[ BLEACH #174-177]

Getting right to the point, the only episode I was really interested in was the one-hour special. The ones before it weren’t as entertaining as I’d hope they’d be as I’m still laughing at the thought of that old man being one of the antagonists of this arc. He looks as if he can’t do anything though from the looks of things they just might give him power using one of those funky weapons. Hanza was pretty worthless in the first two episodes as well but he still doesn’t give off an aura of power in the special. Still, the fights were good but nothing special. Aside from Ichigo vs. Hanza, the best one was probably Uryuu’s simply because I loved how he set up that fool for a defeat that I didn’t see coming (the method anyway). Ichigo’s fight is the only one remaining and it may end in the next episode or two. If that’s the case then would that mean this arc is close to finishing? Doesn’t seem so, since there’s still the issue with the new Captain Shuusuke and his subordinate which will probably lead to something bigger given that Urahara also mentioned something about a type of spirit particle being in decline.

Next week’s episode will likely introduce the new ED as well. Man, didn’t it just change not too long ago? Not that I’m complaining of course.

[ BLEACH #173]

This was a really enjoyable episode with some exceptions. Well, one exception and that being that I still can’t accept that old cripple as the villain for this arc. Hell, he doesn’t even have all of his damn teeth! He’s an absolute joke character in my eyes. The good stuff happened after Kenpachi’s appearance. From there, jump to when the KILLER LOLI appeared. That was awesome for a bit but I was pissed that it was a damn poser. I did laugh at how Kenpachi killed the guy without even breaking a sweat though. Hanza (which I think is a funny name for this ‘tough’-looking guy) still hasn’t done anything but sneak around and showing off his reiatsu as far as this episode goes. Though it looks like he’ll finally do SOMETHING in the next episode. I’m still wondering in what direction this arc is going though as I’m having difficulties figuring out what to expect in future episodes, especially since it seems like Soul Society will be the main setting from this episode forth. That eliminates the use of characters such as Orihime…but then again Soul Society has a ton of characters just begging to be used anyway.

[ BLEACH #172]

Firstly, I must apologize for the low frequency of entries coming from me over the past 2-3 weeks. Simply put, my career has already kicked off since graduation and the work involved is pretty detailed stuff. As a result I have been unable to watch a lot of my usual shows because of an earlier time to go to sleep (that and I’m usually pretty tired at the end of the day). However, now that I’ve settled into my workplace I hope to catch up to all the shows that I’m blogging so I ask of you to bear with me for a while. That said, this is the first of my “catching-up series of posts”.

So this episode pretty much revolves around Kira. He’s not a favorite character of mine but I suppose he’s alright in small doses. Anyway, the most important thing about this episode was how Kifune reacted when he and Kira were fighting the Hollows underground. He simply wanted to take out/kill one of his own squad members along with the Hollow and even attacked Kira in the process. At first I thought he was doing it to test Kira and work on his issues about his self-confidence but that doesn’t seem to be the case. It seems like he’ll turn out to have an interesting past once they get around to revealing it some time in the future. At the very end of the episode we see Lurichi return to SS and all by herself where she bumps into someone we aren’t able to see. Does this girl have no sense of danger?

[ BLEACH #171]

Hmm. Nothing much really happened in this episode outside of Luri getting attacked again. Well, there was a lesson to be learned I suppose, at least for Luri. At least she made it known that she isn’t exactly ignorant of the things that go on around her. The assassin this time around was sort of capable but still pretty useless. Ken was just as useless and showed what is possibly the gayest zanpakutou release in all of Bleach. Bleh. Anyway, I’m guessing the only assassin that’ll actually impress is the guy in the OP and who appeared at the end of the episode. I hope things start developing more quickly though and it looks like that just might happen next week with what seems to be a return to Soul Society.

[ BLEACH #170]

Yet another nice episode. This arc is setting a really nice pace that’s pretty different from the Hueco Mundo arc. Granted it’s probably because a lot of the action has yet to start, I still feel as though this is giving off an atmosphere similar to that of the first Bleach movie. That is, it’s kind of reminiscent of the days of Bleach before the SS arc came about. Luri is becoming a favorite character of mine quickly as well. I mean, she’s so adorable! And I love the way she uses her status. It’s pretty hilarious when she interacts with Ichigo too. Don’t get me started on how she uses “We” to refer to herself. That’s even more cute points added to her tremendous amount.

It looks like things are going to get serious pretty soon though now that we know the reason why Luri and her servants are on Earth. That first assassin was nothing but the other guy is obviously much tougher, especially since he’s depicted fighting Ichigo in the OP sequence. I’m guessing they’ll have a few encounters throughout the arc as I’m sure they’ll just be testing each other’s strength out in their first fight. I’m not impressed with the old coot trying to take over Luri’s clan though. It’s always some ancient relic around trying to gain power when they can barely straighten their backs out or feed themselves. Give me a break man.

Man, this chapter was great. We’re suddenly shown how are heroes are thrown into a game called “Paradise Game” by Gerard. The point of the game is that they have to reach to where he is by going through those three assassins called Trinity Raven. The catch is that there is also the danger of everyone being blown to kingdom come by the Etherion. Time isn’t wasted either as Natsu has already encountered one of the assassins. Personally I find the owl guy ridiculous but he seems to be pretty damn strong (and can see in the friggin dark!). I’m looking forward to seeing how Natsu will deal with him in the coming chapters.

NARUTO 399

So the history lesson continues and with interesting turnabouts as well. I find it impressive that Madara was able to take on Konoha and the First Hokage by himself with just the help of the Kyuubi. Still, he lost somehow and survived. I’m guessing that after his loss he didn’t go too far away because he knows a lot of stuff from the Uchiha planning a rebellion, to Kyuubi’s attack on Konoha, and finally the Konoha top brass (minus the Third Hokage) decision to plant a spy within the Uchiha to observe. Of course that spy was none other than Itachi. It’s pretty funny how Itachi is becoming even more of a good guy with this history lesson of Madara’s. Still though, why did he have to kill his parents? Were they apart of this rebellion as well? More importantly, just how much of what Madara is saying is 100% truth? I don’t see why he’d lie at the moment other than trying to persuade Sasuke to join him but even that would be a bit much just for something like that…

BLEACH -103

What the hell is going on? It looks like most of the 9th Division was taken out by some single person, including Kensei who was sneak attacked. I’m unsure of Mashiro but it was said that her reiatsu had disappeared off the radar as well. Could it really be one of Aizen or Gin doing this? Or perhaps they’re controlling others to do their work? I don’t see why Kubo would hide them seeing as we already know they’re evil bastards so I would expect the person doing this to be someone he hasn’t shown as yet (as far as the flashbacks go anyway). Man, Bleach has definitely been insanely entertaining and thought-provoking ever since these flashback chapters started. I hope it continues nd carries over into the present, whenever that will be.

D.Gray-man 158

This entire chapter focused on the Noah and Duke Millennium. We find out that the new Noah is named Sheryl. That’s a pretty odd name for a man but I’ve heard possibilities of it being Cyril and a few others. Seeing them in their normal forms really drops one’s guard about them being the antagonists of the story but we’re reminded quickly about that once they begin taking about Allen, the Heart, and Akuma. Going back to Sheryl/Cyril, he’s in a pretty influential position as Minister of Foreign Affairs. That really allows the Duke to be able to create ‘invisible’ large-scale plans that lead to creating even more Akuma just like Panda and Lavi pointed out at the very end of the chapter.

I’m also interested in this dream the Duke has mentioned and about why he didn’t take out Allen when he was a child. This kind of storytelling is one big reason as to why I love this manga. :3

Eyeshield 21 280

This is going to be an interesting Christmas Bowl. Why? Well, after seeing what Yamato can do and a tiny glimpse of his real play style…I just can’t see how Sena can win against him. Sure, he’s been training intensely for the match but I just feel it isn’t enough. Deimon has been the underdog a lot of times throughout the series but this particular match feels like it will be different from the others because pretty much everyone on the team (1st string anyway) is a monster in their position. I doubt that Hiruma will be at 100% unless he blackmailed someone with the latest healing technology. That said, I’m a bit worried about the outcome. If Deimon is to win then I’d hope that it’s done in a believable way and not because they’re the main characters/team.

PSYREN 21

Things are getting awesome. The fight between Yoshina and Tatsuo gets off to a great start. We’re treated to some flashbacks of Tatsuo and Asaga which, I think, is probably a good thing for Tatsuo. That is, he probably won’t die here. Still, it’d be surprising if he did. I have no idea what the hell Oboro thinks he can do but I hope he doesn’t get in the way. Amamiya seems to be doing alright though she is obviously very exhausted from using so much Psi power. It looks like next chapter will be purely Asaga vs. Tatsuo, unless Yoshina can shake off the that blow he received near the end.

Mx0 98

It’s sad that Mx0 is going to come to an end soon. It’s one of the few series that I was hoping didn’t get cut from WSJ but it’s too late. At least it enjoyed a long run than most series get. Anyway, as for the chapter itself I glad that Taiga decided to study abroad as we’ll likely get to see him use real magic before the finale. One year is both a long and short period of time depending on how you look at it but in both instances you can accomplish a lot within that time. I hope that Taiga really does get to confess to Hiiragi when he returns and doesn’t just get stuck with a lame “confess-interrupted-midway” conclusion.