Triage X OVA

I have resigned to myself that there will be some OVAs to the TV series that I will never watch. In today’s internet age where many claim that fansubs are dying, it is already rare enough for them to exist and fansub some series every season as many series are being officially simulcast and have their own ‘official’ subs. This usually means if a series has an OVA, we are most likely not ever going to see it subbed. At least for English speakers. You’re lucky if you have any despite the bad and horrible grammar of ‘caring’ subbers to give us Japanese noobs out there a chance. At least better than nothing. This is the case of Triage X OVA. It wasn’t a series that I was a fan of and one that I would really be desperate to watch even if it came out another season. Even as of today, there are no English subs of this OVA. So how did I watch this and understand by not watching the original raw version? I saw it with Indonesian subs! Oh yes! For the first time ever (or at least in a decade), I decided to test if my Malay can still be of use and thus that is why I went to ‘try out’ this series.

Recollection XOXO
What a way to start off the OVA with a ‘celebration’ by breaking the fourth wall with loads of ‘dangerous’ fanservice!!! Oh yeah!!! We see Hitsugi talking to Oriha about sizing up the other ladies in Black Label. Of all the ladies, she perceives Yuuko as her main rival. Must be those monstrous boobs… When asks about Oriha herself, she turns into an idol and pretty much is the most excited about it.

The main story proper of this OVA is an expansion of Hitsugi and Yuuko’s past. Remember the part where Yuuko stormed into an abandoned lab and was set upon by this experimented wild child who was Hitsugi? Yup. This OVA tells us what happened after that. Hitsugi is taken back to Black Label’s base where Yuuko and Miki continue to rehabilitate her but to no avail. Each time Yuuko goes into her room, she becomes like a raging animal attacking her and the only way to put her out is injecting some sleep serum. It is already the 50th time and Miki wonders if she is a hopeless case. Even Mochizuki is having doubts whether she can be saved. But Yuuko continues to remain hopeful and vows to save her if it is the last thing she does. But the same cycle continues to repeat itself with no improvements in sight. One day while Miki is watching over Hitsugi, Inunaki comes by to start having some sort of office romance. I guess Miki doesn’t mind because the duo are like so in love with each other. Hitsugi sees this and starts to feel weird. Wait a minute. After experiencing pain and violence all this time and suddenly she feels embarrassed about seeing a couple make out? I suppose it is only natural…

Therefore when Yuuko decides to go by a different approach and have a picnic with Hitsugi, she somewhat opens her heart and gives Yuuko’s onigiri a chance. Thinking that this method works, Yuuko continues to have picnic with her. But when the meal gets more refined, the metallic sounds of the kitchen utensils start reminding Hitsugi of those operation tools. That trauma instantly activated and she becomes wild again. Fortunately she is calmed down with Yuuko’s motherly hug and doesn’t need the serum. Seeing the vast improvements, Yuuko requests Mochizuki to take Hitsugi outside. He agrees on a condition that if she goes out of control, she has to be taken out. For the first time Hitsugi experiences the joys of the outside world. A different experience altogether. Looks like everything is smooth sailing. Till Yuuko left to buy drinks and a couple of punks want to flirt with her. WTF?! Are they lolicons?! Their metal comb induces her trauma as she starts getting violent and beat them down. When Yuuko returns, she slaps Hitsugi! The punks make a run for it when Yuuko shows them her angry face. Sure they aren’t afraid of her monster boobs? Yeah, I think they’re lolicons… Anyway, Yuuko quickly hugs Hitsugi, relieved that she did not kill them. Had she done so, Miki has been waiting from afar ready to snipe her out. Thank goodness it didn’t come to that. As a reward for sticking with us this long, we present to you yuri fanservice with bare tits courtesy of Yuuko and Hitsugi bathing together. Bonus: Hitsugi kisses Yuuko on her lips!!! And now in the present, Hitsugi is cured from her traumatic past and her monster boobs are as big as Yuuko’s, enough to give her a run for her money. Haha!

From Monster Kid To Monster Boobs
OMG! I can’t believe it! I actually understood a big chunk of it all! That means my Malays masih boleh dipakai! Yahoo! Not bad, right?! Time to celebrate! Ahem… So okay, even if Bahasa Indonesia and Bahasa Malaysia do have their differences, there are still many words that I could understand despite having some differences. But overall, it looks like I’m still in touch with the language. Obviously… So a big pat on my back for that. It helps too that I know some basic elementary Japanese and such lines do not need any subs at all for me to understand. So I suppose this is not that all bad. At least for my case.

So back to this OVA in particular. I was expecting some full blown mindless fanservice and nothing but tits, tits and bigger tits. Even the 3 minute opening trolling had me expect that it would turn out something this sleazy. After all, when you have such a series with such a reputation, it is only natural for viewers and fans to quickly assume there would be such fanservice to get your money’s worth when you buy the DVDs. It is both good and bad thing for this OVA to turn out as an origin episode and knowing more about the relationship between Yuuko and Hitsugi. But there is all there is to it and nothing else to shout about. And to shut us up for those complaining about fanservice, they slapped in a few bare tits scenes so that you can’t complain about this fanservice show lacking its fanservice brand.

But be warned. This OVA might give the wrong conception that having a nurse with big hentai boobs can speed up your recovery! Or turn young girls into lesbians who in turn transform their flat plains into towering mountains! You know… When Hitsugi kissed Yuuko, it is like as though they transferred and exchanged some tits DNA and that is why the adult Hitsugi has such ungodly boobs. Haha! I know it is an outrageous theory but we are so accustomed with many anime girls who have small breasts to even have them remain as they are when they are all grown up. Stupid puberty forgot to develop those…

All in all, I wouldn’t have watched the OVA had not for my sole intention to test my Malay. Seriously, that is the truth! It might take years for any English subs to come out and by that time I might have forgotten if there was an OVA to this series in the first place. At least now with the satisfying ‘test results’, I can look forward to watching more OVAs in this manner. That is an advantage if you are multi-lingual. Sighs… If only I could read Chinese… Oh heck, why didn’t I just learn Japanese straight and save me all the trouble?

Triage X

Got a certain fetish for say, nurses? Not just cute sexy nurses but those that are badass enough to kick ass? Well, you can satisfy that fetish of yours since Triage X has got that covered. Don’t worry. This isn’t some sort of anime that borders dangerously with hentai. You’d be better off watching true hentai flicks if you really want to see nurses getting screwed like your wildest fantasies. Ahem… Don’t mess around with these nurses if you what is good for you. Remember, this is anime. Despite the medical theme, do not expect this series to be something like those American medical drama productions like ER, Grey’s Anatomy or even House. It is far different than that. Much different.

I thought it is a very interesting concept to use certain medical terms on the city as a whole as compared to the human body. Because the city is just like the human body. In order to keep it healthily function especially from those life threatening pathogens, you need to purge the disease before it spreads, right? And thus, these doctors and nurses aren’t the kind that are confined within the walls of the surgery room. The cancers are corrupted and unscrupulous villains. The kind that the arm of the law cannot reach or even touch them. It is their job to ‘remove’ these lesions before it infects the rest of the city. Yeah. Dark justice as you may want to call it. With so many scourges popping up every minute, the operation is going to take a while.

Episode 1
Our Black Label team are in position to take out one of the biggest baddies in town, Hideo Aranami. Once the green signal is given, Mikoto Kiba races her bike with Arashi Mikami as her pillion into the big mansion as they pulverise all the small fries till they reach Hideo’s room. Arashi points his gun at him and calls him a lesion without a cure. But he gives him a chance to die as a human and throws him a gun. Predictable as he is, Hideo takes it and shoots back at him. Thank God for his bullet proof helmet. Now die! Once mission is completed, Oriha Nashida bombs the entire mansion! Leave no evidence behind? The team returns to HQ as Chairman Masamune Mochizuki commends them for another successful mission of preventing another lesion. He considers the city like a human body and any maligned tumour must be eradicated to prevent further damage. In the shower, Mikoto is not amused that Arashi pulled that gun stint at Hideo. He says it is to confirm his own conscience. She stops when she sees his body full of scars. Meanwhile another crook, Kyouji Tobishiro is taking out his (sexual) frustrations on his busty ninja personnel, Goryuu. He is not happy Hideo is dead because this means no more money. He wants her to investigate the unknown organization who killed him. Arashi is a high school student when not in operations. Same case with Mikoto. Looks like fellow classmate, Hinako Kominato has a crush on him. He agrees to walk her home since he wants to eat in her family restaurant. Too bad he won’t get to see her in that lovely waitress outfit since he has been called for another mission.

Hideo’s son, Taisei and his men are torturing the busty daughter of one of Hideo’s men because when that fatty died, he tried to turn over the books to the cops. Detective Isoroku Tatara waltzes in like he knows the place. They both try to be ‘polite’ with each other till Taisei snaps that he is the boss around. That is when Mikoto-Arashi team barge their bike into the scene. I don’t know how they fly into the window since this is 4 floors up! Arashi successfully kills Taisei but his PA, Jin Masaki takes a hostage. There are orders not to kill Tatara so in this confusion and free-for-all, the hostage is killed and Masaki got away. Masaki sends more reinforcements but they got puzzled by this idol show put up by Oriha before the entire place blows up. Tatara manages to rescue the victim’s daughter, Fujino and returns to his busty assistant Konomi Suzue waiting outside (Oriha just passed by her and ‘apologized’). I guess she was being so worried about everything that she didn’t see the car being rigged with a bomb. Good thing they didn’t get in because it blew up. Mikoto and Arashi are riding away. Their secondary target got away and a person who shouldn’t have died was killed. Mikoto remembers Arashi telling him about his scars. It was from a terrorist attack during an international medical conference. She is surprised he wasn’t the only survivor. The other is Ryu, the director’s son. Arashi used his body to shield him from the blast although Ryu suffered serious head injury. Mochizuki then had Arashi undergo surgery whereby he implanted Ryu’s limbs and organs to save his life. Therefore Arashi views he is here because of Mochizuki’s ultimate decision, his Triage. As Ryu is inside him, he doesn’t know how much of himself he is because Ryu is compelling him to test it. To examine the truth of Triages he sees with his own eyes as he himself is born of such a Triage.

Episode 2
Arashi remembers he killed for the first time but didn’t feel scared. Ryu wonders if this means he doesn’t have a conscience. Tatara is at the hospital and is mad nobody can see Fujino despite she suffered only light injuries. Fujino is later discharged and our Black Label nurses believe she doesn’t know anything about Aranami hidden funds that would have made it easier for them to figure out Masaki’s next move. Mochizuki commends Black Label for a job well done despite their objective not met yet. He officially makes Arashi a full fledge member of Black Label and has him form a team together with Mikoto and Oriha under the name Ampule One (Ampule Zero is made up of Yuuko Sagiri, Miki Tsurugi and Sayo Hitsugi). It doesn’t take long before Fujino is kidnapped by Masaki’s man. Yeah, they ram over a poor granny just to get away! She is being interrogated about the hidden funds but of course she doesn’t know anything. Masaki gives her drink a drug to let her know ‘who the real villains are’. Masaki knows those pesky assassins will come back again but he is confident because he has got an army of junkies who are more than happy to kill.

As usual, Black Label is in position but they see Tatara being a hero going in alone. When he sees Fujino, she stabs him and blames him for her father’s death. Mikoto goes to check on him but Suzue thinks she stabbed her partner. Then all those junkies come in to take Suzue as hostage (and molest her boobs). Mikoto cannot do anything rash or there will be unwanted casualties while Ampule Zero takes out all those unsuspecting junkies. What a befitting way to slice and shoot all those useless trash of society. Arashi makes his appearance in time. Mikoto saves Suzue as the baddies pump bullets into him but thanks to his super polycarbonate suit, he still stands. Then they return fire and kill everybody. A baddie thought he could get away by ramming his car. He didn’t know Hitsugi’s coffin was tougher and Yuuko’s sword can cut through everything. Yeah… Arashi and Mikoto face off with Masaki at the rooftop. Fujino attacks Arashi but he shoots her! Masaki is in shock he could do that so Arashi talks about that conscience thingy and about being on the verge of death. He has found his answer: He always had a conscience within him but in the form of his unwavering resolve. Fujino still lives because he shot rubber bullets at her. Masaki thought he had won since he is going to escape via helicopter. He didn’t count on Oriha in shooting it down. Game over. You lose. But he is still ranting away about this and that so Arashi just shoots him! He fell off the ledge and got impaled by the helicopter’s fins. What a way to die. And yeah, you can’t have a great finale without Oriha blowing up the entire place!

Episode 3
Ampule One are about to kill another target but a mysterious ninja babe got there and killed the target first before escaping. Informant Shinichirou Inunaki shows Mochizuki a video that Masaki recorded during his final moments with Arashi as ‘parting gift’. Despite he doesn’t call this blackmail, Mochizuki has already prepared cash for him. Inunaki also gives information about a cargo containing a new drug that supposedly heightens one’s senses and abilities. The problem is its cost. It is cheap enough to be spread easily. Ampule One is in another mission to take out 2 baddies. Although they complete it in time, the ninja babe was there too although she escapes again. Mochizuki believes Ampule One will not have the resource to find out more about her and has Ampule Zero figure out this babe before they can take further action. At school, Mikoto sees several bullies ganging up on a new transfer student, Chikage Hizaki. Her presence was enough to scare them away. They both quickly become friends. After school, Mikoto almost rams her bike into Chikage when she tried to save a kitten from crossing the road. They sit and talk as Mikoto reveals she got this bike from her brother and almost died in that accident that took her brother’s life. Thanks to a certain doctor, she started living again. Chikage understands her. She starts stripping not because it is time for yuri sex but to show and let Mikoto feel her burn scars. They still feel hot. Her parents were killed at the medical conference. She had a little sister and they were taken in by relatives but feel they do not belong. Until a certain doctor taught her how to live that they were able to live again. But tragedy strikes when she returned home only to see it on fire. She tried to save her sister but failed. This is where she got the scars. So every time she remembers her family, she feels she needs to become stronger. Chikage is surprised Mikoto is crying for her. Reward? She strips her and it’s time for yuri sex!!!

Hitsugi is having no luck trying to get more information about the drug. Then she sees Inunaki walking about in the shady parts of town and tails him. However she enters a room filled with crooks. Inunaki is nowhere to be seen. At first she feigns a ditzy girl who got lost but apparently they don’t buy her crap and knock her out. I guess these guys are gay not to think about f*cking a busty girl like every other small villain fry we saw. But Hitsugi gets back up. Now she’s pissed. She correctly identifies every one of them as a weapon’s dealer or smuggler. Then she uses her monstrous strength to slam, throw and kill them all! Hulk Hitsugi smash! Seeing Inunaki nearby, she realizes it was a ploy by him to let her follow him and clean up this sh*t. Tatara and his rookies (Suzue and Makoto Ogawa) are staking out and ready to barge in but of course they are thwarted when lockers fall and block their path. Hitsugi believes she has got a lead when she interrogates a guy but an arrow is shot through his head. The mysterious assassin got away. Kunio Oomichi from the Kabuto group is mourning the death of his brother. Several kids who took free drug samples from him are in sh*t because he wants it back now. They are held hostage but one of their friends escaped. Too bad he is so high on drugs that he assaulted and nearly raped his friend. Had not Mikoto and Chikage pass by, she would have been done in. Despite the super beating, this guy crawls away like it was nothing. He dropped his handphone so they see a ransom note to return the goods if they want to see his friends in one piece. Looks like these girls have some unfinished business with the Kabuto group and they remember they just had something to do.

Episode 4
Oomichi receives a return message from that kid’s message that he is next. He knows something is wrong because it also confesses that she was the one who killed his brother. And so Mikoto confronts Oomichi who isn’t the least bit scared because he planted explosives as well as human bombs everywhere. Any spark will ignite and blow the place up. Want to settle it the old fashion way via sword fight? Oomichi is bragging about his sword skill. Mikoto wastes no time in taking him down and would have had one of his men electrocute her. After stabbing her thigh, he suggests playing a game. If she can escape this warehouse, she wins. But those human bombs are also trying to get her. She tries to convince them not to play this game but they believe if they beat her up, Oomichi will free them. Then before them is the ninja babe. She is appalled they use hurting others to justify their self preservation and there is no hope saving such people. She shoots them all! Mikoto is surprised she knows her name. She unmasks herself. She is Chikage (why am I not surprised?). Chikage believes they are drawn to each other because they are killers. They kill in the name of justice. However Mikoto thinks whatever she is doing under her Doctor’s orders are just revenge. Oomichi is blowing the place up. Mikoto can’t reach her bike so Arashi slides it in before the gate closes and tells her to settle this her own way. She rides up to the rooftop in time for Chikage and Oomichi’s standoff. Oomichi is not sweating because he has snipers placed all around. All he needs is to give the signal to blow their heads off. But Mikoto issues a challenge. Can their bullet be faster than her bike? Before he can blink, Mikoto rams him to fall into the flames.

Mikoto wants Chikage to stop but she won’t. She won’t rest until all the evil in the world is purged. Doctor is the only one she has left. Oh, the Doctor just called. Mikoto is her next target. As they fight, Oomichi climbs back up and signals to his snipers. But they’re not firing. Ampule Zero took them out. Then he got stabbed by Doctor who is no other than Ogawa (why am I not surprised?). He speaks about dark justice and all. Chikage is in awe with him but that turn into shock when he claims they are all lies. Then he shoots his crossbow into her! The truth is, her little sister found out about his true identity. She went crazy and he kept giving her some sort of hot injections but that never helped. Ogawa is going to kill Mikoto too but since she believes in her friends, Arashi throws a gun to her and she was fast enough to pull the trigger. It is the end of him but he warns Black Label will also meet their end someday. Now he meets his end in the fiery explosion. I don’t know how Chikage is still alive but this time she kills herself for real by jumping down into the flames. She wonders if she can reborn to be with Mikoto and her sister. In the aftermath, Suzue shows uncovered proof to Tatara that the Ogawa person they knew was completely different. It is appalling all the documents were fake and nicely forged and this went unnoticed for 8 years! She wants to make a complaint but again Tatara wants to handle this alone. He knows this one goes very deep and his detective experience won’t help him out. Mochizuki receives report about the mission but it is baffling that no more information is known about Ogawa. Not even Inunaki knows about his background. Ampule Zero discusses about the same list that Chikage has and Inunaki brought them. It indicates somebody wants full control of the new drugs. It also brings forth the question of why they are operating ever since their organization’s incorporation.

Episode 5
In addition to being an idol, Oriha is making her debut on TV acting as some world’s greatest detective. Mikoto can’t help laugh her ass off but Arashi is clapping like a robot… Oriha herself loves it but she faces rivalry from her fellow idols, Asymmetry (consisting of Haron and Sumire Mikazuki). But today they are not going to take their rivalry to new heights and are in this studio to promote their new song collaboration. Suddenly a black out occurs. Looks like Halloween costumed guys have disabled security and taken the entire building hostage. Luckily for Oriha and Asymmetry, they have been wandering around before the baddies came in. They even joked about this being a hostage drama but soon realize how true it is when they spot an underling walking around with real weapons. Besides, how come their building is the only experiencing blackout and where are the rest of the staffs? Their handphone has no reception because somebody is jamming the signal and internet. They fight and knock off a crazy henchman in a mascot (Haron’s half baked karate…) before a hijacked broadcast begins. Wild Hunt, the big bad wolf and the leader of this group warns the police not to do anything rash as they will execute the hostages. However he has a message not for them but for those who kill to exact justice without expecting to be killed. You know who you are. This is what happens when you kill their comrades and pick a fight with them. To show he means business, he shoots an idol on live camera!!!! NOOOOOO!!!!!!! THIS IS NOT CG EFFECTS YOU IN-DENIAL FANS!!!!!!!!!! You mad, Black Label? Jun Midou of the police’s special investigations call and try to negotiate what he wants. He has the rest of the idol girls stand on the 18th floor only in their undies. For every 30 minutes he will make one dive down into the crowd if his demands are not met. First, procure 1 billion yen in cash. Then they can move on to the next demand. Time to start the show. I guess it’s going to be big headache so Midou gets HQ and Ministry of Defence for help. Oriha manages to bypass some certain to let Asymmetry to safety at the stairwells but goes back up to settle unfinished business. Mikoto is upset that Mochizuki is giving them standby orders. She is worried about Oriha. Who isn’t? But believe in her…

Episode 6
Time for one of the idols to jump… Suddenly Oriha puts up a stage performance. Some of the guys go to intercept her but got into her bomb trap. She contacts Wild Hunt whose keen observations know she is part of Black Label and one of the missing idols. She threatens she has placed bombs on all exits to cut off their exit but Wild Hunt is not convinced since that requires time. Oriha takes a risk telling Wild Hunt there is something they are after because they’re not here to just die. Wild Hunt agrees not to kill the idols. Instead, he shoots one of the male staffs! Midou has a team trying to cut the power lines of the building before storming in but the engineers are baffled by the layout because its blueprints are different. Anyway they just cut the entire thing and the entire block is blackout. Oriha is at the security room figuring out something is wrong. One of the broadcast staff tries to kill her but she evades. He is the sub-commander of the group. Oriha is surprised when Asymmetry return to help her out. They’re idols. They have to protect each other’s dream. However they are knocked out by Wild Hunt who reveals his true identity. A woman?! Her real name is Siren. I suppose she has the ability to imitate voices? By the time the police storm in and rescue the hostages, Siren and a few of her men are already gone. Oriha must be petite enough to be kidnapped inside a bag. They are making their way through the underground train lines that runs along the building.

Mochizuki receives some sort of communication from Oriha so he has Black Label go into action. Mikoto and Arashi catch up with Siren in time. Arashi follows Siren into the darkness while Mikoto handles the small fries. It is too dark for Arashi to see anything and he can’t simply fire or he will give away his position. Siren has another ability: To hear the heartbeat of other people. Using a voice impersonator as Oriha to distract Arashi, she gives her sub-commander the directions to slash Arashi in the dark. However Arashi takes a deep breath and has Ryu to guide him. He shoots the sub-commander point blank when he strikes. Siren panics and shoots randomly when she cannot hear his heartbeat anymore. All it takes is for one bullet from Arashi. Siren’s last words are she realizes Arashi is a monster just like them. Oriha is rescued but scolds Arashi what if he shot her. He claims he will never mistake a friend’s voice. Asymmetry hasn’t seen Oriha since and fears she might have traded herself as a sex slave to the terrorists for their freedom. My, what vivid imagination they have. But who is standing there right next to them then? Haron instantly gives her a big hug. Oriha is happy to have avenged her fallen idol rival-cum-comrade. As Mikoto and Arashi leave, they remember Oriha telling them that this hostage drama was just a diversion for Black Label and the police. She doesn’t know what it is but Mochizuki might. They discovered a tattoo of a syringe on Siren’s arm. Suddenly a wild masked biker from the opposite direction starts shooting at them.

Episode 7
Thanks to Arashi’s fast reflexes, any untoward incident is avoided. The perpetrator turns out to be Inunaki who is also Arashi’s mentor. This is just a test to see if Arashi is up to mark. He lets them in on some information. The cargo carrying the new drug, Platinum Lily has arrived. That hostage drama was a diversion for this. A certain family that has ruled over this city for generations, Joutarou Tobishiro, the Prime Minister and capitalist has interest in the drugs. With him as the biggest cancer, it will spread and this means his son Kyouji also inherited his influence. The drug has another unique effect that they do not know. That is why another rival organization, allies of Ogawa and Siren are after this drug too. They are Black Label’s true enemy. Ampule Zero is already on the cargo examining it but they are ambushed by this weird group, Syringe. It is a monster strength brawl between Hitsugi and Kaoru Murasaki. She didn’t know she had a win, Kaori and was taken out by surprise. Yuuko on the other hand has a sword fight with Astro while Miki chases D to retrieve the drugs in his suitcase. However she only gets one of them when sneaky D has well planted bombs around the ship and escapes via helicopter. Miki contacts the rest to finish up and leave because Kyouji’s men are here and there are too many of them. Hitsugi has lost too much blood and could have died had not Yuuko come to her rescue. Everybody abandons ship since it is sinking. Yuuko calls for emergency to operate on Hitsugi since her heart is not beating. Arashi is mad to see Hitsugi in this state. He is frustrated he wants revenge but knows too well he is powerless. All Mikoto can do is let him sleep in her boobs.

Mochizuki calls Arashi and Mikoto. The suitcase only contains half of the drugs. He knows because he created it. Flashback time. When he was a doctor in a mercenary unit, he stumbled upon a strange village. People with limbs blown or cut off from the war had transplanted surgery of limbs. In such a backwater village with no basic medical facilities and yet such a highly advanced medical technology. He found out there was a certain ritual one would undertake before undergoing this transplant. First, a person would drink a black liquid said to be poisonous enough to drive anyone crazy just by touching it. After the surgery is done, a red liquid is given to complete the ritual. His research shows the black liquid is a virus strain that he calls D99. The red liquid is vaccine. When D99 is taken, abnormalities occur in the immune system and growth of cells becomes rapid. But this leaves the brain being corroded and will lead to death. That is why the vaccine that easily kills the virus is given after that. To a surgeon, this was the power of God. Mochizuki created a secret research team that included Inunaki and his PA, Fiona Ran Winchester. It is discovered that the way the virus could be transmitted by mucous membranes and blood would mutate into a variant strain. It could wipe out humanity. Dangerous at it is, they gave up on this research and went back to the village to tell of its danger but it has been ravaged by the war. They tried to destroy all research work and samples and could have if not for that medical conference terrorist attack. Arashi is the last person to receive this drug. After that, all samples of the virus were destroyed. He apologizes he might have used it to save him but was also using it for his own personal ego. Arashi isn’t mad. He is grateful he is here today and has friends worth protecting. Now it’s not the time for regrets. He doesn’t know how D99 has returned or what Syringe wants. The drug is only useful together so you can bet they’ll be looking for the other half. Joutarou reprimands Kyouji for another mess he made but is willing to clean up if he redeems himself. Of course this spoilt brat curses his dad and hopes he dies, blah, blah, blah. So why take it out on your busty ninja servant? Seems he is bored and wants to spread chaos or something to make his old man pay. He can’t rape Goryuu since it’s time for his meeting. Hitsugi suddenly gets up and breaks out. Revitalized?

Episode 8
Hitsugi once oversaw Arashi’s recovery. He was pushing himself so hard and she could relate his trauma as she had also experienced something similar although she lost most of her memories. He was bent on becoming stronger quick because had he stopped, the limbs and heart he received from Ryu would ‘die’ since he is living inside him. Ran has Ampule One rein in Hitsugi before she goes berserk. Oh sure. Send those kids to do a dangerous job. Not that they are strangers to danger but before Hitsugi who is going berserk, even Oriha is paralyzed in fear! Should have called Yuuko in Miki to do the job. Yuuko doesn’t want to kill her again. Arashi gets in the way because he believes in Hitsugi. He has a debt to repay her still. So Arashi leads her to the bottom of the facility while the area is being cordoned off. Yuuko wonders if mere words can bring her back. But Mochizuki believes true emotions may and not from her guardian but from somebody who stands on her level. Flashback reveals 9 years before Black Label was formed, Yuuko and Miki stormed into an abandoned lab to find Itaru Togo, one of Mochizuki’s secret research team who secretly stole samples of D99. They found his body and his research notes that he was experimenting with the drug that has a side effect of psychological issues. Yuuko was set upon a masked girl (Hitsugi). She was on a violent rampage and had no choice but to kill her and then subsequently saved her. That was the first time they met.

The cat and mouse game continues as Ryu thinks Arashi is foolish to bring Hitsugi to a place of her past. Arashi says he learnt there are times people shouldn’t hide their awkwardness. I don’t know how Hitsugi can miss when he is walking slowly and straight towards her as he tells her about the promise they made on the day they left rehab. After he hugs her, she experiences mental breakdown. He knows that mask is to hide her true heart and when he unmasks it, he sees her tears and shows her reflection on a broken glass. It calmed her down. Further flashbacks revealed Hitsugi told young Arashi about her recurring nightmare that someone stabbed her and she died. It could have been fragments of her lost memories. She was scared that she won’t be herself if she remembers it. Arashi thanked her for her help during his rehab. He was able to smile again. Therefore he promised that he would become stronger and not let her cry again. When the rest enter the scene, they see Hitsugi kissing Arashi! Was it so shocking that Mikoto fainted? I hope she didn’t have a heart attack. Now that Hitsugi remembers everything, back then the drugs make her lose most of her memories and she hid her face with a mask as she was scared and lonely. She remembers clearly the face Yuuko put on when she stabbed her. Yuuko and Hitsugi make amends. The latter owes him one but Arashi insists he was just fulfilling his promise. Meanwhile hacker girl and leader of Syringe, Kaname Makiishi realizes someone has been periodically tracing them over the public safety server ever since the hostage incident. However she is baffled if this detective is being careless in letting them find out his identity or if this is a trap. The solution is simple: Just kill him. Of course that wouldn’t be fun because they are going to kidnap him and let him spill all the beans first. Then they kill him.

Episode 9
What’s this?! Mikoto is having nightmare that she is lagging behind Arashi’s harem???!!! Don’t worry. This show won’t turn out that sleazy because despite that short intro of Mikoto flustering when she asks Hinako for Arashi and Hinako having some sort of panic thinking her best friend has a crush on Arashi too, it is back to violent business as the Syringe twins have found Suzue. Before they could kidnap her, yakuzas under Tobishiro tranquilize them and kidnap Suzue. Therefore Kaname thought it was a joke that the best fighting unit of Syringe actually failed their mission and lost to a bunch of weak yakuzas. Of course Tatara right away starts his investigation as Suzue is missing. He thought Yuuki Hijiri was supposed to be with her but they parted earlier in the day. Hijiri believes this is his responsibility and needs to call Mochizuki. He contacts Ran about this and although there was a transmitter placed on Suzue, the signal was lost 8 hours earlier. It was last traced to one of Tobishiro’s hideout. Once Ran reports to Mochizuki and linking Suzue to the server that she was trying to access, it’s time for Black Label to go on a mission. Goryuu tortures Suzue and I’m not sure if she’s a tough nut to crack playing dumb or just not knowing anything. Thus Goryuu gives her small dosages of the drug (not Platinum Lily) to torture her heart and make her hover between pain and pleasure. How kind of her. Eventually she’ll end up like those mindless dolls not being able to think for themselves. Goryuu has her men clean her up as she needs to go pick up Kyouji. He’ll be happy with a new play doll.

The yakuzas must be slacking to have Oriha waltz up to them and blow up the gates to let Mikoto ride in. But she is just for distraction as Arashi has snuck in to find Suzue. The twins are also here to find Suzue but they have to face off with Hitsugi in a revenge match. Ever since Hitsugi has been freed from her past, she doesn’t need that mask anymore. As the power match starts, Hitsugi starts talking about this doctor Togo who had a daughter with an incurable disease. He was desperate to try all methods (by hook or crook) to save her. He eventually did but the side effect was his daughter lost her heart and became a monster. He too was captivated by this and continued to research the drugs using his daughter’s body. So what of this story? His daughter who is no other than Hitsugi went crazy and killed everybody so there should be no person alive left associated with this project. So who made the twins? Kaoru is about to reveal but Kaori shuts her up. Kaori becomes crazy and mad that Hitsugi is like them and should lust for blood and destruction. They’re going to prove it by beating her to death. Sorry, but Hitsugi doesn’t fight to win or lose. Her job is just to remove lesions. She could have won it had not Astro interrupting. Time is up. Time to fall back. Hitsugi however feels she has settled her things despite losing Syringe. Meanwhile Arashi secures Suzue but when he killed those men, one of them accidentally presses the button to free all those mindless dolls. Look how they’re running out and scattering.

Episode 10
Full 10 minutes of bathing fanservice as a start???!!! We see the ladies discussing Suzue in ICU although her condition is pretty much stable. Also discussed are the professional torture methods and drugs that were used on her. Fortunately, none related to D99. Gosh. So complicated. Might as well just enjoy to eye candy fanservice. If not for those damn steam censors… I am not sure what it was, Yuuko blames it to be all Hitsugi’s fault and serves her some sort of S&M towel punishment? But Hitsugi is grateful to have guys like them so she won’t lose. Because more importantly she is in love! OMG! Mikoto is the first one to jump up to protest she won’t allow such indecent things with her partner! In school, Hinako tries to ask Arashi out but panics when she realizes it would seem like a date since her friend isn’t tagging along. I don’t see what’s the problem? Arashi then hears the girls talking about rumours going around on social media lately whereby people suddenly disappear. Hinako, are you on drugs to even suggest kidnapped people become harem to some alien emperor? Her friend relates a story of another friend who witnessed something similar. A girl who went missing but was seen dancing in torn and bloodied clothes. She realized too late she was surrounded by similar ‘zombies’. I don’t know. This horror story sounds so fake. All Arashi can tell them is to stay away from anyone suspicious. Miki ambushes Inunaki to force him to spill the details. However she got distracted by his molestation (something about comparing boob size with Yuuko too) and he got away. Before another mission, Mikoto talks to Arashi about something very concerning about Hitsugi. I think I know what it is. Thinking she has uncertain feelings, he tells her to be just that. But they must perform their mission with certainty. Some guy is high on drugs leading the police on a wild car chase. They can’t do anything rash as he has a hostage in the car. Of course time for Mikoto and Arashi to do their stuff. The moment their bike pulls up along the car, the baddie starts feeling scared about them. It is like he has stared death in the eye! Arashi has an idea to stop this chase. I don’t know how, he shoots the tank to make the oil leak out and then the tyres. Begging for your life now? He spills everything but eventually he is just a small time drug dealer and has nothing new for them. Take this second chance in life to turn over a new leaf. Mikoto becomes a sadist, throwing him a hacksaw. The fastest way to escape before the police arrive is to saw off your own hand! Man, she always wanted to say that? The hostage needs medical attention so Mikoto rides her back. What about Arashi? Don’t worry about him. He’ll be just fine walking back. Make that a long walk back.

Just What The Doctor Ordered…
Heh. The final episode nearly killed it. Nearly threatened to destroy and unravel the satisfactory levels that I have come to decide overall for this show. After great and intense fighting scenes, the redundant final episode feels like a freaking waste of time and I thought it was in the risk of being turned into some sort of cheesy fanservice and romance harem thingy. And then with the final action scenes, luckily that managed to redeem itself. I mean, that is what this anime is supposed to be all about, right?

As usual, there are quite some promising potential for this season and with the never ending battle just heating up and the loose ends not tie yet (heck, it may turn into split ends), there is going to be a lot more on Black Label’s plate if they want to free the city of lesions and tumours. So I suppose bad guys like Kyouji didn’t do much this season except setting up the role as the antagonist whom Black Label must rid for good the next time. Not to mention Syringe who are the biggest rivals and stumbling block in Black Label’s way. So it is going to be a multi-way fight in the city. I hope with so many parties involved, it won’t damage the body/city. You know, you have viruses and bacteria invading your body but in addition to your own immune system, there are outside medication and vaccine in the fray that may assist and cause havoc to everything.

The action sequences are the main selling points of this anime. Not the huge boobs fanservice. That is right. You heard that correctly. It is more like the fanservice feels like extras and icing on the cake. It is a good thing because it doesn’t distract and detract from the course and the plot. Of course the irony is that those boobs are great distraction for us viewers :). The action might not be hardcore but at least there are enough in each episode to keep casual viewers preoccupied. There is a sheer amount of violence although I won’t say it is over the top but when you have main characters showing no mercy or hesitation to shoot and kill, you don’t expect these guys to have goody-goody chivalry traits as ‘brainwashed’ by Disney. It makes the series more realistic in that sense. So be prepared to see blood spills and bodies being cut apart. If it gets too violent, they’ll just use the infamous black hole as censors. Always works. And yeah, there are deaths in every episode but those are usually small fry bad guys. But the worst and most disturbing death of all is that of an idol… It is just atrocious. Like sort of a shocking wake up call.

Speaking of fanservice, as said they bring additional appeal to the service. Mostly the big boobs. For almost every female character you see that has big boobs, they are given such a huge enlargement. So huge that it looks unrealistic. So unrealistically huge that you would think that only such boobs would only appear in hentai series. It somehow enhances the slutty value. Each time you see them, your mind starts to wander and wonder if they would suddenly get down and do a blowjob. Really. I mean, how do some of these girls kick ass with that huge pair of racks in the way? Maybe that is why the baddies always die like flies. The distraction kills! There are also a handful of panty shots fanservice but this is minimal compared to the boobs fanservice. Of course some are too dangerous to be shown on TV so they are censored with that infamous black hole. Especially that entire sequence when Arashi was facing off with berserk Hitsugi who is going commando all the way. That little black hole blotch there if you are not focusing on it, might look like her pubic hair from the side of your eyes… Just saying… Overall there aren’t any cheap sleazy fanservice stuffs except for when baddies think their libido is good enough to keep the girls in line then you have all the cheap groping and molesting stuff.

Speaking of the characters, first and foremost, nobody is an angel in here. Okay, maybe unrelated cuties like Hinako would but that is only because she doesn’t have enough screen time. I am sure given enough of so, you’ll eventually get to see her dark side. But that is not related to this story for now. As you can see, our heroes aren’t your typical chivalrous types for they are prepared to pull the trigger on anybody who has been given the black label. Fighting fire with fire is another way of putting it. Because when you are up with the worst kind of human beings, rehabilitation is only a dream for them. Therefore it gives rise to dark justice and it questions whether their actions are morally right or wrong. It all boils down to your perspectives and stereotypes. Of course for this anime we would view Black Label as anti-heroes and the ‘good guys’ because they seem to be purging evil for the greater good. But is it the right way? But as I have said, if such humans are beyond saving, diplomacy is not in their context, what else method is there left?

It is nice to see that some of the Black Label characters having their own screen time in the form of mini arcs and shedding bits of their past with us. Like Oriha and Mikoto, their past and even what they do currently gives us and insight of why they are here and doing what they’re doing right now. Too bad it feels rushed since the series has the same number of episodes as the fingers on both an average person’s hands. Each of them has their own demons of the past they have to face and come to terms with. Sometimes when I see Ryu popping up to talk to Arashi, it feels like he is speaking to an imaginary friend and that he might need some serious help. Sure, Ryu is living inside him but if you try to think logically, doesn’t it feel like Arashi is just having hallucinations? Black Label’s intentions are good but whether or not they can be considered as true unsung heroes is entirely up to you. Therefore it is hard to place Syringe as the baddies although for now they are seen being positioned as Black Label’s enemy. Rival would be a better word but we don’t know more about them as being portrayed this season. If this was going to the direction of a shonen anime, my guts tell me they might end up joining forces and fight together against a common big bad evil. But that is another story.

Some characters like Inunaki are shady enough to make you wonder whose side he is on. This guy although an ex-member of Black Label and currently from a different organization may look like their ally, giving valuable information from time to time. But could there be more underneath? There is certainly more to meet the eye to him. Same case with Mochizuki. His intentions to rid the city of the worst lesions are good but you also wonder if he had an ulterior motive and is just putting a façade. Especially when he admitted into making D99 but was honest enough to come clean when his past resurfaces. I may just be over-thinking it all… A point to ponder is that if Mochizuki calls the shots on which scum to be assassinated and such, I hope his decisions have been 100% accurate all the time because it would be really a big blow if suddenly they realize the target they killed is wrong. It gives rise to what gives Black Label the right to judge others despite the arm of the law being unable to persecute them. Like I said, they are no angels and no better off being another secret vigilante organization. They better have their facts and facts right all the time!

Other supporting and characters feel lacking like Tatara who seems to be working very hard to crack the case but is often met with obstruction. I don’t know. To me it feels like a running joke. Because it makes him go nowhere despite he knows that the cases can go so deep you won’t be able to see the ground. Speaking of running joke, I thought Oriha’s bomb blasting finale is going to set the tone for every darn mission they complete. What better way than to leave no evidence than to just blow everything up, eh? Then there is Hinako who is just there for us to keep dreaming about the possible harem romance for Arashi. Seriously, even if it did happen, I personally don’t think it fits. Thank goodness none of that (or at least to a minimum) happened.

Racking up the body count, I think there have been a number of villains making their short cameo appearance before getting killed off for good. It is like telling us they have no staying power, no? Yeah, who would want to remember them anyway? They are introduced and before shortly being killed off and if they are ‘good’ enough, they last for at least an episode or two. It is more pitiful for those henchmen without names. Like as though they are just there to add to the body count statistics.

If the art style of the characters is looking very familiar, it probably is because the characters are designed by the very same person who illustrated for Highschool Of The Dead. Yeah… No wonder those humongous unrealistic boobs gave me such a sense of nostalgia… Where in the world can you have females having such over-sized boobs and still go about their daily lives like normal? Thank anime for giving us the unrealistic expectations for that. The very same illustrator is probably the reason why I see some of the characters of both series resembling each other. Like how Arashi resembles a lot like Highschool Of The Dead’s Takashi. I also noticed that all bad guys (especially low level punks) have this typical villainous look. You can’t run away from it. Besides their bad attitude as a dead giveaway, you can spot a baddie from miles away thanks to this one-kind look they have. Makes it easier for us and Black Label to identify them, eh? Then there is the case of Miki, Suzue and the twins. They look so close to each other that I can’t tell them apart! I know I could never for the twins but there are some differentiations between Miki and Suzue. However seeing either coming into the scene, it confuses me at first as to which is which.

This might be trivial but I thought I was a little ‘scammed’ because I was expecting to see the main characters in doctor or nurse outfits when they go into battle. I am mainly to blame for having such expectations since I didn’t read the original manga whatsoever. Because the only character that you will mainly see in a nurse outfit is Hitsugi. The rest aren’t. Arashi and Mikoto’s fighting uniform is their biker outfit while Oriha goes into action with the same idol clothes she wears onstage. I wonder why nobody could identify her. I guess baddies don’t watch idol shows, eh? Yuuko dons loose clothing that exposes her belly and cleavage while Miki wears a tight suit. So where are the nurses in action?! Haha…

Voice acting wise, it sounds pretty okay. The only ones I recognized are Ryoko Shiraishi as Hitsugi, Shinichiro Miki as Inunaki and Hiroki Yasumoto as Wild Hunt. The rest of the casts include Kenji Akabane as Arashi (the Producer in Idolmaster), Yui Kondou as Mikoto (Furano in NouKome), Amina Satou as Oriha (Yuuka in AKB0048), Fuyuko Oura as Yuuko (Ren in To Love-Ru), Masumi Asano as Miki (Hakufu in Ikkitousen), Takaya Kuroda as Mochizuki (Renjou in Kurenai), Aya Hisakawa as Ran (Maya in Tenjou Tenge), Misato as Suzue (Mana in Date A Live), Hideaki Tezuka as Tatara (Kurahashi in Zankyou No Terror), Kiyono Yasuno as Kaori (Koneko in Hamatora), Misa Kayama as Kaoru, Takanori Hoshino as Astro (Nobuyuki Kai in Haikyuu), Setsuji Satoh as D (Joseph Yaht in Turn A Gundam), Sayaka Nakaya as Kaname (Orine in AKB0048), Sachi Kokuryu as Goryuu (Arthur in Nanatsu No Taizai), Kenji Nojima as Kyouji (Yuuto in High School DxD), Iori Nomizu as Haron (Nymph in Sora No Otoshimono), Yumeha Kouda as Sumire (Zita in Hitsugi No Chaika) and Ryouka Yuzuki as Chitoge (Ino in Naruto). Both the opening and ending themes are rock based, which are quite fitting to the style of this series. Nagareda Project sings Triage as the opener while Kazutomi Yamamoto does the ending theme, Soleil More.

Overall, this is not an anime for everybody thanks to its violence and big tits fanservice. But it does introduce an interesting concept of treating villains like cancer and the way they are ‘removed’ but not surgically. I guess medical advancement has not come to a stage whereby it could cure humanity of their stupidity and greed. Heck, I don’t think that has even got to do with medical technology. It is all part of our genes and bad blood. The next time you try to get funny and flirty with the nurses, this should serve a good reminder why their ass isn’t just meant waiting to be molested by you. They’ll always have the last laugh when it is their turn to stick up a huge giant syringe needle up your ass. Well, better than a bullet in your head any time.