We got some new swimsuits and summer outfits, and then same stuff happened as before. I think this was the first time I’ve ever been bored watching an episode of Haruhi. Not even joking, I’m completely out of interesting things to say about the same events we’ve experienced multiple times already…

Baron Ashura you are one of the lucky few…

I’ll keep this short simple (doing reconnaissance, transport, and support for a friend’s AX shindig), Baron Ashura is one lucky bastard, thus far that was the funniest moment yet in the series beating out Sayako’s wardrobe malfunction. Lastly alas for Gamia Q5, five there were yet only one might remain, but at least she went out fighting.

Show your true colors…

Let’s not forget armament and elegant controls!

Baron Ashura likes to talk dirty…

I bet it is…

Or does he/she…?

Pilder the Ride!

The Baron is not alone…

Voice recognition error…

FISSION MAILED

WRRRRRRY?

It can bounce…

Not even a scratch…even the paint is Super Alloy Z.

Says you…

We shall see…

Fucking weird…

Since your yelling I suppose not…

Today it is not so useless…

And he will be obeyed!

The Count is a fan of the Crimson Mercenary it seems…

Count Blocken caught Baron Ashura failing to dock on tape…

Now that is a missile!

Hey something is off…

…let’s not forget the policy of don’t ask don’t tell.

Sayako: I don’t know but I can tell.

Now that must be a lie! There will be more damn it, there just has to be…

Damn Gamia Q5 only landed a glancing hit.

minaide hazukashii

Ah I see you have met General Mud…

Use can be found for the dumb and the lazy…

In short a true super robot.

No argument here.

Kouji: This is better than your Aphrodai A isn’t it?

I’ve been waiting quite a long time for them to animate the scenes shown in this episode, and I will say I was quite pleased with the results. I still don’t plan on blogging this regularly, but as I said in the last season preview, I did mention the possibility of making some noise whenever some Hina <3 occurred. For more regular coverage of this show I would point you in Zyl’s direction.

How tempting…

I ask of you, are you my Master?

Does the urge to cause you great bodily harm count as her tsun side?

This would definitely be the dere side

Awwwwwwww

I remember the retarded debate that swirled over the order of episodes in the Haruhi DVDs. I found it to be extremely stupid, but maybe that is because I had already seen all of the episodes. Either way, people that had already seen the show fretted way too much about it, which was probably the point of this scene…

Manga panel on the bottom for comparison. As I mentioned above, I was waiting a long time to see this scene animated, as I’m sure many Hina fans out there would agree with me. Perhaps I’m biased for that reason, but it is definitely my favorite scene so far in the manga, and I’m glad the anime version did it justice. It is a great conclusion to the Hina arc, and was served appropriately by the ED dedicated to her. Curiously, the 13th episode often means that a new ED/OP is due on the next episode, so perhaps they will change it. The next couple of episodes at least should be focused on Isumi, so maybe an Isumi ED?

I was pleasantly surprised that the mangaka could do somewhat serious material in a way that was not too cheesy for my tastes. I was similarly impressed at how well he switched into significant character development in the events following the first few volumes.

I know some people have expressed displeasure of how the second season is going compared to the first. The first season was very episodic in nature, without a real developing plot, and instead devoted to a lot of humor. I really enjoyed that aim, and it was pretty much how the first several volumes of the manga went. However, around where the events of the second season begin, the manga shifts into more of a plot driven mode (albeit with random episodic humor thrown in), something JC Staff has done quite well on so far. The second season has followed the manga very closely, and I’m really enjoying it as well, but for different reasons than the first season. I love the characters Kenjiro Hata has created and take pleasure in watching them develop. Plus Hina is one of my top waifus. That always helps.

Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky,
Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone,
Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die,
One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.
One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,
One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.

As a sailor I cannot help but listen to sea stories, and given that this sea story is by a big shot director I will give it a chance even if the habits of Marin and Urin are strange. So yeah they are woefully under dressed and certainly being in the frigid ocean they might want to dress a bit more warmly, though I suppose that this was unavoidable given that the origins were pachinko machines. At least the rest of the sky dwellers took notice about the strange water people. Though as it was a beach is suppose that it wasn’t too far out of the realm of possibility, certainly Marin looks enough like a gaijin so that the locals wouldn’t give her crap to her face at least as they prefer to snivel behind people’s backs, Given the OP I doubt that Marin and Urin will start dressing in a more modest fashion, though certainly if they were to do a better infiltration they will have to alter their dress code. Still I can overlook such quirks of their water people society as after all every culture has their disagreeable aspects and at least under dressing is as mild as you can get.

She speaks the truth.

So Marin is a local hero who wants to help people, and is easily distracted by shiny objects. She also has the habit of bending over instead of going prone, but at least her heart is in the right place. It seems that for Marin and Urin there is great attachment to beautiful things and how they are a reflection of righteousness instead of vanity. Still I was amused that all this fuss was over ONE RING that could not be destroyed by any means that Kanon possessed, I hope that they will either resort to dragonfire or the fires of Mount Doom to destroy it. I suppose that Marin’s seeming lack of intelligence can be attributed solely to her utter ignorance of the malicious ways of the sky-dwellers, so it can be excused for now…at least until Kanon figures out that Marin must be educated. I suppose happy go lucky Marin will complement the down and out Kanon. Speaking of Kanon while Marin is getting all the glances (to be fair Marin certainly is ugly) Kanon is certainly my favorite. The poor girl gets dumped at noon and scant hours later her dipshit former boyfriend is out with another girl enjoying the sights. I hope eventually Kanon levels up to Mogami Kyoko-class so that she can send forth her hate to strangle her tormentor. Still she does have that dark mode going for her and on occasion she does have some G Gundam mannerisms.

This hand of mine glows with an awesome power…IT”S LOUD ROAR TELLS ME TO GRASP VICTORY!

I did like the judicious use of SD where appropriate so it kept the magical girl feel and provided respite from Marin and Urin’s choice of dress. As much as I think Urin has her moments just looking at her makes me feel kind of dirty. I guess that even if every one is sporting expose midsection that a couple inches of cloth kind of make a difference. I did like Kanon’s mom though I have my doubts that she should be looking twenty and fitting into her daughter’s high school uniform, not that it is a bad thing of course… The last thing worth mentioning is the darkness which I have no clue what it is though I suppose that in good time we will see more of the story. So far for a first ep it wasn’t too bad as we met the principal characters of importance, Kanon, Marin, Urin, and Kanon’s mom. Kanon’s-ex and his new bimbo can rot in hell for all I care, undoubtedly that rather short period between break-up and new bitch probably indicates that he was a cheating son of a bitch. I am very quick to anger and even quicker to judge so I will be bashing the louse with vigor. But really fuck him.

The ED was adorable and certainly letting Urin watch the unedited version of the Little Mermaid was going to cause trouble. Still the parallel is clear beware of the land of the sky-dwellers, also the Little Mermaid was a dumb bimbo and it’s best to not do what she did, namely she should have stabbed that faithless dog that passed for a prince.

Impz’s little corner of annoyance

It is only a sign of their vanity and ill-gotten wealth, not virtue.

… And it’s good to be back. I wonder if I am a forgotten man already.

After watching Umi no Monogatari, I have a sense of ambivalence about the show. It’s not that there is something fundamentally wrong or unwatchable from the show. I mean, the girls are pretty, the animation is good and there is enough fanservice to fulfil those fans who enjoy cute little things in cute little swimsuits. The show had good production values and some major cash pumped in albeit the current economic downturn. It ended on a decent climax, and we still do not have any idea where it is going. Also, the director as repeated by Crusader a few times in private, is a big shot director that has done the likes of Kanon and Aria. Surely, nothing wrong can come out of this, right?

The story goes about with a typical ditsy sea maiden. She decided to bring a beautiful ring to the “Air land” because she wanted to return it to the beautiful person who threw it off to the sea. The story in the first episode evolves around her search for the girl and an introduction of the other cast, such as her younger grumbling loli sister. The episode ended with her loli sister unsealing a malicious soul from the tomb.

After watching the show, there is something wrong. More accurately, something is missing. Now, I am sitting down thinking: Why does the show bore me, even when the evil spirit came out? Why am I not feeling anything for these characters, like I felt for the characters in Kure-nai since the very first episode? The question goes down to the unmemorable characters. None of them interests me. Their character dynamics seems commonplace and mundane. Don’t get me wrong. Mundane can be a good tool to use in a slice of life series, or when the characters are the centrepiece of the series. This just does not strike me as a character-centric show.
Perhaps the character and series will develop fast enough and become an excellent show, but I always feel that a show on its debut should have memorable and interesting characters that will pull you in. If it is not the plot that intrigues, the characters must do that before you lose interest. Both the sea maiden leads, namely Marin and Urin, just do not ooze any unique traits or qualities that are apparent immediately.

In anime, anything is possible. Hence, demanding superficial viewers like me wants something special. It’s either you make such an extraordinary ordinary character or a really weird main lead that captures your attention (for good or for bad). When it is a half-baked character like Marin, you just find it hard to find any interest. Compared to Umi No Monogatari, Aria’s characters are refreshingly quirky, especially with Athena and Alice in the mix. It’s probably a premature prediction, but I believe that the characters are going to be dividing interest. Some will consider them to be the best ever (cute innocent girls in swimsuits, count me in!) while others might bemoan their wafer-thin depth. Prove me wrong, Umi no Monogatari.

In all, Umi no Monogatari had all the right ingredients to do well in the future. Considering how the director is amazing in his many works, it can be good. However, nothing has been striking “Must watch about the show, and I have no reason to keep watching it. Maybe, if I get to see a green haired loli swimming around in that cute swimsuit… Or not.

(Crusader: Dude it’s not like Aria grabbed people by the horns right away either… Also my sailor sensibilities place you doing something unseemly in that “corner.”)

Image Dump

Urin is also aware of how much crap the sky-dwellers have dumped into the ocean as well, Aquaman told her…

I hear the A-10s are on the prowl…

I just thought that this was kind of cute.

Ditto here.

Not all of it is mind you…

It’s funny when there is no context.

With any luck she will be the hero who slays that ingrate of an ex.

It’s amazing she passed herself off as a classmate for this long…

The fake high school student is fine too.

An advocate of technical school I take it?

I concur all you need is the ability to intimidate to be successful…

Context is important…

Damn right you are mom.

Next time bring a gauntlet so you can hit him extra hard and really rearrange his face.

Cast it into the FIRE!

Oh my god, Becky, look at her butt.

In the land of Mordor…

Yes meet your new partner…

ERUPTING BURNING FINGER!

It cannot be destroyed by a weapon we here possess.

You know not even the fire of Ancalagon could destroy it…

Maybe Marin’s habits are similar to Tom’s.

But really it was an excuse to hold your hand.

Were not at the Sammath Naur yet…

Either way it’s true.

Well her ex is certainly a bottom feeder.

What is heartbreak?

Yeah because he bought it at a 99 cent store.

Let’s not forget cheap, it’s made of scrap and plastic for crying out loud…

Shit it won’t fetch much if you pawn it…

We are more terrible than that kid…

Get a metal detector.

Then turn around
Stick it out

Even white boys got to shout
Baby got back

Well you ain’t it Miss thing…

Enemy sighted…

I expect great things from her…

Terrible but great…

Yeah I don’t know why he left you for that either…

Welcome to the best years of your life.

With a wife like that I sort of understand even if I don’t approve.

Man even Kanon is checking her out.

No she’s just a tourist…

Indeed it might have chipped and shattered.

Brilliant idea old bean, children should never go about unaccompanied.

Grab your Garmin…

ARTILLERY!

If you hear it you’re fine, if not you won’t live long enough to care…

My precious…

The Ring has a will of its own…

If all else fails duck, as a defensive strategem it is unreliable, but very reassuring.

The lesson no good deed goes unpunished…

If you like Pina Coladas, and getting caught in the rain.
If you’re not into yoga, if you have half-a-brain.
If you like making love at midnight, in the dunes of the cape.
I’m the love that you’ve looked for, write to me, and escape.

Turns out he hates Pina Coladas, and getting caught in the rain.
He’s into yoga, he doesn’t have half-a-brain.
He dislikes making love at midnight, in the dunes of the cape.
He’s not the love that you’ve looked for, do not write to him, and escape.

A knife in the dark is worth a thousand swords at dawn…

Death is only the beginning…

What can I say the real deal ain’t so happy is it?

After the Little Mermaid turned to bubbles she created a tidal wave which destroyed the Prince’s Kingdom, killed the prince and the princess while she was three months pregnant…THE END

I thought that this was cute.

It seems that Ritsu got the best plot thread this time around.

So it’s finally over and it seems this time the atmosphere was suitably muted, though not much music was made, but instead I suppose that they did gel a bit more as friends. Yui being Yui was pretty standard with her antics and wanting weird food for a hot pot. Mugi-chan got a job, Azu-nyan baby sat a kitten, and Mio went off to write another song, but it seems that Ritsu was the special one this time around who thought that she had a love letter on her hands…though it turns out that they were “lyrics” sent to Ritsu by Mio. As Ritsu is not he sharpest knife in the drawer I suppose she did not pick up on how she was the one Mio was writing about. It was odd seeing another side of Ristu that haddn’t really come out before, this time she was actually concious of how she looked and we meet one member of her family, the only thing is I am not sure why this was the time to do all that. Mugi-chan might not be the best cashier in the world I respect that she is willing to work a day in her life, if not longer. Azu-nayn was woefully unprepared to take care of a kitten, and should have at least asked for food, and the number for the veterinarian. Still having seen college girls buy a puppy as a single unit I suppose the logistics involved with a pet was not much of a consideration. I did feel that Sawa-chan was sorely missing from this episode as she should have been dateless and still looking to harass her charges…

Seriously a dog is better.

Overall it wasn’t the best series EVAR, but it was enjoyable even if the music did not feature as prominently as I had initially hoped. I suppose as a slice of life thing it works as a tale of a club of four and later five girls and their very talented Teacher Advisor. To be sure there was lots of moe fodder to be had, but in the end it was kind of the point even if it got excessive at times. In the end I can only really recommend it for yuri subtext, moe, and some moments of comedy. On that level it does succeed, but it is hardly ground breaking.

Giving you mouth to mouth…

I see Mugi-chan’s habbits are starting to rub off on the rest as well…

I guess Ritsu also gets maidenly feelings too.

Some nothing…

Mugi-chan could sense that Ritsu might fall…

Mio should have confessed at this point.

Oh look a job!

Like I said cats suck.

She works hard for the money…

Kind of scary but I do like those twin tails…

Wow so there is someone who can do worse than British cuisine…

I can see why Ritsu would rather have Ui…

If only she changed up her hair every now and then…

For once I agree with Yui.

It’s so fun to watch.

It’s good to be the center of attention, yes?

If only the adoring public could verify that…

If only I could reach into the screen.

I bet she is…

That sounds pretty damn intimate.

I can see where she drew her insipiration from…

Mio must be curious then…

I think Mio meant from a different aspect probably from the vertical…

“Lyrics” must be code for yuri confession, duly noted.

Well what say you?

It was even hand written…as they say, it is written.

The numbering convention for this new season irritates the hell out of me. That being said I was happy we finally got into a bit of story here and more Nagato. This likely means new episodes for at least another 2 weeks to resolve this storyline if they plan on animating most of it. Good times.

BEEFCAKE

Different swimsuits this time…at least they showed some varying dialogue and scenes as to make it not look like they just re-used last week’s footage to save money. I also have noticed that these past two episodes have been a bit more overt with the fanservice then in season 1. Not that I’m complaining or anything, just an observation.

Those eyes…and I’d be bored to after doing the same stupid crap 15,000 times.

Hello there.

That’s a hell of a Groundhog Day. Or for those younger readers who watch more anime then older American movies, where are you K1?! On second thought, you people should all go watch the movie Groundhog Day if you haven’t. It’s classic cinema dammit. Damn kids these days.

Too close! Don’t think I’ve seen such high yaoi bait content in a Haruhi episode before. Beefcake Kyon, multiple instances of flamboyancy and fabulousness from Itsuki, and then this scene…it was pretty steamy. Maybe they felt a need to balance out the service a bit?

Crusader’s Observations

The man of the hour, and perhaps at this point the only man…

So it was pretty much the same as last time sans the Itano Circus, but what new stuff there was I did enjoy. Mikuru laid on the helpless moe girl on a bit thick, but by now I suppose that is about as much as can be expected of her at this stage. I confess I could have gazed into Yuki’s eyes 15,498 times, but I suppose that the only good thing repetition is for is developing muscle memory. I live in freaking San Francisco so the flamboyancy is hardly an issue though I do like how Itsuki is at least acting boldly and decisively, in contrast Kyon is turning out to a bit of a pussy in not confronting issue and trying to weasel his way out of having to do anything, failing to realize Yuki’s plight was simply the most egregious of his crimes. Even when the moment of truth came he hesitated, just goes to show that just because you are a heterosexual doesn’t disallow cowardice. My respect for Itsuki actually grew for once as he seemed to piece everything together and did request Kyon act as he was the only one who could. I fail to recall his eyes being fully open on this many occasions. While Kyon mired himself in his own ignorance Itsuki was the first to realize that poor Yuki had been aware of the temporal loop, Mikuru calling him first indicates that even Mikuru realizes just how reliable Itsuki is. In my line of work that is something highly valued and certainly it seems that if given half the chance that Itsuki could easily gain a reputation for getting the job done.

Then you sir would be incredibly brave.

Optimus Prime and his Autobots ist mein Kameraden.

To start off this post is simply meant to address poor tj_han’s NERDRAEG over Transformers Revenge of the Fallen, hopefully before he pulls out all of his hair as Michael Bay suckers more people (he even got jpmeyer) into watching this film one of them presumably being tj_han unless he got in for free. First thing one needs to know is that Michael Bay is no artist he is anything but subtle (among other things), but the thing he does have is a big budget and Transformers is to be honest true to the spirit of the entire franchise and by that I mean toy whoring and making money, hopefully by now tj_han will realize Hollywood has no taste and that their only real saving grace is having a bigger pot of money than everyone else, otherwise Bollywood would have destroyed them long ago. Also hopefully by now he can stop flaming people for being what he considers ignorant sheep, which I value for tax paying purposes and one ought to sheer their sheep not burn them alive. I see Michael Bay’s Transformers trilogy (Bayformers if you prefer) as one long commercial that I for one just want to see how far they will go in pimping products and how much Uncle Sam is willing to show off taxpayer money that has been spent on weapons that bring joyous oblivion to the enemies of freedom. The Mountain Dew Transformer (Dispensor) shooting out cans of soda should have made it plain what Michael Bay is out to do. So without further ado I dedicate this post to poor Singaporean Conscript tj_han to enlighten him about one of his major gripes, the one pertaining to Uncle Sam and other things.

Best Recruiting Film EVAR

He will have my vote in 2012. Optimus Prime loves America more than anyone I know and he’s an alien!

I’ll cut tj_han some slack because he is a poor oppressed conscript drafted unwillingly into Singapore’s army at a young age as photographer or what I call a cushy public affairs job, not that I blame him for being cunning and crafty the lucky git. Believe it or not Uncle Sam isn’t liked much by the majority of his ungrateful nephews and nieces many of whom have become chickenhawks or hippies and when one of them is willing to talk to the old coot is overjoyed at a chance to show off his prized collection of weapons like an otaku would show off his limited edition stuff and his ero-game collection. Transformers 1 was a chance to pimp the F-22 and V-22 which had incredibly controversial development cycles, now that that budget war is over it was high time to get more volunteers hence it has always been a recruitment film otherwise why waste the jet fuel and ordinance? Unlike a conscript army where unemployed high school graduates can be dragged out and forced to work; Uncle Sam has a heart of gold while your ODEX overlords do not. Thus Uncle Sam needs volunteers and what better way get as many as he can than by telling his nephews and nieces that they might actually get a chance to fight alongside Optimus Prime and get Arcee to give them a ride. Also the railgun thing was probably a joke too since if tj_han knew then he would have realized just how much effort the US Navy has put into to pursue holy grail that is the railgun. Also carriers need lots of people to crew it and there is never enough crew so it was time to pimp them too especially after the Mission Accomplished debacle… Also if tj_han really does hate Uncle Sam he is racist because Obama is President now, and how typically Asian is that for him to be afraid of the negroes…tsk tsk comrade let’s try not to live up to Asian stereotypes and practice Kung Fu instead. Also it would mean that I will have to give tj_han a Glasgow Smile (WHY SO SERIOUS?) so we can all be friends again because Impz would be sad if we could not get along and because his trappiness thinks tj_han should smile more. Also it’s not Uncle Sam’s fault that Optimus Prime would rather fight alongside Americans, Brits, and Jordanians than him (honest it’s because he doesn’t blog about Shin Mazinger Z).

In regards to Megan Fox

Starscream had issues with working with Megan Fox…until he tried her toast.

I do believe that beauty has always been in the eye of the beholder, I could not possibly care less if there are men who find her hawt. It’s like how Yui beat out Ui in popularity love blind and seemingly retarded as well. Besides she is a law abiding citizen of these United States. Also it seems excessively mean to call her ugly and fake as she has been punished enough by having to make out on camera with Shia LaBeouf.

The source of all his troubles…

He gave Shia LaBeouf an acting career in exchange for for his dignity…

It’s actually the Devil. It is no secret that Shia LaBeouf has signed a deal with the Devil as nothing else can explain the ease in which he gets jobs as an actor and hos is movies don’t always bomb. It’s like Indiana Jones 4 his movies just kinda just turn to shit that some how makes money. Against the Devil there can be no victory because the Devil was created through the collective fapping and lustful thoughts of all otaku. It’s time to learn to live with it and stop demanding a refund from Michael Bay and start doing figure reviews again. If a 21% on Rotten Tomatoes could not stop people from seeing it one can only resign themselves to the inevitable conclusion that suckers are born every minute and the rantings and ravings of one enlightened genius is all but stifled in the face of people with no taste. If you want to get back you money I suggest you start selling bootlegs of Michael Bay’s films, the problem is actually finding a buyer. What can I say comrades? Shit happens, Michael Bay got to do Transformers (if only that online petition had succeeded) and George Lucas got to do Episodes I-III and Indiana Jones 4. Now let us pray to Haruhi-sama for deliverance and another light novel.

Now if you’ll excuse me I have to go help the Autobots hunt Decepticons and have tea with my personal hero Soundwave. Lastly it was also part of President Obama’s plan to bail out GM, thank you all who saw the film so that we may keep making oversized gas guzzling turcks and SUVs.

I hope he can play my Betamax tapes too…

Yeah I still can’t believe Michael Bay is spearheading the franchise now…

They are still out there…

Ah memories…

Well about two months ago back in April I should have marked my 2nd blog anniversary but things have not really been normal to say the least. Well I suppose that this post will at least mark the start of my terrible twos in which case quality will plummet as will output (Mwahahahaha). I started the year off by getting my apartment broken into and making E-5. Now that my academic career is at an end it basically fell upon me to make good on my newfound responsibilities at work, which meant having a whacked out schedule of extended hyperactivity every now in then. In July it will be a brutal month as I get to fly to Virginia twice in the same month to the same place, knowing what I know now it basically means four or more red eye flights unless the paper work goes over well. Still I do get to make the traditional after graduation road trip, and hopefully that will be a bit more interesting than the usual. While summer looks to be a hit or a miss at least there is the promise of the Macross Movie (Which will be Gorgeous Delicious DECULCHA!). So here goes the mandatory late as hell rant I am supposed to do at the end of every blog year, which is conversely an opportunity to muse aimlessly in a futile effort to put together a post.

Oh Mazinger Z how I lament that your tale is shrouded in obscurity.

While Impz might have gone from gun monkey to desk jockey in the Singaporean Corps of Conscripts, I haven’t earned the right to chain myself to a desk just yet, to be perfectly honest I am finding just how magical a time being an E-5 is. I get the headaches of an E-6, and the physical exhaustion of being an E-4, but at least I do get a little extra here and there and most importantly I am still low enough on the great totem pole to evade responsibility. I also just lost my other half (partner in crime/co-worker) so I get to have twice the work load until I finish training the E-4, but at least she’s a good learner and I don’t have to baby sit an E-3 with “issues.” All in all I am edging towards the point that I might end up as exhausted as Zeon. I suppose this comes with the territory as I suspect that most bloggers are students rather than overworked soldaten, certainly there will probably come a point where the number of posts per week simply declines.

Also now that college is over and done with I actually got back into my other hobbies, and oddly enough while I have some issues with Valkyria the anime I still love the game to pieces to the point I actually want to do my Imperial Guard in Gallain colors and find some local saint who does resin casting for female Cadians/Kasrkin because I must have a model to represent Jane “Kill ‘em All” Turner (hey if anyone knows one drop a line). It also saddens me that there is very little enthusiasm for Shin Mazinger Z, but I suppose it might be time to bring out the reserves of stuff I have been meaning to watch but haven’t, Guin Saga, Eden of the East, etc. I still need to settle for a format on doing VOTOMS since condensing it into one post per arc would make it tl;dr, not that I think too many people are interested in going back in time to see what mecha was before yaoi, cowards, harem, and idiot soapbox preaching started taking hold.

I suppose it has been good going for the last two years plus some, but it has been a long time since I actually watched a shoujo series since Skip Beat! ended, though I am hoping there will be a point where the anime starts up again. Still the manga is still running along smoothly so it partially makes up for it. I suppose I am growing old if it’s becoming more fun to reminisce about the old days. If nothing else at least when Gundam 00 aired I could placate myself with the additional activity of praising the Immortal Colasour and his marrying above him. Well so far it’s been a good run even if productivity has slackened as of late. I hope that there will be a series that I will genuinely love to pieces that I can put into words come summer. As much as I like Shin Mazinger Z it’s pretty simple and I suppose very niche these days as it lacks modern aspects of mecha. Valkyria is turning out to be a re-interpretation of the game storyline that I don’t find terribly agreeable but it was always meant to be a festival of mediocrity that only fans of the game would stick with to the bitter end. Ah well with a Gundam Unicorn Movie due out within my life time and the promise of a Macross Frontier Movie with 70% redone animation I guess there is much to look forward to. So as a extremely premature celebration of a Macross Frontier largely free of QUALITY animation IMAGE DUMP GO!

There is a correlation…

Gatoh Shoji, what the fuck are you doing? Why are you writing anime scripts instead of finishing Full Metal Panic? Why do you hate your fans so much? The last book was published more than a year and a half ago, and ended on a unsettling, climatic twist. You already had your fun with GONZO’s Tower of Druaga, and unless you’re writing scripts for the next Full Metal Panic anime, you need to get the fuck back to writing novels.

(Because Orion asked so nicely, here’s a spoiler warning: The following paragraph contains a spoiler that everybody who actually cares about Haruhi probably knows already anyway. Have a nice day.)

Kadokawa, fuck you, I know what you’re pulling with this episode. Some time in the future we’ll get another episode where Kyon finds out about the endlessly repeating day, probably after you show us this exact same episode again. The ending will be slightly different, and you’ll save however much it costs to make 1 episode of anime. Yes, I have so little esteem in Kadokawa and KyoAni now, I can honestly believe that they would do this. The new and deproved OP/ED/animation in general makes me RAEG hard.

Tanigawa Nagaru is still sitting on his ass not writing the next Haruhi novel. No one likes your fucking manga. It’s a piece of shit, your mangaka sucks, and WHY WON’T YOU WRITE MOAR HARUHI. At least if they got the original character designer, Takeda Hinata, to draw it, it would be worth reading for the art alone. Actually I don’t know what I expect out of him anymore, since Haruhi is his only original and good series.

Eden of the East has movies. I would rage except I haven’t been following this show, and won’t bother until the movies come out on DVD and gets subbed (sometime in 20-FUCK-IT-ALL). At least March Comes in Like a Lion is still going steadily on. In terms of other manga, even Skip Beat is going into a bit of a lull, with the current arc boring the shit out of me. xxxHolic is being affected by Tsubasa’s “I’m-a-giant-crock-of-shit” syndrome and has long since became unbearable. It’s also pulling the Bleach card with an average of 3 frames a page.

I would rage about Bleach and Naruto, but what’s the point? The only Jump manga I get any real joy out of now-a-days is Gintama. Even One Piece is boring me a bit with its current arc. While I’m on the topic of Jump, Shaman King’s new ending is no better than the old one, and HxH is still on endless hiatus.

That’s more than enough pointless rage for today. Time to go play some TF2 and get owned so I can have a reason to rage some more.

Time for a career change boys.

I apologize for the delay on this post (my higher brain functions were haveing difficulty coping with the Gamia sisters talking in unison), it’s just that I felt saddened at the untimely death of the four Gamia Q sisters, ah well I hope that there will be Gamia Q3 2.0 later on. Such a terrible waste…I would not have minded much at all if they had persisted a bit longer. Still I suppose that it was inevitable given that Baron Ashura was giving out orders, if only Blocken was in charge for a while rather than the butt monkey that is Baron Ashura is right now. Still overall there was much to like and Kouji did keep his weeping to a minimum. I suppose that after granting us all a lot of time to admire the aesthetics of Gamia Q3, which is probably the most graceful mecha of the year; that it was to be balanced out by not only manservice, but shouta-service. Still it seems that he rest of the Mazinger Army is still sucking hard, and they were even berated by the three good engineers that built them, I was grateful that the piss ants were finally forced to shut up and admit their grievous deficiencies. While the other pilots of the Mazinger Army suck, it seems that at least the Kurogane House 5 are some badass motherfuckers, though I am not sure if we can consider Cross to be mecha ase well despite having Alloy Z parts.

That is one hell of a hickey…

It was also the first time they finally got to showing breast missiles, but since they did come from Aphrodai A they were useless as Kingdan clubbed Aphrodai A and started to drag her back to his cave to mate…I suppose. Sayaka being Sayaka continues her streak of fail and some how ends up naked for Boss to see, at least she kicked him hard enough to preserve her chastity. I can see why Kouji actually considered leaving her to rot to preserve Mazinger Z. I probably would have just stuck with Mazinger Z…especially since the Jet Scrander was just finished.

Next time it seems that Sayaka is in need of saving, and hopefully Gamia Q3 will not be long in making her long awaited comeback.

Easy lover
She’ll get a hold on you believe it
Like no other
Before you know it you’ll be on your knees
She’s an easy lover
She’ll take your heart but you wont feel it
She’s like no other
And I’m just trying to make you see

She’s the kind of girl you dream of
Dream of keeping hold of
You’d better forget it
You’ll never get it
She will play around and leave you
Leave you and deceive you
Better forget it
Oh you’ll regret it

No you’ll never change her, so leave it, leave it
Get out quick cos seeing is believing
It’s the only way
You’ll ever know

Easy lover
She’ll get a hold on you believe it
Like no other
Before you know it you’ll be on your knees
She’s an easy lover
She’ll take your heart but you won’t feel it
She’s like no other
And I’m just trying to make you see

You’re the one that wants to hold her
Hold her and control her
You’d better forget it
You’ll never get it
For she’ll say there’s no other
Till she finds another
Better forget it
Oh you’ll regret it

And don’t try to change her, just leave it, leave it
You’re not the only one, ooh seeing is believing
It’s the only way
You’ll ever know, oh

No don’t try to change her, just leave it, leave it
You’re not the only one, ooh seeing is believing
It’s the only way
You’ll ever know, oh

She’s an easy lover (she’s a easy lover)
She’ll get a hold on you believe it (get a hold on you)
(She’s) like no other
Before you know it you’ll be on your knees (you’ll be down on your knees)
She’s an easy lover
She’ll take your heart but you won’t feel it (you won’t feel it)
She’s like no other
And I’m just trying to make you see (trying to make you see)

It’s like deja vu but better.

Looks like you will have to torch the place.

The hearts of many men were broken this day…

There I was completely wasting, out of work and down
All inside it’s so frustrating as I drift from town to town
Feel as though nobody cares if I live or die
So I might as well begin to put some action in my life

Breaking the law, breaking the law
Breaking the law, breaking the law
Breaking the law, breaking the law
Breaking the law, breaking the law

Busted…not that I blame any of you.

I have to say they were tailor made to kill Japanese, after all they do have twin tails…

Maybe he’ll find them so moe he’ll die.

Hey they do keep their cloaks on hand…

I like her style.

And they’re mass produced what is not to love about this mecha?

More like Angels of Death…probaly Dark Angels.

Lazy Kouji is Ultimate Lazy for Mazinger…

Wow this is old school breast missles…

Kingdan had to compel Aphrodai A to go home with him.

This looks pretty badass.

She wears her emotions on her sleeve.

I like her smile.

Q3 was always the smart one, it was she who propsed they torch the place to draw out Kouji…

It’s Dr. Doom!

Now that is a LARP weapon I’d pay good money for…

I kind of hate Cross for doing this…

The most favored.

She has Feel No Pain, because those knives were only AP5.

It’s not really a trick…

Yeah a cheesy one trick pony, sort of like a Vampire Counts Army only with 15 Ratling guns.

Kids these days…

What’s better than three? Four of course…

She must be the stealthy one.

You know part of me actaully thinks that a Gamia Q would make for a better pilot for Mazinger Z…

Oh is that what happened?

Shouldn’t this be on the actual round rather than the casing?

Sure, preferably dead of course…

Yeah, that is why you actually have to make sure people die once in a while…

Kingdan found a waifu…

At least Baron Ashura thought this one out a bit.

So Mechanical Beasts do have feelings…

So it cries when it shoots?

He was literally under a rock…

Not as much as this…

A new challenger has appeared.

The answer is obvious…

I see mecha effectiveness decays with each academic generation…

What do you mean a bit?

Grumpy old men…

Full of fail indeed…

HELL NO!

Not talking so big now are ya?

Damn right Mazinger Z won not Kouji.

I can’t wait to see this thing in action.

Damn good a lassoing.

Kingdan also clubbed her over the head…

They only needed safety pins to secure her…

I see Kouji has problems just saving Sayaka…

Yeah I suppose that choosing between Mazinger Z and Sayaka is a hard choice…

Round 1…

This just looks so cool.

Oh Sayaka yo just can’t beat the Gamia Q Sisters…

Yes Boss has ruined you for marriage.

YOu know Gamia Q3 would have simply killed him…

May I try some of your tasty beverage? After a couple of weeks of repeats we finally get a new episode of Haruhi V2.0, although it had little to do with plot advancement in a significant way. In the most widely circulated guess as to the order of airing of new episodes, it looks like the next couple of weeks should be new as well, but nothing has been made official.

Whenever I see pools like that I always think “how many little kids are peeing in that?” Needless to say I don’t go to public pools, I am strictly a private pool guy.

This is pretty much exactly what I look like when people wake me up in the morning with a phone call.

The alien mask, how appropriate. And I think this was unfortunately Yuki’s only spoken line the entire episode. I was quite disappointed at the lack of any major Yuki content this episode. However, as someone who has read the novels, I can say that the future bodes well for those of us who enjoy Yuki.

He should have asked for a reroll.

Bug catching? Seriously, that’s disgusting.

Wow, that’s pretty fucked up. Making them work in those retarded outfits all day in the summer just so she can nab a frog outfit. All while she hung out eating popsicles.

What I did find interesting about this episode is that the raw amount of “fun” activities they shoved into one episode gave me some perspective on what anime portrays as activities young Japanese people enjoy. I have know way of knowing how much of this is true in real life as entertainment mediums often do not reflect reality. But when I was in high school I would have found most of what they did incredibly boring and/or a stupid waste of my time. But then again I was a nerd, and I’d have rather gone to a LAN party or stayed home and played CS…

The episode was alright, but I’ve seen random slice of life stuff in tens of other shows although it was actually one of the top generic slice of life episodes I’ve seen. However, the reason I watch this show is for the other, stranger aspects of it all. I know most of this stuff was in the books, but that doesn’t necessarily make it amazingly interesting. Although it sure did look really nice, KyoAni definitely knows how to make quality animation.

Ui is indeed bold…but is she daring?

Well it seems that there is one last hurrah for the K-ON group, and at least there was a good concert for once though I was hoping Sawa-chan would also grab a costume to fit in for the first song. Still Ui did put on a convincing front while cosplaying as Yui, it was a masterful deception, but she was undone by her over politeness and Sawa-chan’s accurate assessment of bust size. I guess this is yet more proof that Sawa-chan is more interested in girls. I also very much liked the Mugi-chan fashion show which was simply awesome, in fact it even overawed the normally taciturn Mio, who was possessed by the yuri. I would have gone with he qipao or bunny girl outfits but I guess the modified yukata was good enough. I am still surprised that Yui is getting far more love than Ui who has demonstrated what great waifu material that she is. The only question I really have left at this point is what did Nodoka do will a bath tub full of crayfish, certainly that would have made for some good eating. Ah well it will all be over for reals soon, I wonder what they will come up with next. One last note, Yui has some weird dreams. Still I highly approve of Yui attempting to kiss Azu-nyan, and as far as I am concerned they connected.

Ah the fruits of Sawa-chan’s labors.

Combat Waitress?

This one is my favorite.

I was hoping for Hell’s Bunny but this is fine too.

Indeed Mugi-chan is smexy.

A most convincing disguise…

Yeah was Yui ever this good?

Ui has many talents…

Though her ability to excel will be her undoing…

Mio you might have to do a strip search to confirm identity.

Oh Ui you were just too perfect…

…and too polite.

Yeah Ricchan sounds better.

Mugi-chan sounds more proper if you ask me…

Ui proves her superiority once again…

Fret not Ui the myth of Yui’s murderous intent was all a fabrication, from one disgruntled denizen that was sent to a former penal colony…

Indeed it seems drafting Ui would solve all of your problems…

Damn I wish I could trade places with Yui right about now…

Loli Nodoaka just doesn’t feel right without her glasses…

Oh can I glomp Azu-nyan too?

:3

It happened I tell you!

Ah the Legendary Weapon of Sawa-chan.

Insert cherry popped joke here.

Get use to the feeling, Mugi-chan your tea making was not in vain.

You’re late.

I wanted her to go WILD.

I still have trouble considering Yui as the succesor to Sawa-chan.

Damn right, now these kids have taste.

At least you get to sing this time.

They have yet to exceed your greatest feats though Sawa-chan.

Thank you for providing the politcal muscle Nodoka.

Great minds think alike Yuri Party! Encore!

The point of marching is that you are all in step, Ersatz Corpo Truppe Volontarie indeed.

I have to say episode 9 was just as bad if not worse than the paper thin plot of Selvaria’s DLC. I Say this butter bar Karl is just another bed wetter like Johann. Given how these Imps don’t even speak German it seems plain that they are incapable of bravery or making a half decent plan. Perhaps a Selvaria fan would have liked it more than I would have but it was just disgusting knowing that Selvaria would one day meet her match prove her utter inferiority in the future is hardly mitigated by her ample bosom or the guys cosplaying as Altair. The lack of Alicia goodness was made all the more worse by Maxi-pad putting on a show, and Selvaria whimpering like a lost puppy. The poor girl is not even fit to be a slave in my book, though much of it was due to her being OP even when you were in control in that awful DLC in the role of the Engineer who wet himself. Still with the introduction of Karl who wants to be on a Butterfront and now plans on being a PX Ranger while kissing ass all the way to the top. Maxi-pad’s family sucks ass too in the game you never met the bastards, and for good reason since they came off like Code Geass ripoffs. If nothing else maybe if we are lucky we will see Butter Bar Karl turned into paste. I can only imagine the kind of coaward that would find Karl to be even remotely likeable, that damned Marty Stu, actually since it is butter bar I suppose it is more fitting to call him a Mary Sue since he is after all Selvaria’s bitch. In all fairness though as an admirer of Jane “Kill ‘em All” Turner I have little interest in Imps, other than of course how much lead it takes to kill them. Despite the craptastic episode it seems that Welkin did ask on good question regarding the lonliness of sea slugs…I suppose Kabitizin had better answer.

Hey look it’s the Three Stooges, Karl must be Curly…

For the next bit Welkin and Alicia were trying to have a romantic getaway until some Imp pauper comes along to ruin it all with his stench of fail that seems to emanate from all Imperials. Still it seems that it is a tad sudden for the Alicia and Welkin sleepover and conference about dung beetles. Once again the series writers were sturck by some ideas and cut yet more combat action in favor of parading around some new anime only coward to talk about how war is bad. Boring old message aside, I knew the bastard was coward from the start since he was shot in the back which indicates that he was fleeing combat and not getting into the shit to help his comrades. In effect this Mikhail is a buddy fucker and has violated the covenant that all kameraden share, if he were smart he would have fled to ersatz Canada, but as he was too dumb to use his grenade for a forced entry that idea must have never crossed his mind. Suffice to say I did not feel inclined to pity the dumb bastard, unlike the game where it was some dumb kid who was crying for his mommy in his death throes. Well at least unlike the Sevaria commercial that was episode 9 at least there was a bit of Alicia to mitigate the lose and fail of coward Mikhail.

If you were half the strategist Schlieffen was you’d already have taken the Feddie Capital and overrun Galia by now….

Episode 11 is a clear signal that the anime staff would rather do their own thing instead of follow the storyline that was actually presented in the game, and to be sure since their version of tactical combat was laughable I suppose making this Kana goes to War while tossing out the military aspect might actually be a wiser decision for them in the long run since they were un able to make things exciting, mostly due to the persistent lack of gore and explosions. So it was time to the banquet in which Alicia, Isara, and Selvaria get to strut their stuff which was decent enough eye candy along with a under dressed Cordelia, but the lack of strapless dresses was cause enough to deem the episode to be mediocre. I would go over the ways in which this ep made no sense but by now it think it is clear that for better enjoyment it is far better to not give a shit anymore. Perhaps this is all some clever ruse to preserve the game ending so people would be prompted to buy the game and the DLC. Nevertheless the story to begin with was never that strong and altering now brings it to fanfic levels. After all one has to wonder how much this Ramal is a Mary Sue and what mind could have demanded that they make Selvaria in dress a reality. Still so long as it stays middling and mediocre I think just watching for Alicia and if you’re a lecher Selvaria is reason enough. Personally I am just waiting for a most anticipated showdown, if you played the games and finished it, you know what I am talking about…

Next time it seems we have a high speed chase with tank, here is hoping for some Milita brutality as they pull over the badies and beat them up LAPD style.

Great it’s Ersatz Code Geass…I assume there will be flying tanks in addition to Selvaria being as OP as Suzaku and Kallen.

Calawain’s Commentary

The last 3 episodes have been pretty forgettable. They skipped over the tank battle and contrived some retarded infiltration attempt by Selvaria and the playboy? The cabin scene was made so utterly cheesy and was drawn out way too long. And we also had to suffer through that painful episode on the Imperial side of things. Just goes to show that bad things usually happen when the writers start to make stuff up on their own and change the story. It was nice to see a bit of service with the Selvaria cleavage shots and the other girls in dresses, but meh. I would normally say, “hey let’s hope they don’t trash the rescue scenes too bad,” but now that they’ve added an abduction of Alicia to it I’m pretty much expecting melodramatic bullcrap. Where’s my tactics and just as planned army battles? Rage.

More Screen Caps

Quick take cover behind the stall shield!

How desperate can you get?

Can I get a Sieg Zeon?

Too bad you lied.

Best joke EVAR!

Too bad Karl is neither an Officer nor a Gentleman…

Loli feeding time…

Then get out there and die!

You call that a blood spatter?

Eh you Red Shoulder cosplay needs a red shoulder plate at least…

The only thing more OP would be if she broke out her MG42…

Just like the writers…

Thank you for showing up.

How many men have had this moment haunt them in their sleep?

I feel like Tacos.

Needs MOAR Jane.

Particularly feeding habits…

Because he has no life?

Calling all parents we have a orphan in need of familial love…

Yeah he just took 3/4s of the blanket…

That’s not my hand…

Uh Welkin did you wash your hands recently?

I wish she was holding a knife with her left hand in homage to MGS style CQC…

Defintely a deserter, and a hippie.

Alright looks like the gloves are coming off, time to DUEL!

Hear the patter of running feet
It’s the old Mikhail in full retreat
He’s moving on; he’ll soon be gone
He’s haulin’ ass, not savin’ gas
He’ll soon be gone.

Over on that hill there’s Damon’s tank
A million Galians are on Selvaria’s flank
Mikhail’s movin’ on, He’ll soon be gone
With his rifle broke, it ain’t no joke
He’ll soon be gone.

Million Galians comin’ through the pass
Playin’ burp-gun boogie all over his ass
He’s movin’ on, He’ll soon be gone
With his rifle broke, it ain’t no joke
He’ll soon be gone.

Twenty thousand Galians comin’ through the pass
I’m tellin’ you, baby, Mikhail’s haulin’ ass
He’s moving on; He’ll soon be gone
He’s haulin’ ass, not savin’ gas
He’ll soon be gone.

Something is missing…

That’s it.

Now that is a well dressed course…

Oh look a waiter!

Yeah Faldio did just break wind.

Alicai can smell a rat easily enough…

Don’t for get to steal food off his plate.

Zeon The Empire is EXHAUSTED!

That is one fine cosplay of Countess Alseif…

Finally they decided to give her better facial animation.

You might be Ozma, but she ain’t no Cathy…

Just like everything else, you do catch on slow general…

By the wy my compliments on who ever did your hair, good to see there are areas of competence in the Imperial Army.

Then you should have ditched Karl first…

I knew it! Maxipad only beds menfolk.

Time to move on miss, you chasing a fruit cake was the running gag of the game after all…

Gender reassignment might be possible but the results would ber most unlovely…

I find her smile distrubing…

Alica seems to agree.

Yeah Alicia is here to make sure you don’t get crowned prom queen, especailly with that old man on your arm…

Ah that tank that never fought…well I did have fun turning it into a pile of scrap.

Faldio?

This is pretty creepy…

Yes Gregor does have as many VDs as Blucher…

I like it when she is pissed off.

Don’t worry you were ruined for marriage sometime ago…

Same here.

Soon we will all get acquainted with just how tough Sergeant Major Chirico Cuvie really is…

Now that I am pretty much done with college I can finally get to taking care of some unfinished business namely watch the entire VOTOMS series in chronological order, sadly I only have the original series, Pailsen Files, Roots of Ambition, Last Red Shoulder, and Big Battle on hand. I hope to unearth Shining Heresy some time this century but I can’t seem to find it at the moment. Nevertheless I plan on watching it in chronological order instead of order of release. As an introductory movie I am not sure if it works or not since I saw Pailsen Files first which actually comes after this one. Still while Pailsen Files seemed chock full of huge cinematic mecha battles Roots of Ambition doesn’t seem to toss out as many Scopedogs on the screen, though since there was no CG I suppose doing it the old fashioned way prevented such a sight, not that it made it a terrible movie. As a starting point it does establish what Chirico is and gives a description of what Pailsen thinks he is.

In the end I kinda felt sad for Carson.

Chirico doesn’t really grow much as a character and to be honest I suppose the real main character is the Red Shoulder Unit that includes Chirico, Carson, Gregore, Byman, and Murza. For an elite unit even the Red Shoulders seem to suffer from horrible attrition though given how regular units suffer far worse I suppose percentage-wise Pailsen’s unit might actually suffer less than the regulars because of their intense and lethal training. As for the initiation I am surprised that the Red Shoulders could actually field two or more Corps though in the Gilgamesh military I suppose that number is hardly impressive considering the tens of millions of soldiers that can be fielded at any one time (up until this point in universe the biggest battle was 20 million men on the Gilgamesh side, late one upped to 120 for the Invasion of Monad) as Pailsen Files would later show. I like how Leeman basically denoted the last four standing as survivors and returns. Even if Chirico is nigh unkillable it seems that it still doesn’t prevent him from failing and having to rely on his comrades. During the cannibalism Chirico might have ended up a mere survivor instead of a return had it not been for his battle buddy Carson. While in Pailsen Files it seemed that the regulars actually function like a military unit the Red Shoulders are pretty much a penal battalion in all but name, certainly while their training is superior it is far more lethal and I can see why the Chief of Staff was pretty ticked off that Pailsen was killing off huge numbers of regulars (not to mention wasting Scopedogs) to find the guys he wanted for his Red Shoulders. Certainly as an exercise in economy of force Pailsen probably failed since even his Red Shoulders could be dragged down by a mass of Balalant troops.

Well at least things get better when Chirico has to shack up with the boys for Pailsen Files, and all the experimenting will be done on Kochak.

As an introduction to the VOTOMS universe I think they could have done a bit better, though since it came out after the main series I suppose they can’t be faulted much for it. Nevertheless calling it the Third Invasion of Sunsa, coupled with the LZ and planet in general as a desert wasteland one can sense that this really has been a 100 year war. Underlying much of the movie is the question of luck versus training, while there is a certain value to being well trained being lucky is more often or not better than being better trained, even in military history there are generals who emerge victorious due to dumb luck. I did chuckle a bit when Gregore asked if Chirico was immortal…perhaps old Patrick was somehow related. The only thing that sort of bugs me is that we never get to hear what it is that Chirico says to Pailsen, though I suspect that we will come to it eventually in the main series. I am not sure if Leeman really had his head on straight or if Pailsen was still on his rocker given how broad the events that are of great benefit to Chirico have very broad classifications, though I suppose Chirico really is that lucky, or at the very least insanely resilient with a high damage tolerance. After all he did fight with a broken pelvis and got pretty banged up from time to time. Still at least Chirico isn’t a one man army as he did need Carson to watch his back from time to time and needed Gregore, Murza, and Byman to put him back together. I did like the credits as there was a Type 61, and it seems that Gergore got himself a decent cigar, Byman was picking up chicks, Murza was looking pissed, and Chirico said something that put the fear in Pailsen. It was also a good set up after Carson dies, but not before passing off his information to set up the trial of Pailsen that we will see in Pailsen Files. It’s nice to see that Chirico was always this nonchalant when dealing with people, though I suppose having that high pitched sound every time one thinks about his past would probably engender the same reaction in most people.

Certainly few mecha pilots ever had such intense training.

Overall a fairly good film to introduce the lay person the VOTOMS saga, I think that the rest of the series will not disappoint even if there is the complete absence of CG created BIG HUEG battles. I can see why VOTOMS is considered on of the few remaining real robot series that have survived up until now, even if Chirico is super human he’s not some infallible Jesus, at this juncture it seems that Chirico has a long way to go to reach godhood, if that is even his goal. For now it seems that merely surviving is a victory for him, and I doubt he deludes himself with any romantic notions. If nothing else at least he acts like a disenchanted twenty something guy which is rather refreshing given the more recent trend of mecha pilots. I still love the poor humble Scopedog, even if it has armor made of paper at least it makes for more interesting and more importantly huge Heinlein-esque battles remiscent of Starship Troopers. Even with the elite Red Shoulders attrition still affects them.

I have to say that is one ugly baby…

Well to a degree, yes. As a defensive tactic it is unreliable, but highly reassuring.

You have no idea Gergore…

Say hello to my little friend…

You mean there is another whole Corps?

I’d like to see them try…

Indeed this is the first time Pailsen has actually been early.

Is Chirico Cuvie going to have to choke a bitch?

Perhaps it was luck, perhaps it was because Pailsen couldn’t shoot his way out of a paper bag…

I am surprised you even hit at all.

The red ones go faster.

Third time is a chram…right?

Gilgamesh Prevails!

Scopedog…

I need more Scopedogs!

Ah the Balalant Fattie, at least they look impressive.

At least it did not involve some contrived childhood promise or pinky swear.

Best confession EVAR.

ZOMG Carson got he ultra rare Red Shoulder Omnibus!

I take it Chirico already has a copy…

What else could he be doing other than waste valuable military resources?

This death was permenant…

Close combat with lumps of metal…

I have to wonder how annoying it must be to clean that out after combat, carbon build up must be nasty.

Hey Type 61s…

There are so many…

What ass kissers we have here…

Oh shit indeed…

Gregore took your smokes!

I had no idea Byman was into old men…

Murza is always mad…

Now that is a parting shot.

One of the most memorable daytos of the year.

I just finished my mandatory two weeks a year and got my ersatz degree, which was actually a brochure for the alumni association as the real thing will be mailed in a few months time… In any case after slaving away for Uncle Sam it is time to slave away for Impz who is in turn slaving away on his dissertation. The beach episode felt very familiar though the addition of Azu-nyan changed things a bit though I was more fixated on Ui and Azu-nyan going on dates. I suppose that since Azu-nyan was a later addition that the integration had to happen fairly quickly and certainly it is a plus that Azu-nyan likes to get hugged. I am glad that Mugi-chan was able to have another sleep over and spa time with her friends…I am sure that she found it very eventful. Nevertheless I did enjoy Sawa-chan who actually did a forced march through the night to catch up with her lovely charges, and Azu-nyan and Mio certainly too notice, and I must commend Sawa-chan for devising a fool proof way of identifying them in under conditions of poor visibility. I did disagree with Mugi-chan for calling off the NICE BOAT for a bit of fun on the sea, but I suppose that in a few years that there will be time for that. Still a small hint of what might have been was delightful.

So would every one…

Certainly it seems that the bully Mio trend has gotten into full swing as Sawa-chan did devise a most interesting rite of initiation, even better she decided to start with the best part. Now that Azu-nyan is also ruined for marriage she too will have no where else to go but K-ON. The spat between Ritsu and Mio was most unfortunate as it seems that Ritsu holds a special place in her heart for Mio. I don’t hold any one party to be guilty certainly the end did justify the temporary ill will as Nodoka is now part of K-on whether she knows it or not. After all a band that begs together, stays together. While Mugi-chan was unable to diffuse the fight, it is good to see that Azu-nyan realized that she had a secret weapon in her arsenal that might very well bring peace on earth. In the end I hope Ritsu and Mio are not more closely bound to one another that their destinies will be as intertwined as their corporeal bodies. While I suspect Ritsu is fairly low on the popularity rankings there is no denying that she is probably number one in Mio’s heart as Ritsu knows the sound of Mio’s footsteps and that their minds are one, which can only mean one thing…that they have spent many a night together, though doing precisely what is a matter of debate… Still congratulations to Nodoka in joining Sawa-chan’s garden of otome, I hope she takes well to her initiation which I hope will come with much pomp and ceremony with Sawa-chan’s inventive outfits.

Next time there better be a good concert…

Wouldn’t we all…

Ritsu likes having a little sister like Azu-nyan…

Some girls have all the luck…

Well get in there Ritsu, you are family after all…

Et tu, Mugi?

Ah paradise…

Oh Ritsu even in other people’s fantasies you are always copping a feel.

Yes it seems we are invading Normandy again, it won’t be the last time this year either…

I like it when Mugi-chan is all flustered.

You now Mio you should do the Mugi dance too…

It seems Ritsu-nee also knows how to push Azu-nyan’s buttons too…

Yes time for the two of you to have some alone time, yes…

Well you should help your little sister…

Next year it will be the Palace of Versailles.

Why not…

I like a lass who likes explosives.

You require more firepower.

How about adding more fuel?

A happy Mugi-chan is a lovely Mugi-chan.

I cannot help but be moved to pity for poor Sawa-chan.

Optimal postion…

How alike these two are…

What? That change in skin tone is hardly permenant or distinguishing.

I cannot help but wonder what could have possibly taken her down at this point.

This one is for the ages.

At least it was not a sex tape…

Spinal Tap?

How about “The Temptations”?

Good luck to her future husband, assuming Ui some how loses out…

I thought Gitah was a boy…

Ritsu is the master.

Is that so…

Weep not for Mugi-oujo has made some changes in inventory.

No but Mugi-chan is…

Hehe that’s funny.

I think actually might help.

I suppose every couple gets into a fight at least once if not more…

Listen to her!

Because she is an eager young rookie with everything to prove.

I see Sawa-chan has taught you well.

I told you Ritsu had her uses.

I do believe that penance must be exacted, I am sure Ritsu will be creative.

I hope then Ritsu will take the rest with her as they go WILD!

Lady Mugi hath spoken!

Ritsu can feel Mio no matter the distance…

Because she thinks you should all share a bed.

Yes I did dawww too.

Welcome to the family Nodoka…

Sawa-chan is the decider…

The name is irrelevant, only synergy matters.