Eureka 7: Pocketful of Rainbows

Posted by Neko Kyou in Reviews on August 8th, 2009

Aww.. so cute.

I love Eureka 7.

It’s one of my favourite series of all times and is the only mecha anime I know that doesn’t really concentrate on who has the bigger, more badass mecha and instead on the journey and growth of each character. Of course Eureka 7 had some great looking and kickass mechs, like Nirvash typeZERO’s final form.

Immediately at the start of Eureka 7’s movie “Pocketful of Rainbows” you can tell that it takes place in an alternate universe. It could be good or bad depending on how it’s done.

Everything went on smoothly and rather entertaining during the first third of the movie. Renton and Eureka’s personalities were slightly altered, but I must say I liked it better that Renton wasn’t so annoying and Eureka was actually kinda moe~

And then there is Nirvash and theEND as faeries. They look so cute and cuddly XD

But that’s where things started to fall apart.

If looks could kill…

The crews of the Gekkostate were a bunch of insane and paranoid 17 year olds trapped in the bodies of middle aged men and women due to faster aging due to the “Agony of Doha” incident. Anemone is an old lady and lover of the late Dominic hiding under Vodarac and I’m still trying to figure out exactly what part does she play in the story.

That’s the biggest flaw with Pocketful of Rainbows.

A lot of things doesn’t make any or much sense at all. The most confusing part is – what exactly happened at the end?

White version of Gundam Providence?

What exactly did Eureka and Nirvash had planned to do and what actually happened when Nirvash broke the huge Image right before being hit by the Hammer of God. The movie made no effort to explain any of these.

The only thing that’s certain is that Nirvash has left (and god knows whatever happened to theEND) and Eureka now has long hair and can’t speak.

I was left wondering whether Eureka’s memory were wiped out since it seemed like her memory could somehow alter reality to save Renton but that might not have been the case – I really can’t tell at all and it’s frustrating the heck out of me since I have no idea what the ending was supposed to be after spending almost 2 hours watching the damn movie.

Maybe it was something I missed, so if you know the answer, PLEASE TELL ME!

It’s like something major happened that ended the whole story but no one seems to know or care what it is. Oh god I feel like banging my head on the wall right now.

Honestly, I somewhat wish I never laid eyes on the movie but at the same time it would have been a waste if I had missed it. It’s great on some parts with a few interesting and fresh twist in the story. There were some touching moments as well, but nowhere at the level of the series.

Peter Pan and Neverland does not, I repeat, does not fit in well here. And apparently so does most of everything else Bones threw into the pot, especially the ending. The movie would have been much more tolerable and enjoyable to some extent if they didn’t screw it up at the end!

Naked long haired Eureka <3


If you haven’t watched it yet but plan to, be prepared to enjoy the first third of the movie, be touched and confused by the remaining and be utterly lost at the end and walking away with a bad taste in your mouth, but at the same time if you skip it, you’re also missing out on all the great parts of the movie.

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Naruto Shippuuden 64 – 65

Posted by minerj in Naruto on July 24th, 2008

Jet Black Signal Fire / Lockdown of Darkness

Rating: 8.5/10

Naruto Shippuuden screenshot

There is another 1 hour special episode from Naruto anime this time around. The main part of this episode is about the assault from the Fire Country rebels. The bad guys are very formidable. The manage to penetrate Kohona village defenses unharm. In fact, the guards are being squashed by their earth element jutsu. Earth element kinda rocks! Get it?!

Naruto Shippuuden screenshot

Before the assault, Sora is trying to find out the truth from Asuma. Thie results to a couple of fights between Sora and Asuma and, unfortunately, Naruto is injured because of it. Naruto tries to chase after Sora to console him but the only one that can make Sora to stand still is Asuma. Asuma explains that Sora is being used by the rebels to put the villagers in danger.

The following episode will be an exciting one as there will be a lot of battles from different groups of people in Konoha. Naruto may encounter his lustrous enemy again! I wonder what she has in her sleeves for Naruto this time around. Sai should recover soon as the village is low in ninjas to defend the village from the zombies. We may also get a lot of Asuma actions too.

Naruto Shippuuden screenshot

It’s halloween already?

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Code Geass Episodes Review I: Episode 1-3

Posted by Neko Kyou in Reviews on October 17th, 2007

Episode 1: The Day the Devil was Born

Rating: 8/10

Code Geass Episode 1

The series started by showing 2 boys climbing up a slope with a third person watching quietly. Then the narration kicks in telling how Japan was invaded and lost its independence to the Britannian Empire. After the war, the two boys were once again shown to be in some sort of a camp, with the black haired boy telling his friend that he would take down Britannia.

Fast forward 7 years later, the black haired boy, Lelouch Lamperouge, is now a high school student. Apparently he’s pretty smart as well, being able to take over and win a losing chess match against a nobility.

At the same time, a group of terrorist had hijacked something really important from the Britannian forces. The 3rd Britannian Prince Clovis, ruler of the now Area 11 (Japan) and ordered to send out the Knightmare Frames to secure their stolen good.

I originally thought that the terrorists probably stole some new prototype Knightmare Frame (ala Gundam) but it turned out to be a chemical weapon instead.

The terrorist’s truck caught up behind Lelouch and Rivalz. They decided to take a short cut which caused them to end up crashing into an abandoned construction site. Lelouch became disgusted with how the passerby weren’t bothering to help out and decided to do it himself. However, as Lelouch climbed aboard the truck, the terrorists began to move again, causing him to fall inside the vehicle.

As Lelouch tries to think of a plan to get out, the connecting door opened and a girl went into the cargo area of the truck and took off in a Glasgow Knightmare Frame.

The other terrorist continues to drive the truck and turned into a tunnel. I seriously wonder if this guy have a driving licensed when he once again crashed into an underground tunnel.

In his half-dead state due to an earlier injury, he flipped a switch and caused the truck door to open. A Britannian soldier caught sight of Lelouch and the poison gas container. He sneaked up and easily pinned Lelouch on the ground. After a little struggling, the Britannian soldier recognized Lelouch and revealed himself to be the other boy with Lelouch 7 years ago, Suzaku.

The container suddenly opened, but instead of poison gas, a girl in strange clothes with green hair appeared instead. By this time another squad of the Britannian army had already arrived and the leader gave orders for Suzaku to shoot Lelouch. He refused and while he was looking over at Lelouch and the girl, he was shot instead.

The Britannian army was just about to shoot Lelouch when the truck driver flipped the other switch and self-destructed the entire vehicle.

When Prince Clovis heard of the explosion, he decided to permanently purge the Shinjuku Ghetto, leaving no survivors. Thus the massacre began.

Lelouch and the mysterious girl finally found their way out of the tunnel through a warehouse, but quickly hid when the earlier squad entered and killed off every living person in there, including a child. Just as they turned to move out, Lelouch’s mobile phone began to rang.

The leader fired a shot at Lelouch after securing the girl, but she struggled to get free and took the shot for Lelouch instead. However, just as he was giving up hope, something strange happened.

He heard the girls voice in his head, offering him a contract for the power of the Kings, showing a series of unknown images. He accepted it easily and began acting arrogant in front of the enemy squad.

Lelouch declared himself as Lelouch Vi Britannia and ordered the Britannian soldiers to die, to which they willingly obliged with a grin. Lelouch had gained the power of the Geass of obedience.

This part is rather interesting. As blood were spilled all over the place, some even splashing on his face, he began to look troubled and distressed, as if suddenly realizing he had caused the death of the entire squad. But just before the episode ended, his fearful expression turned into one of a devilish grin. While the entire episode was captivating enough for me, this was the key point that turned me into an instant fan.

Episode 2: The Awakening of the White Knight

Rating: 8/10

Code Geass Episode 2

As Lelouch stared the the body of the girl, wondering what she had intended to do with him, a Sutherland Knightmare Frame blasted its way through into the warehouse to find the special troops dead and a single Britannian student in there. The Sutherland’s pilot demanded Lelouch to explain what had happened and threatened him by firing a few giant bullets.

Lelouch tried to use his powers and ordered the pilot to exit the Knightmare Frame, but found out that he needs to be in direct contact with a person in order to use the Geass. He quickly improvised by claiming to be a son of a Duke. Lelouch raised his hands and asked that his ID, located in his back pocket, be checked and requested for protection once he had been identified to be who he claimed to be.

The Sutherland pilot deactivated the Knightmare Frame and exited the unit, saying that she will check the ID herself. Lelouch quickly took the opportunity to use the Geass on her and took the Knightmare Frame.

Suzaku apparently had survived both the shot and explosion. His father’s keepsake had saved him from the gun shot. He was then given the keys to pilot a prototype Knightmare Frame by Lloyd, who up until now appeared to be the “mad scientist” of the series who is keen on collecting data for his latest toy.

Back in the hijacked Sutherland, Lelouch tries to gather as much outside information as he could and started planning his next moves. Using the 2-way radio he had obtained in the terrorist’s truck earlier, he contacted the female terrorist in the Glasgow and gave her instructions on how to escape, saying that she should follow his orders if she wanted to win.

As a reward for going under his command, Lelouch presented the terrorist group with a train full of Sutherland units. Even now I’m still trying to figure out where this came from, but I’m just guessing that those were the backup units for the Britannian army attacking the area and Lelouch had somehow managed to hijack its controls. However, Lelouch was particular about the female terrorist to continue in her damaged Glasgow unit to act as a diversion in his strategy.

It was also nice to see that Lelouch had not let the entire event go to his head. He realizes that human lives are at stake and that he needs to stay calm and collected in order for them to win unscathed.

And the strategy game between Lelouch and Prince Clovis began. Could someone please tell me where Lelouch managed to find all those chess pieces in the Sutherland? Because I’m pretty darn sure he wasn’t carrying any ever since he won the game against the noble way back at the start of the first episode.

Clovis called for a full frontal assault, causing the break in formation. Lelouch calls this the worst possible strategy for the enemy as it would allow his entire masterplan to be executed without a hitch and effectively taking out the entire Britannian forces in a single move.

In a desperate move, Clovis allowed Lloyd to send out the new 7th generation Knightmare Frame prototype, the Lancelot, piloted by Suzaku. This is the coolest mech in the series thus far, and only the Gawain is close enough to matching it in coolness.

The Lancelot is truly a powerful machine as it easily took out the terrorist’s Sutherlands and putting a huge dent in Lelouch’s strategy. Through its advanced system, the Lancelot was able to discover Lelouch’s hiding place and began chasing after him. Just as Lelouch was about to eject, Suzaku saw a lady falling down a crumbling building with a baby and decided that it was more important to save them instead of chasing after the terrorist commander.

Just as the Britannian forces was about to finish off what was left of the ghetto and the terrorist, Prince Clovis’s voice boomed throughout the area, calling for immediate retreat and offer aid to both Britannians and Elevens (remnants of the Japanese).

Back in Clovis’s mobile headquarters, he asked a soldier who was pointing a gun at him whether he was satisfied. It turned out that he was forced to recall the troops because of this man. When Clovis asked who he really was, Lelouch revealed himself by addressing Clovis as his elder brother. Lelouch greeted his elder brother by declaring himself as the 17th successor and 2nd in line to throne, Lelouch Vi Britannia.

Clovis was shocked and became pale as a ghost, claiming that Lelouch should had already been dead, to which Lelouch responded that he had returned in order to change everything.

Episode 3: The Fake Classmate

Rating: 8/10

Code Geass Episode 3

Clovis tries to convince Lelouch to return to the motherland with him, but Lelouch refused by reminding Clovis of what had happened to him. Lelouch’s mother was said to be murdered by a member of the royal family although they made it look as if it was a terrorist attack. Clovis denied that he was the culprit. Lelouch then used his Geass to make Clovis tell him what he knows, and he named 2nd Prince Schneizel and 2nd Princess Cornelia, saying that they should know something about it.

Lelouch demanded to know if they were the mastermind. However, Clovis was unable to answer and Lelouch concluded that he really didn’t know anything about the incident. Once Lelouch deactivated his Geass, Clovis frantically denied that he had anything to do with the murder. He breathed a sigh of relief when Lelouch acknowledged that he was telling the truth, but even so he had no plans of letting Clovis go alive. Clovis begged to be spared, saying that they were still related even though they were only half-brothers. His plea fell on deft ears and the gun trigger was pulled.

Next day in school, Lelouch was surprised that news of Clovis death wasn’t announced. As he recalled the events from the previous day, he felt sick and threw up in the toilet, admitting that his nerves were still too weak for what he had done.

He was also surprised to see a familiar face in class and finally realized who the female terrorist he saw really was – Karen Stadtfeld. Daughter of an distinguished family, but has a weak body and therefore seldom showed up in class.

Using the power of Geass, Lelouch dragged the truth out of Karen about who she really was and she was with the terrorist group. Apparently, although her father was a Britannian, her mother was a Japanese, making her a half. Lelouch deactivated his Geass and walked away, but turned it on again on Karen to tell her not to talk about Shinjuku. However, to his surprise, the Geass didn’t seem to work anymore and Karen began to demand for an explanation to his questions.

Fortunately for Lelouch, Shirley called out from above to remind them that they are supposed to be heading for science class and Lelouch took the opportunity to take off.

In an unknown location, General Patre ordered a group of scientists to relocate and hide. Although the nature of the group is unknown, there were the containers similar to the one which was believed to contain poison gas, as well as clothes like the one which the strange girl was wearing. There were also pictures of the scientists doing experiments with that girl.

At home, Lelouch revealed that his ultimate goal is to create a peaceful world for his sister, Nunnally. The following day Lelouch experimented with the Geass and concluded that the Geass would only work on the same person once.

Karen began to develop suspicions about Lelouch. He realized this too and decided that its best for him to settle this as soon as possible. After class ended, he went up to Karen and said that he would like to have a word with her, to which she willingly obliged.

He brought her to the student council’s clubhouse but before they could start talking the rest of the council came barging in, with council President Mily thanking Lelouch for bringing Karen over. Lelouch seemed surprised as well and Milly explained that Karen would be a part of the council as a request from her grandfather, the board chairman of Ashford Academy.

Karen got drenched with the champaign Rivalz threw over to Lelouch and ended up in the showers. When Lelouch brought her a change of clothes, she asked him to hand her the pouch that was near the sink. As he pushed his hands behind the shower curtains, Karen forcefully grabbed them and demanded an explanation for his question about Shinjuku from before.

The bathroom phone rang just then and Lelouch picked it up. He passed the phone to Karen, saying that it was for her although he doesn’t know who it is. Karen was surprised to hear the mysterious voice that had led them in the battle previously, realizing that she may have made a mistake about Lelouch.

He had pre-recorded his voice and made Sayako to be his accomplice in fooling Karen using Geass.

The news also finally announced Clovis’s death, as well as the capture of a suspect – Kururugi Suzaku.

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Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion Review

Posted by Neko Kyou in Reviews on October 5th, 2007

A collaboration work between Sunrise and CLAMP, I’ve been hearing nothing but good stuff about Code Geass. I only regret not watching this earlier.

First Impression

Code Geass

My initial thought after watching the first few episodes during my Code Geass marathon was that it looks like a Kira Yamato vs Light “Kira” Yagami anime. That, I like.

The Mastermind

Lelouch LamperougeOn one hand, we have Lelouch Lamperouge (real name: Lelouch Vi Britannia), the genius who holds the power of Geass that allows him to control others.

Not exactly evil, but he would do anything in order to obtain his goal, even sacrificing others to make himself look good. He does most of his dirty deeds while in his alter-ego, Zero, a highly charismatic and mysterious person who leads the Order of the Black Knights – the allies of Justice.

Lelouch’s motivation is to create a safe haven for his sister, Nunnally, who lost her sight due to trauma and to seek revenge for his murdered mother. His true target was his father, the Emperor of Britannia.

The Ace Pilot

Kururgi SuzakuOn the other hand, there is Kururugi Suzaku, the son of the last Prime Minister of Japan before Britannia invaded the country in order to capture the Sakuradite (a very precious raw material) mine.

As an Honorary Britannian working in the military, he was given a chance to pilot the prototype unit for the 7th generation Knightmare Frame (read: Mecha), the Z-01 Lancelot.

Lancelot almost seemed to be built specifically for him, as test results showed that he had the highest compatibility with the Lancelot among all the candidates to pilot the Lancelot so far.

Being a member of the Britannia military, his main enemy is the leader of the Order of the Black Knights, Zero.

Code Geass

What makes this confrontation between Lelouch/Zero and Suzaku even more interesting is the fact that they are childhood friends. Suzaku was eventually transfered to the same high school as Lelouch and his friends. Best of friends in school, yet bitter enemies in the battlefield. This did not change even after Lelouch discovered who was piloting the annoying Lancelot that keeps disrupting his plans.

Suspense!

Code Geass

Plenty of action and suspense in Code Geass. Most of the episodes also ends in a cliffhanger, which would have probably killed me many times over if I didn’t complete the whole series in a marathon.

The battles between Knightmare Frames, especially when the Lancelot and Gawain is involved, are action packed and full of explosion. But not all the action and suspense are found in battles.

Lelouch/Zero is a great strategist and it really shows as he plans his moves a few step ahead of everyone else. The feeling of suspense here is quite similar to what I feel with Death Note.

If anything can go wrong, it won’t. If nothing can go wrong, it will.

Sounds a bit contradicting, but true. Zero’s plans almost never fails. Even when it does, he can quickly come out with a new one that would allow them victory, or at least a safe retreat.

However, even Zero slips out sometimes. And when he does, it will go to the worst possible outcome possible. And the worst thing happened when everyone thought it will end up alright.

Design and Animation

Code Geass

Since the designs are done by CLAMP, there shouldn’t be any doubt that it’s top-notched. Sunrise took extra effort to ensure that the final designs and animation were done as closely as possible to the original designs by CLAMP. The result, gorgeous looking artwork and animation by Sunrise.

Storyline

Code Geass

Quite unpredictable, especially when Zero is involved. No one can ever tell what he’s trying to do and he never reveals everything until the last minute. The way the story unfolds builds up the suspense and with answers, came more questions to carry the plot on.

There really isn’t any mercy or holding back. When they set out to kill, they kill, regardless of consequences. Reality can be harsh and Code Geass portrays that quite well.

Soundtrack

I only really like FLOW’s Colors among all the OP and ED themes. The OST in overall is pretty good, especially during intense parts. I’m gonna need to get my hands on the entire OST XD

Conclusion

All in all, this is definitely one of the best anime I’ve watched in a while and I can’t wait for the new season. Things probably can’t get any worst for Lelouch and Suzaku, but I have a feeling that this is just the tip of the iceberg.

Code Geass Lelouch

Code Geass episodes review can be found here.
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Midori no Hibi Episodes Review IV: Episode 12 & 13

Posted by Neko Kyou in Reviews on September 25th, 2007

Earlier posts from this series can be found here:

Midori no Hibi

Episode 12: Sudden Farewall

Rating: 8/10

Midori no Hibi Episode 12

Kouta tried to convince Midori to let her mother know about what’s going on, but Seiji refused on her behalf, saying that Midori herself is troubled by this as well.

And one of the shamans that Midori’s mother invited seemed to be the real deal, saying that Midori herself did not want to return yet. Even if he was to forcefully return Midori’s spirit, the same thing will happen all over again. It’s best to let Midori find what she truly wants and then return on her own. I remembered reading that Midori actually did return to her real body a few times in the manga, but quickly went back to Seiji’s right hand again each time.

Midori seemed to be really bothered about what Kouta said and Seiji only made things worse for her. It seems to me like Seiji was actually trying to convince Midori to want to return to normal in his own way.

After Seiji went to sleep, Midori completed the muffler she was making and put it over Seiji. Then she started to wonder if it really wasn’t her own fault that she ended up that way, and whether it was okay for her to stay that way. Seiji woke up a bit later to find that his right hand had returned (and I quote “What the hell is this?”) and started to panic when he realized Midori is missing.

Seiji tried to convince himself that it was all for the best and that he should be happy. Midori would be happy to return to her own body too, right? Despite that thought, he got easily upset at even the smallest things and even ditched school that day. Instead, he went on a shopping spree for everything porn and had Miyahara carried a huge backpack full of it around as he continues to shop for even more.

They met with another group of delinquents while walking on the streets who had been waiting for him. They were the same ones who Seiji had beaten up the day before at the bowling alley, but this time there were more of them. Seiji told Miyahara to run and keep his new collection safe as he released all his pent up anger on the delinquents.

Miyahara ran into Ayase as he was running away and told her about what happened. By the time Ayase reached where Seiji was, he had already taken care of all the delinquents although he was bruised as well.

Ayase began to pour out her true feelings for Seiji and finally confessed to him how she truly feels.

Episode 13: Our Days

Rating: 8/10

Midori no Hibi Episode 13

Seiji rejected Ayase with the excuse that he can’t seem to think about it right now, but Ayase told Seiji that it’s probably because he already likes someone else. He said that even though he always thought of Midori as being noisy, but when she was no longer around all he could think about is her. Ayase then explained that its probably because he doesn’t know how he truly feels about Midori.

When Kouta came to see Midori, he found out that Midori had no memories at all about what had happened to her. She totally forgot about how she had been Seiji’s hand, but said she felt all warm and happy inside. Kouta was torn about whether or not he wanted to tell Midori what had happened, fearing that Midori might decide to return being Seiji’s hand and fall into a coma again.

Seiji went home that night and began to notice how much Midori had been a part of his life and was given a surprise greeting from his sister, Rin. She noticed that Midori was no longer on Seiji’s hand. When she found out that Midori had probably returned to her real body but Seiji did not go and look for her, she gave him a beating and took his allowance as usual. She also took away the hot spring buns she brought as a present, saying that it was supposed to be for Midori, to which Seiji had no reply.

He also found Midori’s little diary underneath the muffler she made for him and read through it.

Seiji appeared in front of Midori’s house the next day but chickened out the last minute and turned to walk away when he heard Kouta calling out to him. Kouta explained that Midori had woke up in her real body but when Seiji asked Kouta to hand over Midori’s diary to her, he asked Seiji why wouldn’t he hand it over to her personally.

Seiji seemed shocked when he heard that Midori had no memories of what had happened. Kouta tried to persuade Seiji by telling him that she still wanted to be by his side, but Seiji said its best that she doesn’t remember anything and tried to leave. Midori heard Kouta calling out to Seiji and saw them both outside the gates of her house.

A flood of emotions came over Midori, who suddenly felt like she had lost something very important, and wanted to return to that time when she felt really happy once more. But her mother told Midori that she cannot return to that world, and that if she doesn’t do anything in this reality nothing would change. Midori seemed to have made up her mind and quickly rushed out of her house.

Kouta directed Midori to find Seiji and stopped her mother from trying to go after her. Midori went to all the usual places where she used to see Seiji, but had absolutely no luck, and sometimes just passing by each other without noticing.

Seiji, on the other hand, roamed all over town reminiscing about what had happened through Midori’s diary. He was obviously very depressed as well.

As fate would have it, Midori finally found Seiji at her special fountain overlooking the city. She gathered up her courage and walked up to Seiji, who was really more surprised to see Midori then she would have thought. Took her a while to actually say it, but Seiji responded in kind with a smile. They really looked like they were about to embrace each other but it started to snow and they ended up looking at the falling snow instead.

Midori no Hibi Episode 13

“And they live happily ever after… The end…”

Well, at least it sure seemed that way 😛

Click here to get the entire set of Midori no Hibi DVDs

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