Written by
konfuzed on May 30th, 2010
Sabo is back to being raised by his rotten royal family, and we’re left to hope he becomes a street urchin again. See, in One Piece, outlaws are often the good guys and the nobles, government, and marines are almost invariably disgustingly evil. What a wacky world.
Luffy and Ace join with the Bluejam pirate crew, and lay packages all around town. Sabo finds out from his adopted brother that thos packages are actually explosives meant to burn everything on the island except the nobles and their houses to the ground. This carnage is intended to leave a good impression on the visiting Tenryuubito.
The Bluejam pirates are doublecrossed by the nobles of course, and Luffy and Ace are stuck in the fire. The fact that this is a flashback kind of kills any suspense about whether they’ll get out, of course. Dragon pops up in the noble part of the island and is disgusted at what the place did to Sabo. He wishes he had the power to change it. I wonder if he ever managed to? What’s Goa like in the present? I like that they’re setting up some things for the present timeline in the flashback. I’m interested to see whether Sabo lives, and what the reunion with Luffy would be like if he does.
Tags: One Piece
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Written by
konfuzed on May 30th, 2010
This chapter brought the bad news everyone had been fearing: another hiatus. Togashi Yoshihiro, the mangaka of HxH and formerly Yu Yu Hakusho, is notorious for taking long breaks and occasional stretches of unfinished scribbled artwork. Nobody knows how long this one will be. Sometimes they’re only a few months. The last one was a couple of years. Volume sales of HxH have always been incredible, often outselling just about everything except One Piece. Shonen Jump popularity polls are different, though. Because of all the breaks, the popularity of HxH among the newer generations of kids is pretty low. It’s being supported by old fans instead of making new ones. Anyway, I hope this is a short hiatus, and I hope that HxH doesn’t die and get a sudden, odd ending like Yu Yu Hakusho did.
As for the chapter itself, it’s pretty surprising that Yuupi got killed offscreen by Werefin. I guess getting 6/7th eaten by the king took a lot out of the royal guards. The weakling chimera are traveling to Jairo, the mysterious chimera ant who somehow maintained his twisted human identity and used to be the head of the NGL drug cartel. The king finally remembered a bit about Komugi. It looks like whenever HxH comes back from hiatus this arc will finally end, but the fate of Gon and how the King will be defeated or convinced to stop remains a mystery.
Tags: Hunter x Hunter
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Written by
konfuzed on May 30th, 2010
Naruto’s secret jinchuuriki training is underway. I find it amusing that Naruto and Bee pulled off the same “My head is cut off!” stunt. Apparently to key to becoming a successful jinchuuriki is to become a goofy, carefree idiot. The other weren’t, and that’s why they died. Clearly.
Anyway, Naruto finally confronts the fox in his mind. The fox has no hold over him now that he’s confronted and accepted his supressed evil side. Naruto set the fox free, and now it’s come down to a chakra Tug O’ War, winner takes all. Bee can’t help much, but Naruto seems ready. He always seems ready. The kyuubi doesn’t look too worried either, but then he’s not the main character, so he probably should be.
Tags: Naruto
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Written by
konfuzed on May 30th, 2010
Ichigo’s inconsistent power levels are back in full force, and he suddenly finds himself unable to stand up to Gin. Hopefully Matsumoto running to Gin doesn’t indicate that each captain will continue to be taken out by their former vice-captain. Tousen got tostito’d by Hisagi after showing off his new powers, and even Shinji got cut down by his former vice-captain Aizen. Aizen to be killed by Momo Hinamori, confirmed.
Urahara and co. are finally giving Aizen a bit of a workout. Aizen acknowledges that Urahara is the only person in Soul Society smarter than he is. But can he see why kids love Cinnamon Toast Crunch? Either way, he’s finally showing off his powers a bit. He distracts Aizen so Yoruichi can land a hit or two, then binds Aizen and sets off a chain reaction. Isshin then pops up behind Aizen and… GETSUGA TENSHOU!!! Wait, what? Why does Isshin have the same powers as Ichigo? Is he copying Ichigo’s technique, or did he give the technique to Ichigo in the first place? Oh well, I’m sure it’s the “will of the hougyoku” that did it.
Tags: Bleach
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Written by
konfuzed on May 22nd, 2010
Naruto somehow pulls of a Simon/Kamina scene from Gurren Lagann. By himself.
“Don’t believe in me, believe in me who believes in me!”
Naruto was suppressing all of his anxiety, anger, and fear instead of confronting it, which gave the Ninetails a way into his mind when he borrows its chakra. He faced of his dark doppelganger at the waterfall, and won by accepting that part of himself, and believing in his ability to be the man he wants to be, a Hokage candidate that the village can be proud of.
With the help of Bee and Motoi, he’s now carefree enough to draw on the power of the Ninetails without going on a rampage in the process. He still has to confront the Ninetails before he can control it like Bee, though.
What a crazy power-up! With the way Naruto and Sasuke have been picking up new powers, they’ll probably be shooting planet-busting ki bursts by the time they fight again, and destroy the world. It’s okay though, Pain will just use his 7 Dragonballs to wish everybody back like last time.
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Written by
Blink Angel on May 21st, 2010
Last week was an intriguing chapter which ended in Lucy preparing for battle in some beachwear. This war has taken many changes of scenery from dungeons to fairgrounds and even a random monster school but now it’s time for Lucy to show us what she’s made of!
It’s appears to be an incredibly short battle, Lucy’s first summon Taurus is wiped out in less than two pages, luckily she opens the gate of the maiden and Virgo is quick to pummel the enemy through the floor whilst Coco continues with her moral dilemma.
Of course, none of us really expected Lucy to win a match that easily but turning into a giant tentacle monster was a bit out of the blue and she’s running low on magic. Will Lucy step up to the challenge or is she going to end up the damsel in distress once again? As it turns out Virgo throws her an extending whip courtesy of the Spirit World. Her courage is fueled by the care from her stellar spirits and desire to save her friends Lucy once again steps into action binding the monster/squid/man with her new weapon. Natsu as always makes a rather explosive entrance and unintentionally delivers the final blow whilst defeating his own opponent in the process.
I still think we can call this a victory for Lucy; she’s grown slowly as a fighter in her time at Fairy Tail showed us she’s made of tougher stuff. After seeing how far Lucy will go to protect her friends Coco finally decides to hand over the key but where’s the fun in that. Naturally Sugarboy swoops in during the aftermath of the battle and swipes the key but luckily Gray is in close pursuit and he’s somehow commandeered a motorbike. This battle may be won but there will be many battles ahead before they can free their friends.
Tags: Fairy Tail
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Written by
Blink Angel on May 14th, 2010
Spring has Arrived
I have to say this year’s sakura was a stunning sight and in celebration of the colourful season we have a full colour bonus chapter! The sakura have already come and gone and this chapter actually went on sale in March, however, here it is for you to enjoy again.
During this season it is customary in Japan to participate in Hananmi (cherry blossom viewing), where everyone gathers together under the sakura trees with family, friends and neighbours for a huge booze fest, I mean…family picnic so this is where the chapter begins with everyone from Fairy Tail having a wonderful time, well, almost everyone. Unfortunately poor Lucy is sick with cold and is forced to stumble back into bed leaving a despondent Happy and Natsu to come up with a cunning plan to try and cheer her up after missing the Hanami she was so excited about seeing-how sweet.
Lucy is disturbed from her sleep by cries of anger and shock when she peers out the window only to see one of Magnolia’s famous rainbow blossom trees uprooted and floating down the river on a boat outside her window and yet she can’t help but be amazed by the beauty of it.
The following morning Lucy is back in top health as guild master Makarov storms in furiously demanding to know who uprooted the town’s precious cherry trees…who indeed.
Tags: Fairy Tail
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Written by
konfuzed on May 13th, 2010
It's a human condom, Ichigo. A human condom.
We saw the Kidou war last chapter, ending with Urahara forcing Aizen to overload with his own energy, much like what Aizen and Wonderweiss did to kill or seriously wound Yamamoto. From the very start, Urahara knew Aizen would be back; he’s no ordinary monster, after all. But did he know that Aizen would be coming back with a new costume? It’s true: Aizen is now The Human Condom, supervillain extraordinaire.
Aizen says that Urahara’s new technique would actually have killed him if he hadn’t fused with the Hougyoku, but doing so has given him powers even its creator can’t understand. Urahara and Isshin charge at Aizen, but he’s clearly faster than either of them now. Their goal wasn’t to hit him, though: they manage to bind him with the decorative ribbons hanging from their zanpakuto. They’ve created an opening, but who will be fast enough to take it? The Goddess of Flash, of course. She comes down from the sky — in a skintight suit with gauntlets, because more fanservice is always a good thing — and pancakes Aizen into the pavement.
Read More…
Tags: Bleach
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Written by
konfuzed on May 13th, 2010
The flashback to Luffy and Ace’s childhood continues. Last time we saw that after Luffy was left with Ace and the Dadan bandits, he wanted to be friends with Ace. Ace was only interested in stealing enough money to buy a pirate ship with his friend Sabo. Luffy refused to give up on following Ace around, and he eventually got caught by the Bluejam Pirates Ace and Sabo stole from. They all assumed he’d talk in no time: apparently they didn’t count on him being literally made of rubber.
Which brings us this week. Luffy can withstand almost any blunt impact, so the pirates are torturing him with spiked gloves to try to recover their treasure. Luffy is crying, but there’s no way he’ll betray his friends. After that, we see that Sabo and Ace think Luffy will talk, and they’re more concerned with saving their treasure than saving Luffy. All the bandits of the area refuse to talk to the pirates about Ace and Sabo, who are busy moving all of their treasure when they find out that Luffy still hasn’t cracked.
Luffy is a bloody mess, and he doesn’t even have the strength to scream. Polchemi, a high-ranking pirate, is beating him up anyway. The people around can’t do anything about it; the pirates have all the town officials on payroll. Sabo and Ace then jump in and save Luffy’s life, beating Polchemi and all the pirates with him. Captain Bluejam kills Polchemi, and now Luffy, Ace, and Sabo will be hunted down. Luffy is crying from his wounds, but he finally earned Ace’s respect. Luffy needs Ace because he doesn’t have a family. Ace, in turn, needs to feel needed: nobody is supposed to care about the life of Gol D Roger’s son.
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Tags: One Piece
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Written by
Blink Angel on May 2nd, 2010
I started reading this new Manga called “Addicted to Curry” and it’s actually pretty good! The story follows the daughter of a curry house owner in Japan who has her dreams crushed when the customers gradually stop coming and her father is forced to put the shop up for sale. Thinking there is something wrong with his curry he leaves her to go and learn more about the ways of making curry.
By chance, or perhaps fate, Yui, the daughter of the curry house owner, stumbles across a starved man lying in the road like a stray animal and because of her sweet heart she leaves him some food in hopes that he will survive. The stranger turns up at her doorstep after following her scent of saffron (again stray animal comes to mind) and he turns out to be Makito Koenji, a man who worked as a chef alongside her father. Makito sees the state of the curry house and decides to help Yui bring the restaurant back to its former glory for the pure love of curry (and because he’s a bit of a pervert). How far will they go to keep the much loved curry house in business?
This manga is a must read for anyone who is passionate about curry or cooking. Each chapter often comes with the recipe for each of the crazy curries Makito creates and I’m actually curious enough, and a little crazy enough, to want to try them out myself. So don’t just sit there, get reading and get cooking!
Tags: Addicted to Curry
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