Hunter X Hunter is Back

The Hunter X Hunter manga is back into serialization with the release with of a new volume.

There had been some announcements some time ago about this but, I hadn’t been keeping myself in the loop, because I lost a lot of interest in the series as they currently are. I mean, reading sketch chapters with months long hiatus in between them is no way to enjoy a series and it really takes a toll on the reader.

Anyway, back into the loop. I’m not sure anymore if the author really is sick or something. What I’ve managed to gather is this, the author has only been serializing HxH in short bursts of 10 sketchy chapters. Then, he goes on hiatus and works on re-drawing everything for the volume release. For now, this means with shouldn’t expect more than 10 new chapters before he goes on hiatus again.

Don’t misunderstand me, I love this manga. I’ve just recently remembered how much after watching the two first anime seasons (yes, that includes the first OVA). By the way, I haven’t blogged them because I had a problem and deleted the first season review when it was almost finished. I haven’t been feeling like redoing it ever since but, I suspect I’ll eventually get to it.

So, I’m undecided for now, as to start blogging it again or wait for the tank. I haven’t been enjoying this series well with all the hiatus. So, you will eventually see the chapter here if I decide to blog them, if not, I’ll do it once the latest volume comes out.

And if anyone wants to share their opinion of the latest chapter, please do so (just remember to keep me from spoilers please lol).

Ignited

Wow, awesome chapter, everything happens at the same time. First, Shinji reveals his shikai. It supposedly reverses everything, just like some arcade game trap, if you want to go right, you have to move left. Aizen doesn’t take it as something important, he just has to get used to it. He tries to spar with Shinji but fails. Even the direction he looks to is reversed, absolutely everything is reversed, in a much deeper sense than a 2D arcade game could reach.

This scene was really cool, Shinji’s zanpakutou sure has a fucked up ability. Still, Aizen was just experimenting it. After being hit, he decides to get serious and uses his ability to make everything normal again. Being able to control all 5 senses, his ability nullifies Shinji’s shikai.

Shinji seems pissed but, he still has a bankai left and it will surelly push his ability to the extreme. Of course Aizen has one too so.. Anyway, we shift down to Tousen.

Tousen is still alive, although hanging by a thread. In death, he, Komamura and Hisagi finally understand each other. Tousen is saying his last words when Aizen finishes him, no mercy, just like he did with the Espadas. It seems Gin is his last ally. We still don’t know much about his past and I’m really curious about it, much more than I was with Tousen’s.

Komamura yells at Tousen, it’s time for the fight to go on. If Shinji doesn’t have more abilities, he will have to go Bankai but, here appears Kurosaki, headed straight to Aizen.

Awesome scene, wasn’t really expecting this to happen right now, specially when the chapter already had so much going for it.

Anyway, Ichigo is here. Either Aizen or Gin are going to deflect his attack. Will Ichigo just fall victim to his zanpakutou after that? I think he would only really have one chance.. or would Aizen need to release his zanpakutou again for Ichigo to be under the illusion too?

Can’t wait for the next chapter, I’m expecting a really interesting battle. I’m thinking Aizen may pull some weird trick and make Ichigo and Shinji stay on each others way, since he can control everyone senses, except Ichigo’s.

• Personal Enjoyment: 5/5

Do Not Speak To Me Of Itachi

So, the cover discusses Danzo being the ultimate shinobi. It sounds extreme but, for now, Danzo seems immune to anything. He easily survives after being hit by Susanoo and Amaterasu. Karin is watching and she states Danzo isn’t using clones nor gengutsu. What the well is happening? Madara is watching too, probably looking for a chance to figure Danzo out too.

Danzo uses Fuuton techniques (wind element) forcing Sasuke to show us his new summon, an hawk, lol Sasuke really takes his themes seriously. They then end up fighting directly, with Sasuke taking one of Danzou’s arms. But, as always, Danzo appears unharmed.

Then, things get more freaky as Sasuke’s body disappears as though it was one of Itachi’s gengutsu clones (not sure lol), with the crows and everything. Itachi himself then appears behind Danzou.

^{Danzou: I have more Sharingans!
Sasuke: ..and I still get more girls..}

So, the first theory would be that Itachi and Sasuke talked everything out to each other and have been playing us from the start, deceiving everybody, with Itachi still alive. Which is crazy, doesn’t make that much sense, and would completely ruin the Sasuke VS Itachi arc, as well as big part of the main plot, or, we have the second theory. Sasuke is using his gengutsu playing with Danzou’s mind, just as any good gengutsu user should.

I hope Madara got Danzou’s trick, he was really focused when Sasuke cut Danzou’s arm.

By the way, I finally agree with Danzou, Sasuke really screwed with Itachi’s sacrifice but, can you blame him? lol Just to mention that Danzou doesn’t sound like a villain any more, for now. Peace really comes with a high price.

Really nice chapter, we basically learned that Danzou has some big trick going on for him, not much more. Still nice fight with some cool art, can’t wait for the next one :)

• Personal Enjoyment: 5/5

Merry Christmas everyone. I hope everyone had a nice day. I leave you with some nice walling, now it’s time to get back into anime and manga.

Here are the links to the wallpapers:

• Welcome to Christmas Town!
• The Night Before Christmas

The Water Bottom Is Dry,
The Moon is Full…

The being massacres a lot of guys, I’m guessing they are contractors stationed there to protect the facility or something. Guessing by the various different deaths. I’m guessing this being puted everyone’s powers against themselves or he just possesses all those powers himself. He talks about meeting someone soon, is he Izanagi then?

Misaki mentions what she learned to her superior, there’s no more point in keeping her and Genma in the dark now. They learn that the moon means Izanami’s pregnancy stage.. is the pregnancy just a metaphor for the unknown being that’s coming? Anyway, they say it’s impossible to stop Izanami’s awakening (not sure why) so, they only possibility is to kill Izanagi. Hei goes to take care of Yin and Suou does the same with Shion. She meets her father and learns that Shion was a contractor from birth, makes sense knowing how he acted as a child, I just didn’t consider the time-frame there. Also, what happened in Siberia was that Shion created the current Suou at that time. It was something new. Shion had never used his power to such an extent, copying humans. And what he really copied was himself, being that there’s always a difference, being this one the gender. Since Suou and him are twins, he basically created another Suou. Then, Pavlichenko proceeded to use the ME to give Suou her memories, like we already know.

Section 3 finds Shion and Oreille. July senses it and is instructed by Madame Oreille’s dolls on how to escape. She escapes too, bringing Misaki with her. By the way, is Genma’s renumeration talking about weird stuff? lol and what’s up with Oreille dressing some strange cosplay costume? Anyway, Suou fights Genma and wins. They escape but Pavlichenko dies. Suou meets Shion but something happened to him. Meanwhile, a small American army arrives (CIA to be more precise). They want Izanami and Izanagi taken by force and a small war is going to break out. I also think Genma is a double agent working for the Americans.

Meanwhile, Hei reaches Izanami but, it was a trap laid by Hazuki to get revenge. The scene ends with Hei in a bad spot but, I doubt he won’t take care of the situation.

So, nice episode but, disappointing at the same time. Didn’t excite me much for the finale, like the previous had done. More, it doesn’t even feel like the next one will be the finale and knowing there will be 4 additional episodes released on DVD.. (they were supposed to be 16), although I think the new episodes are chronologically positioned between the two seasons. Still, some interesting stuff happened. Being that Izanami is still reaching her full pregnancy, I don’t believe the unknown guy is the "being". Instead, I think he is Izanagi because he said something about meeting someone, makes sense if that someone is Izanagi. He also has the power to kill contractors, just like Izanami.

• Next Episode: The Ark of Stars

Dark History!
The Worst Shinigami is Born

Back to the past, Kouga escapes and goes to meet the 3 guys that ploted against him. He wasn’t expecting them to be laughing about it. He gets enraged and kills them. Ginrei learns of this and goes to find Kouga. He explains that, even though Kouga didn’t do anything wrong, he acted stupidly after being betrayed and made so there’s no way to prove the truth. He now has to be punished for his "crimes".

Kouga misinterprets Ginrei’s intentions and decides to go on a bloody revenge against everyone. I’m glad they made Kouga’s strength level well, fillers normally fail to create believable characters in this "category". Kouga ends up being the villain, not Muramasa. Kouga goes deep into the "dark side" and not even Muramasa can hear him anymore, nice twist.

Ginrei and the Captain-Comander decide to go and seal Kouga. In their fight, Kouga realizes he can’t use Muramasa anymore, serves him right. Muramasa kept waiting, never being able to hear his voice. Kouga got sealed away and Muramasa eventually found out and started to plan all this. Anyway, Kouga proceeds to kill Muramasa and Byakuya appears, stopping him.

Nice episode, Kouga ends up being the true villain, while Muramasa is the actual stupid zanpakutou who serves his master blindly, ironic lol. Not sure of what will happen now but, I’m pretty excited to watch the end of this arc.

I think the preview shows Kouga being able to use Muramasa’s powers, or at least, Muramasa helping him. I hope the fight is good.

• Next Episode: Byakuya

2010 Preview, Part 2

Click the image for full-size

Seikon no Qwaser

Type: TV Show
Episodes: 24
Starts Airing: January
Producers: TAKI Corporation, Hoods Entertainment
Genres: Action, Ecchi, Shounen, Super Power, Supernatural

Synopsis: Oribe Mafuyu meets a silver haired boy named Alexander. He is a Qwaser; a being that can manipluate iron. A mystery surrounding an Icon transforms the St. Mikhailov Academy into the setting for conflict between Alexander and various Qwasers.

First Impressions: The poster art got my hopes up and the plot seemed good enough for a shounen anime, then after searching and learning that this anime had to do with a guy that needs to feed on breast milk.. it seemed too silly, and, at the time, most people weren’t expecting this to be worthwhile. Anyway, I’ve just watched the trailer and I have to say actually liked it. The fanservice part didn’t look all that silly, it looked quite serious, more seinen (or hentai) style lol, reminded me a lot of Ubel Blatt. It seems the fanservice really is abundant, if it doesn’t interfere with the rest, if the action is nice and if the girl characters don’t fall to the annoying type, I may very well blog this.

Prognostic: If the plot and characters don’t turn out really silly/stupid, like the excessive fansubbing makes you predict, (oh and good fight scenes), I’ll probably blog this.

Baka to Test Shoukanjuu

Type: TV Show
Episodes: 12
Starts Airing: January
Producers: Silver Link
Genres: Comedy, Fantasy, Romance

Synopsis: Akihisa attends an academy where test results determine classes. The prodigies are in the A class with reclining seats complete with air conditioning, but Akihisa is in F class, the lowest rung of the school ladder which is furnished only with low, decrepit tables and worn-out straw tatami mats. A girl named Mizuki Himeji is actually one of the smartest girls in Akihisa’s sophomore year, but was pigeonholed into the F class. The school happens to have developed experiments to summon fantasy creatures, and Akihisa decides to rally F class to take on the higher-tiered classes and seize their perks. The F class uses the summoned creatures in an all-out battle for school supremacy.

First Impressions: Why do I watch the trailers, I’m ending with far more work than I expected too lol, basically writting about every single series that is coming out. This is one is the kind I wouldn’t even give a chance but, the trailer made me “hum maybe”. Anyway, I won’t bother watching this one, I’ll just read other bloggers’ opinions and go with that.

Prognostic: Probably not, only if it gets nice reviews and is really, really good.

Ookami Kakushi

Type: TV Show
Episodes: 12
Starts Airing: January
Producers: AIC
Genres: Action, Mystery, Drama, Horror, Supernatural, Psychological, Thriller

Synopsis: Hiroshi Kuzumi, a 16-year-old boy who has just moved to the seemingly serene village of Jogamachi. Nestled in the mountains far away from the city, the village is divided by a river that separates old Jogamachi from new Jogamachi. Young Hiroshi soon discovers that the village’s ancient as well as mysterious traditions and customs have been kept alive over the ages. Although a bit bewildered by the new environment, Hiroshi begins to settle into his new life. While he has never been the type to win any popularity contests, he quickly earns the affection of his classmates. That is with the exception of aloof class president, Nemuru Kushinada, whose only words to Hiroshi are a warning to stay away from old part of town. It is there that terror and mystery await him.

First Impressions: Based on a PSP game novel, I liked the OP, although the preview didn’t tell me much. Not sure about this one, I haven’t watched that many mystery anime, and I think I dropped most of them in beginning. Really not sure what to expect.

Prognostic: I’ll really have to watch an episode to have any idea, or wait for other bloggers’ opinions.

Omamori Himari

Type: TV Show
Episodes: 12
Starts Airing: January
Producers: ZEXCS
Genres: Action, Comedy, Demons, Ecchi, Romance, Harem, Supernatural

Synopsis: Yuuto is your average, high school boy just turned 16. His childhood friend, Rin has taken care of him ever since his parents died when he was younger. All of a sudden, a girl named Himari walks into his life. Himari is a cat-girl samurai who is sworn to protect Yuuto. There’s only one small problem: Yuuto is allergic to cats!

First Impressions: I didn’t like the character designs much. I doubt the action is going to be great. I won’t probably blog this, only if it’s really good.

Prognostic: Probably not.

Ladies vs Butlers!

Type: TV Show
Episodes: 12
Starts Airing: January 5
Producers: XEBEC
Genres: Comedy, Ecchi, Seinen

Synopsis: Hino Akiharu lost his parents when he was small and was adopted into his uncle’s family. But he noticed his uncle is after the inheritance of his parents, so he decides to enter a boarding school, Hakureiryou high school. However his delinquent boy-like appearance frightens the girls, who make up the majority of the students. Being unable to get along with the classmates, Akiharu meets his childhood girlfriend Saikyou Tomomi.

First Impressions: The season is really filled with this kind of shows. As always, not really my thing but, it looked a little better than the others to me, more mature. I also liked the art better.

Prognostic: Maybe, it interested me more than the other similar shows.

The Original Homunculus

Ed is "treated" by Winry. This scene looks really nice with them together, too bad the plot hasn’t given any signs yet as to developing any romance whatsoever with any characters. Anyway, got really curious about Kimblee. I know how he is but, it’s hard to not consider what he said to Winry as the truth, given his performance. I think the creators/mangaka would give us some hint if he was supposed to be lying..

Buccaneer goes to the tunnel with a team, only to find two survivors of the previous team. Pride is on the lookout and about to attack when something else gets his atention. Meanwhile, in the Fuhrer’s house, Hawkeye comes to give the King a document. Selim comes out to and greets her. Hawkeye feels a strange blood-lust for an instant. She chitchat’s with Selim’s mother a little and starts to get a hold of something quite strange. She realizes Selim isn’t just a normal boy. He stalks and confronts her, he makes his introduction, he’s Pride, the first Homunculus, and possibly quite more powerful than all the others together. It was a really nice scene, well played and delivered. The way is shadow was drawn at times, and specially in the episode’s break, reminded me of Soul Eater’s style.

Back to Briggs, Kimblee explains to Ed the mission he brought him, they will work together to find Marcoh and Scar. In the conversation, Kimblee ends up talking about his reasons to be playing with the Homunculi. It all boils down to his lust for battle and wanting to see his worth, if he can survive all that is coming. Ed ends up using this situation to his advantage and playing Kimblee really nicely. Things are getting real exciting now.

Awesome episode. Even though all episodes have been quite good, I wasn’t much excited, probably because of having read the manga. Still, this episode changed it and turned it up a notch. Everything was well done with quite an impact. I’m really looking forward to the next couple of episodes.

The next episode will probably have the whole next fight in it. The preview doesn’t make that much of an impression with the animation but, I’m still expecting it to be quite good.

• Next Episode: Clash in Baschool