Classic Anime: Gundam Wing

This is where I began.  I saw DBZ on TV first but it was merely fun to watch, this however is what truly opened my heart to anime and manga both.  Gundam Wing is not the first series to hold the title Gundam, but by God it is probably the most loved by its fans.

There is a quality similar in every Gundam series, themes and characters that are reborn or recast depending on writers and so forth.  This version however I think is probably one of the longest and most layered stories I have encountered in anime up until I dived into Railgun and Index.

We start with a time of tremulous peace after mankind has finally colonized space with artificial structures that mimic earth conditions for the humans there.  Earth is under a United Alliance of nations, currently under fairly direct military control.  The Colonies are being treated as colonies of old usually were, sources of income, supplies, and generally secondary citizens.

It is into this era that we meet our first MC, Relena Darlian.  She is of course a teenager, but is traveling with her father on diplomatic missions from the Colonies to Earth.  While looking out a window, she sees a shooting star, that is actually a meteorite to her.

We of course follow this and join a military tracking unit led by a young Zechs Marquis, who wears a mask almost the entire first half of the series.  He and his men are suspicious of this lone meteor and 4 other detected UFOs on incoming trajectories.  Of course they are not natural.

We are explosively introduced to Heero Yui in the Wing Gunam, codenamed 01 by Earth.  It is 1 of 5 Gundam mobile suits, so named because of the alloy they are made from and because of their technological level.  The Alliance is not without recourse to combat the suits however, they have Leos as well, but as we quickly see they are no match for a Gundam.

Heero surprisingly wins the fight but at the cost of his ability to land.  We quickly have Relena and him meet up at her school where she begins to learn he is not the student he seems, especially after he tries to destroy his own suit.

It is not long after that we jump to our other Gundam pilots:

Trowa Barton of Heavy Arms
Quatre Winner of Sand Rock
Duo Maxwell of Deathscythe
Chang Wufei of Shenlong

Each of them are young men and each Gundam is different in ability and technique, Heavy Arms for example is gun happy.

Their enemy is not actually the Earth Alliance, but an organization that has been behind the Colonial policies and creation of the mobile battle suits, Oz.

Zechs is actually from Oz and is often at odds with the Gundams.  Oz itself is later revealed to be much older and nefarious organization that has been leading mankind to a more "enlightened" rule.  Even though there have been advocates for peace that were welcomed, they felt things were not going in the right direction at the time and had them eliminated.

The last main character I will bring up is Treize Khusherenada, the leader of Oz for most of the series beginning, then sent into exile when he did not like the creation of Mobile Doll system into mobile suits.

Of all the characters he will be the one that surprises you most.

The series touchs on an array of themes but most of them deal with warfare and how it should be approached and eventually completely removed from humanity.  We see massive emotional choices of each character and it is never clear cut or easy as some series may have portrayed it.  The characters are very human in how they approach their failures and even their successes.

This is a very political heavy anime but it has plenty of action to complement it.  Even when we settle down into the flow of the series it takes a dark turn with the introduction of machines that seem to look into the future, the Wing Zero Gundam and the Epyon.  Each are fearsome machines and we see an epic battle between them that is well worth it.

In the end however we stay with Relena's battle through the confusion of war and Heero through the confusion of his heart.  It is not as straight forward as it might seem at first, but in the end you are left with an ending that does go back to its beginning with a perfect tone in my opinion.

If there is any Gundam series I would recommend, or any anime series, it is this one.

Additional Note:  There is an OVA after the series timeline called Gundam Wing Endless Waltz...bit over dramatic but still pitch perfect moments for all our MCs and some answers that were left in the air after the end of Gundam Wing.

Anime: Attack on Titan Ep 13: Attack on Trost pt 9

YES!  So after forcing Eren to wake up, Armin desperately informs the elite troops that if the boulder gets placed they win.  Eren is barely moving with the boulder, his regeneration causing steam to constantly stream from him as body is being strained beyond breaking point.

He is forced to watch at the desperate gambles of his friends and comrades as they sacrifice themselves to give him a clear path.  He also gives us a beautiful clarity about why he wants to leave the walls and why what the Titans have done to him is not only tragic to him personally but has always made him angry.

The simple freedom to see the world is denied to mankind and far too many have accepted that to Eren's mind.  They have accepted living in a walled cage and never seeing the outside again.  Eren does not accept this and demands that all must fight for all to be free once again.

This episode is another nail biter, never mind the obvious progress for Eren in his Titan body, but we see soldiers fight desperately for their first victory in 107 years against the Titans.  The after action report gives a full cost of this battle and I was left a little numb that even with a Titan, mankind had a horrifying war ahead of them.

We are left with Eren waking up in an underground cell and chained facing the Commander and Captain of the Recon Corps, the very group Eren wishes to join.  They ask his intentions, with Capt. Levi demanding an answer to their questions.

Eren flashed through all he has been through and we see the above eyes with a simple wish:

"I wish to join the Recon Corps and kill as many Titans as I can!"

Levi seems to like this answer and offers to take responsibility for Eren, including killing him if needed, and the higher ups should be happy with that.

Awesome episode and damned happy to see it.  It does have a summary of episodes 11-12 I found at first annoying, but then it culminates in a lovely result right before the opening starts.  This series is going to suck up my time forever!

[Initial Reaction] To Aru Kagaku no Railgun Episode 1

Or A Certain Scientific Railgun

Why this? Well, they're currently airing season two and I haven't seen any of it. I guess I technically should be starting with A Certain Magical Index? Not quite sure how this works. Way to be super confusing.

Episode 1: Electromaster

This anime takes place in a mythical place called Academy City, where the technology is extra advanced and most everyone is a student. Some of the inhabitents are espers, with more elemental based abilities instead of   the usual things we'd think to attribute to ESP.

Kuroko Shirai belongs to Judgement, apparently those who enforce the rules of Academy City. She is hot on the tail of some hooligans only to find them taken care of by Mikoto Misaka. This initially upsets her, but she gets over it quickly, dogging behind the elder girl.

On their way to school, Mikoto decides to assault a vending machine, not for any reason I can fathom. Just for the lulz.

At school there's a bit of bickering about esper class during gym. Turns out Kuroko is only a Level 1 and Mikoto, exploding things in a pool some distance away but causing a mighty uproar, is a Level 5.

There's some fanservice lesbonic moments in the shower after gym class.

No really.

The point of this is?

There was also a really weird scene in a diner in which Kuroko climbs in Ruiko's lap. It was another one of those throw away scenes that didn't really need to be there, like the earlier one with the vending machine.

They are joined on a trip to a crepe making food truck/park by Kazari Uiharu and her friend Ruiko Saten.

There doesn't seem to be any male protagonists. Where is their Tuxedo Mask?

Kuroko becomes upset at Mikoto and Ruiko's easy friendship (over frog cell phone jiggly things?), jealous even, making the anime even more lesbonic than before with shower groping.

While the other girls are espers of some sort, Ruiko doesn't have any magical ability.

Suddenly there's a bank robbery and a lost child. The bad guys are stopped, but Ruiko gets hit by a car in the process. But, everyone's fine. No one finished their pastries. Best friends forever.

I don't know about this show you guys, I just don't know.

Classic Anime: Yu Yu Hakusho

Ah the classic shows, whether they introduced us long ago to this wonderful myriad of worlds called anime, or simply looking for what the blazes everyone is talking about.  This one I recommend to anyone looking for just a good time but some progressive story as well.

We start with archetype anti-hero Yusuke Urameshi, rebellious teenager, I think they like to use the world ruffian.  Only in a unique take, he is starting out dead.  Yes you read that right, main character starts out dead off the bat.  Fortunately this is only a minor issue, well more or less.  Botan, the "Grim" Reaper, shows up and is of course a cute lass floating in air and a bit of an air head in her speech patterns.  This unusual beginning leads to hilarious introductions to the main cast humans and the leader of the Spirit World, Koenma in baby form is truly hilarious.

The tone of the show from the outset is tongue in cheek, and Yusuke is a bit blunt with both words, and fists.  Even so you start to pull for him because it is obvious he just likes the world simple, and in striking distance.  After a short arc of trials, he is returned to life, but of course he is now gifted to be doing a new job, what with all his free time from skipping class, to be Spirit Detective.

At first it all seems about enjoying the fighting and expanding our view of this world, but it quickly takes a serious turn when we meet Kurama, a demon in a human body, merger not possession.  He steals an artifact that he wants to use to save his human mother at the cost of his life, but Yusuke quickly steps in to offer his own after seeing his family and friends deal with his first death.

That contradiction of loving fights, but putting his life on the line for something more noble goes on through out the series as it begins to become far more serious.  The involvement of Genkai as his teacher and role model, see smart ass old lady that kicks demon ass, and the massive arc of the Dark Tournament that revealed far deeper relations between the main and supporting cast.

We also of course see Yusuke develop into an older smart aleck that becomes insanely powerful only after facing true monsters that just wanted to kill for the fun of it or for their own twisted motives.  That is one thing about this series I liked a lot, there was honest to goodness evil of both monster and human, and often the humans were worse.  Our heroes are not perfect or innocent at all, they have done cruel things and good things, and often they do things that seem to contradict what we expect, but somehow it all weaves well together.

The last arcs deal with two aspects most show skirt around.  Fighting and killing monsters to protect people seems just fine, but what if a group of people are the enemy and the only way to stop them is to kill them?  Up to this point it was a pure monster brawl, demons galore and only demons killing humans.  Some truly twisted story points here but massive progress for our characters culminating in an all out brawl in Demon World between Yusuke and his predecessor Sensui.

The final wrap up takes us where we again have avoided for the most part, the depths of Demon World, as we learn Yusuke has an ancestor still kicking around and that blood has been allowed to reach its potential in him thanks to his training with Genkai.  It seems to become more serious with each arc, but in this we return to the simpler joy of bringing serious issues, like inter-world peace, to fist fights.

Surprisingly I have found that with rewatching this series I hardly ever skip an episode or arc, I watch it beginning to end and enjoy it all again.  Not always true of second or third rounds of a show.  The final episode makes a nice bookend and while not all questions are answered, it is pitch perfect for how we began, with a punch to the gut and lots of laughs.  Highly recommended once again for anyone and there are TONS of episodes so enjoy!

Manga: Bleach 543: Letters

Ok this will be short and sweet.  We went from the quite compelling reforging of Zangetsu and Ichigo....to a chapter I almost think you have to go WAY back and refer to the enemy all over again.

Basically Uryuu is the last LIVING Quincy, more or less, but is now joining the other side of the equation, the Sternritters.  I seriously had to go back and remind myself all that was going on after Ichigo's mini arc.  I would recommend it as well.

Basically we are seeing the introduction of many characters and the reaction to the announcement of Uryuu as the next leader, completely out of the blue.  No really, we are ALL surprised here. There is some unrest of course and references abound, but no huge milestones.

I assume we will go more in depth and again, I highly recommend backing up a few chapters to reacquaint yourself with our enemy up to this point.

Manga: Naruto 636: Kakashi vs Obito Continued

I swear to God too many long running series draw out battles to crazy lengths.  Not the case here.  Obito and Kakashi are still battling with genjutsu, but in this chapter they step out of that phase.

We are treated to some flashbacks to their time before the fateful mission that gave Kakashi is sharingan  eye.  Kakashi is clinging to his old friend's memory but accepting that to protect Naruto and his dream for Hokage and Sasuke's redemption, he must kill the man his friend has become.

The chapter does a very good job of mixing the flashback with the current action, a sparring fight plays an emotional counterpoint to the deadly battle on the pages.  The result of the fight is not a surprise after all "Tobi" has done up to now.

Kakashi lands the definitive blow, but Obito uses his eyes to slip away.

We flash back to the all out battle of the newly resurrected Kage and the Allied Force against Madera.  It appears the master mind behind all of the woes and tragedy of the world is tired of waiting for his new form.

We are left with Obito being betrayed by Madera and a last flash of the past for Obito of Rin as she was back then.  What lies in wait may FINALLY be the end of this war.  I hope the anime catches up to this because quite a bit of this I would love to see if it would translate well or not to animation.

I also really want to know if Sai's observation about Sakura means what I think it does...previous chapter.

[Initial Reaction] The "Hentai" Prince and the Stony Cat Ep 1

Also known as Hentai Ouji to Warawanai Neko and in shorthand HanNeko.

Episode 1: The Pervert and the Stony Cat

This anime is super pretty. Variegated shadows always pull me in. Like a shiny Deviantart spotlight, I couldn't stop staring at their hair.

Anyway,  the main character is a huge perv. In the first few seconds it is established that he pretty much only joined the track club in order to do squats in front of the swimming pool window and stare at girls. How this wasn't super suspicious, I can only guess. But, they attempt to reward him for his diligence to track and of course, he's not going to tell the truth about being a super lecher, so he accepts.

All this pretending not to be a creep has left him a void of emotions and he wants to be more expressive in order to get a girlfriend. Walking home, he expresses this to his friend, who immediately hands him a box of porn and tells him of the magical wish granting powers of the stone cat on the hill. His friend took an offering of his pervy body pillow and came back a changed man lacking perversions. His friend can now go Mother Theresa the world without impure thoughts for the natives.

And so he makes his way up the hill with his own body pillow, Barbra. As he's about to make his wish, a girl suddenly appears and they run around the hill and scream and then talk about their feelings. She feels as though she is too transparent and would love to be able to bottle up some of her feelings in order to appear more mature. And so they decide to make their cat wish together.

Nothing could possibly go wrong, right?

Wrong.

The stone cat takes their offerings and gives them what they wished for. The thing is, the stone cat takes what they no long want and gives it to someone else who could use it.

And so perv boy no longer has a mask to hide behind. At school the next day he makes a fool of himself, berating the attractive transfer student by calling her flat chested and totally perving it up at his track captain.

Dubbed 'Hentai Prince' by the entire school, he has some feelings in a room by himself. Until the girl from the hill shows up and complains about how she cannot make any expressions at all.  They go back tot he hill to ask the cat for their personality traits back, but the cat is silent and, dare I say, stoney?

So, after lengthy discussion on the significant plot points and the cat's magic, they discover that the new girl's collar necklace looks a lot like that belt the cat took as an offering. She needed his facade in order to deal with all of the passes made at her. Perv boy vows to get it back, subjugating himself and embarrassing everyone in the process.

He doesn't have it yet.

And so the episode ends.

I wasn't blown away, but it still might surprise me.

[Initial Reaction] Angel Sanctuary: Ch 1

I went and sought out this manga on the recommendation of someone on Tumblr who likes most of the things I like and is mainly a Game of Thrones blogger. I'm not sure I like it.

The first chapter was full of infodump and a mass character introduction that would have put Pern to shame. I could barely understand what was happening, let alone keep the characters straight. There's a few that stood out, such as incest girl and nerdy chick. Though, if you asked me to name the boy's character traits, I couldn't event begin to tell you which one is incest boy.

It also suffered from the 90's era over-saturation of screentones, and folds and individual hair strands. Everything was muddled and messy, which didn't help when I couldn't separate characters identities. It was like watching an action film really close up, and in fact, most shots are done from the waist up, or in extreme closeup.

I just, have no idea what is happening. I guess there's some angels finding the human bodies of other angels, or perhaps their fallen angels? Nerd girl is super mad that incest boy won't pay attention to her and vows to murder his sister, but get's showered in the face with glass and is now blind. Blind with vengeance!

No, I really am baffled by this whole concept. I'll forge ahead to see if it starts making more sense. As of this moment, blah.

Anime Series: High School of the Dead: Season 1, 12 Episodes

I will say this series is a tough watch, considering it is a zombie apocalypse that is to be expected.  However there is a considerable amount of fan service type actions as well, that is true to the manga version quite a bit as well but there are a few stunning extras thrown in as well.

We open with the typical high school, Komuro Takashi being bummed that his once promised girl is now seeing another guy.  We get a few glimpses of memories of her making the promise as a very young girl and then present day stress of Rei Miyamoto, a stunner of course (far right) seemingly having school issues.  A pretty normal start of a normal day, oh and he is skipping class of course.

In this moment we meet another stunner, the brainy, but highly opinionated, Saya Takagi.  Inside of the first 2 minutes she declares how much a genius she is and how stupid Takashi is for moping and cutting class.  All seems to be sizing up for harem antics and/or drama.

Then of course zombies crash the party.  The school literally goes from normal to zombie mosh pit in the space of an hour.  The series does a phenomenal job of portraying reactions and the chaos of panicking student body as the principal is eaten over the loud speaker.

The first few episodes deal with Takashi rushing Rei out of class to safety with Hisashi, her current boyfriend, who in the midst of trying to get to safety of course gets bitten.  Takashi is then forced to kill him after he pleads to die as himself.  Again the series has an interesting take on the main drama, the zombies.

There is NEVER an explanation, the point is people are trying to survive and they have to deal with that as best they can.  The whole series dose this aspect very well.  The zombies are always referred to as "Them" and it addresses the psychological reasons for that later in the series.

They bite you and in short order you die rather dramatically, and painfully it would seem as well.  Then in less than a minute you are undead.  The other unique take is they are completely nerve dead save in mobility and hearing.  This is a beautiful distinction to similar genre creatures as it gives a realistic take on a barely functional human body.  They do of course have inhuman strength and only destruction of the head stops them completely.

Takagi makes a return at the start of the chaos by snatching a fellow classmate, typical nerd and professed Otaku, Kohta Hirano. A slightly over weight and shy person, until he makes a nail gun into a real weapon.  Of all the characters he shows the greatest transformation.  His hobby of weapons becomes the basis of a lot of their survival.

The last few characters of Saeko Busujima and Shizuka Marikawa, kendo expert and school nurse, all gather as Takashi and Rei make their way down to the main floor.  The core group is our main focus and how they adapt to survive in this terrifying new world.

The series does well with the characters trying to keep their humanity as they have to change their ethics.  They confront the erosion of civilization as fear and panic drive the public to do anything to survive.

Takashi is our main focus throughout, and some brilliant voice overs of his internal thoughts make a good counter point to the more nail biting moments.  In particular of course are his relationships with Saeko and Rei, the former having to face the darkness she is letting loose in this new world, and the latter trying to overcome grief and heartache about Takashi.

Throughout there is a TON of fan service moments, some for laughs, others for not inexplicable reasons, but over it all is the group binding together and learning not only to survive, but to be a contrast to the darker turns of the wider society we get glimpses of throughout.

They drive themselves to find their families and whatever pieces of normalcy can still be had in this world.  Takashi finds he is trusted as a leader when once he had only been happy as a slacker at school.  Saeko feared the darkness within she always had is consuming her, but Takashi offers her a place and promise to accept what she it.  Rei thought Takashi had lost interest in her and did not care, but finds he is exactly as she once thought, and still loves him, she also finds the will to survive after nearly breaking the first day.

Hirano finds a warrior's courage after hiding most of his life, helping Takashi gather their final member, the young girl Alice Maresato, from a horde of Them after her father is murdered by uncaring humans.  His skill with weapons borders on the uncanny. Takagi learns humility and tempers her arrogance with necesity, helping bring into focus the groups goals and plans when panic tries to set in otherwise.

Shizuka....sigh....I want to find who gave this woman a nursing degree and shake them.  While I have zero doubt of her status in the anime, her character DOES help the group survive and move forward.  She also has surprising driving skills I doubt were recommended in any school.  At the end she is still very much the same as she began, but there is a glimmer of iron here and there, never explored further.

I recommend this series highly and hope for a second season as the manga took a good turn I would love to see on my screen one day.

[Initial Reaction] Date A Live Ep 1

Episode 1: April 10th

 Oh, anime. You are so silly. It's going to be one of those shows, isn't it. Well, I guess I'm going to start a running tally per episode of panty shot and excessive boob jiggle. I didn't do it this time, because it happened about six times in the initial scene and my brain froze up.

Also, this is supposed to be the MC's moe young sister, and she's jumping on his bed. This isn't Westeros. I'm not ready for sudden incest.

See, she's adorable. I want to squish her.

She also really likes the news. Like, really, really likes the news. It was jarringly out of place. But before I could think about it any harder, I was surrounded by infodump.

Japan is suffering from spacial quakes, which is more like a ball of electrical boom then a quake of any sort. The spacequakes started out thirty years ago, a huge one that killed 150 million people. Since then, the spacequakes have happened with frequency, but on a much smaller scale.

That bit of supernatural lore aside, Shido and Kotori finish their breakfast and head towards school. Kotori, with her ditzy face, really wants to go to a diner after school. Shido gives in and promises to take her, and she exclaimed happily, telling him not to forget, and to even meet her there if a spacequake were to happen.

And so Shido goes to school and we meet some classmates.

This guy, Hiroto Tonomachi, is dating a dating sim. He fanatically exclaims that it is his girlfriend. Yeah dude, you're gonna be carrying around one of those lady pillows in a few years with the same attitude. If James Franco can do it, so can you.

And this girl, Origami Tobiichi. She's good at everything, famous for it, and Shido is surprised that she even knows his name, let alone would talk to him. He's pretty calm about it, actually. For, what I can only assume is a harem anime, he is not a simpering, blushing, virginal fool. At least, not yet.

Cue spacequake! Hiroto tries to call his sister, ultimately being unable to get through. Worrying that she may be at the diner like she said, he stalks her location. Does no one else find that phone application super invasive? Eh... So, seeing that she is, in fact, at the diner, he makes a mad dash towards it, risking life and limb.

A spacequake appears in front of him, close enough for him to feel the shockwave, not close enough for him to suffer much damage. No falling debris hits him either. After a shocked moment, he runs towards the end of the rift. You know, because it's in his way, also because glowing rifts in the ground need investigating.

Inside is a girl! Shocker! At least she didn't fall on him and shove her boobs in his face.

She's got this fancy glowing final fantasy sword made of impractical materials of an impractical size, which she uses with awkward efficiency on a group of lady attackers in the 'less armor means more armor' version of a battle bodysuit.

Hey look! One is the girl from earlier. I know that their class has a new teacher, but she's horrifically bad at her job if students can just run off during states of emergency.

There's an impending battle shockwave and Shido is knocked out. He wakes up to this:

I'ma cosplay this bitch. Calling it. She wears slippers with the same stuffed bear face. I love it.

Shido is now aboard the Fraxinus, in the company of a group of people, one of which is his adorable ditzy sister, who has a completely different personality now and appears to be in control of this floating ship.  There's also a masochistic vice-commander with the most bishi of hair.

The Fraxnius's location is directly above the diner, hence the phone location. Whoops.

Shido is informed that the spacequakes are caused by Spirits entering the world. That they need to be stopped or they will wreak havoc. She tells him that he can help. Well, how? He doesn't seem to have any overly interesting skill set. By using their training simulator, which is a dating sim.

After the credits, I'm not sure if it was just a weird extra bit, or if it will be in the next episode? I don't think so, because after it they gave a preview for that. Anyway, Shido meets Origami at school, and she informs him not to mention her involvement or the Spirits to anyone. Also, she's really grumpy about Spirits because they murdered her family. End scene.

It's a harem anime, but I'm still not sure what the catch is. The last harem anime I watched was High School of the Dead and that had issues with romantic tension because there was a lot of zombies to deal with. The one I watched before that was Sekerai, but I didn't get too far because it was too much like collecting Pokemon for battle only it was big boobed ladies.

Anyway. I'll give it a few more episodes.

Anime: Attack on Titan: Ep 12 Wound: The Battle for Trost

I will have no fingernails left as this series goes on, I feel very safe in betting on that.  For anyone that is used to a sedate pace of anime story development, Attack on Titan never fails to surprise and move quickly, yet we are not left wanting at all.

Wound delivers heart wrenching reality of how even soldiers deal with Titan attacks.  Aside from our main cast, we see a lot of completely understandable reactions after Trost was basically massacred as badly as Wall Maria 5 years ago.  However, we of course now have Eren Jaeger and the inexplicable ability his father seems to have given him.

That mystery remains and is happily ignored for the thrust of this story.  Commander Pixis is delivered very well here not only for his odd slant on reality, but why he is the leader of the southern forces of humanity.  He realizes the demoralization of his troops and with a succinct speech gives the wavering soldiers a choice, feel free to return home, but know the fear of Titans will come to your families as well.  Again we get the very real reaction that fearing your own death can be debilitating, but the same threat to family can give us strength to walk back into hell.

Armin plays well here again as he has before, he shows a firm grasp of understanding and gives us a clear view of how desperate humanity is at this moment.  If Wall Rose falls, humanity is basically doomed.  Eren is the only hope and while he has no more answers about what he is, he swears to go forth with the only plan to save Trost there is, seal the hole with his Titan body.

This is where the episode picks up, Eren transformed but not in control of his Titan form.  Oddly his actions are not random as other Titans attack all humans, but focused on Mikasa.  Obviously she survives, but after the previous episode (summarized above) we see the full results of the tenuous thread even elite soldiers hold onto in this world.

The guard have to deal with the advancing Titans, strangely still drawn to them despite the mass of humanity luring them away.  Armin realizes something is wrong and with a show of immense conviction, snaps Eren out of his blank state.

Inside the Titan body Eren has been seemingly trying to sleep in his 'home' of 5 years ago.  Armin's tactic eventually pierces the fog and we are left gaping that Eren chooses to face the world again because he was born into the world of Titans and all he loved was always threatened by them.  It ends with the vision being burned away and the Titan finally regenerating after Mikasa dropped it earlier.

If I do not have a heart attack or emotional break down after every episode I will eat my bloody shoes!

[Initial Reaction] Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet/Suisei no Gargantia Ep 1

Episode 1: Castaway

In the future, humans live in space, Earth is a distant memory. The Galactic Alliance of Humanity explores uncharted regions of space. There they encounter the Hideauze, which look to be giant space dwelling tentacle plants. No really. Hostile space plants. They wage war. After some time in cryo, our MC, Ledo, joins the action with his AI companion, Chamber.

Ledo has logged plenty of battle hours, is very good at what he does. He's logged so many, Chamber tells him that he will be able to visit Avalon, a paradise where he can relax and reproduce. When Ledo complains, Chamber basically tells him that making babies is awesome and he should totes do it. Um, sup creepy pervcomputer.

 Anyway, they ultimately lose the battle and Ledo misses his boat ride home, falling into whatever warp drive runoff the spaceship produces.

He wakes up six months later on another ship, surrounded by what I believe are the rest of the cast.

So we meet Yoko lookalike Bellows, chipmunk toting Amy, and head repairman Pinion.

Ledo and Chambers talk of escape, trying to figure out where they are and how to get back. They decide to sneak out during the night and do a terrible job, because curiosity got the better of some of the crew and Ledo is found out.

What does he do?

Kidnaps Amy and runs like hell. The entire boat is after him, and he dodges down one hallway and another eventually busting through to the outside in which he finds himself on a boat, in the middle of a vast stretch of water. Throughout this chase, he has been urging Chamber to acclimate the language and find their coordinates.

Now trapped, surrounded by guns, Ledo learns that he's on the mythical planet Earth. And scene!

Not so interested in Ledo, but the supporting cast is amazing. I legit almost instantaneously started the second episode, but I have other shows to sample first.

[Initial Reaction] My Teen Romantic Comedy Snafu Ep 1

Or: Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Come wa Machigatteiru in Japanese. That is a mouthful.

Episode 1: And Thus Their Mistaken Youth Begins
  Hachiman Hikigaya is this cynical guy who spends most of his time lamenting in his headspace like an under stimulated  Kevin Smith character. In fact, this appears to be all he does, as he doesn't seem to have any friends.

His awkwardly hot teacher, Shizuka Hiratsuka, unimpressed by his current essay, decides he needs more socialization and brings him to a somewhat empty room. The room has exactly one girl in it, Yukino Yukinoshita, reading a book with some stick cats on the cover. This club is apparently a 'Service Club'  offering help and advice to students who wander through the door.

After some awkward conversations about 'dead fish eyes' and other insults, it ultimately comes down to a wager. Whichever member of the club can 'service' the most students wins, becoming able to request anything of the other.

Of course, Hachiman's mind immediately wanders into pervy man territory. But the wager is taken.

 

After originally yelling at the first person to request their help, they eventually end up in the kitchen.  Yui Yuigahama would love to learn to make cookies to impress someone she likes. This turns into failure and soul searching and eventually, it's decided that as long as Yui tries to make cookies, whoever should be grateful for them .

Yui comes back the next day, thanking them both for their help with cookies, terrible cookies. And so the episode ends.

Who actually won that round? They both helped her. I am unsure of how this game is played.

Based on the name, there wasn't much comedy and very little romance as most advances were stilted and ignored. I am really not sure what to think of this anime. Probably need to give it another episode, I mean, I didn't downright hate it.

Anime: Date Alive Ep 12: That Which Cannot be Forgiven

It appears we have come to the end of a surprisingly serious near harem anime.  From starting out with the typical good hearted but socially inept Shido meeting an impossible Princess and finding out his little sister is the head of a clandestine organization trying to save Spirits, to learning some serious back story to our main characters and actually seeing them face their past and present in one shot of an episode was awesome.

Kotori was being burned up by her Spirit powers, referred to by all as Ifrit, yet it was confirmed that unlike Tohka and Yoshino, she was born human and attained the power later.  Both she and Shido have odd gaps in their memory at that time, but Origami now knows about Kotori being Ifrit, the Spirit she blames for her parents deaths.

While the date between Shido and Kotori actually went as expected with some shenanigans as previous episode, Shido shined at last in his honest wish to save his sister from being destroyed by her power.  Neither of them seemed to have faith that he could seal her as he had other Spirits, but thanks to the rude interruption of Origami in the near lethal attack gear, for the pilot and Spirits both, Shido crystallizes his feelings for Kotori and not only faces death to protect her, but pierces the fog that has kept him from remembering 5 years ago as well.

Origami is portrayed well here, we see the shell she has erected cracked wide open and her desperation to finally kill Ifrit driving her to hurt even the man she says she loves, Shido.  Even Shido stuns as he reveals that Kotori as a human is innocent, only the power of Ifrit need be punished, and it is once more inside him, therefore he demands Origami attack him alone.

Tohka and Yoshino actually reveal more depth in the battle and how much they cherish both Shido and Kotori.  I was surprised at how nail biting this was for all of them.  Happily the tone of the show was never lost, for all the serious and dark moments, the end of this season was pitch perfect between Shido and Tohka...with the entire crew of the command ship and Yoshino/Yoshinon thrown in perfectly.

We were left with two cliff hangers and brief glimpses of the results of Origami's attack.  She is now restrained and the suit obviously damaged.  Kurumi seems to have regathered her strength and said "That is not near enough..."  Now I must wait and see what the future brings, but what I thought would be a truly silly harem has now become a fan favorite.  I would recommend all 12 episodes that can be found on Hulu.

[Initial Reaction] Hataraku Maou-sama!/The Devil is a Part Timer! Ep 1

Episode 1: The Devil Arrives in Sasazuka

This is a fancy map. It has something to do with the plot. The infodump informed me that Satan tried to take over this world/alternate dimension/whathaveyou (Ente) with his four generals (Adramelech, Lucifer, Alciel and Malacoda). A hero rose up, as they are want to do, and brought him down. In the final showdown between Satan and the hero, Satan decides to change dimensions and he and Alciel appear in modern day earth.

Where there is very little magic, and so, they're stuck.

I didn't understand why there were subtitles upon subtitles, but apparently the MCs actually speak non-Japanese. See, I just thought they talked stilted and funny. Way to be insensitive me.

Anyway, after being picked up by the police and dubbed 'cosplayers', Satan and Alciel go upon their merry way acquiring proper identification, banking, and housing with their demon mind tricks.

Their landlord is pretty much the grossest, btw.

A trip to the hospital has them learning about food and how they need to consume it. Also about how expensive going to the hospital is. Running out of money, they apply for jobs.

Alciel becomes a frighting househusband type and researches how to return to their original demension, while Satan gets a job at the local fast food joint and climbs the ranks by doing well at his job.

How does one ride a bike with an umbrella? Teach me your ways.

On the way to work this fine narrative day, it is raining, so he offers his umbrella to an adorable yet soaked girl at the crosswalk. He tells her where he works, in case she wants to get the umbrella back, or get some demon d and the goes about his day. The fryers break and he contemplates using his magic, but in being assertive and mundane, he receives a promotion and a raise.

On his way home, umbrella girl confronts him, and explains that she followed him to his place of employment in order to stalk him across the street. Also, surprise, she's the hero from the beginning. Plot twist!

Not sure how much I like Paranormal Slice of Life. I will probably give it a few more episodes. Honestly, none of the characters are particularly jarring and while the animation isn't spectacular, it doesn't hurt my eyes.

[Initial Reaction] Shingeki no Kyojin/Attack on Titan Ep 1

 Shingeki no Kyojin literally translates to 'Advancing Giants' and they certainly deliver.

Episode 1- To You, 2,000 years in the Future- The Fall of Zhiganshina (1)

This anime is really beautifully drawn and fluidly animated. The action sequences are interesting. Though, it's mostly people fighting or being destroyed by giant monsters called Titans. People live behind a wall to keep the monsters out, though there is a small squad called the Survey Corps that ventures outside.

The free-form zip line, pulley system they have for quick travel and battle is actually pretty damn awesome. The cross sectioned, moving part shot was a little excessive and disorienting, but it only happened once.

Cue what I assume are the main characters, Eren and Mikasa. Children. Oh anime, how unsurprising. Eren seems to hold radical viewpoints about living behind a wall, wishing to join the Survey Corps to explore beyond his little fish bowl and kick some Titans in the nuts. Mikasa, I can only assume is a little older, and seems to be the balancing point to Eren's crazy antics, pulling him out of trouble and talking sense into him. Pretty sure they're not related, but I'm unsure where Mikasa's family falls into all this or if she just lives with Eren's. She was at least having dinner at their house and bringing them firewood.

Eren is super grumpy at Hannes, one of the gate watchers. The entire garrison is pretty much drunk. Who wouldn't be? Nothing ever happens. How else to pass the time?

The Survey team from the beginning of the episode returns home, pretty damn beat up. Mikasa asks Eren if he's still interested in joining the Survey Corps. Of course Eren is. Don't be dumb.  When has a little bit of death and dismemberment ever stopped the MC from wanting to go balls to the wall for fame and glory?

Um, here's your son's floppy dismembered arm. Sorry.

 After getting in a scuffle with the local grumpy old man, Eren and Mikasa head to Eren's house for dinner. Eren's family is pretty adorbs. His dad is a doctor and has to go off on some fancy sickness curing tour of some of the inner walls (oh yeah, the walls are in layers, like and onion, or an ogre, or a parfait). Of course Mikasa mentions Eren's job aspirations and his mom goes from adorable to shrieking crazy shrew. Eren shrieks back and her and runs off. I LEARNED IT FROM YOU, MOM.

Insert obligatory scene in which the mother implores the best friend to watch out for the main character. There is so much goddamn foreshadowing in this episode, it's getting disgusting.

The kids rescue another little boy from bullies. His name is Armin and he's just a fatalist. "What if the walls fall down right now, you guys?"

Suddenly, a larger Titan appears and smashes a huge hole in the wall. Falling debris crushes several folk as the smaller giants start pouring through the hole.

Since there was not really a scale to where the houses were, we learn that Eren's house is actually close enough to the wall to have succumbed to debris. As he runs back to find his mother, he finds her half crushed and shouting about the need for him to save himself.

Drunk Hannes ends up rescuing the kids, but not until after a little bit of comic relief in the midst of this carnage.

The episode ends with the mother's death, and her blood resembles pretty floating blossoms, until it splats on the ground.

First episode was pretty exciting. Cliffhanger-ed. Yeah, I'm def continuing this series.

Manga: Bleach 542 - Blade is Me

There are some twists in a story that are hard to swallow for a fan.  Bleach started with a mystery in that Ichigo Kurosaki was far more powerful than the Soul Reaper that gave him power, Rukia.  This latest chapter had a feeling of disappointment at first in that all we had known before was going to be changed or altered to irrelevance.

Instead we see that Ichigo is much more wise about his origins and what the true nature of his Zanpakuto and his relationship with Zangetsu truly is.  Instead of losing the past, we see it in a new light and how it will now go forward.

We finally see Ichigo accept that he will stand on his own, perhaps no longer as a Substitute Soul Reaper, but a true Soul Reaper.  I look forward to his next steps and I wonder what his Bankai will be now that his true sword is revealed.  It has been a long journey but we are finally getting the answers to all that is odd about Ichigo and why he seems so different from everyone's expectations.