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Post by Vincent Dolan on Nov 16, 2016 0:25:43 GMT
On an unrelated note, the Monster Musume OVA has been released and the first subs are out; they're decent, but could be better. The OVA adapts chapter 19 that the anime skipped, which is the chapter involving the sports gym. For the most part, it's a pretty faithful adaptation outside re-arranging it so it takes place after the end of the anime. The major changes are that Rachnera, Suu, and Papi go to the gym (they stayed home in the manga, with Rachnera being worn out keeping an eye on the two) as well as the girls of MON making an appearance. It's also a fair bit more fanservice oriented than the manga, which I didn't really think possible, but since it's stretching a single chapter into a full length episode, it's acceptable. Luckily, those who weren't at the gym in the manga make use of the anime version's sunbathing room, keeping them out of the spotlight with just Miia, Mero, and Cerea like the manga, which makes for a neat little solution.
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Post by Vincent Dolan on Nov 18, 2016 22:31:26 GMT
Finally got around to Drifters. Good episode, filled with the conflict against Jeanne and Gilles; it also showed a pretty stark and ugly version of Jeanne's past and how she became an End. Interestingly, while it appears Ends are the martyrs of history (and so predisposed to hate the world), Gilles is shown as having merely been so devoted to Jeanne that he would make a monster of himself to join her in hell. Amusingly, this is more or less the same reasoning behind Gilles' character as Caster in Fate/Zero. The leader of the Octobrists happens to show up with his two charges at the last minute and we finally learn his identity, which I wasn't actually expecting: Abe no Seimei, a legendary onmyouji from the Heian period of Japan, making him even older than Yoichi.
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Post by Adrian Jordan on Nov 18, 2016 23:36:32 GMT
I liked it as well. Kind of hard to write Gilles de Rais as a heroic, tragic or honorable character, or a martyr at that. He doesn't even have the "Well, it was a different time/culture" excuse to fall back on, hahaha. I know he was part of Joan's band, but even that is a stretch as a qualification. I'm sure the writers could have took up one of the other, slightly less pederast-y/child murder-y warriors that she was with. Edgy, I guess? Still, a great show so far.
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Post by Vincent Dolan on Nov 19, 2016 22:10:17 GMT
I think it's mostly just that Gilles de Rais is the most well known member of Jeanne's band. Plus, true or not, there are quite a few who believe Gilles was framed for those things so others could steal his land, so it largely depends on which version you subscribe to.
Anyway, I finally got around to Izetta, which was good, particularly as we finally got a bit more info on the White Witch; she apparently helped humans because she fell in love with one, a prince. Interestingly for this type of story, he returned those feelings strongly enough to want to marry her, but she refused on account of being a witch, promising him her power in his hour of need. After that, we find out Izetta caught a cold after last time while the young Germanian spy is dropped into Eylstadt to meet with their spy Laurence, only to have amusing incidents happen to him at pretty much every turn; first and foremost, he meets Bianca and Lotte and gets a lift from them and makes the mistake of getting to know them a bit. Of particular note is Sieg confirms that Jonas, the young soldier who found out Izetta's secret on accident, is indeed dead, which is surprising.
He gets a room at the inn Lotte's older sister runs and we learn more of the White Witch story, which is that the prince's country is attacked one day and when he goes out to fight, he gets grievously wounded, but the Witch shows up and drives the enemy off; unfortunately, the prince dies of his wounds, leading to the witch, in her sorrow, to vow to protect the country until her dying day. Hilariously, after Bianca mentions loving that story's ending and how romantic it is, he mentions having heard another story where the prince was already married, which causes her to storm off angrily. After facepalming in his room for a bit, he goes to apologize, but can't work up the courage to knock on her door and, just as he's getting ready to head back, hears her scream and barges in... Only to find Lotte washing Bianca's back.
That night is a masquerade ball for Lord Redford, who's helped Fine a few times, officially in honor of his birthday and we get a rather amusing sight: Fine dressed up as a young lord escorting Izetta as a young lady; particularly amusing is their costumes look pretty similar to those worn by Belle and the Beast during Disney's Beauty and the Beast ballroom dance. Fine tries to get Izetta to dance, but she's too embarrassed, so they go outside and the plot reasserts itself in a big way when Harkman (or whatever his name is) shows up masked with a young masked girl with silver hair who all of a sudden kisses Izetta so she can bite her lip hard enough to draw blood, which she swallows. Given what we've seen Izetta do with her own blood, this doesn't really bode well. At the meeting that's the party's true purpose, they're promised troops from Atlanta, though I worry about the looks on everyone's faces.
The next morning, the young spy and the older one, Laurence, sneak into the old castle and we hear the full story that made Bianca storm off in a rage: the prince was already married, but gave all his love to the witch that saved his country, which his wife hated, so after he died, she discovered the witch's secret, sealed her power, and sold her to a foreign country, where she was subjected to the tortures of the Inquisition before being burned at the stake. They discover the leyline map and even something more, a hidden crystal that reacts to the blood vial they had, but they're found by Bianca. In the quick shootout before they escape, the young spy is wounded and gives the evidence to Laurence so he can divert them.
On the roof of the castle, he apologizes to Bianca for shattering her fantasy of the witch's story before deciding that people like happy endings because there's no avoiding the tragedies of life, like their meeting while being on opposite sides; in the end, he suicides by her hand. Laurence flees, but is taken out by a sniper in the royal guard from the castle roof. In a real twist, the old merchant who unwittingly snuck them past the check point turns out to be a Germanian spy when he steals the evidence off Laurence's body before the guards can get there. We then get some depressing, though probably not unexpected news, as the Atlantan ambassador types up his troop request: he believes Izetta could become just as great a threat (if not greater) to them, so he urges the president to deploy troops to defeat both Germania and Eylstadt.
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Post by Vincent Dolan on Nov 20, 2016 23:49:59 GMT
Finally got to Gundam. Good episode and we're seeing a good deal of character development from everyone, particularly Orga; Takaki, after the brief war, decides to quit Tekkadan because he can't make Fuka cry again and, unlike with Biscuit, Orga understands, thanks him for his hard work, and wishes him farewell. It's even mentioned that he's working to hook Takaki up with a good job that he can use to support his sister. Interestingly, even Mika's getting some more character development, even if he himself can't recognize it, having to ask Orga why he felt relieved that Takaki left. Amusingly, it also seems the fans' shipping of Akihiro and Lafter isn't just wishful thinking, as Lafter indirectly confirms the attraction when asked about it by Azee; she initially tries to deny it when Azee mentions she won't say anything to Naze, but barely gets the words out of her mouth before deciding to just accept Azee's good will. It was also brief, but McGillis donned his mask and wig for a scene, so we can now say IBO has had two Chars in the same season.
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Post by Adrian Jordan on Nov 21, 2016 0:28:09 GMT
Been hacking though some pretty heavy stuff, so I got way behind. Got a little caught up, though.
I liked Izetta, but sometimes I get so fed up with the gears within gears stuff. The spy's get into the most heavily guarded, single most important site in the country with no issues, then escape into a blown open tunnel, then escape into the forest, then get killed, but there's another spy who just so happens to be in the exact spot the spy gets killed who gets the secret stuff. Not to mention that there was no security at all at the secret ball and the Princess doesn't think to mention the weirdo who accosts Izetta. I know this is all standard fare for any kind of story like this, but man.
Bungo Stray Dogs is still good. They moved from the prequel stuff to a proper follow up from the first season. Still liking Poco and 3 Gatsu. Still, for me Drifters and Izzeta are the best shows this season.
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Post by Vincent Dolan on Nov 21, 2016 1:26:02 GMT
It's funny; I wasn't sure I was going to keep up with Drifters after the first episode because of the unusual art style, but like you, it's become one of the best shows this season for me.
Still, I'm looking forward to this season being over, because I actually have what I consider to be a full starting roster of 12 shows, unlike this season where I started with only 8 and quickly cut that number in half. Of course, one of the shows on my list, Akiba's Trip: The Animation, is just there because I'm morbidly curious about how they're going to adapt a fighting game about stripping vampires to defeat them into an anime, and elDlive is very tenuous, because it sounds passably interesting, but the original author is the same mind behind Katekyoshi Hitman Reborn, which was enjoyable, but kinda tapered off towards the end and the actual ending wasn't even worth the paper it was printed on; still, I can hope he does a better job this time.
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Post by Vincent Dolan on Nov 22, 2016 19:13:15 GMT
Finally finished The Blood Mirror, fourth book in The Lightbringer Series by Brent Weeks about an hour ago; being so close to the end I didn't want to put it on hold so I could watch Matoi, so I just now got to it.
Not a bad episode, though it felt a bit by the book. Still had a bit of fun thanks to Azu, the elderly head priestess who deals with wiretaps by going to where it's hidden, yelling into it, and then telling the person listening if they've got questions to bring them to her; she then manages to surprise Luciella and Clarus' handler by knowing their identities as well as recognizing that Clarus' case is some form of limiter. Later, two more Nights show up, possessing the bodies of two young women Pochi was trying to flirt with (by which I mean he was borderline harassing them and they got even by emptying his wallet by having him buy them a lot of beer) and Matoi makes the conscious decision to go and fight them after hearing how her parents met. She stops Shingo from getting involved after transforming by appealing to his sense of family; interestingly, after she leaves, his dialogue heavily implies he's fully recognized who she actually is and accepts it, even if he's not exactly happy about it. She naturally beats the Nights, though she does so by invoking a constructed sword that's apparently exactly like the one her mother used, and we get a stinger about Matoi being the one to open the gate to the highest dimension, whatever that might mean.
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stormmaster
Member
I like viking/migration era swords
Posts: 7,647
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Post by stormmaster on Nov 23, 2016 1:34:02 GMT
Finally finished The Blood Mirror, fourth book in The Lightbringer Series by Brent Weeks about an hour ago; being so close to the end I didn't want to put it on hold so I could watch Matoi, so I just now got to it. Not a bad episode, though it felt a bit by the book. Still had a bit of fun thanks to Azu, the elderly head priestess who deals with wiretaps by going to where it's hidden, yelling into it, and then telling the person listening if they've got questions to bring them to her; she then manages to surprise Luciella and Clarus' handler by knowing their identities as well as recognizing that Clarus' case is some form of limiter. Later, two more Nights show up, possessing the bodies of two young women Pochi was trying to flirt with (by which I mean he was borderline harassing them and they got even by emptying his wallet by having him buy them a lot of beer) and Matoi makes the conscious decision to go and fight them after hearing how her parents met. She stops Shingo from getting involved after transforming by appealing to his sense of family; interestingly, after she leaves, his dialogue heavily implies he's fully recognized who she actually is and accepts it, even if he's not exactly happy about it. She naturally beats the Nights, though she does so by invoking a constructed sword that's apparently exactly like the one her mother used, and we get a stinger about Matoi being the one to open the gate to the highest dimension, whatever that might mean. bought the 4th book a few weeks ago, still getting to it, I think I will bring it with me on my commute to school to read on the train/bus/ferry. Have you read Brent Weeks's previous series the Night Angel, that one is still my favorite
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Ifrit
Member
More edgy than a double edge sword
Posts: 3,284
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Post by Ifrit on Nov 23, 2016 4:15:33 GMT
Anyone else check out Mushi-Shi? I thought it was fantastic, based on the few episodes I've watched
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Post by Adrian Jordan on Nov 23, 2016 4:21:31 GMT
Haven't watched that one yet. I'll queue it for when this season ends and I don't have shows to watch. It's always nice to have a few in the wings for the dry spell. Thanks.
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Post by randomnobody on Nov 23, 2016 5:28:38 GMT
We're so far behind. I don't think we've watched anything in two weeks. Been crazy with the pre-holiday stuffs at work, bloody black Friday on Thursday nonsense and taking extra trucks that are somehow still bigger than the normal trucks... Stupid retail, I just wanna watch foreign cartoons.
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Post by Vincent Dolan on Nov 23, 2016 17:30:32 GMT
bought the 4th book a few weeks ago, still getting to it, I think I will bring it with me on my commute to school to read on the train/bus/ferry. Have you read Brent Weeks's previous series the Night Angel, that one is still my favorite Night Angel's what introduced me to Brent Week's work; I bought it, oh, 7 years ago, I think? I remember picking up the full set from Barnes & Noble for about 30$ just because I happened to be there and then wishing I'd waited to get it from Amazon because it would have cost half as much.
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stormmaster
Member
I like viking/migration era swords
Posts: 7,647
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Post by stormmaster on Nov 23, 2016 20:43:35 GMT
bought the 4th book a few weeks ago, still getting to it, I think I will bring it with me on my commute to school to read on the train/bus/ferry. Have you read Brent Weeks's previous series the Night Angel, that one is still my favorite Night Angel's what introduced me to Brent Week's work; I bought it, oh, 7 years ago, I think? I remember picking up the full set from Barnes & Noble for about 30$ just because I happened to be there and then wishing I'd waited to get it from Amazon because it would have cost half as much. its been so long hasn't it? 8 years since they came out but feels like last week since I read them, you actually went the good route, I bought them 1 at a time and was dying after I finished each book cause i didnt have the next one and had to pick myself up and go to my local barnes and nobles to get them I highly recommend Anthony Ryan's Raven Shadow series, book 1 is called Blood Song, also Brandon Anderson's Starlight Archive series, book 1 The Way of Kings, both really long and really good
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Post by Vincent Dolan on Nov 23, 2016 22:08:13 GMT
Have both. I've got pretty much everything Sanderson's written; I started with Mistborn some time before I bought Night Angel, and got the box set from Amazon for 16$. That was back when the first book was called Mistborn as opposed to The Final Empire.
I've got Raven's Shadow, but I wasn't impressed with Tower Lord and Queen of Fire, which is a shame, because Blood Song was great.
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Post by Vincent Dolan on Nov 26, 2016 6:10:04 GMT
Finally got around to Drifters; had company the last couple days, so I wasn't sleeping that great and elected to go right back to bed after they left.
Good episode, where we finally find out what happened to Seimei's group during the time we last saw them. They were attacked and lost Hannibal, if only lost in the sense he fell off the wagon and into the forest. Amusingly, we see him later as he comes across the Japanese pilot, who has suborned a group of kobolds that believe him to be a sky god. More amusingly, Hannibal (speaking Latin) identifies himself as Roman, which the pilot takes to mean he's Italian, causing much rejoicing when the pilot remembers Italy was an ally during WWII... Before remembering that Italy let Germany down and his attitude takes a 180. Meanwhile, Nobunaga asks the two gunmen about their firearms and, after they explain how gun casings work, immediately recognizes the advantages, especially when his all-important sulfur (the only ingredient he lacked) finally arrives. They then head out to free the Dwarves, but not before we learn that they, inevitably, have a feud with the Elves, so Toyohisa tells them they don't have to come if they don't want to; surprisingly, after he heads out on his own, Shara realizes the obvious: if the Elves and Dwarves had been able to put their grudges aside and joined forces when Orte came after them, they probably wouldn't have become slaves, which changes everyone's tune pretty quick.
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Post by Vincent Dolan on Nov 26, 2016 19:54:46 GMT
Well, that was unexpected.
Finished up Izetta and, after the OP, we're shown some bits of proof of Izetta's growing fame... Including an Izetta comic book in the style of classic Superman, pose and all. It's also apparently been three months between last week's episode with no real attacks. Bianca confirms that the Germanians took blood from Izetta when they captured her, explaining the blood vial. Germania appears to attack Coenenberg again (where Izetta trounced them before), but the episode title spoiled that it was a feint, the real battle being fought at the Sellun Corridor. Izetta goes to their aid, but her torpedo missile is intercepted by the white-haired witch from last weak, who reveals her name to be Sophie and claims to be the original White Witch. However, it's quickly revealed via flashback that she's a clone, of all things (and Berkman found in the underground division a few episodes back); clearly there's some massive alternate history going on if they've already got basic cloning tech. Either way, Sophie harbors some serious resentment towards Eylstadt and brings the serious to its darkest moment: Izetta is defeated and re-captured, Eylstadt's AA guns are wiped out, the room where Fine and her council were is bombed, and the capital falls not two hours later. Curious to see where it goes from here.
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Post by Vincent Dolan on Nov 27, 2016 21:17:47 GMT
Finally got caught up on my missing sleep, but I ended up sleeping a bit too long as a result and just got to Gundam.
Good episode, particularly as we finally get to see Vidar in action and Flauros officially gets its name. Most of Teiwaz is irritated about Tekkadan's meteoric rise thanks to Gjallarhorn and it's implied the flashy dude, Jasly, who's been arguing against them the entire season is going to become a full on antagonist towards them and Naze can no longer cover for them. Since returning to Earth, Hush has been acting like a disciple/manservant towards Mikazuki, which is just hilarious considering his previous friction. Even more hilarious, we learn, rather offhandedly, that old man Yukinojo and Merribit are dating, the revelation of which causes the music and everything to just cut out; furthermore, it turns out the entire Mars branch knew about it and didn't bother to mention it to Chad (who we find out about it through). In the Vidar's debut battle, its mechanisms surprised me a bit, as I'd seen the gunpla previously and its main feature was a thrusting sword with interchangeable blades, the spares held in a case at the hips, much like the 3D Maneuver Gear from Attack on Titan; what was surprising was that the Vidar doesn't just stick the handle to a new blade and pull it out like I expected, rather it attaches to a new blade and the entire case slides backwards on a rail, meaning it only has to draw about 1/3 of the blade.
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stormmaster
Member
I like viking/migration era swords
Posts: 7,647
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Post by stormmaster on Nov 28, 2016 4:27:40 GMT
just watched guilty crown for the first time all the way through, the feels are real
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Post by Vincent Dolan on Nov 28, 2016 5:49:58 GMT
I don't think I've ever actually considered watching Guilty Crown, come to think; I've been partly turned off by the way people talk about it, I suppose. Though I really shouldn't let that stop me, since they say the same things about Aldnoah.Zero and Koutetsujou no Kabaneri and, for all their faults, I enjoy them.
Speaking of anime that have some decidedly negative airs about them, Code Geass is apparently getting a sequel in addition to a compilation trilogy; the staff behind it has announced that the show, titled Lelouch of the Resurrection, will feature the titular Lelouch himself, not a clone or alternate dimension version, which is curious if you know how the second season ended. I rather enjoyed Code Geass, but the middle of the second season is just horrible.
On another note, here's something that ought to please Random: they've announced a new Panty & Stocking project that, according to the Twitter announcement, is neither pachinko, mobile game, or a blu-ray dvd. Kinda hard to conclude it to be anything other than a second season.
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