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"There's a pony in the shop, but don't buy it. It might do something unfortunate to you." ~from the first Summoner's Seal topic
New Moderator
Kenri: Yeah, he did, but I just listened to it now. Amazing. Loved it.
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"That was pretty interesting. But dropping a warship on me is cheating... Take it back!"-Id, Xenogears
New Moderator
[Spoiler for Blood+: Episode 5, click to show]Episode 5: Beyond the Dark Forest
George is seen clasped to a metal table with a blood IV. It's symbolism guys, every episode has to have a close camera shot of blood somehow. The camera pans out to show more people there, then hey look the opening.
Saya is leaning against a hospital bed, looking at her sheathed sword, as she recalls a scene that takes place right after the end of episode four in the timeline. David tells her that George has been taken to a place that probably has giant bats to kill, so they need her help. Since her father is involved, Saya does agree, though it's easy to tell she's reluctant to fight again. But we need you to fight Saya, or else we'll run out of blood to call the show Blood+! Kai insists on coming with them since their father is involved, and David says that's fine, since they'll give away their location otherwise. Way to be sympathetic to the kids who lost their father, jerk face.
Done having a flashback for the viewer's benefit, Saya asks Haji if he will help her. "If that is what you wish." At least he isn't adding to the stress of the situation, he just goes with whatever happens. Saya thanks him and steps out for some fresh air. Haji is left to look at the sheathed sword, obviously longing to pick it up and be Saya's official sword holder again. (If this was a Tales game his default title would be 'Saya's Sword Holder'. Or 'Mysterious Cello Player', either or.)
When Saya goes outside, she sees Kai and Riku talking while Kai throws a ball at the fence around the roof. I kind of wanted to see the ball go through one of the holes so it would hit some poor civilian below, but no such luck. Riku is worried because it has been three days and wants to go with Kai and Saya to find their father. Kai says Saya is different from them. The ball rolls over to her foot and Kai goes 'oh you were there whoops' before walking off, obviously uneasy.
David is apparently talking to a superior on the phone, who says they cannot have reinforcements. As Julia puts it, harsh. David also drops the name of the orange shirt guy, Lewis, so I feel better about that now. While they muse about where George could have been taken, Julia suggests a place called Yanbaru. It seems like a basic museum/field trip place, but apparently they ordered DNA testing equipment. A genetics lab there? Fishy!
Confirmation is needed though, and a guy who is either involved with or part of Red Shield, Okamura, goes to speak to the man who was asked to do the autopsies for the serial killed victims. Apparently the US men, all dressed in yellow outfits so they wouldn't meet red shirt fate, confiscated the bodies. The man was ticked at this so he took pictures. While he goes to make coffee, he clearly ignores Okamura as he sneaks a look at the 'forbidden pictures'. This is enough evidence to point to Yanbaru being the right place.
With this information at hand, David says to Julia that he will take Saya and Haji to Yanbaru to save George. Kai overhears this, and when David says that they will leave Kai and Riku here, he busts in and is like AW HECK NAH. David's like 'heck yes, you suck and I'll prove it'.
Saya and Riku are sitting outside on the roof when Kai suddenly get punched out the door. David comes out, takes off his coat and gun, gives them to Julia, and says he will show Kai why he would just slow them down. Seeing the cold-faced David say, "Bring it," is rather amusing. So Kai charges forward and-OH OUCH that has GOT to hurt. Kai get beaten around enough to be thrown to the ground six times, with the last one being a knee to the side of his head. When he's finally down for good, David says that shows how weak he is and tells Saya to be ready at night.
Saya starts to leave, but Kai calls out for her to take him too. SOMEONE hasn't learned anything. If David can beat the tar out of him, he's screwed, period. Saya seems to know it too, because she tells him not to come, and that he will just slow them down. Then she leaves. Riku says to Kai that she doesn't want him getting hurt, and Kai goes into 'I am so useless' mode again. He's done that at least once an episode since the first one! Not that it's out of the question, I mean he HAS been useless so far, but still!
</spoiler>
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"That was pretty interesting. But dropping a warship on me is cheating... Take it back!"-Id, Xenogears
New Moderator
Oh but we can't have an episode without our enraging villain, now can we? He says that there is too much evidence at Yanbaru and that if the self-destruct does not work, Option D is best. The captain says, "To blow a hole in Yanbaru?" "Think of it as it going back to its natural state." Smooth. Real smooth.
Then we get a shot of Yanbaru. George is awake, a beast is lurking, and a biohazard symbol in the metal gets punched. Oh no a situation where George could actually die! Saya had better hurry up to save the day!
I have to say, I'm curious on how long it will take Kai to get snapped in half over this uselessness thing. He's going to go crazy soon by the looks of it.
</spoiler>
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"That was pretty interesting. But dropping a warship on me is cheating... Take it back!"-Id, Xenogears
New Moderator
[Spoiler for Blood+: Episode 6, click to show]Episode 6: Father's Hand
Yanbaru is dark and uninhabited when they arrive. David goes in stealthily anyway. Saya tries to follow suit but accidentally activates a display with a small light and voice that speaks of Okinawa. After that cat scare-or bird since that was the animal on it-David says they will go to the hidden basement. He inserts the cord from his handheld device with the thing Lewis gave him into a port by the elevator. My only question is how the heck an entire basement like that can be HIDDEN, especially when there's a public elevator that can lead to it! Inaccessible, sure, but hidden?
Since the show wants to infuriate me, we go to the army commander and the candy eater for a bit. The commander reluctantly agrees to go ahead with Option D, and despite our pink-tied "friend" congratulating him on it, he is obviously not happy with his decision.
In the 'hidden' basement, Saya sees some corpses of the people in yellow coats. She turns to run from it and goes smack into Haji, who does not seem to mind that or the bodies. Good thing he didn't bring his cello case or Saya probably would have run into that, which would have hurt.
Back with the other two kids, Riku is asking Kai if everything will go back to normal when their father is back. Kai says he is sure it will, but their conversation is cut off by Julia's exclamation from another room. She learned about the bombing plan. It will happen in three hours and she cannot call David due to the area being jammed. Why would they jam that area anyway? They thought it was deserted, had no idea that David and company would sneak in, so what is the point? To make Kai useful apparently, because the highway is too blocked up for a car. He gets on his bike and rides off to warn them.
In the meantime, David is using his handheld to go through the computer's database at a quick speed. He says in surprise, "Diva isn't here?", but does not expand on this when Saya asks him if he found something. Instead, he tells her that apparently artificial Chiroptera were being made here. Also, the US military would always show up when a Chiroptera was sighted (the sightings grew a lot more common after the Vietnam War), and they would always pass through Okinawa. He also mentions Delta 67 before a nice, big pile of drool hits the keyboard. Fantastic way to say 'oh a monster is above you guys'.
The Chiroptera jumps down to have a late dinner before the bomb ship arrives. Since Haji is busy being quiet, David takes the opportunity to shout, "Saya, fight!" Saya is unable to bring herself to draw the sword though, so Haji tackles her out of the way as David shoots the Chiroptera. They run by with David giving it another shot on the way. It seems they will be caught soon, but Haji smacks a red button to cause a metal door to close. The monster is not pleased to find itself running into the door. Apparently that cuts off their retreat route though. Important lesson everyone: being a good cello player and sword holder does not mean your button knowledge skills are top notch. David tells Saya that in a battle it is killed or be killed. Maybe you should have thought to lecture her about this BEFORE you guys came here. She's a teenage girl for crying out loud!
But that's too exciting for us, we need to go back to the stupid candy man. He has been called to 'the next site', so he puts a piece of candy on the commander's desk and says, "As a good partner, I pray for your success." Once he has walked out, the commander swats the candy away. Man it's nice to see an American military person NOT portrayed as a total jerk.
David comes up with a plan to retreat. He gives the handheld to Saya and tells her that 'a lot of men died to get this' so she feels guilty enough to do what he says. Saya cuts herself with her sword to fill it with blood, but without Haji's demon hand blood, she appears to still be in control of herself. They go outside, David shooting the creature while Saya pokes... rather timidly forward. "Too slow" indeed, as Haji put it. But suddenly GEORGE PUNCH out of nowhere! His impact with the monster causes Saya's blood to meet it. He collapses against the wall while saying, "That's what you get for touching my daughter!" George is so awesome.
</spoiler>
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"That was pretty interesting. But dropping a warship on me is cheating... Take it back!"-Id, Xenogears
New Moderator
Quick break to Lewis holding up a gun as Kai drives over. Kai thankfully has the smarts to shout who he is before Lewis can blast him and tells him about the bombing. When Lewis finds that they have been jammed with a strawberry flavor, Kai runs by to go into the building to warn everyone. We also see Mr. White Suit with Pink Tie waiting for his air vehicle while remarking that his only regret was not getting to meet the 'samurai man'. I think he'd be underwhelmed by Saya, so it really isn't THAT disappointing!
Saya, Haji, David, and George have reached the elevator by now, but for some reason it is going up instead of down to them. Several Chiroptera are after them, so David starts to shoot at them to repel them past an airlock. His weapon runs out of bullets, but he tosses it aside and brings out his odd pistol to finish things up. The airlock closes, sealing them out. Saya is clearly relieved while David does the typical cool 'empty shells from gun' thing. Too bad a Chiropteran (I think that's the singular spelling, someone correct me if I'm wrong) was hanging out on the ceiling and decided to drop on them.
George is on the case, and he jumps in front of Saya in time to protect her. A huge wound is given to George, but his arm mutates into claws and he stabs the beast. Saya, in total shock, screams and plunges her bloody sword into the monster, crystallizing it or whatever one would call her method of slaughtering the beasts. George collapses, just in time for the elevator to arrive with Kai on it. David does not shoot him, which is fortunate because we already have a bad enough situation on our hands. Kai delivers the bomb warning and then sees his father bleeding on the floor. "Oh whoops sorry Dad totally missed you."
Jesting aside, George's wound is beginning to heal, but his consciousness as a human is fading along with it. He asks Saya to use her blood to kill him, so that he can die as her father. She and Kai begin to cry, and he tells Kai to be a man about it, and to look after Saya and Riku. He asks Saya if he is still her father as well. He tells her to do what she thinks is right, and, "Live through today for tomorrow's sake." Saya does not want to go through with this, but her father's beastly hand takes her bloody one, causing the blood to run down his arm (she cut her palm to start the process but hesitated to touch him). The blood finally meets his, and he meets a fate much like the creatures, for he was becoming a Chiropteran.
The other Chiroptera are totally screwed at this point because Saya's eyes have become red. She cuts them apart without thinking. Everyone gets out of the building before the bombs can be dropped. Kai silently drives on his bike, David silently drives the car, Haji remains silent in the back seat, and Saya stares with her bloody face towards the window and remains silent too. Because really what can be said about all this?
First time I watched this episode, I cried. No shame in admitting it either. For a character I only knew for six episodes, I was attached to George. He was a really cool guy and I loved his devotion to his kids. When I watched it tonight? I cried again. Knew what was coming and still cried! You will be missed, George. ;_;
</spoiler>
That's all of the episodes I needed to rewatch. Everything from here on out will be new to me.
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"That was pretty interesting. But dropping a warship on me is cheating... Take it back!"-Id, Xenogears
New Moderator
Apparently they have shifted locations to a boat. Riku and Julia arrive last, with Riku excitedly asking where their father is. Kai comes over silently while David tells him exactly what happened: George was killed by Saya before he could become a monster, so he did die human. This is a horrible blow to Riku though, who cries that he is lying.
Saya dreams of a stone, outdoors hallway with roses. George goes through a door, and she barely manages to get there in time to see him lying on the ground, his head on a girl's lap. The girl has a white dress and long, black hair. She looks back, and Saya can see her smile and her face below are covered in blood. Surprisingly she does NOT wake up screaming, but begins to cry at the thought of her father being dead. And having yet another flipping blood IV attached to her. Good gosh Blood+ is the only fitting title by this point!
When Saya hears Kai trying to talk to Riku from the hallway, she comes out to see that they are at sea (har har) and that Kai and Lewis are outside Riku's room. Lewis has made fantastic soup but for some odd reason Riku just doesn't want any. I wonder if it has to do with the fact that, oh, gee, HIS FATHER IS DEAD? Due to that little reason, he is not budging from his room. Kai tells Saya to leave it to him. She goes with Lewis to have some soup because her stomach is acting up and she has been asleep for two days, holy cow. (I forgot to mention before, but a small running joke is that Saya's stomach is very noisy and she eats quite a bit.)
Here we have some cut ins with two parties. Julia is trying to analyze the chip that David brought back while he watches, and Okamaru (he showed up in five) is investigating the bombing location when he sees a friend, Sorimachi. It flips between them a couple of times throughout the episode, so they each get their own paragraph to summarize all that happens.
While Julia is trying to decipher the chip, she and David talk about the kids trying to adapt to their father being dead. It is during this that it is mentioned that David's father died during the Vietnam War. David says nothing he says can help them move on, that they need to figure it out by themselves, probably because he is quite frankly a jerk due to his personality. >_> No offense David but you aren't much of a people person. The chip finally gets looked into, and David asks if Diva or Delta 67 is mentioned at all. Apparently not, but they were smuggling in... wine. I guess my dad was in Yanbaru, I'll have to ask him later. They are unsure of what the wine signifies, but it was coming from Vietnam in an all girl's school called Lycee de Cinq Fleshe. Anyone up to translating that for me?
While looking at the big crater that was left behind, Okamaru sees Sorimachi, who he knows. They decide to go get noodles. While at the small shack where they eat, a man who is an insect hunter (apparently after scarabs that are quite rare and valuable) comes in to talk to the guy running the place. He mentions that he was on the mountain when the bombing happened and that he heard a plane during it. He also says that he saw some yellow coated men going in and out of Yanbaru, which causes Okamaru to recall the pictures he saw in episode five. He tells Sorimachi to go home and speaks to the insect hunter for more information. At a waste dump where Yanbaru disposed of chemicals, he sees wine bottles in the garbage from them. He tracks that down to a man that helped import them from Vietnam.
Whew, plot dump out of the way, let's get back to the emotional side of things. Saya eats a whole pot of soup (thankfully off-screen or my stomach would revolt) and hears Haji playing the cello. Remembering what her father said about accepting her past, Saya goes outside and asks him to tell her what her past was like. He responds by taking her sword out of his cello case, because that's all he knows about his life, and then... draws it and begins to do a series of motions with it. I was kind of going 'what' the entire time until he stops, sheathes it, and says to Saya that those are the stances he could mimic that she usually did. Oh good I was afraid he was going nuts for a second. Saya says that is not what she meant, but Haji states that until she fights the Chiroptera, she will not be ready to accept her past. That's also the writer's way of saying, "You want to know about Saya? Too bad, watch more of our anime! =D"
</spoiler>
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"That was pretty interesting. But dropping a warship on me is cheating... Take it back!"-Id, Xenogears
New Moderator
[Spoiler for Blood+: Episode 7, Continued, click to show]Around this point, Kai is shown talking to Riku through the door again. He recalls a time when they went to the beach and Saya had ripped up one of Riku's favorite books (she wasn't exactly the nicest girl when she first woke up). Riku locked himself in the car due to being upset, and George responded by using boiled rice to glue the book back together. Resourceful I'm sure, but how long until the ants devour it? George then said that even if things got broken, they could be fixed, and though they were not related by blood, they could still be a family.
Back with Saya, she thinks about her father's last works and takes the sword from Haji. She says that she has to do this, draws it, and begins to swing it around. Oh and it's raining now despite it not having been before. "I have to face tomorrow with a smile." Riku sees her say this through his window and remembers his father saying that about the setting sun. And hey, when she stops swinging the sword in what is apparently her style, the rain stops and the sun comes out. How convenient!
Saya goes in to tell Kai that she has to speak with Riku. When she says through the door that she wants to tell him about what happened, Riku opens the door and asks what their father's last words were. She says they were to keep his smile, and because of that, he starts to cry. Hey aren't you defiling your father's last wish? The three of them will still be family, Saya says, and then Lewis comes in to offer some soup. This causes them to laugh for some reason. I guess soup's pretty funny after you're talking about your father's death.
David and Julia decide that they must send Saya in alone to the school. But wait, she needs her official sword holder! You can't leave Haji behind! >_>
Since we can't have an episode without Mr. Fabulous, Vin shows up in an airport. A man in a blue robe with long, black hair and-GOOD GOSH WHAT IS WITH HIS CREEPY EYES-greets him and says he is part of the Lycee de Cinq Fleshe pharmacy, and that his name is Karl. Vin starts to hold out his hand, says that he forgot that he can't shake, and offers him some candy instead. Then he starts to stroll away while saying he wants to talk about Delta 67. The way he goes around handing out candy to everyone, I'm surprised he hasn't been arrested yet.
Slow, but good episode. We needed one to try and adapt to George being gone and it was handled well. I'm hoping he gets thought of as they go on too, since a lot of deaths in other fiction get overlooked after the fact.
</spoiler>
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"That was pretty interesting. But dropping a warship on me is cheating... Take it back!"-Id, Xenogears
New Moderator
Saya has arrived at the school that David and Julia found mentioned in the Yanbaru records. The head mistress of the school, Miss Lee, begins to show her around. The school uniform looks kind of cool on Saya, a nice change from her usual outfit (which is a different school uniform, lol). Also there are rose bushes here.
Kai and Riku wake up in their hotel room to find a credit card and a note from Lewis saying there is enough money on that card to buy a tank. How much does it cost to buy a tank? Seriously that's not helping me get an estimate on their money situation at all! Kai goes to the front desk to find that the adults are gone, but paid for the hotel room as they left, so at least that is something. Kai and Riku talk to a ship hand and find that the adults did not get back on that ship, so now they have no idea where to look for them. Way to be an even BIGGER jerk, David.
Saya meets up with her new roommate, Min, a girl with short brown hair and glasses. She is also somewhat of a chatter box and asks Saya about herself. Of course Min didn't know about her father dying what, three days ago, but asking about him probably wasn't the wisest thing. Saya had nothing to say about a mother either, so after apologizing for it, Min says that the girls here are usually sent for being 'difficult'. Apparently her siblings are fighting over who gets a wealthy inheritance, so she did not want to be part of that. When they arrive at class, they see a girl talking about getting her ears pierced, which is apparently NOT ALLOWED IN THIS DIGNIFIED SCHOOL! Some jerkish looking girl named Anna Mary (or something who cares about her name) is the teacher's pet and apparently would tattle on anyone. Hmph!
Saya stops by the restroom to make a call to David and say that she has found nothing yet. He tells her to be alert because they think monsters are in the area. Miss Lee then comes in and tells her phones are forbidden from being turned on on campus, but is thankfully kind enough to not confiscate it since Saya is a new transfer student. After she leaves, Min runs in and says she is glad Saya wasn't kidnapped by the phantom. Wait huh what? Saya can't leave long enough to make a short call or else she'll be called kidnapped?
Min tells Saya about the legend of the phantom. Summary: evil phantom would not allow roses to grow, but a woman named Rose planted them anyway, and with enough love to the flowers they bloomed. The phantom was astonished by their beauty, and by hers, and asked her to marry him. She says she will not until he can bring her a blue rose. He searches for years without finding one, and by that point, she has passed away. Upon learning this, he cried, and his tears caused the blue roses to grow from the ground. He took one to put on her grave. Well wasn't that a pointless little tale!
But at least it leads to a funny scene where all the girls are staring in at the new gardener, who turns out to be Haji... in a white shirt with black pants and suspenders and a gardening apron thing. And dang he looks good in them. Yes, I was attracted by a gardening outfit on Haji. Did I come from several years ago or something? Anyway, all the girls are rumoring that he's the phantom, which isn't helped by the fact that he is holding a rose (red luckily) that he cut from a stem. Min says she wouldn't mind being kidnapped by him while Saya finds it all rather amusing. She asks Min what she meant by kidnapping though, and apparently, ten years ago, the phantom had left a blue rose to a black-haired girl before kidnapping her. Okay then.
After spending lunch talking to Min about various things (Min says something similar to what her friend in Okinawa said, about Saya not getting fat from eating so much, and even gives her part of her sandwich; she also talks about Kai and Riku, with Min wanting to meet them), Saya stops by the garden to talk to Haji. She asks him if blue roses exist, and he says 'not in this world' or something along those lines. She explains that she wanted to know because she thinks this 'phantom' is really a Chiroptera. Haji gives her the fancy dagger he has been carrying around and tells her to keep it as a good luck charm, and because she can't carry a katana around here. He does have a point, though he must be sad to not be able to hold it for her. As Saya leaves, she remarks to Haji that he looks good in those clothes. See I'm not the only one who thinks so!
</spoiler>
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"That was pretty interesting. But dropping a warship on me is cheating... Take it back!"-Id, Xenogears
New Moderator
We also see Kai telling Riku that they will not learn anything in this town, so they must head for the capital of Vietnam. He is worried that if they do not pursue Saya, she will continue to go out of their reach. They decide to get food first though. I assume enough money to buy a tank would be enough to get a meal so I can't really nitpick about that. What I can nitpick about is that apparently everyone in Vietnam speaks in Japanese. What is this, an anime or something?!
At the end of the day, Saya gets into bed, and Min goes from her bed to join her. Settle down boys, she just wants to talk for a while with her new friend. Min asks if Saya had ever been kissed, and Saya blushes when recalling how Haji had to 'kiss' her to give her his blood. Min calls her out on her lying that she has not been, but Saya insists that the kiss she had was accidental. Apparently Min and Anna Mary are the only girls in the school to not have kissed anyone before. Gee, I wonder why the latter hasn't yet. Saya teases her that she might get to go after the 'phantom gardener', but she says that no way, he is out of her league. In more ways than one, girl.
That was all more for comedy than anything, but this next part actually develops Min a bit as she worries about getting married and having children, but not knowing who she could be with. She also asks Saya to be her friend forever. Aw. Keep in mind that Saya is (from what I can tell) her first roommate and most of the other girls in school think she is a bit annoying, so having a friend is quite a big deal for her. Saya agrees to it.
Okay that's enough character development, we need some action. With Min asleep, Saya looks out the window to see a light at the tower where the phantom is rumored to be. She leaves the room with Haji's dagger and goes up the tower in her pajamas. This will end well.
Let me note that Vin does not show up this episode, so we need someone equally flamboyant and moronic to replace him. When up there, she suddenly gets encountered by a man with black hair, a caped outfit, a mask, and crazed eyes. Oh hey Karl. (No I can't confirm it's him but come on who else can it be? Unless it's a new character but I call shenanigans if so!) Saya nearly falls off the tower but scrambles up and manages to throw the knife at the phantom. It buries into his shoulder, but he pulls it out and the wound heals. He is a Chiroptera, and without her blood coating the blade, Saya's weapon did jack squat against him.
Good thing Haji was hanging around, probably mourning about being unable to be Saya's sword holder, because he leaps up to the tower (BIG jumper much?) and throws a dagger at the Chiroptera. Mr. Phantom catches it in his teeth, lets it clatter to the lower floor, and then jumps from the tower. He is gone, but he left behind a blue rose for Saya. Oh I see what you did there.
For a school episode, this was pretty well done. No really stupid stuff happened, Min actually got some decent development for a first timer, Haji wore an awesome outfit (I DON'T KNOW WHY I THINK IT IS OKAY), and Vin wasn't around. Thumbs up!
</spoiler>
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"That was pretty interesting. But dropping a warship on me is cheating... Take it back!"-Id, Xenogears
New Moderator
While eating at a restaurant, Riku asks Kai how much money they have. He guesses a tank would be worth five million (yen probably but they didn't say what currency), Kai says closer to ten, but either way they want to find Saya. As they leave, a ball rolls to Riku's feet, and a girl with a crunch and missing left leg waves for him to bring it back.
Since this episode isn't focusing on Saya much, she only gets one scene near the beginning. She makes a phone call to David while hiding under her bed sheets and tells him what happened with the phantom. Min warns her in time that Miss Lee is coming, so she hangs up and is not caught using the phone. Once the call is done, Lewis comes in to greet David and tell Julia she looks good in that outfit (she's wearing a pretty red outfit, and it was noticeable enough for me to want to note). Lewis shows them the five pictures he gathered, one of the blood-drained girl who got killed and four missing girls. They are all Asian with black hair, and resemble Saya. Dun dun dun!
It seems Kai has taken a liking to the kids, because he plays baseball with them as the pitcher. (It was mentioned in earlier episodes he liked to play baseball but broke his arm, which caused all sorts of problems.) Mui and Riku watch them. When Mui catches him looking at her severed leg, he apologizes, but she takes no offense from it. The man who looks after the children comes out to remind Mui to take her medicine later.
In the evening, Kai and Riku are invited to stay at this orphanage of sorts. Riku talks with the woman and man who watch the children and learns what has been happening here. During the Vietnam War, the Americans used tens of thousands of bombs. Not all of them exploded, which left several bombs just waiting to go off. Mui's brother got killed by one of these bombs, and she lost her leg due to being nearby. Most of the children here have either lost their parents in similar ways or have had them become unable to work. A man also arrives to hand over Mui's medicine for the month.
Riku talks to Kai in the sleeping room, and Kai says they need to leave tomorrow, because it will be harder to if they get really attached to the kids. A bit later that night, Riku hears a strange sound. He goes out to find Mui has been hearing it too. They look around but cannot see anything. From inside a top secret van, Vin is seen observing them from a screen because this anime wants to make me mad. It is mentioned that Mui is the one they have been giving medicine to (!) and that it is strange that Riku seems to be hearing the noises they are making from their computers.
Next morning, it starts off raining, so Kai takes the children for some strength training. Riku finds Mui playing the piano, and just as she finishes, it stops raining. In the Blood+ universe, Mother Nature knows when to have it rain for dramatic reasons. Riku congratulates her on playing well. She says she would not pursue music though because she wants to stay here to help her family. She takes Riku's hand and he blushes (awwww, he's been doing it for a lot of the episode but it's always cute) as she says they should go outside to join everyone else. The woman who runs the 'orphanage' (still hesitant to call it that) comes in then to say that Mui's father has been injured. Murphy snickers as Mui leaves in a hurry.
When Riku eventually catches up to her, she asks him, clearly desperate, if she can borrow some money and will work however long it takes to pay him back. He helps her buy the strange item she pointed out and then takes a cab of sorts to get home.
Back at the 'orphanage', Riku tells Kai and the two adults what happened. They are shocked when they hear he got her a metal detector, because those are used to find the bombs. Riku did not realize this and is utterly dismayed that he gave Mui a tool to use for such dangerous work. Kai borrows a bike to get Riku and him to where Mui's village is. They arrive at her house to find that... she is perfectly fine. Whew!
</spoiler>
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"That was pretty interesting. But dropping a warship on me is cheating... Take it back!"-Id, Xenogears
New Moderator
In bed that night, Riku is determined once more to find Saya. Kai teases Riku about liking Mui, which causes his face to go quite red. But all goes badly when Riku hears the noise again. He and Mui go outside and are promptly assaulted by two suited men that have clothes with chloroform. Kai runs out to see them being put in a truck, but another man bludgeons him with a wooden stick. "The target has been successfully retrieved."
Well that was a horrible place to end, especially since I doubt they'll get back to Kai, Riku, and Mui for a couple of episodes. Another good episode though. It might feel like filler from the description, but the drastic conditions in Vietnam and seeing how Riku is reacting to all of this is enough for some good character development. And of course Mui is tied in somehow to Vin's work, which is enough to make it important. Still curious on why Riku has super hearing powers though.
Oh, I forgot there was one more scene at the end, since it got outweighed pretty badly. Okamaru is shown talking to his mother as he gets ready to take a vacation to Vietnam. He remarks that it is indeed ironic that he will be going to the place his father had died in, and looks at a picture of a blurry Chiroptera. He then takes a camera. So it seems he'll get more important soon.
</spoiler>
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"That was pretty interesting. But dropping a warship on me is cheating... Take it back!"-Id, Xenogears
New Moderator
To foreshadow the appearance of more flamboyant characters, we get a brief glimpse of a blond-haired man with a white suit as he talks on the phone to Karl. They refer to themselves as Chevalier, and that they are closer than brothers. Once they hang up, Karl looks at the picture of Saya on his desk and says it is because of that that some secrets must be kept. I wouldn't want to tell my brother I was a stalker either.
When Saya arrives at her desk the next morning, she finds a blue rose on it. This gives her quite the boost in popularity from curious girls, besides Anna Mary who turns up her nose. Some of the girls tell her about a rumor that the Phantom grows blue roses in a secret garden that nobody can access.
Saya goes outside at night to see why the garden is off limits: a huge chasm separates the location. Haji appears then, and Saya tells him of her theory, wondering if she can get to the other side. He responds by picking her up, getting a bit of a running start, and leaping over the thing. This is with Saya and his cello case. Good grief.
Since all rumors must be factual, they do indeed find blue roses, which seems to make Haji... uneasy. Hard to tell when you show about as many emotions as a brick wall. They go into a small building that leads underground to find a grate shutting off a container with numbers on it. Miss Lee shows up to see if someone is down there, but Saya and Haji hide. Since Miss Lee has an attention span just a bit above a goldfish's, she accepts that nobody is there without even going down the ladder and heads back. Saya realizes there must be a passage to this place from the chapel, but she is not sure where it is.
The next morning, they are at the capital of Vietnam for a school trip to a war museum. Saya takes the chance to hide behind a tree and call David to report what she found. Once she gets off due to Min calling her (and accusing her of talking to a boyfriend-poor, poor Min does not have one), David, Julia, and Lewis speak of what it means. David says that even though he only has a theory, it is vital to sneak into the school now to find that container, as it may have or be related to Diva, whatever that is (they keep mentioning it with no details). David also says that since Saya said the Phantom was smarter than most Chiroptera, it might be a Chevalier, and Julia suggests they sneak in to the school during a public dance of sorts. But that all pales in comparison to one part of the conversation Saya and David had.
Saya: How are Kai and Riku?
David: Oh, they're fine. We left them with enough money to buy a tank and no directions. For all we know, they might be being beaten with sticks and being kidnapped. But I'm sure they're fine!
Okay, in reality, he just said there was no change in them. I get the feeling David will get slapped when Saya realizes what he did.
We get a short scene with Okamaru talking to a guy who did the wine transportation. I think I failed to mention this before, but Okamaru seems to be a newspaper reporter, hence why he's following up on all this. The person he is talking to mentions the dance, but says a guy like Okamaru (with his somewhat worn outfit and rough-shave look) would never get in. After all, it is run by Karl-san, head of San Fleche Pharmacy!
At the war museum, Saya stares at a bunch of pictures of the Vietnam War. The flashbacks we saw in the first episode flood into her. When Min grabs her shoulder, Saya sees the braided girl from the past instead, and cries for her to stay away before running off. Min is left stunned, and while fleeing from the museum, Saya continues to flicker back and forth between the past and present. She eventually bumps right into Okamaru but runs off immediately, leaving Okamaru to rightfully utter, "What was that all about?"
Arriving at an alleyway, Saya tries to catch her breath, but someone calls her name and throws a blue rose at her feet. The Phantom says he has waited to meet her for quite some time. She tries to run, but he leaps in front of her. Things look bad, since Saya has no weapon, but suddenly HAJI FROM ABOVE! He dives between them, cello-case first. Now I for one am somewhat questioning of Haji's stalker status at this point. How else would he be around to help with these things? But considering how often he is saving Saya's backside, I can't really complain.
</spoiler>
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"That was pretty interesting. But dropping a warship on me is cheating... Take it back!"-Id, Xenogears
New Moderator
With resolve at hand, Saya draws her sword and slices the Phantom's right arm off, saying she must do what she can. The Phantom hesitates before seeing that Haji has emerged from the debris, and realizing he is basically screwed, leaps to the top of a building. There he declares that there is no joy in killing Saya when she cannot remember anything. Apparently this is a really passionate statement because you can see tears hit his remaining hand. Then again, a phantom would probably be a dramatic actor anyway. He then removes his mask and OH SNAP IT'S KARL WHAT A not SURPRISE. He then gets away.
This was a pretty big memory burst for Saya. I'm wondering how long it can go on before she gets an accurate reading on what happened back then. Said flashback is also incredibly confusing based on what has happened so far. An explanation will be pretty nice when it happens. And as expected, no news on Kai, Riku, or Mui. Boo.
</spoiler>
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"That was pretty interesting. But dropping a warship on me is cheating... Take it back!"-Id, Xenogears
New Moderator
Oh gosh. That was the definition of So Bad It's Good. Just... WOW.
[Spoiler for Blood: The Last Vampire, click to show]Here are the parts I found hilarious (screw writing up the plot it makes no sense):
*A bleeding girl staggers into a dance room with a flag over her body. Nobody in the entire place notices this, nor do they notice when Saya attacks her or when the nurse gets kidnapped by the girl/beast.
*Saya tries to attack the monster with a sword she stole from an antique shop but it bends at the first strike, causing her to shout, "It's a fake!" Then she gets slapped across the room.
*Saya's first 'kill the monsters' scene involved her entering an infirmary while classical music outside played. She then cut apart one girl and went after the other while the nurse screams and screams and screams, all with this music playing.
*When David is trying to break down the door to a warehouse that Saya and the nurse are trapped in, the nurse activates a car to run down the door. He shouts "OH ****!" before jumping out of the way as the car barrels through.
*When the nurse is trying to pray to God with her cross, Saya grabs it and throws it across the room.
*When David finally gets inside the warehouse with a katana for Saya, she yells "SWORD!" in the most narmy way possible.
*When pursuing the final bat monster, they just drop the nurse on the grass and drive away, not caring about her condition.
*The bat tries to latch onto a plane instead of, you know, flying higher. Saya cuts it down in an anti-climatic way.
*Saya goes to the bat and holds her hand above it for blood to drip onto it with a sad smile. WHERE DID THIS COME FROM AND WHY IS SHE ACTING THIS WAY. NOTHING HINTED AT IT UNTIL NOW.
*"Hey guys Saya's a vampire and now America and Japan are at war or something. Hope you enjoyed your movie!" *Credits*
</spoiler>
I can't believe Blood+ came from this. And even worse, THERE'S A LIVE ACTION VERSION.
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"That was pretty interesting. But dropping a warship on me is cheating... Take it back!"-Id, Xenogears
New Moderator
[Spoiler for Blood+: Episode 11, click to show]Episode 11: After the Dance
We get a brief glimpse of the Phantom staring at something that appears to be a wall. That's a promising start. We then see Saya moping around her room until Min asks her what dress she should wear. The big dance is tonight, and when Saya says she does not have a dress of her own, Min lends her one and tells her to have fun. Saya does seem a bit happier from that.
The evening comes fast, and Saya looks pretty good in her borrowed dress, despite what Anna Mary (or Marie as the subs put it) says. Saya finds the food to be more fascinating than her looks though.
Outside, Okamaru gets rejected for not having an invitation. He sees a limo drive in though, with Lewis at the wheel, and sees something else moving around.
David and Julia meet up with Saya, both looking quite well with a tuxedo and really revealing dress respectively. David goes to find the container Saya talked about while Julia tells her to relax. It is about this time that a man in a white suit with a blue rose at his shirt pocket walks in. He has blonde hair and good looks, which leads me to believe he's the guy Karl was talking to by phone. He seems to head towards Anna Mary/Marie/that jerk girl, but she gets owned by him just walking by and asking Saya to dance instead. He leads since Saya has never danced before, and she seems to enjoy it quite a bit judging by how much she blushes.
Too bad nice things can't last long, because the dance ends and the man is approached by Vin of all people, who tells him they have work to do. He puts the blue rose behind Saya's ear and heads off with Vin. Vin refers to him as Solomon, and when Solomon hears Min calling Saya's name, he is startled for a moment before remarking about Karl.
Shortly after this, when Saya and Min enter the garden to talk, Saya sees the Phantom ducking away. She runs off to leave Min behind and calls out to Julia and then Haji, who jumps down from the roof to join her. They pursue the Phantom underground.
David has been investigating down there when a truck suddenly lights up and a man demands that he knows someone is hiding there and to come out. David is about to, gun at ready, when Okamaru steps out with his hands up. lawlz. He nearly gets shot by the guy, but the driver tells the gunman not to bother, it would cause more trouble. So the gunman hits Okamaru over the head with the gun to knock him out. He gets in the truck when David steps out to fire, only for it to be blocked by the Phantom. Not harmed at all, Karl tells the truck drivers to get moving before backhanding David into a wall. Being a human in these situations must suck.
Despite being down, David yells at Julia to contact Lewis and report about Diva. Julia retreats temporarily while Saya draws her sword (having gotten it from Haji before). Haji takes the lead to fight the Phantom, and they seem equally matched until the Phantom decides to get serious. He remarks that he expected as much from "Saya's Chevalier", which raises even more questions. The main one I have though is, "Why is Haji's weakness random debris?" because he gets tossed into a pile of barrels to be temporarily disabled.
Saya cuts her finger to make her sword bloody. Her eyes become red and she swings wildly at the Phantom, who dances around her to cut her up. He grabs her face and seems utterly dismayed as he says, "You still haven't awakened?" He gets interrupted by David shooting him though.
By this point, Okamaru has woken up and is now witnessing the crazy fight with a girl in a bloody dress, a cello player with a bandaged arm, a tuxedo-clad man with a gun, and a woman who stays out of it because all she has is her bare skin versus a flamboyant idiot with a cape and mask. Understandably, he is quite fascinated by it, and tries to get out his camera. One is broken, but the other works, and he takes several (non-flash) pictures while nobody notices he is there. A bullet hits near his head though, which causes him to realize it's time to vamoose. He does see a bunch of wine bottles that match the ones he saw in the waste dump though.
Since Karl is still upset about Saya not being awakened, he retreats. David and Julia lead Saya out. Min (and her nameless new friend who happens to be male) sees Saya and is shocked at her appearance, what with the blood on her dress and several cuts on her body. Saya's cuts begin to heal as she stares at Min in sadness, but she has no chance to say anything before Haji leads her to the car. They take off after the truck to find Diva while Saya silently mopes.
</spoiler>
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"That was pretty interesting. But dropping a warship on me is cheating... Take it back!"-Id, Xenogears
New Moderator
[Spoiler for Blood+: Episode 12, click to show]Episode 12: Invited By the White Fog
We went from a car to a boat on a foggy river inbetween episodes. Here David has them meet up with four red shirts-sorry, reinforcements. Kurara is in charge and the only female of the bunch, while we also have Makkoi, Spencer, and Rodgers. I don't know why I bothered copying down their names since they're doomed anyway.
David stresses to Saya that the entire reason Red Shield exists is to find Diva. He outlines the plan to everyone, in that they will trek through a jungle to reach a rubber plantation of some sort, where they believe Diva has been taken. David is pretty sure the container they saw was, for once, not a fake. As they travel, Saya has some flashbacks to the Vietnam War, and she asks Haji what she did, and says she wants to remain who she is now. He simply says that is up to her to decide, which she agrees to. For a guy who doesn't talk much, he can be rather decent in these times.
We get a scene with Vin-or Van, as the subtitles now call him, so whatever-and Solomon at a fancy looking mansion. Karl seems entranced with the container that has Diva, meaning he looks even more silly than before. Apparently Vin/Van (I'll call him Van now until the subtitles mess with me again) wants to give Solomon a demo of his latest experiment, but Solomon assures him all of his work is wonderful, so we're spared from that stupidity. A random mook asks Van about Solomon after he leaves and Van lists off a bunch of impressive things the guy has done. I didn't note what they were but one can assume a reason was, "He is incredibly pretty."
Oh hey, a scene with Kai! He plays unconscious until the two goons that were sent to get him start to head to get a stretcher, then he knocks them both out. Riku and Mui are in two separate cells later on, with Riku restrained by belts and wearing a red cloak with a hood for some weird reason. I guess the young feeble boy is a lot more threatening than the one-legged girl, and especially moreso than his older, more muscled brother. Either way, Kai shows up to free them.
Since we need to see Karl's dumb expressions some more, we get a scene of him staring at some photos and Solomon commenting on letting Saya stay alive. I really don't know where to pin this guy. On one hand, supporting Van sucks, but on the other, he isn't going RAGE HATE KILL like Karl, so... yeah. Oh and they mention Ansel who is apparently another Chevalier or perhaps another brother of theirs. Who knows.
When going through the jungle, Saya's vision turns red, and she says she can hear a song. Haji's right arm starts to writhe. Back at the mansion, Kai, Riku, and Mui are with several children in red cloaks when they suddenly start to sing and then run off. Mui and Riku can hear the song but are more puzzled and less brainwashed by it. The crazy children run out to meet Karl where he has the crate to Diva slightly open. Van is like 'hey those are my mice!' but Karl's like 'oh that's convenient let's use them to fight Saya when she comes'. Also we aren't actually shown what Diva looks like which may be a good thing.
Now that the group is quite close to the mansion, Haji's arm is out of its bandages and really acting up. Then the red cloaked children leap out behind them, and the Phantom welcomes them to the mansion. A child starts to approach, and Haji responds by throwing a dagger into its chest. The humans are like 'dude WTH you just killed a kid!' until the dagger falls from the child's chest and it turns into a baby Chiropteran. Oh.
Since Saya is officially out of it due to the song driving her nuts, the rest of the group manages to get to the front doors with Haji carrying her. Spencer blows down the hinges of the door so they can get through. Makkoi gets face owned by one of the monster kids, and though Rodgers blows its head in half, it regenerates to get him next. Only two out of four red shirts down this episode, not bad.
Inside, Saya nearly gets attacked by a child monster before Haji literally takes its head off with his cello case. Holy mother of. Of course it grows back but Saya is totally being consumed by past memories now and screams. Also Kai leaves Riku and Mui to see what's going on, so I'm sure that'll end well. I rarely ever mention previews, but this one is worth mentioning for the narmy Engrish. "Saya, let's dance!" Karl sucks so much.
This episode and the last one were both quite good. I hate having to leave off here for tonight, cliffhangers are a pain. >_>
</spoiler>
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"That was pretty interesting. But dropping a warship on me is cheating... Take it back!"-Id, Xenogears
Editor
Please tell me you just heard that wrong and the subs really didn't **** up "Amshel" that badly. <_<
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"There's a pony in the shop, but don't buy it. It might do something unfortunate to you." ~from the first Summoner's Seal topic
New Moderator
I actually didn't have time to watch any episodes today. Was going to tonight after the DnD game I host, but I got a sudden and violent stomachache, so no luck. I have roughly six days to finish this series, thirty-eight more episodes. This will be fun. >_>
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"That was pretty interesting. But dropping a warship on me is cheating... Take it back!"-Id, Xenogears
New Moderator
Here are the options for what I have. Feel free to vote on what I should watch tomorrow; if nobody makes a remark, I'll pick one randomly.
Options are:
Air
Black Lagoon
Elfen Lied
Iriya no Sora, UFO no Natsu
Kino's Journey
Ninja Scroll: The Series
Now and Then, Here and There
Paranoia Agent
Spice and Wolf
I also have Serial Experiments Lain but am deliberately holding off on it because I want to save that for an all nighter. It's creepy enough to do so. XD
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"That was pretty interesting. But dropping a warship on me is cheating... Take it back!"-Id, Xenogears
Liberal Arts Major
It'll be hilarious.
...Out of that list, I've only seen Air and Paranoia Agent.
Depends what you feel like seeing. I liked both a lot. ...I dunno, flip a coin, they're too different for me to feel good comparing them. Paranoia Agent also has more uh... "rewatchability" (?) in my opinion, which is probably influencing my decision too because if I were told I had to rewatch one of them, I'd say Paranoia Agent, but that's a different question. >_>
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xp1337: Don't you wish there was a spell-checker that told you when you a word out?
Editor
Therefore I recommend FLCL.
Or Paranoia Agent, I guess, but FLCL is better!
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"There's a pony in the shop, but don't buy it. It might do something unfortunate to you." ~from the first Summoner's Seal topic
New Moderator
Paranoia Agent it is!
[Spoiler for Paranoia Agent: Episode 1, click to show]Episode 1: Enter Lil' Slugger
Okay that is the creepiest opening I've seen yet. It's just a bunch of people laughing but it is EERIE. I do like the music a lot though.
After a bunch of shots of random people apologizing over phones and such, which is probably symbolic but I don't know how, and seeing an old man who is writing what looks like a million equations on a sidewalk with chalk, we get introduced to who seems to be our main character. Tsukiko Sagi is a famous designer of cute animal plush things. Her biggest hit was a small pink dog named Maromi. She is being heavily pressured by her boss to get a famous new design out by Monday, which sucks for her because she is having a serious case of drawing block.
While walking home through dark allies, with her plush Maromi in her bag, she sees a creepy old woman. She runs away from her but trips and falls, causing everything in her bag to go flying out. She manages to gather all but one sheet, which is under a car, and tears her sleeve in the attempt. Now very upset, she looks up, and sees a kid rollerblading up to her with a bat in his hand. Smack.
With the news and the office Tsukiko works at on fire, Tsukiko is visited in the hospital by two detectives/cops, not sure which exactly. Keiichi Ikari is the older and more hardened of the two, and seems exasperated by Tsukiko not being able to remember anything. Mitsuhiro Maniwa, a younger and kinder man when it comes to interrogating her, gently pries some information from what she can recall. She remembers the gold bat and that it was a young kid who attacked her, and manages to draw a very shaded picture of him.
While the detectives leave, they run into a sleezeball named Akio Kawazu, who is apparently an article writer but hasn't been doing his job that well. Akio gets the hint that something big is surrounding Tsukiko, so he pries around to get more information. This includes borrowing a computer from some kids in exchange for getting them pictures of nearly naked women. YAY. The detectives question people on the streets about a kid who apparently beats people with a bat.
The detectives eventually run into Akio again when they hear about the old homeless lady that Tsukiko saw, but Akio reports that she left right after the incident. They think it might have been her due to the suspicious leaving time and her small stature. Also, Tsukiko looks at her computer and sees, from what I can tell, a lot of hate remarks about her (the Japanese words were not translated, sadly, I'm watching the dub). She drops Maromi out of shock, and the little pink doll dog gets up and says not to worry, they're just jealous of her talent. Wait. Wait. What did I just type? WHAT?
Determined to get a story from her, Akio manages to make Tsukiko talk to him by showing her the last picture she was unable to grab from beneath the car. He reads off a lot of the remarks he got from her co-workers, who think she was just faking the attack to get out of designing a new character. This is accompanied by a lot of creepy shots of Akio slowly eating a cherry. Thanks a lot. Tsukiko nearly panics when hearing some kids go by on rollerblades, and she reports to the detectives at once that she recalls the attacker had on rollerblades and a baseball cap.
With Akio following her at night now, she winds up dropping a cloth with a picture of Maromi on it. Akio picks it up, turns, and gets walloped by a bat. Tsukiko has fallen a bit further due to her leg injury and is picking up her items when the kid skates up. "Hello again." Then he skates away. Uh. Okay. And the detectives read the newspaper next morning, which probably discusses what happened to Akio but again I can't read it.
Ending seemed peaceful at first, soft melody and people sleeping on the grass, then... BIG GIANT PLUSH MAROMI OUTTA NOWHERE. This series is disturbing.
So yeah. I can summarize that in one word. "What."
</spoiler>
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"That was pretty interesting. But dropping a warship on me is cheating... Take it back!"-Id, Xenogears
New Moderator
We get introduced to a new character right off the bat (c wut i did thar). Yuichi Taira is basically the most popular kid in school with top grades and the ability to be good at everything. He's basically a lock to become student council president, and he has a shiny grin to go with it. He also has golden rollerblades and a golden bat. ...Hey wait a minute.
Everyone at school thinks he is Lil' Slugger and promptly begins to ignore him, other than the hate words scribbled onto his desk. He quickly begins to believe that it is the work of that 'fat pig', Shogo Ushiyama, a student who recently transferred to his school and is also running for student council president. All signs point to him being a nice guy, but Yuichi has no doubt he's the one behind the rumor that he is Lil' Slugger.
The detectives inquire to Tsukiko about Akio's attack around this time, but she simply says she still did not recognize the attacker. There's also an amusing moment where Keiichi asked Maromi if she remembered it, being there both times. Tsukiko asks if he is brain damaged, Keiichi is about ready to explode until she says, "Akio, I mean." Mitsuhiro nearly keels over laughing.
Back to Yuichi, he tells his private tutor about the incidents. He really looks up to her, and she seems to be the only person (besides his mother) to believe that the bullying is unjustified.
Unfortunately, Yuichi is getting pushed to his limit, so he confronts Shogo and physically threatens him (though I don't think he actually did hurt him, his fist seemed to go to the wall). Someone caught this on a photo camera and promptly sent it to everyone in class later. But instead of taking advantage to report the bullying, Shogo says that Yuichi is the one being bullied and asks for it to stop. This actually makes Yuichi even more angry because he wanted to handle it on his own.
The detectives stop by to question Yuichi a bit later, but they say that he is not a direct suspect yet, especially since he does not know Tsukiko personally. Speaking of Tsukiko, she has another conversation with Maromi, saying she feels like she should know Lil' Slugger but just can't seem to.
Yuichi's birthday party is a total bomb, having only his mother and tutor there out of all the people he wanted. He throws his golden rollerblades in the trash before running off. Later, he is approached by Shogo on the walk home, who is carrying a palm tree for some reason (looks like a prop from a play). Shogo says he moved to the school because he was being bullied in his previous one, and doesn't hold anything against Yuichi because of it. Yuichi starts to wish that Lil' Slugger would attack him and daydreams about being student council president if that happened. Be careful what you wish for, because that's exactly what happens; Shogo gets nailed. Yuichi tries to catch Lil' Slugger, but he turns and his teeth shine. Yuichi is unable to run fast enough.
Now that Shogo is in the hospital, Yuichi is looking quite guilty for being near him. The day of the student council president election comes, but Yuichi hides in his room and mentally sees everyone coming after him to hate him. When he sees Lil' Slugger again, he tells everyone to look... only for them all to be gone.
It was pretty intense to see what a downward spiral this guy's life took. Other than that, I should also note that the old man's equations have been changing. The first episode, the number 510 was present. Now we see the number 1. Speaking of the old man, he gives the next episode previews, and they make no sense to me yet. Hurray.
</spoiler>
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"That was pretty interesting. But dropping a warship on me is cheating... Take it back!"-Id, Xenogears
New Moderator
Oh this is nice. Open up with a sex scene between a woman and a fat guy. The woman is one of our main focuses, and her name is Maria. She picks up some messages while returning home, taking off her clothes, and getting a shower. When she dresses, it is easy to tell that she is now the tutor for Yuichi, Harumi Chono.
It is quickly made clear from a doctor appointment that Harumi has dissociative identity disorder, which made me love this episode. I've read a lot of books about it since one of my stories stars a character with this condition, and it's very fascinating to look into. Difficult for the people who have it, but fascinating.
It's kind of hard to capture this episode in a summary, so I'll just skim over it briefly. (I seem to always have the most difficulty summarizing my favorite episodes, how does that work?) Harumi is proposed to by a fellow teacher, which is hilarious because he speaks in complete monotone. "Will you marry me?" out of the blue and in deadpan is narm. But they do seem to genuinely love each other. The doctor reports to Harumi that when speaking to Maria, she says that she is slowly fading and wants the best for her other side. This seems to hold true for her prostitute career, as she says goodbye to a man who really liked her services.
But when Harumi tries to get rid of her fancy prostitute clothes, Maria takes over with a vengeance. They have a clothing war where each personality tries to get rid of the other's clothes. Maria says that even though Harumi is getting married, that's no reason for her to disappear, and that Harumi is the actual fake personality. One of the really cool parts about this is that they communicate by message machines. For those unfamiliar with the condition, it it extremely rare, if not impossible, for personalities to speak to one another, as the other will be 'asleep' to let the temporarily dominant one run the body. Doctors can record their conversations to let patients hear what their other sides have to say. In this case, Harumi and Maria call their phones to leave messages for exchanging, which is definitely interesting.
While visiting Yuichi in the hospital, since he was attacked by Lil' Slugger (apparently he really did get attacked despite it being hard to tell last episode), Yuichi tells her that Lil' Slugger set him free, as now he is not a suspect anymore. When listening to her new message, Harumi hears Maria say that she wants to be set free. She breaks her message machine, only for Maria to manifest and drag her near the hotels Maria often visits (people seeing her would only see her appear to fight against thin air though). She recalls Yuichi's words right as Lil' Slugger skates by to smack her.
Her new husband is by Harumi's side when she wakes in the hospital. The detectives decide to question her later, since her husband gets first dibs at talking to her. Mitsuhiro remarks that the victims of Lil' Slugger seem relieved after being attacked, like a weight was taken off their mind. They also see the old man scribbling on the floor. It is a butterfly, and that actually seems to have a connection to Harumi because the part before where the commercials would be showed butterflies too.
At the end, we see a news program reporting that Lil' Slugger has been caught. Maromi uses the remote to turn the television off and tells Tsukiko she will be late for work, but that it is a good thing that he was caught. Will we ever get an explanation about the pink doll dog being so creepy?
But yeah, as said, really liked this episode. A+ would watch again.
</spoiler>
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"That was pretty interesting. But dropping a warship on me is cheating... Take it back!"-Id, Xenogears
New Moderator
Oh geez worst character ever alert.
This time we're following Masami Hirukawa, who was the guy in the sex hotel and the officer who caught Lil' Slugger. This takes place before that report.
From what Keiichi says to Masami, apparently Masami is a good man who cares deeply about his family. Amazing what a false face can do. Masami actually takes bribes from a sleazy organization and gets prostitutes from them at the hotel. We get 'treated' to one of these sex scenes where he yells at the twenty-year-old woman to "CALL ME DADDY". I hate him.
Apparently he is trying to build a dream house for his family with all the money he's getting, but he gets bitten by karma as one of the higher-ups in the organization he's taking bribery from demands the money back and burns his forehead with a cigarette. It's really sad when I like this guy more than Masami.
So what does our bold police officer do? Put on a pink mask and start stealing from innocent people. Boy isn't that grand! During these incidents you get to see that he likes comics with brave heroes that always do the right thing, but since he's such a tainted individual there's really no way he'll become like that. This gets worst during the final robbery we're shown where he steals the savings a couple have been working on for twenty years to get a new house. Their daughter comes home, and he holds up the knife while saying, "CALL ME DADDY". Someone just SHOOT this guy he is one of the most horrible characters ever.
After a conversation in a restaurant with Keiichi, where Keiichi vows to catch Lil' Slugger, Masami staggers home. Things aren't getting any better with the organization, as they keep upping how much money he owes them. He starts to beg for someone to make him stop what he is doing, so Lil' Slugger rides by to smack him. Except his skull is apparently so thick that Lil' Slugger did not knock him out. Masami pitches something to hit him and then begins kicking the tar out of him.
Keiichi seems bitter in the morning that Lil' Slugger somehow got caught with him not around. I don't blame him, Masami catching anyone is a joke.
Okay you don't have to give me much thought here, but allow me to ramble. Everyone who has been knocked out by Lil' Slugger besides maybe Tsukiko has seemed better off after, as if cleansed or something. Masami did not get knocked out. Therefore, symbolically, perhaps he is beyond redemption? It might be just silly talk but man I want this guy to be gone. >_> Also how did nobody realize he was the robber? HIS LIPS ARE HUGE!
</spoiler>
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"That was pretty interesting. But dropping a warship on me is cheating... Take it back!"-Id, Xenogears
New Moderator
This has got to be one of the best episodes ever. If you don't believe me, go watch it.
So the person that was caught is Makoto Kozuka, who has the golden rollerblades and bat, along with a cap, curly hair, and braces that cause his teeth to shine. Everyone who was attacked by him testifies that he is the guy. He needs to be interrogated though, so Keiichi and Mitsuhiro attempt to do so.
Attempt is the key word here because this kid is so ingrained into video games/role playing games/Dungeons and Dragons that he may as well be totally out of our world. He claims that everyone he attacked was being possessed by Gohma, and that an old wise women leads him, the Holy Warrior, with her wise words.
In telling the detectives of his attacks, they all go into the RPG world. This is amazingly funny and I'm just going to type up a lot of good quotes instead of narrating it.
Keiichi: WHO ARE YOU CALLING A VILLAGER YOU MORON!
Keiichi: Oh this is great, the kid's even got his own soundtrack.
Maniwa: *Puts on green robe to act as recorder for the Holy Warrior*
Keiichi: Why are you playing along with him?!
Keiichi: Oh good grief, now we've got a princess?
Keiichi to Maniwa: Tell me the truth, you're really enjoying this, huh?
Keiichi to Haumi IRL: Do you happen to like butterflies?
Harumi: What?
Keiichi: Butterflies. They flutter around like this? *Waves hands*
Keiichi to Akio appearing randomly: AUGH NOT YOU AGAIN
Keiichi: Allll around the mullberry bush my partner chases a looney... I don't know what I'm doing here...
Maniwa: *Dons armor to help fight one of Gohma's puppets*
Keiichi in response to lizard monster stepping on Holy Warrior: ...I AM SURROUNDED BY IDIOTS! *Punches lizard out of the room*
Maniwa to Holy Warrior: There is no replay in this game!
Best ever.
When they finally leave, the detectives believe they have their criminal at hand, but Maniwa wants to speak to the old lady who just appeared in front of them. Whoa there.
So yeah, this episode was mainly comical, but it was very good comedy. =)
</spoiler>
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"That was pretty interesting. But dropping a warship on me is cheating... Take it back!"-Id, Xenogears
Editor
He threw his shoe at him.
Pretty awesome for such an annoying character, tbqh. <_<
Episode 5: The Holy Warrior
Awesome episode alert.
...The amazing thing is, it's probably only like top 5 for the series as a whole. >_>
Keiichi: Allll around the mullberry bush my partner chases a looney... I don't know what I'm doing here...
Ikari and Maniwa = A+ characters.
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"There's a pony in the shop, but don't buy it. It might do something unfortunate to you." ~from the first Summoner's Seal topic
Liberal Arts Major
Awesome episode alert.
...The amazing thing is, it's probably only like top 5 for the series as a whole.
I know. I think it might be #3. But there's a case for anywhere between like... 2 and 4.
MHz is the best episode though.
Ikari and Maniwa = A+ characters.
Best two characters.
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xp1337: Don't you wish there was a spell-checker that told you when you a word out?
New Moderator
When the detectives interrogate the old woman, she seems to ignore their questions, speaking instead of her granddaughter who she wishes she could see, and how she has no home to go to. After Keiichi shakes her shoulders for a bit, she finally speaks of the attack on Tsukiko, which she witnessed fully. Whatever she says makes Keiichi realize that Makoto is a copycat, not the real Lil' Slugger they're after.
We get a lot of looks at a new character, Taeko Hirukawa, during all of this. She has many flashbacks about when she was happy, trusting her father completely always looking up to him. But recently, they moved into a new house, which she did not want to do, preferring their old one. When she went home to put a new wallpaper on her father's computer for his birthday, she caught sight of something in the recycle bin. It turns out to be pictures of her getting home and undressing. "Oh."
After she destroys the hidden camera in rage, Taeko has been wandering the streets as a tsunami rages. She threatens to her father via phone to kill herself. Before she can jump over the rail into a fast-flowing river, though, she thinks she sees herself drowning. It turns out to be the old lady that the detectives questioned. She falls to her knees, sobbing, and wishes that she could forget everything.
While this is going on, the detectives have gone to see Tsukiko. Keiichi reveals what they learned from the old lady while bringing out a bent, iron pipe. When Tsukiko fell and was trying to get her papers, she grabbed the pipe and hit herself on the leg to make an excuse to get out having to think of a new character. Tsukiko's eyes continue to grow wider as he speaks, when suddenly she is thrown from her chair as though hit in the head.
At that same moment, we see Taeko getting attacked in a flash. Lil' Slugger again, most likely. We then see the dream house getting destroyed as Masami urgently calls out Taeko's name in his phone. Oh my gosh this guy is the worst character ever. Other than Shinji from Fate Stay Night, he probably edges him out just a bit, but it's close! The detectives move Tsukiko out of the area they were talking to her in since she is now unconscious.
In the hospital, the old woman's granddaughter comes in to see her grandmother after the river incident. Taeko wakes up to see Masami, smiles, and says, "Excuse me, but who are you?" Oh karma.
</spoiler>
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"That was pretty interesting. But dropping a warship on me is cheating... Take it back!"-Id, Xenogears