Too Early To Trust

Well, it’s not over after all lol. I first though Yammi had gone into his second resurrection but, it seems it’s just anger making more powerful. Anyway, Mayuri complains about his size lol, they need to finish him off.

Back to the real world, Aizen shows once again how good of a villain he is. His talk with Shinji was really awesome and philosophical. Shinji, even though probably on the limit, still acts rationally. He asks Hacchi to keep Hyori safe until Ichigo returns (too bad Hinamori isn’t coming), anyway, maybe Hacchi can stop the bleeding, keep her living until someone comes.

Meanwhile, Tousen "realizes" it’s time for the final show down and there’s nothing left to hide so, he puts on his true strength, and guess what, they are Vizards too.. if not, they somehow have hollow powers.

This was unseen, although kind of obvious now that I think about it lol. Not sure how strong they will get, there are far more Vizards than them there, all of them much older. Taking aside Aizen’s zanpakutou, I still don’t think the rest of the bad guys should have a chance at winning.

Really loved this chapter.

• Personal Enjoyment: 5/5

Brother

Kisame goes for the kill. Bee tries one last time to avoid it, using a pencil. He almost gets him but, not enough. Kisame continues, Pathos is heading to save him, even Samehada is (I think) but, it’s his brother, the Raikage, that saves him. This could be kind of predicted from the title, still wasn’t expecting him to be able to get there so fast.

It seems the way Kisame fought attracted a lot of attention (go figure lol). Samehada gets itself around the Hachibi once again, anyway, the Raikage and Bee go for a combined attack that can only be devastating. Kisame prepares for it. Couldn’t imagine Kisame would get out of it with some Suiton but, anyway, he didn’t lol. His head flies, he’s not surprised. Another Akatsuki is down.

Back to the Samurai’s place. Suigetsu and Juugo still have to escape. But they are found. Probably some cool short fight going to happen.

And back to Ao, the Mizukage saves him in time. Still, it was all predicted by Fuu and going according to his plans. Still, the Mizukage sees through it and really saves Ao.

Meanwhile, Sai appears to Naruto and states that he’s going to tell him the truth. What Sakura couldn’t tell him, and instead did all that strange "love" stuff.

Well, most stuff got handled in this chapter. The Hokage and Mizukage can now return to their villages and Bee is saved. Not sure what will happen now, if the next chapter will just focus on Naruto and his friends or if the Kages will take some action right away.

• Personal Enjoyment: 4/5

The End Of The Cycle!
The Brothers’ Reunion

"I see something clearly, you death". It all starts with some newly drawn flashbacks. And really well drawn lol. Even though it’s mostly stuff that we have already seen, and I know many people will dislike it. I think it really was well done and actually makes sense for the first time. Of course having read the manga now helps me. Still, the animation was awesome and it’s something that’s been played a long time ago in the original series. I don’t really think this is a bother to watch. Most people are just to impatient and the series would suffer a lot if stuff like this was just pushed aside.

Itachi tells the "truth" about the Uchiha clan and how to really obtain the Mangekyou. Itachi kind of transforms into the ordinary villain, just wanting power to rule the world of become the strongest, anyway, the Uchiha really have a sick ability. Being that they need to kill their closest friend and then their own brother in order to have it.

The fighting was awesome. The first episode really portrayed the manga well. All the taijutsu-gengutsu fighting was really awesome. After that, the quality decreases quite a bit but still, I really enjoyed the rest of the fight. I wasn’t expecting to like the massive shuriken part with that "sluggish" animation but, I actually think the effect was really cool lol.

Loved this episode. The whole Uchiha story was nice, the flashback and fillers made it all even better in my opinion. The action was awesome, although it seems, not sure how, that less stuff is happening than in the manga.

The next episode will have high quality animation once again, just like this one’s first part. Really can’t wait, Shippuuden has hit the top for me, I can’t imagine how they could use the manga much better than this. Really looking forward to the next episode and specially.. to the next arc.. Too bad I can’t really talk about everything that I wanted here, because it includes some really powerful twists that are still to come. Anyway, until the next episode.

• Next Episode: Amaterasu

Thunder, a Monster & a Girl`s Punch

A monsters just walks in on the Library. He "casually" asks for Hamyuts Meseta and introduces himself as a monster, just before killing the receptionist. Very cool beginning. Anyway, we then shift to some Meat’s book. The guy who was with Relia and Colio. Relia had actually influenced him to become more "human" although he didn’t went as far as Relia and Colio. It’s nice to see this supposedly "unimportant" characters being developed.

Back to the Armed Librarians, Mirepoc, Minth and Matt fight the "monster". They manage to make him leave. Any more fighting would result in a loss to both sides. It seems True Man Ganbanzel, wanting to kill, creates powerful monsters using Meets. The Meat who died was one. The guy who attacked them was probably another.

Meanwhile, Noloty has tracked Luimon’s book to Nujuia. Meseta suddenly goes there to meet her. She puts her in a fight where she meets some strange silver haired man. She then tells her that that man, Zatoh, is the one who stole Luimon’s book and that her mission is to save him. Not sure what Zatoh is going through so, I can’t quite understand his character yet.

Really nice episode, could have been exception with better animation. Most scenes were fluid, well directed and planned but, the art went ugly in some fight scenes, I hope this improves. The story is becoming more interesting too. I’m curious to know what it means that the monster had silver hair and if it’s in anyway related to Bujuia’s silver haired man.

The preview seemed cool. I’m hoping to see more of Noloty and Zatoh. I hope the animation really improves that little bit that it needs to become really good and consistent. Really liking this show right now. From this last episodes, Armed Librarians and Shippuuden are my favorites right now.

• Next Episode: A Smile, a Mask & a Man with a Death Wish

A Sweet Fragrance
A Bitter Heart

The Russian organization discover something strange. Dr. Pavlichenko is still alive in Tokyo? Meanwhile, Genma offers his help to Yayoi in finding what their bosses at Section 3 are planning. I’m somehow guessing Section 3 will be the main final villain in all this.

Hei and his group need to get out of the city but, Japan’s Public Safety is making it difficult. Meanwhile, the Russians and their "allies", Foreign Affairs, already have one contractor looking for them. He’s supposedly very strong and quite the sick person. Anyway, the people helping Hei escape set it up so they can kidnap July, probably trying to sell him (or child abuse.. I think). Suou goes to save him forcing Hei and Mao to go too.

Suou finally acts like a Contractor, and similar to Hei. She take out their trator alone but, Sokoloff appears. His ability is like some biological gas weapon. It makes them unable to move and breath, all the while making them fall asleep. In some way, it’s a peaceful death. Still, he basically has the ability to kill with his look. He can also use it by stages, only making people fall asleep for example.

The last scene was really cool. Hei proves once again to be an infalible assassin, not matter what the situation. Suou also ends up managing to change July a little bit. Watching the first series, I never imagined July would become such an important character and even have some development.

Cool episode, enjoyed it much more that the last ones, although I think this series can still improve. Pavlichenko being alive and with Shion looks like a nice development and the Russians finding out Hei’s current location.. what will they send after him next?

• Next Episode: The Doll Sings to the Wind Flower…

A Betrayal, A Cup & a Meandering Path

Watching the OP again since some episodes ago, I’m not sure but, has it changed? lol I don’t remember most scenes. It’s looking pretty cool.

Norotei is sent on a mission alone, to retrieve Luimon’s book. Everyone else is dealing with Volken’s betrayal. The episode focus on Mirepoc as she goes to the library and explores a little of Volken and everybody’s past. She ends up in the fourth library, in which the guards are too much for her. She’s saved by Matt. Then they go drinking and she basically confesses her love for Volken.

She then decides, drunk, to erase her memories of Volken and goes to ask Hamyuts for permission. I wasn’t expecting it to be given and Mirepoc to go through with it. I guess this kills the chance for romance in this series.. Anyway, in the middle of this, we learn that there’s some "truth" about Volken and Hamyuts that we don’t know about.

Really liked the episode’s art and direction. I’m also now noticing how much I like the character designs. It’s also nice that this show is focusing on one character at a time and you don’t have any real idea of what the next focus will be one, not matter what’s happening.

Nice episode, mainly dealing with Mirepoc’s reaction to Volken leaving, which was a little extreme and unexpected. This series doesn’t follow convention it’s becoming really interesting. Can’t wait for the next episodes to develop the main story line, I’m also expecting some very nice action scenes lol.

• Next Episode: Thunder, a Monster & a Girl`s Punch

Special Mission!
Rescue Captain-Commander Yamamoto!

Byakuya is shown to Yamamoto. He’s been imprisoned by three, at this point, unknown zanpakutous. Soul Society organizes a plan to go there rescue him. Kazeshini also manages to come back, while really injured, he asks Muramasa about Byakuya but, it doesn’t really change anything.

While entering the caves, everyone ends up meeting with zanpakutou and new battles are arranged.

Ichigo defeats Kazeshini for good, I think. Still, I’m sure he will have to fight that strange wooded guy.

I liked this episode. I hope the new fights are good, I think the show has been really boring and my interest has been decreasing since after Ichigo’s fight with Zangetsu. The art was specially good, really enjoyed watching everything. Also, Kyouraku’s zanpakutou is looking hot (the second one).

The preview shows Ichigo fighting Muramasa, no idea if it’s gonna be good or not still, this episode left me with hope.

• Next Episode: Deceived Shinigami!

^{Volume 1}
Chapters 1-9

I started this one long ago but, there were only a few chapters out at the time and I decided to read once it was complete. I really got drawn with the mix from weird horror and detective story. I’m not, generally, very interested in stories and plots. I don’t consider it important in making a movie or series good. You can have a fantastic story taken from some awesome book and make a shitty movie. You can also take a really simple situation with nothing interesting in it and make a really interesting movie. It’s more on how the characters react, what they do, how they talk and connect, and stuff like that (and of course, all the technical details like direction, editing, photography, etc). Still, books and manga are the exception. Not that I know if Manhole is that good but, I felt like saying that lol.

Everyone is normally going on their everyday life when a strange naked man is spotted on the street. He seems sick, crazy, unable to speak. He hits Youichi and vomits blood on him. Surprised, Youichi pushes him back and accidentally kills him. The police goes to investigate and finds out the man came from a nearby manhole. He also had a parasitic infection, which caused his state and made it possible for him to die from a simple concussion.

Later, Youichi, who had fled the scene, decides to go to the police, just in time for the Filaria, parasite, which infected him, cause his death. Now, they have two deaths and really dangerous parasite that infects really quick.

This all ends up in the discovery of an institute and a plan to save humanity. I’m not going to discuss the plot further. The main characters, detectives Ken and Mao’s relationship is nice, not really funny but, not a bore. What you would expect with two people with so much age setting them apart.

The ideals about society and what’s morally wrong put here are nice and actually make you think about it. The same way Death Note did. I’m sure many people may approve of the "villain’s" doings.

Not much else to say, the story only just began even though it promises to end soon. I was not expecting this series to only last 3 volumes in the beginning. Nice volume, not sure it’s better than Duds Hunt at this point.

• Personal Enjoyment: 4/5