Random Curiosity

Tama may have looked cuter when he was a cub, but he’s still no kitten.

Hmm, an entire episode dedicated to Tama. Not exactly what I was looking forward to when this second series appears to be only 26 episodes, so here’s to hoping that the last five episodes will involve more of Hayate’s “girl problems”. While I don’t entirely dislike these sort of one-off episodes, it has been two weeks without any real Hinagiku or Ayumu screentime. As such, the only real plus side of this week’s episode was hearing Satou Rina play Jenny, the “four year-old” African tour guide, and doing her version of some gaijin Japanese.

At first, I wasn’t even sure it was her, but there were some obvious signs along the way (if you’re a seiyuu fanatic). The only other person I’m aware of that does bad Japanese accents these days is Gotou Yuuko (e.g. Kate in Sketchbook ~full color’S~). However, it seems like Rina might be moving into Yuuko’s territory after hearing her nonchalant “oh shit” here. (Random thought: I guess this episode wasn’t all that entertaining to me after all if all I can talk about are seiyuus…)

There isn’t much to “analyze” this episode, so let’s see what I can poke fun at shall we?

At times like this, I want to smack Nagi and Maria for their hypocritical remarks like Hayate does.

You know an animal is dangerous when he not only has the claws to kill you with, but verbally threatens you too.

I don’t know why Nagi was doubting Jenny. I mean the gift shop rifle lighter did hold the wild animals off for a few seconds.

“Aren’t we in a huge pinch too Jenny?” *comedic pause*

Nagi and Isumi are a good eight years older now, but they sure as hell don’t seem any smarter. They’re just a bit bigger.

I was going to go with “Magic”, but I like how there was a hidden “Shoot to death” option.

Ryne is still watching “Endless Maid Isumi”. I think I’ve seen enough endless crap this season to last me a lifetime.

Tama’s paranoia of losing Nagi to Hayate and Shiranui just goes to show that he’s a big dumb tiger after all.

Shiranui knows where the “goods” are. Question is, does Izumi have them?

As a fan of Densha Otoko, I admit I enjoyed the 2chan reference here.

Hayate to the rescue! If he can survive being run over by a truck, picking up a tiger with one hand must be nothing.

Gotta give credit to Hayate on knowing when to return the shots.

Next week looks like it’ll have Nagi and Ayumu going at it at a part-time job, so hopefully things pick up from there.

Summary:

Armed men led by Hartmann’s assistant Josephine shut down Arima Hills and take him, Sylvia’s father, and Teppei’s grandfather hostage. Charlotte gets captured too, and when she questions her captors on why they’re doing this, one of them explains that there are a lot of people who do not think favorably of the Arima financial combine. They’re hoping that there’ll be immediate negative press about this, but the media only reports the power outage thanks to the work of Seika from behind the scenes. What’s more, Yuu and the other maids have swung into action in a computer room, and Yuu is able to regain control of the surveillance cameras long enough for Teppei to see that Charlotte is being held. He decides to go to Arima Hills to save everyone, and he takes the special legged motorcycle with Sylvia who had heard about what happened and insisted on coming along. They are followed by armed men bent on taking them down though, so Teppei activates the motorcycle’s leg missiles to get rid of them.

When the two arrive, they make their way into the building and take out whatever guards they come across, eventually meeting up with the Arima security people. They are then alerted to the fireworks outside, signaling the arrival of an idol group that immediately starts singing. It’s all part of Seika’s plan, and she’s brought a helicopter to help Teppei and Sylvia. In the meantime, Charlotte is hearing the life story of one of her captors who grew up poor near the Arima Hills building, and seeing it every day generated resentment in him. Charlotte admits that she doesn’t understand what he went through, but she feels that he shouldn’t blame them or himself. He laughs, however, at her suggestion that they could try to understand each other and feels that everything she says is nonsense from her affluent point of view.

Over in the reception room, Hartmann tries to struggle with Josephine, but he gets shot and appears to die. Josephine then explains to Teppei’s grandfather and Sylvia’s father that their organization is called Truth, and their goal is to humiliate. She’s done for now though and decides to withdraw everyone. Before leaving, Charlotte’s captor reveals to her that there are bombs placed around the building. Sylvia and Teppei meanwhile encounter no more gunmen and reach the reception room to find Teppei’s grandfather and Sylvia’s father safe and sound. Upon hearing the bad news about Hartmann, Teppei becomes extra concerned about Charlotte and runs around trying to find her. She’s at this moment depressed about what her captor had said to her, but she brightens up when she hears Teppei calling for her. The two are soon reunited, and after the initial wave of emotion, Charlotte remembers the bombs.

Preview

Well, if you were expecting a classic love-triangle relationship drama, then this episode will likely disappoint you, but if you’re in it for pure entertainment, then this episode was hilarious and awesome in a very absurd sort of way. I mean, it featured a computer room full of maids hacking away, comedic perverted terrorists, motorcycle leg missiles which led to this absurd scene, the semi-random appearance of an idol group singing a very familiar song (which I’ve been told is on the OP single), and Sylvia even dived out of a helicopter and tore her clothes off mid-air, only to be fully dressed again by the time she landed.

It was all great fun, but as a result, the story leaves a bit to be desired, even past the lack of developments on Sylvia/Charlotte/Teppei love triangle. In particular, everything about Josephine and her side’s motivation seemed petty and stupid, and I groaned when Charlotte’s captor was talking. I do think though that there’s a possibility they’re setting Charlotte up to renounce her wealth/status so that in the end she and Teppei can live more like his parents did.

Of course the big development relationship-wise was that they appear to have killed off Hartmann. Bang, one shot while he was struggling with his evil assistant, and no more fiancé problem. If only all stories like this could get resolved so easily. It’s not even like Teppei and Charlotte needed the help since, as shown by their reunion, they’re very clearly in love with each other. It’s very hard to see how Sylvia has any chance anymore, and if Hartmann is out of the picture too, then it should be relatively smooth sailing. There is always though the chance though that Hartmann isn’t really dead and is the actual villain behind all this, but even if that happened, I doubt it would impact Teppei and Charlotte’s feelings for each other.

In any case, this isn’t over yet since those bombs are still around, and maybe next week’s episode will be more relationship focused.

Summary:

Many years ago, Arawn had been born as the 13th Angel and put under the care of Myrddin. One of the first things Arawn asked Myrddin was the difference between the 12 Angels and the White Angels, and Myrddin had replied that it was just two names for the same thing depending on what the speaker was particular about – numbers or appearances. He had also told Arawn, who back then was still known as Lucifer, to refer to him as father. When Lucifer later seemed down about not being able to become one of the White Angels in order to create the perfect world, Myrddin had noted that what was important was not what he became but rather what he did and achieved. Myrddin had also questioned what perfection really meant, but in the end, he had given reassurances that Lucifer would become a White Angel. He was sure because there’d soon only be 11 White Angels, and so Lucifer would get promoted.

In the meantime, the Angels had created detention facilities to hold humans until they died as part of a plan to make sure that humans went extinct. When Lucifer and Myrddin went down to one of these, they found what appears to be no survivors, but Myrddin pointed to a pile of frozen bodies, in the middle of which was a little girl who was still alive. Lucifer was surprised to hear Myrddin indicate that humans were the perfect race, and he balked at Myrddin’s suggestion to save the girl. He was even more surprised when Myrddin claimed that divine providence didn’t exist in this world and that they needed to create a new truth to make the world better. Lucifer didn’t understand this, but he knew that if Myrddin had said these things in heaven, then Myrddin would be finished. Since Lucifer didn’t want that to happen, Myrddin decided to invoke Lucifer’s name to prevent him from doing anything for a little while. He then gave the gift of fire to the little girl and told her that the long winter would soon give way to spring. To make this happen, Myrddin had started the Song of Creation which Lucifer realized would cause him to die. He wasn’t able to stop Myrddin though, and as Myrddin bid his son farewell, he disappeared in a bright light.

Preview

I initially thought that this would be a slow episode, but it actually turned out pretty interesting. It was good to see them explain what the Angels are after (and how they think), how Myrddin had a different perspective and influenced Arawn/Lucifer, and Primula’s beginnings. I’m not sure I understood everything Myrddin was referring to, particularly during that chat with Ogam, but I definitely feel that I have a better grasp of the overarching story and of why the Angels are against Arawn. Speaking of which, since this was so long ago, I thought Ogam would have looked younger, but he appeared exactly the same as he is in the present timeline. I thought that even dragons aged..? In any case, I’m not sure how all this knowledge benefits Taliesin of all people. You’d think that it’d be more useful for Arthur to allow him to better understand Arawn. Maybe the answer is in how the preview seems to indicate that Taliesin will be singing the Song of Creation. I also wonder if this is the end of the flashback and if they’re going to show how Pwyll fit into all this.

Since there’s no new episode of FMA today, this seems like a good time to talk about the PV for the second ending song which started airing on M-ON! and SSTV earlier this week. You may remember that when I wrote about the PV for the second opening song Hologram, I mentioned that I’ve been listening to LET IT OUT a lot more recently, and that still remains true. While Hologram was a much catchier song at first, after repeated listens, I much prefer LET IT OUT. I found the lyrics really fitting for FMA in relation to Ed and Al, and I love Fukuhara Miho’s voice. Combined with her looks, which you can see in the video above, she reminds me a bit of Itou Yuna. The PV itself was actually pretty interesting as well because it didn’t just have her and a band performing the song, it also told the story of the solitary-looking guy who finally lets it all out at the end.

It’s an all-around good song, and I’m happy to have heard the full version and seen the PV now after having been teased by the commercial for it these past few weeks, especially since the CD for it isn’t due out until next month. Actually, now that I think about it, September 9th isn’t so far away anymore…

Summary:

After having shot Alicia in the back, Faldio tosses aside his gun and takes her to the medical tent. Word soon reaches Welkin and Squad 7 about Alicia mysteriously getting shot, and although Welkin’s initial reaction is to want to go to her side, he realizes that he has to lead his squad into battle. He thus decides that they have to stop the Empire and protect Alicia. Over in the command tent, Damon is getting desperate in the face of the enemy advance, and he even tries to make a plea to Cordelia since he had heard that she has Valkyrur blood in her. Faldio interrupts the meeting to declare that their side has the power of the Valkyria, and since time is of the essence, he pretends to take Cordelia hostage so that he can get her lance and shield.

By the time the two of them make their way to the medical tent, they discover that Alicia has already healed herself, but she’s still unconscious. Faldio explains to Cordelia that when the body of someone with Valkyrur blood is endangered, they start to awaken as a Valkyria. He then surprises her by revealing that Alicia is descended from the Valkyrur, and he starts a visible reaction in Alicia by bringing Cordelia’s shield near her. Alicia, however, does not regain consciousness, and no matter how hard Faldio begs, she doesn’t open her eyes. It’s not until Welkin comes over the nearby radio to report Squad 7′s retreat in the face of Selvaria’s power that Alicia opens her eyes. Realizing what Alicia is responding to, Faldio begs her to save Welkin, and she proceeds to get up and power up.

Alicia then calmly heads to the battle front near Welkin and Squad 7, and everyone is surprised to see her glowing as a Valkyria. When the Imperial forces try to shoot her, she easily blocks their shots and counterattacks with her lance blast, destroying several tanks. She then faces off against Selvaria, and Selvaria finds herself unable to even touch Alicia. Shortly before she gets knocked down, Selvaria has a flashback of a young Alicia, and she’s briefly in shock afterward. Maximilian gets uneasy from seeing all this and has the Batomys fire at Alicia, but the shell has no effect, and she responds by charging at the tank. Selvaria isn’t able to stop her from destroying it, and although Maximilian survives, Jaeger decides to order a retreat. In the aftermath, Alicia returns to normal and faints into Welkin’s arms, with him still shocked about who she really is.

Preview

Well it makes sense now why Faldio shot Alicia, though I still wonder if he had to do it in such a dramatic way. Regardless, it led to the desired result of Alicia awakening as a Valkyrur. I would say that Alicia was really cool when she went into overpowered mode and completely owned Selvaria, but there’s something quite unsettling about how dead her eyes looked and how she wasn’t in control of herself. Perhaps that’s part of the reason she was more powerful than Selvaria? Selvaria obviously had control over herself, and maybe that meant that she wasn’t tapping into her full potential.

In any case, it was still a fun fight to watch, and I mainly wish that it had been better animated and longer. Actually, the animation quality of that fight scene was better than the rest of the episode, but when the overall quality is off from the norm (there were a few scenes that looked downright bad), it comes out looking only a bit better than average. I assume this won’t be the last time the two meet in battle though, especially since Selvaria seemed to flashback to young Alicia, so there should be at least one more chance for A-1 Pictures to dazzle us with a good fight. Next week’s episode, however, looks to be more about the immediate aftermath of this battle and about the revelation of Alicia’s Valkyrur blood. I worry that that idiot Damon is going to try to use Alicia for his own gain, and I’ll be quite annoyed if he does.

Oh and I almost forgot: they really scared me into thinking they were killing Largo off. I’m glad he made it out alive though.

Summary:

After a nightmare about Maria shattering into pieces, Canaan wakes up to find Maria standing over her hospital bed. Both are glad that the other is actually okay, but Canaan is bothered by how she can’t sense people’s colors anymore. Minoru meanwhile is on the phone with Maria’s father talking about survivors of the Ua Virus from the village that disappeared. Minoru suspects that Alphard’s organization somehow got the anti-virus and are using the village survivors, meaning that what happened at the village was actually human experimentation. In response to this, Maria’s father thinks that there’d be clues in the village. Meanwhile, at Santana’s shop, Hakko has a flashback to how she watched a child die from the Ua Virus while in a facility somewhere. She’s only able to find solace from these memories by drinking and kissing Santana.

Back at the hospital, Canaan is discharged, but she still feels lost without the colors she’s used to sensing, Maria decides to take her out for some fun, and they happen to find a live concert being held in an open area. What they don’t realize it that Hakko is there too, and when she tries to sing along with the song, it causes everyone around her great pain, including Maria and Canaan. Hakko doesn’t realize it and stop until she hears a child crying, and afterward, Canaan leads Maria away from the area. All of this has made Canaan aware of the fact that she can no longer protect Maria without the colors she’s used to seeing. Minoru, meanwhile, goes to confront Santana about Hakko, and Hakko and Santana decide to take him, Maria, and Canaan to her old village. On the car trip west, Canaan notices that Hakko is looking at her funny, but for the time being, neither of them act on it.

When they stop for the night, Maria admires the stars with Canaan and tells her about the encounter with Alphard. She then segues into how she used to feel empty and how Canaan shined, and Maria had wanted to be at Canaan’s side so that she herself could one day shine. She wants Canaan to always be with her, and the two hold hands. Later that night, after everyone else has fallen asleep, Hakko tries to strangle Canaan, but Canaan is able to fight her off. Hakko then runs away, so Canaan chases after her, and Santana soon wakes up and notices that they’re missing. Santana’s yelling for Hakko wakes Minoru, and Santana ends up revealing that Hakko hasn’t forgiven him for erasing her village. Canaan meanwhile catches up with Hakko and questions if Hakko hates her, but she can’t figure out Hakko’s true feelings without being able to see the colors. Hakko eventually gets back up and silently tells Canaan that it’s her fault, but she goes back to the car. The next morning, the only one unaware of what happened is Maria. Everyone’s attention though is soon turned towards a long figure biking down the road: Yunyun.

Preview

After the action and tension in the last two episodes, this week was a bit of a let-down. It had Canaan lamenting at every turn that she couldn’t see those colors anymore, which was fine at first, but it got repetitive after the third or fourth time. I suspect that the ability will come back either sometime during their visit to the village or in a really bad situation when Maria’s life in danger. The episode also had a few confusing scenes where a lot of political buzzwords got thrown around, including the one where Alphard talks to the U.S. vice-president. I don’t know if the writers are trying to make a political point about the U.S.’s foreign policy or if it’s a precursor to something big happening in the story, but I don’t think conversations like that are the most interesting way to develop the story.

What I did find amusing was the friendship scene between Maria and Canaan. They should have kissed or something in that scene since they’re basically like lovers without any of the overt romance/lesbianism. In any case, I liked all the Hakko character development as well, and of course it was nice to see Yunyun again. I don’t think that all that much time has passed since we last saw her though (in real-life or in the series), so it’s kind of odd that she’s back already. Then again, this show is only a single season long, and it’s probably important to have her around when they reach the village. As for next episode, I’m looking forward to Liang Qi coming back and attacking with a helicopter – that should be fun to watch, and maybe Canaan will get her powers back.

Show Spoiler for Bleach Chapter 370 ▼

I’ve also been reading the new Great Teacher Onizuka series called GTO – Shonan 14 Days which started a couple of months ago in Weekly Shounen Magazine and is a side-story to the original manga in which Onizuka goes to help out at a home for neglected and abused children. It retains a lot of the same elements that made the original good and has some very familiar disaffected youth types to go along with Onizuka’s antics, so it’s been a fun read so far. You can read the first chapters here.

Summary:

Koyomi doesn’t tell Hitagi what really happened and instead claims that he crashed into a telephone pole. Since he needs to stay still for a while to heal himself, Hitagi decides to stand over his face so that she’s exposing herself to him as a train roars past on the nearby tracks. Sometime later, Koyomi visits Suruga’s house and finds her room a mess, so he helps her clean it up. Koyomi is there to confront her about what happened, but she apologizes first and confirms what he suspected. She eventually un-bandages and shows him her arm, and Koyomi immediately realizes that she’s got what looks like a monkey’s paw. In touching it, he can feel that it’s alive, and Suruga tells him that it sometimes moves against her will. Even though she knows that it was she who attacked him last night, she doesn’t really remember it, and Koyomi thinks that she was in a trance. Suruga then surprises him by revealing that she’s a lesbian, and before his imagination can take him too far, she explains that she had an unrequited love for Hitagi.

Suruga had heard, however, that Hitagi had changed after entering high school, and she felt that she had to help her, but Hitagi rejected her. When Suruga later saw Hitagi happily chatting with Koyomi, she became jealous, but through all her emotion, she still wanted to be at Hitagi’s side, so she made a wish with the paw. Given all this, Koyomi decides to take Suruga to see Oshino, but along the way, she offers her body to Koyomi in place of Hitagi’s. After some banter, he ultimately tells her that she can’t replace Hitagi, and the two continue on to Oshino’s place, past a sulking Shinobu on the way up the stairs. After Koyomi introduces Suruga to Oshino, she shows her arm to him, and Oshino asserts that she doesn’t have a monkey’s paw. He’s never heard of one that joined with a person’s arm, so he thinks that this is instead a rainy devil. It can still grant three wishes, but it is in exchange for the person’s soul.

Preview

It’s been less than two weeks, but I’ve somehow managed to almost completely forget what happened last episode, so I had to flip through that first to remind myself. In any case, this episode started with a great Hitagi scene (how does she even think of these things…) and had several amusing moments later, like Koyomi’s reaction to Suruga saying that she was a lesbian and then the whole boys love thing. For once I didn’t actually feel that any part of it was slow, but it’s not until the final scene with Oshino that things got really interesting. I guess the monkey’s paw thing was too obvious and overdone, so the author decided to throw in a more original twist with the rainy devil. At least, I’ve never heard of anything by that name in any type of lore, but it does somewhat resemble Faust. I’m curious though as to what actually happens if all three wishes get granted; i.e. what does it mean that a devil gets her soul? I wonder too what clever way will Oshino propose to get rid of it, and fortunately, we only have to wait one week for the next episode to see the conclusion.

Summary:

The day after they procured all their equipment, Kyon is surprised to see that Haruhi has dressed Mikuru up in a waitress outfit. This is Mikuru’s costume for the movie, and Haruhi doesn’t care that Mikuru is completely embarrassed to be wearing it. Haruhi also loves Yuki in the mage costume that she’s using for her class’s fortune-telling activity. She’s already decided on the characters that everyone is going to play, and Kyon is shocked to find that’s she’s managed to assign each of them to roles which mirror real-life: Mikuru as a battle waitress from the future, Itsuki as an esper, and Yuki as an evil alien. Itsuki laughs it off and doesn’t think much of it because it’s only a movie, and he doubts that Haruhi really thinks that he’s an esper. He does warn Kyon though to be watch himself more carefully since, unlike Itsuki and Yuki who have others like them, Kyon has no understudy.

The next day, Haruhi leads the group back to the electronics store to do their shooting, but she’s starting with the commercials. As Kyon quickly figures out, this is what Haruhi had promised to the store owner in exchange for the camera. Haruhi even decides that Mikuru should be doing the commercial in the bunny-girl costume instead of the waitress one, and it’s not for just the electronics store; it’s for the model shop too. Mikuru is completely embarrassed after an afternoon of shooting, but Haruhi doesn’t seem to care and is now ready to shoot the actual movie. When Kyon asks to see the script though, Haruhi explains that it’s all in her head. They continue shooting the following day at a park, and when Mikuru tries to offer Kyon a drink that she had already drank part of, Haruhi takes the bottle away. As part of Mikuru’s costume today, Haruhi is having her wear a blue contact lens in her left eye, and Haruhi doesn’t tell Kyon the secret meaning behind it. Regardless, the scenes they end up shooting include Mikuru running and her fighting with Yuki. When Kyon protests about the story, Haruhi asserts that they’ll put it all together during the editing stage and that they don’t have to think deeply about it now.

Thoughts:

This was a decent episode, and I laughed when Haruhi was giving Mikuru directions on how to do the commercial, but on the whole there’s not much special about it. It showed that Mikuru is as helpless as ever against Haruhi (which admittedly is quite cute), and even if he wanted to protect her, Kyon couldn’t do much except protest. It was amusing though to see how annoyed Haruhi looked when Mikuru tried to offer her bottle to Kyon. If Kyon ever wanted to get Haruhi pissed off, he just needs to get visibly closer to Mikuru. Also, the beginning of the episode also felt a little weird because they picked up at the exact random spot that last episode ended on (it wasn’t even anything important), and I would guess that next week will pick up from exactly where this one ends. That’s fine if you’re marathoning the episodes from the DVD or something, but a little bit confusing if you’re watching it weekly and don’t remember the exact details.

Summary:

After the two of them escape from Charlotte’s over-protective butler, Charlotte reveals to Teppei that her foot is hurt, and he decides to carry her to the infirmary. Charlotte uses the chance to get Teppei to promise to take her to eat at a place his family owns, but in the meantime, their attention is turned to the sudden parachute arrival of a man named Hartmann Bezelheim. Sylvia recognizes him as a businessman from Hazellink, and everyone, including Sylvia, is surprised when he introduces himself as Charlotte’s fiancé. Hartmann plans to stay for a while and has some business with Teppei’s grandfather, and after he leaves the school grounds, Charlotte doesn’t want to talk about her engagement. Teppei acts like he doesn’t mind though and still wants to take her out to eat. Later that night, Sylvia overhears her father talking angrily on the phone about their home country, and she confronts Charlotte about it the next day. As it turns out, there is a secret nuclear weapon storage facility being constructed under the border between their two countries which could threaten their countries’ relations, but Charlotte claims to know nothing about it.

Afterward, Charlotte gets a text message from Teppei saying that he wants to talk with her tonight at the Arima Hills location that she wanted to eat at. Teppei goes there in person to make the arrangements, and while he’s at the front desk, he runs into Hartmann. Hartmann just wanted to greet him, and while Teppei is away from his phone, he misses a call from Charlotte. Hartmann then goes on to meet with Teppei’s grandfather and Sylvia’s father about the situation regarding their respective countries. Charlotte meanwhile gets another text message from Teppei telling when and where to meet, so she sneaks out of home and heads there. The room is empty though, and Teppei is actually back at his house practicing with his sword. When he gets another phone call, he realizes that he’s been missing Charlotte’s calls all night, but when he tries to call her back, no one picks up. Shortly thereafter, he gets a text message referencing what happened to his parents and threatening the person who loves him. Unbeknownst to Teppei, the power at Arima Hills has been cut off, and a force of armed men have arrived.

Preview

Well it was pretty obvious that the new guy was going to be Charlotte’s fiancé, but I was caught off guard by the sudden change in the show’s mood. It went from parody and hilarity last episode to very serious this episode with talk of nuclear weapons and with armed men showing up at the end and in the preview. Not that this is necessarily a bad thing – I like how they’re integrating the more typical harem stuff with the intrigue and mystery of who Teppei’s parents’ killer/family enemy is. I wasn’t sure when they were going to come back to that part of the story, and it’s good to see that they’re not neglecting it.

In any case, it seems pretty clear that the most suspicious person is Hartmann’s assistant, especially given all the random shots focused on her. Of course it could be a red herring and she could be an agent on the good guy’s side, but I’m more inclined to believe that she’s in cahoots with the bad guys. I’m also confused as to why Charlotte dropped her cell phone and looked like she’s doubled-over in pain at the end. She looks fine in the preview for next episode though, so I don’t know what’s going on. I just wonder if something bad is going to happen to her given how relatively early they’ve been cementing the fact that they’re going down the CharlotteXTeppei path. I’m very curious to see what happens, and if the preview is any indicator, next time will have plenty of action.

Summary:

After dismissing Sode no Shirayuki, Muramasa proceeds to lecture Ichigo on how Zanpakutou are souls born inside the heart of the Shinigami. Muramasa feels that the Zanpakutou aren’t part of the Shinigami though and are their own separate entities, and he also reveals that he used Rukia to lure Ichigo here. When Ichigo tries to fight him, Ichigo finds that he’s unable to land any hits, and Muramasa counterattacks by casting a disorienting spell. With Ichigo unable to do anything, Muramasa is able to separate Zangetsu from him, and Ichigo barely has any time to defend himself before Zangetsu attacks. Just as it looks like Ichigo is finished though, his Hollow side pops out and launches a furious assault. He’s able to match Zangetsu move for move, and when Zangetsu appears to hurt him, Ichigo just becomes even more Hollowfied. After Hollow Ichigo overwhelms Zangetsu with a cero blast, Muramasa re-enters the fight, but his attack is quickly healed up. Hollow Ichigo seems ready to take on Muramasa, however Ichigo refuses to give up his body to his Hollow side, and he fights to regain control of himself. He succeeds, but he’s too exhausted to fight afterward, and he collapses in front of Muramasa.

Preview

There was a considerable drop in animation quality in the middle of this episode (the scene between Nemu, Isane, and Unohana in particular looked horrible), but it didn’t bother me later on, and I have to say that I really enjoyed watching the Hollow Ichigo vs. Zangetsu fight. Admittedly, a lot of it is redux from the last time Ichigo became so Hollowfied, but that was so long ago and against different opponents, so this still felt fresh. It’s a damn shame though that Ichigo decided to regain control of himself before his Hollow side could take care of Muramasa. Without Zangetsu, it’s the only other thing he had going for him, and yet he throws away the advantage. It doesn’t look like Muramasa is going to kill him though. From the preview, it seems as if Muramasa is instead going to make an appeal to Hollow Ichigo or something inside Ichigo’s inner world.

Haruko pulls off a sexier maid than Maria. No wonder the latter got sidelined this episode.

When I can’t recall the seiyuu of a character, it usually means they’ve fallen far off my radar. This was the case with Harukaze Chiharu a.k.a. “Haruko”, who’s played Fujimura Ayumi (Shimizu Raimei in Nabari no Ou). Oddly, Ayumi is a seiyuu I normally take notice to, so learning that she plays the student council secretary who secretly works as a maid for Sakuya suddenly put Haruko in a whole new light. See above.

Hayate, let a dead man peep at Maria changing in peace! (…or else we can’t watch damnit!)

“It’s not the same without the MAID SPIRIT!”

I don’t ever recall hearing Suwabe Jun’ichi go off on a whining rant like he did with Ryne Regeoster this episode, but damn was it hilarious. “She’s not a maid at all! I can’t rest in peace without the maid spirit. Hell, I don’t want to!” That was probably the comedic highlight of the episode for me, simply because I’ve never heard Jun’ichi do that with his voice. Good stuff.

Note: I realize there’s some discrepancy over the spelling of his name, but Ryne Regeoster seems to be English spelling the Japanese use.

Hina feeling lonely in the student council room. I would gladly keep her “company”.

Who would’ve thought that Wataru is a maid maniac. You think you know someone and then the truth comes out.

Epic maid turn fail.

Saki senses Wataru’s “manly” desires and refuses to put out. A maid with a flustered face is pure win.

Alone in a dark room with the TV on. Let’s hope Ryne’s hands aren’t where they appear to be…

It was blatantly obvious that they wanted to totally disregard Maria as the token maid character of the series, but I enjoyed it nonetheless because she didn’t do anything to deserve it. If anything, I guess it’s what she gets for being too perfect all the time. i.e. Completely ignored.

It’s like a pet cat striving to get some attention… and not getting any.

Wataru’s emphatic hand gestures were just too awesome. He’s a maid maniac in everyone’s eyes whether he likes it or not.

Newtype senses are tingling. Short skirts, who would’ve thought!

“Nico! Nicoco!” I only enjoyed the fake smiles as much as I did because of Sakuya’s laughter. It’s contagious.

For anyone with an Isumi fetish.

Despite the April date at the beginning of the episode, I admittedly didn’t see this concluding as an April Fool’s joke. This week wasn’t as amusing as previous weeks, nor did it have any advancement in Hayate’s relationships, but it did have its moments. A tearful Isumi being one of them.

“Prepare to get exorcised you meddling dead priest. April Fools this!”

I sense some real fear here. Isumi means business!

Haru’s secret identity revealed. She’s none other than Haruko! /gasp

Hayate’s not too happy about being forced to crossdress (as usual). “Hurry up and die in peace!”

Summary:

Based on the research that he’s done on the Valkyrur, Faldio remains concerned about Alicia but still hasn’t figured out what to do. Lamar meanwhile has a hard time adjusting to how Zaka has replaced Isara, but he feels better after talking to Faldio. Over on the side of the Empire, Maximilian reveals to Selvaria and Jaeger that he’s being stripped of the command authority, but he’s not letting that slow him down and is deploying his forces along with Selvaria armed with some special weapons. They and the Gallia military meet in battle on the Naggiar Plain, and while Faldio and Squad 1 see immediate action, Welkin and Squad 7 are kept at the main camp doing support tasks. Cordelia also visits the camp to rally the troops, and she happens to bring along her ceremonial Valkyrur lance and shield. Things look bad for the Gallia side when Maximilian’s massive Batomys tank rolls onto the battle front and starts shelling them, but Faldio notices that the tank’s radiators become exposed after every shot.

Faldio thus has his men concentrate their fire on that, and it successfully slows the Batomys down. Right as it looks like the tide is turning though, Maximilian unleashes Selvaria’s power, and she wipes out an entire line of tanks with one shot. When Faldio tries to organize a counterattack against her, Selvaria fires in a circular motion around her, killing everyone. Faldio is saved only because Lamar pushes him into a trench, but it is at the cost of Lamar’s own life. Faldio doesn’t regain consciousness until after Selvaria has left the battlefield and there’s a lull in the fighting, and he’s picked up by a search team. In shock over the loss, Faldio doesn’t speak to anyone back at camp until Alicia comes to check on him in his tent, and even then, he can only utter her name. Seeing her reminds him of Selvaria, and remembering also the Valkyrur lance and shield that Cordelia brought, Faldio realizes something. It leads to him pulling out his gun and shooting Alicia in the back as she’s walking away from him, and she crumbles onto the ground.

Preview

Wow, that was quite a turn of events. If anyone was going to die, I thought it would have been Faldio, but instead they kill off everyone around him, including the often annoying Lamar (I guess there’s no point in keeping him around if Isara is already dead), and now Faldio seems like a shell of the man he was before. In one fell swoop, he’s has gone from being the guy who was a better protagonist than Welkin to being the guy who’s so unhinged that he shoots Alicia in the back.

At least, I thought he was unhinged at first and had shot Alicia out of new-found hatred towards the Valkyrur, but that didn’t make sense given how he thought of Cordelia’s Valkyria lance and shield and given how he apologized to Alicia before pulling the trigger. Maybe in some weird twisted way, he believes doing this will save lives, or maybe he knows something about her that we don’t. Either way, Alicia obviously isn’t dead yet since we haven’t seen her awaken her powers and since she’s probably the only one who can stand up against Selvaria’s overpowered abilities. It made for a great cliffhanger regardless, and I noticed that the preview doesn’t actually have any shots of her. It does show Faldio looking like he’s back to normal though, so I assume things work out.

Summary:

The first thing that Hohenheim brings up upon seeing Ed is how he heard about the failed human transmutation. He also accuses Ed of burning down their old house because Ed was running away from bad memories and wanted to hide what he had done. Despite this contentious meeting though, he goes with Ed back to Pinako’s place, and later that night, he enters Ed’s room and almost pats a sleeping Ed on the head. He then asks Pinako if it was really his wife in terms of her physical features that his sons transmuted, and Pinako is surprised at the implication that it wasn’t Trisha. This shocks Ed as well since he had been secretly trying to listen in. Back in Central, Winry gets mad at Ling for suggesting that Al’s body is really convenient. She can still remember how, back when he first got it, Al had realized that his armored body couldn’t sleep.

At around the same time, Ed has a nightmare where he’s accused of being responsible for putting Al in that body. He wakes up to Pinako yelling to him about his father leaving, but he doesn’t see Hohenheim off. Hohenheim pockets a picture of the entire Elric family before heading out, and he also warns Pinako to run away to another country because something bad will happen soon in this one. Later that day, Ed has Pinako take him to where she buried the corpse of the failed transmutation. Despite his mental determination, Ed’s body revolts and he’s greatly pained as he tries to dig it back up. He soldiers on though and eventually succeeds in digging up what’s left of the corpse. Inspecting it confirms what Hohenheim had been implying – that it wasn’t Trisha – and Ed now believes that Al can return to his original body.

In light of this, Ed calls Izumi to see if what she transmuted was actually her child, but she doesn’t answer him and hangs up. Before leaving Resembool, he visits the graves of Winry’s parents and tells Pinako what he found out about them. Pinako also reveals that Trisha’s last request was to tell Hohenheim that she couldn’t keep her promise with him and that she’s sorry. Pinako doesn’t know what the promise was referring to though, and she had forgotten to pass the message along to Hohenheim. Ed then takes a train back to Central and is surprised to find part of Al’s armor missing. After transmuting it back to normal, he tells his brother about what he found out concerning the corpse and how he’s confident that Al can get his body back. Since he was able to get Al’s soul from the other side of the Gate, then that means they can get the body back too.

Along these lines, Al remembers that back when he was inside the Truth, he saw himself. He also remembers being able to see out from inside the creature that they transmuted, but his soul hadn’t been permanently fixed onto it. Ed then gets a call from Izumi because she had confirmed that what she transmuted wasn’t her child, and she thanks him. Sharing similar sentiments, Al admits that he had blamed himself for what happened, and he’s now relieved to know that he hadn’t actually killed his mother. Al also doesn’t want Ed burdening only himself with the responsibility of getting his body back. Recounting how his feelings about living with this body have changed, Al declares that he doesn’t want nights alone anymore. The two brothers are thus determined to get Al’s body back from the Truth, and, watching them from behind, Winry notices how big Ed’s back is.

Preview

Hohenheim’s appearance wasn’t quite as great as I’d hoped it’d be since he wasn’t around for very long. He veered between being soft-spoken and creepy, and he disappeared again as quickly as he appeared, so I’m still not quite sure what to make of him. I’m not ready to call him a villain, but he seems cognizant though of what’s going on in terms of the overarching plot concerning the entire country. The rest of the episode felt like a long-winded way to figure out that Al’s body still exists on the other side of the Gate, which didn’t seem like a very big revelation to me, but it was nice at least to see them work Izumi into it and for the brothers to be back together. I don’t know if their determination is going to amount to anything though because returning to the Gate isn’t such an easy endeavor.

On a different note, I assume Winry’s line at the end is the start of her noticing him more as a man and potential romantic interest. It was a nice way to end the episode, and it makes me think that this particular aspect is going to get more focus in the near future. Speaking of which, there is no new episode of FMA next week thanks to the 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics. Episode 21 will air August 30th, 2009. Also, the official site announced a few days ago that Sukima Switch will be singing the third OP, and I’ve very excited about that because I love their music.