Meta Mash – 40
We are back with a crazy variety of mechs, bishies and animals in Hakuouki, Gundam Age, Polar Bears and Accel World.
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Hakuouki Reimeiroku – 10
Kondou: “Behold, the great anaaga finally named our harem! We’re her SHINSENGUMI now!”
Things are slowly coming to its end. Finally Roshigumi’s name is changed, and Serizawa’s “good side” is shown. Showing Serizawa’s nice side now is such a dirty trick because now I don’t want him to die AT ALL. Just look at how tactful he is! N00b Hijikata got nothing on this violent bro of his. Let’s not forget how Serizawa is being a tsun to Oume. GOSH, I can’t take it; I’m shipping Serizawa with Oume SO MUCH now. Unfortunately, Serizawa’s death is inevitable because his assassination is going to happen sooner or later. Judging by how this anime is going, it’s either they will use the famous Aizu theory or the fictional Rasetsu to kill Serizawa. Let’s not forget how Seriawa’s showing signs of Alzheimer’s Disease, so yeah, he is soooo going to die. He might be an uncontrollable bastard, but he’s the one that spices up this anime, so thinking about his (soon) inevitable death makes me sad somehow.
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Gundam Age – 47
Space Kuubye:”Hey Kio wanna sign a contract?” Kio-“If it helps me kick ass then HELL YES!”Woooooooooo! Gundam AGE continues to rock my world especially as we near the end of this long series, but this week was extra special because of a few reasons. First off we got some awesome moments with Lieutenant Commander Seric being a general badass on the battlefield with a normal machine! I mean that dude managed to take out a high powered mobile armor which looked like a giant lemon with arms…yeah…the enemies have some of the worst looking machines of all time. Sadly Seric had to meet his end this week, but damn did he ever go out like a true hero! So I won’t spoil it too much. So what else happened? What about Kio?! When we left things off last week one of the vegan friends named Deen apparently joined the vegan army and he had to fight Kio! WHAT A TWIST I mean fighting your best friend to the death…oh…wait…this is Gundam and that practically happens with every freaking season right? Anyway Deen got killed by Zanald Beihart which triggered Kio’s new *cough* Trans AM-like *cough* ability transforming his Gundam into some overpowered weapon, but I still wish he finished Zanald off because good god he is such a jerk and his face looks stupid.
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Polar Bears – 24
After Noah got famous from Eureka Seven Ao he got some work done on his body.This week we have the return of the idea of being an apprentice, except this time Panda is out on the search to be one. It turns out finding a master is harder than Panda probably expected as he rejects many candidates until he meets Sloth. Of course comes the hilarious irony that Sloth is TOO lazy for Panda and he quits again. I guess I should have expected Sloth to be a pro at being lazy. As for the second half, we were introduced to the neighborhood sports day filled with animals, except for Handa who was roped in to participate. It was nice to see all the characters there! I sense that Shirokuma Cafe is coming to a close end if they have an episode filled with all the show’s characters? Anyway, overall I felt that this episode was a little bit of a step down from last week’s wildly entertaining episode. Panda’s search for a master wasn’t as funny as I thought it would be. The only thing that saved this episode for me was the sports day, which was a nice idea that had some cute moments. Judging from next week’s episode titles, I have a feeling that things will return to being interesting.~
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Accel World – 23
Haru-“Thanks for saving my bacon again princess.” Kuroyukihime-“Mmmm bacon…”I know that this episode was to be gripping, sentimental, exciting and moving. I know this intellectually. But for the series to hit all these notes some sort of emotional investment needs to be made from me, the viewer. An investment that I haven’t made yet because of the lack of quality characters and well executed storytelling. If Accel World could follow up on each of its promising elements and build on them from day one then this series would have received a lot more love from me. As the episode started, I realized that Noumi and Haru’s big fight would finally be commencing. I wasn’t excited even though the first fight was really great and was punctuated by a fantastic cliffhanger. The scene before, a tepid reunion of Haru, Taku and Chiyu, didn’t really build the tension or create any pre-match drama to reel me in.
While we’re on the subject, I wasn’t surprised to see Chiyu run back to her friends. All things considered, I wonder why she even left in the first place, or put up an act in front her two best friends. Her betrayal seems like it was all for naught. When Kuroyuki comes back, she should smack her upside the head and say, “Damn… you’re dumb”. So, guess who showed up in the final moments of this outing, the Black Lotus herself. Apparently, she rides a flying horse all the way from the Unlimited Space near Okinawa to the one near Tokyo. I wasn’t the least bit surprised to see her come back at the last possible moment to wreck Noumi. There was a sense of inevitability in this showdown. I always had a feeling in the back of my mind that this would be the case. It hurt Noumi’s credibility as a villain, as I always knew, no matter what he did to Haru, the Black Snow princess would appear to drop the hammer on him.
But thankfully, that for fans of Accel World and action, there are some great fight scenes. The battle between Taku and Noumi is of particular note, and has some excellent animation that out does the rest of the series. They fervent motions are fluidly captured, and the bright palette gives the setting and designs some pop. It’s a fantastic spectacle that rewards viewers that have stuck with show. I don’t know if that’s enough. This series will need a strong finish to be worth the price of admission.
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About Tag Team
We live, laugh, enjoy and strictly believe on "more the merrier". When together, we usually come up with very chatty, conversation-based episodics and interesting posts.
POWUH: iLurker with 5 comments
While I’m glad that the battle to finally trash Noumi has begun, I was really hoping that Haru and his friend could achieve victory without the help of their master. I mean, a few episodes ago didn’t Kuroyukihime say that she wouldn’t help him unless he asked or something like that?
Oh well. Being close to the end of the series, I guess she needs her screen time…
POWUH: 500-599 with 519 comments
I was actually really happy that the final fight against Noumi is finally happening. This arc, to me, seemed to be dragging on so much.
I was not surprised about Chiyu running back to the group but she was a bit…useless. I don’t know if it is my personal dislike of her but I did not see the point in her being there at all. Like, she didn’t do ANYTHING but be a hostage. I was surprised she didn’t even attempt to heal Taku. I wish Kuroyukihime will slap Chiyu or something but that probably won’t happen.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Accel World: It was about time they decided to thrash Nomi around. I didn’t expect that kind of life story from him. Now since that is into account, it makes him very pitiful to the point that a self respecting person wouldn’t bother with him.
Taku came a long way with overcoming his troubles and was rewarded withan awesome attack. Too bad his moment of glory was cut short. The fight in general was a great watch. Next episode, we get to see Black Lotus show no mercy.