Just finished watching “They Are My Noble Masters” ep. 3. I’m slightly boggled. Good lord. Must find some pictures to post… that won’t melt the monitor. Maybe this title should be “Almost Was Hentai.” (Edited per Owen and IKnight’s comment below.) I’m also changing my summary for it. Forget “Hayate with boobies.” Try “Hayate with steaming hawt exhibitionist women, and boobies!” Panty flashes should be considered the mild stuff.
Head below the fold at your own risk. Very NSFW.
I don’t normally do manga; my taste has moved away from comic books in general over the years, and manga is particularly hard for me to read, since it involves running against the (western) habit of reading left to right. Despite that, I spent yesterday checking out scanlations of R+V, to get an idea of whether or not the animé was going to be worth a long-term commitment, or if it was going to be another GSNK.
The result? I’m kind of disappointed, but it’s still got some good parts. There’s some serious drama here, some clichés, some character development, some illogic, and so on. It’s very much a mixed bag, and there’s nobody to blame but the manga-ka, Ikeda Akihisa. I would describe him as a naive space cadet who thinks the whole world should be friends, at least based on a few notes he included with the story, the general tone and theme of the manga (friendship conquers all), and one specific storyline he wrote in response to a stabbing near where he lived. Now how much of his story is going to make it into the animé is yet to be determined, but obviously they plan to get all four girls in, despite the fact that one of them shows up very late in the manga. If they bring her in early, it will require significant changes to the continuity, as when/how she gets involved is tied into things that not only haven’t happened yet, they’ve actually been either dropped or pushed back in the sequence. Personally, I believe it’s the latter, or there’s some serious violence done to the story. Which, for some aspects, might be a good idea. And that’s all I can say above the fold: I must warn you that I”m going to get into some discussion of story spoilers eventually: the good, the bad, and the amusing.
The “amusing” (non-spoiler) would be the fans of the manga; their reaction has been pretty negative, from what I’ve seen here and on a forum I lost the link to. Everyone seems upset that Gonzo upped the fanservice. Hmmm. Guys, are we reading the same manga? It’s more per chapter because the manga has fewer opportunities; it would have to be a panty shot every frame to equal in numbers what the animé delivers. I will concede there is still a proportional increase, that the first glomping was a change, and the “upgrading” of alt-Moka’s bust and butt size. I will also say that I think the first was necessary if the show was going to get made, the second criticism may be correct, and I agree with the third change; I think the Manga-ka’s style of continuing to draw her with thin hips and bust is in error. (I originally wrote “bush”…Thank you Sigmund Freud.) There were scenes where I couldn’t tell for certain which Moka was present, until I saw the rosario was off. Furthermore, she looks more mature in the animé; there is no question that alt-Moka is an adult, whereas in the manga, she still looks like a teen due to the skinnier appearance. Most amusing was a comment on the lost forum, indicating that Gonzo had ruined a serious romantic story. Much h8 for Gonzo!
Serious. Romantic. Story. Are you kidding me? This is a harem comedy! Whomever wrote that wouldn’t know serious romance if it bit him on the neck.
Now, having gotten past my snark, let’s dive below the fold and get into some spoilerific territory. While I avoid specifics, there are still plot spoilers galore, and not behind tags. You have been warned.
You know how, when you’re lying there awake, and your mind starts to wander, even though you can’t sleep, you’ll think of the damnedest things? Last night was like that.
It occurred to me that the Japanese might not have re-runs on TV. I’ve never heard or seen any reference to an animé episode being repeated; instead it’s always, “what’s new this season?” every four months. Now, it might be that they do have re-runs, it’s just that no one on this side of the Pacific cares, since the fansub will be made from the original broadcast. Still, if they do have re-runs, it seems odd that I’ve never seen any reference to them.
The second thing that occurred to me is that TV seasons in the US are shorter than they were 30 years ago. I base this on the current standard of 22 episode seasons. At that pace, three years would see 66 episodes made. For comparison, Star Trek:TOS had 79 episodes in three years. That’s 26 per year, with one extra tacked on to the end. As I recall, NBC had an option for two extra episodes in the third year, but asked for only one. So four shows got chopped off the typical season in later years. Must have been all the crappy mini-series in the early 1980’s.
Can’t say as the change affected me one way or the other; I quit watching TV in the late 80’s. Hm, I wonder if there’s any connection there…
Not for a couple of months, at least. And that’s as far as I’m discussing the campaign on this blog.
Week 3, a new girl, and a little less glomping going on. But then, the show was never really about the glomping, was it? For those that have somehow missed the point, this is what R+V is all about: (NSFW!)
Pantsu!
Pantsu, and…
…More pantsu!
I haven’t seen a pantsu assault this relentless since Najica Blitz Tactics. I think I’ve said that before, but it’s worth saying again. They’re not letting up; this show is all about panties. Oh, and one other thing this show is about (also NSFW):
Breasts!
More breasts!
Huge breasts!
It’s a very hands-on subject at Youkai Acadamy, as you can see.
This week’s new girl is the physical opposite of Kurumu: Sendo Yukari, the loli genius and cute magical girl (right down to the heart-shaped wand). She’s developed a crush on Moka from afar, and Tskune is in the way. It doesn’t help that she’s, er, over-enthusiastic, pushy, and pretty much alienated from everyone else at the school. That’s because she’s a witch, (therefore a half-breed), smug, self-centered, and has a bit of a vindictive streak if someone crosses her. Which, given her general un-likeability, is pretty much everyone at the school.
It’s NSFW below the fold to, so don’t take risks in our all-too-PC world.
Continue reading
About a year ago, I wrote about the series Witchblade, based on watching the first four fansubs. I’d quickly gotten overdosed on the completely-over-the-top fanservice, and dropped it, even though I noted that the plot seemed to be thickening, and maybe getting just a bit interesting. The premise of this series is that 200 years in the future, the Witchblade has reappeared, this time in Japan. Tokyo went through a terrible quake before the story began; a major portion of the city is now submerged. People are still rebuilding, and there’s a lot of poverty and refugees as Masane arrives with her six-year-old daughter. Unfortunately, they quickly end up on the run, because of a paternalistic state agency that doesn’t allow unemployed single mothers to keep their kids. Masané is a ditz; her daughter is far more sensible than she is.
Interesting note: she gets nicknamed (by a dirty old man/neighbor), “Masamuné” and a sub note explains that masa = serious and muné = chest. So her nickname is “Serious Chest.” Guys are the same, all over the world, aren’t they? (What this also means is, in Abenobashi, the crazy redhead is nicknamed “Chest-Chest” or perhaps “Double Chest.”)
(Shown here with a neighbor, a nosy photographer. He picks up on the Masamuné nickname quickly, much to her displeasure.)
Also, although she’s unaware of it at first, Masané is the wearer of the Witchblade, and there’s multiple groups after it.
Part of the opposition. Queen of the damned?
Ok, that’s all I can show above the fold, folks… after this, if we went any further into NSFW territory, I’d have to call this a porn site.
Wow, this ended up being the most picture-centric post in a long while. I guess I just like the subject matter! I’m a few days late with this, but the 2nd episode of Rosario to Vampire is out, and we do get several important questions answered. However, due to the NSFW nature of some of the pictures, I’ll have to ask you to head below the fold after the first few questions.
Yes, she’s still a glompire.
Yes, she’s still smitten with him, and no, that’s not a good thing to hear your vampire girlfriend say in the morning.
Really not a good thing. Yes, she’s still going to nibble on him.
No, a nekosensei is kawaii, but not as much as a nekomeido.
