Anime: Attack on Titan Ep 24: Mercy: Raid on Stohess District (2)

Great God above yes!  Finally I can talk about this part!  For those that have read the manga and been just as riveted by seeing the story unfold here in the anime, we have been waiting for this part.

Annie was revealed as the Female Titan, and she declares all of her intention to gamble against Armin and Commander Erwin with a ring that allowed her to injure herself and transform into her Titan body.

Eren is shocked, not wanting to believe it as it happens and we get a flashback of how this plan came about.

So to be clear, Eren and Erwin really were summoned, but they used the opportunity for one last gamble after Armin revealed the identity of the Female Titan.  Marco's gear had been the first clue, but her actions as the Titan also gave a lot for Armin to use.

Mikasa confronts Eren's denial at that meeting asking if anything comes to mind.  We see a moment of the last instant during Titan vs Titan in the woods, where the Female Titan assumes the EXACT stance and actions of Annie we know she did with Eren before.

If you go back and watch that episode you do see Eren freeze suddenly right before something chops his head off.  None of it was shown to us then, but in Mikasa's question, we see Eren watching the Female Titan and it is now overlaid with Annie as she does the actions he knows so well from 3 years of training.

Back in the present things are going a bit worse than projections.  Annie has killed more of the Recon Corp in her transformation and is basically smashing the tunnels to get at Eren.  She is desperate and it shows.

Eren thinks to protect Mikasa and Armin as he did once before and now with a clear goal attempts to transform....nothing happens.  Despite profuse biting, Eren can't get it to work once again and his healing is clearly not working as well.  So little is known about this ability but the healing goes hand in hand with transforming it seems no matter what.  It is not as simple as once activated it works forever.

Mikasa seems able to read Eren far better than Levi or Armin could at this moment.  She again confronts him if feelings are holding him back from transforming and reminds Eren he has just watched Annie slaughter for certain the teams attempting to capture her.

Despite this, Eren still can't transform and chaos is starting to spread beyond the battle.  Erwin orders the MPs to deploy all they have for the likely battle in the city and Jean reveals the ruse to all present to comply with that order to go.

Despite clear orders, though a bit understandably, the MPs turn on Erwin and accuse them all of treason rather than trying to go and fight a Titan.  Citizen are panicking closer to the battle while most of the MPs present just stare in shock at a Titan tearing up inside the walls.

Armin finds Eren partially buried by one of Annie's attacks, completely unconscious now, while Mikasa once again takes on the Female Titan.  This time she does far better with a cooler head, but both she and the rest of the Recon Corps once again see that an intelligent Titan can negate the 3D gear and any attack.

Jean comes upon Armin and is furious that Eren did not transform.  Both he and Armin scream to wake Eren up as more of the city crumbles around them.  The final thing Armin yells at Eren is that to change anything he must be willing to give up his humanity to fight the monsters of this world.

After that he is forced to pull Annie away by taunting her with Jean guiding him to the next attempt.

Once again, Hanji proves her ingenuity, and sheer insanity, by having a similar trap to the giant forest.  However this time they do not have the Female Titan as off guard as they liked, even so it was very impressive.

Hanji threatens to "devour" the Female Titan this time referring to the call to the regular Titans back in the woods, but Annie is not down yet.  She lashed out with her legs and smashing the buildings being used as anchors, which unlike the trees, do not have as solid a foundation to hold a Titan.

All of this seems so pointless, Annie could kill them all it seems even being outnumbered, but Eren is fighting back to being awake and Armin's with Mikasa's words to him are repeating in his head.  He accepts that the morality of what must be done has to be let go or all he holds dear will die in front of him.  He accepts that the world will not change if he does not give up something to move it forward.

Bleeding and raging, Eren remembers all that has come before, and all the Titan's have taken not only from him, but from all the people trapped behind the 2 remaining Walls.

The world freezes everywhere in Wall Sina as lighting crashes once again and thunder shakes its streets.  A roar calls out and Annie turns to face her opponent.

Eren slams her down and stands firm before all the Recon Corps at last and the battle to capture the Female Titan or kill her resumes once more, but now there is no where for her to hide and no ambush to spring on them again.

This time Annie will be captured or she will die, either way Eren will prove his worth to the fools of the central government because her identity as an MP placed her right next to the king and all they thought safe from Titan's reach.

This is what makes your heart race and your mind just boggle in this series.  For all the action going on, with quick fire lines and emotions flying high all over, we still get the impact of the characters.  Annie definitely shows shock at Armin's taunting, while Jean shows remarkable change from wanting to be the MP to putting his frustration with Eren aside to fight Annie away from him.

The cracks in the military are showing a breaking point, so that even if everything resolves the way Erwin and the Corps wish, there will still be backlash I am sure to deal with.  The line that says it best though, that really brings home the series before the end of the season next week is this:

"Stop expecting a happy ending in a horror story...."

That just about gave me chills and then some, because for that line to be in this kind of series makes me wonder who, if any, of our characters will actually see a day of hope or a day of extinction when all is said and done.

One more episode...then I need to go get some decaf and possibly a therapist...on and a hangout to just talk about this series non-stop ASAP after the season finale.  NEXT WEEK:  EREN JAEGER VS ANNIE LEONHARDT!

RWBY: Ep 10: The Badge and the Burden part 2

Two apologies, missed a week due to nefarious schemes of distracting me over the weekend and I seem to be unable to get stills tonight.  Sigh.

To sum up however, mostly in episode 9 we see the girls get uniforms (although Ruby still has her hood) and an actual class get into motion where Weiss seems to be on slow uptick to exploding.

This episode picks up after Weiss has volunteered to help Prof Port demonstrate potential Huntress skills against a Grimm.  It looks a great deal like a wild boar with 4 eyes and a serious attitude problem but unlike the last few we have seen it is almost completely armored.

Monty and crew do a good job of here of showing that while Weiss has some skill, her agitated state shows in lack luster precision and often twitches and head bobs as Ruby attempts to cheer her on.  Yang and Blake make the obligatory actual cheerleader joke but this episode actually addresses a nice character point.

Weiss snaps at Ruby as the battle goes against her because of her distractions, while Port heartily cheers the whole thing on, even when it is going badly!  Finally Weiss gets her stride and uses her Dust skills to smash the Grimm in the belly with her rapier.

Time is up and while even Jaune thinks something is up with Weiss and Ruby, it is a surprising twist that is used this time around.  Weiss, as expected with her character thus far, feels Ruby has been given her role as leader unfairly.

She of course expects someone with the work and studying behind them to have been leader, meaning Weiss herself of course.  Ruby does gets crestfallen but both girls appeal the situation to higher authorities.

Weiss finds Port on a balcony and compliments the class and experience she had.  The teacher notices she is a little off kilter and asks her to unload.  When she declares she should have been team lead instead of Ruby, Port almost promptly says "Absolutely not!"

This surprised me as I could see them going with a teacher's pet route, but instead things take a rather deeper turn.

At the same time Ruby is timidly confronting Ozbin if he has made a mistake in putting her in charge.  The head of Beacon does not deny at all that is a fallible man and with a long history of mistakes behind him, but does not count making Ruby a leader one as yet.

I have to give credit to Miles and Kerry with Monty no doubt as well here.  Ozbin makes a very eloquent explanation of what a leader can become and what is expected of one in Ruby's situation.  It actually is something I would love to see quoted more often in reality as well to be honest.

Meanwhile, Weiss is shocked at the flat denial from Port who explains that Ozbin has never lead him wrong and he trusts the headmaster implicitly.  He also offers the clear opinion that Weiss, while good in combat, is far too used to getting her own way no matter what.  He counters her expectations with the idea that rather than lament what is reality, to become the best she can with what is reality.

What started as a team difficulty seems to have become 2 challenges to half our MC title characters.  Ruby has to learn to become a leader that others will follow because of what she can offer a team, and Weiss needs to learn to accept the challenges of a life where she will most definitely not always get her way.

I give full compliments that the flow of character dynamic was well done this time around, episode 9 felt a bit rushed and more showy to me than anything else, but as a build up to this episode it does a nice contrast.

I promise next time I will track down photos guys.  Been a rough week of personal time on my end.

Anime: Certain Scientific Railgun S Ep 22: Study

Using an old photo for the whole group here, but good lord what an episode!

I did not see Therestina coming back at all into Railgun or anywhere, but as we saw last episode, that is who Misaka went to confront after talking to their doctor.

Here we see a very unrepentant woman, one who thinks of Academy City as her personal arena of guinea pigs.  She notes that Misaka is no longer as naive in her face as she once was.  Her experiences with the Sisters no doubt left a mark and Therestina seems all too aware of what happened to the clones before Misaka came along with Toma to save them.

We see Misaka is quite desperate with the short 3 days she has to work with to save Febrie from the loss of her lolipops.  We also see how deep the darkness can go in Therestina on one end and these STUDY people on the other.

Oh we have a name for them now, but they are still pricks to me!  We learn that the Reach Assembly is also not only their big debut for Janie (I assume this is the big sister Febrie referred to) but that the regular award winners and attendees are all absent this year from previous years.

It seems like the vibe of dislike was dead on with these guys as while they are geniuses, they are still outshone in the spotlight by the likes of Accelerator and Railgun.  We see a return of ITEM as well, seemingly at random they give us a vital clue about the power of Janie and Febrie.

The hairs are some kind of receiver that while it is not something Misaka can detect, is detectable to one of ITEMs members.  More than that however, we know that in this lab is the neutralizing agent formula the girls are so desperate to find!

We have a reunion of sorts between Misaka and Nunotaba in the control room.  Both have been looking for the formula, and it was Nunotaba that gave Febrie Misaka's name to begin with.  As with the Sisters, Nunotaba sees Febrie as a person to be saved, not discarded as STUDY intends to do.  (Seriously, these guys need a swift kick in many painful places)

However just when Febrie seems saved, Aritomi - king of Pricks - pops in and continues to increase a strong desire to have even me have a dream of decking him.  He tells them the information is fake and threatens both with the real info to get his way.

He has Nunotaba, at Misaka's own insistence, inject her with a drug to stop the Railgun from interfering.  Both look on in shock as he gets his way and then smashes the data.  He does not care about Febrie at all and only sees her death as a necessary discarding of faulty product.

We are left with the hopes of saving Febrie dashed and a glimpse of a tube with the name JANIE engraved over it.  I am on pins and needles after I expected action, I was surprised at the twists we do have.  The group knows where Misaka is, but unless Kuroko is on the way I do not think anyone else is coming yet.

We shall see next week if Misaka can save Febrie and maybe get an answer as to who exactly the Gekota doctor is, because he seems to have FAR more power than a simple doctor.

American Anime: Legend of Korra: Book 2, Spirits: Ep 1 & 2

So while this is American in origin, the style is most definitely closer to Anime.  Now I LOVE the original Last Airbender series (I think you would be hard pressed to find many that do not enjoy it), but I will admit Legend of Korra had a very hard act to follow.

It is always the case that beyond expectation success can leave a far too high bar to surpass or equal for anything that follows (or worse the evil minions of greed want it faster than quality will allow!).  Even so, Book 1:  Air did a nice job of taking us back into the world of Avatars and benders.  I think of it more as an introduction and extrapolation of the world Aang and his group sucked us all into and the results of it.  This however deals with the return of Korra in her new season.

Where Book 1 was a lot of plot subtext and introduction, Book 2 hops right into the nitty gritty.

Episode 1:  Rebel Spirit

They start off stating that 6 months have passed, we assume a bit here that Korra fixed up the benders Amon ripped their abilities from and that peace has been more or less restored.  Tenzin is no longer on the Council as this has been replaced by a non-bender elected President in Republic City.

While that leaves a lot of material to come back to we are curious about, we move forward into some odd occurrences of a boat in the dark.  An old seaman has some fun with a rookie, up until a monster that looks a lot like energy attacks and rips the boat into the sea (suggested but not seen).

We then flash back to Republic City, where Bolin is still doing the Bending Tournaments, but with 2 new members who seem...less than competent.  Mako is now an policeman with some interesting moves combining his fire bending with stopping some crime, and a well delivered line at the end to boot.  

Korra is still at the Air Temple, but in typical fashion she is racing Tenzin's kids in air bending race, which she wins by using the Avatar State.  This last bit displeases Tenzin greatly, but he thinks that a planned trip to all the air temples will help her learn not only better air bending, but a deeper connection to her spiritual side as well.

While this is the future, the immediate trip to the southern pole is more warmly welcomed for the fun it is known for.  The Spiritual holiday is a time of fun and relaxation for the Southern Water Tribe.  Korra of course beings all her friends, one of whom is trying to get her own life back together.  Asami comes not just for the invitation, but the chance to get her company, once used by Amon, back on its feet.

Here we get to meet the rest of Korra's family more formally, as well as a better look at Aang's kids aside from Tenzin, Boomy seems bent on seeing the vacation version of his brother.

We also meet Unalaq, Chief of the Northern Water tribe and Korra's uncle it would seem.  He does not give off good vibes and Korra's father does not seem overly pleased with him either.  The man does not say a word of praise about anything in the south and even seems to want to turn Korra against her own tribe.

Admittedly he seems to have one legitimate complaint, the negligence of the spiritual side of their lives seems to be having dire consequences.  The spirits seem angry and Unalaq offers to train Korra on her spiritual journey, something both her father and Tenzin seem very against.

It is also revealed that the isolation of her training was their idea, not Aang or the White Lotus.  This particular revelation has Korra in a very bad mood understandably.

However, an almost convenient attack (my opinion) forces Korra to face the fact that her uncle may have a better grasp of the situation than anyone else right now.

Strangely the angry spirit does not attack a single soul, but goes straight for Korra.  It is only when others fight that it attacks back.  Only Unalaq is able to some how bind and seemingly dismiss the spirit in a sparkle of golden light.

Korra decides after heated arguments to learn from her uncle and ignore both her father and Tenzin's advice.  Tenzin leaves for the air temples with his family, and siblings in tow.

Episode 2:  The Southern Lights

Very nicely we are not left hanging until next week to see the next step.  Korra, her father, Mako, Bolin, Unalaq, and his twins all head for the Southern Pole, where a Spirit Gate appears to have been sealed long ago.

Unalaq believes that Korra needs to open the get before the solstice, when the barrier between the physical and spiritual world are closest together to restore spiritual balance to the southern pole.  As they journey, the past continues to unfold.

Korra learns her father did not just leave the Northern Tribe, but was banished.  He was doing what he thought was right, but destroyed an ancient forest where spirits were believed to dwell.  We see a flashback of Unalaq employing the same technique to sent those spirits back to the wood then as well.

We also see a different side of Tenzin's family as they arrive at the Southern Air Temple.  The monks there treat air benders with near reverence, and a good deal of overbearing attitude as well.  We once more see the room of statues where all the Avatars are carved and placed.  Aang now has pride of place where he once stood looking at Avatar Roku for answers.

Now his young granddaughter, Jinora, is looking at his statue when something seems to compel her to turn around.

Flash back to Korra and gang, and we seem them get attacked rather oddly by spirits.  Rather than attack directly, the spirits seem bent on only stopping them and making them turn back.  Unlike the previous attack only Bolin gets in serious danger from the malfunction in his engine.

Korra sends her father back and moves forward with the rest to the pole.  There they find find a nearly frozen over grove much like the one in the flashback we saw.  Korra has to go alone from here, just as Aang had to go alone on many of his spiritual journeys. 

As before the spirits, though looking very malevolent, only seem interested in stopping Korra, not harming her.  They seem very desperate as she finally reached the closed gate.  As Korra battles to open it, Jinora returns late in the night to Aang's statue.  

This time a much older statue draws her eye, one that seems surrounded by elements as well.  We are left wondering who this Avatar is, but then Korra reaches the Avatar State and opens the gate in the Southern Pole.

As the gate dispels the Everstorm and reignites the Southern Lights, the statue glows at the same moment.  All celebrate the success of Korra in the forest and Unalaq tells her she has done well for a first step.

Just when it all seems to be going well...things of course take a turn.

Unalaq's northern forces are landing enmasse as they return.  He calmly states that fixing the spiritual balance was but the first step to getting the Southern Tribe on the "right" path.  As it seems obvious to all that this would have happened regardless.  Given the title of the next two episodes are "Civil Wars," I assume we can expect a lot of conflict.

For a return after a LONG absence, I am enjoying the direction while not losing the usual feeling of the Avatar series.  The serious is balanced by the silly and the emotional gut punches can come from unexpected sources.  I am more than curious to see where this Book will go and I am more than happy it is longer than the first.

Anime: Attack on Titan Ep 23: Smile: Raid on Stohess District (1)

I know I will tag this but I will say it one more time here:

MASSIVE SPOILERS - DO NOT CONTINUE IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO KNOW STUFF!



That being said.....FINALLY!  Oh my God I have been salivating as this episode approached and while I knew it was coming from reading ahead, it was EVERYTHING I hoped for and more!

Before I get into that, the rundown:

This is where AoT does things very well in building a world based on reality.  Commander Erwin had gambled he could prove Eren and his Titan powers worth keeping as a living soldier with the 57th Expedition, but instead he was handed a defeat at the cost of nearly 60% of his soldiers.

Politically speaking things could not be worse for the Recon Corps right now but that is not where this episode starts with us.

Instead we start with Annie, who we have not really seen since the selection ceremony where she left for the MPs.  She appears to be having a dream/memory of something she told us about earlier, that her father trained her in the fighting style she used to flip Eren and Reiner.

The MP rookies are gathered and Annie is her usual stoic self even as their commander informs them of their mission to escort the disgraced Recon Commander and Eren to HQ.  We also get a clear vision of what is horribly wrong with the MPs and why Eren did not seem too keen on the final military branch.

The leader seems disinterested and annoyed to have actual work to do and passes off the detail to one of the men in line to actually do it.  Then says the leaders will all be "busy" as he enters a room where a game of cards seems to be going on!

While the other rookies seem annoyed by actual work as well, the dark haired lad given the work makes a declaration much like Eren did to the cadets, only to the effect of changing the MP branch.  Annie breaks the silence with a commentary that the ideals to change the MPs might actually spell the end of humanity if such a person got that power.

However we are quickly given a contrast to this point when the rookies spot two seniors apparently selling military gear on the black market!  I doubt there could be a more effective demonstration of how corrupt the MP branch is from its two sister branches.

The Wall Guard at least takes its job somewhat seriously since 5 years ago, and the Recon Corps found a purpose beyond just trying to go beyond the walls as well.  The MPs seem to be denying the reality that the Titans are coming but that is only my opinion.  The rookie who spouted his ideals actually tries to implement them, only to have the reality of his situation spelled out to him.

Almost brutally beaten down by his seniors, he finds his weapon in front of him on the ground and Annie actually says she will back him up if he makes the move to "fix" the problem.  The rookie backs down and asks if the "idiot" Annie mentioned earlier would have done it.

She answers honestly that he might have, and given what we have seen of Eren I could believe he would follow through.  The boy went INTO a Titan's mouth to save Armin with one of his legs GONE!

In any event we have been painted a clear picture of the MP branch and why even idealistic youths lose their ideals rather quickly.

That is when Armin walks into the story.  He is cloaked and calls out to Annie as she passes his alley.  He outlines what sounds like the last ditch effort to save Eren, and in his eyes, humanity.  Annie at first wants details, but when Armin refuses to elaborate his reasoning about why delaying handing Eren over would work, she confronts him to define her as a "good person."

Armin makes a rather eloquent dismissal of the term.  Instead he outlines the counter argument that by definition, if she declines to help, would that make her a "bad" person?  For reasons of her own she decides to help him.

Mikasa, Armin, and Eren follow Annie to the escape route, while poor Jean does his best Eren impression in the coach.  Just when it seems like all will be well, Annie does not want to follow into an underground passage.

Eren, bluntly, asks if she is afraid of the dark or cramped spaces.  Almost comically Annie says he would not understand a weak woman like her!  Eren dismisses it as well and demands for her to follow.  Instead she refuses and things begin to get heated.  As Mikasa tries to keep it quiet, Annie accuses them that it is conveniently empty all around them.

Here we see tension mount as Annie confronts Armin lying to her and why he was looking at her like an enemy.  The revelations unfold now!  Armin demands to know why Annie had Marco's 3D gear when they all got it inspected.  She continues to evade and Eren demands that she can still prove something by coming into the tunnel with them.

Mikasa however, has had enough.  She flings aside her cloak to pull forth her swords and threatens Annie that she will cut her up once again.  After all, Annie is:

Yea...Female Titan.  This is where the anime can bring to life a moment that is hard to pull off in the manga.  I would also recommend that if you did not pay attention to her words at this moment...go burn them in your mind!

She breaks character as if all the burdens and tensions are gone.  Indeed all the secrets are out for Annie and it must be tumultuous moment for her.  She attempts to bite her finger, but the here to for hiding Recon Corps forces respond quickly to stop her.

Mikasa though sees that Annie came prepared, she yanks Armin and Eren down into the tunnel as Annie reveals a ring with a needle in it to scratch one finger against the other!

We are left with the surge of lightning that signals a human turning into a Titan blinding all and causing all in Wall Sina to turn towards it in fear.

IS IT NEXT WEEK YET?!

The preview leaves no illusion about some of what is coming, the Female Titan inside the Walls and Eren having to find the motivation to transform when confronted with a contradiction in his desires.  If this season is 25 episodes I know EXACTLY where this will be going, but next time we will see a resuming of Recon Corp and Eren VS Female Titan...now known as Annie Leonhardt.

RWBY Ep 7 & 8: Emerald Forest Prt 2 & Players and Pieces

Ok so I am doing a 2 for 1 here because frankly, Ep 7 was WAY too short, however considering what came after, I think I can see why they cut it off.

In any event, we are back with the forest adventure where we left most of our MCs.  Black and Yang confidently stroll up to the temple, not so subtly suggesting that for them the whole exercise was more of a picnic for these two than anything else.  The "relics" turn out to be chess pieces but more on that later.

Juane is revealed by Glynda to be like Ruby, although I am not sure how he got in as yet, Glynda does not seem confident that he is ready to be at Beacon at all.  In this part, Juane and Pyrrha are more comic relief than anything.

I do have to give a good line credit though:  "I made the torch, could you humor me for just 5 more feet?"  That made me giggle a lot and at least shows that Juane is not immune to the possibility of being completely wrong about a choice he made.

Still that leaves Ruby and Weiss, show above, still debating where the temple even is.  Ruby is true to form out of combat being timid and flustered, while Weiss reveals a goal of perfection that lines right up with her personality thus far.  While short, it is an effective step for the characters getting firmer in our minds.

Now the episode explodes into a bit of action as Juane and Pyrrha find a glowing "relic" that is actually a giant scorpion, another monster of Grim of course.  And in perfect timing, Pyrrha tells Juane to not let go just as he goes flying.

I have to admit I chuckled when the screaming Juane is identified by Yang as a "girl in trouble" line.  However we are suddenly surprised to see not Juane falling out of the air, but Ruby.

Yea...they lost me there.  I was against summing up this episode until the next one came out because frankly, I had no idea what was even going on at the end there.  In short this is more of a prologue to Episode 8.

FINALLY!  Sorry, I had to get that out.  Seriously though, at long last we had an episode that was over single digits in minutes and it was awesome.

So as stated above, Ep 7 was confusing and really short even for RWBY, but if this was why, it was worth it!  As has been done before with confusing endings, we back up a bit in time.

Ruby and Weiss are apparently a wee bit desperate to get to the temple as they hopped the giant bird of death (whose name I have yet to find) to get airborne.  Weiss has quite an understandable reaction and Ruby suggest jumping, and then does it before getting a response from Weiss.

Cut to Ruby falling out of the sky at Yang and Blake from the last episode.  Of course let's not forget Jaune, the human shot put at this point, slamming into Ruby perfectly and sending both of them flying into the trees.

Blake and Yang have perfect shocked looks and we get a bit of the standard, "this just happened" lines.  Still good stuff when it is exactly what you would expect in real life to be the reaction.

Of course that entrance is outdone by the arrival of an Ursa (see bear version of Grim) ridden by Nora who is having a grand time until the Ursa 'breaks.'  Ren is huffing behind her into the clearing having a similar reaction as Weiss was to Ruby, only his is a bit more exasperated and familiar.

Nora of course hears nothing of his complaints as she swipes a rook, and goes into a hilarious song and dance that gets interrupted by a now irate Ren.  Yang and Blake already claimed their knight piece as well.

The fun does not end of course, Pyrrha comes running out of the trees with the Deathstalker on her heels (scorpion with glowing stinger).  Blake is just being the deadpanned commentator while Yang is about done with surprises.  Ruby timidly points out one last arrival, from the sky!

Weiss, still hanging on to the bird, finally let's go and falls.  Chagrinned, the group watches almost calmly as Jaune tries to finally impress Weiss, only to become her landing pillow!  Good antics all around but a tad more silly as it all piles up at the end there.

Still, we get a better idea of Ren and Nora as we have been getting to know all the MCs in this run up.  Now however is some nice contrast.

Ruby once again shows an almost eager excitement and over confidence to hop into battle.  Compared to her social interactions, this is another person entirely.  RWBY finally shows though that while the characters have been training, there is a reason for Beacon to make them even stronger, and why Dust was so prominently mentioned in episode 1.

Despite what we know she can do with Crescent Rose, the Deathstalker does not seem overly frustrated by her attacks at all.  It just seems to annoy it more, further the bird wants a word with young Ruby about being treated like a cab!

Feathers pin her cape and all seems to get very serious suddenly as Ruby is about to get killed, when Weiss literally freezes everything.  While berating her for going it alone, Weiss admits they need to work as a team and compromise to fight these monsters and get back to the cliff to finish this event.

Ruby, both properly chastised and no doubt very humbled by her lack of ability to go it alone anymore, accepts this and picks up her own knight after putting for the plan to get their pieces and go back.

After the rough time of it, none of the others argue, although Yang seems a bit distracted by how gun ho Ruby is right now.

Monsters though, do not much care about "letting go and bygones be bygones."  The Deathstalker pursues them to the cliff face and then the bird of doom swoops down in front of them all.

Essentially the group decides to distract the bird and flee from the Deathstalker, and of course, the monster of Grim show why humans have to have an academy to train people to fight them.

It almost seems like they are toying with their food, the Deathstalker seems to coordinate with the bird and as a bridge is smashed separating the group, it seems all is going to end very badly indeed.

Surprisingly, it is Jaune who, admittedly without thinking, gets Nora and he back to Ren and Pyrrha against the Deathstalker.  Nora gleefully launches both of them with her hammer/grenade launcher weapon across the gap.  (Jaune had some more flying miles put on but Nora using the bridge like a lever!)

Blake, Yang, Ruby, and Weiss go all out on the grumpy bird, but it does not seem overly bothered until Blake and Yang get up close.  Still, they do not seem to be hurting it much despite that.

Jaune sees an opening and gets Pyrrha to finally slay the Deathstalker with its own stinger, only to yet again go flying...someone get that boy some wings!  Even though they won, aside from Pyrrha, the whole group is exhausted and injured from just 1 monster.

Ruby has another crazy plan, only this time she has the other 3 to back her up.  Once again we see the effectiveness of Dust against the Grim as Weiss gets not only the monster set up, but launches Ruby as well with Crescent Rose completely deployed.

Monty does a good job of showing that these weapons are not just wielded by crazy strong characters, rather the mechanics and magic of them makes them be so devastating in the hands of those trained to use them.  Crescent Rose fires again and again, combined with a track of Dust to finally defeat the bird ala Highlander style.

Jaune and the others are in awe, Yang of course just seems to roll with it, while Blake and Weiss just accept the end of the day at last.

Now the end section had a nice twist to it.  I mean we all knew one of the teams because of the opening and all that, but it gives us another reason for the name of the show.

The whole event's results are how the team of 4 is selected, the pairs were first look, then the 2 pieces were matched in the pairs, arbitrary and impartial.  What I doubt anyone saw coming was the significance of the letters.

Team JNPR is Jaune, Nora, Pyrrha, and Ren, with Jaune as their leader.  Definitely interesting but thought nothing of it, I needed more caffeine at the time.  Team RWBY of course was last and Ruby was named leader!

If it had ended there, would have been dandy, no complaints, but Monty and crew are good lads and reminded us there are more than just monsters to fight.

Roman gets a return cameo with a map of Vale that is both humorous, and entirely believable for this series.  How will he come to play in the lives of the girls at Beacon, only the future can tell.  Until next time!

Anime: Attack on Titan Ep 22: The Defeated, 57th Expedition (6)

We pick up with the action right where we left off, meaning Eren is inside the Female Titan's mouth and Mikasa and Levi are in pursuit.

Mikasa and Levi have a very brief confrontation where they determine to hope that Eren is alive and not in the stomach of their enemy, but Mikasa vents part of her frustration with Levi's actions as well with a terse analysis of his lack of skill keeping Eren safe.

Levi, surprisingly, stays cool and recognizes who Mikasa is to Eren as well.  We all know he must be hurting, even the brief glimpses of it, his emotions are very intense.  For now though he decides to sacrifice the goal of the mission for getting Eren back.

Compared to all that came before, the innovative attacks of the regular forces in the wide open areas, Levi's Squad's blinding and maiming attacks in perfect sync, and even Mikasa bringing the Female Titan to her knees, pale in comparison to Levi.

If Eren is the hope of mankind as a whole because of his Titan power, Levi is the ultimate power humanity has to throw at them.  Mikasa and the Female Titan are both in shock at the speed and ferocity of Levi's attack, even so there is no sense of viciousness, only debilitate and gain access to the jaw.

Mikasa however decides to take a clear opening, and Levi proves why Eren is so essential to humanity despite his prowess.  With one mistake a Titan will slaughter any human, and Levi is caught saving Mikasa and pulling Eren out of the Titan's mouth to the cost of his ankle (having actually hurt my ankle in a similar way I can tell you that is no cake walk to work with).

Something that the anime does reveal and I missed in the manga, as Levi and Mikasa retreat, Levi sees the Female Titan crying, I am not sure we even knew Titans could cry.

This is when the episode steps back into the series other strength, the emotional realism versus the fantastical reality of the Titan world.  We see very real and horrifying reactions to the loss of life with not only no result to show for it, but an almost inhuman dismissal from Commander Erwin and Levi to distraught members of the Recon Corps.

Practical orders do not mean much when a dead friend is being left behind, and for an additional punch we see insights to the families of Levi's Squad which no doubt mirror the many other lost members of the Recon Corps.  Even though all the conversations seem relaxed, they still carry that tone of apprehension and worry they must all feel to know the Recon Corps is returning from beyond the walls.  It must be similar to being told a soldier relative is suddenly coming home from a hotzone or overseas, you hope for normal but in the back of your head is the obvious worry.  Are they dead?

Of course the distraught members do what they think they should and endanger the survivors with Eren out cold.  Now comes the hard reality these characters live in, despite working hard to reclaim what bodies they could, with Titans closing in the order is given to unload them to stop or distract the Titans.

Levi, despite making it sound like the bodies do not matter, never takes his eyes off the rolling bodies, and catches a last flash of one of his own.  Mikasa saves one of the fools that threatened the survivors, but his comrade was eaten right in front of them all.  The body they went to reclaim, named Ivan, was left behind in their dash to outrun the Titans.

As a final round of punches we see not only the emotional toll on the survivors in general, but for Eren and Mikasa they have come full circle from 5 years ago when the Colossal Titan destroyed all their peaceful lives.  Now they are the returning in defeat Recon Corp and 2 young faces are looking over the grumbling adults with awe and reverence once echoed by Eren himself.

A bitter moment after bitter moment left with a voice over revelation from Armin once again, exactly like in the manga and I am glad they kept it!  This was not just a normal loss of lives setting up a route for supplies, this was the test of Eren as a Titan and using him for humanity.  More than that it was a secret operation to capture an enemy Titan that is just like him.  Instead they come back with Eren being defeated almost easily and no Female Titan to show for their efforts and lost life and resources.

Commander Erwin and Eren are to report to the capitol and Eren is to be handed over.  That is how we are left at the end of this roller coaster of emotions episode, and it just leaves you feeling depressed and frustrated all at once.

Now the preview for next time was damned tantalizing, and if you have read ahead you are drooling just a bit, but you are probably also with me in that the end of the season is going to be at a point that is both frustrating...and awesome.  Until next week!

Anime: Certain Scientific Railgun S: Ep 20: Febri

Good weekend of Anime for me!  This episode brings us back into the gray area of Misaka's life as a Level 5 a bit.  Where she had been enjoying time getting back to the normal routine of learning about her ability and occasionally solving problems for Academy City (with more than occasional hitting of Kuroko thrown in), instead the world seems bent on thrusting all of her friends back into difficulty and trials.

Most of this episode is what we expected, with the progression of Febri becoming more interwoven into the group despite the 5 day limit when she will be taken in by the system of foster care.  However they plan to make the most of it after the near scare with the guardian bots going nuts.

Of course Misaka wants her pink Gekota back, it is her only one after all!  Still she finally relents when Konori treats all of them to a well earned bath house visit.  Misaka is reminded when one of the Sisters did not want to give the button back because it was the first gift Big Sister had ever given one of them.

A lovely moment overall and aside from the obligatory denial of Kuroko being in the same bath as Misaka, it was a touching moment.  Poor Kuroko had to "suffer" outside the bath.

Once more Kongo is in this episode but for one of her seemingly becoming more common useful additions to the show.  She is still a bit full of herself but I think she is finally learning the value of being helpful.  Also I think she is starting to appreciate the dangers to espers as they get stronger in Academy City by what has happened around Misaka and others.

She recognizes the most annoying Prick from the 6 meddling idiots (God I really want these guys knocked down a peg!) that are after Academy City in general and Febri in particular.  Unfortunately she learns this while they are all in the bathhouse so no one notices.

Instead they are diverted for the Railgun part of their experiment, a suit that attacks them in a deserted part of Academy City.  Also there appears to be an EM interfering that Misaka either cannot feel or some other method to stop phones and cameras from working.  I say this because it is broad daylight and 5 young girls are attacked with no notice until it is all over!

Misaka, supremely confident in her abilities, is stunned when her attacks have no effect on the suit, worse because it is a suit she is holding back from more effective attacks.  During the fight the others get drawn in but of course the pink Gekota gets left in the open.

Just when Febri and Misaka seem doomed, the experiment errors on the Pricks nearby and Kongo smashes the suit with a steel beam to reveal no one inside at all.

That is not the most interesting part though, like the security bots last episode, this suit has no power at all, no controller of any kind, but both have a slim purple container with a single strand of what seems blonde hair inside.

While that should get the juices flowing for Anti-skill and Judgement, Saten is left worrying when Febri collapses after the attack in a fever.  The girls are all worrying when she cannot be helped by the doctors and Misaka wonders if she has once again dragged innocents into danger by being Level 5 Railgun.

Happily the now infamous Dr "Gekota" wakes the girls with a very revived Febri waiting for them.  Despite this, he does not seem terribly thrilled.  He pulls Misaka aside and tells her he did nothing and cannot fix Febri.  When asked if she is terminal, he says the problem is she is not human, 100% scientifically created.

Misaka of all people may now understand why Febri knows her name but that is not the part that makes me love this episode.

At long last, it seems the 6 idiots that have done nothing but rub me the wrong way since they appeared after the Accelerator arc have a very angry Railgun after them.  I truly hope to see in the next few episodes that they learn what it means to mess with someone like Misaka and to use someone like Febri.

I like just desserts for idiots what can I say?  Here's to next time!