Katt: Uh oh. I have something to confess… I think my sudden intrigue in the Erin/Ial pairing from a few episodes back has grown into a genuine love for it. Thanks to that, I’m going to have to use this Erin/Ial-centred episode as an opportunity to do a bit of fangirling. Sorry– I have to, or else I’ll explode from containing my inner fangirl-squeals. It’s a bad way to go. Aside from that, I just have to say: only four episodes left?! I’m getting depressed just thinking about this series ending!

So on to releasing my inner fangirl… Oh, and this means adapting a Minnie style of blogging just for this one time. Once this is out of my system, I promise that I won’t dedicate any more entire posts to Erin/Ial again…maybe…

Wounded and poisoned, Ial gathers up all of the energy that he has left and goes to the beastlords’ stable where he knows Erin will be. He has lost his ‘mother’ figure and has been betrayed by the people who gave him a new life when he was forced to leave his old one–Erin is the only person in the world that he has left. The poor guy!

Thankfully Erin can help: she’s a doctor! Well, a beastlord vet…but I guess that stitches come down to the same procedure for humans and beasts. Except humans have to be stripped to get stitches. I bet Erin doesn’t mind.

If Damiya were watching someone sleep, it would be creepy, but it’s okay because Erin is the one doing it so it just seems sweet. Ial is very vulnerable in his sleep, showing emotional reactions to his dreams that he’d never show if he were conscious.

Erin apparently finds this vulnerablility endearing, so she holds his hand to comfort him in his sleep. Big awwww~ In these two who have lost almost everyone dear to them, they only have each other to find comfort in. If Ial will only accept comfort in his sleep, then so be it! When he wakes up though, the frail part of him still shows when he tears up upon remembering Erin’s words from the last time that they met one-on-one. As someone who has been trained as a shield and not as a human being, Ial really needs Erin to bring back that human part of him.

Pretty much everything that Erin and Ial say to each other is incredibly endearing–albeit very typical. Which is fine by me because 1) romance is really just an aside in this series, and 2) being typical doesn’t stop it from making me go AWWW THEY LOVE EACH OTHER. Case and point: this “I will leave you to protect you!”/”No no, don’t leave scene!”

Kilik is a voyeeeeeur. He walks up, peeks into the stable with the intention of ambushing Ial, but then he sees them together and thinks that they are a damn fine couple and thus leaves them be. Makes perfect sense in my head. (Although I’d like the point out that he stands there for quite a long time, so maybe he was hoping to see a little something more. …yeah, I’m abusing the winking smilie a bit in this entry.)

“I have a favour to ask. Can you play the lyre for me? I want to hear the pure melodies that you create.”

The harp was the thing that brought this two together–what, seven or eight years ago? Back then it was Ial playing for Erin, but now it is her playing that has become a soothing factor for him. And she still has that same old (altered, mind you) harp that he left for her all those years back then.

Mandatory moment of ’awwww, they fell asleep on each other’s shoulers~~’ fangirling. I think I found it cuter when Ial fell asleep on Erin than when she fell asleep on him…is that weird?

But their sweet little moment can’t last, of course, because…..

CREEPER ALERT. Damiya follows the trail of Ial’s blood to the beastlord stables and finds Erin there. When he encounters her, he exposes a big secret about himself. Do you know what that is? It’s that he’s a closet Erin/Ial shipper! That’s why he asks Erin if she likes him (and in my head it’s asked in a, “Ooh, do you liiiike~ that man?” tone). He wants fodder for his canon pairing.

Yeesh, I knew that Erin would hide Ial in with the beastlords, but I didn’t know that she would hide him under Lilan! That is not a place that I would like to be.

Erin and Ial have an exchange of innermost thoughts. Erin admits that her biggest dream is to have the beastlords live free as they are meant to, and that she would willingly sacrifice herself in order to attain that. Unlike Kilik who freaks out when he finds that Erin might have the intention of killing herself, Ial processes it in a composed manner. Even if there is some kind of love developing between these two, Erin’s main passion is life is the freedom of the beastlords and Ial respects that.

And finally, we get the chance to hear Ial’s backstory straight from his mouth. None of these sporadic flashbacks or Damiya-gossip. He runs it all by Erin in the same manner that she did when she told him about where she grew up, her mother’s death, and all of those other secrets of her past that she kept quiet about. I loved the parallel between that past scene and this one.

“When I heard you play the lyre, Ial-san, I felt something warm. It felt like I was with my late mother.”

The jury’s still out on whether this is cute or creepy, though my bias is leaning towards cute. Erin likens the warmth and comfort that she felt hearing Ial’s harp-playing so many years ago to the presence of her mother. It’s kind of like Kilik looking at Erin and seeing his sister in her, and yet giving off hmm-I-might-like-her vibes. I don’t think that it’s meant to be taken as creepy, though, but instead as Erin finding the comfort of family in someone else. And really, when people become a couple or even very close friends, their bond is as close as that of family, right? It’s a wonderful thing that Erin could find that in someone else–and it would do Ial good, too, since he doesn’t have any family to speak of, either.

Ah, the stained solider… Once he’s seen death, been the cause of it, he can never return wholeheartedly to the ‘normal’ world. He clearly needs the affections of a fair maiden to help him settle down into the family life that he’s always dreamed of~

“Your life is like that of the tohdas. As eggs, they’re taken away from the mother. They were just bred to fight. They are such lonely beasts.”

This comparison between Ial and the tohdas is so very Erin that I can’t help but love it. Even though it’s a situation that we’ve seen a squillion times before–the soldier forced to abandon emotion, the woman who wants to break that cold barrier–Erin doesn’t reach into clichés to explain it. She reaches into her own experiences and compares Ial to her experiences in the field she’s passionate about. This is why Erin is my hero.

Mind you, Ial doesn’t seem to get it. I guess he isn’t as up on his tohda-raising knowledge as Erin is. He still sees fighting as the only way to go, the only way to help Erin reach Semiya and crush Damiya’s plans to raise a beastlord army. His words make it seem like he should be coming off as the knight in shining armour, but… 

“I will keep fighting with these hands that you protected. For the late Queen also. I will fight until the end!”
“That’s how you’ve lived your life. For the Majesty Shin-Oh. You’re really a person that cares for your family, but…the silent whistle that binds you is no longer there. Why? Why don’t you want to grab a hold of happiness with this? Your right hand?!”

Erin JUST SAID that he didn’t have to fight anymore. Damnit, Ial, LISTEN! Now you’ve made her use more veterenary metaphors.

At least he realizes that he didn’t say the right words and hugs it out instead of talking anymore. It’s the right course of action to comfort Erin and, more importantly, it gets a big AWWWWWWW and many <3s from me: <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

Katt’s rating for Kemono no Souja episode 46: 9.5/10 (-0.5 because of a failure to react to the poison that is still kind of Ial’s body…antitode, please? Also Ial’s failure to notice Erin’s missing fingers. You two still have ways to go together.)
Katt’s anticipation for Kemono no Souja Erin episode 47: 9/10

 

Minnie: Why, oh why, is Ichizon subbed a day later than Kimi ni Todoke now? It’s so problematic for my schedule. Luckily, it was Thanksgiving weekend for me since I’m an American and all so I do have time to finish these blog entries earlier than usual. I hope the sub group for this anime return to releasing it on Tuesdays instead. It will be easier on me to release these posts out faster… Monday is good too. Now, that I’m stuffed with food from the previous day, I will move on to blogging~

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Garrick: Well, I did skip the last episode, but I can essentially sum it up in several lines. After all, I’m pretty good at doing that. I hope you’ve realized that by now. So, it sort of introduces a new-ish character, the… I guess, pseudo-princess of the school. I forget her name right now. Which is probably  a really bad thing. Also beginning… is the big epic pudding showdown!

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Steve: Hello everyone! This is your fellow blogger Steve with this weekly blog entry on Kampfer. After watching all the other shows I’m supposed to blog, I’ve decided that only this one is worth my time and that’s not saying much. For all those who don’t know me, I’m the ecchi/fanservice blogger, not the yuri blogger (that’s Octavia I believe). However, even then, my taste varies greatly. If the anime doesn’t have any substance to it, I will not blog it. I believe Kampfer has enough for me to keep watching and blogging it. As for Saki’s last episode, I will most likely wait until the next break to blog it. Thank you for your time and for reading this paragraph. Let’s move on to Kampfer, shall we?

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Minnie: Thanksgiving weekend is coming up for all us Americans~ I won’t be having much of a break because I have a pile of work to do. Too much writing and reading T__T I mean I did ask for it when I signed up for three English classes in the same semester but still! At least, there’s some Sawako in Kimi ni Todoke to help me get by this weekend <3 I love you Sawako and I hope everyone is still sticking to this show! Let’s move on!

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Katt: Minnie is a terrible influence. Thanks to her, you’re all doomed to be bombarded by these ‘defining anime moments’ posts; hopefully they don’t get too redundant. With the diverse tastes of everyone here in the blog, though, I should think that they won’t. A few of mine are from recently aired episode, so I have my fingers crossed that I won’t look back on this in a few weeks and be like, “What the hell was I thinking? I barely remember that scene.” That’d be awkward. But I think that I’ll remember and love these scenes for a while yet, whether they make me cringe, cry, or laugh until I cry.

Oh, um…spoiler alert? You’ve been warned! (#10 and #1 are the only ones I’d call major spoilers, though.)

#10. X Episode 23 - The woman he’d give his life for

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After I started watching anime as anime (as opposed to just another Saturday morning cartoon), this was probably the first scene that really made me cry. It’s Sorata’s sacrifice to save Arashi from being killed by Fuma. Now, anyone who has watched X can tell you that deaths aren’t exactly a rarity in this series–in fact, a lot of people die. More people die than live, to put it into perspective. By the second-to-last episode, one would expect to be immune to it, but instead we are hit with the death that has been building up and building up since the very beginning when Sorata tells Arashi that she was “the woman [he] will give his life for”.

When I watch this scene now, it admittedly seems kind of bland, but it nonetheless had a great effect on me years ago so it deserves to be on this list. It isn’t so much Sorata getting stabbed that gets the waterworks going; it starts with Sorata’s drawn out ‘farewell’ and then Arashi’s devastation when he actually dies. A few different romances are introduced in this series, but this is the only one that manages to progress somewhere and it all ends up for nothing in this scene. And even without that romance, Sorata is built up as one of those genuine ‘nice guy’ characters, so of course this death is tragic. My point in this rambling is basically this: all of the development leading to this moment throughout the series–the foreshadowing of his sacrifice, the budding romance–comes to its peak in this scene and just slaps the viewer in the face. Hard. I could never forget a moment like this one.

#9. Umineko no Naku Koro Ni Episode 21 – Rosa freaks out…more than usual

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This probably seems silly of me. With all of Umineko’s gratuitous violence and frequent instances of Rosa abusing Maria, why would I pluck this scene out of the bunch? Put simply, it made me care. I did not give a crap about Maria before this most recent arc, and this scene really made me feel awful for her and actually fear for her. So what is it about this scene that made it so effective…?

Sound, here, is a huge factor: both seiyuu do an amazing job at either being terrified or terrifying. Rosa’s shrieking made me cringe and kind of made me feel helpless, as though I was the one on the receiving end of her freak-out. And as opposed to just slapping Maria around as she usually does (wow, did I write ‘just’? I sound like a horrible person), Rosa takes it to a more psychological level with her destruction of two of Maria’s toys, one of which is technically her best friend. This kind of torture just has such a greater impact than a literal slap and made me really say, for the first time, “Rosa is a major bitch.” More than that– more like, “Oh my God, what the hell?! Why is Rosa such a huge bitch/horrible mother?!?!” Sorry for hating you for all of your ‘uuu’ing, Maria. This scene made me take it back.

#7. Yu Yu Hakusho Episode 56 - Blood-covered bishie, oh my!

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If I harbour any sadistic fondness for bishies covered in blood, it is entiiiirely the fault of my #7 defining anime moment. And the fact that I have seen this episode far more times than is healthy, thanks to it being on the first Yu Yu Hakusho DVD that I bought. When Kurama loses the ability to stay in his Yoko Kurama body, he returns, exhausted, to his ‘human’ form. In a state of helplessness he is left to the mercy of his opponent, Karasu, who also has a fetish for bishies…and for hurting bishies. So what does he do? He creates a lot of bombs and sets them all off right next to Kurama.

While I of course feel bad for Kurama in this scene, it isn’t what you’d call emotional. It’s just excessive and was pretty overwhelming since this was one of the first ‘violent’ series that I watched. And this is one of my favourite characters getting hurt, here, so there’s no surprise that it’s left a lasting impression on me! It just makes a fangirl want to rush in and rescue him, but instead we’re forced to watch as this physical and psychological (why does Kurama always face the crazy ones?) torment is dragged on…until Kurama sics a bloodthirsty plant on Karasu and wins–but it’s the ruthless bombardment on Kurama that I remember most of all.

#6. Kemono no Souja Erin Episode 21 – Human-beast communication

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“Lilan tried to communicate something to me, but I didn’t know how to answer!” Naturally this line is strongest in context, but even on its own it makes my heart wrench. This series really makes a grand effort in some scenes, and you know that you’ll remember those scenes for a long time (take #8 on Minnie’s list, for instance), but somehow this brief moment in episode 21 left just as strong an impact on me than the major scenes in other episodes. In it, Erin makes an attempt to get Lilan, the injured baby beastlord that’s arrived at Kazalm, to start eating and taking care of itself. She manages to awake some sort of interest in Lilan by casting light beneath her, but when she starts talking to Erin, Erin doesn’t know how to respond and instead starts crying and says the line I quoted earlier.

The reason that this scene has become a defining moment to me is mostly thanks to my personal love for animals and thus ability to associate so strongly with Erin in this scene. Since I blog this series, I’ve already reflected on this scene, and will quote myself to explain: I know that I have caught myself asking an animal or two to speak in English, but unfortunately life doesn’t work that way. They speak their language and we have to rely on things other than speech to help them, particularly when they are suffering and we have to decide whether they want to be helped or not. “Please tell me how to help you. Do you want me to help you, or…?” It is so hard to deal with, having their fate in your hands. This hurts Erin so badly because she just wants to understand what it is that the beast-lord wants when she finally finds her voice.

Following that glimmer of hope when Lilan finds her voice, and then the fact that Erin actually starts crying while there are other people around too… ah, this scene is so perfect!

#6. Hanasakeru Seishounen Episode 11 – Machaty’s proposal

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Machaty, you are so epic! I’d say yes. Would you say yes? I’m pretty sure you would because this proposal is too epic to say no to. The scene– Machaty’s one-time lover Kathleen has slipped into the crowd waiting to watch the world leaders leave their meeting, with hopes to sneak a peek at the man she has had to part ways with. Machaty spots her and she tries to flee when he starts calling to her, but he catches up and dramatically removes his headdress, which, according to his religion, is only to be removed when admitting defeat or proposing to the woman he loves. And let me tell you, Machaty is not the type to admit defeat.

It’s kind of ironic that the most memorable scene to come out of this series (so far!) is from the prologue–or, as inserted into the anime, a flashback. I was tempted to cheat like Minnie did and include this scene in conjunction with the later moment of Rumaty performing a similar proposal, but really, it’s Machaty’s proposal that leaves the impact that makes this a defining moment in my anime-viewing experience. He did it first and he did it best!

#5. Eden of the East Episode 1 – Um, naked man?!

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I tried to use this scene as a selling point for this series, but unfortunately telling guys that there’s a naked man in the first episode doesn’t really make the series appealing. I guess you just have to see it to appreciate it, eh? In all seriousness, Eden of the East’s opener has to be the most hooking first episode of an anime that I have ever seen, greatly due to Akira’s amazing entrance. Saki is in trouble, getting scolded by the English-speaking police of Washington D.C., when Akira comes to her rescue– waving a gun around, completely naked, concerned for her well-being when he doesn’t even remember who the hell he is or why he’s in Washinton. (Oh, and the phallic Washington Monument is in the background at one moment…it just makes the scene all the more memorable.)

Do I really need to elaborate on why this is a defining moment? It raises the bar for the image of a ‘knight in shining armour’–now, the perfect hero is a total stranger in his birthday suit! Ideally with no memory and nothing more than a fancy cell phone and a hand gun in his possession, but I won’t be picky.

#4. BECK Mongolian Chop Squad Episode 5 - Skinny dipping duet

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Most BECK fans would say that “Moon on the Water” is their favourite song from the series (mine’s “Slip Out”–but shh!), and there’s no doubt that that is because of this unforgettable scene. A little bet leads to Koyuki and Maho sneaking into the school pool, where Maho strips down and jumps in. She starts singing “Moon on the Water”, a song by their favourite band Dying Breed, and Koyuki is moved to join in the skinny dipping. Maho continues singing the song, and when the chorus comes around, Koyuki joins in and they sing together in a moment that is just…pure <3, for lack of coherency.

It’s honestly such a simple scene. There are more shots seen of the moon, its reflection on the water, and the swaying grass than on Maho and Koyuki themselves; and when they are shown, they’re just neck-deep in the water, singing. Yet somehow, it doesn’t feel stretched out, it’s doesn’t get boring–in fact, you kind of hate Saito for showing up and distrupting the moment. It could go on forever, and this is coming from someone who gets bored of slice-of-life series if they don’t go anywhere. This serenade…nothing happens, but so much happens. That is why it’s my #4 defining moment and, no question, the most defining moment of BECK.

#3. Vampire Knight Episode 6 - This? This is why vampires are sexy.

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When I was coming up with this list, I was running through the series I’ve watched and thinking of their most memorable moments. I thought of Vampire Knight and went, “Nah, there’s nothing really notable in it…” And then I remembered this scene and backtracked. When Octavia and I went to see New Moon last week, we spent the time before the movie talking about different depictions of vampires and ended up gushing over how hot this Vampire Knight scene is for, like, ten minutes. I think that that makes it the defining moment of oh-my-god-sexy in anime for me.

The vampire bite in itself is pretty damn appealing, but there are plenty of those in this series–and other vampire series for that matter–so what makes this specific one stand out? Prior to this moment, Zero biting Yuuki has been done out of uncontrollable bloodlust; here, Yuuki is offering herself to Zero. Sound inappropriate yet? Let’s get a bit more specific… Yuuki leads Zero into his shower and tells him to freely drink her blood. To make her point clear, she strips (and yes, it looks as suggestive as I’m making it sound) her blazer off, exposes her neck to him, and presses him against the shower wall and urges him to bite her. He gives into the temptation and it is the best thing everrr.

The forbidden nature of this scene, the fact that it comes off as Yuuki holding power over Zero even though he’s the ‘predator’, the way he apologizes and the way that she holds him as he gives in… it all cumulates into one hot and memorable scene. Sorry that I ever doubted your ability to produce defining moments, Vampire Knight.

#2. Pokémon Episode 39 – Pikachu’s Goodbye

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Don’t you dare laugh at me!! Yes, I cried watching this episode as a kid, and that is because I have a soul! I remember I was at a friend’s house one time and this episode was on, and I thought, “Oh no! I can’t let myself cry!” I felt so accomplished when I didn’t.

For anyone who didn’t have a childhood, in this episode Ash and friends come across a group of wild Pikachus. Ash’s Pikachu gets along with them so well that Ash very reluctantly decides that it would be best if he left Pikachu there to live with his wild bretheren. This scene that I’ve chosen as my #2 defining moment is when, after flashbacking to all of the good times, Ash halts and turns around to see Pikachu appear majestically over the top of a hill. He runs down and jumps into Ash’s arms, making it clear that he’d rather stay with his trainer than live in the wilderness with others of his kind.

Definitely a far less realistic take on the human-beast bond than the Kemono no Souja Erin scene that I looked at earlier, but still amazing to have stuck out in my memory for so many years. I know that this is the case for a lot of other people who watched Pokémon in their youth, too, which certainly makes a big statement about this scene. It’s melodramatic, cheesy, cliché, but come on–all moments reinforcing Ash and Pikachu’s bond are, and that doesn’t make them any less moving! And it doesn’t prevent this scene from being a defining anime moment for me and many many others out there.

#1. Kemono no Souja Erin Episode 43 - Erin uses the mute whistle

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While my #2 was an optimistic scene, my #1 is more of the devastating nature. At my first Kemono no Souja Erin scene, I mentioned that this series puts a grand effort into some scenes–this is one of those moments in which they go all-out to leave a huge impact on the viewer. Lilan is about to be taken by messengers sent from the queen, and she becomes enraged and aggressive towards them. Erin pleads that they don’t use the mute whistle, certain that she can soothe Lilan as she always does, but Lilan attacks the messengers and leaves them bloodied and half-dead. In a moment of panic, Erin reaches for the mute whistle. Instead of actually showing Erin blowing it, we see flashbacks to happy memories of Erin and Lilan together, and then there is a shot of Erin bewildered, with the mute whistle loose in her mouth, and then Lilan knocked out with blood stains around her mouth.

This scene, for so many reasons, deserves to be my #1 defining anime moment. While it was only aired a couple of weeks ago, no anime scene has ever hit me as hard as this one did. It’s executed in the fragmented style that Kemono no Souja Erin’s violent scenes tend to be shown in, but it doesn’t hide the violence behind the regular stylized illustrations. We see the men being held between Lilan’s teeth, we see the injuries they’ve sustained; the thing that gets hidden is Erin’s action, the blowing of the mute whistle. The images of Erin raising Lilan are there to remind us that this is the one thing that Erin never wanted to do, and yet she’s had to resort to it. The scene flawlessly conveys everything that it wanted to.

It’s a little funny, thinking of my number one moment next to Minnie’s. Her last paragraph about the Bokura Ga Ita scene could very well be my ending paragraph for this Kemono no Souja Erin scene, with a few changed names and put into my words: I have never sympathized with a character as much as I do Erin. When she has to break her vow to herself and to Lilan in this scene, I ache for her and for Lilan. No other scene has made me cry so much and yet I can’t help but want to watch it over and over because of how strong the emotions it evokes are. So perfect. …Minnie, are we masochists to love these depressing scenes, or what?

Katt: As I watch all of the anime I’m dedicated to that have subs released on Sundays, it’s just so obvious which ones I need to give blogging priority to. (‘kay admittedly I’ve only watched this and Hanasakeru Seishounen so far, but shh!) This week, the plot of Kemono no Souja Erin is really coming together quickly. Our villain has been revealed (as if we didn’t know already) and the team of allies to Erin is becoming clear. Oh, and Damiya is a bigger creeper than ever. A-Anyway, I’m going to look at the three main players in this episode and how I expect them to act from here on out.

Our villain: Damiya

In case you didn’t notice, I titled this entry ‘Damiya takes ‘creeper’ to a new level’. Sure, this statement could have been made a long while ago when he showed overall suspicious behaviour, or when it got more specific with his meeting with Kilik, or just last episode when he locked the door when he and Erin were alone together–but the creeper alert really went off this episode when he and Semiya got engaged. Whuuut? I saw this coming when he initiated the marriage conversation with Semiya after the past queen died, though that still doesn’t make it any less creepy. Seriously, dude! You’re such a creeper!

On top of this, Damiya has really messed up ideals. While characters like Shunan are working to found a logical order for the country, Damiya is of the mindset that the world is fine and dandy as is, for this is the pure order of things. …Uh huh–assassinating the queen and attacking your countrymen and marrying a girl like thirty years your junior is totally pure.

…Yeah, Damiya somehow got the shortest section of this entry even though I mentioned him in the title. That just shows how overpowering his creeper vibes are.

Bad-to-good?: Kilik

Kilik has been one of those mystery characters since he was introduced, which is somewhat odd because we’ve seen into his mind quite a lot. There have been tons of fragmented flashbacks of his past and snippets of conversations with Damiya, from which I easily gathered that he was, of course, working for Damiya, but the childhood memories have always kind of eluded me. I’ve always gotten some facts like his sister was killed and he killed his ‘parents’ and something-something anti-Wajaku…now let me try to piece all of this together.

Kilik and his little sister, Taya, were raised by a Wajaku couple–the husband had apparently had some connection to Kilik’s biological father, who was a Ho-Lon aristocrat. While they seemed kind to take the two in, they were really in it to gain status; however, they eventually turned against the two because they were Ho-Lon people, which is where Taya’s death comes in. I’m not sure if we’ll ever really understand why they took such drastic measures to make their point or why they left Kilik alive, but it certainly explains his decision to poison his adoptive parents and dedicate himself to Damiya’s anti-Wajaku cause by becoming his assassin.

When it really comes down to it, though, Kilik is less about fighting the Wajaku and more about fighting whatever threatens purity (which, to him, Taya was the essence of). He sees a lot of Taya’s purity in Erin, as was shown when he imagined seeing Taya flying on Lilan’s back quite a few episodes ago–this is definitely leading him to become more sympathetic to Erin’s cause than to Damiya’s, and by this episode’s end we get the sense that he is ready to officially switch sides, thanks to a little guidance as to what living ‘purely’ is from our constant good guy, Ial.

Loyal boy-toy: Ial

With all of these questionable motives being thrown around, Ial is such a breath of fresh air. He is a good guy through and through, which unfortunately puts him in a difficult place now that Damiya has the ultimate authority (psh, Semiya? Useless). He, along with all of the other surviving Sezans, have basically been fired, though that isn’t stopping him and his buddy from investigating the attack that was made on the late queen. They’ve discovered that Erin’s observation of the lack of tohda brands was true, and all subsequent sleuthing has pointed towards one culprit: Damiya. Dun dun duuun! Good thing Ial’s on team Erin, eh?

As one could guess based on the decision to dismiss all of the past Sezans, Damiya is not exactly trusting of Ial and the others. But mostly just Ial. Damiya brings him into his chambers and, over a glass of wine, exposes pretty much all of his intentions to Ial: those of the aforementioned purity of the country, as well as his intent to use Erin to achieve it. The villain tendancy to expose your plans when you have the upperhand is always kind of odd, though I guess it’s kind of justified in this situation because Damiya has had Kilik poison Ial. As far as we know right now, the poison is still in Ial’s system, but will Kilik’s inevitable change of heart lead to him sharing the antidote with Ial? He’d better!

Katt’s rating for Kemono no Souja Erin episode 45: 8.5/10
Katt’s anticipation for Kemono no Souja Erin episode 46: 9/10

More Erin and Ial? Yes please~

Katt: Okay, so I skipped Nyan Koi! last week–I guess I should give it some attention this week. While I think that the introduction of new girls has come to an end, that isn’t to say that the cat cast has ended after the introduction of Noir! Nope, not at all, and Micchi is here to prove it with his own kitty romance and, erm…his decision to make Junpei’s romance more difficult with some undergarment pilfering.

The kitty romance: Micchi x his lady friend

And here I thought that a kitty romance would be a one-time thing with the Tama/Noir relationship, but no! Episode 8 also introduces another feline pairing for us to go “d’awwww” over, and it is the basis of the cat problem that Junpei is forced given the opportunity to help with. How so? Well, Mr. Micchi is kind of the chubby, unathletic type…but in cat form. When he confesses to the girl he likes, she scoffs him with a “You can’t even catch a sparrow!” remark. Poor fat cat. I remember when my old cat Callie was able to catch birds in her youth (you know, one of those, ‘oh gee, thanks for the present…’ situations when a dead bird wound up in front of the door); then she got fat and the dead bird presents stopped appearing. I guess a similar thing happened to our new friend Micchi, here–good thing he has Junpei to help him get into shape!

Strange as it is for a cat to have to work out, that is what Micchi does under Junpei’s coaching…the whole sequence is pretty Rocky Balboa-like. Oh, Nyan Koi! humour: I approve. Micchi eventually manages to bulking up through these various forms of exercise and, of course, succeeds in sparrow-hunting. When he faces his lady-friend once again, a relationship is formed and we get to see this romantic comedy’s first kiss…and it’s between cats. Aww, cute?

An awkward path, but happy endings

While Micchi’s path to happiness is pretty straight-cut, his insistence on achieving his goal leads Junpei on a rather unfortunate path. Yes, Junpei himself is partially to blame for getting distracted from helping Micchi with his workouts, but this kitty may have taken things a titch too far. How so? He steals Mizuno’s bra and plants it in Junpei’s bag. And Junpei accidentally pulls it out in front of Mizuno. Who thus thinks Junpei stole her bra. Yeahhh… Have I mentioned that this series puts Junpei in horribly awkward situations?

Whenever Junpei suffers these awful, awful, awkward moments, I am amazed at how I am actually entertained by them. I’m still trying to figure it out: why are these scenarios making me laugh while, if another series or a movie or something did it, I’d just roll my eyes? I think it just keeps coming back to Junpei’s likeable character. His crush on Mizuno is constantly being reinforced as genuine and not actually based on perverse thoughts, so these bra-stealing, getting-caught-in-a-chest-hug, and otherwise perverted moments just make you sympathize with Junpei instead of thinking, “Well, you deserve it, you pig!” And no matter how awkward things get, thus far we are always left with the satisfying feeling that things haven’t been screwed up between Junpei and Mizuno–like in this episode, the two get a chance to talk and clear things up, leaving us at ease as is appropriate for a series based on comedy, not drama.

Lesson #8 from the Nyan Koi! cats: I want it and you’re going to help me get it…or else you’d better watch your back!

The preview for the next episode has waaaay too many boobies, though that could be quite deceptive. I’m not expecting much, but have my fingers crossed for there to be more plot development than fanservice (and what’s this Kana-stoking-Junpei action I see?!).

Katt’s kitty-fix was filled by Nyan Koi! episode 8…7/10
Katt’s kitty-fix is hoping Nyan Koi! episode 9 will be…5/10

Minnie: ExectutiveOtaku wrote a brilliant entry called Editorial: Defining Moments in Being a Fan on his top ten anime defining moments at THAT. The reason I love this idea is that everyone has their own top ten moments. No one can really argue this moment is the best moment or whatever because different scenes touch us differently. I’ve also written a post on this back at my own blog Hohiho, for any of those who are interested in reading the same thing twice. Joking~ Hopefully, the other members of my blog will follow suit and write more non-episodic entries as well. Hurray~

Steve: Minnie, your caption is too tsundere.

Minnie: Shut up and don’t invade my posts >__<

(more…)

Dari: ok, now, I know I have anime series I should be blogging but am several weeks behind on, but when I see xxxHOLIC more then 10 chapters behind I can’t ignore it, and the reason I joined HSA in the 1st point was to blog on manga, so sorry Ric, and sorry Minnie for doing this instead of the ones I should be doing, I’ll stop if I receive death threats from either of those two.

Chapters 183-192: Chapters in a sentence style…

Dari: Chapter 183 saw the shop being restored, and Mokona telling Doumeki that he has to choose the time when he uses the egg he was given.

Dari: Chapter 184 is talking about the egg, and the choices that must be made, and Watanuki holding onto the robes that Yuuko used to wear.

Dari: Chapter 185 has Watanuki announcing that he’ll take over the shop, Doumeki thinking about the egg, and Watanuki starting to smoke.

Dari: Chapter 186 is chapter 1 all over again, no joke. it has the the same words on the 1st page, except in chapter 1 it was Yuuko saying them,
and now it’s Watanuki saying them, and Doumeki bringing offerings of food, and Watanuki has only just woken up at 5pm, and is smoking… and Doumeki is studying folklore at Uni.

Dari: Chapter 187 is Doumeki wanting to drink sake, and more importantly, Kohane visiting (and bringing beef shigureni). She is in middle school now, and should almost be in high school, as Doumeki is in his last year of Uni, and Obaa-san sent a message saying that a customer would come tomorrow, and Kohane is worried about Watanuki getting hurt, who says that he will grant any wish that he can grant, as he waits for Yuuko.

Dari: Chapter 188 is Watanuki waking up before 5pm, Mokana bragging about his txting skills, and the start of the shamisen arc, and the customer is a blind woman with a shamisen.

Dari: Chapter 189 is talk about cats and music, and Doumeki talking about cats having sex.

Dari: Chapter 190 is a cat dream, Mokona giving massages, Watanuki throwing Mokona, a plectrum with a butterfly on it, and everything being inevitable.

Dari: Chapter 191 is learning the shamisen has been played with the butterfly plectrum once before, and that the person who played it can not meet the shamisen owner again (and sounds alot like it might be Yuuko), and the shamisen being played again, and the plectrum crumbling into many pieces, and Watanuki liking animals.

Dari: Chapter 192 is the end of the Shamisen Arc, and is payment, and Watanuki is righteous, according to Mokona, and Watanuki getting used to getting the payment right, and thinking about Shaoran, and Watanuki not being alone.

Chapter 193: Return of the Ever 17 Grandpa

Dari: At last, we once again see the ever 17 (or younger) grandpa ghost. This of course means we have a dream world chapter. Watanuki is on the balcony, looking sad, when Haruka turns up.

Dari: They start off talking about Shizuka (Doumeki) and what he’s been doing lately, before the conversation turns to the work that Watanuki is now doing and how he’s finally getting the feel for it, and isn’t getting injured as often as he used to. Watanuki then thanks Haruka for everything that he’s taught him, but Hazuka says that it was nothing, as those abilities were already resting inside him.

Dari: He then goes on to say that Yuuko didn’t grant Watanuki’s wish of not being able to see spirits, and instead seems to have unsealed the power within Watanuki, power that she appears to have sealed when he was created by the time-loop. There is a discussion of how power can bring disaster, before Haruka tells of when Yuuko appeared in one of his dreams telling him to look after Watanuki.

Dari: Haruka tells Watanuki to take care of him self, and not to do anything that would make the witch cry before departing, leaving a sad Watanuki, longing for Yuuko. The feeling that Watanuki has towards Yuuko seem to be more and more like those of Clow Reed’s, and the talk of power not bringing happiness is also similar to Clow Reed.

Dari: All in all, there is not much to say about this chapter, as it is still early after the disappearance of Yuuko and the start of a new arc as the Shamisen arc finished with the previous chapter. So far though we haven’t seen any of the more notable spirits since Yuuko disappeared. Hopefully they will appear in one of the upcoming chapters.

Dari’s liking of this chapter: 7/10

Dari’s anticipation for the next chapter: 10/10