Random Curiosity

Summary:

Shizuo has been in a very bad mood lately, and when a writer comes up to talk to him about his movie star brother Hanejima Yuuhei, Shizuo attacks him with a lamppost. Despite this, Shizuo claims to hate violence, and it all goes back to his childhood with his brother whose real name is Kasuka. Back then, Shizuo had tried to pick up a refrigerator during a fight and had hurt himself, but that experience didn’t stop him from picking up and throwing other objects later on because his body seemed to move on its own whenever he got angry. Although he got hurt a lot as a result, Shizuo also got stronger each time this happened. In one particular incident, Shizuo had tried to help a woman who had been kind to him and his brother, but he ended up wrecking her store and hurting her. Shizuo had eventually attended high school at Raira with his friend Shinra, and that’s how he met Celty. It was around this same time that he met Izaya, and Shizuo immediately started disliking him and tried to fight him. Izaya, in turn, had made sure that Shizuo got into a lot of fights with random gangs.

After they graduated from high school, Shinra had become an underground doctor and Izaya had gotten involved with the yakuza. Shizuo had trouble holding down a normal job, and when he became a bartender, his brother had bought him a lot of bartender outfits. Thanks to Izaya though, Shizuo wasn’t able to keep that job. Instead, he had run into an old acquaintance Tom who was now working in debt collection, and Shizuo became his bodyguard. That’s still his job today, and since he doesn’t like violence, Shizuo’s goal is to become strong enough to control his anger. On this particular night, he feels better after talking with Celty, and she comments on how he really loves his little brother. Shizuo enjoys himself up to the point that he sees Izaya again, and being unable to catch Izaya pisses him off all over again.

Preview

This turned out to be less of a plot episode and more of a character development episode for Shizuo – and to a lesser extent, Shinra and Izaya. That’s not a bad thing of course since those three fun characters to watch, and it was nice to see how Shizuo’s strength and anger came to be. I didn’t realize until now how much he was like the Incredible Hulk. It’s like all of the emotion in the family went to him and all the restraint went to his little brother (who looks to be yet another potentially important side character in this large cast). It also makes more sense now why Shizuo hates Izaya, and that makes what Izaya is doing all the more interesting. I can’t help but think that he’s after more than just antagonizing Shizuo and that this is all part of some greater scheme. In any case, I’m looking forward to next week’s episode since it seems to be back to Celty’s narrative point of view, particularly since we now know that she’s one of the few people that Shizuo gets along well with.

I haven’t been posting about PVs as much as I would’ve liked recently, but here’s the latest from fripSide. Unlike their PV for the first opening theme of Railgun, this one doesn’t have much of anything in reference to the anime. As for the song itself, I admittedly fell five plus weeks behind on the series for obvious reasons, so I actually didn’t hear it until late last week. Because of that, it’s still somewhat new to me. For initial impressions, I’d say I like the sound of their new song, but took a much more immediate liking to “only my railgun”. With fripSide’s music though, I figure “LEVEL5 -judgelight-” will grow on me the more I listen to it, which is what happened with “late in autumn”, the second track on the “only my railgun” single.

Anyway, the more I hear it, the more Nanjou Yoshino‘s singing as the new vocalist of fripSide seems well-suited for their upbeat, fast-paced music. I still find this surprising because I can’t really picture that voice behind Oosawa Maria in CANAAN nor Tsukishima Koko in Da Capo II, both of whom she voiced. For those wondering, the guy coming out of the bag in the PV is Japanese entertainer/comedian Esper Itou who was also in the “only my railgun” PV. Why he’s featured in their music video I don’t know, so maybe someone can fill me in on that.

 

So it looks like I was right with my Sakura hunch last chapter and some others were right on the ball with Sasuke telling Sakura to kill Karin as a test. It wasn’t surprising to see Sakura falter at that thought nor Sasuke’s true colors become more apparent, but it does seem like Karin’s going to be saved and in the “care” of Konoha in the near future. Whether or not she’ll eventually be on the good side like I was guessing is still up in the air, but the possibility is still there. Personally, I wouldn’t mind seeing that happen. It makes me wonder how she’d get along with Naruto and the others.

As for the fight before us, Kakashi vs Sasuke, teacher vs student, team leader vs former team member, you can slice it so many different ways. Oh how long have we been waiting for this? I’d say Kakashi has the obvious edge since Sasuke’s still worn down from his fight with Danzou, but who knows what the latter can pull off with his misdirected hatred driving him. Let’s just hope this doesn’t go down as a repeat of Hiruzen vs Orochimaru like they’re foreshadowing though. While it’d have a big impact to see Kakashi go (as it did during the Pain arc), I rather like his character so I don’t want to see that happen.

* P.S. Vancouver 2010 Olympic madness! Downtown is crazy every night. =)

Summary:

Autumn has turned to winter, so Ioryogi reminds Kobato again that she doesn’t have much time left. The more immediate concern though is the debt collector loitering around outside the nursery, and it’s caused several parents to withdraw their kids. Kobato wants to go talk to him, and while Kiyokazu opposes the idea, Kobato does so anyway after talking to Doumoto who had come to deliver some Christmas decorations. Kobato tries to tell the guy how important the nursery is to everyone and gets him to leave for today, but as he’s doing so, he collapses in pain. Doumoto calls an ambulance, and it turns out that the guy has a case of appendicitis. Kobato and Doumoto accompany him to the hospital, staying until they know he’ll be okay, and Kobato even makes him an origami crane.

Kiyokazu meanwhile decides to call Okiura to tell him about this, but Okiura still cares more about the debt and suggests that Kiyokazu give up on the nursery. Kobato and Doumoto then return to the nursery, but Sayaka sends them home because they’ve been through enough today. Having seen that Kiyokazu wasn’t too happy, Kobato worries that she’s at fault, however Doumoto disagrees. He’s noticed that she worries about those around her and that she’s kind and tries her hardest, and he tells her that he likes girls like her. This cheers Kobato up, and she thanks him for his words. When the two reach her apartment building Doumoto starts to ask her to spend time with him on Christmas, but he’s interrupted by the arrival of Kiyokazu and never gets to finish asking.

Preview

Despite the fact that we can see that the seasons are passing by, setting up for a springtime finale, the actual pacing of the story is still a little on the slow side. I’m not thrilled that they keep spending so much time reminding us that the nursery is in trouble because it’d be more worthwhile to show the protagonists coming up with new ways to pay off the debt or settle things with Okiura. Of course if the sick debt collector ends up helping out or something because of Kobato’s kindness, then it’d be a different story, but there’s no guarantee that that’ll happen. I think the more important result of the sick debt collector stuff here was that Doumoto became more attached to or interested in Kobato, leading to his quasi-confession. It sets up a potential love triangle between him and Kiyokazu which could culminate as early as the Christmas storyline next week, though I still have a hard time seeing clueless Kobato end up with anyone, especially given her ultimate goal.

Summary:

Ryuu tries again at school to tell Chizuru about his brother, but he gets interrupted and ends up only telling her not to come to his house tomorrow or the day after. This makes her think that she made him angry because of what happened the previous night, so Ayane suggests that Chizuru go over to make up and give him his birthday present. Ryuu is actually hosting a bunch of the guys tonight, including Kazehaya, and the girls join them. When Chizuru gets a moment alone with Ryuu, she asks him about being mad, and while he’s not, he notes that even he would be a little hurt from being kicked out like that. Before Ryuu can tell her about his brother though, Tooru arrives home early. Chizuru is ecstatic to see him, but that happiness turns to shock when Tooru’s fiancée walks in after him. What’s more, Tooru introduces Chizuru to his fiancée as someone akin to his little sister. Given this turn of events, Kazehaya suggests that they end things for the night, so everyone heads out.

Since they’re still sleeping over, Ayane and Sawako go back to Chizuru’s house, and Chizuru acts normal, but her friends are still concerned about her. Sawako falls asleep thinking about how Chizuru declared that she liked Tooru, and when she wakes up, she sees Chizuru getting dressed. Chizuru thinks about wearing the mini-skirt that she wanted to show Tooru, but instead she puts on a pair of pants, and Sawako realizes that Chizuru might not have slept last night. This causes Sawako to cry later when she and Ayane are on their way home because she feels that she couldn’t help or comfort her friend, and Ayane feels the same way. Chizuru meanwhile heads to Ryuu’s house but can’t bring herself to go in because she knows that she’s nothing more than a neighbor. She remembers how Tooru was kind to her when she was young and how she always showed him the bugs she caught. He had always had girlfriends with him back then, but since none of them lasted too long, Chizuru’s dream had always been to be his bride. She realizes now though that it won’t be her fulfilling this dream.

Preview

This first half of this episode had some pretty funny moments (especially when Ayane expressed interest in Tooru and Chizuru overreacted), however it wasn’t until the second half and end of the episode that the story really started shining again. Sawako crying made for an emotional moment, and it was so sad to hear Chizuru’s final monologue about her dream and how she won’t be the one fulfilling it. It was actually a little surprising that she seemed to give up on him like that, but I guess her character is such that she’s not as assertive on the inside as she shows on the outside. The other way to look at it is that, at some level, she knows that it was just puppy love. Either way, with Tooru out of the picture, this makes it more likely that she and Ryuu will become a couple, and the preview for next episode certainly seems to focus on them.

Summary:

When Renji and Zabimaru arrive in the real world to capture another Toujuu, Zabimaru’s snake half enjoys his newfound freedom too much and ends up getting in the way of the battle. The Toujuu escapes with an injury, but Snake Zabimaru runs into him again when they split up to search. Using this to his advantage, the Toujuu convinces Snake Zabimaru that being by himself is great and is thus able to get away again. This causes Snake Zabimaru to rebel against his other half and Renji and then go off on his own. Although he enjoys his freedom, he also finds himself hungry, and that leads to some run-ins with Karin and Yuzu, which ultimately ends in him going home with them. They feed and entertain him, and Ichigo returns home later that night to find them all asleep. When Ichigo tries to confront Snake Zabimaru, the kid runs away again and encounters the healed-up Toujuu. Although Snake Zabimaru is strong enough to fight on his own, the Toujuu turns the tables by taking Karin hostage. Fortunately, Renji and Zabimaru’s other half arrive to help and finish the battle. In the aftermath, having realized that not being alone is fine too, Snake Zabimaru brings the unconscious Karin to Ichigo, and he returns to Soul Society with Renji.

Preview

This was pretty much what I expected and dreaded based on the preview from last week: an episode with Zabimaru’s snake half going off on his own, with Yuzu and Karin thrown in. I generally don’t mind character development episodes, but I loathe this type because the plot tend to be predictable and because the bratty characters are always annoying. It didn’t make sense either why it took Ichigo so long to arrive on the scene when he should have been right behind Karin. The only bright side is that the animation quality has remained fairly good, but that’s a small consolation. Here’s to hoping that next week’s episode with Nanao, Ikkaku, and Hanatarou is better…

Summary:

It’s time for the Bon Festival, but Filicia hasn’t been acting like herself. While making lanterns with the other girls, she accidentally cuts herself, and the sight of blood causes her to flashback to what happened in her past. Everyone is concerned, but Rio thinks that they should leave her alone, and Noel sees her reminiscing by their tank. The truth is that Filicia had been fighting on the front lines at one point, and she had been the only survivor when her unit’s tank got destroyed. Stumbling on the battlefield, she hadn’t been killed by incoming gunfire only because she had fallen down a hole into an underground area. There, she found the remains of a soldier from a war past who had written a message that she couldn’t read. While she had been grieving over her dead comrades, the soldier had appeared to come alive and had apologized for losing to a certain side and for not being able to protect them. He felt that the world had ended and that people like Filicia were all that remained of humanity, and he questioned if there was any meaning in surviving in a world like this. Just as Filicia was despairing though, she had heard Amazing Grace and had been found and rescued by Princess Iliya.

Back in the present, Filicia appears to return to normal and tells Rio that she had only been concerned about her weight. The girls then make their way to the river to place their lanterns in the water, and Filicia has written on hers the names of the people in her old unit as well as the unknown soldier. Hearing Filicia talk about this, Kanata breaks down in tears because she wants to be able to worry about her too. This is because she loves Filicia, and Filicia returns those feelings, holds her, and tells her to stay as she is. Kureha and Noel were concerned too and join in the hug, and the girls then place their lanterns in the water and pray. Afterward, while talking with Rio, Filicia goes back to something Rio had mentioned earlier and explains how she realized that there was no meaning in the world. This is not a bad thing though because it means you can find your own meaning, and Filicia feels that hers is to make sure that Kanata and the others don’t experience the same feelings she had to.

Preview

Well this was certainly a welcome change of pace. I initially thought they were going to fake us out again like they did two episodes ago and give us another tame episode, but there was actually a lot of heavy stuff here about Filicia’s past and what motivates her now. I liked how the episode ended, and it made me wonder if there’ll be another conflict soon and if Filicia will try to prevent the girls from having to fight. Of course I loved seeing all the action and combat parts too, which got pretty intense at times, though I should mention that it still feels weird for them to be using horns for communication alongside spider tanks. Anyway, it would appear that Filicia fought in some battle a few years ago, but prior to that there was a major conflict between either different countries or between humanity and and some other, perhaps alien, force. That could fit with the legend, so the idea of Kanata and company fighting a monster with Takemikazuchi isn’t so far off anymore.

Aside from all that, this episode also connected Filicia and Noel’s past, connected Filicia to the trumpet woman we’ve seen with Kanata and Rio, identified that woman as the princess Iliya, and towards the end it seemed to suggest that Rio is her little sister and that she’s dead now. I wouldn’t be surprised if both Noel and Kureha have met Iliya as well, making her the key figure. So a lot got packed into this one episode, but they did so without overwhelming the audience, and I’d say this was probably the best episode of the series so far. I’m curious to see if they go back to the light-hearted stuff now or if the rest of the series is as serious as this.

Summary:

Erza’s plan is to throw her spear towards the moon to destroy it, with some help from Natsu to propel the weapon. Her plan works, but not the way everyone else expects. Instead of destroying the moon, Erza shatters the crystallized Moon Drip gas layer that had been covering the island. This returns the villagers back to normal, however they retain their demon appearances because it was not their appearances that were affected, but their memories. As it turns out, these villagers were demons all along who had the ability to look human and just didn’t realize that. The village elder’s son was the only one who figured it out, and he’s now reunited with his father. The villagers then decide to have a huge celebration, and it’s briefly interrupted by the arrival of Sherry and Yuuka who explain their past hatred towards Deliora and want to atone. In the aftermath, Erza turns down the reward and only accepts the gate key that Lucy wanted. The group then returns home on the same pirate ship that Erza arrived on, unaware that the one called Zalty was actually Ul’s daughter Ultear and that she was working for Siegrain. Once in Magnolia, Erza reminds the others of their coming punishment.

Preview

For the conclusion episode of the arc, this had more plot twists than I expected. The one about the villagers wasn’t all that interesting because I found it hard to care about them, but at least it explained everything. What was interesting however was the fact that Zalty was Ul’s daughter Ultear, also voiced by Sawashiro Miyuki. I didn’t think much of it when they mentioned in the past that Ul had a daughter, so it was a surprise to see her actually show up. It got me really curious about what the apparently overarching plot with Siegrain involves and what Gray’s reaction will be if he ever runs into her. That doesn’t look to be the focus in the near future though, and the preview makes next episode look like it’ll be more comedy and fanservice than anything else.

Summary:

Hohenheim and Al don’t have much to say to each other at first, and Hohenheim gets pulled away to help with the rebuilding effort. Al decides to help as well, and in the meantime, Rosé sets up a bath for Winry. Rosé also brings up how Winry helped her out indirectly by making Ed’s automail, and she recounts how Ed had aided her and the town. Meanwhile, over in Central, the Chimera Bido is lost underground, and he stumbles upon the underground army right before Olivier and the other officer get there. The officer explains that these soldiers will have souls put into them and will be an immortal bunch, with those souls coming from battlefields. This is all Bido hears before he flees the area, but he then runs into Greed. Back in Lior, Al reveals what he knows about the underground tunnel to Hohenheim, and he also mentions the existence of Father. In response, Hohenheim brings up the possibility that he personally is on the Homunculus side, but he’s also grateful that Al trusts him. He decides to tell Al everything, though he wishes that Ed were there too to hear it.

At that moment, Kimblee’s two other Chimera are in a northern town and withdraw some money from Ed’s bank account to pay for medical treatment. When they are found by the military, Ed joins the fight, and the group escapes by car with a little help from Ed’s alchemy. The problem is that Ed doesn’t know what’s going on with Al and Winry, and he tries to figure out where his brother would have gone. By now, Hohenheim has finished telling his story to Al, and Al believes him and wonders what it’s like not to die. Hohenheim explains that it’s useful, but he doesn’t like seeing loved ones pass away before him. The two also talk about Father, and Al shows Hohenheim the research that they’ve deciphered. Hohenheim in turn warns against trying to destroy the underground tunnel because Pride is down there, and he’s not in a hurry because he knows that it’s not a certain day yet. Back in Central, Bido tries to remind Greed of who he is, but Greed just kills him because he was associated with the previous Greed. After doing this however, Greed gets flashbacks of his Dublith gang, and, inside of himself, Ling confronts Greed for attacking old friends. Ling believes that friends are connected by their souls, and Greed has thus tossed away his own soul’s family. This throws Greed into a state of turmoil, and sometime later, he arrives at King Bradley’s house and attacks the Homunculus in front of his family.

Preview

So Al and Hohenheim’s initial meeting turned out to be a bit more subdued than I thought it’d be, but it was nice to see father and son eventually communicating and teaming up. Now if only Ed could join them too without circumstance breaking the group apart. Speaking of which, I loved the scenes with Ed and those two Chimera. It was a lot of action, but it also had a good dose of comedy – I certainly got a laugh out of how they got away and how Ed transmuted the car. Oh and of course I have to give mention to the Winry fanservice this week too, including in the eye-catch.

As for Bido, I thought him seeing the underground army might be important, but he was then killed by Greed. I feel sort of bad for his character, but it’s good to see that he at least served a purpose in bringing out the inner conflict in Greed. Ling certainly made a nice speech (very shounen manga-esque) to finish out the episode, and there was then that great cliffhanger with Greed/Ling attacking King Bradley at home. I assume we’re moving towards the point where Ling takes back control of his body, and maybe it’s time for Lan Fan and her grandfather to return too.

On a side note, I noticed they’ve started advertising Gundam Unicorn stuff during FMA’s commercial breaks. I think the PlayStation Store version of episode one debuts next week…

「病気のテガミバチと少女たち」 (Byouki no Tegami Bachi to Shoujo-tachi)
“A Sick Letter Bee and the Girls”

With Sylvette and Niche taking care of a sick Lag, this episode wasn’t so much about plot as it was about character development. Seeing as it involved the main characters of the story though, I enjoyed it more so than the plot-heavier episodic showings in recent weeks. It was also nice not having Lag around so much for a change, so things could focus more on Sylvette and Niche. Granted, the focus only involved Sylvette nagging Niche to eat carrots and showing her up on how to take care of sick people, but hey, I’ll take what I can get. Surprisingly, things did get a bit heated when Niche spoke up about Sylvette’s pushing behavior (even though it was out of good faith), before things finally wrapped up with a cute reconciliation once Niche saved Sylvette from some quicksand-like ground.

Highlights were Niche trying to lick Lag better, her concoction of strange creatures fearing for their lives, Steak almost getting cooked, Sylvette’s outing attire, some ass-kicking on her wheelchair, and Zazie’s beating for buying the last bottle of medicine before Sylvette, forcing her to take that dangerous trip and try to gather the medicinal herbs herself. As for the character development, I was impressed by the restraint Niche displayed this time around, including how she refrained from attacking the guys trying to extort her. It kind of shows how much she’s changed since coming into contact with Lag and becoming his dingo. Sylvette on the other realized how pushy she’s been coming off, which was nice to see, even though it only lasted all of half a day. What she really needs to take to heart is that her soup is gross to normal taste buds, which Niche finally pointed out but Sylvette more or less brushed off.

Next week is somewhat “promising” since we have Zazie and Dr. Thunderland Jr. getting cozy together, but I’m not so keen on seeing Moc Sullivan again (who’s played by Connor’s seiyuu Suganuma Hisayoshi I might add).

Preview

Summary:

Having obtained the first sword, Shichika and Togame make their way towards the second one, getting Shichika a change of clothes along the way. Their goal is a sword called Zantou Namakura located in a castle in the desert of Inaba, and it’s currently in the possession of a powerful swordsman named Uneri Ginkaku. During the journey, Togame also gets Shichika to choose a trademark phrase to use during battles to make him more interesting for the report she’s writing. When they finally arrive, they find the corpse of Maniwa Shirasagi outside and correctly guess that Uneri defeated him. They eventually locate Uneri inside a relatively small room, and as Togame is attempting to negotiate with him, he asks her to step closer. This turns out to be a trap because Uneri draws his lightning-fast sword, but fortunately Shichika realizes this in time and knocks Togame back.

Shichika then decides to retreat, and when Uneri lets them, Shichika concludes that Uneri prefers to stay in the room because it’s most convenient for him there to attack his enemies. Based on this, Shichika asks Togame to stay behind him under the pretense that people who have something to protect are strong. When they return to the room, Shichika uses a technique where he charges forward, fakes Uneri out, and then lands a kick on Uneri’s shoulder. Shichika knows immediately that this isn’t enough though, and Uneri responds by cutting his own arm and bleeding over the Zantou Namakura. This allows Uneri to draw the sword faster, but Shichika refuses to back down and attacks again. This time, he avoids Uneri’s strike by moving back, and he uses Togame’s face as a jumping board so that he can reach the ceiling. This lets him attack from above where Uneri is most vulnerable, and Shichika finishes Uneri off in one move, thereby winning them the sword. In the aftermath, Togame isn’t happy that Shichika used her like that, but when he reflects on Uneri’s death and final words, she tells him not to think about his own final words.

ED Sequence

ED: 「Refulgence」 by 少女病 (Shoujo Byou)
Watch the ED!: Mirror 1, Mirror 2, Streaming ▼

A slight change of scenery for this ED, but it’s still fairly static. The Shoujo Byou song that went with it wasn’t bad, but not really memorable either.

Preview

In general, I thought this second episode was better than the second one. I enjoyed the action and strategizing more, and part of that came from the fact that Uneri Ginkaku was a more interesting antagonist than Koumori last episode – come to think of it, it’s a shame we didn’t get to see more here of the reverse-talking Maniwa Shirasagi. Anyway, Uneri felt more complete as a character, and it led to a nice ending in terms the episode’s themes and closure. Some of the banter between Shichika and Togame was pretty amusing as well, and Togame had some cute moments too in her reactions towards him. Of course, there was a lot of dialogue again, including that ten-minute desert segment, and I’m still not a fan of the long-episode, once-a-month format, so my excitement level towards this series remains relatively low (as demonstrated by the fact that it took me over half a week to finish this post). Maybe the third episode, which airs on March 8th, will change that.

Summary:

It’s time for the Tokiwadai girls’ dormitory’s midsummer festival, so Mikoto has to put on a maid uniform and play host to a large crowd of people. Fortunately, she spends most of her time showing Uiharu and Saten around, and Uiharu in particular is very excited to experience all the events, from a stitching class to a flower arrangement exhibit. What makes Mikoto uneasy however is everyone looking forward to the stage performance she’s scheduled to give. She is even more nervous when the time finally comes and she sees all the people gathered, but by chance she runs into Touma backstage. Seeing him infuriates her, and she scares him off, however the encounter also eases her nerves, allowing her to walk onto stage and perform a solo with her violin without further incident.

Preview

This week was rather devoid of meaningful plot, but it managed to still have some high points. Uiharu was pretty cute and amusing with her unrestrained antics for the first half, and it was interesting to see Tsuchimikado’s sister Maika make an appearance. But it was Mikoto and Touma who stood out the most by the end of the episode. It was nice to see Touma have such an effect on Mikoto, unintentional though it might have been, and I loved both her violin rendition of Real Force and the way it led into the actual ED sequence. I do wonder though why they bothered hiding Index’s face again after showing her a couple of episodes ago. Anyway, it looks like next week is more festival type stuff, though the preview also seems to hint that the earthquake aspect will become important soon.

Summary:

Despite having been beat up by Celty, the kidnappers from before are still abducting people, and on this particular day, their target is a foreigner named Kaztano. What they don’t know is that Kaztano is friends with Kadota Kyouhei’s group, and Togusa specifically relies on Kaztano to get tickets for good seats at a certain idol’s concerts. Once Kadota’s group realizes that Kaztano has been taken, they are able to get on the kidnapper’s trail thanks to a boy who saw the kidnapper’s car and thanks to Kaztano himself who gets the kidnappers to abandon one of their own on the side of the road after a botched drugging attempt. Kadota’s group finds this kidnapper with a little help from Izaya, and using the kidnapper’s cell phone, they call up his cohorts and learn where the delivery point is.

As it turns out, Kadota’s group is part of the Dollars gang, having joined after Kadota got a text invitation one day out of the blue. The gang is divided into many smaller groups like theirs, and they’ve never met the leader before. Kadota’s group now tracks down the kidnappers and although the kidnappers initially want to fight, when they see Celty coming as back-up, they flee. Kadota and company give chase and are eventually able to capture the kidnappers, and Erika and Walker are able to make them reveal who they were working for: Yagiri Pharmaceutical. They don’t investigate for the time being though and instead go get something to eat, unaware that Seiji’s sister is in charge at the pharmaceutical company.

Preview

Coming into this, I wasn’t sure what to make of an episode about Kadota and his group of friends, so I was pleasantly surprised by how fun this episode was. Like last week, it started out again in the middle of the story and then worked its way back to that point, but this time, Celty played more of a comedy role with the TV aliens show and then the dog scene. Instead, the main plot this week served to introduce us to Kadota’s group and finally gave explanations about the Dollars gang and the kidnappings that have been going on. I have a lot of questions now about what Seiji’s sister and her company are up to, particularly since it looks like they might have control of Celty’s head.

I also didn’t expect that Kadota and company were actually in Dollars, and it makes sense now why Masaomi went to them last episode to ask about the group. Izaya’s involvement of course is interesting as well. Speaking of which, the scene this episode where Izaya’s phone conversation was interrupted by Shizuo chucking an elephant slide at him was hilarious. I can’t wait to see what next episode has in store since it looks to be focused on the two of them. On a different note, I wonder if the idol Hijiribe Ruri is more than just a randomly-mentioned character since it seems noteworthy that she’s voiced by Fujita Saki of Hatsune Miku fame…

Summary:

While running around telling everyone about the bazaar, Kobato stumbles across Ioryogi. As it turns out, Ioryogi had gone to Genko’s place to eat baumkuchen, and he and Zuishuo have been quite busy lately. The three talked about what happened in the past, and Ioryogi felt that they were so close, but Genko disagreed. Regardless, Ioryogi took some baumkuchen with him to bring home, and he spent a ton of effort protecting the box when various misfortunes befell him upon his return to the real world. His hunger then attracted him to the amusement park Mokona Land, but there he accidentally got taken and set up as a stuffed animal prize at a shooting game booth. That led to a lot of people getting involved trying to shoot and claim him, but Ioryogi was ultimately able to sneak away. Kobato then stumbled upon him, and that’s where they are now. After filling him in on what’s going on, Kobato thinks that maybe she shouldn’t have suggested the bazaar idea, but Ioryogi feels that doing what you decided on doing is what’s important. Fortunately, Kobato returns to the bazaar in time to see the crowd, meaning that the event was a success after all. Doumoto even buys one of her hand-made creations. What Ioryogi doesn’t realize until afterward is that Kobato inadvertently sold all of the baumkuchen he brought back to eat.

Preview

So this turned out to be more a fun-type episode than anything else. The bulk of it was Ioryogi’s adventures, which admittedly got pretty amusing at times, like when the old gun lady showed up. The cameos by Watanuki and Mokona were of course great too. The problem is that since bazaar story was a two-part mini-arc, I was thinking that this half would be more story development from an Ioryogi point of view, not just him getting into trouble around town. Certainly there were more hints about what happened in the past with Ioryogi and Genko and company, but actual plot only made up a small fraction of the episode. Okiura didn’t show up again, and Ioryogi didn’t do anything particularly important while he was away from Kobato, so it felt like an opportunity wasted. There’s not that many episodes left either, so I hope there’s some more progress soon.

Show Spoiler for Bleach Chapter 392 ▼

Note: There is no chapter of Bleach next week.