Episode review: Mnemosyne 02 (warning: contains spoilers)
Well, after a most… special first episode, I decided to give Mnemosyne another try and watched the second episode. At worst I would’ve stopped halfway and wasted ten minutes of my life, at best I would’ve been amused and written a stunning article about it. The truth is somewhere in the middle: not quite a waste of time, I certainly was amused, it was far from the best anime I’ve ever seen, and I’m going to write an amusing article about it. Which is what you’re reading now. Just in case you hadn’t noticed.
At this point I should also warn you that this bit is definitely going to contain spoilers, because, well, it can hardly be avoided; all the juicy parts are spoiler parts.
The episode picks up some time after where the first episode left off: Main character Rin and her assistant Mimi still have their detective agency, and Maeno has joined their agency as well; of course he only gets the smaller assignments like finding lost people and pets, because, well, quite frankly he wouldn’t be able to stand up to a geriatric pink spraydyed poodle if his life depended on it, let alone tackle the japanese Mafia.
Rin’s latest assignment at first seems to revolve around a missing stamp, a very rare one, while Maeno is busy finding a young girl’s lost brother, with the girl herself convinced that her brother flew out the window because he’s an angel.
Of course before Rin can accept her new assignment, there has to be some fan service in the form of lesbian touchy-touchy between the two ladies. Now this normally wouldn’t be such a problem, if not for the fact that, just like in last episode, Mimi still looks like a 12 year old.
The plot thickens when everybody involved with the stamp ends up hospitalized or dead. At this point Rin’s two talents also become quite clear again: her talent for being shot, burnt, blown up or stabbed – and her talent to revive from any injury.
At some point Maeno’s quest for the missing brother and Rin’s assignment cross over, as the missing brother seems to have a grudge against the same people Rin’s dealing with. And while Maeno is working hard trying to figure everything out, Rin is on the other side of town, obtaining her information while having sex with her female informant. Woo!
Near the end of the episode Rin’s mysterious talent is explained: both she –and little Mimi as well, which is as good an excuse for any 12-year-old girl to be not 12 but simply look like it- swallowed some spores from an enormous tree that most people seem unable to notice, and in turn have become immortal. Unfortunately, the missing angel has the same origin: when a male somebody swallows one of these spores, he becomes an Angel.
Episode review: Soul eater 1
Maka attends the Shinigami technical school for weapon meisters. She and her partner Soul need to collect 99 human souls and 1 witch soul in order for Soul to turn into a Death Scythe. In this episode they are about to catch the witch soul, but this witch is a clever one with several mischievous tricks on her sleeve. When they finally manage to take her soul, she reveals that she actually is a cat with a huge amount of magic power. This results for Maka and Soul to start all over again.
Since I couldn’t decide which screenie to post, here are some extras:
Episode review: Vampire knight 1
When Yuki was 5 years old, she was attacked by a vampire at night and saved by another. She was brought to
Episode review: Bus Gamer 2
Things continue with the first game and how the group manages to finish it. Then they leap forward in time and show the 6th game. The opponents have become tougher and of course it is mr. useless who gets in trouble again. This time he finally shows some skill though, in this case with electricity and he shoots a guy in the shoulder. After the completion of the 6th game, the high school kid goes to some arcade to play video games and happens to take on a female cop in an arcade fighting game. However after they were talking a bit outside, he sees his team mates and he waves enthusiastically, dropping the contents of his high school bag, with amongst them a gun. The three are taken to the police station.
Episode review: S. A 1
Hikari’s dad trained her to be a pro wrestler when she was just a little kid. She was able to beat everyone and her self confidence was over the top. That is until a boy from the same age named Kei defeated her with ease. Hikari decided that she would do anything to beat him. She even went to an elite school just so she could be in the same class as Kei. She manages to get in the top rank class of her school, which they call Special A. However she is still ranked number 2 and Kei doesn’t let an opportunity slide to rub this in, to Hikari’s dismay. Even though the two doesn’t seem to get along, they know when they have to set their differences aside and co-operate. Because when some regular students insult Hikari and try to steal the answers to tests in the school computer Kei and Hikari form an astonishing team to kick their behinds.
Manga: Aishiteruze Baby Vol. 2
Warning: This document contains spoilers!
Story: 8
In this volume Kippei continues to take care for Yuzuyu, however when he tries to combine that with starting a serious relationship with Kokoro, he forgets to make Yuzuyu lunch or to collect her from school. Yuzu feels that she has become a burden to Kippei and decides she is going to take care of herself from now on. She tries to walk home by herself but she ends up being lost.
The artwork stays of the same quality as volume 1. In my opinion Yoko Maki manages to get the emotions of the characters across to the reader. Further I don’t have anything to add in order not to repeat myself.
Yuzu gets a letter from her mother and therefore she is reminded how much she misses her. Now there is the chance that Yuzuyu has to share his attention with Kokoro, and Kippei keeps making mistakes in taking care for her, Yuzu feels she has become a burden. She wants to be a big girl so that Kippei doesn’t have to worry about her and can spend more time with Kokoro. However since she can’t make it home alone from school, she only ends up worrying Kippei and the others more.
This volume continues on the same level of quality then the previous one. I still enjoyed the story very much, however I liked the previous volume a tad better, and that is why I rated this one a bit lower. But it is still a great series and I’m looking forward to buy volume 3!
Episode review: xxxHolic Kei 1
Watanuki and Doumeki manage to anger a spider because they destroyed her web. This results in Doumeki’s eye being patched up with a spider’s web. Watanuki thinks it is his fault because he got stuck in it first and does something more terrible to the spider so that the grudge of the spider would avert to him. This works and Doumeki’s curse is lifted, however in return Watanuki’s right eye is now blind. Doumeki is angry at his turn and is trying to find a solution to cure Watanuki in the temple library.
I think this is going to be another intriguing season of a great series, so keeping this on my watchlist for sure!
Manga: Rozen Maiden vol.1
Story: 8
The first volume basically follows the same storyline as the anime. (Or the anime is true to the manga, but I watched the anime first) It focuses mainly on Shinku in this volume and it is the introduction to a strange story about dolls that have a mind of their own. This volume is only the beginning of things to come and there isn’t too much going on yet but it surely makes the reader curious because it does let on that there is much more going on then is revealed. In the last chapter of the volume Jun and Shinku are entering the N-field, a place where many worlds are connected, for the first time and it ends meeting the mysterious hare.
The artwork is very detailed and beautiful, particularly the characters. Costumes are also an aspect of attention. They use negative space on a frequent base, especially in the N-field. The background aren’t really detailed but since the foreground already is, using too detailed backgrounds would make things crowded to my opinion. All in all the manga is really eye-catching and there isn’t anything I could find that brings down the quality.
As stated before this volume is mainly focused on Shinku and Jun. The personality of Shinku is one like a lady that has high standards and peculiar wishes. She sees Jun as her servant but Jun is not amused and this causes many quarrels. Yet they as the volume progresses they start to care for each other. Even though they continue bickering, they also start to appreciate one another.
This is a must read for anyone who hasn’t watched the anime! The unique story and characters are one of a kind. There is a good mix between humor, cuteness, action and mystery and therefore appealing to a broad audience. Even if you have seen the anime already, it is still worth getting because it is really no punishment to read everything again. However don’t expect anything new, at least not in this volume.
Episode review: Hatenkou Yugi 2
The travelers get in trouble when a little kid who is chased by the police runs into Rahzel. They get all arrested since the police thinks the traveling party are helping the boy. In prison, which is famous for not letting their prisoners out ever again, the company finds out that the boy want to take revenge because the owner of the prisoner has executed his dad for no other reason then to make room for new prisoners. The party manages to break free of their cell and are trying to escape, dodging some cleverly set up pitfalls in the progress. They end up at the fighting arena and they of course have to fight their way out to survive.
Episode review: ToLoveRU - Trouble 1
The series starts off with an escape scene in space. Various space ships are pursuing a young girl who finally manages to escape to earth.
Rito is a shy boy who can’t seem to get to confess to the girl he likes because things like elephants are getting dropped on him. He is not very comfortable around girls to begin with. When he sits in the bathtub over thinking that day’s failure, out of nowhere a girl appears in his bath with him, naked of course. It seems that she is called Lala and the girls who we saw escape before. She explains Rito that she is being chased. Again out of nowhere Lala’s self made robot appears and she transforms in something for her to wear. It is not long after that her followers appear and Rito shows some courage to shoot a soccer ball in the faces of the guys.