THAT Animeblog

Since April just won’t come fast enough, I’ve decided to start my own feature or two here so that I have something to blog until the new season rolls around. I also figured that I’d need something to fill the gaps in April while I wait for all the shows I’m interested in to come out. With that in mind, I’ve created the “Friday Ramble”.

The basic premise of the FR (as I’ll be referring to it out of laziness) is pretty straightforward. While browsing around the site, I noticed that there are some shows I watch (some of them quite popular) that were either never blogged, or have been dropped by their previous authors. Now, I don’t intend to pick these up and blog them seriously, but it wouldn’t hurt to drop a quick summary/opinion and a couple of screens for them would it? I didn’t think so.

So, in short, the FR is a bulk blog on a few ongoing series, and maybe a few series that I missed but have been checking out recently. Quick, to the point, but just enough to show you that I (kinda) care. This week, read on for: BLEACH, NARUTO, ROSARIO + VAMPIRE, and D.GRAY-MAN! Read more.

Hi everyone! This is Otoha, your new Manga writer ^__^

I’ll be writing about Naruto and Bleach and if time allows, more popular Mangas such as D.gray.man. I hope you like it.

Bleach; this Manga gave meaning to my life! I’ll be honest, I’m a bleach freak. Just to tell you how much I love it, 3 weeks ago I went to buy a Katana in N.Y. I found a Japanese store and there I saw a beautiful blue-gray Daikatana. What did I do? Of course I took it out of its scabbard, hold it right in front of me and said “Ban-kai!” but nothing happened (still wondering why) Worse was the reaction of the manager, he asked me if I was drunk and that I should Not come to a place with dangerous items when I’m high! So mean T_____T

In any case, I will review chapters 277 through 286 and then the recent chapters in the next entry.
Let’s go directly to the last major battle in Bleach; the best one in my opinion so far, the Ichigo – Grimmjow fight.
Man I was waiting for this forever! To see Ichigo in his full potential once again since Zaraki fight.

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I’ve been lazy lately. I’d like to blame Bleach for its uninspirational chapters and general shitty-ness, but that’s not really a good excuse. I’ve seen people persevere through thick and thin, and I really ought to do the same. But, for now, let’s play catch-up.

Due to popular demand, I have replaced my review of Bleach with Darkshaunz’s incredibly awesome review.

Bleach 284-286
My, what an amazing turn of events, Strawberry Face has defeated The Lion King, and just after he picks up the Dragonboobs to rescue Snow White….Edward Scissorhands joins the game! Not before shearing some of the Lion King’s vitals though!

And ladies and gentlemen, lets not forget Strongsad, who is currently wanking in the Twilight Zone waiting for his turn to swipe at Strawberry Face! Will our endeared fruit survive the chain of baddies wanting to put him on top of a Black Forest slice? Find out next week on another EXCITING installment of ChloroZzzzzzzzZzzzzz

Naruto 363-365
Lots of startling revelations in these last few chapters, especially the introduction of the last two Akatsuki member and Tobi’s real identity. Not to mention Karin’s stalker habits, and the announcement of the latest Naruto movie. I like how Itachi’s reaction is handled, which somehow managed to make him seem much more human, while at the same time retaining his mysterious aura. Despite all the questions answered though, Kishimoto just gives us more questions. Who is Uchiha Madara, really? What does Madara mean when he says “Everything will go back to as they once were… It’ll be so with the power of the sharingan, and it will be so with my, Uchiha Madara’s, power”? Knowing that Sasuke has the potential to become stronger than himself, did Itachi really kill his entire family for the reasons he stated? My personal theory is that Itachi was looking to make Sasuke strong enough to topple Madara, who seems to be the most sinister character in Naruto so far.

One Piece 464-466
Both Absalom’s and Perona’s fights are more humorous than serious, especially the last chapter of the Absalom fight. Sanji just kept going on and on about the invisible fruit, and how he spent years thinking up the various ways to use it. I enjoy watching Usopp fight, because his lack of prowess forces him to fight smartly. The mix of different types of ammunition and shells makes for some very interesting possibilities, and some hilarious moments.

Next up is Zoro vs. Brook’s zombie! It doesn’t seem to me like this fight will be as one-sided as Sanji vs. Absalom or as fun as Usopp vs. Perona, but something more traditional. I wonder what’s that fire/smoke thing surrounding Ryoma?

I sleep way too much. First week only, and I’ve already missed 7 hours worth of lectures. Good thing they’re recorded, so hopefully I’ll have the will power to listen to them over the weekend.

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Uni is starting again! Oh noes *sad face*. I will try my best to make these posts as on time as possible (this one is about a week late) and to not miss any.

Bleach 282

Halbel and her officers watch Grimmjaw and Ichigo fight from a distant; as the officers banter back and forth, Halbel comments that their fear is justified. Watching an Espada fight in its released state creates a sort of primal fear, that Halbel tells her officers to treasure. She wonders to herself whether Ichigo is really human – she feels as if it’s two Espadas fighting.

Ichigo continues his fight with Grimmjaw, and Grimmjaw feels happy that Ichigo’s time with the mask has extended – he thinks that it will be boring if the mask breaks quickly like the last time they fought. Ichigo acts a little strange, and says that because it’s so boring, Grimmjaw mustn’t end his release state. The two trade blows, but Ichigo seems to be coming out on top. Ichigo dodges some projectiles attacks, but notices that it’s going to hit Orihime, and rushes over to block them with his body. His eyes meet with hers, and Orihime becomes visibly shaken.

Thoughts
Largely a battle chapter, we get to see a little more of Halbel and her minions. One thing that especially annoys me about the recent chapters of Bleach is how Kubo continuously rub the fact that Ichigo is like a Hollow in our face. Okay, we get it already, please move onto something else.

Other things of note:

Naruto 361

The battle draws to a close as Deidara uses the C4 at point blank range. He jumps away from the ballon that is filled with C4 and surrounds Sasuke, and releases a small bird into the air. Inside the balloon, Sasuke sees the C4 fill his blood stream, and quickly bursts out of the balloon using Chidori. With a last ditch attempt he rushes towards Deidara through the air, but Deidara sets off the bomb and they both fall into the forest.

Deidara falls heavily onto the ground, just in time to see the head of a snake evaporate. Just as he celebrates his victory, however, Sasuke appears behind him and hits him hard. Deidara wonders how Sasuke managed to survive, and notices that Sasuke had sent lightning element chakra into his own body. Sasuke explains that he had noticed Deidara’s bomb’s weakness – that his bombs were a earth elemental jutsu, and with Sasuke’s lightning element chakra disarms the bombs. Sasuke then explains how he tested the bombs using various incarnations of chidori, wondering whether the bombs that weren’t exploding didn’t do so because of the lightning chakra or because of Deidara’s will. Then he explains how he used the sword stabbed into the ground earlier to test the land mines, which weren’t controlled by Deidara, and confirmed the lightning jutsu nullifies the bombs. When Deidara asks how he can see the mines, Sasuke explains that his eyes allowed him to see the colour of chakra.

Thougts

More quality fighting from Kishimoto. Only two points I want to raise this week – what was that last bird that Deidara released, and how did Sasuke see the mine? I understand he can see chakra, but can he see through the ground? There has never been any indication that the Sharigan grants X-ray vision, which seems to be an ability more along the line of the Hyuga’s Byakugan.

One Piece 462

As the other three head onward to help Brook and Nami, Usopp remains to fight Perona. Not only are Perona’s depression spirits useless against Usopp, his depressing nature is so great that the spirits and Perona themselves become affected.

Meanwhilst, Brook continues to fight his zombie, but is defeated. As Ryuuma is about to cut off his afro, the ship shakes violently, and Franky and Zoro burst into the room to save Brook. Zoro sets his eyes on Ryuuma’s sword, one of the 21 excellent grade swords, and boldly declares that he’ll take the sword from Ryuuma.

The scene shifts once again, to where Absalom is trying to marry Nami. His attempt at kissing Nami fails, as the ship shook just at that moment. He finds out that the shaking is a result of Oz playing with the tiller, and sends out all his zombie generals to stop him, but they’re all wiped out by him in one move. Just as Absalom was wondering why Oz wasn’t being obedient, Sanji arrives at the church.

Thougts
It’s hard to write about One Piece – it’s very consistently good, and I feel stupid repeating the same thing week after week. One thing of note that is going to become very apparent next chapter is the strength difference between the crew members. More on that in the next post.

Exams is finally over so I’m back on track. Sorry for skipping two weeks, but I’m going to make up for it by making this week’s post really awesome*.

Bleach 281

After seeing Ichigo’s Vaizard form, Orihime is a little shaken. Ichigo apologises to her, and reassures her that he will immediately take care of the problem. Seeing Ichigo’s mask, Grimmjaw roars in laughter, saying that he had waited a long time for this moment of revenge. He releases his Zanpaktou, and lets out a terrifying roar that shocks Ichigo. Finally, the fight between Ichigo and Grimmjaw begins.

Thoughts
Transitional chapter. The only really notable thing is that Grimmjaw looks retarded in his release form. 1) What’s with the tights and 2) What’s with the long hair? It’s like an unmanly version of SSJ3 Goku, which is really disappointing. The whole slender form-factor doesn’t help either. I know he’s supposed to look like a leopard or something, but the eye shadow, the long hair and the skinny body and legs just make him look like some furry fag. I hope there’ll never be any Ichigo x Grimmjaw furry doujin… just thinking about it makes me want to puke.

Apart from that little complaint, this chapter is a pretty solid one. How Orihime will ultimately react to Vaizard Ichigo could be interesting, but it could also just be a predictable “I’m not scared and I’ll still love you forever and ever” thing, which would be disappointing. The fight is in the usual Kubo style, lots of close ups then zoom out showing the wider action, nothing particularly exciting yet. Hopefully that will change with the upcoming chapter. There hasn’t been a decent fight since Soul Society, and the last good sword fight was against Zaraki Kenpachi – everything after that were more like magicians throwing fireball at each other than anything else.

Naruto 360

Sasuke’s fight against Deidara heats up as Deidara busts out his ultimate bomb, the C4. A giant Deidara appears, but simply pops like a balloon, which Sasuke initially thinks is a dud. However, when Deidara sets off the bomb, the animals within the vicinity all fall apart into little pieces. Sasuke also falls apart. Tobi explains that the C4 is in fact a lot of super tiny microscopic bombs, which are spread throughout the area when the giant Deidara explodes. Any animal that breaths it in will be filled with the little bombs, and when they’re set off they’ll destroy the body from the inside at a cellular level.

Deidara uncovers his left eye, thanks Itachi, and screams out that it is his victory, and the victory of his art. However, he feels the Sharingan behind him, and turns around to find Sasuke in level 2 seal, who hits him with Chidori. Sasuke explains that, even though the naked eye cannot see the microscopic bombs, the Sharingan could see the chakra within them, and to him the bombs looked like a mist spreading out. He could also see that where Deidara was standing was just outside the range of the bomb, and so he could easily dodge it, and that the dying Sasuke Deidara saw was simply Sasuke’s genjutsu. Deidara however, once again thanks Itachi, and bursts out of the clay bird he was riding on. He explains that, since fighting with Itachi, he had trained up his left eye to resist genjutsu and was able to break out of Sasuke’s genjutsu immediately. “Now it’s really over!” he screams, “Have a taste of my C4!”

Thoughts
The C4 is, in the words of Tobi, a ‘terrible jutsu’. It is essentially a biological weapon, a gas bomb that you breath in, and as such is impossible to avoid. Even more terrible is that it can’t be seen with the naked eye, so unless you’re like Sasuke you can’t tell when you’re safe from it. One thing though – wouldn’t it be much smarter to covertly release the gas? I guess the problem here would be breathing it in yourself.

This chapter is a return to form for Kishimoto, that, in my opinion, rivals the level of the fights found at the height of Naruto, which I consider to be the ‘We’re-a-team-but-let’s-split-up-and-fight-1-on-1′ arc. Which brings up a question that I always ask – If anyone other than Sasuke was to fight Deidara, would they have any chance? It’s the same in the Sasuke pursuit arc – if the match ups were anything other than what was, the Konoha ninjas would probably have been wiped out quicker than you can say “Shounen Jump”.

Interesting to note that the wing that got cut off previously on Sasuke has been replaced by snakes. WHY ARE THERE MOTHERFUCKING SNAKES ON MY MOTHERFUCKING BACK?

One Piece 461

After Oz fell down, the Straw Hat Pirates are split into two groups – Luffy, Chopper and Robin heads towards the freezing room where Oz was stored and where Moria is napping, while Sanji and Usopp fell down to the bottom level, where they join Zorro and Franky. On the way to where Moria is, Luffy and co. runs into Hogback and Cindry, who tries to stop them. Chopper declares his disappointment in Hogback, and urges Luffy to go find Moria, saying he would defeat Hogback himself. Robin stays with Chopper, stopping Cindry from following Luffy. Hogback laughs when he realises that the deer is Chopper, and asks him to give up his shadow… or be killed and turned into the body of a zombie, as Sanji’s and Zoro’s zombies appear.

Meanwhilst, the other half of the Straw Hat’s crew stands in awe of Oz, who doesn’t notice them and walks off. The bridge that they originally intended to cross was destroyed by Oz’s fall, but Franky quickly rebuilds another one. Crossing the bridge, they walk into Perona’s room, and are quickly taken out by her Ghosts Ghost Fruit, all except for Usopp, who’s immune to its powers because he’s already depressive. Elsewhere, in the Thriller Bark’s church, Absalom is seconds away from stealing Nami’s sweet lips.

Thoughts
Pretty much just set up for the upcoming battles – Luffy vs Moria, Chopper and Robin vs Sanji’s and Zoro’s zombies, and Usopp vs Perona. Not much to note other than that… some really funny moments again, especially when Usopp loudly declares that he is already a depressive.

I’m going to get my wisdom teeth removed tomorrow (4th of July), so next week’s entry might come a little later, depending on how drugged up I am, or if there’s any complication with the operation. Wish me luck!

*A lie.

Okay, this is kind of big, like it’d-take-3-days-to-load-on-a-modem big (1.5MB to be exact), so it will have to live after the jump. Please do take a look, because AUSUM would be an understatement.

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