Dorei-ku the Animation – Episode 10

We’ve seen Ryuuou’s backstory from Julia’s point of view. This episode we get Ryuuou’s backstory from Ryuuou’s point of view. His relationship with his mother, how they lived together as long as he could remember and she would always praise him on how smart he was. He was smart, so he would be alright and soon as she said that she started coming home less and less.
Eventually, she stopped coming home all together. Leaving him all alone to care for himself. Until Julia came into his life.

We see that Ryuuou had obtained the SCM’s online and decided, to try it out on Julia. Which matched up to what we saw on Julia’s side, upon seeing that he could really enslave people. His first thought was ‘I want to save my mother.’
So we see him go and meet with the guy who owns the brothels, we already know how that plays out.

We see a little more of what goes down with Julia and Ryuuou. The tattoo she got, a dragon and a flower to represent his name was not something he’d ordered her to do. Neither were a lot of things, like making dinner or falling into a very family like dynamic with him.
He’s clearly distressed and worried about her. He’s not giving as clear of orders to his servants.

Everything is falling apart for him.

Everything falls even more apart when his servants. Determined to save Fujiko and Julia from whatever have happened to them go off and act on their own. Capturing…uh, whatever his name is from episode 1. Guy who lost at the pachinko parlor. They get information on a meeting place and all go in to take down the person who had taken Julia…
They all put in their SCM’s and surround him, intending to force him into a duel and make him let the people he captured go. Which is all fine and good, but really one of them should of not been wearing their SCM as a safety measure.

Maybe I don’t know, the guy with the gun? Chūō, Honey, I thought you were smart. I mean, I suppose I can’t blame him because there is no way he could know about the existence of the judgement SCM. Setagaya calls Ryuuou and proves to him that he’s captured all his slaves and unfortunately, even Julia broke…

He only has Zero left, who is also Kiyo as we saw in the previous episode and kidnapped by Maria. So Ryuuou has been left with nothing and no one and that’s a horrible painful feeling.
My only hope here comes in the fact that Eia approached him during this episode. Not antagonistically. She didn’t even hint that she knew who she was.
She did nothing more then offer him a doughnut and speak about books. I’m hoping he will take up an alliance with her soon against Setagaya.

Speaking though of Zero. With their original plan to have Ryuuou release him gone from their grasp. Maria slips on an SCM, hoping to enslave Zero herself so she can release him from Ryuuou and release him all together and make Kiyo happy.
As soon as she slides the scm in though, her proximity alert goes off. She goes outside to check the source, thinking perhaps that it’s Gekkou returning from getting snacks.

What she finds instead is someone wearing a gas mask and carrying a sling shot. That claims to be very good at shooting, he issues a game against her. If she can escape, she wins. Well, she tries her best to run, but that slingshot nails her right in the heel and she’s down on the floor. She loses and becomes his slave.

God, is it wrong that I hope it’s Yuuga in another one of his flimsy disguises? It’s TOO late in the series to be adding even MORE characters and more factors to the story. I am getting severely worried about it having time to wrap up all the plot threads it does have hanging. One can either hope it starts all coming together soon or we get news of a second season.
The novels spanned three novels, with a side novel and two sequel novels. So there is a possibility this isn’t the last we’ve seen of Dorei-ku, but I still want this season to come to a satisfying conclusion.

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Megalo Box Episode 11

Megalo Box is drawing to a close and with this brilliant episode of sacrifice and redemption, it is officially my anime of the season. It’s quite mind blowing to think about how Nanbu has changed over the course of the season, transitioning from a spineless alcoholic deeply in debt to the best possible trainer Joe could’ve ever asked for. His growth dwarfs the rest of the cast, and in some light Megalo Box is just as much Nanbu’s story as it is Joe’s.

The shadow that Fujimaki casts over Team Nowhere has been present since the very beginning. There were joyous moments in the series where Nanbu, Joe, and Sachio may have forgotten about the crime lord that watches their every move, but those moments were short lived as they were reminded of the bonds that held them down. Fujimaki himself is a pragmatic, cruel man, but not unnecessarily cruel. He was the final hurdle standing between Joe and Yuri, the antagonist before the final arc. He believes that men cannot change, and that frauds like Nanbu and Joe could never be the real thing. This philosophy of his is pushed heavily through the scorpion and stray dog metaphors, and is not too far fetched, considering he’s a crime lord who has probably seen men unravel and display their true colors multiple times.

He considered Nanbu no different, another scorpion trying to be something it wasn’t. Perhaps at the beginning of the series, Nanbu was indeed just a scorpion, a fraud. However, as his attachment for Joe and Sachio grew and as Joe repeatedly proved that he was indeed the real deal, Nanbu stripped off his scorpion skin and became the real deal. Fujimaki himself even comments that Nanbu seems like a genuine trainer as he speaks to Joe. This episode is the culmination of Team Nowhere’s progression, and is representative of how their bonds to each other are empowering them beyond normal measures. Sachio pushes Joe to keep fighting, Nanbu sees this and pushes Joe himself, and Joe defeats Glenn with a spectacular punch. Our ragtag group of hoodlums is a trio of strong spirits that has become “the real thing,” through sheer courage and determination.

However, this did come with the cost of Nanbu’s final eye. I found this sacrifice extremely saddening after Fujimaki explains the significance of its loss. Nanbu has trained Joe for all this time to reach Yuri at Megalonia, yet he himself cannot watch Joe win. It’s a tragic fate for the trainer, something akin to breaking the hands of a piano prodigy. It’s interesting how Fujimaki demanded Nanbu’s eye during the start of the series, but Nanbu pleaded his way out of the situation. But now at the end, he cuts it out himself without a shred of cowardice. Way to go Nanbu, you’ve redeemed yourself tenfold.

The fight between Glenn and Joe was great, but not spectacular. I enjoyed Glenn’s monster truck entrance and the punch out was entertaining, but the fight itself was no the focus of the episode. It was Team Nowhere’s inner struggles. As a result of that change in focus, the fight was not as fleshed out as something like the Aragaki fight or the Mikio fight. Other highlights of the episode included Sachio’s unexpected rap, which was amazing by the way. Along with Yuri walking down to the ring to motivate Joe!

It’s finally coming! The fight we’ve been waiting for since episode one, the fight to make Joe reach beyond! Yuri versus Gearless Joe. Shirato versus Team Nowhere. I am not ready for this hype.

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Tokyo Ghoul Re Episode 11 – That b!tch was killed? Thank da Lord.

First of all, shout out to my girl Matsumae for killing the 2 most cancerous people in the CCG. That girl with the pink hair was looking really bloodthirsty and the guy with the patches is blood thirsty all the time. And Furuta, the butler of the guy with the patches, is also cancerous and I hope he dies. He used his teammate as a shield and uses mind controlling techniques, which is smart by the way.

Matsumae is like “ You used your own teammate as a shield and killed him” and he was like “technically you killed him” and he stabs her eyes out. Oof.

Then I don’t understand the dedication of the workers of the Tsukiyama. They would die for their family and would do anything for them. They must have done a lot for these ghouls. Apparently, it was mentioned in previous episodes, but for some of them, they gave them a place of refuge when they had no where to go and a job.

There is something else I don’t understand. There was a cut scene/flashback scene while Tsukiyama and Haise were fighting, where I think Haise just turned into Haise and he wanted to die. And then that Arima guy was like you’re my quinque and if you want to die, you can. So in order to save himself, he had to be part of the CCG and become Arima’s quinque. Kankei doesn’t want to die yet. Not yet.

When they use a questionable ghoul that may or may not turn to the ghoul side to fight ghouls…

Ghouls have amazing powers. But I feel like they are getting more amazing over time. That ghouls that was regernating faster than they could fight it and then after they did a big attack, it attacked them more( laughing face).

I guess this isn’t the first time they have done a family extermination because apparently Kanae’s family was killed by the CCG too. They know what they are doing. Ay! This might end quickly….

Kanae’s backstory was interesting, we knew that she was the only person in her family left and the  Tsukiyama’s are her cousins. The fact that slowly her family was hunted and killed and she was only one left is painful.

And also the fact that her eyes and mouth and still sewn from the torture is creepy. She got really messed up because of the torture. We don’t know how exactly messed up yet, but she really messed up. She probably has a twisted love for Tsukiyama that was in her, but now brought to the surface by the torture. That rabbit girl probably put some ideas in her head and probably raped her to be honest. I felt like that could have happened.

I think Kankei is going to show himself during this battle. I’ve been waiting for this the entire time. The entire time, I’m waiting for everyone to get wrecked, because like I previously mentioned, this was a bad idea in general.

Next episode: The Conclusion of the Tsukiyama Fight! Is Kankei going to come out? What they going to do with regenerating ghoul? Is Matsumae and her comrade going to kill this bloodthirsty piece of trash who uses his own teammates as shields? Is Kanae going to kill Haise/Kankei( well, she’s going to try)?

See y’all next week!

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Yu-Gi-Oh VRAINS Episode 56

It is understatement to say this episode was a hot mess. It was unbelievably boring. I was hoping for some witty exchanges, but nothing. It was annoying how predictable it was, and for the sake of switching up the tempo I wished Takeru had blown the use of his skill because the reactions that would have followed would have been freaking hilarious. It certainly didn’t help the fact Fusion Fire enables him to use his opponent’s fusion materials as his own was straight up disgusting. Violet Chimera’s is super sick though. Love it.

And the dull exchange wasn’t the only problem. The animation this week, was absolutely horrific. It has been a while since I have last seen an episode with this many flaws in the animations, and it was terribly difficult to ignore because it stood out like a sore-thumb. In fact, it was so distracting, I had a difficult time focusing on the duel. I did notice the animation improved for a bit during the second half of the episode, but overall it wasn’t good.

We all knew Aoi was going to lose, it was going to happen no matter how badly we wished for her to win— even when she is in this stupid mindset right now. Aside from her internal monologue at the beginning of the episode that made my head hurt, I enjoyed seeing she has taken the time to properly reflect on her deck, identify her vulnerabilities and how she can cover her weaknesses, all while building off of her core style of chipping away at her opponent’s life points. The most pleasant surprise however had to be the Link Fusion Summon, which was awesome to see how characters each will have their own unique Fusion summoning sequences, as they do with Links and Rituals Summons.

However, her loss may not be in vain. So as long as the writers don’t intend to sabotage her further, (something I honestly don’t have a lot of faith in…) this could turn into a crucial learning experience. Aoi was able to recognized something important, and that is the bond between Takeru and Flame. There is an opportunity for Aoi to possibly start reflecting on what Ignis are, what are their bonds with Humans/Partners, and potentially recognize it would be in humanity’s best interest for them to be with the partners they have chosen to be with. However I don’t believe she knows that part of the story yet, how the victims and and Ignis are connected to each other. In fact, perhaps it will encourage her to investigate the matter further. Of course the worst case scenario (and the stupidest thing that could happen), she becomes greedy and wants an Ignis partner of her own since she can’t bond with her AI, at least not in the same way she could with an Ignis.

Either way, I hope this loss will enable her to start looking outside of her brother’s box, and start thinking for herself and investigating on her own terms, rather than going along with the flow of others.

Yuusaku was MIA this episode because he has gone ahead to investigate the enemy. Next week we see he will be encountering Haru and Bohman. The preview indicates the subject of the Lost Incident is going to be brought up. However I am a bit worried for him, since Yuusaku looks alarmed, and potentially vulnerable. Just when he thought he could start putting the past behind him, it looks like the past is about to come back to hunt him, showing even with the Hanoi Knights gone, the case has yet to be closed.

Oh and one last thing: Flame blushing at Emma and calling her a Goddess was freaking hilarious!
Watch out Takeru, Ghost Girl might steal Flame’s heart!!!!!

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Ginga Eiyuu Densetsu: Die Neue These – Kaikou Episode 10

“Nothing is more stimulating than using whole nations and the very fate of humans as intangible chips in a game of politics and strategy.”

Adrian Rubinsky is probably the only person in the galaxy that Yang Wenli could outright despise in ever way. He manipulates both the Free Planets and the Galactic Empire into throwing lives away in these huge scale battles as if he’s playing the greatest strategy game of all time. However, I must admit that there’s probably some fun behind being such a jerk with so much power. He can bend the strongest militaries of the galaxy to his will, while lounging about in his mansions on Fezzan. A man with such a strong grip over both sides is no doubt cunning enough to be a major player in this space opera. I’m just curious as to how he’ll inevitably fall, will it be at the hands of Reinhard or Yang?

The news arrives to the Galactic Empire that the rebel forces are planning an invasion through Iserlohn with a thirty million men. But being Legend of the Galactic Heroes, there is no quick answer of just sending Reinhard off to do battle. There’s the question of politics. The elderly administrators of the Galactic Empire must not only ensure victory to appease a rowdy populace, but must also tip toe around Reinhard’s success. Normally something like this would grind my gears because it’d be yet another example of older officials screwing over young blood, but here there’s political reasoning backing it up. It’s not simply out of pride or arrogance that they’re hesitant on sending Reinhard, it’s calculated politics. However, if anyone can screw over expectations, it’s our glorious Reinhard.

On the Free Planets side of things, Yang raises a very interesting point about his capture of Iserlohn has backfired. He worked endlessly to ensure minimal casualties from both sides, praying that the capture of Iserlohn would mark the beginning of a potentially peaceful era. Unfortunately, it has the reverse effect and instead fires up the people into a battle hungry frenzy. I’m not sure what Yang can do here, he doesn’t want anything to do with the military, yet he’s being dragged into a dangerous offensive. Furthermore, he knows that the true reasoning behind the campaign is political, which makes him hate it even more. He really doesn’t deserve this, and the Free Planets Alliance doesn’t deserve him to save them from whatever blunder they commit.

The introduction of Commodore Falk is just as I remember in the original OVAs, a complete scumbag. Not only is his strategy overly bold, his attitude towards Yang is despicable. Yang and the other officers are merely questioning his strategy, trying to cover up possible holes, but Falk responds with messages of patriotism and bravery. Not only is he a scumbag, but incompetent as well, which is a horrible combination. However, his disgusting nature is made quite clear to both Sithole and Yang, revealing a potential destiny for Yang. Sithole explains that if honest men like Yang could take ahold of the highest military position in the Free Planets Alliance, then he could weed out men like Falk before they grew into fruition. This must sound like a horrible destiny for our lazy Yang, but Sitholes deems it a necessity if the Free Planets Alliance is to survive and prosper.

The episode ends with Reinhard and his subordinates discussing their strategy against the Free Planets Alliance, and I believe it captures the essence of why Reinhard has succeeded until now. Far more than just militarily talented, Reinhard collects talented men under his flag and heeds their opinions. Almost like a teacher willing to learn from his students, it’s respectable. His plan to draw the Alliance deep into enemy territory and then shatter their force at once sounds absolutely bonkers, but if anyone can pull it off, it’s Reinhard. I’m just curious as to whether Yang will have enough control or influence to possibly defend against him. Guess we’ll see soon!

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Mahou Shoujo Ore – Episode 11

So after the dramatic reveal at the end of last weeks episode where everything we thought we knew was turned on it’s head. How does the show follow up this shocking revelation? With an episode that was generally good, not great, but good.

Hyoue proves to the girls that their manager is really the demon boss by showing them a photo taken by Fujimoto of their manager with the bunch of demons in his apartment.While this is being established, Mohiro is dragged off into the demon world and portals to the demon world and demons are popping up all over the city. The demon portals shoot a ray that decrease the animation budget and make everything wonky looking…
While a ticket along the bottom of the screen reads “We’ve decreased the animation quality to get along with the story, sorry for the inconvenience.”
It’s times like this I honestly wish I’d had the foresight to read the manga for this show ahead of time. So I could know if gag’s like this are exclusive to the anime or if the manga cut down on the drawings during this part too. I’m not sure why it would matter, it wouldn’t make it any more or less funny for me if it was content sticking to the manga…It’s just one of those things i’m curious about.

Their manager does an over the top broadcast on the television, hijacking the airways to show that he has Mohiro captive and invite the magical girls to come defeat him. He’s wearing a mask, so there can be a dramatical reveal of his identity. Though the girls and we the audience already know it.
The girls jump through one of the portal, leaving Hyoue to try to close up the other portals. Since fairy magic and demon magic isn’t all that different.

The girls rush into a rather gaudy area. Right up to a door that says ‘Final Boss door’, with save point right outside of it. God, their manager really is a giant nerd. They can’t get the door open, so Sakuyo shoves Saki actually just straight through the door.
There is a nice dramatic moment where surounded by demons Sakuyo is telling Saki to go on. Saki is worried because Sakuyo’s love power comes from being with and near Saki. It’s fine though, because Sakuyo has a little Saki doll that she made to keep her going when the real one isn’t around. She also made a little Sakuyo doll for Saki. So they are never truly apart.

Saki runs on to the boss room. Where the manager pulls his mask off in a dramatic reveal…and then tells the demons to cut the broadcast and take a break while they go to commercial. During which time, he takes the time to talk with Saki.
We get a slightly revised version of his backstory that we got the last time. This time, we see that he was a director among the demons. Basically, a guy who sat behind a desk and managed all the work and complaints of the many races that the demons had taken over. When he hears that the Human World, a realm that was rated class-D and not a threat to them all is in danger. The demon stationed there had been defeated by a magical girl.

Apparently, the demon world had anime. So he knew what that was, got hype as hell and said he’d go on a mission to earth to find out about the magical girl threat. When he got there though, all he saw was Saki’s mom. In her man form, getting on in years. His dreams broken, his stay in the human world begins and it follows the backstory we are familiar with up until the start of the show. When the manager and Sakuyo are hiding from Kokoro-chan in the first episode, he overhears Kokoro-chan offering Saki to become a magical girl.
He questions Sakuyo about Mohiro-chan and it begins the set up of the series from there.

Now he wants to push it to the natural conclusion. They’ve reached peak popularity. Now to do something that will make it so the public won’t forget them. Because trends come and go, but you need to do something to stand out to be remembered forever. For Magical Girls, for Saki’s idol career! All of this has been for them. So now, she must defeat him…the demon boss on live television and save the world so Magical Girl Ore will never be forgotten.

Next weeks episode? the epic conclusion. But all we get in the preview is a flashback to the first episode and vague grunting noises from Mohiro…boy do I hope this series can pull it out in the end. It’s got the steam to build to a good conclusion…episodes 10 and 11 were pretty solid. Now just don’t botch the ending!

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FLCL Progressive – Episode 2 [Freebie Honey]

Well from what I’ve seen so far, FLCL Progressive is definitely continuing with the trend of FLCL being “anime on crack.”

For one thing, it appears that our protagonist Hidomi has such a desire to “be nothing” that she even dreams about zombies and post-apocalyptic worlds. She also, apparently, has a fetish for seeing men be beaten up or even eaten (as in her dream). Blech.

Hidomi heads to school and Jinyu (who is now the Hibajiri family’s newest cafe worker) tries to warn the teenager about the woman on the Vespa motorcycle (whom we now know is Haruko, Hidomi and Ide’s teacher), but she is repeatedly cutoff and is unable to convey her full warning before Hidomi leaves the house.

At school Haruko continues to brainwash her students with her bizarre speeches and random noises. She gives her students a yearbook that, to her students, appears to be full of strange-yet-normal memories from throughout the school year. This includes contacting UFOs and using the school to light a giant bonfire on its roof. xD   Hidomi however is still unaffected by Haruko’s words, so she is able to see that the yearbook is really just a bunch of kid drawings rendered in crayon.

After class Haruko asks Hidomi to give Ide his homework as he was absent that day; Hidomi reluctantly agrees, forgetting about Jinyu’s warning in the process. By the way, the dub has Yoshimi’s name as “Ko Ide” (or “Idechi” as Haruko calls him), but Wiki has his name listed as Yoshimi in the episode summaries. * shrug *   The latter appears to be incorrect information, so I’m using his last name Ide for my reviews.

Anyways Hidomi heads to the town slums where Ide lives, and she bumps into Ide’s friend Goro on the way. Hidomi learns that Ide is fairly poor so he

works hard to try to make and sell machinery after school. However he’s not very respected and is often beat up for his efforts.

As I mentioned earlier, Hidomi gets turned on (“overflows”) when she sees someone get hurt, and seeing Ide be beat on is no exception. Hidomi has a nosebleed and she passes out, and Ide rushes her back to his room so he can take care of her.

Ide is able to stop Hidomi’s nosebleed, but finds that being in close proximity to a cute girl in a short skirt makes for a very awkward conversation. It quickly becomes less awkward and more “da fuq?” when Haruko somewhat crashes the scene’s fourth wall and interrupts the two teens.

Jinyu arrives moments later, and we see that her classic car has turned into a mobile mecha. Jinyu breaks into Ide’s room and grabs Hidomi as a hostage, trying to provoke Haruko into fighting her. Having only her guitar for a weapon, Haruko straps a leash onto Ide’s neck and uses him as a weapon. The poor guy becomes a “laser beam” and a whip, and even ends up getting electrocuted by Jinyu’s car-turned-mini-lasers.

Jinyu stows Hidomi inside her car-turned-back-into-a-car so she can fight against Haruko one on one. Interestingly, Jinyu makes references to her and Haruko possibly being a single person at one point in time, but Haruko doesn’t take the bait to elaborate the comment for the viewer.

As she watches the two women battle each other from inside Jinyu’s vintage car, Hidomi is warned about Haruko again by Jinyu and she starts to overflow once more. A red horn emerges from her forehead – according to Jinyu, this is Hidomi “overcoming her inhibitor”. Hidomi then transforms a small, ugly robot that looks a lot like the metal version of a Raggidy-Ann doll. Hoever this robot contains great power and strength, and she’s easily able to overcome Haruko with a single burst of power. However when robot!Hidomi attempts to finish Haruko with a punch, she misses and hits herself in the face instead. This causes Hidomi to revert to her human form again. After her odd transformation and punch to the face, Hidomi is now rather weak and slightly injured.

Jinyu summons her car immediately and it transforms into some kind of medical monitoring machine. Hidomi and Ide are placed inside it so their vitals can be monitored. Haruko threatens Jinyu once more, saying that Hidomi is “hers.” I’m presuming this is because of her ability to summon robots or creatures from her forehead like Naota could. In the final moments of the episode Hidomi remembers to give Ide his homework, and they both laugh at the absurdity of what has just happened to them. Like really, after all that…. homework?

By the way, before I wrote this review I watched this video and noticed that FLCL Progressive continues with some details contained in the original FLCL dub, such as the English dub containing a handful of Japanese words. In this episode it was hearing Goro say “yamero” (stop) that was a bit of a mindfuck, especially since the dialogue following his line delivered by the thugs was in actual Japanese.  * head explodes *  I imagine hearing the entire scene entirely in Japanese will make more sense.

I’m still not a fan of this dub, but I appreciate some of the details that have gone into it and have paid homage to the original FLCL dub (such as the use of some Japanese words). Hidomi is very slowly growing on me as a character, but her attraction to zombies and death and blood still creeps me out a little.

Next episode… omg more baseball? xD

FLCL song of the week: Thank You, My Twilight  (off the FLCL Progressive OST, heard in the beginning of episode 1)

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Nanatsu no Taizai: Imashime no Fukkatsu Episode 21 [Certain Warmth]

Oh my gosh. This episode was REALLY good. Nowhere near as spectactical as episode 19, but the pacing and just the overall content in this episode was great. I didn’t even realize I was reaching the end of the episode because I was so sucked in. But I think the biggest shocker for me was how they changed the opening. I wasn’t expecting them to change it to match the events of the episode. Though I feel like I should have seen it coming since they’ve always tended to do that, but I guess I forgot because they haven’t changed anything from the second opening this season yet. Still a great surprise as the added visuals were stunning and just so PLOT RELEVANT I CAN’T EVEN (continues to rewatch the opening).

Anyways, enough of me gushing about the opening, let’s get into the episode. We start where we left off with Golgius having woken up in the Boar’s Hat and Elizabeth treats him to some soup. Unfortunately, just like Meliodas, Elizabeth can’t cook for beans. (Which is unfortunate ‘cause these two are gonna starve lol) I love how Hawk already knew it was Golgius because of his smell and the guy leaves since he just could not understand Elizabeth’s way of thinking. Though it was pretty hilarious how he told them not to say they saved him despite being an enemy that they couldn’t let him suffer and Elizabeth just stays silent because that’s exactly what it was. While I don’t particularly care much for Elizabeth, I do admire how much she treasures life and hopes to instill some hope in people to keep living and protecting others.

And man, so much deja vu in this episode with the a mysterious armored knight walking into the tavern. Hawk even states it feels like deja vu lol. Shockingly, the mysterious knight turns out to be none other than the the Chief Holy Knight, Zaratras, the one’s murder who was pinned on the Seven Deadly Sins. Thanks to Melascula’s magic, Zaratras was also giving a physical body (if not temporarily just like Elaine). Not to mention he was also at the battle tournament. I remember thinking to myself, who is the armored guy. Guess I got my answer.

I don’t know what kind of person I was expecting Zaratras to be. Though I probably was expecting him to be a serious and dignified guy. However, what we got was this huge, obnoxious dork and I love it. Elizabeth even comments how he’s a lot more dignified when he’s on duty lol. Though I the fact he couldn’t resist the fish pie that Hendrickson offered him (that was obviously poisoned) was hilarious. It’s kind of hard to view this guy as Gil’s dad… well maybe just a little. Gil definitely has his moments of dorkiness, especially when he’s hanging out with Griamore and Howzer.

And we get the confirmation of why Zaratras had not appeared to Fraudrin. The spirits that haunt him currently are the ones who resent him. However, Zaratras reveals that he mostly hates himself for not being able to save Dreyfus and Hendrickson and holds absolutely not animosity towards them. Zaratras is turning out to be a really great guy. And it’s definitely sad to know that this guy won’t be permanently staying. But it’s also sad to see how much Zaratras actually hates himself. He also is completely distraught when Elizabeth brings up if Gil knows he’s here right and just starts sobbing at the thought of Gil not even recognizing him and that he was more attached to Meliodas. And while Gil does show a lot of affection for Meliodas, it was very blatant in the first season how important his father was to him. So I’m sure you meant a lot more to Gil than you realize, Zaratras.

We move into the really interesting part of the episode where Elizabeth shows Zaratras Meliodas’ body that she had been taking care of all this time. As it was stated previously, Zaratras also had druid abilities and sends himself, Elizabeth and Hawk to witness Meliodas’ past memories to see if they can find an answer to how they can bring him back. As someone who knows a pretty big spoiler about Elizabeth I couldn’t help but go “ooooh” when Meliodas comes out carrying her as a baby literally right after he destroyed Danafor. She literally reincarnated as soon as Liz died. That’s some fast reincarnation lol. No wonder she has no memories of her mother. Doesn’t seem like she had one.

Anyways, it was really interesting to see Meliodas and Zaratras interact. Ranging from intense to silly. They looked like nice friends and I wouldn’t mind seeing them interact more. I also got a confirmation of a scene way back in season 1 from this episode. It was when Diane first met Meliodas. I thought it was weird that Meliodas had already been searching for Diane before she even committed her sin and was wondering why he was searching for her. This episode definitely cleared things up as to why Meliodas would somehow be looking for these certain individuals. Due to the king’s future sight, he was able to see who would be the ones to save the Kingdom from the Ten Commandments. Definitely a big OOOOOOH moment.

There were so many confirmations on a lot of questions that I had but a lot of new questions also sprung up (even though I know the answer to some of them already due to spoilers). One of the questions was how Meliodas was cursed so that he could never die. Poor guy even tried ending his own life… And he’s been alive for over 3000 years. There are so many questions surrounding Meliodas, but they all will eventually be answered. And can I just say that Meliodas interacting with a little Elizabeth is just downright adorable? It just felt so pure and it was nice to see none of the gross groping and whatnot (‘cause at that point that really would be disgusting), but I digress.

Speaking of Meliodas, looks like he’s taking a nice little stroll through purgatory and being taunted by his father, the Demon King no less. Interestingly enough, whenever Meliodas dies, his soul gets sent to purgatory, where the Demon King extracts a little of his emotions each time. I guess that’s why Meliodas didn’t want his emotions to be taken away during the training arc. If he had let them go, he would be doing exactly what the Demon King wanted. Since without his emotions, Meliodas would return to being the most powerful demon he was back in the day. But man, the Demon King’s form was INTIMIDATING. The size and shape of him alone… I’m curious to see what he actually looks like.

Back in the real world, the Ten Commandments are closing in on Liones, spreading panic and fear. I internally screamed when Grayroad just kind of oozed through the roof of the hiding place where Jericho was looking after Guila’s little brother, Zeal. Because that was one FREAKY entrance and would instill fear in anyone. GO AWAY GRAYROAD. NO ONE WANTS YOU HERE. LEAVE THE CHILDREN ALONE.

Another confirmation or at least somewhat strongly hinted was how Estarossa stopped Meliodas’ attack. A group of knights, including Gil and Ban were all rendered helpless under Estarossa’s commandment of love. Those who bear hatred in Estarossa’s presence will become weak and unable to fight. And man does everyone have a reason to hate Estarossa considering he was the one who ultimately killed Meliodas. But MAN. Escanor walking up to Estarossa and just talking down to the man was SO EPIC AND SAVAGE. This man literally has the best lines. “Why would I hate those who are weaker than myself? I only pity them.” DANG. That was one heck of a way to end off that episode. Usually prideful characters annoy me, but someone talking down to the Ten Commandments is just too good. I look forward to a good Escanor fight.

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Hugtto! Precure Episode 18 & 19

Hugtto! Precure Episode 18

Ooh this episode was so sweet. Emiru has grown on me quite a bit since she has first debuted, and now I feel very comfortable with her being a part of their group. The one thing I love most is the friendship that somehow blossomed between Lulu and Emiru, and it’s something so pure, that it’s exactly what Lulu needs. To some extent, thanks to the day she had spent with Lulu, she actually knows a bit more about Lulu than Hana and the others do. They developed a unique connection through music, and it’s something that gives Lulu great comfort and a way for her to connect to her newfound heart. My favourite moment of the episode had to be when Emiru stood up for Lulu, telling Pupple that Lulu does in fact have a heart, and she knows it because she feels troubled, said she loved her music, and most importantly, because they are best friends. I found it so incredibly sweet in a way that only Emiru could pull it off. And to top things off, Emiru wrote beautiful lyrics to her song so Lulu could sing along with her. It’s quite incredible how quickly my opinion towards Emiru has changed for the better, but it’s a great feeling and now I look forward to their friendship and hopefully the day they too (hopefully Lulu too, despite being an android) can become a Precure.

I was surprised to see Henry being re-introduced into the the scene at the end of the episode. He has shown his face here and there, but seeing him make a return is starting to make me hope we will see him become part of the group as well. I wonder if he will become friends will Lulu and Emiru, creating another unique trio. And to be perfectly honest, I really do want him to become a precure ahahaha, do it please.

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Hugtto! Precure Episode 19

I enjoyed this episode! Ever since Henri stopped being an obnoxious prick, like Emiru I have grown to like him more and more. In fact, I would say Henri was the highlight of the episode. I absolutely loved seeing him confidently own who he is, even when he is mocked. When it comes to boys wearing girls clothes or resembling girl’s fashion, it is a controversial subject just about everywhere. I was rooting for Henri because it takes an incredible amount of courage to be different in a world where society judges you based on appearance. His speech about how he won’t change himself for others, he will cherish his own heart was an empowering message.

I said it before, and I’ll say it again, I think it would be amazing if Henri were to become a precure too. The moment he recognized Emiru’s brother was hurting, and did the hugtto precure thing of hugging the Oshimaida and told him he should love his own heart a little more, IF THAT ISN’T PRECURE QUALITY, THEN WHAT IS?!!?!?!?!

…But it might end up creating a contradiction/mixed messages when this episode wanted to highlight how girls can be heroes too! They initiated a reversal of roles, where Henri, the boy was the “princess” who had to be rescued (not only he owned it, but he did some incredible stuff on his own, which only makes me want him to become a precure even more), and the girls were his knights coming to his rescue. So making Henri a precure might not fit, but then again, one has to wonder what about the little boys want to be a precure too? I am sure there are! This kind of message, while it is incredibly important for girls to hear, holds just as much value for the boys. It is a universal message of encouragement to everyone who are daring to be different than what society expects of them.

What is a bit strange to me is how we didn’t get to see the girls have a quick conversation with Henri how the fact they are precures must be kept a secret. He already figured it out, but didn’t realize that it’s not something they want to announce to the world. Of course with time restraint, there may have not been enough time to do so, but I would like to see the group actually have a conversation with him about it, eventually… Preferably sooner than later, which would give him the privilege to be part of their inner circle, should he desire to.

Another thing I noticed was how the main trio has been more or less benched in the last two episodes, next week is looking to be the third as both Emiru and Lulu will become precures (honestly I’m surprised they spoiled it). Of course, most of us already knew it was going to happen, not matter what, but they did throw us a little twist by raining the girls’ parade, revealing there’s only one preheart left. Either a new one will be magically produced through Hugtan’s power (which I am suspecting is how it happens in the first place, since she will need her own if she grows up), or the girls will end up sharing one, which would be pretty symbolic given the friendship that has been formed between them.

Emiru’s brother my god, he is unbearable. This sexist douche is back again, this time it was Hana and Henri who shut him up. I was deeply disappointed to see Lulu had lost that fire in her, the one who confronted him when he said girls shouldn’t play guitars. I loved that part of her, and it sucks that it is gone. I hope she will be able to rediscover it, because while I adore the cute and adorable Lulu, I am missing her savage and fierce side as well. Anyhow, thanks to this experience becoming an Oshimaida, might help open his mind, making it the last time we have to see him act like this.

Lastly, let’s take a moment to talk about our new villains! Okay, so only one showed up today, the new villainness Gelos had an interesting way of making an entrance, by only doing so after she was defeated. It looks like she may actually be part of a trio, since during her negative wave sequence, it featured not just her, but the other two men, who looks like twins and are probably her butlers or something. But damnnnnnnnnnnnnn~ they are good lookign! All three of their character designs, on point! *swoons* I can’t wait to see them in action.

However, it may have slipped under people’s noses, but the white dove made two apeparences. The first time with George, exchanging messages, and sending a new one, and the second time, was when Gelos made her debut. This leaves me with the impression that is was George/Pupple’s Unrequited Love who recruited her to come, as Lulu has no recollection of Gelos working at Criasu. Also I don’t really get what they keep on hiding the guy’s face, I am pretty sure it’s George, unless it’s supposed to be his twin or counterpart or something…. I mean, they dress the same for crying out loud… Eh whatever, if it’s not him, I will correct myself later.

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Persona 5: The Animation Episode 10: I Want to See Justice with My Own Eyes

Berry’s Impression

After last week’s strange and terrible episode, we get treated to a slightly better episode. I say slightly because we jump from one thing to another quickly, as usual.

We get a small glimpse of Makoto, the school council president following Ren around (with her upside down magazine), we find out why later. The first section, I suppose, of this episode is the gang having to do a social studies assignment and pick some place to study. Mishima had mentioned a TV studio, so Ren and the others decide to go there too. They all get to work and learn how studios work, we get a Hifumi cameo (shogi queen), and then the students get to take part in a TV program recording as part of the audience. The guest of the talk show is none other than young detective, Goro Akechi. He appears as a clear opposing force against the Phantom Thieves, saying that they should be tried under the law for their actions. While, yes, they have revealed the ugly case of Madarame and made him admit to his crimes, to which he agrees are terrible, he does not agree that the Phantom Thieves are using justice with their own judgment. He wants to believe that they really are just, but he also brings up the link between the auto and train accidents that have been rampant lately. Which…they actually haven’t really talked about much in the anime, which is ridiculous because it’s important, but whatever. He also brings up the how. How are they able to change people’s hearts? He and Ren have a little “confrontation” as the hostess puts Ren on the spot. Also, the weird bit of character Ren had last week? Gone. He could have shown some sort of aggression towards Akechi in the question portion, but Ren’s back to being a blank slate again. :/

Before they leave to go out to eat pancakes, Akechi bumps into Ren and the gang as they talk about what Akechi said. Of course, they didn’t like it and now he’s going to be on their radar. But…hmm, something about that scene…

The next part of the episode is dedicated to Makoto and the trouble in Shibuya. We know Makoto has been given the task by the principal to get info about the Phantom Thieves, and the anime doesn’t even show or tell us why unfortunately. That’s why she’s been pretty sneaky, and this time she was able to get a recording of them while they were all talking to each other in their usual spot in school. One thing about that scene I did not like was Ann turning on Makoto about the whole Shiho and Kamoshida incident. The reason why I didn’t like it in this case was because of how random it was. Again, the anime didn’t give much details or anything after the Kamoshida case, but in the game, the player finds out that the parents of the abused kids and the school faculty actually knew about the abuse cases but chose to ignore it. With Makoto working so close with the principal, it’s natural that Ann would think Makoto would be one of those people as well, even though she wasn’t. But the anime never mentioned that, so her bringing all that up…ugh.

Either way, Ann, who was showing some doubt in their actions, now doesn’t take back what they’ve done. It’s later than Makoto calls Ren and then makes him take her to their meeting spot to show them all the recording of them she so clearly got of them saying they’re the Phantom Thieves. However, instead of reporting them, she asks them for a favor to change someone’s heart. There’s a boss of a crime syndicate targeting young people, including students from Shujin, into doing jobs related to drug trafficking. Makoto wants them to find out who it is and change their heart. With no other choice, they agree and take on the lead that Makoto found out, such as running into these gang members in alleyways in Shibuya. She and Ren screw up though, so she leaves.

The group is at a standstill and don’t really know what to do, so they call Ohya, the reporter lady from before for some info. Ren and Ryuji go to Shinjuku to meet her at a bar, but Ryuji gets caught up in some other stuff. I’m not a fan of Ohya at all, but basically she gave him a name: Junya Kaneshiro.

With his name and the little info they got, the group comes together to throw around some words to maybe find this guy’s Palace. With his name, Shibuya, and “bank”, they enter the Metaverse and enter a world where money perpetually falls from the sky and with something in the sky! In the post credits scene, we actually get to see Kaneshiro’s face, along with another figure? Hmmmm…

I’m basically used to these episodes being quick, but compared to last week’s awkward as hell and terrible episode, so terrible and boring that I skipped through almost all of it on the plane coming back home, this one wasn’t so bad. We’re heading into a new arc and we’re getting to know Makoto, as well as getting more of Akechi and his viewpoint that will spread to others later on. So, while the pace was kinda bad, we’re getting some good stuff.

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My Hero Academia – Episode 10

Wow. All I can say about this episode is Wow. I thought that last weeks episode was perfect, but this show manages to keep upping it’s stakes and production values week by week.
The shadow darkness that took Bakugo envelopes the other villains and brings them straight to All for One. Who had already taken care of the Pro-Heroes in the area. Best Jeaniest grabbed the other two heroes by their clothing and tossed them out of the way of the brunt of the harm. Taking on most of All for One’s attack. All for One admires best jeaniest for this move but in the end, attacks him brutally.
Oh god, I am honestly hoping that he lives through this. We haven’t seen much of him, but the way he took on Bakugo in an attempt to help his temper and make him into a proper hero. I know that he’s a great guy and I am only hoping the best.

With the villain hide out now vacated. That leaves All Might to come to where All for One is and begin fighting against him. Though, All Might can not fight all out while Bakugo is there.
All for One forces open a gate by force activating Kurogiri’s power. He tells Shigaraki and the others to take Bakugo and go. So two different fights begin picking up. The fight between All Might and the one on six fight between Bakugo and the rest of the League of villains. Though in his case, it’s not so much a fight as trying not to get caught.

The other students, still paralyzed by their fear need to work out a plan. A plan that doesn’t involve fighting, because the more they reflect on it. The more it all rings true. They can’t go in and fight. Because they aren’t licensed, because of the liabilities, but mostly because they would be hindering All Might even more.
Midoriya comes up with an idea and at the center of the idea. Kirishima and his friendship with Bakugo. I honestly loved this, I loved how this honestly couldn’t of worked with anyone else. The entire plan hinged purely on the bond between these two characters.

So, using their quirks. Iida and Deku launch themselves through the wall [with Kirishima’s hardening to keep them from getting hurt] and Todoroki’s ice to create a ramp to knock them into the air, out of the villains range. Kirishima put out his hand and called out to Bakugo to create an explosion to launch himself in the air and catch Kirishima’s hand.

This pulls them out of the way of the battle. All for One removes the villains from the field. Prepared for a all out fight against All Might.

I have to stop here and say I am usually absolute garbage at picking up subtle inflections in subbed anime. However, Kōki Uchiyama’s performance as Shigaraki is so absolutely flooring. You can hear the concern for All for One plain as day in his voice. That weakness and fear for his mentor. The terror as he is pulled through the portal and All for One is left behind.
It was amazing. That kind of characterization was amazing and actually made you feel for Shigaraki in that moment.

All Might launches a powerful attack against All for One. Though, it’s weaker then it should be and it’s clear his time is running out. He’s losing power and will soon return to the skinny form that he has been hiding from the public eye.

All Might makes a speech to All for One, as the smoke clears and there is not nearly as much damage as there should be on our villain. He says, he’s heard those exact same things before.
From the previous person to have One for All. Nana Shimura.
We’ve also discovered recently that Shigaraki’s real last name is Shimura…I honestly hadn’t made the connection until just now. So my reaction was a very loud ‘WHAT?’ and proceeding to scream at my manga reading friend and make dying whale noises for the next ten minutes. What does this mean? What’s the backstory here? Is Nana his mother?
Did All for One kill his mother and then take him in and corrupt him? What’s the story behind this!? There is so much I want to know. Unfortunately, this is where the episode wraps up.

Next week, the public becomes aware of All Might’s diminishing powers. We’ll see how this sways public opinions and the way the villains move. With the symbol of Justice out of the way or severely weakened. What is going to happen. We’ll have to keep watching to find out.

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