GOSICK 4
It's not one, but two headless bodies we got to see in this episode. The latter wasn't that bad since the body was already dead but the first was gruesome D: riding a motorbike down a road with a wire tied across the road and slicing the whole head off... now that's disgusting. That wire was rather thick too =X
Unfortunately for Kujo, who was running an errand and daydreaming about his dream girl being someone with blonde hair, he got to witness the flying head first-hand and was all buckled up since he was the only witness and was suspected to be the criminal. Our poor protagonist seems to always get himself into such troubles and was unable to fight back. Pinning his hopes on Victorique, it turned out well.
Argument 1: The wire with blood on it was likely to be caused by a wire tied across the road and was unlikely that someone else had severed the head with the wire in that short amount of time otherwise.
Argument 2: The wire that has bloodstains on one end prompts that the murderer was likely to have a wound on the hand while setting up the trap.
Argument 3: The criminal was likely to be a girl with blonde hair since Kujo had daydreamed about his dream girl while subconsciously noticing the criminal from the corner of his eye and was contrasted into his fascination.
Kujo wasn't that happy at all when Victorique named his daydream as indecent thoughts. Poor Victorique just had to bear with the boredom and Kujo's inability to sense other's feelings... Honestly, with that case, it wouldn't excite Victorique much with her knowledge.
The culprit was apprehended but was that really the end? I suspected so until another blonde girl, a transfer student, was introduced into the class. It wouldn't be that suspicious until Kujo noticed that her hand was injured.
"ARGH! THATS THE CULPRIT!"
that would be the common reaction that i presume many of us would get. But if she was the one, whatever happened to the person who was apprehended? Indeed she didn't gave any reason on why she had set up that trap, which makes the new girl, Avril even more suspicious than she already is. While giving her a tour around the sch, both Kujo and Avril were requested by the teacher to help out somewhere else in the school where they are going to open a room (where dead bodies were kept), which wasn't touched for ages. That's were the 2nd body came from, which the body leaning out of the gate and losing its head after its impact on the ground. The already suspicious Avril added more suspicion when she rushed in quietly and picked up a book lying in the room.
Apparently for our poor protagonist, the only hope of unveiling the mystery was back to Victorique again, but this time, Kujo brought her some snacks which doesn't interest her much which one of it "being too solid that she cant believe Kujo enjoys eating it" With all the details given to her, she still lack a certain piece of information and asks Kujo to reaffirm whether the room contained a missing body. With the last piece in place, Victorique unleashes her "i-can-see-it" vision and pieces everything together.
Theory 1: The man who had died was most probably drugged and taken in to the room to "act" as a body while the girl, who loved him, had not much time left in her life and had made such preparations. The flower on the man was representing "together for eternity" and with the girl passing on, the man wasn't able to escape from the locked gate and had lost his life in it.
Kujo, however, wanted to know more about the book that Avril was holding or looking for and requested for Victorique's help. She did gave in and started to descend the staircase of the library and both the Grim Reaper and the Golden Fairy set off to locate the final pieces of the mystery.
Would've appreciated if the crimes or mysteries were a little harder to guess or solve, for our sake and also to reduce Victorique's boredom as well! The solutions proposed were rather blunt and simple and not much strategies were emulated at all. I will definitely prefer that the episodes do not make the criminal stand out or to make any suspicious gestures to hint us that he or she is the one behind the crime or mystery. Unless, of course, it is a trick to make us THINK that he or she is the criminal. But if it's not, i'll prefer to guess it myself thanks :)
Monday, January 31, 2011
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica 4
That little furry white creature is slowly giving off bad aura as each episode passes. Those 2 red eyes are cunning!
ARGH... it isn't cute and innocent anymore!!!!
Well, at least Mami didn't just pop back into our screens again although from the OP, i still have a gut feeling that Mami's coming back... the important part would be HOW she's going to come back (provided she does). Making a wish back then during the accident to give her immortality could be possible but after seeing how Sayaka had finally decided her wish which benefited another individual, it could be possible that Madoka might use hers on Mami instead, or just decide to end the whole witches and Mahou Shoujo generation with it. Anything could be possible.
And yes. This episode marks the debut of Sayaka as a Mahou Shoujo and our dear protagonist have still yet to sign a contract with the evil Kyubey (let's just label him as a villian 1st since i don't really see a good side of him yet). Not that i wish for more successful contracts to be made with Kyubey though =X
Madoka didn't seem to have gotten over Mami's death and was still constantly concerned over it, blaming herself on how powerless she was. Even while trying to talk to Sayaka about it, Sayaka seems to push it off for later as she didn't really want to talk about it yet. When the two finally had some time together, the duo realises that everything they had experienced were of a different world as of now and no one actually realises the things that were going on around them, witches etc. Sayaka asks Madoka once again if she really did want to become a Mahou Shoujo after all that has happened and together, they reject Kyubey's offer to become Mahou Shoujos and the sly creature leaves the two behind to search for another contractor. Yet, Sayaka didn't really threw her option away after her emotions got the better of her and she decided to go along with the contract.
Before her debut, Madoka had met up with Akemi who was happy for her that she had brushed off the contract and with that, she was able to save another person, or to put it simply, to prevent another Mahou Shoujo from being born and risking her life. Apparently, Akemi knew that Madoka was too kind and gave her an advice that being too kind isn't good for her and that the Mahou Shoujos were fighting for their own wishes that they made, and not particularly fighting for someone else.
Unfortunately, Mami would be forever listed as missing in the real world since she died in the other dimension and her body (if the previous witch did leave some of it behind =X)would be left in that world. Madoka felt that this was just too sad since no one knows about the Mahou Shoujos fighting secretly to protect the people from witches, which then lead to the previous point, where they are actually fighting for their own wishes as Akemi had put bluntly.
Now, thats a pretty good protagonist attitude Madoka has, which makes me think that hey! she'd most probably sign a contract to protect everyone with her own powers, just that i'm still curious about what exactly she'd wish for.
Back in the hospital, Sayaka's crush, Kyousuke, finally let out his feelings after Sayaka repeatedly brought hinm music to hear and to him, it felt like torture as he was only about to hear them but not able to play them due to the accident he had went through, which he had to discard his dream of playing music away. Sayaka was taken aback from Kyousuke's words and when she tells him that his hand could be healed since magic and miracles exist, our cunning creature appears just TOO coincidentally
JUST in time to "lure" Sayaka into a contract to help Kyousuke.
Meanwhile, Madoka was still wandering around on her own when she spots Hitomi with a witch's kiss on her neck. Not being able to snap her out of the witch's influence, she had no choice but to follow her where a group of people under the same witch's influence, had grouped together and was prepared to discard their lives together. Madoka, not willing to see more innocent people lose their lives, rushes in to take away the potentially dangerous item and flings it out of the warehouse they were in. The people then changed their target to Madoka after seeing what she had done and with Madoka locking herself in to escape from them, she was brought into the witch's dimension.
As an evil witch, Madoka was repeatedly shown images of Mami whom she believes the responsibility of her death was on her. Nearing her possible death, Sayaka rushes in to save Madoka and after her brilliant swordsmanship.
She cuts the witch down and acknowledges her status as a Mahou Shoujo to Madoka, who was confused as she had thought that Sayaka wouldn't want to sign a contract after all that has happened. Akemi arrives at the scene as well and was silently disappointed that Sayaka had signed the contract and she didn't seem happy about it. Meanwhile, Kyousuke was able to move his hands again due to Sayaka and a happy Kyubey (after successfully getting Sayaka to become a Mahou Shoujo), meets up with another, Kyouko, who has laid her eyes on the city as well.
... Seems that Sayaka would be the first witch that we know, who's literally fighting for someone else after having made such a wish for another individual and she'd have to risk her life in return for nothing for herself and Kyousuke might not even know that it was Sayaka who'd helped him regained his hand abilities. Well, that doesn't seem to matter to Kyubey though, who just seems to be happy to have another girl's life tied under him. With Sayaka's debut as a Mahou Shoujo, a new one, who seems much more "wild" have arrived in the city. The next episode might most probably focus on the new Mahou Shoujo and further delays Madoka in becoming one...
That little furry white creature is slowly giving off bad aura as each episode passes. Those 2 red eyes are cunning!
ARGH... it isn't cute and innocent anymore!!!!
Well, at least Mami didn't just pop back into our screens again although from the OP, i still have a gut feeling that Mami's coming back... the important part would be HOW she's going to come back (provided she does). Making a wish back then during the accident to give her immortality could be possible but after seeing how Sayaka had finally decided her wish which benefited another individual, it could be possible that Madoka might use hers on Mami instead, or just decide to end the whole witches and Mahou Shoujo generation with it. Anything could be possible.
And yes. This episode marks the debut of Sayaka as a Mahou Shoujo and our dear protagonist have still yet to sign a contract with the evil Kyubey (let's just label him as a villian 1st since i don't really see a good side of him yet). Not that i wish for more successful contracts to be made with Kyubey though =X
Madoka didn't seem to have gotten over Mami's death and was still constantly concerned over it, blaming herself on how powerless she was. Even while trying to talk to Sayaka about it, Sayaka seems to push it off for later as she didn't really want to talk about it yet. When the two finally had some time together, the duo realises that everything they had experienced were of a different world as of now and no one actually realises the things that were going on around them, witches etc. Sayaka asks Madoka once again if she really did want to become a Mahou Shoujo after all that has happened and together, they reject Kyubey's offer to become Mahou Shoujos and the sly creature leaves the two behind to search for another contractor. Yet, Sayaka didn't really threw her option away after her emotions got the better of her and she decided to go along with the contract.
Before her debut, Madoka had met up with Akemi who was happy for her that she had brushed off the contract and with that, she was able to save another person, or to put it simply, to prevent another Mahou Shoujo from being born and risking her life. Apparently, Akemi knew that Madoka was too kind and gave her an advice that being too kind isn't good for her and that the Mahou Shoujos were fighting for their own wishes that they made, and not particularly fighting for someone else.
Unfortunately, Mami would be forever listed as missing in the real world since she died in the other dimension and her body (if the previous witch did leave some of it behind =X)would be left in that world. Madoka felt that this was just too sad since no one knows about the Mahou Shoujos fighting secretly to protect the people from witches, which then lead to the previous point, where they are actually fighting for their own wishes as Akemi had put bluntly.
Now, thats a pretty good protagonist attitude Madoka has, which makes me think that hey! she'd most probably sign a contract to protect everyone with her own powers, just that i'm still curious about what exactly she'd wish for.
Back in the hospital, Sayaka's crush, Kyousuke, finally let out his feelings after Sayaka repeatedly brought hinm music to hear and to him, it felt like torture as he was only about to hear them but not able to play them due to the accident he had went through, which he had to discard his dream of playing music away. Sayaka was taken aback from Kyousuke's words and when she tells him that his hand could be healed since magic and miracles exist, our cunning creature appears just TOO coincidentally
JUST in time to "lure" Sayaka into a contract to help Kyousuke.
Meanwhile, Madoka was still wandering around on her own when she spots Hitomi with a witch's kiss on her neck. Not being able to snap her out of the witch's influence, she had no choice but to follow her where a group of people under the same witch's influence, had grouped together and was prepared to discard their lives together. Madoka, not willing to see more innocent people lose their lives, rushes in to take away the potentially dangerous item and flings it out of the warehouse they were in. The people then changed their target to Madoka after seeing what she had done and with Madoka locking herself in to escape from them, she was brought into the witch's dimension.
As an evil witch, Madoka was repeatedly shown images of Mami whom she believes the responsibility of her death was on her. Nearing her possible death, Sayaka rushes in to save Madoka and after her brilliant swordsmanship.
She cuts the witch down and acknowledges her status as a Mahou Shoujo to Madoka, who was confused as she had thought that Sayaka wouldn't want to sign a contract after all that has happened. Akemi arrives at the scene as well and was silently disappointed that Sayaka had signed the contract and she didn't seem happy about it. Meanwhile, Kyousuke was able to move his hands again due to Sayaka and a happy Kyubey (after successfully getting Sayaka to become a Mahou Shoujo), meets up with another, Kyouko, who has laid her eyes on the city as well.
... Seems that Sayaka would be the first witch that we know, who's literally fighting for someone else after having made such a wish for another individual and she'd have to risk her life in return for nothing for herself and Kyousuke might not even know that it was Sayaka who'd helped him regained his hand abilities. Well, that doesn't seem to matter to Kyubey though, who just seems to be happy to have another girl's life tied under him. With Sayaka's debut as a Mahou Shoujo, a new one, who seems much more "wild" have arrived in the city. The next episode might most probably focus on the new Mahou Shoujo and further delays Madoka in becoming one...
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
GOSICK 3
after a schedule packed week and taking time to watch a suspense filled episode, it didn't turn out to be THAT mysterious and was slightly disappointing.
after the cliffhanger from the gunshot, the poor man who lost his mind now lies in a pool of blood, a bullet fired from the lady behind Kujo and Victorique. now THAT'S suspicious. well, she pulled it off by using an excuse that she had obtained the pistol somewhere in the ship too but from that moment on, i was pretty sure that she was the one behind the whole ship mystery. furthermore, the way Victorique examined the lady's handbag, it was quite obvious that she wasn't just an ordinary person.
and the mystery of the ghost ship continues!
down the hallway, a piercing scream echoed through the corridor, leaving one victim lying dead on the floor. No. of survivors: 3. Kujo did went to test the man's pulse to confirm if he's dead and immediately after, Victorique expresses her fear and pulls Kujo over, telling him to be careful. Victorique then urges the rest to leave this location as the murderer might still be nearby. normally a good hiding place would be where they had hid themselves, in a room, but the murderer is rather clear minded and found them due to Victorique's dress sticking out. and with that, the heroic Kujo arrives! fully equipped with brass knuckles, Kujo tackles the fierce opponent who's wielding a ... polearm. Normally, with rational thinking, facing a polearm with a brass knuckle isn't a good choice and rushing in isn't too. But Kujo managed to pull it off and smacked the murderer's face on... well, in his face. Ouch.
Incidentally, the murderer that Kujo faced was the same dude that had "died" near the corridor but Victorique was able to notice that the dude had used a baseball and gripped it tightly under his armpit to prevent a pulse from being detected. That is some awesome trick but i doubt it does work in real life, have yet to test it out =X
Well, our genius Kujo assumes that it is absolutely safe now to discard the brass knuckle after knocking that dude out but unfortunately, the assumption made was wrong. Wrong move Kujo... From then on, Kujo became a punchbag after forcing Victorique into the radio room but thankfully, the woman earlier was able to swing the polearm back onto (into would be a better word) the man's back, hurling him into the sea due to a change in his center of gravity. Basically, he fell. Back in the radio room, Victorique did expressed some relieve when she saw Kujo still alive but soon went back to her cold self and the mystery of the ghost ship has ended, with the "hunting dog" now in the sea and the main culprit captured. The woman. Victorique had already suspected that the woman was the one behind everything when her previously heavy handbag that hit Kujo's head when they first awoke into the lounge became as light as a feather when she picked it up afterwards.
And a flashback occurs. Seems like she was one of the children that were placed onboard the ship with a hunting dog in the midst of them and they were all hares on the "game". Roxanne predicted through looking at the survivors of the hares which turned out to be accurate in determining the outcome of the war in the past. Victorique got to share on her past as well, and that it wasn't as pleasant too. She was held captive most of the time, even until now, and her brother wasn't her real brother too and being unable to move freely outside, she gets easily bored but this time, Kujo promises that he'd love to have another trip with her again.
With the mystery of the ghost ship revealed, it wasn't actually that mysterious to make me go "WOW". the build up in the 2nd episode made it evident that it could turn out to be a splendid mystery but the 3rd episode just doused the burning flame. the theories used were simple and the culprit was rather obvious and could be guessed right at the start of the episode, or even maybe the start of the mystery for those who're good at these. i'll definitely prefer mysteries that holds its suspense longer and with more complicated scenarios that aren't easily guessed too. I'd see how the next few mysteries go (or maybe just the story development)
P.S. Victorique is still cute when she's bored :)
after a schedule packed week and taking time to watch a suspense filled episode, it didn't turn out to be THAT mysterious and was slightly disappointing.
after the cliffhanger from the gunshot, the poor man who lost his mind now lies in a pool of blood, a bullet fired from the lady behind Kujo and Victorique. now THAT'S suspicious. well, she pulled it off by using an excuse that she had obtained the pistol somewhere in the ship too but from that moment on, i was pretty sure that she was the one behind the whole ship mystery. furthermore, the way Victorique examined the lady's handbag, it was quite obvious that she wasn't just an ordinary person.
and the mystery of the ghost ship continues!
down the hallway, a piercing scream echoed through the corridor, leaving one victim lying dead on the floor. No. of survivors: 3. Kujo did went to test the man's pulse to confirm if he's dead and immediately after, Victorique expresses her fear and pulls Kujo over, telling him to be careful. Victorique then urges the rest to leave this location as the murderer might still be nearby. normally a good hiding place would be where they had hid themselves, in a room, but the murderer is rather clear minded and found them due to Victorique's dress sticking out. and with that, the heroic Kujo arrives! fully equipped with brass knuckles, Kujo tackles the fierce opponent who's wielding a ... polearm. Normally, with rational thinking, facing a polearm with a brass knuckle isn't a good choice and rushing in isn't too. But Kujo managed to pull it off and smacked the murderer's face on... well, in his face. Ouch.
Incidentally, the murderer that Kujo faced was the same dude that had "died" near the corridor but Victorique was able to notice that the dude had used a baseball and gripped it tightly under his armpit to prevent a pulse from being detected. That is some awesome trick but i doubt it does work in real life, have yet to test it out =X
Well, our genius Kujo assumes that it is absolutely safe now to discard the brass knuckle after knocking that dude out but unfortunately, the assumption made was wrong. Wrong move Kujo... From then on, Kujo became a punchbag after forcing Victorique into the radio room but thankfully, the woman earlier was able to swing the polearm back onto (into would be a better word) the man's back, hurling him into the sea due to a change in his center of gravity. Basically, he fell. Back in the radio room, Victorique did expressed some relieve when she saw Kujo still alive but soon went back to her cold self and the mystery of the ghost ship has ended, with the "hunting dog" now in the sea and the main culprit captured. The woman. Victorique had already suspected that the woman was the one behind everything when her previously heavy handbag that hit Kujo's head when they first awoke into the lounge became as light as a feather when she picked it up afterwards.
And a flashback occurs. Seems like she was one of the children that were placed onboard the ship with a hunting dog in the midst of them and they were all hares on the "game". Roxanne predicted through looking at the survivors of the hares which turned out to be accurate in determining the outcome of the war in the past. Victorique got to share on her past as well, and that it wasn't as pleasant too. She was held captive most of the time, even until now, and her brother wasn't her real brother too and being unable to move freely outside, she gets easily bored but this time, Kujo promises that he'd love to have another trip with her again.
With the mystery of the ghost ship revealed, it wasn't actually that mysterious to make me go "WOW". the build up in the 2nd episode made it evident that it could turn out to be a splendid mystery but the 3rd episode just doused the burning flame. the theories used were simple and the culprit was rather obvious and could be guessed right at the start of the episode, or even maybe the start of the mystery for those who're good at these. i'll definitely prefer mysteries that holds its suspense longer and with more complicated scenarios that aren't easily guessed too. I'd see how the next few mysteries go (or maybe just the story development)
P.S. Victorique is still cute when she's bored :)
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica 3
Honestly, i did not expect such a twist in the plot such early into the series and things just got darker, no more cute little Mahou Shoujos running around just trying to save the world. This series means business. And i'm jolly well placing this series under the highest priority for this season. I mean, you rarely get such a series which such a good plot and twists.
At the beginning, we're all given a glance of Miki's crush in the hospital and that could have hinted her into choosing a wish to be granted. For the benefit of someone else. Under the contract, making a wish for the benefit of others does not breach it but for Mami who had heard about it, feels that it's an important choice and the girls should think about their wishes carefully. Madoka then became curious about Mami's wish and we'd get to see Mami when she was young, injured in a road accident.
Guess who tagged along while Mami could be approaching her end? Small little Kyube. His appearance at such places might hint that he might be near to locations where bad things happen, similar to witches. Since the series is getting darker, this possibility isn't zero. So in the meantime, let's assume that our little animal is still good :) From here, i'm guessing that Mami was "forced" to make a wish of saving her own life (just my own assumption) and that was why she wanted Madoka and Miki to be given a choice in their wishes.
Akemi wasn't just going to give up on stopping Madoka becoming a Mahou Shoujo just yet, even though she had met up with Kyube. However, Mami didn't have the intention of becoming friendly with her at all. Seems that Madoka wields some great power if she becomes a Mahou Shoujo and Akemi could be aware that a strong opponent could be born. Mami then warns Akemi and hopes that it'll be their final meeting.
A Grief Seed planted itself onto the pillar of the hospital where Miki's crush was in and unfortunately, with the lack of telecommunication, Miki and Kyube decided to keep and eye on the seed first while Madoka would go locate Mami by herself. Entering the barrier, Miki and Kyube locates the seed and thankfully, the witch has yet to be born. Mami and Madoka arrives later in the scene and follows into the barrier, only to be stopped by Akemi further in. Akemi warned Mami about the danger ahead as the witch this time was different but Mami decides that the best option was to tie her up and hang her in midair while the duo continues in. Approaching the inner depths of the barrier, Madoka decides that it was the right time to suggest a single wish to Mami, which was simply to become a Mahou Shoujo to protect the ones she care for. Mami was indeed happy for her as she'll finally become her comrade but felt that she could just put in a little more effort into thinking about a wish. Risking your life for nothing or even for a cake of celebration doesn't seem quite worth...
And then, with a duo partner of Mahou Shoujo about to be born, the twist arrives. Seriously, this turn point was just expected and epic.
Guess what?
Mami just got her head snapped off.
Yeah, bitten off could be another way to describe it.
Rest of the body? Eaten.
O_O
Bet you had not expect that. Neither did i.
Rewinding back to the scenes before, Mami was still happy about Madoka finally becoming her partner and wanted to end the fight with this particular witch as soon as possible to celebrate with her, until THAT had to happen.
Mami was still showing off her amazing shotgun stances and Finale shots when the witch "shed" off it's previous skin and bit Mami's head off before finishing up with her body.
I may be cute, but in a while, i'll bite your head off! :(
Behold, the elegance of shotguns
At that exact moment, Akemi had noticed about Mami's death after the seal on her was broken and during the grave decision of Kyube pestering a shocked Miki and Madoka to form a contract as soon as possible, Akemi comes into the scene and with her speed and skills, she managed to triumph over the witch with little effort made. Guess Mami could have been too happy after hearing about Madoka's decision and had became a little inattentive. I was quite sure Mami was stronger than Akemi though =X
What had happened had happened. And as Akemi retrieved the Grief Seed, Miki attempts to stop her and asks her to return the seed to Mami, as it was supposed to be hers. Akemi ignores her and walks away with the seed, leaving Miki and a tearing Madoka behind.
Honestly, i didn't expect Mami to be finished off, like that. I didn't even expected her to die at all after seeing her appearance on the OP. Having witnessed such a scene, Miki and Madoka would definitely have some 2nd thoughts on becoming one, or maybe Madoka could use her wish to revive Mami and contracts into a Mahou Shoujo to prevent another similar tragedy from happening. That might seem possible but i rather the plot to be different. Not that i hate Mami or anything (although i personally quite like her character), but those that are dead, should not revive through some lame old method. It just feels weird == And with this episode concluding, the plot does not seem to be as simple as it seems and is definitely way better than Lyrical Nanoha, which a much much deeper darkness lurking in its plot.
Welcome, to the world of Puella Magi Magica Madoka.
.Will miss her.
Kalafina's Magia is now incorporated into the series's new ED, which already features the dark element of the series:
Honestly, i did not expect such a twist in the plot such early into the series and things just got darker, no more cute little Mahou Shoujos running around just trying to save the world. This series means business. And i'm jolly well placing this series under the highest priority for this season. I mean, you rarely get such a series which such a good plot and twists.
At the beginning, we're all given a glance of Miki's crush in the hospital and that could have hinted her into choosing a wish to be granted. For the benefit of someone else. Under the contract, making a wish for the benefit of others does not breach it but for Mami who had heard about it, feels that it's an important choice and the girls should think about their wishes carefully. Madoka then became curious about Mami's wish and we'd get to see Mami when she was young, injured in a road accident.
Guess who tagged along while Mami could be approaching her end? Small little Kyube. His appearance at such places might hint that he might be near to locations where bad things happen, similar to witches. Since the series is getting darker, this possibility isn't zero. So in the meantime, let's assume that our little animal is still good :) From here, i'm guessing that Mami was "forced" to make a wish of saving her own life (just my own assumption) and that was why she wanted Madoka and Miki to be given a choice in their wishes.
Akemi wasn't just going to give up on stopping Madoka becoming a Mahou Shoujo just yet, even though she had met up with Kyube. However, Mami didn't have the intention of becoming friendly with her at all. Seems that Madoka wields some great power if she becomes a Mahou Shoujo and Akemi could be aware that a strong opponent could be born. Mami then warns Akemi and hopes that it'll be their final meeting.
A Grief Seed planted itself onto the pillar of the hospital where Miki's crush was in and unfortunately, with the lack of telecommunication, Miki and Kyube decided to keep and eye on the seed first while Madoka would go locate Mami by herself. Entering the barrier, Miki and Kyube locates the seed and thankfully, the witch has yet to be born. Mami and Madoka arrives later in the scene and follows into the barrier, only to be stopped by Akemi further in. Akemi warned Mami about the danger ahead as the witch this time was different but Mami decides that the best option was to tie her up and hang her in midair while the duo continues in. Approaching the inner depths of the barrier, Madoka decides that it was the right time to suggest a single wish to Mami, which was simply to become a Mahou Shoujo to protect the ones she care for. Mami was indeed happy for her as she'll finally become her comrade but felt that she could just put in a little more effort into thinking about a wish. Risking your life for nothing or even for a cake of celebration doesn't seem quite worth...
And then, with a duo partner of Mahou Shoujo about to be born, the twist arrives. Seriously, this turn point was just expected and epic.
Guess what?
Mami just got her head snapped off.
Yeah, bitten off could be another way to describe it.
Rest of the body? Eaten.
O_O
Bet you had not expect that. Neither did i.
Rewinding back to the scenes before, Mami was still happy about Madoka finally becoming her partner and wanted to end the fight with this particular witch as soon as possible to celebrate with her, until THAT had to happen.
Mami was still showing off her amazing shotgun stances and Finale shots when the witch "shed" off it's previous skin and bit Mami's head off before finishing up with her body.
I may be cute, but in a while, i'll bite your head off! :(
Behold, the elegance of shotguns
At that exact moment, Akemi had noticed about Mami's death after the seal on her was broken and during the grave decision of Kyube pestering a shocked Miki and Madoka to form a contract as soon as possible, Akemi comes into the scene and with her speed and skills, she managed to triumph over the witch with little effort made. Guess Mami could have been too happy after hearing about Madoka's decision and had became a little inattentive. I was quite sure Mami was stronger than Akemi though =X
What had happened had happened. And as Akemi retrieved the Grief Seed, Miki attempts to stop her and asks her to return the seed to Mami, as it was supposed to be hers. Akemi ignores her and walks away with the seed, leaving Miki and a tearing Madoka behind.
Honestly, i didn't expect Mami to be finished off, like that. I didn't even expected her to die at all after seeing her appearance on the OP. Having witnessed such a scene, Miki and Madoka would definitely have some 2nd thoughts on becoming one, or maybe Madoka could use her wish to revive Mami and contracts into a Mahou Shoujo to prevent another similar tragedy from happening. That might seem possible but i rather the plot to be different. Not that i hate Mami or anything (although i personally quite like her character), but those that are dead, should not revive through some lame old method. It just feels weird == And with this episode concluding, the plot does not seem to be as simple as it seems and is definitely way better than Lyrical Nanoha, which a much much deeper darkness lurking in its plot.
Welcome, to the world of Puella Magi Magica Madoka.
.Will miss her.
Kalafina's Magia is now incorporated into the series's new ED, which already features the dark element of the series:
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Monday, January 17, 2011
Quick Update
added 3 new entries and sorted them out with labels >>> on side bar
easier navigation through the series. shifted episode 1 reviews into the new entries as well :)
shall settle the relinking in the near future, still lacking some new entries...
easier navigation through the series. shifted episode 1 reviews into the new entries as well :)
shall settle the relinking in the near future, still lacking some new entries...
Mitsudomoe Zouryouchuu 2
Welcome, to another year of a wonderful class with burning photos with fire on your table is treated as a norm.
Hitoha's expression while holding hands with Gatchi Red was of a norm too. Was surprised that the cameraman didn't actually freak out when he saw that. Being overprotective of that photo and avoiding Mitsuba, the occult-loving classmate sprang into action and judged the photo to be cursed. Finding another photo to be a scapegoat didn't turn out good, even if she tried to point to herself in the photo and said that it was cursed. Too bad it didn't work and her photo got purified into ashes.
Horse-riding fitness machines do seem similar to those children rocking machines but Mitsuba was more worried about her weight gain than thinking off it's resemblance and when acknowledging the fact that a small girl like her would never be able to afford it, she cleverly chooses a free and easy alternative. Futaba. Riding on your sister isn't something kids should learn and running at top speed with your sister on top of you isn't recommended either. The Futaba weight-loss machine is designed not to have any brakes and Mitsuba had to do a X-styled stop in an aisle to protect her pride of being seen riding on her F1 speed sister.
Christmas has arrived and poor Yabe is alone, again. Having tried to invite the school nurse, Kuriyama sensei over, the accidental loss of her specs made her view Yabe as a mortally wounded individual with red clothing depicted as blood and the invitation failed terribly. Poor poor Yabe gets to celebrate his christmas night alone with a homemade doll that burned up when it collapsed on his christmas cake. Talk about pitying...
With the triplet's dad not being able to make it to being Santa this year again, Mitsuba and Hitoha decide that they should get Yabe to stand in as Santa. Similar to last year, Futaba locked her grip on Yabe's santa suit, forcing him to get stripped down to his underwear just to escape from being found. Yabe must be the must unlucky guy now, even as compared with Touma (from Index), where he was in his underwear in front of 2 small girls and their protective father was back. And for the poor suspected lolicon, Yabe returns to his home on christmas night, injured and in his underwear. Poor guy =(
Mitsudomoe Zouryouchuu 1
it's not midway, nor was it near the end, but at the beginning, we're viewing what Hitoha likes to watch, Gachi Rangers.
Unlike any other Power Rangers, Gachi Rangers are EXCEPTIONALLY phail. Yeah, phail.
According to Hitoha, the episode just had to be THAT bad when Futaba and Mitsuba decided to watch Hitoha's favourite show with her.
Like any typical Power Rangers, the evil dude would send some monster down to wreck havoc which in Gachi's case, it was a crab aiming to bubble kids to death ._.
So, here's the list of the few epic scenes:
Phail 1: Apparently to the Gachi Rangers, having a secret base about 30 meters above ground level is considered to be secret. *facepalm X 1*
Phail 2: A informative Blue Gachi Ranger gets lost in his own town. *facepalm X 2*
Phail 3: A 30minute time bomb was set off (which was way enough time to throw it elsewhere) , Red Gachi Ranger and Yellow Gachi Ranger had a dispute over which wire to cut since the 2 available choices are Red or Yellow wires. The Red wire is cut and the bomb explodes, creating fatalities in the kindergarten. *facepalm X 3*
Phail 4: Pink Gachi Ranger infiltrates the school bus and takes on the crab who plans to hijack the bus, but was clumsy with the wheel and the bus falls off a cliff before exploding. Fatalities again. *facepalm X 4*
Phail 5: A typical large cannon from the 5 Gachi Rangers is just a magnifying glass which helps in concentrating the sunlight onto the enemy. *facepalm X 5*
With Mitsudomoe being a rather successful comedy, it was indeed hilarious even though 90% of the episode was featuring the Gachi Rangers. Seriously, it couldn't get any far worse than that if there were really Gachi Rangers in reality...
Hitoha didn't like how the episode turned out to be either and was exceptionally pissed about how it had turned THAT bad. Next week we should be getting back the triplets screentime with their own hilarious antics.
Welcome, to another year of a wonderful class with burning photos with fire on your table is treated as a norm.
Hitoha's expression while holding hands with Gatchi Red was of a norm too. Was surprised that the cameraman didn't actually freak out when he saw that. Being overprotective of that photo and avoiding Mitsuba, the occult-loving classmate sprang into action and judged the photo to be cursed. Finding another photo to be a scapegoat didn't turn out good, even if she tried to point to herself in the photo and said that it was cursed. Too bad it didn't work and her photo got purified into ashes.
Horse-riding fitness machines do seem similar to those children rocking machines but Mitsuba was more worried about her weight gain than thinking off it's resemblance and when acknowledging the fact that a small girl like her would never be able to afford it, she cleverly chooses a free and easy alternative. Futaba. Riding on your sister isn't something kids should learn and running at top speed with your sister on top of you isn't recommended either. The Futaba weight-loss machine is designed not to have any brakes and Mitsuba had to do a X-styled stop in an aisle to protect her pride of being seen riding on her F1 speed sister.
Christmas has arrived and poor Yabe is alone, again. Having tried to invite the school nurse, Kuriyama sensei over, the accidental loss of her specs made her view Yabe as a mortally wounded individual with red clothing depicted as blood and the invitation failed terribly. Poor poor Yabe gets to celebrate his christmas night alone with a homemade doll that burned up when it collapsed on his christmas cake. Talk about pitying...
With the triplet's dad not being able to make it to being Santa this year again, Mitsuba and Hitoha decide that they should get Yabe to stand in as Santa. Similar to last year, Futaba locked her grip on Yabe's santa suit, forcing him to get stripped down to his underwear just to escape from being found. Yabe must be the must unlucky guy now, even as compared with Touma (from Index), where he was in his underwear in front of 2 small girls and their protective father was back. And for the poor suspected lolicon, Yabe returns to his home on christmas night, injured and in his underwear. Poor guy =(
Mitsudomoe Zouryouchuu 1
it's not midway, nor was it near the end, but at the beginning, we're viewing what Hitoha likes to watch, Gachi Rangers.
Unlike any other Power Rangers, Gachi Rangers are EXCEPTIONALLY phail. Yeah, phail.
According to Hitoha, the episode just had to be THAT bad when Futaba and Mitsuba decided to watch Hitoha's favourite show with her.
Like any typical Power Rangers, the evil dude would send some monster down to wreck havoc which in Gachi's case, it was a crab aiming to bubble kids to death ._.
So, here's the list of the few epic scenes:
Phail 1: Apparently to the Gachi Rangers, having a secret base about 30 meters above ground level is considered to be secret. *facepalm X 1*
Phail 2: A informative Blue Gachi Ranger gets lost in his own town. *facepalm X 2*
Phail 3: A 30minute time bomb was set off (which was way enough time to throw it elsewhere) , Red Gachi Ranger and Yellow Gachi Ranger had a dispute over which wire to cut since the 2 available choices are Red or Yellow wires. The Red wire is cut and the bomb explodes, creating fatalities in the kindergarten. *facepalm X 3*
Phail 4: Pink Gachi Ranger infiltrates the school bus and takes on the crab who plans to hijack the bus, but was clumsy with the wheel and the bus falls off a cliff before exploding. Fatalities again. *facepalm X 4*
Phail 5: A typical large cannon from the 5 Gachi Rangers is just a magnifying glass which helps in concentrating the sunlight onto the enemy. *facepalm X 5*
With Mitsudomoe being a rather successful comedy, it was indeed hilarious even though 90% of the episode was featuring the Gachi Rangers. Seriously, it couldn't get any far worse than that if there were really Gachi Rangers in reality...
Hitoha didn't like how the episode turned out to be either and was exceptionally pissed about how it had turned THAT bad. Next week we should be getting back the triplets screentime with their own hilarious antics.
GOSICK 2
Haa.Haa.Haa.Haa.Haa.Haa.Haa.
That's possibly the most memorable scene in the episode. Victorique's laughter. So you might wonder how does it really sound like: take santa claus's "ho ho ho" and swap the "O" for an "A". Well, that's practically what it sounds like.
Having boarded the ship using Roxanne's invitation, the first regret our poor male protagonist had, was to have ransacked Victorique's luggage, and removing useless things which coincidentally contained, food. At least Victorique did stuff a loaf of bread into Kujou's hungry mouth. Having done that, everyone in the dining hall collapsed soon after due to the consumption of drugged food at the dining table. The passengers of the ship were all moved to another room unknowingly and that's when Victorique notices that there was one extra person in the room with them and that person is the one responsible for moving them in. The room's locked in with everyone trapped inside. Kinda Umineko-like eh? Good kids should learn not to touch random things around especially when you're trapped but Kujou wasn't one and attempted to touch the miniature model of the ship they're in and was nearly nailed in the head, well literally.
With a near attempt of having a hole in your own head, Kujou began to recite his well rehearsed ghost story of the ghost ship, the Queen Berry, which is the one they are on board now. That's where Victorique's epic laughter comes in. Believing it? Hell no for her.
A sudden blackout followed by the appearance of red works over a canvas is enough to induce fear into anyone who's on a ghost ship but escape isn't so easy. One tried and got nailed in the head. Kujou had almost become it before though. Another lesson to learn while on a ghost ship, or any other ship in a bad storm. Panic and fear is overwhelming, but attempting to escape with a lifeboat in such storm is practically impossible. The lifeboat was engulfed by the waves and the number of survivors left: 5.
And so the rest return back the room where they were and everything seemed to have turned old, but that didn't made Victorique quite believe that they were really on a ghost ship. A brief history of the Queen Berry was also given with a Battle Royale happening right in the ship full of children. Victorique's genius abilities broke through the mystery with old room and noticing that the vintage wines all have their labels swapped. It appears that one's instinct was to enter a room with its door opened but it was all planned and tricked and Victorique just strolled on in to the previous, new and the original room. The blackout was also possibly to give time for a cloth covering the prepared red words to be revealed. Now that's some detective work.
Being trapped in some ghost ship does test one's endurance and one of the 5 had his mind, well, crushed by the influx of information over the ghost ship and points a gun at Victorique which Kujou stands and defends her. Now now Kujou, giving your body another chance to be holed? That isn't a good choice but protecting an adorable Victorique is a rational one :)
And... a shot is fired.
Lots of detective work going along here, might see some awesome planning of a crime sometime soon so i'm having rather high hopes in this. Good series :)
Haa.Haa.Haa.Haa.Haa.Haa.Haa.
Haa.Haa.Haa.Haa.Haa.Haa.Haa.
Haa.Haa.Haa.Haa.Haa.Haa.Haa.
GOSICK 1
We are now greeted with a lolita girl who's extremely clever and hates to be bored, right at the top of a school library. Victorique is a mysterious girl with probably some foresights that she's able to tell our male protagonist, Kazuya Kujo, the exact time he would appear in front of her and when he'll come to her again, regardless of his decisions. Victorique has both the ability to communicate at her age and also at the notch of complicated words, accompanied by a smoking pipe.
While being first introduced to Victorique, the way her eyes were drawn was awesome. The shades and all was beautiful. Animation quality was alright through the episode as well.
OK, that was random...
Being a lonely girl whom only gets a visit from her brother, who has the most unique haircut i've ever seen, who turns to her for help in solving crime. And a typical closed room murder was given to her on her very first appearance to us. Taking no time to ponder at all, Victorique easily solves the mystery behind the muder and solves the case. But as a morally just student, Kujo, who happens to form ties with Victorique, rushes to find her brother when he read the news of the brother hoarding all the rewards to himself for solving the case, which was a private boat.
Being able to leave the library, Victorique does not seem to leave the library often and knows little about the world around her, which is totally unlike the knowledge she has in solving crimes. Kujo still managed to bring her to her brother's new private boat but when the criminal of the case escaped, Victorique and Kujo were left behind.
Victorique locates an invitation being sent to the victim of the crime and decides to use that invitation instead and with Kujo, the duo boards an unknown ship.
Looking at how the criminal managed to escape and the invitation being left on the boat, it could either be that the boat was given with or without the knowledge of the invitation and had hoped for Victorique's brother to realise instead but Kujo and Victorique had boarded the unknown vessel instead. Things might go on OUT of the ordinary looking at how this series is heading but this is one good series i'm looking out for :)
+1 for BONES animation~
Haa.Haa.Haa.Haa.Haa.Haa.Haa.
That's possibly the most memorable scene in the episode. Victorique's laughter. So you might wonder how does it really sound like: take santa claus's "ho ho ho" and swap the "O" for an "A". Well, that's practically what it sounds like.
Having boarded the ship using Roxanne's invitation, the first regret our poor male protagonist had, was to have ransacked Victorique's luggage, and removing useless things which coincidentally contained, food. At least Victorique did stuff a loaf of bread into Kujou's hungry mouth. Having done that, everyone in the dining hall collapsed soon after due to the consumption of drugged food at the dining table. The passengers of the ship were all moved to another room unknowingly and that's when Victorique notices that there was one extra person in the room with them and that person is the one responsible for moving them in. The room's locked in with everyone trapped inside. Kinda Umineko-like eh? Good kids should learn not to touch random things around especially when you're trapped but Kujou wasn't one and attempted to touch the miniature model of the ship they're in and was nearly nailed in the head, well literally.
With a near attempt of having a hole in your own head, Kujou began to recite his well rehearsed ghost story of the ghost ship, the Queen Berry, which is the one they are on board now. That's where Victorique's epic laughter comes in. Believing it? Hell no for her.
A sudden blackout followed by the appearance of red works over a canvas is enough to induce fear into anyone who's on a ghost ship but escape isn't so easy. One tried and got nailed in the head. Kujou had almost become it before though. Another lesson to learn while on a ghost ship, or any other ship in a bad storm. Panic and fear is overwhelming, but attempting to escape with a lifeboat in such storm is practically impossible. The lifeboat was engulfed by the waves and the number of survivors left: 5.
And so the rest return back the room where they were and everything seemed to have turned old, but that didn't made Victorique quite believe that they were really on a ghost ship. A brief history of the Queen Berry was also given with a Battle Royale happening right in the ship full of children. Victorique's genius abilities broke through the mystery with old room and noticing that the vintage wines all have their labels swapped. It appears that one's instinct was to enter a room with its door opened but it was all planned and tricked and Victorique just strolled on in to the previous, new and the original room. The blackout was also possibly to give time for a cloth covering the prepared red words to be revealed. Now that's some detective work.
Being trapped in some ghost ship does test one's endurance and one of the 5 had his mind, well, crushed by the influx of information over the ghost ship and points a gun at Victorique which Kujou stands and defends her. Now now Kujou, giving your body another chance to be holed? That isn't a good choice but protecting an adorable Victorique is a rational one :)
And... a shot is fired.
Lots of detective work going along here, might see some awesome planning of a crime sometime soon so i'm having rather high hopes in this. Good series :)
Haa.Haa.Haa.Haa.Haa.Haa.Haa.
Haa.Haa.Haa.Haa.Haa.Haa.Haa.
Haa.Haa.Haa.Haa.Haa.Haa.Haa.
GOSICK 1
We are now greeted with a lolita girl who's extremely clever and hates to be bored, right at the top of a school library. Victorique is a mysterious girl with probably some foresights that she's able to tell our male protagonist, Kazuya Kujo, the exact time he would appear in front of her and when he'll come to her again, regardless of his decisions. Victorique has both the ability to communicate at her age and also at the notch of complicated words, accompanied by a smoking pipe.
While being first introduced to Victorique, the way her eyes were drawn was awesome. The shades and all was beautiful. Animation quality was alright through the episode as well.
OK, that was random...
Being a lonely girl whom only gets a visit from her brother, who has the most unique haircut i've ever seen, who turns to her for help in solving crime. And a typical closed room murder was given to her on her very first appearance to us. Taking no time to ponder at all, Victorique easily solves the mystery behind the muder and solves the case. But as a morally just student, Kujo, who happens to form ties with Victorique, rushes to find her brother when he read the news of the brother hoarding all the rewards to himself for solving the case, which was a private boat.
Being able to leave the library, Victorique does not seem to leave the library often and knows little about the world around her, which is totally unlike the knowledge she has in solving crimes. Kujo still managed to bring her to her brother's new private boat but when the criminal of the case escaped, Victorique and Kujo were left behind.
Victorique locates an invitation being sent to the victim of the crime and decides to use that invitation instead and with Kujo, the duo boards an unknown ship.
Looking at how the criminal managed to escape and the invitation being left on the boat, it could either be that the boat was given with or without the knowledge of the invitation and had hoped for Victorique's brother to realise instead but Kujo and Victorique had boarded the unknown vessel instead. Things might go on OUT of the ordinary looking at how this series is heading but this is one good series i'm looking out for :)
+1 for BONES animation~
Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica 2
This literally blew me off. Where else would you be able to see Mahou Shoujos blasting rounds of shotgun, and cool stances to boot too.
Being totally invisible to other commoners, Kyube is now safely out of reach from girls who love cute animals and also cute animal hunters, one of such being: Akemi. Communicating through telepathy is indeed cool for the girls, imagine being able to chat silently in the class, and even with friends on the upper floor. It's like wonderland :) Unfortunately, only Mahou Shoujos and Mahou Shoujos-to-be have such a privilege. Cute animal hunter Akemi seems to have removed her pursuit for Kyube after it successfully made contact with Madoka.
With that aside, contract rules were introduced by gun-wielding Mami, and the rules are as follows:
RETURN: A wish
GIVE: Risking your life
Apparently, the trade-off between a single wish and risking your life in return doesn't sound tempting enough for Madoka and her friend Miki to oblige to the contract immediately. What Mahou Shoujos are to fight were witches, which is like a complete opposite of Mahou Shoujos. Mahou Shoujos are born with hope whereas witches are born from curses. Some explanations were also made, including the small egg-shaped object that Mami holds, which was a Soul Gem and it holds the magic power of a Mahou Shoujo.
With that, the story gets to move after Mami decided to give Madoka and Miki a glimpse of a witch hunt and now things gets settled down. Mahou Shoujos are born to fight against cursing witches. Simple. As a commoner, tagging along for a witch hunt would prove to be dangerous, and that's were a baseball bat comes in handy, which Miki brought, unlike Madoka who went to draft out her image of herself as a Mahou Shoujo. Not that i detest what Madoka had drawn, but i thought at least the main protagonist could think of making her armour more cool-looking? Maybe that's where the Mahou Shoujo (Girl) comes in place i guess.
According to Mami, since witches are like curses, the first few locations to search would be vacant areas where suicides could be done and witches could appear anytime and anywhere which she had let one go while rescuing Madoka and Miki previously. The trio soon encounters a woman attempting suicide and Mami spots the Witch's Kiss on her neck. It doesn't suck the soul like a Dementor's Kiss but in this case, makes someone commit suicide unknowingly. Which is still, rather bad =/
Mami gives the baseball bat a magic makeover before proceeding in the hunt and again, the trio gets into the witch's dimension with unique animations. Although i wasn't expecting a witch to be of a human form, i was still surprised on what exactly WAS a witch. A gooey headed creature with long legs and butterfly wings. That's the kind of witch we'll probably see for the rest of the season. Oh well, at least they're the ones getting wacked so the uglier the better i guess.
What comes next could well be the coolest gun-user stance seen yet. Mami did pull out a magician-styled appearance of making her shotguns appear, with 2 "dropping" out from her skirt and a hell lot more from under her hat. With the countless shotguns standing still on the ground. Mami takes aim, fires, throws it away, retrieves a new one and continues.
That was just pure epic and so darn cool. Yet the monster witch denies the shots and tries to turn the table but gets head shot with a finishing move from Mami, a freaking enormous pistol. BAM!
Now, that's a hell of a fight.
Subsequently, Mami retrieves the "heart" of the witch, which is a Grief Seed and it allows one's magic power to be restored A.K.A., restoring the Soul Gem's power. Akemi seems to have been watching them throughout Mami's fight and returns the still-usable Grief Seed to Mami, claiming that it was her win. So adding on to the equation, i suspect a Mahou Shoujo's power doesn't last forever and needs to be replenished through the Grief Seed and with that, Mahou Shoujos are fighting with each other before fighting the witch and claiming the Grief Seed. Now that's complicated. It won't be long before Miki and Madoka joins in the fight, but with just plain staffs, it could take me a while before i get out of the norm of watching guns owning witches' heads.
This would definitely be the series i'll be following closely. Awesome art plus animation and music? Definitely :)
Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica 1
WARNING! video contains slight fanservice
Do all Mahou Shoujo series have something to do with injured magical creatures that seek help from a small girl through telepathy?!
Apart from the Nanoha series, here comes Madoka Magica.
The start was awesome. Honestly, the way they opened up the series was really great. With the wonderful BGM playing at the back and we see a Mahou Shoujo tackling an unknown enemy + superb background animations, it kept me glued to the screen for that few moments.
Our main protagonist had dreamed of seeing a Mahou Shoujo engaged in battle and wanted to do something as that girl wasn't going to hold out long and that's where the magical creature places the ability to change things onto Madoka, to turn her into a Mahou Shoujo. However, that was just a dream waiting to become a reality.
And so it begins, Madoka's normal school life, chatting with friends and being envious of others receiving love letters. All was normal for Madoka until the girl whom she saw in her dream appeared right before her, named Akemi.
You got to have a cool-looking mage around in any Mahou Shoujo series, together with a more innocent one, which in this case, would be Madoka. Akemi seemed to have sensed Madoka's presence, probably in the dream, and prompts her later to not get herself involved in things that does not concern her if she still does treasure her friends and her family.
Akemi's athletic ability surpassed many others and was getting most of the attention in the school, yet she holds a secret of hurting cute animals at night.
The magical creature, well, does not know about Akemi trying to not get our protagonist involved and calls out to her, asking her for help which Madoka responds and locates the hurt animal. However, an Akemi she doesn't know stands before her, asking her to leave it behind.
How could one leave such a cute creature behind!? D:
Madoka responded morally and together with the help from her friend, the duo managed to escape from Akemi but was soon thrown into some alternate universe. It proved to be dangerous to all beings being trapped inside but a mage who knows the magical creature turns up with her sky of guns (literally), guns down all the enemies and confronts Akemi. Sensing the difference of abilities or not wanting Madoka to be involved any further, Akemi leaves and the creature introduces itself as Kyube, and wants Madoka to become a Mahou Shoujo.
It really had a good opening to the series until the back where it started to become like any other typical Mahou Shoujo series which i'm bored off already. Thank goodness at least there weren't loaded fanservices in henshins and hopefully there wouldn't be any in the future. The animation quality was great in general, even the alternate dimension had a certain 3D feel to it and with the rather cool execution scenes, i wouldn't mind continuing this series at all, the negative side of typical Mahou Shoujo storyline was kinda neutralised by the epic fighting scenes (including the very start, which is epic enough alone)
To add on, being a production from SHAFT, their previous work on Bakemonogatari had captivated me and i hope this wouldn't disappoint me either. Love their art too :)
P.S. had noted that the BGM of the starting scenes were Magia by Kalafina but i'm 100% sure about it, nonetheless, that song is great!
This literally blew me off. Where else would you be able to see Mahou Shoujos blasting rounds of shotgun, and cool stances to boot too.
Being totally invisible to other commoners, Kyube is now safely out of reach from girls who love cute animals and also cute animal hunters, one of such being: Akemi. Communicating through telepathy is indeed cool for the girls, imagine being able to chat silently in the class, and even with friends on the upper floor. It's like wonderland :) Unfortunately, only Mahou Shoujos and Mahou Shoujos-to-be have such a privilege. Cute animal hunter Akemi seems to have removed her pursuit for Kyube after it successfully made contact with Madoka.
With that aside, contract rules were introduced by gun-wielding Mami, and the rules are as follows:
RETURN: A wish
GIVE: Risking your life
Apparently, the trade-off between a single wish and risking your life in return doesn't sound tempting enough for Madoka and her friend Miki to oblige to the contract immediately. What Mahou Shoujos are to fight were witches, which is like a complete opposite of Mahou Shoujos. Mahou Shoujos are born with hope whereas witches are born from curses. Some explanations were also made, including the small egg-shaped object that Mami holds, which was a Soul Gem and it holds the magic power of a Mahou Shoujo.
With that, the story gets to move after Mami decided to give Madoka and Miki a glimpse of a witch hunt and now things gets settled down. Mahou Shoujos are born to fight against cursing witches. Simple. As a commoner, tagging along for a witch hunt would prove to be dangerous, and that's were a baseball bat comes in handy, which Miki brought, unlike Madoka who went to draft out her image of herself as a Mahou Shoujo. Not that i detest what Madoka had drawn, but i thought at least the main protagonist could think of making her armour more cool-looking? Maybe that's where the Mahou Shoujo (Girl) comes in place i guess.
According to Mami, since witches are like curses, the first few locations to search would be vacant areas where suicides could be done and witches could appear anytime and anywhere which she had let one go while rescuing Madoka and Miki previously. The trio soon encounters a woman attempting suicide and Mami spots the Witch's Kiss on her neck. It doesn't suck the soul like a Dementor's Kiss but in this case, makes someone commit suicide unknowingly. Which is still, rather bad =/
Mami gives the baseball bat a magic makeover before proceeding in the hunt and again, the trio gets into the witch's dimension with unique animations. Although i wasn't expecting a witch to be of a human form, i was still surprised on what exactly WAS a witch. A gooey headed creature with long legs and butterfly wings. That's the kind of witch we'll probably see for the rest of the season. Oh well, at least they're the ones getting wacked so the uglier the better i guess.
What comes next could well be the coolest gun-user stance seen yet. Mami did pull out a magician-styled appearance of making her shotguns appear, with 2 "dropping" out from her skirt and a hell lot more from under her hat. With the countless shotguns standing still on the ground. Mami takes aim, fires, throws it away, retrieves a new one and continues.
That was just pure epic and so darn cool. Yet the monster witch denies the shots and tries to turn the table but gets head shot with a finishing move from Mami, a freaking enormous pistol. BAM!
Now, that's a hell of a fight.
Subsequently, Mami retrieves the "heart" of the witch, which is a Grief Seed and it allows one's magic power to be restored A.K.A., restoring the Soul Gem's power. Akemi seems to have been watching them throughout Mami's fight and returns the still-usable Grief Seed to Mami, claiming that it was her win. So adding on to the equation, i suspect a Mahou Shoujo's power doesn't last forever and needs to be replenished through the Grief Seed and with that, Mahou Shoujos are fighting with each other before fighting the witch and claiming the Grief Seed. Now that's complicated. It won't be long before Miki and Madoka joins in the fight, but with just plain staffs, it could take me a while before i get out of the norm of watching guns owning witches' heads.
This would definitely be the series i'll be following closely. Awesome art plus animation and music? Definitely :)
Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica 1
WARNING! video contains slight fanservice
Do all Mahou Shoujo series have something to do with injured magical creatures that seek help from a small girl through telepathy?!
Apart from the Nanoha series, here comes Madoka Magica.
The start was awesome. Honestly, the way they opened up the series was really great. With the wonderful BGM playing at the back and we see a Mahou Shoujo tackling an unknown enemy + superb background animations, it kept me glued to the screen for that few moments.
Our main protagonist had dreamed of seeing a Mahou Shoujo engaged in battle and wanted to do something as that girl wasn't going to hold out long and that's where the magical creature places the ability to change things onto Madoka, to turn her into a Mahou Shoujo. However, that was just a dream waiting to become a reality.
And so it begins, Madoka's normal school life, chatting with friends and being envious of others receiving love letters. All was normal for Madoka until the girl whom she saw in her dream appeared right before her, named Akemi.
You got to have a cool-looking mage around in any Mahou Shoujo series, together with a more innocent one, which in this case, would be Madoka. Akemi seemed to have sensed Madoka's presence, probably in the dream, and prompts her later to not get herself involved in things that does not concern her if she still does treasure her friends and her family.
Akemi's athletic ability surpassed many others and was getting most of the attention in the school, yet she holds a secret of hurting cute animals at night.
The magical creature, well, does not know about Akemi trying to not get our protagonist involved and calls out to her, asking her for help which Madoka responds and locates the hurt animal. However, an Akemi she doesn't know stands before her, asking her to leave it behind.
How could one leave such a cute creature behind!? D:
Madoka responded morally and together with the help from her friend, the duo managed to escape from Akemi but was soon thrown into some alternate universe. It proved to be dangerous to all beings being trapped inside but a mage who knows the magical creature turns up with her sky of guns (literally), guns down all the enemies and confronts Akemi. Sensing the difference of abilities or not wanting Madoka to be involved any further, Akemi leaves and the creature introduces itself as Kyube, and wants Madoka to become a Mahou Shoujo.
It really had a good opening to the series until the back where it started to become like any other typical Mahou Shoujo series which i'm bored off already. Thank goodness at least there weren't loaded fanservices in henshins and hopefully there wouldn't be any in the future. The animation quality was great in general, even the alternate dimension had a certain 3D feel to it and with the rather cool execution scenes, i wouldn't mind continuing this series at all, the negative side of typical Mahou Shoujo storyline was kinda neutralised by the epic fighting scenes (including the very start, which is epic enough alone)
To add on, being a production from SHAFT, their previous work on Bakemonogatari had captivated me and i hope this wouldn't disappoint me either. Love their art too :)
P.S. had noted that the BGM of the starting scenes were Magia by Kalafina but i'm 100% sure about it, nonetheless, that song is great!
Sunday, January 16, 2011
some delay...
some unexpected scheduling clashes this week (and last), so new entries won't be updated that soon ...
Monday, January 10, 2011
Beelzebub 1
This was disappointing for the debut of the anime-version. Animation quality wasn't that good and it held not much feel of any urge to continue with the series unlike the manga. True enough, the manga is hilarious, stupid in their ways but entertaining nonetheless. Yet, the anime didn't really bring out such qualities of the manga.
Firstly, the animation quality wasn't that good IMO. Beel didn't looked that cute as compared to the manga and the episode didn't leave much lingering urge to be filled for the rest of the series. Things seemed rushed at first, with little come-and-go on their light jokes that were supposedly funny. Honestly, the only scene that i really did laugh out, was Hilda tugging Beel away from Oga whilst Oga feeling all happy with the child of the demon king sticking to him.
Leaving the negative note aside...
Oga. A delinquent. Introduced with a baby peeing on top of his head. A fountain.
Now that's some epic introduction for a main protagonist of a series. 2 to be exact, with Demon King's son, Beelzebub.
Hearing just "a huge man floating down the river" was already shocking for Oga's best buddy, Furuichi. Well, wait till he hears "the man splitting in half". For a transportation demon, its, well, natural in a sense, for Alaindelon to split in half for dimension transport and apparently, a glance at Oga standing high above people whom he beat the hell out, kneeling down before him, made Alaindelon split open to reveal the not-so-cute Beelzebub. Who gets attached to Oga immediately after Oga nearly scaring him half dead (for any other babies).
Babies being separated from their parents would take the initiative to cry, but with Beel, it comes with a bonus shock of his demon powers.
Soon after, a demon maid arrives by the name of Hildegarde, Hilda for short. Her aim, was to re-collect Beel whom Oga coincidentally dislikes. Due to Oga's pride of having a demon's child clinging on him, the mini tug-of-war ended with Oga's win and Hilda chases on, only to be disturbed by other punks and causing Beel to start a tantrum. AND it wasn't any ordinary tantrum with him throwing sparks all over until Oga stops him from crying which was deemed impossible by Hilda.
With Oga's ability to tame Beel, the currently-unfortunate-dude now has a baby to look after.
Animation quality really lacked a lot here, hope that they would improve in the later few episodes. Probably wouldn't be following this series for long.
This was disappointing for the debut of the anime-version. Animation quality wasn't that good and it held not much feel of any urge to continue with the series unlike the manga. True enough, the manga is hilarious, stupid in their ways but entertaining nonetheless. Yet, the anime didn't really bring out such qualities of the manga.
Firstly, the animation quality wasn't that good IMO. Beel didn't looked that cute as compared to the manga and the episode didn't leave much lingering urge to be filled for the rest of the series. Things seemed rushed at first, with little come-and-go on their light jokes that were supposedly funny. Honestly, the only scene that i really did laugh out, was Hilda tugging Beel away from Oga whilst Oga feeling all happy with the child of the demon king sticking to him.
Leaving the negative note aside...
Oga. A delinquent. Introduced with a baby peeing on top of his head. A fountain.
Now that's some epic introduction for a main protagonist of a series. 2 to be exact, with Demon King's son, Beelzebub.
Hearing just "a huge man floating down the river" was already shocking for Oga's best buddy, Furuichi. Well, wait till he hears "the man splitting in half". For a transportation demon, its, well, natural in a sense, for Alaindelon to split in half for dimension transport and apparently, a glance at Oga standing high above people whom he beat the hell out, kneeling down before him, made Alaindelon split open to reveal the not-so-cute Beelzebub. Who gets attached to Oga immediately after Oga nearly scaring him half dead (for any other babies).
Babies being separated from their parents would take the initiative to cry, but with Beel, it comes with a bonus shock of his demon powers.
Soon after, a demon maid arrives by the name of Hildegarde, Hilda for short. Her aim, was to re-collect Beel whom Oga coincidentally dislikes. Due to Oga's pride of having a demon's child clinging on him, the mini tug-of-war ended with Oga's win and Hilda chases on, only to be disturbed by other punks and causing Beel to start a tantrum. AND it wasn't any ordinary tantrum with him throwing sparks all over until Oga stops him from crying which was deemed impossible by Hilda.
With Oga's ability to tame Beel, the currently-unfortunate-dude now has a baby to look after.
Animation quality really lacked a lot here, hope that they would improve in the later few episodes. Probably wouldn't be following this series for long.
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
While on a break...
having paused blogging last year, i've managed to catch up on some quality series that i've previously missed, which includes Durarara!!, Soul Eater & AIR.
WARNING! SPOILER ALERT!
Durarara!!
This series was probably quite popular when it started airing but after watching its first episode, it didn't really stand out that much as compared to the rest of the series that aired in that season as well. After it ended, it turned out that there were major plot twists in the series and it turned out much better than i had expected after finishing it during the break.
The series revolves around a number of characters with different personalities and backgrounds in Ikebukuro. Ryuugamine Mikado, the main protagonist, arrives in Ikebukuro after receiving an invite from his childhood friend, Kida Masaomi and also meeting the other folks of Ikebukuro and also his crush, Sonohara Anri, another main protagonist. Ikebukuro was a unique town with many of the other characters involved in each others' activities throughout the town. Some characters include Celty, a headless rider on a black bike, who is told off as an urban legend in Ikebukuro and it was later revealed that she was a Dullahan who had come to Japan to search for her missing head and was aided by Shinra, a doctor who has feelings for Celty and helps in her search as well. Celty normally acts accordingly to tasks she receives, like to rescue someone or to deliver some goods. Orihara Izaya, being the most prominent antagonist of the series, is an informant where he sells information to others and is interested in the way human beings act. His arch enemy, Heiwajima Shizuo, is an extremely strong guy (who is able to throw vending machines) who was framed by Izaya and had hated him ever since. Other major characters also plays much important roles in the series but Durarara!! really has many many other characters that need time to sink in their different stories and personalities.
In Ikebukuro, it was previously filled with gangs with color indicators that stand out to others that they were part of certain gangs and in the past, two of the gangs stood out, namely the Yellow Scarves and the Blue Squares but both gangs were said to have disappeared after a major gang clash. There was also an rumoured color-less gang around called the Dollars who doesn't show themselves nor stand out due to them not having any colors at all. Soon after, there was the incident on a cursed blade, Saika, which is said to take away the feeling of love from the carrier and also if the carrier is taken over by Saika, the blade chooses to hurt others to represent its "love" for others. Saika is able to produce its followers if someone is cut and every single one would follow the orders of their "mother", the carrier of the original Saika. The incident was called as the "Slasher" incident and had brought major uproar in Ikebukuro. Anri was then attacked by the Slasher but the table later turns when Anri unsheathe the real Saika in front of the "Saika" that attacked her. As the original "mother", Anri was able to stop the other Saika followers from attacking the citizens but was also slightly injured in the incident. Having received the news that Anri was injured by the Slasher, both Mikado and Kida began to throw their hatred at the Slasher and vow to seek her out, not knowing that the "Slasher" who holds Saika was Anri herself. It later turns out that Mikado was the founder of Dollars and attempts to use the network to find more about the Slasher. Celty and Shizuo, who were part of the Dollars as well, helps to obtain more information. Coincidentally, Kida was the previous leader of the Yellow Scarves and the major clash of the Blue Squares and his gang was due to the kidnapping of Kida's girlfriend, Mikajima Saki, which was all under Izaya's scheming. He now returns to being the leader yet again and vows to drag the Slasher out. Problems started to crop out when the members of the Yellow Scarves started attacking members of the Dollars after seeing Celty and Anri (who was hidden at that time) together and suspects that the Slasher was part of the Dollars. The Dollars soon fell apart but never really did die out even after Mikado decided to shut it down due to more and more victims arising from the gang attacks. Kida did not support the idea of attacking members of the Dollars and was later stripped off the title of the leader where he finally discovers that the Blue Squares had joined the Yellow Scarves and had now taken over the entire gang. The trio discovers the identity of each other and with the other members of the Dollars and the followers of Saika, they manage to take out the ones that wanted to overthrow Kida. Kida then leaves with Saki while Mikado and Anri remain in Ikebukuro.
Well... thats the rather brief outline of the few important plot twists in the series and one strong point in the series is the way the link a single incident through perspectives of different individuals in Ikebukuro. Which in a particular incident when viewed through another's perspective, you might see the other characters being highlighted as well but not LOOKED into. Furthermore, there was this online chatroom scenes that appear every now and then, with the characters taking different nicknames in the chatroom and discussing about the various incidents in Ikebukuro with or without actually knowing who the others were, although there were some hints here and there. Mikado was also able to get into contact with Kida after he leaves silently with Saki through the chatroom. Overall, the animation was rather good and it was most likely the strong storyline that kept me on track in finishing the series which the final climax was a truly unexpected one. It is an truly wonderful series and it's definitely recommended :)
AIR
Being a KEY series, Clannad does bear many similarities with AIR but their soundtracks and moving story are equally great :)
The series revolves around the main antagonist, Yukito, who is able to make puppets move and was travelling around to find a girl who has wings and is able to fly in the sky. He stops by a town and meets the female protagonist, Misuzu, a girl who took notice of Yukito after he first steps into the town and allows him to stay over by her house. Throughout the time Yukito spends in the town, he's able to meet the other classmates of Misuzu and learns the pasts of the other characters and is able to help them in one way or another. It later turns out that Misuzu was constantly having a same dream that is sapping her life away and will eventually forget about everyone before passing on after the next dream she has. It turns out to be true after Misuzu lost her memories of her foster mother and through Yukito's hope of saving her, he's able to turn back time and was able to help her but she still moved on in the end after reaching the end of her "goal".
It was a short series and didn't have much time to develop most of the characters but with Misuzu's arc being placed right at the end, multiple triggers did bring up the seriousness of the dream that Misuzu constantly has and Yukito's helplessness while seeing her hurt in her dreams. The typical time-leaps in KEY works does its magic here and Yukito was able to see the past where they were some incarnate of past humans and Misuzu was indeed the girl who Yukito was looking for, after having suspicions when Misuzu reveals that she was flying in her dreams. The first trigger then came when Yukito decides to leave an ill Misuzu behind as his presence will trigger the effect of the illness which would occur when Misuzu becomes close to a certain individual. But Yukito returns soon after, after realising the foolishness of his actions and the time-leap event occurs. The most touching scene would be the recovery of Misuzu's memories after she was brought away by her real father as she started to struggle after being brought away from her foster mother, whom she was supposed to have lost all memories, and ran back to her, calling out "mother" repeatedly. In the end, Misuzu wasn't really able to recover fully after lying that she was still alright in order to stay with the ones she love. In her final day, she told Yukito and her mother to stand at a distance and that she'll walk to them, treating them as her final goal and collapses after she managed to stagger to her final destination.
The ending was touching enough to make me feel sour but i didn't really understood the kids that appeared right at the end, which the girl made up the starting silhouette of the title "AIR". AS this IS an old series, do not keep your hopes high for Clannad-like graphics and animations but the storyline doesn't lose to Clannad's IMO. In case you realised that there is an AIR the movie, my honest suggestion is to skip it and ignore it. It shows the other side of AIR which i didn't think it was appropriate at all. It felt that i had wasted my time watching it after barely managed to survived watching the movie. Poor storyline and poor story development... Watching the series itself was much much better. So, if you're interested, skip the movie after watching the series.
SOUL EATER
since it's still ongoing (for the manga), i wouldn't blog much about this but if you like shonen titles and love to laugh about and some seriousness, watching this would be great. It has great entertainment, lots of things to laugh about and much actions to watch but since it deters from the manga, watching the anime and treating it as an individual series could be good since the manga is still ongoing and the anime probably didn't want it to drag any longer, 51 episodes is just nice IMO.
...
And so... after such long WOT, now let's have a song to listen to :D (or u could listen to it while reading O_O)
Durarara!! OP2 Complication
The OP2 itself:
And the song :)
nakidashisou na kao de ureu hikui sora
suru koto mo naku toki o kezuru
hakidasu ba no nai omoi o nomikonde
iradachi majiri no tsuba o haku
nanimokamo ga kowaresou na fuan daite asu ni obie
asatte bakka miteta tte kotae wa denai koto datte wakatteru
kagirinaku hirogaru masshiro na ashita ni nani o egaku
genjitsu ga someyuku makkura na ashita ni nani o egaku
mogakikagayaku
nayanderu jibun ga nanka dasakute
jitto shite ran nakute bakkure
yaritai koto sonna mon nai ze
okujou de kossori kuwaeru maisen
nanka tanoshiku nee kyou no saize
shinpaisou na me de miteru mai men
"naite nai ze" nante haite
tsuyogattemite mo maji tsurai ze
kayoinareta usugurai douro
yatto no omoi katta i-Pod
uwabe dake no usupperai RAP
nazeka omoi usuppera no BAG
yasashiku atatakai hazu no basho
omokurushikute akehanatsu mado
juuatsu ni oshitsubusaresou de
nigekonda itsumo no kouen
nanimokamo ga kowaresou na fuan daite asu ni obie
asatte bakka miteta tte kotae wa denai koto datte wakatteru
kagirinaku hirogaru masshiro na ashita ni nani o egaku
genjitsu ga someyuku makkura na ashita ni nani o egaku
mogakikagayaku
kagiriaru wazuka na toki no naka
hetakuso na jibun egake
ima wa mada sore de ii
kagirinaku hirogaru masshiro na ashita ni nani o egaku
genjitsu ga shimeyuku makkura na ashita ni nani o egaku
mogakikagayaku
kagirinaku hirogaru masshiro na ashita ni nani o egaku
genjitsu ga someyuku makkura na ashita ni nani o egaku
mogakikagayaku
WARNING! SPOILER ALERT!
Durarara!!
This series was probably quite popular when it started airing but after watching its first episode, it didn't really stand out that much as compared to the rest of the series that aired in that season as well. After it ended, it turned out that there were major plot twists in the series and it turned out much better than i had expected after finishing it during the break.
The series revolves around a number of characters with different personalities and backgrounds in Ikebukuro. Ryuugamine Mikado, the main protagonist, arrives in Ikebukuro after receiving an invite from his childhood friend, Kida Masaomi and also meeting the other folks of Ikebukuro and also his crush, Sonohara Anri, another main protagonist. Ikebukuro was a unique town with many of the other characters involved in each others' activities throughout the town. Some characters include Celty, a headless rider on a black bike, who is told off as an urban legend in Ikebukuro and it was later revealed that she was a Dullahan who had come to Japan to search for her missing head and was aided by Shinra, a doctor who has feelings for Celty and helps in her search as well. Celty normally acts accordingly to tasks she receives, like to rescue someone or to deliver some goods. Orihara Izaya, being the most prominent antagonist of the series, is an informant where he sells information to others and is interested in the way human beings act. His arch enemy, Heiwajima Shizuo, is an extremely strong guy (who is able to throw vending machines) who was framed by Izaya and had hated him ever since. Other major characters also plays much important roles in the series but Durarara!! really has many many other characters that need time to sink in their different stories and personalities.
In Ikebukuro, it was previously filled with gangs with color indicators that stand out to others that they were part of certain gangs and in the past, two of the gangs stood out, namely the Yellow Scarves and the Blue Squares but both gangs were said to have disappeared after a major gang clash. There was also an rumoured color-less gang around called the Dollars who doesn't show themselves nor stand out due to them not having any colors at all. Soon after, there was the incident on a cursed blade, Saika, which is said to take away the feeling of love from the carrier and also if the carrier is taken over by Saika, the blade chooses to hurt others to represent its "love" for others. Saika is able to produce its followers if someone is cut and every single one would follow the orders of their "mother", the carrier of the original Saika. The incident was called as the "Slasher" incident and had brought major uproar in Ikebukuro. Anri was then attacked by the Slasher but the table later turns when Anri unsheathe the real Saika in front of the "Saika" that attacked her. As the original "mother", Anri was able to stop the other Saika followers from attacking the citizens but was also slightly injured in the incident. Having received the news that Anri was injured by the Slasher, both Mikado and Kida began to throw their hatred at the Slasher and vow to seek her out, not knowing that the "Slasher" who holds Saika was Anri herself. It later turns out that Mikado was the founder of Dollars and attempts to use the network to find more about the Slasher. Celty and Shizuo, who were part of the Dollars as well, helps to obtain more information. Coincidentally, Kida was the previous leader of the Yellow Scarves and the major clash of the Blue Squares and his gang was due to the kidnapping of Kida's girlfriend, Mikajima Saki, which was all under Izaya's scheming. He now returns to being the leader yet again and vows to drag the Slasher out. Problems started to crop out when the members of the Yellow Scarves started attacking members of the Dollars after seeing Celty and Anri (who was hidden at that time) together and suspects that the Slasher was part of the Dollars. The Dollars soon fell apart but never really did die out even after Mikado decided to shut it down due to more and more victims arising from the gang attacks. Kida did not support the idea of attacking members of the Dollars and was later stripped off the title of the leader where he finally discovers that the Blue Squares had joined the Yellow Scarves and had now taken over the entire gang. The trio discovers the identity of each other and with the other members of the Dollars and the followers of Saika, they manage to take out the ones that wanted to overthrow Kida. Kida then leaves with Saki while Mikado and Anri remain in Ikebukuro.
Well... thats the rather brief outline of the few important plot twists in the series and one strong point in the series is the way the link a single incident through perspectives of different individuals in Ikebukuro. Which in a particular incident when viewed through another's perspective, you might see the other characters being highlighted as well but not LOOKED into. Furthermore, there was this online chatroom scenes that appear every now and then, with the characters taking different nicknames in the chatroom and discussing about the various incidents in Ikebukuro with or without actually knowing who the others were, although there were some hints here and there. Mikado was also able to get into contact with Kida after he leaves silently with Saki through the chatroom. Overall, the animation was rather good and it was most likely the strong storyline that kept me on track in finishing the series which the final climax was a truly unexpected one. It is an truly wonderful series and it's definitely recommended :)
AIR
Being a KEY series, Clannad does bear many similarities with AIR but their soundtracks and moving story are equally great :)
The series revolves around the main antagonist, Yukito, who is able to make puppets move and was travelling around to find a girl who has wings and is able to fly in the sky. He stops by a town and meets the female protagonist, Misuzu, a girl who took notice of Yukito after he first steps into the town and allows him to stay over by her house. Throughout the time Yukito spends in the town, he's able to meet the other classmates of Misuzu and learns the pasts of the other characters and is able to help them in one way or another. It later turns out that Misuzu was constantly having a same dream that is sapping her life away and will eventually forget about everyone before passing on after the next dream she has. It turns out to be true after Misuzu lost her memories of her foster mother and through Yukito's hope of saving her, he's able to turn back time and was able to help her but she still moved on in the end after reaching the end of her "goal".
It was a short series and didn't have much time to develop most of the characters but with Misuzu's arc being placed right at the end, multiple triggers did bring up the seriousness of the dream that Misuzu constantly has and Yukito's helplessness while seeing her hurt in her dreams. The typical time-leaps in KEY works does its magic here and Yukito was able to see the past where they were some incarnate of past humans and Misuzu was indeed the girl who Yukito was looking for, after having suspicions when Misuzu reveals that she was flying in her dreams. The first trigger then came when Yukito decides to leave an ill Misuzu behind as his presence will trigger the effect of the illness which would occur when Misuzu becomes close to a certain individual. But Yukito returns soon after, after realising the foolishness of his actions and the time-leap event occurs. The most touching scene would be the recovery of Misuzu's memories after she was brought away by her real father as she started to struggle after being brought away from her foster mother, whom she was supposed to have lost all memories, and ran back to her, calling out "mother" repeatedly. In the end, Misuzu wasn't really able to recover fully after lying that she was still alright in order to stay with the ones she love. In her final day, she told Yukito and her mother to stand at a distance and that she'll walk to them, treating them as her final goal and collapses after she managed to stagger to her final destination.
The ending was touching enough to make me feel sour but i didn't really understood the kids that appeared right at the end, which the girl made up the starting silhouette of the title "AIR". AS this IS an old series, do not keep your hopes high for Clannad-like graphics and animations but the storyline doesn't lose to Clannad's IMO. In case you realised that there is an AIR the movie, my honest suggestion is to skip it and ignore it. It shows the other side of AIR which i didn't think it was appropriate at all. It felt that i had wasted my time watching it after barely managed to survived watching the movie. Poor storyline and poor story development... Watching the series itself was much much better. So, if you're interested, skip the movie after watching the series.
SOUL EATER
since it's still ongoing (for the manga), i wouldn't blog much about this but if you like shonen titles and love to laugh about and some seriousness, watching this would be great. It has great entertainment, lots of things to laugh about and much actions to watch but since it deters from the manga, watching the anime and treating it as an individual series could be good since the manga is still ongoing and the anime probably didn't want it to drag any longer, 51 episodes is just nice IMO.
...
And so... after such long WOT, now let's have a song to listen to :D (or u could listen to it while reading O_O)
Durarara!! OP2 Complication
The OP2 itself:
And the song :)
nakidashisou na kao de ureu hikui sora
suru koto mo naku toki o kezuru
hakidasu ba no nai omoi o nomikonde
iradachi majiri no tsuba o haku
nanimokamo ga kowaresou na fuan daite asu ni obie
asatte bakka miteta tte kotae wa denai koto datte wakatteru
kagirinaku hirogaru masshiro na ashita ni nani o egaku
genjitsu ga someyuku makkura na ashita ni nani o egaku
mogakikagayaku
nayanderu jibun ga nanka dasakute
jitto shite ran nakute bakkure
yaritai koto sonna mon nai ze
okujou de kossori kuwaeru maisen
nanka tanoshiku nee kyou no saize
shinpaisou na me de miteru mai men
"naite nai ze" nante haite
tsuyogattemite mo maji tsurai ze
kayoinareta usugurai douro
yatto no omoi katta i-Pod
uwabe dake no usupperai RAP
nazeka omoi usuppera no BAG
yasashiku atatakai hazu no basho
omokurushikute akehanatsu mado
juuatsu ni oshitsubusaresou de
nigekonda itsumo no kouen
nanimokamo ga kowaresou na fuan daite asu ni obie
asatte bakka miteta tte kotae wa denai koto datte wakatteru
kagirinaku hirogaru masshiro na ashita ni nani o egaku
genjitsu ga someyuku makkura na ashita ni nani o egaku
mogakikagayaku
kagiriaru wazuka na toki no naka
hetakuso na jibun egake
ima wa mada sore de ii
kagirinaku hirogaru masshiro na ashita ni nani o egaku
genjitsu ga shimeyuku makkura na ashita ni nani o egaku
mogakikagayaku
kagirinaku hirogaru masshiro na ashita ni nani o egaku
genjitsu ga someyuku makkura na ashita ni nani o egaku
mogakikagayaku
Saturday, January 1, 2011
First Post!
HAPPY NEW YEAR to one and all :)
its 2011 and the perfect time (for me) to release this new blog.
just if you guys are wondering, my old blog resides :
here
It has been a long way since i started blogging (as seen from my old one) and started through blogging of J-animation soon after.
And now, the revolution and change has begun! :D
To start things off, here's just a brief introduction about me and my blog :)
I would try to cover as much anime series as possible like in the past but there would not be anymore synopsis or lengthy WOT (wall-of-text) of any series, but there is still a possibility of spotting some WOTs around with regards to movies or OVAs or cosplay events.
Speaking of cosplay events, i would try and upload most of the photos i've taken throughout the event and upload to blogger, in the meantime. Blogger does reduce the upload quality so i'm still searching for better uploading sites since hot-linking images and viewing them one by one is frustrating and inconvenient.
I'm not trying to really commercialise this site and i'm only blogging for my interest in J-animation... so feel free to spread it around if you do find this blog interesting to read and probably DO leave some comments here and there. Nonetheless, this blog will remain updated even if the above doesn't happen :)
Just a brief history, the 1st main anime series i've watched was Cardcaptor Sakura, in the age of wonderful storyline and watchable artwork unlike the heavy loaded fan-services anime today. Attended my first cosplay event in Cosfest years ago and have now, most-likely, only venturing into Cosfest and AFA (provided it remains in SG).
2011 would be a busy year for me and this is probably the reason i have decided to make the changes and moved to a new site. Through the rather long break, i've been able to catch up on the series that i've missed, namely: Durarara!!, AIR, and Soul Eater, which were all equally entertaining to watch. (might blog on them some other time...)
Leaving these aside, Winter 2011 is here! credits to here
In the list, a must-watch would be Mitsudomoe's 2nd season and also Beelzebub, the others would have to wait for their 1st episode to air before making a decision whether or not to follow it. Seeing how the series are lined up next year, it could be good that there aren't much series that catch my eye, seeing how busy 2011 would be for me...
so do stay tuned to this site yea! :D
Just some extra vids:
Beelzebub PV:
Strength (abingdon boys school)
kawaita kuchibiru itetsuku taiyou ni sarasarete
afureru namida ga shitataru mabushisa de boku o nazoru kara
tarinai kasho o tada umeau you ni kimi o motometeita
fureau yubi ni tsutawaru setsunasa dake o kakiatsumete
kodou no oku ni kazasu negai o
sadame to iu nara
nokosareta kioku to nakushita kimi no omokage ga
ima mo okizari no mama...
kasuka na toiki to furueru manazashi ni yurameite
kosureru tamashii o me o iru kirameki ga futari o tsutsunde
deawanakereba kizutsukeau koto sae mo nakatta no ka na?
mogareta hane no itami ni yorisoi nagara sotto nemurou
modorenai kara kaerenai kara
inochi o karashite
toozakaru ano hi to nakusu bakari no kono ude ga
kimi no nukumori ni kogarete...
dare mo ga chigau sabishisa mochiyotte asu o hoshigaru kedo
kimi ga mezashita yogorenaki sono tsuyosa de boku o kowashite
koe ni dekizu ni taeta inori o
sadame to nazukete
nokosareta kioku to nakushita kimi no omokage ga
ueta kono mune ni ima mo okizari no mama...
its 2011 and the perfect time (for me) to release this new blog.
just if you guys are wondering, my old blog resides :
here
It has been a long way since i started blogging (as seen from my old one) and started through blogging of J-animation soon after.
And now, the revolution and change has begun! :D
To start things off, here's just a brief introduction about me and my blog :)
I would try to cover as much anime series as possible like in the past but there would not be anymore synopsis or lengthy WOT (wall-of-text) of any series, but there is still a possibility of spotting some WOTs around with regards to movies or OVAs or cosplay events.
Speaking of cosplay events, i would try and upload most of the photos i've taken throughout the event and upload to blogger, in the meantime. Blogger does reduce the upload quality so i'm still searching for better uploading sites since hot-linking images and viewing them one by one is frustrating and inconvenient.
I'm not trying to really commercialise this site and i'm only blogging for my interest in J-animation... so feel free to spread it around if you do find this blog interesting to read and probably DO leave some comments here and there. Nonetheless, this blog will remain updated even if the above doesn't happen :)
Just a brief history, the 1st main anime series i've watched was Cardcaptor Sakura, in the age of wonderful storyline and watchable artwork unlike the heavy loaded fan-services anime today. Attended my first cosplay event in Cosfest years ago and have now, most-likely, only venturing into Cosfest and AFA (provided it remains in SG).
2011 would be a busy year for me and this is probably the reason i have decided to make the changes and moved to a new site. Through the rather long break, i've been able to catch up on the series that i've missed, namely: Durarara!!, AIR, and Soul Eater, which were all equally entertaining to watch. (might blog on them some other time...)
Leaving these aside, Winter 2011 is here! credits to here
In the list, a must-watch would be Mitsudomoe's 2nd season and also Beelzebub, the others would have to wait for their 1st episode to air before making a decision whether or not to follow it. Seeing how the series are lined up next year, it could be good that there aren't much series that catch my eye, seeing how busy 2011 would be for me...
so do stay tuned to this site yea! :D
Just some extra vids:
Beelzebub PV:
Strength (abingdon boys school)
kawaita kuchibiru itetsuku taiyou ni sarasarete
afureru namida ga shitataru mabushisa de boku o nazoru kara
tarinai kasho o tada umeau you ni kimi o motometeita
fureau yubi ni tsutawaru setsunasa dake o kakiatsumete
kodou no oku ni kazasu negai o
sadame to iu nara
nokosareta kioku to nakushita kimi no omokage ga
ima mo okizari no mama...
kasuka na toiki to furueru manazashi ni yurameite
kosureru tamashii o me o iru kirameki ga futari o tsutsunde
deawanakereba kizutsukeau koto sae mo nakatta no ka na?
mogareta hane no itami ni yorisoi nagara sotto nemurou
modorenai kara kaerenai kara
inochi o karashite
toozakaru ano hi to nakusu bakari no kono ude ga
kimi no nukumori ni kogarete...
dare mo ga chigau sabishisa mochiyotte asu o hoshigaru kedo
kimi ga mezashita yogorenaki sono tsuyosa de boku o kowashite
koe ni dekizu ni taeta inori o
sadame to nazukete
nokosareta kioku to nakushita kimi no omokage ga
ueta kono mune ni ima mo okizari no mama...
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