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「ハルカナキオク」 (Haruka na Kioku)
“Distant Memories”
Well, it looks like my question surrounding whether or not this would be a fairly clean adaptation was answered this very first episode. feel studio isn’t being shy about playing the twin incest angle, even though it’s been portrayed as something that innocently developed during childhood.
I’ve been wondering what’s up with the Western-style clothing. Hijikata gives the Shinsengumi these clothes as an alternative to Japanese ones. He cut his hair too!
「焔の如く」 (Homura no Gotoku)
“Like a Blaze”
As I’ve briefly mentioned, Hakuouki is now considered a Monday show in light of AT-X airing a double-header when every other station only aired the recap special. That kind of handcuffs me blogging-wise, but the struggles of the Shinsengumi in their losing fight against pro-Imperial forces has me excited about the direction of this sequel.
Ika Musume is here to subjugate mankind for polluting the ocean! Too bad nobody cares.
「侵略しなイカ？／同胞じゃなイカ？／最強じゃなイカ？」
(Shinryaku Shinai ka? / Douhou Janai ka? / Saikyou Janai ka?)
“Aren’t I Invading? / Aren’t You a Fellow Brethren? / Isn’t She the Most Powerful?”
The invasion of the squid girl is here! While I enjoyed the bit of the manga I read in preparation for this adaptation, it’s far better animated than even I was expecting. Diomedea’s animation is crisp and the lush colors have a lot of “pop”. Best of all, Ika Musume herself is absolutely adorable with the way Kanemoto Hisako plays her.
Vice-Commander of the Shinsengumi, Hijikata Toshizou (Miki Shinichirou).
「特別編 京都回想録」 (Tokubetsu-hen – Kyouto Kaisouroku)
“Special Chapter – Memories of Kyoto”
Despite the “Hekketsuroku” addition to the title, this is a direct continuation of the series that aired back in spring, hence the episode number thirteen next time. Normally the numbering wouldn’t matter, but in the case of Hakuouki, they treated this as the midpoint of the series and used it to recap. What a way to premiere a sequel. With a recap… -_-;
* Note: I just realized the actual episode 13 aired right after on AT-X on Monday. I’ll cover it in the upcoming days. Consider this a season one primer.
I don’t know if Kyousuke was looking at Kirino’s eyes or about 30cm below, but I know where I was. It was her eyes of course!
「俺が妹と恋をするわけがない」 (Ore ga Imouto to Koi wo Suru Wake ga Nai)
“There’s No Way I’m in Love with My Sister”
The model middle school student is secretly a younger sister-obsessed erotic game maniac! In actuality, it’s not quite that bad, but it sure sounds more interesting when I say she poses for pictures to earn money for feeding her addiction. It’s all about taking stuff out of context.
Memories of how Gauche became Noir of the anti-government association Reverse.
As a direct continuation to the story that left off six months ago, the only thing that’s keeping this feeling like an actual sequel is the new title, REVERSE.
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「赤い衝撃」 (Akai Shougeki)
“Red Impact”
Having only really played through some of the Classic and Alpha SRW games, I had to do a fair bit of research into the Original Generations timeline to get a good grasp of what’s going on in this adaptation. It served as a good refresher to fully appreciate the story, which new viewers diving into this sequel will likely be overwhelmed by to start.
The arrival of Astraea! She’s out for Sakurai blood.
「キミも脱げ！帰ってきた全裸王（ユウシャ）」 (Kimi mo Nuge! Kaettekita Zenra Out (Yuusha))
“You Strip Too! The Return of the Naked King (Hero)”
Even with the episode title, the parody opening for this premiere had more naked Tomoki than I was prepared for.
| Legend: | 13 | Divine | 2 | Kiiragi | 1 | Prooof | 3 | Takaii | Not covering |
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With the new fall season starting tomorrow, here’s a quick overview of what the plans are blogging-wise. Please note that this schedule may change in the upcoming weeks, but will likely remain very close to what’s listed here. As usual, I’ll be watching much more than I’ll be blogging, so Suzuku and Takaii have been brought in to help cover some other shows. Prooof is continuing on with Bleach and Nurarihyon no Mago like originally planned, whereas Kiiragi is going back to being the resident One Piece writer. If for some reason you haven’t checked out the Fall 2010 Preview already, all links in the schedule will take you to the series’ corresponding entry. I’ve added a lot of new promotional videos since the preview was originally published, so it’s worth checking out again even if you have.
* More after the jump on some plans for the new season. Please note that the the reader’s poll on top 5 picks of the season will be closing tonight. As always, feedback is appreciated.
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「Over the rainbow」
It was pretty ambitious of the writers to slip in one more arc for Mario and go from start to finish in a mere episode, but they managed to pull it off and wrap up the second of four major manga arcs with this adaptation.