop of the ventilation shafts when Mikogami and Mutsu come looking. Instead of finding their quarry, Mutsu and Mikogami run into Karasuba instead. Mutsu and Karasuba have a brief sword fight before Karasuba leaves.

You can't separate a man and his toys.

Main event of the episode: Musubi fights a giant rolling ball. It was a surprisingly short match.

Probably should move out of the way by now.

In the meantime, Matsu and Kusano makes it to the control room and shuts down all of the traps in the MBI building, but Matsu soon gets locked out of the system while Kusano strains to hold back the security bots Minaka had deployed. At the MBI building, Minaka pulls the self-destruct lever and the building starts to blow up. Benitsubasa and Haihane make a quick exit, and this frees up Tsukiumi and Kazehana. Meanwhile, Minato and Musubi are still climbing up the stairs towards the top of the skyscraper.

Lots of fire but no fireworks.

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

Mmmm... Seven Arcs' attempt to shape up a compelling season finale is not going too well. This episode had plenty of "action", but all the fights were meaningless and the booby traps were trivial against Minato's Sekireis. There wasn't much to be impressed about, and the thing that irked me the most was why Minaka for no good reason blew up his company headquarters? I know he's an eccentric guy who likes to play games and has done a bunch of unreasonable things (including setting up the current scenario), but blowing up his own building still seems beyond his level of stupidity. They needed something to give the finale a sense of urgency, but this isn't a very good way to do it.

I understand the animators are in a bit of a tough spot though. If they followed the manga, this season would end somewhere at the start of Stage 3 of the Sekirei Plan and that wouldn't have been a good finale; the story would have just been cut off and left hanging. Making good anime-original material for a manga-based series is not easy, especially for people like me who follow the manga. Having the MBI building blow up doesn't make any sense, but there is not too much Seven Arcs can do if they want to go back on the manga storyline next season. Hopefully the last episode of the season would turn out to be half-decent.

Gantz 325

Kurono #1 runs into some familiar faces while running through the alien city.

Keeping such large animals in such small enclosures... animal cruelty!!!

Summary:
Kurono #1 leads the naked escapees down the aliens street while alien soldiers are hot on their trail. The soldiers open fire and kill some of the escapees, and Kurono returns fire and downs some of the soldiers. Kurono and the remaining escapees run into a mall and the soldiers do not follow them into the building. Inside, Kurono's group find themselves in an indoor zoo where there are a lot of giant alien creatures on display. However, in one of the displays is a group of naked humans, and among them are Kurono's middle school crush and her jerkwad boyfriend (featured in chapter 282). The jerkwad boyfriend and other survivors (inside and outside the display) want Kurono to let the imprisoned people out. Kurono is not so keen on the idea, but eventually relents and blasts a hole in the display.

Meanwhile, the alien girl has taken Tae into her parents' swanky car and the alien family drives away with Tae.

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It's official now: the rescue-Tae arc will not be over for a long long time. It might actually be taking a break now that Kurono #1 and Tae are nowhere near each other. Instead of finding Tae, Kurono managed to find two people that he's not on good terms with in this chapter. I guess Oku is trying to insert a bit of drama in there, but Kurono's old crush and her boyfriend aren't important so nobody is going to care if they die. Kurono can always ditch them if he wants to, although I still think Kurono will try to lead the survivors to safety. Searching for Tae in an unfamiliar alien city would be nearly impossible without a trail, so Kurono might as well try to play hero.

I wonder what the other characters are up to right now. It'd be interesting to see where Nishi disappeared off.

Queen's Blade Utsukushiki Toushi-tachi OVA 02

In the second Utsukushiki Toushi-tachi OVA, Allean and Nowa have a run-in with Nyx and Funikura.

Some images not safe for work.

I guess Allean really is the thousand-year-old version if she's blushing because Nowa was leaning against her.

No more elven no pantsu.

The world of Queen's Blade is full of random sticky fluids.

Summary:
After the Queen's Blade tournament, Allean originally wanted to go back to the forest as soon as possible, but Nowa wanted to visit new places and the two end up wandering around the land. Allean feels guilty about not returning to the forest, but she also feels happy to travel with Nowa. One day, Allean and Nowa find their way to the seaside where the two decide to spend the day and have fun on the beach, but Allean notices that there is a malevolent tentacle creature swimming in the waters. At night, after Allean has fallen asleep, Nowa secretly sneak out of the inn room to find a rare sea stone that Allean had told her about a long time ago. Diving into the water and braving the currents, Nowa finds the sea stone but is then knocked unconscious by something.

Queen's Blade Beach Volleyball... now there is an idea for a video game.

If you want to buy swords from Yummil, you better buy the high end stuff.

Back at the seaside inn, Allean heads out after discovering that Nowa is gone. While searching the beach, Allean finds two local girls being attacked by a tentacled monster. Allean drives off the creature but the creature escapes. Allean eventually finds Nowa's monkey Lu who points to the water. Allean dives in and is swept by the currents to a nearby island.

Obligatory tentacle rape.

Meanwhile, the unconscious Nowa has washed up on the island and is found by Nyx. Nyx treats Nowa to some soup and Nowa is thankful for Nyx's kindness. Nowa notices Funikura sleeping nearby and advices Nyx to get rid of the evil staff, but Nyx thinks she's useless without Funikura. While Nowa is giving Nyx a pep talk, Allean arrives and is pissed that Nowa sneaked out on her own and is socializing with Nyx. While the situation becomes tense between the three females, Funikura wakes up and gropes Nyx who turns into her sadistic mode and starts spraying fire everywhere. Nowa and Allean jump around to avoid being toasted, and in the process Nowa drops her sea stone which cracks when it hits the ground. Nowa retrieves the stone but is sent flying by one of Nyx's fire blasts. Allean gets serious and quickly defeats Nyx, shedding what's left of Nyx's clothes, but Funikura attacks from behind and attempts to take over Allean's body. As Allean is about to lose control, Nowa comes to the rescue and knocks Funikura off of Allean. Nowa then spin tosses Funikura far into the sea, and Nyx jumps in the water to follow after the staff (but then realizes she can't swim).

Now that's a moonsault.

Hey, Nowa stopped being useless.

The day after, Nowa and Allean say goodbye to the sea. Nowa tells Allean that she understands why Nyx is so attached to Funikura as it's hard to live in the world alone, but she adds that sometimes a person has to strike out on his/her own. Nowa states that she wants to travel the land by herself and hands Allean the sea stone she found. Supposedly by holding the stone, a person can see the love one he/she is thinking about. Allean tells Nowa that she'll remember her even without the stone, and the two share an emotional hug before going their separate ways. Some time later, Allean arrives back at the elven forest.

The hardest part of love is letting go.

The ED sequence has more focus on Allean, Nowa and Nyx as you'd expect.

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Seems like the Utsukushiki Toushi-tachi OVAs are going to be focused on various character relationships in the series. Last episode it was Elina and Reina, and this time Nowa and Allean. Basically, Allean was falling in love with Nowa, but Nowa "grew up" and then dumped Allean. That sounds sad, but it's probably better that way for Allean, since she can go back to her day job without having to babysit Nowa. Nowa was still pretty careless and useless until the very end of the battle against Nyx and Funikura, so letting her go off on her own probably isn't the best idea. Then again, if Reina (who was even more useless than Nowa at the beginning), can wander around and become super strong, maybe a self journey is just what Nowa needs to power up her abilities. In that way, I guess going separate ways is the best for both teacher and student.

Compared to last episode, I thought this episode was better in the action department. Seeing Nyx spray fire around and having the two elves jump from rock to rock to dodge was more entertaining than seeing Reina create random explosions. Allean's finisher move was a letdown though (random streaks of light with no movement on Allean's part). Since this episode also featured Nyx and Funikura, there was plenty of tentacle action (on Nyx, Allean, and the two girls Allean and Nowa played beach volleyball with). Last episode had Elina and Echidna's snake, but people who are into the tentacle thing will probably like this episode more. On the downside, there wasn't much in the way of cute flashbacks (where Elina was too young to be considered an obsessive siscon) like the Elina episode.

Overall, this was another pretty decent episode by Queen's Blade standards. The next episode appears to focus on Airi, and Rana, Cattleya and Melpha will be there as well.

Bleach 420

The Final Getsuga Tenshou.

Two can play the transformation game.

Summary:
Ichigo unleashes the Final Getsuga Tenshou. Flash back to the Hyperbolic Time Chamber training: Ichigo eventually figures out that he isn't supposed to run away from Tensa Zangetsu and gets stabbed, but it doesn't hurt since Zangetsu is a part of Ichigo. Zangetsu starts crying and states that he had wanted to protect Ichigo and thus didn't want Ichigo to learn the Final Getsuga Tenshou, but Ichigo will have access to the technique anyways. Back to the present, Ichigo transforms into a form with long dark hair and bandages covering most of his upper body up to the mouth. Ichigo explains the "Final" Getsuga Tenshou means that he actually becomes Getsuga and thus loses all his shinigami powers. Aizen can't believe Ichigo powered up again and starts whining, and Ichigo unleashes the "Mugetsu" attack which covers the battlefield in a mountain of darkness.

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Ichigo one-ups Aizen with another power-up transformation! Bleach is a transformation power-up manga, and as such this is what we get, but I'm glad that the Final Getsuga Tenshou at least came with a transformation instead of being just a finishing move. With the rate Ichigo and (especially) Aizen are transforming these days, readers who skipped a few chapters will probably have no idea who's who anymore. Unless this is the final fight of the manga (highly doubtful), then I doubt Ichigo's new form will be his "final" one, but I wonder what it'd mean if Ichigo loses his shinigami powers for good. Anyways, this fight can be nearly over or far from over. We'll just have to see if Aizen will one-up Ichigo again with another transformation.

Naruto 510

The conclusion to Konan vs. Madara.

I guess Madara's "intangible-ness" must protect his hearing, or else he'd be deaf after listening to that for 10 mintues.

Summary:
Konan calls up billions of pieces of explosive tags and surrounds Madara with them. From experience, Konan knows that Madara can't absorb the tags quick enough and can only remain intangible for five minutes, and Konan has prepared enough explosive tags to continually blow up for 10 minutes. After burning through all the tags, Konan thinks she has won, but Madara stabs her from behind. Madara explains that he somehow used Izanagi to survive and goes on a bit of a history lesson. One needs the powers of both the Uchiha and Senju to use Izanagi, and Madara fought Senju in order to steal Senju's abilities. Konan breaks away from Madara and Madara gets ready to finish Konan off, but both notice that the sky is clearing up. Konan takes it as a sign of support and prepares for one last ditch attack, but Madara grabs her first and puts her under genjutsu in order to extract the Rinnegan's location. Later, Madara finds his way to the room where Yahiko and Nagato's bodies were placed.

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Konan put up a decent fight, but as expected Madara wins by pulling out some Uchiha eye-hax technique and gets to what he wants. Eye-hax just can't be beat by conventional means, although Konan did do some damage before losing out, and the damage revealed that Madara actually has two Sharingans. This could be evidence against the popular theory that Madara is in Obito's body, but Madara might have just stole a Sharingan from someone. As Danzo has shown, Sharingans are not all that rare. The big revelation this chapter is that Madara is on the quest to collect all of the six paths, the three of them being Uchiha powers, Senju powers and the Rinnegan. I don't remember if the other three paths were ever mentioned, so I wonder what Madara is going to go after next after he gets the Rinnegan. It'd be fun if Konan puts some booby-traps near Nagato and Yahiko's bodies, although Madara would probably know about them after he extracted info from Konan.

Fullmetal Alchemist Another Journey's End Gaiden

Just stumbled across this today. This is a new gaiden for the Fullmetal Alchemist manga that takes place after the Elrics brothers returned to Resembool after the big battle but before they left on their new adventures.

Oh yeah, this bucket of bolts...

Summary:
At the Rockbell house, Ed, Al, Winry and Grandma Pinako pry open a big crate that was sent from Central, and they discover the remains of Al's armor inside. Ed, Al and Winry reminisce about the days when Al's soul inhabited the armor, and Den runs off with Al's helmet while the people are distracted. The brothers and Winry look around the house for Den and the helmet but can't find either of them, and at this time Al tells Winry that he has a request.

Later in day, the brothers and Winry haul what remains of Al's armor to the local metal factory to be forged into tools. Winry had asked if Al wanted to keep the armor as a memento, but Al said that was no point keeping the armor in a corner and let it collect dust. Instead, Al wants the armor to be remade into tools so that it can be a part of everyone's lives.

Sometime later, Ed returns from the metal factory and hands Grandma Pinko a new sickle made from Al's armor. The steel from the armor has also been into a dumbbell for Al and a drill press for Winry. As Grandma tries out her new sickle, a bird dashes out from the grass and Ed discovers that Al's helmet has been turned into a bird's nest complete with hatchlings.

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I thought the FMA manga was over for good and didn't expect any new content for the series, so I was pleasantly surprised to find this gaiden. This is probably the last new manga material that we are going to see for FMA though. This gaiden is short like most of the other FMA gaidens, but it tells a nice little story in the lives of the main characters. I can't say that I ever wondered what happened to Al's metal body after the series ended though. The ending had plenty of more prominent aspects for fans to wonder about, but this is at least interesting trivia for the series.

On a related note, I also watched the FMA:B 4-koma theaters today. Some of the skits were pretty funny, while the one where Scar wears a bra was a bit disturbing lol.

Highschool of the Dead 11

Shido's group arrive at the Takagi compound.

Shido should have tried to start his own cult before the zombie crisis. Being a teacher was a waste of his talents.

Why are we arguing with these in-denials instead of going out and having fun killing zombies?

Summary:
Somewhere in the city, Shido is busy preaching to his followers while one of the students is shut out of the bus and is then killed by zombies. At the Takagi compound, Saya, Kohta, and Takashi argue with a group of adults who thinks the zombies are caused by a disease and they shouldn't be killed. The argument ends up going nowhere and Saya is pissed, but Kohta states that he understands where the adults are coming from. Everyone wants things to be normal and can go into denial when things go wrong. Kohta's words leads Takashi to think of his own experience about seeing Rei going out with Hisashi. Elsewhere, Saya's dad hands Saeko a new sword as thanks for protecting Saya and because Saeko's dad taught him kendo. Saeko states that most of the credit should go to Takashi as he is "leader" of the group, but Saya's dad thinks Takashi is a bit indecisive.

Must bow out due to injury.

Meanwhile, Takashi is brooding in his room when Rei enters. The two flirt and almost get it on, but Rei's arm and back are still hurting so the session is cut short. Rei leaves the room only to be greeted by Saeko standing outside. The two girls chat for a bit about Takashi, but when Saeko tells Rei to stop calling her senpai Rei gets angry about something and walks away.

Why the reaction? Other than the pads and new sword, Saeko looks exactly the same as before.

Later in the day, Takashi tells Saya's dad about his plans to go look for their parents. Souichirou (Saya's dad) tell Takashi that his forces will vacate the compound in the day after tomorrow, and Takashi tells Souichirou not to bother to wait if he doesn't come back in time. With Souichirou's approval, Takashi, Rei and Saeko get ready to leave, but Rei spots Shido walking into the mansion and charges towards him with her bayonet. While holding Shido at knife point, Rei reveals the reason why she hates Shido so much. It turns out that Shido's father, a corrupt politician, had a grudge against Rei's father, and thus Shido was told to hold Rei back for a year at school. Souichirou appears and lets Rei decide whether or not to take Shido's life, and Takashi and the rest of the group stand back to let Rei make her own decision. Rei eventually decides that Shido is not worth killing and Souichirou kicks Shido and his followers off the compound.

Fate has a funny way of bringing people together.

Somewhere in the ocean, a US nuclear submarine receives orders from the current president to launch ballistic missiles. Meanwhile in the space stations, two astronaut look down at Earth in horror as both the US and Russia launch missiles.

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Another episode that was mostly devoid of zombies, I suppose it was to set up for things next week. The first half was pretty boring with none of the characters doing anything meaningful (other than Saeko getting a sword upgrade). There were more people in denial (they'll probably end up as zombie lunch), and then there was Takashi brooding about whether he should be leader and then not quite getting anywhere with Rei. It was sad to see Takashi and Rei trying to get it on but couldn't even start because Rei's injuries. No hanky panky with a sore back and arm lol.

The second half was considerably better with Takashi's group setting up their next move and the confrontation between Rei and Shido. Rei's reason for hating Shido so much was finally revealed, and Rei's hate seems fully justified. Shido is obviously a manipulative asshole, and his dad's problem with Rei's dad just adds to it. Rei might regret not killing Shido when she had the chance though. I guess Saya's dad must have hated Shido as well, although I'm not sure why they tossed the students who were with Shido out the door as well. If you are going to kick those guys out, then might as well kick out the in-denials as well since neither group will be all that helpful.

Overall, this episode was a bit better than last week's thanks to the tension created by Shido's reappearance, but the zombie action is still greatly missed. Thankfully, looks like all those ballistic missiles flying around will spark something that'll bring the zombies back in the picture.

Sekirei ~Pure Engagement~ 11

Minato and Sekireis head towards MBI to find a cure for Uzume, but Minaka lays down roadblocks along the way.

It took Higa only two seconds to get from where Minato was to where the car is and then start the car and put on his seat belt. I guess it's only appropriate for fast cars to have fast drivers.

Summary:
At the hospital, Higa hands Minato the flowers which contains memory card that has the info to keep Chiho in stable condition. Higa then tries to convince Minato that everything is MBI's fault and also that only MBI has the technology to cure Chiho. Later back at the inn, Minato calls his mom for help, but Takami declines to get involved. However, Minaka somehow learns of the request and contacts Minato himself, telling Minato that he'll help Chiho and Minato can make it to the top floor of the MBI building by the end of tomorrow. Right after extending this offer, Minaka immediately plays the other side and tells all the other Ashikabis to try and stop Minato's group in exchange for a special reward. Despite the risks, Minato and his Sekireis agree to head out. Meanwhile, Higa makes his own plans and hires Seo, Hikari and Hibiki for a job.

The Sekirei Plan almost ended prematurely right there.

Are all of these people that good at hiding, or was is just that Minato's group isn't very good at spotting people?

The next day, Minato and his Sekireis depart from the inn with encouragement from Miya. MBI has called for residents of the city to stay in their homes, so Sekireis will be free to battle. Minato and company split into two group, with Minato, Tsukiumi, Musubi and Kazehana headed towards MBI's front doors while Matsu, Homura and Kusano take the back path so Matsu can take over MBI's control room. Minato's group walk unopposed most of the way to the MBI skyscraper, but then they find themselves surrounded by several Ashikabis and their Sekireis. While Minato and his Sekireis are figuring how to get past this obstacle, Sanada  (the biker Ashikabi) and his three Sekireis arrive on the scene and starts a fight with the other Ashikabis/Sekireis. This allows Minato's group to walk into MBI building where they are quickly shut in by steel shutters.

The blood must be rushing to his head given how it's spraying out.

Don't tell me you didn't expect that to happen.

Fire has been put on ice.

Meanwhile, Kusano leads Matsu and Homura down a wooded path towards MBI's back entrance. They find the entrance but are confronted by Mikogami along with Akitsu, Mutsu, and #65 Taki. Matsu and Kusano manage to break away in the midst of the battle and Mutsu goes after them. This leaves Homura to face Akitsu and Taki, and Akitsu and Taki combine their abilities to make a freezing fog which downs Homura.

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It's obvious that ~Pure Engagement~ is setting up for a big season-ending battle. There wasn't anything big going on at this time in the manga, so Seven Arcs is going out of its way to set something up. Having Minato and company run a gauntlet isn't a bad idea, but it looks like the good guys might end up fighting the Disciplinary Squad once again for the finale. It's curious that the anime's scenario is somewhat similar to what's going on in the manga currently, but the timelines and many details are different. I'm wondering if Seven Arcs will make any other big irreversible changes to the story. I still believe that the anime will go back on manga material eventually, but we'll have to see if any other significant characters will bite the dust before the end of this season.

As for this episode, it was mostly plot setup with a bit of fighting at the end. I wanted to see Minato's Sekireis have a skirmish against the other unnamed Sekireis and/or Sanada's group, but the standoff ended with only a off-screen fight and Minato's group getting a free pass into the MBI building. Minato got played around this episode, but that's not a surprise. Being wimpy and "pure-hearted", Minato isn't ready to handle people like Higa or Minaka, and they both played Minato for their own purposes. It was sad to see how easily Minato let Higa off the hook, but I'm sure Minato and company will come out on top somehow. I'm also intrigued that Higa hired Seo for a job. Seo is not exactly the super reliable type, but perhaps Higa meant for Seo to fail. It'll be interesting to see what they are up to.