White Album - 17 (No More Tears)

ホワイトアルバム Episode 17
White Album Ep. 17 review

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:


In the rain, Yuki refuses to leave Rina alone, even tearfully forcing the two of them to the ground, so Rina gives in and the two have pie and a long talk at a restaurant. Rina explains her reasons for leaving Ogata Productions and tells Yuki she will have to stand on her own. Haruka and Hana have a conversation at Echos which leads to tears on the part of both girls. Hana's mother makes a play against Ogata by claiming the painting of the girl he has is being demanded back by the actual owner. He tells her she's too late and won't give up the painting. Instead, he offers his recording studio up as partial payment, which she uses to get Menou to start recording. At the hospital, Touya shows his father a tape of Yuki singing and his father sees Yuki's sadness. Later, Touya tutors Hana and learns that Haruka is jealous of Hana for being over at Touya's apartment that one time.

Thoughts/Review:

I'm not exactly sure what Hana's mother (Kanzaki) is up to beyond taking revenge for losing to Ogata. It figures that she would have been the one to loan him the painting. I'd guess that she actually owns it and is pretending someone else does but it is just as likely that someone else does own it, only she's making up the story about the painting's return being demanded.

I figured Ogata had done something to the painting for him to keep insisting that Kanzaki was too late in demanding the painting. I thought he might have actually destroyed it, but instead he defaced it for some reason. Strange is Ogata's obsession with that painting.

Yayoi and Touya didn't have sex this episode. Now there's a shocker. We didn't see much of her this episode, which was fine with me. However, her only interesting moment was thinking the guy in the phone booth was someone else (the stalker I'm guessing -- Rina's former manager).

Speaking of Touya, it is still amazing that he causes so much angst among so many girls. He really is blind to much of what goes on around him, both in his actions and the reaction those actions cause. He's either blind on purpose, blind by not considering his actions, or a bit of both. When it comes to Yuki, I think he's blind on purpose (though that makes no sense to me). When it comes to someone like Haruka, he was blind in that he only considered Haruka a friend. So Hana's stating that Haruka is jealous of her had him laugh, but then think of all his recent encounters with Haruka. So, does this mean that Haruka becomes Touya's new angel for a while?

I really wasn't sure which way Rina would go when it came to dealing with Yuki. For some reason, I thought she might snap and slap Yuki in the face to force some distance between them. Instead, she caressed Yuki's crying face and then had some tea and pie with her. She did do one thing that needed doing by telling Yuki to depend on herself and not others.

Well, nothing to do but wait for the next episode to see where this soap opera takes us.

Even More Negima! Chapter 269 Spoilers

Here are a couple of pages that weren't part of the original batches (for those who missed it, click HERE for the first batch and HERE for the second batch). Someone in Japan reposted some of the original images, but this is the only new one that I saw.


Also, that last Asuna image was from an ad, but here's the whole thing as proof. ^_~

Happy Halloween 2009 (Manga Style)

Here are a couple of Halloween images from manga -- Tsubasa: RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE and Gakuen Alice.


While I was hoping to have found more (and I did find a ton of Halloween-themed images), I didn't find what I wanted. Oh well.

Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood - 29

Hagane no Renkinjutsushi - Fullmetal Alchemist Ep. 29
鋼の錬金術師 FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST Episode 29 review

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:

Envy, back in humanoid form, takes Ed and Al up an elevator and transforms into an army officer. Upon exiting the elevator, they discover that the homunculi base is directly under the military HQ. Envy leads them to a room where Wrath awaits, causing Ed and Al to be shocked to learn Wrath is actually King Bradley. Bradley has them sit next to Colonel Mustang. Roy informs them of the transfers of his aides and Ed decides he's going to quit being a State Alchemist since they've likely been chosen for the sacrifice. Bradley begins talking about Winry and to save her, Ed is forced to stay as a State Alchemist. Roy says he won't quit because of ambition and Al receives permission from Bradley to continue looking for ways to recover their lost bodies. Before they leave, Bradley stabs one of Al's armor's soft-spots but misses the hidden Mei Chan inside. Seeing he hit nothing, Bradley lets them go.

Ed gives Winry a call to make sure she's OK while Major Armstrong is waiting for Roy. A drive to a distance away has Roy brief Armstrong on the truth and Armstrong makes a decision to take a stand rather than run as he did during the Ishval War. At the same time, Wrath and Greed have a chat on the roof where Bradley learns that Ling is going to try to take over Greed and appears amused by this.

Elsewhere, Scar finds Dr. Marcoh in a cell in the homunculi lair. To try to get Scar to kill him, Marcoh tells Scar that he was part of the Ishval slaughter and an angry Scar tries to get more information from Marcoh. Meanwhile, Al gets Mei Chan to Dr. Knox's house, who's not happy with having another patient. Al delivers a message to Lan Fan given to him by Greed-Ling and makes Lan Fan understand what has truly happened with Ling. Mei Chan gets wind of Lan Fan and the two immediately begin to fight until Dr. Knox breaks it up.

Ed gets summoned by the military to perform repairs to a civilian's damaged house with alchemy, which he does. Hearing the military folks praise his skills as being superior to regular alchemist, who'd lost their powers, Ed realizes that Father had stopped the use of all alchemy throughout the city, save for that used by Scar and Mei Chan. He figures that if he could figure out the secret behind their ability to use alchemy, then he might find a way to restore his and Al's bodies without the use of a Philosopher's Stone.

Thoughts/Review:

Granted, there's a bit of comedy with Mei Chan and Xiao Mei hidden in each of Al's legs as Bradley stabs Al, but how is it that Bradley missed? He seemed surprised that his blade hit nothing. Could this also be part of Mei's abilities which go against the homunculi (such as her being able to use alchemy when Ed and Al could not)?

And speaking of that, Father's powers are very impressive if he stopped the use of alchemy all over Central City. I wonder how wide-spread the loss of alchemy was. If only city-wide, that's impressive enough because at a whim, Father can stop alchemy altogether and leave anyone trying to save themselves via alchemy from what's to come unable to do so.

I still say that it is a arrogant mistake for the homunculi to let Ed, Al, and Mustang know so much and still live. As I thought, Major Armstrong returns this episode and will be Mustang's only military ally close at hand. His team can likely still feed him info somehow from the borders and I suspect that Ed and Al will certainly work with Roy to do whatever it takes to stop the homunculi. As such, the table would appear to be set for the fall of the homunculi.

Xiao Mei can be a little scene stealer when she imitates Mei Chan. *lol* I also loved it when Dr. Knox basically took two enemies and made them behave. I suppose Mei Chan and Lan Fan will become allies in a common goal at some point.

So, another good episode. I hope we get to see Lan Fan with a automail arm soon. ^_^

xxxHOLiC Manga Chapter 189 Review

xxxHOLiC Manga Chapter 189

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis: Watanuki correctly surmises that the blind woman's shamisen is made from cat skin. The woman states that it would be correct to say that the instrument is alive and that it likes Watanuki, indicating this by making one of the strings sound. The woman states that this is proof she came to the right place and tells that the instrument stopped producing sound ten days ago. The woman says that the reason behind the silence is that the cat wanted to meet the one she has longed for.

That evening over dinner, Watanuki and Doumeki discuss the case. Doumeki wonders if the one the cat would want to meet would be another cat. Watanuki figures the only way to know for sure is to ask the cat directly in a dream.


Thoughts/Review: I thought the blind woman's instrument was a sanshin, but that is the smaller version of the shamisen. So, I learned something new. ^_^

I learned something else new -- these three-stringed instruments are made from either dog or cat skin. ^_^; Well, that's a cultural difference for ya. ^_~

As to the case itself, we see xxxHOLiC return to the supernatural cases that were so prevalent early on. The biggest difference is that lack of Yuuko-san, but Watanuki is playing the serious side of Yuuko-san quite well. His handling of the customer has been done quite well, but then we've seen Watanuki mature quite a lot from where he was.

I suppose that because the shamisen is alive, that is the reason Watanuki placed it into a prominent chair. Either way, I do find it interesting that Watanuki appears to have control over his dream ability so that he can enter this dream world at will rather than be dragged there at random.

So, what would the cat long for to meet? Part of me hopes that somehow, this would be Yuuko-san, but I'm afraid that's just wishful thinking on my part.

'Twill be interesting to see where this story goes.

More Negima! Chapter 269 SPOILER Images

For those who missed it, the first batch of SPOILERS are --> HERE! Otherwise, here is the 2nd (and final not so final as someone reposted some images and added a new one, which can be found HERE) batch of Negima! 269 spoiler images.


Looks like the entire manga. ^_^;;;

Negima! Chapter 269 SPOILER Images

Negima! 269 SPOILER Images
魔法先生 ネギま！Chapter 269 (Images)

Here's what I know many of you have been waiting for -- the original-sized, sneak-peek images for Mahou Sensei Negima! Chapter 269 SPOILER Images as brought to you buy anonymous Japanese fans (click pic to make bigger, y'all).


Thanks to Mastermack0 for the alert ('cause I sure wasn't expecting spoilers THIS early) and for saving the images. The Japanese links have been posted twice and are already dead. ^_^;

UPDATE! The 2nd batch of SPOILER images can be found --> HERE!
Update 2! The 3rd batch of spoiler images can be found --> HERE!

Negima! Manga Vol 30 Ch 268 Review

魔法先生 ネギま！Volume 30 Chapter 268 (manga)
Mahou Sensei Negima! Manga Chapter 268

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis: With the imminent collapse of the floating islands of Ostia, the Megalomesembrian assists in the evacuation of Ostia as magic does not work. Upon hearing that the slums of Ostia are slow to be evacuated, Arika decides to head there herself to assist since her magical abilities are not negated by the nullification going on all around them. Before she can leave, Nagi contacts her and though she has little time for him, she does agree to have him help with the evacuation before she orders him to get as far away from Ostia as possible. Young Kurt asks for Al and tells him that should they be caught, they would likely be arrested. Al promises to get Nagi away and Nagi is frustrated with Arika's stubbornness.

Ostia saw a 3% death rate as a result of the magical nullification that brought the islands to the ground. Despite the fact that she had saved so many people, many refused to believe that someone of her rank would go out of their way to save the less fortunate.

Two months later while making a case for her people to the Senate, she is arrested for the death of her father and her suspected ties with Cosmo Entelecheia as well as for the incident that caused the fall of Ostia. Because of the refugee problem, slavery is legalized to appease those taking in the refugees. Two years later, she is scheduled to be executed as the Megalomesembrian government succeeded in getting most of the population to blame Arika for the problems. Ten days later, she is visited by a senator who demands to know a way to reach the graveyard where apparently Princess Asuna is sealed away. Arika won't speak and the senator decides that her death will be enough.

Meanwhile, Nagi and Ala Rubra have been going around helping people in conflict areas and saving lives. Kurt Gödel contacts them in the middle of an operation to save people with the news of Arika's impending death. He is frustrated with Nagi, who has great power and reputation, for not doing something for Arika and for following her advice to save others. Kurt rejects this notion because he feels Nagi's love for Arika should rule, but Nagi points out that even now, he saved a life.

Ten days later, Arika is taken to Cerberus Canyon, which is filled with various monsters and no magic can be performed there. It has long been a point of execution and Arika is made to walk the plank. Arika hopes her death will help the people and her only regret is not getting to see Nagi's face once more.

Thoughts/Review: It is interesting how the Megalomesembrian government used the crisis in Ostia to control that land AND basically make a new slave class. This notion is not uncommon and has happened throughout history. Heck, Rahm Emanuel said in late 2008, "You never want a serious crisis to go to waste. And what I mean by that is an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before." Clearly, the Megalomesembrian government had their eye on Ostia for a long time from how I read the chapter but the crisis caused by the fall of Ostia allowed them to pretend to help people while in fact becoming overlords of sorts.

I understand Gödel's disillusionment with Ala Rubra and Nagi. We'll see how the story progresses, but if Arika turns out to be truly dead, then that would certainly explain Gödel's anger and desire to destroy the world since he seemed very devoted to Arika (I dare say he loved her). IF Arika is still alive somehow, then his anger at the world is harder to understand for me.

Well, we'll see if Nagi saves her or not. The way things are set up now, Nagi making some sort of flashy rescue of Arika seems impossible since such an event would be harder to cover up by the government (too many people to witness it). If Nagi did that, it seems that Ala Rubra would be implicated by association but we know that Takahata often travels to the Magic World and does the work that Ala Rubra did when he was a youth. Eishun is allowed to live on Earth rather than being taken in for execution. Jack was basically underground and Al was literally hidden underground, Nagi "died," Gatou did die and somehow Asuna is whisked away by Takahata to Japan.

Asuna. Now, this is interesting. Asuna's memory-dream indicated a fight of some sort and it seems highly likely that Ala Rubra rescued her then. There are some bits that don't quite make sense to me such as what happened with Asuna after they rescued her, if indeed this is during the war. Also, how was she used to cause the fall of Ostia? I may need to try to reread everything and figure that out.

This chapter seems to indicate that Asuna was sealed in the fallen ruins of Ostia (possibly where Asuna is currently held captive). So, it seems that Ala Rubra would have to rescue her yet again in order for her to travel with them. If Arika dies, I can see Nagi doing this to honor Arika since Asuna seemed important to Arika.

Of course, we still have the Eva problem. I'd love for Akamatsu-sensei to clarify this more as to when Eva was with Ala Rubra. For her to not recognize Asuna strongly suggests she was never around Asuna when Asuna was with Ala Rubra (the eyes alone would give Asuna away). So Eva could have spent some time with Ala Rubra after the war (indeed, Nagi may have taken her for a refugee child initially). Maybe I'll hash this out more in a separate article.

Well, another exposition chapter that still needs at least one more chapter to wrap it up. Gödel's talk has raised more questions than it has answered. *lol*

Inuyasha: Final Act - 03

Inuyasha Kanketsu-hen Ep. 03
犬夜叉 完結編 Episode 03 Review

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:

Sesshoumaru is met by Toutousai, who has sensed that Tokijin has been destroyed. Further, he senses the call of Tenseiga, which happened because Sesshoumaru showed compassion for Kagura's death. As such, Toutousai says that the time has come to reforge Tenseiga into an offensive weapon as well as one that restores the dead. The result is that Tenseiga now has the Meido Zangetsuha, an attack to send foes to the netherworld. Toutousai summons an oni for Sesshoumaru to practice on. The result is a small, crescent-shaped swath that opens behind the creature and a subsequent section of the oni's body is sent there, killing the oni.

Meanwhile, Inuyasha and company set off again after Kagome's most recent return from the present-day period. They find an inn filled with fox youkai who are undergoing testing. When Shippou sees himself get high rankings for pulling pranks on Inuyasha, he heavily targets the hanyou, managing to get to the 23rd rank before the testing ends. However, he's really annoyed Inuyasha so much that Inuyasha ends up attacking the hiding with a Kaze no Kizu blast.

A second attack is absorbed by a young female fox youkai's sword named Dakki. This youkai, named Mujina, manages to absorb a great deal of youki from Tessaiga and decides to return the favor on Inuyasha. Shippou is horrified to think that Inuyasha might be dead but the surprise is on Mujina when Inuyasha appears unharmed. Not only that, but every Kaze no Kizu attack Mujina launches is absorbed by Tessaiga. Inuyasha breaks Mujina's sword and restores all the stolen youkai energy to Tessaiga while at the same time forcing Mujina to take his proper shape, that of an overweight, middle aged youkai. Even after sending Mujina packing, Inuyasha is concerned about Dakki's ability to absorb so much youki.

Thoughts/Review:

I can't remember for sure (and I'm too lazy to try to weed through so much manga to look it up), but I'm not sure if Tenseiga's reaction that Toutousai mentions was in the manga or not. I think it was but if it was, the break-neck speed with which this anime is pressing forward had no setup, thus it kinda makes Sesshoumaru look a bit dumb for not noticing rather than him noticing and not knowing what the cause of the reaction is.

I'm STUNNED that Viz is choosing to keep the name Meido Zangetsuha rather than force-translate it as they do almost all of the other attacks. This could be because an actual translation is longer than the name (thus excessively using precious text space) or it could be an acknowledgment by the current management of fans who spoke with some of the powers that be at Viz, begging them for better subtitles. Likely, it is a bit of both because Viz could have chosen to have their subtitles be more Japanese-friendly but opted instead for continuity with the domestication of the past.

As to the Shippou story, this was actually a 2-fer. Sadly, I do not remember the Mujina story at all in the manga (though I did do a tiny bit of research and see it was there) but I certainly remembered the story of the kitune testing. There had been some concern among fans that this story would be removed, but I felt that the production company would keep it in since it is the only Shippou character story in what remains of the manga (at least, that I recall). From here on out, Shippou will be a simple ornament, contributing virtually nothing.

While some people have written this episode off as mostly filler (which I disagree with since it gave Shippou a chance to do something), it does have more than just the Sesshoumaru element going for it. For starters, I loved the Sango-Miroku element, starting with Sango copping a feel of Miroku's butt and thus turning tables on him. Of course, Miroku had to be shown being fawned over by the kitsune disguised as pretty young girls and causing Sango to get jealous, but it was fun seeing multiple Miroku's fawning over Sango and totally suckering her. ^_^ It was enjoyable in the manga and a bit more so in this anime episode.

Another thing the anime has done is set the table for the end of the series. They started with Kagome going with her friends to submit their applications to a high school to take the entrance exams there. I'm 99% certain this was not in the manga because Takahasi-sensei never was much of one for table setting, choosing to just play things out as they came. I also don't remember Kagome's grandfather speaking of the end of the legend of the Shikon no Tama and how it was purified, which happened in this episode. Again, I'm relatively sure this wasn't in the manga (correct me if I'm wrong).

So, even with moving forward at maximum warp, I tip my hat to the production team for at least setting up what will happen in the end, something the manga really never did.

Some Vandread Lovin'

OK, so I needed an excuse to test a change that happened to the blog, but what the hey -- any image sharing is good, right? ^_~


Which reminds me, I never did get around to watching and blogging Vandread: 2nd Stage did I? Yikes! I really need more hours in my day. *lol*

White Album - 16 (Changes and More of the Same)

ホワイトアルバム Episode 16
White Album Ep. 16 review

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis: Touya spends the night with Yayoi at some western-styled hotel where the following morning, Yayoi reveals that with Rina and Yuki pitted against each other for a slot in the Venus Music Festival, Touya should consider his romance with Yuki to be officially over for the sake of Yuki's career. As Touya makes his way slowly back to his apartment, his father has to be returned to the hospital and Akira blames himself for the man's relapse. Touya attempts to downplay what happened to his father to Misaki, but she later overhears his conversation on a phone and learns it was worse than she thought, leaving her to also feel responsible for Touya's father's condition. Her apology to him is responded to by Touya's father telling her to forget about Touya and focus on Akira.

Ogata calls a meeting to discuss having an entry in the Venus Music Festival. Rina realizes that her brother intends to have Yuki enter despite the years of keeping Rina out even though she wanted to enter. She quits Ogata Productions on the spot and orders her managers to drive her home as a final act. Yuki gets Yayoi to do the same but before Yayoi goes, Ogata quickly discusses the situation between her and Touya as well as pictures taken by one "Hiraki-kun." Elsewhere, Haruka asks Mana why she was at Touya's that one night before the two of them end up at Echo's, where Mana is surprised to see Misaki there.

Thoughts/Review: Unfortunately, though not unsurprisingly, Touya went with Yayoi to bang her again, this time from the comforts of a nice, western-styled hotel. What surprised me a bit was Yayoi returning to her role of keeping Touya away from Yuki. I still think she has other reasons for sleeping with Touya beyond keeping him away from Yuki. What Touya will do about it is beyond me since he wouldn't answer the phone and then cried like a baby again. Ugh. He really is scuzzy.

Speaking of Yayoi, I'm not sure exactly what's going on. I don't know who Hiraki is but it seems he has photos of what I presume are Yayoi and Touya, but that wouldn't be blackmail material in my mind. Maybe this Hiraki has photos of Touya with Yuki or Touya with Rina. Ogata asking if there was anything between Yayoi and Touya suggests that he only suspects something is going on between them OR that he knows and wants to see what Yayoi will actually tell him. Either way, I found his warning to her to not hurt Yuki to be most interesting. Yuki would be hurt by Touya rejecting her and Ogata's words could be telling Yayoi to not interfere in Touya's and Yuki's relationship (such as it is).

I had the feeling that Rina was out and this week kinda bore that out. I don't think she's out of the series but now she and Yuki are not working for the same company. I'm not sure if this will mean that she gets to enter this Venus thing or not, but I'm guessing it will. It may also mean that she will rotate back closer to Touya's orbit but who knows for sure. We'll see how Yuki and Rina's friendship handle this though.

This episode left me with the distinct impression that Misaki and Akira had sex at Touya's house. The way both of them acted, Akira blaming himself for Touya's father's return to the hospital and not wanting to face Touya as well as Misaki's apologies to Touya's father, it seems that Misaki gave into Akira's request for sex. I was also left with the notion that they may have gotten a bit too loud, excited Touya's father, and caused his collapse. I could be completely wrong about this though. I did like how Touya's father advised Misaki to stay with Akira and forget about Touya.

We didn't get much progress on Haruka's and Hana's story, though Haruka did ask as to why Hana was at Touya's place. Now that they've gone to Echo's, it will be interesting to see how Misaki reacts to Hana's big deal of pointing her out.

So, there are some changes with Rina's departure from Ogata Productions as well as apparently with Misaki and Akira's relationship. However, things are still the same with Touya. *_*