Keroro Gunsou 82

ケロロ軍曹 Episode 82
Sgt. Frog anime, 82
Keroro Gunsou episode 82

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis: Mutsumi is having an audition contest to see who will be his radio assistant for a day. As such, Natsumi calls her friends and they attend the audition, eager to see what Mutsumi really looks like. Also there are Keroro and company in their "Pekopon Suits." Natsumi quickly determines this is some wacky plan of Keroro's to invade earth and she's right. The competition comes down to a showdown between Natsumi and Keroro. Natsumi does a brilliant gymnastic routine and Keroro tells a story so moving, even Natsumi cries. However, Kururu arrives in his "Kururuko" female suit and wins with his cheesy jokes.

Keroro is goofing off, so Natsumi confiscates his latest Gundam model. In response, Keroro has Kururu create a machine that produces model toys based people who get scanned by the machine. As such, Keroro has a 1/6th sized version of himself and it is much more powerful than Keroro actually is. The Keroro-model attacks Natsumi, who along with Fuyuki are forced to flee from it. Keroro is off for a dip in the indoor onsen when Natsumi and Fuyuki manage to get into his room. A model of Natsumi is accidentally created and when she puts it together, it is able to defeat the Keroro-model. Building a few more, Keroro comes from the bath to find himself surrounded and forced to surrender.

Thoughts/Review: So, why is Natsumi saying to her (newly found "old") female friends, "let's see who Mutsumi really is?" She already knows for crying out loud. You can't pass it off as, "I'm pretending not to know for my friend's sake" because she's thinking constantly about her chance to see the real Mutsumi. I don't get this at all.

Still, I did get a laugh when Natsumi imitated Keroro as she accurately predicted his entire plan. ^_^

I remembered the 2nd story as having come from the manga. The visuals of the models fighting give this an edge over the manga. The Star Wars parody music of "The Imperial March" is a nice touch. It isn't the same song, but one can hear the similarities. ^_^

Even More Negima! Chapter 235 SPOILER Images

Even More Negima! 235 SPOILER Images!
魔法先生 ネギま！Chapter 235 (Images)

Here is the third batch of spoiler images from Mahou Sensei Negima! chapter 235. (click pics to make bigger, y'all). Some of these are repeats but some are new (I just grab the entire thing).


It almost appears that the Battle Harem and the Valkyries are at the same bath/onsen, but I don't see how that's possible without the Battle Harem getting arrested.

For those who missed it, the first batch of images are here and the second batch of images are here.

More Negima! Chapter 235 SPOILER Images

More Negima! 235 SPOILER Images!
魔法先生 ネギま！Chapter 235 (Images)

Here is the next batch of spoiler images from Mahou Sensei Negima! chapter 235. (click pics to make bigger, y'all).

These were the ones that dropped for a while. Took an hour or so to score them at all. ^_^;

Update: For those who missed it, the first batch of images is here. The third is here.

Negima! Chapter 235 SPOILER Images

Negima! 235 SPOILER Images
魔法先生 ネギま！Chapter 235 (Images)

Here's what many of you have been waiting for -- the original-sized, sneak-peek images for Mahou Sensei Negima! 235 as posted on a short-lived Japanese page (click pic to make bigger, y'all).

FANSERVICE ALERT! ^_^;

No point in pressing with the main story much this month since there isn't going to be much published in December.

There were some other image links posted, but those appear to already be gone. ^_^; Well, I was sleeping when they came out. When/if there is more, I'll post more (as always). ^_^

Update: those first images came back, so I scored them. You can see them here. The third batch of images are here.

Chapter review is here!

Clannad After Story 08

クラナド アフターストーリー Episode 08

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis: Nagisa and Tomoya are visiting Yukine, who'd very tired from a lack of sleep. Nagisa wonders if there is a charm (spell) that would help Yukine sleep. There is, but it requires a lap. Yukine comments on how her brother used to provide a lap pillow for her, which leads Nagisa to volunteer Tomoya for the job. After some hesitation, she accepts Nagisa's offer and is out like a light when her head rests on Tomoya's lap. Tomoya asks Nagisa if this is truly OK. Nagisa admits to being a bit jealous, but a friend needed sleep and seeing Yukine sleeping so peacefully, Nagisa has no problems.

After Yu-kun and Youhei arrive, Yukine wakes up from her nap. They are soon visited by an injured Sudou, who reports that since the other gang thinks Yukine's brother Kazuto is out of the hospital (mistaking the beating from Tomoyo combined with Youhei's pretending to be Kazuto as proof), they are going to try to end the gang war for good. Tomoyo enters the resource room causing Sudou to flee. Later in Youhei's room, Tomoyo is briefed on the situation. She won't report this to the school and knows Kazuto from her gang fighting days. That said, she believes it will only be a matter of time before the police get involved.

At Kazuto's gang hideout, the gang treat their wounds, having taken another beating from the other gang. Yukine decides she has to stop the fighting since she cares for people from both sides. She races out into the rain, followed by Tomoya. They arrive at the other gang hideout where the other gang refuses to back down, despite Yukine's pleas. With Kazuto apparently out of the hospital, they can't afford to wait, lest they all lose. In the end, the leader of the other gang (Sasaki) agrees to end the war one way -- a one-on-one fight between himself and Kazuto.

Back at Kazuto's gang hideout, Yu-kun reminds the others that Youhei had been braging about being Kazuto, so he is drafted to fight the other gang leader. The evening of the fight comes and the two sides meet at the river with the fight to take place on a sand bar. Nagisa has special rainbow bread from her mother, made just for Youhei. Also, her father included special jam. Youhei and the other gang members happily partake and are instantly knocked out by the bread. So when Sasaki arrives, the only guy left standing is Tomoya.

Tomoya informs Sasaki that Youhei was never Kazuto and that Sasaki will have to settle for Tomoya instead. Sasaki agrees and the fight is on. It goes for hours, with Tomoya taking a good beating, but giving good blows too, never giving up. As Kazuto's gang comes too, they along with Youhei decide to race to the river to help Tomoya. Sasaki's gang sees this and rush to help Sasaki. They stop when they see someone new arrive -- Kazuto. When Kazuto charges, Sasaki rushes to meet him, punching him, only to discover that it is actually Yukine in disguise. Tomoya realizes that she did this to try to stop the fight since only Kazuto could do it. Yukine is crying, saying how her brother wanted the fighting to stop.

The following morning, both gangs are in a graveyard where Yukine performs the Japanese headstone cleasing ritual at the Miyazawa family grave, where her brother is buried. Yukine tells the story of how seeing Sudou & Tajima cry at her brothers funeral made her decide to get to know more about Kazuto's way of life. She was accepted by the gang and they were a comfort to her after the loss of her brother. Since they didn't want Sasaki's gang to take advantage of the situation, Kazuto's death was kept a secret. Both gangs then pay their respects to Kazuto as Tomoya sees an orb of light fly away.

Later at school, Yukine thanks Tomoya, Nagisa, and Youhei for their help. She then tells the story of the orbs of light that appear at happy events in the city and that if one can grab one, they can gain a wish. Yukine doesn't know if what Tomoya saw was one of those lights and Nagisa recognizes Yukine's orb story as being similar to the one in the Sanae-san arc. Regardless, Yukine is thankful for all her friends.

Thoughts/Review: The ties between the world and the Illusionary World are touched on again with the orb of light which Tomoya saw (and no one else did apparently) and Yukine's story, which ties in with Sanae-san's story arc (the cat having the orb of light to grant a wish). How all this relates to Tomoyo remains to be seen. Mystery Girl and Garbage Doll didn't make an appearance this week, so it is hard to say more.

As to the conclusion of Yukine's story, just before the midway point of this episode, I began to wonder of Yunike's brother were already dead. I'm not sure why, but her reluctance to speak much about her brother seemed to be the spark that started it. So when everyone appeared at his grave at the end of the episode, I wasn't surprised at all.

Yukine was originally supposed to be one of the main girls in the Clannad visual novel, but if this was the story they had, I can see why they didn't go with it. Yeah, its sad that her brother died, but the story of two waring gangs didn't have much impact on me. Had there been more evidence of this gang war all along (going back to Clannad), maybe it would have moved me more. As it is, the story wasn't bad, just failed to make any connections to me on an emotional level.

I'm not sure what's coming next episode beyond a depressed Tomoya. See you then.

Happy Thanksgiving! Enjoy Some Clannad Wallpapers

To those of you in the U.S., I hope you have a good Thanksgiving. I have many things I am thankful for in spite of having lost my job in time for the holiday season. However, I know that things could be much, much worse.

That said, I do thank you guys for supporting this blog and the Tenchi Muyo! FAQ over the years, both with Amazon purchases and ad revenue. I really do appreciate it all, more so now. ^_^

Anyway, I was looking through my various collections of anime images I've picked up over the years and I found a stash of Clannad wallpapers that I picked up from some Japanese site sometime who knows when. Maybe you've seen these and maybe you haven't but regardless, I thought I'd share with you all as a way of saying "thanks." I think most of them are 1600x. ^_^











The one with Fuuko-chan and Nagisa gets me every time I look at it. ^_^;;;

The Null Set blog has a few more nice wallpapers of Nagisa for those interested.

Negima! Manga Vol 26 (Ch 234) *SPOILERS*

魔法先生 ネギま！Volume 26 Chapter 234 (manga)
Mahou Sensei Negima! Manga Chapter 234

Summary/Synopsis: A captive Asuna is told by Homura how Shiori managed to imitate her, thanks to the perfected bookmark artifact of Shiori's -- Signum Bioregens. So Shiori-Asuna heads off to rejoin Negi's group, even having Asuna's personality and appearance while the real Asuna is being held captive in the same place as Anya, guarded by Homura. Asuna questions why Homura keeps addressing her as "himesama" (princess). Homura is surprised that Asuna really doesn't know who she truly is, considering her importance in the Magic World.

Anya insults and threatens Homura, who does not take kindly to this, threatening to kill the girl since her instructions do not say she must keep her alive as they do for Asuna. Fate arrives with Brigitte, Koyomi, Tamaki, & Tsukuyomi, telling Homura that Anya is from Earth and not to be harmed since they don't want unnessisary casualties, lest they lose the mantle of justice. Homura apologises and Fate receives the reports of the failures of Brigitte, Koyomi, & Tamaki as well as the success of Tsukuyomi. Despite the failures, Fate praises all the girls for their work and gives them the rest of the day off.

Asuna goes off on Fate for doing what he's doing (including looking down on others) and not even trying to honestly discuss the matter with others such as Negi. Fate decides that the quickest way to have Asuna understand is to have her remember her own role in this situation. He begins using cancelation magic to force Asuna to remember her past, only to discover that the medication she took is still in effect. Fate is not concerned since she'll remember soon enough. Inside her mind, Asuna meets her younger self, the younger version wondering who the older Asuna is.

On Paru's ship, Kaede and Negi are in a magic circle getting ready to perform a pactio. After some small talk, Kaede kisses Negi and scores her artifact card. With this done, Kaede acknowledges that she is now Negi's retainer, thus he is her master. Several of the other girls come busting through the door, wondering how Kaede's kiss experience was. All the girls have a serious discussion of the matter of their first kiss with Negi before Kaede tries out her artifact. It appears to be nothing more than a tattered cloak, but when she wraps herself in it, the cloak sinks to the ground with nothing in it before disappearing.

The others are amazed at what they see, but then wonder why Kaede would get an artifact to make herself disappear when her shinobi skills are already such that she can make herself invisible now. Kaede reappears from the floor under the cloak and reveals that her artifact somehow has a house in it with a kitchen and everything. Everyone is amazed by this revalation with Chisame and Kotaro realizing how useful this artifact could be.

Paru decides that Ku Fei needs to get an artifact next. She hesitates, stating she wants to rely on her own power. Paru will hear nothing of this, reminding Ku of the movie Raken showed them. Ku says she'll do it and it is only then that Paru realizes that Ku has feelings for Negi. Ku tries to deny it but Paru and the others are onto her and the chase is on.

Thoughts/Review: Another good chapter as I see it. It is nice seeing what happened to Anya, though I would like to see exactly when she got caught (likely shortly after the dispersion spell Fate cast). Having Asuna's memories unblocked has me very interested seeing as how we should get to witness more events from the past from Asuna's point-of-view. The interesting bit is Raken's foresight in giving Asuna a pill to help block Fate's cancelation spell. Actually, I know it was to keep Asuna from remembering things naturally, which is what she was doing at the time. However, how did he know this would happen?

I think the pill will give Asuna proper time to assimilate the data of having been a princess in the magic world. She'll remember her memory-dreams and the like and combined with her training, I think that she'll be able to accept all this and in the end, will surprise Fate and his group. Had the pill not been there, Asuna would have likely been overwhelmed with her memories and been a tool Fate could more easily use.

It is about time Kaede scored a pactio. Seriously, she's been involved with Negi since volume 3. I think the original plan may have been for her artifact to have been that large shuriken, but then she's been using it since volume 3. Fortunately, Akamatsu-sensei simply re-designs the pactio card and now we get her artifact -- the tattered cloak. Basically, she has an invisible, portable base for the group to use, assuming she can get everyone inside. That is indeed, useful since they can heal up, get some sleep, and eat in relative safety (assuming the artifact is undetectible once it becomes invisible).

Well, we are heading into the darth month -- only two chapters coming out in December from what I understand.

Maison Ikkoku 2007 Special (Live Action)

めぞん一刻 2007 Live Action Dorama

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis: It is 2007 and GODAI Yusaku takes his daughter Haruka to a park. While there, he tells her a story of how he met her mother and how different he was back then. Back in 1983, Yusaku is a rounin trying to get into college and living in a single-room apartment. Also in this apartment building is the middle-aged, mysterious Yotsuya-san, the slutty-acting Akemi, the mother who loves to get drunk (Ichinose-san), and her son Kentaro. The adults find excuses to come by Yusaku's room to drink and and party. Yusaku decides he's had enough is says he's going to leave.

At this time, OTONASHI Kouko arrives to take over the job of manager (kanrinin) of Maison Ikkoku. Yusaku immediately falls in love with Kyouko and decides to stay. Kyouko, upon learning about her tenants, decides to help Yusaku to get into college by passing his entrance exams. As he works on this over time, Yusaku learns that Kyouko is the daughter-in-law of the apartment's owner and that her husband has been dead a year (after he visits the grave with them). He also learns that Kyouko has no plans to fall in love again, so he makes her promise to give love a chance again (even if not with him) should he pass his entrance exams. Despite al the obstacles in his path, Yusaku passes his entrance exams, only to discover that Kyouko has someone else interested in her.

Thoughts/Review: I remember renting a DVD for Maison Ikkoku after Viz started releasing them, having liked Takahashi-sensei's other anime adaptation stuff I'd seen (Inuyasha and Ranma 1/2). Since there weren't many DVD's released at that time, I took a big risk and bought all the manga. I was a bit annoyed by the then flipped release of the manga, discovering that the translation for the subtitles weren't good (changing "entrance exam" to "midterms" for some stupid reason as an example), and by learning that Viz removed a few chapters. Despite that, the story as a whole was one I found most excellent while being extremely frustrating.

When I learned that there would be a live-action TV special for Maison Ikkoku to be released in 2007, I was pretty excited. I then learned that the show didn't do so well ratings-wise (apparently) so no TV series would be forthcoming. Despite this, I picked up the title but never got around to watching it until today. So how did it do? OK for the most part but there are some problems.

Lets start with the sets. Outstanding! I actually got a chill when I saw the shot of the road that goes up the hill toward Maison Ikkoku. Then, seeing the exterior of Maison Ikkoku, I went, "Oh yeah!" After that, as the camera gave us a tour of the inside of the apartment, I nearly squealed in delight. So many little details were there. It truly was the manga/anime come to life. Even the hole in the wall of Yusaku's room is there. Everything is pretty much as I remember it (since I sold my anime and manga way back when to pay medical bills, I can't recall if there are little things missing or not, but from what I remember, it is pretty good). That is a big plus.

Next are the characters. Kyouko-san is played by ANZAI Tomoko, who is cute enough to be in the role. However, I never once believed that she ever thought about Yusaku in a romantic way. Oh, she tried to pull it off, but I never believed it like I did in the manga or anime. I think of the scene where Yusaku carries Kyouko-san up to his room to apparently sleep with her. In the manga and anime, I believed that she would willing allow Yusaku to take her. In the live-action version, I didn't get that feeling, only a somewhat uncomfortable feeling of a rape that nearly happened.

Also, in anime or manga, it is cute when the girl holds her arms up in front of her chest to wish someone good luck. However, seeing this done in a live-action piece, it looked stupid, so Kyouko-san looked stupid. Sad, really but Tomoko-san I think did try her best.

Yusaku is played by NAKABAYASHI Taiki and he does a good job in the role. I believed he became Yusaku. His reactions to Kouko-san -- believable. His annoyance with the other apartment residence -- believable. His actions around his friend Sakamoto -- believable. He addresses Kyouko as "Kanrinin-san" most of the time with the occasional shift to "Kyouko-san" when he felt closer and of course in his fantasies, calling her "Kyouko." All this is in line with the manga and anime and is a plus. So I had no trouble accepting him as a character come to life.

Both Ichinose-san (KISHIMOTO Kayoko) and Akemi (TAKAHASHI Yumiko) are played believable to their anime counterparts. I would have imagined Ichinose-san looking just a little older (and heavier) and Akemi should have had red hair. Kayoko-san certain got down the Japanese fan stuff that Ichinose-san did when getting drunk (big plus) and I never saw Akemi working at Chachamaru's bar (a small negative).

Yotsuya-san is played by KISHIBE Ittoku. While clearly Ittoku-san is a good actor, I still think that he's too old to be the part of Yotsuya-san. In the manga/anime, he comes off as looking 30-ish to me, not mid-50's. Still, because Ittoku-san is such a good actor, he is able to overcome this enough to obtain a pass.

Story-wise, the special starts off as the manga/anime through Kyouko-san's arrival. At that point, the writers adjust things to work within the 2-hour confines of the special. As such, Mitaka doesn't show up until the very end (as a tease to what was thought to be start of the TV series) and Kozue (the girl who's in love with Yusaku) doesn't show up at all (unless it is a cameo somewhere that I didn't notice). An actress was cast for the role since the plan was to have a TV series and we'll see if she shows up in the 2008 special or not. Yusaku's grandmother does show up at the end of the special. SUGAI Kin pulls off the little old Japanese lady roll quite well. ^_^

A lot of material is covered in two hours and the production staff make sure to hit the highlights. Unfortunately, while they do hit the highlights (and some are a delight to see or a hoot to see), often any emotional impact is lost. For example, there's no real buildup to the element of Yusaku discovering that Kyouko had been married and her husband is now dead, so there's no emotion in the scene. It just happens. The other residence just start confronting Kyouko about Yusaku but with no real buildup, it doesn't mean much. The moment with Kyouko and Yusaku spending New Years Eve together doesn't have any kind of romantic feel to it and that is a shame. Also, the first instance of Yusaku running away meant nothing.

Another problem with the special is that it dragged at times. I felt bored, not because I knew the story (I cite the live-action Honey and Clover as an example a series where I'd watched the anime and already knew the story, yet wasn't bored), but because the pacing isn't good. In the anime, I know things go slow as they do in the manga. However, this slow pace wasn't boring to me because I saw how things were being laid for Kyouko and Yusaku's eventually becoming a couple. Here, the slow pace doesn't work on setup and just made me think at times that I'd rather watch something else.

Having now watched this special, I can see why a TV series never came about. I do give the production team kudo's for trying to make a faithful adaptation for the otaku fans while at the same time providing inoffensive changes to story to work within the confines of a 2-hour special. The casting is mostly fine with a few problems with the chemistry between Yusaku and Kyouko. The sets are fantastic with great attention to detail. The changes in the story are non-offensive as they work for the 2-hour time restriction but the pacing of things is terrible. However, if you are a Maison Ikkoku fan, I would say to go ahead and watch this yourself. There are more than enough good things in this to justify spending a couple of hours to watch this.

Space Battleship Yamato 2 11

Uchuu Senkan Yamato 2 Episode 11
宇宙戦艦ヤマト2 Ep. 11 (TV, Anime)

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis: The crew of Yamato are amazed to discover Desler is still alive but press ahead just the same. Desler sees Yamato is moving toward them slower than expected, so he decides to give some homesick humans a taste of home. As such, Yamato is surrounded with what look like fireflies and many crew members done spacesuits and head outside to capture these, placing them in special, sealed containers. Analyzer gets in on the act, even giving a container to Yuki, which Sanada takes in order to investigate the mysterious lights.

After Yamato receives another message from Teresa (which sounds automated), Sanada discovers that the lights are actually a bacteria of some kind, which becomes apparent when they stop lighting. Susumu is annoyed that these things are all over inside the ship after he expressly ordered they not be brought in. When he orders them removed, Saito refuses the order, uninterested in giving up his pretty firefly-like lights (as do others). When the lights go out, Saito gets mad and he and Susumu start fighting. The fight is stopped when gravity control is lost.

Susumu manages to make it to the bridge where he's informed that the bacteria brought on board eats through metal. An open container of bacteria caused the gravity controls to be lost. Sanada works to restore gravity control as Desler orders a single assault carrier to attack Yamato. It launches its "dive bombers" which attack with gusto, leading Susumu to order the main guns return fire rather than the anti-aircraft weapons. Desler makes visual contact with Yamato to let them know it is he that ordered the attack as Yamato takes a pounding. Sanada gets the gravity restored, but it is too much.

Thoughts/Review: Today, we have an exercise in complete and total stupidity, to say nothing about a breakdown in the chain of command and Susumu's complete failure as a captain.

Clearly, no one respects Acting Captain Susumu Kodai because they ignore his orders when they feel like it (save for the bridge crew). It was bad enough when that oaf Saito ignored the orders, but to have the regular crew do so as well is just stunning. I doubt the series does this, but in real life, if Susumu isn't advised to pass out punishments AND doesn't punish idiot crew members (including Saito), then he deserves to suffer the consequences of his inaction.

Next on the agenda is Susumu's orders after coming under attack. (Of course, we are ignoring the fact that he should have placed Yamato under alert the moment Yuki spotted the Gamilus fleet on the time radar so that when they came under attack, they immediately were ready.) If you are under attack from "dive bombers," why would you order your main guns to fire rather than your anti-aircraft pulse lasers, which you've been using quite well until this episode?

Finally, we have an analyzing robot named "Analyzer." Pardon me while I laugh. He grabs a bunch of these "fireflies" and can't even analyze that they are potentially harmful? He used to be good at that kind of thing in the first series. This series, he's been pretty worthless.

We won't go into Desler stupidity because he's a villain and they are supposed to do stupid things like toy with their prey for revenge and enjoyment, but then die anyway. Not that Desler can die since clearly he can be brought back to life thanks to Comet Empire technology and the desire for revenge.

Speaking of Desler, at least now we know how he survived, having been found and saved by the Comet Empire. The question is why a Comet Empire small craft happened to be near Earth in order to not only find Desler's body in space, but also to bring him back to their HQ and then bring him back to life.

No new jobs for Yuki this time, though she should be given a stupidity detector and whack people on the head with a harisen who flag as stupid.

So basically, this is an episode filled with complete and total stupidity just so Yamato can take a beating in an attack.

Urusei Yatsura 91

うる星やつら episode 91 (TV anime)

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis: Ataru is busted being handed papers during a mini-quiz and Onsen-sensei discovers the papers are votes where the guys in the class are voting for their favorite girl. The principle of Tomobiki High states that since there are no ugly girls at the high school, they should have a beauty contest and thus the Miss Tomobiki competition is born with a ¥150,000 prize. Lum, Ran, Sakura-sensei, Ryuunosuke, and Shinobu are in the competition as well as twins Eiko and Keiko. Each girl has massive supporters with tactics being used to try to win over supporters from each side or to form alliances. In the end, Lum, Ran, Sakura-sensei, Ryuunosuke, and Shinobu are in the final round.

The #1 girls of various other local high schools get into the act by allying themselves with the different finalist. Since Ataru has been named chief judge of the contest, the different factions begin offering Ataru bribes of various kinds. The girls from the other high schools even offer themselves for dating Ataru as part of the bribes. The Sakura-sensei faction tries to blackmail Ataru over this, but he has goods on them as well. So on the day of the contest, Ataru is no where to be found, having skipped town and heading for Okinawa with all the money to spend time with the hot, Okinawa babes.

Thoughts/Review: This episode is a strange and wild roller coaster of a ride. At first, I didn't think I'd care for the episode at all because honestly, I could care less about who wins a beauty contest. However, once I began to see that the point of the episode wasn't the contest but what people would do to get their girl to win by sabotaging each other AND bribing Ataru, that's where it became fun to me, like riding a wild roller coaster.

Soon, it became clear to me that the episode was near its end and there was no resolution in sight. So basically, this episode appears to be a filler episode because it doesn't appear that next week there will be any repercussions from Ataru's actions. Indeed, I figure that the next episode will be as if nothing happened in episode 90. That's fine because I understand this happens in the series at times and providing the episode was fun (and it was), it is all good.

Even More Negima! Chapter 234 SPOILER Images

Even More Negima! 234 SPOILER Images!
魔法先生 ネギま！Chapter 234 (Images)

Here is the third batch of spoiler images from Mahou Sensei Negima! chapter 234. (click pics to make bigger, y'all). The Japanese posted almost everything this time. Some of these are repeats but some are new (I just grab the entire thing).

First batch of images here. Second batch of images here.

Looks like Kaede's artifact is a cloak of some kind. Considering her shinobi abilities, maybe it makes her completely invisible or otherwise undetectable.

More Negima! Chapter 234 SPOILER Images

More Negima! 234 SPOILER Images!
魔法先生 ネギま！Chapter 234 (Images)

Here is the next batch of spoiler images from Mahou Sensei Negima! chapter 234. (click pics to make bigger, y'all). The first two are repeats, though slightly larger (and thus text easier to read) while the THIRD image is the fun one. ^_^

Young Asuna is saying to teen Asuna, "Who are you?" ^_^

For those who missed it, the first batch of images can be found here. The third batch can be found here.

Negima! Chapter 234 SPOILER Images

Negima! 234 SPOILER Images
魔法先生 ネギま！Chapter 234 (Images)

Here's what many of you have been waiting for -- the original-sized, sneak-peek images for Mahou Sensei Negima! 234 as posted on a short-lived Japanese page (click pic to make bigger, y'all).

Most likely, there will be a 2nd batch of images later and I'll be sure to upload them as soon as I see them show up (which came sooner than I expected, so here they are ^_^; ).

So what do you think? About time Kaede and Negi pactio. Looks like her card is slightly modified though. I'm guessing Ku will get one too. She may as well. I wonder what folks will say about Asuna being kissed by another girl. ^_^; Fate and his harem are all here. I guess we may be moving to anther showdown.

NEXT SET OF IMAGES!

THIRD SET OF IMAGES!

Space Battleship Yamato 2 10

Uchuu Senkan Yamato 2 Episode 10
宇宙戦艦ヤマト2 Ep. 10 (TV, Anime)

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis: Admiral Goland, who's real job has been to watch former Gamilus ruler Desler, is weary of things and to relieve some stress, he heads to a dinosaur planet. There, he lands a shuttle and when some dinosaur creatures attack, he kills them all and then some. After his hunt, Goland decides on the ultimate stress reliever -- he orders several ships in his missile fleet to fire their large, long-range missiles at the planet. This destroys the planet and with that, Goland decides it is time to remove Yamato as a threat.

On Yamato, they receive another broken message from Teresa, which brings Daisuke running. Daisuke attempts to get the exact location of Planet Teresart but the jamming prevents it. This jamming is reported to Desler, who orders his people to counter the Comet Empire jamming from Admiral Goland. That order does not sit well with Mil, a liason to Desler's fleet from the Comet Empire. Desler tells Mil to report him to the Emperor though his plan to destroy Yamato won't be so easily thwarted.

Back on Yamato, Desler's clearing of the jamming results in their restored communications with Teresa. Daisuke gets carried away and starts talking to Teresa about how he thinks she must be hot and the like, which annoys some Aihara for wasting communication time. They do manage to learn that a large enemy fleet is waiting for them though. It is then that Yamato enters a debris field, where Yamato begins losing power. Sanada determines the debris is the cause of the power loss.

As the power continues to drain, Yamato detects Goland's fleet, which attacks from a long range. Sanada suggests they use the asteroid defence, so Yamato's guns fire the special shells that causes asteroids to form a shield. This results in a good defense to the incoming missiles, but the power loss to Yamato now increases. Sanada states that they need to release the asteroid ring, which is done as Yamato leaves the debris field. Their exit is seen by Goland's fleet, who prepare to attack.

Seeing the enemy fleet, Susumu orders the Wave Motion Gun to be brought online to fire but is reminded by Daisuke of their power loss. Sanada reminds the acting captain that if he's made an order, he sould be resolute in it. Susumu afirms his order and to the Daisuke's surprise, Yamato's energy levels begin to rise. They soon have full power as Goland's fleet launches an assult. The Wave Motion Gun fires, taking out not only all inbound missiles, but Goland's entire fleet as well. This is observed by Desler, who sends Yamato a text message to inform them he's waiting for them.

Thoughts/Review: Well, this episode shows that at least Sanada learned something from the first series' trip to Iscandar. However, the wacky explaination of the asteroid shield being able to generate energy for Yamato as it is being drained came off as unbelievable. Granted, the whole asteroid shield is pretty unbelievable in and of itself. Maybe that's where Japanese video game makers got the idea of similar type defenses in their video games of the late 80's and 90's.

Yuki is now a technical briefer, for those keeping score of all the jobs she does on ship.


Saito had only a few cameos -- looking dumbstruck as the asteroid shield was activated, looking dumbstruck as the Wave Motion Gun took out Goland's fleet, and then trying to flirt with Yuki as she gave her briefing. For the latter, I'm thinking, "Why aren't you and Susumu getting cozy, Yuki?"

Speaking of romance, I KNEW Daisuke was a little too eager to speak with Teresa. Sure enough, he's blabbing on like some teenager when Teresa calls rather than get all the important information.

I guess next episode marks the confrontation between Desler and the remaining Gamilus forces vs. Yamato.

Keroro Gunsou 81

ケロロ軍曹 Episode 81
Sgt. Frog anime, 81
Keroro Gunsou episode 81

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis: The platoon decides to give Giroro the ultimate warrior body and when he wakes up, he's smaller and grafted onto Natsumi's right hand. Natsumi is ticked by this as well, especially since this is her P.E. class softball game against her rival IMOGO Rie. Since it is going to be at least half a day before Kururu can figure out how to undo things, Natsumi has to go to school, having wrapped Giroro in a bandage. The other girls worry about Natsumi, but she promises she'll be OK for the game.

Koyuki suspects something is up and learns the truth from Natsumi. She provides a wrist band for Natsumi so that Natsumi can pretend to be wearing an accessory on her hand. It works and though difficult, Natsumi is able to pitch with Giroro using his mouth to grip the ball. For batting, Giroro grips it as well with his mouth. The game progresses until the final inning with Giroro nearly exhausted. As such, a pitch from Natsumi causes a batter to get on base. Rie steps up to bat to destroy her rival and though she hits the ball, Natsumi is able to catch it thanks to Giroro. Rie now has respect for Natsumi.

That night, Koyuki is wondering the city when she comes under attack by a mysterious, invisible ninja. She reports this to Dororo, showing him the blades used against her. He says they come from the Special Moonlight Squad, specifically the Mobile Illusion Tribe, a space shinobi group that are allies with Keron. As such, Koyuki thinks they must be good people but Dororo isn't sure. The next day, Koyuki and Natsumi walk to school (Natsumi having been returned to normal) when Koyuki senses a presence but sees nothing.

That night, Koyuki is again wandering the city when she's attacked again. This time, the shinobi reveals herself and her name is Sylbie. Sylbie doesn't answer why she's attacking, she just attacks. Koyuki avoids all her attacks and flees, leading Sylbie to wonder if all humans do this. Koyuki perfomrs some counter attacks, but to no avail. Koyuki again flees and finds herself at Natsumi's house. Realizing she has something to fight for, Koyuki leads Sylbie to the Nishizawa Tower. There, Koyuki gets the drop on Sylbie and uses a freezing technique that will kill them both until Dororo rescues them. Turns out Sylbie was scouting Koyuki to join her squad but sees Koyuki's friendship with Natsumi won't allow her to leave. However, Sylbie leaves with a new friend on Earth.

Thoughts/Review: The first story clearly was in part, a parody-tribute to the manga (and subsequent anime) Midori no Hibi (Midori's Days as the official English translation goes). In that story, a shy girl named Midori is in love with a punk named Seiji (who protects the weak) but is unable to express her feelings for him. Seiji wants a girlfriend very badly, but most girls are afraid of him. Midori makes a wish to be with him and it is granted as she becomes Seiji's right hand. Since I enjoyed the anime and manga of that series, this parody tribute is a nice touch.

I'm guessing that with this "Rei" rival for Natsumi suddenly appearing combined with the sports anime parody, some anime/manga series is being referenced (and parodied) but I've no clue what that would be.

In the second story, I was delighted to hear ORIKASA Ai doing the voice of the space ninja Sylbi. Ai-san does the voice of Ryoko in my favorite anime, Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-ohki.

As to the story itself, it wasn't too bad since I like Koyuki-chan. So giving her a solo story is pretty nice.

In the end, a pretty good episode here on the enjoyability scale.

Clannad After Story 07

クラナド アフターストーリー Episode 07

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis: In the Illusion World, Garbage Doll observes the gathering clouds, falling temperatures, and the fact that Mystery Girl sleeps more and more as winter approaches. She wakes up, happy the "bot" stayed with her. As he can't speak, he make a motion to let her know he wishes to go out. Since it is getting colder and their leaving the house would likely mean never finding it again, the girl is reluctant. However, she seems to understand that where the Garbage Doll wants to go is a better, warmer place.

In the real world, Youhei, Tomoya, and Nagisa are visiting Yukine in the resource room where she's making fried rice thanks to a cooker that has been deposited there. A gang member named Sudou comes in through the window to be hidden by "Yuki-nee" and have his wounds treated. It is here that the trio learn of Yukine's kindness in helping both sides of a gang war and that her brother is the leader of one of the gangs. Soon, a member of the other game enters to challenge Sudou, so rather than disturb Yukine, both guys leave in order to fight.

As the trio walk home with Yukine, she's grabbed by a young boy and threatened because his "oneesan" has left home and is dating one of the members of Yukine's older brother's gang. While Yukine is able to handle the situation without assistance, Youhei decides to become the "invisible leader," Kazuto. Yukine does not object to Youhei pretending to be her older brother and Youhei actually has good advice for the kid. The kid ("Yu-kun") even comes to the high school the following day to be with "Kazuto-san" in order to learn what being a man is about.

Yukine has learned about Yu-kun's sister, and the 21-year old woman does want to see her little brother. So after school, Yukine leads the group to her brother's gang hideout, which is a bar he runs. Kazuto is in the hospital after having saved someone from an accident, so the gang takes care of things in the bar and Yukine does some cooking. Youhei is forced to confess he isn't Kazuto and survives because he's friends with Yukine. Meanwhile, Yu-kun and his sister reunite. The evening is then spent in fun and revelry.

After Tomoya, Nagisa, and Youhei leave, they are soon stopped by three members of the rival gang after they overheard Youhei refer to himself (and be addressed as) Kazuto. The trio run into a tunnel and are followed. A series of heard attacks later, the rival gang members manage to make it out before going unconscious. Turns out Tomoyo is on patrol, having heard about fights in the area. She wonders why the trio would be involved with a gang, which they tell her is a long story.

Thoughts/Review: Looks like things are finally going to progress a bit in Illusion World with Garbage Doll and Mystery Girl apparently about to take off. That whole thing is just so weird.

Yukine's story thus far isn't as good as the other girls' stories have been, but it is still fine for what it is. I wonder why it is that the kindhearted, super-sweet, quiet girls like her are shown to be tied with gangs or Yakuza? There are a couple of other anime titles I've seen where this is the case and it is just an item of interest.

While I'm thinking of things that I've seen in other anime titles, this is also not the first time where a female character who's name ends with "ne" has that dropped in favor of the "nee" honorific for "older sister" (thus "Yukine" becomes "Yuki-nee"). Sadly, that bit has always been dropped from official subtitles where I've seen it come up.

I figured Youhei's pretending to be Yukine's brother Kazuto would get them into trouble with the rival gang. I didn't expect Tomoyo to suddenly arrive to kick some butt though, so that was a humorous moment.

Next episode seems to be the resolution. I guess the two gangs make nice somehow or take each other out and cause Yukine pain and sorrow.

First "Isekai no Seikishi Monogatari" Trailer Up

For those interested, the first preview trailer of Isekai no Seikishi Monogatari is up on the official site. Just some of Kajishima-sensei's concept art and what appears to be background images.

http://www.seikishi.com/special/trailer1/index.html

The character pages are also up on the site.

I may have a ton of free time starting next week, but even if I don't, I'll start working on the new ISM section for the Tenchi Muyo! FAQ.

Thanks to everyone who sent me a message about this. ^_^

Negima! Manga Vol 26 (Ch 233) *SPOILERS*

魔法先生 ネギま！Volume 26 Chapter 233 (manga)
Mahou Sensei Negima! Manga Chapter 233

Summary/Synopsis: With the big boss having arrived and having put down all of Ala Rubra in short order, things look bad. Nagi tells Al to heal him up for at least 30-minutes and he's joined by Mystery Kid, now known as "Zect," whom Nagi refers to as "Oshishou" -- "Master." Rakan feels the terrible danger and tries to warn Nagi, who simply reminds Rakan that he's the Thousand Master. The two take off while Al tends to the wounded. Somehow, Nagi defeats the unbeatable, ancient enemy.

After defeating the boss, Nagi sends a telepathic message to Al, telling him that the cerimony using the young princess (Asuna likely) has already started. The ceremony starts a spell which will destroy their world and seems impossible to stop. Princess Arika chastises Al for negative thinking and with the Hellas Princess leading one side and Ricardo leading the other side, the combined forces are able to put their magical abilities together to contain the energy sphere that would have destroyed them all. Ala Rubra are heroes with Rakan, Eishun, and Nagi receiving medals (and Nagi also gets a slap from Arika for showing disrespect).

The magical movie over, everyone is all excited and Setsuna is impressed by Eishun's abilities that were shown. Paru begins wondering about Arika and Nagi being a couple which leads Rakan to say it is a secret. While he does confirm that Arika and Nagi weren't a couple during the war, he implies they weren't a couple (at least officially) after the war either due to their different social statuses.

Negi is crying about the story leading Shiori-Asuna to wonder why. He answers that Nagi was truly a Magister Magi. Chisame questions Rakan's "Happy End" to the story considering all the problems still going on.

• 20 Years Ago: War Ends
• 20-10 Year Period: Nagi the hero wanders the world as a Magister Magi
• 15 Years Ago: Eva enters Mahora Academy
• 10 Years Ago: Nagi goes missing
• Between 10 and 6 Years Ago:] Negi born
• 6 Years Ago: Negi's village is attacked
• Present: Negi come to Mahora Academy
  

Rakan confirms that the biggest problem after the war was "them."

Elsewhere in the ruins of Ostia, Anya is being held prisoner and needs to go to the bathroom. Fate's "fire girl" denies her request leading the real Asuna to ask to have her let go. "Fire girl" (Homura I think her name is) tells Asuna that she should worry about herself. Asuna feels that Negi and Setsuna will soon rescue her, but "fire girl" says that they will come only if they know Asuna is missing.

Thoughts/Review: Somehow, I wonder if the final boss is actually dead or just put out of commission for a while. I somehow see Fate 3.0 as working for someone and Akamatsu-sensei may be following the path that has the big boss who was believed defeated not be quite dead yet. We'll see what happens though.

Regardless, it is clear that Arika was not the final boss so there's a theory shot down. People still want to think Zect is somehow tied to Fate, but I don't buy that at all. It is interesting that Nagi referred to him as Master though. What's more interesting is that Zect went into the fight with Nagi and is no where to be seen when Nagi wins, nor did I see him refered to anywhere else afterward. That strongly suggests to me that Zect was killed or somehow did something to sacrifice himself to allow Nagi to win the fight.

Also, did Arika and Nagi have a relationship? Well, Akamatsu-sensei is leaving that option open so that people will continue on and on about how she has to be Negi's mother. Well, that may end up being the case or it may not. For now, I still hold my theory on Nagi turning himself into Negi until I see something that counters this. However, I won't be publishing an article on why I think that's so.

We now have it confirmed that Asuna is held captive and is held with Anya. I imagine Anya was held as a shield against Negi somehow and now Asuna can be used to destroy the world again. I keep wondering why Fate would be so interested in something in Ostia, which is why I think the big boss is somehow still there.

Dirty Pair 10

ダーティペア Episode 10

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis: On Planet Caspia, King Louis VII has a heart attack. As such, Lovey Angels are dispatched to the planet to receive instructions from the government there. The king has died and it is being kept secret so that Prince Heace can be safely brought back from Planet Mordolin, where he is attending University. The reason for this is that a member of the royal family, Ruber, will become king if Heace also dies. Yuri and Kei take off for Mordolin in the hopes of getting in and out before Ruber discovers the truth, but they are already too late as a bribe to a nurse on Caspia has told him the truth.

At the university, Yuri and Kei are trying to sneak in through the outside of the dorm when an explosion happens in a room above them. It is the prince's room and when they scramble inside, responding security bots attack them, causing them to eventually fall to the ground. Thinking the prince is dead, Kei and Yuri crawl away, only to run into the prince and two friends, who'd been out having a good time in secret at a disco. The 12-year old, genius Heace recognizes "Dirty Pair" (being addressed as such doesn't please them) and agrees to go with them.

Taking the prince away in an air car, the trio soon come under attack from some of Ruber's men. While Kei's skillful driving causes their opponent to crash and be destroyed, their own car took too much damage and has to crash land. Kei has lost her earring and thus cannot call Lovely Angel and since Yuri's earring is in the shop, they are stuck. Prince Heace takes off for the spaceport and since there is nothing else they can do, so do Yuri and Kei.

After walking all day, they find a cave to spend the night in, where Heace shows himself to be a gentleman. Yuri activates a piece of jewelry which turns into a super large sleeping pad w/ blanket. As they sleep, an intruder is stopped but revealed to be part of a caravan heading for the space port. They give the trio a place to sleep in one of the camper-things, but Kei is a bit suspicious. Yuri thinks that if these people were working for Ruber, they'd be dead already. Kei concedes and watches her mini TV, where a newscast reveals that they are being accused of impersonating 3WA agents and have kidnapped the prince for a large ransom.

It is then that a girl named Lita informs them that the others are going to turn them in for a reward. Since she's tired of being stuck with this group, she wants in on the ransom. Heace looks suspiciously at Yuri and Kei, but the pair can't really say the truth and still get out of there. Lita has two two-legged riding beasts and they are off. The members of the caravan discover they are missing and follow as do some of Ruber's men. Yuri takes down a couple of Ruber's sky cars and the caravan people take down the last as they want the reward. The cops also arrive to the relief of Yuri and Kei but the cops arrest Yuri and Kei as impostors. In their cell, they plead with Heace to get them out, which he promises to do after he goes out with Lita.

Thoughts/Review: It is nice to get back to the Dirty Pair TV series after such an extended time away (darn my limitations on being able to view it).

Like much of Dirty Pair, the plot is simply a vehicle for the action. "The prince is being targeted by a relative looking to become king. Now go!"

Of course they go and the plot is pretty much forgotten in the quest to get the prince to safety. The writers appeared to decide to have some fun with this one by first removing Yuri and Kei's access to their ship. That makes Yuri and Kei look dumb, but it didn't matter. Then having Yuri and Kei targeted not only by Ruber's men, but law enforcement and amateur bounty hunters adds to the wacky fun (to say nothing of Lita going for the ransom angle). So in the end, while things are pretty nutty in terms of a real story, the fun of things overcomes it.

Speaking of fun, as I watched this episode, I noticed something odd during the air-car chase scene. I went back and framed through and found a single frame with this on it.


*lol* Nice one. ^_^

The only troubling moment is when the cute little girl is handing her flowers to the king who then has a heart attack. I thought, "Man, if this were real life, how much would that affect that little girl over the rest of her life?" Whew.

In the end, a silly story, but fun and plenty of action with our girls overcomes that weakness.

xxxHOLiC Manga Chapter 169

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis: Watanuki thinks he hears Syaoran's voice calling to him as he sits at Doumeki's place. He decides that he'll do what he can because he wants to be here.

The next time he sees the lady he's teaching cooking, he asks her about why she finds the thought of eating her own food disgusting. She replies that it is because she's disgusting in a disgusting world that she's experienced. Watanuki counters that others are in the same world experiencing similar things as her. She replies that she doesn't know about others and doesn't want to because it would make her more disgusted. As long as she doesn't know, she doesn't feel disgusted because then it is as if those things never happened. Watanuki counters that even if she doesn't know about something doesn't mean it didn't happen. He figures that despite what she says, what she wants to do (cooking, getting married, other) is something else.

Thoughts/Review: This is a really short chapter and I've NO clue where we are going with this. Well, I can take a stab at things -- he's going to try to play Yuuko-san and the woman he's instructing in cooking will turn into a VICIOUS YOUKAI OUT TO CONSUME HIM!

^_^;

Maybe not.

Regardless, this chapter seemed to be one to get back on track after the brief diversion where CLAMP tells us, "Oh yeah -- Syaoran and Watanuki are the same person." That story is continuing in Tsubasa and we'll see how things carry over to xxxHOLiC.

So not much to say here and the next chapter doesn't come out in Japan until November 17, 2008.

Baka-Updates Forum HACKED!

Because there are losers in this world with nothing else better to do than to jack with what isn't theirs, some idiot kid has hacked and trashed the Baka-Updates forum. The site has not been touched, which is the good news.

Below are captures of the hacked forum and the message nitwit sent out to brag about what he'd done.


I know there are many people who run forums, so this is an excellent reminder to try to make sure your forum is as secure as you can make it. Of course, bozo's with nothing but free time on their hands and the mindset of, "I'm justified in whatever I do in hacking, spamming, etc." will spend all that free time looking for ways to try to cause trouble.

Hopefully, the staff of Baka-Updates have a good backup of the forum and can talk with the phpBB folks who's software "powers" the forum about finding the security hole.

Space Battleship Yamato 2 09

Uchuu Senkan Yamato 2 Episode 09
宇宙戦艦ヤマト2 Ep. 09 (TV, Anime)

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis: The Earth Defense Force Chief receives Susumu's latest communication and orders him to find out more about the enemy. Almost on cue, an enemy fighter-bomber craft is detected, so Susumu orders Kato to take out a couple of fighters to intercept. Saito punches Kato's wing man and steals his fighter to prove he can do something. Naturally, he has difficulties handling the craft and after a time (as Kato has engaged the enemy), he manages to land a hit on the enemy. Susumu orders the enemy craft be brought in, but Saito rejects the order because it is an enemy and enemies must die.

Somehow, Kato gets the craft back with one of the two crewmen still alive. Sado-sensei has determined that the enemy are not just humanoid, but appear to be human save for skin tone. Sanada and his team do tests on the enemy craft and determine it to be the same kind of enemy that has been attacking. Susumu orders that the prisoner be interrogated by Yamada, which then takes place. On the observation platform, Saito is with others and not happy that they aren't using stronger measures. Susumu puts an end to the harsh interrogation and acknowledges the enemy as a warrior, ordering his return to sick bay much to Saito's irritation.

On the bridge, Yuki reports to Susumu that Sado-sensei and the prisoner are drinking. Susumu allows this to continue in the hopes the spirits will loosen the enemy's tongue. After a heavy drinking session, Sado-sensei is out and the prisoner escapes, stealing a flight suit, helmet, and a cosmo gun. Susumu orders the ship on alert, but that the prisoner be allowed to escape. Saito won't hear of that and orders his men to find the prisoner and beat him up. The prisoner eludes the goons and uses the cosmo gun to laser the cables holding his craft, where he escapes.

Saito storms to the bridge, demanding to know why Susumu ordered the prisoner be allowed to escape. Susumu doesn't bother with an answer as he orders Yamato to follow the enemy craft. As Susumu wanted, the enemy craft takes them to an enemy fleet, lead by Commander Destar. The former prisoner reports that he has lured Yamato out and that the fleet can attack. Instead, Destar tells his former pilot that he's no longer welcome since he'd been taken prisoner. Seeing that he will not be allowed to return to his fleet, Susumu sends a message to the former prisoner, telling him that he'll have a home with them as a warrior. Instead, the man (Maser) does a kamikaze run on Yamato but rather than take out the bridge, crashes into the armored side.

Realizing that things could have been worse and that their former prisoner had been honorable, Susumu decides to avenge him by destroying the enemy fleet. Yamato is able to defend itself from all of the incoming fire from Destar's fleet while its main guns take out the ships one by one, completely annihilating Destar's fleet. This news is reported to Admiral Goland, who is not happy to hear that Yamato is causing him even more problems.

Thoughts/Review: Why do they have a peanut brain like Saito around?

Saito (in moron voice): Duh, I big and strong. I fight. I in armies. I like guns. Fighter plane got guns, therefor I can use. I in arm-mees!

Susumu: Don't you know the chain of command?

Saito: Duuuh, I lead my arm-mee. I make rule. I no listen to man with shag hair on sissy space ship. I in arm-mees! You make order that dumb. You let enemy go. Enemy must die. I in arm-mees so I know enemy must die. I in ARM-MEES!

Susumu: Whatever.

Seriously, Saito would be clamped in irons along with his men for being morons like that.

As to the episode itself, I actually got a chill when Maser made his kamikaze run. Remembering that it had only been 30-years or so since the end of World War II when this episode came out (exact number of years I haven't bothered to calculate), I thought of two things -- first, my grandfather speaking of fighting the Japanese during the war and trying to fend of kamikaze attacks. Second, the episode showed such an attack from the other side, allowing the Japanese audience to get a sense of being on the receiving end of such an attack. Throughout this, the respect to the soldier fighting and dying for his country (whether said country is right or wrong) is honored. It was a very poignant scene for me.

On the Yuki tip, on top of being an interrogation assistant, she is now the master of the art of quick-change. She enters sick bay in her yellow jump suit uniform, then one second later, she's in her nurse uniform as she joins Sado-sensei and Susumu in the sick bay.


While not surprising, I'm kind of sad no romance sub-story is being explored between Yuki and Susumu.

So we have a mixed episode with Saito being an annoying gimboid git while at the same time, exploring a soldier's life down to a suicide run.

Kagetora Manga -- Final Review

カゲトラ

I went into the Kagetora manga not really sure what to expect. Being a Del Rey title, I figured their adaptation would have a Japanese perspective (meaning use of Japanese honorifics and the like) and having a bit of room in the budget for a new manga title, I decided to give it a try. I'm glad I did.

Kagetora is not anything really new or unique, but it makes up for that by having a fun, enjoyable story with likable characters. The main character is Katetora, a ninja who's village serves the powerful Toudou family. From his youth, Kagetora has trained to become the oyakume (DEFINE) for the daughter of the family who is his age -- Yuki-hime. As a teenager, Kagetora gets the assignment, where he meets the head of the house, Saya. In addition to protecting Yuki, Kagetora is tasked with teaching Yuki martial arts as she's not very good at them. In order to succeed her mother to become the head of the house, Yuki will need these skills.

Since this manga is a romantic comedy, it is understandable that Kagetora would fall in love with Yuki and Yuki would fall in love with Kagetora. However, because Yuki is Kagetora's master, their falling in love is forbidden, more so from Kagetora's side where the shinobi code of honor means crossing that line is very bad. With that in place, Segami-sensei plays around with various love triangles. The first one is with Yuki's best friend, Akino. Akino is very much like Uo-chan from Fruits Basket in that she cares greatly for Yuki and will not allow anyone to hurt her. However, her feelings for Yuki seem almost yuri-like in how she rejects Kagetora being involved with Yuki. However, that changes over time and Akino moves aside.

Other characters are introduced to create a love-triangle, though the love-triangle never lasts long. Most stick around in a minor supporting role (only one left forever) after they step aside with their feelings for Yuki or Kagetora. I got the feeling that Segami-sensei was just experimenting, looking for that perfect love-triangle but never quite finding it. However, in doing this, Segami-sensei mostly succeeds in creating more fun characters that the reader cares about. This makes the journey through the eleven volumes enjoyable even though there's no doubt that Yuki and Kagetora will end up together in the end.

I can say that I wouldn't mind seeing an adaptation of Kagetora as an anime, but that may never happen.

Del Rey gets the manga off to a rough start. While I liked that they used the term "hime" (in addition to the normal honorifics and other titles), it seemed clear that there were two forces at work in the first volume -- one that wasn't keen on honorifics and one that was. Fortunately, the staff work through these things and by the time the manga ends, the adaptation feels pretty good.

Bottom line: Fun characters, a fun story, and a general, light-hearted tale of a modern-day ninja and the girl he's assigned to make this manga one that likely won't be on someone's top-ten list, but is one that I find I can re-read and enjoy the ride. As such, I can recommend it even if the general idea of the story is nothing new.

An Amazing, Record-Shattering Day!

Wow. Back on the 8th, I had a record day for blog hits and I thought that wouldn't be broken for quite a while. However, today was off the scale, making my record from the 8th seem small indeed! There were four hours in a row today where the hourly hit record kept being smashed by increasingly larger amounts. It has been amazing to see. Now the trick will be to keep folks coming back for more. ^_~

So my deepest thanks to the various people who linked to the blog, especially those coming from Taiwan, China, Australia, and Japan (on top of American referrals). ^_^

Negima! rules. Thanks again. ^_^ -ANB

Even More Negima! 233 SPOILER Images!

Even More Negima! 233 SPOILER Images!
魔法先生 ネギま！Chapter 233 (Images)

Here is the third batch of spoiler images from Mahou Sensei Negima! chapter 233. (click pics to make bigger, y'all). The Japanese posted almost everything this time. Some of these are repeats but some are new (I just grab the entire thing).

First batch of images here. Second batch of images here.

Negima! rules! ^_^

More Negima! Chapter 233 SPOILER Images

More Negima! 233 SPOILER Images!
魔法先生 ネギま！Chapter 233 (Images)

Here is the second batch of spoiler images from Mahou Sensei Negima! chapter 233. (click pics to make bigger, y'all). The Japanese posted quite a bit this time. One sorry so-and-so nailed me with a hardcore, full color H-image from a doujinshi of some kind, and it wasn't even Negima related. *_* Well, at least it wasn't guro (and if you don't know what that means, you don't want to know).


Looks like a Star Wars references w/ Princess Leia Akira giving out medals. ^_~

Update: One more!

The first batch is HERE for those who missed it. The third batch is here.

Negima! Chapter 233 SPOILER Images

Negima! 233 SPOILER Images
魔法先生 ネギま！Chapter 233 (Images)

Here's what many of you have been waiting for -- the original-sized, sneak-peek images for Mahou Sensei Negima! 233 as posted on a short-lived Japanese page (click pic to make bigger, y'all).

Well, the old "Asuna is a fake" theory seems to be proven correct here. Also, now we know what happened to Anya. Woot!

As always, I'll have my eyes open for a second batch of images, though there's a good chance I might not get them uploaded until much later today. So just check back for updates, y'all. ^_^

Update: Second batch can be found here! The third batch can be found here.

Urusei Yatsura 90

うる星やつら episode 90 (TV anime)

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis: After learning that Ryuunosuke is popular with the 1st-year girls, Ataru is incensed by this perverted attraction. Onsen-sensei approaches Ryuunosuke about being a girl, which sets her off since she is one. However, hearing that Onsen wants to get her into a sailor school uniform, she is game for some training. Her father, insisting that Ryuunosuke is a boy, does not object to Ryuunosuke being with Onsen for a week but when she goes to leave, he stops her, tying her up. He tries to pretend to be Ryuunosuke, but Onsen isn't buying it, returning to the school until she shows back up, angry at what her father tried to do to her.

Onsen's training is all about how to be a traditional Japanese girl, including the forms of speach to use and not use as well as not using violence. Ataru hears the tape Onsen made and decides that his experience with a wide range of girls makes him the perfect teacher. Mendou objects which leads to an argument. Shinobu feels she can best teach Ryuunosuke how to be a woman as does Lum, which leads to the two of them fighting over the matter. Ataru and Mendou both pretend to be women and their manner of speech and actions impress Ryuunosuke a lot until Onsen-sensei starts class.

Onsen takes Ryuunosuke to see Ran, who's manner of speach is very girlie. That does not succeed. Next, Onsen takes Ryuunosuke to see Sakura-sensei, which also isn't helpful. Meanwhile, Ryuunosuke's father manages to get Shinobu and the girls in the class on his side in an attempt to stop the training. Onsen wonders if he's doing the right thing but when Ryuunosuke is waiting for him after school, the training continues for the rest of the week, teaching Ryuunosuke a feminine way of walking, talking, etc.

The ultimate test has Ryuunosuke in an elegant 19th century dress complete with hat. She attends a wrestling match with Onsen with the goal being to not react as a man. However, the fight goes out of the ring and when her dress is ruined, she's angry. Ataru, Mendou, her father, Lum, and Shinobu offering their words don't help, so she beats up the two wrestlers AND her father, leading Onsen to get injured in the process. The next time Ryuunosuke sees Onsen at school, she's still wearing a boy's uniform but she does address Onsen-sensei as a proper girl before running off to get to class.

Thoughts/Review: I've never liked Ryuunosuke's father either, but unlike when Ten-chan takes a beating from Ataru, his taking a beating isn't quite as satisfying. I suppose it is because no matter how bad the beating, he never learns.

Regardless, why not just put Ryuunosuke into a sailor seifuku if that was the goal all along? Yeah, yeah, I know -- do that and you can't do any more jokes about her wearing one. That's the downside of going with a long-running gag -- it can get stale and very old after a while.

The only real amusing moment for me came when Onsen, the principle, and Ryuunosuke's father met over whether to allow Ryuunosuke to stay with Onsen, a single, older man. I was surprised that I found Ryuunosuke's father's denial that Ryuunosuke is a girl to be so amusing. I guess it was due to the fact that to deny the truth, he'd allow anything to happen although I knew that this would result in his trying to stop her in other ways.

One side note -- I didn't mention it in the summary, but there's an interlude where Ryuunosuke's father goes off on this Moby Dick parody story. That was certainly bizarre. I guess there was a lot of time that needed to be killed, so lets get some filler.

So while not a bad episode, it is one that is very predicable simply because we already know there's no way Ryuunosuke is getting into a sailor fuku EVER.

Ah! My Goddess Ch. 240 *SPOILERS*

Ah! My Goddess Manga/Oh My Goddess! Manga
ああっ女神さまっVolume 38 Chapter 240

Summary/Synopsis: The Dimakaicho of the Underworld, "Hild-sama," is walking through her domain, having detected a disturbance. She walks right into a containment spell trap, which she starts to counter just as a time-slowing spell activates above her. However, Hild's counter-spells are being consumed by a virus spell while at the same time, the containment spell trap turns into a freezing one (though I don't believe with ice but as in freezing someone in place). It is then that a group of Hild's former subjects reveal themselves to be the ones who captured Hild.

On Earth, Chibi Hild is at Mara's abandoned arcade hideout and commenting on "Hagall," the name of the rebel leader. Hild tells Mara that they are about to get very busy as a giant, demonic cow busts in and attacks. Mara demands to know what's going on as Chibi Hild states that the name of the critter is "Momo-chan." Since she didn't release it, Hagall obviously did, which gives Mara a horrific understanding of their present situation.

At the Morisato residence, Urd detects the demonic energy that has appeared on Earth and so abandons her card game with Skuld to investigate.

Elsewhere, Chihiro has a Kawasaki KV75 bike she's rebuilding when Megumi comes to the Whirlwind shop on her KSR bike. Since the KV75 is the precurser to the KSR, Megumi is thrilled to see it. Chihiro offers to sell the bike to her since she'd only purchased it on a whim to fix up. She doesn't want to sell it to someone she doesn't know. Megumi declines because she can't buy it but tells Keiichi that should he wish to buy his little sister the bike on his birthday, she's OK with it.

Belldandy is in town looking for a present for Keiichi when she stops at a clock store and spots a unique watch. The shop owner doesn't recommend it for Belldandy since it is a guy's watch, but after hearing and understanding her appreciation of the watch, he sells it to her at a discount. This is observed by what appears to be one of Hallgall's minions.

Thoughts/Review: What? A new Ah! My Goddess story that grabs me from the first chapter? Say it ain't so!

Ever since Hild was introduced, she's always been an interesting character. After all, Hild was a part of the Angel Eater arc. Hild was a part of the Welsper arc and the doublet system that is in place. Even the teapot arc with Hild was OK. So having the Daimakaicho Hild captured in a rebellion sounds like good stuff, especially since 1/1000th of her self (Chibi Hild) is with Mara (yeah, I know "Marller" is the other spelling but after YEARS of spelling it "Mara," I just can't get used to using "Marller"). Wooo!Hooo!

What else is good? How about "Momo-chan." *LOL* A demonic cow (or bull, though the "chan" honorific may suggest a female rather than male) is just good stuff for some reason. It is hard to tell, but it appears that Momo-chan has at least two heads.

Urd -- I know, I know. It is too much to hope that maybe somehow we can get some sort of advancement of character for either Urd or Hild, but it would be nice for a further exploration of their relationship as mother and daughter happened.

I'm surprised that this story seems to have Chihiro in it as well as Megumi. I hope this story arc reveals that Megumi knows what's going on. I wouldn't mind Chihiro also saying, "Yeah, I knew too but didn't want to deal with it."

I'm not sure how Keiichi's birthday will work into things but it seems that one of the mazoku (demons) was spying on Belldandy. I don't want a repeat of Keiichi being possessed so many years ago though. I would like for Belldandy and Keiichi to kiss in this arc, but I know that won't happen. *lol*

Hagall -- well, it will be interesting to see what she and her fellow rebels do or why they are rebelling at all. Anyone that can capture Hild (or most of her) is automatically an interesting character.

On a side note, you know whom I'd love to see return in this story arc? The three mini-ninjas. *nods*

So kudos to Fujishima-sensei on having the first story arc in ages to truly excite me from the start.

Keroro Gunsou 80

ケロロ軍曹 Episode 80
Sgt. Frog anime, 80
Keroro Gunsou episode 80

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis: Natsumi and Keroro are in a fight over him playing her game and overwriting her save file. When Fuyuki sides with Natsumi and Natsumi demands an apology, Keroro accidentally breaks one of Natusmi's figures. Keroro summons an emergency meeting of the platoon, however they aren't interested in hearing his rant. Realizing he's alone, Keroro runs away from the Hinata house to set up shop somewhere else. That ends up being an old, abandoned apartment. Since he has running water, he figures he's set up and he then builds a Gunpla. However, he only brought one and so reads the latest volume of his favorite manga. He finishes that and is still bored. Tamama comes by briefly to tell him the new time for Admiral Giroro, then leaves.

Meanwhile, Fuyuki is out looking for Keroro, who's been gone for a while. He encounters Lavie, who had seen Keroro pass by. Buying a product from her, Fuyuki continues his search as does Natsumi, who decided to look as well. Natsumi comes by the apartment and when Keroro sees her, he knows he should apologize but can't. She's gone and Kogoro comes by with a gift of crate furniture. He's gone with a promise of keeping Keroro's location a secret. Meanwhile, Fuyuki and Natsumi return home where

Keroro starts hearing and seeing things and when the light in the one-room apartment goes out, he begins to freak out. Everything he sees has a monstrous look and feel to it. When someone actually approaches the apartment, Keroro is out the window as a cop and the landlord arrive to find no one there but a broken Gunpla model. Keroro slowly returns home as Natsumi and Fuyuki worry about him. Giroro detects Keroro's return, so he tells Natsumi she forgot to lock the front door. She finds it odd the he'd tell her rather than lock it himself, but discovers that Keroro is at the door. When he apologizes to her, Natsumi lets him back in and all is well again.

Thoughts/Review: I seem to remember this story from the manga, but not quite in the same way it was presented here. The theme of this episode was clearly one of "why you should apologize when you are in the wrong."

I think this every time, but the way KANEDA Tomoko plays Lavie, I swear I can't help but feel so badly for her. She is the perfect person to play the role with that higher-pitched and pitiful sounding voice.

I guess some Japanese folks in the anime business must have loved the old Atari 2600 version of Pac-Man. There have been a few titles where the sound effects of that game are used to emulate game noises. So for me, it was funny seeing Natsumi playing an RPG with some of the noises clearly being from that old school version of Pac-Man.

This episodes Space Battleship Yamto parody -- the cover (and some inside pages) of the "Alpha" manga.


Otherwise, not much to say about this epsiode.

Negima! Manga Vol 26 (Ch 232) *SPOILERS*

魔法先生 ネギま！Volume 26 Chapter 232 (manga)
Mahou Sensei Negima! Manga Chapter 232

Summary/Synopsis: Nagi and Ala Rubra locate Princess Akira, who tells "her knight" that he's late. Along with Akira, the 3rd Princess of Hellas is being held, who's also rescued. They return to Ala Rubra's hideout on Olympus Mons, which does not impress the Hellas Princess, leading her and Rakan to get into a verbal sparing match. The group discusses the current situation, including that Ostia is also under the influence of Cosmo (Kosmo). Akira continues to address Nagi as "My Knight" which embarrasses him since he's a mage. However, her reasoning is that since he and Ala Rubra have no country they serve now, it is only natural that they serve her. In the end, Nagi agrees and is dubbed a knight by Akira in European form.

The war continues with Ala Rubra having no clear idea who their enemy is. Thanks to Akira, they gain more allies, including the Valkyries from Ariadne. After some time, the Cosmo base was finally located to be at the Royal Palace in Ostia, also known as "Gravekeepers' Palace." The Twilight Princess is being held here. Ala Rubra prepares to attack. The future principle of Ariadne Academy reports that all their forces, including those from the Empire and Confederation are ready. She also gets Nagi's autograph.

The battle starts and Fate appears with his own henchmen. He compliments Nagi on reducing their numbers. Ala Rubra makes short work of their opponents. Nagi has Fate by the throat and demands to know where the Twilight Princess is being held. Fate is amused that Nagi thinks he's behind it all. An attack comes from behind fate which pierces him and Nagi. As the others rush forward in stunned amazement, they too come under attack. Mystery Boy erects a massively powerful barrier with Al. Eishun, and Rakan assisting. It is no good and Rakan appears to lose his arms. Ala Rubra is defeated by a single person -- the "final boss." As Rakan tells the story to Negi and company, he informs them that for the first time, he knew he couldn't win a fight.

Thoughts/Review: Amazing chapter! Now we know how Ala Rubra managed to win over others as well as why Nagi is seen by all sides as a hero and not a villain. It was also nice to see the girl who would become future principle of Ariadne Academy (which is where Yue is attending school if you recall). The Hellas Princess is also a nice touch.

As to the battle itself, we've seen for a while how powerful Ala Rubra is. For a single person to defeat them all is pretty amazing. Clearly, they find a way to overcome this person in the end but for Nagi, who'd just defeated Fate to find himself basically defeated along with all his team, I can't help but think this is an eye-opening experience for Nagi. If my theory is right about Nagi turning himself into Negi, I would say this is the moment that would start him on such a path (which won't happen for another 10-years if true).

What if this new boss character is Akira? What would that do to all the fans that are so sure she is Negi's mom? If true, Akira would be gathering all the nation-states as a single alliance against her organization so that they could all be wiped out at once (Asuna's ability).

I thought the flashback arc would only be three weeks based on what was reported, but unless Akamatsu-sensei decides to just leave it, that story is not complete. We'll see what happens next chapter.

Space Battleship Yamato 2 08

Uchuu Senkan Yamato 2 Episode 08
宇宙戦艦ヤマト2 Ep. 08 (TV, Anime)

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis: Daisuke gives a briefing to the bridge crew on Yamato's course, which he has roughly calculated based on where the messages are coming from. Sanada points out the direction of the inbound comet and that puts Yamato on a collision course which troubles Susumu. Aihara receives a message from the mystery woman again, leading Daisuke to take over the communications station to Aihara's annoyance. Daisuke can't make return communication, but is able to achieve a better fix on the source of the transmission. His numbers are different than Aihara's leading Daisuke to chastise Aihara for being wrong.

On Teresart (Telezart), Teresa monitors communications between Desler and Admiral Goland. Desler knows that Goland is planning to attack Yamato and advises restraint for now to muster a massive force to destroy Yamato. Goland reminds Desler that Desler lost against Yamato and even though Desler is in command of the Teresart sector, Goland takes his missile fleet from its defensive position in the sector and goes to engage Yamato.

Yamato goes into warp, which is a new experience for the space cavaliers. When the ship comes out of warp, they are caught in a current which is pulling them along. They also receive another broken message from the mystery woman which Sanada suspects is actually a lure to a trap. Daisuke doesn't believe that and with Susumu's blessing, maneuvers Yamato through the current. They soon arrive at the end of the current at a place known as Sargasso -- a ship graveyard. This area of space has a strong gravity field and it takes all of Yamato's power to finally come to stop with Daisuke realizing he's been tricked.

Goland sees that Yamato has entered his trap and orders his ships to get ready to fire missiles through dimension cracks and insure Yamato's demise. On Yamato, the space cavaliers are having a hard time dealing with events as there's nothing for them to do. So, Sado-sensei takes them to the rec area, where he creates a holographic scene of a beach and babes. Soon, their clothing begins to rip and dissolve which amuses Saito. On the bridge of Yamato, their clothing is also ripping because in addition to the gravity issue, they are in a pocket of accelerated time.

Some missiles from Goland's fleet begin entering the Sargasso, striking Yamato. Sanada tells Daisuke and Susumu that the point where the missiles are coming in is their escape window. A new message from the mystery woman, whom the crew now learns is named Teresa of Teresart, confirms their escape window. Exiting the Sargasso, Susumu orders the Yamato's main guns to clear a path through Goland's fleet as Yamato escapes to safety.

Thoughts/Review: We can add "launderer" to Yuki's list of jobs on board Yamato. A woman's work is never done. ^_^;

Watching this episode, it came to me that Daisuke is a little too eager speak with Teresa. Aihara is the communication officer so it was odd that Daisuke suddenly demanded to take over whenever Teresa sent a message. Don't get me wrong, I remember Aihara being the loser in episode 19 of the first series, but he's grown a lot since then.

The space cavaliers prove as worthless as ever. However, I have to believe that the writers wouldn't have added an armed detachment of what are essentially army guys (I would say marines, but marines would be better prepared for duty on a board ship) if they didn't have a plan to use them in some sort of ground combat or maybe even ship combat should Yamato be boarded again or if Yamato should need a boarding party for an enemy ship.

As to the episode itself, the writers seem to be aping the first Yamato too much. For starters, Teresa is now officially a clone of Starsha. I say "officially" because while the premise of her sending a message to Yamato and getting ship and crew on a mission is the same as before, she looks a lot like Starsha. That gives her the official label of "cone."

Then there's the fact that this episode is similar to the one in episode 15 of the original series -- Yamato gets caught in a weird spacial anomaly trap, the enemy attacks, Yamato escapes with the out of the babe on the radio.

So while the episode isn't bad, it isn't that good either in light of the "been there, done that" feel of the story, the worthlessness of the space cavaliers, and the revelation that the mystery woman is truly nothing more than a Starsha clone.

Additional: I've no idea why I decided it would be funny to caption all the images with an "Asteroids" theme (mouse over the images to see what I mean). ^_^; I blame lack of sleep...yeah, that's the ticket. ^_~

Clannad After Story 06

クラナド アフターストーリー Episode 06

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis: Shima-kun is waiting for Misae outside her high school when he's seen by her friends Saki and Yuki. They tell him that Misae isn't coming to school because she has a cold. Shima leaves and finds Misae on a park bench. He tries to say helpful things twice, both which result in punishment from Misae, who then realizes that Saki and Yuki put Shima up to saying these things. She requests that he speak normally and he apologizes to her as he feels responsible (at least in part) for the heartache she's currently going through. They talk and Misae gets Shima to confess that he loves her, which pleases her.

Misae returns to school the next day and turns down a chance to get ice cream with Saki and Yuki so she can be with Shima, leading her two friends to believe that Misae's and Shima's relationship must be going well. Misae and Shima talk where Shima learns that she is the student council president. Misae asks Shima to come with her to the Autumn Festival and he happily accepts.

Another day at Misae's school, Shima comes by where Saki and Yuki tell him that Misae is busy with student council duties. He wants to see her working, so Saki and Yuki get an idea -- dress Shima as a girl and give him one of their school's female uniforms. The transformation is so successful, Shima has guys wanting to be with him. Saki and Yuki give him cover where he finds the room that Misae is in. He watches her and is found by Ibuki-sensei, who gets Misae to come out. Shima can't help himself and despite the fact that he's dressed as a girl, he tells Misae he wants to be with her forever.

After Saki and Yuki have a great laugh about how things went, Shima changes back into his normal clothing. He drops the charm, which reminds him of his purpose for seeing Misae in the first place. Saki and Yuki decide they want to visit Shima's home, but he can't remember where it is. After a while, they do find it, where Saki and Yuki find a woman who asks if they are friends of Shima come to burn incense for the dead. "Shima" remembers that he's not the real Shima and amazingly, Saki and Yuki accept this. They tell Shima that they won't tell Misae the truth.

Shima meets Misae at the festival where he goes to give her the charm and discovers that the light inside is gone. Misae isn't concerned about that, stating that what's important is the here and now. So, they enjoy the festival together and Misae has decided her wish. She knew that Shima was the "girl" who visited her at school, so she repeats to him what he said to her -- be with her forever. She kisses Shima, who starts crying and thanking Misae. When Misae goes to get them some beverages, she returns to find Shima is not there. She looks through the festival and finds him at a distance, where he says goodbye and disappears.

Some time later, Misae has taken the job as the manager of the boy's dorm, mainly because she's never stopped loving Shima. Even though she doesn't care for cats, one has attached itself to her and she cannot make herself get rid of it. It is then that Tomoya wakes up and he understands that the cat wants him to relay a message to Misae.

At the Autumn Festival, Nagisa is wondering what has been on Tomoya's mind since their visit to Misae. It is then that the cat starts rubbing itself on Tomoya. Nagisa picks the cat up as Misae comes running up, stating that the cat had raced out of the dorm and came to the festival. Tomoya tells Misae that he thinks the cat wanted to come to the festival with Misae based on what the he heard the cat tell him. Since Tomoya knows things that he couldn't know, Misae understands that the cat is Shima and accepts that. Tomoya tells Misae that Shima wants her to be happy and move on with her life but that Shima will always be with her, as promised. This makes Misae happy but leaves Nagisa a little confused, so Tomoya promised to tell her the whole story.

Thoughts/Review: Ah, I do love how Misae went from a minor character to one with a really nice story, explaining how she ended up as the manager of a boy's dorm. Things didn't go quite as I expected since I figured that Shima-kun would die and THEN be reborn as the cat. Instead, Shima-kun had already died and the cat took on his identity for a short time. It is a sweet tale to be sure, though it did seem odd that Misae so easily accepted the idea of Shima being the cat. Then again, when Tomoya mentioned details that only Shima (and Misae) would know, I suppose that would make it easier to believe.

Actually, it is more amazing that Saki and Yuki accepted the idea that Shima-kun's cat took Shima's form for a time to be with Misae.

Considering how aggressive (in a violent way) Misae is, it almost seems odd that she'd fall in love with Shima-kun. However, I think that adds to the charm of things in this case. There's a saying that goes something like, "Behind every good man is a good woman." Had Shima been a real person, Misae is just the type to push Shima into being a stronger person and a "real man" if you will with a combination of her own strong force of will and frankly a strong reward system as well.

Another little nice touch is when a confused Nagisa wants to know why Tomoya knows what he knows, he simply states that he has this story to tell her. I imagine that even though neither person remember Fuuko-chan, that experience will make the story of Misae and Shima resonate with Nagisa as it clearly did with Tomoya.

Continuing the nice touches, Yoshino gets a cameo as does Ibuki-sensei. I hadn't realized he was that much younger than she if she were already teaching while Yoshino is a senior.

So, a sweet and touching episode to wrap up the Misae arc. As I said, I love how Misae's character has been given some fleshing out.

Urusei Yatsura 89

うる星やつら episode 89 (TV anime)

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis: Ataru's mother is sick of always winning the 6th place prize of a packet of tissues in the Shopping District's lottery, feeling that it is rigged. She completes her shopping and receives another lottery ticket. She's going to throw out the ticket, but decides to try her luck one more time. She wins! Now she and Ataru's father are eagerly planning their romantic trip for two while Ataru bitterly complains about being left alone. No matter what he says, they are not going to take him with them.

At school, Ataru is not happy. When Lum asks him what he wants for dinner, he sarcastically mentions foods with plenty of heat on the side (from Tabasco, peppers, etc.). She takes it literally though. Learning that Ataru and Lum are alone under the same room, Mendou as well as Lum's Stormtroopers (Megane, Perm, Chibi, & Kakugari) aren't happy to hear this. Mendou attacks Ataru with his katana, which Ataru defends against. Ten-chan floats down, promising to help defend Lum from Ataru. Ataru is relieved to remember that Ten-chan will be staying with them as well, and then expresses his relief with Ten-chan, expressing his love for the young alien.

After school, Ataru tells Lum he has an errand so he takes off, making an empty promise to save his appetite for dinner. He's followed by the Stormtroopers and Mendou as Lum makes a fire meal. Ataru is about to scarf out at a local restaurant when one of Mendou's guards in drag grabs Ataru and takes him to the Mendou estate to be held prisoner until Ataru's parents return. Ataru is happy by not being forced to spend the night with Lum, which Mendou doesn't believe. However, Ataru finds that he has a device attached to his back and that devices begins pulling him through walls, ceilings, and any other obstacle until he arrives home.

It is time for dinner and Ataru isn't interested in eating what he knows will be food too spicy-hot to eat. His attitude changes a bit when Lum offers him what appears to be beer but he's disappointed when it is only barley tea. Mendou and the Stormtroopers both bust in on the scene, ruining Lum's dinner. As a result, Lum punishes them all with a massive, lengthy burst of electricity. She does save one piece of food which she pops into Ataru's mouth, causing him to be a bit ill.

Now it is bedtime and the other guys imagine Ataru as a perverted man looking to soil the lovely, innocent, 17-year old Lum (in a kimono). So they attack Ataru, who's immediately defended by Lum. Mendou doesn't understand why she defends Ataru and Megane says they've sworn to defend Lum's purity. She responds that she didn't ask for that as she can take care of herself. To their horror and shock (which has them briefly in scenes from Return of the Jedi), Lum tells them that her body belongs to Ataru. She continues that she's going to bed with Ataru and that they can't get cozy with the guys there. Megane snaps and is out.

Lum tells Ataru that it is time to go upstairs and he's out of options. He imagines the wrath of her parents and his if they go through with this and it isn't a pleasant prospect. He considers how that by keeping a line between himself and Lum, if he looks at another girl, he'll be electrocuted. However, if he allows himself to be in a real relationship with Lum and he looks at another girl, he'll be electrocuted. Suddenly, the guy's worst fears are realized as Ataru suddenly understands that no matter what he does, he's going to get electrocuted so why not have some fun on the way.

Lum is happy that Ataru is suddenly excited to take her to bed while the remaining guys are horrified. Lum and Ataru make it to the bedroom where the guys break down the door. However, Lum anticipated this and has the sliding glass door open so that their momentum carries them right out to the balcony and down to the ground. Lum reveals that she has put Ten-chan to sleep with some candy so it is just the two of them. Ataru is nervous but Lum is inviting so he joins her in bed. However, nothing happens as Lum makes Ataru wear a bulky, insulated, full-body suit to protect him from accidentally being electrocuted as they sleep. So he can't even sneak a kiss off her.

Thoughts/Review: I'm not sure, but this episode may be the best of the lot so far. For starters, Lum's Stormtroopers and Mendou's constant attempts to keep Lum and Ataru apart cracked me up. Lum attaching a device to Ataru so that she could bring him him though any obstacle just had me laughing and laughing. What had me laughing the most was when Ataru finally realized that whether he was with Lum or not, he'd be electrocuted if he ever looked at another woman, so he may as well go to bed with Lum. Lum's happiness and her dealing with the other guys helped add to the humor of the scene. Then when the guys went into shock and "became" characters from Return of the Jedi, I laughed so hard. Just good stuff all the way around.

One thing I never understood from the beginning is why Ataru never went for Lum when he goes after the babes (more so in the past than now). After all, Lum is portrayed as a hottie and Ataru has been electrocuted by her before. With this episode revealing that the main thing holding him back from actively being in a relationship with Lum is a fear of her and his parents, things suddenly made sense. That too added to the humor of Ataru deciding, "What the heck" and going with Lum to the bedroom.

I chuckled at the resolution to how they would retain their innocence (as it were) while still sleeping together. Oh, it is too much.

So, this ended up being an episode with a lot of good laughs and possibly the best episode to date (humor-wise at least).

xxxHOLiC Manga Chapter 168

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis: Yuuko-san continues her conversation, which we learn is with Maru and Moro, who desire to be with Watanuki. Because others have come to care for Watanuki, he now has his own wish to be here and not be just a copy of Syaoran (even if he doesn't have any memories of once being Syaoran). Maru and Moro promise Yuuko-san that they will protect the store for the sake of Watanuki, for which she thanks them.

Thoughts/Review: I thought last chapter was kinda weird, but this one is too. So now we know that the spirits which have tormented Watanuki are due to his unconscious feelings of regret over the deaths of his parents (to protect him), who would be alive if it weren't for him. I can buy that, but what troubled me about this chapter is the revelation that the incident where Watanuki fell out the window at school and nearly died was self-induced by Watanuki trying to erase himself for Syaoran's sake (again, without knowing he's doing it). That immediately kills the whole story of Himawari-chan's terrible bad luck being the cause of several negative things including him falling out of the window.

Back when that chapter came out, it does look like a bit of a stretch for Watanuki to have gone through the window and out, but I figured that Himawari-chan's bad luck might be the cause, or it is just a case where CLAMP just didn't quite pull off the effect in the drawing. Based on the information from 168, Himawari-chan wrongly believes herself to be the cause of Watanuki's accident when in fact Watanuki subconsciously tries to off himself. Further, it would seem that Yuuko-san knew this all along, but what the hey -- make Himawari-chan suffer.

At least we got to see whom Yuuko-san is communicating with. I'd forgotten all about Maru and Moro so nice to see they are still around, even if not physically present in the scene (and certainly, this is the most serious they've ever seemed, at least as I recall it).

I haven't read the next Tsubasa chapter to see how they are progressing the Watanuki-Syaoran story. After reading this chapter of xxxHOLiC, I can't say that I'm enthused about where things are going at this point.

More Negima! Chapter 232 SPOILER Images

Negima! 232 SPOILER Images!

Here is the second batch of spoiler images from Mahou Sensei Negima! chapter 232. (click pics to make bigger, y'all). The Japanese are pretty stingy on what they released this time. *lol* Oh well. I hear this is going to be a fantastic chapter.


The first batch of images can be found here.

Chapter summary and review is here.

Negima! Chapter 232 SPOILER Images

Negima! 232 SPOILER Images
魔法先生 ネギま！Chapter 232 (Images)

Here's what many of you have been waiting for -- the original-sized, sneak-peek images for Mahou Sensei Negima! 232 as posted on a short-lived Japanese page (click pic to make bigger, y'all).

This next image shows the last page of chapter 232, but the next page starts the next manga (in this case, Air Gear) and the character there is reading volume 1 of Negima! *lol*


If there's a 2nd batch of images (and there is), I'll upload those as well in a 2nd posting.

So, Negi vs. Fate, Mystery Kid, and Shadow Warrior. Excellent!

Update: My chapter summary and review is here.

Keroro Gunsou 79

ケロロ軍曹 Episode 79
Sgt. Frog anime, 79
Keroro Gunsou episode 79

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis: It is autumn and time for the sports festival. This has Fuyuki depressed since he's not into sports and Natsumi's pep talk isn't helping. At school, selections for different events is ongoing and while Fuyuki is mulling over everything, he stands up suddenly and says he'll do it, not realizing he's volunteering for the anchor slot on a relay race. This impresses Momoka, who vows to cheer him on. Fuyuki cannot back out now, so he begins to train with Keroro and Tamama "helping" but failing repeatedly. It is Giroro who manages to get Fuyuki to step up to the plate and properly train. The day of the race comes and thanks to Giroro's training and some luck, Fuyuki wins.

Giroro is spacing out while looking at a picture of Natsumi and thus does not pay attention to Neko when the cat arrives. When he finally notices the annoyed cat, he drops the picture which gets caught by the wind and snatched by a bird. Giroro is depressed and Neko decides that getting Giroro a new picture of Natsumi will help. She sneaks into the Hinta house but being a cat, she can't make much progress looking for a picture. She remembers the gun that turns her into human form, so its down to Keroro's room where she accidentally trashes it before finding the gun and turning into human. Keroro arrives to find this and is stunned by the mess but as Neko flees, Keroro discovers some Gunpla destroyed.

Neko is now able to open drawers where she finds a Polaroid camera. She accidentally takes a picture of herself but since that's not what Giroro wants, she continues hunting for a picture of Natsumi. First though, it is time for a seaweed snack, which where Fuyuki finds her. He remembers Neko as one of Giroro's friends, so when she asks where Natsumi's room is, he shows her. Neko trashes the room in a desperate search for a picture and has to flee to the roof when Natsumi arrives. As with Keroro, Natsumi is stunned and horrified at the condition of her room, suspecting Keroro.

With time running out on being a humanoid, Neko remembers the Polaroid. She grabs it and with time almost expired, she calls to Natsumi from outside and sets up the camera. Natsumi thinks it might be Koyuki-chan, so she comes out. Seeing the camera, she recognizes it as it takes a picture, which then falls to the ground as Koyuki arrives. Neko, now in cat form, races forward and snatches the photo, delivering it to a grateful and appreciative Giroro while Natsumi punishes Keroro for apparently messing with the camera.

Thoughts/Review: The first story is just another variation of the very common sports festival event (and parody of sports anime titles). Still, I did laugh a bit at Keroro's and Tamama's constant failures at training. The funniest moment in the first story came from the jets sky writing "Fuyuki-kun," only spelling it as "Fuyukinku" with the anouncer speaking it as well. That happened twice and I just laughed and laughed at that, mainly because I know enough Japanese to be dangerous. ^_^


The second story was more sweet than anything. Since I'm keeping my parent's cat as of the writing of this post (which is some time in advance of it actually being published on the blog), Neko's scrambling up things and making a mess as well as her trying to find a hiding place and discovering she couldn't get under the bed cracked me up. That's where my parent's cat loves to run and hide whenever I break out the vacuum to remove the copious amounts of cat hair that are being fruitful and multiplying. Also, Natsumi's picture in Neko's fantasy moment cracked me up.

There is a new OP theme and ED theme with this episode. We'll see but I don't think they'll grow on me like some other ones.

So two fun episodes with some good laughs since I knew some Japanaese and know something about cats.

Isekai no Seikishi Monogatari Website Up!

The AIC teaser site has been up for a while, but the domain site (http://seikishi.com/) has not worked for me. It works now and shows an official image for the anime.


Looking good, y'all. ^_^ MASAKI Kenji Kenshi is the boy.

£6,500,000 for You to Buy Anime & Manga (This is Not a Nigerian Scam)

We have some spambots making pointless attempts to mail spam out from FUNi's forum. I say pointless because they can only hit a very few people, thus defeating the purpose of a spambot which is to spam thousands. Still, the few people that received said e-mail reported it to me, so I am able to read the text. Being tired, it occurred to me that it might be funny to modify said spam mail into something more anime-related (I do things like this from time-to-time). I hate it when these scammers try to use God in their schemes.

Anyway, enjoy this parody piece. ^_^

* * *

Dearest in the Lord,

My name is Mrs. Sheryl Ranka Nome. I am a dying woman who has decided to donate what I have to Prisons, Churches, Motherless Babies home, hospitals, Refugee camps, but mostly to anime and manga addicts. I am 63 years old. I am a deaf as a result of listening to anime and anime music way too loud. I am also suffering from a long time cancer of the breast which also affected my brain, hence why I am spamming an anime board to tell you about this. Everything bad happened to me about 9 years ago, immediately after the death of my husband (from anime and manga withdrawal after we were forced to leave our beloved Japan), who has left me everything he worked for including his secret H-doujinshi collection. This is not a Nigerian scam.

I have been touched by God to donate from what I have inherited from my late husband to you for the good work of God and the anime community at large, rather than allow my relatives to use my husband's hard earned funds in an ungodly way, such as buying 4Kids DVD's (H-doujinshi, manga, and games I don't consider to be ungodly since they are 2D images and not real people). Please pray that the good Lord forgive me my sins, including the one where I use His name in vain as I spam your forum members in my quest. I have asked God to forgive me and I believe he has because He is a merciful God, but there's always a chance that because I've never actually read a Bible, God may not forgive me. I spent all my reading time on manga and light novels and I've sadly neglected my Bible reading. Even now, I just can't seem to be bothered to pick up my Bible because the latest chapter of Negima! is just now coming out. I need to read that chapter at least a dozen times in order to gleam any clues that Mr. Akumatsu may give us about where the story is going. Isn't Negima! the greatest manga ever? This is not a Nigerian scam.

I'm sorry. I got sidetracked there because of my great love of Negima!. Where was I? Oh yes, doing the Lord's work. This is not a Nigerian scam.

I decided to Will/Donate the sum of £6,500,000 (Six million Five hundred thousand British Pounds sterling -- I'm sorry I don't know what that translates to in dollars or yen as I cannot keep up with the exchange rates but since I'm in Great Britain, you'll have to deal with my currency) to you for the good work of the Lord. Also I want you to help those who cannot afford manga, who cannot afford anime, who cannot afford Japanese lessons in Japan, and those who cannot take lengthy vacations to Japan to soak in the wonders of anime, manga, eroge, doujinshi, and wonderful places in Japan like Akihabara (which is how I imagine heaven to be like, only better). Oh, and if you wish, take care of the motherless, less privileged, and widows too. This is not a Nigerian scam.

I cannot take any telephone calls right now due to the fact that i am deaf as stated above. Yeah, I know that with my riches, I can afford a cochlear implant like Rush Limbaugh and thus would be able to hear you fine, but I want you (and only you) to receive all my money to do the good work, so I'll sacrifice my hearing for you. This is not a Nigerian scam.

The Lawyer (Mr. Ichigo Kurosaki) will arrange with The Bankers (a Mr. Tenchi Masaki and a Ms. Sakura Haruno) on how the funds will be transfer once I authorize Lawyer to do so and that would be when I hear from you. I make funny joke there since I can't actually hear you, no? Or maybe my brain is more affected than I realized from my cancer. This is not a Nigerian scam.

I wish you all the best. May the good Lord bless you abundantly, with a hot, young Japanese girl or man to be your willing wife or husband. May He also bless you with all of the anime, manga, and other Japanese-related items you dream of having, especially the rare and hard to get items like the Negima! pactio cards. Please use the fund well and always extend the good work to others who are into the same things as you. This is not a Nigerian scam.

Your timely response will be awaited at Sheryl Ranka Nome@Not-A-Nigerian-Scam.com

God Bless You
Mrs. Sheryl Ranka Nome

More Confirmation of Isekai no Seikishi Monogatari

ANN has a piece citing Moonphase which states that the December issue of Newtype has confirmed that the Tenchi spinoff Isekai no Seikishi Monogatari is in fact in production. I kinda thought we had that confirmation back in October, but likely this announcement is to get Newtype some extra sales from the Japanese Tenchi otaku. I won't pick it up because frankly, the last two times I've tried to score a brand new magazine from Japan have failed so I'm not even going to bother. However, if anyone of you guys score a copy, let me know what is therein (and if there's anything image-wise that might be scan-worthy).

Oddly enough, the official website at www.seikishi.com doesn't work for me (it may be still being worked on) though AIC's page does.

Clannad After Story 05

クラナド アフターストーリー Episode 05

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis: In the Illusionary World, the Garbage Doll wonders about the firefly-like lights as Mystery Girl builds a seesaw for them to play on. Garbage Doll wonders how Mystery Girl managed before he came her and if maybe he came from another world in the sky.


Tomoya and Nagisa come by to pay Youhei a visit when Misae's cat flees to them as Misae is punishing Youhei for trying to sell the cat. They then retire to Misae's room in the dorm where they learn that her cat is "nanashi" -- nameless. Tomoyo stops by to gain advice from Misae regarding her student council duties. As they all talk for a bit, a member of the rugby club stops by, so Misae steps out to give him a flier and some suggestions for his date. Youhei is listening at the door and is detected by Misae, who then administers a great deal of punishment. That out of the way, the others talk again.

After Tomoyo leaves, Misae sends Youhei away so that she can talk with Tomoya and Nagisa about attending the same festival as a date. Naturally, this causes the two to become quite flustered. Misae's reasons for doing this are that the two of them remind her of her own youth. As Nagisa and Misae continue to talk, Tomoya finds himself getting sleepy and the cat appears to be talking to him telepathically about a light in a charm and its ability to grant one wish, which the cat appears to want Tomoya to grant to some girl. With that, he falls asleep.

The story shifts to the past when Misae is in high school where a boy approaches Hirazaki Private High School to see her. She's waiting for the guy she has a crush on, Igarashi-kun, but the boy's approach messes everything up for her. He apologizes, saying he's come to grant her a wish for something she did for him years earlier. She has no memory of the event, but apparently the boy (SHIMA Katsuki) was sick in the hospital and she was kind to him as she visited someone else. As a result of her visit, Katsuki found the will to live and get better and was given the ability to grant her one wish. Her wish is to be left alone, which naturally he refuses.

The following morning, Katsuki is waiting for Misae, leading her friends to wonder if she's dating him now. This leads to Misae punishing Katsuki for causing another misunderstanding. Katsuki, understanding Misae's feelings for Igarashi, offers to grant her the wish to marry him. Misae says she cannot accept that since it isn't right to mess with someone else's feelings. Thus, a strange relationship between the two develop as she begins to care for the helpless seeming Katsuki (in a non-romantic way) and he's determined to grant her a wish.

One afternoon while waiting for Misae, Katsuki is approached by Igarashi. Igarashi knows of Misae's feelings but he has a girlfriend. Since Igarashi doesn't want to hurt Misae, he figures the best solution is to have Katsuki get the word to Misae somehow. This leaves Misae hurting inside so that when he's approached by Misae, he can't tell her what's wrong directly. Instead, he tells her about a girl he likes who likes another boy who has a girlfriend already. Misae doesn't catch the inference to herself and accidentally causes Katsuki more grief until she sees Igarashi walking with another girl in the distance, at which point she understands. She wonders why Katsuki is the one crying about this before she slowly backs away and leaves.

Thoughts/Review: Misae looks like a cross between Kyou and Kotomi-chan in her high school days. There's nothing wrong with that per se, but I guess it is a bit disappointing from a character design perspective.


Speaking of Misae, if she seems a lot like Chidori from Full Metal Panic, there's a reason for that -- they both have the same seiyuu (YUKINO Satsuki). While Satsuki-san has been in a ton of different anime titles (her voice more recognizable in some titles than others), what makes her performance here seem more like Chidori is less the voice and more the fact that whenever Misae gets irritated and inflicts punishment, she breaks out some pro-wrestling maneuver while yelling. Chidori did the same thing in FMP (for those who haven't seen the show) to the same humorous effect.

As to the story itself, I think we are getting a bit of a clue on the firefly-type lights in the Illusionary World. I'm guessing it is one of these that gave Katsuki the ability to grant a single wish. I'm also guessing that the cat Misae is keeping is in fact Katsuki since (1) the cat's apparent communication w/ Tomoya was with Katsuki's voice and (2) it would seem to be in keeping with the supernatural element introduced with Fuuko-chan in the previous TV series. If that is the case, I'm guessing the tissue box may be in order next episode.

Interesting that the cat appeared to talk to Tomoya about this wish granting. Just who is the blurry girl that we see for an instant as Tomoya falls asleep? How is this all connected to the Illusionary World?


I do like how After Story has continued to surprise me by now working on other characters from Clannad and fleshing them out more. I hope this continues before the story completely shifts to Nagisa and Tomoya (which I'm guessing it has to) and hopefully resolves the whole Illusionary World thing.

Negima! Manga Vol 25 (Ch 231) *SPOILERS*

魔法先生 ネギま！Volume 25 Chapter 231 (manga)
Mahou Sensei Negima! Manga Chapter 231

Summary/Synopsis: Jack Rakan continues his trip down memory lane by recounting how Arika-ojou had seemed flirty with Nagi compared to how she is with him. Princess Arika had tried to mediate between the Confederation and the Empire over the war but had failed, hence why she came to Ala Rubra for assistance. She's not Asuna's sister but won't talk about Princess Asuna (who is not actually named in the story). Ala Rubra does an investigation Cosmo Entelecheia's involvement in both sides of the war, sans Nagi and Rakan who would not be good at it. Thus Nagi spends a lot of time with Arika, and doesn't appear to enjoy it that much since he keeps getting slapped.

Gatou uncovers things that suggests that Consul (the 2nd ranking person in Megalomesembria) has ties to Cosmo, but they need actual proof. At that time nearby, Arika and Nagi get attacked by a massive spell, though Nagi can't be sure who was the target. So, she and he take out an enemy base as a result of this attack. The following morning, Nagi is being scolded by Eishun for dragging the princess around until young Takamichi and the Mystery Kid report that Arika is smiling and wanting to thank Nagi.

Nagi has the proof of the Consul's involvement, so Gatou reports it to Senator McGill. The senator is pleased with this since this can end the war and summons them to bring their proof as the Praetor will be there as well. However, when Nagi, Gatou, and Rakan arrive, Senator McGill has other ideas. Instead of stopping the war, he wants to defeat the Empire, so has not informed the Praetor. Nagi states that the Senator is a fake and blasts him, revealing a teenaged-looking Fate (Fate 2.0 maybe?) .

Fate is impressed that Nagi saw through his disguise and realizes that he'll have to investigate how this happened further as he holds a bookmarker. He informs them that the real senator has been tossed into Megalo Bay. Fate summons two male fighters to hold Nagi and company at bay while he reports that Ala Rubra are in fact traitors to the Confederation. So now the team is wanted by both the Empire and the Confederation and Princess Arika is captured and is now held at Noctis Labyrinthus.

As Rakan takes a break telling this story, Negi has a vision of Nagi, Princess Arika, and Princess Asuna and wonders.

Thoughts/Review: An interesting chapter to be sure. Chapter 231 confirms that Mundus Magicus (Magic World) is in fact Mars. Well, fans had already worked that bit out, but that gives extra meaning to Chao (1) being a Martian and (2) being from the future. ^_^ Additional -- SigmasonicX asked for some clarification of this so I'll explain. The new Magic World map used this week shows Martian regions such as Olympus Mons, Noctis Labyrinthus, & Tempe Terra.

Regarding Princess Arika, I still don't think she's Negi's mother. Asuna's mother? Maybe. However, there's not enough context in Negi's thought image to clearly see what he is thinking. I'm sure speculation will be that Asuna and Negi are now related somehow but I don't buy that. I can believe Nagi and Arika were in a relationship of some kind though.

Fate -- well now, well now. In this flashback, he certainly appears more like Spider-Zero did in A.I. Love You (as a teenager). His use of a bookmark to be a disguise is interesting because one of the girl's that attacked Asuna is named Shiori which means "bookmark." Al uses bookmarks as part of his artifact, but he is limited in the amount of time he can spend as another person. Fate appears to have no such limitations in the past. Based on this information, the theory that Asuna may have been replaced by one of Fate's people in disguise (Shiori likely) now holds water for me. I can see this being a viable theory with Negi going to rescue Asuna as Nagi rescued Arika years earlier (well, assuming they rescued Arika safely).

So the unanswered questions are (1) exactly who is Arika and what is her relationship to Asuna, (2) is this Fate an earlier model, and (3) is Senator McGill dead or just petrified and tossed into the bay? Oh yeah, and who are the bijin guys? ^_~

I'm enjoying this flashback sequence (of which Akamatsu-sensei says there will be one more chapter of). Unlike certain other (unnamed) manga-ka who've gotten lost in flashbacks, Akamatsu-sensei has packed a fair amount into his and clearly has no plans of getting lost in flashback if he's only going to allow three chapters of it.

Note: The marks the last chapter for volume 25. As such, Akamatsu-sensei will take his traditional "break" to get ahead of the curve on producing the manga, meaning Negima! chapter 232 will not be out next week (it goes on sale November 12). I should have spoiler pics up on the 8th or 9th though (assuming the Japanese come through).

Space Battleship Yamato 2 07

Uchuu Senkan Yamato 2 Episode 07
宇宙戦艦ヤマト2 Ep. 07 (TV, Anime)

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis: Yuki is working her latest job as waitress in the mess hall where all of the Space Cavaliers are eating. Being Yamato's only girl, they start sexually harassing her despite Analyzer's attempts to defend her. This annoys Kato and other Yamato crew members and when Susumu sees what is going on and how they really aren't responding to him, he heads off to find their commanding officer, Saito. After meeting with him in an observation room, Susumu finds that Saito has a strange, casual attitude about things.

Meanwhile on the Comet Empire base ship Gatlantis, Sabera demands that Military Commander's Razela and Goenitz (Genitz?) explain why Nazca lost to Yamato and that they contact the Admiral immediately. After she leaves, Razela declares that despite this setback, he is more determined than ever to establish their forward base on Earth. An angry and frustrated Sabera heads to the room where the Emperor is, pours herself a large adult beverage and gulps it down to the Emperor's amusement.

On Yamato, the dimensional radar reveals a new enemy craft not previously seen. Susumu decides to play is cautious and puts Yamato on alert. Yuki sees nothing on their standard radar, leading Sanada to suspect they are dealing with space subs and thus need to drop depth charges. A couple of torpedoes slam into Yamato as it floods its wake with "depth charges" (more like mines) and sure enough, they begin to explode as they come in contact with two space subs. Yamato takes more hits as the crews race to battle stations.

While this is going on, Saito decides that he should join the fighter pilots, who've just been ordered to deploy. However, he is not a pilot and they force him out of the way, which does not set well with him. Saito then heads to the gun control room and insists on being allowed to work Yamato's turrets. Because he's not a gunner, they reject the offer, but his attempts to try to get involved anyway causes the turret to miss one of the enemy subs. Saito then heads to where Sado-sensei is, finding him getting drunk on sake because that's all he can do during combat. So, Saito joins Sado as the Black Tigers take out the two space subs.

Yamato finds a small planetoid to land on to make repairs while sending a report to Earth on their latest battle. (The Earth Military Chief then orders that the 2nd, 3rd, and 8th fleets be dispatched to the 11th Planet at once. ) The space cavaliers are making a huge nuisance of themselves, which leads to a massive fight between Yamato crew members and the soldiers. Saito arrives and rather than break up the fight, he starts attacking Yamato crew members for fighting his men. Susumu arrives and seeing the situation, he and Saito get into a fight. Sado-sensei shoos everyone out but the two leaders, who then stop their fight. Despite knowing that Saito and his men are a time bomb, Susumu does not kick them off the ship.

Back on Gatlantis, Emperor Zwordar and Sabera receive a report that Nasca's fleet has been wiped out. Sabera is shocked but this, but the Emperor urges calm. Despite what the Yamato has done, Zwordar sees Andromeda as the bigger threat since it is the more powerful battleship. The Emperor feels that in the end, they will be victorious. Meanwhile, Yamato has finished repairs and after receiving another partial message (which Daisuke uses to help plot their course), Yamato resumes its journey.

Thoughts/Review: Nice to see Yuki has a new job -- waitress. She'd been a coffee and beverage wench, so it isn't surprising to see her serving food.

I believe that the space cavaliers were only supposed to have 20 survivors but the scene in the mess hall clearly showed more than 20. There were also cavaliers in sick bay too so who knows how many there actually are.

I liked how we had a brief scene showing the fleets heading to the 11th Planet. With Andromeda getting a name-drop, I'm guessing we'll see it again in the near future.

Now, for the pièce de résistance -- the space cavaliers. *_* For starters, I understand that the writers are trying to make these guys like bastard jarheads. When I was stationed at Yokota AB, marines used to come by on weekends because the dorm I lived in had the most women in it. They would be drunk, horny, and would literally trash the place. It got so bad, our chief master sergeant ( a LARGE, muscular man with a deep, booming voice) came in one Saturday night (after we had complained about the mess they were making) and literally threw them all out. So yeah, I understand the idea of pain in the rear troops.

That said, the way the writers handled things here came off as if it were written for kindergartners. Saito does not strike me as a military leader. After all, what fool hears the alarm klaxon go off for battle stations and then says, "Give me a plane so I can fight. Yeah, I haven't been trained but who cares -- fightin' is fightin'!" Then being rejected there, goes running off to the gun turrets and again knowing they aren't trained says, "Duuhhhh, I can do dat, duuuuuh." Bad, bad stuff, and made worse by the fact that he (1) complains to Sado that everyone hates him and (2) he wonders why it is OK for Sado to drink sake during combat. Complete and total crap.

Further, Saito and his men didn't act like a group of soldiers who'd gotten their butts beaten on the 11th Planet and lost many friends and comrades. No, they get on board Yamato and start acting like the cock of the coop and that didn't play well at all. I guess the writers want things on Yamato to not be "we are all great friends and co-workers" and thus add some conflict. However, if this is their intent, it fails simply because these soldiers don't act like soldiers would in that situation.

So while the episode wasn't horrible, it wasn't that great either simply because of how the space cavaliers are being written to inject some drama into the series.

xxxHOLiC Manga Chapter 167

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis: Yuuko-san enters her treasure room where she communicates with someone off camera about the status of the room and her desire to protect it. She looks at the Star Staff from Sakura-chan (Cardcaptor Sakura) which is the price she paid. Yuuko-san goes on about how Watanuki and Syaoran (Tsubasa) are in fact the same person who split, just as the single egg Sakura (Tsubasa) used as payment for a wish became two. Yuuko-san talks more about Watanuki's existence, how it was such (with a different name than Syaoran and a lack of memory) that Fei Wong Reed was unable to discover his whereabouts. The difference in appearance of Syaoran and Watanuki is also due to the wish of their parents.

Thoughts/Review: This chapter is where I believe it becomes extremely difficult to know what the heck is going on without having read the corresponding Tsubasa chapter. I have read it, and it goes into greater detail on how Watanuki was created as part of Syaoran's wish to save Sakura-hime in Tsubasa (before Syaoran was captured and imprisoned).

This chapter is also quite weird in a way. For starters, just who is Yuuko-san talking to in the treasure room? Obviously it is done for our benefit (so we can get some major exposition).

The complex nature of Syaoran and Watanuki now being the same person makes things even weirder. I for one never anticipated that CLAMP would make Watanuki and Syaoran the same person. I've heard people questioning if this is in fact what CLAMP planned all along. I would say "yes" simply because I can't believe they'd just be making it up as they go and now that it is getting closer to time to end the manga's run, they needed something to shut things down.

We'll see how things continue. While the information learned about Watanuki is good, it won't mean as much without having read Tsubasa.

Urusei Yatsura 88

うる星やつら episode 88 (TV anime)

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis: Lum finished knitting a muffler for Ataru complete with his name in English and takes it from her ship to his house. At the same time, Ataru has taken Ten-chan's remote control toy fighter and is flying it around to Ten-chan's anger. Ten-chan uses his fire breath attack, but Ataru is ready with the frying pan to shield against it. With the flames gone, Ataru begins whacking Ten-chan hard with the frying pan before settling on a practice tennis session with Ten-chan serving as the tennis ball to be hit against the wall before Ataru goes for the killer, win shot which plants Ten-chan into the wall.

Lum arrives with the muffler, which she lovingly wraps around Ataru's neck. Ten-chan removes himself from the wall and since Ataru has his back to Ten-chan, Ten-chan is able to use another fire attack. Ataru is singed but the muffler is completely destroyed. Ataru, seeing an opportunity (and maybe more) harshly chastises Ten-chan for destroying the muffler Lum had lovingly made for Ataru. He tries to get Lum into the act, but she's so happy at Ataru's reaction to having a present from her destroyed that she doesn't catch on. Ten-chan flees out the sliding glass door with Ataru yelling after him that he expects an apology. Ataru then tries to convince the happy Lum that she needs to be angry with Ten-chan.

Ten-chan is depressed and wandering the streets when he encounters Cherry. Ten-chan wants to learn how to apologize, something he's never done. After Cherry cons Ten-chan into buying some baked sweet potatoes and then tries to get him to buy Cherry some takoyaki, Ten-chan decides to move on. Next is Mendou's house where he discovers that the Mendou family don't apologize as such, but puff out their chest and act dismissive to those wanting an apology. Ten-chan decides to try this out on Megane, Perm, Chibi, and Kakugari (after first having chased them with a gun). However, the attitude so irritates the boys, they give him a good beating.

Ten-chan heads to school where he sees Ryuunosuke and her father fighting over his sake drinking. Ryuunosuke appears to lose and assumes the apology position at her fathers demand, but instead of apologizing, she insults and attacks her father, leading to another fight. Ten-chan sees that Earth has a lot of ways to apologize and heads back into town. There he encounters Shinobu, who accidentally knocks over a long row of bicycles. Naturally, some of the owners aren't happy, but she plays the airhead role and gives a casual apology, which is accepted. So, Ten-chan tries this on Megane and company which results in Ten-chan taking another beating.

Ten-chan returns to Ataru's house, where he finds that Lum has returned to the space ship. Ataru says she's very angry, so Ten-chan decides to go to the ship and square things with Lum. Inside the ship, Lum doesn't know how to be angry with Ten-chan despite knowing how her father could be with her (spanking her). As Ten-chan enters the craft, Lum does a practice anger session which Ten-chan sees as true anger. So fierce is Lum that Ten-chan attempts to beat a hasty retreat, and he can't do it quick enough.

Ten-chan returns to Ataru's house to gather a few belongings so that he may leave for good. Ataru is sleeping when Ten-chan leaves and as the depressed Ten-chan walks, he encounters Sakura-sensei. Ten-chan can't talk with "Sakura-neechan" at first, but eventually he does and she tells him he must honestly apologize. Ten-chan returns to Ataru's home, where he finds him still asleep. Later, Ataru is up and Lum is in the room knitting another muffler. Ataru is still telling Lum that she needs to be angry with Ten-chan, however Lum is having a difficult time not laughing since Ten-chan wrote his apology on the back of Ataru's shirt.

Thoughts/Review: Since Ten-chan annoys me to no end, I loved this episode since Ten-chan gets beaten quite a few times by Ataru AND from Megane's "Lum Stormtrooper" group. The funniest beating of course came from Ataru using his special frying pan to defend himself from Ten-chan's fire attack, then end up using Ten-chan as a tennis ball, whacking him repeatedly against the wall. In episode 83, Ten-chan was used as a baseball and a basketball, so way to go writers on the sports ball theme. ^_^

Lum's practice anger session is also funny since Ten-chan thought she was really angry. However, I also have to admit that I was amused at Ten-chan's written apology on Ataru's shirt.

Since this is a Takahashi-sensei inspired title, I don't figure Lum and Ataru will be a proper couple at the end (that is reserved first for Maison Ikkoku and then a 2nd place finish for the Inuyasha manga). Still, I did wonder if Ataru felt a little sense of loss over losing the muffler Lum had made for him or if it were all an act. For some reason, I got the feeling that it wasn't all an act (though it was mostly to torment Ten-chan). Further, in his dream, Lum was the first of the girls who's name Ataru spoke while he napped. So clearly, Ataru is interested in Lum more than I remember.

So, a fun episode, especially with Ten-chan getting his. ^_^

Keroro Gunsou 78

ケロロ軍曹 Episode 78
Sgt. Frog anime, 78
Keroro Gunsou episode 78

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis: Down at the alien underground shopping area, the alien pop idol Sumomo steals a ring and takes off on a space bike. Sumomo takes off her mask to reveal Keroro. Later at the Hinata residence, Keroro is doing laundry with Space Policewoman Poyun-chan opens a portal and begins her slow arrival. Keroro fears he will be busted and flees but before he can escape through the fridge portal in his room, Poyun-chan fires her weapon, causing the portal to open to another location than the secret Keron base, sucking his various manga and Gundam items into the vortex. Keroro gets the door shut and is accused of stealing the ring. He thought he was going to be busted for false advertising.

Meanwhile, the faux Keroro has a ring and has taken Fuyuki to help decipher a riddle the ring displays using his detective skills. When Fuyuki tells Keroro he's being weird, Keroro pulls a weapon but is stopped by Space Interpol First Class Investigator, Jessica Harpie. Poyun-chan, Keroro, Giroro, and Tamama also arrive on scene, forcing the fake Keroro to reveal that he is in fact Kaitou Viper. This is the criminal Jessica has been after, but Kaitou is too quick for them all and makes an escape, pursued by Poyun-chan.

Back at Keroro's room, Jesica reveals that Kaitou is after the burried treasure of the Trunk aliens. With Fuyuki's photographic memory, they have the riddle down and Fuyuki uncovers the first clue which takes the group to the Nazca Lines in Peru (in a flying, 18th century pirate sailing ship of the undead on the outside but inside is modern). From there, they uncover the second clue on a stone map that shows a ghost island moving within the Bermuda Triangle. As they head to the island after reaching the Triangle, Kaitou and his Viper minions attack. Jessica and Fuyuki are knocked overboard and sent through a portal while the platoon (including Kururu) is captured.

Fuyuki and Jessica find the remains of ships, planes, manga magazines, and Gundam models in the place they were sucked to. Meanwhile, Natsumi begins looking for Fuyuki and thinking he might be in the base, she opens the fridge, which is still connected to another place. Ironically enough, it is were Fuyuki and Jessica are, so Natsumi is able to pull them to safety. Fuyuki and Jessica are off again while Giroro is recruited to dress as a woman to help the platoon break out of prison. Fuyuki and Jessica rescue them instead.

Before they can get off the ship, a 2nd Keroro arrives, forcing Tamama to use his Tamama impact to reveal who's real and who isn't (the real one takes the blast and gets an afro as a result). Busted, the fake Keroro has the section of ship they are on ejected, not realizing that Kururu can hack into that sections systems and cause them to fly. They land on the ghost island where Keroro immediately realizes he has to pee. Before he can go, Fuyuki realizes the third clue's solution as the squat toilets are in fact the treasure, made of gold but with a disguise paint job that easily comes off.

Kaitou is already there and after causing a flood, he's able to take all the gold toilets as Keroro must save Fuyuki from drowning. Getting back to his ship, Kaitou discovers Puyon-chan has a huge number of police support vehicles and has captured his entire crew. His only escape route is cut off by Jessica and the platoon, thus he is arrested. As a reward, he's given one of the gold toilets, sealed in an air-filled bag. Keroro eagerly opens the bag but because it is Trunk gold, it cannot survive in the Earth atmosphere, thus it dissolves into nothing.

Thoughts/Review: Considering all the Space Battleship Yamato parody references combined with my currently watching Space Battleship Yamato 2 (as of this posting that is), I decided that I'll just start sharing those images for the tiny percent of people who will actually enjoy them (because I can, y'all).


Another parody is the Pirates of the Caribbean one. Not only is Keroro dressed in period dress, but the ship they flew in looked a lot like the Black Pearl.

A pretty fun episode with the best laugh coming at the end. Ah, got to love where Keroro finally ended up taking a wiz. ^_^

And you gotta love Giroro in drag. ^_^

Kagetora Manga Volume 11

Kagetora Volume 11 (manga)
カゲトラ Volume 11
SPOILER Summary/Synopsis: Kagetora has been ordered to return to his village by Yuki's mother (and Kagetora's master) as he's no longer needed as Yuki's oyakume. Kagetora is not happy about this, but his oldest brother is there to insure Kagetora follows the order. Yuki pays a visit to Kagetora and sees he looks down. Kagetora grabs Yuki and takes her on a train ride. However, they end up getting stuck at a town, so they spend the night together at an onsen resort.

The following day, they return home where Kagetora says goodbye and disappears. Yuki discovers that Kagetora is gone for good and ordered so by her mother. No one can change the order of the current head of the Toudou house, not even Yuki's powerful grandmother (the former head of the house). As such, Yuki challenges her mother in an official way while Kagetora attempts to officially be disowned so that he can be with Yuki. His father won't allow it and before the issue can be pressed further, Kagetora is summoned to the Toudou estate.

Kagetora arrives and paying respects to the head of the Toudou house (who's hidden behind a blind), Kagetora announces his intention to stop being a ninja, thus breaking the master-servant relationship he has with the Toudou family. He turns to leave but the voice behind the screen orders him to stop. It is Yuki, who won her fight with her mother to become master for a day. Thus, she "orders" Kagetora to stay by her side, not as oyakume but as himself. He agrees and the happy couple kiss. Outside, Kagetora's brother Shiroumaru and Yuki's new oyakume Kaya are relieved this is over, as this was staged by Yuki's mother and grandmother to see how serious Yuki and Kagetora were.

Sometime in the future, a brother and sister find an album of their parents wedding -- Kagetora and Yuki. The events of the traditional Japanese wedding is gone over.

Thoughts/Review: Ah, beautiful. While there was never a doubt as to Yuki and Kagetora ending up as a true (and ultimately married) couple, it is nice taking the journey to get there. Reading about them taking the trip to the onsen resort, I couldn't help but think of other titles with similar incidents (though some clearly not as romantic) like Love Hina, Maison Ikkoku, and Ai Yori Aoshi. Plus, this had a wedding chapter too and that's always nice. ^_^

The extra is the "beta" version of Kagetora, which I found to be most fascinating from a writing perspective. The manga, as originally developed had Yuki as a much different character, thus while there is still the attraction between the two characters, the nature of things is different. Plus, it seems to me that there's more gratuitous fanservice in the beta version. After reading this, going back and reading what Segami-sensei eventually came up with as the true release (with an editor's assistance of course) shows just how a good idea can be made better.

I think I'll write a "final thoughts" review of the manga series as a whole later but for now, I like how volume 11 brings everything to a close. I hope to be able to read more of Segami-sensei's stuff (which at present comprises of the 1-volume Kami Gurai, the 2-volume Kisu * Kura, and the newly started Kanade.

Another Record Month (with a Record Day Too)

October's stats show the continued rise of the old blog here to record heights, and this despite the fact that I'm reviewing two old school anime titles (Yamato 2 and Urusei Yatsura) which are not exactly big drawers (though they do get a few hits). Traffic is up over 7% from last month and a whopping 145% since June. ^_^ After last month, I actually expecting things to drop off a bit, but that hasn't been the case.

So thank you all with a special thanks to all the Negima! fans, who are driving a lot of new traffic all over the world. So to you, here's a wallpaper. ^_^