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January, 2012:

Brave 10 Episode 4

Jan 31st, 2012
by marthaurion.
2 comments

So this week’s episode starts off with Isanami, Saizou, and Kakei arrive at the Izumo shrine. Isanami tries to act strong, but she’s clearly upset about Izumo being in ruins. They look around and eventually find a puzzle that only Isanami is able to solve, opening a path underground. They are followed by Hattori, who is after the Kushi-mitama, which is Isanami’s hairpin.

Saizou starts to fight against Hattori and Kakei fights against the snake woman. They’re both getting beaten, but Yuri shows up to help. Kakei is able to beat the snake woman by shooting through himself. Yuri and Saizou also team up to take out Hattori. While they are recuperating after the battle, Date Masamune appears to kidnap Isanami.

So Saizou still keeps getting owned by Hattori. I figured from the opening that Yuri would become an ally, but I wasn’t expecting it to happen so quickly. Kakei was pretty epic shooting himself, but I wonder if he actually killed that woman. Poor Isanami…it’s just not her day today. Next week, I guess it will be the rescue mission or something. We may also learn about this Kushi-mitama from Masamune.

Ano Natsu de Matteru Episode 4

Jan 31st, 2012
by marthaurion.
1 comment

So after the big accidental confession last week, Ichika and Kaito try to act as if everything is normal. Kaito tries to ask Tetsuro for advice and Ichika asks Remon. Tetsuro tells Kaito not to think about it too much. Kaito ends up getting advice from Kanna, who tells him to give it a shot with Ichika. On his way home, Kaito runs into Manami, who turns out to be Tetsuro’s sister. She forces him to go shopping with her.

Ichika sees Kaito with Manami and ends up getting jealous. Ichika follows the two around until they reach Manami’s house. She confronts Manami, who tries to get Ichika to admit she likes Kaito. Afterwards, Kaito tries to play it off by asking Ichika to help him wish his studies. However, that ends up unleashing a side of Ichika that works him to into the ground.

Alright, now that the summer has started, next week should be the start of the good stuff (at least, I hope). I’m a bit annoyed that they just played off the love confession…although I kinda expected it to happen. They both like each other…just be together jeez. Although, Ichika looking so jealous was kinda funny to watch. Not too sure what to expect next week, but in theory it should be good. They’re starting their big movie, I’m guessing, and the title does reference the summer after all.

Phi Brain – Kami no Puzzle Episode 17

Jan 30th, 2012
by marthaurion.
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So everyone returns to Japan to find that the principal has mysteriously disappeared. Kaito gets a message from the POG simply showing an image of the puzzle that killed his parents. He goes to the puzzle, and realizes that it was actually a Fools’ Puzzle. He is greeted by none other than the principal, who reveals that Kaito’s parents were actually POG Givers and not his real parents.

However, the principal decides to defy the POG and tell Kaito everything. He reveals that Kaito’s parents took on the Fools’ Puzzle in order to save Kaito, who was originally supposed to challenge it. Kaito refuses to believe him at first, but he shows him a video that proves that Kaito’s parents loved him. Kaito responds by activating the armband and solving the Fools’ Puzzle.

Interesting plot twist here. The show’s starting to reach the end, so I guess Kaito will soon mount an attack against the POG to rescue Jin and confront Rook. Rook once again drops his calm demeanor in this episode, somehow confused about the love that Kaito’s parents showed him. If we consider that “program” comment from that earlier episode, it’s looking more and more like he’s a puzzle-giving robot. Although, the whole “what is love” thing is kinda cliche, don’t you think? Next week looks like a lighter episode, with some sort of costume party.

Another Episode 4

Jan 30th, 2012
by marthaurion.
14 comments

So after the big ending from last week, Sakuragi ends up dying. The gossip around the school reveals that one person from class 3 will die each month. Later, Kouichi ends up having lunch with the nurse, Mizuno, asking her about Mei. Afterwards, he runs into a classmate, and they are both nearly crushed by a glass pane. Kouichi returns to the doll shop and once again runs into Mei. Kouichi tries to ask her to tell him the rest of the story, but she just disappears on him.

Back in class, rumors start to fly, but everyone still agrees not to tell Kouichi anything. Kouichi notices this strange behavior and called Teshigawara and Akazawa, insisting that they explain, but they still refuse. Mizuno calls Kouichi about Mei, saying her brother freaked out when her name was mentioned. However, the elevator Mizuno is on malfunctions and she is killed.

Sigh…I was going to say something here to the effect of “I’m pretty sure that nurse is gonna die,” but then she goes and does it! How inconsiderate. Well, since the deaths seem restricted to one per month, it’s possible that Kouichi’s classmates may be more willing to tell him the rest of the story now that the quota has been met for June. I thought it was weird that Mei chose not to go to school with Kouichi. I wonder if she knew that another one of his classmates or even Kouichi himself would die that day if she did. It’s possible that Mizuno’s death was directly caused by her not going to school.

Although it’s becoming more clear that something supernatural is at work, I still want to believe that Mei is a victim, rather than some sort of ghost that’s killing people in spite or something. Maybe the librarian is causing the curse and she’s some unfortunate girl caught up in it. I definitely want to find out…I think I look forward to watching this series each week more than any other.

Rinne no Lagrange Episode 4

Jan 29th, 2012
by marthaurion.
2 comments

So this week’s episode starts off with Muginami, our third main character, joining Madoka’s class. Madoka is called to discuss the current state of affairs, and Youko allows her to continue piloting Vox Aura (which she has named Midori) on the condition that she continues to live at home and go to school. During a swimming competition, Lan is keeping watch over Muginami, so she knocks her into the water as a joke.

However, Lan is unable to swim, and Muginami ends up saving her. After seeing that, Madoka ends up asking Muginami to join her Jersey Club. Madoka then finds out that Muginami has nowhere to stay, so she invites her to come live with her. Meanwhile, the aliens from before are attacked by a man named Villagiulio, who asks them to join him. The episode ends with Lan transferring into the school as well and Array escapes from his prison cell.

Lan’s cute when she’s jealous. Anyway, it seems like Muginami is the type of girl who puts on the airhead appearance, but actually has a plan going on behind it. She seemed pretty serious when she was sneaking around in the Vox hangars. So, Lan is pretty cool and calm, with the Ovid signifying water, and Madoka is whimsical, with the Ovid signifying wind. Muginami’s Ovid will signify fire, so does that mean she has some temper issues we’re not aware of yet?

If Lan is some sort of princess, does that mean Muginami is one too? Or is she some sort of CIA-ish type from another world? I wonder how that will come into play in the future…maybe Lan’s on the run. It looks like next week, we’ll meet a more villainous-looking bad guy that I guess the girls will have to face. I’m guessing that’s also when Muginami will come into play.

Persona 4 Episode 16

Jan 29th, 2012
by marthaurion.
5 comments

So despite the case being closed, Naoto confronts the gang with her theory, having noticed that some of them had disappeared similarly to the dead victims. Her conclusion is that they may be the only ones with the means to pursue the culprit. However, Naoto appears on the Midnight Channel that night. When Naoto is abducted, everyone realizes that Naoto went on TV on purpose to make herself the next victim. Unable to find Naoto, everyone leaves to find more information about her.

They are interrupted for a second when Yu witnesses a pretty touching moment between Kanji and his mother. Anyways, Yu and Kanji find out that Naoto was having disagreements with the local police, which gives Rise enough information to find her. After everyone reaches Naoto’s dungeon, Naoto gets in the normal argument with her Shadow, which leads to the Shadow revealing that Naoto is actually a girl. Naoto rejects her Shadow and it turns to face everyone. After hitting Yosuke’s Persona, Yosuke is aged.

So that whole aging thing was a little weird. I don’t remember that being in the game. Kanji takes the spotlight this week, acting pretty darn macho. He also has a scene with Yu akin to the ones with Chie and Yosuke. However, the three of them still have the same Persona, so no visible results yet. Hopefully that comes into play later…maybe even in this battle.

Finally the big reveal that Naoto is actually a girl. In the game, I know this was a huge “wtf” moment for me. Next week, everyone will battle it out with the Shadow Naoto, and I’m sure new Persona will be revealed…if not Yu, then someone else will evolve their Persona. So far, the studio has been doing a great job of adding in new things in every battle. And since it’s been so long, hopefully next week’s will be a big one.

Nisemonogatari Episode 4

Jan 28th, 2012
by marthaurion.
10 comments

So after the cliffhanger from last week, Koyomi meets up with Tsubasa and his sisters, but they refuse to tell him what happened. He then talks with Tsubasa alone, who tells him that the charms that Karen and Tsukihi are looking for are cursing people. Although Tsubasa was unable to see the culprit, but Karen and Tsukihi identified him as Kaiki Deishuu.

Afterwards, Koyomi has a conversation with Shinobu of all people, who suddenly has become chatty. Shinobu ends up taking Oshino’s job, telling Koyomi that Karen is being plagued by a wreathe-fire bee, which has caused her to run a fever. Shinobu then brings up the dilemma of Koyomi’s lifespan, which may have been lengthened significantly from becoming a vampire, but Koyomi seems unfazed.

Note to self: do not piss off Tsukihi. Also, Tsubasa without glasses and long hair was almost impossible to recognize. Looks like the story is finally ramping up, with Karen in trouble and Shinobu to act as Oshino, guiding Koyomi to the solution. Still, we don’t know how this bee stung Karen and we don’t know how this Kaiki guy is involved.

Interesting to see Shinobu talk after so long. I certainly wasn’t expecting the vibrant personality that she presented. I guess if Kizumonogatari had come out first, I’d have known more. I think there shouldn’t be any more characters to introduce, so it’s smooth sailing from here.

Senki Zesshou Symphogear Episode 4

Jan 28th, 2012
by marthaurion.
1 comment

This week’s episode starts off with a flashback to when Kanade arrived at HQ. In her lust for vengeance for her family, Kanade subjected herself to intense pain to force herself to become compatible with Gungnir. Back in the present, the strange girl with the Nehushtan armor starts to fight with Tsubasa, but her true intention is to kidnap Hibiki.

Tsubasa manages to blow the girl away with her swan song, which is the song that killed Kanade. However, Tsubasa survives and the girl gets away. Later, someone at HQ explains Tsubasa’s attitude and behavior to Hibiki. Hibiki starts to blame herself for everything, eventually cheering up with Miku’s help. Hibiki then asks Genjurou to train her.

So no extra info on this mystery girl with the Nehushtan armor. Honestly, I was expecting the episode to end with her slinking away to some hidden organization apologizing for her failure. Interesting that she could summon Noise, though. It’s kind of predictable that the Symphogear and the Noise are related, but on what level?

Hibiki continues to be useless without a weapon. I actually wonder if she’ll have the same weapon as Kanade, or if it will distort somehow. I’m glad Hibiki didn’t end up being super depressing after that whole incident, because that’s never fun to see. Hopefully, things get interesting next week when Tsubasa wakes up again.

Life’s Great Mysteries: Advertisements

Jan 27th, 2012
by marthaurion.
11 comments

So, with Symphogear late, let’s take a look at another mystery while we wait. So while it was tempting to talk about gg fansub’s addition of the Mameshiba ads in some of their releases, I meant this in a sort of blogging sense. Basically, I wonder about your opinions about the role of advertisements on actual blog websites. It’s not like you haven’t seen them before (unless you have a really good adblocker).

I know that whenever I tell my real life friends (yes, I have them!) that I write a blog, they ask if I make any money out of it. Part of this is because half of them are economics majors, but I guess that’s sort of the perception of the general public towards websites as a whole: that people make them to get money out of it.

Personally, I’ve always been against the idea of putting ads on my site, but I also dislike the people who think better of themselves because they do that. I can certainly see how ads can be a distracting thing on any website. But still, my omission doesn’t somehow make a better person because I don’t care for the revenue gain or something. In fact, I would like nothing more than to be paid just to watch anime and write blog posts every day. But in my opinion, the potential revenue I could gain from putting ads just doesn’t seem worth the hassle to me.

But I definitely understand that there are those out there that put a lot of time and effort into their blogs and would just simply like for something tangible to come out of it. I would never discredit anyone for thinking that sort of thing…it’s perfectly logical to expect some sort of compensation, especially when clicking an ad is optional and requires very little effort from the readers. What I don’t like, though, are people who put a bunch of ads on their websites and then ask that anyone wishing to be linked have few ads (*cough* Animetake).

In all, the important question is “what do you think about this?” Do you have an adblocker and just ignore the ads, so websites can do whatever they wish? Does seeing a single ad make you fly into such a rage that you never visit the site again? Are you the type of person that clicks ads out of sheer pity or sympathy for the webmaster? I imagine most people would be in that moderate category where they have a limit to how many ads they see before they get annoyed.

Inu x Boku SS Episode 3

Jan 26th, 2012
by marthaurion.
2 comments

So this week Ririchiyo starts school. She tries to stop herself from insulting other people, but you know what they say about old habits. That aside, Ririchiyo ends being in the same class as Karuta. When Ririchiyo gets back home, she finds Soushi talking with another woman and the two kiss. It turns out she confessed to him, but he rejected her, kissing her to make her feel better.

Ririchiyo ends up snapping at Soushi, later regretting it. At the school party, Ririchiyo continues her standoffish behavior, isolating herself from everyone else. Two of her classmates end up making fun of her, but Soushi appears to defend her. Rather than allow Soushi to take retribution, Ririchiyo takes it upon herself.

I guess this episode is the start of Ririchiyo’s character development. I guess this show is supposed to be a bit of slice-of-life with Ririchiyo making friends? I don’t really see them playing the ayakashi thing too much. It kinda makes me wonder if they could make the same show with everyone being normal humans. Still, I’m enjoying it so far. Next week, it looks like we’ll meet some new characters, so that should be interesting…new friends for Ririchiyo, I guess?

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