Blogging Wit' KT

Moved!

2005-10-16T15:05:00.000-07:00

I've moved on over to WordPress with a new host! I'll be putting a redirect script on this site so if it doesn't work just click the link!

http://ktkore.hitori-janai.net/

Blood+ 01

2005-10-14T00:28:00.000-07:00

Director: Junichi Fujisaku
Music: Mark Mancina
Character Design: Chizu Hashii
Studio: Production I.G

"First Kiss"

I was very surprised to find out a couple of months ago that Production I.G was going to produce a TV series based on the original Blood: The Last Vampire movie. Having seen the movie, a TV series is what I've always felt the franchise really needed. Sure the movie had awesome animation and an interesting and dark atmosphere; it was certainly enjoyable for those things along -- but then the movie ended, and it left me thinking to myself..."where's the story?" That's right -- Blood had absolutely no plot. It was just a girl fighting a bunch of vampires. Fortunately I saw much potential within the setup for the original movie. The production values, the interesting characters and they ways they played off each other. But things are a little (a lot) different in this TV adaptation -- Blood+. Fortunately, that's not a bad thing in the least.

First we can talk about the character archetypes and the characters themselves. In the original movie there was a certain air of seriousness to them all. They rarely smiled, they rarely spoke out of context to their goals and they didn't take crap from anyone, especially on the part of Saya who was especially cold. Not the case here with Blood+. Saya is/was still a vampire (probably not the "last" this time, though), but she's lost all of her memories and was taken to live with a foster family because of it. There isn't much out of the ordinary with her new family. The father's an awesome and nice man, the little brother's a typical growing up kid and the older brother's somewhat of an delinquent who gets into many fights. Saya herself is very happy and nonchalant despite not having any memories prior to one year ago.

The settings are something like a paradise. Ocean side views, green trees about and a beautiful city. Very highly in contrast to that of The Last Vampire, which was a dark, grungy dirt hole of a town filled with transvestite prostitutes and the like. But maybe this works to Blood+'s benefit. You'd expect creepy things to happen within the settings of the Last Vampire whereas any strange happenings within the setting of Blood+ can come as totally unexpected. Come late in the second half of the episode, I had almost forgotten I was watching a series about vampires. So when one struck, it kind of caught me off guard. There was no directing which would lead you to predict the time of attack. That was a beautiful thing.

As for the story itself, as if it were a recent trend of shows lately, it didn't lend itself out to the viewer so easily. What we do know is that someone is paying the family to take care of Saya, and to make note of any changes in her. The father seems not to want anything to do with them and will try to keep Saya no matter what. Saya goes to the hospital periodically where she gets stuck with an IV. Considering the fact that the cello guy toward the end of the episode had to give her some of his blood by way of a kiss in order to awaken her abilities, it seems she is having blood transfusions in order to keep her vampire abilities under control. The scene where she meets the man is especially wonderful, as she notices him she begins to have visions of herself in a pretty dress (signifying her newfound purity and innocence?), in a maze-like structure trying to unlock a locked door yet her true self doesn't want to. This is compared to her actual awakening, when she finally gets the door open and the fury is let loose. It looks like pure and innocent Saya is gone and the ruthless vampire seen in the opening scenes has taken over.

The first episode of Blood+ was extremely enjoyable. I haven't seen such realistic atmosphere like this in a long time. I also love the fact that it has to be the most mature (not because of all the blood, mind you) production all year. This is the kind of anime that makes me happy and it's the kind of directing I wish to see more of. This one is planned for 52 episodes. Production I.G is a wonderful studio -- I have no doubts that they'll be able to maintain good quality storytelling throughout.

**A 4.5 out of 5**

Black Cat 01

2005-10-10T01:26:00.000-07:00

Director: Shin Itagaki
Music: Taku Iwasaki
Character Design: Yukiko Akiyama
Studio: GONZO

"Lonely Cat"

This is going be a pretty short summary since more happened in this episode than was explained. But hey, that's good for my nerves.

A guy by the name of Train Heartnet works for something of an assassination agency called Chronos. Each of these members have roman numerals incribed upon their chests, the most revered? XIII -- the number of the Black Cat, and this just so happens to be Train's insignia. After freeing a town from one tyrant, his next mission is to assassinate a newly-appointed gangster governor of a city, Lib Tyrant. But Train isn't the only person after Lib, a self-proclaimed "gentleman" who calls himself Sven the Sweeper is also after him, but rather than kill him, his job is to apprehend him and take him in alive. He works with careful footing and precise planning given the fact that Lib's speech area is packed tight with security. He also works with an odd ability called the Vision Eye which allows him to see 5 minutes into the future. With this ability, he is able to see that Lib will be killed within that frame of time, and thus steps up his plan to capture him before that time comes.

While Sven is carefully planning his moves, Train Heartnet enters the room without so much as an eye on him. With swift moves, Train takes out any and all security in his way and is able to come right up to Lib. Before he takes the life of his targets, he utters one line -- "I have come to deliver you bad luck." Such bad luck is the fate of the gangster Lib Tyrant. With that, all gangs leave the city and it is now a safer place. As Train leaves the area, Sven preaches to him about his ways of work. That killing people, no matter how "evil" they are is not the way to go. But the little chart session is cut short when one of Lib's men attack with razor-sharp boomerangs. In an over-the-top fashion, Train fights of the man, but leaves him alive. He won't stay that way for long as one of Train's partners in work finishes him off.

Excellent start if I do say so myself. The first thing that grabbed my attention is the very tight direction it has going for it. Very stylistic yet it allows room for a story without hindrance to be told. While I do enjoy stylistic shows, sometimes it can become overbearing and the style overtakes the substance. I'm hoping that won't be the case with Black Cat. With the few characters that were introduced, I'm already in love with Sven. "Nice guys" always get my favoring, and I always hope they get the girl. ^_^ But, one thing that I do dislike about him is his liberal approach. I'm just not into those aspects of characters, especially when they feel the need to preach about it to others. So long as he tries to shut up about it, I'll be cool with Sven. As for Train, the man had barely any lines of dialogue throughout the episode, yet I find him very interesting. A strong, no-nonsense, right-to-the-point kind of person. Though he doesn't say much in the episode, it's the strange flashbacks about his past which keep me interested. They aren't your normal, memory-like flashbacks. No, these are much more in tuned to being nightmares. And like nightmares and dreams, they make little to no sense. These flashbacks do a god job at letting us know just what type of past he's had without going too much into detail, therefore keeping it mysterious.

It's a first episode but I will still comment on the fantastic animation. The quick and extreme action scenes, one which can be seen at the very beginning, are well benefited with the excellent animation. But this is GONZO we're talking about -- one of the most inconsistent studios there is, so great animation for 24-26 episodes is not guaranteed. I can only hope they won't let me down. I also loved the music. Taku Iwasaki has done music for a lot of series that I enjoy, and it doesn't disappoint here, either. Overall, a well-produced first episode for what hopefully will be a great series.

**A 4 out of 5**

Mai-Otome 01

2005-10-09T01:45:00.000-07:00

Director: Masakazu Obara
Music: Yuki Kajiura
Character Design: Hirokazu Hisayuki
Studio: Sunrise

"Dreaming☆Arika"

An unknown group is after the princess of a castle who owns the Souten Sapphire, the power of the Otome. She, herself, as an Otome runs from this group along with her newborn daughter who now holds the Souten Sapphire. She sends her off into the sea hoping that she'll survive along with the power of the Otome. 14 years have passed and this girl is now a teenager by the name of Arika Yumemiya who's on a journey to find her mother and the only way she knows how is to find the Garderobe Academy, a school for up and coming Otome, to become an Otome herself. Her journey is long and tiring, but she eventually makes it into a city finding Nina Wong, the #1 Otome in Garderobe Academy. She makes a scene when she steals her juice and causes a rukus. For this, Nina wants Arika out of her way for good, but Arika wishes to make it up to her and decides to follow her around town, mesmerized by the technology the city holds.

While following Nina around, Arika notices a girl atop a roof of a building. The girl turns out to be the current princess and is being chased by three men trying to return her to the castle. Nina runs to her as she falls off the building, with Arika not too far behind -- in fact, Arika swiftly passes up Nina, throws out her large cloth and catches her with it with the help of Nina. The three men follow suit and Nina easily beats them.

Meanwhile, a mysterious man keeps an eye on the princess and calls forth his "minion of God" to attack her. Being an Otome, Nina figures she must fight, but has no "Master" to give her the "Robe of Heaven" acceptance. She asks the princess to be her temporary Master, and she agrees to do so. After a bit of a chant, Nina is now fully endowed with the powers of the Otome. When Natsuki, headmaster of the Garderobe Academy, finds out, she sends Shizuru, who works for the school, to fight the enemy and Akane to save the princess. Shizuru arrives on the scene and makes a fool of the enemy. Arika sees this and wants to become an Otome even more. This was the first Otome battle in 50 years, and it looks like there's many more to come.

So there we have it, the sequel, or a better term, spinoff, of the popular Mai-HiME series. I have to say that judging by this first episode, Mai-Otome has a lot more character and charisma than the previous series had. I love the lead, Arika. Such a high spirited person despite not knowing where her mother is or probably even why she was sent up a creek. Sure, she's a little rowdy, but she means well with anything that she does. Many characters from the old Mai-HiME series are also in this series with brand new personalities and roles. One of the characters I hated most from HiME is here, yet in Otome she is mad awesome. Natsuki in now in an "in-the-know" type of role being the headmaster of the Academy, whereas she was in somewhat of a detective role in the previous series. Mikoto is...well...Mikoto is a cat in this series. I suppose that's fitting considering her animal-like way of behaving in HiME. I would have thought she'd be a dog or something. I don't think cats catch frisbees and whatnot. I'll miss her human form (unlike most people). I'm pretty sure Mai will eventually show up in the future, they can't just have a spinoff series where all the other character show up and not the lead of the previous. We'll just have to see. But this was a fun-filled first episode. I love the style of the Otome abilities. It's gonna open up opportunities for a lot of really sweet battle scenes. And with the production values this series is working with, they should be guaranteed to please.

I wonder what all the haters who were bashing this series just after looking at a couple of low-quality promo images are thinking now...

**A 4 out of 5**

Tide-Line Blue 10

2005-10-01T02:40:00.000-07:00

"Separation"

Everyone finally arrives in the vicinity near the Ulysees aboard the floating dock, but with New UN forces nearby, they'll have to board the sub covertly. Keel decides to take the Looper deep below, and Joze agrees with him even though she and Tean know that it has a limited depth ability. They head on down toward the Ulysees and not after long their small sub begins to take on water as it gives in to the pressure. Luckily, Gould's crew is able to pick up acoustics from the Looper and Gould makes the order to silently rise up to take them in.

It's a wonderful reunion, especially between Keel and Isla. Gould is also happy to see his fellow subordinates Tean and Joze but the pleasantries end there as they settle down to tell him about the new map and how their escape route via Dhola Vira has been nullified due to the New UN's newfound knowledge of its workings. And speaking of reunions, the new UN begins to gather all their forces in the Fuyuuju to allow for easy communications while doing battle.

The Ulysees quickly rises above to commence repairs with the floating dock. While aboard, Isla, Keel and Tean get to do a little catching up. Tean finally meets Isla properly for the first time, and while she doesn't remember that he helped her give birth, he shrugs it off so much as to not make a scene. Even when she tells him that it was Keel who helped her out, he takes it all in stride. This angers Keel as he wants to know why Tean is so emotionless. But even more so, he's angry with himself for having to be put in that situation because he never told Isla straight. Nonetheless, this little experience allows for their first brotherly bond for as long as they could remember. Tean's cool-headedness shows Keel that it's finally time to set the record straight, and he gets down on his knees to tell Isla that it wasn't him who helped her, but rather, Tean. Instead of being angry, she's happy that she had two people who cared enough about her to help her out in such a situation. She declares that whenever Keel Jr. has a little brother, she'll name him Tean.

A New UN helicopter passes over the dock and this means it's time for the Ulysees to head off with its repairs. On the way out, Gould tells the captain of the dock should he meet any new UN members, tell them to meet him in Metasequoia. Satoyama gets the message and wonders if it's a trap due to the fact that there lies disadvantage for submarines in the area. But the follow suit anyway. The nation of Gi's submarine also happens to be in the area and manipulates the situation so that the Ulysees can't hide from the UN's fleet. Once the UN begins its attacks, Gi's submarine also fires its torpedoes. The Ulysees is stuck in a corner once again.

Excellent episode. I absolutely loved all of the reunions this episode presented. It was great to see Isla once again, this time in a role other than just cleaning house. Her reaction to seeing Keel again was heartfelt and wonderful, unfortunately Keel's antics wouldn't let too much more emotion get involved. And wow, Keel and Tean played off each other perfectly in this episode. Keel's hot-headedness and Tean's cool-headedness were a perfect mix and provided some fantastic scenes. Their little bond didn't feel forced because there really was no intentional bonding involved. Rather, they were natural with each other for the first time, even during their fights. The hard feelings seemed to dissipate with every swing thrown and once Isla got involved, things took an even sharper turn for the better.

The other thing which was nicely done was the short interaction between Aoi and Gould via Morse code. Aoi tried to tell Gould to stop his actions because they're both working toward the same goal, but sense Gould was caught up in fighting off Gi, his attack was misinterpreted for an answer to Aoi's plea. Although I'm sure Gould would have answered in a similar way, I doubt it would have been in such an aggressive manner. With this misunderstanding, there is only bitter disaster waiting. Another instance of great action and character mixture.

Double whammy next entry. Tide-Line Blue's exciting conclusion!

**A 4 out of 5**

The Real Densha Otoko

2005-09-29T01:16:00.000-07:00

We're all fans of Densha Otoko, right? And we all know that this little phenomenon started from some obscure BBS thread on 2ch. Well, I present to you this little obscure BBS thread on 2ch translated into English for your reading pleasure. It's really funny reading this now, knowing what it spawned. It's pretty interesting as well. Check it out!

Dropped series

2005-09-26T21:43:00.000-07:00

With Sousei no Aquarion over in Japan now, and the fansubs still 13 episodes behind without a release in several months, I've decided to drop it. With the new season coming up, I can't be bothered to try to catch up with it if ever the fansubs do resume. And I doubt anyone would care about my thoughts at this point anyhow. Same situation with Kamichu. Sorry to the 2 or 3 of you out there that liked reading my entries for them. =P

Series Review: Aim for the Top! Gunbuster

2005-09-25T04:24:00.000-07:00

Director: Hideaki Anno
Music: Kouhei Tanaka
Character Design: Haruhiko Mikimoto
Studio: GAINAX

Aim for the Top! Gunbuster was a series I figured I'd never get around to seeing. It was licensed but not being released seeing as the prints were discontinued. Hell, it never even made it on DVD. I knew that it was directed by Hideaki Anno who created and directed my favorite series, Neon Genesis Evangelion, so of course I wanted to see this badly as well. Slowly but surely I put it off as a lost cause -- I couldn't even find the VHS tapes on Ebay or used on Amazon! Time passed and passed and I learned of the "sequel" to Gunbuster beginning production. I was disappointed that it wouldn't be directed by Anno, but I was interested anyhow. I watched the first episode and was blown away. I said to myself "I absolutely have to see the original now." Luckily, through the power of the internet, I found a site which had VHS rips of the series. I immediately downloaded them. The rest is history.

Gunbuster was GAINAX's first big anime hit and was made early in their life. After the failure of the studio's very first work, the feature film "Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honneamise" (great film, by the way; it's a shame it failed for them), they set out to save themselves from certain bankruptcy by venturing out into project Gunbuster.

The story of Gunbuster is masterfully simple. The earth is threatened by powerful space monsters who want to rid it of all life to prepare it to give birth to new alien life forms. To wart off these threats, giant robot pilots are trained and sent off into space to do battle. Noriko Takaya is one very high hopeful to be chosen for the special forces. She looks up to her "onee-sama" Kazumi Amano and wishes to be just like her and to someday work by her side. Of course, Noriko is chosen to go to space to fight for the preservation of Earth, despite her very lackluster piloting abilities. She gets a lot of flack from other trainees as they figure she was chosen by coach Koichiro Ota because her father was killed in an alien attack. But Ota knows what he's doing and figured with good training, she could become one of the best. He also had something else in mind for her -- to pilot the massive super robot, Gunbuster! Ota believes that Noriko together with Kazumi and the Gunbuster will be the force that saves the world.

Sounds very simple -- and it is. But Gunbuster has a lot more going for it. The Gunbuster doesn't even show up until episode 4! Instead of merely being about giant robots duking it out against evil space monsters, Gunbuster is the very unique tale of lives changed by scientific theories in action. Part of Albert Einstein's Theory of Special Relativity especially comes into play here. Einstein's study is a theory along the lines that objects traveling near or at the speed of light begin to experience time fluctuations, that is, the object moving at such speeds begin to experience time slowdown whereas those objects moving at normal speeds remain in regular time. This theory was tested when a jet took a special clock and flew at full speed with another special clock on the ground. When the jet returned, the clock on board was slightly behind the clock on the ground. Gunbuster uses this theory to the best of its ability. Things are not dumbed down to fit with the plot devices of a story. The space monsters are far out into the deep universe and never just conveniently placed near our protagonists so that they could have a cool battle and go home. Lightspeed travel is a huge theme and it actually has its effects on the characters. When the characters leave to do battle, they must travel near the speed of light to reach their destination. While it may only take them 10 minutes to get there, complete their mission and come back, many, many years will have passed in "earth time." This affects relationships because those doing battle remain young, while the people they love on Earth grow older and older after each trip. It's one of the most unique and realistic situations I've ever seen in anime. It also makes for one of, if not, THE, best endings I've ever seen in anime (or any media for that matter). Especially if you're a science fiction geek like myself, with thoughts of wonder of the future of mankind.

And if the complicated scientific theories get you down, fear not! Gunbuster has "science lessons" before each episode hosted by none other than a chibi Noriko and Kazumi with some special appearances by coach Ota! They explain everything you need to know in great detail with some fun hijinks to go along. These science lessons are very helpful and hey, you might just learn something! Not only are real science theories discussed in these shorts, but fictional science that the show uses as well. Information about the mechs, space monsters and battleships are given as well. You'll be feeling like a know-it-all freak in no time. Just another entity toward the completion of Gunbuster.

Made in 1988, the animation is fantastic for its time. It screams of high quality right down to the very last frame. That's right, GAINAX actually handled their money well and completed a series without crapping out at the end! Fluid animation abound that makes for some very exciting and monumental scenes. The same can be said about the music which is very fitting. Kouhei Tanaka did a wonderful job at scoring this gem. You Top2 Die Buster fans who've never seen the original can even vouch for this as the famous "Gunbuster launch" music used in episode 4 (and episode 2) can be heard when Lark calls forth the Dix Neuf for the first time in Die Buster episode 1. Now don't you want to see the series where that music came from?

Aim for the Top! Gunbuster is a series I feel comfortable recommending to anyone -- even those who aren't into the mecha genre. It strays away from the conventions of typical super robot anime and delves into something totally new. Its realistic take on science fiction will leave some people in awe as it further compels the viewer and brings them into its world while their suspension of disbelief is risen to new heights. You'll begin to feel for the characters and hope for the best as they head off into a battle of impossible odds. You'll be saddened as you see the pain they go through as they decide upon their personal relations or the fate of their world. You'll be left in wonder as the world around them greatly changes whilst they remain the same. Gunbuster is a series worthy of any and all praise. I urge every anime fan out there who hasn't seen this hidden gem to find a way to see it immediately. Believe me, you'll be happy you did.

Blogging Wit' KT proudly gives Aim for the Top! Gunbuster from Studio GAINAX a 5 out of 5.

Pros: Excellent animation; terrific orchestral score; strong characters; great voice acting; usage of real scientific theories; realistic take on science fiction; the ending

Cons: Lackluster beginning

Erementar Gerad 22

2005-09-24T23:53:00.000-07:00

"The Buried Legend"

Not a lot went down in this episode so I'll keep it nice and short.

Before the Chaos Choir can go any further in getting Ren to be their new Queen, Sunweld comes to save them in Shun Feil's ship. This draws the attention of Orfas who Reacts to form a beam weapon to shoot them down and escape. Rowen figures Coud will need medical attention, so Cisqua decides to take him to Sunweld, though she thought she was taking him to Feil. Ren and Coud get some much-needed rest as Sunweld tells Cisqua of a secret regarding the relationship of Edil Raids and humans. On Edil Garden, there was a legend of a power that bonded humans and Edil Raids together. They prospered and many miracles were born due to it. But egos were overblown and the bond was to be broken by those in Edil Garden. Sunweld gives Cisqua a piece of the monolith that was destroyed in hopes that she can figure out a way to bring this power back to fruition.

With it, Cisqua heads back to Arc Aile headquarters to try and halt the attack on Edil Garden with the new knowledge of this power. Rowen and Kuea stay behind to protect Coud and Ren as they continue to head for Edil Garden.

A good episode and things are really starting to feel like they're in the final stretch as both sides prep their forces for battle. And Red Lynx isn't dead! But the thing that surprised me most about this episode was the amount of quality and detail that went into the art and animation. Never before have I seen such detail go into this show. It's like they actually *gasp*...spent TIME on it! This is a very good thing for a person that likes to pay attention to detail like myself. Unfortunately from the preview it looks like it's back to cheapness.

**A 3.5 out of 5**

Erementar Gerad 21

2005-09-24T15:11:00.000-07:00

"The Revealed Truth"

The gang bids farewell to Viro and continue on their journey to the Edil Garden hoping not to pick anyone up like her on the way again as it proved to be a much too painful experience for them all. On the way, Ren starts to hear Eve's voice once again, but this time it leaves her in great agony. The gang decide to stop off at a village to let Ren rest in a nice place. Unfortunately they only find a run-down place, the place Viro used to reside.

The Chaos Choir prepares a large-scale attack on Coud and the gang by doing something Ren and company would not have expected; using Eve to give birth to massive amounts of Sting Raids. That's right, Eve is the queen of Chaos Choir which is located on Edil Garden. Though by the looks of things, she is doing this unwillingly and the members of Chaos Choir are draining her of all her energy by using her to create Sting Raids. Their goal? To capture Ren and place her on the throne as new Queen of Chaos Choir.

After a bit of rest, Coud and the rest find themselves in the midst of battle once again as Juruteir, Ajenna and Orfas of Chaos Choir show up with the mass amount of Sting Raids. Rowen and Kuea take on Juruteir, Cisqua takes on Ajenna with only one smoke bullet left for her gun, and Coud ends up taking on Orfas with a very weak Ren. With a bad strategy of constantly using the power of Sting Raids, which eventually runs out, the Chaos Choir find themselves in trouble even against a team that isn't 100%. Orfas has the last word as an attack badly injures Coud after a weak Ren is forced to disengage the reaction. Orfas makes the proposal to Ren about becoming the new Chaos Choir Queen, and tells her all about the place she so desperately wants to get to.

Mostly action for this episode but it also set up the final arc of the series. It's pretty much guaranteed that Coud and Ren will still want to head to the Edil Garden to save Eve, and it's pretty much certain that we'll see many a battle against the Chaos Choir while there. It's just a matter of how it will all turn out. Arc Aile is also setting up for an attack on Chaos Choir. Not that interesting a revelation episode, but it's passable.

**A 3.5 out of 5**

Erementar Gerad 20

2005-09-24T01:03:00.000-07:00

"Viro"

With Viro constantly failing her mission, instead of separating Coud and Ren, Gladias decides he wants Coud killed, and orders Viro to do so. With this new mission, she begins to weigh whether or not she wanted to stay with Coud and remain a Sting Raid or kill him and become a true Edil Raid. He strange visions help her make her decision, as she begins to see multiple visions of herself which influence her opinion.

She decides to try to kill him.

After a little buddy-buddying with the gang, they have a feast in the evening and Viro provides the drinks. No one seems suspicious as they down her fruit drink, but they'll pay for that later in the day. Viro calls Coud out in the middle of the night to say goodbye to him. She figures everything nice he's ever done for her was all a fake, and she didn't want to be second place to Ren. She goes all out and does battle with Coud, but Coud does nothing to stop her; he even saves her during the battle from getting hit by a falling tree. She has a chance to kill him then, but she wonders why he saved her. Coud knows she isn't a bad person and with her confusion is easily shows. Wanting to be hated for what she did, she decides to pay him back by saving him from Gladias's impending attack since he watched the whole battle. She receives a fatal wound for the sake of Coud. A poisoned Ren stumbles over and begins an Edil Raid chant which Coud joins in. A healing chant which turns Viro's Sting Raid jewel into an Edil Raid's. Unfortunately, her body can't hold and her energy is dispersed into the night.

Why does anime do this to me? Always my favorite characters. ;_; Anyhow, this was a fantastic episode. Comedy was actually kept to a minimum, and the characters are left to develop in their situation. Ren is becoming more and more human and even forces herself on Coud, yet is wasn't in the least bit a desperate move. Nicely played by her; once again it's nice to see Ren act more like a human -- showing emotions of jealousy, anger, embarrassment and love. A happy-go-lucky Viro was not present in this episode. Instead, we get a broken shell of a person confused with the value of her future and her reality. In a rage she tries to find herself by forcing hate out of a person she loves, at least then she would know what to do about her feelings. But Coud's generous personality shows her the light. I hope this is some sort of turning point for the series. I'd love to see it continue with this quality for the final 6 episodes.

**A 4 out of 5**

Tide-Line Blue 09

2005-09-23T01:23:00.000-07:00

"New Map - the Globe"

Keel has a hard time against the guys at the dock since they're extremely serious about just hanging the guy without a second thought. He escapes getting the neck bound with some fancy foot work, but a nice, hard punch from the captain gets him down good. After learning what Keel wants on board the deck, the captain goes through a little consideration before turning Keel back over to his crew. Keel challenges him once more to a gambling match, and knowing the captain, he can't resist a good gambling session so he immediately accepts. If Keel wins, the captain will take him to France and repair the Ulysses, but what if he losses? Joze finally appears and makes the captain an offer of two SLBM missiles; the trump card weapons of the Ulysses. The captain accepts and the two have a match. The captain gets three sixes, a very hard-to-beat combination. But without cheating, Keel gets a straight snake eyes and wins the match. One kid on board thinks the dice were rigged and they all start attacking Keel. Tean jumps out and takes the kid hostage and forces them to cooperate. The captain further confirms that the dice were not rigged, and that he will keep his promise of taking them to France.

Aoi arrives aboard Satoyama's ship as they prepare to form a battle plan against Gould and the Ulysses. Satoyama is deeply concerned with how she and NORAD were able to determine the location of Gould even after he entered the Dhola Vira. She brings along the new map of the world which puts Satoyama in awe, and tells him why it's so important that information about the map not get out. As I figured in my last post, the new map contains riches of information not known to the world after the Hammer of Eden; information which countries waged war over in the past. In order to further keep the peace of the new world, Aoi intends to keep the world ignorant of the information. Whether it's only for the time being or if the map will be released in the future is left to be seen. With this new map, they are able to plot their moves against Gould much more accurately, and begin to do so by calling in many more forces to do battle.

Tean tells Joze and Keel what he knows about the new map, and Joze realizes that the tactic of hiding in the Dhola Vira is no longer plausible. He also lets it be known that their father is still aboard Freedom transmitting signals. Keel is left in disbelief with a fury of emotions. Tean shows no emotion and walks away.

The dock heads into the territory where the new UN is gearing up for battle. Keel worries about Isla as he sees all the battle units. Looks like we're in for a desperate battle.

Though I still liked the last episode a lot, this episode was better than the last. Everything flowed together very smoothly unlike last, which was reminiscent of episode 4, just not nearly as bad. More flashbacks in this episode dealing with Tean and Keel back on Freedom. Knowing that they are going to be sent down to Earth, Keel finds a unit that will allow them to come right back up and makes Tean promise not to tell their parents. Of course, Tean being Tean, he tells anyway and they end up getting into a big fight about it. It was one of those connections we needed from earlier flashbacks that didn't show nearly as much. With 4 episodes left, hopefully everything can come together in a nice knot at the end. I believe there's still plenty of time to have a great ending. I do wish that there could be more time spent with Isla, she is totally useless in this series. Not even good for eye candy. And seriously, the ostrich DOES kind of annoy me now. It's not serving any serious comedy purpose. It's just kind of...there...screwing things over. But I digress. I greatly enjoyed the short scene in which Tean told Keel of their father. Keel's reaction was absolutely perfect. I couldn't have thought of it being any better than that -- just right on the mark. That was pretty much how I felt about most of the moments in this episode. Nothing was overdone, underdone or felt awkward. This is the way I like my Tide-Line Blue.

**A 4 out of 5**

Erementar Gerad 19

2005-09-22T00:57:00.000-07:00

"The Feelings of a Pebble"

After the attacks, the gang sets up camp while the repair their trailer. Viro continues to stick tight by Coud while Ren begins to distance herself from him. For the first time, she lets Coud know straight forwardly that she doesn't want to be with him, and would rather be left alone. Coud does give her her space, but is spacy at what could be the matter. Of course, he has a good idea since it's so insanely obvious, but he doesn't know what he should do about it. At the same time, Ren doesn't know what to do about her new-found feelings.

Viro keeps getting calls from her superiors at Chaos Choir, one of which says she could use the power of Ren to become a real Edil Raid and could join Coud in marriage. This motivates her greatly so she continues her mission. Viro takes Ren to a nearby spring so that she may "get to know her." After a bit of water play (good, Ren, you look kind of cool), Viro asks Ren if she and Coud are "lovers." Considering that the two of them never do anything lovey-dovey, Ren decides that they are, in fact, not lovers. With this opening, Viro declares that she's in love with Coud and asks for Ren's support. Not knowing what to do or say, Ren agrees so long as Coud agrees.

Now the two of them are being dorky and are staying away from each other in their ignorance of love. Once again Viro makes a scene by stating that she'll protect everyone with Coud should anyone bother them, and dumb Coud agree with her right in front of Ren. Ren walks away again and Rowen asks for a word with Coud. He tells him all about jealousy and this shows him the light. Coud goes after Ren once again and this time they have a good chat. After tripping over each other's words for a bit, they both come to realize that the two of them work best together. In front of a full moon, the two of them share a passionate kiss. Viro watches on; she losses again.

Relationships episode, and it was quite good. The typical adolescence fare but Ren makes things a little more interesting given her personality. This is the first time we've seen her express herself so deeply and this is the first time that she actually seemed...human. It's good to see her and Coud finally come to terms and share their feelings openly with each other rather than being their normal, shy selves. I guess a little turbulence can go a long way. Oddly enough, though I really like Viro, I don't feel bad for her at all. I never really feel for the home wreckers (*thinks of Kimi ga Nozomu Eien*). Anyway, Viro goes crazy next episode! Or does she? Hmmm...

**A 3.5 out of 5**

Tide-Line Blue 08

2005-09-16T00:13:00.000-07:00

"Reunite"

There isn't much catching up going on during Keel, Tean, Aoi and Joze's "reunification." Instead, tempers flare and weapons are fired. First up, Joze takes Aoi hostage and urges Tean to take up arms and follow her. Tean aims his gun at the UN soldiers and they prepare to fire back. Rest assured, the ostrich screws everything up and pushes the soldiers' fire inadvertently toward Keel who runs in to make sense of things. The person to save him is Aoi. Keel wonders why Aoi "saves him now" but didn't save him when he really needed it, but Aoi is unable to answer. Keel then runs off after Tean and Joze who've left the scene already.

Joze tells Tean what happened with the Ulysses and that it headed into the Dhola Vira after being damaged in a battle. Tean tells her that the Dhola Vira drops off at France, and that's where Gould and the Ulysses are. Aoi also knows of this and tells Satoyama about it. He asks how NORAD had such information, but since it's from the forbidden map, she doesn't disclose the information. Satoyama prepares forces to corner and go after Gould.

While being chased by New UN forces, Tean and the rest find a dock at sea which Joze plans to hijack and use to take to France and repair the Ulysses. The three sneak aboard and Keel has the bright idea to simply ask the owners if they could take the dock to France. Joze lets him go along on his little plan, knowing full well that something was going to happen to him, and it does. Keel's happy to see that the owner of the ship is the guy he gambled with when they first arrived in Tibet. He shouldn't have been so happy, though, since he plans to hang him!

And Aoi struggles with the emotions of balancing her job, role, and "son," Keel. Though she's not his real mother, she took care of him but was never truly close to him. Instead, she focused on her work and didn't give Keel the love that he needed fearing that it would interfere with her task of rebuilding the world. A tough situation indeed.

We're entering the final stretch of things here as Joze, Tean and Keel should make it back to the Ulysses pretty soon; hopefully in the next episode but that probably won't happen since it looks like they'll be spending the whole episode trying not to get killed aboard the dock. The "meeting" was pretty uneventful but the emotions of Aoi that followed afterward were priceless. It's a case of work over child, but one can tell, of course, that Aoi really cares for Keel and it tears her up to have to decide between the world and him. But since she's not his real mother, maybe it was easier to choose the world. Of course, that would be a hard choice for any blood mother as well. A world in ruins would surely have an effect on the ones they love.

There was also a bit more on Keel and Tean's escape from Freedom. Just a bit. We see Tean escape from the shuttle on his own, leaving Keel and his mother on board as it explodes. Slowly but surely the puzzle pieces are coming together. Next episode, like I said, will deal with the three on the Dock with more bits and pieces of backstory. Hopefully this will provide some real catching up for Tean and Keel. Even though Keel saved him in this episode, they never had the chance to talk it out.

**A 4 out of 5**

Erementar Gerad 18

2005-09-14T23:17:00.000-07:00

"The False React"

Viro lends Coud her immense power to take out Mal as Ren watches the two work together in harmony. Cisqua, Kuea and Rowen see the light of a Reaction but notice that Ren is still out in the open while Coud is fighting with a mysterious Raid. They are upset that Viro said nothing of the fact that she was a Sting Raid and become suspicious of her. Viro explains that where she comes from, Sting Raids are only used as weapons and that she wished to hide that fact from anyone else but Coud, whom she became a Sting Raid for. Coud buys it, but Cisqua doesn't quite.

They all take Viro to her "destination" citing that if she leaves then there was probably nothing to worry about, but if she makes an excuse to stay, that something fishy was going on. Much to their relief, Viro leaves. Does this mean that she's on their side? Nope. She gets in contact with Gladias of the Chaos Choir to tell him that she got separated from them but that she would continue to follow them as planned immediately. Gladias reminds her that if she completes this "mission" she'll be able to become a true Edil Raid.

Viro alters their route and sends them toward vicious "desert eaters" which there she acts as if she is trying to save them, but ends up getting in trouble herself. Coud saves her instead and Reacts with her once again to save Ren and defeat the DEs. They were even better together that time around. This, in turn, gets rid of any distrust the others may have had against her and they ask her to accompany them on their trip to Edil Garden. Of course, as part of her mission, she accepts. Even though her mission is deceitful to them, she still finds herself to have true feelings for Coud.

Meanwhile, jealousy begins to fill Ren's heart...

This was actually a really great episode because of the chemistry the characters are starting to develop together, and with the addition of Viro that chemistry is upped by a large amount. She adds a spunk to the show that it hadn't seen until now. Dare I say it, she makes the show even above average! But maybe it's not really her, but maybe the writers and the director have stopped slacking off and turned this thing into a real show. This episode even showed that the animation can be really good when it wants to be. Yes, there were still a few cheap-looking scenes in this episode, but they weren't very much. The fight scenes looked very fluid and showed some really good choreography. Since the final stretch is upon us it's to be expected, and I'm glad this show is finally starting to deliver. I haven't a problem with "average" shows, but it's always nice if it can level up a bit. Even Ren's starting to show some actual human feelings instead of being a stump 24/7. I loved the ending to this episode which showed her jealousy rearing. And I hope that Viro goes on their side for real pretty soon since it's obvious that that is going to happen, unless the show will surprise me. Surprises aren't this show's expertise, unfortunately...but we'll see.

**A 3.5 out of 5**

Eureka Seven 13

2005-09-13T00:39:00.000-07:00

"The Beginning"

After the happenings of entering the Zone, Eureka and Anemone find themselves in great agony, both in a similar, head-splitting fashion. Dominic tries to administer more medicine for Anemone, but she's so wrapped in pain that she slaps all the medicine away and her personalities begin to conflict. Eureka's not in such a crazed state, but she's in great pain as well. As such, Dominic decides to find a near hospital to get more medicine prescribed for the Federation. However, Renton tricks him into letting him take the trip as well.

After much trouble, they finally find a hospital in the vicinity of a run down town, caused by the Coralian. The people of the town are angry with the military for keeping secrets, and they attack Dominic who is unarmed. Renton jumps in to help, but without much thanks. They get the medicine and head back all the while Renton asking questions regarding the Coralian and what it exactly is, but Dominic stays quiet about it. Back at the crash scene Anemone and Eureka finally get their medicine, and while still in pain, finally begin to calm down. No time to rest, though, Gekkostate and Federation LFOs show up on the scene and begin fighting amongst each other for the recovery of their Nirvashes just after Renton and Dominic begin to bond. Renton is filled with the will to protect Eureka and the typeZERO reacts without command, forming a barrier around them all. Renton picks Eureka up and puts her inside and takes off to the Gekko-Go. Aboard the ship, Renton tells a little of his adventures to Holland, who seems desperate to know what "dreams" Renton saw inside the Zone. When he hears that Renton saw his sister, he seems relieved.

Great aftermath episode with some much-needed time with Dominic. We had seen glimpses of him for bits and pieces of episodes before this, so it was nice to finally see a full episode dedicated to him, to get to know what he's like, and his relationship with Anemone. I think the theme of this episode was the unknown. When Renton asked Dominic what the Coralians were, he wouldn't tell him. Renton didn't know and it seemed like Dominic didn't know. Both Holland and Dominic admit that "there are many things in this world that we don't know." Even the fact that Dominic gets lost in the city seems to fit with the theme of the unknown. It was nicely played out because at this point neither the characters or the viewers know what exactly is going on. We're both sort of destined to find out together when things eventually get revealed. I understand that it's that way for many shows, but in this one there is no sense of secrecy; there isn't a sense that others within the show are withholding information. Granted, there is that weirdo group in the green room whom I know probably know the secrets of the world, but they don't hardly ever show up anyway, so I digress. Next episode I hear is a recap.

**A 3.5 out of 5**

Erementar Gerad 17

2005-09-11T04:43:00.000-07:00

"The Troublesome Chance Meeting"

Everyone gets off the ship and Coud is instantly greeted by Viro, a fanatic girl in glasses. Seems she's his biggest fan and had seen him fight back in the tournaments. She asks for his autograph and breaks out a wanted poster from his old sky gang. Just then, some bounty hunters show up to capture him so they both run off. Viro ends up accompanying Coud and the gang on their trip.

Coud tells her that they're going to the Edil Garden and Viro shows them where it is from a cliff. Edil Garden is visible from where they stand, and is an island floating in the sky. As they're there, Mal shows up, possessed with the power of a forced Reaction with a Sting Raid and takes Viro hostage. Coud Reacts with Ren and tries to fight him off, but he is able to escape after Coud gets Viro back.

They find a place to stay and Viro cooks them dinner for their troubles with her. She ends up confessing her love to Coud but he doesn't really know how to respond. They all have a nice soak in the nearby hot spring together, but of course Viro doesn't stay on the females' side. Instead, she gets to stay alone with Coud much to his (dis)pleasure (everyone knows the dude liked it =P ). After the...eventful...hot springs trip, Viro ends up interrupting Coud and Ren's time alone together. Ren walks off silently and this makes Coud wonder if she's angry or not. It's clear who Coud chooses as he runs off to Ren. But once again they are attacked by Mal who cuts off any attempts Coud makes to React with Ren. But fear not! Viro runs at him and what happens? A Reaction...

Viro-meganeko to the rescue! Viro's appearance has really brightened this show up. Looks like Ren's got a rival. Things flowed so well in this episode, it's the first time it's happened in Erementar Gerad. Great comedy, great character interactions and great action. The one thing about it, though, was that Ren was completely DEAD in this episode. Like, deader than normal if that's even possible. I like her more when she's a bit more active, but in every scene this episode we just see her with this dazed, dead look in her eye. It's like...why even include her in the shot anyway? Wake up! But yes, I hope Viro stays around, she's just what this show needed in a strange way.

**A 3.5 out of 5**

Erementar Gerad 16

2005-09-11T04:17:00.000-07:00

"In Pursuit of the Wild Bullet"

The gang heads off on a ship which will take them to the land where the Edil Garden is. Aboard the ship Coud is struck and infected with a poison. As he wakes up from it, he hears a distant song and begins to act strangely. He winds up in Ren's room while she is sleeping and tries to choke her, but Kuea gets him off of her. She had smelled something strange and familiar, but didn't tell anyone about it.

The song continues and innocent people aboard the ship are forced to react with a Sting Raid who attacks Cisqua and the others. After zapping their hosts' energy they move on to another person. Rowen and Kuea are hurt fending them off and Cisqua goes off in pursuit. She meets her friend Maina from Arc Aile who tells her that Cruess is taking heat for helping them out in the past and that she was ordered to follow her. After that short talk the attacks keep on rolling, but what's strange is that the Sting Raid also seems to be suffering from the effects of the song. She forces herself out of her hosts and begs to be set free. Maina returns to the scene after the song had stopped and reacts with the strange Sting Raid. She acts as if she is being forced to fight Cisqua but since the song had stopped it is revealed that she was the one controlling the Sting Raid. She says that she was ordered by Arc Aile to do whatever it takes to get Ren back, even if it means killing innocent people. Cisqua then sings a song she learned with Maina together when they were younger which helps the Sting Raid escape. Afterward Cisqua is forced to make a decision when Maina aims her gun at Ren, to keep her promise of protecting Edil Raids or the life of her friend. As tough as a decision it may sound, she made one -- killing off her friend.

It's funny comparing Erementar Gerad from episode to episode. Last one was complete crap whereas this one was the complete opposite. Animation, storytelling and direction all took a big leap in this episode, and in contrast to the last episode it was really easy to see. Once again I marvel at the fact that a real, true enemy in this series has yet to be made clear. As of now we just have two factions going at each other with the single goal of capturing Shichikouhouju. Neither of them are really taking any moral routes to go about doing it. I just love the tension and confusion it creates among the characters AND the viewer. Arc Aile puts on a face of good, yet from the inside they are obviously shady, while the Chaos Choir has shown nothing but bad deeds. Will a true, "right" side ever show up? I'm staying tuned to find out!

**A 3.5 out of 5**

Erementar Gerad 15

2005-09-11T01:34:00.000-07:00

"The Windmill Village 'El Blanca'"

Ren ends up in village where some punks have forced the people into slavery and have taken away their means of living by building a huge wall the disables the village windmill. Yuji is a kid who tries to stop them by breaking the wall down in his self-made plane. Ren decides to help in anyway she can.

Coud and the others make a stop at a hospital where an Arc Aile member currently stays. He was injured by the Chaos Choir when he infiltrated a base and was attacked. Learning of this, Coud takes off after Ren knowing that the Chaos Choir may be nearby looking for her.

Yuji gives destroying the wall one more go in his plane and is able to destroy it. The punks get angry and get ready to attack them all but Coud comes to the rescue. Just then, three Sting Raids come to take Ren and react with the three punks. Coud reacts with Ren and fights them off. Back together again, Coud and Ren continue their journey to Edil Garden along with Cisqua and the gang.

"All Ren" episode my butt. Big waste of time most of this episode was. Just as the plot was starting to move forward they throw this at us. And whatever happened to that "big weapon" those punks were supposed to have? And how the heck did just the three of them build that gigantic wall? And why was the animation so cheap again? And why does Ren always look sleepy? And why am I asking so many questions?

**A 2.5 out of 5**

Erementar Gerad 14

2005-09-05T23:44:00.000-07:00

"The Edil Raid Hunter Returns"

Coud tries to hitch rides to find Ren, but to no avail. What he finds instead is the bastard Wolx and his Edil Raid Tilel once again. Wolx has been going on missions for Arc Aile to capture Edil Raids and bring them back -- his next target was Ren. Once he finds Coud he immediately plans to fight and take her away. Coud's in more trouble than normal since he doesn't have Ren at his side, and tries to fight Wolx single-handedly. He pulls a couple of tricks but Tilel constantly protects him, even though he treats her like a tool, even though he doesn't acknowledge her existence as a person. But because she had finally felt needed, she stuck by his side no matter what.

Cisqua, Kuea and Rowen go on a "paid vacation" with the help of Commander Cruess, even though it's something they shouldn't be doing. Since they want to follow through with their promise of protecting Ren on her way to the Edil Garden, they also go off on a trip to find her. They find Coud fighting Wolx and Cisqua decides to lend him a hand. She and Wolx have their typical argument about whether or not he and Arc Aile are the same in their treatment of Edil Raids, but everyone knows Wolx is in the wrong for treating them as things and it appears as though he begins to see this as Tilel, yet again, protects him from Cisqua's attacks. Coud decides to call it a loss and walks away. Maybe Wolx will come out of this a changed man if my cliche sniffing abilities are up to standard.

Coud meets up with the rest and they all go off to look for Ren together.

This show needs less Wolx and Tilel. But no matter how cliched their story may be, I still can't help but to feel bad for Tilel even if she's stupid enough to want to stay with him despite how he treats her. I can't say that their relationship is unrealistic though. Kind of fits with the whole "nice guy finishes last" scenario which pisses me off so much. But I find his appearance in this episode a lot better than his first, but that can be chalked up to the fact that the show is getting much better. I've even noticed the animation has been kicked up a notch. Hopefully this turn of events will keep up. Next episode looks like an all Ren episode. I definitely look forward to that!

**A 3.5 out of 5**

Tide-Line Blue 07

2005-09-05T03:52:00.000-07:00

"Prayer"

Keel and Joze are washed up on the shores of Tibet, with no money for refueling. But this is Keel's specialty, and he plans to take the city for all it has -- keyword "plans." Joze and Keel head into a bar, and Keel tries to work his hustling and cheating magic on one of the customers. His little scheme is instantly found out, and they both lose what little they have. Joze gets pissed, but even then Keel decides to put their sub up for bets, this time using real dice. SHOBU! They lose the sub, too. Now left with no way to return to the Ulysses, the thinking process begins.

Joze wanders off while Keel meets his old friend Angie from before the Gould attacks. All refugees from Yabitsu had found themselves in tibet after the attacks. Unfortunately, Keels other friend, Sunshine, didn't make it and died as he tried to escape. Keel handles the news the best way he could, with laughter. But he can't hold back the tears.

Joze is an absolute mess without Gould, and distrusts anyone she comes across. As she's "fending" off innocent city dwellers, she finds Aoi's helicopter heading for a temple on a hill. The temple belongs to Chen Reishi, the leader of Tibet. Of course, Joze heads that way as well.

Aoi travels with Tean to Chen Reishi's temple to request her assistance in the formation of the New UN, and to help take down Gould. Reishi responds that she doesn't have any sort of power that she could contribute, and that all she could do is pray. Tean has a hard time believing that that's all she planned to do, and asks how praying could change anything and what was she praying for. Chen Reishi's voice changes in an odd manner as she replies, "for the sons who come from the heavens." Apparently she's referring to Tean and Keel. As to how she knows about them is anyone's guess. "That your two prayers should be the same, that they will become one," she continues. Needless to say this surprises Aoi and Tean both.

Keel meets General Blantyre in Tibet also, who had come to the temple to help out with Yabitsu's rebuilding. While he was there, he helped out the other refugees. A pinch more story is revealed about Keel and Aoi. Aoi had left him behind somewhere for her work and this left Keel with a bad taste in his mouth. Blantyre reassures Keel that it was necessary that she left and that she was very worried about him, but Keel doesn't want to hear it.

Keel goes back to look for Joze, and finds her amongst the people of the city but losses her again for a short time, that is, until a time of prayer comes over the people and they all bow their heads exposing Keel and Joze, but also Aoi and Tean. Both pairs eyes meet, what will come of this reunification?

Hehe, I knew that I'd like this episode. Joze and Keel's relationship is coming a long quite well. It's just a shame they didn't get more screen time together. Joze definitely shows more personality when she's with Keel than anybody else, and it's a good thing to see even if it's just anger. Though the anger seems playful sometimes, she's still seriously upset that he had gotten her in this situation away from Gould, and without him she's pretty pathetic. I love how this show can implement important plot threads into a seemingly light-hearted atmosphere. It's certainly a nice trait. The comical moments and serious moments are also starting to mesh together in a much nicer way. Tide-Line Blue's coming along quite well. We know enough about its world, characters and story that we're not absolutely BEGGING for answers, but we're still dying to have mysteries revealed. A nice balance not often found in secretive shows such as this.

**A 4 out of 5**

Fall Anime Season

2005-09-04T21:15:00.000-07:00

Thought I'd jump on the bandwagon of other anime bloggers and post what I'm looking forward to with the start of the fall anime season. So far, this year of anime isn't what I'd call great at all. There have been a few series that I've enjoyed immensely (Tide-Line Blue, Basilisk, Eureka Seven), while others I've greeted with a luke-warm welcome (Erementar Gerad, Tsubasa Chronicle, Sousei no Aquarion). It's been really hard to sift through all the "moe" fluff that's been coming out for most of the year. Of course there's the wonderful Aim for the Top! 2 which catches a lot of flack because it's nothing at all like the original, but I'm able to enjoy it for what it is, rather than what it's not, and it's a very good OVA. But there will be more room for recap come the end of the year, so let's get on with the list:

CLUSTER EDGE - Looks to be a fantasy adventure of sorts with a strong Japanese RPG style to it. I always feel inclined to give these shows a shot although many of them don't really hit the spot too often. Nevertheless, the character designs are appealing and the subject matter is of my interests. I'll be giving it a shot come this October, should fansubs be available. Premieres October 4th.

Black Cat - Yet ANOTHER anime from our inconsistent friends at Studio GONZO. Just what are they up to over there? Well, they've made one of my absolute favorites this year, Basilisk, so I ain't made at 'em. I'm starting to hear great things abotu Trinity Blood, and Speed Grapher seems to be a missed opportunity at greatness. Their new title, Black Cat, scheduled to premiere October 6th looks to be of highly stylistic fare. Looking at the trailer, it does seem like something I'd be interested in. I can only hope that its production standards remain good throughout it. GONZO is becoming notorious for that.

Mai Otome - I'm hard-pressed to call this one a "sequel." I think I'll go with "spinoff" this time around because that's essentially what it is. An alternate universe which has zero connections to the original Mai HiME. Hell, Mikoto is even a cat in it! I enjoyed the first series quite a lot aside from its slow start and subpar ending. I'm quite glad that this will be in an alternate universe. It will be quite new. Premieres October 6th. Fansubbers will be all over this, I'm sure.

Solty Rei - Yet another GONZO anime coming out later. They just won't quit. Honestly, I know little about this one, but just looking at the site it really perked my interests. Character designs are very nice, though. And it's sci-fi, that's all the way up my alley. Premieres October 6th.

Blood+ - I don't know too many people who aren't looking forward to this one. Production I.G. and Blood as a TV series. It's going to be great to see Blood with an actual plot; something the original movie totally lacked. But what the movie had going for it was gorgeous animation and tight direction, despite its lack of plot. Somehow, though, I expect filler episodes a-plenty. Premieres October 8th.

Noein - I just kind of stumbled upon this one. Saw the trailer and was instantly impressed. The character designs are a little on the unorthodox side, but just a little, and I completely embrace them. From what I've seen, I get a small amount of Fantastic Children vibes from it. A definite good thing since I loved Fantastic Children to death, though I haven't finished it yet. Animation in Noein looks to be high quality Let's hope for the best. Premieres October 14th.

As for OVAs, of course, I'm looking forward to episode 4 of:

Aim for the Top! 2 Die Buster - As you've probably seen by reading my blog, I'm a huge fan of this OVA. Crazy yet beautiful, and it shows that GAINAX have still got "it" despite the feces they've been creating lately. Episode 4 comes out October 28th.

That does it for the shows that I've shown immediate interests in. I'm sure to check out even more than that, but I don't expect to blog too many of them. I'll be checking out some of the moe, or romance, or fanservice stuff, as well. They're just harder for me to blog, but I'll be watching whatever's good. You know what we need? More SPACE SCI-FI!

Check you guys later!

Erementar Gerad 13

2005-09-04T20:21:00.000-07:00

"Arc Aile"

Waazaat? More Gerad? Yup! Haven't forgotten about this either.

After constantly being reassured by Cisqua that he would be able to see Ren again once they've reached Arc Aile, Coud still finds himself waiting and waiting for her return. After a while, he is thanked by members of Arc Aile for bringing Ren in, afterward he is asked to leave the premises and this doesn't sit too well with him. He causes a scene such that he needed to be restrained by several people. He is told that Ren was sent to the Edil Garden, just as she had wanted, and that he was no longer needed. This was told to no one, not even Cisqua and the gang. As a matter of fact, there are many things being kept secret from Arc Aile's own members. No one really knows what's going on but the higher-ups.

Ren awakens in a high-class place; it's the Edil Garden, or so she is told. She is spoken to by another Edilraid there and is told that she had slept for seven years and that Coud and the others had already left her. Ren doesn't like the fact that she never even got to say goodbye and wishes to go see him once again, but the Edilraid insists that she stay in the Edil Garden as the outside world isn't safe. Just then Ren begins to hear the voice calling for her once again, the voice which awaits in the Edil Garden. She appears right before her eyes. Her name is Eve, and she continues to call Ren to the Edil Garden. Ren finally realizes that she is not where she thinks she is. Instead, she wakes up on a test bed in Arc Aile. Just what she was doing there is unknown, but she was able to escape.

The Chaos Choir gets word that Ren had arrived at Arc Aile and commences an attack on their HQ, blacking them out. Gladias was the head of the mission, but wasn't able to secure Ren.

Coud goes out on his own to find Ren but is chased by a sniper. He dodges a few of the bullets but isn't able to escape unharmed. He finds himself in a hospital bed, and Ren finds Kuea who's looking after Coud. She feels bad that Coud has gotten hurt trying to protect her, and says her goodbye, after a failed attempt at a kiss. ^_^ Coud wakes up after she's gone and decides to find her after being told by Kuea that she had left. Kuea gives him an Edilraid radar to help him on his way.

I'm surprised that this show's main plot has started moving already. I had figured we'd be in filler mode at least until around episode 18 or 19. I'm quite happy with the progress, but I suppose I shouldn't speak so soon. I love the confusion that had erupted in Arc Aile. No one knows exactly what's going on, not even many of the people in charge. I suspect Cisqua and company won't be members by choice for much longer. It looks like the only "good guys" in this series are Coud and the gang. Arc Aile can't be trusted anymore, and the Chaos Choir definitely has that "evil" thing going for them.

**A 3.5 out of 5**

Tsubasa Chronicle 17

2005-09-01T00:03:00.000-07:00

"The Cafe in Sakura Country"

Syaoran and co. end up in a new, almost-normal world called Sakura Country! I'll refer to it as Outo Country. It's a place well-acquainted with travelers from other worlds and welcomes them with open arms. All newbies to the city must register and get jobs, and that's just what the gang does. Fye takes it upon himself to register them all with strange aliases. The woman at the city hall gives them a very nice place to stay in, and they all relax inside a bit. Mokona feels a faint presence of Sakura's feather, so it looks like they're in this country to stay for a while.

Night falls and the gang can't relax long as an oni breaks in and attacks. Syaoran takes it on with one of his many kicking moves, lands a hit and the demon disappears. Told you it was "almost normal." They end up back at the city hall and the lady at the desk gives them reward money for taking out the oni. Turns out demons attack the city frequently, mostly at night, but they rarely harm citizens. There are oni hunters in the town and upon hearing this, Kurogane and Syaoran feel it's a good idea to become hunters as well. Of course, Fye knows his associates well, and had already signed the two up for the job. He and Sakura would become waiters feeling it was a good way to talk to people and gain information.

They get a badge which deposits money to them automatically after they defeat an oni. They start their first night on the job at a frequent oni passage area. They are attacked after a few minutes of waiting but are easily able to defeat them. Then, Kurogane noticed something in one of Syaoran's eyes, though nothing is hinted at. Possibly a mysterious power? After the fight, two stranger oni hunters look down upon them. Do they want to be rid of Syaoran and Kurogane for stealing their prey?

Good start to a new arc with a lot more plot developments than usual. Something's happening at Sakura and Syaoran's homeland. Clow country is being attacked by persons from other worlds and it seems like they're after something. Sakura's brother had been injured, probably from trying to fight them off. There was also the bit about Syaoran's flashing eye. Kurogane seems to know what it's all about, but doesn't really say anything about it. Plus this episode had Sakura in a maid outfit. Instant good score!

**A 3.5 out of 5**

Tide-Line Blue 06

2005-08-31T00:02:00.000-07:00

"K2"

Joze goes out to look for Keel as Gould and the Ulysses engage Satoyama's fleet. They send out the Gotland which has yet another person aboard who was one of Gould's pals; an underling apparently. As such, Gould is easily able to defeat him and his units. Satoyama is so caught up in defeating Gould that he wishes his units to sacrifice themselves in the name of duty in order to finish off Gould. Gould lures them into a submerged mountainy area which is very tough to navigate, but nonetheless, Satoyama accepts Gould's challenge and follows suit. The two are on equal footing in this area as any advantages are phased out and it becomes a battle of wits. Much firepower is exchanged with little-to-no hits even on the Teshio. Just then, a silent-running submarine heads toward the Ulysses. It's the Gi unit that was sent out after Gould's threats. They have extremely powerful torpedoes and no acoustics were detected. This forces Gould to turn tail and head into the Dhola Vira once again. He feels bad for leaving Joze and Keel behind, but the circumstances left him with no choice. Keel and Joze are now separated from the Ulysses and must now find a way to survive on their own.

That was the exciting battle, but there were also a few plot developments present in this episode as well. Turns out it is Keel and Tean's father aboard the Freedom, and he is still alive today sending signals down to NORAD. Freedom was originally used to detect coal underseas, but after the Hammer of Eden, Keel and Teans father began work of creating a map of the newly deformed world. Aoi hints at disaster should the public find out about the map. My guess is because should it be released, it would further help wars and conflicts amongst human beings. At least without it, battles are hindered by insufficient means of mapping. Tean, Keel, their father and their mother Emma all lived in the Freedom long ago, but their father urged them to go live on Earth. Keel and Tean didn't understand why he didn't want to be with them anymore, but their mother reassures them that he loves them all, and that something was going to happen to the Freedom in the future. Perhaps this is why Tean was surprised to hear that his father was still alive aboard the Freedom from Aoi. It took some time to sink in, however. She frees him from her custody, but what he will do now is unknown.

This was an excellent episode which balanced plot and action very nicely. The battle was intense as I expected from the preview and didn't disappoint, and the plot revelations provided excellent character reaction on Tean's part. It was strange to see him not react to anything Aoi was telling him, it was like he was processing it in his mind for a while until he finally realized just what was being said. So we have more pieces to the puzzle, but they aren't quite put together yet to form a final picture. We've got sections, however, so things are definitely moving along nicely. Episode 4 appears to have been just a slight setback on our Tide-Line Blue joyride *knocks on wood*. Next episode looks like some much needed Joze and Keel relationship development as they find themselves in a strange city. I can't believe we're already halfway through with the series now...

**A 4 out of 5**

Basilisk 15

2005-08-29T23:56:00.000-07:00

"Execution at Sea"

Gyoubu is shocked to see that Tenzen is still alive even after breaking his neck. This didn't leave Tenzen with any repercussions whatsoever, and he continues to want to fight Gyoubu. The awe quickly wears off on Gyoubu as he thinks of his reasons for wanting the Iga clan defeated. When he was a kid, his father was called by Danjou to take part in the signing of the peace treaty of Iga and Kouga, but before it could happen, Iga clan members ambush his pack and kill them all, including Gyoubu's father. A young Gyoubu arrives on the scene to see his father die before his eyes. That day, he threw away his pity and became possessed with the idea of destroying the Iga clan once and for all.

The two fight a well-fought battle aboard the ship as Gyoubu continues to hide amongst the objects aboard the ship and the ship itself. Hardly any attention is paid to the civilians aboard the ship, and some casualties are made; the most significant being the father of a little boy inadvertently slaughtered by Gyoubu's blade. Just then, the boy's eyes remind Gyoubu of himself when he was a child looking over the corpse of his father. Gyoubu is terrified by the thought that he had done what he had come to hate in Iga. Gyoubu tries to escape but up comes Akeginu who uses her attack to restrain Gyoubu inside the body of the ship. There, Tenzen is easily able to impale Gyoubu with his blade, killing him off as the boy watched with angry glee. The wall Gyoubu died within is cast off the ship where Gennosuke and company find it. They send him off in the river and once again count their losses.

Seriously, does Basilisk ever fail? I think not. Some more perfectly played out scenes are present in this episode, especially those dealing with Gyoubu and the little boy. I can't think of it being done any better. Oh well, another one of my favorite characters are gone. This series has no mercy I tell you. I think almost every character death from now on will have some sort of impact on the viewer, or at least me. If Akeginu died I will feel bad as she was a caring individual who cared for every member of her clan. If Koushirou died I will feel bad as his undying and unrequited love for Oboro was a touching subject. If Tenzen died I'd be jumping up and down for joy for a bastard who got what he deserved; same goes for Saemon. If Oboro died I will feel bad as Gennosuke's love will no longer be of this Earth; vise-versa for Gennosuke. Hyouma and Kagerou are about the only characters I don't really have feelings for. Hyouma because we know so little about him and Kagerou who wanted Gennosuke to die with her even though he loves Oboro and wishes to stay alive.

Next episode looks to deal with our characters' past. That should be very fun. I look forward to it.

**A 4.5 out of 5**

Tsubasa Chronicle 16

2005-08-27T23:20:00.000-07:00

"Strength and Kindness"

Catch up part 2:

The world our protagonists end up this time around is a world where a tournament to determine the strongest warrior is going on. As soon as they arrive Mokona feels a powerful energy coming from the colosseum. Of course they believe it's Sakura's father. They plan to enter the tournament, especially Kurogane, but it looks more difficult than usual as they find themselves up against people with strange powers once again. Kurogane still doesn't care an eagerly awaits entering the tournament. Syoaran tells Mokona to take Sakura someone safe. The two end up in a cabin owned by a woman named Charme and a guy named Keefer. Keefer had gotten injured by wolves on his way to the town, but he is determined to enter the tournament to earn the grand prize which will free Charme from a curse she had gotten when she entered a forbidden ruin said to grant wishes.

Syaoran ends up winning the treasure, but the treasure turns out not to be Sakura's feather. Just then, Keefer arrives on the scene to take the treasure away. He was definitely a strong opponent and was able to match Syaoran's moves, but Syaoran saw the desperation in Keefer's eyes and stopped the fight. He hands him the prize because he doesn't need it. Keefer uses it to cure Charme of the curse and asks her why she went to the ruins in the first place. She said it was because there was a certain person she wanted to marry. The two walk off hand-in-hand. That ends our adventures for this wasted trip. To the next world we go!

Must...not...mention...cliches. Oops, just did. Keefer: "Why did you go into the ruins in the first place?" KT Kore: "If she says she wanted to marry--" Charme: "There was a certain person I wanted to marry..." KT Kore: "*hurling sounds*"

**A 3 out of 5**

Series Review - Last Exile

2005-08-27T16:05:00.000-07:00

Director: Koichi Chigira
Music: Dolce Triade
Character Design: Range Murata
Studio: GONZO

"What lies beyond the furthest reaches of the sky?"

I initially started watching this during its fansub days back in 2003. I made it up to about episode 14 where I stopped for some reason. I tend to do that a lot, really. I never finished watching the fansubs of it, but I liked it enough that I decided to buy the DVDs when they came out. I bought the first two, watched them and then had to wait for the next releases. I didn't get them until volume 5 had come out, so I bought 3-5 and started from the beginning and yet again had to wait for the rest to come out. I finally got 6 and 7 and once again started from the beginning. I had seen the first 14 episodes about 3 times now without ever having finished the series. This is 2005 now. After two years of screwing around trying to finish Last Exile, I finally made my way to the end.

The story is set on the backdrop of two warring factions, Anatoray and Disith. In this world, the ruler of everything lies with Maestro Delphine of the highly-advanced Guild. They've created the technologies the world uses and they regulate all that happens. To keep everything in check, the Guild uses the power of "Exile," a immensely large world-traveling ship used in the creation of the world as they know it, the lies in the chaos known as the "Grand Stream." But they've somehow lost the control of Exile and Anatoray takes advantage of this by entrusting the key to Exile, a young girl named Alvis Hamilton, to Alex Row of the revered ship "Silvana."

Lavie Head and Clause Valka, two couriers, get themselves caught up in this mess and somehow find themselves delivering Al to the Silvana after the Guild kills her original courier. Both their dads were killed in the Grand Stream and it's their dream to take their dad's vanship and cross the Grand Stream. Needless to say, Claus takes any opportunity he can to fulfill this dream.

Exile is opened when all four Mysteria, lines of poems, are recited to Al. Whoever does this will have the power to change the world.

The story of Last Exile is a simple one told in a complicated manner, this keeps the show mysterious and fresh with every episode as we learn the secrets to its world and the characters that live in it. The characters are the strong point of the series. Even though I was intrigued by the story I found myself more engrossed with the fate of the wonderful characters. They grow on you like a bad stench after three days of no bathing (bad analogy, I know). Even the side characters shine brightly. The crew of the Silvana, the crew of the Urbanus, Hurricane Hawk and the Norkia racers who aren't even seen much throughout the series. If one doesn't care for these characters then that one has no heart, is all I have to say about that.

As I've said many times before, I'm not one that enjoys a whole lot of 3D and CGI in my anime, but boy does Last Exile excel in that department. It's probably the only anime I've seen where I didn't have not one problem with the large amounts of 3DCGI being used throughout. It's downright beautiful and doesn't make the series feel like it's taking shortcuts. Every scene is modeled and animated with great detail and special attention so as not to make it feel like a shortcut. For once, I felt 3D actually enhanced a series and I couldn't imagine Last Exile any other way. Of course the usual fluxes in character design from episode to episode occurs in this series as well, but a big deal it is not. Last Exile is quite the visually-pleasing series.

The music fits the bill here perfectly. Last Exile is presented in a very epic way and the music goes along with that theme well. The usage of trumpets and drums and cymbals go well with the monumental battle sequences while the quiet usage of flutes and other instruments fit well with the normal lives of our characters. The music is atmospheric in every sense of the word and never feels out of place, overdone, or not done enough.

Last Exile is not a series that does much to break any standards other than aesthetically, but even so it remains to be a highly enjoyable spectacle of wonder. With unique settings, technologies and concepts, the retro-futuristic world of Last Exile is bound to please even the most cynical of viewers.

Blogging Wit' KT gives Last Exile from Studio GONZO a

4 out of 5.

Pros: Stunning animation; excellent score; gripping and complicated plot; lovable characters; Alvis

Cons: Lack of detail in some plot concepts; gets somewhat repetitive in the beginning; no detail on Al's past

See you on the next flight...

Tsubasa Chronicle 15

2005-08-27T01:27:00.000-07:00

"The Trusting Heart"

Catchup time...

Dr. Kyle is busted trying to take in another "kid" to the castle, but the kid just turns out to be Mokona on stilts. Syaoran figures out that Kyle was hypnotizing the kids into heading for the castle so that he could use them to free Sakura's feather and to use the power himself. Grosum kept a record of all the kids that disappeared in the town, and the record matched all of the kids that were hypnotized by Kyle. Kyle finally admits that he was the evildoer and soon after runs off into the castle. Syaoran and the others chase after him. Kyle finds Sakura there and tries to trick her into trusting her, but Emeraude lets her know that he is not who she thought she was. Seeing that he was found out by even Sakura, he takes her hostage as Syaoran and co. finally arrive. Syaoran saves her before Kyle can do anything and at the moment the building water from Kurogane's earlier actions break into the building and cause a threat. Sakuran and Syaoran are separated from the rest, but they trust him to protect Sakura and make his way out. Emeraude guides them out of the castle as the place begins to fall apart. Kyle follows but finds himself in a bad situation as a statue tips over and falls right onto him.

Syaoran and Sakura emerge from the waters of the castle to meet up with the rest and Sakura's feather merges into her. Emeraude leaves them saying that her job was done and warns the gang that someone has been watching them during their entire journey. Indeed someone has been and have been and not only were they watching, they were trying to interfere with their journey. It's Fei Wong Reed and he has a hankering for the power of Sakura's feathers so that he may "transcend space and time."

With the fact that someone is observing them in mind, Sakura and the others begin their trip into yet another new world.

So that concludes this arc. Honestly, I wasn't a big fan of it. Usually I'm not one to complain about the usage of cliches and whatnot, but man was this story unoriginal. I felt like I was watching Duck Tales or something (don't ask me why I brought that up). I cringed when the ceiling blocked Sakura and Syaoran's path just after they spoke aloud that they were heading in that direction. The things this arc did have going for it was the settings, atmosphere and an energetic and useful Sakura. She actually ended up retrieving her own feather this time instead of relying on the others and that was nice to see. I also like to see how faithful Syaoran is to Sakura, as he kept mentioning that he would never doubt anything she said. That was nice as well. But now that that's over, we head into a new world. I looks quite exciting. Lots of over-the-top powers and whatnot.

**A 3 out of 5**

Eureka Seven 12

2005-08-24T23:24:00.000-07:00

"Acperience 1"

This episode was much too "out there" for me to even begin to form a summary, so this will be a shorter post just touching at bits of things that happened in the episode which will be formed around my opinion.

So after Anemone's attack, theEND and the Nirvash end up heading into the core of the Coralian. This is where the strange things go about. Meanwhile the Gekko-Go takes on Dominic and the Federation's airship. The exchange calculated attacks at one another; calculated because of the effects the Coralian was having on weaponry. But we don't care about any of that, what we care about is what the hell was happening inside the weird, dream-like world that is inside the Coralian. Outside, the Gekko-Go and the Feddie ship are only able to pick up brainwaves of their people. This implies that whatever is happening inside the Coralian is purely a mental experience. Mental is how I felt after watching this episode, that's for sure. The Gekko-Go also registers theEND as "Nirvash," that is, their radar was picking up two Nirvashes.

There are only a few things I can gather from what went on in there. The recurring bit of imagery was of Renton looking at himself. As he was in the classroom, his former classmates were not visible as their normal selves, only Renton was. This drew much attention to him. The viewer's eyes was purely on Renton, just as Renton's own eyes were purely fixated upon himself. Again, the bathroom scene he finds himself looking at himself, and once again in the middle of nowhere where he meets up with Anemone and Eureka. The seemingly "real life" Renton was seen looking at himself in a box which represented the world, and he possibly was its god as he looked upon himself in his open and empty field. A self-evaluation of sorts.

Yes, there was lots of other stuff that happened in the Coralian but I'll be damned if I'm able to put my finger on it. Especially Renton's interactions with Anemone. And the toilets...oh, the toilets -- don't know what's up with that either. But going back to the mental aspect of things, we have further confirmation that this is just a mental experience as Renton sees images of his sister, and then he sees a happy Eureka. And through the simple action of saying they were leaving, they found themselves back in the Nirvash. The Coralian disappears and theEND and the typeZERO both find themselves in the middle of what looks like the aftermath of another Seven Swell.

I'm sure this is one of those episodes that will make more sense after we've seen all of the episodes and we can connect the events to something, but for now my score will be based on what I was able to pick up -- though if I'm right on the matter is a different story; also, presentation was fantastic, atmospheric and unique. Let's just leave it at that for now...

And I thank Nanashi Fansubs for the relatively quick release this time. Hopefully we can keep it up at a constant pace so that momentum doesn't die down as it has been.

**A 4 out of 5**

Die Buster News

2005-08-23T17:45:00.000-07:00

Aim for the Top! 2 Die Buster episode 4 will be released October 28th! Though the director of the original Aim for the Top!, Hideaki Anno, doesn't work on this sequel, Anno will be storyboarding for episode 4. Not sure how that will change things, if at all, but it's good to see him working on it. Also, apparently the tone from here on out will be much more serious. I eagerly await it.

And while you guys wait, why not check out the original Gunbuster to see how things go started? You won't be disappointed!

Tide-Line Blue 05

2005-08-22T23:50:00.000-07:00

"Attack"

The Ulysses docks while the crew develops a plan to take out Tengeru and Gi, two countries warring over the monopoly of food and supplies. The plan it to attack Tengeru, and negotiate with their leader to end the war. If they resist, they will ally with Gi and take over their country. The plan to do the exact same thing with Gi. This will take out two birds with one stone, all in Gould's plan to foil the New United Nations as these two countries are part of the New UN negotiations. Keel decides he does want to work on his own, and so Gould lets him accompany the soldiers to collect food from the countries when the mission is complete. But when he learns of the plans to bomb these countries, Keel protests but to no avail. Instead, they tie him up and lock him up saying this will end a war and save lives.

Aoi, Tean and Washi's favorite ostrich arrive at NORAD to meet Sanjun, one of Aoi's long-time accomplices. Tean is taken to a room while Sanjun takes Aoi to a facility with a unit that is receiving signals from Freedom. She is able to pull up a global map of the world, apparently this is part of what's going on up in Freedom. This helps her plan her attack and cornering of Gould and the Ulysses. She prepares to get in contact with Satoyama and the Teshio.

Gould's plan commences and they bomb Gi first. As this is going on Joze enters Gi's president's offices and makes Gould's demands. As Gi's president ponders the vital decision he has to make, the Ulysses aims its non-conventional nuclear missiles at Gi.

Tean sneaks out of his room and steals a soldier's gun. With it, he forces Sunjun to take him to the communications room. There he is shocked by the unit he sees. This possibly means he knows that the UN is in contact with Freedom. But before he can do anything, Aoi walks in with a group of soldiers to detain him once again. Aoi tells him that the presence of the map is a bad thing, but a great thing at the same time. She continues that public knowledge of the map would cause further disruption of the people, and that no one must ever know about it. As disarray is also something Gould doesn't want, Tean agrees to hold mum.

Tengeru falls to Gould's commands and it is left up to Gi's decision with time running out on their deadline. They weigh their options -- a New UN ship is headed their way and would surely attack Gould's submarine if they held out long enough, but holding out may bring them over the deadline. But Gi's president doesn't seem worried. He sends a letter to Joze stating that their nation will comply with Gould's commands. With this, the Ulysses proclaims victory and leaves the area, but it doesn't look like Gi's president will go down without a fight. With the Teshio closing in on the Ulysses and Gi's own submarine heading into action, this could spell trouble for our Ulysses crew.

Interesting episode this was. Again, it was all over the place but in a much better fashion than the previous episode. Most of it dealt with Gould's clever plan to damage the New UN by taking out these two countries, but it looks like he's doing good by it as well. Gould seemed very distant this time around with this plan it's really hard to tell if what he's doing is right or wrong. He wants to end the war between Gi and Tengeru, yet for his own agenda. And his agenda is against the New UN, a seemingly good thing for the world. How it will all play out is anyone's guess. It's all very confusing, these plans are. Tide-Line Blue continues to hold the answers to secrets from up while at the same time bringing up more questions, this having to do with the global unit seen at NORAD and why it's so dangerous to let the public know about it. There was some Keel stuff going on in this episode as well, but really, who cares about that? I was definitely more interested in the episode's main plot line than that, and it was kind of annoying how they kept switching back to his scenes with Hao and the obnoxious kids. There's another battle coming up wind and it looks like this one will be much more intense than the last.

**A 3.5 out of 5**

Tide-Line Blue 04

2005-08-22T22:22:00.000-07:00

"Share"

Well, it was bound to happen folks, but here we have our first almost sub-par episode of Tide-Line Blue.

Keel and Isla continue their lives aboard the Ulysses and there becomes a stark difference between Isla and Keel to the members of the sub. Isla, though not fully-recovered, feels the need to help out, to do something around the ship to the point where she overworks herself. Whereas Keel sleeps 'til noon and doesn't lift a finger to help out. He feels he has no talents, but Gould forces him to do whatever it is he can do, even if it just means cleaning off the missles. And that's exactly what he ends up doing.

Aoi meets with a representative of America who owns a monopoly on oil supply. Mr. King is unpunctual, loud and obnoxious, and he didn't turn up at the New United Nations negotiations. Aoi questions whether or not he is in support of the New UN and if he thinks that America is so rich and elite that it needs not to work with those under it. King quickly dispells this accusation and pledges his full support, especially since Gould, a former American, has deceived them both.

While Keel is cleaning the missles, he soon discovers that they are the same missles which destroyed Yabitsu. As he discovers this, he wants nothing to do with Gould or his members, and snatches up Isla. He barricades the door making sure no one can get in. He explains to Isla that Gould is not who she thinks he is, but she only knows of the kind Gould, not of a Gould that would ruthlessly destroy a village. Oddly enough, while locked in the room Isla asks Keel if he could teach her the alphabet so that she could someday teach her son. Keel breaks out a computer he found on the sub and does just that. A knocked up girl who can't even read or write, for shame Isla. But since she overworked herself earlier, she gets a high fever and begins to collapse. She's taken back to the doctor and Gould finally sees Keel again. Instead of listening to what Keel has to say about his destruction of Yabitsu, he asks Keel why he didn't finish his job, that he shouldn't be embarrassed for his lack of ability. The doctor also lets it be known that Keel is a disgrace. Meanwhile, the Ulysses arrives at a new destination -- New Peking.

Hoooo? This episode was all over the place. It lacked a specific theme. First we have our characters happy-go-lucky living normally aboard the sub, then we have Aoi's dealing with Mr. King and the political aspect of the show, then we head back to the ship where Gould starts talking some nonsense about having worth, then we have supreme angst over Keel learning who attacked Yabitsu, then we have this strange "teach me the alphabet" moment which was too long for its own good, then we have the REALLY awkward moment between Keel and Gould. Why would Keel listen to ANYTHING Gould has to say after what he found out? Oi...not a good episode TLB. Even the animation wasn't as good as normal. King's car animation used a bunch of the cheap digital movement shortcuts that I thought I wouldn't see in this anime. Well, at least we learned a little tiny bit more about the plot, or the mysteries within the plot. That being the space power plant which was destroyed, and the debris fell over Freedom, which is probably that oribiting satellite Keel and Tean used to live on, and where the old man currently resides.

Here's hoping for a better episode 5.

**A 3 out of 5**

Basilisk 14

2005-08-13T23:47:00.000-07:00

"Flowers Scattered in the Straits"

The tension of the previous episode carries over as Tenzen impedes upon Oboro's personal space. She confirms the fact that she will no fight against Gennosuke should the time come, and that she would rather be killed by his hands. Tenzen has heard enough, and decides it's time to force the "essense of the Iga clan" into her body. Yes, it's as perverse as it sounds. He begins to have his way with her, saying that after he's done she won't care about Gennosuke any longer, and that she will be forced to choose one of the Iga men instead. She tries to fight back, but to no avail. Outside, Koushirou hears the disturbing screams of Oboro and he feels them right down to his soul. But his loyalty to Tenzen and the Iga clan keep him from immediately going to save her.

Akeginu and Jingoro wait with the rest of the ship's passengers as the mysterious figure looks on. After being distracted for a big, Jingoro notices that one of the passengers have secretly disappeared. Akeginu proposes they go take a look, and that's what they do.

Koushirou's finally at his breaking point, he can't bare to hear Oboro in pain any longer. He rushes in and yells out Tenzen's name, but Tenzen's already been stopped. A naked Gyoubu tightly holds Tenzen by the neck, the same way he ended up killing Yashamaru. It looks like Tenzen is going to suffer the same fate. His neck snaps, Gyoubu drops him to the floor and disappears. Though Koushirou was there, he knew nothing of the events that occured right in front of his face. A blind Oboro is confused as well. They both think each other killed Tenzen. As they wallow in confusion, Gyoubu returns and sets his sights on Oboro, but Akeginu and Jingoro arrive before he could hurt her. Jingoro realizes who it is and begins to slash at the walls hoping to hit a hiding Gyoubu. He takes his rage outside, killing innocent people that are near him. Suddenly Gyoubu appears and throws him right into the salt water. Akeginu goes after him, but it's already too late. Gyoubu's done some damage, two Iga members down...or is it? To Gyoubu's surprise, a bloody Tenzen walks out of the shed, almost as if nothing had happened.

Wow, this episode was heavy and even hard to watch, especially since Koushirou wouldn't do anything to help her. It was great to see Gyoubu again, and the fact that he took care of Tenzen was certainly pleasing, it just sucks that it didn't do any good. As for what happened to Oboro, it isn't exactly clear, but from the sound of things (short and repetitive screams, as if being thrusted into) she was indeed raped. But since there wasn't anything directly shown, it somewhat leaves it open to the imagination, but this viewer believes the worst case scenario. Tenzen is a monster, both mentally and physically. How he survived Gyoubu's stranglehold is beyond me. Can't wait to see what hits the fan next.

**A 4.5 out of 5**

Eureka Seven 11

2005-08-13T03:53:00.000-07:00

"Into the Nature"

A large spherical cloud appears in South Ailess, drawing in mass amounts of Trappar and irregulating the gravity around the entire area. As it causes damage, the premises of Ailess must be evacuated by the Federation. Dominic and Anemone move into a Federation airship who's leader is not exactly happy about it. Though having a higher rank than Dominic, he is forced to obey his orders as he was directly sent by the Federation to oversee these missions.

Eureka continues to have trouble connecting with the Nirvash and it causes her mental health to drain. Whatever it may be, it is a problem with Eureka, a problem that is, for now, unknown. As the group socializes over a meal, Hap and Holland walk in with an important announcement, but Eureka doesn't stay to hear the news. Hap continues anyhow. It seems something called a "Coralian" has appeared, and it is the cause for the amassing Trappar sphere that is over Ailess. This excites the members, but for unknown reasons. The plan is to confirm the existance of this "Coralian," so they head the Gekko-Go in its general direction. But, of course, Dominic's Federation ship is heading that was as well.

Renton asks everyone on board what the Coralian is, but he gets no solid answer other than nonsense, ignorance and psychobabble. He asks Eureka but she doesn't even know herself. After he asks her, Holland tells her that she's staying behind, and they he and the others will take the mission themselves. Eureka points out that they won't be able to enter "the Zone" without her, and so Holland quickly decides to let her go, despite her mental condition. He tells her to take Renton, and that if he lets anything happen to her, he'll kill him. Renton, as usual, doesn't understand what's going on, but agrees to accompany her.

Almost simultaneously Gekkostate and the Federation deploy their LFO's toward the Coralian. The military KLFs can't even get close to the sphere as the gravity and Trappar flow is too strong. Eventually all deployed KLFs get destroyed easily. But Gekkostate has better luck. Dominic decides it's time for Anemone to sortie in her KLF, "theEND." But all of a sudden, she's acting odd. Instead of her normal, outgoing, uncaring self, she, like Eureka, gets a huge headache and doesn't want to launch. Dominic administers some sort of medication to her which instantly changes her personality. She's ready for action. Her launch causes much trouble for the Gekkostate gang. She takes out Mattieu in an instant and he must be saved by Hilda. As Eureka and Renton are about to enter the zone, here flys Anemone and confronts them. She traps them with theEND's claws, and dubs the Nirvash a look-alike of theEND. A very notable comparison given she and Eureka also have a few similarities. She uses an attack called "Vascud Crisis" on the Nirvash. What affects does it have?

Tense episode. The director here has quite the ability to create tense situations even when the viewer is not 100% sure what is going on. We have no clue what a Coralian is, but the fact that the Gekko-Go and its members were going into it caused much worry. It was most excellently done. theEND is probably one of the best designed mechs I've seen in a long time. It really looks freakin' intimidating. It's gotta be the paint job. Or the fact that it looks like a huge, demonic bug on a surf board. It also shows it's better-equipt than most LFOs we've seen thus far. Almost supernatural, I mean, it does have multiple moving eyes in its cockpit. It's fitting for its pilot, I suppose. That jam-eating girl is a weirdo. But I'm sure she's somehow connected with Eureka. The fact that they both had headaches was pretty clear indication. They must have been babies in a test tube, heh. Well, Eureka Seven continues to pour on the incomprehensible plot lines, but this time around it was a LOT more exciting and definitely satisfying. I just hope we'll know what a Coralian is pretty soon. I also hope we'll know who that weird group is, what they're talking about, and what their goals are.

**A 4 out of 5**

Eureka Seven 10

2005-08-12T00:26:00.000-07:00

"Higher Than the Sun"

Huzzah, been a long time, but finally more Eureka goodness! On with the entry...

Holland continues to have nightmares about his involvement with the SOF but wakes up just in time to hear a story of an earthquake on the radio. Hearing of the the area, it could only mean one thing -- a wave is coming! Holland jumps down to tell everyone of the news and it quickly excites. Holland asks Talho if she could pilot the ship in their intended direction and she reluctantly agrees. Since the wave is so far away, the only way to get there is by heading into the atmosphere! Talho points the Gekko-Go toward the heavens and blasts off.

But this is where the superhappyfuntimes end. The gang ends up right back at the place of bad memories. An old abandoned military lies in ruin, but the building where Holland and Talho had a very passionate moment in the past still stands. Holland begins to once again shut everyone out, especially Talho and she continues to scold Holland for running away. But Holland doesn't care anymore, he WANTS to forget, he NEEDS to forget and he begs Talho to let him forget. Words and actions that indicated that he would forget her if she didn't let him forget the rest. She sees the pain he's in and begins to accept him.

No wave arrives, but the trip wasn't an entire waste. Yup, Talho had navigated the ship there on purpose. Maybe it was a good idea as it seems to have strengthened a weaking relationship between Talho and Holland. And of course Renton got to act like a total dork in front of Eureka once again; he even tried to kiss the girl at a totally weird moment. Oh Renton, when will you ever learn?

Meanwhile the Federation evaluates the situation that went down at CdC. After taking all of the events and sights into account, they come to realize that it was Gekkostate which had thwarted their periodic bombing run. As such, Dewey decides it's time to bring in the heavy artilery, and that artilery happens to be a young girl...a strange young girl named Anemone. She appears quite happy to see Dewey after such a long time. What can she bring to the table?

So I guess this episodes brings Talho to terms with Holland. It's good to see as I felt she was previously a bit too hard on him about his wanting to forget, I mean, that's something I'd want to forget in heartbeat especially if you were fighting for something you didn't exactly believe was right. But I digress. Once again I feared this was going to be a pointless filler episode, but it was not in any way, shape or form. The Talho/Holland scenes were beautifully played out, whereas the Renton/Eureka scenes were in great contrast. The boy is going to have to mature a little. He's been with Eureka for a long time now, it's time to stop acting like a ditz and move forward. But this episode showed how broken Talho and Holland's relationship was. Holland was about ready to throw away everything it seemed to me, but her accepting has reverted all that...at least for now. Needs more Anemone (with less bloody nose)!

**A 3.5 out of 5**

Basilisk 13

2005-08-07T00:07:00.000-07:00

"The Butterflies' Wild Dance"

Hotarubi and Nenki continue their encounter at the edge of oblivion as Hotarubi spews her hatred for Saemon. Saemon in Nenki's guise doesn't do much to help matters, but rather he provokes her emotion, further blinding her to the unknown situation that she's in. At first downplaying Nenki for not taking care of Saemon, she vows to kill him herself, feeling that she will know him anywhere, dispite what disguises he may be flaunting. Except, Saemon's right there in front of her, and before she can notice it, it's too late. With not much struggle, Saemon reverts to his normal form and slices Hotarubi's arms clean off. To finish the job, a sword impaled through her aching soul. Killed by the man she hates, but now, maybe she can join her love in another place. Farewell, Hotarubi.

Tenzen and the others continue their journey in finding the Kouga clan. Instead of waiting for Nenki and Hotarubi to return with their whereabouts, Tenzen plans to cross the sea hoping to beat the Kouga to their destination, or at least meet them on the way. Aboard the ship, Oboro continues to think of the distant Gennosuke, and this makes Tenzen uneasy. He goes into a cabin alone with her, in order to "tell her something very important." He wants to reassure himself that Oboro is ready for the task at hand, and that she will not back down in defense of her love for Gennosuke. But we see no such chat, instead, a very tense moment as Tenzen moves closer and closer to a sightless Oboro.

I have no words. No words except "Saemon. Must. Die." That is all.

**A 4.5 out of 5**

Aim for the Top! 2 Die Buster 03

2005-08-05T01:26:00.000-07:00

"I Hate Toplesses"

Lark makes a round for ammunition supply in an area densely littered with space monsters. This area is called the Jupiter Express. As Lark makes her rounds in Dix Neuf, Chiko screws around in the Express in order to beat them and raise her Topless score above Lark's. Instead of gracefully defeating enemies, her Buster Machine gets ripped to shreds and she needs to be rescued by Lark, her current rival.

Nono, Lark and Chiko all make their way to the Europa International Spaceport, Galileo Station (http://www2.jpl.nasa.gov/galileo/europa/) in the vicinity of Jupiter (which was an former battleship? Now it's turned to a residential living area?) where the Fraternity and the Space Fleet will collaborate to be rid of the Jupiter Express. The operation will call for half of the Buster Machine fleet, as well as the Fraternity's first new Buster Machine in 10 years, the Quatre-Vingt-Dix. The plan is to set a mine field which will lead the the Express into a different direction where the Topless will be ready to set a trap.

Nono and Chiko both vie for the right to pilot the Quatre, and Chiko laughs at the uplifting words most Topless carry with them, that is, to protect and to make everyone happy. As it is, when Chiko was young, someone very important to her died due to cosmic radiation poisoning. This alone was enough to to make Chiko resent the Topless promise to make everyone happy seeing as it is quite impossible.

While in a cosmic radiation ward (because of exposure in her busted Buster Machine), a group of kids steal Chiko's earing which her important person made for her. She instantly goes chasing after them, with Nono right behind her. They end up in a shut-out part of Jupiter, with but small hole where one could see the sky. The kids intentionally stole the earing so that they could get Chiko, a Topless, to help them out. As they see the stars in the sky, the kids want there to be snowfall, and they believe since Chiko is a Topless, she could do anything. Chiko lets them know the reality of things, that Topless can't do anything, but Nono won't have it. Instead she goes into her usual speeches about helping as much as she could, but Chiko doesn't want to hear it and lashes out at Nono.

Meanwhile, the operation begins and problems instantly erupt. Instead of redirecting the Express into the predetermined direction, they are able to break through the mine field and head straight toward the residential area. Lark and Nicolas must intercept to stop them, but the Express is too much for them to handle and Nono and Chiko are late on their parts. Chiko doubts the words of the Topless, and doubts herself to do any good. Nono, again, gives one of her heartfilled speeches to her, which in turn begins to uplift Chiko. As she continues to talk, the Quatre begins to awake. Surely, Nono will be the next pilot and will control the Quatre as part of the fraternity. Or will she?

The Express continues its attack and gets closer and closer to the residential areas. Just as Nicolas and Lark are about to use the "Buster X" attack (still unseen), out emerges the Quatre-Vingt-Dix. And who's in it? None other than...Chiko! The Quatre-Vingt-Dix is able to use its great ability of temperature control to halt the Jupiter express right in its tracks, right before it destroys the residential areas. The huge line of frozen Express explodes into a glorious white snow which falls upon Jupiter. The kids are happy, Nono is happy, Chiko is happy, everyone is happy.

Wow, that was a beautiful episode and Die Buster's first dosage of supreme angsssssst. There were also more questions than answers in this episode, most notably the twins that showed up who apparently ordered the operation to take down the Jupiter Express. And I think there was something said about the space monsters going after Nono? Anyway, this was my favorite episode so far. I have to say I find the first three episodes in Die Buster to be even better than the first three episodes of Gunbuster. But the last three episodes will still have to go up several notches if they want to surpass the greatness of the original. We'll see how it goes, but for now I am greatly enjoying this series. I really, really wish we could see more series like this from GAINAX instead of their current run-of-the-mill fanservice shows.

Next episode is released...well, GAINAX have not given a release date yet. *sigh*

**A 4.5 out of 5**

Basilisk 12

2005-07-31T23:09:00.000-07:00

"Magic Lantern Memories"

After Nenki bites the dust, Hotarubi has to go and inform Tenzen and the gang of the Kouga's whereabouts on her own, but on her tail is a vengeful Saemon. He flings a kunai at her and hits her right in the leg. She uses her butterflies as a decoy giving Saemon the illusion that she had gotten away. She bandages herself up so that she could continue on, though at a much slower pace. Though, she too, has a vengeful heart because of the death of Yashamaru by Saemon and Gyoubu's hands, she bottles it up and continues moving.

Saemon returns to Gennosuke and Hyouma on what just occured, as he enters he sees the suspended, deceased Nenki in the doorway. He takes a bit of anger out on the carcass but gets an idea. Back at Iga, while everyone sleeps, the now-blind Koushirou gets a bit of personal time, as he fights with his vision handicap. A concerned Akeginu follows him, and they share their sentiments on the situation between Gennosuke and Oboro. Instead of taking his defeat out on Oboro, Koushirou praises the fact that had she not interupted, he would have been killed by Gennosuke without a doubt. And Akeginu shares her romantic concern for Oboro, as she, too, is a woman.

Hotarubi comes across a path by which she cannot cross, and behind her comes a Saemon disguised as Nenki. What will become of this encounter?

Great episode. Not action-oriented or plot-centric in any way, but the suspense and the tense atmosphere conveyed in this episode was a pleasing experience. It also helps that I'm a Hotarubi fanboy, so I found myself rooting for her escape at every moment. This episode also delved a bit into the emotions of the Iga clan concerning Oboro. Aside from Tenzen who shows no such emotions, we see Akeginu and Koushirou both care deeply about Oboro. As such, they've both begun to grow on me. Now to see where the feelings of distrust go on the likes of Tenzen. Next episode, Hotarubi will bust out the moves and kick Saemon's ass; okay, that's just wishful thinking. She better not die, that's all I have to say. But knowing Basilisk...you just never know.

**A 4 out of 5**

Tide-Line Blue 03

2005-07-31T00:25:00.000-07:00

"Dhola Vira"

Secretary General Aoi orders the restoration of Yabitsu village while ordering transportation to the North American Aerospace Defense Command, NORAD. Tean is also brought aboard the ship, and Aoi plans to transport him to her own vessel. The two lift off in her chopper.

Various flashbacks are shown in the first half of this episode dealing with the events that occurred shortly after the Hammer of Eden. Blantrye, Gould and Aoi were all actually working together during this time, as they planned to make a new world together instead of merely accepting the massive loss. Also explained are the strange changes on Earth that the Hammer of Eden caused, Dhola Vira being one of the changes.

This takes us back to the battle commensing between the Pacific Fleet and the Ulysses. Instead of heading away from the Dhola Vira, Gould heads straight into it. The pursuing submarines and battle units are all destroyed as a result. One attack does get through, but it is unconfirmed to Satoyama's crew if the target was destroyed. The crew all thinks so, but Satoyama knows that they're dealing with "that" Gould, and there's no way that he was destroyed. And of course, Gould is able to escape without the slightest bit of harm, even emerging from the Dhola Vira into the former area of the Arabic Sea, which is covered with frigid ice. Keel is quite surprised that they were able to get out of the Dhola Vira without any harm and approaches Gould without permission to ask so, but Gould withholds the information. At the same time, more vague information is given about Tean and Keel's past. When they were kids, they both watched the Earth from space. How and why they were in space is unknown. It is also unknown as to why their mother had to tell them that Earth was their birthplace.

Keel plans to leave the sub, but Gould lets him know of the current area they're in. A place of frequent battles over oil; a place that was sealed so that no battle could be waged again; a place where one can no longer live. As such, Keel will have to stay aboard a little longer. Isla lets Keel know that she had chosen a name for the baby. Keel is excited to know what it is, but that excitement is soon extinguished as she announces the baby's name -- "Keel." Once again, she does it because of the delivery which she thinks he helped her with. And once again, Keel can't bring himself to let her know the truth.

Today's transmission, complete.

Oh, so many questions, so little answers. Now we're adding to the bunch -- Blantyre, Aoi, Gould and Satoyama working together, and now Gould going off on his own accord with Satoyama and Aoi fighting him. Keel and Tean as kids in space. The unknown man in orbit currently, which is the same place Keel and Tean were as kids. So many broken relationships in this series. Anyway, Tide-Line Blue tries its hand at an action episode, and it doesn't disappoint. Animation continues to delight. I haven't seen a series with such consistently good animation episode after episode in quite a while. Even with all the 3D elements which I'm against 99.9% of the time, this anime is just pretty. Great episode. Next episode looks like Keel's discovery of the Ulysses's past and him further wanting to get off the submarine.

**A 4 out of 5**

Basilisk 11

2005-07-30T00:32:00.000-07:00

"Hopeless Pebbles"

The jar which Oboro used contained "Dark Seven" ointment, given to her by Ogen, which shuts her eyes for seven straight days. Oboro used this as a way to force her way out of the fight, citing that she knew she'd throw herself into battle in order to stop any of the Iga's attacks on Gennosuke. Hearing this further pisses of Tenzen, but as she has already done the deed, there is nothing he can do.

A messenger comes with an item from Kouga. It's the scroll which Gennosuke has returned along with a message. The message poses a challenge to the remaining Iga elite. Gennosuke, Saemon, Kagerou, Gyoubu and Hyouma will be traveling to Sunpu castle to find out why the peace treaty has been broken. They state the route they'll be taking and gives the Iga members an opportunity to attack if they please. Of course, Tenzen accepts and sends Hotarubi and Nenki to scout their location.

Along the way, Gyoubu goes off on his own leaving the other reasons behind. His parents were killed by Iga members when he was a child and he wants revenge in a bad way. During this period we learn a bit more about the characters; Kagerou in particular. She has one strange, strange ability. Whenever she gets worked up during sex or any other stimulating activity, her breath begins to emit a poisonous substance which instantly kills off whomever she is involved with. Despite this, she still gets worked up over Gennosuke saying she wants to die together with him. Gennosuke, however, wishes to keep his life and uses his Doujutsu to make her stop because her poison begins to affect him.

Hotarubi and Nenki finally find the Kouga members and Hotarubi sends her snake in to attack. While Kagerou is screwing around with Gennosuke, the snake begins to attack her from behind, but Gennosuke is able to push her away and slash the snake, but not before the snack spews its venom right in his eyes, sealing them shut. He'll no longer be able to use his Doujutsu for the time being. The Kouga members run outside to find their enemy and Nenki notices that Gyoubu is not among them. He decides to attack anyway and Hotarubi acts as a decoy to throw them off guard. Nenki finds Hyouma and Gennosuke together and has a chance to attack. As he's busy making jokes about Hyouma's blindness, he suddenly opens his eyes and he, TOO, begins to use Doujutsu, as Nenki's own hair begins to tie and strangle him.

Okay, that was a good episode, but once again, Kagerou's ability is messed up (and funny). It annoyed me how she suddenly started to throw herself at Gennosuke even though she knew it would kill him. So now, because of her, he's going to be out of action for a while it seems. It seems like Gennosuke is still thinking of Oboro, even though he promised that he would take care of her when the time comes. Dah, I can't wait until they meet again. This was an oddly eye-focused episode, heh. I felt a little uneasy about the next episode preview. It seems to forshadow the death of my favorite Basilisk girl. *cries*

**A 3.5 out of 5**

Basilisk 10

2005-07-29T22:49:00.000-07:00

"Judgement From On High"

Hmm, a purely recap episode at episode 10? Glad I don't have to wait a week for the next episode. Anyway, though this episode was mostly recap, there were a few bits of new information concerning the two Shogun heirs-to-be; yeah, even they and their people are fighting each other. I don't feel right giving a recap episode like this a score, so I'll omit it for this episode.

The catch up continues.

**No Score**

Basilisk 09

2005-07-29T00:27:00.000-07:00

"Downpour of Despair"

Gennosuke, Gyoubu and Saemon prepare to leave but the Iga members gather and hold them back. Everyone wants to attack right away but Tenzen stops them all for fear of Gennosuke's unknown abilities. Nenki gets annoyed and attacks anyway and everyone else follows suit. Bad idea, Mr. Nenki. Gennosuke unknown ability is no longer unknown. The attacks stop straight in their tracks as Gennosuke's eyes glow a bright gold. Suddenly the Iga members starts killing each other rather than their enemy, some even killing themselves. That's it, Gennosuke is not one to be messed with. This ability, Doujutsu, takes the aggressiveness of an opponent and turns it against themselves.

Having seen Gennosuke's ability, every member of Iga is in a state of shock as they watch him walk right passed them, even moving out of his way. But they do have one trump card, and his name is Koushirou, who fights with a pair of sickles as well as his own special ability. Both attacks can be done from a distance, so he first chucks the sickles toward Gennosuke, but Gyoubu and Saemon are able to block them in an instant. Koushirou begins to use his ability, Shinku no Senpu, a vacuum-like ability, to attack Gennosuke but as soon as he can begin to control it, Oboro runs in to stop him staring at him with her "Eyes of Ruin" causing Koushirou to shudder. Tenzen begs her to look at Gennosuke so that Koushirou could use his attack, but she hesitates and soon after Gennosuke has his Doujutsu sights on him causing him to use his own attack to destory the upper portion of his face. He'll no longer be able to see. After the attacks, Gennosuke and company continue on to Manji Valley, passing up Oboro without even a word.

Tenzen gets on Oboro about her traitoress acts during the battle, as she asks for forgiveness. What she doesn't understand is the history between Iga and Kouga. As Oda ruled centuries ago, he gave Kouga the opportunity to raid a broken up Iga clan in the name of Daimyo. Ever since then, the two clans have been at war. In order to trust Oboro again, Tenzen tells her that she must be the one to take out Gennosuke, but she refuses. Soon after she grabs a jar from her drawer and brings it back to Tenzen. She becomes motionless, in a someone coma-like state. What could have been in the jar?

Oh snap! Gennosuke. Is. Sweet. Such a gentle man with merciless fighting ability. No one can even get close to him. I couldn't help but to laugh as the Iga members split as he walked between them. Talk about being totally put in your place. Anyway, the main abilities of the characters are being further revealed. Gennosuke's Doujutsu and Oboro's eyes of ruin. Heh, they seem meant for each other with those abilities. I have doubts that Gennosuke is really done with her, but we'll see. I have a feeling the Iga members are going to want her killed if she keeps up her antics. Though I wonder what exactly did the contents of that jar do to her. I suppose that she doesn't want to be forced to do battle, so she put herself to sleep. All that said, I'd like to see Gennosuke's physical combat rather than his tricks. He'll probably have to fight for real eventually.

**A 4 out of 5**

Basilisk 08

2005-07-28T22:53:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the near two week stand-still, I've been addicted to One Piece lately and that's all I've been watching. Plus, I had a lot of college stuff to take care of. But anyway...guess who's back! Back again! Basilisk's back! Tell a friend! Yes, a generous new group called Okoi^Sugoi have been subbing Basilisk since the other groups stopped upon its licensing. Don't worry you moralistic people, I'll still be buying this show next summer -- it's too great to pass up. Anyway, they're up to episode 12 so here's the start of my catch up. On with the entry.

"Ruthless Mist of Blood"

A short time after Okoi defeats Ryousai, in walks Nenki who's looking for Ryousai in order to take the scroll to Tenzen, but Okoi attacks him as well. She doesn't have such an easy time with this guy, however, as his grossly hairy body covers much of his naked skin, leaving Okoi with no place to suck blood. She does get a bit as he gropes her from behind, but overall it is not enough. He uses his hair control ability to impale Okoi all over her body causing injury which puts her at the brink of death.

Outside, Hotarubi tells Saemon in his Yashamaru guise that they've captured an Kouga girl named Okoi. Calmly, he asks Hotarubi to take him to her. As he opens the door to the salt shack, he sees a horrible sight; his little sister on the ground lying in a pool of her own blood. Amazingly, he is still able to remain calm in the company of Iga members. He walks to go see her, to talk to her in her last moments of life. She tells him where the scroll is hidden and they say their unfortunate goodbyes. Saemon takes the scroll, and in walks Oboro. She's surprised to see "Yashamaru," and at the sight of Oboro Saemon suddenly is not able to hold the form of Yashamaru any longer. He reverts back to his original image right in the sights of many Iga members. He tosses the scroll outside as the Kouga members attack him. Gyoubu, who was hiding in the form of the ground, rises up to catch the scroll and runs off with it. During this time, Saemon is able to escape and run around to Gennosuke along with Gyoubu who presents him with the scroll. Now in-the-know of the situation, Gennosuke proclaims that the three will return to Manji Valley.

It's definitely on now! All the members are up to date on the broken treaty, and both sides are ready for action. This leaves an interesting situation open between Gennosuke and Oboro. Will they try to keep their relationship or will they give it all up? The Saemon/Okoi scene was quite touching as well. This anime certainly isn't afraid to kill off its characters. And here I was thinking Okoi would be one of the main characters. Well, I guess I should have known better; I thought Yashamaru would be a main character as well, but nope. Anyway, welcome back to the blog, Basilisk!

**A 4 out of 5**

Tide-Line Blue 02

2005-07-18T23:41:00.000-07:00

"Traitor"

With no where else left to run to, Keel returns to the place where Isla gave birth to retrieve Tean's pin that Keel threw away so that he could board the Ulysses. Jozem the woman waiting at the peer for Tean's return meets Keel there, but even as he presents the pin, Joze has her suspisions about him, questioning the whereabouts of Tean. As she sees the newborn, she decides to let them board.

Isla sees a doctor aboard the Ulysses, and the doctor says that the baby is nice and healthy, and that Isla will be okay with some rest as the premature birth made her lose lots of blood (among other things). Isla thanks Keel for helping her out through her labor, though through it all she was confused, seeing as it was Tean, not Keel, who did the things she's thanking Keel for. Not surprisingly, this makes Keel feel like a tool, but he can't come to tell Isla that it wasn't him who helped her out back there.

Joze walks in and tells Keel that Gould would like to have a word with him. This is after Joze mentioned to Gould that she thinks Keel may be a spy. As Keel waits, in walks a huge, muscular, screwed up looking man with a large scar across his face. Without fear, Keel makes note of it all, but this isn't the case for Gould's own crew, who seem to deeply fear him -- well, at least as much is true for the cook. Gould instantly warms up to Keel and treats him to some of his homemade soup. Over the meal, he tells Keel of how Tean came to be a member of the Ulysess. It was seven years ago that the Ulyssess rescued Tean from drowning in the sea. It was then that he became a crew member. He had been studying limitless amounts of subjects aboard the sub, as demonstrated by his delivery of Isla's child. Gould says that it was unfortunate that the two couldn't have met each other sooner, but this makes Keel angry, who claims that Tean is a traitor.

General Aoi meets with Captain Satoyama of the battleship Teshio as they make plans to attack the Ulysses. The plan is the corner the submarine in the Dhola Vira, which appears to be some sort of underwater current, then send in attack units to do the deed. Of course, this is exactly where the USS is headed.

Another great episode down with more relationship complications-a-brewing. The most messed up thing being Isla's word of "thanks" to Keel, not knowing that it really belongs to Tean. That's gotta leave an ego mark. The whole fact that they're even on this sub is pretty ironic, given it was them who caused the trouble in the first place. Gould was an interesting character to say the least. I love the way his crew seems to be afraid of him, yet he *kind of* seems like a gentle person on the inside. There was also that bit of flashback involving Tean and Keel fighting each other in the satellite in orbit. I'm guessing it was Keel doing all the fighting as that seems to be his personality. Pretty brutal fight it was. Should be good to find out why they are so bitter with each other. Anyway, animation remains consistently good, and the score is great (coming from the guy who scored Soukyuu no Fafner, but I find his work in TLB to be a lot better). Next episode looks like it will be the battle of the Pacific Fleet vs. the Ulysses. I await it!

**A 4 out of 5**

Eureka Seven 09

2005-07-17T00:38:00.000-07:00

"Paper Moon Shine"

The Gekko-Go lands in Ciudades del Cielo to drop the Vodarek woman, Tiptree, off. Holland wants to get her to where she needs to go and leave quickly. Before she parts with them, she gives Holland a bottle of strange glowing water, and says that he might need it in the future. Holland hopes that that won't ever be the case.

While there, Renton hops off and shows off his new reffing board to Moondoggie. The two plan to go reffing while they're there due to the great trappar waves. They have a great time, but they end up holding up the the Gekko-Go departure and this greatly pisses Holland off, seeing as he wants to leave the place as soon as possible. He finds Renton and without notice gives him a hard punch to the face. Not once, but twice! Renton gets all teary-eyed and refs away.

He ends up meeting Tiptree at her Vodarek settlement, which just happens to be a bunch of campers. She gives him a speech about how people judge things without really knowing them. After that, Eureka shows up in the Nirvash in search of Renton. The people of Vodarek call it the White Devil, and brutally stone Eureka as she steps out. Renton runs to her rescue, getting pegged in the head on his way. The Vodarek people call Eureka a murderer, but Eureka doesn't rebel. Before anything else than happen, alarms suddenly sound. It's the Federation military flying overhead for a periodic bombing of CdC and everyone must run for cover.

Here we get a little backstory as to what Gekkostate were up to before Renton joined. Eureka, along with the people who went on form Gekkostate, used to actually be a part of the Federation. Eureka headed a missions group with Holland as their head. They killed many people in Ciudades del Cielo. They did whatever it was that they were ordered to do. At one point during a Eureka killing spree, she met the three children, who were badly injured. It is unknown what happened after that other than the formation of Gekkostate.

After Eureka tells Renton her story, to his shock, he makes note of the fact that she isn't the same way anymore, and that she made a choice to change. She doesn't want to immediately accept that, and tells Renton that they're still in a war, and that she intentionally got Renton involved as he makes the Nirvash perform better. But Renton doesn't care, and decides to try and help the people by himself. Eureka finally comes to her senses and goes to help him. Together the two are able to stop the Federation air raids.

The Gekko-Go finally gets to take off. And Holland makes Renton an official member of Gekkostate, but doesn't want anymore trouble. Back in the LFO hangar, Eureka talks with the Nirvash, asking for an answer; has she changed?

Great episode. A total no BS, plot-filled episode. Loved every second of it. I guess that was certainly a good enough reason for Holland not to want to have anything to do with that place -- too many bad memories. But I wonder why his uneasiness about the place gets Talho so upset with him. Some nice moments in this episode as well, such as the Holland/Renton interaction which resulted in an ass whooping. Looks like they won't be done with the place. According to Tiptree, CdC is going to be something Holland has to deal with if he wants to find this "Nolv." Can't really tell what the next episode will deal with, but it looks like we'll be meeting the pink-haired girl from the opening. And more with Lt. Dewey as well. Hope it's good.

**A 4 out of 5**

Tide-Line Blue 01

2005-07-16T00:17:00.000-07:00

Director: Umanosuke Iida
Music: Tsuneyoshi Saito
Character Design: Teiichi Takiguchi
Studio: Telecom Animation Film

"Surfacing Spirits - Spirit"

It's 14 years after the "Hammer of Eden," an incident which wiped out 90% of the human population -- 6 billion lives were lost in the catastrophe. The world is now in a state of rebuilding, and a United Nations plan is developed. General Aoi is handing these negotiations first hand. But those in the development aren't seeing things eye-to-eye. Aoi plans to take away the right to veto from those nations who are foreign or inferior. Needless to say, those leaders weren't having it.

But first, we have to meet our main characters. Kiiru is a 14 year-old young lad who has a good knack for hussling others. With the loot, he shares with some of his other comrades. He has something of a crush on Isura, a 16 year-old merchant girl (with a PMSing ostrach), who just happens to be pregnant! But there's not a worry showing on the surface of this girl. Now, just what's up with that?

Back at the negotiations, Teen, who is under command of General Guurd of the USS Ulysses interupts Aoi's speech. It seems as though Guurd was left out of negotiations for 10 years, and decides to "set the world straight" by attacking with force. His submarine emerges from the sea, firing a bombardment of missles upon the villages and chaos ensues. Isura gets caught up in the mess and ends up getting injured. Kiiru rushes to her aid, but the force of injury causes her water to break -- the baby's coming early! Kiiru's first instincts are to grab to help, but Isura urges him to help her out immediately, and so in a mess, Kiiru tries to do just that.

Teen runs away from the military, and along the way notices that Isura is going through labor. Calm headed, he stops and helps her out intelligently. There, he meets Kiiru. Kiiru is surprised to see Teen there; it turns out that they're brothers, and Kiiru thought that Teen had died. It's not a happy reunion, however, as there seems to be some bad blood between the two. Kiiru helps Teen out anyhow, as it's Isura who's having the baby. After some disturbing and painful screams coming from Isura (and Kiiru too, hehe), the bundle of joy is born, and Isura is happy with her new baby boy.

Teen tells Kiiru to board his ship with Isura to be safe, but Kiiru refuses. Instead he gives him a pendant and tells him to meet him at the northern docks, and that if he's not there, give it to the person who's waiting there. Kiiru takes Isura to the military evacuation ship instead, but they won't allow her to board with a child. The general there tries to force Kiiru to board by himself, but he gets away where he sees Aoi leaving on a helicopter. He also seems to have bad blood with her. As Kiiru doesn't want to board without Isura, the general tells him to escape before the next attack, and so Kiiru pulls her along in the midst of chaos in search of a place to escape.

Damn! That was a great start. I had been looking forward to this series for at least two months based on absolutely nothing except that it reminded me of one of my favorite shows, "Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water." I was expecting to be let down, since wheneever I hype shows up for myself, I end up being disappointed, but that surely wasn't the case here. Already in love with the characters, already in love with the setting, and already in love with what plot was given off here. Very interesting stuff. Production values were very high as well. Even the 3D stuff was okay-looking. The biggest surprise here was the 16 year old pregnant girl. What's up with that?! My guess is that she was raped or something (for some straaaange reason, I actually hope that's the case). Her delivery scene was quite something and there were awesome performances by all the seiyuu involved in the scene. I'm really sad that this will only be 13 episodes, but I can't wait to see the next episode!

**A 4.5 out of 5**

Tsubasa Chronicle 14

2005-07-14T23:41:00.000-07:00

"History of Truth"

After a search for the children, everyone wonders if Princess Emeraude was really the one capturing the kids. Dr. Kyle tells SYaoran that there are rumors that landowner Mr. Grosum was a suspicious person who was after Sakura's feather held within the castle. But Kyle seems to lack belief of such a thing. Syaoran decides that they should all go take a look inside Grosum's place to find any clues to what may be going on. After breaking in with Mokona's help, they find a history book; the same sort of history book which Kyle had in his possession. Before they can get a good look, Mr. Grosum walks in and busts them. Instead of becoming defensive, Grosum lets them take the book in hopes that it will help them find the truth.

Meanwhile, Sakura ends up inside the castle and bound by chains. She awakes and is able to free herself from the chains, and is eventually able to free herself from the room that she was in. She makes her way downstairs to witness all the missing children surrounding a crystal pillar containing one of Sakura's feathers. Emeraude appears and says she had been waiting for Sakura. The truth about the fairy tell comes to light. The feather was given to the princess 300 years ago, and caused great riots among the people in the town and among the children who wanted the power. Her parents, the king and queen, both got involved in the riots and both lost their lives. Emeraude noticed that the hearts of the children became pure once they came in contact with the feather, and so she had a magician seal the feather, and took the black-hearted children for healing. As she is now dead, she lets it be known that the current missing children are not the work of her, but of another. Her appearances were in a hopeless attempt to stop the culprit. She allows Sakura to reclaim her feather.

Kurogane and Fai find a place near the castle which allows the strong river at the castle to be lowered so that people could cross, After a bit of manpower, Kurogane is able to get the job done. Doctor Kyle persues a child headed for the castle. Along the way Syaoran and the others bust him, confront him and reveal that it was actually him behind the missing children.

Good but predictable episode. I was really enjoying it until the explanation for the missing children came. And you can't tell me that no one saw Kyle being the real culprit. Damn was this episode slow, but like I said before, I've come to terms with it and it's actually pretty relaxing to watch. I just love this arc's setting. And I'm still loving an energetic Sakura. I guess we'll be wrapping this arc up with the next episode, which will probably reveal Kyle's intended use for the feather.

**A 3 out of 5**

Eureka Seven 08

2005-07-12T00:02:00.000-07:00

"Glorious Brilliance"

Renton gets to go to town shopping with Eureka and Satan's Children (to his dismay). As they're all heading back, Maeter runs off and goes missing. They find her inside someone's place, and everyone is relieved, but Eureka strangely asks Renton about how she should scold her. Renton tells her to give kids a good slap when they misbehave, but Eureka runs off to do the deed before Renton finishes that it should only be done when scolding boys. Crying ensues but later everyone is happy again, staying with the lady who found Maeter.

Holland and crew start on a capture mission to make money, but it so happens that the person they're after is the lady Renton and Eureka are staying with. The woman was a member of an anti-Federation group called Vodarek, and Gekkostate made a deal with the military to capture her and turn her in for money, even though Gekkostate themselves are against the Federation. She tries to escape, but they all use their LFO's the keep her from getting away and eventually capture her. They take her back to her place while they keep watch on her. At one point, Holland politely asks her where a person or a place called Nolv is. She seemed surprised at first, but quickly calmed down. Secrets are-a-brewing.

They get ready for the captive/money transfer. The Federation hands over the briefcase of money but from behind a building jumps out Renton and Eureka in the Nirvash. Renton jumps from the Nirvash's hand on a rope and swipes the lady away, screwing the Federation over. Serves them right for being a military organization that can't seem to check for fraud. Shame on them.

Back on the Gekko-Go, Holland apologizes for using her to make money, and promises to take her whereever it is that she wants to go. She wants to go to a place called Ciudades del Cielo, the place of Vodarek's pilgrimage. Holland and Talho reminisce about CdC, though it seems like something Holland wishes to forget.

Eureka's having a severe headache.

Thank God for this episode after the last. I thought it was going to be more filler with the way it started out (though it was damn good to see Eureka slap the shit out of one of those kids, needs to be done with all three), but there were many hints at the main plot. They didn't explain much, unfortunately, but the next episode looks to deal with Ciudades del Cielo. I definitely look forward to that. Aside from cheaper-than-normal animation, this was a good episode.

**A 3.5 out of 5**

Kamichu! 01

2005-07-08T00:30:00.000-07:00

Director: Koji Masunari
Music: Yorihiro Ike
Character Design: Takahiro Chiba
Studio: Brains Base

"The Unkindness of Adolescence"

So we have Yurie Hitotsubashi, a middle schooler, who suddenly tells her friend, Mitsue Shijou, that she had become a god. Though said in such a casual and unbelievable manner, she rises the attention of Matsuri Saegusa, who absolutely wants to become Yurie's best friend. Instead of taking a test for their class, the three run up to the roof to find out what sort of god Yurie is. After an assortment of embarassing movements, they find Yurie's crush Kenji Ninomiya creating calligraphy alone. Seemingly cold and too caught up in his work to notice others, he doesn't speak much, but Yurie forbids any badmouthing.

After class, they all head to Matsuri's temple to pull out Yurie's god powers. Seems something seems to be happening, and out comes a huge "Ahhchu!" from Yurie which creates a huge force of wind, ruining everything inside the temple. Yurie definitely happens to be a god.

After a short nap, Yurie wakes up to notice that the TV news is speaking of a typhoon named after Yurie. She's created a monster! It finally hits their area, and brings out the Earth's spirits which Yurie is able to see. Matsuri, Mitsue and Yurie all go out to try to stop the typhoon. Kenji, who was still out, gets sucked in and Yurie instinctively yells out a "Kamichu!" activating her god powers. Suddenly she is able to fly and grab Kenji's hand, while abolishing the typhoon. The two are able to float safely to the ground, but not before Yurie confesses her crush to Kenji, who just seems to blow her off.

After the madness, everyone in town now knows that Yurie is a god. What crazy mishaps will our god get into next?

Uhhh, well that was certainly interesting. I decided to give this a watch based on the highly positive criticism provided by most of the other bloggers out there watching this show. The first half of the episode kind of bored me, but the second half was something else. Now, it was nothing awe-inspiring or anything like that, but it was such a unique experience that I couldn't help but to like it. A very simplistic, but beautifully-animated production as well. I'm a bitch for good animation, and this provided on every level. Not one drop of the typical cheapness you see in most of today's digital anime; very high-quality stuff. If the show can keep the same essence of uniqueness as this episode, then it's safe to say I'll be a happy blogger. A nice, relaxing start to my summer viewing season.

**A 3.5 out of 5**

Tsubasa Chronicle 13

2005-07-03T22:43:00.000-07:00

"The Attendant of Illusion"

Sakura and the guys end up in a town called Spirit, where it snows constantly. There, there is a legend of a princess endowed with power by a feather given to her by a bird. As she was given the feather, her mother and father both passed away, and she became the queen of the land. In her reign, many children over time disappeared. This was 300 years ago. But now, again, many children are beginning to disappear. This doesn't bode well for Sakura and the gang, as they have just entered the town and are instantly suspected of playing on the legend and causing harm to the children. Syaoran tells a quick lie that they are there to write a book about various cultures, and one person in the town does believe him and allows them all to stay in his mansion.

Night falls and everyone is asleep, except for Sakura who looks out the window and witnesses a woman with glowing, golden hair and a sad look on her face. It is surely the princess, but Sakura only stares in awe. After that night, another child went missing and again Sakura and the others are suspected. But the mansion owner lets them know that they never left his place. Night falls again and this time Sakura plans to intervene should she see the princess again. And she does, as tons of children walk out from their houses and follow the princess. Sakura hops out the window and follows her as well, to see where she is taking them. Oddly enough the children all walk on water to the princess's castle. The princess notices Sakura and turns to her, and something comes over Sakura which causes her to fall asleep on the spot. Back at the castle, the townspeople notice more people have disappeared and they and the major landownder of the town, Mr. Grosum and the Mayor all run to the mansion. Seeing that Sakura is missing, they instantly suspect Sakura and decide to try to capture Syaoran and the others, but they fight them off. Syaoran tells them that he'll help to find the children, and the person that's most valuable to him.

With this episode I think I've finally come to terms with Tsubasa Chronicle. I think it has finally found itself and how it wants to let itself be known. Gone are the awkward pauses, the long and oddly-timed panning shots and the horrendous action scenes. Sakura being more active is a definite plus as well, especially in this episode. It's a shame that she didn't get to do anymore. But it was nice that she didn't decide to let others do everything for her, and decided to try and do something on her own. I guess the only thing holding the show back now is the severe lack of an engaging story. As of now it's passable, but nothing outstanding. But of course, as long as it's played out well, I really don't have a problem with that kind of thing like most people do.

**A 3.5 out of 5**

Erementar Gerad 12

2005-07-02T23:15:00.000-07:00

"Rush for Freedom"

Coud, Ren, Rasati and Rerea are able to escape when Arc Aile's reinforcements arrive. But they are not just a local branch, they are from the Arc Aile headquaters. Mal is able to escape as well, as he was saved by a member of the Chaos Choir. Seems Mal was working for them. Meanwhile, Commander Jimsique of Arc Aile takes Ren aboard his ship while Coud wonders what's going on. Cisqua reassures him that nothing is going to happen to her and that he'll be able to see her again once they reach Arc Aile, but in reality she isn't quite so sure what's happening herself. Rasati and Rerea also board the ship.

On the ship, Jimsique mentions a burdon that lies with Ren, and that it's unfortunate she got involved with Coud. They also perform some sort of tests on her. A member of Arc Aile tell Rasati and Rerea that they may stay in the residential area of Arc Aile. It's the free life they've both been waiting for. The Chaos Choir flys near the ship, but doesn't attack. Instead they quickly pull away. Coud and the gang wonders what that was all about. Finally they all arrive at Arc Aile. Is Arc Aile really what they claim to be?

Hmm, a genuinely interesting episode. I actually eagerly await the next episode. Looks like Arc Aile isn't all it's cracked up to be. There's some shady business going on. I enjoyed Cisqua's reaction to the happenings. It was obvious she wasn't too sure what was going on. Probably due to speaking with that Cress person who seems to be upset about something. Anyway, good episode. More main characters appeared and it looks like the overlaying plot may finally be showing its head and moving forward.

**A 3.5 out of 5**

Eureka Seven 07

2005-07-02T01:26:00.000-07:00

"Absolute Defeat"

All the guys at Gekkostate decide to pull a prank on Renton and tell him he's going on a secret mission to deliver a bowl of ramen to someone with a tattoo on his back. They sit back and laugh as the hilarity ensues while Moondoggie records every minute of it. Renton is put in a ridiculous getup and sent to dumb places all over the city. Finally he finds some Reffers, one with a huge tattoo of Holland on his back. They make him say a stupid password which gets the big guy angry, and the Gekko staff all laugh as the bowl of ramen is poured all over poor Renton's head. Dah, foiled again!

Funny episode here. But not much to write about. There was some small snippets of actual plot here, but none of it really made any sense so I'll just leave it out for now. I really have no idea what was happening at the beginning of the episode, or what any of that weird group was talking about. Something about Coralians? Eh, I don't know. I want to see more of THAT stuff though.

**A 3 out of 5**

Erementar Gerad 11

2005-07-02T00:01:00.000-07:00

"The Class Fighter of Revenge"

Rasati sees that Coud has Reacted with Ren and is using her as a weapon, and that is something she dispises as she fights in the tournaments unarmed, using her own power. As such, she immediately considers Coud as an enemy and attacks mercilessly. With unpresidented fighting skills, she backs Coud in a corner, but Coud remembers his training with Kuea and Ren unlocks a new-found power. This prevents Rasati from attacking head-on and allows Coud to finally be able to attack her. But Coud ends up still leaving himself open, and is defeated by a touch knee to the gut.

Thinking that she had finally won enough money to free Rerea, the priest Mal reveals that the debt her father owed was to the owner of the tournament, and that now he was the owner and that her fights brought in much profit to him. He had gotten the punk from before to bring in Coud, seeing as how he was a powerful Pleasure in hopes of seeing Rasati lose to bring in more money. But as she unexpectedly defeated Coud, Mal changed the rules and forced her to fight two powerful men by herself. Unable to beat them by herself, Rerea presures her to React, and she does and is able to defeat them in one attack. Now Mal won't let her leave alive.

Action-packed, fun episode here. Art was bad in most places but the animation wasn't as bad as previously seen in this series. Seems like we'll have one more episode left in this arc before we move on. I'm not as irritated with it anymore anyhow since this was a pretty fun episode. The story fails to have much emotional impact on me, but these kind of series usually don't, I guess. Doesn't matter though, since it's still good fun.

**A 3.5 out of 5**

Erementar Gerad 10

2005-07-01T03:54:00.000-07:00

"The Lustful and Greedy Battle Arena of Miriald-Trey"

Coud Reacts with Ren and becomes too much for the gang after Rerea, and so they run off with their lives. Rasati returns home to find Rerea shaken up, and thanks Coud and Ren for protecting her. In Miriald-Trey, she is just a bit away from being able to pay off her father's old debts and letting Rerea live without worry.

Coud meets the attacker again in the streets, but he doesn't want to fight. Instead, he overhears Coud talking to Ren about needing money, and offers to tell Coud the password to enter Miriald-Trey, as he saw how powerful he was with Ren, and figured he could make loads in the tournaments. Coud violently refuses, and the guy runs off. But Ren does, in fact, want to fight together with Coud. After a bit of thinking, they both decide to give it a try.

Cisqua and the gang call in a branch of Arc Aile near Razfe-Ankur to act as reinforcements in their new plan to look after any Edilraids participating in the M-T tournaments. There they meet Coud and Ren, but let them participate seeing as it was Ren's idea. Coud does well and racks up lots of cash, but his last opponent turns out to be Rasati.

Gah! Immense cliffhanger at the end of this episode. I liked it though I feel not a lot of creativity went into it. The priest guy from the last episode seems to be up to no good. Instead of helping, he's provoking the capture of Rerea. He also seems to be taking their payments, instead of acting as the middleman. Didn't get that stale feeling like I did the previous episode, so that's all good. I still want this arc to be over though. Rerea is too cute to leave though, hopefully she (and Rasati can come too, I guess...) can come along in future episodes once her story is finished.

**A 3.5 out of 5**

Tsubasa Chronicle 12

2005-06-30T23:34:00.000-07:00

"The Smile Filled With Warmth"

Everyone enters a new world, but off the bat can't find any trace of people. But Mokona can feel some sort of force coming from the new world, and thus every figures there must be a feather. The force was coming from a nearby lake, and Syaoran immediately volunteers to dive in to search. A very strange place this place is, as Sakura looks on and is greeted by a huge, glowing seacreature. As she sees it, she collapses and more memories are fed to her; this time involving her and Syaoran's first meeting.

In her new memory,seeing as how Syaoran had a tough past as a kid, going from foster father to foster father, and not being able to remember the heart of his own past, Sakura's father talks with Syaoran's current father and introduces him to her. They feel Sakura's uplifting spirit can shade Syaoran from the coldness in his heart, and of course, that's what happens. And even in the present without all her memories, Sakura's smile still manages to have the same genuine effect on others.

Though he was not able to find a feather, Syaoran takes Sakura for a dive in the lake to check out the strange things he saw. All the way near the bottom of the sea lies a very small city, so small you could pick up a building and hold it in the palm of your hand. The large seacreature apparently acted as a sun for the small underwater city, and it was also the power source Mokona sensed when they first entered the world; no feather. So off they go to the next world!

I really enjoyed this episode a lot. I thought it was great how Sakura's memory of meeting Syaoran for the first time was portrayed -- how open she was to meeting him and how she wanted to help him in anyway possible. The black shade covering his identity was a nice touch as well, again, having to do with Syaoran being taken from her memories. I was really relaxed during this episode, the atmosphere was really nice. All around nicely-paced and well-directed. We start a new story arc next week! Let's hope the recent up in quality in Tsubasa will carry over to the next arc.

**A 4 out of 5**

Categories are done

2005-06-29T19:26:00.000-07:00

Front page looks weird because I just got done making a new category system so that when you click on a show name on the right, it'll be easier to get to the episode you want to get to, instead of having to click "next episode" over and over again. Special thanks again goes to Phoenix512 even though I didn't really get any permission to use his idea. ^_^ We're a community though, right? ^_~

Basilisk

2005-06-29T19:22:00.000-07:00

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Tsubasa Chronicle

2005-06-29T19:14:00.000-07:00

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Sousei no Aquarion

2005-06-29T19:07:00.000-07:00

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He is My Master

2005-06-29T19:05:00.000-07:00

View Episode 1

Eureka Seven

2005-06-29T19:02:00.000-07:00

Episode 1 Episode 11
Episode 2 Episode 12
Episode 3 Episode 13
Episode 4
Episode 5
Episode 6
Episode 7
Episode 8
Episode 9
Episode 10

Erementar Gerad

2005-06-29T18:50:00.000-07:00

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Aim for the Top! 2

2005-06-29T18:40:00.000-07:00

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Bit of tweaking

2005-06-29T18:17:00.000-07:00

I know the way my "categories" are devised are a bit troublesome to navigate through. Starts you off at episode 1 and forces you to click "next episode" many times to get up to the latest episode. No body wants to do that, but since Blogger [for some reason] doesn't have any type of category system, I had to "create" my own.

This is actually a good idea that I'm surprised I didn't think of, but I was over at Phoenix512's Anime Blog and noticed his new homebrewed system. Looks quite good and works quite well. I hope he doesn't mind if I do a little something like it. ^_^ Anyway, I'll be screwing around a bit here, so if anything gets messed up, this is probably the reason why.

Haven't updated for over a week, I know. I just got done building a new computer and it took a while to get everything the way I wanted. I got a lot of power now, and a bunch of space so I might be blogging more now. Then again, my summer classes start July 5th, so maybe not. We'll see.

Series Reviews

2005-06-27T18:48:00.000-07:00

Aim for the Top! Gunbuster
Last Exile

News and Random Thoughts

2005-06-23T17:51:00.000-07:00

Die Buster News
Fall Anime Season
Dropped Series
The Real Densha Otoko

Tsubasa Chronicle 11

2005-06-19T01:58:00.000-07:00

"The Chosen Tomorrow"

Ryoshi makes it known that if Syaoran harms any of the possessed townspeople, he will make sure that Sakura and Chun Hyang will feel the pain many times over. With Syaoran trying his best against the crowd, Chun Hyang and Sakura keep shouting "rescue us!" from their captive sphere. Needless to say that was quite out-of-character, and that's exactly what it was as Syaoran confronts Ryoshi on the authenticity of Sakura and Chun Hyang. They turned out to be figments of his hijutsu power. After they disappear, the real Sakura and Chun Hyang arrive, and Chun Hyang uses the Hijutsu Mirror to free the townspeople from slavery. Kiishimu enters and traps Ryoshi in her hijutsu power, pulling him to suffer in her land for revenge on keeping her captive for so long. She had fought with Chun Hyangs mother, and tells Chun to become strong so that one day she can compete like her mother did. Chun promises to do so, and Kiishimu pulls Ryoshi off. The previous castle raiders are freed from the realm, the crisis ends, and Sakura is able to get another feather back. This time she remembers a birthday, where everyone she cares about is present. And though she talks to Syaoran in her memory, he doesn't seem to be present. This appears to be caused by Syaoran giving up his relationship with Sakura to save her life.

Everyone gathers, and with Ryoshi gone, the Miteshu are finally able to enter the town; having been previously blocked by the barrier over the town. With Syaoran and the gang preparing to leave, the Miteshu promise to take care of things while they're gone. They apologize for being so late, and Chun Hyang forgives them. She plans to make the town a better place without a ruler, with all of the inhabitants. Mokona prepares the gang to travel to a new world, and off they go.

Can this show possibly be getting better for the long run? I said last episode was my favorite of the series, now I think this episode was my favorite. I feel everything was done right with what little the show has to work with. A real excellent episode. Next episode looks interesting as well. Looks like we'll see how Sakura and Syaoran first met. Looks angsty. I actually look forward to it. Never thought this would happen, but Tsubasa episode 11 gets...

**A 4 out of 5**

View Episode 10

Sousei no Aquarion 10

2005-06-18T01:03:00.000-07:00

"Stars in the Sky, Flowers on the Earth"

This is the "Sirius loses it!" episode. Yes, we begin with the Elements training, and no one can seem to beat Sirius, but Apollo figures he had a puncher's chance and decided to jump in. Everyone figures Sirius will just beat him fairly quickly, but Apollo turns out to be quite the opponent. Apollo reverts to his stray dog ways and beat Sirius in an unorthodox way. This causes tension between the two.

A new Cherubim built by Lensi for Moroha (who seem to have something against Toma) attacks with Moroha inside it, and Pierre, Silvia and Apollo are called to sortie. They get thier asses handed to them within a couple of minutes of fighting and Silvia ends up getting badly hurt. Apollo is blamed for screwing up the battle plans with his ego. Though he seems to be annoyed with her, Apollo tries to make ammends, but Sirius wants nothing more than to keep Apollo away from Silvia, and thus the usualy cool-headed Sirius loses his cool and starts a fight with Apollo. Silvia comes limps out and sees them and wishes for them to stop, but the fight is ongoing. The same Cheribim reappears and Pierre, Apollo and Sirius sortie this time. With the damaged Luna Vector Machine, Aquarion Luna isn't able to do much. With Silvia still outside watching the battle go on, Sirius, caught up with his own ego, doesn't pay attention enough to avoid Silvia, and Apollo points this out. Having broken Sirius's pride, Apollo pushes to lead once again and they form Solar Aquarion. The two's conflicting egos develop a new attack, and they are able to defeat the Cherubim with it. After the fight, Apollo and Sirius seem to form something of a truce. Silvia may be changing her mindset as well.

A definite 1up from the last episode. I really enjoyed it. I think it might be my favorite episode yet. Luckily there wasn't a whole lot of Gen to kill things with all of his philosophicalbabble. And it didn't seem like one big gag like the majority of the series has been so far. Next episode is a Reika episode, and from the preview sounds like it may be a bit goofy. We'll see. As of now I think I'm still watching this series just to see where it eventually goes; because as of now I have no clue.

**A 3.5 out of 5**

View Episode 9

Erementar Gerad 09

2005-06-17T00:43:00.000-07:00

"The Secret of the Port Town, Razfe-Ankur"

Everyone arrives in the port town of Razfe-Ankur and are greeted with some shady people. Cisqua, Kuea and Rowen notice and send Ren and Coud off to rake in a little cash while they "take care of business." The group that greets them notices that they are from Arc Aile and forbid them to enter the town. They attack but are no match for Cisqua and the gang. Cisqua forces them to tell a secret about the town they're in, and they do so instantly. Stealing the group's clothing, Cisqua and the gang enter Razfe-Ankur.

Coud gets a strange street clown job while Ren works as a waitress in a local restaurant. There she meets another Edil Raid, Rerea, a very reserved and clumsy girl. She gets into some trouble with a punk customer, but Coud arrives in time to save her. But before she can thank him, her sister, Rasati, shows up to kick his ass for fear of him touching Rerea. Turns out Rasati is so protective of Rerea because in the past, Rasati's parents found Rerea as a [freaky-looking] baby and took her in as their own daughter. As they grew up together, their parents both died, leaving their father's debts in their hands. As such, they are constantly bothered by the people who want to collect their debt, but they ALSO wanted to steal Rerea, whom they knew was an Edil Raid; and this is why Rasati is overprotective. The priest of the town gives them peace of mind, and tells them to give him their debt payments, and he'll deliver it to the collectors while persuading them to stop going after Rerea.

Rasati allows Coud and Ren to stay at her place, while she goes off to "work." Meanwhile, Cisqua and the others arrive at some building. The secret the "welcoming committee" gave them seems to be some sort of password, which allowed them to enter this building. Inside, a grand tournament is going on, and in the ring is none other than Rasati. And back at the house, the punk from the restaurant breaks in and tries to run off with Rerea, but Coud chases after him. But the punk has a few buddies, and they gang up on Coud and Ren.

I have to say this episode was kind of stale. Most likely because it seemed like I could tell what was coming before it happened through most of it. Not to mention the art has gone down the tubes. Rerea is kind of cute, but her voice kind of annoys me. In a way, she is almost more monotone than Ren. I do like Rasati, even though she looks like a man, but she seems like a pretty cool character. For some reason I don't think I'll like this arc, but we'll see. I really need to shorten my posts... ^_^;

**A 3 out of 5**

View Episode 8

Tide-Line Blue

2005-06-16T00:17:00.000-07:00

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Eureka Seven 06

2005-06-14T13:02:00.000-07:00

"Childhood"

Gekkostate gets a new job to deliver some sort of Reffing wax to an unknown party, but that unknown party screws them over and they are forced to drop the cargo off somewhere near a military base (do I see a trend developing here?). But before all that, Eureka's kids are driving poor Renton up a wall by drawing all over him while he sleeps and inflicting all kids of bodily harm on him; they made the kid fall off a tall freakin' ladder for Christ sakes. The reason for their mischief is soley for keeping Eureka to themselves, and not having Renton and his pubescent love interest for Eureka interfere. Renton learns of this and understands perfectly, having been the same way with his older sister and her boyfriend when he was younger.

The screwed up kids plan a bigger prank in the Gekko-Oh's control system room, but accidentally unplug everything which renders the ship's cloaking device useless. Bad timing as this happens as the ship is about to pass by the military base. Renton sneaks the kids into the Nirvash and launches without permission to the base. The Gekko-Oh hides in mountains while Renton sprays Ref wax all over the base area, disabling most of their radars which forces them to fire blindly. They send out combat units into battle but Eureka shows up in Matthieu's 606 to own them all. She hops out of it and into the Nirvash in midair to take over for Renton and in doing so owns the rest of the military's units.

Back on the ship, Holland locks Renton up in the brig for launching without permission and endangering the kids. But the kids form a truce with Renton for not babbling on them for screwing up the control room, and they stay in the brig with him, as does Eureka. What a day.

This episode reminds me of why I absolutely hate kids. Sorry kiddos. It also showed me how realistic the character interactions and personalities in this anime are, which is surprising since it's primarily aimed at kids (airing early in the morning in Japan). But yes, those kids are pure evil. The big-headed little one has an especially annoying voice. But with that said, this was actually a very good episode. But I can't help but which we could see a little more meat in the main plot. We had a little bit here with Holland seeing Dewey on the TV news, but that's about it. Aside from some incomprehensible dialogue, we got nothing.

**A 3.5 out of 5**

View Episode 5

Tsubasa Chronicle 10

2005-06-13T03:08:00.000-07:00

"The Mirror of Separation"

Syaoran begins his fight with Ryoshi's son who's beefed up on his father's hijutsu, but has a bit of trouble due to his injury taken from fighting with Kiishimu. But he puts it all in the back of his head and is able to fully defeat him with some "rad" martial art skills. Kurogane and Fye finish up their fight with Kiishimu as well, and are able to break out of her hijutsu-formed world. It's found that she was being controlled by Ryoshi by a crystal on her forehead, and she was freed with a whack from Kurogane shattering it. With two major forces taking up Ryoshi's hijutsu powers defeated, his hijutsu sphere containing Sakura's feather begins to crack.

Outside the castle, Sakura forces Chun Hyang out to the spot where Chun's mother first showed her how to use hijutsu power. Sakura's random glowing and strange personality was actually caused by her body being taken over by Chun Hyang's mother's spirit. She was able to talk to her daughter one last time and give her a parting gift, the Hijutsu Mirror, before she had to leave her.

Sorata and the townspeople raid the castle, but are instantly met by Ryoshi himself inside. He is able to take control over all of them by placing the same sort of crystals on them that he placed on Kiishimu. Sorata is sent out to capture Chun Hyang and Sakura and bring them back. Syaoran finally meets with Ryoshi and notices that Sakura and Chun have been captured and demands that they be freed. But Ryoshi orders out the townspeople to greet him instead. Now with Syaoran surrounded by enemies, the final battle is set to begin.

Good episode (exclamation's due to surprise)! A dramatic improvement over the last. Things moved well, more plot elements were hinted at (such as the person sleeping in Fye's old world), and everything looked really nice. Chun Hyang meeting her mother within Sakura was a nice touching scene. I have to say I think this episode was my favorite of the series so far. Next episode looks to wrap this arc up. I really hope the quality of this episode can push over to the rest of the series.

**A 3.5 out of 5**

View Episode 9 | View Episode 11

Mai-Otome

2005-06-09T01:49:00.000-07:00

View Episode 1

Basilisk 07

2005-06-09T00:42:00.000-07:00

"Hell of Human Skin"

Ryousai questions Okoi on the skill of the ninja in Kouga, but she refuses to tell him. Seeing as how she is vulnerable and seemingly helpless, he gives her a test of his powers. But she still refused. Ryousai walks closer to her and puts his hand on her shoulder. Okoi smiles and Ryousai realizes that he isn't able to move his hand. Suddenly the blood begins leaving his body, and red spots appear on Okoi. She sucks the rest of the blood out of his body by sinking her teeth into him. As a dried up, dead Ryousai lies on the floor, Okoi throws up his excess blood from her body.

Saemon and Gyoubu continue to venture to Iga. They notice that Iga's guard is up and as such they frequently have to hide. Saemon, in Yashamaru's guise, tells Gyoubu to stay back while he enters Iga on his own. As he does so, kunai are thrown at him. He dodges and from a hill walks Hotarubi. She is stunned by what appears to be Yashamaru. She runs to him and embraces him as Saemon tries not to slip up. She says she barely recognized him as his hair was different (Yashamaru's hair was cut short by accident during his fight in the first episode, Saemon knew nothing about it). Hotarubi's snake bits Saemon on the finger, and she throws it against a tree in anger. The snake knows there's something different about "Yashamaru" but Hotarubi doesn't suspect a thing.

Jingoro walks in on Okoi wondering where Ryousai was. She pretends to be still tied up, and is half naked. Jingoro gets sprung and decides to try to have his way with her, but as soon as he touches her she begins to suck his blood as well. Meanwhile, Oboro is called to see Tenzen who finally breaks it to her that the treaty of peace between Iga and Kouga has been broken.

Another great episode down the hatch. I knew that the meeting between Hotarubi and Saemon would be good. I do wonder how he will play it out with her in the long run. I still think she will probably end up dead by his hands. Okoi has a disgusting technique. Just watching all that blood from other nasty looking men flow out from her mouth made me shiver. And finally everyone knows about the broken peace treaty. I wonder how Gennosuke will react when he finds out.

That said, this will probably be my last entry on Basilisk as I have to drop the series. Seem FUNimation has been going around sending Cease and Desist orders to fansubbers working on the series. That leaves me with no other way to see the show. This was the best show of the season for me, so it looks like the rest of the season will be a downer. I enjoy Eureka Seven but it's pretty slow moving and isn't as intense as Basilisk. The other Gonzo show I'm watching is Speed Grapher. Great show but horrible animation. For some reason I don't feel like blogging that one, but I will continue to watch it. Anyway, I will definitely be buying the Basilisk DVD's when they come out in summer 2006 (GOD THAT'S TOO LONG AWAY!!). But that's it for my blogging of the show. 2006 never seemed so far away...

Visit basilisk.tv for more R1 info when it comes around. See ya in 2006, Basilisk! =(

**A 4 out of 5**

View Episode 6

Sousei no Aquarion 09

2005-06-09T00:39:00.000-07:00

"The Route of Dreams"

A Shadow Angel which can attack people through their dreams shows up. Their consciousness is captured and their Prana is drained by the Mythological Beast Titania. Knowing this, Fudo takes the time to "train" the Elements by forcing them all to sleep and to encounter Titania within their dreams. Most have a hard time but Apollo, Pierre, Chloe and Silvia are all able to wake up. As they awaken, they see all their fellow Elements in dire straights. Those that are awakened are taken to the Vector Machines which will amplify their connection to the dream world. Silvia stays back and watches over Sirius.

After a bit of trouble they are all able to fall asleep and actually use the Solar Aquarion in the dream world to fight against Titania. But the dream world is easily manipulated by her and any sort of attack they pull is ineffective. Fudo babbles about people's dreams lying on the other side of the moon, and Sirius babbles in his sleep telling Silvia to shoot at the moon. She forces Chloe out and replaces her to form Aquarion Luna. Get gets ready to attack and Apollo helps her aim. She points her bow and arrow toward the reflection of a moon in the dream world and fires. Dozens of arrows fall from the sky and destroy Titania. The children are freed of their comas and everyone is able to awake from the Beast's grasp.

I got a huge Power Rangers vibe from this episode. Actually, being a fan of that show when I was young, I'm pretty sure I remember episodes from the show that went exactly like this -- except that those episodes made sense, and this one makes me want to go take an IQ test to see how many points I lost. Oh, and plot? Where for art thou, plot?

**A 3 out of 5**

View Episode 8 | View Episode 10

Basilisk 06

2005-06-08T04:48:00.000-07:00

"Falling Tears, Yearning Love"

Okoi encounters Tenzen and the others and they immediately put on an act, saying they went into Kouga with no intentions of harm, but were pushed out in a rage. They make an attempt to get Okoi into Iga by asking her to accompany them, but she refuses and tries to run off back to Kouga to inform them. Nenki, the weirdo who can use his hair as a weapon, chases her and defeats her. They force her back to Kouga.

Gyoubu and Zaemon (Okoi's brother) leave Kouga to head down the path of which Hyouma figured the Iga ninja came from. Along the way they run into Yashamaru. Zaemon hides and uses his ability to speak in the voice of anyone he hears (or so I think) to speak as Tenzen. He says due to certain circumstances he wasn't able to show himself to Yasha. Yasha wonders if it was because he was dead. Zaemon, in a surprised manner, says yes, that Shougen had killed him. Supposedly the real Tenzen can exist in some from even after he's dead. Zaemon continues to question Yasha on the situation. Yasha spills the beans that the peace treaty had been broken. Shocked, Zaemon speaks in his normal voice and is immediately busted by Yashamaru. Yasha attacks, but fused within the Kouga walls was Gyoubu, who grabs Yashamaru by the neck and chokes him to death. Hotarubi, unknowing of her love's death, waits on a rainy day.

Back at Iga, it is discovered that Jingoro had told everyone who may have contact with Oboro, the truth about the situation, so that they would purposely bring her back lies if she had asked them to run errands for her (such as she did for Gennosuke on the whereabouts of Jousuke). Oboro tells Genn that her messenger had returned, and that Jousuke was safe in Kouga (a lie). But Gennosuke has subtle reservations about her statement. All this while Gyoubu and Zaemon get ready to invade Iga, after Zaemon gets a mold of Yashamaru's face and is able to shapeshift into Yasha's form. More deceitfulness is on the way.

Hmm, things are getting interesting now. Currently everyone knows about the broken peace treaty now, everyone except Gennosuke and Oboro. But it seems they both have their doubts about what's really happening. With Zaemon posing as Yashamaru, it should be interesting to see what happens between him and Hotarubi, should they meet up with each other. I personally think she'll probably be killed by his hands, making it seem like she was killed by the one she loved. Also, with Kouga finally knowing about the broken treaty, I expect to see a lot more deaths within Iga's elite, finally. Seems Kouga has been on the bad end of the stick in recent episodes. Anyway, I love this show. Doesn't waste any time.

**A 4 out of 5**

View Episode 5 | View Episode 7

Kamichu!

2005-06-08T00:29:00.000-07:00

View Episode 1

Basilisk 05

2005-06-06T03:35:00.000-07:00

"The Ninja Code"

Gennosuke gets worried about Jousuke's whereabouts, but Akeginu lies to him giving him the impression that he ran away. And Tenzen's group finally arrives in Kouga's land, taking out any ninjas in their path. In Kouga, Kagerou, a woman who seems to have a thing for Gennosuke, complains about Genn having a relationship with a woman from Iga to Muroga Hyouma and Kasumi Gyoubu, two power ninja in the clan. Hyouma, who seems to be blind, hears footsteps approaching from afar. He believes they are of Iga, that there are many, and that they aren't friendly. Preparations begin in Kouga for their coming, and ninja gather up in numbers.

Tenzen and his group finally set steps within their town, but they are greeted by what isn't exactly a welcoming commitee. Gyoubu and Kagerou lead an army of ninjas for battle. But before then, Gyoubu, fused within the scenery, overhears Tenzen's suspicious comments, and their ruse of acting as messengers for Gennosuke is busted. The fight begins, and many of the weaker ninja on Kouga's side are killed. Hyouma arrives on the scene and the fighting stops. He asks what exactly are the Iga clan up to, and Tenzen responds that they were acting out of self defense, and that if Kouga ever visits Iga, they will get the same sort of welcoming. The Kouga clan sends Okoi, a female ninja to check on Gennosuke's well-being in Iga, but she is met with a silent ninja who she ends up fighting. He gets the better of her and escapes.

Gennosuke, still worried about Jousuke, asks Oboro to send messengers to find out of Jousuke returned to Kouga. She reluctantly agrees to do so. It seems it's only a matter of time before Gennosuke finds out Iga's true intentions.

All-out action episode here. I noticed that this was a Korean-animated episode, but it actually looks pretty good, though not without a drop in quality. I'm really enjoying the characters in this series. They are certainly an interesting bunch. I can't wait to see how Gennosuke reacts when he finds out that the treaty is broken, and that the two clans are already fighting amongst each other without his knowledge. Will Gennosuke and Oboro's fate be the same as Danjou and Ogen? There's only one way to find out...!

**A 3.5 out of 5**

View Episode 4 | View Episode 6

Basilisk 04

2005-06-06T03:32:00.000-07:00

"Demonic Abode, Night Rounds"

Gennosuke and Oboro have dinner with the other members of Iga, while Jousuke gets drunk and hits on Akeginu which annoys her and the Iga members to no end, though they say and do nothing about it, forcing Gennosuke to order him to stop. Oboro performs the dance that she and Genn were practicing for for everyone at the feast. The dance was going to be used for their upcoming wedding. Afterward, Jousuke finally hits the sack in the room provided by Akeginu. The room was actually prison-like, and she locks him inside without his knowing. She then goes to plan attacks on Gennosuke and Jousuke with Jingoro.

Jousuke wakes up and notices the type of room he's in. He wonders if Akeginu put him in that particular room in spite of his earlier rudeness or if she had another agenda. Though he's damn fat, he's able to squeeze through the bars in a window. Chalk another one up for weird ninja techniques. He spies on Gennosuke and Oboro in their room, where Oboro drops hints that she wants some action, but Genn is totally clueless. Meanwhile, Akeginu sneaks up to Jousuke's room, ready to attack, when she notices he's not there. He sneaks up on her and hits on her some more. She uses this opportunity to pose a challenge of skill; if he defeats her she would be his wife for one day. The fat perv agrees, of course, and they begin to fight. She uses a strange technique to hide herself from view and is able to land a hit right across Jousuke's face, but his fatty tissue is enough to stop the sword in its tracks. It's at that point that he notices she intended to kill him, and that it wasn't a game. Oboro shows up in time to stop him and worries about what was occuring, but Jousuke takes up for Akeginu and blames himself. Oboro warns Akeginu not to use such an attack for minor reasons. Akeginu's attack plan was foiled.

Jingoro watches Gennosuke from above, but Genn is able to sense someone's presence. He calmly states that he knows there is still hatred between Kouga and Iga, but that he wishes for peace for everyone. Oboro notices slug-like tracks, knowing that Jingoro was up to something, leading to Gennosuke's room, and runs to see what was going on. Jingoro falls from the roof in a slug-like state, yearning for water. But Oboro doesn't give him any for punishment for his actions. Jingoro crawls off to a pond where he meets Jousuke. He picks Jingoro up and says he will give him water if he tells him what's going on. Jingoro tells him that the treaty was broken in gasps of speech, and then attacks him by shooting his body inside Jousuke's mouth. Jousuke drowns, striking out another one of Kouga's ten ninja.

LMAO, this episode was freakin' hilarious. I'm sad to see Jousuke bite it, he was a pretty cool dude and added some intentional humor to the show. But goddamn was that ending funny. Jingoro in his sluggish form, begging for "Waterrr!! Waaaatteerr!" was one of the funniest things I ever heard. And laughed and laughed all the way through the closing minutes of the episode. Now that's what I call unintentional humor. Anyway, I really like the way this episode was set up. The feeling of tension was high, even during the fight scenes, where Jousuke had no idea what he was really fighting for. I laughed, I cried, I peed my pants, this episode was great.

**A 4 out of 5**

View Episode 3 | View Episode 5

Basilisk 03

2005-06-05T05:21:00.000-07:00

"Malevolent Pest, Destroyed Without Mercy"

Tenzen and the rest make a plan to kill Kazamachi Shougen in numbers (Kouga's ninja in the show of skills), who has a copy of the ten names in Kouga's ninja list. They all set off and find two men carrying a cage. They kill off the two carriers and leave the cage alone. Inside the cage was Kouga's Jubei Jimushi, a straaannge guy with no arms or legs. Tenzen orders the rest to continue after Kazamachi. He stays to interrogate Jubei on the Kouga clan's ninja skills, but out comes a spear from Jubei's throat right through Tenzen. With a special contraption, Jubei crawls off like a snake.

The others face off with Shougen and have trouble with his glue-like phlegm but Harutobi is able to stop him with her technique of using deadly butterflies. They chuck an axe right to his skull, but with his last bit of strength he is able to throw the scroll off into the distance. The person who picks it up is none other than Jubei. Harutobi stays back while the others chase after him. But in front of him stands Tenzen, whom he thought he had killed. Jubei spits out the scroll and attacks using his mouth-spear once again, but Tenzen is able to counter this time and defeats Jubei easily. Harutobi questions Shougen on the location of Yashamaru (Iga's ninja in the show of skills), but he is unable to speak in his morbid condition. She continuously slashes at him in a fit of rage demanding an answer, which shows there was/is probably some sort of romance between her and Yashamaru.

Gennosuke and Jousuke arrive at Ogen's estate in Iga along with Akeginu and Oboro. Jingoro welcomes them at the entrance, but Jousuke and Genn seem to have a hunch about what's really to come.

Excellent episode. Looks like I was wrong about Iga's clan members actually caring about Oboro's happiness. Turns out they didn't want to tell her the truth about the treaty because they knew she'd get in her way to stop them from killing Gennosuke. I probably should have gathered that from the start. All of Gonzo's budget must be going toward this, because their other show, Speed Grapher, looks like something that came out of my ass compared to this show. Great production quality which is something I haven't seen this season except from Eureka Seven. I always love watching these kind of shows, they can always seem to think of crazy techniques for these ninja to have. Seems like the days of just fighting with kunai are over. Who need's kunai when you can shoot spears out your throat?! Who needs traps when you can just spit one out from your tongue?? Great, great stuff here.

**A 4 out of 5**

View Episode 2 | View Episode 4

Basilisk 02

2005-06-05T05:18:00.000-07:00

"The First Moves"

Danjo's grandson Gennosuke Kouga and Ogen's granddaughter Oboro meet at the border of Iga and Kouga. The two are in love and stay together fairly easily due to the proposed peace treaty forced by the current generation's Hattori Hanzo. Little do they know that the treaty has been broken, and that their grandparents are both death. What they though was a celebration of the recognition of the two families was really the testing of ninja vs. ninja for the purpose of selecting the next shogun.

Members of Kouga and Iga fight for "fun" over the scroll discovered by way of Ogen's eagle. Jousuke, a fat fellow from Kouga, ends up with the scroll and takes off with it. Meanwhile, more members of Iga come to pick up Oboro, who was out all night with Gennosuke; it seems there is still little trust between the two clans. Jousuke shows up with Gennosuke with the scroll and gives it to Gennosuke. He gives it to Oboro but the Iga members shout out not to read it in front of her. They take the scroll and read it themselves. Though shocked by the outcome, they hide the results of the Danjo/Ogen meeting from Oboro. They send the scroll to another member, Tenzen, who seems to be very happy about the breaking of the treaty, and the Iga members invite Gennosuke and Jousuke over to their clan. But with the recent happenings, will Gennosuke be safe there?

What an outcome here. First there was Danjo and Ogen in love, then torn apart, next it looks like Gennosuke and Oboro will be torn apart. But the other members of Iga seem to really care for her and her happiness, so I wonder what they'll do about the two being together. The keeping of secrets will probably get someone physically hurt or killed.

**A 3.5 out of 5**

View Episode 1 | View Episode 3

Tsubasa Chronicle 09

2005-06-04T23:49:00.000-07:00

"Suspicious Woman"

The gang finally makes their plan to charge the castle, but feel the need to get rid of the Hijustsu power surrounding it first. They get Mokona to call Yuuko for help. She takes another one of Fye's precious items in exchange for something that will disable the power. They leave Sakura and Chun Hyang behind has they make their way to the castle.

Syaoran kicks the ball Yuuko gave them toward the castle and the barrier is cracked. Inside they find that Hijutsu power is misleading them. Fai senses something on one of the walls in the hall, and they get Kurogane to break through. In the next room they find Kiishimu, the woman who helped Sakura and Syaoran out in the last episode, instead of Ryoshi. Instead of telling them where Ryoshi is, she attacks them and surrounds them in her world of hijutsu, complete with big gumdrops of acid or something. They all fight off the cheaply-animated balls of stuff until Syaoran is able to escape by himself to find the Lord. Fye and Kuro stay behind while Syoran meets Ryoshi's son, who's bulked up on Hijutsu power.

Ugh, this episode was incredibly mediocre. And it continues that painfully-slow pace that I hate so much. Seriously, I bet the stuff that happened in this episode could have been covered in TWO PAGES of a manga or something. And Kiishimu is Chun Hyangs mother? What? Why did she first help them and then attack them? It's either some sort of "test" that we frequently see in these type of anime, or I'm being dumb and missing something (I hope it's the former ^_^). The episode previews take a cheapshot at you and make it seem like all kinds of cool stuff is gonna happen, and then what we get is this...I mean, what kind of weak action was that? Dah, and then more random glowing Sakura scenes and whatnot. Why am I watching this show again?

**A 2 out of 5**

View Episode 8 | View Episode 10

Basilisk Licensed

2005-06-04T23:25:00.000-07:00

"Basilisk - Kouga Ninpou Chou" was licensed by FUNimation and was announced at A-Kon. I'll probably continue to watch the show (I was planning to do a little blogging catch-up tonight with episode 2-7) depending on if fansubs continue. But don't worry Scott, I'll be sure to purchase the DVD's when they're released. I do that with all the fansubs I watch if I like the show. Guess I'm part of the 1%, though I'm sure there must be a bit more than that. ^_^

Source

Tsubasa Chronicle 08

2005-05-30T01:01:00.000-07:00

"Beloved Daughter of God"

The gang sit around discussing ways to bring down the tyrants of the town and the best they could come up with was storming the castle in numbers, with Kurogane leading the pack. They knew it would be difficult because the castle is surrounded by Hijutsu power. It turns out that the towns people tried storming the castle before, and it ended in failure, as the king sucked many stormers into a parallel world where they could never get out. This lowered the townspeople's morale to fight again and thus ruins the gang's plan to storm. Sorata and Arashi are in this world, and they "meet" each other again.

Sakura feels something come over her where she feels she is being called, and she runs off toward the castle. Syaoran tries to stop her but Chun Hyang stops him as she runs off into the portal. Syaoran reassures her that he'll be alright and that he'll bring Sakura out, so he runs off into the world as well. There, the king is able to play around with them to his heart's content, but Syaoran is able to protect Sakura from it all. Demonic beings surround the two, but Sakura is content. She sheds a tear and lets out a soft "poor things." The demonic beings are actually the townspeople from the first storming, in a new form. They are happy that she heard their calls. Afterward, an orb descends from the sky, notifying them that Sakura is "God's favorite daughter." The voice tells Sakura to take the one she loves most, and she will return to where she is supposed to be. Sakura grabs Syaoran's hand, to his surprise, and they reappear in the outside world.

Sorata and Arashi's morale are brought back up as they learn that if they fight, they could save the lives of their fallen comrades. They make plans to change the townspeoples' minds about fighting.

Best part in this episode was when Sakura meets the old fighters. Seeing them in that form, although they don't seem to be in that much pain. Slow-paced episode, but nice nonetheless. Next episode looks like we may finally see some action. God knows this show needs it. I don't usually complain about action, but this show's plot is much too paper thin.

**A 3.5 out of 5**

View Episode 7 | View Episode 9

Sousei no Aquarion 08

2005-05-30T00:57:00.000-07:00

"The First Union"

All the girls are talking about what it was like to have their "first times," and Tsugumi especially wonders about it, as does Jun. Jun talks with Pierre and Tsugumi talks with Reika, and it's all silly in its sexual innuendo. After some Vector Machine simulations, there's a power outage that's somehow caused by Tsugumi's excited beating heart, and she's really embarrassed about it.

A new enemy appears and Apollo, Jun and Pierre (who take's over for the reluctant Tsugumi) sortie and form Solar Aquarion. Jun's unification is better than he expected. Apollo attacks head on with powerful moves, but it's all nullified by the enemy's thick armor-like body. Pierre gets hit and Reika transports in to take his spot. Jun finally realizes that it was Tsugumi's weird power which caused the explosive power outtage at DEAVA, so he tells everyone that Tsugumi has to enter the battle. She finally does and Jun forms a plan to use her power from the enemy's inside. Tsugumi enjoys her unification as well and this causes her heart to beat wildly, so Jun uses this excitement to defeat the enemy from the inside with Aquarion Luna.

Throwing aside the silliness that continues to wreak havok upon Aquarion, this episode actually worked quite well. The sexual innuendo was added laughter. But still, a lot of the things in this series make no sense at all and seem to come out of nowhere. Maybe that's the series' charm...

**A 3.5 out of 5**

View Episode 7 | View Episode 9

Eureka Seven 05

2005-05-29T01:12:00.000-07:00

"Vivid Beat"

Eureka and Renton run more investigative tests on the Nirvash for Mischa, though Renton can't seem to take the pressure of high-octane Reffing action in the passenger side of the typeZERO, and ends up puking all over the place. He's embarrassed of it because he did it in front of Eureka, and her "kids" make things even worse. Talho hears him saying his first love wasn't bittersweet, but just bitter, and uses it to blackmale him into doing stuff for her.

The Nirvash needs special parts and the Gekko-Oh needs basic supplies, so Holland and Eureka take off in the Nirvash for its supplies, and Talho, Renton and Hilda go in Matthieu's 606 LFO. The clerk in the parts shop is surprised by Eureka's ability to know what machines are "feeling" in essence, as she picks out the parts she wants for the Nirvash, meanwhile Talho is going shopping nuts. The two stop at a restaurant for a while, and Talho gets drunk as a skunk. She rants on about how no one at Gekkostate cares about her based on the fact that Holland refused to let her buy a silver ring. Then a bunch of thugish folk roll up in their mechs with loud music and Talho drunkly goes to tell them off. They notice that she's from Gekkostate and take pictures, she gets pissed and breaks their camera. They grab her and try to rape her for "payback," and Renton tries to attack them but gets knocked away with a golf club. He goes in the 606 to counterattack, but ends up messing up buildings instead. Eureka shows up with Holland in the Nirvash, and Holland shows them who's boss. One of the guys crush something he had bought, and Holland angrily retalliates and owns more people.

The crew return to the Gekko-Oh and Holland's annoyed by what turned out to be the ring that Talho wanted was ruined. It also turns out that it was obvious to everyone in the crew that Renton had a thing for Eureka. Talho got Holland's present and wore it as a necklace, meanwhile Renton's still trying to figure out the feelings of the adults onboard.

Not much plot wise happening in this episode, but it was a good character interaction episode. I really liked the relationship Talho and Renton are developing. They seem like brother and sister (which is probably why Renton said something along the lines of Talho reminding him of his sister). It was nice to see that he cared enough about her to blindly attack people with huge mechs even though she was blackmaling him. We also get to see some developing Holland and Talho relationship. A real "feel good" episode.

**A 3.5 out of 5**

View Episode 4 | View Episode 6

Erementar Gerad 08

2005-05-28T01:37:00.000-07:00

"The Trembling Edilraid Hunter"

Coud and the rest land their ship in a city in order to refuel, and while they're there Coud and Ren meet a young girl named Serena who turns out to an Edilraid. Serena was previously under the protection of Arc Aile, and she was there under the discresion of her lover Alex. But she couldn't bare being away from him, and decided to run away from Arc Aile. On her way back to Alex, she is chased by a heartless Edilraid Hunter, Wolx Hound and his [extremely cute] Edilraid, (these names are funky) Tickle Selvatlos (Tilel), presumably from the Chaos Choir. Titel can transform into a huge hammer-like object which can launch parts of itself at its enemy.

Coud promises to take Serena to her village, but doesn't trust them because Cisqua, Rowen and Kuea are from Arc Aile, and she doesn't want to go back. Cisqua reassures her that they won't force her to do anything, but she remains untrustful. Wolx shows up on the scene and attacks immediately, but Rowen and Kuea are able to hold him back while Coud and Ren run away with Serena. They arrive at the place where she formerly lived with Alex, but the person who answers the door is not him, but someone who bought the house half a year ago. An old lady shows up and is surprised to see Serena, saying that it's been so long and that she must be Serena's daughter. Of course that isn't the case. She knows the old lady and asks her what happened to Alex, but there is bad news to be had. Alex had died of old age. How is that possible if Serena is so young? It's revealed that Edilraids live much longer than humans do. Serena sobs a bit at the grave, and up comes Wolx. Coud and Wolx fight it out at the grave site, destroying many of the graves in their paths. In the end he ends up leaving the scene, with Serena safe. Coud and the others arrive back with Serena at Alex's grave, where she then blames Cisqua and the rest of Arc Aile for wasting her life away without Alex. She runs off, but Cisqua doesn't feel the need to go after her.

Very nice episode here for a change. While the animation still remains annoyingly cheap, there was some nice character emotion to fill the void of good action scenes. I liked the fact that Ren was a lot more talkative than usual, having another fearful Edilraid in her presense. And more of the main characters are showing up as well. Wolx's contract weapon with Tilel is very silly looking, though, and doesn't really fit with his heartless, "badass" attitude. But whatever floats his boat. I was surprised that Cisqua and the gang didn't go after Serena. I wonder if that's all we'll see of her in the series. She was a nice, tragic character, and maybe the show needs a little something like that. But alas, she is gone. Next episode looks like we'll see more main characters appear. I look forward to it.

**A 3.5 out of 5**

View Episode 7 | View Episode 9

Aim for the Top! 2 Die Buster 02

2005-05-27T16:34:00.000-07:00

"I Don't Want to be Your 'Big Sister!'"

Larc returns with Nono to the Fraternity station for a much-needed bath. Two perverts, Casio and Nicolas (Nicolas, whom Larc seems to have a thing for) watch on from a monitor. Casio notices that Nono is actually an unregistered service robot (which explains her inhuman strength and ability to breath in space). They all meet up but after the scuffle at Mars comes the space monster investigation fleet, headed by Captain Hatori of the Flagship Lalachan. Nicolas asks Larc to go and meet him, and she does so reluctantly.

Hatori, a very proud person, locks Larc up according to procedure, so that she couldn't remove her forehead seal to use her Topless ability in his ship. Seemingly jealous because he himself couldn't become a Topless when he tried, he tells her that her usage of the Buster Machine at Mars was uncalled for. But she rebutts with the notion that the enemy's type was unknown and therefore had to act accordingly. Seemingly with even more jealousy, Hatori makes remarks that the enemies didn't arrive until the Topless came into existence, and that the Topless may be the enemies of mankind themselves. And with a plan to remove all Topless authority from the area, he decides he can take on the enemy with his own special fleet.

Nono messes around inside the cockpit of the oldest running Buster Machine, Dix-Neuf, but playtime is over as a space monster warps into their area. Hatori's fleet is the first to take them on with Larc inside his ship. But the enemy is too fast for them and uses a barrage of fire power to damage them. Nicolas takes off in his Vingt-Sept Buster Machine, and uses something of an ability to take over Hatori's fleet of ships to use as his own. They become organic-like in their appearance and movements, but even that isn't enough. Larc gets free during the commotion and summons Dix-Neuf right in the ship. She notices Nono's in the cockpit but it's too late to take her back, so she has to work with her. Larc and Nicolas fight the monster together, but Hatori's ship gets blasted toward Mars. Nono sees this and wants to rescue him, but Larc prioritizes fighting the monster. After a bit of a speech from Nono, Larc grits her teeth and decides to turn around to save Hatori. But the ship is being pulled in by the Mars gravity and Dix-Neuf has a hard time pushing it back up. Larc asks for Nono's help and somehow Dix is able to to get the power to push the Lalachan out from Mars's gravity. The space monster does one last attack at Nicolas, but with a good swipe of his Buster Machine's sword, he is able to slice the enemy in half to its death.

Hatori retreats but makes the comment that even the best of Topless will have to retire someday, and that time stops for no one. Meanwhile, back aboard with the Fraternity, Larc introduces Nono, in her brand new Fraternity uniform, to Nicolas, Casio and Chiko. She proclaims that she will do her best to become a Topless.

This is the kind of anime that I have been missing in a bad way. It's a shame it's only going to be a six-episode OVA, but I can already tell that it's going to be quite the ride. Tsurumaki shows that he can do great things without being too "out there" as he was with FLCL. I loved the dialogue and vibe this episode gave off. Together with the excellent production values (my only gripe is the 3D; it's good but I'd prefer everything to be hand-animated...it's just more amazing looking). Gotta love the beautiful and fitting score from Mr. Kouhei Tanaka, who also scored for the original Gunbuster. Just an all out great episode, with something of a sense of mystery to it as well. I've never really been a Gainax fanboy, but I have been pretty borderline. And with Top2, the borderline fanboy in me may be back again. Gainax are producers of some of my favorite anime (Evangelion, Gunbuster and Nadia: Secret of Blue Water), and I've been let down by their recent offerings (This Ugly and Beautiful World, Mahoromatic, He is my Master). So it was about time they had a production like this to stray away from their recent silliness. But enough of my ranting. I feel like I wanna go and watch this episode again.

Episode 3 will be released in Japan June 24th.

**A 4 out of 5**

View Episode 1

Aim for the Top! 2 Die Buster 01

2005-05-27T01:54:00.000-07:00

Director: Kazuya Tsurumaki
Music: Kouhei Tanaka
Character Design: Yoshiyuki Sadamoto
Stuido: GAINAX

"Please Let Me Call You 'Big Sister!'"

This one is planned to be a short six-episode OVA series based on the AMAZING late 1980's OVA series "Aim for the Top! Gunbuster" from renowned director Hideaki Anno of "Neon Genesis Evangelion" fame. This time, though "supervised" by Anno (I really don't think he has too much to do with it), "Aim for the Top! 2" is directed by Kazuya Tsurumaki, who worked with Anno on Evangelion and other GAINAX projects, and, of course, was the director of the fan-favorite "FLCL."

Set on the planet Mars, Nono is an ambitious girl with the goal to become a useful space pilot, problem is, she's very ditzy and can't seem to do anything right. But nonetheless, she decides to leave her residence to persue her dream. She ends up working in a small restaurant working for pennies, while those around her try to get her to give up her dreams.

Some of the regulars in the joint, though generally nice people, begin to play around with Nono in a rough, sexual manner. Enter Larc Mercmar, a member of the elite "Topless" Fraternaty organization against Space Monsters. Annoyed by their manners, she uses a bit of her special "Topless" ability to get the guys off Nono, and in turn pretty much destroys the building in the process. Nono is instantly adoring of Larc and vows to to become a Topless just like her in any effort to return the favor. Larc, confused as to why Nono keeps calling her "Onee-sama," slaps a forehead thingamagig that all Topless seem to where, but Nono's splits in two (everything Nono seems to touch splits in two). Larc says she can't become a Topless then, but Nono vows anyhow.

Larc then gets a report from one of her collegues, Chiko (who's communicating to her from a cat), that an astroid was headed for Mars which was carrying a space monster. Not soon after the monster arrives and Larc is on the scene. She calls her "Buster Machine" Dix-Neuf, which seems to be some sort of bio-super-mech. It fights the monster on its on for a while but Larc ends up boarding the machine and connecting with it using the Topless ability "Exotic Manuever." Nono's employee, Mama, comes to take Nono away from the battle but ends up getting caught up in it herself when the monster lands on her car. Nono tries to lift part of it to rescue her and suddenly her eyes flash red and she is actually able to do it. At this moment the monster blasts off into space carrying Nono with it. Larc blasts off in Dix-Neuf to try and save her, but when they arrive in space she sees that Nono is burned up and not moving. She charges at the monster in a rage but Dix-Neuf overrides her and stops her attack. Nono was, in fact, still alive. She rips off her shirt (original Gunbuster reference) and runs at the monster and does an "Inazuma Kick" (also a reference to the original Gunbuster) which crushes the monster. Larc uses the Buster Beam to finish it off. Nono runs at Larc proclaiming that she had finally become a Topless (though in the wrong way, of course).

Fantastic first episode for what looks like could be a surprisingly great series. Being the Hideaki Anno fanboy I am, and loving the original Gunbuster so much (it's my 3rd favorite anime), I was prepared to be pretty disappointed with this, but nonetheless, an awesome episode is an awesome episode. I'd even go as far as to say this was a better first episode than the original's first episode. The thing is, though, that the original series changed direction dramatically in the last 3 episodes and became something absolutely amazing. I'm still doubtful that Top2 can live up to that, but for now, it still remains a fun series to watch. Gotta give a shout out to that insanely good animation as well. Good stuff.

**A 3.5 out of 5**

View Episode 2

Sousei no Aquarion 07

2005-05-25T01:18:00.000-07:00

"The Knight of the Crimson Rose"

Silvia is working with Jun on studying an issue on Power Stones when she finds a certain book on jewels that Sirius had his eye on. She tries to check it out of the library, but Reika, replacing Rena as librarian, wouldn't let her by mistake. After a bit of grunting, Silvia decides to leave. Sirius comes a short time afterward after the same book, but this time Reika remembers she could lend out any book for those in the royal family (Sirius and Silvia are prince and princess of the Alisia kingdom). Outside, Silvis eavesdrops on a conversation between Reika and Sirius, but Apollo is there to rat her out in a way. Apollo ends up screwing up some of Sirius's roses, and the two end up getting in an argument over who is the true heir of the Solar Wing.

Flashback to Seria and Apollonius, the past lives of Silvia and Apollo, as Seria is in a dangerous battle with Toma, Apollonius shows up in the knick of time to save her and a battle ensues. Afterward, Seria wakes up to find a jewel left by Apollonius. But what is it for?

A new type of Shadow Angel arrives and Sirius, Silvia and Apollo sortie, but before they can combine Aquarion, the Shadow Angel releases a light which confuses the pilots' state of mind. Sirius sees his mother and father, the king and queen of Alisia, as they talk of him not having the mark of the heir of the Solar Wing. This sparks jealousy on his part as he tries to deny the fact that Apollo is the heir. A quarrel of their auras occurs, and the Shadow Angel feeds off their negative energy. But they learn that be it negative or not, their energy was energy regardless. They turn all of their negative energy into a twister of positive energy to defeat the enemy.

A semi-serious episode here, though it still feels like it's making fun of itself (not of the mecha genre, but of itself). And really, none of the stuff that happened in this episode made a bit of sense to me. Reika's whole "arrow of the heart" thing, which helped the gang defeat the Shadow Angel, was so completely random and unexplained. It was pretty much the embodiment of this series so far; making no sense. Sirius's poetic jargon felt especially forced this episode. My favorite part was the flashback of Seria and Apollonius -- I guess that's because it was the only scene that didn't feel like some uneven gag. But I digress. There was a bit of 2D mech animation which I enjoyed a lot more than the 3D stuff. Anyhow, the show still somehow continues to be oddly addictive.

**A 3 out of 5**

View Episode 6 | View Episode 8

Eureka Seven 04

2005-05-24T23:43:00.000-07:00

"Watermelon"

A shady group of people are conspiring behind the scenes about the typeZERO and Gekkostate, and are planning to bring back a man, Lt. Dewey Novak, who was formerly arrested and demoted by them for certain reasons to help on the "job." Meanwhile, Renton finally gets to live with the people of Gekkostate, the people he had always admired, though life aboard the Gekko-Oh wasn't going as he expected. The members did none of the fun things he expected from them, and were rather all about business; mainly due to being damn poor.

They hold a meeting to gather ideas on ways to get money, the person who's idea is chosen gets a special reward, a kiss from Tahlo, although she certainly wasn't pleased. Nobody really paid much attention to that, though. Renton finds an ad in a magazine for a Reffing (Trappa boarding) contest and uses that as his idea to get some cash, but the crew quickly dismisses it, citing they don't Ref for money. Instead, they do a little smuggling job for the mafia. The job takes them right over an airforce base where new military LFO's are kept, so it becomes a dangerous job. Renton's the main man in keeping the cargo safe, as they sortie out on their mission. A brief skirmish ensues between Gekkostate and the airforce, but due to large amounts of Trappa flowing from geysers around the area, they are able to easily escape trouble and deliver their cargo. Much to Renton's horror, the cargo was organs being sold on an organ market. He learns it's the sort of shady thing Gekkostate spends their time on. It's their living.

Plot developments and more character introductions in this episode. The animation remains great, and we get to see a more realistic side of Renton, who's no longer blindly following what he thinks is "cool," as he was let down by some of the things Gekkostate was up to. Hopefully we'll get to see more of the mysterious enemy group soon, and learn more about them. Mysteries always kill me. This is shaping up to be a pretty good series. Odd title for an episode, though. Heh.

**A 3.5 out of 5**

View Episode 3 | View Episode 5

Sousei no Aquarion 06

2005-05-23T15:57:00.000-07:00

"To the other side of Emotions"

Gen puts the Candidates through yet another new type of training, getting their imaginations to reach their partners through ESP. Apollo is paired with Pierre, Reika is paired with Sirius (through Silvia's dismay) and Silvia gets Tsugumi. They all pretty much fail their tests as they don't know how to control their auras, Apollo being the biggest waster of aura.

After the initial training is over, Sirius calls Reika out at nightfall to continue their training. Sirius is able to reach Reika with his ESP this time around, as Apollo and Silvia eavesdrop. They learn enough just in time as a Cherubim shadow angel that is able to dodge the most swift of attacks appears. Apollo, Silvia and Sirius sortie to take it on. They form Aquarion Luna and Sirius helps Silvia aim an attack toward the Cherubim, but it is able to easily dodge. They next use a special extending punch attack, it hits the Cherubim, but it has no effect; their hearts weren't in it and it is able to counterattack. Lastly, they form Solar Aquarion, and Apollo feels that their collective aura is a lot stronger than before. They use the punch attack once again, and extend their auras deep within the attack to punch the Cherubim all the way to the moon, literally.

Episode after episode this show gets crazier and crazier. Gen keeps putting this group through nonsensical training, and this, although not as bad as the feet stuff, makes pretty much no sense. The ending attack was pretty laughable in a ridiculous way as well. I instantly thought of the Honeymooners when I saw it. Pretty ridiculous stuff going on here. I can't stop watching, though.

**A 3 out of 5**

View Episode 5 | View Episode 7

Sousei no Aquarion 05

2005-05-23T04:11:00.000-07:00

"King of the Underground Labyrinth"

Apollo has nightmares about Baron and thus decides to take off on his own to find the Vector Machines to rescue him without the others. This ensues an organization-wide search for him in which the person who captures him is awarded with Vector piloting duty. Gen uses this as an oppotunity for their training, and makes things more difficult to find him.

Tsugumii and Jun, Sirius and Reika, and Pierre and Silvia all pair up to look for him. It's Pierre and Silvia who find him, but he is able to get away. He later finds where the Vector Machines are kept, but waiting for him at the launch gates is Gen. Gen allows Apollo to sortie on his own as a test to see what he could do on his own.

A mythical creature attacks along with human harvest beasts, and Pierre and Silvia sortie to confront it. It proves to be a tough enemy, and Apollo ends up joining them to fight anyway. They form Aquarion Mars and try to take it on, but are unsuccessful. They then break apart to form Solar Aquarion, but Silvia is grabbed by the creature. Apollo has more visions of Baron when he sees Silvia taken in by the creature, and therefore wants to genuinely help her. They try the combination again which forces Silvia out of the creature's grasp and form Solar Aquarion. They are unsuccessful in their mission, as the harvest beasts are able to escape with their load.

Aside from some humorous antics, especially from Sirius and Reika, this episode was kind of dull. The 2D animation was pretty bad as well. I think this show's problem is finding its balance. It just doesn't know what it wants to be, yet. But I guess that leaves room for surprise as we see things change later on. For some reason I really like Pierre's character, maybe that's because he seems like one of the only normal people in the cast, you know, who doesn't eat rats, isn't in love with his own sibling, isn't a homosexual, isn't a magician, isn't a blind person in a wheelchair with heat-vision eyes...yeah, I could on and on with this show. Think I'll stop there. Heh.

**A 2.5 out of 5**

View Episode 4 | View Episode 6

Sousei no Aquarion 04

2005-05-23T03:03:00.000-07:00

"Barefoot Soldiers"

Uhhhhhhhhhhhh...

Gen puts the Candidates through a very strange special training which involved them all going barefoot. As they're barefoot, he is able to tell many thing about them such as what they like and how they think.

After it's over, Silvia returns to the field where they stood looking for her footprint to see what Gen could possibly find out about her by looking at her feet. Apollo's also there, and Rena, the girl in the wheelchair with the Matrix-like eyes, gives them a little chat about how Gen's aura extends from the Earth into the Heavens. Not surprisingly, nobody knows what the heck is going on here.

Apollo has more flashbacks about his childhood with Baron. Seems Apollo was showing signs of being the heir of the Solar Wing even then, as he goes naked in the snow and melts the snow away with his barefeet. That is where Baron comes up with his name "Apollo."

A Cherubim Angel attacks with more harvest beasts. This time Apollo, Silvia and Pierre and Apollo sortie instead of Reika and Sirius. Pierre gets to form Aquarion Mars as the head. The Cheruhim uses a staff which enables it to cancel out gravity. A change of plans occur and Apollo becomes the head as Solar Aquarion. This allows them to get their barrings straight as Apollo uses Aquarion on all fours instead of two feet. After a bit of trials and tribulation, they are able to defeat the Cherubim this time around.

Meanwhile, Toma is gathering alliances in his plan to restore the Fallen Angels to their former glory, by wiping out the "unwinged ones" from the planet, and using the Solar Wing to help evolve the Tree of Life (which, by chance, just happens to be hanging upside down in his quarters).

Weiiiirrdd, straaannge episode here. I really have no comments because I don't know what to say. Just some really odd stuff here. The staff must have some kind of strange foot fetish; I never expected feet to be the focus of the ENTIRE episode, regardless of the episode title. Regardless, feet it was. This show is weird. Good (I think), but weird. I think I've said "weird" enough for one paragraph.

**A 3.5 out of 5**

View Episode 3 | View Episode 5

Sousei no Aquarion 03

2005-05-23T01:45:00.000-07:00

"Element School"

Two newbies, Jun Lee and Tsugumi Rosenmeier, come to the Aquarion organization DEAVA to train in piloting Vector Machines. The three who are currently able to pilot Aquarion are ordered to train them, they are Silvia, Sirius and Reika. Sirius gets the enthusiastic Jun, Reika gets the shy Tsugumi (lesbian relationship in the making), but who does Silvia get? Apollo, of course! Since he's a newbie, he's gotta be trained as well.

Apollo learns about partnership and emotion when piloting Aquarion. His determination to save his friend Baron, who actually gave him his name (coincidence that it's so close to "Apollonius?" I think not). As we learn about this, a human harvest beast attacks along with a couple of Fallen Angel footsoldiers, and the team must sortie to stop them. Apollo ends up getting aboard again, this time with Silvia, but not in his Apollonius form. Reika sniffs out the enemy's weak spot, but while doing so is able to feel the suffering of all those who have been assimilated and passes out. This tends to happens every time, so I wonder how she will able to continue to pilot. Pierre is there to take over her spot and this is his very first combination. The team gets together to form Aquarion Mars, as Sirius as the head. He attacks the harvest beast head on which stops it, but a Fallen Angel hops back up to pull the harvest beast out of the battle. They escape, and the Aquarion team fails.

This episode was all over the place. It tends to take mecha genre conventions to a whole new level. I'm not so sure if that's a good thing yet, as it can get pretty ridiculous. It's pretty odd watching this show as I watch what happens, it's sometimes hard to tell if I'm supposed to be amused by what's going on or not. Either way, I take it all in stride. I'm still rather hooked on this show, whether or not I know how I'm supposed to feel about it. Yeah, it's rather odd. Maybe I AM supposed to be amused. But I wanna take it seriously! *whine*

**A 3.5 out of 5**

View Episode 2 | View Episode 4

Tsubasa Chronicle 07

2005-05-22T23:37:00.000-07:00

"Crushed Memento"

Syaoran and the gang finally land in their second world in their search for Sakura's memory fragments. They end up in the town Ryong-hin which is governed by the Ryoshi family. Ryoshi and his son are tyrants to the town, and rule with absolute power. Ryoshi's son happens to be nearby as they land in the town, and right away trouble is started; he lays his hands on Sakura and Syaoran quickly retaliates. Before anymore trouble can be caused, a little girl named Chun Hyang intervenes, and before he can do anything, he gets a call from his father Ryoshi and has to run away.

Chun Hyang allows Syaoran and the rest to stay at her place, where she lives alone, hoping that they would be members of the Miteshu, agents sent to different places from the government of the country who investigate any wrong-doings that may be occuring. Turns out her mother, a user of an ability called Hijutsu, was killed by the Ryoshi when she tried to run them out of the town. In their possession is her mother's special fan, which they use against her and Syaoran when they meet up in battle again. In the end, the son ends up destroying it right in front of Chun's eyes, as she wept at the sight of her mother's last memento being destroyed. Will the Miteshu ever show up to throw these tyrants out?

Awkward pauses seem to be what this episode thrived on. There were so many silence points where there was no dialogue at all for extended periods of time. It all felt very odd, almost amatuerish, and I know director Mashimo is just the opposite. I have to say that it seems he's struggling with this series. While it hasn't fallen apart just yet, it seems it can at anytime. Though even with the flaws of this episode, I still found something to enjoy in it. At least it wasn't as awkward as past episodes, and it definitely wasn't boring. But so far, this show is pretty borderline for me...but borderline enough for me to keep watching. I just hope Syaoran become a better character soon. He's one of the flattest anime characters I've ever seen. Oh well, that said, it was a nice episode nonetheless.

**A 3.5 out of 5**

View Episode 6 | View Episode 8

Sousei no Aquarion 02

2005-05-22T03:43:00.000-07:00

"The Beast of Darkness"

Toma, a Fallen Angel, finally awakens after 12,000 years. With him seems to be a female Fallen Angel, Otoha. Apollo gets locked up after getting the 3rd degree from Gen Fudo, the person who excavated the very first Vector Machines, and is the leader of their organization. Meanwhile, Silvia and Reika, a top Element Candidate who fought in the first battle, argue over the failure that rendered Glen, another top EC, badly injured. Their little quarrel is interupted when a Fallen Angel appears and Silvia, Reika and Sirius much go out to do battle.

Apollo loses himself in his cell and becomes like another person. This person is Apollonius, who seems to be the Apollo of a past life. He calls to Siren, who seems to be Silvia of another life. He is able to get away from his cell and enter the organization's control room. Reika begins to have flashbacks of her previous failure and is transported out of the Aquarion. Apollo replaces her in is Apollonius form. He is able to defeat the Angel, but Toma wouldn't let it end there. Otoha transfers him into the the defeated Fallen Angel and it is able to regenerate. From here on out, a lot of odd dialogue occurs which I honestly had no idea what it meant. Let's just say that Toma is very interested in Apollo...or Apollonius and he is "the only man he has ever loved." Yeah... In the end, Toma is able to defeat the Aquarion and it is thrusted back to Earth busted in three. What has Toma so interested in Apollo, and how are Apollo and Silvia related? What about Sirius, who WAS the supposed heir of the Solar Wing?

After watching this episode I really don't see what people have against this show. I know I'm quite late watching this and am several episodes behind, but if it could remain at this constant quality, this could be quite the show. That said, this episode was a little fast paced so hopefully some things will be made a little more clear to little old dumb me in the episodes to come. I have to say that this is one of the few times where I found the second episode of a series a lot better than the first. Let's hope it keeps it up! And what was with that weird ending song? I liked it!

**A 3.5 out of 5**

View Episode 1 | View Episode 3

Sousei no Aquarion 01

2005-05-22T00:03:00.000-07:00

Director: Shoji Kawamori
Music: Hisaaki Hogari & Yoko Kanno
Character Design: Futoshi Fujikawa
Studio: SATELLITE

"Memories of an Angel"

Earth is in a post-apocolyptical state of being after "Fallen Angels" who had been asleep for 12,000 years were finally awoken. 11 years after this incident, Earth forms a team of warriors, or, Elemental Candidates, to protect the world from this looming threat. They use mechanical flyers called Vectors which, if needed, can all combine to form the Mechanical Angel Aquarion.

Pierre and Silvia, two Elemental Candidates, are sent out to find the one prophesised to have the Solar Wing and is the "hero of Atlantis." This "hero of Atlantis" turned out to be the scavenger Apollo, who, with his friends, live off the streets and struggle to survive. Silvia has second thoughts after laying eyes on him, as she thought it was her brother, Sirius, who's memories of a previous battle were wiped away, who was the one to contain the Solar Wing.

After a brief confrontation, the Fallen Angels return once again and begin to assimilate humans into themselves. Apollo's friend, Baron, is one of the assimilated along with Apollo. The three top Elemental Candidates, which includes Sirius and take off in their Vector Machines and form a one version of Aquarion, "Aquarion Mars." Aquarion Mars is soon defeated, however, and soon after Apollo begins to call out Aquarion's name.

The Fallen Angels' assimilation of Humans forms a being of itself, but Apollo was somehow connected with Aquarion, and he and Silvia take over two spots of the robot. With Apollo now a pilot, they are able to form the Solar Aquarion. After the combination, they are able to easily defeat the Fallen Angels.

I'm don't know what to think of this show yet, as it seems a little too goofy for its own good, while trying to take itself seriously it feels. Most reviews I've seen tend to call it a satire show. While there's nothing wrong with that, I'd rather there be a nice serious story to follow, without all the goofy stuff. While the first episode wasn't anything special outside the wonderful music and animation (even though I'm not a big fan of CG in anime AT ALL), it could throw together a nice world to delve us into. But with all the subtle hints at comic situations, I feel it does nothing for me and makes me want to give up. That's what we call an uneven show, folks. But it's not all bad, I still rather enjoyed the first episode. I'm sure it'll get better (I always tend to say that), so I'll definitely keep watching and hope for the best.

**A 3 out of 5**

View Episode 2

Erementar Gerad 07

2005-05-19T23:37:00.000-07:00

"Decision to Obrigarz"

Grayarts and his Edilraid Cocowet from an organization called the Chaos Choir are in search of Coud to attain Ren. The information they were given was that Coud was a sky pirate, which he formerly was. As such, they take the skies killing any and all who have no information on Coud. The last victim's ship was badly damaged, and with all the passengers who abandoned it, it made a crash landing near Coud and the gang.

Coud admires Rowen for being talented at so many things. As they find the ship, Rowen helps Coud repair it so that they could get to their destination, the Edil Garden, in a quicker manner. The repair was a success and soon after they are flying the skies.

Grayarts finally finds them, but runs into Rowen and Kuea, who he thinks is Coud. Rowen lets him continue to think that way in order to gather information on who the enemy was. And so Rowen and Kuea react and fight him.

The fight was tough and evenly matched, but Rowen was at a disadvantage for wanting to protect the ship. After learning who Grayarts was and what his goal was, Coud is able to help Rowen out. Grayarts finally realizes who is the real Coud, but before he could take action, Rowen and Kuea produce a new technique to finish him off.

Finally, some main characters and organizations are showing up. We have a true enemy now who are the Chaos Choir who do away with all those who fail them, as they did with Grayarts. I now gather that the ninjas from episodes of past are also members of the Chaos Choir. This was an okay episode with Rowen as a focus. The art was better in this episode but the animation continues to be terrible. I really hope it gets better, because the cheap animation shortcuts are becoming an annoyance. But other than that, another generally fun episode.

<>**A 3 out of 5**

View Episode 6 | View Episode 8