Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Tsubasa: RESEVoir CHRoNiCLE Vol 14 (Ch 103-105) *SPOILERS*

Tsubasa: RESEVoir CHRoNiCLE Vol 14 (Ch 103-105) *SPOILERS*

Thanks to BWYS for the scans.

Chapter 103

Syaoran and company flee from the massive attack from creatures since as Fai acknowledges this is faster than fighting. They race to the goal of Sakura's feather and suddenly they find themselves in Clow Country, where Syaoran and Sakura are from. Fai realizes that they are in a memory from the Book of Memories based on his magical experience. Kurogane grills Fai a bit on using his "magic" which Fai says is focus on unnecessary things. The group comes to the ruins and Sakura tells the story of Syaoran's father and her trips to the ruins which irritated her brother. However, she cannot remember why she kept going to the ruins (Syaoran).

As they walk, Fai finds what appears to be a type of pocket watch at a bench which triggers a memory within Syaoran. He recalls Sakura bringing him food to the ruins and sitting at that bench. The watch is there and turned such a way that Sakura can claim not to know the time and stay a little longer.

Back in the present, Fai figures that the watch is there from Sakura's memory since it made such a strong impression on her. They walk down some stairs to a large room where a wing (tsubasa) emblem is on the floor and Mokona can feel the feather's power. It is then that the floor begins to give way.

Chapter 104

With the floor gone revealing a large, black hole, Fai asks Sakura-chan if she remembers what's down there. She doesn't but Mokona can feel the feather's power from the hole. Syaoran volunteers to go down the hold and Sakura-chan wonders why he feels the need to go to such an extent to get the feather back. Even though the person that slew his mother isn't on this world, Kurogane agrees to help Syaoran under the guise of getting them to the next world. As the two leap into the hole, Mokona encourages Sakura to be there waiting for them when they return.

Syaoran finds himself standing on ground even though he never hit the ground. He finds the Book of Memories but finds the library's guardians waiting for him. A battle ensues and Syaoran tries to get the feather without harming the guardian. Kurogane chastises him for this since he can't defeat the guardian with defensive moves, but it is too late as the guardian knocks Syaoran out. However, Syaoran gets up as a man possessed leading Kurogane to wonder.

Chapter 105

The seemingly possessed Syaoran attacks the guardian with no seeming regard to himself. His attacks are vicious and the giant guardian beast is utterly defeated. As Kurogane observes, Syaoran breaks the book and takes the feather. It is then that Kurogane asks who the boy really is. The illusion is broken and as it is, Syaoran returns to normal and puts the feather within Sakura-chan. Since people from the library are on their way, Mokona plans to evacuate them to the next world, but cannot activate the magic. Fai reasons that this is a defense of the library to prevent the book from being stolen.

The group takes off to attempt to get to a place where Mokona can transport them off world but another guardian is waiting for them in the library.

Thoughts:

The possessed Syaoran is certainly very vicious and cold. Its kinda creepy and makes you wonder where CLAMP will take this. The return to the ruins via Sakura-chan's memories is interesting since I believe that a hidden power under the ruins has been mentioned before. Other than that, there's not a lot to mention since 104 and 105 are filled with a lot of shounen action.

What I'm Watching 11

What I'm Watching 11

As an aside, I had planned to keep the "What I'm Watching" entries to a paragraph summary and some thoughts. However, sometimes that's easier said than done, so it will be a 2-3 paragraph summary with thoughts. Having said that...

Genshiken OAV 1 (Ep. 13) -- Its the time of year for new kids to join college clubs and Sasahara and Madarame discuss whether Saki-san will allow new folks to join. Kuchiki arrives (having been rejected by Saki-san last year) and looks for a game rematch. When Saki arrives with Kohsaka, she calls him "Ku-chii," something no one in the anime club will do but something he wants very much. After initially appearing to reject him becoming a member of Genshiken, she allows it much to Sasahara's and Madarame's great surprise. Things are interrupted when a commotion across the courtyard at the manga club where the group sees a girl leap backward from the club window and injure herself.

The next day, manga club member Takayanagi-kun comes with the girl. While Genshiken knows the manga club is pawning her off, they decide to giver her a look. The girl, Ogiue, introduces herself, states she hates otaku (especially female otaku), and asks why female otaku like homos so much (yes, she says "homos" in the Japanese). She attempts to pick a fight with Saki-san and then Kuchiki. Kuchiki hits her, provoking the wrath of Saki-san. The following day, Ohno sets a trap for Ogiue by leaving a vast amount of yaoi doujinshi on the table. While she and others spy on Ogiue, hoping to catch her enjoying said doujinshi, Saki-san comes into the club room and foils the plan. Ohno returns to the Genshiken room after a call from Saki-san and she and Ogiue get into an argument over yaoi doujinshi and getting off to it. The confrontation ends when Kuchiki comes and outs Ogiue, having taken pictures of her at a yaoi otaku event. This leads to another punch out of Kuchiki by Saki-san, after which she attempt so keep Ogiue from jumping out the window.

Thoughts: I was reminded of how much I love the manga Genshiken as I watched this. The anime writers didn't try to do anything fancy and as such did a good job of adapting the manga chapters into this OAV episode. It was interesting to see that the Japanese used the terms "homo" and "homos" which Del Rey made more politically correct by changing to "queer" and "queers." The politically correct version is less funny IMO.

Genshiken OAV 2 (Ep. 14) -- Saki gets Ogiue to come with her and with Saki's "normal" friends, they discuss fashion in the cafeteria. Madarame happens to be in the area and even though Saki waves at him, he ignores her. This leads to an argument in the Genshiken club room where Madarame tells her she's from another planet and that dating Kohasaka (whom he also says is from another world) doesn't change anything. Its then that Saki notices Madarame's new rectangle glasses and finds them amusing. She then goes to lecture on fashion, which leads Madarame to a trip to buy some new clothes. He goes into a trendy shop but is quickly intimidated and flees to an arcade. After recovering a bit, he returns and notices the high prices for everything. Normally he only spends about ¥2000 on clothes, but here, that won't buy him a sock. Eventually, he decides to approach this as he would purchasing otaku things -- don't worry about price, just buy what you want.

Returning home, he runs into Saki with more of her normal friends. Learning from his previous error, he goes out of his way to speak to her. She seems offended at first, but introduces him as her boyfriend's friend. They recognize him as otaku and since they were parting company anyway, Saki decides to return home with Madarame. Before going to the train station, they stop as a sushi bar and have a lengthy talk about things including the fact that Saki has been playing more games at Kohsaka's place. On the train ride home, Madarame offers an empty seat to Saki, but she turns it down, telling him to offer her the seat is just like an otaku. He takes the seat. When the get to the train station, Kohsaka is waiting for them and wishes he could have partaken in the sushi feast. At school the next day, Madarame wears his new digs and gets approval from Saki over his choices. Ogiue also arrives with new clothes, which do not meet Saki's approval.

Thoughts: This was a bit boring since the anime writers put in a lot of filler into this episode. They changed things up to give Saki's "normal" friends some airtime, something they haven't had in the manga that I've read thus far. And the anime writers changed the sushi bar scene a bit so that Madarame isn't shown to be worrying about getting the cheap sushi. We see him just pick stuff from the conveyor belt and Saki order expensive stuff, but the conversation and Madarame's thoughts never broach the subject of sushi. Still, I enjoyed the episode just the same.

Pumpkin Scissors 13 -- In the country of Loderia, young Princess Septième is made aware of a smuggler (from Loderia) that the Imperial Army S.S. III captured and that this is "Alice-chan's" unit. So she and her elderly butler decide to pop into the Imperial capital to pay a visit. Section III is notified of this and Alice tells what she knows of the princess. At the train station, Princess Septième looks for a hot dog stand she remembered from her last visit but sadly it is no longer there. At the same time, Ored and Machs (having a day off) have been looking for the same hot dog stand with no success. Ored has other plans and takes off with a girl "Rosana-chan" on the motorbike with sidecar leaving Machs' to fend for himself.

Machs is in the restroom when Septième comes in through the window. She is haughty and arrogant as she talks about Machs being a commoner. She introduces herself but Machs doesn't believe her to be a real princess. As her butler looks for her, Septième gets hungry and Machs suggests a hot dog. Septième really wants the hot dog from the same vendor as Machs, so off to the tax records office they go to find out what happened. Machs doesn't try to pull rank but Septième does. They get the information because the head of the office knows Machs and approves. The search leads them to a bad part of town where Septième tells of the hardships of the competition between her siblings and herself over who will rule Loderia next, which includes attempted assassinations. They find the vendor and because of the costs, Septième tries to use the vendors lack of paying taxes to get a free meal. She's chastised by Machs and flees to an even worse part of town.

Meanwhile, Septième's butler is at the Section III office and with the threat of a diplomatic incident, Alice, Stekkin, and the butler get into the Section III armored car and take off, having learned where Septième is. Septième is assaulted by residents of this bad part of town and Machs comes to the rescue. He uses his military training to get her free just as Alice and company arrive. Back at HQ, Machs is stunned that Septième is really a princess and as her butler attempts to get the smuggler free, Septième decides to leave him in Section III's hands. She then kisses Machs passionately on the lips and demands that Machs be made available to her every time she visits the city in exchange for Section III being allowed to keep the smuggler. On the train ride back to their home, Septième and her butler have a talk where he comes to realize that Septième has come a long way beyond the petty using of others.

Thoughts: I rather enjoyed this episode for some reason. Yeah, it is somewhat clichéd, but I liked Machs using his military training and how Septième fell for this commoner. It was just a fun episode.

Inuyasha Vol 48 (Ch 469-472) *SPOILERS*

Inuyasha Vol 48 (Ch 469-472) *SPOILERS*

Thanks to Freelance for the scans.

Chapter 469

Since Rin appears to be dead, Sesshoumaru tells Kohaku to put her down. Sesshoumaru drawn Tenseiga to bring her back to life, but he cannot see the imps known as "the pallbearers of the afterlife." Outside of hell, Sesshoumaru's mother, who's observing everything, tells Jaken that Rin is in fact dead. Back in hell, Sesshoumaru is bothered by Rin's death and quietly asks Tenseiga why. Kohaku tries to apologize but is cut off by Sesshoumaru. Sesshoumaru quietly reflects that he didn't have to bring her with him when he raised her from the dead after they first met.

In hell, the darkness grows and washes over them. Rin's body is removed, leading Sesshoumaru and Kohaku to go deeper into hell. Sesshoumaru's mother observes this and Jaken gets very concerned about Sesshoumaru. Sesshoumaru's mother tells the little youkai that she would regret losing her son while he studies his sword, and so opens a path to him. She tells Sesshoumaru to come out of hell since he won't be able to leave if he continues on his path. Sesshoumaru tells Kohaku to take the path while he follows Rin scent. Kohaku decides to follow Sesshoumaru and these events annoy Sesshoumaru's mother.

Kohaku notices the stench of rotting flesh which Sesshoumaru identifies as the scent of death. A giant, slimy, humanoid shape is carrying Rin and drops her on a mountain of corpses. It is then that Sesshoumaru becomes firm in his desire to bring Rin back.

Chapter 470

In an attempt to save Rin, Sesshoumaru uses Tenseiga to cut off the arm of the "Master of Hell" -- the giant, slimy humanoid shape. With the arm gone, Rin falls to the mountain of corpses but is caught by Sesshoumaru. On "the surface," Sesshoumaru's mother continues to observe the events in hell and reminds Jaken that Sesshoumaru has already resurrected Rin once before. As such, he cannot do so again with Tenseiga. In hell, Sesshoumaru is realizing that Rin cannot be saved and drops Tenseiga, which pierces the ground. Sesshoumaru's mother observes this as Sesshoumaru grieves over the loss of Rin, deciding that Rin's life was more important that mastering Tenseiga.

Tenseiga begins to react and the mountain of corpses tries to move toward Tenseiga. Sesshoumaru grabs Tenseiga and the dead in hell begin to be purified by the sword. A meidou is opened from inside hell and from it, Sesshoumaru emerges with the body of Rin as Kohaku follows.

Chapter 471

As Jaken and Kohaku observe the body of Rin, Sesshoumaru's mother observes her son's upset countenance and reminds him that he did what he came to do. Sesshoumaru notes that she knew this would happen to Rin, leading his mother to explain the limitations of the resurrection powers of Tenseiga. He cannot save life as many time as he wants and she reminds him he is not a god. He had to learn the lesson that he must feel sadness or fear of losing someone close to him. He must understand life and have a compassionate heart when dispatching his enemies.

Jaken tears up at the knowledge that Rin had to die in order for Sesshoumaru to have a compassionate heart. Sesshoumaru's mother notices him crying, and he states that because Sesshoumaru-sama cannot show tears due to his disposition, Jaken will in his stead. Asking if Sesshoumaru is sad, his mother takes the meidou stone necklace off and places it on Rin. With it, she brings Rin back to life.

Rin opens her eyes and Sesshoumaru gently touches her face, telling her she's OK now. Jaken expresses Sesshoumaru's thanks and states that Sesshoumaru is extremely happy. Sesshoumaru's mother notes how like his father Sesshoumaru has become. Sesshoumaru then leaves with Rin and Kohaku follows. Sesshoumaru's mother stops him, asking how he was able to survive hell. He explains it is the Shikon shard. Understanding this, Sesshoumaru's mother tells him that his life cannot be saved by Tenseiga either.

Elsewhere, Inuyasha's group comes on a village surrounded by sweet smelling flowers. The flowers are making Shippou-chan and Inuyasha feel ill, but the villagers encourage the group to spend the night. In the house set up for travelers, the group takes residence with Inuyasha mildly complaining. Sango is surprised that Kagome hasn't grown weary of this, but Kagome knows that Inuyasha is still grieving for Kikyou. Meanwhile, the villagers report to "Kaou-sama" that the travelers are in the lodge, which he notes the scent of a wounded soul.

Chapter 472

As the group sleeps, Inuyasha becomes a bit irritated with the stronger scent of the flowers. Kagome awakens and tries to encourage him to lie down since he hasn't had a good sleep in a long time. Shippou-chan awakens with hay fever symptoms and Kagome has him blow his nose. Meanwhile, as some villagers make their way through the flowers, Kagome and Inuyasha observe the villagers acting strangely as they begin to cry tears of blood while vines attach themselves to the villagers. Miroku awakens and decides to end this by flinging fuda strips into the flowers. This causes ground to be revealed, which is shaped like various human bodies.

Kaou appears and states this is a flower nursery. Kaou asks the villagers that Miroku saved if they were OK since they were forced to experience something horrible (Miroku's fuda). The villagers say they are OK but express concern for those who became soil. Inuyasha demands to know if Kaou is a youkai, but Miroku doesn't sense any youki and Kaou asks Inuyasha if he senses youki. Kaou goes on to say that they must be sensing contentment. With that, the smell of the flowers gets strong and Inuyasha warns them not to smell the scent. Sango passes out and Kaou notes her unhappiness over Kohaku.

As Miroku holds Sango, vines approach them and he dispatches them with a fuda. Kaou notes that the Houshi-dono (a title for Miroku) is worried about his body and may be afraid of death. Kaou tells Miroku to entrust his body to the flowers and become happy. This causes Inuyasha to unleash Tessaiga and a Kaze no Kizu attack. This wipes out the flowers and Kaou disappears, leaving only a small amount of blood behind. Inuyasha decides to follow the blood scent and Kagome decides to go with him. He objects, but Miroku informs him that Kaou is using peoples suffering as food. Inuyasha takes off anyway, so Miroku gives Kagome a warding talisman so she can follow Inuyasha.

Inuyasha and Kagome come to the Japanese castle, where the grounds are covered in flowers. Kaou is waiting for them, having left blood on purpose for them to come to him. Beneath Inuyasha, the flowers become red like blood and Inuyasha finds he can't move.

Thoughts

The Sesshoumaru story was really enjoyable. He really does love Rin like a daughter and it was nice to let us see this. It was a shame that we never learned his mother's name though. I did fear that Takahashi-sensei was going to kill Rin since it feels like she's getting ready to wrap up this manga this year. I was glad to see that she didn't do this though.

As to the new story-arc for Inuyasha to follow, I guess this will resolve Inuyasha's depression. It feels like another so-so story though at this point.

Negima! Vol 18 (Ch 165) *SPOILERS*

Negima! Vol 18 (Ch 165) *SPOILERS*

Thanks to AQS for the scans.

Chapter 165

Nodoka comes to the confessional where Misora and Cocone are. She confesses that she knows Yue likes the same person she does (Negi). Nodoka goes on to state how she's afraid of her own heart. She had told Yue that they should remain friends and try their best. Nodoka had decided that she's be OK with Yue going out with Negi. Misora asks if this is how Nodoka truly feels. However, in the aftermath of the battle with Chao-san, Nodoka seeing Yue talking with Negi caused her to feel something negative in her heart, something she refers to as jealousy. Nodoka continues by stating that Yue is her best friend, yet the dark feeling within her won't go away even if she wishes it. This is what scares her -- having something dark within her.

This causes Misora to lose it briefly, calling Nodoka by her nickname "Honya-chan" (honya is Japanese for bookstore) and asks if she's still in elementary school. Nodoka asks if the priest just said "Honya-chan" but Misora recovers and says no. She goes on to tell Nodoka that it would be unnatrual not to feel the way Nodoka feels. She advises Nodoka not to be afraid of her dark feelings, but be aware of the fear itself. She continues, telling Nodoka not to lose herself in those dark feelings, but not to surpress them. As long as she continues thinking considerate thoughts toward Yue, she'll be OK.

Leaving the church, Nodoka consults her book artifact and sees a proposed solution to her situation -- saishoudoukin. Since saishoudoukin is a Japanese term for living with one's wife and mistress at the same time, this solution has Nodoka in shock. Unfortunately for her, Ku Fei and Haruna have been looking over her shoulder. Haruna wants to know if Nodoka will be the wife or mistress.

At school the next day, Nodoka reports that going to see the priest helped her. This causes quite the stir with others considering going to see the priest while Misora is amused at the thought of the things she'll learn today. At the church, Misora gets into her nun outfit and justifies her actions to Cocone by saying she wants to help. In addition to using voice-changing magic, Misora decides to use an illusion spell to make her look like the priest.

Her first customer of the day is Setsuna. She asks if it is OK for two girls to kiss each other (the only way she can make a pactio with Konoka). This is shocking news for Misora and with Cocone there as well, Misora tells Setsuna that it is not only OK, but she should do it all the time. She further chastises Setsuna for being behind the times. Setsuna leaves, feeling inexperienced and old fashioned.

Ayaka arrives and her confession is her love for a certain person that won't stop flowing out (Negi). Yuuna arrives and talks about how much of a slob her father is and how her chest has gotten larger. Other girls come asking things from pets to how interested in sex a 10-year old boy would be to nothing at all. As Fuka and Fumika leave the church, Sister Shakti overhears their remarks about God, referring to Him as "that fat big-stomached god."

Negi is depressed and doesn't want comforting from Chamo. He thinks about what Asuna said to him, comparing him to Chao-san. Realizing that Asuna was right, he goes to the church where Misora is still in the confessional, remarking to Cocone how dumb her classmates are. Negi confesses that he doesn't know how to keep on living and wants to know what life is. Negi confesses his inability to figure out what to do which leads to Misora going off on Negi, telling him he's an idiot. She tells him he should be more relaxed and that its OK for him to go out and play if he wants because he's still a kid. He doesn't feel this is right since he's a teacher and has to train. If he took time to play, he wouldn't get his work done.

Misora decides to force Negi to tell her if there's a girl he likes. Negi thinks of the girls in his life, rejecting Asuna, Anya, and the rest as girls he really likes in a more than friendship way. However, he thinks of Nodoka and her love confession for him and he blushes. Misora sees this and asks if he likes that girl. Negi protests it isn't, stating that a relationship between a student and teacher isn't good. Misora informs him she's not telling him to date the girl. But she encourages him to do things like think about the girl he really likes or doing things with friends for fun.

As Negi leaves, Misora knows she couldn't solve Negi's problem but knows that he has lots of friends there for him. Misora leaves the confessional with Cocone and are met by Sister Shakti. Even though Misora is still in disguise, Sister Shakti knows who it is and is about to inflict massive amounts of punishment on her and Cocone.

Thoughts: This was kind of a fun chapter. Misora is certainly more interesting in the manga than she ever was in either anime adaptation thus far. It was interesting that Chamo was able to know who it was Negi was talking to and more interesting that Cocone knew that Chamo knew. As to who Negi likes, is Akamatsu-sensei steering him to Nodoka with that one moment? I guess they would be a sweet couple (Negi being a 10-year old aside).

Tsubasa: RESEVoir CHRoNiCLE Vol 14 (Ch 106-108) *SPOILERS*

Tsubasa: RESEVoir CHRoNiCLE Vol 14 (Ch 106-108) *SPOILERS*

Thanks to BWYS for the scans.

Chapter 106

The second guardian is waiting for the group and breathes fire on them. The flames spread to the books, but the books are not consumed by the flames and are unharmed. Syaoran is relieved the books are fine while Kurogane carries Sakura-chan to safety while he remembers the possessed Syaoran. He then asks Mokona to bring out his sword, but Mokona is unable to do so. Fai whistles and wonders if they could win even with weapons. Kurogane instructs Syaoran to attack the leg of the guardian, which Syaoran does with flying feet attack.

The group flees the scene while a group of mages (dressed like witches) come in on winged wands. The group continues to run while the mages attack. They make it to the door but find themselves surrounded by an ocean. Kurogane states they'll just jump in, but Fai stops him. He tosses his hat into the water and it dissolves. Fai whistles again as the injured guardian arrives to attack them from above. Fai continues his whistling which creates a kind of barrier around them. Kurogane and Syaoran are stunned by this and Fai instructs Mokona to evacuate them to the next world. Mokona protests because of the restrictions on magic, but Fai assures the critter that it will work. Sure enough, Mokona is able to send them to the next world as Syaoran and Kurogane look in amazement at Fai.

Chapter 107

The group escapes to the next world where Kurogane places the sleeping Sakura-chan on the ground. Mokona asks about Fai's use of magic since he stated he wasn't going to do so. Fai attempts to justify it by saying he's using magic by sound (the whistle) rather than how he'd normally perform magic. Kurogane points out that magic is magic which Fai sorta agrees with. Syaoran apologizes for not putting more thought into their escape from the library once they'd stolen the book, but Fai reminds him that he got Sakura's feather.

Syaoran is troubled that when the first guardian swiped him, he has no memories after that until much later. At that time, he could tell that he'd fought and defeated something even if he didn't know what. Mokona comes over to make sure Syaoran is OK. Fai wonders what kind of world they are currently on and climbing up some ruble, he finds the ruins of a vast, modern city where skyscrapers have fallen over.

Meanwhile at Fei Wong Reed's place, the boy in the liquid-filled chamber opens his eyes. Both Yuuko-san and Fei Wong detect this and Fei Wong wonders who will benefit the most from this as he observes the Tsubasa group. That group heads into the ruins of the city with Kurogane carrying Sakura-chan. Kurogane wonders what kind of place this is while Fai states it would be nice to find a place to treat Syaoran's wounds. Syaoran notices the rubble have been rounded by a weather event. As he mentions this, it starts to rain and the rain is painful when it hits their skin.

Chapter 108

The rain falls, which Mokona doesn't think is made of water. The group runs to the only building in the city that has suffered no damage -- a large twin-towered skyscraper. They make it safely to the building, but find dead bodies of people who'd been slain. Fai remarks that he's glad Sakura-chan is still sleeping to miss the gory scene. Syaoran gets Mokona to sense for the feather. Mokona does so, but senses a great power, which Mokona can't identify. The power is coming from below them, and as they explore, Syaoran wonders what could have caused so much destruction.

He finds himself under attack as arrows land all around him, while he somersaults to safety. Kurogane and Fai hear Mokona exclaim while Syaoran tries to defend himself and Mokona from the arrows. One hits his leg where he finds a group of people up on the rubble with crossbows. That group comments on Syaoran's not giving up and his actions during their attack. The group then asks their leader, Kamui, what he's going to do.

Thoughts

Fai using magic to get them out of the tight spot in the library was most interesting. It had long been implied that he had great powers and the tattoos he handed over to Yuuko-san as payment to travel between universes had nothing to do with giving him power. Now we know that indeed, Fai is most powerful, and scarily so considering the ease with which he erected a barrier in a place were even Mokona couldn't use it's magic. The introduction of Kamui brings another character from another CLAMP manga, this time from the series X/1999.

What I'm Watching 12

What I'm Watching 12


Negima!? 15 -- Now that everyone in the class (sans Eva because she's a vampire and Chachamaru because she's a robot) has partnered with Negi, the first order of business for this alternate magic world replica of the real Earth (only without people apparently) is to figure out how to get out. With Takahata-sensei observing, the class debates on what to do. Takahata-sensei, Eva, and Chachamaru go off where Chachamaru prepares ramen while the class divides itself into three groups. The first group is the Exploration Group lead by Asuna. The second is the Research Group lead by Ayaka. The third group is the Caretaker Group lead by Satsuki (basically, they feed the troops). Negi is depressed by the situation, but is encouraged by Asuna, Setsuna, and Konoka. Each group sets out to do its thing and the Research Group studies a Star Crystal. During this research, Ayaka accidentally sends it into a pillar, causing Negi to use Sayo's powers to retrieve it (leading Asuna to wonder if Sayo's really a ghost).

Thoughts: A case study on how to waste time in an episode. Boring, not funny, and no plot advancement of any kind to say nothing of any character development.

Pumpkin Scissors 14 -- An injured soldier and his companion are in the sewers. The non-injured soldier promises his injured companion that he'll get him to the doctor. Unfortunately, a person dressed in something looking like an old diving costume arrives with a flamethrower. The non-injured soldier empties a gun at the armored flamethrower person, but to no avail. The flamethrower person speaks of being cold before incinerating the two soldiers from Section I.

Meanwhile, Pumpkin Scissors have come to the sewers where a large refugee population now resides. With the government having opened up some farms for people to work, Pumpkin Scissors now has to evacuate the refugees to a new home. When they arrive, they find some employees of Waterworks (who owns the sewer system) attempting to extort sexual favors from an attractive woman as "rent." Ored puts a stop to it as Alice informs the people of the new farms. Strangely, some don't want to leave and when the dog Mer-kun leaps on the employee Metz, some packets of drugs (like cocaine) drop out of his pocket. Alice immediately has him arrested and performs the interrogation.

The president of the company, Albert Mione, soon arrives and has Metz released. The head of Section I comes and protests to Captain Hunks because Waterworks provides a lot of funding to the army. Hunks gives Alice a way to keep arresting Metz and his goons legally since Section III cannot investigate normal crimes. As such, Albert continues to have to pay to get his thugs out of prison and with sales of the drugs going down, he's not happy. He provides his men with the latest rifles so that they can kill the members of Pumpkin Scissors. In addition, he dispatches Hans, the flamethrower person. The thugs ambush the Section III members but their inexperience prevents them from hitting anything. Oland briefly activates his lamp and nearly succumbs to the German voice that says to kill. The group flees the scene of the ambush and Alice gets a bad feeling. She has Machs stop the vehicle for a bit, before continuing into the sewer, only to find Hans waiting for them with his flamethrower.

Thoughts: The episode was interesting enough, though there's not a lot to say about it. More corruption in the Empire, more forbidden weapons projects (the 908HTT flamethrower dude), and more downtrodden people. Oland suddenly having an issue with using his lamp seemed out of the blue, especially since he hasn't had a problem with it lately.

Ah! My Goddess Chapter 222 *SPOILERS*

Ah! My Goddess Chapter 222 *SPOILERS*

Thanks to GMT for the scans.

Chapter 222

As Bell and K1 look at the picture of the young woman, Belldandy thinks she's seen her before. K1 speculates the picture is pretty old, and the camera confirms it is from June 25, 1964. Keiichi gets frustrated with the camera since it remembers the date but not the name of the woman nor the person who originally owned it. When Skuld wonders why the camera works only part of the time, the camera responds that it was instructed to only take pictures of beautiful things. Of course this pleases Urd and Skuld since it took their picture.

Welsper shows up and states that the camera is cursed. Urd isn't convinced, figuring the cat is lying since it wouldn't take his picture. As such, she unleashes a bunch of abuse on Welsper, which causes Belldandy to be stunned and Urd to backtrack for Belldandy's sake.

Bell suggests to K1 that they go to the shop where the camera was picked up. It is an antique shop who seems to know "Morisato-kun." The proprietor of the store, a man named Susuki, is eccentric and gives a lengthy speech on antiques. Of course Belldandy is taken in by his enthusiasm even if Keiichi isn't. When they finally get around to the camera that Tamiya and Ootaki purchased, Susuki doesn't recognize the woman in the developed photo. His records don't show the previous owner. Since it likely belonged to a previous president of the Photo Club, they decide to do a search of all previous club presidents. Before they can leave, Belldandy gets a dreamy look and asks to be allowed to tidy up the place. This has K1 leading her out of the store in a hurry while Susuki wishes she would have stayed and cleaned.

Somehow, K1 gets a list of presidents going back to the club's founder. However, he doesn't recognize any names, and neither does the camera. Belldandy wonders why Keiichi is trying so hard to find the previous owner of the camera. He explains he wants to get the camera working and give the photos to the proper owner. K1 realizes that the photographer should be reflected in the eyes of the girl in the photo and Belldandy agrees to bring him forth from those eyes.

Thoughts: This story arc isn't doing anything for me because it is boring filler. The speech by Susuki on antiques is a real eye-roller. And personally, I could care less who owned the smegging camera. The only thing of interest to me was Welsper insisting the camera was cursed. Welsper's demon origins would certainly make him qualified to know this.