Burning Lizard Studios

Anime Reviews: Persona 4 The Animation Episode 8 - We've Lost Something Important Again!

2012-02-16T00:42:00.000-08:00

Plot Summary
The group decide to keep an eye open for any possible future victims by checking the midnight channel every rainy night. In the meanwhile they have a school camp trip to go on. They buy ingredients for dinner, and while the camp will mostly be picking up trash, there are some people that go swimming in the river. Yosuke thinks of something and runs off on an errand.

When the girls reveal their creation, curry, it is even more gruesome than its predecessors in a long line of terrible anime cooking. It takes out both Yu and Yosuke, who wonder what happened for it to turn out so terrible. How is shown with a flashback to the girls following a strange line of logic, leading to them buying a variety of inappropriate ingredients for the curry. Yosuke gets pissed at the girls for essentially causing them to starve.

Fortunately, the fat chick comes to eat the rest of their food, because fat people are always hungry, and not only that, because she's fat, she clearly must have no taste, how else would she spend so much time eating everything she can so she can be as fat as she is? Because she's fat. And fat chicks are funny.

First gay jokes, and now fat jokes. Well done Persona 4.

Moving on from the cavalcade of insensitivity, we movie right on to Saki Konishi's younger brother, who is mourning the loss of his sister... Oh this can't possibly end well. Persona 4 you've already bungled being sensitive in literally every single other sensitive topic. Please, for your own sake, abort!

I'm going to turn this face into a meme.

Turns out Konishi is angry at Yu and Yosuke...because irrational anger towards complete strangers is the only way grieving people act.

Caption: Classy, anime, real classy.

The girls order takeout, which is a thing in the anime, but not in the game. And they even order enough for everyone. Meaning the girls are nice, and Yosuke is an even bigger ass for the problem being resolved so easily. Turns out Kanji is a friend of Konishi's, and after getting tired of being questioned about him, goes off to drag him there.

Yu asks if Konishi is being left out among his class members. Konishi says that people are being careful around him, because of his sister dying. Yu shares Kanji's second helping of food with Konishi and they hang out with him for a while. Konishi then apologizes for telling Yu and Yosuke that he hates them.

While picking up trash they remember that there is a murderer they need to be catching. They talk about their leads, and after meeting Konishi they are determined to catch the killer. Yu shares a tent with the other two guys, and him and Yosuke give Kanji a hard time about sharing a tent with him. Because he's gay. And as we all know, during the day gay people give style tips to straight people, but at night they become rampant sex beasts. Who roam the night looking for butts to sex. Like sex-werewolves.

This one's gonna be a meme too.

Deciding to prove that he is straight, Kanji decides to use his sex-werewolf powers for good (read: heterosexuality). And the best way to do that is to do Jeebas knows what to the girls. Fortunately in anime land women have the power to always knock out assailants for the sake of comedy. (When it isn't for the sake of comedy they lose these powers along with their clothes).

Fortunately the girls are still awake because the fat chick also snores! So they are saved from sex-werewolf sleep rape because the fat chick can't breathe when she sleeps. Because of all the food stuck in there.

After knocking Kanji out the girls go to stay with the guys, because nobody wants to share a tent with a fat chick and a gay sex-werewolf. The next day the five of them go to the river, where Yosuke forces the girls to put on the swimsuits he brought, because they owe him for the terrible food.

They bought you food, you horny jackass!

Caption: They bought you food, you horny jackass!

Yeah, that plot point worked better in the game.

Fortunately it's all for comedy, so the guys get kicked off the twenty foot cliff into the water... Jeez. And then Morooka pukes upstream. And merriment is had by all.

Pictured: Merriment

The fat chick approaches Kanji, and it is implied that the sex-werewolf was himself sexed by the fat chick.

Still waiting on those doujinshis, guys.

But it is all a big joke, as fat chick isn't looking for commitment. All she wants is a one night thing. And of course Kanji's caring friends know how to make him feel better after being rejected by the only woman who will ever touch him.

My Opinion
Soooo...why was this episode rated TV-MA? I mean, I can imagine that it had something to do with the swimsuits, but...it's a cartoon, Hulu. And not only that, it's a cartoon that doesn't show any nudity. So why the MA rating?

The swimsuits were too hip.

I definitely like the battle free episodes of Persona 4 much more. The battle scenes are oddly colored, with too many shadows and light, and are hard to follow. Episodes that focus on day to day interaction, or the mystery rather than fighting. Out of all the episodes this is one of the more complete ones. As opposed to a continuing story, the episode focuses on a more episodic format, which makes for a more compelling and satisfying story. I love the joke with the terrible food, and Konishi's little brother coming in now was an interesting addition. A surprising amount of things happen this episode, that remind one that anime doesn't have to be twenty minutes of an extended fight scene.

Important, plot related things.

And no, that is not a Dragonball Z dig, plenty of modern shonen fighter series do that. Maybe I just need to expand my taste in anime. And with shows like Persona 4 around, I figure I could do worse with my time.

Maybe?

This is a difficult episode to discuss, as it does continue to bring up issues that I did not discuss last episode. The thing is, that the gay/lesbian issue is not something I neither want to, nor feel like I'm qualified discussing. But the issue was brought up in several comment long post, so I feel that I can't comment on this episode without bringing up what appears to be on peoples' minds.

The homophobic elements are still present in this episode, but are toned down in that the entire episode isn't about it. The scene in particular is when Yu and Yosuke give Kanji a hard time while they are sharing a tent. Let it be known, Yosuke is an ass. There was no debate on this issue, he's an ass plain and simple. He's not an unlikable character, but he is still incredibly close minded/a normal teenage guy.

The thing is, while the attitudes of the characters, and by connection the creative staff behind them, are in no way admirable, I still find an element of realism in them. Yes it's close minded, and bigoted, but I can easily see a teenage guy worrying about the possibly gay thug sharing a tent with him. Where this is a problem is that Yu has been shown to be accepting of a lot of personality issues. But suddenly this one is going too far? I can't help but seeing this as his personality gag being taken too far. The joke where he blatantly asks about their anal virginity is very much in line with the personality he has been given, but when you add that on top of Yosuke being an ass it becomes too much. Though I can't lie, I laughed at Yu's line the first time. Because I'm a terrible person.

"I trusted you."

Yu knows who Kanji is, has seen his inner self, and the way it is portrayed is that Kanji isn't necessarily gay, he just has girly hobbies. If he really was gay, that would be fine, though I'm not sure I want to see anime—an art form where homosexuals are either ridiculed or fetishized—dealing with those issues. But the explanation given was that Kanji likes girly things, and if that's the explanation they want to go with, that's fine by me. But there is no need to belabor the point by making Yu as big an ass as Yosuke.

That smile. I'll be seeing it in my nightmares.

That being said, despite everything, I really did like this episode. I just have to not think about it too much. Which is unavoidable to write these reviews. And while I found a lot of messed up stuff, I generally go into new anime expecting some weird, weird stuff. The ending was amusing, and while it is a bunch of fat jokes (that no one complained about. Apparently fat people are still an acceptable target for bigotry, but make fun of gay people and you're going to hell in a handbasket), I can appreciate the fat chick with the bitchy thin chick attitude. It's fresh. I guess.

If you liked my review, Watch the Episode Here!

Anime Reviews: Beelzebub Episode 54 - Black Baby Beel Grows Up

2012-02-14T23:01:00.001-08:00

Watch the Show Here!

Plot Summary
Saotome drags Oga out of class to tell him that Black Beel disappeared. They have to find him, or something bad will happen. Himekawa in the meanwhile has Black Beel, and thinks about how much B.B. resembles his family's lost lucky statue. He provides for all of B.B.'s needs, and is rewarded with increased luck.

Oga and Furuichi in the meanwhile search all over school for the purported "hot guy" who they think made off with B.B. They have no luck, not helped by Furuichi thinking that the rumored hot guy is himself. Aoi mentions that she hasn't seen Himekawa since the morning.

Saotome tries to approach a female teacher about any information she has about B.B., but he finds himself accidentally engaged.

Hey, she's kinda cute actually.

Baby Beel creates a coccoon around himself while he sleeps, and hatches into his winged form. While Oga, Furuichi, and Saotome try to figure out what to do next, a giant B.B. flies by. They get onto Himekawa's helicopter, and chase after B.B. Hilda hitches a ride, and all of them find their way onto the uninhabited Pompadour Island.

Beel drinks a rare miracle milk, that causes him to grow to a monstrous size. He and B.B. fight...

With Beel emerging victorious, and ripping off B.B.'s wings to turn him back to normal.

The episode ends with all of them swimming back to mainland Japan on giant Beel's head.

My Opinion
Perhaps I harp on filler too much. But then again, if I didn't harp on it so much, the rare times when I find good filler really stand out. This was one of those cases. I was consistently laughing throughout the episode, so it fulfilled its basic task, and the story turning into a parody of monster movies makes sense.

I'm starting to realize why I have trouble writing some of these reviews. How does one objectively review a comedy? You can't take things seriously, because they're not supposed to be taken seriously, and what else can I say besides, "I laughed," or "I didn't laugh"?

So, as far as this episode is concerned, I laughed. Especially during Saotome's mistaken engagement scene. Which...hey wait! That was never resolved! I suppose they could go two routes with this, either ignore that it ever happened, which would be fine since it happens all the time, or have it be a later plot point. In which case I'll have a lot more admiration for the Beelzebub writing staff.

If you liked my review, Watch the Show Here!

Anime Reviews: Beelzebub Episode 53 - Baby Beel's First Conquest/Furuichi Falls in Love

2012-02-14T22:49:00.000-08:00

Watch the Show Here!

Plot Summary

Baby Beel's First Conquest
After seeing a TV show featuring demon children's first conquest, the Great Demon Lord decides to make Beel film an entry for the show. Hilda follows him secretly, along with Oga, Furuichi, and Lamia, to film him and help him if necessary.

After running into several "dangers," and receiving some help along the way, Beel finally makes it to his destination--Furuichi's house. Which he then proceeds to conquer, using the power of the Demon Sword Allaindelon.

Furuichi Falls in Love
After a sexy dream turns into a nightmare, Furuichi wakes up in the living room. He tells Allaindelon to get out of his room, but the demon reminds him that after the first half of the episode his room was demolished. Furuichi complains about his back aching, and Al offers to give him a massage. At which point Furuichi's little sister walks in on them.

While at school Furuichi runs into a girl, who asks him if he would visit with her for a moment. Back in class he is in a strangely good mood, and disappears to the infirmary. Natsume suggests that Furuichi probably has a girlfriend, but the rest of the class doesn't buy it.

Furuichi meets with the girl he met earlier, Yuko, and the two of them hit it off well. While Yuka and Nene spy on the two of them.

Furuichi keeps making excuses to go visit the nurse's office, while he continues to look more and more worn out. Komainu tells Aoi that Furuichi is being possessed by a ghost, and she tells Oga what she's found out. The two of them approach Furuichi and tell him what Yuko really is.

Furuichi does not care, and is ready to accept her confession to him. Only she confesses to the ghost possessing him instead. The ghost Johnny and the ghost Yuko pass on to the afterlife together.

My Opinion
These two-episodes-in-one reviews are a bit weird to write. There isn't enough substance to write about either of the halves of the episode, but because it's filler there's no real need to get into much detail.

Baby Beel's First Conquest was certainly entertaining, the high point being Lamia's evil face:

So Evil.

Furuichi Falls in Love was surprisingly entertaining. Despite being unable to shake the strange feeling that the anime was turning into Bleach Light (hey, that's actually a pretty good name...), the ending sold me on the story. Most of the times I'm left wondering why filler even exists. Well, that's not quite true, I know exactly why it exists, but I still ask myself if the stories being told were really worth the telling. They're there to just waste time, to give the manga artist a chance to pull ahead, but it's rare to find a filler episode, or arc, that deserves to exist. For the very least, this half an episode deserves to exist because it made me laugh at the end.

And really, is more praise even needed?

If you liked my review, Watch the Episode Here!

Anime Reviews: Beelzebub Episode 52 - And Then There Were No Delinquents

2012-02-13T22:15:00.000-08:00

Watch the Show Here!

Plot Summary
Even unseasonal snow isn't enough to get Beel to put on warm clothes, and so as they go to school, his only concession to the cold is to put on a scarf. The delinquents realize that nobody else is at school, and it isn't until Kazuya and Azusa arrive to tell them that an emergency snow day was called that they realize nobody bothered to tell them about this.

Starting with Goodnight, the rest of the cast are slowly picked off following a strange counting song created by the original Six Knights of Saint Ishiyama. The cast try to figure out who is behind the attacks, but every avenue of investigation runs into a dead end.

Finally, only the girls are left, and as the snow becomes encased in ice, they flee.

Hey! She's moving Beel more than 15 metres from Oga! Assassin!

Finally they are left with only one choice, to strip down and huddle together to share body warmth! Wait...

After Aoi deals with the troublemaker, the coulds break and everything returns to normal.

He can influence the weather? Dude's more powerful than we realized.

My Opinion
It's filler, I feel no obligation to go into great detail about it. Though as far as filler episodes go, there are more wretched examples out there. The reveal of who is behind the attacks is actually pretty clever, though I can't help but fear the Happosai like vibe I'm getting from Komainu now.

And besides the obvious plot hole with Aoi moving Beel further than 15 metres from oga, there really isn't much to mention. Though I am amused by the self lampooning the anime indulges with in making fun of Go's forgetability.

Overall a fun enough episode, but it lacks the required depth for me to go into much more detail.

If you liked my review, Watch the Episode Here!

Anime Reviews: Beelzebub Episode 51 - Komainu-sama is Watching You

2012-02-06T22:17:00.000-08:00

Watch the Show Here!

Plot Summary
Oga tries to remember what happened the first time he discovered Super Milk Time. After realizing that he never did defeat Black Beel, he asks what happened to him. Saotome says that he couldn't leave him behind, and brought him back with him.

Aoi, exhausted after the emotional roller coaster of a previous episode, collapses onto her desk. She notices that the rest of the class are getting along, and feels left out. Nene convinces Aoi to let them have the next Red Tails meeting at her home.

Back home Aoi talks to a disembodied voice, telling it that it was supposed to stay out of sight. She talks to Isa, and flashes back to meeting the owner of the disembodied voice, a minor deity known as Komainu.

Oga wonders how he could improve Super Milk Time, and decides to buy a new milk bottle. He then abducts Furuichi, to have him test out the new bottle. Allaindellon, the duke of uncomfortable filler, abducts Furuichi and forcefully dresses him as a baby. Just in time to show him off to three fancy looking schoolgirls that ask Oga for directions to Aoi's home.

The Red Tails come to Aoi's home, and are almost immediately assaulted by Komainu, who takes advantage of the fact that he is invisible to them to cop a feel or two. The three girls from earlier arrive, along with a dozens of underlings. They challenge the Red Tails, and at first the fight goes poorly for Aoi's friends, until Komainu joins in and starts groping the three attackers.

Sexual Assault for Great Justice

After a hear to heart between Aoi and Nene, with the former restating that Nene makes a good leader, Aoi then beats up Komainu for his behavior.

My Opinion
Three things about this episode. I was a big fan of Hilda's humming the pudding pudding song in the background. It's the extra little things that really make this a fun anime to watch.

Among other...reasons

I'm convinced that Allaindellon is the only demon that acts the part. He's actively punishing Furuichi for being a terrible human being. I suspect he's the most twisted, evil character in the series. That being said, I'm really starting to loathe him. The manga is subtle with his possible gay crush on Furuichi (though even that is a little blatant in later chapters), and when trying to sell this kind of gag subtlety is the mot-du-jour. The anime on the other hand shows the same restraint that Persona 4 The Animation showed.

I've mentioned before that I am not a fan of filler. The three girls were an odd bit of filler, and I groaned during their small plotline. Though I can't help but wonder if there was something more going on. I'm not even sure what to feel about their plotline, or if I can even say it was no good. The parody was interesting, though a bit out of left field. This was a strange episode, and while not necessarily bad, it isn't high in the rankings.

If you liked my review, Watch the Episode Here!

Anime Reviews: Beelzebub Episode 50 - Today I'm Different on the Inside

2012-01-30T22:00:00.000-08:00

Watch the Show Here!

Plot Summary
When Beel finally wakes up from the coma he and Oga were in, Hilda, Furuichi, Alaindellon, and Lamia are horrified to discover that Oga and Beel have switched bodies. Oga now finds himself trapped in Beel's body, while Beel is stuck in Oga's. This leads to Beel, who isn't used to wearing clothes, trying to remove the most offensive of clothing items, pants. Hilda and Oga try to stop him, but are walked in on my Oga's family, in what is one of the funniest jokes in the episode.

And yet they don't ask what the kid is doing there.

They go to school to ask Saotome how they can switch Oga and Beel back, but run into several distractions along the way. They can't avoid attracting attention as Beel, in Oga's body, acts the way he always does. And Oga is forced to carry him, in a way that makes him look like a horrible person.

After Beel pisses Kanzaki off, he runs out of the classroom after smelling something. He runs right towards Aoi, and tackle hugs her. At first she freaks out over the unexpected show of affection from Oga, but as all good love interests she immediately catches on that something isn't quite right.

After Oga and the rest explain what is going on, Aoi and Hilda get into a passive agressive argument about who Beel prefers. They both try to get Beel to come to them, in equally hilarious ways.

The competition turns into an actual fight, with Aoi matching Hilda's sword skills. Aoi reveals that she has demon power now, and Hilda realizes this is what Beel smelled earlier, and why he ran off. Beel hugs Aoi, and despite knowing it isn't Oga inside, his body hugging her is more than she can take. She pushes him away, as Oga runs to stop him, while Hilda attacks Aoi. Oga switches back into his body, just before the three attacks hit him.

Afterwards Oga finally finds Saotome, who tells him that the effects would wear off after a short while.

My Opinion
The scene before the opening was dragged out far too long, but it did help to introduce the pudding pudding dance, so when Aoi starts dancing it doesn't come out of nowhere. And the animators adding in Hilda trying to learn the dance at the end was a nice touch.

In a series that is meant to be wonderfully ridiculous, episodes like this are a god-send. There was a little something for everyone, random goofy antics for fans of the stupid, Aoi-being-embarrassed for fans of romance, and Hilda vs Aoi for fans of both fights and the stupid. There's a little something for everyone, and because Oga is in Beel's body, he remains clothed for most of the episode, so fans that don't like that can rejoice.

Huzzah!

Though it does bring up the main point why I think this series will never be dubbed. Even as innocent as it may be, a naked baby in a cartoon will cause controversy, and that is something I think any anime studio wants to avoid. Especially in a time when the economy is being especially tough on the anime and manga industry. It also brings up why censoring the series, which many would disagree with on pure principle, wouldn't work. Beel not liking clothes has become a plot point in recent episodes. And personally I think it is a very accurate character quirk. I once knew a family who had a toddler, and the kid never kept his clothes on. He just loved to run around, even into the street, without a single thing on. So while it makes localization difficult, it is a clever, accurate character trait for a toddler.

What relevance does this screencap have? Blushing Aoi is cute, that's what.

The part that surprised me the most this episode was how they handled the voice acting. Instead of having Oga's voice coming out of Beel, they actually have (I assume) Beel's VA reading his lines. And Oga's VA does Beel's squeals. I've often seen examples of body switching where the voice stays the same, but this never makes sense. If the body has been switched, or a person has changed shape to another person, their vocal cords would change, and hence the voice would change. They would not keep the same voice (I'm looking at you, Harry Potter). This added detail really made the episode stand out, and makes the viewer appreciate the anime team going the extra step in making Beelzebub an enjoyable series. Though it is strange to see a show like Beelzebub pay attention to that kind of detail.

If you liked my review, Watch the Episode Here!

The Massively Monstrous Manga Review Rhapsody

2012-01-30T21:45:00.000-08:00

So, I've decided I'm a pretty terrible manga reviewer. And for good reason, manga is a lot harder (in my opinion) to review than anime. There's a lot more material to cover in one volume than any given episode of any anime. And yet I have a pile of unreviewed anime to get through, as well as all the manga I want to review, because I really want to be a manga reviewer.

So, in order to force myself to review everything I own, and curb my manga spending habits while I work my way towards paying off a few bills I owe on, I've decided to start a new blogging effort.

I swear that I will not buy another volume of manga unless I have reviewed all the prior volumes.

For some series this won't be too hard. Either I've reviewed all the volumes I own, or I'm only a volume or two off from being caught up. So I'll probably be able to buy new Blue Exorcist, or Bakuman, or Toriko, or Fullmetal Alchemist volumes soon.

On the other hand I think it's time to bid a tearful farewell to ever buying another volume of One Piece again.

Now the only question is, do I start with the small fish, and work my way up to reviewing all the major ones? Or do I start on the large series and hope that I somehow make my way through them? The answer will have to wait for now, since I'm in the middle of spending six hours a day training for my new job, and doing school work. The bonus is that once I finally finish training I'll have plenty of downtime on the job. I'll be working evening shift in a call center, where I've been told there is plenty of downtime between calls. And I've been told that they don't care what you do in between calls, as long as you are focused during the calls themselves.

So I'll have that time, except I intend to use that time to catch up on schoolwork I got behind on during these two weeks of training. I've long since learned that I'm a terrible procrastinator, and the longer I put doing this off the less chance there is of me actually doing it. But I can also see myself flopping off if I try to start it now. As it is, I have other responsibilities to take care of, and I'm so close to graduation that I think a massive manga review catch up can wait for a few months. I only have spring term left, but I'll only be taking one class then, and in between doing that and working I'll be able to get plenty of blogging done.

What I am going to do now is finally catch up on my anime reviews. Watching an episode a day, and writing about it is a bit less time consuming than reading a volume of manga and writing about it. So in order to emulate my insane friend, I'm going to be reviewing an episode a day, maybe even more if I have the time, of all the anime I'm behind on.

Keep in mind that I haven't reviewed Fairy Tail in months. And there are series I haven't even started reviewing that I want to review. So this just might kill me.

Also, along with all that, I've started writing for the Manga Bookshelf in the hopes that coat-tailing more experienced bloggers will give me some more internet notoriety. The weekly column I'm writing is called Combat Commentary. Every week I go through a fight scene from any manga, shounen or otherwise, and analyze how the fights work, and whether they work at all. Since most of the anime I watch and the manga I read is shounen, and generally has fight scenes, I decided that if there was something I was qualified (?) to talk about on a weekly basis, it was this. So I hope you enjoy it, though I get the feeling that I'm getting more readers from the links I post there, as opposed to readers that will be finding my column through this blog.

I'll post links to every new column when they come out (on Tuesdays), in case there are any of you that happen to read my blog and want to keep up to date on what I think of shounen manga (and more) fight scenes.

Links: Mandarin Rice Pudding

2012-01-20T00:18:00.000-08:00

For those that don't know, I cook. I have a very lonely, short blog devoted to it. Sometimes I just feel the need to cook, and by which I mean throw random crap in a pan and see what happens. Sometimes what comes out isn't what I intended to make in the first place. Like this creamy, delicious Mandarin Rice Pudding.

Also, I have friends who blog. Some of them blog about video games. Nathan is one of those. He writes a blog where he reviews at least one game a day, often two, until he's reviewed every game he's ever played. Here it is!

Anime Reviews: Beelzebub Episode 49 - Beelbeel Journey to the West

2012-01-18T21:15:00.000-08:00

Watch the Show Here!

Plot Summary
The show opens with a new year's greeting from the cast, and goes into a brand new opening song. After the opening, Oga, Aoi, Beel, and Furuichi are walking through the desert. Furuichi wonders how they got there, after everything that had happened in the last arc. Oga explains to him that you just gotta have a new year's special.

PS: He's talking about Alaindellon, and I fully agree.

After being attacked by several characters from the show, playing characters from the tale Journey to the West, Oga and group find their way to a village of Shiroyamas. They tell them that the Ox King's bandits are stealing their crop of octopi. Oga and the other three take care of the bandits, but the octopi are all fried in Beel's lightning.

They journey, picking up new comrades, to the palace of the Ox king. Where they find the three Demon Wet-nurses. They are forced into playing a game to keep En happy, but it is to no avail as he throws his predictable tantrum and sets the palace on fire. With the Ox King's fan the only thing able to put out the flames, Oga and group search for him, finding him played by Toujo. Once the flames are put out they all have takoyaki, while Oga wonders if there wasn't somewhere they were supposed to go.

Meanwhile, a lonely Hilda waits where they were supposed to be travelling in the first place.

My Opinion
Considering there is a new opening (which is passable I suppose, but forgettable), and one that foreshadows future arcs (quite well I might add, it hints at future developments, but does not give away any concrete information like some anime have the bad habit of doing in their openings), I think that the wikipedia page is wrong about only fifty episodes being announced. So we can rest assured that the anime will keep going. Which is surprising, because while I love the series, I never would have thought it would make it this far. I really thought the early filler episodes, which while not so bad in retrospect, were going to get Beelzebub cancelled before it could get to the good stuff.

But it was not cancelled, clearly, and we are now in the middle of the good stuff. I look forward to future arcs, and feel that even if it were to be cancelled in a few arcs, Beelzebub has had a much better run than I could have hoped for. And that is worth something at least.

There's not much to say about this episode, other than that it takes everything silly from the series, and ramps it up to fifty. Without having to stick to the story canon, this episode was able to pull out as many ludicrous gags as it wanted. And it certainly made it worth the watch.

While I know for a fact that I missed a lot thanks to not being familiar with the details of Journey to the West (I know the basic premise, and that it was the inspiration for Dragonball), I still thought that there were plenty of laugh out loud moments that didn't need in-depth knowledge to understand. Beelzebub is very good at being very, very stupid, and I can't help but love this episode for being everything I love about this series.

A good break from the story heavy past few episodes, and a good return back to the silliness that is Beelzebub.

Why two screenshots of blushing Aoi? Because shut up, blushing Aoi is cute.

The ending theme wasn't as upbeat as the last, which I liked a lot, but I enjoyed the focus on the Red Tails. Especially since it brought back the girl with the facemask, who rarely gets any screen time, and the girl with the short hair, long skirt, and gang jacket. I don't even know what her name is, but I think I'll call her Mahana, or Michiru, or Ryo.

If you liked my review, Watch the Episode Here!

Stop SOPA

2012-01-17T22:41:00.001-08:00

Today thousands of websites are shutting down to protests SOPA. Unfortunately, since I am a tech neanderthal, I don't know how to take my blog offline for the day. So to show my support of the anti-SOPA movement, and join in on the spirit of the day, pretend that my blog doesn't exist right now.

Just imagine you get a page explaining about how SOPA is bad, and that's why you can't get to my blog.

Anime Reviews: Beelzebub Episode 48 - I Am the Parent!

2012-01-16T12:00:00.000-08:00

Watch the Show Here!

Plot Summary
Saotome explains to Oga that the more he is in sync with Beel, the closer he is to becoming a demon himself. The seal technique he wants to teach him should prevent that from happening.

Good work.

Back in the present, En's demon maids try to ignore the fight going on outside. The Ishiyama students put up a good fight against the demons, but ultimately they are beat. Furuichi makes it out of the apartment, to find Angelica coming out of the elevator. Aoi transfers in just in time to face off against the crazy looking demon chick.

The cleavage says, "Be aroused." Everything else says, "No."
Alternate Caption:
So they do have crackwhores in hell.

Oga's Demon Sword Alaindellon is defeated instantly, and Graffel turns away from Oga to focus on Hilda. Hecadoth attacks, but is blocked by Aoi, who finished her opponent off-screen. Tojo takes on Graffel, but Oga tells both of them to back down. This fight is his.

He reveals his new technique, Zebul Emblem, which allows him to create a mark that explodes when one punches it. He beats Hecadoth, and faces off against Naga, the leader of the trio. Oga says that he knows it won't end with this battle, but that unless he beats the main boss, people will keep coming after him. He declares that he will not allow Beel to do something as stupid as destroy the world.

He then reveals his second technique, Super Milk Time. After a scene change to Saotome, showing the aftermath of the technique, the scene switches back to Oga...preparing milk.

Well, I suppose that makes sense...

After waiting for the milk to cool, Oga drinks the milk. He starts moving much faster, and beats up on Naga. Hilda realizes that he's used the milk to break down the boundary between the two of them, essentially becoming Beel.

Despite Saotome's warning not to stay in that form for more than five minutes, or to use it more than once, Oga drinks from the milk again, and fully fuses with Beel. His hair turns green, and he grows fly wings, as well as Beel's pacifier. With Beel's influence, he tries to take his pants off, to the horror of his friends.

Fortunately Hecadoth interrupts him, and Graffel incapacitates him. But it isn't enough to stop him from summoning two walls of Zebul Emblems, that he uses to take out Naga and the entirety of the building's roof. Exposing everyone to each other.

Furuichi uses his body to protect Lamia, which puts the two of them in a compromising position. En sees this, and gets pissed, declaring that he will return with his army, to kill Furuichi.

My Opinion
I love being proven right, and it isn't because I developed my serious/funny theory after watching all these past few episodes at once. Everything progresses as a regular shonen fight scene, along with a badass new technique, before all the built up tension comes to an abrupt halt as Oga prepares for Super Milk Time. Which is itself funny and serious at the same time. The technique is like a microcosm of the essence of Beelzebub.

Aoi was not in this scene in the manga. She snuck in to get an eyeful.

The fallout of this arc, and setup for the next arc is tuned down from the manga. In the manga the scene where Furuichi is bent over Lamia protecting her from the rocks is pretty much the same as the anime, except Furuichi somehow lost his pants, making En's misunderstanding all the more understandable. And it ruins Furuichi's reputation with the girls in the class forever.

That being said, En is a twit. Pure and simple. It didn't bug me in the manga, but going over the story again here is only solidifying this. I can see this as becoming even more of a problem later on, as the main conflict has been revolving around En's underlings trying to kill Beel. Is En really such a twit that he doesn't realize his little brother is in trouble? The answer is yes, and I don't think I like the conflict being based around something that could be solved so easily. Just flat out tell En his soldiers are trying to kill En. There, problem solved.

And wasn't that the point of this entire arc? To find En and get him to call back his men? What happened to just telling him what was going on and calling off the attack?

If you liked my review, Watch the Episode Here!

Anime Reviews: Beelzebub Episode 47 - Sorry to Keep You Waiting

2012-01-16T00:18:00.000-08:00

Watch the Show Here!

Plot Summary

The three demons that attacked Oga and Hilda are shown to be imprisoned for their failure, but they are freed to finish the job. En refuses to admit defeat and keeps challenging the Ishiyama students to rematches. When Furuichi realizes that En has a thing for Lamia, he sends a message pretending to be her. This gets a response, but he blows it when he sends a message as himself asking where En is.

On their way back from the convenience store, they run into Lamia, who flees from them, and ends up in the exact same building, on the exact same floor, in the room right next to them. After an awkward several minutes between them, Furuichi tries to leave, but they refuse to let him go.

Aoi practices her sword style against a giant boulder, assumedly practicing what she learned from the person she met in the inner temple. When the rest of the group notice that Furuichi is missing, Himekawa comes in, having discovered where En's IP is coming from. But when they open the room, they find it empty. Lamia tells Furuichi that Yolda is an interdimensional transference demon, and that she created a pocket dimension for them.

Hilda transfers herself into the dimension, using a new technique that Alaindellon created, to move through the communication device's signal. She beats Yolda, and the other two maids easily. Once Yolda is knocked out a portal starts to open into the room, letting a squad of En's men into the human world with them.

Hilda knocks the loudest of them through the ceilings, and follows them up. The Ishiyama guys come into the room, where two demons remain, while Nene calls Aoi to get her to come. Aoi tries to think of a way to make it there in time. She finds Angelica, who was with her father, who was training at the temple.

Hilda faces off with the three from before, when Oga appears, having finished his training off-screen, and wielding Alaindellon like a club.

My Opinion
This episode continues my theory of contrasting seriousness and humor. This episode is easily one of the more serious episodes. The first half or quarter is still funny, with Furuichi and Lamia discovering where En and his maids have been hiding the whole time. This immediately becomes serious as they realize they are trapped in a room with three very touchy demon nurse maids.

Insert PMS joke here.

The rest of the episode continues to be what I like to call "badass Beelzebub", with Hilda showing up to save the day, and more of En's demons coming to join the fight. So much of the episode is played straight that the climax of the episode is an especially strong punch to the comedy nuts.

There is no way you didn't laugh at this.

Even when it's being serious, Beelzebub cannot help but be ridiculous.

Oga's training arc was especially well done, in that it doesn't get much focus after the initial few scenes. Beelzebub knows what it is, and a traditional shonen fighter it is not. So no extended training arcs. So any big Bleach and Naruto fans must be having withdrawals right about now.

If you liked my review, Watch the Episode Here!

Anime Reviews: Beelzebub Episode 46 - Super Burning Combination

2012-01-10T12:00:00.000-08:00

Watch the Show Here!

Plot Summary
The episode opens with a distinct sci-fi feel, before moving into the game, where the Ishiyama group are in the middle of getting their asses handed to them. They are unable to do anything against the tank. Then Yuka shows up, driving a giant robot called the Crazy Frog. She crushes the tank, and proceeds to kick and tap dance all over the other vehicles. Up until she steps on a mine and loses the tank.

Oga's training goes more like an aerobic workout, complete with lame musical accompaniment. He complains about this, calling out for being an exercise, and not training.

Meanwhile the gamers run into more trouble when En's team start using an invisibility cheat. Himekawa realizes what they are doing, and goes to prepare some countermeasures.

While Oga does pushups, Saotome tells him that Tojo asked to be trained, and if he isn't careful Oga will be overtaken. Saotome uses a recording of Oga's voice to make a training partner who has all his hidden strength. Only the casette recorde Beel's voice, and they are faced with a Beel at full power. At first Oga takes this as a joke, only to realize that as a Demon Lord Beel has some crazy hidden potential. Problem is he's still Beel, and easily distracted as he takes off after a bunny rabbit.

En's maids fixed the Crazy Frog, and Lamia realizes that there is magic at work in the game. The rest of the Ishiyama team got killed, and without their medic they can't get back into the game. Himekawa comes back and reveals that he bought the company that makes the game for the sole purpose of getting them to put in a special cheat for him. He brings their characters back as zombies.

En, who had just been allowed to actually play, gets attacked by the zombies, and his forces find themselves without their invisibility cheat, and the Ishiyama students have five Crazy Frogs, which combine into one giant Sentai robot.

Oga manages to capture shadow Beel, using his own stupidity as bait. Isa takes Aoi to an inner part of the temple, where there is someone she wants her to meet. Oga manages to subdue Shadow Beel for a little bit, before Shadow Beel unleashes his true hidden potential.

My Opinion
Beelzebub just knows when to turn the seriousness off. And just when you're laughing your buttocks off something happens to remind you that serious things are happening. This leads to the serious moments becoming much more poignant in contrast to the comedy that preceded them. And vice versa. The moment the viewer is comfortable with the serious turn in events, they get slapped in the face with more comedy.

Oga's arc during the episode is a perfect example of this. He starts off doing a ridiculous aerobics exercise. This is funny. Then Saotome creates a shadow for Oga to fight. This is serious. Except it made a copy of Beel. This is funny. Only it is as strong as Beel could be potentially, and as a demon lord this is very strong. This is serious. But shadow Beel is still just as stupid as Beel, and easily distracted. This is funny. But it can control its lightning enough to leave a bottomless hole that Oga almost falls into. This is serious, and kind of funny. Oga mangages to catch shadow Beel by taking of advantage of his stupidity. This is funny. Then this:

Very Serious.

Since I'm writing this after having seen the following episodes, here's a little spoiler: The serious moment is setup for more comedy.

The video game scenes on the other hand are nothing but hilarity all the way through. There is an element of seriousness, but that is mostly from how serious everyone is taking the game, as well as the stakes involved if they lose. But since it's a video game world, where real world rules don't apply (keep in mind that people regularly get buried face first into concrete in Beelzebub's real world), the anime is able to get truly ludicrous.

The climax of the game arc, with the zombies, and the Sentai transforming Crazy Frog robots, along with theme music, is such a barrage of ridiculousness that this could easily be one of my favorite episodes. I like over the top humor, and stupidity, and Beelzebub knows just how to cater to me.

If you liked my review, Watch the Episode Here!

Anime Reviews: Beelzebub Episode 45 - Play Games at Most One Hour

2012-01-10T00:00:00.000-08:00

Watch the Show Here!

Plot Summary
Furuichi's group go to Himekawa's home, to start searching for En in online games. When they arrive they find the place is a giant skyscraper building, with several rooms dedicated to gaming. Most of the group have never played games, except for Chiaki, who immediately proceeds to find En in an online fighting game. Furuichi tries to get him to tell them where he is, and when he finally answers he tells them they have to beat him in a game before he tells them.

Oga tries to escape from Saotome, but is unable to throw his teacher off, even after showing off his new rock splitting abilities. It isn't until later in the episode that Beel takes matters into his own hands and decides to let Saotome train him.

With Saotome training Oga, the group's first teacher substitues for them, but everyone is away doing their own thing, except for the girl with the face mask, who for some reason got left behind.

The rest of the class head to Himekawa's where they get ready to play End of War 4, a first person shooter. After taking forever to make usable avatars, they end up wasting all their practice time, and have to jump into the game blind. Despite most of them not knowing how to play.

Both Nene and Shiroyama run into glitches that make their characters spin in circles. Nene triest to get control, but instead ends up attacking Yuka's character. They manage to get some team work together, but En's team have the upper hand. Nene and Chiaki try to go after a tank, but the obvious trap is sprung and they are cornered by Yolda. Nene dives in front of Chiaki to protect her from the enemy players' fire. En taunts Furuichi by saying that he would be so happy to win that he just might cry.

My Opinion
I try to not to compare the anime I watch to the original manga too often in these reviews. But since I'm much more of a manga fan than an anime fan, sometimes that isn't possible. So bear with me for just a moment here.

This arc was one of my favorites in the manga. It's so unusual to see a battle scene involving a video game, and its completely ridiculous to boot. The adaptation to anime has worked well, something that I didn't think would happen when the anime first started (I didn't even think it would get to this point in the first place). The duality between how serious everyone is taking the game, along with the gags involving the characters who don't know how to play made for an enchanting read, and makes for a hilarious viewing experience. I feel like I can say that Beelzebub really has come into its own.

If you liked my review, Watch the Episode Here!

Anime Reviews: Beelzebub Episode 44 - I Must Become Stronger

2012-01-09T23:09:00.000-08:00

Watch the Show Here!

Plot Summary
Oga and Teimou's Shadow Group's training starts at a waterfall. They assume that they have to sit under the waterfall, but Aoi's grandfather tells them all to go gather stones. After their gathering devolves into a competition, with Oga picking the biggest rock (read: boulder), they are told they have to split the rocks in half. None of them believe it possible, until Aoi demonstrates the technique.

Meanwhile, Furuichi is still looking for En. He comes across an arcade being occupied by delinquents, and the situation almost turns sour, before Nene and the rest of the Ishiyama delinquents show up.

Kotaro manages to split his boulder. Oga refuses to switch to a smaller rock, despite everyone telling him there's no way he can split such a large boulder on his first try. Kotaro taunts Oga, who snaps and uses the former's face to split the boulder.

Despite everyone finishing the exercise, Oga is still unable to split his boulder. While the others eat, Oga keeps trying to figure out how to split his boulder. After dinner they head to a nearby temple to spend the night, but Oga refuses to leave his boulder. Aoi slaps him to get his attention, but he only throws a tantrum and hugs his boulder. Finally she knocks him out and drags him off.

The temple's priest has his daughter show them to their rooms, while she is leading them the girl, Isa, notices that Beel is a demon. After being shown to their rooms, everyone goes to use the baths. The guys plan to peek on the girls, but neglect to take into account that the girls can hear their scheming. After Isa reveals to Aoi that she can sense demons, Aoi asks her if she can show her how to fight demons.

Oga and Ittousai, Aoi's grandfather, have a small talk, where the latter encourages Oga to develop his power gradually. Oga goes out to train during the night, saying that he has no time to grow stronger gradually. Aoi wakes up the next morning and discovers that Oga never came back in. She runs out to the training field and finds him collapsed next to his boulder, which has been split cleanly in two. After breakfast Ittousai sends Oga off to a special training course, where he finds Saotome's theme music.

Oh yeah, and Saotome.

My Opinion
Despite the majority of this episode being the typical shonen training trope, where the hero grows stronger on guts alone, there was a lot to like about it. The ongoing search for En broke up the training scenes nicely, and Aoi's scenes with Isa promise some interesting development for her.

What really makes this episode stand out is the abundant use of comedy. The moment where Oga uses Kotaro's face to split the boulder is among the funniest moments based purely on Oga's VA's performance, and the fake sexy legs was the only "trap" gag that was actually funny. Mainly because it didn't involve Alaindelon.

If you liked my review, Watch the Episode Here!

Class Notes: Lord of the Rings

2012-01-04T21:33:00.000-08:00

I've been seeing a lot of blogs focused around picking apart the Twilight Saga chapter by chapter. I would be lying that I haven't considered doing the same thing, but for multiple reasons I probably won't ever actually do so. Chief of all being that it would mean reading the series again, but also because badmouthing another author is not the smartest thing aspiring authors could do.

Instead I have decided to do something a little different. For my last semester of college, I am taking a class on Tolkien and Lewis. Specifically focusing on the influence medieval literature had on their styles. One of the requirements is to read through the entirety of The Lord of the Rings over the course of the semester. Along with a variety of other class readings. By Friday I will have to have read the first five chapters of The Fellowship of the Ring.

Unfortunately, despite being an English major, I am not the best at doing class readings. Even when it's something I am genuinely interested in. However, because I am more than "genuinely interested in" The Lord of the Rings, and it's been a few years since I last read it, I have every intention of actually finishing this. Granted, I know the story well enough that I could get by in the class by doing none of the reading, but that just feels like cheating.

So, in order to keep myself honest, I've decided to imitate the Twi-haters and regularly post my thoughts on my readings of The Lord of the Rings. Granted, it would make sense for the blog to go through it chapter by chapter, but considering how much I need to get through I can't take the time to write up each individual chapter. So, instead you will be getting my opinion on the chunks that I have to read for each class period.

Expect new posts ever Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I will hold off on posting the posts until after my class, so I can add in what we went over during class. This helps to ensure that I not only get the reading done, but I also pay attention in class. I'm...not a very good student. But hopefully this will help be get better, and allow me to have some regular content on this blog again.

Hope you enjoy it, and who knows, there might be those of you that get interested in The Lord of the Rings thanks to these posts. Once I would have assumed that everyone has already read the books, but my recent sojourns into Youtube comment territory has shaken that belief. So to those of you that haven't read the books yet, the movies are great, but go read a book you damn kids!

Links 1/3/12

2012-01-03T16:20:00.000-08:00

I figure a good way to get some more traffic to my blog, as well as help out friends, I should start imitating other bloggers and regularly post links to posts that I've read. I've been linked a few times, and figure I should return the favor and link more often. All part of being part of the blogging community and all that fun stuff. Please keep in mind that since this is the first time I try this, I'll be borrowing formatting and such things from other bloggers, until I figure out what works for me.

I also have a few posts that will be coming up shortly. I should also have more links on Friday, I'll try to make a habit of posting them all then.

Nathan Major posts an epic review of the Kindle Fire tablet, and gets into the nuts and bolts of if you should get one.

Jason Secrest finally updates his Mansion House blog with a personal chastisement for not writing as often as he should.

Bec posts a new recipe for pulled pork and biscuits. I fully volunteer to help finish off the leftovers.

Kate Dacey introduces the next Manga Movable Feast early enough to make preparations. This next one is Usamaru Furuya, I don't know if I'll write anything new, but I have at least one old review I can volunteer for the archives. She also posts the schedule up through July. Got a few coming up that I'm interested in, mostly because it's a good chance for me to expand my manga tastes even more.

That Anime Blog discuss the upcoming anime releases.

Bob Anderson dies at age 89.

Deb Aoki lists the ten Must-Read Shoujo Manga.

Anime Reviews:
Natsume Yuujin-chou Shi First Look by Lu at Animeshoon

Detective Academy Q by Joojoobees at Abandoned Factory Anime Review

Manga Reviews:
A Bride's Story by Justin at Organization Anti-Social Geniuses
A Bride's Story by Rob McMonigal at Panel Patter
Fullmetal Alchemist Volume 25 by Connie at Slightly Biased Manga
Higurashi: When They Cry Volume 16 by Sean Gaffey at A Case Suitable for Treatment

On Hiatus For Finals

2011-12-05T22:02:00.000-08:00

As anyone that regularly reads this blog, or just glances at the most recent posts, knows I haven't been the best at keeping up to date with current episodes and whatnot. The main reason for this is that I've been spending more time focusing on school. I did still try to do what I could when I had some free time, but finding myself this close to finals and with a ton more reviews piling up I've decided to make it official. I'm going to be going on hiatus until finals are over. Because of the classes I'm taking there won't be any reviewing, just a lot of paper writing and final projects finishing. This takes a lot of time and needs all my focus. So unfortunately even the series I was up to date on get to be delayed for a little bit, but don't worry, as soon as the semester is over I'll be right back to work.

The good news is that my last final project is due on December 14th. So I only have nine more days before I'll be done with all this. I can't promise that something will go up immediately, but I think I'll be able to get some work done, at least watch a few episodes right after I finish said final. So who knows, it'll only be about two weeks before I have something for you.

Hope you can all hold on until then, and see you soon.

Anime Reviews: Fairy Tail Episode 99 - Natsu vs Gildarts

2011-11-30T12:00:00.001-08:00

Watch the Show Here!

Introduction
Fairy Tail has a good habit of breaking up the action properly. While the majority of the episode focuses on Natsu, enough material with the other characters is covered to keep the episode from feeling monotonous.

Plot Summary
Natsu finds himself facing off against Gildartz. Before the actual battle starts, the episode moves into a flashback showing a younger Natsu challenging Gildartz to several fights. All of which he loses.

Lisanna and Juvia try to fight Erza, and while they manage to put up a spirited fight, they are no match for the power of an S-Class mage. Erza equips armor specifically to counter Juvia's water magic and proceeds to thrash the two girls.

Elfman and Evergreen have less luck with Mirajane, who, despite here sweet nature, is a match for Erza in battle.

Natsu's battle against Gildartz does not go well, as despite all Natsu's attacks Gildartz puts little effort into defending himself. For most of the battle Gildartz treats Natsu like a little child, easily deflecting his attacks.

One of Gildartz's spells accidentally hits Natsu at full power, splitting him into hundreds of mini-versions of himself. Natsu manages to take advantage of this and harass Gildartz to the point where he undoes the spell on Natsu.

Natsu manages to get one hit in, and move Gildartz from his original position. But it isn't enough, and Gildartz shows off his full power, managing to do what no opponent has ever done before: scare Natsu.

Gildartz tells Natsu that having power isn't enough, you have to know weakness and fear. Despite being unable to beat him, Gildartz decides to let Natsu pass.

My Opinion
While the flashback felt like a waste of time, any complaints I have about it are negated by the fact that Fairy Tail doesn't make puke worthy filler. Sure a few minutes were wasted, but in the long run it doesn't harm the series. The entire series is well paced, something that too few shonen anime seem capable of doing.

It's good to see Natsu show some different emotion than the usual. Seeing him afraid of Gildartz is pretty unusual, and makes for an interesting episode. The climax of the fight salvages what is yet another fight. Seeing Natsu's viewpoint challenged by a character he has no chance of beating is a breath of fresh air.

This arc is shaping up to be pretty good. While I believe we can expect a lot of fights, I'm interested to see where the rest of the arc goes.

If you liked my review, Watch the Episode Here!

Anime Reviews: One Piece Episode 523 - A Surprising Fact! The Man Who Guarded The Sunny!

2011-11-29T12:00:00.001-08:00

Watch the Show Here!

Introduction
It's one of the more satisfying One Piece episodes in a while, with some really good art. Though the animation does suffer in places. And important questions are answered.

Plot Summary
Caribou has his brother Coribou, and their underlings, dig graves for the fake strawhats. He says that he wanted to join the strawhats and kill them from the inside. He grabs fake Sanji, and reveals that he has a devil fruit power that lets him absorb a cannon ball from fake Sogeking.

Sentomaru reports back in, telling HQ that the strawhats demolished the pacifista they originally fought back when they first came to Sabaody. Clearly they have grown in power, he says.

Clearly.

Rayleigh flashes back to when he first met Roger, who looks very much like a slightly older Luffy, and that the strawhat Luffy wears is very likely Roger's old hat. Rayleigh comments that he feels like living just a little bit longer, to see if Luffy can really make it.

The Thousand Sunny sinks deeper into the ocean, following the underwater current. All the strawhats are amazed by how beautiful it is underwater, except for Zoro, who'd already seen it. After Luffy almosts bursts the bubble surrounding their ship, Sanji asks Nami to tell them to knock it off. After seeing her new and improved cleavage, Sanji's nosebleed rockets him out of the bubble and into the water.

After retrieving Sanji, Nami explains that the bubble won't break if something small passes through, so they could use their cannons to defend themselves against sea monsters. But if something too big, or too many objects try to pass through, then the bubble will burst.

Franky tells them about how he found the ship unharmed. Kuma had been defending it for the past year, and according to Rayleigh Kuma had become a full cyborg, losing his humanity. But just before he got Vegapunk to program one final mission into him. To defend the Thousand Sunny until the strawhats returned.

While Sanji questions is Kuma really was their friend, after sending him to transvestite island, they are being stalked by Caribou's crew. Caribou still wants to kill the strawhats, so he can gain notoriety. He picks up speed, his ship being pulled by something very large and very familiar, and rams the Thousand Sunny.

My Opinion
The opening was much darker than usual, with a character casually killed onscreen, something that never happened before the marineford war. Personally I like it, it takes the series someplace a little darker than it was before. While the rest of the episode proves that at its core One Piece will still be silly.

The underwater scenes were great, with some awesome lighting going in to set the mood. However, there were certain scenes that were nothing but still frames. The several seconds of them all kneeling over Sanji were atrocious. I really don't see where Toei gets off on not putting more money into the animation budget of their bigest cash cow since Dragonball. Shame on you Toei, One Piece deserves better than that.

This could easily be an animated gif, and you wouldn't even realize.

Still, besides a few egregious animation flops, the episode was well paced and the slow bits were used to share some new information. Still an enjoyable episode that avoided some of the major gripes I have with the anime.

And there was about as much shipper fuel as One Piece fans ever get. Enjoy.

If you liked my review, Watch the Episode Here!

Anime Reviews: One Piece Episode 522 - Everyone Together! Luffy, Setting Out For The New World!

2011-11-28T12:00:00.001-08:00

Watch the Show Here!

Introduction

The review may be short, but the episode was good. There's some painful moments for Sanji fans, and some decent comedy for everyone else.

Plot Summary

Rayleigh flashbacks to the year and a half of training with Luffy. He steps in to help Luffy and his crewmates escape. Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji are attacked by marines at every turn, but get some help from Perona, who helped Zoro find his way to the island.

Chopper arrives on one of the giant birds he befriended, and picks the three up. In the meanwhile, Brook makes it back to the crew. After giving him his moment, the remainder of the crew arrive.

They make ready to escape the marines, and are helped by all the friends they made in the past two years. Hancock arrives to block the path of fire of the attacking marine battleships.

Franky inflates the coating, creating a bubble around the ship. At long last, Luffy gives the order to set sail for Fishman Island.

My Opinion

A while back I complained that the reunion between the strawhats lacked a certain gravitas. This episodes goes a ways to rectify that. The music was very fitting, and now that the entire crew is back I got a much stronger feel that these are friends reuniting after years apart. Unfortunately there's no time to savor the moment as they have to escape from the marines. Funny how the anime likes to drag out the worst scenes, and the one moment that could use some more time gets rushed.

Sanji's moments were funny, at least to anyone that isn't too fond of Sanji, or is ambivalent towards him. While I enjoy his moments, to an extent, I did feel a twinge of pain for all the Sanji fans.

But that aside, it's finally time. We've been waiting years for this, finally the crew is back together, and heading for Fishman island.

If you liked my review, Watch the Episode Here!

Anime Reviews: One Piece Episode 521 - The Battle Is On! Show Them What You Got From Training!

2011-11-27T12:00:00.001-08:00

Watch the Show Here!

Introduction

Sometimes an episode can be hard to summarize. Not because it isn't good, but because for some reason I can't seem to write extensively about it. Is that a bad thing? Well, I know that I feel more accomplished when I write longer reviews, but maybe you like shorter reviews?

Plot Summary

The crew makes ready to head to the rendezvous point. Chopper has an idea for how to get Luffy, and heads out for him.

Pandemonium breaks out in Brook's concert hall, while Sanji and Zoro continue to argue.

At the pirate gathering the marines surround the fake strawhat crew. Fake Luffy tries to get Caribou to use the captured marine soldier as a hostage. But Caribou decides to just shoot the guy for lying to them. Pandemonium breaks out and an all out brawl starts between the pirates and the marines.

When the pacifista enter the fight, everything turns for the worse for the fake strawhats. Sentomaru outs the fake Luffy as a fake, and brains him with his axe. Luffy realizes that everyone thought the fake was him. He tries to make a quiet exit, but is revealed in front of all the pirate and marine witnesses.

Luffy dodges the pacifista attacks, and completely destroys one of the two. Zoro and Sanji show up, and destroy the second pacifista. As they are fleeing, Luffy notices Rayleigh, and stops to thank him for all his help. Luffy declares, for the first time in years, that he will do it. He will become the pirate king.

My Opinion

Despite my short summary this episode had a lot going for it. While the animation was so so at the beginning of the episode, it got substantially better towards the end. Though why they spent so much money animating Luffy's mouth I cannot understand. Though it was worth it, because after two plus years Luffy's "I'm going to be the pirate king" moment was great.

There were a lot of funny moments, the interaction between Sanji and Zoro was some of the best and cleverest to date. There was a particular moment where Lip Service Doughty gets shot, all his underlings yell "Captain!" and then get shot off hand by the Pacifista.

I can't get very analytical about One Piece episodes, though I'll try my best, but really all that can be said is that One Piece is awesome, if incredibly slow, you should be watching it. Heck, why are you reading this? Go watch it, now.

If you liked my review, Watch the Episode Here!

Anime Reviews: Beelzebub Episodes 16 - 43

2011-11-26T12:00:00.001-08:00

Watch the Show Here!

Introduction
A while back I decided to stop reviewing Beelzebub. I did this because at the time I had too much on my plate and needed to cut back on my work load a little. The excessive use of filler killed the enjoyment of the series for me as well, and while negative reviews are both fun to write and read, I needed to drop a series from my review pile. This one just happened to be the first on the chopping block.

Since then I have picked up a few more series, and learned more about how to write reviews. I've also changed my approach on how to review series I am behind on. It just didn't sit well with me to leave this series unreviewed when I'm picking up so many other series. And at the time I dropped it I had resigned myself to expecting this series to be cut short. Obviously that has not happened, so it is with great joy that I catch up with all the missed episodes, starting off a new weekly review series.

Plot Summary
The main reason I dropped this show was because the filler was rancid. Or at least that's what I thought at the time. In retrospect the filler wasn't all that bad, some of it was even quite good. But it wasn't what I was watching for, so the series just seemed like a major disappointment.

Filler – Episodes 16-17
As would be my luck, the episode right after I stopped reviewing this series weekly was not only canon, but it also mixed filler in with the canon very well. The next was complete filler, but after that we came into proper canon material.

Oga vs Tojo – Episodes 18-21
The Oga vs Tojo arc was several episodes long, and really helped restore my faith in the series. I still did not decide to review every week because by that point several episodes had passed and I had no time to play catch up. There were a few parts of the arc that seemed odd to me, such as the stylistic choices during the first Oga and Tojo fight. But the whole set of episodes were a good mix of what makes the original manga good, along with some additions put in by the anime.

The Demon World – Episodes 22-24
I love any episode that has Kunieda in it, and since the animators seem to share my love, I get a lot of treats out of this anime. The episode Secluded Mountain Training acts like filler, but is all canon material, and was a ton of fun to watch.

The demon world arc only lasted two episodes, and had a bit of material cut out of it. But it was a lot of fun to see how the animators expanded on the material from the manga. The story probably could have been milked for more, at just two episodes it feels more like a short interlude, rather than the full arc it could have been.

St. Ishiyama – Episodes 25-28
With their school destroyed, though not as fully as it should be, the students of Ishiyama High get split up between several different neighboring schools. All the important characters get put in one classroom at the same school, St. Ishiyama.

The anime takes a chance to spread out a little more, and adds in filler that felt much better crafted than the early filler. Beelzebub really is a show that could go on for a while, with the perfect balance of filler and canon material. All that it needs is to learn how to do good filler. I enjoyed these few episodes because they let the viewers get to know some of the new characters more.

The Six Holy Knights – Episodes 29-36
Oga and co learn about the six holy knights, students from St. Ishiyama who excel in certain fields, and have authority to keep the order in school. After an encounter with some quite douchey St. Ishiyama students, Shiroyama is sent to the hospital. The event escalates into an all out brawl between Oga and friends, and four of the holy knights.

When faced with expulsion because of their brawling, the Ishiyama High students are given the chance to face the six holy knights in a volleyball game. If they lose they are all expelled, but if they win the six holy knights loose their authority.

These episodes are the highlight of the anime for me, combining everything that makes this anime great. Namely, bizarre humor. It all comes to a climax when they win, only to have their victory interrupted by a ghost from Oga and his former friend Miki's past.

The Plot Thickens... – Episodes 37-43
With the introduction of the singular most badass of badasses, Saotome Zenjuro, things start to heat up. Oga meets Beel's older brother En, who was sent to destroy the world. Fortunately he is easily distracted by video games. And good thing too, because if he doesn't have his way, his temper tantrum could bathe the entire city in flames.

After spending a day goofing off at an amusement park, En's maids warn Hilda that En's retainers might try to harm Beel. Shortly afterwards they get ambushed by En's servants, and Hilda is mortally injured. Oga has a hard time fighting their attacker, before being saved by Saotome. While Tojo and his group are saved by the timely intervention of...Kanzaki? After Hilda's condition stabilizes, Oga starts training at Aoi's dojo. Hilda decides that they need to find En, and get him to call off his minions. While Oga and Aoi go off for training, Furuichi and Lamia try to find En, with little success. So they enlist the help of the rest of the Ishiyama students.

My Opinion
I didn't think much of this series when it first came out. To me it just seemed like it could never compare to the manga. But after some growing pains, I can honestly say that it has grown into a series that I absolutely love. It has all the weirdness, and comedy that I could ask for.

Among other things.

The series' penchant for filler is a bit unnerving on a weekly basis, but there is usually enough there to entertain anyone that can ignore the manga canon and just enjoy the series for what it is. I will be the first to admit that I couldn't do this until much later. Most of my misgivings about this series come from knowing the source material too well. And while I still think the anime could pick up the pace in how it adapts the manga, I highly recommend Beelzebub to anyone that loves screwball comedy and a fight here and there.

If you liked my review, Watch the Show Here!

Anime Reviews: Persona 4 The Animation Episode 7 - Suspicious Tropical Paradise

2011-11-25T12:00:00.000-08:00

Watch the Show Here!

Introduction
What I thought was going to be an incredibly awkward episode turned out to be one of the funniest of the series. And yet, still awkward.

Plot Summary
After rewatching Kanji's midnight channel debut, Yosuke calls Yu to confirm if they both just saw the same thing. After confirming that they did in fact see the same thing, Yu asks Yosuke if he wants a copy of it.

Back in the TV world, Teddy can't seem to pinpoint Kanji. He tells them that if he had something with Kanji's scent on it he might be able to get a lock on him. The group visits Kanji's family shop, and hear from his mother about how he got involved in beating up biker gangs. Apparently a while back a biker gang was causing trouble in the neighborhood, and Kanji's mom couldn't sleep because of the noise. Kanji got into one little fight, and the town got scared, and told him...you're moving to...uh...yeah...

Parody: I suck at it.

They find a kid who is looking for Kanji, and tells them about a cellphone strap Kanji made for him. They borrow the strap to give Teddy the scent. When they go to Junes they meet the guy who was talking to Kanji the other day. He mentions that Kanji had been acting weird.

Really?

With Kanji's scent, Teddy is able to locate him. He leads them to a men only bathhouse. Yosuke and Yu refuse to go in, declaring that it is too risky for them to go inside. Chie forces them to go in anyway. While searching the bathhouse Yosuke suggests that they should split up, the girls can search the rest of the place, while him and Yu go home.

When they run into shadow Kanji, Yu and Yosuke waste no time summoning their persona. It doesn't take long for the initially resistant Chie to summon her own persona. After hearing that her shadow self was just as outrageous, Yukiko gets pissed and starts attacking all the incoming shadows. Her fire hits Yosuke, as does Chie's ice when she attacks as well.

Kanji wakes up in the bathhouse, and hears people talking ill about him. He starts to get pissed, and yells at them to show themselves, when he comes face to face with his shadow self. While this is happening the group stands outside the door to the final boss, putting off opening it. When they finally do, they find Kanji in a questionable position with his shadow self.

The room gets flooded with what looks like water at first, but turns out to be lubricant. Chie and Yukiko fall down in it, and while trying to stand up get covered in the stuff. Yu and Yosuke lament not having a video camera, before slipping in the stuff themselves.

Kanji gets pissed at his shadow self, denying its claims that he likes men, releasing its monster form. The group try attacked the muscular shadow men that come with Kanji's shadow form, but to no effect. One of the creatures gets behind them and grabs Yu and Yosuke's butts, putting them out of commission. Yukiko and Chie get pissed at the two and start attacking indiscriminately.

Yu blocks a lightning attack aimed at Kanji, and awakens the true power of his wild card ability. He fuses two of his persona together (it isn't shown which), and creates a hydra like monster that I assume is the Yamato no Orochi. After Yu comments on how he thinks the phone strap is cute, Kanji gets up and punches his shadow self, defeating it.

He tells his reverted shadow that it has nothing to do with liking men or not liking women, but that he's just afraid of being rejected for his girly hobbies. He accepts his inner feelings as a part of himself, revealing his true badass persona.

Badass.

Later Kanji meets with the group on the roof, and offers his help in finding out who the culprit behind all the murders is. Later that evening Dojima asks Yu if he's been getting into any trouble. The episode skips back a few days to a person standing out in the rainy dark in the middle of the street.

My Opinion
I really wasn't looking forward to this episode as much as the others. This is anime, I was convinced they couldn't possibly treat what was coming up with dignity. And I was right. They did not. But at least they entertained me while doing so.

How dare you be gay!

Bar none, this has to be one of the funniest episodes of the series to date. Yes, a lot could be said about how insensitive it is to homosexuals, but that's not really my schtick, so I'm really more concerned by the fact that I had to pause the video when they first run into Shadow Kanji because I had a laughing fit. Again, my sense of humor is fairly simple, but I like to think that such an extreme reaction of mine should count for something.

Besides being a hilarious episode, and I don't use that word very often, there was a good deal of story going on. Unlike Yukiko's episode this one found a good balance of action scenes and build up to the action. We don't learn all that much about Kanji's past, and what we do learn is done without using flashbacks, which makes for a stronger episode. And while the jokes may be lowbrow, Kanji's inner turmoil is easily the most interesting out of the main cast so far. The concept of his possible attraction to men is dealt with well enough, but the episode takes most of that the game. And adds gay jokes.

Yes, this episode is extremely homophobic, but for those that aren't bothered by that it's also incredibly funny. If lowbrow humor and gay jokes are your cup of tea, then you'll find plenty to enjoy about this episode.

If you liked my review, Watch the Episode Here!

Anime Reviews: Persona 4 The Animation Episode 6 - I'll Beat You, and Beat You Good

2011-11-24T12:00:00.000-08:00

Watch the Show Here!

Introduction
Is there such a thing as 'too goofy'? If there is, I hope I never find it. Some people might be turned off from this episode, particularly in the latter half. But others might just find something that makes this one of their new favorite shows of the season.

Plot Summary
The opening scene in the velvet room is a little different this time. Igor is nowhere to be seen, instead Margaret greets the viewer, who we assume is meant to be Yu, and acts oddly flirty. The scene switches to a guy fighting off a biker gang. Later at school two guys are discussing rumors about the guy from the opening. They run off when they see him, and he stalks off. But not before dropping a small cute thing, that Yu picks up and gives back to him.

Back at home Doujima calls Yu, and tells him that he has to handle a case for another detective, and won't be able to go on the trip during Golden Week. The next day Chie comes and invites Yu to go hang out, but he tells her he can't, gesturing towards Nanako. Chie sees Nanako, and invites her to come along with them. They all go to Junes, and eat steak. Yukiko makes fun of Yosuke several times, in a very absent minded kind of way.

The other three talk to Nanako, and find out that Yu was going to make bento lunches for their trip. They are surprised that he can cook, and after insisting that she can cook, Chie gets dragged into a cook-off between them. After a comment about her mom's cooking, Nanako says that her mom died in a car accident.

Later, Doujima apologizes for missing their trip, and brings the two gifts as an apology. He gives Nanako a shirt, and Yu a pair of "fashionable" swimming trunks.

No, he is not being sarcastic. He seriously likes them.

While studying at Junes they start talking about the cases. Yosuke says that there is a motive, the killer isn't random. He shows that each of the victims were girls associated with the first victim. Saki found the victim's body, and the victim stayed at Yukiko's inn before she was found dead. After finishing their discussion, Yosuke leaves, having gotten no studying done.

After an exam montage, Yu is sitting with his family, watching TV, when a news report comes on. The thug from earlier in the episode is on TV, and Doujima recognizes him. He says his name is Kanji and that he got into a fight with a biker gang a while back and has been fighting ever since.

Later that night, Yu sees someone on the Midnight Channel that looks very much like Kanji. The next day they have a meeting about him, confirming that it was indeed Kanji they saw last night. Yukiko says she knew him as a kid, and that he didn't used to be like he is now. She says that his family runs a textile shop, that her inn buys from. They go to the textile shop, where a boy is talking to Kanji's mother.

Suuuuure...

They talk to Kanji's mother, and ask where he is. Yu notices a scarf, that looks exactly like the one they found tied into a noose in the first episode. After they leave they see Kanji talking to the guy from earlier. The guy wants to meet with Kanji later, and Kanji is flustered, wondering why a guy wants to meet with him. He sees the group watching him, and chases them off.

After getting away from Kanji, they decide that they need to keep a watch on Kanji and the textile shop. Yosuke asks Yukiko for her phone number, so he can contact her for the investigation team. Yukiko doesn't address the request, but instead comments that she needs to go buy tofu.

The next day Kanji meets the guy he was talking to, and the two head off. The group breaks into pairs, with Yukiko going with Yu. While the two of them stake out the textile shop, Yu comments about Yukiko being nervous. Yukiko says she's never had any guy friends before, and that she isn't as sued to hanging around guys like Chie is. Yu gets Yukiko's number, for the investigation squad, succeeding where Yosuke failed.

Chie and Yosuke trail Kanji, and after a comment that she's hungry, Yosuke mentions that a local restaurant delivers anywhere, even while you are on the go. Chie calls to order two nikudon, and they are then caught by Kanji. They run, meeting up with Yu and Yukiko, and Yosuke tries to trick Chie into using herself as a decoy to let the others get away. He almost succeeds by suggesting it's her only chance to use a really cool line.

In the middle of the run a girl on a scooter catches up to them, with Chie's order. Chie tries to pay, but realizes she's a little short, Yukiko lends her a hundred yen, and after being paid the delivery girl tells Chie to leave the bowls after she's done.

Once they finally lose Kanji, Yosuke says they might as well give up since Kanji can obviously take care of himself. The others disagree, and in the end they decide to call it a day. After the end credits Yu watches the midnight channel, and sees Kanji's inner self revealed there.

My Opinion
This was a goofy episode, and frankly I loved it. The end was a strange mood change, from relatively serious, to balls to the walls insane. I get the feeling that Persona 4 The Animation is trying to establish an identity for itself aside from that of the game. Right now it's in an experimentation stage. But what it can always rely on is how darn cute Nanako is.

Yu just keeps getting better and better. His reaction to the horrible looking swimming trunks was out of left field and just great. He may not react emotionally to anything, but he has far more personality than a number of anime characters I could name. The writers keep his reactions low key to stay true to the game's portrayal of the blank slate protagonist, but still get a lot of comedy mileage out of him. I can't help but feel that swimsuit is set up for a gag later on.

The scene at the end was so out of left field that I wasn't sure what to think. And I hardly had any time to vocalize my confusion because I was too busy laughing. If nothing else, Persona 4 has a sense of humor, and that alone justifies this series' existence.

If you liked my review, Watch the Episode Here!