Nanatsu No Bitoku OVA

They’re still trying to find the right Messiah? They’re still trying to find the qualified candidate to take on Lucifer? Good luck, girls. You’re going to need them. I mean, really need them. In Nanatsu No Bitoku OVA, we see a couple more short OVAs in which the Heavenly Virtues try their luck for the aforementioned above. But I can tell what the outcome will be like and more importantly, the kind of ‘experience’ I’m going to get while watching it.

OVA 1
Uriel is not happy. She believes she is going to be screwed. Indeed. She is put up to be tested by a machine made by Sandalphon and Metatron. Yeah, it is supposed to judge a candidate’s quality. I’m doubting it but I’ll still watch… Tied to a chair as her legs are forced to be spread open, a candidate is ushered in and made to wear a VR helmet. We can already see he is a pervert because we see him trying to use the mouse cursor to click on Metatron’s boobs. Annoyed Metatron turns off the cursor. Now for the real test. He has to look into Uriel’s eyes and nothing else for loyalty. So far so good. Uriel is then put close to him to test endurance. Hmm… Panting a bit. After a few tests, we come to the final one in which Uriel is tickled like mad as our candidate also tries to do the same with the cursor. Unfortunately the “You are a hentai!” warning pops up and is hence ejected into the water. I guess he’s not qualified. Uriel feels so violated. Patience, patience… Isn’t that supposed to be her virtue?

OVA 2
Looks like Michael has a special training for her angels. Uhm, water gun fight to improve their agility? WTF. Don’t worry about anyone seeing them at the park because Sandalphon’s device to turn them invisible is on. So when it descends into a fun water gun fight, Michael shows what the real deal is about. She fires her gun to really drench them. It turns out the water will turn their swimsuits invisible! What intensity is she talking about if they’re naked???!!! The only thing intense is our libido!!! So they start shooting each other until they’re totally naked. At this point, the device also takes a hit and malfunctions. They realize that there are lots of people staring at them. Holy sh*t! Free show! And Michael can still laugh it isn’t easy to find a Messiah? Is this what this was about?! Michael, you’re fired!

Fallen Angels – Heaven Is Doomed!
All as per expected. The couple of short OVAs are meant to stimulate our pathetic libido while not caring much whether or not they really find their true saviour. Because those without vision can also see how much Lucifer will kick all their asses. You think they would have learnt something from the TV series? Nope. This OVA made them worse and sealed heaven’s fate. If you die and wonder why you didn’t go to heaven and plunge straight down into the depths of hell despite being generally a good soul for a good part of your life, this is why. This is where you pin your blame. We got our free angel tits. Yay! We can be happy for the rest of the day.

I am sure this is the reason why we only have 2 OVAs instead of more. Because we all know deep down, the more we see them, the more inept idiocy they show, the more we lose our faith. Yeah, hence in this sense it is a tad sad that some of the angels don’t even get to have a decent screen time. The fact that God is absent to even supervise their actions especially Michael shows that either God doesn’t care or God is a pervy who wants to see his archangels naked and in compromising positions or God intends to betray us all because he has already aligned with Lucifer. Yikes! This is an even more devastating plot! But for now, we have to put up with slutty fails because now we can also blame them for the increase of the number of perverts in the world instead of saviours. Oh God help us all. Or rather, Lucifer please help us all and save us from this unholiness!

High School DxD Hero

Holy titties! I never would have expected it. That the High School DxD franchise would be given another season. After the fiasco and disappointing season, it was safe to say that it wasn’t going to get another season. But 3 years later, here we are having this surprising fourth season, High School DxD Hero. Do they think fans have forgotten? After all, 3 years isn’t particularly a long time but maybe it is so in anime terms. And since I have forgotten a lot about this series except for the fact that a boy wants to be harem king and has this privilege of touching boobs from his harem and also fighting demons to protect them (sure, there are other bits of details I remember from this series but ecchi fanservice is what I and mostly all of us would prominently remember), I suppose it is time to forgive and give them a chance to make amends and move on. Okay, seriously, we’re here for the tits, right?

Episode 0
This episode supposedly ‘fixes’ the deviation. From last season after Issei defeated Diodora, the latter is killed off by Shalba. Issei sinks into further depression when is told Asia has been erased from this dimension. This turns his Juggernaut Drive berserk as Issei is now in his Red Dragon armour (not sure to what evolution he powered up) and destroying everything. He pounds Shalba and even kills him! But still, he continues to go berserk and at this rate, he will deplete his own life force. Here comes Vali and his men. Surprise or not, they found Asia totally by chance floating in another dimension. Convenient. Yeah, she’s still alive. Totally convenient. Their focus now is to save Issei but they can’t even get near him. Vali hints there is one way to snap him out. Everyone staring at Rias’ tits. Who’d knew the answer is so simple. The problem is approaching him. One way to approach a rampaging dragon is an ancient melody. Fear not. Because here comes Irina with a giant projector as she plays that children’s dragon boobs song!!! With Issei reacting to it, now it is Rias’ chance to let him touch her nipples. And just like that, Issei returns to normal. Flanked and hugged by his girls, Issei sees Asia and is about to hug her only to be usurped by an emotional Xenovia. Like how rainbows in the sky is a sign of a good ending, this series’ ‘rainbow’ is the appearance of the Great Red. Vali reminds us it is his dream to defeat him. Even Ophis pops up to say hi for a while. Vali and Issei make a vow to return stronger and settle their score another day. A sign to go home with Issei collapsing from exhaustion. Issei keeps his promise to team up with Asia for the 3-legged race. With him further exhausted, Asia heals him. Bonus for Issei because she kisses him and confesses she loves him. Now he collapses from happiness. I’M SO JEALOUS OF YOU, ISSEI!!!!!!!

Episode 1
What a way to start the episode. Since Issei will be going on a field trip to Kyoto, Akeno wants to f*ck him so as to fill up her loneliness while he is gone. It’s just 2 days, right? Of course Rias won’t allow it but since there is also competition from Koneko and Asia, Rias does a boobs slam in his face! I’M SO JEALOUS OF YOU, ISSEI!!! Later, Koneko ups the ante with her skinship healing technique and suggests some amorous techniques. That’s a weird way of saying sex. Of course, no sex if you follow the school rules. Rias and her subordinates visit her family to report. Discussing with Sirzechs, they suggest the removal of several unnecessary rules for the Rating Game so that both sides can go all out. Sairaorg wants to spar with Issei. We see both of them trading powerful punches that could easily rip the place apart. Asia then shouts out about the need for Issei to power up by touching boobs. With everyone agreeing and double confirming about his boobs relying power (why does it sound to make him embarrassed), Rias embarrassingly offers her boobs to be touched. Issei would gladly take up this offer but Sairaorg ends the match. As this would mean Issei would be showing his trump card, he believes Issei is still trying to reach for new heights. He hopes they can settle it all in their upcoming Rating Game. Before they leave, Millicas throws Issei the question if he would still call Rias as buchou once she graduates. Issei is too excited for the trip that he can’t sleep. With Rias giving him ultimate boobs smothering fanservice, he can’t sleep even further. Boobs are better than coffee in keeping you awake. At the train station, Rias gives Issei 2 ‘gifts’. First, a special pass to allow him to enter all those holy temple places that Kyoto is so famous for (remember, Issei is a demon). Second, a great goodbye kiss for the road.

Episode 2
Issei enters the consciousness of his Sacred Gear. There are many former Red Dragon users but they are now mostly like vegetable mode. One of them looks like a boy his age and just like the rest was overwhelmed by his own strength and perished. Ddraig introduces Issei to Elsha who was the partner to Belzard, the most powerful Red Dragon Emperor who defeated 2 White Dragon Emperors by himself. She gives him a box and a key that supposedly holds his Red Dragon Emperor potential. However he must take responsibility once he opens it. It’s like a Pandora’s Box. So he opens it but he doesn’t remember what it is as he returns to reality. Furthermore, he lost it! Ddraig assures because of their strong bonds, it will come back to him eventually. I think we get a hint of what it is. Because Matsuda is fondling Motohama’s ‘boobs’!!!! So gay!!! Even when they reach Kyoto, Issei sees a random guy trying to fondle a random woman’s boobs. During the shrine visit, Issei is attacked by a fox girl, Kuno and her youkai minions. She accuses him of kidnapping her mom and wants her back. Issei doesn’t know what she is talking about but she doesn’t believe him. With the help of Xenovia, Irina and Asia, they stave off the attack but Kuno vows to be back. Back in the hotel, not sure why Issei is hanging out alone in his room (wasn’t he supposed to watch porn with his friends?!), so he decides to go peek on the girls bathing. Rossweisse gets in his way. Ally or not, nothing is going to stop him from peeping at boobs! From the guy who naturally gets to see Rias and Akeno’s boobs every day. Issei defeats he with his Dress Break. There goes the cheap cute jersey she bought. All for the sake for our fanservice pleasure. More fanservice pleasure as we take a detour watching Rias and Akeno getting into a boob challenge, arguing Issei likes their boobs better. During dinner, Issei learns from Serafall that the current head of the youkai clan is missing. This explains the attack and Chaos Brigade is most likely behind this infiltration. Azazel will do his best about the situation and wants the kids to enjoy the field trip.

Episode 3
Flashback shows after the 3-legged race, Issei and Rias fought a member of the Chaos Brigade’s Hero Faction. Although defeated, he turned into some shadow. During the Kyoto sightseeing, Issei and co are surrounded by the youkai. Rossweisse says this is as instructed by Azazel to bring them to the youkai world. Kuno apologizes to them for jumping the gun without doing any investigations. Discussing about their missing head, Princess Yasaka who is also Kuno’s mom, they believe Chaos Brigade is definitely behind the kidnapping since the underworld real doesn’t know anything about this. They show a picture of how Yasaka looks like so that we can have Issei fantasize lewd things with her! That night when Issei’s buddies came to his room to bug him, he hides inside the closet with Asia. Cue for some romantic moments and Asia to kiss him because she isn’t satisfied Rias gave him one before the trip. Their unholy act is discovered by Xenovia and Irina who also want in on this. Xenovia has no qualms for them taking turns to kiss him as well as make babies! Oh sh*t. Girls struggling to f*ck him? I guess that’s why this tight closet space is the excuse for more ‘close quarter skirmish’. Rossweisse and her reinforcements are waiting for Issei to show up. Well, they got Matsuda and Motohama good. Sensing something amiss that Issei is no show, she realizes something is wrong when Asia and co aren’t in the bath. She rushes down to Issei’s room and catches them all with their pants down in an unholy orgy. Next day, Kuno makes good on her promise to give Issei’s groupie a tour of Kyoto as repentance. On the bridge, suddenly they are transported to another dimension. Kuno recognizes this purple mist that is believed to have kidnapped her mom. Before them is Chaos Brigade’s Hero Faction.

Episode 4
The leader of Hero Faction, Cao Cao admits of kidnapping Yasaka for an experiment. He is here to greet and spar with them. He has Leonardo materialize several anti-monsters for Issei’s side to fight. Thanks to Issei making strategic moves, they are easily dealt with. Azazel fights Cao Cao as he now understands why Hero Faction sent assassins to various camps. It is to obtain data to create the best anti-monster, Colossus that is capable of obliterating the Gods. After done with the anti-monsters, Issei’s side fight Siegfried. He has 3 arms? Each wielding a legendary sword? Azazel questions Hero Faction’s move now. Cao Cao explains it is to unearth human’s full potential. Of all the races, humans have always been the ones capable of eliminating those at the top. They want to see how far they can push this limit while remaining human. The giant Gogmagog, a weapon once created by the Gods pops up. It is sent by Le Fey Pendragon from Vali’s side to give Cao Cao a warning. Pendragon is a fan of Issei and wants to shake his hands. Damn, I thought she was going to let him touch her boobs. After Gogmagog falls and Rossweisse realising a flurry of attacking beams in her drunken stupor, Cao Cao ends the fight. He invites them to watch their experiment tonight where he will use Yasaka to conduct something on Nijou Castle. Back at the hotel, Azazel assigns roles to them in taking down Hero Faction and rescuing Yasaka. He will also enlist the help of some professionals since it is unknown how many dangerous guys Cao Cao will bring. Azazel also assigns Saji to be on Issei’s side to restrain him in case the latter goes berserk. Later Azazel returns a pink gem to Issei. Apparently this is his escaped potential from the box that went berserk groping women all over Kyoto. So it’s all his fault to begin with. Issei asks Azazel on what it means to be a hero since it was one of his goals. I thought he wanted to be harem king? The mist covers the land and separates Issei from the rest (he only has Kuno as company). He faces off with that shadow dude again. So if Issei can’t touch the shadow but the shadow can touch and restrain him?

Episode 5
Issei’s flames burns him. Time for the loser to rant about Sacred Gear discrimination that he doesn’t mind being a puppet for somebody because it gives his life meaning. But since he isn’t main character, we don’t give a damn. I guess we’re done with the warm up match so Issei reunites with the rest as they prepare to face Cao Cao and his men. He has Georg turn Yasaka into a giant youkai fox. His experiment is to summon Great Red with this fox and the city’s power. Not sure about this power showing from Xenovia because it’s like to show us she has a new sword, Ex-Durandal (Excalibur x Durandal) and wipes out almost half the city! Good thing this is the alternate dimension. Now we see some matchups, Siegfried fighting both Xenovia and Yuuto, Jeanne choosing Irina, Heracles against Rossweisse while Saji in his Prism Dragon form take on the fox. We see the Hero Faction’s Balance Breaker with Siegfried able to have maximum 6 arms with 6 different swords, Jeanne making a dragon out of holy swords and Heracles just being spiky and shooting missiles. Issei could have died from Cao Cao’s lethal attack but uses his Phoenix Tears to heal. He strikes back and does some lethal damage but is shocked to see Cao Cao also possessing a Phoenix Tears to heal up. Issei takes another devastating blow so he wants Ddraig to fix the armour. At this points, all his comrades lost. Even the serpent lost to the snake. Time for Issei to lose hope and lament how weak and useless he is at crucial points. Don’t worry. Here comes Elsha ex machina. After telling him that potential thingy, he must unleash his own potential with that gem. Uh huh. His own set of boobs. You heard that right. So the gem materializes boob zombies?! Actually these are the wills of all those who became boob molesters because of him and their desires materialized into a human form. Yeah, there are so many of them! Finally all of them combine as Issei summons his set of boobs. Whose set? Rias! Yeah, she was in the middle of changing her underwear.

Episode 6
Elsha guides Issei on how to pinch her boobs! I’m sure Rias is shocked and confused but since it’s Issei, she’ll give him a free pass for now. Upon pressing her tits, is this the best orgasm she ever felt? She is transported back to where she is while Issei receives a massive boost. Feel the power just bursting from within! All because of buchou’s boobs! Heck, he even has a last vision of Elsha giving her final blessing as well as Belzard’s final words of pinching and twirling? Aren’t those the lyrics to Issei’s dragon boobs song? With this new power, Issei is faster, tougher and can change between modes quickly to pound Cao Cao. Thanks to his Sacred Gear, Cao Cao survives without much damage. Cao Cao notes his move is illegal (compared to some chess move) but Ddraig sees it as some 3-pronged attack. Before the fight continues, here comes Yu Long the Mischievous Dragon along with Son Goku. He has a bone to pick with Cao Cao. We see Goku’s tremendous power in handling Cao Cao and his subordinates while Yu Long tames the fox. Cao Cao and co is about to retreat but Issei fires a powerful shot in his face. This makes Cao Cao very mad and wants to retaliate but upon realizing they are at their limits, they back out for now. It’s redundant to tell him to be stronger than Vali. He is going to do that. Issei and Goku unleash some power so Kuno could talk to her mom and return her to her buxom human form. All is fine as well. Lots of thanking before Issei’s party leave for home. Issei’s only regret is that he couldn’t touch Yasaka’s boobs. I guess buchou’s boobs weren’t enough. Speaking of which, back home the group gets reprimanded by Rias but after Azazel explains about the new power he received, I guess she’ll let it slide. Azazel also informs that Ravel will soon be transferring to their school as she has now taken interest in Japan (who wouldn’t?). Now they have to prepare for the upcoming school festival as well as the Rating Game with Sairaorg.

Episode 7
Issei puts up a splendid stage performance as Oppai Dragon! It’s really a hit! The kids love him! Even doing that signature twirling and pinching finger movements?! What are they teaching kids these days?! Fanservice moments at the backstage as Irina has to replace the announcer who sprained her foot. The dress is so tight that her boobs literally rips it apart! As though like they’re screaming they don’t want to be constraint by it. Cue for Irina to do an unholy activity of smothering her boobs on him. Cue for other girls to come in to do the same because all their boobs belong to him. Wow. A plethora of boobs! Issei you lucky bastard! Until Rias tells them to get ready for the next stage. After the show, Issei personally signs an autograph for a boy who turned up late for the event, Rirencs. Rias’ mom comes by to congratulate their splendid play. She also has Issei think about advancing his relationship with Rias. Time to stop calling her buchou? Ravel has officially transferred but she is quite meek instead of being prideful because she is nervous and not used in dealing humans? Gee, so around demons she knows she’s like a, uhm, demon? Issei thought of Koneko showing her around to help ease her anxiety but looks like a storm is brewing instead. Rias requests Issei to come with her as the butler of Sairaorg’s mom has a personal request. She tells him the story of Misla Bael, who hails from one of the 72 pillars of the demon clan. After she gave birth to Sairaorg, the joy was short-lived as he had no magic powers. They became scorned by the clan. She raised him within the Bael area and despite the Gremory clan offered to take them in, they were rejected. She took care of him tirelessly until she became sick with a terrible demonic illness. Now in a deep coma, the butler hopes that Issei’s power of communicating via boobs would wake her up. Yes, he has their permission to touch her boobs. But in the end, despite pushing himself past his Balance Breaker, she still sleeps. Understandably he is depressed. Sairaorg comes to see him to thank him after hearing what happened. But they both assure that this past will not stop them from going all out with each other at their upcoming Rating Game. Rias notes Issei looks like a worthy man now. But he is still the same oppai pervert, right?

Episode 8
Rias’ team is practising for the Rating Game. However they have to stop and reserve some energy since there is a press conference tomorrow. Yes, their match is highly publicized and will be watched all over. I suppose that is why Issei is surprised when Saji tells him his side his having a Rating Game against the Agares clan at the same time but it is so low key and everybody else is paying attention to Rias-Sairaorg Rating Game. At the press conference, the press seems to hound Issei on boobs! Is he going to poke Rias’ boobs?! A slip of his tongue and the media goes into a frenzy bombarding him with boob questions that just makes them uncomfortable and embarrassed. Even Sairaorg throws in his own cheeky comments. While Issei is reflecting in the sauna, here comes hot naked Rias wanting to get down and dirty with him! Is this the moment where Issei would finally lose his virginity? But all of a sudden… The moment he calls her buchou, she loses her mood and leaves enraged. Oh my. All it takes was a title for a boner to a downer. It is a bit awkward when the duo meet for their strategy meeting. As Azazel is appointed their advisor, Sairaorg has Diehauser Belial who is a former Rating Game champion. After the meeting, Ravel’s mom drops a line to say hi to her daughter as well as hoping Issei would take care of her. Who else better than the Red Dragon Emperor himself, right? With Issei agreeing and mom hoping Ravel to improve her relationship with him, it looks like this is giving Rias the worries. So she asks Issei and some of them if they would protect her. Of course. Then she asks Issei what she is to him. Buchou is always buchou. That’s it. That taboo word has Rias calling him an idiot as she runs away. All the ladies agree it is Issei’s fault although he (and yours truly) are clueless in how he messed up. I’m sure it has something to do with their long standing bonds together but I just can’t piece the pieces together… Dang, a woman’s heart is so hard to understand! Even more so a devil woman so to speak!

Episode 9
We hear Issei reflecting on himself. Basically he wants them to be more than just master-servant relationship but fears Rias doesn’t share the same feelings. One wrong move and it’s all over. Yeah, understanding women is hard. Apparently Akeno, Koneko and Asia overheard this so they also share his sympathy. In order to be fair to them, they will equally share their love. Oh man. Is it this early to get naked tits treatment? Fine with me! Let the sexual healing begin! But Asia senses Issei still has some feelings for Reinare. He notes she is his first girlfriend and killed him. In the end he had to kill her and he doesn’t want to feel such ever again. With everyone reassuring their love for him and always be together, let’s put aside the tears and continue our sexual healing. And then Xenovia and Irina had to pass by and see this unholy act. They too want in on the action. The real struggle begins. Yeah, it’s really hard to understand women. Rias’ team are at the hotel and are met with Hades. So Greek Gods like Poseidon are even coming to see this tournament? Rias gets an important advice from Riser about believing in her teammates as well as leaving Ravel in their care. This guy is so much on their side now. More booster for Issei as Sirzechs sees him to let him watch a video of young kids who are fans of Oppai Dragon cheering on him. Tons of fan letters too. As of before the start of the match, we are being briefed over the format of the game. Looks like it isn’t battle royale like I knew it from last time. Both kings will roll the dice. Their total value will determine what kind of pieces they can put forth into the match (each chess piece has a corresponding value like Pawns = 1 and Rooks = 5, so forth). Those who represent multiple pieces like Issei who represents 8 Pawns will be worth 8 points. Both sides roll to a total of 3. This means they can either only use a Knight or Bishop (Sairaorg’s Pawns are also held by the same person). Rias chooses Yuuto for this battle. His opponent is, uhm, also a full-fledged knight. Gee, it’s really the battle of the Knights.

Episode 10
Here are this episode’s Rating Game highlights:

Match 1: Yuuto vs Beluka Furcas (and Altobrau the horse): As dubbed the battle of the Knights, both sides clone themselves for an all-out melee battle that ends with Yuuto being victorious. First blood to Rias’ camp!

Match 2: Rossweisse-Koneko vs Liban Crocell-Gandoma Balam: The duo try their best against the gravity swordsman and discount Thing. In the end, Rossweisse miscalculated her attack and although got both her opponents, Koneko bore the brunt of Gandoma’s final attack. Rossweisse’s survival meant that Rias’ team wins but Koneko and like those who have lost cannot be featured in future matches.

Match 3: Issei vs Coriana Andrealphus: Dubbed the battle of the sexy! Sairaorg thinks this trump card has what it takes to nullify Issei’s perverted powers. True enough, she starts a striptease show and slowly undresses! Issei could have finished her with a single power move but he cannot attack a lady while undressing! Damn perverted pride. However this is the deal breaker. Coriana starts taking off her panties first before her bra! Issei does not approve of this order and fires away! WTF???!!! So he prefers to see the boobs first before her vagina/ass?! What a ‘terrible’ match…

Match 4: Xenovia-Gasper vs Ladora Bune-Misteeta Sabnock: The plan is to have Gasper support Xenovia as she takes on the offensive. However she got cursed by the priestess and is now being hunted by malnourished-guy-turned-mighty-dragon. As Gasper’s healing takes time, against everyone’s wish and to show how manly and useful he is, he becomes bait and sacrifices himself. Yup, we see Gasper getting owned by the duo. With Gasper not giving up, it’s supposed to make us cheer for him and pull our heartstrings. In the end, they focused too much on vampire boy and Xenovia has enough time to recover and blast them away. Too bad Gasper is out, though.

Match 5: Akeno vs Kuisha Abaddon: The battle of the Queens and the fastest! After watching Gasper’s feat, the other Rias members are resolved to lower their opponent’s fighting strength. Yup, this means Akeno lost in this black hole match quickly although I don’t see her dealing much damage to Kuisha.

Match 6: Yuuto-Rossweisse-Xenovia vs Sairaorg: Oh, time’s up for this episode. But we know how this will turn out, right? Yeah, just a warm up match for Sairaorg…

Episode 11
As expected, Sairaorg wipes the floor with them. Though with all their might they put up challenge and eventually cut off an arm of his, they are still no match and are defeated. Issei is so mad that his next match with Kuisha, he doesn’t even think of groping her and quickly defeats her! Actually, had not Sairaorg ordered her to withdraw, Issei would have killed her with his punch! OMG! Issei the killer???!!! Because of the dumb rules, Sairaorg suggests discarding it and have a team match with the remaining members. Approved of course since it is getting too predictable and boring. So we’re starting off with a power punch from the guys already? While the duo duke it out, Sairaorg’s only member left turns into his true form, a giant golden lion. Some legend about it being a battle axe whom Sairaorg found after its original wielder was killed by bandits. He faces off with Rias. I wonder what Asia is doing since she is the only other member left. Don’t want to get in the way maybe? Issei beats up Sairaorg after taking advantage of his weakness that was made known by his comrades in the previous match. But this is interrupted when the lion has mauled Rias and she will bleed to death. Issei uses his Phoenix Tears to save her. The lion wants Sairaorg to wield him but he refuses. This is when Issei reminds him of their promise to go all out with each other, not holding back any punches. Sairaorg fuses with the lion to become a golden armour! Saint Seiya???!!! Yeah, Issei gets owned. Hence he is before the council of past failed Red Dragon users who are forcing him to use the Juggernaut Drive. Issei is on the verge of giving in until he hears his fans Oppai Dragon fans’ motivation! Led by Irina, it’s damn weird to hear the entire stadium with kids shouting out boobs. With that, Issei fights back against the council. He won’t give in to resentment and become a tyrant because he is a lecher. Then this guy pops up, supposedly one of the past White Dragon user tells him to try it out because if anything happens, he’ll save him. Gee, thanks for the assurance. With Issei giving the council hope about the future (not to mention thinking about boobs and the woman he loves), Issei takes his transformation of his Red Dragon armour to the next mighty level.

Episode 12
So we see Issei not only powering up but confesses to the entire world he loves Rias. If he draws his power from love, so be it. So the epic punching begins. Until Sairaorg falls. He could have stayed down if not the ghost of his mom tells him to get up?! At least not the cliché power of friendship. The punching continues but Sairaorg takes more beating until Issei loses his armour because he overuses his power? Issei would have continued with his own bare fists until he realizes (as well as the plot script) Sairaorg has passed out a long time. Only his will made him continue to fight. Issei cries manly tears for his manly heroics. And with that, Rias’ side wins this Rating Game. Issei and Sairaorg recuperate in hospital. The latter doesn’t feel bitter about his loss but strangely satisfied. Sirzechs talks to Issei and he is considering promoting Issei to mid-level demon. Yuuto and Akeno are also potential to be promoted. After Issei is discharged, we see the school having their cultural festival. Issei and Rias are finally alone together. No time is wasted for him to confess how much he loves her. No need to be alarmed by her tears. Those are tears of happiness. She has been waiting for this moment. Especially for Issei to call her by her name. If she had only said it from the start… But she was too afraid to do so. Oh… Now I see… As Rias confesses she loves him back and they are about to kiss, those damn pesky friends are spotted eavesdropping. Heck, they even congratulate and even make cheeky remarks they can officially steal him. Hey, they’re demons, right? Rias blames them for ruining her most important moment in life. Even Issei is not spared. Yeah, it’s his fault for confessing here. But don’t worry, the rest set them up to do it all over this time. Alone. Guaranteed. Finally with no interruptions, the kiss that we have all been waiting for! Yahoo! Such bliss. In the aftermath, more good news because Sairaorg’s mom wakes up from coma. We also see Azazel being mad at Indra for knowing about Cao Cao’s existence before them. Indra thinks it is justified as they know each other since young. Indra agrees to ‘officially’ help him but warns if Issei threatens the world, he will annihilate his soul. He views his own group as the only ones worthy of being made under heaven.

Boobs Without Tits Are Totally Pointless!
Phew. Thank goodness this season didn’t suck. I’m not sure if it is because they decided to follow back the original light novel works or because it has been too long (yes, 3 years seems like a very long time to me nowadays) that I couldn’t remember the detailed bits. Even though I knew the third season was disappointing but time somewhat ‘healed’ it. Or maybe this season is just awesome in its own right. Either way, thank goodness this series came back from the ashes like a fiery phoenix and roared its way through like a dragon. Even if the final scenes were intriguing, it still feels like it has set up an interesting potential for another season. After all, Issei and Rias officially becoming an item isn’t the end of the entire story.

One of the biggest differences that viewers will notice is the animation and art style of this season. Previously the series was handled by TNK but now it is done by Passione (Citrus, Rokka No Yuusha, Hinako Note and Rail Wars). Although the art style is not so different that you cannot make head or tail of the usual characters, there is noticeable difference that makes it obvious it definitely looks different from its predecessors. How should I put it… If you ask me, this season’s art style looks somewhat a bit cute. Uh huh. Slightly this more moe looking style. Not to say the predecessors do not have this cute looks but the former series have this bishoujo feel and look. Thus they have this teen look but the current season makes them look a bit younger. Maybe because of the ‘roundness’ and ‘smoothness’ (heck, what am I saying, boobs are always round and smooth but I’m not referring to those in this context) as well as the colour and hue looking smoother and brighter. So it is either you will hate or love this new art style. Me, I got used to it in no time. Hey, it doesn’t matter if boobs are in 2D or 3D. Boobs are boobs, we get to see a bunch here, is that not enough???!!!

Despite the change in art style, one big sigh of relief for fans is that the original seiyuus in its predecessors are all maintained in this season. Your demon sexy Rias and cutie pie Asia might look lightly different than usual but at least they still sound the same like last time. I guess this is good because if they entirely changed the casts, we might be slightly more confused if this dude is Issei. Because let’s face it, nobody sounds perfect playing Issei other than Yuuki Kaji. Hence the new ones joining the ever expanding list of this series include Sora Tokui as Kuno (Hideri in Blend S), You Taichi as Yasaka (Albus in Zero Kara Hajimeru Mahou No Sho), Kousuke Toriumi as Cao Cao (Acnologia in Fairy Tail), Jun Fukushima as Siegfried (Kazuma in KonoSuba), Airi Ootsu as Leonardo (Maria in Marchen Madchen), Sho Nogami as Georg, Ayaka Asai as Jeanne (Hazuki in Hibike! Euphonium), Mugihito as Goku (Wombat in Binan Koukou Chikyuu Bouei-bu), Rie Tanaka as Elsha (Suigin Tou in Rozen Maiden) and Yutaka Aoyama as Belzard (Yamada in To Be Hero).

I keep wondering if there was any sort of meaning to the second title the series has. The second season was New, followed by Born and now we have Hero. String that together and we have New Born Hero. Seems legit and possible if you’re talking about Issei. Thus it makes me wonder if they’re going to make another season, what moniker they will put for that fifth season. Pervert? New Born Hero Pervert doesn’t seem so far-fetched…

Character wise, they are pretty sufficient this season despite the main focus is on Issei and Rias, especially the drama and issue of trying to take their relationship above the master-servant connection. Sometimes it gets a bit annoying because it mirrors in real life that when something is wrong, the women won’t say and the men must figure it out. Even demons Sure, Issei has been with Rias long enough but that doesn’t mean he can read her mind. It felt like everything could have been solved had Rias pointed it out but I suppose that takes the fun out of everything and it will be too easy and Issei will not learn if he doesn’t figure things out on his own. After all, he has got to prove that he is more than just a guy who likes to grope and poke boobs. Yeah… Thankfully for the sake of this season’s happy ending, Issei got all the buttons right. Phew. Next step: Marriage? I know Issei is an admirable guy but sometimes the way he over-admires his opponents with too much respect like how he is so awed with everything Sairaorg does in his fight but ultimately his own dream is the most priority, well, it sounds like he is trying too hard and overdoing? Just one step away from being annoying…

I know in line with this series’ fanservice and ecchi element, sometimes it feels cliché and super unrealistic that all the girls want to spam their boobs for Issei like as though he is their public property. Especially Xenovia who has no qualms in getting down and dirty with him. As though sex is nothing sacred. But the oddest part is that now Issei has a great following in his Oppai Dragon brand name, it just feels weird to see kids rooting and shouting boobs! I mean, young boys and girls chanting “Oppai! Oppai”, like as though it is nothing. Starting them young, eh? Damn guy has got theme song of his own! It could be the national anthem for boobs kingdom for all you know!

For the other characters under Rias’ peerage, they don’t seem too prominent this season too. Almost forgettable until the situation calls for it so that we can see Issei isn’t just a one-man show and has to rely on some things on his comrades. In a way, the need to prove or at least tell us they are still relevant. Of course they are but not in the limelight focus sense. For example, Gasper. Weak vampire boy who has a penchant of hiding in boxes tries to show us how manly he is despite looking, sounding and acting so much like a girl. Man, doesn’t it pull some heartstrings to see Gasper get pounded (not in a sexual way!) like that and not give up?! As this series has many other characters as well, some feel redundant this season like Ravel. Her appearance may be for future potentials and development but this season feels like as though her cameo is that so you don’t forget about her. I mean, we can’t disregard a cute demon girl who is a potential for Issei’s harem, right? New characters like Kuno also feel this way. But to be fair, this season is her debut and now she too is a furry potential for Issei’s harem.

Chaos Brigade makes their much needed appearance but only time will tell if they will become a formidable foe. Because it’s like we take a break now from fighting baddies as we bring you the most hyped Rating Game of the decade. With the irony of heroes becoming the villains (maybe that is what the title of this season refers to), I also hope to see a mishmash of other characters from folklores and tales. It would really be super epic mess with everyone and everything in the fray.

Action bits are pretty exaggerated but still fun to watch. With all the power ups and boosters especially for Issei, you wonder how much stronger he can become and evolve because it seems like as though there is no end to his evolution and transformation to become the Red Dragon Emperor. Not that it is entirely a bad thing but to think about how he started out as a normal pervert and slowly becomes one of the most powerful characters ever, that’s really something. But one thing I can’t help but smirk and find it sound odd is how when Ddraig initiates multiple boosters for Issei, he will start repeatedly say, “Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost!~”. Since he says that in quick succession, he sounds like saying “Boobs! Boobs! Boobs! Boobs! Boobs! Boobs! Boobs!~”. Like, WTF?! I guess it works for Issei in both ways since the power of boobs gives him the boosts.

Other characters like Xenovia, Rossweisse and Yuuto also help display some of their power and abilities but essentially it all comes down to Issei. Hence it makes me wonder if Issei and the raw brute strength of Sairaorg would eventually become annoying overpowered characters. Heck, they’re not the only ones because there are still other opponents like Vali and Cao Cao to deal with. But I suppose we will come to acknowledge their superiority because we get to see Issei acquire it through sheer hard work (or boobs fondling at least) unlike a certain character in that Smartphone crap series that started out way too God-like overpowered from the start.

I guess Rias vs Sairaorg’s Rating Game was so awesome and good that we have forgotten about the other Rating Game that was supposed to go on simultaneously: Saji’s one against the Agares clan. Yup, whatever happened to that? Not even a hint. I thought this would foreshadow something when they put it like that but not a word out of its results. You know, Saji’s side shockingly loss and there is some ulterior motive by the Agares clan to destroy the world. Something like that. No? I assume they won too and without much fanfare. But then again, if all the focus is on Rias and Sairaorg’s Rating Game and assuming people would prefer to watch that, maybe Saji’s Rating Game was played to empty seats?

This season’s opening theme is Switch by Minami. Nothing really great but I think it is rather okay for this season. Generic anime pop song with a pinch of techno dance genre. As for the ending theme, it is Motenai Kuseni by Tapimiru. Also feels like a generic anime rock pop song. I remember the first 2 seasons the ending credits animation had very sexy and erotic dancing. This was ‘downgraded’ in the third season without all that fanservice and the same can be same with this season. It is much toned down. Despite the amount of bare tits were have been exposed to here (especially the mid-intermission like always, they show the girl covered up in the first half because exposing her top in the next half), they just give us Issei’s harem in their beach bikini posing in moderate sexy poses. Disappointing? But then again, we want to remember this series for its awesome story, characters and tits rather than being remembered for, “Oh right, this was the series that had an excellent erotic ending credits animation ever”. Yeah…

Overall, this season is a very much welcomed and giving the series a new breath of life for future developments. It still isn’t perfect but at least it is much better than its previous season. You thought that it would only take one small negative impact to ruin the entire reputation built up and herculean efforts to try and do damage control. This season proves that as long as you have the right amount of tits and boobs (and done nicely of course), those negative sentiments don’t stay long. Ah, boobs. Who’d knew that boobs are the perfect instruments for power up and world peace. Sing along with me, people! Oppai daisuki doragon koi oshita/ Suichi hime no oppai watotemo suki da/ Doragon, doragon oppai doragon momimomi pochito boing boing/ Takusan oppai aru kedo, yappari suichi hime ga daisuki! Wow… Such an epic piece. This is one boob job Issei and us guys will never get tired of.

Nanatsu No Bitoku

Oh well. It was only a matter of time. Ever since the sinfully delicious Sin – Nanatsu No Taizai hit the airwaves, some of us started wondering whether their ‘good’ counterparts are going to get some focus too. Wonder no more because here it is sequel spin-off, Nanatsu No Bitoku or the Seven Heavenly Virtues. We take a look at what was going on on the other side while Lucifer was running rampant. Yup, that is why you don’t really see the rest of those virtuous babes anywhere in the first series. Now, you might notice that the run time for each of the episodes are only 4 minutes long! WTF?! Why so short?! Ah well, it goes to show that being part of the sinning side is more fun than being part of the good side.

Episode 1
In order to fight the Seven Mortal Sins, Michael gathers the Seven Heavenly Virtues. In case you don’t know them, here they are: Michael (the angel of faith), Uriel (patience), Sariel (kindness), Sandalphon (diligence), Metatron (charity), Raphael (temperance) and Gabriel (chastity). Uhm, this sexy cosplay girls ended up in the wrong anime or what? Oh, never mind. Michael seeks a potential Messiah candidate to help save the world and picks up a random normal guy from Japan’s streets! Not really sure if Michael is bad at picking up stuffs… Why didn’t she pick me then? Anyway, she begins training him to defeat evil by doing push-ups? Uhm, your nipples are showing, Michael. Oh, never mind. Enjoy the view. And some panty shots too. Praise the Lord! But when Michael gets hungry, Messiah cooks for her and she’s so looking forward to it. Then it is back to more merciless Spartan training but whenever he cooks omelette rice for her, she becomes docile like a dog wagging its tail. I wonder who is taming who?

Episode 2
Uriel is the ‘master’ of hiding because she believes in supporting Messiah from the shadows. This means trying to hold in the urge to go to the toilet. Is this what being patient means? Uhm, I think she might be some sort of masochist here… We see her trying to ‘hide’ at weird places but I suppose her boobs and butt are so big that they are offensively protruding. Pretend not to see her guys. Nothing to see. Move along. In the end, she gives in to her urge to urinate. So she wants holding it in because she doesn’t know where the toilet is and she can’t leave him out of her sight? As punishment she wants him to sexually abuse her?! In the end, Messiah was fired from his job and is having a hard time finding a new one. He goes home only to see Uriel trying to hide behind his sheets naked. Is this her idea of supporting him from the shadows for his job search? Oh, I can see instant rejections already…

Episode 3
Raphael drops in on a school festival and enjoys eating a low fat sugar free doughnut. She makes friends with the stall owner and thanks to her (sexy) advertising, his doughnuts are sold out. She praises his skills and thinks he is a master but he is humble and maintains he is still learning. She helps him out to research various desserts. Cue for fanservice when she has cream spilled so erotically over her hot body. Raphael learns he has no friends as he spends most of his time trying to make desserts. It is his dream to become a dessert chef. Raphael manages to set him up with a few people with the same interests for a training camp but since he is still lacking confidence, she gives him a special training. Sorry, nothing hentai. After having a great time making cupcakes together, Raphael realizes something. She erases his memories about her and lets him go. She believes he is much more suited for this profession than being a Messiah.

Episode 4
Sandalphon seeks advice from her compatriot from the internet. She wants to put off training her Messiah until he focuses and passes his exams. However the machine she made isn’t working. Yeah, looks like a torture device to me. She tries to make another machine that would relax him but she falls asleep halfway on the job. You know it’s hard to focus when she sleeps so sexy like that. But this guy’s virginity remains strong! Focus! Focus! Sandalphon then has him go out shopping with her to buy stuffs and it looks like a date. It’s like God is testing him because more moments that are had to focus when the machine washes her erotically and she cooks for him in a naked apron. Focus! Focus! Thankfully his hard work pays off and does well for the exams. Happy Sandalphon wants to start the real Messiah training. Looks like he needs to put in more hard work and no rest…

Episode 5
When you have such an angel as your nurse, you know you’re the luckiest bastard in the world or the most cursed one. Or both. Like this hospitalized dude who has Metatron as his nurse. Male fantasies kicking in. Because of her clumsiness, he fears her. However following porn logic, she owns up for her mistakes by washing his back with her huge boobs and his body with hers. Oh yeah. Praise the Lord! But then it soon turns to hell when she starts tying him up S&M style and uses all sorts of nasty equipment on him. Man, it’s like she turned into the devil and made him her plaything! We discover that whenever she touches a needle, she turns into a super sadistic person. Maybe that is why many fear nurses with needles… Yeah, Messiah almost died and went to heaven without even starting his mission. Time to repent?

Episode 6
Gabriel is virtual signalling to everyone in the red light distract that immoral activities are wrong. This coming from an angel who dresses like a slut! Apparently she thinks this normal guy who likes porn is her Messiah. So she follows him home and starts virtue signalling no porn! No this! No that! Then she becomes like his mother because she also tells him the right food to eat and the correct soap to use! WTF?! Nagging loli!!! Must be a tiring day of virtue signalling. Uh huh. She sleeps like a slut on him. Thankfully it’s his day off so he takes her to the amusement park and she happily enjoys it like a kid. At the end of the day, she shows him her true angel form. Why? Because illicit sexual activities are wrong and he should have a wholesome relationship with her. Why do I keep seeing queen control in his future?

Episode 7
A guy returns to his home only to see it being turned into some high level host club. Sariel is going to treat him with utmost kindness and blow away his bad day at work (shucks, I thought blow away would mean blowjob…). He takes advantage of this by burying his face in her boobs (the biggest among all Seven Heavenly Virtues) while complaining about his bad day. After pounding his face with her ass, this awakens his masochistic side as he wants more ‘system shock’. How is big boobs slapping your face work as motivation? Not enough? Tits sucking doing the trick? He wants more but looks like Sariel is all out of love. Claiming she is abandoning him, she transforms into her angel form. However her feather causes her to sneeze and the entire building explodes! I hope that was all the shock he needs.

Episode 8
The Heavenly Virtues are on a packed train. Apparently it was somebody’s idea to learn more about humans. Yeah… I have a hunch what is taking up so much valuable space in this coach… So packed that we only have boob shot spaces of our babes. Not sure what kind of train is that but it keeps hitting the emergency brakes so that the girls could slam their humongous tits into our faces. Like as though the conductor knew busty babes were riding and intentionally did that to make our day. Thank you very much. Because of that, Michael really wants to wipe clean this corrupted world! I believe all the guys here won’t mind dying today. But as more different get on, they start to believe and understand more of human actions. Is it me or has Gabriel been annoying all along trying to virtue signal and exact punishment with her non-existent boobs push? WTF?!

Episode 9
Michael has this brilliant plan to serve Messiah better. They will record themselves in training and distribute it to prospective Messiahs. Yeah, why do I keep thinking this is going to be like porn distribution? First we have them jump up and down to loosen the muscles. Oh yeah. You girls should keep jumping longer, know what I mean? Don’t worry flatties, I’m sure there are those who appreciate you. Next comes leg muscles stretching. Crotch shots, panty shots, butt shots, underboob shots. Man, we have everything! Stretch longer! Now they get onto a series of sexy training. But in the end, they all tire out. My verdict: You angels are pretty out of shape and not fit to even pant and tire like that! How the f*ck can you properly serve your Messiah?! At this rate I wonder if you would even get tired of doing a 5 minute blowjob!!! OOPS!!! Oh, okay. But please do send more of those videos, okie dokie please?

Episode 10
Our Heavenly Virtues are changing in the locker room as they tell about their Messiah they have found. They compare each of their Messiah and of course believe theirs is the best and ready to fight against the Seven Mortal Sins. When Michael words hers in a way that he is very much ready, they notice omelette on her face. They wonder what kind of training she had with her Messiah. Michael gets embarrassed and feels bad for lying. Wait a minute. Is lying part of the virtue?! Anyway she admits the omelettes taste so good she ate it multiple times. Then there is some big boobs argument between Sandalphon and Gabriel, both of whom have the smallest boobs among the pack. It ends with Gabriel losing. After finishing changing, the Heavenly Virtues return to heaven and Michael even hints they might come to your town. After seeing this, I’m not so sure now…

God Help Us All!
There you have it. From the looks of it, is it no wonder and surprise that I am expecting Lucifer to kick all of their asses and make heaven to fail and fall spectacularly?! Seriously. Even the so called chosen Messiahs would run away crying like a baby or even switch to the dark side! No wonder this spin-off series is so short. There is only so much fun you can put into the good side and anything more you will be looking more like the part of the devil. Oh wait. I have a feeling this series was devilishly bad. That’s like, it is bad enough that it is good and good enough to be bad. Damn I’m just so confused.

For those who have watched the first original series, watching this one in a way makes you think that you can’t really tell between the forces of light and darkness. Yup, the characters here look like busty cosplay dressing sluts than anything you would want to admire at first sight. That’s why it doesn’t make any difference if you are a Mortal Sin or a Heavenly Virtue because both of them look pretty slutty the same. Sure, such characters are designed with the male demographics in mind. Because it feels as though if they aren’t this busty, sexy or scantily clad, nobody would really become their followers. Uh huh. Sex sells. Even God’s angels know about this trick.

Hence the characters themselves are pretty much shallow. With not enough screen time and the plot which is close to nothing (trying to find a Messiah feels more like an excuse than a real plot or anything), thus the Heavenly Virtues are more likely to be portrayed as corrupted sluts that will corrupt further the mind of their chosen Messiah instead of turning him into a powerful fighting ally. Hence the damn irony that the Mortal Sins have more character than our slutty angels. Heck, Michael who had this sneaky b*tch wolf in sheep’s clothing character impression in the original series, she becomes another one of those dumb slut characters which is just shocking. Talk about fall from grace. No wonder Michael eventually lost to Lucifer. Yeah, the characters are more of fanservice tools for the fans in this case. Sad to see the Heavenly Virtues’ reputation get corrupted like that.

Yeah, it is fanservice galore when you know you’re going to have lots of boob shots, panty shots and crotch shots laced all over the short series. Yeah, and jiggle them as much as they can because what else are they going to do with such huge jugs anyway? Like as though it is the time limit for you to fap or something. It is most evident with Sariel being the bustiest of the lot. So much so I won’t blame anyone for mistaking her as some sort of succubus or demon of seduction. And for you S&M fans out there, that is why Metatron exists because of her other dark personality to whip your ass. Bonus points for those who have nurse fetish. You see, these Heavenly Virtues are supposed to play out their virtue that they represent but they end up making a bad name of their represented goodness. Is this misrepresentation? Some to a point that could even kill! Don’t worry, nobody was killed in the search of a Messiah. Perhaps only their humanity. Thanks angels for ruining our lives.

But seriously, having a misguided angel coming down to fanservice you thinking you are the chosen one? Some logic there. Oh yeah, like we horny otaku guys care. Hey, angel babe says I’m the one. Who am I to argue, right? Then I baulk at the first real test with Lucifer. Haha. What a joke it will be. What a tarnished reputation God and his heavenly angels would have. Uh huh. I can see why people would start to lose their faith then… Heck, even all the so called Messiahs that our angels chosen don’t even have a proper face! And most of them look confusingly the same so I thought they were the same lucky bastard guy being serviced by all of them. When their backgrounds don’t match, it is only then I realize they are different guys. Yeah, even the angels can’t coordinate themselves to find their Messiah. Oh yeah, just cast their net far and wide and hope they hit one. At this rate, I see they’re getting none. Didn’t they go back to heaven empty handed?

Among all the angels, the worst and annoying one I consider is Gabriel. This irritating little loli loves to virtue signal but thanks to her being the noisiest among the character, she somewhat stands out. Not in a good way in my books, though. So does being the representative for chastity allow you to annoy others and make you like a loli b*tch? Maybe keeping the chastity and not let your libido go is the source of her irritating character. If I have to point out the ‘best’ angel, I would say it is Raphael. At least her story. Unlike the others that is reduced to some fanservice slutty nonsense, Raphael’s story is the only that is pretty decent and at least touched my heart because she had the decency to know about her Messiah’s true wish and potential and let him go to his true calling. Now this is what I call a (almost) true angel. Too bad we don’t get this sort of story with the other characters.

Voice acting sounds pretty okay. Nothing special. Just a special little shout out to Hiyori Nita (Mai in Marchen Madchen) for making her Gabriel character sounding annoying. Good job in the sarcastic sense, that is. The other voice casts for the other Heavenly Virtues are Yumi Uchiyama as Michael (Momiji in Binbougami Ga), Lynn as Raphael (Maya in Sabagebu), Asami Seto as Uriel (Chihaya in Chihayafuru), Shiori Izawa as Sandalphon (Pina in Sword Art Online), Ari Orizawa as Metatron (Nozomi in The Rolling Girls) and Sakura Nakamura as Sariel (Rachnera in Monster Musume No Iru Nichijou). The ending theme, Psychomania by Yousei Teikoku is surprisingly a devilish good song. Even if the irony of its devilish sounding hard punk rock style, it really sounds addicting in a way. It also feels it is a song suitable for a battle when both sides clash.

Overall, if you think Sin – Nanatsu No Taizai was bad (although personally I thought it was sinfully good and enjoyable), this horny fanservice mess makes it even worse. It could even ruin your faith in God! All because of the sleazy fanservice and ‘plot’. Like as though this was a ploy to destroy your faith in the first place for all of you who still go to Sunday church. Yeah, this is how WEAK your faith in Him is in the first place. Now we all know who to blame if Lucifer ever defeats Almighty Himself and his angels in no time. The fastest heaven and hell war in the history of histories. Yup, blame Bridge the production studio who wanted to animate this. Because ironically it was Artland and TNK doing Sin – Nanatsu No Taizai so it felt like Bridge (Mitsudomoe, Devil Survivor 2 The Animation) wanted to do some quick cash grab and hence you get this fanservice ridden blasphemy. God took 7 days to create the world and all. This series took about 40 minutes to destroy it all. Goddamn I want to jump ship and join Lucifer’s faith and devote my soul to her!

Shingeki No Bahamut: Virgin Soul

OMG! I didn’t really expect this to have a sequel since the series somewhat properly ended. Is this the ‘prophecy’ that Favaro hinted to us last season that Bahamut cannot die and will someday return?! So it seems there is more to tell so I can’t complain. New characters, new plots. And hence, I couldn’t contain my hype and shock to learn Shingeki No Bahamut: Virgin Soul graced the airwaves. It was such an awesome series and for the sequel to get twice the amount of episodes from the first season, it means it is going to be even more awesome, right? I know that isn’t a good indicator of whether a show is good or not by the number of episodes but I’m just going to ride the Baha-Max wave. Baha-Baha-Baha-Soul! Here we go!

Episode 1
Heaven looks like in trouble again. It isn’t the demons attacking the sanctuary but humans?! Wow. Humans coolly killing angels? We see how vile humans have become as some are even trafficking poor demons as slaves. However those traffickers are suddenly killed by a ‘saviour’ known as Rag Demon. He is being hunted down by Kaisar (captain of the Orlean Knights) but escapes before anything could happen. Nina Drango is such a lively and cheery girl. Oh, did I mention how super strong she is? She can do several men’s work in construction. She sees a painter painting a big mural about the legacy of humans. How under King Charioce XVII resurrected the capital Anatae from despair. Also in the painting is Bahamut. Nina remembers its destructive force 10 years ago because it razed her village. Nina is here to make money as a bounty hunter and send it back to her village where her mom lives. Currently she is staying at Bacchus and Hamsa’s place. Bacchus is annoyed he didn’t invite her to stay. Charioce summons Kaisar for his failure to capture the Rag Demon. He gives him one last chance not to disappoint him. A trap is set out to lure out the Rag Demon. A short clash with Kaisar before he runs away. He bumps into Nina. She recognizes him from the reward poster and starts to chase him. However she blunders with her whip and accidentally hits Kaisar. She can’t apologize decently because seems she has a thing for hot guys… It sets her heart racing… So as she tries to scout for the Rag Demon from a high place, the Orlean Knights think she is Rag Demon’s accomplice for hurting Kaisar. They try to shoot her down from the tower. The Rag Demon looked like he flies there to save her when actually it was his other kid accomplice, Mugaro who was coincidentally at that same spot. Oops. Saved the wrong person. Nina’s close proximity with the Rag Demon who is a hot hunk himself sets her heart racing. She can’t take it anymore and then boom! After crashing down into the buildings, what pops out is a fiery red dragon! Kaisar orders his troops to retreat. Next thing Nina knows when she wakes up, she is in Rita’s room. Since when did zombie girl became a doctor? Oh, quack doctor.

Episode 2
Nina remembers she transformed into a dragon and ran rampage throughout the city before blacking out and being brought here. She still writes to her mom to update about her life in the capital. Rita introduces Nina to Rocky the hand. Yes, he is just a hand. Like the one from Addam’s Family. If you remember from last season, this is Kaisar’s chopped off hand. Charioce summons Kaisar again. I guess he failed. Because of that, this duty to capture the Rag Demon will be reassigned to the Onyx Knights. Kaisar accepts his fate but his subordinate, Alessand Visponti is disappointed his captain did not fight back for another chance. Charioce wants an Onyx Knight to keep watch on Kaisar. Those who have watched the previous season should know that the Rag Demon’s identity is no other than Azazel. He confronts Nina and wants her to join forces with him. He needs her power that is devastating on humans. Nina is reluctant so Azazel will show her reality. He takes her to the slums where demons are being made slaves. They are in a pitiful state. Charioce waged war against the demons but sought the powers to defeat them from Heaven before turning against them. So yes, Azazel hates humans. He also explains about Mugaro who was sold into slavery. He is a mute because they crushed his windpipe. Nina is reluctant to get involved but Azazel continues to bug her until Rita puts a stop to this harassment. Time for Azazel to head to work but he still won’t give up on Nina. Azazel and Mugaro work in the Coliseum picking up dead bodies of demon gladiators. Kaisar can tell Azazel is the Rag Demon from those same eyes. That night, Azazel continues to play his Rag Demon role by killing humans who mistreat demons. Kaisar catches him in the act and wants him to escape since Charioce is serious about hunting him down. Will murdering humans improve the situation? Azazel shocks his naivety by showing this place is also where humans torture and experiment on helpless demons. He asks back if his chivalry includes demons. Azazel won’t kill him because he is lower than others he killed. The Onyx Knights surround Azazel and is about to kill him with their magic. However Mugaro’s heavenly magic paralyzes them as he retrieves Azazel.

Episode 3
Heaven learns that a certain blessed child is still alive. They need to find him if they are to regain man’s faith in the Gods. Azazel is being treated by Rita. He remembers picking up Mugaro after killing all the humans in a building. Mugaro clung onto him. Hamsa is making tons of money by challenging strong men to arm wrestle with Nina. No chance! She’s stronger than all of you! So strong that you can even fly away! Meanwhile Sofiel talks Bacchus about his last chance to return to Heaven. He must help them find a certain child or forever be exiled. Nina now faces a challenge from a handsome guy who leaves some sort of royal ring as his entrance fee (Hamsa thinks it’s fake). So much so she needs to blindfold herself! But touching his hand even sets her heart racing. Although this guy is as strong as her although he ultimately loses. Nina still can’t get over his handsomeness so Hamsa calls it a day after raking in a fortune. With the Rag Demon continuing to kill humans, Charioce is going all for broke. He plans to lure him out by executing demons in the town square tonight. Kaisar is against it because provoking him will only do more harm. However Charioce warns him not to invite needless suspicion for defending demons too much. With the earnings, Nina gets to buy a feast. Not that Hamsa is happy since half of the earnings were spent on it. Everyone is shocked to learn that Nina’s master is no other than Favaro! I can see the similarities in their idiocy… Nina hopes to learn more about him but Rita knows a person who knows better. Speaking of that demon (human actually), here comes Kaisar running in to asking Rita about Azazel’s whereabouts. It is awkward at first for Nina to meet again ‘Rocky’s father’ but she eventually apologizes for the other night. Azazel leaves Mugaro a message not to come near the square no matter what happens. If he dies, go to Rita. Unheeding Rita’s advice, Nina instantly rushes towards the square to catch Azazel. Charioce is about to execute the first demon when Azazel shows up.

Episode 4
Charioce’s forces brings down and does lots of damage to Azazel. Now Charioce knows the Rag Demon’s identity. Nina is running along when she stumbles into Mugaro. Conveniently Azazel crashes nearby. She won’t let him return to fight or he’ll die with those injuries. I think he is willing to do that. Nina has no choice but first makes him promise not to tell this to anyone. Now hug her. What? You heard her. The moment he does, she turns into a red dragon and goes on a rampage. Charioce challenges her but Kaisar comes in between. While she does damage, everyone retreats and Charioce is left admiring the raw power. When it’s done, Nina reverts back and Rita quickly picks her up. Charioce commends for Kaisar’s performance but orders him to disclose his connection with the Rag Demon. Azazel killed his father. So why not kill him? Because he has someone with him that is more powerful: The red dragon. After dismissing him, Charioce comments he is a poor liar. Nina wakes up and is still left embarrassed while reminding Azazel not to tell how she turns into a dragon. Men who set her heart racing would trigger it. Her dad’s a dragon and mom’s a human. Yeah, I wonder how that union is even possible… Nina sucked at transforming into a dragon. Till one day a handsome guy visited and she transformed. She damaged the picturesque village! Mom scolded her and told her to stay away from handsome guys. It was easy since the village is full of old people but the city is filled with hot guys. In that form, she has no memories of what happened. Azazel knows a way to control it. If she can’t, he will by making love to her! WTF?! It causes Nina to run away in embarrassment. So that is more embarrassing than streaking across the area in just a towel? Azazel decides to go into hiding for a while and wants Mugaro to stay with Rita. Just great. She’s already got a lot on her hands (sorry, bad pun). Charioce sees Jeanne in the dungeons to remind her of his offer to team up and crush demons and Gods. She remains silent and praying. He lets her know her son was spotted and knows it was quite smart and cruel of her to hide him among the demon slaves. Azazel enters the hideout for demons. They are not impressed to see him here. He tells them he is the Rag Demon and the time to bring back their lost demon pride is now.

Episode 5
Azazel’s plan is to use the red dragon to defeat the humans. Nina takes Mugaro out shopping. She can get away with free or discounted stuffs as she challenges the shopkeepers to arm wrestling. Isn’t that technically arm twisting? Along the way back, they stumble into a cruel master abusing his demon slaves. Nina is the only one with balls to go tell him off. She even dares challenge him to try and make her his slave! So when he and his goons are going to make their move, Mugaro’s eye suddenly flash. It breaks the demons’ collar chain. They are free and turn on their human masters. Sofiel senses something and rushes there but by that time, everything is settled down. Since when is Rita a counsellor? Because Kaisar is here to seek her advice. He tries to troll us to believe he wants to confess his feelings to only Rita. Turns out it is about his worries as Orlean Knights’ captain. Oh Rita, are you so disappointed? You must be. Because he keeps complaining and complaining without stopping! Even zombies can’t stand nagging as she punches him! After 10 years, he has descended into this cry baby. Yeah, you tell him, girl. Sofiel talks to Bacchus about something happening today. Since he ignores her, she believes he really wants to stay in this world. Hamsa really wants to go back to heaven and is willing to be her pet but gets ignored. She warns Bacchus to just follow her orders and find that child. When Nina returns, she brags about what happened. You mean Bacchus and Hamsa doesn’t know Mugaro is that child?! Kaisar talks to Charioce as he believes his ways will only lead to more violence and uprising. Charioce assures he will always find that power to crush his enemies and calls Kaisar’s vision to have all 3 races to coexist as naïve. Even if Kaisar tells him about humans, Gods and demons uniting to defeat Bahamut once, Charioce says everyone has the right to live their life they see fit. But if he gets in his way, he will show no mercy. Bacchus and Hamsa try to peek on Mugaro’s eye while he is asleep. Oh Nina… We’re just admiring how cute you are. Perverts! She kicks them out! Of their own carriage?! Well, at least they confirmed Mugaro’s different coloured eye.

Episode 6
Wow. Nina still hates Bacchus. As she runs errands for the festival, she is being confronted by the slave trader. He brought his pals. But she can’t fight back because they are all handsome men! Luckily that handsome guy whom Nina arm wrestled and won the other day beat them up. If you haven’t guessed it, he is Charioce in disguise. The hooligans leave when they see his bracelet. Charioce is nice enough to put back all of Nina’ stuff. To thank him, she invites him to her stall for the festivals. Meanwhile Azazel relays his plans to attack during the festival’s parade. It looks like it will be relying heavily on the red dragon but they have no choice but to place their trust in Azazel’s words. Nina is spacing out in love throughout the festival. Except when it comes to Bacchus. Rita’s stall is selling spicy chicken. Charioce actually visits but embarrassing Nina even more is how Bacchus suggests he takes Nina out to the festival. Charioce actually takes up that offer. So they spend a good amount of time together (and a good amount of time she has been blushing this whole episode) and even dancing their heart out. She hopes to dance again with him and asks his name. He says it is Chris. Nina can no longer hold her emotions so she sprints the whole way back until she bumps into Azazel. He tells her to go up to that tower when the parade begins tomorrow.

Episode 7
Kaisar wants Charioce to not attend the parade since the demons are moving suspiciously. But he believes it would be more fun because today was the day the demon capital fell. Sofiel bugs Bacchus again for that kid. Heck, I guess she doesn’t even know that Mugaro is that kid even if he is right before her eyes. Though she is suspicious, Bacchus lies he is just some demon kid he picked up to work on the stalls. Hamsa wonders why he lied when it’s their ticket back to heaven. Bacchus has a bad feeling about this. While demons are planting magic bombs over the place, Kaisar is trying to look for them. Funny, he should at least spotted Azazel since he likes to hang out on the roofs overlooking the city. He is annoyed that Nina didn’t show up but that’s because she is enjoying the parade. So he finds her and whisks her away. Then he tries to hug her. Nothing happens. Again. Nothing happens. Nina must be feeling weird out. WTF is going on? Desperate, he tries to kiss her! She punches him away. I guess she isn’t transforming. At the same time, the bombs go off. The crowd panics as Charioce orders his men to stand and fight. As Azazel goes off trying to stop the battle, the demons wonder if Azazel has betrayed them. Besides, the red dragon isn’t showing up either. Charioce sniffs some of the demons out and orders their head so a huge battle between men and demons take place. Almost all are killed by the time Azazel arrives. He uses himself as bait for the rest to escape but unfortunately they got killed while escaping.

Episode 8
Before they could kill Azazel, Mugaro’s holy light petrifies the guards. Azazel fights Charioce but Kaisar comes in between. It then becomes a messy 3 way fight. However Kaisar is able to unarm Charioce and defeat Azazel. He won’t kill him since there is no reason for him to die here. At this time, Sofiel and her angels have popped up to reign in Mugaro (Bacchus and Hamsa are also taken in). Nina also arrives but she is confused. Azazel tells her to transform now. After seeing dead bodies, Mugaro in pain and all that dramatic starring, nothing happens. She can’t transform! Game over. You lose, Azazel. In the aftermath, it is announced that the Rag Demon has been captured. A knight captain was aiding the demons and will be sentenced along with Nina. The people cannot believe Nina was involved and thought it was a mistake. They try to seek a revision but are threatened to be thrown into prison if they side the traitors. Kaisar and Nina are read their charges for treason and aiding the demons to kill the king. Charioce sentences them to be imprisoned in the prison tower indefinitely. Nina looks surprised. She thought it would be just 3 days! She then starts shooting her mouth at him for being a bad king. She accuses him on picking on demons. This city was built by demons so it shows he needed them. He is just like a big bully and a worthless king. Everyone may be scared of him but not her. Charioce laughs and asks if she is the red dragon. She denies. Take them away. Mugaro wakes up in Heaven. Gabriel speaks to him. His name is El, named by his mother, Jeanne. If they work together, he can see her. Bacchus and Hamsa are imprisoned. Sofiel wonders why Bacchus hid the child. He felt like it. She reveals their intention for the kid because he has a power of breaking the forbidden magic used by humans. As humans have lost their way, Gabriel intends to guide them back and have them return praying to Gods. Bacchus doesn’t want Mugaro to be involved because it would be like Jeanne’s case all over again. Nina hears Azazel is being tortured to reveal information of other colluders. Too late to regret thinking if you have transformed then. Charioce talks to Azazel to ask if he knows about Mugaro’s true identity. Azazel remains silent. Charioce reveals his plans to kill that kid before he fell into the Gods’ hands. But now the Gods have him, it doesn’t matter since they will be overconfident. He’ll just have to kill them all. By then, that woman will stop praying. Nina is thrown in a cell and she sees Jeanne praying in the cell across. Also, Kaisar is thrown in his and he hears a familiar voice mocking his pathetic state. Hey… It’s Favaro! So that’s where he’s been. Rita must be so lonely know that everyone is gone…

Episode 9
Hard labour is nothing to Nina. Although the food is little, at least she gets a ‘special’ room all for herself. This is prison, you know… Kaisar talks to Favaro how he ended up here. During his journey, he stumbled into Nina’s village. One night Nina crept into his room and wants to become his disciple. He didn’t want to at first but after she display her strength as proof, he runs for it! Too bad she can outrun you. No choice, he teaches her the ways of the bounty hunter. One night he soaked in the hotspring and saw her naked, she turned into a red dragon. He learns her secret but why was it only then she could transform? Maybe his afro makes him look like an ugly guy? After he has nothing more to teach her, he lets her know a few stuff and some cheesy lines, Nina is left awed. No wonder she’s a bit twisted… When Favaro enters the next town, royal guards surround him. He has been imprisoned then but believes Charioce has been toying with him for his own amusement. I suppose Kaisar is the last to know Nina’s true identity. Meanwhile Alessand is drunk at Cerberus’ host club. He is complaining his captain is in prison and his dream of joining Orlean Knights was to see his favourite woman, Jeanne. Cerberus suggests he becomes the next captain. Nina and Jeanne become friends. She tells what happens and Jeanne is interested to know more about Mugaro. Speaking of him, because he still will not open up, there is not enough time so Gabriel is going to start the ritual to turn him into godhood. Sofiel apologizes to Mugaro for separating him from his mom. As she was also once saved by her, rest assured she will save her. Jeanne now wants to break out and meet Mugaro to ascertain something. Nina is impressed and will support her. Well, if she could have just kept her voice down… Because the other prisoners are applauding?

Episode 10
7 years ago when Jeanne was still the captain of Orlean Knights, she fought a giant demon invading the city. Although the demon was eventually slain by Kaisar, she failed to save a child. As she was injured from the fight, this prompts other knights to badmouth her that she is not fit to be captain. She even loses in practice duels. Despite losing her holy powers, she still intends to trudge on until she loses her captaincy. When Charioce took over the throne without the Gods’ blessing and vowed a change for mankind, Jeanne disagreed his ways of severing ties with the Gods. There is something he wanted but they refused him and thus the only way is to take it by force. He gave Jeanne the ultimatum to pledge her loyalty to him or leave the castle. She decided. And so for a while Jeanne lived a happy farmer life outside the city. Her only solace was praying to Michael. Then one night it’s like God heard her prayers or something and made her suddenly gave birth to a child! It just popped out from her stomach! Is this considered Caesarean?! Woah. Jeanne like Virgin Mary… So “Mama” is El’s first word? Anyway they lived the happy family life till one stormy night Sofiel crashed into their place. Jeanne hid her before the Onyx Knights break down their door and threaten her. It is then El unleashed his magic to stun them. Mother and son then fled. Charioce receives reports of this and realizes the potential of that child if he were to fall into the hands of the Gods. He orders them to be captured dead or alive as long as the Gods don’t have them. With the routes cut off, Jeanne and El are forced to hide in the city. They stumble upon a torture chamber for demon slaves. With Onyx Knights hot on their table, Jeanne has no choice but to pour a dead demon corpse’s blood all over El and cut off his wings. This is to make him look like one of the demon slaves as she runs off with the corpse and bait the Onyx Knights to chase her. She is shortly captured and has not known of El’s whereabouts since. Nina is so touched with her story. She’s crying! This strengthens Nina’s vow to escape from here but the prison lady says no one has done so before. Then she’ll be the first! Always be positive no matter what.

Episode 11
During the break, Jeanne and Nina make a break for it. At the same time, Rita and Rocky sneak into the place. And by that I mean beating up all the guards along the way. Gabriel convinces El to use his power to save this world so he can live a peaceful life with his mom. El is now restored to his angel form and regains his voice. During a battle at the Coliseum, Gabriel descends to demand Charioce return their rightful stuff and release Jeanne to them. He dare them to take it by force. With the humans booing the Gods, Gabriel uses this chance to further brainwash El how mankind must be corrected. But some of the people are not happy Charioce waged a war with the Gods. They are protesting outside and as a result they get beaten up by the guards. Nina shows her strength by beating up the guards guarding the elevator to the top. If she is this strong, why did she not beat up the guards from where she was all the way instead of sneaking around through holes? When Jeanne gets to the elevator, here comes Charioce. Just in time. He needs her. As the Gods have declared war, he wants her to pledge her loyalty to him and convince them to back down. Otherwise he will slaughter them all and most likely her son will also die. Nina continues to badmouth Charioce as a bully. But when she takes a closer look at him, she realizes he is that handsome guy she went out with. Dumbfounded. Shocked beyond words. At least for once she shuts up. Jeanne decides not to follow Charioce as she cannot betray the Gods and those who believe in her. In that case she can stay in her cell and wait till everybody dies. Nina is conflicted about Charioce in her cell but she is all smiles when Rita and Rocky drop in to rescue. Took her this long?

Episode 12
Now for the big break that includes Nina throwing rocks at the guards to slow them down and a wild mine cart ride that flings them to the men’s side. Gabriel rallies her angels they will no longer forgive mankind, punish those who wronged them and return balance to the worlds. Wow. She sounds like a war god. Sofiel fears El’s power is untested but Gabriel is confident since she has seen him strip human of their power. So Heaven is here. The citizens some have evacuated and others are protesting for Charioce to lose. When El activates his power, the humans become powerless. The angels easily slaughter the humans. Man, this is overkill. Charioce then orders the device to be activated. With the commotion in the men’s prison area, time for Favaro to signal their escape. He tells Kaisar to use his mechanical hand. Following his instructions to make the fingers in certain position, it then explodes! Well, thank Rita for putting that bomb inside just in case. The guys and the girls coincidentally run into each other. Kaisar and Jeanne are glad to see each other. Favaro is glad to see Nina. Or at least her developed body. Lonely Rita has to play the straight man to remind them to escape. Suddenly they get engulfed in this giant device that looks like it is a love child between Tron and Cybertron. So this giant orb thingy is the key weapon to defeat Heaven?

Episode 13
Apparently Dromos is the weapon men stole from Heaven. It could obliterate the Gods. If only Gabriel told the other angels why they’re retreating instead of having them disobey her. Heck, she even wanted to retreat herself but El says it’s no go. They haven’t save his mom yet. Charioce powers up Dromos. My, what a powerful blast! Enough to send the heavenly ship crashing down! With that, the soldiers are able to kill the angels easily. Jeanne goes crazy seeing the angels murdered before her eyes. Nina was blown away by the shockwave into Charioce’s arms. It seems he has lost an eyesight as the result of using Dromos. When Nina wakes up, she still has conflicted feelings over Charioce. But seeing Kaisar and Rita in trouble as they are trying to help Jeanne, Nina wants Charioce to help her. Hug her, that is. He does so and she transforms into the red dragon. She fights on the giant golem and protects Jeanne. She emerges victorious and is now face to face with Charioce. However she runs out of energy and reverts back. Charioce wants to take her but Rita will not let her touch her. Kaisar buys the ladies time to escape in Bacchus’ carriage. Then he surrenders and gets beaten up by the soldiers. Charioce doesn’t want him killed and since the Gods have retreated, they’ll head back to the palace for now. El is still unconscious and Gabriel is in despair and in disbelief that man could create such a thing. Dromos existed before a time man, demons and Gods roamed Mistarcia. It is a weapon that could destroy the balance of the world just like Bahamut. Rita decides to go back down to the capital to check on Kaisar and missing Favaro. Nina’s job is to guard Jeanne as they are now wanted criminals and can’t go back. Jeanne’s next goal is to go to Heaven since she believes her son is there. However she doesn’t know where that is. Nina knows an old lady from her village who knows about it. Time to return home.

Episode 14
Kaisar is tortured while interrogated but he his lips are sealed. He is visited by his comrade, Dias Bardolomew and tells him of his meeting with Jeanne. They believe the Orlean Knights will rise again. Nina and Jeanne arrive at the village. The kids are glad to see Nina again. Nina takes Jeanne to see granny, the head of the village. First she tells the history of how the Gods and demons worked together to defeat Bahamut 2,000 years ago. She took the tired Gods back to this village to rest. There is a picture of granny in her majestic dragon form in her heydays. Nina continues to taunt her so granny starts pouting and won’t tell the location of Heaven. Oh, now she falls asleep. Try again tomorrow. So the ladies soak in the outside hotspring as Nina teases Jeanne being ‘naughty’ to have a son. Jeanne is cool with it as she asks Nina back about a man capturing her heart. She too plays it cool. She is conflicted about her feelings for Charioce since he is a great guy but has done lots of horrible things. She can’t bring himself to hate him. Jeanne doesn’t find it strange for a man to have contradictions. She too has many faces. When eating dinner, the kids are eager to hear stories of this Mugaro kid. Jeanne can’t sleep that night and talks to Nina’s mom. She learns Nina’s dad died 10 years ago while protecting the village from the fireball. Jeanne feels guilty since she was partly responsible for that. Nina’s mom hope Nina isn’t too much of a bother. Ever since her dad died, she would turn into a dragon whenever she nears a man like him. Almost as if to avoid painful memories. Jeanne feels bad and doesn’t deserve her thanks for taking after Nina. But mom can tell how kind she is to her. Jeanne breaks down. Next morning, granny will take them to Heaven on her back. Nina teases the old fart couldn’t do it but she has to eat her words. Granny is still a majestic dragon! You were saying, Nina? And what’s that about bringing an angel back as souvenir?

Episode 15
The surviving demons are biding their time in some wasteland. They will follow Lucifer’s plan to wait and see as they lack the means to fight humans. They wonder how Azazel is doing since he stormed off by himself to the human capital. He is now one of the gladiators in the Coliseum. Everybody wants him dead but he easily kills his opponents. Granny can’t fly further through the storm as the barrier has become stronger. They must go by themselves. She tosses the carriage all the way up to Heaven. Sofiel wants Bacchus to take care of El since he is sulking ever since. Initially Bacchus won’t babysit but since she’ll reward him with wine, he’ll gladly do it! Nina and Jeanne arrive in Heaven and are almost attacked by angels. Jeanne lets them know who she is and her intentions so Ridwan first takes them to a hall with magnificent lights. They represent the Gods and angels lost during the fight with Bahamut. Recently more were added after their recent loss to mankind. That is why so few Gods are here. She blames them for being ingrates of biting the hand that feeds them. Nina notes even Gods hate mankind but can’t stand the idea of Charioce being hated by everyone. Meanwhile Charioce has everyone working hard to their limits to break the seal of Eibos. It will be even more dangerous and Charioce will stand to lose his life but he will not hesitate to sacrifice himself. Jeanne is brought to Sofiel and they are both glad to see each other. Jeanne wants to see her son but Gabriel mentions he is being confined. After being used for the war and lost, he has lost faith in them. Perhaps Jeanne could help persuade him. That sneaky smile… El is so happy to see his mom. Cue for emotional mother and child reunion. Even Nina is in on it. Even more emotional? Sorry Bacchus and Hamsa, not you. Time to catch up on stuffs as El narrates how he was being sold as a slave but Azazel saved him. As per her instructions, he followed the first person who rescued him. El wants to leave for the human world and believes he can bring peace. Someone must stop the evil from spreading and he has the power to do it. Sofiel disagrees so El counters that by saying Gabriel cannot save the world. On he can do it. That evil confident grin…

Episode 16
Nina comes to talk to El but he is sulking since mom is against his idea to return to the human world. So Nina is back on good terms with Bacchus because she’s really teasing him about falling in love with a human since his exile from Heaven. He claims being worshipped isn’t his style and left. Nina dreams of being seduced by Charioce. Too short to kiss him? But that turns into a nightmare since Charioce becomes the evil king. When Nina wakes up, she realizes he clothes are gone. Not only that, El too. Bacchus and Hamsa know they will be in trouble if they don’t find him. Yeah, no more wine. El has worn Nina’s clothes in an attempt to escape. He is trying to use Bacchus’ carriage but good luck trying to pick out from the hundreds of similar looking ones. Meanwhile Kaisar is sentenced to fight to the death in the Coliseum with Azazel. At first he only defends and keeps running away since he couldn’t fight with a hand. Favaro among the crowd then throws him Rocky to turn the tables. So he fights better with both hands? Although besting Azazel, he doesn’t kill him, earning the ire of the crowd. If you’re wondering why Favaro is dressed up so fat, that’s because he has lots of smoke bombs. Enough for them to escape. Nina, Bacchus and Hamsa fail at communicating and flop in capturing El. The chase is on. Nina tries to jump on him but falls short. It’s a long way from Heaven to Earth. El dives to save her but they have to go through the stormy patch. When the other angels surround Bacchus and Hamsa and accuse them of freeing El, they jump off too but not after summoning their carriage. In good timing they rescue falling El and Nina as they safely arrive back on Earth. Bacchus warns if El plans to fight, he’ll bring him back to Heaven. He assures he isn’t. He is here to bring peace. But what about Jeanne? He will fulfil his mother’s duty. Kaisar, Favaro and Azazel meet up with Rita. Kaisar has to return his hand to her? Oh, Rocky is hers. Anyway, Azazel wants to part but Kaisar needs his help. Charioce is building a secret weapon that rivals the power of Bahamut underneath the capital. I guess he can’t say no. Oh, that goes the same for you too, Favaro.

Episode 17
Gabriel wants El back but Jeanne wants to go find him in their place as she will not leave this matter to those whom El doesn’t trust. You mad, Gabriel? Sofiel wants to help Jeanne. Guess what? Jeanne jumps off! Sofiel dives down to save her as they descend into the human world. Jeanne knew Sofiel wouldn’t let her die. So a human was testing an angel?! After promising she won’t do anything reckless, Sofiel agrees to help her. After all, Jeanne did ‘threaten’ Sofiel was indebted to them for saving her life then. Nina and co all reunite in a secret underground camp. Rita in some weird devil outfit? They talk about the great weapon Charioce has and the need to neutralize it. Rita notices he was controlling it via bracelet so El gets eager to steal it. But Bacchus warns about his promise. After Rita has Nina wear a strange devil outfit (is it Halloween?), she runs off outside herself. She is shocked to see Charioce in disguised at the graves. Trying to hide failed. She learns he is visiting the grave of his mother who was one of the king’s many concubines. She was discarded as soon she had a son. She kept dreaming in poverty she would return to the royal life but died waiting since Bahamut attacked 10 years ago. With this and royal blood flowing through his veins, that was when Chris became Charioce. He then has Nina take her to the demon slums. He buys a pendant and even plays football with the demon kids, risking his identity. He whispers to Nina they are being watched by the Onyx Knights so they make a run for it. At a cave, Nina is confused of him. He is a bad guy as king but treats her nicely. She wants to know which of him is real. There is something he must achieve at all cost but cannot tell her what it is now. All his actions as king was for this. His convictions were never wavered until he met her. He would have led a cushy king’s life if he had not met her. Surprisingly Nina hugs him! She wants to help him overcome whatever he is dealing with. It gets awkward because they kissed! It is then Nina realizes now she could control her transformation into the red dragon. She takes him flying through the night sky all over the capital and in the end he gives her the pendant. Wow. It really looks like a date. She really looks forward to meeting him next time in which he will tell her his goal. A big hug before she leaves. The Onyx Knight captain has been watching them and believes Charioce is under the red dragon’s spell.

Episode 18
Nina returns a happy girl. It’s written all over her face. Mugaro is back but Azazel ignores him. Did he not recognize him? With the prison island heavy on the security and the lots of soldiers patrolling the streets, their movements are restricted. The only clue they’ve got is Charioce’s bracelet. Nina confirms he is always wearing it. Oops, almost gave away you dated him. Charioce will hold a ball at his palace in a few days and they need somebody to sneak in to move in on him. Nina wants to be it and even proves how she can control her transformation. Azazel is shocked to see this. Too late? He’s crying?! I don’t think it is tears of happiness. Charioce continues to force the activation of Dromos. This means no rest for the workers. Mugaro tails Azazel around and he feels guilty the latter is revisiting the site all his friends were killed. However Azazel doesn’t blame him and they reconcile. Alessand is getting drunk with Cerberus. He approached the Onyx Knight captain to join his force but is told he is worthless. So much so he accidentally punches Kaisar who is in disguise at this place! What will he do once he realizes his mistake? Punch him again! Once things calm down, Kaisar tells of his plans to stop Charioce. He needs their help. Especially Alessand who comes from a noble family and will have no trouble attending. At first Alessand refuses and blames Kaisar for the downfall of Orlean Knights. But after he considers them his precious subordinates and not useless, I guess he has to relent. Nina thought nobody is around so she screams out I love you to the open sky. Too bad Favaro is there. Busted. He doesn’t care what she is hiding and advises her to think hard before she acts. He became a bounty hunter in order to live freely but at times he too had to make hard decisions. Must talking about Amira, huh? Since she won’t admit she loves Charioce, Favaro starts howling to the open sky I love you. Embarrassing! Annoyingly noisy! Meanwhile the Onyx Knight captain hires some beast guy to kill the red dragon.

Episode 19
What’s this? Gabriel is depressed and locked herself in her chamber? Is she now a lost angel? Jeanne and Sofiel take refuge in the capital as they continue to search for El but Jeanne is getting impatient to reunite with her son for each passing moment. Rita tells everyone her plan. Nina and Alessand will infiltrate the ball as nobles. Once Nina locates Charioce, she will be on standby. Favaro and Dias will also infiltrate but through the knight’s barracks. Once so, she will give the signal to Nina to transform into a dragon. This will be a distraction for Favaro to steal the bracelet. After that he will hop on Nina’s back and fly away. As for the rest, they are to secure routes for their escape if the plan fails. Mugaro wants to join in but with Azazel hinting him not to, he backs down. You wonder if Nina can pull this off because the moment she steps off the carriage, she trips on her own gown. Then she pigs out at the food table. She notices a line of ladies queuing and waiting to dance with Charioce. But Nina doesn’t need that crap. She herself is a free pass to waltz up to him and extend her hand! Charioce is surprised to see her and you guessed it, he takes her hand. Take that all you b*tches! They start dancing and wow, is Nina this good? Super wow. They’re perfect! At the end, Nina is one happy girl. But Charioce looks serious. He tells they will never see each other again. You serious? Then what was that ‘date’ all about? Was it a lie? Yes. Oh, don’t go breaking her heart. I guess this means he won’t tell her his goal. Favaro then interrupts as he points his crossbow. Hand over the bracelet. No can do. It’s stuck as long as he lives. Then he’ll have to cut off his hand. However Nina protects Charioce. You’ll have to shoot her first! I guess it is finally heartbreak hotel when Nina confirms Charioce will never dance with her again. The guards now surround them. Favaro throws smoke bomb for them to escape. Guess what is left behind? Nina’s high heels… Rita gives Bacchus to signal the failure of this plan. Nina realizes just got dumped but needs to put this behind her to escape. Yeah, she is running faster than usual. Alessand manages to escape but bumps into Azazel and Mugaro. On their way out, they bump into Jeanne and Sofiel. At the port, Favaro and Kaisar are subdued but the Onyx Knights. Nina is faced with the beast guy.

Episode 20
Beast guy badmouths Nina’s tainted dragon blood in a bid to provoke her. She transforms. He does too. Bigger and more ferocious. Jeanne wants El to come back with her but he cowers behind Azazel who in makes him face reality. El senses Nina in trouble and off everyone goes, leaving confused Alessand behind. Nina gets owned by beast guy’s might. Before Onyx Knight captain kills her, Favaro tries to play the card that Charioce is in love with her. However Onyx Knight captain says Charioce only views her as a disposable toy. Proof? It was his order that he is sent to kill her. That broke Nina’s heart. Favaro and Kaisar break out to protect her who is at this point very much like a vegetable in shock. El arrives to magically paralyze the Onyx Knights while Sofiel and Azazel ‘cooperate’ to destroy the beast guy. Back at the base, Favaro explains the failed plan to Rita. Kaisar asks Sofiel about the weapon Charioce has. Sofiel is unsure except that it is an artefact from an ancient era that existed way before the time of Gods and demons. Because the Gods are not even sure what it is, they sealed it, only for Charioce to march in and steal it. So how does Charioce know how to activate it? Beats the Gods too. When El is told to return to Heaven, he argues his power is meant for a higher purpose. Bacchus blows his top about his crap. He is born for his mother. I’m sure he is just pulling it out of the air but it made El repent and will return with his mom. But he’ll go tomorrow as he wants to say goodbye. Meanwhile Nina is really heartbroken. She’s throwing a tantrum and destroying that pendant gift. She has to stop and put on a brave face when El comes to say his goodbye. Charioce will soon leave for Eibos and is confident of breaking the seal. Onyx Knight captain lies he killed the red dragon. Sofiel asks if Bacchus would like to return to Heaven. I don’t think he wants too. I’m sure there is punishment or banishment waiting. But she now understands why he did so as she came down without Gabriel’s permission. She wants him to stay here to discover Charioce’s true intentions. El is emotionally in his goodbye to Azazel. But on his way back, he gets stabbed by Alessand!

Episode 21
Alessand stabbed El out of jealousy that he was a wuss and couldn’t join Onyx Knights. Favaro finds dying El and brings him back to Rita. Can she revive an angel?! If surgery doesn’t work, try CPR! Jeanne must have never prayed to God so hard. In the end after all that shocking drama, El dies. Wait. NOOO!!! Azazel crying?! Azazel suspects Dias or Alessand because they are outsiders so Kaisar ends up in a heated argument with him. Favaro then reveals it was Alessand because he saw him running away. Jeanne and Sofiel return to Heaven. You mean they just left Mugaro’s dead body here?! Alessand shows the tainted dagger he killed El to Onyx Knight captain. Can he join now? He is taken to a room where the Onyx Knights are suffering in pain from the effects of a magic stone. If he joins, he must embed this stone in his body which sucks his life force but allows him to use abilities. He will use his life to serve Charioce. Is that what you want? Alessand chickens out and now regrets killing El. Too late. Well, at least he is made the captain of Orlean Knights. Kaisar tells what happened to Dias. They don’t understand why Alessand did this. Dias in turn reports information he threatened from one of the top vessels that Charioce has secretly left last night to Eibos. Jeanne sees Gabriel and tells her El is dead. She will take down Charioce and Gabriel WILL help her. Sofiel transfers her life to her and now Jeanne is an angel? Azazel sees Lucifer and wants him to take action now as Jeanne will soon make a rebellion. However Lucifer is reluctant to believe him as they have lost once. Without any assurance of victory, all they can do is sit back and observe. This angers Azazel who steps over the line to claim Lucifer a coward and only ran away. Even if Azazel failed to save his brethren, he managed to survive by choosing to fight alone. Lucifer will need to see if Azazel can keep his words or not. Nina has been keeping herself busy cleaning from the recent heartbreaks. Then the tears naturally flow. I guess the last time she cried like that was seeing her dad’s corpse. When Favaro talks to her, she has this very determined look that she is going to stop Charioce to avoid him from taking those dearest to her. Thus she is packing her stuffs and heading to Eibos. Jeanne through Gabriel’s power announces to the world she will be striking down Charioce and those who serve him. Those who suffered by his hands can join her and take up arms at Edith’s Hill.

Episode 22
Jean rallies the humans, demons and angels who have risen up to fight against Charioce. Making their way to the capital, Kaisar stops Jeanne. He tells her that Charioce had no hand in El’s death and it was solely Alessand acting on his own. He will take responsibility for this. But to Jeanne, that doesn’t change the fact her son is dead and even when alive, Charioce targeted him. Negotiations failed. Some of the castle soldiers are having low morale. They wonder they too should have defected because if you have a wuss like Alessand leading, they’re doomed. Soon Jeanne’s forces storm through the capital. Meanwhile Nina’s side has reached Eibos. She kicks ass all those who stand in her way. She fights Charioce in a bid to stop his madness and easily overwhelms him. However she cannot kill or cut off his hand. She just can’t. Favaro wants to know if it is his plan to revive Bahamut. However the priest brushes off that silly idea and is doing the opposite. Charioce plans to slay Bahamut and that is why Dromos is needed. As explained again, 10 years ago when a guy (who is now Onyx Knight captain) discovered a secret room and a manual belonged to Martinet. It has meticulous detailed about the sealed weapon as well as Bahamut’s path of destruction. After studying the texts further, they conclude Bahamut would inevitably return to these lands. To avoid such danger, a king with incredible mental fortitude was needed so they could put forth their plan to slay Bahamut (that included invading Heaven and stealing the sealed weapon). Of course that requires a price and it isn’t going to be just his hand but eventually his life. Oh Nina, you look so shock. Favaro has him answer one last question. Why was he surprised when he saw Nina? Because this means Onyx Knight captain lied to him that she died and that eliminating her was a lie too. Because if he wanted her dead, he wouldn’t have let her leave the ball. He also didn’t order El’s death because if he is going to slay Bahamut, getting into a fight with the Gods is the last thing he’d want. Oh, looks like it is time. Better run as fast as you can since the place is crumbling. Favaro and Nina mange to escape in time into Bacchus’ carriage. Amidst the big explosion, look who is back after 10 years? Why, it’s big daddy Bahamut! ROAR! Long time no see. Charioce orders to lead it back to the capital.

Episode 23
Jeanne storms into the castle but thinks Charioce could be at the prison island since all the offensive is coming from there. When a giant floating monster arrives, all the demons rejoice. It’s Lucifer! Azazel teams up with Jeanne to kick ass and they make a pretty good combo. Kaisar and Dias run into their old comrades trying to kill demon kids. Kaisar is forced to knock them out. Dias spots Alessand running away and wants to take care of this. Alessand still thinks he is not at fault and while he might sound repentant, he stabs Dias thinking he let his guard down. Too bad big guys like Dias can hold off your puny stab. Alessand turns into a coward and runs away screaming when he sees Dias going to kill him. You lost your chance and honour. As he hides, he spots that demon kid hiding. He thought of making friends with him but he let his guard down and gets stabbed by him. Still with regrets of not wanting to die, too bad his last sight is Dias’ angry face. Kaisar wants to head to the centre of the battle so instead of swimming in which case he will definitely not make it, Rita summons the dead, turns them into zombies to form an undead wave to take them across. With Charioce’s returning, this boost the soldiers’ morale. Jeanne and Azazel drop down to fight him but his loyal Onyx Knights fight to their very last breath to protect him. The magic stone has consumed too much of their lives. I don’t know why Jeanne was hesitating. Was it how much toll it took on them? Onyx Knight captain could have killed her had he too not run out of steam. And now the duo fight Charioce. As he too is at his limits, before the duo can kill him, Kaisar jumps to defend him. OMG! Kaisar dead?! No wonder everybody is so shocked! But save your shock later because here comes the real shocker: Bahamut. Feel its rage!!!

Episode 24
Bahamut is blasting everything to bits! Angels and demons join hands in protecting everyone but I guess that’s not enough. After Nina carries Bacchus, Hamsa and Favaro to safety, her master tells her the truth of how he sacrificed a girl to choose this world. What shall she choose? Without hesitating, Nina will choose Charioce! Then don’t worry what happens to the world. Go tear that dragon to shreds. Nina dashes all the way to Charioce who is powering up Dromos. She isn’t here to stop him but if he is going to sacrifice his life, she will do the same. Double the life force, double the power? Dromos turns into some digital dragon? Black dragon versus digital dragon? OMG! Its blast is so powerful that Bahamut is blown to bits!!! For a brief moment, Nina met Amira. When the light of dawn shines, everyone rejoices to see Bahamut’s corpse! Bahamut literally died standing. Hooray! We survived! Nina narrates the aftermath. The success means Charioce has lost both his sight though he still remains king. What about Nina? What price did she pay? She lost her voice. That’s pretty light if you ask me. Dias becomes the leader of the Orlean Knights. Humans and demons might still have their animosity but they are getting along fine and there are no slaveries like before. Jeanne returns to live in Heaven but before that she prays at El’s grave. Azazel also pays his respects before leaving for parts unknown. Nina continues to crash at Bacchus’ place. Sofiel stays with them because she and Bacchus are a couple. Yeah, believe it. Before Favaro leaves for his usual life of wandering, Nina tells him she met Amira in Bahamut’s light. She wished him all the best. Thought we could see him tear up a little there… Finally, Nina manages to sneak into the palace and dance with Charioce. One day, the corpse of Bahamut just disappears. Favaro knows it isn’t dead yet. Oh dear… Last but not least, Kaisar lives! As a zombie! Oh Rita…

Man Becomes The Demon When He Plays God
OMG! OMG! OMG!!! EVERYTHING WAS SO AWESOME!!! I can’t feel happy and sad at the same time the way things ended. Well, there is a price to pay for peace. There is a price to pay for everything. So with Bahamut not being dead, I guess this leaves room for another season? And it feels like the efforts and sacrifice of all is for naught, eh? But it’ll take a while before Bahamut returns to terrorize again. Then sh*t starts to happen all over again. Enjoy your peace while it lasts. Because if Bahamut is dead, it’s like saying Amira is also dead. Well, good thing we all know she is alive inside Bahamut.

It has been one helluva interesting and exciting ride from start to finish. This sequel could be even possibly better than the first season if that is the case. I think it is. It was really a fun and interesting ride from start to finish and there wasn’t a moment where I was bored since my attention was being so captivated and fixated on the screen that my eyes never strayed from the monitor. Really. There might be some slow moments but I won’t go so far as to call it boring. Watching this season feels like I have been losing track of time because whenever the episode ends, I would be going like, “Aww, it’s already over?”. I can’t help feel really excited and hyped for the next episode. Uh huh. This means when the season really ends, I was like going, “Aww, it’s already over?”. This itself is a good testament of what an absolutely good series should do and leave a mark or impression on its audiences.

I don’t know where to begin with to say how awesome everything is. But I have to start from somewhere. You can blame me for being very impartial and waxing lyrical about this season and this series overall since I am being blown away by the awesomeness of everything. As long as it is a very good thing to me, I’m okay with that. So this season seems to like have a hand in almost every movie genre. It has action, adventure, fantasy, comedy and even romance. The romance bit might feel like a distraction and a bit out of place but it is all part of giving the characters and plot more depth. Maybe just missing out on the musical genre but I’m sure it would be weird to hear Nina and Charioce break into a song. Not that I won’t mind seeing them but it would definitely be an eyebrow raiser. A distraction. After all, such a great season doesn’t need such a distraction when you have so many awesome things going on.

The story itself is interesting and there are enough developments to keep the viewers intrigued. There might not be any ground breaking twists (how can a good looking king like Charioce by such a black hearted king? There must be some sort of ulterior motive…) and there were some parts which were predictable (like how Alessand was going down the bad road and paying for it – seen that coming from a mile). Like I said, it was really one helluva ride from start to finish the moment Nina was introduced. A nonstop roller coaster ride that sees the storyline ranging from a demon rebellion, Nina being sent to prison, Heaven launching an attack on humans but failed, a trip to Nina’s hometown and then a ride up to Heaven, a ball infiltration before the climax of the biggest and ultimate battle with the big and baddest antagonist of it all. Speaking of which, I was wondering how Bahamut is going to play out its role considering that dragon is after all the name of the series. I was thinking that it was going to be only mentioned in flashbacks and legend until the climax. Well, here’s my wish of Bahamut making his very late appearance. Yeah, just like last season in which the dragon finally moved in the final episode. And also got defeated too. I thought there would be the mother of all battles, you know, Nina versus Bahamut. I guess she is smart enough to not take on that might alone. Red dragon versus black dragon… Why does it sound like a Mortal Kombat reference?

The characters add live and depth to the plot and you’ll find most of them likeable. Well, most of them. Because nobody likes that complaining Alessand to the very end and I’m sure nobody shed a tear when he rightfully met his fate. Right? Even Azazel is more likeable than him despite he is very hot tempered and rash. At least Azazel tries to do something even though things fail and don’t go as planned, he doesn’t give up. Unlike Alessand who just complains and dreams of the bigger stuffs but when the real deal comes, he chickens out. At least Azazel is more human than him. The fact he saved and took care of Mugaro says a lot even if he himself doesn’t want to admit it. Yeah, there’s this very odd relationship between a half angel and demon…

Anyway, Nina has been an absolute interesting character ever since making her debut. She is lively, she is spunky, she is funny and she goes at her own pace. It makes her quite likeable in that sense. We all love a headstrong and independent heroine character, don’t we? She isn’t technically human (her monstrous strength is supposedly a giveaway) so I guess we can’t compare her to what constitutes and the ethics of being human but spending most of her time in human form, I guess she too has developed some sort of human emotions like falling in love. Of all people, the king, right? Yeah, which girl doesn’t dream of marrying the king? It was one of those conflicting moments for her but she is able to get up and move on (albeit it took a bit of a while) and continue doing what she believes is right.

I figure they were trying to paint Charioce as an absolute baddie king here but my guts tell me that there were more than meets the eye. After all, when you have a king this good looking, anime cliché tells us there is more to it. Of course his heartless actions isn’t totally heartless at all. Therefore in this aspect if he was trying to act and play the bad king for his ulterior motive, man I swore I could have seen through his act from all that ‘bad acting’ right from the initial episodes. Because he doesn’t act very much like a ruthless and merciless king. Okay, maybe his gentle and suave ways make him a smooth talker but still, if he really was a cruel king, he would have gone about a much violent way. So by playing the bad guy all the while, does that make him a considerate guy? Maybe that is why Nina clicks with him, despite their romance feels a bit weird. Cheesy? Cliché? After all, commoner girl falls in love with powerful king is quite an overused trope. Hmm… Is this the Virgin Soul the second title might be referring to? Virgins in love, that is… It is a bit sad that both lost some of their sensory so Charioce can never see and hear Nina while she can never speak to him again. But as long as they’re together, they can forever dance beautifully.

Fans are delighted that last season’s characters also appear here. So there is some sort of continuity instead of this sequel of being an unrelated new story. I remember last season Kaisar started off as an annoying guy who keeps chasing Favaro around. He doesn’t do that anymore here or even b*tch about his family’s past honours but as the leader of the Orlean Knights, he still feel pretty much a wuss. I mean this guy opposes violence and he tries to settle things the non-violent way. I don’t know. Despite his noble intentions of wanting peaceful solutions and all the races to live in harmony, in a way it might do more harm than good because everyone else are just cruel pieces of sh*t. That’s the cruel fact of this world. So trying to be passive and accommodating just makes him look like a weak loser. No wonder weaker people like Alessand started to lose faith in him. But thank goodness for loyal Dias, right? Now Kaisar has found true peace in death and as much as I want to find that funny, I couldn’t. It is with mixed feelings to see Rita revive him as a zombie because he isn’t technically the same again. After all, Rita was the most affected by his death as their odd relationship goes back a long way since the first season. And to think Rita thought he wanted to confess to her…

There was this initial fear that Favaro wasn’t going to appear at all seeing that he was nowhere around in the first half. Well, thank goodness he did around halfway point. What an unlikely place to make your first appearance this season in the prison. Favaro hasn’t lost his edge but he isn’t the main character and hero he was in the first season as Nina now takes over that role. He is more like the master sifu role now. Still funny in his own way, still sharp and smart. He must have learnt a lot ever since Amira’s passing last season. It pretty much feels the same for Rita since cool zombie girl became a quack doctor treating demons in her hideout and her role is like to provide sarcasm, voice of reason and a bit comic relief. Don’t worry, she has Rocky by her side so I’m sure she isn’t lonely. Too bad Rocky doesn’t leave as much impression as I thought it would. Not that it would become as famous as Addams Family’s Thing. Bacchus and Hamsa still feel like the comic relief pair from Disney. And now this drunkard is an item with Sofiel, it’s like a match made in Heaven, right? Only on Earth. Only they’re not royalty. I swore I could have guessed Sofiel had a thing for Bacchus from the start as she kept bugging a disgraced God for a simple task of finding a kid which I believe she could have done it herself. Of all people, right?

It was really weird to see Jeanne having a child when she is still a virgin. It made me wonder if this is what the Virgin Soul is supposedly refers to. It feels like the case of déjà vu for Jeanne because in the last season, she absorbed Michael to obtain power. This season, she absorbed Sofiel to power up and gain revenge for her son. She is after all human. Can’t blame her. And you know what they say about hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. Especially a mother whose child got killed. Ironically, El never get to live up to his destiny or role. He is supposed to be the key hindrance and target of Charioce’s plan and he is supposed to bring peace to the world but look what happened to him. Sad, right?

If you’re here for the action, you won’t be very disappointed. Fans who were awed by the amazing action spectacular in the first season can expect even more power action in this season. It doesn’t disappoint to say the least with all the power and magic play in the battle, it is anybody’s game. Just don’t get hit by any one of those magic blasts because they’re really powerful. Like Dromos being the mother of all blasts. Not even angels can stand up to its power. And you thought creatures from Heaven would be all mighty and invincible but that might just be our perception. It’s a different case for them in this world. But still, they’re no pushovers with their heavenly powers. But I suppose the Gods are not useful enough that Charioce had to do it himself to get rid of Bahamut. Prove that if you want something done, do it yourself. And yeah, praying to God won’t get anything done. Period. Whoops! As excuse for more destruction on the human side, hence they have giant golems so that they can be toppled and destroyed. Not to say that there aren’t body counts from actual humans from the knights but I suppose it lessens the impact of watching a fellow human being cut down. They’re just stones and machines, right? What am I saying…

Art and animation are still top notched. Many of the main characters have this bishonen and bishoujo looks so characters like Charioce, Kaisar, Azazel and even Lucifer have this pretty boy looks. Even in Heaven with all the male angels are tanned and muscular, female angels all have very big boobs. Mmm… But all is not pretty and good looking when you consider the demon slums. Yeah, those really look horrible. Not the quality of the animation but rather you can feel the very neglected state of those areas. CGI is also used especially on the golems and Bahamut. Pretty much okay, I guess.

The old casts are retained and continue to do a fine job reprising their roles. Sumire Morohoshi did a good job as Nina to make her really sound spunky and lively. Although she sounds like as though she is newbie in voice acting and has this raw sound to it, she has been in the industry for quite some time (going all the way back to 2010’s Kuragehime’s Clara although this isn’t technically her debut role but one her early roles). I didn’t really know it was Rie Kugimiya behind Mugaro/El’s voice. Firstly, the character didn’t even speak until the latter half. Even so, it was one of those boyish roles Rie Kugimiya played unlike her stereotypical tsundere character role so it took me a while to realize it was her. The other new casts added are Yuuichirou Umehara as Charioce (Mitsuhide in Akagami No Shirayuki-hime), Maaya Sakamoto as Sofiel (Ciel in Kuroshitsuji), Hiroshi Shirokuma as Onyx Knight captain (Warrod in Fairy Tail), Yasuhiro Mamiya as Dias (Naomasa in Drifters) and Kensho Ono as Alessand (Seiji in Renai Boukun).

If you remember the first season’s hard punk heavy metal acid rock-like opening, this season is no different either. Yup, the first opening theme, Let It End is sung by the same band, Sim. Not really my kind of music because of all the screaming like as though you can burst your lungs if you sing too hard. The second opening theme is more bearable, Walk This Way by The Beat Garden. It reminds me of that ending theme in Devil Survivor 2 The Animation. Not bad and epic in its own right. As for the ending themes, they are weird and unique in the context of this series. The first ending theme is Haikei Goodbye Sayonara by Daoko. It’s like a techno rap song and the credits animation is very video game-like. But all that is nothing compared to the second ending theme, Cinderella Step also by Daoko. The song is very fairytale-like as well as its animation. It is most amusing and I believe this is one of the very few animations in which I enjoy because there is a ‘twist’. With Nina being Cinderella and Charioce as Prince Charming, what happens when the clock strikes 12 at the ball? Why, they go disco dancing!!! OMFG!!! This is way too funny and creative!!! I really love it. Everyone, let’s get down on the dance floor! Also worth mentioning are the epic voices used as BGMs during epic sequences. It really makes everything so grandeur and epic.

Originally, before this season came out, there was supposed to be another Shingeki No Bahamut series, Manaria Friends. However it was cancelled indefinitely in 2016 and no news of any progress has been made since. Because of the poster picture of Manaria Friends, it made me wonder if it was connected to the Shingeki No Bahamut series in the first place and hence why I thought Virgin Souls could be a totally different and unrelated to the original. Heck, I saw the list of seiyuus being casted and they were all for totally different new characters. I wonder how things would have turned out had Manaria Friends actually aired. Would it have been a hit? Would it have been a miss? Would it have affected Virgin Souls? Was it why Virgin Souls was made instead? Whatever the reasons were, I’m glad I got to watch this season.

Overall, this series is so amazing and awesome and at this point I might be sounding like a broken tape recorder. In recent seasons and years, there have only been a few good animes and rarely a few in a single season. I supposed when you have been going down and reached the lowest (obviously it didn’t but just for argument’s sake), the only way left is up and good stuffs. So other than this series, we had great second seasons like Shingeki No Kyojin, Boku No Hero Academia and Uchouten Kazoku (can I also consider Teekyuu’s ninth season as awesome?) as well as new ones like Princess Principal, Kakegurui and Zero Kara Hajimeru Mahou No Sho that really saved the season. If you really love action, adventure and fantasy all into one, this is the series to go to. Till the next rage of Bahamut, keep your Baha-Baha-Baha-Soul to the Baha-Baha-Baha-Max. Baha-Baha-Baha-Amen! The wind is certainly blowing in the direction of tomorrow!

Sin – Nanatsu No Taizai

Holy holiness! I thought this was somewhat the sequel to that action fantasy adventure, Nanatsu No Taizai! Then I realized something is wrong when I saw the promotional poster. Sexy busty ladies?! Wait. Am I seeing it right? Shucks. What a misleading title. Again. Because in that same season we had Zero Kara Hajimeru Mahou No Sho in which I mistook it for another anime sequel thanks to its suspiciously similar title. Thus it is the same too for Sin – Nanatsu No Taizai. It has nothing to do with that series about a group of former baddies trying to take over a kingdom now taken over by corrupted knights who were once the heroes. The only thing in common is the use of the seven deadly sins as its theme. Everything else differs so much. Oh, sexy busty ladies, huh? I can see where we’re going with this one.

Episode 1
Crucified Lucifer falls from heaven as she blames Michael for this betrayal. She crashes into a church. Maria Totsuka, a normal human seems to be able to see her. Before she plunges into hell, Lucifer gives her an angel’s life. Down in the most bottom depths of hell, the demon of envy, Leviathan is excited to see Lucifer crashing down. She has always looked up to her and starts caressing her body. She suggests they take over hell by defeating the other Mortal Sins but Lucifer will not follow orders from anyone. This makes Leviathan mad as she attacks her. Her weak attack has no effect as Lucifer remembers Michael telling her God’s punishment to her to atone for her pride forever. Lucifer breaks free and I think her transformation into some cosplay made Leviathan adore her even more. She vows to follow her. Bringing her to the castle where the Mortal Sins rule, Lucifer is attacked by the demon of wrath, Satan. Of course she is no match for the fallen angel and gets busted. We are introduced to the other busty demons like Mammon (greed), Asmodeus (lust), Beelzebub (gluttony) and Belphegor (sloth). The leader of them all is Belial (vanity – what is Bayonetta doing here?!), she believes Lucifer is here to invade hell. Lucifer takes up Leviathan’s suggestion to beat the crap out of everyone and rule this place. Belial orders the rest to fight her. Nobody moves. Okay. She’ll do it herself. Too bad Lucifer easily destroys her family sword and rips her clothes in the process. Gnosis offers Belial to use him. She unleashes some restraining attack on her. Lucifer tries to escape but the other Mortal Sins attack and ground her. Belial torments her by cutting one of her wings. However this severs her restraints to God. She declares as the one who goes against God and the demon burdened with the sin of pride. She and Leviathan escape back to Earth. Right back at the same spot where Maria found Lucifer. First thing Lucifer does is to stab Maria’s heart! And she corrects her that she isn’t an angel, but a demon lord.

Episode 2
Maria isn’t dead. Lucifer has stolen her heart. How can a person live without a heart? Well, as long as Lucifer has it, she is immortal. Unless she crushes it. Since Maria continues to whine in disbelief, Leviathan wants to get rid of her. However Lucifer wants Maria as her servant. Because normal humans can’t see angels and demons, I guess they need Maria to do human business. Like booking a presidential suite of a hotel for an indefinite stay. Maria continues to resist her so Lucifer with a snap of her fingers is able to make her do things against her own will. Like stripping and taking a bath with her. Maria wants to be normal again but Lucifer doesn’t care. All she needs to do is obey her. Despite the abuse, Leviathan is envious that Maria gets all her attention. Leviathan thought she could try cooking for her but Lucifer still has her attention on Maria. So when Lucifer has gone out, Leviathan takes out her frustrations on Maria. If only she is gone, all of Lucifer’s attention will be on her. Maria tries to run but Leviathan outrages her modesty with some water tentacles. Don’t scream too loud or others will think you’re a pervert. Maria insists she has done nothing wrong to deserve this and this makes Leviathan mad. She envies her for having what she wants. Why could it not be her? Those words remind Maria of her friend Mina who said exactly the same thing. It’s like Maria has found enlightenment as she comforts Leviathan it isn’t a bad thing. She is able to break free from her shackles. The show ends with Lucifer putting a stop to it. She had been watching them. She chastises Leviathan for giving in to her own envy sin and losing to a human. She warns her not to lay her hands on Maria again. Now Lucifer molests Maria’s boobs and wants her to focus. Not on the groping, I suppose. Maria then screams out Miami. This is where they will be heading next.

Episode 3
Because Maria took Lucifer’s blood before she went to hell, the reason why she can sense the location of other Mortal Sins. So they’re taking a plane there instead of teleporting? Oh well, got to enjoy your time on Earth. Asmodeus is trying to gather followers (and by that means making a contract that sends you to hell!) by having everyone lust and gaze at her sexy body. It’s such a depraved beach with everybody making out with everybody. Lucifer steps in to announce she will take down the Mortal Sins one by one. Leviathan tries to fight Asmodeus but Lucifer realizes the people lusting at her will only make her stronger. What now? Retreat! That night, they visit the nightclub where Asmodeus gathers her followers. Asmodeus is such a hot pole dancer. Leviathan thought she could challenge her but her pole dancing sucks. Asmodeus is interested in Maria but Lucifer warns nothing will happen to her no matter how much she tries. That night, Lucifer sends Maria out to buy food but Asmodeus captures her back to her place to begin caressing and making her feel good. What is this?! 50 Shades of Grey, lesbian version?! It took Lucifer a while to drop in. Asmodeus fights Lucifer using her sex appeal. This means Lucifer gets captured by her plant tentacle trap. Her entire body is now one big sexual pleasure. Lucifer is ‘disappointed’ in her since desire is all she has. Love is all dressed up in the base desire of lust. However she doesn’t see a sin in sex and should go preach about its benefits instead. Ironically this turns on Asmodeus and loses to her own power. Lucifer is freed as she comments about pride being pride because it doesn’t yield to others. Asmodeus admits her defeat to Lucifer and promises not to get in her way. With Asmodeus’ magic dispelled, Miami beach is back to normal. Maria apologizes for getting into trouble but it was all part of Lucifer’s plan in the first place to make her as the bait. You sly devil… It makes Maria wonder if it is okay to believe in a demon lord. Somebody’s faith in God is wavering…

Episode 4
We’re in London now. At the library, they see an article of a potion that can grant anything. Definitely fake. So they head down to the store where it is sold. Nobody’s in. Maria sees a coin on the floor and picks it up. Too late. A trap. Welcome to Mammon’s store. She and Lucifer go have a ‘chat’. Mammon shows off her properties but Lucifer isn’t interested and fights. Although Lucifer loses, not without property damage and this pisses Mammon off. Now Lucifer is being tortured on a triangle horse and being forced to sign a contract for property damage. Leviathan summons her bat familiar, Behemoth to cut them out of the cage. Looking for clues, they see real estate papers. Leviathan believes Lucifer is being held in one of Mammon’s many properties and leaves Maria behind to go find her onee-sama. Maria looks around and seeks soul contracts but is caught red-handed by Mammon. Maria witness Mammon having a woman sign a contract and letting her drink some potion before she enters a secret room. Mammon is interested to know why she is with Lucifer. Is there some sort of secret between them? Mammon lets Maria suck on her breast milk. Oh, so calm… Leviathan has found Lucifer. She wants to help but is told not to because there won’t be any meaning if she doesn’t overcome this herself. It is painful to watch so Leviathan joins her. Damn she can’t last 10 seconds and faints on Lucifer! It’s heavier! Maria sees many people inside a room taking care of demon dolls in which they see as their own child. Of course in exchange for this, Mammon has them transfer their assets to her. It seems Mammon’s husband left her with debts and she has to raise 500,000 kids! Maria lectures her what the kids need are not babysitters but their mom. Lucifer breaks free and at the same time Maria is freed from Mammon’s cursed breast milk. Maria believes everyone is just lost and running away from their painful memories. Mammon thinks it is that pity that made them lose their place. That is pride. Speaking of which, here comes Lucifer to come kick her ass. This time more property damage and the entire place is razed down! My investments! With Mammon’s defeat, I guess everyone is freed from their debts. However thanks to the endless human greed, Mammon is soon back in operation via crypto currency. More money for her children, suckers!

Episode 4.5
WTF?! Why do we need a recap episode summary after 4 episodes?! Did production fail to keep up with the schedule?! No new scenes. Recycled scenes of what we have seen so far and the only difference is that some parts are narrated. The only thing brand new is the ending theme with this demon lord, Astaroth rocking away.

Episode 5
Back in Japan, Lucifer and co notice Astaroth as an online idol raking up the views. By the way, Astaroth is the demon of melancholy and hence her songs have depressing lyrics. So when Lucifer confronts her back at her home, Astaroth freaks out. Every answer she gives is in rap mode? So Lucifer records and uploads her own video and it is gaining more views. Belial then visits Astaroth. She wants her to accept Lucifer’s challenge and will help to beat her. So Astaroth records a new video. It isn’t anything special and looks so freaking boring but it garners more views than Lucifer. At this rate she is going to lose. What’s this? Lucifer sinking into depression thinking about it? Of course she busts those blues in the nick of time before Belial pays her a visit. Belial wants to know her goal when she fell from heaven. Since she isn’t telling, Belial will defeat her and make her reveal all on her knees. Lucifer gives Maria another chance to make another hit piece. With this computer synthesizer heavy denpa song, I’m sure it did. Of course Astaroth comes up with another to counter that. It’s that rocker video we see in the recap episode. Sex. Blood. Gore. Weirdness. Makes no sense. I guess all that sells. Could you believe the video is made by Belphegor who is Astaroth’s closest friend? Thanks to that hit, Astaroth now have sell-out concerts and TV interviews lining up. As the fans wait for her to go on stage, Lucifer is confident Astaroth will not appear. She knows she is afraid of people and the more people in the audience, the more she will retreat to her shell. Speaking of which, it is true as she is cowering inside the toilet cubicle. With the crowd growing restless and losing faith, demanding their money back, Lucifer takes this chance to take centre stage and steal the crowd’s heart. Belial is trying to get Astaroth to come out. Belphegor tells her the audience is on her side and to tell them her feelings with her songs. Astaroth gets the courage needed to go on stage. The duo sing a duet which is a mix of both their styles. Weird but fun. In the end, Astaroth admits she lost. Though, she loves singing and will continue. She wants to perform again with Lucifer but too bad she calls it quits. It’s too much trouble dealing with fans. Astaroth says she is on Belial’s side so the next time they meet, they’ll be enemies. Assuming if she isn’t this timid, that is.

Episode 6
Lucifer asks Leviathan about Belphegor. Just a shut-in. When Lucifer picks up a ringing call, she is sucked inside the mobile. Belphegor wants to play a game with her. Since Lucifer chooses to be the demon lord, Belphegor will organise an event where everyone can defeat her. As expected, Lucifer easily steamrolls the heroes. So Belphegor promises the heroes someone to come help defeat the demon lord. And so she drags Maria into the game as well. After making her test a heavy armour, she puts her in a lingerie armour that has her move faster. And with her magic sword, she is now known as the hero Maririn! As she faces Lucifer, of course Lucifer isn’t going to take her seriously about saving the world. Heck, even Lucifer defeats Maria. Maybe it’s the hotspring power of disintegrating lingerie and enhancing boob size. Belphegor can’t have her lose now so she takes her away for more training. Why do they look like torture or hentai potential? Once her training is done, she is tasked to get a legendary equipment from an angel. Isn’t that Leviathan?! And the legendary equipment is just a lingerie in different colour? Cheaper to re-skin, I suppose… As Maria is ready to face Lucifer again, the other players feel it is time to logout since they have to work, sleep, etc. Belphegor has them stay by offering them special weapons (because you can’t defeat the demon lord with free weapons). Maria faces off with Lucifer again. It might look like history repeating itself but her legendary armour requips itself to become something better to defeat Lucifer. With that, everyone is satisfied and logs off. Belphegor panics as this isn’t in her scenario. She tries to defeat Lucifer herself but Lucifer fights back to the point where it could destroy her game world. Belphegor has had it. She admits defeat and doesn’t want to play games with her anymore. Back in reality, Lucifer is impressed Maria could tell she was in a game world where Belphegor collects her followers. Had Maria defeated her, the game would have been restarted and everything will go back to square one to defeat the demon lord again. After Lucifer teases Maria as the lingerie hero, now she is going to punish Leviathan for being an angel…

Episode 7
Lucifer and co crash in on Beelzebub’s gourmet party to challenge her to an eating contest. Both looks like they’re going strong till Lucifer suddenly has pain in her stomach. Is this it? Although the contest ends in a draw, Lucifer immediately rushes to the toilet to vomit till she passes out. The next thing she knows, she is in hospital. Maria is forced to play her relative to fill the paperwork. It is pathetic to see the strong Lucifer in this weak state. It’s like she lost to some stomach flu virus. She continues to recuperate in hospital but her living conditions aren’t ‘ideal’. The neighbour is snoring loudly or vomiting and the bed is too cram. Complaining it to your subordinates won’t change a thing. When her illness remains the same, the doctor gives her suppository. OMG! It looks like Lucifer getting raped from the back???!!! Oh dear. Really pitiful to see her in this state. Of course the doctor turns out to be Belial as she tries to unlock Lucifer’s secret. She sees Maria’s heart and takes it. When Lucifer wakes up, she knows she has been had. Though she is confident Belial won’t realize its secret but the problem is how to get it back. She can’t tell Maria about it. So when Lucifer acts all nice to her, Maria thinks she is still sick. Get well and go back to your prideful self! Lucifer is surprised that Beelzebub is also hospitalized next door for gastric dilation. She teases her about not being able to eat but Beelzebub views food isn’t evil and the best medicine to put a smile on your face. Before you know it, they both become friends! WTF?! Cue for Leviathan to throw her usual tantrum while she is bathing Lucifer. So she gives her a chance to let her sleep with her. Too bad she wet the bed and escaped, making it look like Lucifer was the wetter. As Lucifer and Beelzebub begin to heal, they eat and appreciate better food. They get discharged on the same day as Lucifer treats her to some tasty treat. Beelzebub is willing to give Lucifer her throne. She doesn’t need it. When the time comes, all will change. After everyone leaves, Maria is kidnapped by Belial.

Episode 8
When Belial tells Satan how meekly Beelzebub turn over to Lucifer’s side, she is engulfed in rage. Of course she goes to fight Lucifer but Leviathan takes on her first. Satan is puzzled that she herself is feeling envious since Beelzebub is on Lucifer’s side. Leviathan ‘understands’ and that is how she is feeling. Leviathan’s water power causes damage everywhere but the chaos only further to strengthen Satan’s power. So she thought if fighting over the ocean would increase her power but she got defeated for real this time. Time for Lucifer to step in. Beelzebub wants to help her but Lucifer notes herself as currently weak to save Maria and will lose at this rate. She has Beelzebub return to hell for now. In some Pacific island, scores of military jets and ships attack Lucifer. Of course they are no match for her as she cuts them all into half. Military budget this year is going to skyrocket. Beelzebub awakens slumbering Leviathan at the bottom of the ocean (what the heck is that open sesame-like recitation?). She revives with a new set of sexy bikini armour? With the soldiers supporting Satan, she still is most powerful. So powerful that her blasts could cut the world into pieces!!! OMG! Haven’t seen anybody cutting water like that. Not even Moses. As Lucifer finally fights her head on, Belial and Maria are watching this from her castle. Maria continues to root for Lucifer so Belial shows her heart. Is this why she is rooting for her? Maria looks interested when Belial suggests she can have her heart back and even freed from Lucifer if she helps them defeat her. Now the epic battle takes place on the moon. Earth too puny for them? Satan did the most unlikely thing by releasing her curse on Lucifer so she could fight with all she’s got. In the end, the space battle ends with Lucifer stabbing into Satan. As agreed, Satan will follow her orders by opening the gates to hell. She’s coming for your ass, Belial. Belial maintains her confidence she still has Maria as her trump card.

Episode 9
Belial is seen making a deal with Michael. Belial tortures Satan for losing when she had the overwhelming advantage and Lucifer lost almost all her power. She gives her one last chance to protect the gates of hell and prevent Lucifer from coming through. But when Lucifer and Leviathan come waltzing in, they are easily able to walk through. This is because in that short span of time, Lucifer was able to gather followers from all over the world. Looks like every human is guilty of some sort of pride from judges to idol fans! As humans care themselves more than others, pride is the ultimate sin they are born with. Lucifer could send all humans to hell if she wanted to and knows this is what God is afraid of. So with 100 million followers, Lucifer makes her triumphant return to hell as the demon lord. Belial summons the Mortal Sins to go stop Lucifer. However they claim they have no more reason to obey her since they have been defeated by Lucifer. Only Astaroth remains by Belial’s side. Lucifer and Leviathan ride the ferryman, Charon. However he wants his payment. Care to share some of the souls of the living? No way. Then show me your pantsu! So we have this strange scene of Lucifer trying to fight off this dirty old man and getting tentacle raped by his tongue. It ends when Leviathan manages to overturn the boat and shows her pantsu to satisfy that lecherous pervert. They meet up with the other Mortal Sins as Lucifer reveals God’s plan to purge hell and Earth. Hence it isn’t Lucifer’s plan to destroy hell but God. Lucifer’s plan is to turn the tables by bringing God down and make a new world order. Hell always flourishes when humanity matures. But it happens over and over again so Lucifer got tired of this and brought this up. Look what happened to her by just commenting on it. And yes, Belial knows about this. Don’t believe? Ask her yourself. Astaroth is the only one who can’t believe it. Leviathan stays back to fight her while Lucifer moves forward.

Episode 10
Asmodeus confronts Belial about her betrayal. Come to think of it, she believes she has been lying to them ever since she became their leader. Flashback shows Belial requesting Asmodeus to be the leader of the Mortal Sins. She has sought everyone’s permission since she wants to defeat heaven. For Asmodeus’ punishment to defy her, she is being cut by razor sharp winds. Because she can heal, the process repeats. Is this ultimate paradise for a masochist? I wonder how many times she has climaxed. When Lucifer arrives and wants to rescue her, Asmodeus tells her to go forward. The other Mortal Sins are in danger and she has chosen Lucifer to be the one. Down the next level, Lucifer sees Beelzebub being force fed. Why does this look like a porn scene? Belial thought she could buy her loyalty by giving her more meat but since she refused, this is what she got as punishment for defying. Beelzebub won’t accept meat from anybody but Lucifer. Is there a sexual connotation there? Mammon tells Belial that she is betting all her next penny on Lucifer who is a better investment. Belial then turns her fortune into a golden triangle horse and torture her. She wonders why she is doing this seeing she comes from the famous Byrnedale family. Flashback shows she inherited it. Speaking to Gnosis, she was told the family was famous but now in ruins. Gnosis sensed she isn’t from hell as she explains why she wants to inherit it to preserve its vanity. She will make the Byrnedale name known throughout heaven. Her real reason to inherit is to use its name so the Mortal Sins would trust her. Would they believe her if she was an unknown demon lord? What is the best way to torture a lazy person? Exercise! So poor Belphegor running on a burning treadmill forever. Not even Lucifer wants to bat an eyelid.

Satan fights Belial and accuses her of betraying them since she won’t tell whether she has connections with heaven or not. Belial says that it wasn’t a lie when she told them she wanted to bring heaven down. However the circumstances have changed and there is no choice but to wait for it to come. Satan is punished by being covered by goo of the dead. Meanwhile Leviathan and Astaroth’s fight has turn into some naked slippery pathetic battle that has them falling down a long waterfall. When Belial cuts Maria, she realizes there is angel blood in her. She realizes Lucifer’s plan to hide it inside Maria so she could return to heaven again. See girl, she’s just using you. Lucifer has reached the final depths of hell. I don’t know how Leviathan and Astaroth got stuck in those icy pillars but since they got here so fast, shouldn’t have Lucifer taken a similar path? Unless she doesn’t know about it. Too bad Lucifer has no time to save them. In this area, there are dormant giants who once fought God and lost. Their punishment to be imprisoned here forever. Now under Belial’s command they are attacking Lucifer. She knows this is Belial’s plan to wear her magic out. And now she has already used them all up.

Episode 11
Belial tortures Lucifer as she reveals her plan to use her angel blood to return to heaven. It seems Lucifer doesn’t remember who Belial is. She was once the angel Satanael but was sent to hell for being accused of spreading non-existent miracles to humans. She believed she was doing the right thing as more humans prayed to God. However Lucifer told her she was wrong and Michael kept her silence. Satanael is crucified and sent down as she vowed revenge on Lucifer. Now that Lucifer remembers who she is, she adds that after what Satanael did, humans began to rely on miracles and fall into depravity. When they realized their hopes were unfounded, they abandoned God. So she played the demon lord than an angel. Belial doesn’t care for all that now as a new miracle will happen. She will be reborn as the new Satanael and discard her wretched and humiliating life as the leader of the Mortal Sins. However by saying that, Lucifer knows she has lost. Because by abandoning that title, she is no longer their leader and thus no more authority over their penance. The Mortal Sins are freed as they rush to Lucifer’s side. But Belial believes all of them won’t defeat her since she has absorbed Lucifer’s power. True, even if they all attack at once, she crucifies them all. She is going to kill Lucifer in the cruellest fashion. She wants Maria to stab her with the silver stake. Maria won’t do this but Belial threatens to crush her heart. Even in pain she won’t do it so Lucifer orders her. Still can’t? Lucifer runs towards her to get stabbed. While it might look like Belial’s victory, that is just short-lived. Maria’s heart enters Lucifer and Lucifer’s heart enters Maria. This was just an elaborate plan to switch hearts. Now the final epic battle. Lucifer chides Belial for being petty, having a grudge over something that has happened so long ago. Has she no pride? Besides, it is God who sent her to hell as He is the only one with powers to do so. Belial is in disbelief as Lucifer kicks her ass to defeat her again. Belial might have admitted her defeat but the battle is not over yet since Michael has crashed into the place.

Episode 12
Belial wants Michael to take her back to heaven in exchange for destroying hell. However Michael tells her God doesn’t negotiate with demon lords. Betrayed. More salt on her wounds as Lucifer chides her that God never planned on pardoning her. Or maybe someone never let God know of this plan in the first place. Michael claims she wanted to help Lucifer before she was sent to hell but Lucifer never recalled such. It’s like she knew of God’s mistake and accepting it is like accepting His error. So Michael’s attack form is a military cosplay? Well, her holy light wings are devastating. Belial attacks Michael out of rage. She manages to destroy a wing before being thrown out of this world. Astaroth follows her. Because of that, it seems Leviathan is promoted to one of the Mortal Sins and Lucifer takes Belial’s place as the leader, the demon lord of pride. The other Mortal Sins are motivated to take down Michael. Although each manage to break a wing, it is at the cost of their life. Not that they regret it. It’s finally time for Lucifer and Michael to clash. Since hell is done for, I guess they’re going to fight on Earth. It sounds like Michael has always liked Lucifer. But the need to be God’s absolute angel means she has to put on a façade like any other angels to suck up to Him. That’s why Lucifer cannot stand God’s tyranny. She could not accept God’s plan of destroying everything and then recreate it again. It’s like destroying something you create partway and then destroying it because it didn’t turn out to way you wanted. If that’s the case, stop being God! Maria realizes Lucifer has always been the only one trying to protect humans. When she was young, mother always told her this angel named Lucifer was always watching over them.

However Lucifer is defeated when Michael stabs her with her holy lance. Maria and Leviathan are crying over her dead body. If prayers are for God, how to reach a demon lord then? You offer a sacrifice. Yes, Maria sacrifices herself and uses her blood to revive Lucifer. Lucifer is sad she lost Maria. She notes she has always been enchanted by her and watching her in heaven. She always prayed to her and didn’t want to destroy the world she lives in. Now she swears to bring down heaven with all she’s got. Confronting Michael again, Lucifer’s revival means she also revives the other Mortal Sins. Maria has given her life to her so the lance doesn’t work now. As a fallen angel who is the leader of the Mortal Sins and having a human giving her life, she possess the holy trinity of all the worlds. Call it a miracle but God isn’t the only one who has a monopoly over it. She is able to defeat Michael who wants to be killed by her. However just this once Lucifer forgives her as she is being called back by heaven. With the Seven Virtues before her, looks like they are Lucifer’s next target to bring heaven down. In the aftermath, Leviathan isn’t sure to be sad or happy over Maria’s death. Lucifer sheds a blood tear and this revives Maria! Holy cow! Another miracle?! Something about the little angel blood left in Lucifer that allowed this to happen. As of now, Lucifer doesn’t have any more angel blood nor does she want any speck of it. Because she is the demon lord now. Lastly, Belial is seen living a normal human life with Astaroth on Earth.

Better To Know The Devil Than The Angel
Well… This is… Sinfully good! I know, despite the sleazy fanservice shots, this series actually has a pretty decent (oh, the irony) plot and pacing despite being cliché in the sense that a betrayed anti-hero goes around to defeat mini bosses or make them submit before having finally facing off with the big one but then plot twist! The real big bad guy is the one who is from your own former side! So yeah, I did enjoy watching this series not because I am a perverted otaku (that is partially a reason why one would watch this series but that isn’t the point) but perhaps I set my expectations low enough, anticipating it would be nothing but a slew of fanservice. And surprise! It is indeed pretty enjoyable. Wow. A miracle for what low expectations can really do :-).

I’m going to get the fanservice out of the way here because this is the most obvious element ever in the series and motivation why one would even pick to watch this anime. Since you’re dealing with demons and angels who are mainly busty chicks (why are there no men versions of devil and angels?), in every episode it is guaranteed there will be lots of boobs shots and crotch shots. Heck, there will even be parts whereby the characters will be totally naked thanks to all that ripping from the fight. Heck, why do demons and angels need to even wear clothes since they are already so skimpy and sexy. The biggest offender has got to be Belial. You think Asmodeus is sexy? You haven’t seen Belial yet. Ever since she started wearing Gnosis, she is practically walking around naked! I’m sure those freaking huge shoulder pads serve as a distraction. Not! You can’t help stare at her lower half because there’s just this one tiny patch covering her vagina area and the oddest part is that sometimes it looks like pubic hair if you don’t focus too much. Oh sh*t!

As the fanservice is so in-your-face because every few seconds there will usually be spamming those boob shots and crotch shots, hence there will be these annoying black insignias hovering over them. Lots of them. There are other types of censors like streaks of light and strategic coverings but the insignias are the ones forming the majority. Hence there are uncensored versions of the episodes but I didn’t see them. I use my creativity and imagination to picture them!!! After all, why should I rewatch the whole series again just to see tits? I know how (2D) real tits look like. Might as well go for real porn. Whoops! So anyway, I am fine with the annoying round things covering certain areas for most of the time. Until they start covering the entire screen, that is! Still not tempted to watch the uncensored version. Not feeling greedy, lustful, envious, gluttonous or wrathful for more boobs. Must be my pride, huh? Just kidding… Maybe I’m just slothful…

During the initial episodes of the series, I was a bit confused on the composition of the Mortal Sins. I mean, if I counted them, aren’t there 8 of them? Notwithstanding the final episode that pieces everything in order, was vanity one of the 7 deadly sins? Wasn’t it supposed to be pride? I know they reserve it for Lucifer and thought maybe both were overlapping in this area. You know, Lucifer beat the hell out of Belial and taking over her sin’s representation? Hence it was not. And since when was melancholy part of the 7 deadly sins? I was indeed confused. It is definitely 7 not 8 if you do not count envy in this anime’s context but wasn’t envy one of the deadly sins? I thought Leviathan was a Mortal Sin but as the series progresses, I realized she wasn’t part of it. So I guess they right the wrong by ‘kicking out’ vanity and melancholy in the end and replace it by pride and envy eventually. That sure cleared things up.

Also confusing me once the series ended are the ‘extra episodes’. I have not watched them but from what I read are just a couple of minute specials to go with the DVD. The confusing part was how they labelled it as unaired episodes 13 to 19. Or are they supposed to be specials 1 to 7? Since I have not seen them, I am not sure it is a continuation or at least the events these short specials are taken place after the series has ended. I believe they aren’t anything pivotal to the main storyline as I read summary about the first couple of episodes to be Lucifer fighting Belial again in a battle of strength and Leviathan going to the toilet (?!). More fanservice but of course…

On to the characters, the main character who is a force to be reckoned with is Lucifer. Watching her prideful character go all the way to exact her revenge makes it feel like you want to worship her instead of God or the big devil himself of hell. Really. I can see why she obtained so many followers so easily in a short period of time. Because I too feel that she is the best character to follow! Oh dear. Have I fallen for Lucifer’s charms? Because of her pride, she does not yield to others. At times where she looks like she ‘lost’ (like that stomach flu case), I believe she was just faking it and being a great pretender. After all, you can’t always just fight the Mortal Sins head on. Some needs subtlety. Because she bosses others around like a boss and does not compromise her ways, that is what makes her likeable and respectable in that sense. She doesn’t want to become God and has reminded us many times that she is the demon lord. Because with this title it allows her to do as she wishes instead of being a hypocrite virtue signalling. That’s acceptable, right?

I don’t want to say that Maria is a useless character and just a character who is there as a plot device. Because remember, what is the name of this anime again? That’s where the main focus is. But sometimes I can’t help think that she is just a side character who got mixed up in everything for plot convenience since we mostly see Lucifer as the one who mainly deals with the Mortal Sins (Maria was just as bait or something like that) and in the second half, Maria’s screen time is further reduced thanks to her being kidnapped. As for Leviathan, she is made to look like an annoying idiot who sucks up to her onee-sama. I suppose every great leader has a loyal underling who is an idiot. I won’t go so far as to say she is a comic relief character but sometimes it feels like she is going to cross that line. And her pet Behemoth is supposed to be the cute mascot but with so little appearances, he is hardly memorable.

As for the other Mortal Sins, they do represent their deadly sins well at least to current modern times. Like Mammon’s greed and fortune coming from real estate investments and Belphegor who just loves to play online games. Eventually the thought provoking thing about them is that these Mortal Sins seem to be better people than their angelic counterparts. They might prey on the immoral desires of human but that is only because that is what they are supposed to do. On the other hand if you compare them to the angels and heaven, these goody-goody beings are the worst. Could you not see how scheming and vengeful Belial was when she fell from heaven? Heck, the same can be said about Lucifer. What is it that makes fallen angels so vengeful towards God once they have been kicked out from heaven? Even angels like Michael from this perspective looks like a sneaky b*tch and a wolf in sheep’s clothing. A two-faced double agent.

This brings me to my next point about God. As I have said, with Lucifer being shown and painted as some great anti-hero, it makes God at least in this anime’s context to be the primary villain. If God is omnipotent and omniscient, why and how the heck does He let all this happen? And should not He know what everything is going on even if you don’t tell Him? That is why when this series ends, it feels like God is the main antagonist and it makes us more inclined to support Lucifer. For obvious reasons, Lucifer is there in the flesh. God? You don’t see Him. You don’t know He exists. Lucifer’s actions can be seen whereas God you can’t. Because he works in mysterious ways, right?

That is why Maria who has always been a hard faithful prayer ‘defects’ to Lucifer. She might be a fallen angel but she has done more good than God. At least from what she can see. Lucifer might have dragged her into this mess but she is also the one who saved her life. Where was God in time of Maria’s need? Was He there to free Maria when she was Lucifer’s lackey? I rest my case. Like Lucifer said, God doesn’t have a monopoly over miracles. This could also mean that God isn’t necessarily the only being who can resurrect, destroy, etc. Besides, if God really wants to destroy and recreate everything, He could have easily done so (assuming the almighty is powerful) but choosing this method, it makes you ponder if God really exists in the first place or not. I can see purists fuming in the mouth over this but that’s blind faith for you. Or maybe everything is a part of God’s huge plan because He allows Lucifer to go on a beat ‘em up spree and then purposely lose to her because He might have been bored of destroying and recreating from scratch the same way. Hah! God thinks like a Japanese anime and manga character!

Art and animation feels okay. Busty and scantily clad babes as all part of the fanservice as mentioned earlier. They look more like beautiful porn stars than anything scary, even Satan herself. She might look the meanest but even in the context of anime, she is still hot looking. No wonder people choose to go with the Mortal Sins because when you have angels covering up themselves like suspicious hooded people who look like they want to mug you, might as well go with your desires and then go to hell because it is all going to be worth it. Really. At the end of each episode is an illustration by others. Now you know where to get more sexy fanservice… This anime is jointly produced by Artland (Tantei Opera Milky Holmes series, Ichiban Ushiro No Daimaou, Senran Kagura, Umisho) and TNK (High School DxD series, Kenzen Robo Daimidaler, Ikkitousen: Xtreme Xecutor, School Days), both of which have produced popular ecchi series before.

For the voice acting, kudos to Eri Kitamura and Shizuka Itou as Lucifer and Belial respectively. They do bring life into their character since they naturally have this prideful feel in their voices. It is no surprise since Eri Kitamura has voiced a handful of similar prideful characters like Ami in Toradora, Odagiri in Yamada-kun And The Seven Witches and Akane in Rewrite. Same for Shizuka Itou who did Bitch-sensei in Ansatsu Kyoushitsu, Meiko in Prison School and Luvia from the Fate/Kaleid Liner Prisma Ilya series. Other recognizable casts are Youko Hikasa as Mammon and Yui Ogura as Beelzebub. The rest are Megumi Toda as Maria (Hajime in New Game), Akane Fujita as Leviathan (Sagiri in Eromanga-sensei), Arisa Sakuraba as Satan, Chiaki Takahashi as Asmodeus (Nanami in School Days), Ai Kakuma as Belphegor (Julis in Gakusen Toshi Asterisk) and Azusa Tadokoro as Astaroth (Fino in Yuushibu).

Both the opening and ending themes are sung by Mia Regina. If there is a church choir singing its worship to the devil mixed with devilish rock music, you get My Sweet Maiden as the opener. Devilishly revering… If feels the same for the rock ending theme, Welcome To Our Diabolic Paradise. Only the male voice sounds like he is doing a take from Michael Jackson’s Thriller’s spoken verse. For an anime laden with fanservice, surprisingly there are a few good insert songs and BGMs. Really. Like Astaroth’s hard rock piece infused with rapping is surprisingly catchy. Not to mention that hip hop Goddamn Critical that is both cute and catchy. For the background music, I notice there is one that sounds very closely to the main theme of Beverly Hills Cop. It feels odd when that is played. Then there is that military-like marching BGM during that military battle over the sea which feels like a tribute to the Third Reich or something. Yikes. Weird.

Overall, if you can put aside and don’t get riled up by the fanservice of tits and crotch flashing every few seconds or minutes, this is quite the entertaining series. Of course, please turn off your brain and heart as well. We don’t want people to start blaming this series for making them lose faith in God and become infidels now, do we? After all, this isn’t the first series that is non-hentai and filled with fanservice (Valkyrie Drive ~Mermaid~, anyone?) nor is it one that questions the faith of the heavens (think Junketsu No Maria and even Shingeki No Bahamut series). A little guilty pleasure is acceptable. That is what makes us human. Not angels, not demons. A moment of desire on Earth in exchange for an eternity of suffering and regret in the deepest circles of hell. Was it worth it? Goddamn, better start praying to Lucifer from now on.

Gabriel Dropout

Do you once have this experience whereby you have a certain perception and view of something only to be shocked or disappointed when you see the real deal? Just like that Paris Syndrome in which Japanese people will go into shock when they see the real Eifel Tower. So can you believe what is absolutely so shocking that would turn angels astray? I’m not kidding. The expectations of mankind has been so vastly different that for a pure angel who came down to Earth to help is left in shock so much so she decides to just f*ck all that and become a bum. Really. I’m not kidding! Basically this is the premise of Gabriel Dropout. An angel who just graduated with high scores and promising future descending onto Earth only to see the blasphemous and ungodly activities of humans. So how? Well, if you can’t beat them, join them! And so this is a (funny) story of how a fallen angel has sunk so low that light could never reach her as well as her equally failed friends as they continue their pitifully and ironically funny existence of life on Earth.

Episode 1A
Gabriel White Tenma graduates top of her class as an angel. She and other graduated angels will now attend human schools to learn more about them before coming back as full-fledged angels. You know they’re screwed when they choose Japan, right? So Gabriel is fascinated with the human world. At least in Japan. She gets hooked on helping people on MMORPG via healing them. She loves to help them out but it seems she ran out of healing points. Need more? Buy them! And because more and more people are seeking her help, she succumbs to the temptation of paying! And before you know it, Gabriel turns into a total NEET! Her messy room and lifestyle is a far cry from the honour student she once was! Her demon friend, Vignette “Vigne” April Tsukinose has to straighten her out but Gabriel doesn’t give a damn. Gabriel isn’t afraid to admit she is useless and she has no intentions of returning to heaven and thinks all those angelic stuffs are overrated. Yes, she admits herself as a fallen angel. Or as she puts it herself, fail-len angel! So when she finally decides to go to school, she feels lazy to walk and is going to teleport. However she only teleports her panties. All the boys must be worshipping to the sudden appearance of this ‘God’.

Episode 1B
Satanichia “Satania” McDowell Kurumizawa is the self-proclaimed future queen of hell. She thought of giving Gabriel trouble. But she is shocked to see her spilling her drink, not giving a f*ck to recycle. When Satania tries to make her, she ends up cleaning it herself because she lost a game. Satania fantasizes about her diabolical plan to embarrass Gabriel. Too bad she runs out of toilet paper and is now stuck in her cubicle. In class when the teacher (let’s call this baldy Sensei) signals his students to hand in their homework, she is proud that she did not do a single bit and is not sorry at all. Soon her maniacal laughter turns into cries after she gets punished. Boo hoo.

Episode 1C
Gabriel overslept and doesn’t give a damn about the promise to go shopping with Vigne today. You can see why Vigne is visibly upset after waiting for hours. So they clean up Gabriel’s hell apartment. Gabriel notices her halo corrupted and black but doesn’t give a damn. In fact she likes it. Vigne goes into shock when Gabriel quips she isn’t acting so demonic since she is responsible, etc. So Vigne is asking an angel how to be a demon? How about killing someone? How could you?! Are you a demon for thinking like that?! They spot a cockroach. Vigne freaks out and overkills it. Gabriel’s room is destroyed. Was that demonic enough?

Episode 1D
Raphiel Ainsworth Shiraha is bored ever since she came to the human wold. But now she has God to thank for when she sees Satania fighting with a dog over a melon bread! Pure entertainment. This idiot is going to be her toy. Satania actually took Raphiel’s advice to talk in dog language to get her feelings through. How many barks is it going to take? When Satania gives up, Raphiel mocks she is running away. She then gets serious to fight back. So did the dog. She lost. And would you know this is the umpteenth time. Oh, did I mention Raphiel is in the class next door and went to the same angel school with Gabriel? Vigne thinks she is a nice girl and could be friends. But after seeing how Raphiel mocks Satania by enticing her with a melon bread if she licks her feet like a dog, she might want to be careful in choosing her friends.

Episode 2A
Is Gabriel racist for not wanting to go to the cafeteria because there are too many humans? And no, Vigne isn’t going to pay for your lunch. They spot Satania trying to go somewhere with her lunch. Turns out that poor demon is eating alone. She gets a shock when they want to eat with her. And somehow the dog stole her melon bread. Satania becomes her haughty self trying to make them beg to eat with her. They leave her alone and now she is the one begging to eat with them. Satania orders udon for all of them. Gabriel didn’t like it so the lunch is on her. Satania shows her inept ways when she doesn’t even know how to use disposable chopsticks. Gabriel decides to play a trick on her since Satania doesn’t know this spicy condiment. Following Gabriel’s advice, Satania dumps loads of it into her udon. Time to taste. Delicious! Oh well, demons can stand hot things, right? The prank backfires as Satania peppers the spice in Gabriel’s udon. Try it. It’s great.

Episode 2B
The class president, Machiko notices Gabriel is the only one who hasn’t submit her career survey form. Then she overhears her talking with Vigne about submitting a survey to heaven about the diet of single men?! She is confused and thinks they are trying to find husbands. She can’t help make some comments and get lost in her fantasies of what they say. One including Gabriel’s wish to destroy the world?! When Gabriel finally submits the proper one, Machiko is shocked to see her first career choice is to do nothing all day long. It’s the same for her second and third choice. Laziness…

Episode 2C
The girls are supposed to cook but with Satania bringing some ugly deep sea fish and Gabriel ingredients for curry, boy, this is going to be tough for Vigne. You can tell she is going to get worked up from their idiocy from cutting the fish to chopping the vegetables. It’s like running a nursery? When it’s done, the end product looks inedible. But it tastes delicious to Satania…

Episode 2D
Satania gets a rude awakening when she finds Raphiel sleeping next to her! She wants to toy her be her friend but obviously Satania doesn’t share the same sentiments. Before she can kick her out, Raphiel says the buzzword: She wants to be her disciple. And that is enough to get her to change her mind. So the great master Satania orders her to do shopping. Guess what? Raphiel gives excuse she is tired! Instead, why not demonstrate how awesome master is? With that, Satania didn’t even know she is doing the errand for Raphiel’s breakfast. Next mission is to spy on Gabriel’s weakness. Nope. Don’t understand. If that isn’t bad enough, Raphiel thinks sleeping together with her is too cramped and that she wants to sleep alone in her futon. You’re fired.

Episode 3A
Gabriel is working part time at a coffee house. She’s not happy either. She needs the money for microtransactions! With such bad service, you’d think Master would have fired her. But he thinks she is a foreigner and lacks knowledge about the local custom and tries his best not to scold her. Even if he has to do the bulk of the work. Even if she criticizes his proud house blend. Even if she says she likes to continue working here because nobody comes here. Even if she will not work on weekends and only once a week. Boy, I’m surprised she isn’t fired. I can’t believe there is such tolerant (also read, dumb) people. Drink that house blend of yours. You’re going to need it…

Episode 3B
Vigne can’t believe Raphiel is also a top student at angel academy. Realizing she knows nothing about her, she decides to talk to her. She’ll soon get to know her twisted ways of fun because Raphiel loves watching all kinds of movies in the sense of finding contrasts in dubbing and the subtitles and a roulette cream puff (one is super spicy that will have you sleepless nights). Thankfully both girls didn’t pick it. But when Raphiel spots Satania, she immediately has her eat the last cream puff. Raphiel is going to in for some shock when Satania loves its taste…

Episode 3C
When Satania enters the coffee house, instantly Gabriel beats her up and throws her out! Master still won’t fire her? Satania becomes a customer and thought she could be king but Gabriel gives her bad service. Master treats her his special house blend but with Gabriel threatening to spill and not serve her, the one thing that hurts Master the most is how Gabriel notes how much this coffee sucks! Remember her taste deaf… Later Vigne visits and Master is afraid of youngsters like her. His fear comes true when she orders the special house blend. He braces for the worst when Vigne claims how super good it is. His confidence restored. She’s an angel! Demon actually…

Episode 3D
It’s just not Gabriel’s day. The air-cond died, she’s sweating like hell and mosquitoes are biting her. An angel can’t even beat those little bugs? Satania picked the wrong day to go bug her because Gabriel is so in a bad mood that she beats her up and then tells her to fix her place. Then she goes to Vigne’s place and make herself home there. Use her air-cond, use her bath, use her t-shirt, get her bites treated and even staying for dinner. Heck, she is staying for the night too. And she’s all forgotten about Satania still knocked out at her place.

Episode 4A
Satania is upset that her friends left her out in discussing about a beach trip. So she makes it obvious hinting that she is damn free to go. Raphiel and Gabriel play a prank on her to just tell her, not invite her. That priceless shock face… Eventually Vigne invites her and Satania becomes cocky. Now you know why, right? They make a guidebook for their trip but they have to first deal with their exams. You know about the remedial classes if you fail, right? Thankfully they all pass (it must be a miracle) but on the day of the beach trip, it rains! Gabriel is happy as she doesn’t want to do this and go home. Satania will not stop b*tching about it so Raphiel might have pulled some strings to clear the skies! It is their first time on a human beach and the first thing Gabriel does is to stay under the parasol and surf the internet. In order to entice her to do beach things, Satania fails in her swimming and Vigne is just boring in making sand castles. Raphiel then has Satania become the watermelon for the watermelon splitting! Now this gets Gabriel’s attention. She wants to do it! Oh no. Satania almost loses her life when Gabriel smashes the bat but missed just inches. Gabriel joins in the rest of the fun like splashing water (throwing sea life with Satania?), eating shaved ice cream and being buried in the sand (the dog almost peed on Satania!). In the end, it was a fun day and they all head back sleeping on the train home. Even angels and demons do get tired from the fun in the sun.

Episode 4B
Vigne thought she is going to have fun for the rest of the summer till Gabriel barges in to copy her homework. Well, Vigne should have seen this coming, right? Yeah, Satania is here to copy too. While guiding the dumb ones, Satania wants to know how Vigne and Gabriel met. It was a time when Gabriel was still the pure innocent angel. She bumped into Vigne who was lost looking for her apartment. Gabriel gladly helped guide her there. Before they part, Gabriel also said she just moved here and doesn’t have any friends yet. She hopes Vigne could be her friend since they are going to the same school too. The rest is history but Satania couldn’t believe this ‘creepy’ story that she puts up the freakiest face ever. Yeah, it sounded like Gabriel was a totally different person. You don’t say because disappointed Vigne would really love to have that old Gabriel back.

Episode 5A
Tapris Sugarbell Chisaki just arrived from heaven to Earth. In a spacesuit? Is everything on Earth dangerous? She hopes to find Gabriel she looks up so much. Yeah… At school she doesn’t recognize Gabriel since the latter is extorting her for money to buy a can drink. Luckily Raphiel is here and recognizes Tapris. She is happy to know she’s got a new ‘toy’… Imagine Tapris’ shock to realize this ruffian is Gabriel and that angelic version was a lie. Raphiel further aggravates the situation by saying that a demon made Gabriel’s downfall. Of course you know what kind of idiocy would ensue when she is going to let Tapris handle Satania. Because Satania already blunders herself by waiting and locking herself in the locker. When she manages to get out, she proudly claims how she subdued Gabriel under her command by showing picture ‘proof’. Gullible but scared Tapris wants to avenge her so they decide to play old maid? Satania obviously sucks at the game but she cheats to win it. Hey, she’s the devil so all is fair for her. Satania gloats on her victory while Tapris runs away in tears. And Raphiel has the best entertainment of all. Thank you God for this amusement. Tapris bumps into Vigne and by this time she already has trust issues. However Vigne is kind enough to help her and restore some faith. Tapris loves her kindness and Vigne loves being looked up as a senior. But then the dream shatters when Gabriel points out Vigne is a demon. Trust issues coming back again as Tapris accuses Vigne of playing nice to let her guard down. Vigne tries to dismiss it but the damage is done. She fears Tapris hates her now. However she gives her some hope that she would still love to join her for tea.

Episode 5B
Tapris is glad to stay with Gabriel. Till she sees how filthy a pig sty her room is! Oh dear. Her halo is getting corrupted by the disappointment. Gabriel then tells off Tapris to stop trying to clean up or anything. Because Vigne already did it and she failed to change! Tapris can’t believe Gabriel continues to play her online game till 3am. She is sad of the good ol’ days when Gabriel was kinder. Sniff, sniff. Can’t help think back of those days, eh? Next morning, Tapris wakes up to find a blanket over her and thinks Gabriel covered it for her and slept on the floor herself. She is further touched when she thinks Gabriel left her a present on the way out. Actually it is burnable garbage! This has Tapris scold her that today is not burnable garbage day!

Episode 6A
Satania after failed attempts to get back at Gabriel, finally buys a gun from hell’s network shopping channel. It is believed when shot at, you won’t stop laughing for 10 minutes. Huh? Surprisingly, Gabriel admits she has lost. This makes Satania very happy and cocky. But Satania still wants to get her revenge and shoot her so Gabriel asks if she has tested it out to see if it works. Apparently not. Gabriel offers to fix it. And what do you know? Gabriel shoots her! Now Satania can’t stop laughing! Hey, at least it’s working. The idiot deserves it, right? So when Sensei enters and she still can’t stop laughing, you can say she died laughing…

Episode 6B
Satania continues to challenge Gabriel but the latter doesn’t give a damn. Then Raphiel pops up and wants in. I mean, if Satania is going to win, she needs someone to tell her awesome legacy, right? That sealed it. So they’ll be playing shogi. Obviously Satania doesn’t know how to play and quickly refers to a book. Clearly she still doesn’t know how to play after making the first wrong move. Taking advantage of this is Raphiel of course. She starts penalizing Satania based on rules from other sports. Not even whatever Batman formation can save you. Gabriel also makes full use of her idiocy to win the game via God piece. Next day, Satania challenges her again to shogi and loses in a more pathetic fashion.

Episode 6C
Machiko is only posing like a chuunibyou because Satania is using her as a model for an art competition. May God bless her soul. Of course Satania is being picky what kind of pose should motivate her. Because Machiko won’t strip, Satania gets bored. Machiko feels responsible if Satania cannot finish her drawing because of her. She hopes the props will give her some motivation but nothing. Desperate, Machiko decides to just strip for her sake but Vigne tries to stop her. That silly pose has Satania start drawing. Turns out to be sh*t that even a 5 year old could do better… Anyway, Vigne won first place for her surreal picture of Gabriel. Now that’s art.

Episode 6D
The girls arrive at Gabriel’s place to go trick or treating. Apparently she’s not interested but they invite themselves in. Vigne tries to convince her to do this activity with them and wants her to put on a Halloween costume. Gabriel decides to go with her own real angel outfit so with Raphiel’s help, Vigne manages to put on a monster cat costume on her. Satania leads the way to a person’s house for trick or treating. Little do everyone know that house is Sensei’s! So this is Satania’s way of trying to get back at him because apparently on Halloween everything is fair play? Surprisingly Sensei has got sweets for them. Satania is not satisfied but he gives her a limited deluxe edition of a melon bread. Now you’re talking. But then it got stolen by a dog. Trick or dog?

Episode 7A
Lazy Gabriel does nothing but sleep and play her online games while Vigne is hardworking in her chores. At the end of the day, both are shocked to see their allowances are reduced! Vigne confides with Raphiel on this and she says it may be because she isn’t acting like a devil. So her advice is to make her dress up like a bear? Ah-kuma. Akuma! Get the pun! Not even Master’s coffee can help her so Master decides to talk to this ‘angel’ who appreciates his coffee. Apparently she wants to be bad. Yeah, as shocking it may sound but it’s true. As he is bent on helping her, they try to brainstorm ways for her to become a bad girl since Master was once a rebel himself. So the first order is dress sloppily? I think Gabriel trumps her on that. Then she is supposed to skip class but since that is too evil, try avoid taking notes for the entire lesson. That itself is like skipping class. Vigne doesn’t realize how hard it is to do nothing for an hour! In the end when she tries to show off to Gabriel she didn’t do anything, she didn’t even react. How disappointing. On her way to the toilet, Satania notices her dressed differently. Vigne is invigorated and gives her a high-5. The same when she gets back to Gabriel. Not that she understands. Too bad Vigne’s allowance didn’t change. Obviously…

Episode 7B
Poor Vigne caught a human cold and has to stay in bed. She tries to count Cerberus to sleep but it seems they won’t jump the fence and pile up before it. A nightmare? She is woken up by Raphiel and Satania who are obviously here to play. She kicks them out so she can get some rest. Yeah, don’t want your fever to go up further. So she counts Gabriel this time but still the same problem of not jumping over the fence, falling asleep before it and piling up. When she blows her top and wakes up, she is surprised Gabriel is by her side. Although it is to pass her notes from class, devilish Gabriel was actually doodling on her face. Vigne might feel better till she realizes Gabriel also passes her own homework for her to do on her behalf! Hey, didn’t she say she was feeling better? Yeah, she even made sick Vigne make her tea. After kicking her out, Vigne realizes Gabriel left some snacks for her takes heart she cares for her.

Episode 8A
Raphiel realizes her bra is too tight. She manages to hook it but today is not her today because it is physical examinations. This means Gabriel is throwing a tantrum she doesn’t want to participate and Vigne had to bribe her by treating her yakiniku after that. So while Gabriel is doing the minimum effort just to get it over, Satania is overhyped and passes each test with flying colours. On the other hand, Raphiel is trying to stay low in fear her bra hook might snap anytime. What a bummer since she can’t do any pranks. The 100m dash is the last test. To avoid Satania being cocky for a week, Raphiel agrees to stop her by challenging her. Raphiel wins at the expense of her bra snapping. Therefore it is odd for others to see the winner sad and the loser happy (because one lost isn’t enough to put down an idiot’s spirit).

Episode 8B
Vigne and Satania attend an interview test handled by Sensei. Vigne is trying to be cautious but stupid Satania is acting and saying things that would definitely incur his wrath. But Vigne is surprised that Sensei doesn’t blow his top and continues his interview. Thus Vigne can’t help fall in and out of paranoia thinking the next stupid thing Satania says or does will be the killing blow. But nothing happens. Sensei is just cool. Hmm… His kindness is even scarier? Vigne herself slips up from all the overthinking but nothing as she thought has happened. The interview ends. But then Sensei calls Satania to stay back. He needs to talk to her. This is where the real hell begins…

Episode 8C
Gabriel has spent so much on microtransactions that she has no money for dinner. So how to feed her hunger? She is going to join the cooking club! Great. Because Machiko is in that club. Obviously Gabriel is joining to get free food. She doesn’t care if club members Tanaka and Ueno are in the same class with her. She orders lots of food and being the proud cooks they are, they agree to whip them up for her. Gabriel doesn’t even listen to how they meticulously prepare the food with their heart and soul. She devours them and even asks for seconds! The girls think it is a challenge so they make more for her. Gabriel is satisfied with everything and will definitely come back for more. Tanaka and Ueno are in high spirits too because if Gabriel joins their club, they hope to change it to a taste testing club. Not happening, says Machiko.

Episode 8D
On a rainy day when Satania forgot her umbrella, Raphiel offers to share hers. Now, Satania might be an idiot but she is not stupid so by this time she has learnt that every time Raphiel offers something, it must be some kind of trap. Satania relents but all the way as they walk, she cannot let her guard down and becomes paranoid thinking of all the traps she might have laid out. Yeah, silly conspiracy theories. In actual fact Raphiel has planned nothing. But come to think of it don’t you think this also means this is part of her plan to see her paranoid reaction? When the rain stops, Satania picks up a frog. She notices Raphiel scared of it. Time to turn the tables as Satania chases after her to let her touch it. For once Raphiel did not get her way…

Episode 9A
Vigne is eager to celebrate Christmas. A demon celebrating the birth of Christ? But Satania calls. She hates this day and wants to strike fear in all humans! She is coming over to derive a plan. But when she arrives, Vigne and Raphiel throw a surprise Christmas bash in hopes to make her forget. Some melon bread will do the charm to distract her and stay at this party. But you know Raphiel. She is going to have her own fun teasing her. One of them includes making her the ‘star’ by dressing her up as a reindeer but leashed like a dog. Vigne hopes to distract her to decorate the cake. Since Satania ate the entire decoration, Raphiel replaces with a cross. What is a cross for… Luckily Vigne lets her decorate her cake into her own evil version. Just when Satania thinks Christmas is about celebrating the rebirth of the devil, Vigne loses it. She keeps spamming Merry Christmas in her face. When Gabriel comes over, she sees Satania tied in a corner. Vigne has ignored her presence… Even the dog is mocking and slapping her! When Satania gets cocky trying to curse the world, she backs down when Vigne fork ‘accidentally slips from her hand’. Raphiel cheers her up by saying good kids get presents. But Satania is a demon. Don’t worry. Just listen to her and she’ll get some… And so Satania acts like a baby before realizing she’s been duped. Because there are no presents here…

Episode 9B
The girls visit the shrine on New Year’s Eve. Because Gabriel almost got lost in the crowd, luckily Vigne pulled her out before she blows her apocalypse trumpet! Because the angels are of western background, kneeling and praying at a Japanese shrine seems odd and hell of a confusing! Vigne tells of the tradition of adults giving kids money. Gabriel has no need for that since she has the lottery! She’s not cheating, isn’t she? Well, she’s just praying to God for her number. That’s cheating! Vigne rips it apart. You demon! Technically correct… When they drink sweet sake, Gabriel gets drunk. She turns into her angel form and is going to blow her trumpet as she flies into the sky! Everyone is stunned seeing this. UMA?

Episode 9C
Time for our girls to return to their respective heaven or hell. Gabriel is acting so nice not because she fears God. As heaven forbids human items, there is an exception if you are an honour student and have a valid reason. At the customs, Satania thinks she can fool the angels. Take her away, please… Gabriel lets the custom check her stuffs. She explains this is foodstuff she got as souvenir for her family. A bit too heavy to be food, isn’t it? A handheld console inside… The customs isn’t buying that is human food these days. Confiscated. What about this dual screen Blu-ray player? Pancake griddle. Confiscated. The laptop is her last item. Gabriel realizes she has failed because she is trying to BS them. So she reworded it in a way that this laptop has internet that she uses to apply info and save humans. Very impressive. But heaven’s library has got tons of computer and with connectivity too. Feel free to use them. So her laptop? Confiscated. GODDAMNIT! Did I hear that right?! Meanwhile Vigne is profusely apologizing to the interrogating angels for Satania’s behaviour. But the latter is unrepentant so Vigne forces her to. Wow. Even heaven there’s a scary place.

Episode 10A
After passing the customs, Gabriel returns home but only her hyper genki little sister, Haniel is home. She is excited to hear her stay on Earth. Too bad Gabriel isn’t interested and passes her brooding behaviour as maturity. In order not to let Haniel down, she decides to play with her. Noticed how they play old games before electronic devices became a fad? Yeah… Those were good times… Gabriel wonders is heaven is stuck in some feudal era or something.

Episode 10B
Satania returns to her home and lies plus exaggerates how she is steadily having humans grovel beneath her feet, much to her parents’ delight. They praise her as their talented daughter. How about that angel they heard who is giving her trouble? Don’t worry. She is in the midst of bringing her to the dark side! Let’s toast to that! The only sane person in this room is Satania’s little brother who notes how crazy his family who just runs a bakery is. I guess that looks on his face means he is tired of playing the straight man and can’t wait to grow up to leave the house.

Episode 10C
Vigne can’t wait to meet her folks. Especially that small baby monster whom she picked up injured before she left for Earth, Chappy. Imagine her shock when Chappy is now way bigger than her! She can’t believe it is her cute little pet. She is having doubts whether to take it for a walk on a leash as mom suggests and true enough, it starts running and pulling her along. Meanwhile Satania is training her little baby monster, Alexander (Charizard?) when Satania and Chappy run into them. Satania gets scared seeing how big and powerful Chappy is. Yeah, Alexander even had to play dead…

Episode 10D
Raphiel returns to her mansion. My, she is like a noble with her own house servant, Martiel. As all her family members are out with appointments, Raphiel also has hers but she finds them boring and has Martiel do the necessary to deny them. Martiel might seem decent till she wants to get hold of her underwear. This is because Martiel might be a masochist and loves her milady’s scorn. Long time no scorn, eh? Raphiel isn’t so kind enough to allow such unholy act even when she tries to photograph her while bathing.

Episode 10E
Gabriel and Raphiel see their principal. His light aura is blinding! They are to report their accomplishments on Earth. Raphiel explains hers like an honour student. When it is Gabriel’s turn (was she sleeping?), she starts passionately explaining how she saved 2 countries! OMG! She’s not lying, is she?! As she slowly unravels how she did so, it would have occur to us she was referring to her online game. Yeah, next update when? Despite flabbergasted, the principal is glad they are doing well and increases their allowance. Later Gabriel and Raphiel hang out together but they are so bored with nothing to do. They play a staring game and obviously nobody can beat Raphiel. Raphiel gets a call from Satania. She wants to know how to sneak into heaven. Raphiel agrees to meet up at the gates to brainstorm. Yeah, this is more interesting, right?

Episode 11A
Satania just bought a melon bread and is anticipating for that dog to steal. But it doesn’t pop up. Then Raphiel points out it has been caught by a dog catcher. No more running joke? Shockingly, Satania runs after it to rescue and free it! Am I dreaming? It shows its gratitude by eating her melon bread. Well, things are back to normal. Because all of their places do not allow pets, Satania thought she could ask her dad to change her living place. She is asked to do it herself since she is the future queen of hell. Too bad she is broke because somehow the demon shopping keeps ‘stealing’ her money. Bad financial planning if I should say. So how? Satania and the dog run away together looking for a place to live. Thanks to Raphiel registering a tracking GPS on her, she is as far north at Hokkaido. Time to get her back. Satania is sad and insists she wants to live with her ‘familiar’ when she gets a call from Gabriel. It seems she has made a deal with Master to adopt it since his apartment allows pets in exchange she will work a little harder. Twice per week. So little…

Episode 11B
Tapris visits the human world but is somewhat made a fool when she doesn’t even know how to use the simplest machine or mechanism. Didn’t know she had to push a button to cross the streets, eh? This reminds her she has never touched a PC before and perhaps she could learn to use one to help Gabriel and save her. The best way to learn is at the public library. We see her being a total noob at the computer. Trying to use the hamster (mouse) and then hovering it over to the internet icon. She waits… Nothing happens… Did she do something wrong? Is the machine broken? Panic time. Luckily the librarian helps her out by introducing loads of books for PC beginners. Too much to read… Don’t understand a thing… Later Tapris tells Gabriel about her ‘achievement’ in using a PC so Gabriel agrees to teach her some. However Tapris knows a bit of C+ and Java. Now she is aiming for PHP. Is she trying to become a programmer?

Episode 11C
Tapris waits for a certain demon to pop up at Gabriel’s place to accuse her. Turns out to be Raphiel. Better apologize. But Tapris is still suspicious of Vigne although the latter says she’ll get used to it over time. The reason today for their gathering is because of a takoyaki party in which Vigne has brought a cooking grill just for it. Gabriel tries to show off she knows how to make them but messes up. Tapris tries her hand but they all turned out black. Vigne the master shows it how it is done. Finally Satania arrives late because an important person always shows up in late fashion (so she believes) but now rues how her portion is finished. The reason she is late was because she was buying this dark pot for a dark nabe. The rest tell her to have fun by herself since they told her it was going to be a takoyaki party. Wasted… As Tapris leaves, she tells Gabriel that her elder sister will visit tomorrow morning. Oh Gabriel, you don’t mean to look so shock, do you?

Episode 12A
Gabriel is really panicking of her sister’s visit. Zelel is believed to be a more capable and talented angel. So much so Satania doesn’t want to mess with her but Gabriel won’t let her go and calls her a traitor! So desperate that Gabriel is willing to destroy the world! Can’t visit Earth if there is no Earth in the first place. See how awesome Zelel is when angelic white feathers rain down and humans can’t see her presence. At Gabriel’s doorstep, she is greeted by cute Gabriel in a cat maid outfit? The night before, Gabriel roped in her friends to play along with this cute little sister role. She learnt it from the MMORPG whereby playing the cute little sister allows you to get free help. Zelel meets Vigne the first time who is forced to lie and cover up all of Gabriel’s laziness! The lying is killing her! But can she fool Zelel? She knows something is amiss. So we see Gabriel lie through her teeth. Lie after lie. Including Satania tied up and all the garbage dumped inside the closet because Satania wouldn’t play along. So when Satania busts out, Gabriel frames her as the evil arch demon whom she is trying to make her fall. Worse, Satania stupidly plays along sings she believes she is the demon lord. However this is where Zelel puts her foot down. She knows Gabriel has been living a life of decadence ever since. She thought of coming here and if Gabriel repented her actions, she would be lenient. But now she is even trying to implicate her friends. How low can you go? Apparently even further for Gabriel as she accuses big sister of trying to fooling her! If that doesn’t work, perhaps prostrate herself to apologize. And when she thinks she got her guard down, fire some angelic arrow in her face! Too bad Zelel saw it coming, caught it and deflects it back. Gabriel, that’s the last straw. You’re coming back for re-education. And Zelel isn’t going to wait till she finishes today’s MMO events.

Episode 12B
A week later, Gabriel comes back all changed! OMG! She’s so good! Is this the Gabriel we all know?! Oh yeah. This is the Gabriel Vigne knew when she first came to Earth. She is studious that Sensei even cries! She even cleans the toilet before Machiko had the chance! So true! You’re not hallucinating! The odd part is how her friends missed the old corrupted Gabriel. Yeah, even if she was a pain in the ass for Vigne, why does she want the old Gabriel back? Even Satania who enjoyed making Gabriel her lackey till she started taking over her life and finances to turn her into a better demon! Thus Raphiel suggests they should turn her back into a fail-len angel again. So when they converge in her room to tell her so, Gabriel gives out an evil laughter. She puts up a secret barrier that no one else outside can hear. It seems she had them fooled. She was just putting up an act. If she can fool them, it means she can fool Zelel. She will act all good till she goes away. I guess that re-education of just being yelled at didn’t work. But if you think Gabriel is getting her way, think again. Zelel heard it. No flimsy barrier is going to stop her as she has clairvoyance. Now sh*t hits the fan as Zelel will take Gabriel back to heaven for further re-education. This means she cannot set foot on Earth anymore. Desperate Gabriel now plays the friendship card that she can’t leave her friends behind. Guess what? Zelel believes it! WTF?! She’s even crying?! But wait… There’s a catch! Zelel will stay with her on Earth to help with her rehabilitation. Oh sh*t… At this point’s Satania’s melon bread drops and the dog comes in to eat it. Then everyone sees this ‘horrifying’ sight. Zelel squealing like a little girl because she is afraid of dogs! She can’t stay on Earth like this and vanishes back to heaven! Just like that, Gabriel is proud she has ‘vanquished’ the ‘evil’ and immediately returns to her online gaming. And that is how peace continue to reign on Earth. Soon Vigne reminds her that she needs to pass the exams or she will be held back a year. Gabriel thinks she is a powerful being since she has driven out Zelel so she decides to teleport to school. Only her skirt teleported. Please don’t destroy the Earth just because of that!

OVA 1
The quartet head for the hotsprings. Satania has brought lots of luggage and with that smirk on her face, the rest can tell she has a plan that is bound to backfire. At the inn, it seems Satania keeps pestering Gabriel to go with her to the hotspring. But Gabriel feels lazy and when Vigne volunteers, she is shot down. Before they can go to the hotspring, they play ping pong in which Satania lost to Gabriel. Twice. Curse yourself for not knowing the rules. Then they have some good food in which after makes Gabriel feel sleepy. So much so Satania really cried and pleads for her to just come with her to the hotspring. Okay, okay. Let’s go. We see those heavenly light censors for the angels and those dark black holes for the demon. But Vigne has got her entire body emitting holy light! Is she God?! Now that everyone is at the hotspring, Satania returns to her devilish self to unleash her devilish scheme. She summons a giant slime but nobody is scared because they played with this toy before when they were young. Satania wants to slime to teach Gabriel a lesson but was devoured instead. As Vigne tries to rescue her, she got tentacle raped. The slime wanted to pick Gabriel but then it passes her and tentacle rapes Raphiel instead. Why do I have a feeling it has to do with boobs? Gabriel got mad and purifies it with her arrow. Then she ‘purifies’ Satania with the wooden scoop. Everyone has had a relaxing bath except for Satania still knocked out…

OVA 2
On a cold day, the girls stumble unto a blind girl at a park. However she can see them and identifies them as angels! Apparently she isn’t totally blind but has imperfect vision. Somehow she could see them clearly in detail. Isn’t it insulting when she calls Vigne as the most angelic of them all? Yeah, she should just quit being a demon. One day, Gabriel buys her a drink and accompanies her. It seems her other friends have also separately bought her stuffs. Blind girl tells Gabriel of her upcoming eye surgery in which she could see again. However the procedure is risky and failure means she will lose her sight forever. She tries to keep positive while Gabriel also tries to give some encouragement. Of course her other friends also know about this. However as Raphiel points out, they can’t intervene as they are only trainees. The best they could do is hope for a miracle from God. So for the next few days, the friends spend time and hang out with blind girl. Even that dog steals Satania’s melon bread to give it to her. Aww, so sweet? I guess they have been splurging so much just for her and then one day she isn’t at her usual place. When an ambulance passes by, they heard the people talking a girl with a cane got hit by a car. Blind girl is in hospital and her condition isn’t looking too good. Satania is most emotional as she blames the angels for being useless. The doctors are losing blind girl when she starts to see Gabriel in her angel form before her. She realizes they are really angels and Gabriel is here to take her to heaven. That’s why they all let her have so much fun till the end. After a flash of light, blind girl wakes up. Her parents are relieved. Even better, she can now see clearly! Indeed a miracle! The demon girls are crying over this good news. Raphiel talks to Gabriel how she broke a sacred rule and will soon face punishment. She isn’t scared since she considers herself a fallen angel. Shortly, Gabriel is summoned by heaven. A month later, it seems she got off lightly. Well, if you consider her allowance close to zero as a slap on the wrist. She sees (ex) blind girl living her normal life with her friends. When Gabriel returns her dropped handkerchief, she doesn’t seem to recognize her. But she felt somewhat familiar and thanks her with a big smile anyway. Not too sure if she is playing dumb or she is this grateful for her returned handkerchief. It made Gabriel’s day. Now motivated for a little manual labour?

Failure: The Easiest Achievement!
Now you know why Earth is screwed. Now you also know why Jesus Christ never came down a second time to save us from our sins. Because with angels like Gabriel around, it sure proved that the son of God died in vain! Oh Gabriel. With angels like you and the f*cked up attitudes of humans all over, it is no wonder why Apocalypse and Judgment Day will be coming sooner than ever. And when that happens, heaven will be such a barren place and hell filled to the brim, crammed with everyone and no breathing space. Phew. Thank goodness I am imagining this only on this anime’s level of what might happen.

The bite size skits that are only several minutes long per episode makes it enjoyable and fun to watch. Without any proper plot, it allows more flexibility and freedom for the characters to do more random and funny stuffs to tickle our funny bones. I mean, for a change we have seen so many shows about humans failing. How about angels and demons failing for a change? Fail the human way. No wonder it is so much fun seeing them trying to understand and adapt to our pervasive fail culture.

The characters are lovable despite I can safely say that they are all dumb failures! Angel or demon, none are any wiser or any more successful. Yes, that includes you too, Vigne. Because on one hand we have angels who are too lazy to do God’s work and on the other hand we have demons who are arrogantly dim-witted to do any actual harm, let alone hurt a fly. So if you think Earth is screwed, it would be even more worrisome to think that heaven and hell itself are screwed! With future angels and demons like these, you bet heaven and hell will crumble in no time, leaving souls of the dead to forever wander in limbo. Scary, no?

Gabriel as the titular character has fallen down the corrupted path so much that it makes you wonder if God is really the Almighty, the omniscient and omnipotent being. Again it makes you think if God is really God in doing His job because the moment Gabriel has fallen, you might think God would have done something to punish this lazy couldn’t-care-less internet-addicted angel. Remember, Gabriel is a top angel graduated from her heavenly school. Therefore all eyes would be focused on her or at least there would be some parties who would keep watch on her for updates for her ‘splendid work’. But instead she has been left idle to do whatever she wants. Is heaven dead? Because do they not feel that Earth didn’t change for the better? Heck, mankind has never changed so perhaps heaven never placed any real hope to begin with?

Anyhow, with Gabriel even managing to lie and worm her way to cover her unholy activities, don’t you think that maybe this isn’t really Gabriel’s fault? The fault lies in heaven’s system that they even allow this to slip by! OMG. In that sense it is scary to think that heaven might not actually exist. No wonder Gabriel wants to be a NEET. It’s so much fun. You know how unrewarding and ungrateful many humans are after being helped even by a heavenly being, no? Gabriel has been such a lazy failure that if she really turns back to become good, it will be like fish out of water. We are so used to her being a big fail that even being a true angel won’t cut it. So it goes to show that we love Gabriel for being Gabriel. Never change… Just don’t get caught…

Satania doesn’t fare any better than Gabriel because of her constant idiocy. Blinded by her own arrogance, she is drowned in her own baseless confidence that everything would one day bend to her will. She might even be passed off as a kid having chuunibyou issues. Thanks to her stupidity, Satania is mainly the comic relief character as she is the resident troublemaker and mischief maker as well as that overused running joke of the dog stealing her melon bread. Come to think of it, if she always allows a puny dog to steal her food, what if one day when she is an adult she will always have her throne stolen from her? So keep up with the good job being an idiot (not like she would learn any lesson anyway) because making us laugh with her silliness is what she unconsciously does best.

I feel Raphiel is the most dangerous among the four. Overall she might not really pose a threat to mankind but what I meant is that because of her constant smiling face like as though it is stuck in that expression forever and I have never seen her really blowing her top, you really don’t know what is going on in her mind. Of course that sneaky devilish grin is a big hint that she has some sort of scheme planned out. What is worse than a fallen angel is an angel who toys with you for her own amusement and entertainment. Thankfully Satania is that toy. Too much fun to let go. Remember not to overuse her because toys too have their expiry date when played too often and will breakdown. Though in Satania’s case of thick headedness it will last a very long time.

So like in every group, you need one who tows the line and puts others in line when they step out. Vigne as the most rationale and responsible among the quartet is also considered a failure since she is born of a demon but yet does goodie angelic stuffs. Yeah, based on this technicality is the reason why she is a big failure like the rest of her groupies. It’s like she was born in the wrong place and body. A demon doing good? That’s a sign of failure! Because it would have been a sh*tload scary if Vigne really stayed true to her demon roots and becomes a responsibly terrifying demon. It might be true that Vigne might be a sadist-cum-masochist on Gabriel. Look how when Gabriel became good despite being an act and Vigne was all unsatisfied. Is she saying that she loves yelling at Gabriel and being annoyed by her? Well, better to know the angel than the devil. Oh wait. That’s not right…

The other supporting characters are fun too like Tapris who is trying hard to be a good angel but fumbles a lot along the way. At this rate I fear she might become Gabriel the second. Hopefully from the looks of it she is persevering but she too has her limits. You thought Zelel would be the ultimate match for Gabriel but with her fear of dogs, it seems that this angel proves that not every angel is perfect. Makes you wonder if there are dogs in heaven… See our image of the almighty shatter when you see angels being afraid of Earthly things. Machiko is another funny girl. Though with limited scenes, she is mainly concerned of feeling responsible for the outcome of things and goes to great length for that even if it makes her look stupid. No one messes with hardcore baldy Sensei but Satania never seems to learn. He might look strict and in the wrong job (he should have been somebody’s SP or bodyguard) but deep down he has quite a soft spot too. Halloween candies from this guy? Never would have thought of it. Master is too kind. Another adult trying to be responsible? Having a part timer like Gabriel, other employers would not have tolerated kids like her who dictate the terms of her employment. It makes you wonder who is working for who. If you ever find this guy please let me know. Because I also want to work under him like Gabriel.

Art and animation lean towards the cute and kawaii feel. The colours are bright and vivid giving more effect on the comedy aspect. Sometimes it makes you think that hell isn’t such a bad place after all because at least physically everybody and everything there looks so cute. Cute enough to be dumb. Animated by Doga Kobo, you might find the art style of this anime to be familiar since the studio has also animated quite a number of series with this cute and kawaii design such as Himouto! Umaru-chan, YuruYuri, New Game, Sansha Sanyou, GJ-Bu, Mikakunin De Shinkoukei and Love Lab. See the similarities in these animes?

I love Kana Hanazawa as Raphiel. Her voice definitely fits Raphiel’s sneaky character very well. Despite always sounding sweet and polite, you can’t help feel that there is some sort of devilish scheming plan behind it without sounding like a retard. All too perfect. The other casts include Miyu Tomita as Gabriel (Otako in Oshiete! Galko-chan), Saori Oonishi as Vigne (Miyuki in Shomin Sample), Naomi Oozora as Satania (Inari in Inari Kon Kon), Inori Minase as Tapris (Noel in Sora No Method), Mai Fuchigami as Machiko (Nagisa in Ansatsu Kyoushitsu), Hidekyuki Umezu as Master (Diamante in One Piece), Tsuyoshi Koyama as Sensei (Leon in Trinity Blood), Sumire Morohoshi as Haniel (Seira in GJ-Bu), Yukiyo Fujii as Martiel (Latifa in Amagi Brilliant Park) and Miyuki Sawashiro still recognizable as Zelel.

Both the opening and ending themes are sung by the main quartet (Gabriel, Vigne, Satania and Raphiel, that is). Gabriel Drop Kick as the opener is sure one hell (or heaven) of a crazy song. I think I can classify it as one of those denpa songs. Its tune goes back and forth between its angelic melody and devilish hard rock beat. It is more evident for the ending theme, Hallelujah Essaim. It sounds darker and has this fiendish badass feel to it. A song that truly befits evil demons and corrupted fallen angels. A song that would most likely fit if they team up to dominate the world.

Overall, this is one of the funniest anime series for the season and I totally recommend you check it out if you are looking for some laughs. Just be warned that although the characters are likeable, they are not to be taken as role models. At least you can tell the producers put in some effort in making this anime decently satisfying. It would have been a very big irony had they slack on it. Come to think of it, maybe Gabriel and co are allowed to continue their depraved ways not because God isn’t looking. It is could be a part of His bigger plan. When ordinary humans get to know how f*cked up these angels and demons are, maybe they’ll think about it and bring about some change. Oh yeah. That must be it. Or they could not be bothered and continue failing till kingdom come. Humans. Failing has never been so fun…

High School DxD BorN OVA

After the shockingly disappointing third season, I suppose we are all here in hoping that High School DxD BorN OVA would have some sort of little redemption. I knew I don’t expect this single OVA to save the entire season but at least make this season be remembered as less awful. Heh. Like that would help either. Anyhow, I hope that the fanservice and bare tits here will help ‘nurse’ our ‘broken hearts’.

The Unresurrected Phoenix
Time to dig deep into your memories. Ravel sees Rias and Issei to talk about her brother Riser. If you remember the end of the first season when Rias’ ex-fiancé lost to Issei and had their engagement cancelled, that guy has been holing up in his room ever since. Ah, this explains why he was missing for the past couple of seasons. His defeat was so bad that he has been emotionally traumatized especially by anything dragon related. He hasn’t played any Rating Games since and only runs simulations of them all day long and on occasions only summons people to play chess with him. Yes, it is that bad. Ravel hopes for them to teach him fortitude in hopes for him to rise back up as a man again. I mean, he is after all still her brother. I’m sure Issei will agree to do so seeing he was mainly responsible for this trauma. Outside his room, Riser still doesn’t want to see anybody but upon hearing Rias’ voice, he thinks she is here to mock him. Then he starts getting traumatized once he learns Issei is with her. He tries to hide under his bed sheets! Wow. I didn’t know it was THIS bad. Riser still complains that he doesn’t need this training crap and wants to run away. Even more so when Tannin is here to help with the training. Oh sh*t. You’re screwed. You can’t run away. Ever. Man up to your fears! Good luck pal. You’re going to need it. In the mountains of the dragons, Riser will be trained under another strict dragon who is Tannin’s subordinate. He can’t let Issei handle his training from scratch since he knows Issei is too kind. While Riser begins his hellish days, we take a brief detour to the rest of Issei’s harem and watch them soak naked in a hotspring. Ah, time for boobs.

Issei and Ravel could only watch over Riser as they talk over things like thanking her for that tears potion she gave to him at the party. Ravel seems to be blushing and hinting things to him. Of course it’s time for Issei to size her up too so he takes a good look at her and realizes that if she enrols in his high school, she would be his junior. That itself is splendid if you consider she has a great physique and assets that even bests Asia! When Issei learns there is a hotspring nearby, as expected his thoughts suddenly spring to that of peeking at Rias and co. Yeah, he can’t sleep that night and feels the urgent need to go peek on them. But he needs to sneak out without Riser noticing him. Then he realizes Riser has awfully been quiet because he has already given him the slip! He thinks Riser might have overheard their conversation and his heading to the hotspring to see the boobs all by himself! Issei is hell bent on protecting those boobs. Yeah… Well, I thought Riser was running away but he actually is on his way to see Rias boobs! And so the big battle in the sky between the guys. As Rias’ ex-fiancé, Riser just wants to see her tits once. And most probably Akeno’s too. Issei says no way Jose because all those tits belong to him! Hey. Since when did he own them?! While the fighting rages on, we have another round of watching all those delicious tits. Man, how long are those girls going to soak in there? Finally Issei did a look-over-there trick but kicks Riser too hard that he passes out. Issei is glad he has safeguarded those boobs but now finds himself in the hotspring area. The girls see him. Some are thrilled. Some are not. Enjoy those free tits. Ravel gets embarrassed when Issei sees her boobs and commented how great her body is. Was that compliment necessary? Here is your obligatory power blast. In the end, the guys reconcile. Riser agrees to give up Rias forever. But on one condition: Just let him have one last peek at Rias’ tits! No way Jose! The guys are at it fighting over tits again. Nothing riles up a man more than looking at one’s woman’s tits, right? And with this, Tannin believes Riser is alright now. Yeah. Tits. Truly awesome.

Fall Of The Dragon…
It has been a little fun but overall once this OVA ended, the dreadful feeling that it didn’t really do anything to salvage the season after all. Although I didn’t feel that disappointed because mainly the third season was disappointing enough that I didn’t put my hope for any chance of revival. Even the tits fanservice feels lacking oomph. I mean, when you have seen them for the umpteenth time, things start to lose its charm even if you get to see new boobs like Rossweisse and Ravel. Especially in here when you have nothing special except for the girls standing around naked for a while with their exposed boobs. There are no accidental boobs fondling are perverted hijinks that ensued to make it funny. Heck, sad to say the funniest part was Riser’s trauma when he was reeling from that big loss. It makes him look so different than before. How great the fall of the phoenix has become. Not to say that he has risen (pun not intended) but at least he is much better off than before and not at his lowest point anymore. Well, maybe if they keep continue to argue about Rias’ boobs, that will be the main motivation to for Riser to rise (pun again not intended) once more. Calm down people! It’s only boobs! And there are more than enough boobs to go around for everyone! Haha! And so the phoenix hasn’t rise and the dragon continues to fall. Not because of the poor outing of the third season but because of boobs. Yeah. Tits. Truly fearsome.

High School DxD BorN

It is here! The much anticipated third season of the series, High School DxD BorN! This is one of the few series whereby the great storyline and characters are not being overshadowed by the ecchi fanservice although the latter factor is also a great reason why this series is doing great. A series that doesn’t necessarily rely solely on fanservice or use it to dilute the worth of everything. It’s just different, that’s why we come back for a third time. With a lot going on and building up in the past 2 seasons (short summary of what it’s about: A high school kid who wants his own harem just got turned into a demon servant and gets involved in some war that involves a great deal of factions and species and at the same time wants to grope boobs), it is without doubt that expectations for the third season are going to be high but given the series’ track record, I doubt that there would be anything that could derail all this. Unless…

Episode 1
OMG! Bare tits of Issei’s harem as the opener! Supreme bliss! Till this Yuuma girl laments at Issei for forgetting about her. Yeah. Still remember the demon girl who tried to kill him in the first season? He wakes up from this dream but it is still blissful because his harem is sleeping by him naked! Great morning! Because Akeno is too bold flirting with him, Rias warns her not to touch her belonging. This leads to a standoff and then throwing of pillows. Imbued with magic. Oh dear. Not looking good… Issei’s house has been remodelled into a huge mansion overnight. Even scarier is how his parents accept this and go with the flow. When life gives you lemons… Rias will be returning to her estate for the summer vacation and this means the rest of her servants and slaves will come too. The train journey to the underworld is long. Once they reach the destination, the train comes to a complete halt. Seems some big shot is passing and they’re just giving way. Suddenly the train disappears and everyone falls down to the ground below. Rias and Azazel are missing. A hostile dragon attacks so Akeno assumes authority to convey orders to her team to take it down. But the dragon is too powerful and their attack is just like scratching. Azazel then stops this fight. Seems this is just a test to gauge their strength (as instructed by Sirzechs). He now knows the extent of it and has set a training regimen. But Azazel is more worried about Rias whom he feels is the one lacking growth due to her indecisiveness and kindness towards her subordinates. This dragon is Tannin and was once the dragon king of yore. He reincarnated into a demon in exchange for something. Ddraig knows Tannin but didn’t say anything because this whole setup was a farce. Because Tannin didn’t even use a thousandth of his power! The gang cleans themselves up in the hotspring. Gasper is sending mixed signals he can’t go in the male’s section… He’s a guy, right?! Azazel teaches Issei the finer points of boobs and that pressing nipples is just like pressing a doorbell. Only, they give out weird noises! Teach me more! Rias is deeply disturbed by Azazel’s words and can’t help ponder what he meant. Yuuto is worried about Koneko because she disobeyed Akeno’s orders in the fight and got injured. Something must be wrong. Meanwhile Bikou talks to Kuroka about their next job. But all she cares is bringing back her little sister, Shirone. Koneko?

Episode 2
Arriving at the freaking huge Gremory mansion, they are being treated by the hospitality of Rias’ father. They also meet Millicas (Sirzechs’ son and Rias’ nephew) and Venelana (Rias’ mom who is so hot that Issei can’t take his eyes off and needs some warning from Rias). Issei can’t sleep because his room and bed are so big. So is that why Xenovia and Asia come to sleep with him? Because they can’t sleep when there is such a big space? Or just some lame excuse to go cuddle with him? But if space is the problem, how is Gasper holding out? Don’t worry. He found a box to hide inside… Next day, everyone has their own personal trainer for their customized training like Akeno being trained by her father, Barachiel whom she refuses to acknowledge. Issei gets Tannin. He’s screwed. Thankfully he lasted for 3 full days without being killed although he failed to find his Balance Breaker. Sairaorg was watching Issei’s training and advises him that despite his stamina improved, it isn’t enough to become the best. Koneko has overworked herself during training and is being put to rest. Rias tells Issei the story behind Koneko’s past. As she is a cat youkai, she had an older sister who was picked up and turned into a demon by her master. However her latent power went berserk and killed him. She went missing shortly. Fearing the same would happen to Koneko, the demons wanted to kill her to prevent the same thing but Sirzechs took her in and put her under Rias’ care. Koneko is a survivor of the strongest cat demon group, the Nekoshou clan. Thus she is a descendent from a lineage of high level youkais. Rias and her subordinates are at a party that gathers all young demons to prevent any untoward incident. But you can’t help it when young hot headed demons with differing views start to fight. Sairaorg easily puts them out of commission when they don’t listen. Rias explains Sairaorg is the heir to the Bael family and the strongest of the young demons around. Oh, he is also Rias’ cousin. Ravel sees Issei and gives him some gift to mark their acquaintance. She claims she is no longer under Riser and traded to become a servant under her mom. Even more confusing for Issei is how Ravel tells him she is into baking. Get the hint? I guess not. Issei and Rias see Koneko leaving the party in a rush and go to find her. Koneko has detected a familiar presence. Indeed. She is reunited with her older sister, Kuroka.

Episode 3
Koneko told Rias that she wanted to be strong but is afraid of the latent powers and didn’t want to resort to that. Otherwise she might end up just like Kuroka. Odin has arrived at the party as per Sirzechs’ request. He comments on Serafall’s clothing so she transforms herself into a magical girl outfit. His assistant, Rossweisse doesn’t want him to fool around as he represents Valhalla. And when he comments on her serious attitude that has her no luck with guys, she breaks down crying in public! WTF?! Rias and Issei could have continued spying on Koneko’s chat with Kuroka only had not Bikou lured them out. He plans to fight them just to buy time. But Tannin comes forth to take care of Bikou and wants Issei to show him to fruits of his training by defeating Kuroka who is bent on taking Koneko away by force. Odin is here to sign some treaty but before he could do that, Loki interrupts as he is against this. He summons his demon wolf, Fenrir to attack. Akeno becomes his target but her father saves her. She still refuses to acknowledge him. It ends when Ajuka teleports Loki away. Koneko is close to break down as she reminds us about that power she doesn’t want to awaken. She is willing to go with Kuroka so as to let Rias and Issei go. Rias’ warmth and assurance makes Koneko want to stay by her side even more. Kuroka then surrounds the area with poison gas to stop them from running away. Issei is not affected because of his dragon bond. But he gets pounded while protecting them. Now he beats himself up by saying he is a useless dragon. Why does everybody have to start feeling useless? And as usual, Koneko boosts his morale that he is the first Red Dragon Emperor who is kind and not being consumed by its power. The problem now as Ddraig says, he needs some sort of catalyst to use his Balance Breaker. It just hit him what they are. He wants Rias to let him poke her boobs! She allows him but here’s the bigger problem: Which side to poke first? Left or right? To Issei they are not the same and it’s not trivial! Rias just tells him to do both! Tannin just feels disappointed his training might have all gone to waste. After Issei pokes them both, you see how much he powers up and leaves Kuroka shocked where she is standing (the surroundings are decimated). He warns her not to touch his family or else. Bikou takes Kuroka to escape because they sense Loki’s presence is no longer around. Rias reports to Sirzechs that Kuroka and Bikou are part of Chaos Brigade and Sirzechs is glad to have left Koneko in her care.

Episode 4
Azazel explains Ajuka has teleported and seal Loki in a faraway place but that will only last for another day. This means it will not be enough time for Odin who has returned to retrieve his hammer, Mjolnir to stop Ragnarok, a big scale war that would destroy the world. This is what Loki and Chaos Brigade want. Rias suggests stalling Loki in the mean time. Ajuka can only teleport about 10 people there for now so those who are going include Rias’ household (minus Asia and Gasper), Souna’s household, Irina and Rossweisse. Before they leave, they are given Phoenix Tears as they would lack the healings of Bishop during the battle. Saji tells Issei about Souna’s dream to open a school for low level devils so they can play Rating Game. Because many Demons laughed at her dream, the reason why she volunteered for this mission to change their perspective. Saji’s dream is to be a teacher in her school. Loki has broken free from his seal. He summons Fenrir, its offspring and the Midgard Serpent for our young ones to fight. Among those power up we see include Irina being able to transform into her angel version, Koneko accepting and using her nekomata power (because as long as if it is with Issei, it is okay) and Saji facing off with Loki with his very much powerfully tweaked Vitra’s Sacred Gear. Loki won’t admit defeat and uses all his power to destroy the planes. Since it is hastening Ragnarok, he is fine with it. All the Phoenix Tears are used to revive and heal some of the wounded. When Mjolnir appears, Rossweisse tells Issei that by orders of Odin, he is to wield it. Time for the big hero’s part? I supposed he got too confident in getting it and didn’t expect a surprise attack from Fenrir. Issei dies!!! OMFG! ISSEI IS DEAD!!! Sad girls, mad girls… See the power of anger? They power up so much to destroy the mythical beasts. The most upset one is of course Rias. She doesn’t care if the world is destroyed. She won’t forgive Loki. Does this mean either way the world is screwed?

Episode 5
I don’t know what power up Rias was going to do but she sees Ravel’s gift dropping out. Loki orders Fenrir to destroy Mjolnir but it becomes restrained by Kuroka’s binds. Arthur Pendragon tells Loki that Fenrir is Vali’s real target because he wants the fangs that can kill gods. Blame yourself for being fooled by this partnership. After they escape, Loki is shocked to see Issei revived. Ravel’s gift contains a Phoenix Tears. Issei uses the hammer to pound him but before Loki gets sealed, he curses them. Sairaorg destroys the serpent and is impressed with Issei’s growth. He hopes to play a Rating Game with Rias one day to determine who the best is. Rias and her subordinates say goodbye to her family as they leave for Earth. With Millicas calling Venelana his mom, the gang realize who Sirzechs’ wife is… On the train, Koneko hogs Issei’s lap and sleeps on it. I guess she deserves it. Akeno also wants to borrow Issei for a day and since Rias realizes she is going to tell him something, she agrees. Back on Earth, the gang have to deal with reality: Homework! Damn. Fighting baddies were better, right? And because Issei is thinking too much about boobs, he can’t concentrate. Then here comes Akeno. Is it sexy time? She has a request of him: Be her boyfriend for a day. You’re not hearing things, Issei. While on the date, they can guess who those ‘cosplay stalkers’ are. Rias is most concerned because she never realized Akeno would be this close to Issei and hold his arms like that. Issei and Akeno run to lose them. But they ran into the love hotel area. However they also ran into Odin and Barachiel. Father is suspicious of Akeno’s meeting with Issei. She blames him for letting her mom die. He doesn’t need him but Issei. So leave! When Akeno composes herself, she tells Issei of her past. Her mom, Shuri Himejima met Barachiel, an injured Fallen Angel and fell in love with him. Because of that she was banished from her family. But Akeno’s black wings have caused more hatred to grow and one day they decided to kill the family. Shuri died protecting her. Akeno ran away until she was stumbled upon by Rias. Akeno wants Issei to make her forget all that and allows him to rape her. I don’t think that guy is in the mood after hearing her story. Suddenly Issei could read her true feelings. She didn’t really hate her father and placed the blame on him so that she could cope with the stress. She really wants to meet him. Akeno reconciles with Barachiel by giving him her cooked food on his trip back. Mmm… Tastes just like Shuri’s cooking.

Episode 6
Issei’s class gets a new transfer student: Irina! Due to Chaos Brigade running wild, Michael thought it would be better to send extra help and heaven’s representative to protect the school. Just with Demons having ranks based on chess, Angels have ranks based on cards so Irina’s position is Ace. While Irina is a happy girl meeting Rias and co, why is Rossweisse crying? Seems Odin left for home and he forgot to take her! So what’s her ranting of being single has got to do with it? In the streets, Asia bumps into Diodora Astaroth. He claims they know each other from a long time. She doesn’t remember at first but after seeing his deep scar, she remembers he was the Demon she helped healed and led to her expulsion from the church. Diodora wants to repay that thanks. He is in love with her and wants to marry her! Oh dear. Will Issei allow this for his harem? To compound his problem, Azazel mentions Issei is quite famous in the Underworld. Not because of his heroics in defeating Loki, though. There is a documentary edited about him screaming for boobs. It is a hit with kids and he has been nicknamed Breast Dragon Emperor! There is even a song for this! It is no wonder Ddraig is crying in despair that his fearsome name has been reduced to something pathetic. Issei gets tricked to be paired up with Asia for the 3-legged-race. I bet you there’s going to be lots of accidents and tripping. More woes for Issei as he dreams of Diodora taking Asia’s hand in marriage. He won’t allow it! Asia assures she won’t marry soon. Good, because he’d die of loneliness if that happens. Issei you liar! How can you die from loneliness when you have a harem???!!! Diodora’s harassment continues as he sends Asia letters, gifts, etc. Rias will get rid of them but she is worried as she sees Issei’s concerned face. Doesn’t he put up that face for all the girls when they’re in trouble? Xenovia brings more trouble for Issei. More of her misunderstanding about wanting to have an affair with him (I think she’s making a pun about this and winning the race) and allows Asia to have this secret affair with him. Issei is in such a dilemma. His hands are moving on its own groping those delicious boobs. It only ends when Irina barges in to put a stop to their unholy act. Her concern is that this place is unsanitary and they should do it on a bed! Rias informs her subordinates of the Rating Game. It was supposed to be held during summer break but Loki interfered. Good news: They avoid Sairaorg for the first round. Bad news? Diodora is their first opponent.

Episode 7
Rias and co watch Sairaorg’s Rating Game. Let’s say he is just too freaking powerful. Diodora pays them a visit and wants to exchange Bishops. Of course Rias will not allow that as Asia is an important family member. Because Diodora badmouths Issei, Asia slaps him. Diodora throws down a challenge to Issei and if he beats him in the Rating Game, Asia will accept his love. While Issei and Koneko are out doing their demon duty, they bump into Kuroka who wants to have Issei’s baby! More accurately, she wants a dragon baby. Of course Issei refuses her. To his surprise, Vali is here to see him as he is here to warn him about something because Rias won’t listen to him. When they go home, the other girls are dressed in sexy outfits in their bid to make Issei happy. This is for everything he has done for them? Then it becomes a heated competition between Rias and Akeno over him. This might turn ugly if they resort to letting him touch their boobs… After Issei lends his sword to Xenovia as practice, she pecks his cheek as thanks. Is his day getting better or what? Meanwhile, Sirzechs and Azazel discuss about Rias’ report regarding Vali’s warning. There might be a connection with Diodora’s sudden increase in power and the mysterious death of Glasya Labolas’ supposed heir. When Rias and co head to the battlefield for their Rating Game, what greets them isn’t Diodora’s family but an entire army of Satan’s old faction who is now under Chaos Brigade. Worse, Diodora is part of Chaos Brigade and takes Asia hostage. He will have the rest killed while he takes Asia to the temple. Odin makes his surprise appearance. He explains that Azazel planned this by using them as bait to lure them out so that Odin could destroy them in one fell swoop. Sorry for keeping them in the dark, though. The rest head to the temple to save Asia while Odin and Azazel’s troops begin their big assault.

Episode 8
At the temple, Diodora suggests playing their own Rating Game. He has a group of Pawns and Rooks and another group with a Queen and Bishops. Rias assigns Issei, Gasper, Koneko and Xenovia to fight the first group. Rias gives Issei permission to use his Dress Break. However the opponents can still fight back despite being naked. Now Issei can’t concentrate and gets beaten up! Because they attack in absolute precision, Issei uses his power to read their hearts and find out who is being targeted. More like heart of the boobs because it feels like the boobs are talking… They defeat the Pawns and shortly Xenovia is done with the Rooks. But it is not so rosy on the other side so Koneko suggests Issei tell Akeno that he will date her if she wins. See the motivation? And because this jealousy makes Rias powers up too, they defeat the Queen and Bishops in no time. Making their way in, they are shocked to see Freed. He claims Vali picked him up and restored him. Is he Diodora’s Knight now? Actually he ate them both and has turned into some powerful monster. He reveals Diodora’s household that they just fought were supposed to be some sort of holy maidens. It is Diodora’s passion to lure and bait them to his hell. One day he stumbled upon Asia but seeing how she was protected by the church and cannot easily kidnap her, he devised a plan to become a wounded demon so that the church would expel her. His plan was to ravish her when she is at the bottom of despair but Issei and Rias showed up to save her. Issei is visibly mad but Yuuto tells him to save that anger for Diodora. Yuuto easily cuts up Freed and kills him! No match! Before Diodora, he explains he cannot feed on Asia yet as hope is still in her. He further reveals that the Fallen Angel Issei first disposed off, Reinare was supposed to be killed by Diodora and then give Asia an Evil Piece but made the mistake of waiting and let Issei finished her off. But thanks to this, he is now able to give Asia more despair. Imagine how fun it will be to rape her while she screams out his name! I guess this is enough to make Issei’s blood boil and summon up all his power to beat Diodora to a pulp. I suppose that is why he said all those spiteful words so we could hate him and feel no mercy because Diodora is so weak getting his ass handed over it is just painful to watch. Still cannot believe you’re losing? Issei cannot free Asia because thanks to some Longinus bind, it will only free her if Diodora wins but in the even if he loses, it will absorb her. If he cannot have Asia, nobody can! Issei doesn’t give a damn about all that and uses his ultimate power to break Asia free! Who is the weakling now? After all that emotional reunion, Asia makes a prayer to the Lord to protect Issei and the rest and to live happily with them. Instantly she vanishes.

Episode 9
Who is the villain standing before them now? Shalba Beelzebub claims he is the true successor to Satan. The one responsible for Glasya Labolas’ heir’s death kills off Diodora when the weakling seeks his help. Meanwhile, Creusery Asmodeus appears before Azazel and Sirzechs. He is against Sirzechs for teaming up with Angels and Fallen Angels but is he the one to say for joining a ragtag team of Chaos Brigade? Sirzechs easily kills this guy. So much for his 10 seconds debut. Then here comes Ophis, the leader of Chaos Brigade. She mentions her goal of a world of silence. She wishes to return to the Dimensional Gap where her home is and reclaim that silence. Issei is so broken that it is just heart-wrenching to see him look for Asia whom he thinks is hiding. When Shalba says he has tossed Asia into some Dimensional Gap faraway and is as good as dead, Issei becomes so mad that he powers up (or gets absorbed rather) into his fearsome dragon form, Red Dragon of Domination. Freaking powerful enough to blow Shalba away. His power keeps increasing that Rias and co have to fly away for safety while Shalba gets blown to pieces. So much for his 10 minutes debut. Vali and his team make a surprise entry. They have Asia in their hands. They coincidentally found her floating inside the Dimensional Gap. Vali sees Issei’s form and notes it is incomplete. Because of that, there is still hope of turning him back but his life will be in danger. Rias believes she is good enough to bring Issei back to normal and just needs to tell him Asia is still alive. Vali helps out by using his Juggernaut Drive to knock down a notch Issei’s growing power. Issei is going berserk. All he could see is Asia’s kindness and Reinare mocking him. He unconsciously attacks Rias. But you know, her heartfelt speech that she can’t live without him and rather die would eventually reach his heart. Especially when her tear drops onto him and breaks him free of his armour. Time for your emotional reunion with everybody. You thought Issei is most emotional to see Asia live? Wrong! It’s Xenovia! A huge red dragon appears in the sky. Vali explains that is the Dragon of Dragons or also known as DxD. This is the true Red Dragon God Emperor, the Great Red who chose to live in the Dimensional Gap and flies there for all eternity. He is Ophis’ objective and it is Vali’s goal to defeat him to become the true White Dragon God Emperor. Ophis is the Infinity Dragon also known as the Ouroboros Dragon. After renewing his rivalry with Vali, you thought everybody can go home happy. Not quite yet because now it’s Issei turn to turn up the drama by collapsing.

Episode 10
Issei is unconscious. Oh Asia… Don’t start the blame game… Anyway Azazel thinks Asia’s Sacred Gear might heal Issei although he is not sure of the risk. Only one way to find out. Indeed, Issei wakes up again. I guess it’s now or never so Asia kisses him and confesses she loves him. Everybody else is watching but they’re not going to bother with the details. Issei is back up and all that is what matters. Azazel discusses with Sirzechs that the recent skirmish has wiped out the old Satan faction. Vali had never intended to be allies with them in the first place. Currently there is world balance because Great Red is ruling in the Dimensional Gap but that balance is fragile and they know Loki will intervene again because Ophis did something troublesome again. With Issei back, you’d think it is happy ending for everyone? Not quite. Yet again, Rossweisse is in tears because Odin left her behind again! What’s this about being single again? Rias is also spacing out more often because she felt she couldn’t do anything to save Issei and that recent one where Asia healed him just nailed it in her heart. Later Azazel tells Issei a secret that he knew what to do because Ddraig told him. He talked to Ddraig about the power Issei unleashed and it seemed he invoked Juggernaut Drive and broke some seal that caused all the power in his Sacred Treasure to let loose. It is the kind of power that even surpasses the gods but in exchange on will pay for his life or his lifespan reduced drastically. The thing is, something activated that and Ddraig sensed Issei’s despair and anger surpassing its limit that caused it. However he also sensed something else controlling Issei and is not sure. Issei is seen walking into Rias’ room and then assuring her everything is alright. But then we see Issei and Koneko returning from practice and find Gasper collapsed outside. He is relieved to see the real Issei. Seems the fake Issei has got Rias under his control. Thanks to Gasper’s time freeze, he is able to save them before the explosion engulfs the place. Rias is subsequently missing. Azazel explains that Valhalla has sent a warning to Rossweisse but apparently it was too late. This is all part of Loki’s doing. In his bid for Ragnarok, he placed a cursed on Issei and Rias before being sealed. Before Odin could interrogate him further, Loki crystallizes himself to make that old guy regret for having Issei use Mjolnir. It might be Issei’s subconscious, his fear of what the girls think about him that activated whatever and the same can be said for Rias. They believe Rias is lost in Dimensional Gap. Going there is like going to a certain death if you stay there for too long. Chaos Brigade is made up of various individuals and they might be using unknown methods to use it as their base. Issei wants Koneko to contact Kuroka. He wants to have a word with Vali.

Episode 11
Sirzechs warns that many lives were lost in the recent battle. Contacting Vali may be seen as associating with Chaos Brigade and spread discontent again. You know, all Issei cares about is Rias, not the world. Azazel suggests he gives up being a Demon. He can turn all of them into Fallen Angels to avoid any potential fallouts among the Demons but this will only be a last resort. If they get Rias back successfully, then there is no need for this. With everyone pleading how dear Rias is to them, I guess Sirzechs has no choice but to relent and tell them to save his sister. Issei and Koneko see Kuroka. She agrees to let them meet Vali but in exchange Koneko must come back to her. Issei won’t agree to that. Negotiation is over then? Because they become annoyingly persistent, Vali makes his appearance. What if he refuses to let them go to the Dimensional Gap? Yeah, Issei you gonna fight him? He will if he must. Because Vali views him as still weak and would rob him of his pleasure to defeat him, he has Arthur guide them there using his holy royal sword, Collbrande that could cut through dimensions. Arthur tells them the barrier they are in prevents them from being eaten by Dimensional Gap. But they only have 1 hour to do so before they are forced back to their realm. He hints that Dimensional Gap is influenced by their strong emotions. They figure out in no time that all they need to do is wish to meet Rias from the bottom of their heart. True enough they see her. However she attacks them! They sense this is the real Rias but why is she not recognizing them? It must be Loki’s curse. Everyone tries to let their heartfelt words reach her heart. It always works, right? Not this time. Because you thought everything might be back to normal when you see tears in her eyes but that is just a troll and switch for her to transform into a Red Dragon armour similar to Issei’s Balance Breaker. Just with a few parts expose for sexiness. The attack continues and Akeno believes Issei has no choice but to fight her. At first he doesn’t want to do this, not to his beloved buchou. Then I guess he realizes what needs to be done. The promise of bringing her back even if the world gets destroyed. Yeah, screw the world. All he wants is her (and her boobs). He transforms into his Balance Breaker version and the great impact of their fight weakens the Dimensional Gap.

Episode 12
Yes, Issei. We know that you’re going to protect Rias not because of the contract but your love for her. We are spammed montage of their times together as he struggles to free her. After all that, her armour finally shatters and the Rias we know comes returning back into Issei’s arms. But now Issei is to face off with his fake imposter who turns into Dragon of Supremacy. The rest are blown back into reality as Azazel deduces Loki hijacked a fragment of Dragon of Supremacy from Issei and made a copy out of it. What they can do now is pray and believe in Issei. Yeah, you do that. And of course, Issei’s strong feelings mean he defeats the imposter. They are blown into the Dimensional Whirlpool when Great Red happens to pass by. It seems to be guiding them out of here. But they end up in some dimensional beach so I guess it is time for Issei and Rias to spend some quality time together, talking about the feelings of the heart and yes, a nice kiss before going back to reality. Although their memories are fuzzy on their return, everyone else is so glad to see them back in one piece. Later, Issei knows he is in a dream when he sees Ddraig in his true form. He is here to tell him that another power aside Dragon of Supremacy lies dormant inside him although Ddraig himself isn’t sure what it is. When Issei wakes up, it is like waking up in his dream because his harem girls are sleeping naked around him! Don’t want to lose him after all they’ve been through, eh? Yeah. I’m sure Issei loves this too. What a win-win situation. And of course the best boobs reward goes to Rias. Issei’s parents return from their trip. They treat Asia more like their daughter than Issei their son. Too cute to pass up, eh? Rias surprises them by introducing Rossweisse who is a teacher at their school and plans to stay here. Say what?! We see how Rias showed Rossweisse the benefits of some insurance plan from her side as compared to Valhalla. She then offered Rossweisse to be her Rook under her household as she needs mobile magical artillery. Tempted by everything, Rossweisse agrees and turns into a Demon. Partly this is to get back at Odin too. Now Rias’ household is complete (remember, Issei is powerful as 8 Pawns so she doesn’t need extras). Azazel mentions about Issei’s TV debut in the Underworld. Turns out to be a children’s programme with a children’s song. All about boobs!!! And he is already a hit there! Later Azazel talks to Issei about the incoming threat from Chaos Brigade and more fighting will be expected. But once the war is over, what will he do? Simple. He’ll pursue his own dreams of becoming harem king. Oh Issei, don’t you know that you are already one?

Dragon-boobs & Poke-boobs!
Before I started watching this season and while it was still being aired over the airwaves, I have been reading a lot of comments regarding this season. From what I gather, there have been a lot of differing opinions and heated discussions about the direction of the third season. Yes, this season deviated from the original light novel works. Thus there are so many clashes of opinions from purists of the light novels who disregard this deviation as pure blasphemy of the series and those who are so called ‘open minded’ and viewing this season as ‘just anime only’. The former hated the third season’s adaptation with varying degrees (depending on how ‘loyal’ they are to the light novels) while the latter tried viewing this from an anime-only perspective. Thus some feel that the producers have gone to make the first 2 seasons great and with that established track record in the minds of fans and viewers, decided to betray that trust by tricking everyone into watching this atrocious season and milk more money from them. Those are some of the sentiments lingering even after the season has ended.

Therefore with this in mind as I watched the third season, I am wondering if this is the reason why I do not find the third season as charming as the first 2 seasons. Could this have also clouded my opinions and thoughts for this season? Would I have reached a slightly different and better conclusion had I not read the many dissatisfied and arguing comments over the internet? Although I have never touched the light novels myself, personally I could say that this season lacks the excitement that I felt watching the previous seasons. Everything feels lacking. The characters, the storyline and even the fanservice just feel so much less. By itself, this season doesn’t suck so badly and like those in the latter category have said, if it is judged based solely as an anime without any relation to the light novels, it is fine. Though, not that great either. This is also my thoughts about this season. It isn’t bad but there is nothing that would make me sing praises that the third season is great. In fact it just passes.

I don’t know, personally I think putting in the final arc of saving Rias somewhat killed it. I know it is to show how much everybody cares for her and she cares for everybody but somehow it just feels forced. Something about it just doesn’t feel right. Because with so many other potential good stuffs and storyline (from the light novel works), they ended the season with this ‘weak’ story of rescuing their club president. If poor sentiments were already building up halfway, then it would be sure to increase by the time it reaches the end. I think they’re trying to build some drama, showcasing the close relationship the Occult Club members have with each other and especially with Issei, seeking to tug some heartstrings whenever you see the characters getting worried or worked up over the other when something doesn’t augur well. You get the point. I felt too much of that isn’t necessarily good for the direction of this series.

Another downfall to this season is the characters. Both old and new. This series itself already boasts a lot of characters. And I mean really, really, really, really, really lots of them. Just rechecking the character list since the last time, I am not sure if I has been expanded or not but it feels a lot longer now that I have relooked at it again. Because it isn’t just your typical Demons, Angels and Fallen Angels or even gods from other mythologies but historical characters (fictional or non-fictional) as well! I mean, when you have characters from King Arthur’s times and even the Chinese’s Three Kingdoms, you’d start wondering if they will be putting in Greek philosophers, world conquerors (like Genghis Khan or Alexander the Great) or even… Presidents of the United States! Oh yeah! One big hell of mish-mash of everything! While it is great and unique to see this kind of mix-up of everything in one big fairytale story (or just one big nonsensical crap), the problem lies with having too many of these characters but not making a good impact or leaving any sort of lasting impression. That is what I feel the problem for the character development for this season.

It is not like they have introduced a whole bunch of new characters but even those that had newly appeared in this season feels a lot lacking. The biggest casualty is Rossweisse herself. My guts told me she would become part of Issei’s harem. As she is of Norse source, I wonder how can a Valkyrie turn into a demon just like that? But just in case, I guess that is why they make it last minute that Rossweisse completes Rias’ household. Just in time? Feels so rushed. (In the light novel as I read from a summary somewhere, she is one of those female characters who initially isn’t sure if she is in love with Issei or not till some sort of event occurs that made it confirm it is so). Well, it isn’t necessary to be part of Rias’ household if you want to fall in love with Issei, right? The way Rossweisse is lacking in presence and role impact in this season. The way her character played makes it feel like she is an anime-only character. The only thing that I would remember about her is her penchant for being too emo (whenever there isn’t any serious fighting or stuffs) and ranting about being single. That might not be a bad thing entirely but the way they executed her character this season is just feels sorry. It feels like she has been side-lined in a way to give some prominence to the relationship development between Issei and some of his Occult Club girls.

The rest of the other new characters also doesn’t fare that well. Either they lack impact or they get killed off quickly with a high chance of never ever returning in the future storyline ever again (looking at you, Shalba and Diodora. I’m wondering if Freed is killed off for good this time too). I suppose everything is still too early so Chaos Brigade isn’t much of an antagonist yet. I don’t know what Sairaorg’s role is for in this season because does it really matter? But I am sure he is one of those guys (like Vali) who are up to challenge Issei in a fight when the time is right to see who is strongest (no prizes in guessing who will come up tops at the end). Even if Barachiel had a little screen time to make amends with his estranged daughter, it just feels disconnected and doesn’t fit into the pace of everything this season. Perhaps Odin is the only one among the new characters that feel it made some sort of impact although this also felt minimal. Why do old and powerful guys always have to be perverts? Know that old turtle guy from Dragonball? Know that old little guy from Ranma 1/2? Know that old sage in Naruto? Yeah… See the pattern? I hope Odin doesn’t frequent Japan now that he has got to know about boobs bars… Boobs bars… They have that in Japan? Oh, do you still remember Rias’ family? Milli-what’s-his-name or Vene-what’s-her-name already?

If new characters didn’t leave much of an impact, does this mean the old ones do, especially the Occult Club members? Not quite either. Issei on one hand is a perverted kid who wants his own harem but unknowingly has already amassed one. The reason he doesn’t really touch them unless when given permission is because he respects them so it is like he is in an eternal dilemma to become harem king or not. Because from where I see his character (as well as others from many other animes), he is the kind of main protagonist and hero who doesn’t really care about the world and would even go as far as to let it be destroyed at the expense of the safety of his girls. Don’t you agree with me? So technically if you want the world to be safe from Ragnarok or Armageddon, if you are a girl, be part of his harem, if you are a guy, become his friend. That way with the ‘extended’ family theoretically he would go all out to save you if some sort of world threatening befalls. So like when Rias was endangered, he will go all out and dig deep into his feelings just to get her back. At the same time spamming his calling out to her. “Buchou! Buchou! BUCHOU!!!!!!”.

The rest of the Occult Club members also do not have decent development thanks to the short duration of the series and the way they force cram a few of them. We get to know a little about Koneko and her sister, Akeno and her dissatisfaction with her father and some precious moments for Asia. And then it ends with Rias’ growing insecurity of Issei’s love for her that led to the inevitable. Because it seems the other girls in the harem are making ground and headway in their personal relationship with Issei so Rias has all the right to be worried. Despite she is the president of the Occult Club and the head of her household team, she is at the same level when it comes to being a woman and wanting Issei’s affections. This undermines her exclusivity and privilege that she has with Issei now that everyone seems to be catching up especially Akeno who is more daring than ever. To the point that she is even confrontational. I believe Yuuto’s story and past was done in previous season so it feels like this time he feels like ‘neglected’. Xenovia feels like she’s being reduced to ‘cultivating a good friendship with Asia’. Gasper’s fear of wide public spaces is still funny but you realize that when the going gets tough, his phobia doesn’t kick in. All in the mind?

Let’s see about the other recurring characters… Mmm… Rather okay or so-so. Sirzechs is trying to do his best as the current Satan while Azazel seems to be playing the know-it-all sensei part. Irina isn’t part of Rias’ household so she doesn’t have much screen time and only hangs out with her ex fellow church member Xenovia whenever she gets the chance. Serafall and Ravel could have been forgotten had they not made their short little cameo which doesn’t really amount to anything. At least Saji this season put up a decent badass power up fight despite his limited screen time too. I thought they were going to bring back Yuuma/Reinare, the way they tease us by making Issei remember this nightmare from time to time. Guess not. Thank goodness.

Although this season still has its trademark fanservice of uncensored naked tits and boobs galore, somehow it feels less. I don’t know. Maybe it is because that feeling of mediocrity that is undermining this department too. In a way it is good and bad because you don’t want too much fanservice to dilute the worth of this series but then again, boobs fanservice is the reason why this series is popular in the first place. Yeah, lots of pervy guys out there. So in addition to groping boobs, now you have poking boobs? You learn something new every day… Fanservice quality for the mid-intermission remains the same. First half shows the girls in sexy poses and then in the second half, all the clothes come off and it feels like a must to show and expose their tits to us.

Action bits also feel less. I remember in the previous seasons we had lots of terms and power ups whenever we see Issei and the team fight. I don’t think this season added any much of those new moves and the power fights also seem to lack that oomph thanks to all that drama going on. And there is always some sort of hidden power inside Issei that we don’t know of. How many more times can he power up till he reaches the ultimate of the ultimate? Is it me or is the quality towards the end of the series getting a little bad? Like as though the animators really want to get their chest off this bad season and end it all quickly.

This season’s opening and ending theme didn’t appeal to me again. Bless Your Name by ChouCho as the opener sounds like a generic anime rock outfit while the Stylips sings the ending theme, Give Me Secret. Lively, exuberant and resembling like a dance song but still I didn’t find it quite to my liking although I would prefer this than the opening theme. Hmm… I think this season’s ending credits animation also contributed to the overall unexciting feel of this season. In the first season, we were treated to sexy pole dancing fanservice. Then in the second season, there was this weird but erotic dance and it was still sexy enough despite Gasper being part of the dancing troupe and in bikini. In this third season, there are none of those or anything similar and despite spamming Issei’s naked harem, it just doesn’t feel the same as before.

Overall, this season is not that bad and it only is when you have read the light novels and start expecting the adaptation to follow very closely. Then expect to be very disappointed. The third season as an anime itself is okay but it is not nearly as great as its past 2 seasons. It is still pretty much decent (oh, the irony). Therefore like any other animes that follow this sort of precedent (great start but faltering sequels), the only way to pick itself up is to make another fourth season. Maybe this is all part and parcel of the bigger plan and cycle. Happy, happier, disappointment and then happy again. Maybe that is what life is all about. When you have a series of choices, it isn’t necessary that you need to pick one over the other. Like if you don’t know which boobs to poke, just poke ‘em both! Double the fun, double the satisfaction!

Shingeki No Bahamut: Genesis

Hey wait a minute. I knew there was going to be a sequel for Shingeki No Kyojin but did they jump the gun and make another spin-off of the series? I mean, who is this Bahamut guy? Attack on Bahamut? Is this the ultimate Titan that our heroes must face and kill? No, it is not you say? Phew. Thank goodness. I thought I was taken for a ride (maybe I was). Glad to say that Shingeki No Bahamut: Genesis has no relation to that popular Titan series whatsoever. So I guess that is why officially the English title they translated it as Rage of Bahamut to avoid any confusion associating with Attack on Titan.

So in this series, we have the good news that there are no giant beings trying to eat humans. But there is a giant being laying dormant for a couple of thousands of years that could destroy all that ever exist if it is ever released from its seal. Better keep that seal on. And as you know as time passed, some unscrupulous parties want to revive it for their nefarious ends and it is up to our unlikely heroes who got dragged into this mess to save the world. Sounds like an unoriginal storyline? Well, watch this action packed magical fantasy and you’ll see…

Episode 1
2000 years ago at Abos, there seems to be some legendary power fight with a dragon named Bahamut. Do you think humans have a chance? Present day at Wytearp. Kaisar Lidfort is furiously chasing after Favaro Leone through the Spanish-like town. Kaisar accuses Favaro that he is now a wretched bounty hunter. But mischievous and cocky Favaro plays a prank on his horse so Kaisar has no choice but to go after it. Meanwhile, several men in the trade of kidnapping women are lamenting their fate from their boss, Sir Garth since they are coming home empty handed (thanks to Favaro and Kaisar’s chase interrupting and putting a damper on their kidnapping). Suddenly this beautiful naked lady, Amira falls down from the sky. She notes her compass is broken and cannot reach Helheim now. The bandits are going to attack her but when you see this chick power up… Your fate is sealed. But a couple of them managed to escape and return to Garth. Big boss wants the bounty hunter’s head. Don’t bother looking. Favaro is here to take Garth him as he is on the wanted list. Garth summons his beast but Favaro has a dirty trick up his sleeve that tames it. With that, bounty captured. Favaro returns to Bacchus and his talking duck, Hamsa to claim his reward but is stumped that he only got half the amount. And since it is Favaro’s policy to spend his earnings, he is going to party hard. Yeah, waste it all on food and women at the bar. And like his usual arrogant style, he fabricates and exaggerates (probably all big lies) about his adventures and one of them being his journey to Helheim.

Amira is outside and heard this but Kaisar bumps into her and offers her to take her wherever she wants. She declines as she says she already has found a guide. Of course with Kaisar here looking to pick a bone with Favaro, that cheeky guy turns the tables on him and paints him as a richer and charitable man. This means all the women are now flocking to his side while Favaro himself escapes. That bastard. Amira confronts Favaro and wants him to guide her to Helheim. Favaro wonders if he should make up a lie and play along or just run. Looking at how pretty she is, he tries to hint he isn’t doing this for free and wants a kiss. Sorry to interrupt your kissy moment but here is Ghos to avenge his brother. Ghos who? Garth’s twin brother. Ah, no wonder he only got half the reward. So that wanted poster wasn’t just duplicated print. Ghos summons a huge terrifying beast to attack. Because Amira needs him to guide her to Helheim, she will help him. She transforms into a demon and easily takes it out! I’m sure Favaro will be happy to collect the remaining half of the reward but he begins to think the sh*t he is in since Amira is a demon… Too late to back out? As he passes out, it seems in this dream-like state he is falling down into some hell place. He wakes up in a room and tended by one of those ladies at the bar. When he starts stripping, she screams in fear that he is a demon. Wait. Favaro is a demon? He can’t even believe it himself till he looks in the mirror. He has a demon’s tail!!! Not good. You’re screwed.

Episode 2
When Heaven seems to be in a state of panic when they find out God’s Key have been stolen, they order the human, Jeanne D’Arc of the Orleans Knights to do the job. They have to get it done because if those 2 keys are brought together, it will rise again. So we see Jeanne and her knights being bestowed the power of Gods to repel the demons. But is Bahamut going to resurrect again? Back in present time, Favaro thinks he is dreaming. No he’s not. He can’t pull off the tail. It seems Amira has casted a contract spell on him (when he wanted to kiss her). Even worse, Kaisar is coming in to look for him. They flee through the window. Kaisar thinks he is into kidnapping women now. Favaro needs to break this curse and thinks the best way is to kill her. He could do it right now but needs to wait for a better chance. Thus he plays along with her and that he will personally take her to Helheim. The Orleans Knights enter town seeking a demon in human guise. Kaisar says he knows but because it is his mission to catch it, he will not reveal more but is more than glad to catch it for them. Because they see his bounty hunter band, they mock him and do not believe he comes from a lineage of noble knights. Of course, short flashbacks of how the people turned their backs against his family of proud knights. Lavalley the leader hints to him the desire for something can make one strong. This gives Kaisar the motivation to catch Favaro and re-establish their house. Favaro needs some funds so he goes bounty hunting. Amira easily defeats this monster. So are you having second thoughts about killing this chick? It isn’t going to be easy… Favaro goes to Bacchus to collect his reward. Amira… Wants to eat the duck!!!

Since Amira can’t walk around in suspicious clothes, Favaro takes her to tailor to get her decent ones. Then he treats her to food and booze. Yeah, she loves it! He even teaches her to dance. Having fun? So later when she is out lying in the lake and thinking about how much fun that was, it is actually Favaro’s ploy to let her guard down and kill her. However something is wrong with his band and is not working. He diverts her attention talking about his mother so Amira too mentions her reason to go to Helheim to see her mother. She has vague memories of her but when she holds her pendant, she can faintly recall the gentle look on her face. Then here comes Kaisar looking for his revenge. Amira protects her and since he is fawning over her beauty, Favaro kicks him in the face. He needs some time out. Favaro notices the knights in town and decides to play Amira out. He tells them of her location for a reward. The knights chase after and corner her and it seems she is the one who stole God’s Key. Favaro is going to let the knights kill her but the horse he is riding doesn’t go the way he wants and heads towards Amira. It interrupts the knights’ enchanting spell and enough time for them to escape. I guess Favaro can’t escape now. They are cornered at the bridge. Favaro pretends to take Amira hostage. Thinking of taking a swim? Yeah. Long way down… They are safe from danger as Favaro couldn’t believe why he had to side and save her. Had he not done so, the curse of the tail might have been broken. Amira wonders if he is a liar. The liar lies that he is telling the truth and to look in his eyes. He puts up a funny face and earns a slap. Soon, wanted posters of Favaro and Amira are up. Kaisar vows to save her from him.

Episode 3
Heaven is trembling as this is a sign of Bahamut’s revival. Jeanne must make haste her retrieval. But it seems she senses something odd. Weird things begin to appear after she stuck her sword in the ground. It could mean that the balance between Gods and demons have begun to crumble as the holy key is taken from the holy land. Meanwhile Kaisar is so obsessed in chasing Favaro that he ends up in some deserted land but a girl, Rita picks him up. Meanwhile Favaro goes on another bounty hunting for funds and this time he kills some dragon to get some herbs because he knows the next bounty hunter uses some kind of deadly restorative arts. And no Amira, you can’t eat or drink it. It occurred to Favaro that Amira has a wing. So why didn’t she use it to fly instead of making him go through all that trouble? She can’t fly since she lost the other wing. After she infiltrated and stole God’s Key, she was attacked and repelled. Although she survived, she lost a wing in the process. God’s Key is not a physical object and is now inside her. She has absorbed it into her soul. This means she is the God’s Key. Kaisar wakes up in the hospitality of Rita’s family. They serve him food and mention about terrible monsters attacking their town, ravaging their crops and kidnapping children. Rita is the only one left. To repay their kindness, Kaisar will help them slay the monsters. Rita is not amused with everything and leaves rudely. Kaisar goes to talk to her and although he doesn’t understand what she is murmuring about being older than him and sick of playing house. He continues talking that he was once like her, finding his own family annoying. His father was strict as he came from a lineage of knights. One day his father was selected to guard a king’s tribute. They were ambushed by bandits and the tribute stolen. His father as the leader was held responsible and was hanged. The family was stripped of their title status and banished. Half a year later, his mother cannot take it anymore and drowned herself. It is only then he realized he loved his family. So don’t be like him. Yeah, Rita wasn’t paying attention. It was boring. Besides, he is having stomach ache now?

Kaisar and the townspeople get ready to slay the incoming monsters. But do the monsters sound familiar? Once Kaisar is overwhelmed and given the herb, the ‘monsters’ turn out to be Favaro and Amira. He points out he was hypnotized by the fog’s spell. As he looks around, the entire place is dilapidated and the townspeople are zombies! Rita is a necromancer and she was hoping Kaisar could have stayed oblivious… Remember the food he ate? Maggots… Damn… Feeling sick now? Rita orders her zombies to attack. They fight back as well as Kaisar since he is upset he has been had. He is about to attack Rita’s zombie parents but she won’t allow him. I don’t know why or how but they bit her! Favaro takes Rita’s Black Bible which is the bounty. Favaro explains this town was attacked by monsters 200 years ago and Rita the only survivor found a spell book to revive the town. She’s been playing this sick family game for 2 centuries now. No wonder she’s tired of it. But you know what they say when somebody is bitten by a zombie? Yeah. She’s going to turn into one soon. Not Favaro’s problem. But can Kaisar kill her? Decide quickly because she is going to bite him! Favaro collects his reward and dismisses the bounty on his head. Maybe it’s somebody who looks like him. Yeah right. Oh, Amira chasing after Hamsa. She really wants to eat it!!! In the aftermath, we see Rita following Kaisar. Time to go on an adventure, I guess.

Episode 4
Amira is starting to get suspicious if Favaro is lying. Because how come now he is trying to get a boat to sail to Helheim? Yeah well, Bacchus told him that was the way. At first nobody knows of any boat and when he finally finds one, he remembers this captain, Amon. An emotional reunion? If you consider punching each other as that. Turns out that Amon was part of Barrosa, Favaro’s dad band of noble thieves. Favaro felt that kind of job didn’t suit him and didn’t take over after his death. Meanwhile Kaisar and Rita have also found a boat to chase after Favaro. Kaisar reveals that Favaro is his childhood friend. Despite their different status, they were close. Close enough for Kaisar to tell him everything. But on that fateful day when Barrosa attacked his father’s convey, Kaisar felt betrayed that Favaro sold him out and hid his identity as a son of a thief. And on Amon’s side, he remembers that tribute stealing incident was their last job. However one of the jewels contained a powerful magic and they unsealed a horrific demon. Everyone was slaughtered and Amon is the only survivor thanks to Barrosa saving him. Amira doesn’t know what a father is so Favaro has a hard time explaining. Suddenly a monster crab attacks. Time for Amira to go into demon mode and take it out. Besides, she’s very hungry. Too bad the crab isn’t delicious. Yucks. Elsewhere, Kaisar realizes he has been tricked as the boat he is on is only but pirates. They’re going to take him out but Kaisar can stand his ground. The captain thought taking Rita hostage is a good idea. Not. She bites him.

Amon is shocked to see Favaro a demon (his tail). Suddenly mermen jump out from the sea and they capture Favaro. Amon has planned this from the start. He made a deal with that demon and was granted magic for making that happen. Thus Amon was the one who killed Barrosa. Now he gets to profit on his son since there is a bounty on his head. But his ship is rammed by another. Rita commands all the pirates she turned into zombies. The commotion allows Favaro and Amira to escape to higher ground. All the zombie pirates start biting the mermen. Infected. I don’t know, this scene looks like one freakish orgy… Amon fights Favaro but the latter shoots the wheel to make the ship suddenly yaw. Amon falls off and into the claws of that monster crab. Chow time. Wait a minute. That puny fat guy was enough to satiate its appetite? Maybe he didn’t taste so good and returned to the sea to take a dump. HAHAHA!!! And now Kaisar wants a piece of Favaro. Before they can settle it, lightning strikes. Kaisar protects Amira although they both take a hit. A tentacle from the sky grabs them away.

Episode 5
In the Holy Land of Abos, angels are trying hard with their barriers to prevent Bahamut’s resurrection. Doesn’t look good… Rita tells Favaro that Amira was taken away by Gregor, who is also the flying castle for the fallen angel, Azazel. Weakened Amira is being tortured by Pazuzu for answers but her lips remained tightly sealed. Kaisar wants this to stop and insists this is all part of Favaro the demon’s plan. They start laughing so Azazel tells him Amira’s background. He is of course surprised to hear this. Because they can’t believe Amira could pull off such a great feat alone, they want to know who ordered her and the one pulling the strings. Kaisar still believes it is Favaro’s fault. They continue laughing but Kaisar is serious. He tells him about his best friend and betrayal that led to the downfall of his family. Immediately Azazel figures out who he is and of course Favaro. He tells Kaisar he will achieve nothing like his pitiful father. Meanwhile back on land, Favaro threatens Bacchus and wants to lend his carriage for that bogus tip. Bacchus dares him to show him how serious he is for the fare. Favaro strikes his dagger close to him and breaks his band, scaring the sh*t out of Bacchus. Without the band, Favaro is just an outlaw but he’ll cross the bridge when he gets there. They are on their way to the Sword of Valley. There lies a portal to the demon capital, Cocytus. This is where Azazel is going since Lucifer, the head of the fallen angels is there. This is as far Bacchus will take him. They won’t meet again.

Favaro and Rita invade Gregor. Azazel wants some entertainment and is willing to give Kaisar a chance to avenge his father. Favaro falls through a trapdoor and ends up in a torture room where Amira is. Before he can save her, here comes angry Kaisar trying to kill him. Again. But this time he is so mad and raging that he is close to doing that. But Rita punches him to tell him to stop it. When Gregor is partially through the portal, it closes, killing it. Seems Jeanne and the Orleans Knights were laying in wait for this ambush. Then they unleash all their firepower at Gregor in an attempt to retrieve Amira. Kaisar is not amused that Favaro seeks his help. Not after all that he has done. But Favaro promises they will settle it once they get out. He won’t run this time. His determined eyes make it believable. Pazuzu comes to get Amira but Favaro and Kaisar team up to land heavy cogs in his face and one ultimately one crushing him. Outside, Azazel is going to take Amira but something in her awakens and repels him off. He now understands what is happening. Gregor is crashing so how will our heroes get off? Rita turns a dead dragon into a zombie and they’ve got their free flight. Kaisar sees Orleans Knights below and wonders if Favaro called them. Nah. The wind just happened to blow this way, that’s all.

Episode 6
Amira remembers that someone told her to fulfil her mission and her wish will come true. Therefore she really wants to get there now but looks like they can’t. Because Orleans Knights take them into custody. At Cocytus, Azazel is stopped by Martinet to see Lucifer because of his failure. In that case, he’ll just go take it back. Amira and co are taken before the king in the royal capital of Anatae. Angels led by Michael descend down to explain Amira is both an angel and demon and the reason why she could infiltrate so easily was because she can switch between both. Because God’s Key is within a demon, they cannot take her back to the Ark. They order the king to guard her with his life as she will remain here. As for the rest, they too are to remain in his protection. The sign of Bahamut’s revival is growing. Should the keys created by Zeus and Satan become one with Bahamut, a catastrophe will occur. Their execution will only put a strain on Amira’s emotional stress. They must prevent Bahamut’s revival at all costs. They are freed and Favaro is so grateful that he wants to hug the king! But Amira is throwing a tantrum as she wants to go to Helheim. She kicks up a fuss about Favaro’s promise. However he reneges on it since he only said so because she put a curse on him. As he shows his tail and Rita explaining he is actually human, Kaisar is dumbfounded. I guess he really believed he was a demon. Favaro tells her off if she wants to go to Helheim, do it yourself. Oh, and undo this tail curse. Amira is so heartbroken that she slaps the liar and resigns to her room like an obedient child. The bell sounds as it is warning demons are approaching. However Jeanne easily defeats them all since she has God’s Key.

The angels discuss about Bahamut’s containment for now and it is confirmed Amira’s emotional state is vital for it. Of course they can’t afford to let humans keep the key too and Michael who chose Jeanne as the vessel will have to pay a great price. Michael remembers when she slew Amira, she felt a powerful magic protecting her. It could be the one scheming to steal the key and lift Bahamut’s curse. Amira’s goal to reach Helheim where the other key is and they believe keeping her at Anatae will make the schemer make his move. They are going to use this opportunity to expose his identity. Amira heard a voice claiming to reveal her reason of being born in this world. She follows it. Rita who isn’t fond of parties, returns to her room only to see the guards guarding Amira’s room knocked out. Kaisar is in a dilemma to fight Favaro now. He might admit he is a nefarious villain but yet he saved him. Anyway they get their little fight going. With a fork and knife? Rita beats them up to inform them that Amira is gone. As they go look for her, Favaro stumbles upon a statue of Bahamut. Jeanne is there to explain about this powerful creature that will destroy the world once its power is awakened. The world was nearly destroyed and all hopes lost when Supreme God Zeus and Demon Lord Satan transformed themselves into keys to seal it. People often come here to pray but not to Bahamut but to the prophesised saviour that will bring peace to the land if Bahamut is ever revived. Jeanne is believed to be that saviour. Favaro thinks this doesn’t involve him as he got dragged into this by a demon girl. He is just a simple bounty hunter who only loves booze, women and freedom. But Jeanne doesn’t think so. She was an ordinary girl from a remote village when the Gods gave her their blessings and awakened to her mission. Everyone is born to play a role. Thus he was destined to meet Amira for a reason. I don’t think Favaro would buy that crap. Amira is stunned that this mysterious guy has the same pendant as her. He was asked to hold it by her mom. Could it be he is her father? Another bell sounds. Azazel is leading his demon army. Playtime is over.

Episode 6.5
Wait a minute! What the heck is this recap episode for?! I was hoping there were new scenes but nope. It just plays in chronological order the events so far mostly scenes relating to Amira. From her stealing God’s Key and then crashing into those kidnappers when she was cut down, meeting Favaro and his lie to bring her to Helheim, their journey to that foggy village where Rita summoned her zombies and eventually followed Kaisar, that port adventure with Amon (for over a minute there, no dialogue in this summarized scenes) to Amira’s capture, the rescue mission inside Gregor, their retrieval at Anatae and finally that mysterious guy with the same pendant. This time we get to see his face clearer. Isn’t that Lavalley?

Episode 7
The offensive on both sides go into full force. Amira is now a happy girl after meeting her supposed father and goes off to eat. And I thought girls only feast when they’re depressed… Yeah well, she wants to continue eating despite the danger all around and won’t budge no matter how much Favaro and Kaisar pull her away. Pazuzu faces off with Jeanne while Azazel makes his way into the castle and before Favaro and co. Azazel reveals to Kaisar that he is the one who killed his father and mocks his last moments whereby everyone jeered at him. However Favaro tells him off that he is the one who killed his father. He wants Kaisar to take Amira to Helheim on his behalf. This is a showdown between demons. Of course Favaro is no match for a full demon like home although he doesn’t give up. Jeanne is on the verge of defeat when she receives magic support from her mages to revive and stab Pazuzu with her spear of light. But Pazuzu isn’t fazed with his defeat because the true goal is God’s Key. Favaro too is about to meet his doom but Kaisar returns to help him out. Don’t worry. Amira is safe in Rita’s hands. She turned dead guards into zombies to fend off other demons. So why did he come back? He isn’t going to let somebody else kill his father’s killer. Azazel laughs at his pathetic reason to let him live. In that case, it makes him the killer of both their fathers and will play with them a little longer. However Favaro disagrees. His old man died because he screwed up. He couldn’t care less about revenge or whatever reasons to give Kaisar to live. He lives for himself. Therefore Azazel isn’t his sworn enemy or anything but a rotten demon. The guys cooperate fighting mad Azazel and Favaro is now used to using his demon tail to his advantage. Although Kaisar stabs Azazel, nothing happens. Seriously, can human weapons even hurt him? Guess not. Azazel is going to kill them now as Kaisar notices Jeanne preparing her attack from a distance. He then changes his mind and wants Favaro to take Amira to Helheim. Kaisar charges at Azazel but is pushed off the ledge. This was enough time for Jeanne to fire her light and burn Azazel to a crisp. The remaining demons flee. Kaisar didn’t die, though. Favaro caught his hand. How long can he last… Rita is done with her part but finds Amira missing. You can’t leave that girl out of your sight for a second, can’t you? Seems she is looking for her father when she stumbles upon that Bahamut statue. She suddenly remembers its destructive force.

Episode 8
The pendant activates and Amira sees vision of Bahamut. She screams and then faints. The king is grateful to Jeanne and wants to give her a piece of land as reward. However she declines. But there is one thing she wants. When Amira wakes up in the company of Favaro and co, she reveals she remembers she was asleep in a cocoon for a long time. She was awakened by someone who told her to fulfil her mission so she will get to see her mother in Helheim. They are summoned before the king. Amira spots Lavalley among the guards and points out he is her father but Favaro doesn’t want her to be so hasty to go to him. Rita wonders if this means Lavalley is a demon but Kaisar refutes he is an ordinary human and a proud knight as he has met him once in Wytearp before. As part of Jeanne’s request, the king knights Kaisar and Favaro to become part of Orleans Knights. You can’t imagine how happy the former is but the latter is just rolling he is and forced to play along. Michael then descends to praise a good job they are doing. With the seal lifted, they can expect more activity from the demons. She gives Jeanne the holy sword, Precieuse that can even slay God. Sorry Mr King, you don’t get any but only their blessings. Azazel is alive although heavily injured. He is confronted by Beelzebub who burns him. Azazel is mad that he plans to betray Lucifer. What for? He will know when Judgment Day comes. The king is jealous and sad he didn’t get a sword. So much so he is seeing visions of his dead mother (somebody drugged his drink). But mother tells him to watch out for a traitor who will take his life. That traitor is Jeanne. She will kill him and rule over his land. The king’s scream is so gay! Of course the king won’t allow this to happen. Michael receives reports that the war god has been eliminated. It cannot be Azazel or Lucifer’s doing and might be the mastermind. Gabriel suggests increasing the capital’s security to prevent Amira from being kidnapped. Beelzebub reports to Lucifer about Azazel’s failure and will personally take charge of operations from now on. They cannot afford any more blunders and he will retrieve God’s Key to revive Satan.

Amira is happy when Favaro allows her to go see Lavalley. He in turn is happy to see how much she has grown in 5 years. He thanks Favaro for saving her. It’s time to reveal the truth. As Amira is both a demon and angel, this means Lavalley who is completely human is not her real father. Her mother, Nicole is however an angel. She was forbidden to return to heaven so Lavalley and his men were tasked to protect her. It was tiring fending off wave after wave of demons but the sight of seeing mother and daughter gave them a reason to go on. But one day Beelzebub attacked them and kidnapped Amira. Nicole journeyed to the demon world to find her and gave him a pendant before she left. He searched for her but to no avail. The first time he saw Amira, he knew she was Nicole’s daughter. Rita deduces Amira’s growth was due to being kidnapped by demons. This explains her childish character. But what about Nicole? Is she in Helheim? Lavalley believes not even she could last in the land where demon power is strong. He puts both pendants together and it becomes a map and compass to reveal Nicole’s location: Prudisia, the Valley of Demons. Nicole is a special person with unusual powers, thus the reason the demons want her. It may be her who can free her of that key. Lavalley apologizes he can’t go with her since he is needed here. She will bring her back so he can thank her personally. Favaro starts crying not because he is being sentimental. He can’t believe he will put an end to this tail curse. In his happiness, he says how he wished he could meet her mom once. Rita wonders if he is going to tell Kaisar about this. Don’t bother. He is happy to have reached is goal and won’t hang out with them anymore. Time for Amira’s send off. A lone dragon seems to attack the capital. Actually it is Rita controlling the zombie. This distraction allows Amira to sneak out via secret waterway. Favaro is so happy as he is going to say goodbye to her and the tail. However she signals him to come along. Eh? Why? Didn’t he say he want to meet her mother once? Oh sh*t… And so Favaro’s misadventures continue… Sometimes it pays to keep your mouth shut. Meanwhile the king is horrified that his guard’s head rolls on the floor. It’s that gay scream again.

Episode 9
Lavalley orders his men to look for Amira but privately talks to Kaisar to give him a personal army to go look for her. He tells him one of his top guards is dead and it is not done by Amira. He hopes he can catch her before the rest do as he must remain here. As Lavalley examines the king’s room, the rest of the other guards’ throat is slit. Strand of hairs is found and the king believes it is Jeanne who has come to kill him. He arrests her and although she pleads her innocence, he will not hear her. Blaming this witch for everything, now that Amira is gone, the capital will no longer be under the protection of the angels. Favaro and Amira trek through the jungle. She’s a worried girl thinking if mommy would recognize her. Suddenly they are ambushed by Kaisar’s knights. Kaisar attacks Favaro and whispers to him to play along. Suddenly a bright light absorbs them. Michael cannot hold the seal on Bahamut anymore and calls for Gabriel’s reinforcements. Jeanne is in a cell while praying as a mysterious demon goes up to her to play mind games with her that everything about her being a holy knight was a lie. Jeanne holds strong to her faith and will not listen but the pressure keeps piling as he shows her a potion that will reveal the truth if she drinks it. Tempting. Anyhow, no angels will come to her rescue.

Favaro and co are in another dimension. There is a big barb stuck so if Kaisar and Amira can’t pull it out, what makes you think Favaro could? Oh sh*t… He did! A dragon revives and he is so grateful he pulled that barb that was a thorn on his side for the last 2000 years! Eh… Does this story sound familiar? Anyway that barb belonged to Bahamut. When it was sealed, it was so powerful that it blasted to another dimension and stuck onto him. But now Bahamut is closer to revival again. He warns Amira is the key that will unlock Bahamut’s seal if brought together. Destruction will reign as it has countless times before. As they speak, Gabriel is already amassing her force likewise Beelzebub with his. Amira is sad that because of her, the world will be destroyed. Too bad. That is her fate. What about her mother? So sorry too. The only way to prevent destruction is for her to stay here forever. Amira starts crying so pitifully that it breaks your heart :’(. Now it’s Favaro’s turn to have his say. Screw this fate thing! She’s come this far so don’t give up. They can change fate however they want. He slams the barb and rips a hole in the time-space rift. Holy sh*t. He just realized he dug his grave deeper. And the rest are so awed. Can’t argue with that, can you? The dragon says they are free to do what they want as he is only an observer. He lets Favaro keep the barb as it might be possible to tear through fate. The capital is abuzz as notice of Jeanne’s execution to be burnt by the stake is put up. The king considers all those who pity her as traitors! Rita sneaks into the underground of the castle but that mysterious demon shows up. Now that Amira is at Prudisia, relishing seeing her mom, Favaro looks worried big time. The dragon told him alone that as long as Amira is the vessel, that 2000 year old miracle will not happen. Zeus and Satan are in the key form and only by the blood of a human vessel can they be manifested. Amira has blood of both God and demon. If the key and Bahamut come together, they will be permanently joined and never to be separated again. He is telling Favaro this because he said he wanted to change fate. So does he have the balls to kill Amira? How is he going to change that?

Episode 10
Rita fights the mysterious demon while Jeanne is being burnt at the stake. The people believe her to be innocent and fight their way through. The king orders the guards to kill them. Jeanne is sad that the gods are not doing anything to protect them but the angels tell her the harsh truth. Jeanne is just a vessel to serve them. God does not truly love humans. In her anger, the mysterious demon gives her drink that potion and she instantly turns into a full demon and flies away. Since Bacchus is among the crowd, Rita has something to ask of him. Explaining about a spell that turns humans into demons, he only heard of rumours about a bounty hunter possessing such much. He is believed to be obsessed with death and left mountains of corpses in his wake. Bacchus’ carriage bumps into something. It is Azazel. They pick him up and want him to spill the beans but he’s mouth is tightly zipped. Favaro and co are making their way nicely when the landscape suddenly changes. That mysterious demon turns out to be Amira’s teacher, Martinet. He says they are in Helheim instead of Prudisia. Although the compass says so, he points out they have been on their way here from the very start. The guys are caged as Martinet introduces Beelzebub who will take Satan’s place in his absence. Because Amira wants to meet her mom and take the key out inside her, Martinet suggests to go ahead. Ask her. Her mom, a splitting image of her is crystallized. She looks like in shock. Amira is hesitant but Martinet assures she is the real deal. Suddenly memories flow back into Amira. She remembers Beelzebub splitting her mom into two and the other one was her. Yes, Amira is just an imitation vessel made from this angel. Beelzebub is her true birth parent in this case. The pendant was a device created with false memories. Martinet didn’t expect she would enjoy this much and there’s more if she wants. Amira crumbles in depression. But thinking things will be back to normal if she hugs her mother, she makes her way there and does so, only for her mom to slowly disintegrate before her eyes. The key in her is now unleashed. Rita continues to press Azazel for answers. She doesn’t care about the world but only those youngsters. Azazel also agrees and proposes a deal: Take him to Abos. Beelzebub throws his spear into Amira, turning her into a Transcendent Key. The only thing left is Bahamut. There is only one option left for Favaro. He yells out in his typical betrayal fashion that he wants to join them. These guys aren’t his friends to begin with. Martinet gives him drink a potion. Favaro suddenly attacks but Martinet is familiar with his trickery and beats him up to make him drink it.

Episode 11
As Azazel reveals about Beelzebub behind this and Martinet as his aide, Rita believes Martinet may not be a demon and could be that bounty hunter that could turn humans into demons. Because when she fought him, she could see through his magic tricks. Michael believes as long as they put up this barrier, the key cannot reach Bahamut. Well, they didn’t count on Jeanne coming in to slay some of the angels! Regret giving her that sword? Although Kaisar is pushed off the cliff, he is hanging by some string. His last ditch attempt to convince Favaro not to let his spirit stoop as low as the demons fall on deaf ears. He is picked up by Bacchus’ carriage. Jeanne attacking Michael enters the scene. Jeanne turns her attention to Bacchus who in turn fights her on a now bloated flying Hamsa. Rita gives a pill to Kaisar for him to make Favaro swallow. Then they bump into that fat duck and he falls off again. Luckily Azazel picks him up since he wants to settle a score with them. Rita is trying to let Jeanne swallow her last pill but that stupid duck got in the way. She lost all hope. At least she wants some roast duck for her final meal. However Michael got the pill and puts it in Jeanne’s mouth. She returns to normal and is saddened over what she has done. But Michael says this is the price to pay for losing their direction. She reminds Jeanne she is the maiden blessed by the gods and the one who will guide the people. Michael’s physical vessel may cease to be but her spirit will always be with her. Azazel takes on Beelzebub while Kaisar tries to stop Favaro from delivering the key. As they clash, Kaisar can tell over their numerous fights, Favaro has changed into a true demon. Without hesitation, he shoots his heart. He is surprised to see Lavalley here. He claims he followed Jeanne here. Unfortunately before Rita could warn Kaisar to stay away from him, Bahamut absorbs the key and again, Kaisar gets pushed off the cliff by Lavalley. How many times has this guy fallen off? Oh, get ready for Bahamut’s revival!

Episode 12
Beelzebub is introducing himself how he’ll be the new Almighty when Bahamut turns around and blasts him! Hah! Serves him right. And he didn’t think this would actually happen to him? Rita reveals to Kaisar that from Bacchus’ info, Lavalley is the one pulling the strings behind everything. He deceived, humans, gods, demons and everybody to revive Bahamut. This includes turning Jeanne into a demon and manipulating the pendant. His real name is Gilles de Rais, a bounty hunter who has taken many lives with his gruesome sorcery. Kaisar stabs him with his sword but he is still standing. Lavalley can shape shift his face too and was the one posing as Martinet all the while. Bahamut continues to burn and destroy everything while Beelzebub laments he couldn’t control it. Azazel kills him to shut him up. Meanwhile the king is scared and praying for his mother to save him. Well, mother’s portrait fell on him. This joker… Favaro gets back up so Kaisar goes to settle the score with him after reading his lip synching. Favaro cuts off Kaisar’s left hand and shows it to Lavalley as tribute. But it is a trap because when Kaisar recites the words, Lavalley is absorbed into his band. As revealed, Favaro returned to normal when Kaisar shot him in the heart. It contained Rita’s pill that he affixed it at the end of the crossbow. So they had to throw in a little act with Kaisar going to great lengths to lose his left hand or else Lavalley won’t take the bait. Of course with Lavalley captured, he will be fatly rewarded. More than he can spend in a day. Well, if the world is still there tomorrow. Now to take care of Bahamut. Favaro is going to kill Amira. Kaisar is not happy with this joke and believes there is another way as he promised to save her but Favaro is dead serious. This is the only way. Besides, he doesn’t want her to suffer anymore. They need to end this for her. They need a way to get up there so Bacchus turns Hamsa into a giant duck for their ride.

Hamsa can’t get close or else he’ll be a roasted duck. But with the gods and demons cooperating to restrict Bahamut’s movement, this is the little chance our heroes need to get close and land on Bahamut. Once Favaro sticks the barb into the core, his outline looks very close like that statue prophesised saviour to Jeanne. Amira pops out and probably she’s not too happy waiting for him to come. But he wants his tail taken off. Just kidding. He says he’ll rush to her side whenever she is in trouble but is sorry about her mom. But Amira is okay with it because she recognized her when they hugged. Favaro wants to take her to other cool places and show her lots of cool things. Seriously. He’s not lying. Look into his serious eyes. As predicted, it turns into that funny face but instead of a slap, Amira kisses him. She thanks him and returns back into the core. Sadly, I guess this is it. Bahamut then explodes and disappears. Six months down the road, Kaisar seems to have his left hand replaced with a mechanical one and good as new. He is now the captain of the Orleans Knights and Jeanne is also reinstated back. They are to coronate a new king. Then there are small talks and rumours about how when the world was about to end at the hands (mouth rather) of Bahamut, a legendary knight appeared and banished him to another world. Does this mean Bahamut is dead? Not quite. Because Bahamut can never die and will show up again someday. Says who? Says Favaro who is leading his free spirited life. And he’s got that goatee to show us how he has matured. He rides off with Kaisar who refuses to be in his debt.

Baha-Max! Baha-Very-Good!
OMG! OMFG! This series is damn freaking good!!!!!!!!!! This is no doubt amazing. This is definitely superb stuff! No wonder I read that there were many comments ‘complaining’ why this series isn’t getting its deserved hype. Well, you can blame it by being overshadowed by other animes but on its own right, this series actually rocks! It is very interesting and engaging and even more so if you love this kind of genre of fantasy, demons and angels. At first looks, you may scoff it off as something un-anime thanks to the setting and all. But once you get into the grove, it really starts to grow on you. And I can think another reason why this series rocks it is because it is an original anime series (although I heard it is based on a card game) so there is something refreshing there as you don’t have any references to look up although some things are just predictable. But that’s not a big issue that will take your enjoyment out of it. Also, the ending was a bit rushed (because I wanted to know what happened to Rita) but after such great epic and awesomeness, this little drawback doesn’t matter.

The characters are great and they fit well in driving and developing the plot. Favaro is a very unlikely hero of the series. Heck, he is no goody-goody hero in the first place. You can tell from his scheming face that he is a selfish bastard who only lives for today and does things that only benefits himself. Despite all that, he still has a heart beneath this exterior and there are many times that he has a chance to get away with it but of course, we call it karma as it goes right back to him so technically, he gets dragged deeper into the mess instead of escaping it. Even so, deep down there is some good in him because he might not show it but he cares for Amira. It might not be when they first met but as he travels with her more often, you can sense that they become attached. Because if he was still downright selfish (which he still is), he could have just leave Amira to her fate instead of trying to change it. Or maybe it was just spur of the moment for him to say that destiny changing crap before he realized the deep sh*t he got into. But hey, at least it proves that he isn’t all that bad, although he is mostly. Also, I keep wondering if Favaro is cured of his demon tail in the end. Maybe that kiss undo it. At least he should show us his butt to confirm it ;p.

Kaisar first started out as some annoying guy. I mean, this pretty boy seems to be running around yelling Favaro’s name in the name to reclaim his family honour gets to you after a while (heck, even in the final scene he is still yelling his name). You know that they share some sort of unfavourable history together, something that turned sour along the way but with his constant persistence of hunting him down just felt irritating. Then he might look silly because of his penchant to talk about his family’s past honour but when are in his shoes, what is else left to do? So from childhood friends to great enemies and now back to being best friends again. Well, that’s life for them. You can call it destiny or fate but I think to these guys, they are more likely to believe they chart their own fates and carve their own destinies.

I don’t know, ever since Rita joined the group, it feels like she is having fun in her own way. She might be the brains and calm rational voice of the group despite looking like a zombie. Thought to ponder: If Bahamut successfully destroys the world, will Rita still be alive because she is an undead. Technically, she cannot die. This means she is as immortal as Bahamut! But aren’t we lucky that she doesn’t crave for world destruction because she could easily turn everybody into her zombie slave and that itself is world destruction. She is probably the best character of the series because she’s cool and doesn’t do emotional outbursts like the rest. Oh wait. Do zombies have feelings?

It goes to show that heroes do not necessarily come in the form of a white knight in shining armour. A carefree bandit, a fallen knight and a zombie are what it takes to save the world from yet another destruction. Heck, angels and demons can’t do the job. God and Satan can only do so much as seals. So despite their flawed characters, you can’t help realize that you want to cheer and support them on when the going gets tough. You don’t know how they’ll get out of their sticky predicament, but you’ll know they just will. And you’ll have that satisfying and relieved look when they do.

It was bittersweet ending for Amira because we have grown accustomed to her with Favaro and Kaisar that even in the last moments, you hope that Favaro would come up and think of some unconventional way to save her. I mean, he did say he is going to change fate, right? So I thought he wasn’t going to listen to that old dragon’s words and find a way around it. Guess not. Guess that surprised us. But overall, Amira herself is imperfect. There are many sides to her. From her badass side transforming into a half angel and half demon to kick ass to a naive and childish side because all she really wants is to see her mother again. Then there is her funny side and I think her unlimited appetite is made as a running joke. I think we can blame Favaro for this one because it seems after he introduced her to booze and food, it’s like things she is unsure of, could it be eaten?

Bacchus and Hamsa’s role aren’t pretty clear but the way I see it, they somehow fit to be like comical side characters from Disney. Really. I mean, when you look at that talking duck, he exudes this kind of feeling that you would normally only see in a Disney movie that has a lively talking animal sidekick. Doesn’t Hamsa fit that role very well? Otherwise, I don’t see what this duck’s role in this anime except for the running joke that Amira wants to eat him. Even zombie girl like Rita too eventually. Must taste good, no? I mean, do you ever felt the urge to eat Nemo? The rest of the other characters are okay and help in the development of the plot like Jeanne and Lavalley (I knew there was more to this knight than he looks) but some you’ll be left wondering what their purpose is for like Azazel (was it just to kill Beelzebub and let him have revenge? Couldn’t they just let Bahamut do the job?) and that sexy demon, Cerberus who went out of the scene halfway through the series and only made a cameo in the final episode for a handful of seconds just to show us she is around.

This might be trivial but I kept thinking that the big bad boss of the series that is even named after doesn’t get to move around much and stays dormant and sealed in his place. Isn’t that the big irony? The only time he gets to move is when he is freed in the final episode and even so, he doesn’t really move from his spot and it’s like just cameo. Why should he? He can just blast and destroy everything with his fire breath from where he stands right up till the heavens and right down to the underworld. So if you’re picky, you’d be wondering while watching the entire series where the heck is Bahamut’s rage anyway? The past doesn’t count, by the way. And since Favaro has ‘hinted’ that Bahamut is eternal and would one day return, does this mean there is hope for a sequel! I sure hope so!

Action plays a very important part of this series and I can say that they are all perfectly executed well. At least they are satisfying enough to keep your eyes glued to the screen. Some have that comical effect and nature added into the mix while some are intensely serious. Either way, you won’t regret watching the action bits. With lots of magic, wits and luck (for our puny humans, that is), it is no wonder that this series is a great fun to watch. Even if you know that it is going to be predictable (oh come on. Anybody would have guessed that an unlikely hero is going to save the day), it is still fun and intense to watch. Every bit of it.

The art and drawing may seem a little different than you conventional anime. Because with the fantasy setting and the main pair of characters that are introduced to us in the first episode, one may quickly jump to conclusions that this series has got some American or western influence or something. Firstly, Favaro already looks like a clown with his orange afro. Other characters like the king, Lavalley and Bacchus have this ‘American’ feel thanks to their big stature. Oddly, some demons like Azazel and Lucifer have anime bishonen pretty boy looks. I don’t know if it is the trademark art of this series because the way they draw the lips of the characters. For female characters they look fine, but when drawn on males, they look like pretty boys. Because it looks like they’re wearing lipstick! I mean, take a look at Kaisar. He looks more like a pretty boy than anything. Like as though he is the pretty boy version of Space Dandy’s titular character. See the striking resemblance there? Then you see Lavalley with those kind of lips. You wonder if he is such an effeminate guy. Cerberus’ design is also cute and amusing because as we know it is supposed to be a 3 headed dog that guards the gate of hell but instead you have a cute sexy demon lady with even cuter furry doggy hand puppets. It’s like she loves playing hand puppetry and speaking on their behalf. But character designs aside, the backgrounds and sceneries are quite good and fit well especially with this fantasy setting. Oh, and Bahamut being animated via using CGI graphics and in 3D isn’t that bad either.

I think something must be wrong with my ears. I thought Miyuki Sawashiro was voicing the roles of Amira, Rita and Jeanne. I don’t know. They sound so close to me. But something was off. Till I later found out that she only voiced Rita. Amira is voiced by Risa Shimizu (Shiori in La Corda D’Oro Blue Sky) and Jeanne is played by Megumi Han (titular character in Mushibugyou). Then there is the familiar voice in Favaro who is no other than Hiroyuki Yoshino. I guess with his joker voice, it is no doubt that he plays joker characters and make them sound so convincing like Saruyama in To Love-Ru, Bossun in Sket Dance and Meow in Space Dandy. Eri Kitamura was also recognizable as Cerberus. Other casts include Go Inoue as Kaisar (Sky High in Tiger & Bunny), Masakazu Morita as Azazel (Barnaby Brooks AKA Bunny in Tiger & Bunny), Kenjiro Tsuda as Martinet (Mikoto in K), Ryuuzaburou Ootomo as Beelzebub (Crocodile in One Piece), Hiroshi Iwasaki as Bacchus (Clay in Hitsugi No Chaika: Avenging Battle), Showtaro Morikubo as Hamsa (Shikamaru in Naruto), Hiroaki Hirata as Lavalley (Sanji in One Piece), Shouta Aoi as Michael (Ai in Uta No Prince-sama: Maji Love 2000%) and Ayumi Fujimura as Gabriel (Eiko in Shinryaku! Ika Musume). In short, the voice acting is great and does justice to fit the characters.

Upon hearing the opening theme, you’ll be blasted away. Because Existence by Sim is truly a mother f*cking hard punk heavy metal acid rock music (and whatever you want to put in) that has the singer screaming from the top of his voice! Really screaming like hell! Yeah, you can’t even hear a damn thing of what he screams. I don’t know if it was meant to be that way. But this ‘noisy’ rock music that is sung entirely in English is definitely befitting of this series despite I am not particularly fond of this music genre. But having this as the opener really does get you into the mood. As for the ending theme, it is a very beautiful ballad sung by Risa Shimizu, Promised Land. (Again, I thought it was Miyuki Sawashiro behind that voice). Although a complete opposite from the opener, this song also fits the series as an ending theme well after all that action, drama, revelation, etc. Sometimes it is beautiful enough that it wants to make you sing along. Likewise the background music and soundtrack are great and definitely fit, if not boost the epic-ness of this series.

Overall, this is absolutely a great series. It might not be a masterpiece but it is definitely an epic fantasy adventure done right. Whether you are fans or not of this genre or kind of story, this is absolutely a must watch. You won’t be disappointed. This could easily be your top 3 anime of the year and probably top 10 of the decade. At the end of it all, you would be craving for more and even hoped that Bahamut would have destroyed the world and then restart it again in another alternate time so that we can have a sequel and another set of approach-cum-adventure to put it down. Therefore if I could go on such an awesome adventure myself, I wouldn’t mind seeing the world getting destroyed over and over again. It isn’t a bad thing to relive the awesomeness again and again, no?

High School DxD New OVA

I’m wondering why it took so long to come out but I think there is no other better way than to remind us of an upcoming sequel by releasing an OVA weeks before it. Yes, people. And so you might have heard it a long time ago that with High School DxD getting a third season, we get High School DxD New OVA (which is also the 13th episode of the second season) as a big bonus to welcome the new season (which is in the midst of running by the time of this blog). Ah yes. Delicious fanservice. Delicious boobs. I know this is one of the few ecchi animes that has a good storyline despite the ecchi theme but I am sure they are the reason why we come back for more. That is why we get a third season… :).

I’m Enveloped In Boobs!
Right off the bat, Asia is being attacked by a perverted monster stealing her undies. And those are her favourite. Our usual heroes come to her rescue but the obligatory tentacle rape scene is a must for the girls. Before Issei could do anything (because that pervert is enjoy watching it all), Irina cuts them down and destroys the monster. As she explains, she is investigating the person controlling the monster. The church believes the Legendary Sage is behind this and wants him arrested. Rias is baffled that someone of such status is being pursued by the church. Isn’t this case is just like catching a panty thief? The gang head deep into a building where this Sage is believed to be. They see him collecting a range of lingerie and picks out those with the finest quality! They confront him and he isn’t worried. He even got the cheek to ask them to donate their lingerie for his experiment. Then he starts narrating his story how he was a man of God and served the Lord, blah, blah, blah. Then one day he accidentally touched the boobs of a nun and that is when his life started to change. He became distraught something so beautiful was forbidden but some angel who called himself the Ero God gave his blessings that it is alright for him to steal female lingerie. And so that is when he began his experimenting. Issei is touched with his story and understands. He reveals his great ability to rip girls’ clothes with just a mere touch. But Sage calls it pathetic. He demonstrates he can rip it apart without touching and even see through clothes with his x-ray vision. Issei is defeated and feels there is much to learn! Azazel drops in and won’t let them disrupt Sage’s experiment. Because this guy is the closest in creating the Philosopher’s Stone, he wants to observe until the end.

After aligning all the lingerie, he starts chanting and with the ‘boost aid’ of a porn magazine, he tries to merge with the lingerie. Yeah, no wonder the church wants him arrested. It is embarrassing to have a man of God doing this. However the process falls apart and Sage notes he needs more boost. How about the girls show him their panties? How about using his x-ray vision? He can’t as he is in intense concentration. Issei pleads for the girls to show him! Koneko shows Gasper’s and Sage becomes shocked seeing the trap. The process goes out of control and he turns into a giant bundle of lingerie. He’s got the power to rip their clothes and make their bras like magnet. This means the chicks are drawn to each other and start rubbing each other’s bodies. Sexy fanservice! Yuuto and Gasper could have done something had not lingerie cover their eyes. Issei is busy enjoying this scene. Irina tries to cut him down but got her clothes ripped. She is not wearing any underwear beneath because Sage previously stole hers. He notes her lingerie was the finest and was used as the base of his magic. Irina won’t forgive this humiliation (the reason whys she volunteered on this mission). Sage uses the bra as handcuffs so Rias tells Issei to do something instead of staring. I don’t he is giving much effort in thinking to solve this. Rias suggests showing male underwear as Sage doesn’t like it. Issei unzips himself but Sage won’t let him and has all the girls glomp him in their breasts. This is what heaven must feels like.

Sage soon gets jealous that Issei is the one getting his face drowned in so many boobs instead of him. Issei then stands back up to tell him if this is just what he wants? To become lingerie? Because what is more important lies beneath it. Yeah, he is waxing lyrical about boobs and all the goodness about it. Somebody arrest this nut too. Sage feels he has been wrong all the time. So now his eyes are opened? Azazel feels disappointed that this has got nothing to do with the Philosopher’s Stone and hints to Issei to end this. Before him are lingerie and the girls trapped in it are as good as wearing them. It’s time to use his special skill. With a single punch, he frees the ladies as well as Sage. He is arrested and has final words for Issei. He doesn’t want him to deviate from his chosen path and will someday conquer that path himself. Wanting Issei to inherit his legacy, he gives him his lingerie collection. Shouldn’t those be given back to their rightful owners? Rias lets him keep them temporarily as reward for working hard. She phrases it as a huge inconvenience returning them and needs a volunteer to handle them. Seriously?! Lingerie party!

Boobs All Around!
Fanservice doesn’t disappoint… Lingerie don’t disappoint… Boobs don’t disappoint… Tits don’t disappoint… Character development and storyline progression… Don’t care! As long as they got those holy trinity covered, everything is fine in this OVA! Haha! It is already indecent so might as well go all the way. That should sum it up for this OVA. So are you ready now for the third season now that this little OVA has whetted your appetite? I’m sure those who are looking forward to would. Fan of this series would welcome this OVA a lot, ecchi haters should stay clear from it and for beginners, it is much advised to start right at the top (from the first season to its OVA and specials). If you are going to be ‘corrupted’ by the show’s fanservice, might as well do it properly instead of being half-assed. Don’t worry, you can still go to heaven even if you harbour dirty thoughts ;p. Despite how this OVA is telling us that it is okay to do this to boobs and underwear, as long those fantasies are confined in your head, it is just fine. Because remember people, stealing lingerie is still a crime no matter what the excuse!

High School DxD New

Finally the boobs have arrived! Oops! I mean, when you think of High School DxD, you also think about boobs, right? It can’t be helped since some animes go synonymous and hand in hand with fanservice like Freezing or Queen’s Blade. Would you believe it that I am watching the second season, High School DxD New not because for the boobs fanservice but for the interesting storyline? Yeah. Hard to believe but believe it. As said in my previous blog on this series, this is one of the very few ecchi themed shows that has a plot and got me interested in the story instead of staying for the fanservice. That’s just extra bonus. As we know, our heroic but perverted Issei who dreams to have a harem of his own and be king of it is now a low level Demon. But he’s got this powerful gear that boosts everyone’s power and an attitude to protect his friends that would make girls slowly fall head over heels if he plays his card right. And then there is that war against the different factions of Angels, Demons and Fallen Angels, no? I know it’s complicated but it is all somewhat interesting.

I have been thinking why they have given the word ‘New’ as the name of the second season. I am sure that they mean it is a new season but if you think about it, that just sounds pretty lame. New characters? New plot? New development? New surprises? Yeah. Perhaps a bit of all of that. But still, don’t you think it doesn’t sound as cool? At least in my opinion. I thought they could do better than that in the naming department. The only plausible reason why I think they named it so is because they can design the alphabet ‘w’ as a pair of women’s breast. Yup. You’ll notice that in the design of that word quickly. But seriously, there are many other words that have ‘w’ in it. Say, women, power, winner and even meow. Meow? Hah. I just think of whatever words comes to mind.

Episode 1
What a way to start an episode. A naked girl sleeping right next to a guy. This is not a dream. Issei is surprised to find naked Rias next to him. Even better. She is willing to get ecchi with him. Till Asia knocks on the door to remind them about training. Think she’ll get jealous or freak out? Actually, she doesn’t want to lose and strips! Woah! Now there are 2 naked girls! Great start! At school, Issei’s jealous pals, Matsuda and Motohama are admonishing him about rumours that he is sleeping with the Occult Club beauties. Hell, they’re the ones who spread it so they won’t get jealous! Aren’t they jealous? They even made up rumours of Issei x Yuuto! Even classmate Aika Kiryuu is puzzled that Asia had to choose this loser when there are lots of great guys out there. Issei is about to deny all that nightly interlocking stuff talk when his left hand starts acting up so he excuses himself. At the clubroom, he has Akeno drain the power of his dragon. The way they show it sounds so slutty… Akeno sucking his finger but from that position it looks like… And he’s in a towel. She is in a wet robe. You get the picture. Let’s do this again another time? The Occult Club members are having their club meeting at Issei’s place since the building is undergoing cleaning. Issei’s mother who loves their company brings in old photo albums of Issei. The girls just love him. Stark naked. Some sort of fetish must be awakening… But Yuuto sounds envy that Issei gets to live with his family. He points out a photo with Issei and another kid he used to spend time a lot at the church with but moved due to the change in the father’s job. Yuuto points out the holy sword in the background. Later Issei goes out to get more demon contracts and since he’d do anything, he accompanies that guy drinking in his home.

Issei then meets up with the rest to slay a stray demon in an abandoned factory. Why do such demons have to spew clothes disintegrating liquid? Although the stray demon has been eliminated, Yuuto’s spacing out got the rest in danger. He isn’t his usual self. Rias even slaps him after that but Yuuto owns up and wishes to be excuse for tonight. Issei tries to get him to talk about his problem. They’re friends, right? Yeah. Who says? Yuuto hints he just remembered what he is fighting for: Revenge. He only lives to destroy the holy sword, Excalibur. Later Rias explains how Excalibur is the ultimate demon slaying sword and can kill demons by a mere touch. Its only downfall is that only a selected few can wield it. That’s why the Church tried to create artificial beings to hold it via Holy Sword Project. It happened so long ago although the project ended in failure. Yuuto is a survivor of that project. Issei shows Rias the photo which got Yuuto to act strange. This isn’t Excalibur but is nevertheless a holy sword. One that probably annihilated Rias’ ancestors in this area. Enough of serious talk. It’s time to sleep. And Rias can’t sleep if she isn’t naked. And she wants to sleep with Issei! Guess what for Asia? She doesn’t want to lose, right? This dream is going to be the sweetest. Meanwhile Xenovia and Irina Shidou are at the decimated church. Irina once lived here. And yeah. She is that kid who used to play with Issei as she has that photo too. So that kid’s not a boy? Yuuto is wandering around in the streets when he sees Freed killing a priest. Since Yuuto is in a bad mood and Freed wants revenge, it’s the right time for them to draw their swords. Oh. Freed’s sword is Excalibur!

Episode 2
Yuuto has his chance fighting Freed but since the latter got some sort of call, he makes his exit. Another morning with Issei being flanked by 2 lovely naked girls sleeping by his side. Damn how lucky this guy. Ddraig talks to Issei just to warn him about the strong enemies that will appear before him. Especially the White One known as Vanishing Dragon. They’re both known as the Heavenly Dragons and are those possessing them are destined to fight each other. In other words, there is somebody out there like Issei who possesses the Sacred Gear. Issei and Asia return to the newly cleaned clubroom. They learn Yuuto is taking time off from school. Fearing it has something to do with the holy sword, he has Rias explain further. Since the original Excalibur was destroyed in battle ages ago, the Church gathered its remains and used alchemy to create 7 new swords under the Excalibur name. Yuuto wasn’t the only child in the project who couldn’t use it. Nobody could. As the project was a failure, the monk in charge killed them all. Yuuto somehow survived but on the verge of death, that’s where Rias picked him up. She thought of using his anger for revenge to help the demons. Souna then comes in requesting Rias to follow her back to her home where they can talk safely. Rias knows this has gotten serious. It seems a couple of church officials are in town and they want to negotiate with Rias and will come see her in her clubroom tomorrow. Souna had to accept their proposal since they have a holy sword.

Issei and Asia have a bad feeling when they return home. Thinking something might have happened to his mother, he rushes in only to see Xenovia and Irina talking to mother. Mother reminds him that Irina is that child in the photo. Issei is surprised because all the while he thought that kid was a boy. Now she’s so feminine. Later when Rias comes home, she is so relieved that the both of them are okay, she vows to protect them even more from now. She was even willing to oblige Issei’s boobs request if not for Asia. Xenovia and Irina begin their negotiation with Rias. Explaining that of the 7 holy swords, 1 is missing and the rest in the custody of 3 factions of the Church. However Fallen Angels have somehow taken 3 of them. Xenovia and Irina show their respective holy swords, Excalibur Destruction and Excalibur Mimicry. Rias could guess that they are worried if Demons joined forces with Fallen Angels and will do something to the holy sword. Xenovia threatens she will destroy her, causing Rias to grow angry. Rias assures she will not tarnish her family’s name and will not help the Fallen Angels. This means she also won’t help them. Before they leave, Xenovia recognizes Asia as the Witch and one who has fallen from a holy maiden. She wonders if she still believes in God and despite she has become a Demon, she looks like the type who cannot forget their old beliefs. If that’s the case, she wants her to let her cut her up so God will send His helping hand. Issei is obviously quite upset that they belittled Asia and jumps to her defence. He doesn’t give a damn about their religion after they labelled her so and so on their own. Nobody understands Asia loneliness and if they’re going to lay a hand on her, he’ll fight each and every one of them. Xenovia takes this as a challenge against the Church. So happen Yuuto has returned and he too wants to be their opponent. Issei-Yuuto vs Xenovia-Irina in an unofficial match. That means keeping it to a level where they won’t kill them. That’s still pretty bad, right?

Episode 3
It’s a pretty much destructive match between Xenovia and Yuuto. But on to Irina and Issei, the latter is trying to rip her clothes with his Sacred Gear! Thankfully she is warned by Koneko. Why tell the enemy his plan? Because Issei is the enemy of all women! Issei continues to put all his effort in turning Irina naked. He misses and hits Asia and Koneko instead. Despite getting punched by Koneko, that guy still won’t give up. He includes a passionate speech how he will one day destroy girls’ clothes just by looking at them. I wonder how sinful that is. In the end, that carelessness has Issei being scratched by her Excalibur. It drains out a lot of energy and his Sacred Gear disappears. Rias acknowledges the victory to Irina. Yuuto also loses his match when he is unable to control his bigger demon swords and in exchange took away his speed. Rias wonders if they have identified the Fallen Angel who stole the holy swords. Grigori’s Upper Echelon, Kokabiel. It is a risky mission akin to a suicide but they rather destroy the holy sword than letting the Fallen Angel use it. One of their colleagues sent to investigate has already perished. Yuuto knows him because he saw him getting killed by Freed. Yuuto doesn’t heed Rias’ words and goes off on his own.

Issei remembers Saji. Do we? He ropes him in to help him destroy the holy sword. He vehemently protests because he will face backlash from Souna. He wants to leave but Koneko won’t let him. Seems Issei’s plan is to work together with the church duo. They could still salvage the parts of Excalibur after it’s being destroyed and Yuuto wants to destroy them. Despite different goals, the end result is the same. That’s why they should offer their help. They find the church duo begging for donations. I suppose even if they’re skilful agents of God, when you don’t have money, you’re poor. And it’s ironic they’ve been saved by the Demons and treated to tons of food. Xenovia agrees to let them help out and destroy one of the swords. Irina disagrees but Xenovia notes that collecting all the holy swords is extremely difficult. Survival rate is 30% and their upper brass sent them knowing they would sacrifice themselves on this mission. They find Yuuto and tell him about this plan. Xenovia understands his anger. That’s why the project was considered a heretic and excommunicated from the Church. He lets him know the person responsible for the massacre is Balba Galilei AKA The Slaughtering Archbishop. It is uncommon for excommunicated priests like Balba and Freed to be working together. Yuuto agrees to cooperate. He doesn’t want his friends to get involve because this is his hatred and revenge. Issei insists on this friendship thingy and won’t let his previous friend turn into a stray. Not just him but everyone else will be sad if he’s gone. Yuuto narrates his flashback how all the experimented kids continued to believe in God despite the torture they went through. When the projected terminated, they were all poisoned to death. Everyone cooperated to allow Yuuto to escape. That’s when he met Rias and was welcomed into her house. He credits his survival because of his comrades who died just to let him escape. He poured his resentment into his swords and must destroy Excalibur. It’s his atonement as the only survivor. Saji is so touched by his story that he is willing to help him out. Who cares about the punishment. Koneko also wants to help seeing it’ll be lonely if Yuuto isn’t around. That night Issei leaves his house late to meet up with his ragtag gang to go hunt and destroy Excalibur.

Episode 4
The church duo and Demons split into groups for the hunt. The Demons encounter Freed and he is as crazy as usual. Freed can match Yuuto’s speed. Issei wants to help boost Yuuto. If he could just sit still for a while. Saji uses his Sacred Gear, Absorption Line to tie down Freed. Want to guess his Sacred Gear is a dragon too? Koneko tosses Issei towards Yuuto to boost him. Before Freed gets cut by his swords, here comes Balba telling him how to use the holy sword. He channels his elements into it and powers up to cut himself free. Xenovia and Irina arrive on scene. Balba isn’t going to fight with Excalibur users so he has Freed create an escape route. Yuuto and the church duo go after them. For those left behind, their bosses (Rias and Souna) appear and want an explanation over this fiasco. They are reprimanded and reminded their actions could have caused trouble for all Demons. Issei must be lucky to have Rias as his master because hugs them and expresses how worried she was. Unlike Saji. His butt is going to hurt after getting magical slams by Souna. Ouch. Oh. I take that back. Rias is going to magical butt spank Issei too to discipline him. Now show me your butt! We take a little time off for some fanservice because when Issei returns home, he is greeted by Asia in a naked apron. Mother approves! Rias also wants in and has mother help her out. She notes Asia has become quite a little pervert since she has taken the initiative. Asia tells Issei that she found something more precious than her feelings for God. The school, her friends, her club members, Issei’s parents and of course Issei himself. Wow. That’s a lot. She hugs him but all he could think of is whether to fondle her naked butt. He couldn’t since Rias is out and showing off her naked apron too.

Yuuto has not contacted them since so Rias has sent familiars to find their whereabouts. They only find Irina who is beaten to a pulp. Actually, her clothes are just torn. As she is exhausted, she tells them the others manage to escape but not her. She cautions not to underestimate that guy’s strength. After Tsubaki takes her away to Souna’s house for medical facilities, Freed comes into the picture. But he is not here to fight but his boss, Kokabiel wants to talk to Rias (he put Irina as the bait to lure them here). Kokabiel is wondering if he should create havoc in this city starting with Kuou Academy. Doing so means Sirzechs won’t sit back and do nothing. Ever since the great war ended, he is feeling bored and wants to initiate another all-out war between Angels, Demons and Fallen Angels. He thought snatching Excalibur would have Michael come after him but disappointingly he sent a couple of Excalibur wielders and an exorcist. He also mentions his fellow comrade Azazel who acts as the governor for Fallen Angels is interested in collecting Sacred Gears and has been obsessively doing research on them. Though, he is against Kokabiel’s idea for war. Freed is amazed by Kokabiel’s insanity that he shows them a couple of Excalibur swords he has now. One of them is Excalibur Mimic he got after beating up Irina. Kokabiel wants to start a war with Rias and fires several warning shots before heading off to Kuou Academy. They could have easily destroyed this entire city if they want to from the kind of power they possess. Balba initiates the next phase in his plan at Kuou Academy.

Episode 5
The student council puts a barrier around the academy. Akeno has taken the liberty to contact Sirzechs’ assistance because she knows Rias can’t handle a situation of this magnitude by herself. Backup will arrive in an hour. Kokabiel shoots a large beam and destroys the entire gym just to show the kind of power he has. He has them play with his pets, Cerberus. Issei’s boosting did little to help increase his comrade’s power. Till Xenovia comes in and starts slashing away with her Excalibur. That sword makes it look so easy, eh? Ddraig informs Issei that the charging has been complete so now he can give maximum boost to Rias and Akeno. After all the Cerberus are destroyed, Akeno attacks Kokabiel but was deflected and it destroys another big portion of the school. Balba has finished fusing the Excalibur swords together for one big powerful mother. If they don’t want this entire city to be flattened, they better defeat Kokabiel. Still no match for him. Now it’s Yuuto’s turn to show up and he has a grudge against Balba. However Kokabiel orders Freed to kill everyone with the new Excalibur. Who wants to be the first victim? Balba gives his thanks to Yuuto and his comrades that because of them, the research has been completed. Something about some genetic element that all candidates possessed wasn’t high enough to allow them to wield the holy sword. So he removed it and after its crystallization, it was completed. He shows Yuuto what it looks like being crystallized and the only one left. Freed adds everyone except him died because they couldn’t handle it. So does this make him a special person? Xenovia also remembers when someone who could use Excalibur was receiving their blessing, they accepted that into their body. It’s like making up for what they lack. Yuuto wonders why Balba had to kill his comrades because he mentioned the Church using the same extract. Because he considers them as lab rats and it’s natural to only dispose of them once the experiment is done. Yuuto becomes distraught that they were just that despite their belief in God.

Balba tosses the crystal to him. He can have it as he has found a way to mass produce something like that with higher purity. Yuuto is so upset and with the crystal in his hands, it released all the souls from the crystal. He hears the voice of his comrades telling him not to worry because they’re all here. Their hearts will always be with him. So touchy this drama that even Issei and Asia can’t stop crying. Yuuto knows his comrades don’t want him to avenge their deaths. But he will punish this evil so that there will be no repeat. Everyone encourages him to defeat Freed and destroy that Excalibur. Because of Yuuto’s strong feelings, he puts them along with his comrade’s into the sword and this awakens his forbidden Sacred Treasure, Balance Breaker. His Sword of Betrayer carries both holy and demonic powers. Xenovia wants to help Yuuto destroy that Excalibur because by the way it is used, it is no longer a holy sword. She summons another holy sword, Durandal, believed to be on equal footing with Excalibur and can cut through anything. Because it is hard to control it, she locks it up in another dimension. Balba realizes she is a natural holy sword wielder. Yuuto and Xenovia’s cooperation and their strong feelings manage to destroy the Excalibur and do some damage to Freed. Balba is about to realize the impact of having a combination of both holy and demonic powers together and the shift in the power balance when suddenly Kokabiel kills him. Now that the side show has ended, it’s time for the real show. Kokabiel wants Issei to charge his power to the maximum and give anyone that power boost. Because seriously, does anyone think they can’t defeat this mighty Fallen Angel? Issei takes Rias’ hand as they make their way forward.

Episode 6
Even with the maximum boosting, Rias still cannot best Kokabiel. Not even with Akeno’s help. Kokabiel identifies her as the daughter of Barakiel, a Fallen Angel using the same thunder powers as her. I suppose Issei is the only one who doesn’t fear Kokabiel because he’s telling him to shut up and wants to beat the crap out of him for hurting Rias and Akeno. Yuuto, Koneko and Xenovia fight the Fallen Angel to buy Yuuto some time to recharge. I think Yuuto was trying some santouryuu wielding not only swords in both hands but in his mouth as well. It was enough to at least scratch Kokabiel’s face. Since Kokabiel is going to start the war, he lets everyone out on a secret: God and the 4 Demon Lords died in the great war! Therefore servants of God have been masterless ever since. But who is keeping the balance of everything if God is dead? Michael is doing a pretty fine job in his stead although all prayers and blessing effects have a limited effect. The Upper Echelons of all sides never told this to anyone because they want everyone’s faith to be kept intact. But what angers Kokabiel most is the fact that the war ended after God and the 4 Demon Lords died. Victory could have been theirs and Azazel didn’t want another war. Due to this, there has been significant decrease in people believing in God, pure Angels can no longer be born and pure blooded Demons are a rare find. Also, that is why the hybrid sword of Balance Breaker can be created. Issei tells him to shut the f*ck up. Because if he destroys this town, he won’t be able to achieve his dream of becoming a harem king. Serious. If that is what he wants, Kokabiel invites him to join him and they can find all the beautiful women he wants. Issei is really tempted so much so Rias had to tell him off if that is what he wants so much, she’ll let him do anything to her when they get back. Anything. This was enough to give enough boost to Issei. Super motivation. Wow. The power of boobs. Never underestimate it. So powerful that he manages to land a few clean punches on Kokabiel’s face. I guess he really wants to suck her boobs that much.

Suddenly the barrier shatters. Floating down from the sky is believed to be the Vanishing Dragon. He is faster than Kokabiel and takes him out by surprise. He even seemingly nullifies his power. He introduces himself as Albion and Divine Dividing is his Sacred Gear. It halves the power of anything he touches every 10 seconds. It is a total opposite of Issei’s Sacred Gear because his gives power. Albion considers Kokabiel a bore and sends him back to where he belongs since Azazel ordered him to be brought back. Albion then takes Freed as he needs to interrogate him before his execution. Ddraig greets Albion and they are confident they will meet again. Happy ending? Not for Issei. Thanks to Albion, his chance of sucking Rias’ breasts has vanished. Can you say Rias’ chastity is saved? But Albion tells Issei to get stronger first. Then they can fight. Yuuto apologizes for his betrayal and everything but everyone welcomes him back. He swears a new oath to Rias. Of course, he is not spared from her butt spanking. Next day back in the clubroom, everyone gets a surprise when Xenovia becomes a transfer student and club member. Rias has also appointed her as her Knight. This means Xenovia is now a demon?! True! I guess with God gone, her life is meaningless. But to be a Demon’s servant? Did she make the right choice? As for Irina, she went back to headquarters. Her faith in God is still strong but who knows what her reaction will be. She apologizes for saying mean things to Asia. The girls make up and they carry on with their club activities. On a last note, the guy who has been summoning Issei for company all this while turns out to be Azazel.

Episode 7
Azazel mentions he snuck into this town when he learnt Kokabiel wanted to start a war. Things would have gotten out of hand had he stopped him himself so he sent Albion instead. Issei’s conclusion? He is to be blamed for the missed opportunity to suck Rias’ breasts! Azazel admits he is interested in his Sacred Gear. From what has happened, there is going to be a summit among Angels, Fallen Angels and Demons. Rias is not too happy about it since it is going to be held in this town. Furthermore, Azazel got up close to her cute Issei without her knowing it. Jealous? She’ll definitely protect him. Extra bonus: Smothering him in her boobs. As part of their thanks to the student council for helping them out, the Occult Club members will clean the pool (abandoned for over a year – see all those green funny stuffs growing?) and in return they get to be the first ones to use it. While changing, Yuuto vows to repay the favour to Issei and protect him. Sure. Only if it doesn’t sound so gay… Because Issei has fought with the more powerful, his Sacred Gear is acting up quicker and needs Akeno’s help to drain its power. To a point where Rias is getting suspicious what they’re doing alone. True enough, she catches them in the act. Well, Akeno was the one who suggested having an illegal sexual affair. She really means it. Then when Issei puts lotion on Rias’ back, she even allows him to rub oil on her boobs! However Akeno interjects and wants to borrow him. Friend or no friend, this has gone too far. Akeno is not afraid of Rias and doesn’t heed her order that Issei is hers. This leads to them throwing powerful projectiles at each other. Wow. Issei causing the most powerful girls in his harem to fight over him?

Issei escapes only to bump into Xenovia. She has a favour of him. Make babies with him. She’s serious. But with him? She figured that now she doesn’t follow God’s path, Rias told her to live the life she wants. She makes it her goal to be more feminine and part of being that is to have babies. Don’t even ask how she arrives at this. She’s about to get down and dirty with him and even tell him to take the lead because she has no experience when Rias and the rest of the girls catch them in their unholy act. Does Xenovia understand what making a child means because she’s saying it so nonchalantly that makes the other ladies blush. Sirzechs pays a surprise visit to the Occult Club. In addition to Parent’s Day (he is after all her guardian despite being the king of Demons), he plans of having the summit right here in this school. Sirzechs even stays over at Issei’s place as his parents welcome him with great hospitality. Mind you, they don’t know he is the Demon Lord. Such great people. So why does the Demon Lord want to sleep in the same room with Issei? (Too bad Rias can’t creep in this time). I guess when you are in this position, you’re tired with all the treatment and exclusivity. He is glad Issei treats him like a normal guest, something which he will never experience anywhere. Yeah. Just come down to Earth any time and you’ll be treated like scum if you don’t flaunt your money or status. He updates Issei on Kokabiel. He is being imprisoned in a crystal for eternity by Azazel. He guarantees to protect Issei from Azazel because he too knows he is interested in colleting Sacred Gears. Then he changes the subject to Issei’s preference to big breast women. He gives him an idea what happens if he uses his Sacred Gear to boost Rias’ breasts. Bigger? Rounder? Smoother? Shinier? Could it be an imagination off the charts? Yeah. He is thinking so much about it that he couldn’t sleep all night. The next day as Issei goes to school, this guy named Vali Lucifer walks up to him and knows he is the wielder of the Welsh Dragon, Emperor of the Red Dragon. Because he is the Emperor of the White Dragon, Vanishing Dragon.

Episode 8
Yuuto and Xenovia warn Vali not to do anything stupid to Issei. Of course he isn’t afraid. If they aren’t afraid of innocent bystanders getting hurt, he’ll gladly fight them. With the entire Occult Club here, Rias wants to know his intention of coming here. He is just here to tell them those influenced by the dragons can never live decent lives. He wonders if this applies to her. He is not here to fight but just as greeting. Issei is worried because he could feel Rias’ sweaty palms. Later talking to Ddraig about the dragons’ relationship, long ago when the war between the 3 sides started, 2 dragons started fighting among each other in the midst for reasons they have forgotten because it was so long ago. It caused massive destruction to the point all the sides called a temporary truce to stop them. Of course the dragons didn’t like others interfering with their fight but in the end they were cut into pieces and sealed away in Sacred Gears. Since then, both dragons have used humans as a medium to continue their battle. There have been times when a host dies before the dragons meet and thus no fight. When Issei returns to class, he gets punched by Matsuda and Motohama. Yup. Another jealousy case about Xenovia joining the Occult Club. They are suspicious if he has already made a move on her. Things get worse when Xenovia is here to apologize and will do it properly. She shows a bunch of condoms for him to use and practice!

During Parent’s Day, they are allowed to come into class and observe the lesson. Issei’s class is supposed to sculpt something out of clay. What is it that he really desires? Mmm… He is thinking about Rias’ boobs and perfect body and before he realizes it, he has sculpted a magnificent masterpiece of Rias! Everyone is impressed. Or not impressed if you’re a Rias fan. So much so they want to even buy his sculpture! Issei’s parents are so happy. For they never knew such perversion could be a lucrative business. Even Aika commented for him to make such a perfect model, he must have touched Rias’ body. Even Akeno hints she would like one and allow him to touch every inch of her naked body. I’m sure Issei would love it if not for Rias and Asia’s objection. There is a commotion at the gym and a girl cosplaying as Magical Girl Milky Spiral Seven is attracting the guys. Saji shoos them away but Souna is not happy seeing her. Serafall Leviathan is her older sister and one of the current 4 Demon Kings. Somehow, I understand why Souna doesn’t get along well with her sister. Because Serafall fawns over her and is obsessed about magical girl stuffs. To a point it makes Souna cry and run away! Bet you never see this side of hers, eh? Not even the student council president can put her foot down and tell her to restrain herself. And then Rias’ father meets Issei’s parents. They even have a feast back home. Is this going to be a common practice when Rias family visits? They go through the recorded clips of their children during Parent’s Day. Rias got so embarrassed that she retreats to her room. That was like hell, wasn’t it? Ironic. Issei goes to console her and she takes the first strike by kissing him. That felt good, huh? I guess she learnt something from Akeno. Of course this doesn’t sit well with Asia and she wants a piece of the action too. Too bad Sirzechs have to ruin it because he thinks it is time for Rias to release her other Bishop. Previously she was too weak to control it but after watching her battle against Raiser and Kokabiel, he changed his mind. Her strength has increased and there are more people in her house now. If this is what he wants, she will comply.

Episode 9
There is a sealed room in the school building where the supposed Bishop is sealed. However they released the seal every night for the Bishop to roam free but apparently the Bishop is a shut-in. Ironically this Bishop also gets the most contract fulfilled. Just by opening the door, Gasper Vladi starts cowering in fear and whines she likes it in here, blah, blah, blah. Issei is happy to see a young blonde girl just like Asia. She might not have boobs but at least another girl to add to his harem. But Rias mentions Gasper is a boy. Say what? Cross-dressing is his hobby. Disappointed, eh? He never knew how screwed up this world is. Yeah. His mind is screwed up too. Rias adds before becoming a Demon, he is a child of a vampire and human. Gasper is so frightened that he seemingly disappears to a corner. Also explained that he possesses the Sacred Gear, Evil Eye That Stops The World. When he is nervous, it will momentarily stop time. It is because he cannot control this power, Sirzechs ordered him to be sealed away. But his power increases when he is unconscious and may even possess Balance Breaker. Gasper continues to hide in a box and is happy with his recluse life. Rias, Akeno and Yuuto are heading off to a meeting and she wants the rest to help educate him. Xenovia seems like a Spartan trying to train her physically. I thought she looked more like a bully. Is she enjoying this? Even Koneko. She’s throwing garlic at him. Loving it, aren’t they? Saji pays a visit and is thrilled to see the newbie till he is told about the cross-dressing. Disappointing, eh? When Azazel appears, everyone gets on their guard. He is disappointed Yuuto is not around. He advises Gasper of his Sacred Gear. It is dangerous if he doesn’t have enough magical power. Noting Saji’s Absorption Line, it belongs to the Black Dragon’s Vein. He even tells him some functions he never knew exist. Like using his line to drain Gasper’s excess power as it is one of the 5 great dragon kings, Prison Dragon Vritra. There is another faster way too. Suck Issei’s blood as he is the host of the Red Dragon. But can a cowardly guy like Gasper do so? He’s already complaining he hates blood. Despite being half-vampire. The  ‘re-education’ of Gasper continues but the no progress. More whining and crying.

He locks himself back in the room. Rias has to be called in the middle of the meeting. She explains there is a reason he is acting so. His father is from a distinguished vampire family while his mother an ordinary human. Because of that, he is shunned by other family members and when he came to the human world, everyone bullied him. Given that he couldn’t control his power, he was also hated. After hearing such fine speech, Issei takes it upon himself to handle it so Rias goes back to the meeting. He sits outside his door and talks to Gasper his usual way. Relating his experience when he was afraid to use his Sacred Gear at first, moving forward and never wanting to see Rias cry again. Gasper feels he is a hindrance to everyone but to Issei, he has never seen him as one as he is her precious junior and friend. He hopes he could lend his power to support Rias. Still afraid of his power? In fact, Issei envies it. Imagine he could stop time and stare underneath girls’ skirt and fondle boobs as much as he wants. Now that the ice is broken, Issei goes in to continue talking about his plan. The kind to fondle Rias’ boobs. That’s his current goal, right? Yuuto returns and is happy they are getting along fine. Issei has a plan for the guys. Gasper will freeze time to let Issei grope boobs. How does Yuuto fit in? He will defend him from anyone trying to stop him from executing his plan! He’d do anything for him, right? The other girls return and they want to be Gasper’s friend. Xenovia slams a paper bag on his head and suddenly he feels comfortable! He likes it! Thank Asia for this idea. Gasper is doing great. At least his confidence is there. Later Akeno wants Issei to meet her at the shrine. Can Demons be at such a place? It was abandoned but Rias made arrangement to gain ownership for her. An Angel with golden wings descends and he is Michael. Wow. Issei is lucky to have met the heads of all the factions.

Episode 10
Michael shows him a holy sword used to kill dragons, Dragon Slayer Ascalon. He wants Issei to have it and see how it assimilates with his Sacred Gear. Why him? He heard rumours he is the weakest successor (it’s a fact) and thought this would be a good auxiliary weapon for him. Although the majority doesn’t want to go to war, there is a minority faction that longs for it. If nothing is done, everyone will die in the end. There is also the threat of outside forces. Creatures from other myths and legends that may strike first. That is why it is necessary for the 3 sides to join forces to prevent needless bloodshed. Issei takes Ascalon and it perfectly fuses with his Sacred Gear. After Michael leaves, Issei asks Akeno about Barakiel. Did he step on a landmine? Akeno explains she was born from Barakiel and an ordinary temple woman. She picked him up when he was injured and that’s when Akeno was conceived. She shows him both wings of a Demon and Fallen Angel she has. She wants to know what Issei thinks. He must hate her because Fallen Angels once hurt Asia and attempted to destroy his city. He admits he hates Fallen Angels but Akeno is an exception because she is kind. And all the other nice things about her. I guess this turns on her feminine switch so she hugs him. She has decided. To be his number 3. She doesn’t mind adultery and wants him to spoil her more often. Issei couldn’t resist her seduction and lies on her lap pillow. What if Rias finds out? Oops. Too late. There she is. His cheeks got pinched. Thank goodness it is only that. Obviously she leaves mad and despite Akeno calling her the number one candidate, it doesn’t please her at all because she thought she was the furthest. Issei and Asia continue with Gasper’s training. He easily gives up but Issei reminds him about their goal. Yeah. His goal to grope women’s boobs. He is willing to play the devil as long as Gasper gets strong. Nice reasoning? Well, it motivated Gasper to carry on. Meanwhile Vali is seen talking to Azazel. The former regrets being born in this era because God is no more. He wanted a chance to defeat Him and is not interested in this boring world. Rias takes her Occult Club members (with the exception of Gasper and Koneko who stayed back) to the summit. All the important characters are here. They talk about Kokabiel’s attempts to start a war and Azazel sounds quite obnoxious in answering. He let Kokabiel roam free to see his intention and asked the White Dragon to dispose of him so he’s not going to come back ever. Azazel wants to get over with this boring discussion and form an alliance to get over this. He points out this is what the Demons wanted since the beginning.

Episode 11
Azazel asks the opinion of the dragons since they don’t belong to any faction but have the power to change the world. Vali just wants to fight strong people but he can do that without resorting to war, right? Issei can’t come up with an answer so Azazel puts it this way. If there is a war, he won’t get to sleep with Rias. Imagine there is peace, he’ll be able to have sex with her and produce babies every night. Not a bad deal, right? With that, Issei votes for peace and blurts out he wants to have sex with Rias. Oops. Issei has a question for Michael. Why did he expel Asia who was faithful to God? After His demise, only the system remained. It is barely functioning with him at the centre and hence anything that could negatively affect it must be purged. That’s why Asia and Xenovia were branded as heretics otherwise they couldn’t have maintained the system as they rely on the faith of the people. Michael is deeply sorry over it but Xenovia and Asia inform that they are living a great life as Demons. Suddenly time stops. Only high levelled entities and sword users are not frozen. Magicians swamp down into the place and start attacking. They deduce Gasper may have been captured and forced to amplify his power. Issei learns Gasper is more powerful than he thinks because he is a Mutation Piece (made up of several chess pieces from what I understand). Rias didn’t leave Koneko behind for no reason. Because she can do castling (a king and rook swap places). Grayfia suggests Rias can take along one more person if Sirzechs uses his power. Issei will go. Vali thinks it would be easier to just kill off Gasper and the enemy but Azazel reminds that they are here to make peace. So he orders Vali to fight the magicians and throw them into disarray. Vali easily transforms into his dragon form and kicks ass. Before Rias and Issei go, Azazel gives them an armband. One is for Issei to use as last resort to achieve Balance Breaker. The other is for Gasper to control his power.

After they leave, Cattleya appears before everyone. She is the descendent of Leviathan and was one of the Demon Kings before Serafall took over. She is all for war and chaos. She has concluded that after God and the Demon Kings death, a new world needs to be recreated as seen fit. Azazel decides to fight her alone. Noting her powerful aura, he knows descendents cannot be this powerful and wonders who is supporting her from behind. She isn’t telling. Rias is surprised to see Cattleya. Explaining to Issei, after the Demon Kings died, new ones assumed their names. The Demons could have been totally wiped out had the war not been stopped but the descendents of the old Demon Kings wished for the war to continue and were banished to a corner of the Underworld. Cattleya is that descendent of that old Demon Lord Leviathan. But they can’t be preoccupied with this fight as they have to rescue Gasper and Koneko. Rias orders Issei to promote himself into Queen. When they break in, Gasper wants them to kill him. He regrets causing trouble again. Rias tells him off not to say such foolish things and reminds him when she picked him up, she told him to live for her sake and at the same time find a way of life that he finds satisfying. In short, she will never abandon him. She treasures her servants and it’s okay for him to cause her lots of problems (like Issei?) because she will continue to scold him again, comfort him again but will never let him go. Issei nails it that everyone is his comrades. So don’t give up and fight. He summons Ascalon just to cut his own hand and fling his blood towards Gasper. A taste of that little drip causes Gasper to power up, stopping time to free himself and Koneko. Then he goes on a batty rampage against his captors with Issei performing his finishing move of breaking their robes. Say, why are all those magicians females? Now he wants to grope their perfect boobs but of course at this time of chaos, Rias won’t let him. They have to hurry back to the rest.

Episode 12
Once Gasper is in Sirzechs’ hands, Rias and co go on the offensive. But seeing them in action is not enough for Gasper. It’s that guilt trip again. He feels he wants to be a more manly man to help them so he takes off the armband. This causes time to resume normally and unfreeze those affected. Azazel takes out Downfall Dragon Spear, an artificial Sacred Gear he made and turns himself into a Dragon Armour. In a swift blow, he deals quite a damage to Cattleya. She is not going down alone and plans to take him along so Azazel sacrifices his left arm to kill her off. After the rest of the other magicians are eliminated, Vali attacks and almost hits Azazel and Issei. Turns out Vali is the traitor among the group. Azazel wants to confirm something from him. His deputy, Shemhaza deduced somebody has been collecting dangerous elements among the 3 forces and formed an organization called Khaos Brigade. The one holding them together is Uroboros Dragon, Ophis, believed to be the strongest dragon even God fears. Vali admits he joined forces with Ophis but has no interest in this world. People who wish to use their power simply flock to them on their own. Everyone is surprised to learn Vali is the descendent of the previous Demon King. His father a Demon King and mother a mere human. A half breed. Because of this mixture, Vali considers himself to be miraculously strong and makes comparisons with Issei whom he considers weak. He thinks of awakening Issei’s brutal side by killing his parents. Issei is so upset with those words that he over boosts and transforms into his armoured version. All that hatred has channelled to draw out the dragon’s true power. However Vali is still superior since he is able to absorb his power. Vali has another idea. Maybe he should kill his friends first and then go for his parents. Issei is totally worked up and pummels Vali. He even lets him absorb all the power so his armour breaks from the overflow. But you know what? Vali could easily regain his armour.

Issei is going to do a move that is considered suicide but he isn’t going to die yet. Not until he has taken Rias’ virginity. He is willing to bear the pain. And so Issei tries to absorb and fuse Vali’s power. Vali thinks it is impossible because the White and Red Dragon are opposites. But seeing Yuuto did with his hybrid sword have opened up this possibility. He might be a fool with no talent. He’ll just do it with all his emotions. Vali gets serious when he starts distorting the dimension so Azazel plans to do one more experiment. He makes it easier for Issei to understand. Vali’s power halves everything, right? So imagine if Rias’ boobs are halved. Oh. He gets the idea. The horror if all the boobs in the world are halved! See the tremendous power overflowing through Issei! Unforgivable! He becomes stronger and faster and connects every punch into Vali’s face. This is for Rias’ boobs! Akeno! Xenovia! Asia! Not forgetting Koneko too! Vali wants to unleash Juggernaut Drive but Albion advises this is not the place to do it. Issei is already near his limit. Vali’s subordinate, Bikou breaks the fight. He is supposed to be Son Goku from the Journey To The West. He informs they’re going to be fighting Earth Gods in the north so they’ve been called back. Till the next time they meet, Vali hopes Issei will go stronger. Issei is glad he has protected those boobs. And is rewarded with Rias’. He asks Michael for one last favour. To let Xenovia and Asia offer their prayer. Since they are okay that God is dead, they still want to do so. He is willing to tweak the system for them as a couple of demons doing so won’t be any different. Irina apologizes for jumping to conclusion that they betrayed the faith, now that she knows the truth. Next day, the Occult Club members get a surprise because Azazel has become their advisor and will be staying on Earth for a while. He got Sirzechs’ permission and also Souna somewhat sold them out because she was ‘threatened’ that Serafall would be transferred here. Azazel’s left arm is now mechanical and equipped with lots of gadgets. Another condition for his stay here is that he is to help develop their Sacred Gears and will hammer in the results of his research. Oh, one last message from Sirzechs. During his stay at Issei’s place, he noticed the importance of skinship to Issei. Thus he allows all girls of the club to stay at his place! And so, Akeno, Xenovia and Koneko move in. It’s going to be crowded. The competition is going to be intense. Maybe they should get a bigger house. And with peaceful times around, the girls get to fight over Issei as they walk to school. Azazel notes white the white desires power, the red desires women. Even without God, the world still turns.

Boobs For World Peace!
It doesn’t disappoint and I can say that this season is as good as the previous, if not getting better. Despite the handful of new characters and terms introduced, thankfully I can still manage it and it made me even more curious to find out what next. So please, let’s have another third season, okay? Even if the ending as usual isn’t one that really ends but opens up a whole lot of new possibilities, I suppose the execution was done right to leave viewers like me wanting more of the series in terms of the plot rather than the fanservice. Yes. Believe it. I prefer the story to the fanservice which just comes off as extra bonus.

So let’s talk about the fanservice first and get this out of the way. The version I saw was the uncensored one just like last season. (As usual they gave 2 choices of censored or uncensored and I opted the latter not because I am a pervert but rather the fansubs of the show that previously did this and I am sticking too took that version). This means there are lots of naked big boobs zoom in (courtesy of Rias and Akeno providing lots of them) and panty shots from certain angle just to tease our horny desires. So what is the point of buying the DVDs if you can watch these uncensored already? As I found out, the DVDs contain extra fanservice scenes so a normal episode that runs approximately 24 minutes is blown up to close to 30 minutes! Wow. Extra fanservice moments and I can guess which scenes they are. Since I’m not really that hard up, I will pass. Really. The mid-intermission is still another place for topless fanservice that is worthy of being a Playboy pull-out. The girls in random poses and in very ambiguous positions but enough to cover the necessary parts so as not to make this hentai. Just the disturbing thing is that Gasper did have one or two poses of his own. Is the trap fetish rising in the world? I know I would be sorely disappointed too…

Issei is still the same person as we know in the first season. He truly treasures his friends and is willing to stand up for them. However there is something about the way he gets worked up when somebody says bad about them. I know it’s a good thing but he is filled with so much angst that you can’t help feel that as though that person belongs to Issei. For instance, people badmouth Asia and Issei really tells them off. But the way he says it makes it feel as though Asia is his property and belongs to nobody else. Why not? That’s what a harem is all about, right? He is even kind enough to ask Michael to let Asia and Xenovia say some prayers to God. Nobody would have gotten this for them, would they? It would be a pain (literally) to see them say their prayers and then feel the effects of headache. Cute but pitiful. Power wise, he may still be the weakest but he is still growing and thanks to his perverted power and his ultimate goal of taking Rias’ virginity, it proves that the power of perversion is the most powerful instant power of all time. More powerful than the glucose athletes take for power before their serious competition. Well, at least he has a goal in life. From the looks of it, it seems that Issei has a lot more to go and a lot more ways he could power up and fuse stuffs and weapons. It all boils down to the will of his heart. Even a fool can turn the impossible possible. Also, despite Issei’s power up and improvement, it feels like he didn’t go anywhere. His Sacred Gear may have been through several evolutions but from an overall perspective, he is still pretty much weak due to his physical abilities. Then there is his goal of becoming harem king. Doesn’t feel like he is an inch closer although we can sense that the Occult Club girls are getting closer to him by the day. But still in this sense, he didn’t move much, didn’t he?

It is also nice to see some of the Occult Club members like Yuuto and Akeno to have their past revealed with the first half heavily focusing on Yuuto. I guess this is partly to show that Issei isn’t the only guy who has to hog the spotlight. Well, not the harem spotlight, that is. You can count on everyone in the Occult Club to still be the same people they are except with some minor or major improvements in their battle repertoire. Though, I somehow felt Koneko was very much side-lined in this season and as far as I can remember her main role is to be the deadpan tsukkomi part for Issei’s perversion. It’s great to see the Occult Club gaining more members and Rias is slowly on her way to complete her own set of chess pieces. All that is left now is a rook and 7 more pawns. Or maybe Issei is too big of a pawn that he fills up all the pawn roles. Xenovia sounds serious but sometimes I can’t help feel she is a little airhead especially when it comes to anything else other than fighting or praying to God. Her making babies statement is one good example. She doesn’t sound desperate. She doesn’t sound like she understood the entire concept of it. Like a robot, maybe? I guess with mature women and lolis in the club, they try to have a trap feature with Gasper. It’s because of his low self-confidence and whiny ways that makes him sound girly. So girly that I thought he should also be staying in Issei’s house. It’s all in the mind… I’m not sure if he understands the implication of helping Issei’s perverted dream but at least it boosts his self-confidence.

New characters bring in new breathe of life into the storyline with the heads of the 3 main factions as cool as the position they sit in. Azazel is cool because he has confidence in everything he says despite there is a pinch of arrogance in it. It’s like he knows a lot of things. Probably thanks to his research. Michael seems to be holding out playing God’s role quite well. He wouldn’t have been God’s archangel if he starts feeling the strain of everything. Vali is superbly powerful and could be the next big antagonist if there is ever another season. He recharges fast and loves challenging strong people. Ironically even though he views Issei as the weakest, he sees potential in him and wants him to grow stronger before their ultimate showdown in the future. Minor characters from the first season like Saji have been given a little more screen time with his surprise Sacred Gear and who knows what kind of potential this guy would have. Will he be Issei’s ally or rival? Some new characters don’t seem to have much impact yet such as Serafall. Just this season, she is shown as a magical girl fanatic who dotes on her younger sister. Likewise with Irina, during Kokabiel’s arc and after his defeat, I don’t feel much of her impact overall. Instead it went to Xenovia since she joined the club. Then there are those like Cattleya who just appeared for the final 2 episodes and got killed off. Finally, I’m wondering what happened to Freed. He was in Albion’s hands the last we saw him. Have they got what they wanted from him? Either way, will he be back in the future?

The romance part may not be developing that much but you can see some developments in the sense that Rias is getting more and more concerned about Issei, especially if she takes his eyes off him. Because for all you know the seductive Akeno may just steal him from underneath her nose. Akeno has always been able to keep her cool and in this sense she is quite a ‘dangerous’ person if she were to snatch Issei away from her. I know Issei will always consider Rias to be her number one but when you are a guy whose horniness does the talking, any sexy girl who can give you such pleasure will definitely take top spot. As seen many times when it comes to Issei, Akeno is willing to defy her master and make her move. Or is it just a ploy to get Rias to realize what is important to her and make her move first? It makes me wonder if Akeno considers herself as number 3, who is number 2 then? Asia or Xenovia? Because Asia has been living with Issei and they have this closeness and bond whereas Xenovia may be clueless but she’s bold enough to even bring in the condoms and doesn’t get nervy when she uses the sex word. I thought Irina would have been another major player in Issei’s potential harem since she is her childhood friend but looks could be deceiving. But I guess she’s more faithful to God. Maybe next time.

The action is rather okay this season and with the new power ups and several terms, it doesn’t feel heavy or overwhelming. Each fight is packed with power and you could feel the energy brimming especially from Issei when he boosts up. Maybe as we progress, there will be lots more other terms coming into play since as hinted there are other supernatural creatures from legends and myths around in addition to the 3 great factions. Yeah. I have a feeling this show is going to be a big messy melting pot involving monsters, aliens, gods and demi-gods. If everybody starts fighting, Earth is going to be one hell of a messed up place. That means no time for fooling around in your harem. So remember people. Always vote for peace!

But the mind boggling part is that God is dead for a long time. Someone we all believed to be the Creator of the universe is dead? Not even eternal? That’s news. If that is the case, it just brings more questions if there is another higher being than God. Because if God was really powerful and almighty, the great war wouldn’t have taken so long and victory would have been on Heaven’s side. Don’t tell me everything was just a ploy because God was just playing dead to test the faith of everyone, He is in hiding for some ultimate plan of His, so and so. That would be major disappointing. Assuming God in this anime is really dead, it proves that life can still go on. Not to say that we don’t need God to carry on life, rather like what Asia implied, there is more to life than just concentrating everything onto the Lord. You’ll experience lots of other stuffs that way. I think that is what God wants too. Another irony seen is that the Demons are like the good guys as far as this anime is concerned. But don’t let your type pigeonhole everything. It’s not your status or creature type that counts. It’s the inside. Now you understand why some girls flock over to Issei despite his obvious perverted brain and not his buddies?

With seiyuus of last season retained, many joined this season’s cast that includes Rikiya Koyama as Azazel (Kiritsugu in Fate/Zero), Ryota Ohsaka as Vali (Staz in Blood Lad), Risa Taneda as Xenovia (Yukari in Yuyushiki), Ayane Sakura as Gasper (Miyabi in Kono Naka Ni Hitori Imouto Ga Iru), Ai Shimizu as Serafall (Ren in DearS), Maaya Uchida as Irina (Rikka in Chuunibyou Demo Koi Ga Shitai), Yoshimasa Hosoya as Michael (Shihcika in Katanagatari, Arata in Chihayafuru), Hiroki Yasumoto as Kokabiel (Sado in Bleach), Ryota Takeuchi as Albion (Drake in Kyoukai Senjou No Horizon), Eizou Tsuda as Balba (Heinemann in Muv-Luv Alternative: Total Eclipse) and Harumi Sakurai as Cattleya (Lisanna in Fairy Tail).

For this season, there are 2 opening and ending themes. Somehow they all don’t appeal to me. Probably it sounded and looked too generic. The first opening theme is Sympathy by Larval Stage Planning while the second opening song is Gekijouron by ZAQ. The ending themes are sung by the Occult Club female members. The first one being Houteishiki Wa Kotaenai and the second one, Lovely Devil. Both animations are filled with fanservice with the first one having naked unknown girls whom I believe are Issei’s classmates. Since last season we had pole dancing fanservice, this time for the second ending credits animation we have some sort of funny erotic dance. Either in some sort of erotic animal suit or S&M bikini. The most disturbing part is that Gasper is part of it (including singing the song). See! Do I sense some sort of trap fetish here?! It could have been straightforward if Gasper was casted as a girl but noooo… They had to screw the minds of us who are not trap fetish with so many scenes in the anime having Gasper in certain ambiguous positions. Sure Gasper looks cute and lovely… But remember… He’s a guy… So screwed up… I understand how Issei and Saji feel…

Overall, the second season is just as fun as the first with more characters and more storyline-cum-politics from all the factions to drive the plot somewhere. It will be great to see another season in the works and probably they could make this one last longer. Of course there is a caution that when you have so high expectations, the sequels will not turn out as great as you think. But still, I have really high hopes for this series. Packing in some drama, action, supernatural fantasy, romance and comedy all into one. Oh yeah. Don’t forget the ecchi fanservice. You can’t do this series without it. Now can we use sex as an argument and excuse to advocate for world peace? Maybe. If you’re Issei with a badass Sacred Gear. Otherwise just vote for peace and be a closet pervert. Because when war comes, nobody gets time to enjoy their favourite perverted past time. Then there would be a big world filled with angry and people full of rage not getting their daily dose of porn.

Makai Ouji: Devils And Realist

To believe or not to believe. If you are the type who do not believe in the existence of demons, angels or God, then move along and pass Makai Ouji: Devils And Realist. Heck, you shouldn’t even be watching anime if you truly do not tolerate these kind of stuffs. I’m not saying that only believers should be seeing this or you’re going to be a devil worshipper if you do so, well, this anime does dwell in the concept of demons, angels and God. And it is one little puny human who holds the delicate balance between everything. Seriously. Serious. Wow. A mere human that is more powerful than Satan and God himself but yet so feeble and weak? What’s more, our protagonist is a realist (that’s a term atheists call themselves) and doesn’t believe in the supernatural. Science rules! Everything can be explained by the wonders of science! Yeah. I’m sure one day science will tell us who made men and the universe. Till then, the rest of us (well, mostly) would just take the ‘easy’ route by believing in the Almighty. So what happens when you have a realist being the centre of attraction of demons and angels? A realist who holds the most important position in Heaven or Hell that is crucial in determining whatever fates of the worlds? This must be one big dream, isn’t it? Yup. You’re not waking up any time soon.

Episode 1
It opens with this guy named Solomon making a contract with a demon, Duke Dantalion. William Twining is the smartest kid around. So smart that his brain can be considered a national treasure and it is no surprise he is top of his grade. Unlike his friend-cum-classmate, Isaac Morton who believes in the occult or supernatural, William is a realist and believes in the sciences. But he has more pressing matters to attend because the principal called him and he hasn’t paid his tuition fees for next semester. Funny he thought because his uncle Barton was supposed to handle the finances. He goes home to investigate and is greeted by his servant, Kevin Cecil. He learns Barton’s business failed and has been declared a bankrupt. He is on the run and hiding. The creditors took everything from their mansion! Thank goodness they didn’t take the manor. What a big empty manor. As the other servants have been fired, Kevin is the only one left. William wants to fire him too but he pledges his support because the Cecil family has always served the Twining family. Rather, he is betting on his brains to get big money in the future. William wonders if the family has a secret stash and they find a hidden underground basement. When William breaks the door, his hand got scratched. His blood drips onto the insignia on the floor and whoosh! Out comes Dantalion. I don’t know how a powerful demon like him can be tied up by a mere human. Although he explains Solomon, William’s ancestor who subjugated 72 demon pillars and sealed them in some vessel, William doesn’t quite believe him. He is a realist, remember? Not even the explanation of Hell’s Hierarchy very much like humans and it is the job of the Elector (that is William) to choose a new king. Hell is now ruled by Lucifer. After letting the police arrest this cosplay guy, William goes back to the room to investigate how he entered the room. Before he knows it, dark mist surrounds him and sucks him into the insignia.

He still won’t believe his eyes. Think this is a dream? A manor underneath his and that goat guy, Baphomet is just a person in a costume party, right? Yeah well, do goat butlers make such good cakes? He is Dantalion’s servant and explains the numerous factions in Hell gunning for the king’s position. What is the king doing when there is a power struggle? Lucifer is currently asleep and apparently the higher your position, the longer you sleep. Suddenly the manor breaks into pieces. Gilles de Rais is looking for Dantalion but since he is not back, he will take William instead. Before he gets to do that, Dantalion bursts into the scene. I don’t know how he escaped the police but hell, he’s a demon, right? Kevin is ungrateful despite Dantalion saving his ass. With a snap of his finger, Dantalion creates his manor but Gilles won’t leave yet. He realizes William is the Elector and wants him. A power battle begins between the demons. Baphomet further explains Gilles serves his Grand Duke Baalberith, leader of a rival faction also vying for the throne. The fastest way to raise one’s status is to announce one’s candidacy and kill a higher or powerful demon. Gilles loses and understands why Solomon chose him. He mentions they are Nephilim, demons who were once humans and this riles Dantalion. He is so mad that he unleashes a blast of power. This is bad because the dimension can be distorted and William won’t be able to go home. In that instant, William orders Dantalion to stop and he immediately ceases. He wants to be sent home first if they are going to continue to kill each other because he has got tuition fees to think about. Gilles backs down for now seeing William is no ordinary human and will report this to his master. When William returns, the principal calls him and his tuition fee is solved. He is bloody happy that they have received a generous amount of donation. Much more they have ever received. While William ponders if his uncle has returned as a sponsor, the class receives a new transfer student. Huber. Dantalion Huber. Oh sh*t!!!

Episode 2
Isaac is seen summoning a demon in the woods. He summons Sitri Cartwright who demands Isaac to take him to the Elector if he wants to keep his soul. William can’t raise his voice to Dantalion because he just learnt he sponsored his tuition. What’s more, Dantalion is willing to call off the debt if he chooses him as the interim ruler of Hell. Not a chance. During church service, William thinks of talking to fellow prefect Mycroft Swallow about his debt problems when Father Ernest Crosby pops by to inform he sensed an evil presence and wants them to warn other students to tell him immediately if there is anything suspicious. Yeah. Guess who that evil presence is. Since Dantalion needs to return to Hell as Baalberith’s forces are making his move, he has his batty familiars, Amon and Mamon watch over William. Why the need to fly so close to him? Fluttering annoyance… Since others can’t see the bats, others see William ‘going crazy’. In his room, Isaac brings Sitri (disguised as a fellow student) to talk to William. Swallow interrupts them to hand William a list of scholarships since he requested for it (I suppose William is trying to settle his next semester tuition fees too). Sitri has overhead this problem and tells him that he has an uncle who likes sponsoring such students. All William needs to do is to come and meet his uncle. Though it might sound too good to be true, William won’t let this chance slip and agrees. Late that night, he sees Isaac going out alone and it is almost curfew time. As a prefect, he needs to uphold his duties and not wanting to be held responsible when people break rules, he goes after him only to discover he is trying his occult summoning. Seems Isaac is doing this for him too because in order to defeat the demons, he needs to summon a powerful angel. I think he screwed up somewhere because he summoned a monster boar instead. Thankfully Sitri pops up to save the day. It dawned to William that Sitri is a demon. He introduces himself as a viscount and one of nobles of Hell under Baalberith. Yeah. He is another candidate for the throne.

William must be so disappointed that his sponsorship has gone up in smokes and leaves. Sitri resorts to taking William as hostage when Dantalion returns. William isn’t pleased with all the demon talk except for Isaac. He loves it. And now for another power battle while our human fellows forced to watch in a ‘prison’. When Sitri mocks Dantalion a Nephilim who always have this lingering affection to become human, he becomes enraged and mocks Sitri a fallen angel dwelling on past sentiments. William has had it stuck here and tells them to stop. Immediately they cease and Sitri feels the lost of his power. Looking at William reminds him of Solomon. Back then, Solomon took him under his care. Sitri was curious because even though he was human, he reeks scent of Heaven. Because he met God. William continues to not believe in demons or fallen angels and uses the theory of John Dalton to explain they are all atoms! So how do you explain them flying in the air? Anyway he won’t side or choose anybody no matter what. He feels disappointed in Sitri and thought he had potential as a junior. Sitri views him formidable but finds it strange because if he is Solomon’s descendent, where is the ring that symbolizes wisdom and a gift from God? William is clearly not wearing it. Gilles pop up to tell Sitri to return to Hell because Baalberith seeks him. Sitri reiterates Dantalion is not fit to rule Hell. Isaac continues to fawn over this demon thing and William laments he should be admiring his flawless academics instead. Once again, Dantalion gives William the option to choose him and clear his debts and will also leave this place but he won’t be cowed into that. More woes for William because Sitri is in his room and has decided to be his patron (much to his dismay). He is ordered to keep an eye on him and Dantalion. Since it’s going to be like this, William says he has to follow the school rules and makes Sitri clean the floors while he strictly watches over. Bullying? Scary indeed…

Episode 3
Crosby finished exorcising a demon when he receives a message about Hell undergoing some battle for the next ruler. He shall exterminate them all. Dantalion and Sitri have become popular overnight. Dantalion and the rugby team are rubbing shoulders while Sitri has got people to serve him. And a big headache for William. When William sees Crosby, it made him think if the Church of England does have powers to exorcise demons. But more importantly, if he tells him his problem, will his normal life return? Eventually he decides not to. William is probably fed up of seeing Dantalion. Mentioning Solomon as the wisest man and the third king of Israel who subjugated 72 pillars of Hell, if he is truly his descendant, he has the right to command him. He commands Dantalion never to appear before him again. Dantalion is sad but warns him that he only commands the 72 pillars and there will be other demons that will still come after him. Secondly, it is not his lineage that is the reason he is able to command him. Dantalion now wants some answers. Why doesn’t William-cum-Solomon remember him? Why is he denying him? William doesn’t say anything though when their hands touch, he remembers something vague about it. That night, William hears his juniors complaining about a ghost being spotted in the dorm. Along with Isaac and Sitri, they go to check it out. Sitri understands what Dantalion is feeling because William can’t remember and that Solomon the wisest man to live, yet he runs from the mysteries right in front of him. The ghost is spotted and they give chase. Sitri will handle this in return to be elected as the interim. The ghost turns out to be a demon and flees. They follow it to the church. Wait a minute. Demons and churches? William could feel something amiss when he Sitri is about to open the door. When he does, he is blown away by the trap set by Crosby. The demon familiar they just fought belongs to him. William still doesn’t believe in all that Hell crap thingy so Crosby beats up Sitri to get him out of the way first.

Dantalion sets up a barrier around the church. Hey. I thought he is never to show his face around William again? Unless William didn’t really mean it then… Anyway Isaac recognizes Crosby’s cross as the Hand of God. He is one of those exorcists under the Church of England’s peacekeeping division to kill demons. As Crosby continues to beat up Sitri, Dantalion wants William to seek his help, though that kid is still stubborn on not wanting to rely on him. Now that Crosby has turned his attention to Dantalion, he mentions his intention to kill the Elector. That’s because human or not, an Elector has ties with Lucifer and as servants of God, they have been granted power to eliminate that evil. Dantalion laments that every era and generation is the same. Humans are crueller and selfish than demons in Hell. He knows it because he was once like him. Dantalion shows his true power and easily defeats Crosby. He is going to taint his soul and turn him into a demon but William orders him to stop. He believes as long he is in this world, he must obey their world’s law. Dantalion then says if he is going to stop him, then accept him. Like it or not, demons and Hell exist. So don’t reject him. This gives enough time for Crosby to escape. And this means he’ll report to the higher ups and more of those pesky church people will come after him. Dantalion wants William to order him to protect him. He doesn’t have to trust him or believe in demons. William beats around the bush and rewords his phrase to say he can be by his side. And he’s not exactly accepting him but not denying his existence. WTF. True enough, Crosby reports to the Church that Solomon lives inside William and is a dangerous man. Meanwhile William is worried about his future because if the incident of Crosby (who is reported to be hospitalized) gets out, there goes his bright future. The principal then comes in to introduce a new priest to replace Crosby: Kevin!

Episode 4
Kevin is an ordained minister because his mom came from a clerical family. His brother was supposed to be the head priest but died in some war. Then he got a call from mother about a school having a vacancy for a priest and that’s how he ended up here. Kevin doesn’t want William to get too friendly with him at school and wants him to address him as Pastor Cecil. One night, a group of boys played a prank and broke the window. The dorm mother, Maria Mollins didn’t report to the principal and got the injured one treated instead. Next days, those boys talk about Maria and how she never got married although she had a fiancée.  They want to find her weakness just to keep her from telling the principal but William overheard them and tells them to get prepared for the boat race tomorrow. Of course they don’t listen and sneak into her room to steal something. William sees them coming from Maria’s room direction but didn’t think much of it. Then he sees Maria entering her room but hears a loud thud. He enters to see her collapsed by the bed side. Though she says it is nothing and was just finding something, William notices an insignia on the floor. Before the boat race starts, Dantalion feels Nathan Caxton is suspicious but William doesn’t think this elite student and cream of the crop as such. Dantalion reminds him it is because he hasn’t chosen yet and there will be others still targeting him. The boat race is a tight one between Dantalion and Nathan’s team. So much so they collided and an oar broke. It flies towards Maria’s way when Nathan uses his magic to curve it. Later Dantalion approaches Nathan and confirms he is a demon. William thought he is rude but his hand touches Nathan, he could sense it. Now do you believe? That night, William hears those boys trying to spread rumours that Maria is a witch. He snatches the grimoire they stole from her room but they assert she was trying to summon a demon. Then, Kevin calls William to tell him an urgent matter regarding Maria because she just made her last prayers to him. Before he could finish, Sitri brings William away for something urgent. He sensed a portal from Hell just opened.

Maria summons a demon but before she is killed, Nathan saves her. She recognizes him in his true form as Camio. As Dantalion explains, Camio is a Halfling, a demon born from a human’s womb. He is also a demon general under the 72 pillars of Solomon and Beelzebub’s protégé. Yes. Another interim ruler candidate. Maria wanted to see him before she dies and she knew it would be possible if she came to live in this school’s dorm, the place where they first met. Flashback during their younger days. Well, Maria of course a pretty young lady. She wasn’t afraid despite knowing he was a demon because he was lonely. They spent lots of time together but one day her family was attacked by a demon. Though Camio came to their rescue, her parents refused to acknowledge Camio as he is a demon. They wanted to elope but in the end, Camio never came for her. Now she understands why because time runs differently for demons. Yeah. Now she’s an old hag. When she was diagnosed with a lung disease and have not much time to live, she wanted to form a pact with a demon in hopes of becoming one. Camio’s heart also wavered when he learnt she wanted to be one. For he had walked the Earth for a long time alone. As a Halfling, he had no place in Hell. He is happy for her to be a demon to be by his side but Dantalion wants her to let her die as a human or she’ll turn into a Nephilim. Maria is worried he’ll be alone after she dies. Camio also laments he has been alone since his birth because Solomon also died. William suddenly sees Camio’s past with Solomon. He took him in and vowed no one will ever deny him. Even if God does, Solomon won’t. William suggests Maria get her disease treated for her and his sake. Soon, Maria resigns to get treated as the boys return the grimoire to her and apologize. They notice the man in Maria’s photo looks just like Nathan.

Episode 5
Nathan continues to stay at the school and William wonders why Dantalion and Sitri are taking this easy. Aren’t they rivals for the throne? Wait a minute. He believes that? Besides, aren’t they putting up their good behaviour for his sake? William is once again top of his grade. The demons are just mediocre. Seriously. Isaac again somewhere at the bottom as he laments he is only good in the occult and tea. Tea? His family runs a tea business as his father has a company that imports herbs and spices from India and they even supplies it to the royal family. Suddenly Nathan brings the principal to William and says this guy will handle the problem. What problem? It seems the school wants to construct a new building. The old unused water mill will be demolished for that. As the principal is soliciting donations, he doesn’t want to risk losing it since the chairman is making regular visits to check on the progress. As there are discipline problems of midnight ruckus and people breaking the curfew, this is where William comes in to handle it and sniff the problem out before the chairman arrives. But why him? Remember his struggling tuition fees? Being in the good grace of the principal would help a lot. William must be thinking how the principal introduced him to the chairman as the brightest and promising young student and be given full scholarship. I’m sure he’d like that. So William agrees to it but realizes he has been bamboozled into doing his job when Nathan goes off to read a book in the library. William is pissed at Dantalion and Sitri that they can’t outclass Camio but Dantalion hints he already tried to help. He warns William he better not be thinking of electing Camio. Don’t worry, he won’t. Or anybody else either. William and Isaac go patrolling and here the weird singing. Sounds like a ghost? They try to sniff out the culprit at the watermill but since Isaac is too scared, they turn home. Meanwhile Dantalion returns home and is greeted by Lamia. The loli keeps reminding him his promise to marry her, blah, blah, blah. He is here to see Astaroth and tell her about Camio as a potential candidate. He feels from the looks of it Camio isn’t interested in winning the throne. Maybe he’s overconfident? Astaroth warns that Camio is a higher class than him or Sitri but he is not to be concerned right now because there is someone more dangerous by the Elector’s side.

Isaac is so scared that he wants to sleep with William. Yeah well, he’s snoring!!! William can’t sleep and hears the funny singing again. He wakes Isaac up to investigate and at the watermill they see a little goblin as the culprit. William becomes a lawyer to have the goblin speak to him and read him his rights! Do ghosts and goblins have rights? As discovered, the goblin has lived here for many years milling grain in this watermill. However since its abandonment, he hasn’t been milling and learning it will be torn down, he tried petitioning many times but it fell on deaf ears. William’s answer? Face reality and get a new job! Hasn’t he looked in the mirror? Sitri says that this goblin known as killmoulis will grind anything he can get his hands on because if they don’t, he’ll die. Since he is just a small fry, it won’t be so hard to make him listen. But is there anything left to grind as the industrial advancement has made such mills obsolete. And so William settles this by having the goblin grind spices in India under Isaac’s father’s company. Happy grinding. Nathan brings the principal and chairman to William. William thinks he is going to be honoured when Nathan introduces Isaac as the son of the Morton family who made a generous donation to the school. The chairman is glad for this token and hopes Isaac can send his regards to his father. William got so pissed that he vows never to trust demons again! Screw them! That’s what you get for playing with fire. Lastly, Dantalion confronts Kevin and wants to know who he is. From his reaction, he suspects he has something to hide and will uncover it. Today is just a greeting.

Episode 6
Dantalion and Sitri fighting over William?! Must be that Elector thingy. When Kevin passes them, it’s like he doesn’t acknowledge William or know he is even there. William wonders why they have grown distant so Isaac suggests using Family Day to talk to him. The school is pack with parents. Swallow comes running to William for a favour. Seems he wants to avoid meeting his dad Adrian as he has been pestering him to join a military school. Later when Adrian sees William and asks for his son, William apologizes he couldn’t help. Oddly, Adrian invites him to his home for dinner when they are interrupted by Kevin. Adrian excuses himself and it seems Kevin also disappeared. Strange. Is William seeing things? Dantalion and Sitri have a feeling that Beelzebub is likely behind this. Speaking of Beelzebub, he seems to be proposing to Astaroth but she sprays a bug spray to keep him at bay. Thinking he is not interested in the throne, Beelzebub says he has already made his move on Solomon. Kevin sends his underling, Raguel (Kevin’s twin?) to keep an eye on William or rather on Solomon. That night, Swallow wants William to follow him home as he wants to introduce him to his parents. Before you get any yaoi misunderstandings, what he meant was to celebrate his father’s recovery. Apparently he had a great fall and miraculously survived. William thinks he will get to meet the upper echelons and thus further his future ambitions. But do Dantalion and Sitri have to come too? Yeah. They’re sick of school food. And so William is here, happy to see all the famous and elite people in the party. Now to make some connections. During dinner, William remembers Swallow telling him how his dad changed after the fall. He became distant and a proactive supporter of going to war. This has William think Kevin’s behaviour has changed too. William is surprised to see Kevin but realizes it’s a different person. Raguel has him lie down in one of the rooms. When he wakes up, he hears Adrian and some men making final arrangements to go to war. All that is needed left is Solomon. Looks like they know who William is. The men turn into demon and attack William. But he is saved by Dantalion.

Adrian turns into his true form, a demon named Eligos and a servant to Beelzebub. When Swallow comes into the room, he sees Eligos as his dad. Sitri explains that his father is dead. Eligos used his corpse as a puppet to make it seem he is alive. Eligos decides to take Swallow’s soul and flee. William wants to save him but is held back by Sitri who explains about demons’ rule that they can’t interfere in the affair of others. Wait a minute. Can’t interfere in affairs of others? Then what the hell is this business of taking over hell thingy? Isn’t that interfering too? Dantalion offers to help provided if William chooses him now. Will he succumb to pressure and elect him? Fortunately (or not), Raguel throws holy water at Eligos and banishes the demon. Though she escapes, Adrian’s body turns into dust. Swallow has to face reality that his father is dead and cannot come back to life. Back home, William reads the news that the war was avoided by the slimmest margin. Swallow is also back since he ran away from home, not wanting to sort the hellish estate of his late dad. William confronts Kevin to settle things. He wonders if he wants to quit being his house steward and become a priest. Kevin thought he is firing him but William wants to know why he has been avoiding him. Suddenly betting documents drop from Kevin’s robe. The staffs in public schools had this habit betting on sports day and I guess Kevin bet on William on pity despite knowing he isn’t athletic. I take it he lost big time. So this is the reason he is avoiding him? Divine punishment! Later, Raguel reports to Kevin, whose real form is an angel named Uriel. Beelzebub is indeed involved in this and doesn’t want Uriel to do this and will do anything in his stead. However Uriel is resolved not to let the demons have Solomon. And that ring is in his possession.

Episode 7
William and Isaac aren’t really fond of Shakespeare plays. And their school has to do one. Worse, William is made the director for Hamlet. I take that back. Even worst is that Dantalion is playing the King of Denmark while Sitri is Ophelia. They’re so engrossed in their roles that they argue among each other. William is so pissed that he is praying to God to do His job! William seeks Kevin’s help with the play. Why do it when he hates it? Because the director stands out without having to be on stage and it’ll look good on his record. When he returns to the dorm, he learns from Swallow that Dantalion and Sitri have gone back to Hell. He rejoices that God is doing His job but this means the rehearsal will be cancelled, right? It seems tonight is Sabbat, a night where all demons gather and feast and the boundary between Hell and Earth disappear. Besides the candidates for the throne, the Four Kings are also here: Astaroth, Baalberith, Beelzebub and Samael. Sitri talks to Baalberith about Solomon and the latter views that all they need is Solomon’s soul and not his vessel. He is hinting something sinister that Sitri disagrees but is made to remember his heritage. Dantalion is thinking back one of those days he spent with Solomon. Cleaning books in the library? It seems Solomon is talking about his father who will come after him sooner or later because he is accused of treason. Dantalion vows to kill Solomon before he lets anyone lay a hand on him. Solomon knows that he will someday grant this wish of killing him.

Back on Earth, William must be dreaming when he sees a large cloud of demons. Think it’s some electrical discharge? Well, I’m sure the attack must be too. Sitri returns to save William and wants him to choose him so he can protect him. Still not going to. Dantalion also joins in and again reminds him that these demons see him as an ideal prey because they are those who didn’t form a pact with Solomon. Dantalion unleashes his power and easily disposes of the low level demons. But there are too many and one of them is going for William. A magic circle appears out from William to protect him. It is a sign of Heaven. The circle also barricades Dantalion. Sitri wonders if this is the work of an exorcist but it couldn’t be because no human can perform such powerful magic. Well, it’s Kevin in the works. He’s an angel, right? Dantalion unleashes his full power and breaks free but goes berserk. He is about to kill William and remembers Solomon’s words. It is Camio’s lightning that breaks him free as he lectures Dantalion that his stature should never have made him lose control. He orders the demons to get out of here or else. With that, they just disappear. That simple, huh? In the end, Isaac is delighted tonight is Sabbat but William still insists on the electrical discharge crap. He tells the rest to return to the dorm and rehearse the play. Back in Hell, the festivities just ended. The kings note how their interim candidates didn’t stay long. Baalberith notes they are smitten with Solomon just like them. Wouldn’t his death benefit them all? They would have broken free of this electing tradition.  As for the play, the one playing Hamlet comes down with appendicitis. Too late to cancel the show and a replacement is needed. Somebody who knows the lines well. That’s the director, right? And so William is forced to go on stage. That’s the least of his problem because Sitri acts out of the script and wants William to choose him! Dantalion makes it a threesome! OMG! And that is how yaoi was born… Those female audiences must be… I don’t even…

Episode 8
Uriel is visited by the archangel Michael. He wonders if Uriel is doing his job because it looks to him that he is growing fond over that human when he should be just looking at him. He beats him up and reminds him if he can’t do his job, he’ll handle things his way. This is God’s leader of angels? Beating up others and looking like a sadist? Meanwhile William doesn’t care about Isaac who is once again in the failing grade. Till Isaac mentions that Elliot Eden could upstage him for top spot. Hey. Isn’t this Michael? Eden himself throws down an academic challenge to William. He got so mad that not only being number one would be satisfactory. He wants Isaac to be number 2! So start studying! William becomes obsessed in studying and becomes a studying machine. He bumps into Eden in the library as the latter indirectly tells him that without an angel’s warning, men will perish. What is it that he considers important because Eden would gladly sacrifice to protect the things important to him. In short, if he focuses on the wrong thing, it will be too late when he realizes it. When one of the test results come out, Eden scores higher than William. Rather, William’s grade drop. Of course he is enraged. He is warned by Dantalion that there is something fishy about Eden. He is not a demon but there is too much light emitting. In another test, some guy tried cheating when he wrote answers on the table. Eden transports the scribbles onto William’s desk and he is caught and sent to the punishment room. Isaac visits him and is has something figure out. He has this talisman thingy that contains the holy power of archangel Michael. Whatever. Camio is also there and hears him out. That night, Eden visits him and knows the culprit. He is willing to testify on his behalf in return for something. He asks what fate he truly wish for. To be society’s elite. Michael refutes him and wants an answer that sounds like perfect justice and immortality. Since he doesn’t get it, he gives an example of Kevin and Nathan. Both are standing on a cliff and who should he choose. Should it be God’s kingdom or Hell? Before he can get an answer, Kevin is here to ‘chase’ him away because visitors are forbidden at this time.

William is in the trial when the judge’s words suddenly start to sound strange. Do you feel closer to God or demons? Isaac’s talisman works up and turns the area into Michael’s barrier. Eden crushes that troublesome talisman. Sitri attacks Eden and this causes him to reveal his angel wings. Now do you get it William? Slow on the uptake, isn’t he? Michael takes out his golden sword and will grant William ecstasy. It’s his responsibility to judge all sinners, including man and demon. Before he can do his thing, Dantalion breaks through the barrier and saves William from his clutches. Here comes another power battle. Dantalion doesn’t like it when Michael says Lucifer’s name because it was him who cast him down to Hell. They were brothers. When Lucifer rebelled against God, Michal fought him and won. Michael is about to call Dantalion to cruellest and most brutal human in his time but Dantalion got so mad that he unleashes his power that is on par with Michael and sends him crashing down. Before Dantalion can finish him, here comes Kevin to protect him. He won’t allow a demon to harm one of his ‘students’. He warns that if anything happens to William or Solomon, Heaven will respond with all its might and this will put William in further danger. Michael is sick of this and leaves. Suddenly William finds himself back in the trial. He pleads not guilty and remains steadfast he is proud of his intelligence. He is backed by Camio when he brings in the culprits who have confessed their wrongdoing. But they are baffled that their scribbles ended up on his table. William retakes the test and scores even higher. Happy ending. But that is calm before the storm because the kings of Hell are discussing that Lucifer may not awaken from his slumber. As demons are not indestructible, Lucifer may also vanish. Solomon’s existence grows more important by the moment and they want to bring him her to Hell where they can protect him. Because if Heaven brings ecstasy to him, his human personality will vanish and will turn into another of Heaven’s convenient pawns.

Episode 9
Michael feels the need of a change in plan and sends Jeanne, his best soldier to the battlefield. I thought this spunky girl looked like some idol cosplayer from Akihabara… When William wants to go talk to Kevin in his room, he finds the ring and remembers how he was so sad on the day of his parents’ funeral. When everyone else was gone, he cried in Kevin’s arms. William leaves and unwittingly takes the ring with him. The demon trio then tell William that they need to return to Hell as there is an emergency so he’ll be defenceless for a while. I think he’ll be glad that the demons are gone. Michael confronts Uriel. He knows he purposely let William take the ring and wants to know what he is up to. He mentions Heaven is planning to invade Hell but this is just a diversion so Uriel can perform his ecstasy ritual on William while those demons are gone. He is giving Uriel this ‘honour’ otherwise he would have done it his own way. He gives him a kick to remind him failure is not an option. This has Uriel remember how he punished Solomon for failure to destroy the demons despite receiving God’s blessings. Solomon wonders if he is jealous because their lot obey Heaven’s laws and punish sinners on Earth. Regardless of how men are judge, their sin will never go away. Therefore, do they need punishment? Do they even need them? It is strange that despite knowing they will be punished and yet they continue to commit sins. That’s because it brings joy. The demon trio are in Hell just fresh repelling Heaven’s forces. Dantalion feels something amiss since Heaven is being too reckless despite Lucifer in slumber and the Elector hasn’t chosen yet. But Heaven’s forces return and crazy Jeanne leads the pack this time. How can Heaven have a soldier saint that enjoys killing and bloodshed? Well, she as long as it’s not humans. She doesn’t care about demons, though. And with the power of virginity, she easily crushes the demons’ power. Yeah. That.

Kevin tries to perform ecstasy on William. At first he is hesitating but since he has unbuttoned his shirt, might as well go all the way. However it is not working and it dawned to him that William isn’t religious! Hah. God must be just some atom particles, right? Since ecstasy cannot be done, Raguel says the other way is to kill him. It’s that or risk getting punished. Gilles is spying outside and understands Heaven’s trick. He is going to move in when the angel’s barrier prevents him from getting closer. Raguel becomes his opponent. Gilles hates angels and Heaven and goes all out. He views them crueller than anything but Raguel mentions ecstasy is part of God’s will. Gilles remembers his beloved Jeanne was judged by them. He did all the deadly sins but was never judged a single bit. Baalberith approached him and found him interesting. He wants to make a contract where he will be turned into a Nephilim. That way, his soul won’t disintegrate into nothing in Hell and as a demon he will have a chance to meet his love who has been canonized as a saint. Raguel mentions that Jeanne is leading the attack but Gilles mentions he didn’t sell his soul to the devil just to see her one more time. Sure, he would like to meet her. He would also like to defile, torment and hurt her till she is free from Heaven’s ecstasy. Gilles is about to defeat Raguel when Uriel says he will stop the ecstasy to end his attack. Gilles doesn’t care and continues only to be blocked by Uriel’s holy barrier. He too can’t hold on any longer and this time it’s Dantalion’s turn to come back and save the day. Gilles will kill him too but since he has weakened, he passes out. Dantalion has his underlings take Gilles back to Hell. Learning of Uriel’s true identity, he mentions to him, he is just William’s house steward. Uriel wonders if Dantalion is just William’s classmate in that case. Michael is not happy with Uriel’s failure and is about to punish him. Suddenly he just feels pain and anguish. God punishing him for mistreatment? Next day, William seems to have caught a cold. Someone unbuttoned his shirt. He was warned about being defenceless… Sounds so homo… Hope you guys don’t get the wrong idea about this ‘attack’.

Episode 10
It’s the school cultural festival. William thinks of using this event to obtain extra funds for his tuition. Now he reeks of evil aura… Sitri is doing a photo shop with the help of Gilles. Yeah. All those homo boys can at least take a picture of pretty Sitri for a price. Don’t laugh. He’s doing very well. As not to be outdone, Dantalion opens his muscle store for the muscle brains. He too has his devoted followers. Even Isaac is doing well with his international tea stand. William on the other hand won’t subject to such menial tasks and yet he still hasn’t decided what to do. Then a devilish idea hits him. First he goes up to Sitri and tries to sew some jealousy by saying Dantalion’s booth is doing well. If they team up together, he can bring forth his true glory. Wow. William the smooth talker. Agreed! Next he goes to Dantalion and claims he has never noticed his charm, blah, blah, blah. Another round of smooth talking. He too agrees with him. Finally after seeing Isaac is doing bloody well, William threatens him to hand over everything! The meek guy just did so in exchange for William to be his Spartan tutor for his exams. And so William turns his business into a maid-butler cafe and the people are streaming in! That’s how you use your intellect and make others work for you! Of course Sitri and Dantalion feel they have been cheated since they’re working together but William hints the interim ruler of hell is a hard worker… See them work their ass off!

Meanwhile there is this handsome guy trying to buy meat at the stands. Who would have known this is Baphomet in his human form. He meets his rival, Leonard (whose true form is a ram) and is Sitri’s butler. He claims he has powered up and wants a rematch with Baphomet as he has trained well in China. A cooking competition to see who the best chef in Hell is. And so William is made to be the judge because he will get to taste their good food. They have an hour to cook as many dishes as possible and the best one wins. Those who want to watch this Hell’s Kitchen have to pay an admission fee. Raking in the money… So when everybody tastes their cuisine, it’s that out-of-this-world exaggerated heavenly ecstasy reactions you’d see in cooking animes. I thought I’d never seen them again. Universe! This is Hell’s Kitchen? Ironic, isn’t it? Now who will be the best? The judges compromising of William, Dantalion and Isaac gave both perfect 10. But it seems Sitri gave the perfect 10 to Baphomet and none to Leonard! With Baphomet the winner, Leonard is left to rue why his master chose his rival. I guess it’s because his Chinese cuisine doesn’t contain sweets that he loves. Why, oh why?! And the rest wonder why he went to China for training when he should have gone to France instead. And so the loser is made to work as a chef in William’s cafe to cover the cost. Even Baphomet is not spared and is made to cook. Who is the real devil here? At the end of the day, William thought that after taking over Sitri, Dantalion and Isaac’s business as well as utilizing both the greatest underworld chefs, he is going to win the overall award. To his surprise, Nathan nails it! Those who didn’t get to watch what he put up would be sorely disappointed! We want to see what Nathan did!!! (I think he dressed up as a maid!!!).

Episode 11
Michael laments he may have moved too early. Because when Camio repelled Jeanne’s attack, she had to leave Hell otherwise her virginity purity will be tainted. The Four Kings are discussing the recent invasion of Heaven as a diversion. Baalberith thinks of bringing him here to protect him. First he wants to kill him, now he wants to protect him? He shoves the duty to Astaroth seeing she sounded very concerned and that she is the most familiar with him. Astaroth orders Lamia to bring William now. Meanwhile Camio plays his piano to Beelzebub. He remembers meeting Solomon. He notes his vast wisdom and doesn’t want it to fall into Heaven’s hands. William is happy after being praised for another good work. Another step closer to his future. Suddenly he is whisked away into a portal to Hell by Lamia. I don’t want to say this is where his future is going… Haha! Anyway he thinks he has to attend some freakish costume party again because all the demons (minus Dantalion as usual) are here awaiting him. I suppose the only reason why he is tempted to stay is because Baphomet and Leonard have made some snacks. Can’t resist that, can’t he? Of course William denies all the crap they say about him being Solomon and that he is just some distant ancestor he wouldn’t care. But they point out if it means nothing to him, he shouldn’t have so vehemently protested it. It shows that he is aware he is in fact the Elector. William continues to say he makes his own decisions and denies the existence of Lucifer. The lower demons don’t take this insult lightly and want to kill him. Before that demon could, Dantalion blows him to smithereens. Why does he always have to come in late in this fashion?

William’s ring accidentally drops out from his pocket. This prompts the demons to note that if he doesn’t have it, they won’t be under his command. They will have nothing to fear. Not only that, they can conquer Heaven! Baalberith sees this opportunity to kill Solomon and take his soul and orders his demons to attack him. At that time, William puts on the ring and his conscious is slowly taken over by Solomon. Also, Uriel feels pain in his heart and this could mean the ring has been put on. Michael blames him for this to happen. Solomon easily destroys the lower demons but Baalberith won’t give up. He thinks as long as he has the numbers, he can still overcome Solomon. Well, looks like it will take a long time since Solomon is going on a subjugating spree. Baalberith is blown back. Sitri wants him to stop this but was warned by him that he knows he wants to go back to Heaven. He is doing this for his sake and this will be their ticket to Heaven. The entire building is destroyed by the time Solomon finishes subjugating the lower demons. Gilles thinks of raising his ranks by attacking Solomon. I guess there’s a saying that if you haven’t seen the darkness, you’re not afraid of the ghost. He too learns to awesomeness of Solomon’s power. Solomon doesn’t recognize him and notes he must be someone new after he died. Care to be his 73rd pillar? Baalberith tries another sneak attack but it doesn’t work. But how come Dantalion can go up close behind to Solomon without him sensing? He tries to take off the ring to save William. But when he grabs his hand, Solomon doesn’t recognize who he is.

Episode 12
Dantalion is blasted away so easily. The next time he takes that kind of blast again, he’ll be dead. Camio says Dantalion is still bound by his contract with Solomon but is unsure why he cannot remember him. Flashback reveals Dantalion thought Solomon wanted to raise an army of demons to go against his father. Because he was born out of one of his servant’s wife, the guilt of his father led him to scorn and imprison Solomon. However to Dantalion’s surprise, he subjugated the 72 pillars and the most he did was party together. Really. Why doesn’t he do an uprising? Because it’s too much trouble. This is more fun. But when his father began to move, Solomon reluctantly took up arms. Without much effort, he won. Naturally with his father overthrown, he would be the next king. All Solomon wanted was his father to acknowledge him as his son, even if it’s just once. But he kept denying it and calls him the child of sin that should not be born in this world. He says he will bring ruin to this world. Solomon left him a very sad king. One day, Dantalion asks Solomon what is his wish because he has followed him for so long and doesn’t know what he wants. His reply is that someday he will know. It is something only he can do. That is, to kill him. And I supposed that day came when Dantalion killed Solomon with his own hands. Back in present time, Baalberith still wants to try his luck to take Solomon’s ring. Because he believes his powers have not fully awakened. He even tells Solomon what is going on and the reason why he wants his ring. Too bad he is still as powerful as ever.

Gilles is standing there watching hoping one side will take the other out and he will swoop in to take the ring. He sends his demons to destroy both Solomon and Baalberith. Then when Gilles moves in, he gets another taste of Solomon’s great power. He seriously underestimated this wise guy, eh? When Baalberith is about to seize the chance to grab Solomon’s ring, the ring repels him away and burns his hand. The rest are stumped because when Dantalion touched it, he was unaffected. Dantalion has awakened. Slept well? He sees Solomon going to kill Baalberith. Fearing history will repeat itself if he lets this happen, Dantalion takes the full blast. He then tells Solomon to remember who he is. He is not Solomon but William. Solomon looked dazed for a while there although he still doesn’t recognize who Dantalion is. Dantalion grabs his hand and there’s lots of electricity flowing out from the ring. Or it seems so. Did Solomon recognize him for a while there? Suddenly the gates are opened. White feathers scatter all over. This is a sign that Lucifer has awakened. With that, there is no need to fight and choose for an interim ruler. Settled just like that, huh? Solomon somewhat understands and decides to give the ring to Dantalion. Once it is off his finger, he collapses but Dantalion catches him. Back in school, William once more is top of his grade. But he isn’t bragging like he used to. He is gloomy. Not even the good news of obtaining full scholarship could impress him. Why the long face? Seems he is the only guy who remembers about those demon students. Nobody else remembers who are Dantalion, Sitri or Camio. He even goes to talk to Kevin if there is such thing as demons who are more human than human and more merciful than angels. You call those demons? Then he tries snapping himself out of this and reminds himself that he is a realist. He trips and the ring drops out and rolls over to Dantalion’s feet. Look who is back…?

Yaoi Ouji: Hot Guys And Denialist
Just when it got interesting, they gave me this crappy WTF ending. Yeah well, Lucifer’s awakening solves everything, right? That dude doesn’t even need to make one stinking appearance but just his representing door to wherever he is just for the mess to be over. So did William remember he was Solomon during the trance? What was it that Solomon understood (too bad I’m too stupid to understand what that part meant)? With Dantalion back, would others remember him? I guess I’ll never know. The interesting part to me was the mystery of Solomon. He had subjugated 72 pillars of the demons and formed some contract with them. Why he did so isn’t clearly explained and most of our demon characters have some sort of connection with him as seen in their short flashbacks, their time spent with Solomon. He must be an intriguing man to be with, a reason why they hang out with him aside the fact they are under his order. Still a human but received God’s blessing and powers, it is no wonder many covets him or wants to kill him. Maybe it’s this mystery that caught my attention (am I saying I am also attracted to him) and if it was answered, perhaps it would be disappointing so it’s best left unexplained. Besides, if he had subjugated 72 pillars, why not subjugate the rest of Hell? Ah, his untimely demise… I’m guessing if he was alive, he could have conquered all Heaven, Hell and Earth if he wanted to. It’s like he has that one ring to rule them all, no? Oh sh*t… Lord of the Rings reference? See how many of the demons wanted to get a piece of it and ultimately Solomon himself? My precious…

I felt the storyline for this season is something minor. Because you know, William is dragging his feet and not accepting this Elector thingy and with the rest of the interim ruler candidates hanging around him in hopes of making him choose them seems to be draggy if you think about it. Can’t they just really threaten him or use someone or something he treasures to pressure him? If they’re that desperate then they should have been as bad as the devil himself, which is pretty fair game if you consider that they are demons trying to rule Hell. Instead, you see them hanging about and thus some sort of bondage form between them. Because they look really concern when William is in trouble or their big bad boss has some malicious intention. Thus for the dozen episodes seen here, some are nothing more than fillers. That cultural festival episode was definitely one. Including that little goblin and the watermill episode too. Paying a visit to Swallow’s home also feels like one. That episode with Maria in it serves as an introduction to Camio. Yeah. They had to take an entire episode for that. Michael’s descend to Earth and diversion tactic is perhaps just to tell us why ecstasy won’t work on William and therefore shall not be tried again. It’s like trying to say if you don’t believe in God, whatever effects by Him and his angels won’t work. Really? Does this mean if I don’t believe in demons and witchcraft, I can’t be affected by their black magic? Super convenient. Or maybe it’s because you can’t perform ecstasy on William because he has Solomon inside. Whatever. So in an overall context, it does little to further the plot. In the end, it really didn’t matter anymore, huh?

I’m not sure if William has really changed after returning to himself following his possession by Solomon. What is funny-cum-annoying about him is his so called realist reasons to deny the supernatural. It feels like he is more of a denialist than anything. Okay, maybe the demons come in weird costumes and he can pass that off as some cosplay. But come on. He has seen them firing and blasting their projectiles so many times and summoning barriers during attack. How do you reason that? Special effects? Hello, I don’t think this is the 20th century or at least Hollywood wasn’t incorporated yet. This is the Victorian era, right? Don’t believe in miracles, does he? Then he also sees the demons flying before their eyes. How do you explain that? Thin strings and wires? Seriously, you’ve seen too many Chinese kung fu movies. The way he uses that atom explanation is as ridiculous as believing demons and angels exist. Sure, everything is made out of atom. Even your brains. The bottom line is I don’t want to chide William for being a big denialist but there are some things that science just cannot explain. It’s good to have some rational explanation about how things work and the likes but like I said, with so many mysteries working in the universe, using science as a universal answer and method sometimes just doesn’t quite cut it. William lets Dantalion and the other demons hang around him because he lets them do what they want. If they claim they are demons, they must be nutcases and let them do as they please. But in a way, it shows that he tolerates and thus to a little extent, believe in it, right? He claims he is the top intellect but I think that is only confine to academic terms. Elsewhere, this ‘intellect’ of his fails…

I find it funny about the workings of Hell. Despite having a hierarchy and all, it still baffles me about the interim ruler part. How come only Dantalion, Sitri and Camio are the only candidates? Aren’t there others interested in being the interim ruler too? How are these trio selected because take a look at Camio, he doesn’t seem the least bit interested in the throne. Unless you tell me that being the interim ruler, it’s just like a puppet because it will be the king that he is represented that is doing the real ruling. If there are the Four Kings, doesn’t Samael have any candidate of his own? Isn’t he interested in the throne too? Is he? Hey, the king of Hell is sleeping, so anybody interested to kill him in his sleep and take over Hell? Nobody thought of that, didn’t they? Hell is where the baddest of the baddest are and nobody really cares about being good, right? Isn’t it so? The badder the better, yeah? Unless I’m very wrong on this context here. And if there is this rule of challenging higher and powerful demons and snatch their position, shouldn’t they be doing this? I mean, this is Hell, right? Anything goes. Why so orderly? And what’s that rule about demon not supposed to interfere with the affairs of others? Who the hell made up all this rules? Can’t a demon do what he wishes, for God’s Lucifer’s sake? So that’s why this interim ruler thingy to me is just something confusing and some excuse to perhaps further one’s ulterior motive.

Even funnier is how demons and angels aren’t really acting the way we thought they should. As seen from the demons, some are kind enough to be a saint and perhaps it’s because of their past sin that made Heaven condemned them to Hell. Which brings us to this next thought if Heaven isn’t as good and pleasant as it seems. Because as perfectly demonstrated by Michael, we see he is a sadist and tormentor and loves to take it out on Uriel. Aren’t angels supposed to be caring, loving and forgiving? Oh no. Not this Michael. And he is supposed to be the Lord’s highest ranked angel. This guy could be Lucifer’s right hand man if you ask me. And then there is Baphomet and Leonard’s cooking. So great that it brings a piece of Heaven in your mouth, which is pretty ironic, isn’t it? A goat and a ram cook better dishes than anything else? Truly mindboggling. And of course the most complicated and mysterious ones would be humans. Crueller than demons but sometimes more angelic than angels, as said and seen it is indeed something amazing and odd that a mere human like Solomon could possess the wisest wisdom and then control the demons. So all this makes you think, where the hell is God anyway? If the Almighty was powerful enough to just silence everything, he would have done so already. God works in mysterious ways? Maybe. You wonder He even exists since you won’t even think about Him while watching this anime (you might be prompted to when William quotes Him in one short instance) but of course He does since there are angels. Lucifer is asleep, God is nowhere to be seen (duh!) and not taking any action, humans are self-destructing. Just the right setting for the world screwing up big time.

Despite the setting is in the Victorian era in England, it is still hard for me to be convinced that this is so. Sure, thanks to our anime-like characters and the way they speak fluent Japanese, the thought of if they are in England or in some alternate English world never crossed our minds. Even with their typical and common English names, English style buildings and construction and the English culture (tea, anyone?), I can’t feel that English atmosphere. Worse, that cultural festival episode seemingly makes it as though it is a western version of a Japanese high school cultural festival. I’m not sure if schools in England do this but it sure reminded me of its Japanese counterparts. Also, I feel that with demons and angels as the main theme (Christianity to a certain extent), it relies heavily on the Bible and the myths of the European side.

Dantalion I thought is also annoying when he keeps pestering William to choose him. And then when he became Solomon, he fears the original William will never come back. So what does this mean? He just wants to be by William’s side, right? I thought he was into Solomon? Unless it’s just me jumping to that conclusion. I feel the other demon characters are somewhat lacking. So what Lamia is Dantalion’s future wife? Does that actually matter anyhow as far as this anime is concerned? Sitri and Camio are just hanging around keeping an eye on things for who knows how long. Till their boss say something perhaps. The Four Kings too didn’t play any big role since most of them are just there as show of power. It’s a meeting, right? With Baalberith as the exception because he tries to be the antagonist and take Solomon’s ring for his own. That’s what demons should do, right? Not wait there and watch passively and ponder like a dumbass like Beelzebub thinking if Solomon has truly awakened or not (when Solomon when on a rampage). Perhaps they know of Solomon’s power so the powerful ones are wise enough not to go against him. Well, I’ll give it to Baalberith that he did try and for having the confidence to do so. Still couldn’t change anything.

Gilles made a long absence in the middle of the series only to return at the end and this is a good lesson to us all about being young and reckless before becoming mature and wise. He never knew of Solomon’s awesome power, right? He doesn’t realize why the other higher demons don’t move their hand against him, no? Well, he experienced first-hand what it’s like to be overwhelmed. Ever since Michael’s plan of having Uriel give William ecstasy, he’s just seen bumming around in Heaven ‘complaining’ about his failure, blaming Uriel to make him feel guilty and just wait and wait and wait and wait… After all, Heaven has got lots of time on their hands, right? Amon and Mamon are supposed to be mascots of the series, right? They aren’t even prominent with so little screen time and worse, don’t even tug out cutie heartstrings despite trying to emit that cute aura. You’re just batty if you think they are. Isaac feels like he only exists to be a joker or somebody William can feel superior to. Sometimes I think William needs to take it easy and learn from him but of course, not to the point where he always fail and in the risk of not advancing the grade. Oh, oh!!! Remember Crosby and the Church of England? WHAT HAPPENED TO THEM? They sound threatening to do something, right? Weren’t they going to make some sort of move on William? Unless you tell me they didn’t get any order from God to take action. If I didn’t go through my blog, I actually forgot all about them. Worse than what Solomon did to Dantalion. I’m speculating it’s because of some contract and the wish fulfilling thingy, Solomon loses his memory of him.

With this anime being predominantly male dominant, I thought there won’t be any females appearing. Heck, the school William goes is an all-boys’ academy. I already resigned myself to not expect any hot chicks and some ambiguous yaoi situations. But a little surprise… I suppose they soften this by including some females but they do not have any major effect on the show overall. It’s the guys who are running everything. Haha… The first female to show up is Maria but she only lasted for that episode and you’ll never see her again. Eligos too shared that same fate but her appearance was even more limited and felt quite fleeting so it didn’t matter. Then you have mature Astaroth (whom at first I thought it was that Bleach’s Arrancar, Mila Rose) and loli Lamia who have a decent amount of screen time to remind us that there are still women in this anime. Do you feel they’re significant? Guess not. And ah yes, Jeanne. She went back to Heaven and never came back. There goes your power of virginity, people. So much for females’ participation in this anime. Because of that, a few yaoi moments that might send fujoshi fans’ heart aflutter for a second or two. Especially when Dantalion grabs William’s hand, it just looks like a very potential yaoi moment. Really. He doesn’t do this once or twice but several times. With Sitri looking so feminine that he could be passed off as a female and if they would have their way, a hentai version of this series to satisfy fujoshi fans with Sitri x (enter the name of the hunk of your choice here). Then there’s the part whereby Kevin unbuttoned sleeping William’s shirt. Potential nose blood moment for fujoshi fans…

Of course this means the art is filled with hot bishonen guys but after seeing so many animes with such art, it has become standard and nothing unique. This series is produced by Dogakobo and I strangely many of its other anime productions are of yuri nature such as Shin Koihime Musou and YuruYuri, or harem animes like Hoshizora E Kakaru Hashi, Myself; Yourself, 11eyes and GJ-Bu (okay, this one has mild harem elements). One little complaint that I have is that in the final episode during the scene of Solomon subjugating the demons, there are recycled scenes! Not only is the same scene used twice but thrice! There I was going, if there was something wrong with the video that caused it to loop. Am I experiencing some sort of deja vu? I guess this is what happens if you want to save cost and only have a low budget. Just like William’s case, huh? I know that they don’t really want to give emphasis on lower demons since they’re going to die anyway and we don’t care about them, the art on them isn’t that great at all because as long as they look ugly, they pass off as one. But to use the same recycled scenes? How cheap can they get?

The action bit feels okay but sometimes I find this little thing very irritating. After the fight ends with one seemingly has lost and the victor is about to destroy the loser with whatever powers, suddenly somebody comes in between and prevents that. Dantalion is guilty for doing this many times that I lost count. Isn’t it just annoying? He likes to play the hero whereby the always enter the scene late but at the right time. And he’s a demon for goodness sake. I mean, here we go, maybe this character is going to be killed off and then suddenly somebody swoops down in the middle to repel the attack or take the blast. It happens all the time. So nobody gets killed off in the except for lower demons that we won’t ever care about. Otherwise, I suppose the power battle is just sufficient for entertainment but it doesn’t go any more than that. I mean, all the powerful demons can shoot out some sort of beam blast, right?

Nothing special about the opening theme, Believe My Dice by the quartet voices of Dantalion, William, Sitri and Camio. Just imagine a boy band singing this pop rock. Very manly… The only thing I like about the ending theme is the opening guitar riffs. Otherwise, A Shadow Love Song by the same quartet isn’t anything special or to my liking. The voice acting is also pretty decent. The line-up includes Takuya Eguchi as William (Kon in Ixion Saga DT), Takuma Terashima as Dantalion (Stone River in Tantei Opera Milky Holmes), Yoshitsugu Matsuoka as Sitri (Kirito in Sword Art Online), Tetsuya Kakihara as Camio/Nathan (Natsu in Fairy Tail), Mitsuki Saiga as Solomon (Phantom in MAR), Jun Fukuyama as Kevin/Uriel (Lelouch in Code Geass), Hiroshi Kamiya as Michael (Araragi in Bakemonogatari), Keiji Fujiwara as Baalberith (Sven in Black Cat), Sachi Kokuryu as Astaroth (Fran in Kateikyoushi Hitman Reborn), Shinnosuke Tachibana as Beelzebub (Tomoe in Kamisama Hajimemashita), Akira Ishida as Samael (Gaara in Naruto), Kousuke Toriumi as Gilles (Kiba in Naruto), Hiroaki Yasumoto as Baphomet (Sado in Bleach), Motoki Takagi as Isaac (Mamoru in Shin Sekai Yori), Yu Kobayashi as Eligos (Ayame in Gintama) and Mikami Shiori as Lamia (Akari in YuruYuri).

I don’t know about demons needing somebody else than their kind to elect someone to lead them. I thought it should have always been the case of the strongest and baddest coming fore to the front and wipe the ass out of whoever is in charge before taking control. Why did Solomon start this ‘tradition’? Beats me. It is something that dumb people like me won’t understand. So much so it got me thinking if he was so wise, why didn’t he bring peace on Earth seeing he easily fought and won battles even in a reluctant state. That is much harder to achieve? Maybe. Dumb people like me won’t really comprehend anyhow. Really. Gods, angels, fallen angels, demons, halfies and humans can be a very complicated mix. It’s like throwing all the dangerous and toxic chemicals in one big flask, then watch and wait for it to go boom. Thank God there are no vampires and werewolves. Yet. If I really have to go through all this crap and sh*t, I think I’d rather fall into ecstasy of watching my animes for eternity. Now I have a reason-cum-excuse to tell others why I continue to watch animes even if it doesn’t bring any good to society in general. Because it brings me joy.

Chrno Crusade

I always thought the Great Depression back in the 1920’s and 1930’s were caused by the devastating collapse of the stock market prices in the USA. I didn’t know it was the preceding economic prosperity that had the wealthy and rich dabbled into something dark and sinister: Devil worshipping, that brought upon the Great Depression era. Actually, that was what I had in mind when I watched Chrno Crusade. Set in the alternate reality of New York circa 1928 AD, Manhattan is exactly what I had in mind back in those days. Bootleg liquor, mafia mobs ruling the streets, crime rates, the ever widening gap between the rich and poor. Ah, New York certainly indeed. Oh, let’s not get diverted from this blog shall we?

Being the action supernatural series this is, I guess that’s why they put demons into the picture. I guess if you have powerful demons with intentions of surfacing and wrecking the delicate balance between Heaven, Earth and Hell, you can’t have an ordinary Sunday church to stop these dark creatures, right? So herald a special organization, Magdalene Order that seeks out these creatures and banishes them to the deep depths of the earth to keep us humans safe and sound so they all can go home and have a good night’s sleep. Sometimes I always thought that humans themselves are the biggest demons. But let’s not get sidetracked again. You’re not going to just see this organization kick ass with all the demons they encounter. That would be tad boring. We have the main characters driven with their tragic and shadowy past, dark and bloody history and relationship, add a little mix of drama and comedy, you’ll have the crucial ingredients of a manga plot and development that would probably make you pray harder to God than ever before. Okay, I admit. I didn’t.

Episode 1
In 1928 at Brooklyn, New York, Sister Rosette Christopher and Chrno are rudely awakened by a phone call from Sister Kate Valentine to quickly get into action since they’re the nearest. I don’t know where Rosette got her driving licence because she crashed her car into to building! Rosette introduces herself from the Magdalene Order as they get ready to bust into the building that is under hostage situation. Let’s say these kids are like Ghostbusters of the 20’s. Trekking through the creepy hallways, they enter a room to see the culprit in some satanic ritual. Rosette removes the sheets but the ghoul is right above her. She manages to dodge and pump a few shots. The ghoul starts expanding as they make a run for it. It explodes and covers everyone in black icky gooey. And somehow the entire building comes crashing down. Back at Magdalene, Kate reprimands Rosette for the damage she has done (again). Yeah, she always goes beyond their expectations. That’s not a compliment! Kate wonders if it’s her assistant who is an inhabitant of the darkness who summoned the darkness. Rosette immediately denies and says it’s her lack of ability instead and will write an apology letter. Father Ewan Remington comes in, Rosette starts to blush. Says a lot, eh? Kate is not amused he spoils her but Rosette excuses herself to write the letter. Looks like she doesn’t listen to anybody except Remington. Meanwhile Chrno is having it tough as a bunch of sisters pester him for details of Rosette’s damage. A block? An island? Don’t let her catch you say that? Oops. Too late. During dinner, Rosette thanks Chrno and mentions that her image of her younger brother, Joshua hasn’t change and still dreams about him. Edward “Elder” Hamilton, the perverted weapon scientist appears from underneath, peeping under Rosette’s skirt. He shows her a magic bullet called Gospel, supposedly stronger than any Sacred but it’s still a prototype. He allows her to test it if she allows him to touch her tits. She allows him… To get beaten up, that is! The duo are called for another mission, this time onboard a British cargo ship. Thankfully Rosette didn’t crash the car this time. One of the survivors is seen but quickly turns into a demon. Chrno recognizes this as Calamity, the formation of overwhelming anger but this one is being controlled from somewhere else. Rosette starts firing several shots as they chase the demon into the ship. As Chrno tries to move the ship from the port, Rosette hunts the demon. Another round of pumping bullets but she is cornered and runs out of ammo. Chrno then throws her the Gospel that he stole from Elder and in 1 shot, the demon is dramatically destroyed and returns to its original form, supposedly some stolen artefact. Then they realize the ship just hit the Statue of Liberty! Oh, Rosette insists this isn’t her fault!

Episode 2
Rosette wakes up from a dream. One whereby her young self and Joshua first met Chrno and were excited of meeting a demon. Then Aion (in crow form) hypnotizes Joshua and he disappears. Elder is working on new bullets called Spirit, in which demons are inside it. More accurately when fired, it unleashes a tremendous amount of power similar to when you summon a demon. Joshua doesn’t like the sound of it as Elder instructs Kate to take this new bullets to Kate. Can she be trusted after that Gospel case? Apparently on her way, they are being called for a mission. So I guess this is perfect excuse for Rosette to ‘steal’ the bullets. At the scene, Rosette fires several shots into the flying horned demon. She is going to fire Spirit to finish it off. Chrno disagrees but that distraction has the demon creep out on her as she drops her gun into a nearby bush. Fortunately the demon has used up its remaining life energy and soon disintegrates. They search for the gun but can’t seem to find it. That’s because a suspicious guy among the crowd has already taken it. Rosette reports back to Kate and for once, she didn’t get yelled at. Actually she was lying. No wonder. But Remington can tell since she isn’t acting naturally in front of Kate but promises to keep it a secret. Elder and Chrno are checking out the horn Rosette shot off the demon. Elder is also building a sensor that detects Spirit’s demonic powers. Looks weird. But does it work? Urm… It senses one nearby. That suspicious guy breaks into the church grounds as everyone is on alert. This guy is emitting lots of dark aura and is not heeding orders to stay put as he trudges forward. To their horror, they see him holding a Government’s Exorcist Gun model (Rosette’s). He then points to his own head and pulls the trigger. The horned demon bursts out from his body and begins attacking. Chrno realizes it swallowed Spirit’s demonic power and replaced the power of its broken horn with it. Everyone fires but it has no effect. Chrno knows it wants to retrieve its horn and lures it. Rosette tries to settle this herself but gets whacked unconscious. Chrno goes berserk to see his contractor not moving and is about to lose it. His aura so powerful that it shatters glasses and on the verge of breaking his seal. But Rosette wakes up and manages to calm him down. She then fires Gospel into the demon and kills it for good. Kate wonders how she can trust that demon so Elder tells her Rosette doesn’t acknowledge him as a demon. For now they can only watch over them. Joshua is relaxing on a beautiful beach when her maid Fiore informs him of Aion’s call. Suddenly they are confronted with a huge iron dude named Bolso and his winged army. He is looking for that sinner Aion and wants to pass judgement. Joshua tells Fiore to make coffee and will finish this. By the time Fiore finishes making coffee, Bolso and his entire army are wiped out! Joshua has only a minor scratch on his hand. Now the entire beach and sea is bloodied! Who’s going to clean this up?

Episode 3
Back in 1917 in Fatima, Portugal, Mother Maria and whispered words of the end of the world war to 3 little shepherds known as the Fatima Prophecy. With 2 World Wars ended, the last one was a highly classified matter by the Roman Pope. But Magdalene’s investigations show the appearance of an Apostle: The Agents of Earth sent by God. They must be put under protection so Chrno and Rosette are tasked to protect one of them, Azmaria Hendrick, a 12 year old soprano singer from Fatima. Her guardian is Ricardo and the man next to him is Relye, a demon whom Chrno recognizes. Sneaking around in the casino, Rosette almost got spotted so she hides in the staff room only to see Azmaria hiding there. She promises not to tell but when they leave, they come into Relye who brings Azmaria away. They get distracted when Chrno comes crashing in while fighting a stone gargoyle. In this moment, Rosette and Chrno snatch Azmaria away and escape. They are being chased by more stone gargoyles so Rosette fires her holy gun at them and turns them back to stone. But they are sent crashing into the party below and this causes lots of damage and people got hurt. Oh dear. Whose fault is this? But Azmaria blames herself as the cause and starts singing to heal everything before collapsing. Back at Magdalene, Rosette pesters Kate about the Agents on Earth. Since she’ll eventually have to know this, Remington says just as she suspected, Joshua is also an Agent on Earth. The Agent of God, those who have been given a gift from God and must be protected. There are probably 7 Agents on Earth. The gift given to Joshua is probably hope while Azmaria is charity. Demons can gain even greater powers by acquiring the power of God and this applies to Satanists as well. Azmaria who has lost her parents before the war is currently living and doing chores at Magdalene. Because Rosette still sees Azmaria gloomy, she takes her and Chrno out of town to the lakes in the mountains. Of course without approval. She has her loosen up a little by splashing water on her and over a warm campfire drink Rosette believes she can laugh again and putting all the burden on herself is hard. Probably she got told off many times herself.  Azmaria starts laughing but Chrno is attacked by Relye. He is here to bring Azmaria back. Azmaria agrees to return if he doesn’t harm them however he doesn’t keep his promise and fires a lightning projection at them.

Episode 4
When Relye brings Azmaria back to Ricardo (with hideous life support wires sticking out from his body) onboard his blimp, Ricardo temporarily punishes him for disobeying his orders not to scorch the Earth. He reveals his original body was blown to bits during a bombing but can’t die due to the immortality contract he made with Relye, his body was reconstructed but imperfect as it lacks life. In the past, Relye’s power was perfect but now it wasn’t so because it was carved away by Chrno. Since demonic power isn’t enough to bring his life back, they need a much perfect power: The power of God. Rosette and Chrno wakes up to find Remington and some of the sisters by their side. Then they see the sky lit with Astral Line (an indication that Ricardo and Relye has started the process), a grand wave of spirits floating in the atmosphere. All living souls obtain their lives from it while dead souls diffuse in it. In short, the source of all lives. Rosette wants to unlock the watch seal but Chrno doesn’t allow it. She insists that they both want to save Azmaria and there is no other way. Though he still doesn’t like the idea, he allows her for 10 minutes. Unlocking it, Chrno transforms into his demon self as he brings Rosette up to the blimp. Seems Azmaria’s scream is summoning Astral Line and putting the life back into Ricardo’s rotting body. Now we know why they wanted an opera singer. However Relye shuts down the machine and betrays Ricardo. His true intention isn’t to bring life to his master, but collect all the Astral in his own Receptor. With the power of God flowing through him (ironically, a demon?), he lets Ricardo’s body rot away. One bad deed deserves another.

Rosette and Chrno hop onboard the blimp. Chrno will fight a transformed Relye while he wants Rosette to rescue Azmaria. Rosette dispatches the several Legions (low-level demons mimicking human form) to save her. They see the demons in an aerial battle as Azmaria learns about Rosette’s watch seal. It is the source of Chrno’s power and draws it from the contractor’s life. At this rate, Rosette predicts she won’t make it to her 30^th birthday. Azmaria wonders why she can push herself so much so Rosette throws back the question at her of why she gives up easily. Rosette continues that the future is uncertain, all the more not to procrastinate so they must do what they can now and not give up till the last moment. Relye thinks Chrno has fallen so much but it is rather the latter who doesn’t want to unleash his true power and in actual fact has powered up a lot. Relye is going to destroy the source of his concern:  Rosette. He takes aim at her but I think he missed. Rosette fires a shot directly into his Receptor, cracking it. Chrno finishes the job to turn the demon into ashes for good. The blimp starts to explode as Rosette and Azmaria fall off. Rosette’s watch seal also locks itself so Chrno returns to his human version. As they free fall, Azmaria thought hard about Rosette’s words and this causes her to spread angelic wings as the trio land to safety. In the aftermath, Rosette is disheartened to learn Azmaria has lost her powers because she used up too much of it and it may take a very long time for it to return. Azmaria thinks she no reason to stay and nowhere to go but Rosette says there is an opening in the choir she can apply.

Episode 5
Rosette and Chrno are summoned to see Kate. She asks if Relye’s actions have any direct connection with Aion. Chrno denies but Rosette can’t forget the day Aion took away Joshua. After Azmaria’s case it is clear why Aion wants God’s powers. Most probably to create a rebellion against Heaven. Not by the will of Satan but of his own to recreate the universe. Thus the need for people like Joshua and Azmaria for that crazy battle. Chrno notes that Aion often said the goal of one born with an incomplete stigma is to become complete. If the wish is to create another ending to the Apocalypse then it’s something one must do yourself. Rosette wants to join the Apostle investigation mission since she has grown stronger (of course to find Joshua too) but Kate points out that she is too emotional and for now she has to stick with normal mission. Rosette and Chrno is sneaking around but is spotted by Remington. He offers her to join the First Class Militia. One of its privileges is independent investigations and some carry long term solo mission, something which fits Rosette. All she needs to do is convince Kate with her own skills. I hope there is no hidden meaning to it. Azmaria talks to Kate over tea. Kate thought nothing of Azmaria’s words will surprise her. But when she mentions how she wants to be like Rosette, see the amount of tea she spit out! Well, not the reckless Rosette she meant, the one whereby she never gave up and to be able to do something for others. Kate brings her to a chamber. A field created by Elder which uses machine to gather energy to create artificial spiritual forms. In short, this is an exorcist’s training field with artificial poltergeists. She tells Azmaria to wait at the bottom while she heads to the control room. But it seems Rosette is preparing to head into the field for a test initiated by Remington. She needs to pass this test of eliminating all targets in an hour to at least have a chance to convince Kate. Just leave everything else to Remington.

Chrno stays put as Rosette leaves for the battlefield. Chrno senses a real demon and Remington points out he let loose a real demon from the storage warehouse as a surprise. If she can’t clear this one, there goes her chance with Kate. Unfortunately Kate heard them and isn’t too thrilled about what just happened. Azmaria is cowering in fear while Rosette is firing at her targets. Remington contacts Rosette to cancel the test since Azmaria is below and they can’t contact her. But Rosette wants to go save her even after learning the demon is Mind Eater (a demon who can possess one’s mind and slowly eats into one’s soul). After losing contact with Rosette, she comes into contact with possessed Azmaria. Though the demon is stronger, she manages to pin it down. Chrno wants to go save them but Remington tells him to stay put as there is nothing he can do. For now, there is only 1 thing Rosette can do. To mind dive into Azmaria’s mind and directly exorcise the demon. Rosette sets up the devices and dives into Azmaria’s mind to see her standing alone and gloomy at a cemetery. She calls out to her but she doesn’t respond. Mind Eater tells her it’s useless since Azmaria fears her own powers that killed her loved ones. But Rosette isn’t giving any sh*t to the demon because she’s talking to Azmaria. While the demon tries to restrain her, Rosette makes her realize she’s not alone because everyone is here for her. Azmaria’s powers awaken and expel the demon from her mind. When Rosette wakes up in Chrno’s arms, they see Azmaria sprouting angel wings as she thanks her.

Episode 6
The mafia is smuggling crates with seals. What the heck are they tampering with? Satella Harvenheit AKA Hexen, a bounty hunter that specializes in hunting demons arrives and puts a foil to their smuggle. Oddly, the mafia sends in a request to Magdalene. Kate regrets that Rosette and co are on this mission simply because there are no other Militia free. Oh, looks like Rosette got promoted too. Hope she doesn’t do any flashy stuff. Oops. Wherever Rosette goes, there’s bound to be a bang. Yeah, just arriving at the warehouse, a big explosion occurs. A demon is on the loose as the gang go into action. Satella saves Azmaria from the demon’s attack with her summoned knight. They realize she’s a Jewel Summoner. Then more demons appear. Satella wants to go after the mafia but Rosette insists she clean up the mess she started. In the aftermath, Chrno realizes the mafia released some of the ‘merchandise’ to buy time for themselves to flee. But Satella threatens to kill Chrno because during the attack she saw how Chrno got injured when Azmaria accidentally poured holy water on him. She doesn’t trust demons all the more Magdalene using one. Azmaria pleads for Chrno’s case that he’s a kind one so Satella backs off for now. Rosette gets an earful from Kate via telephone that she wrecked another car during the attack. Now she has to go home by foot. Start walking! I guess the mafia never learn their lesson because they open their crate to release a demon but got devoured. Rosette and co arrive at the horrifying bloodied scene. Satella is also there. You know she and Rosette are going to be loggerheads when the former starts mocking her inefficiency. To put salt to her wounds, she’s bragging about the hot shower she took last night. Satella is on this smuggling case and is going to finish it even if she doesn’t get paid (since her employers won’t pay the bounty for corpses – the mafia).  But Rosette agrees to help her seeing that in the end both their goals are the same. Satella walks off but Rosette and the rest follow her, giving an excuse that she just happens to be walking in front of them. Satella makes a run, they too follow. Till they run out of breathe. Taking a break at the park, they learn Satella came from Germany to USA 10 years ago to look for someone. She is still searching for her. Chrno points out to Rosette that she has crossed the line with a comment she’s wasting her time whining like that and should quit. She’s not one to say herself, right? Rosette and Azmaria join a couple of local boys playing ball when the ball came flying into Rosette’s head. During that time, a Pharaoh demon and his mummy golems attack. The gang goes into offensive action. When the Pharaoh absorbs his golems to become a giant lion, Chrno jumps in to protect Satella and got a little injured. She quickly repays her debt when the lion attacks Chrno (because she doesn’t want to be a laughing stock if people finds out she’s in debt to a demon) before Rosette finishes it off with a special bullet. In the end, Satella walks away, still not trusting demons back then or in the future.

Episode 7
Suddenly the Sun is black and the Moon red like blood. All the churches are also experiencing a phenomenon that the statue of Virgin Mary is crying blood. Chrno knows this is a sign that Aion is here. Another phenomenon rains down on Manhattan. Hail of fire, that is. It is causing buildings and properties to be damaged and casualties. There are underworld demons coming out from the ground and black evil fog. Don’t touch them or you’ll die. That’s because the fog is made up of evil aura (malice of a person’s heart that became the source of a demon’s power) lingering at the bottom of Pandemonium. Kate attends a meeting with the Council as we find out Manhattan’s Central Park is one of the many key spiritual spots. This land was connected to Pandemonium and the former Magdalene attempted to seal it. Thus the hail and appearance of demons is a sign that they are attempting to break the barrier. Kate assigns her Magdalene team to reconstruct the Barrier of Seven Wings. While Remington leads the team in setting up the barrier, Satella helps them get rid of the demons. Apparently she was asked by NYPD. Probably they didn’t trust the Magdalene much. Maybe it’s Rosette’s reputation after all… Aion makes his appearance. Satella attacks him but her attacks were backfired. Chrno uses his body to shield from her own projectiles. He wants Chrno to rejoin him but he refuses. Aion throws him away without breaking a sweat. Rosette points her gun at him but Aion is playing it cool because she won’t find anything about Joshua if she kills him. Aion continues to play mind games with Rosette. He is saying that he saved Joshua instead. He points that all this happened and is the fault of God. Have you ever heard His voice? Where is He in their time of need? He isn’t looking. He isn’t saving anyone. He is just a scoundrel full of pride. But Aion can free them from all this agony. That’s why he saved Joshua. Rosette finds it hard to believe him but she still has doubts in her heart. Aion continues that their true enemy is in heaven. That’s why he is here for Azmaria as he needs her power to save them.

Rosette covers Azmaria but Aion knows she can’t pull the trigger. With her in that stunned condition, it’ll be a miracle if she did. Oh, she did. Either she was a bad shot at this really close range or Aion is one heck of a cool baddie not to take the hit. Rosette is paralyzed in fear so Aion kisses her. This made Chrno so mad that her watch seal breaks and he is emitting evil aura and on the verge on becoming a demon. To save Rosette and Chrno, Azmaria volunteers herself to go to him. But when Aion approaches her, it’s a setup to activate the Barrier of Seven Wings. The holy light vaporizes Aion and burns away every evil into crisp. When Chrno and Rosette are back to normal, Chrno notes that Aion isn’t finished yet as that was just his shadow. What? That awesome power was just his shadow? I guess we haven’t seen the real deal yet. True enough Aion is safe somewhere and notes how they resorted to innocent bait. He will leave Azmaria to Chrno. Kate and the Council discuss the successful set up of the barrier but note a problem that it’s closely related to the act of the Sinners (demons). They also want to study the Lord’s intention on the sealed third prophecy. Joshua seems excited that there is another apostle other than him and wants to go see but Fiore seems to be against the idea as his real sister would be better.

Episode 8
Rosette is driving back from an errand. Pissed as usual she has to do this kind of stuff. The phone rings so she has Chrno pick it up since she’s driving. But when it’s from Remington, she grabs the phone and chats away. People, remember talking and driving are bad! And she’s not even using a handphone! Remington wants her to pick him up alone at the Grand Central train station. She happily accepts so she speeds up back to Magdalene to deliver the goods. Well, the sisters aren’t happy the flour got soaked so Azmaria blames herself for dropping it but Chrno mentions it was Rosette’s dangerous driving that caused her to have motion sickness. The sisters continue to berate Rosette to get a proper driving licence and talk about her dangerous driving how she rammed into a bakery and destroyed both the shop and the car after getting distracted by the fruit shop. Wow. If Rosette was a real demon, she could’ve turned into one and whack the hell out of the sisters but she soon leaves seeing her beloved Remington is waiting for her. When the sisters learn of Rosette’s haste, they are puzzled because Remington also left by car. However there is more than meets the eye. Remington was forced to make the call as he is surrounded by ordinary but strangely acting people. Flashback reveals he was supposed to meet a messenger to retrieve some documents but some guy came up to him and told him he will never show up because he got eaten (though he passed the documents to him). Remington realizes that this guy and the rest of the people in the station are being possessed and that they aren’t aligned to Aion but ‘him’. It won’t take a genius to figure out he is Joshua as he is desperately longing for Rosette and even sees her in Fiore.

I guess Remington wasn’t counting on Rosette’s punctuality. Has she ever. Maybe this is the first so she really came on time. Remington was in the midst of freeing the possessed people by cutting some spider hooked at the back of their necks. They are being controlled by a demon known as Puppeteer. But since Rosette is here, she is being told she alone needs to ride a train to see Joshua because he is suffering, his body not in good shape and only Rosette can free him. Well, if you look at it from a psychological point of view, she’s correct in a way. Rosette of course is in a dilemma to see Joshua. She really wants to and the possessed people are persuading her despite Remington’s warning that this is a trap. Just when she’s about to board the train, Remington tries his final push to stop her. Puppeteer is going to kill him so Rosette hops off to go save him. Doesn’t she want to see Joshua? Of course. She will save him from them. As much as they fight their way out, they are overwhelmed by the number of possessed people. Have faith and don’t think that they’re done for because a large cross barrier suddenly covers the entire station. It is Chrno and Azmaria to their rescue after hearing the situation from Kate. Chrno recognizes Puppeteer as Rizel. She admits defeat today and retreats. In the aftermath as Rosette is resting, she vows that she’ll save Joshua as Chrno hugs her. Later Remington shows the documents to Rosette but isn’t sure of its authenticity since it fell into their hands first. Inside the file is a picture of Joshua. Remington has been investigating for Joshua for 4 years and recently found him a few months back.

Episode 9
Rosette, Chrno and Azmaria are at Seventh Bell Orphanage, the place it all began. Entering the building, Rosette and Chrno suddenly go off themselves, leaving poor Azmaria fumbling in the dark. She got the spook of her life when she bumps into several human statues. Then when all the lights turn on, her screams go higher as she sees more of those statues. Yeah, she even screamed at Rosette’s face!  Anyway the duo went to turn on the floodlights so Azmaria can have a good view of the place and the fight she’s up against. Seems this place has frozen in time courtesy of Aion 4 years ago. Yes, even the falling structures seemed to even stop midway. It’s like in the middle of a picture. Story time. Four years ago, Rosette and Joshua grew up at this orphanage. Rosette the usual brute tomboy. Either the naughty kids pissed her for their irresponsibility or they enjoy pissing her off. Even Joshua. But I guess she has to stop being a vengeful meanie when he starts coughing since Joshua was born with a weak body. Remington often visits the orphanage to try and adopt Joshua due to his special ability. Each time this happens, Rosette takes Joshua away deep into the mountains and won’t give up till that father does. Rosette fears they’ll do weird experiments on his body? Man, she’s got a wild imagination. They must have gone out too far so much so they start slipping down river streams, falling off little waterfalls and dropping into pit holes. Rosette hurt her knee so Joshua uses his healing powers. However he laments that even if he can heal others, he can’t heal his own body. Rosette promises to protect him as he protects others. As they trek along the corridors, they stumble upon a door and accidentally opened it. Inside, a grave and a weak Chrno sitting by it. But the kids aren’t afraid even upon knowing he’s a demon. Rosette feeds him with whatever food she got and Joshua is excited to be Chrno’s friend because he’s an occult freak. The grave lies the Holy Maiden, Mary Magdalene, the name that will cause the Sinners’ heart to beat each time they hear it. The duo get acquainted with Chrno and hang out with him as he explains to them the fascinating Astral Line. This serves to excite Joshua even more as he is more determined to become an explorer with his sister and go and record places no one has ever gone before. Later when Joshua’s asleep, Rosette tells Chrno that her real dream is to be a doctor for Joshua’s sake but knows that isn’t possible. God isn’t fair? Well… The trio continue to hang out more often and even Chrno starts enjoying it and wished these days would go on forever. One night Rosette rushed to Chrno. She’s in a panic because Joshua has decided to go to Remington. The reason was because he doesn’t want to be a burden to her. He wonders if he’ll become stronger if he goes. He’ll leave in a week’s time and needs to rest because Remington says his power is causing his body pain. Chrno is horrified to see Aion (in eagle form) and the latter wants to do it together again. Nothing yaoi, mind you.

Episode 10
As reward for freeing Chrno, Aion tells Rosette that a demon’s power source comes his horn and is called Astral Absorption System. Aion is the one who broke Chrno’s horn and made him powerless. But now he wants them to put their past behind and come have fun, just like how Chrno slew a hundred million demons at Pandemonium. Chrno of course refuses seeing that he has found something more precious and obeying him will render his existence meaningless. He can keep his horn. Well, Aion has already given in to somebody: Joshua. I guess with sweet talk like him being the chosen one, would weak kids like Joshua hesitate? Speaking of which, Joshua is in great pain, bloodied and a pair of horns growing out from his head. The other kids are terrified seeing him. But Joshua couldn’t get rid of those ‘noises’ in his head (unkind comments from the kids) so he freezes them. Realizing that this will stop his pain, he goes on a freezing spree. Chrno transforms into his true form to fly back to the orphanage with Rosette. But it’s too late as they witness firsthand how Joshua freezes everyone else fleeing the building. Meeting Rosette, Joshua tells her he felt better and stronger but Rosette is upset that this isn’t the Joshua she knew. Maybe those words hurt him so he starts hearing noises again. This time his freezing power is threatening to engulf the entire area. Chrno takes Rosette away to a safe distance. He mentions he lacks his horn and without Astral power, his body can’t recover. He has no power without a horn or contractor. Desperate Rosette wants to know more about being a contractor. He explains it’ a weapon a demon worshipper uses to summon a demon but in exchange they must supply the demon with a certain thing that human’s possess: The time of their soul. Though this would shorten the human’s life, this way a demon can use his powers without a horn. Chrno wants to find another way but Rosette is bent on saving Joshua because of her promise to protect him. Chrno agrees to make a contract with her and gives her his watch seal which marks the time left in a person’s life. In present time, Rosette vows to bring Joshua and everyone else’s time back. Azmaria tells her she needs to be more considerate of herself because everyone else is here. Aion visits Joshua to tell him that he has found another Apostle in Texas. But Joshua is still seeing his sister in Fiore so Aion wants her to let him know immediately if anything happens.

Episode 11
A detective reports to Kate about a recent incident in which a mysterious creature attacked and wiped out a couple of mafia family members. Those who survived described to creature as having blue eyes. Kate recognizes it as Black Dog and already has Rosette on its tail. I hope she doesn’t wreck the car. Even at 80mph, she still can’t catch up to Black Dog chasing a fleeing mafia car. Their bullets don’t seem to pass through it. Eventually it catches up and causes the car to burst in flames. Satella’s white knight manages to wound it but it escapes. Rosette helplessly watches the dying mafia. He didn’t make it. Back at Magdalene, Remington informs the rest that thanks to Rosette’s chase, they managed to identify Black Dog’s true form. The culprit who summoned Black Dog is Bianca Winger. In exchange for the summon, she used her life. Her goal is to wipe out all the mafia in New York. Revenge? For love rather. Her fiancé Richard J Smith died in a cross-fire between the mafia and police. Black Dog is an Astral demon born from the negative emotions of the summoner. Thus it has no substantial body. But each time it eats another person, its body gets bigger and eventually will materialize. Satella sees mafia godfather Don Gotch. He doesn’t seem too worried about Black Dog and is instead thankful the city is quieter with lesser mafia family. He leaves Satella to protect him and will pay her any amount of money. Rosette disapproves Kate’s method of waiting for Black Dog to materialize before doing anything because during that moment they can do nothing but watch people get killed. Later Rosette is thrilled when Elder shows a new motorcycle he created, Gabriel Hound. Hmm… How odd will it look for a sister riding a Harley? Well, it has boosters to speed up but this baby isn’t for Magdalene. However Elder can borrow it to her if she allows him to touch her tits. Well, he gave him her fist instead.

Off she goes on another Black Dog hunt. This time Don Gotch and his men are in a shootout with the police. Don Gotch thinks he’s safe in a building but he became Black Dog’s dinner. Satella fights off the Black Dog at the subway as Rosette arrives on scene to destroy it. But it’s not over yet because there’s another one and it escapes. Rosette seems to think it’s Satella’s fault that this happened. Something about its body isn’t complete yet. But they can’t go after it since the bike crashed. Aw man! Don’t give new vehicles to her anymore. Satella seems to have given up hope that the Black Dog is gone and the mafia deserves what they get. However Rosette isn’t going to give up yet and though the mafia may be bad people and committed lots of sins, people getting killed is never good. Satella chides her for being a hypocrite and should look out for herself first. Even so, Rosette doesn’t want to do nothing and watch people die. She is going to show Satella her willpower. She then asks her if has a jewel that can make her go fast. I don’t know if that’s a jet or a fish because it’s making Gabriel Hound zooming fast enough to catch Black Dog. While Satella takes over the steering, Rosette fires her holy bullets into it but realizes shooting from the back has no effect. Using the bike’s booster, she speeds up in front of the Black Dog and fires a shot into its mouth, disintegrating it for good. The shockwave was so great that every manhole along the path gets thrown in the air. Well, the ladies are alive and that’s a good thing. But for Chrno, he isn’t happy Rosette left him behind…

Episode 12
Azmaria is so nervous in her Christmas play practice that’s she’s yelling her lines! But she is taken away by Rosette to see Kate. There have been disappearances of 3 of their investigators at San Francisco. All of them were investigating Aion. Based on the evidence left behind, they conclude that a demon was involved. Since Rosette is part of the Militia, she decides to leave this place to go find Joshua. Rosette, Chrno and Azmaria pack their bags for the trip but the other sisters are sad that they are leaving. Remington understands their haste but wish they could stay at least till Christmas. Azmaria thinks back of her bleak past celebrating Christmas alone (even her foster family mistreated her). She is snapped out by Rosette. Seems they are collecting Christmas donations for the public. Rosette’s ‘persistence’ is ‘forcing’ others to donate. Can’t say no to the House of God, eh? Rosette then spots Satella and she learns she’s the daughter of a rich family. Did anybody know she’s the owner of the Harvenheit Technology Company? At least not to Rosette. Look at all the Christmas presents in and on her car. When they learn Azmaria has never received presents from Santa before, they felt bad. Azmaria thinks she was a bad girl but Satella denies. However she notes a certain wild nun and midget demon are a different story. Let the cat fight begin. Azmaria talks to the nun trio about giving presents. Rosette and Chrno are also preparing for Christmas and they wish to make this a memorable Christmas for Azmaria. Azmaria passes by a shop and sees a snow dome. But she has no money to buy it. Though the shopkeeper gives it for free, that won’t do for Azmaria and promises to pay him on Christmas Eve. He will hold it for her till then. Oh, look at Rosette’s ‘demon face’ when she amassed all the donation money. So happy to see so much, eh? The play goes well on Christmas Eve as Azmaria rushes to the store to get the snow dome. Soon, a guy comes in asking for a snow dome he promised to get for his girlfriend. However there are none left. He leaves disappointed so Azmaria decides to give hers. Seeing how noble she is, the shopkeeper allows her to choose a replacement present. Azmaria is picked up by Rosette and Chrno who are on their way to the orphanage to hand out presents. Later Rosette and Chrno thanks Azmaria for her Christmas present, a medallion each. But Rosette notes the main show is about to start. Back at Magdalene, Azmaria is surprised that everyone threw her a grand Christmas party. So much so she is moved to tears. Azmaria freaks out upon getting a present from Satella: A talisman amulet from Africa. Can it actually keep her safe? Won’t it affect Chrno? Quick! Throw it away!

Episode 13
Joshua is in pain. He is hearing those noises again. Fiore tries to calm him down but he got annoyed and freezes her. Luckily her barrier prevented her from meeting that fate. Aion notes how the real sister is necessary so Fiore mentions Rizel is on her way to get her. Rosette, Chrno and Azmaria are travelling by train to San Francisco. It’s going to take a freaking 70 hours from coast to coast! Since the coach is crowded, they offer a mother and her son, Jimmy their seats. But guess who is onboard too? Satella! This train is too small for a cat fight but I guess they can start one if they feel like it. Since Satella has bought an entire carriage herself, the gang including Jimmy’s temporarily make themselves at home in the spacious room. As thanks, Jimmy’s mom gives Rosette some snacks. However inside the bag, there is a photo of Joshua and a note to meet in the dining car. Rosette lies to her pals to go to the dining car and is sees Jimmy’s mom as the culprit. She remembers her as Rizel from the last battle. Everyone else in the car is under her control. Rizel then separates the carriage. She also mocks how troublesome Joshua and since he calls for his sister, perhaps Rosette could meet him, soothe him and put him out of his misery with her gun. Rosette doesn’t take that lightly and points her gun at Rizel. Then she realizes Rizel is controlling Jimmy’s mom and everyone else from somewhere else. She backs off seeing she can’t hurt her. Suddenly a field barrier activates in the coach and Chrno comes barging in from above. How does he know? Well, Rosette has always been a bad liar. But they realize Rosette’s watch seal is gone.

They see Satella knocked out and Azmaria being held hostage so they have no choice but to listen to them. She wants Rosette to shoot Chrno. Chrno orders Rosette to do so but aim at his axis. She better not miss! When she fires, Chrno falls back and Azmaria uses this chance to pour her holy water and free the captives from Rizel’s control. They also got back the watch seal. After putting the passengers safe in the back, they go hunt for Rizel. Rizel surprises Rosette by binding her with her web and dragging her to the top of the train. Rizel has the upper hand in the battle but she can’t let Rosette fall off and die. Because she’s mentioning Aion’s name too many times, this pisses of Rosette and she tells her off that she is the one who is alone. She makes Rizel’s blood boil by saying how Aion needs Joshua and not her, the reason why she is desperately doing this. In the end, she isn’t even loved by Aion. Rizel is blinded by hate that this allowed Rosette to reload and fire a point blank shot and break off her horn. The recoil has her falling off but luckily Chrno catches her while riding Satella’s, urm, yeah, that fish jet thingy. Rizel is totally mad now and is going to kill them but Rosette takes and stabs her with her own horn. This sends her falling off and into the chasm. Is she dead for good? Well, when demons disappear, it’s a sign they’re gone for good. And as Aion notes Rizel’s demise, he also remarks her final effort was useless.

Episode 14
Now the trio are walking through the Prairie fields to San Francisco. Seriously?! But good news: A car is passing by. Bad news: It didn’t stop. Ugly news: The car reversed and guess who is in it? Yup. Satella. Because Azmaria’s honest personality to suck up to rich people like Satella, she allows them to hitch a ride. As usual, Satella and Rosette don’t get along and continue their poor vs rich arguments. Upon reaching San Francisco, Chrno suddenly falls into Satella’s boobs! How daring! Though he got punched, the reason wasn’t because he turned into a demon pervert, but rather he caught fever. Satella’s butler, Steiner Munchausen thinks they should take him back to their villa since it’s close by. As Chrno rests in bed, Satella deduces that it’s probably the Legions have become active. Since Chrno’s body structure is same as other demons, when he receives damage, his body tries to recover quickly. Rosette and Satella go out to buy medicine. At a drug store, Rosette asks if there is a medicine that will work on a demon. Satella pulls her out of the shop and tells her that she can’t really say that with a straight face. Besides, will normal medicine work on a demon? Satella takes her to a rumoured voodoo-like store but they got freaked out by the creepy kinds of ingredients that were suggested. Rosette doesn’t want to give up and continues going from store to store to ask for medicine. Either she gets turned down, laughed at or kicked out. Thinking the need of a magic spell, she enters a shady Chinese fortune telling tent. The fortune teller sees something ‘amazing’ in her prediction but refuses to tell her. Instead, she whispers something for Chrno’s cure that has Rosette blushing and rushing out. In the end, all they got was just a normal medicine. Then Rosette collapses on Satella’s boobs! Oh, she’s got a fever too. Wow. I didn’t know her boobs were this useful. Azmaria offers to make food for them and starts off clumsily, breaking plates and dropping pots. Eventually she makes delicious food for the sick duo. Though Rosette may be down, her appetite sure remains. Yeah, she’s devouring like a glutton. Later Azmaria and Satella talk how Rosette and Chrno care deeply for each other. Then Azmaria collapses! Not her too! Good thing was she was just sleepy. Phew. Because if it was fever, she would’ve fell on Satella’s boobs ;p. Steiner comments how Satella has wonderful friends but she denies they are. Later that night, Rosette enters Chrno’s room and remembers the fortune teller’s words to cure him: A kiss. Seriously? Serious. She kisses him on the lips and deep in the night when she wakes up, she sees Chrno up and well as he thanks her. She too is feeling fine so it’s back to normal for the duo. Yeah, Rosette ‘wrestling’ with Chrno… A mysterious person shows up at the doorstep.

Episode 15
That person is Duke Duffau the Pursuer from Pandemonium. Here is not here to fight them but requests their alliance against a common enemy: Aion. He and Chrno are imperfect creations by Number 6. He wants to return Pandemonium’s head to the depths of the earth. Kate and Remington are trying to persuade the Council to work with Duffau but they refuse seeing it’s like being a Satanist and they don’t follow the Lord. But they remind them about Chrno’s great contribution to Magdalene and that now they have a perfect opportunity to gain a source of information especially on Aion. Kate has become so much like Rosette, eh? Well, she did learn a thing or two from that wild nun. Now she even trusts her judgment. The Council hope this doesn’t become the first major mistake since the Forbidden Fruit. Chrno explains to Satella about Pandemonium’s head. Those who fell from Heaven became Pandemonium. Thus, they are fallen angels. Pandemonium hated Heaven and granted intelligence upon the people who were created in the image of those in Heaven. After this world was created, Aion wanted to change the order whereby greed wasn’t a sin and whereby hope shines when greed is born. Citing an example how Heaven requires the existence of demons to display its glory, Aion wants to be free from Heaven’s grasp. Therefore Aion and those who believed him (including Chrno) to jump into the new world of freedom, started a rebellion. Aion cut off Pandemonium’s head as a result. Duffau and his demons were going to exterminate them but Chrno’s power prevent prevented him from getting his way. The nun trio will be going to San Francisco to support Rosette and co as order from Kate. Elder gives them a briefcase containing better Gospels and magazines. Because it’s getting lonely here, he smothers his face on all their boobs!!! Maybe that’s why the babes are leaving him. Consider it as God’s punishment.

Rosette and co meet up with Duffau along with Magdalene’s West Coast branch, Gilliam. Gilliam tells them the Council has decided to trust Rosette and Chrno. At least the Council aren’t so narrow-minded. Aion sees Shader as she is near completion to find a way for an incomplete being to become complete. According to the Book of Atonement, the forgiveness of a fallen angel, when the head of Pandemonium, the 6 Apostles and 7 Virtues are gathered together, a soul shall be born from within the ball of atonement. At that time Heaven will become Earth and Earth will become Heaven. Time will draw a spiral again. Now all that’s left is the Song of Benevolence. Joshua is still weak but Jenai gets rough with him because he isn’t happy humans like him are the ones that killed Rizel. Fiore doesn’t want harm to come to Joshua so Jenai beats her up. Joshua thanks his ‘sister’ for always protecting him. Only Aion can cool that hot-headed guy down. Duffau explains to Rosette since Aion took Pandemonium’s head, light is entering darkness. Satella still doesn’t approve of Rosette working with that demon because she’ll be just like a Satanist. So where does her faith lies? In her watch seal. She will fight together with all of them. Duffau commends her words and the reason she is worthy of being called Mary of Magdalene. Rosette doesn’t know what he is talking about so Duffau says she too received powers from Heaven like Joshua. Something about her true form has been distorted as darkness is trying to corrupt her. He warns that a mark that will protect her will be etched on her body. Satella still isn’t sure about Rosette’s cooperation but Rosette mentions demons are the greatest source of information for them now. Satella will be able to find clues for her sister.  So this also means Rosette is going to stay here a little longer? Just bill the costs back to Magdalene. As Rosette takes a bath, she suddenly feels pain and emerging on her wrist is a cross symbol. It’s bleeding!

Episode 16
Satella wakes up from a traumatic nightmare that a demon massacred her clan and family. Though lacking sleep, she takes up another job request to look for another missing person. Recently there are rising cases of people missing. Rosette, Azmaria, Chrno, Gilliam and Duffau meet and discuss their next operation in taking away his source of power. In other words, devil worshippers. One of them being Eliza Brown. She gathered all believers in every district she passed through. So the fact is people weren’t disappearing but being made as sacrificial offerings as devils operate by using the strength of people itself as their food. Azmaria is disheartened that humans would sell out their own kind so Duffau reminds her that being an Apostle herself, every human and demon would want her powers badly. This was enough to make Azmaria sweat and bring back traumatic memories. Rosette tells her to go back and rest. If she can’t protect herself, she can’t do her job well. Duffau feels that since this wrongdoing is done by humans, only humans can take care of it. They aren’t going to interfere. Satella enters a mine believed to be a place turned into devil worshipping ceremonies. She falls down a pit and gets knocked out by Eliza. When chained Satella wakes up, she finds Eliza performing the ritual and to summon the devil. To her shock, he is Aion. Eliza is so infatuated with Aion that she would do anything for him and even scorn Satella for talking back. I’m sure Eliza was over the moon when he kissed her. Aion continues to mock Satella’s source of confidence and breaks it by showing her charm in his possession, making her go berserk. Aion tells a little story. Long ago, there lived a clan possessing mysterious powers hidden in their jewels living in the black forest country. In short, they were easily destroyed by a single demon’s attack. But there was only 1 survivor among them. That girl (guess who) survived due to the fickleness of a demon (also make a good guess). Now Satella goes really hysterical upon remembering those memories. Yeah, Chrno’s mug was there. Satella tries to maintain her sanity that she will not forgive and will kill him. Of course cocky Aion knows she can’t do anything with her bare hands. Because Aion is getting to close to Satella, Eliza gets jealous and plans to kill that woman. But annoyed Aion, by just saying STFU, the deluded woman falls dead. OMG! Don’t play play! Rosette and Chrno blast in before Aion could do more physical molestation and mental trauma on Satella (“God isn’t going to answer you anyway”). Wanting to speak to Rosette, he easily flings Chrno away without touching him and evades all the Gospels Rosette fires at him. It’s like he had Bullet Time mode on. Rosette fires a point blank shot into his head but he regenerates in no time. Why? Oh, you got to love his best answer, “I don’t think God’s voice reaches devils…”. With that, he’ll meet her again some other day and disappears. When they free Satella, she continues to break down over her helplessness.

Episode 17
Shader has finished her work and all they need now is to insert the last key. Satella is still weak in bed, pondering about Aion’s words that her sister could still be alive. As Rosette makes breakfast for Satella, Steiner tells her about a cup that was the only ware that was unscathed when Satella’s family was massacred. He felt helpless but Rosette notes that sometimes one can support the other just by being with that person. As they visit Satella, Rosette starts bleeding. Chrno is appalled to see her bleeding forehead and wrists. He recognizes them as stigmata, marks that indicate those who are given unto Heaven. But Rosette and Chrno will soon have to join an attack led by Duffau on some hideout. Rosette wants Azmaria to stay back and watch Satella since she is in no form to fight. Can she say the same for herself? Duffau, Rosette and Chrno barge into the villa but find it empty. But it’s a trap as Jenai and Vido knew about their plan and ambush them. So the demons fight each other while the Magdalene reinforcements do what they can to support from the ground. Duffau gives Chrno a sword to fight because he doesn’t want him to unleash his powers here. Many of the Magdalene are injured (seriously, can they actually put up a fight with powerful demons?), Gilliam orders the activation of a large attack barrier. With all the demons being stunned, Rosette fires her Gospel but Vido fires back whatever he’s got. Duffau’s underling, Calv protects Rosette and sacrifices himself by blowing himself up with Vido. Furious Jenai retreats. Wounded Jenai returns to Aion and reports what happened. Aion wants to know how Chrno fared but after learning Rosette was somewhat injured, he realizes that ‘He’ has finally begun to move his pawns. He goes to see Joshua to bring him the good news but sees him in a deteriorating state, asking for his sister. Aion assures she’ll be coming soon to see him and need to give them a grand welcome for tomorrow’s ‘carnival’.

Episode 18
Gilliam reports to Kate about the heavy losses and also notes the odd activity in the Astral Line above. Rosette is impatient in wanting to help out but Gilliam needs her to rest. Azmaria notices her pals down so she plans to take them out to the carnival. They think they shouldn’t be having fun at a time of crisis but when you hear a little girl saying things like not wanting them to carry the burden themselves, let’s not turn this beautiful day bad shall we? Aion wants Shader to thaw out the Apostles. Joshua wants to follow him to the ‘party’ so Aion lets him. As Rosette and co have fun at the carnival, there is one thing I want to mention about her. As a person who uses a gun when fighting demons, she is sure a lousy shooter at the shooting gallery. SHE HIT NONE!!! At the dance, Satella accepts a guy’s offer to dance. Rosette thought she could see her falter but Satella’s a pro. Not wanting to lose out, Rosette forcefully takes Chrno to dance. So stiff, so odd. It’s only a matter of time before those amateurs step on each other’s foot. Oops. They already did. Soon it turns into a war of trying to step on each other’s feet! Is this the new version of tango?! Soon it turns into a wild but lively dance that they and everybody enjoy. Maybe somebody should incorporate this dance. Azmaria too has her dance with Steiner. After taking a group photo, Rosette goes look for Chrno who got lost. Satella talks to Azmaria and is amazed that never in her wildest dream would find herself supporting those 2, especially a human and a demon. Azmaria wants Satella to be happy too and will pray for her every day. Rosette finally finds Chrno but ends up realizing they are lost in the crowd. Then walking to the edge of the cliff, they see the beautiful night scenery of the San Francisco city below. The talk about life, living longer than the other, they need each other, grateful for each other. Especially for Chrno because he was wandering in darkness for so long (aren’t demons so?) till Rosette showed him the path of light. And because of Chrno, Rosette doesn’t hesitate because each moment is precious and is able to move forward and never stop. The fireworks light up as they both embrace. Suddenly Rosette spots an eagle in the sky. Alarmed, she chases after it and as it leads her to Joshua.

Episode 19
However Joshua doesn’t recognize her and insists he is waiting for his sister who coincidentally shares the same name as her, much to her shock. Realizing Aion nearby and the cause of all this, Rosette points her gun at him. He dares her to shoot but Joshua snatches it away. Then he starts squirming in pain, hearing all those noises. Fiore tries to calms him down. Rosette is shock to hear him call Fiore her sister. Aion tells Joshua that Rosette is their guest of honour tonight. Rosette is filled with anger that Aion destroyed everything. Aion reminds her about the ‘pain’ he carved into her. That’s when she starts to paralyze in fear but Chrno jumps in to Rosette’s defence. When Satella goes off to get drinks, Steiner tells Azmaria how Satella has been quite caring now thanks to them. Suddenly he is slashed by Jenai. Azmaria is kidnapped by him. Satella is shocked to see bleeding Steiner upon her return. She is told to rescue Azmaria and not mind him. He’s probably going to kick the bucket anyway, by age or the wound ;p. Shader throws Aion a sword, in which he uses to stab the ground and release miasma to begin the Ritual of Atonement. Within the miasma are the Apostles, including Joshua and Azmaria. Because Joshua could still hear those noises, he fires his gun at Rosette but Chrno takes the bullet for her and is out cold. With that, the noise in Joshua’s head stopped and he wonders if he should’ve killed him earlier. Aion then uses Pandemonium’s head to create chaos all around, even reaching the Astral Line. When Magdalene receives news of this, Elder wants everyone in San Francisco to be evacuated because the scale of events would far surpass what happened in Manhattan and at worst case scenario, San Francisco could disappear from the face of the Earth.

Rosette tries to stab Pandemonium’s head but was struck by the Astral Line. Satella comes rushing in. Fiore, a Jewel Summoner is ordered to stall her. Satella recognizes her as her sister. So she’s the missing person she’s been looking for? In a way, it’s a small world. The ritual completes with the achievement of Ascension.  Aion picks Rosette up and tells her this is a ritual to awaken her. With the 7 virtues to awaken her, they needed 1 more virtue of Heaven that demons desire: Justice. Rosette is also an Apostle so in order to ‘cultivate’ her, they needed her to have the power of faith. She, who is spurred by righteousness and inherited Mary Magdalene’s love, annihilated Pandemonium’s head and become Mary, one who bestows light. Though she embodies righteousness and love, yet she used her faith to pursuit unmatched hatred and vengeance, this she is no different that he is. He wants her to come to the land of salvation with him. A very weak Rosette refuses but Aion kisses her. She pleads for Chrno’s help to kill this bugger. Hearing her voice, Chrno draws enough strength to stand up and transform into his true form after Rosette’s watch seal is released. He charges straight for Aion but Joshua steps up before Aion. On a trivial note, I don’t know how Remington arrived so fast to free Azmaria from Shader’s grasp. He was at Magdalene’s HQ when the chaos happened. New York and San Francisco are at the opposite ends of the country, right?

Episode 20
Aion gives Joshua a sword to fight Chrno. Duffau keeps Jenai at bay away from Remington and Azmaria. Gilliam fires several shells into Fiore’s arm but it turned black instead. Is that a mechanical arm? Chrno was distracted by Rosette’s plea to stop fighting and got stabbed by Joshua. In turn, he pulls Joshua’s horns out. Though the kid is screaming in pain, he promises this will end the noises in his head and breaks them off. Joshua collapses and Chrno turns into stone. As Aion takes Rosette with her, Duffau stabs and kills Jenai while Remington does the same with Shader. Later Remington reports to Kate about their failure since Rosette has been taken. Joshua is saved only because Aion doesn’t need him anymore. Kate questions how he got to San Francisco in record time. Remington reveals he is an angel. Say what? Fiore and Joshua are recuperating in hospital. Azmaria wakes up and mentions about memories from Pandemonium’s head flowed through her mind. When demons were exiled from Heaven, they made a certain covenant with God. Humans possessing wisdom will someday fall. He therefore gave demons the role of leading humans from depravity to salvation by making them fear Heaven. The reason for them Apostles to exist is to make the greatness of Heaven’s will known to the people. That’s why demons are indispensible to Heaven as because their existence made humans worship God. And when the time comes, a saviour will appear to preach deliverance to the people amid the confusion. Rosette’s stigmata must have been a message. However Duffau says it serves more of deterrence to the rise of demons. A potent deterrent is also a potent force, that’s why Aion desired Rosette since justice comes hand in hand with violence and what Aion desired is a justice that manifested as violence. Remington notes that he is powerless and prohibited from taking any action. He has been watching throughout the ages and thinks all this may have been in accordance with Heaven’s scenario all along that the Sinner s gathered the Apostles. For now, they do nothing and carry on as usual.

Azmaria sees stone Chrno in the warehouse and sings for him, pleading that he will save Rosette. Aion shows Rosette the destroyed city as a result of Chrno and Joshua’s battle and their testimony of love for her. He also says that he needs not Sinners or Apostles anymore and it’s just the 2 of them. Many have died, gotten hurt or lost their futures because of her. Everyone is praying to God for their suffering but he is sure He will never answer. He knows Rosette wants to go help them now and wants her to choose to save or not to save since she is already an accomplice. She wants to save but not with him. Aion has been waiting for her justice to grow within her as they’re going to change the world and create a new era. What developed between faith and revenge was justice. It has caused so much death due to love. And that is who she is. This city was a sacrifice made for them to win their freedom. He asks if she has the resolve to leap into freedom. Chrno told her to live but what will she accomplish by living. In the end, Rosette dons Fiore’s specially made black dress and sets out with Aion, though she still takes the watch seal with her as it is her life.

Episode 21
Kate and Elder arrive in San Francisco and being picked up by Remington and Gilliam. They are being told of the situation and since many saw Chrno, this has sparked a frenzy of everyone across the nation to go to church. Wow. I didn’t know it was this effective. Fiore wakes up to go see Joshua. She doesn’t remember who Satella is and believes she is Joshua’s sister. After all this time and finally accepting that fact, Joshua wakes up and doesn’t remember who the hell she is. So shocked that she fell back into coma. Meanwhile the spirit of Mary visits the stone Chrno. It’s time for another flashback. Back in 1870, she was visited by Chrno in the library. Though the other Magdalene Order surrounded them, Chrno listened to her advice to make their escape. Somewhere away, Chrno knows that she can predict the future. She replies that she is fated to carve the 7 sorrows of Mary into the path she walks. A fate that he wants. But she knows he hates to hurt people but will one day do so and can’t avoid it. Nearby, Chrno sees Aion pulling off his horns. Bringing him back to the other Sinners, Shader has finished a device called Astral Collection Control Unit which serves as the horn’s substitute. However it still needs an astral power source. Like a human life. Later Chrno talks to Mary elsewhere and asks if she has seen the end of their dreams. She shows him her stigmata on her wrists and notes they are marks of one chosen by God. With this, her powers of precognition manifested and began to see the past and future. Of all the dreams, she saw one about Chrno. He will take her life and will fill the emptiness in her life. She is calm and came along with him knowing that her fate is sealed because she is with him. However she cautions him that his heart is swaying. She warns his dream will fail because of his wish not to hurt others. She also wants her to be careful of Aion because although he sees him as a friend, Aion doesn’t.

That night when Shader is ready to begin the ritual as all the preparations are in place, Aion doesn’t want to go ahead. He says Mary is a decoy set by God to fail their plan. Since she has told Chrno their future, this has opened up more choices. He wants Chrno to kill her. Chrno strangles her and wonders why she is still so calm. She claims they can’t change fate and wanted to know what kind of person will take her life. Then she confesses she likes him. Chrno can’t kill her so Aion impales him and sends them both falling off the cliff. Mary uses her powers to land them safely. Chrno says her premonition was wrong since he is critically injured and lost his horn. However she gives him the Unit (which is the watch seal). She makes a contract with her life to let him live. After Chrno buries her, on occasion Mary visits him via her spirit. Because Chrno wants to protect Rosette and her, he breaks out of his stone captivity. The watch seal on Rosette activates and causes great pain. Joshua wakes up but doesn’t remember who Chrno is. In fact, he doesn’t remember anything and all his abilities have disappeared. Duffau and his underlings confront Aion but Rosette unleashes her powers to destroy them all. Before Chrno, Azmaria and Satella set out on their journey, one of Duffau’s underling, Gulio limps in to warn that Duffau has been killed by her partner and to be careful of that Saint. Then he perishes.

Episode 22
When Satella was young, she was sad when mummy told her she would never be like a Jewel Summoner like her sister. But big sis was there to comfort and give her words of encouragement. Elder gives Chrno a special sword engraved with Eruku text to fight Aion on equal terms so that he doesn’t have to revert to his original form which will be dangerous for Rosette. Fiore blasts her way out of her confinement and takes Joshua with her to see Aion, injuring several Magdalene guards. The nun trio are running a camp for the wounded when they see Rosette. Looks like she is performing some healing miracle. They are happy to see her but Aion shows up with her and takes her away. Everyone who saw that miracle starts flocking around and seeking their help. I guess in such trying times, they’d truly believe in any miracles of God, even if Aion is just playing as one. The nuns meet up with Chrno, Azmaria and Satella as they couldn’t understand what is happening. Across the street is Fiore with Joshua. Fiore is bent on seeing Aion because she believes he can heal Joshua and will not kill them as he still needs her powers as a Jewel Summoner.

Satella wants Chrno to retrieve Joshua while she takes care of her sister. She creates a barrier that transports them to another dimension. Satella tries to convince that she is her sister Florette but Fiore insists she is a mechanical doll, a huntress. Satella doesn’t want to fight her but till she frees the barrier, Fiore relentlessly attacks. With childhood memories of how they spent time together till the day Florette lost her life when Chrno killed her family, Satella tries hard to make her remember those memories. But all Fiore can say is that Florette died 10 years ago and she is just the ephemeral huntress Florette left behind. Also, she is just a doll Aion created from Florette’s corpse. Satella gets sliced and slashed so she uses her last ditch effort. If they can’t go back to the way it was, at least she wants them to go together. Running up close and hugging Fiore, Satella materializes a jewel to stab them both together. Fiore mentions Satella’s name before her death. So she finally remembered those memories? Chrno and Azmaria go up to Rosette who is doing her blessing. Chrno isn’t happy Aion did something to her but he mentions he did nothing as this is what she wants to by bestowing miracles of the Magdalene and for her personal atonement. Then as they both leave, Chrno grabs Rosette’s hand but his palm was burnt. Aion uses this chance to tell the people that this is proof for those who oppose the Lord cannot even touch the Saint. Everyone believes Chrno is a demon (which he actually is) and tries to kill him. Better run away from the ugly mob. Chrno and Azmaria see heavily wounded Satella leaning on a tree. Satella wants Chrno to save Rosette for she is bound by her past like her. Break her bonds before she becomes like her. Azmaria sings to Satella as her final wish as she peacefully passes away. The unruly crowd are trying to break into Magdalene as they think they are hiding a demon and want this satanic cult to repent their blasphemy.

Episode 23
As Chrno runs around looking for Aion and Rosette, a kid pass a letter to him to meet them at a decimated church. Rosette demands Chrno to give back her life. Aion mocks Chrno he is a hypocrite of love because all the women he loved dies at his hand. Because if Chrno continues to live, Rosette’s lifespan gets shorter. Does her really want to kill her that bad? Since Chrno isn’t going to give it up, Rosette gets permission to kill him. She splashes her burning blood at him. Chrno remembers how he first met Aion. Chrno was depressed and Aion told him about the absence of God and how men only listen to them now. Heaven is pitiful now and since men was given wisdom and the ability to think, His light no longer reaches the world of men. Aion extends his hand to Chrno to create a new freedom in the name of sin. Chrno regrets shaking his hand then. Remington picks Chrno up in the aftermath. The people continue to riot against Magdalene and burn everything down. Chrno laments due to his weakness and inability to resist his thirst for freedom, he caused the deaths of others and wonders if he should be living. The photographer who took a group photo of Rosette and co came to deliver the photos to Azmaria. He also gave them a picture he took while he was in the city: A photo of Rosette. Remington theorizes that the riot in San Francisco was a test case for Aion. With people in despair, Rosette’s stigmata have become their hope. Aion will lead this country into chaos using hope as a weapon. The Fatima Prophecy, the second prediction realization will lead to an even greater war. So they believe this is a test from God? Well, looks like everyone is still revolting, killing and destroying things. None got enlightened and followed the path of God, eh?

Back in New York, Kate reports to the Council on what has happened. There was a case that a police inspector running wild too. When interrogated, he said he heard noises in his head and carved the stigmata onto his wrists to stop the noise he believes is from the devil. Calling those who did the same as Crusaders, they are followers of the Saint will annihilate those who oppose and obtain true freedom. Doesn’t that make them any different than murderers? What is justice then? Chrno continues to regret and feel guilty on how to make up to Rosette. Azmaria also feels the same but she says they can’t deny the precious moments they have spent together. Chrno gets his confidence back and is to look for Rosette but Aion’s eagle appears and leaves a message to meet at Central Park. Chrno heads off alone and Rosette is still bent on taking back her life as she points her gun at him. Chrno is okay if she wants to kill him but before she does that he wants to end his own fight with his past. He throws his horns at Aion to turn him to stone. This breaks Aion’s spell on Rosette (the price was her last stigmata). In Chrno’s arms, Rosette reverts to her normal self. However Aion stabs Chrno with his horn since he was able to overcome his power. Rosette decides to give her life to him because if many lives can be save through her life then she would willingly died even if this is God’s plot to revive this fallen world. Unlocking the watch seal, she says that is the reason why God gave them wisdom and soul. Chrno transforms into his true form and fights Aion. He fully understands why they are incomplete. After a few clashes, Chrno kills Aion. Hold on! The ever-powerful untouchable Aion just got killed so easily?! Just like that?! Maybe Rosette’s life really Chrno powered up. In the aftermath as Remington and co search for the duo, all they could find is Rosette’s gun. Azmaria believes Rosette is still alive somewhere.

Episode 24
A year has passed. In 1929 at Seventh Bell Orphanage, time has begun moving for the kids. Kate and Azmaria pay them a visit. Azmaria’s soothing song calms the children. As for Rosette, she is still not to be found. Meanwhile Remington and Elder visit the grave of Mary and see proof that those children were here before. The horns of Aion lie on the wall sculpture. Remington says since Aion’s horns have the power to move time, it was the only way to undo the frozen time. Seems Remington have severed ties with Heaven since he has no more lingering feelings for his broken wings. He is also no longer a reverend at Magdalene. Though the city is under control, there are still bits of Crusaders everywhere and some of the more dangerous ones are thrown in prison. One of the nuns thought she saw Rosette but it turns out to be the wrong person. Remington returns to Joshua and it seems he has a mind of a 12 year old. He is trying to be a novelist and writing a story that has a certain strong girl as the heroine going around destroying bad people who are after the Astral Line. Joshua thinks it’s his original idea but I guess it’s better this way. Remington feels Joshua is proof of his sins because that child destroyed his mind to protect himself. Far away in a secluded place and an abandoned hut, we see Rosette and Chrno still alive albeit very weak. They’re enjoying their pleasant time together. She thinks of unlocking the seal to heal Chrno’s wounds but he doesn’t want to since that is precious to him. Rosette breaks down because she is scared of dying and wants to continue living. Soon the watch seal stops glowing. Kate gets a call that Rosette has been found. Azmaria and the nun trio rush to the scene and it was heartbreaking to see them both lifelessly leaning against each other holding hands. There is this gentle calmness on their faces.

Kate informs Remington about this and confirms with him and to her relief it’s just superstition for those who made a covenant with the devil will wander in hell. She truly believed Rosette’s soul was the purest because she went as far to make a demon her companion. She offers him to come back but he can’t since he has to take care of Joshua. With that, Kate assures him that he will not abandon her faith. Remington narrates that soon after, there are big riots and uneasiness worldwide. The stocks in New York crash and caused a number of suicides. And there’s a certain German fanatic organization on the rise. Remington wonders why this era has chosen confusion as many people are going to die. Kate also wonders if this is His plan. Noting that Rosette and Chrno may be experiencing happiness since they will not see the Great War and the prophecy fulfilment. Then she gets word that another person with stigmata has been spotted in Miami. Azmaria is fully part of Magdalene as she visits Rosette’s grave. She hopes they will keep an eye on her and vows to be stronger. Fast forward to around May 13 in 1981. Remington is still bumming around like a homeless hermit but not in Vatican. He notes that he is just a spectator in this era till the day he atones for his sins and will live forever. He thought he saw Aion among the crowd. So was Aion the one who assassinated Pope John Paul II?! Well, it ends with a note that the Vatican revealed the third prophecy of Fatima in the year 2000 but was never fully disclosed since it touched about the Pope’s assassination. “We can do nothing but to see the times go by in the path which God has chosen”.

Where was God when you needed Him?
Oh my. What a tragic end. Well, I did expect something like this seeing the way things were going. It was sad to see Rosette and Chrno losing their life at the end but at least they go in a peaceful manner. It is one of the very rare animes that the main protagonist dies in the end. At the rate the series is killing off characters, I thought everybody will be killed off one way or another. I mean, the riots around the world and the people just going crazy with their own version of justice. It’s like hell on Earth. Armageddon. Apocalypse. But even if it did not come, the events that eventually happened thereafter are sure to suggest so. The real life wars like World War II, the Vietnam War and the more recent war on terror on Iraq and Afghanistan. Doesn’t it feel like the prophecy is coming true? Besides, this series is based on the Bible’s Book of Revelation.

The story slowly diverges from one that has Rosette looking for Joshua into a fight against demons who are planning to create their own version of freedom. Then ultimately into something that might involve something with God and His plan. Even though God works his mysterious ways and many zealots would look at the pain and suffering as trials from the Almighty, but as far as this anime is concerned, God somehow didn’t make His presence felt. It was like He never existed if not, did not care. It was as though only demons were present. No angels, no saviour from above. Maybe it is all part of His big plan for something. But as it shows, the misery and despair that was brought upon the human race makes you question why He let it happen. Part of a bigger plan that we mere humans couldn’t even understand, that’s why. I’m not a religious person nor did this series made me into one so there are perhaps lots of things that I want to say but rather not due to my ‘shallow knowledge’.

Rosette isn’t your perfect girl. Brute and rash, living up to her wild nun nickname, only it’s because she has a limited amount of time to live so she knows too well that by not doing anything or being pessimistic would not change anything. Her methods may not be acceptable to what most believers would, at least her heart and soul are pure. How many of us could actually make friends with someone else whom we have been drilled into our heads as an eternal enemy? Ironically we have been told that demons are the villains so to have Chrno being on the good side feels like he was born on the wrong side in the first place. A kind-hearted demon that doesn’t want to hurt others? Joshua is another sad case. He has been born with a weak body and his entire childhood he has grown up in pain and ultimately being used by Aion. So when he has been discarded as useless, the turn of events did not allow for brother and sister to meet. In fact, they never really did. By the time Joshua was in Magdalene’s hands recuperating, Rosette went over to the dark side. And by the time everything is over, Rosette is dead and Joshua has no recollections of his sister. So it’s truly sad that the trio will never return to those times before again. On an unrelated note, I really missed the early Rosette when she was crashing and wrecking the Magdalene cars. She was really funny… Forgive me, sister. After she got promoted into the Militia, she hardly drives anymore, doesn’t she?

Remington’s revelation as an angel was a surprise. Even if he was a fallen angel, putting him in the role as an observer doesn’t really quite cut it. We can always say that it’s part of God’s big plan or he can always reason it’s to atone for his sin, but what good can an angel do by walking on the same earth with men? It’s no different than being one except he lives forever in his case. I believe Kate who never approved of Rosette’s brash ways has slowly become like her. Not that Kate has turned into a wild nun too but at least she steps up for what she believes in and not follow blindly just because it is not what many consider as not the path of God. In the end, she fully trusts Rosette. Maybe all that scolding for that blonde did herself some good, eh? Another sad case is Satella. She spent years searching for her sister and only for them to end up dead together. Whether or not Fiore is truly her dead sister or just a mechanical doll created by Aion, all that matters to Satella is that she loves her sister very much. Over the course of the series, she too changed from a total demon hater to one that at least accepts Chrno’s existence. Well, not all demons are bad. And with 3 out of the quartet gone, this leaves poor Azmaria all lonely, huh? Well, she’ll get stronger so long as she holds her friends close in her heart.

But the best and coolest character of the series has got to go to Aion. He is one smooth talker and a very powerful demon that you don’t want to mess with. He is so powerful that it seems he doesn’t even need to exert any effort to discard his enemies. He doesn’t hesitate to tell you the straight and harsh facts especially about God. But of course if he was that powerful, he didn’t have to go through all that trouble in getting all the Apostles and getting the ritual right for his ideal. So when he easily died in the hands of Chrno in the end, it felt somewhat improper. Big bad boss like him must be tough and hard to take down so my idea was after only Chrno gets whacked and beaten to a pulp, only then he would do some final last attempt trump card risky move to kill Aion. By making Aion get killed that fast makes me think that Chrno is actually more powerful than Aion in the first place and the only thing which prevented him from using his true form was Rosette’s life which he held ‘hostage’. And I’m going to say this again. Making Aion the demon in nearly succeeding his plan may have been part of His plan all along as hinted. Though you can’t really get rid of the devil and even that end narration did suggest Aion, just like God is an immortal, I guess it’s all part of the balance and ying yang. If devils do not exist, so will not angels, right? So having good times followed by bad times is like one big cycle. You can say history is and will always be repeating itself. The evil rises, big fight and good always triumph. Repeat cycle once more. Isn’t it amusing? Come to think of it, after Chrno’s death, aren’t there any more demons left? Chrno slew everyone in Pandemonium, Duffau and his pursuers all perished, the same with Aion and his Sinners. So are there any demons left? Maybe low-level ones.

The voice acting are all pretty okay. With the late Tomoko Kawakami (Misuzu in Air, Athena in Aria The Animation series) voicing the tomboyish and reckless Rosette, Akira Ishida (Gaara of Naruto) doing the kind demon Chrno, Michiko Neya (Melissa in Full Metal Panic) as the conceited Satella, Kazuhiko Inoue (Kakashi in Naruto) as the calm and cool baddie Aion, Junko Minagawa (Ryouma in Prince Of Tennis) the weak and lost as Joshua, Sho Hayami (Aizen in Bleach), as the fallen angel-turned-reverend Remington, Yoshiko Sakakibara (Yuriko in High School Of The Dead) as the concern nun Kate, Tomomichi Nishimura (Masamune in Samurai 7) as the perverted Elder and who can’t identify with that low sexy voice of Norio Wakamoto (Onsokumaru in 2×2=Shinobuden) as Duffau. I find Azmaria’s voice very shrieky especially when she screams. So much so I thought that she could break glasses if she were to hold that note for a longer period. Then I found out she was voiced by Saeko Chiba (Dokuro in Bokusatsu Tenshi Dokuro-chan, Birdy in Tetsuwan Birdy Decode) and man, it never occurred to me that it was her voice. I am also not sure if she is the one behind Azmaria’s choir and angelic-like singing voice. They sound really different but hey, some seiyuus do surprise you. I have not heard Natsuko Kuwatani’s voice for a long time but that doesn’t mean I have forgotten her role as Suisei Seki in Rozen Maiden. Of course I couldn’t identify her here as she is the voice of Fiore and with such an expressionless character with no emotions in her speeches, I guess you could say that never in a million years that I would have guessed it was her.

Initially the name of the title bugged me. No, not the meaning but rather the spelling.  Chrno Crusade was indeed spelt that way for 2 reasons. One, it was a typo error on the manga and secondly as I have found out that name was copyrighted in Japan though I’m not sure in what aspect. Originally the author wanted it to spell Chrono Crusade like it should seeing that everyone has been pronouncing ku-ro-no instead of khr-no. Later when the series was license in America, only then the name was changed back to Chrono.

Well, I didn’t become more religious after watching this. Should I? Should you? Let’s just say if this is all part of God’s big plan, then I leave it to Him for whatever may come in the future. It’s no use trying to change destiny and the future when it is all set out, right? The more you think you can outdo and alter the change, the more you will find that you will end up back in the path of God. Whether you want to believe it or not is also entirely up to you. So if it’s my destiny to watch more animes before kingdom come, so be it. Hah. Using God as an excuse… Can I say that anime is my religion then?

Sora No Otoshimono: Forte

That thing which fell from the sky, is it still here? Well yes. Tomoki still has it. Whether he wants it or reluctantly has to keep it, that’s a different story. And I believe there’s a fine and thin gray line between that too. After the events that have happened at the end of the first season and the tantalizing teaser at the end of the so called unaired OVA episode, it’s no surprise that Sora No Otoshimono: Forte came out a year after the first season aired.

So what else viewers are really hoping to see in this sequel? The answer to the mysterious Angeloids and “Heavenly” creatures that reside in some floating world right above Sorami City? Well, even if that’s what we would like to see, oh heck, it’s more of Tomoki‘s pervertness, right? Right. Now, that guy’s favourite phrase may contain “peace and quiet is the best” but the way he enjoys peeping (possibly taking voyeurism to a whole new level) may not be so if you’re the unfortunate girl that is being peeped on. Plus, with a bunch of wacko characters that include his childhood friend who secretly has a crush on him, Sohara (still hasn’t lose her touch on her murderous chop. Why not? She’s been doing it so frequent on Tomoki), the ‘scientist’ infatuated with the New World, Eishirou, the massacre-loving student council president, Mikako, the emotionless pet Angeloid, Ikaros, and the currently masterless flat-chest Angeloid, Nymph. Yeah, his peace and quiet days are all but long gone.

Episode 1
If you’re ever interested to read up on the back story of this series, go read my previous blog. Or some other sites that offer the same. I’m just jumping straight into the first episode where everything beings and left off at the end of the first season. Tomoki still has that dream about meeting that mysterious angel. This time she is warning him about the coming of an angel. He wakes up to find Ikaros in a very enticing position so you can tell his erection could rival Eifel Tower. However he can’t ‘deflate’ it fast enough because Sohara is coming. He knows he’ll be dead if she ever sees this ‘monument’. So I don’t understand this odd part whereby he orders Ikaros to blast it to bits. Got to be very painful, eh? Don’t know what happened to that as we now see Eishirou still interested in discovering the New World with all sorts of mumbo-jumbo. Are we interested? In school, Tomoki relates yet another dream of that angel to his pals (about an angel being held in the sky and wants him to treat her well). Nymph suggests a Dive Game, a once popular game back in Synapse whereby they dived into human’s dreams. Using a machine (that resembles like a rice cooker), Nymph opens the portal to let the gang go through and see Tomoki’s dream. Since Angeloids can’t dream, Nymph and Ikaros will have to stay back. In the dream world, the scenery seems unfamiliar to Tomoki. Then they start getting chased by prehistoric animals! Actually, this is Eishirou’s dream. Oops. Sorry for the screw up. Going in for the second time, now they enter a decimated war zone. Mikako quickly jumps into action by blasting away all her enemies! She’s slaughtering everybody and enjoying it! Yeah, this is her dream alright. With no one else to kill, she starts targeting her own pals!

After fixing yet another screw up, the next dream seems to be fantasy-like. Turns out to be Sohara’s but she couldn’t admit it because there are lots of Tomokis outraging the many happy Sohara’s modesty! She covers this up by beating up Tomoki and accusing him of having such weird dreams about her. Now she’s going on a crazy beating-Tomoki spree. So much so that poor kid has flashbacks about his dying grandpa who departed ‘great words of wisdom’ before he dies. That is, to dream big. Grandpa too had a big dream: To get intimate with all the women in the world. Only 2.9 million more to go! WTF?! So finally they enter another world. This time on a floating vessel. Eishirou notices evergreen trees withering here whereas they are supposed to stay green all year long. In the middle, there is a big monument. Though they can’t read it, Sohara feels sickly. When they get back, Tomoki and Nymph get into an argument because the latter insists that the latest dream was his but the former claims his dream is in a field. Later Eishirou is at the giant sakura tree, the place where pillars first fell out from the sky. He seems to have brought back an acorn from Tomoki’s dream but the odd thing was Nymph told them bringing back things from the dream world is impossible because that item will disappear but this acorn did not. Remember that busty Angeloid at the end of the OVA? Yeah, she makes her sudden appearance. Crashing right in front of Eishirou, she claims she needs to kill Tomoki.

Episode 2
Eishirou rushes back to Tomoki’s place to warn he is being targeted but as being told by the girls, he has gone to the mountains. Seems he can’t control his lust whenever Ikaros and Nymph are close by so he decides to purify himself by becoming a monk. Can he? Ikaros does a wide range scan and her results indicate that this type Delta Angeloid is Astrea. Speaking of which, she crashes right at Tomoki’s feet. However Nymph didn’t seem alarm so the Angeloid duo go back to their normal chores. As explained, though Delta type Angeloids are excellent in close combat, they have low processing capabilities. In other words, they are idiots! And yeah, Astrea trips before she could launch a strike. The chief monk sends Tomoki to various training to overcome his worldly desires so we see Astrea’s stupidity by tagging along. She plans on killing him but each time she flops big time so much so you’d think a kindergarten kid could have done a better job. And each time, ending up in inviting fanservice poses that erects Tomoki’s ‘little buddy’. Sohara, Ikaros and Nymph decide to pay him a visit at the temple. Tomoki is seen doing to ultimate purity: Burying his porn mags. He thinks it won’t be a bad idea flipping through one last time but was caught red-handed by Nymph, who beats him up. Nymph decides to show her mature side by using some time machine to bust up her boobs. No change even if Tomoki is an old guy. Always will be flat, eh? With Nymph running of in tears, Ikaros goes to check on him. Getting caught off-guard again reading porn mags, he tries to cover up by saying these are dangerous stuff. Ikaros interprets this as a sign to destroy all stuff that threatens her master’s safety. She burns all the magazines away! Goodbye pin-up girls.

Later at the giant sakura tree, Eishirou asks Ikaros to analyze the acorn he took with a newly planted one. Her results that they are completely the same so Eishirou thinks that the answer to it all lies within the New World. Tomoki is burying and saying goodbye to his magazines. Astrea spots him and tries to seduce him by becoming a porn mag. However he gets turned off by her soft porn. To get his attention, Astrea gets bolder as she takes off a piece of her clothes each time he turns the pages. Just one more page and she’ll be completely naked but in Astrea’s embarrassment, the page is stuck together so Tomoki desperately needs something to cut it open. Too bad Sohara was standing behind him. He’s dead this time. Tomoki continues to live the secluded life. Astrea continues her mission to kill him via poison. However she flops when she sees him eating (she’s always hungry by the way). Due to the compromising position they ended up in, Astrea receives horrifying visions about the 6 Domains of karma in Buddhism. Only this time, everything is perverted. Enough to scare that idiot away. Tomoki gives up and returns him. His despair turns into happiness when he sees a parade of porn mags! Seems it is Ikaros’ doing and she doesn’t mind what it is as long as her master is happy. Yeah, they even go on a night festival parade. As for Astrea, she crash lands near Eishirou’s tent. While her self-repair starts, Eishirou hears her reconfirming her mission. There’s also a little history lesson whereby 11 years ago the dream of a Downer (Synapse’s term for humans) connected Synapse though the council didn’t find it a threat. But a few days ago, several Downers were detected to have entered the Synapse Core which contains Rules. Though no Rules were changed, the council deemed this a dangerous event and ordered the quick termination of Tomoki, which is Astrea’s mission.

Episode 3
Astrea realizes she has spoken too much and starts panicking when Eishirou interrogates her for more. She tries to kill him but as expected bungles her way through. She is tied up by Mikako and threatened but is willing to help Astrea to learn and fight via traditional style. That night, Tomoki and gang are visiting the summer festival when he spots a familiar person. It’s that Rifle Dude!!! Run for your life, Tomoki! Run!!! Too late, he got caught. And yeah, Mikako hatches another plot to do another tournament for this year. Last year was that gunfight (remember that royale battle?), but this year it will be sumo wrestling. Erm… Why does it seem like masked wrestling? The prize? Ten million Yen and a ticket to her family bath house filled with geishas. You bet Tomoki is going to enter this one. Yeah, with panties on his head as his mask called Mask Dupants. Damn pervert. The enemy of all women! He wins each round because he fondled his female opponent’s boobs. Damn pervert! Not only Tomoki’s doing well, but Mikako too. You should see her iron fist grip over Eishirou’s face. No contest. The next match turns into a tag team match with Tomoki-Ikaros against Nymph-Astrea. Ikaros and Astrea got disqualified for using their dangerous weapons while Nymph runs away after Tomoki couldn’t get turned on over those flat chests. Yeah, a walkover. The least favourite one advanced to the finals. He will be facing Mikako in a caged battle. Why is Tomoki’s crotch bulging so big?! Does he have something forbidden hidden beneath it? Turns out to be sesame oil so this proves handy as he is able to slip away from Mikako’s iron grip. Tomoki turns on the tables on Mikako and will this be the first she will get outraged by Tomoki? Sohara who has been the referee in all the matches couldn’t stand it anymore and dives in as a masked wrestler to break all of Tomoki’s bones. In an unconscious mode, Tomoki stood up with his fist punching the air. It’s a sign that he’s dead but with pride. Yeah, all the guys are crying for him. You’re all crying for the wrong reasons. Since the identity of the mysterious wrestler was a mystery, and Mikako couldn’t possibly accept it since she was cornered. This means Tomoki gets the prize, right? Erm… How come he has to face Rifle Dude in a match for the title of undisputed champion? Did he hear somewhere wrong that this is supposed to be first prize? Uh oh. We all know how this will turn out, right? Hey, are guns allowed? Well if Tomoki’s molesting is, then why not? Rifle Guy wins without breaking a sweat.

Episode 4
Astrea is living the poor life and thinks about how her master sent her down to kill Tomoki. Even if she’s an idiot, she knows too well she can’t possibly go back without accomplishing her mission. Don’t worry. Mikako is here to help her. It’s a snowy day and Tomoki’s peace and quiet comes crashing down once more with yet another scheme from Mikako. This time a traditional snowball fight between the genders. Mikako will lead the girls while Tomoki reluctantly becomes the shogun for the boys. The game ends when the general of either side is taken out. Plus, the winning team can do what they want to the losing team all day. Yeah, that’s got to be the motivation Tomoki is waiting for. With the girls building their defence, Mikako sends Ikaros and Nymph to search for hotsprings. The guys execute their diversion and surprise tactic as they bury Sohara, the biggest threat underneath piles of snow. Ikaros and Nymph couldn’t locate any hotsprings so Eishirou helps out by giving Mikako a pick and whenever she digs, hot water gushes out. Night falls and the guys interrogate some of the captured girls (doing perverted stuff of course). They receive news of the girls soaking in the hotspring so the perverted shogun goes to take a peep. Then it goes downhill from here. Tomoki receives report that many of the guys have betrayed them and let loose the girls (that’s because many of them have girlfriends). Tomoki and those losers (those without girlfriends) try to stage a final fight back but are confronted with a giant snowman (it’s Sohara!). Hey, she’s buried underneath it the whole day? This Snow-hara goes on an angry rampage, wiping out what is left of Tomoki’s army. Astrea takes this chance to kill Tomoki but the guy asks her if this is what she decided or her master’s? He is disappointed that Angeloids can’t make decisions by themselves. When Ikaros appears, Astrea panics and flees. As Mikako and Eishirou soak in the hotspring (he is keeping his distance because he knows what’s good for him), he explains the reason why he helped her dig a hotspring was because every time she digs for something, she always struck gold. She goes on saying how she wanted to make cabinet ministers bow down to her due to her massive resources and the times they spent making secret bases together. She asks him why doesn’t he go home and his answer is simple: He has no home. Back at his tent, he sees Astrea poorly fishing and ponders about her mission to kill Tomoki. Until that happens she can’t go back. He laments the fact she has wings but can’t go home to the sky. Astrea undergoes training from Mikako and she continues to stay with Eishirou.

Episode 5
The gang pays Eishirou a visit but are shocked to see him beat a bear with his bare fists! Apparently he needs something to feed useless Astrea. He has them help him out via fishing. But Eishirou has more important things to investigate, asking Sohara to tag along, they dive into Tomoki’s dream and end up at Synapse Core. They take a hang-glider down to the world below called Synapse. Sohara sees a strange wheel invention and touches it, accidentally causing it to fall off Synapse and to the real world below, nearly killing Tomoki. Eishirou and Sohara venture through the town with no souls in sight. Then they see several angel clones coming out of the homes heading somewhere. Upon touching the door of a large dome, they are being transported to several scenes on Earth. Coming back inside the dome, Eishirou thinks this dome is the real world and humanity must’ve been watched the whole time. Then he sees several people sleeping in the capsules. However a pair of Harpies caught Sohara. Eishirou seems confident. Based on his calculations, this is about the time he and Sohara will be transported back. He leaves a message by telling the master of this place that he shall return. Eishirou asks Nymph if he is real so she assures him he is. Eventually the gang couldn’t fish anything and end up eating vegetable soup. Better than nothing, right? Astrea tries to resume her mission but gets interrupted when coming contact into a wasp. Back home, Tomoki ponders the use of that wheel invention and hopes it is something perverted (oh no). It starts moving so he gets an idea to make a new Panty Robo Bike out of it. He hangs out with it and doing everything so often that it becomes like his best buddy. Yeah, doing perverted stuff. It’s amazing he doesn’t get arrested. On another killing attempt, Astrea fails again when Panty Robo molests her. I’m not sure about Tomoki’s statement about defeating the enemy and defending the world. They should be the villains! Soon their friendship comes to a crashing halt when Sohara finds out about it. She’s going to give him her murderous chop but Robo Panty blocks and protects him. It tells him to run while Sohara’s chop disintegrates every part of it. Tomoki gives it a decent burial and was being told by Nymph and Eishirou that it fell from the sky from his dreams. Not that he understands what they’re saying anyway. Lastly, we see the Sky Master completing another Angeloid for his own nefarious ends.

Episode 6
Tomoki and co arrive in school to see a shocking scene: Astrea eating rabbit’s food with the bunnies! Seems she’s hungry. That hungry, huh? The rest get an idea for Astrea to attend school. Tomoki knows his protest will be shot down so he better thinks of a way to make it fun. Yeah, he is going to turn himself into a girl to do perverted stuff on Astrea. Oh dear. Not that Tomoko alter-ego again. He’s having fun fondling her huge boobs during a fake physical examination but if Sohara is around… Astrea is too stupid to follow class so Tomoki orders Ikaros to be her personal tutor. Then Tomoki has to sit for remedial lessons due to his bad grades along with Sohara, Astrea, Nymph (she’s just doing it because she’s bored) and Mikako (she failed her moral subject. Oh sh*t!), Mikako shows Tomoki that he is the least popular in school. Furthermore, several girls mock him about his stupidity. This gives rise to a challenge as Mikako organizes a quiz to see who is the smartest. With random questions being asked, the first person to hit the buzzer gets to answer. A correct one will move up one slot and the person with 10 correct questions will win a trip to one of Mikako’s luxurious private tropical island, indoor pool park for all year and a photo magazine featuring Mikako as the cover. That last prize… Anyway what if one answers wrongly? I think Mikako purposely demonstrates this feat as it will send the contestant down to a pit of something unwanted. In her case, it was octopuses. Fanservice frenzy! For Sohara it will be pigs, eels for Astrea and a container filled with dung for Tomoki. Mikako flops her morality question to slaughter everyone, Sohara mispronounces her English question, Astrea is just too dumb for anything while Tomoki fails another morality test (to peep at girls in locker room). He is already the most hated person among the girls but the guys are supporting him. Nymph is the only one who answers all correctly and is a step away from clinching the title. However the next series of questions are about girls’ size measurement so Tomoki perfectly answers them all! Not only that, he could tell the exact place of what they did and the colour of their panties!!! Somebody hang this perverted stalker! The girls are outraged but he is the same level with Nymph.

The next question decides it all when it is the same question about peeping girls in the locker room. Tomoki has learnt from his mistake and is to answer correctly when he sees visions of angels showing him the ‘true path’. All the guys realize he couldn’t answer because he’s fighting with his inner manliness (WTF?!). They plead to him to just lie for the sake of the quiz but Tomoki would rather die than be a good kid. He repeats his mistake and is sent tumbling down into the manure. Nymph wins the contest and all the guys rejoice. Yeah, maybe she’s not so bad after all. A few days later, Astrea comes crawling to Tomoki’s home and they start challenging each other to a few series of games to see who is the smartest. They’re neck to neck with each other, though you’d wonder how this will prove that they’re smarter. In the end, Tomoki is fine with losing so everyone holds a BBQ part at his place to celebrate the biggest idiot in Sorami. Astrea is taken in by their hospitality so Tomoki tells her to feel free to come eat with them anytime. It doesn’t take long before they start arguing again. Back in Synapse, the angel in Tomoki’s dream, Daedalus is watching how happy her Angeloids are with Tomoki. But she is interrupted when Sky Master comes looking for her. He knows she was the one who released Uranus Queen (Ikaros) and has been accessing Tomoki’s dream. Though he is here not to fight her, he informs her that his second generation of Angeloids have been completed and their capabilities far surpass her first generation ones. He plans to use them to destroy Ikaros and Nymph.

Episode 7
Daedalus tries to warn Tomoki about the second generation Angeloid in his dream but was abruptly cut off. Tomoki sees this new Angeloid, a loli in a nun outfit, Chaos, excitingly beating up Ikaros badly and she thinks it’s all fun and games. Astrea continues to be an idiot and the more hungry she is, the more idiotic. Yeah, she’s eating Eishirou’s fish bait. This is so sad. If that’s not enough, she tried sneaking into Tomoki’s fridge to steal snacks but didn’t find any. Too bad Nymph too wanted to snack. So she gets an idea of eating Ikaros’ watermelons. One or two shouldn’t hurt but what if they eat her entire farm? Now they’re in big sh*t. Remembering the last time she terminated insects that hover near her watermelons, Nymph starts thinking fast to cover up. Oh, Ikaros is already back. Nymph uses some programme to hack and grow the watermelon faster but it turns into a giant monster in which it swallows unsuspecting Tomoki! Now it becomes a perverted melon monster and devours Astrea. Nymph is going to destroy all the evidence and fires her bazooka. When it’s over, Nymph starts accusing Astrea was the culprit! Yeah, Ikaros just unleashes her blast on the entire house. So later Ikaros fixes a meal for them all to eat. Nymph and Astrea leave so the latter teases her for being a shorty without wings but she isn’t amused. Tomoki is sitting alone at the park when Chaos approaches him. She seems to be interested in him and is creeping him out. Nymph ponders about Astrea’s words and her own predicament while assisting Eishirou in his Dive Game. He has been successful in evading those Harpies till now. Nymph is supposed to prepare a portal to transport him back on time but was being whisked away by Tomoki. He takes her to a field and wants to be her master. This brings tears to Nymph’s eyes but he has an order he wants her to carry out first. That is, to self destruct. Say what? Tomoki wants her to teach him to meaning of love as he starts strangling her. Turns out this ‘Tomoki’ is Chaos, second generation Angeloid type Epsilon in disguise. I’m amazed Nymph couldn’t tell apart from his scary face. I mean, his perverted face is scary but this one is outright creepy. So okay, maybe his perverted face is scarier. Nymph is upset that she toyed with her emotions but she has no fighting capabilities to fight back. Chaos mentions she was ordered to take Ikaros’ convertible wing core. But she’s not interested in that so she disguised as Tomoki to learn from her seeing that her master told them they had betrayed Synapse and gone crazy with love. So what is love? She really, really, really wants Nymph to teach her. How can she do so when she’s strangling her? Eishirou is transported into Daedalus’ room as he sees Chaos strangling Nymph via monitor.

Episode 8
Chaos continues to torment Nymph in episode 8 by transforming to her other pals, taunting her before turning into several Tomoki clones and do physical abuse on her. Nymph is under tremendous trauma but is saved when Ikaros appears in time (previously she spotted fake Tomoki with Nymph but saw the real one out with Sohara at a cafe). Ikaros prepares to fire her Artemis cannon but stops when Chaos transforms into Tomoki. Using him as a front, she orders Ikaros to terminate Nymph. Can Angeloids disobey their master? Ikaros walks up to Nymph and throws her away to escape. Chaos is not amused and orders Ikaros to destroy herself. The loud noise is heard throughout town. Sohara wonders if it’s a construction but Tomoki just got up and leave. Nymph needs to go save Ikaros when she bumps into Astrea. She tells her to save Ikaros but the Sky Master orders her to destroy Nymph. She reluctantly obeys but before she could, Tomoki coolly tells Astrea off (he knows where they are due to the explosion seeing that it is impossible for any big time construction in this sleepy town). He wonders if Angeloids really do have to obey their master’s wish and would it be wrong for them to do the stuff they like. He tells Astrea to make her own decisions as he gives Nymph a helping hand while the poor Angeloid cries in his arms. Sky Master orders Astrea to finish off Ikaros since Chaos is just toying with her. Astrea too is having a dilemma with her feelings. Then she realizes that she too likes Tomoki and severs her chains with her master by ripping it off. Astrea faces off with Chaos and her power up is tremendous. As Daedalus explains, due to her powerful combat capabilities, she did not install any processing capabilities because she didn’t need any. Thus, nobody can beat her when it comes to close combat. Chaos learns from her mistake and keeps her distance to pound Astrea. By this time, Ikaros has finished her self-repair and transforms herself into a giant spaceship. Chaos’ iron wings also enlarge and they have an epic sky battle. Ikaros did a sacrificing move that will destroy them both as she sends Chaos plunging deep into the depths of the ocean (Angeloids aren’t programmed to swim). Chaos wants her to explain the meaning of love. Ikaros replies that she doesn’t know but says her reactor (Angeloid’s term for heart) hurts whenever she thinks about her master. It feels like it is breaking apart each time she thinks about it but will protect the master she loves so much. Wow. This is a long time since I saw Ikaros display so much emotion since her emotional restriction was gone in the previous season. Ikaros’ emergency system rescues her to the surface as Astrea picks her up. She asks Astrea if she knows the meaning of love. Not knowing it either, Ikaros feels she is just the same like Chaos and wants to see her master. They come crashing into his house and Tomoki starts reprimanding once more. But he’s glad that they both came back.

Episode 9
Mikako is saying how peaceful it is. At first I was wondering what she meant till her dark aura starts showing! She is upset that with the super battle that has been taking place in the previous episode, she did not have any massacre roles to play! She thinks of taking out her frustration and there is only one guy who can satisfy her. Oh no! Run Tomoki, run!!! It’s the night festival again and that sense of deja vu. Over at Mikako’s stall, it’s that Rifle Dude once more!!! Run Tomoki, Ruuuuuun!!! Too late. Caught. This time Mikako does a yo-yo fishing competition. She does a demonstration by tying a rope to herself then diving down below into the giant pool to scoop up one of the many tied up girls in it. The rule in this team game is simple: The once who catches the bounciest yo-yo wins. You bet Tomoki is in. Yeah, as Tomoko. Pairing up with Eishirou, he happily dives down to grab all the horrified girls he can. He catches Nymph but throws her back and hopes this little fish will grow some more. That feels like an insult. Tomoki is going for Astrea but each time is thwarted by Mikako, whose team is in the lead. Wondering if there are bigger ones than Astrea, they eventually spot it: Sohara. The scene turns into some sort of drama. Tomoki leaving Ikaros to do some big catch in the ocean with a promise he’ll propose to her when he returns. However he never did but never regretted a single thing because it was ‘so big’. In short, Tomoki lost and Mikako wins. In the end, it’s all part of Mikako’s perfect scheme as Tomoki is hang naked upside down outside her window like a dried cuttlefish! Oh sh*t! She’s really satisfied now. Later Ikaros asks Sohara about the meaning of love and she replies it’s the feeling of wanting to be with someone. Then she asks Nymph so based on Tomoki’s character, they start watching his porn videos to have a good idea! Of course he stops them. He feels that since they can shop on their own now, he gives them some cash allowance. Nymph is happy she can buy all the snacks she wants but Ikaros is having a tough time deciding on what to buy for her master. Taking Sohara’s advice to be with him doesn’t cut it because she’s crushing him to the wall. Mikako’s one to take a bath with him only earns her several bumps on the head and Eishirou’s puzzling recommendation has her flying to the store to buy… Watermelons? When she shows Tomoki the watermelon she bought, he is okay with it since it is what she wanted. As Eishirou said, the irony is that Ikaros bought the thing she wanted and not what Tomoki wanted but because of that he is happy. Chaos still pondering about the meaning of love at the bottom of the ocean suddenly understands what it means when she starts feeling pain in her reactor. Thinking back on Ikaros’ words, she slices all the poor fishes and concludes that pain equals love and wants to show it to everyone. Oh dear.

Episode 10
Tomoki is upset that Astrea continues to freeload in his home. Hey, he was the one who said that she could come here anytime, right? Because of the all the bugging, Tomoki makes the toilet his sanctuary. Yeah, it’s like his own personal room. Ikaros has predicted such an outcome and has made a remote control for the bidet. The water pressure becomes great but Tomoki isn’t giving up his throne but eventually gets blasted out through the roof. Next, he makes the closet his safe haven and isn’t going to come out. In view of this, Ikaros has made lots of preparations like food. But since they’re raw and needs to be cook, the whole closet becomes a microwave oven! Oh sh*t! His balls are going to get cooked. Let him out! Let him out! And for bathroom purposes, she also installed a toilet so Tomoki got flushed out. Later Ikaros follows Sohara out to town for errands. They see a magazine about a famous TV couple getting married so Ikaros starts feeling hot about the thought of Tomoki proposing to her. Meanwhile Astrea is learning poker from Mikako. She is going to teach her betting and tests her with a simple maths quiz. The funny part wasn’t Astrea’s answer, but the way she confidently answered it! How much is 1 + 1? Fifty! Oh my. No wonder she drops the subject and has Astrea eat something. I’m not sure of this because Mikako soon leaves when is being told by her subordinate that something has happened. Seems in the background her bodyguards are rushing somewhere like as though they’re going to defend something. Later Tomoki is glad his project that takes half a year to finish is completed. It is his sophisticated peeping tom system that allows him to peep at girls all over town using mirrors! Yeah, and you wonder why there are pipes sticking out of everywhere like sore eyes. He doesn’t need to leave his room to enjoy his voyeurism. Yeah, all that secret digging and cabling sure must have paid off. He is enjoying the fruits of his labour (see those disgusting nose bleeds?) but to his dismay sees Astrea in his room. Oh not to worry. She’s just hungry.

After shooing her away, then it’s Nymph’s turn in his room. She’s disappointed with him (she should’ve seen this coming) and would gladly do a little service if he becomes her master. However she drops the idea and leaves. Now the person he doesn’t want to find out most is in his room: Sohara. He knows he’s dead. But surprisingly she didn’t give him her trademark chop. But instead, she is asking him he does perverted stuff to Nymph and Astrea lately but not Ikaros. She gets up and leaved without saying anything else. Something smells fishy. The girls plot to punish him. First they distract him by faking they’re taking off their clothes in the yard. When he goes to view them, they reflect the blinding lights into his eyes. Tomoki is going to get back at them and strips naked to show his ‘little buddy’ at the girls. They get horrified when they see his ‘bug’. To finish it off, Tomoki puckers his lips as though as he wants to kiss them. Ikaros peeps through and flusters. Her reactor is giving out steam! In the end, Sohara chases Tomoki while Nymph and Astrea destroy his intricate pipelines. But Tomoki hasn’t learnt his lesson yet. Using a new sophisticated system, Tomoki has Ikaros in space holding a mirror. This time all they need to do is to change coordinates and he has a new peeping scene. His final voyeur came when he peeped at Sohara so her chop was superb enough to send his skull cracking into half. A view to die for, eh? Lastly, we see Eishirou continuing his research when he hears over the radio about an impending storm and thinks the worse is to come. Chaos has evolved and now a grownup version. She has escaped from the pressure of the ocean’s depths and is excitedly on her way to teach everyone the meaning of love. Poor seagull didn’t know what sliced it.

Episode 11
Tomoki wakes up from another frightening dream that Daedalus is warning him about evolved Chaos coming and sees the other Angeloids destroyed. On a heavily rainy day, Ikaros falls ill as Nymph stays back to look after her. When Tomoki and Sohara leave, Ikaros do not remember who they are. Nymph diagnoses her and though her self-repair programme is activated, there is a programme that is erasing Tomoki from her memories. Ikaros is able to remember Tomoki but is saddened that she doesn’t want to forget her master. In school, Eishirou tells them about the several strange phenomena that are happening. After Tomoki tells about his dream, Eishirou thinks not only Ikaros is targeted but Tomoki too. Eishirou and Mikako are investigating the storm with Astrea out in the field. She sees Chaos within. Both sides clash with Chaos really wanting to teach her the meaning of love. Eishirou contacts Tomoki and tells him to go to Synapse via Dive Game. He meets Daedalus who gives him a lock that can stop Chaos. Tomoki is upset with all this annoyance but it’s not himself that he is feeling but rather the Angeloids as they should be the ones living in peace and quiet. Ikaros and Nymph arrive on scene and since they can’t take down an evolved Chaos, they need to work together. After studying her attack patterns, they put their plan in motion. It doesn’t go well as Nymph and Astrea got captured. Ikaros plans to unleash her Uranus Queen powers and wouldn’t mind sacrificing her memories of Tomoki as long as she protects him. Chaos is going to teach them what she learnt from the painful lessons of love when Tomoki reappears and says he wants to be with all of them. He willingly becomes Nymph and Astrea master and orders them to live. Their feelings for Tomoki became so great that Nymph is able to sprout new wings while the rest power up. Chaos’ love reasoning gets more twisted as she thinks they all love her for sinking her to the bottom of the ocean and that she’ll repay them with love by killing them all. The trio cooperate to finally bring down Chaos. She feels she is really loved by her sisters because it hurts so good. The love-crazy Angeloid is prepared to meet her fate for the sake of love but Astrea couldn’t kill her. Tomoki rushes to her side and in tears feels sad for her suffering. Then a different kind of pain fills Chaos’ reactor but this one feels warm. She collapses and he puts the lock over her chain. The storm stops as Tomoki praises them all for a good job well done.

Episode 12
Chaos is left in Daedalus’ care. Since Nymph has her wings back, she is able to use her data processing abilities to restore Ikaros’ memories. Tomoki’s peace and quiet continues to evade him since the Angeloids continue to freeload and annoy him. He thinks of staying in his sanctuary in the toilet again when Ikaros comes into ask about the proposal. However Tomoki isn’t amused and reprimands her about knocking the door before coming in and to flush properly! Why is he reprimanding her without his pants on?! Anyway he has a special favour to ask of her again. Yeah, another perverted scheme. After transforming into Tomoko, he becomes the pool water to fondle all the girls’ boobs. Till he touches Nymph’s. Of course they know this is Tomoki’s doing as they drain the pool water out. But Mikako isn’t going to let this go very easily and organizes a wide hunt for that lecher. Tomoko hides in the girl’s toilet and gets amused with, well, the girl’s toilet. After all his perverted antics, he’s acting like he has never been into one? When several girls come in to do their business, he gets this terrible idea to peep but eventually couldn’t do it. Then the worse scenario comes. Sohara and co are going to clean the toilet before going home (apparently they can’t find Tomoki). Noticing a locked cubicle, they think somebody is inside. Tomoko remembers he taught Ikaros about knocking on the door so he uses Morse code to communicate with her! Thing is, Ikaros translated what Tomoko is knocking out loud. Now they are suspicious. Tomoko then meows like a cat but the rest aren’t buying it and this definitely confirms the culprit of you-know-who. Tomoko can’t escape because Mikako somehow put electric barb wires on top and MIBs with guard dogs at the door. Plus, Mikako gives Sohara a saw to saw off the lock! Thinking hard on how to escape, Tomoko remembers the time when grandpa left because grandma found out he was cheating on her. His last parting words, “A good woman washes everything away like a tide”. Tomoko gets an idea on how to escape. To flush herself down the toilet bowl! WTF?! When Sohara opens the door, she sees the most incredible sight ever: Tomoko sitting in the middle of the toilet bowl trying to go down while the water gushes out everywhere. Of course cannot flush out lah! Cannot fit lah! However Sohara isn’t amused and helps push Tomoko down the bowl. Haha! I don’t know how but it really worked. Astrea narrates the workings of the sewerage process till its purification stages. Oh, Tomoki. You’re filled with sh*t.

Back home, Tomoki is in his toilet when Ikaros wants to talk to him. Remembering on the proper toilet etiquette, she pounds the door open and flushes Tomoki down the toilet bowl! Now he got easily flushes down because he is in chibi form! Ikaros flies off to search for him but meets Mikako. She learns about Ikaros’ proposal. Fishing Tomoki out from the ocean (that’s where he ended up floating), Mikako grooms him up nicely and brings him to the church. He is surprised to see Ikaros in a beautiful wedding dress and Eishirou as the priest. They conduct a mock wedding and when they’re about to kiss, Tomoki backs off. He doesn’t remember he proposed to Ikaros. Mikako is having great fun so she has the other girls, Sohara, Nymph and Astrea come into the hall in their wedding dress and wants Tomoki to choose! Of course Mikako hints that he can pick anyone except her because she is already taken by a certain bespectacled guy. Now, the eternal dilemma that every harem guy has to face: Which girl to choose. Tomoki can’t take the pressure and lets loose a crazy scream when suddenly Chaos comes crashing from the roof. Then she happily leaps into his arms. “Oni-chaaaaaaaaan”. Oh dear. Hey, she’s back to her loli body again. But because of that, Tomoki is spared from choosing. As Sohara mentions, she prefers things to stay as they are now. Tomoki isn’t happy that everyone is having a meal in his place. Plus, Eishirou asks him to become Chaos’ master since taking 1 more Angeloid won’t make a difference. Oh yah. Like another one won’t be hard to handle, eh? Good thing Chaos isn’t hostile anymore but this means his peace and quiet is getting further and further, eh? Hello noise and chaos (mind the pun). Nymph is happy that Tomoki is their master so she takes him on flight around town.

Fallen For You…
Apparently that isn’t the end of it because just at the end of the last episode, a movie of this series is announced. From the teaser, seems like more drama and antics. And yes as mentioned, another new Angeloid to come and disrupt Tomoki’s peaceful and quiet days. But from the last time this second season promo was played out the same way, should I be fooled again? I’m not sure, it must be me because anime movies aren’t my kind of thing and even though the film was released back in late June 2011, I still haven’t got any plans to watch it. So far this season didn’t really reveal much of the mysterious New World in the sky. In the sense there is not much development or stunning revelation that will make our jaws drop. We are just given a glimpse of what it is and if not for Eishirou’s persistence and perseverance, we won’t be able to learn a little more especially if Daedalus actually really exists or not. So perhaps the movie could answer and make clear some of these questions. From major ones like the monument in Synapse Core and why it is linked to Tomoki’s dream to minor ones like that little trouble in Mikako’s house when Astrea was over for poker and the reason why Eishirou believes he has no real home to return to. If only if I could kick start myself to watch…

Other than that, every main character in the series seems to be as consistent as they are in the previous season. Mikako still the massacre-loving girl (man, you got to love her when she turns into this mode) and she can ‘kill’ without remorse while putting on a smile. Sohara still your typical girl-next-door who still can’t bring herself to confess her true feelings to Tomoki while playing a tsundere. Eishirou’s fascination with the New World never diminishes and in fact in some episodes, you can still hear him narrate his theories on history of mankind’s discovery and innovation that may lead to the possibilities of this so called New World. And yes, he still lives by the tent near the river. Tomoki is still the town’s number one pervert and numero uno public enemy of women. He really enjoys it and can you entirely blame it all on him when his grandpa is equally bad? While it may seem that the daily arguments and reprimanding of the Angeloids are natural and part and parcel of his life, but I feel that there is a little bit of progress in terms of bonding with Tomoki. Not only he grows to accept them or teaches them to do things on their will, he is willing to protect them and at times feel their pain and suffering. Besides his pervertness, he’s a nice guy. Just that he’s being a pervert most of the time. And his reprimanding is his way of showing his love to his Angeloids. I don’t remember about the last season, but Ikaros’ has displayed an emotion side of hers that I believe I have not seen before even if they are just short bursts of emotion. Nymph on the other hand continues her dilemma of being masterless till Tomoki finally takes her in. All she wants is to be accepted. Newcomer Astrea shows that she may just look menacing at first. But after you get to know her, she’s one lovable idiot. I have another theory why she is quite dumb. It’s because she’s always hungry! Can’t think on an empty stomach, eh? Besides, my guess is that her bottomless stomach is as proportionately big as her boobs :). We may not know much about the Sky Master except that he is one crazy sadistic dude. One thing is for sure that if there are going to be more sequels in the future, he’ll be one bad ass antagonist that Tomoki and co will have to deal with.

With a big chunk of the second season seemingly like fun fillers (well, at least anything that has got nothing to do with the New World and its workings), the fun part is of course Tomoki’s perverted antics. Whether it is some wrestling match or a snowball fight, it’s not the perverted things he does but also when he becomes into chibi mode. In some episodes, he retains this form as much as 90% of the episode and when he is so, you can expect that something funny and hilarious will happen. Yeah, you can say that he is one funny little guy. He never learns to control that beastly side of his. Why should he when he is having the time of his life? Sometimes I think he can transform so freely and frequently between these forms, heck, he may be some kind of Angeloid too! Only not because he’s a guy. I’m pondering over something. If the Angeloids were created not to have emotions or have dreams, seeing that all those who have come into contact with Tomoki ended up disobeying their master’s orders and developing their own feelings and free will, can I say that their technology is imperfect? I mean those people in the sky seem to look down (mind the pun) on the people on Earth. Maybe Tomoki without himself realizing it has something inside him so extraordinary that perhaps he is the one. No, I’m not thinking of his inner perverteness.

At first I thought that this season the producers are going to pull off another unusual feat by changing different opening themes for each opening credit, just like how they did for each and every ending theme for the first season is different. I was convinced after watching a totally full-on Tomoki version of Ring My Bell for the first episode (this theme was also the opening theme for the first season but this time replaces all sexy Ikaros views with Tomoki. Fancy viewing his chest in the opener?). But that isn’t to be when they maintain Heart No Kakuritsu by Blue Drops for the rest of the episodes. Though I remember that at one point they use a different singer to singer (if I’m not mistaken, it was Ikaros’ seiyuu). As usual, all the ending themes are different in this season too. All the seiyuus are retained in the season and the new addition that surprised me was Aki Toyosaki’s role as Chaos. My stereotypical view of her is that she suits perfectly voicing ditzy and airhead girls like Yui in K-ON! and Tomo in Seikon No Qwaser. But when she voices a very twisted Chaos, she seems perfectly fitting and convincing in making Chaos sound like a lost and dangerous Angeloid loli in search for the meaning of love. Kudos to her. Now that Chaos is part of the gang, I hope she’ll learn the correct meaning of love and hopefully Tomoki won’t impose his own version of love on her. My guts say that Chaos will be safe firstly because Sohara is around and secondly she’s flat. Oops. Hey, you got to admit that Tomoki likes busty babes. The bigger the better.

Now with a bunch of Angeloids in Tomoki’s home, you can safely say that his peaceful and quiet days are very much a distant dream. If this continues at this rate, he might need to get a bigger home to house all the Angeloids he ‘saves’ from the Sky Master’s torment. Heck, he can be the new harem ruler in the sky. But even with a few ladies flanking him, it is obvious he will have a tough choice making the call which want he really wants by his side. Can’t have everything? Well, he was able to have it his way by stopping the Angeloids from killing him or each other. On second thought, maybe choosing a girl would be a much tougher decision. So remember when your mother tells you about picking up stuff from the ground? Same thing too if you pick up stuff that fell out from the sky. You don’t know what kind of troubles that will come with it. Unless you don’t mind becoming a hero and saviour of mankind. Otherwise, isn’t it peace and quiet the best?