Star Driver 11 ~ 13

Episode 11 ~  A Kanako/President Adult Bank Episode.

        - Since midterms are over Kanako throws a party for her class on her yacht {minus the alligator?} and  

           Wako sings.

        - Sugata meets Head who is watching the sunset, They chat a little.

        - Kanako's husband Leon Wantanabe is Simon's father. Told by her sister only a year before {in the 

          hospital after an accident.}Simon's mother Melisande was Wantanabe's secretary, They fell in love and 

          she had two children. Mylene and Pamela.  With their father marrying Kanako, Mylene told Pamela to 

          become Kanako's secretary.  She changed her name to Simone and did so...

        - Simone wants Takashi to fight Takuto again so they can control the Glittering Crux if he beats him. His 

           StarDriver Tzadikt was all ready defeated by Takuto so... 

Zero Time;  Simone/Secretary and Takashi/Banker Vs Takuto.  In much the same fashion as Scarlet Kiss and Sugata, Simone appriovoise's her Daletos and Takashi enters along with her to fight for her. Using the Amethyst sword from his first battle with Takuto the two of them together is almost too much for the Galactic Pretty Boy..
    Seems like Heads chat may have boosted Sugata's self confidence a little, He without hesitation uses the Kings Pillar and it boosts the power of Takuto's swords...  That's when it was game over.

         - Takuto sort of scolds Sugata for using the Pillar but... even quoting Head Sugata says "Talent is
            granted by God."
         - Simone's sister Mylene shows up and to Simone's dismay she is quite close to Kanako. She tells
            Simone that after the accident a year ago, When "Simone" wasn't waking up... Kanako saw their
            mother crying and appriovoised to save her.  Their mother introduced Kanako and Mr. Wantanabe..
         - Kanako has always known who Simone was she was just playing along.. Simone still hates her.

Episode 12 ~   This episode wasn't that great....

           - The Glittering Crux can now fix the broken Cybodies, Only there's a small problem.. For the
              regeneration process to work the Pilot must help, The Cybody needs it's pilots "life force".  If the
              pilot does not have enough "life force" then...well... You possibly get what happened with Samekh's
              drivers. So, Before they try to fix Ayingott they will be testing it on other broken Cybodies.
                  It's possible that Sugata only woke up because Samekh has fixed itself.
           -  Kanako and Takuto have a coffee "date".
            - Sugata and Head chat a little at sunset again.  {This has to be leading up to something.}

Zero Time;  Kanako Vs Takuto.   It's a giant boxing ring! Turns out Kanako is some uber boxer, Her cybody is pretty much the same.  The battle doesn't last long at all.... First round going to Kanako but then Takuto gets a knock out pile buster thing against her.  Boring.

             - Cutest part of the episode, Takuto walking to/from school and Kanako pulls up in her car... The
                driver stopping the car she rolls down her window and asks for a Glass Kiss.   "Close your eyes,
                and don't mind the glass" ... She powers the window back up a bit and kisses the glass herself.
               After a minor freak out session Takuto closes his eyes and goes to kiss the glass... Kanako turns
               down the window and actually peck kisses him.  

                                                          "You can't do that, I'm married."  

Episode 13 ~  Departure.  After Keito's talk with Benio it sounds like everyone will be going to outer space!

            -Takuto and Wako are having their weekend breakfast at Sugatas again... Their always there. Benio
              shows up to challenge Sugata to a Kendo fight... Het lets Takuto fight her instead.
            - Takuto looses fast, One move... Benio still wants to try Sugata but he declines and she leaves.
            - Back at the Dorms, Benio shows up in the guys bath while Takuto is bathing again. TalkTalk.
            - Benio shows up in Takuto's bedroom, Kissu. With a start he awakens, Her Scarlett Kiss powers
               are gone. They talk and he doesn't take advantage of the situation.. instead he asks her if there was
               anyone she really did like... Yes. Sugata.
            - Benio, George and Tetsuya. The three members of the 5th Division of the Glittering Crux Brigade
              Filament are members of clans that have "lost their marks" due to the thinning of their blood.
            - Benio/Scarlet Kiss volunteers to be one of the first Cybodys to be restored, In the cybercasket she
              appriovoises and then the flashbacks start.
                    She and Sugata have known each other since childhood, He was the first grade schooler to
              defeat her in kendo. Benio crushes on {falls in love with} Sugata but her father{?} says he is
              betrothed to a maiden and since their clan has lost their mark... She is not worthy to be with him.
                     Remembering this greatens her will to return to being a StarDriver, Flying thru pinkness she sees
               her "mark", reaches out for it and.. becomes a StarDriver again.
                     The first Cybody Peshent fixed. Too bad it doesn't last long...

Zero Time;  Takuto Vs Peshent Take Two. This battle really is fast, Seems it's just to let Sugata and people know that the Crux can now fix their broken Cybodies.  Scarlet Kiss is piloting the Cybody this time so... From earlier on in the episode her "special attack" doesn't work a second time just like Sugata had predicted.
Fast Fight, Peshent is rubble again... Next Please.

              - Back at school, The Kendo club...  Takuto "Sugatas Apprentice" and Benio are sparring again,
                This time with the rest of the club watching. She trys the same move on him and he defends/wins
                 against it again...
  

Boo, Snow.

I am over winter...


That is all.

Star Driver 8 ~ 10

Episode 8~    40 Seconds of Man Panting....  That's how the episode ended.

What was learned in this episode...

- Glittering Crux is a bit worried about Sugata waking up, Not sure if he will try to use his first phase powers
         to affect battle outcomes.

- FishGirl/Sakana finishes her story, strips her clothes and collar then leaves her birdcage.
        Head lets her leave.
        She boards a bus later in the episode with Wako, Keito and a pink haired mystery girl.
               She is headed to the ferry to leave the island...

- Sugata is back in school but acting very unusual {He's very cold to Wako and distant.}, The kiss from          
         Scarlet Kiss seems to be affecting him.

- Takuto goes to confront Sugata who is looking over the ocean, After he shoo's away Jaguar and Tiger the
           two of them have a "chat".  Seems neither of them believe the other care too much about themselves,
           Takuto with his swimming to the island and Sugata with most things in general.

Zero Time;  It happens just as Sugata and Takuto are about to fight, Scarlet Kiss initializes it and attempts to "use" Sugata by taking him into her own Star Driver Peshent. The plan backfires and Sugata overpowers her and takes control of her Star Driver...  Fighting Takuto almost playfully the two trade insults until the end where Takuto defeats Peshent.
             Back in real time, Cue heavy panting...... then the end credits run.

Tidbits;  The dagger/knife that Sugata carries with him, that Wako is afraid to ask about is to protect her.
               Jaguar and Tiger are supposed to kill Sugata if he ever leaves the Island.


Episode 9 ~ We got two new characters and a Sugata/Takuto bath scene.


Mizuno is the pink haired girl that was on the bus with the other three girls in the last episode. She can talk to  
       animals and is known as a "witch" throughout the school. Very free spirited she road ontop of the bus to
       school, by jumping out her house window and met Takuto when going into the boys bathroom to try and
       save  Crowberts {a crow} baby.  Seeing what she was upset about Takuto jumps into the tree and saves
        the falling baby bird... This in turns practically makes Mizuno fall in love with him.
      - Later on in the episode she is chasing the vice president around and comes across the Night Flight
       Drama club meeting, She ends up joining them probably because Takuto is in the club as well.

Marino is Mizuno's older twin{?}sister, She's a sports superstar in the school.She's also Manticore a member
         of the Glittering Crux, In the Vanishing Age division she is introduced as the acting Lead while Head is
         on vacation.
       - Manticores Star Driver is apparently broken, a big hunk of junk called Ayingott. They are however
        repairing it slowly so when it is usable she can use it's scanning eyes to find the West Maiden. Of
        course there's more to this... Manticore is only in the Crux to protect her sister.. who is the West
         Maiden.

Zero Time;  The fight was a bit stupid, Just one of the Vanishing Age drivers trying to prove that it won't take third phase to defeat Tauburn. That was full of fail... Sugata attempts to use his Kings Pillar at the beginning of the battle but Wako stops him.

Words; Starting to think Takuto may have a harem soon...

Episode 10 ~    Takuto does have a harem..... It's lets play baseball episode!

- The baseball game was just that...a baseball game.  Takuto's class vrs Marino's class, In the end
         Marino's class won after Mr. Fox Eyes Crux member uses his first phase on a baseball pitched to
          Takuto.
- After the game Mr. Fox Eyes approaches Marino and does the Crux greeting, She answers back.
           He was obviously jealous of how she and Takuto were talking to each other during the game.
- Still feel "something" between Sugata and Keito.

- Mizuno and Marino's flashback, Their mother left them to go chase after their "father" who left the island.
            Their aunt lives on the island and they live alone in their house.


Zero Time;  Sword Star, Star Sword, Whatever his Driver name is... Mr Fox Eyes initializes Zero Time to fight Takuto.  Seems like he's doing it just for the hell of it... probably because he's got a jealousy problem. The battle really doesn't last that long but, He does get Takuto down to one knee before...  Katami, Wakachita, Yagadanse.  Takuto uses the "it'll be okay" spell {Much to Manticores surprise} that Marino taught him earlier after the game... Then he wins and all goes back...


Tidbits; Cute bath scene at the end.... Marino likes Takuto now too because she and Mizuno like the same things.  hehe

Otome Yōkai Zakuro

Spirit Affairs will be terminated.

Back at "base", The whole crew is having it's victory munchies and then Kushimatsu comes in to gather them for some bad news.

The Military only agreed to the arrangement because of Omodaka/Lt Hanadate's scheme, With him gone the Military is no longer interested...   This of course upsets everyone.  The girls will continue with helping humans and spirits coexist but... The guys have to go back to their normal military duties.

The goodbyes were sad...and touching at the same time.

Susukihotaru is packing Rikens things... she ends up crying but...a cute moment.

Ganryuu: I promise to come for you.
Bonbori: For me, For Bonbori?
Ganryuu: For both of you.







Zakuro and Agemaki finally kiss but it fades away from that...








At the end credits the men are gone and the girls/kids are walking thru the village, The humans are acting much warmer to the half spirits...

Look who's not dead, Omodaka and Byakuroku survived the fire... DaiDai is nowhere to be seen though.

Then look who didn't leave, Spirit Affairs was reinstated after they appealed to the general.

This series didn't disappoint, Only thing that could have been better is it could have been longer. I'm a real sucker for anything with Youkai in it.....

Weakest Episodes;  None really... The final episodes did seem a bit rushed to me though.

Favorite Episodes; Episode 5 ~  Bonbori and Hoozuki defend Ganryuu from the Black Widow.
                                Episode 6 ~ Bonbori and Hoozuki's past is shown.

Favorite Character;  Susukihotaru ~ Not sure why... she just barely inches out the twins.
Least Favorite Character;  Agemaki ~ Find him a bit annoying yet funny.
                                         DaiDai ~ She just irritated me.

Want More;  Yes.
Berry Ranking;  4 out of 5

Yumekui Merry 1 & 2

Episode 1 ~  This may be freaky season, This and Madoka are pretty far up on the Huh? Scale.

We have...

Yumeji Fujiwara;  Pretty much a ordinary student... other then the fact he dreams of talking cats attacking him and can see auras of people's dreams. His own aura is black... which means nightmares... damn cats.
      Leaving school he has a strange girl fall on top of him, apparently the black birds were attacking her. In the chaos of the bird attack/falling she looses her hat and she runs off after it.
     After parting ways, Yumeji finds said hat that is being carried off by a black kitten... experiencing deja vu of sorts he's pulled back into the "dream world" and there be the  floating bone fishies, talking cats and their "Boss".

Merry Nightmare;  The girl who fell on top of Yumeji... In her quest to find her missing hat she stumbles across Yumeji in the "dream world".  How did she get there? Who knows.  It seems she's actually from the dream world and just accidentally went into the human world.... She first saves Yumeji from the bad guy before nearly begging him to help her back into her home world.

The Bad Dude;  John Doe.   That's right, his name is John Doe.  What sort of name is that? He's looking for a way out of the Dream World and wants to use Yumeji's body for a vessel into the real world. He and his cat army are defeated by Merry before wandering back into the Dream World... Giving her no help or even a clue of how to return herself.







Episode 2 ~  Kinda glad this one got better with the second episode...

What we have;  After Merry fainted at the end of episode one, She wakes up at Isana's house. When Isana enters the room with a little chit-chat Merry is a bit grumpy...and hungry. Merry is a very grumpy lil demon... After food, a little more chit chat and discovering doughnuts {that she loves} she sneaks out in the middle of the night while people are sleeping.   {Isana's dad "catches" her and tells her she can come back anytime}

Dream Demons;  Living in the dream world some dream demons wish to enter the real world, they normally enter one of two ways.. by taking over a "host" or coexisting with them.  In Merry's case she came into the real world as herself... no vessel was needed. How she did this? She's not sure. She has very few memories..

Back at school...

Creepy Girl

Chizuru Kawanami; The mandatory transfer student, She's creepy... She doesn't talk much and seems to just stare off a lot.   Odds are she's some sort of strange demon or possessed or something....

Mr. Ijima; He's their teacher, He loves rice...lots and lots of rice.  He's also a little on the suspicious side but I doubt it's anything.







Yumi & Serio; Serio is a dream demon, he came to Yumi in her dreams and convinced her to allow him to posses her but... live together with her.  He's a little voice in her head that apparently has helped her fulfil her dream to become a nurse...
      These two are where things get interesting... While walking home from school Yumi comes across some medical scissors and as she reaches for them she is warped into the dream world.  The dream is not her own {or Serios} and it gets a little freaky.
      Bear traps and chains attack the two of them, Each of them helpless to save the other. Serio walking towards Yumi to try to help her, the chain tightens and a voice is heard.... Multiple large "traps" open from the ground and crush {trap?} Serio.....   Back in the real world Yumi drops her school bag and walks away distant and empty....

At the end, Merry is set on not needing help but Yumeji is set to help her any way he can.

Tidbits; Merry loves doughnuts and doesn't seem to like carbonated bevs.

Words;  The first episode wasn't that interesting, This second one was really slow to start... The twisted dream world that "killed" Serio has me wondering about things though.

Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica 1 & 2

Episode 1 ~  A new magical girl show!  The feel is much darker then I thought it'd be... sort of like a Hell Girl type alternate reality during pieces.

Madoka Kaname;  The pink haired main character, She lives with her mother, father and baby brother. Her mother works and it seems her father is a stay at home dad.

Sayaka Miki; Blue haired, Best friend of the main character {Madoka}. Might like girls.... not quite sure yet.

Homura Akemi; New girl at school, She was first "seen" in Madoka's dream... Madoka was trying to help{?} her.  When she enters the classroom it's a bit of a surprise for Madoka.  She tells the other girls in the class that she transferred in from a Christian School and wasn't a member of any clubs.
      She's quite talented both academically and athletically, She's also a bit creepy... At the end of the episode she is attacking Kyubey for unknown reasons.

Mami; A blonde girl that shows up near the end, She "saves" Miki, Madoka and Kyubey from the freaky flower things.  She transforms using some egg looking item, the outfit not being all that unusual looking but her attack is dozens of muskets shooting the freaky things.

Hitome, Madoka, Sayaka

Kyubey;  A little, white, cute creature.  For some reason Homura is trying to kill him, He asks Miki and Madoka to create pacts with him so they can become magical girls.

Things are still a bit confusing.... I do have a good feeling about this show but only time will tell..







Episode 2 ~ More depth...

In the way of flashback, Mami bring Madoka and Sayaka back to her place after she saves them from freaky land. Over some sweets she explains the situation to them....  When a girl makes a contract with Kyubey they obtain a Soul Gem, It's proof that they are a magical girl and is the source of their magical powers.  Kyubey will fulfill one wish each, In return they will become magical girls and hunt "Witches".
        Magical girls are made from Wishes, Witches are made from curses.  Witches spread despair and normal humans cannot see them. Unexplained murders, suicides and other terrible things are caused by witches curses...  The freaky place from the first episode is where a witch has confined itself.

A Witch

The episode is pretty much the girls deciding if they want to become magical girls or not... what they would wish for and Mami shows them what a witch hunt is like.  The witch hunt itself is pretty strange, the soul gems can "sense" witches nearby and that's how the girls track them.

As for Homura, Mami says she was probably trying to keep the girls from gaining their powers because the more magical girls there are... the more competition there is for the hunt. Sometimes magical girls clash over who gets the witches...  Seems the girls powers deplete as they fight and the witches once destroyed drop an item called a Grief seed that repowers their soul gems.

I kinda felt bad for Hitomi this episode.. Madoka and Sayaka are sharing this experience and she's left out. She can't see Kyubey and Madoka, Sayaka and Mami have a telepathic link via Kyubey...

Tidbits; Mami is a ninth grader and lives alone in a very nice apartment. Homura told the girls she was just after Kyubey so he wouldn't get to Madoka, Didn't say why though...

Words; I think Mami and Kyubey may be hiding something, Something that Homura knows and isn't saying.

IS: Infinite Stratos 1 & 2

Episode 1 ~  It's the meet and greet episode.... We have the main {only?} male, a harem of women, his older sister and the IS.

IS Academy; The worlds only educational institute thats soul purpose is to train IS Pilots.

Infinite Stratos; Developed 10 years ago it was originally intended to operate in space but that development was halted. Due to the Alaska Treaty it cannot be used for military purposes so currently...  it's used for sports type competition.  Only females can pilot/control the suits until....

Chifuyu Orimura;  Ichika's older sister and ex first generation Japanese IS Pilot, She suddenly retired and disappeared. She's now Ichika's teacher.... and quite scary.

Ichika Orimura; The first and only male who can pilot an IS, He's at his first day at the IS Academy and is of course the only male student in his class/school.  His sister who he seldom sees is his homeroom teacher, a childhood female friend a classmate and roommate, he's surrounded by girls who seem quite curious about him and he is totally lost in class. {He didn't read his ref book, he threw it away.}
      On his second day, He's challenged to a dual.

Houki Shinonono;  Ichika's childhood friend whom he hasn't seen in six years. She's a national champion in Kendo and seems very nervous around Ichika.  Her reaction to Ichika being her roommate was rather comical {she attacked him with a kendo stick} I'll take a safe guess that she'll end up being the romantic interest.

Cecillia Alcott;  She's British and she's full of herself.  When Ichika is the only one nominated for Class Rep she throws a fit... starts to insult Ichika and Japan in general.  When Ichika insults British food she takes it as an insult to her country and challenges him to a duel.
      Of course Ichika puts his foot in his mouth while he accepts the duel but...yea.. Next Episode Fight!

Favorite Line;  "People say if men and women were to have a war, It wouldn't even last three days."

Words;  Seems to be nothing really special; Harem, Mecha... The normal stuff really.

Episode 2 ~  There was a wait on the battle, Turns out Ichika didn't have an IS yet and they were waiting for his own "personal" one to be delivered.  This wasn't necessarily a bad thing... it gave Houki time to train him {spend time with him},  When the senior butt into their conversation at lunch to offer him training I thought Houki was going to beat her up.  

        After a week of Kendo training the set date for the duel has arrived... waiting and waiting Ichika's IS finally arrives at the Arena.  It's name is Byakushiki... he takes to it pretty fast and flys off to fight Cecillia, Her IS Blue Tears is a long range unit and the fight was pretty one sided for most the match.  Of course the one sidedness sort of stops after his IS enters it's first shift mode {It had been configuring to him the whole time} First shift came a little too late though, His dinky sword turns into a weapon like his sister use to use Yukihira 2 and as he activates it.... it saps up all the energy from his shield power and he looses just before he can strike Cecillia.
       Conclusion?   Cecillia gets to be the Class Rep. Houki gets to train Ichika more in both IS and Kendo and it looks like Cecillia might like Ichika too.

IS Tidbits;  There are only 467 Infinite Stratos Units in the world, Only one person knows how to make their core and this one person is Tabane Shinonono.   Yep,  Houki's older sister.... Noone knows where she is and she will not make more then the set amount.
        Only high-class companies and country reps get their own personal IS, Ichika more then likely gets a special one before he's the only male pilot.

Words; I am still a little on the fence about this series, It's just "okay" so far and nothing is all that special about it.  From the preview for the third episode there's another girl from Ichika's past that's going to show up...

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