Haou Taikei Ryuu Knight 32

Lord of Lords Ryu Knight 32

SPOILER Summary: The Jya-ryuzoku named Dragode is now unsealed and Sarutobi can do nothing to fight it. Dragode states he doesn't fight the weak, but when Idoro informs him that Sarutobi has a Ryu unit, he changes his mind. Sarutobi summons Bakuretsumaru and is aided by Gratches in Ryu Chief Shinebaram and Adeu in Ryu Knight Zephyr. However, Dragode is easily able to fend off the Ryu units and stabs Zephyr, which seriously injures Adeu while sending the Ryu unit back to card form. Iori manages to swipe Yamikaze from Idoro and get it to Sarutobi. However, he's unable to harm Dragode and with Adeu's life in danger, it is time to retreat. Unfortunately, Idoro manages to kidnap Iori and demands that she be handed all of the Spirit Stones before

Back at the village, Momochi-sama has done what he can to treat Adeu. Sarutobi decides to go rescue Iori and Gratches decides to accompany him. The rest of the group is brought in and Izumi's cleric powers are used to heal Adeu.

In the flying fortress, Idoro is taunted by Iori briefly before Idoro shuts her up. Sarutobi observes the fortress and plots his assault when Gratches arrives. They take a ninja kite up and Sarutobi asks Gratches if Gratches thinks Sarutobi has gotten stronger since Gratches has defeated Sarutobi in combat. Gratches confesses that while he may have beaten Sarutobi, Sarutobi made him fear simply because of the vast power Sarutobi has. They reach the fortress and are observed by Idoro. Dragode meets them, which Gratches fights with Shinebaram while Sarutobi goes to rescue Iori.

Down below, Paffy tries to keep Adeu from joining Izumi, Katze, Hittel, and Gesshin as his wounds aren't healed. However, Adeu will not be persuaded and so the two join the group as Gratches fights a desperate battle with Dragode. The group enter their Ryu units while Izumi and Paffy casts wind spells to get Zephyr, Hayatemaru, and Derringer to the flying fortress. As they fly up, Sarutobi, in Bakuretsumaru, accesses the power of Yamikaze to free Iori and defend themselves against Idoro. Idoro vows to get the Spirit Stone from him no matter what and flees.

Meanwhile, Adeu and the others have joined the fight against Dragode, but aren't strong enough to defeat him nor harm him. Dragode easily handles them all and nearly sends Gratches off the surface of the flying fortress until Sarutobi rescues him. The Spirit Stone Yamikaze resonates with the other Spirit Stones causing Adeu to be able to transform Zephyr into its Ryu Paladin form. Sarutobi summons the power of Yamezaki and asks it to help him seal Dragode once more. He throws it and the weapon again peirces Dragode in the head, starting the sealing process. Adeu then uses Ryu Paladin's Meteor Zapper attack to dispatch the Jay-ryuzoku, allowing Yamikaze to be free for use.

Idoro is stunned that they were able to defeat Dragode but swoops in to steal Yamikaze before Sarutobi can retrieve it. She detaches the section of the flying fortress they are on, causing all of the Ryu units to fall to the ground. Fortunately, Izumi and Paffy are there with their wind spells to allow the group to safely land.

As the group leaves, Sarutobi promises Iori and Momochi-sama that he'll retrieve Yamikaze and that he'll be back stronger than ever. Upon leaving, Gratches and Adeu tease Sarutobi about him eventually marrying Iori.

Thoughts: OK, I was completely wrong about what would happen between Idoro and Dragode. I've no idea why a Jya-ryuzoku would work with her unless she's also a Jya-ryuzoku in disguise (we've already seen one powerful mage that was one, who's mission was to capture Ryu units). But then why would she want her Galden-sama to be the ruler of all Earth Tear? No clue.

So far, only Adeu's Ryu unit has shown a "version up" mode where Ryu Knight Zephyr becomes Ryu Paladin Lord Zephyr. Hayatemaru got his Spirit Stone, but no Ryu upgrade. Paffy got one as well, but then she's not been able to use it. Sarutobi had one briefly and was able to use it, but again, no "version up" mode. I wonder if the other Ryu units will have them or not.

Mai-Otome Zwei 04

SPOILER Summary: All over the world, reports are coming in and the being they have been fighting is an ancient weapon known as Yuma. Yuma is responsible for the metallic plant-things that have appeared and those plant things will produce sub-unit monsters known as Childs. Yuma then summons a child, which rockets into the sky. The group ponders this and it is figured that the weapon's creator just couldn't control the weapon and so left it.

In a dream, Nina recalls some recent events and dreams of herself and the other Otome in space with Arika. The other Otome appear to be dead and Nina has been changed into the Ultimate Black Diamond robes. Arika demands to know why this had to happen, and Nina responds she only needs her father before waking up on the "Black Valley" Island (not an official name mind you, but I needed to name it something). She opens the book "The Book of Neptune" and discovers something surprising there. Emerging from the building, she finds Mai has prepared some interesting ramen dishes which Mashiro and the the little Jawa-looking native girl (whom I know learn has been called "Ribbon-chan").

Elsewhere, Otome are preparing for combat with those metallic plant-things having emerged all over the world. Akira prepares to go find Mashiro. The cyborg Gal-san arrives with news from the leader of the Black Valley and offers to take her there. The leader, Midori, discusses the situation about the Black Valley with one of her cyborg aides. Gal-san delivers Akira, who has a message from Mashiro-chan, who's trapped on the island.

Back on the Black Valley Island, Mai, Mashiro, and Nina discuss the situation. Mashiro begins to wonder if she shouldn't have made Nina her Meister after all. While this is happening, Mashiro's cat Mikoto uses his ear ring to make a signal, which is responded to. As that happens, Nina and the native girl talk where Ribbon-chan reveals that she has a crystal, which can summon a SLAVE unit to fight. Before they can continue, the island is attacked by the Child-unit Kagutsuchi.

All around the world, various Meisters are watching the pods. It is decided that they have to attack to prevent the pods from giving birth the Child-units. However there attacks have no effect. Back on Black Valley Island, Mai fights both Yuma and Kagutsuchi. Yuma enters the ruined temple and takes the giant form of the founder of the Otome, Fuma. She begins destroying things and causes the blue start to go red, to aid her and her Childs, which have all hatched. Yuma sees Mashiro's Otome ring and attacks. She screams for Akira, who happens to be arriving on the back of a dolphin, who also has a ring like Mikoto. She rescues Mashiro, who activates Akira's Otome abilities, allowing her to join the fight.

All around the world, the Childs continue to regenerate and the imprisoned Nagi calls Natsuki to offer a deal on how to defeat Yuma. She has no choice but to listen to his request as the battles rage with the fight at Black Valley Island causing Mashiro to get injured. This causes little Ribbon-chan to want to join the fight with her SLAVE. Nina stops her, but Ribbon-chan states that she wants to protect those she loves, causing Nina to remember her friend Erstin, whom she had killed. Embracing Ribbon-chan, Nina opens the book to reveal a Meister earring and finger ring. She promises Ribbon-chan that she'll do her part and won't make the same mistake twice.

Coming to Mashiro, Nina reveals she has the Neptune Emerald and wants a Meister Otome contract with Mashiro. Nina convinces Mashiro, who goes through the contract with Ribbon-chan as witness. Now with her Otome powers, she joins the battle and saves Akira, who's been fighting Yuma. Akira has been unable summon the power of the Blue Sky. However, once the two make up from their fight earlier and promise to support each other, Akira can now summon her Zwei powers. However, because Yuma can regenerate, the additional power does them no good.

Using Nagi's information, Natsumi sends word to the Otome around the world that they will be cutting off power to the Shinso System which powers the Otome and will be switching to the Surrogate System since Yuma is using the power of the Shinsho System. However, they will only have 120-seconds to defeat Yuma and the Childs. Akira defeats Yuma with Nina's help while Mai removes the giant sword from Kagutsuchi, which turns it into a harmless kitten, whom she eventually hands over to Ribbon-chan.

All around the world, the Childs are defeated and the previously petrified Otome are returned to normal. All is well and in orbit, Akira has Mashiro and shows her the view of the world from up there. Mashiro decides she wants Akira to show her more. Sometime later at the Garderobe Academy, Ribbon-chan comes up the stairs and no longer looks like a Jawa from Star Wars, but a cut little girl who strongly resembles Erstin. Ribbon-chan promises that one day she too will become an Otome.

Thoughts: Well, I can say I was entertained, but this episode, and indeed the entire 4-episode OVA really did nothing to advance any characters much, nor did I learn a great deal about the world. It was just a story to say, "Here's something that happened to us," which while not bad, isn't anything great either. Oh well. With only four episodes, I suppose this was to be expected. The OVA tried to have a greater link with Mai-HiME with Mai's Child from that series emerging here for Mai to fight. Plus there was the red star/blue star thing (the red star being from Mai-HiME). To do the new story justice, more episodes would have been required, but then the story really doesn't justify more episodes. With so many characters who get lost in the mix, well it was just disappointing.

Ribbon-chan gets (non-sexual) moé points. Gah! She was so precious and cute, even when she looked like a Jawa. Nina wanting to protect Ribbon-chan and the others after listening to her bravery was a nice moment for me (even if clichéd).

The teaser for the prequel Mai-Otome 0~S.ifr~ was of interest but we'll see where that goes.

Another Sale

I thought I'd end up having another eBay sale, but I just didn't expect to have one quite so soon. I guess the slight reduction in some fees made me decide to go ahead and get it done. No manga this time Only one manga this time (a relist), and I am dumping my entire Maison Ikkoku DVD collection, some of which is still unopened.

Anime:

1. Maison Ikkoku - Box Set Vol. 1 (2003, R1 DVD)
2. Maison Ikkoku - Box Set Vol. 2 (2003, R1 DVD)
3. Maison Ikkoku - Box Set Vol. 3 (2004, R1 DVD)
4. Maison Ikkoku - Box Set Vol. 4 (2006, R1 DVD) <--New
5. Maison Ikkoku - Box Set Vol. 5 (2005, R1 DVD) <--New

Other DVD's:

1. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2001, R1 DVD)
2. High Fidelity (2000, R1 DVD)
3. The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes R1 DVD Collection

Manga:

1. Pastel Vol. 1-3 from Del Rey

Negima! Vol 20 (Ch 178) *SPOILERS*

Thanks to AQS for the scans.

Summary: Its summer and Negi's battle-harem are heading to a Japanese beach for some much needed time off, especially for Asuna who's glad to be out from Eva's "hellish training." Arriving at the beach, Asuna orders Negi to have fun and not think about training no matter what. However, before things can go further, Ayaka arrives with Akira, Ako, Makie, Yuuna, Fuka, and Fumika. Yuuna decides that they still have to go after Negima-dan's badges, and she and Makie along with Fuka, Fumika, and Ako attack. Asuna is prepared to take them all out but Ayaka steps in and brings it all to a halt. Yuuna and Makie protest, but she shushes them by reminding them that they were defeated by the library girls Yue and Nodoka.

After Ayaka promises to stay out of Negima's business, she suddenly decides that she wants to take a personal trip to Great Britain herself and that she might just run into Negima-dan by coincidence. This leads to a spat between Ayaka and Asuna, especially when all of the girls with Ayaka will be coming with Ayaka on her private jet.

As everyone plays, Paru chastises Yue and Nodoka because they aren't making moves on Negi, and with all the other girls playing with Negi, they are losing points. She doesn't hear Yue's point about Negi only being 10 and advises them to come up with some sort of plan before they go to Wales. Yue and Nodoka go for a walk along the shore and discuss things with all the girls, themselves, and Negi. After sharing a laugh about things, they notice Negi walking alone with Asuna and hide to observe this. Negi and Asuna's conversation leads Yue to understand the special bond between Asuna and Negi but doesn't know if it is romantic or not. They become aware of a strange girl who's ticked about seeing Negi and Asuna together. That strange girl is Anya.

Thoughts: Well, its more filler I suppose, but I liked it just the same. Nearly everyone in the class will be going to Great Britain, either with Negima or with Ayaka. I guess only Eva, Hakase, Zazie, Satsuki, Natsumi, and Chizuru won't go. The cheerleader trio will likely go because they were part of Ayaka's attempt to score a badge at the summer festival. And, I predict that while Sayo has been tied to the school, they will find a way to allow her to get away. However, I'm not sure if it will be via Asakura or some other means.

As for Anya's arrival at the end, well, that should prove most interesting.

Negima! Vol 19 (Ch 177) *SPOILERS*

Thanks to AQS for the scans.

Summary: As Negi, Kotaro, Asuna, Konoka, and Setsuna are at the local summer festival when Chachamaru, in a new, younger-looking body, approaches them with a gift from Eva. They are white wing badges for their new organization. Asuna is suspicious about this as Chachamaru continues to explain things. Eva hates the name "Negima-dan" and so the white winged badges are for her name of the club, "Ala Alba" -- "White Wing." This is done as Nagi's organization had been known as "Ala Rubra" or "Crimson Wing." This impresses Asuna and the girls, but when Chachamaru states they must wear their badges and not lose them lest they be expelled from the club, things change a bit.

Yuuna, Aka, Makie, and Akira are observing Yue and Nodoka and Yuuna wants a badge very badly to score a trip to England. She puts on a mask and an over-garment for her yukata that has several badges. She claims to be a badge otaku and demands Yue and Nodoka hand theirs over. However, Yue sees through the mask leading Makie and Ako to kick Yuuna out of the way and try another tact. They get all gooey over the badges which has Yue suspicious. Yuuna gets back into the act and has Ako and Akira grab Yue and Nodoka. Yue uses her practice wand to cast a light spell, which allows Nodoka and herself to escape.

As they flee, Yuuna breaks out her "magic guns" and attacks. Makie swoops in use her ribbons to capture their prey, but Yue casts a spell to create a wind barrier, then casts a spell to cause the wind to blow up dust which allows Yue and Nodoka to completely escape. Nodoka is worried about Yue's use of magic against "normals," but Yue has figured out that this must be a test from Eva to protect their badges or be kicked out. Nodoka activates her artifact and creates four small diaries for each of the girls pursuing them. Now, they can track the girls movements and avoid them.

Back at the festival, Fuku and Fumika are with Kaede-nee and both attempt to score her badge but fail. The cheerleaders have hired a group of strong guys to attack Ku Fei and Paru, but Paru summons a large humanoid and with Ku's fighting skills, they defeat their attackers. Akira and Yuuna still can't find Yue and Nodoka, which has Yuuna frustrated but impressed while Ayaka begins to get the reports of everyone's failure to secure a badge.

As such, Ayaka goes after Asuna herself and is easily thwarted. Ayaka is amazed at how strong Asuna has become and getting serious, lands a blow on a surprised Asuna. However, Asuna is still able to protect her badge. Ayaka in frustration demands a badge so she can join Negima-dan. Asuna realizes that Eva is the cause of the trouble and lets them know that they had to do special training in order to go on the trip to England to find Negi's father. She further states why they decided to help Negi out and Asuna promises to drag Negi away should there be danger. Ayaka finally understands and gives in, but insists on being given details later.

At a Japanese airport, Negi's childhood friend Anya arrives.

Thoughts: Yue has come along nicely, though she's still a weak mage. Still, she was good enough to allow herself and Nodoka to elude the athletic club girls. Yuuna's serious nature about this cracked me up. Clearly, her actions in the Mahora Festival during the activities of Day 3 fired something in her.

Hayate no Gotoku! 26

Hayate the Combat Butler Ep. 26

SPOILER Summary: After shedding the schoolgirl costume from episode 8, Hayate starts his day as Nagi frets over a manga plot, wondering if an amnesia plot is called for. Hayate volunteers to go rents some videos on the subject to give her inspiration, but he's soon attacked by Gilbert in a futuristic weapon unit. As he flees, Sakuya warns Nagi that Gilbert might be after Hayate while Hayate ends up running into Nishizawa, who been wanted to see him. He flees with her and after stopping to make a call to order a weapon (thanks to Maria-san) at a pay phone, he then ends up destroying the weapon, forcing Gilbert to flee.

The destruction of the weapon does cause Hayate some minor injury and to be knocked out. When he comes to, Nishizawa has used her legs as a pillow for him. She asks about his feelings for her, so he fakes amnesia. He then pretends to be her butler, even when the pizza delivery guy shows up with a pizza Nishizawa had ordered. She's very happy about this until Nagi shows up with her security force. Realizing the situation has gone from bad to worse, Hayate has no choice but to keep playing it out and he gets struck by lightning for his troubles.

On the helicopter ride back to the mansion, Nishizawa explains Hayate has amnesia and Hayate wonders how long he should pretend to be asleep. When they arrive at the mansion and Klaus, Maria, and Tama are all present as well as Nagi and Nishizawa. Nagi announces the Ayasaki Hayate Memory Restoration Project, and again, Hayate has to play along. Klaus doesn't think Nagi has what it takes to bring back Hayate's memory, so the two agree to a battle, forcing Hayate into a lot of different things to try and trigger his memory.

One task has Hayate pushed out of a plane by Klaus. Nagi, Maria, and Nishizawa head to the lake where Hayate has fallen to try to find him. They find an island that Nagi didn't remember from their fishing trip. However, it turns out the island is a giant turtle. Maria gets stranded on the lake when the boat motor stalls. Nagi and Nishizawa are chased ashore and Nagi injures herself. Nishizawa attempts to defend Nagi, but not in a very confident way. Hayate sees this and comes to the rescue, going "DBZ" on the turtle before it retreats to the lake again. Hayate then "recovers" his memories which pleases Nagi and Hayate.

As Maria treats Nagi, Nagi reveals that she owes Nishizawa for saving her life. As such, she's allowing Nishizawa and Hayate to have some time alone. Nishizawa ends up inviting Hayate for anchovy pizza, which he had earlier that day when he pretended to have amnesia. She leaves, leaving Hayate a bit sad.

Thoughts: The episode was a lot of fun for me, but I admit to no real laughs. However, I like the characters a lot so...

References: Sorry guys, I wanted to try to do all the references, but it takes WAY too much time to research, especially when it goes well out of my realm of watching. ^_^; I just have too much to do. Sorry. I hope whomever licenses this for R1 will get all the references as an extra.

That said, I did catch the DBZ reference. ^_^

Thanks!

I just wanted to say "thanks" to those of you who participated on the eBay auctions I've had. All the proceeds are being poured into the medical bills, which will be so sweet to be out from under. Looks like I'll be having one more in a couple of weeks or so, but it will be another small one.

Anyway, only one thing didn't sell and I figured three things wouldn't sell. Pastel is just a little too...well, I'm at a loss to describe it, but I just couldn't get into it at all. Apparently, few others could either. Well, I'll see if a local used bookstore wants to pick it up for pennies on the dollar. Otherwise, its going to the Goodwill.

Thanks again!
-AstroNerdBoy

Haou Taikei Ryuu Knight 31

Lord of Lords Ryu Knight 31

SPOILER Summary: In the flying fortress of Idoro's, Galden is in a chamber of liquid to recover as Idoro encourages his hatred. Meanwhile, Sarutobi and Gratches are on their way to Sarutobi's village. On their way of the cliff to the village, they are attacked as a way of ninja training and greeting. At the top, they are met by Sarutobi's childhood female friend Iori. They are also met by the village chief, Momochi-sama. They know of Sarutobi's reason for visiting -- to find the Sprit Stone for Bakuretsumaru.

A signal alerts them that someone suspicious is approaching the village, so Iori is off on her giant hawk to investigate. Gratches, Sarutobi, and Momochi-sama head to the Dragon Lake to where the Spirit Stone is located. Apparently 1000 years ago, the Spirit Stone was used to seal a Jya-ryuzoku (hence the name "Dragon Lake"). So in order for Sarutobi to obtain his Spirit Stone, he'd have to unseal the Jya-ryuzoku and he's not sure he can defeat one.

Elsewhere, Paffy's caravan is approaching Sarutobi's village when they are attacked by Idoro's giant skeleton warriors. The group quickly defeats them, but discover themselves trapped my Idoro's magic mud. She demands they turn over their Spirit Stones to Galden-sama and die. Before she can act, the ninja arrive and with their techniques, burn off the mud and save the group. After Idoro leaves, a bit of mud survived and escapes to tell Idoro where Sarutobi went.

Back at the lake, Sarutobi is left to decide what to do. He recalls how Galden came and attacked their original village some seven years ago. Sarutobi then took the card for Bakuretsumaru to defend the village. Iori discovers him, but promises not to say anything since apparently it should have stayed with her family. Her grandfather, Momochi-sama, witnessed this and approved of Sarutobi taking the card.

Having decided he needs more training, Idoro attacks and drains the lake, revealing the giant Jya-ryuzoku. She uses her magic to remove the weapon that is the Spirit Stone and the Jya-ryuzoku it of course comes to life as she laughs.

Thoughts: More shounen fare. There was a little bit of interest in seeing Sarutobi's village, but it wasn't that interesting. Idoro's arrival and actions were typical. I haven't seen episode 32 but let me make this shocking prediction -- Idoro's theft of Bakuretsumaru's Spirit Stone and unsealing of the Jya-ryuzoku will backfire on her.

Hayate no Gotoku! 25

Hayate the Combat Butler Ep. 25

SPOILER Summary: Hayate has been sold to Isumi-san, and has lost it in that he decides to count the threads on the tatami mats. Meanwhile, Maria finds Nagi at Wataru's store and a discussion soon has Nagi in tears at the thought that Hayate will not like her any more. After Maria leaves, Sakuya's older brother Gilbert arrives, and states that Nagi should test Hayate by staging a kidnapping.

Elsewhere, Maria finds Hayate and talks with him about the situation at Isumi-san's estate. Meanwhile, Nagi and Saki go with Gilbert to an underground place where he has a large mecha unit waiting to fight Hayate with. This mecha was created by Shiori, who used Eight's previous version (8.1) for its A.I., but she forgot to put the control chip in it to prevent it from going nuts. Sakuya arrives in the cave gives Nagi a bit of a hard time regarding her current situation. The mecha starts going nuts, leading Saki to call Wataru and bring them running to save them.

As things start looking grim (as the mecha is looking for "twin tails" and Hayate), Nagi is given a disguise by simply having her ponytails removed. Her bodyguards place them on Saki, making the mecha go for her. Wataru manages to arrive in time to save her but there's still no Hayate until Nagi screams for him. At that point he arrives and saves Nagi before ultimately defeating the mecha. Nagi, somewhat embarrassed by the situation, does hire Hayate back.

Thoughts: I enjoyed the episode, though there were no laughs for me. Looking around the web, I see that manga fans seem pretty disappointed with the anime and based on other titles where I'd read the manga first, I can understand that. Since I don't have that issue, the anime has been a lot of fun to me, but I do admit that the laughs aren't there like they were before.

On a related note, one blogger quit (Random Curiousity) doing the series. He was a good resource on pointers to references in the series (he wouldn't state a specific reference, but just list titles referenced, which helped a ton when I'd research the references). So I wanted to give a shout out to him for the pointers. To those readers of his blog for Hayate no Gotoku who've come here, welcome. ^_^

References: Well, the toughest part about the series is finding all the references. As always, any help from you guys is appreciated.

1. Nagi's reference to the amazing underground of Tokyo is a reference to different series where the setting supposedly takes place under Tokyo, like Tokyo Underground. However, the cave she's in might actually be a specific reference to Tokyo Majin Gakuen Kenpucho: Tou according to Eisdrache.
   
2. Gilbert's mecha has many fans thinking it is similar to the mecha used in the anime Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. I find no specific mecha to tie it to that series (they have done so previously though) but if you have a specific title this mecha belongs to, I'd love to know it. Update: the mecha came straight from the Hayate no Gotoku! manga, which predates Gurren Lagann, so that ends any possibility of a reference there.
   
3. No clue what Devil**der is (that was the translated term).
4. No clue what "You're inferior to fake ******* in design..." is either. I'm wishing I'd bookmarked a foreign site I stumbled into several weeks ago (I often forget to do that) because they appeared to get the bleeps right.
5. The destruction of the mecha unit leaves a cross of light, like that seen in Neon Genesis Evangelion.
   

More Anime and Manga for Sale

OK, I've gone through and pulled the last of the stuff that I have up for auction on eBay.

Anime:

• Excel Saga - Imperfect Collection (2004, R1 DVD)
• Hanaukyo Maid Team La Verite - Vol. 3 (R1 DVD)
• Kimagure Orange Road Movie 1 (Rare R1 DVD)
• Tsubasa - Vol. 1 (2007, R1 DVD)
• Case Closed - The Movie: The Time Bombed Skyscraper ...
• BECK: Mongolian Chop Squad - Vol. I (2007, R1 DVD)
• BECK: Mongolian Chop Squad - Vol. II (2007, R1 DVD)

These are all new, save for Excel Saga, which is used.

Manga:

• A.I. Love You Vol. 1-8 from TokyoPop
• Full Metal Panic Manga Vol. 1-9 from ADV
• Kare Kano Vol. 1-21 from TokyoPop
• Mahoromatic Vol. 1-8 from TokyoPop
• Pastel Vol. 1-3 from Del Rey
• Planetes Vol. 1-4.2 from TokyoPop

All are in like-new condition as you would find in your local bookstore.

Non-anime Movies:

• The Patriot (2006, DVD)
• Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002, DVD)

Star Wars is used. The Patriot is new.

Its been well over two years of paying for my medical bills and now I'm getting close to the end. After that, I can start saving money for something else (Lord willing, of course). Thanks to everyone who checked out or bid on my other two auctions for Fruits Basket anime and DearS manga.

Arrogant Scanlators (and Fansubbers)

You know, I personally don't have anything against a fansub group who creates unofficial English translations of anime, nor do I have anything against scanlation groups who create unofficial English translations of manga. I feel that these kinds of groups are a 2-edged sword to the official English language market. Depending on the title, they can generate huge interest and buzz for a title, resulting in said title scoring big in sales when it is officially licensed. However, for other titles, the opposite effect can happen.

We all know that fansubs and scanlations are illegal under our current copyright law system. However, for the most part, fansub groups and scanlation groups have been allowed to continue, with American companies sometimes sending "Cease and Desist" letters to these groups, requesting they stop their unofficial translation works for a specific title. Clearly, American companies see the pluses and minuses of these groups and follow the courses they feel serve them best.

All that said, most groups do their work and distribute it for free without any sort of restrictions, but with a note saying, "support the official version if it comes out and don't sell this." Many work very hard at it, producing videos with things that make them look better than the official DVD release, or producing translations that are superior to the official ones in both anime and manga. (I'm looking at you, Viz!) However, on occasion, you get a group who get a little to big for their britches.

I was surfing the web looking for information on a certain manga when I came across a scanlation group who started working on the unofficial English adaptation of this manga. Since I enjoyed the manga-ka's previous work (and have purchased everything released to date in the U.S.), I thought I'd give the first chapter a look-see, just to get a feel for how the manga-ka's new story would go. I was surprised by the elitist attitude I found from this group.

"Wanna download our work? You have to register in our forums and post 50 messages. Oh, and not all forums count to the 50-message count. Oh, and no spamming. We reserve the right to delete anything we feel like."

What? OK, why?

"Because we work ever so hard, and because we can't ask for money, we'll make you jump through hoops for our work. We contribute, so you contribute! We are gods, little leechers!"

OK, how are 50 bloviations "contribuiting" to anything other than your pathetic egos?

"What? How dare you! We worked hard! This is our blood, sweat and tears! We have the right to make any demands we like about our work! Oh, and don't you dare get the 50 posts and then upload our work elsewhere. That's stealing!"

Ah! So your taking the manga-ka's work, and redistributing it in another language without that manga-ka's permission NOR payment to said manga-ka is OK then, right? How's that not stealing?

"Well, we don't mean any harm by our scanlations. We work ever so hard on them and we tell people to support the official versions if it gets licensed. Therefore, even though we are doing something wrong, we aren't doing something wrong and thus can make demands."

Yeah. And exactly what are you going to do to me when I upload "your work" to torrent sites, download sites, or for that matter, to my own website?

"We'll destroy you! You can't defy us! This is OUR work. We made it. We can make demands. We'll make sure to crush you!"

Yeah, yeah, whatever. Legally, you can't do squat. You're like a crack addict who tried to buy $20 of crack, only to be sold some baking soda. So then you run to the cops to complain on how you'd been robbed of $20 trying to buy crack. Ha!ha!ha!ha!ha!

I laughed as I looked over the message board. There are people posting in every sort of BS topic you can imagine, bloviating to get their 50-message count so they can download. Of course, almost all these people stop posting once they've hit the magic 50. Wanna know some "contributing" topics on the board (titles changed to protect the guilty)?

• "How was school today?"
• "What color is your hair?"
• "Your favorite color is...?"
• "Can you speak a foreign language?"
• "Coffee vs. Tea"
• "Do you like animals?"
• "Do you like {favorite anime here} ?"
• "Do you like {favorite manga here}?"
• "Who's your favorite character in ?"
• Etc.
  

As you might imagine, these are all "hot topics" as people, desperate to reach that 50-message count, post away in a non-spamming way. *lol*

I'm thinking about joining under a different name and via a proxy, a trick I learned from some trolls. While I won't troll on the place, I think that should I do this, I'll make sure to post actual responses to the topics at hand, but somehow manage to get in little digs here and there about the pontificating going on so people can hit the magic 50.

Viz to Consider "Inuyasha" Manga Improvements?

I sorta stumbled across this bit of news regarding the Inuyasha manga. One of the Inuyasha scanlation groups, Freelance-Manga, decided to approach Viz about their publishing practices, specifically as it relates to the Inuyasha manga.

For those who aren't aware, Viz still lives in the early 90's for the most part when it comes to manga. For the title Inuyasha, Viz still flips the art at times, thus creating all sorts of stupidity such as Sesshoumaru's arm being missing on either side of him, depending on whether they decided to flip the art or not. Kaede's eye-patch can be on both sides of her eye on the same page. Its annoying and stupid and there's no reason to flip art any more (heck, even Dark Horse understands that).

Second, there are the translation issues. Personally, I want the attack names left untranslated with a note saying what the attack means somewhere. Viz generally uses whatever they feel like, depending on the volume, when it comes to translating the attack names. So there's no consistency for many of the attack names. Also, Viz removed Japanese titles and honorifics, and in doing so, change the nature of the relationships of characters. For example, Sango never calls Miroku by name. She refers to him by his title "Houshi" and adds the "sama" honorific at the end of it to show great respect for his position. Viz just has her call him "Miroku," thus you've changed the nature of their relationship. There's no respect conveyed in Sango's conversations with Miroku because all that's been removed.

Finally, there've been a lot of quality control errors, so that character names are misspelled. Sometimes, characters have their speech bubbles changed. And there have been other quality control issues.

Apparently someone at Viz is interested because Freelance discussed things with the Inuyasha Supervising Editor, Mr. Ian Robertson. They've also talked with Alvin Lu (VP of Publishing) regarding this. While Mr. Robertson seems more enthused about making changes, it will be up to Mr. Lu or Ms. Liza Coppola (VP of Marketing).

While it is encouraging that someone involved with the project is interested in improving their project based on what fans say, my gut tells me that Viz will ultimately poo-poo Freelance-Manga's suggestions as luny rantings of fanboys living in their Mama's basement with nothing better to do than complain. After all, Viz has never shown any real interest in taking care of fans or doing things right before. While Mr. Robertson's apparent interest is nice, without his bosses deciding to give fans what they want, its meaningless.

We'll see what happens. Should Viz actually fix all the mistakes mentioned (stop flipping art, use Japanese honorifics and attack names, etc.), I'd actually buy the title to support that effort.

Hayate no Gotoku! 24

Hayate the Combat Butler Ep. 24

SPOILER Summary: Hayate discovers a DVD she's had for two or three years which needs to be returned to Wataru's store. Sadly, Hayate runs into a great deal of misfortune and has to just place the DVD in the drop box. When he returns, Sakuya and Isumi are over and Sakuya is upset she didn't prepare a gag. However, she soon finds an excuse to whack Hayate with a harisen. Isumi has lost her stole (like a shaw) and so Hayate goes to find it.

Tama finds the stole and plans to do cat-like things to it with his claws. Hayate comes on him but before he can react, Wataru attacks Tama and saves the stole. Because he has a crush on Isumi, Wataru takes a moment to sniff the stole before realizing Hayate is there. Hayate promises not to say anything, but Tama decides he's going to blab. Tama flees to his little command center where he's found by Hayate, who attacks and forces Tama to back down in fear.

Isumi thanks Hayate-sama and detects the pendant that he wears, which had caused him misfortune earlier. She embraces him to purify the pendant, which is seen and misunderstood by both Nagi and Wataru. Isumi states that she really likes Hayate, who figures that's because he's good with kids. However, Nagi is afraid that Isumi really does love Hayate and doesn't want her hurt because Hayate surly loves Nagi. However, when she confronts Hayate, he states he does care for Isumi (in an innocent way) which Nagi interprets that he loves her.

At Wataru-kun's store, Saki ponders a porn video produced by Tama when Nagi arrives with her bodyguards. She's run away from home and is going to stay at the store. She gets the depressed Wataru up and the two decide to head to Isumi's home to get the story straight. Meanwhile, after consulting with Maria, Hayate decides to head to Isumi's home to look for Nagi. He finds her outside by a lake and when some dust gets in her eyes, he moves in to help her. Nagi and Wataru see this and again misinterpret this as a love-love action between the two.

Back at Wataru's video store, Nagi berates a customer for his lack of Gundam knowledge. This brings Wataru's anger on her as she's jacking with his business. Nagi starts to cry at the thought of Hayate no longer being at her mansion.

Then, there's a brief short of a kitten found by Wataru as a child one rainy day, as told from the kitten's point-of-view.

Thoughts: Another enjoyable episode, though a little sad to see Nagi's heart get broken. Sakuya returns, howbeit briefly (and not really in a funny way). This appears to be a 2-parter since the story didn't have an end and looks to have that next week.

References: As always, report anything I missed or got wrong.

1. Pretty obvious, but the DVD that Nagi forgot to return has Bono from the rock band U2 as well as SUZUMIYA Haruhi from Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu.
2. When Hayate returns from his errand, having suffered so much, he is wrapped in bandages similar to those of SHISHIO Makoto from Rurouni Kenshin.
   
3. When initially confronted by Hayate, Tama is wearing the cap of KUJO Jotaro from JoJo's Bizarre Adventure.
   
4. Tama's statement about a "dying message equal to that of Co**an's" is a reference to the episode "The Resurrected Dying Message" of anime series Detective Conan. (at least, I think it is)
5. When Hayate attacks Tama in his command center, it appears he is using Ciel's Black Keys attack from the anime Tsukihime (though there has been some speculation that Hayate appears to be acting like the female ninja character MAKIMACHI Misao from Rurouni Kenshin).
   
6. When Nagi is at the video story, she states the customer is lacking in Gund*m knowledge, clearly a reference to Gundam. I believe the reference her finger produces is for SD Gundam Gaiden Sieg Zion Hen. The additional series she references is Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ. This is also known as Double Zeto in Japan from what I understand.
7. The short at the end seemed like it might be a parody of Kanojo to Kanojo no Neko (at least, that's what I thought of when I saw it).
8. Hayate's statement for the preview to episode 25 may be a reference to the anime Macross 7: The Galaxy is Calling Me (my ears aren't good enough to say for sure though).
   

Haou Taikei Ryuu Knight 30

Lord of Lords Ryu Knight Ep. 30

SPOILER Summary: Arriving in the land of Hinode and gazing upon Mt. Akafuji (a red Mt. Fuji), Sarutobi and Gratches head for Sarutobi's village of Asuka-jo while everyone else heads to Gesshin's father's dojo. After a brief match between father and son, Gesshin learns that Mikazukimaru, the Spirit Stone katana for Ryu Samurai Hayatemaru, is missing. It seems that Nagare Itou, head of Nagare Sword School, challenged Gesshin's father Mangetsu and won the sword.

So, Gesshin and company are off to find Nagere. They do so quickly and Gesshin challenges Nagere. Nagere has a secret technique, Thunder Sword Cross, which he used to defeat Mangetsu. He now uses it against Gesshin and defeats him as well. Nagere tells Gesshin that he'll be around should Gesshin wish to challenge him again.

Gesshin's comrades try to think of ways to get the sword back while Gesshin is depressed and wanting to get it back on his own. That night he attempts to train and after some prodding by Katze, Adeu comes up with a plan on how they can help Gesshin train. The following day, Adeu tells Gesshin that they can simulate training with the Ryu's. Since he now has Ryu Paladin Lord Zephyr, Adeu can now perform the Thunder Sword Cross move. Gesshin agrees and training begins with Gesshin having no luck.

Meanwhile, Izumi sends Katze on a mission to try to buy the sword from Nagere, but he's not selling. Gesshin is still depressed that he's made no progress and so later that evening at the lake shore, Paffy comes to talk with him. There, he tells her a bit about his past and how he became a samurai. While talking with Paffy, Gesshin finds new purpose and remembers the purpose of the sword. The following day, he's able to overcome the Thunder Sword Cross move and challenge Nagere. The two battle again and at first it seems that Gesshin lost. However, this was because he stopped his attack short to spare the life of a bug. This means something to Nagere, who concedes and hands the katana to Gesshin.

Thoughts: As a Tenchi fan, I always enjoy hearing one of their seiyuu. ORIKASA Ai (Ryoko) has been on the show all along as Hagu Hagu. Mangetsu being voiced by AONO Takeshi (Nobuyuki & Katsuhito) was nice for me.

As to the episode, more of the standard shounen fare. This time Gesshin gets his Spirit Stone, but before that gets the standard power-up training.

Lupin III Part III Ep. 03

SPOILER Summary: Lupin's latest target is a castle and to get there, Jigen will fire him out of a cannon. All goes to plan until Lupin is spotted by Flora, the daughter of the man who had owned this castle when he was alive. She wants to be taken by Lupin away from this place, but Lupin isn't interested in pretty, 15-year old girls, only the treasure. Still, Lupin is forced to take Flora with him when she nearly falls of the roof after following him there. The pair hang-glide down as Flora's stepmom and the 16th wife of Flora's father observes with her henchmen.

As she sleeps in their hideout, Jigen refreshed Lupin's memory as to their mission and the collection of valuable paintings known as the Angel Collection. However, Lupin doesn't remember a daughter being part of the plan. So, he attempts to scare her off with scary motif around her bed and his own scary talk. She's not afraid. He goes further by stripping her to her panties and acting like he'll have his way with her. She invites this, wanting her hero and rescuer to take her. Lupin instead beats a hasty retreat and falls into the water.

The following day, Lupin hits on Fujiko at the beach, untying her bikini top and attempting to cop a feel in her bikini bottom. However, she wasn't asleep and a gun pointed at Lupin brings the hijinks to an end. She promises that if he brings her the Angel Collection, she'll pretend to be asleep next time, hinting she'll allow him to continue what he started. Flora arrives and Fujiko leaves. However, it doesn't take long before Flora's step-mother's henchmen attack. Lupin and Flora escape and Flora, knowing Lupin wants the Angel Collection, tells him that he'll have to wait three days. As such, he agrees to allow her to tag along with him.

As Flora's mother plots her next move on board her large, 3-masted sailing ship, Lupin tries to discourage Flora by showing her a life of crime. However, when they go to hold up a small town bank, the bank manager and customers are all excited that the famous thief Lupin would find them worthy of robbing. Even the local police want their picture taken with Lupin. Word of Lupin's actions gets back to Inspector Zenigata, who's simply befuddled by Lupin's actions. Meanwhile Lupin continues to fail in his attempts to make the life of a thief look bad.

Lupin finally decides to send Flora on a supposed mission to a floating bank, which really is Flora's step-mother's. Flora tosses Lupin her pendant and rows herself to the ship where she is captured. Lupin, Jigen, and Goemon are leaving when the pendant come open. Stopping, Jigen learns that it contained microfiche with Flora's medical records, including news that she would die in three months. Those three months were at an end, which is why Flora stated Lupin could have the treasure in three days.

Lupin returns and rescues Flora. However, in the fight to get out, Flora sacrifices herself to allow Lupin to escape. With the villains gone, Lupin returns the body of Flora to the castle, where the walls dissolve to reveal a wall covered with the Angel Collection. For Lupin, it is fitting that Flora should be here, surrounded by angels and flowers. They leave the castle where they meet Fujiko, who wonders where the Angel Collection is. He tells her the angels have gone to heaven, which puzzles Fujiko. Lupin and Jigen take off and Lupin tosses Flora's pendant in the sea as a final goodbye.

Thoughts: The story was just so-so until Lupin did the bank robbery, and the manager called him Lupin-sama. I found it funny that the manager thought that being robbed by Lupin would be good for business. Then the whole town getting in on it just had me laugh. However, I didn't expect the episode to turn so serious with the death of Flora. It was rather sad, and maybe made more so by the laughs earlier.

Haou Taikei Ryuu Knight 29

Lord of Lords Ryu Knight Ep. 29

SPOILER Summary: As the company travels down a lane to the next town, Paffy is depressed that she has not yet mastered her Spirit Stone. They are spotted by a group of Ryu hunters in Solids, who demand they give up their Ryu units (the cards). Naturally, the group refuses and a fight ensues. None of the group even bother to summon their Ryu's as they are able to easily defeat the Ryu hunters. Adeu, seeing Paffy is depressed, tries to re-assure her that things will be OK and that they'll be able to defeat all Ryu hunters.

When they arrive in the next town, they see a bunch of children flocking to an old man who tells them a tale of the creation of Earth Tear -- how the god Sodin stood for order and harmony and the god Meditto stood for violence and chaos. The two fought over the creation of the world with Sodin eventually defeating Meditto. Sodin cast down his shield and thrust his sword through it, creating Earth Tear. However, Meditto's broken sword became the basis for the land of the Jya-ryuzoku. This was information that even Izumi was unaware of and so they decide to learn more.

Adeu proudly lets it be known that they are Ryu riders, which leads the old man to take them to his research facility. He has lots of Ryu's in storage, which he states he has been able to repair, though their former riders are long gone. As a wizard, he wants to learn more about ancient magic and Ryu's, so he's eager to learn more from the group and invites them to spend the night. They accept, though Sarutobi voices his unease over the situation.

The depressed Paffy decides to get up in the middle of the night to consult the old man about her Spirit Stone. Adeu, who happened to also be up to use the bathroom, decides to accompany her. There they learn that the old man has other plans as he causes the stored Ryu's to come to life and attack. At the same time, the Ryu hunters attack the party, but are easily defeated. Adeu informs them of Paffy's troubles and they swarm to assist her, as she has summoned Ryu Mage Magidora. She's still trying to use the power of the Spirit Stone, to no success. The old man reveals that his objective is to remove all Ryu's, a gift from Sodin, from Earth tear and he wants them to battle each other in the process. He further reveals himself to be a Jya-ryuzoku mage.

The mage is able to beat the party back with the help of the controlled Ryu's and prevents Adeu from using his Meteor Zapper attack. Adeu, through Zephyr, breaks the hold the Jya-ryuzoku has on the captured Ryu's, putting the odds of winning in their favor. So Adeu gets Paffy to assist, even without the power of the Spirit Stone, to freeze the Jya-ryuzoku long enough for Adeu to get his attack in and slay the dragonoid. Afterward, the party talk, where Izumi assures Adeu that the captured Ryu's, having returned to card form, are now sleeping and awaiting their new riders.

Thoughts: Shounen fare -- yes. Still, I have to admit to being interested. I thought Paffy might awaken her Spirit Stone, but I guess that'll come later.

Negima! Vol 19 (Ch 176) *SPOILERS*

Summary: Asuna approaches the headmaster and gets approval to form a new club, with the temporary name of Negima, and with the cover of studying British culture. Members include Ku Fei, Setsuna, Asuna, Konoka, Negi (as the teacher adviser), Kotaro, Kaede, Nodoka, Paru, Yue, Chisame (though she protests she's not), Chachamaru, Asakura, and Sayo. The group all agree they need more training and since the departure date for Great Britain by the club is in two weeks, Eva feels they can get 3 to 4-months of additional training in the resorts.

Negi plans to visit the capital of the magic world, Megalomesembria to gather information about his father, and maybe a little local sight seeing. Eva feels that they should be safe if they aren't planning to leave the capital and so won't need her hardcore training. She encourages them to enjoy their trip and the group decides to train anyway.

The Negima Club's plans are overheard by Fuma and Fumika who attempt to depart in ninja fashion, as taught them by Kaede, but their presence was noticed by Eva.

Ayaka meets up with Asuna and she has the results of the investigation of the Yukihiro Group that Asuna wanted. Ayaka can verify that Negi's father Nagi did in fact disappear 10-years ago. His last known place was Istanbul, Turkey, which surprises Asuna. Ayaka asks what Asuna's next move will be now that she has this information. Ayaka states that for Negi-sensei, she'd start a world-wide search with 10's of thousands of searchers. Asuna turns that down and promises to pass on any information they learn of Nagi's whereabouts.

Makie, Fuka, and Fumika arrive with Makie upset about learning of the newly formed Negima Club and their trip to England. Ayaka is angry about being left out once she learns the facts, so Asuna has to come up with a cover story since she can't tell them they are going to the magic country. She says that they are going to a special place in England and they had to train to do things like rock climbing, thus only those trained can go. Ayaka won't accept the excuse and attempts to take back the papers she gave Asuna. Asuna is amazed at how slow Ayaka is and Ayaka is amazed at how fast Asuna now is.

Ayaka orders Makie to capture Asuna using her gymnastic ribbon but Asuna is to fast for them. As Eva quietly observes, Ayaka, Makie, Fuka, and Fumika attempt to get Asuna, but fail. Asuna makes her escape and Eva decides to get involved, confirming that special training is required to go on the trip. Since Eva is the official honorary adviser to Negima, something that stuns the other girls, she decides to give them a chance to tryout for Negima. Yuuna, Ako, and Akira arrive, wondering what the fuss is about (they, dressed in yukatas for the Summer Festival). Eva tells them about the new club and they decide to try to pass Eva's club entry test to go to England. That test will require these other girls to take a small badge that the Negima members will all be wearing at the festival.

Yuuna, Ako, Akira, and Makie plot a way to grab some badges. They look over the list and marvel at the strength of some of the girls on the list like Ku Fei, Setsuna, and others that were in the martial arts tournament at the recent school festival. They spot Ku Fei who's indeed sporting a badge, but decide to pass on her in favor of weaker targets -- Yue and Nodoka. Yuuna produces a couple of magic guns she used in the school festival when they had that "game" battle against the robot army and the four go off to get Yue and Nodoka.

Thoughts: Eva is wicked indeed. She likes being cruel, but there is a method to her actions. If the Negima girls can't protect their badges, they don't deserve to go to the magic country. They'll need to keep their wits about them, and what better way to test the girls of Negima than by having another group of determined girls go after them. Call it real-life training.

As to Yuuna's guns, I wonder how she was able to keep them after the school festival.

Hayate no Gotoku 23

Hayate the Combat Butler 23

SPOILER Summary: Its the first day of school after the summer break, but Nagi is ill and Hayate is going to school by himself. He meets Hina-chan, and they talk about things including Nagi's illness. Her sister, Katsura-sensei, rushes on scene wanting help. Apparently, she's being demoted as a new teacher is being assigned to the class. That new teacher is the robot scientist, Makimaru-sensei, has been sent there by her boss to learn the feelings of the heart.

Her first act is to assign a test, which Katsura-sensei thinks will allow her to defeat Makimaru-sensei by making the students hate her. However, the students don't react that way and Makimaru-sensei grades the tests on the spot with her a glance through the tests. When she learns she actually has to mark each test, she turns that job to Katsura-sensei. After school the Student Council Trio (Izumi-chan, Miki-chan, and Risa-chan) are there to ensure Nagi gets the handouts and have a Super Sentai moment. However, when it comes time to do the class report, Izumi-chan is abandoned, leading her to beg for Hayate's help, which he agrees to.

Before anything can happen, Katsura-sensei grabs Hayate and explains her complicated plan to use him to get rid of Makimaru-sensei by ultimately forcing her into a compromising position with Hayate. Hayate resists and Makimaru-sensei arrives. Hayate accidentally ends up falling on her, giving Katsura-sensei what she wanted. This leads to a chase where Hayate is determined to get the memory card of the camera to protect Nagi. They end up on the trolly where Izumi-chan finds them. She takes the camera, but gets bribed by Katsura-sensei to give it back.

Eight arrives in Giant Robot mecha form and ends up accidentally destroying the camera. He attacks and battles Katsura-sensei. Hayate knows the giant mecha needs to be destroyed and knows where the self-destruct is, but is concerned for Izumi-chan wearing a skirt, which might end up exposing her panties in the explosion. She's wearing bicycle pants under her skirt, so Hayate destroy's Eight's giant body at the cost of getting thrown a great distance and knocked out. Katsura-sensei offers friendship and help to Makimaru-sensei, who's learned about matters of the heart now. The two of them and the old Eight head off to get something to eat and drink, which Katsura-sensei ends up getting stuck with the tab.

Thoughts: It was an amusing episode, but I didn't really laugh. I've never seen Death Note and as the reference section shows, I was really out of my league this time on catching references.

References: Sheeze. I don't have time to do all the research I wanted for these. If you have anything, let me know, please.

1. The title of this episode (in English), "A Genius Sensei, Who's Not Small, Appears," may be a reference to the manga/anime Pani Poni Dash!, where the main character, Rebecca Miyamoto, is a small, 11-year old, genius teacher. Makimaru, the new sensei for Hayate's class, certainly isn't small but is a genius.
2. Man, this one almost slipped pasted me. When Katsura-sensei is running and crying to her younger sister Hina-chan, she calls her "Hinaemon." That is a reference to the anime/manga Doraemon and the character Nobita-kun, who often came crying to the cat-robot Doraemon whenever things went wrong.
   
3. Weirdly enough, Makimaru's boss looks a lot like J. Jonah Jameson, the editor of the Daily Bugle in the Spider-man comic books (and movies). Whether intentional or not, I can't say (I suspect it is though).
4. The Student Council Trio do a pose like those of a Super Sentai series (known in the U.S. as Power Rangers). Which one, I can't determine yet. The mecha unit is likely from some Super Robot anime series, but I've not been able to determine which one (I suspect one from the 70's, but it will take a lot of research to determine which one...if I get the time).
   
5. The poses of the super-deformed Student Council Trio in the 2nd eye catch is the same as those from the Super Sentai series Juken Sentai Gekiranger.
6. I'm told that when the Student Council Trio offer the color orange to Hayate and his reply of "I'm not Orange," is actually a reference to Code Geass character Jeremia Gottobaruto, who hair is similar in color to Hayate's and who's nickname was "Orange" or "Orange-kun." The color orange has only been used once (that I'm aware of) in a Super Sentai series -- Battle Fever J. (cyruz)
   
7. In the 1st eye-catch, Katsura-sensei says, "Ringo daisuki," ("I love apples") which appears to be a reference to the character Ryuk's love of apples in the series Death Note. Later after taking the compromising picture, her phrase "Heaven itself is my ally" is what Yagami Light says in that same series. She assumes the appearance of Yagami Light and says she "will be the god of the new world" as she flees. And there was one final one as Katsura-sensei again assumes the appearance of Yagami Light at the end of the episode when talking with Makimaru-sensei.
8. The model mecha unit with the censored name in Katsura-sensei's plan is a Gunpla, or a Gundam model, specifically a MSN-04II Nightingale model.
   
9. I need help here -- Ka**kabe Defense Force -- I spent an hour looking, but nothing.
10. Ditto Nagi's reference to watching Ya**naka Seisho.
11. As suspected, Eight (dot two) was emulating a known mecha design. This time, he uses the form of a RMS-099 (MSA-099) Rick Dias mecha unit (with a few minor modifications) from Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam. (Thanks 5parrowhawk for the info!)
    
12. It is possible that Izumi-chan revealing she's wearing bicycle (sports) pants could be a reference to SAKURAZAKI Setsuna from Negima!, who always wears them under her school uniform skirt while the other girls get in the series get heavily fanserviced with panty shots under their skirts.
    

Haou Taikei Ryuu Knight 28

Lord of Lords Ryu Knight 28

SPOILER Summary: The party eats a meal that Gratches has prepared and a discussion of what to do next comes up. Sarutobi isn't interested in fighting Jya-ryuzoku, the reason the Ryu units were created. He's only concerned with defeating Galden, whom he feels is alive thanks to the witch Idoro. But to get stronger, the others will need to find their Spirit Stones, and Gesshin thinks he knows where his might be, back in his home country of Hinode (where Sarutobi is also from).

As the company travels, they talk about the elf merchant Katze, whom Gratches has not met. She spots bandits on the move and hides, and the bandits, on their Solids (mecha units) head to a nearby town. The townsfolk flee inside their homes as a lone elf stands and single-handedly repels the bandit raid. The bandits flee and the townsfolk thank the elf while Adeu and company enter. They saw the fight but didn't arrive in time to assist.

Katze shows up and she's surprised to meet Gratches. She refuses to aide Adeu and company with Ryu Gunner Derringer because there's no profit in it. She leaves and comes upon the bandits. They decide to buy a great deal of weapons from her. Katze again returns to town, having been lost in counting her money and and her selling of weapons angers Adeu. However, it is the elf who takes matters into his own hands by slapping Katze before the bandits arrive to raid the town again. Naturally, she doesn't appreciate this.

The elf fights and Adeu's group get the townsfolk to safety. Since the elf refused Adeu's offer of assistance, Adeu uses Ryu Knight Zephyr to assist the townsfolk. A little girl, who wants to watch the elf defeat the bandits has to be rescued by Katze. The bandit leader arrives, demanding Katze had over the money they paid her. They are saved by the elf, whom Katze recognizes as her oniichan, Hittel. After a brief reunion hug and talk, Katze hands over the Ryu Gunner Derringer card to her older brother, whom she knows is the true rider of that Ryu unit. However, he won't go alone and has her join him inside Derringer as they fight off the bandits with Adeu assisting.

With the bandits defeated, to include the bandit leader, the group leaves and Hittel decides to join the group in their fight. Katze wants to make sure they get paid for their bodyguard services though.

Thoughts: This series is as bad as a mahou shoujo title when it comes to henshin sequences. It is amazing how fast a Ryu can be summoned when time is precious (say, instantaneously) and how tediously slow the summoning can be when we need to waste time and and go through the whole summoning or transforming process complete with theme music (more when there are multiple henshin sequences).

As to this story, being a typical shounen title, it was obvious from the start who the mysterious elf fighter would be. However, I really didn't expect Hittel to be joining the party. Considering what a merchant Katze is and apparently will always be, this is actually a good way to keep Ryu Gunner Derringer in the group.

How about the Clint Eastwood reference with Hittel?

Haou Taikei Ryuu Knight 27

Lord of Lords Ryu Knight 27

SPOILER Summary: Adeu can't beat Galden, even with Ryu Paladin Lord Zephyr, the Crushing Dawn attack is not enough. Adeu re-transforms to Ryu Knight to Ryu Paladin and launches the attack he saw his dad perform to defeat a Jya-ryuzoku -- Meteor Zapper. However, Galden is easily able to take the attack. Adeu is frustrated and as Galden presses his attack, Ryu Paladin flees by turning into a ball of energy and flying away. The leaves Izumi and Paffy vulnerable, but Galden decides to pursue Adeu instead.

While Galden searches for Adeu, Adeu has been pulled inside the Ryu Knight Zephyr card. There, he sees a knight battling a Jya-ryuzoku warrior, but without the aid of a Ryu mecha unit. The giant, humanoid dragon and the human knight in full armor battle and the knight defeats his opponent with a Meteor Blade attack. Adeu recognizes the attack as one just like Meteor Zapper and asks the knight to train. After stating his purpose, the knight asks about the purpose of fighting, Adeu says its to defeat ones opponent. So, the knight states he'll train Adeu providing he can defeat an opponent.

Unfortunately for Adeu, he has not one opponent, but three. Further complicating matters is the fact that his opponents are his allies and friends, namely Sarutobi, Gratches, and Gesshin. Adeu doesn't want to fight them, but the knight doesn't want to hear any excuses. Sarutobi, Gratches, and Gesshin continue to attack Adeu and laugh at his weakness. He gets angry and manages to get the best of Gesshin. The knight demands he kill his opponent since the purpose of battle is to defeat one's foes. Adeu refuses, so the knight takes on the job, forcing Adeu to defend them. The knight defeats Adeu, but since Adeu was ready to give up his life to save his friends, the knight is ready to give him the answer Adeu seeks. The knight is shown to be Adeu's father Rasa, who tells Adeu that the Ryu will lend its power to those who put their friends and comrades first, and that the first step of power is the Meteor Zapper attack. In the real world, the Ryu Knight card activates and Adeu returns to the scene of the battle to find Galden.

Meanwhile, Izumi and Paffy have found the real Sarutobi, Gratches, and Gesshin. Izumi begins healing them when Galden appears. Paffy summons Ryu Mage Magidora but is quickly defeated by the superior Dark Knight unit. Before Galden can kill them, Adeu arrives to save the day. Galden presses his attack on Adeu, but Adeu is finally able to launch a successful Meteor Zapper attack that appears to destroy Dark Knight along with Galden. Paffy comes to and Izumi realizes what happened as the group rushes to greet Adeu.

Thoughts: It is tradition in shounen titles that with the version up of your weapon, you have to then be taught a lesson on its use. This episode is no different with Ryu Paladin Lord Zephyr in Adeu's hands and now he can use Meteor Zapper. One wonders how long it will be before this ultimate attack stops working like Crushing Dawn.

Ninjas Rule! Shaolin Monks Drool!

You know, I thought that 90% of the people who play Tribal Wars needed to get a life. Maybe the game is filled with people from China after reading this article. Having seen Shinobi: Heart Under Blade, I know that Ninja/Shinobi own any Shaolin Monk. ^_~

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,295410,00.html