"A Certain Scientific Railgun S" Love

Hey gang!

Well, I had planned to have a review of the final episode of A Certain Scientific Railgun S up today, but instead, I spent the day watching football, playing Skyrim, and getting into discussions. I still had time to write, so I got it half way done, but then my brother called and that shot the rest of my time.

So, I thought I'd share a piece of fan art from Nicowaha, which is from the Sisters arc and quite good if I do say so myself.

When I get home tomorrow, I'll try to get my review finished up. ^_^;

Genshiken Nidaime -- "Sue Perfect!!!!"

I got to see chapter 92 of Genshiken Nidaime and the vast amount of Sue awesomeness in that chapter, culminating in this moment.

Heh!heh!heh! Can't wait to see this chapter translated. I'll blog the chapter when that happens.

UQ Holder Chapter 6 SPOILER Images (Update #1)

OK, here's the first SPOILER image from the upcoming UQ Holder chapter 6.

*SPOILERS*

Eva-sama? Man.  Kinda reminded me of some scenes in Hayate the Combat Butler or Urusei Yatsura with the large staff on either side. I wonder if this means their days of walking are over.

*lol* I just love the look on Touta's face here.

Well, that answers that I guess. ^_^;;;

Thanks to Southrop for the excellent shares. ^_^

Update #1: I missed this one earlier. Blame it on the rain. ^_~

Hmmmm.

Again, thanks to Soutrop. ^_^ If anyone has more, let me know.

Hayate the Combat Butler Manga Chapter 422 (The Lies of an Idol)

ハヤテのごとく！/Hayate no Gotoku Chapter 422 Review

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:

In Hokkaido, Kayura's mother lets Kayura's father know that their daughter has returned to Tokyo. Kayura's father isn't so happy that Kayura's room is a mess.

At Yukari-chan House, Kayura tells Ruka the story of a new idol who held a concert event at a supermarket for their re-opening ceremony. The concert was terrible as the stage was cheaply made, the music was from a cassette player, and the only ones there were a few old people. Kayura felt the idol was sad and shabby, but the idol gave it her all, which affected Kayura. After the concert, the idol shook everyone's hand and gave them a signed poster. When it was Kayura's turn, she noticed the idol's faint smile mixed with bitterness. Thus, Kayura realized the idol wasn't happy with her situation and had been lying and wasn't good at it.

Thus, Kayura tells Ruka to not draw lies since she's bad at lying, Ruka having been the idol in Kayura's story. Ruka demands to know what Kayura means. Kayura says it something Kayura can't let go of and hands Ruka back the storyboard.

The next morning, Kayura tells Chiharu that she and Ruka will be heading to Rainbow Village to finish Ruka's manuscript since having two rivals under the same roof isn't a good thing. She tells Chiharu to tell Nagi "good luck."

Maria checks in on the ailing Ayumu, who has a fever. Ayumu wonders if she's going to die, but Maria assures her she won't die, but she needs to be checked out, so Maria arranges to have her taken to the hospital.

Meanwhile, Chiharu comes in to help Nagi, finding her in the early stages of getting sick. Nagi is concerned over her lack of progress since she could lose Hayate. Nagi asks how Ruka is doing, to which Chiharu answers that Ruka has had a breakthrough and is making progress. With that, Nagi returns to working on her manga.

Elsewhere, Hina, Hayate, and Kurosu arrive in Hokkaido.

Thoughts/Review:

I'm glad that Hata-sensei isn't worrying a great deal about forcing gags into the chapters of late.  Sure, there was something humorous about Ayumu being ill (even though being sick is never funny) and something humorous about Hayate coming out of a Lamborghini trunk. But this doesn't feel like, "MUST TELL GAG JOKES" that sometimes Hata-sensei comes off as doing.

I need to go back and read Kayura's first displayed meeting with Ruka to see if Kayura shows any signs of having met Ruka before or even being her fan. I don't have a problem if Kayura's story in this chapter is a retcon, but I'm just curious to know, especially since Kayura hung up in her room the signed poster of Ruka from that early concert

The lie Kayura speaks of is Ruka's whole life to date as well as her love. The idol lifestyle was forced on Ruka, so she did what she could to be good at it, though clearly, in those early days, she had a hard time being completely successful at hiding the bitterness she felt about having this lifestyle forced on her. That has never ended, thanks to Ruka's decision to not quit being an idol in order to do the responsible thing and pay off the debt she owes, thanks to her worthless parents.

The other element in Ruka's manga is the love aspect, where her heroine finds happiness in love. While Ruka may be in love with Hayate, she hasn't found happiness yet.  For starters, Hayate doesn't love her in a romantic way. He cares about her, just as he cares about a lot of girls.  But that's a long way from romantic love.  Even if he did love her, they'd have a tough life together, both of them being so saddled with debt.

Regardless, it will be interesting to see what changes Ruka makes to her manga.

Also interesting is that Kurosu took Hina and Hayate to Hokkaido, Kayura's home town. I didn't remember Ruka being from there, but it would explain her being at a concert years earlier for a supermarket there. I'm really curious as to what might still be here that could make Ruka happy.

As an aside, Hina makes an interesting choice to go up to Hokkaido with Hayate and Kurosu. I say this because I wonder if Hata-sensei will try to use this as an opportunity to explore Hina's backstory a little more. I'm currently (and VERY slowly) rereading the Viz manga releases of Hayate the Combat Butler.  One of the remarks Hata-sensei said back when Hina and Yukiji were introduced was his desire to tell their whole debt story, since he'd already done the groundwork to tell said story (which I believe was for an earlier manga concept). I know we've seen bits and pieces of that story, including a glimpse of how Yukiji did whatever it took to pay off the debt, but I'd like to see it actually drawn out in more detail, even if it takes several chapters to do so.

So, some interesting things happening in this chapter. I really hope Hata-sensei continues to press forward with actual story and doesn't go, "Oh no! Must do one shot gag chapters to waste time!"

UQ Holder Manga Chapter 5 Review (Who says Eva has lost a step?!)

ユーキューホルダー!/UQ Holder Chapter 5 Review

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis: 

Touta cheerfully walks and sings beside Yukihime while Kuroumaru trails them at a distance. Touta hollers for Kuroumaru to catch up, but Kuroumaru refuses since they are opposites. Touta holds up the signed pact with Kuroumaru, making Kuroumaru irritated. Yukihime states that she no longer has a desire to kill Kuroumaru since Kuroumaru is a friend of Touta's, even if only on paper. This leads Kuroumaru to tell about the clan's mission and what failure would mean for Kuroumaru. Yukihime offers Kuroumaru a chance to be her disciple, something Touta is completely down for. The two of them decide on it, leaving Kuroumaru flustered and unable to get in a word.

Arriving at another village, they discover it has an onsen and decide to spend the night at an inn. This causes Kuroumaru to panic a bit, but Yukihime knowingly suggests that the two guys bathe together and that Kuroumaru should speak frankly with Touta. Touta drags the unwilling Kuroumaru off to the men's onsen. Kuroumaru is tepid and shy about entering the water, and as such, keeps a towel up in a covering fashion. When asked, Kuroumaru says that it is due to a lack of bathing with strangers despite being from Japan. Touta again suspects Kuroumaru of being a girl, but gets whacked before he can ask to inspect Kuroumaru's goods.

In the water, Kuroumaru starts to relax a bit, leading Touta to speak of Kuroumaru's clan. Touta asks Kuroumaru to come with Yukihime and him. Kuroumaru is taken aback by this and when offered a hand by Touta, starts to take it before realizing what this means and slapping his hand away. Touta asks why, leading Kuroumaru to say it is complicated.

Touta decides they should follow a male tradition and peep on Eva, who should be getting into the women's batch at an onsen on a nearby clifftop. Touta tries to tempt Kuroumaru by saying Yukihime has a hot bod, but Kuroumaru isn't interested. Touta isn't either, but Kuroumaru points out that if Yukihime is the real Evangeline, she's one of the strongest people in the world. Touta isn't so sure snf Kuroumaru is having second thoughts as well.

From a distance, Yukihime can be heard laughing, having heard the whole conversation. She challenges both Yukihime and Touta, the latter of whom she praises for his adolescent interest, and says that should they strip the bath towel off her, she won't stop them from seeing her naked. Touta is game and races up the cliff like mad. However, he's blasted away by Yukihime. Kuroumaru takes time to wrap up in a body towel before coming to Touta's aide.

Yukihime gives Touta a taste of real magic by using ancient magic to bring forth countless ice spears, causing them to rain down on the two. Kuroumaru no longer doubts this is the real Eva and races to save Touta. Touta is pleased, though Kuroumaru says it is only because of the pact. Touta asks Kuroumaru to throw him, so Kuroumaru does as he asks. Kuroumaru goes flying through the air and snatches a towel off of Yukihime's body.

Thoughts/Review:

Well now, well now.

I really do think Kuroumaru is a girl, though Akamatsu-sensei could be setting up the bishounen guy thing, or even someone who's genderless. Eva's remarks to Kuroumaru would seem to indicate that Eva know's Kuroumaru is a girl too, thus she's enjoying putting Kuroumaru into a bad position of having to bathe with a guy.  Assuming Kuroumaru is a girl, I suspect that the way Touta treats Kuroumaru won't change.  After all, Eva supposedly does nothing for him despite having a good figure in her Yukihime form.

Kuroumaru is massively strong to be able to fling Touta with that much force.  Question is, how'd Touta know that Kuroumaru could throw like that?

This chapter was done in part to remove all doubt that Eva hasn't lost a step.  I laughed out loud when Eva revealed she heard Touta's and Kuroumaru's entire conversation despite the great distance from her location to Touta's. Further, she blasts him off with no effort and with little effort, does her usual panache when it comes to massive, ancient magic spells.

This chapter was also done to continue to show Touta is more than he seems to be, something that has been hinted at for a while now. We have the impressive way he climbed the cliff as if it were nothing,  but also in how he snatched the towel from Eva.  I'm not convinced that was the real Eva though.  I can envision a scenario where Touta thinks he's gotten Eva's towel, but in fact hit a decoy, leaving a still towel covered Eva to gloat over him.

If Touta really did succeed, then Akamatsu-sensei is rapidly pushing forward his power progress for some reason that I can't fathom. I know some folks will say that this is a sign that Eva has gotten weaker, but I just don't see it that way.

I was glad to see Chachazero's little cameo. I really do hope an explanation of what happened to her is given at some point. After all, Chachazero had been with Eva for how many years or centuries, going back to when Eva was still not that strong.  Chachazero was Eva's partner, and since I'm confident Chachazero's body had a soul in it, then it was a true pactio, not a doll contract like Chachamaru had with Eva.

So, a fun chapter where we get to see Eva unleash a bit, Touta still be Touta, and Kuroumaru still behave like a girl.

Spotted Flower Chapter 09 Manga Review (Icy Walking Surfaces Are Dangerous!)

Spotted Flower Chapter 09 (Manga)
Spotted Flower manga chapter 09 review

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:

NOTE: For the purposes of this and future reviews, until the characters are given names, I will call the "not Saki" woman "Oku-san" (a term for a wife) and I'll refer to the "not Madarame" guy as "Danna-san" (a term for a husband).

Oku-san sees a thing on TV about the Sapporo Snow Festival and suddenly decides she wants to go to this. She immediately begins searching the web for hotels and finds one, but Danna-san stops her, citing her pregnant condition and how she has to think of the baby and the icy conditions. Oku-san is highly annoyed by this, which Danna-san believes is latent anger from seeing his trap ero-game.

The next morning, he tells her not to make any reservations and goes to work. Oku-san thinks that by going on a vacation, her husband won't be able to bring any porn games or manga and so might make a move on her despite her pregnant condition. If he doesn't, she hopes he slips and falls on the ice, the image of which causes her to laugh.

The snow starts falling outside and when Danna-san comes home, he has a swollen hand, citing the weather conditions as preventing him from getting to a hospital, so he'll go have it checked out on the following day. He explains that he slipped and fell outside the station, further telling her that this very thing is why he doesn't want her getting out on the ice. She apologizes for her earlier anger and says they'll put his hand on ice.

Thoughts/Review:

So, Kio-sensei is running with the busted hand gag here and on Genshiken Nidaime.

I realize the whole schtick of this manga is the otaku husband not wanting to have marital relations with his pregnant wife and her subsequent frustrations about this. However, it is getting to be old to me at this point, even though there are only nine short chapters in the books. The wife wouldn't be wanting to do foolish things like attending a snow festival while pregnant if the husband would just do the do.  But, as long as he can selfishly "meditate" to games and doujinshi manga, then what's the point of even being married?

Seriously, what got these two characters together in the first place? It is no wonder that Kio-sensei couldn't figure out a way for Madarame and Saki to get together in the Genshiken universe.  They don't fit together at all. 

Well, it is what it is, eh? That whole, silly premise is what sets up the gag for the "not Madarame" husband to stop his "not Saki" wife from doing something foolish, then breaking his hand, as his counterpart just did, by slipping on the ice and proving why he's right to stop his wife.

I really would rather this little manga move on from the "not having sex with my pregnant wife" thing and move onto other aspects of married life of a "normal" girl and her otaku husband. But, I can't deny that I do enjoy seeing new chapters when they come out, even if it is on the same premise.

Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya - Final Thoughts

Fate/kaleid liner PRISMA☆ILLYA Final Thoughts Review
Fate/kaleid liner プリズマ☆イリヤ


***POTENTIAL SPOILERS**

When I first heard about Fate/kaleid liner PRISMA☆ILLYA, I can't say that I was impressed.  Despite its obvious connections to the Fate/stay night franchise, I figured this to be some cheap magic girl knockoff done to cash in on the franchise. After all, I'd seen this happen before with the Mahou Shoujo Pretty Sammy spinoffs from the Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-ohki franchise (not to be confused with the Sasami: Mahou Shoujo Club spinoff that came years later).  But, there are times when a magic girl spinoff actually ends up pretty good, which is what happened when Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha was spun off from the Triangle Heart franchise. So on a whim, I decided to watch Fate/kaleid liner PRISMA☆ILLYA,which has its good and bad.

The series starts off as a parody of the mahou shoujo genre, making sure to touch the various clichés associated with that genre such as the required magic girl transformation (henshin) sequence. There are obvious nods to Cardcaptor Sakura and Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha as well. However, since this series is based off the Fate/stay night franchise, there are also a lot of nods to the original Fate/stay night series (or visual novel, since that came first).  With the older Rin and Luvia acting as guides for Ilya and Miyu respectively, the subsequent rivalry between Rin and Luvia is cliched but humorous, right down to Luvia's "Noblewoman's Laugh" trope.

With only ten episodes given to adapt the first, two volume manga series, the series has plenty of time to cover the material from the manga. I have not read the source manga (I plan to now), but I could certainly feel some drag at times, but also some oddness in plot development toward the end of the series. Ilya somehow instinctively knows how to use the Class Cards they are collecting, but that's never gone into. Ilya also has a seal on her powers, but that is not explored either once the seal beaks. Miyu has a rather harsh reaction to Ilya's saving everyone, but due to her massive power, which could have injured the others. Miyu's actions didn't make sense to me. The ending was rather clichéd as well, followed by some loli shoujo ai as Miyu clings to Ilya.

But things weren't all bad. The story, despite a lack of any in depth exploration of the Class Cards, was fairly interesting to me. I liked the concept of Ilya's being a fan of the mahou shoujo enabling her to excel when she became a magic girl, but I really liked Ilya's reaction when the deadly reality of being a magic girl came up. I can't imagine anyone like Ilya not having that reaction. After all, not only could Ilya have been killed, but her comrades could have been killed or harmed as well. There's a difference between an anime (manga) and reality.  So I appreciated the series bringing this aspect up. I just hope that subsequent series continues to explore things properly.

I also appreciated the linkage to the Fate/stay night series. Unlike Pretty Sammy, which just took TM!R characters and put them into new settings with no connections to the original TM!R other than names and character designs, Fate/kaleid successfully creates an alternate universe feeling. The some of the characters from Fate/stay night (and one from Fate/Zero) are here and in similar roles, only there's no Grail War for whatever reason in the Fate/kaleid universe. Rin is still Rin and Shiro is still Shiro, only why he was rescued and adopted by Kiritsugu is unknown since there was no Grail War to make him an orphan. The mahou shoujo elements actually end up fitting in fairly well into the Fate/stay night multi-verse.

Despite my disappointment with how the series ended, I am looking forward to seeing more of this world. Since a sequel is in the works, I plan to watch it. In the meantime, I'm going to read the manga, as I'm able.

A Certain Scientific Railgun S - 23 (Need a character explanation? Make it up yourself!)

Toaru Kagaku no Railgun S Episode 23
とある科学の超電磁砲（レールガン）S
To Aru Kagaku no Railgun S 

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:

Aritomi explains how Academy City's focus on espers and ignorance of those with powerful intellects caused him to decide to make the people of the world sit up and recognize intellectual achievement. Since esper births are by luck, he decides to create an artificial person with esper abilities, thus STUDY is formed and Project Chemicaloid is born. However, when he realized that the scientific community of Academy City weren't interested in the project, but were solely focused on espers (the Shift Level 6 project), STUDY decided to take matters into their own hands. As such, at the forthcoming Academic Assembly, they will showcase Janine and her Diffusion Ghost esper ability. With that, Mikoto passes out.

When Mikoto comes to, she's on a gurney and unable to move. Shinobu is there and when asked by Mikoto, explain that she'd been captured by ITEM and sold to STUDY, where she learned that their Project Chemicaloid was based in part off her earlier works. When she saw the artificial twins, she decided that once she had the chemical recipe to counter the poisons in their bodies, she'd program Janie with human emotions. Mikoto realizes Shinobu and she are very similar, so she tells Shinobu that she doesn't have to do this alone. Using her powers, Mikoto is able to overcome her paralysis. In addition, Kuroko has infiltrated this STUDY facility thanks to Uiharu tracking Mikoto's injected nanodevices and Saten keeping watch from a distance. Kuroko makes it to Mikoto, but gets fried since Mikoto is electrified in order to be able to move.

The members of STUDY arrive and find Shinobu there, whom they take into custody. When asked why she didn't flee with Mikoto, Shinobu says that since she'd been sold by one underground organization to another, fleeing now would mean running for the rest of her life. In reality, as she told Mikoto, her reasons for staying were to remain close to Janie, since STUDY still need Shinobu's skills. Mikoto reports everything to her comrades at the Judgment facility, including that Febri would be able to locate Janie once Janie's powers activated. They contact Yomikawa to get Anti-Skill involved, only to learn she's been suspended, but that Anti-Skill won't get involved and that STUDY is now Anti-Skill's main supplier.

Just as Mitsuko arrives with new information, Uiharu has found the same information, namely that STUDY probably has 20,000 power suits, meaning they can start their revolution. The group, now including Wannai and Awatsuki, discuss things. Mikoto ponders things as well, but after the group tells her that they are all in this to help Febri and Janie, she's OK with it. Febri wakes up and is told that they are going to save Janie. Mitsuko arranges to have her father immediately send certain equipment to them. At Saten's home, she, Uiharu, and Febri make onigiri while Saten studies some booklets. At the dorm, Kuroko has made dummies to fool the dorm supervisor in case she does bed checks. Mikoto makes a quick call to the Sisters. The next morning, STUDY starts their plan while the girls have Mitsuko's equipment to combat the power suits. Mikoto is on a roof with Febri, who's in a new dress, when Febri senses the direction Janie is in. So, Mikoto takes Febri and jumps off the building after giving Febri the last lollipop.

Thoughts/Review:

OK, so now we know that STUDY did create an artificial person with esper abilities. We know that ability is called Diffusion Ghost. And we know that strands of Janie's hair are used to either direct control power suits or other robotics, but can also be programed with simple commands, meaning Janie doesn't have to control them. Some of STUDY's experiments make more sense now, but what this has to do with Mikoto or Shizuri specifically is still unclear to me.

We also got the explanation for why Shinobu was "free" since when we last saw her, she'd been captured by ITEM. Initially, I thought that ITEM would have handed Shinobu over to their client, since she was caught trying to mess with the Level 6 Shift project. As such, it seemed odd that ITEM would sell Shinobu to STUDY.  I just couldn't reconcile that, especially since episode 9 clearly had Saiai tell Shinobu that they'd be handing her over to their client.

So, I consulted volume 5 of the manga.  There too, Saiai tells Shinobu that she'll be handed over to the client. However, the official English version makes an interesting choices of words and fonts. When Saiai is asked about what will happen to Shinobu, her response is, "I guess if she's valuable, she'll get to live."  For whatever reason, Seven Seas decided to make that word bold, meaning put emphasis on it when reading it.

As such, I think that's the out J.C. Staff is using, with whatever assistance from Kamachi-sensei, to explain why ITEM sold Shinobu to STUDY. I doubt that J.C. Staff will explain any further, leaving it to the audience to figure out. However, since ITEM is a mercenary team, I can envision a scenario where STUDY wants Shinobu, and decides to buy her, so ITEM sells her instead of giving her to the client. After all, money talks and the client doesn't specifically know about Shinobu's sabotage. The selling of Shinobu I can now reconcile.

As to STUDY, I was having a hard time reconciling why they'd make her a voting member of their group when she's basically a slave to them. However, being a clever type, Shinobu probably sold them on the idea that she wants revenge on Academy City for treating her work they way they did, combined with her giving them whatever else they needed to make their project succeed. That would explain Aritomi's suspicion of her.

It is all pure speculation, which is kind of a frustrating part of Japanese writing sometimes.  They don't want to figure out how things got from point A to C, so they let fans duke it out on how this might have happened and what point B was.

J.C. Staff still has a hard time of letting go of their stamp on Mitsuko to make her overly haughty only to get cut off by Saten. While she can be disdainful and use her fan with flair, I just didn't like how Mitsuko came off at times in this episode. Just have Mitsuko be faithful to her manga counterpart.

Finally, I was wrong about Mikoto blasting Aritomi to get away. I was right in my thinking, since Mikoto later used her powers to allow herself to move, but since the writers needed Aritomi to get away cleanly, no blasters were allowed.

One more episode and then it is over.

UQ Holder Chapter 5 SPOILER Image(s) Update #2

OK, here's the first SPOILER image from the upcoming UQ Holder chapter 5.

*SPOILERS*

HAR! The joke continues with Kuroumaru, eh? So, how long is Akamatsu-sensei going to keep that going? ^_~

Thanks to Southrop for the first share. ^_^  If anyone has anymore, let me know.

Update #1

Heh!heh!heh! Who said Eva had lost a step? Plus, she's showing that not even Gilgamesh from the Fate/stay night franchise can hold a candle to her. ^_~

Thanks again to Southrop for this image. ^_^

Update 2:

Ah.  So, 2CH is basing their spoiler images off of the now released MS scan. I do worry that Kodansha will come down like white on rice over full scans coming out so early.

Hayate the Combat Butler Manga Chapter 421 (Comic Master K!)

ハヤテのごとく！/Hayate no Gotoku Chapter 421

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:

Nagi and Ruka again exchange words on how they'll win, Ruka getting the final word in, but in reality, Ruka was in as much trouble as Nagi as she too had not done her manuscript.  However, worrying over the limited time remaining to her as well as Nagi's words on having come up with a good storyboard causes Ruka to waste a lot of time. She wants to consult with Hina or Hayate on her storyboard, which she thinks is good but missing something, but those two have taken off.

Kayura emerges, calling herself Comic Master K while cosplaying the Comic Master J character. Ruka doesn't get the reference, but Kayura says she's there to help a fellow, troubled housemate. When asked if she can draw, Kayura reminds Ruka that her parents were assistants of a certain manga-ka and she produces a manuscript that she did at age 12, which is far superior to what either Ruka or Nagi did.

Kayura says that her parents wanted her to live out their dream of being a manga-ka by becoming one herself. Ruka immediately relates to this, since she became an idol due to her own parent's dream being forced on her. Ruka asks if Kayura is trying to become a manga-ka. Kayura says she might become one or she might not, but for now, she'd rather read manga. This surprises Ruka, so Kayura says life should be lived by doing what makes one happy. She points out that both Ruka and Nagi have a similar problem in that they have difficulty discovering what makes them happy.

Ruka gives Kayura her manuscript, which Kayura starts to read. Kayura likes the story, but as she reads more, she starts showing signs of concern. After finishing, Ruka asks what she thought. With that, Kayura starts to tell a story of an idol that once visited a local supermarket.

Thoughts/Review:

One of the things that I liked about this chapter is the subtle glimpse given into the notion of the other person being better or doing better than you might be doing.  Ruka has long been established as a superior manga-ka to Nagi. Nagi has always gotten bogged down in her hideous Brittany magic girl concept, with its bizarre stories and poor art. Ruka has had some doujinshi success with a good story and good art. As such, the manga has shown Nagi to have concern over Ruka trumping her in a contest.

With this chapter, we get to see that Ruka, while having superior skills, is in the same place Nagi is when it comes to actually producing a finished doujinshi manga.  Even though Nagi is in a panic over getting done on time, Ruka panics for the same reason, aided by Nagi's words that she has a good storyboard, meaning Nagi achieved her goal.  So now, Ruka imagines Nagi is in a better position than she actually is.

It made me think of how we are in real life. Often, we look at others and assume that they are superior to us, or ahead of us in one fashion or the other and that they don't have the issues that we have. Yet in reality, those other people have similar issues that we have and may in fact be in the same position as us, even if they seem to be ahead of us.  As such, though it is easier said than done, we should focus on ourselves and not worry about others.

So, Nagi gets Chiharu as an assistant and apparently, Ruka is getting Kayura.  It is interesting that Ruka is telling a story of Murasaki Shikibu (Shikibu being her official title as an official responsible for court ceremonies) being reborn in the modern era 1000 years after her death. Clearly, Ruka is modeling her version of Murasaki on herself, where thanks to branching out into doujinshi and meeting Chiharu, Ruka unlocked new avenues in her life -- new friends, new fun, and falling in love for the first time. It will be interesting to see what Kayura says about this because Ruka clearly sees true love as happiness, but I think Kayura is going to bring up something else.

Kayura's purpose in the manga really has been fuzzy to date, other than to be another prod for Nagi. With this chapter, Kayura's purpose is coming into greater focus. Unlike Ruka, who finds herself an idol because of her parent's dream, Kayura has refused to allow herself to be dictated to by her parent's manga-ka dream. As such, I can see this being how Ruka ends up finding her happiness because deep down, I do think Ruka likes being an idol.

As to Kayura cosplaying Comic Master J, I would not have known about the reference had it not been for Genshiken Nidaime and the manga chapter were Sue is talked into cosplaying with the others while helping with Ogiue's manga since the costume left for her was for Comic Master J. I took a gander at a chapter of Comic Master J and it didn't do anything for me. I can understand why a manga-ka would get into it though since Comic Master J comes in to save a manga-ka's bacon when they are behind or having troubles with their manga.

In the end, an interesting chapter. I'm looking forward to finding out what Kayura has for Ruka. 

UQ Holder Manga Chapter 4 Review (The Headless Horseman trick!)

ユーキューホルダー!/UQ Holder Chapter 4 Review

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis: 

At some point in the past, Kuroumaru is tasked with slaying Evangeline A. K. McDowell or "he" cannot return to the clan. Further, Eva is stated to be only a shadow of her former self, making Kuroumaru's failing this task to be even more unacceptable. Sometime later, Kuroumaru hears members of the tribe speaking negatively of "him" and how the clan wins if Eva is slain, but they also win if the troublesome and cursed Kuroumaru is killed in the process.

In the present, Touta is shocked to see Yukihime having stabbed Kuroumaru with her hand and flinging "him" to the ground. He starts going off on Yukihime, only to have her point out that Kuroumaru is rapidly regenerating.  She's not happy knowing that an immortal was dispatched to eliminate another immortal.

Meanwhile, Touta is checking on Kuroumaru when "he" wakes up, punching Touta and demanding to know what Touta is doing trying to check inside "his" pants. Kuroumaru is relieved when Touta claims not to have seen anything, but then catches "himself" and challenges Eva again. Eva points to the defeat Kuroumaru just suffered, but agrees to a rematch if Kuroumaru can defeat Touta. Kuroumaru accepts, but Touta protests. Kuroumaru uses a shundo to get to Touta instantly, launching an attack at the same time. Kuroumaru is stunned that Touta is able to deflect the attack while Touta is stunned that Kuroumaru is going all out.

Touta tells Kuroumaru that he'll go all out in a fight as well but only if the loser of the fight does what the winner demands. When Touta points out that there's nothing for him in this fight and that he's good at running away, Kuroumaru accepts his terms and summons another sword for Touta to use. The two charge each other, but Touta just throws his sword at Kuroumaru. The battle rages, even impressing Yukihime. Touta is impressed with Kuroumaru's skills and decides to try a trick Yukihime taught him while Kuroumaru decides to behead Touta, figuring a headless vampire will have difficulty avoiding attacks.

Kuroumaru cuts Touta's head off, but Touta simply holds it in his hand and puts it back on and lands a massive finishing blow on Kuroumaru since "he's" out of position from "his" sword swing. Touta becomes worried that he's killed Kuroumaru for good, but Kuroumaru regenerates quite quickly and asks to be killed. Touta has no plans for that, so Kuroumaru suspects Touta wants to do something perverted. Touta's victor request is that Kuroumaru become his friend.

Thoughts/Review:

Wow. Akamatsu-sensei is most certainly letting out all the stops (within the shounen genre limits) for violence and gore. I'm not complaining at all, but considering how fluffy Negima! was for the longest time, Akamatsu-sensei is certainly showing a much darker manga than anything he's done before.  Never saw Negi or the like have their head cut off, then put it back on. The Headless Horseman is jealous, I tell you. ^_~

Basically, I think that with UQ Holder, Akamatsu-sensei is exploring elements from Negima! that he wanted to do, but for whatever reasons, could not do.  For starters, there's the whole vampire element, which despite Eva being a mega powerful shinso vampire, it really wasn't touched on that much outside of volume three, and even there, it was only lightly touched. Although Akamatsu-sensei hasn't gone too deep into the vampire aspects with UQ Holder, they are playing important parts right from chapter 1.

With this chapter, it seems clear that Kuroumaru is getting a similar story to Setsuna in Negima!  After Setsuna's introduction, we learned she was an outcast and that she was a half breed -- half youkai (crow/raven youkai clan) and half human, making her a hanyou. This plot element wasn't really touched again until the Mahora Budokai when she faced Eva in the phantasmagoria. Despite Setsuna's attempts to hide certain things about herself, Eva clearly saw those things that Setsuna tried to hide and forced Setsuna to face certain things about herself.

I'm getting off track, but the point is that Setsuna's dark past, including her being kicked out of the crow tribe, was never explored in any great detail, but I suspected that Akamatsu-sensei wanted to explore this story and I know I wanted it explored. With UQ Holder, he now gets to do that, only with a new character, unfettered by the plot elements of Negima!  I'm pretty excited by this, and hopefully, Akamatsu-sensei won't disappoint.

As for the specifics of this chapter, I really believe that Kuroumaru is a girl. There's no reason to be worried about the goods if (s)he is a guy. I keep getting flashes of the reverse trap Subaru from Mayo Chiki whenever I see Kuroumaru reacting as (s)he does regarding their gender.

Anyway, if I'm right about Kuroumaru being a girl, there's a legitimate reason for having Kuroumaru's gender a mystery. There's that unwritten rule about "not hitting the girl," and one which Negima! fans will recall that Kotaro followed closely. It isn't as if Akamatsu-sensei has shied away from having a guy "choke a b*tch" (Negi choking Tsukuyomi springs to mind), and battling Eva doesn't really count either in my mind due to her massive power levels and her being a shinso vampire.  But having an all out fight like Touta and Kuroumaru had goes over better IF the audience doesn't know if Kuroumaru is a girl or not.

I like how Eva is like Eva of old here. She not only goes for the instant kill, proving she's not lost a step, but she also shows her keen eye of observation in realizing Kuroumaru was immortal. Further, I just loved her attitude toward Kuroumaru's demand for a rematch.  It was similar to how she treated Negi back when Negi was trying to become her disciple. She's not going to be bothered handling a small fry's request for a rematch when said small fry got spanked so badly. But, if Touta fails, well then Eva gives the small fry a second shot. Naturally, small fry isn't getting that second shot in this case, though Kuroumaru is quite skilled.

I'm still disappointed that Touta is such a happy-go-lucky kind of individual considering these radical changes in his life. He's part Negi and part Jack Rakan from Negima!  I did love Touta's remark on how there was nothing in it for him to fight Kuroumaru and that he was quite skilled at running away.  It is a moment like that which keeps Touta from being an annoying character to me.

After four chapters, I'm really liking UQ Holder. Here's hoping that Akamatsu-sensei does this one right all the way through.

Genshiken Nidaime Manga Chapter 91 Review (Stop! Harem time!)

げんしけん: 二代目Chapter 91 Manga Review

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:

Yajima, still in cosplay, brings a bag of BL doujinshi to Kenji and demands he buy them from her. She further demands he not through his senpai (Madarame) overboard for BL and that Kenji can pay her back later. Madarame is confused, so Kousaka clarifies and says he doesn't have to go out with Angela. Madarame gives a sigh, but denies it was a sigh of relief, but merely a sigh reflecting that it was a shame he didn't have to date her.  Kousaka says that it is too late to cancel the agreement, and he and Sasahara agree that it would be a bad idea to put a woman out like that.

Meanwhile, "Hato-chan" emerges above Kenji, striking the normal BL fantasy chord. She dribbles on and on with her fantasy, leading Kenji to be somewhat panicked. Ohno interrupts to ask if Kenji can cosplay since the guys are done shopping. So, Kenji agrees to do the cosplay for Ohno, even though he's cosplaying a female pirate character to fit in with the other Genshiken members cosplaying other characters from the same series. Hato-chan turns into Kaminaga. As Madarame looks on from the audience, Kenji starts blushing, which Sasahara notices, leading him to realize whom the fourth person is who's interested in Madarame.

Afterward, Kenji apologizes to Angela for his role in everything. She says she's known about his feelings since the summer when he interjected himself between her and Madarame. She grabs Sue and suggests Madarame love all three of them. Ohno stops translating, irritating Angela. Angela proceeds in English to suggest a next step, causing Sue to send a palm to Angela's chin. That just causes Angela to tighten her grip on Kenji and Sue as she tells Madarame that they all are in love with him. None of the others seem to understand, but Ohno does and is shocked.

Eventually, Madarame realizes what has happened and starts to flee. He doesn't get far before he encounters Keiko, who greets him. While trying to avoid her, he slips and breaks his wrist.

Thoughts/Review:

Bwah!ha!ha!ha!ha!  Poor Madarame. He has a cute but somewhat weird American otaku girl interested in him (Sue), a hot, cosplaying, American otaku babe after him (Angela), a cross-dressing otaku after him (Kenji), and an attractive hostess club girl (Keiko), who just happens to also be a member of Genshiken and the younger sister of Sasahara.  The harem route indeed.

I've long been a Sue x Madarame shipper because I like Sue and she seemed to be a good fit for Madarame. At the same time, I wouldn't have been unhappy with a Keiko x Madarame pairing because I think Keiko would do things to make Madarame happy. However, with this chapter, I'm now down with Angela ending up with Madarame. While the normally boisterous Sue clams up when it comes to Madarame, Angela usually plays things pretty straight, as she did here. So, there are pluses and minuses everywhere.

I'm glad that Kio-sensei is bringing this all to a head. I'm REALLY hoping that the whole thing with Kenji cross-dressing and having his crush on Madarame gets over with. I've long been weary of his mental problems and such, so I'm hoping that will come to a conclusion soon and we can move on to more interesting topics. I am interested in seeing more of Ogiue's and Sasahara's relationship for a start.

Speaking of which, I'm glad that Sasahara has had a much bitter role of late. Very cool since he's been really passed over since Genshiken resumed.

Anyway, back to Angela. She really is a force of nature, getting right to the heart of things. In some ways, she's like the female Kousaka, who also has a way of getting to the heart of things. So far, everything about her this time out has been pretty awesome. She's no longer just going after Madarame for her sole self, but considers her friend Sue as well as Kenji.

Madarame's running away was funny and expected, but that's what made him encountering Keiko all the more enjoyable. She really has gotten cuter over time. Her introduction had her set up as a kind of skank, but even though she works at a hostess club, she's really straightened herself up.  I'm hoping that we get to see more of what attracts her to Madarame as well as Sue in the upcoming chapter(s).

With Madarame hurting himself, one wonders who will be his nurse, eh? Sadly, Kenji has the inside track there, being a guy with access to Madarame's apartment. Angela has to return to the States so no go there. Sue is too embarrassed. And Keiko is Keiko.

We'll see what happens next chapter.

Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya - 10 (It is the cliché finale, y'all.)

Fate/kaleid liner PRISMA☆ILLYA Episode 10 REVIEW (final)
Fate/kaleid liner プリズマ☆イリヤ

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:

After "dying" at Ilya's hands, Berserker once again resurrects. Rin and Luvia arrive and use high level magecraft to bind Berserker, giving time for Ilya and Miyu to make amends. Berserker breaks free, but Ilya and Miyu have a plan. Together, they successfully battle Berserker with Miyu getting a killing blow with her Lancer card, but again, Berserker starts to resurrect. Rin and Luvia are out of the fight since they have no more gems, but Ilya and Miyu are able to combine their powers and launch a single attack at the charging Berserker, which manages to force him into card form. Returning to the real world, Luvia and Rin than Miyu and Illya, but then Luvia takes the cards from Rin and escapes in a helicopter to take all the credit.

The following morning, Ilya dreams that Shiro is waking her up, so she decides to get a kiss from him, only to wake up and find herself kissing Miyu instead, after which she freaks out. The two leave for school, after which Iri leaves to rejoin her husband, assuring Sella and Leysritt that Ilya will be fine. Since Ilya and Miyu are running late, they transform to magic girls to speed to school.  There, Ilya's friends are shocked by the fact that Ilya and Miyu have not only made up, but Miyu has become "dere" as well. Miyu shows great disdain for the other girls, saying Ilya is her only friend and the two of them don't need anyone else. This leads to a lot of problems for Ilya to try to resolve.

Meanwhile, Rin managed to take down Luvia's helicopter, defeat Luvia, and report her success. She's informed that while she'll be allowed to train under Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg, she has to live in Japan for a year along with Luvia to learn to get along. Rin is very unhappy with learning this news. Meanwhile, in London, a stranger arrives with a tub carrying case on their back. The gloved stranger makes their way to Heathrow and waits at a terminal.

Thoughts/Review:

And so this series ends, but with a promise to do a sequel anime series based on the second manga series.

The way the writers resolve having to defeat Berserker was rather clichéd to say the least. After punishing Miyu for thinking she could go at it alone, they couldn't very well have Ilya save the day alone, so we get a Unison Raid Parallel Include, "we combine our powers," after which, Berserker is ultimately defeated. Add to this the clichéd, vocal musical score and well, I just wanted to spin on.  If I hadn't seen this type of resolution before, it would have been fine. Heck, even finding some sort of new way of dealing with the resolution would have been fine. Unfortunately, the easiest route is the one already taken tons of times before.

While the Rin and Luvia scrabbles were humorous to me at the start of the series, when it was clear that parodies of the mahou shoujo genre and female rivals in general were being done, when those resume at the middle of this episode, I just didn't laugh. I has become more interested in the story so the clichéd comedy trope just failed to interest me much.

I could do without the sudden Miyu x Ilya loli shoujo ai element that was introduced at the end of the episode. It just made my head hurt.

The tease for the next series was nifty though. I hope that this time, Silver Link decides not to make critical changes to the manga story that twist things about.  I do plan to read the manga and will volume-blog it as I'm able.

So, until I get my final thoughts post up, I'll just say that this episode ended on a somewhat disappointing note to me due to the clichéd nature of things.

A Certain Scientific Railgun S - 22 (The melodrama table is now set.)

Toaru Kagaku no Railgun S Episode 22
とある科学の超電磁砲（レールガン）S
To Aru Kagaku no Railgun S 

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:

While the members of ITEM enjoy their time at a pool, where Shizuri reluctantly takes a new job related to the fake one they did earlier, Mikoto has her visit with Therestina Kihara Lifeline in prison. Therestina mocks Mikoto's motives for saving Febri, for Mikoto's citing how this city of darkness gave her a group of great friends, and for her not accepting the two bad choices related to the darkness of the city. Eventually, Therestina grows weary of Mikoto's begging and she gives Mikoto a few clues as to the possibility of Febri's origin, calling Febri a "chemicaloid". Therestina says that the creators of Febri want to be noticed and hints that the upcoming Assembly may be the venue to do it.

Mikoto reports her findings to the others at the local Judgement branch, leading Uiharu to immediately start doing research on the Assembly. Mitsuko arrives with Wannai and Awatsuki, where they have a new dress for aligning Febri as a present. Mitsuko notices a figure on Uiharu's computer, Aritomi, and confirms it is the man hunting Febri. Further research finds he had been a top award winner at previous Academic Assemblies, but he's not participating this year, nor are a lot of others.  Meanwhile, Shinobu is doing covert work of her own while that night, Saten and Febri stay with Uiharu again. In their dorm, Mikoto asks Kuroko if they'd still be friends if she weren't a level 5, to which Kuroko says that she doesn't see Mikoto as a level 5, but as her precious oneesama, then tries to cop a feel, getting herself fried in the process.

The following day, the girls meet at the Judgement facility again, where Uiharu has learned that Aritomi is on the board of directors for a company called STUDY. She discovers a suspicious factory that STUDY purchased, so Mikoto goes to check it out. There, she finds the members of ITEM battling unmanned power suits, and unbeknownst to them, they've triggered an alarm with STUDY, which Shinobu goes to investigate despite the fact that this facility is only bait. Shizuri is angry because once again, they've been played for as fools. Rikou appears to sense Mikoto, but since they've eliminated the power suits, she doesn't report a problem to the others.

After ITEM leaves, Mikoto slips in to see what she can find, then discovers power on in another part of the facility. Going there, she discovers Shinobu at terminal. Shinobu confesses to teaching Febri Mikoto's name because Mikoto would take care of Febri. She gives Mikoto data to make the lollipops, but Aritomi arrives, holding the real data and letting Shinobu know that he suspected her of freeing Febri. His price to give Shinobu the real formula is to inject Mikoto with a paralytic agent. Shinobu refuses, but Mikoto tells her to do it, so she does. When Mikoto goes down, Shinobu demands the date, but Aritomi drops the data rod and tramples it underfoot. He reveals that Febri was just a spare for their real prize, Janie.

Thoughts/Review:

I realize that we have the "big reveal" to come, but one of the minor problems I'm having with this anime-only arc is the lack of...well, I'm having a hard time putting it into words so I'll get to that in a bit.

Mikoto's whole trip to see Therestina Kihara Lifeline was a bit odd to me.  I say this because as I watched, Therestina acted like I would have expected; she was haughty, she taunted Mikoto, and she had no interest in helping Mikoto. Indeed, Mikoto came with nothing to offer in exchange for the information. Other than to shut Mikoto up, which never came out as a specific reason for Therestina to give the hints she did, there was no reason for Therestina to help Mikoto, thus the oddness I felt.

I'm not getting what it is that STUDY is trying to prove over espers. I get that they've created a couple of artificial humans. I get that Janie can somehow remote-control power suits, robotic devices, and possibly all electronics (I think of the outage with the traffic lights early in the arc). But what that has to do with experimenting on Shizuri, the 4th-ranked level 5 esper, or Mikoto, the 3rd-ranked level 5 esper, is what I'm having trouble with. Even if STUDY has created an artificial human with esper abilities, I still don't see how STUDY is going to make regular espers powerless.

Shinobu, as expected, is working against STUDY to save Febri. She acted like she didn't know about Janie, which raises the question, why did Study feel the need for a backup artificial person that they could kill so easily now? After all, the purpose of a backup is to activate it should the primary fail, or something happen to the primary. You don't just toss a backup and say, "Meh. We don't need it so get rid of it." Of course, this arrogance on STUDY's part is what sets up their ultimate failure.

Speaking of arrogance, if esper abilities are mental ones, what makes Aritomi think that making Mikoto paralyzed is going to help? Mikoto can still think and even speak, and she can blast people with electricity without needing to move. So as I see it, Aritomi is getting fried next episode, which is how Shinobu and Mikoto will escape. We'll see though.

Unfortunately, although I'd like to know how Shinobu went from being in ITEM's custody and being locked up for life or even executed by the powers in Academy City, to a free girl on the executive board for STUDY, I don't think I'll be getting that answer. The story is being played out so that we don't get that answer and I guess are supposed to not worry about it, which is a typical, yet frustrating, Japanese writing device.

Febri is being set up for her inevitable "I'm dying" melodramatic moment, which is something I'm not really looking forward to. I've no doubt she'll be saved in the end.

So, while this wasn't a bad episode, it is highlighting to me the differences between average writing and good writing.