School Grumble

Bleach Movie Out December 6th!

2006-09-17T01:56:00.000-07:00

New Trailer!

Only once before has a movie been this eagerly awaited and prayed for, and that was Advent Children, dear lord please let this be as good as that or you are making enemy!

Bleach 1 English Dub

2006-09-09T08:46:00.000-07:00

Was searching for this all day! Here it is...

Sonic the Hedgehog

2006-09-08T08:02:00.001-07:00

Ok, so not strictly anime but by god does this game look good! November 11th Playstaion 3 hits these shores, March 2007 for Europe, this is penned as a release title and I want it!

Bleach 95 (They got the blanket, why sleep on the grass?)

2006-09-08T07:16:00.000-07:00

Can It possibly be? The fillers by some freak occurance have actually become quite good? This episode was really enjoyable. The promised battle of Byakuya Vs Kariya actually turned out to be a great fight, and even Ichigo turned up and unleashed his bankai to boot. Granted I could still gripe about how the animation is still a bit poo and the character designs look different but at least things are happening now. The bount are manipulating the lower class souls in Rukongai by spinning some class uprising story in order to enlist their help to get revenge on Seireitei. They could lead to an actual confict although im not sure how this would be rectified for the return to manga storylines, nevertheless, when Bleach is good I am happy and Bleach was good this week. More Please!

Bleach Manga 240

2006-09-02T22:16:00.000-07:00

The boys are off to cause trouble in Hueco Mundo to rescue yet another maiden in distress. This time their path is into Hollow teritory and the new wizard of OZ Aizen is currently assesing how useful Orihime can really be to their cause. In this chapter Orhime's power is revealed to be much stronger than we were initally led to believe. Rather than simply healing, her powers reject events in time and reconstruct the past so that in this case Grimjows arm is completely restored. But he is not finished, he asks Orimhime to reject the Hollow hole in his back and on doing so Grimjow regains the number six which marks his rank within the Espada. Not too happy about having been replaced, Luppi speaks up and faces the rath of Grimjow's newly replaced apendage. Grimjow certainly apppears to be quite the loose cannon and Aizen is going to need to control his creations temper tantrums if he is going to stand against he newly formed trio of Ichigo, Chad and Ishida. As usual the Manga is awsome and helps ease the pain of what the anime has become.

NANA 2 - Out Dec 9th

2006-09-02T21:41:00.000-07:00

Translation to the best of my abilities)
(start)
(on screen: One year since then...)
(Dialogue: Hachiko)
Hey Nana,
Why is it that dreaming and finding hapiness are seperate things?
Please, Nana
Stand up one Time!
(END)

Yes, Its time to pull on the bubblegum pop emo pants once again as the second NANA movie is on its way and I for one cant wait. Even as I type those words I know its wrong. There is a big cast rejig from what I have heard, Im pretty sure Hachiko is played by a different actress, Im asuning MIka Nakashima is still on board but its still too early to tell.

Update: Literally three seconds of research gave me more info on this. Mika Nakashima is still in it but Hachiko previously played by Aoi Miyazaki is being replaced by Yui Ichikawa of "The Grudge" fame and the guy who played Ren, Ryuhei Matsuda (Gohatto, Blue Spring, Cutie Honey) is aparantly getting changed too. On a side note I really hate teaser trailers which just use stock footage, just like the bleach movie trailer, its just mean!

Bleach 94

2006-09-01T19:48:00.000-07:00

Not so bad I thought this week, the animation is still shoddy as hell but I think they managed to inject a little irony into the pointless plotlines. Nice to see Kenpachi and Yachiru on screen once again. The hightlight of this weeks episode was Ganju and his posse summoning up bonnie-chan and all of the other boars for ichigo and team to ride into battle. Ichigo however was not having any of it and decided to shunpo all the way back to soul society like the poser he is. Another highlight came during the opening title sequence when we got a climps of what Grimjow is going to look like assuming they ever get out of this frustratingly pointless filler.

The end of the episode set up an almight scrap betwixt Kuchiki Byakuya and Kariya, but since its filler expect them to just have a quiet picnic which wont effect or upset anything which matters. There is no bleach 95 this week and Dattebayo put out a fake one for some reason which was actually just episode 91 by another subbing team. You think they could put their free time to better use than this as its just confusing. Intersetingly enough I got 94 not by using BT but Bleach Portals IRC site which seemed to be faster. Anyway, here it is...

Bleach - English Dub Airs Sep 9th

2006-09-01T19:43:00.000-07:00

The voices sound quite appropriate, and I hear its going to be unedited so I might give it a shot.

NANA 19

2006-08-31T02:32:00.000-07:00

Im getting into a bit of a daft habit with this series. I know its rubbish but I always look forward to watching it and drinking a cold beer at the same time. Its a kind of pavlovian conditioning which I have accidently got stuck into by no fault but my own. Its soo nice to have a nicely chilled Taiwan beer in this smothering heat and it help me to forget that this series is actually a big bag of fluffy nonsense. This one brings us almost to the end of where the live action movie vuts off, as Ren and Nana are together and they Hachiko meets Takumi. It seems though that as this is folling the manga its going to be a very long time before it ends, 51 episodes at least if not continuous. Go on, have some kind of beverage, sit back and enjoy this weeks episode, just let your brain shut off completely, theres no need for such things here...

School Rumble 20 - 21

2006-08-31T02:23:00.000-07:00

Whats happening to School Rumble, it seems they have really run out of plotlines and are stuck with these ridiculous side stories that go all over the shop. Not to say it isnt still really funny, but some of the references were so bizarre that I kind of felt left out of the loop. I hope there is some kind of series resolution after this, not that there is some giant arc which needs settling, but palming off content even for comedy effect is still palming off content. Most of the parodies are follow ups from the first series, such as the Magical Mai cartoon (a bit like sailor moon) and the Dojibiron series (like Magiranger). Neverthess I want to see normal episodes again!

EP 20 in 3 Parts

EP 21 in 3 Parts

School Rumble 19

2006-08-19T03:59:00.000-07:00

This episode is bookended by the captain of the fishing boat which took in Harima during his apathetic withdrawal from society back in the first season. As the intertitiles explain it is Christmas now and the manga master sea dog hasnt forgotten about his young apprentice even now in his darkest hour. he calls out to harima "Boy!" "Master" Harima replys miles away spralled out on his carpet. And Harima finally gets his manga finished during this episode even if his persuit of Tenma means that he fails to hand it in on time.

Tenma is no more aware of his affections now than she was at the very start but his perseverance conitnues without wavering. Realising he has to make a choice between a future as an artist and his persuit of his true love he races to the publishers office throught the snow, and air, on a giant curry dish which Tenma had hand crafted for Kurasuma-Kun. When she catched up with him she Harima has smashed the plate to pieces. In a last desperate gesture of her affection Tenma places the curry on a broken shard of the huge plate and hands it to Kurasuma. She then runs away in tears. Having been rejected by his publisher Harima in full Santa outfit chases after Tenma out into the hall where she is sobbing in a closet. In an act of desperation Harima throws his arms around her and tells her sorry.For a moment it seems like this may be a turning point but she eventually realises what is happening and lets out a loud scream. In the end the status quo is returned as Tenma offers Harima her friendship once again which Harima accepts.

A good episode and as is seems to be the end of the story arc which has been running for a few episodes now, I expect madcap irrelavance next week.

Heres The Episode in three parts, enjoy!

Nana 17

2006-08-19T03:48:00.000-07:00

These things are getting put out really slowly nowadays so I know Im behind. This episode brings us up to the point of the first Trapnest concert. A nice little flashback to the creation of the Black stones fills in some of the back story even if this series is beginning to look more and more like one big cigarette comericial.

Parts 1, 2 and 3 Courtesty of someone on Youtube

The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi 11-14

2006-08-19T03:36:00.000-07:00

I finally got around to finishing this series today just as I see there are plans for a second series in the pipeline. The last few episodes were brilliant, stylistically executed and entertaining all the way through. It really feels like the series never aimed for any particular goal but in the end I felt like they had said everything they had needed to say. The character design, the animation and humour of this series is consistantly exquisite and I would recomend it to anyone who enjoys FLCL or School Rumble or just really slick looking anime. I especially enjoyed the Battle of the Bands performance which Haruhi pulls off at the last minute whilst Kyon-kun watched in amazement, a great turning point in their relationship I felt. So if you get a chance get this downloaded, its only 14 episodes but a great achievment nonetheless.

Bleach 93

2006-08-19T03:34:00.000-07:00

I harbour nothing but utter contempt for these filler episodes, this one overstepped the line of what constitutes an episode of Bleach. Rukia's head looks like a Halloween pumpkin now that the animation has reached an all time low. The whole episode was a shockingly irrelevant fight scene with no imagination or motivation. I hated it

Bleach 92

2006-08-10T08:13:00.000-07:00

So the Bounto are in soul society and they are sucking up spirit energy and generally making a nuicance of themselves. This episode was filler with more pointless background characters not fighting real people but spherical floating objects again, just like the mosqitos from before but more pointless. Bah, whats the point.

School Rumble Ni Gakki 17

2006-08-04T23:15:00.000-07:00

This episode picks up right where 16 left off with Harima and Eri-chan fleeing the persistatnt butler. When Harima's motorbike gets a flat tire the pair are forced to hide out in a mountain temple. At the same time, a case of mistaken identity leads to the kidnapping of Tenma which further inspires Harima to put a stop to the engaegment. For a school rumble episode this was more serious that usual and focused on Eri's family and her experiences of school life. Im not sure whether this is a good direction for the series to take but It was enjoyable nontheless. The best part of the episode for me came at the very end when they flashback to Hanai fighting one of Harima's pets, a six foot racoon in the temple. The racoon gives hanai a beating and then turns to him and says "kyuu", Hanai is blindsided and exclaims "lovely!" in English which gives the racoon the chance to perform the finishing blow.

Bleach 91

2006-08-02T05:52:00.000-07:00

So Ishida is back into the fray in this episode. Ichigo goes Bankai after a little chat with his inner Zangetsu and has another in a long line of pointless fights with the Bounto. What ultimately becomes of the story is a shift back to soul society which to me reeks of non manga material. How many episodes are they going to make of this arc if they are taking it back to Soul Society again? It was nice to see the group back togther including Ishida who was one of my personal favourite charcters back when Bleach was good. His new outfit looks rubbish though, not a touch on his handmade cape and I dont like the way they cant decide whether or not Ishida has some/all or none of his powers back now. This plotline completely ruins Ishida's power regaining plotline from the manga, one which I was really looking forward to seeing on screen.

There is a funny bit in the episode where Ichigo is talking to himself about his sword and walking away from Kariya. Kariya overhears ichigo saying Zangetsu and he repeats it, something to the effect of "Zangetsu, so that's your swords name?". To which Ichigo keeps walking a few steps, pauses and grumbles, "Shut up". Its kind of how I felt about the Bounto too, just stop talking rubbish and get killed already.

So the end of this episode, no preview strangely, leaves us in Soul Society where the Bounto, now feeding off the abundant spirit energy crusie across the sky with the intention of doing something to someone and then.... oh who cares....

School Rumble Ni Gakki 16

2006-07-31T04:23:00.000-07:00

Poor poor Harima. That guy never gets a break. Just when he thought he could find time to finish off his manga he gets kicked out of Tenma and Imouto san's house because of another case of mistaken intention. I just love to see how much trouble the writers of this try to get Harima into. He is such a lovable misunderstood character but I also love to watch him suffer. He seems to be crying with frustration about five times and episode lately. Having being put out into the street he is beaten by delinquents and cast out into the cold winter air. Whilst mooching at a train station he meets Suou who takes pity on him and buys him a can of coffee. Learning of his sad story she offers to put him up in the Dojo.

His good fortune does'nt last for long however because he realises that Sawatchika san is also lodging/ hiding out there too, trying to avoid an aranged marriage. His best laid plan is to disguise himself as a worker of some kind (nondescript handyman type uniform) and pretend to be someone else by taking off his trademark shades. After an amusing and typical bathhouse blunder is narrowly averted, somehow Sawatchika and Harima are sent off on a motorcycle trip together by Suou who thinks that the best option is to continue hiding Sawatchika despite the fact that Harima needs to finish his manga (He only did 10 pages) and Sawatchika still has no idea of his true identity. This episode is all about Harima and I think they decided about half way through the first season that this was always going to be the best option. He is unlike any other Anime character I have encountered and his charcter progression right from the start has been a joy to watch. I defie this series to ever put a foot wrong. My only fear is that there will only be ten more episodes before it's over.

Bleach Manga 237

2006-07-31T03:37:00.000-07:00

Well this series just never dissapoints. It picks up with the revelation of what the Arancar actually did to Inoue when then caught up with her. It seems they intend to kidnap her but give her 12 hours to make her final preparations, awww, how considerate. The catch is that she cant be seen by anyone and she is only allowed to say good bye to one person. Of course that person is Ichigo and she says her tearful goodbyes to the now war weary shinigami who is unaware of her presence. This chapter was pretty introverted which makes a nice change from all the various skirmish battles which have preceeded it. It was nice to see a bit of heart from the writers and this chapter really builds up the anticpation for the inevitable battle with the powered up Arancar and eventually Aizen. Hitsugaya spends some time in this chapter pondering the position Urahara Kisuke will play in the upcoming battle as he and also Ichigo's father's past as Shinigami are still very much clouded in secrecy. As usual with this series I eagerly await the next installment and even more eagerly await the time when the Anime can catch up and portray what is turning out to be one heck of a story.

Nana 15

2006-07-27T08:41:00.000-07:00

Oops, I made the mistake of reading the manga as far as this episode and realised why people dislike this series. Its because its exactly the same, its like the whole counter argument to my Bleach moan below, There is no interest in watching this series when you have read the manga, and evidently alot of people have. The answer to the problem, well for me anyway, just stop reading the manga, this way its quite entertaining.

I dont think I even want to go into what happens because this series is so soppy im almost imbarassed to say I watch it. Ok, a quick one. This episode is post Shoji, Nana (Hachiko) break up and everyone fears that Hachi is going to kill herself even though she seems reasonably cheerful. She goes with Jun-Chan and her boyfriend to see Nana perform her first live set in Tokyo. What was pointed out to me a long time ago by a friend and something which still amuses me to this day is that even though "The Black Stones" as they call themselves purport to be a punk band, they still sound as melodic and poppy as any other generic anime group, which is quite amusing when the group arrive at the Punk night and the supporting band sound like incredibly loud fuzz and distortion and Nana starts playing and its all carebears go emo.

Amusingly enough I heard the ending theme to this series on the radio when I was eating at a Sukiyaki restaurant, needless to say I was the only one singing. (Hanging my head in shame)

Bleach 90

2006-07-27T08:30:00.000-07:00

Well the big 90 comes around and the promised Ishida revelation is sneakily denied to us again. This episode was rubbish and Im probably only saying that because im sick of the filler but even so I wish they would stop flashing back to bits when Bleach was good because it does nothing in its favour, it just highlights how crappy the animation and story of the filler episodes are. This episode had but Ichigo and Renji rolling around on the floor in some of the oddest animation you have ever seen. It seems like the animators had a bet about how stupid they could make falling down seem and hats off to them, they made the fight scenes incredibly funny looking, and I cant even be mad at them because they are messing with something which is already pointless.

One of the most iritating bits of the episode is when Ichigo is chatting with the Bounto about the true nature of their plans and Ichigo says something to the effect of You want to bring the hollow world to the real world, just like Aizen. Cue clip of Aizen ascending into Hueco Mundo so they viewers remember what he looks like. But wait, why does Ichigo think this? Who told him Aizen was doing this, because if anyone reads the manga, thats not what he is up to anyway, and that evidently is not what the Bounto are up to, its just poor pointless scriptwriting that served no purpose but to irritate and confuse. And yet I still watch, every week, because I love/ loved bleach and I want it back. The preview showed Ishida using his Quincy powers but its probably just a big trick again, and why the heck did he get them from the freaky robot clone girl? Where is his dad? Where are the Manga plotlines? Anyone?

Introductions

2006-07-26T09:15:00.000-07:00

Hi, Welcome to the new offshoot site of MMI where I get to give my two cents on the Anime I watch during my average week. I often need to vent my appreciation and frustration of the medium and since I currently happen to be in a country where noone understands me, I thought It might be a great idea to just start a second blog just for that purpose. So here we are, lets get cracking shall we?