Don KangolJones’ Images of the Week: August 8th (Much love for Muv-Luv)

I enjoy a good mecha production as much as the next Gundam loving, Eva worshipping, Gurren-Lagann inspired guy. So when someone like me gets to enjoy 4 currently airing mecha or mecha inspired series, as well as some good old school Macross, I will say that I’m greatly aware and a time like this awed at the diversity and quantity that is at my disposal. And yet I still have the nerve to pick up a mahou shoujo and read pervy manga. I guess I’ll never be truly satisfied.

Anime Images of the Week

I told myself that I was gonna give a new series a shot in the absence of Eureka Seven Astral Ocean.  And while I thought it was gonna be Dog Days, a fluke ended up having me choose Muv-Luv and giving it a mini marathon, watching 6 episodes in two days (believe me, that’s a lot for me these days). I wasn’t gonna be too surprised by what I saw in the first couple of episodes. It’s been well documented and well discussed what happens, and mentions and discussions about a series called Gai-Rei Zero are even more of a giveaway. That said, I really enjoyed the what I’ve seen so far. The early half doing a hell of a job world-building and setting the tone. The following episodes doing a pretty good job of setting up a almost Macross Plus style of competitive tension between the squad of test pilots.

My only gripes seem to come when the show gets less serious and the goofy, sometimes out of place anime tropes pop up. I fully understand that these things will pop up from time to time, but I have no desire to harem elements creep their way into this show. Though I will say the racial and national stereotypes are hilarious at times. I just wish someone could get the chick from Nepal to shut the f*ck up, and get the lesbian Russian couple to pull the sticks out their asses.

Gundam AGE has, in my opinion, fully turned itself around after the festival of subpar storytelling that was the Second Moon arc.  But Kio will never be the same. While it can be said that he was almost a personality-less puppet of Flit Asuno, it was still better than his stubborn and mindless and persistent passion for pacifism that her personally pines over (say that three times fast with bubble gum I your mouth and try not to choke). And unfortunately they used and dumped a pretty cool character, Girard Spriggan, in classic quick AGE fashion. My hope at this point is,that the action keeps up, while the lectures characters are insistent on pushing upon each other goes down. Fat chance though, that’s not how Gundam works.

I suppose people will say that the plot for Rinne no Lagrange hasn’t budged since the show restarted for season two five episodes ago.  And they’d be right.  While season 2 up until this point has revolved around the characters reconnecting with every one and everything, the seventeenth episode of the series finally got things moving with a little deception and a lot of body switching. While I wanted to believe that Moid was the one possibly pushing Le Garite’s aggressive policies and experiments, it has been very clear this season that King Dizelmine is viciously intent on solving his nations problems no matter the sacrifice, friend, foe or even family. I want to see this show get dark like all the other ones, but it looks like the goal of the show is to get Madoka, and her home of Kamogawa to bridge the gap between these two feuding, warring nations and make everyone perfectly happy.  I just know I’m gonna be disgusted with this show when it’s over, but I keep watching.

I also decided to give Superior Defender Gundam Force a shot, because I like punishment.  Nah!  Actually because it’s the Gundam show I can use to brainwash my son into thinking Gundam is awesome at his age.  Plus Bakunetsumaru is pretty awesome.  And I picked up Mai-Otome because I just have a thing for brutal mahou shoujo series.  And honestly, the show looks pretty fun.

Manga Images of the Week

Big 3 time!  Well, actually Big 2.  I believe Kubo was out sick this week or something.  So no Bleach.  And I was just praising the show, too.

It’s a fact that’s been proven over and over again for antagonists in the Naruto series.  If your main technique is exposed, then you’re dead.  Dead.  Dead.  Dead.  There are exceptions.  It seems the Uchihas never stop pulling new jutsu out of their butts.  But there has to be a limit that crap, even for Tobi himself.  Yeah.  I believe somehow, someway he’s a true Uchiha.  But it will be the end of the line for him.  With Naruto, Kakashi, Bushy Brows Senior and Killer Bee hammering away at him, at with his main technique exposed at the hands of Kakashi (who else in that group is smart enough to figure it out)?), he’ll be getting it in the end.  Then again, there’s always the questions of Sasuke and Madara Uchiha running around unchecked and unaccounted for that could end up making this conversation obsolete.  As for One Piece, I’m still not enamored in the storyline.  I get more excited when I see actual pirates and marines squaring off, as opposed to everyone running around screaming from a cloud of flammable, noxious, evil fart.  Yeah, as far as I’m concerned that thing is just a magical fart.  Go figure.

Then there are the shows outside of the Big 3 that I’m enjoying.  I don’t know if I’ll be consistently microblogging the Fairy Tail manga, but it’s damn fun right now.  And I have just NO interest in the anime at the moment.  Nothing worse than when your show is mired in filler and setup for the really big events.  But the dragonslayer duel between Natsu and Gajeel versus their newer counterparts could be “best of the year” material if it doesn’t end too soon.  And I hope they keep turning out scanlations of Team Medical Dragon at the pace they’ve been doing for awhile now.  Once a week is more than fine by me.  Especially considering the waits I’ve been forced to endure before.

Oh and I almost forgot.  I’m reading Claymore again.  It’s nice to see Clare return with another epic battle on the horizon.  The reunion between her Raaki has been a long time coming, and it almost makes me forget the bullsh*t that was the end of the Claymore anime.  Grudges written in blood don’t end that easily.  But now I’m left wondering how much time is left for another manga I’ve greatly enjoyed.  With the reunion of so many Claymore; a gathering of so many top Awakened Ones; the destruction of the Organization; you have to wonder how much is left.  Will the Claymore finally mobilize after this next battle to fight the enemy across the sea?  Or will that enemy come to them?

Pervy Images of the Week

I’m getting material from all sorts of differnt sources and genres this week.  Not just my beloved pervy manga.  I got boobs from Claymore (granted, you don’t ever want to touch those, let alone suck), butts and boobs from Muv-Luv, and from Gundam AGE… nothing.  It is a kids’ show after all.  We couldn’t even get a naked character in a scene that’s guaranteed such things for thirty years!  A Newtype death scene in space!  Screw the tears of time!  These tear were just from absolute disappointment.  Screw you AGE!

No need to worry though, the old standbys pickup the slack.  From Yuria 100 Shiki’s idiocy (apparently sticking the tip of your penis inside a woman doesn’t count as cheating), to Nana to Kaoru’s need to force everything towards a mutual anal conclusion (don’t ask, just read for yourself), I could have done five collages for this subject.  I’m just disappointed that I missed a chance to read My Lovely Ghost Kana this week.  Oh well, maybe next week.  Along with some Honeymoon Salad to keep things nice and mature and classy.