FUNimation Breaks Out the EVA Units by Licensing "Evangeion 1.0"

Well, as expected, FUNimation has now licensed the movie Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone. I'm most certainly looking forward to getting to watch this movie, having enjoyed the original TV series as a whole. This is a title that I could see FUNimation actually trying to get into theaters, at least for a short run, considering how big the franchise is (and lets face it, ADV made the TV series its cash cow for many years with numerous re-releases).


I figure this will be the final FUNimation license in this blitz and fans will reflect their excitement, anger, fear, etc. on message boards all over. That will be interesting to follow.

You know, it is a shame that FUNimation couldn't now license-grab the TV series from ADV and the earlier movies from Media Blasters. I doubt that happens, but considering how FUNimation is big on taking what once was another company's license, it wouldn't surprise me if this happened.


Also, while I'm thinking of it, I wonder if FUNimation would be interested in trying to get the live-action Evangelion title off the ground again since ADV has gotten nowhere with it for years. Hollywood is so keen on bringing over certain anime titles as live-action titles (and apparently mostly failing at it) so now would seem to be the time to get that going again.

FUNimation's official Evangelion 1.0 site is here.

Ha!Ha!Ha! FUNimation Has Fun With Wailing Fans and Licenses Soul Eater Anyway

FUNimation clearly had the clue laid out which indicated that they had Soul Eater. However, they threw everyone a curve with two distro-licenses for Geneon rather than announce Soul Eater as EVERYONE with an opinion figured.


Oh the weeping and wailing and nashing of teeth that happened when Soul Eater didn't appear with the previous two FUNimation announcements. While I speculated that this title might in fact still be licensed or might have been delayed (as seen in this article I wrote), most people seemed convinced that FUNimation was lying to them or worse. Many seem outraged that FUNimation is calling license rescue announcements as "new licenses" despite the fact that these are in fact new licenses for FUNimation.


So, now FUNimation lays out their latest license announcement with Soul Eater and shows the hardcore fandom that post on forums how jumping the gun is not a good thing to do. Further, they revealed just how fickle hardcore anime fans are (and there were some who claimed that no one cared about Geneon license rescues when in fact many people do).

I've never seen this series but FUNimation has the whole thing, which is good. FUNimation's official Soul Eater site is HERE.

FUNimation Goes Warring State Hip-Hop with a "Samurai Champloo" Distribution License

FUNimation pulls another surprise "distro-only" announcement with Samurai Champloo.

What?!

Josh is on the case and has already reported that Lance from FUNimation has hinted there will be more licenses today since there are 24-hours within December 31st. *lol* I'm not sure about Soul Eater, but I think for sure that Evangelion 1.0 will be the last thing licensed before 2009 hits Central Time. It is also possible that Soul Eater will hit sometime later today, but we'll see.



As to the Samurai Champloo series, it certainly had that unique hip-hop meets 1600's Japan setting and frankly, considering how well Afro Samurai did, getting this on Spike or some other channel would seem to be in order (I don't know if it ever aired on TV before or not).

Whew! I'm going to bed. It will be fun to see if there are more licenses throughout the day or just the one (as I suspect) tonight.

Oh yeah, FUNimation's official site is here.

Negima! Chapter 237 SPOILER Images

Negima! 237 SPOILER Images
魔法先生 ネギま！Chapter 237 (Images)

Here's what many of you have been waiting for -- the original-sized, sneak-peek images for Mahou Sensei Negima! 237 as brought to you buy anonymous Japanese fans (click pic to make bigger, y'all).






Looks like Negi's been getting a bit too cocky and on the old power chart, is still not up high enough. ^_^;

I didn't expect these until Saturday but they've been out since Monday in Japan, which surprised me. The manga still won't be officially out for publication in Japan until January 7th though. Thanks to Neko for back-checking.

Kannagi 13 (finale)

かんなぎ Episode 13 (final episode)
Kannagi: Crazy Shrine Maidens 13

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis: After the audience is shown that Nagi is staying with the family that runs the Kannagi Shrine, Jin is shown to still be very depressed and upset over things, even telling Tsugumi it is none of her business where Nagi is. Shino and Takako inquire of Tsugumi to find out what happened with Nagi and why Jin is so down and out. They won't talk to him themselves but after talking with Tsugumi, they realize that this is none of their business. Tsugumi ponders over this and after school, decides to wait for Jin. At a nearby park, Tsugumi goes off on Jin for basically abandoning Nagi, stating that it is obvious to her that Nagi wants Jin to come find her.

After Tsugumi gets through telling him off, Jin realizes she is right and takes off on his bicycle to try to find Nagi. Tsugumi goes home, where she pulls up the Nagi-sama website and calls Jin to let him know where Nagi has been spotted in town. Eventually, this leads Jin to the river where he finds Nagi standing on the bank dressed in black. She tries to leave, but Jin grabs her. Jin tells her that it is OK that she doesn't remember everything and that it was Nagi visiting him as a child that made him what he is today. He promises to find the answers with her. Nagi has a good cry but they've made up.

As Nagi is using tissues to wipe away her tears, a young woman in a kimono named Shige shows up, glad that Nagi found her family finally. Shige sees Jin and immediately recognizes him, telling Jin that she can tell him more if he wishes. Jin is confused, but Shige is very happy and takes him by the arm. She points out some areas and talks about the past, asking Nagi (whom she addresses as "Kannagi-sama") if she remembers some of these things. Nagi says she does and even speaks of them some. Shige talks of how Kannagi-sama prevented Shige from hanging herself after Shige learned that her husband had been killed in the fighting during World War II. Shige then speaks of her happiness to have met Kannagi-sama again, and the audience is shown a scene with Nagi hugging the elderly lady that Jin met from before.

After Shige leaves them, Nagi tells the puzzled Jin that she is from the first family of her followers -- the Kamimori family (god-protector). With that, Nagi takes Jin to where a memorial for Shige is being held. Jin tells Nagi that this is difficult to understand, which Nagi understands. She wonders if it is OK to refer to herself as a kami and starts to falter again, but Jin takes her by the hand and encourages her, reminding her that they'll have to keep searching for the answers. They walk home holding hands and this is seen and reported on the Nagi-sama board. They return to Jin's home where there are messages, including one from Shino and Takako reminding them not to take the reconciliation too far.

Nagi goes to take a bath and suddenly, this bothers Jin in a way it hadn't before as he becomes very flushed and "excited" over this, especially if he thinks about it. So, he turns on the TV to take his mind of things, where Zange-chan is promoting her new CD. Jin starts pacing to burn off energy and Nagi finishes her bath. However, Nagi realizes she didn't bring a change of clothing into the bathroom. So, she puts on a towel and tries to sneak out, but is seen by Jin anyway. She tries to run away, but trips and when Jin tries to catch her, she ends up on her back on the floor with Jin on his hands in knees above her. It is this that Tsugumi comes in to find, causing her to go into shock before fleeing. Jin starts to explain but Nagi goes off on him, even whacking him with a frying pan while Tsugumi runs away, wondering why she's crying.

Thoughts/Review: I had wondered how the series could possibly recover its great comedy aspects when the story had become serious with Nagi's having left Jin and so many things about her remaining a mystery. The end of the episode quickly put that question to rest with the cliched half-naked girl haven fallen on the ground and the hapless boy having fallen on top of her or over her (we saw that a lot in Love Hina for example). Nagi's going off on Jin was the non-depressed, self-confident Nagi of old, so should there be a sequel series (and I really hope there is one), providing the same production team stays in place, I expect we'll see more great comedy.

Anyway, while it was immediately clear that Shige was the elderly woman that Jin had spoken to about "Kannagi-sama," what was interesting to me is that to her, Nagi isn't "Nagi" but "Kannagi-sama." When Nagi stated that some of what Shige said happened before Shige died is something Nagi can't remember, I began to think back to these other moments when Nagi becomes kami-like. Maybe the reason Nagi can't remember much is because she's from a piece of the Kannagi tree. As such, she's a personality that exists based on the limitations of that form, but "Kannagi-sama" is the true deity and because Kannagi is so powerful, Nagi cannot support that form of herself for long, thus losing consciousness immediately after losing that form. To be able to support the Kannagi form for a longer period, Nagi would need more supporters I'd think in order to have the power required.

So a really enjoyable episode for me with plenty of material to explore in a sequel series as well as plenty more comedic moments to exploit.

FUNimation to Distribute Gungrave and Explains Why So Many License Rescues.

With FUNimation haven taken several titles completely away from Geneon, Geneon proves they are not totally out of the game as FUNimation only has a distribution license for Geneon's Gungrave title. From a personal perspective, it is a little disappointing that FUNimation didn't get the license free and clear as they did with the Geneon titles, but we can't have everything. Gungrave does nothing for me, but I'm sure there are lots of folks who are happy about that.

One question people have is, "was this the clue that everyone thought would be for Soul Eater?" Just for a quick reminder, here is the clue.

"Bobby,
Thought you'd like to know that your grandpa and I went to eat at Smith's Pie shop last night. Bless your soul, you always got so excited about their pies during summer visits!
Come see us soon, sweetie! All of my love, Granny"

I would put forth the following ideas.

1. FUNimation is going to announce it tomorrow night. That would mean the Evangelion 1.0 license announcement is on hold.
2. FUNimation is going to announce Soul Hunter and Evangelion 1.0 for a big finale (possibly holding Eva for the 31st and New Year's Eve).
   
3. FUNimation is holding off on a Soul Hunter license at the moment and went with Gungrave as the best title they had ready to go that might fit the above-mentioned clue.
4. FUNimation threw us a curve with the clue to make it look like Soul Eater but Gungrave was always the intended title.
   

Lance Heiskell, one of FUNimation's powers that be, had some interesting insights on why FUNimation is doing so many license rescues at this time.

For months people wanted more Geneon back-catalog titles well....back.

Timing on contracts for new shows add a few wrinkles into the mix with announcing. Rescue licenses are an easier contract - hence faster announcement and delivery on DVD release dates.

That "wrinkle" comment makes me think that maybe something happened with either Soul Eater or Evangelion 1.0 but we'll see tomorrow.

Regarding getting more new titles, Lance had this to say.

We've got a full year lined up. Don't worry about that.

So there you have it. BTW, FUNimation's Gungrave site is here.

Keroro Gunsou 85

ケロロ軍曹 Episode 85
Sgt. Frog anime, 85
Keroro Gunsou episode 85

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis: There's a toy vending machine in the hall entry way when Natsumi comes home with a sign warning to not touch it. Naturally, Natsumi turns the leaver and is turned into a little toy in the plastic ball. This is as Keroro and Kururu planned, so using the toy, Keroro becomes Natsumi to find her weaknesses. However, Keroro-Natsumi is grabbed by some female classmates to help with sports clubs. Meanwhile, Natsumi comes to and is not happy by her change in appearance -- she's Keroro. No one believes her story about being switched. As such, there's nothing for her to do but Keroro's craft job with Moa-chan and the chores, which she learns are very difficult with Keroro's body while at school, Keroro-Natsumi learns how tough Natsumi has it. In the end, when Natsumi-Keroro comes home, he wearily agrees to change back with Natsumi, both having a better understanding of the other.

Tama brings a stash of magic sticks, looking like the batons from mahou shoujo anime. However, as Keroro reveals, they are not magical, but technical. Different buttons do different things. As such, Natsumi is able to transform into a magic girl and Fuyuki is able to transform into a young, school boy wizard. Mokona comes by and soon joins in the fun, which also includes broom flying. Since Aki-san is so busy, she can't play with her children or the platoon, so she's off to work. Wanting to do something nice for their mother, that night, everyone comes by her office building where in sparkling lights, they spell out that they love Mama. She's touched but it is then that the batteries on the magic sticks run out and everyone has a date with the ground.

Thoughts/Review: KU!Ku!Ku!Ku! Well, when I read the manga, I didn't imagine Natsumi still having Keroro's voice and vice versa, but oh well. It had to be done I guess to keep the audience from being confused. While it was funny seeing Giroro's reaction to what he thought was Natsumi and her bath offer, I didn't like how the story was changed to make Keroro and Natsumi understand each other. In the manga, the plan was to have fake proof of the invasion progress with Natsumi-Keroro storming in on Keroro-Natsumi and attacking, showing Keroro kicking bottom. Oh well.

For the 2nd story, it was funny seeing everyone getting into mahou shoujo gear (save for Fuyuki, who's outfit appeared to parody Harry Potter. I don't know if the other costumes used were parodies of mahou shoujo anime titles or not, but oh well. The story was OK, I guess. It is pretty bad that Aki-san works such strange, long hours though.

As an aside, I initially had this erroneously labeled, thus the re-publication.

Oh, and FUNimation has Slayers Evolution-R Too

FUNimation sent me a heads-up (along with ANN and possibly other places) that they have Slayers Evolution-R as well as Slayers Revolution. Right now, there's no word on how this will be released or even if FUNimation will use the "Slayers Evolution-R" name. Personally, I hope they do to keep it in line with how the Japanese are releasing it. I guess we'll see some online videos for both series in 2009 with DVD's coming out in 2010.

Either way, I'm excited. I thought we might not get an official announcement of Slayers Evolution-R until after the series was underway in Japan, but I'm very glad to be proven wrong there. ^_^

FUNimation Licenses Something Special for AstroNerdBoy -- Slayers Revolution

Heh!heh!heh! OK, so FUNimation didn't actually license this title for me, but I have to say that the licensing of Slayers Revolution has me very excited to say the least and was on my short wish list along with Kannagi. Yeah, I know, FUNimation's license rescue of Slayers, Slayers Next, and Slayers Try left something to be desired after everyone got their hopes up. However, this time, FUNimation is getting to do everything from scratch, so I'm really hoping for some good things like proper name, place, and spell spelling as well as the untranslated use of "Mazoku." Maybe I'll get super lucky and score some additional information in the near future.

One item of interest is that while Enoki Films is listed as "Distributor" for Slayers, Slayers Next, and Slayers Try (something that also was there when Central Park Media had those licenses), this time, it looks as if FUNimation has it free and clear from Enoki Films.


I've already watched Slayers Revolution and those wanting to see a review (which will have some spoilers in it) may do so here. FUNimation's official Slayers Revolution website can be located here (which is different from their regular Slayers page).

Urusei Yatsura 95

うる星やつら episode 95 (TV anime)

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis: Ataru is upset that his share of the otoshidama (the present of money given at New Year's) is so low and he attributes that to Lum and Ten-chan living at his house. So, Ataru wants them to show some appreication. Ten-chan refuses, but Lum wants to treat Ataru to a nice meal. Naturally, Ataru is down for that, but gets angry when Ten-chan wants to tag along on his date. Fortunately, Cherry arrives with a baby sitting proposal. So to put Ten-chan to sleep, he weaves an elaborate tale, formed from many different Japanese fables (which of course star Ataru, Lum, and Ten-chan) but that puts everyone to sleep.

Thoughts/Review: This episode is best watched by those who know all of the Japanese fables parodied here. Here's what I was able to detect -- Shita-kiri Suzume (舌切り雀 -- "Tongue-Cut Sparrow"), Momotarou (桃太郎 -- "Peach Boy"), Kintarou (金太郎 -- "Golden Boy"), Issun-boushi (一寸法師 -- "One-Inch Boy"), Taketori Monogatari (竹取物語 -- "Tale of the Bamboo Cutter"), The Fountain of Youth (couldn't find the Japanese names so if someone has that, let me know), and even a Star Wars reference in the form of a crashed X-Wing fighter. *lol*

Were I more than just casually aware of these fables, I dare say that I would have found this episode to be rather humorous, especially since some of the roles are reversed for this story (from their original tale). As it is, the episode is fine, though it did make me do a bit of research. ^_^

For FUNimation's Next Trick -- "Gankutsuou: the Count of Monte Cristo"

Another of the predicted titles has come true as FUNimation has announced the license for Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo. I never read the original Alexandre Dumas novel in French or English and I never watched this anime adaptation of the classic novel. It looks weird to me and that alone doesn't cause it to grip me. I've heard a lot of positive things about the anime, but I've also heard from those who've said it was impossible for them to get passed the stylistic visuals. I could read up more on it, but frankly I have such a massive backlog of anime as it is that I don't need another title.


FUNimation's official site is --> HERE.

It Has Been Two Years!

Today marks the 2-year anniversary of my anime blog starting. So to celebrate, here's a Belldandy poster (~1200x1600) from Ah! My Goddess. ^_^


Back when I started, I wasn't sure exactly how the blog would be received, especially since I'm a latecomer into the world of anime blogging and there were already so many anime blogs (as well as manga and other related blogs) out there with huge followings. However, that really didn't matter at the end of the day. I would write what I wanted to write about. If people began to follow my blog, great. If not, well as long as I enjoyed what I did, that's all that mattered.

Still, people did come and check out my dribble. The first year was kinda slow but I did pretty good for a newbie who (1) wasn't watching tons of new anime and (2) couldn't watch anime as it aired in Japan. This year has seen my blog traffic grow by almost 400% over last year. That's way better than what I had dared hope for, especially since I'm not trying to blog every new anime series that comes up, only those titles I'm interested in.

So thank you all for coming and checking out my piece of the anime blogdom. I hope that I can continue to provide you guys with stuff to keep you coming back for more. ^_^

Oh No! Negima Chapter 237 is WHAT?

The review for this week's chapter isn't even up yet, but I already see people looking for Negima! 237. I got bad news for you guys -- Negima! is on a break this week. Yeah, I know, Negima! had a 3-week break and now has another break. Well, that's the way it is, y'all. That said, I hope to have the spoiler images up on January 4th and this time, I'll keep looking for a couple of days thereafter if the first batch of images is stingy.

In the meantime, here's my favorite Eva-Chachazero image. I've kept my eyes open for the possibility that someone in Japan or elsewhere may have cleaned this up and given it a really quality color-job, but thus far, nothing. If someone has something, PLEASE let me know. ^_^

FUNimation's Next License Is New, Y'all -- "Oh Edo Rocket"

Well, those who've not been happy with FUNimation's license rescued are now getting an all-new license announcement -- Oh! Edo Rocket. This is a title that I'd not hear of until the guessing started. I took a look-see and on the surface, it isn't gripping me. I don't know how much stock can be placed in this factoid, but when I did some image searching on both U.S. and Japanese sites for this series, I came up with very little. In fact, FUNimation and Madhouse are using the identical background for the official websites (FUNimation is HERE and Madhouse is HERE for comparison). So lest this post have no image, I just did a grab of what they did.

I'll be interested in seeing how much of a response this gets though.

Update: Fixed links. Sheeze. This simple post has been a pain, first with not finding any decent images, then the dang thing publishing ahead of schedule, then the links getting wiped. Whew. Hopefully this time everything is fixed 'cause I'm going to bed!

Kannagi 12

かんなぎ Episode 12
Kannagi: Crazy Shrine Maidens 12

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis: Jin checks with a teacher to obtain information about who runs the Kannagi Shrine. Before heading there, Daitetsu shows Jin that he found Nagi's abandoned baton on the roof of the school. After school, Jin discovers an eccentric older couple are the current guardians of the shrine, not Shinto priest. Living with them is an elderly lady (known as "Baa-chan" for "Grandma") and she reflects back on how "Kannagi-sama" helped the people during the war (WWII). Jin takes all this to heart.

That night in the city, three punks come upon Zange, who's still selling her ¥100 confessions. They want more than a confession and mean to rape her, but she beats them something fierce, combining an impressive array of martial arts moves. With the punks defeated, she makes the two standing punks carry off their unconscious comrade. An older man comes out of the shadows and has a canned beverage for Zange for her efforts. Jin, who'd witnessed the fight, realizes that Zange was never in trouble the time he rescued her.

Jin talks with Zange about her being a kami. Zange has the same non-answers that Nagi had regarding removing impurities from the world and the problems they cause. However, unlike Nagi, Zange doesn't get angry about it and she's not concerned that she doesn't understand things more than what she has stated because it isn't important. Jin tells her of his conversation with Suzushiro-sensei and how Nagi and Zange could be spirits, not deities. Zange is a little frustrated with that, but does concede that since Nagi's humanoid form came from the sacred tree, it is possible a spirit took Nagi's form while inhabiting Jin's carving.3

Jin comes home to find it empty, save for a note from Nagi apologizing for having lied to Jin. Jin then finds Nagi's school uniform in the trash. He spends the night getting little sleep but before he goes to school, he adds a note to Nagi's note telling her to stay as he won't get angry. He leaves the door unlocked and goes to school. When Tsugumi notices Nagi missing, Jin says she's not coming, implying she's sick. After school, Jin learns that no one has seen Nagi, so he bails on art club to go home, leaving Tsugumi worried. In the rain, Jin rides his bicycle trying to find Nagi but fails. He returns home very depressed and refuses to take a call from Tsugumi. Falling asleep, Jin has a dream-vision of Nagi unconscious in an alley. The following day at school, a worried Tsugumi asks about Nagi, leading an exhausted Jin to tell her that Nagi may never come back.

Thoughts/Review: What happened to the storm from last episode? This episode looked to pick up right where last week's left off.

While this episode certainly takes a stronger turn into serious territory, the humor wasn't completely forgotten, despite Nagi's absence. For example, when Jin went to the home of the shrine guardian, it was amusing that Jin kept getting offered snacks, but the grandmother is the one that gave me the biggest laugh with her sudden speech (I half-expected her to be dead after she wouldn't respond to Jin). Zange-chan kicking thug but was also amusing to me somehow, though not in a big-laugh way. I'd been afraid that the series, which I love most for its humor, would not handle this serious stuff well, but surprisingly, it works well.

As I watched this, I really wished I knew if this is how the manga went. Why? Because many good anime adaptations feel the need to tie things up even if the manga is ongoing and thus write their own ending. I would hate it if this were the case here because it would make having a sequel Kannagi series very difficult and frankly, this series is too good not to have a sequel (and as an aside, hopefully the manga-ka TAKENASHI Eri-sensei is able to recover from whatever illness she had and resume the manga).

So, what exactly happened to Nagi? Of all the places Jin looked, why not check out the construction site? As serious as things are here with Jin's depression over Nagi's absence, his dream (or vision) of Nagi unconscious in an alleyway, Nagi's tears last episode, the baton left behind, the uniform thrown out, Nagi's note, and Nagi's absence from this episode in general, I can't help but think that when she shows up next episode, there will be some gag about this. I can almost see Nagi telling Jin, "you think I would let all this keep me away?" Then again, maybe that will be part of it with Nagi returning because a new tree is planted on the sacred site. I say this because of all the places Jin looked, he didn't go there.

Sadly, we are down to the last episode. I sure hope FUNimation licenses this one.

"Love Hina" Receiving New Subtitles From FUNimation?

On FUNimation's forums, Lucky Seven brought it to my attention that there's a new trailer for Love Hina's forthcoming release. At the end of said trailer, it mentions that there will be new subtitles. I grabbed a screen capture for you to see.


Those who know me are well aware of my preference to have honorifics retained in the subtitles. Further, I hate it when subtitles receive domestication -- removing Japanese jokes for American ones, removing Japanese references for American ones, etc. That kind of stuff is OK for a dub audience who won't care much (if at all) about Japanese references and jokes, but if I'm watching this in Japanese, I want the Japanese perspective all the way around.

With this in mind, when I learned years ago that FUNimation's licenses all contained subtitles which not only retained the "core" honorifics (-sama, -dono, -san, -chan, -kun, -sensei, -senpai), but some titles went further, using more honorifics or even terms like "youkai" (Yu Yu Hakusho) or "ninpou" (Basilisk), I became a fan of FUNimation's work. That's why when FUNimation license rescued Slayers but did not give the series new FUNimation-quality subtitles at the very least, I was highly disappointed.

Now, if the above screen-shot is accurate AND the new subtitles have my honorifics and don't have the domestication stuff that Bandai put in there, FUNimation will for sure have made at least one double-dip sale from me (as soon as I land a new job that is). I dare say they will score more than a few new double-dip sales from people like me who are into the honorifics.

On a related topic, watch the trailer and then tell me here or in the Love Hina thread on FUNimation's Forums what you think about the marketing scheme being used. Make mention on whether you've seen Love Hina or not.


Update: (February 20, 2009) I just received my FUNimation DVD release of the TV series. No honorifics are in the subtitles that I saw through spot checking of the first four episodes. So I pulled my Bandai DVD's off the shelf and checked the first four episodes on my computer against the FUNimation release. The scripts are identical. I'll try to find out what happened but no promises.

FUNimation says, "Get more Gonzo! This time, make it 'Last Exile!'"

Another license rescue as FUNimation does appear to be VERY keen on acquiring every GONZO title ever made. That said, Last Exile is a pretty good anime title with the beautiful art and animation one would expect from a GONZO title and a pretty interesting story to boot (though some unresolved questions, which seems typical in a fair amount of anime titles). I love the idea of flying ironclad ships as well as biplane-style flying craft, only without the wings. Conceptually, there are a lot of good things here.


I liked the anime so much, I actually splurged and bought the boxed set with Lavie doll and mouse pad from Geneon back in the day despite knowing their subtitles wouldn't be up to FUNimation standards (and I'd actually forgotten I'd done that because the doll is still sealed up and the mousepad is boxed up somewhere). I highly doubt FUNimation will have such goodies with their release, but who knows -- they may surprise us yet.




Oh, and before I pass out from lack of sleep ('cause it is midnight mountain time as I write this, though it will auto-publish at 06:00MT), FUNimation's official Last Exile site is HERE.

Merry Christmas -- "Fate/stay night" Style!

I've never watched Fate/stay night, but after seeing this wallpaper combined with having been sent the entire series for Christmas, well, I think I need to watch it sooner rather than later. ^_^


Merry Christmas everyone!

For Christmas, FUNimation Announces "Nabari no Ou"

For all the people hungry for a non-license rescue, here's the first new license from FUNimation -- Nabari no Ou. Frankly, I'm amazed that they are using this Japanese name for the R1 release rather than rename it to say something like "Ruler of Nabari" or "King of Nabari." Regardless, this is a title I've never heard of, though it does sound somewhat interesting (its got ninjas, y'all) so maybe I'll check it out. Yen Press is doing the manga, so I might have to check that out as well. If any of you have read the manga or watched the anime, post a comment on your thoughts about it.

Here are a couple of Nabari no Ou images (click images for full-sized version).





FUNimation's official site is HERE.

A Clannad Christmas Eve

Well, it is the day before Christmas and so I thought I'd throw up a couple of Clannad wallpapers I found sometime back.

Ooops! FUNimation Image Confirms Another Mecha License Before It Is Officially Announced

As reported by ANN (and thanks to Braves for the alert), this image was found.

http://www4.funimation.com/video/images/shows/evangelion.jpg

In case that doesn't show up, here's the actual image (click for full-sized version).

Tomorrow's announcement maybe?

On Day 3, FUNimation says, "I'll take 'Vandread' and 'Vandread Second Stage' please."

So, FUNimation pulls another two titles out of the Geneon stable -- Vandread and Vandread Second Stage. I already own the Geneon singles for this, so barring a new subtitle treatment to FUNimation standards, there's no reason for me to buy this. However, if you guys haven't watched Vandread, you are missing a real treat. As I rambled about a while back, Vandread (and Vandread Second Stage) are on the surface nothing more than a Gonzo mecha-harem title. However, the premise of making the "war of the sexes" into an actual war and forcing three male prisoners to serve on a female pirate ship as they attempt to travel home actually gives this franchise something special. Further, the characters are very likeable (at least in the Japanese), there are very funny moments that happen, there are touching moments that happen, and there's a lot of action. Basically, this anime has a bit of everything and is able to overcome some of the standard shounen cliches, enough that this is a top-10 favorite anime of mine.

This time, it appears to be a distribution-only deal and not a true license rescue since Geneon's logo is slapped on FUNimation's official Vandread page. Then again, maybe not since it says it is licensed by FUNimation and not "distributed" by FUNimation. Who knows. I'm sure ANN will clear this point up once the official press release comes out. (Update: It is a true license rescue.)

I know people aren't going to be happy with another Geneon title now in FUNimation's hands being the 3rd announcement rather than have a new title fill that role. However, I for one am glad that Vandread and Vandread Second Stage won't fall off the R1 anime map.

Congrats to those who guessed this right.

Back to the Vaults 2008 Christmas Special -- "Ai Yori Aoshi ~Enishi~ Miyuki"

Ai Yori Aoshi ~Enishi~ Deep Snow
Ai Yori Aoshi ~Enishi~ Beautiful Snow
藍より青し ～縁～ 深雪

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis: Kaoru is returning home from his part-time job to pay for school when he sees classmate Tina Foster on the street. He turns down her offer to have dinner, citing other things he has to do. As he walks, a snowflake pendant falls on his head. He takes it, grabs something cheap at the convenience store, then goes home exhausted and falls asleep on his futon. He awakens a bit later to discover a cute girl dressed in a Santa outfit and calling herself Santa Clause. When Kaoru sees how she got in and out of his place, he freaks and runs out the door, falling down the stairs only to be caught by a floating Santa-san.

Returning to his apartment, she explains that she accidentally dropped the pendant and she'll need it to return home. She wishes to properly thank him for returning the pendant and reading his thoughts, she sees that his wish is to spend Christmas with someone like her. This is the first time someone has made such a wish and she's a bit flustered by it, but agrees to it. Kaoru has a problem addressing her as "Santa" so she tells him he can call her anything. He settles on "Aoi-chan," and tells Santa-Aoi that this is the name of a girl he knew for a short time as a child but hasn't seen since. Santa-Aoi decides to give Kaoru some good dreams for the night but is stunned when she sees him crying in his sleep, not realizing that his dream about having Christmas cake with his mother is the cause.

The next morning, Santa-Aoi-chan makes breakfast -- turkey and Christmas cake. Soon, they are at a theme park where Kaoru notices that no one seems to notice Santa-Aoi. She replies that it is because they don't believe in her. The two spend the entire day at the park doing all sorts of things like skating, eating, and enjoying the rides, while also running into Chika-chan, Taeko, Mayu, and Miyabi-san. When midnight comes, the wish comes to an end an Santa-Aoi must go. She spreads dreams throughout the world, at which she understands why Kaoru cried during his dream. Before she leaves, she wishes he would meet the girl of his dreams, then kisses Kaoru on the lips and is gone. The next morning, Kaoru thinks things are a dream, except there's a Christmas cake showing the whole thing really happened.

Thoughts/Review: Since this special is only 15-minutes long, I figured I'd just use my traditional episode format.

This special came from chapters 43 and 44 of the manga (volume 5), which I didn't know when I first watched this years ago, not having read the manga at that point. This episode doesn't really make this clear, but the manga states that these events happened shortly before Aoi and Kaoru were reunited at the beginning of the series. With that little element added, it makes for a nice little twist on things. It shows that Kaoru always had Aoi-chan in the back of his mind at least and Santa-san granting Kaoru's secret wish when the real Aoi came to find him sometime later is pretty sweet.

The anime managed to get cameos in for all the girls, even though that is quite a stretch. I guess that's why the anime didn't bother trying to actually say, "this happened just before Ai Yori Aoshi episode 1" because these girls could not have all had cameos then. They didn't appear in the source manga. Still, from a fun perspective, it is nice seeing them all and at least the anime folks had sense enough to give Tina the short hairstyle she had when she and Kaoru were attending class at the same time before she took off for a time.

For fans of either the Ai Yori Aoshi manga or the anime, it is just nice seeing Aoi and Kaoru together at Christmas (and as an aside, it is funny hearing Santa-Aoi-chan address Kaoru as "Kaoru-san" rather than "Kaoru-sama" as Aoi-chan does). The way Santa-Aoi catches the falling Kaoru is a sweet moment as is the kiss they share at the end. It is just good, gooey stuff for fans of the franchise and for those who just love a sweet, wholesome romance, especially at Christmas.

FUNimation Scores "Gad Guard" on Day 2

FUNimation continues to grab Geneon titles by scoring Gad Guard. Gad Guard? Never heard of it and what little I've seen from the imagery, it isn't grabbing me either. Geneon had completely released the series so it has been dubbed and subbed. The only interesting thing about this announcement for me is that FUNimation's Gad Guard page does not mention Geneon nor show the Geneon logo anywhere, which FUNimation has done for titles that they are just distributing for Geneon. So I think that this is a true license rescue vs. a distribution deal. Even if that's the case, I highly doubt that FUNimation's release will be anything other than Geneon's work in a FUNimation package.

Looking around different anime forums, anime fans are mostly unimpressed with the first two announcements from FUNimation. As I said, I've never even heard of this anime title, but FUNimation obviously feels that there's money to be made here.

Well, onto the next license tomorrow.

Update: As I thought, this is a true license rescue and not a distribution deal for Geneon (press release). That gives me hope that FUNimation just might be able to completely take the entire Tenchi franchise from Geneon at some point.

More Negima! Chapter 236 SPOILER Images

More Negima! 236 SPOILER Images!
魔法先生 ネギま！Chapter 236 (Images)

Here is the next batch of spoiler images from Mahou Sensei Negima! chapter 236. (click pics to make bigger, y'all).

I'm stunned that the 2nd batch came out so late. I checked only on a whim to see if the Japanese were close to moving to a new spoiler thread where they discuss Negima! and share these images. Well, now we have the entire chapter in SPOILER form. ^_^

The first batch can be found --> HERE!

FUNimation Has "Ikki Tousen"

As announced by FUNimation, they now officially have the very ecchi high school fighting anime Ikki Tousen (FUNimation's official Ikki Tousen site). Geneon previously had the title and while FUNimation has distributed stuff for Geneon before, that's not the case here. Instead, FUNimation has the Geneon portion of the license, meaning Geneon is out of the loop here. I suspect that's because of Enoki Films officially having the distribution part in the U.S., which is their official role for Slayers, Slayers NEXT and Slayers TRY. As such, there's no room for Geneon since Enoki Films' parent company in Japan is the entity from which the U.S. license originates.

I expect that as has happened with other FUNimation license rescues, this will be Geneon's work repackaged with a FUNimation label slapped on it. Whether this means FUNimation will be interested in Ikki Tousen: Dragon Destiny and Ikki Tousen: Great Guardians will likely depend on sales and the deal FUNimation could get from Enoki Films.

This series has an interesting premise for me (a take on the Three Kingdoms story), but the extreme ecchi content (as seen in the poster image above) is what killed it for me. I'm told that the sequels are even worse with the girls having clothing made of tissue-like substance that vanishes with a puff of air. *_*

So, congrats to those who figured that clue out. ^_^

Space Battleship Yamato 2 14

Uchuu Senkan Yamato 2 Episode 14
宇宙戦艦ヤマト2 Ep. 14 (TV, Anime)

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis: Susumu, Sanada, and Analyzer arrive with the requested artillery piece (cluster missile launcher) that Saito requested. However, it is going to take some time to assemble. Since Saito's forces are being blown away, he decides to grab grenades and attack. Saito somehow manages to get onto several tanks, open their hatch, toss in a grenade, and destroy said tank. He even manages to commandeer a tank. However, his forces are decimated, leading Susumu to order Sado-sensei to get down to the planet in a rescue shuttle. Joining Sado is Yuki, who wants to make sure Susumu gives some flowers to Teresa on top of helping treat the wounded.

With the cluster missile launcher assembled and loaded, it is fired, where all of its missiles launch, then release anti-tank cluster piece which completely destroys General Zavival's tank unit save for the general's own tank. Saito decides to take care of this since he's the only one left of his troop and after a brief hand-to-hand with Zavival, he manages to shoot the general. Saito then races to catch up with Susumu, Sanada, and Analyzer, who are heading to a cave where Teresa is while Sado-sensei and Yuki treat and evacuate the wounded.

On the Gatlantis, Emperor Zwordar receives a report from one of his generals that General Zavival had been abandoned by Desler on Teresart and after engaging Yamato's ground forces, were mostly decimated. Elsewhere, Desler meets with Sabera and Gentitz and learning that the Emperor won't speak to him directly, Desler turns to leave. Sabera forbids it, asking if Desler didn't want to know why he'd been recalled. She continues, saying that Desler's forces are not needed, which Desler finds odd. She also tells him that he was ordered back by the Emperor because of Teresa. At that point, Desler understands that the Emperor had nothing to do with the recall and that this is a political move by Sabera. He turns to leave again, but is arrested under Sabera's authority. As such, Desler leaves his aide Talan in charge of the fleet.

On Yamato, Teresa sends another message to direct the ground team to her location. She asks if Daisuke will be there and he tells her he will before taking off for the planet's surface. Meanwhile on the planet, Susumu, Sanada, Saito, and Analyzer make their way into the cave where they encounter some Comet Empire troops, guarding a giant door. They kill all of the enemy troops and open the door, where they find Teresa's "residence" high up on the cave roof, appearing to hover over a large lake. Susumu has the flowers Yuki gave him as a gift when Teresa greets them. She uses her powers to cause the waters to part and provide a path to her giant home.

Thoughts/Review: I just love seeing the stupidity of Saito in these episodes. He's like a delusional psycho nut case, constantly going against Acting Captain Kodai when there's nothing to be gained from doing that and constantly doing all kinds of things that seem to have no other purpose than to draw attention to himself, except he's too dumb to even do that right. He reminds me of people who to this day still get all angry and outraged, ranting and raving over how the Star Wars prequels sucked. Rather than get over it and go one to stuff they like, they'd rather keep flailing and wailing around, hoping to hit a target here or there as they insanely rant on. That's what Saito and his space cavaliers reminded me of in their battle, blindly attacking when there was no point to it other than to show their insanity. It is a shame too since I really hoped that maybe Saito and company would finally get a chance to shine. Instead, they got a chance to fester in their ignorant stupidity.

Susumu isn't much better though. It is pretty stupid to not have an orbital bombardment of the enemy forces rather than waste time bringing down a fancy artillery piece, which then has to be assembled and loaded. Ugh. Every space cavalier should be dead, but naturally, they will all just be wounded, save for Saito, who's got lots of dumb luck. Just so you know, the action sequences (some of which are repeated) makes it look as if all of the troops are being killed, so what magic keeps them alive is for you to make up (much like the 1st series magical ship repairs).

Teresa is another character I'm annoyed with for some reason. I think it is her constant, "This is Teresa from Teresart" messages.

Thus far, the series has been somewhat disappointing and not as well written.

Keroro Gunsou 84 (The real one this time!)

ケロロ軍曹 Episode 84
Sgt. Frog anime, 84
Keroro Gunsou episode 84

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis: Momoka spends an entire night making the perfect bento to serve Fuyuki and now must come up with a good excuse to have Fuyuki enjoy this bento with her. As she stands outside the Hinata residence, she can hear Fuyuki getting excited about the approach of a red comet. So, she offers him a ride on her custom space shuttle to see this comet. The comet approaches, then does the unexpected -- it turns toward them. Turns out, Keroro and Tamama are inside as it is a MS-06S craft -- My Suisei, 06 Special (actual name). Fuyuki is depressed so Momoka tries to feed him some of the bento, but Tamama and Keroro keep interfering. Eventually, Momoka's rage causes her to punch out a shuttle window where she and Fuyuki are left in space. They are eventually rescued by Keroro and Tamama and since Fuyuki managed to rescue a single sausage from the bento, he eats it and loves it, to Momoka's delight. Mission success!

Natsumi and Fuyuki are depressed because matsutake mushrooms are too expensive for their family to afford. Keroro mistakes the siblings remarks about not being able to get a matsutake to mean they can't defeat these mushrooms since on Keron, mushrooms are quite fearsome. So, the platoon (sans Dororo) set out on a mission to capture these powerful matsutake and thus conquer Earth. Giroro goes off on his own to test his warrior skills while Kururu tells Keroro he's set up some Earth-style traps. Unfortunately, Giroro encounters each of these traps and thinks they are from the matsutake while Kururu and the others think the matsutake have set off the traps. After continued misunderstandings, Dororo and Koyuki-chan show up and reveal what matsutake really are, having been gathering a few themselves. Now, everyone can enjoy these mushrooms but unfortunately, they forgot about Giroro, who's still in the mountains to snare these matsutake.

Thoughts/Review: I realize that this series is done for fun and such, but to me, that's no excuse for the writers to just do whatever they feel like. What do I mean? Well, if you are going to have a story where Fuyuki goes to the moon, why would you a year later write a story where you make Fuyuki act as if this is his first time ever in space? Having him be excited about going into space again would be cool OR having him be excited to ride in the space shuttle (vs. whatever Keron ship Keroro might provide) is understandable.

Onto the story, it has been a while since I'd seen a Space Battleship Yamato reference. I think that the comet Keroro flew to Earth is the first direct reference to Space Battleship Yamato 2 though. It would have been perfect if they could have provided music that would have better emulated the White Comet appearance in Yamato 2 rather than the Psycho music emulation. The 2001 (and 2010) parody reference was pretty cool though. Momoka going off ended up getting funny to me after a while for some reason, especially when the giant lobster got involved.

As to the second story, I laugh at how much the Japanese appear to hold the matsutake mushroom in such high regard. Urusei Yatsura episode 87 (which came out in the 1980's) shows that the passage of time hasn't lessened the Japanese love of this delicacy. Anyway, it was amusing seeing how mushrooms on Keron are a fearsome opponent and that the platoon assumed matsutake would be something similar on Earth.

Clannad After Story 12

クラナド アフターストーリー Episode 12

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis: After having a fun dinner at Nagisa's home, Nagisa and Tomoya walk back to Tomoya's apartment. Nagisa has something she wants to talk to Tomoya about, but he quickly deflects the conversation into getting her a swimsuit. Since she only has her old school one, Tomoya wants his girlfriend to have a cute swimsuit and promises that they'll have a fun-filled shopping day. Nagisa is happy with this, but she hasn't forgotten what she wanted to talk to Tomoya about and she won't let him deflect it a second time. She wants to know if Tomoya has told his father where he's living now. Tomoya hasn't and doesn't want to, but does promise Nagisa that the two of them will visit his father at some point in the future.

At his job, Tomoya's work has been recognized and his boss tells him about a project management opportunity with high pay, but working for another company. This surprises Tomoya, but Yoshino feels Tomoya is ready. During their travels to work sites, Yoshino tells Tomoya his story from the 3rd-person. Back in high school as a 3rd-year student, Yoshino got into the rock scene and was encouraged by Ibuki-sensei to follow that dream. After high school, Yoshino rose quickly to popularity on the music scene but after seeing how his music was having an effect on others (in a positive way), he stopped writing music for himself and tried to write for others, but failed. So, he took off for a time before returning to the music scene where he learned that someone committed a crime because of his music. This sent Yoshino into a tailspin where he resorted to drugs before leaving the music scene completely. When he returned to this town, Ibuki-sensei met him at the bus stop. With that, Yoshino stops his tale as they reach their destination.

At his apartment, Tomoya and Nagisa work on preparing dinner and Tomoya tells Nagisa about the opportunity. She is very happy for him because this means Tomoya's work is being recognized. With her encouragement, Tomoya decides that he'll accept the offer. The next day, Tomoya spends the day with Nagisa and sits with her and a bunch of neighborhood women rather than play ball with Akito-san and the neighborhood children. That evening, Nagisa and Tomoya walk to his apartment where she comments on how much he's changed since she met him. Once they get to the apartment, the phone rings with a message for Tomoya to get in contact with his father's acquaintance. Tomoya does this and learns his father has committed a crime and been arrested.

The following day at work, work of Tomoya's father's arrest has already gotten around and in Japanese society, that's enough to cause Tomoya's job opportunity to be withdrawn. His boss tells him that Tomoya still has a job with the electric company though. That evening in the park, Tomoya and Nagisa talk about this. Tomoya wants to move away from the city with Nagisa. Nagisa calmly rejects this idea as it means running away from a problem. Tomoya is very frustrated by things that are happening. Nagisa tells him that she'll go with him anywhere, but she wants to leave on a positive note rather than a negative one. If they leave on a negative note, then the city they were born and raised in will not be a good place to return to (such as visiting friends or family).

Tomoya and Nagisa visit his father in prison. Nagisa stays quiet as an angry Tomoya rants at his father. His father says nothing, so Tomoya has had enough and storms out, Nagisa following. In a residential alley, Tomoya takes out his anger by punching the wall, injuring his knuckles. Crying and still in rage, Tomoya tries to attack the wall again, but Nagisa grabs him and holds him before maneuvering to the front on him, where she tightly embraces Tomoya until his legs give out and he goes down to his knees, Nagisa with him, holding him. Having calmed down, Tomoya asks Nagisa to marry him and she accepts, saying he's the only one and they are strongest together and that she'll stay with him forever.

Thoughts/Review: I couldn't help but notice the continued thunderhead clouds that kept being shown. Foreshadowing for more gloom and doom on the horizon? The fact that one was shown in the final scene before being focused on tells me, "Yes." Man, I tell ya, if Nagisa dies, I'm going to be crying like a baby and I'm going to hate it with a passion, even if she is only a 2D fictional character. However, her saying she'll be with Tomoya forever as a big thunderhead is shown approaching makes me think for sure she's gone. I hope I'm wrong somehow.

The part about Tomoya losing his new job offer due to something his father did makes me glad that I wasn't born Japanese in Japan. ^_^; I'm not sure how much this element of Japanese culture still prevails today in Japan, but I wouldn't be surprised if it does at least to some degree, especially in a smaller city. Man, can you imagine how you'd feel if that happened to you? I think we'd react as Tomoya did. I'm glad that Nagisa is there for him though and that they are finally engaged to be married. I wonder when we'll see that happen.

The strange part of this episode was how Yoshino's story is told. I sorta expected things to shift to his story in a traditional sense rather than Yoshino being a narrator over his story, which was rapped up in about half an episode. I guess that means that the writers feel the Tomoya and Nagisa story as a couple has to press forward, though with 12-episodes remaining, I'm wondering what else could be in store. Normally, these Kyoto adaptations of Visual Art's/Key products seem to be a tad rushed at the end but it seems that may not be the case this time, but who knows for sure.

So, half-way through and finally Tomoya and Nagisa are engaged. Yay! Please don't kill Nagisa.

Negima! Chapter 236 SPOILER Images

Negima! 236 SPOILER Images
魔法先生 ネギま！Chapter 236 (Images)

WOOT! Here's what many of you have been waiting for -- the original-sized, sneak-peek images for Mahou Sensei Negima! 236 as brought to you buy anonymous Japanese fans (click pic to make bigger, y'all).


A little different this time around with four, big individual images rather than the normal cluster of images. Loli Yuuna and Makie join the group.

If there are more images put up, I'll post them later.

UPDATE: They came out MUCH later than normal, but the 2nd batch of images can be found --> HERE!

Kannagi 11

かんなぎ Episode 11
Kannagi: Crazy Shrine Maidens 11

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis: Nagi watches her favorite mahou shoujo anime while Jin reads a manga. She decides her baton needs a power-up based on what she saw in the anime. Jin reminds her that she's been wasting a lot of time and hasn't been clearing impurities. Nagi isn't happy with the reminders, so she "casts" a spell based on what she saw on TV, then immediately begins to scarf down all the chicken from both her and Jin's heated, convenience store dinner. Jin is shaking Nagi and she accidentally turns on the TV where they learn that Zange-chan is trying to get a debut CD going. The phone rings, the first caller is a man upset with Jin over Zange-chan and the next call is a man upset with Jin over Daitetsu.

After dinner, Jin makes some new Shinto streamers for Nagi's baton and even tapes the center for better grip and stronger support. Nagi is happy with this and wants Jin's help to get rid of impurities at school the following day. That time comes and Nagi chases a butterfly-looking impurity into the men's bathroom but can't nail it. She has Jin catch it, which he does but he ends up falling out of the window. Now bandaged up, Jin walks through the halls where people are talking about him being bi-sexual, and when Daitetsu warns Jin about Nagi, that talk increases.

In the art club room, Shino announces that Jin's "popular time" has come, in which all males for one moment in their lives become popular with the opposite sex. The club wonders what is wrong with Jin as he seems to get injured a lot lately. Takako asks if he's possessed as Nagi cheerfully comes in, offering to remove that possession. Jin is not happy and drags Nagi off as Takako can't believe Jin isn't making full use of his dating-sim time with Zange-chan, Nagi-sama, and Tsugumi all being attractive girls who have dealings with Jin. Shino thinks that it is because he's not in love with any of them.

Jin confronts Nagi about a whole host of topics, including why a kami is needed, why are there impurities, why do they look like bugs, etc. However, the topic that gets Nagi angry again is him questioning her as a kami and she won't stand for it. Jin presses and Nagi tears up before running off. Suzushiro-sensei has a talk with Jin after hearing the rumor that Jin is two-timing his daughter. They then talk about Nagi and Zange (to a lesser extent) and whether or not Nagi is indeed a kami has she claims. Suzushiro-sensei isn't sure what Nagi and Zange are, though he thinks they aren't evil. However, there might be another answer than simply labeling them as deities, so Jin goes to do some research.

Elsewhere, Nagi has gone up to the school roof with her baton and is thinking about Jin's words as she looks out over the city. She thinks about how that the people in the city, her "followers," are her children and she loves them very much, wishing them only the best. Nagi thinks back to a conversation she had with Tsugumi on why Jin joined the art club, which is to find himself, though all he's doing is copying Daitetsu in Tsugumi's estimation. Nagi thinks of how things she doesn't understand, she doesn't worry about. However, as she continues to think, a storm comes up and she realizes that she doesn't know anything about herself. She then abandons the roof, leaving her baton behind while Jin discovers that Nagi had checked out a book he was using for research on kami legends.

Thoughts/Review: This episode hits both ends of the spectrum, containing some very funny moments, but also some serious stuff too, and a lot more of that than one would expect. First, the funny -- Nagi scarfing the chicken (2nd funniest bit), Jin taking the call from a guy upset that Jin is being attended to by Zange-chan, Jin taking the call from a guy (Honda?) upset that Jin is "with" Daitetsu (and to me, the funniest bit), Nagi running into the men's restroom, the talk in the halls about Jin and Daitetsu, Takako's dating-sim imagination about Jin, & Nagi's "Kero!kero!kero!" laugh (from Keroro Gunsou).

The serious stuff takes over about 9.5 minutes into the episode and there are issues to be raised. Jin wants answers and that's certainly understandable. That Nagi has no clue to the answers herself goes along with what we've been seeing in that Nagi seems to forget moments when she is being a goddess (the dead kittens, Daitetsu's plea for forgiveness). I was a bit surprised that Jin talked with Suzushiro-sensei about this, but then considering Zange is actually possessing his daughter, I guess he would be the one to go to. But if Suzushiro-sensei didn't see Zange or Nagi as kami, then what does he see them as?

Personally, I think Suzushiro-sensei's ideas regarding Nagi are a way for the writers to take us down these more somber, darker paths. Certainly, Jin has to know that Nagi isn't just some human seeing as how she burst forth from his carving. Also, he's seen her purify impurities AND he did see her absorb the kittens into her body. So he has to know she's something special and unique. I do believe that Nagi is a kami and this will be born out over time. I do wonder though if the anime and the manga are breaking apart here in terms of plot. I've scanned through the first two volumes and those stories have all shown up (funnier in the anime). I'll have to take a deeper look to see if Jin challenges Nagi in the manga about the kittens.

Sadly, there are only two more episodes in this series.

New FUNimation "Shuffle" Boxset Trailer

For you Shuffle! fans or those who've been waiting for the box set, FUNimation wants you to know that they have just uploaded a new trailer for the boxset to their official Shuffle! site. The set will be released on March 13th.

I was recently given the series so I guess I need to watch it sometime soon. ^_^;

Urusei Yatsura 94

うる星やつら episode 94 (TV anime)

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis: Cherry is seated at the Moroboshi table scarfing food from a bucket, leading Ataru's annoyed mother to ask Ataru to take out the trash. Cherry disposed of, up in the skies, Lum and Ten-chan are enjoying the falling snow when a snowman comes crashing down, plowing Ten-chan into the ground. Ten-chan is not amused by this and gives chase to this alien. At the same time, Ataru is returning from the bath house and doesn't see a running snowman when Ten-chan uses his fire breath attack, blasting Ataru by accident instead. Ataru punishes Ten-chan by whacking him with an umbrella.

The next day, Ataru refuses to believe the story of the snowman that can move even though it is right outside his house. Some neighborhood kids give it hands and arms and so when Ataru's P.E. class runs by, it joins in. Ataru doesn't notice it, but the other guys do. So when the snowman slaps Ataru's but, he thinks it is Shuutaro. Ataru wants Shuutaro to stop slapping Ataru's, though he understands why Shuutaro might become fascinated with it. Shuutaro is not amused by this and Ataru refuses to believe this snowman story. Ten-chan arrives and seeing the snowman, launches a fire attack, which the snowman avoids and it hits Ataru. More punishment for Ataru.

That night, Lum and Ten-chan, who's been punished three times now for failed attacks, cannot convince Ataru about the snowman. There's a knock at the sliding glass door and Ataru sees a pink-haired girl in a kimono there, thanking him for saving her three times that day and inviting him down to the ground level for some fun. However, Lum and Ten-chan see only the snowman and are puzzled by Ataru's actions. They leave as Ataru has food and sake and entertainment (though in reality, it is all snow). Ataru then sees the pink-haired girl turn into different girls he's lusted for throughout the series (including Lum) before turning into different male characters he's known. In the morning, it all vanishes and Lum finds him nearly frozen. The two have a moment as the snowman, now on the roof, makes some flurries fall on an otherwise sunny day.

Thoughts/Review: This is a bizarre episode, even by Urusei Yatsura standards. Having an alien-snowman is one thing, but the whole trip-out sequence that Ataru went through was just so out of this world, I wondered if the production team were on drugs or something when they put this episode together (I've no clue if this story is in the manga or not). That part is just so strange and I couldn't wait until it was all over. It went on a lot longer than I wanted since that part took up the 2nd-half of the episode. It felt a lot longer though.

For the first half, things were pretty entertaining though. It was funny that Ataru kept taking Ten-chan's blast intended for the snowman and Ataru kept making Ten-chan pay for those attacks. As I've said, I've never cared for Ten as a character, so anytime that brat gets whacked, I like it. I also laughed out loud at Cherry scarfing food from a bucket and being taken out like garbage.

Even though the 2nd-half is so tedious to me, it did have one nice element -- Ataru seeing Lum. I enjoy those moments that show Lum and Ataru being a real couple, really in love even if Ataru doesn't completely accept that.

So a mixed bag with slightly more good than bad in this episode.

FUNimation Upcoming Licenses: Some Clever Guesses from the Clues

Zoid9000 and others have some interesting guesses about what FUNimation might be announcing for licenses based on the clues provided.

• "Uncle Randy,
  Can't wait to see your new van! In fact, we should plan a road trip. It would take my mind off of the feelings of dread I'm feeling about next semester! LET'S DO IT!
  Peace, Greg"

Vandread <--CONFIRMED! Click title name and learn more.

• "Bobby,
  Thought you'd like to know that your grandpa and I went to eat at Smith's Pie shop last night. Bless your soul, you always got so excited about their pies during summer visits!
  Come see us soon, sweetie! All of my love, Granny"

Soul Eater <--CONFIRMED! Click title name and learn more.

• "Bob,
  Hope that poison ivy cleared up. Hate to think you're walking around with itchy toes!
  See ya soon, Maggie"

Ikkitousen <--CONFIRMED! Click title name and learn more.

• "Hey Katie!
  You'll never guess who was at the party last night. Your EX! I'll tell you more about it in person. He was asking about you! Ha!
  Beth"

Last Exile <--CONFIRMED! Click title name and learn more.

• "Hey Talia!
  You coming on New Year's Eve? Angie, Eli and you can make it!
  Kisses, Ben"

Evangelion <--CONFIRMED! Click title name and learn more.

• "Dear Helen,
  Wow. I wasn't counting on Monte Carlo being this much fun! Oh, and Christy says hi! We wish you were here! Best vacation ever!
  Dave"

Gankutsuou: the Count of Monte Cristo <--CONFIRMED! Click title name and learn more.

Those are pretty obvious, not sure about the rest:

• "Dear Mom,
  I thought of the perfect gift for dad! It's a little gadget called the veggie guardian. It transmits a high frequency signal that's supposed to keep bugs off the plants. Look it up online.
  - Love you! Roger"

Guesses I've heard so far:

Moyashimon
Wagaya no Oinarisama
Mushi-uta

Update: These guesses were all wrong. Turns out, this clue was for Gad Guard and you can read about that HERE.

• "Hey Ed,
  You totally have to remind me to tell you about this dream I had last night. VERY random.Here's the preview: You, me, a rocket and ship, three monkeys. OH! And you were in a diaper!
  XOXO, Kelly"

Only guess I've seen for this one is:

Dokkoida?!


Quarkboy says the last one is Oh! Edo Rocket. <--CONFIRMED!! Click title name to learn more. Well, only three more days until the licenses officially are announced. Update: Yay me! I made mention that I wanted Slayers Revolution licensed and it came true, y'all.

Kannagi 10

かんなぎ Episode 10
Kannagi: Crazy Shrine Maidens 10

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis: The main members of the Art Club (Takako, Shino, Daitetsu, Akiba, Tsugumi, and Jin) along with Zange are in a karaoke establishment to do some singing. The battle between Zange and Tsugumi begins immediately with Zange getting Jin to sit with her when he was about to sit with Tsugumi. The singing starts with people showing different skill levels, surprisingly good and surprisingly bad. Jin turns down two offers from Tsugumi to sing a duet and his own turn isn't so great. After all the singing is done, everyone is exhausted and walking home. Jin suddenly realizes that Shino never sang once. Takako explains that Shino can't sing because if she does, her eyes will open. Shino, who's walking in front of the group, decides to give the group a treat and as Takeko grins in anticipation, Shino opens her eyes to a frightened group.

Thoughts/Review: No real point in doing an in-depth summary because it is all about singing. I did get the one Lucky Star reference when Jin walked into their karaoke room, but the significance of their being in room 301 is lost on me since I've never watched Lucky Star. I'm told there were other Lucky Star references so if you watched that anime, I'm sure those were a real treat. For me, there was nothing of course. ^_^;

I felt bad for how Jin treated Tsugumi this episode when he rejected both of her offers to sing a duet with her. I'm not going to like it if Tsugumi keeps getting the short end of the stick in the war with Zange.

There were some good humor moments throughout. For me, the best joke came at the end about Shino's eyes. I'll let the screen captures tell that story.




Well, I'm caught up until I can watch episode 11.

Fruits Basket Manga Volume 21

Fruits Basket Manga Volume 21 <--Buy From Amazon!

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis: Kyo finishes telling Tohru his tale of being there when Tohru's mother died, believing her final words to be that she wouldn't forgive him. As such, he doesn't want Tohru to forgive him. Tohru is upset, says she loves Kyo but he leaves, which annoys Yuki. Tohru goes for a walk and encounters Akito, who's upset that all of the zodiac are leaving her. Despite Akito's angry confrontation with a knife, Tohru understands the head of the Sohma family. Akito is afraid of a world without the forced linkage of the curse so Tohru encourages her to start over and does so be reintroducing herself. As she does this, the ground underneath Tohru gives way and she falls into the ravine below.

Akito races away and runs into Yuki and Shigure, reporting that Tohru has fallen. Yuki heads to the scene of the accident while Shigure takes Akito to his house and makes a call. Kyo comes up to where Tohru is laying injured and is horrified, especially in light of what he'd just said to her. Tohru recognizes that Kyo is there and tries to assure him and he kisses her.

Tohru is taken to the hospital while many of the Sohma zodiac members gather at Shigure's home, worried about Tohru and also believing that Kureno is in the hospital as well (which he is). Yuki is still very angry with Kyo because of how he hurt her with his words before her accident. So when Kyo comes home, Yuki demands to know why Kyo didn't go to the hospital. Kyo's excuse of not being able to protect Tohru leads to Yuki punching him. Yuki confesses that he wanted to be more like Kyo as they grew up and that Kyo had been protecting Tohru, citing how Tohru lit up whenever Kyo was around. Yuki's words reach Kyo and he immediately leaves for the hospital, only to discover visiting hours are over.

It is another day and Akito is at Kureno's hospital door. Elsewhere in the hospita, several of the Sohma's are there to visit Tohru including Kyo. Uo-chan and Hana-chan are guarding the door and have some sarcastic things to say about Kyo before Uo-chan goes off verbally on Kyo. They know of Kyo's hurtful words to Tohru thanks to Yuki and they forbid Kyo to visit Tohru. Hana-chan informs Kyo that his simply apologizing won't cut it since Tohru doesn't blame him and an apology without thought is meaningless. Kyo agrees.

Outside, Momiji sees Akito and they talk, Akito wondering why Kureno is so kind to her. Momijji tells Akito his "The Most Foolish Traveler" story. After that, Akito then pays Tohru a visit.

At school, the student council members talk about Tohru's being in the hospital. Afterward, Yuki gives Machi a call to meet her as he has something to give her. They meet and Machi has a gift for Yuki to give Tohru and a gift for Yuki -- fertilizer for his garden. Yuki has a Mogeta stuffed animal for Machi, which she loves. Machi is glad that Tohru had been protecting Yuki and in the end, the two make their feelings known without saying "I love you." The two then walk away, hand-in-hand.

Thoughts/Review: I swear, why do the bloody adapters feel the need to mix "he" and "she" when dealing with Akito? I understand that not all the family knows her secret, but either work on making an adaptation that doesn't use a pronoun, or use the "she" pronoun when people who know the secret are talking. Personally, I prefer the former and I do know that not using male/female pronouns is very, very difficult. However, Del Rey did it in Tsubasa for a gender-neutral character and frankly this should have been done in Fruits Basket.

I still hate the character designs as they are now. If you aren't paying attention, characters really start looking alike and that's not good. But I've already ranted about that before, so I'm not going to do so again.

While the manga has gotten too angst-filled for my tastes (to say nothing of being difficult to follow who's speaking at times), I did love the tribute to the fun of old with Hana-chan and Uo-chan's scene at the hospital. I liked that Tohru has confessed to Kyo and that he kissed her (though she may have been unconscious for the event). I really liked how Yuki and Machi are now a couple, so that's cool.

So, things are rapidly wrapping up with only the remaining zodiac to be freed of the curse and the birth of the new Sohma family to happen. Also, there's the get-together of Kyo and Tohru. I do look forward to reading the remaining volumes, assuming TP doesn't decide to delay their publication further.

Kannagi 09

かんなぎ Episode 09
Kannagi: Crazy Shrine Maidens 09

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis: Takako calls a meeting with Shino, Akiba, and Tsugumi to discuss the reason that the relationship between Daitetsu and Jin has apparently changed, causing Daitetsu and Nagi to become enemies. Naturally, this must mean that Daitetsu and Jin are in a homosexual relationship, which Tsugumi refuses to believe. The discussion leads to Akiba's collection of various manga (and doujinshi?) being displayed. Akiba protests that this is all for research as a manga artists and Tsugumi picks up a yaoi title, becoming shocked at what she sees. However, she checks out other titles in Akiba's collection.

Despite her new education in maters of boy-love, Tsugumi won't believe that Jin is a homosexual and so decides to ask him directly. She and Takako go down the hall, Takako wondering if Tsugumi is really going to do it. Tsugumi is frustrated and yells out wondering how Jin and Daitetsu can be a "homo-couple." The other students in the hall hear this and thus the rumor is born that Jin and Daitetsu are a couple. Later when Jin comes to the Art Club, he has noticed that people are treating him differently and he wonders why. Akiba shows him a post on the Nagi-sama site indicating that Jin and Daitetsu are in love and Nagi-sama isn't happy about it.

Daitetsu encounters a dark-aura Nagi in the hall and is prepared to fight her, but she storms passed him. Daitetsu hears other students talk about him in a strange fashion before 3rd-year male student Honda arrives and gives Daitetsu a love letter. Meanwhile, Tsugumi feels terrible at having accidentally started this rumor about Jin and Daitetsu being a homosexual couple, so another girl decides to help her out and ends up taking her to Zange-chan for a confessional. Tsugumi isn't too happy to see Zange, but the two end up talking, Zange finding the situation funny. Zange says the only solution is for people to know that Jin likes girls, and Zange volunteers for it. Tsugumi protests that but isn't sure she wants to be that girl either.

Tsugumi decides to pay a visit to Jin to apologize to him for starting the rumor. No one answers the door but because it is unlocked, she lets herself in. The TV is on, meaning someone should be home but since Tsugumi is we from having walked in the rain, she heads to the bathroom for a towel. There she finds a naked Jin drying himself off and screams. After Jin gets dressed, the meet in the main room where she apologizes for walking in on him and they talk bit. Jin is about to say something when Nagi comes in. Nagi is a bit surprised to see Tsugumi, whom Jin calls a perverted woman.

Once Nagi has had her laugh about what happened, she wants to know more about "Jin," and an embarrassed Tsugumi says that Jin has changed from when he was a child. Nagi wants to hear more about Jin when Zange is suddenly there, deciding that she wants to hear embarrassing stories about Jin. With that, Tsugumi breaks out the photo album and tells Nagi and Zange stories of Jin and herself as children. Jin wants this to stop, leading Zange to ask about the whole "homo" rumor and whether he would want to be with Tsugumi or Zange to help dispel the rumor. That's when Zange learns that Tsugumi still hasn't told Jin who started the rumor.

Tsugumi and Jin head to his room where Jin apologizes to Tsugumi for being such a brat when they were children. Tsugumi assures Jin that everything is fine because she knows Jin best and thus even when Jin got angry or whatever as a kid, Tsugumi always understood. Now it is Tsugumi's turn and her confession has Jin trembling in frustration. Nagi suggests that Tsugumi act as Jin's boyfriend since she started the rumor. Zange wants Jin to decide. It looks as if Jin is about to choose Tsugumi, but Nagi interrupts, saying that a choice is not required since the goal is to make people understand Jin is into women. So both Tsugumi and Zange are at school feeding the resigned Jin at lunch. Unfortunately, this changes his reputation to "anything goes" (bisexual), as Nagi shows him on her official site.

Thoughts/Review: Here, we have another episode that mixes the wacky humor with some serious stuff, this time touching stuff since it helps develop Tsugumi and Jin's long-time friendship. I certainly liked this bit, though I can't help but think that Tsugumi will get the shaft in the end IF it comes to Jin choosing a girl. Of course, this episode has Nagi not appear interested in Jin that way since the "battle" over Jin ended up being between Zange and Tsugumi (with Nagi laughing on the sidelines).

Of course, the humor continues to be impressive. Some highlights were Tsugumi seeing yaoi materials, Jin's reaction to what was posted on the Nagi-sama site, Daitetsu getting the love letter from they guy named Honda, Tsugumi "discovering" Jin at home, the girls (Nagi, Tsugumi, and Zange) discussing Jin, and how the plan to have Tsugumi and the famous Zange-chan convince others that Jin is a heterosexual backfired. To continue to keep me laughing as this series has makes this rise up fast. While a title like Hayate no Gotoku had me laughing hard at times, it had a lot of failures too as an anime (which aren't present in that manga). Thus far, Kannagi hasn't had any real failures, especially in the laughs.

I get the feeling that the next episode might be dealing with the aftermath of Jin's new reputation but we'll see. Either way, I'm looking forward to it.

Space Battleship Yamato 2 13

Uchuu Senkan Yamato 2 Episode 13
宇宙戦艦ヤマト2 Ep. 13 (TV, Anime)

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis: Yamato approaches Planet Teresart, where they discover it to be a hollow planet. Teresa sends them a message to meet her in the underground city. Although Desler's fleet has withdrawn from Teresart, there's a very real possibility of enemy troops on the planet, so Susumu orders Saito and the Space Cavaliers to the surface. A military base on the surface opens fire, sending up a storm of missiles, but Yamato only takes minimal damage. Yamato returns fire with its own missile barrage and destroys the base, allowing Saito and his men to land safely. They travel in a single landing craft (a tracked shuttle/vehicle) where they discover that the city is in ruins and appears very much deserted.

Desler and his fleet return to the massive comet in route to Earth to report to Emperor Zwordar and find out why he was pulled from Teresart. While he and his aide wait, Sabera reports to the Emperor that Desler has simply fled from combat, possibly fearing Teresa. The Emperor has a hard time believing it, but not knowing Sabera's treachery, he believes her story. He states he will take care of the matter, but Sabera offers to do that for him, reminding him that this sort of task falls under her jurisdiction. The Emperor agrees. Sabera and Gentitz meet where Sabera assures the general that all is going to plan. Further, she has assigned General Zavival to Teresart to meet Yamato's forces. However, Desler's need for vengeance might bring Teresa out on the side of the humans and since she's so powerful, Sabera could not afford for Desler to do what he wished.

Back at Teresart, Susumu is frustrated that Saito hasn't made contact with the ship and apparently is ignoring Yamato's hails. Finally, Saito responds and provides visual records of the ruined city. For him, this is a cake walk since there is no opposition. However, unbeknownst to them, they have been observed by General Zavival's tank forces and Zavival is getting ready to spring the trap shut. As Saito and his men stop their vehicle and have lunch, Zavival attacks. The landing craft is destroyed and it appears that many of Saito's men are killed, unable to take out a single tank. Saito radios for help from Yamato, so Susumu and Sanada take down a second landing craft.

Thoughts/Review: No point commenting much on the political stuff going on with the Comet Empire and Sabera. I figure that somehow, Desler will manage to speak with the Emperor, the Emperor will learn the truth, and Desler will be back in the fight. It pretty much has to be that way.

While it is nice to see Saito and his Space Cavaliers have something useful to do, it is sad that basic military common sense is missing. I kept thinking, "Why hasn't Yamato detected the enemy tanks when they are in orbit?" Of course, Saito's cavalier attitude about the mission is pretty dumb too, all things considered. Heck, even though the Yamato crew gets points for at least acknowledging there could be a trap on the planet, they get no points for not supporting Saito's forces from orbit. A few well-placed missiles would have taken out the entire tank force.

Oh well. Next episode, Susumu meets the enemy general. Won't that be fun. ^_^

Kannagi 08

かんなぎ Episode 08
Kannagi: Crazy Shrine Maidens 08

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis: It is the monsoon season and thus it is raining one evening when Daitetsu shows up at Jin and Nagi's house, soaked and locked out of his own house. While he's waiting for his own clothing to dry, he can't help but notice that Nagi and Jin don't exactly act like brother and sister. He remembers Jin's reaction to Nagi at the Maid Cafe and then imagines that the two must be in a forbidden love situation. He then imagines that Nagi is still dressed in her costume from the cafe and that Jin, now addressing her as "neesan," soon ends up doing what brothers and sisters should never do.

Daitetsu confronts Jin about the true relationship between Jin and Nagi, forcing Jin to try to squirm and lie. Nagi hears this and a flying drop-kick to Jin puts an end to that conversation. Nagi gets onto Jin for being such a terrible liar. Jin points out that Nagi's lies have holes in them, so Nagi counters by reminding Jin that she has other means of covering the truth. Daitetsu has heard the whole conversation and wonders what it means. He then imagines that Nagi is a dominatrix with Jin being basically her slave.

At dinner, Jin and Nagi try to act like brother and sister with Jin calling Nagi "Oneesan" but Daitetsu isn't buying it. He seems to be catching on that Nagi is supernature by pointing out that Nagi looks a lot like the drawing Jin did for the carving. When Nagi learns that Daitetsu is the one who stole the sacred tree piece after the tree was cut down, she's not happy and gives Daitetsu a beating over this, which he can't understand. The two are now angry with each other and as such do not like each other.

That night, Daitetsu has a nightmare where he remembers Nagi's threat of curses and such for those who steal sacred trees. He then sees her enter the room where he's sleeping with an evil look on her face before he wakes up. He wants to talk to Jin, but Jin is gone and the electricity isn't working. Daitetsu is freaking out and ends up running out of the house screaming. Jin, who'd been checking the circuit breaker, decides to have a word with Nagi about being to harsh on Daitetsu, only to discover she's not in her bed nor in the house.

Meanwhile, Daitetsu has run up the hill to where the shrine used to be and as the storm rumbles overhead, he gets on the ground and bows, begging for forgiveness. A bolt of lightning, much like Nagi promised, strikes right at him, sending him flying. He hears a woman speaking of a girl and looks to see Nagi there with a different look on her face -- one like a goddess. She's standing in front of a large stump and pats Daitetsu on the head, telling him he doesn't have to apologize. After speaking a few more words, she passes out and Daitetsu wonders if he's encountered a god.

The next morning, Nagi is sneezing. Jin confronts her on the events of last night. At first she says she doesn't remember, but then seems to remember a bit. Jin wants to know what she's hiding and why she's passing out. Nagi gets angry, telling the human to mind his place. So when Daitetsu and Jin walk to school, Jin tells Daitetsu Nagi doesn't remember. Daitetsu thinks he almost understands what is going on, yet can't quite put in arms around it. All through classes, he keeps wondering about it until he and Nagi run into each other in the Art Club room, where they assuming fighting poses as Tsugumi, Shino, and Hakako enter, having been discussing what appeared to be a falling out between Daitetsu and Jin earlier.

Thoughts/Review: Yet another nice bit of wacky Kannagi fun. While there were many good laughs this episode, we saw a return of the serious, main plot with Nagi again behaving more like a kindhearted goddess with Daitetsu after he was struck by lightning, but then falling unconscious and apparently having little memory of the event. Actually, I'm not sure if Nagi totally forgets or if she kinda knows she does certain things but because she's not in control of herself, she's not happy about it. Still, it is puzzling that she'd get so mad both times Jin questions why she passes out after becoming kami-like. 'Twill be interesting to see where that goes.

On the comedy front, I have to admit that Daitetsu's over-active imagination had me laughing a lot. With him wanting some answers from Jin at school and that conversation being overheard, now I can't help but wonder if we are going to get some boy-love jokes next episode. Still, I didn't expect Nagi and Daitetsu to start taking a more hostile, yet still funny, attitude toward each other.

I really do hope FUNimation can land this anime.

Hayate the Combat Butler Manga Volume 9

Hayate the Combat Butler, Volume 9<--Buy from Amazon!
ハヤテのごとく！Manga Volume 9
Hayate no Gotoku Manga Volume 9

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis: The manga starts with Katsura-sensei getting a "high society" party to try to nab a boyfriend.

After that, Hayate begins working on scoring a gift for Hina's birthday. His search causes encounters with Ayumu, Risa, Miki, Izumi, and even Hina. In the end, Ayumu and Hayate go on a pseudo-date where Ayumu learns that Hayate does not dislike her as she feared. Hina learns how Risa, Miki, and Izumi talk about her, scaring them. Hayate does score small gifts for Nagi and Maria, though Nagi is not happy about Hayate looking for a gift for Hina.

The gift search is put on hold for a while when Nagi tells Hayate that he'll need to pass the finals at school or else. However, he and Wataru are stunned to learn that as an example, their complicated math test won't be given in Japanese but rather in another language like German or English. So Maria agrees to tutor Hayate while Nagi tutors Wataru. After Hayate and Maria discover things a bit too cozy between them, they decide to check on Nagi and Wataru, where it looks like Nagi and Wataru are getting cozy too.

After Hina tutors Ayumu, Hina has a romantic dream about Hayate. She inquires of Miki to learn more about Hayate and is amazed and the sheer amount of information Miki has, including knowing what kind of panties Hina is wearing that day. When Hina walks home, she encounters Hayate and Nagi and gets frustrated because of how Hayate has been affecting her. Her anger is enough to frighten both Nagi and Hayate. Hayate tells Nagi he has to apologize to Hina, so he goes after Hina. Their discussion ends up being about Hayate's parents abandoning him.

Nagi purchases an expensive (but chump change to her) watch for Hina's birthday and she's not amused that Hayate's gift quest has caused her this expense. Suddenly, Nagi and Maria see that Hayate is now in a maid's costume, which they agree suits him. However, Maria is tasked with approaching Hayate about this and he's stunned to discover the dress on him. Turns out, he's been accidentally cursed, thanks to a careless act by Sakuya, who arrives with Isumi at Nagi's house to see the results of the curse.

Hayate only has a few days to remove the curse and this will require him to defeat the master who dwells atop the highest place. That can only mean Hina, who's the president of the Student Council and who's office is atop the clock tower. Meanwhile, Hina is struggling with her own feelings about Hayate and Father Radiostar (Regiostar) isn't helping. When Isumi arrives with a letter to have Hina meet Hayate on a specific date-time and to allow him to defeat her, she interprets this as an official challenge and there's no way she'll be involved in a fight and lose.

The evening of the Hina (doll) Matsuri (festival) arrives, which is the day Hayate has to defeat Hina. He's wearing a hooded cloak to hide the fact that he's wearing a maid's costume. He wants to get through unnoticed, but naturally, Izumi discovers him and she wants to know what's under that cloak. He flees and is discovered by another butler, who turns out to be Izumi's butler and her brother Kotetsu. He declares his love for Hayate until Izumi arrives to reveal that Hayate is a dude. So in anger, Kotetsu kidnaps Nagi.

Hina is roped into a huge birthday party where she's forced to sing while Nagi verbally abuses Kotestu for being a crappy butler. Hayate arrives to rescue Nagi but when Kotetsu wants to marry Hayate, Nagi gives Kotestu a beating. The spirit that had cursed Hayate ends up being dispelled by an angry threat from Nagi, causing Hayate's clothing to return to normal. After returning home, Hayate remembers he was supposed to meet Hina, so he returns to the school where all the festival and pary activities are over and Hina is in the tower fast asleep.

Thoughts/Review: Another great manga volume. In terms of the comedy manga titles, Hayate the Combat Butler is my favorite and my 2nd favorite manga overall (behind Negima!). Some of my favorite comedic moments are when Miki tells Ayumu in a serious way that Miki, Risa, and Izumi are all Hayte's lovers. Miki scores again with her massive amount of information on Hayate, which she presents to Hina. Nagi and Maria's reaction to Hayate's suddenly having a maid costume on caused another laugh. Izumi scored a big laugh with me when she discovers Hayate in the cloak and again when she rats him out to her brother-butler. Finally, Nagi's belittling of Kotetsu, her beating of him, and her sheer wrath causing the evil spirit to be exorcised were some good laughs too.

Again, the flow of things here are so much superior to the anime. The anime did have the chapter on Hayate having to pass his exams and they did their own version of Hina's present, but the manga taking the time to make Hayate's desire to get Hina a gift be a plot thread throughout the entire volume worked well. Too bad things end just as Hina and Hayate get together in the tower. Should be fun to see where that goes.

Speaking of fun, Miki, Risa, and Izumi are a great trio, though Hata-sensei doesn't use Risa that much. Miki and Izumi though are both hoots for different reasons.

As for Izumi, I wonder why Izumi's brother Kotestu is also her butler. That's a bizarre thing to me but maybe there will be an explanation.

Hina appears to have some kind of serious story as well, which may well be covered next volume (I hope at least). In addition to all the hilarity and fun, Hata-sensei still manages to tell some character-developing stories at times and that's cool too.

Basically, I can't say enough good things about this manga and for the most part, Viz has done a great job. I still lament the lack of translator notes though because there are a TON of references in this volume, some not easily identified.

FUNimation Licensing Blitz Coming Next Week!

FUNimation sent me this little blurb.

Not sure if you have seen the podcast yet but we’re doing a big announcement thing. Starting 12/22 we are going to announce a show a day for 10 days.

Ten license announcements and not even at a convention. Wow. That should cause quite a stir.

With that in mind, my wish list includes Slayers REVOLUTION and Kannagi, but it is too early for Kannagi. I figure that most of the licenses will be from the recent C&D requests but I guess we'll see starting the 22nd.

Those wishing to check out the podcast may do so here.

Kannagi 07

かんなぎ Episode 07
Kannagi: Crazy Shrine Maidens 07

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis: Jin is in his room but can't do his homework. Turns out, Nagi has locked herself in his closet and won't come out or accept Jin's apology for the horrible thing he did to her yesterday. She won't come out, apparently having stocked up on snacks and somehow having snagged Jin's bottle of water when he wasn't looking. Tsugumi stops by to drop off some food and decides to try her hand at getting Nagi out of the closet. She refuses, so Tsugumi decides to have a girl-to-girl talk with Nagi and sends Jin away. A little later, an angry Tsugumi comes out with an empty bottle of water, not happy with Jin for what he did to Nagi.

Jin calls Akiba for a favor and Zange arrives with a large bento for Jin. Hearing that Nagi has closed herself off in a closet, Zange decides to have some fun to get Nagi out. As such, she starts doing things with Jin loudly (and off camera), so much so that Tsugumi doesn't like the things she's hearing. Nagi refuses to be taken in by such an obvious trick though she does peek out. When the noises stop, she peeks again and Tsugumi storms in to find out what's going on, only to discover Jin basically out, his nose having poured a ton of blood out.

Jin tries calling Akiba to see what the hold up is, but Akiba isn't home. Tsugumi isn't happy with Zange's actions with Jin but before things can go much further, Takako and Shino arrive, having been informed of the situation by Akiba. After showing Tsugumi that the maid costume she wore is from an ero-game, Takako and Shino decide to pay the closet a visit to convince "Nagi-sama" to come out and they are joined by Tsugumi and Zange. Takako makes an impassioned plea for Nagi to come out, if for no other reason than so Takako can see her in regular clothing. Failure!

Daitetsu arrives with the wrong idea of what's going on but he soon joins the crowd outside her closet. Takako is worried about her, but Nagi says she's OK, leading Jin to discover that another of his water bottles have disappeared. Nagi talks of making the closet her new shrine, but then shrieks about an impurity. After what sounds like a struggle, there's silence and the closet door slides open a crack, allowing a cockroach to scurry out. Naturally, this causes great panic (Daitetsu even passing out) before the roach makes it to the room's sliding glass door, where Shino lets it out.

Akiba finally arrives and Jin is very happy, maybe even too happy because Akiba has the item Jin asked for. Daitetsu is still confused about what's happening, so Jin explains. The night before, he saw a cute show on TV about kittens that Nagi likes, so he put a tape in to record it for her while she was in the bath. Unfortunately, the tape he used had that day's unwatched episode of Nagi's favorite anime, Lolikko Cutie. Akiba understands Nagi's feelings since he watches it and has copy of the episode. However, he has a Blu-ray disc and Jin doesn't even own a DVD player, much less a Blu-ray player. "Its a Sony," is Akiba's response. He then produces a video tape, which Jin passes through to Nagi in the closet. She rejects it a few minutes later. The problem? It is a Beta tape, not VHS. Akiba's response? "Its a Sony!"

After everyone goes home, Jin returns to the closet to talk with Nagi. He tells a tale of how he couldn't watch his favorite show because his dad was watching baseball so he understands how Nagi would be angry at not getting to see her important show. He had recorded the other show because he honestly thought she'd like it, and then he apologizes. Nagi enters the room from outside, eating a snack, and after a lengthy pause, she forgives him. He tells her to never leave the closet and Nagi gets to watch her anime.

Thoughts/Review: Another nutty episode, which while it didn't provoke quite as many big laughs as others, it is still funny all the same. Highlights of the wackiness were the bottles of water that kept disappearing (mysteriously), the growing crowd of people trying to get Nagi out of the closet, Nagi reminding us of her baton's new power, Nagi checking out Jin's collection (though I could have done without the fanning scene), Akiba's arrival, "it's a Sony," the cockroach attack on the group, and the best laugh, the very last scene. Another great "wait for it" moment. *lol*

I'm fairly sure this episode is also a parody of the Amaterasu tale. Amaterasu is a kami (a "sun goddess" to be more precise) who shuts herself into a cave in anger after her brother Susa-no-O destroyed one of her rice fields and killed some of her attendants. Clearly, Nagi is Amaterasu and Jin is Susa-no-O (though without the blood or violence). Zange would then be Ame-no-Uzume, because Ame-no-Uzume did a sensual dance with the other kami cheering (and of course, the other art club members would represent the other kami) to get Amaterasu out of her cave. It sorta worked because Nagi did peek out like Amaterasu in the legends, but they didn't get Nagi out.

I loved how the episode is played as a mystery for the audience. The characters in the story know what happened, but it is a lot of fun trying to figure out just what horrible crime Jin had committed to cause Nagi to seal herself in a closet.

So, another good episode here. This is one I'd love for FUNimation to pick up.

Clannad After Story 11

クラナド アフターストーリー Episode 11

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis: Nagisa and Tomoya enter a pattern where every morning before school, she comes over to his apartment, makes breakfast for him, then they eat together. Tomoya then continues his work training under Yoshino-san, trying to hide the fact that his right shoulder doesn't work properly, meaning Tomoya cannot raise his right arm. Yoshino discovers it eventually but since Tomoya can do the job properly, he won't say anything. At school, Nagisa continues classes, but is very much alone. Then every evening, Nagisa is waiting for Tomoya at his apartment and prepares a meal for him, which they eat together. Tomoya then walks Nagisa part-way home. During one such occasion, Nagisa wonders how lonely Tomoya must feel after she leaves, but he tries to assure her that it is OK since he just goes to sleep right away.

One day when Tomoya has the day off, Akio-san grabs Tomoya for some adult play. Their destination surprises Tomoya -- it is a toy store. After Akio-san and the store owner have a mock lightsaber battle, Akio-san announces their real purpose for coming here -- a toy Bengal Giant Lizard. Akio's plan is to have it slipped down Sanae's back. Tomoya is not keen on this idea, but Akio promises that such acts help keep their relationship fresh.

They return to the bakery and Sanae-san is there to greet them. Akio asks her what her least favorite animal is, and she says it is the Bengal Giant Lizard. With Akio distracting Sanae by making her think a lizard is on the loose, Tomoya apologizes and slips the toy lizard down her back. She's out the door in a flash, crying to have it removed and Akio is after her, proclaiming his innocence. One of the neighbor ladies come up and Tomoya apologizes, but learns that Akio and Sanae's antics are the highlight of the neighborhood.

That night, Nagisa is happy with the bonding between her parents and Tomoya. She asks him to attend the Founders Day Festival with her at school in two Sunday's, which Tomoya agrees to do. However, at work (where Tomoya is helping the manager with some filing, something Yoshino doesn't like), Tomoya learns that he may have to work that weekend do the the increased workload. So when Tomoya comes home that night, he tells Nagisa that he might have to work on Founder's Day. She smiles and says it is OK because she's glad there is plenty of work to do.

Tomoya gets permission to have the Sunday of Founder's Day off, but the night before, the boss has a job for Tomoya to do since everyone else has gone home. It is Tomoya's first solo job, the boss drives him to the site. Tomoya finishes the work as Yoshino arrives. Yoshino asks some questions about the repair work and since everything seems OK, they go home. The following day, Tomoya sets a time to meet Nagisa but gets a call from work saying that Yoshino discovered a mistake. Tomoya races to the site where he'd done the repair the night before. While Yoshino blames himself for not noticing it the night before, he does allow Tomoya to help fix it.

As the sun is setting, Tomoya makes it to school, where Nagisa has been waiting for him. He's still in his work clothing, confirming what Nagisa suspected -- Tomoya had to work. She seems OK with things and insists they walk home together while eating some corn on a stick. The following day, Tomoya comes to work expecting to be in trouble but instead has the respect of his co-workers for coming in on his day off to help fix that mistake. Yoshino tells Tomoya that everyone makes mistakes but the key is not to make the same mistake again. Tomoya agrees and all is well.

Thoughts/Review: While I like Clannad After Story, I do miss the supporting cast. However, their absence is to be expected and considering how Nagisa appears to be all alone at school (where are Yukine and Tomoyo anyway?), I suppose the absence of the rest of the crew helps to add to the feeling of isolation and change. Still, I do like how Nagisa and Tomoya are more and more like a couple. They just need to hurry up and get married already.

Akio-san and Sanae-san's relationship is certainly strange. Well, it has always been strange, but Akio-san playing mean tricks on his wife doesn't seem a way to make a marriage work. I'd think she'd get tired of it and leave him but I didn't write the story. Still, it was the only moment of comedy in the episode.

So, where to now? Tomoya appears secure in his job and Nagisa is well for the moment (she's going to die, I just know it), even if alone at school. Hard to tell from the previews, but maybe Nagisa and Tomoya will become engaged.

Kannagi 06

かんなぎ Episode 06
Kannagi: Crazy Shrine Maidens 06

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis: Tsugumi gets a call from Jin to go to the shopping center for some shopping. She gets dressed up thinking she's meeting Jin but instead, she's meeting Nagi. Tsugumi is very disappointed by this but since it isn't Nagi's fault for the misunderstanding, she returns to normal. Nagi is very proud of her shopping budget -- ¥10,000 -- roughly $100. As such, a single purse will blow most of Nagi's budget and learning that Jin is being a cheapskate, Nagi is not happy. However, Tsugumi is there to help Nagi get whatever she can for the money she has, so they start with underwear.

Nagi is amazed at all the underwear available but being of a small size, Nagi is depressed by this. Tsugumi can't help but say things that make Nagi feel worse but she too gets shut up when a 1st year junior high school girl is there to buy a bra and already has a D-cup. After Nagi makes a purchase, she and Tsugumi take a break at a cafe and grab something to drink, where Nagi vows to get back at Jin. Tsugumi agrees that Nagi needs more than just three jerseys and says she'll talk to Jin about this. Nagi notices a flier advertising a part-time job and wonders if she should get one. Later at hope, Nagi wears a D-cup bra under he normal clothing to look bigger.

At school, Takako announces to the art club that she wants to attend a maid cafe and since one has opened in town, she'd like to go. She goads Akiba into a rant about otaku and the "moe" fetish. However, she gets everyone to agree to meet on Sunday to go to this new maid cafe, which Jin decides he will not tell Nagi about lest she imitate it. Sunday, she, Shino, Jin, Akiba, and Daitetsu meet and head into the maid cafe. Takako admits at first to being a little disappointed the girls aren't dressed as regular maids, but thinks the outfits are cute nevertheless, which Akiba recognizes as a tie-in with a bishoujo game.

They take a seat and have their order taken. As the waitress leaves, Jin suddenly realizes that this had to be Nagi, but no one else noticed. It is Nagi and she is horrified that Jin and the others are there. Tsugumi is also working that day, covering for a friend, and she too is horrified that the members of the art club are there. Nagi and Tsugumi are forced back out to work the floor and Jin gets his confirmation. However, since Nagi looks so much like one of the characters from the game, she is immediately popular as is Tsugumi. Tsugumi serves the art club table and she's not happy about how things turned out.

Meanwhile, Zange discovers from the official Nagi-sama site that Nagi is working the maid cafe. Not to be outdone, Zange decides she'll get a job there too to gain more followers and cut into Nagi's popularity.

Back at the cafe, Nagi sees how Jin is reacting and thinks he must be angry with her for getting a job without telling him. She comes to the table to explain but as she gets closer, the redder and more flustered he gets, not being able to look her in the eye. He loses it and tells her to stay away, that he can't even look at her any more. His outburst causes quite a bit of laughter and both Jin and Nagi flush hard, which is noticed by Tsugumi. Once they leave the cafe, Jin takes out his frustration at his outburst on a mascot thing while Takako is enjoying "Too Pure Pure Boy's" reaction.

Jin is walking home along the river walk as Nagi runs up to walk with him, having completed her shift. She explains why she got a job and says she'll quit if he wants. He doesn't ask her to quit, but does say he didn't like it when others took pictures of her. That's enough for Nagi, who says she'll quit. Jin wonders why since she looked happy, but for Nagi, it is a simple thing -- Jin didn't like it and so she'll happily quit.

Zange gets a job at the maid cafe but learns that Nagi has quit. She's ticked by this and decides she'll quit too since there's no point. The manager suddenly transforms from feminine to muscle-bound and refuses to let Zange quit, especially since having such a local celebrity will do his business good.

Thoughts/Review: Another really good episode. There were more good laughs about the otaku culture, Takako wanting to see the maid cafe and then her reactions to it, Nagi's reactions to the price of things, and of course, the manager's transformation at the end. There were other good laughs too such as Daitetsu's reaction to the maid cafe. Just good, good humor.

I kinda felt bad for Tsugumi this episode. Up until now, I've never sensed any real attraction on the part of Jin to Nagi and Nagi has acknowledged to Tsugumi that she has no interest in Jin. However, this episode kinda changes that, which I suppose is required in order for there to be a harem and a "who will Jin choose" aspect. Meh. That won't thrill me so much because I'm not into that, but that's OK. I'll deal. Hopefully, there won't be too much angst from Tsugumi about Nagi and Jin (because surely, she'll figure out that Jin and Nagi aren't related).

Shino certainly comes off as the wise, mature one much of the time, doesn't she? Part of that is her speech manner and some is how her character design always has her eyes closed in a contemplative way. I can't help but like her even though we know so little about her. She and Takako are a good friendship pairing though.

On a side note, I'm not sure what this mall was based on, but it sure looks like the one from Shakugan no Shana Second (episode 19).

I'm looking forward to more Nagi madness. ^_^

Urusei Yatsura 93

うる星やつら episode 93 (TV anime)

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis: Shuutaro is in his palatial mansion having various dreams about Ataru when he's awoken by Cherry. Cherry begins walking Shuutaro through various stories and events showing his rivalry with Ataru and his attempts to be with Lum. After breakfast, Ryoko tells Cherry that he can come back for dinner if he keeps messing with her brother as he has been. So, Cherry gets on board Shuutaro's plane to go to school where he continues with the fictitious tales, showing how Shuutaro can never come between Lum and Ataru because their love is true, even if Ataru doesn't always show it. In the end, Shuutaro accidentally falls out of his plane, crashing into his classroom where he decides to take out his anger on Ataru. Unfortunately for Shuutaro, Lum is there to defend Ataru, which she does with a vengeance.

Thoughts/Review: I don't think that even if I were richer than rich that I'd sleep in such a giant room, nor would I have said room filled with military equipment like tanks, fighter jets, and the like. Granted, I realize this scene in Shuutaro's room is done to emphasize the point that he's wealthier than you can likely imagine, but I also know that some people with tons of wealth can be rather eccentric.

This episode of Shuutaro dreaming and obsessing over Ataru as well as Ataru being with Lum is just...well, weird and kinda tedious at times. I have to say that seeing Cherry being walked like a dog on a leash with a bunch of small octopi just cracked me up. I did like the one Cherry story where it is a snowy Christmas Eve and Ataru wants to take a romantic walk with Lum.

Still, a mostly uninspired episode is easy to blog about because I don't have to write much. ^_^

Kannagi 05

かんなぎ Episode 05
Kannagi: Crazy Shrine Maidens 05

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis: Tsugumi is excited to be with a real celebrity, but that changes when Zange-chan comes onto Jin, then produces her elaborate bento. Nagi samples it, finding the food good and when Jin has some, it is good. Zange continues to come onto Jin, forcing Tsugumi to try to put a stop to it. Nagi joins Tsugumi, so Zange decides that to settle it, they'll have a food-preparation contest and the winner gets Jin. Nagi agrees and gets an unconvinced Tsugumi to go along. Tsugumi notices that Zange at times talks to herself (actually speaking to Hakua) and that she seems to suck at making food. Nagi, on the other hand, looks great. The dishes prepared, Zange's are all burnt, Tsugumi only has fried vegetables and an omelet, and Nagi has an elaborate dish. It looks like Nagi is the winner, but her food tastes like crap.

At school, Jin discovers a wallet with a "Nagi-sama Official Fan Club" card inside. He demands answers from his art club classmates. They show Jin the official website for "Nagi-sama" with testimonials and the like. The site even lists Jin as Nagi's younger brother and Zange as the little sister. The site even lists rules for "Nagi-sama," as the goal is to protect her from being discovered by the faculty of the school. Jin wonders why Takako knows so much about Nagi's fan club, so she brandishes her own membership card. Meanwhile, Hagashima-sensei and Suzushiro-sensei discuss the rumors of a girl who's not a member of the school running around the campus.

At home that evening, Jin demands to know why Nagi even needs to be at the school. In addition to the impurities there, Nagi states that her powers are now starting to come back thanks to her idol status. Zange has noticed this as well, having just learned about the Nagi-sama website, so she calls Nagi over for a meeting at school the next day. Nagi is prepared for another attack, but since Nagi has her staff, Zange isn't going to do that. Instead, she wants Nagi to leave since Nagi is taking from Zange's popularity. Nagi realizes that Zange is bluffing since it is already out that Hakua/Zange-chan is the younger sister of Nagi. Zange leaves with Suzushiro-sensei's arrival, leaving Nagi to deal with the teacher.

News spreads that Nagi-sama has been caught by the teachers and a crowd gathers outside the teacher's room. Nagi adopts her formal speech again as she deals with Hagashima-sensei, who's older and bald. Jin is informed and makes his way there too. Hagashima-sensei is grilling Nagi who's in a bad spot considering the lies she's told about whom she is related to. However, the gathered students begin to demand Nagi-sama be freed and begin chanting her name. Nagi feels her powers coming back and thinks she has enough to do something. She whips out her baton and the power from it shoots out like a beam, but is reflected by Hagashima-sensei's bald head.

It is days later and the official Nagi-sama site has changed now that Nagi is a student at the school. Suzushiro-sensei made the way for this to happen and as a religious studies teacher, Nagi states that a paper she wrote caught his attention. So, she's not only in this high school, but she pays no tuition either. In a flashback, we see Suzushiro-sensei's talk with Nagi, where he reveals he knows she's not human and that his daughter Hakua is possessed. He doesn't believe Zange is evil, nor does he believe Nagi is evil. He is happy to hear that Nagi wants Zange out of Hakua's body though and tells Nagi that he'll take care of making her an official student so she doesn't have to hide.

At home, Jin is surprised to learn that Suzushiro-sensei and Hakua are father-daughter. Nagi is not happy that Jin is so useless when it comes to information. Irritated, Jin gets onto Nagi for what she puts into her miso soup. Nagi retorts that she doesn't want to hear this from someone who puts soy Worcestershire sauce on everything, calling him "Sauce Maji." He gets angry by that, so she teases him about leaving and moving in with Takako. Jin protests this angrily, leading Nagi to tell him she was just joking. Jin is left to wonder why he was so insistent that she stay with him.

After dinner, Jin heads out to go to the convenience store and Nagi joins him with her baton. She shows off its new power, the star-shaped beam of light coming from the baton top. Jin is not happy she's using the baton as a flashlight now as they run into Zange. She has groceries and is planning on coming over to Jin's house to make him food. Because of her clinging to Jin, Nagi gets irritated and she and Zange bicker as the light from Nagi's baton gets brighter and brighter, like a floodlight.

Thoughts/Review: Nagi-sama. *lol* OK, the idol thing has turned out to be pretty funny. The production team has done a fantastic job (and I'm guessing a lot of credit goes to Takenashi-sensei as well) with the humor. I've always stated that the funniest things are the ones you don't expect. If you are going to do the expected, shift things to make it unexpected, which is where the comedic timing has been coming into play. Food jokes are old as the hills, yet this episode made a food joke that just had me in stitches. Nagi's power-up moment -- another laugh out loud situation. Her new use for her baton -- funny. Her way of eating miso soup (and her slamming Jin for his love of soy sauce) -- funny. I had to stop watching because I laughed so hard, I had a coughing fit. Just great stuff.

With Nagi having a bit more power and even taking out an impurity without Jin (I loved the RPG reference regarding this), I wonder how much more the impurity issue will play in the series. After all, since Suzushiro-sensei is the father of Hakua and he not only knows his daughter is possessed, but Nagi is not human too, Nagi's mission seems to have shifted from the impurities to freeing Hakua from Zange.

This episode had some interesting twists. I had thought that Zange might actually move in with Nagi and Jin, but that's not happening (though it does appear she'll be showing up a lot). Also, officially Jin is now related to both Hakua/Zange and Nagi. This little tricky situation is being given a "don't think about it too much" approach. After all, it is pretty tough to explain how Suzushiro-sensei has two daughters. No wonder the Nagi-sama website said that due to the complicated nature of her family situation, no one is to probe into it. *lol*

Another thing is that this episode is laid out a bit differently, with some very clear breaks so that we had a few different but linked stories. That works too, especially in a comedic way as Azumanga Daioh and Minami-ke proved (and Minami-ke Okawari proved in a negative way).

The comedy of this episode made up for the smaller amounts of it last episode. I really am enjoying Kannagi and may even try to read the manga at some point. Here's hoping for more Nagi nuttiness. ^_^

Is Someone Stealing Your Traffic?

The other day, I happened to check a top-100 site list according to traffic from a certain blog-tracking site. There were only two anime blogs in the entire list and one was in the top-10 with 4500 unique hits in a day. Now, I know some of the big-dog, long-time anime bloggers out there likely easily pass this and might even consider that amount of traffic to be a very slow day. For me, who's still a small fish in a giant ocean, 4500 uniques is something I'm striving for but still have a ways to go to get there.

Anyway, I thought I'd check out this blog to see what they were doing and how long they'd been around. I was stunned to learn that the blog only had roughly 30 entries, updated only a few times a month, and the entire blog was nothing but "free images" or "free wallpaper." Initially, I couldn't figure out what might be driving so much traffic to this blog. After all, while people are always looking for various anime-related images, this guy didn't have enough images to account for this kind of traffic. Although his blog is registered on a ton of blog-listing/ranking sites, that too is not enough to account for a lot of traffic, especially since those things don't generate a much traffic.

I watched the blog's unique hits and one day it jumped to over 5000 and then the next day dropped to 3800. Still, a lot of traffic.

Because I like to solve problems, I decided I'd check the blog further by checking the code. It was then that I noticed that the images on the front page were coming from an image-storage site. OK, nothing wrong with that. Technically, every image I upload to my blog goes to Google's image-storage site. However, as I went through page by page, I started noticing some images MIA, with place-holder images instead indicating borrowed images. Sure enough, every image on his blog came from a 3rd-party, either an image-storage place or from someone's domain.

Then I realized how his blog was getting so much traffic. Let's say he created a post for Clannad wallpapers, then displayed six of them in his post. All six come from six different sites. Lets say that some of these sites generate a lot of traffic on their own. Now, one of their images (your's for example) is on someone else's blog or site and so when a person does an image-search, that image may appear in the search, but rather than the person following it to your site, they follow it to the stealer's site. Thus, your bandwidth has been used, but the traffic goes to his blog.

So for those of you with your own domains, you might check your image usage stats to see if they are being pulled to other sites. In addition to saving you bandwidth, it will stop your traffic from being siphoned off.

Keroro Gunsou 83

ケロロ軍曹 Episode 83
Sgt. Frog anime, 83
Keroro Gunsou episode 83

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis: The platoon, Momoka, Fuyuki, Aki-san, Natsumi, and Koyuki are at an onsen resort that's been reserved by the Nishizawa Peach Group. Their special servers are Kogoro and Lavie-chan. The feast is presented in a giant serving "platter" (for lack of an appropriate term) shaped like a ship. The main attraction are the giant crabs but when Momoka has trouble with hers, Kogoro comes in and makes a mess of things. Fresh ice cream is served for desert because Kogoro fought a cow, destroying the wall in the onsen dividing the sexes. Momoka is excited by this mixed bathing though Natsumi puts her foot down against it. Before anyone can bathe, Kogoro is found unconscious with Lavie asking Keroro to solve the mystery. After a mystery parody with Keroro not knowing jack, turns out Kogoro just slipped.

Fuyuki and Natsumi are pondering the autumn time of the year when an explosion causes them to race down to the Keron base under their house. Turns out Kururu has had an accident with the gun that makes people younger. As a result, he's an infant and the gun is broken. Now, everyone has to deal with an evil baby Kururu, who is a huge hand full. Since only Kururu can repair the gun, the platoon looks for the blueprints in Kururu's massive DVD collection. They find all kinds of mislabeled stuff before Moa-chan arrives. Because of her sweet disposition, the baby Kururu quickly repairs the gun to prevent himself from growing up to be a good person, after which he returns himself to his adult form.


Thoughts/Review: First, I got to say that the extremely long episode title just cracked me up, not because of what was in it, but because it went on and on, kinda like this sentence is going on and on, only funnier because somehow it is funnier seeing it in the episode than in a blog...de arimasu.

The first story was fun and amusing with the onsen trip, the feast in served in a ship, the crab eating, and Momoka planning a hot time with Fuyuki after Kogoro destroyed the wall separating the male and female sides of the onsen. Then, the writers ran completely out of steam, deciding to turn the episode into some stupid detective parody again with Keroro now a female detective (likely from some dorama) and with the same results as before -- Kogoro wasn't the victim of a criminal act. So a good start ends with crap.

While I'm thinking of it, does anyone know what the name of these onsen seafood feasts served in a boat are called (though clearly the one here is exaggerated.


For the second story, and evil Kururu baby was pretty amusing, especially when they got him to laugh and his trademark "KU! Ku! Ku! Ku!" came out. That made me laugh as did the end, where to avoid Moa-chan's sweetness from taking him over, he fixed the gun to make himself his normal age again.

So a mixed bag with more good than bad.

Kannagi 04

かんなぎ Episode 04
Kannagi: Crazy Shrine Maidens 04

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis: There's a new cosplaying idol in Kannagi City calling herself Zange-chan -- Nagi's younger sister. So while she's gaining popularity and followers due to her ¥100 confessions and her appearances on TV. Meanwhile, Nagi is angry because her sacred tree stump is being uprooted, meaning her powers will continue to wane. Nagi, not knowing what Zange is doing, decides she needs to be an idol, which had Jin thinking aloud during his Art Club time. After some teasing by Shino and Takako, Akiba has an astonishing amount of knowledge about idols, including Zange-chan, whom Jin does not know.

Jin volunteers to pick up some gesso for the Art Club and after school that evening, does just that. He's running behind and goes to take a shortcut down an alley when he notices three adult men trying to force a girl (Zange-chan) to have sex with them. Jin is going to sneak off an get the cops but a can of gesso falls out of the bag and alerts the three thugs. One comes up to punch the nosy Jin, but he avoids the punch and uses the bag full of gesso cans to knock the man out. The girl takes advantage of the other two men's confusion to grab Jin and escape.

Well outside town near the river, they stop at a bridge. Zange thanks Jin and introduces herself as "Zange-chan." Realizing he's with an idol shocks Jin at first but then he and Zange talk. She answers his question about why she does the confessions and even offers him a free one as a way of reward. He begins to say something about his childhood friend but then decides to tell her in person, which Zange agrees is best. Before they part ways, Zange notices that Jin has been scratched on the face. So she licks it and then tells him goodbye by name, even though he'd never told her his name.

The next morning at breakfast, Nagi complains about the lack of food the night before. Jin doesn't want to hear it after what happened the following evening and when Zange comes onscreen, he points her out to Nagi as the girl he met. Nagi is stunned to see her little sister there and Jin is stunned that Nagi is related to Zange. Nagi realizes that Zange is is using this idol thing to gain followers, thus gain power. Jin doesn't believe that Zange is doing anything bad, which irritates Nagi, especially after she peeks into his mind and sees his "ero" images of Zange.

Nagi is out looking for Zange with Jin following, trying to convince Nagi that she and her sister should get along. Nagi heads to the sacred tree that Zange comes from and sees that it is in a church, which explains Zange's choice of costume. However, since Zange's tree is still there, it means that she has chosen another vessel to use. Nagi explains to Jin how there came to be two kami for the same region of territory (the river splitting the land). Despite everything, Jin still refuses to believe Zange is up to no good, angering Nagi so that she leaves him.

Failing to find Zange anywhere, Nagi dons the school uniform she borrows from Tsugumi and returns to school, wondering why Zange was at that church. It is then that she discovers Zange also in the same uniform, being addressed as "Hakua." Zange convinces Nagi to discuss this in private, so they go to the storage shed for P.E. equipment. Zange confirms Nagi's weakened state and has Nagi pinned to the ground. Zange confirms Nagi's suspicion that Zange has taken over the body of a human female named Hakua (who apparently likes Jin and agreed to the merger). Zange binds Nagi and puts her foot on her, deciding to strip Nagi so that she'll be humiliated. However, Jin walks in and sees what's going on, causing him to be shocked.

That evening at home, Zange-chan is on TV again as Nagi comments on the lack of food. She's not complaining that Jin didn't do the shopping and they are making do with snack foods and bread. Despite having seen how Zange is, Jin still thinks they should get along. Tsugumi arrives and is stunned to see what they are eating. She tells them that she'll make food but gets another shock when she sees a fridge full of snacks, not food. While she's only good at fried vegetables and fried eggs she's still willing to help them out. The doorbell rings and Zange is there with a bento and a request to stay at the house so she can take care of Jin.

Thoughts/Review: Ah. Now I see where the harem element comes from. So Tsugumi and Hakua-Zange like Jin and now Nagi will likely start doing that as well. Of course if Zange does move in, Tsugumi will be there more often and well, BAM! Harem. Question is, will Takako factor into this after her explosive nosebleed over Jin in episode 3? We'll see I guess.

So, how will Zange reconcile being Nagi's little sister while Nagi is supposedly Jin's half-sister? *lol* I guess that will be fun addressed soon.

As for Zange, she certainly does add a sinister element and depending on how the story goes, a potential plot thread with her in a human body that may in the end be unable to contain Zange. While certainly there were a few comedy elements between Zange and Nagi, there were more dark elements. Personally, I'd rather things be more comedic but if the plot elements are good enough, then I'll take the darker elements as well. I'd rather the series not head into a contest over being an idol in Japan, but considering the OP and Zange's goal, I'm guessing that is where we are going.

I think back to Zange nearly getting raped by the three thugs and I can't help but think she staged that. After all, if she is a kami, she should have the power to take care of three thugs with no problem. Plus, seeing how scheming she is, it seems like this would be something she'd do, but then she'd have to know that Jin would take that alley as a short cut. Meh. Maybe I'm reading too much into things.

In the end, this episode didn't have the really funny comedy moments of earlier episodes, but the comedy is still there and the anime is both fun and interesting. I look forward to seeing more.

New Template -- Feedback Requested

Whew! OK, I just finished toying around with this new template to see if I'd even like it. I'm wondering though if there are problems such as the side-bar not loading (or very slow), the background image in the main part of the blog not loading or very slow to load, etc. So if you guys wouldn't mind letting me know things your are seeing or experiencing problem-wise (especially with how the old template was), please let me know by clicking the "COMMENTS" link at the bottom of this post. Include your browser type if you don't mind.

Thanks in advance!
-ANB

Update 1: I got the NavBar to re-appear in IE. Now it works in both IE and Firefox.

Update 2: Another couple of minor code tweaks. Looks like the right side is a tad slower than the left, but I don't know how bad that will be for folks not on really fast connections, especially dial-up.

Update 3: I've done another tweak to improve load times for the right side (which is more important on slow-speed connectors) but can't completely eliminate the tiny lag there. Still, it doesn't seem too bad on regular, high-speed connections.

Update 4: I'm still trying to figure out how to tweak it so the images properly wrap. I'd never done anything with XML until this upgrade so I'm not entirely sure where the problem is coming from.

Space Battleship Yamato 2 12

Uchuu Senkan Yamato 2 Episode 12
宇宙戦艦ヤマト2 Ep. 12 (TV, Anime)

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis: The assault carrier transforms to battle mode from carrier mode to finish off Yamato, but they have become infested with the Space Firefly bacteria. As such, their weapons do not fire, allowing Yamato's big guns to find their target. The captain of the assault carrier retreats which surprises that Yamato crew until the realize that the Space Fireflies are all around. Yamato also tries to get out of the cloud of Space Fireflies, but they are surrounded. Meanwhile, the captain reports his failure to Desler, who gets shot as a reward, leading Comet Empire liaison Mil to make a report back on this.

After hearing Mil's report, Sabera attempts to have the Emperor pull in the reigns on Desler. The Emperor refuses, but Sabera isn't taking no for an answer and she has the support of the military heads. Meanwhile, Yamato finds a tube-shaped asteroid, which Kato and Analyzer check out and pronounce to be safe. Susumu sees it as a perfect dry dock to cleans the ship of the Space Fireflies. He sends crew outside to accomplish this, including Saito and his space cavalier troops.

Desler receives the report that Yamato has entered the asteroid, which means they've entered his trap. He activates the trap, which causes a magnetic field from which Yamato cannot escape, even with both primary and secondary engines active. One of the new engineers has an idea about using the Wave Motion Gun to allow them to escape and Sanada sees this as a brilliant plan. As Yamato prepares to fire, they detect Desler's fleet with Desler giving them a farewell message.

Desler too is preparing to fire when Mil tells him that he has orders to stop what he's doing and retreat. Desler ignores Mil, but Sabera wants to speak with him. He basically tells Sabera to get lost and continues with his attack preparations. He and Yamato fire at the same time, and while the asteroid is destroyed, the Yamato comes out unscathed. Desler is angry with the interference from Mil and orders a retreat, the sight of which surprises the Yamato crew. Sanada has a reward for his rookie team member and Yamato now has Teresart in visual range.

Thoughts/Review: So, we have a suspicious looking, tube-shaped asteroid. Susumu gets a tiny bit of credit for at least having a scout ship check out this suspicious tube, but that's it. They couldn't detect the technology buried just below the surface of the asteroid and they don't find the shape of this asteroid suspicious at all. Nope, just a nice place to hide despite knowing that the trap-laying Desler is out there. These guys are as smart as Saito sometimes.

Speaking of Saito, good to see that he and his troops had something constructive to do, but he's still as dumb as a stump.

I guess the internal political bickering is what will ultimately let Yamato win, kinda like it did this episode. It may be dumb, but at least I can understand this. Sabera doesn't like it that Desler, a foreigner and a loser when it comes to dealing with Yamato and humans, gets a free reign from the Emperor.

While I'm thinking about it, its clear that the cleaning crew somehow got back to the ship, but how did that happen anyway? Also, if the main and secondary engines combines couldn't move Yamato from the magnetic hold, how did the Wave Motion Gun's recoil get them free?

So, now that Yamato has apparently almost reached its destination, I guess we shift to the 2nd phase of the series.

Kannagi 03

かんなぎ Episode 03
Kannagi: Crazy Shrine Maidens 03

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis: Jin is off to school, having to tell the bored Nagi to stay behind (though she is impressed that Japan schools its young in this age). Jin meets up with the casually-walking Tsugumi where they continue to school. Tsugumi is a bit concerned about Nagi and school, which Jin promises to address with his father when his father returns. At school in the Art Club room, Jin is working on a painting and his efforts are critiqued by older female students Shino and Takako. Jin's friend Daitetsu (a hulking kind of guy) gets praised for his abstract painting and Jin's friend Akiba (a blonde guy) gets some praise for his manga work and some criticism.

Jim asks Akiba why he isn't in the manga club, which set Akiba off since their doujinshi work is weak and they spend time discussing anime. Not that Akiba is against anime since he does like a certain mahou shoujo title and rapidly spews out why. Daitetsu asks Jin about his wood sculpture but since Jin can't say it turned into Nagi, he states that it got accidentally broken and apologizes to Daitetsu. Jin and Daitetsu continue to talk as Shino and Takako look at their new members, wondering which of the guys is the best. When Jin announces he will pass Daitetsu in art, Takako's nose spews blood (she gives Jin the name "Too Pure Pure Boy").

Since the art club now has male members, Takako wants them to clean up the art storage building, which hasn't been used in years. Since the building is connected with the supernatural, Jin is not wanting to go since he can see supernatural stuff. However the three guys and Tsugumi go to the old building where Daitetsu is at his limit for scary stuff. Jin sees an impurity and figures that this is related to whatever bad thing happened. Tsugumi acts possessed and tells a ghost story of a student who died in this building after falling down the open trap door and being impaled. When said trap door begins to slam from the inside, the foursome is out of there screaming.

That night at home, Jin wonders if he should tell Nagi about it but since he knows she'll want to go to school then, he passes. However, she senses something is wrong despite his assertions to the contrary. The next day to Jin's horror, Nagi shows up with a throng of admirers, wearing the school's uniform. She sees Jin and using her ultra formal speech, runs to "Jin-kun" to embrace him. To the disbelief of Nagi's new male fans, Jin side-steps the embrace and Nagi "slides into first." She continues her formal speech, telling Jin he's cruel, forcing Jin to tell her angered admirers that she's a relative, at which he grabs her and leaves.

Out of the public eye, Jin demands to know why she's here and why she has a school uniform. Nagi tricks him into acknowledging there is an impurity on the campus and Tsugumi arrives, confessing Nagi is wearing one of her uniforms (which had become to small for Tsugumi). When Jin learns that Nagi has been through his things as well, he's worried she found his "precious collection." Nagi has a little fun with him on that aspect, but it lets Tsugumi know that Jin is into girls with larger chests, which she has. She's pumped about that revelation.

That afternoon, Nagi joins Tsugumi, Jin, Akiba, and Daitetsu to check out the abandoned art storehouse building. Inside, Nagi senses an impurity and even senses something coming from the trap door. She opens it and to everyone's surprise, and older, geeky-looking man emerges. Turns out it is the Art Club's sponsor, Dokusasori-sensei, who lives under the storehouse building. The whole event was an initiation into the club set up by Takako and Shino. However, Nagi does not take this well and races out. She realizes that to be so fooled means her powers must be waning more. She sees a church and enters, where she finds a nun in a miniskirt who has the impurity. What's more, she destroys it and addresses Nagi as "Neesama" -- her older sister.

Thoughts/Review: OK, this anime is rapidly moving up my favorites list when it comes to comedy pieces. Having the that one usually hears in the carousel (carnival music) as Nagi runs to Jin made me laugh, as did his side-step to avoid her, which made me laugh even harder. There were several other nice laughs as well, not all with Nagi. The comedic timing in this series is good stuff.

Basically, Nagi is just such a hoot as a character during the comedy moments, but also very interesting during the serious moments. I liked that she assured Tsugumi that she has no romantic interest in Jin (though why she did it they way she did is beyond me except for obvious fanservice reasons). I wonder who she supposedly likes though.

So, this episode we are introduced to a ton of people. Since all of them are shown in the OP, I guess that will be in for the main characters. Its still to early to see how they will all turn out, but there's certainly some parody stuff here. Takako getting the explosive nosebleed from the "Too Pure Pure Boy" (she actually uses that English phrase in reference to Jin) is certainly a parody (even if funny).

Of course the most interesting moment came at the end with Nagi entering the church and the miniskirt wearing nun not only removing the impurity, but addressing Nagi as "Neesama." I guess that means that this girl (whom I've seen in the promo art) is also a kami though why she'd be in a church is a good question. After all, Shinto religion and Catholicism don't seem to mix on the surface. Then again, now that I think about it, actually they do more than I first thought.

Well, I'm kinda rambling here because I'm tired as I write this, but as I mentioned earlier, Kannagi is moving up the list of favorite comedy anime titles. I hope it can continue to do so.

The Perfect Female Partner -- Coming Soon!

I swear, android wives will be available before my life ends (assuming God lets me live to old age). Check out this article from The Sun. I couldn't help but notice the part about how with a few tweaks, "Aiko" could be made "fully functional" (to quote Data from Star Trek: The Next Generation).

While this certainly isn't the first time a news article has appeared about the creation of android women, I read this and thought about Armitage III and other "artificial girl" anime titles I've seen over the years. So having some free time, I thought, "why not compile a list?"

So, here are some anime/manga android wife candidates.

• Chii (Chobits) -- The Chobits manga (and anime) is all about falling in love with an android. Of course in Chii's case, being intimate is a might more difficult. Still, Chii is always eager to learn and so can be taught to be the perfect wife for the one she loves.
  
  
  
• Chachamaru (Negima!) -- This android babe can kick the arse of your enemies. She can defend you against powerful foes with her built-in machine gun and bladed weapon. She can apparently cook, clean, be a caretaker, and more. With her recent upgrades and multiple body forms, she can fulfill any age fetish one might have. *_* She comes with her own key for winding too.
  
  
• Bloodberry, Lime, Cherry (Saber Marionette J) -- Why have one android babe when you can have three? Each one has something they bring to the table and all can fight. Plus they will totally be devoted to you. Can't go wrong there, right?
  
  
  
• Mahoro (Mahoromatic) -- Mahoro may be a combat android, but she's also a maid too, so cooking, cleaning, and protection are all covered. She'll be completely devoted to you and she'll even bathe with you should you wish. Her cute, teenaged look will make you the envy of the android babe-loving otaku.
  
  
• Naomi (Armitage III) -- Of all the android babes, Naomi may have the most to offer -- she can bare you children. She's a little hot headed and a trained police officer, but she can kick butt and still be a loving, caring companion. As an aside, I think Armitage III addresses the whole android-wife issue the best.
  
  
• Multi (ToHeart) -- She may be an experimental android, but she's cute and can be taught to be a better at doing things like household chores. So if you don't mind a few bugs in the software and like the cute, high school girl look, Multi might be right for you.
  
  
  
• May (Hand Maid May) -- May is super cheerful and tries her hardest to be a perfect maid and companion. However, at only 6-inches in height, her usefulness as anything more than a speaking companion is limited. Still, for a considerable extra fee, you can upgrade to the life-sized, fully functional version. Or, you can choose several other models such as Sara (exotic, ramen-loving beauty), Rena-chan (spoiled loli), Kei (glasses-wearing genius), Mami (attractive, motherly type), and more.
  
  
  
• Dorothy (The Big O) -- She has a dry wit, she's a fighter, but also good at domestic chores. Whether she'd make a good wife depends on your tastes and if there are giant mecha units bothering you.
  
  
  
  
  
• Marie (Boku no Marie) -- She's cute and just like a real human. Fortunately, Marie can be custom-built so that she is an android copy of whatever real girl you fancy. You just give your android version a different color hair. ^_^
  
  
  
  
• Ifurita (El Hazard) -- Well, if you don't mind having an android babe who's also a weapon of mass destruction, Ifrita may be the one for you. Fortunately, she appears to have that dangerous aspect of herself under control. Just don't forget to wind her from time to time.
  

Kannagi 02

かんなぎ Episode 02
Kannagi: Crazy Shrine Maidens 02

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis: It is morning and Jin wonders if Nagi is still there. He hears her excitedly call him outside. He goes out where he finds her excited over two kittens she's discovered, who's "mews" woke her up. She wants to keep the kittens but Jin will hear nothing of it, saying that the kitten's mother will take care of them. Nagi's protests are ignored and she's forced back into the house. Nagi wants Jin to buy her a new baton since she broke the one he bought yesterday. He refuses, giving her some special glue and telling her to glue it back together but to use newspaper when using the glue. When he returns from buying her a rice bowl and stuff, he finds the top-half of the mahou shoujo toy baton glued square in the center of the table and he blows his top as she makes up a story about what happened.

About that time, Jin's childhood female friend Tsugumi arrives to pay Jin a visit after he skipped school and was so weird on the phone the day before. She hears Jin and girl arguing as she goes to ring the doorbell. Nagi pops out, which surprises Tsugumi and Jin is shocked to see Tsugumi, especially since he's holding a pair of panties. After Tsugumi enters the home, Jin pulls Nagi aside and tells her to keep her yap shut so as not to cause more problems. Jin then tries to tell the uncomfortable Tsugumi a cover story, but is interrupted by Nagi, who now speaks with an ultra-polite accent and bows to Tsugumi. She says she's Jin's half-sister and that she ran away from home because of troubles there. Her story touches Tsugumi.

After Tsugumi leaves and is walked part-way home by Jin, he returns home to try to remove the baton from the table without much success. Nagi ends up telling the story of what truly happened (rather than the split personality tale she told Jin earlier). Jin is not amused. That evening after Jin removes the baton and repairs it, he does some shopping and discovers the mother cat has been killed. He remembers the kittens and races home, where he finds Nagi holding the dead kittens. She says some kind words to their bodies, then absorbs them into herself before passing out.

Sometime after Jin has brought her in, she wakes up and is hungry. Jin gives her his Cup Noodle to eat and wants to know about the kittens and what she did to them. Nagi isn't interested in telling him and cops an attitude. Jin has had enough and tells her to get out. She takes her repaired baton and leaves, returning to her tree stump. Some neighborhood kids come up to play and they find Nagi to be weird, but they let her play with them. She detects a frog impurity on one of the kids and tires to expell it. However, it gets into a SuperBall and gets away.

Nagi isn't going to bother Jin with this and tries to take the impurity down but cannot do so. She takes damage but is saved by Jin, where she then exorcises the impurity. Because of her injuries, Nagi cannot walk and Jin takes her home on his back. He's still mad with her, but he understand that Nagi is the way she is, and her actions are apparently a lot like his father's. Besides, he just bought her a rice bowl and doesn't want it to go to waste.

Thoughts/Review: This anime is a bit tough to place on where it wants to be. Clearly, Nagi is a hoot of a character at times. She has a love of Japanese puns, she's verbally and physically abusive to Jin at times, she loves TV, her normal way of talking is pretty amusing to hear (I'm not versed on the accent), but when she shifted to the ultra-polite, elite form of female Japanese speech, I just laughed and laughed. Her antics can be quite amusing (the broken baton and the table for example, where the comedic timing is near perfect), yet when it comes to dealing with these impurities, one gets the sense that this deity is as fragile as a dried leaf. It certainly puts an interesting spin on things.

Let's see, with this episode, we meet a new character -- Tsugumi, Jin's childhood friend. OK, now we begin to see the harem aspects I suppose since I think it is clear that Tsugumi likes Jin and he likes her. Of course, Jin finds Nagi attractive and Nagi needs Jin in order to live. That really doesn't constitute a harem setting but I figure Tsugumi will be over more and more though. There's at least one more girl to be introduced based on the promo art and that may be what generates the harem feel. We'll see.

There are the sad elements in this episode with the dead cat and the kittens that died, causing Nagi to absorb them. I wonder if doing what she did actually weakens Nagi a bit more.

Regardless, I do find myself liking this fun roller coaster of an adventure-comedy series. Most of the story elements aren't that special or unique, but Nagi is a fun character and the way things are being presented has been good. I look forward to catching up with the rest of the bloggers on this (not that doing so matters mind you) and seeing where things go.

Where is Negima! 236?

Update: It is December 20 and here are the SPOILER images for Negima! 236. ^_^
Update 2: The Japanese came out with a 2nd batch of images late. Check them out --> HERE!!!

* * * * * *

I've noticed that I'm getting an increased amount of search traffic for Negima! chapter 236. So, for those of you who either didn't know or forgot, the Negima! manga is currently a third of the way through a break. Chapter 236 won't come out until December 24th! So, you have some time to wait, and if you wish, you can certainly express your desire to see the next chapter here. *lol*

As for what Akamatsu-sensei is doing during this break -- working! He's already working on the next chapter, to say nothing of the OAD stuff that's going on.

I should have spoiler images up on December 20th, assuming the Japanese upload them. ^_^

So, there are still TWO WEEKS from this posting until Negima! 236 is released in Japan. Hold on. It will be here before you know it. ^_~

Mahou Shoujo Tai Alice: The Adventure 03

魔法少女隊アルス the Adventure 03
Magic Girl Squad Arusu: The Adventure 03
Tweeny Witches the Adventure 03

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis: A couple of young witches are playing with a ball on their broom until one whacks the ball far away. Because it is too much trouble to retrieve the ball, the witches leave. This causes a chain of events in which a Gameri egg ends up landing in the meal of young witches Miresu and Miretesu (possibly the witches playing ball earlier). The egg hatches and the Gameri calls them "Mama." The two witches take the Gameri to the containment facility hoping to cash in, but the adult witches remind them that it is only the horn of the Gameri that is valuable, not the sprite itself. As such, Miresu and Miretesu will have to raise the critter themselves until its horn grows. Luckily, Sheila has already raised one once and can help.

Sheila teaches Miresu and Miretesu how to properly raise Gameri, including finding the milk balls that grow in the woods for the Gameri to consume. So the two work hard on raising the sprite and Shelia is tasked with making sure that all ends well since her own Gameri raising effort is judged a failure by the adult witches. Eventually, the time comes when Gameri grows a horn and Sheila knows what must be done. Miresu and Miretesu are horrified at giving up the Gameri, whom they've named Popo-chan and become attached to. So, they flee with the sprite on their brooms.

Sheila gives chase, followed by Alice and Eva. Alice can't believe that Sheila is actually going to have the sprite sent to the containment center for its horn. Miresu and Miretesu end up in the middle of a sprite area and the sprites think that the duo are attacking the Gameri. Alice has her normal "this is wrong" speech and Sheila remembers how she'd turned her own Gameri in, whom she'd been so close to. Sheila promised the frightened sprite she'd visit it regularly. However, her Gameri turns on her in captivity, clearly feeling betrayed. Eventually it escapes and Sheila's interference helps it get away.

With Sheila and Alice providing cover magic, Miresu and Miretesu toss Popo-chan into the air so that it will fly away and escape. Unfortunately, a sprite-eating Bakiwa has grabbed it. The witches are in pursuit with Alice popping some offensive magic, but Bakiwa deflects it. Sheila rams Bakiwa with her broom, causing it to release Popo-chan, which Sheila then tosses to Miresu and Miretesu before she falls into the lake below. However, she's rescued by an adult Gameri, who is the one Sheila raised earlier. Turns out, Popo-chan is the child of Sheila's Gameri. Parent and child reunited, the witches return home, Alice having nice things to say about Sheila, which creeps Sheila out.

Thoughts/Review: Ugh! The character designs went south in this one. Everyone looks absolutely ugly. Granted, the designs are supposed to be somewhat odd and they certainly were in the TV series, but while the last two OVA episodes have looked nicely drawn, this episode looks like someone just rushed through some rough sketches and then the production team said, "we'll use those." So when we see Eva-chan's little sprite lesson at the end, it is even more obvious because she looks great here and ugly in the episode. Not sure why this happened, but take a look.

From episode 01:


Now, from episode 02:


And now, this episode:


Real disappointing and I hope this isn't what we are subjected to for the remaining episodes. Frankly, that will make the series much less enjoyable.

As to the episode's story, it brought in the Alice preaching element which annoyed me a bit in the TV series. Personally, I like it more when Alice, Sheila, and Eva are more of a team and friends rather than Sheila being the obstinate person from the TV series (at least, the first part of it). Seeing Sheila go from hard-lined stance supporting the witch's goal of collecting sprites to helping one escape is ultra-predictable, more so in light of the TV series.

Still, despite this and the terrible art, I was marginally entertained.

Urusei Yatsura 92

うる星やつら episode 92 (TV anime)

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis: Cherry works on a potion to rid the body of earthly desires. He makes it in the form of taiyaki and tries to pass it off to Sakura, who throws him out for even trying. Irritated, Cherry goes to find his next guinea pig and comes across the giant Kotatsu-neko. The giant cat is very suspicious of the taiyaki treat and Cherry is annoyed that the cat won't eat it. When Ataru comes up, Kotatsu-neko offers him half of the taiyaki and naturally Ataru accepts. Seeing Ataru's reaction to eating the pastry pleases Cherry until Ataru falls asleep. Figuring this to be a failure, Cherry leaves while Kotatsu-neko takes Ataru home.

Ataru sleeps heavily even though his mother made sukiyaki. Ataru's desires and personality leave his body and form a new body which is both non-corporeal (he can move through walls) and corporeal (he can touch things). He can also fly. Figuring himself as being asleep, Ataru leaves his physical body and flies around the city for a while. Meanwhile in geosynchronous orbit, Lum is a bit down because she couldn't spend time with Ataru. Seeing him flying, she is delighted and joins him just in time to hear him plan for fun in his thoughts. So she electrocutes him until he disappears.

Ataru's first visit is to Sakura-sensei, who is undressing to take a bath. She senses him but fails to spot him. She starts to clean herself before entering the bath when she spots Ataru in the tub's water. Ataru is forced to flee and pays Shinobu a visit. After she says her prayers and goes to bed, Ataru slips inside, which freaks her out. She immediately attacks Ataru until he's able to use his non-corporeal form to slip away. He decides to return home to find Sakura-sensei, Cherry, Shinobu, Kotatsu-neko, and his parents around his physical body to exorcise the evil desires.

Returning back to the air, Lum catches him again. She's delighted that he's back and can fly. When he says he's no longer human, she's even happier. In the end, she decides to throw a party with all of her beautiful, flying friends. Because Ataru is now more like Lum, she's so happy she's willing to allow him to flirt at the party. Ataru eagerly agrees to this but when the guest show up, they are all non-humanoid aliens who want him. Ataru tries to get away and finds Lum. However, he's not happy so he attempts to return home, only to find the same group still there trying to get rid of his new form. He's expelled and bound by Sakura-sensei but the next day, a happy Lum is taking the bound Ataru to school, meaning you can't get rid of Ataru's desires so easily.

Thoughts/Review: This episode was more of an excuse to showcase the lust-filled Ataru again while still having elements of how Ataru has grown (and to get some serious Sakura-sensei fanservice in). Still, Ataru was not the annoying so-and-so he was in those early episodes of the anime. Things proceeded in a pretty predictable way from Kotatsu-Neko giving Ataru the spiked food to Ataru's behavior to Lum's party having no humanoid friends at her party. Despite this, the episode was another "enjoy the ride" one.

The last few episodes have been "enjoy the ride" episodes where they are filler with zero impact on any other episode. So far, I haven't minded but I can see getting weary of this format of storytelling.

Mahou Shoujo Tai Alice: The Adventure 02

魔法少女隊アルス the Adventure 02
Magic Girl Squad Arusu: The Adventure 02
Tweeny Witches the Adventure 02

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis: Alice greets the morning, calling her mother's name and wondering how her mother (Yoko-san) is doing. She thinks back to how her mother doesn't wake up to an alarm clock, leaving Alice to wake her up. A strong wind comes up and blows Alice off the rock outcropping she'd been on. She's about to fall into the ravine below when she's caught by a witch she's never met before. The witch pulls her back up to safety but disappears before Alice can get her name, only leaving a bracelet behind.

At class, Sheila goes off on her young students, threatening to send them to the human world because they aren't studying. The young witches flee in terror at this, leaving Sheila flabbergasted. Alice takes off to go find them and discovers five of them heading for the Palatium, where they've been told a mirror exists that will show them the human world. They want to see it for themselves to know if it is as bad as Sheila claims. Alice thinks of her mother and so goes along with the group to the Palatium.

Inside the Palatium, the young witches and Alice find an energy-filled giant panel but can't see the human world. The witch who saved Alice earlier arrives and says her name is Toma, so Alice addresses her as "Toma-chan." Alice hangs back from the "mirror," so Toma shoves all five young witches into it. They are trapped and somehow, Toma knows Alice is from the human world. She plans to use the hostages as leverage but takes an attack from outside the room. This allows the young witches to escape.

Toma attacks the group, but Alice erects a barrier that completely repels the attack. Toma is stunned by this and more so by Alice's breaking the seal on the door that had them trapped. Realizing that Alice is far more powerful, Toma traps the fleeing young witches and Alice by raising a drawbridge in the underground cavern. She then takes Alice's powers, causing herself and the young witches to fall into the darkness below. Meanwhile, Sheila is out looking for the remaining students.

In their cage, Alice is about to show the young witches her breakout spell but she then discovers that she cannot perform magic. To their surprise, Toma shows up to free them. Toma promises to get Alice's magic back and tells them to flee but before they can do so, Toma is attacked. The attacker is also Toma. "Bad-Toma" then binds Alice and because she has Alice's power, she's more powerful than "Good-Toma." However, Good-Toma still manages to free Alice and the young witches, placing them in a giant bag that acts as a rail car, as it travels down some rail tracks (like mining tracks).

Bad-Toma recaptures Alice and has knocked out Good-Alice. Bad-Toma reveals that they are both Toma and that their real body has been sealed. Bad-Toma tells Alice that she will return her stolen powers if Alice unseals them, allowing the two Toma's to return to their body. Meanwhile, the young witches are still in the bag-car and use their powers to get to safety outside of the mountain. They are found by Sheila and Eva, where they tell Sheila that Alice has been captured. Sheila and Eva race to where Alice is and stop her from unsealing Toma's body.

Sheila explains that Toma is extraordinarily powerful, so much so that she has caused calamities and has been the cause of a war. After some evil witches placed evil in Toma's heart, Toma requested she be sealed to prevent herself from doing evil but two personalities were born. After Alice hears the story, she now understands Toma and realizes that Bad-Toma was the one who saved her from the cliff. With Good-Toma now conscious, Alice talks with the two halves of Toma, telling them she believes in them that they won't go out of control. As such, she unseals Toma's body and the two "hearts" re-enter it.

Toma is now alive and whole when the Grand Master's image appears. Toma acknowledges the Grand Master silently and the Grand Master returns the gesture. As such, Toma is allowed to live and will now serve Ateria. Back in the city, she thanks Alice for what Alice did for her.

Thoughts/Review: As I watch the intro to this episode (which is a simple musical interlude), I immediately just get caught up in the haunting beauty of that song and indeed all of the music in Mahou Shoujo Tai Alice. It happens every time I watch an episode, mind you and frankly proves that music can go a long way in setting a proper mood. Granted, this kind of music won't be to everyone's like (what is though?), but for me, I get caught up in its beauty, followed by the beautiful art in the series.

But I digress...

I rather like these one-shot side adventures of Alice, Sheila, and Eva. Had these been aired within the series, they would have been branded as filler and set aside. As OVA episodes done after the TV series completed, they are simply a delight to watch, returning to this magical world to see those other things that happened which had nothing to do with the TV series plot.

For this specific episode, I liked how we got to see a bit more of Alice's mother, Yoko-san. One thing that's never been clear to me is why she addresses her mother by her given name, even if she does add the "san" honorific to it. Her father is "Papa" so why her mother isn't more respectfully addressed is a mystery. Still, the brief flashback to Alice on Earth sleeping with her mother and then waking her mother up is a nice touch.

Since it has been a while since I last saw an episode in this franchise, I'd forgotten how powerful Alice can be. I guess there's something to be said for that kind of surprise.

The mild weakness of the episode was the explanation of Toma. After Alice unseals her, one would think that the Grand Master showing up might have a thing to say to Alice, even though all's well that ends well. It was never stated, but maybe the Grand Master knew Toma back before her sealing.

Still, I can say I completely enjoyed this episode and hope to get to see the rest of the OVA series in the near future.

Clannad After Story 10

クラナド アフターストーリー Episode 10

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis: In the Illusionary World, Mystery Girl and Garbage Doll still work on building a flying machine to escape the world before winter hits, when the girl will never move again. This is something Garbage Doll doesn't completely understand. However, Garbage Doll hopes that they can complete the flier and escape before winter hits.

Back in the real world, Sanae-san and Akito-san congratulate Tomoya on his graduation. They offer him a job in the bread store and Sanae-san begins to address him as "Tomoya-san" now. Nagisa returns to school but she's not in the same class as Yukine and Tomoyo. As Tomoya gets used to the busy mornings and tedious afternoons working the bread store, Nagisa tries to get the Theater Club going again, even getting Minoshi-sensei to sponsor it. However, no one joins her club and with no members, there can be no club and the bad news is given to Nagisa by Tomoyo.

Tomoya starts thinking of living on his own, but rents are expensive. He talks with Yoshino, who tells him there are jobs at the electric company. After Tomoya sees and talks with Kyou and Ryou, they tell him of an old apartment that has just become available, which is very cheap. After checking out the place, he returns to Yoshino and asks him about getting a job and the electric company. That done, he informs Sanae-san and Akio-san that he has an apartment and will be moving out of their home. They agree and move him to his new place, even giving him some furniture and a TV. Nagisa stays behind after the move and makes some tea, leading Tomoya to wonder when this arrangement will become permanent.

The following afternoon, Akio-san and Tomoya play catch where Akio-san tells Tomoya to come to him if Tomoya has any problems or the like. Tomoya asks what Akio-san would think if Tomoya made Nagisa a part of his life at his new apartment, basically asking to marry Nagisa. Akio-san gives his permission by telling Tomoya that it will be Nagisa's choice. With that, Akio-san decides to take a swing at one of Tomoya's pitches. He ends up knocking the ball too far, causing it to crash through a window.

Tomoya is awakened in his new aprartment by Nagisa in her school uniform so that he won't be late for work. After breakfast, he reports to work and Yoshino is his trainer. They head out where Yoshino shows Tomoya how to properly be on an electric pole and the importance of safety in such a dangerous job. After they complete the work on the first pole, Tomoya finds himself exhausted already and they still have four more poles to go. By the end of the day, Tomoya is sore and completely exhausted. He manages to stumble home where Nagisa is waiting for him, making dinner. He sits with Nagisa to eat and tries to listen to her story about her day, but is so tired, he is falling asleep.

Thoughts/Review: Again, a trip to the Illusionary World and no new information, though the flier is coming along somehow.

We got to see Kyou and Ryou for a bit this episode, which is nice.

I was somewhat surprised and yet not surprised that Tomoya left the Furukawa home. I can certainly understand his desire to live on his own and not be a burden to Sanae-san and Akio-san. I expected Nagisa to be a bit sad that her boyfriend even wanted to leave, much less actually leave and live on his own. However, they were like a newlywed couple in his new apartment (in a non-sexual way) and that leads me to wonder when Tomoya will propose. After all, he has permission from Akio-san now.

You know, this episode continues sad themes. Even though Nagisa is well again (and I still think she's a goner at some point), the two friends she has aren't in her class and apparently her classmates don't know how to deal with her. Nagisa didn't get the Theater Club going again and I remember how important that was to her in Clannad. While there was the old joke about Sanae-san's bread, the humor is mostly gone now and that in and of itself is sad. The preview for the next episode seems to indicate that more sad themes are in store. Oh well. It was going to come sooner or later I suppose.

School Rumble Manga Volume 11

School Rumble, Volume 11 <--Buy From Amazon!

Summary/Synopsis: The girl's basketball club story draws to a conclusion with "The Outlaws" (Harima, Tougou, Imadori, Tenma, and Yakumo) challenging Satsuki's team (Lala, Megumi, Mikoto, Tsumugi, and Karen) to a game, the winner being the representative of the school. Despite Satsuki's departure, Anegasaki-sensei accepts. The Outlaws begin giving the girls a beating but Lala eventually gets Satsuki to return to the team where the girls ultimately win.

After an after party and a study session where Tenma battles her cravings for sweets, Harima and Hanai end up losing their entire class to 2D after losing multiple card games to Tougou and Harry. After doing some penance for Eri and Akira, Harima and Hanai join the girls for an outing to the Curry Stadium, where there are multiple curry stands. They end up in a contest for eating hot curry where Harima just loses to Satsuki.

After Tenma has a dream where she's a responsible person everyone looks up to, Harima decides to take Tenma out for her birthday and then treat her to a birthday dinner at an expensive restaurant, getting Akira and Shuuji-kun to come as cover (Eri and Mikoto not being able to come due to other engagements). Harima fails at everything and is in for a shock when he discovers the restaurant is more than he can afford. However, Eri is there for her meeting and covers the tab since it is Tenma's birthday.

Harima is plagued by a ghost teacher, which forces him to study so he can stay with Tenma. Meanwhile, Tenma is having her own studying problems but manages to succeed. Lala cuts off too much hair, leading herself and Karen on a little adventure to make it right. That's followed by a sleepover at Mikoto's house where Tenma, Eri, and Akira grill Mikoto about her date with Aso.

Finally, Nishimoto's massive porn collection causes and accident which forces him to get rid of much of it to his followers.

Thoughts/Review: Del Rey makes a big mistake in this volume. On page eight, they mis-ID Yakumo, Megumi, and Karen. This is a pretty big and obvious mistake. I don't know how this could have happened since the text for each person should be pretty simple to keep straight. Very, very bad, Del Rey.

That aside, I rather enjoyed this volume of the manga. I laughed when Lala took Imadori's Air Jordans for her own use and literally wore them down to the shoestrings. However, the funnier bit was when Imadori tried to get his revenge at the Nabe Party at Mikoto's house by dropping the shoe strings into the nabe, after which Lala has the ultimate payback thanks to Tougou.

I loved the continued tension between Eri and Harima, even if only in brief moments. Yakumo had such a small role in this volume that there was nothing between her and Harima.

Basically, I enjoyed all the stories but it seemed to me that Kobayashi-sensei got a bit lazy on his art. Normally, people's hair will have a shine in it to indicate a light source. Sometimes Kobayashi-sensei has this and sometimes he doesn't, and it was the lack of this that stood out to me. Still, the stories are able to cover for this art laps.

Bottom line: Good stories, but a huge mistake by Del Rey on character identification for the basketball teams and some laziness in the artwork at times from Kobayashi-sensei. Still, it is worth a buy if you like School Rumble.

Kannagi 01

かんなぎ Episode 01
Kannagi: Crazy Shrine Maidens 01

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis: A young boy is collecting a spider to show and frighten his friend Tsugumi when a miko (Shinto shrine maiden) stops him, patting him on the head in a friendly way. A gust of wind arises and the miko and the spider are gone, leaving the boy to wonder.

It is a few years later and the boy, Jin, has carved a female figure from a large log. He's going to take it to school (apparently), but it is too heavy to walk with, so he gets his bike to wheel it in. However, the statue seems to pull dirt in and grow until it bursts open and a girl is inside. The girl has the same face as the miko from earlier. Naturally Jin is stunned by this and after the girl marvels over her human form, she accepts Jin's offer of tea, even if it is the cheap stuff. Jin wonders what she is and having a strong sense of spirits, he wonders if she's a ghost. The girl seems a bit annoyed by this and decides to educate Jin -- she's a kami (a deity) and a land one at that. The girl wonders about her form and hearing that the sacred tree has been cut down, the girl is not furious, then stunned.

After hearing Jin's explanation of what happened to the tree, she attacks Jin for turning her tree into a carving from which she emerged. She denies having a memory of Jin from the past and wonders what will happen because the guardian tree has been removed. A dark, centipede-looking thing craws onto the girl, causing her an injury on her leg. The girl identifies the bug as an impurity born due to the guardian tree having been cut down. She's surprised when Jin can remove the impurity and even exorcise it. She's depressed by this since she'd said he couldn't do that and wonders how someone without training can do such a thing.

The girl perks up at hearing about TV and watches a mahou shoujo anime. Since the girl has limited powers in her body, she decides the mahou shoujo route is the way to go. With a baton and Shinto streamers, she has Jin gather three spider impurities, which she exorcises with her wand. That done, she introduces herself as Nagi, same as the tree. They return to the shrine house, where she asks for tai fish but Jin can't afford such an offering. Instead, he gives her taiyaki, the fish-shaped pastry. Nagi loves it. As Nagi eats, she announces that she'll be living with Jin since she needs his powers and that she'll be safe as long as she lives with him.

After diner from the convenience store, Jin has Nagi take a bath first, which she finds quite enjoyable. However, Jin has trouble dealing with Nagi's underwear for the laundry and realizing that Nagi only has one set of clothes, he goes to the store to pick her up some sweat suits and some panties. Once she's donned the clothing, Jin instructs her not to answer the phone since he doesn't want people knowing a girl is living with him while his father is away. However, she doesn't know exactly what a phone is and when Tsugumi calls, Nagi picks up the receiver, forcing a naked Jin to grab the phone and try to assure his female friend that everything is OK even if he missed school that day. With that, he gives Nagi his room to sleep in and sleeps on a futon in the living room.

Thoughts/Review: MS suggested that I give this a look-see. Anime blogdom is awash in Kannagi writings, so why not add one more to the mix, eh?

Coming into this as a Kannagi virgin, I knew only the following things going into this anime (beyond that a lot of people blog about it). First, the lead female character is some loli goddess named Nagi. Second, this is supposedly some sort of mahou shoujo harem (or romantic comedy at minimum) title. Third, the mangaka pissed off tons of otkau in Japan who imagined "Nagi-sama" as their loli wife. To be honest, that's not much of a enticement to watch a series but MS is a good guy (most of the time ^_~ ) and I am a sucker for mahou shoujo titles, when I get talked into watching them.

As to this episode, calling Kannagi "mahou shoujo" is a stretch to be sure. OK, so Nagi has a baton from which she's hung those streamers used by Shinto priest and miko for exorcisms. However, her being a kami kinda negates the whole mahou shoujo element. That doesn't matter though. I do like Nagi as a character though. It will be interesting to see where things go, especially since she does seem to take damage from these little bug-like impurities.

As to Jin, in some ways, he seemed like Tenchi. His seiyuu, SHIMONO Hiro, kinda sounds like Tenchi's seiyuu KIKUCHI Masami at times with Jin's vocal reactions to some of Nagi's actions. Being that TM!R is my favorite anime, I guess that comparison doesn't hurt Kannagi for me. ^_^

So for the first episode, we were given some very basic table setting for what's to come. I like Nagi, Jin doesn't bother me at all, and the comedy stuff is nice. I'm not sure if this will get a serious story or not (I somehow get the feeling Nagi will come close to death before it is over but then come back thanks to Jin), but regardless, I'm now on the Kannagi train, even if a latecomer.

xxxHOLiC Manga Chapter 170

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis: The old fortune teller friend of Yuuko-san's gives Yuuko-san a call where after some small talk (where we learn that Kohane-chan is doing well), she she expresses a desire to speak with Watanuki. It seems her fortune she gave Watanuki volumes ago wasn't quite right. Apparently, she mistook Watanuki's parents no longer being in the world to mean that they were dead but when she saw Watanuki again, she realized her mistake -- Watanuki's parents are alive but on another world. Yuuko-san confirms the lady's new vision but since Watanuki isn't there, the lady takes it as a sign that he's not to be told yet. She then invites Watanuki to visit her and Kohane-chan again, which Yuuko-san agrees to pass on to Watanuki, but she figures that by the time that happens, everything will be over.

Yuuko-san has another visitor -- Haruka-san. He's glad to see Yuuko-san though wonders how this came to be. He echos Yuuko-san's earlier thoughts that the end may be near as the children Yuuko-san is watching have made their choices. As Yuuko-san creates a butterfly of energy (?), Haruka-san comments that he hopes the butterfly's dream may be realized.

Thoughts/Review: I smell a retcon here. One thing I've wondered ever since Tsubasa and xxxHOLiC went weird is how much of this CLAMP actually intended at the beginning. If they intended Syaoran and Watanuki to be the same person all along, then this chapter is a retcon to fix the problem created by this old fortune teller whom we the audience were told was a TRUE fortune teller. As such, this is a HUGE error on her part for someone Yuuko-san swore was the real deal. It also makes Yuuko-san look dumb since I don't remember her even blinking at the fortune told.

However, if CLAMP didn't decide where they were going with both stories until late, then this chapter is a retcon to bring things in line with how they ultimately decided to go with the story. Either way, it is a retcon moment.

The 2nd half of the chapter having Haruka-san show up felt like filler, but I did like that he and Yuuko-san got to speak.

With all this "end" talk in this chapter combined with the general feel that xxxHOLiC is winding down as well as Tsubasa, I would guess that both series will end sometime next year.

Minami-ke Okawari 13 (finale)

みなみけ～おかわり～ Ep. 13 (final episode)

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis: Kana tells Chiaki what she learned from Haruka's friends -- Haruka is leaving to go study abroad. Chiaki wants to confront Haruka about this, but after Kana pleads with her not to do so, Chiaki relents. At school, Chiaki learns her friends are aware of Haruka's plans to leave the country and are excited for her (save for Makoto). Kana has a talk with Keiko at school about the situation, leading her to tell Chiaki, Yoshino, and Uchida of her plan to prove that she and Chiaki can be self-reliant when it comes to cooking and cleaning. Makoto and Touma arrive and all are enlisted to help.

With Haruka gone to a volleyball club event, Chiaki and Kana try their hand at food preparation. Makoto and Touma are designated as food tasters, Chiaki and Uchida work on preparation (with some help from Yoshino), and Kana works on cooking, supervised by Yoshino. Their results end up failing repeatedly and the food tasters end up sick. Eventually, Chiaki and Yoshino discover the proper way to make the patties (which are being made for hamburger steak) and they work fine this time.

The following day, Haruka is awakened by Chiaki and Kana vacuuming and cleaning. She's surprised by their efforts as Kana shoos her back to bed. The two then work on the laundry and then on making lunch, which pleases Haruka. Naturally, lunch is hamburger steak and when presented to Haruka to eat, she finds it is very good. She praises her younger sisters for all their hard work. Chiaki breaks down and tells Haruka that she doesn't want Haruka to leave. Kana isn't happy by this at first, but she too joins Chiaki in telling Haruka not to leave. After learning where the girls learned about her leaving, she promises them that she's not going to leave and never was.

Thoughts/Review: Bloody Black-san characters are back. I swear, for the 3rd series, I hope those things aren't brought back.

That aside, I liked how Chiaki and Kana worked hard to learn to cook and to prove to Haruka that they could also clean as well so that she could go to school overseas with no problems. Poor Touma and Makoto though. Whew. I think that was the only funny moment to this episode. I really wasn't sure if the writers would have Haruka leave or not, but somehow I never really believed that they would. Maybe that was aided by knowing there's a 3rd series being created.

I do have to ask why the production team decided that the scene of Chiaki, Uchida, and Yoshino are cutting onions is done sideways. That actually made me a little queasy somehow.

Beyond that, there's not much to comment on -- Chiaki and Kana want to prove they can live without Haruka and their friends help them on their quest. That's the episode in a nutshell. There are nice moments and one funny moment but nothing that special as I saw it.

Clannad After Story 09

クラナド アフターストーリー Episode 09

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis: In the Illusionary World, Mystery Girl and Garbage Doll work on building a flying machine to escape the world before winter hits, when the girl will never move again.

In the real world, Nagisa and Tomoya are walking to school when Nagisa asks what Tomoya plans to do after he graduates. He changes the subject to getting a present for Nagisa, then going on a date with her, which frustrates her. At lunch, the two of them along with Tomoyo, Kyou, Ryou, Kotomi, and Youhei are having lunch and talking about the future, where again, Tomoya avoids the subject. However, it is then that Nagisa begins to slump over and is discovered to have a fever. Tomoya gets her home where it seems her mysterious illness has returned.

Time passes and Nagisa is missing lots of school, enough to make it almost impossible for her to graduate. Kyou and Ryou try to distract the clearly depressed Tomoya with Button, though it is only a short-term measure. Tomoya spends his free time with the bedridden Nagisa even though she tells him he can go "play" if he wants (like hang out with Youhei). He wants to be with her. Nagisa's parents tell Tomoya that they are leaving the final decision on whether she tries to graduate or not to Nagisa. Tomoya declares that he doesn't want to graduate without Nagisa, leading Akio-san to chastise him for this as it will make Nagisa feel terrible.

So, Tomoya continues his studies and spending time with Nagisa. He tells her of his desire to walk outside with her and hold her hand. At her birthday on Christmas Eve, a party is thrown for Nagisa with all her friends (including Misae-san) where Tomoya gives her a gift of a large, stuffed dango, which she loves. Time passes and Tomoya, Youhei, Kyou, Ryou, and Kotomi graduate. Tomoya returns home to find Nagisa outside waiting for him. He cries, telling her how he hated school until he met her and that he should have stayed behind another year to be with Nagisa. Nagisa tells him that he needs to move on with his life and the two take a short walk where they hold hands.

Thoughts/Review: NOOOO! Nagisa is going to die, I just know it now after seeing this episode. WHHAAAAHHH! If that happens, I'm sure I'll be crying like a baby.

As it is, this is the most emotional episode to date. I was stunned that Nagisa's mysterious illness not only came back, but caused her to miss the rest of the school year as well. I know that in Clannad, this illness is what caused her to have to repeat a year, which caused her to meet Tomoya and the others. I guess I just thought she would be OK from here on, and that was easy to do considering not only the stories about the others, but some of the great humor moments. I guess I thought I'd get to see Tomoya and Nagisa graduate together.

That leads me to another surprise, which is the passage of time in this episode. Next episode, Tomoya is no longer in high school and I guess Nagisa returns to complete her 3rd year with Tomoyo and Yukine. That's going to be weird because it seems to me that we won't see Ryou, Kyou, and especially Kotomi-chan, who's going to America to study.

I wonder if the Mystery Girl is somehow linked to Nagisa and Nagisa's condition. I'll be glad when we finally get some answers about the Illusionary World.

So, next episode moves us into new ground and it will be interesting to see where things go, though I fear the worst for Nagisa. I hope I'm wrong. ^_^;

Sasami: Magic Girl Club 2 DVD Review

Sasami - Magical Girls Club 2 <--Buy From Amazon!
砂沙美☆魔法少女クラブ2
Sasami: Mahou Shoujo Club 2

In Sasami, the goal was clearly to firmly establish the characters of the magic girl club (Sasami, Makoto, An-An, Misao, and Tsukasa) as well as set down a bit of the groundwork for a plot. In Sasami 2, plot takes over with most of the character stuff dedicated to Misao. How does it work? Pretty well.

Things pick up with the girls still training to be magic girls, even working on the poses seen in mahou shoujo anime titles or in sentai titles like Power Rangers. The story then follows the Chief Sorceress plan to bring over Sasami's group to the Magic World, Washu and Daimon's rescue of the girls, Itoki's attempt to take them back from Earth, the older magic girl group's (Shining Star) getting Misao to return with them, Sasami and the others coming to rescue Misao, the truth of the Witch Executives revealed, and then the Chief Sorceress's decision to fix earth and place it under witch control no matter what the cost.

Certain elements of the story were pretty predictable. Considering Misao's personality (introvert, not confident), it was pretty predictable that the Chief Sorceress would use Misao's desire to be someone in her plans and that eventually, Misao would have to be rehabilitated. However, the surprise for me came in some of the execution in making this come to pass. The writers know that this is an old, predictable story so they worked on making the when and where elements the mystery. A