Random Curiosity

As confirmed, Hodi really is that weak without his pills, which goes to show how much the Strawhats (at least Zoro) have jumped in power. This could mean we’ll be getting win after win for the Strawhats, but after them struggling with enemies (since the series started really), I don’t think I’d mind seeing the crew obliterate everything in its path for a while. After all, there’s way too many stronger enemies at this point to be moping around on Fishman Island (Supernovas, Blackbeard’s crew, the World Government, and those large unexplained creepy things in Florian Triangle o:). Regardless, Hodi’s still an obstacle, and we’re left with Zoro close to drowning.

Jinbei pulling an Enel-face was the last thing I expected from his character, but he did it, and he did it twice. I suppose no character in OP can ever keep their “serious-virginity” at all times, and for those that haven’t happened yet (Hawkeye, the Admirals), it won’t be long. You can’t hide from Oda, he created you! It’s hard to tell the exact importance of Jinbe’s long awaited message, and I think the message will affect Nami far more than Luffy, so Nami’s appearance is quite convenient. Jinbe’s a guy who stands by his principles, so revealing regrets about his past is natural. However, I don’t think it’s a big deal, as Jinbe’s done far more than enough for the pirates, and the crew isn’t exactly an unforgiving bunch. That said, Luffy didn’t get as riled up about Hachi’s injuries as I thought, and his character is a bit different than pre-timeskip, so there might be more to this than I’m expecting. More importantly, it’s the other question I’m still wondering about; why didn’t he want the crew to tangle with Hodi? Was it really about power differences? If that were the case, it doesn’t seem to be a problem now. It’s probably something more political, but I don’t see how any of that will matter since Hodi’s not the type to sit down and chat about their differences while sipping a cup of tea.

One Piece x Toriko Special
Oda did a Cross Epoch before this, and that was between Dragon Ball’s characters and his own. That one was more interesting since it used each character’s quirks and matched them up with one of Dragon Ball’s, whereas this new Epoch mainly used an island as the connection (and if you’ve read A Cloudy Day with a Chance of Meatballs, it’s not much of a novel idea). The two different artstyles matched up rather well, and focusing on a poop joke feels like something Oda picked up from Toriyama (the mangaka of Dragon Ball). I haven’t read Toriko, so I may have missed out on some subtle quirks their cast had (such as the character matchups at the dinner table), but if any part of their side interested you, you should check out the anime airing this spring season.

「はい、まだ続きます」 (Hai, Mada Suzukimasu)
“Yes, There’s Still More”

The infamous beach/pool episode — who would have thought that something so simple could be done so skillfully? With the actual story finishing last episode, all I can say is that this final episode left on a really happy note.

So, you have the average run-of-the-mill pool episode where fan-service is running rampant. Then you have a this show’s pool episode, one where you get a handful of amazing fan-service shots but aren’t focused on the pool. The addition of an idol competition during a simple pool visit was so out there that for a show like Zombie, it almost felt normal. Sera and Saras could probably make it big in the idol business — with such well endowed bodies and their ability to utilize their ninja skills to change within seconds.

But the fun doesn’t end there, and not only does Haruna’s flamboyant attitude bring everything up another notch but even Yuu takes the chance to perform on stage! Idol concert — more like a crazy Idol Rock and Ballad concert! Watching Haruna wear such a ridiculous outfit and rock out on Mysteltainn was definitely interesting to say the least but it was a nice treat to see Yuu completely out of her armor. But, as things in Ayumu’s world never end well, I’d like to note that it’s painful to watch him act like such an airhead after his amazing performance last episode. But boy, imagine how fun the world would be if all the females got stuck wearing things like this. Let your imagination run rampant!

Final Impressions:

Wow! It’s been a while since I’ve watched a show that’s been amazing in the beginning, slightly less amazing toward the end, and then manages to turn around and deliver an amazingly strong ending (even if it is full of plot holes). When the season started, I wasn’t sure what to make of another zombie show. With memories of High school of the Dead still fresh in my memories, I was hoping that “Kore wa Zombie Desu ka?” would be something different — which it totally was. I never expected things like a main character whose voice actor changes week after week, a male Masou Shoujo, or even vampire-ninjas!

Watching the story change from feeling like a slice of life to a full blown battle was fun in its own right, but what probably had me coming back week after week was the sometimes subtle, sometimes obvious, usually over the top, humor. A bento full of eggs, ramen with the power to vanquish enemies, x-ray glasses, and climbing up walls with suction cups is just the tip of the iceberg. All these little jokes put here and there were used in such a perfect manner that even the silliest of things still had me laughing my head off. If watching Haruna get woken up by a pissed off chicken alarm clock or a wolf splashing tea all over himself didn’t get you laughing, I don’t know what will.

From a character standpoint, I don’t think we could have had an even better rounded cast. Starting in order of appearance for Ayumu’s harem, you have the silent cute one (Yuu), the flamboyant and violent one (Haruna), the ridiculously rude and blunt one (Sara), and the fairly normal one (Tomonori). Sure, there was Hiramatsu (girl from the ending voiced by Yamaguchi Rei) and Kyoko who mysteriously disappeared and never returned, but it’s nice to see each person in Ayumu’s harem feel different than the one next to them. Then you have Ayumu, the manliest protagonist of the season. The fact that he never had to rely on someone else to do the fighting for him puts him pretty up there — watching him amp his body up to over 1000% power is just awesome. But besides his manliness, I enjoyed watching him somehow reciprocate everyone’s feelings in a way that didn’t leave anyone out but at the same time made it clear who he really wanted.

All in all, I’m so happy that I decided to cover Zombie. Even with the plot holes surrounding Yuu’s voice and with Kyoko still missing, I think Zombie has been an awesome show. Based on the Takaii meter, an unknown list of things that I use before I recommend something, I would definitely recommend this show to anyone. Unlike High school of the Dead which was full of fan-service moments, I’d like to say that Zombie uses fan-service a bit more tastefully. There’s still boobs bouncing in certain places, and certain male pantsu shots I could live without, but I don’t think it’s pushing the boundaries too far. Before I end this post, I hope everyone watching this show laughs one more time — That’s not a kick!

P.S. Toward the end of the episode, did you notice this girl? Makes me wonder who she is.. Possibly a hint at a second season?!

The characters’ opening lines pretty much sums up my thoughts, as this chapter went by in a flash and I really don’t know how it got to 20 pages. The main thing that happened was Jackie releasing her full-bring “Dirty Boots”, which somewhat reminded me of Yourichi. Both their powers affect their clothes it seems (and both of them have revealing clothes), and Jackie’s full-bring also seems to increase her speed mainly, as does Yoruichi’s. There wasn’t all that much action, but Jackie did bring up an interesting point about how Ichigo always chats with his opponents while fighting. I never really thought about it that way, but he does usually manage to trick his enemies into explaining their powers to him. Anyway, Ichigo is managing to hold his own for now and I’m guessing this is more about showing off their powers and won’t be all that significant towards development.

The remaining scenes just showed some talk about what has been revealed around. Inoue explains what happened to Chad, about how she felt like Tsukishima was a friend for a moment. While it could be that Tsukishima had messed with her mind/memories when he stabbed her, it could also be that she actually had met him previously and just forgot, but there isn’t any evidence for that yet. Inoue is aware that he used his powers to do something to her though. That would be good, but then Tsukishima states that he is “finished” with Inoue already, so whatever he did to her will probably continue to manifest itself. As for Sushigawara, he just seems like a weak idiot who’s likely to end up as comic relief. Move along.

「君に届け」 (Kimi ni Todoke)
“Reaching You”

If you’ve never watched a Japanese live-action drama before (or any Asian drama for that matter), the first hurdle you’ll have to overcome is how cheesy they can be at times. There will also a bit of an East meets West culture clash going on if you’re unfamiliar with Asian mannerisms, which anime can ease you into but can’t truly prepare you for the “real” thing. For a live-action adaptation of a manga, it’s basically the next best thing though. In the case of the Kimi ni Todoke movie released last year, being able to look beyond those kind of reservations about J-dramas may just open you up to a new-found love for them. It worked for me a several years ago anyway, back when I got into shows like Densha Otoko, Great Teacher Onizuka, Hana Yori Dango, Hanazakari no Kimitachi e, Honey and Clover, and Nodame Cantabile, Yamato Nadeshiko. For me, the transition wasn’t all that jarring, so what started with one drama led to a growing interest in live-action versions of romantic manga or anime.

First off, I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed this movie, so much that I watched the full two-hours twice in preparation for this post. I loved how it touched upon a lot of the key scenes from the manga and portrayed them in a way that I found much more moving than its anime counterpart. It took a little while to get accustomed to the actors and actresses playing the cast of characters, but the brief introduction to Kuronuma Sawako (Tabe Mikako) followed by her fated first encounter with Kazehaya Shouta (Miura Haruma) had me eagerly looking forward to a lot of the developments that I already knew were coming. It sounds counter-intuitive getting excited about something that I know is going happen, but watching the same scenes brought to life by real people has an almost inexplicable appeal to me. Part of it is seeing how the various character nuances are portrayed and if I get a true sense of the character I know from the anime. Another is the amount of emotion that’s continually conveyed through facial expressions and eye movements, something that anime doesn’t quite capture the same way.

A great example of this was after Yano Ayane (Watanabe Natsuna) and Yoshida Chizuru (Renbutsu Misako) were introduced, the latter of whom I absolutely loved due to Misako’s ability to bring out her energetic and emotional personality. As the movie progressed, I was stricken with Chizuru, surprising even me since I’ve been all about Ayane and her ability to sense the situation and act accordingly in the anime. Kazehaya on the other hand came off popular and pleasant just like he’s known for, whereas Sanada Ryuu (Aoyama Haru) was a man of few words yet much more perceptive than he appears. Support characters such as Arai Kazuichi, a.k.a. Pin (Arata), and Kurumizawa Ume (Kiritani Mirei) were pretty spot on as well, with Kurumi sounding a lot like Hirano Aya when she called out for Kazehaya in one scene. I even found myself feeling sorry for her, with the only noticeable omission being that she didn’t tell Kazehaya that’s it’s obvious he likes someone. In Pin’s case, he didn’t quite look the part outside the towel, but he sure was obnoxious enough to remind me of the image I have of him. Of all the characters, Sawako was who I had the hardest time getting accustomed to, simply because it didn’t feel natural for a girl to give off such a creepy aura. However, once she cracked that first smile of hers, I found myself turning away from its radiance just like Kazehaya and was pretty sold on Mikako as the sweet yet misunderstood girl that Sawako is.

Watching the conclusion to the second season of the anime made me realize how I prefer Haruma’s portrayal of Kazehaya to a certain degree, mainly because Namikawa Daisuke makes him come off a bit too feminine at times. The same goes for Mikako’s portrayal of Sawako, which doesn’t delve into the overly goofy side of her character that Noto Mamiko uses a deeper voice for. Incidentally, it’s the lack of those more comedic scenes that helped this movie feel more natural as a live-action drama, making it easier to really get absorbed in some of the emotions being conveyed. I’ll admit that I’m a sucker for the “sappy stuff” if I get wrapped up in a story, but even I was a bit surprised when the that exact same scenes got me teary-eyed on my second time through the movie. In fact, the emotional impact increased after I was more accustomed to the actors and actresses in their respective roles. For the waterworks, there was Kazehaya defending Sawako after she was used in the class’ punishment game, Sawako speaking out to try and clear up the misunderstanding, Kazehaya and the others forgoing the ballot box and sitting beside Sawako, Chizuru heartbroken after learning that Tooru’s getting married, and of course the washroom scene with Sawako defending Ayane and Chizuru against the rumors. At times, I even felt an urge to cry out that my poor heart can’t take it anymore. In case there’s any doubt, yes, I enjoyed this movie that much.

However, that’s not to say I loved every aspect of this movie. The biggest problem I had was with the ending, which felt a bit too rushed given how key events such as the Christmas party were glossed over. The emphasis was clearly on Kazehaya’s inability to get his feelings across to Sawako and the many obstacles that he encountered along the way (e.g. Chizu), which translated to a surge in viewer angst near the end. It pretty much started when Sawako’s father wanted her to start taking the bus home. Before long, it was a combination of misunderstandings and Sawako being torn between missing her father’s amateur orchestra performance and leaving Kazehaya out on a limb that served as the climax to the movie. In execution it wasn’t terrible by any stretch of the imagination, as it provided a conclusive ending to the first season of the anime if it were to end at that point — a welcomed change considering how the alternative left very much to be desired.

What I would’ve liked to see is a longer segment on Christmas before skipping right to New Year’s Eve, as the lack of one really gave off the sense that the movie was pressed for time. The eventual confession was far too brief as well, as it didn’t leave ample time to invoke much of an emotional response from me when Sawako and Kazehaya told one another how they truly feel. While I was still content with the ending as a whole, that was something the anime depicted better. In any case, I wholeheartedly recommend this movie for fans of the manga and anime, as J-dramas should be right up your alley if you enjoy series like Kimi ni Todoke. If someone were to ask me to watch this movie again, I’d do so in a heartbeat. Just be sure to keep the tissues close-by. You know, for my sake.

ED Sequence

ED: 「君に届け」 (Kimi ni Todoke) by flumpoo
Watch the ED!: Download, Streaming ▼

I can understand what the story was going for by having Chouji fumble around with the thought of fighting Asuma, but that doesn’t mean I particularly enjoyed this often used character development pattern. Naturally, the idea is to show that he’s a very emotional person who loves and respects those close to him — so much that it works against him as a ninja on the battlefield — before letting him redeem himself by pulling off a surprise turnaround that leaves everyone in awe (i.e. the cliffhanger of this chapter).

The problem I always have with it is how antagonizing it is to see someone drag their feet in a situation that puts their friends at risk, who are fighting off the same urge to just breakdown under the weight of the emotions. Yes, emotions can blind oneself to logic and reason, but it doesn’t change how irksome it is to see Chouji succumb to them time and time again. This is after he confirmed his resolve with Shikamaru and Ino too, which is why I have an even harder time being completely understanding of his situation. He’s too finicky.

I think just about everyone was expecting Asuma to pull out the “fat” trump card to spur on Chouji, so if there was a surprise turn of events, it would be how the latter managed to hold back even in spite of that taboo remark. I almost see it as an embarrassment that Chouza had to get involved to slap some sense into his son, whereas Ino had to put herself at risk to cover up for Chouji’s hesitation. In a lot of ways, it reminded me of the skyscraper arc in Kaiji, except it was even more annoying in that series because Kaiji was sympathetic towards the people who were going to get him killed, even after he swore to treat all the competition as enemies like he should have. (He clearly didn’t learn his lesson from the first arc.)

Chouji’s actions weren’t nearly as frustrating, but they did make me less receptive towards the emphasis on him inheriting the oath of the Akimichi family and passing it on to future generations. Then again, this has always been a part of Chouji’s character and why I haven’t been much of a fan of him. He’s the big guy with the big heart. Now let’s see what he can do with those butterfly wings.

* Others: Appleseed XIII

Despite the horrific earthquake earlier this month, Japan’s anime industry trudges along and doesn’t miss its originally scheduled start date for the spring season. With the exception of Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica, the rest of the winter shows will conclude by next week, ending with Yumekui Merry on Thursday. So with that in mind, it’s time to give a quick overview of what will be covered on the site in the upcoming weeks.

First off, you’ll notice that I’m planning to take the season off despite how hectic it is (the poll has been fairly supportive of the idea), so this is what the blogging schedule will look like in my absence. Naturally less shows are going to be covered, but with the other writers covering a handful of shows each, there will still be a fair amount of regular content to read. With an absolutely daunting 43 show lineup, there’s simply no way to cover all the shows and quite honestly, no need to either, as the amount of new content would be ridiculous (i.e. a post won’t stay on the front page for more than 24 hours).

I realize there are a lot of shows not being covered, but I have no intention of bringing in more writers for the sake of covering as many shows as possible. Quantity isn’t everything and this isn’t an anime blogging service. Random Curiosity has four regular writers, which is much more than the one or two-man show it’s typically been. I’m quite happy with the group that I have and how reliable they’ve been, so this is simply a place for the current writers to voice their thoughts on a handful of shows that interest them. Before I get any more e-mails offering to contribute, please read the note at the top of the Spring 2011 Preview for an exception I would make.

Please note: This schedule is tentative and writers may opt to cover different shows after the first week. Included this time around is a bar beneath each entry indicating what each of the writer’s intentions are (at least initially) in terms of watching it on a weekly basis, so if anyone does decide to cover a different show, it would be another one they’re watching. It’s also meant to show what series will be covered in the monthly Retrospective Look, which I may or may not still chime in for. (Writing about 30 shows is a bit much.) Updates to this schedule will be made as needed.

Updates:
03/31: For a comparison to last spring, see the retroactively added blogging schedule.
04/18: Kiiragi has picked up coverage of Steins;Gate, Anohana, and Ao no Exorcist. Prooof has picked up C.

Episode 314

Summary:
Kon complains about being cooped up in the house, and when he sees a girl with large breasts walking by he tries to jump out. Ichigo restrains him and gives some directions to her. He then transforms to his shinigami form to fight hollows, but is seen by the girl. Later Kon sees the girl seemingly about to jump off the bridge and tries to stop her, but falls into the river himself. Later he talks with the girl, who says that she has always seen weird things (such as Ichigo flying), which resulted in her boyfriend breaking up with her. She wants to kill herself, but when Kon tries to stop her again he gets knocked out by a soccer ball. As Ichigo is looking for the hollow, he bumps into Rukia, who has discovered a corpse lying in an alley, and she says the there have been several such incidents lately. Ichigo goes looking for the attacker.

Elsewhere, the girl meets a man who claims he will grant her wish to die. Because of her spiritual ability she sees the true hollow form behind the body he had taken over, and the hollow attacks her. Kon jumps in and kicks the hollow off the cliff, but Ichigo and Rukia lose track of it. The girl (Haruko) tells Kon that he should have let her die, but Kon says he’ll protect her. Haruko’s boyfriend Ken suddenly shows up however and tells her that he wants to make up with her and Haruko gladly agrees. Ken turns out to be possessed by the hollow and he takes over Haruko’s body. Kon punches her hard enough so that the hollow is expelled, but he counterattacks and knocks out the soul candy from Ichigo’s body. Ichigo arrives just in time to save Kon from getting eaten, and Haruko hugs Ichigo (not knowing he’s not Kon), and states that she loves him. Annoyed, Rukia erases Ken and Haruko’s memory, and they get back together.

Episode 315

Summary:
Kenpachi randomly chops down trees and Yachiru plays around nearby. In the forest, a woman, Mayu, prays for her parents, but is attacked by the hollow which killed her family. A shinigami saves her and tells her his name, Masayoshi. Yachiru encounters them and recognizes Masayoshi and she talks with him from a bit. Masayoshi says that he has been on a hollow hunting squad. He explains how a hollow had killed his wife, causing his hate for hollows. Yachiru returns to Kenpachi, who has cut down a large portion of the forest. She tells him of his encounter with Masayoshi and reminisces about their past, but Kenpachi tells her of his true nature. The next morning she heads off in the forest to visit him again.

By the river, Masayoshi wakes up from a nightmare and Mayu gives him some food. Yachiru arrives, but she asks him what he had argued with his wife about, he runs off into the forest feeling a hollow nearby. He kills it, but another hollow observes them from the forest. Later in the evening, Mayu asks Masayoshi if she could be with him, but Yachiru takes her away and tells her not to get too close, then leaves. Mayu is caught by the hollow and Masayoshi is baited into a trap. He kills all the hollows, but collapses temporarily with his eyes turning black. Yachiru comes and says that he is actually slowly transforming into a hollow. Yachiru tells him that he was the one who killed his wife after a hollow possessed him. Masayoshi had retained his consciousness, but his memories and parts of his personality had begun fading. He suddenly starts transforming, but sacrifices himself to save Mayu from another hollow.

Preview

Impressions:
These fillers were very predictable as usual, and the plot flow always seems pretty similar, making me wonder if a stock formula is used every time, just featuring different characters. I do enjoy seeing some of the characters that are less seen in the manga, but nothing significant happens, maybe in an attempt to prevent deviations from the canon. Characters are flat however, and it’s hard to care about them at all. This results in little to no emotional impact during the more dramatic scenes, and there are usually several in each mini-story. It’s good there isn’t any pathetic humor that has plagued some of the previous fillers, but I still feel these one-shot standalone episodes could be more interesting.

Both episodes revolved around a character possessed by the hollow, which as far as I can remember is a novel idea in the series. I actually liked the first better, but some parts were in bad taste, such as the parasite scene which was rather gross. Gore is fine but most of the stuff here was just dull, the same reason the emotional scenes fell flat. I was happy about seeing more of Yachiru and Kenpachi in the latter episode, but they got no development at all. A multitude of story elements were just reused, with different characters and a different setting plugged in. The plot isn’t inherently bad, but I can’t say it’s interesting at all. I’m hoping, but not expecting that the filler arcs will be more substantial.

「ああ、オレの所にいろ！」 (Aa, Ore no Tokoroni Iro!)
“Yes, Stay With Me!”

For the past few weeks, I’ve been bagging on this show a little more than I should have. It might have been the lack of really funny jokes or how the plot is randomly jumping from A to Z within minutes, but this week’s episode reinvigorated my love for the series.

Sure things are sometimes crazy in this show, but with the show’s precedence of being random and unpredictable, everything just felt a little more right. Surprisingly, what fleshed out the most emotion from me wasn’t Ayumu and Yuu’s predicament but the relationship that Ayumu has with everyone else in his harem — more specifically Haruna. While it’s clear that Ayumu doesn’t reciprocate Haruna’s feelings, it was heartwarming watching Haruna beat some sense into him. As awkward as that sounds, it’s kind of sad to see Haruna always giving it her best even though she realizes she won’t be the “one”. For someone who was loud and annoying at the start of the series, she’s rose up pretty fast in my list of favorite characters — probably because she’s a combination of all the best parts of a Yandere and Tsundere. You get some crazy with the cute!

Even though the general storyline was jumping from one point to another, something about this week’s episode brought back the charm from the earlier episodes. Watching Ayumu finally stand up his beliefs and beating the crap out of the final boss really made things fun. Sure, there was an entire vampire village playing together as an orchestra to prevent the city from being torn down, but Ayumu’s battle with the King of Night is where the action was at — anyone been hankering for some Dual Masou Shoujo action? But something about watching Ayumu go from a pretty Masou Shoujo to a scary strong zombie punching through a person’s head all in one battle felt pretty rewarding.

Before the King of Night finally got his wish to physically perish from the world, he left us with a really interesting question — can anyone really stand living till the end of time? I don’t know how old the King of Night is, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s lived over a few centuries. But what I’ve taken away from it is that Yuu and Ayumu probably are a near mirror image of what Yuu and the King of Night were long ago — a pair who really felt strongly for one another. It almost justifies Yuu trying to run away from Ayumu — I say almost because I can’t fathom how running away from Ayumu would solve anything, especially when the person you’re running with is someone who wants you to remove their existence. If only the cute ones had a little more sense.

With an ending that gave me a smile at the end, I’m super excited for whatever comes next week. From what I can guess, it looks like it will involve swimsuits! Oh and before I forget, it might be good to note that Yuu ACTUALLY SPOKE.

Preview

Topic: Kiiragi’s Writing

Target: People who actually read Kiiragi’s posts (Past or Present)

Work: One Piece, One Piece Manga, High School of the Dead, Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt, Kuragehime, Yumekui Merry, GOSICK, Ep 1-3 of Hourou Musuko, Random first episode posts from Winter Season ’10, Break Blade 2, and Suzumiya Haruhi no Shoushitsu

Details: To be simple, what do you like and what don’t you like? And in a more general sense, what do you expect in a typical post? Let me know. I’ve had more ups and downs in terms of QUALITY writing than a bipolar tsundere, often due to writing experimentation, but I never get much of an idea what the typical reader thinks. Curiosity got the better of me, so after a year of blogging, I’m looking for some feedback after receiving little to none in typical posts. I do ask that you try to be specific and constructive, so that I might actually be able to use it for improvement. Referencing posts or examples would also be helpful. Thanks for your time.

Edit: Just to note, negative feedback is slightly more helpful than positive, as I wrote this because I felt like I was missing something.

Edit2: I’ve really appreciated the responses so far, and am grateful to those that spent the time to write one. That said, please don’t spike up drama because you think the writers are getting “hurt.” We are grown ass men, and I think we can handle a little criticism (which as of yet, isn’t even nearly as harsh as I wanted). So stop caring about “feelings” and just say what needs to be said, that’s what I want. It’s the internet, I’m not going to kill you. This is not to say you should say whatever you want without reason. You should know the fine line. I will gather a conclusion later today and post up the criteria I think I will focus on. Never mind :P

The official site for the Fullmetal Alchemist movie, subtitled “The Sacred Star of Milos”, recently added a minute long trailer. The movie is intended to tie-in with Brotherhood (i.e. the manga’s story) but as a side story before the actual conclusion. It’s directed by Murata Kazuya (assistant director of CODE GEASS) and the script is by Shinpo Yuuichi (author of the novel Whiteout). L’arc~en~Ciel is performing the theme song, whereas BONES is back for the animation production and seems to going with a very subtle change in style.

On the onset of the story, a man named Melvin Voyager is nearing the end of his prison term in Central, the capital city of Amestris. However, upon reading a newspaper article, Melvin suddenly breaks out of prison. Taking interest in the powerful alchemy he used to do so, Edward (Paku Romi) and Alphonse (Kugimiya Rie) chase after Melvin towards the the neighbouring country of Creta, along the western border of Amestris. Near the border, the Elric brothers find themselves in Table City, a hidden town surrounded by mountains that was once known as Milos. There, they meet a girl named Julia Chricton (Sakamoto Maaya) and start uncovering Milos’ blood-smeared history.

Other characters set to make appearances include Winry Rockbell (Takamoto Megumi), Roy Mustang (Miki Shinichirou), Riza Hawkeye (Orikasa Fumiko), and Alex Louis Armstrong (Utsumi Kenji). The movie is slated to premiere in theaters on July 2nd.

* Warning: The official site is Flash-heavy and spasm-inducing with its loading pages.

Update: Added more details on the story.

「かつて在りしもの」 (Katsute Arishi Mono)
“What Once Was”

I may have familiarized myself with the Original Generation timeline a fair bit, but learning that Wendolo was possessed by the Einst all this time was news to me. That came as a surprise, as well as the very quick exchange he had with his older brother Mekibos, who didn’t stand a chance against Wendolo’s massive Dikastes. It took no less than three super robots to take it down after all, including SRX’s “Heaven and Earth Psychic Exploding Sword” (Tenjou Tenge Nendou Bakusai Ken), which goes to show that you need some pretty overpowered attacks to deal with overpowered enemies.

For the most part, this episode looked like it was on pure clean up duty, wrapping up a lot of the loose ends. The Inspectors were completely dealt with while Shadow-Mirror was sent reeling. In the latter case, Excellen and Lamia finally learned that Lemon is Excellen’s counterpart in the Shadow-Mirror universe, something that shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise if you’ve been reading my posts and picking up on the hints I’ve been dropping (e.g. both voiced by Mizutani Yuuko). More intriguing (even for me) was Gilliam’s use of the Agyieus dimensional warp system built into Zweizergain’s head. The mask and teddy bear were huge throwbacks to Gilliam’s Hero Senki: Project Olympus origins, which only die-hard fans are supposed to pick up on. (Don’t feel bad if they seemed completely random to you.)

With Lemon killed and Vindel along with most of the Einst warped away by Gilliam, the last boss of Original Generation finally appears in Stern Regisseur, who showed up in its Einst Regisseur form back in episode nineteen. Throw in some White Star assimilation and now our heroes are dealing with an enemy of galactic proportions (literally). If this were Gundam or Macross, this would probably be considered a completely absurd development. Super Robot Wars? Not so much. Of course, there’s still Axel and Kyousuke’s rivalry that goes all the way back to the first episode, so that’s the other major thing to watch for in the finale next time. The preview also shows R-Gun Powered going into Metal Genocider Mode again and we all know what that means by now.

Overall, this was a pretty hectic episode but fun to watch with all the character themes playing in the background. Not to mention, there was the somewhat humorous scene with Shuu telling Masaki to bust out his Cyflash map weapon. (No sign of Valsione’s Psycho Blaster unfortunately.) Twenty-five episodes later and we’re at the finale for SRW OG: The Inspector. Looking back, it’s kind of amazing how much material has been covered of a video game franchise that isn’t easy to adapt. Now all that’s left is to see how the anime wraps it all up.

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「電話と前夜」 (Denwa to Zenya)
“Call and Eve”

The buildup to the next week’s finale couldn’t have been done better. In what I consider was an answer to my prayers, I was ecstatic that Koogy’s attempt to cheat out real mangaka’s failed. Not only did he get a horrible ranking, but I got a kick from watching him smash his guitar in disappointment.

I don’t know about you guys, but I love it when I get to see behind the scenes. That feeling of knowing that your part of the select few who that get to see what really goes on in the “back” really gets me excited. If the short meeting discussing the winners of the Golden Future Cup was any indication of what’s to come, I’m really excited to see just how crazy the serialization meeting goes. Here’s to hoping that the head editor finally talks again!

On the other hand, just when I had nearly forgotten about how awkward a relationship Mashiro and Azuki share, the series decided to remind me of all the problems that come along with a distance relationship. I’m a firm believer that love will conquer all, but I’m not naïve enough to believe that love always works in situations like Mashiro’s. I felt some chills run down my back when I heard Azuki’s mom confront her about her feelings — the images of Azuki and Mashiro losing feelings for each other were rapidly flashing through my mind. Seriously, how long do you think you could maintain feelings for someone when you never see nor talk to them?

While I was feeling extra disappointed that Azuki still hadn’t collected enough courage to even verbally talk to Mashiro, I was pleasantly surprised to watch both Hattoris get along with each other. To me it’s always felt like both of them were in a fierce competition against each other, trying to be the better Hattori and climb higher in the corporate food chain. But watching them share some beer together and openly expressing their fears about their futures, I get the feeling that they might end up being really good friends.

With the finale right around the corner, this episode couldn’t have picked a better spot to stop at. With the hopes and dreams of our dynamic duo lying in the hands of the big shots at Jump Jack, I’m hoping we finally get that happy ending we all want — that is, if you forget that there is a second season already scheduled for this fall and that the manga is nowhere near done. But one can hope, right?

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「ひが日死の巫女」 (Higanishi no Miko)
“East Maiden”

It’s the precursor to the finale and a pretty good one at that with a huge cliffhanger involving the fourth phase and the revival of King Samekh. There still wasn’t clear indication as to what drove Sugata to Kiraboshi’s side, but further implication that it’s for Keito’s sake makes it the most plausible explanation. The only thing that threw me in for a bit of a whirl was Sugata queuing up his first phase while Keito was pouring out her feelings for him as her raison d’être. He did make it clear that he wants to see her live on and stressed that she could pass on her mark to future generations to deal with though, suggesting that he was willing to resign to his fate as Samekh’s driver if that’s what she truly wanted. At least, that’s the impression I got from his unshakable resolve when Tiger and Jaguar showed up to assassinate him, having inherited the powers to kill Samekh’s driver.

Whether intentional or not, Tiger’s inability to do so emphasized how emotions defy logic and duties, which probably applies to Sugata as well to a certain degree. While there hasn’t been indication that he has any romantic interest in Keito, he did lower his head to allow her to kiss him. If nothing else, that went on to show that he’s considerate of her feelings, even if it meant lying to himself. To me, I still don’t see that as good enough reason to go along with Kiraboshi’s plans, seeing as there are probably other ways of going about it if it’s only Keito’s he’s concerned about. As such, it could very well be that Sugata’s grown tired of avoiding his destiny as Samekh’s driver and decided to carry out what his inherited mark is beckoning him to do. The subtle twist is that he’s left a fail-safe of sorts in Takuto (or so it would seem) to stop him at his own judgement.

Considering how a lot of the mark holders have had duties thrust upon them, I think it’s only natural for at least a handful to want to go against what’s expected of them. This goes for Keito as well, who’s chosen to support Sugata instead of protecting her maiden seal. The flashback where she and Wako apprivoised to save Sugata was somewhat saddening to see, since it showed just how long Keito’s been healing Sugata without his knowledge. However, it did shed some light on where Keito’s coming from and how it’s hard to see her as the enemy despite her actions. What’s more, she appears to harbor more feelings of reluctance than Sugata, which I’ll attribute to the delicateness of a maiden’s heart.

All of the above is simply to try and make sense of how we got to where we are now, with Reiji inheriting Shingo’s mark and using it to apprivoise the Sympathy, while Sugata takes up his intimidating role in Samekh after Keito’s seal was broken. What’s interesting is that the preview shows Kiraboshi on the receiving end of Samekh’s wrath, which seems to support my previous idea about how most of its members aren’t really antagonists. Driving that point home was Kanako, who revealed that her cruise ship has been docked at the island to help evacuate Southern Cross Island’s inhabitants in case the volcano erupts. Of course, that doesn’t mean there isn’t an ultimate antagonist that Takuto will have to face off in the finale.

I don’t think it comes as too much of surprise on who that will be, but in case anyone’s wondering, Japanese television guides have given a short synopsis on the final episode. It should be pretty exciting. For my translation of it, see below. Credit goes to the denizens of 2chan for the info as well as this preview compilation.

Show Episode 25 Synopsis ▼

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「夢の守り人」 (Yume no Mamoribito)
“Protectors of Dreams”

Why wait?

While every scene was practically standard fare from start to finish, it was indeed a gripping episode, with some well done suspense and tension between characters. The implied sexual relationship betwen Mysteltainn and Rice-sensei was unexpected to say the least, but makes sense in context, and we all know when you add sex to villains, it feels all the more taboo. Still, I lol’d when he promptly exploded her clothes into shreds. That’s some power you got there sensei. And what the hell was he doing that required censoring? Is that even censoring? Actually, I don’t think I even want to know.

Regardless of how simple Mysteltainn’s motives are, it’s done well enough to keep the suspense going. I did expect Merry to give back at least decent fight, but she never landed a hit. The fight choreography was also ridiculous. Yumeji’s failure is understandable, which then falls back on Kawanami, the big “question,” as if jaded ol’ me could seriously bite my nails wondering whether or not she’ll step up to the plate. Again, it was all done pretty well, so I still had some sense of dread, but the power of companionship wins over her emotionless heart like I have to use milk on my cereal. But as I was expecting some sort of cliffhanger, they suddenly retreat..? She practically had them all at her feet, so why wait? “Oh, I’m beating down too many people. Even though I’m so close right now, and I actually have to beat you all again if I wait, as well as open the possibility of you getting stronger, screw it you know? I’ll just kill you all next time.” Give it up for J.C. Staff everybody!

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