… Nyaa.

I don’t even know what to expect from Ano Natsu anymore, but I guess that’s a good thing! Since the beach episode was stretched to two weeks, I’m sure we’ll be seeing some very important scenes this episode!

Emotions are high as Ichika stumbles upon Kaori and Kaito in the middle of an “intimate” moment. She runs off as soon as they notice her, scared of confronting her own feelings for the bespectacled boy. Kanna, who is also wandering around the forest, sees Ichika and wonders what happened.

Arisa regains consciousness after being pushed to the floor by a pantyless Mio just as she, along with Tetsurou, made their escape. Mio pleas to Tetsurou not to tell anyone what happened and he agrees. Before going back to the set Mio heads back home to put on some underwear. Slowly everyone returns to the filming area where a curious Lemon questions what happened between everyone. (As if she didn’t know …) The filming begins and while capturing the scene Kaito wonders if different aspects of his life will start to fall apart. In the middle of their scene, Kaori quietly asks Ichika if she has feelings for Kaito, leading to a shocking response and a straightforward “CUT!”

“Keep still, we’re almost canon.”

A wild Arisa appears and chases off poor Tetsurou. Kanna thinks he should take her out on a date already, but Mio is obviously against that idea. Now back home, Kanna searches the house for Kaito but he’s nowhere to be found. Lemon arrives on the scene tricking Kanna into drinking some Dynamite Drink for the answers about Kaito’s feelings in return. Kaito, who is now at Kaori’s hotel, is told by the receptionist that she asked to meet him elsewhere.

Mio helps a desperate Tetsurou escape from Arisa in a pretty sketchy alleyway, but despite that they get her off their trail. They once again talk about keeping what happened a secret, but suddenly … ARISA. She brings up the fact that Mio wasn’t wearing panties and calls her an exhibitionist, in hopes of getting her away from Tetsurou. Out of the blue Mio makes a shocking confession, she’s a nudist! (If the panda phone calls weren’t enough of a hint already.)

DESPAIR.

Meanwhile, Ichika arrives at a shrine where Kaori is waiting. Ichika bluntly asks if she loves Kaito, and what follows is another confession … maybe less shocking than the nudist one. Kaori had a boyfriend at her home town, but was dumped. She came to Okinawa to have fun and forget those feelings, but when she saw Kaito she sort of used him to distract herself from the bad memories. Before leaving Kaori also reveals that Kaito said he has someone he loves, and that it’s probably Ichika. Just as she leaves, Kaito arrives.

Awkward …

Stay thirsty my friends.

At the vacation house Kanna shows the obvious signs of Dynamite destruction, a little woozy from the alcohol most likely. Lemon uses this chance to dress her up in some of her … costumes. Back to Mio, Tetsurou, and Arisa, Mio reveals that she comes from a family of nudists and was raised that way. For her going to school in clothes was very strange, but she still managed to make great friends like Kanna and Kaito. Taking the hint, Arisa disappears without notice. Tetsurou shows his support for her and her habits, leading to yet another confession! Mio confesses that she’s in love with Tetsurou, but he doesn’t exactly have a response.

Outside the shrine Ichika tells Kaito all about what happened between her and Kaori. They notice the sunset in the distance and while standing Ichika holds Kaito’s hand. Back at the hotel, Arisa cries over Tetsurou as Kaori pats her head. Walking home now, Kanna accepts that Tetsurou doesn’t have to answer her confession.

OTP. FOREVER.

Love is like the clink between two megane(ko)s.

Outside the vacation home, Ichika and Kaito talk about relationships and “chasing”. Kaito says he wants to be the one doing the chasing and kisses her. Just as their lips part they notice a Dynamite infused Kanna looking on curiously. Clearly she’s not in the right frame of mind to take it seriously and then goes on to kiss Ichika. (Nyaaa~) Inside, Rinon suddenly starts to feel strange.

The group finishes their filming with Kaori and when the last scene ends they send her off with a saddened Arisa. Lemon says now that filming is over they have the rest of the afternoon to enjoy before the plane comes. They throw on their bathing suits for a few last moments of fun. Lemon looks down at Rinon who seems to have a bit of a headache, and in the vastness of space a spaceship speedily passes by heading towards an unknown location.

“BRING IT ON.”

Preview: A description is not necessary with a picture like this.

Yay for confessions! I was definitely not expecting so many important developments to be made this quickly, but I loved every second of it! As expected, with the closing of this beach segment Kaori and Arisa departed, but not without a bang. Having played catalyst to some of the best Ano Natsu moments yet this episode, I’m starting to feel like I might miss them. Heck, without them the group would probably still be just as awkward and oblivious to each other as they were five weeks ago.

Moving on, Mio and Tetsurou are one of the most adorable couples I’ve ever seen in an anime, whether their feelings are mutual or not. (Oh the joys of being a diehard shipper!) Mio being a nudist only adds to her growing list of quirky characteristics, and I think that goes well with Tetsurou’s “down-to-earth” personality. Now that the hardest part for Mio, the confession, is out of the way we’ll have to wait and see where Tetsurou heads with his feelings for Kanna. Personally, I wouldn’t be surprised if we have to wait quite a while longer for him to decide, especially now that Kanna’s chances look pretty slim. It’s a pretty big mess really, Tetsurou loves someone who doesn’t love him back … will it be that easy to suddenly switch/develop those same feelings to Mio? And how will Mio feel knowing she was “the second choice” if they do end up together? Where Kanna looks at Tetsurou as a little brother, sometimes I get the feeling he might look at Mio as a sort of little sister … but I still think they’re cute.

For me, Ichika and Kaito have always been eh, a secondary couple I suppose. I’ve always been way more interested in the other brewing romances, like Tetsurou/Kanna, Tetsurou/Mio, Kanna/Kaito, Remon/Rinon, and so I guess I’ve paid less attention to them in general. However, I really enjoyed seeing their relationship blossom this week. (Really though, it’s about time!) Clearly they’re going to be facing some more hardships though, since it’s only episode 7 and we’ve barely even touched on the alien issues and the “hickey disease”. If Rinon and the spaceship was any indication, we might be getting a bit more supernatural in the upcoming episodes which I’d like to see happen. The cast can’t be in the dark about the matter for the entire series, right? Hopefully not.

Anyway, I’m really tempted to watch Onegai Teacher after hearing all the comparisons … but why do I have such a big backlog though!? Ergh. Maybe once I’m done with everything else I’m watching I’ll pick it up. I’d love to see the series that Ano Natsu is sort of the spiritual successor of … though I’ll miss Remon.

With 20% more future vision, induced by onion breath.

Y’ello, peeps. You know the drill, right? If you have been following OC’s posts, you already know, she’s off till 28th Feb for vacation so I’ll cover for her till then. You should be aware that the second season of Phi Brain has already been announced so the story will not end with the next five episodes. Just make a wish for your favourite characters to survive!

Gammon has gotten into thick of things by becoming a POG giver. I’m still trying to figure out his motive, sniffing out the real deal of Rook most probably? Though, currently, he’s pretty busy designing puzzles that would be the death of Kaito. Oh man, where has this friendship gone wrong? Before my theories though, let’s quickly get over the episode highlights:

Threesome. Omnomnomnommm.

From the preview last week, the staff doesn’t waste any time on dilly dallying over emo friends rather starts up with a three dimensional puzzle designed by Gammon to challenge Kaito and the capability of his Orpheus’s armlet. Things go downhill with the armlet acting up and showing grainy footage from I Am Legend. Of course, anyone would get confused and what Kaito deemed as victory, turned into his failure with Gammon’s cheeky won. However, no fall-to-death happened because Bishop intervened under Rook’s orders and whisked the new POG leader away to their HQ.

Now kiss.

Other POG Givers are literally lackeys to Gammon now as he achieved something none of them could: make a deadly puzzle to corner Kaito. Though, Bishop is not easy to trust and he keeps a close eye on the eccentric, tea-drinking POG leader. Elena almost spews out everything that a watcher must be thinking at this point about his allegiance still active with Kaito and this being his way to infiltrate the POG faction. However, Gammon denies all of this and reveals his ultimate wish to become the Phi Brain after solving the Divine Puzzle. Sounds shallow to me and I definitely feel sorry for Elena.

DAWWWWWW~

On the other hand, Nonoha is sweetly klutzy as ever, helping Mahiru with food and love in absence of her baka brother. She’s literally the only one left in the Kaito-camp but she seems lost alone because Kaito has too much on his plate right now. Rook’s prediction of Nonoha unable to stop his progress is becoming true. Don’t you hate it when his scheme hits bull’s eye?! Whatever Gammon is trying, he should know better than thinking his money replacing his affection. The sibling/friendship bonds made by kids who grow up without parent(s) is very strong, which gives me another reason to rage at Gammon. I can only hope to know the cause of his discarding Mahiru later. All of this has gained him the trust of Rook and Bishop for now, even if the latter still seems wary of him.

The force is dark in this one

We have been noticing Kaito’s armlet going berserk since a few episodes but who would have thought it would induce vision of future with Jin in it?! According to whom, the power that Pythagoras sealed in the Divine Puzzle would destroy the humankind when unleashed. His best friend Baron is of the same opinion that the ultimate puzzle shouldn’t be solved by mere mortals. However, Kaito being the main protagonist has to swear to solve this particular puzzle by hook or crook… to him it’s saving the world, while to Gammon it’s to achieve the Divine Revelation. OTL.

More Divine Punishment!

Gammon: “Puzzles are beautiful~~~”          Kaito: “=P”

Now that you are at it, clean up my room and get my laundry too.

Rook the voyeur >.>

DAAAWWW, Nonoha. You are the only sane one left!

Obligatory Phi-derpness

Broody sunset.jpg

Please ensue the group facepalm because the main characters are not taking puzzles seriously! Kimochi no? Try to understand the Divine Puzzle’s feelings because it doesn’t want to be solved! Idiots, every one of them! I can understand Kaito’s detachment right now. Everything he thought dear in life turned out to be literal pawns on a chess board arranged by POG. His parents, friends and even acquaintances share the same agenda of him becoming a true Phi Brain. Even if the same people loved him and tried to take care of him, everything in his life has turned into a farce and this is a strong factor causing Orpheus’s armlet to not work coherently. He should definitely be worried about why his armlet is acting up and not giving him result during puzzle time. Of course, there’s something very wrong. Rook may keep grinning like Chucky but I see deterioration rather than progress from Orpheus’s armlet. Is it all that it has been piped up to be? Will he find a symbiotic relationship with it or it will turn into a parasite? Let’s see how the climax of this season is handled.

The main characters are all acting like a bunch of weirdoes currently except for Nonoha. Sweet, sweet, Nonoha, who has to bear the emo Kaito since his best friend turned out to be an evil faction leader. From the preview even, it seems Nonoha would be trying her best to knock some sense into Kaito. You go, girl! I’m cheering for you! Overall, things are looking bad with Gammon joining hands with POG but it can all be a scheme that he or the Baron thought of. I just can’t label Gammon as shallow who has been a father/brother to his sister and has a kind side to him with cute puzzle (Chido Setsu, anyone?). Also, a pat on his back in designing a puzzle to puzzle Kaito; nah, seriously. I know someone has to be near Rook to know when he’ll make his next move, right? But I don’t think even Bishop gets a memo on Rook’s agenda, which is filled with only **** Kaito ****. Would you give your homolust a rest, Rook? >.>

I don’t even want to guess what the ultimate treasure, the Divine Revelation, is. If it can sprout a whole association and organized nurturing of Phi Brain kids, I won’t be surprised that its power is something monumental and beyond imagination. Now what’s up with that vision and why Jin was even there? Kaito should listen to his mentor, even if the dude is talking to him from a reddish grungy haze. I’ll stick to my theory of him being Kaito’s father (Yes, I would welcome that Darth Vader reference of, “I’m your father”), and along with Baron he must have devised a way to keep the Divine Puzzle under wraps or was that a hint of a true Phi Brain, having the ability to solve the puzzle without the destruction shown? But if Kaito and Gammon both have decided that they would solve it, we ARE in trouble; yes, siree. We’ll see how this quest for Divine Revelation goes, even if it’s not meant for mortals. And I want ALL the characters to participate rather than just Kaito vs. Rook. That would be plain old mean and I want to see Ana and Cubic in the game again.

Preview:

Beware of more future visions!

Seems like, we would finally know what the Baron has been up to. Though his meeting with Gammon smells like a penguin and by that I mean, a ploy. I hope there is one because rather than just free-floating, some purpose for Kaito is what’s needed right now.

The hardcore daily lives of heroic school boys.

I’m tagging along so much these days, where has all my free time gone~ *mutters in a singasong voice* If the highschool boys are doing their random thing, I’m counting down till 1st March, because that’s when I start work again… Not even a week is left! Where did all the fun time went guyz?! >< Anyways, another Metafist with Foshy here for another tag of NichiBros!

Miyu is out again this week so enjoy another fun review from me and Kyo! So are you having fun laughing along with these crazy characters? I know I do every week… Stories this week follow Tadakuni, Hidenori and Yoshitake using their wild imaginations and some random fun with the Literature girl and their sisters.

Yoshitake-”I will attempt to eat this crab in one bite!”                      Tadakuni-”Milk is great for the eyes…”

Our first set of stories follow Tadakuni, Hidenori and Yoshitake showing off various gags, like using a small crab…making milk come out of Tadakuni’s eye and a magical zipper trick by Hidenori? What the hell was that even about? Anyway after that odd set of gags, we follow the guys on some indoor adventures as they pretend to play Dragon Quest, but things get crazy when Hidenori and Yoshitake start acting multiple random characters. Before things get too random Tadakuni’s little sister arrives to interrupt the fun. She is really a deadly demon lord or demon queen?

Hidenori-”I have been standing here forever, I am so bored! ENTERTAIN ME NOW.”

Hell ya, the power of imagination!

DESTROY THE LITTLE SISTER NOW!! Ouch…change of plans…let her break our arms first.

After the imagination time was shut down by Tadakuni’s little sister, she joins Yoshitake’s older sister to have a chat with Hidenori’s older brother Yuusuke. The two girls want him to talk to Hidenori and tell him to grow up. They also chat about the other guys stealing Mei’s panties. However Yuusuke tells a few lies and the girls eventually beat him up after finding a striped pantsu on him…Wow, even the older brother is messed up.

Oh snap, Yuusuke, you screwed up big time! I suggest you get the hell out of there now.

Yuusuke-”Those are totally mine, I swear…Why are you pointing that fork at my face?”

Next up is the adventures of Literature girl and Hidenori sitting alone near the river. Hidenori watched quietly as the girl behind him go through a terrible chain of bad luck like losing her papers thanks to the wind, tripping and skinning her hand, having problems opening a box of band aids, choking on some water, slipping and crying loudly… Damn, literature girl…did you find a black cat or break a mirror? Hidenori stands to actually talk to the strange girl, but knocks her out cold and retreats leaving his jacket for her… Yeah, you better run bro! She would probably murder you after this.

Hidenori-”A violent wind has arrived to wreck your life.”

Hidenori-”Ha! You literary got knocked out by my fantastic hair, uh I should run…”

Last story follows a set of guys with Yoshitake making fun of Mitsuo aka the soccer player turned rugby player from episode six. They share lots of embarrassing stories from his past in elementary school and he overhears them talking. He thinks his entering the room would shut them up, but they continue to make jokes while he stands there. Highschool boys are sure mean. Anyway, some of the stories start to get mixed up and others learn that the stories are actually about Yoshitake! Ouch… those are some sad stories dude. It looks like he totally threw himself under the bus…

Yoshitake-”Remember that time you were a demon?”              Mitsuo-”Dude, wrong anime.”

Finally the last bit: HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS ARE FUNKY! My favorite moment this week is the quiz show theme with a random friend testing the girls’ smarts aka highschool girl power. The new girl thinks girls who don’t know anything are much cuter! Wait… smart girls can’t be cute?! She must be high on something. While she asks the questions, Yanagai and Ikushima screw up their answers making the other girl angry leaving Habara as the cute winner to end the episode.

Girl-”Who is this person?!”           Yanagai-”Joe momma?!”            Ikushima-”My uncle!”

HOW CAN YOU GIRLS BE CUTER THAN ME!

Habara-”That is the end! Hurry and leave before she flips your table.”

Extra daily lives

Hidenori-”POWER UP! I WILL DEFEAT YOU!”                           Tadakuni-”Bored now…”

Whoever they are, tell them to shave their face.

Harsh teacher doesn’t like your future choices.

I support this couple forever.

End Thoughts:

The first time I heard Hidenori’s brother (Yuusuke) speak in one of the previous episodes, I almost faceplanted on the fact that Takahiro Sakurai voiced such a small role. But guest cameos became quite a given for Nichibros with famous seiyuu like Nobuhiko Okamoto, Fukuyama Jun and Yuki Kaji voicing small roles. I was just happy to hear him again and more so now because he has recently won the Overseas Fans Choice Award in the Sixth Annual Seiyuu Award for his roles in [C] and FF VII: Advent Children. That’s some achievement, not to mention they missed out Yukiatsu from AnoHana and Old-baba from Soredemo Machi.

Interesting info aside, another good episode of NichiBros minus the Dragon Quest. I somehow never got into RPG games so even if the faces and voices by Tadakuni and Hidenori were pretty funny (Depp reference ftw~), the concept was lost on me. Compared to the previous episode, we had less segments of why-girls-are-so-scary. But the guys got it rough with so many overbearing sisters (my parents should be glad that I have no brother xD), who can kill anytime they like. Tadakuni’s sister is one thing but now Yoshitake’s older sister has a crush on Yuusuke?! He should definitely watch out for his dear life.

Like Fosh, the best moment for me was the Literature Girl Knockout. I mean, DUUUDE, wasn’t that a series of unfortunate events?! That must have really hurt and I don’t even know what she wanted to say. Another lame line or her fangirly/creepy faces? But man, Hidenori, you lost your chances with her. You should have given the usual shoulder lift to her home to score some bonus points. Girls like dependable guys but of course, this is not shoujo but a comedy series. Also, was that Shizuko Itou I heard as the Literature Girl lookalike in the last segment going crazy about stupid girls being cute? Somebody correct me on this as I’m not as good with recognizing female seiyuu.

Wow this was a crazy ass episode this week! Like the gag bits? I don’t understand the whole magical zipper thing…again what the hell?! I still laughed watching the crazy reactions from Tadakumi and Yoshitake because I made the same face like them. After that the guys used their imagination to pretend like they were in an actual video game?! That was really strange and random, but I think most of us have done something like that before. Instead of a video game I am sure most of us have played “house” with siblings or friends? I do remember a few things like that with my cousins, but they always ended fast with the younger siblings wrecking everything…

That older brother character… I was expecting him to be more mature than the younger guys, but he was just like them! Then again I am an older brother myself and I hardly act my age…not sure if that is a bad thing or not? Anyway it was hilarious to see that older sister have some interest in Yuusuke. Although she is very violent, I don’t think he could survive.

The best moments ever was the short bit with the literature girl…holy crap she really had some terrible luck this time! I swear she made me laugh so much this week. Losing her papers, slipping, crying and getting knocked out cold? Wow… she sure is unlucky! Either way it appeared as if she was about to actually talk to Hidenori. I think I would have had the same reaction like he had after that girl had that fit of bad luck…

Preview

Hidenori-”I can’t run anymore…save yourself bro.”

More daily lives of high school boys! What kind of fun adventure will we have next time with the usual trio, Motoharu, Tadakuni’s sister, Karasawa and more random characters?

“Stop, or I’ll take her clothes off!” “Um… OK.”

After the rather humdrum fanservice episode last week, we were promised some more action and the return of the Elemental Siblings this week. Did the show deliver?

Morning after the party, Tabitha is up early to leave before seeing more Saito would make her want to stay. But as she’s saying goodbye to him outside, they’re accosted by none other than the Elemental Siblings – or at least 3 of them – who’ve come to take revenge on Saito. Doudou and Saito go at it, with Jacque attacking as well, though the noise has awoken the boys who’ve come out to help. Jeanette goes inside to capture Louise.

Doudou sure does enjoy fighting.

Meanwhile, those blondes we saw riding this way last episode – turns out they’re elves, not the royal guard as I had assumed – watch from the bushes, waiting for a chance to kidnap Tifania. Fortunately for them, she walks out the back of the house with Siesta, looking for an opportunity to help her friends in the front. In the front, Jeanette has taken a hold of Louise, preventing Saito from fighting.

But that’s when the oldest Elemental Sibling, Damian, appears, and he’s none too happy about his kin coming here for revenge when that wouldn’t make them any money (kindred spirit to the villain of another current show). His magic is alchemy, and he turns the ground into water… I’m actually not sure what he was trying to accomplish, but it gets everyone’s attention. It also provides a destraction for Louise to get free. When they hear Tifania’s scream from the back of the house, Saito goes to investigate, running into the elves in the middle of taking Tifania.

One hell of a fancy horn he’s got there. Where was he hiding it? It’s almost as big as he is!

But Damian’s alchemy also gave one of the elves the water necessary to cast his sleeping spell, which affects everyone in the front of the house as well. One of the elves identifies Saito based on his Gandalfr mark on his hand and decides to take him along as they kidnap Tifania.

Saito and Tifania wake up in a hut by an oasis and learn from their captor Lukshana that they’re in the Elf lands now, and she kidnapped them in order to study them. During her explanation to her captives, the Void magic issue that was introduced in the very first episode comes back, as the elves, like pope Vittorio was, are very concerned about the 4 void mages leading to some sort of destruction for their land. Lukshana’s uncle Bidalsha makes an appearance – it seems that Saito defeated him in battle once, which was their motivation for kidnapping him. I guess that must have happened in season 3.

Lukshana introduces herself to her captives.

Back in Tristain, it’s been a week since the kidnapping, but queen Henrietta’s hands are tied because correspondences with elves are in the realm of Romalia (you’d think, considering that Saito just saved Romalia a week ago, they’d be happy to saddle up and save him). Louise decides that it’s time for her to save Saito this time and decides to go at it alone, only to be joined by Siesta, then Tabitha and her dragon, then the rest of the gang from the school on their airship.

Meanwhile, Saito and Tifania decide to make the best of things in their captivity, going swimming in the oasis – the latter in the nude, of course. Saito is about to succumb to his manly desires and cheat on Louise when he notices that the mossy rock in the middle of the oasis is actually metal, leading him to investigate under water and… discover a fallen plane, undoubtedly from his world.

“Since we’re friends, it’s okay if you touch them.” Tifania may be only half elf, but her understanding of human society seems just as flawed.

Well, here we go, things are happening again! Not that this was some amazing episode, but there were fights, magic, kidnappings, and a clear direction for the next episode, which is more than could be said about the previous 3 episodes. I enjoyed seeing the Elemental Siblings again. Doudou and his insane love for fighting and Jeanette’s touchy-feely-licky way of handling Louise were sorely missed. And the oldest sibling, the shota Damian, finally made an appearance proper, showing off his fancy horn and his ability to use it for alchemy. I found it curious that they could identify Tabitha as Gallian royalty but had no qualms about attacking her, given that they’re supposed to be part of their army. Given Damian’s love for money, I guess they’re mercenaries.

The show was very efficient in introducing the elves to us. Given that I haven’t watched season 3, this was much appreciated. As best as I can make it, they have a separate society and consider humans to be lower creatures or “beasts” as they called them. Their understanding of humans was laughably inaccurate, leading me to believe that they have very little relations with them. Lukshana seemed to be quite surprised to see Saito and Tifania just swimming and relaxing, just as elves do.

And that plane was a nice little reveal. Again, without having seen season 3, this is just a shot in the dark, but I wonder if the connection to Saito’s (our) world is something integral to elven society. Or maybe this will just be a once-off thing, much like the semiautomatic pistol from episode 3. Either way, those real-world elements help to add a bit of flavor to this medieval fantasy setting, and I’m eager to find out what will come of the plane.

Preview

Apparently they’ll find some sewers to escape through, and also Louise in Void mode!

Kneecaps yo! Where is Junichi? I am sure he would enjoy this.

Lagrange~ Lagrange~! Something big happened last episode, so will we get explanations this week? I don’t know, but I’m excited that things are actually happening!

Lagrange, why you went serious mode last week?! I was so used to the happy go lucky ways with Madoka charging in swinging her fists? Still Muginami coming off as a bad guy was interesting and seeing an emotional side to Madoka? Also a shocker! Anyway what does this episode have in store for us this week? Time to find out. Plot follows Muginami flashbacks and friendship building through bath time!

Don’t you want to visit this planet? You can make snowmen on the beach…

Starting off this week, we take a time machine trip to Muginami’s past when she first met up with Villagiulio washed up on a beach. Muginami’s past is not as cute as Lan’s because she was basically dirt poor living on the streets and pretty much starving. Not to mention her home planet was stuck in winter mode forever, but when she met Villagiulio they become very close and quite attached to each other.

Villagiulio-”Oh yes, feed please me, loli girl…”                   Muginami-”At least I wasn’t a zombie…”

Muginami-”We meet again, my greatest rival, apple-chan…prepare to be turned into a cute bunny.”

Back to the present, Muginami wanders around the area after leaving the hospital. She’s stuck in I AM SO DEPRESSED RIGHT NOW MODE so much that she just can’t help but feel sorry for herself. Meanwhile, Madoka and Lan do some awesome school stuff, like catching eels in the school swimming pool?! Yes, the cooking club used their pool for the eels to swim around in. Oh cooking club, you just helped make a great fan-service scene that everyone wanted! Or did they? At least it wasn’t a giant space squid. Wait they probably have something like that saved somewhere.

Madoka-”EEhhh!? I have to do WHAT with this… Damn you, nasty teacher!”            Lan-”Your mind is scary, Madoka.”

Eel-”Excuse me! I must check for something, de geso!”               Student-”I squidding feel so violated!”

After clearing the pool of nasty eels, Madoka runs back to the jersey club room to change her clothes. There, she runs into Muginami sitting in the room and before she can say sorry, she sneezes and we enter into the required bath scene where the girls share a skin-ship hug; sadly without Lan. D’awww, naked hug, while taking a bath together…. Shortly after that yuri filled bath scene, Muginami packs her stuff and tries to leave during the night; however, Lan spots and convinces her to stay because Madoka and Lan think of her as family. After calming Muginami down, the three girls strip and decide to take a swim in the ocean naked together aka “bath time” for all of them. Looks like Madoka is going to need a bigger bathroom soon…

Friendship is so powerful and dramatic.

Muginami-”I just got something in my eye.”     Lan-”Well, maybe I can cheer you up…”      Madoka-”Oh? How Lan?!”

Lan-”Use me, Muginami!”                   Muginami-”Where have I heard that line before…”

Lan-”What are you pointing at?”                       Madoka-”The cameras that will photograph our bath.”

Muginami tries to become a whale this week.

The episode ends with Muginami, Lan and Madoka wearing new waitress uniforms. The three girls quickly run off to school with toast in their mouths. Yes, triple running late to school with toast in mouth… at last my life is complete.

All the toast in the universe.jpeg

Extra Madoka Action!

Madoka-”This is the bread that will pierce the heavens! or my stomach!”

Apples in SPACE!!!

Lots of eel service this week…

Muginami and Lan are bonding! Isn’t that cute?

End thoughts

Aaaaaa! Was Muginami ever cute as a child! I mean, she’s adorable now too, but maybe what OC said about things being cuter when they’re suffering has more truth to it than I thought… ANYWAYS, yeah! Backstory! If I didn’t love Villa before, I definitely love him now. That backstory is just so adorable. Now if only we knew why he’s suddenly acting like an asshat to Mugi now since he obviously cared about her before. AND WHERE WERE MY SPACE BISHIES? I miss them… Plus we still have next to no idea what happened to the blonde one.

Madoka got back on her feet fairly quickly, but I guess that’s what makes her moe. I’m rather glad that Muginami and Lan are on better terms now. I had no doubts that Madoka and Muginami would make up, but I don’t think I could have watched Lan watch the two of the painfully from the sidelines for much more. On a side note, I noticed last episode that those 3 chairs represent the 3 girls. While it’s not as cute or noticeable as penguins, I appreciate the symbolism. What I REALLY wish was that they had gone into wtf happened last episode with the flowers and the flashing lights, but it doesn’t look like the writers want to reveal too much about that yet. They’re too busy having the characters take spontaneous baths.

…Yeah, it’s official. The writers of this show are perverts. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anime characters that okay with swimming in the ocean naked before. Not to say that I’m not happy that the girls are finally getting along, but couldn’t they have taken a normal bath with normal fanservice? Why the ocean? In public. For the world to see. Hell, a couple of episodes ago, the ocean base or wherever they work for obviously has cameras everywhere. WHY DOES NOBODY THINK THESE THINGS THROUGH? I don’t know if this fanservice is original or just strange. As for the whole eel thing, I don’t think I’ve seen that since Koihime Mousou and that’s not exactly a show I want to remember watching. In any case, the chairs are upright and I have no idea where the storyline will go from here! Yay?

Interesting episode this week, following that depressing backstory for Muginami. Damn that was really sad to see, but just like Kara said she was really cute back then. From her first meeting with Villagiulio, I can see why she is so attached to him and why they share a sibling relationship. It is also interesting to learn he was a prince?! That time Madoka had the best EHHHHH reaction ever. I almost did the same thing… And sorry, Kara, space bishies are away fixing their fantastic hair along with Array who is still mysteriously missing? WHERE ARE YOU BLONDIE?! Maybe he went back to his planet because he is too good for this anime right now?

I know I forgot to mention Moid’s little talk with the commander, but first just what the hell was he eating? I saw fruit, ice cream and coffee. I wonder if his race craves lots and lots of sweet things to eat, I mean Villagiulio did love that energy drink. Then again Lan got really sick from it. Anyway I guess they can’t really keep Muginami captive forever because of some space treaty. Ah well, I want Muginami to join the other two girls and have giant robot fights. Sadly I think it might be a while before the girls fight those alien bishies again.

Now for the fan service bits, like the eels in the swimming pool? The last time I saw something like that was in the second season of Mai Hime…well that was more like invisible slime creatures… Next up, the bath scene between Madoka and Muginami sharing a hug together…that was kind of random, but wait there is more! Stripping and running into the ocean together? I guess they were lucky, it was dark outside. Anyway those fanservice moments weren’t that bad, at least they were not murdered by sunbeam-chan or in this case moon beam-chan. Plot wise I can see where things are going as in war between Le Garite and De Metrio. I can’t wait to see the progress because I know they are going to stop around episode twelve and take a break before continuing the series. I bet we have some space travel in the future for Rinne no Lagrange. Fun side note, Mouretsu Pirates just ended episode seven with a princess arriving and now there is one arriving in Lagrange as well? Hooray, for random princess characters.

Preview

Muginami-”Wow! Do I get my own figure too?”                   Lan-”Do want.”

A trip to Sea World and who is this mystery princess character? Find out next week!

Young Nanase vs. Youkai, now playable in Natsume Yuujinchou Fighter!

	Have you downloaded the OP single that came out this weekend? After several episodes, songs to tend to grow on me as I watch each week. I mention this on G+ previously, but I’d rank the OPs as Season 2 > 3 > 1 > 4. Anaaga’s out. I miss her already. However, I have Kyokai with me this week. She’s a part of why I started watching Yuujinchou. ^_^
	Heyo, Jrow~ I’m so glad you took up Natsume after my nudges. I think it worked on Ness too as she’s almost over the second season herself. Now if only you guys start on Kara no Kyoukai soon enough but I can’t be too greedy. :3 Let’s get this tag started then.

Back to an earlier time when Nanase was a young, up-and-coming exorcist, she’s seen being chased in a forest by a hungry youkai. She leads it to a seal she’s prepared and starts a chant as the youkai approaches and eventually gets trapped. A nearby youkai is flying with some fish, notices what’s going on, and gets grabbed by the seal. Nanase loses concentration upon seeing this which frees the bigger youkai, who gives her a Falcon Punch. He’s about to eat her, but voices can be heard so he (and the other youkai) flee.

PEEKAABOOOO

Present Time – Nyanko wants some food. Natsume notices a black feather on his shoulder and gets grabbed by the flying youkai w/ Nyanko holding on by Natsume’s leg. He’s looking for Reiko, but the weaker Takashi will do. He wants him to use the Book of Friends to help a youkai that had been sealed away in a stone; problem is… he lost the stone.

And now we’re several pounds lighter.

Nyanko trips on a rope and unties it from the nearby post. He notices it leads into a well, gets curious, and falls in. He’s surprised that he can breathe, quickly realizing it’s a barrier. Nanase’s been chilling there for a while, and now she apparently can’t leave thanks to Nyanko. They talk about the many seals on the ground and that she is looking for a specific one. So while they look, back to flashback story…

Furball in the Water. Coming soon to theatres near you!

Nanase finds the flying youkai again and asks him where Natsume Reiko is, carrying him around like a pet while they search. While they’re searching in a forest, the big youkai from earlier comes back and knocks them down, but this time she is saved by an exorcist named Mikage, who’s been mistaken as Reiko.

The reason why Nanase wanted to meet with her is due to learning which youkai are good, can be servants, bad, etc., though she thinks it’s best that they all be sealed. Seems like Mikage’s a strong believer in karma. He grabs his chest in pain, noting that each time he uses his power to seal a youkai, his “method tears away”. After promising to seal him away should something happen, she runs off.

Nanase stops by the well asking where Mikage is. Yeah… you should’ve sealed this youkai earlier, bro. It grabs her hoping for a bite, but Mikage once again saves her, this time sealing the youkai into a stone. After another moment of being in pain, his eyes turn yellow and purple markings surround his eye. Two guys come rolling up, and through them she learns that Mikage is actually a youkai servant of an exorcist who has already passed away. Per his request, Nanase seals him in a stone.

Present Time – Nanase has fixed the barrier and is entrusting Nyanko-sensei with the rope to help them get out. She teases for a second time about going up against him, but walks away knowing that for one, she wouldn’t be able to, and two, that Natsume wouldn’t be pleased.

Searching in the forest, Natsume finds the stone and gives Mikage’s name back to him. Mikage gives his thanks and is freed from this world. Now onto that food Nyanko-sensei was asking him for…

Child Exorcist:

Nanase, why does your pet have a goatee?

Lovely scenery. Looks very peaceful.

Then vs. Now 

Judging from comments last week, it seems that this episode is an anime-original. It keeps with that Natsume feel, which isn’t too hard a task since Omori and his team seemingly have excelled in the craft of creating a great atmosphere for the anime, but if you made me rank Shi episodes, I’d put this one in the bottom half. Not to say it’s bad, just that I’ve felt Shi has been excellent and this episode was a bit of a step back.

Nanase’s past is kind of like watching Natsume’s dialogue at the end of episode 7 play out, where he referred to the pasts that Natori and Reiko dealt with to get to where they ended up. Nanase seemed like she wanted to understand the youkai better, but her family roots had guided her down a narrower path, to the point of just exorcising all youkai. I wonder if this is something every exorcist has ever had to deal with, or if there’s been any exorcists that have immediately wanted to rid of them without thinking twice.

I had never really thought about episode placement in the Natsume Yuujinchou series before. These seasons are kind of like records where you have the songs you love, others you like and maybe one or two songs that have you pushing next on your iPod, and track order is like music Feng Shui; good track placement can enhance the album and tell a good story. With Shi wanting to address this point about the choice between the different feelings toward youkai, this episode is placed in a fine spot after the events of episode 7 with Natsume’s dialogue. I think they’ve ironed out a lot of details for the time being, though there’s a couple more perspectives to look at it from. For the time being, I’d kind of like a switch in theme for the next couple episodes.

I assume Shi is going to be 13 episodes like previous seasons, but I don’t see MAL with a total episode listing, and ANN has only 12 as of this posting. I’ll just continue thinking that Shi will be 13 episodes.

This episode shows how perfect this series can be. The charm of a single beautiful episode that will touch your heart and in turn show a completely different picture of how you perceived a certain character. Personally, I never liked Nanase because she has always been in the thick of Exorcist circle and seeing Matoba, I’ve really sworn off them. Sure, Natori is an exception but however bishie he is, I will remain wary of him just like Natsume. Not to mention, Reiko never became an exorcist in her day and however snobbish she was, you have to trust her judgement about people and youkai in general. You can argue that she was harsher than Natsume and usually beat up anything that was unusual but in contrast Natsume is the ideal youkai seer, because even after going through many dangers, he has never felt bitter about his experiences or blamed it on other people/youkai. He’s the best coper you can say due to his kindness and acquired knowledge.

The let’s-sit-down-and-talk-about-an-old-time-story is nothing new and it even felt a bit forced in terms of Nanase deliberately starting off but by the end, you know she had to do it just to remember how Mikage had helped her. This story gave more insight towards how an exorcist’s life starts (I’m reminded of InuxBoku’s throwbacks’ story here), because they are never given a choice of doing something else. In comparison to Natsume, who didn’t know what the hell youkai were, Nanase knew the types and her family’s eliteness in grouping the useful, useless and serviceable youkai (damn you, jiji!). If you are born in a family which discriminated and treated youkai like tools, no wonder she grew up to despise them to the degree of sealing all of them, whatever type they were. Of course, that was a scared kid’s judgement but she did walk the path that was laid out by her family rather than making her own mind like Natsume.

I really liked how Mikage’s character was brought up. He’s the ideal loyal youkai, who did his master’s bidding even after he passed away. A good youkai, who takes his word seriously so even if there are bad/evil youkai out there, there’s youkai like him, Hinoe, Misuzu and many more to balance out good from bad. The reasoning of Karma brings to light the fact of “you reap what you sow”, clearly enacted by the birdy-youkai, finally freeing Mikage with the help of Natsume’s Book of Friends. I’ve caught up to the manga recently and I heard the recent chapters (60 onwards), finally reveal some facts about Reiko. I can only wish, they are scanlated soon enough because for this series, she has been an ever looming enigma and this episode has reminded of the fact yet again. And Jrow, there will definitely a change of theme for the next two episode with Houzuki-sama arc and I can only hope this season ends with Natsume’s parents arc because that story is seriously full of manly tears.

Episode 9 Preview:

Kyo: The arc I’ve been looking forward to since season two. Natsume will get involved in a godly youkai business aka Houzuki-sama.

I’m too sexy for my eyepatch~

Aren’t you guys seeing a lot more of me since last week? With some free time before restarting work, I have been doing some overhauling at the backend. Metanorn is what it is for all the planning that we do after all. Anyways, on anaaga’s absence I’ll cover this bishie fest for our readers.

From the previous episodes, you can already guess that things would move faster once Yukimura has assembled his Brave army of 10 warriors. We meet another such hopeful during his visit to a town named after me (Kyou), to attend the tea party arranged by Ieyasu Tokugawa. He has called out many feudal lords and leaders such as Ishida, Mitsunari, Kanetsugu and Date Masamune. Yukimura decides to attend and not to show all his cards, only takes Rokuro, Saizo and Isanami with him. Kamanosuke and Seikai aren’t happy to be left behind and away from their bottles of affection (Saizo and Isanami respectively), but we’ll meet them soon enough.

Dudes, didn’t your mom teach you to not talk to strangers?!

My Job Strategy: Killer smile = Instant Hiring!

During their journey, they are trapped by a kid, who lures them towards a less trodden path to test their bravery. Of course, they pass but not without the help of above mentioned stalkers: Seikai and Kamanosuke. The chibi turns out to be a master of traps and bombs and Yukimura decides to hire him even if he’s more than cheeky. Imagine him trapping many travelers and injuring them in process to look for a perfect master? This kid will sure be a handful. Rokuro’s a bit perturbed by him as well, sharing his name (Mochizuki Rokuro), so Yukimura dubs him Benmaru to clear out any future confusion.

Too sexy for my cloak~

We are not with this idiot. NOOOO!

On the other hand, the one-eyed dragon of Oshuu (Date), decks himself in a rather avant-garde ensemble to attend the party. Not to mention, take revenge on rescuing Isanami from under his watch. The dude has to understand, he can’t just kidnap anyone but who will make this bishie understand anyway? He has lied to Ieyasu about Isanami’s Kushi-mitama being fake as well so his goal is still to acquire it. Though, whatever uproar he or even Yukimura wanted to cause was nullified with the “Ninjou Gohatto” declaration by Ieyasu to not unsheathe weapons during the party and same applies to all the warriors serving under the lords attending.

Highlight of the evening: Special Dance Performance by Yukimura & Date

Yukimura and Rokuro meet Mitsunari and Kanetsugu, while entering the mansion of Ieyasu and they share their concern over his politics running rampant, which is bordering on being complicated. It seems as if the unrest is caused for a war to break out but for now, Yukimura and his cohorts will not be giving in easily. Date ruffles a lot of feathers (pun intended), unsheathing his longass sword to challenge Yukimura in the tea party. Playing along, Yukimura fights back almost dance-like with his fan (how cool was that?). The fight ends up with Date’s sword almost piercing Ieyasu’s very vital part. Yeah, Yukimura did not just fall over out of boredom and there goes the chance for Date to pierce the heaven!

Mitsunari: “Bitch Please! Did you see Ieyasu’s face, Kanetsugu?! LOLZ.”

Of course, this very much offended the great leader, Ieyasu Tokugawa, so he calls Yukimura to Shimijou, while Mitsunari and Kanetsugu predict this summoning would lead towards hara-kiri under house arrest. But, it’s not Yukimura’s usual style to just take things as they come so he makes a run for Ueda with his companions, destroying some bridges in the process for preventing Ieyasu’s men to follow them.

To the battleship!

 My Heroes Can’t Be This Cute Bishie~

Benmaru: “Nee-san, bullheads keep bullying me. Please hide me in your bosom!” 

Nice desu ne~

Uh…

*coughs*

Bromance.jpg

Things are definitely going down but compared to some of the previous episodes, not a lot of action happened; though, Yukimura/Date faceoff made up for it. If you have been counting, we already have nine warriors by this episode so the peak of series is pretty close. So, what will happen after the Brave 10 is formed? Will Yukimura start a war or a sleuth mission against Ieyasu and/or Date to find the three remaining Kushi-mitama to change history? I guess, we’ll have to keep watching to find out.

Isanami is still useless and except for that weird power show in episode five and initial berserk mode, she hasn’t shown any signs of coping with her powers. She needs to stop eating junk food, frolicking about and hiding behind Saizo for good. I know her charm’s in being all cute and moe but I hate useless, pretty, characters like her and she’s the only missing link in Brave 10 currently. As I look forward to strong female characters, actually I’m always in the lookout for such characters; I can only hope that she becomes more useful than just an adorable doll in the upcoming episodes.

Now let me HNNGGG over the voice acting. I swear, I wouldn’t get into such rehashing of history if it weren’t for the awesome seiyuu cast. The prominent names that joined this episode are Midorikawa Hikaru as Mitsunari (Lancer in Fate/Zero, Xing-ke in Code Geass R2, Kaiba in Yu-Gi-Oh!), and Miki Shinichiro as Kanetsugu (Kaiki in Nisemonogatari, Mustang in FMA: Brotherhood, Urahara in Bleach). I already fangirl over Hiroshi Kamiya, Morikawa Toshiyuki, Takahiro Sakurai, Takehito Koyasu and Ono Daisuke so this series continues to be a seiyuu haven for me. And them being bishie also helps.

I’m not aware of the manga pacing but marathoning the last few episodes; I’m pretty satisfied with the flow of story. You can’t expect much from a one-cour series but the staff is not holding any punches and even the filler episode was interesting. This is Studio Sakimakura’s second project after Cardfighth! Vanguard with TMS Entertainment and even if the Staff isn’t all-star, this Action Seinen has kept up its pacing and progress. You can’t call this the most quality anime of the season but if you like historical action along with some eargasmic VA cast, this should be in your definite-check-out list.

Preview:

We’ll be meeting up with Jinpachi, the last to join Sanada’s Brave 10. Kakei will rejoin the team and it looks like some pirating would come into play too. So, look forward to the MANRY hippie next. Ja ne~

Marika just got through watching Ika Musume today.

More adventures with Captain Marika headed your way. Lately with Mouretsu Pirates, it seems like they are following a basic “training to become a pirate captain arc” and I am fine with that. I also worked on some pirates fan art and I plan on drawing more. Anyway time to get started with this episode review.Plot this week continues with Marika learning the ropes of pirating from Misa, Kane and the other Bentenmaru crew members; however, a mysterious girl sneaks aboard their ship while on an important mission.

Marika-”Pew pew pew! I just destroyed those lame ass aliens yo!”

Starting off our pirate adventure this week, we start with Marika sliding down some tubes to start a dangerous mission, but something seems off about this quest. Everything goes quite smooth for her until she gets attacked by a massive group of ships. She begins to panic and tells herself to calm down…and magically wakes up in the classroom with Mami shaking her. Oh man don’t you hate when you are having a dream about being a pirate and someone wakes you up? I know I do.

Marika-”Damn I was having a blast in that dream, maybe I should smoke some more space weed.”

Mami-”Dude, stop stealing my stash of space grass.”                  Marika-”Sorry bro, can I borrow some?”

After that amazing dream, Marika talks with Kane and Misa about her failing grades. While they chat, Kane almost tells her she should just drop out, but Marika protests and tells them she has no desire to drop out. You go super cute space girl! She also continues to work at the maid café… Yes, she wants to keep working and stealing from the rich on the side. That leaves me wondering how much money does she actually have right now? Or does she even get to keep any of that money they steal?

Kane-”It’s time you admit you have a problem, Marika.”             Marika-”I know right? I totally have a problem with math.”

While Marika works, she gets a message from Misa to prepare for a new mission, but she is technically taking a break from her pirating. However, this is a high paying job and Marika decides to go ahead with the raid. Back at the café, Mami gets a visit from Chiaki. Ku ku ku…does someone miss their crazy pirate partner? It is clear she misses something about Marika or she’s just spying on her? While Chaiki visits, she goes on a short “date” with Mami and learns some new details about Ririka and Marika’s special relationship.

Chiaki-chan is ultra moe today.jpeg                                  Mami-”Ice cream for dinner tonight! Wooooo!!”

Marika-”What am I even looking at? I am so confused.”               Misa-”Shhh, I am trying to sleep.”

Enjoy the date, you two, but we have to go back into space with the Bentenmaru and Marika “leading” the crew through battle. They take on three small ships aka “giant purple floating swords” and one large ship full of more rich-people-excited-to-be-raided, but Marika has a hard time keeping up with everything going on all at once. The three attacking ships ignore the warnings from the Bentenmaru two times and magically after they fire on three ships, they stop fighting and surrender. I guess they got scared and decided “Fine! You can totally raid us now because we are bored.”

Marika-”EHHHH! Don’t start the super fun time explosion without me!”

Marika-”Maybe if I dream about winning, I can actually win.”

Marika is tripping hardcore this week.

Kane-”Yarr, I loves a good laser show during battle!”

Back to Chaiki as she talks to her father for a moment and quickly stops talking to him as his daughter and jumps to Captain sir! It seems like Chaki was given orders to stay where she is. I wonder what that was about… hopefully, we learn more about that soon. Anyway, after successfully raiding another ship, Marika takes a short break and prepares to study, but gets called to the bridge learning someone decided to sneak aboard the Bentenmaru… Who could this mystery person be? None other than a princess character of course! The episode ends shortly after Marika hears a girl’s voice.

Marika is tired from her wacky space adventures

Marika-”Are you squidding with me? I was about to watch more anime.”

Misa-”I think it wants a hug.”                      Marika-”Forget that! I don’t hug radioactive children.”

Extra pirate fun

It is a hard life for an ex-pirate.

Marika-”I totally cleared that box! AH CRAP! Is that a pit of snakes?!”

The face of a hardcore LoL player. Watch out! She is deadly.

Mami-”We are going to be best friends forever!”         Chiaki-”Unless we are surrounded by zombies…you will die.”

Marika is the best Jedi…

Marika-”Being excited and hyper all the time is tough work, time for a cold one.”

So this was a strange episode this week, especially with that dream start. It was amazing and and I totally thought it was all real, but something seemed really off about it like Marika being all pro on a solo mission? I was waiting for it to turn into a whole time jump thing; like she was doing the pirate stuff for months… Thankfully this was a small peek into how she will eventually changes into a professional pirate captain. I loved that Mami had more lines this week! Yeah most probably hate that girl’s voice…every time I hear her I can’t help but think about Maka from Soul Eater. It was odd to see her hanging out with Chiaki-chan. I would think those two wouldn’t have much to talk about.

It seems like captain Marika is having a tough time balancing her school, pirate, work and social life with her friend Mami…I do like that Mami is sticking beside her best friend. In any other show the best friend would cry and bitch that her other friend is out doing stuff without them. Thank god Mami doesn’t appear to be the super attached type, or will she?! But she did look alright hanging out with Chiaki for the afternoon. Speaking of Chiaki, she had a parfait and ice cream with Mami? I guess that girl has a weakness for ice cream? And another girl that loves to eat forever is the super hacker Coorie aboard the Bentenmaru? Whoa that girl can eat anything! Luffy, is this your daughter?

Enough Mami and Chiaki going out on the town, the whole Marika running around in her pirate uniform! So was she taking a short cut to the bridge? And what is in all those giant boxes? I assume it is the loot from all the raids… I did laugh watching Marika, when she just started to relax and suddenly got the call to return to the bridge again. The “battle” scene was cool and it was also kind of dull at the same time, but I hope Marika learns how to be more aggressive in those situations like Misa told her. However, she is still learning new stuff every day.

Preview

I swear if she has elf ears I will laugh…

Princess girls make great transfer students….

Back with a vengeance!

GUILTY PLEASURE TIME. I actually really enjoy Symphogear as much as I complain about it, it’s fun … in a kind of messed up way.

With Hibiki and Chris still engaged in their intense battle Miku watches on in bewilderment. While her wounds are being regenerated Chris reveals her name to Hibiki, who takes the information in delight, making her enemy even more angry. Chris gets the upper hand on Hibiki and then activates the power of Ichii-Bal, the lost second relic. The relic drastically changes her appearance and grants her some new awesome abilities, including a crosbow, dual machine guns, and rockets which would have defeated Hibiki if it weren’t for a surprise interruption.

From the sky Tsubasa’s huge sword stands strong, protecting Hibiki on the other side. Tsubasa asks for Hibiki’s help and they fight alongside each other against Chris. Tsubasa quickly manages to get an advantage on Chris by using her close ranged skills and speed. However, as the fight continues Noise appear and destroy Chris’s guns. The Noise then target Chris, but Hibiki shields her.

In the distance Finne looks on. She says she has nothing to do with Chris any longer. She summons more Noise to attack Tsubasa who easily defeats them, and then disappears followed closely by Chris. Back at HQ it’s revealed that Chris has been selected two years prior as possible attuned. On her way down the elevator Tsubasa starts to see herself as more than just a tool, and wonders what it is she wants for herself in life.

Hibiki gets healed by Ryoko, who tells her she needs lots of rest and that Miku had to agree to secrecy about what happened. The two, along with Tsubasa, head over to HQ where Genjurou pesters Tsubasa about her reckless fighting. She says she needed to help her comrade. Ryoko reveals that she probably heals so quickly because her relic is located so near to her heart.

Hibiki confronts Miku at their dorm room, but she’s visibly upset. She’s mad because they agreed not to keep secrets. Elsewhere we learn that Chris’s goal is to destroy any human capable and willing to fight to put an end to war. She notices a girl crying and the girl’s brother sitting on a park bench lost, so she helps them find their father. On their way Chris hums a tune which the girl compliments. Chris reveals that she hates singing.

EVIL SMIRK!!

At her lab we learn three things about relics from Ryoko. One, they increase human power. Two, they apply a barrier to human skin. And three, they give humans the power to defeat Noise. However, the downfall to this is that their powers have dangerous effects on the users of relics. Hibiki though is the only known person who can overcome those limits. We also learn that the concert in episode 1 was only a tool to activate Nehustan, even though Hibiki was able to activate Durandal without all of that.

I didn’t think seeing Hibiki cry would be this sad. ):

Okay, this smirk trumps Ryoko’s.

Hibiki and Miku have another little fight during their lunch and Miku runs off followed by Hibiki. Hibiki tries to apologize, but Miku tells her they can’t be friends anymore. After the credits roll, Chris confronts Finne at her mansion who is talking to Americans again. (OH THE HORROR.) Finne once again dismisses her as useless and sends Noise to attack her. Finne activates her relic, Kadingil and chases Chris out of the house. The episode ends before we learn of her fate.

This show can be so incredibly ridiculous sometimes that I’m pretty much done trying to take it seriously, because I feel like that’s what the show wants me to do but it’s just not happening. SZS is still entertaining, that was never a problem, but I can’t get myself into the story when there are so many things that make me burst out into laughter.

As always the action bits were well done and I love that Tsubasa is back because I very much prefer her sword fighting style to Hibiki’s punches/kicks. I was scratching my head towards the end of the first half though because there’s something I don’t understand. Originally in her first fight against Chris, Tsubasa was completely overwhelmed, I mean she even had to resort to her swan song (which I thought was supposed to kill her but that’s another story). Anyway, now she somehow has the upper hand against Chris, who not only has a supposedly more powerful form, but is also fighting against a weakened Tsubasa. The only explanation I could think of is that Tsubasa’s new way of thinking had given her a more confident fighting style, since Chris did comment that her style changed. Still … it seems like quite a big jump from only a couple weeks ago!

I loved the dorama (!!!) between Miku and Hibiki though this week, I was getting tired of Miku playing along with everything and not speaking up. I personally feel like Miku is the right one in the argument and that Hibiki should have told her the truth. What scares me the most though is that Ryoko now knows about Hibiki’s close relationship with Miku. If Ryoko really does have some connection to Finne (which seems even more likely) then she’ll probably use that against Hibiki in the future. I’m still sticking with my prediction that Hibiki dies from saving Miku, but we shall see~

(Oh and we better get an explanation for Genjourou’s and Ryoko’s powers sometime soon! I’m really curious …)

Now you have even more reasons not to trust adults…

~I swear this isn’t late due to procrastination. It’s late because of a lack of a proper internet connection *sob* But with no internet, meant no procrastination, which means I actually got this finished in a matter of three hours on Saturday. THAT’S A RECORD. So anyway…this episode opens up on a very bleak world where Black Gold Saw waters a section of ground that turns into budding people in hoods….

Meanwhile in the real world, it’s revealed through Yomi that Kagari is doing fine after her manic episode last week. She ended falling over and falling asleep at the end of the episode. The two happily walk on there way to school, until Yuu needs Mato to come with her to a meeting. At Basketball practice, Mato’s skills get her to be a semi-regular in the summer tournament  and have a place at the training camp, as decreed by coach Koha. When Yuu and Mato are talking about it afterward, they discover Koha giving a confession letter to a boy! Yomi calls later in the evening as Mato is packing for the camp, but gets a little disheartened as she talks about Yuu the whole time.

In the Other world, Black Gold Saw catches the eyes of one shaking, hooded girl and gives her hand to her. Before she can make any such motion to take it, the ground begins to shake and rubble falls on some of the hooded figures. At the same time, Mato wakes up, this being her second dream of the Other world. She tells about these dreams to Yuu, who also had woken up. Yuu speculates that maybe these girls are helping endure her pain, just as the counselor, Saya, had said about someone taking away the pain. Mato thinks it wouldn’t make sense, and mentions about seeing one girl that seemed older than the rest of them…

As Mato and Yuu buy souvenirs at a store the next day, they spot Koha’s friends making a fuss over Koha buying a wooden sword for the guy she confessed to before she left. Meanwhile at school, Yomi comes in contact with Saya, but rushes off. Saya goes into the room and pulls out a yearbook that has red circles around Mato and Yomi’s names.

Even Yuu is stanning MatoxYomi~

At every mention of Yuu from Mato, Yomi seems to get more disheartened, even making a comment about her and Mato not being best friends. She continues to try her best though, happily talking with Mato at school. Once they turn into a hall, they spot a group of students around a bulletin board. Koha makes her entrance and spots her confession letter posted on the bulletin board! Everyone begins to laugh, including Koha, who takes the letter down and acts like it was her fault. Koha still seems cool about the incident as she drinks coffee at the counselor’s office, but Saya’s words and sudden tears slowly start to break down her strong exterior. She keeps mentioning the fact that they were laughing, and continue to laugh, at her, and that she’s now the joke of the school. The more Saya speaks, the more the room starts to grow darker until everything fades out…

Back in the Other world, Black Rock Shooter makes her appearance and shoots her canon at the group of hooded figures. She stands in the mass of the lifeless figures, discovering that one, the shaking girl in the beginning, is still alive.

Koha ends up tripping over a girl’s leg at basketball practice, twisting her ankle. Mato helps her to the Infirmary, where she reveals that she doesn’t like thinking that it’s someone else’s fault when something bad happens. She likes to think that it’s her fault so she can do something about it. Mato offers to bring a teacher to giver better first aid, but Koha commands her to go back to practice. As soon as she leaves, the room suddenly turns dark. Meanwhile Yomi sits at the counselor’s office and drinks her coffee, which was left bitter on purpose by Saya.

Black Rock Shooter continues to walk closer to the shaking figure, her hand reached out, but as it keeps retreating, her left eye turns ablaze. In a quick flash to the real world where Koha starts screaming, the figure falls to the ground, its head rolling away. Saya suddenly starts to shed tears and Mato discovers Koha collapsed on the floor.~

Look at Yomi and Mato getting all blushy-blushy when they called each other by their first names! I may poke fun at this show (a lot), but I really do like Mato and Yomi as pairing~. Speaking of pairings, THE JEALOUSY ENSUES IN THIS SOAP OPERA! The love triangle may be over, but that doesn’t mean these two can have a happy ending together yet. Poor Yomi is starting to doubt that they’ll become best friends because of Yuu, who’s been with Mato since Kindergarten. Either we’ll go back to the OVA where Yomi gets more of Mato’s attention and Yuu becomes jealous, or Yomi just continues to get jealous and have negative thoughts, which might bring back Dead Master. It’d be pretty sweet if she goes back to being as bad-ass as she was in the OVA. Then again we have yet to see Yuu’s Other world counterpart so I’ll just have to see how the story progresses. Also, I couldn’t believe how ridiculously anti-climatic the ending to Kagari’s storyline was; they ended up finally toning down the dramatics at the worst possible moment. It felt like such a cheap cop-out to start a new story…I mean, I’m glad we’re done with the arc, but I feel a bit cheated after getting so overwhelmed with that cliffhanger.

My speculations of the counselor being Black Gold Saw are nearly proven! I knew they didn’t just add her to be the caring adult who helps them with their problems. Some speculated it was going to be Koha because of her color, but she was just too cheerful and not as focused on (until this episode) as the other characters were. Saya, the counselor, knows all of their problems since she created a welcoming and trustworthy aura around herself so they’ll come willing to her. She can easily plant seeds of mistrust, doubt, and other negative aspects because of their trust in her advice. These negative thoughts grow in their minds, and can grow fast if they get watered by Saya’s words from constant visits to her. I want to say that in the parallel world, Black Gold Saw does the same, but creating, what I like to call, minions of pain, which represent these dark feelings that potentially lurk inside girls’ hearts. If they take her hand, they could possibly turn into something stronger, both in the real world and the parallel world, just as it had down to Kagari and Yomi and their counterparts. I assume Black Rock Shooter tries to stop and prevent these pains, these dark feelings, for all of them; just as cheerful and kind Mato would do for her friends in the real world. This could explain why she had to kill the potential counterpart for Koha, who just wouldn’t take her hand. It seems Saya now though is trying to get to Yomi, who has a delicate heart already.  I’m curious though as to why Saya cried when BRS killed the growing minions and then the potential Koha one, and of course as to how this will affect Koha in the real world, seeing that she collapsed.

But why, WHY?! That is the ultimate question! Does Saya have connections to this Other world, or is she just some crazy adult who likes to pit middle school girls against each other? If she does have these connections, then how did she know about Mato and Yomi? Does she just want to pull them away because of some inter-working of fate that concerns them being together? Or does she just want to destroy Mato so she can destroy BRS, who’s quite powerful in the Other world? She could even be trying to build some kind of army against BRS so she needs to manipulate certain girls who know Mato to create these counterparts in the Other world. SO MANY QUESTIONS, SO MANY SPECULATIONS…Am I just over-thinking this now?~

Everything is better when a guy is on another guy

Yeah right, like I could ever forget manga recommendation. Ever wonder why anaaga never recommended any yaoi manga? I’ve been planning to make this post since one year ago, actually. The problem is, I’ve read too much yaoi to the point where I don’t know which one I should recommend. Not to mention the ones I bought in my Kindle, so it was really hard. But rest assured! I decided to stick with these titles to make the perfect recommendation for everybody, even yaoi n00bs! Who am I to say that, it would be a miracle for non-yaoi peeps to read this post. Anyhow, with the V-day celebrations, I thought to get this done and I hope this post is useful for those who want more than smut and sexy hoes with unbelievable penis shapes in yaoi. And if this works out well, I might recommend more yaoi too. If this works out well. IMPORTANT NOTE: THIS ARTICLE HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH SCANLATION GROUPS.  I’m sure everybody knows what YAOI is since it is a common subject touched by Metanorn team because over half of the team are yaoi fans. By the way Karakuri, did you read those yaoi I recommended long time ago? However, for the sake of a proper post, let’s start with this question: What is yaoi? It’s also known as BL (Boys’ Love), a manga genre about romance between two guys. In yaoi, one will see lots of guys sparkling doing sexy stuff with other guys. The sex scenes are ridiculously sticky, the stories are extremely cheesy, and the guys are 200% beautified rather than looking like real guys. It hurts to say this, but I have to. In short, yaoi is what girls fantasize about gay relationships. Girls do realize this, but we just refuse to wake up from our fantasies. Some might know that there are guys who read yaoi (such as chronolynx and Hotspot), but let’s face it, the majority of the yaoi readers are girls. Enough of me babbling. Let’s move on to the titles, shall we?

Title: Complex Author: Manda Ringo Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance, School Life, Slice of Life, Yaoi Status: Complete | Volume: 4 | Year: 1996 Publisher: Asahi Shimbunsha, BIBLOS Summary: This is a story about two friends, from nearly the beginning to almost the end of their lives, who happen to love each other. It also explores the life of a child from one of them. [M-U] Thoughts: Like the synopsis said, this yaoi is about two childhood friends who developed a relationship into more than just friends until… I can’t say more than that because it would be a HUGE spoiler. By the way guys, don’t judge a yaoi by its first chapter, and this goes especially for Complex. This thing is just too underrated because of it. I can understand because the first chapter is about nasty pedophilia and shota, so you don’t have to read the first chapter if you don’t want to. That’s what I’m suggesting right now: SKIP THE FIRST CHAPTER. The first chapter is relevant, but it will be re-explained in the later chapters. This is probably the time where I shed tears more than I did for Hybrid Child (my first yaoi tragedy), and Complex is not even a tragedy. This yaoi is just SO. AMAZING. I’ve read hundreds of yaoi in my entire life, and this is one of the very few titles I remember even though I first read it three to four years ago (and didn’t re-read it until today). It’s just memorable in so many ways hasn’t left my mind even now. One thing that made me remember this manga until today is the story. It has lots of unexpected twists, which makes the story more dramatic, but surprisingly, those twists are unexpectedly memorable and realistic. Everybody, even heteros and lesbians, can relate to it. The story touches lots of aspects of this world, from friendship, marriage, loyalty, insecurity to misunderstood love. The only thing I regret here is the fact that it’s rushed, and the story-telling isn’t so great. Not bad, but the pace definitely needed improvement. But god the ending made the uncomfortable pacing worth it. It’s sad that people don’t read it because of the nasty first chapter or the art. //Keep reading Show ▼  The art is nothing impressive, but as the volume progresses, the author’s improvement in her art can be seen. I’d rather have that than bunch of pretty guys that look like girls. There’s nothing more satisfying than the feeling of seeing the progress of the mangaka one admires. And in the end, the art turned out great. The characters get better in every chapter, and the expressions are drawn well enough, which actually touches the readers’ hearts even if it’s just a little bit. Please, don’t give up on this manga! It’s great! (By the end of this paragraph, I have snot dripping from my chin while tears keep flowing out of my eyes).

Title: ZE Author: Shimizu Yuki Genre: Comedy, Drama, Fantasy, Mature, Smut, Supernatural, Tragedy, Yaoi Status: Complete | Volume: 11 | Year: 2004 Publisher: Shinshokan Summary: In the weird house of Wakeari, Raizou has fallen in love. His object of desire is Kon. Even though Kon is an antisocial pretty boy, he does not laugh at Raizou. As the intense love scene of the tenants continues day after day, Raizou begins to like Kon more and more. At the same time, Kon is doing a secret “job” for clients that come to the house… The Love Destiny that you can’t escape from by Yuki Shimizu commences now! [M-U] Thoughts: I should make a yaoi post about the manga published in Dear+. Most of them are great and never fail to meet my expectations, and ZE is one of them. Familiar with Love Mode? That cheesy yaoi about mafias, and all of them are surprisingly gay? That’s one of Shimizu Yuki’s works. Just like Love Mode, ZE consists of multiple couples that are related to one another. Imagine Junjou Romantica, but with nicer art, more couples, and darker stories. Oh, and also super-hot sex scenes. There, it’s ZE. Now that I think about it, the reason why I love ZE so much is probably because of its dramatic plots and artwork. It’s just like any other yaoi. Seriously, after thinking about it again (big mistake), I don’t see the greatness of ZE at all. Why, why do I love this series so much? It’s not hard to realize though that its supernatural setting gives it more appeal over other yaoi, which is probably why I love it. The protagonists’ family hierarchy and their “jobs” are pretty… Unique. The setting makes the dramatic dark stories somehow more realistic, less dramatic, and of course, darker. The setting allows the readers to say, “It’s so dramatic, but since their circumstances is really unique, so it’s okay!” In other words, ZE lets the readers to indulge in their pleasure of drama and sappiness without making the readers feel guilty about it. //Keep reading Show ▼ Of course, that’s not the only reason what makes ZE enjoyable. Shimizu Yuki is probably a master of bishie. The guys in ZE are beautified by 1000%, something that all fangirls love. That’s understandable since her art is just flawless and beyond beautiful. Not only that, Shimizu Yuki is probably also the master of words. The narration of her stories is striking as it can always describe the characters’ emotions and conditions well. And of course, sex scenes. ZE is both ordinary and great at the same time. The stories are dramatic as hell, but somehow the readers won’t notice the drama as they read each page of ZE. Well, they will, but somehow it’s logical in ZE to be dramatic. Is it the charm of ZE? It could be. Whatever the reason is, this manga is great and worth every penny of my money.

Title: Arashi no Ato Author: Hidaka Shoko Genre: Drama, Slice of Life, Yaoi Status: Complete | Volume: 1 | Year: 2008 Publisher: Houbunsha Summary: Sakaki, the president of an interior designing company, is determined to never get serious with anyone – fearing the heartache he feels that it is sure to cause. Much to his discomfort, he realizes that he is beginning to fall in love with his older heterosexual co-worker, Okada. Sakaki is shocked when he finds himself in Okada’s home one day, with no recollection of how he got there. At first convinced that he did not act out-of-line at any point, Sakaki feels more and more unsure of this as he notices the changes in Okada’s behaviour towards him. Will this storm that’s brewing on the horizon ever calm down? [M-U] Thoughts: Koisuru Boukun is probably the most successful yaoi where the homophobic dude is converted into full time gay. I do admit that it’s entertaining, but I prefer Arashi no Ato when it comes to the gay conversion. Somehow it’s more relatable, and the straight dude in Arashi no Ato didn’t get immediate boner when he was touched by the gay dude. Most people who read this yaoi would think that they’ve been trolled. They’re right, I feel like that too. While the ending is not something to be sad about, it’s just so ambiguous, some reader can’t help it but ask gazillion questions about it. Instead of making me feel mushy and sweet just like the usual yaoi, Arashi no Ato makes me feel hollow, as if something’s missing there. The relationship between the two characters is lacking in some way, and there’s just not enough attraction between the two. //Keep reading  Show ▼ Then what makes this manga memorable? The characters are realistic. That’s probably why it’s not giving me that fluffy feeling yaoi usually does. If the characters are not on paper, I might have thought that they’re real people. They just act so real. Somehow, the decisions that the characters made are something the readers can click with. Every movements the characters made is unbelievable at times, and yet the readers can somehow put themselves in the characters’ shoes. The characters are adults, who actually do act like real adults. Some readers might have a problem with this, but I’m actually fine with it. The realistic aspect of this manga is probably the reason why I like it. As for the open ending, it’s solved with the one-shot sequel called Double Line, and it’s as good as the prequel. Maybe even better.

Title: Namida mo Tooku – Aonibi no Nemuri Author: Honjou Rie Genre: Drama, Psychological, Tragedy, Yaoi Status: Complete | Volume: 1 | Year: 2009 Publisher: Libre Shuppan Summary: After the failure attempt of eloping with his customer, Shiki (Purple Ghost), a male prostitute, gave up his hope for love… until Ootori-sensei came along. Will Shiki finally find what he had been looking for…!? So what if there’s a huge gap on their social standings, what’s so wrong about living and loving for the moment? [M-U] Thoughts: This is one of the only two yaoi tragedy Honjou Rie has ever written. If, somehow, you’ve read Love Skit and Konna Otoko wa Aisareru, then it’s not hard to know that tragedy is just not Honjou Rie’s cup of tea. Please, Honjou Rie, stick with smut, drama, or comedy. Or just smut. Smut smut smut smut. It’s hard to say that Namida mo Tooku is better than Ame Nimo Mayuwanai (her other tragedy. It’s just one-shot, so do read it and cry). AmeNimo is much more meaningful when it comes to love, and its modern day setting makes it more relatable to the readers. Except the ***** part. Namida no Tooku is just a smutty drama about a prostitute that unfortunately got stuck in this world after World War III (the setting is in 2086, in case some people miss it and people do). Internet is rare [(╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻], trains are not used, and living is hard. 2086 sure is a depressing era. The story is a typical cliché that’s somehow twisted into a funny tragedy. God, the story sucks, seriously. It’s like a bad drama turned into something worse thanks to the failed attempt of trying to make it better. The characters don’t have enough depth to make me feel anything for them, especially the sexy uke Shiki. Shiki the Hoe is just… Shiki the Hoe, nothing more. The doctor seme is just horny horny horny and horny to the point where even his sanity is horny.//Keep reading Show ▼ If the ending wasn’t that surprising, I would’ve forgotten this manga in a snap. Nobody’s dead, so relax. The ending was good. Well, not really, but it’s what makes this yaoi not forgettable. Shiki’s action at the end was surprisingly unexpected. Unlike most readers, I actually like the ending. I had a good laugh at what happened with the doctor after the time skip, and Shiki’s life is more meaningful thanks to his decision. I’m pretty sure the only thing Shiki and the doctor will do if they ended up together is sexsexsexsex. I doubt there’s any love between them. Lesson from this? There are better choices than love. Also, don’t fall for bitches because they’ll bitchily troll you in the end. And don’t be too horny.

Title: Katekyo! Author: Moegi Yuu Genre: Comedy, Romance, School Life, Yaoi Status: Ongoing | Volume: 3 | Year: 2008 Publisher: Core Magazine, June (English) Summary: Rintarou is bothered by the throbbing of his heart caused by his tutor, Kaede for unknown reasons. One day, Rintarou finds out that he’s actually in love with Kaede when he was receiving H punishment! But, without knowing Kaede’s feelings, Rintarou became anxious and–?! Little sadistic home tutor x natural high school student’s after class love. [M-U] Thoughts: This sounds familiar? Yeah, of course. It’s practically almost the same with Junjou Romantica, but the characters are waaayy prettier, and the uke is NOT an annoying tsundere. However, Katekyo! is similar to Junjou Romantica in terms of the plot only. Oh, and the super wealthy seme. Except those two, I don’t see it sharing any other similarities with Junjou. I personally find this better than Junjou and be the most applicable title I’ve recommended so far in real life. Of course, I didn’t think like that when I read the first volume. I thought it was just some random normal yaoi full of hot sex scenes. My thought grew stronger every time I flip a page. The guys are unbelievably beautiful to the point it was pissing me off at times (they’re more beautiful than girls!). The seme is a double-face who happens to be a little sadistic, and the uke is a dunce. Everything that happened in book one was just unbelievable! Especially that school sex. I still can’t get over how they didn’t get caught even though they were noisy. Where is the logic in that!? Then I read book two and three. The art is still sparkling, and the characters are still meh, but the story gets simpler. Suddenly it’s no more about a sadistic teacher and an airhead student. Now it’s all about two lovers passing their times loving each other more and more while having insecurities about each other just like how lovers usually are. In-laws are definitely involved, and both of them try to impress each other’s family. Their platonic love has been upgraded into something much more serious than some random teacher-student relationship. //Keep reading Show ▼ Best of all, NO DRAMA WOHOO!!!! Isn’t it weird how Junjou Romantica has the same exact plot, but Katekyo! doesn’t give that dramatic vibe like Junjou? Not really. The characters in Katekyo! are not as emotionally unstable like the ones in Junjou, and Moegi Yuu is definitely better than Nakamura Shungiku when it comes to representing the chapters and the narration of the story. It’s weird how the manga took a sudden turn in book two and continuing, but it’s definitely better. Thank you so much for telling me to read this manga Eli, I effin love this manga now. I just hope that it won’t be the next Junjou Romantica.

This might be not the best recommendation, but I really do hope that this recommendation can somehow help someone out there who want to read good yaoi. If  more recommendation is needed, feel free to ask me. Who knows, there might be another yaoi post in the future. Maybe it’s going to be about shounen-ai? Or bara (LOL)? As long as it’s anything involved with manga about guy on guy. Guy on guy is good, but with proper plot, it’s better right? Actually, no. It’s the opposite. Proper plot is good, but guy on guy makes it better.