Random Curiosity

Summary:

Canaan has arrived at the conference hall and makes her way past the guards, dodging and running with such speed that they end up shooting each other. Liang Qi wants to do something about it, and much to her shock, Alphard no longer cares what she does. Meanwhile, the White House has learned of the Ua Virus being released, and the U.S. vice-president’s first option is to get the anti-virus developed by Maria’s father in Japan. However, his car appears to get hit with a bomb soon after he departs, and his apparent death leaves the vice-president no choice but to take the drastic measure of bombing the conference hall. Back in the control room, Maria questions why Alphard is using the Ua Virus, and this gets Alphard angry. After telling the world leaders that they’re going to die, she explains to Maria that there used to be a mercenary who trained young girls, and they were all called Canaan. Alphard, however, has abandoned that name.

Alphard then leaves the facility with Cummings, and shortly thereafter, Canaan arrives to save Maria. Unfortunately, the bomber is now closing in on the facility, and Canaan gets a call from Natsume who is using some of Santana’s old equipment. The plan is to change the bomb’s target, and Natsume needs Canaan’s help. Meanwhile, Maria’s father arrives safely outside the conference hall after everyone had thought that he had died. The bomb has already been dropped though, and no one can call it back, so Canaan is forced to use the full extent of her powers on the GPS guidance system. The bomb impacts moments later, and fortunately, Canaan was able to get it to miss. Both she and Maria are okay, and Maria is ecstatic. When the two of them go out onto the roof afterward though, Canaan suddenly starts feeling dizzy, and she realizes that she can no longer see the colors that she usually can.

Preview

Now that was an intense episode. Coming into this, I thought that it would be more focused on Canaan fighting her way through the building to save Maria, perhaps even going up against Liang Qi at some point, but that was a surprisingly small part of the episode. Instead, there was a lot more movie-esque action-thriller-type material with a race against the clock and some White House politics and stealth bombers thrown in. There was never any doubt that Canaan and Maria would survive, but the episode still kept me on the edge of my seat, and I loved every minute of it. In fact, I didn’t even miss the fact that Canaan didn’t get to fight Liang Qi or Alphard again, though now that she appears to have lost her powers, I’m not sure I’d want to see those fights anymore because I imagine she would lose horribly. Canaan might be able to find a way to beat Liang Qi (who I bet is going to come after her pretty soon), but she’ll likely need her powers back before trying to take on Alphard again. Regardless, I’m very curious to see how things play out from here, and I’d love it if they can keep the intensity level this high.

Summary:

After all the damage sustained during the battle, Arthur and his men have started rebuilding Avalon. Limwris and Ermin meanwhile start replanting some of the flowers destroyed, and Riannon is reminded of how she and Arthur used to play in fields of flowers when they were young. As it turns out, Arthur had been thinking the same thing. A short while later, everyone meets with Decimus who had just returned from the Empire, and he tells them about the chaos with the murders of several Senate members, leading Arawn and Ogam to think that the White Angels have begun to act. Decimus also reports that there are rumors of a dark force coming, and Ogam thinks that it’s the result of something called the Cauldron of Resurrection which can create armies from the dead. To combat this, they decide to remove a magic seal on the nearby mountain so that the ensuing avalanche will take care of the enemy force. In order to pull this off though, they need the help of some giants.

The night prior to everyone setting out, Taliesin admits to Riannon that he’s afraid because he knows that his fate hasn’t changed. He asks her to look into his future, and when she does, a part of her tells him that there’s a considerable hardship coming that he can’t avoid. When she regains control of herself though, Riannon notes that she thinks fate can still be changed. Epona then comes to call Riannon away, and Taliesin uses the chance to tease Epona again. He also tells her of a story of long ago when he got lost and had heard an elf’s beautiful singing, and that led him to become a minstrel. Epona gets embarrassed about this, but after Taliesin walks off, she starts singing herself, and he realizes that it had been her after all.

The next day, everyone sets out to visits the giants on the mountain, and they have to go through a series of caves. Along the way, Taliesin gets separated from everyone else because he hears something and goes to investigate. Taliesin soon finds himself in a dragon graveyard that is also the site of some dragon eggs. By chance, one of the eggs hatches, and the baby dragon that emerges takes a liking to him. It then leads him through a passageway that ends in an area which resembles a prison. Taliesin senses that this is not a good place to be but is overcome to the point where he collapses. He then hears a recorded voice welcoming him to this forbidden place. The voice and figure in front of him introduces itself as Lucifer, and it offers to teach him the true shape of this world.

ED Sequence

ED: 「Weeping alone 」 by 結城アイラ (Yuuki Aira)
Watch the ED! Mirror 1, Mirror 2, Show Spoiler ▼

Since it’s so late in the series, I was surprised to see it get a new ending song, but I really can’t complain here because it’s a pretty good one with some nice images of the female cast to go along with it.

Preview

After all that action in the previous episodes, this was a decent way to put in some plot and character development prior to what I assume will be the final battle/arc. I’m a bit surprised though that Taliesin of all people is getting so much focus since I hadn’t pegged him as a really important character. But now he’s got a dragon sidekick and is about to learn everything about (what I assume to be) Arawn’s past, plus there’s still all that ominous stuff about his future, so it looks like he’ll be a major player after all. The Epona stuff was sort of random though, and I wonder if that has any impact on the story other than to show some of Taliesin’s past.

As for the new enemy force, I’m kind of disappointed that it sounds like it’s just another undead group, but at least Arawn and company are tackling the problem in a different way. They seem like a distraction from the real enemy though, and I’m still waiting to see how Arawn and Arthur are going to deal with the Angels. I don’t think there’s enough episodes left in the series to show them conquering the Empire and defeating the main villain, so I’m expecting something more unconventional. Regardless, the preview makes next episode look pretty interesting.

Summary:

With Lunatec’s redevelopment plans shelved, Dan, Sela, and Navi are free to practice on the streets of Turbine City. While watching them, Miyuki and Flora manage to get Haruka to talk about herself and James. Back when she was young, Haruka took a kindergarten trip to the border between the light and dark sides of the moon. She had gotten lost and entered the dark and forbidden side of the moon, and that’s when she saw giant footprints on the ground. That led her to become a shoes designer, and James was the first person to listen to her story about the footprints without laughing. This was the start of their relationship, and Flora suspects that she still likes him. Miyuki’s attention is then turned to a noise from Dan’s Bigfoot, and she watches as it crashes onto the ground. Upon inspection, Miyuki finds that its drive system is broken, and while she can repair it, it’s a symptom of a larger problem: the pilots’ abilities are exceeding the machine’s capabilities.

What’s more, Miyuki has seen dangerous rises in the power reactor output, and she wants to do a complete upgrade, but she can’t with their current equipment. Her grandfather reminds her that she would also need some special data on the power system, and the only place to get it is Area 0, the Bigfoot holy hand and the place where her father died. The group arrives there after a short drive, and Miyuki’s grandfather is able to access her father’s research data. Miyuki, however, wants to work on this by herself in order to become a better engineer, and she’s so occupied with the work that she neglects sleeping and eating. Her grandfather doesn’t mind letting her push herself though, and he tells the others of how his son tried to evolve the Bigfoot drive system by recreating the legendary giants via machines, but it led to an accident. When Miyuki finally takes a break, she explains to Dan that her grandfather wanted to improve people’s lives with Bigfoots, so it really pained them to hear about what happened to Coco. Dan, however, reveals that he doesn’t hate Bigfoots anymore, and he points out that they wouldn’t be here today without them.

Miyuki eventually finishes, and Dan, Sela, and Flora are able to try their upgraded Bigfoots that now have very smooth movements. Seeing them in action, her grandfather even compliments her on a job well done, and he recognizes her coming of age. By the time the pilots return to rave about the upgrade, Miyuki is already asleep from exhaustion. Meanwhile, Rouge is lost inside her own conscious, but her memories of Dan suddenly start disappearing. She then wakes up and finds herself in a lab with Thousand watching over her. Rouge realizes that she’s crying, but Thousand tells her not to worry about it and suggests that it was because of a sad dream. Back on Earthdash, Miyuki leaves flowers at the spot where her father died, and she feels that Dan and friends and their Bigfoots will reach the moon someday. A little later, as Dan and Navi are packing up, they are alerted by Sela to a press conference being shown on TV. In it, Violette and Citron announce that Eclipse is disbanding following their next concert in the Skybloom Kingdom.

Preview and Changed ED Sequence

As you can see above, they changed the ending animation again, this time to add more focus on the Eclipse girls. It coincides with Eclipse’s return to the story and the culmination of Yang/Lunatec’s plot (whatever it is), but more importantly, Rouge is finally back. I’m not surprised though that her memories of Dan appear to have been deleted, and this probably sets up for an ending where Dan has to remind her of him and her memories come back in the heat of battle (or in this case, Basquash) or something. I’m not expecting anything horribly original from this, but maybe they’ll surprise me.

As for this episode, it was mostly Miyuki focused with a little bit of Haruka stuff at the beginning. I like the character development that they’ve given to both of them, and there were some nice scenes, but the lack of anything MiyukiXDan along with the conclusion of Miyuki’s story – and I assume this is all the character development she’s going to get since we’re already at episode 20 – seems to indicate that they’re not going to have her fight for Dan’s affections after all. You might remember that back in episode 13, I was critical because Miyuki’s frustrations about Dan’s relationship with Rouge came as an afterthought, and here we are seven episodes later, and it looks like they’ve decided to abandon that subplot. They shouldn’t have even bothered in the first place.

In any case, it looks like the story might be headed back to Skybloom next time, and we’ll see more of Flora’s father and the Eclipse girls. However, there’s no new episode of Basquash next week thanks to the 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics. Episode 21 will thus air August 27th, 2009.

Summary:

After the athletic festival in which the SOS Brigade wins a relay race thanks mostly to Yuki’s surprising speed, Haruhi sets her sights on the upcoming culture festival. Unhappy with what her and Kyon’s class is doing, she starts brainstorming and finds out that Mikuru’s class is doing a yakisoba cafe, Itsuki’s is putting on a play, and Yuki’s is doing fortune-telling. Haruhi ultimately announces though that the SOS Brigade will put on a screening of their own movie for the culture festival, and it all stems from how she saw a bad movie the previous night and thought that she could do better. She’s already thought up a script, and her goal is to win the festival’s best event poll so that the student council recognizes them as a club. As for production costs, Haruhi plans to use the literature club’s budget thanks to Yuki.

The next day, Kyon arrives in the club room to find that Haruhi has already assigned roles for everyone. Mikuru and Itsuki are the female and male leads while Yuki plays a supporting character, and Kyon himself is supposed to do all the technical and labor-intensive work. Haruhi then drags Kyon and Mikuru along to go get equipment and props from potential sponsors. Their first stop is an electronics store, and after a discussion with the store manager, Haruhi emerges with a video camera. She doesn’t explain exactly how she convinced the guy, but once Haruhi does the same at another store, Kyon figures out that it has something to do with how she’s pointing at Mikuru each time. Haruhi is thus able to procure some toy weapons for the action scene, and she has Kyon hold onto everything for the time being.

Thoughts:

Thanks to Endless Eight for eight weeks, I had a very weird feeling while watching this episode. I had gotten so used to each character’s exact mannerisms in the Endless Eight arc that I had forgotten how they interacted with each other normally. This episode thus served as a good reminder and as a refreshing change of pace. As I said earlier, it was mostly a set-up episode for the Mikuru movie/episode which we’re all familiar with, and, knowing what the final product will be like, it was interesting seeing how everything came together. There was also the athletic festival scene at the beginning that was amusing thanks to Yuki, so overall I thought this was a decent episode. If you hate KyoAni and/or this series thanks to the previous eight weeks, then this episode alone probably won’t make you significantly better about it, but the material might be a good start. In any case, since they’re still going chronologically, the next few weeks should be more of how the movie was made and then finally episode 00 itself.

Fortunately, KyoAni didn’t try to pull something by airing another episode of Endless Eight or anything like that. They actually moved forward with the Sighs of Suzumiya Haruhi, which means showing how the Mikuru movie came to be. It was a decent set-up episode with, not surprisingly, a lot of Haruhi bossing everyone around along with Kyon’s snide comments, plus it started with a brief sports festival bit. Full writeup coming in a bit…

Summary:

The idea that Teppei came up with for his party was to take everyone on a trip to the hot springs so that they can experience the vacation of normal people. The girls and the boys end up having separate rooms, but the guys led by Teppei are already planning on how to peek during bath time. The girls, however, are prepared, and Sylvia even brings her sword with her into the bath. The guys’ attempts are thus thwarted, and Seika is furious, but Charlotte is more forgiving. Because of this, the guys and girls are able to have a lot of fun playing ping-pong and doing other activities together. When it comes time to sleep, the girls talk about how they had fun, and Charlotte notes how Teppei was able to change them all. She observes that all of them like him, and since Sylvia is still unsure about the marriage thing, she guesses that Teppei will someday fall in love with someone. Given this, the girls decide to make a pact so that, whoever Teppei ends up choosing, there won’t be any bitterness or jealousy.

Preview

This episode was almost entirely devoid of plot until the final couple of minutes, but it managed to be quite hilarious, so I was highly entertained throughout. The random magical girl battle to start the episode, the multiple breakings of the fourth wall, the OP cutting into the episode, and those meta-references to the fog were all great. On the subject, I don’t know why they even bothered to use all that fog this episode since the girls were already covered up most of those times by towels, but at least the staff can joke about it.

The one bit of plot development that was present (in what was a nice scene to end the episode) was that pact which would seem to ensure that things won’t turn really nasty at the end – like a School Days or even a Shuffle-esque ending – but I’m not so sure it’ll hold up. It does though seem to make things less about the girls since they’ve now all acknowledged that they like him and more about Teppei’s own decision. Regardless, it doesn’t change my belief that Teppei will end up with Charlotte if he ends up with anyone at all. From the preview for next week, it looks like they might be introducing Charlotte’s fiancé already, and that might explain why she acted like she did last episode.

Today I have the privilege of bringing a new PV to your attention (read: made to do). The ending single for the popular supernatural series Bakemonogatari, “Kimi no Shiranai Monogatari” (Your Unknown Story), was released today and along with it, the PV for the song.

Prior to hearing this song, I didn’t know anything about supercell. Even now, I still claim to know nothing except for the fact that they’re a unit comprised of Nico Nico Douga creators/performers. Centered around their composer “ryo”, who was responsible for a bunch of popular Hatsune Miku songs, and their vocalist “Gazelle” a.k.a. “nagi”, who was supposedly a really famous Nico Nico Douga singer before deciding to “retire” from the scene, supercell makes me wonder if the likes of Hollywood would ever look to YouTube to find amateur artists to perform the theme song for their next blockbuster hit. Hella unlikely I bet. However, this does go to show how you can make it big via online videos in Japan.

Being the “Internet people” that they are, apparently many of the members haven’t made any TV appearances yet. As such, it still remains a mystery as to how some of them look. According to Patrik, maybe they’re “ugly” and don’t want people to be turned away from their music based on how they look. We jest, but I’m inclined to think that way since people tend to be pretty shallow in showbiz. In any case, this probably explains why the PV features good looking actors/actresses in a story-like setting. Even if this kind of PV isn’t your thing, listening to the song alone makes it worth the watch.

Oh yeah, Omni said the main girl, played by Fukunaga Marika (福永 マリカ), is pretty cute. Personally, I’m edging towards Kitade Naho (北出 菜穂) but only after seeing her profile shot. Enjoy~

Summary:

Rukia returns to Soul Society concerned about Byakuya, but he’s still missing according to Renji. While wandering around thinking about him, Rukia happens to come across Sode no Shirayuki terrorizing some Shinigami, so she steps in to stop her. Sode no Shirayuki makes it a point to say that she’s now free and can do what she wants, and in the ensuing battle, she shows that Rukia has a hard time fighting without her Zanpakutou techniques. Rukia tries to counter with a kidou spell, but Sode no Shirayuki has no problem protecting herself with a barrier of ice. As she dodges the counterattack, Rukia wonders why Sode no Shirayuki seems to hate her, and she remembers her joy practicing her techniques in front of Kaien many years ago. Just when it looks like Sode no Shirayuki is about to finish her off though, Ichigo steps in and saves her. Rukia doesn’t think that Ichigo should be here when they don’t know what’s behind the Zanpakutou uprising, but Ichigo feels that it’s fine and that they just have to find out what that reason is.

Ichigo then engages Sode no Shirayuki in battle, but she soon notices that he’s hesitating to attack her. She has no such reservations towards him though and uses the full extent of her ice powers. Rukia tries to take advantage of this by attempting a sneak attack, but Sode no Shirayuki senses it coming and easily blocks it. Not giving up, Rukia has Ichigo back down since this is her fight, and Sode no Shirayuki admits that she hates her and that her goal is to deprive Rukia of everything important to her. Rukia responds by acknowledging that her Zanpakutou is free now, and she asks her to calm her hatred. Sode no Shirayuki is surprised to hear this, and she’s even more surprised to see Rukia use another kidou spell to bind them together. Rukia is ready to relinquish everything and uses a final kidou spell whose explosion envelopes both of them. Her farewell causes Sode no Shirayuki to want to reach out to her again, but she’s stopped by Muramasa. His appearance also stops Ichigo dead in his tracks and distracts him from checking up on the now unconscious Rukia. When Ichigo questions who he is, Muramasa reveals that he’s a Zanpakutou.

Preview

There’s something to be said for this new anime original arc; it’s pretty damn good. The entire time when Rukia was talking to Sode no Shirayuki inside that swirling ball, I kept thinking that this was powerful stuff they usually reserved for late in an arc. And yet here we are only three episodes into it, and we’re already seeing such a high profile battle that carries with it so much character development. For a series like Bleach whose anime originals haven’t been great and whose main story often tends to drag on, this is a refreshing and exciting change of pace. The animation quality has stayed above average as well, so that’s another bonus.

I think my main complaint about this episode is how they lowered Ichigo’s level a bit to make Sode no Shirayuki seem more powerful. Basically, I don’t understand why Ichigo was caught off-guard by her techniques. After all this time, surely he should know them by now, and even if he didn’t, he should be more than powerful and agile enough to avoid everything she can throw at him. Oh well, that didn’t take away too much from what was otherwise an enjoyable episode.

Muramasa confirming that he’s a Zanpakutou was interesting as well (though not really surprising given the origins of his name), and I wonder who he originally belonged to. It’s probably another anime original character, but it could also be any number of captain or vice-captain class Shinigami whose Zanpakutou names haven’t been revealed yet. In any case, next week looks to be the showdown between Ichigo and Zangetsu, and it should be another interesting episode since it appears to have Ichigo being forced to bring out his Hollow side.

Hayate goes for the cheap “Oops, I tripped into your boobs” routine on Maria. Well executed debt-ridden butler!

I had to deviate from starting my posts with the usual Hina screenshot this week in light of some “Hayate’s face in Maria’s chest” action. Hina wasn’t actually in this week’s episode, but luckily that didn’t stop her from getting some screentime via Konami’s shameless Hayate no Gotoku! Trading Card Game (TCG) plug during the first half.

So after some episode “preamble”, Hayate decides to go to BIC(RI) CAMERA and buy a new cellphone. (For those who haven’t been to Japan, BIC CAMERA is like an orgasmic paradise for techno-freaks. Think eight plus stories of electronics with each floor dedicated to one thing.)

I love how anime avoids trademark infringements with their blatant attempts. No, this isn’t BIC CAMERA. Ignore the orange/red coats please.

In an attempt to become a healthier and more social citizen, our hikikomori queen Nagi chooses to accompany him, thus setting the stage for our Yu-Gi… oh shit I mean, Hayate no Gotoku! TCG battle. Remember when you were a kid and how you’d get into fights with other kids at the playground? Well kids these days don’t resort to that. Instead, they whip out their TCG decks and duke it out card battle style.

“What did you just call me!? Let’s go bitch!”

Don’t leave home without your TCG deck or else you won’t be able to settle disputes in a “civil” manner.

The first (and most likely the last) TCG I ever played was Magic: The Gathering. Thinking back, it really doesn’t compare to being able to summon Hinagiku in a bikini and dressing her up as you please. Imagine the possibilities!

Hakuou Gakuin Student Council summoning complete! *gushing nosebleed*

Hayate looks like he’s having way too much fun riding the broom in that card…

Give Hayate some masquerade glasses and he can pull off a Tuxedo Mask with that cloak!

Cosplay card! The next step is making this a video game where the seiyuus spout embarrassed lines when you change their clothes.

I had to include this for all the loli, I mean Nagi, fans out there. :)

And for everyone else, some mmm mmm good Maria. “DRAW, CHARACTER CARD!!!”

The sight of someone drunk on their own power after beating up some scrubs… and proud of it!

So that pretty much sums up the first half of the episode, which I can’t see having served any purpose other than promoting Konami’s trading card game. Shameless self promotion indeed. Next up, Sakuya wants a good laugh for her birthday, so Hayate and Nagi decide to use Maria (of all people) as the “boke” (stupid/funny person) in their Manzai routine. Of course, you can’t do true Japanese comedy without some “good-hearted” physical abuse. Enter the harisen.

Odds that Maria will kill Hayate if he uses that harisen on her? Guaranteed.

Maria hums the theme of Gunbuster, Top wo Narae! ~Fly High~, and becomes the invincible robot itself. Arms crossed and everything!

But of course, Maria doesn’t even know what the hell she’s humming except that it was from one of Nagi’s anime. Tsukkomu (comedic retort) opportunity lost.

With piercing stares, Hayate, Sakuya, and Nagi think, “Do something stupid. Do something stupid. Do something stupid so we can hit you.”

Sakuya gets a good laugh out of Nagi “killing” Hayate for face planting into Maria’s chest. Manzai routine success!

It’s arguable what would’ve been worse — the above from Nagi or what Maria would’ve done if Hayate actually hit her with the fan.

Wataru takes one across the eyes for hesitating to hit Isumi. I enjoy cheap laughs like this.

Well that second half seemed rather pointless as well, but I did enjoy the reference to Gunbuster. For those unfamiliar with it, check out the MAD video below. “SUPER… INAZUMA… KICK!!!”

Summary:

Alicia tries to talk to Welkin about what she said to him previously, but he avoids the subject and continues to treat her coldly. Welkin is then informed by Varrot that arrangements for Isara’s replacement are done and that their next mission will be to retake Bruhl. In the meantime, she asks him to take care of Isara’s belongings, and going through the small number of those belongings reminds Welkin of how, after they had first met when they were young, Isara had explained to him that she never stayed in one place for long. Back then, Welkin had thought that she didn’t need to worry about that anymore since the two of them would be always together. Meanwhile, Faldio checks up on Alicia and then hits the books because he suspects that she’s of Valkyrur descent. He is, however, unsure of what he wants to do about this.

Zaka turns out to be the new driver for the Edelweiss, and he and the rest of Squad 7 soon set out for Bruhl. The battle there is fierce, but it’s over relatively quickly because the enemy surrenders. Afterward, Welkin decides to visit his old home, and he’s reminded of Isara at every turn. Staring at a family picture, he realizes that he ended up the same as his father since both of them were unable to protect their family. Alicia then interrupts Welkin’s thoughts because she was concerned about him, and Welkin admits to her that Isara’s death leaves him feeling like part of him was torn up. Alicia feels that she understands what he’s going through because she’s been at his side for so long, so Welkin reveals that he’s been in so much pain yet he can’t seem to cry about Isara. In response, Alicia pulls him close to her and tells him that he doesn’t need to hold it in in times like these.

Alicia then leaves Welkin alone and can hear him start to cry behind her. Welkin eventually emerges from the house and is surprised to find Alicia waiting outside, staring at a plant bed. She directs his attention to some lion’s paws that have sprouted, and the two hold hands while admiring the flowers.

Preview

Well, I’m glad that Welkin is finally out of his rut (or so the end of this episode would indicate), but I feel like the lead up to him and Alicia holding hands could have been better developed. There was something unsatisfying about having Alicia comfort Welkin so that he can finally cry – which in itself was a good scene – and then having them hold hands to end the episode as if they’ve both suddenly decided to pursue a relationship together. I was hoping that Welkin would acknowledge Alicia’s importance to him a bit more. At least, that’s how I feel if them holding hands means that they’re now a couple. If it’s just a sign of unity and hope (as represented by the flowers which were admittedly a nice touch and reference back to the beginning of the story), then they could have said more to that effect.

This was still a good episode though, and I like the Isara flashbacks and how they drew the parallel between Welkin and his father. I did think however that the Bruhl battle scene was rather weak since the Imperials didn’t put up much of a fight. In any case, they’ve dwelled for a while now on Isara’s death and its aftermath, and I’m looking forward to seeing what kind of action is in store in the coming weeks since Selvaria shows up glowing in the preview and since Faldio has now set the stage for Alicia to power up as well.

Summary:

Koyomi is followed on his way home from school by Mayoi, and when she asks, he tells her about his plans later to study with Hitagi for the upcoming placement tests. His walk home, however, is interrupted by the sudden arrival of underclassman Kanbaru Suruga, the ace of the basketball team. She calls this an unexpected meeting, but Koyomi knows that she’s been following him, and he finds out that she hasn’t been doing basketball lately because of her bandaged left hand. Suruga claims to want to talk about current world affairs, but Koyomi doesn’t want to, and he ends up telling her about the studying that he’ll be doing with Hitagi. After Suruga runs off again, Koyomi explains to Mayoi that Suruga has been following him around recently, and Mayoi suggests that Suruga may be in love with him.

Later that day, when Koyomi is with Hitagi, she asks him about his plans for the future because she wants to go down the same path as him. Since he doesn’t have the grades to make it into a university, she suggests that they could live together, and Koyomi ends up agreeing. Hitagi also reveals that she’s never broken up with a man, and she has no intention to do so with him. Koyomi then asks her about doing track back in junior high school, so she emphasizes that she has no reason to do it any more because she doesn’t want to return to those times. That leads to Koyomi asking her about Suruga, and Hitagi almost attacks him for implying that he’s close with Suruga. Hitagi admits that she and Suruga used to be close, but the two of them fell apart after Suruga found out about Hitagi’s secret and Hitagi treated her the same way she initially treated Koyomi.

Hitagi thinks that Suruga is following Koyomi around after finding out that they were dating and that Suruga had a crush on her. The two then finish their studying, and Koyomi heads home, but along the way, he decides to call Tsubasa to ask about Hitagi and Suruga. Tsubasa explains that the two used to be known as the Valhalla Combo based on the word combination of the ends of their last names, and she also gives Koyomi some advice on his relationship with Hitagi. She believes that Hitagi has put up an impregnable self-field around herself and doesn’t like associating with others, and she suggests that it’s better for him not to look too much into Hitagi’s past.

After ending his call with Tsubasa, Koyomi thinks about how he wants Hitagi to regain what she lost and threw away. He also remembers that he forgot to take with him the payment that Hitagi wanted him to give to Oshino for his services. His thoughts, however, are interrupted when he notices a cloaked figure behind him, and this person suddenly punches him in the face. Koyomi is still reeling from the first hit when the person delivers several more, and he ends up collapsing with a bloodied face. He notices though that there are bandages hanging out from this person’s sleeves, and he’s reminded of Suruga’s bandaged left hand. The person then disappears however, and the next thing Koyomi knows, Hitagi is standing over him with the money he forgot.

Preview

I understand that this series has a lot of exposition that can pay off in a satisfying way once everything is revealed/explained (as evidenced by last episode), but I have to say that it doesn’t make me feel much better about the set-up episodes like this one. Certainly Hitagi threatening Koyomi’s eye was interesting, as was the very brief action scene at the end of the episode, but I zoned out at least twice in between, like when Tsubasa was trying to give Koyomi advice. I’ve said before that I like how Horie Yui voices her, but that segment was just boring, and nothing she said after the Valhalla stuff struck me as particularly important.

What I do think is noteworthy though is Hitagi and Suruga’s past relationship and how Hitagi said that she’d never broken up with a guy. The implication of course is that she could have broken up with a girl, and that statement would still remain true. I also think it’s pretty obvious that they’re pointing us towards Suruga being Koyomi’s assailant, and I imagine it’s because she still has feelings for Hitagi or something along those lines. The fact that it’s her arm that’s bandaged and that the title of the arc is Suruga Monkey reminds me of the monkey’s paw story from xxxHOLiC, which was in turn based on the original short story, and it made me wonder if something similar is in play here. We’ll have to wait an extra week to find out though because most of the channels broadcasting this are still catching up after airing that recap special, and MBS is taking a two-week break. Episode seven will air on August 21st.

Summary:

Hawkeye’s bullets don’t stop Gluttony, but right as he’s about to eat her, Fuery and Hayate come to her rescue. Hawkeye and Fuery try shooting Gluttony full of holes again, and when this fails to have any lasting effect, Mustang himself steps in and blows the Homunculus out of the window. Hawkeye is less than happy to see Mustang there, but more importantly, they decide to chase after Barry’s fleeing body. They are joined by Havoc and Al, the latter of whom had heard that something was up through Ling, and along the way, they discuss the existence of the Homunculus. Barry’s body eventually leads them to the Third Laboratory, and although Mustang claims that getting this far is enough, Barry decides to rush inside. Mustang uses this as an excuse to go in with his team, however they are soon forced to split up in pairs at a juncture. Mustang and Havoc continue on into an abandoned part of the building, and there they are met by Lust. Havoc recognizes her as the woman he’s been dating, but he promises Mustang that he didn’t reveal anything to her.

When Lust expresses regret over how she wasn’t able to finish off Hughes herself, Mustang immediately shoots her, but she refuses to go down and regenerates every time. Lust then reveals that she’s got a Philosopher’s Stone inside of herself, and she prevents Mustang from lighting her up with his flame alchemy by breaking a water pipe above him. Even after Mustang successfully uses the hydrogen from the water and a lighter to blow up the room, Lust regenerates herself and impales Havoc. Mustang responds by shooting her and then plunging his hand into her chest to pull out the Philosopher’s Stone. He wants to use it to save Havoc, but before he can, Lust regenerates half her body in his hand around the stone. She uses the element of surprise to impale him as well, and she leaves him and Havoc to bleed to death.

Hawkeye and Al meanwhile find Barry standing over his bloody body, but they’re interrupted by the arrival of Lust. After Lust easily shreds Barry, her implying that Mustang is dead drives Hawkeye into a rage, and Hawkeye unloads all of her ammo into her. When she sees that it had little effect on Lust, she falls to her knees in defeat. Al refuses to let Hawkeye die though and tries to get her to run away as he protects her from Lust, but Hawkeye wants him to escape instead. Al, however, remembers all of the people who died and vows to protect her. Fortunately for them, Mustang suddenly appears after having closed off his wounds by burning them, and he starts incinerating Lust with the help of a lighter. He does it over and over again, and he doesn’t even flinch when Lust tries to make a final failed thrust towards him. As she turns to dust, Lust feels that it’s not bad to be taken out by a man whose eyes show no hesitation, but she suggests that they’ll soon be filled with agony.

In the aftermath, Mustang collapses, and Al and Hawkeye realize that he needs medical attention. Unbeknownst to them, King Bradley had been watching everything from the shadows, and with Lust gone, he decides to walk away without announcing his presence. Sometime later, Al returns to a waiting Winry, and although the two can laugh about the situation, they’re alarmed when Al’s damaged arm suddenly falls off. Back at the room where the battle took place, Barry is still conscious, but only as a hunk of metal with the blood seal on it. His barely-still-alive body, however, picks him up and scratches out the seal, and that leads to the end of both of them. Meanwhile, in Resembool, Ed has arrived back from Xerxes with Armstrong, and he decides to pay a visit to the graveyard. Much to his surprise, he discovers his father Hohenheim already there.

Preview

Well that was arguably the most exciting, action-packed episode of FMA we’ve had so far. I was disappointed at first that the battle with Gluttony was so short, but Mustang sure knew how to make an entrance to save Hawkeye. And then the battle against Lust was incredible. I loved how Mustang took the aggressive route and ripped the Philosopher’s Stone out of her, but Lust kept bouncing back after all the punishment dealt to her, and she ended up being all sorts of creepy. Seeing Hawkeye’s raw emotion against her was great as well, but what was most impressive was the final showdown where Mustang finally destroys/vaporizes her. All in all, it was a very impressive performance by Mustang, and BONES did a great job animating it. Why do I get the feeling though that this isn’t the last we’ll see of Lust…

I wonder as well what King Bradley/Wrath would have done if he actually had to intrude on the fight. In fact, I’m not quite sure why he didn’t save Lust since he’s probably more than able to defeat an injured Mustang. I doubt their Father would appreciate Mustang being allowed to stay alive with his knowledge of the Homunculus. And speaking of Father, it’s good to see that the story isn’t taking any breaks given how it ended with a nice cliffhanger with the reappearance of Hohenheim. All of this has gotten me a lot more excited about the series in general, and I’m looking forward to seeing what’s going to happen from here. It’s just a shame that Barry won’t be around any longer.

Summary:

Minoru is working on his big story about the Borners and their village, but his editor tells him to make it simpler. He gets interrupted when Maria brings him an invitation to the anti-terrorism conference, but he decides to leave it up to her while he continues working on his own story. Maria thus heads to the conference hall by herself, unaware that Liang Qi and Cummings are in charge of security there. The event begins with a speech by the American president, and while taking pictures, Maria sees Alphard coming towards her. Maria doesn’t recognize Alphard though, and their meeting – as well as the speech – is interrupted by an explosion in the conference hall courtesy of Liang Qi. Alphard catches Maria from falling and mysteriously mentions that Maria still has a role to play, but she then disappears into the crowd. Maria isn’t able to follow her because more explosions rip through the building, and Liang Qi uses a combination of explosions and fear to keep people inside.

Unaware of what’s going on at the conference, Minoru spends his time tracking down Hakko. When he finds her, he tries to question her about the village and why she’s here, and to his surprise, she actually speaks. She starts to say something about if he wants to know, but Minoru is then overcome with a strange headache, and Hakko walks away. Once Minoru recovers, he follows Hakko back to Santana’s and tries to question her again, but he’s restrained by Santana. Before the two can get into a fight, however, they hear a TV news bulletin about what’s going on at the conference, and Minoru runs out because he’s concerned about Maria. Back at the conference building, Alphard calmly heads towards the control room and learns from Cummings that all of the leaders are in the shelter room with the infected Japanese vice-minister.

In the meantime, Liang Qi has Maria brought to the control room, and when Maria asks where Canaan is, Liang Qi kicks her onto the floor. Liang Qi then calls Canaan to taunt her, and she lets Maria talk, so Maria apologizes to Canaan for getting caught again. However, Maria doesn’t want Canaan to come save her, and that gets Liang Qi angry, so she kicks Maria some more. Liang Qi’s fury causes Alphard to then question what she’s seeking, and Liang Qi’s answer is love. She ends up getting so pissed off at Maria that she tries to shoot her, but Alphard shoots the gun out of Liang Qi’s hand fries. Liang Qi has no choice but to calm down and back off, and afterward, Alphard makes it clear to Maria that the reason she saved her was because Maria’s role is to live. Everyone’s attention is then turned to monitor showing the shelter room where the vice-minister has suddenly started to react violently to the Ua Virus. He spews blood everywhere before dying, and Alphard is happy that everything is going according to plan.

Preview

For an episode where Canaan didn’t do much other than a lot of running, this was pretty exciting to watch. We’re finally seeing the culmination of Alphard’s plan which has been hinted at and building for several episodes now, and it looks to involve infecting the world’s leaders with the Ua Virus or something like that. I found the scenes with Liang Qi beating up on Maria a little frustrating to watch though. I’m starting to despise Liang Qi because of her insane jealousy and hatred towards anything related to Canaan, but at the same time, I also don’t like watching Maria always be so helpless and unable to fix her own problems. I thought she had grown as a character after episode four, but she comes off as whiny as ever.

As a bonus, this episode also had Noto Mamiko‘s Hakko finally saying something, though I’m not quite sure I understood what was going on in that scene. Her power appears to be related to sound or brain waves or something, and I still wonder how she’s going to fit into the overarching story. In any case, I had thought that all this stuff with Alphard’s plan was going to be saved for a big climax towards the end of the series, but the fact that it’s happening at this point makes me think that Alphard will be successful and will be able to escape even if Canaan manages to save Maria again. Liang Qi might not be so lucky though.

Show Spoiler for Bleach Chapter 369 ▼

Summary:

On their way back to Turbine City, Sela almost loses the photo of herself and her mother, but luckily Navi catches it and returns it to her. He also surprises her by calling it a good photograph. Once they reach the city, Navi joins Sela and Dan as part of the team, and James reveals that their opponents are the Old Timers. Sela recognizes this trio as Rosso, Gallo, and Bianco, her father’s subordinates who taught her to play basketball. The match starts with the Old Timers passing the ball a lot and in the process damaging some of the redevelopment equipment around the city. Dan eventually takes control of the situation though and, with some teamwork, Sela gets the ball. Their goal is at the top of Lunatec’s Earthdash branch office, and motivated by memories of her father, Sela makes the dunk, shattering the office windows in the process.

Immediately thereafter, a furious Yang calls up James and accuses him of terrorism because of all the redevelopment facilities and equipment destroyed during the game, but James just claims that it’s sports. After the match, the Old Timers compliment Sela, and they feel that she’ll someday come to understand her father’s feelings. Watching from nearby, James wonders what Yang hates to the point that he’d take a life. Later that night, Sela tells Navi that she thinks better of him after today’s game, and she asks him why he had said that the photograph from earlier was good. His answer is that it showed a face of happiness, and that causes Sela to remember back to the time when she had happily played basketball while her father took her picture.

Meanwhile, Coco remembers back to how Slash had introduced her and Dan to basketball and how he’d promised her to take her to the moon if she became a great player. After the accident, Slash was the one who brought her a computer as a present, and this allowed her to earn some money on the internet so that she could lighten the burden on her brother. Coco also remembers everything she had seen her brother do from that point until now, and how she along with James and Iceman weren’t able to become the legend. Slash joins her and reveals that it wasn’t an accident and how there’s a group that opposes what he’s doing. It delayed the plan for several years, but Coco points out that it also allowed her brother to Basquash. As it turns out, she’s currently on the moon with Slash after he had fulfilled his promise to her, and he refers to her computer and website as her form of Basquash.

Preview

For being almost half recap, that wasn’t too bad an episode. The first half was focused on Sela and her feelings towards her father, and while that in itself wasn’t really interesting (I’d say it’s turning out to be a pretty weak subplot), they also showed James and the Old Timers opposing Yang. I assume Yang represents the antagonists have control of Lunatec and are the ones Slash mentioned towards the end of the episode. As for the recap in the second half of the episode, it turned out to be a little better than expected thanks to Coco’s voiceover explaining sort of her point of view, but recap is still boring to watch. The episode is saved thanks to the new scenes with Slash, and it makes sense now why we see him and Coco together so much. Slash must feel at least partially responsible for what happened to her, and it was nice to see him take her to the moon, though in a way that’s a slap at Dan since taking Coco to the moon was part of his goal. Regardless, maybe this means that we’ll see her out of the wheelchair and standing again by the end of the series.

The preview this week was stuck inside the ending sequence, and although most the shots appear to be focused on Miyuki and her grandfather, the most interesting shot is probably the last one with Rouge opening her eyes.