Update

I'm sure everyone who has been reading this blog has noticed a lack of "daily updates". Well, the reason for that is that Dav is inactive for the time being, and me being busy managing my own anime website (to those who've missed the news, animeronin.blogsome.com is now vacated, and the new location is here.

Also, what I've feared happened. Not only has my dial-up connection being unstable, but the download speed is excruciatingly slow. As a result, what was supposed to be a blog-3-series-for-at-least-a-week has been reduced to about a series or two. I've downloaded the (only existing) Futakoi Alternative fansubbed episode, and is currently in the process of downloading Erementar Gerad (also subbed). I'm still waiting.

Well, this has been an update. Stay tuned!

Being at the Helm

With head blogger Dav going into inactivity due to her finals coming up, I'm now the only one left who'll be writing up on this blog.
Yes, I know some of you who've been visiting this blog long enough are itching for a blog update. Fortunately though, I have picked up a few titles this season that I might be able to give reviews of. Those on the list include Erementar Gerad, He is my Master and Ichigo 100%. (I'm sure some of the other blogger on Dav's blog list are already reviewing the latest episodes.)

Now if only my dial-up connection wouldn't go wacko on me...

Futakoi Alternative Episode 1: Croquettes, Helicopters, Underground Boxing and I

Opening Theme

New World by N.U.B. Be Yumi

Ending Theme

Bokura no Jikan by eufonius

(Yup, the same group who performed the ED for the previous Futakoi)

Summary:

We start out with an attack on an aircraft by a strange, white.. thing. Twins Lulu and Lala are set off to deter the thing from attacking them, while making their escape.
They end up at Futagotamagawa¹.

The next scene shifts to Nikoniko² Financiers, where the main male character, Rentarou Futaba, being held by the Sakurazuki Group, who own the company. A personal vendetta with Rentarou’s father³, which cost Zenji Sakurazuki (CEO of Nikoniko Financiers and gangster boss) his left arm, among other things, was the reason Rentarou is where he is now. He’s now awaiting punishment.

We’re then taken back two hours, where the reason for Rentarou’s current predicament came about. Kankurou Yamada (second-in-command of the Nikoniko Financiers) was entrusted by the CEO himself to take care of his pet bird, while the boss was traveling. Secretly though, he lets Rentarou take responsibility. Apparently, the boss owes Rentarou’s father a great deal of respect, so they consider Rentarou to follow in his father’s footsteps. Therefore, they refer to Rentarou as the nidaime⁴.
But when Kankurou finds out (Rentarou confessed on where the bird, Piko, is) that it’s been eaten by the pet cat he was holding, he was furious and dragged Rentarou for his punishment.

Meanwhile, the Shirogane sisters Sara and Soujo were elsewhere. Soujo was out buying from the local butcher shop, Sugisaku. The butcher shop owner comments on how three hundred yen is enough⁵ for three people (Sara, Soujo, and Rentarou), then comments that it’s a good thing he has "a cute girl" by his side. Soujo denies that, and said that it was her who wanted to help. As a bonus (and for Soujo’s cute decision), the butcher shop owner gives Soujo three extra croquettes. The reporter from the Nigodawa Television shows up, apparently to give an interview with the butcher shop owner. As she gets ready, though, her hands get burned in the process.

Next scene. We’re taken to the Futaba Detective Agency (where Rentarou’s father worked), where someone (Chinese? You could tell by his attire.) is now hiding from a bunch of thugs out to get him. Sara, "out of decency, sympathy, and all that jazz" agrees to help him escape. She then prepares the tools necessary for their escape, including some sort of brown box that she sets up on the bed, then a bunch of ropes in which they will tie in their waists. The guy (we then learn his name is Jun) protests at first, but after some "encouraging" from Sara, they jump out the window (of their office, two storeys high) then borrow one of Gen (apparently he lent his scooter to them), and set off to escape.
The thugs successfully barge in and search the place, when one of them discovers a "strange noise" coming from the box placed earlier.

A zoom later, they were surprised when they found out it was a "self destruct device", and the place blows up in smoke.
The loud noise and the smoke were then observed from a nearby police station, where two patrol officers, were stationed.

A quick scene shift to Sara and Jun, who were now on the run from the members of the Sakurazuki Gang (what, you didn’t know the ones who barged through the office were a couple of ordinary thugs?).

Back on the shop, the reporter takes notice of Soujo, and asks permission from her boss through the phone to ask for an interview with Soujo. The butcher shop owner, Michiru, apologizes to Soujo for getting her hands in bandages, and asks for her to help with shop operations. She gladly accepts, and we now see Soujo’s lightning fast movements as she prepares a few croquettes, just to give it a try. The reporter and staff taste-tests it, and we witness a scene that jogs my memory of Cooking Master Boy.

Back to Sara and Jun. Sara’s trying to contact Rentarou through his cellphone, but he
can’t answer it, given his current situation. The Sakurazuki gang members (now on their car) are in hot pursuit of the two, and have closely tailed them.
They pass by the police station, where another police officer, Hariama Nishimori, gives to go signal on going after them. The Sakurazuki gang members are now dead set on destroying the scooter, while Sara is still frustrated on Rentarou not answering the cellphone.
She then decides to contact Soujo, who still busy tending to the rush of customers of the butcher shop in Michiru’s place, and activates the turbo function of the scooter blasting her way ahead of the car.

We’re now taken to the K1⁶ ring, where Rentarou will be taking the "punishment". The catch: Beat the huge muscle head opponent, or else.

Shift scene to Soujo’s success in making croquettes, and you can tell by the lengthy line that stretches blocks away. The reporter is now talking about the "limited time only" croquettes. Even Michiru and Gen are witnessing this huge crowd of customers.

The police officers (actually, it's only the two officers from the station) have set up a barricade, for Sara and the Sakurazuki gang members. Seeing that halting is impossible, Sara and Jun now try to boost their way past the barricade, while the gang members collide on the barricade, with several cars behind them suffering the same fate.
Soujo and Rentarou still can’t be contacted, since they’re busy with their current situation (Good in Soujo’s; bad in Rentarou’s).

Back to Rentarou. We learn further that the match was about the Piko affair, and that this will be treated as some sort of "cruel reward". Zenji then instructs Rentarou to give the opponent "the middle finger" (with the gloves on) so that fight will be finished quickly. Rentarou already has a bad feeling about this, and has to disagree, but he can’t.

Shift to Sara’s condition. Looks like the Sakurazuki Gang now have motorcycle accomplices, making it harder for the two to escape. Sara and Jun now try to find Rentarou through GPS.

Back to Rentarou, again. He’s now going to use "the finger" against his opponent, and it made the guy rather pissed of, barraging Rentarou with punches.

Sara passes by the butcher shop, noticing the long, thick line. The gust of wind then follows, apparently caused by Sara using the Boost function (again), causing everyone’s clothes to fly up. We then now know that Sara’s being chased by a helicopter this time (owned by the Sakurazuki Gang, of course). The reporter goes after the chase, with Soujo coming, of course.
Now we see Sara, kicking up on after burn, getting blown up by the helicopter, but later we see that she wasn’t.

With the action is still on, we learn about what makes Rentarou great in Sara’s and Soujo’s eyes.

While they were talking, we see Rentarou finally beating the big guy (his opponent) with an uppercut. This leads to the Sakurazuki Gang losing their twenty million yen bet.
The helicopter reaches the kickboxing arena, where the two police officers are waiting... with some "heavy artillery". (Able to blow up a helicopter with a single bullet?)
Sara and Soujo have now reached the kickboxing ring.

Back to Rentarou. Now we see that his victory has a pretty bad consequence, with Rentarou now begging for mercy, while the gang now executes him. However, it was foiled with Sara and Soujo now arriving at the scene. Also, we get to see a rare standoff: three men pointing guns at each other‘s heads.
Sara’s not happy with Rentarou not answering her call, and reprimands him good. Soujo catches up to the pair later, and Rentarou treats both of them (and himself) with some good ol’ croquettes.

They’re now back in the Private Detective Office, which is now in shambles (thanks to the self-destruct device Sara planted earlier to escape). The three are cleaning up the place. After that we get to witness fellow anime blogger Stripey’s patent pending 2NNJ theorem:

2 girls, 1 hug.

No jealousy.

No catfights.

Just a pure Rentaro (or insert protagonist name)-centric love.

Analysis:

When I first heard about the series from Matthew’s Anime Blog, I became skeptic.
"An alternative, eh? I have to see this."
Then I watched the first episode to answer some speculations I had in my mind about it, and to say I was surprised is an understatement.
The new animation team, ufotable, sure worked their butts out to create such fluidity in the movements of the various "objects", for a lack of a better term, in the series.

Fast-paced action!

Intense scene shifts!

All pack this in 1 episode at a time!

And the returning cast who voiced the same characters in the previous Futakoi (except for the main male lead) have shown me that they can talk while the characters they voice are in rapid action.

A few question that I had to raise, though:

1. In Episode 1, doesn’t that guy, Sakurazuki Gang Second-in-Command Yamada Kankurou, look like one of the main characters from Getbackers? Was it Ban? I forgot who. (The spiked black hairstyle and glasses were some sort of clue.)
2. Is it just me, or is the fanservice in this show part of its appeal, aside from seeing some of the twins in action?
3. Does it make your wonder why they have to wear their school uniforms throughout the show, knowing well that it’ll get torn and blown off during those swift paced action scenes?

ufotable have outdone themselves up to this point, but seeing the first episode isn’t enough to judge the show. I have to see the succeeding episodes before I can pass final judgment.

¹Futagotamagawa literally means Twin-Egg-River, because "out of ten people, more than half are twins".
²nikoniko means "smile", but that’s not the case in this company. It means whatever debt you owe the company, you have to pay it twofold, thus the company name.
³We don’t get to know his name until the next episode.
⁴means "the successor" or "the second"
⁵Food in Japan is more costly than what most people think.
⁶K1 is another term for kickboxing.

Aloha!: Introductory Post

Hello, everyone! This is Hyosetsu co-blogger and self-proclaimed "Japanimation specialist", Ronin AnimeLover. First off, I'd like to thank Dav(Leni, got your invitation. Thanks.) for letting me co-host her blog here at Hyousetsu.

Now, I know some of you do not know me, because I haven't been around online for quite a while. I jumped into the anime craze way back in 1998, watching local dubs on 2 well-known TV companies. They include Slam Dunk, Yuu Yuu Hakusho(aka Ghostfighter), Dragonball Z, and Hajime no Ippo. Since a lot of the shows are mostly of the sports and action genre, I was hooked. Since then, I began hunting around channels, both local and international. Find nothing, then I'm off to go download online.

My personal favorites? I guess some of you will be surprised when I say that I favor mostly romantic comedies. Yeah, it shows how single I am. :P

From time to time, I'll be giving my personal opinions on several anime shows I'll be watching, both old and new. Oh, and be sure to check out my own anime weblog.

Until then!

Sakura Taisen OVA 4 Le Nouveau Paris Episode 1

Japanese Title: 一夜限りのサーカス (Ichiya Kagiri no Saakasu)
French Title: Cirque d'une seule nuit
English Translation: One-night-only Circus
Release Date: 20 October 2004


Brief Episode Summary
At the prelude, a group of mafia-like gangsters under the control of someone named Don Giovanni broke Tournelle-hakushaku (Count Tournelle) out of prison. Their motives are still unknown, but it was stated by one of the thugs that Don Giovanni had requested a meeting.

After a Christmas performance at Chattes Noires, the scene started off with Glycine and Lobelia arguing (as usual =p) about who would be the new captain of the Paris Kagekidan while Erica oblivious to the whole commotion, stuffed herself full of éclairs ^^;;;. Ever since the day their previous captain, Ogami Ichirou returned to Teito, the girls were left without a leader, and thus were debating among themselves on who had the right to lead the squad. However, their disputes were interrupted when their commander, Grand Mére, informed them that grave robbers had been raiding the city cemetery, and the girls were assigned to investigate the affected area. While patrolling the cemetery, Coquelicot suggested to Hanabi that they should pay Hanabi’s deceased fiancé, Phillipe a visit. It was there that they unexpectedly met Kitaoji Masamichi-danshaku (Baron Kitaoji), Hanabi’s father, who was paying his respects to Phillipe. Afraid that the secrets of the Paris Kagekidan and Chattes Noires would be revealed to Kitaoiji-danshaku, Hanabi with the help of Coquelicot managed to make up a fib and persuade her father that they are part of a circus troupe (note that the word “Kagekidan” can either mean “Assault Squad” or “Entertainment Troupe”).

The girls decided to put on a performance at the circus the next day, hoping to convince Kitaoji-danshaku and also prevent him from discovering the truth about his daughter’s affiliation with the organization responsible for the defense of Paris. Unfortunately halfway through Hanabi’s archery feat, a demon (raised to life by Tournelle-hakushaku) invaded the circus and captured Hanabi’s father. However, with the assistance of her comrades, Hanabi succeeded in rescuing him and defeating the demon. In the end, it was found out that Kitaoji-danshaku’s initial purpose of visiting Paris was to bring his daughter back to Japan, but after witnessing that Hanabi is happy with her friends (and her duties to Paris), he decided to let her stay. The episode finished with Hanabi performing her theme song from Sakura Taisen 3, “Kokoro no Kasa wa” (The Umbrella of My Heart), at Chattes Noires (PS. I looooooove Takamori Yoshino’s singing voice! ~^^~).


Review
A great filler arc in between Sakura Taisen 3 and 4! I’m surprised this series kinda followed well from where Sakura Taisen 3 left off. And the first episode is definitely one of the funniest out of all the OVAs I’ve watched so far. It’s unusual to see Hanabi so fidgety when she’s usually very calm and collected. She actually stuttered and sighed in an overly embarrassed way many, many times. Hehehe..... Nice to see her like this. It’s quite a rare treat really =p! Apart from Hanabi, the others were crazy as well. Erica..... Well..... That’s normal for her anyway =p. But for Glycine and Lobelia, it’s slightly different. Sure, they antagonize each other a lot of times in the games, but it is in the OVAs (especially this episode) that their spats truly amuse me to no end. This is one of the more hilarious scenes where Erica, Glycine and Lobelia met up with Hanabi, Coquelicot and coincidentally Kitaoji-danshaku in the cemetery.
Erica: Ja jan! Paris Kagekidan has arrived once again!
Lobelia: Give it up, you grave robber!
Kitaoji-danshaku: Paris..... Kagekidan?
Glycine: Wait..... This gentleman looks very familiar.
Erica: Glycine-san, you know this grave robber? Erica is shocked!
Lobelia: I'm reconsidering my opinions of you, Glycine.
Glycine: That’s not it! This gentleman..... That’s right, he’s Kitaoji Masamichi-danshaku. Hanabi’s father!
Erica: EEEEH?! Hanabi-san’s father is a grave robber?! Erica is very shocked!!
Lobelia: Is that so? I'm reconsidering my opinions of you, Hanabi.
Glycine: WILL YOU TWO QUIT IT!!

Voice-acting is amazing as expected since the main characters’ seiyuus are all veterans. I have to commend especially Inoue Kikuko’s role as Lobelia Carlini in the Sakura Taisen series. Many of us may be familiar with Inoue’s kind motherly voice as Belldandy (Aa! Megami-sama), Tendou Kasumi (Ranma ½), Suzuhara Shuuko (Kidou Tenshi Angelic Layer) and Hibiya Chitose (Chobits). Here in Sakura Taisen, she manipulated her voice in such a way that it perfectly fits the menacing role of the devil of Paris, Lobelia. If you listened to her for the first time, it’s highly likely that you would never have guessed that it was Inoue who’s acting, because her voice in Sakura Taisen sounds the polar opposite from that of say..... Goddess Belldandy ^^. Credit goes to Shimazu Saeko too whose voice perfectly complements Glycine Bleumer’s personality. It seems Shimazu’s deep voice favorably suits arrogant characters. She has voiced the likes of Kuno Kodachi (Ranma ½) and Miz Mistral (El Hazard), so it’s no surprise that she’s able to handle Glycine so well.

Music is excellent considering that Tanaka Kouhei is the one responsible for composing the songs and background music. He’s one of the few composers whose works always manage to astonish me in a way that I keep on listening to them over and over again without getting bored ^^;. Animation by Radix is brilliant as well, although we have yet to see the 3D mecha battles. Really looking forward to those ^^! Well, I’ve always been a huge fan of Sakura Taisen, so there’s no way I would skip out on watching any of their series.