No thoughts on Higashi no Eden this week, because no groups have put it out yet. Maybe I'll edit it in later, but more likely I'll just hold it off until next week's post.
Anime discussed: Axis Powers Hetalia, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Ichigo Mashimaro, Kanon (2006), Kemono no Souja Erin, K-On!, Mobile Suit Gundam Zeta, Natsu no Arashi, Phantom ~Requiem for the Phantom~, Sengoku Basara, Shangri-La, Shugo Chara! Doki, Souten Kouro, Spice and Wolf II OVA, Valkyria Chronicles
-- Axis Powers Hetalia ep15: This week is about the culture clash between Japan and Italy and Germany. Amusingly enough, the initial clash comes from Italy and Germany partaking in French cuisine, and Japan just lumps everything together. And again we come back to Germany drilling Italy and Japan; the results are about the same as always. Poor Italy is just not a fighter. There's a weird moment in the middle of the episode where America is cleaning out his closet, except he is speaking in Engrish the whole time. Huh.
-- Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood ep5: Good fightin' this week. This episode shows that even though Ed and Al didn't have too tough a time kicking ass the first few episodes, they still have quite a ways to go before they can even hope to battle the best of the best, because Scar thoroughly owns them. Armstrong does a nice job of stepping up to the plate and making Scar sweat a bit. (lol @ Armstrong being suddenly shirtless, btw) And now I have my first look into the war with Ishbal that has been mentioned in passing during a couple of episodes. Not going to pass much judgment right now, because I have few details to go on, but whatever the reasons were for the war beyond an accidental shooting (saying that spurred the Ishbal War is probably akin to saying Archduke Ferdinand's assassination started World War I), the State Alchemists did some screwed up shit down there. (Including Mr. Kimblee from the jail in the first episode.) Also, I will once again point out that I would like Kikuko Inoue to be evil forever. Thank you.
-- Ichigo Mashimaro eps 11-12: Good couple of episodes with which to conclude the series. Thankfully the rest of the cast steps up and is hilarious all on their own instead of just being funny in reaction to Miu (although there is plenty of that, too). The Paper Sumo match in the beginning of ep11 is fun -- Miu turning into a broadcaster is amusing, and Matsuri's sumo wrestler voice cracks me up, especially since she does it so long after Miu asks her question. Chika getting pissed off and tossing the girls out of her room is the perfect end to that scene, haha. The girls working together to keep up Matsuri's belief in Santa Claus during ep12 makes for a cute finale. Miu is such a douche when she tries to spoil Santa for Matsuri, so she deserves the extra amount of smacks she gets in the episode lol. This episode also reaffirms that gratuitous Engrish is hilarious. ("Haly Potey"? LOL) And then there is the ending, which gives me the biggest laugh of the series when Sasazuka tells the teacher that he doesn't want to stand in the hallway, so the teacher has to stand in the hallway instead. LOL OWNED.
-- Kanon (2006) eps 11-12: It appears the new story is focusing on Mai. Yay! It's interesting to see this series delve so readily into the supernatural, especially after watching Clannad. That series has its supernatural moments, but certainly not to the extent seen thus far in Kanon (except for the finale, of course). For whatever reason, I'm just fascinated by these spirits Mai is fighting, and I can't wait to find out what the deal is with them. Also, I fully support Yuuichi's efforts to get Mai more involved in school, because she looks quite pretty at the dance, and the dancing scene between Mai and Yuuichi is great. And then the spirits ruin it. Bastards. There is also some interesting information revealed that has me looking at Shiori in a new light -- she is apparently Kaori's sister (or is at least related to her), but Kaori denies having a sister. Perhaps something happened between them, or maybe Shiori's story goes in a direction akin to Fuuko's from Clannad, where Shiori is actually a spirit rather than a flesh-and-blood person.
-- Kemono no Souja Erin eps 11-12: Erin is just too adorable. D'awwww. I bet Jone feels like a proud father every time Erin's curiosity bursts forth. Again, this series is taking its time letting the main story unfold, but the relationship between Jone and Erin works well enough that it can carry the show while all the pieces are put into place. It appears as though Jone has a tragic past he just can't forget -- perhaps he had a wife or daughter (or both!), and they were affected by the work he did with Kalon. It would certainly explain why he has such a strong connection with Erin. She'll definitely learn a lot from Jone, though: Erin will know about plants, animals and, most importantly, how to rock out. (lol @ Jone's song about himself) I'm completely fascinated by everything Damiya does, as well. He's the type that seems like a decent guy on the outside but always has several tricks up his sleeve. Hmm. Also, the shot of Erin watching the beast-lord fly across the sky reminds me of when Ash first saw Ho-Oh in Pokemon. *is hit*
-- K-On! ep6: OMFG, I love the music video that plays during the light music club's performance! Whoever thought of that idea is awesome. Great way to add a bit of visual flair to what would have been just the girls playing music. (Best part is easily Yui making like she is going to flip off the police, and then being all, "LOVE AND PEACE ACTUALLY") Speaking of Yui, her strained voice cracks me up every time she says something. The part where she goes all sumo wrestler with Ritsu is funny as hell, too. Ritsu's MC intros of everyone rules, and it does a hell of a good job of making Mio not as nervous about singing. This episode could have been yet another entry in the way overdone line of school festival episodes; however, KyoAni just had fun with it, and as a result, it's yet another hilarious episode for a series that is rapidly gaining steam as the season goes on. This show is just a ridiculous amount of fun to watch. :)
-- Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam eps 16-50: I'm of two minds about this series. The overall story is solid (even if it could be confusing at times, for reasons I'll bring up in a bit), the Gundam battles hold up surprisingly well (although they're not perfect, but I an ignore that easily enough, since the series is 20+ years old) and I do like a decent portion of the characters. The main villain, Paptimus Scirocco (shitty name, good villain), is such an evil, manipulative SOB. Guy doesn't even have a decent motivation aside from "MUST GET MORE POWER" until the final episode, and even then it's kind of shaky, but whatever. Lt. Quattro/Char Aznable is a badass, and Kamille should shut his damn mouth when he goes against him. Haman is a total jerk, but somehow I ended up fanboying for her the most of any character. I think it's the combo of pink hair + flowing cape. Jerid is sort of a retard at times, but I usually rooted for him in his battles with Kamille, even after Kamille manned up at the halfway point of the series. Yazan is just an evil bastard who will kill the hell out of you. Who doesn't enjoy a good Blood Knight? Capt. Bright Noa is awesome, too. If you're a wuss, he will make you into a man by walloping the shit out of you.
The problem is that every other character is fucking retarded as hell. They either bitch and complain for half the series (and about dumb stuff, nothing that's remotely worthwhile), make decisions that anyone with the critical thinking capacity of a small child wouldn't make, or both. I had a tough time understanding what went on at times because certain characters would do utterly moronic, random things that I just could not reconcile in my head. Whether it's friggin' Katz Kobayashi once again being an utter fucktard and going out to battle when he should stay in the ship because he's the most useless fighter in history, or Kamille calling people selfish like five billion times or anything having to do with Reccoa in the final third of the series ... yuck, never before has there been this much retardedness in a series I actually liked.
-- Natsu no Arashi! eps 4-5: Haha, whenever I am thinking about dropping a series, I can count on the next episode to be at least decent. Hajime and Sayaka's banter is fun, and I laughed at Sayaka showing up on the movie set, expecting to get a part in the movie, whereupon she is cast as the old woman who bothers the beautiful heroine (i.e. Arashi). There are some really beautiful shots in this episode, too, with great use of light and red colors. And hooray for Kaori Nazuka's character finally showing up! She is my favorite in the first episode, so hopefully she'll play a decent part in the stories from now on. All that's left is Ai Nonaka's character. Still not completely sold on this show, but I'll be a nice guy and at least stick around until the entire cast is gathered.
And, hey, with ep5 I think Natsu no Arashi! is actually getting decent! The first third of the episode is kind of slow and not too funny, but it quickly turns around once Sayaka tricks Jun into first wearing the restaurant's female uniform and then a maid costume Sayaka had thought about making the restaurant's uniform. To further prove that cross-dressing = hilarity, Hajime is eventually forced into the uniform, and he accepts this turn of events with gusto (although he drives away more customers than he attracts). Sayaka dressing up in the maid costume is funny as hell, too, because she is so clearly putting on an act when she attempts to be cute. And a big LOL @ the deliberately cheap effect used when the soda and jawbreakers combine to make a big explosion in the restaurant. This episode really works for me because it focuses almost entirely on the antics in the restaurant. I hope this continues to be the case for the rest of the series, because the time travel adventures haven't really interested me at all (and this is coming from someone who is a shameless time travel dork), and the burly detective doesn't make me laugh at all.
-- Phantom ~Requiem for the Phantom~ ep4: A bit of a timeskip this episode -- Zwei is already into the swing of things as an assassin when he and Ein are ordered to kill a mafia boss in Dallas. Acting is the theme that runs through this episode. Ein and Zwei pretend to be a couple so that they can scope out the mall in which the mafia boss will buy a birthday present for his granddaughter. Ein slips easily in and out of her psychological disguse, but she notices that Zwei's acting is a bit rough and hesitant. However, by the end of the episode, when the pair run into someone they had seen in the mall near the beginning, Zwei handles the situation perfectly. As Ein points out in the final seconds, Zwei is like her when she began as an assassin. She, too, had to learn how to detach herself from this life so that she could go on killing people without going mad. Flicking the switch to a different personality is easy for her, because it's not real anymore. However, she sees that change happening in Zwei, and watching it from the outside scares her. Ein's blood runs cold when she sees Zwei's eyes turn blank; it's as if she is reliving the part of the life where she killed her emotions. It will be interesting to see how she handles that.
-- Sengoku Basara ep5: Huge battle episode, yay! After failing to get Takechiyo to defect from Oda's side, Takeda and Uesugi's groups fight Takechiyo's army, while Masamune takes on Azai. Then it's glorious battle scene after glorious battle scene, including Takeda creating tornadoes with his axe swings, an enormous soldier/mecha with a gigantic drill, Kasuga knifing people while blushing in reply to compliments from Uesugi and Masamune and Azai pretty much re-creating Masamune's battle with Sanada (complete with explosions and blazing red and blue lights). Episode ends on a sad note when Akechi pulls a dick move and sends the rifle forces that were supposed to aid Takechiyo to the other battlefield, where they shoot the hell out of Azai. What a douche. Not completely sure if Azai is dead (with this show, I wouldn't expect anything less than a nuke to kill an important character), but he's certainly hurting a lot.
-- Shangri-La eps 4-5: I love that the show has Momoko in full-on fanservice mode when she and Kuniko travel to Akihabara. Amusing subversion of traditional fanservice there, haha. These two episodes are also a light Take That to otaku, what with the providers of Momoko and Kuniko's shoddy IDs being three old, anime-obsessed otaku. (One is a cross-dresser named Old Man Loli, another is a military cosplayer named Old Man Army and the last is a photographer named Old Man Camera. Completely over the top, but I laughed.) Other than that hilarity, most of what these two episodes do is set up some conflicts -- Karin is working against an American corporation that apparently has a CPU as powerful as hers (and she'll probably work against Kuniko eventually), the Japanese military is also going against this same company and Metal-age is pretty much going against everyone.
-- Shugo Chara! Doki ep29: I'm always impressed by the quality of the big fights in this series. Ikuto vs. Amu and Tadase definitely does not disappoint, even though it is clearly a precursor to a much bigger battle later on in the series. (Perhaps even as soon as the next few episodes, since Amu and company appear to be infiltrating Easter in the next episode.) Great to see Amu and Tadase talk things out instead of endlessly dragging on the angst. This show provides an invaluable service to kids by teaching them it is not cool to mope around like a friggin' doofus. My favorite little detail in this episode is Kiseki nodding his head while Amu and Tadase shake hands as a form of apology, as if Kiseki is saying, "Yes, I approve of this." Haha. Kiseki is so silly.
-- Spice and Wolf II OVA ep1: Damn, am I ever excited about the second season of Spice and Wolf! And this is just the episode to get me raring to jump back into Spice and Wolf's world. There actually isn't much plot to this OVA; it basically highlights the relationship between Horo and Lawrence. Horo's dream about two-thirds of the way in highlights what could be an interesting theme during the season -- the tug-of-war within Horo between her self as a wolf god and her self among humans. (Lawrence suddenly transforming into a skeleton suggests to me that Horo will have to deal with the reality of Lawrence's mortality.) But aside from that, I love all the character Horo has and how she can express so much nonverbally. Her facial expressions in this episode are hysterical, from her jealous looks at Nora to her sneering at Nora's dog to her facepalming at Lawrence flirting with Nora, and so on. Horo is love. <3 Spice and Wolf II cannot get her quickly enough.
-- Souten Kouro ep3: Damn, Cao Cao is a strict SOB. (Then again, everyone is supposed to be a strict SOB in this era.) After escaping unwarranted judgment by declaring his Lawful Badassedness, Cao Cao takes charge of the North Gate, imposes law via equal punishment for all and then seeks a way to take down the corrupt group of eunuchs (including Zhang Rang, who tried to have Cao Cao executed) who used their power to run roughshod over the land and increase their power and wealth. Shit is definitely going down in the next few episodes, and there will be plenty of bloody, intense action. Hooray!
-- Valkyria Chronicles eps 4-5: Haha, Faldio rules. He is probably the only person around who can actually toy with Welkin. And, of course, someone like Alicia doesn't stand a chance when she's up against him lol. (The panties joke is so cliché, but damn it, I laughed. Faldio is cool enough to pull it off.) Good to see his crew joining up with Welkin's for the next battle. Good times. Mostly a set-up episode for the heroes to team up and beat the snot out of that dickhead, Gregor's, forces and also to show up that douchey coward, Damon.
And in ep5 the Militia takes down Gregor's (surprisingly small) forces. I guess this base is relatively minor in the grand scheme of things (although Jaeger says it will be painful to lose the base), and Gregor was just sent down there by Maximilian to provide superior tactics with a limited number of soldiers. Alicia recovering so quickly from her wound threw me off a bit, too, but after watching the scene again, it seems as if the bullet grazed her leg (while still inflicting a bad wound) instead of going straight through it. Huh. The actual battle scenes are cool, though; I like the view through the sniper's scope as Alicia is running toward the base. The Alicia x Faldio scenes are fun as well. Also looking forward to seeing more of Jaeger -- he seems like the type of villain who's actually somewhat of a decent guy (just fighting on the side of the bad guys), and you like seeing him in battle, whereas with guys like Gregor, you just want the heroes to beat the crap out of them.
