Negima! Manga Volume 0 Review (Some special lovin' from when the movie came out in Japan.)

魔法先生 ネギま！Volume 0
Mahou Sensei Negima! Manga Special

Note: this was a special manga done for the release of the Mahou Sensei Negima! Anime Final movie in theaters along with the Hayate no Gotoku! Heaven is a Place on Earth movie.

***SPOILERS***

I'm going to forgo my usual summary and just jump into things since there's no plot. ^_^

I laughed out loud at the first part, which had Jack doing some fanservice, much to the anger of Chamo, the disturbance of Chisame, and the blushing of Sayo. Naturally, we get a shot of Chisame as well.

The next segment dealt with the question of how Paru was able to become rich while on the Magic World. The answer? Creating BL doujinshi. ^_^;  Still, I couldn't help but laugh at that.

The next segment has Yue trying to figure out how magic world folks with tails react to being touched, starting with Collet and then moving on to Emily. Other than the ecchi humor, having Bea scribble furious notes at what Yue learned about Emily made me laugh.

The fourth segment dealt with Natsumi's dream in Cosmo Entelecheia, courtesy of Poyo, where her fantasy life had Kotaro in it, event of which are observed by several others. When Kotaro shows up with Negi, Natsumi kicks him (with service). It is cute and humorous.

The fifth segment is cut short as Poyo is assassinated by Mana to keep her from revealing Mana's dream in Cosmo Entelecheia.

Poyo returns in the sixth segment to reveal that it was Setsuna's dream to see Konoka in the naked apron, though Setsuna initially tried to deny it.

Cocone is in the seventh segment, where she goes to reveal her secret purpose to Misora, but Misora doesn't care about anything like that as long as it is the best for Cocone.  Translation -- Akamatsu-sensei couldn't come up with anything, so move along. Bastage! ^_~

In the eighth segment, Akamatsu-sensei does a rather nifty tribute to Hayate the Combat Butler as he has the characters from Negima! whom are voiced by seiyuu who also have parts in Hayate cosplay their Hayate characters. As such, Kaede (SHIRAISHI Ryouko) cosplays Hayate. Tsukuyomi (KUGIMIYA Rei) cosplays Nagi.  Misa (ITOU Shizuka) cosplays Hina. Finally, Makie (HORIE Yui) cosplays Sister Sonia.

Heh!heh! Awesome! ^_^

For the ninth segment, Shiori reveals reveals a day in the life of Fate's girls as they try to please him by two of them serving him coffee in maid outfits (and failing) followed by the other two (not Shiori) serving him with the naked apron. Fate's not impressed, but praises the girls on their efforts, pleasing them.

The tenth and final segment asks the question of whom Negi likes the most. That brings up a lot of girls who are attracted to him, and Konoka promises a reward for Setsuna if she can stop Negi from fleeing. Since Negi's too good to be caught, Chamo uses his magic to reveal that Negi's thoughts have nothing but males in it, starting with his father, then Jack, then Fate, and completed by Kotaro. This causes Setsuna and Asuna to attack him for only thinking about men.  This was the only page I'd seen before, so I knew the gag, but it was still funny.

It is a shame that Kodansha Comics could not license this, but the Japanese are pretty fickle when it comes to limited edition items, even more so when said items are done for special events. We gaijin can go get stuffed unless we want to pay ¥¥¥ out the nose (and other orifices), including flying to Japan to see this double-billed movie at theaters there.

Even though it may bother my friends in the publishing business, I'm glad we baka gaijin now have a chance to at least see the contents of this special manga. It is fun and mostly filler, but its all good, even if a bit ecchi.

Hayate the Combat Butler Manga Chapter 427 (And the winner is....)

ハヤテのごとく！/Hayate no Gotoku Chapter 427 Review

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:

Nagi wonders how Ruka did in selling her doujinshi manga and is told by Chiharu that Ruka apparently sold her last copy ten minutes ago. Nagi thinks that she's lost and as she lets that sink in, Chiharu is going to speak with Ruka about it. Nagi stops her, gets in control of her emotions for the moment, then congratulates Ruka for winning. Further, she thanks Ruka for causing her to learn how to do things on her own, work hard, and more. She says that she fought with everything and has no regrets, even though she lost to Ruka.

After asking Ruka to take care of Hayate, Ruka reminds Nagi that the contest rules said nothing about being the first to sell out, only that the person who sold the most would win.  Nagi thinks this means they tied, but Ruka reveals she had a final copy of her manga, which was unsold. As such, Ruka tells Nagi that she has won..  Nagi's legs give out as Ruka congratulates her, saying that though she lost, she too has no regrets.

As Chiharu and Ayumu congratulate the shocked Nagi, Kayura asks Ruka why she thought she lost. Ruka says that Nagi's passion was the difference. Kayura seems to understand as someone approaches and asks to buy that final copy from Ruka.

Thoughts/Review:

I don't remember who did it, but someone called the outcome of this contest, stating that they felt that Ruka would only sell 99 copies and would purposefully withhold one. That seems to be exactly what happened here.

When this contest first began, I thought that Ruka would probably win, but would come to a decision as a result of the contest that would cause her to give up on forcing Hayate to marry her, but would allow her to be in the "I haven't given up on you yet" category. What I hadn't considered at the time was Hata-sensei's plans for Nagi, and I probably should have. However, Hata-sensei is so blasted subtle and slow on pushing plots forward that important foreshadowing moments actually get lost, at least for me.

Currently, I'm rereading the manga that Viz is releasing at a painfully slow rate.  I'm up to the point where Nagi decides to take a part-time job in order to earn money to buy Hayate a watch with for his birthday in November. As I look back now, that was the point where Hata-sensei put Nagi on her path that lead her to the place she is with this chapter. Back then, it was the fact that she wanted to do something on her own without the backing of the Sanzenin fortune or name. While I think she will still buy Hayate a nice watch with money she's earned on her own, with the doujinshi manga she created, she has achieved the goal she set out to do when she first took a part-time job that she didn't need.

Frankly, I love it. I am so glad to see Nagi have such great character growth so that she can stand on her own two feet.  I'm guessing this will sorely be needed as the main plot moves forward and Hayate presumably ends up with Athena again. Nagi has shown that she can let Hayate go if needed.

As to why Ruka would hold a copy of her manga, I think this ties in with my earlier theory on Ruka winning but giving up on Hayate. If Ruka had come to her own decision about giving up on forcing Hayate to marry her, then in order to save face, she goes through with the contest but purposefully takes a dive to allow her opponent to win. For Ruka, this is a graceful way of bowing out, and I like it personally, presuming she's really come to her decision after thinking things through carefully.

That being said, since it appears that Hayate is buying the last copy of the doujinshi, that would put things back at a tie and allow the status quo to stay in effect, but still allow Nagi to get the win since the sale is after the event closed.

 OK Hata-sensei, what do you have for us next? I hope that we get to see what happened with Hayate, Hina, and Kurosu.  I also hope that Hata-sensei keeps writing as well as he has of late, not worrying about ramming in comedy just for the sake of comedy, but keeping any comedy elements in check so that they don't derail the story being told.

I can't wait to read the next chapter!

xxxHOLiC Rei Manga Chapter 12 Review ("Should I stay or should I go?")

xxxホリック ◆ 戻 chapter 12
xxxHOLiC Rei chapter 12 Review

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:

As a serious looking Yuuko-san and a worried Watanuki sit on the engawa (veranda), Yuuko-san asks Watanuki if he wanted to go back (with the youkai she had dispatched). Her questions and demeanor have Watanuki wondering if she is mad at him.  As she continues to look at him in a serious way, Watanuki states that Yuuko-san looked frightening when he fled to the shop, and she looks the same now. As such, Watanuki wonders if he's being tested.

Yuuko-san causes Watanuki to lay his head down on her lap. She tells him that he's the one who has to decide on whether he wants to go back or not. Watanuki is confused on how this applies to him. Yuuko-san puts him to sleep, telling him that whether he goes back or not, he's still moving forward.

Doumeki shows up, telling Yuuko-san that she's the same, no matter which version of her is there. They have a conversation about her doing things so that Watanuki makes a choice, but also how Doumeki has a choice to make. Yuuko-san has Doumeki sit beside her, where he puts his head on her shoulder, telling him that he and Watanuki are good children.

Thoughts/Review:

This chapter is really making it seem like this is a dream world of Watanuki's creation, which would fit with the clues that have been established in the chapters so far. It also seems as if the dream version of Yuuko-san and Doumeki are real as well, at least in terms of their conscious.

Yuuko-san does look rather fearsome in how she is not her old self when it comes to dealing with Watanuki. We're so used to seeing her tease him, even when she's teaching him. Now, it is something else. Perhaps it is because she knows what's going on and rather than play to Watanuki's fantasy of how things used to be, she's doing what she thinks is best to get Watanuki to open his eyes and at least make a decision, something he's not doing at the moment.

I guess the question I have is that if this is a dream, then is Doumeki here the one that Watanuki went to school with, or the grandson of Watanuki's old friend, as seen at the end of xxxHOLiC?  I'm leaning to the former at present.

So, if the youkai from earlier chapters represents those who love Watanuki trying to wake him up, I suppose another question would be to know exactly whom is making this attempt.  CLAMP can make things quite convoluted with time travel, time skips, dream worlds that blend one from another, to say nothing of infinite alternate universes. Taking that into consideration, then it may be that much of the final volumes of xxxHOLiC, possibly even Yuuko-san's death (this is CLAMP we're talking about), were just dreams of Watanuki's and that he was being called to reality and being awake.

We'll see where CLAMP goes with this, assuming they don't up and dump it again.

Coppelion -04 (That's no B-2 Stealth Heavy Bomber! That's a B-2 Stealth Cargo/Fighter/Bomber/Whatever we want it to be!)

コッペリオン Ep. 04 Review
Coppelion anime

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:

Coppelion and Dr. Shiba chase the B-2, but Ibara's first shot from Hand Arrow doesn't work. So as they are being chased by the B-2, Ibara comes up with a plan and lands a hit. The plane goes down in a nearby deep water pool.  Dr. Shiba can't go there due to the high radiation, so the girls proceed alone, discovering the pilots of the plane are dead and likely mercenaries. In the water, they discover lots of nuclear waste barrels, meaning the B-2 was being used to smuggle nuclear waste into the country from a Japanese company called Yellow Cake. Ibara gets angry about this, so Dr. Shiba decides to make things right. This causes Ibara and the others to try to find him before he does something foolish.

After getting a report from the old lady they saved, Coppelion heads to the shrine where Dr. Shiba used to take the old woman. When they get there, Ibara finds that the scientist has removed his protective helmet and has only 10 minutes to live after she doses him with Aether. They get to the air base in plenty of time, but the helicopter is late, having to drop some Aether for Ibara to catch and shoot Dr. Shiba with as time runs out. Dr. Shiba will live and apologizes to Ibara and the girls as Mishima, who'd lost his family in the accident, welcomes him on board the Chinook. Shiba leaves a book of people remaining in Tokyo so they can save them. Night falls and the girls are alone. Takeo and Aoi remind Ibara that she doesn't have to cry alone.

Thoughts/Review:

This anime covers manga chapters 17 through 21, which puts it about half-way through volume 3 as I see it.  The next chapter starts a new numbering system and is like the second part of Coppelion's tale (I guess).

OK, this is just stupid. Clearly, manga-ka INOUE Tomonori-sensei has no clue what a B-2 Heavy Bomber is. Yes, I realize that there was a throw away moment in the last episode about there being a cargo bay, but the B-2 only carries bombs of all sorts and cruise missiles. It cannot carry nuclear waste and even if it did, it would have to be dropped like a free falling bomb with no guidance. It does not perform bombing at low altitudes. It does not have cannons or other guns with which it can fire. It is not a fighter jet.  It is a heavy bomber, meaning it stays WAY out of harms way, drops/fires its ordnance from a very safe distance, and gets away, hopefully without appearing on anyone's radar.

As for nuclear storage, I know that in the U.S., the problem with storage is mostly political. We could recycle a lot of nuclear waste, but we are barred from that because the process would create weapons grade plutonium, which would then violate treaties the U.S. has with Russia. However, in terms of the storage, the anime greatly over exaggerates everything because there's an anti-nuclear message to promote. In the U.S., while the main storage site is being blocked politically, our nuclear waste is being safely stored on site, though since the politicians are mucking with things, it costs the taxpayers more money due political shenanigans.  So the anime's claim that no nation can handle their nuclear waste is really a lie.

But hey, who cares about all them there facts. We now have our explanation (of sorts) for why there are massive hot zones in Tokyo that should not be there. Stealth B-2 heavy waste cargo carrier, heavy attack fighter, and heavy close support bomber at your service to do whatever you want, 'cause it is "stealth" y'all!

So basically, I pretty much disliked this episode except for the actual saving of Shiba, the old woman, and Shiba's assistant. Too much agenda preaching going on with no regard to actual facts ('cause facts that go against the agenda have to be ignored or discredited somehow).

I was able to read the manga for this section, which appears to be nearly it for the unofficial elements. Crunchyroll says they'll be simultaneously doing the current Coppelion chapters, but will they go back and do the previous 19 volumes of material as well?  If they do, then I might have a reason to pay.  The manga, while still preachy, is MUCH better in terms of story. For example, in the manga, the girls are attacked by a mutant leopard on their way to the air base, meaning they didn't get there with as much time to spare as they had in the anime.

I'll keep watching this to see where it all goes. Clearly, with nineteen plus volumes of manga in Japan, the series can be considered a success. I just wish the anime were better.

KILL la KILL- 04 (She don't need no stinking powerful uniform to win.)

キルラキル ep. 04
KILL la KILL SPOILER Review

Synopsis:

It is 4AM when a loud siren goes off, waking Ryuuko and Mako. Ryuuko discovers Mako's mother washing Senketsu, which she promises will be delivered to Ryuuko later. For now, they have to leave because all no-star students have to get through a huge number of traps and pass 1000 checkpoints to get to school on time this day, thanks to the Honnouji Discipline Committee, led by Ira, who gleefully wonders if Ryuuko can make it without her Kamui. Adding to their burden is injured classmate Maiko, whom Ryuuko and Mako help. After repeated failed attempts of Mako's family to deliver Senketsu to her, Ryuuko and company make it most of the way up to school without Senketsu. They hijack an armored, 1-star bus, which manages to get them to school despite being under massive attack the whole time and ending up in pieces.

Guts comes running in with Senketsu riding him when Maiko again causes Ryuuko's panties to be exposed, causing Guts to end like Mako's father and brother. She now has Senketsu and reveals herself to actually be the Head of Trap Development for the Discipline Committee. Her goal is to dethrone Satsuki and become empress. She easily dons Senketsu, but Senketsu refuses to let her attack Ryuuko. Ryuuko gets Senketsu back, but discovers the old cartoon trick as they are actually not in the school courtyard, but on a giant, wheeled platform with sides painted to look like the school courtyard, which Maiko calls the Return to the Start trap and bails on them. Ryuuko dons Senketsu with five minutes left and hijacks an express, elevated cable car to the school. Ira expels Maiko for her failure as Ryuuko and Mako crash the cable car into their homeroom with seconds to spare before being tardy.

Thoughts/Review:

This episode was a lot more fun, giving tribute to other titles that have done the "traps at school" element like Urusei Yatsura did a few years ago.

The main thrust of the episode was to have Ryuuko do things without the use off Senketsu, which was conveniently being laundered.

Naturally, Mako's father, brother, and dog would fail to get Senketsu to Ryuuko because they'd see her panties, courtesy of Maiko.

As for Maiko, I had figured she was just shamming in order to use Ryuuko to keep from being expelled. I didn't expect her to be an opponent, so nice one on the part of Trigger there.

I loved how Mako fearlessly dresses down Ira for sleeping in the nude and not taking care of his health. That was pretty funny.

As to the ending, very cartoonish throughout, but in a good way. I pretty much knew what was going to happen from the moment they got into the elevated cable car, but it was still humorous to me just the same.

Otherwise, not much to speak of. The episode was funny and enjoyable, which is pretty much what I want from this series.

Fairy Tail Manga Volume 28 Review (With a rather nifty dues ex machina moment.)

フェアリーテイル
Fairy Tail Volume 28 Review

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***SPOILERS***

Highlights from this volume have Cana realize the mistake of abandoning her friends, but being rewarded with Fairy Glitter as a result. Cana comes to help Lucy and the others literally put down by Blue Note, but Fairy Glitter, which Bluenote wants, is not enough to defeat him. An angry Gildarts appears and battles Blue Note, allowing the others to get to safety.  Freed and Bickslow also show up to battled Rustyrose. Erza battles Azuma, who upends the Tenrou Tree, manages to sap Fairy Tail members of their powers, including Gildarts. Despite her best effort, Erza takes a beating, which somehow Jellal feels from his prison and speaks her name. Erza somehow feels the connection with Jellal and revives, ultimately defeating Azuma after thinking about her friends. Azuma returns the Fairy Tail magic and is absorbed into Tenrou Tree.

The rest of the guild begin overcoming their opponents as Gray makes out like he's going to help Ultear in her quest to defeat Master Hades. However, he causes her to reveal her true intentions when she starts to kill the defenseless Juvia, forcing Gray to attack Ultear.

As I mentioned in my review of volume 27, getting confirmation that it was decided editorially (and not on the translator's side) to make Fairy Tail a hybrid translation when it comes to Japanese honorific usage (honorifics retain for characters introduced before the editorial mandate came down; "superior" Western honorifics for all characters thereafter, including not using honorifics because we can't find an appropriate Western equivalent, which isn't being lazy but a legitimate adaptation choice, unlike leaving honorifics as is, which is lazy and not a legitimate adaptation choice...but I digress...) really put me off the series. I have been buying them still, but my enthusiasm just is no longer there. I figure seeing more and more Western honorifics are going to eventually cause me to hit my breaking point, after which, I'll drop it and send that money to something else.

But I digress again...(This is a passionate topic for me, if you couldn't already guess that.)

This volume has the usual elements we've come to expect from a Fairy Tail story -- Fairy Tail takes a beating, Fairy Tail comes back for the win. It could get rather boring, but Mashima-sensei throws in some elements to keep things from going that route.

In volume 26, I expressed some disappointment over how Mashima-sensei had sent Gildarts, Freed, and Bickslow away and how it didn't make any sense except except to have the overpowered Gildarts removed from the field. Having him show up for a deus ex machina moment actually was pretty cool because I wanted to see Gildarts fight. His actual battle wasn't too much to speak of in some regards, but he was able to overcome his opponent's gravity magic, which had put down several Fairy Tail members. So it was cool seeing Gildarts in action.

Also, I loved Freed's and Bickslow's return as well. And to think, it wasn't that long ago that they were causing Fairy Tail trouble thanks to Laxus.

Speaking of Laxus, he was the one I had expected to show up for this fight, not Gildarts, Freed, and Bickslow.

I liked the connection that Erza has with Jellal, as displayed in this chapter. Not sure where Mashima-sensei will go with that, since he's gone all over the board with Jellal.

Another nice moment was Gray saving Juvia. I really do wish Mashima-sensei would allow them to get together as a romantic couple.

Finally, Cana got some character development with the reveal that Gildarts is her estranged father, who apparently does not know she's his daughter.  I rather hope there's a positive resolution to that element of the story. Cana has never been much to me as a character (though she was a decent leader during the Phantom Lord fight), so it would be nice seeing her become a more interesting character.

On the Kodansha side, there are the usual extras, including translator notes and a preview of the next volume.

Story-wise, I enjoyed seeing Fairy Tail rise up to defeat their enemies. I just wish Kodansha Comics had retained the same policy that Del Rey had for all those years when it came to adaptations. No wonder I don't buy as many Kodansha titles as I did Del Rey titles.

Keroro Gunsou - 105 (Of burgers and love from legendary sakura.)

ケロロ軍曹/Sgt. Frog/Keroro Gunsou Anime episode 105

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:

With 169 days left to invade, the pressure is on the complete the invasion of Earth. Keroro comes up with an infiltration plan, which involves opening a hamburger joint. Fuyuki and Natsumi drop by Keroro Burger, not realizing what it is until they see who's running it. Natsumi drags Keroro off, having figured out his plan, but he says it is just hard work and a normal life, crying that Natsumi would deny them of this. Natsumi reluctantly agrees, and Fuyuki gets her to help him since the restaurant is doing so well. Tamama runs out of ingredients, so he makes a run to the warehouse for more. Unfortunately, the only thing customers are buying are ¥500 smiles from Natsumi and Mois. As a result, the shop has massive debts. With Natsumi and Mois wiped out, the platoon tries to cover, but no one wants their smiles and the restaurant is done.

Momoka asks Fuyuki to see the sakura in bloom even though it is past season. He agrees but invites Natsumi and the others. She reluctantly agrees and sends her team to find the legendary sakura tree and transplant it to her mansion grounds. The party is in full swing when the tree lights up, causing Keroro and Tamama to fall in love. Mois and Giroro come to check them out, only to fall in love. Momoka and Paul see this, so they go to the next phase of the plan, which is to get Momoka and Fuyuki together. After some setbacks, Fuyuki and Momoka are on stage, where they get lovey-dovey. However, the Sakura is an alien Sakura Sakuura, and its parents come back to take their child back. The Nishizawa force does battle, but Momoka gives up being romantic with Fuyuki to give the child tree back. She is frustrated when the tree leaves, those affected lose their feelings and memories of what happened.

Thoughts/Review:

Well, it has been ages since I watched an episode, but since I was recently reminded via comments, I thought I'd pick this up again.

For the first story, it was mildly amusing with the normal dopey plan and failed results. Still, being a cheeseburger lover, I did like the concept of the platoon opening a hamburger restaurant. Not that I'd eat any of the nasty "burgers" they sold. *lol*

As to the second story, I liked that Momoka got a brief, romantic moment with Fuyuki, even if he was just under the influence of the tree. Yeah, she's a spoiled ojousama, but I can't help but want her to actually succeed in winning Fuyuki's heart.

As to the alien sakura tree, I don't know if there's a legendary sakura tree or not. However, it did remind me of the legendary World Tree, as seen in Negima!, which also glowed and would cause folks to fall in love.

In the end, we had a couple of fun stories.  I really do miss the manga. Too bad no one will license rescue it.

Hayate the Combat Butler Manga Chapter 426 (A good doujinshi manga that is poorly made and hard to read.)

ハヤテのごとく！/Hayate no Gotoku Chapter 426 Review

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:

Chiharu is worried about how Ruka will make it to the doujinshi event since wearing a mascot outfit as a disguise is impractical. Kayura recalls how Isumi had a bell that would make Ruka's identity hidden, but she also has a mask to hide Ruka's face. As such, Nagi, Chiharu, and Kayura wait for Ruka, who shows up, reminding Nagi that whomever sells the most manga (out of 100 copies) wins the contest.

Ayumu joins the trio inside, asking where Hayate and Hina are. Chiharu says they are being held up due to traffic for the upcoming fireworks events going on that night. Nagi ponders things a bit as the event starts. Chiharu asks Kayura whom she thinks will win, but she doesn't know. Ruka, sitting at the booth behind Nagi, gets a sale first, causing Nagi to panic a bit. Nagi's first customer arrives in the form of Maizumi-sensei, who says it is a horribly made manga, but a good one as well. So he buys a copy. His assistant wants one, so he makes her buy her own copy, giving Nagi her second sale.

As the day progressed and Nagi made sales, she stopped thinking about the contest and simply enjoyed the thrill of selling her product, happy that people were reading it. She realized that this was what she'd been looking for the whole time.

Her last copy sold, Nagi has a tear in her eye at having made it, thanking Chiharu in the process. Chiharu quietly wonders how Ruka did in sales.

Thoughts/Review:

I really thought that we might see things shift back to Hayate and Hina before pressing forward with the actual doujinshi contest, but Hata-sensei is as unpredictable as ever, deciding to press forward with the actual contest. I'm glad he did.

Again, we get some nice moments with Nagi. I'm really glad that Hata-sensei doesn't allow the others to take over the focus, as could so easily happen. This is Nagi's journey and while Ruka has her own journey, that can come later. I just love seeing Nagi accomplish something without the backing of the Sanzenin name or fortune, and Nagi feels the same way.

Nagi's manga is described as "poorly made and hard to read" which screams of something terrible. Yet everyone says it is a good manga.  Something that's poorly made and hard to read is not something I want to read. I suppose it is like the American comic strip Dilbert when it first came out, which was ugly to look at, but if you could get passed that, it was quite good.

Reading this chapter, I can't help but now think that Nagi actually does win the contest. She may have stumbled a lot along the way, but she got there in the end and did what she set out to do -- make a manga and sell that manga based on the content of that manga, not on some gimmick.

Of course, Hata-sensei could go the route of having them tie, which would still result in Hayate not having to marry Ruka and staying in Nagi's service. Nagi still retains her character growth, but the friendship-rivalry would remain the same between Ruka and Nagi, and neither of them "lose".

Having Ruka lose might be linked into whatever Hina, Hayate, and Kurosu are doing, allowing her to move forward as well. We'll see.

So, another good chapter here. I kinda hope we flip back to see what's going on with Hayate and Hina now.

UQ Holder Manga Chapter 9 Review (Of naivety and more Negima! tie-ins.)

ユーキューホルダー!/UQ Holder Chapter 9 Review

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis: 

Touta is all ready to accept Jinbee to train up, but Kuroumaru is suspicious of Jinbee, becoming irritated at being addressed as "ojouchan" by him. Kuroumaru attacks and Jinbee loses his robes, revealing a massively scarred body. Kuroumaru scolds Touta for being so trusting without knowing anything about Jinbee. Kuroumaru's sword ends up in Jinbee's hand somehow, thwarting Kuroumaru's sword attack. Kuroumaru shifts to a flying kick instead as Jinbee tosses the sword aside, leading to an unarmed fight. Despite only having one arm, Touta jumps into the fight, performing a shundou move to reach Jinbee in a flash. The two are quickly defeated by Jinbee, who refers to Kuroumaru as "ojouchan" again, causing Kuroumaru to try to deny being a woman again.

Jinbee takes the two to his residence in this underground place, which he hasn't been to in six months. The place is filled with books and the three have nabe. Kuroumaru and Touta speak briefly of their immortality. Jinbee tells them he's a 1400 year old immortal, having become one from consuming the flesh of a merperson.  Kuroumaru has to explain to Touta about the Japanese legend of merpeople, and how mermaids and the like did not have the positive image in Japan prior to the popularization of Western mermaid stories.

Jinbee continues by saying how his immortality is actually weak, which is why he is so scarred. Further, he had comrades, but he's the only one still alive. Touta is impressed with Jinbee's story and is about to scold Kuroumaru for not trusting Jinbee, only to discover Kuroumaru has been moved to tears. Kuroumaru starts to address Jinbee as "senpai", then shifts to "jinsei no sensei" (life master), shocking Touta, who then reminds Kuroumaru of the scolding given to Touta for going gaga for Jinbee.

Jinbee is amused by the pair of them, so he sends them to deal with the monster seals. The two excitedly go to do so, but once there, Touta realizes there's not much he can do with only one arm. Kuroumaru uses incredible sword skills to wipe out one of the monster seals, impressing Touta greatly. However, both Kuroumaru and Touta are forced to flee when a herd of monster seals charge them.

Returning to Jinbee's lair, both apologize. Jinbee figures that Touta could watch Kuroumaru's back, but he needs a weapon. Jinbee takes them to the tower hideout of an "evil mage" that has been abandoned for thirty years. Going up to massive deck extending from this tower, Jinbee shows them a sword the mage created, which is lodged in a stone and called Gravity Blade.

Thoughts/Review:

Those of us reading this manga know that Touta is desperately in need of some schooling to get him off this path of blind stupidity. However, although Kuroumaru may be more cautious and highly skilled, even Kuroumaru is in need of education in this regard.  Both characters are pretty naive.

It is interesting how Akamatsu-sensei brings in the Japanese legend of obtaining immortality via the flesh of a merperson. I know Takahashi-sensei did a manga about this years ago (Mermaid Saga, aka: Ningyo Shiriizu (人魚シリーズ)).  I like how Akamatsu-sensei is reminding folks that merpeople were not considered to be attractive half-human/half fish creatures, but rather more monster-like.

It looks like Akamatsu-sensei is going to run the "Is Kuroumaru a girl or a boy" joke into the ground. Jinbee calling Kuroumaru "ojouchan" adds to that, as does Kuroumaru's girlish, negative reaction.

Onto more substantive stuff, Akamatsu-sensei made a big point of having Touta blatantly reject Eva's offer to teach him the shundou-jitsu arts. Despite this, it appears that Touta has acquired the skill after only observing Kuroumaru use it. That's way faster than even Negi learned it, and Negi had some actual training in it. This suggests to me that Touta may have already known it, but we'll see.  Akamatsu-sensei may be suggesting that Touta can learn anything he's exposed to.

Since Touta has been shown to reject using a sword, other than the boken Touta used in the beginning of the series, yet was shown with a sword in the promotional art, I guess having Touta lose an arm is Akamatsu-sensei's way of getting Touta to use a weapon rather than just rely on his fists. I suppose it isn't too much to say that Touta will get this Gravity Blade in the stone.

It does appear that Gravity Blade is at Al's residence under Library Island in the Mahora Academy campus grounds. What happened to Al 30 years ago to cause him to disappear is a mystery (assuming this is Al's place), though I have read speculation that maybe he got snagged by one of those monster seals, which take 30 years to digest their food. I would be amused by this if Touta and Kuroumaru battle the monster seals and in one of them is Al, waiting to be pooped out.

Finally, the splash page showing Eva in her normal form and her Yukihime form was pretty nifty. ^_^

Akamatsu-sensei takes his first break next week, so we'll have to wait a couple of weeks to find out where things go.

BABYMETAL - Megitsune (Merging heavy metal, idol, and traditional Japanese music in a single song.)

I recently mentioned BABYMETAL, an idol group that blends heavy metal with expected pop idol elements.  The result is actually quite good, so much so that yours truly actually got an iTunes account just to score their music. ^_^

For this post, I wanted to talk about the song Megitsune, which means "female fox". When BABYMETAL was founded, they apparently jacked up trying to do devil horns, resulting in the group's trademark hand sign, that of the kitsune. So it is appropriate somehow that they make a song called Megitsune.



I love this song. The video is pretty awesome too with shamisen players wearing kitsune masks, all the while thrashing like heavy metal head bangers. *lol* It is so awesome somehow.

About 1:50 into the video, the tempo and tone of the song change, and the video shifts to match. The BABYMETAL girls are gone, replaced by a woman in a kitsune mask, kimono, and performing a Nihon Buyou (I think that's what it is) dance. The kitsune thrashers behind her just add to the awesomeness of the moment, as does the primal screaming for some reason.  I started thinking that Inuyasha and Kagome might show up at any moment. *lol*

I scored both the instrumental version of this song as well as the full version from iTunes. It is expensive to get otherwise.

Later, I'll touch some other songs BABYMETAL has done that I like. ^_^

Coppelion - 03 (More going on than a failed, nuclear reactor.)

コッペリオン Ep. 03 Review

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:

The three girls continue their movements deeper into the radiated metroplex while Mishima tries to learn more about who's behind the supply deliveries that weren't sponsored by the government. They find a key outside of a prison facility, which there are two guards. When they report the key to Mishima, he says he's coming immediately due to tag on it. Ibara reveals herself to the two and quickly discovers they are the ones supplying the survivors in Tokyo. The other two come in as they had the key over, which goes to a specialized tractor-trailer, complete with a shower. One of the two is an old man, who's relieved when he discovers that some of his missing people have actually been saved.

The group heads out in the truck to rescue an old woman as Mishima discovers the name of the old man, SHIBA Denjirou from Mitsuboshi Heavy Industries, the one who designed the reactor that failed and caused the nuclear accident. As Ibara goes out to find the old woman, who claims to be under attack by monster crows, Mishima orders Ibara to hold Denjirou no matter what. Denjirou hears this over the radio and promises not to run if Ibara saves the old woman. Ibara sees the crow, which is actually a B-2 Stealth Bomber. The bomber lands at a nearby air base as some of the crew try to take her away. Ibara saves her, so the bomber and its crew flew. Denjirou, his companion Kamata, Aoi, and Takeo arrive in a jeep, their truck having been bombed. They decide that the "bird" can't be allowed to get away, so they ready a shoulder fired, anti-aircraft (Hand Arrow) missile launcher.

Thoughts/Review:

This episode covers chapters 11 through 16 of the original manga.

While there was some stuff cut from the manga for this episode, especially in the explanations of some of the different types of radiation and its affect on local plants, most of it survived.  Also, there's an explanation of how the girls break down radiation.

Last episode, I mentioned how the manga went into a lot more detail on a lot of things.  One thing the manga was setting up were these super "hot" radiation zones, which the anime pretty much glossed over. For this episode, that topic comes up, only without all of the setup, this episode seems more like it is suddenly finding it to be a problem when that was strongly hinted well prior to that in the manga.

It is understandable why Dr. Shiba would do what he did since he feels guilty. I really wish that the extent of the nuclear disaster that was shown in the manga was shown in the anime, beyond the ruined city. Regardless, with that in my mind, I really understood what he was feeling while folks only watching the anime won't have the same impact.

The big question, other than these weird radioactive super hot spots, is the B-2 Stealth Bomber that is in the area. The implication is that it isn't part of the Japanese Self-Defense Force, which would imply American to me. They did mention it was modified in the manga, and this plane did have some sort of cargo ramp, which I don't think the real B-2 has. Still, what would they want?

As to shooting it down with a Hand Arrow missile launcher, we'll see if they pull it off. It could be done, but it would take a really, lucky shot, or the B-2 not having counter-measures, which is unlikely as well. After all, they'd have to catch the plane, which should just fly off like no one's business.

As a side note, I'm glad Miku-chan is still around. It is sad that she's an orphan though. 

We'll see what happens. There's interest in the story here, more so in the manga, so I'm going to keep at it.

KILL la KILL- 03 (Satsuki-sama sez, "Time for some ojousama vs heroine seinen action!")

キルラキル ep. 03 SPOILER Review

Synopsis:

Mikisugi-sensei arranges to meet Ryuuko (via a note on Mako's back) to caution her about her staring at him in class, lest they raise suspicions. She is free to gaze at him (and more) in private though. He tells Ryuuko about the seimeiseni threads that make up the goku uniforms as well as her own kamui uniform, which is made up of 100% seimeseni threads. Only Ryuuko's father and Satsuki's family know of the secret of seimeseni. It is Mikisugi-sensei's own dislike of the Kiyuuin clan that causes him to aid Ryuuko. He further reveals how he staged the meeting between Senketsu and Ryuuko at the ruins of Ryuuko's family home. Meanwhile, Inumuta and another guy in the sewing club test a goku robe with 50% of these "Life Fibers" and the subject wearing it goes berserk.

Satsuki comes home and forces her way to where her own kamui garb named Junketsu is sealed up. Despite warnings from family staff members, Satsuki dons the living garment anyway. The following day, she's waiting for Ryuuko as she and Mako come to school. The two have a fearsome battle with Ryuuko taking the worst of it due to the blood loss caused by Senketsu. When Satsuki reveals that wearing a skimpy outfit doesn't embarrass her and that she'd go nude if she had to for her cause, combined with Mako's blathering, Ryuuko realizes what it will take to bond with Senketsu as Satsuki has with Junketsu. The two battle to a minor defeat by Ryuuko says she'll destroy Satsuki's ambitions and aspirations. Satsuki says that if Ryuuko can defeat every club on campus, she'll fight Ryuuko again.

Thoughts/Review:

To me, this episode just wasn't quiet as good as the other two. It was fine and I enjoyed it, but it was missing something.

We get more plot elements with this episode, which explain the whole goku robe thing as well as the kamui uniforms.

We get more about Mikisugi-sensei, and his stripping down for Ryuuko. It was funny to me last episode, but this time, I just didn't laugh.  I felt like, "been there, done that." Odd though, since I rather enjoy a similar running gag in Minami-ke.

Mako's family getting on screen time is when the series starts feeling like a tribute to Ren and Stimpy to me.  The nuttiness there didn't make me laugh either.

Of course, the big thing is Satsuki scoring her own kamui robe. Being an ojousama, Satsuki certainly played the role to the hilt. There's a certain awesomeness to Satsuki's character, which is why I rather hope she ends up not being the villain. Actually, my feelings aside, I don't think she will be. She has her family honor to uphold as well as her role as ruler of Honnouji Academy.

The nod to the mahou shoujo genre henshin sequences, whereby the magic girl transforms from whatever she's wearing into her battle costume, often becoming completely nude in the process, was done here. I hate henshin sequences, and I had to suffer through two of them in this episode. No doubt, that played a role in my more negative view of the episode.

The battle between Ryuuko and Satsuki made me chuckle, namely because I was reminded of battles in Negima! where Negi and some other characters could cause similar type pressure blasts just by their mere presence. So this was obviously a node to that cliched action element.

Further, because Satsuki is an ojousama and Ryuuko is the heroine rival, we have that whole cliched trope as well. I'm not complaining since I rather enjoy the heroine vs. ojousama stuff. 

I guess next week, Ryuuko goes back to beating up and stripping opponents while taking their seimeseni threads. We'll see what happens then.