Random Curiosity

Summary:

When Ichigo returns home from school, he’s greeted with an elbow in the face by his incredibly energetic father. Ichigo, however, acts distant and shuts himself in his room. Seeing him back, Kon starts asking about if Ichigo noticed anything different about Isshin, but Ririn stops him and reminds him that Urahara had warned them it’d be useless to reveal to others about what happened on that night. The two of them then see how unresponsive Ichigo is and asks him about it, but Ichigo claims it’s nothing. Tired of seeing Ichigo like this, Kon decides to go out for a walk and drag Ririn out with him. With them gone gone, Ichigo thinks to himself that he can hear it. He knows that he had at one point driven off his Hollow side, and the mask that had kept coming back up until then suddenly disappeared. But from that point on, he kept hearing the inner Hollow calling out to him. It is at this moment that Ichigo starts hearing his inner Hollow talking to him, telling him that it’s getting closer and closer and will swallow him up. As Ichigo is trying to figure out what to do, he hears his sister Karin knocking on his door. She wants him to tell her what’s bothering him, and when he tries to brush off her concern, she reveals that she knows he’s a Shinigami because she saw him a long time ago.

Around this time, the 12th Division in Soul Society detects the arrival of two complete Arrancar into the human world. Having been alerted to the Arrancar by the sudden increase in spiritual pressure, Ichigo apologizes to Karin and leaves in his Shinigami form. He heads for the forest where the two Arrancar, Ulquiorra and Yammy, have made a crater with their entrance. When humans – who cannot see the Arrancar – approach the area, Yammy uses a technique to suck up all their souls. Inoue and Sado see what’s going on from a distance and rush towards the site, passing by the bodies of humans who have already died. Sado tells Inoue that if there were any survivors, she should take them and retreat. Ulquiorra informs his partner that they’re here for just one human, and he should be easy to find because there are only three people in this world with a spiritual pressure high enough to fight. Surprisingly though, they spot a human girl – Tatsuki – who survived Yammy’s soul-sucking technique. Yammy is a bit impressed, but Ulquiorra calls her trash, so Yammy pulls his leg back to kill her with a kick. What saves Tatsuki from death is the arrival of Sado to block Yammy’s leg. Inoue is also here, and Sado asks her to take Tatsuki and run away. Ulquiorra considers Sado trash too, so Yammy makes mincemeat of Sado’s arm with one swipe.

Seeing Sado’s lifeless body, Inoue decides to stays by his side and realizes that he knew how strong their opponents were – that’s why he wanted to fight alone. Ulquiorra labels her trash too, so Yammy prepares to squish her with his finger, but Inoue shields herself with her powers. She also starts repairing Sado, and Ulquiorra recognizes her technique not as restoration, but as something more akin to temporal or spatial regression. Inoue is thinking to herself that she has to hold out until Ichigo arrives, but she starts to question why she’s relying on him because she doesn’t want to burden him any more. She wants to send these people away without relying on Ichigo to give him at least a little peace of mind, so she sends Tsubaki to attack Yammy. The Arrancar, however, crushes her fairy and reaches to smash her after Ulquiorra says that he can kill her. Yammy’s hand is stopped only by the zanpaktou of the one person Inoue didn’t want to rely on: Ichigo.

Preview

For all the stuff that we’ve been through with the Bount arc, the production team working on Bleach sure knows how to impress when the time comes. Actually, that might still be the pent-up desire to see this arc animated talking. Regardless, I was very excited to see the arrival of Ulquiorra and Yammy. I though the black and white when Sado was getting smacked was a nice touch, as was having Ichigo’s Hollow side actually do the talking when Ichigo is alone in his room (since in the manga Ichigo is just thinking that entire part to himself). And yes, they did add in Ririn, but that didn’t really change anything that happened in that scene aside from Kon getting a bit beat up.
This episode also highlights three of the things I want to see developed more in the manga and the anime: Karin knowing about Ichigo being a Shinigami, Tatsuki being able to see Shinigami and Arrancar, and Inoue’s feelings towards Ichigo. Without spoiling it, there’s one chapter in particular relating to one of those that I’m really looking forward to seeing. Of course, the one thing they are developing very heavily is Ichigo and his Hollow side, and we’ll definitely be seeing more of that. As for next week, Ichigo going to initiate ban kai and start fighting Yammy, but as the preview shows, he gets beat around pretty badly.

Summary:

Although Nekane isn’t aware, the entire class now knows that she’s the Black Rose Baron. Konoka and Setsuna go to meet with Takamichi at the same time that Negi is having a talk with Eva, and the two conversations parallel each other. It seems that Takamichi and Eva knew all along about Nekane and hadn’t said anything because they felt she must have had a reason for everything. Konoka and Setsuna had thought the same way and had gotten the rest of the class not to say anything about it. Takamichi is relieved to hear that Nekane isn’t aware yet because he feels that she probably knows the important facts about the series of events concerning the darkness that’s been appearing. And it’s certain that these facts that Nekane is trying to hide have some connection to Negi. Both Takamichi and Eva believe that Nekane will talk when the time comes, so for now it’s better not to do anything.

Dinner with Nekane goes fairly smoothly for the class until Asuna comes in and starts asking her questions. What causes everyone to do a spit-take is when Asuna wonders if Nekane likes the Black Rose Baron. After Nekane says that she does, Konoka and Setsuna drag Asuna off and remind her that they’re not supposed to talk with Nekane about the Baron. Asuna says that it’s ok and that she understands, but Konoka and Setsuna know better than that, so they decide to get Takamichi to help them stop Asuna. Konoka reveals that Asuna forgets about other things when she’s concentrating on one thing, so they want to turn Asuna’s interest towards Takamichi – since she likes him – to get her off Nekane. Takamichi agrees to do it, so Konoka goes to get Asuna, who is at that moment looking for something around Nekane’s room despite Negi’s protests.

Konoka brings Asuna and Negi outside, but then takes Negi somewhere and leaves Asuna alone. Konoka and Negi didn’t go far and are actually watching from nearby as Takamichi appears to woo Asuna. They are shocked to see her slap him, but it turns out that she was just swatting a bug on his cheek. Much to everyone’s dismay though, Asuna then asks Takamichi if he knows that Nekane is the Black Rose Baron. With Asuna’s mind still on Nekane, Konoka decides to declare this operation a failure and they try a more drastic measure: tie Asuna up while she’s sleeping so she can’t do anything the next morning. Negi and the girls then try to figure out what to do about her, and Konoka decides to use a Chupacabra as their last resort. The girls all insist that there’s no such thing as a Chupacabra, so Konoka takes them to Hakase’s lab. In fact, Hakase has constructed a Mecha-cabra, but it requires a someone inside controlling it, so Konoka chooses Negi.

However, Mecha-cabra turns out to be a failure after Hakase launches it and it explodes. Negi gets out ok with a parachute, but on his way down, he spots Asuna – who had escaped – being pulled into the ground by a patch of darkness. He tries to save her by activating Konoka and Setsuna’s contracts, but he manages to get the bad cards that turn them into small animals. Asuna is fortunately temporarily saved when Nodoka, Yue, and Haruka band together to try to keep her from being pulled in. However, the three girls’ strength is not enough to pull her out, and it’s the Black Rose Baron who finally comes to the rescue with a rope. After pulling Asuna out, the Baron uses her magic to suppress the darkness so that Negi can finish it off. With the threat gone, the Baron starts to leave, but Asuna scares everyone by stopping her. To everyone’s relief though, Asuna actually only cares about the Black Rose Baron’s clothes, and doesn’t mention Nekane at all.

I had thought that with the Nekane revelation, they’d do more with her this week, but the story today actually featured more Konoka and Setsuna with more comedy and less innuendo between the two. So while the story was a bit lacking, this episode was still pretty funny with Takamichi and the Mecha-cabra scenes. I’m beginning to think that it’s probably better if just I stop looking for plot development and simply enjoy the show for mindless fun from now on.

Do you play an instrument? I’m sure many of us have dabbled in some kind of instrument at one point in our lives – but how many of us are actually capable of creating music?

When I started piano as a kid, it was only about hitting the correct notes at the right time – to me, playing music was no different than playing DDR or hitting those moles with the big rubber mallet at the arcade. But what happens when one learns perfect technique? Is the song finished?

At eight years old, I’d happily agree and run off to show my star sticker to my mom after I got home from lessons. More than a decade later, however, I’ve realized that technique isn’t even the half of it. It’s kind of a bunch of high school seniors applying to Harvard – almost everyone has flawless grades and test scores together with their long list of clubs and activities – so why do some get the nod over others? It’s because they’re not just able to play their instrument, they make that thing sing.

Which brings me to Nodame Cantabile – the new anime by the same studio that brought us Honey and Clover months before. There’s this guy named Chiaki who’s a stickler on technique, and this girl named Nodame, who’s got a cowabunga technique but a sort of chaotic genius to her – personally, I saw Nodame as the anime version of Beethoven, with the same Stevie Wonder jerkiness and the same crazy Einstein hair…but of course, female, and voiced by seiyuu empress Kawasumi Ayako. The rub on Chiaki is that he’s trying to be a conductor but thinks everyone’s technique sucks…but let me stop there.

At this point the show seems pretty predictable already – Nodame will probably continue to worm her way into Chiaki’s mind and eventually loosen him up enough until he’s able to appreciate everyone’s individual flair, and somehow mold them into one unit as the composer of an orchestra. Standard stuff…but why am I still so excited about this show?

To use Honey and Clover as an example, much of the first season was about this emo kid Takemoto and his self-discovery journey that he just randomly decided to take. It’s not like he ended up somewhere else – dude went right back to where he started – but the journey itself was the highlight (not to mention it took a good seven or eight episodes). Do you complain that a rollercoaster ride was stupid because it just goes in a loop? No way – why wasn’t the ride longer? It definitely takes one of “higher moral standards” than the typical Naruto-faring crowd (I’d say Bleach too but I hear Omni’s a fanboy) to enjoy shows like this, but to me, there’s just so much more substance when a show is driven by its characters and their relationships rather than the plot surrounding them.

And just like the start of a rollercoaster ride, we’re getting pulled up for that first big rush in these early episodes – I can only hope that Nodame lasts long enough to satisfy!

-jaalin

Summary:

As part of his plan, Light relinquishes possession of Misa’s Death Note and allows Rem to fly off somewhere. He also buries his own copy of the Death Note in the forest, but Light makes it clear to Ryuk that he doesn’t want to give up his own Death Note until the next time that he utters the words suteru (give up). Meanwhile, with her memories of the Death Note and the Shinigami gone, Misa now thinks that she’s being held by a stalker. L is confused at this change in behavior because how she was acting earlier matched what the Second Kira would have done. In his interrogation, L brings up how she had been asking to be killed, but Misa doesn’t remember about any of that anymore. L then gets a phone call from Light, so he tells Light the hotel room they’re in.

When Light arrives, he confesses to the group that he is probably Kira. Light’s father Souichirou is shocked to hear his son say something like this, but Light feels that if L thinks he’s Kira, then he probably is. Indeed, L is now almost certain that Light is Kira, but he’s not sure what Light is trying to do by admitting this. Light goes on to say that the evidence points to himself and suggests that perhaps he’s unconsciously Kira. Perhaps when he goes to sleep, another side of him emerges and kills the criminals as Kira. L, however, immediately dismisses this theory because they had set up those cameras previously to watch Light and had seen him sleeping normally. Still, that didn’t lead L to conclude that Light isn’t Kira.

Trying to back up his unconsciously-Kira theory, Light reveals that he actually felt that it would be better if criminals died. Matsuda tries to make it sound normal that he might feel this way and cites the surveillance as evidence that Light can’t be Kira. Aizawa, however, disagrees because there could have been times when Light was away from home during which he could have done the killings. Knowing that Light could prove himself innocent if he were imprisoned and the criminal deaths stopped, L decides to lock him up. Light’s father starts to protest, but Light is ok with it in order to find out if he’s really Kira. Soon after Light is put into his prison cell, Light’s father asks to be removed from the investigation because of his personal feelings. When L won’t let him, Souichirou suggests that L imprison him too. For Souichirou’s sake, L agrees to do this.

As the days go on and Light stays in prison, the deaths of criminals stop. L had actually expected them to continue and is now confronted with the question of whether Light was consciously aware of being Kira. Light’s father is actually taking imprisonment worse than Light is, but he refuses to leave until he can do so together with his son. It is not until the seventh day, when L asks if Light is ok, Light answer includes the words suteru. This signals to Ryuk that Light is ready to relinquish his Death Note, so Ryuk leaves the cell. And just like that, Light suddenly loses his memories of the Death Note and the Shinigami. He now starts to protest that he’s not Kira and wants to be let out, but L isn’t about to let that happen.

On the 15th day of Light’s imprisonment, the newspapers start reporting that two weeks worth of criminals were all killed in one day. Upon learning this news, a haggard Souichirou realizes that the suspicion on his son should be gone, but he also knows that L wouldn’t immediately feel this way. L prevents Matsuda from telling Light about this and instead asks Light to confess that he’s Kira. Without his Death Note memories, Light now believes that everything is a trap and tries to get L to see that his eyes aren’t the eyes of a person who’s lying. And since Misa’s apparently only knowledge of Kira is the ally of justice who avenged her parents, L is at a loss for what’s going on.

Preview:

I find it really amusing how different Light is after giving up his Death Note. His entire look is in those eyes, and they completely lose the evil vibe after his memory gets wiped. I’m too used to Light being shrewd and conniving that the deer-in-the-headlights look just doesn’t suit him.
I remember back when I was reading the manga that I was completely confused as to how giving up the Death Note would solve Light’s problems. In retrospect now that I know what’s going to happen, everything makes more sense. What better way to confuse L into thinking that you’re innocent than by truly believing that you’re innocent.
Next week, we’ll find out what happened and how the killings are continuing without Light and Misa.

Summary:

Allen runs to Kanda’s aid, and while he’s no match for Vittorio either, he does distract the gladiator long enough so that Lenalee can check to see if Kanda is still alive. With her help, Kanda struggles back onto his feet and explains that Vittorio isn’t an Innocence-compatible person, but rather the Innocence captured his body and mind. The Innocence is exceeding his intentions and running wild in order to fight against stronger people. Seeing that Allen is now struggling in the fight, Lenalee attempts to join in, but is knocked back by the force of Vittorio’s sword. Things look bad for Allen as Vittorio approaches him until Claudia finally calls out for them to stop. Although this ends the battle, Claudia makes it clear to Allen and company that she’s not going back home.

Later that night, the group takes up refuge in a local home until Kanda gets better. The old woman living there explains the story of 1000 years ago to Allen and Lenalee, and Kanda’s finder tells them that the Sardinia family’s mansion was built on the ruins of the home of a former lord. They realize that Vittorio has the wrong impression that Claudia is Sandra, and so whenever he defeated the Akuma that were after his Innocence, he would report to Claudia that the strongest man in the world has not shown up yet. Allen knows that as long as Vittorio has the sword with the Innocence, the Akuma will keep going after him. Kanda soon wakes up and is ready to go fight Vittorio again. His finder informs them about more Akuma arriving at the coliseum ruins, which makes Kanda even more determined to go so that the Innocence doesn’t get taken.

Allen, however, asks that Kanda trust him and Lenalee to hold off the Akuma and protect Claudia. He wants Kanda to stay here and instead think about how to recover the Innocence from Vittorio. Kanda isn’t happy about this, but Allen forces him down with his arm. Over at the coliseum, Vittorio is having no trouble taking care of all the Akuma on his own, including one that is level 2. With the battle over, Allen tries to convince Vittorio that he doesn’t need to fight any more, but the gladiator believes that Sandra is still alive and that she still wants him to continue winning. As Vittorio then proceeds to attack Allen, Lenalee tries to tell Claudia that only she can stop him. However, Claudia feels that Vittorio saved her from the previous life that she had no control over.

Lenalee then attempts to make Claudia understand that there’s no way that she live peacefully with Vittorio because his existence calls the Akuma. Before Claudia can respond, Kanda joins in the battle to save Allen who was about to be struck down. Vittorio buries his sword into Kanda’s shoulder, but the Exorcists holds on long enough to cut off Vittorio’s right arm. Without his sword, Vittorio remembers the countless men he killed all those years ago. At one point, he had had become scared of losing and didn’t want the princess to belong to someone else. His wish to continue winning for eternity was granted when the sword with the Innocence suddenly appeared before him. Now, as he begins to age rapidly, he reveals that he knows Claudia’s not the princess, but he nevertheless fought for her sake and was happy to do so.

In his final breaths, Vittorio tells Claudia that she only has to live for herself. Claudia grieves when he dies and returns home three days later. However, it was only so that she could pack her bags and leave the house again. She chose to live by her own will.

Preview

This arc felt a bit odd to me – a little unfulfilling. Perhaps it was because the episode didn’t end on the highest of notes by having Claudia run off to live on her own instead of trying to work out her problems with the father whom she had so many fond memories with. Or maybe it’s because, despite this being a more interesting mini-arc than the leaf of revival one, I know that these two episodes have nothing to do with the main story. In any case, I’m looking forward to them going back to the manga in two weeks, though there’s still next week’s episode about Lenalee which will feature the return of Komui’s robot. I hope it’s less comedy and more about Lenalee herself, but we’ll see…

Summary:

As they move through the sewers, Mione vows to have his revenge against the military and wants the help of Hans’ power when the time comes. Hans, however, doesn’t respond and instead remembers how, three years ago, he had been with the rest of the 908 squad. With the armistice ending the war, the members of the 908 had been finally able to take off their suits, but Hans struggled with his helmet. The guys had teased him, but they all soon started bleeding uncontrollably from all over their bodies. One of his dying comrades realized what was going on and told Hans that taking off the suit would kill them. While Hans is going through these memories, Alice is still fighting the 1st Section troops in melee combat. Their leader notes that the sword is a Mähne – a type used by cavalry that wasn’t obstructed by the horse’s head in terms of swinging. With Alice using her sword with deadly efficiency even though she’s tired, the vice-captain steps up to challenge her. He’s able to avoid her attacks and lunges at her when she gets her sword stuck in the ground, but Alice does a spin and kicks the sword up with the heel of her shoe. This cuts through the vice-captain’s mask and a subsequent slash finishes him off. What shocks Alice, however, is when the vice-captain tips her off that there’s another 1st Section force here doing the hunting.

Back at headquarters, 1st Section’s Connelly is being met with a request to withdraw his troops from Hunks. When he refuses, Hunks produces the book that Metz provided and notes that this is what the documents that Connelly is after are based upon – simulation data for the Himmel drug market in the imperial capital’s sewers. Connelly responds by explaining that there are enough people living in the sewers for it to be another capital in size. The 1st Section has in their possession more notebooks detailing the gender, age, and more of the people who bought the drug, and Hunks soon realizes that they wants the military to take over and manage the Himmel market. Not denying it, Connelly says that they need a money tree because their funds have been cut ever since the armistice. With Hunks not backing down on the issue, Connelly changes the subject to his request to eliminate Alice to accomplish the mission. Hunks, however, reminds Connelly that there’s some organization behind Mione – one that values information and supplies amateurs with the latest weapons. He knows something about them and offers to share the information if Connelly withdraws the request he put in to eliminate Alice.

By now, Machs and Oland have caught up to Mione and Hans. Oland’s plan is to run in while their opponents are caught up in a grenade, but this never happens because Oland hears Hans talking about how he’ll die if he takes off his suit. Learning that Hans has to spend his entire life in the suit, Oland steps out of the shadows and asks him to surrender because Muse Kauplan can still help heal him. Hans, however, feels that all the warmth inside of him has gone, though it had been there when the rest of the 908 was still around. He wants to see them all and thinks that he can meet them inside the fire. Burning people is the only thing that still warms his heart a little, so he points his flamethrower at Oland. Machs uses this moment to throw the grenade, but it doesn’t do any damage because Hans blows it up with fire before it can reach him. Mione and Hans then see Oland’s blue lamp peering through the smoke, so Hans lets loose a blast of his flamethrower. Although he marches forward and tries to point his gun at Hans, Oland is overcome by the heat and falls breathless to the ground. Nevertheless, he pulls another grenade and throws it from point blank range. The purpose of doing this, as Machs realizes afterwards, was so that he could blow away the flame and the oil on his coat.

As Oland proceeds to charge Hans, he pulls out a pair of giant shears from his pants and plunges them into the chest area of Han’s suit. He uses them to pry open the suit, releasing all the liquid inside and evoking memories of how the 901 troopers attacked tanks with these same shears. After the urge to kill goes away and he closes his lamp cover, Oland explains that he didn’t finish off Hans because they’re supposed to be comrades. What Oland couldn’t do, however, the other force of the 1st Section has no problem doing. They open fire and quickly kill Hans in a hail of bullets, even as he’s still thinking about being comrades with Oland. Mione tries to run away, but he’s picked off by one of the soldiers even though they weren’t supposed to do that. What they don’t know is that Mione’s killer is actually a soldier who pledges allegiance to the Silver Wheel. In the aftermath, Hans’ body is wheeled off by the 1st Section and Alice survives her own battle. Coming down to the sewers, she sees Oland bawling uncontrollably because of what happened. Receiving the news at headquarters, Hunks wonders to himself why, three years after the armistice, there are still sounds of gunfire ringing everywhere.

Sometime later, in her lab, Muse Kauplan welcomes back the body of Hans to Kauplan’s miniature garden.

Preview

This is the first episode in a long time for this series that I’d call really good. Hans was portrayed in such a tragic way that I really didn’t want him to die, and it was hard to see him executed like that. I especially liked his flashback in the beginning and Oland’s Töten Sie berserk moment that led to the opening of his suit. Also, Mione being killed the 1st Section soldier who pledges allegiance to the Silver Wheel was also a nice twist that I didn’t see coming. Perhaps my only gripe is that they didn’t really do anything with the one hour time limit that they set last week for how long Alice could last.
All in all, I can’t help but think of how much more I would have liked this show if this had been shown in the first half of the series. I consider it lost potential, but there are still plenty of episodes left for them to impress us with. Still, next week appears to be a Stekkin episode, which would seem to imply a more comedic tone.

Huh?

What just happened? Lemme watch that part again…

Uh…is she doing what I think she’s doing? Wow? LOL?!!!

And the one girl in the show that nobody cared about just skyrocketed in the ratings. Forget Simoun, Strawberry Panic, Mai Otome* – Code Geass just took over as the yuri champ of anime! Indeed, we’ve seen many shows that just titillated us with girl on girl kissing, endless blushing, and a fiendish yuri predator with an Osaka accent, but when has yuri ever rounded third base in mainstream anime…on screen? Granted it was only a single girl with some wallet-size picture, the sheer vulgarity of it makes it more than deserving of recognition.

Nina really did it this time…the last time we saw convulsing of this degree was Elizabeth Berkeley in Showgirls flapping around in the pool like a dead fish out of water. Who would have thought that the prude was actually the most ecchi? Wait, didn’t I see this in that movie with Uma Thurman? Maybe Nina has superpowers too…her own Geass. Then again, it seems like all Geass users came into contact with C.C. at some point – mmm… C.C x Nina doujins, anyone?

At the very least, she’s lucky that the one to walk roll in on her was a blind girl. I can imagine at least fifteen different doujin-worthy alternate situations that could have arisen had it been anybody else…and about five others involving an electric wheelchair. Then again, this might be the overwhelming debut of the crippled-blind girl moe mode. Ah, anything’s possible.

Which ultimately brings me to my main question – what is Code Geass about, anyways? The Great Neko Chase episode was arguably the most entertaining one so far – highlighted by Kallen seemingly more perturbed that her first kiss was going to be stolen rather than the fact that she just blasted away half a dozen pilots days prior. Even the whole Zero thing has seemingly taken a back seat to C.C. and her Pizza Hut Bonta-kun. Keep in mind that Gundam Seed (and even that sham Destiny) never really strayed too far from its original purpose…sure, we got to see Lacus’ frilly costumes and pseudo-Lacus bounce around in some pop concert, but those were all within the context of the epic war that was going on. Geass? Besides Nina’s climactic moment, other highlights include Kallen’s shower scene and C.C.’s getup in episode 14. None of these really fit with the context…not that I’m complaining. But you know what – this ain’t Gundam, as much as it tries or tries not to be – and in the end, that’s a good thing.

Just like neo-Kanon has successfully distinguished itself from Haruhi, Geass is its own unique beast, even with the pink-haired bimbo and the two megayaoi male leads (they even have their own secret sign language…teeheehee). Part of that uniqueness is in the frequent distractions side-stories that crop up; another is the addition of characters like C.C., and now Nina, who completely change the makeup of the show. It’s like getting our seasonal Gundam fix, with a lot of extra flavor.

I can only hope that this Nina x Euphemia thing plays out to the finish…

-jaalin

*Yes, I haven’t posted in a few months because I was on strike after Omni chose Mai Otome as the top anime of 2006 – as one of the most covertly-vocal fans of Haruhi, I wasn’t going to let it go without protest. Yes, a very silent, loooong protest…

Since it went up about 24 hours ago, the new server has been working very well and I’ve been very happy with the results. We should hopefully now be able to avoid the downtime and poor loading that plagued the previous two weeks, at least for a long time to come. I really want to thank Mentar for helping us get the server and Maestro for spending so much of his valuable time helping set everything up. It’s because of Maestro that everything got transferred over relatively smoothly, so I’m really grateful. I also want to thank my friend Patrik for providing a spot to host images temporarily while we were going through that period. For those of you curious, Mentar was the one who suggested and helped us get a dedicated server out of Germany that was significantly cheaper than the American solutions we were looking at earlier. It should be more than enough to allow this site to grow several times over.

That brings me to the second point of this entry. Instead of the $150 dollars I originally cited, the new server will cost 49 euros (~$63.28) a month. I’m delighted that it’s less expensive than I thought it’d be, but that’s still a hefty amount per month. Taking into considerations all the comments that everyone left when I talked about costs last time, the most reliable course of action was to add ads to the site. While I would have preferred to avoid them, the reality is that not everyone who wants to help out necessarily has the ability to send in a donation. I know this won’t make everyone happy – that includes myself – but I hope those of you who hate ads can try to overlook them. For those of you who love the site and still want to make a donation, I am indeed still holding a donation drive to help cover the costs since I’m not entirely sure how well the ads will do and since every little bit helps. I agree with all the people who said that asking for donations every month is a bad thing, so the goal of this drive will be to cover six months worth of costs. That’s a fairly lofty goal that I’m not sure we’ll meet, but that’s why we have the ads for support too. If you would like to make a donation, please visit AnimeBlogger’s Donation page .

I’d like to once again thank everyone who visits the site. It’s because of you, the reader, that this site has been able to grow so much. There’s a lot to look forward to in the coming months, especially in the spring and fall seasons, so I hope that you’ll stay tuned.

Summary:

When she was in elementary school, Mei’s class held class representative elections, but no one wanted to run. Her classmates had forced her into the role by volunteering her, and Mei was left with all the grunt work, including cleaning up the classroom. At that time, the only person who helped Mei was Mucchii after she walked in on Mei crying. Back in the present, the girls are coming up with concepts for their school festival. After going outside to run and subsequently falling flat on her face, Manabi comes up with the idea that they should get the entire student body to help them think of concepts. Mei suggests that they make a promotional video to get people interested in the festival, and since Manabi decides to go with it, Mei sets up lot of computer equipment. She’s easily able to handle Manabi’s thoughts on how the video should look and turns them into a computer animation. At the end of the day, Manabi suggests that they all go out for ramen and drags Mei along. Manabi and Mikan lather praise onto her, but they go too far when they say that they’re not needed in the student council if they have someone like her. Mei starts to remember her experiences in elementary school and looks as if she’s about to throw up. When she slams down her money for the ramen and storms out, Mucchii is the one who keeps Manabi from chasing her. Mucchii then explains what happened back in elementary school, causing Manabi and Mikan feel bad for what they said.

Because of this incident, Mei doesn’t go back to the student council room and instead spends all of her time lying in bed at home. Manabi knows that they have to continue the work on the promotional video without her, and the girls proceed to struggle with figuring out the workings of the computer system. With time running out, Manabi isn’t willing to quit, so Mucchii decides to pay Mei a visit. Mei is caught off guard when Mucchii shows up, but their conversation steers clear of the promotional video until Mei herself brings it up. Mucchii doesn’t give away that they’re having a hard time and instead portrays it as being very impressive. After Mucchii leaves, a curious Mei remotely logs onto the computer at school to check up on what’s going on. She thinks that the others can’t do it and will embarrass themselves at the school assembly, but is surprised to see on the webcam that Mikan and Manabi are hard at work. Deciding that it has nothing to do with her, Mei goes to bed and falls asleep. Waking up several hours later in the middle of the night, Mei checks the webcam again and is again surprised that everyone is still there. She listens in as Mucchii suddenly asks Manabi why she’s so fixated on Mei. Mucchii thinks it’s because Manabi wants Mei in the student council, but Manabi reveals that she actually feels Mei is looking for something by attending school. What Manabi really wants is to become Mei’s friend so that they can eat together, study together, and play together – she wants to spend these three irreplaceable years with Mei. And then, some day, she’ll be able to hear that Mei found what she was looking for.

Moved to tears by these words, Mei also wants to be together with them and feels that she has already found what she was looking for. She works through the night and by the time Manabi and the others wake up in the morning after having accidentally fallen asleep, there is a video ready for them. Manabi and Mucchii immediately figure out that Mei was the one who did it, and they bring the video to the school assembly. The video goes smoothly at first, but partway through, it glitches. Just when things are looking bad, Mei enters the gymnasium and starts barking out orders. It is thanks to her help that the problem gets fixed and the students are able to be impressed by the promotional video. With the assembly a success, there was one other good thing that came of all this: Mei joined the student council and the girls threw a party for her.

There were plenty of parts in this episode – such as Mei’s entrance during the assembly – that were so over-the-top dramatic that I couldn’t stop myself from laughing. I’d even call the scene of Mei going through her computer and arriving at the student council room surreal. Don’t take that the wrong way though – it was sill a good episode. We’ve seen that Mei has had her problems fitting in, and this episode would seem to explain why. Once again, it is largely due to Manabi that Mei joins the student council. I’m beginning to think that if she keeps giving speeches like that, then she’ll be able to solve the world’s problems.

Nerine OP:

Nerine OP: 「Pray」 by 永見 はるか (Nagami Haruka)
Watch the OP! Mirror 1 (19.2MB, XviD)

Summary:

With all the perverts and the guys who don’t like Rin around, it’s Nerine who protects him with her magic, even when such deadly force isn’t necessarily needed. But Nerine has another side to her, one that wants to be able to cook for him. Specifically, when Sia suggests that they have a picnic with everyone making a bento, Nerine finds herself learning how to cook with help from Asa. All of her hard work pays off when she presents to Rin a box of full of tamagoyaki (the only thing she knows how to cook), and he loves it so much that he tries to hoard it all for himself. Later, when Kaede gets sick, Nerine, Sia, and Asa come over to help out with the chores. However, Nerine proves to be inept at cooking or cleaning. Her real worries start after Rin and Sia get lost together during their beach vacation, and the two start to get closer and closer. With rumors that the two are going to be married, Nerine is afraid that Rin had chosen Sia. She goes on a date with Rin, and the two end up at the same playground where they first met. This is where Nerine decides to confess that she’s still in love with Rin.

Nerine ED:

Nerine ED: 「秘密の森」(Himitsu no Mori) by 永見はるか (Nagami Haruka)
Watch the ED! Mirror 1 (29.3MB, XviD)
Pray is actually one of the few characters songs I recognize and enjoyed since it’s the vocal version of Nerine’s theme Yume to Sora ga Kanaderu Melody, which was my favorite BGM of the original soundtrack. The same can’t be said for the ED, but it’s not that bad either.

Today’s recap covered the Nerine material from episodes four, five, nine, and ten. None of it was about Primula or Nerine’s past, which will likely be saved for the second part of her story. Unlike the two previous character recaps though, this one felt like it didn’t tie together as well, and it’s probably because they’re tying together all these parts of four episodes that didn’t have as common a thread as Kaede or Asa’s stories.
Next week is the first part of Sia’s story.

The server move is now complete, although the DNS changes are still propagating out so some people will get sent to the old server. Those that do will see an error message about bad_httpd_conf. That’s normal, the old server isn’t setup to serve Random Curiosity any longer. (This was unavoidable.)

I apologize for the move taking longer than we expected. We ran into problems with the DNS change, namely the old provider’s system glitched and wouldn’t remove the old DNS entries for several hours. (I had to submit a support ticket to finally get the old entries cleared out.) At one point both IP addresses (old and new servers) were being returned so you had about a 50% chance of getting the correct one. Now the authoritative DNS servers are all returning only the new server IP, but it will take a while for all of the DNS servers on the Internet to sync up. As I mentioned earlier the rule of thumb on this is up to 48 hours for changes to fully propagate. Most people will probably see the change sooner (much sooner), but some may take the full 48 hours.

Comments have been turned back on so feel free to comment again. If you see any strangeness or something not working properly please let us know! We’ve tested the new setup and everything looks to be working but it’s always possible we missed something. :)

Hey folks, just a quick note:
The server move is in progress RIGHT now. All commenting will be turned off until it’s complete (shouldn’t take too long).

Update from Maestro:

Here’s what everyone can expect to happen. The new server is up and running fine, but we have to transfer both the latest version of Omni’s database over and change DNS so that his domain name points to the new server. Both of these will take a bit of time. First off I’m working on exporting the database now. Omni’s database is a couple hundred megabytes total and has to be exported uncompressed. (The database server times out attempting to compress the database for export.) I can compress it to get it to the new server, but have to uncompress it again to import it. I’ve done this once before so I’d have a testing copy and it took around 2 hours total for the whole export/import process. It’ll probably take longer than that today, the database server’s timing out on me on exports and it looks like I’ll have to export each table individually. This is why we’re disabling comments, any comments made during the changeover would be lost anyway and we need the database to be as unchanging as possible during the move.

After the database is successfully imported onto the new server I’ll change the DNS for randomc.animeblogger.net to point to the new server. After that it’s a matter of waiting for the change to propagate out to the Internet. Some of you will continue to get sent to the current server because the DNS servers you’re using have the address info cached. The standard rule is it can take up to 48 hours for the change to propagate fully to the entire Internet. In practice it doesn’t take quite this long for most places, but for some people it may take the full 48 hours. There’s nothing we can do to speed this up, it depends on how your local DNS servers are configured.

We appreciate your patience during this move, once it’s over things will be much more stable, and probably faster as well. This should get rid of the 503 errors you’ve been experiencing the past few weeks as well. :)

Summary:

After Tsukasa abandoned dinner to run to the hospital where Tsukushi was taken, his mother is forced to apologize to Shigeru’s parents. Pissed off that the dinner was a disaster, Kaede tries to call her son, but by now he’s already at the hospital and turns off his phone. However, all the energy of his run is taken away from him as soon as he sees Rui already arriving at Tsukushi’s room. In fact, Tsukasa peeks in the door and sees that her parents can’t thank Rui enough. Rui even offers to look after Tsukushi for the night because her parents look so tired, so they decide to leave her with him. Tsukasa meanwhile leaves without them knowing he was ever there and heads back home. His mother catches him on the way in and, having figured out that he left because of Tsukushi, she once again talks about his rash actions causing an innocent person to be sacrificed. Reminded of the past, Tsukasa claims that he’s given up on Tsukushi and ends the conversation. Nevertheless, all the pent-up emotions cause him to return to his own room and yell with frustration.

The next morning, Tsukushi wakes up and finds Rui at her bedside after having held her hand all night long. He informs her about her collapse during her job, but also tells her that she doesn’t need to worry because she can leave the hospital in a day or two if she rests. When Tsukushi panics because she remembers that today is the day of her entrance exams, Rui calms her back down by saying that he’ll go talk with the school. After he explains that he helps her out when she’s in a pinch because he likes her, Rui surprises Tsukushi by kissing her. Because of this, she tries to hide herself under the bed sheets and claims that friends shouldn’t do such things. Rui, however, says that he wanted to do it, so it couldn’t be helped. Tsukushi’s parents visit her later and ask her if there’s a possibility of love with Rui, but she denies it. Around the same time, Shigeru is waking up Tsukasa with a round of tickling and asks him if he went to see another woman with the way he ran out last night. He calls her a perverted woman for the tickling, but she keeps doing it until he throws her away from himself. Since he’s once again referring to her as a monkey, she makes it clear to him that she’s Shigeru – his lover and fiancée.

Having lunch at Eitoku later that day, Rui tells Akira and Soujirou about watching over Tsukushi all night. Akira and Soujirou wonder if Tsukasa knows, but Rui feels that Tsukasa and Tsukushi have nothing to do with each other anymore. It is at this moment that Tsukasa arrives, claiming that he wanted to eat with everyone. He acts strange around them and asks Rui what he was doing last night, but when Rui starts to explain about the hospital, Akira interrupts him so that he doesn’t tell Tsukasa. Rui eventually asks back if a date for the wedding was decided since Tsukasa met with Shigeru’s parents last night. He even suggests that that’s why Tsukasa is so nervous. Tsukasa tries to reply, but then gets a phone call from Shigeru and gets dragged out for a date with her. Back at the hospital, Tsukushi discussing the kiss from Rui with Yuuki. Tsukushi still doesn’t think that Rui can like her, especially since there’s still Shizuka. Their conversation is interrupted by the arrival of Akira, Soujirou, and Rui, but the first two soon realize that they have something to do and leave, taking Yuuki with them so that they can leave Rui and Tsukushi alone.

Soujirou is quite surprised when he learns from Yuuki about the kiss between Rui and Tsukushi. He explains to Yuuki that it’s not so easy for Tsukushi to be with Rui because Tsukasa still has feelings for her. Yuuki points out that Tsukasa is going to be married to Shigeru and feels that it’s selfish for Tsukasa to be like that. When Soujirou claims that it can’t be helped because this is what’s really going on, Yuuki gets emotional because of all Tsukushi’s gone through this past year. Staying silent for a moment, Soujirou finally replies that love isn’t so logical – it can be unfair and cause pain for simply liking someone. Tsukushi is meanwhile packing to leave the hospital when the hospital administrator comes asking about the hospital expenses. Rui ends up paying them for her and kisses her on the forehead before telling her to be careful going home. She arrives home safely, but is surprised to find the main room completely empty except for a small table. Only her younger brother is there to explain that her father lost his job, so their parents have gone off to become fishermen in a fishing village. Tsukushi ends up calling Yuuki and explaining that she needs to find another place to live now, and by chance Yuuki’s tea ceremony instructor Hinata Sara overhears the phone conversation.

Across town, Shigeru has spent the entire day with an unresponsive Tsukasa. They got a hotel room together on Shigeru’s suggestion, but when she goes to take a shower, Tsukasa is overcome with memories of Tsukushi. In actuality, Shigeru had suspected something wasn’t right and isn’t really taking a shower, so she hears the door slam as Tsukasa leaves. Tsukasa takes a taxi to the apartment complex where the Makino family lives, but before he gets out, he sees a headline about a Nikkei average plunge on the news ticker inside of the taxi. This reminds him of one year ago when the Doumyouji stock prices also dropped because of something he said. His mother had told him that a lot of people would lose their jobs because of him, and there was that man who jumped off the building. In the end, Tsukasa never gets out of the taxi and instead orders it to leave the apartment complex. Inside, Tsukushi gets a call back from Yuuki with news that she found a free apartment thanks to Hinata. It seems that Hinata’s father works in real estate and has a run-down apartment Tsukushi can live in.

At her new apartment, Tsukushi is moving in and cleaning up when Shigeru comes by to help. She tells Tsukushi of what happened at the hotel, and then asks if Tsukasa fell in love with Tsukushi a long time ago. After Tsukushi nearly chokes on her tea, Shigeru changes the subject to how nostalgia-evoking this small room is. She realizes that the reason for this is because she used to have a pigeon coop that was just like this place. Tsukasa meanwhile learns of what happened to Tsukushi’s father from Soujirou and goes to confront his mother about it. She claims that she didn’t do anything, and then wonders if he’s infatuated with Tsukushi again. Tsukasa denies it, but Kaede later asks Nishida to keep an eye on him. Around the same time, Rui is having dinner with Shizuka, who he picked up earlier from the airport. He tells her all about Tsukasa’s marriage situation, which he calls the choice of a grownup. Shizuka feels that there’s no such thing in this world and instead suggests that you can only choose a compromise or else selfishly carry out your own free will. When Rui asks her what she thinks of his choice, she tells him (in French) that he made a wonderful selection.

As night falls, Tsukushi and her little brother notice that someone is standing outside their door trying to peer into the room. They charge this person with a bat and a large fly swatter, but it turns out to be just Tsukasa. It seems that he found out there was an open room next door and has decided to live alone so that he can refine himself as a man. But since this is Tsukasa, instead of renting, he simply bought the place and is the new owner. He thinks it’s all a big coincidence that Tsukushi also moved here. Rui and Shizuka meanwhile have finished eating and he’s telling her during the ride home about Tsukushi’s ambitions to become a lawyer. Shizuka comments on how Rui’s grown up, which makes him think that she always saw him as a kid before. When he wonders if the him right now would have been ok for her back then, Shizuka replies that he’s a precious person to her both now and back then. Rui drops her off at home and is about to leave, but Shizuka stops him first and tells him to make Tsukushi happy and not to make her cry. He nods his head and turns to go, but stops again and thanks Shizuka for everything up until now.

Upon learning that Tsukushi’s little brother has exams tomorrow, Tsukasa offers up his own room and effectively kicks her brother out. This leaves him and Tsukushi alone in the room together, but she tells him not to say anything strange to her. Out of the blue, he asks her about the taste of figs and explains that when you split a fig in half, it turns into the shape of a heart. The sweetness of figs is like the taste of love – that’s something he learned from a Pakistani in New York. However, the taste of love for him is the taste of the cookie that she made. Tsukasa is about to say something else, but Tsukushi’s phone then starts ringing. The person calling is Rui, and Tsukasa tries to keep her from answering it. In the ensuing struggle, Tsukasa lands on top of Tsukushi, and the phone gets accidentally answered anyway, allowing Rui to hear everything that’s going on. By chance, Shigeru also comes barging into the room at this very moment and sees the two in this position. A surprised Shigeru simply says that she’s not a monkey and then runs out in tears. Tsukushi tries to chase after her, but Tsukasa stops her and tells her not to go.

Preview:

I burst out laughing at the very end when all the players in the Shigeru/Tsukasa/Tsukushi/Rui relationship web came together. It was just the perfect dramatic way to do it and I couldn’t help myself. Rui already knew that Tsukasa still had feelings for Tsukushi, but this had to have come as a huge shock for Shigeru since she considered Tsukushi her best friend. I can’t help but feel sorry for her since she’s been such a lovable character. Still, I doubt she’ll give up on Tsukasa so easily.
It seems to me that Shizuka’s appearance this episode was almost entirely for the purpose of letting Rui go so that he could pursue Tsukushi without those feelings getting in the way. Of course, he had already started going after Tsukushi with the kiss this episode even before Shizuka came back. The preview for next week shows Rui and Tsukasa getting into a fight, so it looks like things are going to heat up even more. And for better or worse, they appear to be developing a love story for Tsukushi’s little brother Susumu too, and it looks like Tsukasa is going to be his mentor. I think he’d probably be better off going to someone else for advice.

Summary:
Back in Imperial Calendar Year 2009, Lelouch carried Nunnally up a long set of stairs to the Kururugi Shrine. He had to explain to his sister that Japan was still under a system that elected a prime minister instead of having a king. Despite being only nine years old, he carried her all the way up because he didn’t want the Japanese to touch her. The two of them had been given a small storehouse to live in on the shrine grounds, and when Lelouch first saw it, he had been at a loss for words. Inside, Nunnally had asked him what kind of place it was, and Lelouch lied to her by describing it as somewhere wonderful. He had suddenly noticed that someone was there and demanded that this person show himself. It had turned out to be Suzaku, and he had told Lelouch not to talk with such a superior tone since this place belonged to him originally. Suzaku had seen Britannians as impudent for wanting to make Japan into a colony, but Lelouch pointed out that Japan also controlled underdeveloped nations through their economies, so they aren’t that different. Lelouch had heard all this from Suzaku’s father, but that doesn’t stop Suzaku from calling him a liar and revealing that he lied to Nunnally about what the room looked like. The two ended up fighting and Lelouch lost badly. Suzaku only stopped hitting Lelouch when Nunnally spoke up and he realized that she was blind. He apologized and ran out, and Nunnally proceeded to check if her brother was ok. Lelouch claimed to be fine and had figured out by this point that Suzaku was the son of Prime Minister Kururugi. Speaking in a retrospective tone, he explains that this is the first time that he met Suzaku. For Lelouch, who had up until then been surrounded by nothing but rivals and vassals, Suzaku was his first friend – and became his worst enemy.

The first DVD of CODE GEASS is out today, and with it came a four-minute picture drama special that shows what happened back when Lelouch and Suzaku first met at the Kururugi Shrine. I rather like this type of picture storytelling, but I’ll also admit that any additional CODE GEASS material, especially stuff explaining background story, would always be welcome. This in particular is interesting because we see here a lot of tensions already between Britannia and Japan as evidenced by Lelouch and Suzaku’s attitudes towards each others’ peoples. There’s a certain irony in the fact that by the time the actual series is taking place, Lelouch is fighting against Britannia and Suzaku is fighting for Britannia.
I look forward to seeing more of these picture dramas on future DVDs. Incidentally, the first DVD has the first episode in 16:9, and it looks very nice.

Summary:

Okuyama Masumi is a male timpanist who has a hard time staying in the practice rooms for too long, but he’s easily mistaken for a female. In fact, Masumi is in love with Chiaki and becomes infuriated when he sees Nodame clinging to Chiaki. A little later, Nodame sees Chiaki composing his own music for an orchestra, but unfortunately he doesn’t have one to play it. Her mind then drifts to dinner and she tells Chiaki that she wants to eat nabe. Although Chiaki hits her, he agrees and gives her a list of ingredients to go buy. However, that list gets soaked when someone dumps a bucket of water (and then the bucket) on Nodame’s head. Because of this, Nodame ends up buying the wrong ingredients. Things get worse as more and more pranks are pulled on her, but she doesn’t find out who’s doing it until after that person eats her lunch. She and Mine work together and trap the culprit, who turns out to be none other than Masumi. After Mine recognizes him, Masumi tells Nodame to stay away from Chiaki, despite Nodame pointing out that Chiaki’s also a guy. The two decide to have a competition with their instruments, but Mine suggests that they instead see who can get Chiaki on a date for Christmas Eve. Masumi ends up getting some great concert tickets, but the problem is that Chiaki doesn’t know who he is yet. Fortunately for him, Mine has an idea on how to fix that. Nodame meanwhile has no luck getting Chiaki to agree to go out with her on Christmas Eve, so she decides instead to make a cake and tells him to come to her room on that day. Chiaki is so involved with the piece that he’s writing that he agrees.

The next day, Chiaki finds out from a magazine that the conducting student Hayakawa was accepted into a special seminar that involves Sebastiano Vieira. This frustrates him so much that he tears up the piece he was writing because he feels that he can’t win with his fear of airplanes. Thus, he’s not in the mood when Nodame comes over later to ask his cake preference. The next day, Mine drags Chiaki to an orchestra practice so that Masumi can show off his timpani playing. However, he does it so over-dramatically that he gets kicked out by the conductor. Although Chiaki enjoyed listening to the orchestra, he calls Masumi a fool as he leaves. Masumi ends up crying at the Uraken because of this and the thought that he’d be playing the timpani alone from now on. This lasts until Nodame suggests that they start a three-person ensemble. Sometime later, Saiko suggests that Chiaki spend Christmas Eve with her and mentions baking a cake. This reminds him of what Nodame had wanted to do and how he had agreed, but when he goes to her room that night, she’s not there. For the next three days, Chiaki doesn’t see Nodame until he hears a familiar sounding tune coming from one of the practice rooms. He recognizes this as the song that he was writing, and the performers are actually Nodame, Mine, and Chiaki. Nodame remembered it from having heard it just once, and the trio made it into a jazz arrangement, though it seems Nodame didn’t get it all. Chiaki decides to help, and ends up forcing the group to practice through Christmas and New Year’s Day. He feels that it’s no use if you envy the world of other people if you don’t try to change the world for yourself.

Preview:

I thought Fujita Yoshinori did a great job voicing Masumi. I’d even say that if I didn’t know better, I probably would have had a hard time discerning Masumi’s gender at first. Of course, Masumi is one of those odd characters I always wonder how the author came up with. An afro-haired guy who (mostly) acts like a girl and has feelings for Chiaki…
I mentioned in last week’s entry that they were moving remarkably fast through the manga, but for this week, they only got through Masumi’s introductory two chapters. Next week is the arrival of Stresemann, and it makes me wonder if they’re skipping the fairly stand-alone story about Chiaki, Nodame, and the kotatsu.