Shangri-La - Episode 13

Kuniko looks really pretty in this scene:

"I'll capture a future for everyone."
This episode is more action-packed. Kuniko and Momoko had been amazing. And we get to see more of what a great leader Kuniko is! Oh it's such a great episode, as usual.

• I am so relieved that the recaps in this episode are just the significant ones and didn't take almost the whole episode. That's what recaps are supposed to be!
• And of course I have noticed that Kunihito has appeared the most on the events that have some relation to Kuniko's decision to become a leader. There's a meaning to it. I know. Mwahahahha!
• Sadly for me, Kunihito didn't appear in the episode at all except for those flashbacks. But well, a non-appearance of a favorite character doesn't stop me from appreciating this episode. Yeah, it's that good. No bias needed.
• I believe people that are meant to be good leaders are those that know how to make inspiring speeches. Kuniko's totally one of them. Her speech was really great. She's really born to be a leader, and it's really amazing that all of her men are actually willing to accept and respect her as one. Well, they are already doing it even before she accepted becoming a leader though.
• Kuniko met up with K.D. to see the aircraft and she had him pilot for it. The old dude is being cynical on what they plan to do, but he does the job anyway since he's being paid for it.
  
• K.D. turned out to be a really good pilot that had easily outsmarted the cowardly Japanese Air Force units. He knows so much about their habits and tactics. Seems to me that he used to be an Atlas or Air Force pilot.
• K.D. started to like Kuniko later. He liked her ideals and guts. Kuniko's great for being admired so easily. They get along now that he even gave her his name. (Konoe Daichi)
• Konoe did something pretty dangerous later, but I'm happy that he was safe. Metal Age needs more talented people. Hehe.
• Speaking of Metal Age people, Takehiko and Momoko's quarrels are so hilarious! Seriously, if only Momoko wasn't a transvertie, I wouldn't be having second thoughts in shipping them. They are so fun~
• Even if Kuniko has been acting like a great leader, she is still young and needs guidance and protection. I'm so happy that Momoko's back by her side. Kuniko's not perfect (I love imperfect main characters) so she still makes mistakes and needs all the help she can get. And Momoko has been a very reliable guardian~
• Momoko and Kuniko had done incredible stunts in this episodes. Some are jsut too incredible that it's not realistic. But then again, this is a fantasy show. Anything's possible. And we don't know how high-tech the gadgets with them or are wearing actually are. Ehehe. Oh well, I don't care if they had been unrealistic. I've seen hell more unrealistic stunts. Action scenes here were totally cool!
• As for the other characters . . . . Karin being excited about war is just so evil~ Haha! Her action is so true in the real world. Lots of people take advantage of wars in order to make money.
• That Tarsian guy . . . I can't recall him appearing or even being mentioned in previous episodes. But it looks like he's some high executive and a Ryouko fanboy. Dude, your tastes. Seriously twisted. But she rocks. So, cool. Haha!
• This is not usual . . . things not going as what Ryouko has expected. In other words, Ryouko was not amused. Haha! And well, she's evil as usual~
• Miko's also pretty morbid for enjoying the sight of people going KABOOM! But she's going to change now because of Miko's influence. This episode has clearly showed how much she freakin' loves Miko. She even says she'll follow Miko if Miko dies. It was sweet . . . but Mikuni annoys me so . . . whatever.
• Oh yeah, the ED pictures have changed . . . and the artworks were gorgeous! Momoko was most beautiful in those scenes!
  

[ NEXT EPISODE ]

More adventures of Momoko and Kuniko! I am so curious of what's going to happen next episode. It seems awesome . . . but what I wanna see the most is . . .

[ WHAT I LOOK FORWARD TO THE MOST NEXT EPISODE ]

ABOUT TIME!!!!!!!!!!
KUNIKO AND KUNIHITO POINTING WEAPONS AT EACH OTHER!!!!!
THIS IS THE REUNION OF MY OTP!!!!!
MWAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!!!!!!
I TOTALLY CANNOT WAIT FOR THE NEXT EPISODE!!!!!!!!
KUNIHITO YOU DORK! DO A BIGGER ROLE ALREADY!!!!!!!!
AND YOU TWO, PROMISE ME ENTERTAINING INTERACTION!!!!!
I KNOW YOU TWO WILL!!!!!! MWAHAHHAHAHAHA!!!!
OH GOD EPISODE 14 WHAT'S TAKING YOU SO LONG DAMNIT!

New Flavors: Are You Alice?

Are You Alice?
by Ninomiya Ai and Katagiri Ikumi
After throwing away his dreams a boy wanders into "Wonderland" and he holds the name of "Alice" which is the primary requirement in the "Game to kill the White Rabbit". In a crazy story where common sense does not apply and everything is bound by the rules of the game and the orders of the Queen of Hearts, Alice decides to take the gun in his hand. (Baka-Updates)

I do not ignore any Alice in Wonderland manga! Hehe~ The plot was enough to intrigue me and the art was enough to attract me. I actually already have my eyes on this even before it got scanlated! Heck, I even read it RAW and of course I didn't understand a thing but I was already mystified~ Now that it's released in English, I just had to check it out as soon as possible~

Now that I've read it, I am really VERY amused to the idea of making Alice and the Queen of Hearts as males without even changing Alice's name to something boyish nor changing the title of Queen to King. Haha! What the heck?! It made Alice in Wonderland so gay . . . but I don't see any shounen-ai . . . at least not yet. There are actually some women in this series, though like the Chesire Cat . . . unless she'll turn out to be a trap. And the Queen's got a harem. Whoa . . .

Anyway, the first chapter doesn't make any sense . . . AT ALL. You need to read the synopsis first before reading the chapter to actually have an idea on what's happening. The synopsis had at least explained how our leading character ended up in Wonderland (he threw away his dreams and wandered there) and what his role in that place is (which is to play the dangerous game).

I can see why the demographics for this manga is josei, not shoujo, because it doesn't have the usual shoujo fluffiness~ It's really dark and twisted. Pretty violent and mature too. There's already a lot of murder intents and dark insanity even in the first chapter alone. There's full of mystery and you won't be able to grasp what exactly is going on in a short period of time. It doesn't make sense . . . for the following reasons I believe: 1) simply . . . complicated 2) very very mysterious 3) it's not meant to make any sense at all.

It blows my mind, but not exactly in a negative way. It made me hunger for what the heck will happen next and also made me beg to be clarified on what is really going on instead. It's interesting and intriguing. It got me thrilled~

I highly recommend it to Alice in Wonderland manga because . . . it's something really different. Zero-sum manga lovers will most likely appreciate too. And also those who like anything with dark and twisted stuff might enjoy it too. Hehe~

Sapphire Pyro	READ: 1 chapter (out of 1 scanlated chapter released so far of a new ongoing manga) VERDICT: Following
Alice in Wonderland manga! I cannot ignore! Turned out to be very dark, twisted, intriguing, and mysterious . . . very interesting. I am loving it!

Axis Powers Hetalia - Episode 23

Hetalia never fails to surprise me . . . with ADORABLENESS AND LOLz!!!! Hahahahaha!

This episode features two sibling nation-tans, specifically Switzerland and Liechtenstein, also North Italy and South Italy. First pair is full cute; second pair is full of crack. Haha!
We also get to see our two main characters together again. Ludwig (Germany) is going to find out what made Feliciano (Italy) so useless. Haha!

[ SWITZERLAND and LIECHTENSTEIN ]
This episode features these two new nation-tans this time! (Fine, the other one isn't exactly new since he showed up briefly in several episodes)

This episode has introduced to us a new nation-tan called Liechtenstein. She is Switzerland's younger sister in the series. We get a little background of her and get to see some of her moments with her beloved brother.

"I want to prove my obsession to my Onii-sama by trying as much as I can to look like him."

I feel sad that Liechtenstein had cut her hair. It was soooo pretty~ What a waste.

"Success! Now I look so much like Onii-sama that I have mistaken myself as him while I'm looking at myself in the mirror."

"WTF?! Are you a doppelganger or something? You look like a female version of myself though."

"It's me, Onii-sama. I want to show to the world that I'm so obsessed with you that I'll try to be like you even physically!"

Liechtenstein is sooooooooooooo pretty! I'm usually annoyed with girls that go "Onii-sama" but she's just soooooooooo cute!

"Errr . . . but still. Doesn't this look awkward?"

"I don't look cute?"
" . . . . . "

I tell you . . . Vash (Switzerland) is under his younger sister's little finger. He can't let her stay upset. Little sisters could be really powerful for being cute! Hahaha!

By the way, when these people are talking, I know some people will have Fullmetal Alchemist on their minds! Haha! Yeah, to those who don't know, their seiyuus are the same as Edward's and Alphone's! They're siblings again in this series! Such a coincidence~

Brother and sister go outside . . . and they're holding hands. That's sooooo sweet~ They are so close~

I really love it when violent and easily-tempered characters cool down and become incredibly nice to another character~ Yeah, Vash is actually one of them. His violence wasn't presented much in the anime so far, sadly. (To those with no manga background, Vash is actually the type who shoots people when he's angry or pissed off. Haha! Now someone like that to do things like this to a dear sister . . . isn't it a sweet scene? Hehe~)

Someone has noticed the siblings, unfortunately she has mistaken Liechtenstein's gender . . .

"You old hag, she's not my brother, but my sister."
"My chest . . . *checks* . . . flat . . . too flat? Is that why? *despair*"

Oh poor Liechtenstein! Haha! Is it just me or there are really many many anime series with girls that are bothered for having flat chests?

Vash looks cute in that scene . . . 'nuff said. Haha!

[ WHY ITALY IS HETARE (USELESS) ]
For an interval of the Switzerland + Liechtenstein episode, we get to see the two main characters again!


"Hey Ludwig! I'm so cute that I am emitting some pink stars, right? And oh, by the way, that bastard Arthur gave me some pizza once . . . and it was really disgusting~"

"I don't get why this guy is so weak. He is supposed to be strong somehow since he's got Roman Empire's blood in him. "

"Hey Ludwig! There's something going on over there! He's like saying that tomatoes make people useless. Haha! How could he be so stupid~"

"IT NOW MAKES PERFECT SENSE!"

Haha! So tomato is the cause?! Romano's another idiot of course! Antonio's (Spain's) fault? Haha!

Comparing this to its manga counterpart, this scene looked nicer in the anime version! Yaaaay! And oh god Namikawa Daisuke did such a good job in making Feliciano (Italy) sound really stupid in that scene. Hahaha!

[ NIGHT WITH THE ITALIAN BROTHERS ]
This one is based on the strip when the Italian brothers were going to bed. It was a little different in the manga though because those two brothers actually slept NAKED:

But well, this show is also aimed for kids. They can't show pretty disturbing stuff (Ouran High School Host Club anime did it though . . . okay, almost, because the other brother had pants on). I already expected that but oh who cares! It's still animated! Hehe~ I'm glad that this actually had an anime version because I thought it would only be part of the Italy mini-drama. Ehehe.

Now back to the episode:

Sleeping Lovino (Italia Romano) is so cute~ He totally looks like Feliciano~ Oh they're really brothers~

Feliciano: It's been a long time since we've slept together like this, Nii-chan.
Lovino: Aww, shut up! You should've had a spare matress or something.

Wait, does it mean that Lovino's sleeping at Feliciano's place? I thought they only had one house . . . or maybe they did get separate houses when they got divided . . .

"Is that weird? I sleep together with Ludwig and Kiku all the time."

ALL THE TIME??!!! Feliciano you . . . bwahahahahahhahahahaha!!!!!!!!!!

"WHAT THE F????!!!!!"

"You dare sleep with other people aside from your brother? Damn you!"
"Nii-chan! I can't breathe!"

Animated version:

Lovino's epic headbutt!!! (Boy he sure has a hard head) Hahahaha!!!!
They look so cute and funny!

And haha, Lovino's actual line is more of because he's pissed that Feliciano is still being friendly with his Axis Powers buddies, especially on Ludwig because Lovino hates Ludwig. But I'd like to see it as a brother complex. Oh Lovino you're just jealous that Feliciano's friends are gonna take him away from you~ Hahahaha!

"LUDWIG!!!! SAVE ME!!! NII-CHAN IS HARASSING ME!!! AAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!!"

It cannot process to Ludwig's brain at first on how Feliciano could get into trouble with his own brother. But since he's asking for rescue anyway . . .

"FELICIANO! YOUR KNIGHT IN SHINING ARMOR IS HERE! WHAT HAPPENED, MY LOVE?!"

Bwahahahahahahahahhahaaha!!!! Oh come on . . . Feliciano's acting like a damsel-in-distress anywa for calling for help like that, right? Bwahahahahahhahahaha!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ludwig and his serious expression . . . .he looks handsome but I can't help myself from giggling either . . . wahahahahahha!

Why are Ludwig's WTF expressions always so EPIC???!!! Bwahahahahahhahahahahahahaha!!!!!

"Ah, Ludwig! What took you so long? We're in a middle of a crisis, ya know. Our hair, you see. . . Ehehehehehe~"

HOW COULD THEY LOOK SO CUTE!!!!!!!!!!!
SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!

Seeing Feliciano in pink . . . . I cannot unimagine this as a husband-and-wife scene . . . Bwahahahaha!!!!!

Oh yeah, I find it nice in Hetalia that even weak guys actually have muscles. In some series (especially in shoujo ones), a guy could be incredibly strong even if their bodies are freakin' thin/slender but no muscles AT ALL! Pfft!

By the way, anime didn't include it, but this is the aftermath of the scene:

Haha! The brothers are still crying even after Ludwig had helped them! Hahahahahaha!!! They are soooo adorable~

[ NEXT TIME ]
We get a continuation of the stories regarding Switzerland, but with Austria this time!

We see a flashback of them as children too:

SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO CUUUUUUUUUTTTTEEEE!!!!!

And they met again . . . .

What a reunion~ It's like it's shouting "THIS IS FATE!"

This episode is full of fun and cute~ I am very happy that Liechtenstein was able to make her debut! Paku Romi really suits being Switzerland's voice~ And of course I'm happy to see Romano again! And I won't ever get tired of the main characters (heck I love ALL Hetalia characters). And I'm so happy that Austria made an appearance even briefly! Yay!

However, I don't get why the anime is adding more stories that need continuations even though the first season is already ending! There are several stories that don't have continuations yet (like the one with Sealand!). Or maybe there's no more division between the two seasons at all? Season two will continue like it's just an extension of season one, perhaps? Ugh, whatever. It's doing great anyway. So anime, just continue the pending ones . . . . and show The Awesome already!!!! But of course I won't complain if more random stories get animated. Hehe~

~ click images for bigger versions, except for manga panels and gif.
~ gif image by juniormint @ livejournal

New Flavors: Umi Monogatari

Umi Monogatari
(Sea Story)

The “transforming magical girl action” story centers on Marin and Urin, two “pure” sisters who live alongside the fish in the sea, but yearn to be in the world beyond the water and above ground. One day, a beautiful ring falls in the middle of the sea, and Marin and Urin retrieve it. The two decide to leave their waterbound world for the first time to deliver the ring. After an arduous journey, they come across an isolated island where a high school girl named Kanon lives. The encounter between Marin and Kanon — the maiden of the sea and the maiden of the skies — awakens a hidden power as the world is threatened by an enveloping darkness.

Thoughts about this series from xtine06 and Sapphire Pyro. A generally good anime in terms of animation, music and character design.

xtine06

Animation and music is good. Marin and Urin's costumes are so cute and unique. I love the OP song...a nice melody and nice sound. But contrary to my expectations, this didn't appeal to me that much. I think that if I force myself to watch this one, this would end up being dropped later on.

e

Sapphire Pyro

The episode really didn't appeal to me at all like I had expected. But I have to admit that the visuals and music were pretty good! And I like the Little Mermaid thing in the end. Moreover, I like Kanon! She's a cool chick with some anger management problems! Haha! But nah, I don't think I would watch more of this . . . even with my mermaids bias. If I want mermaids, I'll cuddle 07-Ghost's Razette instead. Hehe~

New Flavors: Bara no Maria

Bara no Maria
( A Brave Heart of Red Rose )
By Jyumonji Ao
Maria Rose is burdened with debt after a strange event, and her sword, "Fake Consuming Inferno" is confiscated. At that time, Katari, a member of her clan, got a hold of some profitable information, but to obtain it, they have to go to an "Underground Raid", but things aren't as easy as it seems...(iskultrip scans)

The plot seemed interesting and . . . I liked the name of the main character’s sword. Hehe~ Art looks nice anyway so I gave it a try.

It got me disappointed though. The actual story didn’t seem to be as good nor as interesting as the plot seemed. I didn’t feel the flow of the story . . . things just happened. I didn’t get most of what’s going on. For me, there haven’t been enough explanations and backgrounds (story and character background).

But what makes me appreciate the series despite my disappointment is these characters:

Guy on the left – He’s simply my type! Haha! Spiky hair style, cool getup, and big sword (somewhat like Cloud from FFVII, right?)! He seems to be a nice and skillful guy. Not to mention he’s cute! Hehe! But the trait he possesses that got me more attracted to him is . . . . HIS NAME! Know what his name is? It’s TOMATO! Bwahahahahahaha!!!!!!! First time I’ve heard such a funny name from a non-gag manga! Bwahahahha!!! I can hear Hetalia’s Romano singing his tomato song (~ Buono Tomato! Buono Tomato! Buono Buono Oh Tomato!~)

Guy on the right – I am very very amused to his obsession and undying love for the leading lady! Haha! He’s so hilarious but at the same time cool! I believe he's the most skillful character so far . . . but he’s definitely the craziest character among the main cast! (He is crazy as in Morita of Honey & Clover level) He amuses and entertains me a lot! Haha!

Alright, overall, even though the story hasn’t impressed me much, the manga wasn’t that bad and have become pretty interesting around the third chapter. What still bothers me in the series I guess is that Maria’s being called a transvertie and she claims that she’s not a “little girl”. I’m not sure if she’s just saying that she’s not that young anymore or she’s not actually female. It’s confusing! But oh well, what’s saving this series from being a complete failure to me are the characters. The characters themselves and their interactions with each other had been fun~ (I hate Safina though).

This manga didn’t meet my expectations but it gave me some interesting surprises (specifically my character favorites). I still can’t decide whether I’ll want to read more of this or not, but I guess I’ll put it on hiatus or something. Other people might also appreciate this type of humor. I don't think those who are strict to good storytelling will appreciate it though. But other people might not see the story as the way I have so maybe it's just me. And I think some will still find this pretty interesting. Hehe.

Sapphire Pyro	READ: 3 chapters (out of 3 scanlated chapters released so far of a 2 volume ongoing manga) VERDICT: Undecided
It wasn’t as good as I expected, so it got me disappointed. But I loved two certain characters there. I didn’t get hooked at all but I’m readng more because of them. Haha!

New Flavors: Beelzebub

Beelzebub
(Beelze Baby/Beezle Baby/Belze Babu/Belzebub/Beruze Babu)
by Tamura Ryuuhei
The story follows the "strongest juvenile delinquent" as he watches over the devil king's son (and future devil king) with the destruction of the world hanging in the balance. (Baka-Updates)

It's been a very popular manga recently, so of course it had made me really curious. The title was attractive to me as well (how could I ignore a demon's/devil's name! Haha!) . So I just had to check it out! Hehe~

Plot seems a little similar to a shoujo manga/anime called Daa! Daa! Daa! because the main character was somewhat forced to act as a parent to a baby that isn't human. That kind of plotline in shoujo will turn out to be something cute and pretty mushy . . . but the shounen version will be the insane and hilarious type. And yes, Beelzebub is totally the shounen version. It's totally ridiculous . . .

that's why it's so good! Haha!

Beelzebub is one of those series that is meant to be retarded and crazy, so the sillier it is, the better. And I'm relieved that it's one of those ridiculous series that are actually hilarious, not the pathetic type! Haha! It was so crazy . . . I was very amused. Hahahahahaha!

Fight scenes of badass character are really badass! Awesome~ Haha! The manga's full of violence of course, but not violent as in gore level. I am very relieved that there isn't any ecchi here. There are scenes where Hilda's clothes got torn a bit . . . sexy . . . but still not perverted as in ecchi level.

As for the characters . . . they seem to be mainly classified into two: 1) incredibly badass/powerful 2) incredibly lame/weak. Oga's best friend seems to be a special case though.

The things that I adore most in this series I guess . . . aside from the comedy and badass stuff . . . is the relationship between Oga and Kuneida, and the friendship between Oga and Furuichi. Oga and Kuneida's moments have been really cute~ The misunderstandings have been funny~ Haha! They are still in some misunderstanding in the recent chapters though . . . a big one! Then, as for the two friends, I find it nice that a powerful devilish king like Oga is close friends to a normal dude without any special abilities (aside from bringing sense to the situation I guess. Haha!). For a tough guy, Oga actually relies on Furuichi a lot; while Furuichi keeps on pushing him away but ends up helping his friend anyway. Haha! They're really cute~

Overall, it's a very entertaining series! If you're not strict to good stories (don't actually expect such at all when it comes to gag mangas or other manga that's meant to be silly) and want some badass action and insane comedy, and also want a taste of the evil supernatural, then you'll certainly enjoy Beelzebub! Hehe~

Sapphire Pyro	READ: 18 chapters (out of 18 scanlated chapters released so far of a 2 volume ongoing manga) VERDICT: Following
It's somewhat like the shounen version of Daa!Daa!Daa! It's freakin' crazy and hilarious . . . I am amused. Haha! I'm not that addicted to it though, but I really love it~ Hehe!

Pandora Hearts - Episode 13

One of the best episodes of Pandora Hearts so far!

In this episode we get to know more of Alice's memories and what had exactly happened 100 years ago! It's the usual twisted dark type of Pandora Hearts episode (and yes, of course there's a little crack! Haha!) but it's much deeper and more critical than usual.

[ ALICE and HER MEMORIES ]

One thing I would like to point out that I like about this series is that it didn't take gazillions of episodes/chapters to finally reveal the secret behind Alice's lost memories! I find it an interesting twist that she had actually done it upon herself. Reminds me of Eden of the East's Akira. And both of these main characters want to forget such depressing memories, but when they did get the memory wipe, they themselves seek out for these lost memories. Seems that both had failed to consider that a person with amnesia would naturally want his or her memories back. Hehe.

[ CHESHIRE CAT ]

By the way, best voice acting performance goes to Cheshire Cat's seiyuu: Yamaguchi Kappei! He was so awesome! I am very very amazed! Cheshire Cat is also twistedly adorable~

[ JACK BEZARIUS ]

Jack had finally showed up in this episode (without the concealing of his eyes)! But to me he'll always be a grown-up Oz. Not, Jack; but grown-up Oz! I do not need to imagine a grown-up Oz because Jack is already showing it to me. Oz is still handsome as ever~

[ VINCENT, REIM, and OSCAR ]

The part with this trio had been very fun by the way~ Reim got involved because of hearing what he shouldn't and he was even blamed for being ignorable! Wahahaha!

[ THE CRACK ]

The ones who had provided us crack humor in this episode had been the brothers Gilbert and Vincent! Wahahaha!
It's so cute and hialrious that Gilbert's still afraid of cats . . . no matter what form . . .and no matter what situation he's in. It's really a phobia. Haha!
Vincent sleeping in the middle of the hallway was just so silly~ Haha! Him and his obsession to Gilbert . . . the others are beginning to be a little creeped out by it. Haha!

[ NEXT EPISODE ]

More about Alice's memories! Oz will also get to meet his older self Jack! I'm excited for this episode because we get to know more of how important Alice is to Oz~

[ FANGURLING CORNER ]

I use this portion to fangurl over the characters that had gained spotlights on the particular episode. Also my favorite scenes of them. It's Cheshire Cat's debut, of course he's the star, and also many other characters in this episode because they're simply awesome!

But the one who got my attention the most is none other than . . .

THE UNICORN!!!!!!!!!!

SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

BEHOLD PICSPAM:

It's a black beauty! Ecques is so gorgeous~

Sharon has the best Chain ever~

And yes, unicorns are my favorite magical creatures~

I'm freakin' obsessed with them . . . .

*Stares at the wonderful dazzling creature for eternity*