AWESOME BIRTHDAY PARTY

Summary:

(play the Tsuritama OP and read along [AKA replace the lyrics with this summary])

Yuki has finally bought some fishing gear
Haru no longer likes to fish and that’s weird
Akira relays all the basic info
About Bermuda
DUCK-KUH umbrella

Yuki needs
To come up with a fishing strategy
While Haru tries to use a band-aid to heal his heart
And Ayumi takes them on his yacht

Someone’s mad
It seems Natsuki kind of hates his dad
His little sister loses the bracelet that’s for her mom
ATTACK OF DANCING SAILORS

Sakura gets upset with her tsun-tsun bro
Somehow that Natsuki goes and slaps her face
Yuki replies, “You’ll ruin the show”
And now that Sakura is strangely gone
We all will have ta hope that Natsuki’ll redeem himself next ep

Reaction:

Sad

It seems there’s a whole fleet of dancing sailors now… We’re all doomed! =D

In the meantime though, look at all this DRAMA. I was pretty shocked by Natsuki this episode, especially when considering how much he’s obviously concerned for his sister. Teenage anger issues, sure–but it seems there’s more to Natsuki’s temper than solely pent-up indignation regarding his father’s decision to form a relationship with a woman following Natsuki’s mother’s death. I imagine this is the core of Natsuki’s frustrations at home (on top of losing his mother, of course), but apparently Natsuki and his father fail to communicate on a lot of things. Their personalities are quite different, after all.

And it’s not too difficult to believe that the serious and straight-to-business Natsuki would be willing to give up his pro bass fishing dream in order to continue the small family business in Enoshima, while his more whimsical and go-with-the-flow father would be willing to change said family business at a moment’s notice. It’s telling that rather than being pleased at the opportunity his father is trying to present him, Natsuki instead sees only more reason to be upset. How is he supposed to know which direction his life should take when his foundation is built on grief at the loss of his mother and the following uncertainty of his less-than-reliable father?

Ayumi-chan and a crazy boat were able to keep the argument from escalating past disparaging words, but in the end Natsuki vented his anger against his little sister. What was it that made him snap, precisely? The mother is represented as the orange bracelet, which falls off into the ocean and is lost forever. The fact Sakura blames Natsuki for this seems to be significant. Does Natsuki feel he’s responsible in some way for his mother’s death? We don’t know any of the details–but even if there was nothing he did wrong, it’s not unusual for children to blame themselves to some degree in such situations. On top of this, Sakura insists that Natsuki can not help her make a new bracelet. In other words, Natsuki’s efforts to keep the family unit going the way he sees fit is simply not working. Natsuki does not want his and Sakura’s mother to be replaced, thinking that is what’s in Sakura’s best interests as well–but the constant conflict between Natsuki and his father ensures their home is a troubling, if not hapless, place. Sakura is naturally a cheerful girl, but Natsuki’s continual refusal to see eye-to-eye with their father not only makes her sad, but puts a strain on all familial relationships.

Of course, with the help of his friends and the power of fishing, I imagine Natsuki will redeem himself. Big Hint: Natsuki and his father both have at least one thing in common–their love of fishing. They also both care for Sakura, of course. It’s uncertain why she’s gone missing (either because she’s that upset with Natsuki, or she’s been brainwashed into dancing on some random boat somewhere), but I imagine Natsuki and his father will have to work together to find her.

Speaking of heart problems... HNNNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGG

On top of all this, there’s been some interesting developments for other characters as well. I rather liked how Haru’s struggle has been portrayed. He clearly feels terrible for putting his friends’ lives in danger at the end of episode 6, and is afraid to go back out to sea for fear of repeating the dangerous incident. Having him put a band-aid on his heart was about the most sad/adorable (sadorable?) little moment I’ve seen in anime. ;_; I’m glad Kate was there to help him out, but I wonder what Haru will do once the danger in Enoshima escalates further.

Meanwhile any hints regarding Akira’s backstory remain hidden from us, though I do find it interesting how while he’s been trying his best to treat fishing as part of his work (and likewise not treat the Tsuritama cast as his friends), he also has DUCK HQ encouraging him even more to stick to business and keep a distance from the fishing boys. The fact the higher-ups are kind of belittling Akira’s efforts and results is a bit surprising, but may work well for Akira to eventually be won over by his fishing associates.

But for Now: Serious Intercultural Issues

Despite all the drama going on at the moment, I do like how the show still maintains a rather bright, lighthearted core. I mean, there’s this great threat that’s been revealed… and it’s a bunch of people dancing on their boats. It’s funny! Perhaps this dance is intended to summon the giant dragon, or perhaps it’s just a visual sign of their minds being controlled–both of which are certainly terrible things. But I still find the whole situation rather amusing to watch, and I look forward to seeing how our fishing boys will save Enoshima by series’ end. :>

©2012 Sea Slugs! Anime Blog. All Rights Reserved.

A good pun can make you facepalm and throw up in your mouth even 45 years later

Summary:

Everyone else is on their second cup; what's your problem, Houtarou?

After a discussion about how the grass is always neon greener on the other side, Houtarou digs deeper into Jun’s story and discovers one final nuance that must be revealed.  Putting together that the Librarian Itoigawa Youko was once the Kooriyama Youko that wrote the introduction of Hyouka volume 2, Youko is brought in to infodump for the rest of the episode.  As it turns out Jun was never really the head of the student movement, but rather the fall guy when the students got a little too fired up.  The students stopped the school from cutting the festival down to 2 days, but Jun was expelled.

And so the innocent Jun had his bright high school life cut short, but not before punishing the Classics club by making their anthology based on a terrible pun of I Scream/Ice Cream/Hyouka.  While Satoshi facepalms and Eru cries over the pun, she remembers how she was told by Jun that if you aren’t strong you will be devoured before you can even scream.  The cover image shows Jun biting back as the rest of the rabbits don’t even lift a single lucky rabbit’s foot to help him.  Meanwhile, it seems that perhaps Tomoe’s journey and Jun’s disappearance might not be so unconnected after all.

Reaction:

Sakamoto sees what you did there, Mayaka

I like the way these small little mysteries are building up and becoming part of a bigger picture.  The way the Librarian had been introduced before made her appearance more organic, and of even infodumps are better with twintails and Mugi eyebrows.  I found it hilarious that they showed a montage of Youko through the years because it clearly shows that she started waxing/tweezing her eyebrows in her 20s but soon regretted it and so found the bushiest-eyebrowed man she could to mate with.  Sorry about that, don’t start crying or I might just leave you and disappear in India.

I don’t really care that much about if we ever meet Jun, but will we ever meet Tomoe?  Tomoe is definitely searching for Jun, so I would love to see Houtarou leapfrog her and find Jun first for his little curiosity monster.  Unfortunately, I get the feeling that when they find Jun, he’ll still be bitter and probably eating grilled rabbit shishkabobs every day in retaliation.  Furthermore, his sacrifice might have been in vain, considering the Sekitani Fest only lasts 3 days now.

©2012 Sea Slugs! Anime Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Need more of this

Summary:

In Japan even cute girls get picked on if they don't respect JAPAN'S FOUR UNIQUE SEASONS

The episode opens with a flashback to a young Yuu being picked on for her fear of the cold when her sister Kuro steps in to rescue her. Back in the present day and after Kuro’s through lashing the previous episode, Yuu decides that as the onee-san it is her job to avenge her younger sister.

I'd give her a 9/10, -1 for landing.

Unfortunately for Yuu, Senriyama has already done the analysis and realized that like her sister, Yuu has weird tendencies of her own – the fact that she really likes characters and dragons. With that knowledge Nijou Izumi from Senriyama directs her playing towards Yuu and scores an early victory. Realizing that her play style may be compromised Yuu presses on and manages to score a comeback. It is then that the Senriyama girls realize that it is not the characters and the dragon that she likes, but rather all things red, or in Yuu’s mind all things warm that she likes. Still Yuu’s victory is small and she only manages to close in onto 3rd, while Senriyama pulls further ahead at first.

I like how she powers up by having her scarf fly up

Round 3 begins with Sera from Senriyama being forced into a uniform, getting all embarrassed and doing a crazy jump onto the stage. Meanwhile Ako is representing Achiga this time around. Back home, Ako’s fans gather to watch her on TV as she starts off strong with two wins, but Sera counters with a huge hand worth many times more than Ako’s little hands.

More blushing joints!

At the end of round 3, Achiga manages to ascend to second place, while Senriyama’s lead becomes ever more insurmountable.

Reaction:

How I remember the other 2 schools in this round: 1) Funny hat school

First of all I have to thank Fencedude for helping me cover some lost ground. I’ve been bad about blogging this show, although I swear I’ve been watching it every week!

2) Tokiwadai

Overall a pretty good episode. It was good to see more of the girls playing mahjong and to finally get a bit of depth into everyone but Kuro’s play style. It’s a shame that we have to learn all of this at this point in the tournament (although I guess it’s still technically early in the show) but I still think that the pacing is all off in this show. Very little buildup to the actual tournament with next to no character development, and then all of the character development and most of the show happening over the few days of the nationals. Just too compressed for me.

We also haven’t seen Saki and crew for a while now, and I’m starting to miss them more and more even if this round’s players are starting to grow on me.

It was fun to learn Yuu’s secret is that she likes warm tiles, which is one of the few very good character development points that have happened so far in this show. It was also nice to see the girls win. At this point it’s obvious that they’re not going to be first place, but since it’s set up that the top two finish, it’s inevitable that they will have to face Senriyama again but this time with full knowledge that their strategies are out in the open.

©2012 Sea Slugs! Anime Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Zeheart decides to play some Gears of War 3

Summary:

It's funny because he's fat and he's eating

As the Diva makes it’s way to Rostroulam, Wootbit and Kio find some time to bond while Shanarua reminds Kio once again about the importance of family. Meanwhile the main Vagan fleet prepares to launch an all-out assault on Rostroulam using information gained from their spies.

No, not sketchy at all

We soon learn that the spy is actually Shanarua herself who has been sending fake texts to her family which are really information updates for the Vagans. At that moment the Vagans launch their attack, and in the confusion Shanarua manages to escape in her mobile suit.

For her trouble Shanarua gets a bag of chocolate coins

As the battle rages on, Kio breaks off from the group to track down Shanarua himself. Meanwhile Zeheart leads a secret team deep into the Rostroulam base.

Nooo! She can't die yet! What about the spin-off sequel 'Shakugan no Shanarua'?

Kio finally finds Shanarua who admits that she is the spy, but that she did it for money to pay for her ailing sister. Realizing that she will be executed if she returns to the Diva she tries to tell Kio to go away but before he can, they are attacked by a Vagan wanting to defeat the Gundam. Shanarua sacrifices herself to save Kio and tells him to live on with her dying breath.

The episode ends as Zeheart’s commando unit manages to plant a secret bomb inside the base.

Reaction:

Overall a pretty predictable episode if you just watched the next episode preview last episode which made it a bit disappointing. Gundam was never really that big into big plot twists and so on, and it was obvious from the start exactly what was going to happen this episode. The only non-obvious thing was Zeheart’s team infiltrating the base and planting their bomb.

I’m really sad that they killed off Shanarua so quickly. I mean it would have been awesome if there were some plot twist that made her NOT the spy. Or perhaps she could have sneaked off only to return later at a critical juncture. But she is more or less dead, being given a proper Gundam death of a bloody cracked helmet (instead of us seeing her suit blow up from afar).  Once again, Gundam kills off it’s only decent female character.

For whatever reason, I’m going to assume that they’re not just going to nuke the base (perhaps too much love of planet Earth?) which would make everything simple. It’s probably just going to blow a hole in the fortress so that more forces can stream in.

One small interesting thing about this episode was when Kio decided to not follow Flit’s orders to defend Rostroulam but find Shanarua instead, Flit didn’t really yell at him. I guess the old man’s mellowed in his age or realized that yelling at Asemu just made him more emo.

Oh and Kio finally does the Gundam male lead cry, but since it was for a beautiful older female character, I will let this one slide.

©2012 Sea Slugs! Anime Blog. All Rights Reserved.

How much do you want to bet that Kio never uses this awesome super power again?

Summary:

The Diva is flying right over where I am right now, Toronto. And I have to tell you... it's not a desert

Leaving Olivernotes, the Diva slowly makes it’s way to the Federation main base, Rostroulan located in South America by taking a complicated course to deflect any pursuers. While in the desert, they are suddenly attacked by mysterious mobile suits and the Diva is forced to hide for repairs.

I think Flit picked the wrong offspring to be the main character of the last arc

During this time, Kio realizes that his aunt is on board the ship as the ship’s doctor/nurse, with Wendy in tow. Kio also meets Wootbit Gunhale, one of the mechanics, who also happens to be Arisa’s son, and Dique’s grandson. Wootbit is hostile to Kio, jealous that he is treated special due to his status as Flit’s grandson.

"That's an adult kiss. Let's do the rest when you come back."

One of the pilots, Shanarua is ordered by Flit to tutor Kio some, and she teaches him some tricks in the simulator and gives him tips on how to stay alive in combat as the two bond.

Finally, it’s time to confront the desert enemy as they realize that there are three mobile suits and a bunch of drones which must be destroyed. While the main mobile suit force attacks the drones, the three actual enemy suits all go for the Gundam. Unable to manoeuvre in the desert, the AGE system quickly whips up a new attachment which Wootbit pilots out to meet Kio. As they dock, Wootbit realizes just how amazing a pilot Kio really is as Kio easily destroys the enemy suits and finally they become friends.

Reaction:

I really like Shanarua. Gundam is often missing good female pilots who aren’t love interests and need saving from time to time, so it’s nice to have a MILF older female pilot around. Like Misato Katsuragi, Shanarua makes good older female mentor. Unfortunately it seems from the next episode preview that her time will be short lived.

As for Wootbit, a few questions to be asked. Why does she have the last name of Gunhale? Did Arisa marry her brother? Obviously it was just to easily establish a connection between generations, but they more or less ignore how last names work, unless Arisa was a single mom which is entirely possible. I can see how Wootbit hates Kio. In an alternate timeline, he would have been Asemu’s son, which means that he wouldn’t instantly be a fatass relegated to support roles.

I also think it’s sad that Yunoa is some kind of over glorified nurse. I mean she’s the daughter of a super genius, and all she could end up being was a nurse on a ship of misfits.

The fight in the desert was fun, I liked the tornadoes, it was a neat fight and they surely have kept up the pace in this arc.

Finally it seems my questions from before have been answered. This ‘Earth’ is clearly Earth, although the geography is a bit off. Perhaps some kind of global warming catastrophe has made my hometown of Toronto into a scorpion riddled desert, while Alaska is the beautiful town of Olivernotes. The shoreline of the Americas is definitely a bit different than as we know it. Either way, I doubt we’ll ever get a real explanation and just have to accept that this is sort of Earth even if geography takes tens of millions of years to actually change.

©2012 Sea Slugs! Anime Blog. All Rights Reserved.

You will see the tears of time!

Summary:

Sleeping on Ryuuka’s lap, Toki dreams of a year previously, shortly after the National Tournament. Toki is just starting to recover from an illness, and has visited the Mahjong Club for the first time in quit a while. Toki tells Ryuuka that their loss in the finals was not her fault, that they had lost any chance of winning long before she had her chance to affect the outcome, Miyanaga Teru is a terrifying force to confront. As Toki leaves to head to a doctor’s appointment, Ryuuka calls out to her, asking her to go to next years Nationals with her. Toki awakens in the present, and heads off to face Achiga Girls’ Academy, Saitama’s Koshigaya Girls’ Academy and Hyougo’s Kentani High in the second round. Toki, Kuro and the others begin their match, with Toki quickly scoring a Ron off of Kuro’s easily read discards. In the Achiga viewing room, Ako realizes how easy Kuro’s hands are to read, because as she explained to them long ago, if she discards a Dora, then for the next few games, she will not receive any Dora at all. As the game continues, Toki scores off of Kuro again and again. On the next hand, Toki declares Riichi, everyone at the table knows what is about to happen, but are powerless to stop it. Toki’s true power reveals itself fully as she pulls the draw she needs for a Tsumo, her ability to know precisely what will happen in the next turn.

You have GOT to be shittn' me.

This continues, turn after turn, until finally it is the last hand, Kuro and the rest’s last chance to make some sort of comeback. If Kuro can win this hand, she can continue for a bonus hand. Toki herself is starting to look rather weak, and her vision is blurring as well. But no matter what the others try, they cannot stop the force that is Onjouji Toki. With her last strength she declares Riichi and pulls her Tsumo, finishing the round. Toki walks away from the table, leaving her three competitors drained and in tears, having been utterly defeated by the sickly girl. Shizu and Ako want to go get Kuro, but Yuu stands up and says she will go to her sister herself. Making her way to where Kuro is dragging herself back to the room, Yuu comforts Kuro, acting like the older sister she is. Ryuuka walks Toki back to their room, lending her shoulder to the weakened girl. After Kuro pulls herself together, Yuu heads to the table for the second game, along with the other teams’ second players. In Senriyama’s viewing room, they discuss how much like Kuro, Yuu’s draws are lopsided, and that means she is also predictable. In the competition room, Yuu swears she will regain all the points that were stolen from Kuro…

Yuu hates to be cool, but she'll do it for her sister

Impressions:

Kuro did not have a good episode. This was of course foreshadowed last episode, but they delivered even more thoroughly than I expected. Kuro was completely destroyed, more thoroughly than almost anyone else I’ve seen in this franchise. Toki is nearly as much of a demon as The Koromo herself, though I can see a few chinks in her own armor, most notably her shockingly low endurance. That may cause severe problems down the road for her. Anyway, back to Kuro. Kuro’s already easily read hands just made her that much more vulnerable to Toki, and considering how generally happy and upbeat she is, when she fell, she hit the bottom hard. On the up side, it provides good drama for Achiga getting back into second place (getting into first is highly unlikely, and of course unnecessary), and it let Yuu show that dammit, she is the older sister, even if she never really acts like it.

You feelin' lucky?

I was highly amused by Nodoka’s reaction in Ako’s flashback, when Kuro explained why she can’t discard Dora at all. Poor Nodoka, always surrounded by completely ridiculous people. It seems all of her ridiculousness ended up in her boobs. I liked that Ryuuka has officially proposed to Toki, since as everyone knows, the second cardinal rule of the Sakiverse (after “thou shall not wear panties”) is “Thou shall ask the girl you love to go to the Nationals with you”. I haven’t mentioned her in the Impressions yet, but I must say that Mihirogi-pro (played hilariously by Matsuoka Yuki) has been a delight on the color commentary, especially with how Hariu Eri reacts to her antics. Also of note is the super-excited girl back in Nara, whom you may remember as far back as episode 1. She’s just so goddamn happy to see Kuro and the rest on TV.

Enemies Driven Before you? Check!

©2012 Sea Slugs! Anime Blog. All Rights Reserved.