I continue to be impressed. This time it’s not by crazy fighting shenanigans, but by the subtleties in the story telling.

It’s hawt shiz! Hah! Did you think I was gonna go all serious and stuff? For those worried about the future of Nabari posts, never fear…I’ll continue to put out nice concise posts full of pictures for the fangirls. I’m too intrigued by this show and too fond of my bite-sized posts to do anything else.

Damn right, that’s sexy for ya right there…and no, I’m not talking about Miharu or Kouichi.

[OneLiner Summary]
In the aftermath of the attack on Fuma village, Miharu and the others brainstorm with Kotarou to find a way to remove the Shinrabanshou…or at least stop the Iga ninjas from getting it.

[Thoughts]
I was expecting this episode to be pretty boring, but I got a decent “recovery” episode instead. It looks like Miharu is coming out of his shell a little bit, even if he doesn’t notice it (would he have even said anything in front of all of those people before?). Finally I get multiple options for which female to root for, and currently Anti-Gravity Shirt chick is beating Tiny Moe Loli who is beating Raimei. Nothing like a nice WOMAN to stare at instead of some little girl drawn like she’s 20 even though the facts say she’s 13.

Obligatory Yoite Shot: I want YOU for the psychopathic ninja brigade. We knit on Thursdays.

The end of this episode is what really grabbed my attention and provoked a “finally, hell yes” from me. At the end of the episode, everyone is sitting around talking about plans when someone points out that their plan would make them no different than the Iga ninjas. Instead of going baby mode and offering some lame ass logic or trying to find another way, Kotarou basically says “Damn right…I never said what we’re doing would be just.” Thank you oh fellow lover of ladies…you finally take the pretty layers off of all the heroics and point out the bullshit that’s underneath it all. It’s time to man up, grow some balls, and kick some ass like a badass instead of a hero. Here’s hoping Nabari no Ou pulls it off well.

My sentiments exactly. Like how I did that ladies…more shots for me this week! Muahaha.

Highlight: The appearance of a chick with a rack, and Kotarou’s line at the end. Hands down.
Next Week: Looks like we end up back at school again…at least for a while. Raimei’s still swinging her sword around though.
Trivia: The name “Kotarou” makes me think of the little kid from Black Blood Brothers every time I hear it.

Riex brings the WTF! Want more ninja action? Check out my exclusive interview with Naruto @ typeZERO!

Holy shit.

In one episode, Nabari no Ou has instantly grabbed my top spot for the week so far. I don’t even think Soul Eater’s third episode is going to be able to top this one. To describe it in one word: Intense. I was going to mock this show ala Naruto style, but after being riveted to the screen for the entirety of the episode, there’s just no way I can do that. And man, I’m not disappointed. I’m freaking excited.

Kouichi: OMG! Injuries aren’t just composed of random blood and dirt-caked faces! I didn’t sign up for this!

[OneLiner Summary]
The group heads into the exposed Fuma village where they are assaulted by a group of Iga ninjas and summarily pwned.

[Thoughts]
We get a good sampling of the fighting intensity that J.C. Staff is putting into this show, especially with Yoite’s power. I was sitting in my chair cringing at the sound of bones cracking, muscles ripping and voices screaming in agony. The anime manages to be more explicit than the manga in a less graphic way. The music and lack of music during battles was superb. Go back and watch the beginning of Raimei’s solo fight to see what I mean about the absence of music making a scene that much more intense, and check out the closing of Yoite’s battle and see if the music there gets your heart racing any faster.

I haven’t really read anything beyond this point in the manga, and I’m beginning to wonder exactly where the show’s going to go from here. Is Miharu going to go through the all-too-typical training procedures that every shounen character must face before setting out on some grand journey? I honestly would like to see the plot continue with Miharu at his same power because it’d be nice to see Nabari really put an emphasis on urgency. However, considering the fact that there doesn’t seem to be anything to race the clock for we’ll probably settle into a bit of a character development lull. Not a bad thing, but with an episode this intense, you can’t help but want more.

He makes the ladies swoon…Oh yes, that means you. You’re all ladies in the eyes of Yoite.

Highlight: This episode had so many “Oh Fsck!” moments I didn’t know what to do with myself. I’m going to have to award the highlight to Yoite getting swatted by a giant cat/fox/whatever though. I was practically jumping out of my seat when that happened.

Next week wraps up the battle at Fuma village and introduces us to Fuma Kotaru’s antics.

Bonus!!!

Check out the video for the OP song! It’s one of my faves this season.

Now that I’ve seen the whole video I like the song even more…not to mention there’s a cute chick ripping on bass. Hawt.

Hahaha! LOL…yeah! Fag.

Nabari no Ou entries are not going to be of epic proportions (yet). Due to some “complications” I guess I’ll be handling Nabari mostly by myself. This wasn’t the planned idea, so you’ll have to give me a week or two to redo my mindset and get this series kicked into gear. For now, you get a glimpse of some ideas stolen from my future Soul Eater posts, as well as my outlook on the show and where it could go.

And by the way, for anyone who’s interested I’ve shortened my name to just “Rieu Riex”…may the lazy (me) rejoice!

Let’s start out by saying that I LOVE this show, it’s great. However, as it has become the substitute for Naruto in my blogging world I find myself compelled to blog it in a similar manner. These posts are more than likely going to filled with a substantial dose of vitriolic commentary, just know that at the heart I love this show no matter how much I make fun of or praise it.

Uh huh. I bet one day you’ll be the Hokage too, right?

Stolen from future Soul Eater posts, the Bullet Speed Summary:

• A new character, Raimei is introduced. She arrives in Banten village to examine the Shinrabanshou’s worthiness as a leader in the “psh…are you even cool enough to be king?” manner. This eventually leads to her discovering that Miharu isn’t a cold-hearted bastard and blah blah blah…we’ve seen this drill before.
• Miharu has been secretly practicing his ninja techniques, and once Raimei finds out she decides to take Miharu to her native village of Fuma. It is here that she hopes to introduce him to Fuma Kotaru, a leading authority on all things related to ninja techniques. The group takes a train to Tokyo and a bus from there to the woodlands where Fuma village is located. Along the way we discover that Tobari is afraid of riding in vehicles and walks everywhere he goes.
• Upon arriving at the woodlands, Raimei starts describing the “Mist” technique that keeps Fuma village hidden. As the group progresses further into the woods they discover that somehow the mist technique has been destroyed and the village attacked…

*crush* Lucky Miharu…

Not a whole lot of action going on in this episode, although we did get a closer look at some of the quirks of our protagonists. Tobari sensei is afraid of vehicles, Kouichi instantly gets an uber crush on Samurai-Blonde, Miharu likes to save birds…and Raimei has a habit of mistaking people’s identities. I’ve only read a little further than this in the manga, so I know enough to be excited about the next couple of episodes but I’m as lost as anyone else after that.

I’m trying to come up with appropriate nicknames (semi-stolen from future Soul Eater posts, though not as in depth) for all the characters and reader suggestions are welcome. Samurai-Blonde is staying because it’s just way too fitting. I don’t have any great ideas for the other characters yet although I do like calling Kouichi “Fag”. That’s not very original however…

Didn’t someone ask for a million pictures of this guy? Maybe I should call him “Oh shi-! Sensei”

Highlight: My personal favorite moment from this episode (and probably what I’ve read of the manga) is when Miharu totally disarms two opposing basketballs players with just a look. Absolutely hilarious, especially when you add their line “My parents would’ve killed me.” Go watch it again…absolutely classic.

More like Nabari no PIMP. That’s right, the PIMP of Nabari. Let’s just go ahead and start this out right by saying that I am automatically going to be biased in every way possible in regards to this show. Hell, the ED wasn’t anything special, but I’m gonna say it rocked anyway. If that doesn’t give you an idea of what’s ahead, then you’re out of luck.

Instead of the whole sub-section shebang, I’m just going to give a general overview of what I thought ramble and rant about the first episode of the show.

I still haven’t been able to adjust to females doing male voices yet (you don’t notice it as much when you’re reading subtitles as opposed to watching the raws), but I’ve actually got no complaints for Narabai’s auditory gender-bender. What the heck am I talking about? The main character, Miharu Rokujo (a male), is voiced by Rie Kugimiya (a female), who also voiced Shana in another production by J.C Staff, Shakugan no Shana. Despite the male/female difference, I thought the voice-acting was pulled off quite well. Kugimiya is joined by some other noteworthy talent that I don’t feel like going into detail about. The OP for Nabari…was craziness…I LOVED it, especially when it got to the chorus.

The art style is fantastic. The characters are very well done (can’t expect any less from J.C.Staff) and designed to my liking. I did notice that a lot of the backdrops in the episode were still-shots that looked like they had been painted…at first glance you think “cheap”, but after a few seconds of adjusting to it, it just seems to add to the look of the show. The fight scenes…OMG THE FIGHT SCENES…absolutely great. Like…pre-Chonin exam Naruto, good-day-Bleach, or omgtheyareactuallyfighting Shakugan no Shana good. Pretty…

There aren’t any subs out yet, so I won’t attempt to go into detail about who did what to who’s mother or where Ninja-boy gets his magical flower-powers from, but just know, without a doubt I WILL be blogging this. WILL. *exit fanboy…*

Extrange Small Remark: Fscking better than Naruto. *draws out the katana to fence off any incoming Narutard.*