Starship Troopers 04

Uchu no Senshi Ep. 04 (OVA)
宇宙の戦士 Episode 04 (Anime)

SPOILER Summary: Johnnie and his fellow recruits are being sent to Mars for the next phase of their training where they notice the new sensor satellites in orbit of Mars, designed to prevent another alien attack on Earth by detecting them early. However, unbeknownst to them, the aliens have already penetrated the system undetected and infiltrated a patrol ship via a small spore (?). The patrol ship returns to its base on Mars while within the ship Johnnie is on, he wonders why Sgt. Zim made him the squad leader. Greg feels he knows as the others will follow Johnnie.

As the aliens slaughter everyone in the patrol ship and then proceed to move to the Mars Occupation Base where the slaughter continues, Sgt. Zim orders his trainees to begin their simulated combat where they will have an actual drop, then with armored suits and paint guns, they will assault another group of trainees and attempt to take their flag. The trainees will be allowed to resupply once from the Mars Occupation Base. Thus the simulated combat begins with Johnnie leading his squad. As Zim monitors their progress from orbit, he receives word from his communication person that they've lost contact with the base. Zim is concerned about this and since the rules of the simulation won't allow him to contact the other trainee group, he contacts he captain.

As Johnnie's squad gets ready to move to resupply from the base, the captain tells Zim that the combat simulation will continue despite Zim's concerns as they need seasoned troops. Since the captain's order cannot be disobeyed, Zim orders that the squad of real combat troopers be dispatched to even though he is required to get the captain's permission first. Meanwhile, Johnnie's squad (minus one who'd been hit with a paint ball and thus is "dead") reaches the Mars Occupation Base. They notice how quiet it is, but Johnnie attributes this to the fact that the base is neutral territory. Inside the resupply building, they find an enemy trainee apparently sleeping. However, the trainee is dead, his armored power suit having been penetrated.

Johnnie is contacted by Zim, so Johnnie reports on what they found. They proceed further into the base and find a lot of dead bodies. Johnnie believes it is the work of the Buenos Aires aliens, but Zim wants confirmation. They soon have it when they are attacked. Zim orders them to evacuate as this is no longer a simulated combat and their paint guns won't do jack. Smith manages to make it out but Johnnie is captured by the aliens. Greg helps free Johnnie and is sliced in half through his armored suit for his efforts. Johnnie is about to be slain when the squad or veteran troopers that Zim had dispatched arrives and kills all of the aliens. Returning to the ship, Johnnie and his squad mates are distressed to learn that Greg will not receive any recognition for his efforts because he disobeyed Zim's orders. When challenged about his own disobedience of orders, Zim tells them to pack up Greg's stuff and walks away. Johnnie decides to do this himself and as he does, he finds the letter Greg had been writing to his girlfriend.

Thoughts: This episode moved much faster than previous episodes, mainly due to the aliens having infiltrated the Mars base and the action that resulted. I find that the way the aliens work in this anime makes more sense from an attacking military sense than the bug-aliens of the live-action movie. There, everyone is just fighting a lot of hard to kill giant bugs whereas here, the aliens ability to infiltrate and elude detection is pretty impressive (even if these spore-like things apparently turning into the large alien creatures is unrealistic).

I guess the recruit armor suits for the battle simulation weren't all that armored for the aliens to be able to do what they did so easily to those recruits unfortunate enough to be caught in the line of fire for an alien. With the aliens having penetrated the early warning system (the electronic fence if you will), I can't imagine it will be that long before the people in Johnnie's troop are sent to fight for real.

It is a pretty harsh world that they live in though. I know early on, Johnnie had been punished for rescuing the man in the fire when he'd been ordered out. Now, Greg disobeys an order to that Johnnie lives and as a result, when he dies, he gets nothing. I know about how the military has to follow orders, but I'm not sure what point is being pushed with this idea of orders have to be followed even if it means abandoning others, something that seems alien to me.

While I'm thinking about it, I'm still not sure why Johnnie was made a squad leader. The thing Greg said about it seemed kind of weak. In the live-action movie, Johnnie actually did something to deserve being a squad leader.

Dirty Pair OVA 01

ダーティペア OVA Episode 01

SPOILER Summary: On the remote asteroid Karosu Prison, the prisoners manage to stage a breakout and take the warden hostage. At the 3WA HQ, Kei is frustrated by all the "paperwork" she's having to do (on the computer) while Yuri is down in the lab with Doctor Q and his assistant, trying out a new gadget. It is a ring that looks like normal jewelry, but can shoot a laser blast that will go through 2-meters of metal. Yuri takes the ring and is summoned away. She meets Kei and the two take off on the Lovely Angel to meet with a marine force. They learn of the prison situation and the marines' task is to take control of the facility while Kei and Yuri rescue the warden.

The marines gear up in full armored body suits and deploy in a drop ship, where they jump out of and descend down the one safe route through the atmosphere (which is covered by three prison gun emplacements). Kei and Yuri are in a drop capsule and descend to a lower altitude before emerging and riding the convection currents of the atmosphere on special surf boards. Once inside, they make their way to the cell where the warden is being held, taking out some prisoners along the way. However, once freed, the warden wants revenge since his perfect career was ruined by this prison revolt just before he retired. Thus Kei and Yuri are forced to track down the warden (using Yuri's ring in the process) and get him into their custody while staying alive from the attacking prisoners. Even while escaping, the warden talks of revenge but is knocked out by a beam, making the girls' job easier. On their way out, the leader of the marines promises to treat them to dinner, leading Kei to let him know not to forget the champagne.

Thoughts: I'll still be blogging the original TV series as I can score episodes. However, considering the OVA was where my friend Robert Rainey introduced me to the Dirty Pair franchise, I felt the need to re-watch it and blog about it.

When I saw this back in Japan, I had no subtitles or anything so naturally, I had not clue what the gibberish being spoken happened to be. However, when Kei and Yuri were scurrying around the prison corridors in their skimpy attire, I immediately called "BS!" After all, why were the marines fighting in full armored body suits and the girls weren't? Robert explained it as the girls were really wearing transparent armor. That had to be the weakest excuse I'd heard in my then roughly 20-years of life. I thought he was just making it up until I recently read the first Dirty Pair novel and discovered this was something the author came up with.

Watching it all these years later, it is amazing how it didn't seem like that long ago that I watched this and thought, "How can anyone watch anime in Japanese and enjoy it when they don't speak Japanese and don't have subtitles?" Well, at least this time, I have a translation.

Story-wise, I noticed that at least for this first OVA episode, there's more of a purpose to what Kei and Yuri are doing whereas in the first nine episodes of the TV series, it felt more like the purpose was just something on the side to see the girls in action. Otherwise, it was a standard Dirty Pair outing -- nothing special, but somehow fun just the same.

Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS 22

魔法少女リリカルなのはStrikerS（ストライカーズ）Ep. 22
Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS Episode 22

SPOILER Summary: Quattro and Dieci are in throne room where Dieci expresses doubts over what they are doing, especially to Vivio. However, Dieci will do what she's ordered to do. Quattro finds Dieci's attitude boring and enjoys inflicting pain and suffering as she observes the various battles in progress. Meanwhile in the hospital, Vice watches a news broadcast about the current attack. Zafila lets Vice know how long he's been in the hospital -- roughly a week. Laguna, the girl Vice accidentally shot who's now a young woman, comes to visit Vice. She remarks on how she and "oniichan" don't talk like they used to and she reveals that her eye is healed. Vice has a hard time talking with her and a nurse forces her to evacuate. Zafila, still injured, has some words for Vice before leaving as well. Vice is then left alone with his device, Storm Raider.

Caro faces off with Lutecia and tries to learn why Lutecia is doing what she's doing. Lutecia reveals that this is all an attempt to find the 11th Relic so that her mother can be revived and Lutecia can be happy. Caro points out that making others unhappy to achieve happiness won't work. Lutecia appears to be considering Caro's words when Quattro appears via communication screen. She tells Lutecia that Lutecia can't stop combat and using a control mechanism, takes sudo control over Lutecia, forcing the girl to summon giant insects and attack her enemies. Garyuu also appears to power up, suddenly growing tendrils. Lutecia orders her insects to kill Caro, Elio, and Fried.

Down in Scaglietti's lair, Fate struggles against Tre and Sette due to their Anti-Magic Fields. The battle is interrupted as Doctor Scaglietti appears on a communication holo-screen (appearing to Caro and Elio as well). His speech angers Fate who rushes to attack, only to be ensnared by energy tendrils as Scaglietti approaches. He destroys the blade of Bardiche and traps her in a small energy cage.

The battle between Agito-Zest and Rein-Signum rages with Agito-Zest getting the best of Rein-Signum, throwing them to the ground. Agito and Zest break unison with Rein-Signum launching to return to the fight. As Agito and Zest fly to their objective, Zest tells Agito that Signum may be the perfect master for her. Agito doesn't want to hear this, but Zest notes their similar armor colors and specialties (fire). Agito only wants to see them as an enemy and despite the fact that Zest can barely use Agito's fire abilities in unison mode, Agito figures she has other ways to protect him.

The fight between Subaru and Ginga has Subaru coming up on the losing end with Mach Caliber unable to communicate with Blitz Caliber, meaning the later has been tampered with. Up in the Saint's Cradle, Vita continues to fight while Nanoha flies to the throne room. Despite the massive numbers of Gadgets, Nanoha uses her magic to fly through them rather than attack them. This leaves Nanoha with some damage, but destroyed Gadgets in her wake. She recalls a moment before the attack when she, Fate, and Arf were in a small park with Arf playing with Vivio. As Fate watches them play, Nanoha and Sister Schach watch and talk about the possibility of Nanoha adopting Vivio (Nanoha being told the truth of the origin of Vivio). Nanoha doesn't think it is a good idea since she's so busy and is a person of the skies. However, she does not that she's been shot down before. Vivio sees Nanoha sad and comes over to comfort "mama." This touches Nanoha and in the present, that memory drives Nanoha forward.

Thoughts: The flashback showing Fate seated at the park bench watching Arf play with Vivio was a good one. It showed that Arf, despite her only having cameo appearances in this series, is still very much a part of Fate's life. That's cool.

So Laguna wasn't killed as I'd assumed when Vice had a flashback to shooting her as a little girl. That being the case, I guess they'll be back to normal when the story ends. (Update: After finishing the series, it looks like Laguna may be a relative of Vice's, which would explain how they knew each other from before the shooting.)

Fried's roar is borrowed from an American movie -- Jurassic Park and the T-Rex roar. Its not the first time the Japanese have borrowed sound effects like that.

Keroro Gunsou 45

ケロロ軍曹 Episode 45
(Sgt. Frog 45)

SPOILER Summary: Keroro has a new plan, this time he's going to replace chocolate with sweet potato dango's as the gift for girls to give to boys on Valentine's Day. His plan involves marketing on the Web (Kururu's job), TV, and radio. Keroro tries TV first where the alien that is a master at selling stuff works. However, Keroro ends up not selling anything and buying a ton more sweet potatoes. Next he tries the radio where he interrupts Mutsumi's program as Mutsumi is responding to Natsumi's letter. This results in Natsumi giving Keroro a beating live on the radio. On the website, there are no sales. Indeed, the response to the website has people complaining of stolen personal info or that the site crashed their PC. Dororo tries his hand at selling from a stand and does manage to sell one to a mother and young son.

It is the evening before Valentine's Day and Nishizawa is making a very special chocolate for Fuyuki. The next day, Nishizawa plans to give her chocolate to Fuyuki while Natsumi plans to do the same for Mutsumi. Natsumi tries to give hers when Mutsumi enters the school, but Fuyuki interrupts. Nishizawa tries to give her chocolate to Fuyuki, only to have another girl beat her to the punch. As Fuyuki stands there puzzled, Nishizawa's security destroys the chocolate via a sniper shot, leading Nishizawa to scream at them as she wishes to fight her own battles. Meanwhile, Fuyuki is overloaded with chocolates while Koyuki secretly deposits a sweet potato dango in Natsumi's locker. Natsumi mistakes it for the chocolate and gives it to Mutsumi. It is an embarrassing moment, but Mutsumi likes it so all is well. Meanwhile, Fuyuki discovers all the chocolates given to him are in fact for Natsumi. So when Nishizawa comes by with Tama to present her own chocolate, he's very happy to have one of his own.

Thoughts: Maybe it is because of a lack of sleep, but I giggled several times in this episode. The comments left on their website cracked me up. Natsumi punishing Keroro live on the radio cracked me up. Natsumi giving Mutsumi a Sweet Potato Dango cracked me up (which is surprising to me). The platoon eating dango until they're sick and still end up with more boxes than when they started cracked me up. Nishizawa screaming "Bakayarou!" with the Japanese spelling it out in Romaji (only using two "o's" instead of "ou" at the end) really cracked me up since "bakayarou" is a favorite Japanese insulting term of mine.

So all in all, a fun-filled, funny episode for me. ^_^

Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS 21

魔法少女リリカルなのはStrikerS（ストライカーズ）Ep. 21
Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS Episode 21

SPOILER Summary: Chrono and Lindy receive a report from Yuuno (aided by Arf) that the Saint's Cradle was considering a Lost Logia even in the Belkan times and may be from Al Hazard, the place Fate's creator-mother had long sought. It will take some time for the ship to reach the proper orbit in order to maximize the magic from the two moons in order to launch devastating attacks on the planet's surface. At that time, the ship may be too much for even the TSA fleets to handle.

Hayate leads the aerial forces attacking the Saint's Cradle from without while on the ground, Hayate, Sister Schach, and Verossa go through Scaglietti's lair, seeking to take him and his lab down. They are eventually attacked by some Numbers where Sein grabs Sister Schach, only to find herself countered and apparently captured. Fate squares off against Tre and Sette. Nanoha and Vita manage to breach the hull of the Saint's Cradle where the two fight a number of Gadgets. They receive intel from the Long Arch staff showing that the throne room and engine room, one or both of which will need to be destroyed to stop the Saint's Cradle, are in opposite directions. Though Nanoha is concerned for Vita's health, she agrees to split up, heading for the throne room and Vivio. Vita is battling her way back to the engine room but is ambushed by a Gadget-droid who'd been cloaked. Vita is stabbed in the back through her chest but seeing it is one of the Gadget-droids that had nearly caused Nanoha's death, Vita is enraged and destroys it, preparing to take out its companions as well.

Alto eludes some aerial Gadget-types and drops off the rookies, Fried taking full dragon form to carry Elio and Caro. Caro spies Lutecia and Garyuu, thus directs Fried that way. With their initial plan gone, Subaru and Tia try go to a backup plan. This is stopped by an attack from Number Otto who splits the two apart. Tia is then attacked by Deed while Subaru is attacked by Nove, Subaru being sent into a wall. Wendi then attacks Subaru. Seeing this, Elio and Caro are going to return, but an attack by Garyuu stops them. Tia is trapped in a building with a barrier erected around it and is hunted by Nove and Wendi while Subaru faces Ginga. Otto works to keep the 6th members apart and Deed soon joins the fight against Tia, since she can cause them the most trouble. Tia is injured in her leg but remembers Subaru and prepares to fight.

Caro, Fried, and Elio continue to battle Lutecia and Garyuu while elsewhere, Agito and Zest find their aerial path blocked by Signum and Rein. Zest will only say that his business is with the general and since he won't say more, Signum draws her weapon to stop him. Agito has a reaction when she sees Signum's device Laevatein flare up. However, Agito creates a unison with Zest while Rein creates a unison with Signum. The two unison devices make a statement and then the two knights begin their fight.

Thoughts: Because there are several episodes and several fights to follow, the writers are doing a decent job with everything. That said, because of the sheer scope of things, one can't help but feel things are a bit long. Then again, you really can't just focus on the rescue of Vivio, the defeat of the Numbers, the arrest of Scaglietti, or the destruction of Saint's Cradle. They are all interconnected.

Vita. Well, the writers have been nothing if not good table setters. I was afraid that she'd be the one to "bite the bullet" if you will. Granted she's not dead yet and the writers can certainly decide to have some way of saving her (which naturally I'd like to see) but it doesn't look good for her.

I'm not sure why Arf doesn't have a greater role in this series (beyond the fact that we are crowded with characters) but it was nice seeing her again as she works with Yuuno.

Lupin III Part III 06

ルパン三世 - Part III Ep. 06

SPOILER Summary: Jigen goes to see one Commander Gyaranko, leader of a guerrilla army in some foreign country who are fighting the Nationalist Army, lead by the greedy General Leftoll. Things are not going well for Gyaranko's forces and as such, Leftoll has his army attack the town that Gyaranko is at (where Lupin and Goemon are also at). During the attack, Lupin and Goemon split up to find Jigen. Zenigata, there to try to catch Lupin, is frustrated that Lupin is in such a dangerous pace. He sees Lupin briefly before the thief gets away. Zenigata is then captured by the Nationalist Army, but can't prove he's in the ICPO and after Fujiko states that this is not the real Zenigata, they toss him into jail.

Lupin makes his way through a mountain with a large crater lake and is captured by the guerrillas. He's taken to where Jigen is, where Jigen has reminisced about serving with Gyaranko at one time. Gyaranko tells Jigen there is no treasure (the purpose of Lupin's visit) and the only one who believes there is a treasure is Leftoll. Jigen informs Lupin later that he too thinks there is no treasure. That night, Lupin makes his way to the Nationalist camp where he spies of Fujiko, who's trying to fish info out of Leftoll. He learns that Gyaranko is a traitor and that the Nationalist are going to slaughter the retreating guerrilla forces. However, Lupin is caught and tossed into a cell with Zenigata. However, before Zenigata can get too pleased, Lupin makes his escape.

Outside, Lupin hooks up with Fujiko, but is spotted by the Nationalist and fired upon. Goemon comes to the rescue though. Meanwhile, Jigen is waiting when Gyaranko shows up in his jeep to go to the Nationalist camp. Jigen confronts Gyaranko about being a traitor. They have a shootout where Jigen shoots Gyaranko's gun from him. However, before much else can happen, Gyaranko gets shot when Leftoll and his army begin coming through the mountain pass. After the army leaves, Gyaranko dies and another tank approaches. It is driven by Lupin. They drive up the mountain road where they use the tank's shells to create an explosive to empty the lake into the valley below. It works and Leftoll's army is defeated by the flood waters. The emptied lake reveals the hidden treasure but before Lupin or Fujiko can dig in, Jigen stops them, wishing the treasure to go to the guerrillas. Lupin agrees and drags a protesting Fujiko away.

Thoughts: Whenever Lupin makes a big score, there's always some reason for him not to get it. After all, if he actually obtained a treasure, what would be the incentive to do what he does?

While Zenigata received some more screen time this episode, he's still pretty much a waste and only shows up to please the hardcore Lupin fans.

Beyond that, there's really not a lot to say. While silly, this 3rd Lupin TV series hasn't been nearly as bad as I'd feared it would be. It is nothing special, but not all that bad.

Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS 20

魔法少女リリカルなのはStrikerS（ストライカーズ） Ep. 20
Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS Episode 20

SPOILER Summary: As the ancient Belkan battleship Saint's Cradle rises from the ground, the various Numbers have questions. Doctor Scaglietti tells them that in order to get Saint's Cradle to fly once he found it, he needed a true descendant of the ancient Belkan to activate it. However, no such person existed. As such, he had one of the Numbers, Due, infiltrate the Saint Church and seduce a powerful priest into giving her genetic materials of the great king of Ancient Belka, the Saint. They also ask about the High Council, since they'd sponsored so much of the doctor's work. However, they are being dealt with.

Meanwhile, Admiral Chrono reports that his fleet is en route. A meeting between himself, the three head admirals, and certain members of the 6th discuss current events. Because there are few that can handle the AFB combat, Nanoha reports that they'll be splitting into three teams to assist all fields. Fate tells Caro and Elio goodbye after assuring them things will be OK. Rein and Signum discuss Zest and Agito. Signum has learned from Major Nakajima that Zest had been a knight but had been killed years before. Nanoha and Vita give the rookies one final briefing where Nanoha has them take a moment to reflect on their training, the reasons for which are coming to fruition now.

After the talk, Subaru stays behind. Nanoha assures her things will be well. Subaru isn't so much worried about Gin-nee, but rather Nanoha and her attempt to rescue Vivio. Nanoha ends up reassuring Subaru, so that when Subaru reports to the helicopter, Tia notes that Subaru's plan to cheer up Nanoha backfired so that Nanoha did the cheering. The teams deploy with Hayate, Fate, Nanoha, and Vita working together (Signum being deployed to the ground). Knight Carim unlocks the limiters on all of the 6th's commanders so that they will now operate at full power. As they fly to the Saint's Cradle, Fate worries about Nanoha overdoing it and Nanoha tells her the same in kind. The two fist-bump and head to their targets, Nanoha determined to rescue Vivio.

The Numbers involved in the Einherjar attacks are returning to Saint's Cradle while a team, with Ginga (now called Number 13 in Japanese) heads to attack the Ground HQ. Due is still working on her current mission. She enters the chamber of the High Council (as she is recognized as the tech who works on their life support equipment), who are revealed to be nothing more than brains in giant canisters. They've kept themselves alive for so long in an effort to achieve their goal for the universe. However, while the High Council may have created Doctor Scaglietti, they could not control him. Thus when Due reveals herself to them, she destroys them, ending the High Council.

Thoughts: OK, time for more answers and reveal. I hadn't even thought about it, but had I been keeping track of the number of Numbers, I would have realized that we still had not seen one, in this case, Due. However, because she wasn't someone we'd seen before (whether on the General's staff or within the 6th Mobile Division), her reveal carried little impact beyond being a plot device to kill the High Council.

While they didn't show it this episode, now that the limiters are removed from the power-houses (Fate, Nanoha, Hayate, Signum, and Vita), I expect to see some arse kicking soon.

Dirty Pair 09

ダーティペア Episode 09

SPOILER Summary: The Lovely Angel is approaching Planet Praston when they are engaged by fighters from the surface. Yuri and Kei are calm during the attack, Mughi freaks out, causing them to crash. Turns out, they were going to stage a crash as part of their current mission to apparently infiltrate the two major syndicates on the planet which produce the mineral fuel known as New Stone, who's production has seen a serious decline. Mughi's actions means their ship is in need of repair, which the duo put Mughi and Namo to work on as they head into town, disguised in western attire. Yuri, dressed like Clint Eastwood, is not happy with this, but they have no choice. Kei has Yuri stop the car at a yakisoba stand where she gets a plate full of the food until everyone starts closing down as the Montal Private Police show up.

The thugs from the Montal Syndicate kick the thugs from the Dokecchi Syndicate out of the bar, leading Kei to give the Montal guys some grief. Realizing Kei is a girl, the Montal thugs have a different attitude until she starts kicking their butt. Their fight is interrupted when "Oyuri" begins firing, accusing "Okei" of killing her brother. Thus Kei ends up getting an in with the Dokecchi Syndicate and Yuri with the Montal Syndicate. Both get hired as bodyguards for their respective syndicates with both groups planning things -- Montal is smuggling beam weapons (which could cause a chain reaction with the New Stone and destroy the planet) and Dokecchi planning to stop Montal.

After Brocco from the Dokecchi discovers Kei communicating with Yuri, his group discovers that 3WA sent Dirty Pair to the planet, thus she may be one of them. When they rescue the son of the head of Montal (who'd tried to make a move on Yuri and gotten a beating for it), the two groups decide to come together to flush out the Dirty Pair. When Yuri is notified by one of the head thugs, she desperately tells Mughi to have the ship repairs done by 08:00 the following morning. The following day, the two groups send Yuri and Kei in to fight each other. Realizing the jig is up and that they can only wait for a rescue, Yuri and Kei begin a "bitch fight" where they slap the crap out of each other and tussle around on the ground. Both syndicates are stunned by this as Lovely Angel arrives on scene, its beam canon trained on the New Stone quarry. Having escaped, Kei slaps Namo in happiness, who in turn accidentally fires the canon, destroying the planet.

Thoughts: You know, this episode is a rather interesting parody of the old samurai-yakuza titles, merged with the American western in a futuristic sci-fi environment. I got a kick out of that.

As is typical with a Dirty Pair title, there are a lot of events that happen but not a lot else. So production of this New Stone mineral fuel is down due to the fighting. What did 3WA hope to accomplish by sending in Yuri and Kei? On the surface, one would think it would be to restore production levels, but nothing in the story indicated this. Oh well. As I almost always say with a Dirty Pair title (and likely will say again), one doesn't watch these for any deep story or meaning. If I was entertained by Yuri and Kei's actions, then the productions staff have done their job.

One final note, I did get a laugh at the "bitch fight" between Yuri and Kei at the end. I honestly didn't expect it, and unexpected things like this are things I find enjoyable.

Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS 19

魔法少女リリカルなのはStrikerS（ストライカーズ）Ep. 19
Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS Episode 19

SPOILER Summary: One week after the Combat Cyborg attack, Vice is still severely injured. Female pilot Alto takes over his job as the 6th Mobile Division's helicopter pilot. The members of the 6th begin transferring to the old TSA cruiser Asura, where Lucino will be the navigator. Hayate calls a meeting on board ship where we learn that the Ground HQ is again not doing its job and that to get around the institutional road blocks, Hayate is having the 6th perform its chartered work on the Lost Logia known as Relics. Because Doctor Scaglietti has some, this is how the 6th can go after him without officially running afoul with the Ground HQ people.

Subaru receives her final check from Mary and is cleared for full duties. Her device, Mach Caliber, is still broken and Subaru feels badly about putting her partner through that. Mach Caliber has come up with a solution that will allow Subaru to use her combat cyborg abilities without damaging the device. This will mean that it will be heavier and harder to use but Subaru feels she can handle it. Mach Caliber promises to do more so that Subaru can go full strength, which touches Subaru.

Back on the ship, Nanoha and Raising Heart are talking when they come across Rein. She informs Nanoha that they will be removing the final limiter on the rookies' devices. Nanoha wishes she had more time to train the rookies properly, but circumstances dictate otherwise. Rein feels they will master the final forms but she is worried about Nanoha using Raising Heart's final mode, "Blaster Mode." Nanoha states that this is her and Raising Heart's ace up the sleeve and that Raising Heart's normal mode will be fine, something the device agrees with. She further states (to herself?) that it is almost time for her to rescue Vivio.

Elsewhere on the ship, Elio and Signum are engaged in some one-on-one training in a giant, spacious room. Once done, she tells Elio that there's nothing more she can teach him. Elio remarks on how he's been able to borrow some moves from Signum by training with her. Leaving the training room, Signum finds Fate waiting outside and the two walk down the corridor, Fate thanking Signum for taking care of her child. Signum tells her that Elio is doing well and that she is shocked at how rapidly he learns and how his judgment gets better. Fate remarks that Nanoha trains them to do this and she feels the rookies can be as strong as they want to be.

Shamal is giving Vita an exam and is worried that Vita's wounds heal slower and the damage she's received doesn't go away as easily, something they've known about for some time. Apparently, the Guardian Knight system is also acting up with the link between the knights and Hayate now weaker. Vita has heard enough and is preparing to leave the exam room. She theorizes that the problem isn't in the Guardian Knight system, but that they are getting their wish finally. Prior to Hayate, they had been unable to die, but they had wanted to live their lives with Hayate once she became their master. As such, not being able to instantly recover or the like, but have to slowly heal and recover makes Vita feel like a normal human. Shamal can't help but worry about them all and Vita tries to be reassuring.

Scaglietti has his Numbers attack General Geis's Einherjar installations and destroy them all. Uno reports this to the doctor as she carries the unconscious Vivio (the Vessel of the Saint) to a cathedral-like chamber. The doctor's dream has been to revive the Saint's Cradle and that is about to happen. As they talk, Uno discovers intruders have infiltrated their base. She quickly detects and dispatches these shadow-like dogs. Outside the base at the entrance of the cave, Verossa and Sister Schach discuss what Verossa's hunting dogs discovered. However, they quickly find themselves under attack from a large number of Gadgets.

On the Asura, Sheri receives a call from Verossa requesting support. He's also requested support from the church now that they've found Scaglietti's base. Hayate agrees but even as she does, they see that the Combat Cyborgs have broken off their attacks on the Einherjar and are moving to the Ground HQ. They also discover something shocking -- Ginga appears to be working with the Combat Cyborgs. Even as Verossa and Sister Schach finish off the Gadgets, Scaglietti makes a communication to General Geis, the Saint Church, and the 6th were he shows off and announces the launch of the ancient battleship Saint's Cradle. Vivio is plugged into the ship and her cries cut into Nanoha.

Thoughts: It was interesting how the writers apparently have Ginga brainwashed and working with the Combat Cyborgs but Vivio remains the same person -- a frightened young girl. Then again, I think this works best. Subaru's shock over her sister working with the enemy and potentially having to fight her for real (and I have no doubt this will happen) plays one emotional aspect while Nanoha's horror over seeing this little girl she's fallen in love with as if her own daughter plays the other. Realistically, I'd think you'd want Vivio under brainwashed control too, but I'll let it pass for dramatic license.

Now that the Belkan battleship Saint's Cradle has been revealed, the writers decision to destroy the 6th's HQ and force them to transfer to the Asura makes more sense. Don't get me wrong, I bought the move before the Saint's Cradle was revealed because I believe the Asura was used in the first two Nanoha series and was Lindy's command ship. As such, I'd seen how useful a mobile platform for launching missions can be. Now, I see a ship vs. ship confrontation coming.

Regarding the Guardian Knights (Wolkenritter), while I like how Vita viewed their inabilities to heal quickly and stuff as making them more human, I got the feeling the writers are setting up one of them (possibly Vita) to die. I didn't realize how strong this was until I went to bed and dreamed I watched an episode where Shamal was the one to die. Killing off a hero character is always tough (even on the new Battlestar Galactica, where from week to week, you never know whom among the established characters might be killed off) and the impact would be great. I'd hate to see it happen because I like all of the core and supporting characters. We'll see where the writers take this.

Overall, another good episode. I'm looking forward to seeing Nanoha go into "mama bear" mode and kick some serious butt of those who would dare hurt her Vivio.

Negima! Vol 23 (Ch 210) *SPOILERS*

魔法先生 ネギま！Volume 23 Chapter 210

Summary: At Chao Bao Zi (超包子), Satsuki serves customers Zazie, Eva, Chachamaru (one of the younger-looking copies), and Hakase (who's working on copy-Chachamaru). Eva is bored and decides that it will be fun to dress all the girls up in elaborate dresses. However, fun is over all to soon and Eva is bored again.

In the Magic World in the skies over Ostia, Asakura (in child form) is winding Chachamaru (in child form) and commenting on how Chachamaru seems to enjoy it more when Negi winds her. So when Chachamaru tries to deny it, "Asakura-sama" winds her hard, something Sayo (in doll form) wonders if she should be seeing considering Chachamaru's reaction to it.

Nodoka is with her fellow treasure hunters and trying out her two new artifacts -- Auris Lectans, an ear piece which allows her to hear the words in her pactio diary artifact (Diarium Ejus), and Daemonia, which allows her to uncover the name of anyone. The test is very successful and she learns way more than she wanted to about her companions.

At school, Yue is making rapid progress but Collet discovers Yue's one weakness -- Yue's need to go to the bathroom frequently and need to wear side-tie panties in order to use the bathroom.

Misora is sight seeing in the Magic World with Cocone and very excited by it all, forcing fellow companion Takana (Mei there as well) to chastise her for being so hyper. However, the news of the gate destruction has Mei and Takana freaking out while Misora begins to ponder living the rest of her life in the Magic World.

In Wales, Zazie calls Ayaka to let her know how things are. Hearing how much Ayaka is talking, Chizuru wonder who called. Hearing it is Zazie, the cheerleaders are stunned by this. Later, the cheerleader trio tease Fuka and Fumika about the disappearance of Negi and the others as Ayaka and Chizuru wonder what did happen to them.

On the Magic World, Jack is ready to train Negi more while Chisame reports that they still don't know where Anya, Paru, and Yue are. Jack feels they are fine, but a small image of the forgotten Chamo shows that maybe he's not doing so well.

Thoughts: Akamatsu-sensei returns to the mini-stories that are fun for fans and I'm guessing easy on him and his staff. It was fun seeing what Eva was up to as well as those left behind in Wales. It was also interesting that Akamatsu-sensei has brought Misora, Cocone, Mei, & Takana over to the Magic World prior to the gate destruction. Yeah, I'm guessing they'll be in the big battle that's soon to come.

Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS 18

魔法少女リリカルなのはStrikerS（ストライカーズ）Ep. 18
Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS Episode 18

SPOILER Summary: In the aftermath of the attack, General Geis is very upset over what has happened while Hayate requests a meeting with his aide Auris after meeting her in the hall. She says she'll meet Hayate after she finishes the meeting she's going to at present. Outside, Signum takes over for Tia and sends her to the hospital where the injured 6th members are all recovering. Tia heads to Subaru's room where Caro and Elio are. Tia already knew that Subaru was a cyborg and Subaru had just told Caro and Elio this. Caro and Elio leave to allow Tia and Subaru some time alone where they talk about Ginga. Elsewhere, Vita is visiting Shamal and Zafira and worrying about Rein, who saved her life.

Some of the Long Arch staff, Admiral Chrono, Knight Carim, Nanoha, Fate, and Signum are briefed by Major Nakajima about the truth behind Subaru and Ginga, two cyborgs rescued by his mage wife after investigating an illegal research facility (the girls looking a lot like her). They adopted the girls and decided to raise them as human but some time later, she was killed. Major Nakajima suspects his wife saw something she shouldn't have. The major kept the door open to finding out who was responsible for his wife's death. Because Hayate knew of Nakajima's experience with combat cyborgs, she asked for his assistance in her investigation.

For her part, Hayate is walking down a hall with Auris, inquiring about General Geis connections with the development of combat cyborgs and artificial mages. Auris tries to play off this as stuff from the distant past, but Hayate presses, stating her belief that Geis is in fact working with Scaglietti to have this technology continued. Scaglietti would work in secret, the Geis "finds" the research when complete and then uses it without having his hands dirtied with illegal research. Auris is not happy with this line of questioning as well as the fact that in 10-years, Hayate has risen to Lt. Colonel, especially when she had been a criminal killing mages. Hayate is not detoured by this so Auris suggests Hayate get a warrant, something Hayate plans to do.

Meanwhile, General Geis is informed that the High Council is summoning him as they want answers on his recent conduct. He's angry by this and even more so when he learns they are suspending "Einherjar." As such, he decides to refuse the summons and decides that he's going to have to destroy Scaglietti for turning on him (though he never mentions the name specifically). The officer who's been informing Geis of all this has one additional piece of information. He shows imagery of Vita-Rein's combat with Zest-Agito. Seeing Zest, General Geis clutches his chest and appears to be having a heart attack.

Elsewhere, Zest is vomiting blood while a worried Agito (who addresses him with the title "Danna") frets, feeling she hadn't done enough to protect him. Zest disagrees, owing his life to Agito. He sends her to get him another cup of medicine and Uno contacts him, telling him the Lutecia will be rejoining him soon. Zest tells Uno that he knows they really don't have a use for him any more, which Uno denies. He wants to complete a few things first before dying again, apparently having died previously and been brought back to life.

At Scaglietti's secret lair-lab, Quattro works on the severely injuring Cinque as some of the other Numbers observe. They learn that if Subaru can make a clean hit on them, they would not survive. Still elsewhere in the lab, more numbers come upon Lutecia, who's looking at a nude woman in a giant canister. Some of the Number's are new and introduce themselves to Lutecia, where we learn the woman is apparently her mother, though Lutecia doesn't remember that. We also learn that the doctor has told Lutecia that if she acquires Relic #11, her mother will wake up and Lutecia will have a heart.

At the Dimensional HQ for the TSA, Hayate meets with Verossa (Inspector Acous), where she has received permission to use the old mage warship Asura as a temporary mobile HQ for the 6th Mobile Division since their facility has been destroyed. Back on the planet, Nanoha finally breaks down that night when talking to Fate outside over the loss of Vivio and Nanoha's inability to keep her promise and protect the girl. Nanoha gets more upset, thinking about how Vivio is likely crying right now and there's nothing Nanoha can do about it.

Back at Scaglietti's lair, Quattro has turned her attention to Vivio, who indeed is crying and very scared. Quattro and most of the other Numbers seem to take perverse pleasure in Vivio's fear and cries for her mama, especially since Vivio understands what they are about to do with her. Scaglietti arrives, also seemingly enjoying what Vivio is going through and is going to insert a Relic into her, making her his masterpiece.

Thoughts: Lots of explaining happening here. The shock of everything that happened in the previous episode clouded my mind, but as Major Nakajima explained about Subaru and Ginga, suddenly their "medical" visit with Mary, an engineer, made sense.

Vivio's cries at the end were just heart-rending. Sheeze. The fact that she was going to be violated so horribly AND the Numbers and Scaglietti were cold and gleeful about it made it worse. I hate seeing that kind of thing and were I to witness it in person, I would go insane and start killing the violators immediately. The scene just made me really angry and even though this is just an anime, just the thought that someone could do something so horrific to a sweet, innocent girl just made me angry and in a foul mood the rest of the day. I guess in this regard, the writers have succeeded in making Scaglietti pure evil.

Speaking of that bastard, I was right when I thought that General Geis was connected to him. Well, you know what they say about making a deal with the devil.

The series has gotten to the point that stopping to even write a review is hard, to say nothing of doing other things. That is a sign of a good series though, right?

Macross Frontier 08

マクロスF Episode 08
Macross F Ep. 08

SPOILER Summary: Ranka is working in the Zentradi mall at a vegitable stand, singing. However, she's not having much success there. In addition to having a TV appearance, her manager has news for her. She's been accepted to the Mihoshi Academy, where Alto also attends. While Alto doesn't seem to keen on this development, Nana is very happy about it. However, before Ranka can be shown around, Sheryl makes a grand appearance on campus, causing great commotion. She apparently has permission to come to the school under a cultural exchange agreement. She finds it interesting that Ranka just transfered in and begins referring to Alto as her slave. He's not happy about this, but she doesn't care and she plays Alto's guilt over losing her earring. Ranka is a bit disturbed by this but distracted by a critter in the bushes.

Meanwhile, Kathy and Leon are discussing the rescue of the Dulfim and how it survived. The location of the Macross Galaxy is still unknown. Ozama drops off his report to Kathy, taking the time to makes some remarks about her getting older. Meanwhile Leon sees the footage of the mystery fighter taken by Alto sent to him by a staff member. The staff member also reports that they've finished quiet deployment concerning Ranka. Leon expresses being somewhat interested in Ranka.

Sheryl wants to fly, so up on the school's roof (designed like the old Macross flight deck), she puts on Luca's flight power-suit sans the wings. As Alto, Ranka, Nana, Luca, and Michael watch, Sheryl attempts to successfully pick up eggs with the suit. She fails repeatedly getting egg all over herself, Ranka, and Nana and causes Luca to fret over "Samson" (the name he's given his suit). Later in the showers, Sheryl asks about Ranka's career. Ranka says its going slowly so Sheryl offers her a spot on an upcoming TV appearance with Sheryl (Sheryl doesn't know the details of it, leaving those things to Grace). Nana is offended by this and Sheryl wonders if Nana's attracted to Alto. Ranka turns down the offer from Sheryl, wishing to do things on her own, which Sheryl respects.

The critter from before is seen with Sheryl's panties and runs off with them as the guys, thinking about scoring panties Sheryl has worn, go off in search of the panties. Sheryl tells Ranka to keep her TV appointment. Sheryl races up to where Luca, Michael, and Alto are and takes Luca's personal power-flight suit (sans the wings again). However, she'd not been shown how to stop it and so while she races around, she has to stop herself by slamming into walls, causing great damage. Alto sees this and takes off while Sheryl catches up to the critter. She gets her panties but has fallen off the roof, where Alto arrives in his flight suit and catches her. Sheryl decides she wants Alto to fly her around.

Ranka runs to get to the studio, she gets a call from her manager stating that her TV appearance has been canceled due to a special show being done by Sheryl. Depressed by this sudden turn of events, Ranka looks up to see the advertisements for Sheryl everywhere. She heads to her special place and sees the critter who'd stolen the panties. After petting it, she starts singing to it. She hears a harmonica being played to the tune of her song. It is the mysterious humanoid alien pilot that Alto had seen previously.

The following day at school, Sheryl announces she is officially transferring to Mihoshi Academy and that she'll be entering the Pilot Course program, which is what Alto, Luca, and Michael are in. Both Alto and Ranka are shocked by this, as is the rest of the class.

Thoughts: Well, it figures that the writers would come up with some way to have the love-triangle aspects furthered. What better way than to have Sheryl and Ranka attend the same school as Alto? I don't know if Sheryl's age was given earlier, but for some reason, I figured her to be in her early 20's. I think it would have been a bit more interesting to have her be a bit older than Alto, but it doesn't really matter. After this episode, I want Ranka to be the "chosen one" more than ever.

As to the episode itself, the main story only received a few mentions, but what is so special about Ranka (beyond her surviving a Vajra attack years earlier)? That will be interesting to learn. It will also be interesting to see if Sheryl does indeed become a pilot.

While I didn't laugh, I did enjoy this comedy outing. I suppose everyone needed a break after the last episode. While I don't normally notice animation quality, I did notice some stark shortcomings at times, likely due to how much time and money were spent prior to this.

xxxHOLiC Kei 06

xxxHOLiC◆継 Episode 06

SPOILER Summary: Watanuki, Yuuko-san, Mokona, and Doumeki play Mahjong under the sakura tree where the ghost of the woman that Kohane-chan had been scheduled to excise now resided. Watanuki has never played and so is "owned" by the others. Himawari-chan's visit coincides with Watanuki's worst loss of the game. Even the Ame-Warashi and Zashiki-Warashi stop by. In the end, despite apparently coming close to a big win, Watanuki loses. The ghost is happy to leave this world having seen the game and Watanuki is tasked with preparing for a party, Ame-Warashi and Zashiki-Warashi in tow. Since this was set up by Doumeki to give the ghost peace, he pays Yuuko-san with some high quality sake.

Thoughts: Well, despite being mildly amusing (and I do enjoy seeing Zashiki-Warashi and Ame-Warashi), I didn't feel this had the impact that the manga story did. This is mainly due to Yuuko-san taking the game seriously along with Mokona and Doumeki. In the manga, the different hands or whatever had meaning but here, there was no meaning. Only the game itself was something, and that was weak. Oh well. The writers had to fill a ton of time since what was in the manga would have been over in ten minutes.

Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS 17

魔法少女リリカルなのはStrikerS（ストライカーズ） Ep. 17
Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS Episode 17

SPOILER Summary: Unison Vita-Rein fight with unison Zest-Agito in a stalemate, though Zest has praise for Vita. However, Rein and Vita have noticed that the unison of Zest and Agito is not complete. Zest suggests splitting the unison so that he can use his specialty attack, but Agito will hear none of it, wanting to protect him and defeat Rein. Meanwhile the ambushed rookies have a surprise for their Numbers attackers Nove and Wendi as Tia, aided by Caro, create multiple illusions that the attackers cannot penetrate. This allows Subaru and Elio to launch successful attacks that allow the rookies to escape. Though defeated, they are requested to aide Numbers Cinque, who is facing off against Ginga.

Nanoha and Fate have made it to the lower level and are joined by Sister Schach, who'd also managed to escape from the upper levels. The rookies arrive with the devices. Fate and Nanoha retrieve theirs with Sister Schach stating she will deliver the others to Signum, Hayate, and others. Subaru discovers that she can no longer communicate with Ginga and the 6th's HQ is under heavy attack. As such, the Stars Squadron will go to help Ginga (Nanoha, Subaru, and Tia) while the Lightning Squad will provide relief to the Long Arch staff at the 6th Mobile Division's HQ.

Numbers Otto and Deed have Shamal and Zafila on the ropes. As they go to deliver the finishing blows on Hayate's Knights, Hayate senses what is happening to them and informs Signum. Elsewhere, Vice's helicopter is destroyed and he's trying to defend the people trying to evacuate, including Aina-san and Vivio. Still elsewhere, Fate, Elio, and Caro (the later two riding Fried in his full dragon form) approach the 6th HQ building, they are ambushed by Numbers Tre and Sette. Fate sends Elio, Caro, and Fried to continue to the 6th HQ while she handles the combat cyborgs.

Zest senses the powerful S+ mages on the move and tells Agito they must retreat. Indeed, Signum is in route to Vita's location. Agito is extremely frustrated and has Zest go for one final attack. When Zest's weapon (device?) connects with Vita's Graf Eisen device, Graf Eisen partially shatters. The impact does Zest no harm, but it causes Agito harm apparently. Rein is knocked out by the blow however, and is "ejected" from Vita. Zest flees with the also-ejected Agito in hand as Signum arrives to find Vita in tears over what has happened to both Rein and Graf Eisen.

Subaru races ahead of Nanoha and Tia (Nanoha having to carry Tia as they fly underground) and arrives at Ginga's location to find 'Gin-nee' a defeated, unconscious, bloody mess who's about to be stuffed into a case by Numbers Nove, Wendi, and Cinque. She goes berserk at seeing her sister treated thusly and attacks with a much higher level of power than before. She attacks Nove and puts a hurting on her. Cinque steps in and tells Nove and Wendi to get out with Ginga (now stuffed into the case). Cinque stops Subaru from stopping Nove and Wendi, but nearly pays for it with her life. Subaru, now injured and revealed to be a cyborg and her Mach Caliber device shuts down, severely damaged as Sein rescues Cinque. It is then that Nanoha and Tia arrive.

As Vice continues to defend the huddled civilians, Lutecia arrives. Seeing her, Vice recalls his younger days when as a sniper, he attempted to kill a bad guy holding a little girl hostage and accidentally killed the girl instead. As such, he's unable to shoot Lutecia, who makes him pay for that with an attack of her own. She then has Garyu take Vivio and contacts Uno, who thanks Lutecia for rescuing Vivio, feeling that Vivio, dressed very cutely, has been treated horribly. They fly out of the area when they are spotted by Elio. Seeing they have Vivio, he suddenly remembers his own childhood when he was taken from his parents against everyone's will because he was a Project F clone.

He races ahead of Caro and Fried to attack and is met by Garyu, who leaves the unconscious Vivio with Lutecia. While Elio causes damage to Garyu, he's knocked out when Numbers Deed ambushes him and sends him to the see. Before Caro and Fried and do anything, they are bound by Otto. Elsewhere, Fate continues her stalemated battle with Tre and Sette. The two Numbers are disappointed in how Fate views Doctor Scaglietti as they consider him to be her father as well as Elio's. They leave, all of the objectives having been achieved, and Tre tells Fate that next time she will not win against them.

Ariel Gadgets are about to attack, issuing a 5-minute warning to allow civilians to flee. A very upset and angry Caro then summons a giant, dragon-humanoid named Voltaire, who immediately takes out the Gadgets without breaking a sweat. Inside the HQ building, Scaglietti has contacted them and bloviates for a while. Knight Carim remarks to Hayate that they couldn't stop the prophesy but Hayate tells her that the 6th isn't done yet.

Thoughts: Egad! This was a good episode not only for action, but for stunning reveals. I figured Vice would play a role, but no wonder he left the mage service and became a chopper pilot. I had no clue that Subaru would be a cyborg, but that would explain her and Ginga's conversation about combat cyborgs earlier. Learning that Elio is in fact a clone (no wonder he knew about Project F) was a shocker. Caro being able to summon that giant humanoid-dragon Voltaire -- and to think such a sweet, shy girl had this up her sleeves (which I know she mentioned him, but that didn't prepare me for what she summoned). Wow. Tia being able to fool the Numbers with her illusions (aided by Caro) was a nifty reveal as well.

General Geis didn't reveal anything this week, so no clue if he's in collusion with Doctor Scaglietti or not. It seems Scaglietti wants to be in the arms business though, to include cyborgs. "Hey, I can't be evil because I tried not to kill anyone."

Despite the weak dialog, the writers have done a decent job in establishing characters so that when they lowered the boom this episode, it had impact. Vivio being taken was bad enough, but seeing how Ginga had been beaten into a bloody pulp and stuffed into a case was just incredible, as was Subaru going berserk and nearly killing one of the Numbers (I guess it is too early to start taking them out of the game).

Nanoha and Fate have one "get out of unlock" free card which I expect will be used very, very soon. Call me silly, but I'm looking forward to the 6th coming back and kicking major arse.

Again, just a really enjoyable episode for me.

"Slayers Revolution" Stuff

Here's some promotional art for Digimon Revolution Slayers Revolution.


The critter's name is apparently Pokota.

And for those wanting to hear what the OP sounds like (courtesy of Tea and an unnamed fan in Japan who recorded it off the radio, which explains the AM radio quality of the recording), I have it here.

Plenty of Grit (TV version, low quality).

For the episode reviews, click the "Slayers Revolution" tag/label below.

Lupin III Part III 05

ルパン三世 - Part III Ep. 05

SPOILER Summary: Lupin and Jigen are in South Africa to meet with a contact of Lupin's about a World War II U-Boat filled with with Nazi treasures. Their contact had partnered with one Herman Mueller, but had killed Herman (apparently Herman retained his Nazi ideals and the partner had given up on them now that he is an old man). However, as he is about to give the map to Lupin, a giant condor takes it from him and gives it to a young woman. The partner is killed by a boomerang thrown from a man on a nearby high rock. Jigen tries to shoot the boomerang but it deflects the bullets. When he tries to shoot the man, the man uses the boomerang as a shield. Now it is time for Jigen and Lupin to make a fast retreat.

The woman is running away when she's stopped by Goemon. She tries to shoot him, but he not only gets rid of the bullets, his sword work shreds her clothing, leaving her nude. She summons the condor to escape and because Goemon is honorable and will not willingly look upon a naked woman, she escapes, which Lupin remarks on once he arrives on scene. At their hideout, Lupin reveals he'd placed a tracking device on the boomerang so that when brother and sister, the children of Herman Mueller, arrive at their destination, Lupin can go there as well. The brother and sister are happy to help one Otto Jergens since he allowed them to get revenge on their father's killer. However, Otto has a job for them, namely killing Lupin.

The tracking device is discovered by Otto but before he can really do anything, Lupin is already there. The brother attempts to kill Lupin, but when the head rolls off, they discover it was only a life-like mannequin. The head kicks off a gas and Otto tries to escape, only to run into the real Lupin and Jigen. Otto is prepared though and suddenly, Zenigata and a squad of police are there. As far as Zenigata is concerned, Lupin is the #1 criminal. Thus Otto escapes but Zenigata doesn't have Lupin for long as he too makes an escape from a pile of police officers.

As Lupin tails the siblings, Fujiko is with Otto on his yacht attempting to gain the map in her own way. However, Otto figures her to double-cross him and is prepared for her with the siblings and other henchmen there. Lupin and Jigen arrive on a yellow submarine, which confirms Otto's belief that Fujiko would have betrayed him. Otto has no use for any of them and has them dumped into a pool of oil but Goemon, carried by the condor, saves them from death as Otto escapes. Once out of the oil, Goemon receives permission to borrow the condor as the gang flies off in a sea plane, tracking where Otto is going.

Otto arrives on an oil platform so Lupin decides to head in by the front door and leave the rest to Goemon. Despite the warning being sounded about Lupin's arrival, he makes it to the room where Otto is. Otto tries to kill him with a bomb planted in the couch, but Lupin was ready for it and was only singed. Otto agrees to retrieve the map and opens a large safe. However before he can grab a gun, Lupin gives him a warning and shoots one of Otto's men, hidden behind a curtain, with a tranquilizer dart. Otto pretends to go along, then gets into the safe, revealing that the room is in fact a self-contained chamber which is now at the bottom of the ocean. The safe is also an escape hatch which once he closes, Lupin will be trapped.

Lupin was prepared for this as well, so that when Otto gets into the escape rocket, Goemon has the condor fly him to the spot where Goemon destroys the rocket with his sword. Fujiko then has the office chamber raised from the bottom as Lupin makes her laugh from within the container. The mission completed, Goemon returns the condor to the sister, who gives him a kiss on the lips as thanks for all he's done. Now Goemon will have to meditate some more.

Thoughts: Whoa! Otto actually was prepared for the Fujiko double-cross. Kudos to the writers for surprising me there. After all, she's as infamous as Lupin, yet time after time, she manages to get in cozy with the villain before Lupin arrives on the scene. The one time she did this that was realistic was in Castle of Cagliostro, where she was in disguise not once, but twice.

That condor sure did lose a lot of feathers. Egad! I'm stunned it wasn't featherless by the time the episode was over.

Funny how Zenigata was just forgotten after Lupin escaped from the dog pile of police officers.

Story-wise, much like the previous episodes, we just have an adventure with no real depth. Still, it was enjoyable all the same.

Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS 16

魔法少女リリカルなのはStrikerS（ストライカーズ）Ep. 16
Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS Episode 16

SPOILER Summary: It is the night before the press conference and Nanoha, Vita, Rein, Mary, Caro, Elio, Subaru, and Tia (and maybe Ginga) are dispatched for guard duty. Vivio gets Aina-san to take her to see Nanoha prior to her departure. Nanoha promises to return on the following day and leaves her with Fate and Aina-san. On the flight, the talk of everyone is Vivio and how Nanoha could officially adopt her. Nanoha states that there's still a search for a home to place Vivio in, though she admits that she would be happy keeping Vivio. However, she wants whatever is best for Vivio. Meanwhile back at their apartment, Fate explains as best she can her relationship with her real mother Precia (and sister Alicia) as well as her adopted mother Lindy. As if on cue, Lindy calls, wanting to see both Fate and Vivio if the press conference weren't the following day.

Back at the HQ, Tia brings some tea out to Vice. She'd done some research on him and discovered he'd been an "ace mage" at some point. Vice appears troubled that Tia would check into his past. As far as he's concerned, he's now a helicopter pilot, not a mage and he's a bit cold in how he tells Tia this. She gets the message and takes off. Meanwhile, Nanoha leaves her Device (Raising Heart) with Subaru since the mages working the inside aren't being allowed to carry their Devices. Fate, Signum, and Hayate will be leaving their Devices outside as well. As Vita patrols outside with Caro and Elio, she telepathically communes with Nanoha, trying to figure out a reason for an attack, including the remote possibility of a coup d'état. In the end, Nanoha figures they shouldn't think too hard on it since she trust the orders given to her by her superiors.

Outside, Zest and Agito are preparing for an attack. Agito stayed with Zest to give him protection since Lutecia, at another location, has her bugs and is summoning Gadgets. The Numbers are in place and Doctor Scaglietti gives the order to attack. The Numbers are able to issue a massive assault on the HQ building, including taking out support staff inside and jamming communications, including telepathic ones. General Geis is informed of the attack, but refuses to stop the conference, feeling the defenses are good enough to keep out any attack. However, as Quattro notes, observing all that's going on including the general, keeping them sealed in is what they want.

Vita and Rein are going to intercept the inbound attackers, going into unison mode along the way while the rookies attempt to make contact with the 6th members inside to give them their devices. After Vita and Rein combine, they issue a warning to the incoming attackers, which are Agito and Zest. Agito hears Rein and when Vita-Rein attack, Agito makes an emergency unison with Zest which saves his life. On the ground, some of the Numbers are waiting and Subaru is ambushed. Thus the rookies attempt to get the devices to Nanoha and the others is thwarted.

Lutecia is given information from Uno about the unconfirmed location of the Relic(s) and Vessel of the Saints (Vivio?). Aina-san carries Vivio to an evacuation point, escorted by Zafila. Within the sealed HQ building, there is much chaos, but Nanoha has a plan and Fate is with her. Since the elevators are down, the two use their combat training to "ride" the elevator cables down on their hands, using their magical abilities. In his lair, Doctor Scaglietti observes as Uno continues to direct the battle.

Thoughts: Even if only a cameo, I liked seeing Lindy again. I liked how the writers addressed the issue of Fate's real mother and Lindy, who adopted her. I guess that the woman with Chrono and the kids in the big family photo is his wife and children.

Vivio is such a sweetheart. ^_^

Having a bit of Vice's background discussed in how he was a mage seems like table setting to me.
From a Japanese perspective, I wonder why the Numbers address Lutecia as "ojousama," which is usually reserved for daughters of rich and powerful people.

We finally have the start of the attack which carries on into the next episode. There's nothing really surprising here. Bad guys get the drop on the good guys despite the preparations. I figure the good guys will kick some keester next week.

That said, I still enjoyed the episode.

Interview with Leah Clark

As many of you know, I'm a big fan of the canon Tenchi Muyo! franchise but I've also enjoyed the various non-canon spinoffs for what they are worth. The latest spinoff is Sasami: Magic Girl Club (as the official English naming goes). While it does take the characters of Sasami, Mihoshi, Washu, and Ryo-ohki from the TM!R series, it also pulls Misao from Mahou Shoujo Pretty Sammy as well. I've yet to see the series (save for a brief look at the first couple of episodes in Japanese and the first four episodes in English) or its sequel, but I am keen to do so.

Despite not being one to watch English dubs, when the Tenchi Brand Manager contacted me about interviewing English dub director Leah Clark, there was no way I was saying no. So, I did a brief interview with her (which will also be published on the Tenchi Muyo! FAQ site and I believe FUNimation's MySpace page as well). I'd like to thank Leah & Amber for setting this up. I'd also like to apologize for this being a weaker interview on my part (I've done several interviews with comic strip artists) but my lack of knowledge of the dub side of anime fandom was a real limiting factor. ^_^;

That said, here's the interview.

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AstroNerdBoy: As you know, the Japanese decided to choose inexperienced young girls to provide the voices of Sasami and friends. Did you ever consider using child voice actors?

Leah Clark: Not at all.

ANB: What ultimately lead to the decision not to use children?

LC: Flap-matching mostly. It’s very difficult for an adult who is already a professional actor in other areas to get accustomed to matching mouth flaps. It would be absolute hell on a child. They’d hate me and never voice act ever again. Now, during the second season, I did try to cast younger actors for the members of the Shining Team since the roles weren’t as demanding. I auditioned several younger girls (young teens mostly) and ended up with one new-comer, Gina Circelli-who plays Chinako (it’s her first role at Funimation) and Jad Saxton who plays Eimi. Not that the other girls weren’t talented, but voice-dubbing is very much a skill-based job. I also wrote the English script and I wanted to capture the humor that was intended for the show (judging by the animation) and I needed strong actors in the five main roles who could match flaps with brilliant comedic timing and emotional range. Hard for actual fifth grade actors to do that.

ANB: When directing the voice actors who were playing Sasami and friends, did the fact that the Japanese used actual children influence how you directed those voice actors?

LC: Well, it was more the fact that the characters were children. There were times when Cherami Leigh (who plays Makoto) would accidently stumble over her words and as long as we could still understand what she was saying, I would leave it in since children of 9 and 10 years of age don’t typically have the best diction. Same went for Gina Circelli, Monica Rial (Misao), Majken Bullard (Kozue), and Alison Viktorin (Sasami). I felt that Anri and Tsukasa should be a little more mature sounding in their diction since Tsukasa is sophisticated and Anri is in 6th grade and constantly trying to impress Tsukasa. So Brittney and Brina are consistently clear. Writing it was where I made most of the child-like choices, though. They use words like “bestest” and “yes-huh,” and their grammar is immature. If their lines sound more mature, I made sure the line delivery was like that of a child who heard an adult use that phrase once. I taught an after-school theater class to children of Sasami n’ friends’ ages, so I made sure all the lines could’ve easily been said by one of my students. Kids can have some pretty impressive and mature thoughts so nothing is completely dumbed down… but it’s the way that they say it that distinguishes them from adults. I also wanted the opening and closing theme songs for the first season to be very young sounding like in the Japanese. Lauren Claire Poitevant and Laura Wetsel are two talented young girls from Casa Manana, a professional children’s theater here in town. Lauren Claire is 16 and Laura is 18. The music was all directed by Brina Palencia with the exception of the opening theme song which was directed by Mike McFarland. Brina wrote all of the English lyrics. She rocks socks, like whoa.

ANB: One thing I noticed in the first four episodes was some name mispronunciations. Two immediately off the top of my head were Sasami, which was pronouncing “Sa-su-mi” and Ryo-ohki, who was addressed as “Roy-ohki.” Was this a deliberate decision to use these new pronunciations? If so, what was the reason for it?

LC: I think the original dub pronounced Sasami’s name Su-sah-mi, which is wrong. Japanese emphasize the first syllable always. So Sa-suh-mi is correct. Ryo-ohki we pronounced “Roy-oh-kee” because that’s how it sounded in Japanese.

ANB: How much were you aware of the “Tenchi” franchise before coming into this latest spinoff series?

LC: I actually wasn’t aware of it when I first became acquainted with the show. I was first assigned to write the show and after writing the first two episodes and falling in love with the characters, I asked to direct it. It wasn’t until then that I did extensive research on the show and learned that it was a spin-off. I then watched some old episodes of Tenchi to see where it fit in. It doesn’t really seem to… except that some characters are the same and there are some minor parallels.

ANB: For those “Tenchi” fans who may be suspicious of this latest spinoff, feeling it is the least Tenchi-like (since Tenchi doesn’t even get a cameo from what I understand), what would you say to encourage them to take a chance on “Sasami?”

LC: I would strongly encourage them to watch it as a separate treasure. Spinoff doesn’t mean “sequel.” Melrose Place was considered a “spinoff” of 90210 only because Jenny Garth’s character was in it for the first few episodes. Other than that, they don’t have much to do with each other. And come on, Melrose was so much better—hello. Just think of it as a new awesome show that some of your favorite “actors” (Washu, Sasami, Ryo-oki, Mihoshi etc) are in. Sasami is a teenager in Tenchi. In Magical Girls Club, she’s 10 years old. So she’s not going to be exactly the same. She is just as lovable though—maybe more so. She’s what I thought she might be like as a child. In that same respect, Washu is a little younger and a little more feisty and fabulous. Mihoshi is a school teacher. I think it’s exactly what you would picture her to be like in that situation… though she never would be in Tenchi.

ANB: What was the one thing about “Sasami” that appealed to you as a director?

LC: The characters—OMG! I LOOOVE these characters. They’re each so endearing and distinctive and tangible. You can’t watch it and not find your absolute favorite—at least, that was one of my goals. The actors did such a good job at interpreting them. As a writer, I really wanted to do them justice. I wanted to make them as believable as possible. I wanted people to truly care about them. I feel so maternal towards these characters. They’re my “girls.” Character development is very important to me as a director (and as a writer). The Japanese have already done the rest for me. I couldn’t have asked for better characters or more perfect actors to help bring them to life… like, EVER!

Japanese Parrot

I usually don't post these kind of things because I never know how long the link will last. That said, this story of a Japanese parrot who managed to escape from its human family. When found by the cops, it dissed them, but at the vet hospital, the parrot gave the staff its name, address, and everything. You can read all the humorous details here.

Keroro Gunsou 44

ケロロ軍曹 Episode 44
(Sgt. Frog 44)

SPOILER Summary: Kururu wants some data on Kerons vs Earthlings when it comes to who is better at sports. Keroro is happy to accept but since he defeated Natsumi in swimming, he challenges Fuyuki, figuring for an easy win. The Nishizawa Winter Sports Center is chosen to hold Olympic-styled winter games. During the downhill skiing, Keroro loses due to a mysterious object falling out of the sky and smashing him. During the ski jump, Fuyuki is blown back by a mysterious win and loses. During the curling event, Fuyuki's team loses due to gum suddenly appearing on the ice. During the bobsled event, Keroro's sled comes apart. During the hockey match, the puck breaks on Keroro, causing him to lose. During the figure skating, the ice suddenly breaks so that now there's a giant hole, causing Keroro to lose.

During the cross-country skiing, an avalanche causes both to lose and accuse the other of cheating and settle on a final match, the loser having to wear five afros. So Keroro and Fuyuki are ice fishing when a blizzard comes up. The match continues and Keroro catches what appears to be a monster fish, only to have an explosion under the ice cause Keroro to be in the water. Since his feet are frozen, Keroro can't swim and if Fuyuki rescues him, he forfeits the match. Fuyuki decides to rescue Keroro because of their friendship, but needs to be rescued himself as he can't swim. Everyone returns home, suspecting Kururu of being behind all the strange events to collect data. However, waiting for them at home is a drenched Aki-san along with a drenched Kururu, who's on his face.

Just after Kururu sent everyone out to the winter games, Aki-san comes home on her motorcycle. Kururu has a surprise for her -- a giant mecha which looks like her, named AK966. Kururu wants Aki-san to test it, which she's happy to do. Kururu does his typical laugh at her eagerness, but loses it when Aki-san renames it in English as "Autumn-H" ("Aki" is Japanese for "autumn" and "H" is for "Hinata"). Aki-san drives her bike into the slot for it in the robot's head and she's off with Kururu following in his own mecha, their anti-barrier devices keeping them from being seen. Aki-san is keen to try out everything and the rocket punch is first, causing the robot's fist to fly off. One flies out and smashes into Keroro as he and Fuyuki are doing the downhill skiing. Thus the mystery of what happened there is solved.

And so it goes, with Aki-san trying different things before Autumn-H goes out of control. Kururu tries many things to capture the robot but fails. All of their activities are the direct cause of the various mysterious events and accidents at the winter sports event. Finally, Kururu and Aki-san are in his craft, the AK966 set to self destruct. Because the anti-barrier is broken on Kururu's craft, they head for the ice, breaking through to the water where they are snagged by Keroro's ice fishing line. Trying to escape, Aki-san presses a button which fires a torpedo that explodes when hitting the ice (the final accident). The explosion damages the craft and it takes water, so that when they finally arrive at the underground pool under the Hinata residence, both are soaked. Aki-san manages to get Kururu up to the house's entry way just as her children and the aliens return home.

Thoughts: Initially, the first story was enjoyable, but nothing really special as I thought that Kururu was just being a jerk. However, the second story having Aki-san and Kururu accidentally being the cause of all the problems at the winter games amused me greatly. I didn't think it would, but each reveal of the cause of a problem for Fuyuki or Keroro made me chuckle. So my hat is off to the writers for this clever bit of storytelling. ^_^

Negima! Vol 23 (Ch 209) *SPOILERS*

魔法先生 ネギま！Volume 23 Chapter 209

Summary: Negi now has the dark magic and the phantom Eva tests him on his new-found skill. Meanwhile Chisame wrestles with her choice over whether to destroy the scroll and make sure Negi stays alive (though potentially without his magic) or to leave it alone and have Negi potentially die. She reflects on how well Negi has treated her despite her "onlooker" status. However, with the sun rising, she also thinks of what she'd tell Asuna and the others in the class, to say nothing of Anya and Negi's cousin. She decides to save Negi's life and goes to stab the scroll, only to have Negi stop the dagger with two fingers.

Chisame needs to blow some stress and so attacks Negi with pillows for waiting until the last possible second to wake up. Then when Jack comes in, she attacks him as he informs Negi that Chisame has been nursing him for two days. Negi tries to thank Chisame, but is attacked with pillows again.

Negi's arms and hands are now marked, proving he's mastered the dark magic of Eva's. As such, its time to start training with this new skill.

Meanwhile Fate and companions arrive at the old, abandoned capital of Ostia, which had been the capital of the old kingdom of Vespertatia. Their plan is on schedule and Tsukuyomi arrives to report that the two princesses (Asuna and Konoka) are heading to Ostia with their bodyguards (Kaede and Setsuna). She's frustrated that she can't kill them but tells Fate she'll be patient for a chance to fight "oneesan." She also reports that Negi is training with one Rakan from Crimson Wing, which causes concern from one of the others. Fate isn't worried as Negi's the only fun he'll have. A wild dragon lands, thinking it will get some food but is quickly killed and petrified by Fate.

Thoughts: There's a bit too much of a "yeah right" moment when Negi stops Chisame's blade with two fingers after being out for so long. Why would he know to stop the blade? I don't know, some throw-away line or something to band-aid this would have helped. That said, we didn't get that, so it is time to do the Japanese thing and just set that aside for now.

So Negi now has Magica Erebea as a new skill and training with this will now begin with Jack. If there is more training shown, people are going to scream, I think. *lol*

It should be interesting seeing how Asuna reacts to seeing Ostia since this was likely where Nagi rescued her from (if I've understood correctly). It would also be interesting if somehow Asuna's group discovered the petrified dragon.

Finally, there's Fate. I've mentioned this before but I'd love it if Akamatsu-sensei linked Fate with Spider-Zero from A.I. Love You. I didn't notice this initially, but the dragon that attacked Fate's group was missing a horn, implying that it was one that either Setsuna and Asuna defeated or the one that Kaede defeated and Konoka healed. Either way, Fate showing how he not only slew the dragon with his earth-spike spell, but also petrified the dragon at the same time (within moments of it landing) helps to show just how much stronger Fate is than the others. It took Kaede hours to win her battle. It should be an interesting fight when things go down.

You're Under Arrest! Full Throttle 15

Taiho Shichauzo! Full Throttle Episode 15
逮捕しちゃうぞ フルスロットル Episode 15

SPOILER Summary: The filmmaker Hiraki is going to shoot a documentary on a day in the life of the Bokuto Traffic Division. So after getting shots of chalking and tagging illegally parked cars, Aoi-chan helping old folks, Yoriko helping kids, Hiraki and his crew think they are getting some passionate action when Miyuki and Natsumi help Nakajima on a high-speed chase until Nakajima manages to get close enough to order the vehicle over and give a ticket. Thus filming continues with officer interviews until the crew are ready for the final shot which they stage Miyuki and Natsumi in front of the station. However, the duo notice a man across the street about to jump off a building and rush to prevent this. After a weird conversation with the man, Natsumi uses her strength to toss the man on the safe side of the fence on the building's roof. The man is upset with Hiraki, who'd staged the suicide attempt to spice up his film. Natsumi decides to have an accident and destroys their camera. In the end, they film a boring piece which the other police officers find boring, but Miyuki and Natsumi remind them that this is their job.

Thoughts: So, with the camera destroyed, just how did the filmmakers manage to get the last shot of Miyuki and Natsumi into their film? I mean, that scene was shot, then the staged suicide attempt immediately after. Oh well.

One thing that just has always struck me about this entire franchise is the way the writers portray speeders or other folks needing to be pulled over -- they don't pull over, at least not for an extended period of time. What's up with that anyway?

Regardless, the episode was rather non-special and did reflect on just how boring things are in a real Japanese traffic division. Beyond that, there was no character development or anything else of note. Sad, unfortunately.

Macross Frontier 07

マクロスF Episode 07
Macross F Ep. 07

SPOILER Summary: Macross Galaxy support warships Dulfim and Kaitos are under massive attack from the Vajra as the SMS Skull Squadron and the SMS Pixie Squadron launch. Lt. Glass reminds the captain of the Macross Quarter that the need to collect information on the Vajra is almost more important than aiding the two warships. As Sheryl's concerts starts back on Macross Frontier (with Ranka having arrived, wondering where Alto-kun is), the battle to save Dulfim and Kaitos is on. Kanaria, flying the König Monster ("King Monster" for those who don't know German), sets up shop on the deck of the Dulfim where she transforms her bomber to artillery mode and begins kicking bottom.

The battle is going well for the SMS folks and Sheryl, taking a break before coming out for more tunes, gets a briefing on the battle from her manager Grace, who happens to have tapped into the feed for the battle. In the audience, Ranka gets a recorded message from Ozama and realizes were Alto-kun is. As Sheryl returns to the stage, the SMS folks suddenly face a new threat as a Vajra mother ship folds into the combat zone. It destroys the Kaitos and captures Luca's fighter, appearing to devour it. Alto is enraged and despite the protests from the others, rushes in to attack, somehow making it within the giant Vajra ship. He finds evidence of destroyed Vajra inside and doesn't understand what is happening but soon finds where Luca, still within his fighter, is being held.

Meanwhile, thanks to the data Luca sent up until his capture, the bridge crew of Macross Quarter feel they now can successfully take on the Vajra mother ship. Lt. Glass protests, but it is decided to show her why the ship bears the "Macross" name. As such, the ship transforms to bring its Heavy Quantum Reaction Cannon to bear. Meanwhile inside the mother ship, Alto has found Luca unconscious in his fighter, which is restrained. He beings to fight to free Luca when through Sheryl's earring, her song can be heard, which is also heard by a mysterious alien guy in a fighter nearby. Said person is touched by the song and from a distance, helps Alto free Luca by shooting attacking Vajra. Alto still loses his fighter to the Vajra but manages to escape the mother ship with Luca as does the mysterious person, who then flies off. Macross Quarter attacks and destroys the mother ship. Ozama both chastises and praises Alto for his work and the crew of the Dulfim thank the crew of the Macross Quarter.

Thoughts: I'm not sure what that glow reaction was between Ranka's stomach (I presume it was her stomach) and Sheryl's earring. Maybe it was nothing and just dramatic license as I presume the bit where the two seem to be floating in space with astral bodies happened to be.

The intermix of the concert with the battle wasn't too distracting as I feared it would be. Being a Macross title, some alien has to hear the songs of the human. This time Sheryl's final song somehow appears to be transmitted to her earring in Alto's fighter, which somehow the alien (guy?) in the alien fighter (whom I assume may have been the cause of the destruction of Vajra units within the mother ship) hears it. We'll see where that goes.

I liked that while the writers allowed Alto to be successful, it came at a price, namely the loss of his fighter.

As to Lt. Glass, I'm sure her role was to keep the S.M.S. folks under some sort of control. I can't shake the feeling that her boyfriend Leon will end up being a snake in the grass. I hope not because I like being surprised.

Mostly eye-candy this episode, but very enjoyable eye-candy.

Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS 15

魔法少女リリカルなのはStrikerS（ストライカーズ）Ep. 15
Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS Episode 15

SPOILER Summary: At the morning training session, Nanoha announces that Master Sergeant Ginga Nakajima from the 108th Battalion is being temporarily reassigned to the 6th Mobile Division. Also, the engineer Mary is joining their team. Then Nanoha tells Ginga and Subaru that she wants them to do a mock battle. Since the sisters have mirror Devices, the contest proves very interesting with everyone on the team stopping to watch. In the end, Ginga's advanced skill level wins the day, though she reports to Nanoha that Subaru is much improved, something Wolkenritter members Vita and Signum agree on. Now, Nanoha has another "welcome gift" for Ginga -- she will team up with the rookies to battle Nanoha, Fate, Signum, and Vita. Ginga and the rookies lose, but get praised for their good work.

Meanwhile, Aina-san gets Vivio ready to meet her mamas and she puts one of Nanoha's ribbons in Vivio's hair. She's escorted by Zafila to the training site, where she first encounters Shari and Mary, who'd been observing the mock battle. Vivio is very Japanese-properly polite in her greeting and bow to her elders before running off to see Nanoha-mama and Fate-mama. She falls on her face and lays there crying. Nanoha stops Fate from going to get the girl, choosing instead to have Vivio pick herself up and come to Nanoha for comfort. Vivio doesn't do this and so Fate ends up coming to Vivio and picking her up, leading Nanoha to semi-jokingly remark on how "Fate-mama" spoils Vivio. Fate counters that "Nanoha-mama" is too strict.

The team are eating lunch in the cafeteria, with talk being about Vivio and children. This leads Vita to tease Rein about how she was at rebirth -- a chibi adult body, but very child-like inside. Vivio finishes her lunch but doesn't eat her green peppers. Nanoha tells her that she can't grow up to be strong if she doesn't eat them, but Vivio is very reluctant to eat them. Hayate chimes in, saying that Vivio can't become beautiful like her mamas if she doesn't eat the peppers. Vivio still isn't convinced, but Caro is and eats hers.

After lunch, Mary has Subaru and Ginga come with her for a physical exam. Tia makes a request of Subaru to pick up some Chocolate Pods, which Subaru is happy to do. After their physical is over, Ginga buys the others some Chocolate Pods. She meets Ginga outside the store and shares one with her sister. As Tia and Ginga wait for their ride, Ginga remarks on how Subaru got to be in the same unit as her best friend (Tia) and her hero (Nanoha). Subaru tells Ginga that she admires Ginga as well, which makes Ginga happy. Subaru promises to get stronger and pass Ginga to which Ginga reminds Subaru that this will not be easy as Ginga will continue to get stronger. Ginga then remarks on how they'll be battling combat cyborgs, which Subaru is prepared for.

At the ground HQ, General Geis gets a report that the investigation into the 6th Mobile Division has turned up nothing. The general is keen on having something uncovered before his major press conference and he's told the investigation will continue. However, the main HQ and another unit are investigating the general's unit. Geis isn't too worried about this, but his aide Auris reports that the main HQ's investigator has a rare skill and may be able to uncover dirt on the general. This was not what Geis wanted to hear but will get support of the High Council (which he does later). He inquires as to the status of "Einherjar" and receives good new there. Geis wants "it" to happen before the press conference.

That evening, Hayate meets with Nanoha and Fate. Hayate reveals that the Saint Church believes the upcoming press conference will be targeted. The 6th will protect the members, but only Hayate, Nanoha, and Fate will be allowed into the building where the press conference is being held. Fate believes they can handle it and Nanoha has confidence in the forwards, since they have been training them rigorously. Plus, the rookies will get their Device limiters raised to level 3, making them more powerful. As such, Hayate hopes they can quickly resolve any problems that may occur.

Thoughts: While someone cute like Vivio is a sure-fire scene stealer, I got to say that Vita comes darn close as well. In some ways, she reminds me of the short, female drill instructors I saw in basic training, only without the false sense of bravado and being macho. Vita kicks arse and that's that. She knows it, the rookies know it, and the audience knows it.

Speaking of Vivio, it is fun watching how Fate and Nanoha approach raising her. Nanoha isn't harsh or really that strict, but wants Vivio to be someone who can stand on her own two feet. Fate, on the other hand, wishes to be there to help Vivio every step of the way. I think back to the original Nanoha series and I would guess that the way Fate was raised is what drives Fate's desire to pamper Vivio.

I take it that this Einherjar is some sort of non-magical weapon of (mass?) destruction of the type that Fate had been educating Caro and Elio on. So it appears to me that Geis is planning some kind of attack on his own HQ where he'll break out this weapon and then have a press conference blaming the 6th Mobile Division for the attacks. The fact that Lutecia, Agito, and Zest are outside the city combined with the Numbers apparently preparing for an attack leads me to believe that Geis is working with our evil Doctor villain.

Another think I liked was a brief throw-away scene showing Vita and Signum training against each other while the rookies watch in awe. The focus of the training stuff has been on the rookies with the others coming in for teaching. This showed that even the powerful need to continue to train, which is a good thing.

Next time, looks like action is a comin', y'all.

Minami-ke Okawari 12

みなみけ～おかわり～ Ep. 12

SPOILER Summary: Chiaki's feeling a bit warm and pays a visit to the school nurse, Kumada-sensei. Kumada-sensei is happy to see Chiaki because she wants to talk about Chiaki's homeroom teacher, Tanaka-sensei. She announces that Chiaki's temperature is 36.9°C (98.42° F) when its really only 36.5°C (97.7°F). Chiaki decides that isn't bad and is going to leave, so Kumada-sensei "corrects" herself to say that Chiaki actually has a temperature of 37.19°C (98.942°F) and recommends Chiaki rest for a bit. Chiaki agrees and thus Kumada-sensei makes a pitch to have Chiaki mention to Tanaka-sensei that Kumada is single. Chiaki says she'll think about it and as she's going to leave, Kumada-sensei offers her a ramune (lemon candy). Chiaki turns her down, but when Makoto comes in feeling ill, Kumada-sensei gives him some, calling it medicine and immediately Makoto is feeling better.

It is time for Chiaki's school's athletic fair and Chiaki's is going to be manning the first-aid station in addition to being on the committee overseeing the fair. One afternoon, Chiaki is walking home with Touma with Fuyuki-kun trailing behind. Touma wonders why Chiaki doesn't walk home with Fuyuki since they are neighbors, something Chiaki really doesn't care about. After parting company with Touma, Chiaki arrives outside her apartment building to see Kana training Uchida and Yoshino. Chiaki and Fuyuki make their way to their respective apartments and it appears that Fuyuki has something he'd like to tell Chiaki, but instead makes a bit of small talk before heading indoors.

The next day is a rainy day and Haruka tells Kana that Fuyuki-kun and his father are moving soon. Meanwhile, Chiaki comes home with Fuyuki who again appears to want to tell her something, but doesn't. The following day the rain has stopped and Touma is trying to dump her work for making paper flowers onto Fuyuki-kun, who as always is willing to do anything for anyone. Chiaki puts a stop to it and states that she'll help as well. Touma isn't happy with this and Fuyuki protests that he can do it all, but Chiaki has made up her mind. Besides, three people doing the job will get it done quicker. Once done, Fuyuki and Chiaki are again outside their respective apartments with Fuyuki doing the same thing as before.

The next day is the school fair with Haruka and Kana seated on a blanket to watch the festivities. Fujioka also joins them. Events take place with Makoto, Touma, and Uchida all falling on their faces during races. They all come to visit Chiaki, who's not amused by them and she tosses band-aids and a "bakayarou" at them. During the scavenger hunt race, Chiaki gets her paper and grabs Fujioka. Fuyuki-kun gets his and races to grab Kana, who's excited to be participating. While neither win, Chiaki demands to know why Fuyuki-kun picked Kana. His paper said "oneesan" -- older sister. Kana demands to know why Chiaki chose Fujioka and snatches Chiaki's paper. It said "otousan" -- dad. This has Fujioka stunned and Kana laughing. Finally, the costume parade happens with Makoto dressed as a maid to represent their class. Yoshino realizes that "Mako-chan" looks like a cross-dressing Makoto-kun.

It is time for lunch and Fuyuki-kun is going to return to the classroom to eat alone since he father didn't come. Chiaki stops him and invites him to where Haruka, Kana, and Fujioka are waiting. Haruka encourages him to eat, something Kana is already heavily into. He remarks on how this is the first time he's done such a thing. After lunch, Fuyuki's father picks him up and they leave while Haruka participates with Chiaki in the parent-child three-legged race. They don't win, but Chiaki is happy to be doing this with "Haruka-neesama."

Once the athletic fair is over, it is time to clean up. It is here that Chiaki finally learns that Fuyuki-kun transferred out after lunch and that he and his father were moving elsewhere. She returns home alone and imagines Fuyuki-kun opening his door to enter his former apartment.

Sometime later one morning, the three sisters are heading to school in the chilly morning air. At Haruka's school, Maki asks Tanaka-sensei about who had been selected to participate in the overseas school program. He states that Haruka had been asked. That afternoon, Maki and Atsuko are in a restaurant having ice cream deserts and discussing this news when Kana pops up outside, envious of high school students. They invite her in but when they ask her about it, she is shocked as she had not heard that Haruka is going to study overseas.

Thoughts: This episode made a MASSIVE improvement over the first eleven episodes. For starters, the Black-san characters are gone. Oh what a relief that is. I don't know who's idea it was to have all background characters have blacked out skin (primarily in the face) but it was always stupid, annoying, and frankly a distraction. So I'm very glad the producers corrected that mistake.

Next is Chiaki. In Minami-ke, Chiaki basically sat in the seat of the scornful in a sense. She had little patience for idiots (hence her constant use of the more extreme Japanese word for idiot -- bakayarou) and she saw idiots everywhere. Thanks to Kana, she saw them every day. That's not to say she was all knowing or the like because she could be led astray by her own misconceptions or dumb things that Kana said which Chiaki couldn't prove one way or another (like the whole swimsuit incident). However in Minami-ke Okawari, Chiaki lost all that. She no longer seemed in command of things. Even when she tossed out an occassional "bakayarou," it didn't have the impact it carried in the first season.

For this episode, the writers appear to have corrected this mistake as well. Indeed, Chiaki felt like the Chiaki of old and a pleasure to watch in action. I laughed when she is working the first aid station and just throws the band-aids at Uchida, Yoshino, and Touma, calling them "bakayarou," because in her mind, their actions warranted such treatment. It had been so long since we'd truly seen this side of Chiaki (discounting the incident where she trapped Kana with the desert) that not only was it great to see, I actually laughed. Where has this been all along?

I also laughed when Touma got Fuyuki-kun to stop addressing her as "Minami-san" since both she and Chiaki have that family name. He had no problem addressing Chiaki as "Chiaki-san" but immediately addressed Touma as "Touma-kun" which sent her off. However being addressed as "Touma-san" was nearly as bad for her, which was not totally unexpected, but it made me laugh just the same.

It is too bad that the writers waited until the very end to get rid of Fuyuki-kun. Minami-ke was just a fun, lighthearted series. Fuyuki-kun's character was a dark cloud that brought everything down. What was the point of this anyway? Did we resolve anything through Fuyuki-kun? Did we learn anything? Did he change at all? As I see it, his character served no real useful purpose. I would have rather spent time on the other Minami family brothers.

Finally, it looks like the writers are going to make the last episode all serious. I haven't bothered to even look to see how this ends (does Haruka go overseas or no?). Frankly, it would be remarkably unbelievable for Haruka to leave her two little sisters to fend for themselves, though there is their cousin whom I suppose could do the job. We'll see what the writers do.

FUNimation's Forums Are Back!

Issue now resolved. Thanks to Admin for his hard work.

http://community.funimation.com/

The board crashed when the main FUNimation site crashed. Getting FUNimation's main site up was the main priority. After that, a new location for the forums had to be determined, which took time. Then, there were many patches and fixes that needed to be performed and since the board was already down, Admin took care of all that. Then testing had to be done. All this took time.

Hayate no Gotoku! 52

Hayate the Combat Butler Ep. 52
ハヤテのごとく！Episode 52

SPOILER Summary: It is Golden Week, and Izumi is over at Sakuya's place, where Sakuya has attempted to create an illusion of being on vacation in Hawaii. For Wataru and Saki, it is business as usual at the video store while Klaus and Tama are left to guard the fort as Hayate, Maria, and Nagi are at the Aegean Sea, specifically Mykonos Island, Greece. Nishizawa, Hina, and the Student Council Trio are in Turkey doing some sight seeing and traveling to Greece, where they will apparently meet up with Hayate, Nagi, and Maria. Hina and Nishizawa are happy at the prospect of seeing Hayate.

Meanwhile, Nagi is holed up in their residence but after Hayate gets depressed that she won't go out and explore the island with him, she agrees to go out the following day. The next day as they walk about the town (where Nagi reveals she and Maria had lived here before), the wind blows Nagi's hat off her head, causing Hayate to leap up high into the sky to retrieve it. When he lands, he's gone back into the past when Nagi lived there as a little girl. After recovering from the shock of it, Hayate befriends Nagi, who's being chased by the mob, who are out to kill her. After protecting her from the mobsters and eventually sending them all packing (though her hat got shot a few times), Nagi agrees to view the stars with Hayate. When the wind blows her hat off, Hayate again retrieves it, only to find himself back in the present. Nagi is remembering how she'd been blown off in the past but the hat makes her apparently realize that it was Hayate and the two view the stars that night.

Thoughts: Kind of a fun episode to send the first series off. I think the surprise was having Nishizawa suddenly hooked up with Hina to be friends along with the Student Council Trio. I hope in the next series, that aspect shows up again.

I did get some chuckles out of this episode. Tama accidentally speaking when Klaus laments being left behind, and again at the end of the episode when Klaus is wanting Tama to comfort him. The camel "spitting" on Hina amused me as well.

The story having Hayate protect a young Nagi in the past was kind of touching, which was nice.

Overall, the series got off to a huge bang, then fell off after that, the third season I think being the most tedious to me. Still, when the sequel comes out, I'll be watching that as well (if I can).

References! (Note: the site doesn't get 100% of the references, but most of the time they do get a very high percentage.)

Hayate no Gotoku! 51

Hayate the Combat Butler Ep. 51
ハヤテのごとく！Episode 51

SPOILER Summary: The school year has ended and Hayate has managed to advance to the next grade. Nagi takes Hayate to ditch the closing ceremony. She's in a rush to get home, which Hayate doesn't understand. Once home, she sends him on an errand, but needs for him not to return until evening, so she pretends to be sick of seeing him. Dejected, Hayate leaves, causing Wataru, Sakuya, and Izumi (who'd been behind a pillar) to get onto her for being so mean to Hayate, something Maria agrees with. Nagi needs Hayate gone because of her plans, and so the group go off to carry out those plans.

Hayate picks up the item, which is a small gift-wrapped box. He's "picked up" by two men from the Victoria Elizabeth Steward Dispatch Company. The company president, Alastair B. Sebastian, wants to recruit Hayate for his butler service, offering him ¥150,000,000 he owes to Nagi. Hayate wonders how Alastair knows this, so Alastair plays a YouTube clip of Hayate, recorded by the Student Council Trio. Hayate leaves with Alastair's business card but suddenly has a string of bad luck thanks to the pendant Nagi's grandfather gave him. As such, he loses the gift box and goes on a lengthy pursuit to get it. When he finally gets it, he returns to the mansion to discover Nagi has set up a party for him to congratulate him on his passing and gives him a gift of a pocket watch, saying she wants him to be with her for even 200-years. Hayate is touched and embraces Nagi, which pleases her. Hayate then turns down Alastair, who reports this to Nagi's grandfather, as the job offer had been a test of Hayate's character.

Thoughts: Gah! I kind of let the last two episodes slip out of my mind when it came to watching them. I think that was because the show had become so much less appealing to me over time that I just didn't miss not watching the final two episodes. BUT, I do want to do a proper review over at C.A.R., so here goes.

Basically, the episode was an excuse to give most of the recurring characters cameos. As such, it just went through the motions with the predictable plot element of Hayate trying to recover the present. I did laugh at the end when Wataru ate Nagi's stew and suddenly received maximum hit points.

References! (Note: the site doesn't get 100% of the references, but most of the time they do get a very high percentage.)

Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS 14

Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS Episode 14
魔法少女リリカルなのはStrikerS（ストライカーズ）Ep. 14

SPOILER Summary: Nanoha wakes up in her and Fate's giant bed and is a little surprised to find something in the bed between them. Its Vivio, causing Nanoha to carefully detach herself from the sleeping Vivio's grip so she can get dressed. Vivio starts showing signs of distress at not having Nanoha to snuggle with, so Nanoha puts her close to fate so the two can snuggle together while they sleep. Nanoha heads to the training grounds to put the rookies through another training session with their Devices' secondary modes. She's pleased with their progress and releases them to return to the barracks, where they discuss working with their Device's secondary mode. Nanoha then sees Fate and Vivio and the trio go to breakfast.

Tia and Subaru are working in their cubicals when Tia is summoned to Hayate's office. Hayate is going to have Tia accompany her on her trip to meet with Admiral Chrono Harlaown, Hayate feeling this will be good for Tia's career. At the Dimensional Space TSA HQ, Chrono and Inspector Acous discuss the situation with General Geis and his apparent agenda. Hayate and Tia arrive with Acous taking care of serving cake and tea while Hayate telepathically reports to Chrono that Tia doesn't know of the prophecy, only that the ground HQ is under a terrorist plot to attack it. After their meeting, Acous takes Tia off where they discuss Hayate and the division. Once Hayate and Tia leave for a restaurant that Acous suggested, Acous reports to Chrono his belief that Hayate is going to try to overdo it. Since Chrono can't be directly involved for political reasons, Acous will be, using his Inspector job as cover.

Fate takes the Stars Squadron members Caro and Elio to accompany her on an investigation. While in flight, she takes them through a history lesson where they prove they are gifted in knowledge (and giving the audience some back story). She explains that there's a terrorist threat against the ground HQ (not mentioning the prophecy) . She then thinks back to the meeting she had with Chrono, Knight Carim, Hayate, and Nanoha where she learned not only of the prophecy, but also of how General Geis refused to believe the prophecy. As such, he will not do what is believed to be necessary to improve the ground defenses. As such, the 6th Mobile Division's true mission (with the Relic stuff also being important) is to fill the gap that General Geis has left in the event the HQ is attacked as predicted.

Subaru and Nanoha are left in the office to do office work. Vivio has been left at the apartment with Aina, the "housemother" and guarded by Zafila. Subaru finishes her work and comes to report to Nanoha, who's researching Vivio. The two go to lunch, where they talk about what will become of Vivio. Nanoha says she's considering becoming Vivio's guardian as Fate had done for Caro and Elio. They head to Nanoha's and Fate's place where Vivio doesn't really understand the guardian concept. However, when Subaru explains it as Nanoha being like Vivio's mama, Vivio understands this and begins addressing Nanoha as "Mama."

Elsewhere, Ginga reports on her investigation (which appears to be were Fate, Caro, and Elio went) to Major Nakajima. It appears that the girls involved in the recent battle against the 6th Mobile Division are cyborgs. Mariel Atenza, a chief engineer, confirms this. For Ginga and her father, this means that the Combat Cyborg Incident which killed Ginga and Subaru's mother is not over. Major Nakajima leaves to meet with Hayate to correlate more data for the continued investigation.

Fate comes home and tells Vivio that Fate's job will be to watch over Vivio and Nanoha. As such, Fate will be a mama of sorts to Vivio. Now that she has two mamas, Vivio addresses Fate as "Fate-mama" and Nanoha as "Nanoha-mama." Meanwhile down in the cafeteria, Subaru is eating dinner with Caro and Elio and inquires about how they view Fate -- as an older sister or as a mother. Caro sees Fate as an older sister but Elio isn't sure. They aren't sure how Fate views them and Elio doesn't want to ask Fate about this.

Outside the city, Zest, Lutecia, and Agito observe the ground HQ facility.

Thoughts: No action this episode as we have some advancement on Vivio's story with a Mother-children theme as well as the bigger story arc which will apparently have an attack on the TSA ground HQ. Based on the final scene, I guess that would be lead by Zest, Lutecia, and Agito as well as the "numbers" crew. If that happens, there could be some interesting battles.

I like Vivio, which is understandable and obviously to be expected. As such, I don't trust her, especially since no one seems to be asking the questions, at least on camera. Nanoha was seen doing some research on Vivio, which was a nice way for the writers to show that something is being done on that front, even if they don't make a big deal out of it. Still, now Vivio has to "mama's" and that's kind of cute. She is a sweetheart and I hope in the end, she doesn't prove to be a Trojan horse.

It was interesting seeing how Caro and Elio view Fate, who'd taken them under her wing.

Overall, I enjoyed the episode, both for its table setting and the mother-child themes.

FUNimation's Licensing Blitz

FUNimation just spent a week on a licensing tear, first licensing a title a day last week and then two more at Anime Central 2008. Let's see what they have.

Mamotte! Lollipop (Save Me! Lollipop) -- I had heard of this title and knew that Del Rey had the license, but beyond that, I knew nothing of this romantic comedy title. The story is about a girl who swallows what she thinks is a lollipop but in fact is some magic artifact known as the Crystal Pearl. So now two boy mages, Zero and Ichii, have to protect her while they wait for the Crystal Pearl to do its thing. There's nothing here that really makes me want to take time out of my busy schedule to watch this anime (or read the manga for that mater).

KenIchi the Mightiest Disciple -- This is a shounen action title with some comedy and romance apparently thrown in. A guy named Kenichi, who gets bullied, meets a girl named Miu, who gets him to train at the dojo where she lives. Thus, Kenichi starts on the road to getting stronger as he learns different martial arts from different masters of those arts. The manga is currently unlicensed and runs in Shounen Sunday, which is where Inuyasha, Hayate no Gotoku, and other shounen titles run. There had been a fair amount of speculation that if licensed, Viz would score it, but I guess not. While I've liked some shounen titles, I can't say I'm that interested in this one. FUNimation only has the first season at present.

Gunslinger Girl -Il Teatrino- -- As the sequel to Gunslinger Girl (which was about a government organization using a bunch of "forgotten" cybernetically enhanced young girls as trained assassins), which FUNimation has the license for, it is no surprise FUNimation would score Il Teatrino. I've blogged a few episodes and while the show isn't bad, for some reason, I'm having a hard time wanting to enter this world. The change in character designs makes the girls cuter IMO, but that also adds to the horror of the world they are in. I may try to rent this to finish the story, but I can't see myself having it on my anime DVD case. I'd never watch it again no matter how good it is.

Soukou no Strain (Strain: Strategic Armored Infantry) -- This is a mecha title which is loosely based on some non-mecha, western novel (I haven't bothered to track that aspect down). Despite the number of mecha titles I have seen (including the one I'm currently watching as of this writing -- Macross Frontier), I'm not a mecha fan. The story about a girl from an elite military family in an elite military squad having her brother disgrace her by turning traitor, forcing her to basically start over as a soldier, is a theme that's been explored before, but is still interesting. Despite that, I don't think I'll take the time to catch this.

Shigurui: Death Frenzy -- I'd never heard of this title before, but it does interest me as it is a historical samurai anime. I don't know how many liberties are taken with the story (or if the samurai end up having special abilities). It looks to be very violent and bloody, but if FUNimation does this as a single release (with all 12 episodes), I think I might take the risk and watch it.

Romeo × Juliet -- Announced at Anime Central, this has to be the least-surprising license announcement coming from FUNimation. After all, whenever the Japanese have tagged FUNimation to send out cease and desist letters to fansub groups for a specific title, I think it has always been a title that FUNimation eventually licenses (despite FUNimation's official statement which says that their sending C&D letters does not mean they've licensed the title in question). Regardless, this Japanese remake of the Romeo and Juliet play by Shakespeare has received mixed reviews that I've seen. I hated reading Romeo and Juliet as a teenager and I just haven't been keen on seeing this Japanese take on it. Since this is a GONZO title, I wonder if some in the fandom will start saying that all GONZO titles will go to FUNimation again.

D. Gray-man -- When FUNimation had a forum (Ah, remember those fun days?), a thread was started (I believe by me) for people to state which titles they'd like FUNimation to license. I pinned it to the top of the forum so that (1) it wouldn't get lost in the shuffle and (2) it would allow the powers that be at FUNimation to have easy access to what fans were wishing for. D. Gray-man came up quite often in the wish list on FUNi's boards and other places as well. Heck, in a speculation thread on some forum or other, while many were predicting that FUNimation would have no new license announcements, one guy stated his continued wish for a D. Gray-man. He's a happy fellow right now, more so that Viz didn't get it. The show has a fair amount of positive buzz (and I believe it is still ongoing in Japan) but I can't say it is gripping me.

So of all the titles, Shigurui is one I want to see most followed by the Gunslinger Girl sequel. That said, I do hope FUNimation does well with all their licenses.

Starship Troopers 03

Uchu no Senshi Ep. 03 (OVA)
宇宙の戦士 Episode 03 (Anime)

SPOILER Summary: Johnnie writes a letter to Carmencita just before he's deployed to the moon for training. As the Mobile Infantry trainees stand outside the transport, a group of naval officers arrives as well as some female officers. Johnnie recognizes one as Carmencita and calls out to her, causing her to wave back and for him to be the envy of his fellow troopers. She's apparently going to the moon as well. When the Mobile Infantry arrive, they are given a briefing where they are shown video from the attack on New Buenos Aires, where this unknown alien force killed a million people before being dispatched. Thus, the training schedule has been accelerated as the Earth Federation is going to retaliate. Thus, the troopers train in their armored mobile suits for planetary assaults.

One day before roll call, Johnnie is with his squad mates in a mall when he sees Carmencita. He goes to talk to her and ultimately asks for her picture. One of his other teammates, Pat, emerges from a nearby barber shop and immediately asks Johnnie if he's acquired a nude photo yet before realizing Johnnie is talking to Carmencita. Pat makes a hasty retreat but there's no way Johnnie can recover from this as he takes a slap from an angry Carmencita while Johnnie's other teammates punish Pat for his mouth.

Training continues with the team practicing assaults on a heavily defended fortification. Johnnie manages to get the first kill on one of the automated weapon installations (which pop in and out of holes like a whack-a-mole game), but dies in the process. Back at the barracks, he's congratulated on the kill as the mail arrives. Pat gets a "Dear John" letter from his former girlfriend (whom he had a semi-nude photo of) while Johnnie gets a letter from his father, informing him of his mother's death in the attack on New Buenos Aires. As a result, he is depressed by this and in the following day's training, his distraction causes everyone to be killed in the simulated attack.

Sgt. Zim assigns them toilet cleaning duties as punishment and the squad is angry with Johnnie, who refuses to tell them what's wrong. Pat starts to beat Johnnie until Greg stops him, revealing what happened to Johnnie's mother. However, Johnnie's attitude angers Smith, who punches Johnnie for not caring about the team's survival on the battlefield. After lecturing Johnnie, the team prepares to head to the next bathroom as Zim, who'd been listening outside, leaves. That night, Johnnie and Smith make up and the team celebrates with a bottle of "the good stuff" that Azuma managed to score from the officer's section.

Thoughts: Whoa! They sure put the "ugly" in Carmencita when Johnnie saw her and her fellow female officers. Its not that I found her character design attractive before, but with short hair, man, she was...*shudder*

One thing that seemed pretty obvious to me were the sound effects for the mobile suits. Having seen Aliens a might too many times, the sounds were identical to the sounds of the heavy lifter suit that Ripley wore in that movie.

As to the episode itself, ultimately not much happened. We have training. Johnnie learns of his mother's death and Carmencita being on the moon. We learn that teamwork is important. The end. I would have liked for there to have been a meaningful conversation between Carmencita and Johnnie and not some, "can I have a picture of you to fap to?" moment. *_* I didn't understand why Johnnie didn't tell the guys his mother was dead. I understand he wasn't looking for sympathy, but come on. If my mom dies, I'm saying, "My mom died," not, "there's nothing wrong."

The biggest weakness of the series thus far is a serious lack of character development. There's a lot of going through the motions, but no depth and that hurts. I don't sense a real camaraderie between Johnnie's team members, only a faked sense of it. In fact, I'm even more pressed to remember their names (and except for Azuma, they aren't Japanese names) because they are so one-dimensional to me.

Well, we are half-way through. Assuming I can score the other three episodes, I'll certainly watch them to see if there's any improvement.

Keroro Gunsou 43

ケロロ軍曹 Episode 43
(Sgt. Frog 43)

SPOILER Summary: Keroro is reading a book of Japanese fairy tales and one tale regarding a red and blue oni touches him and the platoon greatly. This leads to Keroro's new plan, where he will take the role of the blue oni and have Giroro become the red oni (unbeknownst to him though). As such, they will encourage the relationship between Giroro and Natsumi, only to have Keroro ultimately win. Giroro discovers part of this, but naturally the idea of being with Natsumi sends him into overload. Through Kururu, Keroro makes sure his letters get on Mutsumi's show, which does lead Natsumi to be suspicious. However, she's more angry when Keroro interrupts her listening to the show. After Tamama screws up his part of the plan, Natsumi is onto their game and Keroro is thrown out the bedroom window to the yard, where he's found by Giroro. Because Keroro's romantic poem is now being read, it leads to a weird moment between Giroro and Keroro, meaning the plan official has failed.

It is now Setsubun in Japan and because Keroro is dressed as the red oni, Natsumi uses this as an excuse to throw soybeans at Keroro, which is the custom during Setsubun to rid places of evil oni. After she's had her fun, she leaves the roasted soybeans with Keroro, who vows revenge. He has Kururu invent a gun which turns Natsumi into a female oni. Now he & Tamama have fun throwing soybeans at Natsumi, who cannot get out of the oni gear and is unable to elude the duo. She flees to Fuyuki's room, where he seems to recognize her outfit, complete with mini drums floating behind her. The trio run out of soybeans, but because of Natsumi's oni horns, they can toss any product with soybeans in it, and they will go to Natsumi. Giroro hears Natsumi's cry for help and escapes Kururu, who'd used him as a trial subject for the gun. He causes damage, but Keroro sends him packing. Fuyuki discovers that Natsumi is not a true oni, but a thunder deity, thus Natsumi has the power to defeat Keroro, which she does. She then makes a chocolate cake for Giroro for helping her.

Thoughts: Having the first story end with Keroro and Giroro apparently having a "moment" was pretty humorous. Otherwise, the story just felt stretched and not so interesting.

I was disappointed that the second story didn't have Natsumi as Lum-chan, but rather just a female oni. I'm sure there were legal concerns, but it would have been better if they could have had Natsumi as the ultimate female oni, Lum-chan (from Urusei Yatsura for those who don't know), especially with her saying "urusai" at the end. Oh well. I can get the Lum-chan parody from the manga version of the story.

Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS 13

Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS Episode 13
魔法少女リリカルなのはStrikerS（ストライカーズ）Ep. 13

SPOILER Summary: Agito has a dream-memory where she recalls waking up in a lab and being experimented on. The lab was destroyed and she was rescued by Zest and Lutecia. Zest identifies Agito as a true, ancient Belka-type and feels that with the destruction of the lab, the Bureau will be along to investigate the fire and will find the little humanoid. They will be the best to care for her. Lutecia doesn't agree and wishes to have Agito come with them. Thus, Agito joins the group. She awakens frustrated, remembering the battle with Vita and Rein and feels the loneliness of not having a lord (she assumes that Vita is Rein's lord). As such, she vows to take out Rein next time they meet.

Signum is taking Nanoha to the Saint Church facility to check on the young, artificial girl they found. Sister Schach reports that the girl somehow disappeared on them, though she has to be somewhere on the facility grounds. Signum and Nanoha arrive with Signum joining Sister Schach in searching the buildings while Nanoha searches the grounds. Nanoha finds the girl and is just starting to talk when Sister Schach sees them through a window. She assumes the girl is very dangerous and so takes an aggressive approach. However, the girls' reaction is one of extreme fear and Nanoha takes over from there. The girl's name is Vivio and she wants her mama.

Meanwhile, Hayate and Fate discuss the upcoming emergency inspection from the Ground Forces HQ. A failure of the inspection could result in the 6th Mobile Division being disbanded. Fate asks about the real reason for the creation of their unit, so Hayate decides to have Fate and Nanoha join her at a meeting at the Saint Church HQ with Knight Carim. Hayate goes to contact Nanoha, only to discover Vivio has attached herself to Nanoha and does not want to let go. Hayate and Fate join the rookies there and Fate manages to talk Vivio into letting go with Nanoha promising to return soon. Vivio is left with Caro and Elio to babysit while Tia and Subaru leave to write reports.

At the HQ, Nanoha and Fate meet Knight Carim for the first time. Chrono is also there and everyone is acting formal. However, Chrono tells Nanoha and Fate that she's friends with both Hayate and Chrono and as such, the two of them should act normal. So, Nanoha addresses Chrono as "Chrono-kun" (as she did when they where younger) and Fate calls Chrono "oniichan," which embarrasses him to no end, leading her to settle for "Chrono." Knight Carim reveals that she has the gift of prophecy (called "Profeitin Shrifti, which she writes in poem form, once a year, in ancient Belka), which is something General Geis dislikes. Her prophecies of the destruction of the TSA Ground Forces HQ and the TSA system would start with the Lost Logia. Hayate wants to prevent that, as do the others, which is how she was able to get the 6th Mobile Division created. After learning this, Nanoha and Fate pledge to support Hayate's cause, no matter what happens.

Meanwhile, General Geis is informed that the inspection of the 6th Mobile Division will be in a week. He's shown how the unit is organized and that it would be rather easy to disband as it was set up as an experimental unit. He's very keen to do this, resenting Hayate, the navy (who's admiral's support the unit), and the Saint Church. Further, he appears to have a political motive behind his decision to crush the 6th.

Returning home, Vivio rushes to Nanoha, happy to see her. Fate thanks Elio and Caro for watching Vivio, and they report that Vivio was a good girl. Meanwhile back in her darkened office, Hayate looks over the picture album of when she was in elementary school. She remembers her Uncle Graham and all everyone, including Fate and Nanoha, have done for her. She has decided to use her life to prevent the sadness and regret she has experienced from being inflicted on others.

Thoughts: This turned out to be a rather informative episode. I liked learning about Agito's past, even if it was hard seeing her be experimented on. However, it does explain her nature. Plus, her promise to battle Rein makes it seem like my prediction from earlier will come true. ^_^;

Learning that the real reason behind the creation of the 6th Mobile Division is to thwart an apparent forthcoming disaster is pretty interesting, as was learning that Knight Carim has the ability to do some prognostication, even if somewhat cryptic.

Then there's Vivio, whom I couldn't help but feel sorry for. I've no clue as to the role she'll end up playing the the series, but considering she was carrying two Relic cases, I'm wondering why no one is asking about that. It seemed strange to me. Anyway, it was also interesting how much Elio was able to determine from her, apparently realizing she was created as part of Project F and has memories from her original.

I didn't realize that Nanoha is also known as the "Ace of Aces." If it was mentioned before, I missed it.

Half-way through, I'm enjoying what I'm seeing so far despite some weaknesses in dialog at times.

Pocket Monsters 05

ポケットモンスター Ep. 05

SPOILER Summary: Rocket-dan builds a pit to snare Satoshi and get Pikachu, but build it so well, they get trapped in it. Meanwhile, Satoshi, Kasumi, and Pikachu arrive on the outskirts of Nibi City, where they meet rock seller Mono. He escorts them to the Pokémon Center, where there's another Joy-san to take care of Satoshi's abused Pokémon. Satoshi and Kasumi look at a poster for a Pokémon League Section Championship. To enter, one has to obtain a badge from certain Pokémon trainers in various cities, which Kasumi isn't sure Satoshi can do, nor is Muno. Kasumi and Satoshi go get something to eat and when Kasumi offers her support to help Satoshi defeat Takeshi, the Nibi City Pokémon Gym trainer, Satoshi refuses. Angered, Kasumi leaves Satoshi with the bill.

Satoshi arrives at the Nibi City Pokémon Gym and immediately challenges Takeshi. Takeshi cannot refuse the challenge and with his rock Iwark Pokémon, he defeats Satoshi and Pikachu. Dejected, Satoshi runs into Muno again, who reveals that Takeshi is having to raise his many younger brothers and sisters. Satoshi still wants that badge, so Muno gives Satoshi a way to power-up Pikachu via the local hydro-electric plant. However, there's no water flow, so Satoshi is forced to use foot power to turn the wheel and send electricity into Pikachu. Kasumi again offers her assistance, which Satoshi rejects. However, Kasumi knows her Pokémon would be a great asset.

Returning to the gym the next day, Satoshi again challenges Takeshi. This time, Satoshi summons Pidgeon while Takeshi summons Ishitsubute, a smaller rock Pokémon. Pidgeon makes no progress on Ishitsubute because of the difference in types. Satoshi is forced to recall Pidgeon and sends out Pikachu. Pikachu, now overcharged with electricity, shocks Ishitsubute to defeat. Takeshi recalls the Pokémon and sends out Iwark. While Pikachu does damage to Iwark as well as to the gym itself, he cannot defeat Iwark and is about to be defeated himself when suddenly Takeshi calls off the attack. The sprinklers go off and Kasumi, with Takeshi's siblings, tells Satoshi that rock-type Pokémon are weak to water. Thus, Pikachu is able to get off another attack, but realizing he's not playing fair, Satoshi again forfeits the match, promising to return.

Outside the city, Takeshi catches up with Satoshi and Pikachu. He gives Satoshi a badge anyway for caring about Pokémon. Mono arrives and reveals himself to be Takeshi's long-lost worthless father. Takeshi takes advantage of the situation and immediately hands over the responsibility of raising the family to Muno. Takeshi then joins Satoshi on his quest, where they are tailed by Kasumi, still furious over the bicycle incident and vowing to dog Satoshi until she gets paid. So all three are off with Pikachu as Rocket-dan emerges from the ground

Thoughts: I rather enjoyed seeing that punk Satoshi get owned. I'm glad his first badge was from pity rather than skill. BWAH!HA!HA!HA! Too bad Kasumi couldn't have been the one to own Satoshi. Oh well. Anyway, just how does electricity defeat rock short of causing it to explode from sheer force of strike?

Anyway, now I know how Takeshi joins the core group. Yay, me.

Yay for cheap reuse of previous characters, like Joy-san. I guess we'll see a Joy in every city.

Anyway, despite being kiddie, I did get a kick out of this episode for some odd reason.

You're Under Arrest! Full Throttle 14

Taiho Shichauzo! Full Throttle Episode 14
逮捕しちゃうぞ フルスロットル Episode 14

SPOILER Summary: A woman with her Sheltie stand in the middle of the road at a crosswalk and makes no attempt to get out the way when a car approaches and strikes her. One of the people in the car get out to check on the woman, but they leave in a hurry. Meanwhile, Miyuki and Natsumi as well as other police are preparing for the costume parade to occur later in the day when they get the report of the accident. Checking it out, they are amazed that someone got out. At the scene, the animal control officer is having difficulties with the Sheltie but since it responds to Natsumi, he turns it over to her to get to the pound.

Natsumi decides to name the dog "Chibi-chan" and both consider it an important witness (kinda like Lassie, y'all). They get back to where the parade is going to be held and a driver is wanting to get through one of the closed roads. When Miyuki directs the driver elsewhere, he reports an abandoned vehicle. When Miyuki and Natsumi investigate, they discover the car was in a hit-and-run and suspect it is their car. However, when Tokuno-san arrives on a robbery investigation where the crooks faces are clearly seen as well as the escape vehicle, Miyuki suspects something is up.

Taking Chibi, Natsumi and Miyuki join the parade, feeling the crooks wanted the cops to be looking for them when the costume parade provides the perfect means of escape. No one seems to believe that the two of them are real cops, which causes some minor problems for the duo. Chibi-chan takes off after catching a scent but alas, he's only interested in a female Sheltie. He then catches another scent and it is the robbers, one of whom he bites. Nakajima, Aoi-chan, and Yoriko help catch the other crooks with Natsumi nabbing the last one. Case solved, the dog and recovering owner are reunited.

Thoughts: Ugh. What a tedious episode. I remember that when this series came out, I was very excited to have more Miyuki-Natsumi-Nakajima goodness. Instead, the series has been a tedious exercise in "who cares" stories, such as this one. The episode is nothing more than a series of events strung together. There's no real character chemistry or anything that made me enjoy the earlier series so much.

It is a shame they didn't call the dog "Lassie." Maybe the Japanese writers weren't familiar with that famous collie, or felt the audience wouldn't be. Regardless, it was amazing (in a tedious way) to see super-intelligent dog doing his thing. He should get a slot on the police force. I'm sure he'd be just as good as someone like Yoriko.

Next time (whenever that is) -- more tediousness appears to be on the horizon.

Mahou Shoujo Tai Alice: The Adventure 01

魔法少女隊アルス the Adventure 01
Magic Girl Squad Arusu: The Adventure 01
Tweeny Witches the Adventure 01

SPOILER Summary: Shelia is teaching her magic class when Eva and Alice notice a strange door has appeared at the end of the walk to open-air. Shelia says it is the magical traveling library that appears at different places at different times, sometimes not returning for years. Sheila tells the class to study and the three go to the library to try to find some rare magical books. They have to be shushed a few times, but end up checking out books, Eva checking out a book of recipes. On the way home, Sheila is absorbed in her reading and Eva discovers a hidden fish soup recipe. Since Alice has a headache and the recipe will make your head as clear as a fish, it is decided this is what they will have to eat.

The list of ingredients is incredibly long and amazingly, Eva has them all. It takes a great deal of time to combine and cook everything properly, but in the end, a great-smelling soup is ready for consumption. Alice manages to get Sheila out of her book long enough for them to eat. As they do so, they discover their heads have turned into fish. Horrified, Sheila examines the recipe book and discovers that Eva did not read the ancient text properly, thus they now all have fish heads. However, the spell is continued in volume 2, which Eva didn't check out. That means going out in public with fish heads to the library and risk being laughed at. However, the only way to get volume 2 is to do just that.

Eventually, the trio put on make-shift cloaks to cover their heads. Instead of looking funny, they look suspicious and mother's bring their daughters in. The group of Sheila's class march by, forcing the trio to "freeze" and hope they pass by. The class take a look-see at the three of them, but move on until the young girl at the rear drops one of her books. After she finally gets the book and rejoins the class, the trio take off again only to be found by a gang who immediately identify the trio despite their disguise. However, since the library door has two others loitering in front of it that Sheila doesn't want to see, the gang agrees to chase those two off.

The trio make it into the library just as the librarian is about to lock the door and transport the library elsewhere. When their disguises fall off, the librarian understands their predicament and points to where volume 2 is. Another patron has been in the library for years doing research for her own book. When she sees them, she pulls out the book and gives it to them. They immediately look up how to resolve their issue. Unfortunately, they have to make 100 people deeply laugh, something they'd been avoiding. Once this happens, they'll have the scales needed to reverse their condition and a feeling of being refreshed. So they set up a viewing tent for people to come by and laugh, with the last two girls being the same ones that they had chased from the library door.

Thoughts: While I think I only gave the original series a "Rent," watching this OVA "sequel" made me realize that there's just something special about this franchise, starting with the music, the characters, and even the wacky art. Alice-chan, Sheila-chan, and Eva-chan, y'all. ^_^

I really enjoyed this episode. Since this OVA series is not a sequel but rather some one-off stories set within the original series, there's not going to be any kind of plot or anything, just adventures of the three main girls (apparently). While it was pretty obvious that the soup would do something fishy to the girls, just watching them deal with this was something that I found very amusing and fun.

BTW, I know that Media Blasters is using the Romaji name "Arusu" for "Alice," but frankly, I'm using "Alice" for my reviews.

Kagetora Manga Volume 9

カゲトラ Volume 9
Kagetora Volume 9

SPOILER Summary: When Kagetora uses his ninja skill in public to protect Yuki, he's observed by Kujou, who then approaches Kagetora later about this. Because Kujou is dressed like a punk, Kagetora assumes he wants to fight, but is surprised when Kujou wants to be Kagetora's disciple and learn the art of ninjitsu, going so far as to call Kagetora "master." Eventually Kagetora agrees to train him, but things don't go well as Kujou is not very skilled despite having a big body. Further, Kujou has an image of how ninja training should be, which doesn't include getting stronger by doing sit ups or push ups.

Kujou also takes an interest in Yuki, whom he notices brightens up when she speaks with Kagetora. He notices Kagetora appears to have feelings for Yuki as well but doesn't act on them. Pressing the issue with Kagetora, Kujou goes with Yuki to market one day, only to be assaulted by punks and rescued by Kagetora. His attitude toward training improves from that time forward.

As time moves on, Kagetora and Kujou are going to a mountain training facility of Yuki's family (complete with an onsen). Not only are they joined by Yuki, but some members of their class come as well, including Yuki's friend Aki-chan. While Yuki is dense to Kujou's feelings, Aki sees it. Eventually, Kujou gets the courage to confess his feelings to Yuki after taking her to a fall festival near the mountain facility. Yuki's taken aback by this and processing it when they eventually return to the facility. Kujou confronts Kagetora about this, who tries to play it off as if it doesn't matter to him, but Kujou says that Kagetora is running away, using his position as oyakume as an excuse to not pursue Yuki. They have a scuffle and Kagetora leaves. Yuki comes in and Kujou sends her to find Kagetora after telling her he already knows she has feelings for Kagetora. The tough Aki-chan, who's been observing everything, comes in and praises Kujou for now being strong.

Meanwhile, Kagetora comes to a decision on what to do regarding Yuki.

Thoughts: While this manga isn't anything ultra special, it is fun and enjoyable. Segami-sensei seems to have fun writing/drawing this, which comes through the pages. It is interesting how he's rotated new characters in and out to (at times) bring a love-triangle mix to Yuki and Kagetora. While the other ones had been girls, bringing in Kujou certainly pushed things forward so that Kagetora now has to do something. I like that.

I also like how far Aki-chan has come as a character. Initially, she was like Uo-chan from Fruits Basket (tough, female gangster thug), only with a hint of yuri attraction to her best friend, Yuki. In many ways, I saw Aki-chan as being the first character to create a love-triangle with Yuki and Kagetora. Now she is no longer the "queen bee" around Kagetora. She's still tough, as she showed Kujou half-way through the volume, but she's also capable of a softer side, as she showed Kujou toward the end of the chapter. I'd kinda like to see Kujou and Aki-chan hook up before the manga ends.

Speaking of the manga ending, I figured it wouldn't be too much longer until that happened. I thought volume 10 might be the last one, but since there were eleven volumes written, I still have two more Kagetora-goodness volumes to purchase.

Macross Frontier 06

マクロスF Episode 06
Macross F Ep. 06

SPOILER Summary: As Sheryl prepares for her final concert, her manager Grace gets word of the attack on Macross Galaxy. Meanwhile, Ozama reluctantly allows the Zentradi scout from Vector Promotion to sign Ranka and start her singing career. To celebrate, Michel, Luca, Nanase, and Ranka go to an outdoor cafe to have a beverage, where Nanase declares the creation of the Ranka Lee fan club. Ranka apologizes to Alto, telling him she would have told him first, but doesn't say why she didn't, which was because she saw him with Sheryl. So she's surprised when he tells her we was alone at the Zentradi mall and heard her song. As a present, he gives her the ticket Sheryl gave him for Sheryl's final concert.

The president of Macross Frontier decides to make a public announcement on the Vajra and what happened to Macross Galaxy. It has been decided that they will send aid to Macross Galaxy despite the fact that the attack happened five days earlier. As such, members of the SMS are now part of the military and Lt. Cathy Glass is assigned to the warship SMS Macross Quarter as liaison to the actual military. Michel comments on their new status to Alto when Sheryl's press conference comes on TV. Alto, who has Sheryl's earring, decides to return it. After Sheryl clears him through security, the two talk and we learn Sheryl was an orphan on Macross Galaxy and hated her time there. While the earring is an important memento to her, she "loans" it to Alto as a good luck charm.

Alto returns to the Skull Squad just as they are about to deploy. The military found a surviving ship from the Macross Galaxy fleet, but it is crawling with Vajra. As such, SMS Macross Quarter is dispatched and upon folding to the location, the Skull Squadron and Pixie Squadron (with the female Zentradi) will launch. Meanwhile, Ranka decides late to attend Sheryl's concert as Sheryl starts to sing. Ranka arrives in time to see the SMS Macross Quarter fold out.

Thoughts: I don't know why Alto felt he needed to lie to Ranka about being alone at the Zentradi mall, especially when Michel had revealed to him that he'd been seen. Indeed, many in the class knew about it, so to me, it made even less sense to lie. After all, the chances were good that Ranka would find out if she didn't already know. Of course she did know, having seen it herself. We'll see if this comes up in the future.

This episode pushed the idea of Sheryl and Alto being closer, the attempt being to push the creation of the love triangle. Having seen too many love triangles, I'm not a fan of them any more because it means making a choice, but too often, there's a cop-out and no choice is ultimately made. We'll see what the writers do, but I still want the couple to be Ranka and Alto. Bah! Maybe Alto will end up with both girls. ^_^;

Next week promises to be action-packed. Will Ozama bite the dust now or later is what I want to know.

The Mystery of Akara Naja

For all of you canon Tenchi fans, Oni Shin has revised his article on Akara Naja to incorporate new information learned from OVA 3 and other sources. Head over to the FAQ for more information (direct link to the article here). Thanks to Oni Shin for all his hard work. ^_^

School Rumble Manga Volume 9

School Rumble Volume 9

SPOILER Summary: The manga starts by wrapping up the battle over whether the class will have a play or a cafe, with Harima and Hanai being the final players. When all is said and done, both the play and the cafe will be done with class members writing stories for the play that involve their fellow classmates in different situations. Meanwhile, Tenma decides to help Yakumo with Harima (despite Yakumo trying to set the record straight) by having Eri ask Harima some questions. His answers make Eri think that she's the one he's interested in when he's referring to Tenma.

Because the class is spending the night at school to work on the cultural fair setup, they take a bath at a nearby public bath house, where the girls wonder how Eri feels about Harima. Afterward, the girls make onigiri with the guys tasked to pick which girl made which onigiri. Harima takes one which tastes very bad and seeing Tenma give him the thumb's up, he assumes it is hers. In fact, it was Eri's and when Tenma brings her square onigiri for Harima to eat, he discovers Tenma's cooking is even worse than Eri's.

After an interlude with Nara trying to get tips on getting a girlfriend, it is time for the school festival to start. The class's cafe does well with the girls being chosen by male customers to serve them. However in the afternoon, business drops off and a crowd forms at the Tea Club's room. Nara is dispatched to investigate and is snared when he is greeted by Itoko-sensei in maid costume, who calls him "master." Harima is then dispatched but is snared (unwillingly) by Tae-sensei, the woman whom Harima lived with for a time and who is now acting like the happy, new wife. Finally Hanai goes to see what the deal is, but is greeted by Yakumo in a police woman's costume, thus Hanai is snared.

Because Harima ordered three sessions of his favorite samurai TV show (where Tae-sensei is in period costume, including a ninja one), he's forced to wash dishes since he didn't have the funds to cover all three. Sarah, in her nun's outfit, relieves Yakumo of her current customer (not Hanai surprisingly) so that Yakumo can attend another customer. Itoko-sensei comes in and relieves Harima because "Sensei" is waiting for him. A small room as been created in the classroom and when Harima enters, Yakumo is there, dressed in artists gear and working on a manga. Harima quickly gets into the role of her assistant and Sarah is happy that she arranged this little event, though she's puzzled at Yakumo working on a manga and not getting cozy with Harima.

Finally, the 3rd to last chapter deals with Eri's butler Nakamura's past (as well as their manly maid). The 2nd to last chapter deals with an event in the school festival, where a real vampire gets roped into helping Sarah's and Yakumo's class, where the vampire has to deal with both girls. The final chapter dealt with Megumi, her "obaachan," and Yakumo's cat.

Thoughts: I really enjoyed this volume of the manga. The wrap up of the school battle parody was good, especially since Kobayashi-sensei managed to throw in a twist by having Hanai reveal how much he cares for Suo when Harima "killed" her (screaming out "Miko-chan"). I liked the sweetness that is still there for the Yakumo-Harima angle, even though Harima likes Tenma. I can't quite figure out if Yakumo likes Harima in a romantic sense, but she certainly respects and admires him, as well as liking him on a friendly basis. With Sarah and Tenma both doing things to set up Yakumo and Harima, I'm hoping to see more of this while not forgetting the Eri angle.

Kobayashi-sensei completely ignored the rival class this volume, which is fine with me. I never cared much for that group in the anime. Instead, he chose to bring out more of Tenma and Harima's fellow classmates, which I liked.

This volume had more humor for me than normal, partially because I don't remember certain things from this volume being in the anime (such as the bath house). I got a kick out of some of the stories submitted for the play, especially since Mai and Tsugimi were trying to keep others from seeing what had been submitted. However, the funniest stuff was the onigiri food jokes. Granted, food jokes have been around for a long time and it is difficult to make them funny to me now. Yet somehow, Kobayashi-sensei manages to do just that. I think it is in part because you have not just one, but two girls who can't cook.

Only two more months until volume 10 comes out. ^_^

Keroro Gunsou 42

ケロロ軍曹 Episode 42
(Sgt. Frog 42)

SPOILER Summary: Fuyuki finds Keroro watching a soccer match on TV and very much into it. As such, Keroro gets the platoon to Nishizawa's private soccer stadium where they quickly show they have massive skills at the game. Because they are only four plus Dororo, Dororo is tasked with using his Ninja cloning skill to fill out the remaining members. Proud of what they've done, they are surprised when Paul arrives with a hand-picked team of the world's best soccer players. Paul challenges Keroro to face his team, named Paul Japan. Keroro accepts and the game is on in one week, in which the platoon train hard. On the day of the game, the platoon discovers the humans are able to counter their special moves, but then the humans can't score either. Its the second half and Keroro decides to use his ultimate move. Instead of kicking the ball with the corner kick, Keroro punches it and accidentally scores a goal for Paul Japan. Having lost the game, Keroro is punished by being denied Gundam models for a week.

Tamama is running through the neighborhood and discovers an elementary school boy training alone with an old soccer ball. Tamama turns on his anti-barrier and decides to help the boy, but the barrier gets damaged and the boy can see Tamama. However, since Tamama has declared himself a god, the boy goes along with it. Tamama teaches the boy his ultimate Jealousy Shot, which accidentally destroys the ball in the process. Calling it a day, Tamama promises the boy to return the following day with another ball. However, the following day sees the field covered with snow and no boy (Tamama having had Paul's people repair the ball). Days pass and no boy shows up. Dororo arrives and points to the now-revealed message on the field. The boy had moved away. Dororo takes Tamama to the boy's new school, where they are practicing soccer. When the boy kicks the ball into the nearby woods, Tamama returns the old ball. Realizing the "god" has returned, the boy has confidence and when he returns to the field, he uses the Jealousy Shot to score a goal. Tamama is happy at first, but not so happy when he doesn't get all the credit and praise, forcing Dororo to evacuate them both lest they be seen.

Thoughts: The one soccer story in the manga was one I found tedious, but the anime version was much more interesting and humorous. Of course, I couldn't help but wonder how a punched soccer ball scoring a goal counted when it was supposed to be kicked. ^_^;;;

The story with the boy was also from the manga, but I don't remember that much about it.

Overall, not much for me to say, which is a reoccurring theme for my episode reviews of this series.

A Sneak Peak at "Sasami"

I got a look at the first four episodes of Sasami from FUNimation. Unfortunately, what I got was in English only (no Japanese audio or subtitles available), which as you guys know, I'm not a dub fan. Still, it is a privilege to get this kind of sneak peek so I won't complain.

While FUNimation didn't go for child actors as the Japanese did for Sasami and company, the voice actors do work hard to try to sound like young girls. No problems there, I guess. I did notice that some of the names are whacked in the English. "Roy-oh-ki?" It is pronounced "Ryo-oh-ki" (technically "Ryōoh-ki" but this is the English dub we're talking about). "Sa-su-mi" instead of "Sasami?" Weird. Still, I doubt English dub people will care much about that.

The oddness aside, this series is cute and one that I look forward to seeing in its entirety. I'll review the first series once I score the complete DVD set from FUNimation. Thanks to the Tenchi Brand Manager for sending me the sneak peak. ^_^

Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS 12

Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS Episode 12
魔法少女リリカルなのはStrikerS（ストライカーズ）Ep. 12

SPOILER Summary: The rookies find themselves outclassed by Lutecia and Agito, so they decide to make a tactical retreat to join up with the approaching Vita and Rein. Vita (telepathically?) informs them that this was the right call as she and Rein rapidly approach the rookie's location. Agito senses the power coming from them and issues a warning but it is too late. Rein captures the two of them in ice while Vita has Eisen go to giant form, where she knocks back Garyuu into a wall. Seeing them in action, the rookies are impressed with the power shown by Vita and Rein.

Unfortunately, all three opponents escape captivity and the sewer begins to shake as Caro reports she senses a large-scale summoning. It is time to evacuate, but before they do, Tia requests that Caro place a seal on the Relic they've recovered. Subaru and sister Ginga provide exits with Vita taking up the rear. In the sky, Hayate continues to take out squadrons of Gadgets while this is observed by Lt. General Gaiz and his female aide. He is not happy that the 6th Mobile has such powerful mages in its ranks and further that Hayate is their leader as he considers her a criminal (see Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha A's). He tells his aide that he may have her perform an investigation on the team.

Agito is concerned about killing the Bureau people, but Lutecia feels they'll be OK if they are as powerful as Agito says. As to the case with the Relic, she can get Quattro and Sei to retrieve it if required. Agito also expresses her concern about Doctor Scaglietti using them. Lutecia sends Garyuu back as well as Jiraio (the giant bug causing the tremors) because Agito is there. However, this proves to be an apparent mistake as the rookies, Ginga, Vita, and Rein arrive and capture the duo. However, Lutecia has support in the form of a number of female mage-types.

Dieci has the helicopter with the mystery girl and Relic in her sites, ready to shoot it down. Quattro is going to help free Lutecia and Agito from her posision with Dieci while Sein "swims" to the spot where they are held, her powers allowing her to phase through any objects. Quattro, communing telepathically, has Lutecia relay a message to Vita about the helicopter's impending doom. Dieci's attack takes time to power up, allowing Shari and the rest of the "Long Arch" team to detect this. Dieci fires, but what should have been a hit is deflected by Nanoha, who'd just arrived in the nick of time.

Sein manages to not only free Lutecia and Agito, but also takes the case with the Relic from Elio and none of the others are able to stop it. Vita is reporting on their failure, but Tia has news for the dejected Vita. Meanwhile, Dieci and Quattro come under massive attack by Fate from a distance. They dodge the attack, only to end up where Fate wanted them. They immediately try to escape again, only to find themselves about to be smashed from one of Hayate's massive attacks. They again flee, only to again find themselves trapped by both Nanoha and Fate. Both fire massive attacks at Dieci and Quattro, but report that the duo were rescued (by "Tre-neesama"). The signals are lost and their opponents have escaped.

Lutecia has teleported them all away, but when they open the one Relic case they recovered, they find it is empty. Looking back over the data they collected, they discover that the Relic was actually hidden in Caro's hat. Meanwhile Tia is reporting the same thing, stating that after Caro put a seal on the Relic, Tia created the illusion that it was a small flower in Caro's hair (in case she lost her hat). Thus in the end, the 6th Mobile Division saved the mystery girl and both Relics.

At the Saint Hospital, the mysterious girl is given a room and an IV. Nanoha gets a report of the team's status before going to visit the girl. She buys a rabbit stuffed animal for the little girl and places it on her bed. The little girl calls for her "mama" in her sleep, so Nanoha comforts the girl.

Thoughts: Sheeze. Another anime episode where a bunch of new characters are dumped into the mix. ^_^;

I laughed when Agito warned about "something big coming" (magical-wise) and who arrives but the child-sized Vita and Rein. *lol*

One thing I rather enjoyed about this episode was the back and forth between the 6th Mobile forces and Lutecia's team. Whenever one side "owned" the other, the other would them up the ante and trump the former. Tactically, the 6th Mobile didn't protect the helicopter that well, but then again, who expected anything other than Gadgets, which were never a heavy threat. These girls on Lutecia's team I think are the girls seen in the tubes in an early episode as Doctor Scaglietti walked down the corridor of his "lair."

I noticed with interest that Agito doesn't like Doctor Scaglietti, then I remembered episode 7 where Zest had mentioned not liking the Doctor either. That was when Agito was first mentioned and I had no clue who that character was. I figure this will come into play later on. If the series follows the previous two, Lutecia will be friends with the others in the end.

Other items -- I liked seeing Lindy mentioned. This general who has a stick up his rear about Hayate and the 6th Mobile kind of explains why the bureaucracy is so tight on the high-ranking mages. Nanoha has taken an apparent special interest in the mystery girl. I wonder if she'll do what Fate did with Caro and Elio.

So, things are getting interesting.

Dirty Pair 08

ダーティペア Episode 08

SPOILER Summary: Yuri is a bit annoyed with Kei's loud music and dance practicing when they get a printed message saying, "With love from Russia. From Billy Galet." Yuri is stunned to hear the name of her childhood friend and she immediately decides to resign from 3WA. Apparently she and Billy made a promise some 12-years before when they were seven that he'd build a spaceship, which he'd name "Russia." Once this ship is built, he'd send Yuri a message and and she'd join him. Kei can't believe Yuri is taking a childhood promise so seriously and neither can their boss.

Kei continues to try to talk Yuri out of quitting, but is having no luck. So she does some research and discovers that Billy is a respected engineer. However, the message sent by Billy apparently came from a planet called Poisonville. Apparently, 18 engineers had disappeared from neighboring systems and are believed to be held on Poisonville. However, because 3WA is not a police or military force but merely a business, they cannot do anything without an official request and payment for services rendered. Yuri is disappointed, but a call comes in with a prospective client offering a million credits to investigate the missing engineers with a deposit of 100,000 credits. Yuri and Kei are now officially on the case, though it was Kei who made the call.

Sneaking onto Poisonville and into the prison facility, Yuri and Kei begin working on freeing the engineers. Kei will be planting bombs at stratigic locations and as she does so, Yuri "obtains" a guard uniform from a guard. Things are going smoothly until a couple of prisoners attempt to escape on their own (not knowing Yuri and Kei are there) and set off an alarm. The two swing into action, causing destruction all around them as they free the engineers, Yuri always looking for Billy. Kei finds a locker room with a locker that has Billy's name on it. Inside, she finds an automated transmitter with a message from Billy, who's now deceased.

Meanwhile, Yuri is still hoping to find Billy and aiding an injured engineer to get to the escape ship. They are trapped until Kei rescues them. She tells Yuri that Billy is already on the escape ship and gives her jet-pack to the engineer so that Yuri can escort him to safety. They leave and the ship takes off on schedule. However, Yuri returns to help her partner, returning the jet-pack in the process. Yuri never saw Billy, but is happy to have the memory of her childhood love. Kei says she did see Billy and that he still loves Yuri, which Yuri completely understands. Yuri now wants the million-credit prize, but Kei confesses there is none and that she set the whole thing up, robbing their joint savings account for the 100,000 credit deposit. Yuri is furious, but as the battle rages, they decide they'll discuss this afterward.

Thoughts: Talk about just ending an episode. The battle is raging and there's talk of settling the matter of Kei robbing the savings when, "That's it. No more episode for you." I suppose there was nothing else to say in the episode as the scientist had been rescued, but for an episode to just end like this one did is bad form IMO.

While the episode itself is standard Dirty Pair fare, I admit that seeing Billy was a surprise. I thought he'd be fat or ugly or even running this illegal camp, but I didn't expect him to be some automated communications system designed to send Yuri a message since the real Billy had died. While this might normally be touching, considering the episodic nature of the series, next episode will be, "Billy who?" (if Billy had even been mentioned, which he won't be).

Still, I've maintained that one doesn't watch Dirty Pair for anything deep or meaningful, but rather for some mindless adventure.

The Great Adventure Of The Dirty Pair (Novel 01)

The Great Adventure Of The Dirty Pair

Summary: The first story, entitled "The Great Adventure of the Dirty Pair," introduces us to Yuri and Kei, who work for WWWA (3WA) as Trouble Consultants code named "Lovely Angels," but unofficially known as "Dirty Pair" for the death and destruction they tend to leave in their wake. This case as the duo sent to the planet Dangle and the Gravas Heavy Industries facility. One of the labs has been destroyed and while the police don't find anything suspicious in the accident, which also killed a scientist, the head of Gravas does. Yuri and Kei soon discover he is very correct as they uncover a sinister plot.

The second story, entitled "The Case of the Backwoods Murder," has Kei and Yuri sent to the gambling resort planet of Lamier. After getting involved in a fight where Yuri is reunited with her old childhood friends Thunder and Lucha, Kei and Yuri get to work on the case of mysterious dead man who's washed ashore. While on the surface, nothing seems suspicious, the fact that the man came to this planet and didn't gamble (which is something everyone who comes to the planet does) seems suspicious. When terrorists attacks on other planets gets tied into the case of the mysteriously murdered man and Yuri's old friends, things turn very sinister with the stakes being the group known as Lucifer, having weapons of mass destruction that could destroy Lamier and other planets as well.

Thoughts: It took me a long time to complete this book, mostly because reading it was rather tedious to me. I don't know how much the adapters are to blame (I understand that Japanese novels must be domesticated in rid them of evil Japanese influences, especially when the title is a sci-fi or fantasy one). Even if they heavily domesticated the adaptation, I think that Takachiho-sensei's story is just not that good. The first story felt like reading an episode of Dirty Pair rather than watch it. The anime has never been anything special, but visually, it has enough eye candy, likable characters, and just enough story to keep me interested. The novel lacks the eye candy and so reading it was an exercise of going through the motions.

The final chapter of this story is an aftermath one, but a tedious one. Kei gets drunk while Yuri nurses a drink at a bar, which ends up in a fight breaking out. Blah, blah, blah. I didn't care.

The second story was only marginally better, but a might too many convenient happenstances to link all elements introduced in the story together. Because Takachiho-sensei keeps introducing new elements, the story lacks focus. It starts out as a murder-mystery, then its an adventure in staying alive, then terrorist group Lucifer comes into play, and periodically, there are Yuri's old friends. One of the more annoying elements to the second story was Kei's longing to ride Thunder. OK, it wasn't done in that vulgar a manner, but because the story is told from Kei's perspective, we are subjected to constantly seeing her thoughts and while Thunder is saying something to push the story forward, Kei is worried about whether she can get his attention as a woman when Yuri has an advantage over her. Very, very annoying.

There were some items of interest though. I remember the first time I saw Dirty Pair (the first OVA episode, IIRC), I laughed at how Yuri and Kei wore their skimpy outfits into combat while the men all wore armored body suits (mecha). Robert explained that Yuri and Kei had transparent armor (or the like) covering their skin. I figured this was just some stupid fan explanation, but scarily, that bit of information came from Takachiho-sensei himself. Nice to know that in the distant future, attractive, young women can wear next to nothing and be protected with a transparent body-suit that's tight against their skin while everyone else has to wear actual clothing.

Another interesting element were Yuri and Kei's weak gun-weapons. Kei often used a Heat Gun, which just makes things hot. Yuri had a laser weapon, but she had something that I don't remember seeing in the anime (it may have been used, but not enough for me to remember) -- the Bloody Card. That's a card-sized weapon that slices when thrown and is controlled remotely. Something that bloody wouldn't be shown on TV, so that likely explains why I don't remember seeing it.

Finally, there was the fact that Yuri and Kei are partners because when they get worked up over something, they can join hands and be clairvoyant. I found that kind of interesting.

Ultimately, because it was such a struggle for me to read this first novel, I don't have a desire to even attempt to read the second novel, which Dark Horse has published. If Dark Horse had thoughts of enticing people beyond fans of the original anime to buy these novels, I don't think they can succeed. No matter how much domesticating they do to try to make the stories appeal to an American audience, based on the first novel, there's nothing really there to appeal to a bigger audience. In fact, I'm surprised these novels managed to not only spawn a TV series, but an OVA series, movies, and the THREE additional OVA series with a different Yuri and Kei in them (set in a different universe if you will).

All in all, a disappointment to be sure.

Keroro Gunsou 41

ケロロ軍曹 Episode 41
(Sgt. Frog 41)

SPOILER Summary: Keroro and Natsumi get in an argument over whether the milk is poured into the cup first or last for Milk Tea. To settle things, Keroro produces a board game, looking somewhat like the Game of Life. Rather than be just a board game, Natsumi, Fuyuki, and Keroro are transported into the board where they will play the game (Moa, Kururu, and Tamama are waiting for them). Rolling a giant dice, the square they land on will have a text which will become reality. So Fuyiki lands on squares that transports him to occult places around Earth. Tamama lands on squares that produce mounds of deserts for him to eat. Keroro lands on squares that get him what he wants. Finally, Natsumi lands on squares that take her where she wants to go, only with a negative twist that forces her to do things like bull fight.

The game is invented by Kururu and its real name is Pekopon Invasion Game of Life DX. Keroro is two squares from the goal, which if he reaches, will mean a successful invasion of Earth. If the humans win, the get ramen. Keroro rolls a 1 which produces Moa's father, the Lord of Terror. Together with Moa, they immediately begin to try to destroy the Earth despite Keroro's objection. Meanwhile in the Hinata house, Giroro sees the game and knows Keroro is doing something stupid, so he kicks the game, knocking everyone out of the game and preventing the invasion of Earth.

Dororo is observing Kogoro and Lavie as they walk down the street and sees how people acknowledge Kogoro's presence, even if they move away from him. As such, Dororo decides to consult with Kogoro about this and while Kogoro can't remember Dororo's name, he does help, causing Dororo to get a fire of determination. As such, Dororo takes this to the platoon, who upon seeing his determination, agree to follow him for intensive training. At school, Koyuki-chan inquires of Natsumi about the changes she's seen in Dororo, which leads Natsumi to reveal that Keroro has even changed, working very hard on his cleaning. Koyuki, Natsumi, and Fuyuki go to check on things and arrive in time to see Kogoro arrive to challenge the platoon. The platoon puts to use their new training, but the forget about Dororo, even though he'd just saved their lives.

Thoughts: I've seen the Game of Life be parodied a few times in different titles, the first being an early volume of Ah! My Goddess. I guess the game is more popular in Japan that I would have thought.

As to the episode itself, it is the standard fluff-fare. I want to say that the first story was a loose adaptation of a manga story. The second was new to me, but I'm kind of tired of the "Dororo is the forgotten member" jokes that creep up. For a while, I thought that Koyuki wouldn't be in this episode, and that would have bothered me. Indeed, Dororo has Koyuki so really, he isn't a forgotten person. Besides, Ninja "live in the shadows" as it were. I guess his desire to be noticed is supposed to be funny, but I didn't laugh.

Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS 11

Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS Episode 11
魔法少女リリカルなのはStrikerS（ストライカーズ）Ep. 11

SPOILER Summary: Admiral Chrono Harlaown is visiting with Knight Carim when the alert comes in about the found Relic. Caro has placed a seal on the one case with the young, unconscious girl but Elio points out that there is a second chain from the case, indicating there should be a second case which would also contain a Relic. Fate, Nanoha, Rein, and Shamal are being dispatched to the scene by Vice. Shamal reports the girl should be find and so she's to be carried to the helicopter to be taken back to HQ.

Shari reports that a large number of Gadgets are in the sewer approaching their location. In addition, a large number of aerial Gadgets are approaching. Vita is flying to the scene and Ginga, who'd been researching the accident, request permission to join in since her accident investigation is related to the Gadget attack. Hayate dispatches the rookies to retrieve the Relic case in the sewers, where they will be joined by Ginga. Fate and Nanoha will help work on some of the aerial units while Vice evacuates Shamal, the Relic case, and the young girl.

Meanwhile, Lutecia gets a report from Doctor Scaglietti's assistant that Lutecia's sisters will go after the Relic in the helicopter while Lutecia is to go into the sewers to obtain the Relic there. While Lutecia is not with her normal companions, she's not alone and summons Garyuu before heading down in the sewers, where the rookies have engaged the Gadgets. In the skies above, Fate and Nanoha engaged the Gadgets. Meanwhile, as Ginga heads to join the rookies, she reports but soon discover that that the girl may be an artifical mage -- a person created in a lab for the purpose of using magic.

Vita and Rein take out a group of flying Gadgets but suddenly, there are an innumerable number of additional flying Gadgets arriving on the scene. While they are able to determine that there is some illusion work going on, it is difficult to sort out the real Gadgets from the illusions. Fate is going to have Nanoha assist Vita in clearing the skies while Fate has her limiter removed to use a wide-area attack. However, Hayate overrides this and has joined the battle personally. She orders Fate and Nanoha to protect the helicopter while Vita and Rein are to join the rookies and Ginga in the sewers. Hayate is going to have Chrono release her limiter, who along with Knight Carim is the only one with the authority to do so. However, it is a one-time deal as getting authority to do so a second time is very difficult, though since Hayate is not asking for a complete release (she'll be taken to the S-rank), Knight Carim feels it will be a bit easier to get permission again.

Once her limiter is released, she has Shari assist her in the long-ranged attack since Rein, who'd normally do this function, is not there. Hayate casts the Hræsvelgr spell, which sends numerous, devastating magical attacks that destroy everything within a wide area. In the sewers, the rookies and Ginga are doing well, but then come up against Garyuu just as Cara discovers the case. During the fight with Garyuu, Lutecia picks up the case with the Relic in it. Subaru, not realizing Lutecia is an enemy, warns her of the danger of the case. She continues to walk away and is intercepted by Tia, who'd been invisible. However, Lutecia has an ace up her sleeve in the form of Agito (who's the size of Rein), who uses a Starling Howl attack to stop the rookies and Ginga. Tia tries to shoot, but Garyuu knocks her down. She quickly recovers and fires at Lutecia, only to have Garyuu take the hit with minor damage.

Thoughts: Have I mentioned how much I hate henshin sequences? The ultimate in filler, I guess, but tedious as all get out.

It really is a shame that the dialog is so kiddie at times. It is a little odd since I'm told this has always been an otaku mahou shoujo title and not a regular mahou shoujo title targeted at girls. Maybe the otaku were too "busy" to notice. *_*

Story-wise, the bureaucracy in this story is incredible. I understand the desire to keep your most powerful mages under control to prevent them turning on you (though it implies that Fate, Nanoha, and Hayate can't be trusted), but to have it so that an admiral can only release the limiter only once without major hassle seems a bit much. It also means that the people in charge are a bunch of pansies just waiting to get their collective butts kicked. From a story perspective, I realize it is a plot device to weaken your overly powerful characters so that they are challenged from time to time.

We finally have our first person to person battles, which makes things a bit more "real" if you will. Attacking mechanical things means nothing. Attacking another person means something.

Speaking of battles, I already see an Agito vs. Rein battle in the future. I wonder if Agito is the same as Rein.

Macross Frontier 05

マクロスF Episode 05
Macross F Ep. 05

SPOILER Summary: Ozama is furious with Ranka for being expelled from school and for her wanting to be a singer. As a result, she runs away from home, refusing to return until her oniichan apologizes. Meanwhile, Sheryl has Alto at his school, where they have to hide from being seen while Ranka tries to contact Alto-kun. Ozama is waiting for Ranka but instead gets a visit from Lt. Glass, who summons him to a special briefing. As such, he calls Michel (aka: Mikhail) to find Ranka no matter what, something Michel is not keen on doing.

Michel calls Alto to see if Ranka is with her, but of course he's still with Sheryl. He's surprised to learn that Ranka got suspended. Ranka has left him a voice message, stating a desire to talk but sadly, her phone is offline when he tries to return her call. Michel does find Ranka, who's happy to see him but still refuses to return home. Michel has no choice but to follow her. Elsewhere, Alto and Sheryl continue their "date" of sightseeing where Sheryl remarks that the one thing she likes about Alto is that he doesn't treat her like the celebrity "Sheryl."

Alto takes Sheryl to the Zentradi section of the ship, where they see some hippo-cow farmers at work before heading into the city. Also in the city are Ranka and Michel where Michel buys Ranka a soft serve ice cream cone and they talk. Michel wonders why she likes talking to Alto so much (because he listens to her) and if Ranka can truly sing in front of a crowd the way a Zentradi was doing when they first entered the plaza. Elsewhere, Sheryl has a moment of inspiration and begins writing on a giant pair of panties as Alto and Klan (in normal form, who'd just joined them) wait. Alto makes a paper airplane and launches it while down below his location, Ranka trembles at the prospect of singing in front of strangers. However, seeing Alto's plane gives her courage and she is able to sing.

The singing is shown all over and Sheryl is proud of Ranka's progress. Sheryl returns the charm she stole from Alto and promises to give him tickets to her final concert before she leaves to return to Macross Galaxy. She gives him a farewell kiss on the cheek, which is seen by both Michel and Ranka, the later being in a state of disbelief over what she saw.

Meanwhile, while all this was going on, Leon is briefing Ozama and the others (whom he describes as survivors of the 117th Investigatory Fleet) and reveals to them an intact Vajra in a giant tube. He reveals that what they are seeing is either a low-level life form or a controlled bio-weapon. As the briefing continues, the Vajra suddenly comes to life and begins trying to break out of the glass. It succeeds in cracking the glass before Leon is snapped to his senses by Ozama and seals the glass withing a metal casing, where an energy discharge within appears to "kill" the thing, leaving Leon to wonder how this happened.

A ship folds in to report that Macross Galaxy is under massive attack by the Vajra.

Thoughts: I see all the fansubbers have name-switched "Mikhail" to "Michel." *_* Granted, that is what it sounds like people are calling him but...*sigh* The hideous, all-knowing, all-seeing, superior to you losers Wikipedia still has it at "Mikhail." Whatever.

The scene in the lab with the Vajra reminded me of a similar scene in Independence Day. I am curious to learn more about the Vajra.

I can understand Sheryl's attraction to Alto, who treats her like any other person. I understand any attraction Alto may have for Sheryl, who's a hot, popular singer. That said, I want Alto and Ranka to end up together. I'm hoping that there won't be much negative fallout from Ranka witnessing the kiss.

I liked the trip to the Zentradi part of the ship. Even though we didn't get to see a whole lot, it is neat seeing how they are just normal, if giant, people. As the story progresses, I'm looking forward to seeing the humans and Zentradi working together.

Anne Going to Japan

For the last year (roughly), I've been taking Japanese classes in Arvada. One of my classmates, Anne-san, had been trying to get into the JET (Japan Exchange and Teaching) program for a while and while we were on a break, she was accepted. Saturday was her last day of classes as she takes some time off to see family and friends before spending at least a year in Japan to teach English. While her presence will be missed in class, I am very happy for Anne and hope that she has a good time both in teaching Japanese students proper English and in the Japanese culture. If she makes it into the Tokyo area, I may have to send her some funds to pick me up a CD. *lol*

Anyway Anne, good luck in Japan. If I manage to get over there while you are still in country, I'll have to look you up. ^_^ In the meantime, I'll read your blog to see how you are doing.

Keroro Gunsou 40

ケロロ軍曹 Episode 40
(Sgt. Frog 40)


SPOILER Summary: After the main cast and announcer wish the audience a happy new year, Keroro breaks out the Jomon water from Yakushima, Kyushu, which apparently meets with the platoon's approval. After having quite a bit of fun at Giroro's expense, its time for new year's resolutions, where Tamama finally makes a love confession. However, Keroro misunderstands it to be a general love from the troops for their leader. Finally, Keroro has prepared a mochi soup, which has a purple glow. Moa drinks it and it makes her drunk. She forces it down Tamama's, Giroro's, and Kururu's throats. Dororo, who'd been forgotten, is happy for once to be excluded as Moa is about to make the terrified Keroro drink.

Sometime after this, Moa reads the new years cards, but one is a warning to Keroro for being late on sending in his homework to HQ. The platoon learns he has mountains of homework to do. They send him to do it, but Keroro keeps finding other things to do rather than the homework. So, the platoon takes it to watch him in shifts until he gets it done, punishing him when he goofs off. He finally gets it done, but sadly, he missed the final deadline and HQ has sent punishment of their own -- the Nyororo creature, which absorbs water from Keroro, leaving him flat like a sheet of paper.

Thoughts: I was mostly bored by this episode, though the New Year's card that made fun of Kururu, causing him to do the voodoo thing on it, was funny. However, I learned the importance of doing one's homework on time, which I suppose is something seeing as how I'm in a Japanese class. ^_^;

There was a new ED theme song, which doesn't do it for me. That said, it was neat seeing how to draw Keroro.

The saddest part about this episode was the reminder that it came out in 2005. That shows you just how smegging far behind I am. ^_^;;;

xxxHOLiC Kei 05

xxxHOLiC◆継 Episode 05

SPOILER Summary: Watanuki is eager to use his knowledge of Doumeki wearing a female kimono as a child against him, but is foiled by Doumeki's frank acknowledgment of the subject. Watanuki is frustrated that he didn't bring the picture back from his dream as photos of Doumeki from his childhood are sealed. As Watanuki, Doumeki, and Himawari eat, Watanuki gives Himawari a Strawberry Mousse. He thinks back to his conversation with Yuuko-san regarding Himawari-chan, including how he'd willingly buy a nightmare of hers. As such, he looks at Himawari slightly differently for a moment.

Himawari mentions the TV program where a young girl exorcises spirits and is going to do one at a Sakura tree. She feels for those who can see those things. Later when Himawari and Watanuki walk home, they see a young girl standing under a Sakura tree. Watanuki feels a connection with the girl but before they can talk, the girls mother angrily comes forward, accusing Watanuki of trying to ruin things. The girl is the one from the TV program that Himawari saw and the girl's mother, despite trying to protect her daughter, seems distant from her.

Watanuki reports this to Yuuko-san, who tells him that the girl's power is real and that whatever happens from here on out is up to him. At school, Doumeki reveals that through Watanuki's right eye, he was able to see the girl. Apparently, he can see things whenever Watanuki experiences a strong emotion. After school, Watanuki walks home in the rain and sees the girl under the tree again. There's a ghost in the tree and while not evil, it is the one the TV program wants her to take care of. After she and Watanuki talk a bit, they walk to Doumeki's temple, where the ghost follows and takes residence in a new Sakura tree so as not to be a nuisance at the old place.

The girl goes to leave and Watanuki lends her his umbrella so that the girl, who'd wished to see Watanuki again, will have an excuse to see him again. They exchange names (TSUYURI Kohane is the girl's name) and discover their names are similar in that the Kanji is also used for calendar dates. She feels better when Watanuki addresses her as "Kohane-chan," because it has been ages since people even called her by her name, much less used the "chan" honorific. Kohane returns home where her mother is angry that Kohane was out in the rain. The phone rings and Kohane's mother is talking to the TV producers, arguing over how much she should be paid for Kohane's appearances and such. Kohane looks depressed as she sees her normal monk vegetarian meal, then takes a look at the room filled with items her mother acquired by using Kohane. Kohane returns to her room where she embraces the umbrella that Watanuki gave her.

Thoughts: I'm confused. Watanuki's eye turns golden for a moment when Doumeki mentions seeing from it? What the smeg is that all about? My understanding is that his eye is always golden in color in the manga, but maybe I'm wrong.

I don't know who the seiyuu is for Kohane, but she really sold the character for me right from the start. Not only that, but while I always felt badly for her in the manga, the anime made it doubly so, not because the writers changed or added anything, but the visuals as well as hearing Kohane's mother just added impact, and frankly, that's what a good anime adaptation should do. I feel so bad for Kohane, who's really unloved at this point.

Outside of the eye issue, I feel that through five episodes, Production I.G has done a really good job this time. Too bad they didn't feel the need to keep it real for the first series.

Negima! Vol 23 (Ch 208) *SPOILERS*

魔法先生 ネギま！Volume 23 Chapter 208

Summary: Negi continues his desperate battle with Eva, who's a mere shadow of Negi, within the Phantasmagoria, which appears to be the grounds of Mahora Academy. He's been within the Phantasmagoria for a few hundred hours and lost to Eva 70 times. Despite his best effort, Eva defeats Negi again, though she's impressed that he's still able to move (within the Phantasmagoria, one cannot sleep, die, or otherwise escape).

Outside, Chisame tends to Negi with the herbs from Jack. Jack lets Chisame know that Negi has been fighting for 10-days within the Phantasmagoria even though it has only been two days in the real world. Jack figures Negi only has until morning before his soul reaches the limit, at which point Chisame will have to decide whether to destroy Eva's magic scroll or not.

Back within the Phantasmagoria, Eva appears to lament Negi's latest defeat as he appears to be completely defeated. She tells him that even though he'll be cut off from magic, he'll still enjoy living out his days as a teacher. She turns her back on Negi, who instantly revives and launches a massive attack on Eva. She enjoys this and praises him as this is the source of his power -- his first impulse. However, it is not enough and Eva soon has the upper hand. Negi is stunned that this wasn't enough. He sees Asuna, Chisame, Chachamaru, Satsuki, and even Eva who tell him what he needs to hear. He now understands that he needs to the good and the evil, strength and weakness, and take them for what they are. With this, he's able to cast the Magica Erebea spell to the surprise of Eva.

Thoughts: No surprise that Negi was finally able to apparently master the Magica Erebea spell. It was fun seeing Negi fight Eva again, even if she weren't the real Eva. I guess this means that Chisame will be spared from having to make a decision on whether to end Negi's magic by stabbing the scroll.

Anyway, it will be interesting to see Negi use this when his team goes up against Fate.

Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS 10

Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS Episode 10
魔法少女リリカルなのはStrikerS（ストライカーズ）Ep. 10

SPOILER Summary: It has been a couple of weeks since Tia and Nanoha had their talk and Tia has returned to normal. After the team passes their latest training test, Nanoha announces that they will now have their Devices unlocked for the 2nd mode. Vita tells the team that after Shari unlocks their Devices, they'll begin Phase 2 training on the following day. That means the team has the rest of the day off. Tia borrows Vice's motorcycle and she and Subaru are off to spend the day in the city. Caro and Elio also are headed into the city and they are seen off by their guardian, Fate.

Meanwhile, Shari and Rein begin work on the limiters and Shari has Rein go through a complete checkup (Rein can apparently merge not only with Hayate, but Signum and Vita as well). Upon completion of the checkup, Rein reports back to her desk in Hayate's office, where she informs Hayate of the checkup, to include the Book of the Azure Sky. She tells Hayate that Shari wants to perform a checkup of Book of the Night Sky & Schwertkreuz as well.

Elio and Caro consult the plan that Shari laid out for them, which is Shari's idea of the perfect date. On the train to the city, Elio and Caro talk, where Elio learns of Caro's 2nd dragon, the ancient black dragon known as Voltaire. Since Fried considers Elio a friend, Caro is sure that Voltaire will get along with Elio as well. While in the city, the two talk of Fate and all she's done for them. They are contacted by Tia and Subaru, whom upon hearing their plan, realize this has been set up as a date. Caro and Elio promise to contact Tia and Subaru if needed.

Elsewhere, Master Sergeant Ginga Nakajima arrives at the scene of an accident, where there has been an odd explosion on a transport truck. She is stunned to find what appears to be a lifepod at the scene of the accident as well as Gadget remains. At the same time, Doctor Scaglietti is getting a report on the same accident, where they've lost the Relic signals. The doctor wants to know if they got lucky, which appears to be the case. A mysterious girl named Noube asks to be sent to the scene, but Scaglietti does not want that. However, he does inform Lutecia of the Relic-based incident.

In the sewer, a young girl struggles to walk, chained to a couple of apparently heavy boxes which drag behind her. On the surface, Elio detects the sounds of her, so he and Caro go to investigate, where they spot the girl emerge from a manhole. They report their finding back to the team and because a Relic is involved, Hayate brings everyone back to active status. Tia and Subaru are dispatched to Elio and Caro's location as the team mobilizes to secure both the girl and the Relic.

Thoughts: Sheeze. Did we REALLY need to fanservice Reinforce Zwei?

"Hey you horny guys! We know some of you have a thing for girls only six inches tall (or so) because you all got off on Hand Maid May. Therefore, enjoy some naked Rein-chan, y'all!"

I got a kick out of how Fate dotes on her two wards, Caro and Elio. It was just heart-warming knowing what she did for them and how much they appreciate her.

Speaking of Caro and Elio, they are a cute (if young) couple. ^_^

Finally, I'm glad the writers didn't just have Caro and Elio or Tia and Subaru attacked while they were off. The episode ending with them finding the girl was fine though.

xxxHOLiC Kei 04

xxxHOLiC◆継 Episode 04

SPOILER Summary: Watanuki shares his dream of eggplant with Himawari-chan, and she shares her nightmare about being chased with him. Watanuki gives her a bag of Madeleine cookies he made as thanks for sharing her dream with him. He agrees to cover for her after school work, but is frustrated when he learns he has to do papers with Doumeki. He's frustrated further when he discovers that Doumeki has one of his Madeleine cookies and doesn't want to hear Doumeki's dream about Doumeki's grandfather and a horse.

That night after completing the school tasks, Watanuki heads for home, only to hear footfalls behind him. He's being chased by a spirit creature and is captured but ends up being rescued by what appears to be Doumeki on a horse, who shoots the creature. The creature is destroyed but the arrow survives. Watanuki then discovers Yuuko-san sitting on him and teasing him about lying on the road. She then reveals that he had a dream, specifically a fulfilling dream, which is a dream that becomes real. This is proven by the arrow, which is still on the road. Yuuko-san then prompts him to remember the origin of both dreams -- Himawari-chan and Doumeki respectively. Watanuki paid for them with the cookies he made.

Yuuko-san has Watanuki take the arrow and passing through the small space between an electric poll and a wall, they are suddenly in another dimension and another world. The Dream Buyer arrives, and seeing Watanuki's arrow, he wants to buy it, paying for the arrow with his special balloon dreams. Watanuki doesn't know what to make of this and Yuuki-san makes sure that Watanuki gets five balloons in payment. Hearing that the Dream Buyer is going to the Kitsune Ondenya's place for oden, Watanuki gives the Dream Buyer one of Watanuki's dream balloons to give to the young kitsune. The Dream Buyer is impressed.

After Yuuko-san extracts a couple of balloons as payment for her services, Watanuki is left with two. Watanuki goes to bed at Yuuko-san's place and is suddenly aware of a presence. It is Doumeki's grandfather. After they talk for a bit and Watanuki sees a picture of young Doumeki, he wakes up. Yuuko-san explains that his dream came from one of the balloons, which is now popped. Apparently, Doumeki's grandfather must have sold it years ago. However, what pleases Watanuki most is learning that Doumeki used to have to wear a female kimono as a child, though he's disappointed he didn't bring the picture across with him from the dream world.

Thoughts: I loved the musical choice for the Dream Buyer. *lol* Having a 3/4-time polka played gave things an Italian feel to things, which world on two levels. First, the Dream Buyer was dressed in an almost Italian fashion (or so it seemed to me) and second, Yuuko-san and Watanuki having crossed dimensions meant they weren't in a normal Japan any longer. So why not play a polka?

While I normally don't care much for modifications to the original manga story, I do hand it to the writers for the obvious joke dealing with the idol magazine, complete with its pretty young female bikini models. I think the joke worked for me because as soon as Yuuko-san dumped it on Watanuki, it kept being shown in Watanuki's possession. As such, it was just a matter of time until the joke was sprung. Making me wait for the obvious joke after teasing it for a while works for me.

I'm still not happy with Production I.G's decision to make Watanuki's right eye look normal when it should be golden in color. I wonder what they'll do down the road. The eye was an element of this episode and it would have been more impactful to be a different color.

While the episode was pretty faithful to the manga story, Production I.G had to do some scrambling since the manga story was of the first dreams of the new year, which is why everyone was telling them. That's because they completely jacked up the time line in the first series and so the story wasn't set in the new year. I'm hoping that Production I.G gets its act straight regarding time lines because they ruin the cultural significance behind stories when they decide to set them in any time period.

Negima! Vol 23 (Ch 207) *SPOILERS*

魔法先生 ネギま！Volume 23 Chapter 207

Summary: Eva attacks with a "Sword of Conviction," a blade of energy that comes from her hand, which Negi counters with his own. The scene for their fight changes to the Mahora bridge where Negi fought his decisive battle against Eva in volume 3. He realizes that he's not really fighting the real Eva but rather one from his memories -- his shadow. Eva tells him that if he doesn't understand the darkness as she's defined it, he'll die. With that, she gets the better of him and stabs him.

On his bed, Negi coughs up a lot of blood, which Jack confirms as a sign that Negi is heading to the darkness. Negi takes damage in multiple locations and begins spraying blood everywhere. Jack gives Chisame some leaves to take care of the physical injuries but there's nothing they can do for any mental damage Negi takes. Chisame is not happy about all this, especially the notion of a choice always being between life and death for a man. However, Jack gives her a similar choice. He produces a special dagger which if stabbed into Eva's scroll, it will save Negi's life, but deny him the dark magic he seeks.

Elsewhere, Chachamaru (still in kid form) has detected an Ala Alba badge and provides enough information for Setsuna to activate her pactio card. Two of her camera golems appear, one called "Sayo Exclusive" which is modified so that Sayo, in doll form, can ride and control it. She's off, where she encounters Ku Fei, who is training and destroyed an entire massive boulder in the water. Ku Fei has a little fun with Sayo, but is very happy to see her all the same.

Back in town, Kotaro receives word via another of Asakura's cameras that they have found Ku Fei. Natsumi reports they have letters from Nodoka ("Honya-chan") as well as an update from Asuna and Setsuna on their meet-up with Konoka and Kaede. However, that still leaves Makie, Yuuna, Yue, Para, Anya, and Chamo unaccounted for. That changes when Akira serves a dolphin customer, who has a message and a picture from Makie and Yuuna.

Thoughts: The 'Sayo Exclusive' camera golem as part of Asakura's artifact is a win and a half. Now the Sayo doll has a vehicle to ride and well...*lol* She and Chachazero are scene stealers to be sure.

As for Asakura using the pactio card, I heard thousands of loli-loving otaku in Japan (and in the West) have a collective gasp and iku seeing her skimpy, sex-pot outfit on her loli form. Man, I could have done without that. It is bad enough that underaged girls get fanserviced pretty heavily, but this image actually seemed worse to me. I think it is because Akamatsu-sensei normally has girls get naked for bathing purposes (which his girls do quite often in the stories), so you can say, "Well, they have a reason to be naked." Asakura had no reason to look like a lolicon's wet dream in the scene.

Interesting how Negi uses a Sword of Conviction. Well, its not surprising that Negi would learn it from Eva, either directly or indirectly (via observing her use it).

Yay for finding Ku Fei, who like the rest, has been leveling up in power.

So, we still have yet to see from Para, Anya, and Chamo.

Starfest 2008 - The Anime Connection

Now that I finally have home Internet access again, I thought I'd do a quick anime report from Starfest 2008.

Because Starfest is primarily a sci-fi convention with a helping of fantasy on the side (there's also Horrorfest which is run at the same time, but it quite literally is a side feature), anime has a very small presence at the convention. There are two main anime-related things that happen. The first is that Denver Anime International plays anime videos in a small room. Most of them are fansubs of more current titles out of Japan, but sometimes they aren't and will include things like Voltron and anime music videos. For me, that's not appealing (at my first convention, I did stay and watch an episode of Full Metal Panic: The Second Raid, where it appeared that most of the people watching had not seen it before even though it had been out quite some time as a fansub, but I found it really not to my liking). I did pop my head in a few times just to see what kind of draw they were getting though.

The other anime-related item at Starfest is the small booth that Gimme Anime, a local anime retail store, runs.

That said, there is the occasional cosplayer who will who up. I saw four this year. The first is this mecha unit, which I'm told is from Gundam but if you know what its from, please let me know.

The next cosplayer I saw was in an Inuyasha outfit. Sadly, he looked pretty scary and I didn't get a picture of him. ^_^;

Finally, there was this pair of young guys, who did an excellent Trigun cosplay (Vash the Stampede and Nicholas D. Wolfwood respectively).

I made mention on the Starfest site of my desire to have more anime-related stuff there. The response was that I could (1) make my own panel or (2) attend Nan Desu Kan, which is the local anime convention. Well, I won't be doing the first and as for the second, if they had the big companies attend and have panels, I'd be somewhat tempted. Heck, if they scored HAYASHIBARA Megumi, I'd be there in a heartbeat (Lord willing, of course).

My attendance to next year's Starfest is dependent on my job situation and the guest that come. If I attend, I'll keep my eye open for anime-related cosplayers and events.

Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS 09

Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS Episode 09
魔法少女リリカルなのはStrikerS（ストライカーズ）Ep. 09

SPOILER Summary: Tia wakes up in the infirmary under Shamal-sensei's care, having been out for a long time due primarily to exhaustion. She remembers being schooled by Nanoha, but Shamal tells Tia that there's no real damage to Tia's body as Nanoha is an expert with training ammunition. Meanwhile, Fate informs Nanoha that Tia finally woke up and that they tried to apologize to Nanoha, but of course she was out. Nanoha plans to have a talk with the two and apologizes for her actions to Fate, who's not bothered by them.

When they enter the building, the alert goes off. Quite a few Type-2 (flying) Gadgets have appeared, and these are noticed outside by Lutecia, who immediately calls Doctor Scaglietti. He assures her that there is no Relic involved, but he wants some data and the Gadgets are merely to be sacrificed to gather this data. Back in the HQ building, Hayate consults with her captains, Fate and Nanoha. Fate suspects Scaglietti's involvement and that it is likely designed to get the team to destroy the Gadgets for his data-gathering purpose. Nanoha suggests treating the Gadget problem as normal, not revealing any cards up their sleeves, which Hayate agrees to.

At the helicopter pad, Nanoha informs the team that only Fate, Vita, and herself will be deployed and that Signum will be in charge of the team until they get back. She further tells Tia that Tia is off active status, which offends Tia and causes her to run off at the mouth about it. This leads to her getting punched by Signum for being spoiled and while Nanoha would like to make things right with Tia, Vita makes sure she gets on the helicopter and doesn't spoil Tia. With that, the helicopter is off and Shari comes around, saying she has something she wants the others to watch.

Shari has a presentation showing how Nanoha got started at 9-years of age and to the surprise of the rookies, her main enemy was Fate (the first series). Then Shamal picks up the story, telling the Knight's role along with Hayate battling against Fate and Nanoha (the second series). This also surprises the rookies, as does the sheer amount of power young Nanoha had. Because Nanoha exerted herself so much at such an early age, she paid the price when Vita and Nanoha were on a routine mission years later where Nanoha's body finally gave out on her and she nearly died. However, Nanoha struggled in rehab to be able to not only walk again, but use her magics. As such, Nanoha's experiences are behind her training regiment. Signum states that there are life-or-death times when going beyond one's limits is fine, but in Tia's cases, neither time was a life-or-death situation and thus there was not a reason to go so far.

After Vita destroys the last Gadget, the trio returns to base, where Shari confesses what she's done to Nanoha, who's not too pleased. Vita figures that the rookies would learn of it soon enough, so Nanoha seeks out Tia, who's sitting by the river. Now that Tia knows something of Nanoha's past, Nanoha decides to scold Tia for her negative attitude about herself and her abilities. Nanoha tells Tia that the rookies are like raw ore that needs to be refined and polished, and that Tia is at the core, protecting the other rookies with her ranged attacks and illusion magic.

Nanoha further tells Tia that her idea to make a blade form for her Device, while not called for in the training simulation, is on target. To show her, Nanoha unlocks the 2nd mode of Cross Mirage for Tia, who tries it out, discovering that it is an elaborate, bladed weapon. Nanoha explains that her training regiment would cover close combat that would require this form, but they weren't ready for it yet and because the team could be deployed, the rookies needed to improve on their primary skills first. Tia breaks down and cries, apologizing to Nanoha. The following day, Fate takes the rookies out and explains how they are "strikers" and what Nanoha said regarding them and their abilities when the training first started. Meanwhile, Nanoha sets up the training ground where she, Vita, and Signum talk about what will happen once the training is over.

Thoughts: It was rather interesting to see (if briefly) how Nanoha almost lost her life. In one of the bridge manga, we also get to see a bit of that. I think what I liked most was again, a sense of realism in an unrealistic world of tech-mages. Nanoha, as the episode reminded us, was only 9 when she got into this magic business and having to go into combat. At such a young age, she had mad talents, but the powerful magics she was forced to use then took a tole on her, and it was the acknowledgment of this which made things feel real. Nanoha knows the rookies could be killed in combat, but they won't be killed because their bodies were over-taxed as hers was.

Anyway, with this, I guess we now leave the Tia-angst arc and proceed to where ever the next place is.

Keroro Gunsou 39

ケロロ軍曹 Episode 39

SPOILER Summary: Keroro's latest invasion plan involves Christmas, but Dororo refuses to take part, not wishing to harm the children. Tamama also bails out of the plan since he wishes to be good so that he can get a present from Santa-san. Realizing that he needs to learn more about Christmas and Santa Claus, Keroro begins his research on the Internet and is nearly swept up in Christmas. Giroro checks with Natsumi, who tells him of her very Japanese notion of the romantic nature of Christmas. This leads him to bail out of the plan. Kururu also bails after being invited to the Hinata Christmas party. Since Keroro is banking on a bonus to purchase Gunpla, he ends up taking a job with Kogoro & Lavie (for no pay) delivering Christmas cakes in an attempt to get on Santa-san's good list and thus get a present. He comes home late after the Hinata party is over and after he goes to bed, he gets a present.

Its time for the New Year's house cleaning and Keroro is put in charge. Giroro objects, but when Natsumi calls him a freeloader, he's on board. As the family begin to work, Keroro stops them from doing the cleaning in an improper way. Fuyuki is going through his books, not wanting to get rid of anything but Keroro talks him into doing just that by having courage. Fuyuki inquires on whether Keroro would be getting rid of some Gunpla's, but Keroro states that is different. Fuyuki has been had. After the cleaning is done, the Hinata family and the Keroro Platoon have New Year's Soba as the platoon experience their first new year on Earth.

Thoughts: I don't know why, but Keroro speaking French to Aki-san and address her as "Mademoiselle" made me giggle. Maybe its because the Japanese seem to have no problem using any number of non-Japanese phrases or honorifics but in America, Japanese honorifics are seen by so many (though admittedly a shrinking group of people) as unimportant. Whatever.

Interestingly enough, Keroro's tip on using newspaper for cleaning glass is a real one. In basic training, we (covertly) used newspaper to polish all the mirrors in the dorm as well as the TI room's windows. I imagine his other tips are real as well.

Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS 08

Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS Episode 08
魔法少女リリカルなのはStrikerS（ストライカーズ）Ep. 08

SPOILER Summary: In the aftermath of the battle with members of the team picking up the pieces of the destroyed Gadgets, Nanoha takes Tia aside for a little talk. Since Vita has already chastised Tia, Nanoha has no intention of doing so, but she does have some concerns over Tia's trying too hard, so much so that she's trying to do it all rather than rely on her team. After the talk, Nanoha returns to find Fate and Yuuno talking and recalling their past dealings with the Jewel Seeds. Fate finds an excuse to leave them alone together and joins Caro and Elio.

Late in the afternoon, Fate and Nanoha dismiss the rookies to get some rest. However, Tia is determined to get more training to get better. Vita learns from Nanoha and Fate the story of what happened to Tia's mage brother, who was killed in action and blamed for his failures (Subaru telling the same story to Elio and Caro). It is evening when Sgt. Vice comes up to where Tia is, trying to offer some advice. However, Tia is only interested in her training. When Tia comes home, she tells Subaru she'll be getting up early in the morning and apologizing. The following morning, Subaru has to get the exhausted Tia up and Tia reluctantly accepts the idea of extra training with Subaru. They devise a dangerous battle plan for the simulated battle that Nanoha is training the team for. Subaru knows their plan will get them scolded, but if they win, it will be worth it. Besides, Nanoha is a kind person.

On the day of the mock battle, Tia and Subaru (the Stars team) are up to fight Nanoha. Vita has Caro and Elio up nearby to observe the fight, where they are joined by Fate, who mentions how much time Nanoha puts into the training routine. The fight starts with Tia sending a barrage at Nanoha, who flees from it, only to be met by Subaru. However, Nanoha is able to knock Subaru off her feet, telling her that such a dangerous maneuver isn't good. Nanoha becomes aware of the missing Tia, and finds herself targeted. Subaru comes right at Nanoha and attacks at close range. The Tia in the distance was an illusion and the real one comes in for a melee attack on Nanoha.

Realizing Tia and Subaru haven't taken her training to heart, a very disappointed Nanoha decides to unleash upon the girls, stopping each of them in their tracks with one hand each. She expresses her disappointment to both girls, which causes them both to become horrified. Frustrated, Tia disengages from Nanoha to use a ranged attack. Subaru tries to help, but finds Nanoha has magically bound her, and tells her to watch. Nanoha blasts Tia hard before Tia can get her attack off. While Tia is still reeling from the attack, to Subaru's horror, Nanoha attacks again, knocking Tia off one of Subaru's platforms unconscious. Subaru, though bound, gets over to Tia, where she then looks back with angry tears at Nanoha.

Thoughts: I really liked this episode, not because of the Tia angst, but because it felt real to me. Nanoha's disappointment in Tia and Subaru, whom she had such faith in that she gave them a 2nd chance to get their B-rank so they could join the 6th Mobile Division, really came through. I remember Vita wondering if Nanoha had been too easy on the rookies in training and in the mock battle, Nanoha not only schooled Tia and Subaru, she was harsher than Vita ever was, only without Nanoha even raising her voice. Subaru had been so sure that the plan she and Tia had come up with to defeat Nanoha might get them scolded, but overcoming Nanoha would trump that. Besides, Nanoha was so kind in Subaru's eyes. Nanoha is a kind-hearted person, but Tia and Subaru had to be taught a lesson, even if it hurt Nanoha to do so. Nanoha isn't the Training Officer for nothing.

So while I know training stuff can bore people, the training stuff I've seen to date has not bored me and today's episode was a real payoff for me.

The other moment that stood out for me was Nanoha's reunion with her former companion, Yuuno. There was always that hint of romance between the two in the first two Nanoha series and that is touched on again here with both Nanoha and Yuuno blushing a bit after Fate leaves them for a made up reason. The focus of this series seems more on the newbies rather than Fate, Nanoha, and Hayate so I'm not sure if we'll get any advancement in their relationship.

Thus far, despite a few weaknesses, I'm rather enjoying StikerS.

Dirty Pair 07

ダーティペア Episode 07

SPOILER Summary: The CEO of Goldjeff Universal Tour Agency is throwing a massive wedding for his son Clicky when the proceedings are interrupted by a large woman with a gun (Joanca), who kidnaps the willing Clicky. 3WA is brought into this via the CEO's secretary and mistress, where Yuri and Kei are assigned to the case. The CEO orders them to pay the 2-million ransom in cash and gives them a case with the money. They try to tell him that they can get the kidnapper AND return him his money but he insists that they pay Joanca for the sake of his son's safety.

Meanwhile, it seems that Joanca and Clicky are actually in love and decide to go have a burger together. The "Big Nac" restaurant they enter tells them ten thousandth customer and as such, they win all kinds of prizes, including a trip to Grebus Land, an island resort. That night as Kei and Yuri are in their room (Yuri putting on a beauty mask), they are contacted by Joanca with the location of the money drop off -- an aquarium in Grebus Land. The following day, Joanca and Clicky go to the aquarium where they are observing a "Junk Rose," a plant that consumes almost anything it comes in contact with. Yuri and Kei are there to confront Joanca, who claims to not know what they are talking about and Clickly believes her.

Kei tosses the case of money at Joanca, who appears to be shocked as if by electricity before changing demeanor and stating she was in it for the money. Kei is pissed with how Joanca is breaking Clicky's heart and so launches her bracelet weapon at Joanca, which physically doesn't cause Joanca to react at all but does just enough to allow Joanca to break the case containing the water-based Junk Roses, where they consume enough of the case to free Joanca from the mental control she was under. It turns out, she was being controlled by Clicky's father's secretary as Joanca had been born a man but was now a woman. As such, Clicky's father did not approve of the relationship.

Yuri and Kei soon find themselves defeated after a short battle, where they are tied up as Clicky's father, secretary, Clicky, Joanca, and driver head to a Goldjeff Universal Tour Agency facility. Clicky's father's plan is to send Joanca on one of their tours, and while the trip will take 50-years, due to the Urashima Effect, she won't age a day. However, Clicky will be an old man by then. Yuri and Kei, having escaped, arrive on scene but are unable to stop Joanca from being launched into space on the trip. As such, Clicky boards the second ship and follows after her. Clicky's father can't bear to be parted from his son, so he takes the 3rd ship up. His mistress wants to follow as well, but there are no other ships. Yuri wonders about this resolution to the problem, since in 50-years, they'll all be back and fighting. Kei tells her that Lovely Angels, even if old women, will be there when that happens.

Thoughts: One thing that one can count on from a Dirty Pair episode is a certain level of nuttiness. It goes with the turf. That said, having Yuri and Kei "preach" about transgender issues (remember, this anime is from the mid-80's) was completely unexpected and frankly, couldn't be taken seriously by me. Not that I want anime to preach at me, because I don't.

Beyond that, there's really not a lot to comment on with DP episodes. One doesn't really watch these for anything beyond light entertainment, which is exactly what they mostly provide.

Macross Frontier 04

マクロスF Episode 04
Macross F Ep. 04

SPOILER Summary: Alto is put through a rigorous training regiment while Ranka prepares for the Miss Macross pageant, the two keeping in touch via text mail. Alto promises to attend and does, not knowing that Ozama has decided to schedule Alto's final test to join the SMS during the pageant. Alto is there for Ranka, but is summoned away. Ranka flubs up a bit when she sees he's missing from the audience, but does manage to pull through in the end. The S.M.S. Pixie Squadron are the ones that Alto, Mikhail and Luca will go up against. Before they reach the site of the battle, Alto notices the long, dead body of a Zentradi warrior floating in the asteroid field.

The mock battle is engaged, but suddenly a Vajra appears. Lt. Klan Klein orders the others to flee since they don't have live rounds but she does. Alto thinks back of the story where Ozama informed him of what happened to Ranka, so he loses it and decides to attack with an energy blade. The Vajra easily shrugs him off and damages his craft, forcing Klan to come in and rescue him. However, she's unable to make much damage on the Vajra, but the time she took to engage the enemy, Alto manages to return to the body of the Zentradi to retrieve its weapon. He attacks at point-blank range, and despite the age of the weapon, it works perfectly, destroying the Vajra.

Back at the SMS HQ, Ozama chastises Alto for his actions but casually throws in a remark on the Zentradi weapon he retrieved. Klan remarks on how durable Zentradi weapons are, even after centuries and emerges from her mecha unit. She is a Zentradi and she gives Ozama her opinion of Alto, who has passed the final test. Alto celebrates at Nyan-Nyan with Mikhail and Luca and they are served by Ranka, who did not win the Miss Macross contest. Klan shows up with the other members of her squad, who've been micronized so that they are normal human sized. However, due to a genetic anomaly, Klan's micronized form is that of a young girl, as is her personality. As such, Mikhail enjoys teasing her and she chases him around the restaurant.

The following day, Alto is feeling exhausted from having stayed up so late. As he makes his way to school, he's ambushed by Sheryl, who trips him.

Thoughts: I wondered when the Zentradi were going to show up. It was nice to see them again, even if Klan Klein is going to be comic material in her micronized size.

Speaking of the Zentradi, I remember thinking how odd it was for them to just encounter a dead warrior from so many, many years before. I'm not much of a fan of the old "how convenient" setups, which is what this was. How convenient they found the body and had time to check it out before the final simulated battle. How convenient that a Vajra suddenly attacks. How convenient that even the Zentradi squad, who had some live rounds, couldn't make a scratch. How convenient that Alto was able to race back, grab the weapon, and destroy the enemy.

As to Alto and Ranka, I do like their friendship. After this episode, I'd be more willing to accept a romantic relationship between the two of them. I'm glad the writers didn't go for the age-old plot of the male lead being forced to stand up the female. Having him summoned during the Miss Macross pageant was better, IMO. Having Ranka not go off the deep end over it (though clearly his sudden absence unnerved her a bit) was good. We'll see how the apparent love-triangle goes. I'm not looking forward to that to be honest with you.

As to the rest of the episode, I could have done without all the fanservice, but oh well.

Negima! Vol 23 (Ch 206) *SPOILERS*

Summary: Kaede, blind folded for training , is fighting a giant, black dragon and for the bounty she and Konoka will receive from the horn of the beast. After two hours, Kaede defeats the beast and gets the horn. At Kaede's request, Konoka activates her artifact and completely heals the dragon, save for the horn. It begins to go on another rampage, but Konoka places her hand on the beast and tells it to behave. With that, it leaves and Kaede is amazed with Konoka's abilities. Konoka doesn't feel she's done anything special as Kaede is the one with the incredible power. Kaede feels she still has a way to go for her own training.

Kaede and Konoka bring the horn into town, where they are celebrated as heroes for taking care of one nuisance dragon. Kaede doesn't feel right about all this praise since they only took out one of the two dragons, but she is told another bounty-hunting duo took care of the other one. Seeing Konoka looking down, Kaede comforts her about Negi and the others when they hear Asuna and Setsuna. Turning around, they see Asuna carrying in a dragon horn as they are the other bounty-hunting team. Konoka excitedly greets both Setsuna and Asuna with bear hugs, even knocking Setsuna on the ground. Kaede notices Asuna's skill improvement immediately.

Elsewhere, Chisame is attending to the ill Negi, wondering why Eva was there. Jack explains that the Eva from the scroll is just an artificial spirit and a trial for Negi. Further, Jack explains that should Negi fail, he may die or never be able to use magic again, something Chisame was unaware of. Meanwhile, Negi finds himself in another place, facing Eva, who tells him to prepare himself.

Thoughts: Yay! Konoka, Setsuna, Asuna, and Kaede are all together. Pretty impressive how Kaede defeated her dragon. I would guess that Asuna and Setsuna would have worked as a team to defeat their dragon. It would have been nice to see that action, but I guess Akamatsu-sensei didn't want to waste the time. Since we'd already seen Asuna and Setsuna, giving Kaede and Konoka some screen time was best. Besides, we got to see Konoka tell a dragon to behave, which I found amusing. So in addition to being a healer, is she going to be a beast master?

Well, the mystery of Eva in the scroll is solved. Now it looks like Negi will have to defeat Eva to gain this dark magic ability.