THAT Animeblog » Extrange

Crazy YIM Chats: Lolis, Guns and Thigh Highs.

Extrange — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 23:13:27 +0000

Just a random YIM chat that me and Crusader had about the current anime season… Read the full text after the break.

metrololiconextrange: DOOD
Crusader: what
metrololiconextrange: CANAAN
Crusader: Canaan is the shit
metrololiconextrange: thats wat
Crusader: damn right fucker
Crusader: shit was so cash
metrololiconextrange: Fuck, I’ll ninja your posts
metrololiconextrange: and do Parallel Review:
metrololiconextrange: :3
Crusader: DO IT

metrololiconextrange: also
metrololiconextrange: Needless
Crusader: what no GATTAI?
Crusader: not there yet
metrololiconextrange: *turns red*
metrololiconextrange: NOW 3 TIMES FASTER!
Crusader: i have to do aoi hana
metrololiconextrange: dood
metrololiconextrange: imagine this
metrololiconextrange: Kamina and Kamen no Maid guy had a homo affair
Crusader: SHIT CAN”T UNSEE
metrololiconextrange: and reproduced, leaving behind Adam Blade
metrololiconextrange: dood, it’s Kamina on steroids
metrololiconextrange: and Eve? Jesus, I can’t describe
metrololiconextrange: I always get dumbfolded with her scenes
Crusader: will get to it in good time
metrololiconextrange: Bakemonogatari
Crusader: but it will be hard to top Canaan
metrololiconextrange: nah, Needless is a light animu
metrololiconextrange: not even close
metrololiconextrange: but Bake…..
metrololiconextrange: epic in other ways
metrololiconextrange: with a girl that manages to be Ultra Tsun
metrololiconextrange: lemme quote her, a sec
metrololiconextrange: “My abusive language is alchemized through 40kg of copper, 25kg of zinc, 15kg of nickel, 5kg of ice that keeps my cool and 97kg of spite”
metrololiconextrange: “By the way, I was joking about the ice part”
Crusader: okay now i have to watch
metrololiconextrange: I warn you
metrololiconextrange: it was SHAFTed
Crusader: oh…
Crusader: way to kill the enthusiasm there
metrololiconextrange: works well here
Crusader: ah well i have to finish sora no manimani
metrololiconextrange: because of the violent personalities
metrololiconextrange: need to watch Dogs
metrololiconextrange: and Umineko :3
metrololiconextrange: oh WAIT
metrololiconextrange: haven’t mentioned
metrololiconextrange: the Needless ED
metrololiconextrange: I came
metrololiconextrange: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x9r8w3_needless-ed_shortfilms
metrololiconextrange: so?
Crusader: dood WTF is this shit five seconds in and I quit
metrololiconextrange: lol
Crusader: you bastard
metrololiconextrange: loli yuri overload
Crusader: pfffft
metrololiconextrange: ironicaly called Agressive Zone
Crusader: i need no loli
Crusader: Canaan would be better
metrololiconextrange: lol duh
Crusader: shit was so cash girls tying girls up
metrololiconextrange: and possible lesbos
Crusader: yeah cuz it doesn
metrololiconextrange: it’s so Bakuretsu Tenshi….
Crusader: but with better action
Crusader: and thigh highs
metrololiconextrange: and crazy naked secretaries
metrololiconextrange: ….that’s it, I’ll fucking post this
metrololiconextrange: A Male View on the Current season.
Crusader: you know it was Liang Qi who was in chrge
metrololiconextrange: the one that wears the pants
Crusader: you mean faggy euro view
metrololiconextrange: shush, you are just jealous of the girls I get
Crusader: not really
Crusader: i like guns more
metrololiconextrange: ….
Crusader: far more loyal
Crusader: and they sing with the voice of death
metrololiconextrange: ….

RideBack 02 – “Tamayo is the Top!? ~Spread Legs Form~”

Extrange — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 21:41:25 +0000

Our blond bombshell, Tamayo, is so pissed with the skills of Rin with a RideBack that she challenges her to a cat fight/RideBack race out of pure jealousy. Who will win, Japan champion Tamayo or our newbie Rin? Who cares, it’s hawt girls in leather suits; it’s a win-win situation.

…It’s so hard to resist making a sexual connotation each time I read “Spread Legs Form”…

Times of Chaos and Conspiracy

A small note before starting the post: right after the OP and ED, the RideBack spinning around during Geneon titles changed from Fuego to RBZ ( the green RideBack that Tamayo owns).

An old man bedridden in a hospital room and a well dressed man are watching then news about the most recent attack of BMA (Borderless Military Alliance), some kind of rebel armed movement that opposes the GGP. Notice that the news are broacasted by SNN (lol) and that the BMA’s insignia is a skunk…(double lol). They discuss about the attack and how it fits under the GGP’s plans. It seems the chaos provoked by them is the perfect excuse to allow GGP to enter the subcommittee in exchange for the introduction of White RideBacks (in the police departments?) for public order. I’m not sure if the White RideBack refers to a particular model of military RB or it’s a RideBack squad.

They have a fucking skunk as a symbol? Something smells.

Even so, the younger man doesn’t seem very happy for the offer. The older man comments that the younger man sister went to ride the ridebacks even with the disapproval of the family. The sister is revealed to be Tamayo in the pictures the man has near him. The older man calls the younger man Ryunosuke as he leaves the hospital room. It’s most probable that Ryunosuke is the grandson of the older man.

After the Flight

We get a cafeteria scene where Suzuri goes lesbo again over Rin for her perfomance with the Fuego and her miraculous flight leap. Along with Shoko, they talk about how Okakura helped Rin (he seems to be the RideBack club advisor), when Hishida appears, along with another club member, a fatty bowl cut haired dude called Kawai. They introduce themselves to the girls as 2nd and 3rd year mechanical engineering students respectively. They bring a club application form for Rin but Shoko pushes them back, complaining they where reckless for letting Rin drive a dangerous and out-of-control vehicle and they should apologize.

She sure seems to know how to squeeze liquids out of anything.

Meanwhile, Okakura is on his desk, watching on his laptop a SNN news about a second attack of the BMA, this time with videos of them using Ridebacks in the attack. He then gets a cellphone call from Tamayo, who wants to talk about Okakura about Rin. She sends to his laptop a profile about Rin, revealing her ballet background, which she has been involved since she was 3 years old. She’s the daughter of the world-class famous Ogata Yuki. Tamayo also remarks that Okakura wouldn’t recognize the name since he’s a thick headed gorilla.

Imagine him together with Tamayo. There, I’ve just fscked your mind.

A Challenger Appears

Rin returns to the RideBack club warehouse and instead of Fuego, she finds the RBZ, a green RideBack. Tamayo appears behind Rin and challenges her for a race in the next Saturday, 10 AM. If Rin wins, she’s allowed to ride any RideBack from the club; if Tamayo wins, Rin will be her personal servant. If Rin doesn’t show up, it will be considered a defeat. Tamayo even gives an one lap handicap and Fuego as Rin’s ride for the race, after it comes back from the repairs. After all this, she gets on top of the RBZ and speeds aways, not even allowing time for Rin to answer back. A small note, is Tamayo wearing a mini-skirt while riding a Rideback???

*Insert joke about sexual connotation here*

Later that day, while talking to Suzuri and Shoko, our lesbian meganekko reveals that Tamayo is the club leader. She’s even ecxited that Rin made a RideBack expert jealous.

While talking on the phone with her brother Kenji, Rin asks him for Rideback tips. Kenji takes the chance and asks for the autograph of Tamayo since it appears she’s the winner of last year All-Japan RideBack race.

Evidence Nº 15 of Suzuri being a lesbian: Booty Book

Later in her room, Rin is caught looking for RideBack sites in her laptop by Shoko. Shoko asks her if she’s free next Saturday, but Rin replies she can’t because she needs to study, but Shoko wasn’t fooled by it. In the shower, Rin recalls the feelings she felt during her wild ride with Fuego.

It’s a Good Day to Race

Saturday arrives. Kawai is setting up electronic checkpoints along the rideable roads of the campus, Hishida is tuning up Fuego and Tamayo relaxing in a chair. Even Suzuri is there, dressed as cheerleader, pompoms included. Finally, Rin arrives with the same posture as a samurai reaching the site of his duel. Tamayo can’t help but smile when she sees Rin and asks Hishida to loan Rin one of her rider suits.

Both girls are geared up and on top of their Ridebacks. Tamayo proceeds to explain the rules: the course goes along the rideable tracks of the campus up to the water tower and back; the handicap is 1 lap, which means Tamayo needs to finish 4 laps but Rin only needs 3; before the start of the race they will make 2 test laps to memorize the tracks. The rest of the club members will be able to follow the race in their laptops thanks to the checkpoints that Kawai installed.

The race starts and surprisingly, both girls are riding along the track very fast for a test lap. Rin is managing to keep up with Tamayo and even forcing her to keep up the high pace. Using the embedded mics on the helmets, Tamayo tells Rin she was foolish to have come to the race since the results were already decided. But still, she came, being unable to step down from a challenge even knowing she would lose. Tamayo says she knows that Rin is like that because herself was exactly the same and the fact that Rin was racing was the proof. Rin replies that Tamayo is wrong, that she came to the race to check what was the level of an All-Japan champion. Tamayo interprets that Rin sees her as inferior, so she changes the handicap: Rin gets a 2 lap handicap but the race starts right at that moment.

Detours

The girls find a small obstacle: part of the course is temporally blocked because there is an inspection proceeding there for future construction and the path will only be available in 5 minutes. So the girls make a small detour through the 8th dorm. As the riders show us the 3d riding capabilities of ridebacks, Suzuri asks Hishida if it’s hard to ride them. Hishida replies that it’s very easy to ride them, since most of the complex operations like balance and turning are controlled by computer, like a Segway. But Tamayo and Rin are in manual mode, which is very hard to use, even for people with good reflexes. Suzuri begins to admire Rin and ridebacks even more for combining ballet moves like grand jeté in a miraculous way.

The race really begins when they pass in front of the RideBack club warehouse, where Shoko had already arrived to watch the race. Tamayo speeds up the pace by shifting into Spread Legs Form (S.L.F. for short), which Rin replies by also shifting to S.L.F. While Standing Form is more stable and easier to control, S.L.F. spreads the Rideback legs to thr front and back, giving it a lower gravity center, less air resistance and a look more close to today’s motorbikes. The counterpart is the Rideback is harder to turn and speed control.

Tamayo uses Rin’s inexperience and baits her into a trap. She keeps a high speed while entering a S-shaped turn and skillfully shifts between SLF in the curves and SF in the straight parts of the curve to keep a steady speed. Rin, having too much speed in her attempt to keep up with Tamayo, loses control and gets thrown off the road into a nearby road.

Ooops.

It’s Not Over Until I Say So

Hishida gets ready fish up Fuego out of the pond when Suzuri notices that Fuego beacon has moved. Rin has regained her composure and waits for Tamayo on the road to return to the spot, since she was already on the way to complete her 3rd lap. Tamayo gets impressed with Rin’s persistence and continues the race. Meanwhile, Okakura is on a nearby hill, watching the race from afar.

Rin improves her time and gets side by side with Tamayo when they reach a left-right 90º straight roads betweem buildings. Instead of reducing speed to pass safely, Rin enters the path at full race, making Tamayo fear for an accident . But Rin skillfully makes a tour en l’air from one corner to the other, while keeping a constant speed and regaining that sense of adrenalin she had when she made that grand jeté on episode 1 (a tour en l’air basically consists on a jump with one, two or three turns in mid-air. Normally it’s a male move and the landing is made with both feet).

Tamayo gets stunned with Rin’s crazy driving and barely misses a cat that was passing by. Unlucky, she crashed due to that and slams into a near wall. Rin rushes back to help her.

Recovery

The RideBack Club members are on Tamayo’s hospital room, which seems to only have suffered a mild concussion. Tamayo asks Kawai for a racer form for Rin, so that they can face off again, this time on a real race. Later that day, while watching the sunset, Shoko tells Rin that her performance made Suzuri sign up into the RideBack Club. She also gives her approval to Rin to officialy join the club too, since it seems to suit her.

Ep 3 Preview

Rin’s participating the race and oh boy, it looks more like a cross country marathon than a normal race. But that’s the epitome of RideBacks, to ride where there are no reads.

Impressions

Having read the manga, I’m happy how they’ve changed the plot. The producers are focusing on the action/race elements first, leaving the rest to the series climax. It makes the show much smoother and less confusing.

Suzuri is one heck of a raging lesbo…or she has one seriouc case of hyperactivity ( I hope it’s lesbianism, always good to have some around). Either way, this anime exclusive character is bringing some much needed craze to the show.

One thing that I’ve forgotten to comment in the previous ep: Fuego has a 670 gb HDD, which you can see when Rin’s starting Fuego for the first time. WHY THE HELL it needs so much space? Or is Hishida keeping his porn collection there?

Brief thought by jiff

Quick note: the only other person I’ve heard of who majored in the same thing as me in uni ^_^

I usually stay away from anything resembling mecha, but after reading Extrange’s post on the first episode of this, I was intrigued. After watching the first two episodes, I have some questions: has mecha always been this cool, or is it a new development? Where are the whiny, emo characters and the ridiculous and convoluted plots, or were those a figment of my prejudiced imagination as well? I doubt I’ll be watching Geass anytime soon, but I’m sure as hell hooked on Rideback.

I was immediately fond of the character design; it reminds me of Candy Boy, in that all the girls are cute, spunky, and bright, with adorable hair and wonderful clothes. Suzuri especially reminded me of Saku-chan, and I’m hoping they share more similarities as the show progresses…

I know we can never fully escape the shadow war throws over mecha shows, but the way it’s looking now is that Rin is going to be thrown into some illegal activity and perhaps even fight for the resistance (heroes always fight for the resistance ^_^;; I still think you’re a hero Crusader!) Extrange tried to tell me what happens, but since I haven’t read the manga yet I doubt I’ll start now that the anime is going on. I’m patient, and I like the buildup between episodes, so no spoilers, please! I can already smell some tension brewing between Tamayo’s family and the rideback club; perhaps her family wants to claim ridebacks as purely military devices and she opposes that purpose?

At the most basic level, I am enjoying this show because of Rin, Her attitude and her grace are not something I’m accustomed to seeing much of in anime girls these days, especially with Clannad ringing louder in my ears than any other show of this past season. To translate ballet to motorcycle riding is unique and thoughtful; I really am glad that they focus on balance and grace more than strength and nerves; perhaps the reason this appeals to me when other, similar show do not is that this is taking a decidedly female approach to a testosterone-laced genre – I feel like Rin must have felt, flying through the air: a skipp in my heartbeat and fresh wind in my face. I can’t wait for the rest of this show.

Maria+Holic OP: SHAFT fapping Goodness (in HD)

Extrange — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 21:33:39 +0000

Must resist….urge to Photoshop….words out…

Some OP’s are so good that makes you watch it over and over again. That happened several times with me with OP’s from anime such as Shikabane Hime, Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei, Tetsuwan Birdy Decode, xxxHOLiC or Kurenai, just to name a few.

But Maria+Holic is godly. I can’t describe is using mere words, you guys have to watch it yourself (the pic above should be a good enough teaser…). After all, it’s from SHAFT, the gods of Photoshop filters…

Vids after the jump, both in HD and SD quality.

EDIT: The old videos were fixed and replaced for new ones. Unfortunely, it’s the RAW version this time.

HD Version (may take a while to load)

SD Version

RideBack 01 – “Scarlet RideBack”

Extrange — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 01:59:23 +0000

There are several examples of works of fiction that predict with an eerie accuracy what kind of technological advances the world will see in the future. A good example is the several books written by Jules Verne, on which he described submarines, helicopters, cars, the television and even the Internet, which is amazing considering he born and died in the 18th century. Movies these days seem to predict the emergence of holographic interfaces, nanotechnology and teleportation.

But if we consider RideBack’s view of the future, the next big thing will be two wheeled gas/electric hybrid vehicles that can change into bipedal forms, the perfect thing to allow girls wearing dresses to flash their panties when they ride it.

Damn, I love Japan’s visions on technology.

Let the Curtains Raise

We are introduced to the main character, Ogata Rin, when she’s abou to enter the stage of a ballet scene. While she flawlessly dances in front of the crowd, we are informed by her offscreen voice about the current world setting.

A world scale resistance group, the GGP, has managed to overthrow the superpower, achieving an historical victory. But most of the heroes involved in this war were erased from the records of those times. These are times of revolution, where the waves of revolt keep rising agaisnt the GGP and the militarist government. Not that Rin cares, because her worl is all about dancing and trying to achieve the same level as her mother, Ogata Yuki.

But suddenly during her perfomance, Rin tores a ligament, making her crash into the cold floor of the stage.

Opening

“RIDEBACK” by MELL

The opening song has a nice vibe with a style that reminisces from Euro Tech. Mell’s perfomance is quite good considering she only has 4 singles released.

Betting on a 3d animation Op is quite a gamble but thankfully this is MADHOUSE, not Gonzo, so the overall look actually matches in terms of textures and lightning (I still have nightmares with Dragonaut…).

But why the hell the OP’s called RIDEBACK? They’ve ran out of names so the have decided to name it the same as the anime?

A New Start

The anime jumps two years into the future; Ogata Rin and Uemara Shoko celebrate their entry into the theater department of Musashino University while watching the blossoming sakura trees. Strangely enough, the real life Musashino University doesn’t seem to have a theater department…

If you check closely, there’s a hanged sensei in the left corner.

The girls discuss a bit about their new dorms and the fact they are roommates. after this, the scenes skip from the welcoming speech of the university and again into their new dorm. While Shoko’s taking a shower, Rin is on the phone talking with her grandmother, Itou Miyuki. They speak about Rin’s brother, Kenji and if Rin has regretted quitting ballet, which she answered negatively.

Memories of the Past

While having lunch in the cafeteria with Shoko, Rin is approached by Uchida Suzuri, a 1st year arts student who is a fan of Rin and her mother. It’s at this time that we are revealed that Ogata Yuki has died in a earthquake six years ago. When some friends of the girls join the talk, Rin takes the chance to leave.

Is this a new way to say you are a lesbian?

Meanwhile, Shoko and Suzuri talk about Rin’s absence from ballet, which is explained by the injury she suffered while performing Regina. While some dancers recover, Rin’s goal was her mother, which is impossible now.

Red Iron Horse

It starts to rain, so Rin seeks shelter in a nearby warehouse. She notices a gorilla looking man leaving the warehouse doors mounting a stumpy humanoid robot with wheels on it’s feet. She takes the chance and peers inside the warehouse by sheer curiosity. It looks like a garage, filled with tools and gear. Going deeper into the garage, she notices a red version of the machine that Gorilla Man was riding. This one is slender and and looks more like a normal motorbike….that is, if motorbikes had robotic arms attached to the sides.

Meanwhile. Haruki Hishida enters. He looks like the typical otaku, with scruffy hair and glasses. He confuses Rin as a prospective new club member and introduces Rin to RideBacks (the humanoid vehicles she’s been seeing). He tries to convince Rin to experiment the new red RideBack. Since most of the operations are controlled by the internal computer, no special license is needed, although they are still not allowed into regular roads since there’s no legislation. They are described as a two wheeled humanoid vehicle which allows for traveling in 3 dimensions. There’s also a computerized wristwatch unit that auxiliates identification and control.

The model in front of Rin is a Teryan Kaduro manufactured mountain trail RB, Type L “Fuego”, a model that’s a bit rough but simple to ride. Since it’s still raining outside, she decides to test it and jumps on top of Fuego with a nice twirl of legs, flashing her panties momentarily to a stunned Hishida. He proceeds explaining Rin how to start Fuego and get it into Standing Form, similar like being on someone’s back. He also explains that Ridebacks can follow simple voice commands.

Wild Ride

Since it has stopped raining, Hishida decides to teach Rin how to start the engine mode and take her outside for some testing. But the brakes seem not to be working and before she smashes into a wall, Rin speeds out to the right, out of Hishida’s range. Instead of being scared of driving a machine without brakes, she seems to enjoy herself on finding how to control Fuego using the balance of her body, even finding out how jump with it. Her driving is like a dance, obviously inspired in her expertise on ballet. But she starts to be in trouble when the RideBack changes into his motorbike form ( Spread Legs Form) due to the low height of the tunnel she passed by and she drives down some stairs.

This is why all girls should drive bikes while wearing skirts.

Hishida is right behind in his scooter and meets up with Tamayo Kataoka, a blond girl who’s also a member of the RideBack Club. They suspect that a cable on the control board has got loose, making the brakes inoperable.

Rin passes by the gorilla man (he’s named Tenshirou Okakura), which notices the distressed Rin and proceeds to chase her in his RideBack, SARU. While avoiding some obstacles, he detects the trouble on Fuego and fixes it, but they have entered into a overpass in construction. Okakura shouts Rin to hit the brakes but Rin instead makes a jump into the air, with a stunned Kataoka and Hishida watching her from the scooter.

I believe I can fly.

Ep 2 Preview

Well it seems that Rin hasn’t died from her daredevil flight and she’s racing against Kataoka. Hmm tight suits…..

Ending

“Kioku” by Younha feat. GOKU

It’s a nice mellow song that has a animation that actually doesn’t suck. What else can you wish for?

About the Manga

If you have read the manga, you will notice that there are differences as usual when you adapt it into an anime. Most of the times, when this happens, they tend to result in crap (Damn you Gonzo and Kurogane no Linebarrel.). Instead, the changes turned out to be a major improvement. For example, in the manga there is no chase scene, but a manifestation scene instead, which had less impact. Most of this episode was filled with content that wasn’t present or had lack of dynamism in the manga.

Oh, by the way, after a 7 month break…..I’m back.

The Girl on The Train: How Life Imitates Fiction

Extrange — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 21:40:46 +0000

I looked at my watch and eagerly awaited for the time my train was supposed to arrive. After leaving from my part-time job as well as listing files in front of my computer for seven hours, I was thinking only about the magazine in my hands and the Boom Boom Satellites CD I was listening to. As the sunset was glaring, I adjusted my sunglasses and stood in line as I got ready to board the incoming train. As was usual, the train was devoid from seated places, since it’s full with people getting back to their homes, so I sit on the ground, on the opposite side of the train door.

Then she entered…

I didn’t pay much attention at first: she was just another person in the daily throng. She sat next to me, however, leaned into the back of the side seats and placed her shopping bag between her legs. As man is naturally curious, I looked sideways to check my transient neighbor, and I didn’t forget what I saw. That moment was one of those times when one just froze at awe towards the beauty of the spectacle. It was what happened to me at that exact time. She was wearing a jean shorts and a striped polo, which combined with her dark brown short hair gave her a tomboyish look. I coudn’t help noticing her slight tanned skin and the perky butt emphasized by her shorts. The bust was the size of apples and the eyes filled with energy. In conclusion, the kind of girl you meet so rarely in your lifetime.

A intent of speaking with her grew with me but I’m not the kind of guy bold enough to do these sort of things, so I was only able to watch from behind my sunglasses during the 40 minutes the trip took. While stuck on that impasse, I couldn’t help to compare my situation with Densha Otoko, or with the zillion romance mangas I know. Afterall, in spite of being works of fiction, mangas have their bases on real life, trying to depict it in a different perspective. But nevertheless, life tends to not have convenient triggers or “sparks” to move the action forward: we get restrained by the social laws of society and common sense, limiting our actions and expression.

Meanwhile, the trip ended. I even thought of slipping my phone number into her shopping bag but how she would react to the fact that a total stranger had made something like that? But even if I dared to think of something like that, I could no more because my chance was lost. I her leaving the train without looking back, another anonymous human being that fades away in the crowd. Each time I take the same train I think about her and wonder if I’ll see her again and if I could have made something different…

Thanks to mike for the help he gave me while writing this post.

Opening Vids List – Summer 2008

Extrange — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 18:25:28 +0000

THAT is back with another season Op’s post, but this time things are a bit different. To allow all the team to comment on the posts, we’ve dropped the rankings and we are checking each opening individually (this also avoids the issues of internal competition inside THAT. I was constantly spammed to rank the Code Geass or the Macross Frontier OP higher than the other …) We hope this new format is more enjoyable by our readers. Don’t forget, the videos are inside the SHOW links after each OP title.

[Shut Up and Explode] by [Boom Boom Satellites] – Xam’d: Lost Memories

Show ▼

Extrange: This J-Rock/Electronica track has impressed me in several ways. It synchs perfectly to the animation and it’s in English which adds up to the rock style. The sequence depicts perfectly the kind of anime Xam’d is: another masterpiece of BONES. I have the song as my phone ringtone .

Impz:On the insistence of Extrange, I was force fed into this anime, but the OP is definitely catchy. It is somewhat of an Engrish song, but the style of the OP is very BONES. If you like Cowboy Bepop’s OP, you probably like this too.

Shokkeru: Yeah I agree, this song is pretty catchy. Not really the type of music that I’d listen to everyday, but regardless, it’s a pretty good song. It kind of reminds me of Speed Grapher and its OP “Girls on Film” by Duran Duran.

Crusader: Very catchy song even if it is on the Engrish side of things. Marvelously executed and not terribly filled with spoilers. A great OP for a great show. Hopefully more people will be checking this series out. I two was not a believer until comrade Extrange forced us to watch, I am definitely hooked.

Reverse Vampire: One word. EPIC.

Maipeisu: Despite being another J-rock/electronica hybrid, this OP meshes well with the opening video sequence. The TV size is likely a lot more enjoyable than the full version minus the video, which I’ll bet becomes a bit repetitive. Adds a nice balance/contrast to the some of the other music, like the weird hand-drum/acoustic guitar duet that pops up in the middle of the episodes. It’s fun following the letter’s flight in the video.

Phuzy: The video actually coordinates with the song.

Jiff: Catchy song, and I liked the video too. Would make me want to watch the show, if only I had the luxury of choice. Alas, Extrange the Xam’d evangelist has made sure everyone he talks to watches the hell out of it.

lelangir:I like the ED more…

[Seikan Hikou] by [Megumi Nakajima] – Macross Frontier

Show ▼

Extrange: Well…. It’s RANKA-CHAN! But even being a song by my fav. green haired girl, the animation is weak (it was a one ep OP, afterall). But you got to love those meat buns on the last seconds.

Impz: Do you need my opinion on Ranka’s song? Fine, I give it to you now. Listen to it right now, and replay it until you go loony.

Shokkeru: I’m not exactly as crazy about this song as my other blogmates may be, but nonetheless it’s a nice song. It is definitely cute though.

Crusader: Seikan Hikou is an awesome song, and coupled with Kawamori’s OP for his episode of troll-fu this OP wenta along way in making Episode 17 stand out more. Fufonia Ranka and dancing slug were brilliant, even if the debut of the Real second OP has been delayed for a week. Still I like the idea of changing OPs once in a while to use some other tracks and some new animation to spice things up a bit. Right now I am up for a Sheryl centric OP with “Don’t be Late.”

Reverse Vampire: Ok…WTF??

Maipeisu: I’m not so hot on the song, but the video is damned cute. Bit of a ballsy move though, considering the spectacular animation sequences in the actual meat of the episodes.

Phuzy: Nakajima Ai has a very cute yet distinctly unique voice. This op is no exception. GOOO RANKA-CHAN!!!

Jiff: I may get shot for saying this, but meh all around.

lelangir: Instantly reminded me of this song?

[Lion] by [Megumi Nakajima and May'n] – Macross Frontier

Show ▼

Extrange: Great song full of energy, although it sounds a bit like DRR.

Shokkeru: Now this is a song that I could get used to. Songs like these that are full of emotion and energy are always great as OPs for mecha or any action anime. I definitely give this one a big thumbs up.

Reverse Vampire: Too busy to listen to all anime OPs. School work comes first.

Maipeisu: Strong.

lelangir: Partly sounds familiar… It’s still catchy as hell, in any case.

[Plenty of Grit] by [Megumi Hayashibara] – Slayers Revolution

Show ▼

Extrange: Whoa, classic. They have chosen everything in order to give the classic feeling and to connect to the older seasons. It’s been 10 years since the previous season, afterall.

Calawain:

Shokkeru: I used to listen to Megumi’s songs all the time back in the 90s. I think it was a great choice in choosing her to sing the OP to the remake of such a classic as her music is pretty “classic” itself. It certainly gives that nostalgic feeling while listening to it.

Crusader: It brings back memories of happier times. I approve.

Reverse Vampire: Sound decent enough. Next!

Maipeisu: Finally, some good old bubblegum J-Pop! This OP kinda takes me back. Doesn’t have much in the way of substance, but its bouncy, its catchy, its Megumi Hayashibara — what more do you want?? I’ll be in the middle of the con raves banging my head to this one like any other diehard fanboy.

Jiff: With an electronic beat like that, how can I resist?

lelangir: Damn that is catchy.

[Sora] by [Hearts Grow] – Tetsuwan Birdy DECODE

Show ▼

Extrange: If I had to name a OP to represent the Summer, this would be it. From the song to the animation,everything on it has a refreshing and warm feeling on it and matches the free spirit of Birdy, the main heroine.

Impz: I don’t remember much of the OP after watching the first two episodes. It’s just not memorable enough.

Calawain:

Shokkeru: Yeah, I agree that it’s pretty misleading as an OP to what is supposed to be (to the best of my knowledge) an action anime. I could be wrong of course since I haven’t watched a single episode of the darn series yet. Oh well, nice song anyways.

Crusader: I like it, simple, not too flashy, and oddly catchy. Wish there were more subs though.

Reverse Vampire:It was…okay.

Maipeisu: I’m not so hot on the video, but the song is damned cute. Just kidding. The song is simple, catchy, and fun, but the video doesn’t quite match the enthusiasm. Needless to say I like “Sora”, but I wish they had done more with the video; it kind of makes me think that the team doesn’t have a clear sense of where they are going with the animation.

Phuzy: The video is really simple and doesn’t portray the action that this series carries. The song isn’t the best either. All together it’s an okay~ op. I like the series though!

Jiff: Granted, I only saw the first episode, but I don’t remember a single person just hanging out and having a good time with friends. Worst first impression ever.

lelangir: Ehhhhh.

[Akai USAGI] by [Makura no Soshi] – Blade of the Immortal

Show ▼

Extrange: Raw and violent, just like Blade of the Immortal. Makura no Soshi have a style similar to ALI PROJECT but they don’t suck, they actually sound great. And any OP with bondage on it deserves a 10.

Shokkeru: Not exactly my cup of tea. At least it’s not ALI PROJECT right? Just kidding… don’t kill me. =[

Crusader: Sort of fits the atmosphere, though the series seem to be committing bloody murder on the source material, and what is that Manji fellow doing int a modern day setting?

Reverse Vampire: Surely there's something better than this? Seriously, I don't get time to listen to all anime OPs.

Maipeisu: I would most likely never listen this sickly-sounding J-Rock track if it wasn't for Mugen. But the Mugen OP video is sooooo hardcore (especially the part where all the blades come raining down and sink into the soil), and the song clearly fits the mood, so it is inevitably a memorable listen. Actually, the lead singer has a really unique voice, which has started to grow on me quite a bit after the second episode. I might check MnS's other work out!

Jiff: Can't stand this chick's voice, but the topless chick in the vid almost made up for it.

lelangir: It was OK - kind of interesting, especially the guitar riff in the beginning. Sounds like something out of Mega Man. The visuals are very badass.

[ZERØ] by [AAA] – World Destruction

Show ▼

Extrange: If only the Anime was like the OP: full of action, symbolism and killer Techno.

Impz: It is actually decently good, if you ask me. Nonetheless, it did not hold my attention at all, because it feels like some typical techno-influenced music.

Shokkeru: Kinda boring, but not bad.

Crusader: Fairly decent, if a rather odd OP.

Reverse Vampire:You’ll get addictive to the song overtime, if you’ve been watching the series like me for the entire time. For the first few episodes, probably you won’t like it but eventually you’ll grow to like it a bit.

Maipeisu: Ah yes, another bizarre J-rock/electronica hybrid. I’d be interested to see how many triple-As it would take to perform this live XD.

Jiff: Cool song, pretty neat vid. It really is a shame that this is the best 2 minutes in the whole show.

lelangir: Meh…

[Tomadoi Bitter Tune] by [Miran Himemiya and Chocolate Rockers] – Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu

Show ▼

Extrange: Sugar song and animation, filled with cock teasers. This pleases me in several ways, some of them illegal in certain parts of the world.

Impz: I like J-pop style music, and this is just up my alley.

Crusader: Very sugary, good thing I like sweets. Not much to say other than that they know their audience. The tape, hehe.

Reverse Vampire: I want to close my ears.

Maipeisu: Again, probably wouldn’t listen to the band without the vid. But this is a fantastic OP. The video sequences covers tons of visual landscape and is synced quite nicely with the song. I love it!

Jiff: Super cute song, super cute vid!! Against all odds, I really like this one.

lelangir: I can’t stand this song.

[Issei no Koe] by [Shūhei Kita] – Natsume Yūjin-Chō

Show ▼

Extrange: This is a OP to see when you are stressed out. The mellow song will relax you and make you enjoy life.

Shokkeru: Very relaxing song and it sets the tone of the show pretty well I think. Sadly it’s not a song I’d listen to much else I’d just get lazier or fall asleep.

Crusader: Oddly relaxing.

Reverse Vampire: This one, haven’t hear it yet.

Maipeisu: Bit too saccharine for even my taste. Maybe, just MAYBE I like the second half… I think?

Jiff: Maipeisu, I think you were tricked into thinking you like the second half of this because that’s the first time something actually moves. Pass on this one.

lelangir:The half cadences are killer.

[Kimi, Meguru, Boku] by [Motohiro Hata] – Itazura Na Kiss

Show ▼

Extrange: Dejá Vu?

Impz: I have this as my ring tone.

Shokkeru: Nice, but not for me.

Crusader: I like it, somewhat disappointing that there was no new OP, but its still pretty solid. NIce, sweet, catchy, and bubbly. Just what every shoujo series calls for.

Reverse Vampire: Not yet.

Maipeisu: OP?? No, no, refer to —> Second ED. (By the way, is it just me, or is the video sequence, like, COMPLETELY random until the hook kicks in?)

Jiff: Simple, catchy. What more do you need?

lelangir:Good song but not WOW material.

[YOU'RE THE ONE] by [ICHIKO] – Zero no Tsukaima: Princesses no Rondo

Show ▼

Impz: BAH, ICHIKO songs sound all the same, and she has this nasal tone that annoys me.

Shokkeru: AGERUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!

Crusader: Sorry it’s kind of meh to me…somewhat catchy but altogether forgettable.

Reverse Vampire: Can throw up? Thumbs down, people.

Maipeisu: FAIL.

Jiff: Her voice caused me to turn this off after only 19 seconds.

lelangir: Whitney Houston wannabe [just kidding].

[fly away] by [THYME] – Mahou Tsukai ni Taisetsu na Koto – Natsu no Sora

Show ▼

Extrange: It’s funny, my co-bloggers go nuts with ths song, but I find it quite too bland for my taste. Maybe it’s just me…

Impz: This is definitely the best OP of the season by a long mile. Listen to it, and feel the soothing air and environment envelope you.

Calawain:

Shokkeru: I like it, but I liked the OP to TLR better (”forever we can make it”). I’m not exactly jumping over hurdles just to hear this song either.

Crusader: It’s nice and relaxing, but I am not too keen on crowning this as the best OP this season. Not yet any way.

Reverse Vampire: Did I say I’ve no time to hear it?

Maipeisu: Yah, what Impz said. This is my official theme song for the Summer of 2008.

Jiff: OK, HUGE fan of this one. I usually don’t have strong opinions about OPs for shows I don’t watch regularly, because it takes like a month or two to get into the mood. This one though, I was totally in love with on my first listen.

lelangir: Definitely a solid song (I like Beck’s more), though I’m hesitant to call it the best of summer 08.

[Thème Principal] by [KATSU] – Yakushiji Ryoko no Kaiki Jikenbo

Show ▼

Extrange: I’m a sucker for jazzy tunes, and this fancies my tastes. And while I watch it, I can only think in one thing: “Hmmmmm, legs….”

Shokkeru: I guess it does its job and it fits well with the show. There’s people out there that probably likes this style of music too so I’m not gonna knock it.

Crusader: I like this one, reminds me of the Pink Panther. Not too flashy sufficiently subdued it fits the series.

Reverse Vampire: What’s more can I say when I don’t watch the series?

Maipeisu: Reminds me of one of those orchestral suites that daisy-chain all the different themes in a video game or motion picture. Can be extremely entertaining watching a group of performers glide over the musical landscapes of a work, or even listening to a recording at the end, but it feels strangely out of place as an opening theme. Maybe it doesn’t have enough coherence to make a strong impact on me. Oh yea, and all I remember from the video is legs, so…

Jiff: mmm, no thanks.

lelangir: Someone committed a heretical blasphemy when they tried to do what seems like an arrangement of Ellington’s “It Don’t Mean A Thing [...]“

[WORLD END] by [FLOW] – Code Geass R2

Show ▼

Extrange: It may be FLOW, but they’ve lost some of the touch with this song. It’s unavoidable to not compare with the previous OP’s, which makes WORLD END pale due to it’s predecessors.

Impz: FLOW… I wanted to say something bad about them, but I actually like most of their rock songs. This rocks too, so I will prevent myself from making any snide remarks of CGR2.

Shokkeru: FLOW is awesome indeed, but they could have done better with this one in my opinion.

Crusaderg: I confess I preferred the first OP, but this is alright…kind of, it not my kind of music.

Reverse Vampire< At least this one sounds good. I sorta prefer the ED than the OP better. But it's still consider awesome by my standards.

Maipeisu: Mediocre. After Kaidoku Funou (解読不能)” by Jinn (second OP from the first season), this is just a slap in the face. It’s a shame that such an epic series has been embellished by such uninspiring music.

lelangir: Indeed, FLOW has done better – Eureka 7’s first OP was beyond epic. This song isn’t entirely bad though. If Kaiba were technically summer 08 it’d have my vote but alas, the Slayer’s Revolution/DDR song is way too damn fun to say it’s not the best.

UPDATED 18/8

[Life goes on ~Kawabata side~] by [CHEMISTRY] – Antique Bakery

Show ▼

Extrange:Remind me to spank Impz’s ass for not telling me about this Op….The Electronica Pop song reminds me of Mononoke Dance (Hakaba Kitarou OP) and it’s very catchy, and blends nicely with the cut-out scenes of our gay bakery. The OP is making me want to watch the anime…

Shokkeru: Pretty good. Pop songs are good once in a while, but I personally can’t listen to the style of music over long periods of time. Despite this, I’m willing to say that this OP has its charm and would definitely attract people to the anime. Unfortunately I still probably won’t watch it.

Flash Animation – There She Is!! Step 3 “Doki & Nabi”

Extrange — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 15:31:42 +0000

SamBakZa, the group of Korean artists responsible for the famous Flash animation series “There She Is!!”(about the relationship of Doki the bunny with Nabi the cat) has released the 3rd installment, “Doki & Nabi” in last May. Now that this group is being funded, their releases will become faster, with the 4th installment predicted to August 20th. Meanwhile, have fun with the 3rd Flash after the jump.

Ps: For a second version of the intro, press the upper right cloud on the starting screen.

Pps:Here’s a link for ZamBakZa’s flash movie page, including There She Is step 1 & 2.

Xam’d: Lost Memories ep 4: “Enlightenment”

Extrange — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 17:46:35 +0000

I’ve really tried to think of a witty phrase without involving Haru’s boobs…..but I can’t.

Akiyuki tries to deal with the Hiruko on his arm, even if that means listening to a old lady high on drugs or working to death on the Zanbani. Poor guy, he really has a weakness for blue eyed girls. Nakiami and Bekinawa have a small cat-fight which leads to one of the most moe scenes so far (that is, if you dig drunken chicks). Good episode indeed.

Update: Opps. Screwed up the names and called our big momma Ahm instead of Yunbo…fixed the names now.

Soulstealers
A Humanform Weapon is attacking anoter random town and we get a view inside the pod controlling it. The Humanform User inside is able to control the orbs that each HFW has, which they act as remote cameras and as weapons. But a squad of ships arrive, deploying troops of armored suits called Soultealers (ever played Warhammer 40k? They are the clones of Tau Battlesuits, Jump Packs included).

Thinking with Portals.

This Tau Battlesuit Squad is worth 150 points.

With a coordinated attack, they’ve managed to destroy several of the orbs and proceed to a close attack, managing to pull the ring on the HFW’s “head”. That disables it, turning it into our familiar purple stone state. Their next objective is to prevent the suicide of the HFU. Now, what’s up with the ring? Every HFW seems to use it to stabilize their form; without it they destabilize and become stone. If you remember episode one, you can see Nakiami using a similar ring in ove of her experiments.

One ring to rule them all.

Meanwhile, a group of albino kids are getting ready for some sort of travel. They present themselves to Lady Sannova, geared up and ready to leave. they state they are ready to leave to the “lost land of souls”, which Lady Sannova replies to “return the Hiruko, for the sake of Raikon”. These words seem enigmatic now, but they become clearer by the end of the ep.

“Hmm, we should demolish this and build a Mcdonald’s here.”

Training

Akiyuki gets used to the hard work life onf the Zanbani ship, up to the point of exhaustion. Nakiami decides it’s time for him to have his Xam’d training, so she leads him to meet someone in the deepest parts of the ship. In a room filled with spirit calling incense (aka, opium) , he meets Madame Tenshin, a grumpy old lady with more bumps than a pickled prum. She asks him several question, but the main one was “what does the Xam’d seeks?”. Akiyuki asked if she could remove the Hiruko but she states only Lady Sannova, the leader of Ruikonism has the power to do it and she’s been exiled by the NG. Tenshin then asks Nakiami to start Akiyuki’s training drills.

20 bucks if you can guess the song.

five words: I am stoned.

Bekinawa and Yunbo are in the captain’s cabin discussing their flight routes. They are a bit constrained since both sides are tightening the securict, so they can’t deliver as fast as before. While counting her boxes of money (and I mean it litteraly; greedy megane girl …), Ishu comments she would be happier if they could dispatch the kid out of there, referencing Akiyuki, but he’s a Xam’d, so they can’t just leave him. Yunbo replies she would have been honoured if Hinokumaru was a Xam’d instead of Akiyuki (if you haven’t noticed, the lil’ punk is Yunbo’s kid).

Two women in front of a map? No wonder they are always lost.

Work on the Ship & Despair in the Island

Akiyuki’s training seems to be making some ordinary work like using a rubber stamp on a series of documents the fastest possible, but Akishiba and the kids use his drills to make bets between each other, which kinda annoys Akiyuki for being used as a diversion. When he questions Nakiami about the purpose of the drills, she replies they will keep him alive.

At least pay me a salary!.

In Sentan Island, there is no more school since it was destroyed in the last attack. Using their current free time, Haru, Furiuchi and Midori meet together to watch the arrival of a Southern Continent Free Zone ship, which marks the creation of a militia in the island to reenforce their defenses. Haru notices one of her schoolmates, Shidara, still in her school uniform, all dirty and without shoes. Seems her familay was entirely killed in the last air raid. Haru tries to cheer her up but she replies to not wait for anyone, because they are all dead. Meanwhile, Kakisu boards out of the ship and is received by our Moustache Guy (cmo’n, noone knows his fucking name?).

Anyone knows the Suiciders Help Hotline? Also….nice boat.

Lost Letters

Back to the smoking weed lady chamber, he replies Madame Tenshin he still doesn’t have an answer for what the Xam’d seeks. At lunch, Akiyuki is still working and Yunbo is ready to spank Akushiba for making him work so much, which Akushiba replies he did his job already. He’s actually replacing the stamps of undeliverable letters. But those letters are all adressed to Sentan Island, so he won’t give up on them, even if it costs part of his salary. Yunbo joins in to help, followed by the kids and even Akushiba (mainly because he didn’t wanted to look like a bastard).

Save the trees! Don’t waste good paper!

The Nekotama was found later humping a Pikachu doll and drooling like a doberman.

At night, Akiyuki tries to write a latter to Haru, but his mind is blank. Akushiba teases him a bit and calls him a wuss. Ironical, since he does it while oogling a pic of Nakiami that Raigyo took with only a speck of him (Akushiba) in the background. Poor Nakiami and Bekinawa, they must be harassed all day. Oh wait, nevermind, they probably just kick Akushiba in the balls and ignore him…But the picture kinda hints that Raigyo was a photographer. Go back to the opening, right at 1:00. Do you see a guy with a camera there? Is that Raigyo?

LOSER.

Akushiba does his impression of Pedro Domingo from Excel Saga.

Those Without Homeland or Soul

While Akiyuki is outside the ship helping Kiselji in the repairs (mainly by dropping tools and panicking for being kilometers away from the ground), a strange postal ship approaches the Zanbani. They come from the above at great speed, do a close tangent to the ship, positioning themselves in fornt of the Zanbani and drop a smokescreen on them, with little care for the safety of the crew. Benikawa seem to know who’s responsible for the reckless ship and calls Akushiba to prevent Nakiami to go out in the Beat Kayak because that’s a Tessik ship, but the warning was too late.

Pipehugger.

While crawling back to te ship, Akiyuki asks Kiselji if Nakiami knows the people on the Tessik ship. Kiselji replies they are NG pawns; casted away from their homelands and spread around the world. Akiyuki wonders what’s the diference from them and refugees, which is promtly called ignorant by Kiselji; the point is wheter they have a homeland to return to.

…If that isn’t the face of a bad guy, I don’t know what the fuck it is.

In the captain’s cabin, Nakiami and Bekinawa have an argument. Nakiaki wants to meet with Zeygend, the captain of the Tessik ship, so she can get info about the NG but Bekinawa rejects it. Nakiami asks if it’s because they are Tessik, which Bekinawa angrly replies if that’s her real reason to meet them, she can be considered out of the ship. Bekinawa states the Tessik betrayed the anti-government army and now they are making easy money in the south, even resorting to human traffic; people who’ve lost their past and home and sold their souls, nothing better than crap now. Nakiami asks if that statement includes her, since she’s no different from them. A shocked Bekinawa slaps her in the face, ending the discussion there.

Wheee, Biatchslap, everyone likes seeing them.

While sopping up on her cabin, Nakiami has a knock on her door. She expected Bekinawa but it’s Akiyuki instead. He was expecting her for the metting with Madame Tenshin but he’s worried with her condition, which she replies to not worry. Akiyuki states that she is always worried about him, but Nakiami says it’s because he’s Xam’d. At the chambers, Madame Tenshin asks again the same question: what does Xam’d seek? Altough still not sure, Akiyuki has an opinion: that the Xam’d is just looking to live alongside people. He still needs the help of Nakiami and the people of the ship. Madame Tenshin states that the Hiruki is a lost soul for now, thoughts that can’t be given live and unsure of what they seek. She asks akiyuki to keep meditating in the answer and gives permission to remove the restraints on Akiyuki’s arm.

Moe pic of the ep.

I would say Porn.

Meanwhile, Bekinawa get’s drunk alongside Yunbo for having slapped Nakiami. No more words needed, just see the pic below.

Second moe pic of the ep.

Jibashiri

Back to Sentan Island, Dr. Ryuzo is coming back home when he’s approached by Prois Sukakki, the secretary of Commander Kakkiku (or his aide, whatever you call it). She states there’s an anti-humanform research lab being assembled in the island and they wanted his expertise on the team. Problem is, Ryuzo hates soldies and doesn’t want anything to do with the military. but prois uses her trump: she mentions that she’s on behalf of Tojiro Kakisu, the man he saved at the battle of Barador. Again at night, Akiyuki tries to write a letter in his cabin but without luck. Asushiba teases him again, but since Akiyuki gently ignores him, he just gives up on him.

I hope the anime doesn’t reveal he was a former lover -.-y

This is the most important scene of the episode. A strange cilinder shaped ship comes from a hole in the ground (not really certain, it’s dark as hell). They land nearby, and it’s crewmembers come out. It’s the albino kids, fully geared in a suit resembling Skeksis from the Dark Crystal or the gear that Plague Doctors would use in the times of the Black Plague, one of the earliest appearances of a hazmat suit. Meanwhile, a guy is running away from some soldiers. The Albino Kids walk some ruins until they find the corpse of a pregnant woman. Sensing something, they remove what appears to be a Hiruko from the woman’s belly and collect it on their staves. The runaway man finds them and says they are the ones that remove the Hiruko from the deceased, the Jibashiri. The soldiers find the runaway and shoot him in the head.

*Insert tune from “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” here*

Soylent Green is PEOPLE!

Conclusions

Okay, this episode so many questions, I’m not even sure where to start. First of all, the Hiruko. What the hell is it afterall? I would speculate it’s some sort of memories or even counscience from the deceased, but it can be from anyone or newborns like we have seen on the ep? Second of all, how the hell it’s related with Lady Sannova plans? I suppose she’s part of the good guys, but these animes tend to have thin frontiers on what’s morally good or evil.

Nakiami’s a Tessik then, with their trademark tattoos. But the albino kids are Tessik too, since they have them on the ankles? There is one bigger issue, why they are albinos? A theory I have is because of the place they live in. In the ep, it was said that Lady Sannova was exiled, but never stated to where. Another fact is that the Jibashiri ship seems co come from a hole in the ground. So I speculate they live underground, and the idillic paradise we see on their scenes is man-made. It would also explain the abnormal pale colour of their skins and hairs.

Zeygend spells troubles and isn’t hard to guess he will be the first “villian” the crew will face. I just hope someone smashes his nose, I don’t like the due even one bit and we’ve only seen his goddamn face…

And it’s just me or Akushiba is a loser for having a pic of Nakiami with the rest of the guys there crossed out? And let’s not mention Raigyo, I’ve already commented about that above.

Xam’d: Lost Memories ep 3: “The Way to Freedom”

Extrange — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 22:08:48 +0000

…Where are you looking at?

Akiyuki wakes up in Gekkostate, has a giant swelling on his right arm and he’s miles away from home. Besides, he’s ungrateful to our sweet Nakiami! Luckily, Captain Ishu Bekinawa stuns him with her assets and punches him silly, as the mangy dog he is. Oh, there’s also some HFW after Akiyuki and such, but that’s kinda irrelevant compared with the above picture…

…What, me exploiting the image of our dear Captain Bekinawa? Nah, it’s just your impression and neither Crusader forced me to print a 3 meter height poster of the pic so he can worship her. I told him I had dib rights.

Nazuna and Kakisu

The ep starts with Haru idling aroung the hospital at night (who the hell walks around A HOSPITAL AT NIGHT?). Suddenly, a door close by opens, letting her see what’s inside (See? Doors that open by itself? I would shit my pants there.) Inside is Nazuna, our recurring albino girl, laying ona a bed and hooked up to some machines which seem to be processing (or extracting?) her green blood. She whispers Haru that her Xam’d is still alive. What this supposed to mean? Nakiami said a similar thing on ep 2. And the reports in ep 2 didn’t mention Nazuna as dead? This seems to be a key subject that indicates someone is covering up Nazuna’s existance, as we see in the next scene.

If they set up a a floating black monolith and and an orange astronaut, I’m dropping it.

This time we see some kind of meeting of high ranking officers and members of the government of SC, discussing the events of Sentan Island. The Moustache Fat Officer from ep 1 is there, reporting that the “white-haired girl has died, and all that they determined was the was a follower of Ruikonism”. More data is revealed during the meeting, like that there was was 6 explosions involving white-haired children and the existance of 2 Xam’d (these incidents seem to be all around the Free Zone, not only about Sentan Island). During the meeting it’s also announced that Commander Kakisu will take charge of Sentan Island. Kakisu, the only survivor of the Battle of Barador and acclaimed as a hero for it, a clear reference to the Battle of Ramree Island. The Battle of Barador was the first encounter with the Humanform Weapons, so it’s no wonder that the end result was a massacre.

Is that a HFW prototype at your right? It sure is ugly as one.

International Post Ship Zanbani

The next scenes are spent mostly in the airship we have been seeing since ep one, which is named Zanbani (it’s way better than Nebuchadnezzar). Let’s first make a small list of names of Zanbani’s Crew:

Captain – Ishu Bekinawa
Dreadlocks – Akushiba
Nakiami – …duh, Nakiami
Mom/Cook – Yunbo
Hawaiian Pilot – Ahm
Trap looking kid- Kobako
Falcon Punch kid -Hinokimaru
Conehead Engineer – Kiselji
Nekotama – Roppa

Ungrateful Boy

Ahm and Akushiba are in the cabin, discussing the paths to take to divert from the nearby patrols while Bekinawa is happily polishing out phallic looking one meter long ammunitions. We also find out that their next destination is Shirahama Yard (whatever it is…). Akiyuki is being taken care by Nakiami and he’s given “Spirit Tea”, which supposely calms down the Hiruko. He refuses it (mainly because it stinks as dead raccoons) and tries to fiddle with the strange strips surrounding his right arm, just to get his hand slapped by Nakiami, the same way you would do with a naughty kid. She tells him that the Exsanguination Needle is keeping him alive, by inhibiting his Xam’d awareness.

She likes rubbing it…

Akashiba interrupts them and warns Nakiami that the Captain wants to see her. He also asks her to take the Captain’s breakfast, which she does if Akashiba takes care of Akiyuki. Akashiba gives some clothes to Akiyuki. Akiyuki wonders what’s the strange claw marks in the ceiling…

Life goes on

Haru is in the hospital lobby with his sister Midori and talking about the past, hinting to the accident that inflicted Midori’s legs (I believe they are refugees like most of the islanders). Finaly their dad arrives, which was busy talking with patients ( it seems he’s a doctor). Haru asked if he heard anything about the white haired girl but he had forgotten to ask. While they walk away of the hospital , they find Akiyuki’s father, Dr. Ryuzo, in a stone bench. It seems he walked around all hospitals in search for Akiyuki, and all he has managed to made was bust out the sole of his shoe.

Economy crisis reaches Sentan Island

Meanwhile, Akiyuki is having lunch together with Yanbo, Akishiba and Hinokimaru (which still is as violent as a rabid bulldog). He notices the crew are Ruikonist, fact that surprises him, because he though they were wiped out. Were the Ruikonists persecuted by the government and military? Or there is another explanation for the extintion? I bet it’s the first choice, since the words “wiped out” were used, which points to a violent ending. Akashiba say to Akiyuki to be ready for for after lunch: the crew are postal workers and a half year period would be enough to make Akiyuki used to the job. Both of them bring Ahm’s lunch to the cockpit and Akashiba starts betting with Ahm how long Akiyuki would last on the ship. Ahm replies the boy is too shaky and that even doubted if he would “beat that Humanform” (I think he meant the Hiruko on his arm). Akiyuki remarks that he never said he would work on the ship and wants to return to Sentan Island. Both of the crew members say that only the Captain would have the power to do that and Ahm sends Akushiba escourt Akiyiko to her. He descrives her as a “sweet, raven-haired beauty with glasses”.

This smells funny.

Women and Traps

Bekinawa discuss with Nakiami about Akiyuki’s stay on the Zanbani. Bekinawa states this isn’t the first time that something similar happens and that no matter how much support Nakiami gives, Akiyuki will turn into stone (this seems to be a common fate for those with the Hiruko). Bekinawa also gives one of her killer sayings (check pic below).

But what happens if you lose the keys?

During his trip across the ship to meet the captain, Akiyuki meets Kobako, the trap looking boy (Yes, its a boy…) which shows that he treats his new Nekotama pet, Roppa, better than Akiyuki. Incidentally, this is the same Nekotama that was almost ran over by his bike in Sentan Island. They also meet Hinokimaru (still with murdering eyes) and Kiselji, the ship’s engineer.

You can fap at will, but be warned. It has a dick.

CEILING CAT is watching you masturbate to Kobako

Never argue with your elders

Ishu Bekinawa

Akiyuki finally reaches the captains cabin, from where Nakiami and the captain are leaving. There is a small deck between the cabin and the rest of the ship, and the characters are standing there. In spite of Nakiami’s warning, he rudely asks the captain to get back to Sentan Island, only to get a punch in the noggin by Bekinawa herself. She asks why he haven’t thanked yet Nakiami for saving his life, Xam’d or not. The issue of Xam’d pisses Akiyuki, which states he’s himself, not Xam’d and he haven’t askked for noone’s help. Bekinawa laughs and states if he doesn’t mind being a monster, why doesn’t he remove the needle on his arm, which he does in a act of stupidity. This causes the Hiruko on his arm to activate and begin changing his arm (in a rather painful way; stupid Akiyuki he deserves that). Nakiami tries to help Akiyuki control it before the activated Hiruko attracts HFW’s, but the ship alarm is sound.

My eyes are higher from where you are staring, kiddo.

Guess why I’m punching you?

RAEG!

OHSh….that was dumb, wasn’t it?

Flying Humanform Weapon

A NG ship is leaving the war zone to approach the Zanbani, which makes the crew assume their posts, while Nakiami and Akiyuki stay in the deck. Bekinawa decides set the engines into full speed (even if that costs more fuel). Meanwhile, Nakiami is visually tracking the NG ship and it’s reactions. Her worst suspicions are confirmed: the ship drops a HWF, this time a flying HWF kind, green in coloration. Nakiami tries to get Akiyuki into inside the ship. Unfortunely, Akiyuki denies the help, stating that he was always fine by himself and that he would manage it (don’t forget he was in pain and with a disabled arm due to the activated Hiruko). His small tamtrum gave enough time for the HWF to reach the Zanbani, where he proceeds to grab Akiyuki with his tail and embed him in the HWF’s back. Then it leaves, with his prize already taken.

…Another Pokèmon?

Her Support

The rest of the crew is oblivious to what happened and wonder why the war ship is leaving the perimeter, when they notice Nakiami outside in her scout ship, the Beat Kayak (urgh, been calling it Cloud Rider in the previous eps…) She warns the Zanbani that Akiyuki was taken and then zooms in into the HWF. She shoots stone inducing darts onto the HFW, which ptovokes a energy beam atack by it (the same kind of attack the previous HFW used). After reaching the beast’s back, she uses the darts around the place where Akiyuki’s embebbed and tries to dig him out and at the same time dodging the HFW’s tail. At this point Ahm asks Akusbiba if he still wants to make his bet about Akiyuki’s stay in the ship. Ahm remarks that the kid may have a chance if Nakiami support him as much as she showing now. Meanwhile, Bekinawa’s planning something…

She’s up to no good.

Nakiami gets hold of Akiyuki’s arm and liquefies the area around him with her cane, but Akiyuki’s unconscious state makes him a dead weight. Nakiami shouts for him to wake up and think, which wakes him up, allowing him to leave the hole (altough in a comical way). They manage to get into the Beat Kayak and return to the ship, since the Humanforms only target the Hiruko when he’s active. We now see what Bekinawa was planning all along, which was fetching the huge gun she’s been polishing up the whole ep. A bit rusty, “but it’s a better purchase than more boots”.

Allez oop!

CLICK

She looks great, even covered in monster gibs.

Apologies>

Nakiami takes care of Akiyuki’s arm, while he talks about the white haired girl which gave him the Hiruko. Her advice is to keep thinking, because that’s the only way that he can gain Symbiosis with the Hiruko. He then apologizes and thanks Nakiami for saving him for the second time. He even drinks the nasty Spirit Tean she made for him. She says he would be better writing a letter to Sentan Island.

Nakiami=CUUUUUUTE

Several scenes happen next: Haru talks with Akiyuki’s mom, Fusa, and takes Akiyuki’s arm bracelet so she can give to Akiyuki when she meets him. Dr Ryuzo searches among his old stuff and finds a diary and a seed from the time he was involved with the battle of Barador (interesting info, the seed is equal to the same seeds Nakiami was handling in ep 1). Kakisu is speaking with her secretary about his mom birthplace (Sentan Island) and his lucky boots, which he wore since Barador, while they are supervising the transfer of the research team and their Xam’d. But while checking the name of the only missing person person from the Sentan Island attack, he gets surprised it’s Akiyuki Takehara. I wonder what’s the relation between Kakisu and Dr. Ryuzo.

“I wish. It’s Machine Code.”

In the last scene Akiyuki gets ready to sleep while a cocky Akushiba makes some revelations: The ship used to have a Xam’d before, a man named Raigyo Tsukomata. He’s the one that made the claw marks on Nakiami’s room and the previous owner of the clothes Akiyuki’s wearing, but the stress of having the Hiruko was too much for him and drove him over the edge. When Akiyuki asks for his whereabouts, Akushiba replies with a snore…

Raigy Tsukomata, what happened to him?

Conclusions

Hmm, more mysteries arise. Raigyo was a Xam’d in the ship before, but is the end result the Xam’d Kakisu has? And what relation had Nakiami with him? Because she tries her best to help Akiyuki, maybe derived from the fact she couldn’t help Raigyo. We also have more info about the Hiruki; it’s a symbiotic entity and he can take over the user. The crystal on Akiyuki’s arm changes colour according to the Hiruko’s own conscience(blue for inactive/asleep and red for active/awaken). One thing we can predict already is that Haru will meet Akiyuki again (considering she fills the role of “girl next door” romantic interest), but how long until we see some results?

And I want a Nekotama too, they look so fluffy

Extrange is Interviewed by MellowSPACE

Extrange — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 01:50:47 +0000

This was mellow_bunny before I’ve trained him.

Mellow_Bunny, an old-time friend blogger contacts me on #animeblogger, my usual place in IRC.
He wanted to make me an interview for his blog! So I think: ” Hmm, E-Penor glorification of my persona? Should I accept it or not?”

Anyway, this is the end result, posted on MellowSPACE, enjoy this extra info about one of THAT bloggers.

Xam’d: Lost Memories ep 2: “Blackout on Sentan Island”

Extrange — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 22:32:20 +0000

It’s time for the episode 2 of Xam’d, which brings us epicness with the BONES seal of quality. Akiyuki shows his skills at taming Pokemaws, we have more Nakiami Moeness and someone is Falcon Punched in the gonads. Really, nutsack boxing…I squirm each time I see it.

The Birth of Xam’d

We start with a small recap of the last scenes of episode one: Akiyuki tries to save the albino girl but gets transformed into a humanoid creature called Xam’d. Oh, and a soldier nearby makes target practice with his head in front of a shocked Haru.

The Northern Government (let’s shorten it to NG) ships start their bombardment but their payload isn’t typical bombs. Instead, they drop huge organical…er….hmmm…well, they are huge organical pods, so to speak, dropped all around town. And they start to steam out, spewing vapour by several hatches in the pod’s walls.

The tea is ready.

Meanwhile, Akiyuki/Xam’d regenerates his bullet wounds and recovers in an instant. The soldier tries to shoot him again but he’s intercepted by a 2-hit backhand/jumping kick combo from Haru. Really, what’s her issue with males? She really likes to kick the crap out of guys….Anyway, she’s not even sure why she did or why she’s not afraid of that phallic looking white monster. Meanwhile, another soldier and Furiuchi appears inside the schoolbus.

Someone is going to get his ass kicked.

No matter how many times you rewind the scene, you won’t see her panties.

Destructive Power

The pods stop steaming and and spew out a giant two-legged version of Metagross. called a Humanform Weapon. They seem to be incredibly sturdy, since they regenerate easily even from shot wounds caused by artilhery rounds from a nearby Infantry Fighting Vehicle. Interesting detail, the wound revealed a kind of armour under the Humanform Weapon similar to the green cocoons from episode one. The HFW (short for Humanform Weapon). Another thing is the orbital green ball they use to discharge a kind of beam attack with also has the added effect of creating vacuum explosions for increased damage. But why the hell HFW’s only use one orbital ball? Technically they seem to have 4 orbital balls but we only see them use one at a time. Energy constraints?

Push! Push! I can already see the head!

While the HFW who’ve landed nearest the school is wreaking havoc, Furiuchi and Haru try to run for safety, but Xam’d (let’s use this name for Akiyuki’s phallic-man form) grabs Haru’s arm softly. But they are split apart by one of the HFW’s energy beams. That HFW then proceeds to tackle Xam’d, dragging them both outside the shool’s area. While recovering from the events, Furiuchi says one interrestig thing: “The war started again”. Does it means they were in the middle of war before? I think Sentan Island’s villagers were mostly refugees from areas where the NG and the SC had conflitcs (SC as short for Southern Continent). But when Furiuchi mentions Akiyuki, Haru decides to go after Xam’d and the HFW

Go, Humanform Weapon, use HYPER BEAM attack! What? What do you mean you only know SPLASH?

Both Xam’d and the HFW get to a nearby flood canal and the HFW shoots a energy beam onto Xam’d. This is where Xam’s reveals one of his skills; he morphs his arm into a shield, deflecting the energy beam. They keep fighting down the canal, and when they were tackilng each other, Xam’d morphs his arm this time into a giant blade. Haru finally reaches them and shouts: “Hurry, getu out of there, Akiyuki!”. Haru suddenly realizes the thing that she knew already subconscienly, which was that Xam’d is Akiyuki. The water pipe where she was standing breaks apart, dropping her into the canal but Xam’d grabs her with his free arm, preventing any injuries.

I’m getting wet, if you know what I mean…

End of the Fight

Nakiami notices Xam’d and Haru with her binoculars and rushes to them. Meanwhile, Xam’d cuts the HWF legs and proceeds to finish him, pummeling it’s “head”. From it’s dead body, a sort of purple crystal starts to grow (although the characters later refers to it as a stone). Nakiami parks her Cloud Rider in a nearby tower, shoots a rope from it into the canal, which fixates into it with some kind of liquid metal, then she proceeds to descend using a small foot platform attached to the rope. Then she stabs Xam’d’s arm with her cane, detaches the cane’s head and asks why a complete Xam’d doing there. She also asks Haru if the original form of the Xam’d is human (which implies that Xam’d can be formed from other animals), which Haru says yes. Haru looses herself a bit then, crying that Akiyuki can’t be dead. Xam’d is getting devoured by the same purple stone that the HFW was, but this time is Nakiami which is controlling it, with her cane. She makes Xam’d a proposition: stay there and die comsumed by the stone or come with her and live. Xam’d says “I want to live” (Xam’d’s voice seem to be heard only by Nakiami and Haru so far). Nakiami accepts and destroy the rock and touches the crystal in Xam’d’s forehead, making him slowly transform back into human again.

Nakiami says that the HFW’s soul will be transfered to him and that was the purpose of Xam’d. She also talks to Haru, noticing the fact that Haru heard Xam’d’s voice and gives to her the spiritl Haru saved.I need some confirmation, but she says “Nakiami” to Haru, which can mean her own name or “No more tears”. Then she proceeds to Vulcan Nerve Pinch Haru, leaving her half-uncounscious time enough to see Nakiami take Akiyuki with her. Haru is later woken up by Furiuchi, who was looking for her.

Meanwhile, the courier ship is docked and the crew is ressupplying or idling around. The Captain is waiting for Nakiami (mainly to beat the shit out of her for not following orders.) The 2 kids from the crew find a Nekotama and ask the Captain if they can have it, which she denies. The kids then argue with her, since she let’s Nakiami do similar things, then they point to Nakiami, which was arriving and argue she can’t have that too (”that” refering to the uncounscious Akiyuki). The Captain makes a lovely “Pissed OFF” smile…..

Insert random joke about Asians here.

The ship finally leaves. In her room, Nakiami treats Akiyuki’s arm, sealing it with the help of a Fsking giant needle (ouch!”), which helps control Akiyuki’s transformation. After it’s done, one of the crew members rushes in (let’s refer to him as Dreadlocks), worried about Nakiami. But she seems to have things under control and says the Hiruko is under control. What is Hiruko? She refers to Akiyuki or to the thing inside Akiyuki’s arm?

Stab time.

One of the best scenes on this episode happens now: while Dreadlocks leaves the room, he gets bitten by Roppa, the new Nekotama pet the kids have. A bit pissed off, he teases the kids a bit, but they didn’t liked it, so they punch Dreadlocks in the balls…..One hit K.O.

NOM!

“OUCH!”

FALCON PUUUUUUNNNCCH!

“*CRY*”

The episode gets back to Nakiami’s room, which wonders why Xam’d says he wants to live, even when nobody celebrated his birth. The camera focus on a wall of the room where we can see claw marks on it, hinting that Akiyuki’s isn’t the first Xam’d to be in that ship.

Recovery

Sentan Island is recovering from the attack, which seemed aimed at the military structures. Even so, there was a lot of casualties. Haru and Furiuchi are in a shelter, wondering about Akiyuki’s fate. The same thing happens in Akiyuki’s father office, where his mother tells his father that he’s missing and argue about what to do next.

Serious moment.

Remember the pods which spew out the HFWs ? The camera focus into the inside of one of them, revealing that a human is inside, with a helmet connecting him to the pod. He blabbers about getting closer to Hiruko, takes a pill and proceeds to kill himself, using a bio-organic version of the explosive pack used by the albino girl of episode one. Are the HFW controlled by humans? And what’s this Hiruko than they seem to worship? Don’t forget Hiruko was referenced when Nakiami was treating Akiyuki.

STICK

BOOM…wait, Deja Vu?

Now we focus into the metro of a unknown town, where a lady officer reads a report to some commander called Kakisu. She says all 11 pods and HumanForm Users were killed and a unknown white haired girl was among the casualties. It also seems Commander Kakisu is walking to a place on the subway where was a accident 10 days ago.

Cool.

There he meets Dr. Kanba, a old man in a wheel chair with similar facial marks to the old lady from episode 1. They argue about several things, like the transfer of the research facility to Sentan Island and one huge monster in front of them, which they call Xam’d. They also refer to it as Tessik’s God. This Xam’d looks more as the HFW than Akiyuki’s Xam’d. Another thing they comment is that if the research fails, the one who will be blamed is Kakisu.

The other Xam’d.

This Episode’s Comments

There seems to exist several factions around: The Northen Government, the Southern Continent, the old lady’s faction, the Hiruken HFW users, Dr Kanda research faction and the courier ship crew. They seem to have several degrees of relationship between them.

Another main thing is Hiruko, which is referenced several times. I bet this will be main factor of conflict around, considering one of the factions is based around it.

About the crew: Argh, this is really inspired on Gekkostate, they have counterparts of all of the characters, even the old man. Next ep is focused on the crew, so I can reveal more about them in my next post.

Commander Kakisu is another character which was copy-pasted from Eureka Seven. Who doesn’t remember our psycho Colonel Dewey Novak? Well, Kakisu seems a bit more sane. But he sure does look as a main villian.

I wonder what Haru will do now, now that Akiyuki is away from her. Will this lead into a romantical development? Another side note, her sister’s name is referenced as Midore, for those who’ve missed it.

Dr Kanba seems know a lot about Xam’d, but is his role as a neutral or will he have a more dynamic presence on the events? And what’s his connection with the old lady….

Xam’d: Lost Memories ep 1: “Xam’d at the Dawn of War”

Extrange — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 01:50:30 +0000

“…What? Do I have something in my face?”

Gentlemen, I like BONES.

Gentlemen, I love BONES.

Everything that BONES studio did in the past is godly for me (well, all except the plot of Full Metal Alchemist but that’s another story.) I mean, having the BONES logo on it it’s the same as saying it will have a suberb quality and a great plot. I’ve been following BONES works since RahXephon , so it’s not surprising I’m drooling over their new anime, Xam’d: Lost Memories.

Another thing that only adds up to the hype is this was a secret project from BONES, with only some elusive posters refering to a “Bonen no Xamdou” anime. Only on this year’s E3 it was revealed it was a anime release for the Playstation Network (or to be short, PSN), meaning that Xam’d is only avaliable for owners of a PS3 currently. Will this be aired on television channels someday? I hope so.

Prologue of War

The episode starts with scenes of some kind of ruins, with a fountain filled of green glowing cocoons and a old woman with blue eyes and pale complexion filling condoms with them and giving them to albino kids with ligh purple eyes…Yes, the first scene portrays drug mules…

She’s too handy with those condoms.

I wonder what’s the street market price of it.

Meanwhile, we skip to a flying aircraft where we see a girl doing some plant cloning/cultivation in test tubes on her cabin. This girl, Nakiami, has a resemblance to Nausicaa, like most of the stuff relating to her. Another thing to notice is her blue eyes and similar eyemarks to the old lady in the ruins.

All this time, the off voice was from the ship’s captain, a skimp cloth wearing megane ponytail mature woman (aka, MILF) which was reading some sort of diary, which I suppose it was Nakiami’s. Then, she notice through her binoculars a bunch of Government airships. The anime imply there is a ongoing conflict between the Northen Government and the Southern Continent, the two main military factions and this crew is a neutral ship that acts as a sort of couriers (you can see them carrying letters in the OP and the captain refer to a Postal Law).

Nausicaa?

The ship goes into alert and everyone get’s into their position, since the number of Government ships is bigger than 20, implying a bombardment attack. At this time, we can check the delicious steampunk technology like light-sign communication, a oldschool radar, the hoses used to speak with the crew usually found in old steamships.

To avoid the bombardment, they search for the nearest dock so they can be shielded. And that would be Sentan Island, so they send Nakiami as a scout in a small single jet engine aircraft which I dubbed Cloud Rider. I’m not sure if this was on purpose, but Nakiami looks even more like Nausicaa while riding her ship…

It isn’t old tech, it’s Steampunk!

The Opening

Show ▼

“Shut Up and Explode” by Boom Boom Sattellites.

Whoa….impressive track from this Japanese Rock and Electronica band, which also contributed to the soundtrack of 2004’s Appleseed movie. The animation of the OP is actually synched with the song sucessfully, which is an area where most OP’s fail. I enjoy how they depict the travel of that latter from the hands of a unknown female character (if you check closely, she has tits.) to the hands of Akiyuki, the main character of the anime. Another great moment is the scene where they portray the small fight with the Humanform Weapon (the big huge red thing, I’ll explain about them on the next post) and the small rewinds which are synched with the song.

Peaceful Island’s Life

so, now we finally see the main character, Akiyuki, and his life on Sentan Island. And like any typical student, he’s late for school (Asians don’t know to buy good alarm clocks or what?). And worse, he skips breakfast (which is a crazy mix of Ocidental and Japanese breakfast; maybe it hints his parents are from different places?) AND he tries to ditch having to take his father’s bento to his clinic. Too bad his bycicle chain pops out in the worse possible moment so his mom gets him and demands him to take his father’s bento. nice detail; his father and mom are making a small time-out from each other; possibly cause his father is just as lazy as Akiyuki.

Mr. Sleepyhead.

Next we have Furuichi, a glass dude and a friend of Akiyuki teaching Aikido to a bunch of kids ( I think it is Aikido….). Next, he spars a bit with Haru, a girl which is also a friend of Akiyuki. Furuichi is tottaly owned by Haru. Even I would want to be floored by those blue eyes of Haru. Which lead us to an interesting detail: the main girls, Naikiami and Haru have both blue eyes. Does this hints something, besides the obvious romantic developments every anime have? After the beating down they decide to finish the training, leaving away with Haru’s younger sister, which is wearing a crutch.

I know Kung-Fu

Pwned.

…but who cares? You can floor me anytime, baby.

Akiyuki, late as always, is speeding down the road on his bike when he almost runs over a Nekomata, a kind of cat/rabbit animal native to the island. So, he decides to take a shortcut, leaving his bike near some stairs while he goes on foot following some back roads and small hills. Moments later, his friends furuichi and Haru spot his bike and pity Akiyuki’s poor fate as middle-man between his parent. Adding to the injury, they make bets if he will be late or not. Nice friends, heh?

Akiyuki reaches his father’s clinic,which already has a poor lady waiting outside for the lazy doc to wake up. He wakes up dad rather violently, delivers the bento and grumbles with him for being a pig then rushes again, this time to the shool bus.

I only need 30 m to make my room like that.

The Fated Girl

From this scene onwards, we now realize that Sentan Island isn’t just a regular village and it has a quite strong military presence, namely the Southern Continent forces. Even the bus has a soldier there, counting and checking the students entering it. I’ve noticed a bit of clash between modern design and steampunk, like Akiyuki’s high-tech bike and the schoolbus hard edged old design. Poor Akiyuki finally reaches the bus on time, which will cost Furuichi’s some ice cream (he lost the bet with Haru.)

So, as a good boy he is (and because Furuichi is pissed with him), Akiyuki goes to the end of the line for the bus. But wait, who’s there too? It’s the albino girl which was being given the green cocoon at the start of the episode, wearing some old-fashioned schoolgirl suit. Akiyuki, being the good samaritan he is (aka, ladies man), notices she doesn’t have a armband and assumes she’s a foreign student, so he gives her his own and smooth talks the guard out. A funny detail is that the guard seemed to be expecting 38 students. Also, I’ve noticed the look Haru had after this incident…The bus has it’s own radio speakers and earphones to better listen, but like any military service it transmits military news. Akiyuki notices outside that there is an increase of Inquiry Ships, which seems to be the name given to the standard battle airships.

“Hmm, new student…kinda short, but has a cute ass.

The Insemination

This time , we see the inside of the tower which seems to act as a military dock and base. More specifically, the Command Room with the typical moustache general/commander/boss. They notice the upcoming fleet from the Northern Government and worse, it’s new models and not included in any official flight plan. Let me explain a bit about some things: these two faction, Northern Government and the Southern Continent seem to be placed at the North and South…and in the middle there is the Free Zone, a kind of neutral ground with a undefined border. Sentan Island has some military presence, sure, but it’s mainly civilian territory and the North is attacking it now. No fair play in war, it seems.

Meanwhile the schoolbus reaches the school (where else would he go?) and the students leave the bus. The mysterious girl lags behind on purpose, picks the school bag she was carrying, grabs a sort of knife/pen and sticks it on the bag. Then , BOOM! A huge explosion which opens up the bus like a tin can and splits the students all around with the shockwave. Akiyuki, which was the first to recover from the blast, sees a floating light over the remains of the bus and dashes for Akiyuki, lodging itself on Akiyuki’s right arm, causing extreme pain on him. Furuichi, who hasn’t seen nothing of it, also appears to recover and goes comfort Haru, which is still in shock from what happened. Furuichi fears that they may be purged. This is an important detail; does this mean the military purges the civilian zones that are affected by war? So that means the Free Zone gets smaller and smaller?

STICK.

BOOM!!!

Akiyuki notices that the strange albino girl is still in the bus and goes rescue her, in spite of Furuichi’s warnings. He notices that the bus has some strange green goo inside and a pain on his arm makes him notice that a blue crystal is embebbed on the arm and moving around. Nevertheless, he tries to help the girl and notice that the green goo actually came from a wound the girl has on her abdomen. While dying, she apologizes for involving him, that her name is Nazuna and insures that he will be fine, along “with our lost memory: Xam’d”. She touches his forehead, making a small red crystal appear, similar to hindu’s tilaka mark which then evolves to a mask covering his face and smothering him . That place in the forehead is also associated with the Third Eye, and a mark on that place normally represents a state of enlightment. Meanwhile, some troops arrive and start checking the place and the students.

OUCH!

Sure! I was just inseminated in my arm by an alien green light! I was still a virgin!

Xam’d

The courier airship I’ve mentioned in the first parts finally arrrives near Sentan Island. Nakiami leaves the proximity of the ship to check the island for herself, which gives origins to some “less than friendly” words by the captain. Akiyuki’s still transforming, along with a kickass melodic song, and the end result is something I would describe as a “human white missile man”. Furiuchi, which has been patching up the students with some first aids enters the wreck of the bus along with a soldier, only to find the transformed Akiyuki. Furiuchi runs with his tail between his legs while Haru herself enters the wreck too and the soldier readies to fire. He shoots 4 bullets into the strange being body, but Haru listen to Akiyuki’s voice saying “I want to live…”. The Northern Government fleet arrives and begins to drop it’s mysterious cargo into the town…

HEADSHOT.

The Ending

Show ▼

“Vacancy” by Kylee

Another great song on this anime, which makes me extremely happy as the audiophile I am. The fact both the Op and the ED are in English is consistant with the intended internationalization of the anime for the PSN. The best part of the ED is near the end, where we see Nakiami riding her Cloud Rider and smiling. MOE!!!

Some Early Conclusions

One thing I’ve noticed is the several influences this anime seems to have: the mysterious “cult” has some RahXephon feeling, along with Eureka Seven and Nausicaa’s kind of heroin. Sentan Island could be a small hidden hommage to Renton, and the courier crew is remniscent of Gekkostate. The soundtrack was a bit absent on this ep, but to compensate, the song on Akiyuki’s transformation was epic enough to make me rip it for my cellphone. But I’ll be short and end it here, because I’ve got hold of the episode one along with episode two, so I can speak with better detail in the next post.

Blade of the Immortal Ep 1 – “Criminal”

Extrange — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 06:01:00 +0000

“…I think I forgot to turn off the oven.”

I always liked Samurai anime and manga. Feudal Japan was always a great source for good stories, and they helped to the internationalization of the media with works like Ninja Scroll, Lone Wolf and Cub,Rurouni Kenshin (Samurai X) or Samurai Deeper Kyo (Funny to notice these works are also known for the high degree of violence they depict. That also shows the Americans like to see spilled guts and blood like a otaku likes his loli figurines.)

Blade of the Immortal doesn’t stray far from it, with this new anime adaptation of the manga. With a plot of a immortal samurai looking for redemption and a orphan daughter looking for revenge, this promise lots of action and battle scenes (along with the ocasional rape or two, but that’s almost like a standard in samurai works…)

Manji, the Killer of a Hundred

That’s why you are Emo’ing in a dark corner?

This first episode starts with Manji. the main “hero”, in a confessionary with a priest and revealing a bit of his past. Tricked by his master, Manji killed a group of farmers who were innocent. After finding out the truth, he killed his master and anyone who’ve tried to follow and hunt him, giving him the nickname of The Killer of Hundred. The priest, exploiting this moment of weakness, shoots a bullet through Manji’s head. He’s actually a bounty hunter which usually disguises as a priest to get wanted criminals during confession. But suddenly his neck is surrounded by 2 hooks and chains. Manji is still alive and pierces the bounty hunter, killing him. Then, his head injury is healed by a bunch of red worms coming from inside the wound.

The scene then jumps to a young girl, Asano Rin, kneeling in a tombstone and having a flashback of the moments prior the death of he parents by the hands of swordsman called Anotsu Kagehisa and his group, the Itto-Ryu. Another scene jump, this time to Anotsu itself, which is debating with a samurai called Habaki if the Itto-Ryu will be the bodyguards of Habaki’s master’s dojo and it’s views about killing people.

She’s legal, guys.

The focus comes back to Manji, which is returning from the church to meet his younger sister, Machi. Altough he meets her while she’s playing around in a field of red flowers, he also meets Yaobikuni, the old woman responsible for giving him the worms that make him immortal, the Kessen-Chu. Herself has the blood worms too and has lived for 800 years as the name imply (Yaobikuni, “800 year old nun”). Yaobikuni states that Manji should put down the sword for the sake of her sister.

Machi acts like a kid and is slow on learning in spite of being 23. The reason for this lies on Manji: in the past while he was running away and had already the fame as the Killer of a Hundred, he faced Tatsumata Saito, a law officer. He had issues with Manji, since his father has a bodyguard for the lord Manji killed. For the dishonor of failing to protect his master, Saito’s father commited sepukku. While Manji and Saito battle, a girl appears. It was Machi, Saito’s woman and Manji’s sister, who arrived just in time to see her husband being beheaded by her brother. That event broke her soul and made her mind regress in age.

Back to the present events, Machi disappears while Manji’s asleep. It turns out a bunch of thugs lead by Shido Hishiyasu has her and wants to have revenge for the death of Shido’s brother (the fake priest Manji has killed). Manji tries to solve the issue without resorting to the sword and asks for the release of his sister. Shido does so, just to slash her up by behind and stab Manji while he holds Machi’s body. Manji regenerates in a instantand slashes Shido with his 12 swords, then proceeds to kill the rest of the gang.

Having an extra foot is the latest fad in Edo

The last scenes shows a mangled Manji ( and with his right feet in his kimono instead on the end of his leg..) appearing in front of the Yaobikuni and makes a oath: as redemption for the killing of 100 people he did in the past, he will spend the rest of his life slaying 1000 evildoers. Then he collapses into the ground.

Does it live up to the manga?

As a introduction for Manji’s character, this episode only missed one thing, VIOLENCE. The manga didn’t had the constraints that an anime has in terms of what can be depicted, so most of the details got toned down. Hiroaki Samura, Blade of the Immortal mangaka, has a rough and more realistic drawing style than the average manga, which led to a emphasis on body poses and hands depictions. Too bad we don’t get the same effect in the anime. Even so, not all is bad; one good point I’ve noticed is the removal of superfluous elements for the sake of drama, mostly during Manji’s interactions with Machi.

It isn’t a Swastika…well it is, but not related with what you think it is!

If you aren’t blind, you’ve noticed the swastika in the back of Manji’s kimono. Before the weaboos, jerks and random assholes start flaming the deal…..It’s a Japanese Buddhism symbol!!! Oh, and what a coincidence, it’s called a manji! The swastika existed way before it’s usage by the nazism party and was common in several cultures like India, China and even native americans. Don’t make a deal from a thing it isn’t intended to be nothing else than 8 lines…

Opening and Ending

Let’s make a quick test; how many of you guys heard the op and thought: “Wtf, Ali Project?”. Fortunely, it isn’t or it would sound EXACTLY like the 8 previous op’s they did. The Op is in charge of Makura no Soshi with the song “Akai Rabbit”, which clashes nicely with the heavy content of the Op’s animation. (Heck, bondage, high-speed battle scenes, blood galore….I’m getting a hard on from it.)

Like always, the Ep has a slower pace with “wants” by GRAPEVINE. But I’m still not sure if the mix of modern and past background in the ed’s animation makes me like it or hate it.

And yes, I know, my screenshots are dark as licorice. Blame my .Mkv’s.

Britney Spears or the Exploitation of the Anime Genre on Pop Culture

Extrange — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 13:12:51 +0000

As you know from previous posts, the bloggers from THAT are making posts based on a single word randomly chosen from a list you guys suggested. That word was “Britney”. Of course, the first thing you think is Britney Spears, the infamous pop star singer. And what a coincidence, she has recently made a new animated videoclip for her song “Break The Ice”

As the videoclip above reveals you, even “Miss Virgin (only in the ears and I’m not even sure about those)” Britney Spears is trying to use the anime genre to regain some of the fans that’s ben losing over the years due to her actions. Unfortunely, this is a tendence that’s recurrent in Western culture.

Exploitation is the game

Okay, first of all let me explain what kind of exploitation I’m talking about, since it has several misleading meanings. I’m mostly refering to the Exploitation Film genre, where the goal is to get audience with the kind of “lurid content” the production has than the actual quality of the film. This is what happening these days with Anime. Having realized that Anime is more and more a point of interest for a increasing number of people, several media have already tried to implement anime elements to gain some of that raw resourse. Of course most of the time leads to a degradation of the content and gives the Anime genre bad fame, although rarely there are projects who actually does the opposite.

“Hmm…nice pussy. Fap, fap, fap.”

Imitation is the worst way of flattery

It’s easy to see several of these exploitations. One good to start looking is cartoons, with a endless list of examples. Some cases are blatant obvious, like Kappa Mikey ( and Dancing Sushi, OMG MY EYES!!!) Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi or American Dragon:Jake Long ; others aren’t that obvious like Teen Titans and Avatar: The Last Airbender. It’s funny, considering that at the start producers were trying to Americanize imported animes, like Robotech/Macross production or the raping of Yu-Gi-Oh, Naruto and others. Now they care to Japanize their own cartoons… By the way, before you jump into me, I don’t consider Samurai Jack exploitation, since it has his own unique style, filled with cinematografic scenes and stylized design. The only common point is using a japanese samurai and thematic.

Show me your Kung-Fu

Of course, the movie industry also wanted a piece of the pie, considering how greedy they are. I could rant non-stop with the Matrix Triology but let’s use other examples. And yeah, I’ll use Animatrix, which is a rare example of an hommage to Anime instead of whoring (it’s easy to explain, the Wachowski brothers asked real Japanese animators to do the episodes.) Unfortunely, the same doesn’t happen with Kill Bill, which is a total slut, ripping off anime elements from all origins. The whole thing is a huge irony, with a short anime depicting O-ren’s past and the movie itself is based on the exploitation genre. Oh, and let’s not forget that Quentin Tarantino wants to do 2 anime based on Kill Bill…

I know kung fu.

Look, I can draw too!

The Internet is a huge Show and Tell, so using Anime (or on this case , Manga) thematic on your webcomics to get readers is very common. To be accurate, it’s hard to say that it’s exploitation, but in principle it is always a case of “OMG, I totaly like Anime. Let me try to be a net god and draw crappy MS pain figures and get readers”. Trying to avoid the infinite list of shitty webcomics, just gonna mention a couple of cases which aren’t shitty. The first one is the easiest one: Megatokyo. I know I’ll be flamed/worshipped for this but MT DOES exploit the genre. But what compensates for it is the quality of the drawings, so it balances things out. Except when he does stickman strips…Second case is Mistakes of Youth. Yeah, he may use a Anime-ish style with half decent drawings, but it’s on purpose since the whole webcomic is about Anime irony.

“Mom, why my game has girls with bouncy tits and mini-skirts?”

I’ll keep it short here, because I can’t stand crappy games. And the crappiest one ever is Sudeki, made by a Swedish company. A swordsman, a mahou girl, a catgirl and a inventor, all in Anime style with crappy story, crappy gameplay and crappy design. I warn you, stay away from this game like lolicons from an actual social life.

Look at the back of your manga, it may be: Made in Canada

Even the black and white are being copied: there are several artists outside Japan making mangas , like Van Von Hunter or Ninja High School. In this case, this exploitation was welcome; 20 years ago, these guys helped to popularize the manga genre in Western markets.

So, it’s easy to understand why Lil’ Britney tried to ride the wave of Anime and profit from it (Also, noone wants to see her real face these days.). Meanwhile, I’ll stick to my “Made in Japan” originals.

Please, kill me and end my suffering.

Blaze Driver becomes a Nintendo DS game

Extrange — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 17:58:20 +0000

Sometimes, you can see it coming from miles away…. According to Ds Fanboy and Famitsu, Blazer Drive is being converted to a Nintendo Ds. This by itself isn’t nothing surprising, but the small detail is that Blazer Drive only has 3 chapters out! Remember what I said on this post? I guess I was really made to be a Ds game…

Now, we have several issues with it: First, it’s being made by Sega, which isn’t the most reliable games producer for conversions; Second, whe only have 3 chapters worth of plot! But the screenshots around seem to imply they are using a parallel plot to make the game free from the manga plot. Hey, if it worked with the Eureka Seven games…

EDIT: Yes, I know, the ACTUALL name is Blazer Drive….Serious screw-up I’ve made. But not going to change the title due to permalink issues. I hate you, Hotcakez….