That’s really, really welcoming.

Finally done with the essay and the narrative story! Sorry for lateness. orz

I suppose I should just jump right in, and give opinions after the usual summary, so without further adieu…

Finally done with work and trouble, Ciel decides to take a small break, and that leads him and the gang to Houndsworth, a small town on the edges of London. Houndsworth happens to be the site where construction for a resort would take place, and not exactly where the resort was already stationed. However, since this is mystery/action/paranormal anime, of course there’s going to be another case, rather than the filler we assumed it would be.

Go back in time a few days, and you have Sebby-chan and Ciel discussing Houndsworth - the town where a dog was god and god was a dog. And such practices were so strict, everybody, even the dogs, would punish the rulebreakers. They would tie up the “bad dog” and other dogs would willingly tear apart the victim until it was dead. It may seem illegal, but the dogs were animals who were destroying other animals on their own will.

Wow. Pleasant place, no?

And as if the picture above wasn’t enough, Finny hops out to help an old lady with a stroller. Har har, look at what we found.

A skull, and a decaying one at that. Very pleasant.

Soon enough, the group reaches the actual town, and you can just tell it’s the PERFECT place for a resort. I mean, suspicious villagers, thick fog, a lack of sunlight, vicious dogs all around, and engrish all make Houndsworth happy and bright and worthy of spas! Oh yeah, the yellow, decomposing grass on the ground is an added bonus.

….NO. Why the hell would the Queen want a resort there? That’s just stoopid, in my opinion. =_=

Oh yeah, and remember in episode 5 how Sebby-chan was amusing himself with a cat? Well, it turns out he hates dogs. Sigh.

Oh you.

Eventually, everybody gets to the mansion they were supposed to stay at, and are greeted by the one maid in the town: Miss Angela, who takes the honor of leading them inside.

However, when Ciel DOES get inside, he’s met with some bastard who starts whipping Angela for bringing a chihuahua instead of the Queen’s envoy. And I know I shouldn’t laugh, with the current situation, but… chihuahua? XD

Oh lawl. Not to mention his dog references when Sebby-chan stops him.

Doberman. Seriously? Wow.

So anyway, the guy, who happens to go by the name of Henry Barrymore, finally accepts Ciel as the Queen’s envoy, and the whole group have dinner, talking about the usual business as well as the resort plans. While there, Ciel learns of the curse that haunts the village - if anyone doesn’t follow through with Barrymore’s rules, that person would die a horrible and painful death. Ciel, being the overconfident person he is, challenges Barrymore by asking to see that disaster, most clearly. Ho boy.

Meanwhile, Meilin, Bard, and Finny are enjoying Angela’s company, and Finny obviously gets a crush on her - he’s so cute! Finny reminds me of my little brother sometimes. XD However, Angela is soon called for, and takes her leave. A mysterious (and nekkid) figure is shown in the fog outside, looking up at the windows.

Later that night, Angela’s getting worshipped by Barrymore, who’s rubbing against her legs and and praising her. O_O Fut the wuck? I assume the whip was just for show, with the new scene there, but I really can’t be sure.

Soon after, Angela heads to Ciel’s room to ask him to leave the village, but the demon dog makes its first appearance with a large shadow on Ciel’s window. Ciel and Sebby go out to investigate, and they notice a sparkly dust on the ground, from the sparkly FAAAAAAAABULOUS dog that just ran through, supposedly representing the demon dog. When everybody reaches the crowd, they find the engrish speaking man from before on the ground, dead and covered with several bite marks. James was the one to suffer because he broke the “five dogs per person” rule, and was keeping a sixth dog. Barrymore soon arrives, and explains that whoever goes against the Barrymore family’s rule will suffer like James did. Somehow this triggers chanting from the villagers present, and very creepy chanting at that.

All they need are the wooden planks to smack their foreheads with and it would be perfect.

The next day, Finny and the others are feeling quite blue, but Sebby manages to cheer them up with a reminder that they were at a resort, and that meant they were on vacation. Or in other words, Sebby suggested that they all pack up and head to the beach.

Finny’s expression automatically makes him the awesomest of all the servants. >_<

However, Sebby and Ciel have their own matters to attend to, and Ciel explains the mastermind (lol not really) behind the demon dog, and sends Sebby off to do something. However, the villagers start screaming again, and everybody can’t help but notice.

Tanaka’s head is made of epic win.

As it turns out, they found James’s sixth dog and managed to chain him up, and were planning to punish him. The dog also noticeably had some kind of cloth in his mouth, and was very unwilling to give it up. The punishment begins, and several other dogs raced forward, biting and ripping at the poor dog. However, Finny had a flashback of way back when, when he was fighting against several doctors holding him down, one with a syringe. Maybe this was where he got his strength? But anyway, Finny realized that the dog is going through what he was suffering, and jumps forward with a huge stake, which he used to shoo away all the dogs. The villagers freak, proclaiming that he screwed up a holy punishment, and then they have Ciel and the others tied up, too.

This is relevant to my interests.

Of course, Sebby jumps in to save Ciel at the last minute, and also gets the dogs to submit to him.

Wah. I would normally ask why the hate, but it seems that’s explained. =_=

Ciel begins his explanation on the demon dog, and exposes that Barrymore was the cause of it all. As if we didn’t know. >_< He used a projector for the silhouettes on the windows, phosphorus for the sparkly FABULOUS dog, and to further prove it, Sebby shows everybody the fabric James’s dog held on to. Apparently, the fabric was part of the pants Barrymore was wearing when he tried to kill James, and the dog obviously wanted to protect its master.

After that, the villagers went into a mad frenzy (not that they weren’t in one already) and carried Barrymore off, to do who knows what to him. O_O

Once Sebby had everybody untied, Finny broke into tears at the death of James’s dog. Finny can be cute sometimes, but I must admit those few seconds were depressing. ;_;

Everybody heads home after that, with a lack of purpose to stay, and we see the nekkid figure again.

For some reason, when I saw this episode I couldn’t help but think that everybody was going to have some more fun in Houndsworth for episode 8. >_<

Overall, I didn’t like this episode that much at all - and I think that helps explain why it took so long for me to write about it. I need to get better at digging my feet in and dealing with it. But anyway, I didn’t like any of the new characters introduced, the whole premise just seemed like another Scooby-Doo episode (and I would’ve gotten away with it, if it weren’t for you meddling kids!), and what the hell was with Barrymore and Angela? That part didn’t make much sense to me. However, the setting was unique, and I happen to love dogs (while cats can go either way), so that was definitely a plus. What I’d like to know about was the nekkid guy. O_O

Um, I have about half of an episode 8 post done, and originally I was going to combine it with this one, but I’m posting 7 now just for the sake of getting something out. >_< But I’ll get to work right away, I swear!

btw, Zoku Natsume and White Album are coming along… give me a while. >_<

Behold, the first official trap of 2009.

I don’t care if Kuro Shitsuji is behind by several weeks - I’m writing about Maria†Holic, dammit.

Kanako Miyamae is a innocent lesbian who transfers into Ame no Kisaki girl’s school, in search of her fated one. And there, one of the first things she finds is Mariya Shidou, who she abruptly labels as her chosen one. However, circumstances force her to realize that Mariya isn’t the average girl you’d find attending a girl’s school, but rather a crossdressing guy. Mariya, not willing to trust Kanako with his secret, forces Kanako into a situation in which she is under a 24 watch.

Oh gawd. I’d been interested in Maria†Holic from the start, and it definitely didn’t fail to fulfill my expectations. It was funny, the character designs weren’t cliche, the animation was great, and it seems like the perfect premise for 12 episodes. The only thing that bothered me was the setting, but that much is inevitable. For some reason, all the yuri’s take place in all-girl schools.

btw, the ED is made of solid win - we get pixelly goodness. I love a unique OP/ED.

Kurokami was an interesting watch, too. I started reading the summary and I was assuming that it was simply another one of your boy meets magical girl and they live happily ever after anime, but then I reached the part about the main char getting his arm ripped off and it intrigued me.

Keita Ibuki is a high school student who likes to keep himself detached from the rest of society, not making plans with horrible excuses and then going to arcades instead. He has no mother, because she was killed in a car accident when Keita was young, but one of his childhood friends acts as a mother and takes care of him anyway. He has no other family to speak of,or at least no other family was mentioned during the episode. One day at school, one of his friends, Risa, explains that she saw someone who looked exactly like her at a concert she went to the other day, and you’re all thinking, “Oh shit” because we all know she dies. =_= That same day, while eating ramen at the local ramen stand, he came across a girl who looked as if she were homeless and poor. He treated her to some ramen, and she began talking about twin fantasies. Keita mentions that his mother was killed after she saw someone who looked exactly like her, and the girl explains that there are always three people who look exactly like each other. If one sees another, and the either one isn’t the origin, then they both die, and the third absorbs their fates. If Keita’s mother had been the origin, she wouldn’t have been killed. However, their conversation is interrupted when a freak with a baseball bat hits the girl with said baseball bat. Insert awesome fight scene here, and then the police arrive, causing the fight to have no real winner. The two disappear immediately, and Keita is left wondering what the hell just happened.

The next day at school, Keita discovers that Risa died, and he goes emo, running out of class and screaming as loud as possible when he gets to a bridge under construction. While returning, he meets Mayu, the little girl who lives right next to him, and she explains that she saw a girl that looked like she could be her twin. Keita freaks out, but it’s too late, because poor little Mayu-chan ran into the street and got crushed by a truck, flying blood in the air, disevered body parts and all. Keita meets the girl from the ramen stand while standing in shock, and the episode ends as such.

Kurokami was completely different from what I envisioned. I expected it to be a bit more like Akikan!, but I was proved wrong with the gore factor. Seriously? Little girl gets run over by an eighteen-wheeler?

Not to mention the premise. The idea of twin fantasies is interesting, and I’ve never heard of the legend before, so it’ll be an interesting watch. Keita’s character isn’t too cliche, although his “mother” is - but that’s okay, as long as she isn’t too important. The only downside, I would say, is that so many people saw their twins in a two day span - is it really that common? There are only three people who look the same out of 6 billion in the world, so I find it unrealistic that two people would die in one episode. Then again, the series needed something to kick off the concept, so I guess that much was inevitable. I’ll be sticking around for the next episode, definitely.

Akikan!, on the other hand, was your typical boy meets magical girl and they live happily ever after. I was totally expecting shitloads of fanservice, but within the first five minutes, all the poor males in the audience were bombarded with manservice. And it wasn’t even GOOD manservice.

Kakeru Daichi is a nerd who hasn’t had a girlfriend for 16 years (AKA his entire life. =_=), and one day, out of the blue, he drinks a soda can directly after a shower, and viola, a cute girl appears kissing him on the lips. He immediately makes a move, deciding that this was a dream, and she blasts him with soda, explaining that it was magic. However, she’s interrupted when Hidehiko Otoya and Airin Tazaki appear, wanting to talk to Kakeru about soda cans magically turning into girls. Hidehiko quickly notices that Kakeru is still naked and starts making his moves, albeit his initial purpose, and Airin takes action by dragging the gay man off. Soon after, Kakeru gets fed up with the girl and locks her in a closet, and keeps her there. (This is why you can’t get the girls, Kakeru. =_=) The next day at school, Kakeru accidentally makes a girl cry, and then gets his ass kicked by the famed lesbian of the school. He gets home, saves the soda can girl from near death, and decides that her name should be Melon.

I can tell, without even having seen all the new anime for winter 2009, Akikan! is definitely going to be the weirdest. Animation was mediocre at parts, and character designs were pretty cliche, but even so, I enjoyed the episode. The puns and references were all hilarious, and I plain fell out of my chair when Hidehiko visited. While the humor may’ve been this series’s only good part, I’ll definitely sitck around for episode 2.

So there you have it, the first three shows of the season. White Album coming up next. >_< I’l decide which shows I’ll blog after I’ve gotten a taste of everything, so until then. XD Kuro Shitsuji will be written about and caught up to by the 8th. I say this now so I don’t have any excuses later. DX

Edit: I wanted this to be my first official post of ‘09, but… but… Chaos;HEAd… FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF

First of all, genre clarification - This ranges all the way from harem to psychology. Wow. At least I think I have it set out straight now.

Secondly, a very short summary - There’s a nerd called Takumi who one night, is sent links from a fellow MMORPG player called Shogun, and these links are all several different pictures of the same murder, the third New Gene case. Takumi soon meets several women who all have Di-swords, which are swords that let them distort reality with delusions, and soon after that even realizes that he himself is a Gigalomaniac, the name for reality-bending beings. Strange turns of events cause him to realize that he himself is a delusional existence, and he also falls in love with Rimi, one of the six ladies he met.

Meanwhile, the antagonist of the show, Genichi Norose, has created a powerful machine called Noah II based off of an equation Takumi created as a child, the Ir2 equation. Noah II has the power to destroy everything, yet at the same time, bring the greed-driven world from then to a new level, a utopia without hate or selfishness. And that’s what Norose wanted. However, this would all be at the price of Takumi’s life. And you know, that’s kinda bad, not to mention the fact that Norose had Rimi in captivity. Even so, Takumi decided to go and save Rimi, and discovered that even if he was a delusional existence, he was still Nishijou Takumi, and nothing could change that. This newfound knowledge helped him to finally defeat Norose and destroy Noah II, and then he and the gang live happily forever after.

…I guess. I mean, I was lost at so many parts in Chaos;HEAd, and although I can grasp the concept of delusions and reality, in this series the two fuse together too many times. I suppose I can see where everything is coming from and going to, but it’s mind boggling. And that’s why Chaos;HEAd was entertaining for me; I love thinking and musing about things. But that’s beside the point. =_=

Otherwise, the animation was mediocre overall. Takumi looked perfect sometimes, yet at other times he looked like messed up origami. And sadly, the majority of the time it was the latter.

The pacing was screwed up, though, I have to admit. It was doing fine at first, but at around episode 6 or 7 everything started running at the speed of a cheetah on steroids. Takumi went from shit tier (utter wimp) to god tier (the hero we’ve all been waiting for) in a matter of minutes, and the plot just jumped from one stone to another. Hey, at least it wasn’t as bad as Higurashi season 1.

What the hell happened to the transvestite with the fake boobs? I can’t exactly remember (and I’m too lazy to check), but I’m pretty sure Shuwa shot the officer (whose name I’ve forgotten), and Takumi killed Shuwa, but there’s still the matter of that lady who the two investigated the New Gene cases with. I’ve no clue, but whatever.

And I’m still confused about Rimi and the Staking. It couldn’t have been one of Takumi’s delusions because it was caught on tape and the officer saw it, but then again Takumi could’ve altered reality. I’m still ultra-confused about the concept of delusions becoming reality in Chaos;HEAd, but I get the gist of it all. Usually I need to have things set out in front of me in order for me to understand. >_<

All in all, Chaos;HEAd is a nice, somewhat enjoyable psychological exploration on what is reality and what isn’t. Surprisingly, the gore factor was immensely lower than I expected, what with the preview, but that doesn’t necessarily affect my other opinons on Chaos;HEAd. Overall, I’d give it a 6.9 out of 10; not outstanding but not horrible.

So there you have it - my humble opinions on Chaos;HEAd. Next we tackle Kuro Shitsuji. >_<

There are lots of sequels this season, and not enough new series. =_= However, my choice of anime for winter consists of both, so let’s kick it off with Maria†Holic. (btw, sorry for dying on you guys - personal reasons.)

Maria†Holic

I haven’t met many yaoi fangirls yet, but I think I can assume that I’m one of the few that don’t mind yuri in itself. Just my assumption, but hey, I could be wrong. XD Anyway, Maria†Holic’s about a lesbian who transfers into an all-girl school with the hopes of finding her true love, and there she meets who else, but the perfect mate? She’s sweet, caring, and willing to help, and her name happens to be Maria. However, circumstances force our protagonist, Kanoko, to realize that Maria isn’t a she, but rather a cross dressing he who joined the school for his own reasons. Oh yeah, and the kid’s a sadist.

Ho boy. I’ve seen too many all-girl school yuri’s for my own good (anybody remember Strawberry Panic? Yeah.), but this one actually seems interesting. It’s an all-girl school yuri with a twist. :3 It’s going to air on January 4 (but I’ve actually seen the early release =_=), it’s being done by Shaft (Zetsubou Sensei, Hidamari Sketch, Ef).

Zoku Natsume Yuujinchou

Don’t say you didn’t miss our furry little friend Nyanko, because you did. For those who didn’t the first season, go watch it now, it’s an interesting watch. But yeah, it was cool enough for me to stick around and check out the second season. Production is done by Brains Base (Baccano!, Kure-nai,), and it’s coming out on the fifth.

Viper’s Creed

Summary? I actually have no clue whatsoever. Something to do with the military, I’m sure, but the last time I had any tanks and machine guns was probably when I was rewatching FMP a few weeks ago. I need some action tiem. XD Done by Sony (Gravitation (I know it sucked, but the manga’s better. I swear.), Advent Children), and it’s being released on January 6.

Kurokami the Animation

From what I see, it’s basically about a nerd who finds a girl one night and gives her his dinner, then decides to try and protect her from another girl who suddenly attacks them. He gets his left arm ripped off, but the first girl replaces it with her own, and then they stick together for the rest of eternity, blah dee dah dee dah. This kind of storyline is so typical, it’s almost scary. =_= Coming out on the eighth, and produced by Sunrise (Code Geass (lol), Cowboy Bebop, Gundam).

Kemono no Souja Erin

Oh god, 50 episodes of fantasy dragons and fighting kingdoms and other random cliches? Count me in. Released on the tenth and being done by Production IG (Azumanga Daioh, Mushishi, Ghost in the Shell) and Transarts (Prince of Tennis, Chocolate Underground).

Chrome Shelled Regios

The world was overtaken by global warming and other crap years ago and now beasts made out of the soda bottles you littered yesterday are roaming around and killing people. However, the same pollution gives a group of lucky bastards magical powers and now they fight to protect their mobile cities, the Regios.

Kids, this is what happens if you litter. Nuff said. It’s being produced by ZEXCS (Da Capo, Wagaya no Oinari-sama, H20 Footprints in the Sand), and it’s being aired on the tenth.

Hetalia Axis Powers

By far my most anticipated anime of winter 2009! Set in World War I and II, the story revolves around bishounen who represent their country - Italy loves pasta and women, Nippon is an otaku boy. MADE OF SOLID WIN. Being produced by Studio Deen (Fate/Stay Night, Jigoku Shoujo, Higurashi) and being aired on the 24th.

Konnichiwa Anne

Anne of Green Gables! w00t. But that’s about all I know. I’m also looking forward to this one, as Anne was a childhood favorite. I haev virtually no other information, so I guess we have to wait and see.

So there you have it. I’ll be watching every first episode, though, so you might see a first episode post on an anime listed here, that just happened to be surprisingly good. :3

Ever heard of the phrase “famous last words?”

So, yeah. I think I’m going to try and finish blogging Kuro Shitsuji, and I might get through Hakushaku to Yousei, but you see that pretty little link in the categories section on the sidebar that says misc? Yeah, most likely everything else will go there. And then, I’ll pick up 4 or 5 new shows for winter, and I can try this whole thing over. =_= I’ll do a winter preview, and I’ll check out the first episodes of every series, but I probably won’t do the first episode experiences with every show out there that seems interesting this season, more likely I’ll just do a first episode experience (I like that phrase! Is catchy.) on the shows I’ll end up blogging.  That’ll clear up some more time, and I should be able to stay on track. (Famous last words again!) I swear, if I get a post out more than 6 days late, I will flame myself. D: So, let’s wish me some luck, cry over my stupidity, and off we go for the new Winter 2009 season! :3

Oh sure, it may look cute now, but give it a few minutes. (….October 28th. Seriously. Whoospie.)

Not as pretty anymore, right?

Cough. The fourth episode had a ton of angst, normally. But this time it was a shitload of angst. As in, Yuuki angsts about EVERYTHING, down to the fact that everybody went home for the holidays. =_= But, as usual, summary first, then impressions.

What better way than to start the episode with Senri (lol, I just learned his first name. Just now. XD)? And so that’s what happened, with Senri arriving at his family’s mansion and immediately being brought down to the basement with the reason that he should know this secret as a member of the Shiki clan (Can’t call him Shiki now that there’re more characters with the name Shiki. =_=). Senri arrives at the door, only to find his late father’s corpse preserved in a tub of alcohol, as well as a cute shota that resembled him a lot. The shota starts rambling on about how he was reborn into that body until he falls over into the tub. Senri’s father sits up in the tub, and that’s where we got those two screens up there. :3

However, instead of greeting his son warmly, hugging him cheerfully, and starting a talk about their favorite football teams, the man asks for power and engulfs Senri in little red line things, which probably means that Senri’s now also a body for his dad to use. (That sounded wrong. O_O)

Meanwhile, Kaname’s standing out on a balcony, and ironically (not really. this show is extremely cliche.), he kills a flower at the same time Senri gets abducted. (Why the hate, Kaname? D:) The lights flicker and the vase of flowers Ruka was holding turn into sand, so either something just happened or Kaname is pissed. The latter more likely, right?

At the same time, Yuuki is wandering around the school, thinking about how everyone’s off for the holidays with their parents, and that leads to wondering who her real parents were. Eventually, she gets to the kitchen, where Cross and Zero are cooking. Cross suggests she take a bath and Yuuki complies, not finding anything else to do. Even when she’s bathing, Yuuki continued thinking about her memories and Zero, and somehow her reasoning lead to the fact that she has to remember what happened before Kaname saved her, or else Zero would keep on getting hurt. Fut the wuck?

Zero comes to check on her, because she’s been in the tub for a long time, but Yuuki insists she’s okay. Zero begins to leave, but he hears her scream, ho boy.

Oh wow. Yuuki tells him it’s nothing, because after all, trying to remember something which triggers a bath of blood really is nothing. =_= So Zero’s about to leave again, but Yuki gets out and grabs him. O_O

That is an iron grip.

When Yuuki starts talking about her memories, Zero suggests they go to the Hunters’ Association, as they collect records of every mission a hunter goes on. So he, Yuuki, Cross and Yagari (only just found out his name. As usual. =_=) all head out to go to the building that houses the records, only to find this.

ಠ_ಠ

Is it a guy? Is it a girl? Truthfully, I don’t know. He looks like a girl, but his voice and lack of a chest point otherwise. So I’m going to go with he’s a transvestite. >_< And for some weird reason, he reminds me of the Chinese emperor Gaohai from Code Geass. O_O (Speaking of Code Geass, did anyone catch episode 4 dub on Adult Swim? They butchered the talk between Lulu and Rolo. Wasn’t nearly as beautiful as when it was aired in the anime. D:)

Yuuki and Cross begin their search while the president, the guy above, brings Zero to a room in which there are old faded papers from battles long ago. However, such papers are covered in blood, and Zero’s vampire surfaces.

…I don’t get it. The president tells Zero that if he drank some of Kaname’s blood, he wouldn’t be a Level E anymore. But Zero and Kaname already went through the hentai scene in the last episode of the first season, so that means Zero’s not a Level E anymore, but a regular vampire. But Zero didn’t explain that.

I’m pretty sure this is what happened: Zero’s body refuses the tablets even after he’s normal (for a vampire, that is), so he needs to feed on Yuuki when he can. Which would explain the situation. The president doesn’t know this, of course, so he tells Zero he should drink a pureblood’s blood. But Zero doesn’t want him to know that he drank Kaname’s blood, even though the president isn’t a vampire (Forget that - he’s vampire hunter. =_=). So why? I feel stoopid. DX -goes to rewatch last episode-

Meanwhile, Yuuki and Cross are outside, in the main library, and Yuuki discovers that Cross used to be a vampire hunter too. However, she isn’t bothered by the fact. I love Cross’s character! He’s so cute. :3

However, the mood of the scene changes when Yuuki finds the page of what happened ten years ago. Sadly, the book burst into flames just as she turned the page. (Wait, what…?)

Oh god. The angst that ensues, just… just… ugh. To prepare us for what’s to come, we see a scene of Cross talking to Zero and then Yagari about the cursed twins, which it actually a legend that of the two twins born into a vampire hunter family, only one will survive. Blah dee dah, and then we get to Yuuki. -shudder-

As if the bloodbath and book on fire weren’t enough, Yuuki is lying on her bed when she sees this:

FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF

Holy shet. The hell is that?! By now, you would think that she might stop trying to remember what happened ten years ago, but haha, whoops, we’re talking about Vampire Knight Guilty. wtf. So instead of doing the sensible thing and asking Yagari/Cross/other smart people about it, she curls up in bed and thinks. Until Zero comes in, that is.

Oh my god. If that following scene had one thing, it would be angst. It’s not even GOOD angst. (But hey, it’s funny angst.) Not to mention this:

Sure. You thought he was gonna kiss her, too, right? Dammit Zero, you little bloodthirsty vampire you. D:<

This is turning more into a hentai as the minutes progress.

Wow. It might’ve been angst, but I got some of the most awkward subs ever.

Oh wow. Snort.

“That’s why you have the right to torture me!” Zero, awesome line there. Awesome.

……Cough.

So ANYWAY, the next day, Kaname is back, and with gifts for Yuuki and Zero, too. Yuuki gets a rose that blooms once every ten years, and Zero gets a cursed puppet. (And he declines, too! D: I would’ve gladly taken the puppet. Sniffle.)

Then my favorite scene in the episode pops up. Kaname and Aidou are talking about Kaname’s parents and suicide/murder/death/etcetcetc, and Kaname tells Aidou that he’s glad that Aidou didn’t suspect that Kaname killed his own parents. Yaoi bait much? XD

Meanwhile, Ichijou is at his house, talking to his grandfather, who brings him to a room in which Shiki sits, drinking the blood of a human. Ichijou freaks, and now it’s pretty definite that Shiki is  a vessel for his dad. The episode ends there, leaving an annoying cliffie. D:

The episode was way more angsty than usual. Especially every scene with Yuuki. In every one of them, she is talking to herself or thinking about the past/Zero, wondering why she can’t remember and why she has to hurt Zero like this and OHMYGOD SHUT THE HELL UP. But hey, that’s expected of Guilty, right? DX I don’t really have anything else to say, as the episode was just typical VK. Oh well. Maybe 5 will solve some unanswered questions -hasn’t watched 5 yet- Sigh.

]]> http://www.ianimefan.com/2008/12/04/vampire-knight-guilty-4/feed/ http://www.ianimefan.com/2008/11/29/hakushaku-to-yousei-3/ http://www.ianimefan.com/2008/11/29/hakushaku-to-yousei-3/#comments Sun, 30 Nov 2008 01:21:18 +0000 Waffcake http://www.ianimefan.com/?p=270

O_O This show satisfies my inner fanfiction writer. >:3This episode was kind of sort of okay - Let’s just leave it at that until I get to my impressions. >_<

Episode 3 kicked off with Edgar and Lydia waiting by the dock for Raven to come back from whatever he was doing last episode. (Beating up Huntley’s guys? I don’t know. I was probably sugar high when I watched it, because I don’t remember shit about it.) During this part, we also got the lovely screenshot above, where Edgar expresses his relief that Raven is still alive. :3

Hakushaku to Yousei is fantasy, so of course, we can’t go without the unusually cute mythical character that half the time ends up being the main character’s sidekick. (Mieu from Tales of the Abyss - nuff said.) As if Nico wasn’t enough, we have the brownies that were introduced in the first episode.

-is irked-

The whole voyage overseas to the Island is skipped, and we begin again with the group already there, looking for a place to stay. They found an inn, however, and talk to the owner about staying there a while.

The owner looks like a pedophile. It is SCARY how pedophilic he is.

O_O He almost looks as pedophilic as Charles. But then again, NOBODY is as pedophilic as Charles.=_=

But anyway, the innkeeper and Edgar continue the conversation for a while, talking about how the whole island and its inhabitants has at least some merrow blood in them, and the horrible things that happen to Blue Knight Earl imposters, etc etc etc. Eventually, Raven goes to get medicine for Lydia’s seasickness, and the Innkeeper gets up with him, which leaves only Lydia and Edgar in the room. Oh gawd, you know what this means. :3

Lydia gets up to get a cup of water with a slice of lemon, and when she comes back, she starts dripping drops of it on the windowsill, in a path towards the door. When Edgar asks what she’s doing, she explains that a brownie got lost, and she’s creating a path with him. Edgar even gets to try it, and they end up by the door, letting the fairy out before shutting it again. Lydia brings up the subject of Edgar not even believing in fairies, yet having fun with the brownies anyway, and somehow it led to how Edgar thinks of her extra sight just her being able to see farther, to see more, which leads to Lydia calling him strange. Which, inevitably, leads to her getting flustered. Edgar begins his flirting (caramel - not rust.). Edgar is such a bishie; makes me go XD.

Soon enough, though, Raven interrupts, to announce that dinner’s ready. Moar XD’s.

…XD.

Moar timeskip here, with that scene ending and skipping directly to late that night. Edgar and Raven  were in a room, talking about Lydia’s personality (namely her innocence and purity. pfffff.), her hate for liars, Ermine (Edgar’s assumed lover), and such other topics The conversation ends when Edgar asks Raven to bring Lydia to her room, and Lydia, who’s standing out in the hallway, freaks out when Raven walks out. Despite her protests of “Don’t kill me!” and “Stay away from me!” he approaches her and she manages to calm herself down. Speaking of which, her pleas came out of nowhere, for me - I mean, sure, she just heard them talking about hiding things from her until the very end, and lies, and death, and etc etc etc, but would someone really freak like that? Doesn’t seem reasonable to me. >_<

The two talk about Raven’s past a bit, and it turns out that Raven has a sprite inside of him. (That sentence… it’s… nevermind. O_O) As a child, Raven never realized that he had a will of his own, and all he knew was that he had to kill, or at least that’s what the sprite drove him to do. Edgar picked up Raven and taught him the ways of the civilized (lolwhut), and watched over him up until present time.

His head looks dettached from his body. O_o

It’s also revealed that that’s the reason Edgar was labeled as a murderer under the name Sir John. Even so, Edgar never got rid of Raven, and that’s how the two came to be what they are now. :3 Too bad we don’t get any more info, as Raven abruptly ends the conversation by taking Lydia to her room.

The next day, everything is bright and happy again, yet I saw something I need to point out.

What the hell? “This island looks like a crouching green man.” My ass it does! How does that lump resemble a man, in any possible way?! IT DOESN’T.

To further confuse the viewers, producers stuck that picture in. The island and the black thing do not match up, AT ALL. Good luck trying to find the island using that reference. =_= But anyway, enough of my ranting. XD

The trio continue their journey by searching the castle gardens for the “spunkie’s cradle,” which means the grave of a child who died before he/she was baptised. (Wow. That’s pleasant. Totally not morbid. O_O) Instead of searching as a group, Raven goes to search the far end of the garden, while Edgar insists that Lydia go with him.

*snort*

Absentmindedly, Lydia accidentally brings up the topic of Ermine while walking through the gardens, and Edgar explains that Ermine wasn’t his lover - she was Raven’s sister, as well as his crush. (lol) However, Edgar manages to change the subject pretty quickly, and goes into his flirtation mode, asking if Lydia was hiding her wings. XD (I need to count the number of times I write that smiley in this post.)

Soon after, though, the two come across a merrow children’s grave, and Lydia assumes that the grave is what “spunkie’s cradle” refers to.  And next up on the list was the pixie’s dance, which meant a fairy ring, basically. I thought they were marked by mushrooms? But whatever. The one Edgar finds isn’t authentic anyway, the search is put to a pause when the two find an entrance to the castle.

Really? I though walking through stone walls was totally possible. Fut the wuck.

Too bad it’s NOT an entrance to the castle. =_= To make matters worse, Huntley and his gang show up.

Only the most cliche line in the history of cliche lines.

Raven arrives quickly and takes action, beating up everybody while Edgar and Lydia make a run for it. However, they run into Lydia’s dad, who was inconviently blundering around looking for her. Edgar introduces himself and proposes marriage right then and there, proclaiming that he and Lydia are deep in love. Oh gawd, Dr. Carlton’s reaction was priceless.

Way to go, Carlton. Way to go.

Huntley interrupts the conversation by appearing with a gun, and Dr. Carlton attacks him, for fear of Lydia getting shot. Deciding to help, Edgar rushes in just as Dr. Carlton was knocked unconscious by an elbow to the head. And with that, I got this lovely little screenshot right here.

Hyuk. Not to mention, for once, Nico is actually being smart and helpful, by insisting that he and Lydia have to run - there’s a first for everything, I guess. So while Edgar and Huntley are fighting, Lydia and Nico run away, only to be met with a black spectral hound (sounds like a monster from your typical MMORPG.). The episode ends there, with Edgar’s fight unresolved and Lydia panicking about the hound.

Oh my. Interesting episode, except everything is severely rushed - by now, I doubt the series is going to focus completely on Edgar’s journey to become the Blue Knight Earl. Probably the journey, and then other conflicts that arrise after that. Maybe Lydia/Edgar’s relationship with the other? No clue. Be interesting to see how that turns out. On a different note, I love Dr. Carlton’s character, albeit typical. He seems like an ordinary rich father, but that one question changed it all - I’m going to quote him every day now. >:3

Edit - lolwhut. There’s been a change in plans, and I’m leaving for home ON Thursday, so I kinda can’t post on Thursday. I’ll probably be getting back Saturday, maybe even Sunday. Sigh. But whatever - hope you all have a great Thanksgiving. :3

Edit - HAI GUYZ. I just got back this morning, so now that I’m done with getting back into the habit of things, you can expect Edgar goodness within the next few hours. XD

lol. (ichigo daaaaaaaisuki!) This episode was very interesting - Misaki gets abducted, and ends up attempting (and almost failing) escape. XD

Anyway, Let me start by saying this much - This is shounen-ai (gay guys) bordering on yaoi (gay guys buttsecksing), so if that sort of thing bothers you, don’t even bother with the rest of this post.

The episode picks up with the situation started by last week - Misaki was getting sent strawberries every day from Haruhiko, and to rival that, Usagi-san got the same amount, each and every day. And in a futile attempt to get rid of all the strawberries, Misaki starts sending them as gifts to other people, although a lot of them get refused. >_<

So one day, on his way out of classes (and his way out of this), Misaki ran into Haruhiko, and seized the chance by asking him to stop sending the strawberries. Haruhiko isn’t as understanding and caring as the average person, though, and proceeds to invite Misaki to his house to talk about the matter. Sadly, Misaki’s an idiot and actually accepts, because of his curiosity for Usagi-san’s family house. (Pfffff… moron. Then again, I shouldn’t be one to talk.)

Haruhiko’s mansion happens to be very mansion-like, with at two stories and huge gardens all about. It’s at least 100 meters from the gate to the front door, and it’s at times like this when you wonder if Haruhiko really lives in Tokyo. O_O And once again, the Usami family’s wealth is displayed by Misaki’s introduction to their butler, which I found hilarious.

OMFG lol. Kuro Shitsuji much?

While Haruhiko heads off to attend to a business call, Tanaka brings Misaki upstairs to a room where the two start a conversation about Usagi-san and his relationship with the family. Not much is revealed, but we do find out that Usagi-san is Haruhiko’s step-brother - as if we didn’t know already. =_=

Soon enough, Haruhiko is done with his call, and heads up to Misaki’s room, where he interrupts Tanaka and stops him from saying anymore. Misaki brings up the subject of strawberries again, and Haruhiko asks if there’s anything else he likes. Misaki, Misaki, Misaki… sigh. If you want somone to stop sending you excessive amounts of strawberries, you don’t then say that you prefer cherries. But by the time Misaki realizes his screw up, it’s too late,  and Haruhiko is walking out with Misaki running after.

Haruhiko abruptly changes the subject again (you little socially-incapable rich bastard, you), and starts rambling on about how he stalks Misaki.

It’s not liberty, Haruhiko - it’s called stalking. =_= Add in another abrupt change of subject, and Haruhiko and Misaki have reached a room, where Haruhiko asks Misaki to live with him. O_O lolwhut. After Misaki’s bout of “why’s” and “wtf’s” Haruhiko explains again - he’s in love with Misaki. (Fut the wucks? I really want to see Haruhiko’s reasoning behind that.) However, the discussion is disrupted again, when a maid comes in to inform Haruhiko that Usagi-san’s on the phone and he wants in. So Haruhiko solved the problem by throwing Misaki into a locked room and heading downstairs to attend to the issue at hand. (Only Haruhiko. ONLY Haruhiko would ever do that.)

Locking you in a room, that’s what.

Misaki tries thinking of what to do - his cell phone’s out of charge, and he’s not strong enough to break down the door, so he does the smart thing for once and rummages through some desk drawers in search of supplies. However, instead of a battering ram or rope or anything else useful, he finds Usagi-san’s old notebooks, from Junjou Minimum last season. (Minimum was cute, but it was more annoying than anything. =_=)

Downstairs, Usagi-san is demanding Misaki’s prescence, but there’s an error in that plan as Misaki is locked away in a dusty old storage room. Haruhiko decides to lie and explains that Misaki has already left, and then he launches into a rant on how novelists (Usagi-san in particular) suck.

You did NOT just diss novelists. D:<

Alexander (my favorite anime dog EVUH) starts barking, though, obviously on Usagi-san’s side. The four of them (the maid, Tanaka, Haruhiko, and Usagi-san) hurry after the running Alexander, only to find this:

You don’t know the half of it, Misaki.

However, Misaki’s makeshift rope tears in two just as Alexander and the others round the corner. The maid runs off to get a doctor, and Usagi-san hurries to Misaki, making sure he’s okay. After picking up Misaki (bridal style. -drool-), Usagi-san gives Haruhiko one last warning - he is NOT going to steal Misaki away from him. Haruhiko takes the lame course of action and asks, “What are you saying?” (What the hell do you THINK he’s saying, moron?) And Usagi-san’s response to that: “THIS is what I’m saying.”

I just saw paradise.

Usagi-san hurries to get Misaki off the property fast, and the two end up driving away fast. (I think? Misaki got his foot bandaged, but nothing else was really clear about what happened after the kiss.) Once they get to their garage at the apartment, Usagi-san smells Misaki’s foot (fut the wuck).

Yes, yes, that is a foot, Usagi-san. -snicker-

And then they do it in the car. O_O Interesting way to end an episode. XD And the little segment after the ED was one of the funniest so far, with Misaki’s cherry problems. >_<

lolwhut. XD

This episode was entertaining, but it definitely wasn’t one of the series’ best episodes. I’ve seen better; Nonetheless, episode 3 was still very amusing. I loved Misaki’s attempt at escape, and the joke at Kuro Shitsuji was awesome. :3 Tanaka is a cool character, along with Alexander. Haruhiko was glaring daggers at poor Alexander… D: I wants an Alexander for myself. :3

Supposedly the next episode focuses on Junjou Egoist! Yayz. I haven’t seen it yet, but am looking forward to. XD

PS -

Yes. Yes, Usagi-san. We would ALL enjoy that.