Michael

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood - Episode 31 Review

2009-11-11T03:30:50Z

Episode 31, "The 520 Cenz Promise"

*****SPOILERS*****

Synopsis: Edward meets up with Alphonse after leaving Lt. Hawkeye's apartment and the brothers discuss their plans for the future. Edward tells Alphonse what he learned about the time that they couldn't use alchemy, and they look around for Mei, who has already left Dr. Knox's house. Roy's team leaves to their new posts, and he decides to visit Madame Christmas, a woman who runs a brothel, who contacts Lt. General Grumman for him. Ed and Al take Fu to see Ranfan, and he refuses their offer to fit his granddaughter with automail, not wanting to involve them any futher. The two Xingese leave for their country, with Ranfan vowing to return. The next day, Zolf J. Kimbley is let out of prison, it turns out, from Envy, who contracts him to bring back Marcoh and kill Scar. Scar, with Marcoh, plans to head north, where he hid his brother's research notes.

Comments:

Much like episode 29, a lot of this was an episode with a lot of exposition and things moving behind the scenes, out of the sight of the brothers Elric. There was one notable event, however— the release of the Red Lotus/Crimson Alchemist, Zolf J. Kimbley, from prison. It looks like a confrontation between him and Scar is not far off, with the Briggs arc starting either next episode or the following.

Alphonse, you dog. Saying you want to taste Winry's apple pie. Let Edward have some of that first. There's plenty of pie for everyone. (Yes, innuendo is in full effect for this part of the review.)

The scene with the chess pieces was sort of cool, recalling Roy's game with Lt. General Grumman. I liked seeing which pieces represented which member of his team. Poor Fuery, relegated to pawn! It was also interesting to see that Grumman was sort of in the know, or at least suspected there would be a time when Roy might need his help. We'll see more of this in the next episode.

For those of you wondering, Madame Christmas is a figure of Roy's past. I was disappointed they cut down the bit with her and the girls at her establishment. In the manga, Edward and Alphonse witness him picking up one of her girls right after he drops them off and it makes them wonder what sort of person he is. This happens right before they return to find Fu in their room, which makes it more of a surprise, because they were busy talking about how they would never grow up to be like the colonel and then get a shock.

Speaking of Fu, and Ranfan, and Doctor Knox, I really don't give a damn. That whole bit with Fu crying over Ranfan's arm (which is her own doing, so the later blaming of Bradley is just sour grapes for them just not being good enough) didn't affect me at all. And Knox hasn't been in the story long enough for me to care about his family returning. When I first read it in the manga, it felt like Arakawa was just trying to wring a few extra tears from me, and it didn't work. It's too bad we won't be seeing Knox anymore, though. He was a decent enough character, even if I don't care about his family situation.

The highlight of the episode, though, was obviously Kimbley, and his conversation with Envy. But first we got a nice bit of a flashback that should have occured in the previous episode. It was noteworthy that they removed the part where one of those officers ended up being Envy, who praised his work. Just another piece of volume 15 haphazardly spread to another part of the show. It would have been better in the longer flashback.

Kimbley is extremely wicked in the manga. In the first series, he's just a psychotic bomber, dangerous, a little cunning, but otherwise, no huge deal. A secondary antagonist and one that just sort of samples the sort of people they give State Alchemist titles to and sent into Ishbal. Here, you'll find him being a bit more smooth, which lends more to when he really does cut loose with insanity. You can never really tell just what he's going to do.

I like Envy and Kimbley sort of trying to out-crazy the other while in the car. Both of them are damn creepy.

Speaking of cars, what was with the art in this episode? In one hand, you have them getting Riza Hawkeye's eyes correct the whole time. In another, for some reason, Roy Mustang's car increases in size over time. When Ed enters the car, he climbs in like it's just a regular car. When he leaves, the car door is way bigger than he is. Did the car grow or did Ed shrink? What the hell? Somebody needs to fix that for the DVDs.

I'm really looking forward to the Briggs arc. It's strange, though, that the next episode is called "The Fuhrer President's Son". An episode dedicated to Selim Bradley? Huh.

Overall Score: 3 out of 5

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood - Blind Alchemist OVA

2009-11-07T12:27:48Z

OVA, "The Blind Alchemist"

*****SPOILERS*****

Synopsis: Edward and Alphonse hear rumors about an alchemist who successfully performed a human transmutation and decide to investigate. At the estate of the Hamburgang family, they meet Judau, a blind alchemist that supposedly ressurected a girl named Rosalie, the lord and madam's daughter. Judau is forbidden from giving up his secret to successful human transmutation, despite Edward's continuing requests. While looking for Alphonse (who went off with Rosalie), the truth about Rosalie and Judau's human transmutation is revealed: "Rosalie" is an orphan the family adopted. The transmutation that cost Judau's eyes didn't bring the real one back, but the family has been decieving him with the fake Rosalie. Ed and Al leave, letting the deception remain.

Comments:

A short OVA, about fifteen minutes in length, there's not a lot to say about this particular feature. Especially since the story is pretty straight forward. I did have a few thoughts, though.

This short feature is based on a short FMA story Arakawa did, one of her "gaiden" specials. I can't recall exactly where I read it first. I believe it was in the second art book. They included this on the first Japanese Brotherhood DVD. It's a decent little story that probably takes place during Ed and Al's wanderings, possibly before the series even starts.

What could probably have been stretched as some sort of filler episode is probably best in this short half-episode format. The story is quaint, but nothing special. It relies mostly on the revelation that comes towards the end. Edward and/or Alphonse would usually have some sort of crisis of consciousness over whether to reveal the truth after something like that, but it's not entirely out of character that they left it alone. After all, it's still just a rumor, and normally it would have been denied. So it's not like Judau is encouraging people to commit that taboo. And he appears to be happy, even if his happiness is the result of a lie.

You can tell that Ed still feels a little disturbed about what went on, if just for the bitterness that comes with a lead being bogus, though probably a bad taste in his mouth because of the tragedy of it all. I think it's the sort of feeling I got watching, and I'm pretty sure it was Arakawa's intention.

Being so short, you think this would be beautiful and well-animated, but it's really not. The art is second rate by Brotherhood standards and the animation is just awful at times, or even nonexistant. It's a bit disappointing in that department. Also, they're just using the usual music from the TV series, so nothing new there.

Overall, it was a nice little bit-sized portion of Fullmetal Alchemist, but it's not a "must see".

Overall Score: 3 out of 5

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood - Episode 30 Review

2009-11-05T06:03:16Z

Episode 30, "Ishbal Extermination"

*****SPOILERS*****

Synopsis: Riza Hawkeye relates to Edward, and Marcoh to Scar, the Amestrian military's role in the Ishbal conflict. After the war broke out, it was seven years before Fuhrer King Bradley ordered the State Alchemists into Ishbal to eliminate the population. In a flashback, Mustang meets with Hughes and Hawkeye after a long while, and sees that they all have the eyes of a murderer. Hughes, however, looks forward to a future involving his girlfriend, Gracia, back at home. Zolf J. Kimbley, one of the State Alchemists uses a Philosopher's Stone made up of Ishbalan civillians to kill others. The head Ishbalan cleric tries to exchange his life for the life of his people, but King Bradley refuses the deal, calling him foolish. The war eventually ends, and Roy has Riza become his assistant. Back in the present, Riza tells Edward that Roy's path will eventually lead to judgement on those who took part in the war, regardless of who was manipulating them. Envy goes to check on Marcoh, but finds a dead body and the word "vengeance" written in blood on the wall.

Comments:

This is a really difficult episode to review.

My favorite volume of the Fullmetal Alchemist manga is volume 15, an entire volume dedicated to a flashback to the Ishbal War. There are a few pages in the beginning with Ed coming to give Riza her gun back and a couple of panels of Scar with Marcoh, but the rest of it takes place in the past. The note from Arakawa at the beginning of the volume mentions that she interviewed WWII veterans on their experiences to get this volume just right. And her research paid off: it's the finest volume of manga I have ever read in my life.

It's a real heart wreching, disturbing volume, as well. The Ishbal War is more hell than most fictional military conflicts I've ever read about. There's all sorts of chaos and brutality, and only short reprieves, which are all puncuated by even grander acts of wickedness. But it also has a lot of heart in its tragedy, as ideals are destroyed, minds are lost, and dreams die. And it involves/affects nearly all the adult characters in the story thus far: Roy Mustang, Riza Hawkeye, Maes Hughes, Alex Louis Armstrong, Zolf Kimbley, Tim Marcoh, Doctor Knox, the Rockbells, Scar, Fuhrer King Bradley, and others. This is a volume wherein Ed and Al are only seen for a moment, comforting Winry while her parents are in Ishbal. This one is about the adults, not those kids who would later grow up in the consequences of those actions.

This is not a review of that volume of manga. This is a review of the single episode of this series that adapted that volume of manga, 174 pages of beautiful agony. Needless to say, with a single episode as its runtime, it did not have the same impact. In fact, it had little of the impact the volume had at all.

So much is missed: Most of the Scar bits (which were inserted into a previous episode), all the scenes with the Rockbells, the discovery of Aerugo weapons, the locking up of soldiers with Ishbalan blood, Armstrong trying to help civillians to escape (with Kimbley killing them before they could, then telling Armstrong, "That was a close call."), Basque Gran shooting an uncooperative and bloodthirsty commander, Marcoh talking to Knox, Kimbley's assignment to kill the Rockbells, and him arriving too late to do so, and Kimbley blowing up a bunch of commanders when they try to get him to return the Philosopher's Stone (and one is apparently Envy).

They even changed some of the bits that they did include. For instance, in the scene where Kimbley talks to Roy and Riza about a soldier's duty, the speech is far less developed in this episode, and instead of being in the presence of just those two and Hughes, it's to several soldiers who happen to be gathered around. In another scene, cut out, but important to the scene where Roy tells Hughes his new plan, Roy sits down and has a drink with members of his battalion he had never even seen until that day. Lust is supposed to have been present at the making of the Philosopher's Stone in Lab 5. They cut Bradley's inner monologue after Roy looked up at him, one of the best parts in the volume ("He's looking at me... no, beyond me.").

The episode becomes more about Roy, Riza, and Maes than anything else. But they totally missed the significance of Riza's tattoo, that it was the key to her father's research, and that Roy burned that part of her back slightly after the war so it could never be used again for alchemy research, because she couldn't bear it giving birth to another Flame Alchemist.

As an adaptation of that volume, this episode almost utterly fails. What it does deliver from those chapters seem to not even be as significant anymore. It even seems to tone down the atmosphere. It's pretty disappointing in this regard.

However, as an episode in of itself? Without the expectations of that volume, what would I have thought of it? It's pretty good on its own, actually. You learn a bit about Roy and Riza's past, you see Kimbley in action, get some visual confirmation about the research being done, and get to see some of the hell the war in Ishbal was, even if it was a little toned down. Most importantly, you still learn that Roy has every intention of paying for his actions in Ishbal later on, even if he was just a solider doing his duty, or manipulated by the homunculi. It's that sort of responsibility that makes him an admirable guy.

One thing I found weird about the scene with the Fuhrer talking to the Ishbalan priest was how he kept calling him "human". This, as far as I can tell, was not in the manga. What I mean is, he didn't address him as "human". You would assume that a homunculi who is trying to pass himself off as human wouldn't address somebody as "human", because they're all ostensibly humans. Didn't that raise any questions among the soldiers at the time? I guess it could have just been chalked up as an eccentricity, but even after seeing how brutal Bradley was, Hughes gladly trusted the man later on (and died because of it). Look, I like Hughes, but jeez, what a fuckwit.

I can't give this a very high score, but nor can I give it a low one. It wasn't bad by any means, but it could have been two very epic episodes, instead of one pretty good one.

Overall Score: 3.5 out of 5

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood - Episode 29 Review

2009-10-29T21:14:21Z

Episode 29, "Struggle of the Fool"

*****SPOILERS*****

Synopsis: The Elrics brothers are brought to Fuhrer Bradley, who threatens to kill Winry if they refuse to cooperate. Edward calls Winry to check on her, and after the call, Greed appears and comments on their predictability. He leaves them a message for Ranfan that Ling wrote in Xingese. Roy updates Hawkeye and Armstrong. Alphonse delivers the message to Ranfan, who wants to get an automail arm. Edward fixes the damage done to the part of town he fought Scar in, and remembers he has to return Hawkeye's gun to her.

Comments:

This is more of an exposition/reaction episode, so there's not a lot of action or revelations, but that didn't mean it was a bad episode. Characters passed along information to each other, we got a little bit of Edward's budding maturity, and some more scenes with Greed. There was even a flashback to Armstrong in the Ishbal war.

First, we see that Bradley has every intention of using Winry as an insurance policy in case the Elrics reveal what they know to the public. This is similar to him keeping Riza Hawkeye close to him. I enjoyed the scene in which Edward intends to give up his title and position, but is then forced to take it back when Winry's threatened. The blood on the watch was a nice little touch. Also, Mei managing to avoid Martel's fate was pretty amusing.

Another good scene with Bradley is the one with Greed on the roof. We switch back to Miyano's voice for a moment as Ling temporarily wrestles control away. Greed seems to be pretty amused by it all. The look on the Fuhrer's face was interesting, too. Clearly there's sort of a struggle for power in Ling's body, and it will take us to some interesting places later on. But, unfortunately, much later on.

Through the handling of things like Winry's confrontation with Scar, discovering that Envy caused the Ishbal conflict's breakout, and watching Ling's choice to embrace Greed, Edward has matured a bit. He even looks a bit different at this point. His body goes through more changes than it did in the first series, where we didn't see Ed mature physically until the last episode when he was in Munich, and then when he was older in the movie. Ed's definitely a little taller here. Arakawa went through the trouble of showing the gradual coming of age in mind and body in the manga, and Bones has done a good job in handling that.

Of course, Ed's still fairly short.

I thought the post-credit scene was pretty funny, though. Marcoh wants Scar to kill him, but then Scar threatens to kill him. Nice, Scar. You're threatening to kill a guy who wants you to kill him. Derp. He doesn't have to tell you anything.

But, of course, he will. And we'll learn some stuff from Riza and Doctor Knox in the next episode, too.

Another little detail I liked in this episode was that Roy's hand is still scarred from the incident with Lust. Little touches like that really lend credibility to the world the show takes place in.

My only real complaints were the art/animation in the episode, which was pretty choppy and awkward at times. They did manage to get Riza's eyes right, and they remained so, but there were scenes like the one with Greedling talking to Ed and Al which looked weird. I suppose that as long as they're saving their animation budget for later action sequences, that's fine, but I'd like a little more consistency. Bones has a reputation to live up to, and they need to do it.

I'm hoping that the next episode will be as epic as the volume of the manga it's based on.

Overall Score: 3 out of 5

Dragon Ball Kai - Episode 25 Review

2009-10-27T03:51:32Z

Episode 25, "It's a Power-Up, Kuririn! Freeza's Nagging Premonition", or "The Ball's In Your Court, Charlie Brown!"

*****SPOILERS*****

Synopsis: Kuririn and Dende arrive at the home of Namek's own Kami, Saichoro, who gives Kuririn a one-star Dragon Ball and releases hidden power in him. Powered up, Kuririn flies at full speed with the Dragon Ball back to where Bulma and Gohan are. Zarbon returns to Freeza's ship and is chided for having beaten up Vegeta without getting information from him on where he hid his Dragon Ball. Freeza demands that Zarbon retrieve Vegeta immediately, and orders a minion to contact the Ginyu Special Forces and tell them to bring scouters. Zarbon finds the injured Vegeta near where they fought. Bulma's Dragon Radar picks up a Dragon Ball in the direction of the village where Vegeta had been, and Gohan decides to take the radar and go look for it. Zarbon brings Vegeta back to Freeza's ship to be healed.

Comments:

A good chunk of the episode is dedicated to Kami and Piccolo's past. It seems that a Namekian named Kattats sent his son into space find a new planet for the Namekians during the crisis that wiped out most of the planet's population. Eventually, the kid grew up and became Kami, but he split off his evil side, who became Piccolo Daimao. This is stuff most of the viewers already knew, though.

Saichoro gives Kuririn a power-up by unleashing his hidden power, but I can't imagine there being that much in him. He seems pretty jazzed by it and flies off at top speed, which is pretty stupid since he's supposed to be masking his ki. Luckily, at least for now, Vegeta is indisposed, and Freeza's bunch suck at detecting ki.

Zarbon gets chewed out by Freeza, who kills a minion for killing without obtaining any information, and talks about a strange feeling he's been having. Freeza may not have any talent in detecting ki, but he's got a pretty good sense of the import of events occuring. He calls on the Ginyu Force, and we'll see them pretty soon, which surprises me. 25 episodes in and the Ginyu Force are coming soon!

We also get some Appule. He, uh, isn't around long.

Overall Score:

3 out of 5

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood - Episode 28 Review

2009-10-23T00:32:05Z

Episode 28, "Father"

*****SPOILERS*****

Synopsis: Alphonse arrives at Father's lair, and is surprised by the appearance of the homunculi's creator. Suddenly, Gluttony bursts, and out of of his fake gate emerges Edward, Ling, and Envy. Father questions the brothers, interested that Hohenheim has sons, and heals the damage to them without so much as bringing his hands together. Ling tells the brothers that he's not normal, and Father tells Gluttony to eat him, as he is not a sacrifice. Ed and Al try to combat Father, but he disables their alchemy, and they are subdued by Envy. Ling is likewise subdued by Gluttony. Father, seeing Ling's determination, decides he will use him as a pawn, and, using a bit of Philosopher's Stone that comes from his body, transforms him into the new Greed. Ling accepts the spirit of Greed for his chance at immortality, and the new Greed inhabits his body. However, the new Greed has no memories of its previous incarnation. Scar and Mei arrive, with Mei and Xaio Mei reuniting. Scar's destructive alchemy and Mei's Eastern alchemy somehow remains working, and they attack Father and his minions, however Scar's destructive arm does no harm to Father himself. Scar, Mei, and Alphonse attempt an escape, and Scar disappears, but Alphonse is taken back into custody. Ed is subdued by the new Greed. Father orders the brothers to be taken to Wrath on the surface.

Comments:

A pretty big event happens in this episode, the return of my favorite character, Greed! Although, to be honest, I'm a little hesitant to celebrate. For one, the reasoning behind his return is a little shakey. Then there's the matter of him not really being the same Greed I like so much. Finally, he posesses a character I dislike, which you might think I would consider an improvement on that character, but it just takes away from Greed, to me.

It's not a secret that I dislike Ling Yao. He's too much like Edward, and yet isn't Edward. The show already has an Edward Elric, it doesn't need another. Coupling that with the fact he spends so much time as a foil for Ed, it's almost like he's the third Elric brother, and two of those is enough for me. He's taking away from Alphonse, a character that has quiet nuance, instead of loud sensation to him. If Ling were the main character in a side story for FMA, I might appreciate him, but as a character in this story, I see him as an obstacle.

So, when I first read this portion in the manga, where Ling is posessed by the spirit of Greed, I was a little divided as to how to feel. Greed was my favorite homunculi, and really, my favorite character. He was this pretty amiable, charming guy who also had some pretty interesting abilities. I felt that, especially in the manga, he came in and left the scene too quickly, and wanted more of him. But this new Greed wasn't really that one. He was different. He still had a similar swagger, but he wasn't him, to me. And worse yet, he was Ling Yao, and Ling Yao was even wrestling control away from him at times. I didn't like that at all.

So, come this part in this series, I'm still of two minds on the matter. One, I love Greed. Two, I hate Ling. So Greedling, as I call him, makes me feel a mix of emotions.

The part in the episode itself is also a bit of a mixed bag. On the one hand, the portion where Ling invites the spirit of Greed to take over was pretty well done. I was expecting the spirits to be white and Greed to be all black, but they made it red, which makes sense given the Philosopher's Stone. Mamoru Miyano gave a good performance here. But the moment when he actually becomes Greed is pretty underwhelming in itself, and the music they used made it seem like just another minor event occured.

But to take a break from being so critical, I do actually quite enjoy Yuuichi Nakamura as Greed, nearly as much as Junichi Suwabe in the first series. He's great in the role, really haughty and smug sounding. It's sort of weird hearing his voice come out of Ling, but I'll get used to it. I guess it's just strange that Graham Acre has posessed Setsuna F. Seiei.

Another big feature of the episode is Father. I've always wondered why he would bother bringing back Greed, when Greed is an element that is most likely to rebel, memories wiped or not. What makes him think this Greed is going to be any less greedy than the last one? One thing's for sure, Father is quite powerful. He's able to completely cancel out Amestrian alchemy and survive Scar's deconstruction attack without trouble. Not only that, but he restored Alphonse's hand and healed Ed without so much as a clap of his hands.

With Edward and Alphonse now at Father and his minion's mercies, but only because they're important human sacrifices, we'll see how Edward and Alphonse approach the problem of trying to get their bodies back and/or stopping Father from what he's planning.

Did anyone else feel bad for Gluttony in this episode? The poor fat bastard.

Overall Score: 3.5 out of 5

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood - Episode 27 Review

2009-10-17T02:27:03Z

Episode 27, "Banquet at the Crevice"

*****SPOILERS*****

Synopsis: In a dream, Hohenheim talks to a younger Pinako about his sons, the country, and humans. Another version of him appears and reveals that "Pinako" is really him trying to defend the human race. In the end, he dreams of confirmation of his beliefs by Trisha and the people he knew in Resembool. Waking up, Hohenheim continues on his journey.

Comments:

Recap episode, recap. Nothing here to see, move along. Next episode continues the plot.

Well, okay, I do have some thoughts on the episode.

Yeah, I could tear this episode apart for its irrelevance. After all, dressing aside, it's merely a recap of events that have passed so far in the series. The first series didn't doing anything of the sort, why does this one need it? What a waste of time! The plot was getting more interesting by the episode, then they slam on the brakes.

Er, did I say I wasn't going to tear it apart?

Don't be too hard on the episode, though. As far as recap episodes are concerned, it's not the worst. It's actually fairly organized into segments focusing on diffrent aspects of the series. The first focuses on the military nature of the country. The second seems to be about research into the Philosopher's Stone. The third is about human sacrifices. The fourth was about the homunculi, The final part seems to be about the human spirit.

I think this episode sort of helped piece things together from the previous episodes. I wasn't having that much difficulty, since I've been reading and re-reading the manga faithfully for years, but I can see where other might. There's a lot going on and a lot of details. FMA has a rich tapestry of plot points and themes, after all.

So, while I can't give this episode a high score, it wasn't that big a waste. At least we got some wonderfully weird packaging with Hohenheim's dream. The end of the dream even looked like the "Congratulations!" scene in Neon Genesis Evangelion. Like I said, weird.

The episode featured the new OP and ED for the series. The opening has some great content, though it does spoil some things. I'm just happy to get Olivia Armstrong, one of my favorite characters from the manga, in it. The song isn't bad, either. Then there's the ED, which is probably my least favorite thus far in both the song and content. They really could have done better. Why feature Winry through most of it but then a few seconds of Ranfan and Mei, only to return to Winry? It should have been about all the major females.

Overall Score: 2 out of 5

Dragon Ball Kai - Episode 24 Review

2009-10-13T04:50:36Z

Episode 24, "Resurrected Comrades! The Handsome Warrior Zarbon's Devilish Transformation", or "Vegeta Gets A Beatdown"

*****SPOILERS*****

Synopsis: While training on the trip to Namek, Goku is contacted by King Kai, who informs him that Piccolo, Yamcha, Tenshinhan, and Chaozu have arrived to train on his planet. Goku informs King Kai about a more powerful presence on Namek than Vegeta, and King Kai confirms it's Freeza. He warns Goku to stay away from Freeza. On Namek, Vegeta encounters Zarbon, and they engage in combat. At first, it looks like Vegeta has the advantage, but Zarbon transforms into a more monsterous form and brutalizes him. After this, Zarbon flies off, while Vegeta passes out from his injuries.

Comments:

What can I say about this episode? Oh yeah, for some reason, King Kai thinks Chaozu is worth training and Vegeta gets his fucking ass handed to him by a bishounen-turned-monster.

Of course, since we've all seen DBZ a billion times, we know there's no fucking reason to train scrubs like Yamcha or Chaozu. Guess what Tenshinhan ends up doing with his time on King Kai's planet? Uh, nothing! Well, at least he temporarily subdues Cell later on, but that's about it. Utterly worthless. King Kai is best left trying to get more out of Piccolo and kicking the other three down to Hell where they belong, the losers.

Again, we get to play a game of "What's Old Footage, What's New Footage?", with your host, uh, John O'Hurley, probably. Or maybe Wayne Brady. Probably one of those two. Not Louie Anderson, that guy's fucking awful. He should die in a fire. Anyway, back to my point. During the battle between Vegeta and Zarbon, we switch back and forth between old and new animation so much, the folks who worked on the Zeta Gundam movies blush in embarrassment. Although they should be blushing in pain, from being burned alive in a fire, because those movies were a travesty. But you get my point.

It is comforting to see Vegeta, who was so cocky after having easily killed both Kiwi and Dodoria, finally get a beat down. But he does get better.

Overall Score:

3.5 out of 5

Dragon Ball Kai - Episode 23 Review

2009-10-10T03:14:45Z

Episode 23, "Vegeta's Secret Maneuvering! The Namekians are Tragically Attacked", or "Wow, Namekians Are Boring."

*****SPOILERS*****

Synopsis: Gohan and Kuririn confirm that Vegeta has indeed come to Namek, and are nearly discovered by them. Gohan and Kuririn arrive back at the cave where they left Bulma, where she tells them that Goku is on his way to Namek. Vegeta terrorizes a village, demanding its Dragon Ball. He kills the villagers and takes their Dragon Ball. After hiding the Dragon Ball underwater, he goes off looking for more, while Zarbon is set by Freeza to do the same.

Comments:

The Namekians have just been not having a good time of it in the past few episodes. Freeza's henchmen kill them and now Vegeta's killing them. He seems to quite enjoy it, too. These guys just did not know what was coming to them, now did they? Poor green bastards.

Gohan and Kuririn get the same news Bulma recieved last episode, that Goku is on his way, and it relieves them. They all spend a lot of time with Dende, discovering a few things about him and the Namekian people. For one, Dende reveals that Namekians don't eat and don't have genders. So, really, neither Dende nor Piccolo are actually a "he". It's sort of a case of "it", but for convenience, I'll continue to refer to him as a male. I don't see any particularly female-seeming Namkian, anyway.

Of interest is the fact that when Vegeta finds the Dragon Ball, it's the four-star ball, and it's on a special pedestal. That does remind you of something? If you're a fan of the original Dragon Ball, then it should.

If it makes you feel any better, Vegeta gets his ass beat in the next episode.

Overall Score:

3 out of 5

Dragon Ball Kai - Episode 22 Review

2009-10-09T04:20:20Z

Episode 22, "Dodoria in Terrifying Hot Pursuit! Vegeta Learns the Truth", or "Fly, Fatty, Fly!"

*****SPOILERS*****

Synopsis: Dodoria murders the Namekians who came to assist the village, and kills one of the children. This prompts Gohan to attack him, giving away his and Kuririn's presence. The two of them quickly escape with the remaining child, with Dodoria in pursuit. Kuririn manages to stymie the big henchman using the Taiyouken, distracting him long enough for them to hide. Before Dodoria can catch up, he's waylaid by Vegeta, who intends to kill him. Dodoria begs for mercy, promising to tell him about his home planet. He reveals that the story about meteors destroying it is a fake one, and that Freeza was the one who destroyed the planet, fearing Saiyans in great numbers. Vegeta kills Dodoria anyway.

Comments:

The redrawn scenes are becoming more and more prominent in this episode. One of them was Dende's poor brother Kargo getting obliterated by a blast from Dodoria. I thought they might fix it so that it was Freeza who killed him, like in the manga, but they didn't. Oh well. We'll see Freeza kill a child later, there's no rushing it. Still, sometimes the redrawns can be a little distracting.

A good portion of the episode is spent on Gohan, Kuririn, and Dende being chased by Dodoria, but I believe they cut it down a bit to get right to Vegeta's confrontation. Gohan has some guts to just attack Dodoria with both Freeza and Zarbon there. They've felt their strong "ki", doing that was pretty risky.

We hear Dende speak for the first time in this episode, and his voice is that of Aya Hirano, famous for being the voice of the titular character in The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, as well as Misa Amane in Death Note. This is definitely some stunt casting, but she doesn't overplay the role. Dende sounds fine, so there's nothing to complain about. It wasn't necessary to give her the role, but maybe they're hoping it will help cell character song CDs. I can't imagine Dende having much to sing about, though. Well, there is that thing about most of his family being killed, but Hirano doesn't do the blues.

I like Vegeta's scene with Dodoria, because of just how smug and dominating Vegeta is. He crushes that scouter right in front of him, then he does that thing with Dodoria's arms. Then after getting the information Dodoria offers, he kills him. It's interesting what Vegeta says, too, and it's to be kept in mind about his character. The fact that his family and race were wiped out isn't as enraging to him as being used by Freeza.

Overall Score:

3 out of 5

Dragon Ball Kai - Episode 21 Review

2009-10-08T03:57:47Z

Episode 21, "Protect the Dragon Balls! The Namekian Offensive"

*****SPOILERS*****

Synopsis: Recovered from his injuries thanks to a senzu bean, Goku goes to the Capsule Corporation, where Dr. Briefs has prepared a spaceship to take him to Namek. He takes off for space. While in flight, Goku uses a feature of the ship which allows him to train under several times Earth's gravity. On Namek, Gohan and Kuririn spy on Freeza and his henchmen as they menace a village for its Dragon Ball. The village elder, Mori, is uncooperative, so Freeza threatens the children. Some high-powered Namekians come to rescue the village, and Dodoria takes the task of taking care of them. Mori destroys all of Freeza's henchmen's scouters so they can't find the other villages, which enrages Dodoria.

Comments:

The first huge chunk of this episode revolves around Goku at Capsule Corporation and in the spaceship Dr. Briefs prepared for him. I do find Bulma's parents to be funny characters, but they could have cut this down even further if what they're trying to do is get to the point faster. I think they did cut out part of Goku's reaction to taking off into space, because I could have sworn he wondered why it was nighttime in space, or something of the sort, in the original episode of DBZ, which is a perfect example of his lack of education.

I'm not sure how the ship can possible stay structually sound if Goku is training under so many times gravity. Wouldn't the ship collapse under it's own weight, or implode, or something? I really don't know enough about physics, but it just seems a little weird. But, this is the world of Dragon Ball, so it's best not to think too hard on it. Especially since Goku already went to space once and placed that rabbit guy and his thugs on the moon (and they're probably dead, since Roshi blew up the moon some months later). Yeah, best to just dismiss that altogether.

The next part of the episode has Gohan and Kuririn witnessing the brutality of Freeza and his henchmen, many of whom seem to be part of various races, ranging from very human-like, to dogs-loking guys. Vegeta spends all his time overhearing this on his scouter, at least until the village elder destroys the other scouters. And there are definitely some redrawn parts in this portion, which are easily noticable, but don't clash too much with the old animation.

There's just a lot of observing in this episode, not much else to talk about. Freeza and his men are especially cruel in the next episode.

Overall Score:

3 out of 5

(Note: Screencaps now fixed.)

Shin Mazinger Shougeki! Z-Hen - Episode 23 Review

2009-10-07T23:43:42Z

Episode 23, "Incoming! Mechanical Beast Baron Ashura"

*****SPOILERS*****

Synopsis: The scientists at Photon Power Lab complete Sayaka's new robot, Venus A. In the surrounding excitement, Kouji gets closer to Sayaka. Dr. Hell's forces attack Japan's military and the Mazinger Corp are busy. The Lab puts up a forcefield bubble. Boss and his cronies paint his own robot, the Boss Borot. The Mazinger Corp are confronted by Ashura's robot. Kouji, Shiro, and Kabuto visit Juuzo's grave, where a hologram of Dr. Hell appears to offer a chance at settling everything with a fight between the Mazinger and Ashura's robot. Sayaka attacks in the Venus A, but it does no damage to Ashura's machine, and she is subdued. Boss, his group, and Shiro want Kouji to accept the duel, despite it going against Tsubasa's plans, but he promises Sayaka he'll stick to whatever Tsubasa has in mind. However, the morning after spending time with her, Kouji heads off to the duel in the Mazinger.

Comments:

Most of this episode has been dedicated to suddenly making Sayaka a relevant character, and it doesn't really work out, since Kouji ends up entirely ignoring her opinion and doing what he wants, anyway, and her new robot ends up being as useless as the old one. Nice. Well, at least we got some semi-nudity. That's good, right?

In other words, the only relevant female character in this series is Tsubasa. But that's okay, since Tsubasa is the greatest character in this entire series, and one of the best in anime, ever.

Also, everyone is setting up for the final battle in this episode. I mean, they've been doing that for the past couple of episodes, but I guess things are really starting to move, finally, with Dr. Hell suggesting a duel at dawn between Kouji and Ashura. I wonder what it is that Tsubasa had planned? Also, what was it that Akokuji was talking about with Sayaka's father?

The Mazinger Corps are, of course, worthless, and should have been entirely excluded from this series. They accomplish absolutely nothing and are barely even characters. It annoys the hell out of me that they even bothered to give these retards new mecha. They need to die already.

Not a great episode by any measure, but not terrible, either, I suppose.

Overall Score:

3 out of 5

Dragon Ball Kai - Episode 20 Review

2009-10-07T02:54:44Z

Episode 20, "Rebellion Against Freeza! Vegeta, Burning With Ambition", or "With a Twist of Kiwi"

*****SPOILERS*****

Synopsis: On Namek, Freeza and his men menace and kill natives, and have already collected four Dragon Balls. Two of Freeza's men come upon Kami's spaceship and damage it. Gohan and Kuririn take them out easily, but Bulma is devestated. Vegeta and Kiwi engaged in battle, where Kiwi demonstrates his power, confident he's stronger than his opponent. However, Vegeta shows that his power has grown dramatically since being on Earth. Kiwi tries to reason with him, but Vegeta won't have it, and kills Kiwi as he attempts an escape. Back at the Namekian village, Dodoria and Zarbon are stunned by Vegeta's power, which they've been reading with their scouters (Zarbon's explodes), but Freeza remains unimpressed. Gohan, Kuririn, and Bulma find a cave to stay in. Kuririn and Gohan detect Freeza and his men as they pass by with the Dragon Balls. Back on Earth, Goku is given news about what's going on on Namek from Roshi, and is given senzu beans by Yajirobe, which he eats, and recovers.

Comments:

I'm actually beginning to notice some of the redrawn shots, but I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not. If it starts to have the effect of the Zeta Gundam movies, it will be quite annoying. Is Toei telling me that they couldn't afford to reanimate DBZ, or are they just too cheap?

Quite a bit actually happens here, or at least it took a while to describe it all. First, we have the first run-in between the Earth group and Freeza's men. Those two guys turn out to be nobodies, though, since Gohan and Kuririn take them out for fun. Of course, the two of them probably could have stopped the henchmen before the ship was damaged, but hey, we can't have DBZ characters acting with reason, now can we?

Then we have Vegeta's short battle with Kiwi (yes, I know that in the dub, it was pronounced "Kewi", but I wanted to be sure you got the name pun!). This is definitely one of the things I remember from this arc, since it showed Vegeta clearly killing somebody, even in the Funimation/Ocean version that aired in syndication. That, and I remember Brian Drummond's performance being pretty good during this bit. Kiwi didn't really stand a chance, poor guy

The second half of the episode is really just everyone reacting to something, until we get to Earth and Goku's recovery via senzu beans. Yajirobe has gone from eater of demons to mere deliverer of senzu, the poor fat bastard. I'd have liked to seen him go to Namek, maybe eat some of Freeza's men. Guldo, perhaps. Dodoria looks like he's got a lot of meat on him, too. Probably good with some Worcestershire sauce. Delicious.

Oh, where was I? Er, at the end! Yep, at the end. See you next review! (Mmm, Dodoria.)

Overall Score:

3.5 out of 5 (for the Kiwi fight)

Dragon Ball Kai - Episode 19 Review

2009-10-06T03:16:54Z

Episode 19, "A Formidable New Enemy! Emperor of the Universe, Freeza" or, "Everybody Freaks The Fuck Out"

*****SPOILERS*****

Synopsis: As Gohan, Kuririn, and Bulma travel to Namek on Kami's spaceship, Vegeta's pod arrives on a planet owned by his boss, Freeza, and is treated for his injuries in a heal tank. After recovering, Vegeta is informed by Kiwi, a henchmen of Freeza, that Freeza is on his way to Namek for the Dragon Balls, which he heard about over Vegeta's scouter. Eager to beat Freeza to them, Vegeta takes off, with Kiwi in pursuit. Arriving on Namek, Gohan, Kuririn, and Bulma find the atmosphere suitable, and Bulma detects Dragon Balls using her radar. Vegeta arrives on Namek, as does Kiwi. Meanwhile, Freeza and his henchmen, Zarbon and Dodoria, are at a Namekian village.

Comments:

Wow, they sure got to Namek real fast. No space orphans, no fake Namek with a giant, just Namek, the planet of... uh, not really very much, except long tracts of running away and battles that go on a real long time. But, with no filler, we get right to the main plot.

I don't know whether to pity or dislike Bulma anymore. On the one hand, she can sure be a shrill and selfish bitch. On the other hand, she's surrounded by all these pretty frightening things, and is often the straight man. Gohan and Kuririn just waltz out of the ship without any concern to whether the atmosphere is hospitable or not. Lucky for them, it was, but I have a feeling that if it wasn't, it somehow it wouldn't have mattered. And after all, if Kami is from this planet and he survives in Earth's environment, the opposite should be true, right? Right, of course. I'm science minded, you know. But back on the subject of Bulma, she has it pretty bad in this arc.

All (or most) parties have converged on Namek already. Gohan, Bulma, Kuririn, Vegeta, Kiwi, Freeza and his other henchmen. This is the first episode we see Freeza, and he'll be around for quite a while. I think he's probably my favorite villain of the series, because he's so proper and mannered, but so casually ruthless. You never get that in the English dub, by the way, them transforming him into a creepy transvestite. Nice job, Funimation.

Anywhoozle, that's all I have for this episode!

Overall Score:

3 out of 5

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood - Episode 26 Review

2009-10-05T23:24:38Z

Episode 26, "Reunion"

*****SPOILERS*****

Synopsis: While unsuccessfully trying to battle Envy, Edward comes to a realization, and halts the fight with the promise of returning himself, Envy, and Ling back to the real world. Back at Central, Scar and Mei follow Alphonse and Gluttony in underground passages. Edward decides to do a human transmutation on himself to open the real Doors of Truth, and use Envy's Philosopher's Stone to send everyone back. He also reveals his realization that whoever made the homunculi used Xerxes' people to transmute a Philosopher's Stone centuries before. In Central HQ, Bradley relates to Roy the story of his childhood and becoming Wrath. Back in the darkness, Edward activates an alchemy array and goes through the Gate, finding himself face-to-face with Alphonse's withering body. As the gate reopens to pull him out, he promises to return some day.

Comments:

A bit of a chatty episode, but it had a powerful conclusion.

The dynamics of the Gate, or "Doors of Truth", or whatever you like to call it, are a little perplexing to me. Okay, so, Edward, Ling, and Envy are inside an unsucessful version of the Gate. Ed decides to transmute himself to open the real Gate and send them across to the real world (they have no way of knowing if this will work, so the idea seems a little strange and only works in the moment). So, he opens the Gate, and ends up at the Doors in the white space. Across from the Doors he came out of is another set of Doors that Alphonse waits next to. Then he's taken via the same Doors he entered to the real world.

Wait a minute. Those are the same doors he used to get there, so he's going to get back to the real world via the same ones? Wouldn't go to the other gate to leave? The same gate takes him to a different place than he was? If the Doors can do that, why would there be a seperate set for Alphonse? Or does each individual get a different set of Doors?

The next thing I want to talk about is Edward's over-explaining. While I do somewhat enjoy learning a little about the nuances of alchemy arrays, he doesn't need to spend ten minutes explaining everything he's figured out. It would have been enough for him to say he discovered the pieces he found belonged to the Xerxes ruins and he figures they did a trasmutation that destroyed the entire country. I mean, he's doing a lot of exposition, especially to one character who doesn't understand alchemy at all and couldn't care less about the explanation and another who already knows what went on.

But don't get me wrong. I didn't hate this episode. I quite liked it.

I liked the weird pair of Alphonse and Gluttony. One, a soul bonded to a suit or armor, the other a murderous eating machine with an otherwise affiable, even cute, personality (when he's not in a rage). It would almost make for an interesting spin-off in itself, if it weren't so creepy. This is hardly a consolation for me, since I'd rather see the brothers together, but it's nice to see Alphonse taking the initiative by getting to the source of their problems.

Watching Mei's Xingese alchemy in action against the chimeras was pretty neat, too. She and Scar make an interesting team. Though to be honest, it does seem a little too convenient to me. Mei also seems to be abe to sense things others can't, too. Is she a Mei-ry Sue? Eh, borderline, I think. The other Xingese have that skill, too, but then that just lends more credence to my thought that the Xingese are a little too overpowered, or at least overskilled.

One of my favorite parts of the episode was Bradley's flashback. You know, his actual real name is King Bradley, that's not just his title. He's Fuhrer-President King Bradley. That's like if a guy named "In Charge" was Supreme Commanding General. It's weird that he looked a lot like Selim as a kid, considering they aren't really related. (Er... well...) We also got to see the gold-toothed scientist for the first time, and he'll reappear later. Even having read this part in the manga, I almost expected Bradley to immediately slaughter all the scientists after becoming Wrath. It would have been pretty cool, at least.

The best scene, though, and perhaps my favorite scene in either series, is in the end when Edward bursts back through the Doors of Truth to promise Alphonse he'll return for him. Romi Paku really makes this scene work. I can't imagine anyone doing as good a job selling that part as she does. It's a powerful scene that made me really appreciate this incarnation of FMA.

Next week looks to be... uh, anime-only filler. Hm. Yeah, the preview has scenes that aren't in the manga, with Hohenheim hanging out with what seems to be a younger Pinako at a town festival. Is that little girl reaching her hand out for Hohenheim who I think it is? Where's Chris Hanson when you need him?

Well, I hope it's decent filler, at least.

Overall Score: 3.5 out of 5

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood - Episode 25 Review

2009-10-01T03:27:10Z

Episode 25, "The Door of Darkness"

*****SPOILERS*****

Synopsis: Edward and Ling wander around the inside of Gluttony, looking for an exit. After hearing her story, Scar helps Mei look for Xaio Mei. Envy appears before Ed and Ling, explaining that they are inside a fake version of the Gate/Doors of Truth, and there is no way to escape. Envy reveals that he was the one who started the Ishbal war by disguising himself as a soldier and shooting a child, prompting Edward's rage. After being hit, Envy transforms into a giant monster, his true form. Back at Central HQ, Bradley explains that he could never have a weakness that Roy could exploit, and has Roy's subordinates reassigned, with Riza under him directly. Alphonse convinces Gluttony to take him to his creator, who, to his surprise, is in Central City.

Comments:

Things continue heating up in this episode, with Envy revealing his true form and Roy losing his subordinates to keep him under control. They probably tried to accomplish too much in one episode, but it didn't seem too crammed. It was another excellent episode overall.

The humor actually worked in this episode, cutting some of the drawn out tension of Edward and Ling's situation. The scene of Edward trying "Elric telepathy" was even funnier than in the manga, since Romi Paku really helped push it. The shoe-eating scene probably could have been skipped, but since they felt they had the room for it, why not? I also liked Edward immediately asking Envy to help.

Mei and Xaio Mei's backstory was added to with scenes of them doing chores, training, eating, and sleeping together. Panda fu, indeed. I'm on the fence about the scene with Mei crying Yoki's fire out. It was sort of chuckle-worthy, but it also a little too cartoony. Also, now that you mention it, Yoki continuing to be around with without an explanation of his own situation bothers me. Poor guy. Anyway, I'm just nitpicking now.

Envy was certainly the highlight of the episode.

As for Envy's true form, huh. To be honest, I'm not sure I like it. I mean, it's a pretty cool design, yeah, but is there really a point to it? I mean, this is as pointless as Envy transforming into a dragon at the end of the first series and staying so in the movie. At least there it made him a threat again in the movie, but here, why? Isn't Envy powerful enough as it is? Do we really need a monsterous Envy? I don't dislike it, but I wonder about its necessity.

Minami Takayama really gives Envy a more brutally sly edge. I was quite shocked by the inclusion of a flashback to Envy actually starting the war by shooting the child. I'm not sure whether I should applaud Bones for their guts or jeer them for trying too hard to be jarring. We certainly didn't need to actually see Envy shooting the child, but it did put across how ruthless he is and make Ed's rage more palpable.

Another thing I have difficulty deciding on is whether Envy's true form looks good or not. There's obvious CGI at work, but I don't think it's that ugly. I think they probably could have done a slightly better job, but it doesn't look that terrible. I'll just have to see how this plays out in the next episode.

Another bit of anger I could feel towards a character was Fuhrer King Bradley, with his denouncement of poor little Elicia's tears at her father's funeral. In the manga, I was thinking, "Oh shit, what a douche." Here, I was just horribly pissed off at his insensitivity, even though he's one of my favorite characters. He certainly has Roy in a corner, removing his loyal subordinates from his command. He's certainly set on using Roy for something (though so far it hasn't panned out in the manga). Wrath is one homunculi you don't want to challenge. Roy's in a position that's worse than Ed and Ling's.

I question Alphonse's judgement going with Gluttony to Father without his other hand to do alchemy with. Well, at least he's not just sitting around waiting for something to happen, but maybe he should have tried to get some more help. Gluttony doesn't seem especially bright, he could have tried to get one of Roy's subordinates before they had to head off to their new posts, and it wouldn't have crossed the homunculus' mind.

Still, excellent episode all in all. I don't like how Edward is taking part in all this action with Ling instead of Alphonse, but he'll be with him again soon.

Overall Score: 3.5 out of 5

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood - Episode 24 Review

2009-09-26T23:02:56Z

Episode 24, "Inside the Belly"

*****SPOILERS*****

Synopsis: Gluttony goes on a rampage, trying to devour Roy into his eye Gate. Roy manages to escape with Riza in a car, taking Ran Fan with her, while Ed, Al, and Ling stay behind to fight. Envy arrives to retrieve Gluttony, but a new fight begins, and Gluttony accidently swallows Ed, Ling, and Envy. Roy attempts to enlist the help of General Raven at Central HQ, but it's revealed that he and a number of high military officers are in on the homunculi's plans, and the Fuhrer appears before him.

Comments:

Late review or LATEST review? Actually, this is nothing compared to how late some of my Mazinger reviews are.

You really have to hand it to Bones in this episode. If this level of quality keeps up, this series could very well surpass my love for the first FMA series. I was pretty damn impressed with nearly everything in it.

Here we see that Edward, Alphonse, and Ling's own plan to gain knowledge of the homunculi is met with more hitches than Roy's, with Envy coming to pick Gluttony up and ending up in a fight with Ling. As Pride told Wrath (in a scene I am grateful to Bones for keeping), the humans are sort of making fools out of them. Gluttony being as witless as he is lands Ed, Ling, and Envy in some big trouble, because now they've been swallowed.

A bit of a nitpick, but I felt that the actual swallowing of Ed, Ling, and Envy seemed a little plain. Bones could have amped the scene up a bit during that moment.

The problem with the story now is that Edward will be spending a lot more time with Ling now than with Alphonse, and Ling becomes a sort of Al substitute, even though he's more like Ed, so it's like two Eds, and one is enough.

I've never been a fan of the Xingese characters, as any reader of my reviews know by now. They cut a good action scene, but as characters, I don't really give a damn about them. I think, though, that Mamoru Miyano really makes Ling a more likeable character, even if he's still probably my least favorite in the cast. It just goes to show how talented Miyano is.

Back to the Fuhrer, we see him sitting down to dinner with his wife and adopted son, Selim. Selim reads an essay about his father, some of which is heard over the fight in the episode. Now, for those not in the know, keep his words in mind. For those in the know, this extra scene is probably a wink and a nudge. I won't say any more about it, though.

Roy is now beginning to see the scope of Hughes' discovery about the military, now that it's outed he knows that Bradley is a homunculus. He probably should have been a little wiser in who he chose to trust in, because General Raven (who I always pictured as having a deceptively warm voice, not this sort of generic old man voice) was in on it, as were most of the higher officers. It makes a bit more sense than in the first series, where the conspiracy was just Dante, the homunculi, Archer, and Kimbley. It made the rest of the military look clueless.

What's with all the Amestris maps in this show? I mean, I understand why military HQ would have maps up, but it feels like this series is really going out of its way to establish Amestris as a country, as if to compensate for not even mentioning the name of the country in the first series. Also, does Amestris look like a cookie with a bite taken out of it to anyone else?

Anyway, a great episode, and I look forward to the next one with great anticipation.

Overall Score: 4 out of 5

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya - Episode 28 Review

2009-09-25T00:37:57Z

Episode 28, "The Sighs of Haruhi Suzumiya (Part 5)"

*****SPOILERS*****

Synopsis: Haruhi decides to use a cat behind Yuki's apartment for the movie. After a day of shooting, Kyon and the others discover the cat can talk, but discourage it from doing so. Deciding that Haruhi's imagination is running wild and causing reality to change, they decide it's necessary to get Haruhi to admit the contents of the movie are fictional. The next day, Mikuru tells Kyon that her group's interpretation of Haruhi is different from Itsuki's group. Yuki tells Kyon that her own assertions would be impossible for him to confirm. As strange things continue to occur, Itsuki meets with Kyon to discuss the different views between the groups and asking for Kyon's help to contain Haruhi's power. Filming ends, and Haruhi and Kyon stay in the clubhouse over night to edit it together. They fall asleep and wake up the next morning, the movie mysteriously finished. In the end, it turns out that Kyon convinced Haruhi to do a disclaimer at the end of the movie that denounces the events as ficticious. Everything returns to normal.

Comments:

It's episodes like this that remind me of why I like the Haruhi Suzumiya series. Clever wit, strange happenings, and shrouded character motivations. This is probably one of the best episodes of the anime, along with the previous episode, and it's taken me a while to gather my thoughts about it because I loved it so much. Allow me to count the ways.

Well, first, we have all the abnormal happenings. This episode sees the official debut of Shamisen, a male Calico who can talk, because Haruhi desires such a creature for her film. Of course, she never hears it talk because Kyon and the others keep it in check, but it was pretty close, since Haruhi was talking to an onlooker when it occured during recording. I like the various reactions to the cat's talking and Kyon's conversation with it regarding language.

You also had extinct birds, guys from the Middle Ages, water cannons, and strange starry skies. Haruhi's imagination was working on overtime. You sort of feel bad for her not noticing that these things were actually occuring, at least until you realize she's plenty satisfied just thinking them up, at least for now. Unfortunately for Kyon and the others, it still causes problems. In other words, even if Haruhi isn't depressed, her imagination is still troublesome.

I'm not sure what Mikuru was talking about, as far as her differences in opinion to Itsuki's, but it's clear that her group has a different view of Haruhi, as does Yuki's. So far, we've been seeing Haruhi's behavior through the lense of Itsuki's explanations, because he's the most vocal about his theories. If he's serious about all the battles being waged behind the scenes, there's certainly much more revolving around Haruhi than meets the eye. He may also be right about Mikuru purposely getitng close to Kyon, though he claims he's "kidding". Itsuki isn't really someone Kyon necessarily trusts, but Kyon always listens to his theories, regardless, and seems to take them to mean something. With Mikuru, he's likely to trust her based on appearances, but I don't think he necessarily believes everything she says, either. Yuki seems to be the most dependable, but of course, her own reasoning is difficult to comprehend, if it can be at all. It's these different interpretations that make the story interesting.

While the solution to the problem seems sort of overly simple, it's pretty fitting, because Haruhi does only think on the level of a girl her age, albeit perhaps a little differently than most, and the problem itself, while complicated, stemmed from something rather innocuous, Haruhi's desire to make the movie.

The ending scene is actually from the prologue of the book the past five episodes have been adapted from, from where the first book left off with Kyon prepared to tell Haruhi about what was really going on. Not surprisingly, Haruhi refuses to believe such things would simply appear around her, which is probably why Itsuki, Mikuru, and Yuki can pass as normal, because it's unreasonable that their eccentricities could be chalked up to their true nature. I like that they put it here, because it sort of brings the second season full circle.

An excellent episode. And barring the Endless Eight fiasco, the second season wasn't that bad. However, I can't just pretend those episodes didn't happen. Because of this, the second season will always be marred.

Overall Score:

4.5 out of 5

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood - Episode 23 Review

2009-09-16T21:56:58Z

Episode 23, "The Girl on the Battlefield"

*****SPOILERS*****

Synopsis: Ling, with Ranfan on his back, tries his best to evade Fuhrer King Bradley while Gluttony is sent after Scar. Ed leaves Winry to the MPs and goes off to help Alphonse. Gluttony arrives to eat Scar, beating him up. Bradley sees that Ranfan has cut her own arm off to throw him off. Ling arrives on the scene with Gluttony and Scar and with Ed's help, binds him. Ling escapes from the scene with the help of Hawkeye, but insists on picking up his aide. Mei helps Scar escape, but loses track of her panda, Xaio Mei, who Alphonse picks up. Ed and Al see Winry off at the train station, Ed promising to make her cry tears of joy next time. Roy picks the brothers up and takes them to a house where Doctor Knox treats Ranfan. As they argue over what to do with Gluttony, the homunculus overhears Roy's name, and enraged by Lust's death, transforms and destroys part of the house.

Comments:

This episode might have been really good, if it weren't for the at times horrible art/animation and the lingering Winry scenes.

Okay, so as much as I dislike the Xingese characters, they can sure cut a decent action scene, and even add a little drama here and there. I just always felt they were a little too competent. This is my problem with Scar being able to leap to superhuman heights and avoid and counter everything Ed and Al can do with alchemy with such ease. Suspension of belief is stretched thin at times because of this, even in the FMA world.

It was good seeing Alphonse take Scar on by himself for a while. I also liked his line about being inconvenienced, but not to the point where he should be pitied. You tell him, Al! This is a bit of a more active Alphonse that we saw in the first series, who could be a little too unconfident at times. The fight got interrupted quite a few times, though, first by Ed, then by Gluttony, then by Ling, then by Mei. At least we'll get to see Al do a little more fighting... uh... much, much later on, I believe. Huh, on the other hand, maybe Al isn't so much more active. He was doing some pretty cool things with alchemy, at least. His scene with Xao Mei was cute.

Wrath is one of my favorite characters, just as Pride was in the first series. I like that the Fuhrer is this badass, nearly unstoppable homunculi, especially given his origins, which we'll see within the next few episodes. The VA is still voicing him strong, or perhaps even better now. I'm glad he returned for the new series.

Speaking of voice acting, Mamoru Miyano (Ling) and Nana Mizuki (Ranfan) were exceptional in this episode, and are probably even too good for their roles. I wonder how Miyano will handle certain events and character change in the near future, or if Bones will take a different approach with it. It'll be interesting to see how it ends up.

What the hell is with the inconsistent art and animation in this episode? At times, the animation was a little wonky, and the art could be absolutely terrible at times. I mean, to the point where I cringed in certain scenes. They don't have to make it look like they're always in a water painting, I might add. When the objects in the foreground look like they belong in the background or they were just loosely drawn, they look like garbage. I know what look Bones is going for, but it's annoying the shit out of me.

Production flaws aside, a pretty solid episode, mostly due to Alphonse and the capture of Gluttony.

Overall Score: 3.5 out of 5

Shin Mazinger Shougeki! Z-Hen - Episode 22 Review

2009-09-14T18:21:55Z

Episode 22, "Dreams! Ashura's Sleeping Cocoon!"

*****SPOILERS*****

Synopsis: Dr. Hell contemplates the final battle and is confronted by Duke Gorgon, who mysteriously disappears. It is revealed that Pygman traded places with Ashura during the scramble to get Ashura after his disappearance. At the Kurogane residence, Boss's lackies try to convince Kouji that Boss needs his own robot to pilot. Akokuji agrees and says he'll take care of it. When Ashura awakes from dreams of the past, he/she tries to kill his/herself, but cannot. Dr. Hell has put a suggestion in Ashura that prevents him/her from taking his/her life as long as he is alive. Then Dr. Hell reveals that he's made a special mecha for Ashura and sends him/her, Pygman, and Brocken to attack the Photon Power Labs.

Comments:

Basically what we have here is a dressed-up clip episode that takes place whenever. I'm not sure when the parts at the Kurogane House take place, since we left off the last episode at night when Dr. Hell's forces were about to invade at full force, but maybe it's taking them a while to get there. Other than a few new scenes, a lot of it is reviewing what happened at Mycenae. I still don't get why it was necessary to put Ashura in the cocoon, though. That's just weird. We also get a bit of flashback to when Kouji first used the Mazinger and when the switch between Ashura and Pygman was made.

Ashura seems to be continuing to reel from having betrayed the Mycenaens while in the dream world of the Kedora. Dr. Hell has now inserted a suggestion that keeps him/her from killing him/herself, much in the way Ashura can't move against Tsubasa directly. Though I don't see why Dr. Hell couldn't have removed that previous block while he was messing around in there. Regardless, Ashura seems moved by Dr. Hell giving him/her a giant robot that looks like him/her, and which creeps the hell out of me.

I guess Boss will be getting a robot of his own, probably the Boss Borot from previous Mazinger incarnations, which I think we already saw in the first episode of the program. Why Akokuji would be able to supply giant robots is beyond me, though. What sort of connections does he have? It'll be good to see Boss be of some use, at least.

So, the final battle approaches. Maybe something worth covering will happen next episode.

Overall Score:

2.5 out of 5 (boo, clip ep)

Let's take a trip to Pretentious Land!

2009-09-12T05:57:26Z

Three new poems!

Chopin's Opus 10 Etude No. 3

I.

Dirty cobblestone street,
you've heard hoarse cries,
singing into a hungering void.

Smallest waif,
gap-toothed, wanting,
you umm and awe, your throat dusty;

chill through your hair,
coal-filthy, unkempt,
smile still splits your face.

This dead city square,
this Albion breaking,
I speak of entropy

and still you wake
to crack a little more;
beauty in elegy.

II.

Deepening maw,
wherein Behemoth snores,
I feel that breath

that shakes the earth
and turns me from my dream
and rattles surf from shore.

Leviathan,
where breath abandons man
in depths of debt

you groan from darkest wet,
lift the waves, and yet,
the pieces cast a net.

III.

Pieces of the sky quake
then something breaks:
His gleaming Overcastle

and break, and break
and break;
a bird is set free, break!

Fresh like snow, to streets
it sings, below,
break, break, break.

City in tears,
trembling by the shuddering sky,
it breaks, and bird escapes;

feathers blast the world apart,
wounded wind bursts open
and we break, break, break.

IV.

You, who I'd meet in the dusk
in clouds of glistening dust,
we break, and rightly so

crying burning tears
our heavy darkened forms
will dance in ivory flames

and whisper all we know,
break, break,
feathers on our backs

and break, and feathers
feathers on our backs will grow
as feathers turn to snow.

Nobody's strong,
city, one one's strong
we gave our strength to Him,

we give our strength and break,
Ziz flies and we break,
clouds die and we cheer.

We'll fly because we break,
the clouds are at our backs,
we'll build because we've learned.

VI.

Dirty concrete street,
on which Behemoth walks,
we'll build, we'll build, we'll build.

To beasts who swim in sea,
where Leviathan writhes and weeps,
we'll build, we'll build, we'll build.

Ziz, who now is we,
we'll build, because we break,
with clouds, we'll build and sleep.

No prophecy exists
so sweet as tragic bliss,
so sleep, so sleep

VII.

sleep

Unsettled

Again, this blistering memory of you surfaces;
like any other, it knocks the dream from my sleep
and the sleep from my bed, and with it me.

Your thickness set on me, your offering eyes,
inviting mouth, soft, stirring words,
I wanted to fall, I wanted that uneasiness.

I felt alive in your patronizing breaths,
your sweet scented hair, your promising gaze—
I wrapped myself in your insincere warmth.

That you abandoned me so thoroughly
doesn't daunt me, doesn't drain me,
I dared dream in your pity, I dared love in your pity.

So cruel was your pity, it stripped me of reason,
your heat against mine so subtly, me starving,
I fed on your pity, and it poisoned me.

Still, faultless, no one, or everyone,
and me a blizzard of incongruity,
cursing my diet of foolishness.

I shouldn't blink at the thought of it,
but this trembling still returns,
and I find myself missing such agony.

Night Light

You savaged, ravaged, and averaged,
me splendid, spended, and suspended,
the rattling of the lamp where the bugs dare camp
is varied, carried, and—
in the pulsing darkness—
soon buried.

Me teased, seized, and pleased,
you blessed, undressed, and then pressed,
the calm in the night when the dark is sight
is weighted, fated, and—
though, unfortunately—
belated.

Us again imbound,
we are drowned,
then, with effort, crowned.

- Michael Fitz-Gibbon
(2009)

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya - Episode 27 Review

2009-09-11T01:01:58Z

Episode 27, "The Sighs of Haruhi Suzumiya (Part 4)"

*****SPOILERS*****

Synopsis: Haruhi moves the filming of the movie to a closed off area at a lake, where she puts a new contact in Mikuru's eye. Yuki once again tackles her. Haruhi's next plan includes throwing Mikuru into the lake. Seeing that Mikuru may get a cold, Tsuruya suggests they take her to her house to change. Haruhi hatches a plan with Tsuruya to get Mikuru to respond better, which includes spiking her drink. Noticing Mikuru's drunkeness during filming, and Haruhi's continued mistreatment of her, Kyon objects to Haruhi's methods, prompting a loud argument. Enraged, Kyon pulls his hand back to hit Haruhi, but Itsuki grabs his arm and prevents it. Haruhi is exasperated by Kyon's insubordination and the filming stops. In private, Itsuki points out how Haruhi has continue to change reality. The next day, while with Taniguchi and Kunakeda, Kyon realizes that he prefers Haruhi's activeness to the passive nature of everyone else, and tells her that they should make the film as good as possible. Happy to hear him support her, Haruhi cheers up.

Comments:

Well, now, this is a damn fine episode. Maybe the best episode of the entire series. Certainly one of the best, at least.

Of course, the big scene was the one at Tsuruya's house (mansion... lucky Nyoro girl!) when Kyon exploded with anger. So enraged was he at Haruhi's abusive behavior, he raised his fist to strike, but was stopped immediately by Itsuki. Still, the gesture itself had its impact on Haruhi, who threw a short tantrum, and that was that. This had the effect of depressing the hell out of her, but the slightest suggestion of interest in the film by Kyon re-energized her completely.

Now, okay, Haruhi is probably a little cruel to poor Mikuru, and can be a real controlling bitch. Somebody does need to take her to task for her behavior, and it looks like Kyon is the person to do that. Still, it's pretty disheartening that he was about to hit her, not just once, but again after she told him he was being insubordinate. If Kyon is truly fed up, he should leave the situation entirely. I think, though, that it's clear Kyon actually does approve of Haruhi to some degree, though, or at leat prefer her action to complete inaction. He gets fed up with Taniguchi's whining, because at least Haruhi is doing something with herself, while people like him (and to extention, Kyon) largely just moan and gripe and do nothing with their lives.

Itsuki points out that, like it or not, Kyon has actually been supporting Haruhi. Kyon seems surprised to hear it said like that, because to him, they don't get along at all, and yet, they're always together. Unlike the others, Kyon doesn't have any stake in staying around Haruhi, yet he always takes part in the SOS Brigade, regardless of his objections to Haruhi's behavior. It becomes pretty clear to him that the truth is, he actually does support Haruhi, to some degree. The important thing was that he actually came to this conclusion on his own, not with the prompting of others (though perhaps something Itsuki said may have had some impact).

My favorite scene was actually the one in the club room where Kyon makes up with her. It's not an apology, but rather, he states his support for her project, which she takes as the approval she seeks. It's Kyon that she wants approval from.

Let's face it, Haruhi is a bitch sometimes, but I doubt she would have let any real harm come to Mikuru. Even if she does describe her as a "toy", she obviously likes Mikuru enough to bring her along to have fun. I think she would even defend Mikuru, even if it was just to defend her as an object under her control. It's sort of like Greed in FMA. Her friends are property, but she still shows loyalty to them.

Anyway, now Haruhi seems to be really affecting reality, with another beam, sakura trees blooming out of season, and now she'd like to add a cat to the mix.

We all remember the talking cat from Episode 00, right?

Overall Score:

4.5 out of 5

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood - Episode 22 Review

2009-09-09T03:37:47Z

Episode 22, "The Distant Backside"

*****SPOILERS*****

Synopsis: Wrath and Gluttony attack Ling and Ranfan. They attempt to get away thanks to a flash grenade, but Wrath reveals his homunculus eye. Meanwhile, Winry notices people talking about Ed and Al's fight with Scar on her way back from visiting the grave of Maes Hughes, and runs off towards the scene. Edward brings up Scar's murder of Winry's parents just as she arrives, which prompts Winry to break down and point a gun at Scar. Scar flashes back to the war of Ishbal, when his brother was trying to learn Xingese alchemy to bring peace, while some other Ishbalans wanted to use it to counteract the State Alchemists. Scar's family is attacked by Kimbley and most are killed. Scar's brother sacrifices his arm for his brother. Scar awakes i a rage, killing the Amestrian doctors treating him, and, his brother's research with him, vowing vengeance. Back in the present, Alphonse moves Scar away from the scene. Edward talks Winry down from her revenge and she holds onto him as she cries.

Comments:

An emotionally draining episode, this was fairly well handled as far as adaptation of material from the manga. It covered chapter 46 and most of 47 (Volume 12), dealing with Ling's fight with Bradley and Winry confronting Char. It also threw in a sizeable portion of material from Vol. 15, taking a lot of liberty with Scar's flashback by going more in depth, perhaps more than necessary. I wish they had included the bit at the beginning of Volume 12, with Hohenheim travelling by caravan, but I understood the cut. And I suppose they'll be leaving the rest of Ling's situation for the next episode. No problem.

Sure is plot contrived in this episode, though. Winry just happens to find Ed and Al just as Ed screams about Scar killing her parents. A gun happens to be right where Winry is. And for some reason, Ed doesn't use his alchemy to make a wall in front of her or anything like that? He just stands there as she points her gun at Scar. If he doesn't want her to shoot, he could have done any number of things where he stood. Nevermind that it seems a little weird that she went from zero to fifty in a split second. Still, I understood why she snapped.

What I really disliked was how my favorite part of the episode was also my least favorite part. And by that, I mean the Ishbal flashback. Volume 15 is, in my opinion, the best volume of FMA, aside from maybe volumes 6 and 7. Most of the volume is one, long, detailed flashback to the war in Ishbal. It covers what Roy, Riza, Maes, Alex, Kimbley, Dr. Marcoh, the Rockbells, Basque Gran, Fuhrer King Bradley, Envy, Scar, and Scar's brother were doing in the war. This episode tackled all the Scar material from that volume, which means it's unlikely to appear again later during the more complete adaptation of the fifteenth volume.

Don't get me wrong. I love how they approached the material. It was amazing. The sepia town punctuated by Amestrian blue eyes, the frantic "camera" expressing Scar's madness, the detail in the horror of the war. Little dropped hints about characters. It was all excellent. I can't wait to get it on DVD.

However, by going into this much detail now, it shifts the focus from Winry onto Scar. While Scar's reasoning is a factor in why he killed the Rockbells and what brought the characters to this situation, it should have been saved for later. That moment should have been more about Winry. Understanding of Scar's position can come later.

Not to mention, that means slightly less awesome to go around for the later flashbacks. I doubt they'll be replaying this, or the scene at the beginning of episode 10. While I understand why they're rationing out these portions of that volume in an attempt to help strengthen the material leading into it, I was sort of looking forward to a few episodes, or some sort of special focusing entirely on all aspects of the Ishbal war. Hell, it would make a fine FMA theatrical film.

I never particularly cared for Winry, as I've mentioned, but I did end up feeling really bad for her. I think it was her voice actress, Megumi Takamoto, who drove home the anguish. I'm still debating on whether or not she's as good as Megumi Toyoguchi, her voice from the first series. Eh, they're probably about the same at this point. Romi Paku also did an amazing job in this episode. Kenta Miyake still isn't as good as Ryotaro Okiayu as Scar, but he's okay. Mamoru Miyano put on his Setsuna voice for a few moments while Ling was yelling.

The art was a little inconsistent, however. The bits in Ishbal were perfect, but right when we got back to the present, the art seemed a little strange, especially when Ed jumped in front of Winry. Well, at least they saved their budget for the really good part.

Next episode looks to wrap up the confrontation with Scar and the homunculi.

Overall Score: 3.5 out of 5

Shin Mazinger Shougeki! Z-Hen - Episode 21 Review

2009-09-07T22:20:09Z

Episode 21, "Grudge! The Longest Day at Kurogane House: Part 3"

*****SPOILERS*****

Synopsis: Tsubasa summons the arm of Zeus from its hiding spot- the Japanium ore pile underneath the Photon Power Labs. The pilot of Energer Z is revealed to be Count Brocken, who activates its self-destruct program to combat the arm. Thanks to a computer program on board the Mazinger, Kouji is able to use the power of Zeus's arm to destroy the Energer Z. To protect herself from being targeted, Tsubasa invites detectives from across Japan to protect her at the Kurogane House, along with the returning Kurogane Five. Also returning is Akokuji, who brings with him a reprogrammed Gamia, as well as news that the real Kenzo Kabuto is still alive. As they prepare for the upcoming battle, Dr. Hell attacks with Bardos Island itself.

Comments:

Will the real Kenzo Kabuto please stand up? I mean, sometime soon? He's dead, he's alive, he's dead, he's alive. It's a hologram, it's Brocken. He's in hiding. Come Halloween, is he the most popular costume, or do they go for the Ashura and Akokuji ones? Everybody seems to be capable of constructing perfect disguises in this program. Who taught them, Lupin III?

I hope we get a detailed explanation for how Cross and the others managed to survive their apparent deaths in that strange dream/flashback world of the Kedora. Because it wasn't real? Didn't they feel the pain from wounds, though? I'm pretty sure there's no reason for Yasu to still be alive. He exploded himself! Well, he is a character in a super robot show, directed by Imagawa.

So now Mazinger has two new features. One, some sort of program that manifests itself as a hologram of Juuzo Kabuto (and retains some of his personality) and the God Scrander, which lets Mazinger... turn into a giant golden fist! Er, okay. I guess that's pretty cool. I guess that explains some of what went on in the first episode. Good for Mazinger. Even the losers in the Robot Corps... er, Mazinger Corps... got to be less than useless with the upgrades to their machines. I wonder if Sayaka will end up doing something of value next.

Doctor Hell is getting pretty fed up with all the failures, and now appears to going at things at full force. But it was stupid for him to have waited so long to use Energer. Now with it destroyed, he's forced to use Bardos Island itself. He's not a good strategist at all. It looks like Ashura, apparently with him the whole time, is somehow instrumental to his plan.

Both Kouji and Shiro are beginning to get more comfortable with referring to Tsubasa as their mother. It was an interesting scene between Kouji and Tsubasa when he thanked her and it was revealed that Tetsuya was her brother, something she only found out after his death. But that doesn't explain why he has a grudge. Or is that not the reason he appeared? Well, whatever, his part of the story seems to be over.

Overall Score:

4 out of 5

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya - Episode 26 Review

2009-09-05T00:54:57Z

Episode 26, "The Sighs of Haruhi Suzumiya (Part 3)"

*****SPOILERS*****

Synopsis: Haruhi decides that Mikuru's character needs to fire a beam from her lense-colored eye. However, during filming, Mikuru fires a real blast that Yuki narrowly blocks from hitting Kyon. Not noticing, Haruhi moves onto preperation to the next scene, but Kyon, Yuki, and Itsuki discuss what occured, concluding that Haruhi wished it to happen, so it did. Haruhi decides that the movie needs more characters, and has Kyon bring his friends, Taniguchi and Kunikida, to the next filming. Mikuru's friend Tsuruya is also invited. Haruhi tells everyone that they'll be filming by Itsuki's house next.

Comments:

The plot of the second book finally kicks in this episode, with Mikuru firing a beam out of the colored contact used for the film. You may remember this part from the "00" episode that showed the entire video, where the camera suddenly goes dark, and when it goes right again, Yuki has tackled Mikuru. Now we've gotten to the events that surrounded that particular bit, where it looks like Haruhi has gone back to bending reality.

I like the little sessions the characters have in trying to figure out what has just occured. Itsuki is in full exposition mode. Yuki gives short, vague answers (but we all know she's capable of long, mind-warping ones). Kyon is, of course, confused and annoyed. But mostly annoyed. I think in this episode, my favorite part of that scene was Kyon putting his hand out when Itsuki was actually asking Yuki. The funniest thing is that Yuki didn't put her hand out, too, she waited until Itsuki cleared it up. Seeing Yuki regenerate was neat, too. So once again, Yuki has saved Kyon's life. This makes, what, three, four times? If she has a birthday, he's obligated to get her something.

Of course, Haruhi is as pushy as ever, pulling Mikuru into the woods to change into the bunny girl outfit again. She was particularly abusive of Mikuru in this episode, which had me a little on edge. One of the reasons I like Haruhi is that she's hilariously sociopathic, but beating Mikuru on the head is a little much. I'm glad Kyon broke that up. It's a bit of forshadowing, too.

I think some of the K-On-esque art was toned down a little in the episode, which was good. I really wish the show looked more like the previous season. Not that I dislike K-On's art altogether, but the hands are always deformed-looking. I have trouble with the hands.

Next episode, Haruhi and Tsuruya hatch a plan!

Overall Score:

3.5 out of 5