Shy

Are we ready for a new anime superhero franchise to take on the world? Seeing how mainstream and popular Boku No Hero Academia has become, will there be others in the same genre that will step up and be its rival in the superhero genre? Forget about the western ones that are heading towards the hellish woke downwards spiral! Let anime teach and remind them the true meaning of superhero! So will there be a new superhero challenger? Well, I’m not sure if Shy would be that rival considering to have a superhero named so and to even stay true to that emotions of embarrassment, that just raises a lot of eyebrows. I mean, unless we’re talking about some Jekyll and Hyde persona, how can a person so shy be a world superhero? All that doesn’t matter as long as the hero does his/her job in saving and protecting those in need, right? Don’t be shy now…

Episode 1
As narrated, wars all over the world have ended. However strange people with superpowers suddenly emerge to help preserve the peace. Because of their strange outfits, they are called heroes. Uhm, did they plagiarized Boku No Hero Academia somewhere? Now we shift our attention to Teru Momijiyama. She stays true to her name and she is perhaps Japan’s most shyest person. Even more so, she works as Japan’s hero under the moniker, wait for it, Shy. You wonder how she can do her job if she is so shy. She has a fish mascot, N. Vilio AKA ABO as her partner. Soon, the roller coaster nearby stops dead in its tracks, leaving its patrons hanging upside down. Shy goes to save them but Iko Koishikawa tells her to save others first. She’s going to save everyone so the order shouldn’t matter. Shy does so and when Iko is the last one, the roller coaster goes off by itself. Shy uses all her strength to stop it but it seems Iko is injured and unconscious. In the aftermath after Iko is hospitalized, Teru becomes depressed over her failure to save someone. Even more so, the media and irresponsible parties are blaming her for it! This takes a toll on her so much so she can’t transform. She dreads of being a hero when a real hero, Pepesha Andreianov pops up to give her some great advice that heroes can’t save everybody. Even so, they must continue what they do. She leaves for an urgent mission. Teru continues to be depressed as she hears more unsettling rumours about Japan’s hero. But when a nearby building catches fire, she sees Iko’s brother wants to be a hero and rush in to save others just like Shy. Only, a slab going to fall on him! Teru dives to save him. She gets her hero mojo back as she enters the building to scout for survivors. She hears a baby’s cry. Her trauma activates when she realizes the mother has no pulse. This doesn’t deter her as she tries to save them. She thought she failed again but luckily Pepesha is here in the nick of time to assist. Later Iko’s brother thanks her for that day and relays the good news Iko has regained consciousness. Pepesha then takes Shy to space. Actually the HQ for heroes. She brings her to meet Unilord, the leader who oversees the heroes. She claims despite wars have ended, there are darkness in everyone’s heart and there are parties trying to take advantage of that to bring chaos. Hence their real duties as heroes are to protect such. Teru returns to school and to her surprise, Iko transfers to her class and is seated right next to her. Though, she still blames herself for being the only person she couldn’t save.

Episode 2
Teru continues to worry about Iko’s thoughts on Shy. She was after all injured because of her inability to save her. Teru even catches her crying her alone and thought the pain was unbearable. After bringing her to the infirmary, Iko tells her how she got it. Teru wonders if she hates Shy because had she been saved, she wouldn’t have been injured. Iko denies because she would never hate those who worked her especially Shy who saved her. Wow, this brings Teru to tears. As she goes to the toilet to freshen up, this strange boy, Stigma starts to corrupt Iko. He puts a dark ring on her finger to let all her true emotions bottled in her heart out. When Teru returns, Iko has started transforming into a monster. She starts to feel hurt as crystals start spiking out from her body. As Stigma puts it, her true feelings filled with rage and hatred. As ABO analyses the crystal materializing is her hate for someone, Teru assumes it is towards Shy. But as we see, her parents perished in a fire to save their children. That hatred is towards herself because had they not saved her, they wouldn’t have died. Not wanting Teru to get hurt, Iko tries to kill herself. Teru transforms and stops that. She wonders why she won’t ask for help. Iko is starting to lose it. Desperate, now she pleads for help. Teru transports her to an open space as ABO completes his analysis. Just separate that ring from her. As the corruption starts to overwhelm her, Iko starts blaming Shy and other heroes. Why weren’t they there to save them? ABO warns Shy not to listen to her but on the contrary, Shy will do it so as to answer her with all her heart. Iko then starts attacking her while she just stands there and take it all in. Flashback shows a young Teru was depressed after someone died. She thought it was futile to save someone when what lies ahead is emptiness. Grandpa told her how people are happiest when they live for others. Even in death, that person continues to live on in that person’s heart. They risk their lives for that connection. As Iko continues to blame herself for her parents’ death, Shy hugs her. That kindness dispels her corruption as Shy is able to easily take off the ring. In the aftermath, Iko apologizes for all the troubles but Shy is okay with it. She also dispenses grandpa’s advice about passing kindness to others. Whenever she feels guilty, she pass on that kindness to someone. If everyone could smile because of that, nothing would make her happier. And so Iko thanks Shy for saving her.

Episode 3
Teru and Iko on a date. Oh sorry, I meant hanging out to get to know each other well. At the shopping complex, they find a lost boy and Iko being the outgoing type, she helps him reunite with his parents. She after all has a little brother herself. Then they notice a poster of Stardust. He is also a hero but is also a famous rock star. Not only that, he has established a lot of charitable and aid groups around the world. Soon, Pepesha contacts Teru and wants her to bring her and her friend to their base for a meeting. Stardust will also be there. Iko meets Unilord for the first time as we learn that Stigma has been spotted around the world. It is believed he wants to ‘free’ people’s hearts. The heroes are surprised that Shy was able to have the ring completely intact. Something about she tried to understand Iko’s heart and somehow it worked. Further analysis of the ring shows that it uses a person’s heart as energy to crystallize since it is filled with unimaginable powers. This is the same concept on how their hero’s bracelet works. Only, this ring forces itself deeper to bring out all the darkness within. Stardust had an experience with this as a friend of his was forced upon a ring. How he solved it? He cut off his friend’s finger! The true reason Unilord called Stardust for this meeting is because since he is one of the few who can act without mercy for his own sake, she wants him to fight Shy. Shy lacks battle experience and Stardust is the right person to do it. After all, there is a chance Stigma might appear before her again. Pepesha wants to do it but Unilord will not allow it since she has grown too attached to Shy. Shy agrees to do this. Stardust wonders if she is serious because is she going to quit being a hero forever if she loses? Going over the rules, whoever loses their will to fight and has their transformation undone, loses. But Stardust is confident that if Shy manages to land a single punch on his face, she wins.

Episode 4
Shy keeps throwing punches but she just cannot hit him. But he could easily land a nasty one for her. He tells her off that her emotions and naivety makes her weak. That is why she rejects victory. He continues to beat her up and this makes the ladies squirm. He further adds insult that she is so weak and making her friends worry all about her. However Shy has not given up. Because of her friends cheering for her, she can continue to stand up. But still, she gets pounded and Stardust continues that this naivety of hers will get her killed by even more heartless enemies. But reverse psychology from Shy. Because she thinks Stardust being a heartless person and going all out against her is his form of kindness. So that she could get mad at him and fight back! Stardust’s flashback shows he got involved in some fight. So his friend talked to him that despite others called him heartless, he fought back to prove he has a heart. He suggested he become the nicest person in the world to prove to others that they were all just talk. As Shy starts to punch back at him incessantly, she runs out of power and her transformation undone. Stardust says she is not cut out to be a hero since she runs on emotions and burns out when she overuses them. However it is fools like her who will change the world. He admits his lost since she was able to touch his face before she came undone. Teru has been sleeping for 2 hours at the base and when she comes to, she learns heroes, Lady Black and Doctor Schwartz have healed her. They are from Black Cross, a medical international organization created by Stardust. Lady Black seems to have an issue with Shy as a hero. She believes just like Stardust she is too emotional to be as one and she made a civilian nervous. Heroes are supposed to be reassuring! So if she is ashamed of herself, quit being a hero now! Back home, Teru apologizes to Iko for the troubles but vows to become stronger. On the news, a riot in China and definitely Stigma was behind this. This strengthens Teru’s will that she can’t falter now if she wants to be everyone’s hero.

Episode 5
Teru is visited by Piltz Dunant (Lady Black) since she needs to follow up on her patient. While Teru is all fine and okay, looks like Teru needs her to treat an old lady of a stationery shop who has a chronic back pain. That sure hit the spot. Once she is healed, she thinks of hiking up a mountain since it is a special place for her and her late husband. And just like that, Teru is now hiking with granny and Piltz. This isn’t going to be a hiking anime, huh? Obviously Teru has no stamina and what a shame, granny can beat her! She is surprised to learn Piltz hates hiking despite she is pretty good at it. She claims there were naysayers who said she couldn’t do it and she did it to prove them wrong. At the top as they take a break, Piltz reveals the truth: She lost both legs in an accident when she was young. Growing up in a mountainous country like Switzerland was certainly a challenge but she did not let that stop her. She will not let her disability limit what she can do! The same can be said for Teru but she needs a hell lot more stamina training! Piltz hints she doesn’t mind training her to be a proper hero. As Teru ponders how she could use her heart’s power more efficiently, she couldn’t concentrate in classes. And what’s this she keeps thinking of heat/fire? Until she stumbles upon a calligraphy of the word flame, a tall girl thinks she is interested to join. Being a person unable to say no, Teru is then made to sit and watch the calligraphy club president doing his beautiful strokes. As she tries some out herself, the president’s great advice how in calligraphy you have only 1 chance and you pass that expression from your heart to your arm, that character on paper is born from the flick of the wrist. This gives Teru great motivation so she returns home and starts her own calligraphy. She writes ‘flames’ and is proud of it. Uhm, this isn’t going to be a calligraphy anime, huh? But she puts too much heart in it so much so the paper is on fire! Literally it’s on fire!!! Oh sh*t!!!

Episode 6
Stigma laments heroes judge people by their hearts and lock them away with nowhere to go. Don’t worry, he won’t destroy the world. It is the heroes who will be destroyed. He thaws out Tzveta Kooriskaya from her icy captivity. Shy and Pepesha are being summoned by Unilord as they will head to North Pole for a mission. They rendezvous with another hero waiting there, Mianlong. According to the research officer, they received a distress signal from a ship stuck in the ice floe. As they ride a helicopter there, it seems Shy is amazed by the strange formation of ice. Uhm, do ice spikes happen in North Pole? Well, luckily they get out in time as the spikes penetrate the copter. Attacking them is Tzveta and she thinks attacking heroes would warm her up. Pepesha thinks she is a victim of Stigma but is attacked and told off not to assume people’s hearts! This is wokeness of a different degree? Now they wonder if she is Stigma’s comrade because she doesn’t have a ring. The heroes attack but Tzveta won’t easily go down despite her lackadaisical attitude. At one point, Shy needing to get rescued by Pepesha before death knocks on her door. Pepesha is in shock when Tzveta hints she knows her. This allows icy girl to deal a severe blow and freezes her. Tzveta takes a liking for Shy since her flames are warm. The fight continues until Mianlong is able to scratch her with his claw. It is not to hurt others but to put them to sleep. It is then Stigma pops up to collect Tzveta. He talks about this Stigma name the heroes have labelled him. Must be lovely to have someone call you by your name. Like how he named Tzveta and this other comrade, Weepy. Because of that, he thinks of naming his own group Amarariruku, the ones who dream. Such a memorable and enigmatic name that will stay in your hearts forever, right?

Episode 7
Our heroes discuss about Stigma’s stunt. Most probably it is to test the heroes’ power. Pepesha is feeling down because she is baffled who Tzveta is. Only people close to her calls her “Pesha” and yet she can’t remember Tzveta. More coincidence when they notice Stigma and his team are all children and the names he gave them are all child-like. Unilord has brought a secret weapon to help them: Iko. Sorry, she isn’t going to be a hero but Unilord believes she is an unknown variable against Stigma. The ring has been further analysed and it is believed to be part of Stigma’s heart materialized. Hence it can be said he is trying to spread his heart all over the world. This is when Iko reveals the vivid thing she remembers when she was wearing that ring. She saw a huge chasm that is believed to be Stigma’s wounded heart. Looking into it, she also saw his ideals on the world. Though in abstract form, she saw people joining hands to become one with the planet. Shocking to say, his goal is world peace. Also, everything was so child-like as if he was refusing to grow up. Pepesha soon has this feeling about Tzveta. She felt a lot like her. Tzveta = Pepesha? Not sure but once she heals up, she’ll do more thorough investigation. Back on Earth, Shy’s popularity has increased after the fire incident. Because of that, a stage request for her to promote this magical girl series, CiviRevo. Yeah, the producers must be a fan of her seeing the lead character looks almost like her. While Teru is afraid of crowds, ABO believes it is best she builds her hero image. And so she is here, in front of a huge crowd of enthusiastic kids. During Q&A, many kids ask her about what it’s like being a hero, etc. Never thought she is that famous, huh? But one kid claims she isn’t a hero. Because a real hero wouldn’t pretend to be another hero! He’s got a point! Other kids scoff him but he runs away. Later Shy talks to him and looks like the only hero for him is that CiviRevo girl and so Shy impersonating as her is blasphemy! But when she saves him from a tumble and spouts lines of moderation and love, she sounds so much like his favourite character. And because of that, he now likes her and believes she is that hero! The real CiviRevo! Shy’s reward for this is a full special Blu-ray box set of CiviRevo! Yeah, she got emotional watching all of them.

Episode 8
Teru leaves Japan for Russia to help Pepesha in uncovering the mysteries of her childhood. Going back to the orphanage she once grew up, they meet the director Isaak who gives them a warm welcome. The kids still remember Pepesha and she is awfully popular with them. Without Pepesha’s help of sending money every month, the orphanage would’ve closed down. In the library, they go through old photo albums. Then a nostalgic picture drops out. It is a picture of her mom, Letana AKA Lenya who also grew up in this orphanage. She was also an alcoholic and you could say this is why Pepesha took after her mom! Alcohol can help adults turn into kids, huh?! Thank goodness these girls are cute, if you know what I mean! Just kidding! During lunch, Pepesha is reunited with a long time staff, Natalia. She has them look through her old photo album of her during her younger days. Can’t believe she was this beautiful, eh? But as Teru goes through the album, she realizes the very unsettling resemblance Lenya as a child to Tzveta. This confuses Pepesha. Mom is already dead and she has no sisters. Suddenly a loud scream outside. Everything else has been frozen. Amarariruku must be here. Noticing a person frozen in ice, once Shy melts it, Kufufu Kekerakera gives a surprise kick. Psycho girl is part of Amarariruku and wants to happily kill everyone in this world. Tzveta is also here as Pepesha wonders if this is Stigma taking advantage of her heart to make Tzveta in Lenya’s image. Tzveta notes she has no memories prior to her awakening at the North Pole. She only somewhat remembers about Pepesha and this place. Either she loved it or hated it. Pepesha thinks Tzveta is mocking Lenya but Tzveta approves of Stigma’s ideals and knows she hates this world. She uses her power to turn this orphanage into her domain.

Episode 9
Tzveta creates this place from her heart and claims making it permanent will turn it into heaven. Others fall unconscious as Kufufu starts her comical fight with Shy. Laugh or cringe? Kufufu won’t go down easily! And she’s laughing all the way! While Tzveta and Kufufu are having their moment, Pepesha has Shy back her up as she plans to take everyone out from this domain. Pepesha seemingly succeeds as she penetrates through the barrier. However she comes back right in. Tzveta explains the whole area is part of her heart and that they can’t leave. They’ll return right back to her. She adds how a heart is made of the world, emotions and memories. She already has the first 2 and the only thing missing are memories. Believing it is fate that had them reunited, she came here so that she could peek into her heart. She uses the orphanage people to tell Pepesha to succumb to her fate and resign to this ideal world. After all, reality is nothing but pain. But despite their outlook, Pepesha could see deep into their hearts that they are afraid and pleading for help. This makes her mad as she attacks Tzveta directly. However this is a trap. By making her mad, her emotions wavered and this allowed her to peek into her heart. Tzveta absorbs Pepesha’s power as she has a glimpse of Lenya’s younger days in the orphanage till she grows up and left it to the point she gave birth to Pepesha. She is left in shock as Tzveta calling out the outside world full of lies and sh*t. Is this Lenya’s true feelings? Amidst the confusion, Tzveta freezes her.

Episode 10
Time to delve a little bit into Lenya’s history. At least the time she left the orphanage and trying to live her own life. It was the first time she realized how cold the world was. Or rather how f*cked up everything was. With Pepesha in tow, Lenya was having a hard time making ends meet. The recession had her being retrenched and she was months behind her rental payments. When Lenya gave what was little left of the food to Pepesha, little girl tried to be considerate to share but Lenya blew her top instead. This makes Lenya wondered if she would be a good mother for Pepesha. Because she started thinking it would be better for herself to disappear. But seeing her innocent demeanour, she realized she can’t give up. Then at a bakery she tries to get a small cookie but the kind owner gave an entire cake instead. As she left, some jealous hobo mugged her as Lenya fell into the cold river. Lenya accepted her fate that this world is cruel and hoped children like Pepesha will not know about it. Hence she was willing to become a demon to destroy it. She will protect them all from this hell. It seems Shy has also seen the same memories although Kufufu continues to keep her at bat. Tzveta confirms she is Lenya and she will embrace any hatred in this world. As she beckons Pepesha to come with her, Shy breaks in and gives her piece of mind that she has no idea how precious she is to Pepesha. Tzveta notes her warm flames are not needed anymore as her own freezing cold power starts to overwhelm. But Shy fights back. All she can sense is only loneliness. Shy knows because she saw the same in Iko. Trying to sacrifice oneself for others. The reason Pepesha is here now because of her love that she shares with others. That is how she became a hero. As Shy is willing to share her pain, she hopes Pepesha can deliver her feelings to mom. You can tell Pepesha is back to her groove as she transforms into a hero. She was afraid of hurting mama, scared of being hated by her. Now she realizes she should’ve just told her how she felt. Time for their first mother-daughter fight. Make that a big one.

Episode 11
Pepesha has always been holding such regrets. Both thought suppressing their emotions would make the other happy but obviously they were wrong. It seems Tzveta is about to be taken in by her words but Kufufu interrupts. She brings Tzveta back to her usual self as her power grows further. What is the most powerful thing that can break through all that icy exterior? Ah yes, the warm hug of a daughter. More flashbacks as we see Pepesha blaming herself, thinking mama hated her and that’s why she died on her own. Natalia dismissed that and showed her all the letters she wrote. More endearing mother and daughter clips as we see them both wanting to stay with each other. Lenya promising to drink with her once she becomes an adult. Pepesha regretted not telling mama she loved her. From that day, she changed herself and worked hard till she became a hero. But she has never forgotten mama’s love. Not even once. And for the first time she says those magical words: I love you. Once again, Kufufu tries to get between them but Tzveta knows it is over. Kufufu is sad she will disappear but Tzveta accepts her fate and tells her to return. With the fight over, Kufufu escapes. Tzveta explains about this body created from the heart and when this place crumbles, so will she. But thanks to them, she is able to escape from the nightmare. She reveals Stigma’s powers are to make dreams of others come true. That is why Pepesha was able to be reunited with her seeing Stigma took advantage of that wish of hers and created a version of Lenya meant to harm her. It seems Stigma wishes for a world for children without adults and since he is unable to make his own wish come true, hence the creation of other ‘children’ AKA Amarariruku. She hopes the will foil his plans to destroy the current world. Tzveta thanks Shy for helping her to bond with Pepesha again. For her last wish, Tzveta and Pepesha drink together. Taste of love? Tzveta thanks Pepesha for being born to her and that is reason enough for her to be alive and her life worth something. Of course, her final words before disappearing: I love you. With mom gone, Pepesha moves on.

Episode 12
Natalia talks to Pepesha about Lenya as she was someone whom she looked up to. Even as a child, Lenya always acted maturely and always helped others. She was like a hero. And now her daughter is a real hero. Stardust and Lady Black just arrive as Unilord has sent reinforcements. Uhm, a bit too late, don’t you think?! Well, glad it’s over. Unilord also relays the good news that all governments and heroes agree to share info about Stigma and Amarariruku. You mean they weren’t? Pepesha gives Stardust an intact ring from Tzveta to have it analysed. Shy thanks him for the training but he says he did nothing to deserve such since she became strong on her own. Lady Black also admits she has become stronger. Now we see Stigma consoling Kufufu. He notes that even if one’s body disappears, the heart remains because it is eternal. So don’t worry. Tzveta and everyone will all become one in the end. With Teru returning to Japan, she is a bit sick and under the weather. Well, it was a whole lot of cold in Russia. Iko takes this chance to help nurse her. As Teru sleeps, she dreams of her sister used to take care of her when she was ill. The thing she liked best was her back rub. Oh, Iko just heard her sleep talking. Don’t get funny ideas! Teru reveals about her older sister although she died many years ago. Iko assures her despite all that they have gone through and Teru being a hero, they are just normal girls living a normal life. Teru soon gets well and returns to her normal school life. We’re so normal! Meanwhile a mad Doki Baragaki is looking for Stigma but finds Kufufu in her endless fishing for Tzveta? Both are about to fight but are stopped by Inori Hallelujah who preaches love! She further talks about the wonderful world their master has given them and that by sharing this world with all of humanity, only true tranquillity will be attained. So where is their master of theirs now? Making plans to save the world. Speaking him, he notes everyone dreams differently. If everyone can have the same dream, that will be great.

One Brick Shy Of A Full Hero
Hey. I thought this series was supposed to have 2 cours? Oh right. It is getting another season but a split season nevertheless. No wonder I thought something was wrong when the season ended a bit prematurely. Like, did they forget to animate the next cour or something? So yeah. Looks like we’re getting another season but at this point in writing, we’re not sure when it’ll come out yet. My, are we being shy of the details of the sequel? Heh. Sorry if you’re going to hear me make silly shy puns throughout the rest of the blog! Yeah. I’m not shy about it! More like cringe!

Anyway, this season as I can see just feels pretty satisfactory and if I should say just an introduction of the darker things to come. After all, if we want to compare this to the more established Boku No Hero Academia, that series already has so many seasons under its belt. Of course I’m not saying that to match all that, they need to have the same number of episodes (quality > quantity, of course). It is going to take some time to see if this series can rival Boku No Hero Academia or even better still, become one that is able to stand on its own without having to always be compared to Boku No Hero Academia and stay in its shadows. So as far as this first season is concerned, mostly the first half is about Teru/Shy coming to terms of her shyness as a hero and the second half focuses a lot more on Pepesha and fleshing out her character. Of course with the help of Shy who is obviously the main character.

For starters, the origins of how these superheroes came about is not explored. Yet. Right at the start of the first episode, we were already being told that it was not known how these people got their powers or even how they came about. I take it as they don’t want us to question such and just to go with the flow. Don’t bother asking silly questions about their origins because you’re definitely not getting them answered here this season. And of course this means my dumb conspiracy theories rearing its ugly head again to start thinking that these superheroes are aliens from another world! But that is quickly crushed as we see they are normal people from Earth with back stories of their own. So how they got these Quirks superpowers is the big question mark that everyone will be dying to know. Is it in their special genes? Or is it every hero here scored exactly 80% on their maths exam in high school?! HAHAHA!!! Just kidding! So yeah, for these heroes to have powers that aren’t really fully explained, it gives a lot of room for plot convenience. Oh you know, hero using his/her special moves during fight sequences so don’t be surprised this weirdo starts shooting flames or other projectiles. They’re heroes. They’re supposed to do that.

And that includes why they wear such embarrassing costumes! I mean, look at Teru/Shy. Already such a shy person and this is the outfit she wears for her superhero persona? Did she choose it? Oh heck, who the f*ck designed this sexy outfit that exposes her delicious thighs to the public? Yeah. We like it. Thank you very much. With the heroes wearing such flashy outfits, it only reinforces my conspiracy theory that the heroes derive their powers from their suits. Uh huh. Is it no wonder why Superman flies around wearing his underwear outside!!! He has got no luxury to be shy about it since saving lives and protecting people from evildoers comes first! Oh yeah. Being a superhero also means putting up and wearing such silly cosplay outfits so that the public can easily identify and differentiate them. Yeah, superheroes are just like any uniformed profession…

Now the other beef I have is how a nation chooses its hero. In fact, are they even aware of their own country’s hero? From what I understand, not many know of Shy’s real identity. Which begs the question on how she became a hero in the first place. How the f*ck can a shy person helm such a huge responsibility and even represent a country?! Sure, being shy is not going to be the limit that prevents one from being a hero, but you have to ask how the f*ck Teru became one. Oh sure, mysterious manifestation of powers. Yeah. That one. Even so, shouldn’t everybody in Japan know who she is? My next big question is that if a nation can only have 1 hero at the same time. Japan. Russia. Germany. Switzerland. China. Too bad USA is nowhere to be seen for now. F*cking Switzerland gets a representation but not good ol’ US of A. Yeah, I know they want to score some brownie points by being inclusive with some nations. But I don’t see the same nations having another hero. So is there some sort of policy that only 1 nation can have 1 hero? Who the f*ck created that policy then?! And if a nation becomes independent, will this hero nation thing work too? Imagine if Hokkaido splits itself from Japan will there be a new hero representative?

It is great to see that humans have stopped fighting among themselves. Oh wait. I’m foolish to generalize that line. They only mentioned a third world war was stopped thanks to the heroes. But that doesn’t mean that all human conflicts have been resolved. So yeah, makes me wonder if the nations still need a military. I mean, no more wars, right? So why keep the military? Border control? Considering nations still exist in a political sense (and that is why we have heroes of different nationality), I bet the warmongering people are just lying low and waiting for the right moment to get back to killing. Not unless Stigma resets the world first.

Initially I thought this season would highlight some of the issues superheroes faced. At least in the early parts they were hinting about wanting superheroes to be regulated after how Teru failed to successfully rescue Iko from her predicament. I thought it would set a darker tone for this series and just like how Boku No Hero Academia’s recent developments are. But what happened to all that? Next thing you know, Shy is now popular with the people. Especially with the kids. I am crediting her cute sexy outfit help make that change. People are after all fickle minded creatures. And now the governments of the world have agreed to help each other against Amarariruku (still a f*cking nightmare for me to pronounce and spell this tongue twisting name!). Oh well, better than fighting among each other.

Good or bad thing, there aren’t a lot of characters here. Yet. Well, if you compare to Boku No Hero No Academia. For this season, we have to be contented with the few heroes and characters. Even so, not all of them have proper fleshing out and some just touching the surface. One small copycat from Boku No Hero Academia is that for the mid-intermission, a random character’s stats will be displayed although it is very brief. Just stating the real name, nationality and likes. But I guess it is still better than Boku No Hero Academia that spams every heroes’ Quirks in every DAMN EPISODE!!! Thank goodness we have none here! All because we don’t even know what powers these heroes have! Even like Shy, I’m not sure what her powers are except lately she can produce flames. Is that her primary power or is it some sort of speed because her back has some sort of a weird ventilation or exhaust cover thingy. But can we all agree these heroes’ true power are to save and protect the people? Definitely.

Talking about Teru, you wonder why they even make a shy girl as the lead heroine and hero. Because this is Japan. Fans would definitely find some moe in a girl who is extremely shy! Oh my God! Do you not see how freaking cute Teru is when she is embarrassed! OMG! Do you not want to make her your waifu???!!! Only in Japan where you can turn such undesirable trait and brainwashing everybody else to accept that such flaws are cute. Oh yeah. Gotta love Shy/Teru now. Thank Japan for making shyness a cute acceptance factor. She may not have a great and memorable impact like All Might from Boku No Hero Academia who is just oozing with American confidence and assurance. But hey, at least she’s cute and, uhm, shy? Anyway as we have seen and come to expect, Teru may be shy and living up to her name but when it comes down to when it really matters, she shines and acts a lot like a true hero. Of course at the start we see her having some self-esteem issues but this is only natural. Because yeah, it’s part of the ingredient to build up a character. Better than making one overpowered with no flaws from the start. So while Teru may have troubles overcoming her shyness and we won’t see that going away for the time being (and lose her moe kawaii factor? NO WAY!), as a hero she has grown into someone formidable. Especially opening the eyes of veteran hero, Pepesha during her darkest moment. The moment Shy truly shined. So she Shyned. HAHAHA!!! Sorry, stupid pun.

The other character receiving a reasonable amount of fleshing out is Pepesha. Just to let us know that even veteran heroes have their own past and problems that they need to overcome. If they can’t by themselves, then this new kid on the block will. So it’s nice to see that alcohol loving Pepesha has come to terms and moved forward and it had me thinking if she was drinking and being drunk most of the time, was it to hide this regret of hers? Oh I don’t know. Maybe she loves drinking and that’s that. Even so, that didn’t stop her from continuing to drink, right? So is she going to wait till Teru reaches of age to have a drink with her? Teru after all delivered mama to her so she’s like her second mom, if you know what I mean.

Other characters are just average as far as this season is concerned. Firstly, ABO. I don’t know why only Shy has this flying shrimp as her helper. I don’t see the other heroes having their own pet mascot. Even so, ABO feels a lot insignificant and it is like he plays a passive role in assisting her. Sometimes doing her house chores and the likes. I thought he would be something like a Disney sidekick but he is just boring to say the least. Then there is Iko to prove that Teru has another friend so as not to be casted as a loner. After all, a shy person doesn’t have much friends, right? So yeah, with a Stigma victim veteran, she could prove pivotal for the heroes’ fight against Amarariruku. She could surprise us (and Teru) by being Japan’s second hero. Assuming that single hero per nation policy does not exist.

Unilord gives off this enigmatic feel because she always wears her mask and never shows her face. It got me thinking she might be an alien or even an android. Yeah, there may be a twist to it and so to let our guard down, her character seems to like to make jokes that none are impressed. Trying to be more human, huh? Yeah, my dumb conspiracy theory also says she might be Teru’s dead sister! For shocking plot twist, but of course! Need to turn up a notch, the emotions in Teru and another stepping stone for her to overcome and become stronger. I hope I’m wrong. Lady Black and Stardust don’t feel like your typical superhero because one’s a serious b*tch and the other an apathetic and heartless bastard. Probably the same logic how a shy person like Teru can be a superhero. Because all that doesn’t matter as they are also humans and have their own personalities, fears and flaws to conquer. All that it matters is that they help those in need and people will remember them by their actions rather than this personality of theirs. That is what it means to be a true hero, right?

Stigma and his merry team of Amarariruku feels like an evil version of Peter Pan his Lost Boys. Oh well, just because they are all children. I bet Stigma too is one of those kids who got the raw end of the adult world and thus the reason why he wants adults gone because children are pure and innocent. Oh yeah. You do remember your innocent childhood days where we could smile and laugh freely without all the care in the world, right? And then when you grow up, you start to realize all the f*cked up things in society. How did it turn out this way?! We just become adults and what the f*ck happened?! Yeah. Blame adults. So I can sympathize and relate why Stigma wants to create a world without grownups and is a defender of children. We need to get back those innocent and carefree days! I feel like I want to support Stigma but then again I realized if I do so, I won’t be able to enter adult sites and watch hentai. OH SH*T!!!!!!!

For now, Stigma is painted as the series’ antagonist because of the way he forcefully wants to set people’s heart free. Obviously everyone has darkness in their hearts because nobody is 100% good like God and his angels. Uhm, God and his angels are 100% pure goodness, RIGHT?! Anyway, with humans not waging stupid wars with each other (phew!), hence for entertainment’s sake, we have the heroes soon being pitted against a crazy group of crazy children. I bet these are lost kids with deep scars and traumas. That’s why they have this twisted persona. It would be premature to judge them since nothing much is fleshed out about their past but I have a feeling their personality are so and being reflected in their names. After all, in order for them not to be one dimensional characters, I am guessing they are just greatly misunderstood and that includes Stigma himself. Yeah, the real villains the superheroes will be actually fighting are the darkness of everyone’s hearts! But what are the chances the whole series ends with Shy helping to free Stigma from his whatever shackles instead? Sigma then can join everyone else in the dreaded society we all love and loath so much! Freedom! So much for the ideal world.

Action wise, they feel rather okay and nothing that would make one feel exhilarated or at the edge of one’s seat. Not intense. In fact, I won’t be wrong to say if the action scenes are rather lacking. At least that was my experience. After all, this is a superhero genre. But that is where the biasness comes in. You thought there are going to be supervillains to fight but the only one we got here was Shy-Pepesha vs Tzveta-Kufufu. And even that feels like a warmup (how many times must Tzveta spam her freezing ice move?! At least Kufufu was amusing with her random and killer jokey nature) and precursor for what’s to come in the next season. I mean, first we had Shy fighting against a corrupted Iko and then a training bout with Stardust. That’s all. The rest are just helping people from disasters. And like I’ve pointed out, we don’t really know the exact superpowers of the heroes and thus no memorable moves and even if they pull off one like from Mianlong it’s probably somewhat as a surprise. I mean, here’s Mianlong’s claw technique that puts you to sleep! Surprise! Yeah, it felt like that.

Art and animation are also okay and nothing much to shout about. Standard Japanese animation style of today’s era. Don’t you love your female heroes like cute Japanese anime girls? Thank goodness Teru so cute so we can close an eye these heroes wear embarrassing outfits like they’re attending some cosplay event. Like Pepesha. Almost like some Russian general wannabe, huh? However, something about Lady Black/Piltz that bugs me. Because the moment I first looked at her, damn she does not give an impression she is from Switzerland! SWITZERLAND SHE HAILS FROM!!! She looks like a typical cute Japanese anime girl and with twintails to boot. I mean, the guys like Stardust and Schwartz at least look like (stereotypes) from the country they represent. Even Isaak and Natalia at least look believable as Russians. But Lady Black? Holy f*ck. Damn I thought this was Hatsune Miku moonlighting as a hero! There is nothing Swiss about this girl whatsoever. Talk about misleading! And here I was expecting some blonde Caucasian… On a trivial note, Unilord’s mask reminds me of G.I. Joe’s Cobra Commander… Hmm…

A bit of CGI employed here but thankfully it doesn’t break the entire series. You would notice that the entirety of ABO is done in CGI and while he does stand out from the rest of the 2D animation, it doesn’t make the whole experience weird. Sure, ABO’s movements may look strange and so CGI-like but I guess when you have this flying shrimp floating about, at least better than having the entire anime rendered in CGI! On a side note, the mid-intermission and ending credits animation showcases the actual artwork and design of the manga itself. All I can say is that they look different enough that the manga seems to cast the characters with a more mature look rather than the anime whose style seems to be cute and kiddie-like. Then there are some abstract sketches especially from Stigma’s side. It does give off this unsettling and creepy feeling and such abstract images remind me of those from Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica. Could be nightmare fuel if not careful. This series is done by 8bit who did Tensei Shitara Slime Datta Ken, Infinite Stratos and Yama No Susume.

To my surprise (why should I?), there are quite a handful of veteran seiyuus I recognized here. Most obviously… MAMIKO NOTO AS PEPESHA!!! OMFG!!! YAAAAASSS!!! For a very long time I believe I have not heard her in a leading role. All the while it is mostly cameos and short or small appearances. But as Pepesha, it seems she has spoken lines and a year’s worth of dialogue combined as compared to those other small roles!!! OMFG!!! BANZAI MAMIKO NOTO!!! It’s good to hear her voice again and at a consistent rate. As the lively Pepesha, it goes to show that she still has it going as a legendary voice actress (NO DISPUTE ON THAT!). So much so sometimes I couldn’t recognize her when Pepesha gets too lively! The other recognized voices are Miyuki Sawashiro as Tzveta/Lenya (hardly recognizable at first since she was so soft spoken), Kikuko Inoue as Unilord, Nao Touyama as Iko, Shinichiro Miki as Stardust, Tomokazu Sugita as ABO (very meek here), Rina Hidaka as Kufufu and Saori Hayami as Inori.

The rest of the other casts are Shino Shimoji as Shy/Teru (Saturnus in Beatless), Mutsumi Tamura as Stigma (Sonya in Kill Me Baby), Sayumi Suzushiro as Lady Black (Oono in High Score Girl), Ayumu Murase as Mianlong (Luck in Black Clover), Miki Itou as Natalia (Fujimura in Fate series), Naomi Kusumi as Schwartz (Ichibei Hyousube in Bleach: Sennen Kessen-hen) and Shunichi Toki as Doki (Touka in Yuusha Ga Shinda). The opening theme, Shiny Girl by MindaRyn is a rock outfit. However I find this more noise than music and despite the song wanting to portray a lively superhero theme, it just sounds bland. The main ending theme is a duet by Shino Shimoji and Nao Touyama, Shiritai Kimochi. Just a normal anime pop music. Nothing special in my books. The other special ending themes are the bubbly and lively piece, Kimi Dake Ga Hero by Nao Touyama as well as Watashi No Aoi Sora ~As I Am~ by Shino Shimoji which is a slow rock pop. Both are nothing mind blowing to me.

Overall, this series has its potential so we’ll have to wait for the next season to see if it can stand among the superhero genre juggernauts like Boku No Hero Academia, One Punch Man and even Tiger & Bunny. Obviously this series still has its flaws but to be fair, with only a dozen of episodes and another season in the making, it will be too early to judge. But then again, first impressions count a lot. Otherwise this season itself is still fun and enjoyable especially if you are into superhero genres and love your cute shy girls. Heh. Of course my love for Mamiko Noto has made its score shamelessly shot up through the roof and I have to admit I largely enjoyed it because of her. Is that obsession the darkness in my heart?! I think I know how my Amarariruku would look like. But that’s it for this season. That’s all we’ve got for now. Great and fun superhero anime to watch. Just shy of being a great and epic superhero masterpiece. Heh. Just wanted to say that!

Tate No Yuusha No Nariagari S3

When the next round of threat threatens to destroy the world, who are you gonna call? The shield hero. That’s right. Only this moody guy is strong and dependable unlike the rest of the other heroes. It is without surprise Tate No Yuusha No Nariagari S3 is another season under this series’ belt since it was announced they were going to have a second and third season. Just not airing continuously or back to back. Time to see our titular character rise to even greater moments as the fruits of his efforts (and betrayal) have come to fruition. He’s going to be your next God now at this rate.

Episode 1
Naofumi narrates after the defeat of the tortoise, the next beast AKA the phoenix was supposed to be next. But thanks to the energy he took back from Kyo, this bought them about 3 months of time before this next Wave hits. He wants to use this chance to strengthen their defence. However the fight with Kyo also took a big hit on their stats. Mirelia speaks to him about the other 3 heroes going missing. AGAIN?! There are also other issues to deal with like the Faubrey side stationing their soldiers around despite the tortoise have been defeated so Melromarc and its allies have also stationed theirs nearby just in case. As for the Seven Star Heroes, it seems she has no way in finding or contacting. Save for 1 who is right here in Melromarc. Well, who would’ve guessed it is Aultcray, oops I mean Trash. Speaking of that, Myne, oops I mean, Bitch/Slut is also missing. WTF these people… Naofumi then goes to see Berocas. It seems based on the new ruling by Mirelia, most of the slaves have been bought by nobles and then sold outside the kingdom. Naofumi wants to buy all the slaves back but it is going to cost him and very expensive. 10 times the price he paid for Raphtalia. Berocas then says if he still wants demi-humans from Lurolona village, go to Zeltoble. It is rumoured many are at this city. So his team head there to meet… Berocas? Oh, that’s his uncle. I thought he was his twin… They are taken to a secret underground auction where demi-humans are sold to the highest bidder. Obviously the slaves lie they are demi-humans from Lurolona. It doesn’t matter where they come from because that name is now a brand. He also notes Naofumi has not much money left after buying the remaining slaves. This means he needs to make money so head over to an underground arena where there are practically no rules for you to win. In here, money is everything. Naofumi recces the place and this hot babe. Nadia gives him some extra useful info about the fights if he buys her a drink. Hence Naofumi is going to enter this tournament with Raphtalia and Filo to win some money. I’m sure these masks will mask their identity… Folks, meet Team Rockvalley. Poor acting to fool the audience they are a weak team but they defeat their cocky opponents to cause a major upset on the betting odds.

Episode 2
What’s this? Many teams forfeit their matches? Are they scared of Rockvalley or something? Later Nadia talks to Naofumi again. He thought she set him up when bandits surround them. Apparently not. These are loser of those teams who forfeited. Nadia shows her great lightning magic that takes them out effortlessly. She then flirts with him but he is not impressed. She warns him to forfeit his match or pray they won’t meet. With more teams forfeiting, Rockvalley is reduced to fighting monster griffins? With the money they made, they go shop for some weapons and the famous merchant is more than happy to be their sponsor. With no more teams left, looks like the next match will be the finals pitting Rockvalley and Nadia. Nadia knows Naofumi’s intentions to win to get the money to buy the Lurolona slaves. She cautions him she won’t lose to those who only care about money. The final fight begins with both sides pulling no punches. To make things more interesting, the arena is filled with water because Nadia then transforms into her true form, a killer whale. As she is about to kill Raphtalia, the latter recognizes her as Sadeena. In turn, Nadia also recognizes her. Realizing who Naofumi is, Nadia now understands why he is in this tournament. In the final clash, Rockvalley defeats Nadia. However because her sponsor isn’t pleased, he forces the announcer to invalidate this match and instead both teams will team up to fight the next exhibition match against this Murder Clown and her marionettes. Another round of fighting until Naofumi and Nadia imbue Raphtalia with more power. Raphtalia could have beaten Murder Clown with it but she escapes. She then notes how weak they are and notes the other world will destroy them if they have trouble fighting her. As she has fought enough for her pay, she leaves. Nadia’s sponsor is still not wanting to give Rockvalley the victory they deserve, accusing them of using a fake name and betting on themselves to win more money. But when the slave trader and merchant vouch for Naofumi and that he will receive all the winnings he deserves, everyone soon realizes the shield hero. Also, Nadia is the rightful owner of the Lurolona slaves since she bought it with her prize money. With this over, Nadia now joins Naofumi’s team. Sorry, make that Sadeena. A racoon, a chicken and now a fish!

Episode 3
Fohl returns to his cell to feed his heavily wounded and sickly sister, Atla some food and medicine. Naofumi comes in to look for some slaves and calls out those pretending to be one and trying to be saved by him. Fohl catches his eye seeing he wants Naofumi to buy them. As explained, he is of a white tiger lineage and possesses very high combat ability despite at a young age. He can further upgrade when he grows up. This means he is quite pricey. Learning about his sister, Naofumi is able to heal her with this elixir so Fohl has to prepare himself to work for him for the rest of his life. Fohl assures he will quadruple that payback amount. With Atla feeling much better, a few more dosages and she’ll be back to health. The siblings are taken back to Naofumi’s village as well as the rest of the Lurolona slaves. Although the village is making some progress, he notes the holes in the defence. Yeah, they’re just a bunch of kids. Can they defend the place? Atla’s rehabilitation is done as she is able to take off her bandages although she still remains blind. At least she is learning how to walk. One night when Naofumi is away, the village is under attack by bandits who intend to kidnap the demi-humans to sell them for a high price. Fohl manages to head to a secret spot as told by Naofumi to light up a flare before being captured. The bandit boss is going to kill him to make him an example but that is when Naofumi and co return. They kick all the bandits’ ass and will not let any one of them escape. Even when the bandit boss surrenders, Naofumi wants to execute him. However he is told not to. Because of the crest on the armour the bandits were wearing, they belong to an important noble. This means there’ll be hell to pay if these bandits die. In that case, Naofumi will sell them to Siltvelt as slaves. Now the bandits are panicking and begging not to be sent there. Death would’ve been much better? Off they go as Naofumi even fetches a high price selling them. With Fohl needing to get stronger as he can’t protect Atla, Naofumi resets their stats so they could take advantage of his hero buffs. When Naofumi’s side visits Mirelia, they bump into Aultcray Trash. But upon seeing Atla, he is overcome with sadness and pity. Mirelia explains the staff hero’s heroics. Yes, apparently he too had a story. Luge Lansarz Faubrey abandoned his name and country all for the sake of his sister. As a soldier in Melromarc, he gained fame and glory. But his sister was kidnapped by Siltvelt and he was driven mad with vengeance. But enough of that loser’s story, the real reason Mirelia calls them is because they have found Motoyasu.

Episode 4
Naofumi’s job is to find Motoyasu and convince him to help fight the next Wave. The only other info Mirelia has is that Ren’s comrades are all dead. As Naofumi returns to his land and feeds his demi-human kids with lunch, a strange girl named Syne Lokk pops up to ask for food. Don’t remember her? She is Murder Clown. She is willing to pay but Naofumi distrusts her and shoos her away. Well, how many times is she going to glance over her shoulders to see if he changes his mind? None. Be gone! Naofumi, Raphtalia and Filo head to town to begin their search. They see Motoyasu trying to beg a former comrade, Elena to rejoin him. However she shuns him. When Naofumi confronts him, he flees. Naofumi then talks to Elena what happened. Apparently Motoyasu’s team tried to attack the Spirit Tortoise first to get some brownie points. But he failed. And just like that, the comrades realized they picked the wrong guy to suck up to and left! Soon, Naofumi finds Ren alone at the tavern. Talking to him, he confirms all his members are dead but blames them for being weak so it’s not his own fault. Naofumi tries to convince him that he can still fight but oh look, here comes Myne Bitch to claim that this was all Naofumi’s doing. She accuses him of that mock trial was a sham, a conspiracy to take the throne away from her and give it to Melty and that he was controlling the Spirit Tortoise. Oh Ren won’t believe this Bit- oh wait, HE BELIEVES HER???!!! Because it seems her slave crest isn’t lighting up, proving she is telling the truth. More complication as Motoyasu comes in and wants Bitch back in his fold but she won’t allow him. So when Ren is now turning against Naofumi, the latter tells him off that his refusal to face reality and treat this like a video game is the root of his problem. However, Ren still refuses to acknowledge it and even attacks him with all the people around, luckily Naofumi deflects it. With Bitch’s advice, they flee. Poor Motoyasu is now in despair after being abandoned once again by that Slut. As Filo gives a sterling idol performance to the tavern, Motoyasu regains his confidence and finds his love for Filo again! Oh great. He’s scaring her now! Now he is calling Naofumi his father and wants to marry Filo! OMFG! LOLICON ALERT!!! Nobody is impressed or give a damn until he calls Raphtalia a pig. She beats him up and they all return home.

Episode 5
Naofumi, Raphtalia and Filo are suddenly attacked by a couple of strange guys. Holy sh*t! Did one of them summon a meteor to crash on them?! You think a few puny shields and a shield prison could protect them? Well I don’t know, somehow it did. Thanks to Syne popping up to help, those guys are killed off. However Naofumi finds it all pretty convenient. He thinks she is working for them and still doesn’t trust her. I understand him being cautious but doesn’t he sound like a dick to a person who just saved him? Nevertheless, he takes her back to his village since she is hungry. From what those guys said, Syne confirms she is from another world and a vassal weapon wielder. Her world was destroyed and those heroes killed. She helped him because she doesn’t want to see another fellow weapon wielder die. As for her timing, she placed a needle on him during their fight and you could say she has been watching him ever since. Although Naofumi still doesn’t trust her, he lets her stay but keeps an eye on her. Well, she’s quite popular with the kids. With Keel and some of the kids levelling up, Naofumi takes them to the capital to upgrade their class. Then he goes to see Elhart because Tollynemiya wants to be a blacksmith apprentice. Apparently both know each other as they used to train together. Eclair reports to Naofumi about her findings. The Spirit Tortoise’s rampage destroyed some prison and while many prisoners died, some survived and escaped. They are the ones who then attacked his village but she is unsure if both incidents are related. She also discovered another group of bandits that is active lately. Their leader is very cautious and doesn’t make himself known. Naofumi rounds up the gang to go hunt this bandit group. He splits up the team to search the area. I bet Naofumi teaming up with Raph-chan is to give this mascot some decent screen time. To his surprise, he finds Motoyasu fighting Ren! OMG, Ren wearing a mask, he trying to be Batman or something?!

Episode 6
A glimpse of Ren’s previous high school life. Basically he is an avid gamer. When he came to this world, he realized it was exactly like the game he was playing: Brave Star Online. That was why he was so confident he could defeat the Spirit Tortoise. Until he realized he couldn’t. His comrades dead and he sank into shock. Compounding his misery is that b*tch who told him he was the only one. Yeah, I’m sure those tits swayed him to join her side. But soon, he realized he has been duped as that slut stole his equipment and left a note that he is no longer useful to her. Yup. Useless is a taboo word for him. Then he gets attacked by a couple of strange guys. He felt weak and ran into hiding. However he was chased out of homes of ordinary people who claim he did nothing to protect them from the Spirit Tortoise. Sinking further into depression, he stumbled into those mocking bandits. He killed them and took their mask and became the new Batman. Soon he fought Motoyasu who has been smoking out the bandits for attacking the town and he thought Ren was their leader. Naofumi stumbled into this and that’s where we are now. Because Ren is so desperate to become stronger, Naofumi realizes his curse is attacking. Despite all the tricks Ren does, Naofumi and his comrades could overcome it. Eclair offers to fight Ren. Naofumi realizes she is a better swordsman than Ren and allows it after buffing her. As they clash, she asks about his ambitions. He wants to be strong to save the world. That felt so flimsy that Eclair is able to best him. This aggravation invokes his curse further as Naofumi realizes his curse resembles both greed and gluttony. So the curse series resemble the 7 deadly sins? Fortunately, Eclair once more puts him down. Then those strange guys come to attack but are easily taken care off by Motoyasu. Their souls are trying to escape but Raphtalia takes care of that. Naofumi is surprised that Motoyasu did what he is told to get stronger and now the fruits are showing. Eclair offers to train Ren and with some sound advice that he can get stronger (although he cannot change the past), Ren agrees. I take it that he has found salvation. A brief clip shows Ren was stabbed to death when he tried to save a group of girls from a knife assailant.

Episode 7
With Sadeena’s training, Keel can now turn into a cute little puppy. Ren is also adjusting to life in Naofumi’s village. Ratotille Anthreya AKA Rat soon looks for Naofumi. She has a letter from Mirelia. It states she has been exiled for causing trouble. However her alchemy might help Naofumi. Of course Rat calls out those lies. Apparently people didn’t like her experiments so they shut down her lab and killed her test subjects. Rat thinks it is a good thing to be posted here since she is interested in testing Filo! Run, Filo, run!!! Naofumi would like to see what she can do so she tends to some caterpillar monsters they have in the shed. He notices they are breeding and have eggs. The kids don’t want him to throw them away although clearly he doesn’t have the capacity to take care more of them. Rat believes she can handle this since she is able to make monsters stronger. Naofumi still distrusts her and will have her a slave crest. She is okay with it as long as she can do her research. Then Siltvelt sends them a dragon egg. To help keep its good stats, looks like Naofumi has to carry it around. Yeah, no wonder some can’t stop snickering how funny he looks! There’s the case of Atla sneaking into Naofumi’s room to sleep with him. Nothing sexual, mind you! She even has the gall to tie up Fohl to prevent him from stopping her. Soon the egg hatches. Uhm did this dragon come from the wrong anime? Oh I don’t know, did he fail some Pokemon audition???!!! HAHAHAHA!!! Sighs… Since Wyndia names him Gaelion, Naofumi tasks her to look after it. So we see the cute little critter with the gang. Yeah, Filo is going to have a rival in getting Naofumi’s attention as his pet mascot! Hey, where the heck is Raph-chan?! Gaelion seems to crave for Naofumi’s attention so Raphtalia suggests letting him live in his room to serve as a guard dog and stop Atla’s nightly visit. Naughty Gaelion then swallows this jewel from Kizuna’s world. WTF?! Now it turns into huge menacing dragon. So this Pokemon finally evolved, huh? He creates a bit of havoc before flying off.

Episode 8
As explained, the Emperor Dragon may have taken over Gaelion’s mind since all dragons have a dragon that contains a core that contains their mind. They need to go get him back before it gets worse but looks like there is another problem. Filo has collapsed. Turns out she is suffering from some curse and Gaelion is absorbing her stats. At this rate she will die. At this point, everybody wants to come along with Naofumi so he has no time to argue. Even Filo. Arriving at the village, the villagers hope Naofumi will help save them from the dragon as there is a dragon’s den nearby. As they make haste, a porcupine monster shows up but I guess this is to showcase Wyndia having some magic ability. More precisely, to use the dragon veins around to summon magic. Meanwhile Filo’s curse gets worse. Oh my, she turning into an evil chicken? Then as Naofumi’s side enters the cave, there is Gaelion. But wait. Filo is here too! OMG. Dragon vs chicken?! Not much of a fight as Filo gets owned and devoured! Seriously? Does it taste like chicken?! Just kidding! This evolves Gaelion into a huge dragon. As everyone makes their attack to bring it down, Wyndia soon stops everyone. She tells dad to even stop. Eh? What? Her dad was the dragon that lived in this area. After he was killed, she lost faith in the heroes except Naofumi since he was the only one kind to her. Ren realizes the zombie dragon he slew was her father. He became a zombie to protect her. As Wyndia pleads for her dad to let go, he attacks her. Luckily Ren protects her as he now transforms into another form. Is this his final form? Perhaps. Herald, Emperor Dragon. Naofumi realizes combining the dragon’s core with the one from Kizuna’s world caused their souls to mix. Emperor Dragon wastes no time in telling his goals to control this world from weak humans and has a grudge against Kizuna’s group who stopped his plans. Well, he is kind enough to show Filo at the core of his heart. She’ll be part of his flesh. Better get going and slay this dragon. However his defence is high and only because he is absorbing Naofumi’s shield abilities. Naofumi thinks of using his wrath shield and fail a power up to weaken him. Too bad Emperor Dragon saw that coming and seizes control of his wrath shield. He can do that?! Then his blast takes out everyone. Naofumi left standing. Can his puny shield protect the kids?

Episode 9
Saving them from certain death is Atla’s mysterious magic touch. This causes Emperor Dragon to miss and blast the water basin above, flooding our heroes out. As they camp for the night, Atla asks Wyndia if that is her father. Before you wonder how a scaly reptile can have a furry mammal as an offspring, here’s a short flashback. Apparently they’re not related by blood. But of course. Her real father was running away and left her in the care of this dragon who happened to be nearby. He died shortly after. Dragon knew nuts on how to raise a kid so I don’t know how Wyndia grew up normally. Unless she’s a genius but whatever. So you can see the awesome times Wyndia spent with her dragon dad. Then one day, she saw an upside down scale and tried to fix it but he went berserk. Hence she remembers that is the dragon’s weakness. Telling this to Naofumi, he hatches a teamwork plan to take Emperor Dragon down. When day breaks, everybody is in position to fight Emperor Dragon. Just when it all seems hopeless once more against the dragon’s might, here comes the white tiger siblings to turn the tables. Fohl breaking through its barrier and Atla once more using her magic touch to paralyze it. This allows Filo and Gaelion to be freed. Once rescued, Emperor Dragon tries to flee but everyone does a final teamwork combo to slay him for good. Sad for Wyndia to see her dad go this way but she thanks him for being her father. In the aftermath, Emperor Dragon’s essence gets absorbed into Naofumi’s shield as he warns him about wrath will always dwell in his heart. While the villagers are thankful, Naofumi chides them off as the ones at fault. Because they manipulated the dragon to steal his treasures so it was not Ren’s fault to begin with. Thus they got what they deserved. Ren apologizes to Wyndia and knows what he has done cannot be atoned. While she cannot forgive him, but she still thanks him for saving her twice. Naofumi learns Wyndia’s dad’s core got transferred into Gaelion so he is somewhat saved. He hopes Naofumi will keep this a secret since his daughter is learning to overcome his death. The rivalry between Filo and Gaelion continues. Chicken wants her stolen stats back. Not giving back, loser! Gaelion further infuriates her as he evolves into a larger dragon. Now he can give Naofumi rides. In the sky! Rides are no more exclusive to you, Filo!

Episode 10
We still need to remember Lecia’s problem. Yeah, being kicked out by Itsuki’s group because she is weak. Flashback reveals she was accused of breaking something belonging to Itsuki and her comrades saw it. However she claimed innocence. And just like that Itsuki kicked her out not because she was right or wrong, but rather she will be a burden to him. Naofumi needs Filo to level up and sends her away to train with Melty and Raph-chan. While Filo is more than happy, Melty is not. But she has no say about it and that’s that. This is all part of Naofumi’s plan to have Melty relax a bit since she has been working hard. Also with Melty’s absence, he wants Eclair to pick up the slack and continue Melty’s work. With Syne making some money from the underground arena, she also mentions of a participant who is an archer that goes by the name of Perfect Hidden Justice making his rounds. Well, that’s Itsuki, right? So as they head there to check it out, speak of the devil, Lecia spots Itsuki but he doesn’t respond. She tries to finally talk to him in his room but he mutters about people needing his help and that he needs to save others. Since he continues to ignore her, Naofumi wonders if that b*tch is behind this. Yeah, looks like it. Warning him about her lies, if he doesn’t believe, Ren is here to tell him first hand his experience on it. Too bad he still doesn’t believe. We see Itsuki fight like a barbarian as he remembers how everyone was disappointed in him after the Spirit Tortoise incident. They left him but after that b*tch believed in him, everyone came back to his side. That is why he is fighting for them who believes in him. Naofumi notes his weapon doesn’t activate like usual and gives off a bad feeling. Lecia wants Naofumi to let her fight Itsuki as a way to talk to him and thank him for saving her life. Berocas has an idea. Itsuki delivers all his winnings to his ex-comrades and that certain b*tch. They put up the fakest act that this is still not enough to save the slaves. Itsuki tells them he stumbled into Naofumi. But don’t worry, he doesn’t believe his lies and will make him understand. After Itsuki wins the next fight, he receives an invitation for a special fight. Now he comes face to face with Lecia and thinks this will be an easy win. But Lecia has different ideas. This time she is going to save him.

Episode 11
Itsuki believes everyone tricked and set him up for this fight. No worries, he’ll let his justice prevail. F*cker tries to shoot at Naofumi’s group but of course he deflects it. He then accuses Naofumi of all his evil doings. Basically a certain b*tch told him that Naofumi bought all the slaves to be worked to death on his land. As for one mother who lamented about her son could not be saved, that son was already dead. You’re not expecting a shield to revive the dead, huh? Naofumi calls him out for trying to paint him a bad person and to hide his failures from the Spirit Tortoise incident. Itsuki thinks he wants to change the subject so now Itsuki fires multiple shots. Naofumi blocks them but some of the crowd gets hit. Apparently now they become fans who worship Itsuki. Yeah, that bow given by a certain slut is just brainwashing people. It’s not justice. Lecia refuses to accept his justice and the person he is now. So they begin fighting and with Lecia having levelled up from her training, this surprises Itsuki. Always thought of her as weak, huh? Itsuki so confused now he is sprouting devil wings! Even after Lecia’s sword breaks, she will not accept a replacement since it goes against her justice. So how to fight? Sure, one way is not to give up. But without a weapon? Oh I don’t know but it feels like plot convenience because now she got some translucent weapon that can change shape. In short, Itsuki is defeated by her boomerang! As he lies in shock, flashback shows a young Itsuki wanted to become a hero of justice. Everyone praised him for his dream. Even mom was proud. So when he enrolled in some magic school, his stats were the lowest. A huge shock. Even for mom. Now Itsuki believes a certain someone still believes in him. Yeah, Bitch telling him how he cares about everyone more in this world. Such sweet words. No wonder he was taken in. As he rushes back to her place. Oh my, she’s gone. Just a letter. She has already spent all the money he earned and if he wants to see her again, defeat Naofumi. In the meantime, she has left him all the debts. Have fun repaying. Enough justice for today? Yeah, he can’t handle it and faints. No joke. He wakes up in Naofumi’s village with Lecia by his side. I don’t know if this is heart breaking or not as we see a patient Lecia nursing him like a crippled patient. Still in shock but she remains by his side.

Episode 12
Sadeena talks to Naofumi about what he thinks of Raphtalia. She is trying to say that if he wants to marry her, he’ll have to watch out whenever Sadeena is around. Disappointing or not, Naofumi only views Raphtalia as his daughter. When Elhart visits the village, he brings some goodies. Among them is an outfit for Raphtalia. Naofumi insists she wears it. Raphtalia fans can droll over how pretty she looks in a miko outfit! But as she walks around in this village, suddenly a very alarmed Sadeena tells her to take it off now! But it might be too late because suddenly a house explodes! OMFG, who the f*ck these furry ninja assassins?! Sadeena claims such miko outfit means a declaration for the throne in a certain country. As everyone fights the ninjas, it seems the heroes’ attacks have no effect on them. Raphtalia and Naofumi have to combine their magic and use the dragon veins to confuse them before they are dealt the final blow. But everyone has to run because the ninjas self-destruct! Must be the next level hara-kiri. In the aftermath, Sadeena explains the details. Apparently in a faraway country in the east known as Q’ten Lo, such outfit is only worn by the ruler. Others doing so means a declaration of war. Oh, did we mention Raphtalia is of royalty blood of Q’ten Lo? Flashback shows her father who was tired of all the political struggles, ran away with his wife here. Sadeena has always been protecting them and went with them. When the first Wave hit, Sadeena was away and by the time she returned, tragedy has already struck. What makes Naofumi mad is that Raphtalia has been watched since the day she was born. In that case they should have known she was never interested in the throne. This means they were using this excuse just to kill her and at other times, they watched her in trouble, hoping she got killed. Obviously Naofumi will not accept this. He will head to Q’ten Lo to talk to them. If they refuse, he will force them to submit. First he sees Mirelia and she will send some knights to his village for protection. As Melromarc has no official ties with Q’ten Lo, she can only advise the fastest route there. A ferry that departs from Siltvelt. Meanwhile Aultcray Trash speaks to Fohl and Atla and is glad they are okay. Because he still faults Naofumi, they correct him that it was Naofumi who saved them. He leaves when Naofumi is heard returning but knows they will meet again. Naofumi will fly to his destination with Gaelion and Wyndia. Once there, he will open a portal back here for the rest to come. He notes he has no time for this when the next Wave is coming. But if this is concerning his comrades, he will have to fight an entire country if forced to.

Lost & Found
Uhm, so this is how this season ends? Are they saying that we are going to have another side distraction instead of fighting the Wave if they ever make another season? It is most likely that as the ending hints that there might be another season although at this point of writing there is no announcement of it yet. But I’m betting that my guts say it will. I mean, can’t end the series at this point, right? So I guess even if we have to go on another detour for another season, then I’m afraid we must. It is the fate of the shield hero after all. So yeah, I’m waiting for the next announcement of double seasons like how they did for the second and third season simultaneously years ago. Season 4 at Q’ten Lo and season 5 back to fighting the phoenix. Oh yeah. Just wait for it. Oh well, what do you know? And they did! Though, season 4 looks like it is going to be a movie…

Sorry folks, but I seem to find this season a bit underwhelming compared to the previous season. It’s like taking a big detour before the next Wave hits. In a way, it felt like one filler filled season. However it is wrong for me to paint it so because this tour isn’t actually meaningless. Before the next Wave comes, this season is all about Naofumi rebuilding his side and gaining comrades to his fold. I believe we are going to need more than just the usual shield hero’s team in fighting the next Wave. Oh you know, Raphtalia, Filo and Lecia being the only party members that Naofumi could count on. Therefore to add some more firepower and arsenal (and variety for the fights), this season is all about Naofumi gathering and amassing more party members like Sadeena to even Rat (who can’t really fight but at least could provide some useful research material and info).

The other important part of this season is the redemption of the other (lost) heroes. Before we can paint them as being dicks who just go off and do what they like at their own pace, this season will put an end to all the heroes acting solo and by themselves and to be united, strangely under the guidance of Naofumi. It is with mixed feelings to see those heroes fallen from grace and now karma being a b*tch serving them the just desserts they deserve after what they did to Naofumi in the first season or at least the way they mistreated and disrespect him just because of the kind of weapon he wields. It is good to see them back together again but at this point I am guessing and highly doubt that they will surpass Naofumi. What is the name of this series again? This means I am predicting that they will mostly be lackeys to Naofumi. If that is too strong a word for you fans out there, let’s just say that they will be playing more of a supporting and assisting role while Naofumi is the one calling the shots. I mean, he has the right and credentials after all that we have seen, right?

Among all the heroes, Ren struck me as the most surprising one. I didn’t expect him to have this insecure personality because I have always think that he was that selfish and taciturn swordsman. So it was a great surprise to see him fallen like that to a point where I just couldn’t believe it was that Ren I thought I knew. He was like a totally different character. Because for Motoyasu’s case, we all know this guy is an idiot. So even when he found his salvation in Naofumi, he still remained somewhat of an idiot! Hence this spear hero’s character did not come off as surprising as Ren. Though, still a creepy weirdo. Now that Ren has repented and atoned his ways, it looks like he is very more subdued and subservient to Naofumi. You know what they say, once bitten twice shy. Ren feels a lot like that and despite of this change, at least it is still way better before he got screwed.

But now that Ren is staying at Naofumi’s domain, I wonder why and where Motoyasu is. Uhm, shouldn’t he be also at Naofumi’s village? Oh right. Don’t want to be annoyed by the constant harassment of Filo! Imagine every day you hear the chicken screaming and running away from her stalker! YIKES!!! Thus I don’t know where Motoyasu is during all that time but yeah, at least it gives us a peace of mind as long as this idiot doesn’t his face. Finally there is Itsuki. Another broken soul who has been saved mainly by Naofumi (and Lecia). From the looks of it, it is going to take a while for him to get out from his shocked state. He’s like a vegetable now. So far he is recovering well and now as docile as Ren ever since. Is this how heroes act when they recover from betrayal? Oh right, Motoyasu still an idiot. Waiting for the day he calls Naofumi his real father… Yikes.

And of course the main antagonist behind all these troubles is Bitch/Slut. Yes, they actually want us to hate this scheming and cunning woman! They did a good job because we do. Don’t you wish this woman would just die! If this woman works as a scammer, she’ll be very successful! And scam indeed she played those heroes. Oh man, they really were taken for a ride. From our point of view, we might call the heroes to be stupid for falling for such obvious trickery and that they deserved getting betrayed in the end. However I can’t entirely blame them since they have been at their lowest after failing so badly at the Spirit Tortoise incident. Bitch/Slut being the perfect smooth operator took her chances and swoop in for the kill. Gotcha, losers. Sometimes I think she is blessing for those heroes because they have to learn the very hard way in order to realize what is right. Thanks to her, at least Naofumi do not have to worry about having the other heroes as his enemies and can put his focus in other more important things. But for Bitch/Slut, how she was able to break free from her restraint and her ulterior motives in doing all this, remains to be seen. At least the next time we have somebody we can truly pour our hate on! And what are the chances that she was the one who sent Elhart the miko outfit for Raphtalia! I bet on it 100% it was her doing! After all, we saw her riding a ferry across the city. Wanna guess where she was heading to?

After 3 seasons, it seems that my perception of Naofumi as being distrustful has waned a lot. Because otherwise he wouldn’t have been taking in so many new people into his domain. Yes, he is still sceptical but I can see that he is more open to trusting others. It’s a good way for him to move on otherwise he will be no different than the rest of the other heroes if he had clung on to his past. We are reminded that he can still get angry whenever it involves his comrades. Don’t try to take make a move on them because he’ll f*cking make you regret it. Raphtalia continues to support him although I feel not as prominent as before due to the influx of new characters. Of course that is before the final episode revelation that she is some faraway country’s royalty. The much needed emphasis to throw Raphtalia back into the spotlight. Next season we expect to see more of her, right?

And Filo, why do I have a feeling this chicken is going to be in distress in every season? Last season whereby she was sold in auction was distressing enough. Now we have to see her being the target of idiot Motoyasu and also becoming the core of that dragon. Is it so fun to torment a filolial? Lecia still feels like a she is insecure although last season she proved herself when it matters. But this time it bears fruition as it is her turn to return the favour and save Itsuki. Maybe it’s her character but I can’t say I dislike her. Melty at least has some dialogue this season but I don’t find her making any impact and was almost forgettable. Last season Mirelia had her fair share of screen time and now she’s back in the background. As for Eclair, I wonder if the reason she gets more screen time is because she is paired up with Ren so as to train him. Uhm, I don’t know about you but I feel that they’re trying to come up with some romance between the two.

The new characters are pretty okay but I suppose more time is needed to flesh them out. For instance, the white tiger siblings feel a lot negligible after Naofumi buys them. After all, Fohl continues to train and train while Atla could be the dangerous one. Oh you know, she doesn’t bat an eyelid into doing adult stuffs with Naofumi, if I should go so far as to say that. Oh Raphtalia, you’ve got a rival in this context. So better keep your eyes peeled (pun not intended) for this little white tiger girl because who knows when she’ll snatch Naofumi from under your noses. Considering her character, it’s not possible. And then we have Sadeena to add more offensive firepower to the group but for now it seems she is playing the nanny and taking care of the many young ones at Naofumi’s domain. As mentioned about Rat, she provides science! Period. Then there is the strange entry known as Syne. She’s like the most unwelcomed member in Naofumi’s group. Always tagging along and trying to prove herself, hoping Naofumi’s goodwill will accept her. She looks pitiful enough of wanting to just be accepted. There are a lot of mysteries surrounding her origins (especially her strange way of talking because some words are censored by interference) and for all we know, she could be like another Kizuna.

Speaking of Kizuna, I guess with last season solving her world’s problems, she won’t be appearing anymore alongside L’Arc, Therese and Glass? Because of that, this is the reason why Raph-chan became the pet mascot and hangs around Naofumi. Like as though a memento and keepsake that they were real. Going to Kizuna’s world was not a dream. Yeah, losing Ost wasn’t a dream either. And so with this little critter, it’s like a reminder of last season’s fling. Speaking of pet mascot, looks like now we have Gaelion who is going to be another pain in the ass in terms of rivalry for Filo. Yeah, this loli sure has a lot on her plate. Motoyasu’s harassment and now a Pokemon reject going to steal Naofumi’s attention. Oh well, competition is healthy. I hope.

Action scenes are still decent but I have to admit even at this point I am still lost at what kind of shield gives what kind of powers or abilities. Uhm, what does the meteor shield do again? I am so ashamed. Yeah, there’s a bunch of them in Naofumi’s arsenal. But I noticed that Naofumi didn’t very much go into his cursed mode and even so, just once against the Emperor Dragon. Shows that there weren’t formidable enemies enough to make him go all out like that. In a way it is good because would you rather see him get mad and pay the price from using such cursed skills or using others that are more powerful and surpassing the need for such quick fix? I’ve got a feeling the beasts attacking this world are of the 4 heavenly beings. Oh you know, the tortoise, phoenix, tiger and dragon. My guess the Emperor Dragon here only serves as a warm up and this beast will be the ultimate and toughest final Wave our heroes will have to face yet. But that’s for another time. Assuming I am correct. On a trivial note, seeing others like to hit on Naofumi’s village, I feel this is going to be some sort of running joke as some houses get destroyed and it looks like some parts will always eternally be in state of repairs. Oh well, at least it keeps those kids busy.

Art and animation are still consistent and this time I didn’t notice much downgrade during the fight scenes. But still the use of CGI especially on the Emperor Dragon. Yeah, last season’s CGI on the Spirit Tortoise was weird. However the fight with the Emperor Dragon in the cave was dark so in a way, it cleverly hides the CGI flaws. But still looking weird if you ask me. Especially Gaelion who is mostly animated in CGI but thankfully doesn’t break the series as a whole.

New seiyuus this season include Ami Koshimizu as Sadeena, Konomi Kohara as Atla (Chika in Kaguya-sama Wa Kokurasetai), Kouhei Amasaki as Fohl (Kirill in Double Decker! Doug & Kirill), Hana Hishikawa as Wyndia (Yui in Delicious Party Precure), Satsuki Kokubu as Rat and Maria Naganawa as Syne (Kanna in Kobayashi-san Chi No Maid Dragon). Once again, Madkid sings this season’s opener, Sin. Can’t say I like this rock and hip hop infused with dubstep music, which somewhat feels like a downgrade from last season’s opener because that rock music somewhat reminds me and fits to be a spinoff BGM for the retro hit first person shooter game, Doom! Serious! Chiai Fujikawa who sang last season’s ending theme is also retained for this season’s ending song, Suki Ni Natte Wa Ikenai Riyuu. Is it me or does this rock song has similar vibes to last season? But if you want something cute, special ending for episode 4 has Filo singing the idol-like Kirakira Kyu that will definitely make your heart go ~kyun if you are a lolicon and chicken lover. Heh.

Overall, I can’t say that I am totally impressed with this season because it feels like a detour and a season to see how Naofumi gathers up his comrades for the next big fight. Yeah, if they suddenly jumped into fighting the phoenix, I’ll be b*tching why they skipped a lot of material and get confused! After all there are still a lot of intriguing mysteries in this world like that Faubrey legend especially some hints about that fallen king, Aultcray Trash. Then there are those vassal weapons that adds to more interested. Oh, what’s this I found on the internet about a sewing kit vassal weapon???!!! Not surprising as we had a fishing rod for Kizuna the last time. I hope there’s none in the form of a dildo. WTF did I just say???!!! Hey, at least I didn’t let all the anger from last season built up. Was I even angry then? Nah. A major improvement in handling my emotions better? Nah. I was pointing my disappointment at other disappointing animes of the season. You got lucky this time, Shield Hero S3!

Boku No Hero Academia: UA Heroes Battle

I lost count how many OVAs and movies came out ever since the inception of this long running series. So yeah, while we wait for the next season to come, they drop us another OVA to let us know that this series is still very much alive. Boku No Hero Academia: UA Heroes Battle takes place before the 6th season and somewhere in the 5th. With our young heroes locked in their dorms for the winter, can they survive Jack Frost without dying of boredom? Apparently yes. But it’s not going to be your ordinary poker, blackjack or even old maid game…

U-A-oh! Duel Heroes
Despite being winter break, Kaminari and Mineta are complaining they are confined to the dorms and can’t go home. Until they get lectured by Iida and Yaoyorozu that by doing so, they have to be escorted by heroes and police. That will be a lot of work for something selfish! So be grateful! The gang can look forward to some New Year event sponsored by UA. Looks like the events are huge games in which the students can use their Quirks to their heart’s content. However with the current situation, they can’t really go out. In short, it is cancelled. Don’t worry, Togata is here to relay some good news. They have come out with a new event and he hopes they could try it out. Basically, UA Heroes Battle is a freaking card battle game. You load a card with a UA hero on it on the game board and the AI will automatically judge its effects from attacks to defence. So it is not pre-programmed? The other catch is that you can only use the card once before it disappears automatically. Midoriya and Ojiro try it out first and in the end, the former wins. So we see the rest of them taking their turns using cards of various heroes of UA. Bakugou is late to the game since he has been awakened by the commotion. Knowing his behaviour, the rest egg him on to try it out so you bet this guy wants to beat Midoriya even if it is a card game. Both draw their own versions to fight it out. It ends in a draw because of the time limit. There’s a time limit?! Don’t worry, a sudden death match will decide the winner. Both will blindly pick a random card and this will determine the winner. Everyone thinks Midoriya is screwed when Bakugou draws All Might compared to… A doggie???!!! How is this even a hero at UA???!!! But surprise! Because of All Might’s kindness, he is going to help this dog find its lost owner. And just like that, the game ends in another draw. Bakugou is so mad that he blows up the entire place! And you’ve guessed it, Aizawa later bans all card games.

Cardfight! Vang-UA-rd!
I don’t know. If you ask me, I thought this whole thing felt underwhelming and just one of those easy going and random skits. It felt like one big flashy promo to promote the card game. Wait a minute. This series has a card game?! Yeah, I didn’t know about it until just recently when I Google it. Back in 2021, they release some collectible card game. You bet casual viewers like me don’t even know it existed until this. That is, if you care enough to do a bit of research online since this OVA didn’t really explicitly advertise or even give any promotional hints of that said card game. But I guess with a series this popular internationally, naturally they would want to grow their brand and have a hand in almost every conceivable category. Wanna bet there is a pachinko version of it too? Everything must have! Everything must get! Otherwise, this is just one of those episodes to pass the time if you have really nothing else to do or your anime watch list isn’t that busy and decided to check this one out of curiosity. Until the next season arrives, I’m going to wait and see if they’re going to release a mecha version of this series. Mobile Suit UA or Neon Genesis UA-ngelion when?

Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear Punch

Oh well. I guess we still have to BEAR with it! That’s right. If you think the first season wasn’t enough and was just BEARABLE, then there is the second season that we all still have to BEAR with. Uh huh. Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear Punch is that sequel about a girl who gets stuck playing a game but given all the cool and overpowered power ups at her disposal with the only downside of having to wear this embarrassing bear suit 24/7. Yup. That. So while she BEARS with this embarrassment and gets along with her virtual life, we too have to BEAR with all the cute shenanigans that will come along in this sequel. Sighs… Kuma…

Episode 1
Yuna is eating her favourite honey pancakes when Mirein notes an impending problem. Honey prices are going up because there are orcs hogging the bee tree (you heard that right, not a beehive!) and this prevents the gatherers from getting it. Well, like as though it was all part of Mirein’s plan to have Yuna do something about it. So Yuna goes talk to Helen about taking up that quest and as she arrives at the bee tree, not only she sees orcs but real bears too! Yes. Real bears! This wasn’t in the description so she is in a dilemma whether to attack them because they too might attack humans. The orcs defeat the bear parents and they’re about to do the same to their cubs. So no more deliberating from Yuna as she goes to own those orcs’ asses. To her confusion, the bear gives her some of the honey. As she reports this to Helen, the caretaker of the bee tree, Rem explains that the bears are somewhat his. He closes an eye for them taking honey in exchange they ward off other monsters. It’s a symbiotic relationship. With this new info, Yuna can request Cliff to let those bears live in peace. Now that prices of honey has returned to normal, Cliff sees Yuna again for another official meeting. Seems Ellalaura has written to Yuna to have her formally visit the royal palace again. He also notes the tunnel will soon be completed and things will get busy again. Yuna visits the royal palace and Flora is glad to see her again. He lets her eat the honey pancakes and the king hints he could make it every day if only he had the recipe. Yuna is going to give it to him, right? Yuna has also completed her picture book for Flora as she becomes excited for its continuation. Apparently Flora has been reading those books to the staffs of the palace so you bet Yuna’s works is famous around here too. Later Ellalaura has a request of Yuna and wants her to be the bodyguards of students of the royal academy who are going outside for some training. Yeah, Yuna trying to make excuse why she can’t but apparently there’s nobody else who are willing to put up to those snobbish spoilt brats, right? Don’t worry, Shia will come along with her. Plus, Ellalaura will be in her debt so this is a fair deal.

Episode 2
Yuna feeling so lazy, she doesn’t want to do her job! Not if mama Fina tells her to be responsible! So as Yuna goes to meet Ellalaura and Shia to be briefed about this job, she is dismayed the students are not told about her. Yeah, trying to see their reactions like how Shia was? As expected, the students whom Yuna will be escorting other than Shia are Marix, Timol and Cattleya. Obviously they are shocked to see this bear girl and can’t believe she is their bodyguard. Even if Yuna shows her adventurer card, they think she bought it with money. It’s pretty common for nobles to do so. Yuna begins her journey with the students although they don’t really place much hopes on her. They take shifts while camping out and nothing untoward happens. Until the last stretch of the journey, Kumayuru and Kumakyu detect a small pack of goblins waiting to ambush. Shia thinks Yuna should reveal this ability to the students to help increase her reputation. Thanks to the warning, the students are able to fight back the goblins and defeat them. Marix being a tsundere as he tries to apologize to Yuna for being a dick but changes his mind to thank her bears instead. As they depart, Yuna thought the goblins were acting strange. Like as though they were desperate for something. They arrive at the village where the students will be staying. Of course the villagers are bemused with Yuna’s outfit. As the girls prepare for the night in their room, it seems observant Cattleya knows that Shia is quite close to Yuna and knows her for some time due to the way they interact with each other. So they don’t want the boys to find out? Yuna then calls Fina to update and assure her everything is okay. Thanks to Shia around, she managed to pull through as there were many times she just wanted to quit and go home.

Episode 3
While helping around the silkworm workshop, a resident reports that goblins have attacked one of the sheds near the silkworm nest. Some workers are trapped there. Marix and the rest offer to go help as Yuna tags along. The goblins are easily defeated and the trapped ones safe. However they realize something strange because the goblins weren’t trying to attack them but instead trying to get into the shed. Then it all makes senses because a black tiger was chasing them. Oh damn, so you kids killed a bunch of innocent goblins?! Anyway, the students are scared and think they’ll die. Marix offers to be decoy to let the rest run away. With Shia pleading Yuna’s turn for help, I guess she has to. Because their surrounding is also surrounded by black tigers. Yuna shows off her overpowered moves as she easily defeats all the black tigers. Marix especially in shock and awe as Shia explains that Yuna didn’t buy her licence and obtained it through hard work. So don’t judge a book by its cover next time. If you think nothing scares Yuna, maybe those giant silkworms will. Big bugs looking pretty scary. Later the students apologize to Yuna for their arrogance and thank her for her huge help. With the training over, the students return to their academy. Jiguldo who is another fellow student but of another batch is seeing off his adventurer escorts, Mel and Jaden. They both know who Yuna is. Jiguldo has no ill intentions although he quips Yuna’s weird outfit so the rest come to Yuna’s defence and warn there’ll be hell to pay if he bothers her! Later Ellalaura talks to Yuna as she describes those students’ good and bad points. Asking if Yuna would take up this job again, NO! The students treat Yuna to meal as thanks.

Episode 4
With the tunnel opened, Yuna is glad she is able to savour seafood dishes from Ans again. Right timing because Ans and her friends are visiting Crimonia, she suggests to them helping out the orphanage too. At the same time, Sherry gives Yuna an embroidered cushion. Ans and friends are shown around town before they are put in Telmina’s care since they will be helping to run her shop. With Mirein having bear outfits at uniforms, definitely it will be embarrassing to wear those, right? Hence Yuna suggests Sherry’s design on the apron and of course everybody approves of it. Hence Yuna goes to see Sherry to see if she can make a few more. Of course. But since she lacks the finer skills, Yuna takes her to a tailor shop where the couple can help guide and provide the materials for it. Sherry’s hard work pays off and the tailors are so impressed with her handy work that they suggest taking her on as an apprentice. After handing over the aprons to Ans and co, Yuna notices Sherry a little down. She goes to talk to her and learns about the apprenticeship offer. You see, Sherry is in a dilemma whether to accept it. Most probably she will turn it down as she fears doing so will burden the rest with more work at the orphanage. She also thinks her fellow orphans will get mad. Yuna suggests to talk to them to ask for their opinion. Long story short, sorry Sherry they didn’t get mad but happily accept her decision. Whatever extra tasks they have to do are no biggies and in fact, some of them are actually holding second part time jobs elsewhere. Thus the most important thing is for Ans not to have regrets. It is her life after all. With all doubts blown away, Sherry accepts the offer. All is well and fine. The orphanage and even Ans and pals helping out at the restaurant.

Episode 5
Yuna wants Fina to use her knife to cut this black tiger but she claims she can’t. Believing her knife is not strong enough, she’ll take her to the dwarven shop to get better equipment. Yuna gets all excited hearing the ultimate mithril knife and needs to have it for Yuna no matter how expensive. Sure, but there’s a problem: There’s no mithril stock right now. Furthermore, there are not many blacksmiths here who can work on it. They will send a recommendation to a dwarven blacksmith in the royal capital, Ghazal so they can get one. Arriving there, despite the letter, unfortunately Ghazal can’t make one for them because he too has no mithril stock. Apparently the mine is having some trouble with the golems. For more details, head down to the adventurer guild. Too bad some punks look down on a bear girl and a loli. WTF they try to get rough? Enough for Yuna to put them down, though. This farce is ended when Sanya tells them off. Learning they are here for the mines, she tells about the problem it is facing. Right now golems are inhabiting it and they are unsure how many there are. Right now only 2 adventurer parties are taking on this job to clear the golem threat as the rest aren’t interested. You bet Yuna is going to accept this job. Arriving there, she sees the people lifeless. Probably affected by this golem thingy. She meets Mel and Jaden who are here to tackle the golem issue. They share info that their number seems endless and the deeper you go, the stronger they become. Yuna also meets the other adventurer party on this mission. Led by Barbould, they mock Yuna as some pet mascot. Though, they are more interested in a competition to see which party eliminates all the golems first. Yuna thinks at least Fina is safe but looks like she is being ‘traumatized’ by Ellalaura and Shia as they want to put expensive clothes on her! Scared she’ll never pay if she rips them?!

Episode 6
Yuna thinks of going to fight the golems herself. Too bad Mel’s party wants to come along. Actually they think Yuna should come with them to fight golems. There goes her solo adventuring. Meanwhile Fina must be panicking like hell, wondering if she’ll offend the king in any way. Death sentence! Then she meets the king and Flora. The king notes Fina is way more polite than Yuna. Yeah, that bear girl never bothered to even come see him and when he sees her (usually in Flora’s room), she gives him that look! I guess only those like God can do such disrespect to a king! As Yuna and co easily take out the golems as they proceed deeper, eventually they meet their match with the toughest golem of all, the mithril golem. Its body is so hard that no physical attack or magic penetrates. Barbould’s party is handling it and is telling the rest to stay away. If that’s the case, Jaden will let them handle it as he tells his party to return. Eventually they fail to kill it. The adventurers think there is no hope in taking it out so they all just drink to it? Of course for Yuna, she believes if she can defeat it, she’ll get her hands on some mithril. Meanwhile Fina thought she is doomed when she accidentally breaks a glass and spills the drink on her clothes. Compensation! Thank goodness Ellalaura and Shia aren’t even mad as this happens very often with Noire. The servants clean it up and they even have a new dress for Fina prepared. F*cking rich people! Yuna goes solo to fight the mithril golem. But she transports it to the seaside where she can go all out. She lifts it high in the air to drop and break it. Once it is immobilize, she goes for the core. Easy. Returning to the cave, her bears found a pair of black balls buried nearby. Then a message from God saying she left presents for her from time to time to find. This means the infinite spawning of golems is caused by these balls and so it’s Yuna’s fault somehow? Yuna returns to the adventurers to tell them she has singlehandedly taken out all the golems including the mithril one. She just wants them to go check and confirm tomorrow if they will respawn. Of course everyone is in shock especially Barbould cannot believe this pet did it by herself. Yuna zaps him out. That’s for all the insults. Next mission: Time to head back and rescue a certain princess.

Episode 7
The adventurers confirm Yuna’s words. Barbould even trying to make Yuna join his party but obviously she turns him down. And he wonders why… Then she goes to pick up Fina. Wow. Like as though she just rescued her from some dangerous exploit. Definitely. After all the sweet goodness she has been through, any commoner would be close to heart attack death. As they leave, Ellalaura gives Yuna a knife with their family crest. It signifies that she is under their protection so if there is any trouble, be sure to contact them. I’m sure Yuna can pretty much handle any trouble by herself… Then she goes give the mithril golem to Ghazal. Yuna also requests to make another mithril knife for her own usage. When she asks about this black ball, he is unsure of what rock it is. He recommends seeing his master at the dwarven city. It’s quite far and they only let you in via recommendations. Of course Yuna won’t miss this chance to visit. They pass by Morin’s ex-shop and see a sad girl waiting outside. She is Nerin, Morin’s niece and she thought Morin has gone bankrupt and on the run. Yuna tells her that she is now doing business in Crimonia and no need to worry. As she has no money to travel there, Yuna gives some of hers. Back home, when Shuri desires to be a carver like her sister, Yuna thinks of giving her a mithril knife too. But suddenly… Fina gets mad?! WTF?! She lectures Yuna on how expensive such mithril is and their parents will have to work a long time just to save up for that. In that case, Yuna will loan hers. This makes Fina even madder! In order to repent her actions, Yuna makes strawberry shortcake for the sisters. Of course Fina feels sorry for her outburst. As requested, Fina will carve the black tiger with her mithril knife at the guild so the staff can study the process more. With everyone’s support, Fina starts carving it up. Back home, it is déjà vu because Telmina is lecturing Yuna about giving a mithril knife. Yeah, heard that before. Yuna promises to keep it stored nicely and will only use with proper supervision. Yet another déjà vu as Telmina is soothed by Yuna’s strawberry shortcake. Should add this to the menu. Yay, we can eat this again!

Episode 8
Nerin finally meets Morin and wonders why she never let her know that they have moved. Well, Morin did send a letter to her father and perhaps he forgot all about it. Yuna just arrived at the shop and Nerin is glad to see her. Too bad Yuna doesn’t remember her! Eventually she does as she learns Nerin’s wish to work here since it is her dream to be a baker. But Morin asks Yuna for permission since she is the owner of this shop. Of course, is there a reason not to? Yuna is also here to introduce this shortcake. Delicious of course but Morin finds it hard to make since they have their hands full at other types of bread. Nerin then offers to learn how to do it so Yuna starts teaching her. Yuna and Fina go visit Noire to introduce this shortcake. After that duo go learn from her maid, Lala on how to brew tea. Cliff is free enough to review their tea and of course they pass. Obviously they are using not high quality tea leaves since it would be a waste to use them for practice. So imagine if they were high quality… Yeah. I bet this guy would start to go into exaggerated reaction mode. Soon, Yuna returns to the capital to see Ghazal to get her twin mithril knives. She tests it out by easily carving the iron golem corpse. We can attribute half to the knives’ awesomeness and the other half to Yuna’s exceptional skill. Busy day for Yuna as she continues to be the marketing team for the shortcake as she know introduces it to Flora and the royal family. We know the answer, right? Then the palace’s head chef, Zelef comes to personally thank Yuna for the pudding recipe. Behold and be enthralled further as he tastes the shortcake. Yeah, see those tears! This makes Zelef want to travel the world and learn different types of foods. This makes the king sad as he won’t be able to eat his cooking anymore. That is when the queen gets an idea to have chefs from other countries to see Zelef. Well, look whose diplomatic work will be piling up? That’s you, Ellalaura. As thanks Zelef will cook anything for Yuna. And so Yuna returns with her stomach very full and satisfied. It’s a good thing she won’t put on any weight, right?

Episode 9
Yuna and Fina get a birthday invitation from Misa. So why is Fina panicking? Oh, never attended a noble’s birthday party, huh? Wow, after that stint, she really must be worried about offending nobles, eh? Since Yuna herself doesn’t know much about nobles, they go visit and talk to Cliff and Noire. They too have been invited and rest assured this is a private party with only a selected few and close ones invited. Fina feeling the pressure when Noire explains how sad she’ll be if she didn’t turn up to a party she was invited. Yeah, so I guess they’ll be going rather than declining it. Whatever nobles complicated stuffs, Cliff will handle. Also, good to know that there is no death penalty if you decline one. To make preparations for the party, Yuna goes to see Ans to get some tailor made dresses. Then they discuss on what kind of gifts to prepare so they make lots of cakes and sweets. Yuna and Fina then meet up with Cliff and Noire to depart to the next town of Sheelin where Misa lives. OMFG, the bears run faster than the horses! And even tire them out! Now I’ve seen everything! The journey is far so they camp with Yuna’s convenient makeshift bear house in the forest when night falls. Yuna asking Cliff for more details about Sheelin and nobles but he assures her there is nothing to worry about. Just enjoy the party. Next day as they continue, Yuna spots goblin riders attacking a family merchant. Of course she easily takes them out. Déjà vu? The merchants know all about Yuna because of her bear suit and rumours of her has spread wide. It seems they are on their way to another city to start anew after their business failed in Sheelin. They part ways as Yuna and co finally reach Sheelin. Everyone looking at them. Obviously they’re staring at Yuna but she can’t accept reality and thinks they’re staring at Cliff the noble instead! Finally they arrive at Misa’s castle mansion. Meishun her maid greets them before Misa herself comes to greet them. Yuna is glad she didn’t turn down the invitation.

Episode 10
Yuna and co meet the rest of Misa’s family. Misa introduces the head chef, Botts who will be cooking dishes for the birthday party. So while they let the adults handle all the preparations, the kids go hang out in town. Yeah, getting more stares from the public. But soon the fun is ruined when this snobbish noble, Randle Salbard starts to mock Misa of being a poor noble and that her family will soon be going under. He tries to arrogantly invite himself to her party but she turns him down. Before things get ugly, Yuna intervenes. She would love to keep the commotion to a minimum but Randle calls his bodyguard, Brad (some Dracula overlord?) to take her on. However this only makes a fool out of Randle and Brad tells him to call it off before they attract unwanted attention. Later as Misa apologizes for all this, she tells a little history of Sheelin that this history is ruled by 2 lords. Her family rules the eastern side while the Salbard on the western side. Yuna then talks to Cliff and Gran about this as they explain more about Sheelin’s peculiar history on why the royal let 2 nobles rule it. But that was when both sides got along and now that they don’t, things only got more hostile. Because tax revenue for the eastern side has dropped, the king threatened to dismiss their noble status and this would leave Salbard as the only rulers of Sheelin. Therefore Misa’s party is to show that the Farrengram family is still strong as well as the Foscurose family is standing strong with them. But more bad news as Botts is injured in an attack. They believe it is Salbard but they have no proof. Cliff will send his bodyguards back to get replacements but soon, they too get attacked and are now immobile. Once more, the highly suspected Salbard monitoring their moves but no proof. Cliff is forced to ask Yuna for help when he promised her to leave this to the adults. Hence Yuna goes to the royal capital to seek an audience with the king. Apparently he too knows about the politics happening at Sheelin. However Yuna is not here to bring up a complaint about them but to request Zelef as the replacement chef. Yeah, that chef is eager to go and show his skills! So, they’re not teleporting back there but riding the bears? Oh well, they’re faster than horses. Better get a move on before Zelef describes the delicious parts of her bears that can be used for meat and delicacy… Are you curious on how bear meat tastes like?!

Episode 11
Everyone is shocked when Yuna brings Zelef. He is glad to work with his comrade Botts again. Meanwhile Randle and his father, Gajurdo are also one of the many attending the party. Gajurdo is happy his plans are going well but WTF Randle’s answer is to eliminate everything?! Even at least Gajurdo has the decency not to resort to that. During the party, Gajurdo and his men cause a scene that the food tastes bad despite it tastes freaking good. Gran tries to appease them but they continue to call it pig slop and even trample on them. All those spineless guests have no balls to oppose him. But this is all part of Yuna’s foresight because now Zelef turns up as he tries to ascertain what is wrong with the food so he could make it better. That is because he needs to improve it for the king to eat. That is when everybody realizes who this chef is. Oh boy. Gajurdo’s men start to panic as they feign they were sick so they couldn’t taste properly. Gajurdo wonders how he got here so fast seeing Botts was injured. How does he know Botts is injured? Oops. When all avenues are exhausted, Gajurdo also feign sickness. Take care. Back home, Gajurdo curses his luck. Randle’s answer? Kill everybody! Of course Gajurdo isn’t so stupid to stoop to that and tells his idiot son to STFU. You think Randle will take this? Next day, Ellalaura visits. Not only is she here to help celebrate Misa’s birthday but to personally inspect this city after the king spoken out on this issue. Before Misa’s birthday party begins, Noire and Fina gang up to force Yuna to wear this lovely dress. Can she take off her bear suit?! APPARENTLY YES!!! HOW?! Oh well, as long as those bear gloves and boots stay on. And of course, Yuna is looking so stunning with this beautiful dress. A different side to her other than her bear suit. Oh wow. But don’t steal the limelight. It’s Misa’s birthday party, you know. Yuna then gives teddy bear presents to her. This sends Noire reeling because she didn’t get one and ‘blames’ her parents for not giving birth to her on today. WTF… Don’t worry, Yuna promises to get her a set next time.

Episode 12
When Yuna is in town, suddenly she gets a distress call for help from Fina. She rushes back to see everyone being taken out! Misa is missing. After healing an injured Fina, she is told that somebody came to kidnap Misa. Alright. That does it. No more Ms Nice Bear. She has an idea who did this and has her bears lead her there. As we all also know, it is stupid Randle who kidnapped Misa. But in her cell there are also other kidnapped kids whose families do not listen to them. Randle goes to brag about this to his dad to use Misa to get Gran to bow to their demands and of course he blows his top over his stupidity and stubbornness. Too late about thinking Randle will take him down along with him because here Yuna is at the doorstep. She’s not in the mood for playing so if you don’t answer her questions, you get taken out. Brad then attacks her and of course she avoids. He is impressed with her skills and starts blabbing that he was the one who kidnapped Misa. Yuna couldn’t be ‘happier’ since now she gets to beat his ass. They start fighting and while Brad enjoys it, he’ll soon learn that Yuna is in a league of her own. She doesn’t use up all her raging power until Brad spills that he loves beating up the weak, include Fina and Noire who tried to futilely protect Misa. Yup, that sealed his doom. Yuna takes him out and panicky Randle takes Misa out as hostage. Dumb move because she punches him out cold. Gajurdo pleads his innocence that he has nothing to do with it all. It was all Randle’s doing. Ellalaura is here with the guards to arrest them as Misa claims there are other abducted kids in the cell. Because Gajurdo is willing to cooperate and bring down his own son just to save his own skin, Ellalaura then has her guards search his whole mansion. Maybe they’ll stumble upon proof of his wrongdoings. And that’s the end of these arrogant nobles. Misa now can cry her heart out in Yuna’s arms. They are then reunited with the rest who are glad everything turned out well. In the aftermath, Gajurdo, Randle and Brad are imprisoned. With the ton of evidence of Gajurdo’s wrongdoing, he was given the death penalty. Randle was stripped of his title and exiled from Sheelin. Gran and his family inherited the sole position of Sheelin’s mayor and the town soon prospered. Everyone praising Yuna as a goddess who brings more luck to good people and bad luck to the bad ones. Yeah, how does the title of goddess of bears sound! Unbearable! HAHAHA!

Bare Necessities: Can’t Bear Punch This One Out Of A Paper Bag!
I guess we needed some sort of circumstances for Yuna to unleash her rage as well as the full extent of her bear powers. Yeah. Dumb noble dick scumbags are the only way to go but as I have seen, all that isn’t even half of Yuna’s true power. I mean, the girl who can easily take down monsters and beasts, if she unleashed all that on these bad people, they’ll be dead! And Yuna will be tainted as a murderer! And that will make all the lolis lose their smiles and thus failed to protect those cute little smiles she promised to do so. Can’t have that, can we? So yeah, just rough them up a little bit and now she’s the goddess of this world. Oh wow. I can’t believe we BEAR through all that! Thank goodness it is now over!

Honestly, this season felt boring and very forgettable. I don’t see what this season is about except more of Yuna and friends cute and kawaii shenanigans. Oh wait. Does this series have a serious plot to begin with? After all, with all the sugar coated niceness, it seems that we have all but forgotten that this whole world is actually a game that Yuna is trapped inside! Do we still remember that?! What was the game’s name again? Oh right. World Fantasy Online AKA WFO! Yeah, don’t even remember it all had I not do some referring to my previous blog! Yikes. Really and truly have forgotten about it all, no? Or is that a forgone conclusion because Yuna has now adapted herself pretty well into this world and can consider herself a true citizen and inhabitant of Crimonia. Whatever the case may be, this season still sucks. To put it in the crudest of ways, that is. Remember, Yuna has no family or friends back in her own world so there’s no reason for her to go back there, right? And what’s this about making money via stocks?! Yeah, screw that. Adventuring and eating good food here is much better. So uhm, can Yuna hand me those stocks because it’s not like she’s needing the money, no?

I mean really, what else can we expect from the second season? There’s no nefarious plot to overthrow the kingdom or some sort of Demon Lord trying to take over the world or heck, destroy it. It’s such a nice world to live in except for a few stupid and arrogant nobles (aside the pesky monsters). Otherwise, this is very much a very peaceful life in this kingdom. At least for Yuna who is so freaking overpowered so there is nothing, literally nothing in this world that can best her. Therefore we can be rest assured and not worry if Yuna is going to die or seriously get injured because it’s part of the script that would not allow such drama to befall on our main beary character. Yeah. As long as this bear suit girl is around, the peace is safely kept. Everyone’s smile is protected. Everybody lives happily ever after.

Just like the plot for this season, the characters are also forgettable. We all know Yuna from last season so she’s not going to go through any major changes here. After all, she’s already so powerful how much more powerful can you make her? Just short of becoming God, that is. And so Yuna has learnt to BEAR with wearing the silly suit but it gives her all the powers she needs to kick ass and show those idiots their places. Good enough. Though the biggest surprise is that she can actually take the whole bear suit that covers her entire body and head off. I don’t know, is there a loophole somewhere because as far as I know, she couldn’t take it off anyhow and is stuck with this. Because if that is the case, why not just leave those gloves and boots and then go wear something else less embarrassing? Did she not figure this out or is this an oversight by everybody? Or is Yuna loving this bear suit actually… Mind boggling…

Even all the lolis this season feel as forgettable and boring. By the time I am typing this sentence, I can’t even remember a single memorable thing about them. Maybe a few stuffs. Like Fina on the verge of having some sort of anxiety attack for fear of offending the royalty since she was left alone in their care while Yuna is away. Don’t laugh, it could be very traumatic for an ordinary young commoner girl. But sadly, that is all I remember her for this season. Even Noire is pretty forgettable too except to ramp up the loli cuteness of everything. Just like every other lolis here. Just there to be cute so that we can fawn at how cute these young girls are. Are you sure this isn’t a show for lolicons? Even Shia only had her moment of shine in the early episodes and after that, she went MIA. Even that, she didn’t really do much since Yuna is the reluctant star. But better than never appearing at all, right? Because looking back at my previous blog, I noticed that there are a handful of characters that didn’t show up in this season like Atla. Not that I remember them in the first place but going through my blog and stumbling upon names I already forgotten, oh well, that’s how I ‘remembered’ them. And with a few new ones, I guess that only adds to the forgettable mess which of course my brain can’t handle and don’t care at this point.

EMT Squared was retained to handle this sequel so it’s great to see some consistency in the art and animation. Of course just like the first season, everything here is bright and colourful and your character designs especially the girls even the adults have this cute loli looks. Sure this is not a series for lolicons? Although some of the backgrounds and sceneries are still nice and high quality, but sometimes some of them look like filters. Did somebody forget to take out those dots in the background? Oh right, it’s this series’ trademark visuals. Oh well, when you’re paying attention to the cute lolis… Azumi Waki who sang the first season’s opener, also sings this season opening theme. Kimi To No Mirai sounds almost similar to Itsuka No Kioku, like as though it is its spiritual successor. This upbeat anime piece has all the liveliness and sparkling cuteness that makes it, uhm, lively and sparkling with cuteness. Just like last season too, Maki Kawase is also retained to sing the ending theme. However Zutto sounds more dramatic, a little dark and mature, rather than all that cuteness that was Ano Ne.

Oh wow. Look how short my end blog for this season has been! A testament that I was really bored in watching this sequel and there was nothing much to write and even sh*t on. Good for you if you love all those sparkling cute loli goodness. I’m done with this. I got sucker (bear) punched. But oh well, to be fair, it was not entirely a bad series and to say that I have wasted my time watching this isn’t fair either. Because there was some sort of hope (no matter how faint it is) that somewhere in this season, things might pick up and get better. But it did not. I was just bored all the way. That’s right. Unfortunately I grit my teeth and BEAR with all the boredom until I’m so numb at this point. Thank goodness it has ended. No more another season, please! That would definitely by utmost unbearable!

High Card

Imagine if that British Kingsman series had an anime version. Oh wait. They already did. In the form of High Card. But this time add some poker cards into the theme! I guess it would be boring if it’s your typical spy action thriller. So why not ramp that up to the next level by giving characters some poker cards. Cards with unique different powers! And yes, with such special cards holding special powers, you bet there are going to be some crazy people out there who are using them for their own personal gains. And so a secret organization is tasked to collect them all before it falls into the hands of the wrong people. A race against time to do so with another organization with their own intentions to collect them all. Wow, these highly prized poker cards are sure having a better value as collectible trading cards than as playing cards. Hurry, gotta catch ‘em all!

Episode 1
An invader infiltrates some kingdom to steal some bag. She escapes from the chasing guards by using her magic to create bombs and missiles that just blow the whole place apart! Not sure what is happening as some goddess’ cries causes the invader to drop the bag containing several cards as they scatter through the wind. Theodore Constantine Pinochle believes now it’s time to assemble the High Card. Finn Oldman is a young teen who is smoothly pickpocketing people on the streets. He tries to pawn his stealing so as to cough up cash to save the orphanage he and the rest are staying at. Of course no money for stolen goods. Realizing he has a card in his pocket, he decides to make lucky at the casino. At first he is on a roll until he meets his match with Lucky Lunchman who uses his lucky charm glove to win it all from Finn. Finn tries to steal from him but gets hampered. Then he tries to get a share of his winnings by being his disciple but is refused. When Lunchman’s winning streak continues in the slots, the management decides to give him the VIP treatment. Of course the duo are taken to the storeroom where they are interrogated of possible cheatings. Lunchman then uses his glove to activate his luck. The management wants him restrained but a henchman refuses to do as he is told. Bobby Ball kills off the management by turning him into marbles with just a mere touch. Looks like he has a card too. He threatens Lunchman so he gets scared and gives his card. Chris Redgrave barges in to fight Bobby. Lunchman gets killed but Finn escapes. Not before he steals a card from Bobby. Then it’s a high stakes car chase down the freeway until Chris comes to crash his car into them. Very much injured, Chris is taken out via headshot by Bobby. Bobby threatens Finn to return the card but the latter will bet on one last game. Beginner’s luck is real, no? He materializes a gun that ricochets Bobby’s marble and then right into him. Chris amazingly isn’t dead so now Finn has to deal with him.

Episode 2
Chris dares him to shoot. Because he hesitates, he is captured. Back in their posh base, Finn is surrounded by Chris’ colleagues: Bernard Symons, Vijay Kumar Singh and Wendy Satou. They know all about him. Everything. Bernard the team leader explains that the cards are called X-Playing Cards and there are 52 of them scattered across the land. Each with their own unique powers and shortcomings. Because the card chooses its wielder, only a person can wield a card. As such, some may be abusing its powers so it is up to them who are under the direct orders of King Julius Fourland to secretly retrieve them all. The team, High Card operates as a famous car seller, Pinochle Automobiles but because they double as secret agents, sometimes they are permitted to do things that are beyond the law. Bobby is part of the Klondike family, the land’s biggest mafia who has connections to the government and police. It looks like they too are collecting the cards. Bernard offers Finn to work here as he can earn money and protect his card. After hearing how much he’ll get, Finn is in. Bernard makes Chris his mentor so the first order of the day is to make him look sharp and snappy. Time to hit the tailors. Finn talks to Lindsey Betz, the head of the orphanage that he has found a high paying job that will save the orphanage. This place is like home to him after his parents died. Lindsey is happy for him but cautions money isn’t everything and that the choices they make determine who they are. When a couple of policeman are killed by seemingly robbers who one of them is unhuman, detective Greg Young believes such measures calls for strange people. His rookie assistant, Sugar Pease doesn’t seem to get it, though. Finn’s first time on the job as he follows Chris to chase the robbers. Even the police is giving way to them to handle this. They face off with this hulk robber, Robert Thousand who is obviously having a card. Finn panics a bit since he is unsure about his own powers. Chris rams his car into Robert to crash into the river knowing that the card’s power makes him heavy. Finn’s sharpshooting allows Chris to escape a watery death. In the aftermath, Robert and his accomplices are arrested. Robert somehow got his hands on the card and got into debt and using this power to become a hired muscle for the thieves. Finn wonders if he’ll end up like Robert. Later Finn wonders why everyone is mocking is 2 of spades card. Because it is the lowest ranked card, making him the weakest!

Episode 3
Finn just witnessed a kidnapping before his eyes. Carter and Jake just kidnapped Leo into their car and forcing him to call his father for a $10 million ransom. Sorry bros, he doesn’t know his father’s number nor does he care. Finn steals a scooter to ram into them and save him. But Leo is unappreciative of that because his reckless ‘heroism’ has caused damage everywhere. The brothers return as they blame Leo’s father for terminating some contract and now they’re in need of money. Leo remains cocky about the survival of the strongest. Finn tries to dissuade the brothers from using violence until he himself gets hit. FIGHT! The farce ends with Sugar and her cops arresting them all. Yes, this includes Finn for stealing a scooter! But at the police station, Leo and Finn can just walk out and the police won’t stop them. Young allows this because he knows who they are as he warns Sugar not to mess with them. Subsequently, Nix who is Carter and Jake’s sister busts them out of their cell by burning down the entire station! Obviously a card holder. Finn accompanies Leo as he talks about his own tragedy, the reason why he could somewhat sympathize with Leo when somebody badmouths his parents. Not that Leo cares anyway. Finn treats Leo to commoner’s hotdog and even taking a subway train (doesn’t use credit card, boy!) but soon they are attacked by Nix. They burn the train down so the guys will go with them to see what they want. Just call the company or whoever for the ransom. Back at their warehouse base (praying to some makeshift fire god?), Finn escapes from his chains. This leads to a showdown with Nix as she uses her fire to just burn everything. Chris arrives in the nick of time. So he’s got the ransom ready? Actually the money is for Leo. He is also a card holder and his power is to turn cash into anything of equivalent value. The bazooka’s blasts put the petty criminals down. Back at the base, Finn is not only shocked to learn Leo is part of High Card but also the big boss of this team! Ready for your lecture? Yeah, Chris isn’t spared too since he should’ve done better as his mentor. Later Leo goes to see his father who is Theodore but is ignored.

Episode 4
Didn’t know Wendy was a samurai girl? At least a typical Japanese dojo upbringing. Her strict dad told her to train and discipline herself and not to rely on or get close to anyone. Don’t jump to gun to classify Wendy as a joker character as we see her fumble and being clumsy on her way to work. Yeah, basic rule of High Card is never to be late! Then as the gang drink at the bar, I guess they forgot about the next rule not to let Wendy drink more than 3 glasses of beer. Drunk as hell now. Though, she’s okay the next day and didn’t end up late for work. Chris get caught up with some robbery at a bank. Because Finn is with a customer test driving a car, Wendy and Vijay decide to go back up Chris (though, later Finn would ‘abandon’ his customer to join in the action scene). As Wendy fights the cornered robbers, she then uses her card to draw upon a samurai sword in which she slashes her opponents down easily. Until the leader, John Doe whose card enables him to clone himself, takes Vijay hostage. What now, Wendy? Remembering her father’s teachings and that she’ll walk her own path, suddenly she turns into a different person. This is bad news because as her alter ego nicknamed Love-P, she becomes a ruthless bloodthirsty killer who will slice anything. John Doe got so scared, he passed out! This means Love-P turns on her High Card comrades for her much needed thrill. She enjoys slicing up Chris until Finn starts shooting at her and her sword can’t seem to deflect those bullets away. Love-P is satisfied and hopes to see more of him next time. More Wendy flashback as father on his deathbed told her she is kind unlike him and hence she doesn’t need to walk a path of solitude. Because she’ll have friends who will walk beside her. Gee, what a change in policy. Wendy is sad for causing trouble to others but Finn is okay with it. Because we’re a team.

Episode 5
Sugar is very suspicious about the employees of Pinochle. Because anything about them, cases or articles in the media go missing. She tries to ask Young and other officers about it but they won’t hear the rookie talk. Not even if she tries to talk about justice and the likes. She goes to interrogate John Doe who believes he is finished as Klondike will be out for him since he lost his card. At first he doesn’t trust her but Sugar promises she will protect him. In return he will tell all he knows about the family. Young calls Theodore, trying to piece the puzzle together with the recent events but the latter isn’t saying anything. Theodore points out Young being childhood friends with Ban Klondike, the head of the mafiaso. Even so, that guy is a snake and shouldn’t be trusted. Young then attends a charity ball by Ban. Bobby is doing well but Young mocks him of getting demoted to a doorman after his loss. He can’t touch Young and can only hold in his anger. As the party starts, Ban makes his speech about the progress mankind has achieved but yet there are still children starving and poverty. Then he shows everyone his ‘present’: John Doe. A police officer is a mole who brought him here. Since he betrayed the family, Ban using his powers to twist his head until it comes off! The message he is sending to everyone is that they need to stay united. Meanwhile Finn thought some Klondike lackey is stalking him but it turns out to be Sugar. She arrests him but along the way, a bus crashes into them. Although they survive, they manage to get out quickly before the bus is dropped on them! Nhay Chi Nguyen is from Klondike and a card holder. She uses her powers to strangle Sugar and then make Finn shoot her. Obviously missed as she warns them this is just a warning. Mess with them again, they’re dead meat. Sugar is scared sh*t although this won’t scare her enough to drop the case. Finn gives her the slip by handcuffing her to the car. After the party, Young confronts Ban about the recent events. The king gathered the cards for the next coronation but they got stolen. He thinks Klondike is behind this as there are more card wielders in public recently. Ban doesn’t confirm anything save for warning him not to trust Theodore. He’ll bite his head off one day. Sugar talks to Young how she gets passionate when she sets her sights on something. It’s like her adrenaline rush. But she wonders if she is a bad detective so Young advises how the smallest tip in scale will bring chaos. It’s their job to keep their eyes on that scale. Oh, did he mention John Doe is found dead? That shock on Sugar’s face… Well, don’t worry. Young still has high hopes for her.

Episode 6
Legend has it that invaders attacked the land. A mage offered magic cards to 52 warriors to fight back. Although all perished, their will and love for their land lived on and was transferred into the cards. The mage then used those cards to destroy the invaders and then united the land and became the first king of Fourland. Now we see one of the X-Playing Cards as well as other of such relics on a luxury liner auction. One of the bidders is the flamboyant Norman Kingstadt who is a rival car seller, Who’s Who. High Card is also on this ship to steal the card. More precisely, swap it out with a fake. They have to caution Norman’s secretaries, Blist Blitz Broadhurst and Brandy Blumenthal as they are also card holders. So we see an elaborate ploy for High Card as they steal the security pass for Chris in order for him to head into the tightly guarded storeroom where the prized card is. But as he is about to swap the card, Blist foresees this and they end up fighting. Meanwhile, Norman and Leo engage in a bidding war for the card. How high can it go?! When Finn tries to help Chris, too bad his seasickness gets the better of him as Blist takes him hostage. One blunder to another as the card slides onto stage and Finn tumbles over Leo, allowing Norman to win the auction. 10 million it is! However the card is then stolen by Nguyen. THAT F*CKING EASY???!!! In the aftermath, High Card rues their loss but all have each other to blame as each were personally responsible in acting out of their hand. Meanwhile Norman is disgruntled that the media reported the stolen card but none mentioned about him outbidding and winning the auction against Leo!

Episode 7
Chelsea Hammond is not a bimbo! She won’t fall for Chris’ charms and hell she won’t be a victim of Finn’s pickpocketing! It seems she also holds a card as she cunningly gives them the slip. Worse, the card power makes their hands stuck together! Gonna look like gay lovers everywhere! Their bid to get Chelsea undo this fail. Yeah, wherever she goes, all the jobs she does, she just outwits those guys. Eventually they corner her so she explains she doesn’t have a home. She goes from place to place to find her soul mate. That way she can meet more people via the power of her card. Chris believes she doesn’t need the card’s power and is willing to give her anything, even a blank cheque for it. However she is not interested and leaves. The guys crash at Finn’s place. Finn has a nightmare about a black knight attacking him as he reveals his family was killed in an accident but has no memories of it. Chris then wants him to keep something a secret. Not even those in High Card knows. Next day, they go meet up with Chris’ sister, Michel. They have a swell time together until at a diner where Chelsea is working, she sees this and wants to expose the fake person Chris is to Michel. So yeah, pretending to be their friends, Chelsea joins in on the fun. However she gets lead on by Michel’s cheerful pace. Oh well, can expose that guy later. At the end of the day, Michel collapses and is bleeding. Chelsea undoes the power to allow Chris to rush her to hospital. Because he becomes desperate and panicky, Chelsea is forced to use her power to have him stuck to her temporarily. Once the surgery is done, the doctor talks to Chris about the bad news. She might look fine but she isn’t. She’s only putting up this cheerful act so as not to worry him. It is inevitable. Finn and Chelsea learn from Michel that they have no parents. So yes, Chris is also an orphan. Later Chelsea confronts Chris and wants him to drop the act that Michel is fine. But kind lies help you forget hard truths and sad times. If there comes a time he isn’t okay, he’ll just put on another mask. After all, he is empty behind it. Chelsea agrees to give back the card but only when she thinks she doesn’t need it anymore. Yeah, keep waiting… Later they realize she has become a worker at their usual bar. So why limit her chance to meet her soul mate? Because she wants to see if she doesn’t need the card anymore. Is that a roundabout way to say she likes Chris?

Episode 8
It’s Finn’s day off so he visits the orphanage. Looks like there is a new kid in town, Sam. But he isn’t socializing with everyone else. Finn working his magic to talk to Sam and how he was like him when he first stayed here as well as Lindsey who took care of him ever since. He is like their father and the other kids are their siblings. They’re family. This has Sam trust him and open up. That night, the kids celebrate Lindsey’s birthday. Lindsey talks to Finn about the orphanage closing down next spring and is looking a place for them. However Finn shows how much money he has deposited in the account and at this rate they can buy back the orphanage. This makes Lindsey more suspicious because he just got a job and if it pays so well, could it be something dangerous? He can’t accept this. No doubt he is happy for Finn but he would be happier if he doesn’t come back to the orphanage. When they return to the party, look who is here to crash it? That’s right. It’s Bobby. He is obviously here to get revenge on Finn and destroy everything he loves. Ever since that loss, Ban’s trust in him has reduced so he is going to repay this debt to him. Lindsey and the kids run for safety as Finn and Bobby turn this place into hell. With the orphanage now on fire, Finn’s trauma starts to activate. But he stays strong as he notices Sam still trapped in the building. He manages to protect him and guide him to safety before his ultimate showdown with Bobby. Eventually Finn gets the better of him but Bobby isn’t going down yet. To Finn’s shock, he sees Bobby having 2 X-Playing Cards. He uses this whatever X-Hand and now he is reborn into some monster. Yeah, regenerative abilities and his body can elongated whatever. Finn’s trauma activates when Bobby talks about his tragic past. However Bobby is soon burnt to death by someone from Klondike. In the aftermath, although there were no casualties from the orphanage, Finn claims they have lost everything. He accuses Lindsey of lying to him about his past. Because he remembers his house burnt down like this and his family was killed by that black knight.

Episode 9
A terrorist bombing occurs in the city. Too bad the terrorist got away and Chris saw a few Klondike members. Although the media reports about this tragedy and how it claimed the first prince, Dylan, there are no further reports. Because you know, Sugar still wants to get to the bottom about this to uphold justice and as usual, Young isn’t too enthusiastic about sticking his nose where it doesn’t belong. Theodore talks to Julius at Dylan’s funeral. The king laments how this tragedy has repeated in the land each time the cards fall into the wrong hands. This is why the cards must be contained as humans cannot handle them. Later Theodore confronts Ban and accuses him of doing this especially killing Dylan. Ban notes it is more interesting this way and that cards are meant to be played. Theodore soon calls the assembly of High Card. Bernard assembles the team as Theodore has given priority orders to retrieve any cards whose whereabouts are known immediately. Better get scrambling. But what about Finn? He hasn’t answered or reported to work for 2 weeks. Chris visits him at his home and clearly he is depressed and lost. No use working for the money now, right? Chris talks about them being buddies and such and how he at least can stick with him from time to time. This gives Finn some hope so he gets back on his feet to follow Chris on their next mission to get the card from Aya Tawawa. Finn realized he was scared after losing everything but Chris’ words made him feel the need to move forward. As they take a train, soon they are confronted by Jasper Libera of Klondike. This haughty and dumb guy is trying to get them to give their cards but Chris being the smooth operator acts like he doesn’t care about everything and even dares Jasper to signal to his buddy, Alexander Alekson to take the lives of the passengers. Doing so will also kill Jasper, right? Not that Chris cares anyway. No time to think as the train has reached the bridge and Alexander drops rocks to block its path. Jasper gets desperate but in the fight, Chris throws Finn off the train. Don’t worry, there’s a river down there. Jasper chickens out in this game of chicken by using his power to create makeshift tracks so the train won’t crash. But Chris still needs to deal with him. Meanwhile Finn survives and is picked up by Aya.

Episode 10
Aya patches Finn up in her cosy cabin. She can tell he works for Theodore and that she was once from High Card too. But she quit after she has had it with all the deaths. Meanwhile Chris is being tortured by Jasper who is desperate to get his card but it seems it is missing. Well, not like Chris is going to die, right? But when Jasper mentions his friend is out to find Finn and kill him for his card, time for Chris to get serious as he breaks frees and possibly killed this dude. Aya is surprised when Finn says Chris is his partner as he is worried about him after those Klondike buggers ambushed them on the train. It seems she somewhat knows him. Ah yes, flashback time. 25 years she worked as a High Card agent and Theodore was one of her active colleagues. She was happy with her job as it made her feel like a hero. But she started to have doubts when one of the messengers died. Furthermore, she started doubting Theodore’s cruel and strict methods. The ultimate turning point came when Chris’ father, Tyler who was also a High Card member wanted to use his cards to save Chris’ life after some devastating accident. However Theodore forbade him as it was against the rules to use it for personal gain. Theodore then wanted Aya to confiscate Tyler’s card. She refused and so Theodore was about to kill Chris when Aya restrained him, allowing Tyler to use X-Hand to save Chris’ life but at the cost of his own. She explains X-Hand being multiple cards used at the same time. The bigger the hand, the stronger its effect and obviously the riskier it is. After that, Aya left High Card without saying anything and wandered into this place and lived peacefully. Back then, she thought she did the right thing but now she is unsure. Theodore has left her alone for a decade and now believes something is up for him to come for her card. She agrees to give it to Finn but asks what he would do in her shoes. He would work his ass off! She laughs and likes that answer. But looks like she’ll be holding it for a while as Alexander is here to get them. Aya uses her power, which is to pull anything in her vision towards her. She might be a bit rusty in keeping this big guy down but luckily here comes Chris to save the day. And in style! When it’s over, Chris points his gun a Finn. What’s wrong? Aya already returned her card. Actually Chris doesn’t want him to know about his past and shoots him!

Episode 11
Flashback shows Chris lived happily with Tyler and Michel as his mom passed away a long time ago. It was a happy moment where Chris knew how to smile. But one day he got caught up in an explosion at a store. We knew the rest as Tyler used his cards to save him. By the time Chris woke up, dad was dead. At that moment he created a fake mask with a fake smile to suppress and hide his true feelings. He might have forgotten his true emotions along the way. After what the doctor said, he thinks he was meant to live for this moment. Finn is alive and back at the base. Apparently when Chris shot him, he shot at his pocket where his card is. The card is indestructible. Leo panicking as he wants to know what Chris is up to. He has left High Card and took certain cards with him. Unfortunately Theodore has his team stationed at the palace to protect the royalty. They cannot go after Chris since they are too close to him but rest assured, Owen Alldays, Theodore’s secretary is conducting an investigation on Chris. Meanwhile Chris meets up with Chelsea to get some stuffs. She is not impressed and wants to know what’s going on. Not telling. Suddenly Sugar and her police surround to arrest him. Chris tries to escape and only manages to do so because Nguyen disables the cops to let him get away.

Finn is surprisingly visited by Lindsey. It seems Chris has left a message for Finn to him. And a cheque to rebuild the orphanage. Before Finn can blame himself, Lindsey says it was not his intention to hide the truth from him but wanted to tell him when the time is right. The orphanage may be gone but he and the kids are still around. He did say about being happy for Finn to leave the place but eventually everyone will also leave to find a new place of belonging. Hey, it’s not like you can only have 1 place to call home, right? Finn feels better as he talks about Chris and his family. That is when he realizes what Chris is up to. Yeah, going to do what his father did, huh? He rushes his way to the hospital and at the same time, Ban’s militia attacks the palace. By the time Finn arrives at Michel’s room, she is already gone and taken by Chris. A message left behind by Chris for him to call. Hi Chris, how are you. Chris explains about his intentions to collect the same cards his father did (including the one on the auction liner in which Klondike got was a second dummy). Hence he ‘killed’ Finn was part of this. Chris hopes he would rebuild his orphanage as his atonement. However Finn tells him off that family doesn’t necessarily have to be blood related. Yeah, you know, eat and do things together? That’s right. Family. I’m sure Chris would love to join that but it’s too late for him. This is his last chance to save Michel. As he leaves the parking lot, Owen snipes him. A headshot but of course we know Chris’ regenerative abilities, right? Owen then fires Finn from High Card since he has disregard direct orders.

Episode 12
While High Card engages the terrorists, Finn thinks that now that he is no longer employed, he can do what he wants and that means go to save Chris. However Owen will not allow such nuisance and has the SPs take him out. As they leave, Sugar wants them to unhand that man. WTF they oblige?! Because she is police?! Finn was faking unconsciousness and uses this chance to escape in Sugar’s police car (with Chelsea in it). As Finn reveals what Chris is going to do, Chelsea thinks she knows where Chris is going. From that date, Chris is going to take Michel to the Ferris Wheel. Meanwhile Chris is being stopped by the police. However the ground swallows them. It is Ban. He doesn’t care about the country or crown and likes Chris’ style to do as he wishes. As card holders, it is their right to do what they want and not be controlled. He lets Chris continue his mission. Bernard has planted a tracker on Finn so he heard everything. He warns Finn’s actions will lead to make enemies out of everybody. Is he willing to risk all that? Yes. Why? Because Chris is his buddy. He was there for him when he was at his darkest moments so it is now his turn to do the same. Finn is interrupted by Nguyen who is under Ban’s orders to stop any interference. Chelsea stalls her for Finn to make his way but that won’t last long. Meanwhile Leo is conflicted to go save Chris but Theodore orders him to stick with the mission. Finally when Leo decides to go astray, the evacuation of the royalties is done so Leo is now free to do as he wish as the terrorists are also neutralized. He has High Card to go save Chris.

Can Finn fight Nguyen? Just in time for Love-P to satiate her bloodlust! Time for the crazy b*tches to splatter each other’s guts! Bernard gives Finn a lift. Let these crazy b*tches handle each other. Oh Sugar, how do you think you can help this superhuman fight? Well, Young fires at Nguyen as distraction, allowing Love-P to cut her down. As Love-P noisily celebrates her victory, Young shoots a debris chunk on her! WTF?! But that shut her up. Though, a wounded Nguyen lives and escapes. Chris is about to activate his X-Hand. Can Bernard drive any faster? Leo using all his money to create an elevated highway. Damn, this must really cost a lot so he runs out of money! Bernard gives back Chris’ card so he uses his sharpshooting skills to shoot one of Chris’ cards. X-Hand is activated but not at full power. Michel is alive and a relief Chris collapses. He wakes up in hospital, happy that his beloved sister is still alive and well. Finn tells him there is a better way than the fate of either of them dies. He thinks it is better they both share their lives. In the aftermath, the city returns to normal although nothing is done on Ban and his family coup’s attempt. So I guess he got everybody under their thumb? Oh well, just waiting for his next move. It is theorized that Chris still lives because of his immortality. Yeah, and we were all worried for nothing. Oh well, in hindsight we didn’t know if it would worked or not. But as for punishment, Chris will become Finn’s junior! Yes, both get reinstated again. Nice working with you again. Meanwhile the black knight kills off Nguyen.

Playing Your (High) Cards Right
Just like everybody knows it already, a second season is already in the works. Yeah, I also knew it would happen considering the direction and the development we have seen here. As usual, I wanted to binge watch both seasons together when that comes out but you know me recently, having a flurry of anime series to watch and seeing that the sequel has not been given a definitive date yet (I doubt it is taking a single cour break), the usual me pressing the panic button to just go watch this first and then when the second season arrives, I’ll cross the bridge when I get there. Yeah. So now I’ve got this first part out of the way, all I need to do is just wait… It might take a while seeing it is originally written. At least, it has various simultaneous sources like manga, novel and drama CDs. The anime is just one of that and the concept of this series was only drawn up in 2022.

I have to admit that I myself did not actually watch the Kingsman movies or read the comic books that it was based on. Therefore I cannot really compare or say how much inspiration this anime version has taken inspiration on it. All I can say is that the characters are dressed sharply to the T. Yes. Elegance and looking good is a very core element and hence why you see many of the main characters wearing snappy and stylish outfits although they are mostly suits. Yes, even the ladies are dressed in suits. I don’t believe it is gender equality here but it makes more sense for them to be wearing pants than skirts because it is more efficient to run around and kick ass in those, right? After all, they still look gorgeous in suits.

As far as the story is concerned, while it seems the underlying plot is to collect the scattered cards, however many of the episodes in this season felt more like independent standalones. Sure, you have your introductory arc to see Finn get drafted into High Card and then they go on to secure the rest of the other cards that somehow ended up in very strange people. Actually, more like commoners. Yeah, if you ask me, how the f*ck do they actually get their hands on that? And remember how they said it was the card who chose the wielder? Yeah, I suppose the cards must have really low standards considering how such commoners can even use it. Or the cards must be desperate to have some owner because they get this kicks when their power is used. Why am I treating the cards like as though they are living things?! Well, are they not? Because, magic! Yeah.

And here is the other confusing thing that bugs me: If the cards were scattered like a few months ago, then how come we see in flashbacks of Finn and Wendy, they already have those cards?! Am I missing something? Unless you tell me that the royalty does not have all 52 cards in the first place when it got scattered. That’s the only plausible explanation but it would also be dumb seeing that the royalty didn’t go after them in those days. More card mystery because it is said that it couldn’t be destroyed. But Finn’s card is already damaged when we first see it in his possession in the first episode. So how much damage can it take and not be destroyed? Funny. I think my brain is melting here. Oh, if the card chooses Finn and he had it since young, so why didn’t its powers activate?! Did Finn not even accidentally activate its powers?! Oh God, I’m so confused I think I better leave all these questions for next season. Hopefully I’ll get my answers.

Anyway back to the story for this season. So as I’ve said they’re more like standalone fillers although not completely 100% so. This is both good and bad since for those who want to have a compelling plot, oh boy it feels like you’re going to be disappointed here. But because a second season is already announced, I will have to take this first season as just introductory. A big chunk of it is dedicated to flesh out Finn and Chris’ relationship and come to see how they become good buddies. With Chris’ worries out of the way, there is Finn’s past to flesh out next. Of course there is the Klondike family and from the way things are going, it is not over by a long shot as Ban is lying low and holding on to his cards rather than doing something extreme. I believe the attack on the palace was just some distraction that amounted to nothing burger. So whatever his true intentions are, we’ll probably have to wait and see next season. After all, there are 52 X-Playing Cards in total and I’m sure that gives them some leeway for some filler episodes for other cards to be in the hands of lesser and minor characters. Gotta catch ‘em all!

The characters are a mixed baggage. Obviously as I have pointed out, a big chunk goes to Finn and Chris and to cement their relationship so that when next season arrives, you bet they are going to trust each other more than the doctors trust their patients’ confidentiality! HAHAHA!!! Sighs. Anyway, both have their own problems because it’s not really a perfect world. We have seen Chris’ underlying issue and hence the reason he puts up this fake flirty mask that would probably charm a lot of girls (but squirm and cringe those who know better) as well as a glimpse into Finn’s actual tragedy. They get by thanks to the support of each other and the rest. Yes people, the message trying to tell us here is the importance of family. Doesn’t necessarily be blood related, doesn’t necessarily have to have this fixed place to call home, whoever you enjoy your company with, that is family. We’re all family. So is Ban like the black sheep? But sorry people, no bromance between Finn and Chris despite that seemingly 1 episode that makes them close enough to think they’re gay. I bet Chelsea is now settling down because she already found her soul mate. A cover up excuse to give her card back. Yeah, I saw through that!

The rest of High Card members aren’t so fleshed out. Especially Vijay who is playing more of a supporting role. He’s like the computer hacker whizz of the group but only he’s not into computing. Then there is Wendy and she could’ve been as boring and bland as Vijay had they not introduce us to her other crazy psychopath self. Yes, this is one dangerous woman you want to stay away from! Cutting meat is her favourite game, if you know what I mean! Then there is rich boy Leo who sounds like he is torn between being his own man and following the footsteps of his father. It’s like he can’t get out of Theodore’s shadows since he cannot disobey him whatsoever. Yeah, money can’t buy you everything, huh? Despite being a brat, he also has his caring points especially for his team. Bernard plays more of a mentor role while Theodore might look like a cold hearted conniving bastard but only that is because we don’t see the pressures he is facing. I surmise that he has to be putting up that emotionless poker face because of his job requirements. He is after all working under the direct service of his majesty. So he cannot afford to be swayed by his emotions or play favouritism even for his own son. All for the sake of Fourland!

Outside High Card, the other characters too are a mixed baggage. I’ll start with Sugar who is your typical wide eyed rookie police who dreams of pursuing her purest form of justice. Ah yes, I guess many characters will start out like that and many will fall through after going through bitter experiences in life. My guts tell me that Sugar will not fall for that trap and will continue to be passionate about her justice. But for now, she seems like a clueless headless chicken running around, trying to get to the bottom of all the epic magic power that she has seen. Scared sh*t? Sure. But there needs to be justice dispensed! Keep it up, you’ll need all that passion that you can get. While she is frustrated with the no action of her fellow policeman, Young’s indifferent actions may look more realistic. This veteran detective has been in the game so long so he knows what lines not to cross. It’s not that he doesn’t care. He is most likely waiting for the right time and being patient is probably his best virtue. That is why he might not show why he is worried about all those corruption in the shadows.

Then there is the rival company of Pinochle. I doubt that Norman is one of those dumb comical characters due to his flamboyant style. My guts say that obviously this is not the last we will see of this guy and who knows? Maybe they’ll team up next season to bring down the hammer of justice. As for Ban being the big mafiaso, he stresses the importance of his family being together but by the end of the series, looks like everybody or at least his high ranking family members are hinted to be dead! Yeah, only his mysterious right hand man (Tilt, was it his name again?) remains. So yeah, will he recruit and replace these family members? I might call him a hypocrite because he claims card holders should be free but then when his family members betray him (surely an act of doing what they want, right?), he kills them off to make an example of them. So basically, he’s just another one dimensional dictator, huh? Lastly, Lindsey. He is Finn’s pillar of strength and although he looks like a very good and caring man, there is this weird tingling feeling in my guts that he could be a big antagonist. Why? Because he could be that black knight! How else would he know about Finn’s past! Oh sh*t! I hope I am wrong about this! Hey, we saw how different Wendy’s persona is compared to Love-P, right?! Still waters run deep…

The action parts are good and entertaining. Well, when you have cards with special powers, obviously they need to make it bombastic and flashy because that’s how it is. So it might all seem like it is over the top exaggerated action and all the characters fighting can do so while still looking good! Yeah, minimal damage done to their suits but whatever. Must still look good in fighting! But the cards can only do so much because of their unique powers limited to certain cards so that’s why you have action scenes that are non-card related like car chases and gun fights. Not too shabby, I guess. It’ll be boring just to see Finn whip out his gun and shoot his targets and never miss, right? Oddly, I feel Love-P’s moves felt a bit out of place. Because of her wild slashing, it makes her moves look like as though her character came from some other shonen anime. Weird.

As for the art and animation, it is definitely high quality and it’s not too bad. After all, like I’ve said and the theme of the series, everything must look good! All your characters must have that bishonen and bishoujo look even old guys like Bernard, Ban and even weirdoes like Norman have this standard good looks to them. Nobody here is ugly! Even Sugar who looks so plain is still kawaii enough. Heh. So was Aya. In her heydays when she was slim, I thought she was some genie! No Shantae resemblance but it must be her hairstyle. Is it me or do I feel the different coloured suits of High Card members, they’re like the spy version of Power Rangers! I’ll be damned if they start doing some group pose with an explosion in the background to go with it! HAHAHA!!! On a side note, if the art style of the characters seem to slightly resemble a bit from Kakegurui, take note that one of the co-authors of this series is the creator of that high school gambling themed anime. Yeah, now I can see why poker cards are the main theme.

The background and sceneries aren’t too bad either with the setting being mostly European, especially English style setting. Obviously Kingsman is English, right? Oh well, I read otherwise as such setting was to appeal to international audiences. Come to think of it, it’ll be freaking weird to see Kingsman version with samurais and ninjas! Too Japan! Then there is the CGI. Not as bad as I think it would be but could’ve been better. Luckily as far as I noticed, they are only limited to cars and vehicles. This anime is done by Studio Hibari who did Yumeiro Patissiere, Kashimashi, Fight Ippatsu! Juuden-chan, Sumomomo Momomo, Happy Lesson and Happy Seven. Uhm, all old retro animes? Because newer ones like Ansatsu Kyoushitsu, Danganronpa, Youkoso Jitsuryoku Shijou Shugi No Kyoushitsu E, Kuzu No Honkai and Radiant were all done under their branch studio, Lerche.

For the voice acting, pretty standard. I recognized a few seiyuus like Daisuke Ono as Theodore, Yuichiro Umehara as Vijay, Rie Takahashi as Sugar, Shigeru Chiba as Lunchman, Jun Fukushima as Robert and Yuu Kobayashi as Nix. The other casts are Gen Sato as Finn (titular character in Jaku-Chara Tomozaki-kun), Toshiki Masuda as Chris (Kirishima in Boku No Hero Academia), Shun Horie as Leo (Kazuya in Kanojo Okarishimasu), Haruka Shiraishi as Wendy (Asirpa in Golden Kamuy), Kazuhiro Yamaji as Bernard (Bang in One Punch Man), Tomokazu Seki as Ban (Gilgamesh in Fate series), Toshiyuki Morikawa as Young (Enel in One Piece), Nobunaga Shimazaki as Owen (Shido in Date A Live), Yurika Kubo as Chelsea (Hanayo in Love Live), Toshihiko Seki as Norman (Kibutsuji in Kimetsu No Yaiba), Takako Honda as Aya (Hone Onna in Jigoku Shoujo), Eiji Hanawa as Lindsey (Niccolo in Shingeki No Kyojin), Yurie Kozakai as Michel (Pekola in Jashin-chan Dropkick) and Mutsumi Tamura as Nguyen (Sonya in Kill Me Baby).

The opening theme is Trickster by Five New Old. Sounds pretty generic as your modern day music if you ask me. I suppose its lively theme fits the pacing of the series but I just somehow can’t bring myself to like it anyhow. After all, I find the singer’s voice a bit flat. Like as though he doesn’t put much effort in it and it is the music that has a much more variety and rhythm overall. Faring a bit better (albeit just by a bit) is the ending theme, Squad by Meychan. An upbeat and bubbly piece, the amusing part in the ending credits animation is seeing the quintet members of High Card having fun doing some carpool karaoke! I’m not sure if I’m smiling because it’s cute or cringe. Or maybe it is both.

Overall, not bad for a first season and if you’re a fan of the Kingsman series, you might have a soft spot for this inspired anime version. Me, oh you know me, the explosive action got me hooked so I’m here mostly for that. It’s a good thing that this is having another season since it would be a shame for everything just to end like that. Because viewers like yours truly would have quickly deducted a lot more points for such inconclusive and unsatisfying cliff-hanger ending. Heh. With the first season giving off this promising feel, there will be even higher expectations when the next season rolls out. Only then we can see what cards they have in hand left to play. I wonder if getting a royal flush would destroy the entire world… Better play such card than the race card! Just saying!

Dungeon Ni Deai Wo Motomeru No Wa Machigatteiru Darou Ka IV

You bet the dungeon raiding is not over yet. And that is why we have Dungeon Ni Deai Wo Motomeru No Wa Machigatteiru Darou Ka IV. So I have to admit it whether I like it or not that this series is popular enough even in its source materials and have enough following for it to warrant a fourth season, an amazing feat seeing not many anime series could spawn such many sequels. From the way I see it, this isn’t going to be the last either. But I’ll take this series one season at a time. I wonder how many more chicks Bell will pick up in the dungeon. I mean, that’s why this series is named so, right?! Is it not?! Okay, okay…

Episode 1
From the events of last season, looks like Bell has levelled up. We’re so proud. Now that Hestia Familia is strong enough, they are now given an official mission. Hestia suggests getting extra help from other Familia. Mikoto goes to talk to Takemikazuchi and he agrees to let Ouka and Chigusa join her. Lily on the other hand sees Miach and only Daphne and Cassandra will join in. And somehow Aisha got wind of this and invites herself to join. Is there a good reason to turn her down? Takemikazuchi trains Mikoto and Chigusa to level up their techniques and tactics while Ouka goes to see Welf to have him make a weapon. And they troll us to think Aisha is going to give us some sexy screen time with Haruhime but too bad, it’s going to be a special drill and not a special thrill to make this weakest link in the group to learn a new magic. Yeah, Aisha knows a shortcut. I hope sex isn’t what she meant… Meanwhile Bell sees Eina for more info on this Great Falls that his group will have to go through. Well, looks like the fall we have now is Eina realizing she is falling head over heels for him. We know! Hestia along with Takemikazuchi, Miach and Hephaistos drink to celebrate their friendship and this ongoing expedition. Remember, they can’t follow their Familia into the dungeon. Next day as everyone prepares to head off, Cassandra and Daphne are running late because the former has change of mind. Because she has this dream of green moss swallowing people up, she doesn’t want to go anymore and hopes Bell could cancel or postpone this expedition. Sorry, no can do. And that’s that. Welf gives Bell one of his best works. This short dagger is made from a unicorn’s horn and is very light. The party heads off into the dungeon and to remind us how they all kick ass, we see them annihilating waves of killer wasps. Of course Bell bags the biggest prize as his fire bolts the main nest. Don’t mess with this level 4! Uhm, should he change his nickname from Little Rookie?

Episode 2
Well, why is Bell vandalising the dungeon? If there is damage to the terrain, the dungeon will spend time repairing it and won’t send monsters. Gee, you think that little scratch will do the job? Everyone praises Bell and this worries Lily since it feels like she is drawing further away from him. But please do your supporter job. So basically the first half sees the gang camping and talking about stuffs. Boring. Then they arrive at the Great Falls. Watch your step or you’ll be swept away and pulled down by the current. Not to mention monsters dwelling in it. Lily reviews their mission and the items they need to retrieve. Lily also has everyone reminded that despite she already has provided the necessary gear for protection, many went on to buy extra stuffs. This means this is an expensive expedition so you better work your ass off to cover the costs! Then there is some rare corals that Welf wants to make great weapons. Lily objects to it until Aisha notes they could sell it for a fortune. Get those corals! See those money eyes light up when Bell gets them. As the gang continue their journey, they see a very injured adventurer coming their way. Bell recognizes him as Luvis. He seeks for help but too late, there’s this weird green monster attacking them. Bell quickly engages it. Has Bell finally found his match? Because this monster can read moves and is equally fast and deadly. Thanks to Luvis’ warning, everyone takes cover as the monster starts shooting projectiles. Don’t get hit. Oh dear, one hit Chigusa. The monster then retreats. Nightmare is not over because green moss start to grow out of Chigusa and Luvis. This is the nightmare Cassandra saw in her dream.

Episode 3
The monster is seen killing other monsters to eat their crystals. Then it returns to where Luvis’ party is hiding and attacks them. It seems trying to heal or cut off the vines only worsens the host. Bell has everyone come up with ideas since he is no good in such situations. As they discuss about the monster, the options for them is to retreat back up to get them healed by a capable healer or they take down the monster and by doing so, the parasitic effect will be gone. The answer is obvious. Because Luvis mentions about his party members being stuck here and he needs to save them. He was acting as a decoy to escape. You see, the monster will target them as they have magic stones. It devoured them right before their eyes when they were first attacked. Then it grew stronger and faster. As they make way to where Luvis’ party is, they see a trail of blood that leads to them. Obviously it is a trap. Lily lays out the strategy to save them as well as to deal with the monster when it attacks. As they begin, the monster comes out of hiding to attack. Bell is fast enough to engage it. When Bell burns it with his fireball, the monster then drags him down into the rapids with him. However the monster soon lets him go and lets him fall off the waterfall! Lily becomes distraught to go save Bell but Aisha stomps her authority to tell no one will go save him. The fact is that Bell is much stronger than all of them so he will be able to fend for himself. They should be worrying about themselves. Believe in him. Once Lily regains her composure, her plan is to retreat to the entrance of this level. They will make their temporary base there as Aisha alone proceeds back to the surface to request for help. She is also anticipating the monster will attack them and that is why she will have Mikoto use her gravity spell to destroy the only path and send it plunging below. As they make their way back, they stumble into another group of adventurers. Looks like Dormal and his pals too have gotten hit by the vines. With all those believing, that’s right, Bell is still alive. He needs to get back to his friends but is attacked by fast attacking birds. He fights his way through and once all the threats are cleared, a mermaid claps at this spectacle.

Episode 4
Marie the mermaid can talk. He asks if she is a Xenos and perhaps so because it seems she knows about Rei and Lyd. Noticing his injuries, Marie forces Bell to suck on her blood of her finger. Yeah, it heals. Looks so pervy if this was without context. Bell then asks about the other Xenos but apparently Marie cannot move as fast as them so she is stuck on this floor while the rest have gone elsewhere. Bell needs to get back to his friends but Marie wants him to stay. This floor is safe and she has seen the green monster fight his friends. She is scared. He will die. Of course Bell assures her he won’t and that is enough for Marie to become his guide. She guides him through the caves and waterways. If there is no water? Bell just carries her! Yeah, Marie having so much fun. Meanwhile at our other party, they realize sh*t just hit the fan as they are cornered by monsters from all sides. No prize to guess it’s that green moss controlling them to attack. With not enough attacking power, they make a run for it. Of course they kill those who get too close but at this rate they may just run out of steam and weapons. Aisha knows Haruhime’s secret power can save them all but it is too early to use their trump card against these small fries. Do you believe it now that this group can still survive without depending on Bell? So as they run and fight their way through, eventually the monster horde becomes too much overwhelming. The party is definitely not prepared for this. Cue for Aisha to use their secret weapon so she forces the outsiders to swear to never speak of what they’ll witness. After everyone gathers defensively around Haruhime, it’s show time.

Episode 5
Flashback shows Haruhime forcing Aisha to read up on this book to learn whatever spell there is. Because it will be the thing that will save her comrades’ life. And now we see the fruits of her labour as she conjures up… Uhm… 5 fox tails? Apparently this is supposed to boost up 5 people similarly. Yes. This is their trump card. So after a flashy light show, she boosts Welf, Aisha, Ouka, Mikoto and Daphne. Now they’re fighting machines! Though, Haruhime is now unconscious. Once the monsters are destroyed, Aisha then realizes they have fallen for that green moss’ trap. Yes, it is eating up all the crystals from the monsters they killed. Yeah, even giving them that smirk! It’s evolution time as it transforms into a more hideous mother. An even deadlier. Aisha fights it but she too gets vined. With the boosting effect running out, our heroes once again find themselves in a pinch as more monsters show up. Time for Luvis and Dormal to get into the action. Their plan is to be the decoy and let as many Hestia Familia members escape. Lily is distraught with this but soon makes her decision. She will not let anybody die and will stay and fight. Heads up from Haruhime because their perseverance has been rewarded. She hears Bell coming. It’s about time! The right time for everybody to leave the stage and for our main hero to make his entrance. Bell fights on par with the big bad mother. No, actually his skills are way better than it. So much so Bell can tell this monster is way weaker. At least nowhere close to that minotaur he fought. He wants to fight that beast again so he can’t lose here. Bell needs to kill it with a single strike since the monster can regenerate fast. Hence he concentrates fire on his dagger. Monster gets scared and tries to run away but Welf ices up the place. No chickening out now. Borrowing Hestia’s other name, Bell calls it Argo Vesta and burns up the monster, leaving no ashes behind. Awesome! Monster dead. Parasite vines gone. Everybody alive and is happy to reunite with the one and only dependable guy. Yeah, still can’t afford not to not have him.

Episode 6
Everyone is now resting at the safe zone. Meanwhile the gods have gathered for an event. Hestia wouldn’t have attended if it’s not because of something of importance. You see, this is where the gods give a new nickname to adventurers and hell, Hestia is here to make sure Bell won’t get a bad or funny one. So when it is Bell’s turn to get his new nickname, Freya has a suggestion: Vanadis Odr which means Freya’s husband! No way in hell Hestia gonna accept that! Soon, other gods start giving their own funny names. A tiring day but nevertheless Bell’s new nickname is pretty decent: Rabbit’s Foot. Bell visits Luvis and Dormal. Both thank him and will forever be in his debt. Lily hopes to spend some time with Bell but looks like fate won’t let that be. So as Lily tails Bell, first she sees him talk to Ouka and Chigusa about working as a party because that’s the only way to cover their weaknesses. Suddenly Daphne and Cassandra whisk him away. It’s just to use Bell as a coupon to get some huge discount from a trader that they are buying stuffs from. Then Mikoto and Haruhime invite him for tea as they ask him what happened after he fell into the Great Falls. A devastating moment for Lily as she wanted to ask him that. Right after that, drunk Welf and Aisha whisk him away to a bar to party. Lily then hears the news of the gods bestowing Bell a new nickname. At the bar, she is waiting for a chance to tell Bell this but too bad those drunk guys already know and let it slip. Yeah, Lily paid good money for nothing! I guess Lily has had it so she throws a smokescreen and takes Bell to run. Good move. He could’ve lost his virginity to Aisha! Finally Lily has her moment with Bell. But she’s hardly excited since everybody beat her to what she wanted to do. However she is also glad that this way, it proves Bell is still the same. Only maybe now he might be a womanizer. Bell tries to find out that inspirational speech she said to motivate the rest to fight then. Not telling. A secret. Next day, the town is in commotion. A trader named Jean has been murdered in the outskirts. Can’t be a monster because a witness, Turk clearly saw Ryuu killed him! So this explains why she has been missing from her pub work for several days?

Episode 7
Everyone is examining the body and Turk suggests a witch hunt. Initially Bors disagrees since he doesn’t want to lose his life fighting a skilled warrior. But after hearing the hefty bounty on Ryuu’s head, let’s form a hunting party! Bell tries to vouch that this may not be Ryuu but with Turk being stubborn, Aisha takes Bell away before he makes it sounds like he is Ryuu’s accomplice. So Bell and co discuss on what to do. Daphne has examined the cuts on the body and believes only Ryuu is capable of such precise fatal wounds. Or at least somebody as good as her but trying to pin the blame on her. But they all feel fishy about Turk because it is like as though he is trying to whip a frenzy to convince everyone Ryuu is the killer. Lily suggests joining the hunt. Of course this makes it easier for them to move and get info. All they need to do is get Ryuu before the rest. With everyone agreeing on this, Cassandra doesn’t have a good feeling about it. Could it be her horrifying visions she dreamt last night? Well, let’s say she saw everyone except Bell got killed. She tries to stop them without telling about the dream. Daphne thinks she should stay back but Cassandra changes her mind seeing doing so would leave everyone to their fates. Hestia soon receives a letter from Lily about this murder case and needs her help. Cassandra continues to decipher the cryptic words of her dream. After a fight with some mammoth horde, a great tremor is felt. It is traced to the bottom of Great Falls and many believe this could be Ryuu. Well, this is where the tragedy starts so Cassandra tries to convince her teammates not to go. Good thing they agree since they don’t have experience at the lower flowers and will be a hindrance to the rest who could move faster. When Bell and Aisha are suggested to be the only ones to go, Cassandra cooks up a lie for Aisha to stay so as to look after Haruhime. Well, last time Cassandra carried her, she was heavy! Oh my! And so Bell goes alone, holding his high faith in Ryuu.

Episode 8
Bell blazes through the monster and traps like a pro despite his first time down these levels. Yeah, Bors thinking of pushing some responsibilities to him but still share the same amount of loot. As the party continues, Bell hears Marie’s singing and goes off on his own to follow that voice. Meanwhile Bell’s comrades aren’t just sitting and waiting for nothing. Bell gave them a job to stay put is so that they could watch Turk and see if he makes any suspicious moves. Soon, Turk argues with some adventurers because he wants to head down and hunt Ryuu. Some disagree and stay behind while those who believe in Turk, follow him. Of course this means Lily and co will also follow Turk. Hey, the more the merrier to take down Ryuu, right? As Bell meets Marie, she seems scared. Something scary down here that doesn’t belong here. He wonders if she is referring to Ryuu as he describes her. Marie lets him follow until Bell sees for himself this shocking truth. Oh dear, Ryuu killing off a guy and taking his loot! She is not impressed with him here and tells him to stay out. He is also better off not knowing. Oh Bell, you mean to stand there in shock and let her get away? Is your faith in Ryuu wavering? Bell prefers to take this corpse back and abandon Marie. Baka Bell… He reunites with Bors’ party and is shocked to see many other dead bodies too. Even the terrain is decimated. Ryuu did this? Fortunately, there is a survivor who can relay what happened. Jura Halmar is traumatized as he explains how Ryuu did some flashy stuffs. Bors recognizes Jura as a wanted man who was once part of Evilus. Jura admits that but ever since he has been living an honest life. Could it be Ryuu is out to kill the remnants and all those connected to it? Speaking of the devil, here she comes to finish off Jura. All the adventurers can’t do jack sh*t as she easily owns them. All that’s left is Bell and the only one who can save Jura’s life. Ryuu tells him to get out of the way or she’ll cut him down too. Oh Bell, are you still trying to be calm and go for conversation? Knowing Bell, I bet he is…

Episode 9
Bell asks if she killed Jean. She claims she has killed no one. Just like that, Bell is relieved and believes in her. Confronting Jura, he notices his wounds are old ones and a very combustible blaze rock he dropped. This is when Jura stops his act and reveals his true nature. Yup, he is still the big baddie alright. He is going to kill them as he summons a huge snake monster named Lambton. We also see that Turk is his comrade and he too summons Lambton to get rid of Lily’s group. They have to run and ditch their mission to follow Turk. Don’t want to die, right? As Bell and Ryuu fight Lambton, he wonders if Jura is a high level beast tamer since he could control a deep level monster that could easily burrow through various levels. Ryuu’s memories says he is not so Jura reveals this magic item those guys from Knossos made for him that could easily control any monsters. Ryuu has fought such before and knows how to defeat this one after observing its movements. Destroying the magic item controlling it would only make it go berserk further in its natural state so they have to use this method. In the meantime, we need to turn Jura into a more despicable character as he reveals all his setup. Knowing Ryuu was persisting on his tail, he used Turk to deal with her. This includes killing Jean who is their own guy for the distraction. In fact those other dead adventurers were their own men. The blaze rock was used to make it look like Ryuu was such a brutal killer. After this big reveal, Ryuu and Bell can now destroy Lambton. The same victory for Lily’s group as they cooperate their tactics and powers to destroy the snake. However Cassandra still feels uneasy. This victory feels too easy to be anything close to that disaster she dreamt. Well, she’s right. Jura admits he was just a distraction. Because Turk and his guys have now set those blaze rocks all over the place. Boom! Jura can think nothing but revenge on Ryuu and has researched and planned this for 5 long years. Now it’s the time to see that despair on her face! She really wants to kill him but Bell isn’t going to let her taint her hands. With a strange sound echoing throughout the place, Ryuu now falls into despair as she is reminded of that tragedy that will happen again.

Episode 10
Ouranos can even feel it has awakened and the tragedy will happen again. Can anybody please stop being so vague and just show us what it is?! Oh, here’s a preview. A group of unlucky adventurers get sliced in half!!! OMFG!!! You can’t outrun this thing! Worse, their screams resonate throughout the caves and it must be damn eerie to hear them die like that. Jura continues to explain that when his Familia was fighting against hers, he set a trap to get rid of them once and for all. This included setting up the entire place with blaze rocks and blowing it up. But still, Astrea Familia will not die. But this led to the appearance of that monster that begin the massacre tragedy. Ouranos nicely explains to us that the dungeon has the capability of restoring itself back when it receives too much damage. But when that damage exceeds what it can repair, a self-preservation instinct is triggered to prioritize eliminating whoever is causing that damage. There are no records of this because Ouranos doesn’t want the public to panic and hence it was all covered. He only told Xenos in exchange for their help to prevent such a thing from happening again. Well, looks like not this time. Jura has spent the last 5 years researching this monster and learnt a hell lot. His goal is to tame it even if it means causing another tragedy. Yeah, he thinks his magic item will do the trick now. Jura adds Ryuu should know how horrifying this monster is because she fought it first-hand. She sacrificed her comrades just to desperately keep herself alive. Ryuu is at breaking point telling him to STFU. Must be true then. Well, the tragedy has arrived as Bors’ group after many getting sliced in half, impaled or thrown so hard all their bones broke, don’t you dare underestimate this scrawny monster AKA Juggernaut. See the adventurers dying one by one like ants. Now time for Bell to step up to the game. He fights Juggernaut and it is unlike any floor boss he has fought. Despite its lack of armour, it is damn fast and agile. Bell does his fireball but it backfires since it has some barrier. True tragedy begins as Juggernaut slices off Bell’s arm! And then one big whack to break his bones. Bell lying there motionless. Everybody stares in disbelief. Awkward silence. BELL IS DEAD????!!!!!

Episode 11
Don’t worry. Bell is still alive. Thank the scarf in playing that plot convenience, I mean pivotal role. So as Ryuu does a bit of healing, other adventurers get killed from left to right. Bors and the survivors try to blast it but it reflects and burns them all. How the f*ck is Bors the only one still alive? Cue for Bell’s body to be blown into the river from the impact. But hell, Ryuu has to get back fighting Juggernaut. And this guy is still standing there and watching instead of running away?! See, Ryuu gets gravely injured. Meanwhile Marie saves Bell by using her mermaid blood to attach back his arm and heal his wounds. Son of a gun, it actually works because now Bell is resurrected as he returns to the surface. Just in time because Ryuu is about to get killed. Round 2, fight! Bell tries to fight close quarter combat. He manages to stab it but realizes it has no core. Then he uses his fire bolt and you’d think he is stupid enough to do the same mistake. Turns out he lets his dagger absorb the flames and then hit it right back at Juggernaut. Should be the killer move, right? Well, Juggernaut is still standing. Jura uses this chance to put his magic item to enslave Juggernaut. Now it’s his. Go kill those f*ckers! Too bad Juggernaut doesn’t listen and slices Jura in half! So much about taming. Because a Lambton heard Jura’s order, it attacks Ryuu. Bell rushes to save her but they get devoured. Juggernaut doesn’t want to lose its prey so it also follows down to the lower levels. Meanwhile at Lily’s side, a huge earthquake rocks the place. Say hi to Amphisbaena again. Yes Cassandra, the nightmare isn’t over yet. Bell and Ryuu are still alive as he cuts open a hole in the dead Lambton’s stomach. Where are we? Judging from the different wall colours, this is definitely one of the lower levels. White Palace they call it, huh? What was Eina saying about this scary place again?

Episode 12
Lily and co try to get to the exit but Amphisbaena cuts of all their exits. Now they’re trapped in like a cage. Is this the dream Cassandra has been lamenting about? Meanwhile we see how Bell is doing. Injured left and right. Ryuu too. Feeling very afraid. Need to get out of here. Oh wait. Here comes Juggernaut!!! Aisha realizes the group’s morale is low. If only Bell was here. Yeah, since when you started relying on him? Thankfully Welf putting it as they don’t want to end up having a reputation that they always rely on Bell. They need Bell to be proud of them sometimes. Hence everybody goes to take on this double headed sea dragon. All the fighters are doing their stuffs to take it down but Amphisbaena has got a few tricky moves that keep them at bay. Before Lily goes into despair about her own uselessness, she soon takes control of the situation by analysing what’s going on before commanding what her comrades are supposed to do. This is what a commander should be doing, right? Eventually Mikoto’s powerful move has the roof cave in on Amphisbaena and trapping it. Now everyone can go in for the kill. Cassandra continues to be useless (even Haruhime proves herself by boosting stats of others) and regretting about her vision until Daphne has to smack her out of it and do her healing job. Sure, everybody is scared and in despair. But can’t give up until the end, right? Took her a while but Cassandra is back in the healing business.

Episode 13
Suddenly Bell gets the strength to run like hell! Oh, but his fire bolts did the trick to cave in the ceiling on Juggernaut. Wow. It’s over? Lucky. I guess Bell and Ryuu need to talk. The latter wants him to leave her behind since she will only slow him down. Don’t look know but there’s this skull sheep monster attacking him. Bell uses up a lot of strength and takes a lot of damage before taking it out. That is even considered lucky. Ryuu continues to assert to leave her behind but Bell screams he won’t because since she has been down here before, she is useful to get out. And just like that she is willing to live longer. Meanwhile Luvis and Dormal learnt from escaped adventurers that Hestia Familia is stranded and it’s hell down there. This is also heard by Tsubaki Collbrande, the captain of Hephaistos Familia and she wants to know the details. Whatever the case, she and her crazy babes are going straight down there to check things out. Ryuu mentions they need to get into a small room to rest. Just when they think they spot other adventurers nearby, too bad it’s just their bones. Worse, more skull sheep attack. Bell getting desperate as he fires his fire bolts. Once again the same trick of caving in the ceiling made them flee. Convenient move? At this point Bell is broken like hell and he thinks they’re going to die. Ryuu’s turn to slap some senses into him and say they’ll take 5 minute intervals to rest and keep guard. We return to Lily’s side still fighting Amphisbaena. The monster makes a daring move by swimming up the waterfall and then jump back down to cause a tidal wave and have them lose their footing. Then they realize Mikoto is not around. Yeah, she got hit by an ice slab and is sinking. Monster fish eating her too. Amphisbaena fires up and because Cassandra spacing out over this prolonged despair, Haruhime pushes her away and gets burnt. Casualties piling up now! Does this fire you up to f*cking kill that floor boss?!

Episode 14
Ryuu has to fight a few pesky sheep and even in her injured form, she can still fight. What choice does she have? Thankfully, Bell wakes up in time to defeat the last of them. Change shift. Now it’s Bell’s turn to watch while Ryuu rests. She needs all the rest she can get as she dreams about her time in Astrea Familia and her captain, Alise Lovell. Now we return to Lily’s side fighting a seemingly losing battle. Just when you thought they are done for because everything they pull off seem useless, then it is cue to pull off a miracle. Yes, Mikoto is still alive as she chants something to pull off some great attack. Similarly, Haruhime didn’t get burnt alive as she blesses Aisha with power. Together with Ouka they strike down the monster boss. Finally. So as everyone is going to take a breather after a hard fought battle, the cage is starting to crumble. They see Turk and his men trying to flee and think of following them. However there is debate whether they should escape this place or go save Bell. Cassandra tries to talk about her prophecy which may save their lives but Daphne has had enough of her BS. She doesn’t believe in all those crap. Heart breaking? Daphne then changes her mind and leads everyone to where Cassandra wants. Daphne clears the air she doesn’t believe in her visions but rather in Cassandra. Now is not the time to cry. Thanks to this, they manage to get to safety as the cage completely crumbles while they watch Turk and his men fall to their deaths. Daphne thanks Cassandra’s decision that saved their lives. Since it has come to this, they are going to rescue Bell.

Episode 15
A short dream AKA flashback from Ryuu as she dreams right before the tragedy that hit Astrea Familia. Alise had info about Rudra Familia that Jura at a certain floor in the dungeon and their plan was to swoop in and take them out. Looking back in hindsight, it was indeed a trap set by Jura. Back to Lily’s side, her party is fighting more monsters in their bid to look for Bell. Sure, they might not be tough, but they can’t waste time in fighting endless waves. At this rate they might run out of energy. To their surprise, monsters from lower floors start to appear. They fight them all off and surprisingly find Bors. Did he bring them with him when he ran away? The gang is shocked to hear all the adventurers got killed and Bors as the lone survivor. Even more devastating Bors says Bell is dead. Lily losing her sh*t and can’t accept this. Bors explains what he saw with his eyes how Bell got killed by Juggernaut. So does this mean this rescue mission is for naught? As they rest in a dead end, with the party’s morale low, Aisha wants Bors to explain in detail what he really saw. Because he didn’t see Bell’s corpse and the last he saw was Ryuu trying to heal Bell, this small flimsy hope is the excuse they need to have faith that Bell is still alive and proceed with this rescue mission. Bors doesn’t want to go back down there so Aisha tells him off to show some gratitude to those who saved his ass. As they rest, Welf realizes their chances of fighting their way out is slim. If only he could make more magic weapons. Remembering Hephaistos’ words, Welf throws away his pride and wants everyone to put their lives in his hands. He is going to forge some magic weapons here. As long as he has a hammer, hearth and some materials, he can do it. Some are sceptical but since Welf is confident he can, everyone agrees to protect him as he forges since he will be in a vulnerable state. Okay. Let’s get us some magic weapons.

Episode 16
Alise initiating a debate with her Familia on what justice is. After the many arguments, she gives her ‘wisdom’ that instead of trying to find the right answer, they’ll focus on weeding out fake justice and hence justice is something they hide. As Welf begins his forging, the rest become a shield to protect him from advancing monsters. Oh boy, did Welf hit a brick wall because this adamantite ore is really hard to forge… Back to Bell and Ryuu, they are discussing the probably options they have and the other floors. Ryuu suggests stripping the corpse of the dead adventurers of their items if they need to traverse the floors. WTF Bell trying to be some holy kid thinking it is desecration?! You want to live or not?! Of course he soon comes to that realization because they’re still alive and need to get back out that way. Ryuu finds a map (although incomplete as the area is very large) in one of them and it will prove to be a great help to get them to the connecting tunnels. There are also personal messages from the dead so they’re bent on taking this back to the surface too. Meanwhile status report on Welf… Uhm, the ore still not taking shape. He starts to lose focus and wonders if this was the right choice. Then his inner versions question him what he is doing this for. For his friends. Uhm, isn’t that what he was doing all along or did I miss something? And just like that Welf powers up to create the mother of all magic blades. Just in time to test it because the monsters just break through the defence. With Cassandra’s help to amplify magic, Welf easily burns all the monsters. It’s about time. Time to get back in rescuing Bell.

Episode 17
Another snippet showing Ryuu getting into an argument with Kaguya about their version of justice. She got upset when Kaguya told her off she might be the strongest but mentally and emotionally the weakest in the group. Heed her advice, there will be a time when she must make a decision to save someone and that she cannot save everybody. Ryuu and Bell continue to fight more monsters. Bell getting demotivated since he feels useless after Ryuu points out his inefficient way of fighting. Of course she gives him some encouragement he can do it. Then she gives him drink a potion that will take away his pain. Uhm, looks mouldy… She thinks it’s a bit old but still effective. She thinks! Down the hatch. Tastes horrible but it works. Now Bell is super motivated to get through this. As Lily’s group continues their expedition, they arrive at a place where there are lots of dead adventurer bodies. They move on and Aisha thought she heard a voice from Marie warning them not to proceed. Must be her imagination. Finally arriving at the spot where Bors last seen Bell, he is baffled that all the corpses are missing. They examine a place and find a huge hole. It could be that Bell is now in deeper floors. Worse timing, eel monsters surround the place. Some spit out accessories and hence solving the mystery of the missing bodies. I guess dinner wasn’t enough. At this rate, they are going to tire themselves. It couldn’t get any worse as more monsters rush in. But wait, they’re fighting the eels? Then Lily recognizes them. They’re Xenos! About time they show up to help Bell’s party in trouble as promised. Ryuu gives Bell drink another of those effective but yucky potions. She is supposed to drink half herself but after noting the indirect kiss, she puts it away. Is Bell aghast because she won’t share the ‘pain’? Anyway, they continue their journey as Ryuu talks about certain monsters he must be wary about. When they reach a certain area with different texture, Ryuu recognizes this is one of the inner circles. Now that they know where they are, they can plan where they’re heading next. While Bell is now buoyed with hope, however Ryuu is more sceptical. She thinks the dungeon won’t let them both out alive. She wonders how much she can grow Bell before she dies or sacrifices herself.

Episode 18
As Ryuu was still upset about Kaguya’s thinking on sacrifice, Alise came to offer her piece of advice about ideals and the meaning of being a hero. Haruhime and Wiene emotionally reunite. Can we cut this for later because a bloody battle is still raging on. Tsubaki’s group have arrived and now more slaughtering can happen. Marie then calls out to Lyd. She tells him how she saw Bell fell to deeper flaws and a monster is chasing him. Lyd then signals his Xenos as they all charge out to go save Bell. This leaves the rest to clean up the remaining monsters. Lily then learns what the Xenos are doing and since they can carve a path if they so wish to go save Bell, Lily tells her group and the rest that they’re going to the lower floors. It doesn’t matter the odds because it’s something they have to do. That’s right, Bors. You’re coming along on this crazy adventure. Now we see Bell kicking monsters’ ass. Ryuu believes the pressure may have pushed him to new heights. As they rest, Ryuu reveals that Fels told her about Juggernaut. Ryuu thinks she is from the guild and hence they might know about its existence. As condition for such info, Ryuu cannot reveal it to others and she will be left alone. Speaking of Juggernaut, it’s attacking and devouring other monsters. My, bloodthirsty aren’t we? Ryuu and Bell are surrounded by more monsters but call it luck whatever, those damn poisonous Peluda monsters shoot their poison quills to take out some of them before Bell burns them. However a quill hits Bell’s arm. In pain, he then uses Welf’s unicorn’s horn dagger to absorb and remove all the poison! Resting again, Ryuu thinks why the adventurers backtracked instead of moving forward in the map. Did they stumble upon something that they retreated? As they continue their journey, now they enter a place where Ryuu recognizes as the Colosseum.

Episode 19
Still not happy with this ideal vs reality debate, now it’s Layla’s turn to offer her advice to Ryuu about the importance of info. Turn knowledge into wisdom and it might help save someone’s life. Now we return to the Colosseum as Ryuu explains how this place infinitely spawns monsters. When one dies, another pops up in its place to fight. So yeah, they’re not going to fight all that but have to get across if they want to get to the next floor. In order to do that, they need to camouflage. Using the hide of a skull sheep and dousing themselves with the heart of a Barbarian to cover their scent, they sneak quietly across the bridge filled with Peluda into the Colosseum. They witness the monsters fighting each other perpetually to the death. But that would be too boring if nothing happens so they get caught and with their cover blown, the monsters now turn their attention to fight the invaders. As they fight their way through, Ryuu finally does her sacrificial move. She blasts Bell across the bridge and then destroys it. She wants him to escape himself, believing he can do it now that she will no longer be a burden. She goes back to fight the monsters and resigns to her fate, hoping that she will finally be judged by Alise. But as we all know, Bell is not one who is going to leave anybody behind. So he takes the roundabout route to return to blast those monsters away in bold attempt to rescue her. Wow, his fire bolt is sparkling white?! Boom! Huge explosion! I wonder if this is enough to destroy the entire Colosseum.

Episode 20
Time to see what happened to Astrea Familia. They survived a devastating blaze rock bombing by Rudra Familia and of course Jura is not happy he took a long time to plan this and yet none of those b*tches got scathed. But that is where Juggernaut pops up and starts killing one by one the Astrea Familia. How do you like your girls being eaten, shredded and torn apart?! Eventually the last ones standing are Alise, Kaguya and Layla. Ryuu too but she is in shock. Alise needs Ryuu to survive since her magic is the only thing that can destroy this monster. Hopefully, her ideals will come true one day. And so Ryuu watch helplessly as her last comrades die while she chants her magic at Juggernaut. But it was all for naught as it escapes. Uhm, so it didn’t return to kill Ryuu? Well, a regretful Ryuu escapes to the surface. Enough time to heal and then return to pay tribute to the fallen but alas, their bodies have been eaten by monsters. Helpless and lost, now she exists to get revenge. This is not justice. Just plain hatred. Her first step is to leave Astrea Familia and on pretence to leave Orario. Astrea agreed and excommunicated her although she remained her blessing with her. Ryuu’s bloodbath begins as she hunts down all those connected to Evilus. None were shown any mercy. Until she found Jura. In a blind she thought she killed him but only much later she found out he lived. Back to being depressed and lost, she can’t believe she has survived despite trying to find a place to die. Is this her punishment? At that time Syr helped her get back on her feet. Back in present time, Bell and Ryuu survive and it seems there is a path beneath the Colosseum. Ryuu wants an explanation why he didn’t let her die. Because he would do the same in her shoes. Despite her pleas to let this guilty criminal die and no amount of justice would she deserve to live, Bell thinks otherwise because she also has saved so many lives. He continues to believe in her because that justice in her still lives on. A stray Barbarian knocks out Bell. Ryuu’s trauma could have activated again had not Bell get up and kill it. Phew. Almost had her there. Then they see a water source as they recuperate and heal up.

Episode 21
Ryuu still wants to know why Bell did what he did to save her. Because he doesn’t want to let anyone die. Wow Ryuu, and you think he had some calculative ulterior motive. I thought you knew him?! At least he is not that kind of sleazebag. Anyway this has her revealing the truth about Astrea Familia’s fate. Bell’s answer is that obviously her Familia wants her to live or their deaths would be in vain. Now to troll us with some sort of fanservice because in order to warm up more efficiently, they have to hug each other and do body contact. Can we all hold out our dirty thought?! Sorry, I already failed… So the duo huddle close together. Looking like the lovebirds they are, huh? Well, cherish this special moment. I bet it’ll be their secret… Once done, they continue their journey. They thought they hit a dead end but noticing a different rock structure, Bell easily destroys it and now they find themselves back on the proper dungeon floor. Noticing this is one of the inner circles, Ryuu realizes they can get out of this level. Just one more step. They also feel weird because despite sensing monsters, there are none around. They’ll soon learn why. Because look who’s back? Juggernaut has been waiting for them here! Worse, it is now a chimera, replacing destroyed body parts with other monsters it has eaten. Don’t be too happy its movements are slow because now it has new abilities like shooting spikes! Bell pushes Ryuu out of the way and gets a near fatal damage. Ryuu manages to drag him into a small crevice as Juggernaut desperately tries to get them. Oh look. Who’s hiding here? The other monsters! Looks funny but it’s not! This is truly between a rock and a hard place! Luckily Ryuu uses them as bait as Juggernaut’s spikes impale them. Then they play dead and Juggernaut thinks so and leaves. The duo are so relieved that they are close to home as Ryuu requests another hug from Bell before sleeping like a baby. Bell is now determined to get them out even if his body is screaming in pain all over. That’s good because it means he is alive. Hope he doesn’t turn into a masochist!

Episode 22
Time to settle things and not run away. Because Bell returns to finish off Juggernaut. Meanwhile Ryuu dreams of her dead comrades. She thinks of going with them but Alise tells her not to or she’ll regret it. She says her justice is screaming to help save Bell. It proves her justice is alive and well. It has always been like her to stick to her guns to do the right thing because that is her justice. A tearful Ryuu had always wanted to apologize and expected them to admonish her for being useless. But she realizes they wouldn’t blame her and it was herself who couldn’t forgive. This punishment was just to ease the pain in her heart. Since she wants to return with Bell, off she goes. Goodbye. Now we see Bell and Ryuu fighting together to bring this monster down. Even more unbelievable Ryuu summoning her dead friends for help?! WTF???!!! Even if she admits this is pure fantasy garbage! Hell yeah, whatever!!! Just kill this motherf*cker!!! Ryuu deals the fatal blow and now we can all rest. The Xenos pals find them, let them conveniently drink Marie’s blood to heal up before leaving so that Lily’s group can get all emotional with this miracle reunion. Ryuu wakes up in hospital on the surface. So worried about Bell, she rushes to see him in this flimsy hospital gown. He’s fine. Oops! Nip slip! WTF Hestia and Lily slap him???!!! I’ll be damned if the guy who fought against Juggernaut died via women’s slap!!! Lily and co thank Ryuu from their heart although she thanks Bell for saving her. Eventually everybody gets credited because their small role is what got them through. They also relay the news that Ryuu’s other persona is officially dead. I’m guessing this will allow her to start on a clean slate. Thank Bors for giving that second rate emotional acting to the guild as he tells them how Ryuu sacrificed her life to take down Rudra Familia behind this. Though, they won’t be giving him any bounty reward! Once Bell and Ryuu are discharged, they meet up. Lovely dress there, Ryuu. She notes when Astrea told her to give up on justice to seek revenge, she thought she was excommunicated. In actual fact, it was to save her who would’ve fallen apart had she not sought that path. But it is thanks to Bell that she arose back on her feet. He told her she still had justice inside. Bell is glad she is smiling from the heart and looks pretty. Uhm, real smooth there. See, now you made her run away and confused. Yeah, the elf who fought Juggernaut getting the most critical damage in her heart here! Bell oh Bell…

Surviving Dungeon Disaster
Always believe in hope! Never give up! Ah yes, those classic tropes will always be the ones that saves the day if you don’t play the friendship card. Oh wait, there’s a bit of that too. But anyway, a nice little happy ending for everybody. At least for our characters concerned as they made it out alive literally all in one piece. Yeah, it was one heck of an adventure so are we ready to do again same time, same place, next season? From the looks of it, there should be. After all, there are lots more stuffs to uncover. But for now after all that harrowing experience we have been through, we all deserve to take a little breather. Rest up. We’ll need all that and even more for the next raid.

I have to admit that this season doesn’t disappoint and it was highly interesting. Yeah, maybe I unconsciously put my hopes lower before watching this series so obviously when the outcome differs a lot for the better, that’s how I unwittingly reap the bonuses. One big reason is that it stays true to its roots as this season is one big dungeon crawling adventure. Yup, you could say that about 90% of the entire series took place inside the dungeon. But sorry, no picking up chicks. Uhm, but can I technically consider Bell x Ryuu moments to be that? Oh, almost forgot. Can picking up a mermaid be counted too?

Though, I was wondering what the first mini arc was about. Oh you know, fighting that seemingly green moss monster. I don’t see how it plays anything prominent to the story. Not at least for this season as it may be pivotal in future chapters. Anyway, I figure this was needed as some sort of ‘practice’ by Hestia Familia because if they’re going to tackle the deeper dungeons, hence this ‘test’ to see if they are worthy by taking on a seemingly intelligent and cunning monster. So yeah, this first half could just be the warm up for the rest of this season which is of course mainly about Ryuu. Or at least something to do with her. Therefore I am guessing that this season is to flesh out Ryuu’s character and past, to have her find some closure on her trauma and perhaps join Hestia Familia. Hey, it’s a possibility, right! Considering the huge amount of screen time that we have seen them spent together especially in the second half.

Those episodes towards the end might seem a little draggy as they flesh out Ryuu’s character and past and at this point it might have gotten a little boring because well, you’re still fighting dungeon monsters. It’s like we’ve been over intoxicated with such dungeon crawling drunkenness that the excitement effect is starting to slip away. But nevertheless, watching Bell and the other characters fight formidable monsters was quite exciting itself. Such big bosses, you got to pull all your stops with powerful magic combos and not pull any punches. It is probably what this series needed and a time to show us that they are capable of such tough battles. They are the main characters after all. Got to show us how much they’ve grown and levelled up.

So in one way, it feels a bit weird because for the second half of this series, Bell has been separated from his party members and this feels like he has been away for the longest time from them in terms of screen time context. My other guess that this is necessary so that it is to prove that the rest of Hestia Familia isn’t all about Bell. Uh huh. Must show us that the likes of Welf, Lily, Mikoto and the rest are able to stand on their own and not always depend on Bell who is probably the poster boy of Hestia Familia. Had they continued to be dependent on him, they might as well rename this party to Bell Familia. Heh. So yeah, even if individually they might not be as strong and powerful like Bell, but at least in a group they are very formidable. Hence the fight with Amphisbaena was to showcase that growth. Yeah, it wouldn’t be fun to see them get 100% perfect score and hence all that drama and tension of them being hopeless before eventually emerging victorious, I guess it was all part and parcel to prove that their victory was sweet and worth it. Yeah, even veterans like yours truly sometimes fell for the mind trick that they could actually die! Made me forgot the script always says they will win in the end. Now that Bell has an even more apt nickname, Rabbit’s Foot, this is the perfect excuse for him to reach even greater heights no matter how impossible it is. That’s right. Such a lucky kid. That played a big role in slaying Juggernaut, right? Oh right. Hope! Justice! Gotta remember those important stuffs.

Even the seemingly flimsy written (as I would like to put it) Juggernaut as an overpowered creature that is the much needed wake up call to shake up anybody who thinks they can rest on their laurels for having good or overpowered skills. I have a few mind boggling questions about this creature but I would be more confused if I tried to find more answers. My guts told me that. Anyway, one of them being if this creature was like some auto generated defence to expel intruders when the going gets tough, shouldn’t the dungeon just use Juggernaut all the time? I mean, 99% of adventures will definitely die encountering it, right? The most effective sentinel to keep intruders out! So why is the dungeon not employing this if it wants adventurers to stay out of it? Am I missing something? Now that it can be destroyed, not looking so tough anymore, huh? I wonder if the dungeon will learn from this and send and even more vicious creature. What is even more fearsome than Juggernaut? Why, 2 Juggernauts! Double the hell, no!

As for the characters, Hestia Familia gets thrown more of the limelight and of course Bell gets most of it as we have already seen, his moments with Ryuu in the later half. His new nickname is apt because as main character, he is going to get all the luck to ride out of this mess. You think he is this close to death (damn, sometimes even fooling me), but alas he has cheated death many times. After coming this far, for him to die is just not even thinkable. Bell dead is not even an option! Too bad this means not even Juggernaut can do the job and I believe Bell will be the first one to destroy it somehow. So yeah, because of that, he can stay true to his ideals and virtues of saving everyone he loves. That includes you too, Ryuu. As mentioned, she gets her dues this season. It’s all for her to find closure on her past and move on and she couldn’t have done it without Bell’s help. So, considering joining Bell’s groupie?

And of course the rest of Hestia Familia as I have pointed out, they too have grown in many ways like Welf levelling up as a blacksmith and Lily stepping up to the role of commander in the absence of Bell. Even Haruhime is no longer the weakling and despite she is still the weakest, she has proven to be helpful when the time calls for it. The rest of the extended family of Hestia Familia, I figure they should just join Hestia Familia like Aisha the brute woman. If there’s one annoying character, it would be Cassandra because of her penchant to wallow in despair about her cryptic dream. It is so ambiguous and up for anyone’s interpretation. Yet she chose to decipher it as a bad omen. When it seemingly happens, she goes into misery quoting which line of that omen has come true. And when it’s not, she heaves a sigh of relieved. And then it happens, it could’ve been this line that meant the disaster! Oh my! You don’t even know a thing about it so stop being a gloomy girl and help out! Thank goodness they made it out alive or else I would have to blame entirely the team’s demise on her. Tsubaki’s group came in late as help so personally it felt strange because by the time they do so, nothing really mattered. Like as though they’re just there to pick up Ryuu. Bell has his groupie so got to prove that Ryuu has hers or she’ll be stuck with that Alise vision thingy. Now that Ryuu is free, will she consider joining Hestia Familia or will she be like Aisha and just be part of the extended family. Like Daphne, Cassandra, Ouka and Chigusa. Yeah, the ‘internship’ was pretty fun, right?

There are many other characters from this series that are sorely missed out and one of them is Aiz. Ah yes, with the crisis that our main characters are facing, there is no time for this Loki Familia to even have a decent limelight. Almost close to non-existent. In a way, it is good because we won’t get distracted. It is also to prove that Bell can stand on his own and if she was around to help and cover his ass, we are naturally inclined to think that it was Aiz’s skills that saved the day rather than Bell. So yeah, in exchange to have Bell prove to us he is now a superb warrior, Aiz’s absence was needed. Yeah, not even a single cameo at the end. Can’t ruin Ryuu’s moment. Even Hestia is sorely missing as she cannot go down with the humans. Sorry Hestia fans, boob time is so sparing here. Even Xenos’ cameo appearance felt like they’re just here to say hi. Then bye. Heh. At least not forgotten. At this point with this series having so many characters (Eina, Syr, Freya, etc), for better or worse, only very small cameo appearances so as not to distract us from the main important story. Thus sadly it is not their season.

While the action sequences don’t disappoint this season, I have to say that this one seems to ‘hurt’ a little more. Especially during Juggernaut’s massacre. Yes, it got really violent, bloody and gory ever since this monster started slicing people in half! I guess it is to show and warn us how dangerous this being is. So in that sense watching these unfortunate adventurers getting their limbs torn off and all, somehow it made me winced a bit too. I don’t know why, I’ve seen such similarly gory and violent series like Shingeki No Kyojin and I should be able to stomach them all. Is it perhaps I didn’t expect this one to be that gory? And that itself had a psychological effect on me subsequently as I see Bell taking on damage after damage. Wow. Never felt hurt like so real! Yikes.

This season’s first opening theme, Tentou by Sajou No Hana is your typical moderate pop rock outfit. Sounds generic and rather okay to me. Not that I’m hard up to listen to it. The second opener feels strange. Firstly, oh heck I didn’t realize it was Saori Hayami singing Shikou! Though, this isn’t the first time she is singing as I recently heard her doing so in RWBY: Hyousetsu Teikoku. Secondly, she sings somewhat softly and that the piano drilling and pounding at certain times were louder and drowned out her voice. Even when the song gets more and more dramatic, she still maintains that soft singing voice. Weird. I never thought Saori Hayami would go into singing because heck, how did I also miss her voice as she also sang the first ending theme, Guide. This piece is more of a slow ballad so I should have been able to pick out her voice as she maintains that same soft singing. On a trivial note, the ending credits animation feels like they’re trying to do that hand holding couple meme. Are we trying to hold hands with Hestia?! Sajou No Hana sings the second ending theme, Kirikizu, another dramatic pop ballad.

Overall, this season is indeed interesting and blows away the disappointment that was the second (fighting Familia Wars? Where’s the dungeon crawling?) and the third (back to some dungeon crawling but this time meeting friendly monsters) as well as side stories (we got one from Aiz’s view and thankfully no more than that). It develops the necessary characters nicely and the action bits are exciting to watch. So while it still isn’t a masterpiece in my books, I can still say that it is one of the better series and sequels of the season. Next time you smart adventurers want to go adventuring in deeper floors, may I suggest to bring the biggest and most badass drilling machine made out of mithril-cum-adamantite to just freaking drill your way through the bottom instead of finding the proper path? Hey, the dungeon repairs itself, right? Saves time, saves effort. I’m such a genius. Do you need Bruce Willis and his Armageddon team of drillers to teach you that? Or does that only work on comets?

Boku No Hero Academia S6

Still going very strong. When a series has been running into multiple seasons, you know it is on the right track and formula. And hence it is without a doubt that Boku No Hero Academia S6 has been one of the very highly anticipated sequels of the season as not only the fight between good and evil ramp up, but the grey lines distinguishing them blurring even further. Just when we are all getting tired and weary of western adaptations of superheroes (injecting all those wokeness nonsense, right?), it is a timely reminder for eastern authors using western based heroes to show us how it is done and give us what we want! Yeah! Go heroes!

Episode 114
With Hawks’ continued infiltration in PLA, he gets a gist of the hierarchy system and their plan to attack all over Japan at once. This is to destroy the current hero system and establish a lawless and chaotic society in which Re-Destro will use this a chance to enter the political ring. Such info is possible because of how close Twice confides with him. He realizes that Twice is actually a good natured man. Tsukauchi tells the heroes about Kyudai Garaki AKA Doctor. He has no Quirk and started doing philanthropic work after opening his first hospital. He soon opened more clinics and is respected by many. However he is All For One’s right hand man. His undercover agent discovered a secret room in his hospital and the evidence shows that he is the one behind manufacturing the Noumus. They can easily arrest him but doing so might cause PLA to notice. Hence the heroes will be split into 2 teams. Endeavour’s team will barge into the hospital to arrest Garaki while Edge Shot and his will raid PLA’s base. Both are to be done at the same time. The hero students will be deployed as support and logistics. With all the heroes away, the city has none of them. Those who remained are obviously in the dark as they are traitors for PLA. The operation begins with Endeavour’s side barging into the hospital and evacuating everyone in anticipation this will turn into a battlefield with the Noumus. Garaki is easily caught and Aizawa’s Quirk reduces him into a frail old man. They deduce that he might have got All For One’s long life Quirk. With his research on regeneration, he could’ve recreated it for All For One. Before they can take further action, Garaki orders his Noumus to attack. The heroes soon learn this Garaki is fake and a clone created by Twice. The real one is busy trying to fine tune his masterpiece AKA Shigaraki. With all the time and effort he has put in, basically his life’s work, he isn’t going to abandon it all. He is going to take evasive action when suddenly Mirko crashes into the scene. Jackpot. The real doctor’s here.

Episode 115
Mirko starts tearing the place up, much to Garaki’s dismay. Whether this doctor is the real one or not, kicking his ass will prove it! Garaki manages to get away after releasing some high end Noumus to help stall her. It seems these high ends are intelligent and can identify the heroes. As Garaki explains, Noumus are created from bioengineered corpses to have multiple Quirks. This they have no will and will follow what is programmed. Those high ends will reflect the personalities when they were alive and because of the immense amount of time and resources needed to raise one, he limits to those villains with strong desire to kill. Without All For One’s power, mass producing them is hard. Mirko defies all the near fatal injuries just to fight the high ends. She lives every day as if it’s her last so as not to have regrets. Noting that smashing their brains is the key to make them die permanently, this makes it easier for her. Meanwhile Edge Shot’s side begins the infiltration. Kaminari is one of the few students who are in the frontline of this charge. And he is scared sh*t! I’m sure Midnight and Tokoyami’s encouraging words can only do so much. But when one of PLA’s top commander, Amplivolt is going to discharge his electricity that covers a wide range that will affect all the charging heroes, Kaminari steps up and absorbs all that zapping. Wow. He’s a changed man now. Looking super cool and confident!

Episode 116
The heroes continue to attack the base, sealing all the possible exits. Hawks shows his true colours as Twice becomes very confused and agitated as he comes to terms with this reality and betrayal. He gets emotional thinking once again it is his fault in bringing trouble to everyone, not after he had promised he would take responsibility to clean up the mess. Hawks wants him to turn himself in and promises he will help guide him to start his life anew again. Too bad Twice will not be fooled again. One bitten, twice shy? Sorry for bad pun… He is so mad that he clones himself but all of them are weak so Hawks easily disposes of them. Hawks is sad that he will have to kill him since Twice will not back down. Before he can do that, Dabi is here to save the day. He never trusted Hawks from the start. Dabi tries to keep Hawks busy so that Twice could go do his thing and clone himself. Because a single him could take out all the other heroes. Twice manages to clone just one of himself before Hawks strike him down. This clone goes to save Toga and Mr Compress. However this clone cannot retain his form as the original body is already dead. So it’s a sad goodbye to Toga as she hugs and thanks Twice for saving her. He might be born unlucky but he is blessed with friends whom he can put above himself. He was happy to be here. RIP, Twice…

Episode 117
Dabi is mad at Hawks for killing Twice. However he reveals something inaudible about himself. Something about he will be the one to carry out Stain’s will. With Mirko taking on more damage, she realizes she has not gone weaker but the high end Noumus are awakening. She needs to accomplish her mission so she ditches them to go break Shigaraki’s capsule that Garaki is trying hard to save. Of course the high end Noumus are still trying to stop her. Endeavour and other heroes have arrived to help but the high end Noumus are formidable. One even awakening to realize Aizawa’s nullifying powers and trying to think of a solution to counter it. Mirko manages to destroy the capsule but has taken lots of damage. She relays what she has seen and happened to the rest. Short on manpower, Mic and X-Less move forward to stop Garaki’s plans. They manage to do so and even Mic giving Garaki a punch to check he is the real deal. Yup, he is. Mic takes Garaki away since his orders will put a stop to those rampaging Noumus. A defeated Garaki then starts narrating how the world once ridiculed and rejected his theory. He was then exiled from his own country. Guess who picked him up like a saviour? Garaki reveals his Quirk is to live twice as long compared to a normal human. He gave his original Quirk to All For One and the one he is having is a duplicate. Likewise, All For One saw his own defeat and hence handed his own original powers to Shigaraki, leaving himself with a duplicate. Shigaraki is in an alternate dimension as he faces his family and his past. With All For One welcoming him into his arms, his family tried to stop him from going. However Shigaraki will not be rejected anymore as he casts them off and goes towards All For One.

Episode 118
Well people. As expected. Shigaraki revives. A single touch to turn X-Less into X-Gone. HAHAHA! Oops. Sorry. Tsukuyomi could sense Hawks in danger so he returns to the mansion to save him in the nick of time before Dabi burns him. Unfortunately all his wings are already burnt. Dabi points out Hawks and heroes being the villain because he killed Twice after betraying him. Heroes play dirtier than villains. Tsukuyomi tries his best to rescue Hawks while getting away from Dabi’s flames. Only thanks to Geten creating a huge ice all over to push out the heroes, Tokoyami gets his lucky break to escape. Meanwhile as evacuation is smoothly in progress, suddenly Midoriya hears a voice from One For All to stop him because it’s coming. Uhm, could he have warned him earlier? Because Shigaraki’s awakening is causing his decay powers to crumble everything. Everyone gets the hell out of the place but the shockwave is too great. Yeah, how many lesser heroes died in this? Not sure what Midoriya can do with his Full Cowling but it sure isn’t working. Just take everybody and run like hell! Literally a preview of hell on Earth. The shockwave has stopped but it has done a lot of damage within its huge radius. While Shigaraki still feels pain in his head, he makes contact with Gigantomachia. Destroy everything.

Episode 119
Toga stopped being a nice lady. She’s on a hero killing spree. Not that she cares anymore after one of the things she likes in this world is dead. Endeavour is Shigaraki’s first opponent. However, with multiple Quirks implanted into Shigaraki, he can withstand and heal all the burns immediately. Endeavour is giving all he’s got just to fight him as Shigaraki ponders he’s already got almost everything that is given, why does he have this dissatisfaction? Then he realizes the only thing he doesn’t have: One For All. Immediately he tracks down Midoriya and tries to go after him. Since Endeavour has been reporting all that he is seeing and doing, Midoriya and Bakugou are quick to get what that meant. So they break protocol and head in a different direction away from the evacuation. This proves that Shigaraki is indeed targeting him although Endeavour is confused why it is so. Eventually Shigaraki jams all communications. But too bad it’s not time for the ultimate showdown of Midoriya-Bakugou vs Shigaraki as Gran Torino whisks them away before they become instant dust. He needs Midoriya to hide because imagine the worst case scenario if Shigaraki steals his All For One power. The other heroes start to deal with Shigaraki. Although Aizawa has neutralized his Quirk, it seems Shigaraki is still as powerful. Then they realize this isn’t his Quirk but his physique is freaking strong too. Just like All Might. Though, still a lesser version. But looks like there is more bad news. Those Noumus survive the rot and now they’re out to play.

Episode 120
Shigaraki is able to control his decay and save some of the Noumus. Then he tries to take out Aizawa who is nullifying his Quirk. Gran Torino can’t make it there in time to stop him. So who? Midoriya of course. The worst that could happen is Aizawa’s death. Because he is the only one controlling Shigaraki’s decay. After all, there are not enough heroes to fight Shigaraki since some have to deal with the Noumus. Endeavour and the heroes regroup as they try to take on Endeavour again. Shigaraki hears All For One’s voice telling him to get One For All. However Shigaraki realizes he doesn’t want to become like him and will surpass him to become even better. Hence he isn’t a puppet listening to his voice and is doing everything on his own will. Meanwhile, Gigantomachia has gathered Shigaraki’s pals as he starts to make a mad dash to where his master is. Mt Lady tries to stop him but it’s like trying to stop a speeding train. Didn’t work. Re-Destro has all his villains follow Gigantomachia since their saviour has awakened. Midnight is up next to stop Gigantomachia but she didn’t realize Dabi and co are riding on this walking disaster and gets ambushed by their trap. As she lies defeated, she communicates with Yaoyorozu. Under normal circumstances it would be against the law. But she needs her to use anaesthetics to put him to sleep and then evacuate. If that is too hard, then just evacuate. She leaves it to her to make the call. Yaoyorozu deliberates on Midnight’s words before she makes her decision. She is going to stand and face the enemy right here. Her fellow students agree since this is what becoming a hero is all about right? It’s not just donning a fancy costume.

Episode 121
Not sure what solution Yaoyorozu came up with but she’s going to have to make 30 litres of it to put the giant to sleep. After setting the traps, Gigantomachia steps right in and loses his balance. Grounded, the rest now try to pry open his mouth. Kaminari tries to take out the villains on his back but Mr Compress’ trick knocks him out. Gigantomachia is back up. Dabi’s flames keeps many of the UA students at bay. Other heroes arrive. Mt Lady trying to pry open his mouth as Mina jumps in to throw the jar. However some past trauma activates and she fails. Even more so when Gigantomachia realizes he needs to get rid of them all to get to his master. Mina could have died had not Kirishima come to her rescue. Don’t worry, his hardened skin will not turn him into a pancake. He manages to throw the jar into his mouth. Will that be enough? As they retreat, it’s not over yet since Gigantomachia evolves into some mean monster and starts rampaging. Meanwhile, Endeavour thought he has defeated Shigaraki but looks like he can still stand back up. He claims he has the conviction and accuses the heroes of pretending to do good and abandon those they couldn’t protect. They created this system and profited from it. Everything they built rejected him so he is also going to reject them. Shigaraki is now faster despite his strength decreased. Even so, he is able to take out Gran Torino. Then he aims for Aizawa but with the other heroes especially a very mad Midoriya holding onto him, Shigaraki uses his trump card as he shoots the special bullet at Aizawa. Bull’s eye.

Episode 122
Aizawa does the unexpected. He cuts off his leg! Meanwhile Yaoyorozu’s group are at a loss. Seeing they failed to stop Gigantomachia who is now in monster mode rampage, they wonder if they have made the right decision. Or were they doomed from the start? Yeah, that small amount of anaesthetic isn’t going to bring a big guy down, no? With Aizawa down, Shigaraki can use his Quirks. However his body soon starts to hurt. He realizes he hasn’t completed the full period of his rehabilitation yet and this means his body is not optimum to handle the tremendous amount of strength. This means no super recovery. However he is still going to continue to rot everything but Midoriya uses his Black Whip ability to float him up in the air to avoid him from touching the ground. Flashback shows Midoriya sought help from Ochako, Tsuyu and Sero to help improve certain abilities like staying afloat in the air longer. There’s also a talk between All Might and Bakugou about their concerns for Midoriya. Speaking which, he is going all out to beat down Shigaraki since he cannot heal as fast. He is willing to risk permanently injuring his arms for this. If he doesn’t use One For All now, when will he use it? It is precisely what this power is for, to stop All For One. Bakugou needs Endeavour’s help to end this in a single blow. He will blast him up there with his explosives while Todoroki using his ice to cool him down. Once in range, Endeavour will release all he’s got to burn him. That plan goes accordingly as Shigaraki screams in pain. Just then, All For One’s voice resonates in Shigaraki, wants to take over his body. Endeavour fails as Shigaraki is still alive. He attacks Midoriya but Bakugou protects him and gets impaled.

Episode 123
Bakugou is still alive. But Midoriya is so pissed. What powers will he unleash? Uhm, nothing yet. He gets too close to Shigaraki and at contact point, he is going to get his One For All power stolen. In this alternate dimension, Midoriya cannot move or speak. He sees All For One trying to take over Shigaraki’s body but the latter is resisting. But on Midoriya’s side are Nana and One For All. All For One explaining how cells and organs have memories so he sometimes see the dreams of those Quirks he has stolen. Then he mocks Midoriya for having such power but cannot do anything himself. Only succumb to anger and get his ass protected by others. However One For All continues to believe in Midoriya and they will stick by him. With that, both boys are thrown back into reality. All For One notes the Quirk transfer isn’t completed so he wasn’t able to fully steal One For All. He must now withdraw and let his body regain strength. So is this timeout because Midoriya too has passed out. As Gigantomachia continues to bulldoze his way through the cities, Skeptic continues to monitor footages from the devastation all around. In one of those footages, Ochako is spotted. This has Toga taking off herself because there is something she wants to ask her. Ochako is helping trapped people when an old lady requests her to help her bedridden husband. After leading her into the alley, this lady turns out to be Toga in disguise. Then she stalks Ochako before trying to kill her. Ochako fights back as Toga asks if she would like to kill her. Ochako sounds disappointed if that is all she wants to ask. Because right now Ochako wants to save as many lives as possible and if she is going to get in her way, she’ll take her down right now. Toga’s unimpressed face… B*tch showdown starting when?

Episode 124
Ochako trying to get Toga but without letting her steal her blood. Toga tries to play up some feelings by claiming that they are both in love with the same boy. Toga talks about holding out her feelings for a long time but Ochako tells her if she is going to continue her ways, then she must face its consequences. With Tsuyu arriving as backup, it is enough for Toga to retreat since she probably got her answer. Shigaraki tries to defy All For One’s order to stay put as he is going to continue pushing his body’s limits and attack. Luckily Iida and Nejire are here to provide some help. Todoroki tries to go in for the kill but Gigantomachia has arrived. With Shigaraki in his grasp, now he awaits his master’s orders. But all this is perfect timing for Dabi as he makes the biggest reveal and shocker ever: HE IS TOYA!!! Playing an edited with by Skeptic all over the net for the public, he shares the real truth to everyone. Endeavour married his wife to produce a kid who could surpass All Might. Toya was supposed to be that but failed and was abandoned. He is glad Endeavour is still alive today because now he can make him suffer and go to hell together. Despite Endeavour trying to be a nice family man lately, it doesn’t change the past. Flashback shows Toya supposedly died in a forest fire. It was burning so hot that everything from his flesh and bones melted. Only his jawbone was found. Endeavour thinks back Toya was very eager to hone his Quirk. That’s why Endeavour entrusted all his ambitions onto him. All because he was jealous of All Might. Dabi continues to paint Endeavour as weak and self-righteous. He also throws Hawks into the picture and tells how he killed an unarmed villain running away. It is no surprise after he did a little background check on Hawks. His father was a criminal who was captured by Endeavour. That’s why he hid it so hard. Thus killing is so easy for him and that’s why he killed Best Jeanist to convince the villains on their side. Dabi accuses the heroes of covering up such shady practises in the name of justice and everybody is their tools. With Endeavour paralyzed in shock, Dabi is going to move in for the kill. However all the villains get restrained because look who’s back? Best Jeanist returning to duty! Sorry to ruin your narrative, Dabi!

Episode 125
Dabi fights Todoroki while he ponders how Best Jeanist is still alive when he confirmed his corpse. Yeah, must be a very fine corpse made out of indistinguishable fibre. Spinner tries to wake up Shigaraki to give Gigantomachia orders to rev him up. Shigaraki’s conscience is enough to tell Gigantomachia to destroy everything. The much needed tonic as the giant now grows stronger to break free from Best Jeanist’s stranglehold. At the same time, various Noumus are on their way to disrupt Best Jeanist who very well know he must not lose concentration on this. Midoriya is trying to force himself to support Best Jeanist. But can he move after taking such damage? Well, which hero showing up now? Hope you haven’t forgot about Togata. Flashback shows he wanted to join this operation so he had Eri reverse his state to at least have some degree of using his power. How convenient. Unfortunately he lacks the power to knock out the Noumus so he calls for help. Nejire, Iida and Bakugou answer to his call to keep the Noumus at bay. This is also when Bakugou has decided his official hero name: Great Explosion Murder God Dynamight! LAME! Hope it’s just temporary. Meanwhile Dabi continues to taunt Todoroki. Despite putting the family in danger and almost killing Natsu, he is glad this is all to torment Endeavour. Yeah look at him now. In shock and starring into space. So he wonders by killing Todoroki, what kind of face will father put. Midoriya has enough strength to interrupt the brothers. Despite the past will not be erased no matter what Endeavour does, at least he is working hard. Thus Dabi is not Endeavour. Dabi isn’t flinching and claims it is not evil that is flourishing but rather justice is collapsing since it is heroes who are committing crimes. Gigantomachia finally breaks free. But Endeavour is back in business and lands a single punch to take him out! Did that make the giant lose all energy? Well, looks like the anaesthetic has finally kicked in. The villains are getting desperate as the tide seem to turning against them. Mr Compress won’t give up yet…

Episode 126
Flashback shows after the stint with Hassaikai, the League of Villains were bumming around like poor people. Because Shigaraki seemed like he wasn’t going to do anything, Spinner chewed him out that he was inspired by Stain and the reason he followed him. So what are their goals now because right now they’re all having different principles and opinions. Mr Compress wants Spinner to wake up Shigaraki while he causes a distraction. Sacrificing some of his body parts to escape and save his fellow comrades, his flashback shows he is the great great grandson of Ouji Harima. Basically the Robin Hood of the east, a thief who robs from the rich and gives to the poor. Hence Mr Compress was spurred by his justice to continue his social reforms by exposing fake heroes who used their positions to line their own pockets. As Spinner tries to wake up Shigaraki by putting his decapitated hand on his face, looks like it is All For one who wakes up in his body instead. His orders is to withdraw since Shigaraki has lost. Because he pushed his body’s limits while it was still undergoing modifications. Spinner is shocked that he is going to abandon his comrades for this escape. A price to pay for his defeat. He then summons the Noumus to carry him away. Other heroes like Togata, Iida and Todoroki try to stop him but get easily brushed aside. Even Midoriya summoning his last ounce of strength for the feat fails. Battle is over. Now we see all the devastation caused and all those who have taken serious damage from this long drawn fight.

Episode 127
Flashback shows before this big operation, Re-Destro was invited to meet with the chairwoman the security commission. He was happy that with this joint venture of selling them their support products, they can plant spies in the commission. However it was a trap to capture him. The chairwoman was killed and this Re-Destro was just a clone created by Twice. The next half is basically a recap of the events so far by Midoriya. At least, what the official report is. This includes the denial from the pro heroes that there were students taking part in this operation. It also mentions some of the bigwig villains that they have caught and the equipment found in Doctor’s lab that have been confiscated. Also to note, over 16 thousand villains were captured! Damn, do they have a facility to house them all? A few hundreds escaped and are scattered. Thus a nationwide manhunt to catch those on the run. But now the hell begins as with the huge damage, there are many civilians injured and it is taking a toll on the heroes and first responders. So much so, this devastation is too much for many to handle. Doctors choosing those who can be saved and heroes losing all hope and wanting to quit their job. That’s just swell. Personally, it proves they’re not cut out to be one. Also hinted that some prominent heroes like Midnight and Majestic could be dead for real. It is theorized that Doctor’s equipment did not have sufficient power to revive Shigaraki in the first place. It could be his hatred and dreams that led to the death of many. With the reputation of heroes plunging, it doesn’t get any better for Endeavour. With Dabi’s revelation, people are having doubts about him as a hero. Yeah, where’s All Might when you need him. Oh right. He’s retired. I am NOT here. Definitely. All For One continues to plot his next move and will free his real body.

Episode 128
We are told about Tartarus being simply labelled generally as a prison for villains. It is more of a facility to confine and monitor those who severely threaten public safety. The more threatening ones lie in the deeper levels. Basically if you are put in there, you never get out alive. But of course All For One puts his next plan in motion as he uses the Noumus to break through Tartarus to reunite with his real body. No matter how high tech your equipment and all, they can’t do any jack sh*t. Eventually the security systems are short circuited and the villains all escape big time. So you people still remember Muscular, Moonfish and Overhaul? Yup. They got away too. Shigaraki isn’t pleased and will not be All For One’s pawn. But the latter corrects his misunderstanding. He is not his pawn but his next self. This will be the story of how the greatest Demon Lord rules over the world! Other than Tartarus, 6 prisons around the country also faced similar breaks. Now we focus on our heroes recuperating in hospital. If that isn’t bad enough this gloomy situation, a large group of angry protestors outside calling out to Endeavour and his lies. The media is hounding for every possible answer while villains are looting the city. Todoroki’s throat is burnt and can’t talk. He lament’s Dabi’s flames more powerful than his father. Now he rues picking a fight with him and since Endeavour can’t defeat Dabi, it is up to him. Bakugou is up and he is mad after Sero told him the truth: Midoriya is in coma. Now signs of waking up. Bakugou so mad that if Midoriya dies, he’ll kill him. What?! Is that a joke?!

Episode 129
Flashback shows Hawks FKA Keigo Takami once revered heroes like All Might and Endeavour. However he came from a poor and broken family. His father is on the run and living in a squalid manner to hide from the police after he killed somebody over small sums of money. Of course this means Hawks was abused but he withstood all that in hopes it would turn out better. One day, father stole a car and got arrested. Mom got so scared the police would find them that they ran away. To where? What good would that do as she had no skills to earn a living. And soon Hawks was scouted by the hero agency would promised to provide support for them if Hawks joined and trained to be a hero. That also meant giving them new identities. Hawks accepted this since he will get to beat up baddies in the name of justice. Best Jeanist and Hawks now patrol town. Hawks explaining about the plan to kill Best Jeanist off just to fool Dabi and then had his body preserve in Doctor’s facilities only for Hawks to secretly revive him when the time called for it. Best Jeanist has to fight off unruly criminals. The police can’t come as they’re busy trying to catch all those who escaped from prison. While the heroes’ arrival is assuring to some, it is obvious that distrustful sentiments have been growing by the day. Hawks then visits the house where his mom lives. Too bad she has run away. But the note she left behind revealed scary men came to look for her and forced her to spill details about her past family. That was probably how Dabi knew about him. Now that Hawks is no longer tied down by anything, he needs to start trying loose ends. First with his origins with Endeavour (mom bought him an Endeavour doll because All Might is too expensive!). He also talks about Twice who was a good guy because regardless whether his actions were right or wrong, he wanted to help others. He hopes to become like that. The people are taking things into their own hands by fighting villains themselves with support items bought on the black market. This in turn causes more damage and they even blame heroes who got here late. Things go from bad to worse as more heroes retire and with the people more frustrated, they’re blaming everything on Endeavour. Too late for him to cry and regret about his past haunting him? I guess it’s bad when he can’t control his tears before his children. Well, it’s a good time to talk about the family’s future because everyone is here including Rei.

Episode 130
Flashback time on Endeavour’s history. He was arranged to marry Rei since her family wanted the reputation of marrying the #2 hero. Endeavour agreed as his goal was to produce an heir to surpass All Might. Rei looked like she wasn’t happy with it but put up with it since she had no choice. After Toya was born and as a young kid, the doctor discovered this weirdness in his body. Despite having flames stronger than Endeavour, his body took after Rei’s. This means he might burn himself if not careful. Endeavour forbade Toya to do superhero stuffs and especially using his Quirk but Toya has become stubborn to prove he could surpass All Might. All in hopes his father would acknowledge him. But that never came to be until Todoroki was born, Endeavour forbade Todoroki to contact with his siblings and thus his hellish training began. This only made Toya even more jealous and eager to prove otherwise. Rei was tasked to watch over Toya but she too started to despair when he accused her for being an accomplice in all of this. When Endeavour found out Toya was practising secretly, he abused Rei for her failure to watch over him. One day Toya told Endeavour to come to the forest so he could show how much he had improved. He never turned up and this enraged Toya till his flames went beyond control and burnt everything down. It was also when Rei’s mind broke. Now, the family has come together because all were responsible in turning Toya into Dabi. Hence they have to stand up and fight against him. Hawks and Best Jeanist were eavesdropping and they also want in on this. Explaining the hellish landscape and circumstances that have all happened in just the span of 2 days, Hawks suggests they all team up but first they need to know more about how Toya became Dabi to better fight him. Though, Hawks mentions something that is still unclear. Because he heard Endeavour said something about One For All. What is that? Meanwhile Midoriya continues to sleep as All Might stays by him. He knows this coma is because Midoriya is having a dream with previous One For All wielders.

Episode 131
One For All explains the recent growth in this power is what able this whatever thingy to happen now. Hikage Shinomori the 4th wielder starts off on how Midoriya unconsciously drew out his power which is to sense danger. He reveals he died at the old age of 40. Nobody knew of this and other facts until Yagi (All For One’s fiery representation?) told them. It seems this Quirk cannot be wielded by ordinary people but it seems that all the wielders died young around this age was because they possessed more than 1 Quirk. Only All Might was able to surpass this because he was originally Quirkless. More confusing deliberations I don’t really understand. Basically they conclude that Midoriya is going to be the last wielder of this Quirk unless that person has no Quirk and in some desperate need of power. This leads to Nana asking if he can kill Shigaraki. Something about strong emotions needed that cannot be held by just a single person. This is why All For One is trying to use Shigaraki’s strong hatred to steal One For All. Nana regrets asking his help to save Shigaraki because she doesn’t want him to turn into an irreversible monster. Despite all that, deep down he is just a helpless boy crying for help. Midoriya thinks killing him might be the only way, but he still wants to save him no matter what. One For All agrees with this and that’s why they will support him all the way. All Might is soon approached by Hawks and Best Jeanist who want to know about this One For All as this topic is slowly spreading. Heroes are not only fighting villains now but public sentiments. All Might realizes keeping it a secret is no longer a luxury. He will tell everything. A press conference is held by Endeavour, Hawks and Best Jeanist to apologize for everything including the revelation of Dabi as his son. Some aren’t pleased, though. Hawks also admits and apologizes his own criminal origins. With the people hammering for solutions, they conclude that UA will become designated shelters as heroes will have reduced areas to protect. Endeavour denies any knowledge about One For All and tells everyone to pin their blames and unease at him. Soon, Midoriya wakes up but he leaves a devastating letter to his classmates. He reveals the truth behind his Quirk and hence the villains are targeting him. As such to not put them in danger, he is leaving UA.

Episode 132
Shindou and Nakagame are trying to negotiate with vigilante citizens holing up themselves in a building. Long story short, they don’t trust heroes anymore and will take care of their own turf. As they leave, Muscular attacks the place. Shindou tries to fight him but obviously he is no match. Cue for Midoriya to save the day and his return sparks Muscular’s bliss. He wants to go all out and fight with their raw power again. That is his wish. But with 45% of Full Cowling, Midoriya is able to knock him unconscious. Then he leaves him to the police station. Midoriya is able to conceal his identity from the smoke he emits as one of the successor’s Quirks. Then he meets up with All Might who checks on all the compression support items he is using that has saved him a ton of damage. Midoriya then goes off to find the next villain. Looks like he is employing this tactic to find them first because it increases their chance of winning. A few days ago, the doctor mentioned about his Quirks managing to reinforce his body and prevented him from receiving further damage. However this doesn’t stop the fact his situation is still worsening that he won’t be able to use his arms anymore. With his mother very worried, All Might is given the green light to tell the whole truth. Mother is of course very worried and scared. All Might has made preparations to fully protect Midoriya at UA but Midoriya claims he will not stay there. As a target, he wants to prevent more casualties and thus he will leave UA. Hence Midoriya has teamed up with All Might, Endeavour, Hawks and Best Jeanist in this secret operation of theirs. With Midoriya as the main focus of this operation, the other heroes will follow and support him from a distance.

Episode 133
Midoriya saves an innocent girl from vigilantes who think she’s a villain in disguise. He manages to diffuse the situation and let All Might take her to the shelter. Remembering his talk with One For all and his other successors-cum-wielders, it seems there were a couple of wielders who disagree to help Midoriya. But after One For All talked to them especially how they helped him and thus began the legacy of One For All, they finally relented. Now Midoriya has all their support as he begins his mission to end this madness. Endeavour and the rest continue to apprehend small time criminals. Public sentiments still hate him and blame him for this current situation. They talk about All For One’s purpose might be to take over Shigaraki’s body since All Might damaged him to a point he has to be on support. Because Shigaraki was awakened before his completion, it is possible the villains are lying low so as to complete Shigaraki’s body before moving onto the next stage. It could also mean that the villains lack info and the heroes can use that to their advantage. This means less fighting from the public but it can also work against them because if it fails, the heroes will get more criticism. Suddenly they realize Midoriya’s tracker goes dead. Someone has sniped it out from him. It is the world’s best human rifle sniper, Lady Nagant. Midoriya remembers Hawks telling him that because Doctor’s reboot on Shigaraki was incomplete, they probably need to take in Midoriya alive. For that, not any supervillain could do that job and the only one capable of reeling him in is Nagant. Midoriya manages to dodge her bullets that can also change trajectory. Somehow she brought a broken Overhaul with her thinking he would be of something. So far a liability. Flashback shows while she was escaping Tartarus, All For One confronted her and wanted to hire her to capture Midoriya. He believed she was the right person for the job as she has killed her hero partner before. Also, her desire for the destruction of the hero society will never materialize if Midoriya is around. As an early gift, he gave to her another Quirk to walk on air. Now Nagant has separated Midoriya from the other heroes but Midoriya instead of running away from her firing range, he’ll get closer.

Episode 134
Midoriya continues his fight with Nagant and realizes she has a few superior skills than usual because of All For One. Despite getting a few injuries, he continues to fight on and using multiple Quirks to trick and get close to her. At one point he was already in close contact with her but she still has some tricks up her sleeve. Then she tells him off about the fake justice and all that is not what it seems. Basically, the perfect hero system that everyone knows, beneath it hides a darker secret. Nagant was part of that dark system to eliminate and kill all those who would threaten that balance. When she confronted her boss about it and had a different opinion, she took him out before he could to her. That is the real story behind her downfall and the story of her killing other heroes was a cover up. Nagant has lost faith throughout the years. Starting as an earnest girl who wanted to bring justice so much but with all the blood and dirty work, she got disillusioned. Midoriya may have an idea how it all works. The world is not black and white but mostly grey. That is why he must reach out his hand to help. To make him see the flaws of his ways, Nagant now targets to kill Overhaul. However Midoriya is faster than a speeding bullet to not only save him but even breaks Nagant’s firing barrel. Then he extends his hand to help her. He knows she did not intend to kill because the trajectory was a bit off. Because she knows darkness, she also knows what needs to be brought into the light. He wants her to fight on their side. But this change of heart suddenly has her explode. This ‘breach of contract’ has All For One detonate her as a safety mechanism. Hawks dives in to help save her from her fall. She is puzzled why these heroes still have those bright sparks in their eyes. She reveals some info about her mission (that is being told to others too) to bring targets to a mansion in Haibori Woods in 2 months. Overhaul is not pleased that with Nagant’s defeat, the deal for her to let him meet with his old man and apologize is now impossible. But Midoriya reminds him of Eri. Remember what you did to her? If he returns those feelings to Eri, he promises to have Nagant keep hers.

Episode 135
The heroes storm the mansion. However it is empty except for a pre-recording of All For One congratulating them with his prediction they have got Nagant to talk. He claims the problem that has its roots in society and the kind of justice they’ve seeking is thorny will eventually wear them down. He is no longer interested in All Might but Midoriya. Once the recording ends, BOOM! Some other heroes are asking Endeavour for more details about Midoriya and One For All so with that info they can form a more comprehensive search. However Endeavour is reluctant for fear of causing a negative chain reaction that will put Midoriya in focus. Midoriya continues to work tireless to defeat villains to get whatever info they have on All For One. Nothing. To a point her doesn’t even look back at All Might even if he remains concerned about the kid. So taking all this responsibility himself is not to get All Might get caught up with this? That’s not how we all see it. Worse, some are getting the wrong idea that Midoriya may be a lackey of All For One because of his multiple Quirks but are confused because he saves them from villains. Not even One For All successors can do anything to convince him to take a break and heal his wounds. Midoriya then faces off with Dictator who controls others like puppet. This mean using the normal people to attack Midoriya knowing he won’t attack back as well as human shield. A tired Midoriya is overwhelmed as he tries to figure out his next move. Could’ve lost had not Bakugou and friends come to his rescue. Flashback shows us when they got Midoriya’s letter, Bakugou suspects those top heroes are working together in secrecy with All Might and Midoriya because they didn’t answer their calls. Hence they made a trap by having Nezu to contact Endeavour to come to UA. Then the confronted him about all this as Bakugou notes they don’t know much about Midoriya. Because he doesn’t consider himself, he’ll carry on even if he isn’t fine. That was how All Might became the symbol of peace. Everyone wants to help Midoriya no matter the risk because he is their friend. Nezu gives them permission to bring him back to UA. Now that they’ve all assembled, Midoriya continues with his bleak hope that everything is fine and that he must do what he needs to for the sake of everyone’s peace and smiles. But Bakugou asks him if he is smiling right now. Time to bring him back, boys.

Episode 136
Obviously Class 1A all joining forces and using their Quirks trying to bring in Midoriya. So we hear each one of them saying their thoughts and feelings about him. The times they spent with him and all. But you know, Midoriya is one stubborn kid. He thinks he doesn’t want them to get involved or risk more casualties and that’s why he’s running away from them and can’t go back. Eventually they catch up to him and the final clincher is from Bakugou’s words. He reveals he bullied Midoriya to make himself feel superior since he has no Quirk. In a way, that makes him ahead of him. Bullying was a way to get away from him. Ever since entering UA, nothing has gone his way and he realized Midoriya was stronger than him who was always weak. Bakugou bows his head and apologizes for all that. The shock must have finally gotten to Midoriya so he finally passes out. When he wakes up, he is before the emergency barrier of UA. Damn, UA has turned the surrounding vicinity into some impregnable fortress! However there is still one tiny issue: Many protesters are gathered and they don’t want Midoriya in, believing doing so will put them all in danger. Those useless f*ckers. They won’t even listen to all the other heroes giving assurance. You bet this is enough to turn Midoriya off to walk away but his friends stay strong and will be by his side.

Episode 137
Previously when Class 1A casted their doubts on this UA security system (because if it was on par with Tartarus which has been broken into by Shigaraki), Nezu further explained he added more of his ideas and used his own money to upgraded it. Damn, if only Tartarus had it… And how f*cking rich is this rat?! Anyway, if villains attack UA, the shelters are able to go deep underground and move as far towards Shiketsu while the 3000 strong layer of reinforced plates get activated. Now we’re back to the uneasy crowd who won’t listen to some of the heroes. Even when Best Jeanist explains the heroes are prioritizing the citizens’ lives and using Midoriya as bait for villains, hence they need for him to rest and recover in the safest place before the next strike. Some are still not convinced. They still blame heroes for turning Japan into what it has become. Thus it’s like shifting the burden onto citizens. Dicks. So you citizens don’t want to take any responsibilities?! With the unease increasing, it is then Ochako makes a passionate declaration that it was Midoriya’s classmates that brought him back. He only has a special power to fight All For One. He is the one who wants to do something about it. Have you all take a good look at how worn down he is? She hopes everyone can lend their strength to let him rest here since he is taking on the burden of this power and has lot to learn. Ochako fighting so hard for him, this brings Midoriya to his knees. The first to run to assure him is Kouta and then followed by that girl he saved a few episodes back. The citizens then discuss about the current situation. If they reject those who are fighting now, what will be left for them? They ask him if they allow him, will things go back as they were before. Midoriya assures he can get it all back. And just like that, everyone welcomes out weary hero home.

Episode 138
All Might regrets not being able to help Midoriya. He is suddenly held at sword point by Stain who doesn’t like that statement. Heck, he doesn’t think this is the real All Might and is an imposter. Then he shows him a lone lady cleaning off All Might’s statue and taking away those nasty signs. She was the last person whom All Might saved before retiring. Stain is mad because all this has nothing to do with his power. All Might will still save people and smile. He leaves All Might with details from Tartarus. Use it. Only then the real All Might will have the right to come kill him. Midoriya’s friend make him feel at home at UA. He frets of his horrible treatment on All Might but say no more because he is here to apologize in person. He is also telling them to get ready as the final battle is at hand. He had accepted the fact of being permanently retired but after his stint with Stain, he realizes he must continue to fight even if he has to crawl his way through. The friends then make a vow to do everything they can together and return to those days of togetherness. The heroes discuss about Stain’s info. Something about they have about a month to capture Shigaraki before his body completes. Flashback shows during the breakout at Tartarus, Stain couldn’t understand the chaos so he needed more info. He noticed an officer holding something important that is not a weapon. It was storage data. Because he is unsure about All For One, Stain decided to give it to All Might whom he only trusts. All Might discusses with Tsukauchi and Sansa about this info about the possibility of how Shigaraki communicated with All For One and broke through Tartarus. Radio waves perhaps. But what bothers All Might is how the waves can be communicated at such a distance. The big shocker is that from that wave deciphering, they don’t have months but only 3 days for Shigaraki’s awakening. As they need time, All Might makes a direct request to UN. That’s right. Calling all heroes from all over the world. Especially Star And Stripe, America’s #1 hero! She’s on her way here right now. OMG. All Might with boobs?!

No More Heroes…
We don’t even have to worry or fret. At this point it is all given and common sense. That is right. As expected, this series is going to have another season! From the way things have developed, it will be a crying shame not to have another one. Had they not, we’re going to have to deal with angry mobs angrier than the disillusioned citizens here! But rest assured that won’t happen now because the seventh season is now in the works and we’ll be right there when it happens.

This sixth season brings back the greatness and the glory that this series once had. I am not saying that the previous seasons were mediocre, however unlike the past 2 seasons especially, there were no boring side mini arcs within the season. That to me broke the pacing and the overall enthusiasm of the series. You remember there was one season where they had that Gentle Criminal side story, right? Yeah, that felt bizarre and odd. And then last season we had that work studies internship thingy, right? Boring! After a great story arc that started the season, then they had to have these boring ones which ultimately felt, well, boring although it was all part of the big story in some ways. But for this season, it has been really one interesting long ride from start to finish. Starting off with the exhilarating raid on PLA’s base to bring in the villains and when that failed, things took a darker turn in the second half and perhaps the biggest shake up ever for the hero industry. The final stretch seeing Midoriya taking on the burden by himself may be a bit draggy but overall it was still quite interesting and intriguing because it is no longer the sugar coated and wide eyed happy-happy stuffs that we have all known from the hero industry. Despite all the gloom and doom in the final stretch, we are still given the much needed hope because at the end of the day, we still want our heroes to win, right?

This season brings more revelation and shocking reveals to the table especially now it is confirmed that Dabi is the son of Endeavour. Sorry folks who speculated Dabi as Midoriya’s brother! At least this puts a rest to that fan theory! And of course the more thought provoking and disturbing one came in the second half as the whole hero industry came to a collapse after the Tartarus prison break. It brings to light the fragility of the hero system and all the ‘lies’ that the people have placed their entire faith and belief on. While the whole hero industry isn’t perfect, it is still the best of what they can get. At first you might want to blame the unruly and disbelieving citizens for being dicks and jerks who took the heroes for granted because just after 1 big incident, all trust evaporates. After years and decades of building up the reputation of heroes, just a small crisis broke it all down.

But you have to understand from the general populace’s perspective too. Many are insecure and fragile and they rely on such heroes for protection to keep them safe, allow them to continue to live their daily lives. So when that fails, naturally they become like frightened animals, barking loudly like tin cans just to find that sort of assurance even if it means vilifying the only thing that could protect them: Heroes. So you wanna go be heroes yourself? Be my guest. Thought so. Being heroes, their hands are tied and they can’t use violence to smack some sense into these people because that would only make things worse. Violence is not always the answer. That’s why sometimes when heroes try talking and conversation with the ordinary people and they don’t listen but get worked up further, such scenes sometimes felt like an irony. It makes the heroes look useless but they can’t use violence or forceful methods either. Tough being a hero, huh? And the people dare complain when some resign… Don’t you just want to smack these people in the face?! Hence when things have cooled down and everyone has a calmer and rational thinking, the best solution is of course for both heroes and citizens to work hand in hand, support each other. After all, everybody is the same human beings.

I’m not sure if I should say that this is Midoriya’s season or his turning point because this season is now what truly puts him to the test. Test his mettle and his resolve as a hero. Because it was all easy just talking about ideals and the likes. He could give assurances about being the best hero and all but that was only because he was under the safety of UA. Now that the tables have turned, the villains now having the upper hand, can Midoriya now stay true to his ideals and path? At many times, it looked like he might be going down the wrong path. At certain times, he looked like he might break to a point of no return. Yeah. All those nice and glossy words and ideals about being a hero, not so rosy a path now, huh? These turn of events forces Midoriya to think and take the kind of actions that are in grey areas, not black and white or learnt in textbooks.

Midoriya becoming the lone vigilante has its pros and cons and I would say that whatever debate anybody puts up, everybody is both right and wrong. Or rather, there are no right or wrong answers. For example, Midoriya taking upon himself to solve this case by himself so as not to drag his precious friends and family into the fray that might turn out tragic. Noble. After all, he is the only one who has a special Quirk who can stop All For One and others might be a hindrance. But by taking this approach, this makes him look like he doesn’t trust others. You know, he views everyone weaker than him and that’s why he doesn’t want their help. Though, I believe that is not the case for him but from this perspective, it is not hard to think along these lines. Because of how hard he is pushing himself, sometimes it seems that he might even fall to the dark side. Imagine if Midoriya becoming part of the villains. I am 100% confident it will not happen but there’s always that possibility. Alternate universe! So of course the obviously solution that would make everybody ‘happy’ is for his friends and allies to help because as well know very well, nobody is 100% perfect. With friends, they can at least help cover your weakness and vice versa. Besides, everybody is in this so there’s no point to tell them to stay out, right?

With Midoriya getting a huge chunk of the limelight because of his fight with Shigaraki and then subsequently playing lone ranger vigilante, the other Class 1A students don’t have their due limelight. Sure, there are there in the later half trying to assure and provide support to a lost and weary Midoriya, reminding him that they are friends and all (power of friendship!) but that is so much only their role. Even during the PLA invasion, their focus was just pretty minimal too even if their greatest teamwork attempt was partly in bringing down Gigantomachia. Individually, they are mostly forgettable to me and I would just tend to think them collectively as Class 1A students.

Even All Might was pretty much missing in the first half and only showed up in the second although just playing a supporting role to Midoriya. Though, another shocker is Stain now seemingly aligning himself alongside the heroes. So it made me wonder the hero system he wanted to destroy so much, is this what he wanted? Probably not. So that’s why he’s trying to get back right on track but can’t do it without All Might’s help. Yes, a sign that they are going to bring back the symbol of justice for the next fight. I’m all for it because it has been weird without this guy around. I know, sounding sadistic even if it kills him but that is what being a real hero is about, right?

For Bakugou, not as angry as we all remember him in his debut and even more shockingly, we never thought this dude could apologize! This cocky and arrogant dude bowing his head and saying sorry?! Oh man! We are made to eat our words! So yeah, besides his ridiculous hero name, I guess even hard heads like him can change. A little is better than nothing. Todoroki himself too isn’t all that prideful and has mellowed down a lot. He was blinded by his bloodline that he forgot his origins. So now it’s a double mission not only to save the world but his own family.

All For One remains the elusive villain and mastermind who is hard to keep down. His intentions on Shigaraki are finally revealed. After all, this guy is the scariest villain among all and he can’t be a noble villain, right? I mean, he wants a successor seems too good to be true and a waste. And thus baddies like him want to live forever is only fitting and thus the need for Shigaraki as his perfect vessel for his continued existence. Everybody is his pawn. He will be the eternal dictator. Heck, even All Might has retired and this guy is still #1 villain. How many different successors has One For All gone through and All For One is still around. Speaking of those successors, this seasons introduces the rest of them and their abilities so we can fast track Midoriya in using them. He’ll need it all to complete his big mission.

Just like the lines of what constitutes hero and villains blurring, the same can be applied for the bad guys. Because as we can see not all of them are totally despicable individuals like All For One. They are mostly misunderstood individuals and some disillusioned by the current system. And because you don’t follow that system, you are labelled a villain. These are what many of these villains are and even Shigaraki himself is such victim. Things could have turned out differently had he had the right support but unfortunately he didn’t. Even in the remote chance that he got saved, my guess is that somebody else will take his place. As long All For One is around. Hence all heroes and villains are the same in such circumstances and past. It is the correct or wrong people they meet that led them lead out different fates. Even Dabi I would want to say is redeemable. He might sound unrepentant but remember, only this season his shocking past was revealed. So give it another season for the Todoroki family to drill more family togetherness, blah, blah, blah and Dabi should mellow out. Hopefully. After all, I suppose he still wants his father’s acknowledgement. Endeavour has changed and not like before so there is still that chance even if Dabi doesn’t see it that way.

The action moments don’t disappoint this season especially in the first half. It’s one big huge brawl between both sides and it’s one big messy affair. Though, I want to point out that with so many heroes and villains during the PLA raid, it got me thinking the amount of effort put into in designing those characters even if they are minor and background! That’s right. I have this feeling that the producers commissioned many people to just freaking draw and design anything that comes to mind and use all of them here as minor heroes and villains. Doesn’t matter how they look. Rejected or not, just draw ‘em all! We’ll put it all in here! Man, it could have been one herculean effort. After all, everybody here looks strangely designed so much so you can’t tell between heroes and villains during the brawl. So yeah, it was one of those weird moments for me to see so many uniquely and strangely designed characters. Don’t know if you could spot any familiar designed characters and some might even be plagiarized! But that’s just me. Of course the big clash in the first half has produced many casualties and shockingly we have to forever say goodbye to these characters whom if they want to appear in future episodes, can only do so via flashbacks! Yeah. Sad. So RIP Midnight. RIP Twice!

With this season getting serious, I noticed that there is one minor thing that is refreshing: The mid-intermission is no longer biodata of characters!!! OMFG!!! THIS IS SO FREAKING REFRESHING! Replacing this is a still picture of our heroes and their real name plus hero name. After 6 damn seasons of heroes, finally they did away the ‘useless’ biodata. Thank goodness! I mean, who wants to know all that, AM I RIGHT???!!! So uhm… Can I ask something? What is Midoriya’s blood type and favourite food already?! OH SH*T! NOW I’M ASKING FOR TROUBLE!!! HAHAHA!!! Though, the other annoyance continues to remain. Yes, the one whereby a character appears for the first time in that episode, you’ll see his/her name and Quirk pop up. For the love of God, if you don’t know Midoriya’s Quirk is One For All at this point, you’re better off doing hara-kiri and stop watching this series! That’s right. Imagine every damn episode telling us Midoriya’s Quirk is One For All. Every. Damn. Episode. Sighs.

This season’s first opening theme, Hitanuki by Super Beaver is a typical and generic rock based. Nothing special to me but heck, at least better than the last few season’s songs that sounded weird and some even gay! Sketch by Kiiro Akiyama as the first ending theme is more of a slow hip hop. Okay to me but nothing that special either. Another typical rock outfit for the second opening theme, Bokurano by Eve. Basically they want to ramp up the darkness and friendship drama here as you can see in the opening credits animation. We’re all still friends, right? The same can be said for the second ending theme. Although the rock piece of Kitakaze by Six Lounge has a livelier and positive tune probably to give us that there is still some sort of hope in all this. You’re never alone, Midoriya. You’ve got friends always by your side. Remember that.

Overall, this season is great and whets our appetite for the next. It is the much needed drama and turn of events that we need seeing that it can’t always be the lovely training arc, class competitions, internship experience and anything that is school related. Oh, what was the title of this anime again? So yes, the darker twist is what makes us all question once more what it means to be a hero and giving like yours truly the much needed second thought to think again if we really want to throw our support behind the villains! Yeah, I once thought of supporting the Boku No Villain Academy idea if the heroes get any worse than this but seeing how it all turned out, maybe it’s not so fun as I think it would be now. After all, everything we’ve seen here are just temporary setbacks and if I know too well these kind of series will end, it will definitely be a happy ending. Not that the manga itself is anywhere near its end right now, it is still far from over. I WON’T BE A TRAGEDY WHERE THE VILLAINS TAKE OVER AND DESTROY THE WORLD, RIGHT???!!! After all, Midoriya already told us a few times that this is a story of how he became the greatest hero. How his friends became the greatest heroes. Oh wait. Is this the longest flashback ever???!!! So sit back and wait till the next season arrives. Our heroes will then be ready to bring back their reputation and status to its former glory!

Tate No Yuusha No Nariagari S2

Sorry if this series seems a little late. Initially I wanted to watch Tate No Yuusha No Nariagari S2 along with the third season. Yes, as if it wasn’t enough announcing a second season but a third! So anyway, I thought the third season would happen soon but looks like after a year later and no signs of the third season, you bet the panic button was pressed. Uh huh. With quite a number of anime titles I’m planning to watch, I thought of clearing this out of the way first seeing that it won’t make a difference because it’s not like I remember many stuffs from the first season. Though I believe this series’ third season will be coming out at the end of this year, alas I made my decision to just get over this first otherwise I’ll be wondering why this series has been sitting on my hard drive for over a year while the deluge of current anime series start to flood my watch list. Sighs…

Episode 1
Naofumi sees Keel and Lecia training. The latter dressed up in a penguin suit?! What’s this to hide her depression and get her confidence? Anyway, the place is soon attacked by monster bats. Nothing that Raphtalia and Filo couldn’t handle. Naofumi soon senses something strange as the countdown to the next Wave stops. Soon Mirelia calls all the heroes about this phenomenon. Apparently a horrific disaster known as Spirit Tortoise that revives once every few centuries is going to wreak havoc on the world. However all but Naofumi are not interested in handling this. They’re summoned to fight Waves and not whatever this is. As Naofumi is the only one seemingly agreeing to handle this, Mirelia explains how Spirit Tortoise has left a wake of destruction in is trail. In no time it will reach Melromarc and trample on Naofumi’s land. Well, that’s your cue to accept this job and stop this. Lecia continues to be depressed because Itsuki just told her the devastating truth that he cut her off from his team because she is weak and useless. Hence Raphtalia takes her to Berocas to turn her into Naofumi’s slave so she can be stronger. However Naofumi will not force anyone to be his slave. Oh well, Lecia volunteers since she is desperate to get Itsuki’s approval. After a painful ritual, she is now Naofumi’s slave. Naofumi’s party start their travel to the very Chinese-like Spirit Tortoise Kingdom where the said giant turtle spawned. Along the way, they notice many refugees running away. Upon arriving, they heard rumours how 3 of the heroes have been killed and everything is futile. This makes Lecia panic as she tries to run off. To where? Naofumi stops her and has Filo contact Fitoria to confirm that none of the heroes are dead. Feel better? Leave that for later since the place is under attack by bats and baboons. With the overwhelming numbers, Naofumi is forced to resort in using his cursed shield. Yeah, left a huge crater but Naofumi is still intact. Barely. A woman who recognizes the shield hero wants him to quickly kill her.

Episode 2
For a person who wants to be killed, she sure disappears quickly. Next day, Naofumi along with Mirelia have a war strategy discussion with other nations’ rulers. Some arguing they don’t need the shield hero until they realize their army may not even stop the Spirit Tortoise’s might. Naofumi also learns that there are other chosen heroes: Seven Star Heroes who use vassal weapons and some of them were summoned from another world. However Mirelia won’t put her hopes too much on them as they are much weaker than the 4 heroes. Then that woman from yesterday pops up. Everyone recognizes her as Ost Hourai who is the concubine to the kingdom’s late king and the current regent. However she reveals all that they know about her is a lie. She is actually a familiar of the Spirit Tortoise. This means those bats and baboons are her brethren. Her role is to get close to the centre of power and collect human souls. This is why wars between nations happen so she could collect the souls of the dead. Because it is believed those souls will form a barrier to black the Waves. If she fails, her brethren will forcefully kill. And if that too fails, Spirit Tortoise will break its own seal and go on a rampage. However Spirit Tortoise has awakened too early and somebody has broken its seal to control it. That is why she wants them to kill it. Because it will be useless if Spirit Tortoise destroys the world, right? Hence she will provide her assistance to stop the menace. With the council descending into arguing who should be in charge or taking credit, Naofumi puts his foot down that he is out if nobody has a better plan to take down this Spirit Tortoise. Ost goes to meet the rest of Naofumi’s groupie which now includes Eclair Seyaette and Elrasla Grilaroc, both whom are training Naofumi’s girls especially Lecia. Next day, everyone makes their preparations to take down the Spirit Tortoise as they believe this is its next target since it is densely populated. That night as everyone rests and has a nice time teasing Lecia’s love for Itsuki, that loud roar signals the arrival of the Spirit Tortoise.

Episode 3
Naofumi’s group heads out first. The army gets their morale boosted as they cheer on the shield hero. While Naofumi’s group is to lure the batty familiars away and then take them out (uhm, why is Lecia in a Filo suit?!), Eclair leads her troops to lead the Spirit Tortoise into a ravine where the siege group is waiting to throw all they’ve got at it. Well, nothing works. You think their puny weapons can have any impact on this big turtle. They won’t give up and try to focus on severing a leg. With casualties rising, finally the bombing commander sacrifices himself to bomb the ravine to stop the turtle from moving. Now that it is trapped, the plan is to sever its head. It’s going to be tough because now Spirit Tortoise is shooting spiked beams! Long range attack! As the casualties continue to mount, Naofumi signals the next stage of the attack. This includes having the mages cast a very difficult spell that can only be used once to damage its head. That is when they’ll swoop in to cut it. The plan works like a charm as everybody concentrates their effort until the turtle’s head gets cut off. The survivors celebrate at rejoice at this victory. Naofumi and co believe with Spirit Tortoise’s demise, Ost will no longer be around. But surprise! She still is. This means the Spirit Tortoise isn’t dead yet.

Episode 4
Lecia was born to poor nobles but lived a happy life with her parents. All that came crumbling when the wicked neighbouring noble took her away as her parents couldn’t repay some debt. She thought her life was over until Itsuki freed her. That is why she wants to repay him but her lowest moment came when she got kicked out of his party and couldn’t be of use to him. Naofumi’s plan is to head up to the back of Spirit Tortoise and find any clues of its weakness to defeat it, hoping Ost would remember something. Because of the fog and instead of risk wandering aimlessly in the dark, Naofumi sets up camp on the turtle’s back. Perhaps this is some sort of cue for Lecia x Ost bonding whatever. When the fog lifts, some of Ost’s memories return. She leads them to a place which looks like a decimated village. No survivors. Inside the shrine, there are texts that explain about the Spirit Tortoise. It seems Lecia can read those until she stumbles upon unfamiliar alphabets. To Naofumi’s shock, those words are written in Japanese. Ancient summoned heroes from his world? Some words are hard to read as they are blurred out but it seems like it is trying to tell a way to defeat the Spirit Tortoise. How convenient, place starts to collapse. Everyone get out. So I guess nobody took a picture of that mural and important clues, huh? Don’t worry. Because how convenient either. Ost remembers how to defeat the Spirit Tortoise. There is an entrance inside the shrine deep into its body. Destroy the heart and you destroy the Spirit Tortoise. Yeah, better hurry because it is reported to soon be awakened. Naofumi will only take Raphtalia and Filo with him and the rest return to the army. However Lecia sums up her courage to come with them as she doesn’t want to be left behind. Okay, it’s your choice. As they trek deeper, they are almost attacked by adventurers. They claim they are here on Mirelia’s orders. Suspicious, Naofumi has Raphtalia undo whatever disguise spell and it looks like they are L’arc, Therese and Glass.

Episode 5
Refresh your memories as we are reminded about L’arc’s group here to kill Naofumi to save their world. However they should’ve returned after their last battle during the Wave. L’arc claims they are here to kill the guy who took control of the Spirit Tortoise who is doing this for his own personal greed. He suggests a truce and work together but Naofumi refuses because he won’t work with someone whom he’ll eventually kill. But they’re free to do whatever they want without getting in their way. Ost leads Naofumi and co to an hourglass deep inside. This indicates how many souls it has collected. Ost is conflicted that her task was to steal souls but now ponders the meaning of taking the souls of those nice smiling people. Finally they reach the heart and the perpetrator shows himself: Kyo Ethnina who is one of the vassal weapon heroes. They can’t hurt him since this is not his true body and only a projection. Kyo claims he has deceived L’arc’s party by making them destroy fake generating hearts (I guess this solves the issue of why L’arc earlier on got to the heart first rather than Ost). Naofumi wants Kyo to release his control over the Spirit Tortoise and return the souls he stole. Obviously not going to do it. He lets them fight the heart’s defensive system. Raphtalia is forced to cut it knowing it will kill Ost. Well, trolled us again because she is still alive! So a severed head and heart, the Spirit Tortoise still lives. However Ost has regained her full memories as she brings them to the deepest depths of the body. At this point, the Spirit Tortoise has fully revived. That loud healthy roar signals, “I’m back, motherf*ckers”! Inside this room where Kyo is, he hints that Naofumi has understood what has happened. For those dumb enough not to get it: The whole problem would’ve been solved had they kill Ost because she is not a familiar. Her true identity is that she is linked to the Spirit Tortoise’s core. In other words, the Spirit Tortoise herself. She that mark lighting up on her chest? That’s right.

Episode 6
Had Ost been a familiar, she would’ve been under Kyo’s control. Kyo seems to have captured the other 3 heroes and is using their life as energy to power up the core. Now it gets harder because they have to destroy both the head and heart simultaneously to end this sh*t! Fitoria now joins in the battle as she fights with the Spirit Tortoise. L’arc’s side also joins Naofumi to take down this scumbag but because he has the protection from the Spirit Tortoise, they can’t touch him. Then he uses a soul to control gravity and bring them down to their knees. He abuses and badmouths Naofumi. Until Lecia stands up and fight back (something about manipulating ki allowing her to do this). She claims Kyo is a coward and weak like her. Because he relies on the powers of others. This hits a raw nerve as Lecia fights him and technically she is much better than her. Wow. Did Lecia just change into a different person? Ost uses her strength to have Naofumi chant some spell to break free of the gravity. Then she opens a path for L’arc’s them to the heart. Naofumi has Filo follow them so they can coordinate with Fitoria to destroy their targets simultaneously. Long story short, they did the job (did Spirit Tortoise’s head explode because of its own mouth beam?!). Kyo hasn’t lost yet as he uses the souls as protection around the core. Naofumi then uses his curse shield, seemingly going to end it all. Then nothing happens. Because he has not enough hatred? Kyo laughs his ass off but he’s not going to be the last one laughing as Ost activates the power she left in his shield. Wow. Now Naofumi has wings? And other cool accessories to the shield?! Against Naofumi’s will, it fires at the core, destroying it. And it looks like Kyo has pulled another fast one. He already achieved his goal by saving some of the souls in this container. He escapes back to his own world as L’arc’s side pursue him. The rest tend to a dying Ost as she tells Naofumi he doesn’t need to rely on hatred to use that cursed shield. Because he doesn’t have that, the reason this shield version activated. Naofumi is going to follow the rest to the other world. He wants Lecia to stay with Itsuki but she won’t. She’s part of this team. Ost revels in the beauty of such friendship and wishes to be their friend if she is ever reborn. The Spirit Tortoise disappears and its life force turns the barren land green.

Episode 7
Naofumi and Lecia find themselves in a prison cell. Worse, they realize their skill levels have been reset back to level 1. Well, well. This means Raphtalia is back to being a child. Kawaii! Though, Filo is missing. The door is unlock so they leave and find themselves on a strange island. There is a coast and a beach but no wind. They fight weak weird monsters to level up but at this rate they’ll take forever. But when this kappa monster attacks, they’re not strong enough to defeat it until Kizuna Kazayama saves the day. She is one of the 4 heroes but the hunting hero? As they trade notes, we learn Kizuna too was also summoned from another world but not to fight Waves (a term she has never heard). She adds this is an infinite prison. Once you get in, you cannot get out. She got captured by the enemy and was placed here. For many years she has tried to find a way out but all attempts failed. Yes, she has been stuck in here for many years! She gets excited that Naofumi knows Glass because she’s her best friend. Now Naofumi distrusts her. To prove it, Kizuna strikes him with her sword. She can attack but cannot damage. Next day, Naofumi joins her to look for an exit. After years of exploring, she believes this place might have some clues. This small chapel room, it looks like the far end of this prison and it is believed there is nothing beyond it but another dimension. However they cannot go through it. Naofumi notes that this is like a bug so to solve this, he plants a seed that grows into an infinite plant that bursts open the walls of the room. Using this chance, they dive through the crack and voila! Out of this prison and back into the real world! Kizuna cannot contain her happiness that she is out and no longer alone. Giving her saviour a big hug!

Episode 8
The plan is to head to Sikul, the country that summoned Kizuna. However it is a week’s worth of travel. Hence it is best they head for the capital of Mikakage, the country who captured her and use their hourglass as it has teleporting abilities. Entering town, they witness various races so Kizuna explains to them. Especially the spirit race which Glass belongs to as such race has enormous energy and hence they don’t have levels. A notice states that the enemy state is suspected of making new weapons and doing experiments to copy the teleporting abilities of the hourglass that only the heroes can use. Noting that they need to make some money for food, armour, weapons and even a visa, Naofumi hits an idea when he learns some soul soothing potion to be very valuable for the spirit race. Hence he starts selling them and it sells out like hot cakes. Then they hunt monsters and learn that if the heroes exchange and use each other’s items, they have different effect on them. More selling of the potion as it now turns into an auction to the highest bidder. Sneaky move by Naofumi to make Lecia the clumsy one breaking all but 1 bottle to jack up the price. Later they see a crowd congregate and tight security. Apparently some genius mage from another country who developed the new research technology is back. Sorry it’s not Kyo but Kazuki. But he looks like another arrogant character whom Naofumi would love to hate his guts for. That night as it snows, Kizuna thinks they should use this opportunity to sneak in to use the hourglass where security is low. They do so but as they’re about to enter the room, it is a dead end. Yes, a trap. The guards try to capture them but they run. They split up to effectively find that room and eventually do so. Kazuki is waiting for them and has set this trap as per told by Kyo. He is working with him. In exchange to sponsor this research, he is to capture them. When Kizuna finally manages to activate the hourglass, however only Raphtalia does not begin to warp. Kyo’s maniacal laughter is heard. All part of his plan to separate them, the reason he placed Naofumi in that prison along with Raphtalia so he could see his despaired face when they part. Some parting words from Raphtalia that she’ll be his sword till the end as she fights off the guards while her comrades warp away.

Episode 9
Can’t use the hourglass to return there because the other side has shut it. Naofumi is impatient as he wants to go back and save Raphtalia. For those wondering if Filo has been roasted and eaten as a chicken, sorry folks, it’s a fate worse than that. She’s an auction item for some slave trader. As the Sikul subjects are glad to have Kizuna back, they learn of what happened to her but once they realize who Naofumi is, they go on full alert. They believe he is one of those who want to destroy their world. Luckily here comes Ethnobalt, another vassal weapon user. He returns Chris who is Kizuna’s shikigami pet to her. Because such shikigami can help locate others, all Naofumi need is his blood and something from Raphtalia. Using her hair, now we have a cute raccoon shikigami. Since this raccoon is alive, it means Raphtalia is alive too. Naofumi notes Ethnobalt is not human and true enough, his true form is a monster rabbit and his race is to protect this world. As Chris and the raccoon point out Raphtalia and Glass in the same area, Raybul the enemy nation aligned with Mikakage that Kazuki is from, this is their next destination. Ethnobalt’s boat is even better than the hourglass as he can teleport anywhere without registering. He leaves them at Raybul. As they walk through town, Naofumi hears a familiar cry. Don’t look now but Filo being put on show and being abused. You bet Naofumi wants to kill this bastard but Lecia is rational and suggests sneaking in to save her at night. After all, can’t risk Filo being hurt. That night they do so and in this cage, Naofumi recognizes her and breaks the talisman that is keeping her stay in this little monster form. Filo is so happy to reunite with her master again she won’t let him go. When the slave trader is here, Naofumi unleashes some illusion fear to break him. Apparently he is the son of some noble and is doing this as some sideshow. It could have been Kyo who had given Filo to his father who then gave it to him. Since filolial race don’t exist in this world, it could be that Filo as filolial queen allowed her to retain her human form. Next day, a notice that has Naofumi and the rest as wanted people. But it was dark so their faces aren’t drawn clearly. But a more distressing issue, Naofumi suddenly loses Raphtalia’s stats. This critter is still here so Raphtalia should be alive. But something still feels off.

Episode 10
Raphtalia is being locked in a snowy prison. To her surprise, her other cellmates are L’arc and his party. They fell into Kyo’s trap and got captured. They trade notes as Glass is relieved to hear Kizuna is okay. To thank her, she will definitely return her to Naofumi. Because this prison makes you exhausted, the reason why they can’t break free despite having weapons. However Raphtalia has an idea. Making an illusion to disappear, this has a guard open the door to check it out. Raphtalia then steals his special talisman which negates the exhaustion spell for their much needed prison break. Their mission now is to use Raybul’s hourglass to Sikul and meet up with Naofumi. Along the way, they hear a commotion. Apparently a new katana vassal weapon wielder will be chosen. Since it has been Raybul’s tradition to wield it, everyone is watching with baited breath as they watch Kazuki making his turn. However the sword soon disappears into Raphtalia’s hands. Kazuki thinks she stole it and orders the guards to help her. So as not to make a fuss, Raphtalia escapes on her own. As a vassal weapon, she cannot discard the weapon and now she is back into her adult form and that makes her clumsier. Also, her slave crest has disappeared. Thank goodness she stumbles into a shrine who serves the katana vassal weapon wielder for generations. Yes, time for a change of clothes for Raphtalia. Fancy a miko priestess outfit? Now that she can move easily, Kazuki is here to get what he believes is his. Despite still weak, Raphtalia can defeat him and even copies of this Byakko tiger monsters he sent at her. Raphtalia finally paralyzes Kazuki and learns he wants the sword so badly so as to make Kyo owe him one. Well, not going to happen. Now that she has used up too much energy, she can’t deal with this huge Byakko. This is it? Think again because Naofumi and co drop in to destroy this beast. Instead of asking for forgiveness or punishment, Raphtalia is glad to be back with them. Despite being free, she continues to be by Naofumi’s side.

Episode 11
Kyo is mocking Kazuki for his failures. This guy is so irritated that he moves from his spot, allowing Raphtalia’s curse to take effect and slicing him in half! Don’t worry, Kyo will take him back to his lab to be revived. But in the meantime since the other heroes will be a hindrance to Kyo, Yomogi Emarl offers to go eliminate them. Kizuna is reunited with Glass. But once she hears how they were trying to destroy Naofumi’s world thinking it would stop the Waves, she starts chewing everybody out. Kizuna believes there is another way than that. But when Naofumi questions what if that is the only way, Kizuna maintains she won’t fight him. Oh, did we mention L’arc is also the young king of Sikul? No wonder he’s so famous… In order to prepare their fight against Kyo, Kizuna takes them to Romina who will make them some weapons. It will take a week but Kizuna wants it done overnight! Suddenly here comes Yomogi to kill them. WTF she declares to fight and claims unfairness that they outnumber her?! As they fight, her sword starts acting strange. It tries to absorb her but the rest manage to tear it apart from her before it goes boom. Yomogi wants to be killed seeing that she has failed. Of course Kizuna won’t do so. However Yomogi is willing to die for Kyo’s noble cause AKA stopping the Waves. Instead of having a hostile environment to interrogate her, Kizuna brings her to her own home to talk. She doesn’t want her to deem them as the enemy. This upsets Naofumi because she is the enemy. Kizuna is being kind because she hasn’t seen the atrocities Kyo has done. Anyway what Kizuna wants is to have Yomogi tell the truth and perhaps they can find a way to stop the Wave. Yomogi starts talking about being childhood friends since young. Kyo displayed his genius at an early age, even knowing about Waves. She followed him and vowed to protect him. Now she has doubts if Kyo has done something wicked behind her back. If so, he must pay and she will atone with him. Romina has done the impossible and completed the weapons. Even more amazing, here’s the hefty bill! Trying to put it on L’arc’s tab, Kizuna! Suddenly the Wave countdown accelerates. Kyo seems to be glad his experiment is done. Multiple Waves appear in the sky. Yomogi sees Kyo’s lab and becomes disheartened. Now she knows the truth he isn’t out to stop Waves but to create one.

Episode 12
A short flashback of Kyo’s previous life. An otaku who hates his life and his games were his only escape. But he too got tired of it and killed himself. Now with this second life, he is going to live the way he wants. Yomogi leads Naofumi’s group into Kyo’s lab while Kizuna’s group fight the monsters. They are up against Kazuki’s lackeys who are combined with other monsters to power up. They think doing so will bring Kazuki back to life. Damn, Raphtalia just took them all down in 1 strike! Kyo is here to say hi as well as let them toy with Kazuki. Sorry, he is just an undead. A lifeless body. A homunculus. Raphtalia, Filo and Yomogi fight this zombie while letting Naofumi and Lecia go ahead. Kyo purposely insults Naofumi and the likes just to make him mad. So mad that his cursed shield now activates and he is engulfed with the demon inside it. When Lecia tries to calm him down, Naofumi chokes her and claims she is a useless slut and laments he has to take care of someone who is after Itsuki. Basically he is useless like Raphtalia and Filo once were but now they’re at least useful to him. But Lecia is glad to hear his thoughts on her and that he still thinks of them as treasured friends. She wants whatever controlling Naofumi to get out. As Naofumi struggles, Lecia goes to fight Kyo who is still trying to use the Spirit Tortoise’s essence to fight her. Naofumi facing his inner demon as this one tries to convince him he needs his power to do his task to destroy the Waves. The power to burn everything! Thankfully, Ost returns and tells him he does not need such flames and whatever task he intends to do, it is for him to decide. Naofumi regains his sanity this time with Raphtalia and Filo by his side. Naofumi accepts all the hatred and anger because he needs it to move on. His shield evolves as he blasts away Kyo. But even so, Kyo is not panicking in death. He believes he’ll have the last laugh and will find out soon what it is. With Kyo’s death, the world returns to normal. Yomogi thanks Naofumi for defeating Kyo. With this mission over, Naofumi and co will automatically return to their world. Kizuna is sad this is too soon because she hasn’t thanked him properly yet. Uhm, don’t be wasting time now! She does so and hopes to come to his world one day. If she knows how. Back home, Naofumi has been awarded and given the title of viscount for his role in defeating the Spirit Tortoise. During his absence, another Wave occurred but the other heroes redeemed themselves to defeat it. Naofumi notes more tough challenges to face but as long as he has his friends, he can keep this world safe.

Episode 13
Naofumi and co are on a trip. While taking a fishing break, Filo is sad she can’t fly anymore like she did in the other world. Raphtalia remembers the time when Kizuna picked out their clothes in the other world. Flashback on how she toyed with the ladies by having them wear different outfit before settling on the one we saw. When asking Naofumi which clothes of them was the best, he replied his because it has the highest defence. Yeah, this dude didn’t get it… Meanwhile Kizuna and Yomogi are fishing. Yomogi wonders how Kizuna fared during her imprisonment. Kizuna relates when she first got here, she thought she was going to be stuck here forever. But she didn’t give up in finding a way out. Solo camping was only fun for so much so she created a boat trying to escape. Until she hit a wall. Oh well, back to more solo camping. Then she tried to kill herself but couldn’t bring herself to it. Subsequently she created a familiar volleyball as companion! OMG I wonder if she called it Wilson!!! One day she saw a light crashing in (Naofumi) and that’s when she got hope she might get out of here. Yomogi fears she can’t remember Kyo anymore. So Kizuna tells her to remember the fund times. Ah, perhaps this. The time when Kyo was frantically finding his glasses when it was on his head all along! Yomogi couldn’t help keep it a secret until she couldn’t and that priceless reaction when she told him. That was the last time they had fun before Kyo went to hunt down the Spirit Tortoise. Meanwhile is Filo trying to kill everyone by trying to fly???!!! CHICKENS CAN’T FLY! Luckily she didn’t. The girls then remember what Ost talked to them about getting intimate. Raphtalia and Filo didn’t understand what it meant so Ost whispered to them. While Filo doesn’t find mating indecent, Raphtalia finds it otherwise. Ost would’ve love to tell more but Lecia can’t take any more of it. Naofumi and co are now at the Spirit Tortoise’s resting place as they pay their final respects. I’m sure the spirit of Ost is here to thank them for one last time.

The Tortoise And The Harbinger Of Death
As mentioned, the long and arduous journey of the shield hero isn’t over yet. From the few short ‘tantalizing’ clips at the end, it looks like more sh*t is going to hit the fan and it could be even worse than what our heroes have faced in this season and the previous. Or maybe it is just me overthinking because you know how they like to overdramatize things. Yeah, don’t worry. I’ll soon find it all out in the next few months. Glad I got this out of the way so I can go watch my other animes before the next season arrives?

Personally, I thought this season felt like one big side-tracked mission or side quest. After all, there is a countdown to the next Wave so what else to give our shield hero something to do in this not-so-optional side quest. That’s why the first half is about taking down a giant mythical beast that is seemingly about to destroy the world prematurely. And then the second half throws our titular hero and his harem into another world. Heh. Imagine being given the isekai treatment TWICE! Although the mini story arcs weren’t anything great but at least they were interesting enough to retain my attention. That’s good enough already, right? What more do I want? I mean, it’s pretty typical and cliché of such plots that the hero needs to save the world from destruction from a crazy baddie and only he and his team can do the job. At least Naofumi did his job/role/task as he was summoned for.

Character wise, there are some developments between the main characters but nothing that significant or major. Like Naofumi may be still full of angst because of what he went through but this time I don’t see him as angry as before. Maybe it’s partly due to my failing memories. Sure, he does get angry but more than often it is because his friends were put in danger. So he claims he doesn’t care and all that but his actions tell us otherwise. It’s just that he doesn’t sugar coat or put up the most romantic or gentleman act. He is still a little crude but I guess that is way better than putting up a fake front that is not you. And so this season we see him deal with the major hatred residing inside him but thankfully with the power of friendship and bonds, he managed to get it under control and move forward. I’m not saying that those resentments are totally gone and it is most likely they’ll come back to haunt him in the future but at least he has a clearer view of what he needs to do and the important things he has right now.

Taking up a bigger share of the spotlight this season is Lecia. Obviously she somewhat joined Naofumi’s group at the end of last season so it only makes sense that they need to flesh out her character more. Basically she has a lot of insecurities and being the newbie of the group, character wise she is definitely the weakest but I suppose to look in a positive light, that only means she has more room to grow and improve. While she is still overall an emotional cry-baby and scaredy cat, Lecia can still rise up to the occasion when needed to. Especially her moments of shine came during the confrontation with Kyo. And she owned him TWICE! I guess that proves all that wasn’t just a fluke or beginner’s luck. I’m not sure at this rate she’ll continue to be a permanent member of Naofumi’s team. I mean, this is not like some internship where she’ll eventually go back to Itsuki’s side, right?! I am betting she’ll continue to stay since she is much freer here and even if she made improvements, I don’t see the point of her returning because I feel being in Itsuki’s group would just stifle her.

Raphtalia and Filo continue to play an integral supporting role for Naofumi. Obviously they don’t get too much focus this season as they have been fleshed out last season. So they’re just playing their role sufficiently to assure us that they will continue to be Naofumi’s support no matter what. On a side note, when Filo got separated and went missing for a while, then when we were shown her whereabouts, I find those short moments to be unnerving. Because hearing Filo screaming and being abused, it was really unsettling. Makes me think if she was turned into a fried chicken and eaten it would’ve been a whole lot better! Holy sh*t! What am I saying?! Speaking of animal mascot, I suppose now they have this cute little raccoon AKA Raph-chan to tag along now, huh? After all, it’s part of Raphtalia. Now we can enjoy double cuteness one from Filo and the other being Raph-chan. Yeah, Naofumi’s party is going to ramp up the cuteness level.

I’m sure that you do notice that some other characters from the first season are sorely missing this season. Namely, Melty. The excuse that she’s busy taking care of Naofumi’s territory, I guess this seems legit because otherwise he has got another girl to bring along in his adventure (is that why Lecia in some ways took her place?). Sorry Melty fans, I guess this is not her season. I don’t even think she has any spoken dialogue too! The irony her mom has more prominent role than her. At least for the first half. Others sorely missing are the other heroes. Obviously nobody is going to usurp our shield hero’s screen time. What was the name of this anime again? And so with Naofumi taking on side quests, the heroes were almost reduced to forgettable especially how it was just mind boggling for them to get owned so easily during the Spirit Tortoise. Like, WTF HOW?! And then behind our backs the redeemed themselves but I guess I have to remember this anime is not about them. At least with their non-appearance, they don’t have to be dicks and confrontational to Naofumi. Especially that Myne b*tch. Thank goodness! Oh right, it’s Bitch/Slut (her official new name).

I have this feeling that Ost is the member that would have been in Naofumi’s group had she lived. The way they treated her as though she is an indispensable part of their group and especially how they shed tears and got so sad when she passed on, it’s like the party member that they never had but should have. Same thing for Kizuna too but since she is from another world, perhaps one day we will have crossovers from various worlds when they fight the ultimate Wave. Yeah. Is it me because sometimes I feel Kizuna is Melty’s replacement in some ways. At least appearance wise, they look almost similar. Sorry, Kizuna is no Melty substitute but Kizuna herself is very much an opposite to Naofumi. Instead of being antagonistic for most of the time, she would prefer to try to take the friendlier approach. So I guess she would be the bridge between Naofumi and L’arc’s group? I bet after what happened, they’ll be fighting alongside each other than killing each other again. Now we see the amusing banter between Naofumi and L’arc. The former calling-cum-teasing him the young king and the latter will rebuke with passion not to call him that!

It’s like they wanted to write an antagonist whom we will hate our guts this season and hence this one dimensional baddie, Kyo. He is crazy and has no redeeming values and that is why it is easy for us to hate him with all our might. I don’t think his brief past life was to make us feel more sympathetic and in fact, nothing about it was. And thus with this conniving scumbag as this season’s villain, all the more reason why this helps elevate Naofumi’s goals to be looking more saint-like. Yeah. And of course the inferior villain lackey AKA Kazuki who is just another pawn in Kyo’s schemes rather than being another mighty villain who can stand on his own. Gotta pile all our hate on Kyo rather than split them into 2 antagonists. I figure Kazuki is just needed for some fighting practice for Raphtalia and Filo in the end.

While this season’s art and animation remain largely the same, however there are some scenes where I noticed a slight downgrade especially the battle and fight sequences. Not sure if they plan to cover that up using great lighting special effects but whatever. Worse, the CGI for the Spirit Tortoise looks weird. I’m not saying it is bad but it certainly looks a bit out of place. Then when it got its head decapitated, wow, that chunk of meat… Strange. On a trivial note, because this series takes place in another world which is very much western influence, hence the second isekai part where it is so Japanese-like. Ah yes, got to make us appreciate the Japanese culture with its resemblance. Not that it’s a bad thing but perhaps can’t pigeonhole us into thinking isekai will always be 100% western style fantasy. Or maybe it’s just me.

New seiyuus this season include Kana Hanazawa as Ost as the only one I obviously recognized. The rest are Miyu Tomita as Kizuna (titular character in Gabriel Dropout), Ryohei Kimura as Kyo (Tsubasa in Kyoukai No Rinne), Kengo Kawanishi as Ethnobalt (Rei in 3-gatsu No Lion), Maki Kawase as Yomogi (Will in Saihate No Paladin), Shinnosuke Tachibana as Kazuki (Tomoe in Kamisama Hajimemashita), Ruriko Aoki as Eclair (Yugiri in Zombie Land Saga), Maki Izawa as Elrasla (Chitose in Sakura Quest) and Rika Kinugawa as Romina (Onemine in Komi-san Wa Comyushou Desu). One again Madkid is retained to do the opening theme, Bring Back. If you like their style of rock music then this should feel at home. Heck, does it sound almost the same like the last season? Although it fits the series well, it’s not really to my liking. Chiai Fujikawa is also retained to sing this season’s ending theme, Yuzurenai. Somehow I feel that this slow rock ballad is a spiritual successor to the first seasons’ Atashi Ga Tonari Ni Iru Uchi Ni as it sounds almost similar in certain lines.

Overall, this season is passable by my standards. Unfortunately, a majority of reviews out there didn’t take this second season too kindly because of how tame it was. Because back in the first season we had been given darker stuffs like Naofumi’s betrayal and false accusations and of course rape! This season then overshadows all that and turned it into some generic isekai series which of course as you can see why let many people with high hopes down with such disappointment. Thank goodness I’m not one of those elites as I believe this season is still watchable. Heh. Thank goodness for my failing memories too so I don’t have all that fury and hatred built up inside me. Phew. Anger can only get you so far. No wonder I’m so happy. Happy watching sh*tty animes despite each time I complain how disappointing they are! Did I misplace my anger and hate somewhere? Should I get it back or someone please return it before I watch the third season? Oh never mind. Because someone once said, the greatest remedy for anger is delay. Wrong! Imagine the rage if the third season got delayed just like how this second season was! Sorry, we won’t have a hot Chinese chick like Ost to calm our raging inner weeabo spirit!

Mob Psycho 100 S3

Hey. Wait a minute!!! I thought it all ended for good?! Because the last time a certain esper main character and his buddies took down the big bad boss of a big bad organization, wasn’t that the last of it?! Or was it just me assuming everything ended? Yup. Seems like that. Because I was sure helluva surprised when Mob Psycho 100 S3 came out. Didn’t think there would be more but I guess the story isn’t just about facing off against Claw. Because Mob still has a few issues to deal with. You know, like confessing to his crush? Oh yeah. That is the ultimate battle for Mob that he will need to face sooner or later.

Episode 1
It’s that time of year where students have to hand in their career paths. And Mob is fretting about it since he isn’t sure what he wants to do. He isn’t the only one as his Telepathy Club buddies too share the same dilemma. With these guys at the bottom of the school rankings, isn’t hard to see why. He gets awed hearing Tsubomi is aiming for an elite high school. Well, she is in the top 5 ranking. Mob also goes to talk to Reigen about it but nothing much comes out of it. Then they attend to a client who claims this expensive doll he bought is cursed. Reigen thinks he is scammed and didn’t think much of it until Mob points out it is indeed curse. To cover up his mistake, Reigen blames Serizawa for not pointing this out and was testing him to see if he could spot it. To make amends he has him exorcise it. No biggie but he broke the statue! No worries too as Reigen glues it back together. Perfect. Mob continues to fret over his career path. His family is too simplistic while the Body Building Club all already have their paths decided. Then Mezato talks to him about the recent terrorist attack and believes Mob has had a hand in it. Yeah, making it sound so dramatic, eh? So much so, people started worshipping that broccoli-cum-tree and calling it the Psycho Helmet Religion. The talk diverts to the career path but as usual, Mob still can’t think of anything.

Reigen and co visit the house of a hoarder who believes his home is haunted. Reigen is scared not because of possible ghosts but cockroaches! He bails with excuse to go get ‘powerful exorcism tools’ and has the duo listen to the rest of the story. Basically he is wallowing in depression of the wrong choices he made in life and is left with nothing. But unknown to them, this has caused an evil spirit to appear and is making everyone in the vicinity to fall asleep. Reigen just finished buying those cleaning tools (evil spirits hate clean houses?) when he sees this atrocity. He rushes back to tell the duo about it. He gives excuse his exorcism is too powerful and might hurt others so he leaves it to them. Yeah. The duo purge the spirit but also blows away all the hoarding items and the roof. But the guy now feels great and thanks them. After they leave, he begins to go back to his hoarding business… Serizawa and Mob are depressed since what that guy said hit too close to home. They too could’ve picked the wrong path and end up like him. So as Mob hands in his career path, he doesn’t have anything particular in mind. The teacher is mindful to give some advice. So Mob wants to travel the world now? With that, Mob then talks to Reigen that although he is comfortable here, he cannot see himself working here in the future for fear he might get complacent. Because when that happens, the only thing that will change is his age. Well, Reigen now says what he said earlier was a joke. He is sure he will find what he wants to do. Reigen reveals he left his previous job because he was bored. He started this one on a whim and thought of closing up after a year. But then Mob came at the right time and look where they are now? What he is trying to say is that what he wants to do doesn’t have to be work. He should just live however he wants. Mob is so enlightened and thanks him and leaves. So uhm, is he still coming back to work here or not?

Episode 2
A yokai hunter named Haruaki Amakusa arrives in town. Something ominous is going on. Meanwhile Mob’s class will do a haunted house for the cultural festival. He is in charge with other guys to do the costumes. They get lazy and think using a white sheet as ghosts will do. Mob thinks they should do more but he himself lacks any ideas. Meanwhile Amakusa arrives at Reigen’s office. Yeah, another one of those passionate cosplayers, huh? Because of his way of speaking that sounds so ambiguous, Reigen snaps at him to make it clear. So basically this is what he needs his services for. He sensed the presence of yokai in this town and wants his help to slay them. Namely the Hundred Demons. If they let them be, they will steal the energy of others. Reigen is not interested in this until Amakusa shows the money. 100 million yen enough as consultation fees? ALRIGHT! Now we go yokai hunting! Break free from cycle of sadness! Yeah, whatever issues Mob needs to talk to him have to wait. Hence as he follows them, he isn’t fully concentrating as he keeps thinking about his haunted house issue. So as they go hunt for the yokai base, all duds until the building that Mob exorcised before. Venturing inside, it is creepy as hell and you can tell they’re venturing deep into yokai territory. Then the yokai attacks. Well boys, time for some action. Oh my, Amakusa’s expensive sword just broke! Don’t worry, Mob and Serizawa will do the job. In the end, Hundred Demons’ generals and even big boss, the Great Yokai King comes out. Yeah, those yokai are the ones who are supposed to be scared! Yup. Easily defeated. Even if the king himself transforms and powers up. Too bad we couldn’t see how he was defeated in a flash. Amakusa is so amazed he wants to hire and pay them as yokai hunters. But Serizawa and Mob decline. Reigen tries to mock him that they have their own lives so Amakusa feels sorry and apologizes for trying to use money to buy his friends! Yeah, I guess no more money, huh? In the end, Amakusa leaves and Mob doesn’t need Reigen’s help. He already figured it out. So he calls his friends and tells them his plans. Yup, all inspiration gotten from this incident. Well, not the best Great Yokai King design but nobody is complaining. The cultural festival proceeds smoothly. Meanwhile Ritsu’s class is doing cross-dressing maid café. Ritsu might not like it but those moms certainly have fallen for him! And Reigen uses the face of Great Yokai King as his homepage avatar.

Episode 3
Mob gets a bit happy after talking a bit to Tsubomi. Later Mezato tries to invite to come to a gathering for the Psycho Helmet Religion but he declines. Then there is Tome who is asking his help to find more telepathists. Because Emi points out he is getting a bit popular with the girls, this has Mob get a bit conscious. He starts to notice other girls staring at him. Because of that, his emotions reaches 100%. Now he is on his high horse. That night, Mezato calls Mob, still trying to convince him to come to the gathering. She further explains that many people have claimed to be the founder and hence there will be an audition to see who will become the founder. She believes there can be no one else but him. Besides, it will make him popular with the girls. Like Tsubomi. There’s the buzzword. And so Mob will think about it. It has been a while so Dimple returns and learns about Mob thinking he is popular with girls. He brushes it off as coincidental and then talks about the audition. Of course we all know Dimple wants to become the founder but Mob is quick to point out this has nothing to do with him. Besides, Mob isn’t power hungry and will not join forces with him to control the masses. He wants Dimple to stop his greedy ambitions. With that, Dimple just quietly left. There is nothing else more to be said. Mob then talks to Reigen about the audition. He plans to show up to at least see what is going on. Reigen checks their website and finds it shady. At first he tells Mob not to go but after seeing they’ve got so many followers and the cash… Oh boy, this can bring in the business! Yeah, he tells Mob to go and possibly help promote his business too. Reigen then gives him money to buy some clothes. Does Mob know anything about fashion? Don’t worry, Teru is here to help. He also hears about him being popular with girls and is supportive of his idea. Well, I think Teru has bad fashion taste too. But whatever. WTF this Smart Monkey brand… Now we see lots of weirdoes at the audition. Mob is not here as he is waiting somewhere else for Mezato but she didn’t show up. As Reigen watches the audition online, he thought Mob finally comes on stage but he can tell this is not Mob. He tries to call Mob but damn, Mob’s phone out of battery. The imposter gives his speech and elects himself as the founder who will protect this city. This causes everyone to get mad and vehemently object. This is when the imposter shows his magic as he sprouts another mini divine tree. Or is it a broccoli really…

Episode 4
Mob wonders why Mezato didn’t turn up as planned. She mentions she forgot and now that the founder of the faith has showed up, she apologizes for dragging him into this. Mob is further suspicious when even Tome turns her Telepathy Club into a branch of Psycho Helmet Religion. Later Mob talks to Reigen about this. He doesn’t think much about it needs Mob’s help because there have been requests to investigate buildings that plant vines and roots suddenly growing on them. He believes that broccoli is the root of it all because doing such jobs don’t bring in the money. He wants to eliminate that divine tree that they were also partly responsible for. Meanwhile Teru is tasting some new treats made from the divine tree. He soon starts to worship it but spits it out in time after realizing it has brainwashing effects. Hence he jumps over to the divine tree and faces the supposed founder. Once again, he almost gets brainwashed but snaps out of it. He begins fighting him but with the founder’s regenerative abilities, Teru is going to tire out at this rate. He realizes the founder is no other than Dimple who admits he is using Mob’s image to make others worship him. It is his goal to become a modern day God. Hence this is not brainwashing but a blessing to give everyone a place of belonging. Teru will not buy that crap and will eliminate him. Minegishi realizes the divine tree’s roots spreading everywhere in this city and absorbing the life force of the plants. At this rate, the entire city will die. But upon this realization, Minegishi starts to grow weak.

Reigen’s plan is to transport the broccoli and sink it into the ocean. Hence it is Mob’s job to uproot and transport it while Reigen will secure the root. Mob thinks it is going to be a lot of work so he asks Ritsu for help. At first he is reluctant but after a few ‘convincing’ words from Reigen, he agrees. Ritsu then brings them to a civic centre where he introduces them to a bunch of people who are members of Psycho Helmet Religion! They know about his plans to cut down the divine tree and want to talk to change their mind. Clearly Ritsu has been brainwashed as Reigen and Mob sprint the hell out as fast as they could. Reigen points out to this candy that has been brainwashing people. But everywhere they go, followers of the faith approach them and keep telling them their plan is futile. Mob replies Reigen’s question about the faith. They aren’t bad people and are just a group of people gathering to have some activities. But all that changes when the founder turned up. He doesn’t like what he is doing and cannot condone to his brainwashing methods that is fooling others. However, Reigen suddenly says the religion isn’t bad, that they should live in harmony, blah, blah, blah. The moment he tells Mob to forget about it and go home, that is when Mob realizes he too has been brainwashed. Realizing he may be the only one left in the city not brainwashed. He goes to the divine tree and claims of wanting to meet the founder. This is when everyone forms a path as they start praising Mob as the original founder. We have 2 founders now! All hail Mob!

Episode 5
As Mob makes his way into the divine tree, he talks to the imposter founder about this religion. Basically he doesn’t know what’s good for anybody so he just let his followers decide. Isn’t that good enough? Mob then sees Teru tied up and is told that he tried to shut down this religion first but failed. Mob is of course not impressed and knows the one behind this is Dimple as he calls out to him. Dimple then explains how his simple exposure to touch or consume anything related to the divine tree has everyone soon brainwashed and at this rate, the entire world will be united under this new religion. Mob disagrees since he is just brainwashing them not to go against him. True. But how is that different from real society? Will Mob resort to violence too if this fails? Because he is the same if he does. Teru tries to convince Mob that Dimple isn’t bad and if he uses violence, it’s all over. Because he will be the one to stop him. While it may sound like Teru is brainwashed, Dimple claims he isn’t. Since Mob remains adamant for Dimple to free anyone, Teru fights him. Eventually Mob’s tremendous power blows Teru far away from the divine tree. Now Mob has to face Dimple’s clones as he calls out to that fake God to face him. Since he isn’t, does he mean he is scared of him? Finally Dimple appears in the flesh. Or at least his usual ghost form. If Mob won’t become part of his religion, he’ll get Tsubomi to convince him! He gets honest that he has no chance with her since she is a strong woman. Even he had trouble trying to brainwash her at first. Now that she is under this religion, Mob has a shot at her if he joins. This only makes Mob madder as he gives Dimple a beat down. Dimple is then reborn into his new form. Imagine the Oscar’s statue all buffed up. Yup. Hideous! He tries to bet down Mob with his godly attacks. This is a ploy to wear down Mob as he has been constantly sucking his power ever since he entered this divine tree. Despite how powerful Mob his, his powers are finite. But Dimple starts to sweat as Mob still has this much power. Mob will not accept Dimple because this is all fake. This makes Dimple mad since he is denying this godly existence he has always wanted. Even unleashing all that raging madness, Mob still has lots of powers left. Mob is somewhat glad since this is Dimple’s true feelings. But it’s goodbye seeing Dimple claims he has always been using him. Dimple is going to finish him off when he sees Mob in that funny monkey shirt! LAME! Yeah, but Mob’s emotions have reached 100% now!

Episode 6
Mob seems to let loose all his powers. Dimple thought he is going to attack and puts up a defensive barrier that blows Mob away pretty easily. Strange. He now senses Mob has no power left. Could it be that he did it on purpose? Looks like it is. Because now that his powers are out of the way, they can talk. He believes Dimple will not kill him and proving him right, Mob gets close to him. Dimple is Dimple. He isn’t dangerous. He just got carried away. His earnest comments on his shirt sealed the deal. Dimple remains suspicious that he is planning something although Mob assures he isn’t. Mob also admits himself that he got carried away too. Because he was trying to become popular, he forgot about Dimple and should’ve talked things out with him. He will listen to all that he wants to say. Dimple is confused as he tries to put all this together. Despite for what he is, Mob still accepted him and he thought he could use Mob for his ultimate goal. Even so, being chummy with Mob made him lose sight of his goal and perhaps his reason for existence. Then he realizes what he needed wasn’t to become God or followers. He just wanted a friend. Just like that, Dimple gives up on his ambitions and wants to go home. He’ll erase everyone’s memories. Mob even asks if he is okay with that! You sure you want to change his mind on that! With Mob exhausted, Dimple carries him back home. But on the way out, Dimple is shocked to see a Psycho Helmet clone. He wants Mob to be left behind as sustenance. Dimple realizes the divine tree has absorbed too much from the city and has taken a life on its own. Dimple protects an unconscious Mob as he staves off the Psycho Helmet clones. Dimple realizes he is fighting a losing battle as Psycho Helmet is also absorbing his energy. That scream of frustration, is it the end? When Mob wakes up, Dimple is before him. Dimple says he has never exerted this much power before. He now realizes what Mob goes through every day suppressing his own power. He is such an amazing guy for not letting it get to his head. Dimple alters Mob’s memories and then gives him his final orders to walk his own home. A dazed Mob does so as we hear sounds of crashing and smashing in the background. Dimple gets eaten by Psycho Helmet. Mob goes out and before the crowd, tells them all to go home. Late that night, the news reports the divine tree suddenly flying up into space. Can’t be Mob, right? He and everyone else can’t remember what happened that evening. But Mob cries and knows this is Dimple’s work. He has nothing but thanks for his friend. Oh Dimple… This episode so bittersweet… :’(…

Episode 7
Tome just realized… She will soon be graduating! Hitting the panic button, she feels the need for her Telepathy Club to do something. However the guys are being lackadaisical and thinks lazing around and doing nothing has been fun. Yeah, not even bothered. This disappoints Tome so much that she quits the club and leaves! Now the trio panics so they head down to Mob’s place to seek for some telepathic help. Since Mob can’t use telepathy, Ritsu suggests someone who might. This Shiratori brothers explain about the noise they can produce and hopefully somebody who can ‘hear’ it will pick it up. Back at the clubroom, with Mob’s enhancement they try to amplify that. Suddenly somebody comes into the room. Who is this Momozo Takenaka? Well, a former Telepathy Club member who left. Now he is in the Tennis Club and he claims he is ditching practice. He still mocks them for trying to do such childish stuffs. They ignore him and continue. Takenaka starts to look pale before he tells them to freaking stop it. Soon he reveals he is a telepathist. From young he could hear thoughts of others whether he wants to or not. As he grew older, its range grew larger to a point he can even inject his thoughts into others. Of course he got sick of it all and managed to ‘seal’ it by wearing earplugs. He has no intention of joining them when Mob says he was trying to look for similar people like him, the reason he joined the club. Too bad it wasn’t what he was looking for and that’s why he left. Mob will not coerce him into doing this because he too is sometimes sick of his powers. However it is part of him so he tries to have fun with it once in a while. Takenaka gives a little thought and somewhat agrees to join in this experiment. Their plan is to head up to Mt Mud Boat on New Year’s Eve. The Telepathy Club trio try to invite Tome to join but she refuses, citing she has some study camp. Mob got Reigen to drive them but I guess he overslept and is running late. So as Mob and the rest wait, they are shocked to see Tome here too. Change of heart? Well, she didn’t want to join the study camp. She is surprised to see Takenaka but refuses to believe he is a telepathist and thinks they’re tricking her. With Reigen arriving, the gang begin their road trip up the mountains.

Episode 8
Reigen drives until he can’t drive anymore? Time to take a walk till they reach the hiking trail. When they finally manage to do so, the gang feels like they want to continue this UFO summoning ritual that this trip is all about. However Tome is against this. Things have not been going their way so it’s best they return. But when they point out they planned this for her, she takes this as an insult and thinks they are blaming her. This is precisely the reason she disbanded the club because she doesn’t want situation like this. She was in a dilemma to come or not and then they lied to her about Takenaka being a telepathist. She is done with all this and wants to go home. But with Mob extending his hand to help her carry, she realizes being a dick isn’t the best thing so she reluctantly agrees to carry on the journey. At the top of the mountain, Takenaka starts preparing and doing rituals for the summoning. Apparently the reason he was late for the gathering is because he was doing research on this so he remembered it by heart. So as everyone joins in, soon Reigen calls out Takenaka’s bluff. He is forced to admit the author of the research got arrested for being a fraud. Yup, none of this works. Reigen agrees with Takenaka that the important thing is that they do things together and had fun. This will become their precious youthful memories. So as they continue their fake summoning, suddenly a real UFO pops up! Holy sh*t! YOU MEAN IT’S REAL?! Then aliens descend. Wow. This is how they look? Now I’ve seen everything! After shaking Tome’s hands, they invite them back to their ship. Uhm, reminds her a bit of their club. Hanging out and eating snacks. The Earthlings join them and even share and teach them a few games. Such fun times. Then they realize it is getting late and they need to go home. As token of friendship, the aliens give this beautiful shining stone. The Earthlings give whatever they have in return. Mob doesn’t have any so he shows a bit of his powers. Then they all return home just in time to catch the dawn of a new year. But wait. Isn’t somebody missing? Yeah, Inukawa is left on board! As he narrates, he is taken back to their world. Because he cannot speak their language, he went with the flow. Time passes and not sure what happened to him because did he get raped by them? Because the aliens also have a natural enemy eating their crops, Inukawa helped took care of it by simply using weapons. He became a hero and treated as one. One day he wanted to go back and managed to relay to their hearts his message. All he had to do was look them in the eye and convey it from the heart. As he returns, his memories of the alien world become fuzzy and vague.

Episode 9
The next school term has begun. The teacher as usual reminding his class to keep up with their studies, etc. For some strange reason, he tells them about Tsubomi moving away! And she’s not even in Mob’s class! You bet this makes Mob worried. Need to confess to her? Well, he’s not alone. Yeah, other guys have the same idea too! Hence Mob talks to his Body Building Club buddies for advice. They claim he has developed nice muscles so show that to her! Then he goes to the Telepathy Club for the same. Takenaka even has the same idea although he doesn’t want to use his mind reading. Of course Tome’s advice is to change his hairstyle while the guys can only lend moral support. Now we see a long queue of guys waiting their turn to confess to Tsubomi. It’s going to be a long day of rejection… As Mob is anxious outside Tsubomi’s class, Mezato tells him about the rejection queue. She advises him not to join in since he might get swept in the rejection wave. She also advises about the need for him to be a gentleman and mind her manners since Tsubomi is the kind who doesn’t seem to trust others. She knows she has learnt how to view other people from a different angle. He should do the same. Mob even sees Reigen for advice. He looks like he is winging it and yup, he’s just reading it line by line from some website! Of course in his own words, Reigen wants him to be himself and to say it from his heart. Yeah, even later Teru gives his 2 cents worth of advice. Just relax and maybe get her some flowers. Wow. Even Ritsu knows about it? He looks way more anxious than Mob! That’s because he knows Mob’s chances are very slim and hopes he won’t get too disheartened. Soon, Mob makes a call to Tsubomi to meet. Denying he is nervous or anything (obviously he is), he agrees to meet her at the park tomorrow. Next day, he goes to get some flowers. He can’t afford a big one so this small one will do. However Minegishi does him a service and swaps him with a bigger and better bouquet for free. While waiting to cross the road, Mob saves a stray cat by using his powers to stop a car before it gets hit. But soon, a kid glued to his video game crosses the street but a sleepy driver didn’t see and is going to hit him. Not enough time, Mob dives and pushes him away. Crash! Oh dear… MOB IS DEAD???!!!

Episode 10
Well… Electronics are not working and Mob has awakened to become a Super Saiyan?! Oh damn, each step he takes, he is causing destruction all over town! Everyone thinks this must be some long earthquake! As everyone evacuates, Mob encounters Teru in the woods. Teru knows Mob is behind this and tries to talk to him. However words have no effect so Teru tries to use his powers to bring him down. Mob is obviously stronger. Yeah, the second time this season Teru is sent flying away! This time through the town. Teru continues to be patient with Mob. He knows something must have happened as he would never use his powers against others. Even till now, he knows Mob is crying inside alone and wants someone to stop him. Can Teru be that person? He tries to withstand Mob’s powers but looks like it is almost déjà vu as his clothes are blown off and he is bleeding all over! Oh my, it’s not funny! When Mob finally realizes, he can tell the destruction is his own doing. Before him is a semi-lifeless Teru. Almost bald! Oh sh*t, it’s not even funny! Teru continues to challenge him to use all his powers on him instead on others. Because he is his rival. Teru claims victory but I guess he was just lying to himself as he passes out and Mob returns to his Super Saiyan mode and continues his journey. Ex-Claw guys working at a convenience store now, see Mob as an esper and try to stop him before he destroys their store. Well, we all know how it will turn out. Meanwhile Tsubomi continues to wait for Mob at the park. Running a little late, isn’t he? Is this the only peaceful and undestroyed place in town?! As images of Mob’s Super Saiyan mode gets posted on the internet, some think it is Psycho Helmet returning. But for others like Reigen, they start to worry and identify him as Mob. So if Mob is unstoppable, who is going to stop him? Oh damn, they’re calling in the Suicide Squad now???!!! Heh. At least a bunch of convicts who will get their sentence reduced if they pull this off. However all the convicts are taken out by a single comrade who claims he is the only one who can deal with this. Oh damn, is this the return of Claw’s boss, Suzuki???!!! Oh wow. How the tides have turned.

Episode 11
It’s like Ritsu could sense his brother turning into an evil Super Saiyan. So he ditches his student council meeting to rush to his side. He fears Tsubomi has rejected him and thus this situation. But now can Suzuki stop this rampage? Well… No. He could have been dead had not Shou come to his rescue. Father and son realize something must have happened to Mob for him to turn that way. Suzuki’s answer is that because he is releasing so much energy at this rate, he will eventually run out of it. Hence the strategy is to absorb some of it and that’s why he has been taking a few of Mob’s hits. However that soon won’t work as Mob absorbs back all that energy. Desperate times call for desperate measures. Suzuki wants Shou to run away as he plans to do the ultimate sacrifice of becoming a vessel to absorb all his energy. He is already prepared for that. However with visions of a normal life flashing before him, Suzuki realizes he isn’t that strong. So he agrees to flee with Shou. Living a normal life is their priority now. Mob continues his way. Now it’s the Body Building Club members he bumps into and they know Mob is in some sleep waking state. Time to flex their muscles. Only, they also fail to his powers and got knocked out. Who’s next? Ritsu. He worst fears have come true but ultimately realizes he shouldn’t be scared of Mob because this is part of who he is. Meanwhile the real Mob can only watch helplessly from inside as he tries to warn Ritsu to get away but to no avail. Ritsu wants to be there for Mob as his younger brother. He gets caught in Mob’s powers but ultimately finds a power to fight back. Still, it is not enough as Ritsu is flung away. Now Mob has turned into an eerie giant tornado in the middle of town. Hopefully our last hope AKA Reigen and Serizawa rush to this epicentre, can quell this final rage. At the same time, Mob is confronted by his other self. Both claim they are real and the other fake and should disappear. The imposter claims he awakened after Mob got hit by the car. Mob is now moving by sheer will and determination to see Tsubomi. Though, Mob claims it is not because he will not harm others. The imposter thinks he is only holding him back and invalidating him. Once he disappears, he will not hold back anymore. Because the next time Mob wakes up, it will be this imposter who will fully take control.

Episode 12
The hurricane is getting closer to the park. Oh Tsubomi, she would rather still wait around because of Mob?! I don’t know if that is the sweetest or the dumbest! Mob continues to argue with his imposter about Tsubomi. Mob is reminded the reason why he fell for her in the first place. Because she treated him no differently compared to others. She accepted him. That is why the imposter believes it is this version whom Tsubomi loves. What about Reigen? Isn’t he the same? No. He is a scam. A fake. Only using you for his own benefit. Speaking of him, Reigen tries to inch closer to Mob but the way he gets slammed by the wind and all, wow, how the f*ck is he still alive?! Must be his iron clad determination to talk to Mob. But too late, the imposter has fully taken over Mob. You think it is a bridge too far for Reigen but he doesn’t give up and finally catches Mob. Mob isn’t amused and looks like he is going to terminate this conman. Surprise! He can withstand all that and is more powerful! Was Reigen this powerful before?! Well actually, Dimple returns to lend him his power! Yeah, all this raging storm has managed to bring him back! Time for Dimple to return the favour and save his friend! Reigen makes the biggest confession ever: He has no powers at all! This calms a shocked Mob down. He continues admitting everything was a lie from the start (hope he isn’t shedding crocodile tears). However he thinks it is not all that bad. Because of this lie, he was able to meet Mob and look at how his powers grew. Hence he is fine the way he is. Mob is further shocked because this means Reigen accepts him for who he is.

The original Mob returns as he is not afraid if Tsubomi rejects him because so be it. Let’s accept that. With that, Mob is a whole again and returns to his normal self. He goes to see Tsubomi. Reigen and Dimple thought she has left since Mob came back quick. But with a smile on his face, Mob says Tsubomi rejected him! Oh dear. Now the tears flow. Reigen gives him some positive words. But now let’s focus in fixing this town. Yeah, look at the trail of destruction! In the aftermath, Mob becomes the vice president of the Body Building Club while Ritsu is now the student council vice president. They meet up with Teru who has his hair all grown back as they head to Reigen’s office. Serizawa has now gotten used to his job while Tome is now working full time as the secretary. It is said that Mob and Tsubomi continue to converse with each other over the phone. Then we see a few characters coming in like Shou and the Telepathy Club members. This is to surprise Reigen for his birthday. Guy tries to hide his tears but drops the cake. Thankfully it is saved but he got his face planted in it! Everybody laughs their asses off although Mob’s smile is the best. Haven’t seen him with that great expression before.

Rule Of The Mob
That’s a wrap, folks. Live goes on for everybody and it is a bittersweet ending because Mob didn’t get the girl in the end. Uh huh. But that is only right because if you think about Tsubomi’s case, it is very much expected. As she treats everyone equally and this means Mob is no exception. That’s right. Just because he is Mob (and the main character) does not mean he has the privilege to her heart. Maybe one day in the future but for now, that’s the heart breaking reality that Mob has decided to accept because that is only way for him to move forward. Yeah, at the cost of nearly destroying the entire town! All just for a confession! I can see the justification of Tsubomi turning him down now. All is not lost since they continue to remain friends. Friendzone?

As I found out recently, that this season is actually the final stretch of the manga that already ended when a year after the first season of the anime debuted back in 2016. So I guess this is really the final season, huh? I didn’t think there was going to be anything really epic after last season’s big final showdown with Claw’s boss and the big victory over it. But of course, life still has to go on and Mob still has his powers to deal with. So the earlier episodes might not seem much especially with a couple at the beginning that feels a bit like some standalone filler followed by the divine tree arc whereby it tries to ‘get rid’ of Dimple’s character. Then the strange middle arc in which our gang meets the extra-terrestrial life form and I find it the strangest and mind boggling story ever. Because whatever happened to Inukawa and that ending of that particular arc, I believe they want us to draw our own conclusions on what happened. It could have been real, it could all be just a dream. Since the next story started without any hint of this ever happening at all. Thus it felt like one of those bizarre Twilight Zone moments but I guess for this series that deals with paranormal stuffs, something of this sort shouldn’t come as a surprise. Though, it still feels weird eventually.

And of course the final arc having Mob being engulfed and taken over by his other dark side. It doesn’t look like another version of Avengers’ Thanos versus everybody like the last time Mob and co did last season against Suzuki. But it is somewhere along that vibe albeit in a different way. In the sense that it isn’t a blatant all-out fight against Mob but some of the characters taking their turn to try to bring Mob back to his senses. Eventually the only one who can do it is of course Mob himself. Therefore ringing true the proverb that you are your worst enemy and anything else similar among those lines. Only you and yourself can beat the inner demons that haunt the deepest recess of your memories and consciousness.

Hence this whole season could be one big season for Mob to eventually come to terms with the powers that he has been living with. While to other ordinary people, Mob may look just like your average kid but nobody knows the struggle of how he tries to live a very normal life despite in possession of a very powerful ability that is sought after by so many. That is, if you’re interested in world domination. Thankfully at this point and after Claw, nobody harbours such ambitions so Mob is free to have this sort of arc for his own redemption. Despite having all that, Mob is just a normal kid. Has his own problems and worries to deal with. Some insecurities and anxieties that a high school kid typically goes through. So you have to commend Mob for trying his best and not taking the easy way out AKA using his powers to get what he wants. In the end, Mob manages to stay mostly true to his principles and of course as pointed out, his only worst enemy is himself and literally, his other dark alter ego. A lesson for Mob that he shouldn’t shoulder everything by himself and he has his friends and family he can sometimes rely on. That is the other kind of ‘power’ that he is blessed with.

As for the other characters, I feel that many don’t really make a great impact and some are just winging it. Appearing for the sake so as not to be completely forgotten. Yeah, that’s how I feel. After all, in the past 2 seasons, the series has introduced a reasonable amount of quirky characters. Of course some supporting mainstay ones like Reigen will always be there. Not to say he is the perfect adult and he too has his own shortcomings. Especially he looks more like a suave conman than anything since it always looks like he is using Mob to cover his ass. I mean, isn’t it the greatest excuse for him to let his disciple practice and take care of hard stuffs when sh*t hits the fan? But other than that, I won’t say Reigen is totally a scumbag or a bad guy as at times he tries to be a good adult. Especially for Mob since he has been in his kind service for a while so it only makes sense when Mob needs some sort of advice, Reigen will do his best at lip service. In one of the greatest redemption of his character, Reigen reveals the real truth of himself and if Mob wants people to accept him for who he is, then he must do the same for others. Thus this move earns Reigen a lot more points although I’m not sure if he continues to run a scam job or a genuine one.

Then there is Ritsu. While this season doesn’t feature him much save for the final arc, at least he is stepping up to his role as Mob’s younger brother who can be there for him if he needs a shoulder to rely on. That’s what brothers are for, right? Also to mention Teru. Not sure if this is a running joke and I don’t think it is because this guy feels like the first line of defence to try to stop things but ultimately he has his limits. He ends up like the first time he duelled Mob: Bald and naked! Not sure whether to laugh at this. After the time he has taken to grow back his hair… Oh well, that can grow back again but at least he built his friendship with Mob. Or should I say rivalry.

If there is another character who has made the greatest redemption, it would be Dimple. Ah yes, remember this sleazy guy’s goal of wanting to be God and trying to achieve it? Yeah, this lame cult thingy was the perfect reason to do so but it could all be just an excuse for him to have a friend who acknowledges him. Hence it was a bittersweet moment that Dimple has finally redeemed himself and moved on from being a cunning sidekick to perhaps become one of Mob’s best friends but only to have him make the ultimate sacrifice. RIP, Dimple… And of course the final arc… The return of the great one! No, return of the friend! Time to return the favour. Paid back in full. Thank you.

Art and animation remain consistent as in previous seasons. That’s right. This means the simplistic and ‘crappy’ art style I have gotten used to. Not much paranormal and supernatural cases here and even so, it didn’t spook the hell out of me the last time. Yeah, must have gotten used to it and didn’t bat an eyelid. Even those aliens look funnily strange instead of scary. Uh huh. I would have labelled those aliens as scary looking if they were featured in the last season. This season’s opening theme, 1 by Mob Choir tries to sound edgy in its rock piece. Can’t say that I’m a fan of the song since the background vocals feels like, uhm how should I put it, some sort of cheerleading and sports team support? The same group sings the main ending theme, Cobalt, another rock outfit. There is a couple of episodes with a special ending theme. Exist also by Mob Choir is more of a dramatic slow rock.

Overall, this third season is still good and I’m having mixed feelings about it being the last season. After all, everything has to come to an end. And this is it for this series. This is perhaps the best ending and closure for everything that it deserves after 3 seasons. From Mob to sob. Sorry, bad pun. Unless they make an anime only sequel. Not likely. Don’t want to tarnish all the goodness this series has brought us. Especially the great character development we have seen on our titular character. Is there anything else we can look forward to after this? Oh well, I guess we now have to look forward to the third season of One Punch Man! Yeah, gotten over this pretty quick.

Arifureta Shokugyou De Sekai Saikyou: Maboroshi No Bouken To Kiseki No Kaigou

Holy mackerel mermaids!!! WHAT DO YOU MEAN THIS SERIES IS GETTING A THIRD SEASON???!!! Yup. I can’t believe it either and had to read it a few times and from different sources to makes sure it was fake news. I must be getting the wrong idea that this series sucked because it could be just me but everyone else loves it and that’s why it is getting another season. So I suppose to celebrate that, hence another set of OVAs for the second season, Arifureta Shokugyou De Sekai Saikyou: Maboroshi No Bouken To Kiseki No Kaigou. So folks, if you are a lolicon and fans of Myu, take heart that she is going to take the lead here and make you fawn over her cuteness and all.

Episode 1
Taking place when Hajime and co are still at Erisen, it seems everyone is somewhat disappointed that they couldn’t find the hidden treasure of Erisen. 6 out of the 7 legends are a miss but they still put their hopes on the last legend as Hajime suggests all of them stay overnight at sea since this will be their last adventure together here. You mean he is inviting Remia to come along too? No wonder the other girls are not f*cking impressed. Yeah, Remia gonna mess up the harem’s pecking order… Even more evident when Kaori asks Remia straight if she is targeting Hajime but she just laughs and gives mixed signals, almost fuelling a b*tch showdown. As they camp out over the ocean, Myu tries not to fall asleep seeing this is a one in a lifetime adventure. Then of course it’s time for action as a heavy mist falls over the place. They spot a shadow of a whale as Myu could feel a strange magic everywhere. She claims it is not something bad and is calling out to Hajime for help. After a huge storm, next thing we know, we see Remia walking alone in some city ruins. She is attacked by some death reaper but luckily Hajime is here to save her. He needs to find Myu too but first he has to deal with more bad CGI death reapers! Meanwhile Myu is also alone and somewhere in this ruins. A voice is trying to guide her to her brethren or something. If only he could not speak in riddles! Can you please be more specific?! As Hajime tends to Remia’s sore feet, they talk about Myu and Hajime has a hunch why Remia is flirting and being suggestive around him all because of Myu. I don’t get it. Anyway, Hajime isn’t mad and perhaps the others would understand (?!) because it’s all for Myu’s sake. HUH?! WHAT?! Myu is surrounded by Cerberus and its hell hounds but luckily a white whale pops up to protect her. When the numbers get too much, here comes a mermaid brethren to the rescue. She introduces herself as Meiru Melusine and is the captain of her pirate gang.

Episode 2
Meiru is also lost and since Myu is so cute and reminds her of her sister, she adopts Myu as her own sister right now! Myu and Meiru reunite with the latter’s party that consists of Oscar, Naiz and Miledi. Looks like Myu remembers clearly papa’s description of them. Especially Miledi as the most annoying person in the world! The others can’t help laugh but they’ll stop laughing when Myu also mentions about the bad description Hajime has about them. Except for Naiz. He’s a nice guy. Time is running out as the whale needs them to hurry and find 2 creators. Meanwhile Hajime has reunited with his other girls as they are fighting endless hordes of bad CGI monsters. Hajime is losing his cool as he can’t help think of finding Myu. He can’t concentrate on fighting. Before he gets serious in using his powerful weapon, Meiru and co intervene and wipe out the entire wave. Everyone is assured but also puzzled as Myu returns to them riding on a whale! The moment Hajime, Yue and Shea see Miledi, they really want to kill her! Innocent or not, she’s dead meat! Of course this farce is put to a stop by Myu. Miledi wants to mock them for being told off by a loli but she too gets an earful. Clearly, we all know who is tops of this pecking order, no? Getting down to business, Myu says that this whale needs the help of Oscar and Hajime to save him. She channels the whale’s power to them as they see a flashback of this place.

Once a booming civilization, they got greedy in seeking more power but went into ruin and destruction after a failed experiment causing monsters to overrun the place. In a final attempt, such power was sealed away by the protector which is this light whale. Now the seal is broken and the monsters are gaining their power back. Hence he seeks creators to repair the seal and brought the greatest synergist from different times to repair it. So while Hajime and Oscar repair this crystal on top of this tower, the rest protect them from the monsters’ onslaught. At first Hajime has problems doing his synergy skill but after he ‘steals’ Oscar’s, he now takes the lead. When the seal is repaired and this discount Leaning Tower of Pisa straightens back, the monsters disappear and they are soon thrown back into their own time. When Hajime and co wake up, they think they have fallen asleep. Since they have no memories of all that, they also have this feeling they forgot something important. Then the sea lights up. Lots of glowing fish and that whale. Myu believes something good has happened like meeting some great people. The rest feel that their magic and skills have levelled up considerably. Myu makes a wish of wanting to stay by her papa forever. Meanwhile Meiru’s side too don’t remember about it all but they also have a great feeling that something good happened.

What An A-Myu-sing Adventure!
Oh well, I guess that wasn’t so bad. After all, I have already set my expectations low enough so as long as I am not disappointed, that is probably good enough. This OVA is at least intriguing enough as we bring together Hajime’s party as well as those liberators of the labyrinth. So far it doesn’t give us much hints about them but I speculate it could be the reason why they left great powers for people like Hajime whoever conquered their labyrinths. And because they don’t retain memories of this adventure, it makes me wonder if there are many other such incidents in the past as well. Oh you know, Hajime and his girls being brought to different lands and even time to fix things. Once their mission is completed they get their memories wiped out but in return get some latent power up. This explains why Hajime and co are so powerful and almost invincible. Yeah, such a convenient ploy if they ever need to make more of such episodes in the future.

Of course we have to talk about Myu as she is the star of this particular OVA. Aside her flaunting her cuteness in everything and all, it seems it is hinted that Myu may have this strange power that transcends space and time. It is the reason why the whale sought her powers as she is the only whom Myu could hear and listen its thoughts directly. Other than that, Myu has clearly shown us that she stands atop the hierarchy because nobody dares to disobey her. Don’t want to be a dick for not listening to what a loli says, do we?! Plus, Hajime and everyone else say they’re doing it for Myu’s sake (whatever that means) and they view her as a brave and strong girl. She could be the key in the entire plot of this series. Although she was left behind with mom on Erisen, I bet they’ll meet again somewhere in the future. From the way I see it, Myu is an indispensable force for Hajime. As for the rest of his harem, they aren’t too prominent but looks like some are not happy and turning their attention to Remia because this MILF might steal Hajime from under their noses. I’m waiting when that happens… Will they listen to Myu in the event if Hajime gets hitched to Remia? I can only imagine the worst…

It still boggles me how they can maintain such bad CGI. While it is not the worst, it certainly still remains the same as in previous seasons. Like as though they want to remain this as their trademark. Oh well, as long as they just remain the CGI effects on monsters… At the end of the day, I’ll still have to wait and see when the third season arrives. Who knows? It could be better. After all, I didn’t find the second season to be much worse than the first so in that sense I guess there is still hope. A series that has gone from zero to hero is rare but it is not impossible. What are the chances this series could be it and especially one that is of the dreaded isekai genre? Yeah. Could be all just an illusionary dream and a far-fetched encounter…

Boku No Hero Academia S5 OVA

I guess it is no big secret now. Before we all get ready to dive into the sixth season, a couple of Boku No Hero Academia S5 OVA episodes should do the trick in warming us up for the big main event. It’s like some sort of timely reminder-cum-present to us viewers that the next season is going to run pretty soon so here, watch this couple of episodes as starters-cum-appetizers. Well, we’ve invested so much and come so far into this series, can we say no to a couple of seemingly light-hearted episodes? Because we know PLA is going to really wreak havoc and sh*t gonna hit the fan, no? Going to need all the recharge we can get.

Episode 1
Baseball episode. Yup, today’s HLB (Hero League Baseball) pits Orca against Shishido. The intense rivalry is just between them. Everybody else they just hire to help out with the baseball play. First things first, let me just honestly say that I am not much of a baseball fan so I don’t really get the mechanics even if this is a very basic baseball game. Just that it is infused with all the superhero power antics and similar shenanigans. Because no substitution is allowed, players of each team can be taken out and not be replaced. So either they win the match by scoring the most at the end or they have no members left in the team. Hence one by one the players slowly get eliminated from the game as the heroes employ their Quirks just to win. Otherwise Orca or Shishido will not forgive you! So when it is finally down to just Orca and Shishido alone, suddenly an announcement that a bank robber is heading their way. They put their match on hold to cooperate to take down this baddie. Then they return to finish the game in which it ends in a draw. So I guess things are not settled? But for the other heroes who participated in this game, I guess some of them will have trauma of never wanting to play baseball ever again.

Episode 2
Endeavour’s agency is tasked to catch a petty criminal named Mr Smiley. You see, this dude leaves his artwork graffiti on walls. However whenever one approaches him, he will unleash his Quirk that makes you unable to stop laughing for 2 hours! Endeavour didn’t really give much priority to it until his house got vandalized by Smiley’s art. Find that bastard! And so everyone gets a taste of the laughing medicine as they try to catch Smiley but end up laughing their ass off. Since they can’t get near him, Midoriya calls Hatsume for help to use her robot. Guess what? The robot also laughs! OMG! Either it’s the best robot in the world or the worst. Wow. To think Smiley’s Quirk is so effective even on non-humans, huh? So while Endeavour trains Bakugou to attack with his eyes closed while he gives directions, Midoriya digs up more on Smiley’s past. Real name Shinjiro Hohoemi. A self-proclaimed artist but did not receive his due recognition and thus did not get accepted into an art college. On a trivial note, wasn’t Hitler rejected by art schools too?! HOLY SH*T????!!! Well, good thing he is wandering around but how long before he upgrades himself into a fascist dictator?! Anyway, this has Midoriya realize he is in the same predicament as him. Midoriya got that chance to shine so will one come for Smiley? Before you know it, Smiley strikes again but this time he is vandalizing inside a building. Midoriya tries to praise his art first. This attracts his attention but also proves the theory that his Quirk won’t work on you if you close your eyes. So when Endeavour and Bakugou put their training into practice, surprisingly Midoriya protects Smiley from Bakugou’s final attack. Yeah, sent his childhood friend into laughing frenzy again. Midoriya explains his actions that he knows his art is important to him. But there are proper places to display them and not in unauthorized private properties. He doesn’t want him to give up. Smiley realizes he was just running away and not fighting the art world as he thought he was doing. Suddenly a group of robbers barge in. As they fire indiscriminately and destroy some of his artwork, Smiley uses his Quirk to put a stop to this. Yeah, those baddies will be laughing their way to prison. Because Smiley doesn’t like fighting, he doesn’t want to be a hero but continue to be an artist. He realizes he must pay for his crimes first. When the news media interviews him as a hero. He unleashes his work and the whole damn world starts laughing! Thanks to that, people start to notice him as he uploads all his art through the website.

Play Hard, Smile Hard!
The OVAs deliver as expected. Nothing really out of the ordinary or anything heavy. I mean, it’s not like this couple of episodes is going to have some sort of effect on the sixth season, RIGHT?! Because I’m assuming it is not so if you don’t watch it and missed this one, it is pretty alright too. Or hardcore fans would still do so anyway for some perfectionist record, I don’t know. (Sorry I don’t have that perfectionist record anymore since I didn’t watch the movies). Anyway, the first episode was not really that enjoyable to me because, you know, baseball. Not my favourite sport but it’s the preferred sport in Japan so that’s why almost every big named series would have some sort of baseball theme somewhere. Had they used football (that’s soccer to you Americans), maybe I would have enjoyed it a bit better. As for the second episode, it’s your typical lost hero formula. You know, someone just wanted to be recognized but is doing it the wrong way. Thank goodness it didn’t lead down the path similar of that to Hitler! Yikes. It all proves that everyone just needs to be given a chance to shine. We all just wanted to be appreciated for our talents. That’s all. Some took it too far and became villains but in Smiley’s case, it’s a good thing he returned to the right path. So remember to always keep smiling no matter the situation. Because damn, had Smiley became a hero, I think the sixth season will be over in a flash because everyone in PLA will be immobilized, nonstop laughing. Game over. Yeah. I don’t know. Would you want to see Shigaraki laughing and smiling?! If that actually happens, it means you’re f*cked! Then it’ll not be a laughing matter anymore…

Arifureta Shokugyou De Sekai Saikyou S2

Oh dear. Looks like it’s here. The first season was bad and didn’t impress me but I need to watch Arifureta Shokugyou De Sekai Saikyou S2 to give it a chance as I promised that hopefully it will not suck as bad as its prequel. When you’ve been the worst, the only way left is to go up, right? Unless it hasn’t reached the bottom yet… So yeah, there is a chance this sequel might swing either direction and I’m such a benevolent person to give this crappy series another chance. After all, the only thing that clearly stuck in my mind about this series was how the main badass character stuck a huge pole in the ass of a female dragon!!! The isekai part, the clearing labyrinths part, main character can materialize any badass his weapons to easily clear a room filled with monsters, his other friends back at the kingdom part, the whatever else about this series part, not really remembering them that much. Just no more pole sticking jokes please, okay?

Episode 1
Oh wow. An opening sneak peak of Hajime killing a god? Look forward to it… Princess Liliana is happy the hero party has returned. She learns from Shizuku what happened especially about Kaori’s decision to go with Hajime. Then there is Kouki who has fallen into depression since he couldn’t live up to his hero role. Oh, the kingdom also summoned a second batch of students? Now we return to badass Hajime as he drives through Gruen Desert. Damn, Kaori and Yue are shameless to fight over Hajime! Took Myu and Shea to make them know some shame. With this aside, they are ambushed by monster sand worms. We’re not worried at Hajime’s awesome driving, but damn again, the girls got the guts to fight over Hajime during this intense moment?! Thank goodness he has great concentration. After wiping out the sand worms with his missiles, they see a horde ahead but it’s like they’re hesitant to eat their prey. After disposing them, they find an injured lone man. Kaori diagnosis he has mana overload and will soon die from it if not treated. Normal healing spells won’t work so she uses a higher level and with Hajime’s ring (always his tool works, huh?). While it doesn’t solve the root of the problem, at least he is okay for now. They learn he is Bize Feuward Zengen, the son of Lunzwi who rules the nation of Ankaji, a trading hub near the city ocean of Erisen, Myu’s home. Apparently someone has polluted their oasis and causing them to have mana overload. Thankfully a special mineral called Stillstone is the cure but it is only available from Gruen Volcano. Of course, seeing how many adventurers are out of action and supplies running low, Bize is one of those who were sent to seek help but he too didn’t make it. So yeah, he is asking them for help since they are high level adventurers. All the girls looking at Hajime for an answer… We all know he doesn’t want to but he gives excuse since they’re heading there… So yeah. We’ll help. Hooray! Now we can resume the shameless fight over Hajime. Meanwhile, Mikhail is shocked to learn from Freid Bagwa that Cattleya (that demon babe) got killed by Hajime. He laments that because of these irregulars, many of their missions failed. Now he seeks to acquire a stronger magic to defeat his enemies and avenge his fallen brethren.

Episode 2
Arriving at Ankaji, Bize takes them to his father who takes them to the hall where many are injured. While Kaori and Shea help with the healing, the rest go create a new oasis. Basically Yue using her powers to make that. She tires out and replenishes herself with Hajime’s blood. I bet the kiss is the one that did the most healing. Hajime then goes to the polluted oasis and drops many bombs in it to reveal some slime that is the source of the pollution. After destroying it, the oasis is still polluted but rest assured it will be back to healthy levels given some time. Hajime also accepts the quest to mine Stillstone at the volcano. Kaori hopes he can come back safely so she’ll try her best. Until Myu points out if papa is going to give Kaori a kiss like he did for Yue. Instantly Kaori becomes a yandere… Don’t know how he escaped that but here they are inside the volcano. After fighting a lava beast, they continue deeper and since the heat is getting to Yue, they take a break. Tio deducing that this place could be a labyrinth and testing them. In particularly, if they can keep their focus in this tremendous heat. They continue their boat ride on the lava river until they reach a strange base. But as they approach it, they are greeted with lots of lave projectiles. Seems that if they want to get closer, they have to defeat these lava snakes. That’ll be easy, right? Just destroy their core and they won’t regenerate. After downing 10 of them. More pop up. Did they regenerate? I guess somebody needs to tell us that they have to destroy the same amount of snakes as the gems on the wall. Yeah, there are hundreds of them. Oh well, time to kick ass. And it becomes a competition to get the most kill because they’ll get a reward from Hajime. Did he even approve of that?! But yeah, it serves as a great motivation. Once Hajime downs the last snake, suddenly he is hit by a huge blast. Hajime dies. End of season 2. Just kidding!

Episode 3
Yue becomes so worried about Hajime that she didn’t see the next wave of ambush coming. Luckily Tio protects her. As she races to heal him, Freid reveals himself and the one who laid this ambush. Hajime recovers enough to throw some sarcasm. Freid claims as he got some divination from his god and hence a self-proclaimed God’s Apostle, he will do anything for his god and that means to remove threats like him. Hajime doesn’t give a f*ck and as long as he stands in his way, he is his enemy. Next round of fight begins but Freid has also brought a huge solid defence. Once again Hajime gets cornered by Freid’s power. This has Tio realizing she got complacent and didn’t stop to think that Hajime is human and can die. Flashback shows her father told her clan to go into hiding or they’ll be massacred. They can come out when the time is right. Looks like that time is now because before Hajime gets finished, Tio reverts to her black dragon form and saves him. She is able to give Hajime some breathing space and deliver frustrations to Freid. Hence he has to resort to his final resort as he has removed a cornerstone from this volcano. All of them shall die in this rising lava. This means Gruen will now erupt. After Freid escapes, Hajime wants Tio to escape and return to Ankaji with a message. He doesn’t intend to die now but will keep his promise to get the Stillstone. With that, Tio flies out as the layered hatches of the volcano start closing. Freid is raining down beams as traps but since Tio is a masochist, she loves that pain and is making her stronger! She makes it out and before Freid can take her out, Hajime’s traps that he sent along with Tio, blasts Freid away. Meanwhile Liliana talks to Shizuku about the meeting between the church and castle officials. They still insist Kouki to get strong to fight demons. Although no decision is made on Hajime yet, she heard of rumours of branding him a heretic. Meanwhile Hiyama is frustrated Hajime isn’t dead yet. A voice suggests they work together and they’ll get what they want.

Episode 4
Tio manages to return to Ankaji and tells Kaori about the message. They understand this and decide to take Myu back to Erisen. So is Hajime alive? You betcha. He is resting on his submarine over the wide ocean. Flashback shows that they managed to get inside of the base before the lava engulfs them. Inside is a magic circle and a message by Naiz Gruen that says he hopes humanity will be based on free will in the future. As the lava starts rushing in, Hajime says he made a submarine beforehand and was worried it couldn’t withstand the lava. So that’s the reason why he didn’t test it out?! Oh, looks like it COULD withstand the lava! It’s going to be a wild ride as the lava pushes them deeper instead of the surface. The follow the tide until they resurface in the middle of the ocean. Because of hostile sea creatures, Yue needs to do her stuffs but lacks blood. Since Hajime is weak himself, Shea offers herself. So as they wait, they are attacked by mermaid tribe who think Hajime is the one who kidnapped their kind. A familiar sound is heard dropping from the sky. You mean Myu is so happy to reunite with papa that she jumps off Tio?! Luckily he catches her in time. Kaori glad he is alive and wants to be close to him as reward. Time’s up. It’s Tio’s turn. At Erisen, a local recognizes Hajime’s mission and acknowledges the return of Myu. Loli mermaid can’t wait to see mama, Remia and rushes to see her. However she is still injured from the attack while protecting Myu from her kidnappers. Good news, we have a healer here. Now the biggest issue here is Hajime being called papa by Myu. This means Remia wants Hajime to continue being her papa. Everyone else starts gossiping about Remia’s remarriage and you bet Hajime’s harem isn’t going to like this! Rivalry up by an additional girl, even more so MILF material! Sorry you other mermaid people who were vying for Remia’s hand, no emergency meeting gonna solve this. Meanwhile Aiko talks to Shizuku after reporting to the king. It seems to her dismay that they have labelled Hajime a heretic since he won’t obey the church. They might send someone strong after him. Aiko also remembers what Hajime said about the God the church worships that is related to Hajime’s goal. She doesn’t have solid proof and wants to talk to everyone about this.

Episode 5
Leaving Myu behind, the rest are free to go explore the sunken ruins of Melusine. Not sure how they are going to find it but damn, Hajime is lucky to have got all the coincidences like filling up the pendant from Gruen with moonlight that pinpoints the location of the ruins. Heck, this special pendant also opens the secret doors marked with pentagrams with just the cost of using the stored moonlight power. Once arriving at the underground cavern, they fight easy monsters until they meet their match with this giant jelly clione. It keeps regenerating and Hajime realizes this one has no core. Also, the surrounding walls give off the same aura so it’s like they’re in the monster’s belly. They escape via the whirlpool’s vortex. However they end up separated and Hajime ends up with Kaori. Finally their much needed time together? She is having this dilemma of why he saved her instead of Yue. Well, Yue can take care of herself. So, is that his way of saying he trusts Yue more than her? Definitely. As they continue their journey, they arrive in a ship’s graveyard. Suddenly they get thrown into a middle of a pirate battle! Knowing this is an illusion, they jump off. Hajime thinks this is Melusine’s concept by showing the tragedy of what a crazed god can bring. As Kaori rests due to being overwhelmed by the illusion, Hajime questions her of why she tagged along. Ever since joining him, she has done nothing but apologizing. Her smile is also different. She knows he is implying she is dragging him down and he did not bat an eyelid to say yes. He talks about Shea who was in the way at first but has much improved. He tells her straight that he loves Yue and she will always be someone special to him. So if all Kaori can do is compare herself to Yue and feel defeated, she shouldn’t be around him. Clear of the pecking order now? Meanwhile Aiko is about to go talk to her students but a nun tries to hypnotize her to make her follow her. However she snaps out of it. Oh well, just punch her in the gut to knock her out then!

Episode 6
Hajime further adds that he allowed Kaori to tag along because he thought she knew what’s best for her. But now she doesn’t appear that way anymore. If it comes down to it, he’ll have to send her back to Shizuku. Ouch. It hurts deep but I guess she’ll have time to answer that since they are being shown another illusion on the ship. This time all races have gathered after a year signing a peace treaty. However the humans realize it was a foolish decision and decided to kill the other races off. They think believing in other pagan gods aside the one and only true creator, Ehit is blasphemous and total peace can only be achieved when there is total annihilation! Bloody massacre scene ends before it gets too graphic for Kaori to stomach. As they explore deeper into the ship, Hajime is attacked by guards. Are these ghosts or not?! Reuniting with Kaori, he knows this is not her but something possessing her. He does not waste time to shoot her! Don’t worry, his magic bullets cannot harm Kaori’s soul. Damn, this guy so evil it is making the possessor scared! Because Hajime threatens to torture but not kill her until she leaves Kaori’s body! You bet the possessor won’t want to have to deal with this sh*t! When the real Kaori returns, she steals a kiss from him. This is her answer. She still loves him and wants to follow him even though his heart belongs to someone else. Because the best thing for her is to be by his side. They finally reach the magic circle and Hajime feels odd since this labyrinth feels too easy. Good timing, the other girls also arrive. Time for Kaori to brag about her kiss to Hajime to assert some authority but Yue is not flinching. Is this b*tch showdown getting on or not? A hologram of a mermaid leaves a message to not blindly believe in gods but to make your own path because happiness only comes to those with free will. After taking the seal, they are forced out. Now they have to deal with that clione monster. Hajime has a solution but he needs time. Can the girls hold out for him? Oh dear, the clione going to eat them whole! Thanks to Lehman summoning his school of fish to help out. Hajime completes his missiles and fires into the monster, destroying it quickly before it could regenerate. Meanwhile Shizuku and some of the students are discussing about the strange coincidence of events like Aiko who hasn’t returned from Divine Mountain and Liliana hasn’t returned either. Meld says he’ll be doing his own investigations. Meanwhile we see Aiko unconscious at Divine Mountain because as noted, she must not interfere with what her students are doing which is going to be a lot more interesting.

Episode 7
Must be nice having a cute loli mermaid waking you up, huh? Trying to troll us by thinking of sullying Myu’s innocence as she asks about Hajime’s dick! She didn’t say that but that is clearly what she is implying at ‘the part that grows big’! Sorry Myu, sometimes you can’t have everything that papa has! So as Myu plays with the other ladies, Hajime is thinking how to say goodbye. Of course Remia comes to talk to him that he has to do what he needs since Myu isn’t that dumb and knows she cannot keep him here forever. This has Hajime resolve to do that. Time for another trolling fanservice moment as Myu steals Shea’s bikini top and hands it to papa. Everyone thinks Hajime asked for that so they too give theirs. Remia ups the game by giving her bottom! Soon that moment comes as Hajime talks to Myu that he will be leaving on a long journey but promises to come back to get her before he returns to Japan. Yeah, he wants her to see his hometown. In that case, Remia will also want to tag along. Hey, can’t separate mother from child, right? I’m sure this won’t sit well with the rest. Remia’s admittance into the harem would throw the balance into disarray! I mean, SHE IS MILF MATERIAL!!!!!! Later Yue talks to Hajime about if he can cross over between worlds whenever and wherever as he wishes. Oh well, he’ll do whatever it takes. Look who you’re talking to. Next day, Hajime and co say goodbye to Myu as they depart Erisen. Freid rallies his army as he has received divine decree from his god to destroy the infidels. It’s time for war. Meanwhile Meld is talking to his subordinate, Jose about some void phenomenon that is making soldiers feeling lethargic. It is affecting a large chunk of the army but the king is getting more energized for war as he is going to punish demons under the name of god. Meld has him gather those who know dark magic. In his room, Meld writes letters to Bize and Hajime in case of something happening to him. He is stumped that his life is not targeted because killing him would certainly affect greatly the soldiers’ morale. Hiyama then comes in and to talk privately. He is nervous when Jose knocks on the door. The moment Meld opens, Jose attacks him. He notices that Jose is brainwashed. When Jose tries to kill a cowering Hiyama, Meld protects him, only to be stabbed from the back by that coward revealing his true colours.

Episode 8
Hiyama somehow didn’t do a good job in finishing off Meld. Meld fights back and with more guards coming in, he is forced to flee. But that is short-lived because awaiting him is this angelic warrior, Noint. She blasts him away! Hiyama and his conspirator relish that the biggest obstacle is no longer in their way and now all they have to do is lie low from Shizuku and expedite their plan. As Hajime and co drive along, they stumble into bandits attacking a travelling group. Hajime kills them all and as Kaori heals the injured, she is surprised to see Liliana here. Uhm, you no remember the princess, Hajime? She tells them the weird happenings back at the castle. Her father has been becoming more radical and at first she thought it was just to deepen the bond with the church. But it doesn’t feel that way. Then the knights and soldiers started becoming lethargic and everyone was adamant to brand Hajime a heretic and not listen to those who objected. Then she saw Aiko got kidnapped by a nun to Divine Mountain. Knowing the castle is under surveillance, that is why she ran away along to seek help from a nearby kingdom. Hence she travelled in that group but couldn’t be happier to stumble into Hajime. Of course Hajime is going to rescue his loli sensei and beat the crap out of anybody who gets in his way. His evil face just makes his girls wet! Aiko getting the surprise of her life when Hajime busts in to talk to her. Why look so surprised? Wasn’t she calling his name? Not sure why they have to talk right here instead of back with his entourage but I guess this Divine Mountain has no guards whatsoever because they think nobody knows where Aiko is, huh? She updates him on what happened. She also now understands why Hajime killed Shimizu although she will never get over that. She thanks him for saving her then. Hajime is resolved to take on anybody and especially the church whom he believes he will have to face off sooner or later. Hajime then receives word that demons just broken through the barrier and are invading the kingdom now. Hajime saves Aiko before they get disintegrated. Looks like Noint wants to play.

Episode 9
Hajime calls on Tio to come right away. Hajime in a pinch?! Well, he can’t fight Noint properly if he is holding Aiko. Wow. Tio has never felt so needed. Meanwhile we see Yue and Shea facing up to Freid and his invading demons. You bet they’re going to make him pay for hurting her master-cum-lover. Shea goes up against Mikhail as the latter is freaking angry about killing Cattleya who was his betrothed. However Shea doesn’t care about his sob story since Cattleya attacked first. In fact, she was given a choice to run and her life spared by Hajime. She chose. So sorry not sorry, not interested in hearing this. Mikhail and his troops go all out to attack her but Shea has her giant kendama to deal with long range attacks and yeah, she can even heal herself! Too bad Mikhail won’t be able to avenge Cattleya as he gets defeated. Shea considers being called a monster a compliment because it means she is strong. Now we go over to Yue fighting Freid. A little bit of drama to show how powerful Freid is and even stabbing through Yue! If you have not seen it coming already, you should by now because Yue transfers all that pain back to Freid, reopening his old wounds. Realizing he cannot win, he escapes. Understandably Yue not happy she couldn’t finish the job. Now we see Hajime against Noint. He sure has a hand tied behind his back while carrying Aiko. WTF can’t he just let her do a piggy back ride instead of this inefficient princess carrying? Hajime does his best to stand his ground. He soon realizes the church also playing dirty tricks on him as they’re singing some song from their base to weaken him. Hajime wonders if Noint is okay fighting him rather than protecting the kingdom. Well, if that is how it goes, so be it. This has Hajime think that humans are just pawns to Ehit to kill time. This means at this rate the god worshipped by the demons will also be Ehit or someone under his control. Noint doesn’t care although Hajime just wants to ascertain some facts from the Liberators. Noint continues her offensive. It’s about time Tio gets here. Now with Aiko off his back, perhaps the real fight can begin.

Episode 10
Aiko wants Tio to turn back so she can assist Hajime. She might not have any combat experience but she has a responsibility to bring everyone back to Japan. If this is Aiko’s resolve and knowing Hajime will approve of loli sensei, she agrees to do that. Hajime continues his fight with Noint but he realizes that her magic is not even diminishing. Not sure what happened because it’s like suddenly he mixes his powerful and light attacks against her, he destroys her swords and even cuts off a wing. Noint left to be on the defensive? Eventually he takes her down. Wow. He was just struggling a moment ago and suddenly he got all powered up that god had no chance. Is it because of the script?! Anyway, at the same time the church gets destroyed. He learns that Aiko tried to imbue Tio’s breath with some magic but she didn’t expect it to be this powerful. This means she also killed all those church people, eh? How does it feel to have your first kills? Oh, Aiko in despair. Okay. No joke. Here, have Hajime’s hug. Feeling better? Then they see some ghost guy guiding them to some rubble. Underneath it is a magic circle. Hajime believes he is a Liberator and stepping into it transports them into the labyrinth designed by Laus Barn. It seems to defeat this one, one must fulfil other conditions including defeating 2 other labyrinths, have no faith in god and defeat some effect powered by the force of god. Gee, like as though it was written for Hajime. Since he cleared all that, a guide will pop up to show him this place. Yeah, here’s a shiny ring as your reward. Now they have to go back and help the rest at the capital. We go back a few hours earlier, Shizuku and the rest felt some uneasiness after waking up in the middle of the night. When Nia reports demons have broken through their barrier, they want to go find out what it is but Eri Nakamura suggests coordinating with Meld first. However Jose tells him he is busy and gathers them in some place. They realize too late as Jose unleashes a blinding light and the guards stab all of them! Gee, did they miss their vitals on purpose? Shizuku gets betrayed by Nia and also gets stabbed. To her horror, the culprit and traitor is Eri.

Episode 11
The whole point of Eri’s betrayal is so that she could get Kouki for herself. Because Kouki is such a kind guy, he is surrounded by lots of people AKA losers and trash. Hence all of her doing is to get this chance to get them out of the way and make Kouki only hers. She reveals her Spirit Binding ability which is an enhanced version of necromancy. Despite all the guards here are already dead, they are given some sort of autonomy to think and act like the living although it is minimal. She kills off one of her classmates, Reiichi Kondo to demonstrate she means business. She is going to give Shizuku the special role because she wants to see Kaori’s face when she gets killed by her best friend. Before Eri could kill her, Kaori to the rescue. With Liliana’s help they are able to put a damper on Eri’s plans. Liliana who is unaware of Hiyama’s intentions, lets him in so he quickly takes advantage and kills Kaori. Now she’ll be his forever! Yeah, sick twisted kids. Kouki so mad that he breaks out of his chains. Time for him to be a true hero. He breaks free his friends as they prepare to fight back. However Kouki is weakened when he is forced to fight Geld. Even more so, he was poisoned by Eri. Before Eri could turn Kaori into one of her puppets, here comes Hajime! Sorry Kouki, not your turn to shine still. Hajime is not pleased with this mess and punches Hiyama away. He has Tio and Aiko heal Kaori while he confronts Eri. Sneaky brat still tries to worm her way out. Hajime shows he is not interested with all that crap as he kills Geld to put him out of his misery. Then fires his gattling gun and puts all those dead soldiers out of their misery! Everybody get down! He is going to kill Eri next but a mad Hiyama wants to get his revenge but gets his ass handed to him. Still blaming Hajime for everything, Hajime doesn’t give a f*ck and throws him to his fate with the demons outside. Freid is now here and is still as arrogant, believing Hajime cannot protect everything. Why, Hajime uses some special orb and rains down a beam to destroy everything else in the kingdom! May he remind you that he isn’t friends with the kingdom and if you get in his way, you’re dead meat. Get it? Time for another tactical retreat for Freid as Eri escapes with him. Good, because now it is time for everyone to pitch in and concentrate to bring Kaori back from the dead. Hajime gives Shizuku some hope to believe in them and wait. Somebody needs to clean up his mess, right?

Episode 12
Liliana reads the report in the aftermath. Eri is the great mastermind behind the invasion of this kingdom. By using her abilities on Cattleya, this was how she managed to get into contact with the demons as she used her to send a message. In exchange for access to the kingdom, she’ll get freedom for herself and Kouki. The invasion failed and she escaped with the demons. Another culprit is a nun from Divine Mountain who was the one who kidnapped Aiko and brainwashed-cum-killed the king. Currently she is missing. We see Hajime’s girls healing Kaori while he goes to talk and console Aiko who is probably going to have a hard time getting over this. He allows her to cry on his back. Hajime and co return to the rest. But where is Kaori? Trying to keep the suspense, huh? He claims she’ll be here shortly but throws caution that it isn’t his fault that she looks different now. Oh sh*t. What happened? And here Kaori comes falling down from the sky. Hajime didn’t catch her. Says a lot. Indeed, Kaori looks different. Long story short, Kaori is now in Noint’s body. Hajime used his magic to transfer her soul. Although Kaori’s original body is also repaired, Kaori requested this because she wanted to be stronger. Her original body is kept frozen and she can return to it any time. Phew. But uhm, does being in Noint’s body make her stronger? Or does she intend to use this body as guinea pig to get all the scars of training before being transferred to her perfect body? Anyway, as long as Kaori is alive, that is all that matters.

Kouki is mad that Hajime never told them about the conspiracy. Well, if Hajime did, would they have believed him? As for going to defeat the big boss, Hajime hints he doesn’t care about this world (what about Myu then?!). Kouki accuses him of being powerful but yet does nothing. True. But Hajime also admits Kouki is powerless, the reason they fail because of their weak willpower. Hajime’s next goal is to the labyrinth at the forest’s east. Liliana wants to tag along seeing she wants to speak to the empire seeing the events that have happened. Shizuku and the rest also request to come since they want to get stronger and that means getting the God-like powers like Hajime. Now, it might seem Hajime agrees but this isn’t because he is such a good friend. He intends to use them as bait and meat shields! Before we forget what this anime is remembered for, the shameless fanservice by Hajime’s harem as they try to feed him. Then Tio wants a reward for protecting Aiko and it is to brutalize her ass like the first time! OMFG! WHAT?! This gives everyone the wrong idea but Hajime’s girls don’t blame Tio as he was the one responsible in awakening her perversion. If that’s the case, Hajime is going to grant her wish. Uh oh. I don’t he is going to stick this pole into her. Beat down? Why the masochist getting scared?! Hope she likes it. Early next morning, everyone sets off on their journey.

Episode 13 (Special)
This filler takes place in between the first and second season. During their travels, Hajime stops so as to let Kaori down to go heal some injured people. This has the other girls wonder if they can learn magic from Yue. However Hajime is against this and warns them. So does he think Yue is useless? Well, he warned them… So as Yue starts teaching, she’s saying gibberish! Do you understand all that?! Then when she gets technical and explains it with scientific terms, you girls are lost! Wow, Tio thinking herself as dumb! When Kaori returns, she learns what is happening and also wants to learn. Hajime even warning if she wants to learn, do it from Tio. Yue sulking. Kaori is eager and follows the same gibberish and voila! She did some magic! That sure boasts Yue’s morale as a teacher. In town as they shop for clothes, they ask about Myu’s people on what they usually where. Nothing. Don’t get funny ideas. Because Myu praises Yue as her big sister, this makes the rest jealous as they try to impress to loli. Too bad she says their bad points and this gives Yue a big smug look. Then she has an idea they should swap clothes. Whoever wears what, we win, right? Of course the biggest lottery is when Kaori ends up in Shea’s clothes. Don’t stare! Continuing their journey, Yue feels great as Myu sleeps on her lap. Her smug look has the rest tease this perversion. But Yue’s regret is that Myu doesn’t call her mama like she does papa for Hajime. But Myu explains she already has one so Yue can’t be her mom. She can be her onee-sama instead. A big loli hug makes Yue melt with all the fuzzy warmness. The rest note Yue’s regression to an infantile stage as Hajime himself explains about such phenomenon that would want to make one cuddle up like a baby. Are we impressed? Yue further thinks that if she can’t be Myu’s mom, she’ll have to get her own baby. Assaulting Hajime when? To compromise, she asks Hajime if he wants to be the baby. The shock almost has him crash his vehicle. Yue continues with those doe-like eyes. Driving is getting more dangerous!

From Common Edgelord To World’s Overpowered God
Hey… HEY! Guess what?! Somehow I don’t find this sequel to be as bad!!! Hooray! Felt like some sort of an achievement there! Not sure if it is because I have set my expectations so low that nothing could go limbo rock lower than that or there wasn’t anything more cringe or crappier than that sick pole sticking ass joke. Yeah, that one still take the cake. Ah yes, almost forgotten about that had not Tio brought it up at the end!!! At least it was a good thing the same actions were not repeated, but the concept was there and so were the memories. Yeah. But at least this season did not suck as hard as the first and going by that standard, it is very much a good enough accomplishment. Phew. This means not a candidate for one of the worst series of the year? We shall see in the end…

Well, I have to admit that as the season reaches its climax, perhaps it was that part that got a bit more interesting since Eri began moving things and started her betrayal. A little too late but I guess it’s better than nothing. Because for the early and middle parts for this season, it was mainly the same usual stuff of overpowered Hajime and his brutal harem finding labyrinths to conquer. Pretty standard affair. Nothing really that exciting. Now that Hajime will be travelling together with his old classmates, perhaps it might be a different ball game altogether. Could be better or it could be worse but at least Kouki, Shizuku and co won’t become permanent minor background characters should they continue to get stuck and left behind at the kingdom.

Character wise, Hajime still maintains his badass personality although he will get a bit soft for those he trusts. Very evident you can see how he acts and talks with Aiko. Why not just admit this loli sensei into your harem? Ah well, she places the safety and wellbeing of all her students first. One thing ‘good’ about Hajime is how he made his resolve regarding his love. And that is Yue whom he will always forever love. Unlike many such characters, they were unable to decide and left everything as status quo so as not to rock the boat. Hence Hajime is ‘good’ in that sense for not wavering on his decisions and has been very firm on it ever since. So while you might think that newcomer Kaori may not stand a chance but as we can all tell, she won’t give up. After all, people change. Like how Hajime turned from a wuss into this badass anti-hero. While it might seem improbable, there is always that slight remote possibility. So that is why I’m thinking that her body swap with Noint is to facilitate that change not only for herself but also Hajime is not likely inclined to see her as the old Kaori. New Kaori stronger than before, so will he look at her differently like he will for Yue? Only time will tell. So new body, can Kaori still stand up against Yue in her spat for Hajime? We can only wait and see.

The other girls in Hajime’s harem do not feel as annoying as they were last season. Perhaps they are all capable women and strong enough to be Hajime’s support and hence the idiocrasy of Tio and Shea are not given so much of the limelight except for some light-hearted moments. While Tio is still a pervert but that is when they are not fighting any enemy, Shea feels much less a muscle brained hare I often thought of her the last season. Yeah, sorry about that. Then there is of course the ‘daughter’ Myu whom Hajime is very fond of. For better or worse, she has been returned to her village but with Hajime’s promise to come get her, you bet that’s not the end of her yet. After all, don’t bring a child to the battlefield. And yeah, should Remia actually be part of the harem, Hajime has got all group ages covered from loli to teens to MILF. Oh boy, are we ever gonna get so jealous.

As for the other classmates, Kouki and Shizuku I don’t feel they are prominent than last season although they have more of the limelight in the final stretch. After all, what else can they do when they are stuck in the castle? Kouki can’t virtue signal anymore after realizing how weak he is and Shizuku barely getting by. The other classmates, still can’t remember their name. Good riddance Hiyama is dead so this means we can leave this jealousy business out the next season. Yeah, it will be a pain to see Hajime and Hiyama fight again all because of Kaori but that kind of fight will be so mismatched as we know Hajime is God level while Hiyama is only acting by his blinded rage of jealousy. May he rest in peace.

So with Eri being revealed as the big traitor among them, it is interesting to see what kind of plans she will have next. Because even if the invasion has failed, she still has her Spirit Binding ability in which the demons will find useful for their retaliation. Otherwise, do you think they would really want to take a human in after failing and being thwarted? This means Hajime will have an enemy to focus on or at least some vengeful demon will be targeting him so as to settle the score. It is pretty weird that they couldn’t finish their business as Freid has escaped from his death fate THRICE! His first pseudo victory at the volcano, the second after Yue held her ground and the third which didn’t even get started because Hajime so badass this guy probably pissed in his pants and made the cowardly but right decision to retreat. Yeah. Live and there’s always a next time. I thought Noint would be an important character if not some sort of valuable antagonist but it turns out that she was to serve as Kaori’s new body. I mean, such a powerful character but lacking any back story, I guess that says it all.

This season’s art and animation remain consistent with last season. Still mediocre in my opinion. But worse of all, the CGI has not really improved. Yes, you can see the atrocity of those 3D models that were used on the monsters. Especially those dragons. They just look so lifeless. Like NPCs. And because the scenes aren’t particularly well lit and some are quite dark, perhaps you can’t see the whole horrendous effect. Forgettable. Thank goodness they are only used on monsters. I did not notice if CGI is used on others but I bet you it would have sucked ass if it was 100% completely CGI like Tesla Note or Ex-Arm. Yeah. It will hurt even more painful than Tio’s ass been brutalized by Hajime’s thick and hard pole!!! Oh f*ck, just made that stupid pole joke I swore I didn’t want to.

Action wise, Hajime has got a reputation to keep because he can materialize just about anything for whatever, making plot convenience the backbone of all their adventures. Sometimes they want to troll us and create some tension when we see him weakened or almost to the point where we may think he has been beaten. But nope. Either his harem has him covered or he’ll find some sort of way to make a comeback. It’s all within expectations. Imagine if Hajime actually dies, that would be even more shocking. So don’t worry people, veteran isekai watcher like me can assure you that by a very long shot that Hajime will never ever die. Because he is main character after all. What will Myu think of papa breaking his promise to take her to his world if he kicks the bucket, eh?

This season’s new cast include Sayaka Ohara as Remia, Rina Satou as Noint and Katsuyuki Konishi as Freid, the only ones I recognized. The rest are Noriko Shibasaki as Liliana (Chisato in Tsugumomo), Asuka Nishi as Eri (Mimosa in Black Clover) and Makoto Ishii as Mikhail (Arthur in Tears To Tiara). This season’s opening theme, Daylight by MindaRyn is your typical anime rock but somehow I felt it lacks some sort of oomph to match the series. Oh I don’t know, it’s not as badass enough to match Hajime’s character, I think. The ending theme is Gedou Sanka by FantasticYouth and is a mix of rock and hip hop. Sounds a bit sultry too so another a bit of a mismatch for this series.

Overall, it is a good thing this second season is not as bad as the first although it still doesn’t pull the series out of the doldrums. Generally the story and the characters are still hovering around the average line and the CGI is still hopeless. Can they do without that the next time? With seemingly interesting developments and direction, perhaps it could maintain this momentum and finally give the series its true overall reputation it deserves? Well, if we get another season in the first place. Yeah, I guess the general sentiments aren’t so good so instead of making haste to announce another one, they’ll do so after a few years down the road. After many bad isekai adaptations of other animes later! By that time we may feel nostalgic and had it good that this series wasn’t so bad to begin with. Especially when you still remember a certain dragon babe got her ass brutalized by a thick and hard pole!!! By that time it could have turned from common cringe to world’s strongest meme! Oh boy…

Shaman King (Remake)

Here is another old classic anime that has been given the remake treatment. Yup, after Fruits Basket decided that the original TV anime needed some new breath of life and more accurately, adapt the entire manga volumes, now it is the turn of Shaman King to do the same. Because otherwise how do you get new and younger viewers to go appreciate old retro animes of the past? Yeah, looks there are going to be hundreds or thousands of old classic retro series that needs to be remade. But that is a discussion for another time. Because now it is time to see how old shonen battle tournament genres of yesteryears face in today’s time. With all the modern technologies and decline in spiritual quotient, do we even believe in spirits that we form bonds to help us fight in tournaments to determine the best Shaman King? Grandma and grandpa should be turning in their graves right now…

Coming To Tokyo Arc

* The birth of evil – 13 years ago, a mother going to give birth to twins. However, grandparents don’t know which one is evil so how? Kill both of them! The first twin comes out and grandpa goes in for the kill but fails because this evil baby already reincarnated with his spirit guardian. They escape and the ritual killing stops because the other twin hasn’t been born yet? I guess that’s why the first twin became evil! You people trying to kill him right after birth!!!

* I see dead people – Manta trying to take a shortcut through the graveyard, gets the shock of his life when he sees Yoh talking to ghosts! Guess what? Yoh becomes a transfer student in his class the very next day!

* Shaman King ni, ore wa naru! – Manta learns that Yoh is a shaman and is here for training.

* Desecration – Manta trying to find out more about shamans, stumbles upon Ryu and his gang. They desecrate the grave of Amidamaru. Manta gets busted and beaten up. Yoh returns to avenge his friend by forming a pact with Amidamaru and sends them fleeing with their tails between their legs.

* Spirits are not tools! – Ren is here to take Amidamaru and of course fights Yoh. However Unlike Ren who uses his spirit, Bason like a tool, Yoh treats his like a friend. And because of that, you bet that is the winning formula of how Yoh defeats Ren despite the latter getting close to killing him at first.

* The queen arrives – We all know very well this Anna b*tch, right? This future wife of Yoh has tracked him all the way to Tokyo so she can train him to be the best shaman warrior and win the tournament to become Shaman King. Oh, you know there is going to be a tournament in Tokyo with the gathering of shamans, right? And yeah, Manta suddenly becomes her errand boy and he better get on her good side if he knows what’s good for him. I didn’t make that up, Anna herself said so!

* Spirits have feelings too! – With Ren’s defeat, now it is his sister’s turn, Jun to take Amidamaru from Yoh. Her spirit is Bai Long, a famous martial artist. As usual, she treats her spirit like a tool until Yoh is able to break him free from her control. Then he goes into rage realizing he was purposely murdered by the Tao family as present for Jun’s birthday. Anna summons Bai Long’s master to integrate with Yoh just to calm him down and return to the right path. Because he can still perfect his martial arts, he wants to continue to be with Jun but without all the brainwashing.

* Love at first sight – Ryu falling for Anna at first sight? Wait till he finds out whom she is betrothed too! Just be glad you’re not her fiancé!

* Even lizards need a second chance – Ryu gets possessed by Tokagero who has a grudge against Amidamaru. He takes Manta hostage and uses all sorts of dirty tricks just to see Amidamaru suffer. Time to use the power of friendship to wear him down. Even if Anna wants to send him straight to hell, Yoh wants to save his soul because you can’t just do that in hell, right? So Yoh lets Tokagero possess him to see the light. At first Tokagero thought he’d won but after realizing he can’t bring himself to murder Yoh because of all that inner peace and trust crap, it is his first step towards salvation. Yeah, and to think that Anna will blame Manta if Yoh actually dies!!!

Shaman Fights In Tokyo Arc

* Fighting fire with fire – With the comet flying through the sky indicating the start of the tournament, Yoh is being tested by Silva to see if he has what it takes to participate in this tournament. Basically, Yoh understanding the principal and forming his own Over Soul to defeat Silva. This earns him Oracle Bell, a convenient device to tell him info and the likes about the matches.

* There can be only one – Well, if you win the tournament and become Shaman King, you’ll be the only person who can see the Great Spirit who oversees everything in this universe. Basically, meet God, right?

* Exemption – Despite Ren killing one of the test officials, Chrom, he is still allowed to participate because Great Spirit said so. Uhm, so what’s this about the Great Spirit knows all but is not a prophet and hence can’t tell the outcome?! So God isn’t basically God?! I’m confused! An excuse so that nobody will know who will become Shaman King, huh?!

* Yoh vs Horohoro – A shaman participant must win 2 out of 3 matches to qualify for the next round. With this Ainu kid as Yoh’s first match, lots of awesomeness about their dreams, blah, blah, blah. But we all know Yoh will win this match, right? And great sportsmanship from Horohoro because now they’re like friends with each other. Yesterday’s enemy is today’s friend. If only his sister, Pirika isn’t so angry Yoh ‘killed’ their dreams. More training for Horohoro then…

* Yoh vs Faust – Is it Thriller Night already? Faust the necromancer wants to dissect and experiment on Manta. This riles up Yoh to go protect his friend. Better finish this match fast or Manta will die from blood loss from this quack surgery! Yoh’s turn to rile up Faust when he calls his Over Soul, Eliza (Faust’s dead wife) a doll. Some talk about the life and death and although Yoh manages to take down Eliza, he runs out of furyoku first. Yup, Yoh lost. But yeah, losing this match is way better than losing a friend, right? Unhappy Faust wants to kill everyone despite the match being over but is easily taken out by Ren. Guess who is next for Yoh? Did Ren upgrade himself to ride a horse?!

* Cruel to be kind – Manta’s family warning him to stop being friends with the shaman and they want him to go America to study. It gets worse when Yoh is blaming Manta for his loss. But of course this is just a façade to not put Manta in further danger. Knowing he can’t beat Ren at this rate, Yoh returns to his family estate in Izumo for more training.

* Ren & Stimpy – Did Ponchi and Konchi take after that Nickelodeon duo?!

* Just a fan – Just as Anna puts it. She relegates Tamao’s love for Yoh to be just that of a fan. Because Yoh can only have 1 wife, right? What’s wrong with having 2 wives then?! Okay, I’m sorry. Please don’t kill me, Anna!!!

* Evolution – Apparently the fruits of Yoh’s training of walking through a dark cave is his evolution of his Over Soul. Now Amidamaru can talk in this form, huh? What happened to that telepathic thing?

* Destroying the rot from its core – It’s nothing new. Ren revealing to us he will become Shaman King to destroy the Tao family because they’ve only cared about revenge. It’s their only basis for existing.

* Panned-da – Ren’s dad, Tao En is giving Jun one more chance to redeem herself. Sure, but WTF?! He killed his cute panda pet just as show of forces?! WHAT THE F*CK???!!!! HE JUST KILLED AN INNOCENT PANDA!!!!

* Yoh vs Ren – The rematch is here. Yoh is being himself and very casual while Ren is just fuming with angst. In the end, both of them lost their furyoku at the same time. A draw. How? Because the Great Spirit sees great potential in them, both qualify for the next round. FAVOURITISM! Yoh doesn’t even meet the simple majority of 2 wins (1 win, 1 loss and a draw) while Ren only fought 2 matches. SO HOW IS THIS EVEN FAIR???!!!

* Singing monks – Uhm, next round not yet started but is it even fair for a couple of singing monks to attack and take down Yoh? Thanks to Ryu’s help, the monks run away. It is hinted they are underlings of Hao. Oh, haven’t you noticed? Ryu is also now a shaman (after that measly training in Izumo?) and manages to qualify for the next round. Great Spirit must be really fickle, huh?

* The father of it all – After clashing with Yoh, Ren realizes his goal has changed. He doesn’t hate humanity that much and that is why he is returning to China to defeat his own father first.

* The bigger monster – Ren may have gotten all the small fries away but he still has to deal with Tao En who has already dismembered Bai Long and imprisoned Jun for siding with Yoh. Of course Ren is still too weak and gets defeated and thrown into the cell.

* Friends in need – Bason made it in time to seek Yoh and company’s help to save Ren. So they make all the way to Guizhou, fight some modified jiang shi and then free the imprisoned siblings. Of course Ren isn’t going to go home yet until he defeats his father and the scars he has embedded into him. Ultimately, it is all to overcome this burning hatred inside of him. What’s Yoh got to do but help support his friend? Never try, never know.

* Will the real Tao En please stand up – It seems unbelievable Tao En is like an immortal that cannot be defeated. Until Ren reveals that this monstrous form is just his Over Soul form that he has been using to deceive everyone.

* Trust – Apparently this is the main issue that divides father and son. Because of the family’s bloody history of betrayals, Tao En cannot bring himself to trust anyone anymore and that’s why he can’t accept his son putting his trust in friends. But fight stopped because grandpa and mom saw Tao En waver and that was enough for the fight not to go on? And some ranting about the acceptance of the ever changing definitions of good and evil and Tao En lost his way when he became obsessed in protecting the family honour. So did Ren win because he was stronger? Oh heck, at least Tao En gives a family heirloom, a sword to him. So he is the family head now?

* Long way to America – Oh f*ck! You mean Ren is going to ride his horse all the way to America for the tournament?!

Travelling Through America Arc

* Pay your respects – Hao makes his first appearance before Yoh, Ren, Horohoro and Ryu just to tell them he is going to be the future king. Don’t pick a fight with this dude now unless you have a death wish.

* Tribal wars – The first mission for all shaman candidates is to find Patch Village. While the quartet are trying to find clues to get there, they are met with Lilirara from the Seminoa tribe who are arch nemesis of the Patch tribe. She tries to discourage them to further proceed by showing visions of the past. 500 years ago, this Silva look-a-like, Patch demolished the Seminoa tribe. The truth about this tournament is to find the best shaman and recreate the world again and rid of all the humans. Because you know, current humans are the root of all evil, right?

* Revenge of the fallen – Well, well. Looks like Hao cuts short Lilirara’s life after she has outlived her usefulness. It seems Hao was that Patch dude 500 years ago but that was just his temporary form to get one of the 5 grand elemental spirts: Fire Spirit which is now his Over Soul. Now he has returned to exact revenge on humans.

* Shaman Sherlock – Lyserg insists in having allies for his revenge against Hao for killing his detective parents who refused to be part of his groupie. He tries to show his strength as proof but ends up hurting Ren and Horohoro. Yoh is not amused and teaches him a lesson not to lose sight of what’s important. Since their goals align, Lyserg joins the group and everyone gets along fine like friends.

* Hao to become God – Grandpa reveals to Anna about Hao become a great onmyouji and mastered all the 5 elements of the pentagram. Not only can he control stuffs, he can even have foresight into the future! Now that he has reincarnated to participate in the tournament, you bet he is going to destroy humanity. The Asakura family tried to destroy him 1000 years ago but hao can you destroy God, eh?

* Cheat book – But don’t worry, there’s this book called Cho-Senjiryakketsu that contains all of Hao’s abilities and secrets that might be useful to take him down. Breaking the seal would unleash a couple of Hao’s shikigami but Anna proves herself by easily destroying them. Now she must send this book to Yoh. Yup, that guy doesn’t know this is the burden and destiny he has to carry for his family.

* DLC – So the cheat book isn’t enough and grandpa already sent some package to him, huh?

* Bear necessities – Horohoro got separated by the gang in some snow accident and ends up being nursed in the cabin of a park ranger, Bluebell Bloch. She warns him about a wandering bear named Apollo who hates humans because poachers killed its parents and scared its face. But Horohoro being the Ainu guy in touch with nature, goes to ‘talk’ and calm this bear down and just when you thought you have a happy ending, Apollo gets killed by those f*cking poachers! Since they do it for fun, Horohoro gets mad and teaches them a lesson but short of killing them because he is not a scumbag like them.

* Overlapping characters – Yoh and co stumble into some of Hao’s men. They claim they are here to kill his friends so as to make Yoh undergo a severe trial. Boris Tepes Dracula is going to do that job but Yoh and friends laugh at him because he doesn’t look like Dracula himself and the one who looks more is one of their comrades. Hence Boris kills him off just to avoid the confusion!

* Turning Dracula human – So we’ve heard Boris’ tragic story of persecution. So Boris turns Lyserg into a controlled puppet and has him hold Yoh hostage. If anyone dares make any move, he’ll make Lyserg stab his own throat. But you know? They’re not scared and fight back. That’s right, power of friendship! They even convinced Boris’ spirit to not listen to him too.

* Angels of death – X-Laws might have the same goal of taking down Hao, however they have no qualms in killing those who are associated with him. This doesn’t sit well with Yoh but obviously at this point he is too weak to fight them. And he got his sword broken.

* Hao are you – Well, looks like Anna and co have arrived in America. Look who is here to greet them? HAO! Hao the?! He wants her to send Cho-Senjiryakketsu to Yoh so that he can power up and assist him with his goals. Anna puts her faith with Yoh that her future husband will win. Though, a slap may not put Hao down but it certainly shows Anna’s determination.

* Jokes on you – With the gang awakening inside Patch Village after passing the first trial of watching the Great Spirit and all its memories of Earth, Lyserg is missing. Soon they stumble into Chocolove who wants to join their team because the upcoming tournament is team based and 3 to a team. Aside his dumb lame puns, he also relays info that many of the competitors have aligned themselves with one of the 3 factions: Hao, X-Laws or Gandhara as all of them has God class shamans. So if you want to have a chance of winning and making your dream come true, it is better to pledge your allegiance under them. So I’m guessing there’ll be a 4th underdog team?

* Doctor’s call – Yoh reunites with Manta… Sitting on Faust’s lap???!!! Actually he isn’t here to fight them but to request to join their team. However they claim their team is already full with missing Lyserg so they turn him away. But that is overturned by our queen Anna who thinks a doctor on their side will be great (of course she wants to get his loyalty for her hotspring plans). After all, she has seen Faust’s capabilities and knows nothing about Lyserg. And just like that, Faust is on Yoh’s team.

* Defect – With Marco comforting a lost Lyserg, it is safe to say that he will be joining X-Laws’ side.

Shaman Fights Second Round Arc

* Back to Tokyo – Uhm so the next round of the tournament will be on an uninhabited island in Japan? All the way back there again, huh?

Team Ren vs Team Tsuchigumi
* Looks like Ren doesn’t want to take on small fries so he lets Chocolove handle the small fries who are those singing monks. He easily defeats them but this is all part of Peyote’s plan to use them as medium to continue forcing them to fight. If Chocolove further beats them up, they’ll die.
* Time for Chocolove’s flashback of his crime ridden life until he was picked up by an old man from the Amazon who believed in saving the world via laughter and harmony. He taught Chocolove on the importance of that before passing his guardian spirit to him. Hence trying to be funny and making his opponents laugh without killing them is what Chocolove is trying to do. He manages to do that (although his jokes are pretty lame) but is too weak for the finisher. And that’s when Ren steps in to deal the finishing blow to win it.

Team X-I vs Team Niles
* Lyserg is part of this X-Laws’ top team and he is given the directive to proof himself by taking on this Egyptian themed team. He is willing to go as far as killing his opponents. He gives them a chance to surrender after defeating them but unfortunately they won’t. So as he is about to kill them, Morphine stops him.
* This makes Jeanne feel disappointed in him for hesitating. So she casts him aside and takes to the ring and kills off their leader, Anatel after he too once again refuses to give up despite being warned. She too gives his teammates a chance to leave or face the same consequences like him. Pride and anger won’t allow them so unfortunately they got the same fate. What a bloody showdown.

Team Funbari Onsen vs Team Icemen
* Time to see how much Yoh has powered with his Cho-Senjiryakketsu skills. Using the package that contains a small Futsu No Mitama sword, this allows Amidamaru to evolve into a higher spirit.
* But the cold regions themed opponents decide to take on Faust first, thinking he is the weakest. Likewise Faust will handle them all on his own and won’t let them touch his saviour.
* After seeing Mephisto E, a giant Over Soul of Eliza that is just freaking scary, Team Icemen turn to freezing Ryu. Too bad they can’t do it too because of Ryu’s strong bond and training to protect Yoh and make him the Shaman King, blah, blah, blah. Yeah, Tokagero has also evolved greatly into Yamata No Orochi Go. Basically Hydra on wheels.
* 2 crazy dudes, so Team Iceman target Yoh. Wow. Yoh does nothing and their ice all melts away! Not sure about the explanation about his soft supple furyoku warded off their cold brutal furyoku. Realizing they cannot win, at least they go out without regrets so Yoh defeats them and frees them from whatever blinds their past.

* Recruitment – Hao finds Ren and tempts him about learning everything from Cho-Senjiryakketsu that he wrote. This means Hao wants Ren to join him. Because at this rate he cannot surpass Yoh. Thankfully Ren’s friendship with Yoh is stronger so he rejects Hao’s offer although he is overcome with fear after feeling Hao’s limitless furyoku.

* Recruitment part 2 – Yoh goes to see Lyserg and being the guy he is, won’t admonish this guy who is feeling guilty and lost for defecting to X-Laws. Hey, it’s his decision. But WTF, Marco abuses Lyserg for talking to the enemy? It could’ve been worse had Jeanne not stopped this angry dude. Jeanne wants Yoh to join them because of his immense power but of course he declines because he doesn’t like the way they do things.

Team Hanagumi vs Team T-Production
* WTF?! Not even worth to see how these otaku clowns get owned by the Halloween babes.

Team Hoshigumi vs Team X-III
* Hao wants to take all of Team X-III at once. Safe to say, he is too fast to even see and kills them all off! X-Laws not shedding a tear except for Lyserg who is slowly losing his mind after witnessing the killings. This is all part of the plan as X-Laws already planned to sacrifice themselves to reveal Hao’s secret to defeat him. But to add more insult, Hao himself tells them the secret of his Fire Spirit.
* In order to take Hao down with him, Venstar sacrifices himself by detonating a powerful bomb. As the arena is protected with a powerful barrier, those outside will not be effected. But as we can guess it is all in vain because Hao is unscathed.
* And if you think that’s the end of it, Hao captures their souls and will use them to forever serve as his nutrition.

* Separated at birth – So with Yoh’s pals learning about his connection to Hao, they’re pretty bummed out but continue to maintain by his side. Though, this is a battle that Yoh can only end it by his own hands. So we have a full flashback on the day Hao and Yoh were born. Other than their failed attempt to kill baby Hao, Hao noticed his other self was split into another half that we all know as Yoh. When the time is ripe, he will claim his other half back. While it might look gloomy, the Asakura family realized that if Yoh can rival Hao’s power, then he will be their only hope to defeat him.

* It’s over 9000!!! – Well, Yoh tells his pals the big thing that is bugging him: Hao’s furyoku is quantified and measured to be 1,250,000!!! To put that into perspective, Silva as the strongest among the Patch officials is measured at only 10,000. Plus, the devastating news is that Yoh predicts that Hao will actually win the tournament.

* Sleeping with the enemy – Looks like a couple of Patch officials, Nichrom and Magna are siding with Hao. So much for impartialness.

* Fight of fathers – Yoh’s parents, Mikihisa and Keiko see the Tao family in order to get their permission and corporation to teach Ren their Cho-Senjiryakketsu. Because Tao En doesn’t acknowledge and wants proof that this book is stronger than his own doctrine, the fathers fight. Chinese father lost.

* May the most stubborn man win – Mikihisa begins ‘training’ Ren and obviously the latter is much weaker and is more prideful but both sides won’t give up. Eventually Ren lost. But I’m not sure when he learnt it because it’s just in time for him to show his stuff when the enemy is about to attack.

* Off the cards – Are these the next official matches? Because we see Hanagumi targeting Mikihisa’s team, Team Kabbalahers (consists of the Munzer siblings, Redseb and Seyrarm). Luckily for them, Anna, Tamao and Jun are here to play with them too. Meanwhile Peyote, Tabarsi and Zang Ching target Ren’s side. Ren does pretty well until he learns that the Patch official overseeing this match is Nichrom who is the younger brother of Chrom whom Ren killed during the qualifying round. This hesitancy cause Peyote to kill him off. Horohoro and Chocolove fight back to save their friend. Their furyoku is too low to even protect Ren or defend against their attacks. So how? Funbari Onsen to the rescue! Because of Yoh’s fearsome aura similar to Hao, the follower’s back down although Nichrom isn’t very happy about it.

* God’s miracle – Oh, if even Dr Faust can’t save Ren whom he claims his body is technically dead, how will they resurrect him?! That’s right, call in X-Laws! They’re going to use God’s powers to save him?! Aside the fact that putting oneself in a near state of death helps one tremendously increase their furyoku (Hao’s multiple reincarnation and Jeanne’s Iron Maiden torture), the condition for saving Ren is that Yoh must quit the tournament. And Yoh’s decision… Friend > tournament. Sorry Anna, looks like you’ll have to change your title or find another husband.

* Unbelievable – WTF?! Marco is shocked at Yoh’s decision?! I thought he wanted him out?! And now he has voluntarily quit, WTF Marco being dramatic over this?! So what do you want?!

* B*tch showdown – Kanna and Anna having showdown of words. This gonna get ugly…

* Terminator zombie – Anna wants Jun to fight her to see how much Bai Long has improved. Basically he has been modified and is part zombie and part machine!

* Emeth – Anna leads Redseb and Seyrarm kids away as she learns Seyrarm has no emotions after seeing their father murdered. Redseb participates in this tournament in hopes the Great Spirit can do something about her. It seems they only recently became shamans after their father died. They were thought about the supernatural stuffs via a golem named Emeth that their father found during his travels. Looks like a powerful secret weapon…

* B*tch fight – Hanagumi girls take on Tamao and Jun. Ghost, doll and sylph magic outdo a bunch of joker spirits and a rotting corpse. Wow. You mean Tamao and Jun are ready to die for this?

* Big daddy – Look who is here to teach both sides of these girls some life lessons. Yes, big daddy Mikihisa gives them a few slaps too. It is a good thing he stopped this fight because it could’ve been real devastating had Emeth been used here. Magna calls for Hanagumi to retreat since they have done their part in revealing the golem with powers they are even unaware of.

Osorezan Le Voile Arc

* Time to get a wife – We go back in time when Yoh was 10 years old. Grandpa thinks it is time for Yoh to meet his wife. So he summons a split tailed cat, Matamune, a familiar who has been serving the Asakura household for centuries to accompany Yoh to Aomori.

* Out of my way – The first time Yoh and Anna meet face to face in the streets, she tells him to GTFO for blocking her path!

* Leave me alone – Anna’s rude behaviour leaves much to be desired as she often confines herself in her room most of the time. This has Yoh wondering if a demon attack on him earlier in the day had anything to do with her. One day out in the streets, Anna came to surprisingly tell Yoh to find another wife. Yoh wants answers but he sees for himself Anna’s aura forming another demon trying to kill him. That is when she reveals this is what happens when she is outside and that’s why she confines herself in her room. Yoh tries to fight it but Anna gets worried and that’s when the demon just disappeared.

* Former master – Matamune narrates Hao was his former master and he defeated him in a Shaman King tournament 500 years ago when the latter reincarnated as a Patch tribe. More flashback reveals Matamune was a stray cat living in poverty but picked up by Hao who was the great onmyouji then. He helped contribute greatly to society but his kindness and powerful furyoku was consumed by demons and slowly he started to lose himself. It corroded his soul until he became a demon himself. In such times, he also saw the worst in humanity and that’s why he vowed to become Shaman King. But as noted, that was his weakness that drove this ambition for his.

* Save my heart – Now Matamune must overcome his past and save Anna as she holds the same power as Hao: The power to see people’s hearts. This has what made Anna to hate and avoid others. This is causing her to materialize demons. Hence Yoh’s help is needed to open her heart.

* Heart of darkness – Yoh invites Anna to the shrine for New Year. But along the way, she starts to materialize demons because you know, there are hundreds of people streaming into the shrine and they’re all harbouring earthly desires. Matamune helps stave off the demons but ultimately a demon eats the rest and grows into a big one. Matamune thinks of sacrificing himself and use up all his furyoku to slay this demon but this evil reincarnation is intelligent. He kidnaps mommy Anna and leaps towards Mt Osorezan. If Anna runs out of Furyoku at that freezing mountain, she’ll die.

* Fighting your inner demons – When Yoh and Matamune arrive at Osorezan, the demon seems pretty chirpy because Anna’s furyoku replenished him. But is now Anna who is broken as she is filled with hate and anger. She cannot forgive all the abuse and humiliation and wants everything dead. This is the same as Hao back then when Matamune failed to save him and it has become his regret for a thousand years. She orders the demon to kill them but that is when Yoh is forced to resort to using Matamune to fuse with his soul and become a giant sword (AKA Over Soul but he doesn’t know the term then). The sad part is that once Matamune takes this form, he cannot return to his cat form and will die once the furyoku runs out. So Yoh promised to become Shaman King and create a new body vessel for him again. With Anna’s feelings wavering, this weakens the demon so he tries to attack them both but alas, Yoh slices him down. In the aftermath, grandma collected all the beads of the demon that became Anna’s tool while those claw necklace thingy that Yoh always wears is Matamune’s medium. As Yoh returns to Izumo, Anna accompanies him for 1 train stop. He was also given letters written by Matamune but he couldn’t read most of the writings.

Five Warriors Arc

* Shaman slap – Well, how is Yoh going to make up to Anna now that he won’t become Shaman King anymore? Even if he is out of the running, this doesn’t mean his mission to defeat Hao is over. A few slaps to remind him of this. Damn, does Yoh have mumps now?

* Kiss of life – So what is the miracle that will bring back to life? A kiss! Sorry folks. If you think it is cutie Jeanne who is going to sully her lips for that, you’re wrong. She uses Shamash for that job. And just like that, Ren is back and kicking. He might not like being indebted to Yoh again but I guess it’s better than being dead.

* Soul collector – Bill and Brocken trying to prevent Icemen from leaving and collect their soul for Hao. Horohoro jumps in to save them despite being the weakest. Until his father comes to show him the meaning of survival of the fittest, it’s the game changer for Horohoro.

* Crumbling blocks – My, you certainly don’t want to play with this dangerous Lego. Thankfully, Horohoro doesn’t play with Lego so he owns this blocky kid.

* O’ Great Buddha– It is hinted that Bill got killed by an X-Laws’ angel believed to be of Lyserg. So to get revenge, Peyton and Tabarsi go to ambush Yoh’s hideout since Lyserg is with them. Ryu stalls them to let the rest escape. However he is not match for them and thought he died in their attacks. Turns out it is the Gandhara group who decided to intervene and save his life.

* Revenge is a dish best served cold – Chocolove wanted to see his old gang buddies but finds them all dead. They are killed by Redseb and Seyrarm riding Emeth who accuse Chocolove as the one who killed their father.

* Sorry not going to cut it – Chocolove may have repented killing others but the kids aren’t so they kill him off.

* Vengeance sparks vengeance – Because Yoh interrupted, Redseb thinks their revenge is incomplete and fights him. But after getting a pep talk about always losing something if your cause is due to revenge, Redseb sees the light. But…

* Revenge spree continues – Showing its side of power that Redseb doesn’t know, it looks like Seyrarm has completely taken over Emeth to continue her revenge (Seyrarm in fact possessed by their dead father, Camel). Hao’s team shows up and wants to take Emeth because its true power is integrated furyoku. Basically it is like a battery to store additional power and Emeth’s furyoku stands at 550,000. Before Fire Spirit can consume Emeth, Lyserg and Yoh’s pals come into the picture.

* What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger – So, Hao not going to join this fight because he intends of using Emeth to make Yoh stronger? I guess it’s another excuse to postpone the boss fight.

* Straw that broke the Camel’s back – Camel isn’t even aware he is dead and although Emeth took out Yoh, it used up all its furyoku. So mad Camel that he is going to kill his friends to replenish its furyoku. Redseb’s voice didn’t get to him so are they dead meat? Unless you count Chocolove coming into the picture to atone for his sins. He admits he killed him and is here to make amends. Yeah, Chocolove so zen and all that you bet he is going to win this fight. NOT! Oh sh*t! He lost?! So much for all that cool sounding talk.

* Henpecked husband – Camel thought he has had his revenge and want to destroy Emeth. Too bad Anna won’t let him do it because she will be taking it to help fight against Hao. And also some pep talk for him to abandon his kids and being selfish. Well, nobody can go up against Anna so…

* A different point of view – It is revealed that Chocolove was resurrected by Gandhara but in exchange he seems to have lost his visual sight so that he could enhance other senses to increase his furyoku. Though, his lame jokes still suck! But hey, did it make Seyrarm smile a teensy bit?!

* Back in the game – Well, Opacho is here to observe and send a message from Hao to Yoh. He wants Yoh to rejoin the tournament or else he will kill the golem and the kids. So what is Yoh going to do? He already made his promise with X-Laws. Can he break them? Of course with Anna giving him a pep talk, I guess it is pretty clear that Anna > Marco in terms of scariness. And with that, Yoh decides to return to the tournament but will have to face off with Marco just to prove his point that he is done grovelling before others.

* Gay bois – While we see Yoh having the upper hand against X-Laws (WTF Marco filled with angst just because Yoh mislabelled him as the leader instead of Jeanne?), Luchist decides to help aid Yoh to defeat X-Laws. You see, Luchist and Marco have a long history going back to Sicily. Apparently Luchist was a father and he took in and cared for Marco. He was also the founder of X-Laws before he betrayed and left the organization. Now father and ‘son’ are going to have a showdown to put behind their past and move on. Only… WHY THEIR BATTLE OUTFIT MAKE THEM LOOK SO GAY???!!! While Marco is still no match for Luchist, only thanks to Yoh and Lyserg’s deception in using a decoy Jeanne and also the real Jeanne to deceive Luchist and take him down.

* Ordinary girl – As revealed, Jeanne is no God sent. Just an ordinary girl being raised by Marco to play her role in taking down Hao.

* Drive my car – Uhm, so Marco and Luchist also once opened a car sales dealer? Until of course Hao showed up and Marco lost everything.

* Passion of the maiden – Marco wants to kill himself for his failures but of course Jeanne won’t let him do it. She still needs him and as X-Laws’ leader, she orders him to stick around.

* Strike when you’re sleeping – Yoh reiterates to friends and foes alike that Hao will win the tournament. With that insane furyoku power, nobody can take on him. However this is the next plan: After Hao wins, he will undergo some cleansing ritual and temporary death as he becomes one with the Great Spirit. It is then they will strike to take him out. Of course it will not be easy as they will have to fight and defeat the Patch officials who are guarding him. That is their true purpose. It is also the reason why Hao has recruited many allies.

Team Ren vs Team Wisdom Kings
* Ren vs Yainage – WTF?! Dhalsim with big ears? In short, overbearing desire to become the strongest beats neutrality.
* Horohoro vs Jackson and Kado – WTF?! Discount Renji Abarai and dancing Charles Bronson?! After the duo did sneaky moves to take out a tired Ren and insta-kill Chocolove, Horohoro shows his true badass side because realism beats neutrality, right? Yeah, and you thought Horohoro was the weakest of the lot but apparently he is the greatest pretender.

Team Hanagumi vs Team Magical Princess
* WTF???!!! MAGICAL PRINCESS ARE TINY OLD WITCHES???!!! MY EYES AND BRAINS ARE MELTING????!!!! Oh, so insignificant this fight that the moment they debut, they lost. I was rooting for the hotter Halloween chicks anyway…

* Taking the law into your own hands – It seems Team X-II lost faith in Marco and decide to go eliminate Hao themselves. Being former military elites, you think that’s enough to stop him? You guessed right. They all died even if they unleash their final trump card, their angel shooting a satellite beam from space! Oh well, you get what you give…

* The pharaoh’s curse – Oh, Anatel has a brother? Anahol? What Asshole again?! He is gunning for revenge as he kills Marco and now tries to take Jeanne’s life. Oh, Jeanne in shock to even do anything?

* See you in hell –It seems Sati Saigan who is the leader of Gandhara wants to fight Yoh and that he must die and go to hell for the sake of the 5 warriors.

* Hellish training – Well, Yoh and Amidamaru’s soul are sent to hell for training. They will have to fight infinite times if they want to get out of here. First up is Yoh’s ancestor, Yohken. As expected, Yoh defeats-cum-save his ancestor and they have a long talk about stuffs and what they need to do to defeat Hao. Since Yoh won’t completely extinguish his other half’s soul, he opts for the other tougher option: Changing his heart. Oooh… It’s more fun that way, no? Yoh then has to fight with other demons after Yohken gets smashed flat!

* The great spirit robbery – Sati reveals the true purpose of sending Yoh’s to hell in order to obtain the 5 warriors AKA elemental spirits. More accurately, 1 spirit for person. Although Hao is the master of the Fire Spirit now, when he merges with the Great Spirit, he will be asleep and the Fire Spirit and other 4 elemental spirits will be masterless too. They will seize this chance to take them. This is Gandhara’s mission in this tournament.

* Hell’s companions – Yoh isn’t the only one in hell for that training. Looks like Team Ren are there too and are sent there courtesy of Team Wisdom Kings.

* X-tinct – Team X-II is dead. Same can be said for Team X-I and now Sati gets killed by Hao’s followers. Killing her means preventing all those sent to hell from returning to their bodies. Oh, except Marco who was saved by Jeanne’s Shamash at the very last moment. Because otherwise who will be there to kick Anatol’s ass when he tries to bully Tamao?

* International crisis – It seems when Team X-II fired the laser from space, it caused the entire world to notice this small little rock in Japan. So WTF, everybody going to send their military to investigate?! WHYYYYYY???!!! And because of that the tournament cannot proceed if it is seen by the eyes of the public???!!!

* Anna and the king – Time for another showdown between Anna and Hao. She has the rest take the fallen comrades away. This is primarily to hide some truly destructive power and form that she doesn’t want the rest to see.

* Back from hell – Thanks to Faust mastering Cho-Senjiryakketsu, he manages to revive Yoh. Team Funbari Onsen is back in business! Since Faust can do this resurrection business 1 more time, Yoh wants him to resurrect Sati so she can help bring the rest back. But that won’t be necessary. Because Team Hanagumi is supposed to take out Team Ren but they resurrect in time courtesy of Jun. Oh, so Sati thought her how to resurrect? Damn, this resurrect business is really easy to learn, no?!

* Fighting your inner demons – The only one left in hell and running scared is Lyserg. Then he realizes this scary demon hounding him is his worse inner fear and hate. Time to overcome it, right?

* Failing the failed – Hao’s followers are instructed to take out the international military who are closing in on the island. But Peyote starts talking about their failures and if they are actually fighting for a noble cause to make a better world. Then he starts to kill them off before taking his own life!

* Trampled flowers – Team Hanagumi is although dead, they’re trying to get to Hao in their soul form. But they stumble into him in the midst of his fight with Anna. Just in time because he is running low on furyoku. Time to feast on the souls. Luckily for them, Anna sacrifices one of her familiars to feed Hao and now he can take the form of his armoured Fire Spirit.

* Over a cuppa – Well what do you know? Yoh and Hao now having a nice chat over coffee?! Of course it’s to relay their feelings but how does it work for Hao seeing he can read minds? He wants Yoh to become stronger and when he stops being that, that is when he’ll consume his soul. If you think Hao has no feelings, well, he says he does. A bit. Especially Peyote’s betrayal.

Team Funbari Onsen vs Team Ren
* Before the start fights, both sides have a few words to say. As usual, Ren won’t hold anything back and become Shaman King. Yoh? He is asserting how he will never fight with hate in his heard because it makes no sense if he is going to become Shaman King and make this world a better place for everyone. The kicker is when he reveals he drank with his brother is because Hao has no friends!
* Yoh using his techniques from hell he learnt to neutralize furyoku. Cool, but how is it going to work on stuffs that aren’t spiritual? Because Ren and Horohoro can do lightning and ice respectively.
* Ren thought he killed Yoh but apparently Yoh points out that somewhere in his heart, he doesn’t want to kill him. Otherwise, how do you explain he is still standing?
* Lyserg has returned from hell after being revived from Sati. Yeah, new scary Over Soul power up. So, his intervention to stop this pointless match is because Team Ren and Team Funbari Onsen both progressed to the final round?! Turns out that the qualified teams of Sky (Gandhara) and Team Kabbalahers decide to withdraw. Hence leaving 2 spaces open. Who the other team to fill in that spot? Team X-I of course. Yeah, with the Patch officials agreeing to this, all the main players are assembled for the big finale.

* Together in the bath – Well, Hao once again joins Yoh and co in the hotspring. Is it me or does this look so gay with all the men sitting around!!! Anyway, Hao talks about the Mu continent in which the finals will take place. Yup, that lost continent that sunk into the ocean. That is where the records and memories from time immemorial of the Great Spirits reside and it is where Hao is confident he will become Shaman King and obtain all that knowledge.

* Shaman crisis – However before heading to Mu continent, Hao warns of a threat they have to deal with. Remember those international military coming here? Yes. This fleet is commanded by Manta’s dad, Mansumi and you bet his greedy human ass he wants the power of the Great Spirits. Hence, Hao blames Yoh for bringing a normal human into this and it’s his responsibility to clean it up because the Patch officials do not care and will not deal anything that has to do with humans. Trying to guilt trip him, huh?

* Brotherly alliance – For this just once, Hao and Yoh team up for once to take down the army without killing them.

* One man army – Hell yeah, Hao going all out and destroying Mansumi’s forces with ease. Don’t even need anybody’s help. Yeah, just leave it to Yoh and co to clean up the mess, huh? Yoh looking sad because he feels Hao’s sad source power and has suffered more in his 100 years living here than his 900 years of training in hell!

Invading The Plants Arc

* Walkover – After reaching Mu and before the next phase of the tournament could start, Yoh makes an announcement that Team Funbari Onsen, Team Ren and Team X-I will be withdrawing from the tournament. They know there is no chance in hell they can defeat Hao. Hao is declared the winner and will proceed to the ritual for the Great Spirit. Yoh and co will use this chance to take down Hao but will of course have to face off with the Patch officials.

* Till death do us part – Because Luchist will prevent them from interrupting Hao’s ritual, Marco fights him. Strange, Yoh telling the rest especially Lyserg not to interfere because if somebody wants to die just to let them pass, so be it! WHAT?! REALLY?! And so both of them take each other out including reconciling with each other. Justice or love? Well, they’re dead now. And Yoh still not happy?! I guess nobody’s going to listen to him anyway so he just let them as they wish. Hey, it’s their choice. Gotta respect that, no?

* Hi ol’ Silva – First Patch official they’ll face is Silva. Yoh needs to test some new moves on him.

* Plant plan – Well, this fight is just introductory. Now our heroes have to past through 10 plants, each guarded by a Patch official. As this is the path the Shaman King takes in this ritual, stray and they’ll get lost. And looks like they have about 15 hours if they want to prevent the end of the world.

* Desert plant – First plant up is guarded by Namari. Ryu takes on him and although he loses, he was able to reveal Namari’s trick, allowing Ren and Horohoro to send this guy to their defeat and earn their first plant victory.

* Valley plant – This one is guarded by Bron who was Lyserg’s officiant. Hence Lyserg is the only one who knows his tricks and didn’t get caught in his web like the rest. I think it’s cringe fest when Bron starts singing Patch’s hypnotic song because it is as lame as hell!!! I’m surprised you are brainwashed instead of committing suicide! Bron thought he killed Lyserg and this forces Jeanne to move to protect the rest. Thanks to Marco’s bulletproof glasses, Lyserg survives and incinerates Bron.

* Volcano plant – Magna tries to attack Jeanne first but this Iron Maiden is just an empty shell and the real one stayed behind at the valley plant to replenish her power. So it boils down to Ren vs Magna. It might seem that Ren is being cornered as he is only defending himself. But Ren has learnt his moves and takes him down.

* Lake plant – Radim tries to be reasonable to Yoh’s groupie that this isn’t worth it because they’re expending so much furyoku and by the time they reach Hao, they will be depleted. Well, never say never. In that case, Radim strikes Faust first and kills him and since the latter has used up most of his furyoku, he can’t resurrect anyone. Don’t worry, he won’t really die yet as he now exists in ghost form. This way at least he can be with his love and still hang around the gang. Yoh finishes off Radim.

* Mother’s soul – Redseb and Seyrarm decide to take matters into their own hands and attack Hao at Mu. However he destroys the golem and kills them both, revealing that it is their mother’s soul that is animating Emeth. Hao lets Redseb’s soul go so he can tell Yoh all this. So confident that he doesn’t even need his Fire Spirit and gives it to him.

* Plateau plant – Kalim vs Horohoro. Well, what a fast fight. Horohoro lost. Then they all have a good rest. Uhm, I know they need to regain their energy but time is of essence here! How many hours they have left?! Next morning, Horohoro resumes his fight with Kalim.

* Frozen love – Kalim invokes Horohoro’s wrath when he calls his real name: Usui Horokeu. It was a name he threw away a long time ago. There was a girl in his class named Damuko who just transferred in. She was an outcast and her father was the boss of a company that was constructing a dam that would flood the Ainu village downstream. Despite she tried to be friends with him, he was a dick to her. Until one day she didn’t show up and the next time they met was in the next spring: At her funeral. Apparently she died in the snow while looking for him (he stormed off in one of his moods). Feeling responsible for her death, he casted that name and put all his effort in his training so one day he could be a good shaman and apologize to her. Horohoro gets a surprise when Kororo turned out to be actually Damuko. After she died, the spirits told her to join them to watch over the land as it is the only way if she wants to see Horohoro again instead of passing on. Until the day she hears his true feelings, she kept herself in this form. With this over, Horohoro has Kalim to thank for. So this is all planned? Well, that means Kalim is defeated, right?

* Forest plant – Renim is cloaking himself so the others can’t sense him. But he gets worried when Lyserg uses his detective smarts to pinpoint him. Though, all that was just a bluff since this allowed Opacho to locate him due to his ‘noisy’ thoughts and just like that he is defeated! IS THIS A JOKE???!! FASTEST PLANT CONQUER EVER!!! They must be running out of time, huh?

* Cave plant – Ren gets to settle the score with Nichrom and even helps him overcome whatever is bugging the latter to help unleash his full potential (because Nichrom being a weakling and getting his ass handed to him at first by Ren). Of course, still not enough to defeat Ren. Wow, we zooming past the plants at lightning speed.

* Beach plant – Thalim has different kinds of plants to counter whatever tricks and powers the rest throw at him. But it is Chocolove who uses the wind power to dry out the land and killing all plant life. Yeah, we’re really fast forwarding the final stretch here.

* Glacier plant – It’s time for Yoh to fight Silva. And another fast fight this is because it’s like Silva wants to lose and lets Yoh stab through him.

* Outer space plant – The final plant. They’re fighting an alien named Rutherfor?! And she controls gravity?! She tells them the history of how an alien spaceship crashed on Earth near the Patch village. The alien exchanged some technologies, blah, blah, blah. From what I understand, the thirst for knowledge cannot be quenched no matter how advanced one’s technology is. Hence the original reason for shaman fights is to find a solution to those woes. Yoh manages to overcome all that gravity and cuts down the alien, which actually turns out to be a Patch girl in an alien suit.

* The awakening of the king – And soon Yoh has awakened as the Shaman King. You guys a little too late? With Hao commanding a fearful presence, Opacho gets scared because this is not the Hao she knows. Hao easily kills everyone by just breathing. Yoh is the last one last standing as he tries to fight Hao, disappointed that he is using his body as a puppet because his soul is supposed to be all over the world. Hence it is just an empty shell to test him. Eventually Yoh gets killed.

* The great reset – Now the brothers are inside the Great Spirit as they talk about Hao going to eliminate all humans. Surprisingly, Yoh agrees because he too was originally not really good with humans. But Yoh still finds Earth a pretty nice place to be despite all the setbacks. Simply because it’s no fun when you’re dead, right? Because of their different thinking, Hao can’t reunite with Yoh so they’ll do this another time.

* The great comeback – But Hao can’t seem to purge Yoh from this place. He still remains. Not only him but Ren, Horohoro, Chocolove and Lyserg manage to enter here. That’s because they are in possession of the elemental spirits. They pull off some heavy elemental combos on Hao but they know it isn’t enough to kill him. Now it’s all about the battle of the wills. Hao can only be defeated once his will breaks. Hao doesn’t see the point for them in using their elemental spirits with him because it definitely doesn’t have any effect on his spirit ally which is the Great Spirit. Of course their intention here is to turn him into a decent king. After all, they can’t defeat him so the next best thing is to change his mind! Might take a little longer since Hao is going to destroy their souls forever and send them into absolute despair.

* Against the universe – Can Yoh and his friends using Earth’s elements fight against Yoh’s planetary star power?

* The Polar Express – If that didn’t work, here comes Manta riding a train to help Yoh and co.

* Roll call – Holy f*ck! Almost every character from this series boarding this train so they could give their piece of mind to Hao! From heroes to villains and even their dead parents and loved ones! Everybody is here! We are one big family!

* Back to where you once belong – When Hao demands an explanation for all this, Anna points out the irony of this. Could he not read minds? He can’t now because he had no reason to work out what anyone else feels. Because he is surrounded by warmth, he has now reverted to his original state because his will has been broken. HUH?!

* Mother’s love – The ultimate clincher when they bring Hao’s mom to him. Not sure why her soul still exists but looking at Hao’s shocked face, I guess she did. Anyway, everything Hao has done was revenge for mom who were killed by worthless humans. Hao gets humiliated by mom in a public execution and lectured about stuffs. Apparently she is not as weak as he thinks and if he wants to be king to rule others, he must first be human. With that, Hao is going to watch over the humans for a while although he claims his intentions to do a Thanos still has not changed. Yeah, I wonder if mom will allow that if he decides on that.

* The great reunion – Fast forward 7 years later and we see everyone grown up. Oh yeah. Everyone looking like hot bishonen! Except for Chocolove. He looks so different that he is juts unrecognizable! Ren is married and has a son and is hinted his wife is Jeanne!!! Of course Yoh and Anna are also married and have a (violent) son named Hana. Oh damn, Yoh looking like a hippie?!

Battle Spirits Burning Over Soul
WAIT A MINUTE!!! HOLD ON A SECOND RIGHT THERE!!! What do you mean we’re going to have a sequel after this???!!! I thought the manga already ended and thus the whole Shaman King story ended too?! Oh… Oh! I see… Looks like even after the main manga ended, there has been a sequel and various spinoffs after that. So I suppose the sequel is going to be like Naruto, huh? Yup, Boruto his son took over and become the protagonist. So now that we have little Hana in tow, most probably the sequel will cover that. My guess is that it will be Hana’s turn to fight uncle Hao when he decides to change his mind on eliminating humans again. I guess we’ll have to wait and see by then.

Story/Plot
So yeah, as we all already know from the start, this remake adapts faithfully all the chapters of the original manga. Unlike the first adaptation, it created its own path and ending about halfway through. I have watched clips here and there of the original series just to compare and of course there were some differences. Mainly the pacing of the story. When this remake started off, it felt like it was zooming ahead way too fast. Uh huh. It’s like they started to cram in several chapters and went on fast forward mode unlike the first adaptation that spread out all that throughout a few chapters. Especially the road trip in America in the first adaptation, they really stretched that out. Thus with the remake, the pacing for the initial chapters are hasten before they start to focus on the second round fights, the part where the first adaptation truly deviated.

Being an old school shonen-esque style of story, it is pretty typical and nothing special if you’re watching it from today’s point of view. It may give old veterans like yours truly some sort of nostalgia but ultimately if you’re looking for some interesting story, you’d be better off watching story driven animes like Code Geass, Fullmetal Alchemist among many others. Hence you’re not going to get much out of the story which is basically some sort of weird pseudo tournament trying to determine who becomes the next big boss of the world and universe. Good guys have their goals. Bad guys have their goals. The one left standing in the end is the winner whose ideals is superior, right? Though, this ending doesn’t follow that but basically as long as the antagonist didn’t get his way of destroying the world and all humans get to continue living their lives, that’s a good enough win for our heroes, no?

Surprisingly, the most interesting story that I find was the Mt Osorezan arc that fleshes out the past and first meeting between Yoh and Anna. To me, this was way better than the rest of the half-baked fights that this series is supposed to be driven on. Even way better than that obligatory training arc AKA Gandhara’s arc AKA Five Warriors arc. Imagine, rushing through a training arc and suddenly having the characters coming back from hell and stronger just like that. Not sure if this was the pacing in the manga but I’ll try to look at it at the positive note that at least by fast forwarding this pace, I won’t get to feel bored. Yeah. Let’s move on to the next part, shall we?

Action
Being a typical retro shonen style series, obviously the fights are supposed to be the main draw, right? Well, personally I don’t really find them exciting and just passable. There are lots of flashy, power packing and over the top grandeur as you see the characters pose in style as they introduce their new moves and the likes. Each has their own special moves but personally they aren’t memorable to me. Yeah, you’d probably guess I’m not a fan so I’m saying all that. Yeah, some look the same to me and I think many of them are used once or twice just to overcome and counter the opponent’s unique brand of attack. Even if they spam the common ones, it’ll be quick and in a jiffy. I mean, don’t want to waste time to see them spout all that lines to materialize that move, huh? Hence it is that dilemma because with the fast paced action, sometimes the fight can be over in a few seconds but I suppose that is better than dragging a fight for a few episodes.

If there is one thing that I was dissatisfied with, it was probably how this whole series didn’t turn out to be a real tournament. Of course I only have myself to blame for expecting that. You see, I have this impression that this is what the big chunk of the series will be. Then it came as a surprise and perhaps the twist of the series that everybody else forfeited their right to fight in the final Shaman King fight and just gave the crown to Hao on a silver platter. Like, that was the biggest bummer and WTF for me. Sure, the battle went on to take place on a different level. I came to assume that the series’ title is some sort of tournament and I forgot it was just the title given to the winner and it did not mention if it was going to be some official tournament or backdoor brawl. Yeah, there goes my bet in trying to guess who is going to face who in which matchup and emerging victorious. I suppose Hao is too big of a villain to just have Yoh vs Hao epic finale and that’s why you need everybody else for the final fight to defeat him. Before everybody ganged up on Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War, Shaman King already did it almost 2 decades prior! Well, just that they did it without throwing any punches and mere words and a certain mother played a role in taking down the series’ villain. Instead of a typical tournament, they replaced that with some mini boss fights AKA plants invasion that feels so rushed and some unimportant Patch officials felt like they were there as comic relief or punching bag. And I thought the one with Silva was going to last but oh look at the episodes left, gotta rush that through too. Sighs.

Sometimes the matches don’t make sense especially the rules of qualifying rounds feel vague because as we can see how it was done between Ren and Yoh’s fight. By right Yoh should have been disqualified for not meeting the very clear cut instructions of achieving 2 wins but they allow it because I guess those Patch officials got the memo that he is the main character. Yeah, preferential treatment. How else to get your epic shonen fight between 2 strong characters? Hence that result is the only way to satisfy both the Ren camp and Yoh camp without any sort of fan fury backlash. Even the tournament itself feels like a sham as many of the other matches weren’t shown or just whizzed through. Yeah, I still wished I could see Team Magical Princess’ fight. What a waste. And to think that these unknowns somehow managed to qualify for this round. Are there no other worthy opponents around the world?

Characters
Oh boy. Where to start. There’s quite a number here and it is only reasonable because of the nature and direction of where this series was going. Once again, this is an old school shonen anime so the kind of character development you see here are of that era. Looking at it from this point in time, it is pretty cliché and standard for a shonen genre for that time. That means nothing really spectacular or extraordinary as such characters and their development would have evolved throughout the many anime series that have come and go between the 2 decades the industry has had its hands in. Thus they’re pretty much sufficient and satisfactory and at least meets the minimum standards of what a main character should have and undergo throughout his journey before achieving his goal. You know, the basic ingredients of the main hero needing to save the day from a nefarious villain who in this case is his brother so yeah, making it a worldwide brotherly feud, realizes not strong enough and undergoes some sort of training, flashback to flesh out his character further, received power up, final boss fight, wins the day. Generally that’s how it is.

Therefore I have mixed feelings about Yoh as the main character. You know, not the best there is but also definitely not the worse. He is your usual laidback character who appreciates his brand of freedom and justice and sometimes I find it that he is quite imposing on this even though he sounds very lax. You know, I am cool with whatever you do as long as it is within the boundaries of what I accept it to be. That is how it feels. Also, sometimes Yoh is like a hypocrite because he gets to break promises and gets away with it. You know, it is not okay for others to do it but it is okay when he does it. For instance when he decided to save Ren’s life by quitting the tournament, hence breaking his promise to Anna. Thank goodness that was somewhat resolved so technically Yoh didn’t break any promise at all. Because it’s like Yoh is the favourite pet boy of those Patch officials. Uh huh. Imagine the special privileges he got by being reinstated in the tournament TWICE! Not once, but twice! Remember, the first time he drew with Ren in the qualifiers and technically he didn’t meet the requirements to advance? Yeah. That one. LOL. They should just f*cking hand him the Shaman King title. In the final stretch, it’s like he doesn’t give a damn about what the rest of his pals does since you can see his not-too-happy face as they do as they wish in their fights in the name of friendship. Hey, wasn’t he the one who said you get what you give? Strange, huh?

And Hao himself is also a strange person being the primary antagonist. Not sure if he is just trolling us because since he can read thoughts and minds, sometimes it feels dumb he doesn’t use it to its full potential. Like as though he is so confident of the outcome but look what happened? Sure, he makes regular visits to his little brother so as to check on him and see if he is closer to his desired status so that they can merge into one being in the end. Uhm, isn’t Hao supposed to be all-knowing too? Did he not see this ending coming? Or what we see here is incomplete and the inevitable is still yet to come? Am I missing something? Hao has got to be the most confident slackster just like his brother because he too is so lax and bloody confident in buttering up Yoh that even in the final stretch he sent Opacho to accompany the guys. Like, what this little African kid can do that Hao himself can’t?! That or perhaps Hao is just greatly misunderstood because what he really needed was somebody to stop him dead in his tracks and who else better to do that than his own mom. Yeah. Weird. But okay. Whatever.

Many of the other supporting characters feel lacking especially in the final stretch. It feels like they’re there just because they are part of Yoh’s groupie. Like Ryu who is just so forgettable during the plants’ invasion and they just throw him into some random fights just to remind us he is still there. After all, his past and back story has been fleshed out earlier on so there’s nothing much left on him. Same for most of the other groupie members albeit at different stages like Chocolove in the middle and they leave it really late for Horohoro so as for some surprise twist factor on his spirit’s true identity so he can have some sort of closure on his past. Faust? They need a dead doctor to become a ghost to perform some miracle resurrection on the rest. I don’t know, that’s how I feel about him in the later stages. Lyserg? He feels less a confused kid out for revenge compared to the first adaptation. Forgettable nevertheless.

The ‘second in command’ Ren is also one strange fellow. Because of this guy’s pride, he is being a ‘tsundere’ with his friendship with Yoh and the rest. Sometimes making us wonder whether there is going to be some sort of bromance between him and Yoh. In a way, Ren remains the arrogant and prideful brat he is and even if he sounds haughty with his friendship methods, nevertheless he still values friendship, which is many steps up than the initial Ren we were introduced. Yeah, because we see him regret killing the Patch official but has come to terms with it and moved on. So basically these pals are there so as to complete the elemental power up they’ll get to fight Hao which eventually feels redundant. Captain Planet would’ve been so proud to recruit them as part of the Planeteers. Since Ryu and Faust did not get chosen to be part of this elemental Power Rangers, the reason why I felt their characters lacking so much in the final stretch.

Anna started off as amusing and terrifying at the same time. Because it is like she is the true God of the series as nobody, including her future husband AKA Yoh and not even the great self-proclaimed God himself AKA Hao can best her. She has a sharp acid tongue and does not give you an inch. Makes Ren’s pride look like a baby. Considering the kind of tragic past she had, I guess this seemingly b*tch character is fair seeing that this way, nobody gets to step over her head. Not so that she can control and dominate others (partly it is) so that she won’t be her weak and feeble past self again. It is just sad that in the final arc, she has been relegated to a side character along with the rest.

Speaking of them, oh man, they feel so side-lined in the final stretch when Yoh and co went on a journey to face Hao. They feel so redundant that it makes me wonder if they’re even relevant at this point. Even when I think about it as a whole, most of them feel a lot redundant. Like Pirika. Don’t remember the most significant thing Horohoro’s sister did except to be there for emotional support. Tamao? Sorry, don’t hope for some sort of love triangle when Anna is around. Because Anna won’t allow it! Manta, Yoh needs a human friend, right? And yes, petite kid must come from a rich family so that we can cover the final arc of gathering everybody in his sponsored transportation for a great reunion. I thought Manta was going to be like a technician-cum-advisor for Yoh and co like in many tournament genres but he did nuts here. Considering the spirits are supposed to be the main characters, they feel close to inexistent during the final stretch. Amidamaru, Bason, Tokagero… Uhm, you guys still around, right?

Then you look at Yoh’s family, Ren’s family, Mikihisa and those golem-riding kids, X-Laws (yeah, there’s a couple of minor X-Laws members that ended up as a couple during their fight against Hao that feels so out of place – And Jeanne didn’t even really matter in the end except to become Ren’s wife… WTF?! How they even get together???!!!), WTF they’re all here for in the end? Giving emotional support is the best they can do? Seems so. What else can they do? Heck, they even try to throw in Hao’s multi-racial comrades for sympathy points. To show how they’ve not forsaken their leader but also changed in some ways. Then you wonder why the heck Gandhara is even needed and even for that very miniscule plot of getting those elemental spirits for our heroes and the convenient tool of resurrecting because that is what Faust gets since he didn’t get an elemental spirit. Gandhara feels so lacking and I was under the impression that they’ll be the other third force to be reckon with but their role fizzled out in the end although they sounded grand in playing a role to help Yoh’s side to defeat Hao. I guess with Christianity and tribal Native American spirits, somebody needs to bring the big Buddhist theme into the equation. I think.

Art & Animation
Just like Fruits Basket’s remake, the visuals are clearly updated in the sense that the visuals are sharper looking and brightly coloured in contrast. Of course, the basics of the art style like the characters remain primarily the same so every Tom, Dick and Harry from 20 years ago can still identify the very same Yoh and Hao 20 years later. They still have that cartoony look (especially Manta who looks like a Teruterubouzu come to life) and of course with today’s technology in animation, the visuals look better and not so dated compared to the first adaptation. If Manta isn’t the weirdest looking character, take a look at Brocken. Damn, I think this guy was really modelled after Lego. It’s creepy to think that this guy’s real skin is like Lego. And do I need to remind you whom Ponchi and Konchi take after again? There’s some CGI used (albeit not many) but this is mainly for special effects during fight scenes when the characters pull off their special moves. Not very jarring and unnoticeable, if I should say. Blends in well with the 2D animation. The first adaptation was done by Xebec (To Love-Ru, Love Hina, Haiyore! Nyaruko-san). The remake was handled by Bridge (Munou Na Nana, Devil Survivor 2 The Animation, Mitsudomoe)

Voice Acting
Unlike the remake of Fruits Basket, this series actually uses back the entire cast from the first adaptation! Well, almost. From Yui Horie as Jeanne to Romi Paku as Ren to Nana Mizuki as Tamao to Takethito Koyasu as Faust to Megumi Hayashibara as Anna to Katsuyuki Konishi as Amidamaru and even Minami Yakayama as Hao and Inuko Inuyama as Manta, almost the entire main and supporting characters from the first adaptation got retained for this remake. With the exception of Yoh. Previously helmed by Yuuko Satou (Lust in Fullmetal Alchemist), the remake casts Youko Hikasa as the main protagonist. I read that she has retired from voice acting and has left the industry to raise her family (read somewhere from the internet as the official source didn’t mention about it so it could be highly speculative).

I found it strange at first, Youko Hikasa as Yoh as I didn’t think it was here (I was thinking she would sound something like Tio from that Arifureta series). Eventually I did and got used to it. Anyway, the voice acting I believe is pretty fine and dandy and I’m saying that only because this is the first time I am watching this series in its original voice acting form. Yup, the first adaptation I watched back then was dubbed as one of those early morning weekend cartoons and that time I wasn’t an anime nerd yet. Looking back in retrospect, of course the original voice acting sounds way much better than the dub ones (yeah, somehow locally dubbed cartoons have this one kind in their voice). So I’m pretty sure they’re much at home especially for all the veterans coming back to do the remake to voice again their characters.

Of course Yoh is not the only character who has been recasted as the rest are mostly minor characters like Pirika who was voiced by the late Tomoko Kawakami is replaced by Rina Hidaka while Marco who was previously helmed by Akimitsu Takase is now done by Yuuichi Nakamura. There are also new casts especially for characters that didn’t appear in the first adaptation like Koji Yusa as Anahol and Anatel but I’m not going to list all of them here. TLDR: Too lazy! Do you know how many f*cking characters are there in this series, even counting those that only make a short cameo appearance!!!

Music
Sad to say, the first opening theme, Soul Salvation by Megumi Hayashibara cannot even hold a candle to the first adaptation’s Over Soul and Northern Lights. Soul Salvation tries to maintain that trademark that made the latter two catchy and memorable but it just fails. Somehow I just cannot bring myself to like this theme as it sounds bland and worse, a copycat of those great retro pieces. Heck, even the ending themes of the first adaptation, Trust You and Omokage (both by Megumi Hayashibara) even sound way better than this.

The first adaptation had all its opening and ending themes dominated by Megumi Hayashibara. So for the remake, they didn’t let that happen. For instance, the second opening theme, Get up! Shout by Nana Mizuki. My conspiracy theory is that this is the only part where Nana Mizuki gets to be of prominence since her Tamao character feels so negligible. Uh huh. Time for us to listen to her great vocal chops. Even so, the song pales in comparison to those I love aforementioned. This means the rest of the other ending themes, Adieu by Yui Horie, Hazuki by Saji and Courage Soul by Youko Hikasa are all pretty meh. Forgettable and not really memorable. Heck, even the insert songs, Ringo Urama Uta by Ringo Awaya and Bob Love by Bob sound totally weird. Especially the former. I don’t know how to describe it. Especially the way she sings it. Is she actually singing? Just listen to it. You’ll see. Or hear.

However all is not lost as there is only 1 song that I like: Osorezan Revoir by Megumi Hayashibara, the ending theme for the finale of the Mt Osorezan arc. This one has quite a catchy tune as it mixes both traditional style and modern pop and the lyrics itself are quite meaningful. This is the only piece that can stand comparable to its predecessors and I won’t mind hearing it over and over again. Until I get bored, that is.

Overall
Well, feels like a long and nostalgic ride for me. It’s all pretty passable to me. Not the best and certainly not the worst. Yeah. Once again, middle of the fence answer but that is how I feel too. Since I’m not really a big fan of the series and I’m mostly here for the nostalgia and perhaps that’s why it propped up the points. Otherwise, the typical shonen-esque story, characters and battle style are pretty much very cliché in today’s standards and there were some eyebrow raising moments that made me go, “HUH?! WTF?!”. Yeah, that excludes Chocolove’s lame jokes. This remake may have divided some but I guess it brings a closure to the series at least in adapted animated sense. We can all rest easily now that a great classic has been given its dues. Just like how Fruits Basket and to a certain extent, the Fate/Zero series did justice by remaking the entire thing by being faithful to its source, this series can now RIP. Unless in the next 20 years some dumbass decided to remake this remake for whatever reasons. Oh, I don’t know, because… Shaman King, live action version! By Netflix! PLEASE, NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!! Let the spirits rest in peace or do you really need Hao and his Great Spirit to come reset the whole damn world?!

Witchblade

I keep thinking that Witchblade is one of Marvel’s titles and kept wondering why it didn’t make the cut in the MCU. Even if it was a lesser known title, was it because it got adapted into anime back in 2006? Turns out I was wrong. Although it had some sort of crossover in the Marvel and DC comics, it was actually published by Top Cow Productions which was part of the Image Comics (third largest comic book publisher after Marvel and DC). Anyway, the only reason why I’m watching a retro western comic book turned Japanese anime series is because, wait for it, Mamiko Noto helming the titular character! Oh boy. My favourite seiyuu in a main character role. This means more lines to hear from her. Hooray!

Episode 1
Masane Amaha and her daughter, Rihoko are taking a boat to Tokyo. The irony that Rihoko is acting more grown up than Masane. But Masane is proud of her and thus the boatman tells her to take good care of her since after that incident supposedly caused by Child Welfare Agency (CWA), children are scarce now. Meanwhile a detective investigates some corpse splitting incident. It’s the 4th case and some nearby drunkard claims he is the killer. But the detective thinks he is just drunk and has him lock up instead. Meanwhile Sakurai from CWA confronts Masane. She is given a talk to hand over Rihoko over to CWA. Even though she is her mother, the law has the right to take her away?! Masane claims they chased them out but she says a max of 6 years they can only live in some collective dorm. Masane and Rihoko were found alive at ground zero AKA Null Point of that incident 6 years ago. Masane lost her memories but thanks to her maternity passbook, she was determined the mother of Rihoko. But now things has changed. She has no job or house and that’s why CWA thinks they can provide for Rihoko. If she is her mom, think what is best for her. At that moment of weakness, Masane gives in. But after hearing Rihoko’s cries of not wanting to be separated, Masane tries to reclaim her daughter. Damn, police too weak to stop her as she steals their car! She gets desperate to chase them but crashes. Don’t worry. Still alive but thrown into the detention centre. Rihoko feigns going to toilet to escape from Sakurai. She bumps into journalist, Yuusuke Tozawa and forces him to take her to mama. Well, I guess he has to since he was illegally here waiting for some scoop. Don’t want to get caught now. As Masane sits in her cell, something in her right hand glows and causes her great pain. This attracts that drunkard a few cells away as he turns into some weird machine and kills all the police. He is going to have fun killing her too but she transforms into a sexy killing machine and easily kills him. She escapes as Tozawa snaps pics of this. Hiroki Segawa who works under Reiji Takayama sends a movie file of this scene. He confirms the Witchblade user has popped up. Since she was shot a tranquilizer, they’ll retrieve her shortly. Masane slowly loses consciousness as she reverts to normal with only Rihoko on her mind.

Episode 2
Once more, Rihoko trying to force Tozawa to help her mind mama at the detention centre. However with detective Akira Nakata hot on his tail because he is always on the scene before he does, Tozawa takes Rihoko back to his place for now. His landlord, Mariko Natsuki isn’t impressed. She will call CWA the first thing in the morning as she doesn’t want to be sued. But a scared Rihoko clings onto underneath the table and puts up a fight! Feisty! Okay. Suit yourself. Stay there if you want. Segawa reports to Takayama that Masane in their hands. He also has data about her past but they’re mostly created by the government since her actual past records were destroyed during the catastrophe. More interestingly, she was rescued at Null Point and it could be then and there she met Witchblade. Next morning, Mariko calls Sakurai to inform her about Rihoko and to send someone to pick her up. At the same time, Tatsuoki Furumizu, the chairman of NSWF Foundation who helped established those children laws and established CWA, leaves after inspecting the place. Looks like he is looking for Witchblade too. Tozawa develops his photos of the victims. Some victims were employed by NSWF and with Nakata on this case as well as monsters popping up, he wonders if they are all related. Later Mariko barges in to say Rihoko is gone. Yeah, not going to stick around to let those CWA assholes take her, right? Masane is taken to see Takayama who explains what is going on. That bracelet she has now is Witchblade, an ancient powerful weapon that could be the key to rule the world. For millennia, wars have been fought over it. The last owner was Douji Group but they lost it 6 years ago at Null Point. As for how she got it, she has to ask Witchblade herself. It seems only certain woman are chosen to activate its powers. Masane doesn’t want it and they can gladly have it back. Just take it off. They can’t. They’re still researching how. Lest she wants to cut off her hand. Nevertheless, since Witchblade is theirs, this means they own Masane and she will work for them. After all, she has nowhere to go and is on the run after breaking a slew of laws. Takayama takes her to his lab to test out Witchblade’s capabilities. Masane is forced to transform into Witchblade’s complete form. Now she’s a bloodthirsty killing machine.

Episode 3
Masane doesn’t know why but in this Witchblade form, all she wants is to kill! And she destroys that robot completely! Thankfully she passes out because otherwise the damage would not be confined to just the robot. When she recovers, she is still not amused with this and wants an explanation. Takayama already told her that she is a weapon and she already knows it. Because she started fighting without them even telling her what to do. Of course he shuts her up with the trump card: Rihoko. He gives her time to decide if she would join them. Do that and he will guarantee she can live with her daughter. Well, if only they know where Rihoko is. Speaking of her, she is trying to make her way to Tokyo Tower because that is where mama promised to meet if they get separated. Too bad she has no money since she got pickpocketed. Luckily that boatman gives her a free ride there. Rihoko calls out to momma but looks like she’s not here yet. That pickpocket gets fried by a weird fatty who turns into some microwave machine. Tozawa is threatened by Mariko to find Rihoko or else he has to pay up his rent. But I guess he is more interested in taking pictures of the crime scene of that murdered victim than finding Rihoko. Masane wants Takayama to explain the deal before she decides. So he explains about X-con. It is one of the weapon series his company makes but it was put on hold due to problems. However many went missing due to that catastrophe and they have been on a recovering mission. As you can tell, it is not easy because it is hard to tell X-con from humans as they look the same. Yup, those people who can transform into those machines are called X-con. There are 11 victims already. And as we all have guessed, only Witchblade has to power to defeat them. So you in? If it guarantees a life with Rihoko, she’s in. And so before that microwave X-con can claim another woman, here Witchblade is to distract him. He tries to fry her but nothing happens and she slices him. Easy recovery job. On the way back, they so happen to pass by Tokyo Tower. How the heck could Masane see a tiny girl sitting there?! Mother’s instincts?! Woah! Masane just jump off the helicopter to reunite with her daughter! And she’s fine! The power of motherly love for you!

Episode 4
Masane and Rihoko will temporarily be living in one of Takayama’s hotels until they find a place of their own. For now, I guess order all the great food and put it on his tab! Takayama is contacted by Reina Soho who offers her help to find Witchblade. He declines her offer and lies that he is still finding it. Of course he has no intention of letting NSWF or Douji get their hands on it. Masane and Rihoko head over to Mariko’s place to thank her for the time she took care of the little one. But she is not in and the only ones there now are this perverted old man, Cho Sato, a quiet giant, Michael and a meek fortune teller, Naomi. Cho mentions there is room for rent since an occupant left. The downside is that there is no bathroom. Immediately they want to rent this place. Reina sees Furumizu about trying to get the Witchblade and they can’t let Douji have it. He hopes she won’t repeat the same mistake that got many of her sisters killed. Mariko refuses to rent it to them and claims many have defaulted on their rental payments and will only rent out as office spaces. Despite Masane and Rihoko promising this and that, Mariko remains stubborn. This leads to an argument where both women start throwing things at each other! I think the whole building would’ve been demolished had the rest not stop them. Later it is revealed Mariko received a letter from the authority that they want to demolish and redevelop this place. Elsewhere, another woman falls victim to an X-con. Make that 3 same fatty microwave X-cons! Of course Masane is called for this job. She will know if she stumbles into an X-con as her Witchblade will detect it. Rihoko sneaks to Mariko’s place but as a customer. Masane is not happy about this. But as Mariko reveals some company has taken up her place, it seems that company is Jack Of All Trades Amaha. It’s mom’s company?! Uh huh. Sneaky little girl planned the whole thing. So with that loophole, they are able to stay here now. Of course Mariko warns them they only have a year because of that redevelopment thingy. Reina and her assistant, Shiori Tsuzuki bait those X-cons to come at them and easily defeats them in their Witchblade form. With Masane arriving at the scene, she is confused to see them and thinks they are X-cons.

Episode 5
Reina and Shiori just confirm her as the wielder of Witchblade and then leave. When Masane returns, Takayama explains they are Cloneblades. More accurately, Neogenes who are humans created and chosen by NSWF to wield Cloneblades. Long ago Douji and NSWF cooperated on this technology but stopped 6 years ago. He also warns her about Furumizu because he wants the Witchblade because when a superior Neogene equips it, rumour has it this will make the strongest human alive. Hence CWA is a pawn for NSWF to select candidates for Neogene so don’t cooperate with them. Now you know why they’re targeting children, eh? Masane then tries to negotiate with Takayama about her salary. Then why refuse this living expenses? Masane and Rihoko move into their new place. Mariko ups the rent but Cho has bought a few stuffs for them as their welcome party. He even suggests they go to the public bath together. Intentions very clear… Too bad he won’t get to see anything… Tozawa has been released after spending a night in cell. He returns to Mariko’s place and learns Rihoko and her mom living here. He tries to bug Masane for a story because he believes she has seen something while in her cell. She claims she knows nothing. Rihoko and mama go shopping but Rihoko is like the mature adult and making the decisions. Weird… Tozawa still won’t give up and tries to bug Masane, showing her a photo of Witchblade. She still maintains her stand she knows nothing. Takayama is forced to attend some charity party and looks like Furumizu is also here. Of course they talk about Witchblade and Furumizu believes Takayama has it. Takayama claims those are lies and reminds him that it was his daughter who lost it. As there can only be 1 Witchblade and it choses its wielder, he thinks Takayama is releasing X-cons in fear of Witchblade trying to change hands since it will go to those who are worthy. Masane gets a call to hunt down an X-con. After easily defeating it, she has to face off with Neogene Shiori. Just in time because killing the X-con didn’t satisfy her enough. They fight and Tozawa is shocked to learn Masane is indeed Witchblade.

Episode 6
The babes fight, even hinting some yuri. Unfortunately Masane gets pounded although she’s showing signs she’s a masochist. Eventually Takayama’s men intercepts and takes a deeply wounded Masane into their van. Shiori chases. Reina chases. Tozawa chases. The van ploughs through the traffic jam on the bridge and then use smokescreen to hide their cover as they deliver Masane to Takayama’s cruiser beneath. For now, it is safer to stay on the ocean. Shiori wants to continue chasing but is stopped by Reina. Tozawa might have lost his lead but he is confident this story will come up big. So he tries to bug Rihoko about Masane’s work but she is reluctant to tell anything to this jerk. Believing that some big company is backing Masane, that’s where he’ll start first. Masane wakes up and her wounds all healed. The after effects of using Witchblade is that she is very hungry and starts eating anything they serve. She is shocked to learn she is in the middle of the ocean and won’t be back on land for a while. If she is worried about Rihoko, just call her. Masane realizes Segawa changed her bandages and especially the wound right across her chest. I suppose there aren’t any other female staffs on this cruiser? Reina checks on Shiori. Her wound did not heal although she feels no pain on it. Then some corpse is found on their compound and Reina orders to dispose it. She wonders if it is an X-con because if it was, why did she not sense it? Takayama wonders if Masane cannot understand her situation because despite being Witchblade’s wielder, she is being cool about it. Well, no use agonizing over it since her priority is taking care of Rihoko. Then she asks if insurance covers this since she got hurt during her job. He just calls her an idiot. I guess that means it’s not covered! Back in her room, she spots a photo of Takayama and Reina together. Reina is analysing Shiori’s brain pattern and notes her change in behaviour. Too late because Shiori has gone berserk and kills nurse.

Episode 7
Shiori is in shock when she sees all the blood. But as Reina tries to calm her down, Shiori breaks free and escapes. Masane demands an explanation from Takayama. This photo of him and Shiori. Time for a short flashback. A time when Douji and NSWF were working together on Witchblade, NSWF sent one of their staffs (Reina) to work with them. But one day she disappeared with Witchblade. At first he thought she was under orders from NSWF but realized she could want Witchblade for herself. This also came when talks about not letting Reina wield it just because she is from NSWF. It is unknown how Masane ended up with Witchblade but it is certain that they met. When both sides were having war with each other, Shiori was caught in the crossfire that caused the incident of Null Point. Reina went back to work with NSWF since she is a valuable and closest candidate for Witchblade. Can’t give her up that easily. Tozawa requests Cho’s help to find the location of the boat. Damn old geezer makes contact with some super hacker to get the job done! Just get the mixer with hot babes ready for him! Rihoko thinks Tozawa is still after her mom so she’s going with him to keep an eye on him. Shiori has gone berserk and finds her way to Masane to satisfy herself. Takayama and Segawa support Masane with their guns with special armour piercing bullets. Because Masane isn’t completely healed, she is weaker and soon Shiori loses interest. Shiori is interested in Takayama but before this weird rape scene can happen, her Cloneblade breaks and she turns into dust. When they dock, Reina is here to get her assistant. Well, here’s all that’s left of her and the Cloneblade. Masane is also surprised Rihoko is here. Courtesy of you know who. Tozawa wants her to introduce him to the owner of the boat. She will but wants him to take them home first. Takayama and Reina talk about wielders of Witchblade might end up like Shiori. Cloneblade is after all a clone of Witchblade. Even more so as Witchblade is high performance and has a higher chance of destroying its wielder. The only time it will come off is when its wielder dies.

Episode 8
Masane drinks with Mariko and talks about how she can’t remember anything before the catastrophe. She is surprised to learn Tozawa was once a great photographer but decided to go chase after silly scoop stories to earn a living. The party is just getting started when Cho wants everyone to drink. Yup, Masane getting all drunk and everybody forcing Tozawa to drink too. It is no surprise the next morning, Masane has a big hangover so Rihoko has to be a responsible ‘mom’ and go buy some medicine. Tozawa is also having hangover but wants Masane to tell her story. When both of them are sober, Masane claims she doesn’t know what he is talking about and this Witchblade in the photo is not her. He insists. She insists. Maybe next time. Soon, Tozawa hears another murder case and wants Masane to help out. He will pay her of course. Masane watches him take photos of the crime scene from a hidden spot as she wonders if he likes doing this kind of job. He asks her the same question but she feigns she doesn’t know. Tozawa is then confronted by some punk who wants payback of a photo he published of his bodyguard and some woman. Tozawa the smooth operator acts like he is going to pay him off but drives off. As they lie low, he continues to bug Masane about the photo. No matter how he looks at it, this Witchblade is her. He could sell this to a magazine so Masane pleads him not to. She doesn’t want Rihoko to know. Then they talk about Tozawa’s photography. He claims he blew it all on photography when he was young and naïve. But then the grim side of life had him start taking photos of reality instead. Suddenly they are attacked by an X-con. Strangely, Masane can’t transform. Cornered, she wants to make a deal. She wants Tozawa not to tell Rihoko about all this as she wants to tell her first. And also to hold out telling anybody else for a year. With that, Masane transforms and fights the X-con. However the X-con feels afraid and doesn’t want to die and flees. Rihoko is done shopping and stumbles into Reina. Why she keep looking at the loli?! Rihoko returns to Masane and they’re back being the usual happy mother and daughter.

Episode 9
Another murder from that X-con. That makes it 3 nights in a row. Of course with Tozawa being the hard worker and ‘smarter’ than any police officer, he realizes there is a connection between all these murders. They all happen at around 11.45pm and near broadcasting centres. With Masane, they go interrogate a witness who saw that murder. He describes what happened but he is left shaken in fear. Wow. Tozawa even doing the police’s job now?! Our hardworking Rihoko is also doing some shopping. She meets Reina again but they part soon. Then Rihoko meets that X-con in the streets. It’s like they become strange acquaintances as Rihoko hears him talk about his girlfriend and the home he would like to buy. They promise to meet again here tomorrow and this time she’ll make him lunch. That night, Tozawa and Masane lie in wait for the murder to happen. Masane senses an X-con nearby and goes into action. The woman is saved but the X-con once again flees. The duo then use the public info at the police station to look up data on this X-con, Takeshi Muraki. It seems he was a police officer and he died in the line of duty. WTF Nakata tells them to stop looking into this?! If he had only done his job! Then we see Rihoko hanging out with Muraki same time same place. Wow. Such a nice guy. Same time same place tomorrow too. And with lunch provided. Later Nakata talks to the duo that Muraki was his subordinate. The true story was that he committed suicide. He was a fan of this radio star named Sakura. He protected her from a deranged fan but she mistook him for a stalker and sued him. Muraki couldn’t take it and subsequently jumped off the building. Sakura later died in the catastrophe. The duo’s task is to ask Muraki himself. So that night as Masane intercepts him again, this time he is full of regrets and thinks he shouldn’t have come back alive. In order to force her to kill him, he attacks Tozawa. Masane is forced to protect him and deals the fatal blow. She is left puzzle to what X-cons are. Next day, Rihoko waits for Muraki but he never showed up. Must be busy. Oh well, at least she got mama to return to.

Episode 10
Tozawa has dug up some articles on Douji and it seems there are many parties trying to force their way to associate with them. That’s because they have the permit to create and export weapons. Now, it wouldn’t be so much of a story to that. But if those weapons are actually humans, then that’s something. Masane will try to ask Takayama about this while Tozawa will try looking into Neogenes from NSWF. Takayama notices that Masaya Wadou of the biotech division is organizing a party because he won some international science award. But he isn’t invited. What’s this about the invitation needs a partner too? Speaking of which, here Masane comes to ask about X-cons. Are they humans? Takayama doesn’t bat an eyelid to admit they are. Rather, they were. Dead humans turned into weapons. So isn’t that bad because it’ll cause war? Takayama reasons that weapons aren’t the cause of war. War will never end so they’re just trying to use ex-humans to save more lives and end the wars. Can’t say he is entirely wrong… Takayama also knows a reporter sneaking around with her. Being the bad liar she is, now that Tozawa’s existence is known, don’t worry, Takayama won’t kill to silence him. So he doesn’t mind a pesky bug snooping around? Of course. But Masane must pay a penalty and be his company to the party. Or would she rather pay a fine? And so he takes Masane to shop for some dress. Are they serious? Because it feels more like a cosplay try out. But we all know this elegant stunner is going to be the one. And with a little makeup and hair styling, OMFG, Masane could be Miss Universe! And so they gate crash the party and with Masane so stunning, you bet Wadou is letting this slide. Until you see her being excited with all the food! Takayama also notices the former Prime Minister here and connects the dots that Wadou has been sending funds to him. How else could he have won this award, right? With Masane so excited, she bumps and crashes into the trophy! Oh dear. Broken. How will she pay? Oh, she’ll pay. Wadou doesn’t think so but Takayama will help her. He will know the cost once he asks a certain man. With this being embarrassing, Wadou drops the monetary compensation to save face. But Takayama must settle this via vodka! It’s their way of settling things during their student years. Record has it that Wadou can hold his liquor so Takayama is at a disadvantage. But in the end, it is Wadou who collapses. After leaving, Masane can tell Takayama is actually drunk. Poker face did the trick. So they just sleep out there right in the park?

Episode 11
Maria kills another colleague during training. Yup, the fifth one. She is a Witchblade candidate and who knows what she’ll be capable of once she wears the Cloneblade. Takayama wakes up in Masane’s room. Rihoko being the real adult and treating him nicely. Oh Rihoko, she thinks Takayama makes a better husband for mommy than Tozawa! They should get married! Now the kid is a matchmaker?! I hope it’s not because of the money… Takayama calls Segawa about being late for today but the latter says not to come in because Wadou is here and he is pretty adamant in asking about Witchblade. Segawa hopes to avoid any sort of confrontation. Since Wadou can’t wait the whole day, he eventually leaves. As Rihoko goes out to do more errands, suddenly she collapses at the market. When Masane received word about this, she rushes out! Barefoot! And she doesn’t even know where the hospital is! Thanks to Takayama, he manages to summon a taxi to bring her there. It is believed a passing doctor manage to treat her before sending Rihoko to the hospital. She is diagnosed with some mile stomach inflammation so she’ll be staying here for at least a day for observations. Later Masane could sense a Neogene nearby and she is lusting to fight her. Takayama wonders why she is so eager and thought she was afraid of her Witchblade. She still is but she wants to leave something for Rihoko before she goes even if it means taking on jobs to fight Neogenes. So does she know? Masane fights Nora who is Furumizu’s secretary. The latter wants her to come with her to meet Furumizu but since Masane will not, hence they start fighting. Not sure why Takayama calls for backup to support Masane because they can’t even do jack sh*t! Eventually Masane loses and Nora kidnaps her. Tozawa has infiltrated NSWF as a researcher and to his shock, sees an unconscious and injured Masane being wheeled into a room. Rihoko sleeps at the hospital… Being stalked by Reina?!

Episode 12
Maria goes to see Furumizu who is her grandpa. However she throws a tantrum thinking he hates her because he isn’t paying attention to her. Well, between this spoilt brat and Rie Nishida doing important data extraction on Witchblade, what do you think? So Nora has to babysit her and take her out shopping. But she too throws a tantrum and almost kills a kid just because she took a plushie she wanted to buy! Nora threatens to kill Maria if she doesn’t restrain her behaviour! Segawa gets a call from Wadou who knows Takayama has lost Witchblade. He views this his failure and will bring it up at the next executive meaning. Stumped at how Wadou knows about Witchblade, Takayama has no choice but to resort to his next action. Nishida extracts Witchblade’s data and tells Furumizu some important details like Masane’s circumstances as well as the shocking data that Reina is no longer a match for the Witchblade. This has Furumizu think that Witchblade isn’t completed yet for choosing a plain woman. Nishida also notes they are completing Cloneblade with this data and it will soon be a more powerful weapon that surpasses the original. Tozawa tries to sneak in via dumpster but look who is there? Segawa! He is impersonating as the security and he too has plans of sneaking in. Of course not like Tozawa. He is glad Tozawa is here because if anything goes wrong, he can blame him! Tozawa manages to get into Masane’s room. But she is too weak to move. He tries to play the Rihoko card but that didn’t do much. All that screaming of course attracted the security. As told by Segawa, Tozawa says Douji will give her a million yen if she gets out here. And just like that she powers up and busts out! Oh man… Money > daughter?! She owns the security but when surrounded, that is when Takayama’s force surrounds them. A courtesy call by Takayama to Furumizu about his lie that he didn’t have Witchblade. Otherwise this could have been avoided or would he like another Null Point incident? Furumizu gives up and lets Masane walk. With that, Wadou is mad the meeting is cancelled and curses Takayama’s luck. With Rihoko discharged and reuniting with mommy, this calls for double celebration! But this is ruined when Sakurai shows up. No, she’s not here to take Rihoko away. Rather, she throws them a DNA report. It proves Masane and Rihoko are not genetically related! GASP!

Episode 13
Masane can’t accept this even with this proof. What’s this? Even Masane’s name is assumed? Well, she lost her memories, right? The irony is that Sakurai tried to separate them when they were a family. Now they are not, she is still trying to do the same thing. Sakurai wants her to think about Rihoko’s happiness and will return to get her tomorrow. After she leaves, Rihoko suggests they run away again. Good. Cho will help. Meanwhile Maria is throwing another tantrum and she doesn’t want to study. Hence Furumizu will reward her with what she wants if she becomes a perfect human. She wants mama, believing she will be loved by her. Okay. Whatever you say princess. She starts studying and this is just a ploy by Furumizu because he claims anybody can just be her mama. When Sakurai returns to take Rihoko, she is not impressed that everyone is playing dumb and not knowing where she went. The mother and daughter are seeking refuge on the boatman’s boat. He is Cho’s friend. Meanwhile Segawa has got info that Rihoko and Masane are not related. The real mother is… Reina! Why am I not surprised? As Masane goes to town to get money, she ponders what is best for Rihoko. Rihoko writes a letter for Cho and has the boatman’s dog to go deliver it. Unknown to them, Nora has been tailing to dog so it leads her right to the boat. She uses a gas to put everyone to sleep. But as she is about to take Rihoko, Reina comes to fight her. In the end, Nora loses and dies. Just in time when Masane returns to learn Reina is the real mother. Reina thinks Masane doesn’t care much about Rihoko and that is why she often exposes her to danger. Even during that day when she collapsed in town with a cold. Yes, it was Reina who sent her to the hospital. Although Rihoko is clinging onto Masane, the latter suddenly has a change of heart. She tells Rihoko to go with Reina and says the most hurtful things like how she is a bother and that she can do whatever she wants if she has no child to raise. Rihoko ‘understands’ and goes with Reina. A heart breaking parting and of course Masane cries after that. Rihoko being the smart girl did what she had to do because she knows as long as she is with Masane, mama cannot be free. Yeah, both kind-hearted people trying to be considerate to each other and nobody’s happy.

Episode 14
Rihoko is amazed with her new home. So spacious! Reina has bought her everything from toys to clothes. Feel free to have fun and play to your heart’s content. Even so, there seems to be a very strict separation of duties. Whenever Rihoko wants to help out, Reina declines her because it is not a kid’s job to do such things and that Reina can do it herself. No fun. But Rihoko being the obedient kid just does as she is told. Reina also keeps a log of being a mother. Nothing much happens until one day she starts to feel the pain in her hand. She knows that it has begun, Witchblade is destroying her. As Maria is making good progress and now even donning the Cloneblade, she now wants to about mama. Furumizu makes good his promise and gives details about Reina. Maria earnestly believes this is her mom. Tozawa and Cho are doing some hacking as they discover Neogenes all have the same father but different mothers. That is why they are referred to as sisters. Of course Tozawa sees Reina profile. With Masane sulking and not wanting to do anything anymore, Takayama reminds her of her contract. She doesn’t care too. Feel free to take back Witchblade and cut off her hand if you wish. Since this won’t do, he drags her into his car and will bring her back to her real hometown. Meanwhile Segawa calls him to inform that Wadou has called for a meeting and claims he will be successful with the Witchblade project. Takayama isn’t worried. He has failed once and there is nothing more he can do. My, confident is he? Takayama brings Masane to this orphanage where she was raised. He asks if he remembers the name Yasuko Oohara. Nope. That’s supposed to be her real name. Masane cannot remember anything at all from here. Oh look, that group photo. That must be her, right? I’m pretty confident it’s those boobs… Masane then asks about his family. It’s a concept alien to him since his mom died young and his father was always at work, leaving him alone. Hence when he saw Masane and Rihoko, he thought they were a real family. It makes Masane happy because Rihoko was everything she has. Time to troll us as they both embrace and comfort each other. Reina on the other hand starts to feel strange and tears start strolling down her eyes. Uhm, is this what is called motherly love?

Episode 15
Tozawa calls Masane to take Rihoko back as he explains Reina and the other sisters of NSWF are basically from the same father who is no other than Furumizu. Yeah, all the women are his wives, daughters and granddaughters. However Masane is reluctant seeing that she views herself as a monster. And if you compare Reina who is rich and a doctor, not to mention she saved Rihoko twice, what else does Masane have? Maria decides to go see Reina. Damn, this girl using her brute force to open the locked door?! I guess she never learnt about knocking. Her happiness in seeing her mama is short-lived since she sees Rihoko. Who this b*tch?! Technically, Rihoko should be Maria’s older sister! Reina can tell Maria is very dangerous and could be the next generation of Neogenes since her Cloneblade is unrecognizable. Reina trolls Maria to wait in the room while she escapes with Rihoko. But then Maria starts to get mad just thinking about Rihoko. That b*tch gonna die! So mad she transforms and starts her hunt. So powerful that it starts awakening and attracting several X-cons. Not sure where the f*ck Reina is driving too but her car gets stuck in the mud. She tells Rihoko to stay put while she goes to settle things. Luckily for Rihoko, Tozawa saw them driving by and has Rihoko jump into his car. Too bad, that is short-lived too as he crashes when a huge X-con blocks his way. As Masane senses a great bloodlust, she transforms and makes her way to Rihoko (does she know where to find her?) but has to slash all the X-cons along the way. Reina and Maria fight. Maria thinks mama hates her too and will kill her. Damn, this girl sure has personality problems. Although Reina is dealt a fatal blow, she manages to injure Maria. Great timing as NSWF is here to retrieve Maria. Seeing Reina has not much time left, they just leave her. Tozawa calms Rihoko down as he explains how Masane has been doing everything for her all the time. That is why he is certain she will come. And that’s the magic word as Rihoko hears mama calling for her and both mother and daughter emotionally reunite and embrace. Takayama sees Reina dying. She talks about the irony of all the research she has done her whole but yet understood nothing. But this last battle she fought, she felt satisfied. Though, unsure if it is because she is dying or because she protected Rihoko as a mother. Well, time’s up. Bye Reina :’(.

Episode 16
As promised, Tozawa has set up a few hot girls for Cho. That’s right, he is going on a beach vacation with them. However, to avoid Mariko’s pestering to pay up his rent, he invites everyone to come along and he’ll buy anything they want! Meanwhile Masane sees Takayama to get her dues but is then told a dark secret that she too may end up like Neogenes. Dead. He doesn’t want her to use it too much and go into battles too often. Because if she dies, Rihoko will be alone and she’s the only mother she’s got. That is when Segawa also reveals if she dies, Rihoko will become the next wielder of Witchblade. When Reina was pregnant, she showed high compatibility with it. That compatibility drastically reduced after she gave birth, proving that Rihoko is the one. Hence Masane is just warming up the seat until Rihoko is ready. Masane of course will not allow that and will kill anyone who dares touch Rihoko! Oh sh*t, did she just use Witchblade’s power?! But forget all that because now it’s time for some fun at the beach! Yeah! Beach episode! What’s this? A few girls trying to get Cho’s attention?! For real?! Not sure what they heard about being some rich hacker-cum-real estate-cum-athletic-cum-whatever other cool jobs. I think they’re all lies! But Cho in seventh heaven the way they’re all fighting over this old cock! Of course these girls are the colleagues of Kyouko Sasaki who is the editor in chief and Tozawa’s boss. Cho obviously going to have fun with these ladies but I guess nothing beats that dynamite body of Masane! YEAH! Don’t make those girls jealous… But soon, those ladies notice something amiss because if he is that rich, why doesn’t he have a yacht or own this hotel? Scammed? Then they notice Michael and realize he is the famous one. Hey, if he is that famous, why did they not recognize him in the first place?! So what is Michael famous for?! Well, they claim if you don’t know about him, you’re uncool! Just like that, Cho loses all the girls. Ah well, easy come, easy go. Yeah, the only girl he can count on his Rihoko! I hope he doesn’t turn into a lolicon! That night, everybody enjoys their own spectacular fireworks show.

Episode 17
Masane confronts Tozawa as she thinks he revealed her dangerous job to Rihoko. He assures he didn’t mention about her transformation so Rihoko might think she is working with the cops. He reminds her that he is sticking to his promise of not publishing tons of details on all this. But for now he is interested in Furumizu because of his obsession in using his genes on Neogenes. Masane doesn’t care, though. As long as he doesn’t touch Rihoko. Maria is now the obedient girl undergoing regular check-ups from the research. While it makes things much easier for Nishida, she thinks this project will hit a dead end since things will likely remain the same. She is stumped in why Furumizu is using his genes for this project because if he wanted to clone himself, he would’ve just done so. Ah yes, we need to be reminded again as we see Furumizu adoring his perfect father and he hints despising being born by his imperfect mother. As Tozawa researches on Furumizu, he realizes nothing is mentioned about his mom. He meets up with the autobiography author to ask why and is told his mom didn’t like the spotlight. All photos of her has been disposed except for 1 that was carelessly not. Tozawa then heads to the location in this photo to get his answers. Wadou holds a meeting with his executives to present his ultimate Witchblade called… Ultimateblade! Yeah. How special is it? Now men can wield it! Gender equality! He claims their profit will go up as much 150% but Takayama pours cold water on it. He might be able to sell 1 or 2 units and that’s about it. Because clients now want weapons that are powerful but to minimize casualties. People nowadays aren’t weapon enthusiasts and this is just academic foolishness. With Wadou losing again, you bet his office is going to be trashed hard. Tozawa returns to tell Masane about details on Furumizu’s mom. Apparently Furumizu hates his mom. Although his father was an exemplary scientist, his mom was a carefree person. It took his strict family 10 years to recognize this. Furumizu lived under the care of his mom and it is only when he became an adult his hatred started to show. In short, Furumizu’s body father any children. To him, this is like denying his existence. Hence that is why he is going to have Maria to become the perfect mother. She will give birth to a new corrected him that will leave behind descendants! Sick! So isn’t this some sort of mother complex too? Later Masane feels the presence of X-cons and calls Takayama about it. He senses something is wrong because all X-cons have been dealt with during Reina’s last moments. Maria looks like she sounds like she is going to start a rebellion. After all, they Neogenes are the chosen ones, right?

Episode 18
Nakata is investigating another murder site. He finds parts and traces them back to Douji. He confronts Takayama about this but he lacks the evidence to prosecute him. Meanwhile we see Masane splurging the cash on Rihoko, buying her stuffs. No money is wasted if it’s spent on her! On the other hand, Maria is now kinder and gives advices to her other sisters. Wow. She sure matured. Are you sure this is the same Maria? While Furumizu is pleased, Nishida isn’t because this is not what she wanted and the research will soon hit a dead end. Nakata receives an anonymous disc that shows a couple of people picking up pieces of the weapons in the aftermath. This same footage is now played all over the airwaves. He has his team analyse the data and even obtain a search warrant. It seems this info leak is made by Wadou’s department. It is his intention to pin it all on Takayama. When Nakata has gotten what he needs, he confronts Takayama again. This time his team confiscating any assets they deem appropriate as evidence. There is also a large protest outside. As Masane cannot contact Takayama, she is going to see him. Eh? Why is she worried for him? I see, can’t spend money on Rihoko if her source is cut off, huh? Douji’s executives meet and wonder how Takayama will take responsibility. Don’t worry, he has planned for all this. After Tozawa talks to Nakata, he realizes that nobody realizes the weapons originated from humans. This means he still has the edge in the scoop but notes Masane is in danger. When Masane arrives at Douji, she is brought to Wadou. Where’s Takayama? No longer around. He just gave a press conference that he is solely responsible for all this and immediately resigns. This means Masane’s new boss is Wadou. Segawa is now under him too. But Masane doesn’t like it. So she prefers Takayama? I think I can guess why. She tries to leave but Segawa reminds her that Rihoko will be in trouble if she cut ties with that. Yeah. It’s that buzzword. Although Takayama is taken away, Nakata is left frustrated because of a loophole in the law, with Takayama taking all the blame, the company is spared. Masane returns home and promises to always protect Rihoko. She sounds serious and why does this sound like a death flag?!

Episode 19
Masane in a suit and rushing to work? This makes Rihoko worry since mama looks like she doesn’t care about Takayama anymore. After all, Rihoko likes Takayama as he is a nice man. Wadou is relishing that he has finally defeated Takayama. He has his position, his secretary and even his woman. Perfect victory! Tozawa gives Masane a ride home and it seems this was requested by Rihoko. Kyouko is also here because she intends to do an interview on Takayama. She wants to find out what others think about him first. Masane may be a bit drunk as she talks a lot about his good points and his bad too. Wow. She awfully knows a lot about him. This makes Rihoko happy that she still cares for him. This means mama likes him, right? With Masane denying that, this descends into a quarrel and once again, it’s that time where their relationship is strained and won’t talk to each other. Yeah, 2 children fighting… Kyouko then talks to Masane how she was once like her too, putting everything for her daughter although it’s just one way street. Sometimes it’s okay to let your child pamper you. So Masane for that rare moment becomes an adult and talks to Rihoko that she wants to go see Takayama. While this might cause her to be fired, Rihoko thinks they can get by if they sell bento. Kyouko has an idea where Takayama is now so Tozawa drives Masane there to see him. Well, obviously he is depressed after being fired from a company he worked so long. The usual quarrel. She tries to leave but he won’t let her. Kiss. Another kiss! Must be so romantic kissing in the rain? Because Segawa has been giving weird advice, Wadou fears that Takayama might return. Hence he is going to send his previous secretary, Yagi (who is now experimented on as an X-con) to eliminate the threat. Next morning, Masane can tell Takayama is Rihoko’s father. But he will not reveal it to his daughter as it would be awkward at this point. Masane then detects a threat and protects Takayama. She changes into Witchblade to fight Yagi. However he is too powerful and has her cornered. Wishing for more power, she becomes Super Saiyan with extra power and extra speed to kill Yagi. She realizes her Witchblade is cracking but pretends it is nothing. Furumizu has another successful operation to take his genes for the next generation of sisters. He wants to thank Maria and will give her anything. In that case, she wants power. She stabs him and kills off the other researchers! Furumizu thinks he will be reborn again but Nishida reveals she didn’t use his genes. He is shocked and becomes unsightly in trying to take back his gene samples but Maria kills him for good. Maria lets Nishida live since she still has uses. Nishida believes Maria is already perfect.

Episode 20
Maria has taken over the top of NSWF with Aoi as her aide. Of course, in order to secure full power, she will eliminate all those she perceives as a threat and that includes the first generation of sisters. Nishida reports that she has made it known that Furumizu died in an explosion. She knows she must not slip up or Maria will have her head. Then a panic call from Wadou because his Ultimateblade has been defeated. He fears Takayama will come for his head. Nishida isn’t panicking yet and thinks of using this in her favour. Looks like Takayama has changed his mind and decides to be Rihoko’s father. Hence Masane happily tells Rihoko that daddy has a special arrangement for 3 of them tomorrow. Oh Cho, he is sad because he wanted to become Rihoko’s father???!!! Next day, only Rihoko turns up and passes a letter from mama to Takayama. She claims she has an urgent job but from the letter, he can tell it’s just a ploy to leave him alone with his daughter. Have fun. So the only way a rich guy knows how to treat a kid is to let her ride in his private speedboat, shop at an expensive boutique and dine at a fancy high class restaurant. Money not a problem. Takayama’s poker face coming in handy because he feels he doesn’t know how to handle this. Similarly, Rihoko thinks he is mad. But when she learns the truth, she is relieved and teaches him how to smile! What. The. Heck? Masane who has been spying on them all day has been busted. The trio then have fun together in this family outing. On the way back, Masane is confident of leaving Rihoko to him. Suddenly an Ultimateblade attacks. It is trying to pry Witchblade from her. Because Witchblade is trying to get Rihoko, Masane will not allow this and claims she can fight. Hence she transforms into Witchblade and finishes off her opponent. Though, cracks all over her are now obvious. Rihoko has seen all this but she is not scared of her. Because mama is still mama. Nishida watching this is not pleased that Witchblade possesses more power than her Ultimateblade. It sounds like a death flag as Masane wants Takayama to take care of Rihoko before collapsing.

Episode 21
Masane is hospitalized and she claims she is okay and wants to go home. Takayama knows that the effects of the Witchblade are starting to kill her. Wadou is not pleased with Nishida’s failure although she manages to recover some data on Witchblade. Wadou will seek the government’s intervention and this will allow them to hunt for Witchblade open in public. Masane returns home so the rest decides to prepare a party for her to recover. Tozawa knows something is wrong with Masane and tries to bug Takayama about it but he isn’t saying anything. Heck, he even lets the reporter follow him around and do what he wishes. They return to Douji since Takayama wants to get data on Witchblade. Damn, this research place no security?! Takayama meets a few staffs who was dismissed. It seems the weapons Douji sold started malfunctioning. They wanted to recall to investigate but higher ups refused to listen. Looking at the data, Takayama notices the time of malfunction is similar to when Witchblade was in action. As both are connected, this means the more Masane uses Witchblade, the faster she’ll die. Tozawa learns this and is not happy. Is there a way to take it off? Well, if there was a way, it should have been off by now. The only way out is death. Meanwhile Masane tries to force and pry off Witchblade. Nothing works. Damn, even the crusher machine fell apart!!! I don’t know if I should laugh! Well, if she was really that desperate, she could cut off her hand… Masane realizes that Witchblade will still be around if she dies. This means Rihoko will be next. Her plan is to take Witchblade with her. As Takayama is going to stay back and do some detailed analysis, he wants Tozawa to take care of the women. So heads back just in time as everyone beings their party. Better hurry or Masane will eat everything up! Since Tozawa has learnt the truth, is he in any mood to party? Oh well, can’t be a spoil sport. He joins in as Masane suggests taking group photos. This one will last forever, right?

Episode 22
Aoi is making all the sisters fight each other intensely. Because the strongest one is then chosen for the next mission. Yup, always have to be the crazy looking one. Asagi is introduced to Maria who then gives her the permission to wield Cloneblade. Tozawa talks to Masane and learns about her impending death. But she isn’t afraid because she knows Rihoko will be in the safe hands of her real father. I don’t think that’s the answer Tozawa is looking for. Takayama has found the source in X-cons that makes them abnormally react to Witchblade. He has his team scramble to disable this feature. Wadou and Nishida are blaming each other. Both have the same idea that once they get the Witchblade, they’ll eliminate the other. Masane takes Rihoko to the park and they have a lovely picnic. But damn, this feels like Masane’s death flag as she starts talking about heaven! Rihoko not really understanding this but then it gets worse as Masane hugs her and claims she won’t see her anymore. However she’ll still be around and hopes she won’t forget her. At the same time, the news reports that a few X-cons have escaped from the facility. The police is ordering everyone to evacuate. Tozawa sees through this as he knows this is just a ploy to hunt down Witchblade. He stops Masane from trying to go into battle alone. Yeah, she was telling Rihoko to go home herself! However Masane can’t resist the temptation to fight. She transforms into Witchblade and heads off to do X-cons massacre. This is when Rihoko starts to see the picture. Realizing mama will die, she starts to scream in sadness. Tozawa can only carry her back. Witchblade causing so much damage, you’d think a war just happened! Meanwhile Wadou is in despair. With this failure, he thinks his position is done for. Yup, that’s all he cares about. Masane in the aftermath, still has thoughts on Rihoko as she makes her slow trek back home.

Episode 23
As Masane makes her way back, some cops thinks she is an X-con. Damn, are they gonna die? Wadou has pressed the panic button as he is screaming at Nishida to send more units. She is against the idea but looks like the guy has lost it. When Masane reaches back, everyone gets the biggest scare out of their lives thinking Witchblade has come for them. But after seeing Rihoko welcome her mama back and she reverts back to her human form, the residents are in shock that Witchblade is Masane. More woes for Wadou as the I-Weapons he sold to some Middle Eastern nation has gone berserk and are coming back to Tokyo on their own. If this happens, this will be a bigger scandal than this X-cons one. He is so desperate to get Takayama back and reinstate him if he must. He goes to even see that guy himself and to beg and do something about it. Okay. If you say so. But they’ll have to use Wadou’s name since he is the one in charge. Yeah, anything that happens they can just blame him, right? And just like that, Segawa also switches back to his old boss. Masane wakes up just in time to receive Takayama’s call. He tells about the 3800 I-Weapons heading towards Tokyo because they’re attracted to Witchblade. She too can tell since that feeling of Witchblade has been growing inside of her. Takayama and his team will do all they can with the lab units to help trim the numbers. All that’s left is for Masane is to spend some quality time with Rihoko first before she joins the rest of the apartment dwellers to evacuate the city. Masane leaves her with her bank account and a phone that contains Takayama’s number. In return, Rihoko gives her own handmade bottle pendant. Then it’s off to fight those robots. War has begun.

Episode 24
Masane aggressively takes out I-Weapons after I-Weapons. This also prompts Maria and her groupie to go out and fight the mindless waves of drones. Meanwhile Tozawa goes to see Kyouko to tell her the biggest scoop he has. No point keeping it a secret now, right? Rihoko escapes the evacuation centre so as to go see her mama. Damn, security not doing their job! Takayama and his men are using their remaining X-cons to blow up the next incoming wave of I-Weapons. Well, they did what they can. The rest is all up to Masane. Takayama is shocked to get a call from Masane. Turns out to be Rihoko. Know where mama is? He tries to tell the kid to get back to safety but after hearing explosions in the background, the worried father goes to look for her. Does he even know where? Masane now stumbles into Maria and co. Do they have time to fight each other? You bet. Because Maria wants her Witchblade. As Masane wounds Maria, Aoi gets upset and goes all out to kill Masane. Too bad her recklessness causes her to get killed. With Asagi mocking how empty everybody is, Maria kills her off. HUH?! Now Masane and Maria can fight to their heart’s content. Rihoko is hiding away from those I-Weapons. Why the f*ck are they targeting a loli?! Aren’t they supposed to be drawn to Witchblade?! Ah, but great timing because Masane could sense her daughter in danger and uses some power to draw them away. Now all the I-Weapons are gathering at the Tokyo Tower where Masane and Maria’s fight is taking place. Nishida who is so engrossed in watching all this gets run over by an I-Weapon! Good riddance. Wadou? Looks like he has regressed into a child. Maria still hell bent on taking Witchblade when she suddenly sees visions of Reina in Masane. Mama, do you love me? Was that all she wanted? This distraction allows Masane to kill her off. With all the I-Weapons gathering here, Masane does the ultimate sacrifice to take them all out with her. Sure, one last glimpse of Rihoko calling out to her. Don’t worry, Takayama is with her. In the end, it’s raining light seeds but Rihoko is happy as she catches mama’s seashell. Always keep smiling.

Bloodlust: The Lyin’, The Witchboobs & The War Dopes
Uhm, that’s it? It just ends like that? Oh well, at least it didn’t cause another great disaster and the second Null Point. But now I’ve got to ask if the Witchblade has been completely destroyed because if it wasn’t, Rihoko is screwed! If it was, it only shows that it wasn’t unbreakable after all. Imagine an explosion that is way less than the atomic bomb did the job in destroying the cursed gauntlet and saved future girls from becoming its bearer. So people, if you wanna destroy the Infinite Gauntlet, make sure it’s not a crusher machine but a mini explosion. Sure, you lose your life but think about all the lives you’ll be saving! Yeah.

Can’t say that I’m impressed with the storyline because it feels generic and not really that exciting. We just have a bearer of Witchblade trying to come to terms with her power as well as dealing with it and other parties who really want to take that away from her and at the same time trying to be a good mother and protect her most precious one. It’s nothing really special if you ask me and sometimes the whole story feels like one big wild goose chase because interested parties want to steal the Witchblade but ultimately they fail. Then they wait for a while before trying another attempt which also doesn’t yield their desired results. Are these people serious in getting the Witchblade or not? Oh right. They care about their public image more so I guess that’s that. In the meantime, Masane trying to bond with her daughter more than ever.

I read that one of the controversies surrounding this anime adaptation was the introduction of Masane as a new character. From what I read and understand, the anime adaptation is completely original from the manga adaptation of the same name. Although with the seemingly new story and new characters, it is still set in the same Witchblade universe. Not that I can tell anyway since I don’t even read the original comics. Hence Masane became a controversy to fans of the series because they created a new character to wield the Witchblade instead of one that has been established. From what I know, Shiori was one of the original characters from the manga and she has been reduced to a side character here and even killed off subsequently. Yeah, what a short-lived appearance to say the least. Not sure what happened to the controversy after that because I wasn’t interested to know more about it seeing that all I know is that this anime wasn’t really that good anyway so that’s the end of that.

As for the characters, I think most of them are miss than hits. Seeing that Masane also holds the moniker as the titular character, it is obvious that she is going to be the main character. I feel that half of the entire series tries to play out the mother and daughter role and perhaps pull our heartstrings into seeing Masane trying her best to provide the best (albeit not perfect) mother for her only child. Even if it is later revealed that they are not blood related, it shows that their bonding has been so strong that they’re as good as a real mother and child. One of those moments where blood isn’t necessarily thicker than water because as we’ve seen for a short period of time when Rihoko returned to her real mom, they were like freaking strangers. Uh huh. It’s like Reina doesn’t actually understand the real concept of what being a mother is and it just feels strange she is acting like a dummy. Yup. Got Rihoko back as my daughter. Plays motherly role strictly as per the book says. Like, WTF?! No wonder this mother and daughter combo was really forgettable and we’re more inclined to think that Masane and Rihoko play that role way better and made us forget that they’re not even blood related.

Of course the funny part watching the dynamism between Masane and Rihoko is that the roles are actually reversed. Rihoko despite being a loli is actually more responsible and mature compared to Masane who is clumsier and more carefree in her attitude. Makes you wonder who takes care of who, huh? The irony that we are actually more worried about Masane than Rihoko! Oh, that little girl will be fine by herself. Even if she goes into a dangerous alley alone and unarmed. But Masane, oh she’s a different case altogether. You’ll worry if she can make it out of her bathroom in one piece! Yeah. Sounds exaggerated but that’s our main sentiment for her. But at the end of the day even if Masane isn’t anywhere near capable as Rihoko, their mother and daughter relationship also pulls some heartstrings since at the back of our minds we’ll be having grim thoughts that one day all this will come to an end. And that’s why both are living their lives out as they want. More of that as you see the next episode preview is either narrated by Masane or Rihoko, writing to each other and pouring out their heartfelt feelings and thoughts.

The only thing that boggles me was how Masane and Rihoko became a pair. If Masane was said to have a different persona before the incident, and that she lost her memories and her current identity was given by the government, how did Rihoko ended up as her daughter anyway? How did Reina who was pregnant with Rihoko, lost her daughter in the first place? Sure, the maternity passbook said so but I believe that is all made up, right? By how? Why? The government can’t be so stupid to assign them together and then try to separate them, right? Or maybe they are. And how did Rihoko ended up with that Amaha surname if it was supposed to be Takayama, her real father? Given that fake name to hide her or what? Because it is only much later they found out that Witchblade is waiting for Rihoko to become ready so it can’t be somebody having such foresight in the earlier parts of the anime. Or was it somebody’s devilish scheme to pair Rihoko with Masane the Witchblade wielder because once the latter dies, the former will be immediately be ripe for the picking. Don’t see any character that fits this role anywhere here! Am I missing something somewhere? The plot twist here sure feels confusing now that I am thinking too much about it!

Having said that, there isn’t anything much about the Witchblade itself. What I mean is that I was expecting this Witchblade gauntlet thingy to have at least more prominence but it just doesn’t feel so. Perhaps they don’t want to bore those who are already familiar with the lore and other settings pertaining to the Witchblade. So this Witchblade feels like whenever the scene needs that obligatory action and fanservice combo, hence the activation to turn Masane into some dark vampire empress or something. Heh. It’s just here to make Masane do some conscious weighing options of either choosing ecstasy or ruin with it. And here I thought it would finally gain a sentient mind of its own and speak to the puny humans how it was going to destroy all of mankind. Heh. It’s a good thing I wasn’t the scriptwriter!

Takayama, this guy is very capable beneath that stoic and poker face he puts up. Not sure if he was born with that kind of face or it froze up while he was growing up. Sometimes I feel that at the end, he’s just like the insurance and consolation trophy that Masane leaves for her daughter. That’s why those cheesy romantic scenes of Masane with Takayama. Uh huh. Just feeling weird when you have very different characters put together. I know opposite attracts but they don’t even as hell click together. Only by the basis that they are employer-employee status. So yeah, their moment together feels weird and forced just to lead up to the finale. Even weirder when I start thinking if Rihoko is going to call Takayama as papa or continue by his surname. Imagine calling your daddy that. Both equally weird. And what’s this about Tozawa being the third wheel in the love triangle? Man, actually I didn’t even feel it that way even though I had a hunch he would have a crush on her. He certainly doesn’t show it either so I’m thinking he is helping her so much not because he wants to get the scoop but because he also likes her. But like I said, I never felt all that from him and hence no such obvious romance factor. In the final, it’s like he is trying to redeem himself by telling all the misunderstood people that Masane is not a monster. Her tits yes but not her character. Okay, jokes aside, I feel this didn’t even really matter or help his case because it’s not like I see the people around care anyway.

Wadou serves to be one of those loser antagonist because right from the start you can see how arrogant he is and the way he treats others. Thus whatever happens to him in the end is just desserts. A fate far worse than death. A character like him would definitely make us feel more supportive of Takayama than this douchebag, right? Then there is Furumizu whom I feel was just there for the uninspiring plot twist. His true goal feels like a side distraction that doesn’t matter and he died pathetically without even putting on a fight. Yeah, I was thinking he would turn into the Hulk or something for the final battle but they killed him off. Maybe for character, it is a good thing. At least he doesn’t have to further humiliate himself and be hated like Wadou. As for Segawa, I have this feeling that he could be a backstabber or double agent because sometimes they show his suspicious actions. Turns out nothing of that sort and he was just trying to be a good secretary. He manages to keep his cool and professionalism as we see him work for both a good and bad boss. This is what most of us hope to be when facing such bosses, right? No. Okay. Whatever.

Then there is Maria who also feels underutilized. I thought she was brought up so she would be the final antagonist for Masane to go head to head with. You know, Witchblade vs Cloneblade epic finale. And look how this turned out? Ever since that turning point of being disappointed with mommy Reina, she has mellowed down a lot. Even killing Furumizu by her own hands felt forced and then after that she’s just like quietly playing CEO of NSWF that don’t even matter to the rest of the story. Poor girl, all she wanted was just mama’s love and she thought Witchblade was her answer. Well, you get the love that you give. Even Aoi and Asagi feel underutilized and my guess is that they’re there just to make it look like Maria has got some lackeys of her own. Is it me or do I not see Asagi once in action?! Making this Neogene pretty redundant. Good thing they just unceremoniously killed her off.

Not sure if I should be feeling disappointed with some of the apartment residents but I can only blame myself for expecting too much. I understand Cho is a funny and interesting character because aside from being some sort of genius underground hacker, this old dude is actually the liveliest of the pack. He is funny in his own ways and it’s like despite his aging body, his soul is actually decades younger! My guess is that the apartment residents are there so that Masane and Rihoko won’t feel lonely and that not the entire world is against them. You have Naomi who is some sort of diviner but she only divines gloomy stuffs. There is all there is to her! Worse, I thought this Michael dude could be some X-con in disguise due to his large size but he’s just a character with no dialogue. Gentle giant. WTF is he even famous for?! There goes my own twist that they may be spies or X-cons. Mariko? Somebody needs to play the b*tch character. Although she is more brash and has a sharp tongue, she is actually kind-hearted beneath that chubby exterior.

If there is one thing I would like to complain about this series, it is its animation quality. Many times, there are scenes that just feel like they downgraded a lot until it all seems like low quality. Especially the action scenes. The quality takes a dip and it’s like they just want to do a quick job on it. Even more so in non-action scenes, the characters sometimes look funny and that is not in a good way. I’m sure they want to attract attention of a certain demographic viewers and that’s why Masane has such huge ungodly tits. I hope Null Point didn’t mutate them and made them grow bigger! And whenever she transforms into Witchblade mode, I find it weird that in this semi-naked form, her ass is exposed! It’s like she is fighting naked if you look at her from a certain angle. This anime is done by veteran anime studio Gonzo who probably had better animation quality in their other works like Samurai 7, Full Metal Panic, Rosario To Vampire, Gantz and Seto No Hanayome.

As for the action scenes, they just feel passable and nothing really that exciting. But as said, because of the animation quality, it makes the whole thing look inferior. Even more so when they make this Witchblade character so overpowered and that nothing can literally defeat her. Not even those Neogenes, Cloneblade, Ultimateblade or whatever they call it nowadays. Like as though they are there to be taken down by Witchblade and add to her body count. Heh. As compensation, here, have a look at her orgasmic face each time she gets her thrill of the blood.

I guess one of my only consolations is to hear the great Mamiko Noto helming the role of Masane. Like as though this has made up (sort of) for all the cameo and side character roles that she has been doing a lot lately. Therefore it’s nice to hear her in a consistent main character role and it’s good to know that she hasn’t lost her touch and sounded the same as she is now and as she was then. Oh wait… I just realized this… DID THEY KILL OFF ANOTHER MAMIKO NOTO CHARACTER!! AT THE VERY LAST MINUTE!!! OMFG!!! Sighs. Looks like I have to live with this trauma if I am ever going to watch all her featured series. Other recognizable seiyuus include Rikiya Koyama as Takayama, Nana Mizuki as Maria, Shizuka Itou as Shiori and Kenichi Suzumura as Segawa. The other casts include Akemi Kanda as Rihoko (Ryou in Clannad), Masaya Matsukaze as Tozawa (Ren in Jigoku Shoujo), Kazuhiro Nakata as Wadou (Ron in Outlaw Star), Shouto Kashii as Cho (Tadataka in Gunparade March), Maiko Itou as Mariko (Eldegard in Planets), Mie Sonozaki as Reina (Hazuki in Happy Lesson), Shinji Ogawa as Furumizu (Milch in Nodame Cantabile), Mika Itou as Naomi (Miki in Aishiteruze Baby) and Sakiko Tamagawa as Nishida (Natsumi in You’re Under Arrest).

The first opening theme, Psychic Lover by XTC is a high octane rock piece and although not really my favourite, but it fits the pace of the series. Because come the second opening, Dear Bob by Koologi sounds more like WTF!!!!!!! It really throws you off pace when you have lyrics that go, “Hey mama, father, walking down the street in a Babylon”. HUH???!!! Even the rock music feels so frantic and at a chaotic pace. Then they mash it up with scenes from the series especially from Masane, it makes it all one helluva weird experience. Does not match the series at all! Feels more like a joke than anything else. Truly, could be one of the weirdest anime songs I hear for the year! That’s why I feel that for the final episode, they reverted back to Psychic Lover so as not to make the last episode feel so out of place with this joker song. Thank goodness. The first ending theme is Ashita No Te by Mamiko Noto. Well, the song isn’t that bad and although my stereotype of Mamiko Noto is that she isn’t particularly a good singer, she doesn’t sound all that bad here. It just reminds me of Enma Ai singing, that’s all. Ironically, still better than the second ending theme, Kutsu Himo by Asami Yamamoto. This lively pop rock piece feels out of place. At least, not that I can imagine it fits this kind of genre. The final episode’s ending theme, Kodou ~Get Closer~ by Psychic Lover sounds more bearable as this slow rock gives the ending to the series a bittersweet taste.

Overall, this series just feels mediocre. I’m only here for Mamiko Noto and that’s the only factor that doesn’t really disappoint me as I leave this series for good. Otherwise, I’m sure fans of the Witchblade series will have something more negative to say about this adaptation and thus they bait you by having sexy Witchblade and other skimpily dressed female fighters in mediocre action. Hey, isn’t the original comic covers of Witchblade as sexy too? With this negative bias of mine, it is probably the biggest excuse for me not to go take a look at Marvel Disk Wars: The Avengers. Yup, Japan got that Marvel franchise animated too. And of course, Mamiko Noto not really in there so I’ll pass it up forever. Just like Rihoko moving on in life, I’ll be moving on to my next Mamiko Noto series… Is this my ecstasy or ruin?

R.O.D – Read Or Die

Reading has never been my thing for a long time. Not even manga. I don’t know, I just don’t like that. And so I thought it was pretty strange for an anime with a title like R.O.D – Read Or Die to challenge people like me. At least that is what it looks like on the outside. Sort of. Will this get me into the habit of reading? Hey, I’m already watching the anime, so that itself says a lot. From the synopsis, it looks like somebody mysterious is trying to use great historical figures to control the world. Oh, another one of those megalomaniacs bent on world domination, huh? Why historical figures? I guess it’s much cooler that way. Hey, don’t ask me. I don’t read so I don’t know anything about many of these historical figures. Except they’re all mostly dead. Heh.

OVA 1
Oh sh*t! Some weird Japanese guy blows up the White House because it’s not the library he is looking for?! Now we see Yomiko Readman as she wakes up from her messy room and goes on a buying spree of books! No need to be worried about the money. She’s got the cash to splash! No wonder all bookstores love her as the best customer! She’s buying so much books, can she fit them all in her bag?! At one shop, she manages to grab a book she wanted from another rival, Miss Deep. It could’ve gotten uglier had not some other distraction stopped her from making her move. Yomiko enjoys reading the new book she got that she is oblivious to an accident caused by a swarm of bees around her! Only when this insect guy stole her book, did she do everything she can to take it back. This includes using her paper abilities to fight back. Hence her codename as Paper. Yeah, dumb guy crashed into the building and died. Yomiko is then summoned by Joker to see Gentleman for a mission. Yes, it’s that White House destruction. Apparently he has stolen 600 traveller’s journals from the federal reserve library and their mission is to bring it back. From the footage, this man is believed to be Gennai Hiraga. This inventor is already dead but DNA samples confirm it is him. You see, over a year ago, somebody stole genetic samples of Iijin from the World Prodigal Gene Storage Agency. Gennai is confirmed to be one of the names on the list. That insect dude is a clone of Jean Henri Fabre, an entomologist. His target was her book. It can be said that somebody is using Iijin to steal books but for purposes unknown. Yomiko is further motivated that she will get the second volume of that book if she is successful.

Joker then calls Drake Anderson who is not impressed he has to play a supporting role to Yomiko. So while he investigates the crime site, Yomiko goes to read a book but stumbles into Deep. Seems she is assigned to be her partner by Joker but was unaware of her as Paper. Yomiko wants to get to know her but Deep will not reveal her real name. They just met, right? She also demonstrates her ability to pass through solid objects. She thinks light of Yomiko’s paper ability until she almost got injured by it. Suddenly, Otto Lilienthal soars in with his hi-tech glider to steal a book. Time for a big chase through the city. Yeah, those American helicopters do nothing but explode. Otto sure made a fool out of them. Even when they send in the entire army of helicopters, Gennai’s uses EMP to block them out! The entire helicopter squad gone!!! Yomiko creates a giant paper plane to chase after Otto with Deep. Otto is frustrated that he cannot outsmart her and his bullets are nothing against her paper defence. In the end, the sky chase ends with Deep hooking his glider to the statue so he keeps going in spirals until he crashes and dies! Yomiko is happy that she saved the book. Deep thinks she’s an idiot for valuing the book more than her life but acknowledges her abilities. Deep reveals her real name as Nancy Makuhari. She never liked her codename anyway.

OVA 2
A surveillance footage showed some stolen books are already in India. The footage was subsequently destroyed. Our agents are to head there and to confirm if an Iijin was involved and to meet up with the local dealer, Jahaal. Later Joker detects some strange woman in the footage and has Wendy Earhart do some checking. Although she comes up with nothing, he has her to research deeper and use dirty tactics if necessary. Yomiko and Nancy are looking for Jahaal in his place, they are attacked by Genjo Sanzo who wants the book they are having. Since he can breathe fire and his staff can extend to great lengths, the duo are left to run. Oh, he is chasing them on a flying cloud. But Joker notices the steam emitted is the same as Otto’s glider. The ladies thought they can escape via sea. However Genjo just chants his spell and split it open! Yomiko is forced to be on defensive mode as Drake has her lead Genjo to a certain spot so that he can fire the submarine’s missile. A direct hit but Genjo survives and in his anger, overturns the submarine. Now he focuses in killing the ladies. Nancy doing a dangerous move to get up close and hold him so Yomiko can spam all her paper at him. One of it hits his mechanical heart. Uhm, bleeding oil? With Yomiko tending to an injured Nancy, Genjo who is still alive manages to steal the book and throws it to his comrade on a dragonfly. When Genjo wants to settle the score with Yomiko, he is killed off by Ikkyu Soujun. The girls manage to escape into the submarine before the water floods back the area.

In the aftermath, Nancy recuperates in hospital and is doing fine. She blames herself for losing the book but Nancy is okay with it. They can search for the book next time but there is only 1 Nancy in this world. Joker realizes that the book belongs to Beethoven after confirming its contents and handwriting. But it is unknown why Iijin wants his books. Suddenly radio all over the world is interfered with Beethoven’s 9th Symphony playing. A huge fortress appears over the Pacific Ocean. All TV broadcast is hijacked by Iijin Corps led by Ikkyu. Basically, he thinks there are too many people in the world and only a few talented like them are sufficient to remain to take care of it. Yup, mass genocide. But he is going to do it without the use of biological or atomic weapons as that will contaminate the planet. Stay tune next time to find out! Ikkyu then calls for Nancy, or rather Matahari to return. Joker immediately orders her arrest but she takes Yomiko hostage so Drake can’t do anything. But as we have seen her powers, she slips through the walls after saying goodbye to dear Yomiko. Yomiko is left stunned while Wendy was a second too late to report her findings to Joker: The real Nancy was dead in college. HOW COULD AN ORGANIZATION THAT DEALS WITH RECORDS AND DETAILS MISS SOMETHING THIS BIG???!!! Jokes on you Joker… Anyway, Gentleman immediately suspends all operations to retrieve books and in force now is the operation to exterminate Iijin Corps. He leaves Joker in charge and gives him permission to use his name should he encounter foreign interference. Drake and Yomiko make their way to the fortress.

OVA 3
All the warships are surrounding the fortress. The gates open and Joker knows this is a trap. They’ll take whatever chance and create new opportunities. But as the plane enters, bug boy destroys it. Luckily, Drake and Yomiko survive the crash. Since Yomiko is still distraught about Nancy, Drake is giving her a pep talk not to drag him along. Suddenly bug boy throws him off the platform and puts Yomiko to sleep. She is imprisoned in a chamber as Ikkyu explains his genocide plan. Basically, everyone is going to kill themselves when they hear this subliminal song and that is why he is using Beethoven’s works. This is the most efficient plan to destroy mankind in an instant without tainting the planet. But Yomiko has to deal with Nancy who looks like she is regretting her betrayal. She gets distraught thinking Ikkyu broke his promise to let Yomiko live. Of course he will, not in this state. He’ll kill her and take her genes and make a clone of her. Just like how he did it for her. And soon Nancy’s clone kills her off. Then they leave and let the room fill up with water and let Yomiko go to her slow watery grave. As you would’ve expect, Drake is still alive as he responds to command centre. Joker sends him on a mission to destroy the fortress’ nuclear power reactor to prevent the rocket launch. Because the fortress will be heading to the equator to launch its rocket and once it reaches a certain height, the subliminal song will play and it’s game over. Why did Yomiko not use the paper that was her hair clip to break free?! Why must she wait till last minute only to do so?! Anyway, she does so and just in time to fight Gennai who is standing in Drake’s way. Electric sword vs paper sword. Well, Yomiko isn’t much of a swordswoman and is left running. Again, why does she not use her paper like missile to cut him? Why must she wait for last minute? Was it so to lead him to some dry ice pipe and then freeze him all over and kill him? Whatever. It worked. Anyway, the American president is panicking and orders to fire everything! Yeah, the fortress just destroys the destroyers in a blink of an eye! President goes crazy and wants to unleash the nukes! Thank goodness his sane bodyguards stop him.

Drake makes his way to the reactor but has to battle bug boy. Yomiko manages to catch up to Ikkyu but looks like she is made to play with Nancy. Oh, don’t worry, looks like the old Nancy is still alive and will keep her busy so Yomiko can continue her mission. A fight between a power user who can go through solids? This is going to be a tough fight… Although Drake manages to defeat bug boy and destroy the reactor, Ikkyu isn’t flinching since this has been taken into account and so the rocket still launches. Ode to massacre coming soon! Luckily Yomiko is on board and tries to fight Ikkyu. Uhm, she’s asking him to return her book?! But Nancy returns. She shoots Yomiko. Then she gets close to Ikkyu and crushes his heart and throws away his detonator. To deceive your enemies, you must first deceive your allies. And with that, the threat of mass suicide is over. Nancy laments that she didn’t care about the world. As long as he was beside him, it was all that mattered to her. As the rocket will be heading into space forever, they need to get out. WTF Yomiko is hesitant to use the book as parachute because she hasn’t read it yet?! It’s that or space. But as Yomiko jumps, Nancy didn’t follow her. She decides to stay by Ikkyu’s side. It’s going to be a long lonely journey in space. While everyone celebrates the mission’s success, a sad Yomiko floats down as she clutches Nancy’s last message to take care of her younger sister. In the aftermath, this younger Nancy is still alive but recovering in hospital. However from all the shock, she has lost her memories. Yomiko visits her and tells her of her sister’s great achievements that saved the world.

Episode 1
Nenene Sumiregawa just landed in Hong Kong. Michelle Cheung picks her up but Nenene is not impressed with how she spelled her name wrongly. Michelle is a bit klutzy as she introduces her to her towering sister, Maggie Mui who is the driver. Along the way, the sisters are amazed that Nenene’s book will be adapted to a movie although she is not impressed because she wrote that book 4 years ago and hasn’t written since. Upon reaching their hotel, a bomb explodes and they narrowly escape the falling debris. Turns out that the bomb was intended for Nenene. This anti-Japanese dude wants her to get out and is also calling demands to cease production of her movie. By right, they should call off the book signing ceremony tomorrow but Nenene will not allow a fool to defeat her and let violence win. The ceremony will go on and she isn’t expecting the police to provide full protection. Michelle so touched that she and her sister will protect her. Since the hotel is off limits, she takes Nenene back to her apartment to stay. Oh no, the door breaks apart! Another terrorist attack? Nope. Just overflowing with books. Not sure about these book drafts but their youngest sister, Anita King hates this job. In short, Nenene and Anita don’t like each other. Nenene wants to leave but Michelle holds a sister’s conference to vote if she should stay. 2-1. Gotta love democracy. That night, they notice Nenene missing so they go look for her in the pouring rain. Anita finds her staring outside a bookstore. They talk and it seems Nenene is searching for someone she admires who is currently missing. She is also a book lover and hasn’t heard anything from her in 4 years.

As the ceremony gets underway, suddenly this guy handcuffs Nenene and shows a book containing the bomb! Damn, the heightened security and how the f*ck they let him through???!!! DID THEY NOT CHECK ALL VISITORS COMING FOR HER AUTOGRAPH???!!! He lets Nenene hold a pen with a ball. If it touches either end, bomb explodes. Basically this washed up writer rants how a foreigner’s work can be turned into a movie while his is side-lined. Nenene is not impressed because if he wants to kill her, do it via writing. She won’t die with this mere bomb. This makes the guy mad so the sisters go into action as we see them unleash their paper abilities to cut the handcuff, throw the bomb out and erect a thick paper barricade to protect from the explosion. Nenene is amazed seeing this as she shows a locket and asks if they know this person whom she is looking for: Yomiko. Sorry, don’t know who she is. Before Nenene takes her flight back to Japan, she gives the sisters each a signed book. After the plane departs, Michelle comes rushing in with news that looks like there is another culprit. Yup, the brother. He takes the cabin hostage and once more Nenene is not impressed. You brothers have more passion in violence than killing, huh? The dude panics when he sees Anita outside! Fired random shots. The sisters are riding a giant paper dragon. Don’t worry if they smash up the window and structure, they can also plaster it back with paper to stabilize the cabin pressure, no? The dude is taken down and Anita credits Nenene’s book in taking the bullet that saved her life. No time to butt heads because one of the bullets hit the engine. Plane gonna crash? Not if Maggie envelops the plane with her paper dragon. But it’s too heavy. Cut off the wings! It’s a rough landing but at least everyone is safe. Welcome to Japan.

Episode 2
Lee Linho has the sisters stay in an apartment that is close to Nenene’s place. He is Nenene’s editor and hopes they can take on an additional job as her bodyguard until she gets back on her feet. I guess that means forever. After all, Lee is a big fan of Nenene and wants to see her next work. Too bad their apartment is boring and empty. So the sisters go to stay and bug Nenene at her place! Holy sh*t! They’re really making themselves at home! Nenene had to put her foot down and lay down the rules. Or else. So while Nenene returns to her work (writer’s block as usual), she hears some mini explosion sound. She goes to check it out and Michelle trying to prevent her to see? Eventually she finds out the other sisters trying to hide the TV they busted! Sighs… Just go to sleep! Next morning, she sees the sisters brushing teeth at the same time in the same cramped toilet. Claustrophobic. She leaves to meet Lee and wants them gone when she gets back. Oh, also compensate her TV. Meeting Lee, he seems pretty happy that Nenene is more energetic as usual. Did he mistake that anger of hers? Even so, this is the most energetic he has seen her in 4 years. Nenene returns and Maggie acting as her butler? Great service but something is wrong. Where her furniture?! They threw them away! Hey, at least they got her a new TV and kept her books. GET THEM BACK NOW!!! Out of the pan and into the fire because Michelle in seduction mode. Oh boy. This gonna be a long night… You think Michelle has cooked a great meal for her. Turns out she bought them and wants Nenene to compensate her. WHAT THE FFFFUUUUUU???!!! At boiling point now? She has to eat all of them in order not to waste it. But what now? Looks like Anita’s diary dropped and they really baiting her to read it. Oh well… It depicts Anita’s embarrassing moments. Nenene not impressed but an embarrassed Anita barging through to tear all her notes away. Eventually when Maggie gets all the furniture back, Nenene kicks them out for good. I’m sure Nenene is enjoying her lonely life. But as she notices the things the sisters has done for her home, she goes to pick them up loitering in the park. She’ll allow to stay but lays down some rules. Yay! No homeless sisters for tonight.

Episode 3
Nenene can’t stand the sisters sleeping so cramped up so she decides to let them have her parents’ bedroom. So start cleaning! But once done, it seems the bed is still too small to fit all of them. Maggie has a place she wants to sleep and so she becomes Harry Potter and makes the storeroom beneath the stairs her bedroom! After Nenene goes out to have a meeting with Lee, the sisters bum around and since they see the news channel about a reporter bugging Nenene on that hijacking incident, they realize they’re supposed to be her bodyguards and be with her. Remembering where Nenene went for her meeting, looks like it is in Jinbocho. Oh, where? Let’s say it’s a bookworm’s haven. Yup, Maggie and Michelle are drooling to their heart’s content. THIS IS HEAVEN! Aren’t they supposed to look for Nenene? Well, this has become a free search. Lee talks to Nenene about suggestions of making one of her past works some paperback edition. She is however not too fond in going through her old works again. She also has some fan mails but she doesn’t even want to read them and keeps piling them up. Nenene also meets an up and coming writer, Haruhi Nishizono who is also her biggest fan. She got into writing because of her and hopes to talk more about each other on another day. OMG. Michelle is losing herself! The way she is asphyxiating and being orgasmic at all the books! BOOKS! SHE’LL BUY THE ENTIRE BOOKSTORE!!! With the bookstore closing down because of this, news spread that a certain girl may have returned. So they go prepare a fair with rare books to welcome her return. Meanwhile Anita tails Nenene to a secret underground bookstore and gets busted. Nenene then takes her to Yomiko’s home. Basically her entire place is like one giant bookshelf. Nenene comes here once in a while and buys some new books in hopes that she will return. Ironically, Anita hates books but yet she is a paper master. They pass through the fair as Nenene lights up when she heard some woman who loves buying books has returned. Oh God! Has she come home! Well, don’t get your hopes up because here comes Michelle with a trolley of books! There’s your answer. Nenene so pissed and could’ve killed her for this false hope had not Anita stopped her.

Episode 4
Nenene wants Anita to go to school because the housewives are whispering rumours she might be abused. If the police get any reports, it will be trouble for her. Anita may not like this but I guess democracy rules again. Anita transfers to some junior high school and makes friends with the shy Hisami Hishiishii while butting head with bratty Tooru Okahara. Anita shows her smarts in class so other girls quickly gather around her. This also causes a rivalry with Natsume who is Haruhi’s younger sister. Yeah, she’s proud of her sister’s works. Too bad Anita isn’t even a book lover. With Anita and Tooru getting into constant squabbles, the rest think they’re in love with each other. If that’s not big enough a headache for her, looks like Michelle is also here! She disguised herself as a student to see how Anita is doing. Yeah, bored staying at home? Uh huh. Leave the boring job of looking after Nenene to Maggie. Michelle is happy that Anita is making friends but too bad she mostly see her classmates as weirdoes or jerks. As joining a club is compulsory, Anita isn’t interested but will join whatever club Hisami is in. Well… It’s a book club! They just do nothing but read books! Hisami introduces her to Richard who often supplies them with English books. He is here to get some book when suddenly someone snipes at his feet! He gives some book to Anita and tells her to hide it. Anita plays a cat and mouse game with the assassin, Junior who is also a kid like her. Thanks to Michelle intervening, Junior escapes. Junior returns to his master who is no other than Joker. He confirms Anita’s paper master abilities. Joker orders him to find and retrieve that book as well as get more info on those sisters. When Michelle and Anita return home, looks like Maggie tells them Nenene has suddenly left (she got a posting regarding Yomiko). Calling Lee about it, it looks like she won’t be back for a while so he has the sisters take a vacation for now. That’s not paid vacation, mind you. But a pigeon brings a message and this lights up Michelle because they have a job now.

Episode 5
The sisters are now in Romania! Aside from their mini book buying spree, they meet Kim who is a coordinator of a Chinese company, Dokusensha. He talks about the great fire that destroyed the British Library 4 years ago. Many rare books were burnt and some were saved. And there are those that were smuggled out during the chaos. They have verified one of them to be in the hands of Webber, the master of this island castle and their job is to retrieve that stolen book. The sisters wait till night fall to sneak in. But looks like Webber knows of their coming and nullifies their power. Only Anita’s power seems to be working. As they trek into the castle, they stumble into a torture chamber and then attacked by bats. Maggie tries to save Anita but looks like the latter views that as uncalled for and lashes out at her for being a burden. Michelle slaps her and tells her to apologize. Sisterly fight have to be put on hold since they are now attacked by a dog. Although they manage to escape, Anita is separated from them. Luckily, the sisters end up in the same room. This is an experimental chamber of Webber and he is going to conduct his experiment on them. He is able to control things via sound frequency. From ultrasonic to infrasonic, he’s got it all covered. He plays a frequency to disable the sisters but only Michelle remains unaffected. Then he plays one that resonates on her but not affect the rest. Hence the sisters have to come up with a plan to take him down. Using themselves as distraction, they also use papers as some sort of silencer to negate the effects. This allows Anita to throw a book right at him. No resonance value. Just hard solid object. Anita becomes emotional to see Maggie in an injured state (but not fatal). She is overcome with emotion as she apologizes for the mean thing she said to her. The book is retrieved and returned to Kim. As reward, his comrade, Sonny Wong gives them 2 toilet papers! I guess paper masters are very happy with that. Webber’s servant tries to snipe at Anita as revenge but luckily Maggie protects her although this causes her to use a lot of strength. Servant is beaten up by Wong. The sisters return home and have a good sleep. Don’t mind their inelegant sleeping pose. They’re all very tired.

Episode 6
Looks like there’ll be a day where parents will come visit and observe their child in class. In addition to that, they have to write a book report and those chosen will read it out in class. You know how Anita dreads both, right? Since Hisami wants to visit Anita’s home, she reluctantly does so. Oh my. Her sisters being absolute weirdoes and giving her first class treatment! Even more ecstasy for Michelle when she learns she loves books and a fan of Nenene. She wants her to be her little sister! But too bad they can’t visit Nenene now as she is sleeping and they have strict orders not to wake her up no matter what. Before Michelle hogs Hisami, Anita takes her to her room. Anita still not keen in that book report and would prefer to do something else. In the school library, Anita stumbles into Junior. She doesn’t recognize him since he is dressed as a school student. It seems Anita clicks with him because he too mentions he doesn’t like books. Meanwhile Nenene has some inspiration and writes the outline of her next work, much to Lee’s delight. When Nenene and the sisters find out of Anita’s book report, this has Nenene asking why Anita hates books. Michelle reveals Anita’s oldest memories are burning books amidst the cries and some shady fear. It is a picture of fear for her. She acts like normal but that fear is etched deep in her mind. Something must have happened before they happened. That’s right. Anita is not their real sister. But they treat her like a real one. When Anita is adamant she isn’t going to write a book report because nobody from her family her come, Hisami disagrees. She too will have no family come on that day as they are away. But she will still write one because she loves books and that is how she honours it. Because books cheered her up, they were her only friends before Anita came. That’s why she hopes Anita will like books too because she loves them both. Anita gives it a long thought and goes home and starts reading for her book report. When that day comes, Anita is confident nobody will come but look, it’s her sisters and they brought Nenene along too. And Anita gets picked first to read her report. Yeah, her family watching with baited breath… Can she do it?! Believe in her, please!

Episode 7
At a café, Anita and Maggie realize Michelle has not returned from the toilet. Anita looks for her and realizes she is missing. When questioning the owner about this, he claims he only saw 2 of them. Even the customers vouch to this. Realizing they have been set up, Maggie takes Anita away. Since they came to this country illegally, they can’t go to the police. They return to the hotel and realize they have booked a room for 2. Then there’s a letter from John Smith and he sounds like the perpetrator. A call from Kim and it is believed everyone here is under control of John Smith. When they try to move out and change hotel, the police arrest Maggie. She is being interrogated for the murder of Michelle. They have eye witnesses and even photo proof that the sisters ended up in a heated argument and Maggie stabbed her to die. Lies! Anita heads to the police to help but they know of no such sisters and is shooed away. Then those customers creepily wants to welcome Anita into her family? RUN! Hiding in the alley, she stumbles into Michelle. Tears of joy. In the hotel, Michelle says that when she came out of the toilet, both of them were gone. Clearly a set up to separate them. For now they shall rest. That night Anita wakes up and sees a book on the table. Oh dear. Michelle creeping up behind her… Doesn’t look good! Maggie meanwhile finds her cell door unlock and escapes. Michelle wakes up in a coffin and in a room filled with papers. Not sure about this dude working hard for the sake of humans. And what’s this about John Smith is everywhere but nowhere and never gets caught but she gets it. Meanwhile Joker gives some book to Dokusensha and pledges his allegiance. Michelle takes an agent hostage and this enables her to save Maggie from getting run over by a car. She explains John Smith being the same person as they are and has no interest in anything. This place is actually a huge set John Smith created to continue acting out his life. They find Anita on a rooftop but she is confused if they are imposters. Michelle tells her it’s up to her to decide because she can’t put up an act before her. Yeah, nobody can smile that goofy. The real deal. Tears of joy. Kim drives the tired sisters away as the whole set collapses. Something about wasted effort from this bogus intelligence but will make them pay for it.

Episode 8
Looks like the library is in a mess again. Hisami and Anita talk about it and they think it must be some poltergeist. They think of catching it and since Natsume heard them, she organizes the entire class for this! Damn, the girls quipping she’ll scare off the poltergeist instead! Meanwhile some experiment to install words into some illiterate man. Installation successful with increased IQ but the guy is experiencing some shock. The experiment is considered a failure and aborted but Joker calls it successful. Although this might be useless if they cannot put it into practical use, this is the first step in moving forward. Natsume hosts this poltergeist party at the library at night. After giving her usual speech, everyone is stationed at their position to catch poltergeist. Are they going to do this all night? Soon they get bored and take a break. Hisami wants to go buy drinks but Tooru will accompany her. Because Anita is slow on the uptake, the rest tell her that Tooru is making his move on Hisami since he has a crush on her. Anita goes to spy on their confession scene but is spooked after realizing Junior is here. She takes him somewhere else to hang out. Anita finds it fun even if they don’t end up catching the poltergeist. For the first time she is having fun with others instead of her sisters. She wants him to experience this too because she has never seen him smile. When they go back, looks like Michelle is entertaining the class with her paper tricks! Yeah, it’s late so she got worried. Anita introduces Junior for the first time and Michelle is ecstatic! She wants to welcome him as her brother?! Stop giving this kid trauma! The other friends tease Anita she has a boyfriend. Tooru looking worried as he notices Hisami’s worried looks. In the end, no poltergeist caught as everyone goes home. It seems whatever book is in Junior’s hands. But when he reports back to Wendy that he hasn’t found it yet, she doesn’t blame him as he is doing his best. Junior looking shocked?

Episode 9
Drake is escorting Alice Alice Arquette (Yup, that’s her name) to some excavation site at Gifu. Similarly, the sisters are here as Kim has got another mission for them. Yup, they are to find Alice. Don’t look now because Alice and Drake are here! When the sisters recognize them, the duo start to chase them. Oh, Nenene is here too with her friends! And she thought they were at home. The duo rush into the excavation site and with Alice’s secret password whatsoever, they manage to unlock and get behind some boulder. What the sisters do? Just break it down! Man, they just destroyed some ancient treasure for all you know. At the cliff, it is a standoff. Alice throws a bomb that shatters the ground. While this risky move has the duo escape across, this causes the sisters to be separated. But don’t worry, this won’t be enough to kill them. Kim then sends Wong to support the sisters and is given permission to kill the duo. Michelle seems to be temporarily blinded. Lucky for her, Junior helps guide her to the nearest water source to restore her sight. WTF she doesn’t recognize his voice? Once she regains them, he disappears. Michelle reunites with Anita and Nenene. Wong finds Maggie and the latter just follows him bulldozing through the terrain. The duo are now at an ancient device in the middle of the hotspring. Alice pressing the combinations right to allow her to retrieve a key that is believed to unlock a new world. With the rest arriving, it’s going to be another standoff. Wong unleashes his flurry of papers to attack. Drake protects Anita and this causes Alice to get injured. Drake surrenders and tells Wong about the key in exchange for their lives. However Wong kills off Alice! He would’ve killed Drake off too had not the sisters come to protect him. That’s enough. He said he surrendered. Alice’s final words to Drake is to fire him and for him to return to his daughter. Oh, also how to initiate the hotspring’s self-destruct. Suddenly Junior pops up to steal the key from Wong. It’s like he is a ghost and pass through all the solids for this easy steal. Drake then sets off the self-destruct and the whole place is flooded. In the aftermath, Kim considers this mission a failure but still pays the sisters 50%. Yeah, 1 toilet paper only.

Episode 10
Nenene is invited to a newcomer’s award. She won that inaugural award 10 years ago on her debut. And it’s on Christmas. She didn’t want to go but the sisters are so eager… Well… At the ceremony, Maggie and Michelle are elated to get signatures from authors while Anita can’t wait to feast. Just behave yourself. There’s also Haruhi who seems to be telling her upcoming movie and plans to Nenene so feel free to give some advice. Is she not just bragging? When a newcomer winner gives her speech on stage, this reminds Nenene of herself. Nenene then meets her former sensei, Komuro who thinks she has lost her way since she has not been writing consistently. Despite this public shaming, Nenene looks fraught with guilt since what she says is true. Lee had to stand up for her and tell Komuro not to lash out at Nenene even though it’s true. But he has observed her so he can she is trying her best. Lee had to be escorted away so as not to cause anymore scene. Later Nenene is poised to give a speech. She talks about her struggles as well as the eye opening experiences it brought her but promises she is writing a new book and will release it when it’s due. Everyone applause her and some even moved to tears. When they return home, the sisters surprise her with their own Christmas and birthday party. So the sisters share the same birthday on Christmas, huh? Care to tell us more? Long ago when Michelle and Maggie were teamed up to investigate some books, it brought them to an abandoned church. Underneath it is a secret chamber that contained rare books before World War 1. However they soon realize it is fake because it smells new and it could be the British Library planted it. They feel discouraged but soon spot a desolated Anita. She wondered if they are Santa or thieves. If they’re the former, give her a present. Or else let her join them. Anita doesn’t care since she has no food or shelter and has ran away from her foster parents. But the duo can’t take her in and left. Poor Anita was left behind as she rued how useless God is. But the next day (Christmas), the duo returned to give her a book present. How will that fill or warm her up? Michelle suggested they become sisters and will do things together. Anita so overcome with emotion she cried her heart out. Hence Christmas is a day to celebrate the birth of their sisterhood and they want Nenene to celebrate with them. While Anita denies she cried, Nenene is moved to tears but covers it up with this weird laugh of hers.

Episode 11
With the Hong Kong movie completed, Lee hopes Nenene can release her new novel in conjunction with the Japan’s release, which will be in 4 months. This means she will be flown to HK for the movie premier and the sisters will follow too. This also means this will be their last job as their service will no longer be required after that. Not looking very happy, aren’t we? So when Anita tells her friends that she is leaving Japan for good, guess who couldn’t take it very well? Natsume is going to have a farewell party for her. So we see Anita telling Junior about this and hopes he makes other friends too. Then she sees some guy at the hospital and says goodbye but after that, Junior kills him and takes his book? Because of that, Joker is happy they can proceed to the next stage of their plan of creating a new world and saving everyone. Then we see Anita and Hisami spending some time together as they try to come to terms with Anita leaving. The sisters pack their stuffs. The class holds a farewell party for Anita. Only Hisami isn’t around. She’s sick and went home? Tooru is not impressed and goes to get her. She faked her illness and is bumming out at the park. We all know she can’t attend the party as she won’t be able to hold herself back crying as well as becoming alone again. Tooru calls all of them stupid because she’s not alone as Anita too will miss her. Yeah, everyone’s an idiot. Can they make it back in time? You bet. Right after the party is over and Anita leaving and almost breaking down, there Hisami is at the school gates. Greatest emotional goodbye hug ever. They’ll keep in touch. Anita is touched with everyone releasing a huge banner hoping to see her again. Nenene teases she could get back her quiet life again once the trio are gone but her face becomes red when she admits it was fun having them around. She just gave Anita ammo to tease her. Once touchdown in HK, it’s back to their nostalgic agency. It lacks books because Maggie used them up when they chased Nenene to Japan. So, they’re not recyclable? Suddenly futuristic dystopian-like soldiers crash into the place! What gives?! Did they crash into the wrong anime?! Oh look. Lee is the head honcho and wants Nenene to come with them to write the world’s greatest story.

Episode 12
Lee is part of Dokusensha and the irony he tried to get Nenene to return to writing but it is the sisters who got her back into her groove. Nenene is tranquilized and will be taken back to Dokusensha’s HQ. Lee drops the sisters a case of money. Thanks for your services. He warns them not to come or the world will become their enemy. Nenene is taken to the HQ to begin an installation programme. Similarly, Joker and Wendy are also at this HQ (but a different department) to have the book deciphered or rather finding some sort of way to open it without a key. Anita is furious and wants to go rescue Nenene. But Michelle and Maggie seem to be having second thoughts. With all these money, they don’t need to work anymore and can read all day. This doesn’t sit well with Anita. If they really sell out Nenene, she’ll disown them. Anita isn’t a fan of Nenene but it is common sense to go save her. With that, the other sisters also agree to rescue her at all costs. We see Nenene suffer during the installation. Due to her stubbornness, the installation is stalled. Lee talks to her and it seems Nenene is disappointed that he lied to her for 4 years just for this. The reinstallation resumes as the sisters barge into the HQ and doesn’t hold back in beginning their attack. Heck, they’ve a fancy outfit for this rescue too? I wonder if they know where to go (it’s at the tower’s top) so why go through all the floors when they can just fly up there? Oh right. Need some paper action. Disposing guards and robots are easy. Yeah, their papers are much stronger than any metal or lead. Those are the easy parts. Now they have to face off with Wong. Oh dear. Remember, save sensei at all cost.

Episode 13
Paper master vs paper master. Both sides throwing all they’ve got at each other. But the sisters realize all 3 of them cannot defeat Wong and will find another way. But I guess that logic to Maggie means only 1 of them stays behind to defeat him. Yeah. So Maggie vs Wong in the gradual destruction of Dokusensha’s building. Michelle and Anita make their way to the control room. Looks like the security has been taken out (by Junior). Can’t find Nenene? Find Lee! Can’t miss him. It’s that odd looking sphere they’re in. Michelle distracts the guards so that Anita could go ahead. At one point Michelle got taken out unconscious but Junior killed those guards on her behalf. Joker and Wendy have uploaded all the data they needed to their British Library. Once done, they take their leave and initiate the building’s self-destruct. Yup, better evacuate or die. This means Nenene’s experiment is to be halted and all her data transfer out. Lee is to dispose of her. He asks Nenene why she remained stubborn in not accepting the deal. Simple. It wouldn’t be a book that was written by her and doing so, she cannot face her again. This talking has enough time for Anita to barge in and rescue her. Lee cooperates to help them get out but he gets shot while protecting them. I guess they’re on their own. Go up because the building is sinking. Maggie and Wong’s long epic fight finally ends as Wong gets engulfed by the sludge or oil. Lucky Maggie. And if you thought Dokusensha’s building was just sinking, apparently the whole of Hong Kong sank!!! OMFG!!! Did they just kill off Hong Kong and its people?! In the end, it looks like the sisters and Nenene emerge as the only survivors (the other being the British bastards who are long gone by now). So screw what has become of Hong Kong because as long as they’re all together, it’ll be alright. Hey, gotta stay positive.

Episode 14
Wendy narrates the setting and everything. It all began when the father of UK AKA Gentleman showed signs of biological aging in the mid-19th century. A task force was formed to counter that. So basically trying to look for immortality? The team went as far as looking into various Asian and Chinese remedies but this caused tension between both nations and behind the scenes, wars were fought and many lost their lives. By the mid-20th century, all hope to counter this aging and prolong his life was abandoned. They move to the next plan in which they will transfer his knowledge and conscious to another vessel. But no ordinary human could contain all that info and hence they looked into great men of the past. Due to skin cells and hair found in their books, the British Library and British Museum collected hundreds of samples and some were cultivated. This pushed forward the genetic research and cloning technology. Everything was going well until somebody stole half of that library genes and a year later in 2001, the Great Men Incident had several of those great men popping up in the flesh in several countries and having powers they never wielded before (events of the OVA). Although it was solved, it was never sure who stole them or how these great men were regenerated. Although lacking evidence, they believed Dokusensha was behind it all. A brief history of Dokusensha serving emperors throughout the dynasties and then subsequently opening its first bookstore in Beijing before spreading throughout the country. Soon it became a very powerful movement that would be a threat to UK. Even more so when Hong Kong was handed over to China in 1997 because Dokusensha then established its biggest branch there. Tensions escalated more frequently between both parties and after the Great Men Incident, the preservation department had been destroyed. So they were forced to move to the last resort plan which was deemed impossible: Transfer Gentleman’s personality into books. This is only a temporary measure as once a suitable vessel is found, they will transfer it back. Hence this Sleeping Books Operation (SBO) had Gentleman split into 7 different books. 8 months into this project, an optimal candidate was conveniently discovered.

Junior interrupts Wendy before she could reveal that. He was at Nenene’s house (she’s not back yet) but took a recorded message from a phone. After he goes to fix dinner, Wendy continues. SBO continued smoothly until a terrorist attacked the British Library and a book and some preserved genes were stolen. This caused many countries to strain their relationships with UK and eventually UK withdrew from the EU and got expelled from UN. The remaining Gentleman books were entrusted to staffs who were then sent out of the country. When Dokusensha learnt of this, they began working on stripping UN of their ruling power of UK. Joker was a former special ops member of British Library, was chosen to serve as delegate for negotiations. However he gave info to Dokusensha while carrying on negotiations on UK’s territorial disputes and economic sanctions. Many viewed this as betrayal but Joker’s efforts paid off as the Chinese side showed interest in Gentleman’s books so as to develop their Perfect Language. This allowed him to penetrate Dokusensha’s core and fine tune his operations. Wendy also talks about the paper masters who are involved with this. Namely, Yomiko who went missing after the terrorist incident as well as the HK sisters. She mentions their first accidental stumbling with Anita while getting one of the books and this led them to observe the sisters more as we see them carry out Dokusensha missions in between. Unknown to them, each mission has them collect Gentleman’s books. This saved them time to track down those books. Wendy takes a break and eats with Junior. She thinks of cooking for Junior on his next birthday but sadly, he doesn’t know his own birthday. Wendy returns to finish her report. After the sinking of HK, Joker took back all of Gentleman’s books in their possession as well as details of their Perfect Language. Safe to say, UK now has a lead over Dokusensha in terms of intelligence and UK’s resurrection is well underway. Joker praises Wendy’s report but also comments on Perfect Language. He thinks Dokusensha doesn’t know what kind of story the people loves: Revenge. Now that their plan has entered the next phase, they will start looking for Yomiko.

Episode 15
Nenene and the HK sisters return to Japan under fake aliases and disguise. They’ve been branded as terrorists. Returning to Nenene’s apartment, they find it ransacked but not due to robbery since all the valuables are still intact. Conveniently on the news, Japan has been notified about the terrorist sisters. Could they have used a better pic of Nenene? Don’t look now because the police is right at their doorstep! Thanks to the paper masters, they manage to evade capture. While hanging out at a diner, they realize a hidden message and mission by Dokusensha to retrieve a certain book at Jinbocho that belongs to Yomiko. Nenene instantly lights up and heads to the underground bookstore. However the old man there claims he knows nothing. Ironically, it is Anita who gets mad and starts smacking him with a paper fan, lecturing about loneliness, blah, blah, blah. And so the old man breaks his promise to tell where Yomiko has been hiding for the past 5 years. The girls head to the National Diet Library as the deputy director takes them to the upper floors where all the old books are stored. Getting anxious to see Yomiko now? Nenene thought she couldn’t mistake that clumsiness for Yomiko. But eh? Who this girl? Nancy. But don’t worry, nearby is the real Yomiko! Awkward stare before it turns into the strangest chase ever! The way they so awkwardly run, no wonder Nenene can catch up. The most emotional hug in her life. Yomiko takes them to her secret room inside the floor and everyone introduces themselves. After telling her the situation they’re in, Nenene thinks all of them should stick together as they will have a fighting chance. However Yomiko is more than happy to stay here for the rest of her life reading books. Because if that is what makes Nancy happy, she’ll be happy too. Apparently Nenene didn’t like that answer because it’s like she has given up on everything. What happened to her in the past 5 years? Yes, Joker would like to know that too. Hi girls, fancy meeting you all here.

Episode 16
The way Nancy reacts in fear after seeing Joker… Joker wants Yomiko to return to the British Library and return the book she has been holding since she went missing. However she refuses and claims he is an evil person. Joker proceeds to make her feel guilty by claiming she has been hiding here and doing nothing while many of her colleagues have died. Also, British Library just bought the entire National Diet Library so it’s theirs now. But if she still wants to play tough, so be it. Joker’s men arrive to take her by force. Yomiko learns Joker has teamed up with Dokusensha but he tells her this is out of necessity and even blames her for it. The ladies fight back but those men have come prepared with water cannons! I guess they can’t use papers when they’re wet, huh? If Yomiko’s ability is immune to this, then they just play some frequency to bust through her paper wall. Joker threatens to kill Nancy if Yomiko doesn’t hand over the book. Yomiko is forced to do so and while busy authenticating it, the HK sisters move in to fight the men and make their escape. Joker calls Wendy about the failed capture and tells her to initiate the next plan, Fahrenheit 451. This means British Library barges into all the bookshops at Jinbocho and takes all the books on the shelves. The ladies’ plan is to head to Saitama where Yomiko’s parents live. Don’t worry, Yomiko’s records were burnt down in that incident so they don’t have records of her. Before they return, Yomiko needs to return to her home to retrieve something. It is then Junior tries to steal the book. However it seems his ability doesn’t work on Nancy. He is forced to give up and flee. The ladies get news of something big going on in Jinbocho. British Library has gathered all the books and dump them in the middle of the streets before setting it on fire. The biggest bonfire! While this devastates Yomiko, it is worse for Anita as this invokes her trauma. Wendy notes to Yomiko this is just like that day and that she must pay for her crimes.

Episode 17
Michelle and Maggie calm Anita down. Yomiko tries to get Wendy to stop the burning but she is saddened Wendy has change as she mentions she is not deceived by Joker and here on her own will. Wendy then shoots Yomiko although it is just a flesh wound. This causes Nancy great distraught as she is willing to give the book in exchange for Yomiko’s life. As Wendy is about to take it, the crowd starts heckling at the British invaders. A smoke bomb is thrown by Drake as he rescues Yomiko and her pals. With the help of the bookstore owners, they provide a van for their getaway. Drake reveals he has been hired to save them and although he won’t say who, it is hinted it is that old man from the Jinbocho bookstore. Joker is seen talking to someone about their successful control of book districts in certain cities like Barcelona, Paris and Seoul. There will be more to come as part of their peaceful unification. So, as long as it is not military, then it’s peaceful? Well, looks like bookstores are places for knowledge and the best way to reconstruct a nation’s knowledge is to control such places. The gang arrives at Saitama. The home is filled with books. Book lovers paradise. Except for Anita of course. As Drake sets traps outside, Anita goes to ask him if Yomiko was the one who burnt down the British Library because that is what she thinks she saw in her horrifying memories. Drake is unsure since he was away when it happened. He talks about Yomiko’s contagious foolishness as well as her relationship with Joker and Wendy. They’re her ex-colleagues now but something has drastically happened within these 5 years. Junior thought he could sneak in and steal the book while Nancy is asleep. But gotcha! Junior cannot escape from her grasp as she sounds the alert. Junior panics when she unmasks him and the sisters are shocked to realize his identity. He further panics as he points his gun ready to shoot Nancy. But Yomiko tells him not to because she is his mother!!! WHAAAAAAAAT???!!! I hope that shocking surprise didn’t panic him further and make him pull the trigger!

Episode 18
What?! Junior now part of the gang and living with them like normal?! Oh, Yomiko has locked herself in her room and won’t come out to talk. Though, Nancy is with her. Flashback shows when Junior became shocked to learn Nancy is her mom, his hand became shaky. Michelle shot the gun off him and although he pulled the trigger, luckily he missed. This then made Yomiko very sad as she proceeded to lock herself in her room. So we see the rest just bumming around, living their peaceful life despite being fugitives. Meanwhile Wendy reports to Joker about Junior has stopped sending his reports since yesterday. He has switched off his communicator but they can still trace him at Saitama. Because Wendy has an important mission right now, Joker can’t send her to get him but will some other agent to monitor him. When Yomiko finally comes out, she explains the truth to them. She starts off by explaining how she met Nancy 6 years ago during that incident. During then, Nancy had a lover who was an Iijin. Nancy became pregnant and had a child soon after. That child is of course Junior. However he was taken away as soon as he was born by the British Library who became interested in Junior’s body. Born of parents who are both Iijin, you bet Junior has the qualities needed to become the vessel of Gentleman. Just like other Iijin, Junior’s growth was accelerated and that’s why he looks like Anita’s age. Junior is reeling in shock that his body is a container for an old man. When that day happens, what will become of him? When he touches the book, suddenly the whole gang is transported to the British Library. Or at least a holographic movie of it. Great. Now they can really see what happened with their own eyes. Yomiko was not happy Nancy had her baby taken away and confronted Joker. He reminded of her place and that how UK exists to serve Gentleman. When Joker pointed out that her mentor and lover, Donny Nakajima was still alive but in a different state, she became shocked. So shocked that her powers went out of control and it caused the fire at British Library. This scene is the exact trauma from Anita’s memories. Yup, little Anita was there too witnessing this horror.

Episode 19
Returning to reality, Anita is still having horrifying traumas so she runs away while her sisters go after her. Yomiko admits to the rest what they saw is real. Subsequently after that incident, she fled to Japan, taking Nancy with her. In order to protect Junior’s identity, the reason she lied to Nancy. She blames herself that everyone would’ve been together had she not done that. Nenene looks on the positive side. In hindsight, had she not done all this, Nancy and Junior would never have met and never know the truth. Anita calms down and there are still questions about her past she is clueless about. Although she doesn’t like Yomiko, Nenene doesn’t have anything to do with it and they have to protect her. As long as Anita has her sisters, everything else doesn’t matter. Junior is torn with what he should do. Nenene suggests he joins them and stays here. It’s not like anything good will happen if he brings back the book to the British Library, right? Meanwhile we see Joker contacting with one of his field agents, Mirror Man. He and his team has camped some distance outside Yomiko’s hideout and is ordered to communicate with Junior to get an update of the situation before retrieving the book. He also wants to others to be taken back alive. When the gang returns, they decide on what to do with the book. Nenene suggests burning it since that will effectively end the British Library’s reason to pursue them. However the cost is that some will never know the secrets of their past. Anita is okay with it. But Yomiko suggests burying it instead. That night as Junior is in the toilet, Drake comes in to ask about the book. Turns out it is Mirror Man in disguise as his ability is refracting light to create illusions. Junior seems obedient to update him on the situation. Next morning, Anita and Yomiko wake up and realize everyone else is gone. Except for Nenene. They think the enemy has kidnapped the rest. They go to check the book. It’s still safe in a shelf where Yomiko puts it. Turns out it is Mirror Man in disguise as Nenene to have them lead to the book. He ties them up and reveals the rest are being taken to Joker. They will too. As he lets his guard down and contacts Joker, the paper master duo manage to break free with the loose pages around. They turn the tables on him but it’s not quite over yet as Mirror Man can also turn invisible! Anita is forced to call a truce with Yomiko and work together to fight the enemy.

Episode 20
Mirror Man is smart but Yomiko and Anita are smarter as they lace traps that eventually capture him. After knocking him out, they have to deal with the guards outside. They feign surrender before ambushing them. Easy. Joker is happy with the progress of taking over the world. Oh, what do you mean UK unifying the world?! Isn’t this British imperialism and conquest v2?! He has Wendy conduct the Perfect Language simulation experiment now. Yomiko creates a huge paper plane for them to ride to catch up with the perpetrators. Uhm, do they know where they went? More importantly, how do they know what mode of transport they were kidnapped in? Unless we never see them interrogate Mirror Man for details. Yeah, Junior and the pilot are estimated to arrive on time. Junior keeping a close eye on the unconscious hostages. The helicopter pilot rants about Junior being in a special position and that he could get anything he want. However this doesn’t sit well with Junior so he points the gun at him. Anita overcomes her fears as they take off into the sky. Uhm, how the f*ck can they fly above the clouds?! How can they breathe?! What about air pressure?! Oh, screw it. As they approach the helicopter, not sure if their screaming will do anything good. Suddenly the helicopter burst into flames! HOLY SH*T! Anita can only scream in horror. With the burnt wreckage crashed, Anita becomes very mad and sad as she blames Yomiko. Had she just given the book, her sisters wouldn’t have gotten dragged into this mess. I hate you! Yomiko has nothing to say as she walks away in tears. A distraught Anita returns to her school and desperately springs a surprise on Hisami. She needs her help. However Hisami doesn’t remember her. Sh*t… I wonder how high Anita’s shock meter can go today.

Episode 21
Anita returns to her normal school life. Can she really live like this? Looks like it. Meanwhile Yomiko is bumming around in Jinbocho until a cat beckons her to follow to a secret underground bookstore run by that old man. This is the last bookstore left in the area but he only managed to save and move some of the books here. He tells her the British Library is trying to build an antenna here and once completed, it will transmit some ideal system that unifies and controls all info. He wants Yomiko to stop them and is willing to give all the books he has. As Anita continues her school life, she is approached by Wendy who tells this is all a sample. She wants to know where the last book is but she says it got burnt in the helicopter. You mean they didn’t even search for it?! Anyway, Wendy wants to take Anita’s blood and DNA samples. She can help create new memories, family and friends for her. But in exchange, she will lose her old memories. Of course Anita will not accept living a new lie but Wendy gives her time to decide. Wendy reports to Joker about this and she is tasked to continue observing her. Joker also learns that Junior’s transmission when he went missing as well as the helicopter’s explosion occur in separate positions. You thinking what I’m thinking? Anita most probably is done thinking so she just quits in the middle of the class and returns home. Oh no. Is there an intruder? Just Yomiko reminiscing a photo of Nenene. Anita still hates her but wants to cooperate to take down those bastards. Now we see Junior with Michelle. Flashback shows he tore the transmitter from his heart. After taking everyone out safely, he let the helicopter fly further before exploding it. Not sure why they got separated from the rest so they are waiting to rendezvous together. Anita and Yomiko begin their attack on the antenna site. Once that is done, Joker comes by and their demand is to return the world to the way it was. He calls them dumb because once Perfect Language is completed, there will be no wars and everyone will have equal knowledge and opportunity. He wants them to surrender and he’ll overlook this. Of course Anita won’t be fool. She hates books and see how fine she is doing? They take him hostage but then he shows visuals of Michelle and co. Wanna bet his threats are to kill them? The duo then take him along on their giant paper plane.

Episode 22
We see Junior, Michelle, Drake and Nancy wait in an abandoned house. Things between Junior and Nancy are somewhat strained. She blames if they hadn’t come into their lives, Yomiko would still be with her. Junior is more unforgiving as he accuses her for living a carefree life while has to shoulder her burden and clean up her mess. When he does not acknowledge her as his mother, that slap came from Michelle. This quarrel is put on hold as the army has surrounded their place. Drake fights to buy time for them to escape but only Junior and Michelle run away. Nancy helps Drake and kicks ass! Why does she have to dodge like that if she can just go through stuffs? Oh, she gets knock out from behind that she did not anticipate. Just in time, Yomiko and Anita drop in. Since they have Joker as their hostage, the standoff continues as they hole up inside the house. Wendy has an idea but needs to buy time for at least 2 hours. This is because she has located Nenene and Maggie who are hiding in a hotel. She goes there and just when Maggie comes out the elevator, Wendy threatens her to bring Nenene to her or else Anita dies. This pic of her being surrounded by soldiers look convincing enough? Maggie returns and is torn what to do. Eventually she tells Nenene that Wendy is waiting at the lobby and she will turn her in. However Nenene can tell she is only doing this because one of her sisters got captured. Hey, as a writer, she’s return such scenarios! Nenene will go along because she wants to save Anita too. They’re family, right? As she drives them, Wendy confirms that she will release everyone in exchange just for Nenene. Because only Nenene has valuable talents. Meanwhile Junior and Michelle are hiding in an abandoned mine. Junior doesn’t want to go back as it is too dangerous. He still refuses to acknowledge Nancy as his mom. She only has Yomiko on her mind. He knows because he saw everything in the book. He knows about everything now. From the British Library and even the sisters themselves.

Episode 23
Wendy makes contact with Joker. Drake picks up his phone and makes some demands. However Wendy too has some cards to play on her hand as she shows pics of Nenene and Maggie in her custody. She claims Maggie has ratted them out and she will exchange Nenene for Joker. When Joker laughs at the beautiful sisterhood, Anita is pretty sure he doesn’t understand the closeness of the sisters. Until he reveals the truth that her shrouded existence and memories are only because her entire life has been fabricated. Although they aren’t blood related, even ever since the sisters meet each other in HK, all those are lies. They came into existence as test tube babies using genes of a paper master courtesy from the British Library. Anita is considered the first failure as she did not show any paper master abilities until that incident. So ironically it was that trauma that triggered them. At the same time, Dokusensha who had infiltrated British Library then kidnapped her but found her rather difficult to deal with. Using the paper master genes they’ve stolen, hence they created Michelle and Maggie. Not only were they genetically modified, their memories were also manipulated. It was discovered that the lack of human touch and communication led to the failure of paper masters. So they experimented on having them live as families. There were many sets of paper master families but only Michelle, Maggie and Anita set survived. To sum it all up, the sisters’ lives are actually written from start to finish by Dokusensha. The same detail is explained by Junior to Michelle. As Anita sinks into depression, Drake punches Joker. Thanks for the truth?

Wendy is here and they’ll exchange hostages. As Joker and Nenene walk towards each other, when they are halfway, Nenene reveals herself to be Mirror Man in disguise. Realizing this is a trap, the soldiers fire all they’ve got but the rest manage to escape. Instructions are given to not go after them but to find Junior. Speaking of him, he wants Michelle to run away with him but with the search party closing in, Junior becomes bait to distract them. Unfortunately he gets captured. Maggie tries to go after Nenene on the plane. Not sure if the plane is laced with anti-paper master effects but why can’t she made a giant paper bird or plane to follow? Not enough paper? Then she sees a book detailing the truth about the sisters. Another broken sister. Joker now has the final book. Junior is restrained and is told he somehow cannot use his special power anymore. We see Joker making a worldwide announcement that he will become the new president of Dokusensha and intends to expand its operations worldwide. Steps to install equipment for info network all around the world has begun. He also announces that Dokusensha will become an exclusive organization of a single nation: UK. A motion is passed to approve of it. Sorry America, you were expecting to be you? American president feels betrayed and there’s nothing he can do since Joker threatens him with info on his shady past and dealings. Yeah. Now America is back to being UK’s lapdog! So a new dawn of wisdom for mankind? Or is it for UK? Oh sh*t, the American president wet his pants?!

Episode 24
Nancy wants to come along with Yomiko and Drake and get even with the British Library back at London. Yomiko hopes Anita to stay put and once they settle things, they can go look for her sisters. However Anita is not having this sh*t today. Still depressed, she cannot accept her sisters are well, not her sisters! Uhm, I thought they aren’t?! They aren’t blood related but why is she so upset about it?! Yomiko claims Joker is lying but apparently Anita wants to know how she knows it is a lie. All Yomiko can say is that she envies the sisters because they did things together. After the trio left, Anita wanders around alone. Yup, memories of the times she spent with her sisters. Those good ol’ memories. Meanwhile Junior wakes up in a chamber. Next door is Nenene. He wonders why she can still write at this time. That’s because she knows somebody will be coming to save them. Yeah, she’s writing the script for the remaining episodes! Anita is back home and is about to start crying but look who’s back too? Michelle and Maggie! But Anita is not having it either. She accuses them of not being her sisters but strangers. Again, isn’t this the case all along? Thing is, Anita is hung up that all their memories are fake and she is stumped that Michelle didn’t even cry or anything. Like as though she doesn’t care. Well, does raising her voice to deny all that enough? No? Okay, Michelle now cries. That good enough? Basically even if they’re fake, what they did together are real. So let’s continue to be sisters, okay? Just like that, they’re back again. Phew. Better than dragging out this drama. They call for a meeting to vote who wants to kick the British Library’s ass. Unanimous vote. Thought so. And so with their paper bird, they fly even way faster than Yomiko’s speedboat. Seriously, they’re riding that all the way to London?! As the sisters reach London, they are attacked by pteranodons?! They crash land and wonder if they’ve gone back in time. Yeah, London in Victorian era. If that isn’t confusing enough, there’s a huge monster robot surveying the area. Michelle realizes that these events are from well-known British authors like Arthur Conan Doyle and HG Wells and they take place in London. The city itself is replaying the past and the source is the British Library. When the fog lifts, they can see clearer a lone monument in the middle of a crater right smack in town. It could be the British Library.

Episode 25
America launches a military attack on British Library for the betrayal. Heh. Can warships and jet fighters defeat UFOs???!!! Guess not. Oh f*ck, American president wets his pants again! Damn, America is on a losing streak! Yomiko’s side has arrived in London and rendezvous with the sisters. Yomiko notes how some London trademarks did not change and the key to find where the real British Library is, they must find how far back the past this city is. So I guess that crater building wasn’t it. And yes, this means lots of reading up! Oh Anita… They have 7 days before the next transmission that will change the world. So we see the gang doing lots of brushing up. A few days passed but they notice the city landscape has changed too. Yomiko deduces that the city is experiencing time acceleration although they remain the same. It is believed this is not the power of the British Library but Gentleman. So imagine if he gets transplanted into a younger body like Junior. He’ll be unstoppable. As preparations for Gentleman’s revival is close at hand, Joker is told that this process they only have 1 shot as rebooting the system again will be impossible. Yeah, I suppose Joker didn’t consider a certain group as threats to failure, huh? Joker then goes to see Nenene who thinks they want to brainwash her again like Dokusensha. Of course he claims they will not do such painful and barbaric method. True brainwashing will not hurt. He reveals the books only carry part of Gentleman’s enormous wisdom. The rest are in the air. That’s why antennas have been set up all around the world to transmit here. After Gentleman’s revival, he will give his first speech to usher a new dawn and the brainwashing will begin. That is where Nenene comes in. Like Jesus who is a great man, but it is his bible who spreads his gospel. Hence Nenene will be many who will write that bible. But she is not in the same league as them yet. Many great writers have met Gentleman during their lifetime and they went on to write great works. Hence he wants Nenene to meet Gentleman after his revival for that effect.

As Yomiko’s side is hitting a dead end, suddenly they see an underground tube. Yomiko realizes it should not be in this time yet and could be the doorway to British Library. True enough, Kim is seen coming out from it so they kidnap him to make him spill the beans. He is now transporting materials into British Library. He is forced to bring them in and then tell them the layout of the huge place. Damn, it looks like one freaking huge lab or something. Yomiko divides the team for their next move. Drake and Nancy will go save Junior, the sisters will rescue Nenene while Yomiko herself will take on Joker. They will begin in 1 hour when Gentleman’s revival is scheduled. That time is here as we see Drake and Nancy entering Junior’s cell but he is no longer there. The sisters disable the guards outside Nenene’s room. Too bad Anita rushes in first and gets accidentally beaten up by Nenene! Oops. When Nenene learns about Yomiko’s mission, she fears she plans to die. That won’t do. She can’t die without reading her new works yet. Yomiko is now holding Joker hostage. However he is not cowed and has all his staffs proceed as planned.

Episode 26
Joker probably knows Yomiko can’t kill him so he dares her to do it. Heck, he even dares her to destroy all the equipment because all they have to do is start everything again. She loses her will and is captured. Then an announcement is made for the rest to give up. Nenene wants to go rescue her this time and of course the sisters will be coming along. The plan to revive Gentleman begins as Yomiko continues to plead to Joker to turn back. It’s not too late. But he mocks her for that arrogant justice of hers while claiming theirs as superior. As long as they have the will to get up and do it again after failing, this is the greatest ability ever. Uhm, isn’t that arrogant itself? Of course Nenene has something to say and lashes out at this fake peace Joker wants to bring. Especially this so called new era will have everyone losing their past memories and start anew. They’re just being afraid and running away. Wow. Maggie moved to tears? Basically, despite all the pain she went through, she doesn’t want to lose her memories with her sisters and the rest. The sisters dismiss the debate of there’ll be no more sorrow when everyone forgets so Joker dares them if they have what it takes to take them down. You really mean that? You bet Anita has something to say to that. She doesn’t want this stupid future and would prefer her own tomorrow. Yomiko too is enlightened as she believes there is only tomorrow because of the past. If they forget the past, the future is nothing but a passage of time. Uhm, also should it not be you’ll repeat history? Okay. Whatever.

With the progress on schedule, an explosion rocks the place. Drake finally put all his bombs, huh? Nancy jumps in to protect her son. Green tentacles trying to take Junior! The heroines try to stop this and as Joker tries to stop them, Junior lets Joker have a peek at all the wisdom. Suddenly all his hair turn white! Now you understand?! The girls manage to save Junior as they pull out that pseudo Ironman’s Arc Reactor from his chest. So 3 sisters are enough to pluck it out? But It got stuck on Anita so the rest pull it off from her. This causes a backflow and the whole process comes to a grinding halt. Oh, Gentleman fading away… They thought Anita died but she just trolled us and woke up. In the aftermath, life returns to normal and the British Library is being investigated for lies. A frail Joker is now living in old folks’ home and Wendy is taking care of him. Anita returns to school and all her friends remember her. She doesn’t hate reading that much and in fact has read Hisami’s debut work. Michelle is currently taking care of Junior since Nancy is away overseas with Yomiko and Nenene. She is doing some soul searching and investigate the stuffs she did that wronged many people. Looks like real mother and child reunion will have to wait. Oh, Drake returning to his family if you’re interested to know. Anita is the happiest once everyone has returned. Nenene has released her new work called Midnight Liberation Zone.

The World Belongs To Those Who Read
So much about the will Joker said, huh? I thought he was going to do it all over again no matter how many times it takes as long as they have the will?! So I suppose they didn’t and Joker was lying. Yeah, now that he got a taste of his own medicine of what Junior went, perhaps he realized he doesn’t want all this sh*t after all. Then the hassle of going through all the setup that takes a monumental effort, coordination, time and money. Yeah, somebody better tell Gentleman it is easier to go to hell and reincarnate as the devil there! And thanks to all that, the world is saved and bookworms can go back to reading the books they love instead of this new era of global communism masquerading as equality for all mankind. All because they lost the will. Damn, talk is so cheap. I bet it’s an embarrassing past memory Joker wants to erase forever.

I have mixed feelings about the story. The OVA was slightly interesting because the villains had this idea of taking out a big chunk of the human population without resorting to bioweapons or anything that would destroy nature at the same time. It’s something I don’t hear often from bad guys to make a great population do suicide and it could be my first time hearing it. It was a really devilish idea so I have to admit that I was pretty surprised that Ikkyu decided to pick this method. But of course, the script says that won’t do and just like any typical cliché stories, the bad guys must fail and the heroes prevail. Yeah, otherwise we won’t have a sequel in the form of a full fledge TV series subsequently!

To be honest, most of my mixed feelings come from the TV series. Now that the sisters are the focus and the main characters, I find that some of the episodes are truly boring. Especially the ones whereby Anita became a transfer student and that really felt out of place and sometimes the pacing felt very slow. Then in between her days as a student, we suddenly see the sisters taking on really weird and random missions. While some of them are interesting (like the one featuring Alice) but there were those that were just confusing (like that mindf*ck John Smith one). Although it is later revealed that the sisters took on these jobs for money and were just being pawns to collect those Gentleman’s books, while watching those episodes in between, they just felt confusing and so I thought they were just random fillers just to give the sisters some spotlight and piece of the action.

The big question of whether Yomiko will be found or not and especially her whereabouts finally answered after the halfway mark where the series started to change into a new direction with the huge revelation of the big guy whom the British Library wants to resurrect at any costs. Hence effectively turning this organization into a villain and the big final boss our heroines must face if they ever want to preserve the current world and their current relationship. So I guess it is true that the saying how bad guys always want to change the world but it is the good guys who love the status quo even though the current world is such a sh*thole and a huge mess. And they always give excuse about freedom and own will compared to the baddies’ zombie version of equality. What to do? We’ve been brainwashed to think the former is a better just cause. But anyway, the second half of the TV series at least sets the sisters with a new goal and solidarity and push the series in a certain direction unlike the first half that feels random.

As for the characters, when I first read about this series (which was many years before I decided to watch this recently – but never gave much thought or interest in watching it then), I thought the characters were going to be famous Hong Kong divas of the 90’s! Well, the sisters are at least based on them by name. Yeah, I do sure remember about the days (albeit not much) when the late Anita Mui and Maggie Cheung were one of the biggest stars during their era. Uh huh. This anime just borrowed their names and switch around, mix and match their surnames. Though, it is unsure if the third one was based on Michelle Yeoh or Michelle Reis because in Hong Kong, Malaysian born Michelle Yeoh is better known as Michelle Khan and both these surnames mean king in Persian and Portuguese respectively. Though, it could be Michelle Yeoh because along with Anita Mui and Maggie Cheung, they starred in a Hong Kong film, The Heroic Trio back in 1993. Otherwise, why wasn’t Anita just called Anita Yeoh or Anita Khan?

Anyway, the sisters are mostly seen as your typical ordinary sisters except that they are paper masters. We have the cheerful and happy eldest Michelle, followed by the quiet and shy middle child Maggie and finally the bratty, brash and outspoken youngest Anita. It is not the case of blood is thicker than water for them because it is the quality time that the sisters spend together that makes their relationship very meaningful and so real. It’s not perfect, though. We sometimes see them having squabbles especially Michelle and Anita but it won’t take long for them to patch things up. That’s why I don’t understand even with Anita’s hazy origins revealed, why she got so worked up thinking everything has been fake. I know. Drama effect. They’ve been living for so long as their memories can remember so why let this bother them? Well, perhaps it is good to know that they’ve been living so long this way that they even forgot they were not really blood related in the first place. Sure, it might changes perspectives but it still doesn’t change the important things that has been done together. After all, they’re the only sisters in the world who has got each other and if they don’t back each other up, who else is going to do that for them. But glad that they’re back to normal because they’re going to teach the British Library a great lesson about sisterhood.

I don’t know about Nenene as she could be one of the many writers who had beginner’s luck and after that wore out, fade into obscurity. So it was pretty odd that the British Library acknowledge her talents despite only 1 genius work released. If her case is special, I bet there are many others who are in the same shoes. But I guess the British Library saw some sort of talent in her. Heck, I don’t know if this means she is on the same level as Natsume Souseki, Japan’s most famous novelist who is ironically not even mentioned anywhere in this anime! Not even sure if he is part of Iijin. Not that I noticed of. Anyway, Nenene at first feels like the odd one out, seeing she dreads being with the sisters and finds them annoying although she tolerates them. She isn’t so black hearted, you know. But as time goes by, it is expected that she forms a bond with them and is considered part of their family. So she’s like the fourth sister, huh? It is only mainly interesting because Nenene and Anita often butt heads with each other and that makes their interaction amusing. Because Maggie is too soft and much of a retard-cum-gentle giant while Michelle is just being her happy self. And both are fans of Nenene so they don’t have anything against sensei unlike Anita who is ironically one who hates reading! Yeah, I can resonate with Anita a lot!

Yomiko feels a lot toned down in the TV series even after her resurfacing. Well, to be honest, even as a main character in the OVA, I find her a bit odd. Not sure if this is because of her being a nerdy bookworm. Sorry, not an avid reader so can’t say if this is how bookworms are or perhaps I have stereotyped her into some sort of biasness of mine. I don’t want to call her character a retard because she certainly doesn’t act like one (Maggie shows more retardness to me) and she isn’t the kind who is hasty or impetuous. That’s why peculiar is how I would describe her. Because when she’s aggressive, it’s not really the kind of aggressive aggressiveness. Get what I mean? Like when she took Joker hostage or trying to tell him off, it’s not like I could feel a sense of aggression in that voice. I don’t know, is it call elegance? If Yomiko has toned down a lot, what does that say about Nancy? Yes, even way more. This might not be the same Nancy as we have seen from the OVAs but I guess she is only needed for the plot twist of being Junior’s mom. So the irony of mother and son who are blood related but did not spend as much time as the sisters, are they still family outside the fact that they are only related by blood? Poor Junior, a confused soul. No wonder he always has that hesitant look on his face and it is pretty clear when he is in a pinch, his facial expressions are obvious. The kind of face that screams “I’m in sh*t!”. Really.

Joker as the main antagonist, because he has the suave and a charm of a British gentleman, it is hard for many to see him as a villain. But then again, that is only because of our perspective of what has been shown to us. His goal is to revive Gentleman and to rise the British empire to its former glory again. I don’t know if there is anybody else more patriotic and dedicated to his job than this guy but yeah, because we don’t like the way he does things, hence we quickly jump on the bandwagon that he is an evil person. I mean, you got to hand it to him that he is control of one of the biggest organizations in Britain that possibly controls the country from the shadows. Even more than her majesty the queen! Come to think of it, didn’t see the queen at all in here. It’s like this Gentleman outranks the queen or something.

And hence Gentleman sounds like the biggest crook and asshole to begin with because all these trouble and mess happen only when his biggest fans want to bring him back alive. So this Gentleman dude a God or something? He has a man in his name so… If he really was resurrected and brainwashed the world, he should be called Gentlegod from now onwards. Thank goodness it did not happen. Yeah, his revival feels like an awkward Demon Lord revival or something. I just wonder since the process failed, will his particles in the air continue to linger on or are we speculating he will just give up and go over to the other side? Wendy also gives off this aura that she is a confused character like Junior. She’s trying to be a good employee and henchwoman to Joker but at times when I see her face, it’s like she is in a dilemma of whether what she did was the right thing or not. But of course, being the good subordinate she is, she executes her job to the best of her abilities. I think she is most probably in love with Joker as she is seen often doing what he wants even if her body reaction indicates it is not her will. In the end, we see her having no qualms taking care of grandpa Joker and probably this is the best outcome that she could not have wished for more. Now grandpa, let’s put you to bed… Oh boy, I can imagine that scene…

Other characters, I think the American president is written more like a joke character. Moreover a useless one. So when things don’t go his way, he orders military assault?! See what good it did to him? Yeah, they really want to ridicule the world’s most powerful man here, huh? Oh sorry, his character not very powerful in the context of this anime. Anita’s classmates feel like they exist so as to prove that Anita can have friends her age. I mean, a girl her age needs to have somebody else to interact other than her sisters, right? Drake feels like the extra guy around because if the sisters are at the fore doing all the action, this guy is probably in the background giving support. Also, not to make it seem like 100% girl party power because having a muscle man around is good sometimes.

I am sure that there are quite a few trivia about famous books and literatures popping up here and there in the anime. It’ll be to the delight of fans of these books to spot them. Of course you know me, as one who is not widely read, I did not really spot them at all and so that’s the end of that.

One of the attractions that got me to watch this is because this series is categorized as action. While there are some explosive action moments, I won’t go on to say they are a real masterpiece but they are high adrenaline enough to be entertaining. They’re not disappointing to say the least. So with the sisters having different set of skills despite being paper masters, it gives a whole lot more variety to the fights. Though, sometimes I can’t comprehend why they can’t reuse the same page again. I thought paper is all about recycling? Correct me if I am wrong because I tend to notice that once they use a great deal of paper as their weapon or whatever tool, they can’t be used again. Not that I see them use again. Besides, how they control the paper is not really explained so we assume that they can just use some sort of telekinesis power to bind the papers together and make them move to their will. For instance, Maggie using lots of paper to make a huge paper craft. It gets butchered in half. Can she not reuse those same papers again assuming they’re not torn and even if they are, it makes no difference because they’re still papers but in smaller size? Lest you tell me she ran out of juice to hold them together. In that case, damn it’s a whole lot of paper wastage! We’re supposed to be recycling here, people!

The other gripe I have with the action sequences was in the OVA when Yomiko was thrust into the main action. To simply put it, her fights somewhat feel a bit comical. Because it is the way she screams, she always sounds dreamy. I know that is mainly part of Yomiko’s character but it’s like as though she’s not seriously facing the opponent. And then when she flies off due to the impact of the explosion and then give off that dreamy scream, it’s like the whole scene feels like some sort of cartoony dream. Hence I think she has got to be a very lucky person to have survived all that from start to finish.

Art and animation reeks early 2000’s style of animation. However I do notice a big difference between the OVA and the TV series. To put it shortly, the TV series seems to have lowered its quality. Yup, I feel that the OVA is still visually superior and had more quality compared to the TV series because certain scenes you can really see the drop in quality. Even more so the characters especially those recurring in the TV series. They look simpler compared to their OVA counterparts. For example, Joker. Don’t want to make puns of him looking like a joke but yeah, it is obvious that his character looks slightly different with the reduction in quality. Even Wendy looked different (is it because she sport a different hairstyle?) and at first I thought it was a different person. And sad to say, Nancy was reduced from a hot sexy bombshell to this plain girl but that can’t be help seeing the TV series’ Nancy is technically a different Nancy. Well, I suppose when you have only 3 episodes in the OVA but 26 episodes for the TV series, trying to maintain consistent quality for that period could be quite a challenge. I mean, the OVAs were released within a span of a few months of each other while the TV series had to be released weekly. Also, it is probably different studios the reason why the art style of both media looked different. While Studio Deen did the OVAs, J.C. Staff then picked up for the TV series.

For the voice acting, I’m just delighted to hear Yukari Tamura playing dual roles of the minor characters, Haruhi and Natsume. Yeah, got to hear her squeaky trademark voice that I am so familiar with. The only other seiyuu whom I recognized are Shinichiro Miki as Lee and Kazuki Yao as Webber. At first I thought Nenene sounded like Inu Yasha’s Kagome but yeah, it’s Satsuki Yukino alright. The other casts are Rieko Miura as Yomiko (Komachi in Kochikame), Shoko Kikuchi as Michelle (Maria in Beast Fighter – The Apocalypse), Hiromi Hirata as Maggie (Rune in Nishi No Yoki Majo), Chiwa Saito as Anita (Aika in Aria The Animation), Mitsuki Saiga as Junior (Phantom in MAR), Michiko Neya as Nancy (Hibiki in Sekirei), Masami Iwasaki as Drake (Itonokogiri in Gyakuten Saiban), Hozumi Gouda as Joker (Leorio in Hunter x Hunter), Mika Sakenobe as Wendy (Shizuka AKA Serenity in Yugioh) and Taeko Kawata as Hisami (Arale in Dr Slump).

R.O.D Theme by Taku Iwasaki for the OVA has got to be my favourite song of the series. Because it has this spy-like feel and despite this series not exactly a spy thriller, it still fits the sci-fi action and drama theme. A similar piece is played for the TV series’ opener, R.O.D by YKZ arranged and composed by Hideki Tanaka. Sometimes I could mistake both these songs to be a James Bond song. The OVA has 2 ending songs and both are also instrumentals written by Taku Iwasaki. The first one being Those Who Love Books To Insanity Say Paper Is Always With Us is a very jazzy and lively piece. Damn, I thought this song sounded to a soundtrack in Yakitate Japan! The second one being Bring All The Wisdom To Britain sounds like an inspiring military theme. Come the TV series, the first ending theme, Moments In The Sun by Kazami with Home Grown isn’t too bad either because it has this reggae beat to it! Cool my man! Oh heck, the second ending theme is also not bad, Confidence by Rieko Miura. Though, this retro piece somewhat greatly reminds me of Saishin Dream from the anime Izumo: Takeki Tsurugi No Senki because of its synthesizer effects. I even sampled the OST and it has quite a good variety of instrumental music. So basically this series has got lots of good music when I least expected it.

Overall, quite an entertaining retro piece to say the least. I like its action and music and some of the story concepts (though the overall plot itself isn’t really that deep) but the character dynamism can be a bit draggy sometimes just to drag out the drama effect. Ironically with books as its main theme, this isn’t one of those animes that needs to use your grey matter and intellect to digest much. For example like that certain hero summoned to rebuild a kingdom anime and a certain genius prince trying to save his kingdom from debt anime. Heck, I think even that isekai bookworm fantasy whereby a dead girl reincarnated into a world where she can read books forever, sounds like it has more book-like theme than this (to be honest, I didn’t see that anime). In the end, this anime only serves to enforce my dislike for reading and since I am already at this age, I don’t think I’m going to even pick up that habit despite all the good points that nerdy book lovers are going to tell me. It’s not happening. Besides, the only thing that I have read the most in my entire life is anime subtitles. Does that not count as reading?! So, if I had to pick read or die… Mmm… Read or dream? Can I just sleep on it?

Super Crooks

What’s this? Ocean’s Eleven with superpowers? Mashing them both and you get Super Crooks! A group of lesser known supervillains banding together to pull off the biggest heist from the biggest and baddest supervillain of all time? Well, honestly it sounds like such heist genres aren’t anything original by today’s standards. You know, a group of multi-talented and diverse people ganging up to make the biggest steal of their lives. I wasn’t particularly interested in this in the first place but you know me, that annoying tingling feeling in my guts bugging me from time to time, it’s a sign I just have to check it out just to ascertain whether my guts were true or not. And here I am.

Episode 1
Johnny Bolt as a teen loves superheroes. Like this The Utopian. He’s no All Might but whatever. Of course he doesn’t have a very good mother too. She brings a random guy home to make out and Johnny is forced to go hide in his room. Then it’s lights out but mom gets annoyed he keeps turning it back on although he insists he did not to anything. Then the whole light fused. Johnny soon realizes he has some sort of superpower so he experiments with the streetlights and ultimately the entire town! Damn, nobody notice their lights are lighting up in strange ways?! Next day, he shows off to his best nerdy friend, Tom. Amazing. Seems he can control electronic stuffs or produce static electricity. It’s like he’s a superhero now. He thinks it’s his ticket of getting out of this town. Of course they have to put up with the big bully and his gang and the only reason Johnny tolerates it is because Janice is his crush but that b*tch is the bully’s girl. Johnny and Tom talk about more superhero stuffs like Jupiter’s Legacy as well as Johnny’s powers might be inherited. Since his mom has none, it could be from his dad whom he never knew. With Johnny deciding to go with the moniker Electro Boy, Tom helps out with some outfits. Uhm, lame! Now all that is left for some crime to happen and it will be Electro Boy’s debut. Too bad, in this sleepy peaceful town, there is hardly any crime! Yeah, nobody feeling weird that Johnny dressed up as a weirdo walking around town? But with summer coming, Tom thinks it is the perfect chance for Electro Boy’s heroic debut. Using static electricity to fly over the crowd public pool, Electro Boy introduces himself as this town’s hero. While the young kids are impress, the bullies of course recognize this loser. They call him out so Johnny gets scared and loses altitude. He falls into the pool and electrocutes everyone! The panic crowd runs out and gets slammed by the traffic! Damn, REALLY?! This causes a chain reaction as trucks crashes into other buildings! Damn, did the church just crumble like that and the priest got smashed?! The big finale: Big truck carrying pigs crash into the pool. Dead humans + dead pigs. Lovely. While Johnny becomes depressed about it, Tom tries to cheer him up it isn’t the end. Johnny is sad his powers cannot make him a hero. Suddenly his power accidentally shorts circuit the ATM. Money. You thinking what I’m thinking? It’s time to get real doing this. And that’s who Johnny ended up getting out of town and into the slammer! Not that he’s complaining.

Episode 2
Johnny is released from Supermax, a prison designed for supervillains after serving his sentence. His hot girl, Kasey picks him up and looks like they can’t wait to f*ck each other. Yeah, they’re already stripping and getting all physical when they get home. Too bad party is ruined because Johnny supervillain buddies are here to celebrate his release! What a party pooper! Meanwhile Supermax is holding a charity party by Christopher Matts AKA The Bastard who is the big boss of the supervillain organization known as Network. Wow. Such irony. You think he is some old senile guy who lost his touch but the story goes around that he is still a dangerous guy. One story tells of how a guy named Danny stole some of his money and run. But soon he finds all his family and friends died with their head exploded! He became so distraught and wanted Matts to kill him but that big bastard will not grant his wish. Johnny’s friends tell him about the next heist they are planning. Apparently they are going to rob 10 consecutive gem stores. Unbelievably San Francisco is one of the places in America with low frequency of events caused by superpowers (that’s a strange way to say supervillain crimes) and hence a superhero showing up is not likely. ARE YOU KIDDING ME???!!! SAN FRANCISCO???!!! Oh right. Only normal human acts of crime. Kasey is against this since she told Johnny to get a stable job. Since he won’t listen, she uses her powers to hypnotize his friends and make them go home. Now they can get it on! Oh yeah. Maybe sex will change his mind. But… Even after that, he still thinks of taking up his friends’ offer. He is a bit dry on the cash. Heck, he even thinks Kasey should join them as her powers will be more useful. She cautions him about Network and that they should be living smart and not for this short term excitement. Well, looks like Johnny is convinced and will turn his buddies down. But next morning, he is on a robbing spree with them! Didn’t say she warned ‘ya.

Episode 3
Johnny is on a role with his buddies Frostbite (ice powers), Transmit (short distance teleportation) and Kismet (bad luck) but soon luck runs out when the San Francisco police is hot on their tails. Damn, the whole squad is chasing them through the streets! Yeah, they think this city doesn’t need heroes and they can do a better job in taking those crooks down! As this is being covered live on TV, that look on Kasey’s face when she sees her man in this crime. I hope she doesn’t poison the food… Eventually the crooks manage to get the better of the police. Time to call in the superheroes for help, huh? Frostbite thinks this adrenaline rush is what Johnny needs in his life but Johnny wants to know if this plan came from Network. Because he isn’t going back to Supermax again. Then this giant superhero drops in. Damn, this monster is a superhero?! He looks like some sub-level boss! Of course the bigger they are, the harder they fall as Kismet dumps him with bad luck. Next, they have to face off with this young reckless cocky new superhero, Rubberball. Damn, this guy causing so much damage as he chases them. He could’ve killed innocent people too! One move including destroying a row of houses just to stop them!!! Eventually they get the better of him and this time he turns into a coward pleading for his life and was just doing this to show off because he got dumped by his girlfriend. WTF?! They just run over his legs. He may not be walking anymore but he could still be rolling… As Johnny relishes this excitement and agrees with Frostbite that this is what his life is supposed to be and thanks his buddies for opening his eyes. Suddenly their ride comes to a crashing halt as they are teleported before The Praetorian.

Episode 4
Praetorian is a widely popular hero due to his harsh stance on supervillains. What makes him even more unpredictable is that he has so many powers and has new ones from time to time, he himself doesn’t know about it. So, uhm, basically like God? This time he clones himself and tells the baddies to surrender. Under Johnny’s orders, they scatter. We see Praetorian one by one take them down. Like using his immense heat to overcome Frostbite, sending back Kismet’s bad luck and letting him get eaten by a shark falling from the sky and just kicking the hell out of Transmit. Now it’s down to Johnny. But after learning he just got released from Supermax, he finds it a pity that he has to go back there again. Knowing he has someone he loves, he’ll let him and his buddies off the hook. Just this once. Be good boys and change your lifestyle. Off he goes. Soon after, Kasey comes to pick them up and it is revealed she used her powers on Praetorian. The guys are grateful for her and I don’t think they’re listening to her lecturing them about taking such stupid risks. Yeah, they want to rope her in for the next job because of her amazing power but she’s not in it since who knows, Praetorian might copy it. Back home, Kasey threatens to call it quits and break up with Johnny if he continues to live like this. She talks about making a lot during one’s active career and then retire like kings for the rest of their lives. Uhm, so she’s suggesting one huge haul? She introduces him to a legendary supervillain known as The Heat. He was never caught throughout his career and always got away without killing anyone. Nobody knows his identity or if he is alive but it’s like he shows up from time to time and is still talked about through the decades. In fact, he is her teacher and taught her how to survive in this business. Heat is putting a team to recover something stolen from a client. Looks like there is 1 spot left on that team. Who’s the lucky boy? So Kasey brings Johnny to meet Heat. Uhm, this old guy running the dry cleaners?

Episode 5
Heat takes Johnny and Kasey through his underground cleaners and garbage collection which works perfectly as a cover for his illegal activities because naturally people don’t want to be associated with filthy places. There are also some past articles on Heat so explains the rise of supervillains during Al Capone’s time and the Great Depression. Also, Heat doesn’t have superpowers and just rely on his equipment. In those days, superpowers weren’t needed and all you need was to be in the right place and the right time. Other rumours on Heat is because people want to read and believe what they want and over time other villains constructed Heat as some sort of their ideal. Once in his office, there are also other members he has called for this job. They include Josh and the Diesel Brothers, Sammy and Roddy. Their small group is suitable for the job they’re going to do because they are unknowns and not affiliated with Network. Although Network plans out stuffs for those affiliated, once you get caught, it’s your business but they still get their cut. Johnny and Josh butt heads to a point Johnny gets so angry and uses his power to zap electricity from the entire place. But he can’t touch Josh since his power is to walk through things. A short flashback on Josh’s past before his power awakened. Heat continues explaining this mission. It is split into 2 parts. The real deal is in the second part but they need to complete the first part. Obviously. That job is to rescue a partner who is supposed to be part of this mission but he got captured. TK McCabe got caught by Gladiator while doing his small time burglary and will be sent to Supermax. As he is very essential to the plan, that is why they need to rescue him. They don’t have to worry about money as their client has already sent them some money to get them started. Making the deal easier is that Matts is leaving his business to a younger subordinate. So it’s like Network is taking a hiatus and they don’t have to pay a fee, circumventing some rule. The second part of the mission will be explained when everyone is here. Time to head to Florida.

Episode 6
Our crooks make a distraction at a hangar so they could hijack a plane. They fly above the plane carrying TK and once the altitude is right, the Diesel brothers jump down to fight Gladiator. Though, Sammy got splattered. So it’s up to Roddy to fight this tough guy. It’s going to be a long drawn out fight since Roddy can generate all wounds and body parts. During this distraction, Josh dives in to take out all the guards and try to hack his way to free TK. However the firewall proves to be too tough and the guards will not tell him. Even more so, the plane is picking up speed towards Supermax and if they reach there, the supervillains are doomed. There is only so much Johnny can do using his powers to maintain the plane at constant speed. The plane then enters stormy clouds. Roddy managing to knock Gladiator off as they both fall down right into the ocean. But what’s this? Gladiator seeing some mermaid vision and the fish kingdom wants his help to save them? Okay. Time to be an underwater hero. Where the f*ck is Aquaman?! Anyway, this is all part of Kasey’s powers to let him see such dream as she picks up the Diesel brothers. With the plane reaching Supermax and the baddies running out of options, Johnny gets desperate as he snatches the control from Heat and dives their plane closer. Are they heading for free fall?

Episode 7
With the electronics fried, Josh tells the guards that if they want to live, better tell him the codes or they’ll crash and die. Of course Josh who can pass through stuffs won’t. So what will it be? With TK freed, he uses his telekinesis power to levitate the plane. With TK in, Heat tells their plan to break into Union’s HQ. Many view it as suicidal but with Heat offering 50 million each, you bet they’ll do it. So apparently the one putting them up to this job is Count Orlok. A powerful supervillain in his heydays, he was captured by Union. Although he escaped, his helmet has been kept in Union’s treasure vault. Without his helmet, his power is halved. With superhero Brainwave who could read minds within a wide radius not in this country, this would be the perfect time to act. Kasey feels reluctant to join since she wants to know the final member of the team. So Heat calls Forecast and what a coincidence he just arrived. With his powers to control the weather, Kasey accepts this job. Matts hold another lavish party at Supermax. This is to announce his retirement and to let his successor, Salamander run Network and keep their business going.

Episode 8
A short flashback on Kasey’s past. Because many gangs are scared of her power, they just pay her off to never work with her again or they outright refuse. Until Heat picked her up and has a job for her. Now everyone is in position to conduct their heist. Johnny and Kasey getting hot with each other until a phone call disrupts their make out session. Damn Heat trying to remind everyone to rest up. Next day, many heroes arrive at Union’s HQ and a large crowd gathers to catch a glimpse of their favourite heroes. But soon over in Pittsburgh, a dead villain known as Necromancer revives. He also revives hordes of zombies to invade town. What’s stranger than seeing that? Zombies on bicycles! No joke! Now I’ve seen everything! Of course all this is orchestrated by TK and Forecast. With the Union heroes making haste there, the others begin their infiltration into the HQ to find Orlok’s helmet. The only hero who hasn’t left is Praetorian. He can hear voices in the museum and has heart Heat in finding the helmet. So he intercepts the crooks and destroys the helmet. Of course he tells them all that all the items seen here are just replicas. The real ones are hidden in the vault beneath. WTF?! You just revealed where it is!!! Instantly Josh slips down to its location. Praetorian then knocks out Kasey who is trying to enter his mind again. Then he freezes everyone and finds Johnny familiar. Uhm, sorry, wrong guy? Did not work.

Episode 9
They can’t fight him, they can’t outrun him. So how? Hope Josh finds the helmet… And he finds it. Meanwhile Praetorian in his bid to dispose of the villains, did he just kill a few visitors with his laser eyes?! With Josh having the helmet, Heat tells him to put it on. Reluctant at first but with time running out, he dons it and says the password (it’s written right there on the helmet! So much about safety, huh?). Next step is to make a wish and so Josh wishes to be transported to somewhere safe. Heat then mentions Black Rock in Romania. In a flash, all of Heat’s men get teleported there. Meanwhile the superheroes are disposing of the zombies. Utopian faces off with Necromancer and thought he dealt the finishing blow to him. Because Forecast and TK got teleported away too, the effects of the zombie fest stop. So while our crooks wait for Orlok to show up, Heat tells an old story of Syndicate, a supervillain group consisting of Heat, Orlok and Matts that predates Network. They retreated to Europe and made their base here when America established Union. Although they had other recruits over the years, it was obvious they had fall outs and backstabbing so eventually Syndicate fell apart and Matts went on to form his own Network. They rented out this base as warehouse or concert. Story ends because Praetorian is here and freezes them all! Yeah, didn’t Heat say out loud they were in Black Rock? But looks like he isn’t the only one here but Matts too. In short, Praetorian isn’t only part of Union, he is also part of Network! Now that this plot is discovered, Matts won’t stay quiet and will need to protect Network. Of course, having the usual cut won’t do so he’ll take all their 50 million. He would also want to make their life miserable by killing all their closest ones but since he is going to retire and not in the mood for that, he’ll let that slip. He makes an example by killing off Orlok’s butler by exploding his head. Suddenly Orlok is here to thank everyone for getting his helmet. This joker is surprised Matts is here and gets his head blown off too! WTF… Praetorian and Matts leave but of course warn them if this incident ever gets out from this room… Kaboom! Splat!

Episode 10
You bet our crooks are really depressed with their failure. They’re drinking their sorrows and getting into a bit of petty squabble. But everyone is pretty much done. Very heart breaking for Johnny when he sees Kasey really tearing up over the failures. She thought this would be it but it didn’t turn out so. Conveniently, a chapel before them so Johnny proposes to her and promises they’ll start a new normal life from now on. Happy ending, right? Only, that night his old pals kidnap him and do some more minor robbing sprees. At least, stealing cash from ATMs. Johnny goes along since they think this is good opportunity to stack up the cash for his future married life. Even the next morning they are on their robbing spree. Johnny gonna be late for his wedding… Luck has it that Praetorian is here to bust them. Johnny desperately runs as he cannot be caught today. He thought he outrun that bugger but he bumps into Gladiator and gets knocked out. Johnny is sent to Supermax. Kasey waits at the chapel and knows something is wrong as Johnny doesn’t show up. Noting that his friends are also missing, she gets the picture. Making it sadder is a note from Johnny claiming he has changed ever since he met her but she notes he never did. She burns her wedding dress and walks away. 5 years later, Praetorian and Gladiator are being charged with some crime. Meanwhile Heat is on a roll at some casino but Salamander smokes him out and his accomplice who can see 30 seconds into the future. After killing the accomplice, Salamander wants Heat to bring $100 million in a month. Johnny is out from Supermax and he got the guts to go see Kasey. Definitely she doesn’t want to see him again. He tries to be a smooth operator but it’s not working. Kasey laments things didn’t work out for her and she even quit college and this lowly waitress job is all she could get. Suddenly Heat stumbles in and needs their help.

Episode 11
After Johnny and Kasey heard Heat’s case, they’re divided on how to help him. While Johnny thinks they can pull off a job to let Heat pay off his debt, Kasey is more pessimistic. She believes it is impossible and this is just to set an example. She wants to create a fake ID and passport for Heat to leave the country. We see Johnny contacting the old gang for this job. At first many refuse to do it but I’m not sure what made them changed their mind. Old time’s sake? As Kasey tries to get those fake ID and passport, she tries to brag about her past as a supervillain but you know, nobody is interested in has-beens. I guess she too has a change of mind? Yup, she is going to join Johnny’s absurd plan. However Johnny needs 1 more person for this job as he arranges a meeting with Gladiator. His reputation has been tarnished ever since he came out as gay. Johnny even blackmails him about releasing those pics. He will delete all those pictures once the job is done. The job is to steal from Matts himself. Now that he is retired and living peacefully and lavishly on an island in Japan where Network and Union cannot reach him. He opened a casino there too. What’s this? Japan has no superheroes?! Are you kidding me?! I guess those sentai aren’t counted and heroes are sent to isekai, huh?! And Japan has no supervillains too?! Are you sure this is JAPAN???!!! Anyway, Praetorian is with him and that scandal has sullied the superheroes’ name. Hence Gladiator is on this job to give this ex-comrade of his some payback. Everyone makes their way to the island and enjoys their personal mini hidden hotspring. Then it’s time to get the plan rolling. First up, entering Matts’ estate right through the front door.

Episode 12
Kasey and Roddy disguise as scientists to propose to Matts about some teleportation system project that will make him the greatest supervillain. Of course Matts rejects this since he is already tired and the best supervillain. The duo then return to the gang as the whole plan was just to get the layout of the entire place. Not sure about Kasey using her powers to extract the memories from the head of security for the layout. Their goal is to get Matts’ briefcase but the biggest obstacle will be the superpower nullifying system that is all over the island. Using the same but enhanced version of that in Supermax, the moment you use your superpower, the sensor will detect it and nullify it in an instant. Don’t really understand this part as they will split into 2 teams to disable this system. Since they’re doing it in style, Johnny has created cool outfits for the team. Uhm, looks like lame spandex… Johnny tries to reconcile with Kasey and being the smooth talker he is, he admits all the stupidest things he has done is to lose the girl he loves and that he isn’t a supervillain but a liar. Is Kasey’s heart that easy? Well, they kiss so… And yeah, to top that, Johnny has a plane flying over with a banner that says “I’m sorry”. All is forgiven. Who the f*ck flies a plane at this hour?! Next day, the infiltration begins. A few hiccups as they trigger the security (WTF ninja squad with guns?!) and they cannot use their superpowers because it is nullified the moment they do so. With a lot of luck, they manage to disable the system and now it’s payback time as they can now freely use their powers and beat up those ninjas. It seems Kasey is the only one not part of this next stage of the plan. She is at the airport waiting for her next flight when she is approached by Matts and Praetorian. They know that scientist in disguise is her because they cannot forget her aura.

Episode 13
While Kasey is being interrogated, Johnny and his team head deeper into the vault. So everyone has got a chance to flex their superpowers, huh? I guess the goriest one has to be the Diesel brothers as they compete with each other to see who can disable the laser system. Yeah, they got sliced, died and resurrected many times. It’s a bloody and gory fest here! Once they’re done, they even take a selfie of their steal! As Matts is trying to interrogate Kasey, he realizes that she is using her power to keep him out of her mind. Then she reveals how the great robbery is happening right beneath his nose. Realizing what is happening, he sends Praetorian down there to deal with it. Johnny throws some insults at Matts for being an old dude first. But looks like Gladiator won’t make a move. Only when everyone gets taken out by Praetorian, then he moves in. When Gladiator reveals himself, Praetorian is scared sh*t? He tries to apologize for what he did but Gladiator isn’t in forgiving mood. Praetorian is no match for Gladiator’s might and gets knocked out. Matts kills off Kasey by exploding her head. But when he checks on security, he realizes there is chaos in the mansion and the culprits are escaping. Too late to realize all this has been Kasey’s illusion (it started ever since they returned from the airport). He has been in the cave (that’s why she was undetected when she used her power) and the one he killed was his security head. With the crooks getting their share of the cash, they retire and part ways. We see snippets of them in the 1 year time skip. Most notable is Roddy actually using his funds to research the teleportation system. Also, Gladiator came clean with his past and he openly married his gay partner and is now more famous than ever. But Johnny’s plan didn’t end there. To further get revenge on Matts, he sends that selfie to some newspaper and it got published on the front page. Matts then returns to Network in USA and kills off Salamander and his goons, thinking he has gotten greedy. Johnny framed him as the one who stole his money (that’s why they were wearing those lame spandex uniform so as to pose as his gang). Matts thinks of getting back into this supervillain business. Johnny proposes to Kasey in an air balloon and he had those words written on the cornfield. Hey, when you’re this rich, you can do anything!

One Crooked Turn Deserves Another
Uhm… Erm… Ah… That was weird… I think… So a happy ending to our, uhm, crooks? It’s like their all their initial failures paid off and the team that sticks together till the end wins, right? Can’t believe a group of small time crooks manage to get the best ending ever for baddies. Not taking over the world, not liberating some cause of theirs and certainly not destroying the planet and killing everything on it. You know, typical supervillain cliche goals. Hence with the small time supervillains getting their big money reward and no big superhero organization is going to after them (because they’re too big to focus on small things), do you not agree with me that this the happiest and best supervillain ending of all time? Sure, those with villains winning by destroying the world and the likes ultimately end with a grim outlook for all. But now our little merry crooks are happily enjoying life and some flushing down all that money like toilet paper. Yeah, these people have better life than I do!!! GGGRRRRRR!!!!!!!!

Well, I am having mixed feelings for this series overall. However I think it will most probably fall into the negative side. I am sure that many would know that this series was created by Mark Miller, the famous dude behind many of his famous Millerworld characters such as those from the Jupiter’s Legacy series. Of course this series is also set in the Jupiter’s Legacy timeline as you can obviously see the cameo appearances of the Union heroes. But I’m not really into the western and American comics these days so I’m not very proficient and expert on this topic. I did some (lazy) Google searches so I’m just summing up my amateur thoughts and opinions on it all.

The anime adaptation of the series of the same name mostly serves as the prequel to the comic books. This means mostly new content up until the final stretch where it supposedly coincides with the comics. Since I didn’t read the comics, you bet I won’t know. Though, I am not sure if they changed anything because the synopsis said the heist was supposed to be in Spain but now we see them trying in infiltrate Matts’ private island in Japan. Uhm, did Japan move near the Iberian Peninsula that I am unaware of? Or is Japan part of Europe in this Millerworld universe? Ah, screw that detail. Not that I care any of that at this point.

The introductory episodes personally looked interesting although it feels a bit disjointed. For instance, the first episode delves and takes a look at Johnny’s childhood history to give us a reason why he resorted to become a small time crook. Then suddenly a time skip. He is in prison for being a criminal. I’m sure if they want to create some sequel or spinoff, they might use this gap to cover some of the criminal activities of Johnny. But I doubt it would be anything different because this heist thing is supposed to be the biggest and most exciting pursuit in his life. Johnny’s minor crime rampage seemed interesting too partly because of the action but that is basically about it. Then when it comes for the story for Heat to recruit supervillains to get Orlok’s helmet, this arc seemed boring. Making it even weird is that senile Orlok got killed off easily but Heat and his comrades got off the hook easily. That is, they continue to live. A freaking big mistake to let even unknowns live after seeing your face! WTF, Praetorian even revealed his double agent persona? That gonna come back and bite ‘ya in the ass! WTF?! It just felt too unrealistic.

Then another time skip as we reach the final stretch. This time Johnny taking hold of the reins and pulling off a somewhat similar heist but in a different style. Honestly, not as boring as the earlier failed heist but it still failed to impress me. I mean, one of the biggest flaw is that when they explain how their plan is supposed to work, it lost me there already. It just felt kinda boring and it wasn’t anything special of that sort. I thought and was expecting some sort of mind games between both sides seeing this is going to be the heist of the century. After all, you’re dealing with a very badass supervillain and you don’t want to get careless at this point and have several backup plans just in case. But it turned out to be dull as f*ck since it feels so straightforward.

The worst factor I find for this series are the characters. With only over a dozen of episodes, obviously there is going to be a challenge to flesh out the characters. Therefore I am in a dilemma if this series was stretched out to 2 cours. Because it might become draggy and boring should they try to give these characters some decent back story and screen time. So while it might spare us that possibility, instead we got very rushed characters and especially our small time crooks here whom we don’t even know anything about. For instance, this black dude, Forecast. Uhm, suddenly he is the last team member to join Heat’s failed Romanian heist just like that. Do we even know his real name? Josh and McCabe feel so forgettable that they are only put to the fore if plot conveniences command them so. The Diesel brothers? Somebody needs to be the bloody punching bag, right? And Heat? He sounded like some legendary supervillain. But seeing how he failed twice (the Orlok case and then becoming indebted for trying to swindle his way out), now he looks like some senile old fart. Yup, his heydays are already way behind him.

Even Johnny and Kasey being the main characters aren’t really that exciting. Their hot and cold, on and off relationship don’t really feel exciting at all and mostly comes off as normal. They’re trying to lead normal lives as small time crooks but I guess once you’re a crook, you’re always a crook and it is hard to turn over a new leaf. Johnny giving in to his simpleton impulse for the thrill while Kasey trying to be the voice of reason and patient woman. There’s always a limit to everything. Being an American source, you bet there are many scenes that involve Johnny and Kasey making out with each other. Ah yes, sex sells in America and for Americans. Not sure if this is supposed to be their character development but whatever. Can’t pass up a good chance to make out, right? Otherwise, from Super Crook to Super Cucked! HAHAHA!!! It’s never even told how Johnny and Kasey became an item. How did they know each other? What happened to that high school crush, Janice? Maybe the comics has the answer…

Anyway, Kasey’s power feels like a whole lot of plot convenience. Because of that, it could do wonders in getting them out of trouble. It f*cked with our minds a lot from the start till the end. When it’s all over, you start thinking back and realize how cheap her power is. Even with Praetorian having a myriad of powers seems reasonable. But Kasey’s psychic illusions? Just plain convenient. Maybe we’ve been wrapped around her powers since we started watching this show, huh? What are the chances that Johnny is under Kasey’s illusion in the end? Or is it really true love? With me doubting the sincerity of her powers, I’m having lots of reservations.

Matts as the main antagonist here feels a lot lacking. They painted a very badass picture of him but it feels like he is the same as Heat. His heydays are already past him. He has got the most badass and dangerous power ever. He could’ve just killed off the small time crooks with a snap of a finger but I guess he looked down on them and because you can’t kill off main characters in a story, that’s that. Maybe they don’t want to focus too much on this Network and Union because feel free to read the comics if you’re interested to know more. Hence casual viewers like me with no such knowledge might be confused and not really get the dynamism between these organizations. So even if Matts has passed the baton to Salamander, it just feels like it is of no importance here. Just to tell us that Network continues but with a new leader at the helm. And the scapegoat eventually. Even the downfall of Praetorian feels meh. From a popular superhero with various superpowers, now he becomes some unkempt dog of Matts and it’s like, what the hell?

There are a few more characters from Johnny’s past that I would like to ask especially that high school best nerdy friend of his, Tom. So what happened to him? That’s why it felt the time skip from a young teenage Johnny into a young adult felt disjointed. What happened to his friends then? Did they move out and lead normal lives? And how did Johnny met and became friends with those troublemaking buddies? I thought they would play some sort of pivotal role but I was just getting ahead of myself and they’re nothing of importance to the whole story anyway.

I have got to admit the earlier episodes were interesting because of the bombastic, flashy and over the top action sequences (how can I forget that absurd chain reaction accident in the first episode – pigs fly!). I don’t think this series was trying to focus too much on such superpower action but Johnny’s jaunt with Frostbite, Transmit and Kismet are still a hell lot more exciting than rescuing McCabe, the pseudo zombie attack and the other low quality action of the heists. You could say those troublemaking buddies of Johnny are seemingly more interesting than his current crew at first looks since they’re able to crack some witty lines especially Kismet who brings bad luck. I guess that is why the crude Diesel brothers have this regenerating ability so that they can take in a hell lot of damages, cue for some bloody gore violence, then use that powers of theirs to regenerate. Easy. That’s as bloody and violent as it can get for you bloodthirsty folks. They don’t skimp on this part so if you can’t stomach all their blood and sliced body parts and organs splattered everywhere, well, you can’t be a doctor then…

As for the art and animation, the adaptation looks like a mix and fusion between American comics and Japanese styled anime. Obviously the anime visually looks a hell lot different from the original source material but I’m sure I can still figure out who is who if I compare both sets. While some praise the unique art style, personally I think the animation looks cheap and if I should say, low quality. Sometimes it makes the character look weird in certain angles. With all the bright colours and hues, sometimes it looks more cartoonish compared to its grittier and edgier comic book counterpart. Considering this adaptation was done by Bones who had better animated works under their belt, namely Boku No Hero Academia franchise, this supervillain one feels paltry compared to the superhero counterpart even if the latter feels more visually cartoonish than this one. And to think they started work on this back in 2019 but released all the episodes simultaneously on Netflix at the end of 2021. Some fine piece of work, eh?

A reason for me to take a look at this series is perhaps Kenjiro Tsuda as Johnny. Having voiced a myriad of characters ranging from weird to cool to badass (I guess I’m just fresh off his Gokushufudou), he feels at home with Johnny in terms of voice acting abilities and chops as he brings out the sassiness in his character. Because I can’t say the same for the written character but that’s not the fault of the seiyuu, right? Only Junichi Suwabe as Josh and Shigeru Chiba making his short cameo as Orlok are the only ones I recognized. Oh, Mai Nakahara was Johnny’s mom? Didn’t even realize it. The rest are Maaya Sakamoto as Kasey (Ciel in Kuroshitsuji), Hiroshi Yanaka as Matts (Otogi in Nanbaka), Yasuji Kimura as Heat, Wataru Hatano as Praetorian (Gajeel in Fairy Tail), Eiji Takemoto as McCabe (Tsukishima in Golden Kamuy), Tetsu Inada as Roddy (Gamagoori in Kill La Kill), Subaru Kimura as Sammy (Chinpira in Akudama Drive), Kenn as Forecast (Jinbei in Mushibugyou), Pierre Taki as Gladiator and Hisao Egawa as Salamader (Liscar in Fairy Gone).

I believe many would agree with me that the most forgettable, if not the most shameful aspect of this series is the opening theme. 90% of the animation is slutty Kasey doing some sort of sexy dance. In the middle of the street! My guess it is to distract us from everything else and to distract horny amateurs to go fap to her after that. This could be one of the worst opening animations ever. Even way worse than just putting up a pitch black screen. I mean, why the heck do you need to see Kasey dancing so suggestively as her hands are all over the place touching herself! Honestly, I wasn’t even sexually aroused but felt more cringe at this cheesy opener. I guess this is also to distract us from the plain and boring hip hop opening song, Alpha by Towa Tei With Patrick Swayze Taprikk Sweezee. Other than Kasey’s dancing, the rest are filled with Johnny’s dancing (lame!) and the gang doing that superhero style group walk (lame!). The ending theme fares slightly better, Sugar by Towa Tei with Boku No Hero Academia UA. Although in my opinion this slow hip hop doesn’t sound any better at all. And the animation feels cartoonish and like contemporary art.

Overall, the anime adaptation feels like it has fallen short of what could have been something great to complement the comics. I read that many who read the comics would still prefer the original source compared to this original origins story. While the anime isn’t entirely all that bad, it just felt like one of those superhero generic films and our Super Crooks don’t even feel like crooks at all even though they are just small fry unknowns. They’re not really bad people per se. Hence this isn’t one of those shows that makes you think and question when it greys the line on the choices you make on issues of morality because it really feels like almost none here. Therefore it feels more along the lines of, if a small time crook steals from a rich big time crook and no one else around cares, does this consider to be a crime? Yeah… No wonder the second spinoff of Jupiter’s Legacy was cancelled. Not even a bunch of superpower villains can pull off a miracle.

World Trigger S2 & S3

Oh? I see World Trigger is back. Did not expect this series to have a second season (and a third!) after being 5 years on hiatus! So I suppose they have enough materials to cover at least 2 split cours, huh? Hey, at least it won’t last as long for another 73 episodes! Anyway, it was my obligation to continue watching the sequel since I wasn’t really impressed with the first season that ran for almost 2 years. Got to finish what I started. Consistency is key. Trigger that was on standby mode is now back on.

Season 2

Galopoula’s Invasion Arc
* Captain Gatlin of Galopula that includes Reghindetz, Ratarykov, Yomi, Koskero and Wen Sou are planning to invade Meeden (Earth). As Aftokrator’s orders are to stall Meeden, their job is to deliver a blow to Meeden so they can’t come after Aftokrator and that includes destroying their base. But their real target is taking out their expedition ship that is located deep within their base.
* When Trion soldiers show up to invade, Border is able to prepare ahead of time by stationing snipers all around thanks to Jin’s foresight. However Jin is also worried since he saw a future where Tachikawa gets cut down.
* While the snipers have their hands full with the humanoid Trion soldiers and dog type ones from Rhodokrhoun, Gatlin, Wen and Ratarykov manage to infiltrate Border’s HQ. Yeah, they have some device that easily opens a big hole in walls.
* Hyuse escapes from Yotaro’s sloppy watch, in hopes of making contact with either Galopula or Rhodokrhoun. The odds are stacked against him but this is his only chance to return home.
* Wen stays behind to fight Kumagai and Nasu so that the rest can advance. With her deceptive tactics, she manages to get the better of both of them.
* Gatlin and Ratarykov have to face off with Tachikawa, Murakami, Kazama and Konami.
* Yomi controls the Trion soldiers with super dodging speed and agility to give the Border agents a run for their money. Thankfully with Kitora and Futaba Kuroe manage to bring many of them down. Though, one was able to read Kuroe’s move and deal her with lots of damage.
* Wen now resorts using to clones to trick the duo. Time is running out with Kumagai taking in a lot of damage. But after Nasu spots Wen’s ticks and they race against time to disable the clones, they manage to take her down for help with a little help from Kikuchihara who managed to spot the real one among the fakes.
* Koskero has been taken out by Jin with his remote slash. Jin also envisions the battle will end soon so this helps boosts everyone’s morale to keep pushing the Trion soldiers back.
* Reghindetz tries to use himself as bait to lure and separate the Border agents. However nobody is buying it since Jin has not said anything about this prediction so it’s a bluff.
* Gatlin is having his hands full against Tachikawa, Murakami and Konami while Kazama is keeping Ratarykov at bay. The trio have to quickly take down Gatlin since his cannon’s recharging will soon be completed and if fired, the ship will definitely be destroyed and it’s game over. So when it looks like Gatlin is going to fire through Tachikawa, Konami slashes both of them! Gatlin tries to fire but is blocked by Murakami. With both Galopula guys down, they Bail Out. Their lost means the Trion soldiers also pull back.
* Reghindetz receives orders to retreat too but he cannot accept this defeat. That is when Hyuse pops up before him and wants him to be taken to his ship. However Reghindetz refuses to do that since he has orders not to do so. He thinks Aftokrator has abandoned him and that he could be a spy for Meeden. Oh, Yotaro is here too. More accurately, return his Trigger, Lambiris to him. Because Jin told him if Hyuse wants to return, then let him. Reghindetz wants Hyuse to take Yotaro as hostage as proof. Guess what? Hyuse stabs Yotaro! Reghindetz is in shock that he did something despicable and won’t take him home. But turns out it was just a bluff and a setup to reveal Reghindetz’s true colours. Hyuse then destroys Reghindetz and sends him into Bail Out mode. With Hyuse still wanting to go home, Jin agrees and will take him to see the team he will be joining soon.
* With Border celebrating their victory, B-Rank Wars will soon resume. Tamakoma-2 is up next.
* The Galopula side conduct a post mortem on their loss. Since they can’t give up their mission yet and there is still time before Meeden is out of orbit, Gatlin will think of their next move.

B-Rank Wars Part II Arc
* Tamakoma-2 will now face Katori Squad (Youko Katori, Yuuta Miura and Rokurou Wakamura) and Kakizaki Squad (Kuniharu Kakizaki, Fumika Teruya and Kotarou Tomoe). Because there are no snipers in these squads, Osamu believes Chika’s long range sniping will be the key to their victory.
* Katori Squad is already facing a bust up in the dressing room as Katori herself isn’t too motivated to win. If they lose, it means they’re not good. This has her butt heads with Wakamura who chides her for being a genius but yet doesn’t try her best. Team’s morale is at all-time low.
* As the match begins, all participants are separated. They try to regroup but Katori attacks head on with Yuuma. Due to her recklessness, her comrades have to protect her and receive some damage. And she still isn’t grateful, spouting the obvious that they protected her because she is the key to victory! Kakizaki Squad fires incessantly at them but are only saved thanks to Tamakoma-2 cornering Kakizaki Squad and allowing Katori Squad to retreat.
* Kakizaki Squad decides to target the wounded Katori Squad first and ignore Tamakoma-2 and avoid their wire traps. Katori suggests fighting Kakizaki Squad since Tamakoma-2 is bound to show up.
* With Chika’s sniping a dangerous threat, both Kakizaki Squad and Katori Squad decide to team up to take down Tamakoma-2. With this, Tamakoma-2 has 2 options: Either Osamu and Yuuma will focus on one squad (allowing the other to reach Chika) or they split up and take a squad each. It became the latter. Osamu takes on Katori Squad while Yuuma faces off with Kakizaki Squad.
* Yuuma’s unpredictable movements allow him to take out Tomoe. In order not to waste further time, Teruya goes ahead to reach Chika while Kakizaki fights one on one with Yuuma.
* Kakizaki has taken a lot of damage but before he uses Bail Out, he tries to take Yuuma with him. Though, he manages to deal a lot of damage.
* Miura and Wakamura thought they have cornered Osamu but Yuuma has returned in time to join him and take out the guys.
* Teruya manages to use a few tricks to defeat Chika. But seeing she herself has received a lot of damage, she voluntarily uses Bail Out.
* Katori uses the strings to her advantage and feigns targeting Yuuma when she actually went for Osamu. This allows her to defeat him but her final stumbling is that she failed to see Osamu putting more wire traps before he Bails Out. This allows Yuuma to deliver to final blow.
* Tamakoma-2’s overwhelming victory in this round means they move up to 4th in the overall rankings.

* Although Tamakoma-2’s fighting and strategy were much better than before, they are still very reliant on their ace, Yuuma. If he was taken out, it could’ve changed the entire flow of the game. Hence Hyuse wants to join their team as their backup ace. Of course this is also the fastest way for him to return to Aftokrator. However Hyuse has a few conditions and that includes not sharing any info on his home world that would put his master in danger.
* Tamakoma-2 speak to the higher ups about letting Hyuse join them. However at first they decline since Hyuse refuses to disclose any info on Aftokrator. Even if Hyuse will be a good fighter for Tamakoma-2, this only benefits their team but not the rest of Border. Osamu then argues that Hyuse is needed for the away mission as a guide. He will be a great help in guiding them through various worlds until they reach Aftokrator. With this, the higher ups and especially Kido accept their terms.
* But doing so means Kido has another condition: He wants Chika to come along on this expedition. Because of her large amount of Trion, she can help in refuelling the ship and reduce refuelling times on other worlds. Since Chika is okay with that, I guess that means it’s a done deal.
* The final topic is that because of this away mission will be done soon, Tamakoma-2 cannot rank up to A-Rank in time. This means Yuuma and Osamu will be left behind but Chika will be on board the expedition? Of course due to Hyuse joining the team and Chika agreeing to be part of the expedition, this means they will choose a few B-Rank members and other individuals too. Hence the ultimatum that Tamakoma-2 must achieve the top 2 position within the next 3 matches left.
* With Hyuse’s induction into Border, he will be unable to join Tamakoma-2’s next battle which is against Ikoma Squad (Tatsuhito Ikoma, Satoshi Mizukami, Kouji Oki and Kai Minamisawa) and Ouji Squad (Kazuaki Ouji, Kazuki Kurauchi and Yutaka Kashio).

* Ouji Squad is making their plans. Their target is Osamu because of his dangerous strategies involving the wire. Likewise, Osamu predicts that he will be targeted and so they also devise strategies to counter this. As for Ikoma Squad… They’re talking about food and girls! I guess they already got it all planned out then…
* With the battle beginning, all participants are separated. Ouji Squad ignores Ikoma Squad when they come to contact since their objective is to take down Osamu. Osamu then notices this too so he needs to take evasive action as his wires are not fully setup yet. He manages to hide and run and this allows Minamisawa and Kashio to clash and fight each other. When Minamisawa gets too obsessed in trying to take down Kashio instead of rejoining his squad, he falls into Ouji Squad’s trap and goes into Bail Out mode.
* Ouji Squad regroups but Yuuma comes into the picture and deals some damage to Kashio with Chika providing some sniper support. Yuuma then escapes so Ikoma Squad tries to get even with Ouji Squad for taking out Minamisawa. However in the midst of the combat, Yuuma uses this advantage to take out Kurauchi.
* Kashio has spotted Chika so he chases after her. She is trying to get to the wire zone as fast as she can. She tricks him into thinking she has reached that zone but that is when Osamu jumps in to send Kashio to his defeat.
* Right after that, the duo have to face off with Ouji. Osamu tries all his best to protect Chika and in the end Ouji was just too good for him and he goes Bail Out. Chika then tries to unleash her Hound move. Ouji thinks she is bluffing since she can’t possibly pull off that move. What do you know? She did! This allows her to retreat into the sanctuary of the wire zone.
* Yuuma and Chika cooperate to distract and take down Mizukami. But before they can deal the finishing blow, it is Ouji who kills him off and steals the point.
* The trio swordsmen are facing off with each other. With Ikoma slashing off a leg of Ouji, this limits his mobility. Since the snipers are fighting each other, Ikoma goes all out to destroy the buildings. Ouji and Yuuma thought of using the collapsing debris to their advantage but it is Yuuma who got the better of Ouji and strikes him down.
* Both snipers heavily wound each other. Yuuma feigns attacking Ikoma so he attacks and finishes off Oki. However this comes at a cost as this allows Ikoma to defeat Yuuma. With Yuuma having Bail Out, Chika also voluntarily uses Bail Out. Although Ikoma Squad survives this battle, it is Tamakoma-2 who accumulated the most points by a whisker of a margin and hence they won this battle.

* Hyuse gets promoted to B-Rank in the same day after he disposes all the C-Rank newbies! Because of this awesomeness, some B-Rank agents like Tomoe and Miura want to fight against him. Hyuse agrees since he wants to see how skilful Border agents are. Well, Hyuse defeats all of them flat! 5-0! Flawless victory!
* Damn, Hyuse so powerful, the agents try to find stronger guys to fight Hyuse. They rope in Tsuji and although he is good, Hyuse still wins 5-2.
* Next up is Ikoma. This guy gives Hyuse a run for his money. The score is tied and although in the end Ikoma wins, he actually used an illegal move so he got disqualified and technically Hyuse got the win.
* Is there anybody else who can stand up to this newbie? Maybe Tachikawa who is Border’s #1 attacker may do the trick. Yup, Hyuse lost 1-5. Hyuse has a good idea of sword fighters in Meeden and how they use Triggers with combined multiple functions which makes them a lot stronger.
* With Hyuse so strong, many want him to join their team. Of course he turns them down due to prior commitments. He returns to Tamakoma-2’s base and officially dons their uniform. We’re a team now.

Season 3

* Despite now teammates, Hyuse makes it clear that they are not friends and he will not 100% follow Osamu’s orders. He is only on their side as their interests align. He doesn’t want to lose because of bad decisions made by others and will act on his own. So much for teamwork, eh? But Osamu gives the green light. Anything as long as they can join the away mission.
* Next day, Tamakoma-2 meet their senpai members who just returned from a scouting trip: Yuri Rindo who is Rindo’s niece and Michael Kronin, a Canadian who is basically the team’s technician.
* Hyuse has Kronin install all the weapons he thinks he needs into his Trigger. Then he has a mock fight with Yuuma for a test run. Well, Yuuma wins 12-8.
* As Yuri shows Osamu his new room, he is shocked to learn it once belonged to Kido. Yeah, there’s an old group photo there. Kido definitely looks like a different person than he is from then. Also in the photo are Jin, Rindo, Konami, Reiji and of course Yuri herself. Out of 19 people in this photo, 10 have died from Neighbours’ attack 5 years ago.
* Yuri further reveals this was actually Border’s old HQ before they built the current one. Tamakoma’s emblem is actually Border’s original emblem. The 3 circles at the top signify the 3 allied Neighbour nations while the bottom circle represents theirs. Hence that line in the middle is the border on what lies between them. Uh… Yeah… I wouldn’t have figured it… Anyway, these allied nations made a promise to protect each other from other Neighbour attacks. A lot of sacrifices were made but it helped protected their world from being invaded by other nations. Border’s old goal was to connect this world with Neighbours. But ever since that attack, Kido has changed his path and that’s why he puts on a scary face. This is to recruit more agents to join Border and label all Neighbours as enemies. Things have turned out better (although not perfectly) thanks to Kido’s efforts.
* As Yuuma hangs out with some of his Border buddies, Ema feels worried about Chika and thinks of throwing in the match so her team could get on the away mission. Of course Yuuma tells them the news about Chika already being chosen so there’s no need for his squad to lose on purpose. But he is still not convinced, thinking that only she is certain but not her teammates. Then they tell him he can also join the expedition as an individual. Then he can protect her in his own way. With that, Ema won’t need to lose on purpose but Yuuma is confident that he won’t lose anyway.
* Then they talk about Chika. Some claim she cannot shoot people but Touma claims she doesn’t want to shoot people. There’s a difference. If she cannot shoot, she cannot pull the trigger anyhow. But he has seen her shooting others when it matters most to protect the team. Just that she doesn’t want to shoot others on her own. His advice to Yuuma is to try and push her to the edge and make her ready to shoot people. This will be vital and could save her life since she will be on the away mission.

* Tamakoma-2’s next match pits them against Suzunari-1, Kageura Squad and Azuma Squad. They are surprised with Hyuse being the talented newbie who joined Tamakoma-2.
* The location of the next battle is mainly a large shopping mall. This could be considered an anti-sniper map since the streets are broader and the mall is the centre point and many fights take place inside it.
* Osamu tells his plans to his teammates that they won’t be using the wire strategy due to the wide spaces and that everyone already knows this trick. As they need the points the most, their strategy is to go all out and attack with Yuuma and Hyuse on the offensive while Osamu and Chika will be supporting from behind. Because many don’t know about Hyuse’s fighting style, he hopes he can trick his opponents and ambush them with a few surprise attacks before they catch on.
* The battle begins, all participants are scattered. Oh, it’s night time too. As usual, all try to regroup and with Chika inside the mall, she wants to head outside as fast as she could. First skirmish begins with Kageura and Suzunari-1 firing at each other. Meanwhile Osamu stumbles into Okudera and has to fight him.
* Suzunari-1 is pushing back Kageura Squad with their newly devised tactic. This forces Kageura Squad to retreat but Suzunari-1 is hot on their heels. They thought they could fight better in this smaller space but suddenly the lights go off! This is thanks to Betsuyaku controlling the mall’s switches. Suzunari-1 tries to take out Kageura Squad in the dark and deals a bit of damage. Just when Kageura Squad switches to night visions, Betsuyaku turns back on the lights! Blinding!
* Thanks to the blackout, Osamu has lost an arm thanks to Ema’s sniping. But it is also thanks to that he manages to escape and hide himself. Even at one point, Osamu saved Koarai from Ema’s sniping just to prevent the opponent from taking a point.
* Betsuyaku tries to escape since this gig is up. But too bad he is caught by Yuuma and Hyuse. First casualty of the match.
* The duo then head up as they stumble into Suzunari-1 and Kageura Squad’s skirmish still in progress. But now everyone is in a standoff since Tamakoma-2’s duo are here. With Hyuse’s unknown battle style, they keep their distance and play a wait a wait and see approach.
* Hyuse uses Escudo to barricade the rest so that they could fight 2-on-1 with Kageura. Kitazoe tries to support but gets taken out by Yuuma. After all the tricks and traps to take down a tough Kageura, it looks like Tamakoma-2 may have fatally wounded Kageura and caused him to Bail Out. However it is Suzunari-1 who got the point. This is because Murakami dealt the most Trion damage.

* Tamakoma-2 now fights Suzunari-1 but the latter’s tactics are keeping the attacking duo at bay. After a few tricks to separate Kuruma and Murakami and disrupt their tactic, Yuuma and Hyuse both attack Murakami. It looks like Murakami is poised to take 1 of them down and the other will cut him. But he surpasses expectations as he uses his sword to cut an arm of Yuuma. Luckily Hyuse is faster and stabs through him.
* Osamu jumps in to pincer Kuruma. You thought it would be Tamakoma-2’s point but Ema shoots through the floor from beneath to take out Kuruma and earn his team a point. Osamu has also been critically hit by Ema’s subsequent shot. But this is a self-sacrificing move since to escape from Azuma Squad, he exposes himself and he got gunned down by Azuma.
* With Osamu’s Trion at his limit, he Bails Out.
* Azuma deploys many clones around the mall and this will make it hard for close combat. Hence Osamu’s advice to Chika is to blow a hole in the mall using Meteor. Well, nobody knew it was this powerful and half the mall got taken down! Oh sh*t! But there’s your wide space now. Unfortunately Okudera got caught in the blast so Tamakoma-2 earns a point.
* With Chika guarding the big hole and Hyuse using Escudo to block Azuma Squad from escaping, this tactic is in favour of Tamakoma-2. Hence Azuma Squad uses a few decoys to try and make it look like they’ve managed to run outside to try and make Tamakoma-2 go on the defensive. Osamu thinks this is their bluff so he wants the guys to go back and guard Chika because if they lose her, it’s game over for them if Azuma Squad gets away. However Hyuse refuses to comply with that illogical command, citing Azuma’s circumstances and skills he saw from the last battle. Yuuma then offers to go protect Chika while Hyuse continues to hunt the survivors down in the mall.
* When Hyuse spots Koarai trying to run away, he knows this is a trap because Azuma is waiting to snipe him. Hyuse then fires back at Azuma but his position is just a decoy. The real Azuma shoots Hyuse and takes him out although Hyuse manages to damage his feet before he Bails Out.
* Azuma Squad knows they stand no chance and contemplates of withdrawing. Hence Osamu has Chika to use her Meteor to bomb everything. Unfortunately Azuma Squad voluntarily Bails Out and with that, Tamakoma-2 wins this battle. With Tamakoma-2 earning crucial points, this has them tied in second spot with Kageura Squad. Ninomiya Squad still leads the provisional standings albeit by a single point.

* There are rumours going about among C-Rank agents that Hyuse is a neighbour due to his awesome skills and fast promotion. This has Osamu realize that having Hyuse in matches will make him stand out but he is the only one who is able to get the points.
* Osamu tries to arrange a meeting with Rindo but Netsuki and Azuma have already got a plan to overwrite the rumours. They will make up a story that Hyuse is related to Kronin and recruited due to his high Trion. He was previously going to join the original Tamakoma but that slot was filled by Jin after he decided to return from being S-Rank to A-Rank. Hence Hyuse had to join Tamakoma-2. Azuma’s name will be used to spread this source to make it more credible. So when it comes to him and people trying to confirm it from him, he will not admit being the source but also agree with the rumour’s narrative. Now Osamu needs to do is get everyone else involved to have a consistent back story for Hyuse.
* Tamakoma-2’s final round opponents will be Ninomiya Squad, Ikoma Squad and Yuba Squad (Takuma Yuba, Yukari Obishima and Kazuto Tonooka).
* Tamakoma-2 having BBQ with Ninomiya Squad, they talk about Hatohara who went over to the other side despite not being chosen simply because her brother was kidnapped. She too was like Chika as she couldn’t shoot others. Ninomiya will tell more about Hatohara if Osamu’s side manages to get chosen for the away mission.
* As Tamakoma-2 devise strategies for their final round, Hyuse asks Chika straight if she can shoot humans or not. Oh my, Chika actually panicking?! The straw that breaks the camel’s back is when he tells her if she cannot shoot on the battlefield, Osamu and Yuuma will die. Oh sh*t! Chika breathing heavily and going into asphyxiation! Hyuse wants her answer eventually.
* After Chika calms down, she tells Shiori and Reiji the truth. When she was young and before Border was established, she was almost caught by a Trion soldier but escaped. She told everyone about it but nobody believed her except for her friend, Aoba Harukawa. Soon, she went missing. Then everybody started to believe her and that scared the hell out of her. As they believed what she will say will be true, this made her scared that they would think she put Aoba in danger. After Border’s establishment, she didn’t talk about it for fear of others blaming her for Aoba’s disappearance. The truth is that she isn’t afraid of hurting others but being blamed by someone else for doing it. She may be able to shoot others but if she does it with her huge Trion volume, will they be scared of her or feel unfair? Will they hold a grudge on her? And because she doesn’t want to be seen as useless to Osamu and Yuuma, she tries her best by telling herself she can’t shoot others because she is weaker in hopes she won’t be blamed. Now with Hyuse posing that question, she is now scared if others will blame her for failing to shoot. So basically she has a problem in what others think about her, huh? Shiori and Reiji don’t blame her for feeling so and even in the event if she failed to shoot and caused a much worse situation, they believe Osamu and Yuuma won’t blame her. So just to what you need to do.

* Because Tamakoma-2 knows nothing about Yuba Squad (as they haven’t fight them before), they look for Midorikawa since he knows Yuba. Osamu and Yuuma go to meet him who brings them to A-Rank gunner, Kazuma Satomi. In short, he opines that Yuba is invincible in duels and a top fighter in one on one battles. Unlike geniuses like Tachikawa and Kazama, Yuba has fought thousands of hard battles to reach this high rank and to Yuba, that is more relatable to him. But Yuba Squad is currently in decline because their fourth member left the team to focus on his studies.
* Osamu then talks personally to Kazuma about Ninomiya whom he is a big fan of. He tells of Ninomiya’s fighting style which is an open secret. It won’t put Ninomiya in any disadvantage since nobody has countered it. Basically if you have to fight one on one with him, you’re screwed. Many would like to avoid that with him. Although Ninomiya is better in Yuba in many stats, but if the terrain is complicated and within Yuba’s range, Yuba will have the advantage.
* Midorikawa brings Yuuma to see Yuba himself. Because Yuuma mistakes Obishima as a boy when she is actually a girl, to make up for it, they spar. WTF, Yuuma lost all his matches? Of course Yuba knows he is holding back so as not to show some flashy moves to the opponent. The same can be said for Yuba as he won’t spar him once. But with Obishima pleading just to show a trick, Yuuma does a tricky underground Scorpion move to defeat her. Since Yuuma has ‘overpaid’, Yuba will fight him once. When Midorikawa gives the signal, Yuuma couldn’t see how fast Yuba uses his guns and instantly Yuuma loses. Lessons learnt and revenge match soon on the way.
* Tamakoma-2 discusses the data they’ve got on their final round opponents and devise a strategy. Chika also makes an announcement that she wants to use normal bullets. Hence this changes their plan as now Chika would be on the firing offensive while the rest would defend. Since she is now certain she can shoot others (and Yuuma not detecting she is lying), everyone places their faith in her.
* Of course it is good to have some backup strategies since they’ll be dealing with Ninomiya. Hence Osamu calls Karasuma for practice. He will try to assimilate Ninomiya’s Trion and fighting style. As they practice, it seems they can only hold out so long before losing.
* Due to Kageura Squad having another match earlier on in the day, they have earn a few more points and leapfrogged Tamakoma-2 to second place.

* Final round match begins with all participants randomly transported onto the cityscape. As most of them are trying to regroup, Ninomiya Squad starts unleashing huge amount of firepower to target at Chika. This is to ascertain if she can shoot back. Luckily for Chika, she has Yuuma with her so they have to flee and be on the defensive. Is Chika getting cold feet again? So Yuuma suggests to fire a round of Hound to stall Ninomiya Squad because they’ll keep pursuing them if she doesn’t shoot back. Chika fires Hound and this allows them to escape although Ninomiya Squad isn’t entirely convinced that Chika can shoot back.
* While Ninomiya Squad is hot on Tamakoma-2’s tail and especially Chika, Ikoma Squad and Yuba Squad have surrounded Hyuse and they’re going all out to take this newcomer down. Osamu regroups with Yuuma and Chika. Knowing that they cannot make it in time to Hyuse, Osamu suggests Chika to snipe and provide and escape route to Hyuse. But they have to do it fast as Ninomiya Squad will soon discover their position.
* However, everyone is already anticipating and marking Chika to make her move. Hence Hyuse suggests to use Meteor to bomb everyone. If Hyuse is lucky, he will survive. But in the meantime it will take out a lot of their opponents and earn the much needed points. But as Chika gets closer to use her Meteor, Tonooka snipes her Meteor and this causes the entire place to explode! Thanks to Chika’s shield, she and Yuuma didn’t suffer any damage.
* It gets harder for Hyuse as Inukai is also joining Ikoma Squad and Yuba Squad to finish him off. Hyuse has taken some damage and is pincer in from all sides. On the verge of Bail Out, that is when he uses his secret technique, Viper and this allows him to surprise Ikoma and defeat him. At the same time, Minamisawa deals the finishing blow to Hyuse. Similarly, Yuba shoots faster than Inukai to take out Mizukami.
* I guess Chika is now having trauma that Hyuse is out. And even more so Hyuse pointing out that he is ‘dead’. That’s why he wants her to protect Osamu and Yuuma in his stead. Time to calm down and prove your worth.

* Yuba chases after Inukai to prevent him from regrouping with his teammates while Obishima deals with Minamisawa.
* As Chika is about to use Meteor again, Tonooka is about to snipe her for real but she anticipated him this time and fires back. Now that he has given his position away, Tonooka tries to escape but gets sniped out by Oki. Then as Oki tries to move and escape a Hound attack, he gets slashed by Tsuji.
* Yuuma stumbles into Obishima and Minamisawa’s fight. The duo thought of cooperating to take down Yuuma but Obishima betrays Minamisawa and cuts him down. She is left to fight Yuuma but she realizes she focused too much on him and got herself trapped in the Osamu’s wire zone. Now Yuuma pulls all the tricks to trap her and eventually take her down.
* Inukai has regroup with his mates but with Chika firing her Meteor, Ninomiya wants his guys to take care of the explosions while he take on Yuba himself. Yuba makes haste to get close within range since he will have the draw advantage to take down Ninomiya. However he is one step too short as Ninomiya’s Hound and traps finally got to Yuba.
* Ninomiya Squad is just waiting out in the open unlike Tamakoma-2 sneaking and hiding around. Definitely they’re trying to egg them to come out of their hiding. This is how f*cking confident they are. For now, Yuuma is trying to get close to Ninomiya Squad but with their defensive tactics and Ninomiya’s full on power shots, Yuuma is kept at bay. Ninomiya even telling them that if Chika cannot shoot them, then it’s over. However Yuuma says it is Osamu who will bring him down. Ninomiya denies Osamu as a threat but Yuuma can tell he is lying.
* When Chika tries to take a shot, this has her position discovered. Inukai and Tsuji race to her position. But this could be ploy so that Osamu and Yuuma could take down Ninomiya. Yuuma attacks Ninomiya while Osamu waits for a chance to take him down. However he is about to get that chance when Tsuji’s real target is actually Osamu. He might have been slashed had not Chika fired Ibis at him and take him out. Osamu then fires his Hound at Ninomiya. Although the latter dodges, he still gets hit and this allows Yuuma to deal the final blow.
* Inukai has found Chika and congratulates her. After he takes her out, he talks to Ninomiya that the points won’t affect their standing anyway so he gets permission to stop pursuing them and voluntarily Bails Out.
* With that, Tamakoma-2 wins this and earns the much needed points to get 2nd spot in the B-Rank Wars.

They Make The Draggiest Arcs Ever…
Despite the end illustration telling us that this will definitely be continued, however there are no words about another season at this point of writing. Making it weird is how the whole thing just ended like that. The final match is over, Tamakoma-2 wins. End of show. That’s it. Not even a decent 5 minutes to conclude things up nicely at least for the season. Sure, we all know that Tamakoma-2 has done what they needed to earn them the qualifications for the away mission. We expect what other characters are going to say and some doing their analysis or reflection on the battle. So I guess they lack the budget to at least animate 1 more episode for a decent closure? Oh yeah. In all, total 99 episodes. Just 1 short of a century. Yeah. Not sure why I got so hung up on that part. Maybe it’s because I was having fun watching the final battle so to sudden end it like that and drop dead, it’s just anti-climactic and kills all the fun vibes I had. What? Did I just admit that these seasons were fun?!

From what I read, it might take some time for the next season to come out or if we’re lucky to actually have one in the future. That’s because the author is experiencing some health problems and he isn’t releasing his works on a regular basis. Right now, the series is stuck at the Away Mission Test Arc so that might take a while if they’re really going to adapt it for the next season. I mean, it is better than adapting a single cour but ending it with a cliff-hanger. Worse, branch out to a different setting. A big no-no since deviation from the source at this point would be loathsome. And of course the biggest no would be to insert anime only fillers. Please don’t go down that Naruto route, please. Hence for better or worse, all of us just got to wait but you as I said, health problems from the author and from the looks of it, my guts tell me that we’re not even halfway there for the entire story.

If there is one thing I would like to complain about both these seasons is how ‘draggy’ this B-Rank Wars Arc really was. I mean, both the seasons are basically this, albeit the start of the second season was the Galopoula’s Invasion Arc which lasted for about 5 episodes. I mean, this B-Rank Wars Arc was also the bulk of the first season. So big that they had to insert that anime only filler arc in between. Yeah, remember that Fugitive Arc? But thankfully the third season has finally concluded the B-Rank Wars Arc because if they really drag this series out, I’m starting to forget that these Border agents were really fighting against antagonists that are from other worlds. Yup, this whole series will then start to look like some shonen tournament type of anime.

The biggest factor that glued me in watching the series is the action parts. I have to admit that the action sequences were quite intense as they are awesome. I think it is perhaps the biggest selling point of the series. Despite all the weird terminologies, jargons and even strategies being spammed at my face from time to time, there was never a dull moment in watching the battles. Sure, I still don’t really understand most of them and some of the terms I have even forgotten but thanks to some brief explanation to jog my memories. Sometimes I have this thought in my head that they should just STFU on the explanations (the commentaries given by some of the characters chosen to do commentary on matches) and just get along with the battle! I just want to see the action and not hear all the technical details, pros and cons! Of course it is unfair for me to say that as there are some (just a few) that enlightened and cleared my confusion on why certain moves were pulled off. So it’s not a bad thing to have those commentaries but I’ll still say the action is top notched right from the start and till the end. Though, it sometimes bugs me how teams are chosen to fight each other because if I’m not mistaken, this season is the second time Tamakoma-2 faced off with Ninomiya Squad and Kageura Squad in the last season (if you forgot: Tamakoma-2 lost – so revenge is sweet, huh?). Unless I have forgotten that teams must fight each other twice.

Although Tamakoma-2 are the main characters, this series itself already has too many characters so you know me, you could say that I forgot like about 90% of the characters! Thank goodness I (briefly) read my old blog. And with a few more introduced, I think it is going to get really messy if you’re trying to connect the dots on who’s who. So while we see Tamakoma-2 nicely developing, but as I have pointed out the B-Rank Wars Arc was really draggy so in a way it slows things down too. Once again, thanks to my old blog for the reference because I really forgot that Tamakoma-2’s goal of joining the away mission was to find their missing persons. And I also forgot Hyuse was from Aftokrator. Yeah, the biggest antagonist didn’t even show up in both sequels.

Since it is impossible for me to just list down all the character development, I’ll just point out some that got my attention. Mainly Chika. Now we know what was eating her and her fears of not shooting others. I wanted to brush that reason as silly because it’s like she’s having others think and dictate what she wants to do but then again, it is one of those phobias that is prevalent in real life. I mean, who wants to be blamed, right? Not when society is so f*cked up at this moment so in a way I can feel and understand her. However the think that slightly irks me is Chika’s expression. I don’t know if that weird look is forever stuck on her face because whether or not she is happy or in anxiety, it is largely that same frog face! It makes her look weirder on a whole new level. So I’m left to guess and wonder if she is feeling good or panicking because I can’t blame the animation as other characters have a plethora of expressions. So it must be just her doing her usual Chika poker face, huh?

Then there is Ikoma Squad. I just want to note that these bunch of guys are real comedians. Because before the battle begins, we get to see a glimpse of how the team members plan and strategize. However for Ikoma Squad, they talk nothing about strategy and mostly about other things like being popular with the girls! Not sure if this is their way of calming their nerves and sometimes their deadpan humour amuses me. Yeah, cracking jokes with a deadpan expression. And even at one point breaking the fourth wall? Wow. These guys can be comedians if Border closes down. Then there is this Ouji guy who seems to give weird nicknames to others like Chika = Amatriciana, Yuuma = Cougar, Hyuse = Houston. WTF? Does he need some kind of attention? I also have to wonder if Ninomiya Squad is such a top ranking squad, it’s hard to imagine them being still in B-Rank. But if they’re already this good, imagine how much more awesome A-Rank squads are. Yeah, we’ve seen some real powerful sh*t during Galopoula’s invasion so I can only imagine if there’s a ranking match between A-Rank and thus A-Rank Wars, it’s going to be really crazy and awesome.

On a trivial note, I noticed that both the seasons don’t have a next episode preview. I guess we don’t need spoilers to see what’s in the next episode, huh? Just let the next episode action surprise you. So it somewhat feels a bit weird without having a narrator to end the entire episode by saying “Trigger on”. I don’t know, that seems to be the trademark of the show for me. And I don’t think that a handful of episodes that feature the Tamakoma-2 characters, that feels more for comical relief especially during the Galopoula’s Invasion Arc whereby Osamu and Yuuma are joking around how they aren’t appearing in these episodes.

Now, the one thing that delighted me even more as I was not actually expecting it… MAMIKO NOTO MAKES A RETURN FOR THIS SERIES!!! OMFG!!! But for another character, Yuri. When I first heard her, I was stunned and thought my ears was deceiving me. I mean, I clearly remember she had a role from the first season and that was Lilith and only appeared in the Fugitive Arc. So I wasn’t thinking that she would be back again but how wrong I was. Not sure if the producers forgot she had a role before and just casted her again. Or they’re her biggest fans like I am. Hah. Just kidding. But it’s good to hear her voice again. This time at least a minor supporting character from the source and rather an anime only character. Yeah, time to come up with stupid conspiracy theories that Lilith and Yuri are the same person!!! Not sure if there are other casts with similar circumstances but I don’t really care. I’m just happy to hear more of Mamiko Noto. So sue me.

Some of the seiyuus for this season I recognized are Kenjiro Tsuda as Rindo (to replace the late Keiji Fujiwara), Nobuyuki Hiyama as Yuba, Katsuyuki Konishi as Ikoma, Showtarou Morikubo as Kazuma and Akira Ishida as Ouji. For the second season’s opening theme, if Force sounds very much like a generic K-pop boy band song, that’s because it is. Sung by Tomorrow x Together who is very much a Korean boy band, unfortunately this song doesn’t really appeal much to me as I feel that it lyrics are somewhat a bit chaotic. Especially when the song ends and I first misheard the lines as “Dumb Dumb Dumb”! It’s actually “Dawn Dawn Dawn”. WTF. Oh boy. But I figure that’s my sentiments for that song. Though, the second season’s ending theme, Mirai Eigou by Kami Wa Saikoro Wo Furanai is a rock piece. Sounds more bearable although not my cup of tea. The same group does the opening theme for the third season’s opener, Time Factor and has that same rock vibes. Ungai Doukei by Fantastic is the third season’s ending theme and is more of a semi-slow rock. Not really liking this one and just okay to me.

Overall, this series is great if you’re looking for some fast paced intense action. But if you are looking for more in terms of character development as well as plot progression, very sorry you will have to wait quite a while before more of those materials start to pop up. Both these seasons feel transitional for the next plot and arc that is to come and it is only good because it finally puts an end to the long drawn out B-Rank Wars Arc. They should have a battle royale pitting all the B-Rank teams together in a helter-skelter battle but I guess that’s just me having a wishful thinking after seeing all the great action. Yeah, why do I want to draw out the arc even further when I am complaining about how long it went? Maybe a spinoff then… In the meantime, the Trigger is back on standby mode.

Boku No Hero Academia S5

The fight between good and evil is a long battle and not going to end any time soon. That is why Boku No Hero Academia has reached its fifth season and is still going strong as ever. You know the drill. Our young budding heroes have been honing their Quirks and superpowers tirelessly, making much improvements in hopes of making the world a safer place in the near future. But can anyone fill in the vacuum and void left behind by All Might? Who knows? How many more seasons will it take for superheroes to finally vanquish the evil? We’re not likely going to get our answers this season but we’re one step closer than last season. Like I said, it’s going to be a very long battle up ahead…

Episode 89
In case you forgot what happened last season, we hear Class 1A talking how cool Endeavour was after his fight to defeat Noumu. Before class begins, the alert sounds. It is a mock drill especially for Class 1A. The city has been attacked and there are victims. Hence the young heroes have to work together to rescue the situation. I guess this is a way to introduce the heroes and their Quirks. FOR GOD’S SAKES, IT IS ALREADY THE 5TH SEASON!!! DON’T TELL ME YOU CAN’T REMEMBER THEM?! Anyway, we see them do their best to rescue victims and put out the fire. Then they have to face off with villains played by Amajiki and Nejire. Damn, Amajiki’s demand is to want to go home because he doesn’t want to play this villain sh*t?! Epic… But he has to since Nejire won’t let him. Since Midoriya couldn’t finish him off just because he is his senior, he gets owned. The only one who could is of course Bakugou as he whoops his ass. Despite Class 1A passing this drill, Bakugou still isn’t happy. This isn’t over yet. He thinks Amajiki didn’t take his role seriously enough so he bombs the entire place!!! OMFG!!! Overkill! Yeah, Amajiki regretting he should’ve just gone home… We see Endeavour in hospital. He remembers after defeating Noumu, Dabi pops up to greet him. But since Endeavour was in no shape to continue, Hawks went to meet Dabi later.

Episode 90
Dabi wanted to recover the Noumu and was confident he could defeat the injured heroes. But with Mirko jumping into the scene, Dabi had to withdraw for now. And then we see Hawks talking to Dabi. THEY’RE IN COHORTS?! Hawks blaming Dabi for not telling him in advance this Noumu attack thingy. Hawks wants to join the League of Villains but he needs to maintain his hero image too. Because the more people trust him, the better info he’ll get. It’s a long term strategy. Before you cry Hawks as a traitor, another flashback reveals the higher ups put him up to this job of infiltrating the League of Villains. Because they realize they lack info, Hawks’ sharp eyes and ears will greatly help. Hence Hawks accepted this double agent role. Endeavour has been discharged from hospital but now he has a huge scar over this left face. He returns to his family and despite Fuyumi happy about this reunion, Natsuo still cannot forgive what he did to mom. He is in no mood to celebrate daddy’s return. Todoroki also agrees. Endeavour might be the greatest hero now but as a father he failed. Endeavour isn’t going to ask for forgiveness but he is going to try to atone for the things he did to protect their future. It’s the only path he has. Meanwhile a tired Midoriya dreams of seeing all the successors of One For All. However, he also watches some past unfolding before All For One and his brother. Basically they disagree on each other’s methods to change the world. All For One is seen transferring a power of one who hates it to another who doesn’t have any but yearns it. Brother only views this as him accumulating lackeys. But All For One claims his power can bring order and happiness to others. This isn’t merely for his own selfish gains. Subsequently when those people got powers started to act on their own and got killed, All For One was happy because he didn’t order anything and they just acted in the way they wanted. Just wanting something made everyone acted for him. Since his brother still disagrees, All For One will remake him to the way he wants. Midoriya is then confronted by the brother who tells him everything is going to be okay because he is not alone. Dream so powerful his window glass breaks!

Episode 91
Midoriya speaks to All Might about this. He is surprised to hear Midoriya spoke to the first One For All directly because that never happened to him before. All Might is still unsure about a lot of things but assures him that his power is his ally. But now it’s time to get to business because it’ll be a special training whereby Class 1A will take on Class 1B. Monoma bragging Class 1B will be better and showing off a survey they are more popular than them by 2 votes? Thanks Aizawa for shutting him up. Joining this training is Shinsou who has conveyed his wishes to transfer to the hero class. Both classes will be divided into groups of 4 and play a game in what I believe is capture the prisoner. The side who puts all their opponents in their cage or has the most members left at the end of the time wins. Shinsou will play twice, once on both sides to even things out. So our first match from Class 1A will see Tsuyu, Kaminari, Kirishima, Kouda and Shinsou. The plan is to stick together to intimidate the enemy with their numbers. Scouting shows that Shiozaki is also scouting the area with her vines. Before they could formulate their next move, Jurota Shishida barges in to launch a surprise attack. Shiozaki’s scouting was just a distraction and knowing Class 1A will do the same, their strategy is to go on the offensive and invade them first. Before beast boy could Hulk smash everything, he suddenly stops dead on his tracks. Because Shinsou uses his new gear to mimic the voice of Kosei Tsuburaba and brainwash Shishida.

Episode 92
Shinsou explains how his Quirk works but also its setbacks. Because its effectiveness is lost if it travel through other mediums like microphones, hence he developed this gear and voice imitator to offset that. So back to the battle, it ends with Tsuburaba being captured and thrown into prison, due to Shishida’s mighty strength, he manages to throw Kirishima and Kouda into his team’s cell. With Class 1B leading, Class 1A has to come up with a new strategy. Tsuyu using her mucus to cover Kaminari and Shinsou. This helps stem Shishida’s acute smell sense because he detects 3 clones of Tsuyu. Kaminari purposely lets himself get captured by Shiozaki so that when she focuses many of her vines on him, there will be lesser vines on the battlefield. Tsuyu and Shinsou can use this chance to get closer. This decoy works as Shinsou imitates the voice of Hiryuu Rin to brainwash Shiozaki. With her out of the picture, Shishida charges straight to where Shinsou is after deducing the actions of the other is mostly Tsuyu. Shinsou does his best to stave off Shishida who will not be fooled by his voice into being brainwashed. However he realizes too late that Shinsou isn’t imitating Rin’s voice because it is the real Rin who is being flung by Tsuyu towards him. They both knock each other out and they use Shiozaki to bring them all into the prison. With that, Class 1A wins the first game.

Episode 93
Some word of advice from the teachers to help improve their weaknesses for those who have participated. Now it’s the second match and Class 1A will have Yaoyorozu, Hagakure, Tokoyami and Aoyama. Class 1B has one who has a shadow based power to counter Tokoyami: Shihai Kuroiro. Basically he can merge and move around in shadows. He uses this to his advantage as he takes control of Tokoyami’s dark shadow to attack his own teammates. When Tokoyami recalls it, Kuroiro moves around the shadows, making it harder to pinpoint his location. Of course now we have a flashback on Tokoyami’s internship with Hawks. The first time he was left running around and couldn’t keep up with him. Hawks didn’t teach him much and they just talked. Obviously Tokoyami was frustrated. Then it’s more or less the same thing for the hero work studies. But this time Hawks telling him to improve what he already has and not to be confined to the ground. It is obvious to think that Kuroiro would be targeting Tokoyami as his rival. However he kidnaps Aoyama and brings him back to base. At this point he thinks not even Tokoyami could catch him. Wrong. Tokoyami has developed a new skill and using dark shadow as his wings to fly around. Once Aoyama is rescued and lighting up the place, Kuroiro’s plan has failed. But of course Class 1B has a backup plan. Kinoko Komori sprouting mushrooms everywhere?

Episode 94
All this is within Kendou’s sight of plan. Kinoko’s mushrooms growing everywhere even on their body is irking them to the max while Manga Fukidashi whose Quirk is to materialize comic book sound effects separates Yaoyorozu from the rest. By separating the brains, Kendou goes in to pressure her with her fists and won’t give her time to think. Of course a few flashback to show why Yaoyorozu excels in this as she materializes a huge cannon. She just needed some time to materialize something this big. But it isn’t at Kendou nor the wall that she intends to blast at but over it. It is a bag containing a few items as Tokoyami grabs it. It has heat sensor goggles as he seeks out his opponents as well as disinfectants to stop those annoying mushrooms. While Hagakure gives Fukidashi a beat down, Tokoyami and Dark Shadow get the better of Kinoko and Kuroiro. It looks like victory is theirs but Kinoko uses a slick move to let mushrooms grow inside Tokoyami’s throat! Hagakure’s beat down combo ends when Kendou grabs her. It took her some time to get here because Yaoyorozu has materialized too much things and knew she was going to pass out. Hence her final materialization was tough strings to tie Kendou together with her and the cannon. In the end, Class 1A is thrown into prison, giving Class 1B a flawless victory.

Episode 95
We take a break before the next match. All Might talks to Midoriya if he has problems using his Quirk. Well, his spontaneous activation might be giving him some problems but I’m going to be he’ll master that in no time. We also take a detour to see Endeavour catching a villain. After that, he gets worried his son never replies his messages. Maybe it’s because he is in class? So now we’re on to the third match that has Todoroki, Iida, Ojiro and Shouji. Tetsutetsu seems to be just breaking down everything and it might look like a dumb idea because it lets your enemies know your position. Todoroki uses his ice to freeze the whole area. Now it would be easy to ring them in as they’re stuck, right? Well, nope. If only Juzo Honenuki whose Quirk is to make anything he touches soft, didn’t touch the ground in the first place. He anticipated Todoroki’s attack and prepared this move. Now that Class 1A cannot get firm footing, Class 1B goes in for the offensive. Sen Kaibara keeping Ojiro at bay with his drilling Quirk, Pony Tsunotori using her horns to stop Shouji, Tetsutetsu giving all he’s got at Todoroki. Honenuki thinks Iida will be stuck for the rest of the match but sorry to disappoint. He has improved too and his engine can last longer than its usual limit. He bursts out from his entrapment and charges straight at Honenuki at full speed.

Episode 96
With Iida too fast, Honenuki knows he has no winning chance and abandons him to go support his teammates. Since Ojiro is having a hard time with Kaibara, Iida’s speed manages to save Ojiro’s skin and then throw Kaibara into the cell. Tetsutetsu is owning Todoroki. If this is an endurance match, the former will likely win. Cue for Todoroki to remember all that punishing training from dad to draw out the deadliest flames. Ojiro and Shouji have gotten Tsunotori in their grasp but Honenuki interferes. As Ojiro tries to keep a firm grasp over her, this is what she intends to because with her horns, she sends Ojiro flying straight into prison. A desperate fight between Todoroki-Iida and Honenuki-Tetsutetsu. All refusing to back down and become the reason of their team’s lost. Hence, causing all to get knocked out. With time running out, Tsunotori takes Todoroki and her unconscious teammates with her. She knows by putting Todoroki in prison will seal the win for the team but she cannot make it in time as she is also carrying her teammates. Hence, she flies higher out of Shouji’s reach until the time ends. With both sides having 1 opponent in prison, this third match ends in a draw. Todoroki and Iida recuperate in the infirmary. Iida blaming himself for being too slow but Todoroki notes himself as the slower one. After all, he remembers Iida doing all he can to save him. Tetsutetsu and Honenuki are impressed with their fighting style and hope to fight them again another day.

Episode 97
So, we’re expecting Bakugou to boss around Jirou, Satou and Sero? Well, looks like it. Just follow his lead! Class 1B expects this much too and that Bakugou is just a one-man show and everyone else following his orders. As Jirou uses her hearing to locate her enemy, it gets too noisy to pinpoint their whereabouts because Setsuna Tokage who can separate her body into many parts is knocking randomly here and there. Using the sticky glue of Kojiro Bondo and the sharp blades of Togaru Kamikiri, it sure looks like a winning strategy. But they are taken by surprise because Bakugou protects his teammates from harm. This selfish guy acted for others? Earlier on he promised them that he will protect them if they’re ever in danger. Likewise the same can be said if the situation is reversed. Like when how Awase tries to trap him, Satou comes to his rescue and breaks him out. Bakugou is going to show he is the strongest with a flawless victory. Class 1B tries to regroup while Class 1A aggressively goes after them. This teamwork allows them to take their opponents by surprise and throw them all in the slammer! Woah! Not even 5 minutes or halfway point of this episode and Bakugou’s side completely won this match! OMFG! I can see why Monoma is going crazy. This shocking win has Tokage and her mates in shock and despair. Though, Bakugou claims he hasn’t changed in character since his goal is the same. Now it’s for the final match. Shinsou discussing with his Class 1B side that Midoriya is a threat and that they’ll have to take him out first. On the other side, Ochako and Mina feeling defeated since their team doesn’t look like they have a winning formula. Don’t worry. Midoriya is up to the task. After seeing Bakugou’s explosive action, you bet he is more than fired up. He’ll be the bait.

Episode 98
Gran Torino calls All Might to let him know about what Nana said about those visions. “The time has not yet come”. As the last match gets underway, Midoriya tries to make himself the flashy bait. Monoma attacks him and is trying to play psychology with him. Midoriya knows it is a ruse to trick him into revealing his teammates’ whereabouts via anger. Meanwhile Ochako, Mina and Mineta are being assaulted by Reiko Yanagi, Yui Kodai and Nirengeki Shouda. When Monoma blames Bakugou for being captured by a villain and hence responsible for All Might’s retirement, Midoriya is about to snap but his Quirk manifests into something new and goes all out of control. He has a hard time trying to control it. Ochako tries to grab a hold of him but it’s not working. She calls out to Shinsou to help Midoriya control it with his brainwashing. Shinsou tells Midoriya to fight him and the Quirk diminishes. But Midoriya finds himself in a strange place. Before him is one of the past successors for One For All. This time Midoriya can see and hear him clearly as he lectures him to work harder to use this power. He goes on explaining about the core that all of them has and this One For All has been growing ever since. That new Quirk Midoriya manifested belonged to him. Also, his power in anger, it will react to that so he must learn to control it. It’s okay to be angry but don’t let it control you. Because now it is the time for One For All to be ripe. Midoriya will have 6 more Quirks manifesting in him and he needs to master them all. He will be the one who will complete One For All. Midoriya returns to reality but no time to rest as Monoma starts attacking. Soon everyone is here and it becomes a big messy brawl.

Episode 99
Monoma claims he has copied Midoriya’s power and is going to use it against him. Midoriya fears this because All Might warned, to the untrained, your body will be ripped apart. Ochako calls Monoma’s bluff and pins him down, allowing Midoriya to go after Shinsou. Midoriya now uses his newfound One For All against Shinsou but it didn’t last. He realizes the immense power needed to use this Quirk and can only use it when he has completely mastered One For All. Shinsou makes a run for it, knowing he cannot fight Midoriya head on and will try to change the battlefield to his favour. As Ochako takes Monoma to prison, the latter trying to get psychological with her about the number of Quirks he can copy, its duration and even the lingering effects once that copied Quirk is gone. Ochako stays cautious so as not to fall into his trap but still can’t help worry if what he said was true. As Midoriya inches closer to capture Shinsou, one of Monoma’s lingering Quirk effects directly hits him. It didn’t work as Midoriya bounces back to restrain Shinsou while Ochako supports her pals to take down the rest. In the end, Class 1B are all captured. Class 1A wins the overall. During the post mortem, Aizawa asks about Midoriya losing control. He admits he doesn’t know what that power was and it was overflowing he couldn’t held it back. Like as though a familiar power suddenly bared its fang against him. If not for Shinsou and Ochako, things might have gotten worse. As for Shinsou, he stopped Midoriya because he wanted to fight him fairly and let him see how much he improved. Everything else was just coincidental. But if he didn’t stop him from going berserk, his team would have still lost anyway. While Aizawa passes him, Shinsou realizes that he can’t be satisfied with a passing grade if he wants to be a great hero. Yup, more hard work, right?

Episode 100
Shinsou will be joining the hero course next year. But which class? They’ll decide on that later. Midoriya talks to All Might and Bakugou about the visions he saw. Bakugou thinks it could have something to do with All For One since this power originated from him. In order to know more about this power, Bakugou and Midoriya conduce a mock battle to try and bring out that power but nothing of that sort happened. Nothing even close. Midoriya thinks it must be connected to his feelings since he judged that power to be something he cannot use right now and thus locked away. Perhaps he needs to formulate an image of locking and unlocking. Aizawa has Monoma visit Eri. This is so that he could copy her Quirk and if he understands its workings, he can help teach her to use it. Unfortunately it is a blank. Although his Quirk copies others, he cannot copy whatever that needs to be accumulated to use that Quirk. Before Eri could feel bad that her Quirk gives everyone a hard time, Midoriya tells her otherwise. Her power was useful then and he hopes it could be his ally. This gives not only her the confidence but himself a big one too. Now it is time for Bakugou, Todoroki and those who failed the provisional licence to do a retake. You can tell that they pass because just half an hour getting that licence, it is time to show off that they’re ready to do hero work as they take down a group of villains riding the waves to steal people’s wallet! Despite holding back a lot, I guess this shows they have become stronger with their powers quite devastating even at this level. They return home as the rest of their pals congratulate them on their success.

Episode 101
9 days ago, something destroyed Deika City. An earthquake? Or is it the work of a mad villain? Reports say it was due to rioting but thanks to the city having less density, the casualties weren’t high. As for if this was the plot of villains, many people still feel hope for the heroes. Todoroki and Bakugou have an interview for their recent heroics just after getting their provisional licence. Because Bakugou is so crude and loud, they cut all his lines and we’re left with ‘weak’ ones from Todoroki. Bakugou must be fuming… Hence Mt Lady is here to give Class 1A a lesson on how to deal with the media. She has a mock interview with them. Mainly they are all motivated until it is Midoriya’s turn. Stiff as a rock. Is he harder than Kirishima? But when he starts talking about All Might, he can’t stop? He tries to demonstrate his new Quirk manages to eke a little out. He is very happy about it but for the rest, they’re just disappointed. Nezu makes an announcement to his staffs and it seems the committee wants to reinstate work studies. It’s like they’re saying they are short-handed despite the land is saturated with heroes. Even more so, they’re not letting the public know about this and they must have sniffed something dangerous out. Oh well, being in danger is all part of a hero’s job. But in the meantime, we see Class 1A celebrate Christmas. Then Eri visits. F*cking cute in her Santa outfit! Don’t you just want to hug her?! It is obvious that Eri has been a lot happier ever since taking Midoriya’s words to heart. Once the party is over, now they have to think about the hero agencies they want to go to. Todoroki invites Midoriya and Bakugou to come to his father’s agency if they have nowhere else in mind.

Episode 102
Hawks continue to play double agent as he contacts Dabi. Believing that Dabi sees worth in him, hence he is given another chance to take down another hero. It could be Jeanist who was staying at his place. Todoroki, Midoriya and Bakugou meet up with Endeavour. Honestly, he isn’t happy to be training other kids and thought it would just be his son. Great timing to see the #1 hero in action as some lunatic is trying to play God and save the world from darkness. Although he has his cohorts, Endeavour and the kids take down the rest. This is also thanks to Hawks swooping in. As they chat, it seems Hawks talks about a recent book that is popular among readers. He gives it to Endeavour to read and has highlighted some of the important parts. Of course there is more to it. Hawks is constantly being watched so he cannot say it directly and has gone this roundabout way to hint to Endeavour. All that is left is for him to notice what he was trying to say. That bewildered look on his face… It better be a miracle. The trio are taken to Endeavour’s agency and they see how busy the place is. 100 requests a day! So let’s get your busy work studies started! Meanwhile Endeavour is trying to decipher Hawks’ actions. His actions have been contradictory before. Now he is saying different things again. After skimming through the highlighted parts of the book, he suddenly realizes the secret code Hawks was trying to convey. It seems the enemy is the liberation army whose numbers are over a hundred thousand and they will rise up to action in 4 months.

Episode 103
Hawks is seen giving his report to the liberation army that consists of members from the League of Villains. He manages to eavesdrop on their action plan and sent that cryptic message to Endeavour. Endeavour also realizes that if the plan to stop them fails, their counterattack will be by the numbers. Hence he believes this is what this work studies is for. An insurance in the worst case scenario. With that, he takes on the trio directly under his wings. First, he has Midoriya explain about himself. Damn, so many words… I don’t even understand what he is trying to say! I think it’s about his insecurities of controlling his powers, no? Bakugou? Short and simple. Trying to find out what he can’t do. Todoroki? He is blunt enough to say that he is here to use him as a stepping stone to become the hero he admires: All Might. As a father, that statement might hurt. But oh well, if it’s training from the best hero in town they want, they got it. As Endeavour tells them the basic stuffs that a hero must cover, he shows them all how he covers them all simultaneously. He is faster than the rookies to capture an escaping criminal. Bakugou and Todoroki notice how Endeavour using some condensed explosion from his flames to propel much faster into action. Endeavour also shows them how such speed is important as it would mean the difference between life or death. Yup, saved a lady’s life from being run over by a truck. More Endeavour lecture and homework for them to practice doing multiple stuffs at once without thinking until it becomes automatic. He isn’t worry if they succeed or fail many times because it will not affect his work and performance. That motivate you enough?

Episode 104
Time to take a break from the manly gar Endeavour agency and go see what Ochako and Tsuyu are doing at Ryukyu’s agency. Nejire talks about the illegal drug called Trigger that helps boost Quirks. Meanwhile Selkie tries to stop a suspicious ship from leaving Japan. It could contain materials that make Trigger. One of the ship’s men uses Trigger to boost a large smokescreen over the area and give multiple fake targets. The ship goes into hiding and Selkie recognizes this area with maze-like islands. Hence assistance is needed. He calls Ryukyu for help and he is reunited with Tsuyu. First, he has all of them relax and play at the beach. I mean, no need to get tense about this, right? It is most likely the ship will use the darkness of the night to move. Until then, have fun. Once night falls, they move out. As expected, the ship also moves out and is quickly discovered. Another smokescreen attempt but this time Selkie manages to board it and take control of the bridge. However, what they thought was supposed to be the cargo trailer turned out to be an airplane. This is actually the baddie’s real mode of transport. Uhm, shouldn’t they have done it earlier instead of waiting for this moment? Because not even Ryukyu can catch up to it. All over? Not if Ochako is propelled into the plane on the harpoon. She manages to knock out the baddie and tries to take control of the plane? Uhm, can she fly it? I don’t know but shouldn’t she make the plane weightless? What do you mean it’s too heavy for that?! Is there a limit?! Ochako can’t abandon and crash it for fear of the materials contaminating the ocean. So with Nejire’s wave power to stabilize the stalling plane and Ryukyu gliding it safely over the sea, it is mission accomplished. Back to more beach fun. They’ve earned it. In the end, these people are just couriers and they have no idea what will be done with the materials. The buyer used a fake name so they have no more lead on that. But they do know it was headed to a country in Europe. Oh well. No matter. Not Japan’s problem for now, right? Yup, enjoy the momentary (beach fanservice) peace.

Episode 105
Our trainees continue to trail behind Endeavour in catching criminals or preventing disasters from happening. A call from Fuyumi as she heard Todoroki had some friends doing work studies at his agency so she hopes to invite them for dinner. Hence we have almost the first half of flashbacks we already know from last season. You know, the strain in Endeavour’s family. Also his talk with All Might on how to become strong. After another day of hard training, Endeavour brings them home. Midoriya being very modest and Bakugou of course not really impressed. Yeah, this guy is just waiting to explode from all the nice stuffs from Midoriya. Natsuo also joins them but you can really feel the tension between him and father. Fuyumi tries to help make the mood better but in the end, he can’t do this and leaves. Later Fuyumi asking Todoroki how he feels about dad and he still blames him for this scar although it was mom who put did it and of course ultimately blaming him entirely for what he did to her. Essentially, he is still unsure on his feelings for his old man. Bakugou can’t take any more of this sh*t so I guess he is back to being his crude motherf*cker. But Midoriya is gentler. It is fine if Todoroki still hates his dad and won’t forgive him. But he thinks he will because he is a kind person. So he is in a phase where he is waiting for that right moment. You bet everyone else heard that. So Endeavour thinks how he has the same dream of his family having fun and eating together at the same table. Well, it could’ve been complete had his other son, Toya not dead.

Episode 106
Fuyumi explains that Natsuo was quite close to Toya. He viewed his death as dad’s fault. Meanwhile a crazy villain named Ending has been released from prison. Looks like he is a ‘fanatic’ of Endeavour. He wants to be killed by that guy so the first thing he did is to kidnap Natsuo as he is about to rendezvous with his friends. As Endeavour drives his students home, suddenly they are being attacked by Ending. As he is holding Natsuo hostage, they cannot do much. Ending relishes being burnt by Endeavour’s flames but Endeavour cannot make any wrong moves as his son’s life is at stake. Hence he hesitates. With the young heroes springing into action, Ending is not pleased that they disrupted his plan so he throws more hostages into the fray. I guess this is to show off how much these young ones have learnt under Endeavour and in just a week, they have already mastered his lessons. So no casualties as the innocent people are saved and Ending caught. The end of him. It’s cue for Endeavour and Natsuo to reconcile. Father coming to terms and accept he ran away from responsibility and thus as good as killing Toya. Natsuo still trying to be tough and won’t forgive him since he isn’t as kind of Todoroki. Yeah? Why is he crying then? Endeavour doesn’t want his forgiveness but to atone. Bakugou tries to brag how awesome he is but with Endeavour thanking him for covering his mistakes, that just killed the mood.

Episode 107
The young heroes return to UA for the winter break. So while they are having a nice time, Aizawa and Mic are rushing to the special prison. They meet up with Tsukauchi and Gran Torino who talk how they’ve got it all wrong about Noumus. They thought they were just mindless puppets but apparently they were wrong. They also mention how they’re trying to interrogate Kurogiri but he doesn’t even budge. Based on their investigation, Kurogiri is very most likely be Oboro Shirakumo who was Aizawa and Mic’s classmate during their student days at UA. He died during work studies and his body might have been used as a Noumu vessel to become what we know as Kurogiri. Hence the plan is to make Kurogiri talk, assuming there is shreds of Shirakumo’s attachments within via Aizawa and Mic’s presence. Aizawa remembers Shirakumo as a lively guy and he suggested them forming their own agency. Aizawa uses his Quirk but Kurogiri remains himself, asking about Shigaraki since it is his duty to look after him. Despite a very emotional Aizawa talking about his days with Shirakumo, Kurogiri maintains he knows nothing of that person. Aizawa may have awakened something after all that emotionally charged ranting since Kurogiri’s brainwaves start to react abnormally. In that moment, Shirokumo’s face pops up. Before he disappears, hospital is the only word he says. Kurogiri then goes back to sleep. Gran Torino regrets having bring up something painful from their past but with this small progress, they hope to prevent any more victims. We see a mad Dr Robotnik doing some painful experiment on Shigaraki. He claims he is the All For One masterpiece he has sought since he maintains his ego and has infinite power at the same time.

Episode 108
A few months ago, Shigaraki and his pals go to find Gigantomachia. However the big guy deems them too weak and tried to crush them. Nothing they do could harm this former bodyguard of All For One. Only the voice of All For One manage to calm him down. They are then teleported to the secret lab of Dr Daruma Ujiko who is a close aid of All For One. In his lab, he is working to make high end Noumus. He is willing to devote himself to help them but needs them to prove themselves. We see Shigaraki’s flashback of being picked up by All For One. Despite only having fragments of his memories, he was given dismembered hands of his family that he accidentally killed with his Quirk. All For One will teach him where to direct all his hate. Shigaraki continues to feel all that hate in this world and since everything irritates him, he’ll destroy everything. Doctor is willing to serve them but they must attain a certain rank first before he gives them some power. Their first task is to make Gigantomachia submit. Only Dabi wants out since he believes he has a good way to gain an ally. For the next few months, the League of Villains keep fighting Gigantomachia. Except for Shigaraki, everyone takes turns to take a break during the rest. Shigaraki looks happy as he fights the big guy. Then they receive a call from Re-Destro who is the supreme leader of the Meta Liberation Army (MLA). Seems he has taken Giran as hostage and cut his fingers, scatter them everywhere to make him talk but his mouth is tightly sealed. Long story short, MLA wants to take down the League of Villains for their revival. They are to come to Deika City within an hour and in exchange they’ll set Giran free. The choice is theirs, either get crushed by heroes or the MLA. As the League of Villains ponder if Re-Destro is bluffing all the way, Shigaraki intends to head there and face the 110,000 men strong MLA. Of course he will use Gigantomachia to crush everyone there. After fighting that big guy, he knows his weakness. So he’ll let both sides fight it out and take down the big guy after he gets tired.

Episode 109
A brief narration how MLA came about. When the outbreak of Quirks first came about and all hell broke loose, a new ideology came about regarding the freedom to use Quirks was a natural right. Chikara Yotsubashi AKA Destro brought together people and formed MLA to destroy the present. But after a few years of struggling, the organization was defeated and dissolved. In prison, Destro wrote a book before committing suicide. He himself didn’t know he had a child. Re-Destro will once again revive MLA and take down the League of Villains. Shigaraki and co are at Deika City. They are taken to see Koku Hanabata AKA Trumpet but soon he has the entire MLA ambush them. 90% of residents of Deika City are part of the MLA. It becomes an all-out brawl for survival. But Toga is the main character in focus. Chitose Kizuki AKA Curious is trying to ‘interview’ her and lay bare the truth about her life. Hence we delve and see her twisted life. Seems she loves sucking blood from the things she loved. Even creepier is how she put on that big creepy smile on her face and freaked out others, including her parents. They lament why she couldn’t be a normal girl. But Toga has never viewed all of this as unfortunate since she loved doing the things she loves. Hence this is pretty much her normal life and she wants to become what she loves. After taking all those mini landmine blasts from Curious as well as the incessant onslaught from other MLA goons, she manages to use her blood reserve from Ochako, using her Quirk to float everyone and let them drop to their death. Tired or lost too much blood? Because Toga goes to hide in a shed to, uhm, die or rest? Twice finds her and becomes devastated what has become of her. However Tomoyasu Chikazoku AKA Skeptic is going to use his Quirk against Twice and convince him to join MLA.

Episode 110
Skeptic’s ability to clone others as Twice’s clones hold him down and the rest about to kill Toga. This makes Twice go crazy as he fears of splitting himself again. We delve a little bit more into Twice’s background. Basically a loser and a failure. He was always lonely and the best company needed was himself. He cloned himself and lived a small life of crime before we saw what happened to him that caused his trauma. Twice realizes he has always been running away because if he wanted to end this madness, he would’ve just killed himself. He overcomes his trauma as he clones himself infinite times. A big messy brawl! Yeah, making twisted jokes too. MLA vs Twice! Dabi is having a hard time fighting this Eskimo ice wielder, Geten. Twice comes to everyone’s aid. Shigaraki has the clones clear a path for him to the tower. Shigaraki vs Re-Destro as the latter talks about some mother making a wish for her bullied child to live freely in this world but only for her pleas to fall on deaf ears. And there’s something about meta ability and Quirks, blah, blah, blah. So Re-Destro just introducing himself as Destro’s descendent? The tower shatters. But our monsters are still up ready for another go.

Episode 111
Twice’s clones trying to clone Toga and save her with her own blood. Spinner trying to fight Trumpet but his voice as his Quirk, vitalizes other MLA soldiers to take him on. Trumpet continues to mock Spinner as one who cannot accomplish anything because of his shut-in background. While he admits that, he believes all of them are the same like him, putting them on the same level as him. Re-Destro’s Quirk is building up stress and unleashing it as a tremendous power. The more stress he stores up, the more powerful and bigger he becomes. When Re-Destro plucks off Shigaraki’s hands one by one, this makes his head hurt as he starts to remember his painful past. This allows him to evolve too as he could now decay anything without using all his fingers. Re-Destro is surprised and didn’t take into account that he would be training himself like this. He thought he was just inferior. So basically he underestimated the enemy, huh? WTF a big organization boss like him didn’t see this coming?! Skeptic then calls him to warn that Gigantomachia is here. He is barging through everything like a steamroller! Shigaraki claims he just wants to destroy everything so Re-Destro will kill him because if there is no creation, there will be no future. Now we delve into Shigaraki’s past. A time when he was known as Tenko Shimura. Let’s say his father, Kotaro was a dictator. Always abusing him because of that one little rule that must be obeyed: You do not talk about heroes in this household. The rest of the family could not do anything and just watch in fear. And Tenko had some sort of itchy illness. One day, Hana (older sister) tried to give him hope by showing a picture of grandma who is a hero. They hope they can be heroes in secret. Of course, Kotaro found out about it and more abuse. He claimed that is not grandma but a savage who abandoned her child. No family members helped. Looks like Kotaro had to relive some painful memories about his mom having to leave the family to fight baddies as a hero. In a letter she wrote, she regretted not being there for him and hoped he would be happy. Tenko’s stress reached its limit so his decaying Quirk activated. Poor dog became his first victim. The other family members saw this and became afraid. Unknowingly, Tenko panicked and accidentally killed them all. Lastly, there’s Kotaro. He was the only one whom he intentionally killed and he felt good. He believed it was what he always wanted.

Episode 112
Shigaraki thought of the irony that despite the city filled with heroes, no one came to his family’s aid. Perhaps it was punishment for killing his family. If only someone had extended his hand to him earlier. But as we all know, All For One did that. Well, technically he isn’t wrong lecturing about the bad parts of society as All For One coaches him to be his successor. Until Tenko started feeling the ease when he killed people, he felt like he will be forgiven no matter what he did. With that, he was given a name change. Tomura that means mourning and Shigaraki came from All For One’s surname. Now, Shigaraki continues to own Re-Destro even if he releases 100% or his stress. Heck, even with his giant mecha suit and 150% power, he still cannot best Shigaraki! Re-Destro then realizes his worries on him is because Shigaraki looked truly liberated from everything. All the MLA members rush to save Re-Destro. With Shigaraki unleashing the most powerful attack, Re-Destro lives only because he cut off his own legs to save himself from the rot. Re-Destro then sees a new light in Shigaraki. He admits his loss and is prepared to follow him for the rest of his life! MLA will become his subordinates! Gigantomachia watching all this and is moved to tears?! Shigaraki believes Re-Destro is the CEO of Detnerat and this means he has the money… In the aftermath, the destruction of Deika City was reported as so. An organized criminal organization lured heroes outside of the city and planned a terrorist attack here. But the residents stood up together and resisted them. The whole world now couldn’t stop talking about their heroism although it’s a spin story concocted by Skeptic. Re-Destro makes an announcement that MLA will merge with League of Villains to become Paranormal Liberation Front (PLA) and Shigaraki now the supreme commander. Shigaraki left out the villain name to leave it to a broader interpretation. His lieutenants will be his buddies from (ex)League of Villains as well as Re-Destro, Skeptic, Trumpet and Geten. Now that Shigaraki has made Gigantomachia submissive to him, Doctor will grant him the power he wishes.

Episode 113
Hawks has witnessed the forming of PLA. However he thinks he has not gotten the full picture of everything and believes there is a backer behind the scene. Shigaraki undergoes Doctor’s surgery to get even more power. He will use it to turn all that All Might has left behind into dust. Doctor warns him he will undergo hellish pain for 4 months but after that, he will have everything. Including the One For All power that never went All For One’s way. Now we return to our Class 1A students as we see them beat up discount Terminator robots from Skynet! WTF?! Judgment Day is laughable!!! WTF???!!! HUMANS ARE SCARY THEY SAY!!! Fall of the machines definitely! Anyway, in case you forget who Class 1A are, here’s another round of introduction but this time the mentor they had under their work studies. Meanwhile a short drama that doesn’t amount to anything much because Eri’s horn is starting to feel pain. All Might has tried his best to research about previous successors for One For All. Not much. So the gist of this Black Whip dude was the 5th successor who went by the name of Lariat. Wow. Bakugou pointing out how all these users died young… Though he doesn’t see any speciality in their Quirks, All Might agrees with him because a time when evil was at his peak, All For One crushed all the strong ones. Hence the successors of One For All weren’t really the chosen ones but rather were entrusted with that power. All Might wants to teach Midoriya the Quirk of his master. That is to float. Bakugou laughs his ass off he already knows how to do that with his own explosive Quirk. We see Class 1A having a great party as Aizawa and All Might talk about the latter feeling useless he can’t help his students who are greatly improving. Aizawa disagrees because just by being around is already spurring many people. Hawks is still doing his double spy undercover and believes Shigaraki has a backer in the hospital. Spring arrives and Class 1A students are surprised that they all get the same work studies theme. Expeditionary operation? And so we see a great number of heroes arriving at the city outskirts. They think it will be evacuating residents but little do they know it will be the greatest fight against PLA that will shake the superhuman society.

(Super)Heroic Age
Well, we already know the drill. That’s right. Another season coming up! After leaving us with such a tempting cliff-hanger in what will be a big and epic badass fight, surely the series cannot end right here, right? And that is why it is no surprise that there is going to be a sixth season. Heck, it would be a surprise if there wasn’t and since this series is so mainstream, it’ll just make many people stressed up and mad, right? Just kidding. I speculated that part. But that’s how I feel since this series is popular enough to get renewed for another season and already breached the 3 digit number of episodes. A feat that a big majority of anime titles out there could never achieve. So with this series already getting over 100 episodes and still going strong, I suppose that something right has been done.

Personally, I felt this season has the same sentiments like the last one. Not as great as I expected it would be but nevertheless still interesting to hold my interest. You see, from last season that started out with the interesting Hassaikai arc, it became a bore when they ended it with that boring detour with a small time criminal named Gentle Criminal. Hence my hopes for this season weren’t particularly high. Because it feels a lot like that this season is somewhat intermediary before the next. I mean, we see the UA students honing their skills and practising to get even much more stronger than before. Well, what is the name of this series again? I understand that we need to see how these heroes grow so that we can grow with them, giving us a reason to support them in the future. Hence the training and all might not be part of the real action of fighting real villains but remember, it’s a long road to become a truly respected hero and that’s why we’ve sit through 5 seasons of that (as well as some unplanned ambushes by the baddies) which will help validate our emotions and support for them in the future. By the way, I just noticed this. Already into 5 seasons and they are still in their first year! OMFG… How slow time passes here…

Hence the first half of this season is all about both classes of UA fighting a team battle. My guess is not only to give students of Class 1A some more screen time but so as not to make us forget those from Class 1B. Hey, they are also superheroes, right? So after 5 seasons, these, uhm, lesser screen time heroes if I should call them that, finally have their dues. Well, this arc has its hits and misses. The first 3 matches were okay as they were to flesh out how far these students have grown in their Quirks. Ironically, the most interesting match was the fourth one that involved Bakugou. It was fast and it was furious. Too bad it ended in a flash! Woah! Slow down! I wished it would last as long as the other matches but if that happened, it would’ve watered down Bakugou’s awesomeness and resolve. And of course finally Midoriya’s match isn’t just a rematch with Shinsou but to also initiate the start of the true potential of his One For All powers starting with that Black Whip one. Hence a new obstacle for him to control and conquer before the next ex-One For All user approves of him and lends him/her power.

The middle arc I feel is the most boring one. Dealing with the work studies, it is of course to showcase that our favourite heroes learn from the current number #1 hero in town. I suppose this is to help justify that they will make great decisions and pull off more awesome moves in their fight against future villains. I know this arc is important and just transitional but I just can’t help feel that it was just freaking boring! That was why I had fears that this part would be draggy and end up something similar like last season. And what’s this about trying to showcase us Endeavour’s family household problems? Oh yeah. Even the best hero still has his own issues to deal with and no superhero or superpower could solve it with the snap of a finger. Thankfully, they cut short this arc because like I said, I feared it would become a very boring end to this season if they were going to update us about the work studies of the other Class 1A students. Yeah, I thought showing Ochako and Tsuyu’s work studies was bad enough, oh boy and here I thought they might show the rest! Thankfully, didn’t. Yup, Ochako and Tsuyu important enough to have an episode for their work studies shown than you other Class 1A blokes! Yeah, they just got an honourable mention in the end so I guess it’s not that bad.

The final arc which is of course the most interesting arc this season! Yes, they even named it Boku No Villain Academy! Only, the academy isn’t a fixed institution where students go to learn and get their systematic education. For the past few seasons, the League of Villains has not been successful very much and was just barely hanging in there. Before we get bored with the usual same heroes and forget that there are 2 sides to a coin, hence the very much needed focus on the villains’ side. It was quite interesting as it fleshes out more on some of the members like Toga, Twice and of course Shigaraki the main guy himself. We have already seen snippets of why he became twisted and under the guidance of All For One but this arc now justifies and shows us how it all happened. It goes to show that these villains were once normal and ordinary people like many others are but were not so lucky nor there was somebody to save them in time. It would have been a different ball game had somebody did but then again, if they were saved, somebody else would’ve taken their place and become the villain. In fact, with this arc, I am now confused and in a dilemma with my own allegiance! Because I don’t know if I should support the young heroes or UA or these League of Villains! Oh no. Looks like my dark side is coming up and there is this danger of me supporting the latter! Am I starting to sympathize with the bad guys?! Oh dear. We’ll see when next season comes around. Especially with some new light shed on the Noumu, most likely it’ll turn upside down in everything that we have believed in so far.

I’m not going to delve too much into the characters as everything is still ongoing so there’s more room for development. With the ever expanding heroes, some will fall to the wayside and some will be more prominent than others. Yeah, you people still remember Shishikura? Togata and Eri feel like minor characters this season so too bad you lolicons wanting to see more Eri. And sorry folks, no Midoriya x Ochako romance this time too. Still a lot of hinting pointing in that direction but don’t get your hopes up. And with next season’s focus on the big fight with PLA, that’s going to be pushed back even more.

Also I want to note that with Re-Destro as this season’s final arc’s antagonist, once again I have this feeling that he is going to end up like the fates of Stain and Overhaul. In the sense that they started out great and threatening but in the end, they’re just reduced to nothing and became forgettable. While it is not technically over yet for Re-Destro, but after his loss to Shigaraki, it really feels weird that he has now become a self-proclaimed lackey for Shigaraki. And the way he obediently does what the new supreme commander of PLA tells him to, it was just weird. Sending vibes of what I said about the fates of Stain and Overhaul. Look what he has been reduced to. While those foot soldiers and blind hardcore faithful followers may be happy with this new merger, I have a feeling that those in the higher ranks aren’t going to be so pleased. I mean, they followed him and his cause, only for him to suddenly change character and become a submissive subordinate of an outsider. We’ll see how this merger will go and if there would be cracks and some convoluted betrayals, splinters and breakoffs, etc.

Man, I feel like a broken tape recorder now. But since I’m on the topic, just a kind reminder that we’re into the fifth season and the series continues to remind us the Quirks of the characters. In. Every. Episode. They. Pop. Up. For. The. First. Time. Annoying as it can get but if you still do not know that Midoriya’s Quirk is One For All, you should not be watching this series at all or go back to season 1 and watch everything all over again. But of course my theory is that they can’t stop that now because otherwise people will start questioning them why they drop this ‘trademark’ when they have been doing it consistently for all the series. I guess for the sake of that, we will all have to be patient and just ignore this annoyance. And yeah, this goes for the mid-intermission too. While biodata of new characters are okay, do we still need to see those from Class 1A? For the umpteenth time, we all know Midoriya loves katsudon AKA pork cutlet bowls, RIGHT?! What do you mean you don’t know?! Are you paying attention to this segment and reading those data???!!!

With the ever expanding cast and new seiyuus joining with each new season, I bet they’ll have to one day get a bigger studio to have them all do their voice acting. Just kidding of course. The only notable seiyuu joining this season is Tomokazu Sugita as Skeptic. Finally, this dude has a role here. Oh right, almost forgot Hiroki Yasumoto as that Black Whip guy. Other notable ones include Hiroaki Hirata as Re-Destro (Benny in Black Lagoon), Seiichirou Yamashita as Geten (Kosame in Appare-Ranman), Junji Majima as Trumpet (Kinji in Hidan No Aria) and Kensho Ono as Shirakumo (Diabal in Radiant). This season’s first opening theme, No. 1 by Dish sounds like your typical anime rock music. Pretty generic for this series at this point. However come the second opener, Merry Go Round by Man With A Mission is full cringe!!! OMFG! The opening lines sound like some football club cheering lines. I don’t know how to describe that but it feels like that. Wowow it’s all right/ Everything will be all right… WTF???!!! While the rest of the song is pretty normal, I can’t believe that opening line itself just made my hair stood on ends. The first ending theme, Ashiato by Peggies feels like another generic anime rock while the second one, Uso Ja Nai by Soushi Sakiyama is more of a slow rock. Not my liking but still beats the cringe that was the second opener.

Overall, the fifth season is still okay and feels transitional and a preparation for the next. Could have been as boring as the previous season if not for the final arc focusing on the villains that boosted my intrigue and now I have this dilemma of whether to go stick with PLM. Who knows? Maybe it’s a ploy for me to have such wavering feelings before the heroes come in and swoop me off my feet, making me fawn over time all over again like a little girl. Heh. Those damn sneaky heroes. Okay, okay. I’ll be an anti-hero then. Boku No Anti-hero Academia spinoff when? Not happening soon? Oh well, I guess I’ll wait for the sixth season then…

Deatte 5-byou De Battle

It’s time for another survival battle anime. Since we didn’t get another season from Darwin’s Game, here, have Deatte 5-byou De Battle instead. Unsuspected people are ‘killed off’ to become participants in some sick and twisted experiment. They are each given some sort of unique powers to fight each other in battle. So I thought this was going to be another bloody action battle anime. Until the synopsis further claims the protagonist is going to use his brain skills instead. Oh. So this is going to be one of those thinking animes? Okay, not quite entirely that either. It’s going to have a bit of both so I’m relieved that my brains aren’t going to take some sort of damage by thinking too much by the time I finish watching this.

Episode 1
Akira Shiroyanagi. Typical social outcast gaming nerd. Messy house. But got brains. Top student. Yeah, plays games to avoid boring reality. Well, his life is about to become a hell lot of a game as he is being attacked by this zombie mummy dude. He runs and knows he cannot fight him head on. But if he treats this whole thing like a game, he’ll win. So we see Akira using his brains to get the better of this monster and kill him. Shortly after, this strange woman, Mion pops up and congratulates him for defeating her pet. However it is futile for him to even win this game. She kills him. Akira thinks it isn’t over till it is game over but the next thing he knows, he is in a room filled with different people. Then here comes Mion congratulating all of them for being part of this focus group. Don’t worry, all of them are considered dead in society and so they’ll have to live and play by their rules. A burly guy thinks he is tough and wants to kill her but it’s good timing for Mion to transform her hand into a cannon and kill him! Make sure you know your place now. She further explains that all of them are given a unique ability and they will be conducting experiments as feedback. Or else. Each of them has handcuffs that restrict their ability but when they come off, they can use it in any way they like without fear of being penalized like harm or death. Mion seems to know everyone’s personality as she tries to take questions from potential main characters like Madoka Kirisaki, Ringo Tatara, Shin Kumagiri and Rin Kashii. Yuuri Amakage asks why they are selected. Don’t get disappointed by the answer: It’s random. Tough luck. You lucky people won the lottery! Mion’s comrade, Yang reminds her it is time to start the programme. Everyone is ushered into their rooms. Akira sees a note containing his ability. He is shocked and ponders how to use it. The first programme is a one-on-one fight and it pits Akira against Madoka. Madoka wants him to surrender but Akira won’t. So as it starts, Madoka transforms his wooden sword into a real sharp blade. Akira dodges and escapes. It seems he has not been using his ability all the while. Until the time is right as he turns his hand into a cannon like Mion and fires at him. Madoka is forced to surrender. Mion is happy since her favourite subject won. Yang wonders why Akira didn’t use that ability at first but Mion explains this illusion ability. You see, Akira’s ability is whatever his opponent thinks his ability is. Hence he was waiting for the right moment and conditions to get Madoka to believe he had this hand cannon. Akira thinks of testing his ability more and playing along enough till he makes Mion regret giving this ability to him.

Episode 2
Now we see from Yuuri’s end. She hates coincidences since her whole life is nothing but bad luck. Like how she saved a guy but he became her stalker, her mom picked up a new boyfriend at a bar and he too has a daughter, Riria. One day she spotted her stalker trying to kill himself. She tried to save him but he pulled her down with him. Next thing she knew, she’s part of this sick programme. She sees her ability and tests it out. Looks like some strength thingy but the organization isn’t so dumb to make her so powerful that she can punch down the walls. She vows to go home to Riria who is hinted to be an abused child. More flashback reveals when she tried to console mom that she is here for her, instead she got blamed for having her because her life is now ruined. Yuuri faces off with a shabby perverted old guy whose ability is to identify conditions of others via scent. Creepy. This f*cker takes off his pants to fight! Yuuri is of course confused by all as she gets overwhelmed by this stalker. He narrates his pathetic past like how he was having sex with a high school girl. But when she blackmailed him for money, he killed her and got hooked on this feeling of control. Now he gets to do it all over with Yuuri. Of course she isn’t amused especially when he says the taboo word of coincidence. She gets mad and beats the sh*t out of him until she is the winner! As revealed, her ability is to quadruple her physical abilities. Akira is taken to a room for the next programme. Looks like it is going to be a team battle and his teammates are Yuuri, Madoka, Shin and a discount Lupin guy, Satoru Sawatari.

Episode 3
With 2 hours to the start of the programme, Sawatari suggests introducing themselves. He reveals his power to be turning a button into a rope. WTF… So the rest also introduce themselves as we hear Shin reveal his power to be invincible for 2 seconds. When it is Akira’s turn, the dilemma of whether or not he should reveal his power. Of course he lies that he has hand cannon. While revealing the truth may unlock infinite potentials, but there is a risk this will fail and his power cannot manifest. Hence it is too risky for now. Thanks to Sawatari being a great group host, Akira is relieved that he is not in focus and this means he doesn’t have to demonstrate his powers since the conditions are not right for him. As the programme starts, it seems this team battle isn’t all 5 fighting together at the same time. It will be one on one and the team with the most wins will win overall. Funny, personally I thought it was this format!!! Anyway, with this format, Akira realizes that this format might have made some to reveal crucial info unnecessarily. First match up is Sawatari against Rin. Rin wants Sawatari to forfeit his match. Don’t let her sexy negligee fool you. She is willing to give him special service after that. Monkey guy would love to take the offer but he has a better suggestion. They’ll flip his coin and the loser forfeits. As he does so, Rin kills him off! Nobody saw it how those sharp items suddenly impaled Sawatari’s body! With Sawatari dead for real, Madoka belittles his death because he let his guard down. But this doesn’t sit well with Yuuri and Shin. In-fighting among teammates is the last thing Akira wants so he manages to quell them to focus on the next match, which is Shin vs Ringo.

Ringo looks pretty calm staring at Shin. When it begins, Shin makes a dash towards her. He stops dead in his tracks thinking she is going to do something dangerous. Except she forfeits her match! Everyone in shock. But that’s legit so second match over. When Ringo returns to her teammates, she explains her ability to copy the ability of others. However she cannot identify Shin’s and this puts her at a disadvantage if this becomes a physical brawl. Hence she forfeited. However we see Rin’s true colours as the group’s dictator as she abuses Ringo for not even letting Shin to at least show his ability. She warns if their team loses all of them might get penalized and this makes her win for nothing. After she calms down, Ringo might be putting a calm exterior but on the inside she is scared to death. Further revelations reveal that not only she can copy the ability but that copied ability is only at 1/10 of its value. So of course she knew about Shin’s power but it would not do her any good anyway so might as well forfeit. Next is Madoka against Saeko Zokumyoin. Now we can at least see some real fight. Saeko starts off by taking out her slingshot and fire. Madoka deflects it in time before the marble enlarges itself. No matter how many times she shoots, Madoka’s quick reflex has him deflect them away. Even if the marbles enlarge in time, he can easily cut them in half. Madoka’s ability is not only to turn a stick into a sword but to cut through anything too. Saeko is worried she can’t win. Yeah, a fate worse than death awaits her. Rin’s evil b*tch face…

Episode 4
Saeko throws lots of marbles to surround him. She feigns throwing a last one so when Madoka cuts it, she has another one ready to shoot at him at point blank. However the joke’s on her since Madoka has a hidden sword and cuts her slingshot. It’s her loss as Madoka tells her to forfeit. But the joke’s now on him since a loose marble rolls near his feet and enlarges. Damn, it hit his balls real hard!!! OUCH!!! Just like that, the tables are turned and Saeko wins! Next is Akira against Kouji Kitajima. Akira conducts a few experiments. He knows the loser will not get death because otherwise why will they get medical treatment after the game? Then he tests several conditions for his ability to materialize. One of them being accusing Madoka for his pathetic loss and threatening to punish him. Of course he purposely misses his cannon at him. Then he fires back at Kitajima but it seems he manages to block his shots. But Kitajima being a loser with low self-confidence, thinks he will lose so the girls led by Rin cheer on him. Enough to make virgin guy do his best. Too bad he took too long fantasizing and Akira throws his shoe at his face before pointing his cannon at him. He can tell his ability is to nullify others but only when his hand touches the ground. This happened since his hand cannon also disappeared. Kitajima surrenders and it’s game over. Akira also goes over the fruitful experiment. It seems there are conditions that determine the ‘other person’. His hand cannon won’t materialize if his opponent doesn’t acknowledge they are engaged directly with him. Final match is between Yuuri and Ouji Hoshino. Oh sh*t! It’s that stalker guy who died with her?! You bet Yuuri is mad and wants to beat the sh*t out of him. He dares her because his ability is to turn his body into iron and will withstand all her pounding! Is this a masochist vs sadist match?! Yuuri so mad her punch makes him fly out of the ring! Yuuri wins! Now for the penalty. The winning team are treated to nice food being served by the loser team dressed in Playboy bunny outfits. Only the ladies, huh? The guys are excluded? Rin is interested in Akira and wants to know him more but Akira knows better and brushes her off. Better stay away from this dangerous woman. As they move to the next phase, Mion hints that wasn’t the real penalty and that is still to come… Meanwhile Akira’s team will now have to break up and choose a path and follow its instructions there. Because Yuuri’s hand is sore from punching the stalker, Akira gave her his handkerchief and hopes she could give it back to him once this is over. While Yuuri is flustered by it, we all know that Akira has planted the seeds in hopes it’ll turn out to his favour in the future.

Episode 5
Akira hears the instructions to collect 1000 points. He currently has 100 points. He is surprised to see the stage as the outdoor woods. He thought Katsuya Saitou is here to ambush him but he wants to talk. Suddenly Yuuri is seen running away from a group of perverts known as Red Dragons. WTF, how can Yuuri not outrun or beat them down with her ability?! Anyway, Red Dragons want to recruit Yuuri into their team, which of course she doesn’t want to. One of them has a hand cannon ability so when they learn Akira has one too, they are shocked and want him too. Katsuya uses his ability to turn wood into a bow and shoot infinite arrows to let them run away. But it is ultimately Akira’s hand cannons that allow them to escape. Katsuya brings them back to their base. Damn, it’s a mini village?! There’s even a baby here too but without any cuffs because his mom was brought here while pregnant. Katsuya leads them to their leader, Yuuto Shirasagi who is ecstatic to learn the super abilities they have because now they have a fighting chance. Shirasagi explains the background that you can earn points while doing missions and then use them as currency to buy stuffs including info. When he was first here, teams were relatively small. But soon one team started to bloom and they are the Red Team. Because there is no guarantee that the next programme will be better, they decide to make this their own kingdom. However they do this by kidnapping others and rule via fear. Now we see Red Team ruled by this strong weirdo, Hajime “Ichi” Oogami who is not happy that Red Dragons failed to capture those useful duo. He punishes the shorty leader by smashing a beer bottle in his face! Sub leader, Masaya “Kuro” Kuroiwa believes there is more to Akira than his hand cannon because it seems improbable he could escape from Red Dragons. If he has some rare ability like them, this would gain the attention of somebody they want. Shirasagi continues his explanation that those who won’t stand for the exploitation of the weak end up in Green Team and they are fighting back against them. But there is a neutral faction and although consists of many smaller groups, they are collectively known as Blue Team. Yuuri will join them as she will not stand for their tyranny. But for Akira, looks like he plans to take Shirasagi as hostage?! However his hand cannon cannot manifest and he wonders if he has nullification abilities or is just not convinced. But soon his hand cannon materializes. Shirasagi dares him to shoot. Bang!

Episode 6
Nothing happens to Shirasagi and it was all part of Akira’s plan to test him for his leadership. Now he is convinced to stay on this team. Suddenly there is an influx of newbies. Not enough rooms? Akira suggests to share a room with Yuuri. HUH?! They have no other females she can share a room with?! You bet Yuuri’s reaction of getting ahead of herself is reading too much of those manga stuffs. So when Akira wants to confess to her with this note, you bet she is going to be disappointed. The note says his real ability is telepathy. He wants her to test out and soon they’re speaking telepathically. His reason for them talking this way is because they may be monitored as they are strong and new recruits so it is likely Shirasagi wants to keep an eye on them. They get to know more of each other via telepathic talk. Yuuri talking about Riria and Akira’s goal is to get revenge on Mion. With all the trust in place, Akira then reveals his secret as neither the hand cannon nor telepathy but whatever his opponent think it is. Then an announcement by Mion for a ghoul hunting event tomorrow. Green Team arrives at the ruins as Mion begins the side quest. It ends with either all ghouls dead or the humans. Shirasagi’s partition of the teams allow them to nicely defeat the ghouls. Akira’s explanation how he can still use his hand cannon in this state sounds confusing. But whatever. When Red Team arrives, Shirasagi has his team retreat because he doesn’t want Ichi and Kuro to see their abilities. But those bosses play dirty as they send in ‘slaves’ to get killed by the ghouls so that Shirasagi’s team is forced to save them. Kuro’s ability is to forcefully collect owed debts. Uhm, is this mind control? Anyway, one of those slaves is Ringo and of course Akira saves her. Mion then gets the main event started with this huge cat ghoul. Akira is in a pinch so Shirasagi is forced to step him to let Akira escape, risking his enemies see his true ability. Uhm, so what’s this conduct peaceful negotiations with the other party? Not sure how it works as a barrier but heck, it’s peaceful for him. But when negotiations break down, he can direct all that accumulated power back to the aggressor. Big boss ghoul is down. Red Team bosses satisfied in getting Shirasagi to reveal his trump card. But event not over yet. Cat ghoul eats other ghouls to regenerate!

Episode 7
Shirasagi tells everyone to escape. However, Yuuri isn’t fond of the idea of abandoning so she jumps back to help him. This in turn has Akira coming into the picture as he also fires his cannon. To defeat this big boss, he has an idea. They take pot shots at it as Akira needs to hide himself from Red Team’s bosses for this trick to work. He manages to get into a blind spot and gets himself cornered by the boss. It looked like the monster took him out but the next thing we see, Akira planting his cannon right in its mouth. Blam! Victory? Yeah, it revives again. This time Ichi jumping in and kicking off its head! He is so satisfied with what he sees, he dares them all to fight him. However Mion reminds he doesn’t call the shots so she suggests a more interesting mission. She wants Green Team vs Red Team in the sense that whoever hunts down the leader’s interface wins. But Kuro doesn’t find this exciting unless she adds a penalty. Everyone on the losing team dies! Of course Mion also adds another condition that both the team’s bosses will have their abilities suppressed. This is tempting as Ichi and Shirasagi have very strong abilities. Because both sides are at a deadlock, this could be their chance to crush the other as their boss will be in a weakened state. With that set in stone, this hunting game will take place in 7 days. As Green Team takes in the injured, Shin helps bring back safely a Green Team girl, Hareka from being harassed by a Red Team goon. Understandably everyone thinks he is a baddie but with Akira and Yuuri recognizing him, they apologize. Ringo goes to talk to Akira. Looks like it is more than just wanting to thank him. After summoning up her courage (oh, she’s a fan of him in the real world?), she claims she knows his ability. He quickly ushers her into his room and wants an explanation. She tells what her ability is and believes it is weak on its own. Hence she needs a partner. She views Akira the same and wants him to be her partner. Akira seems interested because this means she knows the abilities of those in Red Team. Ringo leaves, firmly believing she is Akira’s only partner. Why does this start to sound like a sleazy harem fight? I mean, Yuuri just saw Akira whisk her into his room, right? No funny thoughts here… Akira then gathers Yuuri because he needs to go talk to Blue Team. Meanwhile we see Kuro calling his crazy fighters. One of them is Renka. B*tch slut gonna happen with Rin? Not just yet. Then there’s this old geezer Kamui and the crazy samurai slasher Rindou. Yuuki brings an escaped comrade. Thanks to a spy in Green Team, he managed to escape and report what he saw on Akira’s tricks. Hence Kuro is adamant that Akira’s cannon is a fake and that he has another ability.

Episode 8
Yuuri once again gets trolled by Akira about wanting to be alone with her and to feel it! But of course it’s just to test their powers. Akira trying to use Yuuri’s power failed and he thinks the trick of teleportation that got him out from that monster cat’s pinch was just lucky. He suggests trying another method. This time she has to visualize someone specific as Akira will turn into that person. So she visualizes Ringo? It works. Of course this means Akira knows she saw them together yesterday. He tells what happened but can’t say anymore because of Ringo’s conditions to her. First, to tell her about this as her way of insurance (if Akira kills Ringo, Yuuri will lose her trust in him). Second, he cannot disclose Ringo’s power to her. Then they go meet Iori Omoto who is the leader of Blue Team. Akira wants to recruit some members to join them but of course Omoto reminds them they are neutral. Even if Akira is willing to pay hefty points, this only works if Green Team wins. But if Yuuri joins him, he might convince many of his Blue Team to join him. Akira instantly shoots that suggestion down since Yuuri is very important. In fact, so important that he’ll only trade her if Omoto himself joins in the fight and obeys his command. Omoto will do him a favour and tell his teammates about this offer. Akira and Yuuri are too late to realize Madoka is on Blue Team. Looks like he still wants a rematch with Akira so he’ll join Red Team to fight him. Okay. Whatever. Next day before the hunting begins, there are a few added rules. Some towers in which if they hold the fort and charge their devices, they can earn some points in which accumulating a certain of them allows you to get Mion’s help. After selecting their king, the game begins. Shirasagi as the Green Team’s king has his men take control of the towers. All is fine at Katsuya’s team. Asuka Kiryuu and co run into trouble because Ichi is here himself. He is going to play with her until her comrades arrive. Despite her ability to control the weight of her sword, this isn’t even enough to pin the big guy down. She gets done in. Then we see Red Team’s crazy fighters all out on a killing spree. What a field day for massacre. And Shun already got a hand cut off by Yuuki!

Episode 9
Akira meets up with Rin and it looks like both have agreed to some exchange plan. Though, both don’t trust each other especially Akira who is resisting her advances. Once Akira leaves, Rin makes a call to someone to report she has found Akira. Ichi feels all those Green Team he beat down has been a waste of time. Before he kills Asuka, here comes Yuuri to save the day. Now it gets interesting for Ichi as he fights her. Thanks to Akira’s tactics, Yuuri is able to hold her ground against this behemoth. Thanks to Ringo’s ability, she managed to weed out the spy (because the spy was lying about his own ability). But before she could seek out more info, he is suddenly killed off. Then she realizes this means there is another spy. Yeah, it’s that old lady close to Shirasagi, Momoko. Flashback shows Akira was against Yuuri going to Asuka’s aid because he needs her by his side. She told him to work with Ringo then (jealousy?) and claims his trust in her is so that he could just use her (definitely jealousy talking here). Although Yuuri left to help Asuka, Akira has a plan in case this happened. He bumps into Madoka and they start fighting. However with Rindou coming to kill both of them, Madoka makes a truce with Akira to take down this samurai. It is revealed that Madoka and Rindou are the person Akira and Rin called respectively so this is all part of the plan. While it is thought that Rindou’s ability is similar to Madoka’s, Akira notices there are some differences like Madoka’s sword could cut through his cannon but Rindou’s attack couldn’t. He must be cutting something else. Then they device a plan to take him down. Madoka fights him in close range until Akira fires from a blind spot. Rindou saw this coming. But he didn’t see the last step as Akira blasts the trees, splinters allow Madoka to turn it into knives and throw it back at Rindou. Dead. Yeah, his death looks so fake… Meanwhile, Renka is killing everyone but a dying Green Team member uses her ability to twist her own neck. Only, Renka didn’t die. Because Rin sees this, Renka will kill her. Rin fights back as she splatters her blood all over Renka so that blades could pop up and stab her. But Renka still won’t die. After Rin binds her, she targets the real body of Renka. Yeah, killed some ugly dude hiding in a box. Rin knows Renka is a puppet because it would be silly for a death game to have a contestant who is invincible, right? Rin’s plan as she made a deal with Green Team is to kill one of Red Team’s generals. Doing so, they would attest to Mion she is Green Team’s spy. This means it doesn’t matter which side wins, she’ll still survive. It is revealed that her true ability is to turn her bodily fluids into torture devices.

Episode 10
Yuuki’s ability is to shrink things. And he is about to shrink his string around Shin’s neck when Hareka jumps in to shove Yuuki. Flashback on Shin that he had an older brother in wrestling whom he admires. They promised to team up once Shin is out from hospital. Too bad he died in an accident. Hence Shin has been hesitating using his invincibility power out of respect. But the ghost of his brother tells him it’s time to move on. Hence Shin transforms into a metal knight to break free from Yuuki’s strings and give him a good smack down! That should put this kid out of his misery. Katsuya is about to sacrifice himself to Kamui but luckily Akira is here to tell him to go save Asuka. Akira then throws a stone to Kamui to test his abilities. Kamui knows Akira’s ability is not the cannon thanks to Kuro telling them beforehand. When Akira takes out Rindou’s sword, Kamui is convinced his ability is to copy others. He gets slashed by Rindou’s ability. Of course this all works in Akira’s favour as Kamui thinks he has Rindou’s ability. Akira also lets him know that his ability is not the cannon is part of his plan. Meanwhile Momoko is about to kill Shirasagi but he knows she is the traitor all along. He just didn’t want to believe it. Momoko reveals that she was at first on his side. But when she learnt about Red Team’s bosses, she switched. That’s because Ichi and Kuro are her kids?! Then she takes baby Taro as hostage. Give up or the baby dies. Shirasagi gives up but it looks like Red Team hasn’t won yet. It is then Kuro deduces Shirasagi isn’t Green Team’s king but Akira. Don’t look now, Akira is here after using up Mion points to locate his whereabouts. As Momoko and Ringo is about to have a showdown, Ringo has her put Taro in a safe spot. I’m surprised after all the noise, the baby is still sleeping soundly! Ringo still doubts herself as Akira has given her the role to stop the enemy in such circumstances. But Akira also told her to have confidence in her abilities so she copies Momoko’s cannons. Despite 1/10 of the power, it shoots faster. This gives her some ideas to try out. However Momoko beats her up as she claims about failing to save her kids before but will now save them. When Momoko fires at the rocks to crush Taro, Momoko panics. But Taro isn’t there. Momoko hasn’t been firing pot shots but to change the terrain’s shape. Now that Taro is in Ringo’s hands, she knows Momoko let her guard down when Taro went missing. Although Momoko gives up, she still wants to kill Ringo. Ringo fires into the rocks to let it all crush her. Yuuri won’t be fighting Ichi alone as Shin and Madoka are here to help. Kuro have also predicted this but didn’t think Akira would be the king. No matter, he’ll still crush him with his ability.

Episode 11
If you’re wondering where Saeko, Kitajima and Ouji have been, wonder no more. They’re Kuro’s slaves. As he sends his slaves to corner Akira, Akira knows his abilities thanks to Ringo. When they were captured by Red Team, Ichi was about to kill them but Kuro stepped in to save them. But that was only a ploy to make them think so. Because of that, this triggered his ability to make them his slaves as they owe him a debt equivalent to their lives. When Akira tries to talk about his power, Kuro believes that he is just buying time for his friends to defeat Ichi. Because of all this, this somewhat trigger Kuro’s ability to turn Akira into his slave but since it is only minor, he can only bind his leg. But this is enough because Kuro forces him to use his teleport ability. Although Akira does so, he gets captured by the slaves. Right where Kuro wants him to. Then Kuro stabs him in the guts as he brags how he has him danced in his palms all the while. But that is when Akira starts to make his counterattack as he blasts Kuro away with Shirasagi’s ability. Akira explaining his talking wasn’t to buy time but to subtly imprint reminders of Shirasagi’s powers. Oh, Akira put slabs of meat on his stomach in anticipation of the knife attack. Now it’ Akira’s turn to reveal his genius plan and how Kuro was dancing in his palm instead. When Shin found the spy, Akira had Yuuri to that experiment and turn Akira into that spy. Hence he was the one who leaked info the Kuro about Akira’s power. Of course he leaked enough so as to make Kuro think he came to that conclusion himself but the conclusion Akira wants. After Kuro admits defeat, Akira thinks Yuuri’s side will be okay but Kuro cautious that is where he is wrong. He’ll show his true power when he is cornered. Indeed. Ichi now turning into some Hulk and bashing everyone around! Such feelings of who he is makes him power up. Flashback shows both of them come from the same orphanage. But the headmaster is an abusive motherf*cker. Kuro and Ichi clicked in creating their own ideal kingdom. So when the headmaster trampled on that feelings, Ichi snapped and beat the sh*t out of him. At that point he was unstoppable. Perhaps he is a monster. Yuuri can tell of his hard beginnings from his scars because of Riria. Will she turn out like him? She still believes that despite the inhuman treatment, they are all still humans. That’s why she can stop him. Now she truly believes everything that has happened isn’t random. Okay. Can we end this fight now?

Episode 12
Woah! X-ray move! Yuuri and Ichi took out each other’s arm. While Ichi continues to pummel her, he is baffled she is still standing. Yuuri feels hurt all over but what about him? He claims he doesn’t but that just feels like an excuse to run away. Then as she gives her final punch, suddenly her powers are sealed. Turns out this is the final work of Kuro. Knowing he has not much longer to live, he distracts the rest by freeing his slaves. He used up Mion points for this last act. Akira also uses 1 Mion point to make a huge announcement for Ichi to stop killing Yuuri. Admitting himself as Team Green’s king, he will head there and they’ll settle it. Ichi knows that Kuro is dead and that their kingdom would be meaningless without him. He accepts Akira proposal. As Ichi charge at Akira, suddenly this guy powers up and gives him a punch that is 10 times its power?! Flashback shows Akira and Yuuri practising whatever this move. Thank goodness it paid off. With Ichi down (he looks like he doesn’t regret it), Green Team is declared the winner. Akira and Yuuri’s reunion interrupted with Mion has a final role for the king. As Akira cleans himself up, he is approached by Omoto who claims he saw his move. Akira panics thinking his secret is discovered and tries to stall for time to get info. Omoto then shows his ability by shooting him with his hand cannon. He wants Akira to tell Mion that he will be going active now. This means he will be advancing to the next programme to kill Mion. Since Akira owes him his life, he wants his help to achieve that goal. Next we see, Akira back to his ordinary life? Was it all a dream? Well, he meets up with Yuuri who is so happy to see him, she can’t wait to jump and hug him. But they note that they are still in the game because those who advance now won’t have those chunky handcuffs but a double green stripe over their wrist.

Wearing A 5 Second Hat On A 5 Second Head…
Oh God. I have so many questions for the last episode. Firstly, did everyone in Red Team die since their king lost? Hey, those slaves were freed from Kuro but that doesn’t mean they are no longer on Red Team. Or did Mion have a change in heart? Not likely. But who cares, right? Akira and co who decided to move on to the next programme, did they all advance together shortly at the same time? Because I thought they needed lots of points to do that. Or did Akira made a deal with that special role we didn’t get to see (or was it a setup just to meet Omoto?) to give his friends who want to move on some points? And how did Shin get his hand fully attached back?! And since the next programme is in Tokyo, wouldn’t it be weird for these missing people to bump into other people whom they know? I mean, they’re technically dead, right? How would they react? Oh, is Akira now Omoto’s lapdog now? So many questions and no answers…

Okay, let me be honest. After seeing that recent Netflix surprise hit series, Squid Game, suddenly my expectations for this series changed dramatically. What’s this atrocity of me watching anything other than anime???!!! Is this blasphemy?! Hey, I’m free to watch I want! And truly yes, I watched Squid Game because I was freaking curious. Spoiler alert, lots of people died! Now I know why many people loved that show. Anyway, seeing how awesome that Squid Game was, that is why my disappointment for this series suddenly grew. It wasn’t a great series as the episodes go by and seeing how things were turning out at this pace, you bet I can’t help start to compare this anime with that Korean hit.

You see, this series started off interestingly (albeit not by very much) because you know, everyone given different abilities to fight each other. The first programme was one on one before the second one turned into a weird group match before the third programme that took the bulk of this series became some sort of some team community fight. Yeah, the lack of major deaths was one of the factors that made me feel disappointed. Sure, there were a few deaths but most of them were Kuro’s slaves who don’t really matter and that Sawatari was too insignificant to even be remembered and not constitute to be considered as the first major death of the series. Even Ichi and Kuro’s generals were a bunch of weirdoes who were introduced in a rushed way and so when some of them died, it didn’t matter because they’re the villains, right?

The third programme turned out to be one big draggy affair and honestly, I can’t say I was bored the entire way. Although my interest was more like on and off, fluttering volatilely throughout this mini arc. Nevertheless, it was still draggy. Firstly, this whole third programme felt out of place. I mean, they can have participants who choose to stay here and not move on for many years? I am assuming the organization’s priorities are to test the abilities given to the players so having this third programme where a community is formed and some of them not moving on feels detrimental to that purpose. Unless I have the wrong assumptions. I don’t know, I don’t see other admins other than Mion and Yang so how the f*ck do they divide their time in watching all the different programme stages while recruiting new participants? Well, Mion and the organization are a big mystery themselves. There is nothing much we know about them. But at this point we don’t even get so much of a hint about this as we’re so focused on Red Team vs Green Team. And now that the fourth programme is back in the city, so would it be a country team thingy? The setting is getting bigger and bigger. Who knows? Next programme the entire world! And the next, the universe! Heh. I won’t be surprised if the organization’s goal is to find the one with the power to fight God! On second thought, I’ll be so flabbergasted and cringe that my stomach will turn inside out the moment they reveal this is the f*cking plot! IT BETTER NOT BE!

If I’m going to nit-pick further, it will be the name of this series. I mean, it sounds so cool if you don’t know Japanese or if Japanese isn’t your main language. But when you translate this title, it is “Battle In 5 Seconds After Meeting”. Like… WTF?! It sounded like they couldn’t find an appropriate title for this and named it so. Sounds so amateurish too. Like a toddler came up with this name. Hence the redundant moment for every start of each battle, a 5 second countdown. Like… WHY?! Is 5 seconds enough to get you psyche up and prepared for the fight? Not that I see it made any difference during the fight. Sure, hearing the characters’ monologue but that doesn’t do anything much too. Just for the sake of living up to the anime’s title. Nothing else.

The action sequences are so-so and not really that exciting. It feels obligatory because this is an action battle anime so they need to have some players having offensive abilities just to prop up some adrenaline rush. Initially I thought the abilities for each players were like taken inspiration from an old anime. You guys old enough to have seen Ueki No Housoku AKA The Law Of Ueki? At least for some participants whose abilities are to turn something into something. That is what all the power users in The Law Of Ueki have. But of course some abilities of other players are more straightforward such as Yuuri and Shin while others are just f*cking confusing like Shirasagi and Kuro. Speaking of theirs, I think it is that ambiguity that makes their ability powerful because it leaves a lot of room for interpretation. I mean, if I were given those powers, I wouldn’t even know how the f*ck to use it! Seriously. Such abilities are those for the intellect so if you really know how to use them and interpret it as such, the power will work wonders for you. That’s why Akira’s power to have what his opponent think what his ability is, is a double edged sword. Although it gives him the flexibility to conjure anything (AKA plot convenience), the requirements to set that conditions and circumstances are tough.

As for the characters, not even interesting to say the least. Akira as your main character carries this typical trait that he hates his ordinary life and hence his only reason to live is because he likes to play games. Uhm, doesn’t this remind you of a certain character, especially the recent 100-man Inochi No Ue Ni Ore Wa Tatteiru? And to justify why he is a damn smart kid, it’s because he plays games! Oh yeah. For the umpteenth time, games do not make you stupid as contrary to popular belief especially parents! So anyway, Akira being the brains as well as the main character, he looks so flawless in his deduction and planning that it makes it all feel so unreal. Un huh. It’s like as though he is holding the script to this anime or has read manga volumes of this series! You think you’ve bested Akira? Well, jokes on you. Akira was just playing and leading you along to where he wants you. So it was a bit funny, the battle between Akira and Kuro. I got you. No, I got you instead. Nope. I GOT YOU ACTUALLY! HAHAHA!!! Yeah, that’s how it feels like. Is that how battle of the brains supposed to play out?

Okay, to be fair, he has to stay ahead of everyone in order to survive. But seeing the kind of direction of this series, I don’t really see him or any other characters in any real danger in losing their lives. Okay, maybe at certain moments during battle but other than that, I never really felt they would die anyway (reminder: thanks to Squid Game). Even when Shin has his hand cut off. That guy can still survive so long after losing so much blood? What a tough guy he is. Back to Akira, they give him the flimsy reason of wanting to get back at Mion and hence why he is playing along with these silly programmes. Not sure how many programmes there are because I feel if Akira is trying to wait for the perfect moment, it’ll never come. Eventually he is going to realize that playing along won’t get what he wants. The question is when he’ll power up more powerful than Mion herself before attempting his revenge plan. I’m sure he already has one in mind, right?

Yuuri exists only so that they can troll us over some pseudo romance between her and Akira. Because of Akira’s ambiguous way of saying things, Yuuri often jumps the gun to think that Akira wants to get romantic with her. Turns out it is something else other than that. From time to time, Yuuri continues to get trolled and tricked into this. She should have known better by now but I guess she is a young high school girl so I suppose this means she has some sort of hopes in that happening. Not so random, huh? To up this pseudo harem thingy, hence they throw Ringo into the fray. Making it complicated, she is a fan of Akira. Yuuri liking Akira because he trusts her. Ringo liking Akira because he is her key to survival. So how will it play out? I don’t know. But I think as long as they’re on the same thing, they’ll keep continue to troll us that there will be a fight over Akira and we’ll keep continuing to fall for that. Don’t even discount Rin. She might really drive a wedge between them since she is a very scheming vixen. Don’t let that babydoll dress fool you. Oh wait. It fooled a lot of people already. Here’s your fanservice moment. Tomboy girl, shy girl and mature sexy woman, can Akira play his cards right? That’s a programme we won’t get to see :-(.

Other characters feel so flimsy that they don’t feel sufficient and mostly weak. In terms of character, that is. Like Madoka and Shun don’t really feel justified accept they’ve been part of Akira’s team from the second programme and since they know him, that’s where their trust lies. So they’re like extra pair of hands so that Akira doesn’t feel like a one man show and that this isn’t some harem Akira is having. Some feel redundant especially those from the third programme like Katsuya. Uhm, does he even matter? Not sure about his feelings for Asuka but I suppose it’s the only way to give him some character because he is in love with a woman who already gave birth to a child here. Yeah, those who decide to stay back feel like they’re still in prison because of those handcuffs. That’s the weird thing about this programme. You don’t give incentive or enough threats for players like them to move on. So is there a special task force to monitor those who decided to live the rest of their lives in the third programme? And what’s this? It is hinted that Akira’s dad is also a player in this game due to that green stripes. This answers where he’s been all this time, huh?

Many of the villains from Red Team should have an interesting background. But some aren’t really fleshed out and are just mentioned briefly. Because it would’ve been interesting to see more of the predicament they were in before they were ‘selected’ for this experiment. Outside was already a sh*t hole, so might as well live their lives a kings here. So while it shed some light on Ichi and Kuro’s background, too bad overall it makes them still feel like one dimensional villains. We understand the pain and suffering they came from. But their methods I am sure we mostly don’t agree on. It’s sad to see them be part of the vicious cycle. Others treat them like trash so they grow up to be twisted and they too step over others. Oh, can some righteous allies of justice shed some light of truth to them? Yup. I guess we all know who did the job. And yeah, not forgetting Omoto. Blue Team is pretty much redundant as this series is concerned. So Omoto showing up in the end just to give Akira a run for his money and I bet he could have exactly the same ability as Akira. Uh huh. That’s why I felt Akira checkmate himself then. Another guy who wants to kill Mion? Will they be rivals or will they cooperate?

Last and not least, Mion herself is one big mystery. But she also has a cheeky and playful exterior. It might seem cute and all but it’s like as though it hides her darker and crueller personality. The reason we don’t see it is because Akira is her favourite so she’s keeping her eye on him and she doesn’t want to show her hands yet by being ruthless. You know, this is mostly a battle of the wits so once again, it could be Mion leading Akira to think he’ll get his revenge on her when suddenly it is revealed Mion could be his mother in disguise, raising someone to take down the organization from within!!! OMFG! Please let this not be true! As opposed to Mion, we have a very meek Yang to try and counter balance all that cheekiness. Because of that, Yang doesn’t really make an impact. Both host the next episode preview at the end of each episode and as expected, Mion playing a fool while Yang tries to get her to be serious but fails. They love trolling us, huh? Unlike many other animes, there is no next episode preview on the last episode but this one has. But of course, it’s not about the next episode nor the next season. Just their usual mindless chatter over this season. Well, you know my sentiments for this series by now, right?

Art and animation are pretty standard so it’s nothing much to complain. Oh wait. I have one complaint: Some scenes are animated in CGI and it sucks! Of course, not as atrocious as Ex-Arm but it still feels bad albeit not very obvious. For instance, in some fighting scenes that involve Ichi, you can clearly see this abomination in CGI abomination. His movements become weird and all. It makes you wonder why they didn’t just use the normal 2D hand drawn technique but I guess either they want to show off some technology chops or somebody got lazy or they didn’t manage to hire enough animators. Whatever the reasons, those CGI moments really take the vibe out of the action scenes once you realize how bad it is. Oh heck, the final episode’s quality feels like it take a dip a lot especially even in 2D form, Ichi looks hell of a weird. They really want to make him look like a monster? This anime is jointly done by SynergySP (Hayate No Gotoku, MAR, Major, Cross Game) and Vega Entertainment (Gun Frontier).

I like Mayumi Shintani as Mion because it makes her character sound sassy. She’s the voice behind FLCL’s Haruko and Kill La Kill’s Jakuzure, so you know why she sounds so. A few recognizable seiyuus include Kazuya Nakai as Madoka, Yuuichi Nakamura as Shin, Koji Yusa as Kuro, Hiroki Yasumoto as Ichi and Yukari Tamura as Renka. What’s this? Ayane Sakura as Riria? I wouldn’t have guessed… Maybe I wasn’t paying attention to that slow flashback moment… I also thought Cho was behind Shirasagi’s voice but turns out it was Tomohisa Asou (Ooguruma in God Eater). The other casts are Ayumu Murase as Akira (Luck in Black Clover), Aimi Terakawa as Yuuri (Kasumi in BanG Dream), Miyuri Shimabukuro as Ringo (titular character in Yuragi-sou No Yuuna-san), Toa Yukinari as Rin (NK Cell in Hatarku Saibou), Akari Kitou as Yang (Nezuko in Kimetsu No Yaiba), Gakuto Kajiwara as Katsuya (Asta in Black Clover) and Sayaka Senbongi as Saeko (Shuna in Tensei Shitara Slime Datta Ken), Maaya Sakamoto as Omoto (Ciel in Kuroshitsuji). The opening theme is No Continue by Akari Kitou. This badass hard rock piece sounds awesome had not this series been disappointing. The ending theme, Make Eve Jikkyou Play by 15-sai To Seiko Oomori sounds equally badass with its hard rock style too and could’ve been a great song cover for Overlord with its wild singing style.

Overall, I wanted to like this series but the disappointing pace and direction bogged it all down. Because of that, the story and characters felt underwhelming. Even more so because may I remind you again that I just finished watching Squid Game! Definitely would go watch that horror survival game show series than this one. For a survival action battle series, this sure doesn’t feel like one as it feels more like a showcase who has a better superpower or at least who uses their ability better. I was still trying to cling on to my naïve hopes that it had potential and better development should it have another season. Alas, I must know when to cut my losses and not go down with the sinking ship. Thus I left the series in 5 seconds after 12 episodes of struggling. Sarcasm. That, my ability is to make puns that are not funny at all :-(.

Gunjou No Magmell

It was one of those anime series a few years back that I was wondering if I should watch or not, Gunjou No Magmell. Reviews were mixed. My guts were also sending mixed signals. To watch or not to watch. Hence my decision making brain was also confused. The synopsis wasn’t the most mind blowing ever but it was also somewhat interesting but not that appealing to get me watch it when it came out back in early 2019. After all, had too many anime commitments on my watch list then. Heh. Not to say my anime schedule has lightened up now but a coincidental stumble upon this series on the web has my mind starting to bug me about this unresolved issue. Sighs. So what else do I have to do to satiate this trigger bugging? That’s right. You’ve guessed it. Just go watch it!

Episode 1
A new continent was formed in the Pacific Ocean. Hence lots of people jumped on the bandwagon to become explorers to strike it rich on Magmell. However, many end up endangering themselves and thus there are those who come rescue these explorers. They are called Anglers. Inyou is such and is lazing around. Even when his assistant, Zero reminds him of their money woes, he is going to make the best of what’s left! Soon, a sick boy, Kuriks drops into his office. Oh God. He died at his doorstep?! Just kidding. Just fainted. When he comes to, he wants Inyou’s help to save his brother, Kunoris. Inyou rejects because the money is not enough! Besides, can he put a price on his brother’s life? Kuriks further explains he is born with a frail body and will die soon. He can have the insurance money. Flashback shows his family went to Magmell to find Epona’s Tears that would cure his illness. However Kunoris only came back and regretted he couldn’t save his parents. After training up and all, he returned to Magmell with his friends. Since it’s been a while he haven’t heard of him, Kuriks thought he is in trouble. Inyou now agrees to save his brother because Epona’s Tears will fetch a good prize. Inyou and Kuriks ride a helicopter to a ward located at the edge of Magmell because the deeper you go into the continent, the more technology it rejects. Zero meanwhile sits back in her room to help monitor them via mini mobile robot. Inyou and Kuriks ride a local horse far enough into the forest where Kunoris was last seen. Inyou talking about how Epona’s Tears blossoms on corpses and Kuriks saying if he is cured, he wants to be a Ractor, one who creates stuffs with the mind.

Kuriks sees a man in need of help but Inyou won’t help him. In fact, he shows to Kuriks how it is a trap by some monsters to lure live bait. They continue their way and not sure what Inyou’s special ability cuts up all the monsters and put the zombie guy to ease. As Inyou goes to kill some monster birds, Kuriks finds Kunoris. He is shown Epona’s Tears. Yup, lots of dead bodies. And then… Kunoris kills Kuriks! Because it didn’t have enough corpses to bloom! With Kuriks’ blood, Epona’s Tears now blooms as Kunoris takes its little seed. So Kunoris killed his parents and friends just to feed it, huh? Inyou jumps in to administer some medical aid. But it’s no use. Even in death, Kuriks wants Inyou to help save his brother. After he dies, a very angry Inyou punches Kunoris in the face. Something about Magmell amplifies the desires and emotions of those who set foot on it. Kunoris thinks he’ll grow another seed and eats Epona’s Tears to power up. Too bad he still loses to Inyou. Inyou is sad that Kuriks risked his life to save him and this is the thanks he gets? Sure, he’ll ‘save’ him. Kunoris sees Inyou creating something from air and remembers Kuriks’ dream of becoming a Ractor to help him. So Inyou is a Ractor? He slams whatever thing onto Kunoris to make it his grave. Now he is saved. The brothers can be together now in the other world.

Episode 2
Inyou dreams of Shuuin leaving him and Zero in despair. No time to dream because a busty blonde chick. Emilia is here to seek his help. Her father a researcher is trapped on Magmell and needs some rescuing. Inyou is puzzled that if her dad works under a huge company, Polar Star, shouldn’t it have its own rescue team? Well, dad told her that if he were to be in trouble, come look for him. Inyou rejects her since he isn’t interested in saving people who does experiments on live subjects. Yeah, life is cruel. Get used to it. Emilia further pleads but since she mistakes him as Shuuin, Inyou takes the job. What that guy can do, he can also do. So as they head to a ward in Magmell, they see it being attacked by Kare Bears! ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME?! Anyway, as the soldiers drop in to shoot special bullets to kill those monster bears, Inyou is baffled why the Kare Bears who feed on minerals are attacking the facility in the first place. Once the bears are dead, here comes the Scalegorgon, the boss of this ward! It is believed the blood of the Kare Bears attracted it. Damn, it is throwing boulders like baseball! Everyone smashed! A special missile is launched but it becomes a dud! Owens decides to retreat and consider everyone dead! Cue for Inyou to take Emilia and drop down to rescue her dad. Don’t worry, Zero is their parachute. Inyou wants Emilia to fix the missile as he creates a launcher for it. Then he wonders who he should shoot, the monster or the facility. He makes an announcement to the researchers AKA kidnappers to release their hostages. Emilia’s dad thinks he is Shuuin upon seeing his hat and immediately agrees to release the cubs. With that, Inyou goes to fight the monster. Emilia launches the missile but it is useless without any guidance. Inyou uses his Ractor ability to create a giant glove to push the Scalegorgon towards the missile as it gets ripped to pieces! After the cubs are released, they grieve over their dead parents. Inyou saying those parents attacked the facility to save their offspring as Owens explains the blood of Kare Bear cubs becomes the strongest metal once refined and the company has a patent over it. Inyou not happy about this so he crashes the entire helicopter?! Don’t worry, no fatalities. In the aftermath, Emilia’s dad quits the company and wants to know how Inyou is related to Shuuin. Not telling.

Episode 3
Inyou and Zero watch the TV of an auction. Some super rich guy, Daysem outbidding everyone to buy the seven coloured tail dove from Magmell that is believed to cure all poisons for a billion esk! Soon, Daysem comes to see Inyou and wants his help to rescue his friends. Inyou knows his friends are poisoned and hence the dove to help cure them. Learning that he is a migrant, it seems he lost his friends 30 years ago! Back when the world knew nothing about Magmell’s dangers, they were part of the migrant programme settling there. Daysem along with Stua and Stein played in their ward like as though it’s their playground. Daysem got an idea to play a game whereby they put all the poisonous bugs they could find and see which one comes out tops. It backfired as the rest got poisoned and Daysem escaped unscathed. He ran away due to fear and shortly, the migrant programme failed and many returned home. Daysem drowned himself with work to buy this dove. He still believes they are alive. Inyou accept this job since he will pay any amount and even agrees to Inyou adding any conditions ad hoc. Yeah, those esk signs are blinking in Zero’s eyes! Money woes solved! As they head into Magmell, returning to this place brings nostalgic memories for Daysem. We see Inyou fighting some bug monster to show off his Ractor skills so as to pick a flower that is the dove’s favourite food. Entering the cave where they played the stupid game, Daysem is overcome with grief and regret that it was his fault that all this happened. Inyou points out his friends are still alive. Suddenly they are attacked by a monster scorpion. Uhm… This is Stua?! Yeah, that hairstyle. And then a bat monster drops in to attack! Yes, this is Stein. Bats don’t wear glasses, huh? Inyou points out his friends have turned into monsters. When Daysem calls out to them, they recognize him! He wants to use the dove to cure their poison but Inyou says they have to drink its blood and then they will also die. Doesn’t it cure any poison? Only if you are human. Now that they are monsters, they have to survive on this blood. They take Daysem to their nostalgic hang out spot. Damn, why were the friends fighting each other in the first place?! Nothing else better to do?! So they’ve been at it for the past 30 years? Daysem frees the dove and takes heart that despite their monstrous looks, they are still his friends. Hey, even Daysem has grown old and changed, right? In the aftermath, Daysem will contribute all his wealth to preserve Magmell as well as the families who lost their loved ones there. And pudding production? Oh, Zero’s favourite food… Inyou too…

Episode 4
In town, Verena Stellaria makes her speech that she’ll go to Magmell once more to save a child. Everyone cheers at this miracle worker and some even worshipping her like a goddess. But Inyou is not impressed. He believes she is that Bloody Maria. Zero goes to research her and finds she opened and orphanage. To help the children, she ventured into Magmell. She has returned many times unscathed. She even pays a visit to the orphanage. Looking all fine and dandy but some children who are in despair reminds Zero of herself. Inyou returns and sees what Zero was researching on his PC. Forgot to erase browser history! This brings back memories when he and Shuuin was on Magmell and Shuuin rescued Verena from a monster. Verena was grateful for his help and Inyou smitten by her beauty. That night when he decided to go visit her, he saw something horrible. He claims Verena is just a devil in disguise. Soon, many people hound Inyou’s office to go save Verena as contacts of her has been lost. Inyou of course refuses. Why not perform your miracle like you always claim? After all the insults they throw at him, he still won’t go. Until Zero says she’ll help in any way she can so please leave for today. So I guess Inyou has to help too, huh? So as Inyou goes to Magmell and fights monsters, he remembers talking to Shuuin about saving Verena because she’s a bad person. Shuuin told him it doesn’t matter what is good or bad, as long as the person before him needs saving, he’ll do it. One day he’ll understand it. While Inyou still can’t accept his ways, he notes that he is still far off from being close to his abilities. Zero sees for herself Verena’s true nature. She is rummaging through the monster’s corpse to find organs that are sellable. This is how she will save all the children! Yeah, her followers all died for her too. With monsters surrounding them, she is glad there are more cash cows around and will go get them. Inyou wanted to go save her but Zero stops him seeing there are too many monsters. Okay then. Let’s retreat. In the aftermath, it is said that Verena has died and because many cannot believe it, they claim she has ascended into sainthood! Zero is confused on what is good or evil so Inyou tells her it is just a concept created by humans.

Episode 5
Denden is at Magmell. Stuck and moments away from being eaten by a monster! How did this happen? Flashback time. Denden runs a shop and Inyou often patrons it. However, Inyou always forces Denden to give discounts by putting up fake accidents. Now that Inyou is here with Zero, Denden expects more or less the same. But today he has learnt from all those lessons. He has reinforced everything complete with cameras everywhere so no mishaps could happen and that everything is recorded. So when Inyou and Zero are going to pay for all that they have bought and they really the bill is a really high one, Inyou hands over his credit card and won’t ask for discounts. After all, he has given him a lot. Denden in shock! As they leave, suddenly the sign drops and falls on Zero’s head! Bloody! Of course this is a clever setup. Denden panicking. Inyou instead of asking him to call for an ambulance, tells him to give discounts!!! And seeing that Zero is well, Denden once again realizes he has been had. Complete defeat. Realizing he will lose at this rate, he decides to go to Magmell and strike it rich. Might as well die there than face this brat again. And so… Is he going there on his lame bike?! Yeah, Inyou and Zero forcing him to hitch them a ride home. Then they dare him to race through the lights. Only, they cut the brakes! Gonna crash into the truck! Miss! Phew. But fell off a cliff! Since the bike won’t do, he’ll go by sea! And so he buys a boat. 30 year loan… But wait. Inyou and Zero on board? They rummage through his stuff and explains this Ractor thingy. Here is this grenade Inyou created for you based on those he bought from his shop. The pin is out! Throw it away! Damn, why he throw it inside his own boat! Boom! Sea’s no good. The sky maybe. Hang glider? As he is in the air, he realizes he doesn’t know which way Magmell is. Don’t worry. Inyou here to help! He makes a giant blower to blow him off course. He crashes into a truck carrying pigs. Just his luck, it is on its way to Magmell. And so that is where Denden is now. Regretting he should’ve just stayed back at the shop, huh? But before he could die, Inyou saves him. We’re friends, right? Banzai for friends! Yeah. When’s the next shopping? The discounts are going to kill him from now on…

Episode 6
Zero is smitten by a few cat videos and wants to own a cat! But Inyou shoots that request down. He explains all the scam and the likes. Zero isn’t done yet as she claims the badge on his hat resembles cats. Or at least cat-like. Inyou confirms that. Time for another flashback of Inyou and Shuuin on Magmell. As Shuuin teaches him survival smarts, one day Inyou stumbles into bloodied corpses of adventurers. He then spots a little cute cat monster nearby. In short, they become friends and he calls it Toto. Yeah, they’re having a swell time together. Inyou even carved a few badges in Toto’s shape. One for you Toto, another for you Shuuin. In turn, Shuuin gives him a similar hat of his. One day, Inyou stumbles into a trapped explorer who is pleading help to be freed from some bear trap. But Inyou is cautious. He knows he is lying and set the trap himself. Desperate, the explorer tries to force him to do his bidding but Inyou releases all his prized catches. Suddenly Toto does a Digimon evolution and turns into a violent monster! He kills the explorer before turning on to Inyou. Shuuin explains this is what Toto becomes if it drinks human blood. Shuuin wants to kill it for Toto is no longer itself but Inyou wants to do it. But with his Ractor skills still at amateur level, he has a hard time. In the meantime, flashback of fun times with Toto. Damn, making it harder to kill this ex-cutie, huh? Eventually he has to go in for the kill. After burying it, Inyou cries his heart out. After all, Toto is the first monster he killed on Magmell. Now that Zero learns of the truth, she understands why Inyou will not allow any pets. At least for the time being. And then a tearful young girl comes in to seek their help to find her lost cat. Not wanting her to be miserable, Inyou agrees to take on the job. Hey, his trauma has got nothing to do with it, right? Uhm… WHAT DO YOU MEAN THAT IS ACTUALLY A DOG?! Bad misleading drawing…

Episode 7
Emilia joins Owens as Polar Star launches an investigation into an area in Magmell that has seen all sorts of aircrafts gone missing. Owens so confident this big helicopter of his won’t get into trouble. Until giant frogs start hurling boulders! Don’t fully panic yet. Because some tiny titan aborigine with rubber-like gomu-gomu arms drags, it down! So now it is Emilia’s father’s turn to seek Inyou’s help to rescue his daughter. Inyou blames them for getting into trouble when they should’ve known better. He is going to charge double. And so papa decides to play psychological and mentions Inyou looks like Shuuin. Well… In that case, he’ll charge triple! Is there a price too high for your daughter? Wakarimashita. Zero has an additional condition: Finish this bowl of marshmallows! WTF?! And here is another bag for the road! Ugh… Emilia decides not to be a sitting duck and goes to explore. She just ran off like that unprepared?! Then she stumbles into that aborigine. But she returns unscathed. Owens is glad the pride of Polar Star’s air force is here. Too bad they are all stoned down by the frogs and the aborigine eliminating it. Inyou is here as he watches the massacre. Yup, they’ve entered the territory of Eren Elin. Then Owens’ men try to go for a manhunt. Emilia tries to dissuade them not to fight back because Elin hates weapons. They don’t listen to her so Elin attacks them. Yeah, Elin is super fast like a ninja! Inyou’s helicopter is also taken out since papa brought a gun just in case. Wow. Elin can detect that?! Looks like papa will buying a new helicopter for him. Now Inyou faces off with Elin who becomes hostile towards him. Ractor vs super powered aborigine? Who will win? As narrated, there are more than 30 types of Elin species discovered. But all share 2 common traits: They look like human (really?!) and have intelligence surpassed that of humans. Eventually Inyou wins by dumping marshmallows on Elin. Tasty. So this is sign of friendship? Even the frogs join in! WTF Zero won’t lose and devours more marshmallow?! Because Elin just wants to live in peace, Inyou promises they will never set foot here again. So if you greedy humans decide to break that promise, Elin won’t just be your enemy. Emilia’s dad is grateful he has saved them twice and wants to repay other than money. Well, anything than marshmallows!

Episode 8
As Inyou is picking fruits, he stumbles into a decimated village. Hey look, a coffee shop! He is then captured by an old man, Tabu. But he lets Inyou go after he learns he doesn’t mean any harm. Zero doesn’t like his rudeness and all but Inyou takes his leave. He notices a photo of him and his daughter. Wanna bet something happened? Yeah, flashback shows they served the greatest coffee in town thanks to his daughter cultivating them. As Inyou and Zero hunt for some monster believed to be have the most delicious meat, it is suddenly eaten up a by a monster mole! Inyou believes this is his first time seeing that monster as it only appears once in 10 years just to feed. What luck. As they return, they stumble into a graveyard. One of them has fresh flowers. As Inyou steps closer, a warning shot by old geezer Rambo. Don’t you dare step closer. Another warning shot to make him scram. Okay. Suit yourself. Zero is mad at his disrespectfulness but Inyou gets the picture about protecting someone dear. Tabu then returns and sees the mole. He has been waiting 10 years for this. Time to finish unsettled business. Another flashback shows 10 years ago the mole attacked and decimated this village. While others evacuated, he and a few stayed back to shoot it. Now Tabu is gunning for revenge and it seems he is feeling nervous and can’t aim straight. He gets owned. Another flashback shows he survived the onslaught. Then he saw his daughter’s corpse. I guess that was when he turned into Rambo. Now, he won’t be defeated and continues to fight back. He still has anxiety issues, though. Inyou who has been watching all the while, decides to chip in. When the mole attacks, he makes it trip, allowing Tabu to shoot through and kill it. It is done. When he returns to his shop, Inyou is seen waiting. He returns his daughter’s necklace as he claims he picked it up somewhere. To show his gratitude, he invites Inyou for coffee.

Episode 9
Zero is shocked to see a hot chick sitting on Inyou’s lap and feeding him pudding. Who this woman?! Oh, she’s the new secretary. Then what makes of Zero? Oh, she’s the pet. WTF?! Thankfully it was just a dream. But in order for Zero to prevent that, she thinks she must become a proper adult first. And so she tries to shop for clothes but stumbles into Emilia. Despite Zero trying to hide everything (and fails), Emilia takes her to try some clothes. None work. Then they stumble into Daysem who treats them to pudding and then hears about Zero’s woes. He takes her to his tranny hair stylist to give her a hair makeover. You sure this tranny graduated from some top hair stylist academy in London? After all the weird hairstyles, the long black hair really suits her. But… Only if she was taller. Hence they visit Denden to see if he has a growth serum. Well, this book says some plants in Magmell might have that effect. Daysem will pay any price but looks like price isn’t an issue for Denden… So I guess the only way is to head to Magmell and get those plants! Assemble the Avengers! Upon reaching Magmell, Daysem has everyone eat lunch first. A small cute critter drops in and Denden thinks of getting his revenge from his past humiliation. Yeah, he should after his gun training. Besides, he wants to impress Fantastic Cups. That’s you, Emilia. Too bad Zero feeds it and becomes friends with it since it is herbivore. Denden failed… They continue their journey (Denden could’ve gotten into less accidents if he wasn’t staring at Fantastic Cups’ ass) until they find a plant. Zero makes Denden a guinea pig and lets him eat it! His legs grow longer! Miraculously he turns back normal after a while. They continue to let Denden eat weird plants and different part of him grows. Yeah. Then they encounter a giant monster snail. Attacks do no good. They’re trapped. Are they doomed? Inyou is here to save the day! But since he is having a tough time, the rest have this idea as they force feed Denden with all the plants to make him grow, thus helping turning the snail on its back and making it easy for Inyou to deliver the finishing blow. In the end, Zero apologizes for going to Magmell alone but still lies that this is because Denden wants to open a new business for some political incorrect compliance! Until Inyou reveals that book belongs to him and sold it to Denden. Yup, it’s fake. But Inyou is glad she had fun and has returned safe.

Episode 10
Inyou and Zero see a guy, Rubert happily frolicking with the monsters! He is an ecologist studying these monsters and is having a field day as he passionately explains and introduces some of the weird but friendly monsters to them. He takes them to his favourite spot, some nest of young peckers. When some plant bird monster hybrid walks by, Rubert probably wants to hug it but Inyou distracts it away before it shoots miasma at him. He is warned that the miasma will make you see hallucinations of your worst nightmares. But Rubert says there is a nightmare going on recently. Many of Magmell’s creatures are dying unnatural deaths like crucifixion. Don’t look now because nearby, DJ Zee and Baby Fat are using a cute critter as target practice and recording it just to get more views! Poor critter died and Zee thinks it is still not enough. Oh look, a pecker’s nest. Time to set it on fire and make it a huge grilled yakitori! Rubert is disheartened to see the entire nest burnt to a crisp. Inyou can tell it is arson as it was burning too intensely than naturally. Zero soon discovers the culprit. Yeah, their uploaded video has got lots of hits, huh? Soon they confront those heartless monsters. Rubert wants to know why they did it so Zee says they are monsters. Humans are invaders. It is no different. I mean, you eat chicken, right? So what’s the difference? Because they show no remorse, Rubert gets emotional and tackles Zee, forcing him to apologize. Zee will not so Rubert takes out a knife! Damn, he’s ready for blood! But Inyou won’t let him turn into the same monsters they are. Besides, they have to run because a monster is coming. Oh, heard Fatty’s screams? He just got eaten. Inyou ties Zee to a rock and leaves him with that plant bird monster hybrid. It spews its miasma all over as Zee starts screaming all over. This footage is uploaded onto the internet and you bet he won’t be seen in public again. Rubert apologizes to Inyou because he really thought of killing that jerk and it was arrogant of him to think he could take another life. But Inyou says it is fine as long as he just kept it to thinking. As long as he doesn’t do the real thing, which is much worse. Zero wonders if Inyou hates his Angler job but he asks if he can do anything other than that. Why does it sound like a hint he makes his true living with some shady job?

Episode 11
Zero is still haunted by a dream of her previous bad master, Barton. Yeah, just hearing his footsteps to her cell made her quiver in fear! Zero is shocked that Inyou woke up early and doesn’t want breakfast. Something is wrong. Hence she assembles her Avengers and tells them about it. They try to speculate what it could mean but eventually an unimpressed Zero believes he is out flirting with girls. I think unicorns existing is more probable than that! This also made her remember how she first met Inyou. In a lab where her Barton told her to finish off a monster, there is Inyou on it and don’t worry, her puny hands can’t strangle him. He patted her head and assured her someone told him to find and rescue her. In actuality, Inyou is cleaning his house with Shuuin when they were together on Magmell. Flashback shows when Inyou was ready to return to the human world, Shuuin said they won’t meet again and handed him a photo of Zero. If he finds her, protect her at all cost. When Zero returns, she is shocked to see Barton at her place. Found ‘ya! He forces her to come back to him because Inyou is not her real master. Of course she refuses. In that case, here is a video of Denden. A weirdo enters his shop. Since Zero refuses to go back to him, the weirdo blows himself up! Oh sh*t! I guess Zero is still hesitating because Denden is expendable. HAHAHA!!! Oops, my bad! What will she say now when he has suicide bombers near her other friends! Oh dear. I guess he is her master now. Good girl. When Inyou returns, a video of Barton claiming he has taken Zero with him. This is revenge for what he has taken from him. Flashback shows when Zero was force to kill the monster, Inyou was actually sleeping on it. He told off Barton that Magmell creatures do not attack those stronger than them, that’s why this experiment is bound to fail. Inyou uses his Ractor skill to beat up Barton and save Zero. Barton has his suicide bombers blow themselves up! Now the real revenge begins! He gives him a chance to come to the place where he took everything away from him. That is, if he can escape this suicide bomber in his place! BOOM!

Episode 12
More flashback shows Inyou destroying the lab and ruined our evil dude. Apparently he has been forcing Zero to do experiments that would awaken her Ractor abilities. He thinks fear and despair is key to all that despite there were no progress. Zero notices that there are other prisoners here too. They were also part of the experiments. When Inyou destroyed the lab, they escaped but Barton captured them back. Barton knows Inyou is still alive as footage shows he created a barrier to protect himself from the explosion and then flew away in his helicopter. He can’t wait for him to get here. So you wonder why those prisoners are for? Wonder no more because they’ll do his last bidding by becoming suicide bombers! Seeing that Zero is still having hope that Inyou will come rescue her, he shows her an edited footage that Inyou died in the blast. Poor Zero. Now only despair and tears left. Yup, a montage of all her moments with Inyou. Basically recycled scenes of them throughout the series. Well, can’t really say it’s a recap. Inyou has finally arrived at the lab. Barton ranting how he took so long because he needed to get prepared. So 4 years he needed, huh? I think that’s why he is gonna fail… As he claims he is stronger now, all Inyou cares is where Zero is. Barton has all his suicide bombers fight him. Until Inyou is injured and that is where Barton comes to face him. Damn, Inyou didn’t create any protection at all to protect from the blast? As Inyou charges his sword at him, suddenly Barton strikes him back first with his sword. What’s this? He is now a Ractor!

Episode 13
Inyou’s options are limited because if he doesn’t stay still and get beaten, he threatens to kill Zero. Barton takes his time to beat up Inyou and see him suffer. Then this WTF moment, Inyou creates a grenade that Barton accidentally bats away. It rolls into the command centre and blows up, shattering the windows. Inyou then screams out to Zero to hear his voice. Now, how the f*ck does he know the layout of the place and where Zero is?! Taking his chances? Such luck. Zero is glad to hear Inyou’s voice. Barton continues to humiliate Inyou as the latter has Zero remember the first time we met. Basically after destroying the lab, Inyou told her he will always protect her. And then they go get something to it. Not sure how relatable is that because now Zero uses her Ractor powers to break free and aid Inyou with her mini robot. Wow. Had she done that in the first place, she wouldn’t have been a captive. No wonder Barton wants to keep her in depression. After they defeat him, Inyou and Zero reunite. But that is short-lived since Barton has eaten lots of weird fruits from Magmell as it turns him into a monstrous blob. Another round of fighting. This time Inyou wants her to take him to the rooftop. There, just when Barton thought he killed Inyou, Inyou slams his double gloves onto him. Not sure how that caused a super explosive effect. Yeah, entire lab got destroyed too. Ah well, double sure that this jerk and place won’t be having any future. When Zero is sad about her dead friends, Inyou assures her that he has confirmed that they are all alive before he came. Apparently those suicide bombers were too slow to respond, giving everyone enough time to take evasive action and escape. Except for Denden. All covered in bandages in hospital. Next time, fit your shop with better protection! Inyou clears the air that he was cleaning at Shuuin’s house. Because one day the secrets of Magmell will be discovered and he wants her to rescue him. They return to their office where Inyou just sleeps at the doorstep. Let sleeping dogs lie. Zero just rests next to him.

Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained, But Lost Everything!
Well, uhm, happy ending? I guess the final stretch had nothing to do with anything Magmell. Just turned into some revenge episode and the baddie got too desperate-cum-dumb and killed himself, saving our heroes from tainting and bloodying their hands.

I guess one of the mixed reviews that many viewers had about this series was that that many of the episodes are episodic and standalone type. Except for the final stretch, the rest of the other episodes just feel like fillers. Of course this is really bad if you are expecting a good storyline to follow. But too bad this series didn’t walk down that path. Hence we see Inyou getting involved in weird and bizarre misadventures and it feels a lot more like that rather than him doing his Angler job. Yup. Inyou’s Bizarre Adventures. Heh. Because of the episodic nature of the series, a lot of things are left unexplained or just touching the surface. For instance that Elin episode. So what the heck is the significance of that episode for if they aren’t going to reference it or use it any more in future episodes? So, it’s just to tell us that there are local inhabitants on the island and not just wild monsters. Therefore in hindsight, had they not put this episode in and replaced it with another generic rescuing mission or something like that, it’ll make no difference. Yeah, it could still be as bad.

Thus it feels sad and disappointing that there is nothing much more known about this new giant continent of Magmell that suddenly just popped up in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. I didn’t think it was the job of global warming because island countries like Fiji, Nauru, Vanuatu, Samoa, Tonga and Kiribati would’ve been underwater due to climate change. Even Hawaii will cease to exist. But instead, with the new continent emerging like that, WTF happened to these island nations?! Are they part of Magmell now? Oh well, nobody cares. Sorry got a little off track there. Anyway, I think nothing much is known about Magmell is because to keep the enigmatic allure of the continent itself. We all just know it is dangerous as f*ck and there are monsters out there who just want to kill you if you’re not careful! I mean, the more you know about something, you take away the romance of ambiguity. Try to get what I’m saying here? Because let’s say if the science and ecology on Magmell is now well recorded and documented, nobody would really fear the island anymore and hence that allure is lost. So for now, even though it might seem insufficient about what Magmell is and what it contains, in some ways this mystery is better for us to sleep better at night. And yeah, Magmell’s monsters feel like they are rejected designs from Toriko but only you can’t eat them. Yeah… And the reason why it mysteriously rejects technology so that we can have some barbaric and primitive adventure instead of ‘cheating’ using such technology. Uh huh. See who is lucky and smart enough to survive.

The episodes seesaw between tragic and slapstick comedy. Like the first episode saw how the client died so many would assume this would set the tone for the rest of the series. While other episodes aren’t as bad, then we have the totally WTF with Denden trying to get to Magmell via planes, trains and automobiles (perhaps my favourite episode throughout the series) and some that just feel WTF confusing like Verena’s episode when she just suddenly died. Not sure if she trolled everybody because it’s like thought once her secret comes to light, that’s all there is for the episode. So yeah, it’s not all serious or comedy all the way but a mix in between both extremes. Either you love it because it gives variety or you’ll hate it because it shows it is just inconsistent and doesn’t know what to stick with.

As for the characters, oh well, I guess many don’t like Inyou because of how a cold jerk he is. Well, if that is his character… I suppose that he has to act this way because it is survival smarts. Whether you are on Magmell or living in any human civilization, having such attitude can greatly increase your survival. Just like how Magmell was not fully explained, there are many other things and the characters themselves that are not fully fleshed out. We are given snippets of Inyou’s past but it is nothing concrete to form anything conclusive. Most obviously, Shuuin. Logically he could be Inyou’s master and taught him the ways of survival as well as his Ractor abilities. But other than that, if you want to know what really happened and why they’re together in the first place, the anime isn’t going to answer your question. Maybe the manga, oops sorry, manhwa could since it is still ongoing. Yes people, this series was originally Chinese based and that’s why you could see a lot of Chinese stuffs in here from Inyou’s uniform that resembles like a Chinese dictator to even the music that has lots of those erhu tunes to go with it.

Then there is of course Inyou’s Ractor abilities which I feel it serves as a plot convenience. I mean, it is generally said that you can make anything out from imagination. Oh hell yeah. How f*cking convenient is that! So I’m not sure how this Ractor thingy works but I believe it isn’t as easy as just conjuring something up in your mind and then it pops up and lasts as long as how well you understand its structure whatever before disappearing. Otherwise seeing Inyou pulling off this move feels just like for convenience. And to say that he isn’t as good as Shuuin is so that we can have an excuse that the stuffs he creates are just limited. Yeah, noticed how most of the things he creates are just iron metal gloves or those boxes with strange symbols? WTF he think he is Mario, why does he need to create those boxes to jump up?! Could he not make springs for his shoes?! Just saying, you know. And they say being a Ractor is just like being in a fairytale… Yeah, it’ll be troublesome if everybody or a big majority of the population is a Ractor.

Zero the cutie loli of the series has her past fleshed out at the final stretch but I feel that there is more to it than meets the eye than just this meeting. But I guess for this adaptation, it is just sufficient to tell us how they met. Even Inyou has his bad points, at least he isn’t as bad as her previous master who could be some loli hater or something. So it’s weird to see that Inyou heading to Magmell physically but Zero sits in her special room with a big wide screen and uses her mini Zero robot to accompany him. I think that’s the safest way because Zero doesn’t really have good self-defence skills so she’ll be more of a burden if she goes with him physically too. Yeah, it feels like a professional and like in one of those movies if Zero is acting like his operator from HQ or something. For now it might seem they are just boss and employer relationship but as hinted at the end, Zero could be Inyou’s trump card for something big. Too bad we’ll never find that out.

As for the rest of the other characters, they aren’t really that interesting but those who didn’t die (RIP Kuriks and Verena), they get to reappear again as side characters. After all, it’s more exciting than to see just Inyou and Zero. But if I have to pick a favourite character, it will have to be Denden. Yes, people! Uncle Denden is in fact the best character in the series simply because he is a clown and a naturally funny guy who makes me laugh! Each time he is in the scene, he never disappoints to make me smile in some ways. Way better than the cow tits Emilia who is Zero’s rival because of those huge racks but innocent Emilia doesn’t know what she’s talking about. Does she even know those humongous melons are right before her eyes?! You wonder why she always wears a red singlet wherever she goes, huh? Yeah, there’s your fanservice for guys who love mature woman over flat lolis.

Way better than Daysem because despite not being filthy rich like this old dude, somehow still can manage to keep his store afloat after giving discounts to his best customer! JUST HOW?! Way better than Tabu because despite this old Rambo now working in a new café, at least he isn’t a sullen moody person. And of course way better than Rubert who feels like a discount and knockoff version of Pokemon’s Ash. Gotta catch ‘em all, friendly Magmell monsters! So do you not see why this guy is the best?! Despite everyone takes advantage of him or treats him like a clown and that’s only because he is written to helm this role! This guy should have his own spinoff series! I wanna see this guy be the next Gourmet Hunter or Pirate King! F*cking Inyou and Zero jerks trying to bully a poor guy and rip him off his (not so) honest business! Send those motherf*ckers to prison! And of course Barton the big bad wolf himself feels like he is trying to put some fear in us all by tormenting our innocent loli but he became a one dimensional villain and ended up in a predictable fate. Good riddance.

Art and animation are pretty standard, not the best I have seen and certainly not the worse either. But yeah, I did notice that some scenes do have slight drop in quality. Not sure it’s my hardware but I don’t think so. There are some CGI employed too but I noticed it is mostly to the ordinary people in town. It isn’t so obvious but you can tell from the super smooth CGI-like movements from the character models. Otherwise, everything else is 2D hand drawn. Like I’ve already mentioned, since this manhwa is Chinese originated, a few Chinese themes around and the weird monster designs keep reminding me of Toriko. And of course, some character designs look pretty familiar like the first time I saw Inyou, I wonder why the f*ck Ryoma from Prince Of Tennis is doing here! Did he give up his racquet and become an Angler?! And Zero looks like Minami-ke’s Chiaki but without the droopy eyes. Or is it Claudia from Senyoku No Sigrdrifa? I don’t know, does Shuuin look like the main character in Tokyo Ghoul but without a hat? Don’t ask me, didn’t see that horror series. This anime is animated by Pierrot Plus who did Sabage-bu, Beelzebub, Konbini Kareshi and Mahou Shojo Ore.

Voice acting, you bet my favourite one is going to be Denden. Now, if he sounds awfully familiar that is because he is the same guy who voiced Ryogen in Gundou Musashi, Shiro Saito. Exactly the same character! I wonder if this is the future where Ryogen jumped to and stayed on! Lost Da Vinci somewhere in the time travel! Hahaha! But yeah, this guy rocks and his voice is so joker-like! My favourite. Makes me laugh all the time whenever he just opens his mouth to say something whether it is serious or not. The only seiyuu I recognized are Koji Yusa as Owens and Shizuka Itou making her cameo as Verena. The other casts are Kengo Kawanishi as Inyou (Rei in 3-gatsu No Lion), Mao Ichimichi as Zero (Bada in ClassicaLoid), Hibiku Yamamura as Emilia (Claudia in Senyoku no Sigrdrifa), Hiroshi Yanaka as Daysem (Otogi in Nanbaka), Minoru Hirota as Tabu (Pepel in Sekai Seifuku: Bouryaku No Zvazda), Keiichi Sonobe as Barton (Rayleigh in One Piece) and Toshiyuki Morikawa as Shuuin (Julius in Black Clover). The opening theme is Dash&Daaash by Fuudan-juku. So lively a rock piece that it just doesn’t seem to fit the pacing of the series. Really. I thought this would fit those kind of generic slice of life high school comedies. We have another rock piece for the ending, The Key by A Flood Of Circle. Not really fitting either but sounds better than the opener.

Overall, this series had potential but was bogged down by a very random-like filler stories, unlikeable characters (even Denden being the most likeable in my books feels like he is in the wrong anime!) and well, everything else is just meh. They did not really flesh out the potential of Magmell or tantalize us with its secrets. Instead, we are just made to stare at it from miles away as we salivate behind some thick glass. Yeah. That’s how it feels like. Also, it feels like you decided to take some sort of adventure and at least get some sort of consolation prize or treasure but you return empty handed. Oh well, at least I still have my life! Gotta be grateful for that! So are they saying that some things are better left undiscovered? You mean, like this anime series!!! I agree. Because now I can warn others if you don’t want to be disappointed with mediocrity, don’t watch this anime if you are not willing to take the risk! Otherwise your brain, heart, mind and expectations will blow up and collapse even faster than Denden’s shop without any reinforced bomb protection! Yeah!

Dungeon Ni Deai Wo Motomeru No Wa Machigatteiru Darou Ka S3 OVA

Oh man. Another hotspring episode? Seems like Dungeon Ni Deai Wo Motomeru No Wa Machigatteiru Darou Ka S3 OVA is yet another hotspring episode after the first OVA being one and the second one was a beach episode. But who cares, right? We all know why we are here in the first place. If we’re not raiding dungeons, then we’re raiding the hotspring for… Well, let’s just enjoy the show, show shall we?

Is It Wrong To Find A Hotspring In Orario ~Bath God Forever~
Dian Cecht runs a very famous natural hotspring facility in Orario. So you bet everybody is there to enjoy and rejuvenate. Yeow! Sexy fanservice too soon?! However Bell is soon kidnapped by Miach Familia. Looks like they are suspicious of Dian’s claims of this hotspring being natural. Flashback shows Miach Familia tried to come up and design their own hotspring until Dian usurp them with this commercial crap. So they’re jealous, right? They also think there must be something in the water that rejuvenates them and they’ll expose Dian’s bluff. Too bad for them, Dian pops up before them and gives them paltry discounts to his bathhouse (although 1 still has to pay regular price). And some reverse psychology their savings allow them to enjoy some limited time only luxury food. With him is Airmid who is supposed to be Orario’s top healer. They try to make her talk about Dian’s secrets but her lips are sealed. After they leave, looks like Hermes wants to join them in exposing Dian. First, Hermes and Bell patron the bathhouse to get a good look at its layout. They also drink the hotspring water?! Hey, tastes good somehow. Then they report to Miach Familia about the piping of the water flow in the building. It seems whatever thing they suspect should lie in the boiler room on the top floor. At first Naaza wants to call off this plan for she doesn’t want the rest to be indicted. But with Welf barging in and complaining Bell went ‘missing’ and thinks it’s because he had an important mission, he’ll join in to help too, Naaza agrees to let everyone help out.

After all the planning and preparations, it’s time to infiltrate. So we see Bell, Welf and Hermes in weird disguises trying to enter the men’s section to create a distraction. However Hermes thinks it is more fun and hence a change of plan. They’re going to the women’s section! WTF?! And just like that, panic and helter-skelter set in. RUN! The women are screaming, the guards are chasing, the perpetrators keep running. Hermes hits a dead end but someone saves him. Turns out to be Asfi who beats the bastard up for everything. Bell runs into Syr and cliché has it that she slips, he slips, he grabs her but he robes disrobes, nice view, he falls into the pipes. Ganesha tries to help out but I guess all the women has gotten a view of his other bigger elephant. Meanwhile Miach Familia is trying to infiltrate to the top floor but Dian suspects it is them and starts shooting showers with water that would disintegrate their clothes! So exposing their modesty 100% makes them unable to move forward? Weird. Eventually what seems to be a light sabre battle between Dian and Miach, old dude accidentally cuts up the pipe due to the cramp space and Bell falls onto him. Now they finally reach the boiler room and they see the unspeakable secret: It is Airmid bathing in the waters and her spiritual magic is the stock of the hotspring water. Airmid gets so embarrassed that the whole place blows up?! Hey, at least everybody still enjoying the outdoor bath. Dian is confident they can continue all this once they rebuild this but Airmid is too embarrassed to do it again. She only did this because he promised her nobody would know. Meanwhile Bell is approached by Eina. Thanks to Syr as eyewitness in identifying him, she blames him that because of this ruckus, she was forced to see Ganesha’s ‘elephant’. No mercy for him too! I hope this mission was worth it all.

Is It Wrong To Again Like Hotspring Fanservice Episodes?
Even if we viewers didn’t get to enjoy the rejuvenating hotspring, I suppose in some ways we got rejuvenated by the sexy fanservice and the nonsense that this OVA had to offer. Everything felt silly and pointless but I guess this OVA did what it was intended to do. Don’t need to worry if it has any relevance to the main plot because like all its previous OVAs, it doesn’t. Too bad we didn’t have more female fanservice here but I guess for some like Hestia who herself is a walking fanservice in the main series, it makes no difference for her to steal the limelight again. And Aiz was very forgettable. Most notable is her duet with Hestia in the ending theme song, Otoko To Onna Wa Labyrinth which is a sexy and sultry retro piece. In the event if there would be more OVAs in the future, I think I wouldn’t mind having more mindless hotspring fanservice fun. After all, it is still way better than those mushroom drug thingy the last time, right?!

Black Clover part 3

OMG! Woah! WOAH!!! Hold on a minute! Hold on a second! Just hold on!!! What in tarnation is the meaning of this?! Not even a year or even half a year, just a couple of months over from my previous blog, I started watching Black Clover again?! Am I a hypocrite?! WHY SO FAST???!!! Well you see, the series has finally ended!!! WHAT?! DID I READ THAT RIGHT?! Yes I did. Many times indeed. After years of trying to speculate how many episodes this anime will have and when it will end, the last time I binge watch this series, I just gave up looking. I thought it would go on forever at this rate. So, when I realized there wasn’t an episode released for a week, I thought they were taking a break. Something which is very rare for this series to do. And when another week passed and still no Black Clover episode, I decided to check it out. HOLY SH*T! You mean a notice came out way back in early February 2021 stating that this series will finally end for good?! Oh man. I’m in shock. Double shock. Triple shock. And so, after 170 episodes, it really ends. If only I was a bit more patient… Yeah, now I took my time watching the remaining few episodes at my leisure. No real pressure. Heh. Hey, this show isn’t going anywhere, right? Sighs… Still can’t believe it… And there I was really thinking this might be the next One Piece or something…

The final stretch…
Eternal resurrection – Those of you who felt disappointed because those Dark Disciples went down so easily, well, here’s your answer. Because of Vanica’s curse on them, they can resurrect as many time as they want. How do you like ‘em odds overwhelmingly stacked against you? Bring it on!

Heart queen vs blood queen – It’s now or never to take down and defeat Vanica here because otherwise it would mean opening the flood gates to the demonic world. That means 90% of the current population will die! As good as the end of the world. The plan is for Vanica to use up her blood magic while summoning the powers of the devil. When she is at the height of that (just 70%?), this is where Nero will come in and stop her with her arcane stage power. And so Vanica and Megicula are sealed… NOT!!! Oh well, we should’ve seen this coming.

Curses! – Apparently Megicula has a type of magic that weakens spells that affects her. So that’s basically like a cheat code, no? And due to their failure to contain her, looks like our heroines are now cursed.

No way Noelle – Apparently Noelle tries to show how strong the power of friendship is with her last ditch efforts to strike down Megicula/Vanica and stop them from killing a broken Loropechika. Well, just a tiny scratch. Can you call that a huge achievement?

What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger – Vanica doesn’t want to kill Noelle yet. As she remembers fighting Acier, when she took a child hostage, she became stronger. Hence she kidnaps Loropechika and returns to Spade Kingdom in hopes Noelle will become as strong her mom.

Pop goes the Dark Disciples – Since Vanica doesn’t need her Dark Disciples again, she activates the cursed time bomb within their body to explode!!! Damn, easy come, easy go. Yeah, I think it also took down parts of the Heart Kingdom too.

The gravity of the situation – We return to Yami’s fight with Dante who has now unleashed 80% of his devil powers. Apparently that’s the best he can go as to achieve 100%, the demon world must be totally connected. Despite Yami shooting his dark cannon magic so quick that Dante can’t even avoid, you’re guess is as good as mine, Dante has extreme regeneration powers. Yup. He can’t die or deteriorate at all. And now Dante has turned into a huge demon hybrid and his bodily magic boosted, do you see how grave the situation has become?!

All you have to do is ask – Yami realizes he can’t win against Dante. Alone. And what a way to signal Asta’s return with the captain of Black Bull seeking his help. Can’t forever be lying there wallowing in despair and watching your captain being pushed to the brink, can you? Tag team combo coming right up. Double the power, double the fun. Isn’t that what you looking for, Dante?

Fighting fire with fire – Asta seeks the help of his inner demon to get some of his powers. He is willing to sacrifice some of his body parts for that. He needs to protect those he loves no matter what he becomes. And with that, Asta’s right arm becomes the power source itself but he has only 50 seconds to use it. And now we can watch this epic tag team fight!

Every second counts – Just 1 second left before power runs out for Asta, Yami throws him his sword so that Asta could do an amazing slash that purges the demon and send Dante to his defeat! Wow! How?! Don’t know. Don’t care. But it was a damn close fight.

The bone collector – And just when you thought our heroes are going to get their well-deserved rest, here comes Zenon to take Yami and collect Dante. Everyone trying their best to stop this abduction but to no avail. This is not even Zenon fighting back seriously since he is still affected by his fight with Yuno. And just like that, Yami vanishes before his team’s eyes. Yami… NOOOOO!!! :’(.

Completely healed – Gauche completely healed? Owen thinks Grey’s magic isn’t just transformation but something else much more…

Nacht Faust – If you’re wondering why the Black Bulls don’t have a vice captain, wonder no more because this is him! OMG! He is devil possessed too and can control them?! Several of them?! Hey folks, meet one of them now, Gimodelo. Now, the reason why nobody knows or seen him for a long time is because he has been an undercover spy in the Spade Kingdom.

Fighting fire with fire, devil version – You bet Asta needs to get stronger and seek Nacht’s guidance to teach him how to control his devil within.

Here’s to lowdown of the plan – Sure, Nacht crashing into the Magic Knight captains’ meeting may raise a lot of suspicion, but he has juicy info on what’s going to happen next. Apparently, Yami and Vangeance will be sacrificed so as their powers will open the Tree of Qlipoth. 7 gates over 7 days will be opened one by one and the 10 devils that are compatible with the tree will be scattered throughout. The deeper the level, the more powerful the devil. When the final devil, Lucifero appears, the world is done for and the captain duo will die. In 3 days, this ritual will begin so they will need to infiltrate Spade Kingdom to take them back. This time Asta is very vital to the plan because of his anti-magic, that’s why Nacht will turn him into their ultimate warrior.

The fight for Vangeance – Yuno after revealing himself as the true prince of the Spade Kingdom to everyone, makes a fervent statement of how Vangeance continued to fight and protect Golden Dawn. Because of his magic, many of Golden Dawn are still alive. So whether or not everyone still distrusts him or see him as a traitor, you bet Yuno is going to rescue him or everything will be pointless.

Back to health by the elf – So did our heroes in Heart Kingdom survive the suicide blasts? Of course. Thanks to those elves whisking them away and healing them at their new sanctuary, Elysia a region deep within the Heart Kingdom.

The hybrid lives – Well, well, well. Who are these young elf twins, you ask? Why, they’re the twins of Licht and Tetia!!! OMFG! How the f*ck did they survive all this time?!

Fighting your inner devil – Nacht begins a devil binding ritual on Asta. Drawing out his right arm and summoning his demon, Asta must defeat it to gain control of his demon if he wants to control and use his powers in this world. Hey, it’s forbidden magic but they don’t have time and conventional methods aren’t working.

Gratitude of the devil – First thing Asta did is to thank his devil! WTF?! Thanks for all the times he came to his aid. But does the devil care? Asta is going to be finished if he doesn’t fight back. Even more mind boggling, Asta doesn’t think all devils are evil because being one doesn’t automatically makes him a bad guy! WTF?! You trying reverse psychology?!

File and rank – Ranking is everything if you’re a devil. Liebe was born without any powers and hence being the lowest devil of them all, he gets bullied every day. Devils yearn to head to the human world and because of a magic barrier that prevents them, hence the cruelty among themselves. Because Liebe had no magic, an accident has him thrown past the barrier and into the human world. Of course, humans also persecute him. He is after all a little devil.

Licita – Greatly hinted as Asta’s mom who abandoned her child at the church. She was more than happy to pick up Liebe and play family with him. Because of her unusual magic to drain mana from others, she had to live a secluded and lonely life. As Liebe had no magic, this means she cannot kill him. And so happy mommy and son days they played. Until Lucifero possesses Liebe’s body in hopes to find a vessel to this world. Although Licita manages to expel him, Lucifero handed her a fatal wound. To further save Liebe, she sealed him into her five leaf clover grimoire until he gets stronger.

Daily curses – Liebe spent the rest of his days cursing all those he hated and as twisted fate would have it, the human whom he emerged to also had no magic. Hence he had no choice but to hatch a plan to use his body as a host to return to this world.

Thanks everybody – Asta crediting his meeting and fights with so many people, friends and enemies alike, the reason why he got stronger and manages to defeat Liebe.

My friend – Instead of turning Liebe into his familiar or servant to do everything at his bidding, Asta wants to know him further and start off as equal terms and as his friend. After all, he realizes Liebe wasn’t going all out to kill him and believes he can’t kill because he is sad for somebody’s sad. That’s why he knows they can get along. Also, they have the same enemy they want to take down.

Bye Clover…
Okay. That’s it. It was really one heck of a ride. As we all should know very well by now, the end of the TV series doesn’t signal that the series itself is losing steam or popularity. Rather, as I have also much predicted in my previous blog, the anime has dangerously caught up closely to the manga. This means if they were to continue with the weekly TV series, they would have been forced to put in mindless fillers like how they did for Bleach. Something that fans and definitely yours truly will not like. Therefore it is a good thing now for this series to take a break. Let the manga run its course. Then perhaps only return when they have enough material to cover the season. It’s a wise move. Also, we need some much needed break from this series and go watch other animes! Yeah!

My other speculation of why this series is also ending is because of all the big anime names that are coming out subsequently. Starting with the remake of that nostalgia Shaman King. Uh huh. Those of you who are old enough might still remember watching the original. Looks like the remake is going to adapt all the chapters of the original manga. And there’s Edens Zero too. Fans of Fairy Tail would certainly be looking forward to a series by the same creator ever since Fairy Tail got its ‘final season’ already. Hence Edens Zero might not ring a bell to many but it might be a potential to become big like Fairy Tail itself. And of course, there is the return of one of the original big trinity of anime of the last decade: Bleach. Yup. Final arc going to get adapted. You bet there’s a lot of hype going around. Hence with all these big animes coming, it is the right timing for Black Clover to bow out of the stage and not jostle for the same share of the pie. In that way, this series can still remain on of the top animes in our hearts without being side-lined by other supposedly bigger titles.

So the big announcement that came with the final episode of the series was that this anime is going to get a movie of its own?! Wow. Great. Trying to pull off something like Kimetsu No Yaiba, huh? Oh well, that show was a winning formula in many aspects… Not sure if I should be worried about Black Clover’s first movie, though. Although details are pretty sketchy at this moment (heck, not even a proper date of the movie has been announced yet), my prediction is that the movie might be a continuation of the Clover and Heart Kingdoms invading the Spade Kingdom. Or perhaps it could be some spinoff story like how they did for countless of animes like Naruto and One Piece. So it could go either way. We’ll just have to wait and see. And of course you know me, somehow I have something against sitting for over an hour to watch a movie so I might be skipping it and it would be a real tragedy if they really continued where they left off from the TV series.

As for the remaining episodes that I’ve seen, they really show a lot of potential and interesting stuffs. I guess when you know the series is ending, everything somehow tends to seem a lot exciting. From the story to the action and even the new characters. Talk about psychological last episode hype. At least for me. It is a shame that they had to end on a cliff-hanger but as I have pointed out in my paragraphs above, it is for the best. Asta getting Liebe who himself has no powers and the logic that this would make them an even more powerful combo, it might be mind boggling but I suppose it is trudging around the logic of 2 wrongs make a right thingy. Uh huh. Negative and negative becomes positive. And hence no magic with no magic becomes one helluva powerful power!

It’s also shocking to see Yami gets kidnapped. He is one of the most powerful characters in the series and to see him getting ended up this way, I guess this is supposed to pave the way for Asta to grow to great heights. It’s his turn to shine now as a true hero. No wonder the awesome showdown with Dante. It felt too early. Like as though they needed to showcase the powerful and awesomeness of this Black Bulls’ captain before sh*t hits the fan. Although Dante is defeated, it still remains to be seen if he would get back up on his feet to get his rematch and proper defeat. The same can be said for Yuno’s revenge match with Zenon. Unsettled business. Unsettled mysteries to ponder from Grey’s actual magic to where the f*ck Magna went. Yeah, next time this series returns, it’s going to have a lot on its plate to answer. But we’ll wait. We’ll wait…

Liebe being voiced by Nobuhiko Okamoto… Oh dear, why do I keep seeing Accelerator in this demon? Their looks are even similar. Then there is Hiro Shimono as Nacht. Despite not in his joker voice like Zenitsu from Kimetsu No Yaiba, he is still recognizable but I realized I still prefer him in joker mode. It’s not the same. I thought it was Mariya Ise as Licita but it turned out to be Kaori Ishihara (Aladdin in Magi).

Overall, it is with mixed feelings to see a long running anime end for now. There were ups and there were downs. It wasn’t perfect but it had its interesting moments and potentials. It might not be up there with more popular long running anime series like One Piece and Naruto (now Boruto), but it certainly has its own following. In its own right, it is an anime that is worth watching despite the cliché shonen tropes and shonen style action and battle sequences. It needs some time to be invested in if you really want to get to know the series well and binge watching should be avoided. Yeah, I know because from experience. But since I’m not that totally crazy or turned into a devoted fan, I guess that’s okay with me. Heh. I’m such a devil myself. I know it’ll come back better and stronger in the future. That’s why it’s important to not give up on this anime!

Dokyuu Hentai HxEros OVA

Yo! Are we still the heroes protecting the love, people?! Oh, who cares about that? As long as we have our fapping material, I’m sure we can produce enough H-energy from alien bugs who want to harness our sexual power as their constant fodder. Screw all that too because we just need something to unleash all our pumped up erotic energy inside. And that’s why the producers were considerate enough to give us a couple of episodes, Dokyuu Hentai HxEros OVA! Yay! Now we can fap without resorting to actual porn! Oh yeah. Can you just feel the H-energy welling up from your right hand???!!! IT’S COMING! IT’S COMING, PEOPLE!!!

OVA 1A
What’s this?! Retto and Momoka dating?! Turns out there is a rumour of a Kiseichuu at a shrine, couples who go there will definitely break up. So I guess the only way to investigate it is as a couple, huh? Yeah, they look like having fun and dating rather than doing any investigative work. You bet Kirara following them in the shadows is pretty jealous and upset. A few of Momoka’s male classmates see her and say hi. Because they tease her dressing, Retto steps up his game and claims he is her boyfriend. So bug off! Serves those losers right! Oh, is Kirara at boiling point now? At the shrine, suddenly they start to get all clingy to each other. They realize it is the Kiseichuu’s powers wreaking havoc on their minds. If they think of something, that power will reverse and make them do the opposite. Hence when they try to escape, they get clingy. Of course this is for our fanservice pleasure as we see Retto and Momoka in an ambiguous sex position. Momoka’s mind thought of giving in but the power of resistance is strong. Eventually she breaks free from the spell and she herself is enough to rid of the Kiseichuu. At the end of the day, they want to keep this a secret from Kirara. Don’t hold your breath now because here is a mad Kirara asking what secret! Oh no. Busted. But the joke is on her since they explain everything so Kirara is the one who is embarrassed and acting like a tsundere. Gotta go. Bye. Momoka knows Retto likes Kirara and promises to keep this a secret too. Because she likes this kind of secretive thrill? NTR when?

OVA 1B
Sora sleeps throughout class. She’s a heavy sleeper so the teachers don’t even bother. She’s even sleeping when school is over so her classmate, Hiiro wakes her up and hopes she could join her friends for some karaoke. Of course Sora hardly knows her and declines because a new manga is releasing today. Hiiro gives her contacts just in case. At the bookstore, Sora hears rumours how volumes of books have been missing despite no cases of theft. Sora realizes the remnants of the Kiseichuu is still around. She finds one and destroys it but at the expense of her clothes getting torn. As she didn’t bring any extra clothes, she hides herself and feels trapped. That is when Hiiro calls so Sora pleads for help. She sounds desperate so Hiiro rushes all the way. She thought she got raped or something and brings her back to her place to get something to wear. When Hiiro notes her gear pattern is like the one her brother has, this is when Sora realizes Hiiro is Retto’s sister. Speaking of the devil, here comes onii-chan without knocking! You bet Sora is going to beat him up. Hiiro also realizes they leave in the same dorm. Seeing the siblings so close together, Sora feels is glad to be Hiiro’s friend. Hiiro hopes to exchange manga and come to her house next time. But onii-chan won’t allow it?!

OVA 1C
Looks like Chacha has some weird ideas after reading a weird sexy manga. Saxophone… SAX… The sound of love… Sheesh… She goes out for a walk with Maihime who also walks Runba. Of course naughty dog goes off chasing skirts so Maihime has to chase after it. This is where Chacha gets separated. Some tree smell makes her feel strange and erotic as she waltzes into the nearby school and starts assaulting the ladies. When Maihime realizes Chacha is missing, she goes to find her and sees all the semi-naked girls with orgasmic face. Even her classmates start stripping her to join in the fun! Drunk Chacha explains she has found a way for humans to defeat Kiseichuu with this H-energy source plan of hers. Maihime understands what she is saying but notes people don’t act for efficiency or reason alone. She puts a stop to Chacha’s plans with her lullaby. Everyone returns to normal and they thought it was a dream. Maihime is hiding with Chacha in the closet. And then naughty Runba comes in to lick her pussy… Somebody’s H-energy went through the roof that day…

OVA 2
After Kirara destroys a Kiseichuu, of course she becomes naked but the gear malfunctions and only partial of her clothes regenerate. Thank goodness for Retto having extra clothes or else Kirara will have to walk in public naked. Seems Anno is trying to develop a suit that can withstand H-energy but it’ll take time. When a Kiseichuu is detected at their school, Retto and Kirara rush there but everything seems normal. Until they realize everyone is naked!!! OMFG! So naked is their uniform?! So strip down and get to class! I guess sensei won’t allow them to skip class and go find and exterminate the Kiseichuu. Yeah, what an odd day to see everyone shamelessly doing their activity in their birthday suit. Eventually during the break, they find the Kiseichuu who is using a mind control device on everyone on the rooftop, they just finish her off! OMFG! Too easy! With that, everyone returns to normal. Biggest freak out of the day when they realize they’re totally naked! With the gear not working well, Anno advises them not to use it for the time being. So he takes Kirara’s gear as sample to further develop it. One day, Retto and Kirara go to see Anno but he isn’t in. On his monitor, Kirara’s gear tracker seems to indicate he is being taken somewhere. Calling the gang to investigate, they arrive at a shady BDSM place. Inside, Anno tied up in a BDSM manner and his H-power drained. The BDSM Kiseichuu mind controls Retto to tie up the girl BDSM style as she too drains their H-energy. Meanwhile we see the Tokyo branch shopping for lingerie. Yeah, they’re forcing Touma to wear a bra! Then they get a distress signal from Momoka. They rush over and they too fall into the BDSM trap. Luckily Touma isn’t a girl so the Kiseichuu miscalculated and couldn’t drain from him. Touma uses this to throw Kirara’s gear to her to free her. The Kiseichuu orders Retto to protect her but a big blooper happens so Retto accidentally helps Kirara punch through her. That’s the end of the BDSM torture. In the aftermath, Anno explains he was trying to get materials from a Kiseichuu as sample to develop the suit but got captured. Then they find a strand of fibre that has withstood the destruction from the H-energy. Eureka moment for Anno because now he can repair their gear. Rest assured, no more wardrobe malfunction! Bummer for us!!!

Sex, Bugs & Crock ‘N Droll!
Ah… Oh yeah… It was fun while it lasted. The OVAs did what it was supposed to do and that is to provide the steamy fanservice that this series is (in)famous for. Who cares about the story or if their gear could finally withstand and absorb the H-energy. As long as we get to see their undies or their boobs, all is well in this world and you bet that keeps the bugs out and us sleeping safe and soundly every night. Yeah… So if you bought the OVAs, it was probably worth every cent since it is uncensored and there were bare tits walking all over, especially that naked school session. Everything that happened in the OVA is for the sake of fanservice no matter how dumb or mind boggling it is. It doesn’t have to make sense thereafter since the main characters have their turn showcasing their sexy fanservice that don’t disappoint. Mmm… Delicious. Thanks. I hope the gear keeps malfunction in the future as an excuse to have more sexy Kirara, Momoka, Maihime and Sora. Oh heck, don’t even need that. Plot convenience will do the trick and force the cliché!

The one thing that brings me even more joy than the fanservice is the fact that Mamiko Noto has a cameo here as a Kiseichuu! More specifically, the one at the shrine. Yeah, it was the biggest happiness in my life getting to hear her again despite having lesser and lesser roles these days. It was also fun to hear her go all out and passionate in her short cameo. Because that’s how all Kiseichuu do when they die. More pleasure to hear Kana Hanazawa as the BDSM Kiseichuu. I thought it was Youko Hikasa as the mind controlling Kiseichuu but it turns out to be Rie Tanaka. Gosh, another veteran seiyuu whom I thought has retired for good. Yeah, nice to hear these recognizable veterans lending their talents for a few seconds but I guess that’s the fate and running joke of these bugs. Nobody cares for them as their death comes quickly as they give out their final scream. Not sure if these OVAs take place after the TV series because at the end of that, the bug queen was defeated. These could be remnants, though. Oh, who cares? Just give us the fanservice. Oh wait… I just remembered… DID THEY KILL OFF ANOTHER MAMIKO NOTO CHARACTER???!!! OH MAH F*CKING GAWD!!!!!!! Anyway thanks a bunch. It was nice to hear her voice again.

Overall, the OVA delivered what it was expected so no complaints. I mean, this is what you’re supposed to expect when you watch this series, right? Those who enjoyed the TV series will definitely find themselves at home with the couple of extra episodes. After all, Corona virus lockdown season is slowly tapering off and now that we have to drag ourselves to get back to our usual lives, one last ecchi anime for the road. Oh heck, they’ll make these from time to time. We’ll get our usual load of fanservice all year round anyway. So until then, stay safe, people. Keep fapping to keep those horny bugs away and protect our precious Earth filled with precious smut treasures! Ai wo mamori nuite dare datte hero, wow oh!

Munou Na Nana

There is an imposter among us. You know that recent hit online multiplayer game, Among Us? A game whereby you’ve got to sniff out the parasitic killer blended in among the group before the killer kills off every one of the crewmates while completing other tasks. If you’re familiar with that, I guess it makes things easier to understand Munou Na Nana. When enemies of humanity appeared on Earth, humans with super powers and abilities are sent to train and nurture in a school on an isolated island to help combat the enemy. However the enemy is a step ahead. They send an assassin to infiltrate the school, blend in with the pack and pick off these future heroes one by one. Will the imposter succeed in her mission or will she get exposed and serve her just desserts? But sorry, no voting off here…

Episode 1
It has been 6 months Nanao Nakajima transferred to this deserted island but he can’t fit in with the rest of the class. Unlike others who have special powers, he has none. On this island, these students are to train and hone their skills to fight against the enemy against humanity and some believe they have infiltrated their humankind. The teacher introduces a couple of new transfer students: Kyouya Onodera who is keeping mum on his power and cutie pie Nana Hiiragi who can read minds. Nana seems to pity Nanao since he keeps getting bullied by the fire user, Moguo Iijima. She can even read his mind to tell the fatty off she doesn’t intend to date him. When they have to pick a class rep (at this point?! After 6 months?!), Nana nominates Nanao who is reluctant. Kyouya suggests those interested can fight it out. Nanao’s flashback reveals he is the dullest of the family and when he received a letter to study here, his father told him to do just that and become a leader. It’ll be his chance to shine. So that’s why Moguo teased him as a self-proclaimed leader since that was what he told the class to make up for being talentless. Nana continues to hang out with Nanao and talk to him. He too learns that because of her ability to read minds, it distracted her and drove her crazy, the reason she came here. Then they talk about the enemy infiltrating mankind. Could it be they are already here to try and kill the heroes before they mature? Nana almost falls off the cliff but luckily Nanao catches her. Could it be a strong wind or someone trying to push her off? But the more Nana hangs out with him and praises him, the more Nanao finds it annoying. Invasion of privacy. The fight to become class rep is between Moguo and Seiya Kori who is the most popular guy. It ends with Seiya winning but Moguo is a sore loser and won’t accept it, accidentally unleashes a huge fireball in everyone’s way. Before anybody could die, Nanao steps in and neutralizes it. That is when he reveals his true ability is to neutralize powers. With that, Nanao is now the class rep. Later as Nana praises Nanao over his talent, going so far as to experiment he can neutralize reading her thoughts by just touching her hand, just when Nanao thought she is his true friend, she pushes him off the cliff!!! It is hinted that Nana can’t read minds and was just very observant. She used it for Nanao because she was curious to see what kind of power he has. Surely somebody like him can’t be in this place if he actually has no power, right? And the rest were just to push him to see how far his talent would go. Nana claims that he is the real threat to humanity and for that sake, please die. After Nanao falls, Nana looks at her device that claims Nanao had a potential kill count of a million!

Episode 2
As narrated, when the enemy first appeared, it wasn’t some kind of monster but humans themselves. Humans with superpowers, that is. A task force with those with special powers was formed to counter this but they became corrupted with their own ambitions. The war rages on until somehow humanity won. As time passed, people’s thinking also changed so the general populace would only accept those who are isolated and trained on deserted islands. This is what the general story is. A committee tells Nana that her job is to covertly kill these trainees as they are the ones who will pose a threat to humanity. If she fails or gets exposed, she will be punished. Nana continues analysing the rest and finds Seiya a very easy read. However she notices about Youhei Shibusawa. This self-deluded guy is believed to have the power of stopping time. As she hangs out with him and observes more, he reveals that his true power is to go back in time and change the course of events. Of course this has alarms ringing for Nana because this could mean unearthing Nanao’s murder. By the way, the excuse is that he is sick, the reason nobody is worried he didn’t show up. But here comes Kyouya who is suspicious of Nanao’s disappearance since he didn’t return to his dorm last night and he is trying to frame it on Nana since she was last seen with him. Nana tries to overturn the narrative to her favour by claiming she heard a strange voice inside Kyouya’s head, hinting he might be the enemy. Kyouya backs down as Shibusawa wants to help Nana uncover the real truth. The more trips Shibusawa jumps back in time and returns, the more Nana observes his ability and tries to deduce his limitations. Because at this point he would’ve caught her as the killer now but why has he not? So it’s like he could go back at most for a day and the further he travels back, the more tired he becomes. Also, when he sees someone who knows him, he will be brought back to the present. This is evident as Nana’s memories are overwritten. Like when she spot Shibusawa spying on them right before she pushed Nanao over. That night, she rushes over to Shibusawa’s place, claiming to tell the whole truth that she saw Nanao being eaten by the enemy. She claimed she didn’t trust him, the reason she didn’t say the whole truth. Shibusawa agrees to go back in time at this spot to save him. But he never returned. Because Nana knew he couldn’t swim and over this spot where the pond is frozen at night, when he comes back, he’ll be too tired to struggle his way out. It is safe to say that he drowned.

Episode 3
Now that Nana has killed 2 in a row, she must be careful now or else everyone getting suspicious would make her harder to move. When Seiya tries to hit on her, Nana mentions about his girlfriend getting worried. It is of course her observance but before she could explain, Kyouya hijacks and explains about them sharing an umbrella, hence their sides not getting wet from this downpour. Nana tries to spy on Kyouya but since he wants to be friends, he lets her into his place. Such a messy place. An otaku? From his behaviour, Nana cannot decipher what he is thinking. But he tells her his reason he came to this island. His sister was here. She went missing. That’s why coming here himself is to look for clues. When Nana is about to leave, Kyouya shows her the broken watch from Nanao. Oh sh*t. He brings her to the cliffs as he deduces about Nanao’s disappearance on the day they transferred here. With no friends, Kyouya explored the island and found this place. The broken rope piqued his interest so he jumped down and found this watch. It could be he was attacked by the enemy that is hiding on this island and leaving behind this watch might be a clue. Kyouya is suspicious of what defines the enemy. Even more so the students who are confined are supposed to be national treasures but nobody shows concern of Nanao’s disappearance. Also, the training feels so plain for super powered people like them. When Nana asks his powers, he wonders why she just can’t read his mind. Definitely he is on to her, she thinks. Though, he thinks she doesn’t have any motive to kill Nanao.

Nana remembers the committee that her mission would be easier if she had the database of those she is to kill. However based on past data that had them take very extreme measures, they deduced sending a secret agent would be the best. Hence she must determine their powers with her own eyes. Nana and Kyouya tell their deduction to the teacher who is obviously panicking. However no communication outside the island is possible until graduation so he goes to contact the faculty for help. For now it is best not to tell the others to panic. We hear Kyouya deliberate on how weird this island is as well as Nana trying to think out Kyouya’s ability. From the observations of his room, she believes he cannot smell. So when Kyouya returns home and turns off the gas, Nana has closed all the windows when suddenly gas explosion! Nana pretends to be appalled at the scene of Kyouya being burnt but is shocked when he grabs her foot. His injuries heal as he questions why she is even here on the scene first. It could be because of her mind reading? Then he reveals his ability of invincibility and despite having no sense of smell, he was born with that defect and has nothing to do with his power’s limitation. Though, he has a weakness from his ability and will allow Nana to read his mind. So did she get it? Thank you. That’s what friends are for.

Episode 4
Kyouya is trying to let everyone know he was attacked but they don’t really believe him. This is also a threat to Nana since the murders she commit might be uncovered and needs to kill Kyouya fast. Michiru Inukai is bullied by Kirara Habu and Kaori Takanashi as they read her love letter aloud. Michiru sees a wound on Nana’s leg and licks it! WTF?! Oh, it heals. Nana shifts her attention to Michiru as she now realizes her ability to heal others is a considerable threat. Nana gains her trust by pointing out to Habu and Kaori as the ones who set up this fake letter just to bully her. They hang out and become friends. But Nana knows Kyouya is stalking her the whole day. That night, Kyouya sees her running towards Michiru’s room. Then a scream. When Kyouya enters, Nana is stabbed from the back and bleeding. Luckily Michiru heals her. Nana claims she heard the voice of the enemy wanting to kill Michiru and rushed over and was stabbed by the invisible enemy. In actual fact, Nana stabbed herself with a hidden gimlet. This is part of her plan to hide herself as a victim since with the other girls horrified at seeing this, they are more inclined to believe her. But the next day, Kyouya is still unimpressed. If she knew he cannot die, why did she not call for his help? In the heat of the moment, she didn’t think so. Kyouya then thinks deeper why would an invisible enemy run do this and run away? He could’ve just killed all of them. Kyouya even theorizes Nana stabbed herself but cannot connect the dots. This is part of Nana’s plan to lead him astray with all the thoughts so he cannot pinpoint her as the suspect. With everyone else hearing news about this, Nana then plays the emotional card that she heard the enemy’s voice wanting to kill Nanao but was too scared to act. Everyone sympathizes with her and with Michiru vouching for her to become their new leader, everyone unanimously agrees. All as planned…

Nana then tasks Michiru to record everyone’s abilities just in case they need it. When Kyouya comes to apologize for suspecting her, Nana knows this is just a bluff and he still suspects her. He talks about weapons so this has Nana thinking she needs to change her killing methodology because why would the enemy so strong use a human tool to kill, right? Maybe she’ll experiment with poison and see if Kyouya is immune to it. We hear more of Kyouya’s thoughts. Including the deduction that all this was a setup by Nana to lead everyone astray as their leader so she can kill them when they have their guard down. However the problem is that he has no proof and without that, nobody will believe him. When Nana returns to her room, this delinquent dude, Tsunekichi Hatadaira approaches her and wants to know why she wants to kill him. Say what? His ability is seeing the future and has a photo of her strangling him in the gym storeroom! So he has her hang out with him as he explains how everything that appears in his photo will definitely come true. He tried to change fate but it always turns out the way the photo is shown. As proof, Nana gets spilled by the soba ramen eventually even when she tries to change her order. So now you believe him? Nana plays dumb that she sees no reason to kill him. Are you sure? Then he shows her a photo of her pushing Nanao off the cliff! Oh sh*t… Game over?!

Episode 5
Nana knows Tsunekichi wants to blackmail her and the reason he never showed these proofs to the rest was because he had no friends and no one would believe him. She plays along and will do anything to prove his innocence. Oh yeah. This scumbag wants Nana to be his girlfriend. So she’s massaging his back and he is pretty laidback about being killed. After all, he believes the photos so this means whatever happens till his death, he is going to have fun. With Tsunekichi forcing her to stay in his room, she notices he ‘prints’ out those photos during his sleep. This means his ability is real and she must take care of him soon. Next morning, Tsunekichi knows Nana is hiding something from him because 1 of his photos is missing. He knows as he can only take 5 photos. He gropes her and finds that photo. It’s a rape photo of Nana! As Nana continues to plead her innocence, Tsunekichi makes a deal. He’ll wait at the shed tonight and if nothing happens, he’ll trust her. So before Nana leaves, she adjusts his watch to 10 minutes late. So when the time comes, she waits for him. Since she accidentally dropped her poison needles, her only choice is to strangle him with the rope. The moment she does that, Tsunekichi overpowers her! He knew it was coming because he reset his watch back. Then he tries to rape her. However he starts feeling weak and this time Nana overpowers him. During the struggle, she managed to reach her needles and stab him. Nana reveals the rape photo is actually a selfie she took to let his guard down. Tsunekichi succumbs to the poison because the troublesome one is now the real photo that Tsunekichi had but Nana stole: A picture of Michiru and Kyouya coming into the scene. That’s right about now!

Nana tries to plead to Michiru to heal Tsunekichi but looks like that bugger is dead. Apparently Nana didn’t return to her room last night so Michiru got worried and sought Kyouya’s help to look for her. Nana thought she is done for if Kyouya saw the strangling photo but turns out it was that rape photo. Hence Nana still has a chance as she creates a new narrative about being blackmailed by Tsunekichi because of all the lewd photos he got on her. However if Nana didn’t kill him and there are no external injuries, did he die of his illness or something? Nana will come clean with Tsunekichi and tell the whole class now. She takes her leave but her priority is to retrieve the other damning photo evidence in his room. She is damn lucky Kyouya never saw them. Just as she finished collecting them all, looks like Kyouya is here. He claims he is here to check what kind of medications Tsunekichi took if he really died of an illness. None found. But something still bugs Kyouya. The rape photo of Nana looked like it wasn’t a photo from Tsunekichi. Like as though it was staged. Something about the rope around her was tied twice instead of once? Kyouya theorizes about Nana taking the photo herself but still cannot piece together the whole picture as he thinks he doesn’t know what weapon the enemy used. Nana back in her room realizes the most important photo evidence is missing. She has searched the entire room unless… Oh no. Michiru fails to revive Tsunekichi. She then stumbles a photo of Nana killing Nana hidden in his clothes. Oh, Nana is here. Seen something, Michiru?

Episode 6
Nana doesn’t kill Michiru since she doesn’t understand what this picture means. Perfect for Nana to cook up a story that Tsunekichi’s abilities weren’t perfect and that he could only print out his dreams and not the future on the photos. Making her story more credible is the fact that Tsunekichi himself is a delinquent and has missed a lot of classes. And because Nana was close to Nanao, hence Tsunekichi was jealous about them and dreamt about Nanao’s death. As a funeral is held for Tsunekichi, Nana can tell Michiru uses up a fragment of her life force whenever she resurrects. She tries to get her not to use it since she’ll be sad if she dies while saving someone. More bad news for Nana as Kyouya still feels strange about everything and wants to do an autopsy on Tsunekichi. Nana protests and talks to him outside. She manages to throw him off that it makes no sense the killer tried to kill an immortal like him so early and then went to kill others. Still, he wants to go ahead with the autopsy. As Nana protests, suddenly Tsunekichi gets up?! ZOMBIE?! Turns out to be Shinji Kazama who reveals he is a necromancer and can make the dead talk as long as the dead remembers, saw or heard his surroundings. Out of the fire and into the pan. Since Shinji doesn’t know anything about souls, Nana makes up another story of hearing Tsunekichi’s soul in pain and to let him rest. With that, no autopsy for today. Next day, Nana tries to ask Yuuka Sasaki who is always protecting Shinji somewhat. As Shinji is an introvert, he rarely comes to class. She even spots them doing a secret tryst in the woods. So they’re lovers? Although they are childhood friends, Shinji refuses to believe his relationship with Yuuka is more than that. The dead are his first love! Noticing burnt marks on Shinji’s hand, Yuuka then reveals he got it from a fire at a cinema 5 years ago. He helped scared patrons escape before Yuuka using her super strength to bust in and save him.

During PE class, Nana feigns fatigue to go rest in the infirmary. She takes this chance to sneak out so she can kill Shinji sleeping in his room with a needle. When she returns, she spots a cat stuck in the drain and uses this as excuse to go rescue it to cover up since Kyouya is still hot on her trail. While it may be simple for Yuuka to just bust it out, she claims she can’t use her super strength now since she is allergic to animals and sneezing makes her unable to use her ability. That night, as Nana goes to kill Yuuka, she is knocked and pinned down from the back by Shinji! That is when Nana realizes her mistake. Shinji is already dead to begin with and that Yuuka is the real necromancer. No wonder she couldn’t sense Shinji’s presence. Yuuka then proceeds to brag about how cool Shinji is. Partly revealing how the real Shinji died trapped during the cinema fire. Yuuka controlled Shinji during Tsunekichi’s funeral because she wants to show off how cool he is. With Yuuka and Shinji ‘interacting’, Nana believes she has some split personality disorder. Yuuka suspects Nana killed Tsunekichi since she was freaking out when Kyouya suggested an autopsy. Perhaps she killed Nana and Shibusawa too? Surprisingly, Nana admits! But unlike Yuuka, she lets the dead rest in peace!

Episode 7
Nana tries to convince the she holds the upper hand since people don’t necessarily believe the truth. I mean, who is more credible? Nana as the leader or a weirdo stalker in love with her dead boyfriend? She is willing to cut a deal to keep this a secret. When Yuuka doesn’t buy it, Nana goes in for the kill she can tell what Shinji is thinking about her now. As expected, Yuuka takes the bait and releases Nana. So what did Shinji say? Kill Nana! Nana then escapes as Shinji tells Yuuka to kill Nana and then gain her abilities to hear his voice. Great idea. Nana’s plan is to bait Yuuka so as they play hide and seek in the woods, Nana finds out Yuuka’s pendant contains Shinji’s remains and it is an important relic to animate the dead. She also tests a few other hypothesis while on the run. However she didn’t see this one coming as other zombies start to attack her! You see, there are dead teachers and students on this island and Yuuka has gained control of them and their powers! Nana then barricades herself in a shed. But looks like there are also zombies in here! Oh no! Is she trapped? But thanks to the sunlight, Yuuka cannot animate her zombies anymore. Since she is trapped, she decides to come back at night to kill her. But after a whole day, Nana is no longer in the shed. There are no signs she broke out and she’s not even playing as one of the dead. She searches the whole night but to no avail. As she returns to her dorm, Nana pops up. Oh sh*t. It is then Nana steals a paper which is the real relic rather than the pendant. With Yuuka as her hostage, Nana then explains how hiding in the shed was just to make her believe she trapped herself. It was risky since she wanted to test out a few hypothesis of Yuuka’s ability. Previously, she unscrewed the hinges of the door and walked out after Yuuka left. Later on she screwed it back on. Yuuka panics and would do anything. This includes giving back her needles. To Yuuka’s horror, Nana drops the paper off the cliff. Nana continues to explain the loopholes in Yuuka’s story that didn’t make sense as Yuuka tries to somewhat cover up. In her despair, she reveals the real truth that she started the cinema fire that accidentally killed Shinji because she was jealous he was dating another girl. She claims that whore stole Shinji from her and only wanted to rescue him. Of course she would’ve loved to get some other relic from Shinji but that’s that ripped paper was the only thing she could get her hands on since he didn’t want her near him. During this ranting despair, Nana doesn’t give a f*ck and kills Yuuka. Good riddance. Now they can both rest in peace. We see Nana only pretended to drop the paper but actually didn’t do it. This was just to see if Yuuka is innocent. But had she, would she have spared her?

Episode 8
With Yuuka gone, all the corpses are rotting. It stinks. Yeah, corpses everywhere. Later she sees Habu trying to catch a snake to eat it to keep her poison ability alive. Learning that she has a fall out with Kaori, Nana feigns that Kaori wants to make up. But in that distraction, Nana sticks her needles into her neck and forces out the password of her handphone before letting her die. Now it’s time to set the evidence. When she’s done, she returns to Kyouya and explains that Yuuka is dead. She also has Michiru, Moguo and Seiya tag along. She reveals Yuuka as the real necromancer and tried to use Shinji to kill her because she almost blurted her ability to somebody. However she was being mind controlled by the enemy and right after Nana’s words got through her, Yuuka jumped down the cliff to kill herself to be with Shinji. Nana wants Moguo to burn the bodies and Seiya to cool the fire down. Kyouya is okay with it and Nana thought it is his loss since one of the corpses might be his sister. At least he won’t get to examine them. After they’re done, Kyouya throws a question to everyone. Every time one of their friends dies, where was Nana? Her whereabouts are always unknown. Great timing because a scream is heard from the dorm. Oh, it is Kaori dead. Apparently she died about 2 hours ago, the same time Nana was with them in the forest. That answers your question, Kyouya? As Kaori died in a way like as though she was putting on her contacts, Kyouya drinks her contact lens’ water! He gets poisoned! But thankfully he is an immortal. Nana confirms that poison doesn’t even work but it does cause him a great deal of pain. Kyouya recovers and deduces the culprit must’ve known her using contacts and hence murdering her this way. Like, someone who can read minds? Of course he brushes this off as a joke. When they try to go look for Habu but is nowhere to be found, Kyouya questions Nana’s hearing the voice of the enemy during the murders. Oddly, Nana wasn’t able to hear the voice when Kaori died. It could mean the trap was set by a human. But if Habu was possessed by the enemy, she could be also dead as they speak.

Nana realizes she has slipped up (something about the opening and closing of the room’s window), which gives Kyouya some room to believe that Nana is friends with them and hence she has been in Kaori’s room before. He thinks she could’ve read Kaori’s mind about wanting to put on contacts and hence poisoned it. Michiru tries to vouch for Nana by showing Kaori’s handphone. Proof that Habu killed Kaori. Using fingerprints to unlock, eh? Anyway, if she is saying because Nana is with them and can’t be the killer, that is precisely what Kyouya firmly believes that she is indeed the killer. With everyone gathering, time for Kyouya to explain the truth. As Habu skipped class this morning and Nana was conveniently in the forest, she could’ve killed her. Her plan to burn the corpses was so that she would have the evidence burnt and one of the corpses might be Habu, dressed differently or her face messed up. Nana might’ve gotten her handphone and typed this long winded message in advance and all she needs was just to press the send button at the right moment. Since both had a fall out, it wouldn’t be right for Kaori to suddenly use the contacts (the item that was the core of their argument and fall out). Kyouya notices she had her hands in her pocket awfully a lot today. Time to search her body for Habu’s handphone…

Episode 9
Nana narrates the very complicated Plan A that she might’ve gone with but didn’t. Then there’s Plan B that Kyouya deduced having Habu’s handphone in her pocket. Thankfully she didn’t go with that either but when with the riskiest Plan C which has also the biggest payoff. In short, she left the handphone with one of the corpse’s fingers. As the corpse melts by day, that would give enough pressure to press the send button. There were many other factors that could’ve easily failed the plan but thankfully it went as planned. Kyouya is frustrated he couldn’t find the evidence and apologizes. Nana nails it with a convincing act, claiming she hears Habu’s voice of forgiveness. That night as Nana plans to dispose the poison and contemplate how difficult it is now to do her job, Michiru comes to talk to her. Suddenly Michiru pulls a cutter over her neck! She knows Nana’s ability isn’t mind reading because why didn’t she read minds sooner? Nana easily overcomes her but Michiru will not directly expose her as the culprit and wants to see how others react when she is branded a liar. Hence the next day, Michiru tries to ask Nana in front of everyone the contents of the present she got for her. Too tired to read minds? She’ll ask again. Nana now claims hearing too many voices so when she guesses wrong, she claims it is a note was stuck being Michiru’s back (of course she planted it). Everyone agrees with it since all of them were thinking about that note and couldn’t say out loud. With Nana credentials assured, Kyouya definitely wants to spoil it like asking who put the note there in the first place. But he backs down seeing he needs to build trust back after his failure.

Later as Nana and Michiru hangs out alone, Nana wants to know where the real Michiru is. Because last night’s attack, Michiru didn’t heal herself when Nana overcame her. This is when the imposter turns into his true form. He is Jin Tachibana and a student of this island 5 years ago. He brings her to his cave hideout and has been observing her since there is a question he has been contemplating since. The shape shifter further reveals that he has been that cat all along. Some back story time. 5 years ago, his classmates started killing each other to a point the broke into factions, claiming the other as the enemy of humanity. No one planted ideas in their heads to fight and they were merely at war with their own imaginations. Fearing the escalation of war, the faculty and staffs fled the island. Some tried to follow but were attacked when reached the shores. Eventually everybody wiped each other out. Except of Jin who stayed as a cat. Not only survival of the fittest, but those who can adapt. Lone survivor Jin left the island for home but this shocked his grandma who were told he died in a war. Realizing that there are people who didn’t want him alive, he fled back to the island. He thinks government conspiracy is part of this, the reason he returned to learn the truth or he won’t be able to live with himself. So Jin spied on her thinking she is one of those sent to kill him and observed her. What she is doing might spark a civil war like 5 years ago, he wants to make a deal by letting her do her thing for a while. However Nana poisons his coffee as he wonders who will report his death. This makes Nana’s curious as he whips out her handphone to call the committee. Immediately Kyouya confiscates it?! Oh wait. Other classmates are here too?! Apparently they are all Jin and shape shifting isn’t just his ability. He also takes after their abilities. That’s how he survived.

Episode 10
Nana wonders why he didn’t transform to other students and use their abilities conveniently. Could it be some weakness? Nana tries to escape but he uses Moguo’s fireball on her. Bull’s eye! He tries to ask her about her handphone but Nana tells him to use Yuuka’s ability to talk to the dead. He knows she is trying to understand his weakness but he wants to get to know her better like her family. Knowing torture or intimidation will not get her to talk, he wants them to build trust. Otherwise, he would kill his previous classmates without getting to know them. Nana tells him she has parents but both were murdered by the enemies of humanity. As she passes out, Jin warns her that there might be more than 1 killer on this island since those on this island are arrogant as they don’t have people to teach them about dealing with failure and frustration. When Nana wakes up, she is in Michiru’s room and she is glad Nana is alright. She heard a loud thud at the doorstep and saw Nana unconscious. When Michiru asks what makes her strong, she thinks of digging up Michiru’s sad past if she has one. Hence she is going to make her personal story as relatable as possible. She talks about her parents being murdered by the enemy. Oh, if Michiru is already crying at this point, can she handle more? Maybe another time. After the funeral, Jin comes to visit Nana in her room to learn more about her. But here comes Michiru wanting to hear out the rest so Jin transforms into a cat as they bug Nana to continue her story. It is believed a burglar broke into the house to kill her parents. But Nana blames herself for it since she might have forgot to lock her room window, the only possible place the burglar could have broken in. You see, Nana likes board games and manga. So some nights she would sneak out after her parents slept to the convenience store to buy her manga. So perhaps it was that part the burglar who had been observing and planning, made his move. Nana got the biggest shock to see her bloodied and severed bodies of her parents the next day. That’s why she blames herself for her parents’ death. Nana is almost close to traumatized but Michiru’s hand soothes her. Next morning, Kyouya barges in. He looks agitated. He confirms with Michiru that Nana has been with her all night long. Then he brings them to the crime scene. Looks like another student has been found murdered in his room. Nana knows it is not her doing. Another killer among us? There is another imposter among us…

Episode 11
The victim is Ryuuji Ishii and with his throat slit while his body slumped on the opened window. Kyouya interrogates Moguo since his room is next to his. Seriously, Moguo didn’t hear anything because he was lecturing his lackeys. Kyouya then has the lackeys reveal their abilities. One mimics voice, another does out of body experience and the other magnetism. Kyouya also asks Fuuko Sorano who is Ryuuji’s girlfriend. Since her ability is to channel the atmosphere into offensive attacks, she demonstrates outside where there is ventilation. Her air cut leaves a nasty and bloody mark on Kyouya but we know he regenerates. Kyouya leaves today’s investigation since the teacher manages to get a hold on the higher ups on the phone and Kyouya previously requested to talk to them. As Nana and Michiru continue to investigate, Nana notices Michiru acting strange. So when she talks about their future and dreams, it hits Nana’s nerve when she’s trying to be so positive and cheery like wanting to be a doctor and inviting Nana to come stay at her place. This strains their relationship so Nana is suspicious if Michiru is trying to draw info out from her. When the teacher sends Nana’s uniform courtesy from Michiru, Nana realizes she might have slipped up since poison was in her pocket and she might’ve discovered it while nursing her. Worst case scenario is that she might give it to Kyouya. Speaking of the devil, here he comes. He thanks the teacher since the authorities will be coming. This means Nana needs to kill more before it gets complicated. Kyouya than brings her to talk to Fuuko to talk about Ryuuji. After that, Kyouya analyses about Ryuuji being killed during Moguo’s speech since the room light was still on. He couldn’t have tried to escape via window first since his ability is to shrink himself very small. Also, why would the killer want to face off with Ryuuji when he could just do poisoning like in Kaori’s case? He also suspects Fuuko since Ryuuji’s throat was slit to prevent him from screaming for help. Nana is impressed with his deduction and will leave him to uncover more truths. In the meantime she’ll go mend her ways with Michiru. She sneaks into her room while she is bathing to find her poison. Then she reads her diary that writes only all the good, honest and hopeful stuffs. Feelings starting to waver? Jin is here to return her poison and wonders how she is feeling. He reminds her his goal is to reach whoever groomed her into a serial killer and take him out to lunch. That’s why he is letting her run free for now. As he leaves, he points out Michiru taking too long in the bath. A shocked Nana finds her unconscious in the tub.

Episode 12
Nana desperately tries to save Michiru. If she dies, this will hurt her mission. As she nurses her in hopes she will get well soon so she can find out what really happened (because the killer might be involved with this), she asks the teacher for the doctor but looks like the doctor has left the island. No choice, she seeks Kyouya’s help but since he is busy examining the body, he doesn’t mind giving her some medicine. Though, he seems pretty suspicious that Nana knows her medicines well. Oh my. A little slip up there. Nana continues to sit by Michiru’s side, praying she will wake up. In the meantime, Kyouya talks to Moguo’s lackeys and he learns that there are other animals that have their throats slit as well as Ryuuji being a really nice guy. When Michiru finally wakes up, Nana the most relieved girl in the world. Michiru explains that a cat (Jin) brought in a very injured cat that has its throat slit. She healed it and subsequently faint after using her powers. Nana is relieved that this is completely unrelated to the murder but what a scare. When Michiru spots a small cut on Nana’s finger and wants to lick it, Nana snaps and becomes agitated that she doesn’t think about her own life. But they soon make up and laugh again.

Meanwhile Jin is examining another dead animal. He knows the culprit nearby and warns him not to kill animals as he is an animal lover. Jin then notes Nana’s handphone didn’t have anything special. All the names and numbers could be made up as he couldn’t make any call through. As for the potential kill count, it sounds like rubbish so someone may be tricking Nana into thinking so. We see back at HQ the committee is pleased with Nana’s kill progress and thought she would chicken out after her first kill. They credit Tsuruoka who trained her well. When they note of a distress call from the island, Tsuruoka will go there personally since Nana is like family to him. Nana asks who Hitomi is since she heard her inner voice (read her diary, rather). Michiru claims she is the one who saved her. Before she came to this island, other girls in her class bullied her for her weird ability. Until she met Hitomi Hosokawa, a delinquent who became friends with her and was impressed wither her power. Hitomi warned those b*tches to stop bullying Michiru and she came to school more often. Thanks to Hitomi’s encouragement, Michiru started helping in her father’s hospital and healed many. However one day she collapsed and that’s when she learnt using her powers consumed her life force. Also to her shock, she learnt Hitomi was suffering from cancer. Michiru cried and cried but Hitomi remained positive until the day she died. Michiru viewed her ability as useless when it mattered most (since it can’t heal illnesses) and that’s why she tries her best and keeps pushing herself. I guess Nana has heard enough for today. She walks back with her feelings all conflicted and confused. Yeah, something is wrong when you think about it as Michiru’s potential kill count is 150,000. I mean, how can she kill when her ability saves lives???!!!

Episode 13
Nana is in distraught remembering about her relatives blaming her for her parents’ death as well as Tsuruoka forcing her to believe it. Michiru talks to Nana and she’s trying to make her remember her memories. Nana thought she is on to her but then she realizes as Michiru points out her messy room was cleaned. This means her parents cleaned her room the night before the morning they were murdered. Whatever excuses Nana tries to give, Michiru tries to force her to believe that she is not her parents’ murderer and to stop hating herself. Nana feels confused and conflicted but also a sense of relief because Michiru is one whom she could truly call her friend whereas she always suspected and tried to kill her. Next day, confused Nana is in a dilemma to buy a present for Michiru but looks like Kyouya is here to snap her out of it because he needs her help to find the killer. Yeah, can’t find the motive. If they can’t do that, how they know who the killer targets next? That night, Jin pays Nana a visit because he saw Michiru walking to some place alone. Taking the form of Moguo, he asked her about it and it seemed she’s meeting someone there. Nana realizes the killer is targeting Michiru next. Nana wonders why Jin is doing this. He wants her to obey him and doing so, he’ll gladly solve all her problems. Nana rushes out to find Michiru. There is no time to call the class and explain everything. Maybe Kyouya. Along the way, Nana gets a call from Tsuruoka himself. How’s the killing going? He reminds her to get the mission done and with that, she’ll be rewarded as promise. Enough scholarship funds for kids who lost their parents. It is then Nana thinks to just let the killer to her job and kill everybody.

Meanwhile the killer attacks Michiru and she is running for dear life. He claims slashing things is like his work of art or something. Yeah, sick dude. Michiru tries to stand up for Nana when he badmouths her. Just before he kills her, Nana uses her body to protect Michiru from his stab. Nana then makes her revelation on the killer’s identity: Rentaro Tsurumigawa. He is one of Moguo’s lackey who can do out of body experience. She should’ve noticed that in this form, he can both pass through and touch solid objects. Listening to Moguo’s speech gives him an alibi during Ryuuji’s murder and messed up Fuko’s room to pin her as the culprit. Nana gets further stabbed as she tells Michiru to run. She has a plan and trap in place. When she won’t, she insults her all the bad things she did to manipulate her. When she starts running, Rentaro is curious of the trap she set but then he starts to feel somebody strangling him. His out of body experience is over as Kyouya finds his real body in the toilet. Prior to this, Nana talked to Kyouya about Rentaro as the killer. So they split their roles with Nana going to find Michiru while he goes to find Rentaro’s body and attack it. Both are unsure how far he can be away from his body so it’s a gamble. Nana lies there all bloodied. Looks like it is the end of the line for her. Live by the sword, die by the sword. The same treatment she gets for killing others. She apologizes to her parents but admits Michiru as her first friend. But wait. Michiru returns and uses all her powers to heal her! In the end, Nana lives but from the looks of it, Michiru has used up her entire life. Despite the calm smiling face on Michiru, Nana becomes inconsolable over her friend’s death.

Boku No Sus Academia
WTF???!!! What kind of unsatisfying crappy ending is this???!!! They just turned a cold-hearted killer into some wimpy friendship girl thingy! OMG… I can’t believe this. Well, I have a speculation for that. You see, this somewhat unfinished ending of the TV series, I think they were planning to do an OVA or some other special episode(s) in the future. Unfortunately at this point. DVD sales are bad. I mean, very bad. Uh huh. So assuming that assumption of mine is correct, they could’ve done extra episodes to give this season at least a proper closure. But it doesn’t look good from here. Hence, for all those hoping for at least a decent ending (like yours truly) will be left hanging and quite disappointed. More questions raised than answers. I mean, what happens to Rentaro after that? I’m sure Kyouya won’t be letting this go. Will he face justice? Why was Rentaro doing this? Did he just snap recently because this slashing spree wasn’t common at the start. Sure, a convenient excuse to pin him as the scapegoat killer (which he really is for this case) and give Nana some breathing space. And Michiru really dead? Maybe Nana was too distraught to actually take her pulse. Yeah, it’s hard to think straight when you have tears in your eyes, snot in your nose and your cacophonic crying voice filling the air. I was thinking Michiru would’ve given us the big surprise motherf*cker treatment at the end and troll us all when she comes back alive with her usual angelic smile. Guess not. Sighs…

Even if the plot is quite generic and nothing really special (just a killer trying to outwit everyone), I still find this series to be very interesting. Was it because I didn’t put much expectations for it at the start and as I started watching and follow the progress, I find myself glued to the screen and keep wanting to know more and more. Save for the last couple of episodes which suddenly turned draggy and into a bore because they try to drag out Nana’s conflicting feelings and friendship for Michiru. So it’s like when the killing somewhat stops just for some friendship drama thingy, I guess it’s like taking one’s foot off the gas or something. But overall, that didn’t damper my general sentiments I have for this series since despite that lacklustre ending, I still like this series a lot. Sure, could’ve been better but compared to a lot of crappy shows I watched in the same season (that 100-man whatever one and that Kuma Kuma Kuma Kuma Kuma Kuma Kuma one), this is like a sleeper hit for me. But of course, the ending is an all different matter…

Ironically it is not the murder or killing scenes that is basically interesting. It is how Nana comes up with the cleverest alibi and poker face to hide her atrocities and convince everyone else otherwise. Basically, rather than a whodunit situation, it is more of a howdunit one (if ever there was such a word). Hence they did quite a good and satisfactory job in executing the pacing the development and explanation of how Nana tries to cover up her dirty work. That was probably the clincher that kept me interested throughout the series. So if you’re expecting some sort of bloodbath or battle royale style massacre here, you’d be sorely disappointed. This series takes a more talkative approach and has a lot of dialogue. So if you’re not into that or get sleepy when you have to process too many words, sorry, you don’t know what you’re missing. Yeah, it’s ironic that I’m saying that myself since this type of anime isn’t usually up my alley. That’s why I have to give them credits for making me hooked with the impressively played out enigma and mystery thriller.

Although it is not really examined thoroughly in the series, one of the biggest question marks that everyone should be asking is, who are the enemies of humanity? It was clearly stated that nobody knows what the real enemies look like, hence giving more credibility that everything could just be fabricated. After all, this rings very true for much of our history. For many of us who were born after the great twin World Wars, we are taught of what happened. Or was it so? Hey, we weren’t there when it happened, right? And of course in Japan’s history, they re-edited those parts for the history taught to their future generations. So can you see the discrepancy here? Hence that is what should also be talked about in this anime but I feel that it would be a big distraction to the main plot of Nana trying to kill everyone. I mean, does it really make a difference if we know the truth? It’s not like Nana’s mission will change even if the real enemies are gruesome monsters.

After all, this isolated island may not be to train future heroes but to eliminate them. I mean, why is it so isolated that you can’t reach other human civilizations for help? Or the island is a facility to produce the best enemy because a battle royale will eventually determine that. Remember all those dead alumni all over the island? And couldn’t they just bomb the hell out of the island if they want all those future superheroes dead instead of sending a secret killer? I mean, nobody would even know, right? Oh yeah. This series won’t even happen if that’s the case. Of course that’s all just my conspiracy theory.

Also, this series somewhat reminds me of Boku No Hero Academia for some reasons. For starters, this is what I feel a dark version of it because instead of using those super powers for good, we see the unexpected victims getting killed off. But the biggest factor making me think this series is like that mainstream superhero anime is that the mugshots of the characters look pretty similar as well as their school uniform. Okay, maybe different colour and the designs are still generic enough to make me think so. Although there are really weird looking characters like in Boku No Hero Academia, somehow the character designs have that similar feel to me.

As for the characters, many of them aren’t anything special. They have their weird traits and all but the main focus is of course Nana. Too bad they tried to troll and trick us that Nanao was the main character so that they could make that shocking twist of getting killed off by the end of the first episode. Unfortunately for me, I already read a bit of spoilers then so I wasn’t surprised of his death since I had set my mind that Nana was the main character. Despite Nana having no superhuman abilities, I bet that her super ability is her very sharp observant skills and to concoct very believable alibis. I mean, it is amazing to have that sort of skill that seems like anyone can just pick up with proper training but Nana harvested this skill to almost perfection. Also, other characters not too sharp so that really helps her in pulling off miracles. She could be the greatest con(wo)man and make a living out of this! Yikes! Yeah, I hate to say this but many of these students are just braindead and dumb. After a few deaths or people gone missing, they should’ve suspected something and band together and do something. That’s why this helps make Nana so successful. These kids would’ve been great meat to be killed by horror movie icons like Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees.

Of course, Nana herself isn’t perfect as there are quite a few times she almost falters. Thanks to a certain nosy guy hot on her tail. Because of that, Nana has to be on her toes 24/7 not to slip up but unfortunately she is only human. She has the devil’s luck to avoid being exposed by the skin of her teeth in a few instances. Perhaps the other great ability that Nana has is to quickly adapt to her situation and surroundings. This with her keen observation skills as well as her communication skills, this makes her a great survivalist. Nana planning her every move from how she is going to kill her victim and covering it up takes a lot of great effort. Like as though she is writing the script of this anime and it is playing out exactly that way! Only, that damn detective dog threatening to throw the spanner into the works! For most part, we can see how true Nana’s adaptation skills are as we see her very shocked expression when she stumbles into something unexpected. Like Kyouya’s immortality or Yuuka being the real necromancer. But each time she manages to get out of her sticky situation and find an alternative plan. This is what makes Nana a great character and one to be reckon or wary with.

Like I’ve said, Nana isn’t an emotionless human nor a robot. As a pretty normal human with a mission, the more this mission drags longer, the tougher it is for her to blatantly carry it out. I mean, it would’ve been boring plot wise if the entire season was just about Nana trying to kill and cover up. Hence a little drama as she starts getting conflicted over her feelings for Michiru. Yeah, this girl is such a good girl. Will killing her do any good besides being closer to finishing the mission? Thus it is with dilemma and perhaps Nana’s mistake to let Michiru live longer and not kill her sooner like her other victims because the more she knows about Michiru’s story, the more she personally gets emotionally invested and that is a no-no for an assassin. At least when her higher ups are concerned. Eventually this friendship thingy with Michiru may backfire on her and could even break Nana herself. Maybe that’s why there’s another killer on the island for you know, just in case… For better or not and as far as the anime is concerned, Nana turned 180 degrees now that she acknowledges her friendship with Michiru. So I don’t know which Nana is better now. The cold killer or the friendly friendster. Because I’m sure this means putting her reward in jeopardy and it’s like screw other kids like her because my friendship with Michiru is more important. Boy, it’s going to get complicated and weird if the committee does send another killer to kill the killer and continue with Nana’s mission.

The other character to note is Kyouya himself. This guy also shares the same observant ability as Nana but he has the slight advantage of being immortal. This guy plays the island’s detective as he goes around snooping and investigating like as though this entire island is his playground or crime scene. I mean, hey, who is going to stop him, right? It’s not like the teaching faculty could do anything. Do we really see them do anything? Besides, except for that one scrawny weak teacher overseeing everything, where’s everybody else? Anyway, Kyouya keeps Nana on her toes with his awesome deductions but each time he hits the dead end as he cannot find that single damning evidence that would link Nana as the culprit. It’s like he is just missing that only motive to finally call her out. So many times he has been suspicious of Nana but he just couldn’t find that motive. Yeah, it’s so right under his nose but I guess that is what keeps the drama going. And of course to make him a little weird, he seems not to know certain trendy stuffs and likes touching Nana’s fluffy hair because it reminds him of his sister. This seems to be forgotten as the season reaches its climax.

Then there is Michiru who looks like the goody two shoes type. A character whom you’ll quickly write off as not the culprit even at times when they want to make us think she is the one. I mean, at this point now, I’ve learnt that everybody is a valid suspect. Michiru could just be putting up another great act just to cover an ulterior motive. The same could be said for Kyouya because he looks like doing investigative work but he could also be like Nana and scheming about in the shadows. Even Moguo and Seiya could be it despite their very cliché personalities. It’s because the series doesn’t focus much on them, making us write them off as potential culprits. After all, one of the greatest twist of such murder mystery is a character that we least expected. Even the weakling teacher could be it as he might just be acting like a wimp. Heck, what if the dead are also considered as the culprit?! Nanao could be just faking his death and going around starting his killing after laying low for a while! OMG. Looks like this series has made me paranoid to suspect everyone. EVERYONE IS SUS!!! I mean, who knows Nana’s back story is even true to begin with. She could be just trolling us all for sympathy points! After all, she psycho herself to believe it. A lie repeated often enough becomes the truth. Sounds familiar?

Anyway, Michiru exists just to play up some dramatic effect for Nana as said previously. This makes Nana question if what she is doing is correct or has she been lied all along. Now that Nana has feelings and that itself clouds her judgment and sew doubts in her mind, this makes her more prone to slip ups. And while it is easy to look that way, I also want to look at it as Michiru in a way helped save Nana. Otherwise she would’ve become a heartless monster that her committee expects her to be. There’s your character development if you’re looking for one. Last but not least, Jin is another enigmatic character thrown into the fray. His goal is to find the mastermind behind all this but looks like they are leaving no traces behind. As for the rest of the other characters, sometimes they just feel like stepping stones and afterthoughts for the plot because you get to know their personality only because it helps in part of Nana’s cover up or Kyouya’s deduction.

Art and animation are pretty decent. Nothing spectacular. Not horrible but at passable the least. Characters are simple and although they don’t have outrageous designs like those in Boku No Hero Academia and probably the wildest one would be Tsunekichi’s hairstyle. But he is a my pace delinquent so that’s a given. And of course, some of the character designs I thought I have seen them from other animes. Most notably Nana herself I thought Karuta from Inu x Boku SS decided to give up her bodyguard job and become a serial killer. And with more expression and liveliness in her face! Or more accurately, YuruYuri’s Chinatsu all grown up to become a serial killer! Also, I thought Nanao is what happens when Boku No Hero Academia’s Midoriya didn’t have enough faith in himself and became relegated to a side character. Really. I also thought Kyouya was that guy from Tokyo Ghoul and Jin like Kyouya from Ouran High School Host Club (or any hot looking guys with glasses). This anime is done by Bridge who did Mitsudomoe, Devil Survivor 2 The Animation and Nobunagun.

Voice acting, I recognized Yuuichi Namakura as Kyouya, Kouji Yusa as Jin and Hiro Shimono as Nanao. My biggest surprise is that it didn’t occur to me that Mai Nakahara is behind Michiru’s voice. She had a pretty decent amount of lines and yet it never crossed my mind. Was she too cutie in her voice that I didn’t pick her out? The other casts are Rumi Okubo as Nana (Chinatsu in YuruYuri – see the connection now?), Takuya Nakashima as Moguo, Hiromichi Tezuka as Seiya (Ajeel in Fairy Tail), Atsushi Tamaru as Tsunekichi (Mochizou in Tamako Market), Miyu Tomita as Yuuka (Gabriel in Gabriel Dropout), Aiko Ninomiya as Shinji, Yukina Tsutsumi as Habu, Yurie Kozakai as Kaori (Pekola in Jashin-chan Dropkick), Yuna Kamakura as Fuuko (Manami in Centaur No Nayami) and Toshiki Masuda as Shibusawa (Kirishima in Boku No Hero Academia). Both the rock based opening and ending themes are okay. Broken Sky by Miyu Tomita has this dramatic effect that somewhat fits with the thriller atmosphere of the series while Bakemono To Yobarete by Chiai Fujikawa sounds pretty generic.

Overall, this series has mixed opinions all over the internet. Some say it’s good while others call it bad and an insult to humanity. Personally, since I loved it, of course I’m siding with the former. Except for the crappy ending but deducting some points from that still didn’t diminish my overall enjoyment for this one. If no better animes come by in the next season, this could easily end up as one of the best animes of the year. Yeah. It’s not a bad anime and it is not perfect. Maybe I’m just a simpleton who will like anything that could retain my attention and since this series did just that, I’m going to give it double thumbs up. And all those of you who disagree are the enemies of humanity! VOTE OFF! VOTE OFF! Sure there are so called better murder mysteries or those similar to this genre out there like Death Note, Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni, Go Sick, Un-Go and Monster (ALL OF WHICH I HAVE NOT WATCHED! BELIEVE IT!) but like I said, this genre isn’t my cup of tea to begin with. It’s not like I’m more interested in the murder mystery after this unless they have a hot chick in it. That’s how I ended up watching Kyokou Suiri in the first place. Guilty as charged. Gee, I’m so gullible I even wonder myself why I haven’t get voted off yet or survived this long. Maybe that’s why… ;p.

Senyoku No Sigrdrifa

Imagine strange enemies that could wipe out mankind start popping up all over Earth. But don’t despair. Because God claims He can help us by imbuing certain special people (read: young girls) with special weapons to help fight the threat. And those special weapons are propeller planes! I kid you not. At least that is what is used to fight the enemies in Senyoku No Sigrdrifa. Of course, not just normal propeller planes but those with filled with the said special powers from God. So I guess saying a prayer isn’t enough for a miracle these days, huh? Oh well. If you want to eat, then you have to work for it. Looks like God isn’t the great merciful I thought He used to be…

Episode 1
American air forces trying to take down alien swarms and pillars called, uhm, Pillars that start appearing along mountain ranges around the world. But you know, mankind’s technology isn’t all that good and everyone gets wiped out. So the world leaders are trying to access what they need to do next when a small kid pops up. He claims he is Odin and as God, he will help bestow them something to fight Pillars. He will send his ‘daughters’ called Valkyrie to aid them. So Odin is the God of this world, huh? Oh well, where’s Jesus and Buddha when you need ‘em? 5 years later, Claudia Braford is a Valkyrie and a Named one. Damn, if you think she can actually fight in her propeller plane if modern jet planes can’t even do the job, this is no ordinary plane because it sprouts magical wings and shoots magical bullets that pierce through the thickest armour! Oh sh*t! Unfortunately, Claudia is the only survivor. Damn, shouldn’t sending her is enough since she always gets the job done? No wonder Claudia always so gloomy because she calls herself the Grim Reaper as the death rate around her is 99.9%! Soon, Claudia heard she is going to be transferred to Japan. Apparently one the Japanese’s Named got killed so I guess Europe having a few Named to spare, Claudia is chosen by her commander to be the replacement. During her flight there, a Pillar pops up. Jellyfish version? She thinks she can do it alone but looks like Miyako Muguruma, Azuzu Komagome and Sonoka Watarai come to her aid. They are also good but Claudia knows this type of Pillar. Because it is not on land, it cannot replenish so the tactic here is not strong firepower but to outlast it until it runs out of energy. The plan works and the Pillar just melted? Claudia would soon see the trio again as she is posted to the Tateyama base where they are based. She is appalled at her commander, Ichirou Satomi who is seemingly very lax. They are planning a welcoming party for her but since the alert is still up, I guess that will have to wait. For now, Miyako takes Claudia to tour the base. After meeting the mechanics, they head to the cafeteria. Sonoka joins in and then subsequently Azuzu. But Azuzu senses something amiss. Why is Claudia posted at this rear base instead of other elite bases? There must be a reason. I guess now is not the time for answers as the alert is sounded. Pillar spotted. Make that Pillars. Brought more jellyfish friends this time?

The girls get sortie but they soon realize this Pillar can replenish its energy. But how? It’s not on land? Well, duh. It’s underwater! Tactical retreat to strategize! The plan now is to lure out its core called Vandrande and destroy it. Planes can’t fight underwater, right? Oh, so you just fish it out? Yeah, so crazy it might actually work. However Claudia is still having doubts about working together as a team because you know, her nickname. Irritated Azuzu puts on the speaker to reveal Claudia’s Grim Reaper title to everyone. Guess what? They don’t care! Grim Reaper is a hot blonde! So that enough motivation for you to do teamwork? So the attack begins with lots of bombardments to draw out the big whale to the surface. They need to stop it before it reaches land to replenish. Sonoka does a crazy daredevil stunt to slam some of its minions into the whale, causing to open and reveal its core. More bombardment but it’s not good enough and the flap is going to close. It’s Miyako’s turn for this unbelievable stunt as she jumps down her plane and slices Vandrande with her sword! Explosion! Pillar blooms into a giant tree. Claudia’s trauma is working up as she thinks everyone has died. No response. Until they do. Yeah, they’re just stuck on the tree. Thank goodness I don’t know how Azuzu’s plane is still in one piece. Big relief for Claudia. Yeah, no casualties in this fight. No single loss of wingmen either. And to make sure she feels at home, once they return to base, everyone greets her with a warm welcome to Tateyama.

Episode 2
Blatant Japan promo time! Because Claudia remembers her father telling her to visit Japan once if she has the chance. It is a great country with honourable samurai men and yamato nadeshiko women. But in the aftermath of the welcoming party, everybody’s sleeping all over the place so Claudia isn’t so sure about it anymore… The hangover morning has Miyako gather her girls so they can properly introduce each other. Miyako starts off as the perky girl who brings smiles to everyone. Read: She’s the genki idiot. Azuzu is still suffering from hangover so forgive her for trying to justify convincingly as a genius. Sonoka sounds sweet but with everyone calling her by her brutal nicknames, still water runs deep. It’s Claudia’s turn and she remembers first impressions count. She is about to do some embarrassing pose but the alert to sortie sounds. Yeah, it saved her from embarrassment. Or does she feel insulted? On to serious business, a Pillar has materialized over the sea at Umihotaru but near enough the land that it is causing civilians to collapse. It has also projected a water barrier and you know it’s going to be tough to break through. Until Azuzu shows her genius plan. Based on its location, they will fly through the undersea tunnel as it is not flooded to reach the Pillar’s centre. Even in this cramped space, the girls can still evade Pillar beams? Okay. Whatever. Breaking through the centre, the Pillar dissolves the water barrier to defence itself. But after a successful bombarding, it isn’t over yet as the Pillar turns into some heat type. Thankfully, Sonoka is carrying some super ice coolant, so dropping it freezes the mother. Time to wrap things up as the core is now exposed and Claudia makes a wonderful finish. In the aftermath, Claudia is now certain she can get along with others. Without their help, this mission would’ve been impossible to pull off alone. So I’m guessing her doubts are blown away because she is now another idiot?! Just kidding!

Episode 3
Look who is here to visit Claudia? Why, it’s Odin! I guess he is bored. Though, Claudia keeps denying he is her real father whatsoever. He praises her for doing incredible things ever since coming to Tateyama. But he cautions the decisive battle will come and since she is getting well with her friends, he hopes they won’t get killed. Claudia helps Miyako prepare breakfast. Then Satomi has the girls do some reconnaissance at Umihotaru to assess the place ever since the Pillar’s attack. Hmm… Looks like they’re having a good time. Heck, even the public is feeling pretty good. Then there is some emergency call by Azuzu so Miyako quickly sorties. Claudia soon learns as she arrives at the hospital. One of the reconnaissance guys who was caught in the water barrier at Umihotaru is close to death. Many believe that if a Valkyrie is with them at death, it will allow them to meet up with their loved one. So as Azuzu holds his hands as Claudia sings a song for him until he passes on :’(. Claudia becomes a bit distraught as she thinks about her own predicament of being preoccupied with the silly Grim Reaper title. She realizes she is the weakest of the lot. So she asks Miyako on how to be strong. Ironically, Miyako doesn’t think of herself as strong. Nevertheless, she’ll gladly share a secret with her. To be strong, you need to eat any food without being picky! Hope Claudia doesn’t regret it… Yeah, this sushi tastes… Delicious! See? She’s already strong.

Episode 4
While fighting Pillars, Azuzu’s plane takes damage. She manages to safely land in the vacated city. The rest rendezvous with her after they manage to tire out the Pillars albeit it is just a temporary measure. They discuss about the strange sound the Pillars emit and thanks to a small video the local boys recorded, it is deduced that the Pillars emitted some ultrasonic frequencies that older people cannot hear. So I guess those communication girls back at the base are too old not to hear it, huh?! Anyway, that sound is some signal for the Pillar to regenerate when one is destroyed. But here is another problem. As there are 4 Pillars, one of them moved inside the land. This means if the girls are to get back to base, they will come within range of those Pillars and definitely will be attacked. However the military guys have a brilliant idea. They will escort the girls to sea and lead them into an underground cave that leads back to the base to avoid detection by the Pillars. Oh. So I guess that’s our excuse for swimsuit fanservice! Oh yeah! But don’t be too happy. Because there are going to be a lot more macho men in fundoshi feasting our eyes. And slapping their buttocks for dramatic effects. Damn, are we lovin’ it?! So we see our motivated military men guiding our girls to safety. Even one point forming a manly macho bridge for the girls to step on and cross! Funny or cringe?! Eventually they pop out in the base’s swimming pool. So you mean they can’t make a sound but a small sneeze from Claudia, the Pillar starts attacking? Okay. RUN TO YOUR PLANES! They manage to do so and destroy all the Pillars before it could regenerate. Easy. In the aftermath, Claudia wants to know the plane who supported them while they were running to their planes. Folks, meet Yayoi Amatsuka.

Episode 5
Yayoi and her wingmen are here at Tateyama to report for duty. Miyako is glad she is here but apparently Azuzu and Sonoka aren’t. Since she is a hotshot ace who is always doing dangerous mission, what brings her here to Tateyama? As revealed, there is a counteroffensive plan to attack Fuji Primary Pillar. This doesn’t sit well with Azuzu because of some similar tragedy happened 2 years in North America that claimed the lives of many Valkyries. But as Yayoi puts it, Odin will be helping in this mission. Azuzu then goes confront Odin about this and the Norse God guarantees this attack is necessary because the Primary Pillar will fall asleep and be less active. Even in that state, the Pillar will still be able to launch attacks when attacked. That’s why all forces across Japan will be participating in this mission. Then something about Azuzu being too smart for her own good and Odin knows she’d prefer to use her talents elsewhere than this. During lunch, Yayoi and Miyako are interacting well. Azuzu a bit forlorn and Sonoka doesn’t want to have any part of it just leaves. It’s like whatever Yayoi says, it would turn into somewhat a dreadful subject. Yeah, nobody as cool as Claudia finishing the entire black cod herself! Sonoka then hangs out at Satomi’s room. Of course they talk about Yayoi. Not surprisingly, they were once in the same squadron. Everyone waits for the countdown for the Pillar to fall asleep. During that period, Yayoi notices Sonoka opening up to Claudia and interacting better with her. But keep your focus on the mission. The Pillar is now asleep. Get ready for the decisive battle. Ragnarok is nigh!

Episode 6
With all the colourful planes here, damn, I thought this was some air force exhibition. With all the world’s best here, this means Claudia’s European comrades are here too, Lizbet Crown and Leyli Haltija. They are surprised to see Claudia fitting in well. So they really thought she’d be a depressed Valkyrie, huh? Other famous Valkyries joining in on this raid are Lhasa Lurizar and Nina Kolmakov. Yeah, you’ll never get so many Valkyries assembled at one place. Everyone assembles as Major General Okita gives his morale boosting speech. Yeah. Do it for everybody, essentially! Then it’s Odin’s turn. I know it’s supposed to be a speech to rev everyone up but why does it sound more like a curse than a blessing? Though the humans are moved, the Valkyries don’t seem to be. Before the big operation, Sonoka saw Yayoi going with Satomi. And she heard the shocking but that Yayoi planned to sabotage Sonoka’s plane so she can’t fly. It’s her way of protecting her from this risky mission. Of course Sonoka is not happy and in distraught. Good for us, we get to see a little of their flashback. Apparently 2 years when Yayoi grounded Sonoka, it was that same mission that shot down Yayoi. Though she survived, it was very heart wrenching for Sonoka who thought she really died that day. Of course today it is a different story. Claudia views Sonoka’s skills as necessary not only to those here but for humanity. The operation begins as everyone manages to easily destroy the small fry Pillars guarding the Primary Pillar. They bomb a hole to enter it and it gets weird from here. Like as though they entered a different dimension, they are also revolted to see planes of their comrades littered below. Like as though this is a twisted graveyard of the fallen. It gets weirder because this giant knight on a pole is Thor?! Make that many Thors! Worse, the Valkyries seeing their own dead comrades’ planes in the air, it’s just stirring up a whole lot of emotions. Got to be a sick joke, right?

Episode 7
The irony of the Valkyries fighting their dead comrades who once fought alongside them. One of them is Sakura Okita whom Claudia replaced. Despite being the enemy and the dead, their skills are still unparalleled and exactly as their living counterparts. Instead of having a dogfight with them, the Valkyries target Thor. Whether it’s a good idea or not, now all the Pillars around Japan start to head towards Fuji. Okita gives the orders to retreat. The mission failed. Not sure why Sonoka being stubborn. Probably had some beef with Yayoi about abandoning her. Suddenly Thor raises his hammer and fires a beam that obliterates the command tower! In the aftermath, Sonoka is alive and has some minor injuries. Satomi and some of the communication girls evacuated but Okita and Odin and some other officers who stayed behind got vaporized. Speaking of Odin, that God is now missing and it’s anybody guess if he is still alive. With some casualties and the enemy still heading this way, they need all the available fighters they can get on standby. But not you, Sonoka. You’re injured and your plane is out of service. Time for her b*tch about being left behind again. Then she realizes there is something else they didn’t tell her. Yayoi talks to her alone and it seems she has volunteered to undergo some rescue mission for some of their comrades trapped in the Pillar. As a former Named, she can’t abandon her little sisters. Sonoka starts crying and doesn’t want her to go. But she has to. Otherwise she can’t protect her. They both exchange charms and Yayoi promises to come back even if she gets shot down. The rest sends off Yayoi and her wingmen. Only they are in for this rescue mission? Yeah, Satomi giving her drink his special liquor. Don’t make it look like a final drink. In the aftermath, only Lizbet comes back and very battered. The only thing she has for Sonoka is her charm. Yayoi you liar!

Episode 8
At a temporary makeshift airbase, despite having short of parts and planes, Satomi has a plan that will retake Tateyama. That’s right. His paranoia paid off because there is a hidden base in the mountains that has reserve planes in it. It is outside the Pillar’s area but they only have 36 hours before things change. Later Satomi lets Azuzu hear a secret recording between Okita and Odin. Not really clear since Odin wasn’t being specific and toying around in riddles. I mean, you’re talking about Norse terms like Valhalla and Asgard. How can a Japanese dude understand all that?! Claudia talks to Lizbet who tells her Yayoi’s last message to her. She believes Odin is hiding something and that Claudia is the key to it all. It could be true because she notices Odin has always treated Claudia differently from other Valkyries. Now Claudia has to think and Lizbet left to cry all her heart out over her deceased comrades. Azuzu then talks to Claudia about Odin’s hint. Claudia remembers something about Odin telling her that the gates of Valhalla will always be open for her. And with that, a light portal appears! Not sure how long this will stay up so as they confide with Satomi, looks like they will have to take a chance with Claudia entering it and Azuzu her aid. This means Miyako is tasked to head to the secret base. But don’t worry, she won’t go alone. She has her wingmen who are raring to go. After Claudia and Azuzu step into the portal, it closes. Miyako sees Sonoka peeping who then runs away. Time for a pep talk to help blow away the low self-confidence. What do you mean she’s bad luck in sending people away? Don’t believe in that crap! Anyway, she needs to find her own answer. Sonoka who is grounded, tries to help out with the camp. Other girls come to thank her for saving them but I suppose she is still feeling the blues and dismisses she is strong or whatever. Inside a strange structure, Azuzu tries to decipher the paintings. I bet that dude is Odin and that guy with the hammer is Thor. Claudia somewhat remembers some song when she touches the core. Just when Azuzu figured it out, looks like some monster guard pops up to attack. Miyako and her wingmen have taken to the skies. They are fighting off Pillars but their numbers are increasing. That’s because they combine and turn into a real Pillar! With the evacuation alert sounded, looks like everyone has to scramble. Did it trigger a pregnant woman to go into labour? And no one noticed?! Only Sonoka. Can she?

Episode 8.5
Stop! At this point, are you lost? Do you still not understand what is going on? Well, you’re in luck! Because it’s RECAP EPISODE time!!! Oh yeah. Don’t you just love it when recap episodes interrupt your usual schedule so that slowpokes can catch up? Anyway, we have only recycled scenes but some dialogues are narrated as they tell us once more about the setting and other terms unique to this anime. Damn, I actually forgot Pillars drain the life force of the land the stick on! How could I forget about this?! So yeah, watching this recap wasn’t entirely a waste of time… Anyway, some character introductions and the important plots of the story like the Fuji Primary Pillar attack to Yayoi’s sacrifice. Oh damn. Do we have to relive that heart wrenching drama so soon?

Episode 9
Oh dear. More Sonoka trauma. She is contemplating to fly again but the other wingmen are here to assure her that God had other plans for them. Yeah, sad Sonoka seems to think they’re flying to their deaths… So she goes to see the pregnant woman about to give birth. She thinks the doctor is going to abandon her since Pillars are likely to target new born life. However when they think of other ways to try and deliver the baby, oh damn, this works up Sonoka’s trauma?! Uh huh. More thoughts that she is weakling and useless. When it becomes too much to bear, she looks inside Yayoi’s charm. What does the note say? Don’t be a baby, idiot! Thankfully this doesn’t increase her trauma. After giving out a good laugh, Sonoka gets her groove back. Because now she flies her plane into the Pillar to help Miyako and her wingmen. Just in time since she is out of ammo. Also just in time as Satomi has noticed the Pillar cannot take damage despite destroying the core since the gears go in the opposite direction to reverse time. So I guess they have to destroy that main gear. How convenient they find it and bam! Everything falls apart and they secured Tateyama! Hooray! Meanwhile, Claudia and co have to escape from the labyrinth. Guns don’t work on those ancient guardians. One of the injured soldiers bomb himself to buy them for the rest to escape. Before Azuzu can sink into depression, Claudia slaps her because she needs to report what she has deduced. All our heroines return and reunite. They are greeted with great news as the baby is born. Oh, I think Sonoka and Azuzu cry louder than the baby! Claudia notes that despite lives are lost, new ones are born and this is enough motivation for her to fight. Azuzu reports her findings. The murals in Valhalla indicate the history of the Norse Gods. One painting shows Odin fighting alongside Thor. I think we all know what this means. The history ends with Ragnarok, the destruction of the world or at least the end of the Norse mythology. Everyone thought they are fighting to prevent that but Azuzu claims Ragnarok has already happened a long time ago. They have been lied to. Hence Claudia’s song is solely a tale of the Gods surviving. We see Odin refusing to acknowledge that Ragnarok has happened and that they have not yet fallen.

Episode 10
Satomi reports to the world leaders about Odin’s deception. Especially how Pillars like Thor were fighting alongside Odin and Ragnarok already happened. Now the question is, is he still their ally? Oh, here comes Odin to proclaim how he gave them the power to fight and then the motive to fight. Now with enemies for them to fight, he wants them to resist their destruction! So back at Tateyama, our heroes are analysing the data Azuzu got. Uhm, don’t they have Scandinavian friends or Norse geeks to help them? Like, Marvel? Okay. Maybe not. Anyway, they are baffled with Odin declaring battle, Pillars have been sporadically showing up but yet the Valkyries still retain their power. Azuzu racks her brains trying to come up with strategies and solutions so she isn’t appreciative when Miyako tells that everyone intends to hold a festival. I mean, at a time when the upcoming battle might be a decisive one, do they have time to have fun? Trust her. This is going to help everyone. Yeah, everyone needs a big break before the big battle. So we see the characters talking, chitchatting their thoughts on this and that. Festival came and go. Everyone had fun. In the closing moments, Miyako takes Azuzu to ride her new plane so they can do some impressive fireworks display for the people. At the same time, Claudia sings for everyone as she realizes this is her home. She loves it here as well as these people. That is her reason for fighting.

Episode 11
Claudia dreams of Odin. But this time there seems to be other Claudia twin sister clones huddling over him and they want her to join in. We see everyone making preparations for the final battle for the second attack on Fuji. Satomi giving his usual speech to motivate the team to give Odin the Ragnarok he wants. Claudia further remembers the Odin dream. She told him about the God’s birthplace has been destroyed long ago despite it survived via the song. She wants him to withdraw so they don’t have to fight but Odin won’t listen. He wants to make as many dead warriors as possible under his next command for the next Ragnarok. Thus he wants Claudia to join him. She refuses and stabs through his neck. In that case, he will steal her life and trap her in his kingdom. The attack on Fuji begins. This time, fewer Valkyries are heading into battle. Not because many died the last time, the world learnt from the last time so Valkyries in their own country are on standby. Bombing and heading inside Fuji Primary Pillar, we focus on a couple of new Valkyrie newbies in action, Kurumi Suzuhara and Moe Isurugi as well as their grandpa wingmen laying down their lives to protect the lolis who are young enough to be their granddaughters. Then it’s back to our main quartet for the main action. As expected, Thor comes alive and there are those dead Valkyries too coming into play. Of course our Valkyries being wiser this time around, they are not surprised and have come to predict the predictable moves that Odin will do. This includes Thor firing his devastating beam at their base. Thanks to Azuzu’s strategy (she claims she is a better strategist than the God!), the base is not in the line of fire and hence the beam missed. Oh, looks like Odin is in his battle gear and ready to get into the Ragnarok fray.

Episode 12
So Odin’s riding a mecha unicorn?! While Claudia handles her father, Sonoka offers to fight off the dead Valkyries while Azuzu trying to do something about Thor and Miyako finding the core. Odin is angry that Claudia continues to defy him. Showing her a scorched battlefield where nothing is left, this is what the future lies. Everything gone. He claims that the only reason why Claudia was the only one who survived in battles is because she has his blood flowing through her. She is the only blood related God among the Valkyries. Hence no one can heal her loneliness except him. If this is his plan to guilt trip her, she won’t be buying it. True, she doesn’t want destruction or lose her friends and is afraid of death. However she refuses to be like him. She realizes he isn’t a God who can’t accept defeat but one who is fighting solitude alone. As such, she who is born a human will die as one. This only infuriates Odin so she starts singing. Her song soothes everyone else and helps ease the interference, making it easy to pinpoint the core. Then she fires at her clone and break out of this illusion. Azuzu has fired all she’s got at Thor. Nothing. And she’s out of ammo. Oh, head mechanic tells her of a secret weapon! With the wingmen sacrificing their lives to protect Azuzu from Thor’s hammer, she powers up the cannon and blasts it to destroy core. Though, she crashes into the core but Odin is seen waiting. He is baffled they continue to fight despite losing so many. But she throws back the same question to him. He becomes despair thinking Gods have to welcome their own ruin and refuses to lose anything. This distraction allows Miyako to come flying in at cut the core. You mean Odin didn’t see that coming?! Oh right. He was in despair. Even more so when he wonders the difference between them. He did all he could to defy destruction but yet this humans… Well, it’s simple. He is alone. Should’ve asked for help. Yeah, like who?! He’s alone, remember?! Then it’s like Odin f*cks it all. He lets Azuzu shoots him. Instantly Fuji Primary Pillar disappears as well as all the other threats worldwide. Yeah, the worldwide Pillars have gone dormant. Best news, no Valkyries died in action! Now we can celebrate! In the aftermath, the Valkyries pay respect to their wingmen and those who have perished. Then they show Kurumi and Moe around Tateyama since they have officially joined today.

Warlolis of Siguloli
Oh wow! Humanity defeated God! Only in anime. And it goes to show you that not even God has the power to best lowly humans. Uh huh. Odin must be the biggest loser among all the Gods since he already lost his legend and now he once more loses to lowly humans. What does that say about his legacy?! No wonder in the aftermath, it is said he has disappeared. Note that key word because it’s not like he is dead yet. Probably hiding in shame. Crying his heart out a loser he is. Heh. As stated, the Primary Pillars around the world are still around. So this God must be still alive. I am not sure if there are other Pillars around Japan but if Fuji was the only one, doesn’t that make Japan safe? Does that mean Japan doesn’t need Valkyries as crucial as before and they (especially the newbies) should be posted elsewhere in the world to help take down this Pillar threat? Oh right. Can’t break up the close knit family that is already so established in Tateyama. Hey, the girls defeated Odin and took down Fuji Primary Pillar. A monumental task so to speak. So some well-deserved reward is needed. Let them stay together!

The story isn’t anything much. Even if this is originally written and not based on any manga, game or light novel. They just needed some sort of excuse to have humans fight against a seemingly undefeatable enemy. In fact, from the first episode I smelled a rat when Odin showed up to offer help against those Pillars. I mean, doesn’t it sound so fishy? Of all the Gods of the religious beliefs of the world, not Jesus Christ, not Buddha, not Vishnu and not even Prophet Muhammad came to offer salvation. But freaking Odin of the Norse mythology who came to offer the olive branch! ODIN! How big is the Norse faith in the world, huh? Is Norse even a religion?! Anyway, my guts were right when the so called plot twist that Odin was the same snitching rat behind the Pillar attacks and orchestrating the whole thing. It didn’t come to a surprise to me. I was expecting it. And I would’ve been disappointed had it not turned out this way. So a God of a past mythology who isn’t part of one the major beliefs of the world coming forth to offer his aid. And at the right timing. Hmm… Something feels so off here.

It just makes Odin feel like one big sore loser because he can’t get over Ragnarok that made the Gods of his mythology lost. Well, from Odin’s point of view, maybe I can understand why he is in deniable mode. I mean, he is a God. An almighty being. The most powerful God at least in Norse mythology. And then just like that according to the legends, they’re all gone. So do you as Odin, feel very sore about this? Yup. I can understand at least that much. But then it becomes crap when he decides to have his hand at salvation by using so called Valkyries to fight Pillars because then it just couldn’t quite cut it. If he wanted to make dead warriors under his command for a Ragnarok revenge rematch, why not just kill off everybody? Oh, the warriors have to die in battle to become dead worthy warriors? Oh well, if Odin can’t do it by himself and even with help from his sons, I don’t think having a million or a billion or any amount of dead warriors could overturn Ragnarok. I guess he wasn’t so great of a God to begin with… Oops! So it looks like he is just bullying humans in hopes they succumb to his will but we all know the undying fighting spirit of humans, right? At least in anime land. I’m not saying Odin is wrong because as a God he too wants to be loved and the likes. But seeing he failed to even have all that, that sure tarnishes his image as a God… Not so mighty after all, huh? Or oh how the mighty have fallen…

I want to further nit-pick because I find it odd they pronounced Sigrdrifa as Sigururi because the former feels harder to pronounce. I guess when you’re Japanese, you find it hard to pronounce a lot of non-Japanese native words especially of the European base. After all, Sigururi seemingly has this cute ring to it compared to Sigrdrifa which I have to be honest here, I too did have a hard time trying to pronounce and remember this word in the early days of this anime. But I guess better than Sigrdrífumál or Brynhildarljóð, however you pronounce that. Damn Scandinavian alphabets… No wonder our Japanese characters here were so lost about Norse mythology. And oddly, didn’t hear of any Scandinavian Valkyrie because otherwise she could’ve just revealed the lore so easily and save our characters a lot of hassle.

There are also a few terms like Vandrande which is of course pretty hard for a guy like me to remember or even pronounce if the whole thing isn’t interesting to begin with. So sometimes I’m struggling hard with this tough Norse-like words so I just f*ck it and remember something else. Or don’t. More confusion for me because the Valkyries are also called by the planes they fly. Since each of them has unique planes and hence unique names, right up till the end I still do not remember the names of their plane. So who is the Schwertleite again? Oh right. Has to be Claudia. The only German around…

Perhaps there isn’t much story to begin with or the general plot sucks because I think they want to focus on the characters. Yeah, shows like these if they don’t have a great driven plot, then it falls onto the characters to make the show at least interesting. Sad to say, the characters here aren’t great either. Sure, each of them has their own problems and inner demons to deal with but unfortunately as far as I can see for this anime, it is not the best way they have portrayed these characters. More often it comes out as draggy and confusing. Perhaps it was boring that I wasn’t really paying attention. Hence ramping up the drama level in hopes that viewers could relate or support at least the Valkyries. But like I said, draggy and confusing. I mean, you know the dangers that come with the job, right? It wouldn’t be a war if there were no casualties. I know it’s heartless but that’s the reality of life. Besides, we don’t even know how Valkyries are selected or a girl becomes one. So much so it feels like Odin is some sort of lolicon because somehow only young girls can pilot those propeller planes. I mean, think about it. How the heck do one get selected to be a Valkyrie? Ah, you look like a cute anime girl. Accepted as a Valkyrie! I think it’s like that although I know it isn’t. For God’s sakes, they send young girls to fight to their deaths!

Regarding our main Valkyrie quartet at Tateyama, I guess they want to illustrate some character drama between them but it turned out to be annoying especially when Sonoka’s trauma comes to light. I felt they turned her cute character into an annoying one. It is understandable that the trauma of war has made her so. However at the same time she doesn’t want to be useless and tries to act tough, thinking she can help her friends because she can’t let them die. But she couldn’t. Because, trauma. Annoyance level elevated even further with Yayoi’s death. It’s like, oh God, is she going to be a liability from now on? Thank goodness she didn’t and overcame it (conveniently) but the damage is done. After all, as I have already pointed out, not even sure how Valkyries were chosen and why they are only young girls. You know it’s going to put a lot of stress and trauma on them and their future. So if they don’t die in battle, they grow up to be psychopaths. Only time will tell if Sonoka will truly grow out of it. As long as she has her friends, that’ll be a safe bet.

For the rest of the pack in the quartet, Miyako being the liveliest of them all, it feels a bit fake because it’s like she’s hiding her pain or trauma. But then again, like what I’ve said about Sonoka in the previous paragraph, we don’t need another overlapping character like that. So for better or worse, Miyako being the chirpy happy-go-lucky character that helps lift the gloominess around makes her both cute and annoying. Hey, gotta stay positive even during wartimes. Good for her, good for everybody. Then there’s the seemingly grumpy Azuzu and she’s like trying to be smart but not come off as an idiot. Well, with everyone else not as smart as her, what do you think? So I guess Azuzu’s character is to provide some sarcasm and cynicism because we can’t have another genki retard like Miyako or the annoying traumatized Sonoka. Yeah, you can see her smirk making weird lines all across her face. Oh well, not that I understand geniuses in the first place. Last but not least, Claudia. She doesn’t stand out much compared to the rest mainly because she is trying to fit into her new home. It is understandable she came from Europe and to be posted all the way to the Far East that has a much different culture than hers, I can see why she’s mostly a bit taciturn (hey, Germany and Japan were Axis buddies! Oops!). Because Claudia trying to be a clown like them, feels so out of character! Oh, better than being her Grim Reaper personality. Now that she has friends and a place to call home, can I safely say she has gotten over that grimly nickname? Better still, she has gotten over her bugging father who probably thinks needs a daughter to dote on. Well, Claudia isn’t your girl.

There are quite a few other Valkyries too but they weren’t given as much prominence and I think it is a good thing the way my sentiments were going. On one hand, it feels wasted to show their few seconds of screen time and then be forgotten forever but at the same time if they did have the time to flesh out their stories, it wouldn’t really matter and it would distract us from the main quartet. Too many happenings in just a dozen episodes, too much for us to digest and process. Yeah, simpletons like me will get confused! So for better for worse, it is a blessing that other Valkyries or Named ones don’t get too much focus. But if you’re wondering why the deceased Sakura feels like an important Valkyrie but yet nothing so much has been said about her, well, there’s a spinoff light novel written for events happening before the anime. So go read it if you’re interested. Me? Reading? HAHAHAHA!!! Oh… Now to move on.

The other non-Valkyrie supporting characters also don’t really fare that well. Mostly are pretty forgettable. Like those operator girls and many of the other wingmen. But of course the wingmen trio under our main quartet could probably be the best characters of their series because of their utmost optimism to support their Valkyries. Heck, I probably love the next episode preview (which isn’t a next episode preview technically – as it also recycled clips from the same episode or the previous) since they say all sorts of nonsense but with enthusiasm! Yeah, you gotta love those guys. Too bad they had to die in the last episode. RIP, you brave wingmen! And it makes me wonder if this series is some sort of subtle lolicon show because you have elderly men enough to be their fathers or grandpas to these Valkyries to fly and support them in battle. And all of them are enthusiastically supportive of their Valkyries. Because my stupid overthinking mind has them think that they are just lolicons. I know, in such wartimes, everyone has to stay positive, cheerful and the likes. But seeing these men as the Valkyries’ fans, can’t help snicker they’re closet lolicons. Yeah, hear their lines when they take it to the skies flying alongside the Valkyries. After all, guys can’t be Valkyries to begin with. Not forgetting Satomi being the commander of Tateyama, typical of leaders like him to be lax because he knows better the trauma the girls have to go through so it won’t help if he becomes a dick, imposing strict protocol and pecking order. He too has seen a lot of his fair share of incidents.

Now we move on to the action bits. Ever since the great Kouya No Kotobuki Hikoutai, any animes that come out after that trying to use propeller planes or even modern jet planes as their main theme, they all can’t hold a candle to it. This series is no different and falls short of my expectations for it. Even if it does not intend to be the its rival, I just can’t help compare it to the greatest aerial anime I have ever seen. Anyway, the action parts are just pretty standard. Because on one hand it is amazing (in a sarcastic sense) to see propeller planes outrunning and flying through all the Pillar horde and not get smashed into any one of them, firing their limited but seemingly unlimited ammo and missiles to destroy hordes of Pillars. Wow. Such luck. They really have God’s blessing, huh? I still can’t fathom why they need wingmen to support them. If they’re really the chosen ones, can’t the Valkyries go it alone instead of putting these wingmen at risk? Sure, somehow human technology weapons can destroy low level Pillars. But how long will that last? It’s not like I can see things clearly with all the chaotic action onscreen. Sufficiently exciting but not jaw dropping exhilarating. Well, you know which series to blame for me having such high standards for aerial action now.

Art and animation are pretty standard too. The designs and colours are quite bright and livid, colourful enough to sometimes pass off as a kiddie show, which is not. I mean, for differentiation purpose, we have Valkyries in all sorts of hair colours and hairstyle because we don’t want them to look the same like ground troops. Yeah, those soldier guys mostly look the same, no? Hey, it’s the military! Everyone needs to look the same for uniformity! Unless you’re as unique as our wingmen trio, so yeah, maybe that’s the exception. Also, I feel that I have seen some of the character designs from somewhere. For example, Azuzu looks a bit like High School DxD’s Koneko, Miyako a loli version of the titular character in Sakura Taisen and Miyako, uhm, Nonoka from Iwa Kakeru! Sport Climbing Girls? Worse, loli version of Mirai Nikki’s Yuno! And how generic is a blonde character like Claudia? So generic, I can’t pinpoint which anime character she looks like but I just know she does. It’s right at the tip of my tongue… Oh, DanMachi’s Aiz but with better smiles?! This might also be me overthinking but I think the world leaders somewhat have this uncanny resemblance to current world leaders. You know, the US president might take after a certain ‘orange man’, that woman leader I presume is taken after a certain German Chancellor and that Chinese guy after Winnie The Pooh… Oh heck, he doesn’t look anywhere near him! A-1 Pictures produced this but I don’t think this can match up to their other hits like Sword Art Online, Ao No Exorcist or Kuroshitsuji.

Voice acting feels pretty okay. Those veteran ones I recognized, they play minor supporting roles like Tomokazu Sugita and Yuuichi Nakamura as those wingmen, Yui Horie as one of the operators and Shigeru Chiba as the mechanic head. It’s been quite a while since I heard Marina Inoue. I thought she retired or maybe I just picked animes to watch that she didn’t lend her talents. It’s good to hear her again as Yayoi albeit just for a short while. The other casts are Hibiku Yamamura as Claudia (Ariadoa in Shinchou Yuusha), Nene Hieda as Miyako (Misa in Maou Gakuin No Futekigousha), Mao Ichimichi as Azuzu (Bada in ClassicaLoid), Sayaka Kikuchi as Sonoka, Yumiri Hanamori as Odin (Seth in Radiant) and Hiroaki Hirata as Satomi (Sanji in One Piece).

Higher’s High by Akari Nanawo as the opening theme feels okay for a series like this. However I feel that the heavy rock beat of this song makes it too noisy and distracting. I don’t know, it just feels weird. And too loud! It’s the kind of song you play for shows which have very high adrenaline rush but for this one? Not really. It’s not a total misfit but I just find it weird. And too loud! Oh God, did I just repeated myself? Anyway, the ending theme, Sayonara Namida by Spira Spica may be a slow rock but I find the animation to be a bit creepy and disturbing. WTF Claudia in a nightgown walking through creepy sceneries like a deserted town and a heavily barricaded battlefield trench while following a red string that leads to a graveyard and her friends. HUH?! We’ve got a more light-hearted special ending theme for episode 4, Fly High (sung by Miyako) with everybody flying as cute penguins! PENGUINS! DO PENGUINS FLY?! Not if you’re Valkyries!

Overall, this series feels like a disappointment since it was initially hyped up. Especially how this series was originally written by the guy who brought us Re: Zero Kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu. A big let-down if you want to compare with that. You win some, you lose some. Just saying… A pretty average story with pretty average characters (once again, believe in friendship cliché!), pretty okay visuals and aerial combat action, it is going to take more than Valkyries in their special planes to help save the world, let alone this anime. God trying to play the villain and becoming the devil himself… And humans having a fighting chance against a powerful God… In the form of young girls flying propeller planes… Yeah, I can’t stress and repeat that mind boggling setting enough. I mean, this anime isn’t totally bad or sh*t but I’m waiting for Jesus to bestow superhuman abilities and turn them into superhuman heroes and Buddha to hand down giant mechas for humanity to kick Odin’s ass and seal Ragnarok for him! Oh wow. See if your propeller planes can handle this primary crap fest now!