Hetalia Axis Powers - Episode 6

Episode six of Axis Powers Hetalia is more of a classical music recital than a comical piece of anime (not that there's anything wrong with that) - I'll leave it to you guys and girls to play name that tune with the pieces used in this episode.


Apart from that, I can think of absolutely nothing to say about this instalment I'm afraid - It was all but joke free (to my mind anyway), and nothing of any particular interest happened either. In other words, it was only really worth watching for the music, but I got a kick out of that so all is not lost on this occasion I suppose.

Shikabane Hime: Kuro - Episode 8

Come the end of the last episode of Shikabane Hime: Kuro, Ouri and Makina somehow managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, with the latter finding herself kidnapped by Shichisei while the former seeing Nozomi die right before his eyes. Does she have enough to become a Shikabane Hime? Bzzzt... nope.

It's been a long time in coming, but at last this episode begins to tackle the question of "Who is Ouri?", a question which only brings forth further queries. The one thing that is made clear is that Ouri's mother was, or became, a corpse, but exactly what happened? Is Ouri in fact a corpse as well? There are plenty of questions being posed here that the coming episodes will doubtless tackle. If you've ever pondered whether Ouri is an only child, then this too is revealed in this episode.


Elsewhere, Makina is still in the hands of Shichisei, where they are very kindly letting her "play" with an ever-more unpredictable (and downright creepy) Hokuto, with the slightest hints coming forth that there may well be some kind of link between the two of them. The exact reason for Makina's kidnapping is also revealed, with Shichisei looking to kill Ouri, thus turning Makina into a straight up corpse... I'm sure I don't need to point out what kind of havoc that could wreak given her powers.

All in all, this is quite probably the best episode of Shikabane Hime: Kuro thus far, as it starts tackling the really juicy heart of the matter now that both Ouri and Makina's pasts seem to be coming into sharp focus. It's taken a while to get here, but things get more intriguing by the minute in this episode as we move towards what I imagine will be the series climax, with this episode doing enough to draw me in and get me hooked once again.

White Album - Episode 9

By the end of the last episode of White Album, I was all but spewing forth my hatred of Touya as we watched him become the kind of person that I can't help but loathe. However, in the name of balanced journalism (yeah, right) I took a deep breath before undertaking episode nine of the series, determined to give the poor guy a second hearing.

Well, so much for that idea, as if anything he wound me up even more in this instalment. Anyway, I'm getting ahead of myself - After working tirelessly night and day on those wretched costumes, inevitably Misaki takes them to a dress rehearsal only to have them summarily rejected. At this point, any normal human being would make loud and liberal use of the phrase "Fuck you" and walk away, but not Misaki - She takes the costumes away to change them, getting rid of the "overly colourful" look they originally agreed upon. To be honest I'm not sure whether to admire her for her dedication or shake my head at her naivety, but I'm certainly tending towards the latter.


Anyway, once again Touya (and even his Dad this time) is dragged into helping with the alterations, and after another all-nighter they get the job done. Again. So, off they set to go and watch the final play being performed, the culmination of all this hard work, and at this point Touya proves to be the most spineless moron on the face of the planet. All he and Misaki want are some tickets to watch the show, but the guy in charge of the drama club won't let them both have one, so what does Touya do? Does he get angry? Does he shout and make a scene? Does he berate the asshole in front of him? No. He tries to placate everybody in each and every way he can think of, which impresses nobody and gets him nowhere.

With that avenue closed, Misaki takes Touya up to a hidden area from which they can watch the play, but the physical obstacles in their way mean that they can't make it, so they sit and simply listen to what's going on instead. So comes Touya's moment of stupidity number two - One minute asking Misaki how she feels about Akira, then kissing her, then apologising, then confessing to her, then crying like a girl. Well, good - You should be bloody well crying you yellow-bellied asshole. Not that Misaki is much better, confessing her love to Touya herself before saying it was all a lie and that she simply used him to her costumes done (the last point of which is true in a sense, which probably means that this unlikeable pairing are made for each other).

Meanwhile, Yuki is left hanging by Touya some more, as is Haruka to some extent, Mana considers kissing a sleeping Touya for a moment (don't do it! You'll catch something), and Rina disappointingly doesn't appear at all.

I suppose I have to give White Album kudos for getting my emotions all wound up like this to the point of swearing on my 'Blog - It must be doing something right, it is a drama after all. Regardless, Touya is going to take some catching as 2009's least lovable anime character - Move over Itazura na Kiss' Irie Naoki, there's a new moron in town.

Viper's Creed - Episode 4

It would probably be a little harsh to say that episode four of Viper's Creed continues the series' downward spiral after that rip-roaring opening, and this episode was a little better than its third instalment. Barely.

While the Blademen are fighting their usual enemies down on the highways, a whole new scenario is being played out on a passing metro train, as a nine year-old girl gets kidnapped on a school trip (how anyone can manage to get a kid into a suitcase is beyond me, but that's exactly what happens here. No, I don't know how she managed to breathe either).


Upon returning to base after their mission, the gang learn that the enemy (who we still seem to know so little about - Perhaps it's better if I just don't care?) has deployed some "sticky" bombs during the fight, designed to detonate hours later after a vehicle has returned to base. Rather than attaching to any of the Blademen's vehicles, these bombs have instead attached to other passing cars, leaving them with a race against time to find and disarm the three explosives that are unaccounted for. Surprisingly, and despite the promise of a reward, Norma shows no interest in taking past in the mission...

Surprising, that is, until we discover that Marie, the kidnapped girl, is Norma's daughter, as is revealed after her attempt to have her returned in exchange for a hefty sum of money is ruined by a passing Haruki. So, the rest of the episode turns into a "hunt for the bomb/missing girl before it blows up" story, from which point on the rest probably writes itself.

The word "generic" probably doesn't even begin to sum up this kind of storyline, and that coupled with some gaping plot holes (how did these not particularly mobile bombs attach to cars nowhere near the action for starters?) made for a suitably average episode, while the attempt to pull at the viewer's emotional heartstrings with a story of war, adoption and Norma wanting the best for her child was pretty laughable - Either that or I'm a cold-hearted bastard, I'm not sure which. Either way, that early adrenaline rush that accompanied the opening episode of Viper's Creed has now well and truly disappeared, and in the cold light of day this is shaping up to be an irritatingly average series.

Kurokami: The Animation - Episode 8

If ever a moment summed up Keita's schizophrenic personality, it's the opening scene of this episode of Kurokami. For a few seconds, he thinks "Oh goodie, a holiday in Okinawa", and then just seconds later his face drops into his more typical "Oh woe is me, what burdens I carry" expression. Still, the good news is that he gets kicked and almost hung in this episode, so if ever there was a reason to watch this episode that is probably it.

Anyway, Kuro and company finally make it to Okinawa, but unfortunately they seem to have booked their little trip to clash with an outing of Master Roots to the exact same location, where these special beings are being concentrated to assist with finding the nearest Holy Stone (while also being subjected to death by Powerpoint presentations by the look of it).


In the meantime, Keita pays his grandfather a visit, a man who just happens to be a martial arts expert of some kind, meaning that he's going to either a. Train Keita and/or Kuro, b. Betray them or c. Die horribly within the next episode or two trying to protect them. Place your bets people. That aside, Keita and Kuro meet Okinawa's resident Mototsumitama, which helps them to learn a little more about their current question while also filling the obligitary action quote for this episode with a brief fight that to be fair was a little more stylish than what we've seen recently. But despite the initially relaxed atmosphere, Keita's presence has already been noted, while Steiner and Excel are on-hand to lead an invasion of the Master Root convention - The things people will do to get a good spot by the pool, eh?

Viper's Creed - Episode 3

After treating us to plenty of rip-roaring action in episode one, and then slightly less so in episode two, this third instalment of Viper's Creed looked set to bring us right back into the thick of things, with yet another event involving chasing robot-things across the highways. However, this doesn't last too long, as we move seamlessly into "the one where Saiki ruins everything for everybody".

After blowing up a highway in episode one, the construction of further roads has been sped up despite protests (we're helpfully told that air and sea travel is no longer possible... something to do with syrup. Don't ask), and it's these protesters that get the short end of a mixture of Saiki's trigger finger the exploding mechas, causing a number of deaths. From here, a night out at a restaurant with Saiki also gets ruined, as he ends up in an altercation with one of these protesters which leads to his murder outside. Saiki's fingerprints are on the gun, but surely he wasn't the culprit? So begins a rather stilted murder-mystery episode which would make Agatha Christie spin in her grave at supersonic speeds.


For starters, I don't really get how Saiki somehow ended this episode as a relative hero, the poor guy whose heart has been torn apart by former war atrocities and deaths by his hand - It was his fault that protesters died in the first place, and without that none of this would have happened. Sakurako's investigation into who the real murderer is was also embarrasingly easy, involving little more than visiting the guy who sold him the weapon who is easily coaxed into playing Guess Who? to reveal who it is ("Does he have a beard?" "No, but he's a blademan who used to fight in a war that I believe he mentioned to you earlier in this episode. I'll never tell you who he is though!"). Once that's settled, everyone shoots at each other a bit and then they all live happily ever after. The end.

Really, Viper's Creed should stick to cool motorbike mechas and blowing seven shades of Hell out of things that aren't human, for that is what this series does best. Trying to introduce suspense, mystery or depth of character to this show is like trying to make pornography better by giving it an over-arching and dialogue-ridden plot - It doesn't work, it's distracting from the good bits, and 99% of the time it just looks and sounds plain stupid.

DVD review: The Slayers - Volume 3

It may be very much a blast from the past, but oddly this is actually the first time that Slayers has made it to DVD in the UK (in fact, I don't think it even made it to VHS over here), with MVM looking to regale us with plenty of material from this franchise over the coming year.

I've just completed my review of volume three of Slayers (released tomorrow, March 2nd in the UK), which you can find linked below alongside my thoughts on the first two volumes of the series.

Slayers - Volume one
Slayers - Volume two

Slayers - Volume three