hi guys. i'm back. after some computer trouble, i'm back to review the latest and greatest in manga today. but enough of my problems. time for the manga, starting with fairy tail.
PREVIOUS CHAPTER
the secret of happy and charlie's mission has been revealed and they set off to rescue the others.
FAIRY TAIL CHAPTER 178: BECAUSE I'LL BE BY YOUR SIDE!
we open with the knight's of edoras meeting and discussing the capture of natsu,wendy, and lucy. they suggest that since lucy can produce magic from her body, they can drain her magic indefinately. the emperor speaks, saying that the queen of the exeed has order her execution. the others protest but her word is law. the emperor goes on to say that the dragon slayers can be used as a semi-permanent magic souce, if their experiments turn out ok. the knights cheer and talk about what they will do with their magic while tigerlily looks on dis-approvingly. he attempts to speak to the emperor about it but changes his mind and leaves.
meanwhile, lucy thinks about what she heard about charlie, happy, their mission, their race and their queen. she yells how stupid it is when E-erza appears in front of her cell, commending her understanding of their world. lucy greets her happily as she enters but soon goes back, since she naturally loosened up around erza. she begins to tell her about her world's erza, about how she's part of fairy tail, kind, strong and cool. E-erza ignores her as she drags her out of the cell by her hair, telling her that she isnt that person. she continues, saying that she doesnt seem like the type of person to laugh at others suffering and that she only wanted to save her friends. she tells lucy to be quiet as she lifts up on her spear and holds her over the balcony, telling her that she will die here. lucy still says that her erza wouldnt do this. E-erza calls lucy lucky since she herself loves to watch people suffer and has personally killed many members of fairy tail before letting her fall.
just then, happy and charlie swoop in and save her, surprising both lucy and her would be executioner. she questions why the exeed would save her when their queen gave the order to kill her. charlie says the order is receded. E-erza doesnt believe her and order lucy returned to her. charlie then says that she is the daughter of the empress, which causes the knight to immediately fall to her knees, begging forgiveness. as lucy and happy look on in shock, charlie asks where natsu and wendy are, which E-erza says they are in the basement. she orders their release but the knight says it not in her power. charlie forces her authority on her when pantherlily arrives, yelling that they are "fallen" exeed and fugitives. the trio fly off, as charlie reveals that it was a bluff about her being royality. E-erza is obvious angry at being tricked.
as the guards assemble, charlie asks lucy if she is mad about their mission. she just says that since they came to rescue her, its good. charlie asks why happy is smiling. he answers that since she isnt a princess, he doesnt feel so far from her. lucy notes how close the two have become. their happiness is short lived as a army of flying exeed bear down on them. they prepare to go down to the ground when they see the amassed army of edoras waiting for them.
THOUGHTS
I DONT CARE IF YOU ARE A KILL CRAZY BITCH! I STILL LOVE YOU, ERZA!!!!
ahem. sorry about that. well, this was a good chapter. we see more of how jerky the knights and emperor are but it seems to me that there more to tigerlily than we thought. he seems more honorable than his fellow knights. happy and charlie's relationship has evolved a lot over the last few issues and lucy has pointed this out. but we shall see what's gonna have in the chapter.
lets leave the kitties for now. gimme my ninja action with naruto.
PREVIOUS CHAPTER
the ninja world preps for war.
NARUTO CHAPTER 489: ON THE BRINK OF WORLD WAR!
we open on mount myoboku as gamatora explains to the old sage toad of jiraiya's last wises for naruto. pa toad agrees that naruto should at least be allowed to have the seal. the sage toad asks for naruto to be brought before so he can tell him his future.
meanwhile back at konoha, karin is telling her new captors that she was forced to work from both orochimaru and sasuke and how sorry she is. ibiki says that while she has endured much, he didnt ask for her life story and scolds on of his men for crying at her sob story. karin straightens up and says she will talk but only if she has some food. else where, tsunade, having woken from her coma, is eating a massive amount of food to get her strength back so she can keep her young appearance. when shizune says there is no more food, she eyes ton ton. shizune is horrified at this but the hokage wasnt looking at the pig as kakashi enters. he says he was a second away from being the sixth hokage when she woke up but he's relieved that she is back since he felt he wasnt right for the position at the time. tsunade is still surprised by the ninja aliiance and the fact that the tsuchikage and raikage agreed to it. she asks if madara is really alive, which he confirms by how big the plan is. worried at how the dark fate of uchiha torments everyone, she orders a emergency war meeting after she's done eating.
at ichiraku, sakura informs naruto of tsunade's recovery, which makes him happy. old man ichiraku is so happy, that everyone will eat on the house, with further makes him happy. he offers a meal to sakura but she runs off to tell everyone else the news as naruto prepares to feast. at the war planning meeting, the female elder calls for rations and the names of all able ninja in the village. shikamaru comments that war is really happening while his father is a bit stunned that he was called to the meeting. he tells him to memorize everything that is said in the meeting. just as naruto is able to eat, he is transported to toad mountain where he starts to eat ma toad's cooking. he then gags at the worm soup.
he is taken before the elder toad who forgets his name. naruto reminds him of who he is as he begins to tell naruto his future. he says that he will meet a octopus and that he will fight someone with power in his eyes. naruto says he already knows who that is and that he's prepared to face him when the time comes. he order gamatora to give naruto the key to the fourth's seal. after naruto asks what it is, gamatora informs him that the key will allow him to open and close the seal on the fox, even allowing him to full release the demon if he wanted to. he also says that he could even master "that" jutsu.
as naruto thinks on this, anko and other jounin find victims of kabuto who, according to anko, is becoming more and more like orochimaru. she then wonders if he will go after the leaf or akatsuki first. else where, kabuto appears in madara's hide out, saying that he felt he needed to greet him first. madara says he never thought he would find him, to which he comments that he was a spy for many nations and thus knows a great deal. calling him a traitor to the akatsuki, he jumps at him, as he preforms a jutsu. 5 coffins rise out of the ground. to the shock of madara, they contain the bodies of deidara, nagato, orochimaru, sasori, and itachi. kabuto says that he now knows the edo tensei, surpassing his master's level and the second hokage's. he says that this is merely a display of power to earn his trust, saying that he wants to join madara.
THOUGHTS
well, i'm happy with this chapter. it was a nice build up to the war, seeing everyone take sides. nice to see shikamaru being including on the planning. he could be big in the war. we finally get a better understanding of what the key could do for naruto. also, we still get hinted on what "that" jutsu is. i have a feeling that its his dad's teleporting jutsu but that's just me. nice to see kabutomaru doing something and what a way to make a impression. so now the ninja world is choosing sides.
time to see what that wacky aizen is up to in bleach.
PREVIOUS CHAPTER
aizen sets the record for most bullshit in a single chapter and isshin steps in.
BLEACH CHAPTER 398: BACK FROM BLIND
we open with ichigo seeing his father, in soul reaper mode, standing in front of him and aizen. before he can say anything, isshin head butts him off the roof the building. as he hangs on, isshin comes over and kicks him in the stomach before they flashstep away. aizen comments that it was a wise tactic to gets some distance from him.
elsewhere, isshin holds down ichigo, saying he knows what he wants to say but his son kicks him in the face. he screams that he wasnt asking him questions but that he couldnt breathe. as they both calm down, isshin tells ichigo that he isnt mistaking him for someone else and he agrees with him. isshin tells him that they will talk later since he has a lot of questions for him. ichigo tells him that he understands that if he had a reason for not telling telling, he will tell him when the time is right, mirroring the conversation he had with rukia a while back. he thanks isshin for punching him since it seems to have brought him back. isshin corrects him, saying he headbutted him. he yells that he ruined the somber mood.
aizen says that isshin put up a powerful barrier since he cant sense either of them when gin arrives. he says that he took a long time sightseeing, to which he replies that he didn see a opening or a necessity to jump in. before he can talk more, ichigo attacks gin from behind but he block it with his sword, the shockwave of the attack slicing the building they were on. isshin goes in to attack aizen himself. they clash swords, isshin blows him back but flicking his finger, sending him flying into a few buildings. gin tells ichigo that its been a while since they fought and he wont be holding back, before saying "bankai".
THOUGHTS
well, this chapter almost makes up for the bullshit the week before
almost.
its short but its good. not much to say about it. next week see what gin's bankai is.
hey? you are a pirate. time for one piece.
PREVIOUS CHAPTER
kolby stands up and shanks is on the scene.
ONE PIECE CHAPTER 580: END OF THE WAR
the marines and pirates, including garp, are surprised to see shanks, one of the four emperors, at marine ford and saying he will end the war. he then tosses his strawhat to a still flying buggy, telling him to give it to luffy. he tells him that he has a treasure map just for him in return, which delights buggy. lucky roux then asks if its ok that he doesnt want to see luffy, since its been ten years since he has. as buggy throws the hat to law, shanks says he'd love to see him but right now, it would break the promise they made to each other. akainu tells ao kiji to get luffy as he freezes the ocean but the sub dives out of reach of his ice. kizaru, still under ben beckman's watch, launches a light attack on the sub that misses. he says that if he missed, they should call them lucky and let them go for now. boa hancock, feeling that they are alive, orders the ship she's one to give chase. she then tells them to report to the marines that they, the seven warlords, will pursue luffy.
buggy then yells at shanks for lying about having a treasure map. shanks said it was just a spur of the moment thing and that it was a long time since they seen each other. as they argue, buggy's followers continue to worship him, not knowing the nature of their relationship. buggy then thinks that if he sticks with shanks and his crew, he could get off the island safely. marco approaches him and red hair tells him not to encourage any more fighting and withdraw peacefully. mihawk then starts to leave, saying that his agreement was to fight whitebeard and his allies and that if they fight red hair, the damage will be much higher. shanks adds to this by saying that if anyone else wants to fight, that he and his crew will be more than happy to throw down with them. he locks eyes with blackbeard and sees if he wants to fight. the pirate says he wont, since he got what he wanted, as he and his new crew withdraw.
with that, both sides, pirate and marine alike quietly and calmly, retreat to their respective sides. shanks then says that the world has seen both whitebeard and ace die so he will be taking their bodies for mourning. some of the marines protest this but fleet admiral sengoku agrees to this, ordering for the wounded to be tended. thus the whitebeard comes to a quiet end.
THOUGHTS
wow. just wow.
this was a great ending to a wonderful arc. it had everything: action, drama, suspense, twists, turns, everything. seeing shanks just end the war just being saying "knock it off you guys" shows just how much stroke he has in the world. seeing everyone's faces as they retreat from the battlefield shows the toll it took on everyone. the backlash of this war will be felt for a long time and how luffy will recover from this will be worth reading. too bad we gotta wait two weeks before we find out what happens. damn you oda. you crack dealer, you.
well that's it for this week in manga. turn in next week for more manga goodness. until then...............stay otaku my friends.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
THIS WEEK IN MANGA
hello and welcome to THIS WEEK IN MANGA! sorry i didnt post last week but there was family issues but i'm back and ready for some more manga reviews. so lets kick things off with fairy tail.
PREIVOUS CHAPTER
natsu and the gang are saved by E-natsu and his car.
FAIRY TAIL CHAPTER 174: REVELATION
as we last left off, E-natsu rescues the earthland fairy tail members from the royal army. he commits on how much lucy looks like E-lucy and how pathetic his counterpart is, seeing him nearly passed out in the back. wendy explains that their natsu isn't good with moving vehicles. he reveals that he is the magic transportation expert of fairy tail, hence his name "fireball". he also says that since no one can create magic energy from themselves, the cars run on pure magic but since its so hard to find, its hard to run them, just as he stops his car. he tells them that this is as far as he can go and still have enough to make it back to his guild and tells them to get off, which natsu is happy to do. he states that he doesn't want him or his guild involved with their mission and that saving them was only because E-lucy asked him. natsu then drags him out of the car and asks him why he's so good with cars. E-natsu says he doesnt know as he begins to cry.
it turns out that when he isn't driving, E-natsu is a total wimp, surprising the group. wendy tells him not to push himself too hard, causing him to notice how small she is compared to E-wendy. when lucy asks him something, he hides behind a rock in fear. he also informs them that he took them all the way to the capital since that was what E-lucy asked of him. as they make their way down the hill, E-natsu asks them if they really will fight the empire. natsu replies that they only want to save their friends but if have to, they will. E-natus says that they cant win but natsu only smiles in response.
the group arrives in the castle city of the capital which is full of people and bustling with activity, which was worlds apart from the cities they had been to. charlie explains that all the magic they have taken is focus and used on the capital itself. the group sees a crowd of people and wonders what they are looking at. they finally see the massive lachryma that was created from their guild and the town. charlie further says that the lachryma has been cut so that isnt the whole thing.
the crowd cheers as the emperor begins to make a speech about how, using the anima, they have enough magic for ten years. he tells them to party in celebration as they plan to gather even more magic as the crowd cheers. natsu, enraged, prepares to attack him but lucy holds him back. she tells him that she and the others feel the same but for now, they have to wait and bear with it.
THOUGHTS
great chapter. hiro was very creative in making E-natsu different of natsu. being comfortable in vehicals and a total wimp without them was the perfect way to separate him from regular natsu. seeing a crystal that size makes me wonder if they will to go elsewhere to get the rest of it and if they can turn their friends back to normal. and the emperor is a total dick. i really hope that natsu gets to lay one into him.
up next, more wacky ninja action with naruto.
PREVIOUS CHAPTER
team 7 is reunited but all isn't happy.
NARUTO CHAPTER 485: SO CLOSE AND YET SO FAR
we open with naruto arriving to save sakura while kakashi lands a hit on sasuke, sending him flying into a bridge. he tells naruto that his timing is even better than his and that even though he didnt think naruto would come, he's glad he did. as sakura thanks him, naruto tells sasuke that she is a part of team 7, just like him. sasuke counters that he is a former member of team 7. kakashi states that his actions should be proof enough that he's not the same as he once was. naruto tells sasuke that he was told about the truth behind the uchiha massacre and about his brother and that he understands why he's done what he did so far, even if he didnt believe he was being truthful. sasuke then reminds him about how he cant understand since he never had a real family and that a "outsider" should shut up. sakura roars back that naruto still has faith in him and that despite the world labeling him as villain, he did and still does consider him a friend.
sasuke goes on to say how he killed one of those who betrayed his brother, danzo, which surprises sakura and kakashi. he goes on a tirade about how good it felt to kill him and that only by destroying konoha will the name of the uchiha be clear and purified. kakashi sees that a history of hate has turned sasuke into the person he is now and that naruto and sakura don't understand it yet but they will. naruto creates a clone but his former teacher tells him to get sakura out of there since he didnt see what he was gonna do. he tells sakura that the poison kunai she got from tsunade would be useless since orochimaru probably made him immune to her drugs. he adds that he sees that she cant handle the burden. as sasuke preps a chidori, karin thinks about how sasuke has changed and that she is done with him.
naruto then asks if kakashi plans to kill sasuke. he only tells him to leave, as sasuke dashes at him. naruto jumps ahead with a rasengan and charges to meet him. as the two attacks collide, naruto thinks about how they could've easily be in each other shoes. naruto then tells sasuke how he knows what hate can do and how he could have easy want to kill them all but his bonds with his friends saved him from that fate. sasuke says that nothing he says will change his mind. he restates that he plans on killing naruto and everyone in the leaf. he offers naruto a choice: either kill him and live a hero or die and be one more of his victims.
naruto chooses neither.
THOUGHTS
once again, sasuke continues to spiral down into insanity and darkness. i know i've said this before but i dont see how he can be redeemed at all. he's tried to kill a team mate and has said that he will kill everyone in konoha. i'm getting a little annoyed with naruto. i mean, how can you save a person who wants to kill you and every innocent person in your home? and that bonds speech? didnt care for it. i hope naruto has something in mind.
how do you get stains out cloths? use bleach.
PREVIOUS CHAPTER
yamamoto's plan to kill aizen is foiled by wonderweiss.
BLEACH CHAPTER 394: THE BURNOUT INFERNO 2
we open with aizen gloating that wonderweiss's power is to negate yamamoto's zanpakuto, ryujin jakka. he says that he gave up almost everything for this one power. he says his farewells to him as wonderweiss prepares to take him but yama counter by punching him clear across the town. he asks aizen if sealing his zanpakuto would make him a push over. he goes on saying that there is a reason why he's been the captain-commander for over 1,000 years: no soul reaper was no where near as strong as him. he goes in to level aizen when the arrancar returns and blasts him back.
yama rises to his feet, commenting on his strength before removing his shihaksho and asking if going all out was ok with him. wonderweiss just makes noises as he had given up his power of speech. he attacks but the old captain dodges, asking if he knows how to adapt. the arrancar fires a tentacle at him, but he just rips it off. wonderweiss fires more of them and is finally able to grab hold of yama before unleashing a mass of tentacles.
after the attack hits, yama asks if that was all he had after ripping off two more them. he then says that he is grateful that he isn't in his child form and that he will blast him to death.
the chapter ends with yama using a attack called soukotsu.
THOUGHTS
finally! yama does something. we haven't seen him do something since he fought that fused hollow. i wonder what the hell he was doing while the captains were getting cut down? someone like old yama would be just sitting around, washing his gums. he had to be doing something. wonderweiss is pretty uber since he was able to fight yama like that but kudos to the old guy for showing that he doesn't need his zanpakuto to kick lots of ass.
and now, a very special one piece.
PREVIOUS CHAPTER
blackbeard makes his appearance, with a few new members to his crew.
ONE PIECE CHAPTER 576: THE GREAT PIRATE, WHITEBEARD
we open with the marines giving us a formal introduction of blackbeard's new crew mates, all of whom were level 6 death row inmates: "colossal battleship" san juan wolf, "corrupt king" abalo pizzaro, "the great drunk" busco shot, "crescent moon hunter" catalina devon, and the former warden of impel down, shiryuu of the rain. sengoku demands to know how he got them out and if magellen is ok. shiryuu answers that he should go look for himself. one of the marines informs him that the gates of justice were opened and let a single ship enter the area. lafitte tells him that he hypnotized the marine in the control room to let any ship pass through. blackbeard gloats that wanted pirates could never get through the gates and break into impel down but a warlord could. thus explaining the reason he wanted the title of warlord but now has no need for it any more, since breaking those inmates was his plan all along.
whitebeard attacks teach, saying that he could never consider teach a son and told his crew to stay back since he will kill him for his crime. teach then says that he couldn't save ace, even though he delivered him to them alive as he attack with his DF powers. he laughs, explaining that his powers negate other DF powers and says that WB cant make earthquakes any more. he answers with a slash from his battle spear and says that teach overestimated himself and that his weakness is his poor defense. he grabs his head, as teach asks if he will really kill his son, before he's pounded into the ground. newgate tells him to accept his death but it never comes as blackbeard orders his crew to open fire. his crew unleash a torrent of attacks on him, as he begins a flash back.
he and roger are having lunch together as he tells whitebeard that he is dying. roger is not worried since he felt he had a good run and offers to tell him the location of raftel. he answers that he isn't interested in it. roger goes on to say that the government has started to call him gold roger instead of gol d. roger. whitebeard asks what the D means and he begins to tell him.
as the flash back ends, the blackbeard pirates had used all their ammo on him and he's still standing. WB says that teach isn't one of the men roger told him about and that luffy is one of the few who carries that flame of roger. he then tells sengoku that a grand battle is coming and that the world will be engulfed in it. and he proclaims to the world watching that one piece does exist and that the day when someone finds it will be a great day indeed. he apologizes to for dying by teach's hand before having one last flash back. he is with his old crew in his younger days. one of them asks if he's not interested in treasure then what does he want. he answers "family".
and with that, edward newgate, whitebeard, dies stand up. his body a testament to his strength: slashed/stabbed 267 times, hit with 562 bullets and 46 cannon ball hits. and as a testament of his unwillingness to retreat, the tattoo on his back is unmarked.
THOUGHT
what a way to go out. whitebeard truly deserved the title of world's strongest man after having all that done to him in one battle. I'll give kudos to blackbeard after finding out his plan. very smart on his part. and newgate was right about him not being a true D like luffy since he was scared when WB was about to kill him. also, it seems there is more to the will of D than we originally thought. should be interested to see where it goes from here.
well, that it for this week. turn in next week for more THIS WEEK IN MANGA!!
RIP whitebeard.
PREIVOUS CHAPTER
natsu and the gang are saved by E-natsu and his car.
FAIRY TAIL CHAPTER 174: REVELATION
as we last left off, E-natsu rescues the earthland fairy tail members from the royal army. he commits on how much lucy looks like E-lucy and how pathetic his counterpart is, seeing him nearly passed out in the back. wendy explains that their natsu isn't good with moving vehicles. he reveals that he is the magic transportation expert of fairy tail, hence his name "fireball". he also says that since no one can create magic energy from themselves, the cars run on pure magic but since its so hard to find, its hard to run them, just as he stops his car. he tells them that this is as far as he can go and still have enough to make it back to his guild and tells them to get off, which natsu is happy to do. he states that he doesn't want him or his guild involved with their mission and that saving them was only because E-lucy asked him. natsu then drags him out of the car and asks him why he's so good with cars. E-natsu says he doesnt know as he begins to cry.
it turns out that when he isn't driving, E-natsu is a total wimp, surprising the group. wendy tells him not to push himself too hard, causing him to notice how small she is compared to E-wendy. when lucy asks him something, he hides behind a rock in fear. he also informs them that he took them all the way to the capital since that was what E-lucy asked of him. as they make their way down the hill, E-natsu asks them if they really will fight the empire. natsu replies that they only want to save their friends but if have to, they will. E-natus says that they cant win but natsu only smiles in response.
the group arrives in the castle city of the capital which is full of people and bustling with activity, which was worlds apart from the cities they had been to. charlie explains that all the magic they have taken is focus and used on the capital itself. the group sees a crowd of people and wonders what they are looking at. they finally see the massive lachryma that was created from their guild and the town. charlie further says that the lachryma has been cut so that isnt the whole thing.
the crowd cheers as the emperor begins to make a speech about how, using the anima, they have enough magic for ten years. he tells them to party in celebration as they plan to gather even more magic as the crowd cheers. natsu, enraged, prepares to attack him but lucy holds him back. she tells him that she and the others feel the same but for now, they have to wait and bear with it.
THOUGHTS
great chapter. hiro was very creative in making E-natsu different of natsu. being comfortable in vehicals and a total wimp without them was the perfect way to separate him from regular natsu. seeing a crystal that size makes me wonder if they will to go elsewhere to get the rest of it and if they can turn their friends back to normal. and the emperor is a total dick. i really hope that natsu gets to lay one into him.
up next, more wacky ninja action with naruto.
PREVIOUS CHAPTER
team 7 is reunited but all isn't happy.
NARUTO CHAPTER 485: SO CLOSE AND YET SO FAR
we open with naruto arriving to save sakura while kakashi lands a hit on sasuke, sending him flying into a bridge. he tells naruto that his timing is even better than his and that even though he didnt think naruto would come, he's glad he did. as sakura thanks him, naruto tells sasuke that she is a part of team 7, just like him. sasuke counters that he is a former member of team 7. kakashi states that his actions should be proof enough that he's not the same as he once was. naruto tells sasuke that he was told about the truth behind the uchiha massacre and about his brother and that he understands why he's done what he did so far, even if he didnt believe he was being truthful. sasuke then reminds him about how he cant understand since he never had a real family and that a "outsider" should shut up. sakura roars back that naruto still has faith in him and that despite the world labeling him as villain, he did and still does consider him a friend.
sasuke goes on to say how he killed one of those who betrayed his brother, danzo, which surprises sakura and kakashi. he goes on a tirade about how good it felt to kill him and that only by destroying konoha will the name of the uchiha be clear and purified. kakashi sees that a history of hate has turned sasuke into the person he is now and that naruto and sakura don't understand it yet but they will. naruto creates a clone but his former teacher tells him to get sakura out of there since he didnt see what he was gonna do. he tells sakura that the poison kunai she got from tsunade would be useless since orochimaru probably made him immune to her drugs. he adds that he sees that she cant handle the burden. as sasuke preps a chidori, karin thinks about how sasuke has changed and that she is done with him.
naruto then asks if kakashi plans to kill sasuke. he only tells him to leave, as sasuke dashes at him. naruto jumps ahead with a rasengan and charges to meet him. as the two attacks collide, naruto thinks about how they could've easily be in each other shoes. naruto then tells sasuke how he knows what hate can do and how he could have easy want to kill them all but his bonds with his friends saved him from that fate. sasuke says that nothing he says will change his mind. he restates that he plans on killing naruto and everyone in the leaf. he offers naruto a choice: either kill him and live a hero or die and be one more of his victims.
naruto chooses neither.
THOUGHTS
once again, sasuke continues to spiral down into insanity and darkness. i know i've said this before but i dont see how he can be redeemed at all. he's tried to kill a team mate and has said that he will kill everyone in konoha. i'm getting a little annoyed with naruto. i mean, how can you save a person who wants to kill you and every innocent person in your home? and that bonds speech? didnt care for it. i hope naruto has something in mind.
how do you get stains out cloths? use bleach.
PREVIOUS CHAPTER
yamamoto's plan to kill aizen is foiled by wonderweiss.
BLEACH CHAPTER 394: THE BURNOUT INFERNO 2
we open with aizen gloating that wonderweiss's power is to negate yamamoto's zanpakuto, ryujin jakka. he says that he gave up almost everything for this one power. he says his farewells to him as wonderweiss prepares to take him but yama counter by punching him clear across the town. he asks aizen if sealing his zanpakuto would make him a push over. he goes on saying that there is a reason why he's been the captain-commander for over 1,000 years: no soul reaper was no where near as strong as him. he goes in to level aizen when the arrancar returns and blasts him back.
yama rises to his feet, commenting on his strength before removing his shihaksho and asking if going all out was ok with him. wonderweiss just makes noises as he had given up his power of speech. he attacks but the old captain dodges, asking if he knows how to adapt. the arrancar fires a tentacle at him, but he just rips it off. wonderweiss fires more of them and is finally able to grab hold of yama before unleashing a mass of tentacles.
after the attack hits, yama asks if that was all he had after ripping off two more them. he then says that he is grateful that he isn't in his child form and that he will blast him to death.
the chapter ends with yama using a attack called soukotsu.
THOUGHTS
finally! yama does something. we haven't seen him do something since he fought that fused hollow. i wonder what the hell he was doing while the captains were getting cut down? someone like old yama would be just sitting around, washing his gums. he had to be doing something. wonderweiss is pretty uber since he was able to fight yama like that but kudos to the old guy for showing that he doesn't need his zanpakuto to kick lots of ass.
and now, a very special one piece.
PREVIOUS CHAPTER
blackbeard makes his appearance, with a few new members to his crew.
ONE PIECE CHAPTER 576: THE GREAT PIRATE, WHITEBEARD
we open with the marines giving us a formal introduction of blackbeard's new crew mates, all of whom were level 6 death row inmates: "colossal battleship" san juan wolf, "corrupt king" abalo pizzaro, "the great drunk" busco shot, "crescent moon hunter" catalina devon, and the former warden of impel down, shiryuu of the rain. sengoku demands to know how he got them out and if magellen is ok. shiryuu answers that he should go look for himself. one of the marines informs him that the gates of justice were opened and let a single ship enter the area. lafitte tells him that he hypnotized the marine in the control room to let any ship pass through. blackbeard gloats that wanted pirates could never get through the gates and break into impel down but a warlord could. thus explaining the reason he wanted the title of warlord but now has no need for it any more, since breaking those inmates was his plan all along.
whitebeard attacks teach, saying that he could never consider teach a son and told his crew to stay back since he will kill him for his crime. teach then says that he couldn't save ace, even though he delivered him to them alive as he attack with his DF powers. he laughs, explaining that his powers negate other DF powers and says that WB cant make earthquakes any more. he answers with a slash from his battle spear and says that teach overestimated himself and that his weakness is his poor defense. he grabs his head, as teach asks if he will really kill his son, before he's pounded into the ground. newgate tells him to accept his death but it never comes as blackbeard orders his crew to open fire. his crew unleash a torrent of attacks on him, as he begins a flash back.
he and roger are having lunch together as he tells whitebeard that he is dying. roger is not worried since he felt he had a good run and offers to tell him the location of raftel. he answers that he isn't interested in it. roger goes on to say that the government has started to call him gold roger instead of gol d. roger. whitebeard asks what the D means and he begins to tell him.
as the flash back ends, the blackbeard pirates had used all their ammo on him and he's still standing. WB says that teach isn't one of the men roger told him about and that luffy is one of the few who carries that flame of roger. he then tells sengoku that a grand battle is coming and that the world will be engulfed in it. and he proclaims to the world watching that one piece does exist and that the day when someone finds it will be a great day indeed. he apologizes to for dying by teach's hand before having one last flash back. he is with his old crew in his younger days. one of them asks if he's not interested in treasure then what does he want. he answers "family".
and with that, edward newgate, whitebeard, dies stand up. his body a testament to his strength: slashed/stabbed 267 times, hit with 562 bullets and 46 cannon ball hits. and as a testament of his unwillingness to retreat, the tattoo on his back is unmarked.
THOUGHT
what a way to go out. whitebeard truly deserved the title of world's strongest man after having all that done to him in one battle. I'll give kudos to blackbeard after finding out his plan. very smart on his part. and newgate was right about him not being a true D like luffy since he was scared when WB was about to kill him. also, it seems there is more to the will of D than we originally thought. should be interested to see where it goes from here.
well, that it for this week. turn in next week for more THIS WEEK IN MANGA!!
RIP whitebeard.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
THIS WEEK IN MANGA: third post
hello and welcome once again to THIS WEEK IN MANGA! its been a pretty busy week so lets get to the stuff. as mentioned last week, bleach is taking a break but they will be back next week. now, get out your membership cards cause it is time for fairy tail.
PREVIOUS CHAPTER
natsu, wendy, charlie and happy are joined in their journey by E-lucy.
FAIRY TAIL CHAPTER 172: KEY OF HOPE
we open in the town of luen town as E-lucy explains to the gang the state of affairs concerning the control of magic. natsu and lucy wonder about the people who can naturally use magic. E-lucy explains that in edoras, magic is a tangible object that can be bought, sold, or traded. it is normally created when a lachryma crystal is combined with a item, like a sword. this is what magic is in edoras and people who can use magic from their bodies dont exist. she leads them to a black market to buy the magic they need to travel, since buying, sell, and even possessing magic is illegal.
later, the team is seen at a cafe where they tell E-lucy about her counterpart, to which she laughs when she finds out about her life and hobbies. wendy asks her how to use the magic they bought but is warned not to bring it out in the open. E-lucy laments over how the empire has stolen their culture and their livelihood. natsu responds by saying that if they beat them up, then everything will turn out all right. she says that they are crazy for trying to fight them and that she has no intention of fighting with them. natsu thanks her for showing them the way, which causes her to sweat and blush a bit. suddenly, members of the royal army appear and advance upon them. natsu smiles as he pulls out the magic he bought, a sword without a blade. as wendy asks charlie how to use her magic as natsu creates a flame blade from the sword handle. he attacks but the soldiers have anti-magic shields that stop his attack. he preps another attack but nothing happens. E-lucy informs him that magic is very limited in edoras and thus magic items have a set number of uses and that if he was a bit more efficient with its use, he could've used it over a hundred times. wendy finally gets hers to work which produces a massive whirlwind that takes them away from the troops.
the group hides out in a abandon building as the troops search for them. natsu and wendy complain that the magic in that world is "inconvenient". suddenly, the troops yell for a fairy tail mage to halt. the group looks out and are surprised to see regular lucy. as natsu runs off to save her, lucy reaches one of her keys. but just as wendy is about to tell her about magic in edoras, lucy uses her key and to their surprise is able to summon scorpio. the stellar spirit is able to take down the troops, as lucy sees her friends and rushes to meet them. she is shocked to see E-lucy, who is a little annoyed by her earthland counterpart. but the reunion is cut short as more soldiers advance at them. lucy tells natsu to defeat them but he tells her he cant and asks how she can use magic. lucy, realizing that she's the only one who can fight, summons aries, surprising the edoras troops and E-lucy who have never seen stellar spirit magic before. aries uses a wave of wool to take out the soldiers as the gang beats a hasty retreat.
later in the woods, lucy explains that when the anima wave hit, her stellar spirit horologium appear and protect her, saying he felt distortion in space and protected her in his pocket dimension. she adds that she met up with mistgun when it was over and informed her of the situation before sending her to edoras. natsu ponders just who he is. then the question comes up of how lucy is the only one who still use her magic. she laments that without natsu, the battle will be very tough. E-lucy asks if they still intend to fight the empire, to which they say yes. lucy then proudly proclaims that she, as the current strongest mage of fairy tail, will lead them into battle. E-lucy thinks they are crazy but feels that they may change her world.
THOUGHTS
a nice little chapter that gives us a idea of the state of magic in edoras. it reminds me of something from the final fantasy series. lucy makes a surprise return and surprise again, she can use magic. like the characters in the manga, i too wonder why she can use magic. maybe it has something to do with her being a stellar spirit mage, since its a different type of magic from everyone else in the guild. and E-lucy's attitude towards natsu leads me to believe that something about him is putting her off. just how different is E-natsu.
also, the cover with erza: WIN!
put away your cards and pull out your kunai as we are diving into naruto.
PREVIOUS CHAPTER
sakura finally finds sasuke and makes a startling offer.
NARUTO CHAPTER 483: MASTER AND STUDENT MEET AGAIN
we open to kakashi finding kiba, lee, and sai on the ground. he tries to wake kiba, who wakes up just enough to tell him where sakura went before passing out again. kakashi comments that tsunade must have taught her how to make powerful sleep gas and that they'd be out for a while. after hiding them, he heads off.
back at the clearing, sasuke asks sakura why he would join her and if she has something up her sleeve. she said she doesnt that that she's been regretting not going with sasuke when he left years ago. karin, barely alive, thinks that she is a old friend of his and that she must love him too. sakura proclaims that she will do whatever he asks of her. he states that his goal is to crush konoha, which visibly surprises her but she agrees. sasuke then orders her to kill karin and he'll accept her offer. pulling out a kunai, she asks who she is. he explains that she was a part of team hawk but is now useless to him and that since sakura is a medic ninja, she'd be more useful him. she thinks about how heartless he's become and how much he's changed as she walks over to karin. sasuke asks if she can handle this as she thinks that if she can kill him, it will all end. karin weakly asks sasuke not to do it, which was chidori sakura in the head. she turns but is unable to dodge his attack in time. fortunately, kakashi arrives in time to stop his attack, thinking that sasuke really intended to kill her. he tells sasuke how low he's fallen. the two trade attacks, which gets sasuke to back off.
kakashi then tells sakura that he knows her intentions and that she shouldn't shoulder such a burden alone. he voices his own feelings of fault as he blames himself for his team failing and apoligizes for being a terrible sensei. he turns his attention to sasuke and asks him one last time to forget about his revenge. sasuke laughs loudly before asking his former teacher that if he can bring itachi, his parents and his clan back, then he will stop. kakashi says he doesn't want to kill him but sasuke counters that he cant kill him and that he wants to kill him so bad "he can taste it". kakashi orders sakura to take karin somewhere safe and heal her since she knows a lot about the akatsuki.
as naruto races to their location, kakashi remembers how the third always thought fondly of orochimaru, despite how things went and that he understands how he felt when he fought him. sasuke adds that kakashi will be able to tell him once he kills him.
THOUGHTS
sasuke is a dick.
really. there is nothing more to say. now, on the CBR, there was a guy who was a total sasuke fanboy and thought that he and sakura would end up together and that sasuke was a anti-hero. well, look who's laughing now. sasuke just keeps getting more and more into villain territory with each chapter. now, he just tried to kill sakura. yep. there is no saving him.
kudos to kakashi for doing something in this one. havent seen him do much since the invasion of pein.
this wont be much of a fight. sasuke cant spam his MS attacks anymore since he's both out of chakra and going blind. unless, kishi decides to wank him again.
well, its time to say hi to the number one enemy of ninjas: pirates! time for one piece.
PREVIOUS THOUGHT
luffy says goodbye to his brother.
ONE PIECE CHAPTER 575: SILENT ANGER
the chapter opens with luffy, still in utter shock after his brother ace dies in his arms. whitebeard, jimbei and the pirates are weeping tears as the world witnesses his death. the sadness is broken however as iva warns luffy to move, as akainu comes for him but luffy has completely broken down and unresponsive. marco stops him attack and tells jimbei to get luffy off the island. he says that luffy was ace's reason for living and they will protect him at all costs. the admiral states that he wont let the brothers leave alive. a enraged whitebeard suddenly attack and injuries the magma man. akainu counters, taking off half of his head with one swipe but it doesn't stop WB a bit as he unleashes another attack on him, not only putting down the admiral but cutting the plaza in half, separating him from the other pirates. sengoku is astonished that the pirate still has such power left.
the pirates flee to their ships, while hancock voices her worry for luffy to her snake. whitebeard continues to rampage through the plaza when all eyes turn to the crumbling HQ as a massive figure looms behind it. then someone catches sight some someone on the scaffolding, as WB and sengoku recognize the group: blackbeard and his crew, now with new members from impel down.
THOUGHTS
damn you oda! damn you for making us love one piece.
it was a great chapter to follow up with one of the saddest moments in manga. a lot of people thought that luffy would uses his pain and unlock some uber powers and own akainu. not me. i knew better. luffy just lost his brother he went thru hell (or five levels of hell) trying to save. he'd be in no condition to fight anyone.
also, whitebeard shows us why he's friggin whitebeard! not only did he pwn akainu and cut the plaza in half, but he did it with half his skull missing. pissing off mr. newgate is not a good idea.
and its great to see teach and his boys back. and he's got some new nakama too. they all look like interesting people but it might be a while before we get to see who they are and what they can do.
sadly, no one piece for two weeks. so we will have to do.
so that was THIS WEEK IN MANGA. hope you enjoyed and tune in next week for more reviews. later.
PREVIOUS CHAPTER
natsu, wendy, charlie and happy are joined in their journey by E-lucy.
FAIRY TAIL CHAPTER 172: KEY OF HOPE
we open in the town of luen town as E-lucy explains to the gang the state of affairs concerning the control of magic. natsu and lucy wonder about the people who can naturally use magic. E-lucy explains that in edoras, magic is a tangible object that can be bought, sold, or traded. it is normally created when a lachryma crystal is combined with a item, like a sword. this is what magic is in edoras and people who can use magic from their bodies dont exist. she leads them to a black market to buy the magic they need to travel, since buying, sell, and even possessing magic is illegal.
later, the team is seen at a cafe where they tell E-lucy about her counterpart, to which she laughs when she finds out about her life and hobbies. wendy asks her how to use the magic they bought but is warned not to bring it out in the open. E-lucy laments over how the empire has stolen their culture and their livelihood. natsu responds by saying that if they beat them up, then everything will turn out all right. she says that they are crazy for trying to fight them and that she has no intention of fighting with them. natsu thanks her for showing them the way, which causes her to sweat and blush a bit. suddenly, members of the royal army appear and advance upon them. natsu smiles as he pulls out the magic he bought, a sword without a blade. as wendy asks charlie how to use her magic as natsu creates a flame blade from the sword handle. he attacks but the soldiers have anti-magic shields that stop his attack. he preps another attack but nothing happens. E-lucy informs him that magic is very limited in edoras and thus magic items have a set number of uses and that if he was a bit more efficient with its use, he could've used it over a hundred times. wendy finally gets hers to work which produces a massive whirlwind that takes them away from the troops.
the group hides out in a abandon building as the troops search for them. natsu and wendy complain that the magic in that world is "inconvenient". suddenly, the troops yell for a fairy tail mage to halt. the group looks out and are surprised to see regular lucy. as natsu runs off to save her, lucy reaches one of her keys. but just as wendy is about to tell her about magic in edoras, lucy uses her key and to their surprise is able to summon scorpio. the stellar spirit is able to take down the troops, as lucy sees her friends and rushes to meet them. she is shocked to see E-lucy, who is a little annoyed by her earthland counterpart. but the reunion is cut short as more soldiers advance at them. lucy tells natsu to defeat them but he tells her he cant and asks how she can use magic. lucy, realizing that she's the only one who can fight, summons aries, surprising the edoras troops and E-lucy who have never seen stellar spirit magic before. aries uses a wave of wool to take out the soldiers as the gang beats a hasty retreat.
later in the woods, lucy explains that when the anima wave hit, her stellar spirit horologium appear and protect her, saying he felt distortion in space and protected her in his pocket dimension. she adds that she met up with mistgun when it was over and informed her of the situation before sending her to edoras. natsu ponders just who he is. then the question comes up of how lucy is the only one who still use her magic. she laments that without natsu, the battle will be very tough. E-lucy asks if they still intend to fight the empire, to which they say yes. lucy then proudly proclaims that she, as the current strongest mage of fairy tail, will lead them into battle. E-lucy thinks they are crazy but feels that they may change her world.
THOUGHTS
a nice little chapter that gives us a idea of the state of magic in edoras. it reminds me of something from the final fantasy series. lucy makes a surprise return and surprise again, she can use magic. like the characters in the manga, i too wonder why she can use magic. maybe it has something to do with her being a stellar spirit mage, since its a different type of magic from everyone else in the guild. and E-lucy's attitude towards natsu leads me to believe that something about him is putting her off. just how different is E-natsu.
also, the cover with erza: WIN!
put away your cards and pull out your kunai as we are diving into naruto.
PREVIOUS CHAPTER
sakura finally finds sasuke and makes a startling offer.
NARUTO CHAPTER 483: MASTER AND STUDENT MEET AGAIN
we open to kakashi finding kiba, lee, and sai on the ground. he tries to wake kiba, who wakes up just enough to tell him where sakura went before passing out again. kakashi comments that tsunade must have taught her how to make powerful sleep gas and that they'd be out for a while. after hiding them, he heads off.
back at the clearing, sasuke asks sakura why he would join her and if she has something up her sleeve. she said she doesnt that that she's been regretting not going with sasuke when he left years ago. karin, barely alive, thinks that she is a old friend of his and that she must love him too. sakura proclaims that she will do whatever he asks of her. he states that his goal is to crush konoha, which visibly surprises her but she agrees. sasuke then orders her to kill karin and he'll accept her offer. pulling out a kunai, she asks who she is. he explains that she was a part of team hawk but is now useless to him and that since sakura is a medic ninja, she'd be more useful him. she thinks about how heartless he's become and how much he's changed as she walks over to karin. sasuke asks if she can handle this as she thinks that if she can kill him, it will all end. karin weakly asks sasuke not to do it, which was chidori sakura in the head. she turns but is unable to dodge his attack in time. fortunately, kakashi arrives in time to stop his attack, thinking that sasuke really intended to kill her. he tells sasuke how low he's fallen. the two trade attacks, which gets sasuke to back off.
kakashi then tells sakura that he knows her intentions and that she shouldn't shoulder such a burden alone. he voices his own feelings of fault as he blames himself for his team failing and apoligizes for being a terrible sensei. he turns his attention to sasuke and asks him one last time to forget about his revenge. sasuke laughs loudly before asking his former teacher that if he can bring itachi, his parents and his clan back, then he will stop. kakashi says he doesn't want to kill him but sasuke counters that he cant kill him and that he wants to kill him so bad "he can taste it". kakashi orders sakura to take karin somewhere safe and heal her since she knows a lot about the akatsuki.
as naruto races to their location, kakashi remembers how the third always thought fondly of orochimaru, despite how things went and that he understands how he felt when he fought him. sasuke adds that kakashi will be able to tell him once he kills him.
THOUGHTS
sasuke is a dick.
really. there is nothing more to say. now, on the CBR, there was a guy who was a total sasuke fanboy and thought that he and sakura would end up together and that sasuke was a anti-hero. well, look who's laughing now. sasuke just keeps getting more and more into villain territory with each chapter. now, he just tried to kill sakura. yep. there is no saving him.
kudos to kakashi for doing something in this one. havent seen him do much since the invasion of pein.
this wont be much of a fight. sasuke cant spam his MS attacks anymore since he's both out of chakra and going blind. unless, kishi decides to wank him again.
well, its time to say hi to the number one enemy of ninjas: pirates! time for one piece.
PREVIOUS THOUGHT
luffy says goodbye to his brother.
ONE PIECE CHAPTER 575: SILENT ANGER
the chapter opens with luffy, still in utter shock after his brother ace dies in his arms. whitebeard, jimbei and the pirates are weeping tears as the world witnesses his death. the sadness is broken however as iva warns luffy to move, as akainu comes for him but luffy has completely broken down and unresponsive. marco stops him attack and tells jimbei to get luffy off the island. he says that luffy was ace's reason for living and they will protect him at all costs. the admiral states that he wont let the brothers leave alive. a enraged whitebeard suddenly attack and injuries the magma man. akainu counters, taking off half of his head with one swipe but it doesn't stop WB a bit as he unleashes another attack on him, not only putting down the admiral but cutting the plaza in half, separating him from the other pirates. sengoku is astonished that the pirate still has such power left.
the pirates flee to their ships, while hancock voices her worry for luffy to her snake. whitebeard continues to rampage through the plaza when all eyes turn to the crumbling HQ as a massive figure looms behind it. then someone catches sight some someone on the scaffolding, as WB and sengoku recognize the group: blackbeard and his crew, now with new members from impel down.
THOUGHTS
damn you oda! damn you for making us love one piece.
it was a great chapter to follow up with one of the saddest moments in manga. a lot of people thought that luffy would uses his pain and unlock some uber powers and own akainu. not me. i knew better. luffy just lost his brother he went thru hell (or five levels of hell) trying to save. he'd be in no condition to fight anyone.
also, whitebeard shows us why he's friggin whitebeard! not only did he pwn akainu and cut the plaza in half, but he did it with half his skull missing. pissing off mr. newgate is not a good idea.
and its great to see teach and his boys back. and he's got some new nakama too. they all look like interesting people but it might be a while before we get to see who they are and what they can do.
sadly, no one piece for two weeks. so we will have to do.
so that was THIS WEEK IN MANGA. hope you enjoyed and tune in next week for more reviews. later.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
THIS WEEK IN MANGA: second post
hello and welcome to the second post of THIS WEEK IN MANGA! we have a lot to cover this week so lets get down to the meat of it. first up is our old friend fairy tail.
PREVIOUS CHAPTER
natsu, lucy and their cat partners adjust to life in the world of edoras.
FAIRY TAIL CHAPTER 171: FAUST
after escaping the fairy hunters, natsu and lucy explain their situation to the alternate fairy tail. they are surprised to learn this fact but believe them nonetheless. E-lucy is of course surprised to see her younger counterpart is younger than her. natsu then asks if they could get directions to the capital. lucy explains that they have to find their friends before they are turned into pure magic.
E-lucy and the others explain that the king of edoras is unbelievably powers and that since magic in their world is so scarce, he hordes it all to himself. thus, he sent out a decree that all mage guilds be disbanded. those who resist are crushed by his magical militia, with only E-fairy tail left. so far, they have lost over half their members, including their master, forcing them to consistently run. natsu, despite the danger, surprises them with his resolve to save his friends.
cut to the royal capital, E-erza and the magic hunters marvel at the size of the lachryma that was created from the town and from the original fairy tail. bryo, the chief of staff asks erza if she will have any more trouble capturing the last remaining guild. she says nothing as her team mates assure him that their "goddess" will end them. pantherlily, the first division commander, orders them to be silent as he doesn't like their noise. as he leaves, hughes states that panterlily isnt happy with the arms race. we also learn that their country has conquered most of edoras.
coco, the assistant chief chef of staff, informs the king that the extraction of the magical energy from the crystal will begin in 4 days. the king, faust, says it's insufficient. she explains that the amount of magic from the town and guild will keep edoras' energy reserves full for ten years. faust proclaims that the energy of edoras must not have limits.
else where, the fairy tail group sets off to the capital, which will be a five day trip by foot. natsu tries to catch a frog but runs into its mother. natsu tries to battle it but is stunned to see his fire magic isn't working, forcing them to run. just then, E-lucy appears and using a light whip, defeats the giant frog. lucy and happy cheer as "scary" lucy saves them as she screams at them for calling her that. charlie asks why she is there. she says that its too dangerous for them to be wandering around, her eyes seem to be drifting back to natsu for some reason. she decides to help them since without magic, they are sitting ducks.
THOUGHTS
I am really enjoying this arc so far. seeing the alternate versions of the guild is ever so entertaining. the mage hunters seem to be a formidable lot, especially panterlily. he also seem to be the more reasonable of the bunch. king faust just looks like a dick to me. like he doesn't care about who he hurt as long as he gets his power.
also, i'm interested in what E-natsu. it seems his guild is surprised at how natsu acts, especially E-lucy. there seems to be a romantic undertone with her interactions with lucy. hopefully, we'll see what happens.
well, time to move on from wizards to ninja. lets break into naruto.
PREVIOUS CHAPTER
the battle between sasuke and danzo comes to a end as madara plans his next move.
NARUTO CHAPTER 482: ONCE MORE
we open to naruto awakening from his fainting spell a few chapters back. he asks yamato where kakashi and sai are.
cut back to madara and sasuke, standing over danzo's lifeless body. he says he will take shisui's eye and tells sasuke to go back to the base and rest. he explains that despite his best efforts to hide it, he is at his limits, having used so many high level jutsu in such a short amount of time. he reasons that sasuke's vision is going much faster than he thought and that he wouldn't be in any shape to face konoha.
back with naruto, yamato tells him that they are heading back to the village on kakashi's orders. naruto wordlessly picks up his tool pouch and stands up. yamato holds him down with his wood jutsu, saying that kakashi will take care of sakura. naruto agrees and says he will go back to the village once he gets some rest.
elsewhere, sai's clone continues to stop sakura's group from facing sasuke. he creates snakes from his drawings to stop them. kiba says he understands why kakashi doesnt want them facing sasuke but he doesn't want to let him go again. the trio charges him but all are stopped by sakura dropping gas bombs on them. she heads on alone, leaving the boys out-cold. sai informs kakashi of the situation, who is somewhat impressed by her skill.
meanwhile, madara beings to teleport himself and danzo's body away. he advises sasuke to kill karin if she isnt useful to him any more, adding that she knows too much about them. sasuke comments coolly when did they become allies. madara just laughs as he vanishes. karin goes into a flash back of when she was in the forest of death for the chunin exams. she was left alone by her team and is attacked by a bear. just then, sasuke attacks and defeat the bear, noticing that she too had a earth scroll. the girl looks for her glasses to see him clearly as she comes back to the present as both past and present sasuke tell her "see ya".
madara is able to remove the eye from danzo but learns that he crushed the eye before he died.
yamato asks naruto if he's ready to go but he says he needs more time. unknown to him, naruto was able to get a kunai from his pouch and has dug a hole in the floor while under the covers, meaning that the one in bed is a clone. the real naruto, in sage mode, is running through the forest, tracking kakashi's chakra.
sasuke prepares to finish off his former teammate when he's stopped upon hearing the voice of sakura, who finally catches up to him. she thinks that sasuke looks so different from the last time she saw him while karin wonders who she is. sasuke asks her what she wants, to which she answers that she's come to join him and leave konoha.
THOUGHTS
first and foremost, WTF, kishimoto?! i mean, he's spent the last few years expanding upon sakura's character. in part one, she was perhaps the most hated character in naruto: whiny, weak, useless and shallow. in part 2, she's become strong, reliable, powerful, and less whiny. now for her to do something like this? she has to be lying, because otherwise, it makes no sense.
sasuke is still a dick. i mean, really, there isn't much to like about him anymore. he's just a dick who just likes revenge. seriously, naruto. he's beyond saving at this point. although, i did like the page comparing his past self with his current self. you can tell how evil he looks.
also, kudos to naruto for putting one over on yamato.
next up, lets see what ichigo and the gang are doing in bleach.
PREVIOUS CHAPTER
its the end of aizen...........................or is it?
BLEACH CHAPTER 392: THE BREAKING GLACIERS
we open with ichigo watching as the captains seemingly kill aizen. he tries to remove toushiro's sword from his chest but unable to. the vice captains realize that they finally defeated aizen and cheer. as iba and kira look on, hinamori, gets up and begins to walk away. shinji says that the battle is finally going their way as he cases a eye on gin. just then ichigo screams at them "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!"
to their horror, especially toushiro, aizen's body turns into hinamori. shinji quickly turns down to "hinamori", just in time to see it turn into aizen, who cuts down iba and kira with a smirk. he yells to aizen when he made the switch. he explains the power of kyoka suigetsu power of absolute hypnotism is to control all the senses and create illusions at any given time. shinji says he knows that and says he asked when he made the switch with hinamori. he replies with the question, why did he think he wasn't already using kyoka suigetsu? toushiro frees hinamori as she weakly asks why he did that. the young captain flies into a rage as he attacks aizen. but before the others could stop him, aizen strikes down all four captains.
THOUGHTS
seriously, i wasn't expecting this. i thought that aizen would no sell those attacks and just pwn the crap out of all four them but i didnt expect this. but it does show off how foolish the captains were in thinking that aizen wouldn't be using his sword's ability from the start. i mean, its friggin aizen. he's got more sense than that.
so now it leaves only ichigo, unohana and yamamoto as the only ones who can stand a small chance against him. but ichigo already knows he's no match, unohana's is healing the injured and yamamoto is MIA. where the hell is old yama? well, we are gonna have to wait two weeks for those answers.
now for the big guns, one piece
PREVIOUS CHAPTER
akainu goads ace into a fight, which turns out to be a fatal mistake on ace's part.
ONE PIECE CHAPTER 574: THE DEATH OF PORTGAZ D. ACE
we open with everyone on the battlefield and watching around the world shocked as ace's body falls to the ground after being punched through the stomach by akainu. the pirates open fire on him but the admiral's DF powers protect him from harm. he comments that ace is still alive but barely and prepares to finish him off when jimbei steps in to block his attack. marco orders him men to get his handcuffs off as akainu tells jimei to stop interfere, since as a former warlord, he know how powerful he is. the fishmen says that since the outset of this battle, he knew he would probably die and that if he can buy them even a little delay, then he'd gladly give up his life. meanwhile, sengoku holds down garp, who tells him that he better keep him down or he'll kill the admiral, who he calls sakazuki.
akainu prepares to attack but is stopped by vista and marco, who is now free and able to use his DF powers. he feels annoyed that he must now face haki users. vista regrets that he couldn't do more to help ace while marco wonders how they could let this happen.
luffy holds up ace, his hand covered in blood. ace says he's sorry that he didnt let luffy save him properly. the other pirates yell for a doctor as one races to ace, but he says its no use. ace says that akainu burned up his insides so he knows that he's dying. luffy refuses to accept this, saying that ace promised him he wouldn't die. he says that if it wasn't for the "sabo thing" and having a brother, he wouldn't have any reason to live. he remember back when he was a kid, how people would wish for his death since he was the son of the pirate king. he says that he will miss a person call dadan and that he feels like a idea for dying like this. he tells luffy that his only regret is that he will never see luffy achieve his dream but he know that luffy will do it. he wondered why he was born or why he lives as that was his truth goal as a pirate. he tells luffy to tell the old man and his nakama thank for loving him even though he was the son of "demon". then, he falls over to the ground as his vivre card burns into nothing.
with the memories of his mother, his brother and his life as a pirate, portgaz D. ace dies.
the last scene is over ace's dead body on the ground, with luffy's face frozen in a silent scream.
THOUGHTS
damn. i mean damn. amongst one piecee fans, there is a inside joke: "no one dies in one piece, except in flashbacks." but for oda to do this and with such a popular character as ace shows that he is masterful writer. seeing ace's memories of being hated for his blood shows his motivation in wanting to understand the meaning of his life. i didnt think oda had the balls to kill off ace, since he loves all his characters but i admire the guts it took to do something like this.
and luffy's face in the end speaks volumes. sometimes, a silent scream is louder than a normal one. luffy seems to have snapped and now, i dont envy the beast that akainu has unleashed.
and with that bit of sadness, we come to the end of this week's THIS WEEK IN MANGA. tune in next week for more manga goodness.
PREVIOUS CHAPTER
natsu, lucy and their cat partners adjust to life in the world of edoras.
FAIRY TAIL CHAPTER 171: FAUST
after escaping the fairy hunters, natsu and lucy explain their situation to the alternate fairy tail. they are surprised to learn this fact but believe them nonetheless. E-lucy is of course surprised to see her younger counterpart is younger than her. natsu then asks if they could get directions to the capital. lucy explains that they have to find their friends before they are turned into pure magic.
E-lucy and the others explain that the king of edoras is unbelievably powers and that since magic in their world is so scarce, he hordes it all to himself. thus, he sent out a decree that all mage guilds be disbanded. those who resist are crushed by his magical militia, with only E-fairy tail left. so far, they have lost over half their members, including their master, forcing them to consistently run. natsu, despite the danger, surprises them with his resolve to save his friends.
cut to the royal capital, E-erza and the magic hunters marvel at the size of the lachryma that was created from the town and from the original fairy tail. bryo, the chief of staff asks erza if she will have any more trouble capturing the last remaining guild. she says nothing as her team mates assure him that their "goddess" will end them. pantherlily, the first division commander, orders them to be silent as he doesn't like their noise. as he leaves, hughes states that panterlily isnt happy with the arms race. we also learn that their country has conquered most of edoras.
coco, the assistant chief chef of staff, informs the king that the extraction of the magical energy from the crystal will begin in 4 days. the king, faust, says it's insufficient. she explains that the amount of magic from the town and guild will keep edoras' energy reserves full for ten years. faust proclaims that the energy of edoras must not have limits.
else where, the fairy tail group sets off to the capital, which will be a five day trip by foot. natsu tries to catch a frog but runs into its mother. natsu tries to battle it but is stunned to see his fire magic isn't working, forcing them to run. just then, E-lucy appears and using a light whip, defeats the giant frog. lucy and happy cheer as "scary" lucy saves them as she screams at them for calling her that. charlie asks why she is there. she says that its too dangerous for them to be wandering around, her eyes seem to be drifting back to natsu for some reason. she decides to help them since without magic, they are sitting ducks.
THOUGHTS
I am really enjoying this arc so far. seeing the alternate versions of the guild is ever so entertaining. the mage hunters seem to be a formidable lot, especially panterlily. he also seem to be the more reasonable of the bunch. king faust just looks like a dick to me. like he doesn't care about who he hurt as long as he gets his power.
also, i'm interested in what E-natsu. it seems his guild is surprised at how natsu acts, especially E-lucy. there seems to be a romantic undertone with her interactions with lucy. hopefully, we'll see what happens.
well, time to move on from wizards to ninja. lets break into naruto.
PREVIOUS CHAPTER
the battle between sasuke and danzo comes to a end as madara plans his next move.
NARUTO CHAPTER 482: ONCE MORE
we open to naruto awakening from his fainting spell a few chapters back. he asks yamato where kakashi and sai are.
cut back to madara and sasuke, standing over danzo's lifeless body. he says he will take shisui's eye and tells sasuke to go back to the base and rest. he explains that despite his best efforts to hide it, he is at his limits, having used so many high level jutsu in such a short amount of time. he reasons that sasuke's vision is going much faster than he thought and that he wouldn't be in any shape to face konoha.
back with naruto, yamato tells him that they are heading back to the village on kakashi's orders. naruto wordlessly picks up his tool pouch and stands up. yamato holds him down with his wood jutsu, saying that kakashi will take care of sakura. naruto agrees and says he will go back to the village once he gets some rest.
elsewhere, sai's clone continues to stop sakura's group from facing sasuke. he creates snakes from his drawings to stop them. kiba says he understands why kakashi doesnt want them facing sasuke but he doesn't want to let him go again. the trio charges him but all are stopped by sakura dropping gas bombs on them. she heads on alone, leaving the boys out-cold. sai informs kakashi of the situation, who is somewhat impressed by her skill.
meanwhile, madara beings to teleport himself and danzo's body away. he advises sasuke to kill karin if she isnt useful to him any more, adding that she knows too much about them. sasuke comments coolly when did they become allies. madara just laughs as he vanishes. karin goes into a flash back of when she was in the forest of death for the chunin exams. she was left alone by her team and is attacked by a bear. just then, sasuke attacks and defeat the bear, noticing that she too had a earth scroll. the girl looks for her glasses to see him clearly as she comes back to the present as both past and present sasuke tell her "see ya".
madara is able to remove the eye from danzo but learns that he crushed the eye before he died.
yamato asks naruto if he's ready to go but he says he needs more time. unknown to him, naruto was able to get a kunai from his pouch and has dug a hole in the floor while under the covers, meaning that the one in bed is a clone. the real naruto, in sage mode, is running through the forest, tracking kakashi's chakra.
sasuke prepares to finish off his former teammate when he's stopped upon hearing the voice of sakura, who finally catches up to him. she thinks that sasuke looks so different from the last time she saw him while karin wonders who she is. sasuke asks her what she wants, to which she answers that she's come to join him and leave konoha.
THOUGHTS
first and foremost, WTF, kishimoto?! i mean, he's spent the last few years expanding upon sakura's character. in part one, she was perhaps the most hated character in naruto: whiny, weak, useless and shallow. in part 2, she's become strong, reliable, powerful, and less whiny. now for her to do something like this? she has to be lying, because otherwise, it makes no sense.
sasuke is still a dick. i mean, really, there isn't much to like about him anymore. he's just a dick who just likes revenge. seriously, naruto. he's beyond saving at this point. although, i did like the page comparing his past self with his current self. you can tell how evil he looks.
also, kudos to naruto for putting one over on yamato.
next up, lets see what ichigo and the gang are doing in bleach.
PREVIOUS CHAPTER
its the end of aizen...........................or is it?
BLEACH CHAPTER 392: THE BREAKING GLACIERS
we open with ichigo watching as the captains seemingly kill aizen. he tries to remove toushiro's sword from his chest but unable to. the vice captains realize that they finally defeated aizen and cheer. as iba and kira look on, hinamori, gets up and begins to walk away. shinji says that the battle is finally going their way as he cases a eye on gin. just then ichigo screams at them "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!"
to their horror, especially toushiro, aizen's body turns into hinamori. shinji quickly turns down to "hinamori", just in time to see it turn into aizen, who cuts down iba and kira with a smirk. he yells to aizen when he made the switch. he explains the power of kyoka suigetsu power of absolute hypnotism is to control all the senses and create illusions at any given time. shinji says he knows that and says he asked when he made the switch with hinamori. he replies with the question, why did he think he wasn't already using kyoka suigetsu? toushiro frees hinamori as she weakly asks why he did that. the young captain flies into a rage as he attacks aizen. but before the others could stop him, aizen strikes down all four captains.
THOUGHTS
seriously, i wasn't expecting this. i thought that aizen would no sell those attacks and just pwn the crap out of all four them but i didnt expect this. but it does show off how foolish the captains were in thinking that aizen wouldn't be using his sword's ability from the start. i mean, its friggin aizen. he's got more sense than that.
so now it leaves only ichigo, unohana and yamamoto as the only ones who can stand a small chance against him. but ichigo already knows he's no match, unohana's is healing the injured and yamamoto is MIA. where the hell is old yama? well, we are gonna have to wait two weeks for those answers.
now for the big guns, one piece
PREVIOUS CHAPTER
akainu goads ace into a fight, which turns out to be a fatal mistake on ace's part.
ONE PIECE CHAPTER 574: THE DEATH OF PORTGAZ D. ACE
we open with everyone on the battlefield and watching around the world shocked as ace's body falls to the ground after being punched through the stomach by akainu. the pirates open fire on him but the admiral's DF powers protect him from harm. he comments that ace is still alive but barely and prepares to finish him off when jimbei steps in to block his attack. marco orders him men to get his handcuffs off as akainu tells jimei to stop interfere, since as a former warlord, he know how powerful he is. the fishmen says that since the outset of this battle, he knew he would probably die and that if he can buy them even a little delay, then he'd gladly give up his life. meanwhile, sengoku holds down garp, who tells him that he better keep him down or he'll kill the admiral, who he calls sakazuki.
akainu prepares to attack but is stopped by vista and marco, who is now free and able to use his DF powers. he feels annoyed that he must now face haki users. vista regrets that he couldn't do more to help ace while marco wonders how they could let this happen.
luffy holds up ace, his hand covered in blood. ace says he's sorry that he didnt let luffy save him properly. the other pirates yell for a doctor as one races to ace, but he says its no use. ace says that akainu burned up his insides so he knows that he's dying. luffy refuses to accept this, saying that ace promised him he wouldn't die. he says that if it wasn't for the "sabo thing" and having a brother, he wouldn't have any reason to live. he remember back when he was a kid, how people would wish for his death since he was the son of the pirate king. he says that he will miss a person call dadan and that he feels like a idea for dying like this. he tells luffy that his only regret is that he will never see luffy achieve his dream but he know that luffy will do it. he wondered why he was born or why he lives as that was his truth goal as a pirate. he tells luffy to tell the old man and his nakama thank for loving him even though he was the son of "demon". then, he falls over to the ground as his vivre card burns into nothing.
with the memories of his mother, his brother and his life as a pirate, portgaz D. ace dies.
the last scene is over ace's dead body on the ground, with luffy's face frozen in a silent scream.
THOUGHTS
damn. i mean damn. amongst one piecee fans, there is a inside joke: "no one dies in one piece, except in flashbacks." but for oda to do this and with such a popular character as ace shows that he is masterful writer. seeing ace's memories of being hated for his blood shows his motivation in wanting to understand the meaning of his life. i didnt think oda had the balls to kill off ace, since he loves all his characters but i admire the guts it took to do something like this.
and luffy's face in the end speaks volumes. sometimes, a silent scream is louder than a normal one. luffy seems to have snapped and now, i dont envy the beast that akainu has unleashed.
and with that bit of sadness, we come to the end of this week's THIS WEEK IN MANGA. tune in next week for more manga goodness.
Friday, February 5, 2010
MANGA YOU SHOULD BE READING
welcome one and all to the first installment of MANGA YOU SHOULD BE READING.
it came to my attention that a lot of fellow manga readers often don't read as much manga as they would like. sometime due to the schedule, other times due to reading a particularly long manga or even times when they just don't know what to read. so with this blog, i will profile a different underrated or little known manga for manga readers to read now or when time permits. and what other way to start this off than with one of my person favorite mangas, SKET DANCE.
STORY: the story takes place in a high school in japan, home to the "sket dan", a club that takes on oddjobs from anyone who approaches them: students, teachers, kids from other schools, even people who dont ever go to school. even though there are only 3 people, they are considered a club but not viewed in the highest esteem by the student body as a whole. the majority of the manga revolves around different jobs they are given and using their unique talents to accomplish the tasks at hand.
MAIN CAST:
fujisaki yusuke, AKA bossun: the leader of the sket dan. he fits the typical shonen manga hero: simple minded boarding on stupidity, big eater, and pure hearted. bossun's appearance is goofy when compared to the other students as he sports goggles and a helmet hat from one of his favorite cartoons when he was growing up. bossun also has a habit of pulling off silly and, according to himeko, extremely cute facial expressions when feeling certain emotions.
bossun's special ability is his mind. when he places on his goggles, his powers of concentration reach superhuman levels, allowing him to shut out outside distractions, process mass amounts of info like a computer and notice minute details that even genius tend to miss.
hime onizuka, AKA himemko: the muscle of the sket dance. she is the typical tsunadre female: loud, bad tempered, and prone to violence. although it appears that she smokes, himeko actually sucks lolipops of unique and disgusting flavors that no one else can stomach. she was once a legendary yankee(thug or delinquent) known as onihime but she has retired and calmed down since those days. she is still quite feared by those who even know her name but she prefers not to use her past or talk about it at all. himeko is also something of the mother of the sket dan, doing all the cleaning in the club as well as a good cook. she plays as a straight man to bossun, usually being the only one to understand and laugh at his jokes. she also has a close relationship with bossun, which board lines on romances since she is the first to comfort him with a hug or finding the things he does as cute.
himeko, as the muscle, is the only one of the group who can fight. her weapon of choice is a field hockey stick named the cyclone which she can use like a club. her strength is so high that she can take down entire gangs of men without taking a single hit.
Kazuyoshi Usui AKA switch: the brains of the sket dance. the most notable trait of switch is that through out the entire manga, except during a flash back, he never utters a single word. instead, he speaks through a advanced speech programs that translates the words he types into his laptop (which he has all the time) into human speech. even though he denies it, he is a die hard otaku, often going on forums and trolling about his favorite anime. despite his serious expression, he is shown to be just as big a goof as bossun is and shares the same interests as him. he has something of a romantic rivalry with reiko, a member of the occult club. the two often have arguments of sciene vs. supernatural but everyone jokes that it just hides the fact that they like each other.
switch, being the brains, is a master hacker, able to find information on anyone in the school and beyond. he was a inventor but most of his early inventions where either too stupid, served no real purpose, or just plain disturbing.
Sasuke Tsubaki: vice president of the student council, the main rivals of the sket dan. tsubaki is the polar opposite of bossun: serious to a fault, overzealous of his duties and unrelenting in his beliefs. because the president is so lazy, he often times leads the council in meetings and in fights. he believes that the skat dan serves no purpose and as such, he and bossun often times butt heads.
tsubaki is a skilled martial artist, so much so that the boxing club wanted him as their top member. he also tends to research his opponent and exploit weaknesses.
now if you are wondering why I'm only profiling him and not the rest of the student council, its mainly because i cant find any good pics of the rest of them so i just left them out for now.
TALKING POINTS:
the structure of the manga plays out like episodes, with each job taking about 1-3 chapters to resolve. they is only one real major arc in the series so far with other long stories focusing on flash backs.
the jobs tend to run all over the map. from funny and overly silly (testing a old video game system with a super mario rip off. lol) to sad and tragic (saving a girl from getting framed for something she didnt do). but the sket dan makes the cases very enjoyable. the saddest parts of the story come from the flash backs on the members of the group and suffice to say, they are surprisingly dark and tragic for such upbeat characters.
speaking of them, the characters are surprisingly deep and well written. i think the author knowingly made a lot of his characters using the sterotypes found in manga and thus surprises the reader by showing different facets of those same characters.
another good point about this manga is the fact that it breaks the 4th wall so many times, you'd think the sket dan were related to deadpool. in one scene, when the group is talking about a new kids, bossun complains that he's the main character of the manga. in another, the group goes to sporting goods store to buy a new field hockey stick after her old one broke. after getting it, she wonders what to name it, to which bossun suggests tensa zangetsu, the sword of ichigo kurosaki, the main character of bleach.
possible the most blatant case of 4th wall breaking is the character poll. now in other mangas, character polls are often shown at the beginning of the manga and have nothing to do with the story. how does sket dance do their character poll?
THEY SPEND TWO WHOLE CHAPTERS ON IT!
that's right. just about ever character turns out for this event, with bossun spazzing out if he makes the list or not.
SHOULD YOU READ THIS?
if you are veteran manga reader and otaku, I'd suggest this one big time. like i've told a lot of people, its a manga reader's manga. it will make you laugh and maybe even cry a little.
if you are new to the world of manga, I'd put this one on the back burner. if you are ignorant of the sight gags, word play, and over the top humor can go over the heads of newbies but once you are deep into the world of manga, i'd come back and read this one.
well that's it for the first installment of MANGA YOU SHOULD BE READING. hope you enjoyed it and hope you give this one a read. you wont be disappointed.
it came to my attention that a lot of fellow manga readers often don't read as much manga as they would like. sometime due to the schedule, other times due to reading a particularly long manga or even times when they just don't know what to read. so with this blog, i will profile a different underrated or little known manga for manga readers to read now or when time permits. and what other way to start this off than with one of my person favorite mangas, SKET DANCE.
STORY: the story takes place in a high school in japan, home to the "sket dan", a club that takes on oddjobs from anyone who approaches them: students, teachers, kids from other schools, even people who dont ever go to school. even though there are only 3 people, they are considered a club but not viewed in the highest esteem by the student body as a whole. the majority of the manga revolves around different jobs they are given and using their unique talents to accomplish the tasks at hand.
MAIN CAST:
fujisaki yusuke, AKA bossun: the leader of the sket dan. he fits the typical shonen manga hero: simple minded boarding on stupidity, big eater, and pure hearted. bossun's appearance is goofy when compared to the other students as he sports goggles and a helmet hat from one of his favorite cartoons when he was growing up. bossun also has a habit of pulling off silly and, according to himeko, extremely cute facial expressions when feeling certain emotions.
bossun's special ability is his mind. when he places on his goggles, his powers of concentration reach superhuman levels, allowing him to shut out outside distractions, process mass amounts of info like a computer and notice minute details that even genius tend to miss.
hime onizuka, AKA himemko: the muscle of the sket dance. she is the typical tsunadre female: loud, bad tempered, and prone to violence. although it appears that she smokes, himeko actually sucks lolipops of unique and disgusting flavors that no one else can stomach. she was once a legendary yankee(thug or delinquent) known as onihime but she has retired and calmed down since those days. she is still quite feared by those who even know her name but she prefers not to use her past or talk about it at all. himeko is also something of the mother of the sket dan, doing all the cleaning in the club as well as a good cook. she plays as a straight man to bossun, usually being the only one to understand and laugh at his jokes. she also has a close relationship with bossun, which board lines on romances since she is the first to comfort him with a hug or finding the things he does as cute.
himeko, as the muscle, is the only one of the group who can fight. her weapon of choice is a field hockey stick named the cyclone which she can use like a club. her strength is so high that she can take down entire gangs of men without taking a single hit.
Kazuyoshi Usui AKA switch: the brains of the sket dance. the most notable trait of switch is that through out the entire manga, except during a flash back, he never utters a single word. instead, he speaks through a advanced speech programs that translates the words he types into his laptop (which he has all the time) into human speech. even though he denies it, he is a die hard otaku, often going on forums and trolling about his favorite anime. despite his serious expression, he is shown to be just as big a goof as bossun is and shares the same interests as him. he has something of a romantic rivalry with reiko, a member of the occult club. the two often have arguments of sciene vs. supernatural but everyone jokes that it just hides the fact that they like each other.
switch, being the brains, is a master hacker, able to find information on anyone in the school and beyond. he was a inventor but most of his early inventions where either too stupid, served no real purpose, or just plain disturbing.
Sasuke Tsubaki: vice president of the student council, the main rivals of the sket dan. tsubaki is the polar opposite of bossun: serious to a fault, overzealous of his duties and unrelenting in his beliefs. because the president is so lazy, he often times leads the council in meetings and in fights. he believes that the skat dan serves no purpose and as such, he and bossun often times butt heads.
tsubaki is a skilled martial artist, so much so that the boxing club wanted him as their top member. he also tends to research his opponent and exploit weaknesses.
now if you are wondering why I'm only profiling him and not the rest of the student council, its mainly because i cant find any good pics of the rest of them so i just left them out for now.
TALKING POINTS:
the structure of the manga plays out like episodes, with each job taking about 1-3 chapters to resolve. they is only one real major arc in the series so far with other long stories focusing on flash backs.
the jobs tend to run all over the map. from funny and overly silly (testing a old video game system with a super mario rip off. lol) to sad and tragic (saving a girl from getting framed for something she didnt do). but the sket dan makes the cases very enjoyable. the saddest parts of the story come from the flash backs on the members of the group and suffice to say, they are surprisingly dark and tragic for such upbeat characters.
speaking of them, the characters are surprisingly deep and well written. i think the author knowingly made a lot of his characters using the sterotypes found in manga and thus surprises the reader by showing different facets of those same characters.
another good point about this manga is the fact that it breaks the 4th wall so many times, you'd think the sket dan were related to deadpool. in one scene, when the group is talking about a new kids, bossun complains that he's the main character of the manga. in another, the group goes to sporting goods store to buy a new field hockey stick after her old one broke. after getting it, she wonders what to name it, to which bossun suggests tensa zangetsu, the sword of ichigo kurosaki, the main character of bleach.
possible the most blatant case of 4th wall breaking is the character poll. now in other mangas, character polls are often shown at the beginning of the manga and have nothing to do with the story. how does sket dance do their character poll?
THEY SPEND TWO WHOLE CHAPTERS ON IT!
that's right. just about ever character turns out for this event, with bossun spazzing out if he makes the list or not.
SHOULD YOU READ THIS?
if you are veteran manga reader and otaku, I'd suggest this one big time. like i've told a lot of people, its a manga reader's manga. it will make you laugh and maybe even cry a little.
if you are new to the world of manga, I'd put this one on the back burner. if you are ignorant of the sight gags, word play, and over the top humor can go over the heads of newbies but once you are deep into the world of manga, i'd come back and read this one.
well that's it for the first installment of MANGA YOU SHOULD BE READING. hope you enjoyed it and hope you give this one a read. you wont be disappointed.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
THIS WEEK IN MANGA: first post
hello and welcome otaku from all over the world to THIS WEEK IN MANGA! I originally started this on that guy with the glasses where someone suggested i make a blog about it. you may notice some errors here and there but bear with me. so with that, let's begin the first week's blog.
WARNING: this blog contains spoilers. if you are new to these manga and dont want to be spoiled or you are a fan of these manga and dont want to be spoiled, please stop here.
since there isn't a new fairy tail this week, I'll skip it this week and hit straight into naruto.
PREVIOUS CHAPTER
the fight between danzo and sasuke came to an end.
CURRENT CHAPTER
sasuke, using his chidori blade, shanked karin and impaled danzo. madara thinks that he didnt have time to perform a izanagi so he's not making it. karin is shocked that sasuke would kill her so readily. sasuke says to her that when she was captured, she became a "burden". madara proclaims that shisui's eye is his now. danzo then staggers away before going into a flash back of his youth.
he, sarutobi and 4 other ninja, along with the second hokage, are being pursued and surrounded by 20 kumo bounty hunters. even thought they don't know their exact location, the situation is grim. it is suggested by one of them (a uchiha) that one of them be a decoy. knowing that the decoy will likely die, danzo think that he wants to do it so he can die honorably in battle but freezes up before saying anything. sarutobi offers himself as danzo's trembling stops as he chastises himself for being relieved. sarutobi tells him to take care of everyone but danzo shouts that he was going to volunteer. he says that his father and grandfather died in service to konoha and that he should as well. it is then that the 2nd hokage says that he will do it, saying that they are young and need not give up their lives being so young. he tells them that despite their rivalry, they must work together for the good of the whole. as he prepares to leave, he leaves protecting the village to saru and that tomorrow, he will be hokage.
back the present, danzo proclaims that he must take out madara and sasuke for the good of not only his village but for the ninja world. madara tells sasuke to get back as danzo explodes into a inky black mass. he thinks about the 2nd hokage and that he will join him but that he never became hokage. he thinks about how he never could catch up to saru and asks what he thinks of him, remembering a fond scene between himself and his old rival.
elsewhere, sakura's group continues to track sasuke when rock lee asks sakura if she should have told naruto the truth. she says that she couldn't, to which kiba responses that she's underestimated naruto. he then says that he's located sasuke and tobi (madara). sakura orders the group to stop and asks kiba for sasuke's exact location. after getting it, she prepares to throw a sleep bomb but is stopped by sai, who knew she would do that. he explains that sakura plans to kill sasuke herself. he then says that he cant let her or anyone else pass, stating that none of them are a match for sasuke or tobi. sakura then tells sai to get out of her way as she puts on her gloves. the real sai informs kakashi that they need to hurry.
back the battle site, madara says that danzo planned to take them with him with a suicide attack. sasuke then says that konoha is their next stop.
THOUGHTS
despite all that he's done, i cant hate danzo. sure he was a manipulative bastard with questionable morals but he honestly believes he doing what he thinks is best for the village. i think that danzo wanted to be a hokage like the 2nd and saru but never could. this shows he regrets how he came to power since he didnt consider himself hokage.
sasuke once again shows how much of a dick he's become. really, there's no save this guy now.
and karin dies how she lived: being utterly useless.
lets move on to bleach.
PREVIOUS CHAPTER
the remaining captains and vizard began their battle against aizen himself but the rogue captain may be too strong for them.
CURRENT CHAPTER
ichigo watches in helpless horror as aizen easily defeats komamura, love, and rose. lisa attacks, with her mask on, but aizen easily dodges. as he strikes her down, he comments that he views the vizard as "bungled arrancar" and that if he could command the espada, then the wannabes are nothing to him. soi fon then appears before aizen, still missing her arm.
he remarks on the uselessness of sending one of the stealth force to face him in open combat. he says that he was once a teacher in the academy, to which soi fon replies that she could never believe he would be a teacher and that he must have fooled the central 46. aizen fires back that he fooled her as well. she then uses her speed to create clones herself. she charges as he prepares to draw his zanpakuto only to find it and his arm encased in ice. soi fon releases her zanpakuto and prepares to kill him in two hits.
sadly, her attack doesn't connect. he answers her saying that a battle of soul reapers is a battle of reiatsu and his will crush hers and her attacks. midway through his speech, kyoraku slashes him as he appears behind him, stating that his shadow was on the ice, allowing him to land the hit. toushiro, in his bankai, appears and proclaims the battle is over. aizen thinks that he's being rash and that it is foolish to charge him head on when he catches sight of shinji, with his zanpakuto release. it is then he realizes that his directions had been reverse, right as toushiro impales him from behind.
THOUGHTS
i have to say that i'm impressed. the captains actually used some sense of planning in this, instead of just charging at him, one at a time. hell, i have expected aizen to no sell everything cause he's friggin aizen. but lets not get our hopes up. this is aizen we are talking about.
now for the main course of one piece
PREIVOUS CHAPTER
ace is freed and whitebeard makes his last order as captain.
CURRENT CHAPTER
whitebeard roars at his crew to leave as he begins to single-handedly destroy marinford. the marines all attack him but even in his condition, dominates them. the pirates regroup and prepare to escape. sengoku says that ace is no longer important as WB intents to bring down the island at the cost of his own life. he asks if garp is ok. he answers that the era is really coming to a end and that its "good timing".
meanwhile, buggy and his followers get the den-den mushi back up and prepares to broadcast buggy taking down WB. as the pirates race to their ships, the marines attempt stop them but WB strikes them down. commander jose is helped back by his crew mates while iva tells luffy to not mess around. luffy waits for ace, who uses his fire powers to have a small moment with WB. he asks if he was a good father and ace answers "of course". he laughs and tells him to leave. jimbei covers the brother's retreat, saying that WB wants them both to live. hancock prays for luffy to make it to safety.
admiral akainu attacks the fleeing pirate, saying that the whitebeard pirates are nothing but cowards and that their captain is a "failure". this causes ace to stop his tracks and turn to him, telling him that take back what he said.
as the pirates wonder why ace stopped, he screamed that "pops" was insulted. the admiral continues to deride and disrespect WB. in a fit of rage, he attacks but he is burned himself. akainu states that even though they are both logias, his magma powers negate his fire powers. luffy tried to jump in but his body finally gives out on him, causing him to drop ace's vivre card. akainu says that the fact that gold roger's son and dragon's son became brothers is enough reason for him to kill them. he then turns his attention to luffy, who is too weak to fight back.
but before his magma fist can get near him, ace takes the blow, causing it to blow a hole in his gut. the pirates are shocked as ace's card burns down to almost nothing.
THOUGHTS
as usual, one piece stands over all manga. seeing WB go nuts is the perfect way to end his long and great career as the strongest man in the world. buggy being a cheap bastard is to be expected.
and i hope ace doesn't die.
he cant die.
well, that's it for this first installment of THIS WEEK IN MANGA. hope you enjoyed this review and i will see you all next week. until then..................
stay otaku, my friends.
WARNING: this blog contains spoilers. if you are new to these manga and dont want to be spoiled or you are a fan of these manga and dont want to be spoiled, please stop here.
since there isn't a new fairy tail this week, I'll skip it this week and hit straight into naruto.
PREVIOUS CHAPTER
the fight between danzo and sasuke came to an end.
CURRENT CHAPTER
sasuke, using his chidori blade, shanked karin and impaled danzo. madara thinks that he didnt have time to perform a izanagi so he's not making it. karin is shocked that sasuke would kill her so readily. sasuke says to her that when she was captured, she became a "burden". madara proclaims that shisui's eye is his now. danzo then staggers away before going into a flash back of his youth.
he, sarutobi and 4 other ninja, along with the second hokage, are being pursued and surrounded by 20 kumo bounty hunters. even thought they don't know their exact location, the situation is grim. it is suggested by one of them (a uchiha) that one of them be a decoy. knowing that the decoy will likely die, danzo think that he wants to do it so he can die honorably in battle but freezes up before saying anything. sarutobi offers himself as danzo's trembling stops as he chastises himself for being relieved. sarutobi tells him to take care of everyone but danzo shouts that he was going to volunteer. he says that his father and grandfather died in service to konoha and that he should as well. it is then that the 2nd hokage says that he will do it, saying that they are young and need not give up their lives being so young. he tells them that despite their rivalry, they must work together for the good of the whole. as he prepares to leave, he leaves protecting the village to saru and that tomorrow, he will be hokage.
back the present, danzo proclaims that he must take out madara and sasuke for the good of not only his village but for the ninja world. madara tells sasuke to get back as danzo explodes into a inky black mass. he thinks about the 2nd hokage and that he will join him but that he never became hokage. he thinks about how he never could catch up to saru and asks what he thinks of him, remembering a fond scene between himself and his old rival.
elsewhere, sakura's group continues to track sasuke when rock lee asks sakura if she should have told naruto the truth. she says that she couldn't, to which kiba responses that she's underestimated naruto. he then says that he's located sasuke and tobi (madara). sakura orders the group to stop and asks kiba for sasuke's exact location. after getting it, she prepares to throw a sleep bomb but is stopped by sai, who knew she would do that. he explains that sakura plans to kill sasuke herself. he then says that he cant let her or anyone else pass, stating that none of them are a match for sasuke or tobi. sakura then tells sai to get out of her way as she puts on her gloves. the real sai informs kakashi that they need to hurry.
back the battle site, madara says that danzo planned to take them with him with a suicide attack. sasuke then says that konoha is their next stop.
THOUGHTS
despite all that he's done, i cant hate danzo. sure he was a manipulative bastard with questionable morals but he honestly believes he doing what he thinks is best for the village. i think that danzo wanted to be a hokage like the 2nd and saru but never could. this shows he regrets how he came to power since he didnt consider himself hokage.
sasuke once again shows how much of a dick he's become. really, there's no save this guy now.
and karin dies how she lived: being utterly useless.
lets move on to bleach.
PREVIOUS CHAPTER
the remaining captains and vizard began their battle against aizen himself but the rogue captain may be too strong for them.
CURRENT CHAPTER
ichigo watches in helpless horror as aizen easily defeats komamura, love, and rose. lisa attacks, with her mask on, but aizen easily dodges. as he strikes her down, he comments that he views the vizard as "bungled arrancar" and that if he could command the espada, then the wannabes are nothing to him. soi fon then appears before aizen, still missing her arm.
he remarks on the uselessness of sending one of the stealth force to face him in open combat. he says that he was once a teacher in the academy, to which soi fon replies that she could never believe he would be a teacher and that he must have fooled the central 46. aizen fires back that he fooled her as well. she then uses her speed to create clones herself. she charges as he prepares to draw his zanpakuto only to find it and his arm encased in ice. soi fon releases her zanpakuto and prepares to kill him in two hits.
sadly, her attack doesn't connect. he answers her saying that a battle of soul reapers is a battle of reiatsu and his will crush hers and her attacks. midway through his speech, kyoraku slashes him as he appears behind him, stating that his shadow was on the ice, allowing him to land the hit. toushiro, in his bankai, appears and proclaims the battle is over. aizen thinks that he's being rash and that it is foolish to charge him head on when he catches sight of shinji, with his zanpakuto release. it is then he realizes that his directions had been reverse, right as toushiro impales him from behind.
THOUGHTS
i have to say that i'm impressed. the captains actually used some sense of planning in this, instead of just charging at him, one at a time. hell, i have expected aizen to no sell everything cause he's friggin aizen. but lets not get our hopes up. this is aizen we are talking about.
now for the main course of one piece
PREIVOUS CHAPTER
ace is freed and whitebeard makes his last order as captain.
CURRENT CHAPTER
whitebeard roars at his crew to leave as he begins to single-handedly destroy marinford. the marines all attack him but even in his condition, dominates them. the pirates regroup and prepare to escape. sengoku says that ace is no longer important as WB intents to bring down the island at the cost of his own life. he asks if garp is ok. he answers that the era is really coming to a end and that its "good timing".
meanwhile, buggy and his followers get the den-den mushi back up and prepares to broadcast buggy taking down WB. as the pirates race to their ships, the marines attempt stop them but WB strikes them down. commander jose is helped back by his crew mates while iva tells luffy to not mess around. luffy waits for ace, who uses his fire powers to have a small moment with WB. he asks if he was a good father and ace answers "of course". he laughs and tells him to leave. jimbei covers the brother's retreat, saying that WB wants them both to live. hancock prays for luffy to make it to safety.
admiral akainu attacks the fleeing pirate, saying that the whitebeard pirates are nothing but cowards and that their captain is a "failure". this causes ace to stop his tracks and turn to him, telling him that take back what he said.
as the pirates wonder why ace stopped, he screamed that "pops" was insulted. the admiral continues to deride and disrespect WB. in a fit of rage, he attacks but he is burned himself. akainu states that even though they are both logias, his magma powers negate his fire powers. luffy tried to jump in but his body finally gives out on him, causing him to drop ace's vivre card. akainu says that the fact that gold roger's son and dragon's son became brothers is enough reason for him to kill them. he then turns his attention to luffy, who is too weak to fight back.
but before his magma fist can get near him, ace takes the blow, causing it to blow a hole in his gut. the pirates are shocked as ace's card burns down to almost nothing.
THOUGHTS
as usual, one piece stands over all manga. seeing WB go nuts is the perfect way to end his long and great career as the strongest man in the world. buggy being a cheap bastard is to be expected.
and i hope ace doesn't die.
he cant die.
well, that's it for this first installment of THIS WEEK IN MANGA. hope you enjoyed this review and i will see you all next week. until then..................
stay otaku, my friends.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
THIS WEEK IN MANGA: intro to chaos
hello and welcome to "this week in manga!"
i am a otaku or person who enjoys Japanese animation or anime. now a lot of anime from the past and present are often based on based on japanese comics called manga. now unlike american comics, where the story lines and characters are subject to the interpretations of the artist and the writers at the time, manga are drawn and written by one person. the author, or mangaka, often write 18-20 page chapters per week. there are hundreds of different manga out there, ranging from action, comedy, romance, crime dramas, etc. of course, finding ones to read are hard to do and some people dont often read as much manga as they would like. and that's where i come in.
in this blog, i, shintigercurl, will summarize and review the weekly released chapters of some of the most popular manga today and some that arent so popular.
if you are faithful reader of the art that is manga, then this will give you a new perspective on your favorite series.
if you are new to the medium, this is a good way to get into the most talked about series in the world of manga.
i hope you will make this blog a part of your weekly reading.
i am a otaku or person who enjoys Japanese animation or anime. now a lot of anime from the past and present are often based on based on japanese comics called manga. now unlike american comics, where the story lines and characters are subject to the interpretations of the artist and the writers at the time, manga are drawn and written by one person. the author, or mangaka, often write 18-20 page chapters per week. there are hundreds of different manga out there, ranging from action, comedy, romance, crime dramas, etc. of course, finding ones to read are hard to do and some people dont often read as much manga as they would like. and that's where i come in.
in this blog, i, shintigercurl, will summarize and review the weekly released chapters of some of the most popular manga today and some that arent so popular.
if you are faithful reader of the art that is manga, then this will give you a new perspective on your favorite series.
if you are new to the medium, this is a good way to get into the most talked about series in the world of manga.
i hope you will make this blog a part of your weekly reading.
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