Token Asian’s Anime Blog

Repairs on the Lacour Hope are underway with the help of Opera and Claude. While things look dreary at first, at least the Energy Stone is okay. Without the right parts, it’ll take Leon quite a while to fix it up. Apparently they need to find parts for the Heraldic spell converter in the nearby city of Smith, if it still exists. Opera and Leon stay behind with the three thugs while Claude and company go off in search of parts.

The road ahead is hard, but our group is determined. When they reach the city, the place is pretty much a ruined city, but they still go to look for parts. Back at base camp, a squad of monsters and robots are attacking. Despite the efforts of Opera and Leon, the enemies keep coming. Oddly, they ignore the Lacour Hope… but it is revealed that their real objective is the Energy Stone. The monsters force their way past Opera and retrieve the Energy Stone. She goes off in pursuit but finds herself out of ammunition. Luckily, someone with a whip attacks her opponents and rescues her.

Leon and the thugs are almost overwhelmed until Claude and the others come to their rescue. Unfortunately, they haven’t returned with any usable parts. They finally realize that Opera is gone and the thugs say that she ran off. Leon says he heard shots fired in the forest, but now there are none. One of the thugs runs up and says that the Energy Stone has been stolen. Well, that took them a while. D’oh!

After their search, they find no body, so they assume for the moment that Opera is still alive. Meanwhile, Leon is analyzing Rena’s pendant, though while it’s a form of Energy Stone, it’s not the right type. Claude hands over his comm and phase gun for parts, even though the gun was from his father. But if he uses it to protect Expel, he’s sure that his father would forgive him.

Later that night, Rena comes to see Claude and says that if he hadn’t decided to help, he might have gotten home already. He replies that if he hadn’t met her, he wouldn’t have had the chance to become the person he is now, for which he is truly grateful. You know, you’d think by now their relationship would have progressed further by now. Geez, this guy is almost as bad as Keiichi. At least Rena’s not as… never mind. Belldandy’s got the edge on her in any scenario.

Downstairs, Celine has dragged Ashton downstairs. And um, he gets rather worried that Celine is trying to seduce him. In some truly disturbing mental imagery, he decides that he already has barrels… oh, and Precis (which is probably more disturbing). Anyway, what Celine wants is to discuss a backup plan if they can’t repair the Lacour Hope. And she wants the dragons’ advice, not Ashton’s.

The thugs are discussing how that there’s no way they can win, but Aniki, the head thug, says that there’s something about this group of people that might let them win. While they sleep, Leon is working on the Lacour Hope… and Claude’s comm goes off. When Claude reaches his communicator, there is no longer anyone on the other end. But there is no time to worry about that because something is approaching. It’s a massive mecha… with Precis inside. RUN! Oh well, at least Yuki and Bowman are tagging along.

They’ve come to deliver the translated manuscripts, which contains a prophecy of the world’s destruction, and that a black moon will appear with the Crest of Annihilation and after seven days, the world will be destroyed. Luckily, Precis also has an Energy Stone and Heraldic spell converter. In between Precis’s helium-induced noises, Bowman reveals that there is nothing about a hero in the manuscript, but that doesn’t deter anyone from their goal. What does it matter that Claude is no hero? In true warrior fashion, they know that it’s not what you are, but what you do. And in an odd twist, Leon also tells Claude that he’s fixed the phase gun. Ooookay, that was… quick. Advanced weapons technology fixed by some whiny boy genius on a technologically undeveloped planet in one night… right. In any case, I guess Claude is ready to kick butt now.

And yes, I did notice that in this episode that there wasn’t really any scene worth a screen cap. To make up for it, here’s some nice fanservice from Celine in this episode. Star Ocean hentai fans, rejoice.

Frankly, the idea of American fighter jets is a bigger turn on for me. Ace Combat Zero should be hitting our shores in 2006 for the PS2. I’m drooling over this game already.

Just the latest haul of anime stuff. I actually didn’t spend a lot of money on all of these, thankfully.

-You’re Under Arrest artbook and sketch collection book
-You’re Under Arrest “The Wild Ones”
-You’re Under Arrest notebook
-You’re Under Arrest pencil board
-some random Gunsmith Cats graphic novel
-Ah! My Goddess “Terrible Master Urd”
-Ah! My Goddess “Love Potion No. 9″
-Ah! My Goddess postcard book
-two Ah! My Goddess cel reproductions
-two Ah! My Goddess sets of playing cards
-Ah! My Goddess Illustation and Artwork Collection

That last item, the Ah! My Goddess artbook… is dead sexy, even without a miniskirt. Take that, Roy Mustang! Some of the art in that book is pretty darn hard to find, even on that thing they call the “Internet.” I was lucky to find this “Ah! My Goddess Illustation and Artwork Collection.” Was it worth the price? Definitely. And let me tell you, there’s this uber-cute picture of Megumi that I have never seen before…

Oddly, the You’re Under Arrest pencil board has significantly improved my note-taking skills in class. My handwriting is… actually readable now! Professors at Lehigh, rejoice! Now, if they’d let me use it during exams, I’ll probably get straight As from now on.

In other news, I just essentially committed myself to yet another trip to Otakon by coordinating another club trip. Hopefully, this time we’ll get some more quality time together instead of um, dragging Scott to help me buy stuff.

Have you seen this uber-Belldandy wallpaper yet? If you haven’t, go and download it ASAP!

All credit for this wallpaper goes to Atomiccow on the Goddess-Project.net forums. He’s tops in my book. I love how he did the background to accentuate Bell’s natural charms… ^_^

(sorry, only available in 1280 x 1024)

EDIT:

moyism is right, Peorth - Anime Wallpapers by Andrea is probably the #1 place to pick up AMG wallpaper. However, Atomiccow’s new creation is still my current favorite.

You know, if I forgot my homework, I’d like to have a goddess travel through the side mirror of my vehicle to go home and get the papers. Anyway, Bell’s off to retrieve K-1’s missing homework while he hangs around campus and people ask him if Belldandy dumped him (it sounds random, I know). Tamiya and Ootaki show up and tell him that he’s lucky to have Bell for a girlfriend. Somehow, they come up with the idea that the couple has gone all the way and therefore they want to name his child, which they express… “enthusiastically.” Poor Keiichi.

Sayoko shows up again and also realizes that Keiichi doesn’t live alone. When she expresses her surprise, the entire campus goes into action via cell phone to spread the news. However, Keiichi says that they haven’t gone all the way, so she calls them elementary students. For her, it’s obvious why Keiichi has trouble going out with a girl. Her advice to K-1 is for him to tell Belldandy how he really feels. Good advice, I might add.

When Bell does come back, of course, he chickens out… While inside class, he debates if she really loves him or if she’s here just because of the contract. Bell tries to warn him that the professor is coming but he’s still zoned out and he accidentally yells out “love.” Well, for that, he deserves getting embarrassed in class.

At home, he imagines the “possibilities” in a relationship with Bell, though he admits to himself that he really just wants to go out with her, nothing kinky. K-1 tries to go into her room but as expected, backs out at the last second. He considers that he should have wished for her to be his girlfriend in the first place, but that’d be cruel. When he finally falls asleep, he dreams about Bell and how a date would violate their contact.

The next day, he digs out his “date guidebook.” Oh geez, this can only end in someone getting shot or tasered. In another brilliant move, he reads too intently and when Bell calls him for dinner, he yells out “kiss.” Bell asks him if he wanted kisu fish for dinner, mmmm… with vinegar and rice. When she finally leaves, he continues his reading and considers taking her out to dinner at a nice restaurant, though unfortunately he has no decent formal wear. He then manages to dig out some candles and create a romantic outdoor scene. With that done, he’s missing some romantic music to finish the scene. Again, he gets interrupted by Bell, who asks if there’s anything wrong. Keiichi realizes that Bell can read minds, thus any plan to confess to her is pointless. Thankfully, she tell shim that she only sees emotions as colors and her abilities are restricted on Earth.

Eventually, he finds an audio tape with some romantic music. Apparently, it is from Tamiya and Ootaki, who accidentally mixed in with his stuff. Now, onwards with the confession scene. Yeah, phhhhbt! Whatever.

At dinner, Keiichi puts on his suit… *holds in laughter* The suit returns! Okay, so Bell notices his “color” shift and that he’s excited. Keiichi eventually works up enough courage to take her outside to see the candles. With the mood set, he begins to confess but gets rather excited and Bell misinterprets the high body temperature, fast heart rate, etc. as Keiichi being ill. Whoops! She grabs him and takes him inside and tries to put him to sleep with a spell. Resisting her magic with all his willpower, Keiichi manages to confess his feelings for her, that he wants to go out with her, not because of the contract, but because that is how he feels. Poor K-1, as soon as he gets that out, he succumbs and falls asleep.

With all that said, Bell realizes why he was acting so strangely and says to herself that even though she came for the contract, she has feelings for him and it is her wish to make him happy. The next morning, K-1 realizes that they’ll be together forever anyway. So what does it matter if they’re going out or not.

An interesting episode. Keiichi actually does confess to Bell, unlike in the manga where he just passes out. This should make the rest of the series interesting as it accelerates their relationship.

It’s yet another morning in the Morisato household and Bell is making breakfast and taking care of the chores. After breakfast, Keiichi says that he has to go to school but Bell also wants to come along. With her obvious desire to accompany him, they go off to the university together.

And here comes Sayoko, everyone’s favorite pain in the… you know. Being rich AND beautiful, she finds herself surrounded by a crowd of suitors who try to win her heart though she rebuffs them all. It’s nice to have no competition, but Bell has arrived and Sayoko immediately assumes that she suddenly has a competitor when everyone runs off to meet the new girl on campus. With all the stares, Belldandy assumes that something bad might happen to Keiichi, though she’s the one that has to worry.

Tamiya and Ootaki come along and ask Bell for her phone and address, saying that it’s for sending them Keiichi’s baggage. People realize they’re living together and yell at Bell to break it off with Keiichi. To his embarrassment, he has to explain to Bell what it means to “live together.” They decide to take Bell on a tour while Keiichi runs some errands, but the Ultimate Force kicks in and Tamiya gets a nasty KO via soccer ball.

In class, Sayoko sees Bell and Keiichi and decides to assert her dominance, so she asks Bell to move our of her seat. Apparently, if she doesn’t, it’d make her appear to have a bad personality, and if she does, she’s giving in. I know, it doesn’t make sense to me either. Of course, Bell just decides to share the bench… though Sayoko now thinks that Bell is tough ad good at the “game.”

Some time later, Ootaki runs up and explains to our lovely couple that Professor Ozawa, a rival professor, thinks Bell was in the class as an artificial means to secure increased attendance. Okay, in my 20+ years at Lehigh, I’ve never heard of anyone doing that… Anyway, the sempais drag Keiichi off and have him try to hack the database to make it appear that Bell is a real student. With Bell’s help, they get the job done but find out that Ozawa is looking at the paper trail instead. With some… um, violent assistance from Tamiya and Ootaki, they finally manage to make Ozawa sick of the whole thing. Of course, Sayoko thinks that Bell’s just a little schemer who likes to take this sort of thing too far…

Keiichi has a brief recollection of his attempt to date Sayoko and frowns, causing Bell to ask him what’s wrong. Sayoko joins them and asks to speak to Keiichi in private. With Bell gone, she tries to seduce him in order to humiliate Belldandy. The Ultimate Force kicks in and someone accidentally douses Sayoko with water. Despite that and Keiichi’s protests, she continues… only to have a dog chase her around the campus. Can’t the girl take a hint?

After ditching the dog, Bell comes upon Sayoko, who says that Bell must be mad about how she’s chasing her man. Bell, being Belldandy, has no clue what Sayoko is talking about. When she says that she’s a goddess, Sayko says that she’s a queen and therefore can’t lose. This confuses Bell even more, who asks which Sayoko which country she’s queen of, only infuriating Sayoko even more, sending her stomping off in a rage.

When Keiichi and Belldandy attempt to return home, Sayoko pulls up, offers Keiichi a ride, and literally drags him off. Bell says that it’s okay since the Ultimate Force shouldn’t react. Sayoko has an ulterior motive and tries to take him for a drive to see the sunset, only to have the Ultimate Force block her at every turn. She eventually gives up and just tries to seduce him in the car. With the Ultimate Force in action, a radio tower begins to topple onto the car. Belldandy rushes to the rescue but apparently can’t make it in time Thankfully, Keiichi tells Sayoko about her earlier rejection so he knows that she can’t be serious about him and asks her to stop, which stops the Ultimate Force from killing Sayoko. Bell “appears out of nowhere” and takes Keiichi from Sayoko. You should’ve seen the look on her face…

Sayoko wonders about Keiichi and how he smiles despite her cruelty to him. Before she can inhale another bottle of alcohol to drown her sorrows, Bell and Keiichi appear at her front door with dinner… and the Auto Club. The sempais give Bell her new student ID card, so now she’s officially a student. Sayoko now realizes that Bell will be there for the rest of her time at Nekomi Tech. Think Bell will go for a degree in engineering?

What happens when you combine four anime club officers, a Naruto cosplay fan, six bags of candy, and the most humidity that Lehigh University has seen this year?

A picture is worth a thousand words.

Anyway, I’ve been slow with my blogging lately. I’ll get right back on top of it soon. It’s just that all the work for the club and school is piling up and I wasn’t able to fit in much free time.

To summarize once again, Anime Angels is a Christian mangazine, meaning that it is a magazine chock full of manga goodness with Christian readers in mind. Some of the best independent Christian manga artists have published their work in this magazine alongside other original articles from various authors. Unfortunately, “Remembering You” by Psycho Ann is on hiatus for this issue.

Kioko & Jomei
By Nicole Kiser

Once again, this short, one-page comic brings in some laughs. This one is about animal abuse (well, that’s how I read into it). Menchi from Excel Saga comes into mind. So please, treat animals well. It’s not really that humorous… poor kitty.

Rating: 8/10

Andrea
By Ryan Bradley

What if you had superpowers? Would you believe that you were like a god? Unstoppable, all powerful, and needing nobody else? Is this the right way to live a life? An interesting question since I’m sure all people have felt arrogant at one time in their lives. Our heroine must deal with this question, whether she wants to or not.

Rating: 7.5/10

Game Break
By Philip Hanan

Seriously, why do you need to play DDR and buy all that equipment when you can listen to music on the radio or go to a club? Well, one might ask the Cornell DDR club about that, but I don’t know the answer to the question. Funny stuff, poking a bit of fun at DDR addicts.

Rating: 9/10

One Winged
By Genevieve G. Tan

It is revealed that our female protagonist has suffered some sort of accident in the past and lost her faith in God because of what happened. One’s faith can waver in the face of adversity, as if God taught you how to fly but you only had one wing. The plot continues a bit, but I won’t give out any spoilers. Art seems a tad stronger too! Yay!

Rating: 9.0/10

Dainos
By Jamie Davenport

This manga looks intriguing. The artwork is extremely solid and draws the reader into the story. We have a girl running from something, although we’re not clear on what it is. She eventually collapses and encounters “something.” Okay, you’ve got me hooked, I can’t wait to find out what happens.

Rating: 8.4/10

Steelblood
By Inkhana

Let me give it to you up front. Steelblood is an awesome manga. The artwork is so good, you could swear you were reading a professionally-done graphic novel. Steelblood is the story about a pair of twin children who had their lives and family torn away from them when a rival kingdom invaded. Prince Rivalen has fled the destruction but his sister has been captured and he has been wounded severely. A female from a different race rescues him and in a risky medical procedure, gives him a blood transfusion from her own body to save him…

Rating: 9.9/10

What is so revolutionary about Utena?
By Rose

Honestly, I’ve never seen “Utena.” So I’m not sure I can adequately review this issue’s feature article. However, I believe the gist of the article is about overcoming the troubles of the physical with the spiritual. Is that not true of Christians? We bear the burden of life on Earth but we overcome these troubles with our faith. I suppose that “Utena” is a metaphor for a revolution in one’s soul, which is probably what Rose is trying to say.

Final Word on Issue #3:

While Issue #2 remains my personal favorite, this issue is probably stronger than the one that preceded it. Polling a few friends that I lent this issue to, they agreed that this one is a lot better than the one that preceded it. Even though “Remembering You” is on hiatus, “Steelblood” more than makes up for its absence.

Are you still reading this? Wha…? Go to AnimeAngels.net and buy this issue!

This is a PARTIAL list of what I bought. There are still a few bags I have to unpack (no, really, it’s been a week and I’m not done yet). What I’m most excited about is that I managed to get volume one of the R1 DVD of Aa! Megami Sama TV a month ahead of the actual release date. For once, Media Blasters is being cool instead of stupid.

-Belldandy wallscroll (there was only one cruddy one and it took me three days to find it… in a dirty can, no less)
-AMS TV Vol. 1 special early release edition (two copies)
-Banpei and Siegel figurines
-Skuld figurine
-Terzetto Goddess trio figurines
-animetoonz Kikuko Inoue CD… it’s basically Belldandy rave music. Terrible.
-AMS Vol. 21
-Alpha Shade Vol. 1
-the Indigo CD… autographed to “Deniel.” D’oh!
-Goddess mouse pad
-Newtype USA, Belldandy cover
-original Dark Horse resease of “Pretty in Scarlet” (Skuld gets her angel)
-Gunslinger Girl ganshapon set (on top of the Newtype)
-lots and LOTS of anime t-shirts.
-”9 mm” Airsoft sidearm
-State Alchemists’ watch
-Otakon laptop bag
-Ah! My Goddess playing cards
-Piano Squall t-shirt and poster

I forgot to tell the story about Scott. I met up with him and Jenn on Friday and we decided to head out for a meal together. It wasn’t too bad, just mall-quality Chinese food. The funny thing was that these Chinese people had ripped off the Otakon logo and made their own t-shirts. One wonders why they weren’t hit with a lawsuit… anyway, after a rather unfulfilling and rather expensive meal, we went on to the dealers’ room. Scott helped me on my search for goddess merchandise and it was… not successful. But thanks to him anyway!

He came up with the idea of holding a panel on anime blogging next year. If he initiated something like that, I would definitely support him. Heck, maybe I’d give a brief lecture or something. I wonder if that costs anything…

PS: Jenn is probably the cutest Chun Li cosplayer I’ve seen!