Warning: This post contains spoilers and may be censored for your safety. To view the censored text, please view the full post.

Impressions

A student, Yukiteru, finds that his cell phone acts as a diary of the future: a “Future Diary”, where events written it actually occur. Him and 11 others have the same diaries, which drags Yukiteru into a game of survival. The losers run into a DEAD END, while the winner is elected as a god.

Thoughts

Yukiteru's victorious life is about to get interesting...

Going back to when I watched–or rather read–Death Note for the first time, I was sceptical of how it would go. The first chapter got me hooked from beginning to end. This is how I felt about Future Diary. But with Future Diary, the pace is a little faster, because there are more characters than the previous series in question. And I have to admit that it made more sense.

Deus Ex Machina oversees the events of the diary holders.

Yukiteru is picked on for keeping to himself. Maybe that's a good thing, in his opinion...

The first episode matches the first chapter very well, but with some changes being set in place for the second episode. Having read only one chapter of the manga (yes, I need to change that), it would be fun to see what happens here and there. With Death Note, I read the manga from beginning to end, and the anime slowed it down for me. Watching the anime for Future Diary first, it’s a challenge of stomaching both changes from anime and manga changes. It’s for the better, of course. But there is one thing that sets Future Diary apart from Death Note at all: humor.

Yukiteru meets Yuno, another diary holder and an obsessed fan of his. This familiar to another series...

In the second episode, things get crazy when another user of the diary is revealed. I’ll only give you this–spoilers, obviously: [censored due to spoilers] Who will it be? In the third episode, we find out more about Yukiteru’s new friend, Yuno, and the other diary keepers with their impending demise. I wish I could have read the manga first, but let’s see how this goes before I decide to finish reading.

- Future Diary is currently streaming on FUNimation and Hulu.

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Quarterfinal: Round 5: Groups 1 & 3

Note: Winners in bold advance to the Quarterfinals.

• Alucard (Hellsing) [11 Votes]
• Kenshin Himura (Rurouni Kenshin) [19 Votes]
• Roy Mustang (Fullmetal Alchemist) [23 Votes]
• Lelouch Lamperouge (Code Geass) [18 Votes]

Quarterfinal: Round 6: Groups 2 & 4

• Haruhi Suzumiya (The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya) [15 Votes]
• Ciel Phantomhive (Black Butler) [6 Votes]
• Sousuke Sagara (Full Metal Panic!) [16 Votes]
• Vegeta (Dragonball Z) [14 Votes]

Semifinal: Round 7

• Kenshin Himura [45 Votes]
• Sousuke Sagara [44 Votes]

Semifinal: Round 8

• Haruhi Suzumiya [42 Votes]
• Roy Mustang [41 Votes]

Final: Round 9

• Haruhi Suzumiya [22 Votes]
• Kenshin Himura [33 Votes]

The winner of the S.C.A.M. Character Tournament is Kenshin Himura from Rurouni Kenshin! It was a great fight to the end going up against leading Saimoe champ Lelouch Lamperouge of Code Geass and Sousuke Sagara from Full Metal Panic. In the end, it was both Haruhi Suzumiya and Kenshin to the finish. A predictable end to a first successful run of the tournament. Many congratulations go out to the winner and his supporters! ^_^

Greatest Video Game Character Ever

Now that the tournament is over for the anime characters, it’s time for the Greatest Video Game Ever Tournament. The game character tournament is larger than the anime character event. However, instead of 48 hour rounds, it will be 24 hours with 31 rounds total until the end of February. The tournament is currently in its 4th round, with each round ending at midnight. The full roster and tournament status can be viewed via BracketMaker.com. To vote, visit and like Scenic City Anime & More on Facebook to cheer on your character!

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Out of 22 Characters, only one can be the best. With the tournament in the Quarterfinals, it’s coming down to the wire. Check out the standings below to see if your favorite character made it, including an announcement of another character tournament coming soon!

Round 1: Group 1

Note: Winners in bold advance to the Quarterfinals.

• Alucard (Hellsing) [31 Votes]
• Kenshin Himura (Rurouni Kenshin) [28 Votes]
• Luffy (One Piece) [6 Votes]
• Touya (Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicles/Cardcaptor Sakura) [4 Votes]
• Rainbow Brite (Rainbow Brite) [3 Votes]

Round 2: Group 2

• Haruhi Suzumiya (The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya) [18 Votes]
• Ciel Phantomhive (Black Butler) [12 Votes]
• Lina Inverse (Slayers) [11 Votes]
• Yuuko Ichihara (xxxHolic) [11 Votes]
• Lucy (Elfen Lied) [7 Votes]
• Orihime Inoue (Bleach) [3 Votes]

Round 3: Group 3

• Roy Mustang (Fullmetal Alchemist) [15 Votes]
• Lelouch Lamperouge (Code Geass) [10 Votes]
• Sebastian Michaelis (Black Butler) [9 Votes]
• Shion Sonosaki (When They Cry) [3 Votes]
• Hello Kitty (Hello Kitty) [1 Vote]

Round 4: Group 4

• Sousuke Sagara (Full Metal Panic!) [16 Votes]
• Vegeta (Dragonball Z) [9 Votes]
• Ichigo Kurosaki (Bleach) [6 Votes]
• Keiichi Maebara (When They Cry) [4 Votes]
• Saeko Busujima (High School of the Dead) [3 Votes]
• Sanosuke Sagara (Rurouni Kenshin) [3 Votes]

Comment: Such a coincidence that FMP Sousuke and RK Sanosuke have the same last name.

Quarterfinal: Round 5: Groups 1 & 3

Begins 1/15 | Ends 1/16 @ Midnight US EST

• Alucard
• Kenshin Himura
• Roy Mustang
• Lelouch Lamperouge

Quarterfinal: Round 6: Groups 2 & 4

Begins 1/17 | Ends 1/18 @ Midnight US EST

• Haruhi Suzumiya
• Ciel Phantomhive
• Sousuke Sagara
• Vegeta

Like the previous rounds, voting lasts 48 hours with the Top 2 of the Quarterfinals rounds advancing to the Semifinals. There’s less than 36 hours remaining on Round 5. Visit and like S.C.A.M.’s Facebook page to support your character!

Announcement: We will be taking nominations for the Video Game Character Tournament at this week’s meeting on the 18th. Stay tuned to see who made the cut!

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Warning: This post contains spoilers and may be censored for your safety. To view the censored text, please view the full post.

No one likes Dragonball GT for many reasons. The main reason is that it breaks away from tradition of the original Dragonball Z story: Goku’s job is done on Earth, now his new job is to train Uub, the human reincarnation of the fat Majin Buu. Alright, maybe that was a odd way to end the story, but it was–or was not–a happy ending, right?

Goku and Uub after a rigorous training session.

Former adversaries Emperor Pilaf, Shuu, and Mai return in GT.

GT’s story begins with Goku in an intense training battle with Uub on Kami’s Tower. Tearing the tower the shreds, as usual, the two stop for a break. Around the tower, three familiar characters are re-introduced in GT. It’s Emperor Pilaf and his henchmen, Shuu and Mai. They’re Dragonball characters! And we thought it was a lost cause for the original characters when the end of DBZ rolled around–until that one episode with the Genki Dama (Spirit Bomb).

Pilaf is still determined to collect the Dragonballs and wish for immortality. Well, they find the Dragonballs… only to be faced by Goku. The Emperor is furious after all these years that he’s the sole reason he doesn’t have the power of immortality. So, what does an aging Pilaf do? Wishes that Goku was a kid again so he can crush him.

The wish comes true, thus creating the worst squeal to a long running anime series, joining ZZ Gundam.

A chibi-fied Goku with his granddaughter, Pan.

Goku is now a kid again, which ruins Pilaf’s plans as the wishes are used up. But that’s not all: it also ruins Earth’s plans to stick around for years to come. Due to the dragon balls being used so much, including on Namek (since Dende is now linked to the dragon balls on Earth), Earth’s natural resources are depleting.

And to make matters worse: the dragon balls are scattered as far as space! Oh yeah, and they have to find it within a year, or else…

This woman is Trunks, by the way...

The search team is made up of Trunks, Pan, and Goku, in his Chibi form, of course. He stays like this throughout the entire series–except in the important parts of GT when Super Saiyan 4 is involved. The team travels space to find the dragon balls, where their adventures include Trunks being pressured to crossdress for a village (for a good cause), and the rest run into odd characters along the way: Para Para Bros., for example. The part of the series is actually exciting–only when their plans are foiled by the Z Search Team and the enemies turn into friends. By the way, if you remember the original releases of GT, you know now why these are the “Lost Episodes”–because they’re this boring. Good idea, FUNimation!

The dragon balls are eventually found. But… there is a new problem. Before the team heads back to Earth, a creature by the name of “Baby”, responsible by a scientist of the name Myuu, arrives before they do after a previous encounter. He claims himself as a Tsufuru (Tuffle): a race that was obliterated by the Saiya-jins years ago after being cheated out of their fortunes, or so the story goes… as would any elite space race would do. Baby arrives on Earth and eventually meets his target, Vegeta–who is now “moose-stache”-free–though only appearing a few times earlier in the series after his Daughter, Bulla Bra, confess that it makes him look unkewl. We thank you, Bra.

Probably the best part of GT, for some: Vegeta's epic 'I'm Fine' smile (when he should angry at seeing a SSJ4 Goku).

Android 17 returns in Dragonball GT on the side of hell, thanks to the support of two scientists--one being a returning Z villain.

This begins the second part of GT until when the fights and other random silliness until everyone is back to normal, and the possibility of Super Saiyan 4 is heavily discussed. This isn’t the worst part of the show, if not better than the space adventures, but expect to find Baby to be a bit overpowered, and annoying because of him being pre-occupied with Vegeta, taking away the trash talking.

Thoughts

That’s Dragonball GT for you: Goku is a kid again, Vegeta gets a “moose-stache” with mid-late 90s wardrobe, a wacky road-trip, a crossdressing son of a Saiyan Prince–this is what gives GT, which means Grand Tour, a bad name. “It’s like watching a bad fanfic unfold before your eyes,” some might say. I personally have a fond appreciation for the series for a couple reasons: it continues the story as promised, though it has been argued that Akira Toriyama has little to nothing to do with the series, with Katsuyoshi Nakatsuru the character designer. Well… at least some effort was put into it, right?

There has never been a traditional manga release for this, which also tells you that it’s not cannon at all and should not even exist. There are parts of Dragonball GT that would make you cry… in frustration: like the fact that in order to transform into a Super Saiyan 4 for a certain character, you have to use a machine hacked from Baby’s original plans. It was not meant to be in the first place, but it’s like taking steroids! And you skip a step! But if you’ve failed on your own to get there in the first place, this is the only thing you can do at an “old” age. It’s also nice that they’ve kept the Saiyan tradition that they keep their youthfulness in their senior years (Goku is 51; Vegeta is 64)… but how do they explain Vegeta’s haircut when Saiyan hair stops growing…?

This show is also an excuse to revive useless characters: as in Freezer and Cell. Even the movie characters. Android 17 returns in GT and has an arc centered around him, which is actually worth watching if you have found memories of the Android saga, before Cell’s appearance. Yamcha and Tien are just about non-existent… but did they need to exist in the first place? GT It has just about the same slapstick, if not a little less, as ZZ Gundam. Although, like ZZ Gundam, it does get serious again–until a character does something that shouldn’t be done to ruin the flow of drama to follow towards the final episode. (By the way, I think ZZ Gundam wins when it comes to pulling together in such situations. Too bad it’s that horrible in reality.)

In conclusion: Dragonball GT is somewhat bad and somewhat good, depending on how you like the way a story is told: do you want it to end or do you want to continue, just for the heck of it? Just a theory: if you enjoy reading (quality) fanfiction and you like it, buy it. If you can’t tolerate any fanfiction, don’t bother. Or just borrow it to see if it’s worth your time, like reading if a fanfic is any good or not before getting too involved.

Rating:

Pros: Continuation of a long running series by demand.
Cons: Non-canon material; drags on at the beginning with unnecessary plots.

- Purchase Dragonball GT: The Complete Series (DVD) from The Right Stuf (aff)

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“Another” is written by Ayatsuju Yukito, a famous writer and directed by Mizushima Tsutomu (BLOOD-C). The main reason this series got my attention is because Ayatsuju is one of my favourite writer, but I soon noticed that illustrations are quite well in the Anime as well (By the way, I didn’t read the original novel of Another).

As a quick review (and to avoid possible spoilers), I’ll focus on my feelings and include as little plot details as possible.

Not only the story at the beginning sounds creepy to me, but also the setting: old hospital and school, quite countryside etc. look gloomy. While I have very high expectation in the plot line, I gotta say the atmosphere was created in a way that perfectly matched the story. It may scare  or disturb you a bit, but you just wanna keep watching and wonder what’s gonna happen.

My favourite part is when Misaki (the girl in this pic) said to Koichi (the protagonist) she need to deliver something and walk towards the morgue. Gee! I mean, that’s not scary but it will give you goosebumps if you’re the one who see it!

Since Ayatsuji is a mystery writer, I am expecting to see more suspension in the next EP. By looking at some of the character’s we can also easily tell that something unusual is happening.

Judging from EP1, I can’t be too firm but I’ll give it 4 marks out of 5. Anyway if you like thrillers or mysteries, just give this series a try.

PS. In one part Koichi’s classmates said that his name reminded them of a murderer (they said something kinda like this). As Koichi’s last name is “Sakakibara”, the “murderer ” his classmates referred to is Sakakibara Seito, alias used by a 14-year-old serial killer in Japan back in 1997.

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Like with many character battles, a character is nominated by one person and is put in a bracket against the other nominations. Character nominations were held at the meeting on January 4th, and in the end, 22 characters were chosen and split into four groups. Voting takes place on S.C.A.M.’s Facebook page and began Saturday afternoon, with each round lasting 48 hours. The Top 2 in each group advance to the next round.

Here is the lineup of the first two groups, along with the winners of Group 1.

Group 1

Winners in bold advance to next round.

• Alucard (Hellsing) [31 Votes]
• Kenshin Himura (Rurouni Kenshin) [28 Votes]
• Luffy (One Piece) [6 Votes]
• Touya (Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicles/Cardcaptor Sakura) [4 Votes]
• Rainbow Brite (Rainbow Brite) [3 Votes]

Group 2

• Haruhi Suzumiya (The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya)
• Lucy (Elfen Lied)
• Orihime Inoue (Bleach)
• Yuuko (xxxHolic)
• Ciel Phantomhive (Black Butler)
• Lina Inverse (Slayers)

Stay tuned to the Facebook page for the latest results. Like Scenic City Anime & More‘s page to participate and cheer on your favorite character! Remember: each round lasts 48-hours, with Round 2 ending on 1/10/2012 at Midnight.

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January

801

• Dog X Cat (Volume 2)
• Devil’s Infirmary (Volume 1 of 1)

Bandai Entertainment

• Tales of the Abyss: Jade’s Secret Memories (Volume 2 of 2)

Dark Horse

• Neon Genesis Evangelion: Campus Apocalypse (Volume 2)
• Neon Genesis Evangelion: The Shinji Ikari Raising Project (Volume 10)
• Bride of the Water God (Volume 10)

Digital Manga Publishing

• Itazura Na Kiss (Volume 7)
• Bad Teacher’s Equation (Volume 3 of 5)
• Border (Volume 3)
• Gentlemen’s Agreement Between a Rabbit and a Wolf (Volume 1 of 1)
• Kizuna Deluxe Edition (Volume 5 of 5)

Kodansha

• Shugo Chara-chan! (Volume 2)
• Arisa (Volume 6)
• Deltora Quest (Volume 4 of 10)
• Fairy Tail (Volume 17)
• Negima! Magister Negi Magi (Volume 33)
• Sailor Moon (Volume 3)
• At Full Moon (Volume 2)

Last Gasp Publishing

• The Strange Tale of Panorama Island (Volume 1 of 1)

Seven Seas Entertainment

• Dance in the Vampire Bund (Volume 11)

Viz Media

• Black Bird (Volume 12)
• Dengeki Daisy (Volume 8 )
• Fluffy, Fluffy Cinnamoroll (Volume 1)
• Kimi ni Todoke (Volume 12)
• Naruto (Volume 54)
• One Piece (Volume 60)
• Oresama Teacher (Volume 6)
• Pokémon: Black and White (Volume 5)
• Psyren (Volume 2 of 16)
• Rosario + Vampire Season II (Volume 7)
• Skip Beat! (Volume 26)
• The Secret World of Arrietty (Volume 1 of 2)
• The Secret World of Arrietty (Volume 2 of 2)
• Yu-Gi-Oh! GX (Volume 8 )
• Bokurano: Ours (Volume 5)
• Case Closed (Volume 41)
• Cross Game (Volume 6)
• Hyde & Closer (Volume 7)
• Jormungand (Volume 8 )
• Afterschool Charisma (Volume 5)

Vertical

• Twin Spica (Volume 11)
• No Longer Human (Volume 3)
• GTO: 14 Days in Shonan (Volume 1)

Yen Press

• 13th Boy (Volume 10)
• Black Butler (Volume 8 )
• Black God (Volume 15)
• Cirque du Freak – Sons of Destiny (Volume 12)
• Durarara!! (Volume 1)
• Highschool of the Dead (Volume 5)
• Pandora Hearts (Volume 8 )
• Zombie-Loan (Volume 13)

February

Del Rey

• xxxHolic (Volume 19)

Dark Horse

• Cardcaptor Sakura: Omnibus Edition (Volume 3)
• Gantz (Volume 21)
• Oh My Goddess!: 2nd Edition (Volume 20)
• Gate 7 (Volume 2)

Digital Manga Publishing

• Ambiguous Relationship (Volume 1 of 1)
• Beast & Feast (Volume 1 of 1)
• Blue Sheep Reverie (Volume 5)
• Depression of the Anti-Romanticist (Volume 1 of 1)

Kodansha

• Bloody Monday (Volume 4)
• Cage of Eden (Volume 4)
• Air Gear (Volume 22)
• Gon (Volume 4 of 7)
• Mardock Scramble (Volume 4)
• Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei (Volume 13)
• Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (Volume 5)

Seven Seas Entertainment

• Bloody Monday (Volume 4)
• Cage of Eden (Volume 4)
• Air Gear (Volume 22)
• Gon (Volume 4 of 7)
• Mardock Scramble (Volume 4)
• Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei (Volume 13)
• Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (Volume 5)

Udon

• Sengoku Basara: Samurai Legends (Volume 1)

Viz Media

• A Devil and Her Love Song (Volume 1 of 13)
• Ai Ore! (Volume 4 of 8 )
• Bakuman (Volume 9)
• Blue Exorcist (Volume 6)
• Dawn of the Arcana (Volume 2)
• Haruka: Beyond the Stream of Time (Volume 15)
• Hayate the Combat Butler (Volume 19)
• Kamisama Kiss (Volume 7)
• Library Wars: Love & War (Volume 7)
• Natsume’s Book of Friends (Volume 11)
• Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan (Volume 7)
• Otomen (Volume 12)
• Pokemon Adventures: Platinum (Volume 4)
• Sakura Hime: The Legend of Princess Sakura (Volume 6)
• Slam Dunk (Volume 20)
• Tegami Bachi: Letter Bee (Volume 8 )
• The Story of Saiunkoku (Volume 6)
• Toriko (Volume 8 )
• Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s (Volume 2)
• 20th Century Boys (Volume 19)
• Inuyasha: VIZBIG Edition (Volume 10)
• Kekkaishi (Volume 30)
• Maoh: Juvenile Remix (Volume 9)
• Tenjo Tenge: Full Contact Edition (Volume 5)

Vertical

• Dororo: Omnibus Edition (Volume)
• GTO: The Early Years (Volume 11)
• Chi’s Sweet Home (Volume 8 )

Yen Press

• Higurashi: When They Cry – Atonement 3 (Volume 17)
• Nabari No Ou (Volume 9)
• Omamori Himari (Volume 6)
• Soul Eater (Volume 8 )
• Sumomomo Momomo (Volume 11)
• The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (Volume 11)

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The releases for this period come from Anchor Bay, Aniplex, Bandai Entertainment, FUNimation, Media Blasters, New People, NIS, Sentai, TRSI, and Viz. These can be purchased from our affiliates at Amazon and Right Stuf.

January

Anchor Bay Entertainment

• First Squad: The Moment of Truth (DVD and BD Versions)
• Redline (DVD and BD Versions)

Aniplex

• Blue Exorcist (DVD Volume 2 – Subtitles Only)

Bandai Entertainment

• Star Driver Part 2 (DVD and BD Versions)
• The Girl Who Leapt Through Space (Volume 4 – DVD)

FUNimation

• Dragon Ball Z – Movie Pack: Movies 10-13 (Volume 3 of 3 – DVD)
• GUNxSWORD – The Complete Series: S.A.V.E. Edition (DVD)
• My Bride is a Mermaid – The Complete Series (DVD)
• Sekirei: Pure Engagement – Regular and Limited Editions (BD)
• X – The Complete Series: Anime Classics Edition (DVD)
• Hetalia World Series – Season 03: Regular and Limited Editions (DVD)
• Kaze no Stigma – The Complete Series: S.A.V.E. Edition (DVD)
• Nabari – The Complete Series: S.A.V.E. Edition (DVD)
• Fairy Tail – Combo Pack Part 3 (DVD + BD)
• Phantom: Requiem for the Phantom – The Complete Series (DVD + BD)
• Tenchi Muyo! GXP – The Complete Series: S.A.V.E. Edition (DVD)
• B Gata H Kei: Yamada’s First Time – The Complete Series: Regular and Limited Editions (DVD + BD)
• One Piece – Collection 4 (DVD)

Media Blasters

• Tweeny Witches – Complete Collection (DVD)

New People Entertainment

• Gantz II: Perfect Answer (DVD + BD)
• Gantz II: Perfect Answer (DVD Only)

Sentai Filmworks

• And Yet the Town Moves – Complete Collection (DVD – Subtitles Only)
• Akikan! – Complete Collection (DVD – Subtitles Only)
• Princess Resurrection – Complete Collection (DVD)
• The World God Only Knows – Complete Collection (DVD and BD Versions)
• ef: A Tale of Memories – Complete Collection (DVD and BD Versions)

The Right Stuf International

• Dirty Pair OVA Series (DVD)

Viz Media

• Naruto Shippuden (Boxset Volume 9 – DVD)

February

Aniplex

• Puella Magi Madoka Magica (Volume 1 – DVD and BD Versions; BD Limited Edition with CD)

Bandai Entertainment

• Akira (DVD)
• Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion R2 – Complete Season 2: Anime Legends Edition (DVD)
• Mobile Suit Gundam – Complete Collection 2: Anime Legends Edition (DVD)
• Mobile Suit Gundam 00 – Complete Season 1: Anime Legends Edition (DVD)
• Mobile Suit Gundam 00 – Complete Season 2: Anime Legends Edition (DVD)
• Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn – Part 2 (DVD)
• Tales of the Abyss – Part 3 (DVD – Subtitles Only)
• Tales of the Abyss – Part 4 (DVD – Subtitles Only)

FUNimation

• Sengoku Basara: Samurai Kings – Season 1 (DVD + BD)
• Sengoku Basara: Samurai Kings 2 – Complete Series: Limited Edition (DVD + BD)
• .hack//Quantum – The Complete 3 OVA Series (DVD + BD)
• Chrome Shelled Regios – The Complete Series (DVD)
• Strike Witches – Season 2 (DVD + BD)
• Fairy Tail – Combo Pack Part 4 (DVD + BD)
• Princess Jellyfish – The Complete Series: Limited Edition (DVD + BD)

Media Blasters

• Kite (BD)
• Bakuman – Second Issue (Volume 2 – DVD)

NIS America

• Arakawa Under the Bridge × Bridge – Complete Premium Edition (DVD + BD – Subtitles Only)

Sentai Filmworks

• Xam’d: Lost Memories – Complete Collection (DVD and BD Versions)
• Hell Girl: Three Vessels – Complete Collection (DVD – Subtitles Only)
• Broken Blade – Complete Collection (DVD and BD Versions)
• A-Channel – Complete Collection (DVD – Subtitles Only)

The Right Stuf International

• Gasaraki – Complete Series Collection (DVD)

Viz Media

• Pokémon DP: Sinnoh League Victors – Set 1 (DVD Volumes 1-2 – Dubbed Only)

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Warning: This post contains spoilers and may be censored for your safety. To view the censored text, please view the full post.

The episode begins with a skirmish in the city in Dakar between the Zeon remnants and Federation forces, where One Year War veteran and commander of the Ra Cailum, Bright Noa, looks on. Federation forces are in trouble as the mobile armor Shamblo makes an appearance. Bright is then called by Ronan Marcenas, the father of Ensign Riddhe, for an one-on-one meeting as more clues of the controversial Box are leaked… and that the Gundam Unicorn should be kept out of the enemy’s hands.

Back at the Marcenas manor, where Audrey (or [censored due to spoilers]) is kept safe, Riddhe doubts himself being on the mission and that the family name is soiled, being involved with the worst people in the universe.

Zeon's Mobile Armor Shamblo

Bright Noa sits with Ronan Marcenas about Laplace's Box and protection of the Unicorn Gundam

Audrey escapes the Marcenas manor to a small diner in the middle of nowhere. She meets an older man who has seen it all, and being told stories of how the colonies came to be. She listens in only to be somewhat inspired by his story, until she is found and returned to the custody of the Marcenas’. Elsewhere in the desert, Banagher makes a reappearance with two members of Neo Zeon, one of them being (Suberoa) Zinnerman, where he’s bought to attack Federation forces after the fallout of the events in the ending of Episode 3. During a trek that seemed to last days, Banagher is told by Zinnerman tales of the Zeon’s true purpose–or something along the lines of that. At this point of the episode, both moments are reminders of why the Zeon is so respected (and by fans) despite their obvious evil motives.

An exhausted Banagher takes a break from walking through the desert.

Audrey listens to the bar owner's stories of the struggles of war in space.

Another wave of battles begin on Earth as forces close in on each other. Banagher makes it to their rendezvous point where he is introduced to Newtype Loni Garvey and her father, Yonem Kirks. Bright is briefed on developments as Riddhe requests that he is does not need “special treatment”. It’s thanks to Bright’s “fathering”* to strengthens Riddhe’s courage by refusing his request.

Loni Garvey, the Newtype pilot of the Shamblo

A black Unicorn Gundam falls from the skies...

Everyone is called to the battlefield where the most intense fight in Unicorn thus far begins. In the end, a mysterious mobile suit would fall from the skies…

Summary

Another exciting episode. More so since Bright is back! During promotions of this episode, I wondered how much time he was going to get on the screen considering this is a 60 minute episode, and that there was more to cover on Banagher and Audrey. Actually, it turned out pretty well covering all the major players in the episode. That sounds like the entire hour here, but there’s more to this episode that I haven’t talked about that ought to be saved for Episode 5 (“The Black Unicorn” in May 2012) when more developments are made, despite that all the important characters were covered.

*Hate to break it to you, the reader, but [censored due to spoilers].

This episode will be is a favorite for fans of mobile suits rather the characters (“who cares about humans? we want mobile suits!”) with the mobile armor Shamblo–the most talked about weapon during promotions, including reappearances of what looks like a Gouf, Rick Dom, and an Acguy. Again, I’m going to sit this out and for you to find out for yourself, especially with the turn of events at the end of the episode.

Rating:

- Purchase Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn: Volume 4 (BD) from CDJapan (aff)

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The events are normally held early or late in the year, but there hasn’t been a lot last year since Fall 2010, with the exception of the classic anime event featuring Mobile Suit Gundam (yay!), Robotech, and Sherlock Hound in late November 2011. Anime @ The Library is back in 2012 with a Winter lineup of titles including K-ON!, Clannad, and Evangelion 2.22.

K-ON! (January)

It’s Yui Hirasawa’s first year in high school, and she’s eagerly searching for a club to join. At the same time, Ritsu Tainaka, a drummer, and her friend Mio Akiyama, a bassist, are desperately trying to save the school’s light music club, which is about to be disbanded due to lack of members. They manage to recruit Tsumugi Kotobuki to play the keyboard, meaning they only need one more member to get the club running again…

Clannad (February)

Tomoya Okazaki is a third year high school student resentful of his life. His mother passed away from a car accident when he was younger, causing his father to resort to alcohol and gambling. This results in fights between the two until Tomoya’s shoulder is injured in a fight. Since then, Tomoya has had distant relationships with his father, causing him to become a delinquent over time. While on a walk to school, he meets a strange girl named Nagisa Furukawa who is a year older, but is repeating due to illness…

Evangelion 2.22 (March)

In the earliest battles against the monstrous Angels, young Eva pilots Shinji and Rei were forced to carry humanity’s hopes on their shoulders. Now, with the deadly onslaught of the Angels escalating and the apocalyptic Third Impact looming, Shinji and Rei find their burden shared by two new Eva pilots, the fiery Asuka and the mysterious Mari…

Admission is free! The event begins at 2:30 PM at the Downtown Auditorium. Parking information can be found on the Main Location page. Cosplayers and fanartists are welcome!

[Series information via ANN; Image Source: Zerochan]

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