.Hack//Roots – 17 – Building up

by psgels, posted in .Hack//Roots



I’m wondering about Phyllo’s life in the real world, if he’s able to sit on that bridge for 24/7. The feeling that we’re dealing with an MMORPG here still misses.

But seriously, what’s up with Haseo? He’s been fighting monsters in emo-mode for entire episodes now. I could be wrong, but I think that the creators are building up to something. With a bit of luck, that something will be happening at the next episode. But then again, .Hack//Roots always has been deceiving when it comes to matters like this.

In any case, this episode definitely has been building up. A lot. Tabby is still feeling extremely down. This time, she meets another new character: Seisaku. The two then have an interesting discussion, and it seems like Seisaku will be helping Tabby a bit. Seisaku also introduced a nice issue. Not only newbies have problems in the world. Mid-range players probably have it worse. The newbies get beaten because of fun, though the mid-range players have rare items equipped at times. This makes them even more attractive to PK-ers. You wonder why the game doesn’t have the option to turn off the PK-ing, when it’s become this big of a problem.

In any case, you can also doubt Seisaku’s intentions. He’s probably a mid-level player as well, judging by his outfit. He could be wanting protection for himself as well. We’ll have to wait till more episodes to see whether this is true or not. Haseo, meanwhile, keeps walking through the forest of despair, looking to clear an event which might even not exist. He also gets a few flashbacks of Ovan and Shino whenever someone near him mentions something they said.

Saburou has been walking from one place to another during this episode. Even though she saw a lot, she didn’t exactly develop. She only got interested by Haseo for a second, though she abandoned him later. It’s interesting that she tries to talk some sense into both Haseo and Tabby, even though she works for Pai. Her mission is to make contact with the two of them, and discover something strange, but is that all she needs to do? Or is there more? In any case, she’s acting rather careless. Anology of the week: “I think I totally understand the meaning of ‘detour’ now”. This shows that Yata and Pai are moving into very difficult ways in order to get what they want.

Speaking of the devil, Yata and Pai also haven’t had much development either. Pai spent her time ordering Saburou around and on something mysterious which wasn’t shown. Yata spent his time watching Haseo on a screen, looking at some meaningless data and asking Phyllo a few questions. That last thing, however, revealed an interesting fact about the relationship between Ovan and Phyllo. In the past, Phyllo started to sit there on the bridge. Then there came a woman to him, attracted by him. She was the girl who brought Ovan and Phyllo together. It could’ve been Shino, though I thought that her clothing was different. Unless she likes to change clothing once in a while.

Ovan, meanwhile, continues to walk happily around in The World like nothing happened, without contacting Haseo or Tabby, and without looking sad because of the fact that Shinos’s gone. Why exactly did he say to Shino that he’d be gone for a while? I think it’s clear now that he knew that he had to endure Naobi’s treatment if he wanted to get closer to the Key of the Twilight, but why doesn’t he contact anyone? He also runs into Tri-Edge. At the entrance of the Forest of Despair, of all places. Ovan manages to fend him off as well, with a smile on his face. He managed to do this by unleashing the thing on his arm, which gave a couple of black bubbles free. In the end, these didn’t really work and he got beaten up, though Tri-Edge left.

It’s very interesting if you look at the list of people who have been attacked: Shino, Phyllo and Ovan. What is the connection between the three of them and Tri-Edge? Did something happen in the past which they kept silent about?

Then we also have the matter of the old-looking guy (did his name actually get revealed?) He seems quite important, and he seems to have no problem with the strong monsters, which makes him one of the three persons who managed so survive the Forest of Despair so far. Why are the three of them so special? Because they’re main characters? In any case, his purposes are still as foggy as a pile of dry ice. Why did he come to the Forest of Despair, and why is he so confident that he’ll reach the deepest part? And why did Ovan contact him in the previous episode?

Still, now that I think more about the episode while writing this post, I realize something. It’s entirely wrong to say that Haseo didn’t change. In fact, he developed a lot, it just went very subtle. He’s becoming more and more fragile. When, at the end of the episode, he runs into the big monster, the fact remains that he gets a hopeless look, before it changes back towards his battle-hungry self. His mental self is at the verge of breaking down. He tries to be strong right now, in order to save Shino. This has consumed his mind, preventing him from thinking normally. Eventually, his mind and body won’t be able to take this. Still, what’s up with the very high-pitched scream which echoed out of the forest? Was that Haseo actually getting an incredible amount of adrenaline (or however you call it in an MMORPG)? Or was it something else?

Overall, now that I’m thinking about it, I’m beginning to like Haseo’s emo-mode. It may be annoying when you see it at first, though it’s being built up perfectly. Still, the fact remains that a thing like this is never possible inside a MMORPG. No matter what. Haseo isn’t data-drained or anything, so he should still be sitting behind his computer. Ever since episode 13, more and more new characters have been introduced. They’re doing pretty well, so far. Nobody’s been able to replace Tawaraya or Sakisaka, but ah well, maybe someone will.

7 New OVA To Be Released on August 1st Preview

by psgels, posted in Special Articles

I was fairly surprised when I ran into these ones while preparing for the July-Summary. Another surprising fact is that nobody seems to be talking about them. Well, time to change this, I just had to post it. Every single one of these OVA has a unique art style, and every one of them will probably have a very dark mood.

Maihime OVA

No, it’s not what you think. It’s not Mai HiME, it’s Maihime, or Dancer Girl. It’ll probably focus on the love of a dancer girl, judging by the art and the fact that AnimeNfo labeled it as a love-romance. Here you can see some teaser screenshots, and I have to say that I like them.

Neko Machi

There’s absolutely no information about this one, except for some japanese writing I don’t understand. Still, this looks to be one creepy OVA about cats. If you take a look at the teaser screenshots here you can also see that the art will be rather dark, strange, and probably unique. I like that. AnimeNfo labeled it as a fantasy-horror.

Zakuro Yashiki La Grenadiere

A french novelist called Balzac wrote the story for this one in the book “La Grenadiere”. It’s about a woman and a child who live in a small cottage in 19th century france. Supposedly, the woman was labeled as a mystery, as she didn’t get out of the house too often. AnimeNfo labeled this as a novel, which doesn’t really give much information about the genre, though I think it’ll be some dark slice-of-life story. Here are some teaser screenshots, and they look gorgeous.

Yo Shomei Bijutsukan LINE

This’ll be a rather unique anime. It’s about art. It’s art style is extremely simple, like an old picture-book. AnimeNfo didn’t assign any genres to it, though the teaser-screenshots, which can be found here give us more clues about the nature of this OVA. It’ll be simple, it’ll be art. Will it be good?

Gendai Kibunroku Kaii Monogatari

This’ll be a definate horror OVA. It consists of six parts.
1. At a dry river bed a refrigerator associated with a terrible anecdote, “Refrigerator.”
2.A one room western-style house, above a carved table an objects stands out like a sore thumb. It was an accidental discovery to a College of Arts student’s terror. “Daruma.”
3. On a long bridge while boys are traveling, they encounter a ghost personally, “Bridge of Evening.”
4.I n a free shopping market a sarcastic man is guided to the otherside, “U.S. Military Sale.”
5. The railway crossing; continual mortal accidents are a puzzle being persued, “Railroad Crossing.”
6. Summer vacation at a tranquil countryside, boys personally experiance a miraculous event, “I want a friend.”
These descriptions don’t really sound that scary, but who knows. Here are the teaser-screenshots, and I´m wondering how these descriptions and these screenshots are linked.

Fantascope Tylostoma

This is a strange one. We have this man, who appears every 700 years. Because of this, he’s able to see once flourishing villages decay into oblivion. Then he meets a woman, a prostitute, from this period, the passion begins. Most likely, this will be a love story. Though the most remarkable feature of this OVA is the art. Everything is in sketchbook-style. Here are some teaser screenshots.

Joseito

This anime will be making use of 3D-animation techniques, though not the standard way. Here are some teaser screenshots which show this. The show is going to be a school-life anime. Fairly unique among the other OVA’s listed here. It’s about a painter, painting a schoolgirl, and giving this schoolgirl her own story.

xxxHolic – 16 – The Sprites Return

by psgels, posted in xxxHolic



Wow, that was touching. It seems that Himawari is going to have a rival. It’s going to be interesting, since she doesn’t think of Watanuki as someone who’s in love with her. Also, for some reason, it appears to be good for Watanuki to interact with the Vestal Sprite. In any case, according to Yuuko.

We start with Watanuki, who’s having some trouble with the Pipe Fox. For some reason, the creature turned big again, though it didn’t lose its tendency to hug Watanuki at every possible moment. Meanwhile, the Vestal Sprite pays Watanuki a visit, though she’s a bit too scared to show herself. Therefore, she throws stones in order to get his attention to a package of deep-fried tofu, which happens to be the Pipe Fox’ favourite food. Yuuko gets a strange look when she sees this. One of the spots on the forehead of the fox disappears when he eats the deep-fried tofu.

The next day, when Watanuki, Domeki and Himawari are walking to some place, Himawari runs into a jewelry shop, and it seems that she likes things like these. Watanuki then decides to buy something for her as well, though he’s probably too scared to directly give it to her. Later, when Watanuki feeds the pipe fox another bunch of deep-fried tofu, Yuuko warns him about it. Even though it may be the pipe-fox’ favourite food, it isn’t really healthy for them. If it eats too much of it, it won’t be able to transform.

In order to make the pipe fox transform back at this stage, Watanuki needs to enter a place full of pure spirits. Yuuko then offers a special vase, which has to be filled with water and crystals, while the light of the full moon shines on it (there are a lot of full moons on xxxHolic, aren’t there?). It then brings him and the pipe fox into some kind of dimension which is full of animated daffodils who can change their size. They’re apparently pure spirits, as the fox changes back.

Afterwards, Watanuki meets up with the Vestal Sprite, and ha eactually gives her the present he intended for Himawari. I also like Watanuki for the fact that he doesn’t blame others for the mistakes they made (except Domeki, of course), as he never mentioned the fact that deep-fried tofu is bad for Pipe Foxes.

Overall, the episode was surprisingly touching. The Vestal Sprite is surprisingly cute.

Memorable Moment: The Rain Sprite getting her umbrella stuck in a tree.

Simoun – 17 – So Many Questions

by psgels, posted in Simoun



The previous episode ended the previous arc quite wonderfully. It almost couldn’t have been better. You would expect some intermezzo, though the events immediately start again, as some very interesting facts get revealed.

The Messis-arc clearly dealt with the conflicts going on inside the Chor Tempest. By now, almost all of these seem to be solved. Only Paraietta still has her issues, Aruti also shows signs of being unhappy and shouldn’t there at least be something wrong with Yun?

In any case, this isn’t really enough material for another arc like that, so it seems that this arc will be focusing at the enemies. All of the events which happened during this episode seemed to point towards this direction as well. The Archipelago and the Highlands have formed an alliance, and more will probably follow. The Arcus Prima meanwhile is heading for the Ruins, in which the Simoun originally came from.

I’m wondering whether the enemies will be able to deliver a blast of the same caliber as Limone and Dominüra managed to do. The previous arc was just totally awesome, though it’ll be very hard for the last episodes in order to top that one. Ah well, they make a very good start with all the events which happen during this episode:

– It becomes clear that the Chor Kaputo and the Chor Riboru all have fallen at the time when the Arcus Prima was in repairs. This makes the Chor Tempest the only Chor on the Arcus Prima.
– Once at the ruins, enemy crafts come flying by, equipped with the same Helical Motores as the Simoun.
– To make it only better, these crafts are able to perform Ri Maajons.
– Paraietta, Aruti, Mamiina, Yun, Kaimu, Rödoreamon, Morinasu and Furoe chase after them.
– Aaeru’s wind machine makes sound, even though it’s closed. She decides to check out the ruins.
– There are three enemy “Simoun”. Paraietta and Kaimu chase after the first one, though Paraietta has lost her confidence, so it escapes. The other three Simoun are chasing the other two enemies. Rödoreamon is able to hit down the second, though when Morinasu chases after the third, she can’t keep up for some reason, and they retreat.
– Aaeru and Neviriru, meanwhile, discover that the Ruins lead to the Spring, with Onashia in the middle of it.
– Onashia claims that she’s everywhere and nowhere. She never mentions the enemy Simouns at all.
– Meanwhile, Yun checks out the fallen Simoun, with Mamiina following her. They’re shocked when they find out that the pilot was Angurasu, the one from episode eight. Yun suddenly gets serious, claiming that everyone’s waiting for her.
– Aaeru reveals that her grandfather knew about the fact that the spring connected to more than one place.

This episode alone raised so many questions.
– How did the enemy get their hands on a Simoun?
– What is Onashia’s role in this?
– In fact, what exactly is Onashia?
– Why did Aaeru’s wind machine make sound while closed? Why did the sound stop when they reached the ground?
– What exactly is Aaeru’s grandfather? He was a Simoun Sibylla himself. He must’ve found out something during these days.
– How did Angurasu survive her self-destruction-treatment? Twins?
– What’s Yun up to? Has she finally decided to go to the spring? Or is she planning to follow her friends, who died in combat?

Overall, this could promise to become very interesting. The enemy also really surprises me. They’re trying all sorts of different tricks and strategies, and everytime, it becomes more effective. Not because of their strategies, they remain the same. It’s because they keep improving their technologies, while the Simoun stay the same. That makes you predictable. It’s only a matter of time before they really begin to overpower the Simoun with ease. I’m wondering where the creators plan to carry this next.

Memorable Moment: Rödoreamon missing her stuffed toy, which Limone kidnapped. ^^

Popolocrois 2003 – 06 – Gamigami’s Back!

by psgels, posted in Popolocrois 2003



I love it when the creators decide to go creative on character animation in action scenes. It really gives an extra edge towards awesomeness. This episode really turned out great because of this. More anime should realize this. ^^

The action scenes really were awesome, and not to mention that we managed to see Gamigami back again. Still, it’s too bad that he lost some of his brilliance. Inside the action scenes, he still is the same genius as always, though his temper has cooled down a bit now that he has children. I never saw him as the type to openly act nice towards people. He either ignores them, yells at them, or goes obsessive over them. ^^

Still, the fact that Punpun and Kotoro’s real father and mother died, after which Gamigami took them in, remains touching. I can’t complain about this. It’s more the fact that he now actually cooks lunches and sings lullabies. In any case, it seems that he, Punpun and Kotaro won’t exactly be playing the role of evil villain in this series, like Gamigami did at the 1998-version. That really became clear now that Punpun’s becoming more and more attached to Pietoro. Almost literally.

Overall, I’m glad that Gamigami’s returned, though it’s a pity that he tuned down a bit. Still, I love the action scenes in Popolocrois 2003 so far. They really are something awesome. I also was very amused when the defu-robots appeared again, and we saw the return of a “certain” tatami-room. (The same in which Hyuu was locked up previously) ^^

Memorable Moments: Gamigami shooting himself out of his own mecha. And weeping afterwards. ^^;

Bleach – 90 – Ah, So That’s Why They Did It. Yawn.

by psgels, posted in Bleach



This episode was very funny. Ganju is in his store, wondering where Hana went. He then runs into a random magazine, and gets excited by a “certain” picture inside of it. His manager sees this, and suddenly begins to get sad when he learns Ganju’s true tastes. Afterwards, he runs away crying. Just what have the two of them been doing. ^^;

Oh… wait… that wasn’t the episode? It was just the Shinigami Illustrated Picture Book? Ah.

In any case, Renji’s able to beat Mister Four-Eyes but gets buried under rubble afterwards when the entire cave collaps. Strawberry is the only one remaining as he heads for Mr Smarty Pants. Gorilla dude meanwhile summons a gate towards another dimension while Mr Smarty Pants and Strawberry have a little fight. Of course, Mr Smarty Pants totally pwns Strawberry, as the latter has yet to go into bankai-mode. Ishida, meanwhile, gets his powers back. Woohoo. I am so looking forward to the next episode. *coughcough*

I realized that the more Bleach draws to the end of the Bounto-arc, the more boring the episodes get. Though I never realized that they’d be this boring. Just let those Bounto hurry and kill the 12th squad captain in order to get their revenge done.

Bleach – 89 – …

by psgels, posted in Bleach



Dear god. Someone please tell Strawberry to bring a flashligh. Ugh. It’s extremely annoying to see that the creators gave the bounto all kinds of weaknesses, without them being used at all. Also, no matter how many times I look at the OP, its lyrics remain the most cheesy ones ever.

In any case, this is one of the episodes which can be summarized in one word, and one word only. I’ll gladly make use of this:

Boring

Saiunkoku Monogatari – 16 – Such Harsh Treatment

by psgels, posted in Saiunkoku Monogatari



This episode continus where episode 14 left off, and makes it two times worse. The hate towards Shiurei continues to increase, and people are actually plotting to get rid of her. Still, the first signs of people appreciating her also start to show.

So, to recap, the bad things:
– Wa remains as horrible as ever.
– People actually start throwing dirt at them like little kids.
– Ro keeps burdening Shiurei and Eigetsu with the most horrible jobs. His treatment actually was the saddest to see.
– Remember the ring from the Sa-family which was stolen? It seems that some person is plotting to do something with a fake version of that ring. I have no idea what it is, I have no idea how it’ll happen, though Shiurei and Reishin will end up worse with this.
– Someone’s spreading rumours that Reishin cheated with the exam in order to let Shiurei in.
– Because of this, Reishin gets arrested.
– The guy from the Sa-family has hired Kochou in order to do something to Shiurei. We’ll have to wait till the next episode in order to find out what, but it’ll involve a bunch of big strong guys equipped with a bunch of big, sharp swords. Poor Shiurei. T_T

Still, if Shiurei doesn’t overcome these things on her own, she’ll never be able to rise. Go Shiurei!!

Anyway now the good things:
– Hakumei has taken pity in them. He uses the excuse of the two of them fainting being disadvantageous to him, but he doesn’t fool anyone when he says that he does it only for himself. He’s quite an ambitios fellow as well. He seems to see Kouyuu as his great example.
– Some mysterious person keeps sending Shiurei and Eigetsu tea and buns. I’ve got several persons in mind, Shouka, Ryuuki and Seiran all could’ve done it. For now, I’ll put Shouka in the seat of major suspect.
– At one department, people are starting to appreciate Shiurei. More of them will definitely follow!

Apart from that, another few interesting facts were revealed:
– Shouka has yet another younger brother: Kurou. Much isn’t revealed yet. He seems serious.
– Something seems to be going on at the Department of Protocol (the one in which idiot Wa works). Shiuei and Eigetsu decide to write their final assignment about this. Further details are yet to be revealed. That, or I just didn’t manage to pick them up.
– Kourin and Ensei are returning from the Sa-province. Kourin said that she wants to see Shiurei. When that happens, it’ll be pretty interesting. After all, Shiurei never managed to know it was Sa Taifu who attempted to kill her, and Kourin’s role in all this. The fact also remains that Kourin still loves Sa Taifu, even after his death, so I’m eager to see her reaction.
– Both Ryuuki as Seiran as Shouka are looking over Shiurei. And all of them are having huge troubles not to help her. Especially Ryuuki really has to convince himself not to go. ^^;
– Kouyuu and Ran seem to be bothered by a huge load of guys who offer their daughter for marriage. (Talk about shamelessness. It’s a good thing they declined every single one of them).

Some other very amusing things happened:
– Ran really had problems trying to restrain Ryuuki from helping Shiurei.
– The mud-throwers accidentally hitting Kouyuu.
– Shiurei noticing Ryuuki who kept spying on her.
– Shiurei’s methods of dealing with Wa’s treatments. (Go Shiurei! ^^)
– The flashback in which Kouyuu accidentally burned a random person’s toupet.

Overall, I just couldn’t help but feel pity with Shiurei. She has to put up with so much. Still, when she gets acknowledged, she really can show everyone what she’s worth. ^_^

Saiunkoku Monogatari – 15 – Poor Kouyuu

by psgels, posted in Saiunkoku Monogatari



This episode was focused on Kouyuu. It becomes clear why he was taken in by Reishin, and he feels rather unappreciated by him. Shouka is, again, the person to show him the light.

Reishin has been treating Kouyuu very indifferently lately. He’s been very cold towards Kouyuu, and this begins to gnaw on the latter. Kouyuu begins to feel underappreciated. The very reason he entered the National Exams was because of Reishin. The fact also remains that Reishin gave Kouyuu the name Li Kouyuu when he took him in. Not Kou Kouyuu. When someone speculates that this means that Reishin’s planning to let go of him some day. This gets even more to him.

Not to mention that Kouyuu’s already feeling gloomy when he watches Shiurei and Eigetsu work all day. The fact that he notices that Reishin only seems to be out to please Shouka only worsens this, up to the point at which he thinks that Reishin became Shiurei’s sponsor only to please Shouka. Eventually, he goes to drink sake, along with Shiuei, Ryuuki and Seiran, and then he blurts out Reishin’s reason for adopting him. Kouyuu was just a normal street kid back then. He made a lottery by himself, with as consolation prize plum blossoms. Reishin then decided to take him in, like it was nothing. This all happened thirteen years ago, right after Shouka took in Seiran. In Kouyuu’s eyes, Reishin only took him in in order to please Shouka.

Shouka then tells Kouyuu a few things, which make him think differently about Reishin. As Shouka refused to be the head of the Kou family, Reishin was forced to pick up this task, and get involved with some pretty dark stuff. he wanted to protect Kouyuu in this by not giving him the name Kou, but Li. The “Kouyuu”-part all have something special, which shows his love for Kouyuu. Reishin also seems to be very introvert. He doesn’t really show his true feeling often. It’s indeed right. In front of Kijin, he acts a bit business-like. He tries to impress Shiurei, though he’s too scared. He tries to please Shouka and he acts cold towards Kouyuu. Though his real self remains cropped up inside. Another interesting detail is that Reishin seemed to love plum blossoms, which seems to be the reason why he took in Kouyuu, of all persons.

Whether Reishin still loves Kouyuu as a son remains a mystery, though one thing is clear. He did love him when he took him in and raised him.

Ryuuki and Seiran, meanwhile, have their own problems, as they begin to feel a bit useless towards Shiurei. Both are only able to watch her. At the end of the episode, they decide to solve this by helping the ones near Shiurei. Ryuuki goes to Eigetsu and gives him the Imperial Stamp. It seems to be significant. Don’t ask me why. Seiran goes to Kouyuu, and brings him to Shouka. This way, they’re both helping a bit.

Official Ro makes an interesting observation, by the way. Shiurei is extremely lucky. Even though she did a lot on her own accord, she was helped. She only took the aptitude test and the final Kaishi test, while normally, you’d be spending a whole year passing exams before you can get in. This indeed shows that there still isn’t any equal treatment for men and women. lets hope it’ll change to the better side.

Overall, I like Kouyuu’s case. It’s interesting to see a different side of his.

Memorable Moment: Ryuuki, thinking that Seiran was alone while actually, Shiuei and Kouyuu were near him. I wonder what would’ve happened if they didn’t. ^^;

Good Witch of the West – Astraea Testament – 11 – On To The Finale

by psgels, posted in Good Witch of the West - Astraea Testament



Okay, screw the flaws of Good Witch of the West. The only one worth mentioning is the strange sound Firiel’s footsteps make in the middle of the desert. It’s just like she was in a ballroom. ^^

Well now, the plot during this episode was excellent once more, and it set a very nice base for the last two episodes. I’m very glad that Firiel and Roux coming together didn’t wait for the final episode, which means that right now, the last two episodes can focus on the really important things:

First of all, the attack of Brigeonte on Torubato was all fake. Torubato plans to attack Gulair head on. This indeed can work, now that Gulair has all of its forces aimed at the south, thanks to a certain potential heir of the throne. Second of all, Duke Riez is up to something. He’s been inviting all sorts of people in his castle, including one of the dukes who went along with Eusis on his little dragon hunt. Third of all, the Mahiru Star seems upset for some strange reason, it comes closer and suddenly changes color from blue to red. It also reveals to posess suction powers. Eusis, meanwhile, continues to hunt the four remaining dragons. I guess he’ll be quite busy the next couple of episodes.

Rouxbow actually was quite funny while he was away from Firiel. The Bard, who actually got a proper introduction during this episode is quite an interesting character. My only complaint about him is that he showed himself a bit too late. He really brings a bright spark into the story. He seems to be some sort of wizard, working for the queen.

It seems that both Adale and Firiel will play as hero. Adale will probably be solving the diplomatic issues and become queen, while Firiel solves the thing which goes on behind the scenes, with Duke Riez, the Mahiru Star and the Ehpimeris.

Overall, the episode was quite enjoyable indeed. I’m looking forward to a very entertaining finale.

Memorable Moment: Firiel in the pub.