The Ubiquitous What Are You Watching Thread?

Yep, it's nice to see those features. Too bad not every series/show have them.
I kind of like the entertainment parts of "Project A-Ko" or "Gall Force Eternal Band"

Angel Heart-LA, ep5
It's about Xin Hong's ex-partner (unrequited lover). Another sad story that end well, though. Slightly different but ok.


Utawarerumono Itsuwari no Kamen, ep6
Finally some familar faces: Karura + Touka
No, Touka has not been sold by Karura for good(drinks) but she still slaves away for her.
So far things took place in a another large country (Yamato), with new animals, beasts. And for the first time the "curse" show up, remember the humans who were turned to immortal slim? There's some puzzle left here. Another puzzle is the rumored fact that the emperor of Yamato is still around after centuries, living in a mysterious pyramid. A lot is still left uncertain, I could make some good guesses but it seems there are some changes to this world.

I wouldn't put it pass Karura to try something like that though as per the ending of the original series!

Wed. episode 20 of Cardcaptor Sakura.Meiling turns out to be the new transfer student in Sakura's class. Unfortunately Syoaran isn't too happy about it as he acts like a whipped puppy whenever she's around. Also Meiling still acts hostile to Sakura and Tomoyo.Throughout much of the episode she tries to show up Sakura and gets angry when she can't. Even trying to fight a Clow Card
by using martial arts.

Th. episode 8 of Utakata the girls go to a hospital to give the patients wreaths. Manastu doesn't go with them and Ichika is teamed up with Michiru instead. They visit a woman patient who
is a bit psychotic.When Michiru leaves, Ichika beigns to revert to her evil persona. She repeats saying
"Sayonara!" over and over again and then summons the next Djinn.
Using the Djinn's powers she drives the patient to the edge until she has an attack. This causes Ichika
to come back to herself and she is shocked by what she nearly did.
Later Manatsu finds her sobbing in the toilet.

Notes:
1.Saya is seen sitting on Ichika's family's house roof with her scythe at the beginning of the episode.
Later she is shown standing on it in the middle of the air.

2.This is the second time that Ichika tries to use the power of the Djinn to kill someone.

3.It is also the first time she tries to leave the charms behind but finds she can't.

4.Creepiest scene:the one where Ichika sees all of her reflections in the mirror shards and each
has the same red eyes.

5.Apparently Manatsu has the ability to sense when Ichika is in trouble has she literally flies to her aid
when Ichika is about to kill the patient.

Friday episode 29 of Sailor Moon, Makoto falls for the manager of the gaming arcade but is devastated to learn he already has a girlfriend.

Saturday episode 5 of Girls Und Panzer OVA. What really happened with Yukari and Erwin on their recon. I guess Yukari would be a good person to take on a camp out!
And that freshman on the enemy side fell for one of the oldest tricks in the book!

Sunday episode 6 of Nanoha most of which was about Arisa and Nanoha's fight previously and Suzuka trying to play peacemaker.

Kaleido Star Ova 1: The Princess Without A Smile on Monday. This was a good
Rosetta story, and love the part where she realizes even though she can no longer see the Fool ,she
still has her skills. Another part I liked was when Sora sees a vision of Rosetta in the future as the new
Kaleido Star.

Tuesday saw episode 2 of Aria. This is the one that introduces Akira Ferrari from Himemya
Compamy. Aika runs away to stay at Aria Company because she thinks that Akira is being too harsh with her. Akira comes over to make up (but is rather abrupt about it). Also Aria tries to impress
Himemya.

I also watched the extra about the director and crew spending their time getting background in
Venice. It was interesting.

btw: It was ironic in episode 2 Akira wakes up to find the entire city flooded, since we had a lot of
bad weather yesterday(including rain)and the power went off just as Akira had been invited out of the cold by Aika(fortunately it came back on an hour later so I was able to watch the entire thing).

Hmm, didn't know there was an ova for Kaleido Star...not like I'm that interested. So the next one is Rosetta.

Pure coincidence or black magic on the media? Maybe even a certain someone jumps out of the screen.

Utawarerumono Itsuwari no Kamen, ep7
Princesses Atui and Ruru are going out. Rurutie outed herself to be into art (aka yaoi graphic novels)(like many anime girls these days)
She bumps into "someone" and gets her copy naped. While feeling like dying she runs into Raurau sensei, the godsend author, who gives her another copy. (There's a cue with his hair.) Naturally, she falls into an excited comatose state.
Meanwhile the imperial princess is making an unpleasant, inconvenient, anoying undercover appearance. Kuon, enraged, mistakenly hits Haku. With her strenght it's a mystery why he's still alive. In the end this princess, Anju, is cought and gets spanked good by Munechika, one of the eight generals. However, Anju converts Munechika to the awakening of "art".
Whit this episode the introduction phase should end...maybe. Whew.

Gundam-Iron Blooded Orphans
ep6
For some reason the mercs are officially labeled as space rats.(see below) Another filler episode. I have the feeling most show these days only have filler episodes....
Kudelia starts teaching the kids how to read and write. After all they are all streetkids with worthless lives to be exploited, stumped on and discarted by everyone.
The mercs decide to enlist the Jovian syndicate Teiwaz in order to have someone powerfull to watch their backs but don't know how to do it without some connections. Fumitan Admoss, her maid, reveals the existence of a relay network for communication throughout the solar system. For some reason nobody know about it... This lady is seriously suspicious from the very beginning. When they were attacked the first time she disappeared from Kudelia's side. Seeing as how Kudelia got sold out I wouldn't wonder if she turns out to be anything but friendly.
ep7
The mercs are chased by Naze Turbine of the Turbines, a sub-group of the Teiwaz. Simply said they want to swallow the mercs whole. A fight between them starts.
Amida Arca, the racy leader of the enemy female crew & squad, is bad ass or so. Of course she has two female followers: Lafter, Azee Gurumin. The mercs use smoke to turn and pass over the enemy ship while dropping raiding parties.
How do these people make a connection between rats (& whiskers) and the Alaya-Vijnana system...I see no logic. The mercs conquer the ship ending the battle that's about to go badly for their mecha joks.
I bet Naze & Amida will become semi allies later on and probably will die together.

Angel Heart-LA, ep6
It's that time of the year again. The murderer of Hideyuki Makimura, Kaori's brother, is back and he's after Xiang Ying. It's revealed that Hideyuki had a girlfriend, and his attempt to give her the ring. ...Well, you know her...and her temper about certain matters... Since the first man at her arranged marriage meeting was killed she's been a cursed woman who can't find a man. She isn't getting any younger therefore he intends to preserve her beauty forever or so it seems....
This story (all of vol8, after ending's in vol9) wasn't animated.

Ah...The thing with Angel Heart is that it makes leaps and bounds in years from story to story. By the time you noticed the series has covered many years (in the present AH time line). It's not so obvious in the manga but the anime did a good job to point it out. There's no indication of time in the live action at all. And the number of episodes don't seem to have been announced yet either.
Despite this shortness of the series I think it's the best of his work.
The racist problems of japanese society has been filtered out from the anime/live action, though. Read the City Hunter/Angel Heart manga and you might see the indications/hints/critiques/out right problem etc. )Not so sure how far censorship goes in the american version.) Since I heard similar things I'm pretty sure these are no coincidences or made up.

There are actually two Kaleido Star OVAs one dealing with Rosetta and the other with Layla.

Wed. episode 21 of Cardcaptor Sakura. The school holds it's marathon and Sakura and gang
are in it. Meiling tries to outdo Sakura by showing how fast she can run, but ends up draining herself
in practice. Later during the race Syaroan, Sakura and Meiling find themselves repeating the same lap
over and over again.
They finally realize with the help of Kereos and Tomoyo that a Clow Card is involved.
Sakura uses the Sword Clow Card to capture it.

Th. episode 9 of Utakata. The girls go on trip together. Michiru only goes half way with the others, but when she gets off notices Ichika's eyes turn red and gets concerned.
The trip is to a place where couples leave tokens of their love for each other. While they are there
Tatsuki and Keiko finally are able to finally reconcile. But Ichika uses the Lightning Djinn without even
being conscious of it.
At the end her eyes don't change back from red to blue so she has to cover them with sunglasses.

*This is the first time that Ichika transforms without consciously doing it showing she is loosing total control over the Djinn.

*It's also the only time her eyes haven't rechanged color at the end.

Friday episode 30 of Sailor Moon: Rei's grandfather gets a new apprentice who immediately develops a crush on Rei. Usagi starts giving Rei a bad time about which pisses Ami off and she and Makoto walk off.
Later on Usagi feels bad about teasing Rei and decides to bring some snacks to apologize. By the time she gets there though they have other problems as Rei's grandpa has been turned into a monster
Ami and Makoto turn up again after everything is over but see everyone chasing after each other!
kinda like the end of an Benny Hill episode!

Next week a Luna episode!(And no, not Sailor Luna,Thank the gods of anime!)

Saturday episode 6 of the Girls Und Panzer OVA. Basically the entire episode was a banquet.
It also contained the scene that was used for The Imitation Game Part 2 extra, and pretty much confirms that Hana's voice in the English dub was pretty much miscast.

Sunday episode 7 of Nanoha: this episode introduces Fate's criminally insane(to put it lightly) 'mom'. It also introduces the organization that Fate and Nanoha will later end up working for.

Watched Buso Renkin episode 2 dubbed on Monday night. Not too bad actually and Papillon and
Tokiko's VAs were especially spot on. The trouble of course was that no-one could pronounce Kazuki's name right! They kept saying KAZOOKI.

Ah...well...at least it's not as bad as when everyone on Ai Yori Aoshi kept pronouncing Aoi's name like Owie!

Tuesday episode 3 of Aria. This is the one that introduces Alice. I think she's pretty much of an introvert just by the way she reacts around people. That and the embarrassed look she had when she realized two of her classmates were watching her making funny faces at herself in the fountain!
A really nice first episode for her all-in-all.

Episode 22 of Cardcaptor Sakura on Wednesday. Sakura and Tomoyo (with Keros hidden in the basket) pay a visit to Sakura's dad at work in order to leave off his lunch. While there they meet three
students who have them find where he's working. Later a Clow Card wrecks havoc by making everyone
fall asleep,including Tomoyo and Keros; so Sakura is basically on her own in dealing with it.
After she captures it she accidentally breaks her father's computer and feels sad 'cause of the work
he was doing is now ruined too.
Her father tells her it's ok and later she and Toya help him with his invnetory.
Only one more episode and the movie left for now.

Th. episode 10 of Utakata. Ichika runs away from home and tries to get rid of the charms, but they come back and then she decides to jump but Manatsu stops her. They almost fall but Ichika manages to grab on to a branch and they climb back up.
Saya watching is impressed by the fact that the charms come back to Ichika.
The next day Ichika and Manatsu go with the former's parents to pay respects to Ichika's dead grandma. Ichika overhears them talking to the priest and learns that years before they may have
had an encounter with Manatsu. Manatsu finds her and Ichika gets upset activating the next Djinn.
This one has the power to bring back the spirtis of the dead. Ichika's grandma and dog are among them and they seem to make it clear that all is ok.

Angel Heart - live action ep7
It's about Xiang Xin's last jop where she killed the father of the girl that would break her heart. There's lots of detail changes. And finally the organization's boss shows he colors. This is the biggest change from manga/anime.

Gundam-Iron Blooded Orphans ep7
I take it back. Naze Turbine ship's crew is not all female it's all his harem. There are a few babies aboard while the older children are elsewhere. The girls take this revelation with ease.

Friday Sailor Moon episode 31: I really don't know who had the worse day, Luna or Zosite.
The funniest bit was when Jupiter, Mercury and Moon were all stopped up in that narrow alley entranceway and they were all trying to do their thing. Poor Ami kept getting poked in the face when
Usagi was trying to do her usual schtick. This was really one of the funniest to date:ROFL:
And that fat cat doing a Tuxedo Mask parody to open it was fun!

Next week another Naru episode!

Saturday episode 1 of Please Teacher!: The Goddess of 17 strikes again!
Meaning of course another Inoue Kikou series. This time as Mizuho. I really liked her character,though she seemed a bit shy when she was introducing herself to the class. I thought Kei
was going to recognize her off the bat but he seemed to not remember until he bumped into her(literally)while helping her unpack.
Episode 1 also had some good teleportation effects, and it's going to be hard not to adore Marie!
The other character I really like so far is that tall brown haired girl in Kei's class,the one with the pony tail.

Sunday episode 8 of Nanoha: and we get the introduction of Lindy!
Or should I say Captain Lindy( I know she and the rest of the crew were shown at the end of episode 7 but this is their real intro.) My second favorite character after Fate. It don't hurt that her Japanese voice was Hisakawa Aya either!
My overall favorite scene is when Yuno resumes his original form and Nanoha is shocked to learn he's actually HUMAN!
Ah!The shocked look on her face is worthwhile to see.

Rozen Maide:Traumend episode 6 on Monday. Suigunto episode !

Yeah the one where she comes back and introduces her new human medium. Have to love the scene where she appears to Shinku and the latter gets all emotional because she's been depressed about killing her older 'sister' at the end of Season 1.
Of course Tanaka Rei at her best as well.

Tuesday episode 4 of Aria. In this one Akira agrees to deliver a message for a young girl, but discovers later on that it's to the girl's dead father. And I want Alicia's skycycle now!

Prison School - live action
has been airing for a while but I don't really feel like watching. The same goes for the manga. The reason is simply it has no real story or worthy enough to interest. It's basically all about S&M. That said as far as I have seen the cast do look very much like the manga. Maybe next year I will give it a closer look... hulu is quite convenient.

Utawarerumono - Itsuwari no Kamen ep9
Aruruu and Kamyu show up. Aruruu's all grown up. They are messengers to the empire but the episode is all about their baby spoiling of Kuon.
I'm starting to think of giving up on this series. So far and likely to the end of season one it's all about intro & everyday activity. Virtually no real story, just 1.5 adventures... Well, from what I read about the novel it's not much either ...maybe worth 6-10 episodes of the classic.

Mobile Suit Gundam-Iron Blooded Orphans
Turbine introduces the Takadan mercs to the Taiwaz boss and wants to have a sworn brother ceremony overseen by him. Figures. The mercs party the night with beverage and women (no shown for certain reasons)....

I wonder what a grown up Aruru is like.

Wednesday finished what I have of Cardcaptor Sakura with episode 23. In this one a urban legend goes around the school about a singing ghost. Syaroan tells Sakura that it's a Clow Card.
That night Sakura, Keros and Tomoyo show up at school to capture the card and Sakura's scared.
It doesn't help things when Syaroan and Meilin show up and give her a fright!
They eventually chase the card down on the roof and after using Tomoyo's singing to lure it out
Sakura manages to capture it.
Later Sakura releases it because she wanted to record it singing and forgot all about it.
Next week the first movie and then xxxHolic.

Thursday episode 11 of Utakata. This was interesting since it showed Kei's own expierence with the Djinn through flashbacks beginning with one of his first meeting with Sei. The main story was about the girls going to the beach for one last time. Ichika gets upset and when she realizes she's about to trigger the release of the final Djinn tries everything to stop it but too late.
This Djinn is the polar opposite of the first one and is about to bring a tsunami down on the city.
Ichika and Manatsu try to stop it.
Saya warns Manatsu off but she doesn't listen and in the process weakens.
Afterward Michiru helps Ichika carry Manatsu home.

Only the finale and OVA left now. And the obvious questions:

1.How long have Sei and Manatsu been doing this?
2.How much does Michiru really know?
3.What is the purpose behind it all?

Utawarerumono-Itsuwari no Kamen ep10
The princess shows up telling the girls she in love with a certain someone. The girls aren't caring (except for one) and want to get rid of the annoying princess.
A bit on the "ninjas" doing the Robin Hood: trowing heavy gold pieces that crush things and homes. So people are far from happy to receive the gold.
Another episode that could have been done with just two scenes or about 5-10 min worth of screen time.
The preview for ep11: it appears to a crisis is going to start. Finally the main story starts, but obviously with an ep12 cliffhanger. Duh

Well...looks like Camus rather filled out there.
ASAIG I decided to order the OVAs in April. Since this is the original cast I would think it be a better choice than the new series. At least for me.

Friday episode 32 of Sailor Moon,poor Umino wants Naru to notice him but she continues to
ignore. Usagi tells him Naru has a crush on Tuxedon Kamen and encourages him to try to act the hero.
Unfortunately everything goes haywire.
Then Zosite attacks when they're attending a live performance of a Kamen Rider style show and while
aiming at Naru accidentally turns the hero of the show into a yoma. Umino sees his chance and tries his best to protect her and fails! Then the real Tuxedo Kamen and Sailor Moon step in stop Zosite, but he still gets away with the gem.
Next week: Sailor V!

Saturday episode 2 of Please Teacher! Kei and Mizuho get a talking down after they're found in the bathtub together and Kei has to do some fancy explaining. Later during school he wants to get away in order to think things through and heads toward the empty gym storage room. However
Mizuho is already there and they end up having a talk. It's interrupted by a group of girls returning some gym equipment so they hide.
Unfortunately the girls also lock the door on them,but Mizuho calls Marie(who despite the name is male)to get them out. Unfortunately Marie is slapped around damaging 'his' systems so they're
stuck.
They continue their conversation and Kei tries to pry the bars off the windows and then sees his
friends walking past; but Mizuho tells him not to call them because of what they might think.
Finally Kei's uncle opens the door but unfortunately the vice principal is also there. So they have
to do some more fancy explaining and Kei's uncle comes up with the excuse that they're actually
married!
Next week: The marriage!

BTW: I found out that the tall girl with the red hair is named Kaede and no wonder I like her:
she's a quarter Irish and played by Ohara Sayaka!

Sunday Nanoha episode 9. Nanoha and Yuno are ordered to stay with the ship and help out.
In the gallery Nanoha tells Yuno about when her father was in the hospital when she was little.
The conversation is interrupted by an alert: Fate has been sighted over the sea. Before they can
send someone to stop her Yuno sends Nanoha and blocks anyone from stopping her from going.
Nanoha arrives and gives Fate an energy boost for her staff. Together and with Yuno helping
Arf they manage to seal the jewel seeds.

Monday I re-watched The Wolverine.

Tuesday saw episode 5 of Aria:The Animation, in this one Akira, Alice and Aika all get
invitations to go to the beach. When they get there they find out it's really an excuse for Alicia and the other Akira to give them some additional intensive training under the watchful eye of 'Drill Instructor'
Akira!
Eventually the girls get the chance to relax and enjoy themselves,including scuba diving.
Afterwards they have a bbq.
Alicia later finds Akira( our main heroine that is) watching the ocean and they have a heart to heart talk.

Wednesday the first Cardcaptor Sakura Movie. This was pretty fun,and I enjoyed the fact that
the 'Big Bad' wasn't really bad at all but really just a pissed off ex-lover of Clow Reed's who was
trying to get over her grief of being dumped.
Next week more CLAMP goodness with:xxxHOLIC.

Thursday epsiode 12 of Utakata this is the official ending of the series and only have the
OVA(listed as episode 13)to go now. This was a bit bittersweet and even sad. Overall I really have
enjoyed the entire series and have to put it up as a real gem.
Overall I give it an A- mainly because it really feels like it's part of something larger.

Friday episode 33 of Sailor Moon:Zosite dresses up as Sailor Moon to trap Tuxedo Kamen.
Also Sailor V makes her appearance,very cool in fact.
Later she announces she no longer is to be called Sailor V but rather Sailor Venus.

Saturday episode 3 of Please Teacher!: Kei and Mizuho are warned that they have to keep their
"marriage" a secret, but when Kei's friends come over they have to think fast. And then that night
Marie backfires again and gives them a rude awakening.

Sunday episode 10 of Nanoha:Captain Lindy visits Nanoha's family pretending to be her teacher; Arf confronts Fate's "Mother" and is seriously wounded and later found and cared for by
Alice. Finally Nanoha, Arf and Yuno confront Fate who has been brainwashed.

Angel Heart - live ep8-9 final
Finally the issue with Angel Heart and the organizations' boss is resolved. That was so awkward throughout the show. Overall the main actors are very close to the manga/anime but I still think the sets are not creating the same atmosphere.

Subete ga F ni Naru, ep9-10
Since it's only one single story it's not worth revealing anything without giving it all away.
That was such a long suspension(not really) waiting for it to resolve. Eps 9-10 are the one where the investigation actually moves on and resolves. The rest was just some discussions on humanities at best at worst just running in cycles and or discussing other issues. It may be close to the novel but the live action is the ultimate version. And yeah each episode has one flashback (this is the only reason to watch them).
Critiques: There's so many inconsistencies to the real world and time I can say this is only possible in a novel. There's a mismatch of technologies where old tech is used wherever it's convenient.

For my Monday Subs/Dubs I re-watched episode 3 of Nuku Nuku Tv. This is the one where
Nono-chan stays over. Overall I thought the dub cast did a rather good job of it. And of course
the whole schtick where "Pretty" Kyouko and "Battle" Arisa do the Mishima version of Team Rocket!
I thought Alison Keith's Nuku Nuku was actually especially good.

Tuesday episode 6 of Aria:The Animation in this one Akira stays over with Alice as she visits the Orange Company. It's also the official introduction of Athena in the anime. Athena is one of the famed Water Fairies and has a really lovely singing voice; unfortuantely she's completely airheaded
and klutzy as well ( in a a flashback Alice has of originally meeting her, Athena is shown continuing to
pour tea after her cup is already overflowing).
Unforunately Alice's pet kitten disappears and the girls go search for him, fortunately though it's
attracted to Athena's singing!

Utawarerumono - Itsuwari no Kamen ep11
a good/important episode (pattern: every other episode)
So our princess leaves with Haku and the ninja siblings. The girls are more or less happy.
Oblivious ninja siblings and the princess come up with the foolish idea/prank of staging her kidnapping so her lover would come to save her.
Oshutoru is forced to mobilize. The poor soldiers have to endure their theatric play. Haku is forced to fight but backtracks and urge them to flee.
Oshutoru patiently wait the whole time then finally comes forward easily beating them. To the princess surprise he tells her that since he allowed this crime to happen he is forced to commit seppuku. She finally realizes the foolishness of her action and the graveness of the situation....and gets a spanking by Munechika.
Not what I expected but it's a vital episode.

Wednesday episode 1 of xxxHolic, the official episode title is something like "Inevitable" in English but really considering what happens to poor Watanuki in it it should be more on the lines of
"How Watanuki Became Yuko's Favorite Butt Monkey"!

Thursday OVA aka episode 13 of Utakata, really nice finale to the entire series,and if you think
Saya is overly cruel this is the episode that will change your mind. I'm thinking of the scene at the end when she tenderly tucks Ichika in bed after she falls asleep.

Now since next week is Christmas Eve I'm going to wait until the following week to start my
re-watch of Ikki-tousen (fight on Ryomou!)

Friday episode 34 of Sailor Moon and Usagi reveals herself as Sailor Moon in front of Mamoru, who then reveals he's Tuxedo Kamen. I think this is the only time we actually get to see his transformation pose.

Saturday episode 4 of Please Teacher. Kei takes Kioshi out on a date while Mizuho tails them.
Meanwhile Ichigo and Kaede tail everyone else.( In all honesty none of the girls know about the
'marriage'.)

Sunday episode 11 of Nanoha, so the final two to go. This is the one where Fate and the others learn she's actually a clone. Really a brutal one for poor Fate considering all she's gone through.

Mobile Suit Gundam - Iron-Blooded Orphans ep8-12
Our heroes make their way to Earth. With a price on their heads pirates have ambushed them. They survived but the pirates escaped. They figure out the pirates trap and turn it on them. Meanwhile, it turns out a brother of one of the mercs is among the pirates. They try to free him but in this dog-eats-dog world he willingly lets himself killed to proof it.

Utawarerumono - Itsuwari no Kamen ep12
The princess & Munechika apologize for yesterday's trouble. They bribe the girls with sweets but yaoi material proves most effective.
Haku gets to meet the Emperor again and he is awarded with Honoka's daughters, the "Kamunagi of Chains", Uruuru and Saraana. These two have they mastered the 108 techniques... It's a scheme to be revealed much later.
The girls pretend not to see them but...
Nekone has a "trained" reaction to Sacchan
Note: Mikazuchi=Sakon; Oshutoru=Ucchan/Ukon
preview ep13: Invasion of the Uzuurussha (barbarians from outside Yamato)