Category: Finished Series: Adventure/Fantasy/Science Fiction

.Hack//Roots – 10 – Rant on Roots vs Sign

by psgels, posted in .Hack//Roots


Okay, we’ve reached episode 10, and still no big thing. As everything stands now, the anime can just end at the thirteenth episode without too much problems. TaN has executed its plans, Ovan is kidnapped, and our protagonists will probably need three whole episodes to sort everything out. My predictions are that the first thirteen episodes will be focusing at the natural, while the last thirteen episodes will be focusing at the supernatural. After all, the virus cores are explained, though the strange thing who appeared at the previous episode, or the strange A-like markings have yet to be explained. Still, TaN probably has got something to do with the latter, as one of the virus cores found itself inside one of the spaces that the A-like markings teleported Haseo to.

Still, some major things happened during this episode, and I didn’t like it. Ovan just went and got himself kidnapped, even though he knew it. In that case, why has he been collecting the virus cores so furiously? His smile from the previous episode’d better have some kind of meaning, as I’m beginning to dislike Ovan more and more. At least his disappearance made sure of one thing: Shino. For the first time since the third episode, she played a great part again. The creators made use of a nice technique, by not showing her eyes when she talks. This way, the viewers have no idea about her expression, and have to guess a bit, giving a very nice overall effect.

Another thing I really liked about this episode is the fight that the members of the Twillight Brigade have at the beginning of the episode, against Ender and her goons. Okay, the latter were just horrible, just like the previous episode. But the former really showed their best sides at that moment. Especially the sarcastical Sakisaka and the overenthusiastic Goad. Lots of things happened at the same time, you just have to give the choreographers credit for this.

Still, now that we’ve reached the tenth episode, I know. .Hack//Roots will never reach the perfection of .Hack//Sign. The biggest reason is the following: .Hack//Sign was smart. Very smart. It covered themes that really made you think. Why do you play the game? Just do the things that you want to do. These ones really are nowhere to be found in .Hack//Roots. The first example does return a bit, though most of the characters just throw this away because it’s too much efford to think about it, and only Phyllo manages to give a satisfying answer. The second one, however, just remains oblivious.

The fact is that this remains an MMORPG. Okay, there are guilds, I can accept that. What I can’t accept is the fact that TaN seems to be covering hundreds of members, actually WORKING for the big guy, Naobi. I mean the game remains for recreational purposes. What the heck does Naobi think ordering everyone around? It isn’t a company or some sort of thing. The fact remains that .Hack//Sign really gave the feeling of an MMORPG. In .Hack//Roots, Phyllo is the only one who manages this. .Hack//Sign made very subtle use of the real world. They showed little snippets of scenes in the real world, though very cryptic and subtle. Especially Tsukasa’s flashbacks were great. What does .Hack//Roots do? Nothing. The only sign that we ever get from our main characters is that Ovan and Shino seem to know each other.

.Hack//Dusk went way too extreme in it, but it had the right ideas about the following subject: quests. .Hack//Sign made perfect use of it, though. .Hack//Roots? Quests? What’s that? .Hack//Roots indeed seems to be forgetting one of the most important aspects of an MMORPG. Okay, they may seem a bit weak, but they’re actually quite fun to do. Roots just doesn’t see this. It also seems that NPC’s also don’t exist in the world anymore. .Hack//Sign was also brilliant in keeping its distance from the administrators. You have to realize that they’re the only party who gets paid to do their job. They don’t have anything to do with the player. I was hoping for .Hack//Roots to follow the same example as .Hack//Sign did, instead of following the horrible example that .Hack//Dusk set. But unfortunately, I was wrong. TaN seems to have something to do with the administrators after all.

The point remains that everyone inside an MMORPG remains equal. Nobody has special powers. Everyone can just level up to lvl 99 as same as everyone else. What they do have, however, is some people who are incredibly active, and set some examples to the rest. Think of Subaru in .Hack//Sign. She attempted to start some kind of independant police force, which would be able to control malicious players. Soon, more and more people started to hear about her, she got support, and before you knew it, she was the most famous player in The World, with everyone recognizing her. What the heck did Naobi do to get such a status? Well, he’s just friends with the admins. Woo. It’s the same for the Twillight Brigade. We never get to see what made them so known around The World. I hope this gets answered in the later episodes, though I seriously doubt that they’ll be able to beat Subaru in this.

Another thing is: why the heck is Naobi so obsessed about getting Ovan’s player data. Dude: it’s a friggin’ GAME. What the heck do you hope to gain with this. Ovan also reveals that the strange voice from .Hack//Sign and the Twillight Bracelet from .Hack//Dusk were actually the Key of the Twillight. Not only takes this away all the mystery in one giant blow, it also gives us some large hints that the guy who appeared in the previous episode will have to be playing for the Key of the Twillight-part. I also don’t like the fact that Naobi, of all guys, was the one who told Ovan about the Key of the Twillight. Remember Sora? He was the one who introduced the term in .Hack//Sign. Still, he was just a PK-er, a fouteen year-old guy who liked to play the game. That has to say something, doesn’t it?

Okay, that concludes my little rants. .Hack//Roots still remains entertaining, though that mostly comes from the first 8 episodes. You really had no idea what was going on, and that was the good part of it. Just showing a couple of guys executing their plans wasn’t just too worthwile to see. It’s the preparation that counts, along with all of the unforeseen circumstances. Though Ovan getting kidnapped was just everything away from unforeseen. Still, I’m still waiting for the big thing to show up and give us some material for the last thirteen episodes.

On a side-note: I just loved Tabby’s fangirling at Goad. ^^;

The Third – 06 – Disappointing Fight, Unfortunately

by psgels, posted in The Third



Hmm, not as good as the previous episode, but that can be because the fight that took up most of the episode featured Honoka going berserk. This isn’t always a good idea, as it abandons all kinds of strategy. Still, the aftermath resolved this in a really good way. Millie was awesome again, and we learn a few more things about Bogie, Ikus and Joganki.

The great thing about the fight was that we saw yet another side of Honoka. She really was too angry to concentrate, which didn’t work too well along with her injured wrist. I loved the way she totally wasted the opportunities she had with the PSP. Still, the fight remained boring, unfortunately. It just contained Honoka trying to hit the Blue Breaker for a bit too long of a period. Luckily, Millie managed to resolve this into a good ending in the end. Honoka also really has learned from this experience, so with a bit of luck, she’ll use her head even more, get even stronger, and provide more awesomeness in future episodes.

Ikus also provided a nice twist. It seems that he’s the first recorded species of a sentient alien. So that means, that aside from humans and The Third, there’s a third party somewhere out there. It doesn’t seem to be hostile yet, but it can really take the story at a lot of possible directions. There’s also got to be a reason why he sought Honoka, and why he was sent to Earth in the first place. These aliens also must be quite smart, if the likes of them are able to stay out of The Third’s sight. I’m quite interesting to learn more of them.

Bogie indeed remains a machine, but he does remain an awesome one. His AI is extremely high developed, so that he can even begin to feel emotions. He also reveals that he considers himself as Honoka’s guardian. This might be because she bought him, and they kindof grew to each other, but there also might be another reason for this. It’s, by the way, very nice that the creators made such a good use of a poem. It fits perfectly, and it blends extremely well into the story.

Joganki seems a strange case. In the last episode, Honoka revealed that he wanted her for her power, but this episode it becomes clear that there’s another reason that he wants her. Could the two of them be related somehow? I can really see this guy becoming Honoka’s father. In any case, he does hold her dear in some way, otherwise he wouldn’t worry about her like that, act so friendly around her, and he would use a bit more desperate measures in order to catch her. It also seems that he and the woman share the same rank. This means that they both make important decisions, but they both have to work right next to each other. This also means that they aren’t the leaders of The Third. We have yet to see the guy who is. I can see him becoming a major bad guy in the future.

Overall, a nice episode, but I know that The Third can do much better. It did provide some nice material for future episodes, though.

Saiunkoku Monogatari – 09 – Great Moments of Comedy

by psgels, posted in Saiunkoku Monogatari



Shiurei is just like Haruhi Fujioka!

Okay, maybe ten times more awesome, but still, the two of them do share the same weakness. They both react in a very different way. Haruhi learned to crawl into a closet and wait till it’s over, while Shiurei sought refuge at Seiran.

In any case, a few things which happened at the previous episode became clear. First: Shiurei didn’t come back because Ryuuki wanted her to. In fact, he doesn’t even know she’s in the palace. She just got a good offer for a job as the masked guy from last episode’s assistant. For some reason, Kouyuu finds it a good idea to keep her existance away from Ryuuki. Ensei also serves this guy. I find this a bit strange. After all, Ensei looks like he’s some kind of war hero. Then why wouldn’t he join the royal army?

We start the episode with Shiurei coming back to the masked guy after running one of his errands. His direct assistant praises her, and then the masked guy calls to her. For some reason, he adresses her with “Kou Shuu”. I guess she decided to use a nickname, but doesn’t this seem to obvious? If I remember correctly, women are not allowed to work in the palace, which was the reason Shiurei had to work as Ryuuki’s wife in the first place. But still, the same rule still applies. Could it be that Shiurei was employed as a man, in order to bypass this little problem? But still, Ryuuki remains smart. Why hasn’t he figured it out yet? I mean, one look at her name and she’s discovered, no? *kicks lack of japanese*

In any case, the masked guy seems to be dealing with a lot of books and paperwork, and he gives Shiurei a lot to do, as there are a lot of piles of books and paper which have to be cleaned up. We then switch to Kouyuu and Ran as she walsk by, carrying a pile of books. The two of them talk a bit. I assume that this was about Shiurei, and how it would be troublesome if she was found out. The reason behind this still remains a mystery until I can get my hands on the subbed version of this episode.

That evening, it seemed that Shiurei asked Ran and Kouyuu to join her, Ensei, Seiran and Shouta for dinner at her home. Ensei doesn’t have too many manners, and Shiurei asks Kouyuu to help her continue her studies. Seiran, meanwhile, notices that Ensei keeps wandering off towards some place, which doesn’t seem to be too smart.

The next day, the masked guy gives Shiurei and Ensei another job of delivering some papers. When they’re done, they complain a bit about the ridiculously hot weather, and they wonder why the masked guy wears a different mask at each different occasion. For some reason, Ensei keeps calling Shiurei a princess. Even though he had yet to be introduced at the time Shiurei played for queen.

A bit later, Shiurei carries a couple of books, and she runs into Ryuuki. It takes a while for him to notice her, so she quickly hides. Ryuuki meanwhile decides that he’s seeing things again. When Ryuuki has left, a random guy pops up from out of nowhere, and offers to carry the books for Shiurei. He introduces himself as a very weird guy, and he seems to be getting all exited over the strangest things. When the two of they say goodbye, he tells her his name. He does this while making a bishie-pose. The combination that he’s no bishie at all, along with the fact that he carries a pile of books turns this into a hilarious sight. His name seems to be “Ojii-san”, by the way. I think he was kidding when he said that…

When Shiurei returns to the masked man’s office, he seems to be sleeping on a couch. Then, a small thunderstorm starts. It doesn’t take too long (about a minute), but it takes long enough for Seiran to be worried about Shiurei, and Shiurei to scream on top of the masked guy while the masked guy tries to comfort her. This doesn’t end up well when the thunder ends and Ensei the masked guy’s direct assistant enter the room, which results in a totally hilarious scene.

That evening, Shiurei’s still worried about what happened, while she studies a bit. Ensei then brings her some onigiri. The two of them then talk a bit about something my horrible Japanese couldn’t understand, while Seiran and Shouta listen from another room. Shiurei knows that the two of them are listening as well, because one of the onigiri looks horribly deformed (Shouta’s work ^^).

The next day, Kouyuu talks to Ryuuki a bit, surrounded by piles and piles of books. The latter really is down because of his lack of seeing Shiurei. He has some kind of plan, but the episode’s not long enough to show this. We then see “Ojii-san” talking to the masked guy without his mask, indeed laughing at his own performance a couple of days earlier. The two of them are up to something. probably they plan to do something to Shiurei as well, in order to break Ryuuki. I couldn’t understand what that might’ve been, though.

We never get to see the masked guy’s eyes and forehead, by the way. Every time we see him in screen, the screen stops around his nose. He probably has something that the viewer must not see at this point in the show. Then their discussion turns light again, as Ojii-san forces the masked guy to put up a horribly ugly mask, and wear it for the rest of the next day. This mask has a very interesting facial expression. While his normal masks are just emotionless, this mask has a very sad look, almost as if it was crying. The masked guy doesn’t seem to happy with this. ^^

The next day, a startled Shiurei gets a demonstration on how this guy manages to drink his tea without putting his mask off. Later that day, the masked guy apparently unmasks Ensei. Or he at least says something that startles Shiurei and Ensei. Kouyuu, meanwhile is wondering about something related to Ryuuki. That night, Ensei gets caught by Seiran while trying to sneak out again. The two of them talk a bit as well.

.Hack//Roots – 09 – So Many Things Happen at the Same Time

by psgels, posted in .Hack//Roots


Okay, I was wrong in my prediction. The big thing didn’t happen this episode, it’ll happen next episode. I hope. In any case, we haven’t seen any major plot development which will be able to provide material for 24 episodes. At this moment, you’d almost say that we’re dealing with a 13-episode anime if you didn’t know about the fact that there’ll be 24 of them.

I’ve got some issues with the goons, summoned by Ender. If it wasn’t for them, this episode would’ve been totally and incredibly amazing. Ender summons them in order to try and stop The Twillight Brigade for a bit, as they wait for the last virus cores to arrive. But these goons have been horribly executed. They’re just like a bunch of emotionless zombies, who attack one by one, have no skills at all, and just let our main characters have all kinds of conversations. I mean, they were meant to provide some challenge for the Ovan, but they all look like some bunch of pathetic idiots who don’t have any opinion or emotion and who only manage to be convenient for the plot.

Like I said: apart from this little flaw, the episode was just amazing. This time, not because of Haseo, but because of all of the different characters interacting and fighting each other. Haseo himself was more of a side-character in this episode. It’s shown that Ovan’s the only one he looks up to and respects, and that he really wants to make Ovan content. It’s also very good to see that he isn’t an emotionless fighting machine, as after he defeats Goad, he shows some sympathy.

Ender herself also was great. She’s the one who fights Ovan, and he indeed is stronger than she is. Though it is her task to lure him into some kind of trap on the top level. This brings up some interesting issues, when you take a look at the end of the episode. At that point, the virus cores were activated and the Twillight Brigade gets teleported to the castle up in the air at that field. This means that the trap has still to come, which means that the trap is in this castle, which means that TaN knew about the secrets of the virus cores all along, and may even have access to the secret inside of it.

Naobi indeed plans to do something at the time that the other characters are fighting each other. He’s accessing some strange place, which certainly has got something to do with the castle up in the sky. So if you combine these things together, this means that if this was a simple quest about who gets his hands on the Key of the Twillight first, there still is a step left for both parties to perform. It could be something inside of Ovan. After all, the entire purpose of TaN is capturing Ovan’s character data. This means that both parties have each other’s remaining piece of a duplicate puzzle, and it’s just a matter who can get their missing part first, without sacrificing their own part.

Tabby also had a great, though minor role. As she’s just new, and apparently hasn’t trained as much as Haseo, she indeed has trouble with the zombie-goons. But she still is determined to pay Shino back for her kindness. Shino also showed that she can do more than just talk and heal, as she’s able to hold off the zombie-goons as well without getting injured. Still, the focus didn’t fall too much on the two of them on this episode.

B-Set had a small, yet awesome role in this episode. She first tries to stop Goad from interfering with Ovan, though she fails. For a large part of the remaining episode, she spends her time on the bridge wondering whether to go or not. It’s been on her face for the entire anime that she had her doubts when she left the Twillight Brigade, and these doubts only increase as time goes further. Phyllo then finally manages to convince her to go.

Goad also was amazing. After ignoring B-Set, he set off to get revenge on Ovan, but Ender&co manage to beat him to it. He watches from a distance for a while, but then he decides to turn Haseo into a victim. After a small fight at which Haseo’s barely able to hold Goad back (still, Haseo must’ve trained for a whole damn lot if he’s able to do that with Goad), though Goad flinches when he sees that B-Set has come back. Haseo then manages to get him back on the side of the Twillight Brigade.

Ovan was acting as strange as always, but we really saw him smile at times. When he was fighting Ender, for example. it also seems that he knew that Goad and Sakisaka were to deliver him the last two of the Virus Cores. During his fight against Ender, for some strange reason Ender hides, and he, instead of helping his comerades, he stands in the circle of glowing towers and waits while all of them start glowing for no apparent reason. Ender seems to be really happy with this. In any case, it seems that he’ll play a huge role in the next episode, at which his plans most probably go wrong in some way.

Though the real stars of this episode were Sakisaka and Tawaraya. Sakisaka wants Ovan to acknowledge him as well, so he finally decides to go back to Tawaraya to get the Virus Core. Tawaraya isn’t the same optimist as he was at the beginning of the series, so he gets a bit gloomy when he sees that Tawaraya plans to PK him in order to get back the Virus Core. This plan turns into at total failure when it seems Tawaraya’s incredibly strong. Though he gets really unconfortable when he sees Sakisaka struggle to keep going. After all, what would you do when you were suddenly attacked by something incredibly weak about a thing you don’t even care about? Tawaraya indeed did the same thing I’d do in such a situation, I think. I SO like the direction the two of them are going: Sakisaka begins to open up more and more, while Tawaraya begins to get more and more gloomy by the minute. I’m so curious about how the two of them will be ending up in the end.

Those individual characters may indeed not seem so worthwile. But remember: all of this happened in just 20 minutes. Everything just almost happened at once, turning this into a near-amazing episode. The already amazing music also was used perfectly, and not to mention the amazing graphics. It seems that the mystery-department also got a nice dose, with a bit of help from Naobi and the strange dude who appeared at the beginning of the episode.

The Third – 05 – Millie

by psgels, posted in The Third



The Third continues its amazingness once more. After the eventfullness of the previous episode, this episode features the aftermaths, mostly focusing about they way Milly reacts to her father’s death and Honoka’s reaction to this, though we also get a bit of info about Honoka’s past, and The Third also get a bit of development. Ikus served as a third party: not directly involved with the storyline, though he starts playing his own part in it. Still, Honoka and Millie were really shining in this episode. I totally loved it.

I’m also surprised that I’m one of the few people who actually likes the narrator. Yes, okay, he may be stating the obvious. Still, I really feel that I have trouble at times to really understand how she feels. Others may be having no problems with this, alas. Another thing is that he can really strengthen a scene at times. For example, when Millie regains her conciousness again. Of course it’s clear that Honoka forgot to put her headband back on. I really think that that scene would have been annoying if the narrator wasn’t there, but somehow, he managed to help and turn that scene into a an awesome one.

The scene starts with Honoka and Ikus seeing the dead body of Zanka (that appeared to be Oyaji’s name), after which we switch towards an important woman of The Third, who seems to recognize Honoka’s eye as “The Blue Space Eye”. The next morning, Millie still hasn’t regained conciousness. Bogie wants to move away, but Honoka believes that Millie deserves to see her father one more time. Honoka and Ikus then search Zanka’s desert tank in order to pick up all of the valuable items that were left in it. It also became clear that Millie’s mother was killed by the Surveillance Force (you know, the ones who kidnapped that guy at the beginning of the fourth episode because he used too much technology).

Then, while the two of them are digging a grave for Zanka, Honoka tells a few things about her own past. She still hasn’t bothered to put her headband back on, by the way. She was indeed born as a The Third, though the color of her eye differs from the red color that The Third have. This means that she was classified as a defective item, and sent towards the earth. The capital of The Third appears to be named Hyperius. Honoka was sent there, and immediately she was sent back again because of her eye. When she was born in the human world, the villagers among her hoped that a being from The Third could actually help to easen up their lives, though this was false hope. Her parents then put her in the care of her “grandfather” (I’m just calling him grandfather for now as Honoka seems to do this as well. He’s not her real grandfather), who was boarding a caravan. In this way, Honoka grew up in this travelling caravan, travelling to all kinds of different places with him.

It also appears that every one of her old friends from the caravan seemed to know about her secret. Only Millie didn’t. Then Bogie contacts Honka with the message that Millie regained conciousness. She really is gloomy at this period. She doesn’t want to talk or socialize, and Honoka really doesn’t know what to do in order to help her.

The Blue Breaker is meanwhile put under a surveillance, about the reason why he abandoned his mission. It seems that one of the officials from The Third (something tells me that this is the same guy from the second episode) ordered him to retreat. The woman, who also sounds important, is not too happy with this. Still, if she’s so important and makes decisions on planetary base, then why are Millie, Honoka and Ikus such a threat to her, to make her view these individual cases like that?

Honoka, by the way, also decided to blow up Zanka’s sand tank. She probably had the same reasons as Roux when he burned the books in Astraea Testament. Millie continues to be gloomy. Honoka plans to bring her to one of her aunts, so that she can take care of her. An interesting development. We all know, of course, that the two are going to remain together, but how will they manage to do this in the end without making it look unrealistic? Honoka’s eye meanwhile manages to discover a rare sight in the desert: a field of flowers. She goes to pick one of them, in an attempt to cheer up Millie. She also reveals to Ikus that she indeed has some kind of power, as she displayed in the third and fourth episode. She gives him a little demonstration.

Back at The Third, meanwhile, the woman from The Third that we saw earlier this episode holds a small talk with Jouganki (the guy who paid Honoka a visit in the second episode), in order to prevent him from intervening again. It seems that he indeed is not after Honoka after all, but after her powers. The woman manages to convince him that there’s no reason in order to let Blue Breaker back away, and he begins to get a bit worried.

Millie, meanwhile woke up, and she broke down. She couldn’t find Honoka in the sand tank, so the act of holding herself strong fades away. What follows is a brilliant scene, of the two making up together. But then, the Blue Breaker arrives again. Somehow, Ikus feels his prescense as well. The episode ends. I really loved this one. Zanka’s death really had a huge impact on our cast. Something you can’t say every anime can just accomplish.

The Third – 04 – Awesomeness

by psgels, posted in The Third



Yes, The Third is great. Most likely one of the best series of the season. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: Honoka is an amazing character. The anime really delves in her mind. It shows exactly what kind of person she is, all of her different sides, how she reacts at the things thrown at her and how these affect her. I have yet to see an anime who featured a character at whom the creators spent so much time and details. It’s just brilliant.

The episode begins with another example of the strictness of The Third. If you live a good life, you’re fine. Though when you break the law, they sometimes send their ultimate weapon to take care of them, which mostly means that you won’t be able to live much longer. It’s never mentioned, but I’m quite certain that this “ultimate weapon” is the Blue Breaker, who was mentioned at the previous episode.

Honoka’s right hand, meanwhile, still hasn’t fully healed. She really notices this when she practices swordfighting a bit. She and Ikus are in the desert again, heading for Oyaji in order to collect the PSP she ordered. We also see a little flasback of the one who taught her her fighting-skills. At least, the silhouette of the one who taught her her fighting skills. It appears to be a tall, long-haired person. It would’t surprise me if this guy is with The Third now. Then Ikus arrives, and the two of them talk a bit about each other’s special powers. Ikus holds a little speech, about things Honoka never really thought about. She begins to feel a bit lonely at that time (thanks to the narrator, again).

The next day, they arrive at Oyaji, and we get to meet another one of Honoka’s personalities: her immensely enthusiastic one. At the sight of her PSP, which seems to be an armoured suit, she immediately gets all giddly, wanting to check it out. However, she’s not exactly happy with the suit she has to wear in order to be able to use this PSP, though it appears that she needs to wear it anyway. She spends the rest of the day trying out all of the different functions, and playing a bit with Millie.

That evening, Bogie and Oyaji talk a bit about Joey, and his maintenance-work. It seems that he needs a lot of work, though he has potential. Millie and Honoka also talk a bit, and Honoka reveals that Oyaji’s the one responsible for fixing her Sand Tank, after she bought it, and she really owes him for all the work he’s done for her.

I like Bogie. Even though he’s just artificial intelligence with a voice, I just love his sarcastical comments. This personality seems to fit him perfectly. It’s so much better than just the same recorded tape which gets played over and over again. Anyway, during the night, the two parties break up again. After a couple of minutes have passed, Honoka suddenly realizes that the Blue Breaker’s heading towards Oyaji’s vehicle, in invisible-mode. She speeds up in order to be able to save them, but she arrives too late, and Oyaji’s vehicle catches fire. She then attempts to use the PSP, and thank goodness, she can’t operate it to its full extend yet. That only adds up to the awesomeness of these scenes. Eventually, she manages to hit the Blue Breaker, and manages to send it crashing to some place about a mile away.

It then seems that Millie managed to survive the attack, though Oyaji’s nowhere to be found. And to think that the best of the episode had yet to be shown. Honoka dashes out of her PSP, in order to meet up with Millie, who seems to bewildered to notice what actually happened. Then, it seems that Blue Breaker managed to survive the crash, and attempts to attack them again. Still invisible. During these attempts, Honoka’s headband falls off, and reveals some kind of third eye on her forehead. With this, she disables Blue Breaker’s invisibility mode, who flees afterwards, only laughing at her. On a side-note: Honoka looked really beautiful at these moments. This really was an amazing fight.

The goodness only continues when Millie sees the thing on Honoka’s forehead. For some reason, she gets incredibly paranoid, and faints. Ikus manages to catch up to them, and the episode ends. I’m really curious about what will happen in the rest of the series. It’s getting so amazing now.

Saiunkoku Monogatari – 08 – Shiurei’s Back in the Castle

by psgels, posted in Saiunkoku Monogatari

As predicted, Shiurei doesn’t stay away from the palace for long. It begins with Ryuuki sending her all sorts of ridiculous gifts, like three chunks of ice, a pile of flowers, a pile of boiled eggs, and one straw doll. Shiurei is of course totally freaked out by this. Ryuuki also keeps having dreams of Shiurei, running away with Seiran, which aren’t too good for his sleep, as Ran and Kouyuu find out later. ^^

We also have the introduction of a new character. He seems to have come to the castle for some reason, but permission to enter is refused. Then, Shiurei runs into him, offering a bit of food and a place to rest. It then appears that this guy, who’s apparently named Ensei, is an aquaintance of Seiran. Though the latter isn’t too fond of the former, which leads to interesting discussions. Ensei used to have a big function, though I couldn’t understand what kind of function, unfortunately.

That evening, Kouyuu and Ran pay Shiurei’s family a small visit, in the name of the emperor in order to ask her to come back. I couldn’t catch the reason behind this, though I wonder what excuse the emperor tried to use. Shiurei eventually gives in, while Seiran sends Ensei along with her, probably in order to protect her.

Ensei isn’t the only new character to be introduced, as we also get to meet with a masked guy, at the end of the episode. We see some quick flashes of him during the entire episode, though we really get to see him introduced by the end of it, near the cliffhanger. I’ve no idea what this guy is, but apparently, he has an important function.

Kourin also moved away from the royal castle, as Shiusui tells Shiurei’s father. She seems to be doing well, wherever she is, and the two of them hope that she’ll become okay again. Shou Taijin (apparently, that’s the name of the advisor-old guy) also behaves weird in this episode, but that’s probably because he carries a little pot, which contains the ashes of the other old guy who perished in the last episode.

Overall, this episode was fun to watch, especially the emperor doing silly things again. But still, the show remains a bit boring. But that can also be because I couldn’t understand half of the things which happened.

.Hack//Roots – 08 – Some Thing’s About to Happen…

by psgels, posted in .Hack//Roots



.Hack//Roots really is the king of the anti-climaxes. At the climax of the last episode, Haseo, Tabby and Sakisaka are about to be teleported towards some unknown areas when the cliffhanger set in. What do you think happened at the beginning of this episode? Yes, they ended up in the lost grounds which Shino and Ovan seem to have labeled as their favourite place. Still, this doesn’t make this episode bad. In fact, apart from episode three, this was the best .Hack//Roots episode yet.

So many different thing happened, so many unexpected events played. So many questions introduced and so many questions answered. This episode really was a roller-coaster ride. And then to think that this was just an intermezzo, an introduction to the ninth episode! I can’t wait to find out what might happen then.

Haseo was great once more. It really seems now that he wants to please Shino in some way, and he wants to be with Ovan. That’s why he got the idea of what the function of the pillars might be, and that’s why he listened to Shino when she asked him to continue searching for the Virus Cores. I guess he doesn’t like Tabby and Sakisaka too much, which only makes him more adorible. He really doesn’t know how to deal with people, that’s clear now.

Ender also has the worst timing in the world, that also became clear after this episode, though I’m loving her evil character more and more. Especially now that she’s beginning to show more and more weaknesses. I just loved the fact that she just appeared after Sakisaka vanished, and then kept wondering where they went. This means that even she doesn’t know about these bugs. For the rest of the episode, she got assigned to watch Haseo, as Shino decided that the three of them were better to be moving alone, after she heard that Ender showed up again at the church. She then really gets surprised when Haseo suddenly disappears in front of a marking again, and you can see that on her face for the rest of the episode.

Goad also is planning something. He wants to prove Ovan that he’s better than him, and gets one of the virus cores which was in the posession of another PK-guild, named Kestrel. Phyllo calls him with a little brat because of this, with some good reasons. Still, I like Goad. He’ll definately play some great roles in the next episodes. I also loved the fight he had this time. It was short, and some strategy was included in it. And why does he think he can beat Ovan when he can’t even beat a guy like Phyllo? ^^

Tabby was adorible this time, especially in combination with the rapid succession of the different scenes. She really is determined to find out about the Virus Cores, so she decides to check out the church a bit, in order to find another one of those teleporting markings. When Haseo and Sakisaka are talking a bit, she’s busy checking the wall in order to find some secret entrances. Instead, she finds a doorway into a bug which doesn’t let her move at all. It takes her a while in order to find out she’s dealing with a bug and teleport away. (Yes, I absolutely loved the scene in the church. Roller-coaster rides at its best!)

Sakisaka remains in his sceptic and sarcastical self. When Tabby suggests them to take a look at the church, he finds that they’d better look for the virus cores instead of the markings, though he gets taken along against his will. Inside the church, he has no idea where to look for, and makes a couple of sarcastical comments about this. Though, when Tabby has her accident, he reacts to this, faster than Haseo. Only to wind up getting blocked as well. He, however, gets out faster than Tabby does, he meets up with Shino faster and fulfills goes to take care of one of her requests before the other two arrive.

Tawaraya had a bit of a sad role in this episode. He has a Virus Core, and for some reason, he’s supposed to give it to the members of the Twillight Brigade. His earlier attempts failed, and he can’t seem to think of another way to do it. But why does TaN want to give some of the Virus Cores to the Twillight Brigade? I mean, can’t they just take them from Haseo, Ovan and Shino and use them themselves? I mean, they seem smart enough to do it.

Naobi has another cryptic discussion with Ender. Apparently, their plan is about to enter a certain “Phase One”, and they need Haseo for it for some strange reason. Tawaraya doesn’t need to know anything again, despite him having one of the Virus Cores. Apparently, the thing he wants is Ovan’s character data. Once Ovan is caught, their mission will be lots easier. Their plan to do this seems to be all set up, though Ender is not sure whether it will work. Naobi’s silouette also appears when Ovan starts talking about the fact that the Key of the Twillight might already be near them. Does that mean that Naobi has got something to do with the Key of the Twillight itself?

Shino also seems very keen on being the one to break the good news to Ovan. She has another cryptic discussion with him as well. It seems that Ovan might disappear for a while once the Key of the Twillight is found. She also reveals that she knows Ovan in real life somehow, though she makes it seem that there’s more than just that. Though, why is she reluctant to let Haseo show his own findings to Ovan?

Ovan seems to be getting energetic at the end of the episode, up to the point at which he even priorizes the Key of the Twillight above his own job. It really seems to be his plan to go and get the Key of the Twillight in the next episode. But still. Haseo has two Virus Cores. One he got from Shino and the other one he got in the strange space he visited during this episode. Shino also has one, and he has the fourth one of the Twillight Brigade. Then there is one in the hands of Goad, and Tawaraya posesses the last one. But how was he planning to go there without having the last two of the Virus Cores? Or could it be that Haseo just managed to discover the seventh Virus Core? After all, it was found in an unknown area. In any case, his little pep-talk at the end of the episode really managed to make Haseo enthusiastic.

Sakisaka also states a nice point: everything seems to happen a bit too convenient. And it’s true. The Key of the Twillight is about to be found, and we’re only at episode eight. This must mean that there’s something about to happen which will turn over the entire plot of the anime, like a giant pancake. It probably has got something to do with Haseo’s strange ability. It would be too great if all the different parties manage to break up afterwards, making the Twillight Brigade and TaN to be disbanded.

The brilliance of .Hack//Roots? The fact that there are so many different characters, with each and every one of them acting independantly. Because of this, there are so many different opportunities for different kinds of conversations, which makes each character different. And not just once, but during the entire airtime of the anime. Each of the different characters has his or her own meetings with other ones of the different characters, and it’s executed perfectly.

The Third – 03 – Deep character development

by psgels, posted in The Third



When you ask people about the women who can really think for themselves, featured in anime which came out this season, you most often hear Firiel and Shiurei. Honoka, however, is mostly left out of this, while she has all the right in the world to belong in this category. She’s another one of these female main characters that really is unique in her own way, can think on her own way, and has her problems her own way. Shiurei has an amazingly strong personality and great morals. Firiel has her incredible curiosity and self-confidence. Honoka has an extremely cheerful personality and some very sharp observation skills. I don’t think I’ll be able to determine the best among the three of them.

It does seem, however, that this anime will manage do delve better in the mind of Honoka. The narrator was a very good idea, as he is able to inform the viewer about the unspoken and unwritten events that happened.

The episode immediately starts with the footsoldiers of The Third forcefully separating a man from his wife and kid. Lots of drama, though surprisingly nowhere it gets over the top, turning this into a good scene. We then switch to Joey, suspiciously watching Honoka and Ikus talking while he actually should be performing maintenance on Bogie. Honoka says goodbye to Ikus in a bit of a slow discussion. She feels a bit sad when he leaves.

We then get a bit of info about the town which Honoka frequents. It’s called Emporium Town, it’s a rather large-scale settlement in the Rokugou Desert. It’s also good that the cities actually have an explanation for their source of foods, in contrast to a certain Trigun. It appears that The Third loans bio-plants to these settlements, while they can build up their own, self-sustained system. This makes me wonder about The Third. They provide food for settlements, but they also just kidnap people and take them to somewhere remote. Are they good, or are they evil? Anyway, Emperium’s a bit different from other settlements, because of the huge number of mechanics (or Technos) and great mechanical skills posessed by these people. Thanks to the narrator for informing me on this.

Honoka’s meanwhile on her way to a doctor, just in case her wound appears to be something dangerous. On her way, she meets up with a lot of mechanical shops, and she really needs Bogie to remind herself that she can’t spend any more. She also runs into some guy named Kevin. The two of them apparently know each other. He pokes a bit of fun at her, but then he tells her that a certain “Blue Breaker” has started moving.

I also noticed that a fair number of people keep reminding Haruka that she doesn’t look too feminine in her outfit. Still, I have to say that I like it. It’s so much better than the generic maid-costumes. Anyway, Honoka arrives at the doctor’s office, but then it appears that the guy’s a huge pervert. I was fearing the worst, but Honoka’s reaction to this was actually pretty funny, rather than annoying like in most anime. The doctor also mentioned the “Man’s Romance”, which totally reminded me of PopoloCrois.

The doctor examines her arm a bit, and gets a big smirk on his face when he realizes that Hokona might have someone she loves. They also talk a bit about how she fought with the 4th model, and how he adviced her not to get involved with Jouganki anymore. He also mentions that the foot-soldiers from The Third are more active than usual, and that they seem to be looking for someone. Ikus directly comes to Honoka’s mind.

After she left the hospital, Honoka contacts Bogie for a bit, explaining that she’ll be working for a bit while he warns her about the Blue Breakers again. Whoever they might be. Honoka spends the rest of the afternoon taking on small jobs in order to earn enough money for the things she bought last time. Joel, meanwhile, still wonders who Ikus might’ve been. Honoka also hears about the event which happened at the beginning of the episode. It then appears that the guy got kidnapped because he was using too many technologies, as The Third only allows a limited technology. Lawbreakers will be regulated strictly. This is called the Technos Taboo (thanks to the narrator for this information again).

That evening, she suddenly sees Ikus, acting like nothing’s going on, while he’s the one being searched for. She takes him to a bar, which Kevin also seems to be frequenting, and tries to talk some sense into him. Ikus, however, has no idea what she means, so she gets a bit startled by this. Honoka also explains that Kevin works as a mercenary soldier. Ikus then admits that he’s had fun while staying with her, startling Honoka once again. We then get a very small taste of the plotline in future episodes in the scenes which follow.

To begin with, Ikus mentions that Honoka’s more special than any life since he’s been there. The fact that he uses “life”, instead of “humans”, or “people” must mean that there are other sentient beings wandering on the planet besides humans. Then, the series really gets entertaining when the foot-soldiers enter the bar, and approach Ikus. They demand him to come with them and go to the place named Hyperius. He refuses, and Honoka tries to do something. She forms some kind of strange energy in her hand, though before she gets to use it, Kevin smacks the foot-soldiers standing in front of her, pretending to be drunk. What follows is the other people in the bar suddenly getting the motivation to smash some foot-soldiers as well, giving Honoka and Ikus the chance to escape. Still, these scenes to suggest that there’s something special to humans in this world. Honoka is special in some kind of way. It’ll be interesting to find out which kind.

Joel really gets annoyed when he finds out that Ikus asks Honoka to allow him to travel with her. He offers a large sum of cash for this. Honoka accepts after a bit of thinking, but deep in her heart, she’s happy that he comes along with her (thanks to the narrator for this info, once more. He really needs to have some kind of name if this continues). He has his own reasons for joining her, though he doesn’t want to tell her yet.

Honoka definately is one of the most dimensional characters ever. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a character with so many different sides as she has, no character acts as natural as she does. In most anime, I’m able to tell how a character feels. Character A feels happy at this moment, character B is embarrased, while character C is thinking. In The Third, I need the narrator in half of the cases, as I just can’t describe how Honoka feels with just one or two simple words. The best examples of this is probably when she meets Kevin for the first time, and when she says goodbye to Ikus.

Saiunkoku Monogatari – 07 – What’s up with the advisor?

by psgels, posted in Saiunkoku Monogatari



Some very interesting events happen this episode. We start with where we left off last week: Shiurei’s being tied down and Ryuuki’s about to walk into a trap. Ryuuki, however, noticed this in time, and manages to finish the assaulters off. Seiran, meanwhile, has a dream from the past, at which he was to comfort the young Ryuuki when he was fleeing from his brothers again. Shiurei’s father sees this and smiles, but dashes quickly as he hears footsteps running. Apparently, he doesn’t want to be found out, so he flees.

Ran Shiuei enters the door, and sees Seiran unconcious. He orders his soldiers to search the place, but nothing is found. Ryuuki, meanwhile, finds Shiurei, he unties her, and gives her a big, unexpected hug. She faints afterwards (after all, she does remain poisoned). Ryuuki freaks out. Koyu, meanwhile, gives a little rant about Kourin. Last episode, she wasn’t assaulted at all. She actually attempted to poison herself from doing such things to Shiurei. I’m beginning to like Kourin more and more. Can she get even more awesome?

When the doctors put an examination on both Seiran and Shiurei, it appears that Seiran will be fine. Shiurei’s a different story. There’s no antidote at all, and she’ll be in danger if something isn’t done. Ryuuki freaks out even more when he hears this. The advisor arrives, and the two hold a small conversation. I couldn’t really follow this, but at first, the advisor is reluctant to give out the antidote. After Ryuuki shouts to him, he gives it anyway, and Shiurei is saved. The strange thing is that this guy was smiling thoughout this talk. Why would he want to do that?

Ryuuki leaves and Shiurei’s father enters, and I was getting more and more questions about this advisor-guy. For some reason, he makes Shiurei’s father angry, though not to the point at which hostilities begin. The old man also gives a flashback of a strange man on a horse. Probably the former emperor. Some shots about the time during the fight of the sons of the emperor are also shown, with people barely being able to stay alive. I then realized that Shiurei’s father might be the scary guy mentioned in the fourth episode. He’s some kind of assassin, or something in that direction.

Shiurei, meanwhile, wakes up, and Ryuuki gives her another big hug. We then see Shiurei’s father once more, talking to Shiusui (the older servant of Shiurei), for some reason dressed in the same outfit as he does. She apparently is one of the few people who does know that he’s this scary guy, and the two hold some kind of conversation. Why do I get the feeling that this woman is Shiurei’s mother?

I really have NO friggin idea what’s up with the old guy. Just before, he was making both Ryuuki and Shouka (Shiurei’s father’s name) angry for some reason, and now he walks up to the culprit from last episode, and the two of them talk like they’re best friends. The culprit-old guy is dying from the wound he got from Seiran, and makes his way out of the castle in hope for a miracle. He then runs into the advisor-old guy, surrounded by two sparkles. He might possibly be one of the sages, mentioned in the beginning of the story. Anyway, he lights up, and changes into a twenty-year-old version of himself.

He then professes his LOVE for the other old guy, the other old guy takes his last breath. Apparently, they were really close in the past. I have no idea what that was about, but I want some answers!

We then switch to another very interesting development: Shiurei will be leaving the castle. Ryuuki’s got some sense into him, so she’s not needed anymore. During her departure, the advisor doesn’t show up (what is up with him?) and Ryuuki finally manages to confess to her. She, of course, immediately begins to yell at him.

I’m very curious about where this anime’ll go from now on. Ryuuki surely isn’t going to abandon Shiurei, but she doesn’t have to work at the castle anymore. Not to mention that we’ve only reached episode 6 of 39, so there’s got to be something to fill these following episodes. But what?