What I'm Watching 14

Sorry about being MIA. Lots of stuff going on including a trip to Starfest 2007 and job changes. I blog about both on my other blog.

Lupin III Part III 02 -- Zenigata comes up with a plan with his ICPO supervisor to use 6-tons of gold to lure Lupin into a trap to steal it. Lupin steals the gold, only to find they've stolen a 6-ton gold-colored cement ball. Realizing he and Zenigata have been set up, Lupin gets the inspector on the case, discovering that his supervisor, with the help of Fujiko, stole the gold. Unfortunately, Zenigata is unable to prove this, forcing Lupin, Jigen, and Goemon to find the real gold and allow Zenigata to take the credit.

Thoughts: This episode was pretty simplistic. The moment the gold Lupin stole was shown to be fake, I already knew the supervisor stole it and since Fujiko wasn't around, it was likely she was involved somehow. I can't say I was bored, but I can say that this is something I'd never watch again.

Hayate no Gotoku! 03 -- Hayate goes to wake Nagi only to find a giant white tiger with her on the bed. Nagi is unconcerned about it and Head Butler Klaus decides that "White Tiger Cat Tama" and Hayate should go outside to "play". Unfortunately, play leads to a defeat for Hayate and a destruction of Maria-san's flower bed. When Maria-san discovers this, even the fearsome Tama is afraid. Klaus still is unconvinced that Hayate is the man for the job of butler so he comes up with the robot "Eight" to compete with Hayate in being a butler. Unfortunately, the robot gets a bit angry and it turns into a real battle between robot and Hayate with Hayate winning. Upon keeping his job, Hayate and Nagi are seen together with the mecha unit from the beginning of episode 1, it complaining about having to wait three episodes to continue their fight.

Thoughts: Oh yeah, the wacky humor is good stuff. I love surprises. Tama wasn't so much of a surprise until the end and I won't even spoil that for you. Suffice to say, I found it amusing. The unexpected return of the mecha unit from the beginning of episode 1 was laugh-out-loud funny to me and completely unexpected (as was the complaining). In many ways, the humor here reminds me of classic Tex Avery stuff (his Daffy Duck was best) and I love it.

Hayate no Gotoku! 04 -- After a conversation with Tama, Hayate goes to take Nagi's forgotten bento to her school. He's met at the gate by KATSURA Yukiji-sensei, who after a brief battle is bested by Hayate who makes it onto the school grounds. This is seen by female students HANABISHI Miki, SEGAWA Izumi, and ASAKAZE Risa, who make some introductions and comments to the real-life viewing audience. Hayate attempts to get the bento to Nagi and ends up under a tree where KATSURA Hinagiku, younger sister of Yukiji-sensei, is. She rescued a baby bird, and Hayate has to save it from a crow. As a reward, Hina-chan takes him to the clock tower where Yukiji-sensei finds them. She's determined to make Hayate pay, but when Hina intervenes, a battle ensues and the bento gets ruined. Fortunately, Nagi was able to figure it all out, much to the relief of Hayate.

Thoughts: Tama telling Hayate he didn't want to be a Pikachu-type character was just a hoot, more so because part of the name was bleeped out. That happens a lot when the series talks about other anime titles or people. Unfortunately, I've only been able to identify about a third of these (like the Pocket Monster reference and an easy Gundam reference). There's a lot of parody in this anime which is also a lot of fun.

New "Mahou Shoujo Tai Alice"

A year ago, I finished watching the DVD release of an anime called Mahou Shoujo Tai Alice (aka: Teeny Witches and you can read my review here), which while a bit kiddy and preachy for my tastes, I did rather enjoy it and thought it would make a good show for girls (how about it, FUNimation?). While I only gave the show a "rent," I did like it enough that I would have continued watching should more that 40 episodes have been made.

Well, I guess things were pretty good for the series (with the DVD release being widescreen and merging the each 12-minute episode into a single event, and having an interesting and beautiful intro added showing the males and females of this planet in times past) because Anime News Service is reporting that there's going to be a sequel created.

4-19-07 (10:17PM EDT)---- ANS Exclusive First Look: New Mahou Shoujo Tai Alice Animation Continuing the "excavation" of our loot pile from the Tokyo International Film Festival 2007, we uncovered an image containing news of yet another new animation decision announcement that has seemingly escaped wider acknowledgement. Tucked away in the corner of a B&W promotional flyer for TOHOKUSHINSHA FILM CORPORATION is a block mentioning a new Mahou Shoujo Tai anime is forthcoming in 2007 from original creator Amemiya Keita (Iria / Zeiram) and STUDIO 4C. The duo came together in 2004 / 2005 to produce the original 40 episode "tweeny witch" TV series of the same name. In an extremely odd twist for television production there, the voice cast laid down their vocal tracks prior to the actual animation completion. The new extra chapter work is being tentatively titled "THE ADVENTURE". Scheduled for six episodes, the storyline will differ from the serious nature of the TV seires, presenting more laid back comical elements and a look at the daily life of the main characters. Amemiya-san first hinted at a sequel series in the summer of 2005 attaching a scheduled March, 2007 debut to it. Character designer Daisuke Nakayama mentioned on his blog in November, 2006 that a 2 year production period had wrapped and agreements were being negotiated for Japanese TV broadcast at that time. Release schedule remains unknown as of this writing.

So that's pretty cool if a sequel is indeed going to happen. I know I'd certainly enjoy a trip back. Indeed, seeing this news blurb (and thanks to ANS for telling folks this with their exclusive), it is tempting for me to want to re-watch the original series.

BTW, check out this nifty image from the end of the intro sequence on the DVD release (it appears in front of every episode). I really have to look at getting the soundtrack for this anime.



Update: an OVA series WAS created entitled Mahou Shoujo Tai Alice: The Adventure and was 6-episodes in length. Media Blasters pre-licensed it when they grabbed the TV series.

Negima! Vol 18 (Ch 167) *SPOILERS*

Thanks to AQS for the scans.

Chapter 167

Nekane listens to the latest letter from Negi. Anya comes up and sees the enclosed photos, which are all of girls. Informing them that he plans to return home during the summer break, Anya begins combing her hair, which leads to some teasing from Nekane.

Back in Japan, Konoka has prepared breakfast and informs Asuna that Negi has left for school early. Asuna had wanted to apologize for an event that had happened. Meanwhile, Negi is at school working hard on his class report. After a chat with Shizuna-sensei, Negi is in class where he gives the class a pop quiz. The class's grades have dropped, but they are excited about their 2nd place prize for the school festival attraction. After Negi gives a talk about studies, girls in the class remark on how far Negi has come as a teacher. After Negi asks the Baka Rangers to stay after class, the girls decide to study hard.

At Eva's resort, Negi is again in training as he battles Chachamaru, Chachazero, and Eva. While he loses, Eva compliments him on lasting a full 60-seconds. Negi is stunned by the rare praise and Eva states they'll add some practical applications to the training. However, she warns him not to get excited because things are about to get tougher. Kotaro, Kaede, and Kū Fei arrive on scene and Eva suggests Kotaro and Negi battle as practice, which they do.

A few days later, all of the Baka Rangers, sans Asuna, are doing well. Negi assures Asuna she is getting better though. As the two walk home after the extra session, Asuna apologizes for what she said to him days earlier. Negi states she didn't have to apologize, who thinks that she may have spoken the truth about him seeing only his father Nagi. Despite everything, he can't stop chasing his father and has decided that he will go to Wales during the summer break and may never return. As such, he asks Asuna to come with him as his partner.

Thoughts:

There's some texture stuff here (the class grades) and stuff, but Akamatsu-sensei is setting up the next big arc -- the Summer Vacation arc. Negi's training at Eva's resort shows his continued progress there. I wonder if Eva will somehow get to come to Wales, but there is the curse to consider. Negi certainly learned his lesson by coming to Asuna and asking her to come with him to Wales though.

Random Thoughts 01

Been a lot of things going on, so I haven't had time to review the manga or anime titles as normal. Sorry about that. But I have a few minutes before I see the doctor so here goes some thoughts on recent anime events (or maybe not so recent).

Item 1: ADV has the 2nd Ah! My Goddess TV series as everyone has long known. What I was blissfully unaware of is that instead of using the name "Everyone Has Wings" (which is the translation of "Sorezore no Tsubasa"), ADV is going with "Flights of Fancy." I was peeking in on some A!MG boards and folks aren't too happy with this. While I won't be buying this series (I was sorely disappointed with the anime adaptation of the manga), I am wondering what thought process was going through the folks at ADV's head. The title of the DVD's aren't much better. Oh well.

Item 2: Most anime fans hate 4Kids and their treatment of anime titles they've licensed. Gone are the days of Pokemon where they could do what they wanted and who knew the difference. Every time the head of 4Kids would open his mouth about anime or manga (Khan), fans would scream. Every time they licensed an anime, fans would scream. When One Piece was licensed by them, the screams were the loudest I ever heard. Further, I've never heard such passion, even among casual anime fans, wanting 4Kids to lose the license.

A while back, 4Kids dropped all references to One Piece from their website, including the official site they'd created. Fans were all a buzz about this, wondering what had happened. Even when folks would say, "Yes, 4Kids has lost the license," fans were afraid to believe it. Then FUNimation comes out and says, "We have the license." Mato will be translating it and while there is uncertainty as to where in the series FUNimation will start releasing the unedited DVD's (for the Toonami TV release, FUNimation has to start dubbing with episode 144, picking up where 4Kids left off), fans are ecstatic. With the unedited DVD's, fans are happy with Mato saying how things will be in the subtitles, and mostly happy with how the dubs will be done.

I've never seen the series, but with Mato doing the subtitles, I may be checking it out now (assuming FUNimation releases the early episodes on DVD sooner rather than later). I believe 308 episodes have been released in Japan so FUNimation has another "unending" series in their library. I suspect this one will do better than Detective Conan though.

Item 3: Despite Viz's horrible treatment of the Maison Ikkoku manga (and my dissatisfaction with the subtitles for the anime), I still love the series from Takahashi-sensei and feel it is her best work. The Japanese have felt this as well, so I suppose it is only natural that a live-action version was next on the agenda. I don't know how many live-action adaptations of manga/anime you guys have seen, but I've seen a few. The Sailor Moon live-action series made me cringe. The You're Under Arrest! live-action series was just awful. The original Maison Ikkoku movie wasn't very good to me. BUT, the live-action Honey and Clover movie was pretty good. So, while I am uncertain as to how this series will be, when it airs on May 12th, I plan on catching the raw (maybe we'll see some subtitles for this). I'm not sure about the casting for Ichinose-san. She doesn't have the short, stocky look of the anime. Yotsuya-san looks way too old for the role, but again, we'll see how things play out.

Well, that's it for this installment.

Negima! Vol 18 (Ch 166) *SPOILERS*

Thanks to AQS for the scans!

Chapter 166

Student #6, ŌKŌCHI Akira, heads to the large indoor onsen-styled bath and has a relaxing swim in the warm water. She runs into Negi, who's lost in thought looking at his mage-ring. She's surprised, but then teases him a bit about being ecchi. Other girls arrive and spot Negi, with Asuna wondering if he actually bathed and washed his hair. Some of the girls have coupons to give Negi a full wash, and this they do, causing Negi to lose his ring, which he cannot find.

At class the next day, Asuna again has trouble with the English translation and Eva gives Negi a look. She notices his ring missing and asks about it, but he plays it off. After leaving her, Negi is depressed about losing the ring and as he passes the school pool, Akira notices this. Later she catches up to Negi and buys him a cold, canned beverage. As they walk, Negi explains that he lost his ring. She wonders if it is a ring signifying he and Eva are a couple, which he denies, imagining Eva in punishment mode. Akira agrees to help him find the ring.

They search the bath area and the entire bath itself. Some of the girls arrive for their bath and Akira asks Yuuna about the ring. Yuuna has it, but rather than give it to Negi, she decides to play keep-away. Other girls get in on the act and when Misora gets the ring, she races across the surface of the bath, but Negi keeps up with her. She activates her artifact and easily gets away from Negi, ultimately leaping high into the air. She's met in the air by a non-to-happy Akira who forces her into the water below. She then inflicts water punishment on Yuuna and the other girls who played keep-away. After a moment of triumph, she calms down and gives Negi the ring. So in his class register, he notes Akira as a nice and very strong person, the later which gives Akira a shock.

Thoughts:

Almost no text was in this chapter and I absolutely loved it. Yeah, it was all filler, but it was good, fun filler. It was nice to get an Akira chapter though, with a nifty Chachazero cameo (Man, is she a scene stealer or what?).

Negima! Volume 1 -- Del Rey and Peter David

*sigh* I knew Peter David had made some changes to the Negima! English adaptation, to include adding at least one sexual innuendo joke. However, even people whom I heard complain about Del Rey's early adaptation never mention the extent of the domestication in the early volume (I know some more recent volumes from Del Rey are pretty good from what I can tell). But just to give you a sample, here's the Del Rey page on the left and a pretty accurate translated page on the right.

You'll notice a few things Del Rey got right, but most of the conversation between Asuna and Konoka is made up by Peter David.

So, why is this important? Well, Konoka mentioning that Asuna is fast is the first clue given to say that there's more to Asuna than meets the eye (If you are reading the current chapters from Japan, boy is there ever more to her than meets the eye!). In another place (that I didn't scan), the Del Rey version has Negi imply that his grades weren't very good. However, you'll note that Del Rey has corrected this in later volumes by actually mentioning that Negi had good grades in school.

Basically, it looks like Peter David took every opportunity he could to add sexual innuendo jokes that weren't in the original Japanese. Then, he decided to add other jokes not in the original Japanese. However, Konoka making a joke about something else Asuna could do is dropped in favor of a re-write. I hate re-writes.

I'm told Del Rey fixed the egregious "Southern Master" errors in volumes 2-4, changing that to the proper "Thousand Master." I don't believe they've ever done anything to fix volume 1, and I for one think they should.

Don't get me wrong, I think Del Rey is the best of the manga publishers out there. However, volume 1 of Negima! is just awful despite the good usage of Japanese honorifics.

See also: Del Rey is Slipping.

What I'm Watching 13

Ah! My Goddess: Sorezore no Tsubasa 24 (OAV 02) -- Peorth, Skuld, Urd, and Belldandy are sitting playing a game of Mahjong when Belldandy wins on the first move. Peorth walks away knowing she can never beat someone so lucky. Hearing Belldandy say something to Keiichi, she remembers this part of her mission and confronts Keiichi. She asks if he's ever said he loved her (using the Japanese word "suki") and of course he hasn't. When Belldandy interrupts their conversation, he takes the opportunity to flee. The following day, Keiichi observes Belldandy at work and asks Chihiro-san about women wanting to hear "I love you." She tells him they do want to hear it, but when she tries to arrange it, K1 flees again.

That night at home, Peorth arranges for some special training getting Keiichi to tell her "suki," which Belldandy overhears as she brings tea, forcing her to make a hasty retreat. Urd has been observing and talks to K1, saying "I love you" in many languages. She attempts to give him special medicine, which Peorth intercepts and forces on Urd. Urd pretends to fall in love with Peorth causing her to make a hasty retreat. That night, K1 asks Peorth why she cares and its due to an aura around him. So she sends him up to the top of the bell house where Belldandy is sitting. Urd manages to get some of her medicine into K1 anyway and so whenever he says "suki," it causes the person he says the words to pass out in a pleasant way. So Belldandy is out and Skuld gets mad. Coming up to inflict punishment on K1, she too passes out when K1 explains and uses the word "suki." When Urd and Peorth come up and debate who's at fault, he accuses them of trying to kill him, the phrase "koroSUKI ka" coming out of his mouth and causing them to pass out and fall to the ground. And so it goes.

Thoughts: Well, this was pulled from much later manga volumes and out of the blue (chapter 193-195 to be exact). Its not a bad story and it is a good adaptation, but here Peorth is talking about her mission which is explained in the manga (Urd's test for becoming a 1st Class Goddess). Oh well. I suppose there won't be any more TV series, so why not have it end with K1's confession (of sorts). Oh, and there was a little bit of Belldandy fanservice with an every-so-slight peek up her skirt. You don't see anything really, but it stands out just the same.

Pumpkin Scissors 15 -- As the 908 trooper attacks, Alice tries to drive the group away, only to find themselves trapped by a wall of fire. The Waterworks thugs arrive, only to have the 908 trooper attack and kill some of them. The rest flee, but find their escape blocked with bars that hadn't been there before. Complicating matters is the rising water. The 908 trooper sees the 901 emblem on Oland's lantern and relates to him. However, the waters rise fast and Oland is pulled under. He awakes in the hospital and Alice is curious to know what the flamethrower soldier said to him. Oland won't say, so Alice leaves. He's then visited by Kauplan's assistant, who calls herself Kauplan now. She gives him some injections and does other things to Oland to repair him. Oland asks her about the 908, and she states that officially, the flamethrower troops were supposedly isolated from the heat of their flames by a special liquid in their suit but in reality, they just cannot feel the pain of their burning flesh.

As Pumpkin Scissors continues their busts of Waterworks drug dealing employees, Major Connery pays Captain Hunks a visit. Hunks has some burned remains of emblems from Connery's Section I troops who've been killed on their secret mission. Meanwhile, Oreld and Machs come across the girl they rescued, Marielle. Oreld compliments her on her hair cut which she says makes her happy, but her tears and the money packet she holds tells Oreld that she sold her hair so that her father could by more of the drug Himmel. Staging an event in the sewer where he pretends to have purchased Marielle, her father gets angry. When Machs joins in, the two get a beating, but Marielle is happy her father defended her.

Mertz has been busted again by Pumpkin Scissors and again is released on bail. He returns to Waterworks president Albert Mione's mansion only to find him missing. He sees and open door and following it, he finds the 908 trooper in one of the rooms, meaning his boss had betrayed them. He then returns to Section III HQ and gives a confession to them. Alice gathers the troops for a mission to stop the next delivery of drugs, but Hunks has a special mission for Oreld instead. Elsewhere, Albert and the 908 trooper great a mysterious person, calling themselves members of the Silver Wheel.

Thoughts: Entertaining and messed up. The fact that the 908 trooper is basically slowly burning himself to death with every mission is very messed up. It was interesting to see how Oland gets his injuries healed. But despite this, we don't seem to be learning a great deal and certainly nothing about the war that spawned these troops nor its mysterious ending.

Hayate no Gotoku! 01 -- (aka: Hayate the Combat Butler) ANZENIN Nagi finds herself confronted by a mecha unit that wants her dead. After throwing five insults about the stupidity of the one attacking her, she screams for Hayate who saves the day. However, the shows opening theme is about to start and prevents him from making a proper introduction. So the announcer makes an introduction about this combat butler, which Hayate protests is too fast.

After recalling an incident with an insulting Santa-san that inspired him, Hayate gets to working, riding a bicycle that goes faster than cars. He makes a delivery on time to a happy customer group, only to have his bad luck cause him to crash down into the subway tunnel. After meeting his "ordinary" high school friends on the road, he heads back to his job where his boss fires him for being underaged. His parents reported him and they subsequently took ¥170,000 he'd earned. Because his parents are worthless bums, Hayate races home, hoping they haven't already blown his cash. He finds their poor apartment empty save for a note with a bill from the yakuza for ¥156,804,000. The yakuza come to take Hayate as payment, but he escapes.

Stopping far away, he notes a young, rich girl wanting to buy a warm beverage from the vending machine on this snowy evening. An angel and devil version of him debate what to do, with the angel deciding they should kidnap the girl and hold her for ransom of ¥150-million, which the devil finds a bit excessive. However, before he can enact his plan, two punks come up and try to have their way with the girl, but Hayate quickly sends them packing. He has no money to give her for the beverage she wants (and the vending machine doesn't take credit cards) so he gives her his jacket, which she quickly ID's as poor. She decides to reward him and so he decides to tell her he's going to kidnap her. However, his words come out poorly, as if he's asking her out and wants to date her. She's surprised by this, but blushingly agrees to it providing he never cheats on her. This puzzles Hayate, but he's off to call her guardian to demand a ransom. Unfortunately, he spoke his name and his plan got flushed. Feeling a failure, he collapses in the snow, only to be rescued by a young woman. Her kindness makes him believe in doing the right thing, so when the girl is being kidnapped, he rescues her by chasing down the car with the young woman's bike. The girl hurls insults at her kidnappers and calling Hayate's name, he arrives and rescues her. With that, the young woman and the girl take the injured Hayate away in a helicopter as he's to be her new butler as a reward (he having asked for a job).

Thoughts: Yeah, I'm going to like this one. Nagi's tough girl attitude and insults are pretty funny. Hayate's inhuman abilities and incredible bad luck are funny. The joke reference to Neon Genesis Evangelion character Gendo Ikari was funny. And the censorship jokes about what they can and can't show on TV Tokyo (complete with a little figure holding a sign saying "Can't Show!" and a comment on the anime writers fighting the broadcast code) was pretty funny. The anime doesn't take itself seriously at all, and I'm loving it! The narrator helps there.

Hayate no Gotoku! 02 -- Hayate finds himself in the clouds and Santa-san tells him he's dead and complains that Hayate hit him last episode. Awakening, Hayate figures he's either dreaming or in heaven since he's in such a rich place. Heading for the large indoor onsen, he starts bathing only to notice Maria-san, the young woman from earlier. He passes out and upon awakening, Maria-san convinces him he had been dreaming. She inquires about him wanting to take Nagi-ojousama away and he confesses to his kidnapping plot and apologizes, letting Maria know it was all a misunderstanding (Nagi thinking Hayate confessed to her). Nagi comes in to see how he's doing and asks him to be her butler. He agrees and swears to do whatever, which of course leads to more misunderstandings. The older man, Klaus-san, inquires about Hayate and ultimately decides that Maria should get rid of him. Maria instead gives him a butlers uniform and he does the best cleaning job she's ever seen.

After coming into Nagi's study, he finds an unlined notebook with what he assumes is a picture diary (its a manga). Nagi comes in and tells him to get out. He misunderstands this to mean he's fired and leaves. The yakuza are waiting for him and take him away, which Maria observes. Maria asks Nagi about this and Nagi states she was only throwing him out of the room, not the house. Seeing the bill, Nagi decides to take action. Wearing a silly mask and acting as a super hero with the name Mask the Money, she plants a card into the forehead of one of the yakuza. When they go to attack her, Hayate, knowing its Nagi, defends her. Nagi produces the bill and then a suitcase full of cash. The yakuza paid off leave Hayate tells Mask the Money that she should tell Nagi he'll work hard for her (since she'd told him his being fired was a misunderstanding) to pay back the money. Nagi had intended for it to be a gift, but when Hayate calls her manga a picture diary, she gets mad and tells him he will repay the debt. As they bicker, Klaus and Maria observe from a distance with Maria noting they are like brother and sister.

Thoughts: Good but not as funny as the first episode. The constant misunderstanding jokes could get old. Still, this is an enjoyable series and it will be interesting following the adventures of Hayate and Nagi-ojousama. ^_^

Inuyasha Vol 48 (Ch 473-475) *SPOILERS*

Thanks to Freelance for the scans.

Chapter 473

As Inuyasha stands unable to move in the flowers, Kaou notes the condition of his soul. He was able to sense Inuyasha's pain through the vines and pollen and notes that he's depressed and wishes to die after the woman he loved died. The vines grab Inuyasha and pull him down to Kagome's dismay. Kaou has disappeared as well and Kagome thinks on what he said. The vines reach up to grab her, but the ward Miroku gave her keeps them at bay. That's why she still feels sad.

Meanwhile, Inuyasha has a vision of a smiling Kikyou inviting him to come with her. In reality, Inuyasha is tied to a post by vines and bleeding from the eyes as Kaou watches, remarking on how peaceful he looks. Kagome goes to look for him and when she tries to enter the dwelling, a barrier keeps forces her back. She screams his name and fires an arrow at the barrier but to no avail. She continues to scream his name, which he hears and reacts to. Inuyasha breaks free and punches Kaou to his surprise. Kaou wonders why since he showed Inuyasha the dream he wanted, so Inuyasha attacks. Punching Kaou in the stomach, Kaou reveals that he's apparently made of the vines and sends a group of them at Inuyasha to kill him.

Outside the residence, Kagome uses the ward to attach to an arrow to break the barrier as vines rise up her leg.

Chapter 474

Kaou goes to remove Inuyasha's physical heart but is interrupted when Kagome's arrow breaks the barrier and he breaks off and disappears. However, as Inuyasha looks outside, Kagome is being overcome by the vines. Having sampled Kagome's soul, Kaou is even more pleased by her wounded heart. This seems to surprise Inuyasha but before Kaou can say what the cause of her pain is, he falls silent as she grips her bow. Realizing her thoughts are known to him, she fires an arrow into the flowers. She's angry at her thoughts being known to him and his plans to announce her pain. She fires another purifying arrow and clears the castle of the flowers.

Looking behind them, Inuyasha sees Kaou rising to attack Kagome. He slices the top-half of Kaou's head off, apparently killing him as the flowers begin to disappear everywhere. Inuyasha and Kagome inquire to each others wellbeing and he confesses what he saw in the dream state. Kagome wants to know if he wanted to go with Kikyou, but his answer of Kagome bringing him to his senses doesn't satisfy her. He continues, saying his inability to save Kikyou pained him but he was only thinking of himself and not Kagome's feelings. He didn't know her pain and so he apologizes to her. Kagome forgives him, knowing Kikyou causes the entire group pain and Inuyasha was the one hurt most. Inuyasha wonders how she can be so strong, but she angrily tells him it isn't being strong, but kind. With that, the group heads off to the next adventure.

Chapter 475

Naraku remembers Kikyou's final attack on him and notes that the now-corrupted Shikon no Tama still retains a point of purity he cannot remove. That purity point is a threat to his life, meaning that killing Kikyou hasn't made him any safer.

Kanna, Naraku's first detachment creation, sits in a tree with her mirror and the wind reminds her of Kagura. Byakuya gives her orders from Naraku to go to Inuyasha's group and open her mirror.

Inuyasha's group meet some old Japanese men who talk about a strange light. Shippou-chan is amazed that Inuyasha decided to help without complaining. The group sees the light and heads to it. It is coming from a lake, where Kanna's mirror sits. From it, a large (crystal-like?) creature emerges. Inuyasha sees Kanna and draws his sword. Silently, Kanna points to Inuyasha's group and it begins to glow more. Inuyasha attempts to use the Kaze no Kizu attack, but nothing happens. This stuns everyone, and the creature forms a Tessaiga-like sword in its right hand.

Thoughts

I know that flower-youkai story was supposed to bring closure to the pain of losing Kikyou, but for me, it just didn't work that well. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't good either. It felt like a forced resolution rather than a genuine one. As to the new story with Kanna, I liked how Kagura was mentioned in passing. Even though there's a tiny part of me that would like to see Kagura somehow come back and end up with Sesshoumaru, I doubt she comes back. We'll see what happens with this newest Kanna arc.

Ah! My Goddess Chapter 222 *SPOILERS*

Thanks to GMT for the scans.

Chapter 222

As Bell and K1 look at the picture of the young woman, Belldandy thinks she's seen her before. K1 speculates the picture is pretty old, and the camera confirms it is from June 25, 1964. Keiichi gets frustrated with the camera since it remembers the date but not the name of the woman nor the person who originally owned it. When Skuld wonders why the camera works only part of the time, the camera responds that it was instructed to only take pictures of beautiful things. Of course this pleases Urd and Skuld since it took their picture.

Welsper shows up and states that the camera is cursed. Urd isn't convinced, figuring the cat is lying since it wouldn't take his picture. As such, she unleashes a bunch of abuse on Welsper, which causes Belldandy to be stunned and Urd to backtrack for Belldandy's sake.

Bell suggests to K1 that they go to the shop where the camera was picked up. It is an antique shop who seems to know "Morisato-kun." The proprietor of the store, a man named Susuki, is eccentric and gives a lengthy speech on antiques. Of course Belldandy is taken in by his enthusiasm even if Keiichi isn't. When they finally get around to the camera that Tamiya and Ootaki purchased, Susuki doesn't recognize the woman in the developed photo. His records don't show the previous owner. Since it likely belonged to a previous president of the Photo Club, they decide to do a search of all previous club presidents. Before they can leave, Belldandy gets a dreamy look and asks to be allowed to tidy up the place. This has K1 leading her out of the store in a hurry while Susuki wishes she would have stayed and cleaned.

Somehow, K1 gets a list of presidents going back to the club's founder. However, he doesn't recognize any names, and neither does the camera. Belldandy wonders why Keiichi is trying so hard to find the previous owner of the camera. He explains he wants to get the camera working and give the photos to the proper owner. K1 realizes that the photographer should be reflected in the eyes of the girl in the photo and Belldandy agrees to bring him forth from those eyes.

Thoughts: This story arc isn't doing anything for me because it is boring filler. The speech by Susuki on antiques is a real eye-roller. And personally, I could care less who owned the smegging camera. The only thing of interest to me was Welsper insisting the camera was cursed. Welsper's demon origins would certainly make him qualified to know this.

Genshiken Volume 8 *SPOILERS*

Amazon recently shipped me Genshiken Volume 8, which I finally got to read on Tuesday night. I have to say that this is may be the best manga yet in terms of character development and story, though as one might expect, the humor levels go down as a result.

Summary

This volume mostly centers on Ogiue, whom followers of the manga will know came into the Genshiken club with the pronouncement of hating otaku, especially female otaku who were into homos. Of course this lead to conflict with Ohno-san and the fun began. Ohno and Saki get Ogiue drunk on the club trip, so she tells them the story of her experience in junior high school. Her friends decided to do a yaoi story about two of their male classmates, one of whom liked Ogiue (named Makita). They convince Ogiue to draw a yaoi porn manga featuring both guys, but somehow Makita got a copy of the manga. As such, he quits school and ultimately transfers somewhere else while Ogiue gets into trouble at school. After that, Ogiue earned the nickname Homoue from some of her classmates. This revelation leads Ohno and Saki to decide that Sasahara needs to be with Ogiue (they having noticed the attraction between the two).

The next day, Sasahara is left to watch a seriously hung-over Ogiue while the rest of Genshiken go off to sight see and the like. Ohno and Tanaka are off at a nearby waterfall so that Tanaka can take pictures of Ohno in a kimono. The two talk about the situation and Ohno threatens punishment on Sasahara if he makes Ogiue cry. Both Sasahara and Ogiue are aware of this obvious set up, but tolerate the situation. Ogiue manages to get back to sleep and dreams of being back in junior high where someone in class blurts out "Homoue" leading one of Ogiue's friends to demand to know who said that. Ogiue flees to the roof of the school, climbs over the fence and leaps off backward, only she becomes Makita and sees herself in a window looking with a leer.

She wakes up and after Sasahara serves her tea, he decides to make a love confession to her. She remembers her dream, says she doesn't date guys, and flees the cabin. She's seen fleeing by Ohno, who gets ticked. She and Saki confront Sasahara, who tells them what happen. They force him to go after her and he catches her. They talk and in her memory, we see that she had really attempted to commit suicide over the yaoi manga she did of her two classmates. After some quite reflection over how she acts, she apologizes to Sasahara and states that after the trip, she'll quit Genshiken. Sasahara tells Ogiue the things he likes about her and that she shouldn't be so negative on herself.

It is here that Ogiue tells Sasahara of the homo-erotic drawings she's done of him and Madarame. When he asks for some clarification, she confirms it is hardcore artwork. After some consideration, he tells her it doesn't sound so bad, but she feels this is because he hasn't actually seen the artwork. After telling him a brief account of what happened to her in junior high, he finally understands her a bit more. He convinces her not to quit Genshiken until he's seen the artwork and says that he'll have to accept this part of her if they are to go out.

When Sasahara returns, Ohno is not pleased to hear that Sasahara and Ogiue have decided to continue their conversation when they return home. However, when Ogiue tells the two that she's going to show the artwork to Sasahara and not run away any more, Ohno is pleased by this turn of events. As such, after the trip, Ogiue sends a text message to Sasahara to come by her apartment the next day.

The next day he comes by and after some small talk, she produces the work and goes to another room. While she is in torment knowing he's looking at her hardcore yaoi art featuring Sasahara, he takes it in stride. After letting her know he finished, he admits that some of the imagery aroused him even though he isn't gay. This stuns Ogiue, but she's pleased to hear him say that he can tell she has a love for her characters. He presses her on her feelings for him and she's loathe to make a confession because he should already know how she feels. She sits next to him on the sofa. She kinda gets onto him for not being more aggressive, but he reminds her that this is how she imaged him in the artwork. He looks at the artwork again with her their and then kisses her. It is then that he tells her that maybe he'll show her how aggressive he can really be.

Sometime later at the club room, Ogiue is working on her new doujinshi with Saki and Ohno there. Sasahara enters and after some discussion, it is revealed that he and Ogiue have never actually gone out on a date even though they are now a couple and hang out together. That has Saki send them to the zoo on a real date. After some time there, Ogiue reveals that she's angry because Sasahara never asked her out on a date even though she'd stated there's no points in going out on dates. This leads Sasahara to learn something about women while he promises her to take her out on a real date. The two explore the zoo and Ogiue finds she loves the elephants, which Sasahara grabs a picture of her. On the train ride home, Sasahara learns the power of women when Ogiue whispers in his ear that their date isn't over yet. When they get to her place, she has a rejection letter for the doujinshi she'd planned to sell at a doujinshi event.

During the college's school festival, Genshiken does a cosplay event where people can come by in costume, have their picture taken and printed on the spot. Some girls from the Manga Club drop by with Ogiue, then leave. Later when Ogiue takes a brake from the Genshiken booth, she stops by the manga club's maid cafe where Yabusaki, one of the girls who'd came by the Genshiken booth, sits at Ogiue's table. They talk (sometimes rudely) and it is revealed that the Manga Club girls are now divided because of Ogiue. Ogiue wants to apologize, but Yabusaki says it will make things worse.

Returning to the Genshiken booth, Sasahara brings her some lunch. Yabusaki and the other two Manga Club girls return as well. After some blustering, Yabusaki is interrupted by Katou, who lets Ogiue know that Yabusaki is interested in Ogiue contributing to Yabusaki's next yaoi doujinshi. Yabusaki even owns Ogiue's previous doujinshi work (which she sold in volume 7). As the trio leaves, Katou gives a thumbs-up to Ohno. Ogiue wonders to Sasahara what's she's supposed to draw for them and he tells her to ask next time she sees Yabusaki.

Thoughts: OK, I learned WAY more about the yaoi genre then I ever wanted to know thanks to this manga. Despite that, this volume is my favorite of the lot thus far, making me even sadder that volume 9 (which won't come out until this fall) is the last in the series. I really felt Ogiue's pain and suffering as Shimoku-sensei did a fantastic job of bringing this to light. The dream sequence is a bit odd, but the point was that Ogiue tried to kill herself back then and that explains her leaping out the window of the Manga Club when the fight happened back then. She's been running for a long, long time since she didn't die in her suicide attempt.

The fact that Sasahara accepts her, yaoi otaku and all, was very sweet. I don't understand the whole getting turned on by seeing drawings of yourself and one of your friends, but he is hard-core otaku and is into a wide range of hentai materials (games, manga, anime, doujinshi, etc.). He didn't get into the brother-sister hentai stuff, so why would he get into himself. Ugh! That was freaky. But it did serve its purpose I suppose and allowed he and Ogiue to become a couple. They really do fit well together in many ways and it will be interesting to see where this goes in the final volume.

Genshiken is certainly one of my favorite manga titles and while this one didn't have the humor of previous volumes, I actually enjoyed having Ogiue's character fleshed out despite having so much yaoi stuff involved. I think she's received more character development than any of the other characters in the manga.

What I'm Watching 12

Only two episodes this time round. I'm not sure what happened to the time.

Negima!? 15 -- Now that everyone in the class (sans Eva because she's a vampire and Chachamaru because she's a robot) has partnered with Negi, the first order of business for this alternate magic world replica of the real Earth (only without people apparently) is to figure out how to get out. With Takahata-sensei observing, the class debates on what to do. Takahata-sensei, Eva, and Chachamaru go off where Chachamaru prepares ramen while the class divides itself into three groups. The first group is the Exploration Group lead by Asuna. The second is the Research Group lead by Ayaka. The third group is the Caretaker Group lead by Satsuki (basically, they feed the troops). Negi is depressed by the situation, but is encouraged by Asuna, Setsuna, and Konoka. Each group sets out to do its thing and the Research Group studies a Star Crystal. During this research, Ayaka accidentally sends it into a pillar, causing Negi to use Sayo's powers to retrieve it (leading Asuna to wonder if Sayo's really a ghost).

Thoughts: A case study on how to waste time in an episode. Boring, not funny, and no plot advancement of any kind to say nothing of any character development.

Pumpkin Scissors 14 -- An injured soldier and his companion are in the sewers. The non-injured soldier promises his injured companion that he'll get him to the doctor. Unfortunately, a person dressed in something looking like an old diving costume arrives with a flamethrower. The non-injured soldier empties a gun at the armored flamethrower person, but to no avail. The flamethrower person speaks of being cold before incinerating the two soldiers from Section I.

Meanwhile, Pumpkin Scissors have come to the sewers where a large refugee population now resides. With the government having opened up some farms for people to work, Pumpkin Scissors now has to evacuate the refugees to a new home. When they arrive, they find some employees of Waterworks (who owns the sewer system) attempting to extort sexual favors from an attractive woman as "rent." Ored puts a stop to it as Alice informs the people of the new farms. Strangely, some don't want to leave and when the dog Mer-kun leaps on the employee Metz, some packets of drugs (like cocaine) drop out of his pocket. Alice immediately has him arrested and performs the interrogation.

The president of the company, Albert Mione, soon arrives and has Metz released. The head of Section I comes and protests to Captain Hunks because Waterworks provides a lot of funding to the army. Hunks gives Alice a way to keep arresting Metz and his goons legally since Section III cannot investigate normal crimes. As such, Albert continues to have to pay to get his thugs out of prison and with sales of the drugs going down, he's not happy. He provides his men with the latest rifles so that they can kill the members of Pumpkin Scissors. In addition, he dispatches Hans, the flamethrower person. The thugs ambush the Section III members but their inexperience prevents them from hitting anything. Oland briefly activates his lamp and nearly succumbs to the German voice that says to kill. The group flees the scene of the ambush and Alice gets a bad feeling. She has Machs stop the vehicle for a bit, before continuing into the sewer, only to find Hans waiting for them with his flamethrower.

Thoughts: The episode was interesting enough, though there's not a lot to say about it. More corruption in the Empire, more forbidden weapons projects (the 908HTT flamethrower dude), and more downtrodden people. Oland suddenly having an issue with using his lamp seemed out of the blue, especially since he hasn't had a problem with it lately.

Tsubasa: RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE Vol 14 (Ch 106-108) *SPOILERS*

Thanks to BWYS for the scans.

Chapter 106

The second guardian is waiting for the group and breathes fire on them. The flames spread to the books, but the books are not consumed by the flames and are unharmed. Syaoran is relieved the books are fine while Kurogane carries Sakura-chan to safety while he remembers the possessed Syaoran. He then asks Mokona to bring out his sword, but Mokona is unable to do so. Fai whistles and wonders if they could win even with weapons. Kurogane instructs Syaoran to attack the leg of the guardian, which Syaoran does with flying feet attack.

The group flees the scene while a group of mages (dressed like witches) come in on winged wands. The group continues to run while the mages attack. They make it to the door but find themselves surrounded by an ocean. Kurogane states they'll just jump in, but Fai stops him. He tosses his hat into the water and it dissolves. Fai whistles again as the injured guardian arrives to attack them from above. Fai continues his whistling which creates a kind of barrier around them. Kurogane and Syaoran are stunned by this and Fai instructs Mokona to evacuate them to the next world. Mokona protests because of the restrictions on magic, but Fai assures the critter that it will work. Sure enough, Mokona is able to send them to the next world as Syaoran and Kurogane look in amazement at Fai.

Chapter 107

The group escapes to the next world where Kurogane places the sleeping Sakura-chan on the ground. Mokona asks about Fai's use of magic since he stated he wasn't going to do so. Fai attempts to justify it by saying he's using magic by sound (the whistle) rather than how he'd normally perform magic. Kurogane points out that magic is magic which Fai sorta agrees with. Syaoran apologizes for not putting more thought into their escape from the library once they'd stolen the book, but Fai reminds him that he got Sakura's feather.

Syaoran is troubled that when the first guardian swiped him, he has no memories after that until much later. At that time, he could tell that he'd fought and defeated something even if he didn't know what. Mokona comes over to make sure Syaoran is OK. Fai wonders what kind of world they are currently on and climbing up some ruble, he finds the ruins of a vast, modern city where skyscrapers have fallen over.

Meanwhile at Fei Wong Reed's place, the boy in the liquid-filled chamber opens his eyes. Both Yuuko-san and Fei Wong detect this and Fei Wong wonders who will benefit the most from this as he observes the Tsubasa group. That group heads into the ruins of the city with Kurogane carrying Sakura-chan. Kurogane wonders what kind of place this is while Fai states it would be nice to find a place to treat Syaoran's wounds. Syaoran notices the rubble have been rounded by a weather event. As he mentions this, it starts to rain and the rain is painful when it hits their skin.

Chapter 108

The rain falls, which Mokona doesn't think is made of water. The group runs to the only building in the city that has suffered no damage -- a large twin-towered skyscraper. They make it safely to the building, but find dead bodies of people who'd been slain. Fai remarks that he's glad Sakura-chan is still sleeping to miss the gory scene. Syaoran gets Mokona to sense for the feather. Mokona does so, but senses a great power, which Mokona can't identify. The power is coming from below them, and as they explore, Syaoran wonders what could have caused so much destruction.

He finds himself under attack as arrows land all around him, while he somersaults to safety. Kurogane and Fai hear Mokona exclaim while Syaoran tries to defend himself and Mokona from the arrows. One hits his leg where he finds a group of people up on the rubble with crossbows. That group comments on Syaoran's not giving up and his actions during their attack. The group then asks their leader, Kamui, what he's going to do.

Thoughts

Fai using magic to get them out of the tight spot in the library was most interesting. It had long been implied that he had great powers and the tattoos he handed over to Yuuko-san as payment to travel between universes had nothing to do with giving him power. Now we know that indeed, Fai is most powerful, and scarily so considering the ease with which he erected a barrier in a place were even Mokona couldn't use it's magic. The introduction of Kamui brings another character from another CLAMP manga, this time from the series X/1999.

Negima! Vol 18 (Ch 165) *SPOILERS*

Thanks to AQS for the scans.

Chapter 165

Nodoka comes to the confessional where Misora and Cocone are. She confesses that she knows Yue likes the same person she does (Negi). Nodoka goes on to state how she's afraid of her own heart. She had told Yue that they should remain friends and try their best. Nodoka had decided that she's be OK with Yue going out with Negi. Misora asks if this is how Nodoka truly feels. However, in the aftermath of the battle with Chao-san, Nodoka seeing Yue talking with Negi caused her to feel something negative in her heart, something she refers to as jealousy. Nodoka continues by stating that Yue is her best friend, yet the dark feeling within her won't go away even if she wishes it. This is what scares her -- having something dark within her.

This causes Misora to lose it briefly, calling Nodoka by her nickname "Honya-chan" (honya is Japanese for bookstore) and asks if she's still in elementary school. Nodoka asks if the priest just said "Honya-chan" but Misora recovers and says no. She goes on to tell Nodoka that it would be unnatrual not to feel the way Nodoka feels. She advises Nodoka not to be afraid of her dark feelings, but be aware of the fear itself. She continues, telling Nodoka not to lose herself in those dark feelings, but not to surpress them. As long as she continues thinking considerate thoughts toward Yue, she'll be OK.

Leaving the church, Nodoka consults her book artifact and sees a proposed solution to her situation -- saishoudoukin. Since saishoudoukin is a Japanese term for living with one's wife and mistress at the same time, this solution has Nodoka in shock. Unfortunately for her, Ku Fei and Haruna have been looking over her shoulder. Haruna wants to know if Nodoka will be the wife or mistress.

At school the next day, Nodoka reports that going to see the priest helped her. This causes quite the stir with others considering going to see the priest while Misora is amused at the thought of the things she'll learn today. At the church, Misora gets into her nun outfit and justifies her actions to Cocone by saying she wants to help. In addition to using voice-changing magic, Misora decides to use an illusion spell to make her look like the priest.

Her first customer of the day is Setsuna. She asks if it is OK for two girls to kiss each other (the only way she can make a pactio with Konoka). This is shocking news for Misora and with Cocone there as well, Misora tells Setsuna that it is not only OK, but she should do it all the time. She further chastises Setsuna for being behind the times. Setsuna leaves, feeling inexperienced and old fashioned.

Ayaka arrives and her confession is her love for a certain person that won't stop flowing out (Negi). Yuuna arrives and talks about how much of a slob her father is and how her chest has gotten larger. Other girls come asking things from pets to how interested in sex a 10-year old boy would be to nothing at all. As Fuka and Fumika leave the church, Sister Shakti overhears their remarks about God, referring to Him as "that fat big-stomached god."

Negi is depressed and doesn't want comforting from Chamo. He thinks about what Asuna said to him, comparing him to Chao-san. Realizing that Asuna was right, he goes to the church where Misora is still in the confessional, remarking to Cocone how dumb her classmates are. Negi confesses that he doesn't know how to keep on living and wants to know what life is. Negi confesses his inability to figure out what to do which leads to Misora going off on Negi, telling him he's an idiot. She tells him he should be more relaxed and that its OK for him to go out and play if he wants because he's still a kid. He doesn't feel this is right since he's a teacher and has to train. If he took time to play, he wouldn't get his work done.

Misora decides to force Negi to tell her if there's a girl he likes. Negi thinks of the girls in his life, rejecting Asuna, Anya, and the rest as girls he really likes in a more than friendship way. However, he thinks of Nodoka and her love confession for him and he blushes. Misora sees this and asks if he likes that girl. Negi protests it isn't, stating that a relationship between a student and teacher isn't good. Misora informs him she's not telling him to date the girl. But she encourages him to do things like think about the girl he really likes or doing things with friends for fun.

As Negi leaves, Misora knows she couldn't solve Negi's problem but knows that he has lots of friends there for him. Misora leaves the confessional with Cocone and are met by Sister Shakti. Even though Misora is still in disguise, Sister Shakti knows who it is and is about to inflict massive amounts of punishment on her and Cocone.

Thoughts: This was kind of a fun chapter. Misora is certainly more interesting in the manga than she ever was in either anime adaptation thus far. It was interesting that Chamo was able to know who it was Negi was talking to and more interesting that Cocone knew that Chamo knew. As to who Negi likes, is Akamatsu-sensei steering him to Nodoka with that one moment? I guess they would be a sweet couple (Negi being a 10-year old aside).