A Certain Scientific Railgun S: Ep 16: Sisterhood

And so we circle back to the finale between Toma and Accelerator.  Certain Magical Index gave us more of a view of this fight from Toma's point of view but this time around we get a hell of a dip into the feels department here.

Toma is very badly hurt and bleeding after Accelerator attempted his creation of the plasma in the air, but thanks to the Sisters work with the wind turbines, his attack is kaput.  He confronts Misaka about why she and Toma fight so hard for what he sees as wind up dolls.

Misaka begs an indulgence to act as a big sister even though she feels she has no right to do so from 10032.  We see her stand defiantly before an enraged Accelerator, but all of them are shocked when the devastated body of Toma stands up once more.

Here we see a major departure from Index in that we see the point of view of Accelerator and why he is doing these experiments.  We get a very good look at his reasoning and his rather humble wish of what he wants to experience.  Obviously being considered the strongest Level 5 has left scars on him and he was willing to do anything to have the constant experiments and fights finally come to an end.

He shows a great disturbance within about how many Sisters he killed but he still wants to be beyond all his issues and attacks Toma once more.  Imagine Breaker smashes his left fingers and the classic line is uttered once again from Toma, telling Accelerator to "clench his teeth" as the weakest man is about to ring out.

Misaka and 10032 can only watch in awe as both men fall, Accelerator defeated and Toma victorious.

We skip forward to a glimpse of both the Sister and Toma in the hospital, but as this version is Misaka focused, we do not see any changes from Index to that conversation.  Instead we see Misaka the next morning and her guilt about Toma and the Sisters who did not make it after all the experiments.

Toma's words are a voiceover to a gloomy Misaka as she finds 10032 with the cat in the city and she finds a way to move forward with her newly freed Sister.  We get to see a very human and probably hilarious to anyone with siblings moment, of 10032 and Misaka with two young girls in the park.

The Sister implores Misaka later to keep being the Big Sister to all of them, confirming Toma's words to her that they want Misaka to stay with them in their lives.  A touching scene and well done by writing and the voice actress here.

The episode wraps up with Misaka actually meeting Toma again, who is barely able to move on crutches and can barely speak to him words of gratitude.  She also fails to give him some homemade cookies from Saten and Uriharu.  However she does get Toma to call her by her name which seems to have given her a face Kuroko did not like.  We did not get to see it but given a guess I would say Kuroko worries Misaka is falling for someone who is not her.

God help Toma if she ever finds out.  We are left with a much lighter load on Misaka's shoulders and a happy burden of being a sister to nearly 10000 versions of clones.  It is an awesome episode and if you have seen the Index side to it, it gives an excellent counter point to Toma and Index moments similar to that time.

Anime: Attack on Titan Ep 16: What Should be Done, Night before the Counteroffensive (3)

This image seems appropriate for the episode.  We find the recruits finishing up the jobs of rifling through the dead for their identities and facing the choice of which branch to enter.  A very good mix of a conversation during 3D gear inspection and a flashback to a pyre covers the gamut of most of our MC.

Annie herself makes an excellent point of confronting the point of asking someone which branch to join with the counter question of "If someone ordered you to die would you want to?"  The point obviously being for each to make up their own mind.

Armin impresses her with his own answer, a rare moment of surprise from Annie.  She herself bluntly states she wants to survive.  It is Jean that surprises as well with his reversal of joining the Recon Corp.  It is not the the confident declaration of Eren, but a more humbling realization that he knows what he wants to do in the aftermath of Trost and all the friends he lost.

Commander Erwin is the dominant part of this episode at the ceremony to convince cadets to join him on the next expedition in a months time to take Eren to his basement and hopefully some answers.

He gives a very brutal rundown of the statistics of the last 4 years and the prospects of what is to come.  Characters on both sides wonder why he is being so forthright and frightening, but I think it is an excellent time for this.  These are not raw cadets with no idea what they are looking at, they have already faced the nightmare and now need solid truth slapped at them again.

No shocks that the majority leave when told they are free to go, but aside from Annie, all the cadets we have come to know are now in the Recon Corps.  Mikasa and Armin never wavered but this episode did a good job of showing that while the others made their choice, it was not an easy one by any stretch.

We also get a confrontation between the newly minted Recon Corps members and Eren about his instability as a Titan.  Eren does not try to defend his failures, but neither is he rejected by them.  Jean makes an excellent argument that going in with eyes fully open, everyone can make the informed decision about what they may be asked to die for.

Shockingly it is Jean that now says he is counting on Eren, not just for the mission, but as so many have been saying as the hope of humanity.  Eren himself quietly agrees to take on the burden but his confidence is not as evident as it once was.  They are doing an excellent job of showing the humanity in the characters and how it is not going to be easy for them to move forward.

The show ends on a kind of full circle note for Eren, leaving for the mission with small children exclaiming they are cool.  We are left feeling like we are on a high note in many respects, but with the humbling cost to get here not forgotten.

Aside from a few personal convos between Eren, Mikasa, and Armin about his Titan abilities I would have loved to have seen as well (they do not exist in the manga either for the record) this episode makes an excellent bridge for the next step.  We are moving on from the horror and chaos of Trost to battles of Titans versus Eren and the Recon Corps.

The dark twists to come, that I know of, have chills already going down my spine and I look forward to them.  It is one thing to read on a page, but quite another to have these phenomenal voice actors breathe life into them.  Get ready for a bumpy ride folks.

Naruto Shippuden Ep 322: Madera Uchiha

FINALLY!  This is what I have been waiting for at long last.  The end of filler and you can so tell with how things are going now!

It is revealed that Madera is actually dead, leaving a lot of people asking who the man in the mask actually is.  Naruto, one of the clones, is completely drained from his battle with the previous Raikage and Gaara is in not much better shape.

Tsunade reveals that the tactic of invoking Madera's name was excellent for forcing the Allied forces throwing caution to the wind and now they are in a horrible war with no way to stop and find an alternative to fighting the man in the mask and his powerful minions.

Madera then puts on a one man army show and we see what the origin of the Sharingan legends could really do.  It is damned frightening as he did very few genjutsu and a crapton of ninjutsu.

We see his own version of the Susano as well, a much more formidable version compared to Sasuke's.  The desperate battle buys time for Sage mode, and Madera reveals a devastating secret.

He evolved his eyes to the Rinnegan before death.  Compared to Pain however, he is a monster.  Truly a rollercoaster of subtle dialogue of what is to come from the manga and jaw dropping action.

Compared to what we saw before this, MUCH preferable.  Even with filler attempt to keep it in the war setting, it was definitely reaching an empty feeling overall.  Welcome back to the main storyline!

RWBY Ep 2: Shining Beacon

This episode did have a bit of a teaser at RTX but as I previously said it was not finished, also it was a tad hard to make some things out with the sound effects at the time.

I would see this one as in introduction to the other half of the trailer MCs and Beacon a bit as well.  Ruby and Yang exit the airship onto the main courtyard, which looks awesome.  We see more of the style Monty and crew are employing for this show.

Mainly that if we see the full details of a character they will be involved, as in Vomit Boy right off the bat.  Motion sickness never has a dull moment.  But first the next intro of an MC.

Weiss gets a rather spectacular and searing intro as Ruby is left on her own after Yang rushes off with a group of friends.

Ruby is left a little dizzy and scatters the luggage of hour heiress to be here.  She understandably explodes as her Dust is in one of the totes and Ruby accidentally sets off several minor explosions on Weiss herself.

A vial of what I take to be fire Dust is sent rolling to the other MC from the trailers.  Blake keeps the cool and calm she had in the trailers as she snips at Weiss in a kind of defense of Ruby.  It more seems like she is really against Weiss' family and their possibly less then impeccable work methods for mining the Dust.

Ruby quickly says she will try to make up her accident to Weiss as she leaves in a huff and then tries to thank Blake, but she also is leaving without a glance.  Less than plussed, Ruby collapses in a bit of a depression, only to have the aforementioned Vomit Boy offer a hand up.

He is actually Jean (?) and we get a bit of background to him as a family guy who has enthusiasm but not a lot of social grace, or luck with flying.  We get a good look at Ruby's skill as well when she reveals her weapon, Crescent Rose, was designed and built by her.  Jean has a standard sword, thus far, and a sheath that becomes his shield.

We are left with the two hapless characters lost in Beacon grounds and looking for any guide posts they could find.

Overall this episode serves as a showcase for the characters I know we will get to know more of as time goes on, but really light on progress forward, compared to the premiere that hurtled a lot of concepts and swift jump to Ruby going to Beacon 2 years early.

Still it serves a point as the main course of Weiss and Blake entering the series and the before now unknown Jean begins his reveal as well.  The intro played before the episode shows a few more characters to come aside from the villains and heroes we have already met.  Now I am as in the dark as the rest of what is to come, but I look forward to it!

[Movie] Pacific Rim

Okay, so it's not really anime. It is, however, heavily influenced. Also, where else am I going to write about a implausible giant robot movie?

I absolutely loved this movie. From the onset, the first infodump, I was in love. The giant monsters are all unique and interesting, destroying in their own special way. None of them look overly hokey or godzillaish. One reminded me a whole lot of the Cloverfield monster, if if had wings and barfed acid. Terrifying.

We did shell out the seventeen bucks to see it in IMAX 3D. Granted, I'm not one of those people who go see every movie in 3D. There are movies where 3D would certainly enhance the experience and if I'm going to already shell out the money to see it that way, we might as well go all out with the IMAX. Totally worth it. Those water effects.

I also didn't suffer from that disorientation I get when attempting to watch the Transformer movies. You know the one. The 'What the goddamn hell part of the robot is that?' one. Sure, if someone paused the movie at certain points, I might be hard pressed to tell them exactly what part of the robot that was, but overall that was only during transitions into better shots where I could clearly decide what sort of battling was happening.

The robots themselves were varied and awesome. One robot had the huge Big O cowl and crooked Miyazaki eyes while another looked more like an Eva with it's concave face. Of course there was the general Gundam approach and the American's had one that looked a bit like a Space Marine from Starcraft, but it gave them all character and made them interesting.

The main character is one of my favorite actors, Charlie Hunnam. I'm so glad to see him in more things. Highschool crush! Sigh. I used to watch him on Undeclared. He's only my second favorite on Sons of Anarchy because really there's no contest against Katie Segal. He's also got kind of this gross beard thing going on in SoA, so seeing him cleaned up is always extra points.

I'm allowed to post shirtless men with the amount of TnA otherwise.

The secondary characters are all awesome. Idris Elba is a great organization head, gruff but not belligerent. Charlie Day and Burn Gorman make a wonderfully quirky scientific team.  Ron Perlman's cameo is pretty much perfect. All the other Jaeger pilots are awesome in their own special way.

The Kaidanovskys were like the best thing ever. She went into battle in full, perfect makeup and totally outshines everyone else in the scene. I may be a bit of a Cherno Alpha fangirl, not going to lie. I have since read up on their backstory and really, all I can make is inarticulate noises about it.

The story line, you guys. Can't have giant robots without all of the heart wrenching feels. I can tell you that I didn't cry as much as some of my friends, but oh did I cry. I wasn't ready for the assault on my feelings. Even though I KNEW it was going to be brutal, I didn't think the sadness would flow before the title sequence.

Seriously, go see it. It was a fun. I'm still high on it.

Attack on Titan Ep 15: Special Ops Squad

After the intense moments of the last episode, this one was a nice break in the flow.  Attack on Titan has been awesome at keeping things nail biting, but eventually you need your heart and nerves to take a break.  It was a short break, but we all knew that was coming.

We pick up with Levi and Eren in the courtroom again, summing up the final moments of the last episode.  Eren is now in the Recon Corps on a temporary basis.

Most of this episode is an introduction the group the title, the Special Ops Corp, and Major Hanjii, pictured above on left.  Levi has the group with Eren begin to clean out the old HQ of the Recon Corps.  It was chosen for the simple reason it was perfect for housing the potential disaster that Eren could become.

Levi and the Corps show the interesting dynamic of the team to be elaborated on as the story unfolds from here, basically they are an odd duck collection of people.  This is an awesome break from what we have seen thus far in Titan.  Eren himself is more typical I think of how people react to Titans and their attacks.  You get angry, frightened and then you have a choice, run or fight.

The Recon Corps on the other hand shows what it takes to face that threat constantly, possible insanity.  Sane people cannot fight monsters forever and remain completely sane.  A few lighter moments begin to build Eren's relationship with the Special Ops Corps, including their role as his executioners if everything goes wrong.

We get a glimpse of Commander Erwin twice referring to odd observations about the Titans and Eren, as well as suspicious questions that refer to more than the giant monsters as enemies.

The best part however, is Major Hanjii herself.  We knew she put the bar for batshit crazy high, but we get a very clear view of how far she has stepped off of the path of sanity.  She has a good reason though.  A great many people, Eren included here, just want to eradicate or ignore the Titans.  She is asking a lot of good questions and having to get her answers from the 2 captured Titans from Trost.

We get some more insights to the inconsistent nature of Titans and even Eren himself.  Eren unwisely asks for as much information as Major Hanjii has uncovered, something that he should have been warned not to do as the Special Ops Corps, people willing fling themselves at Titans beyond the walls, called a retreat from this woman.

They discuss long into the next morning when things ratchet back up.  The two Titans captured in Trost, and to be used with Eren for experiments, have been murdered.

We are left with questions to be answered, and the obvious indication that someone within the walls knows things about the Titans not even the soldiers do.  They also do not want Eren delving deeper into what he is capable of either.

If you have read the manga, we are getting to some VERY interesting pieces.  I would recommend taking note of things if you or the ilk that prefers the anime to manga intake as well.  This story is very good at slapping you with minor details at first glance that become mind blowingly critical later.

[Anime] Shingeki no Kyojin/Attack on Titan Episode 2

Episode 2: That Day- The Fall of Zhiganshina 2

This episode opens talking about the Titans and how society has built the walls to keep them out. There are three rings of walls and then the little wall bubbles, like the town our main characters live in. Basically the wall bubbles are there to distract the Titans and get eaten first. It will allow the rest of the citizens to muster their strength and attack without any of the actual walls being breached. Nice to know you're expendable.

As the Titans attack town, the zelot priest keeps up his dutiful prayer. Until he gets nommed, of course. Man, most of the scenes of people getting eaten do pan away, but are still really gross.

Eren yells at Hannes a bit, you know, for not rescuing his crippled mom. They have a touching moment where they cry it out, like bros. Then they run some more.

The guards all try to usher the screaming people towards one gate, therefore bottle necking all the survivors into a smorgasbord. Poor decisions. Of course, the Titans come straight to them and they close the gates before most of the people escape. They have to take a ferry too, go figure. They only fill up two boats before waving a big f-you to everyone else.

In the meantime, there's this big bastard, who barrels through gates like a linebacker, screwing up everyone's defenses. This big bastard looks less like a fatty and more like a competitor for the strong man. He also breathes fire? Barbecue.

Some old men speculate in a dramatically lit chamber. Everyone has some feelings of intense hopelessness. Eren makes some murderous vows. Big talk for a little kid.

Eren's dad seems to be alright, but then there was a wacky dream sequence. So, I don't know what's happening there. He's not supposed to forget about a key, a huge key that would be totally hard to forget about as it's hanging off his neck.

The refugees have some food shortage drama, not that the little food given is that great. It's a small loaf of bread, but I suppose its some food. Eren kicks a big mouthed guard in the shin for talking smack, because Eren is a loose cannon, and he promptly get's a beat down.

Eren has some more battle feels as his friends try to talk sense into him. This leads to more punching and worldly wisdom from Mikasa.

The supreme narrator discusses how the refugees were sent out to till a wasteland for more food, but as the food shortage went on, they were sent through the gate to try to take back one of the walls. Very few survived, but that fixed the food shortage. Once again, lots of depressing information in one huge feeling dump. I don't know if I can handle it anymore.

They haven't really aged at all in that year of cutscene. Eren explains that he's joining the guard and the other two join him. And so, their three years of training begins. They aged a bit now. Not a lot, but they're not like eight anymore. With more vows of murder, the episode ends.

Ugh, this anime is so intense. I don't know if I can deal. I'm being peer pressured into continuing by like everyone and their brother.

Anime: RWBY Ep 1

Oh a happy birthday for me!  RWBY premiered, and fair warning I am a Sponsor on Roosterteeth so to avoid spoilers, please wait for 7pm Central release to general public.  Otherwise, continue!

I saw a slightly more raw version of this episode at RTX 2013, but only detail touch ups and I think some smoothing of sequences is the most I noticed.  Also I could actually hear the softer characters when over 3000 people are not reacting to scenes.

Much as the trailers began, we of course start with Ruby Rose.  Her world is built after a conflict between mankind and the forces of Grim (spelling not confirmed).  The wonderful voice of Jen Taylor (Cortana from Halo) is our VO for the intro.   A nice breakdown of some series openers, how man advanced and discovered a way to fight the horde of monsters knocking at their door.  It is called Dust, and can be shaped into crystals for use.

Now as an opening episode I am happy to say that is the most succinct info dump I have encountered in quite awhile.  Some series can overload people or skip by things that might confuse others but some societies take for granted.  (It took a lot of subbed watching to catch on to different suffix = different connotation.)

We are introduced to a gangster style crook, Roman, who takes some thugs with swords and robs a place wonderfully named From Dust till Dawn.  While an old shopkeeper watches helplessly, an oblivious teen in a red hood listen to her music while browsing.

The thugs of course take notice and include her in their robbery.  She innocently looks up with her silver eyes and seems to be excited about their attempt.  We then see some exemplary moves that show how Ruby uses her Crescent to fight and move faster than her own body would normally allow.  The recoil of firing it launches her, but the precise twists and moves allow her to attack and dodge in ways her opponents have zero chance of stopping.

Even after swiftly taking out the thugs, Roman tries to end her in one shot, but instead just causes a dust cloud to escape.  Chasing after him she is confronted with a red Dust crystal, that he shoots to explode.  Cue the Huntress, apparently an adept magic user with a circle shield to boot.  However instead of any incantations, she seems able to simple will her works with what looks very much like a wand.  The emerald eyed Huntress is confronted with her counterpart in Roman's escape plane, an overshadowed but lined in golden tattoos and a red dress to boot magic user who remains unrevealed.

They battle out with various skills, the Huntress sticks to weather or material manipulation while the shadowed one uses a lot of fire based attacks.  Ruby attempts to help but only a draw results.

Ruby reveals her fangirl side as she ask the Huntress for an autograph, but then we see more of Ruby as a character in this part.  The Huntress is called Glenda (Goodwitch) and she works for Beacon, where Ruby very much wants to attend.  She is introduced to Professor Ozbin (?) who, after an interview that is smile worthy, invites her to come to Beacon a full 2 years early.

We then meet the next of our MC, Yang.

She is actually a sister to Ruby, and older as well.  She is in her first year at Beacon, the Academy of Hunters it would seem.  We get a good view of the boisterous nature of Yang, where as Ruby seems to try to stay unnoticed and just wants to reach her dream without drawing envy.  Yang on the other hand wants to gush and brag.

There is a noticeable difference in art when a news cast is brought up, it actually gives the feeling of 3D with our characters versus a quite obvious 2D display.  A nice move in my opinion.

There a nice interplay between the sisters and a reveal of being on an airship on the way to Beacon (emerald of course :D).  We also see a fellow warrior who does not take heights well apparently.  It actually ends on approach to Beacon and with Ruby desperately trying to keep the sick boy at bay.

For an introduction this episode had a nice mix of playfulness and action.  We are left with many good questions and a lot of anticipation of where things are going.  That is the best way to draw an audience, make them ask why and know the only way to learn is to keep watching.

There are at least 2 more MC to be introduced in series, Blake and Weiss, but I can reveal they will be in the next episode.  However we only got a teaser of it at RTX I believe so I look forward to that release next week even more.

A high recommend and hope to see TONS more.  Here at last after this nice pic below was revealed at the first trailer a year ago!

Manga: Naruto 639: Attack

The chaos continues!  No seriously this is utter chaos right now.  Obito is unleashing an onslaught in his newly minted Jinchuuriki body against the Four Hokage with Naruto and Sasuke holding back from it.

Madera adds to it all as well.  What seemed straight forward almost needs a breakdown move by move to see it all clearly, but in a sense that give it a bit of realism.  Warfare is not smooth or clearly understood, it often is chaos incarnate with people just holding on by fingernails to life and sanity.

In this part we see major strives to attempt to halt Obito permanently with moves specifically created by the Second Hokage to counter the Rinnegan eye.  We also see such attempts fail to destroy, but definitely forcing the enemy into corners and to fight with moves the Third Hokage does not think can be maintained forever.

The main advantage of all Four Hokage of course is being reanimated they cannot truly be killed and are throwing themselves recklessly into battle to give Naruto and the Allied forces both a chance at victory and clear signs of what does and does not work should they fail to stop it.

Madera declares he is done waiting to engage the First Hokage, but that is about all that happens aside from the expected stare down.  The big development happens after the Third falls to Obito and turns to Naruto and Sasuke.  Minato tries to block the attack that took down the Second and Third, but it is the Sharingan that saves the day, unleashing what seems to be a psuedo Sosano.

We see a shocked Naruto and a calm Sasuke looking at their foe.  Sasuke flashes the Team 7 photo in his mind and declares he will delete the past, with a slash through Naruto in that photo.  The Rinnegan flares and we are left seeing both face palmed by Obito. Minato seems about to do something, but of course we are left hanging.

I was not sure what to expect from this after the last chapter, but some clarity in the next few would be a nice change.  Right now there are so many threads flying as well as battle that it was VERY hard to keep track.  That being said I can see things are lining up for an ending sooner than later (I pray at least).  Unlike the Pain Arc that left me breathless and stunned in both good and bad ways, I am finding myself more confused as this seems to move forward.

When the Pain Arc ended I found myself emotionally drained but elated and I very much hope the same can happen again here.  We shall see!

Manga: Bleach 546: The Last 9 Days

This seems bittersweet in many ways.  After mass revelation and a lot of info dump from the previous chapters, we have a pause.  Unlike the many other times Ichigo and the others rushed into battle or went off to the Soul Society, we are seeing some warnings of possible things to come.  Then a right hook right at the end too!

We pick up where the last surprise left us, Capt. Kyouraku has come to the Living World to see Keigo, Tatsuki, and Mizuiro about a parting with Ichigo.  This is actually not as much of a surprise at second glance as when it came at us in the last page before.

We have often heard the special steps taken to allow Capt and Lt level Soul Reapers, as well as the massive undertaking to allow those powers to run loose during Aizen's rebellion and war.  Ichigo has often been stated to have equivalent powers at times to the strongest of those beings, yet he has always remained human enough to come back.

Now with his new Zangetsus at his side and possible implications of more changes to come, it may not be possible for him to ever return.  For his father that is hardly a big deal, but his friends take it quite badly.  Keigo especially explodes about all the weight of duty put on Ichigo and never seeming to cut him a break.  While the odds are listed as low, I rarely have a series mention such things just to build tension, a sucker punch may be waiting if not the one outlined above.

Surprisingly we see a large departure from previous encounters with the rules of Soul Society, if Ichigo is truly barred from returning it seems that his friends that have walked so far with him on this dangerous road will be allowed, as living beings, to come to him in his new life.  For Ishin that is probably a simple matter and his daughters being of bloodline and obviously latent Soul Reapers themselves I doubt that was a large stretch, but these three despite showing powers and awareness have not usually been considered a high priority for regular Soul Reapers.

We cut to Kisuke's area in Hueco Mundo for training Arrancars, Chad, and Orihime for the upcoming battles.  This has a feel of the beginning a bit, when both of the humans went to learn from a talking black cat so long ago.  This is more of an expression of how much has changed, where once 3 worlds had been just existing or fighting with each other, now so many are working to protect it all, not just 1/3 of it.  Orihime tells Chad that she wishes this could go on forever, the training without a real battle looming.

From these two scenes of both pause and bitter warning of the consequences this time around, we get slapped upside the head with major development on the war front.

Squad 12 has ever meter go nuts and even as I read I did not comprehend it until they said what happened.  The Sternritters are making the move and it was bold and totally unexpected.  And of course we are now apparently going to have a break....ARGH!  Still, I am back into this series after I thought it was lagging and I really want to see how this ends.

Anime: Attack on Titan Ep 14: Can't Look into His Eyes

Well this was an episode I was very much looking forward to, and it did not disappoint.  As we had been left with Eren in prison and chained, we pick up right there.

Eren is left underground while above his fate is being planned to be done by trial.  Inside Wall Sina, people fear another food shortage and find the idea of a Titan on humanity's side a ploy to misdirect the populace.  Inside Wall Rose, Eren is thought of as a savior, an obvious sign that mankind can retake Wall Maria.

The Military Police openly talk of killing Eren because he is a threat and then picking apart his body for any secrets it holds to the Titans.  The Recon Corps still wants him for retaking Wall Maria and fighting Titans in general.  The Supreme Commander Dackley will decide his fate.

Pixis warns Cmdr Erwin that Dackley will go with the most cost effective result.  Simply put, if killing Eren is the surest route to safety, he will do it right in court.

The episode does a fine job of showing the undertone of characters that have faced Titans and those that simply fear them.  Eren once again gives a damned fine speech, while not all his words are chosen wisely, it is still undeniable truth.  Mikasa reveals the truth that Eren does not have precise control of his abilities, something that deeply disturbs Eren as he does not remember it at all.

Levi's character gets a grand show as well here, confronting the contradiction of the MP's desires and the obvious truth that Eren is an asset.  Erwin pushes for a simple solution, test Eren in the field where he can do little harm to humanity beyond the walls, and if he fails, Levi will solve the problem.

I look forward to what is coming, having read ahead in the manga. Speaking of, the new opening sequence is a bit calmer but full of glimpses of what is to come.  This anime is just going to get better and better!

Anime Series: Martian Successor Nadesico

If there is any series Anime fans could enjoy, it is this one.  Martian Successor Nadesico has pretty much everything you could ever want in a series, but here is the awesome part, it acknowledges it with comedy that pokes fun at the iconic and symbolic characters that have been spawned over the life of anime.  While doing that it still tells a fantastic story and draws you in to care about the characters, and still makes you laugh even during scenes you really look forward to.

We get dropped right into the action as Earth has terraformed Mars long ago, but is now under attack from mechanical foes from beyond Jupiter.  Mars shows us military forces clash with a climax of a Chulip, large pill sized object, crashing to Mars and Earth forcing a battleship to ram it off course.

We go to an obvious shelter and meet our first MC, Akito Tenkawa (I assure you his name will be engraved on your soul by the end of the series).  He seems like the typical young, light hearted type that quickly tries to be a hero as robot grass hoppers invade only to see his efforts made useless.  The first oddity is he goes from Mars to a year later on Earth (from our perspective).

Here is where the main series takes off by a private company, Nergal, assembling a crew of experts for the Nadesico battleship.  The crew is of course full of young ladies and archetype characters, including a classic otaku fan of an in series Anime.  Each of the MC is seen being picked up by the character known mostly as Mr Prospector, a man who tries to keep the mission financially sound but who puts far more value on humans than he appears to show.  His counter part Hoary is a large gruff man who makes a great straight man to many of the antics on the ship while still surprising us as the series goes on.

Akito of course knows the captain of this motley group, the pinnacle of airheads Yurika Misumaru, 20 years old but a gifted leader.  I have to give the dub voice on this one credit of being able to keep this character clearly with priorities around connecting with Akito, but being able to make you believe she still knows what she is doing as captain.

The vast cast beyond them includes pilots of giant robots, called Aestevalis, the engineering crew, and bridge crew as the usual ones we see.  A notable one for the show is Ruri Hoshino, a very young girl who seems to be the result of some experiments for advanced humans and interacts with the AI of the ship far better than any others can.  She often delivers the most lines of sarcastic commentary on the ship of 'idiots' as she often calls them.  She is also the character that does the summations of episodes before credits and for any explanations throughout the show.

The characters develop many relationships, often serious and fast, Akito of course is the goal of what seems nearly the entire ship with only a few exceptions.  There is a wonderful scene where the unnamed male crew members demand that if he does not want them he should share.  Akito and friends learn the truth behind the Jovians of Jupiter and Nergal/Earth's complicit abuse of them for their own ends.

We also learn that the advanced machines that are the foes for most of the series are based of ancient Martian tech, including the odd ability of Chulips to jump machines from one end of the solar system to the other is not actually warping space, but time.  Akito is revealed to be the hero, kicking and screaming as he is dragged into it, but still able to make a mess of his relationships with Yurika and several other crew members.

The show explores the common misconception that our values cannot be applied to war, the contradiction that even if you think you are fighting to protect, the war itself can be to suppress and destroy innocent lives.  It focuses on the feelings of people as well very strongly, often with hilarious results.  

The series ends as it began, almost tongue in cheek and with a few loose threads that get addressed in an OVA a bit later.  If you are looking for entertainment, love, and a lot of good laughter, this series is a good match.  

Where did Fry go?

Three words: Minecraft Horse Update.

I've built a horse track and several jumps in order to extrapolate data and breed super horses.

I may have a problem.

Promo from RTX: Anime: RWBY (no spoilers)

So this is fairly straight forward.  I went to RTX 2013 where the 1st episode of RWBY was screened at a panel.  It was awesome in many ways, not least was the step up in the animation technology versus what we saw in the trailers.

There was also an incomplete preview of the next episode, so save in seeing more characters interact that one will no doubt be very different from what I saw.

The only info I will give here beyond my personal recommendation is where to find it and some simple background info:

Roosterteeth.com

July 18, 2013 (always check the site as that might change)

Weekly release
      -it was noted that episode length could vary, but I would take that as if it is not intended to be two parts it could run longer than average

Main Cast Known:  No surprises here
Ruby
Weiss
Blake
Yang

It is definitely an interesting world they have created with what seems intentional parallels as some animes have done before.  Honestly though I enjoyed it and was happily surprised by it.  The trailers while a nice piece of viewing truly do not do justice to the title characters either.

The Yellow trailer may be the sole exception to that but only just.  Still, I would put this on lists to watch for sure and the best part is it is Roosterteeth so it will be there and released to DVD/Blu-ray on a nice schedule....YAY!

[Initial Reaction] Devil Survivor 2 Episode 1

I guess this is a video game adaptation? I haven't played the video game. I would say that I don't have a DS, but my kids do. I just don't have the time to sit down and play a DS game. Though, from reading the comments, it seems that the adaptation, at some point, takes a anime only story line.

Episode 1: 1st Day: Melancholy Sunday

 Alright, let's get into this. I don't actually understand. There seems to be a website that comes with a phone app that does what Devon Sawa in Final Destination does. Only, instead of pushing people out of the way, it summons demons to do pokebattles?

The Awkwardly Sexy Mascot. Because no one listens to random broadcasts without tits. Tits or GTFO. Doctor Who should take note. Perhaps there would be less Cybermen.

I don't know about that. The application seems to save the character based on will to live, and summons an appropriate demon to shelter them. If someone is weak willed and dies partway through the demon 'download' the demon is set free and attacks willy nilly? Am I getting this right?

Pretty sure that's just a furry on their way to a convention.

Anyway, the main character, Hibiki and his friend Daichi are about to get smashed by a train, but instead survive with their super huge boobed classmate Nitta. Their inadvertently summoned demons help them escape aboveground where they find out Japan is just randomly exploding everywhere.

Another demon attacks a crowd and, lo and behold, the MC summons and AWESOME demon.  Of course, Hibiki tries to hit it with a truck first.

Anyway, they get recruited by Japan's Meteorological Agency. Not that weather patterns and demons have anything to do with each other. Whatever. I'll go with it.

Probably will continue. It's pretty straightforward.

Canada Day

It's Canada Day, so have an AMV.