RWBY Ep 5: First Step prt 2

The class is right where we left them, flying through the air to land on their own and survive the Emerald Forest.  For almost all the MCs to this point we see them do quite well.

Ruby, after apologizing to a disintegrated bird, uses Crescent Rose to absorb her speed in a tree branch.  Weiss uses what I believe to be air Dust skills to soften her own.  The two exceptions to flurried activity are Ren and Yang.

Ren calmly uses his near blades to twirl down a trunk and then just walks away as if waking from a nap, without a ruffle to his clothes at all!  Yang does not want to seem to land actually.  She giddily laughs her way as she launches herself farther and faster with her own gun discharges at the wrists.  Finally her usual flair comes at the end of her landing and she sprints off to find her partner.

Jaune of course is falling like any of us and screaming for help.  Fortunately the human battering ram, Pyrrha, turns her rifle into a harpoon and after a quick wind check, nails the poor lad to a tree.

After that we see Ruby tearing off into the forest looking for Yang, and for any fans of RT we see the hand of Jordan in Ruby's thoughts here, as she lists off her alternatives if she does not find her sister.

After going through all the people she has met thus far, she racks her mind for anyone else that might be compatible, and ends on the image above.  Weiss, non-plussed, turns off with the clear intention of ignoring Ruby.

Of course the next person she finds is Jaune hanging from the harpoon in the tree and without a word collects Ruby as a preferred alternative.  Something the young girl happily accepts without much encouragement.

Jaune is then found by Pyrrha who asks if has any openings on his team still.  Smirking at each other the obvious conclusion of another team is there for all to see.

Weiss is not thrilled and threatens Ruby to keep up at all costs.  For the first time we see her surprised in a good way by Ruby as she shows her skill in speed is amazing.  The tear through the woods must have been quite impressive to witness!  Ruby of course remains true to herself and says that after the Forest, Weiss will exclaim that Ruby is actually cool and would be a good friend.

After which of course the excited girl vanishes in a swirl of rose petals.  Weiss, not entirely unimpressed, but still flustered, reiterates that she is still wasting time as the bushes rustle around her.  Fear mounting in Weiss, we finally see the monsters from the prologue and leave the normally cold princess trembling as roars and red eyes surround her.

A very short episode, and I finally got the spellings right, but still in this case I think it is a good choice.  We had a LOT of development in a very quick succession and a lot more to go with the MCs we have not seen.  We still need to see Yang, Blake, Ren, and Nora form up into teams, given the credits I think we can call those as I wrote them though.

I look forward to some action after the character building, lord knows I actually want to see Weiss' jaw drop as Ruby slices and dices those monsters.  Till next time.

Anime: Attack on Titan Ep 19: Bite, 57th Expedition 3

Captain Levi drives his team onward from the fervently pursuing Female Titan in the forest of Giant Trees.  Despite the more desperate pleas from his squad for answers, he only tells them to cover their ears and launches what seems to be a flair.

Instead it is a sonic grenade that does seem to be uncomfortable for people to hear based on our characters reactions.  Meanwhile the rear guard continues to throw itself at the Female Titan and they might as well be ants for all the good it does beyond slowing her down.

Eren wishes for orders to attack, to stop the wonton slaughter of his fellow Recon Corps soldiers.  He keeps demanding answers or that they attack, but the squad tells him that Levi has given the order and they should move forward.

In his panicked state, Eren remembers he does not need a squad to stop a Titan.  He does not need to let his fellows die anymore.  He moves to bite his hand when Petra draws the attention of all to his actions.  They all heavily tell him he cannot disobey.

They tell him he has to move forward because Levi gave them the order.

However Levi himself tells them the truth about Eren.  Eren is a monster of a different source than any Titan.  Any cage, suppression, or act of force and he will not only resist but will never accept that limitation ever.  He also tells Eren his actions are not wrong, but he has to make a choice.  To only have faith in his skills alone, or have faith in his comrades who are making their choices on greater experiences.  

No one can know the consequences, but you must be ready to accept them after you make your choice.  Levi delivers the whole speech calmly and then tells Eren to choose.  Petra implores him to have faith and that triggers a flashback for us.

We see the squad first telling Eren how the experiments with his Titan power would go, that if he was out of control, their first step would be to remove him before killing him.  They show a clear outline that Eren would lose his hands and feet for sure in that case.

Understandably Eren is nervous, but accepts that this is how it will be.  Hanji sets up a dry well for a transformation experiment, but despite many bites to his hands that drew blood, Eren could not transform, nor heal his wounds.

Ironically it is an innocuous thing that finally works, a spoon falls and reacting out of instinct to reach for it, Eren creates an incomplete Titan form.  Hanji practically flips for joy and singes her hands on the exposed flesh.

The squad however flips the other way.  The scared faces and harsh demands that Eren prove he is actually an ally pile one on the other despite Levi trying to calm them down.  It is Eren himself who finally shouts them down and wrenches his right arm out of the partial construct to dissolve it.

Only later does Hanji reveal that the damage inflicted on Eren is part of the transformation trigger, he needs a goal as well.  It also seems to work for his healing as well but that is not as certain.  Upon the revelation of how unsure Eren is in his power, the squad bites their own hands, but are unable to draw blood.  They realize how much pain Eren puts up with and ask for his trust in them again.  To have faith in them.

Flash back to the present and Levi demands an answer, Eren smashes his eyes closed and puts faith in them.  They blaze ahead on their horses and Eren still watches the rear guard, he burns their cries and faces into his heart it seems.  

Finally the squad charges past a trap, and the Female Titan, so focused on Eren, realizes too late to avoid it.  She still has a moment to protect her weak point as Commander Erwin orders the ensnaring trap that finally stops her cold.

Levi leaves the squad with orders to hide Eren and cooly reveals his own anger at the rear guard sacrifice to stop this monster.  I think Levi really would have understood Eren's choice to become a Titan if he wanted, but respected more his choice to trust in Levi and the squad.

We are left with Levi and Erwin looking down at their captured foe and the Female Titan trying desperately to escape but barely able to move.  The cost was higher than it would have been for any other Titan, but unlike them, there is someone inside to rip out and demand answers from.

My nerves are not doing well and since I read ahead I know I will be just as bad next week.  Going to brew some decaf and put SAO on to relax after this one.

Anime: Attack on Titan Ep 18: Forest of Giant Trees, 57th Expedition (2)

The onslaught of the Female Titan continues.  We resume right after Reiner's miraculous escape and Armin seeing the Titan run off in the direction he believes Eren to actually be in the formation.

Our 3 survivors, while alive, are each facing troubling revelations.  Jean is desperately whistling for his wayward horse because with only Reiner's he knows someone will have to be left behind.  Despite both he and Reiner thinking there is a need to choose, Armin willingly offers to stay because of his injuries.

He is troubled by more than the Female Titan's intelligence and is about to pass along that info to Reiner when a small miracle appears.  Krista with 2 spare horses, one of which is Jean's.

She was able to find them by the emergency flare Armin told Jean to fire and the 3 of them are floored by her honest expression to be happy to find them all alive.  I believe Armin and Jean are just thrilled to be alive and saved and acknowledge she is not bad to look at all.  Reiner on the other hand wishes for her hand in marriage inside his own head, a thought that leaves him a bit shell shocked.

This rather light hearted moment makes a stark contrast for the montage of death the Female Titan rains down on the rest of the right flank.  We see exactly how dangerous a thinking Titan is because tactics that have worked before are useless against her.  She easily kills a 3 pronged attack that was well executed but makes no difference to her raw power properly used.

We also see the oddity of Armin even more as she almost sadistically kills the 3 man team and its leader.  We see even more soldiers ride to try and stop her, but it all ends the same, they are left for dead and the formation must fire its flares.

Rather than retreat or alter course for a more direct route to Eren's basement, all of our MCs note that they are instead heading for the Forest of Giant Trees.  It is a literal name of trees that are at least twice the height of a 15m Titan.  An excellent place to go in the wild areas Titans roam where the 3D gear can be put to far deadlier use.

The oddities pile up as only the central column advances while the regrouping recruits and soldiers flank out to the left and right of the forest.  Only Armin puts together the actual reason of the whole expedition.  The odd explanation of the plan and revealing Eren's true goal in reclaiming Wall Maria as well.

Commander Erwin was TRYING to flush out a Titan like Eren, only one that works against humanity rather for it.  The Colossal would have been unlikely but the Armored Titan was probably on the likely list.

Ordered to prevent any other Titans from entering the forest, they look on as they realize they are just stalling bait.  They are enough concentration of humans to keep the more common Titans at bay just by staying in the higher branches until they receive fresh orders or choose to retreat.

Meanwhile in the central corridor, Eren realizes that the true intent of this mission was hidden not only from him, but from his entire squad as well.  Levi calmly tells him to work it out himself using his "tiny brain," but as the fear becomes evident on his comrades, Eren wonders if even Levi knows what is going on.

With only a single black flare as warning, Eren watches in horror as the Female Titan closes in, slaughtering the rear guard and violently trying to get at him.  Unlike the other times we have seen her, she now appears to be smiling.

We are left in a cliff hanger, of course, as Eren's squad demands orders from Levi to attack over and over.  Levi calmly turns around and tells them to cover their ears as he fires a flare gun.

The next episode could give me an ulcer, as I have read ahead and it seems to be unfolding on a similar path.  However there is a potential for a flash back episode or two as well even amidst this action.

As always I am left with the frustration of waiting for this excellent story to unfold in either form and it is being done well!  I think I will await a few revelations and come back to this episode as well for those that prefer anime to manga, so as not to spoil things!  Until next time.

Rooster Teeth: RWBY Ep 4: First Step

Sigh, it would seem I must appease the Internet Gods some more for good photo skills, that and acquire said skills.

Posts must continue however!

Sleep over finished, we hop over to a new character, Nora, who seems to need a dose of decaf...soon.  Her style of clothes suggest she might be heavy on the comedic relief, her lightning speed verbalism also indicates a need to rewind on occasion to catch it all.  She is amusing however for her own introduction.

The majority of her energies, and life goals, focus on a rather laid back character in green by the name of Ren.  He seems to just be rolling through his preparations for the upcoming Teams event and arming himself.  Appropriately he is voiced by the creator of this world, especially compared to the energetic storm of Nora.

We get the gist of long term connection and the upcoming activity being the selection of Teams for Beacon from these two.

Ruby and Yang have a mild sibling moment that is spot on in real life.  A younger sibling, so used to being part of the older's life, thinks to extend this into school.  Of course anyone who is an older sibling knows we make an unconscious wall between home life and school life that is not addressed until said moment.  In this case it is fairly harmless, but it shows again the differences between the sisters.

Yang is very social with people, and while loving her sister, wants to meet more.  Ruby is confident in her skills, but likes to keep her social world comfortable if at all possible.  Jean seems in desperate need of a life line also in this moment.

He takes us passed Weiss, who is seemingly focused on recruiting Pura, an Amazonian warrior if I ever saw one, to her Team.  We again get an idea of how focused Weiss is at being not only the top student at Beacon, but the perception of it as well.  She puts great store by reputation and expectation.

Jean blithely tries to get Weiss to come to his Team as well.  I admit I was cracking up and cringing in equal parts.  Sadly I WAS Jean in as much as I knew just as little about talking to girls wisely at that age!  Still, Pura shows an almost lackadaisical interest in who is on her Team.

She seems fine with whoever she ends up with, but oddly follows Weiss' order to send Jean flying across the locker room.  It is a hard read on Pura, on one hand she seems straight forward, but on the other she just seems to not care too.

Jean then reveals that his clumsy attempts were all to be done with confidence, and Yang reveals that "Snow Princess" might have been a very bad choice of pet name for Weiss.

Flash to a lovely hill where our group is now on metal platforms in front of Glinda and Ozbin.  There are 2 more as yet unnamed detailed males bringing the group total to 9 we see there.  Given the work to fill these guys out, I presume we will get to know them as well, I also note a lack of Blake, but she is there most likely.

Dryly, Ozbin explains that the students must cross the Emerald Forest to an old Temple and seek the relics within.  The selection of Teams is both more straightforward, and more random, than imagined.

All the students are to be launched into the air and land to the best of their ability.  The first person they make eye contact with will be there Teammate for the next 4 years.  As individual students are launched, Jean asks why he is missing his parachute, but Ozbin calmly sips his coffee and tells him to use his own landing skills to make it.

We are left watching all the students hanging in the sky, and aside from the most obvious Team I think we all expect, I wonder how the others will combine together.  Of course I should not underestimate the element of surprise from Monty and Crew.  Certainly the cast is expanding and I am starting to get more excited to see what will come!

Now if I could just get some blasted photos!

Anime: Attack on Titan: Ep 17: Female Titan, 57th Expedition Beyond the Walls (1)

Last episode painted the grim picture of what it is actually like to be on the Recon Corps.  This episode exemplifies the experience fully!

As outlined in previous episodes, the 57th expedition to begin making a route to Eren's home, is more training and exploring as outlined to the new recruits, but deadly dangerous.  We see exactly how quickly out of the gate Titans appear, and worse how the massively helpful 3D gear is rendered useless by the open lands beyond the towns.

When all you have is a moving target bent on eating you, the gear that would save your life behind the wall, is basically dead weight beyond it.  Still, we see that the skills taught to our favorite cadets are not in complete vain.  Also some heroic attacks against Aberrants.

The sound strategy to avoid Titans is not workable either as they can be lying in wait, or in this case, not a true Titan at all.

We finally see the female Titan from the opener, and she is a bit like the Colossal Titan in more than appearance.  She quickly nulls an attack against her, but unlike the other Titans, kills only to kill, not consume.  Armin is unlucky enough to run into her and assumes the worst after watching the ease of his comrade's deaths.

But as he notes she is much like Eren, she shows it by gently lifting his hood and staring him in the face.  Rather than kill him, she dismisses him as no threat and moves on quickly.

Reiner and Jean quickly join up with Armin and pursue this dangerous foe.  After a quick assertion of goals to slow her, Armin realizes her goal is Eren and surviving.  Anything that slows her down is attacked, but otherwise ignored.

Worse, they realize the right flank was annihilated by Titans led to them by this traitorous woman.  Whoever she is (if you have read the manga hush now!), they have to only slow her for the yellow flares to do their work.

While the expected risky attack goes badly, we see Armin shine boldly here.  He screams what seems gibberish to Jean, but stops the Titan cold in her tracks, saving his life in the process.  Reiner takes this chance to attack, but the Titan recovers quickly.

Armin and Jean both think Reiner is gone, but instead he slices his way out of her grasp at the last moment.  Chagrined that compared to Mikasa they are all dullards, Jean recalls that Reiner was an incredibly powerful soldier as well.

All 3 head off after their battle as the Titan recovers, but just as they think all is well, Armin sees the female Titan inexplicably head straight for where he believes Eren to be in the formation.

After the breather of the last episode action wise, we are literally thrown back into the deepend, and see how all of man's advances are not nearly enough to combat these monsters in the open.

Armin himself thinks that only Levi and Mikasa would have a prayer against something like the female Titan.  While this is but a whetting of the appetite for those that have looked ahead, I would say the pace of this episode takes us back to the nail biting moments of Trost and even Eren's trial.

Now we wait for the next revelations, and see if Eren will be able to control his new abilities against someone possibly just like him!

Anime: A Certain Scientific Railgun S: Ep 17: Study Group

The Sisters are safe and Misaka returns to a much more normal life.  She still checks up on them with the help of her favorite frog faced doctor, but even with the sad news that their lives are shorter than a normal humans, they should get a portion of it back to enjoy as much as any walking Railguns can do.

Saten is hosting a study group, while officially such, she plans to try and entice Misaka to explain who the home baked cookies were for.

We see a quite hilarious flashback of Saten and Misaka baking the cookies Toma never quite received.  Misaka also seems to show a welcome return to her everyday life and Kuroko will no longer be eating alone it seems either.

Of course with the return to a more normal life we see a much lighter cross section, with Kuroko having a small side adventure to a pet shop (and thinking turtle of all things being good for the study group!).  We also see Uriharu being defeated by a book report while ensnaring high grade hackers to a trap server.

All in all there are many smiles and good feels throughout the episode.  We do get an awesome clash of Level 5s and their less than stable sidekicks at a restaurant, I was in tears.  There is a hint that Uriharu's living situation is not as happy as it once was, but for once Magical Index does not give us a clear road of what that may be.

After the dark and traumatic twists of Accelerator vs the Sisters, this was a welcome breath of fresh air.  Hope abounds and smiles seem likely to return to all the friends of Misaka.  Of course if you have followed Magical Index, you know there is more to come for the Railgun and her friends, and Accelerator is not done with the Sisters either.

I look forward to the new portions and maybe we will finally know some things from Misaka's POV that in Toma's we were denied!

RWBY Ep 3: Welcome to Beacon Prt 2

I apologize in advance for lack of pictures, I am appealing to higher powers for better sources/knowledge to make snag something more relevant for my posts.  Moving on.

We pick up with Ruby and Jon finding their way into the welcoming ceremony at Beacon.  Yang snags Ruby back to her side and does not quite believe the story of her sister blowing up a perfect strangers luggage.

Weiss does the classic come from behind move as Ruby expounds her embarrassing moment to Yang.  We get a rundown of more attitude from the white princess here (I assure you the description is accurate).  She also commands Ruby to learn the proper safety regulations concerning Dust with a handy pamphlet.

Ozbin makes a rather terse announcement to the crowd about the contrast between the hopes of the new students and the wasted energy he sees out among them.  The students are then informed they will be starting tomorrow after resting this evening on the school grounds.

At this point I think most parents would flip, but of course is par for the course in anime.  The ENTIRE group sleeps in the same room, and we see a great deal of more detailed characters as opposed to the silhouettes before.

Yang is a LOT more comfortable in direct confrontation and jumping to new goals than Ruby, as demonstrated when Ruby recognizes Blake from earlier and Yang immediately drags her over.

However, Ruby shows more interest in actually getting to know Blake than Yang seems to.  I even see a decent beginning to how Blake expects to be reacted to and Ruby surprises her.  Of course the quartet gets completed by an irate Weiss.  If we see her smile it will be a shocking moment.

Blake ends the slumber party by blowing out her candles as Yang, Ruby, and Weiss have a mini-argument about getting things quiet so people can sleep.

I nice end to the intro here, a few hints of more characters to come we saw in the opening and a better idea of Blake and Weiss both.  I am hopeful we might see some longer episodes as well very soon.