Original Post: http://www.dzparks.com/manga/hunter-x-hunter-354-review
Chapter 354 opens with the explanation of the how much the average male human head weighs which around 17lbs. This pertains to the fact Chrollo was hit in his blind side by a human head attached to Hisoka's foot via Bungee Gum. Hisoka continues his attack by hitting Chrollo again in his side with the head. Hisoka is surprised that Chrollo, who is in obvious pain didn't drop his Skill Hunter Book. Chrollo then begins using his puppets to retreat into the crowd, while Hisoka mows them down by beheading them with the severed head. While fighting the puppets Hisoka analyzes Chrollo's options and reacts accordingly. Hisoka deduces correctly how to find Chrollo in the crowd and quickly engages him. Using his Bungee Gum on the backs of the fleeing crowd, Hisoka is able to trap Chrollo in a mass of people. He then catches Chrollo with his Bungee Gum and attack Chrollo with a vicious and fatal assault. Then it turns out this Chrollo was an imposter. The chapter ends with Hisoka coming to the realization that Chrollo mislead him with information about his abilities.
A very exciting chapter. In the previous chapter it looked like Chrollo was poised to, completely to take over the fight with his hit and run tactics that did have some success but Hisoka’s blindside attack caused Chrollo to back off. I would be lying if I said I fully understand the Sun and Moon abilities. The way I understand it is that Sun and Moon keep copies and puppets from dispersing only if the seals explode. If this is the case, does that mean every copy and puppet he creates is bomb that is just lying all over the stadium? The combination of these has very dangerous potential for everyone present, especially if Chrollo continues to add "bombs." The real question is how is Chrollo going to position Hisoka for my perceived attack to have maximum effect. While I'm not sure if the majority of the crowd will live past this once the cluster of bombs go off but I can't imagine either of these two characters being killed in the conclusion of this fight.
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Hunter X Hunter 354 Manga Review
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One Piece 826 Manga Review
Original Post: http://www.dzparks.com/manga/one-piece-826-review
Chapter 826 opens with the Sanji retrieval team being confronted by a Germa 66 "Den Den Mushi" ship. The Strawhats begin greeting, who they believe to be Sanji but is actually his younger brother, Yonji. The Strawhats plead for his help as Luffy is succumbing to poison. As Yonji taunts the Strawhats about their predicament, he is kicked in the face by his older sister, Reiju. After Brooke recognizes the Vinsmoke name and history, Reiju explains the Vinsmokes standing among the world. She explains that the Vinsmoke lead the Germa 66 as a Royal family without land but are still allowed to participate in the Reverie. Reiju then turns her attention to Luffy, whose body is covered in a rash. Reiju literally sucks the poison entirely out of Luffy's system and is completely unphased by ingesting the poison. After Luffy has fully recovered, Reiju tells the Strawhats about how their father has searched for Sanji ever since he ran away, going as far as to modifying his wanted poster to only be taken alive. After mild confrontation, the Vinsmokes take their leave and agree to act as if they saw nothing so the wedding continues to run smoothly. The chapter ends with a fishman reporting to Jinbe Luffy's location.
This was a good chapter. We are finally introduced to a portion of the Vinsmoke family and we got a lot of information regarding them. First things first, the dominate genes of this family are beyond strong, they all look exactly alike. The Vinsmoke family holds an enormous amount of influence in the world among the government and pirates. As we learn from this chapter, the Vinsmoke family ruled over the whole of North Blue a long time ago but it isn't explained how they loss their land. The Vinsmokes are still considered royalty to the World Government. When Sanji's bounty came out a while ago, instead of the usual "Dead or Alive" following the bounty quantity, his only read "Alive.” Sanji's father holds enough influence to persuade the blood thirsty World Government to capture rather than kill a renowned pirate.
Sanji's father must be a badass.
The Vinsmokes are even allowed to participate in the Reverie even though they don't rule a nation. This is huge news! If you read any of my previous reviews, I'm very excited for the Reverie. Something huge is going to go down without a doubt. With the Vinsmokes allying themselves with Big Mom and participating in the Reverie, this just adds more fuel to what I believe will be a ticking bomb, whenever the Reverie is underway.
There are at least two more Vinsmoke siblings, if the numbered names are any indication, and it will be very interesting nonetheless. We got a small glimpse of the Vinsmokes' abilities. Reiju's "poison" ability has be some kind of devil fruit power. This woman would be Magellan's worst nightmare. I'm curious what the other applications of her abilities are. Do other members of the family have devil fruit powers? In addition how far advanced are the Germa's weapons? We didn't see much outside of the power of flight and sure, they have something juicier than that in the arsenal.
Lastly, we get a Jinbe tease. The last time we saw Jinbe he was hauling a traumatized and unconscious Luffy out of Marineford. It will be great to see him again as it has been fantasized that Jinbe will join the Strawhats but it has also been stated that Jinbe is affiliated with Big Mom. How exactly will this affect his interaction with Luffy's team? I doubt Big Mom will allow Jinbe to help the Strawhats without making him suffer somehow. She does control Fishman Island, so Jinbe would probably play it conservatively.
Just so much to look forward in the coming chapters.
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Bleach 674 Manga Review
Original Post: http://www.dzparks.com/manga/bleach-674-review
Chapter 674 opens with Ywach and Ichigo continuing their fight. Ywach is effortlessly throwing Ichigo around while taunting him. Then the chapter pans to Valkyrie's battle. As Renji and Rukia are attacked by Valkyrie's gigantic hand but they are saved by Byakuya. Immediately after, Byakuya persuades the duo to go to Ichigo's side and aid him against Ywach. Hitsugaya addresses that Renji, Rukia, and himself could see the concern in Byakuya's face but he supports them going to Ichigo, as they are his friends and would've probably gone to him anyway. The story pans to bloodied and beaten Uryu still fighting Haschwalth. Haschwalth asks Uryu "Who is the real Uryu Ishida?” Uryu answers, "I won't know until all of your drop like flies" referring to the Wandenreich. The chapter ends with Isshin Kurosaki and Ryuken Ishida appearing at the Soul King's Palace.
This chapter was pretty underwhelming. We didn't really get much action at all and the dialogue was pretty useless. This felt like a filler chapter literally up to the last page when Isshin and Ryuken appeared. I guess this is supposed to serve as an "Oh Snap" moment but I didn't get excited about it. With things looking grim for the Shinigami, they do need all the help they can get. I haven't been overly interested about Isshin for a while now, he still hasn't revealed his Bankai, so hopefully it will surface sometime in the near future and be something creative. Ryuken has never been interesting to me at all, he is just an older and prissier Uryu. Enough Said. If this chapter did anything right I'm still don't really know what to expect at all in the coming chapters. Unfortunately, the bleakness of the situation makes me think some kind of random power up will change the fortunes of the good guys. I hope that I'm wrong.
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My top 5 manga series (till now)
Welcome! Today I'm going to write about my top 5 favourite mangas I have read until now. But be aware; I have only read about 50 mangas, so this list will probably change as I read more manga. I will not be including any light novels.
The first spot goes to Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer. This one really is a peculiar one. It starts out with a weird, but good kind of comedy. One morning when Yuuhi Amamiya awakes, he finds himself looking at a lizard. But it's not just any lizard, it's Sir Noi Crezant, the Lizard Knight. Sir Noi has been sent to gain the aid of Yuuhi, in hope to find the Princess Samidare and protect the world from the fearsome giant Biscuit Hammer, a hammer standing in the sky ready to crush the world.
I started this manga with the expectation of it being just a comedy manga. Oh, how wrong I was. It is really an amazing anime, and it is just so much more than you excpect from the beginning. I absolutely adore how all the characters are so original, and how the develop through the manga. Give it a try if you want a manga with a bunch of comedy, but also lots of psychological aspects, drama and action.
Tokyo Ghoul is a manga written by the mangaka with the penname Sui Ishida. It is a manga filled with action, tragedy and horror. The story is set in a world where humans now have a rival to the top spot on the food chain. These creatures are called ghouls. They look excatly like humans most of the time, but the thing is, they can only feed on one thing; humans. These ghouls have superhuman strength, which they use when they hunt on the humans. The story follows the college school human boy Ken Kaneki, an introverted bookworm who lost both his parents when he was young. Kaneki has been going to this café called Anteiku, where a young woman, Rize, has caught his eyes. They went out on a date one day, but on the way home, this woman starts acting strange. Suddenly she attacks Kaneki, and reveals her identity as a ghoul. Kaneki can't do anything as his body smashes into the concrete wall. As Rize approaches Kaneki, a sound can be heard, and in the next moment, tons of steel beams fall on Rize, and she is killed. Kaneki is then brought to the hospital, but is in a critical condition, and needs an organ transplantation, which he receives from the deceased Rize. However, what the doctor transplanted into Kaneki was not a human organ, but the kokuhou, an organ which contains the kagune, a ghouls weapon. What will happen to Kaneki as he now embarges into a completely different life?
Whew... long synopsis. I'm one of the people who actually watched the anime before I read the manga, but I must say that I really liked the first anime season too. Tokyo Ghoul is one of my favourite mangas mainly because of it themes. I love how Sui Ishida makes us question who is really in the wrong and which side is the evil one, and how we get to follow Kaneki who is basically the one of the only one who can understand both sides. Definitely give this one a try if you like dark, psychological mangas with a fantasy part.
Don't be creeped out by the weird title, because this one is a masterpiece. No, I'm serious. In this manga we meet the highschooler Kakeru Kurosawa. Kurosawa is an antisocial guy who is mostly by him self. His hobby is... well you can probably guess it. Yep, masturbating. Kurosawas only bright point of the day is when he collects moments from the girls in his class, sneaks into the rarely used girls toiley on the 3rd floor and masturbates. But one day, a fellow classmate, Aya Kitahara, spots him. Kitahara is an offer of bullying, and wants revenge. She makes use of what she has seen, and forces Kurosawa to work with her. What are they doing for revenge you say? It's obvious isn't it; masturbating on the clothes of the people they don't like.
Oh my, where to start. I know this synopsis doesn't really convince you, but it is a serious anime. It's a dark psychological anime that tells a story about how difficult life can be for some people, and how having just one comrade really can change the world. It also tells a story about mistakes, regrets and atonement. I really love how the characters change throughout the manga, and it really is a manga that captures your interest from the beginning. Give this a try if you like a dark psychological manga, which also has some hints of romance and is set in highschool.
Again, don't get turned off by the title. The characters in this story all have weird nicknames. The story follows Molester Man, who is a perverted, socially inept otaku who spends all of his time on the Japanese version of 4chan, 2ch. On the way home one day, he spots a woman walking in front of him. This woman mistakes him for a stalker, and he gets arrested. The woman, Miss Understanding, and Molester Man clears up the misunderstanding, and Molester Man learns that Miss Understanding has a stalker problem. Molester Man offers to help her, in the hope of dating her. . This is the beginning of a new live for Molester Man, where he gets gradually closer to Miss Understanding and her friends.
What's up with me and mangas with weird titles, huh? Oh well. This manga is almost completely character driven, with its nicely and interesting done conversations, and character development. What I love about this one, is that the relationships between the characters feel really genuine, and it's really a joy to just read the conversations. I would recommend this to people who like slice of life, romcom animes, with the characters as the main driving force.
Silent Voice starts of in middle school. The main character, Shouya Ishida, is an energetic young boy who each day fight against his sworn enemy, boredom. One day a young girl transfer into his class, Shouko Nishimiya. This girl is deaf, and is looked at vigilantly. After a while in class, people starts getting annoyed over how she askes about everything with her notebook, and some of the people in the class start feeling like she is dragging them down with her. One of them is Shouya. People start bullying Shouko, and she has to transfer out after her hearing wear gets destoryed multiple times. Shouya gets the blame, and becomes the new victim. Years pass, and his situation is not getting better, which leads to him x-ing out every person he sees. He finally understand how Shouko had it, and wants to apologize to Shouko. He has learned sign language for years just for that purpose and goes to meet Shouko. This meeting changes his life.
This one was just feels all over the place. I started reading the one shot, and instantly knew that this would be one of my all time favourites. This manga is a story of regret, bullying, depression, atonement, love and so much more. If you like mangas with feels, then this is the one for you. It really is hard to describe how much I love this with words, so just go read it if you want to understand.
So that concludes my small(not really) blog entry "My top 5 manga series (till now)." Thanks for reading! (^▽^)
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Lazy, random opinion for Winter 2016
Grimgar
The premise of being trapped in a video game has generally been an unfortunate run. Starting with .Hack and everything rips it off afterwards, there has never been anything that do it justice. Something that really hone in on the human relationship aspect of living in a designed world all the while presenting an exciting adventure in a fantasy setting, until the Winter season of 2016. Unfortunately, this merit goes towards the other fantasy LNadaptation, Konosuba. Grimgar, on the other hand, retains far too many problems of its kin that holds it back from being good but nevertheless a welcoming improvement on the already tiring and old formula.
There are absolutely nothing new or exciting about the world grimgar feature, generic battle system, generic item system, generic quest and class system and the world itself isn’t presented in any comprehensive manner. Some may find the difficulty level at the start somewhat interesting but that isn’t much to speak of.
The central story of the journey of the group through this challenge is surely a well-intended one, but the execution leave a lot to be expected. We are shown the misfortunes that they face, how they overcome them and managed to prevail and stick. Yes. However, the series often rely on very poor writing devices such as: shock factor imbued death, “you cry I cry therefore we understand each other”, characters acting out of stupidity (eg deciding to go to the mine knowing fully they might die) and so on. This, together with characterisation problems (to be addressed later) made the development a lot less genuine than it should have been.
One praiseworthy part of the decision the writer made in this series is attempting to portray the “normal players” rather than godly characters we see in other series. Unsurprisingly, it takes away some of the feeling of a wish fulfilment empowerment that eerily haunts fantasy authors. In turn, this allow more room for sympathy towards their accomplishment no matter how small, as it is not part of the expectation that they will end up saving the day in spectacular fashion. This doesn’t excuse from several moments of exaggeration to draw sympathy but regardless something I don’t mind seeing.
The same thing can’t be said about the main character, though because he’s as generic as they come. Devoid of personality and expressing every trait identifiable of a milquetoast beta male lead, he has a heart of gold, sensitive of others yet always looked down upon; secretly, he also possess an ultimate skill that allows him to strike down his foes because the plot tells him where to attack he believes in himself. His progress into a leader is well managed, but adds very little to his character.
Side characters are, as expected, even more lacking. They are almost entirely definable by their quirks and always act like they are expected to. Particularly, this was very detrimental for characterising Insensitive-kun. He could have been an interesting subversion of this trope as shown throughout the series that he actually find what people think of him hurtful and is actually considerate of others feeling. Despite this, he goes on to act like a dick anyway; peeking at the bath and comment on girls boob size. Why? There’s no reason that would explain this behaviour besides the fact that this is expected of his character archetype.
The script of the show is its biggest drawback. There is often this really long and useless exposition how everyone levelled up, got new skillz and equips. Meanwhile I can see this may be of narrative use in the novel to keep track of the progress every, say, volume; it absolutely does not work in anime forme; the content are barren and full of information that no one cares about and contribute nothing to the plot. Furthermore, this obsession with gaming terminology also hurt the emotional weight the show had. Following the death of one of their leaders they slowly resolved to move on without him, which have been truly sympathetic if they weren’t considering everything in gaming term. When someone is said to be equivalent a party leader status and a “tank”, and then they need to develop by having a better “tank”, I find it very hard to connect with what the characters are dealing with.
Production wise, A-1 again shows it’s literally the worst studio out there. I appreciate what they do with the background art and music montage even sound like a cool idea. Problem is, just because it’s cool doesn’t mean you can slap it on everything. Probably half the episodes feature some sort of random music montage when they try to show what’s happening without talking and just fail horribly at it; I can’t imagine this to be in the novel either unless there were specifically lines like “the characters then rests in silence as the tone of music kicks in for the duration of the day following their globin raid”. Firstly, they do not feature any sort strong metaphorical meaning, serving no purpose. Secondly, they do not assist in developing character relationships as the characters are never characterised to the point where the audience can imagine meaningful conversation between them, instead taking away screentime that would been utilised better for this purpose. Thirdly, the music is shit stop playing it. And then there are the usual problems with A-1: inconsistent animation, poor, lazy character design (how is that meant to be deadfish eye?!?!?), the need to sexualise things and so on.
Grimgar is a well-intended but mediocrely executed show. As much as I sounded like I disapprove of it I don’t really. The improvement here from the crap we are used to is by all means welcomed. Now if someone were to take this and perfect it I would be grateful, really.
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HST Surveys 40-present
Monia Café+Yggdrasils HST Surveys!
Ranked by:
1. Number of total wins
2. Number of full survey wins if a quick version is available
3. Number of finals
4. Number of nominations
5. Voting Poll
Survey 40: Fate´s Survival Challenge (Winner: Yuki Nagato)
Fate created a survivial challenge with 9 nominees minimum which right from the start of course meant that it would be extremely hard for a character to reach two wins. There was only ONE character who managed to do so and it is YUKI NAGATO from the Suzumiya Series!
The survey put quite a few characters up on the winners´ board for the very first time. Only the Monogatari Series managed to get two characters on the results with wins by Izuko Gaen and Shinobi Oshino. But in the end Yuki came out on Top!
Congratulations to those who picked her and thank you very much for taking part this week ^^
This marks the end of the "regular season" of the 1st Survey season. In the coming two weeks, we will crown the overall champions of the season, starting with the finals for Best Character which i will be posting tomorrow. Next week it will be the finals for Best Anime. Most likely i will be done with the creation of the new rules for the 2nd season. I will present them and probably do a test survey with those rules before we are finally headed into summer break!
Anyway, here are the final standings for this week. Thank you very much Fate for creating this survey for us :-)) See you tomorrow everybody! ^^
Full Final Standings: HST Survey 40: Fate´s Survival Challenge
GOLD:
Phil: Yuki Nagato (Haruhi Suzumiya Series)
Zaheezy: Yuki Nagato (Haruhi Suzumiya Series)
SILVER:
Icarenot: Konjiki no Yami (To LOVE-Ru)
Silyon: Tenjou Utena (Revolutionary Girl Utena)
Belka: Sieglinde Jeremiah (Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha)
GaeBolg: Lancer (Fate Series)
Tarotist: Belldandy (Ah!My Goddess)
Izanagi: Funny Valentine (JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Part 7 : Steel Ball Run)
Jim: Izuko Gaen (Monogatari Series)
Sytemet: Griffith (Berserk)
Monia: Miuna Shiodome (Nagi no Asukara)
Tsubameko: Akemi Homura (Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica)
DragonSlayer: Son Goku (Dragon Ball Z)
Harus: Shinobu Oshino (Monogatari Series)
Conde: Elizabeta Baranovskaya (Gunslinger Girl)
Clampfan: Tsubasa Kazanari (Senki Zesshou Symphogear)
Clover: Hayate Ayasaki (Hayate no Gotoku!)
FreshMint: Koro-Sensei (Assassination Classroom)
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Predictions on Oricon/Billboard Weekly Sales
Haifuri ED - I'm sure it's between 1,000 and 15,000. 90% sure between 2000 and 10000.
AssClass OP2 - 100% 3,000 and 20,000. 90% sure between 3000 and 15000
Re:Zero ED - 100% 2000 and 25000. 90% 2,500 and 20,000.
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Top Female Characters
10.Mashiro Shiina
9.Oshino Shinobu
8.Victorique de Blois
7.Celty Sturluson
6.Shino Asada
5.Rin Tohsaka
4.Sayaka Miki
3.Kyouko Sakura
2.Taiga Aisaka
1.Shana
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