Another series grew closer to the end, and I could not resist the temptation for another season. NGNL got back to its root as more fun and hilarity abound in this episode. Last episode we seen how Blank have won the match and gain the trust of Kurami and Fil. Now, the episode started with Sora asking all of them to do introductions. It was not just proper introduction though since the producers added many fun gags along the way. 

For instance, Fil said that she would not introduce herself to Jibril because the later purposely killed her race while flying across the elves’ territory only because the put the no flight zone warning. Instead of protecting Jibril, Sora asked her to apologize due to the fact that they need to solve all dispute when they work together. In regard to the punishment, Fil asked for Jibril to lick her feet while apologizing. The funny thing was how the producer used the censored picture, like when the television shows have internal problem, when Jibril did that. In addition, Steph wanted similar treatment to Kurami, because she did cheat her before. To her surprises, Sora said that it was Steph self-problem for being careless.

Again we are watching Sora, who regained back his inner perversion, told the ladies to do mixed bathing to strengthen their bond. The funny thing was; In order to persuade Kurumi bathing, Sora asked Jibril to explain about Japanese mixed bath tradition and how the process took no less than 30 minutes. Imagine how tired Kurami was hearing her lecture ^O^

Confidence crisis and the meaning of the word “decoy”

Haikyuu!! Episode 10 Impression

The new episode of Haikyuu!! focused the characters analysis back to Hinata Shoyo, the shrimp protagonist. The plot continues last episode match in which Karasuno team divided their group into two with the main team and the first year’s entry against their senior. With the powerful smash, Asahina obliterated the defense of the Karasuno main team. His comeback was welcomed well with the team. However, Hinata felt envious to the Ace’s tall built and strengths thus it affect the way he played. He lost his focus and start daydreaming until the Ace’s spike kissed his face.

Kageyama, who has become familiar with Hinata’s habits, got angry at his sudden change and asked the other team to focus their attention to him since he was about to give the next pass to Hinata. Therefore, Kageyama told him that he was indeed lousy yet, with him being the setter, Hinata had no problem to score before. Having realized that his position as decoy was as important as any position in the team, Hinata regained back his spirit and with another fake dodging movement, he took the toss and score again. Alas, the more experienced neighborhood association with the help of the senpais still reigned as the victor in the end. After the match, Ukai told the members that they lack in receiving and he promised exercises to build their receiving skills.

The episode strengths came from the volleyball action and the bonding moments. The episode did not lack some jump and spike moment and also, it covers how Hinata realized that his team need his position as decoy more than himself. In addition, Hinata learnt first hand that Kageyama would open the path for him so he should focus only on the match

One thing that I need to point was how amazing Kageyama’s toss was. He could bend his body and still capable of sending the accurate pass. It’s not just the Haikyuu!! Characters that gawking with awe. Even I have to pick up my jaw of the floor due to how unbelievable Kageyama’s pass if it was real. Heck I personally never saw anyone throw that kind of toss in the real volley match.

Another important point I want to talk was how Hinata moved away from his confidence crisis, which in this part he owed Kageyama some gratitude. Being a decoy, he felt that without Kageyama, he would never score any point due to his short stature. In addition, he considered his role as decoy as a role that is not important for the team.

However, volley was a team sport and not an individual one. Every person served the role to win the game and Haikyuu!! told us that no position worth less than another.

It was truly endearing to see Asahina told Hinata how cool a decoy was. Also, he added that other teams would praise the person who contributes for the team success and they would not look at the person position.

If there is one thing that I hate from this episode was the inconsistency of Hinata motivations after seeing Asahina’s power. I mean just one episode before, he said to Asahina that Kageyama would cover him and open the path for spiking. It was obvious that he was sure of his abilities to score because he had friend who would cover his weaknesses. Yet now suddenly he started to doubt his ability because he was smaller and weaker?? If he doubted himself, he should have never persuaded Asahina about coming back as the Ace before. Have he forgotten that his strengths came from his trustworthiness and his believe in friendship? I think it was unbelievable that the self- motivating Hinata needs Kageyama’s slap (literally speaking here) to snap out from his catatonic state and regained back his spirit

In conclusion, the episode closed the practice match between the Karasuno’s main against the former team. In this episode we saw how the team started to perform their role and how the next team formation will be. I am admitting that the episode was lacking the feels like the last one but it was still entertaining to watch Hinata realizing his worth.

As we are expecting the destiny battle between Nekoma and Karasuno, I am waiting for more surprises in the following episode.

 Fate and decision

The prelude for the last battle

 Nobunaga the Fool Episode 22 Impression

We are already at the 22 episode of Nobunaga the fool and only two more episodes remaining. I was truly worried with the current progress of the series since with a fewer airing time, could the producer create a good closing for the series?

 

Nobunaga the angsty king

Then, we have Mitsuhide who already lost the purpose of his life. Having lost the person he loved the most and with the realization that she still chooses her father murderer in her last breathe, Mitsu could not accept the bitter reality of fate. He was always Nobunaga’s trusted friend in most occasions but now with Nobu’s decisions only bring more death and destruction than peace, he started to question whether it was wise or not to follow him. Also, in this episode he finally told Toyotomi that he was responsible for Nobukatsu death and while Toyotomi hated his action, he could understand that he did that for Nobu’s sake.

I knew many would hate Mitsuhide’s lost of confidence to Nobu. At this moment, he looks like another backstabber who turned from loyal friend into an enemy. Nevertheless the situations took the worse for him and as a person with bitter fate, he had reasons for every decision that he made. I am not exaggerating but in this series, his characterization surpassed even the main character. Unlike Toyotomi or Jeanne who choose to remain loyal to Nobu, he was expecting more from his actions. He was expecting a just reason from Nobu and only considered the sacrifice was necessary as long as it was for greater good. In my opinion, I thought Mitsu as a person who would check everything beforehand and being unable to trust anybody a hundred percent; he decided to find the enemy’s motivation before he could decide his next moves.

I praised Gonzo for making Mitsuhide such a deep character, who progressed the most from this series. For instance, he was the person who started as Nobu’s loyal friend, who decided to hide his feeling for his friend’s success, who decided to kill his best friend’s brother to make him the ruler, who lost in many strategic battles, his love suddenly turned unrequited, he lost all his purpose, happiness, and motivation, now he had to decide whether he could still blindly follow Nobu or not. Unfortunately for him, his meeting with Arthur was not a wise one since Arthur could basically change his/her appearance and brainwashed any person s/he met. Indeed, by the end of the episode Mitsuhide was no longer Nobu loyal strategists but Arthur newest puppet and he might betray Nobu in the next episode unless he could pull more trickery than Arthur would expect. In short, Mitsu was well developed and the major of the time was spent to further his character’s progression.

In addition, we could also start to wave our good bye to our loli princess, Himiko cause her death flag was not just a warning. It looks inevitable if she would met her end in the next week and only miracle (or specifically trolling) could save her. In this episode, it was revealed that she sacrificed her life force to stabilize the leyline as well as increasing Toyotomi’s recovery rate. Toyotomi and Himiko’s followers realized that she did not have much time longer and here I am preparing for another funeral.

 

Toyotomi: Rest in <Himiko> Hei!!! I am not dead yet, monkey man

Less Hilarious, More Essences I Love it

No Game No Life Episode 9 Review

This week of No Game No Life truly entertains me with its creative storyline and motivation parts plus some interesting effect.

The episode was started with little Shiro, who in her childhood was sent into the orphanage. She was a natural born genius at games and while many persons taught her different games, no one could really entertain Shiro. One day Sora and his parents entered the orphanage and adopted her. Then, Sora greeted Shiro for the first time asking her to join him in the game.

Continuing last week episode, Shiro woke alone in her chamber and she knew that Sora was missing. Later, she asked Stephanie Dola and Jibril about who is the imanity ruler, which they said that she was the single ruler of Imanity. Knowing very well that Sora was real, she told them about the missing brother and how they could forget him. Jibril asked her to play chess and lose and purpose so she could forget about her brother.

Just when she was about to lose, the imaginary of her brother told her that no matters what Blank never lose. Shiro won the game by changing her knight movement. After realizing about the game from the last episode between Blank against Kurami and Fi the elves, Shiro deducted that her brother was losing in purpose. Afterward, Stephanie Dola suddenly tripped over three othelo pieces that scattered in the floor. Shiro realized that the game from last episode was not over and Sora entrusted her with the three pieces to finish the game and to save his existence.

Shiro played the last three piece of the othello and won the game. Her winning reanimated her brother as well as making Kurami lost her memories. Sora told her that he apologized for disappearing suddenly. Then, Sora gave Kurami’s memories back and finally they reached an agreement and the loser party would become the winner’s spy.

The episode truly gives important info during the airtime, which truly captivating me. Have you ever noticed why Sora and Shiro have different hair color? They are not related by blood or in other word they are adopted sibling. Their bond forged through communication with each other and their love for game; which accumulated over time.

This episode was using a unique color palette to show how Shiro’s world turns into a black and white world without her brother. It reflects Shiro’s lost of spirit and the fear of losing Sora. After Shiro regained her hope, and with the sudden realization that Blank never lose any games, Shiro winning move turns the entire imanitys continent back into a colorful place. This reflects how Shiro’s regained back her spirit and motivation to move forward.

No Game no Life, while usually hilarious and filled with comedy, can also make an episode that is serious but full with motivation. For example, Sora said that even if we were born without wing, we should create one to fly. It implies that even if our life stays the same, we shall never give up to create our own future. The wing embodies our passion, our dedication, or even our creativity while the sky embodies our hope and dream.

Sora’s speech about how people could not change themselves but their ways of doing thing truly captivated me. As an Individual, we are born with our own set of values that our family and friends give to us and then later the communities where we live reshape our way of thinking. As a unique individual, we can’t easily change our behavior or personality over night.

However, No Game No Life, in here represented by Sora, emphasized that we CAN change how we do thing. Even if we have wrong methods to solve problems, as long as we can change them, we can avoid repeating the same mistake over and over

The episode was finished with again another exaggeration moment between the sibling and the best friend. However, I was truly satisfied with the episode since I watched not only another fine episode of No Game No Life but I also learn some life lesson along the way

Last episode focused on the new characters Asahina and Nishinoya and this episode explored their back-story further. While Haikyuu!! Drama felt a bit too overdramatic, I found the sentiment plays well. In fact, watching this episode, I was overwhelmed with the feels and I wanted to praise the producer for creating such a heartwarming episode. 

Watching previous episodes I was worried that Haikyuu!! spent too many time developing the protagonists instead of side characters. However, this episode finally showed their importance. And as I watched the episode, I felt how the show’s focus finally switched from the protagonists to the side characters and how they started to receive better development.

For starter, Asahina was a volleyball player at heart. As the team’s Ace, he was the team’s hope for winning. However, his last defeat threw him over the edge. He felt responsible that anything that he had done could not win the team. As the team’s main offense, he started to question his ability. It was humane for Asahina to feel powerless with his limits and I could feel his emotion when seeing the tower of defense that he had seen and how his shot failed.

His best part of the episode was her realization of his fear. In reality, he was afraid for disappointing his friends that he lost his passion for Volley while none of them blamed him. After accepting his fear and finding back his passion, he resolved to take the ball and unleashed his power spike, which power break through the opponent’s block.

Second, Nishinoya, the chibi Libero, got more screen time in this episode. He hated Asahina’s decision to left volley because he felt responsible with the blocked spikes either. Even with the failed spike; if he could return the block they could still make another momentum. As consequences, He trained extensively to become better defender by focusing in returning blocked attacks. I loved his dedication in this episode and how funny Tanaka reaction to him. He showed us how important Libero as the team defender. In the last part of the episode, he finally took the returned spike with his palm’s shoulder and managed to send the ball back to Sugawara.

Last but not least important was Sugawara’s maturity. He was the person who realized how the loss affects the team’s harmony. The last episode showed how he finally took the initiative to speak with Asahina. He was truly a great person who considers his teammates more than his position as the team setter. Sugawara persuaded Asahina not only for Nishinoya but also for reuniting his team again.

In the beginning of the match, he explained his decision to step back as the main setter knowing that Kageyama’s abilities would suit the team better. Actually he also suffered from the teams lost and openly admitted that he was afraid giving another toss. With his mind cleared, he threw away the hesitation and told Asahina how eager he was to give him his usual toss

The episode was full with emotions and while the protagonists have to take the back seat, I thought it was important for an anime to explore the side characters’ growth as well. Haikyuu!! is not a show about two characters only. It was a show about a volleyball team with its abundant casts. Right now I felt happy with the series direction. It started to take the characters’ development deeper and seriously, and a good anime would cover even the least important character’s to show us how alive they are.

Nobunaga the Fool Episode 21

Impression

With the series getting closer to the end, Nobunaga the fool didn’t take any brake to reserve the body count. First, the episode was started with Caesar asking Nobunaga to join him creating a perfect utopia in where every people would life in happiness. In the aftermath, Nobunaga’s refusal seems agreeable because sharing the world where every person could life without pain or strive is like creating a dull place. What is the fulfillment of life if you did not strive to get what you want?

Then we have Jeanne whose inconsistency angered me more than even her stupidity. She said back then that she would accept her fate completely but now she was thinking about fighting fate itself by trying to stop Nobunaga. She should know very well that nothing stop Nobu when he made a decision but now she wanted to stop him just because he reject Caesar’s offer. How Jeanne choose Caesar’s ideal world while she knew Nobunaga had saved her ass countless times was beyond me.

Last, we have the battle between Nobu and Caesar with Ichihime in Caesar’s cockpit. After defeating Caesar, the vampires that used to be Caesar’s allies struck and wound both Caesar and Ichihime. The episode was ended with their death and some screaming.

I knew from last episodes that Ichihime would not live till the end. So many dead flags were already spoken and her word from this episode clearly yell like “this is my last supper bye” but the thing that surprised me more was Caesar’s dead. He was supposed to be on par with Nobunaga himself but why did they make his dead quite cheap. Where is the same Caesar who, while in losing battle, suddenly turned the tables and activated the special regalia? But seriously he was dead because he could not see Nell attacks? With his agility he should at least give decent fight before falling to such cheap trick.

Talking about cheap death, we could also see Nell and Bianca’s death. Nell struck Caesar, along with Ichihime and for unknown reason-Bianca. Then Caesar slashed Nell and killed his ex-allies with one blow. They were both non-human characters; to be precise they were vampires and yet they were killed altogether so easily as if they were just a tool created to justify Caesar and Ichihime demise.

I have complicated feeling regarding this episode. The problem is both Ichihime and Caesar could not make me sympathized enough to feel sad with their passing.

Ichihime's dead was sad but it would become more effective if her death was sudden. With her dead flags rising higher than others, I could only guessing when she would meet her end. In fact, seeing her live by the end of the series would make me surprised (If she DID live in the end I would think Gonzo start trolling again)

Caesar is one tough guy in this series but after backstabbing Takeda Shingen and killing Nobuhide karma would hunt and put him to rest. The chance of seeing Caesar live unscathed till the end is slim and only a glorious last battle death can redeem his wrongdoing (when his time come, we get the cheap one T-T)

The vampires, Bianca and Nell, have too little screen times that whether they live or not mean nothing to me. I feel somewhat happy because they finally got rid of the unnecessary characters but sad because their death was too fast as if they were not even vampires but normal humans.

With so many deaths, I don’t even know how many characters will survive in the end. Mitsuhide already killed Nobukatsu and just like Caesar, karma could kill him either. If we follow the real life story, Jeanne will be executed or she might die protecting Nobu. Himiko death flag is already given and we just have 50% chance to see whether she survived or not. As for the enemy, it is possible that Alexander become the last person that Nobu fought and defeat in the final battle and even Nobu himself was not safe from heroic last scene death. As for Hideyoshi, he was death once but the possibility of another dead is still possible.

The only character I can gamble my money to live by the end of the series was actually Leonardo Da Vinci. For some reason he reminded me of Fudo Gen from Sosei no Aquarion or Aquarion Evol. He seemed more like an observer who know about the outcome of the events and his calm and collected nature, complete with his antique gestures, which reminded me again to Gen, made me certain that he might be the only man standing in the end.

Warning - The synopsis contain some spoiler for the movie plot. While I am doing my best to limit the spoiler, some story elements will be covered. Unless you already know the plot, reading the synopsis may spoil half the fun. If you haven’t watch the movie or know the plot before, you could stop right here. Thank You

 Makoto Yuki, the protagonist

During midnight, Makoto Yuki a new transfer student entered the Gekkoukan High dormitory. Inside he met a mysterious boy who suddenly asked him to sign a contract. After signing it, the boy disappeared in the shadow and another person suddenly questioned him. The person was a teenage girl with middle-short hair and fair complexion and with her stuttering voice, it was clear that his presence frightened her. The girl, Yukari Takeba wanted to pull her evoker before her senior, Mitsuru Kirijo halt her. Mitsuru explained to her that he was assigned late to their dormitory and Mitsuru asked her to show his room.

After a brief introduction with the school life, Makoto’s entire life change during the full month of April, a giant monster injured Sanada Mitsuhiko, a S.E.E.S member, and it moved closer to the dormitory. A panicked Yukari woke Makoto and asked him to follow her to the rooftop. The Monster, which is called shadow, caught with them and it struck and injured Yukari. Makoto, who already seems to know about the monster and his newfound ability, took the evoker and unleash his other self; a Persona entity called Orpheus. He defeated the monster, collapsed and turned unconscious for one week.

Makoto and Yukari came back from the hospital while the chairman of the S.E.E.S, Shuji Ikutsuki, waited for them. He met with Makoto and explained about the ordeal that he experienced. He told Makoto that the students that reside in the dormitory were members of Special Extracurricular Executions Squad or abbreviated S.E.E.S. He also explained to Makoto about the S.E.E.S mission, the Dark Hour, the Apathy Syndrome, as well as the appearance of shadows. In short, he officially asked Makoto to join S.E.E.S and help them with the investigations.

 

               Full Moon Phase

While the S.E.E.S members discussing about the new team member named Fuka Yamagishi, Mitsuru came and explained a case about two female students found with Apathy Syndrome in the school gate. Later, they knew that Fuka Yamagishi have been missing for a week before the incident happened. After finding a small lead regarding to the females students, Makoto, Junpei, and Yukari went to the Port Island Stations, a place where thugs and delinquents hang out.

Yukari’s harsh words stir trouble with the delinquents of Port Island. Fortunately, Aragaki, a friend of Akihiko and a former S.E.E.S member, happened to be there. He saved them and told them about the event of the two female students. It turned out that the students along with Natsuki Moriyama locked Fuka Yamagishi inside the gymnasium. When they decided to open the lock, Fuka was not found inside the gym and then the shadow caught them.

With the revelation of Fuka’s whereabouts, the team went to the gym during the dark hours and divided into two. Akihiko and Junpei teamed as the attack squad and Yukari and Mitsuru guarded the entrance of Tartarus. Meanwhile, Makoto was accompanying Natsuki in the dormitory.

The attack squad found Fuka inside the Tartarus and they handed her the evoker. Later they realized that they entered the Dark Hour during full moon phase when suddenly Mitsuru called for emergency. Meanwhile, the mysterious boy appeared once again and told Makoto that he would face two ordeals today.

Back to the attack squad, they found that either Yukari or Mitsuru were wounded because of two gigantic shadows’ attack. One of them represents King and the other represents Queen. Both Junpei and Akihiko fought bravely against the two shadows. Yet, their combined effort still could not defeat them. Before the S.E.E.S lost entirely to the shadows, Makoto came to the rescue and along with Fuka, who is now acting as the team’s support; they defeated the shadows. The movie was closed with Fuka came back to the school and Natsuki, while forgetting the event, became her close friend.

 

Orpeus Struck the King

In  2006, Atlus created another episode of their Persona Series. It was named Persona 3, a role-playing game for Playstation 2. The game was a success and players and critiques received the game positively. Due to its popularity, Atlus later made another improvement with releasing Persona 3 FES, complete with additional scenes and costumes, and ported Persona 3 for Playstation Portable.

Regardless of it popularity, it takes another 8 years before Atlus decides to make the animation of Persona 3. In contrast with Persona 4 the animation, which is consist of 26 episode long, Persona 3 is divided into 3-4 movies, with each movie takes a duration around one and a half hours.

The atmosphere for the storyline is dark and gloomy. The movie focuses more in the horror of the 13 hours, the shadow and the battle of S.E.E.S members rather than the comedy or school-life part of the game. With fewer hours than Persona 4, Persona 3 has to focus more with the main storyline and there will be fewer filler in the movie. In addition, since the game already came out years ago, the viewer who already finished the game knows about how the story end; but I will not spoil it here for the sake of new viewer.

                       

Atlus decides that the protagonists name as Makoto Yuki. From the movie I can see that Makoto is not very talkative and he has cool demeanor. In addition, he is a type of person who does any given task without asking questions or disagreement just like any good soldier would do.

Now we could finally see how our main character actually behaved in the canon anime and how the event of the Persona 3 actually happened. In addition, Atlus tried to preserve the cast’s personalities with their game counterpart and hoping that it will not turn off the fans’ familiarity to the game.

I admit that the picture quality of the anime was very good and it has vibrant color. It is quite contrast with the movie’s more dark and serious theme. However, I find the colors good and pleasing. Also, being the incarnation of the original, the animation is more detailed and the characters face have been redone to meet with the standard of new generation anime. As for the music, the anime used the game tracks to fill the anime soundtrack. Atlus already did it before with Persona 4 the animation; in which additional songs was added to accompany the game’s soundtrack.

Glossary

Apathy Syndrome – A condition when a human lost his/her mind and Consciousness. They lost their ability to act and think and sometimes they only mumbling unknown or mysterious words. It is revealed that shadows infect human with apathy syndrome.

The Dark Hour – An additional hour which took place right after midnight. During the hour, ordinary persons turn into coffins and they may not realize about the time freeze. During the dark hour, shadows hunt for the human who did not become coffin.

Evoker – Evoker looks like an ordinary gun but it was not even a gun to begin with. In order to unleash their persona, S.E.E.S members pointed the evoker to their head and pull the trigger. After pulling the trigger, the persona residing inside them will appear. It is no wonder that they still carried traditional weapons like bow and sword while investigating the Tartarus because Evoker itself practically is not a weapon.

Persona – Persona is the other self, the mask, or the other entity that reside inside the human. They could attack the shadow using either magical or physical abilities. Their form varied from an Angel like creatures to a demonic god, or even mythological deity.

Each member of S.E.E.S has his or her own persona with the exception of Makoto who could unleash more than one Persona. In short he is special.

S.E.E.S (Special Extracurricular Execution Squad) – On paper it was an extracurricular club but it membership was never open for public. In reality, S.E.E.S was a special operation squad in which every member was a Persona user. They fought shadows and investigated the Tartarus during the Dark Hour. Current S.E.E.S members are Makoto Yuki, Yukari Takeba, Iori Junpei, Mitsuru Kirijou, Akihiko Sanada, and Fuka Yamagishi

Tartarus. Tartarus is a looming giant tower, which replaced the Gekkoukan High School building during the Dark Hours. It has more than 200 stories and inside it, shadows lurk and attack any people who enter their territory. The origin of the Tartarus remains a mystery