Negima! Chapter 243 SPOILER Images

Negima! 243 SPOILER Images
魔法先生 ネギま！Chapter 243 (Images)

Here's what I know many of you have been waiting for -- the original-sized, sneak-peek images for Mahou Sensei Negima! 243 as brought to you buy anonymous Japanese fans (click pic to make bigger, y'all). Amazingly, they are out EARLY (remember last time, they took forever).

Naked Ako, clothed Ako, Fate, Negi, and Jack kicking bottom. ^_^

Thanks to "Anon" for the head's up. I think this is the earliest the spoilers have ever come out.

Update: The 2nd batch of spoiler images can be found --> HERE.

Space Battleship Yamato 2 -- Final Thoughts

Having enjoyed Space Battleship Yamato well enough, I looked forward to seeing its sequel, Space Battleship Yamato 2. I liked the idea of "space marines" ("space cavaliers" actually) being added to the mix and for there to be other ships other than Yamato. Unfortunately, the writers got lazy and this sequel does not live up to its parent.

The biggest problem from the start with this new series is that from the start, the villain Desler from the Space Battleship Yamato is magically returned to life to play a 2nd-tier villain this time. I was not happy to see this because if you are going to kill a character, then leave them dead. Otherwise, what's the point? Then, the writers made it clear that they were going to follow the identical format from the first series by having a powerful, mysterious enemy attack, a warning message from a blonde-haired alien woman is then dispatched, and Yamato heads out to some remote alien planet to do whatever and return for the final confrontation. Been there, done that.

The next issue I had is with the character of Susumu -- or "Acting Captain Kodai" as he is known in the series. How long has it been since Yamato returned to Earth? Long enough that Earth has multiple fleets and the Earth itself is completely healed from the Gamilus devastating attacks. So why is he only "Acting Captain?" It makes no sense to me. I know there's some effort to give respect to the original captain, Ogata, but seriously, either be a captain or not. Most of the time, Susumu is not a captain -- he only plays one. That's why he can't control the commander of the space cavaliers, Saito. That's also why he races off more than once to jump in a fighter to get away from the responsibility.

That brings me to the character of Saito. As I mentioned before, having actual troops on board Yamato excited me because (1) you had troops to defend the ship against a possible boarding and (2) you had ground forces to be used if needed for planetary missions. Unfortunately, the space cavaliers are not used well at all. After seemingly losing most of their forces before being rescued by Yamato, their leader Saito shows himself to be an ignorant ape leading a troop of ignorant apes. He has no military discipline and constantly fought with Susumu (who should have had the gorilla thrown in the brig). Early on, he tries to interfere with everyone else's job, thinking that he can magically do that job without training, including flying a fighter. I wrote this dialog to depict Saito.

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

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

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

Susumu: Whatever.

By the end of the series when Saito and his men are actually used a tiny bit effectively, it didn't matter. I didn't care and if Saito died -- good riddance to bad rubbish.

Next on the agenda is the laughable element the writers dared to call "romance." The series starts with Yuki and Susumu supposedly caring for each other. Well, I believe Yuki did but Susumu is just a loser. Regardless, Susumu shuts down the romance until after the mission and then it is forgotten until almost the very end when Earth is on the line. However, even in the original series, their feelings for each other never seemed real and they don't feel real here either. I just rolled my eyes and tried to remember that the series was done in the 70's and is a shounen title.

Also on the romance front is the supposed romance between Daisuke and the alien Teresa. That gets forced on us when Daisuke decides that as navigator-pilot for Yamato, he's the only one qualified to speak with Teresa. As such, it is time to kick out the normal communications guy and use your best pickup lines. Yeah, whatever. So when Yamato finally reaches Teresa's planet, there was no way I believed she was somehow in love with Daisuke and vice versa. It all smacked of a convienent but forced situation so that Teresa could save Daisuke's life twice. As such, nothing that happened between them had any meaning for me.

Next are the villains. The White Comet fools are cliched as they come as is Desler. Desler performs one semi-surprise at the end of the series which seemed totally out of character in my opinion but whatever. Meh.

So is there anything good about the series? Not really. That's not to say it is some horrible anime, but the writing is not as good, the characters are weaker, the situations become more and more improbable and in the end, not only did I not care about any of the characters or the story, I couldn't wait for it to be over. As such, I can only give this a 2 out of 5.

I don't have access to Space Battleship Yamato 3, but considering the dropoff in Yamato 2, I wouldn't be that enthused about Yamato 3 no matter what.

Back To The Vaults: Planetes

プラネテス
ΠΛΑΝΗΤΕΣ

Recently, I read some articles about two satellites crashing in space and the debris they create (here, here, and here). That reminded me of the anime Planetes, which features Earth of 2075 where the main characters are members of the Debris Section of a large company, charged with collecting all of the debris in orbit of Earth. A piece of debris destroying a passenger space plane is the setup to the anime. So, I thought I'd take the time to rewatch this anime, which I really enjoyed when I first saw it in 2006, and see how it held up the second time.

The anime, based on the four-volume manga by YUKIMURA Makoto-sensei, covers quite a bit of territory in terms of subject matter. Yes, the issue of space debris is at the heart of the series, but the series is also a parody of Japanese business practices and office politics. This aspect, which was not present in the manga, is where the series derives some humor from the Debris Section two low-level managers. The office politics also provides some means of drama as section chiefs battle to prove they are better than other section chiefs and even do things to sabotage those who aren't "in" (such as the Debris Section's section chief, Dolf, who's original company was bought out and then became the Debris Section).

In the midst of these two main elements of the anime, many other issues are explored such as the negative health aspects of long-term life in space (cancer from radiation), what happens when someone is born and raised on the moon, terrorism (especially in space), the unintended consequences of getting off of crude oil as an energy source, the opposition to other forms of energy no matter what they come from (leading to environmental terrorism), the corrupt nature of the political organization International Treaty Organization (INTO), the value of continued space exploration (with the launch of the Jupiter mission ship, Von Braun) and the complaints about the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer.

The story starts with the debris collection and some lighter stuff, but also has the main female character, TANABE Ai, show herself to be very naive and preachy. So for the first few episodes, the audience has to deal with her adjustment to the realities of working in space versus the idealistic dream she had. After that, the other elements are blended in portraying what comes off as a very believable future -- no mecha, no blasters, but technology that seems right. This is added to by having space shots not have sound (save for the sounds of voices on the radio, or the noises that one might hear in an EVA suit), have the areas of the space station not under centrifugal force (artificial gravity) float (and learn to travel in weightlessness), have people shown to move easier with the lighter gravity of the moon, etc. These were excellent touches that improves the enjoyability of the anime.

The first half of the series focuses on the debris collection and office politics mostly with some moments of the terrorist group Space Defense Force. Also, the romance between the male lead, Hachi, and Ai begins. The second half of the anime shifts focus to the building of the Jupiter exploration ship Von Braun, Hachi decides to follow a dream and go through the rigorous weeding out process to reduce 20,000 applicants to 18. During this part, the Space Defense Force steps up its activities and the relationship between Ai and Hachi is somewhat strained by Hachi's single-minded determination to become a member of the crew which means ignoring Ai. However, all story elements are resolved nicely and it was a joy to watch.

What makes this anime so interesting is how the writers basically took three volumes of manga (maybe a bit of volume 4) and turned it into a 26-episode anime. Frankly, I find the anime to be one of the rare exceptions where it uses the core of the source manga and makes something new (but with similar themes). All of the Japanese business and office politic stuff (and characters) are anime-only elements, so they are a bit rougher in the beginning, but blend in quite well by the anime's end. There are other characters which only appear in the anime, such as Claire, but are worked pretty well to advance the overall themes and plot.

The anime did not include elements such as Toy Box captain Fee joining an anti-war movement on Earth after Hachi joins the Von Braun crew, Hachi's dreams that feature an alien apparently talking to him, "The Baron," who joins the Debris Section to replace Hachi and who claims to be an alien, Fee's attempt at a life as a mother and housewife, and the Von Braun's arrival at Jupiter, where Hachi ends up having to make the speech. To be honest, most of these elements were things I didn't much care for in the manga. I would have liked to have seen Hachi get to Jupiter though. The one thing that the anime SORELY missed is the exploration of Ai's family. In the manga, that's where Hachi proposes to Ai -- at her parent's home. Oh well.

As to the DVD set, there are lots of extras from Bandai which are very enjoyable. The subtitles make use of the Japanese honorifics "senpai" and "sensei' but most of the others are dropped. There is an instance where a male character is given a "-chan" honorific and it survives, which is strange because the person using the honorific addresses all of his people, male or female, with the "-chan" honorific. Oh well. I will say that the lack of honorifics in the subtitles removes a clue that the Japanese provide regarding Nono-chan.

In the end, the anime writers create an adaptation of the manga which makes many changes to the original story but retains many core elements and end up creating something that is (for the most part) much better than the original anime. The production values in animation are excellent to give things a feeling of really being in space and the direction and overall writing are pretty solid. As such, if you haven't at least watched this anime, I highly recommend it.

Note: my original review can be found --> HERE for those interested.

xxxHOLiC Manga Chapter 173

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis: Doumeki, Himawari-chan, Kohane-chan, and Mokona are all eager to enjoy whatever Watanuki is going to make food-wise. Watanuki says he's going to make onigiri, so Kohane-chan asks if they can make them together. Watanuki looks at his friends and agrees that he'll do just that.

Sometime later, Watanuki sits outdoors alone with Yuuko-san and discusses his cooking student. Watanuki reflects on how he handled the woman and in the end, Yuuko-san reminds him that everything that transpired is hitsuzen as is parting. Watanuki grabs Yuuko-san's arm, leading her to remark that her shop-home was built for the day that must come, but if the place is a reason that Watanuki decides to stay, then she's happy. Watanuki recognizes Yuuko-san's kimono from a dream he had. Yuuko-san tells him that the dream will end soon.

Thoughts/Review: It is clear to me that CLAMP are simply marking time to do whatever it is they have to do with the Tsubasa -RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE- (and to be honest, that is dragging in the middle of a lot of action, which is an amazing feat). There was no advancement of either plot or character development. CLAMP has long hinted that the manga is winding down and this chapter was simply another statement to that effect. The whole story of Watanuki and the cooking student seems rather pointless despite Yuuko-san's exposition making a weak attempt to justify the story as another learning moment for Watanuki. However, there was nothing new to be learned there as I saw it.

I've no clue how CLAMP plans to wind this down. I would like to see Zashiki-Warashi again before the series ends.

Urusei Yatsura 106

うる星やつら episode 106 (TV anime)

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis: Ataru and Lum's Storm Troopers attack the front gate and are successful at taking the guards by surprise. However, when Megane mentions that Ataru's gun is a toy, the guards turn and attack. Ataru can't get the gun to work and it is knocked from his hand. However, it gets stepped on and explodes, leading to victory for Ataru's side. Outside the guard house, they discover a tank and a small, single-seat helicopter. Ataru takes the 'copter and is off while the Storm Troopers race ahead in the tank. Ataru makes it to the main house, where Lum just happens to look out and see him. Ataru is happy to see Lum, but since Shuutaro can't have Lum's memory return, Ataru is shot down and crashes some distance away. Meanwhile, the Storm Troopers run into a "wall" of waiting tanks and their tank is soon taken out of action.

Ataru races back through the woods where he finds them heavily booby trapped and even Shinobu is running from the Yankee leader in the woods. He's also attacked by one of Shuutaro's helicopters. With some of the Storm Troopers captured, Shuutaro has Lum and Ten moved to a new location while in the woods, Ataru gets whacked with a giant mallet. It is Ryoko, who has decided to help Ataru because it will irritate Shuutaro. She has a present for Ataru -- a racing motorcycle and a racing suit to match. Now that it is daylight, Ataru is off and Shuutaro takes a WWII fighter plane to try to remove Ataru forever, going so far as to bomb the building Ataru hides in. Meanwhile, Perm gets captured, leaving only Megane left of the Storm Troopers.

Shuutaro returns to Lum and tells her the evil men after her will soon be dispatched. Cherry somehow is on the scene and since he's a spy for Ryoko, it will take a year's worth of beef bowls to bribe information out of him. Ataru begins receiving reports of multiple Ataru sightings and realizes Ryoko is working against him by helping Ataru. Ataru hitches a train until it is stopped by Shuutaro on a bridge. Shuutaro wonders why Ataru tries so hard get Lum back when he's always going after other girls. Ataru says its because he doesn't want anyone else to have Lum and charges. Lum sees Ataru under attack and instinctively escapes the room and flies to his aid. Shuutaro has lost.

At school the next day, Ataru is back up to his old tricks and Lum is back to giving him electrocutions to keep him in line.

Thoughts/Review: While this episode was certainly enjoyable from a chaotic, humorous sense, it did lack the sense of poignancy that 105 had. There was an element of it through Lum, but Ataru was more in line with regular Ataru. Yet even when he laughed and told Shuutaro that as much as he didn't like being attached to Lum, he couldn't stand the thought of her being with someone else, I did feel that this was just an excuse. Ataru needed to save face and so just says he doesn't want anyone else with Lum. His statement is true, but as Shuutaro I believe understood, Ataru's feelings are deeper than what he says aloud. No one in their right mind would go through the things Ataru did to get Lum back and not care about Lum a great deal. Just my thought.

Shuutaro comes off as the real jerk in this episode. His basically making Lum a prisoner so that Ataru can't have her is worse than Ataru flirting with other girls IMO.

While the story in and of itself is more serious, the moments of humor are just wacky. I think of Ataru running through the woods and encountering all sorts of nutty things including Shinobu running from that weird looking Yankee. Then there was the moment when Ataru emerged from the secret underground entrance by one of Ryoko's guards and the guard ended up giving Ataru a ton of presents. Those comedy moments were the exception, not the rule though.

I do hope to see better episodes from here on out. I hear the animation quality is quite good with the next episode.

White Album 08 (or How Much Punishment Can a Girl In Love Take?)

ホワイトアルバム Episode 08

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis: Haruka nearly gets assaulted by two men and is rescued by the screams of Mana. Rina has a long conversation with Touya on the roof of Ogata Productions regarding Yuki and her own singing career, leaving Touya with an invitation to come see Rina any time. Touya comes home to find Haruka in his bed. Yuki attempts to make contact with Touya, but he avoids her and stays at his father's house, helping Misaki make the costumes. This also helps him avoid Shinozuka-san, who's also apparently looking for him. Yuki makes contact with Misaki at Touya's father's house while Touya goes shopping for a birthday present for Rina with Haruka. Yuki and Touya finally have an uncomfortable meeting at Ogata Productions when Touya brings Rina a present. Touya stays to hear the recording sessions and is taken home by Shinozuka-san. She stops on the way and as punishment for Touya's stopping by the studio, she kisses him passionately. He responds and thinks an apology to Misaki for being late.

Thoughts/Review: The more anime I watch in Japanese and learn more things about Japanese culture, the more I appreciate little things. This week, it was the Zashiki-warashi, which is a humanoid, female youkai that has featured in a few stories in the xxxHOLiC manga. So when Haruka mentions the Zashiki-warashi to Touya, I went, "I know what that is!" I think Haruka is referring to Mana, who looks pretty young and saved her from a sexual assault (or even a rape).

Haruka is still the one to be used and abused. I do feel badly for her. I don't know what she sees in Touya but maybe we'll get some more answers down the road.

Haruka isn't the only one I feel bad for. There's also Yuki. Now that it appears that Touya has boinked Shinozuka-san, how can he look Yuki in the eye at all? More on that in a bit.

This brings me to Yuki, Rina, and the goddess issue that has come up a few times. Touya has known Yuki for a number of years. Touya like Yuki, but considering how he takes things for granted and doesn't give much effort at times (such as showing up to work or to an appointment on time), it is amazing that Yuki even likes Touya at all. Regardless, she does and that's that. Yuki is then recruited to become an idol. The term "idol" means " a representation or symbol of an object of worship" (Merriam-Websters). In effect, for Touya, Yuki has been elevated from mere human to a goddess.

Initially when we are introduced to Touya and Yuki, their relationship seemed one-sided, but the way the writers presented it, the viewer is left with the impression that Touya "worships" Yuki but Yuki has no time for him because of all the work associated with being an idol. With eight episodes under the belt, I see that the relationship IS one-sided, but it is all Yuki to Touya despite her being an idol. Touya has placed her on a throne so high as to be worthy of the gods. So while he is flattered to be with the beautiful idol Yuki, Touya sees himself as unworthy. Thus when access to the goddess has some obstacles in the way (Shinozuka-san for starters), he doesn't even bother to fight to overcome them -- he simply gives in because Yuki is now a goddess and thus shouldn't be with him.

On the other hand, there's Rina. She too is an idol, but she has no history with Touya and is only connected to him through her friendship with Yuki. Touya sees Rina as a goddess as well (as evidenced when Yuki brought her over to Echos). The difference is that Rina has always been a goddess to Touya and has descended from the heavens to consort with him (giving him her phone number). From Touya's perspective, this is a huge ego boost -- a popular idol is interested in him, a mere human. Thus when Rina is able to get Touya to make more of an effort for her than he does for Yuki. She realizes this and I think that while she enjoys whatever she's getting from Touya, she's also told him about dropping the goddess stuff -- neither she nor Yuki are the goddesses that Touya has made them.

What must Yuki be thinking though? She can't reach Touya and the one time she reaches someone, it is Misaki (with her own eye on Touya). Then after days and days of having no contact with her supposed boyfriend, suddenly he shows up to give Rina a birthday present. Does Yuki even have an inkling of what is going on (Shinozuka-san's "guarding the hen house" for starters)? It sucks to be Yuki to be sure. She should come right out and ask and were I Touya, I'd simply say that I know Yuki's career is very important and that Shinozuka-san and Ogata-san would not want her being distracted at the moment. Whether that would be enough or not, I don't know. Of course if I were Touya, I would have taking an "up yours" attitude toward Shinozuka-san and gone to see Yuki that night anyway.

I'm not Touya and so in addition to hiding from Yuki, let's consider his actions in staying to listen to recording sessions. In my mind, he was only there for Rina despite it being Yuki's invitation to listen to her record the music. Then Shinozuka-san offers to take him home. My first thought was, "OK, now what's she going to say?" Touya clearly expected to be chastised and were it me, I would have taken the train home (unless it was so late that the trains had already stopped for the night). Instead, he takes the ride with her and she pulls over to some secluded spot to punish him by kissing him passionately.

Shinozuka-san's character design does nothing for me, but for the sake of discussion, lets assume she's pretty attractive and roughly 30. That would help Touya give in (because as a guy, if some attractive woman keeps offering herself to you for your sexual pleasure, the "what the heck" idea of giving into that temptation is very strong). To me, it also means that he no longer sees himself as Yuki's boyfriend. Heck, he doesn't think an apology to Yuki, he thinks one to Misaki for being late to help her with the costumes. That also suggests to me that he might decide to pursue something with Rina, the goddess who condescended to spend time with him while at the same time, being a "nice guy" and trying not to hurt Yuki too much by hiding things from her.

One final thought or two regarding Mana. Last episode gave the impression that Mana knew Yuki. If so, why does Mana ask herself if the current girl she sees Yuki with is in fact Yuki? Could it be that Mana does know Yuki but still doesn't believe Touya? Also, I found it interesting that she referred to Touya and her "oniichan" in her conversation with Haruka. Does that mean she has a past with Touya somehow? I didn't like how just as Haruka mentions Touya's name, Mana is suddenly no where to be found.

Onward to the next episode, y'all.

Urusei Yatsura 105 (What? A Good Episode?)

うる星やつら episode 105 (TV anime)

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis: After Lum electrocutes Ataru for asking so many girls to do different things, she decides to spend the night on her UFO. She sees a warning indicator when she arrives, but it goes green and she's not to worried. However, it ends up being bad trouble and her UFO crashes on the Mendou Estate. This is reported to Shuutaro, who's having a tea ceremony with his sister Ryoko and he helps investigate. At the crash site, Shuutaro discovers that it is Lum's UFO that has crashed and after his people take out her sleeping chamber, Shuutaro breaks the glass. Lum wakes up but she doesn't have any memories of who she is or why she's here. As such, she's taken to the hospital.

Meanwhile, Ten-chan is not happy at having been caught in Lum's attack and after arguing with Ataru, Ten leaves. A bummed Ataru sits on his balcony and nods off. When he wakes up, he sees something in the sky and thinks Lum is returning. It is only Ten-chan, who's in such a state, he crashes into the wall in Ataru's room. He tells Ataru that Lum's UFO is missing. Ten-chan rejects the idea that Lum went home alone but Ataru has to "encourage" Ten-chan to take him to his own small craft in the woods, there to attempt to make contact with Lum. Ataru is stunned when one of Shuutaro's body guards answers instead of Lum. The guard will not answer any questions and disconnects.

At school, Lum's absence is felt and Shinobu is surprised that Shuutaro is leaving so quickly after school. Ataru won't tell Lum's Storm Troopers anything about Lum's absence and requests a bit of Shuutaro's time. Chibi tries to eavesdrop but is discovered and sent packing. Ataru calmly tells Ataru to return Lum to him. Shuutaro refuses, saying that Lum has left Ataru for good, not wishing to see him. Ataru knows Shuutaro is lying, so Shuutaro gives Ataru a warning about what will happen if he trespasses on the Mendou Estate.

In the nurses station, Ten-chan is taking with Sakura-sensei about Lum's departure and they are overheard by Perm. Word spreads quickly and the other Storm Troopers are aware of the news by the time Perm gets there. So they decide that it is time for some words with Ataru on this subject. Ataru doesn't want their help in getting Lum back from Shuutaro and no amount of convincing will change his mind. So they head to the beef bowl restaurant where Chibi, Perm, and Kakugari have 2nd thoughts about retrieving Lum, especially if it means they'll be hurt. Megane can't believe what he's hearing, but the others leave him and the food bill.

Megane decides to go alone and puts on a protective suit of some kind. As he makes his way to the Mendou Estate, he is joined by each of the Storm Troopers, who've all had a change of heart. Megane's plan is simple -- assault the front gate and go from there. Before they can leave, Ataru pops his head from behind a wall. They are surprised to see him and wonder how he found them. Ataru explains that he knew they'd do something foolish like a frontal assault, so he waited at the best place to intercept them. Now that it is clear that Ataru is going to join them, Megane wonder's how Ataru will fight with no weapon. Ataru shows them Ten-chan's toy gun, which apparently is more powerful than Earth weapons. With that, it is time to rescue Lum.

Thoughts/Review: Wow. I know that Ochan mentioned to me that with episode 105, we'd see an improvement in the series. Seeing is believing as they say and it became clear within minutes that this wasn't the same old tired, boring, stupid, pointless Urusei Yatsura that I'd forced myself to endure of late. Indeed, Ataru's missing of Lum struck me immediately. His "fight" with Ten-chan, which while still humorous, combined the humor with a nice serious nature. Ataru is not dumb here and not just obsessed with self. Yes, his asking other girls out caused the fight which lead to Lum's UFO crashing and her amnesia, but because that's done off camera, it really made the story much better.

Anyway, as I said, Ataru is not dumb in this episode. After learning that Shuutaro has Lum, he knows that this is between himself and Shuutaro. He confronts Shuutaro in a calm, collective manner. Shuutaro has Lum and Ataru wants Lum back, plain and simple. Shuutaro refusing is to be expected. Ataru initially refusing the assistance of Lum's Storm Troopers (once they learn about things) is expected. Lum is Ataru's girl and he must fight for her. However, not being stupid, Ataru does accept their help for the task ahead. Man, I just loved that.

The Storm Troopers were done rather nicely this time. Indeed, I don't think I've ever respected them before this episode. They've always just been cannon fodder for comedy purposes as the self-proclaimed protectors (and #1 fans) of Lum. But here, the seriousness of trespassing on the Mendou Estate wherein they might get hurt or worse causes everyone but Megane to question things. After all, it has been a long time since Lum arrived (though of course, no one gets any older) and their feelings toward Lum aren't quite what they were when she first arrived. Megane's hasn't changed but in the end, when the others joined Megane, it was a nice moment, capped off with Ataru joining the group.

There was another nice touch in this episode. Prior to this, episodes have been centered around a specific character or event. However, this episode, while covering an event intelligently, makes use of some of the supporting characters in a nice way. Ryoko gets used for a bit of humor at the beginning. Shinobu and Ryuunosuke have their small parts to play in the normal progression of the plot, as does Sakura-sensei. As such, they come off differently and in a better light then they have been recently and frankly, I rather enjoyed that.

Clearly, for me to have written everything I've written, the episode had to do something for me and it did. I'd planned to fast-track the rest of the series but as good as this episode is (and it continues into the next episode), I'm going back to single-episode blogging again for the moment. Hopefully, things will continue to be as good as this episode, which Ochan promises me will happen. ^_^

Slayers Evolution-R 06

スレイヤーズ EVOLUTION－R Episode 06

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis: Lina and party arrive in Vezendi with food being chief on Lina and Gourry's mind. Amelia doesn't think that they should be worried about food but since Lina's plan is to wait and let Zuuma make the next move combined with Gourry saying they need to stock up on nutrition while they can, she reluctantly goes along with the plan. Zelgadiss does not approve and decides to do some investigating on his own. Lina is about to head to a nearby restaurant with Gourry but is stopped by a young boy who asks if she's Lina Inverse. She acknowledges it and he has a message for her.

The follow the boy to a giant mansion and estate where a middle-aged gentleman gives the boy a couple of gold coins for completing his mission. Lina makes a remark on the man's generosity and the man introduces himself as Radok Ranzaad (Ranzard?). He reveals that his life has been threatened and he needs her as a bodyguard. Further, the one threatening his life is none other than Zuuma. Radok's adult son Abel enters the library where they are all seated and does not approve of hiring Lina, considering the whole thing to be a big scam. In the process, he insults Lina a few times and she's had enough. Even an offer of a reward is not enough to keep her there until that reward is revealed to be the Hellmaster Jar, and it is brought in by none other than Ozel.

After learning that Ozel is now working for Radok, that Radok was bait set by Zuuma to ensare Lina, and that the Hellmaster's Jar is within her grasp, a frustrated Lina ends up taking the job, working out some of her frustrations in a massive food orgy at the local restaurant (inn). Amelia voices concern over their new client's safety, but Lina feels that since Zuuma's main target is her, she's the one he'll attack first, not Radok. Lina isn't to worried about an attack on the inn either until the inn is placed within a mazoku barrier and two mazoku -- Gduza and Dugld -- attack. Gduza goes after Amelia while Dugld goes after Zelgadiss. Both seem mostly uninterested in Lina.

Gourry tries to help as best as he can but does little. Zelgadiss holds his own for a bit with his Astral Vine enhanced sword but is soon trapped by Dugld and Amelia is soon trapped by Gduza. Lina has had enough and casts a powerful spell that forces the mazoku to retreat and the barrier to be broken. Xellos arrives, so an angry Lina confronts him about these two new mazoku, demanding to know what Xellos is doing. Xellos claims ignorance about these two mazoku and because Lina knows that Xellos does not lie, the answer satisfies her. With that, Xellos rights a table and causes a cup of tea to appear.

Back at the Ranzard estate, Abel comes home late and gets into an argument with his father over recent events. Ozel suggests a break and tells Abel to not trouble his father so. Abel later observes whatever his father is doing and does not seem happy by it.

Thoughts/Review: Man, it has been ages since I've read the first six novels (still need to read #7 & #8). That said, I do remember that Radok is somehow tied to Zuuma beyond the threat, but I don't remember what that connection is. I also want to say that Radok did have a servant, but I do know it wasn't Ozel. I want to say his servant was a mazoku and a powerful one, but I may be getting confused here. May be time to do some research...if I'm not feeling too lazy. *_*

What I don't remember off the top of my head are the mazoku Gduza & Dugld. If they were in the novels, they didn't have a big impact in my mind at least. Of course in the novels, Radok, Zuuma, and Seigram (the mazoku) were all part of the Garv (Gaav) plot to have Lina eliminated because Hellmaster seemed interested in her. Because Slayers Next changed things quite a bit from the novels (dropping the Zuuma element), I sometimes can't remember what went where. I know that Gduza & Dugld haven't been in the anime before, but it is possible they were in the novels. Those two mazoku must be more low-level because they retreated from a spell of Lina's rather than take it like upper-ranking mazoku can.

I did find it interesting that Xellos didn't know Gduza & Dugld. I don't know how mazoku society works, but I would have thought that Xellos might know more of his people. Then again, if they work for one of the other mazoku lords, he might not know all of them.

I'm still not sure what Ozel's role in everything is. Hopefully when all is said and done, her presence will make sense.

While the plot is being established, for some reason, I was ambivalent to this episode. Nothing struck me hard on either the good or the bad. Onward to the next episode I suppose.