Manga: If It's For My Daughter, I'd Even Defeat A Demon Lord, Volume 2

Content Warning: Violence, beheading, and a tragic backstory. No, I’m not kidding.

This volume is one of the most important and yet is also one of the last ones before things start getting… Intense.

This volume starts with Dale having to go to the capital for work. You see, Dale is under contract from the Duke who controls the area that Kruez, the city we’ve been in thus far, is. However, while Kruez is important, it isn’t the capital of the area. So, Dale has to catch a dragon to the capital. What is Dale doing? Well, we’ll get back to that because it’s time for Latina’s tragic backstory! Or, at least part of it. If you remember, Latina was found wandering alone in the woods, after her guardian died, and has a horn broken off, the sign of a criminal in her culture. Latina becomes depressed while Dale is away and begins talking with Kenneth about why Dale is special to her. You see, Rag, her father, was sick and went with her when she was cast out of her home. And then he died. The corpse Latina led Dale to was that of Rag, her father’s. Why Latina was cast out isn’t said, except that was a “bad girl.” That’s why she loves Dale so much, because he was the first one to tell her that was a good girl that wasn’t family. So, Kenneth gets an idea and Latina learns how to make a Shepard’s Pie (or something like that) to make for Dale when he returns. The customers, those grumpy old bastards, are given a discount to eat her first attempts (at a discount) while she learns how to make it properly.

But what has Dale been up to, during all this cuteness? Well… He’s been summonded by the Duke to investigate rumors of the forces of the Seventh Demon Lord being in the area. Dale meets with Gregor, the son of the Duke, and proceeds to gush about Latina. The change between Dale before and after Latina is stark, to say the least. During the trip to locate the enemy forces, we see how Dale is obsessing over Latina. Before long, they locate the forces of the Seventh Demon Lord, who have a dragon with them, and we see exactly why Dale is part of this group. He uses extremely powerful magic to take out most of the demon people, before cutting off the head of the woman leading them. Yeah. Intense.

Upon his return, Dale showers Latina with gifts and has one of her meals. We also find out that Latina is seven, almost eight years old. This means that she’ll be starting primary school soon. We also see that she has remained friends with Chloe, Marcel, Anthony, and Rudy and they play together in a park. We also see that Rudy has a budding crush on Latina but, like most boys, bullies her instead of saying something. I can say that because I was once a young boy and did stuff like that. I will take no comments on that at this time.

The volume ends with us learning more about the world. You see, there are seven gods, each with a sphere of influence and an associated color. There’s also seven races, Dwarves and Elves, as well as Beastmen, merfolk, and a winged race. And there’s seven spheres of magic… Starting to see the pattern yet? Anyway, we discover that Latina has an affinity for Dark and Holy magic, while Dale is able to use Dark, Earth, and Water magic. Since the language of magic is also the language used by the Demon Race, Latina can learn a lot of magic right off the bat. But Dale doesn’t teach her everything. He does teach her some magic that can be used in self defense. After this, it’s just a few little things, like Latina using magic to make ice cream and visiting Chloe, who’s mother (a tailor) has been commissioned by Dale to make something for Latina. There’s also a discussion about how Latina picks things up very quickly. Think about that time, back in the last volume, how Latina figured out that busing the tables was something that needed to be done, could use a pen, and a host of other things. And yet, she also had some gaps in her knowledge, like how to peel potatoes and wring out a washcloth. Latina drops a very cryptic line of how she “hadn’t been decided yet” and then when asked, she says “But… Ri…” and then cuts herself off.

I could drop spoilers, having read the light novels, but I do like they’re giving us just enough of her backstory to keep us interested and still having “cute girl does cute things” stuff as well. There’s even a little bonus chapter but you’ll need to pick this up to see what happens in it.

Sadly, the fun isn’t going to last forever because in the next volume, there’s The Incident...

Rating: 5 out of 5
Suggestion: Keep reading, keep enjoying, and just hang on until things get going.

Anime: Ah! My Goddess, TV Season One (overview)

 

Content Warning: Mild misogyny, attempted sexual assault, and racial caricatures. In a light-hearted comedy.

Welcome back to Magical May. This week, we’re going to visit a “dead” genre that deals with magic, the Magical Girlfriend. What is this kind of story? Well, it’s not hard to figure out: Boy meets girl that a witch, a princess, a goddess, or other magic user (or alien) that doesn’t know much about our world but is deeply in love with said boy. Sometimes they’re Tsunderes. Sometimes the boy is down for it. Sometimes, they’re really not. The formula was popular and common in the old days but has faded away in the recent era. Today, we’re going to visit one of the more wholesome and fun series in the genre. However, this is my first time watching this version of the story. You see, back in the day there was six part OVA that told an abridged version of the story and that was how I was first introduced to the characters. I even had a bootleg VHS of the first episode that had a printed out cover, the printer having begun running out of ink. After that, I tried to read the manga, checking it out from the library, but Dark Horse comics didn’t seem to believe in putting volume numbers on them back in the day so… Yeah. I didn’t really know what was going on. Anyway, let’s get started.

Our story begins with Morisato Keiichi in his dorm room, watching TV on an old TV (just to be clear this series is from 2005 and the original manga was written long before that), providing us exposition in the form of an internal monologue. The basics are that he’s enrolled in the Nekomi Technical College (or is it Institute?), likes working on motors and electronics, is short, has never had a girlfriend, and lives in the dorm with his very macho men “senpais” of the Motor Club. The flip side of this monologue is the one provided by Belldandy, about how Keiichi has been under an unlucky star his whole life. But, his luck is about to change.

Misdialing a number, he reaches the Goddess Help Line and speaks with Belldandy. Who then travels through a mirror to Keiichi’s dorm room. She’s there to offer him one wish. He doesn’t believe her for a bit but he catches on eventually. The thing I really love about this interaction is how Belldandy doesn’t see Keiichi like everyone else does. She doesn’t care that he’s poor, short, and unlucky. She sees how he takes care of old things, like his TV, VCR (for those of you who don’t know, that’s what we used to watch movies on), and a radio (I’m not going to explain that one). He sees how they can still be useful, even if they’re old and no one else wants them anymore. So, Keiichi uses his wish: For Belldandy to stay with him forever. His wish is granted, causing Belldandy to blow a hole in the roof, right when the other guys in the dorm get home. They get jealous and promptly kick both of them out. Because NO WOMEN ALLOWED in the dorm. It’s tradition. Here, we find out about the fate thing that will keep them together, no matter what. This usually takes the form of odd coincidences that prevent them from being separated, like Keiichi’s helmet getting stuck on Belldandy’s dress, but can go all the way to a tower collapsing on a car. That last one is avoided at the last minute. Eventually, they find themselves at a Buddhist temple, with a kindly and somewhat foolish priest, who takes them in. And then leaves them in charge while searching for enlightenment after seeing Belldandy’s “angel.” It’s complicated but it’s so Keiichi and Belldandy can stay together.

From this point on, the series starts off as slow romance in the college setting, with Belldandy being the “fish out of water” for a while. This also gives us some low-level enemies. The first of which is Mishima Sayoko, the college’s Queen, who turned down Keiichi some time ago. Belldandy, being a goddess, puts her looks to shame. So, after losing the beauty contest, Sayoko tries to take down Belldandy, by any means necessary, including going after Keiichi to get to her. There’s also Aoshima Toshiyuki, the school’s heart breaker. He convinces Belldandy to go with him to a love hotel, using her naive request for trying to learn about romance, which ends with him getting a face full of lightning. There’s also small stakes (in retrospect) things that happen, but this first part of the show is chance for us to learn about Keiichi and Belldandy and have them learn to love each other. And then they start introducing the more magical characters and things.

The first other goddess to show up is Urd, Belldandy’s older sister. And, boy, does she have that “Big Sister Ara Ara” energy. Thankfully, she doesn’t try to ride Keiicihi’s Baloney Pony, she just wants to see them get together. Often with disastrous results. When we first meet Urd, you assume that she’s just a comic relief character, but that changes by the end of the show. We’ll get into it. After this, we get to meet Skuld, Belldandy’s younger sister, and Urd’s youngest sister, who just wants to be with and just like her older sister. Not oldest, as Urd and Skuld are like fire and water. Literally. Skuld has a “sister complex” and can’t stand that Keiichi is going to steal her sister away. This leads to all sorts of hilarity, like when Skuld turns Keiichi into a girl and then Bellydandy gets sick when trying to help Keiichi. However, that episode does show how much Keiichi cares about and loves Belldandy. As many problems as the show has, they make it clear that Keiichi doesn’t take Belldandy for granted and cares about her deeply. Even if he can’t do anything beyond hold her hand.

If you’re familiar with this kind of show, you know that the main male character is usually bland and doesn’t really have interests or much else. This show is different. Keiichi is a gear head and it’s part of the show. There’s a desert race in one episode, the interest in mechanics allows him and Skuld to get along from time to time, and it’s always there in the background. It also leads to one of the better episodes in the show. You see, Belldandy is very much along for the ride. She just wants Keiichi to be happy and doesn’t have much to do beyond that. But, then there’s this one episode where the one girl in the motor club, Hasegawa, needs to learn how to compete in a go-kart race because the two meat heads in charge sign her up for an all-girl race. Belldandy takes the lead and not only has Skuld make a go-cart track around their home, but helps her learn how to drive and compete. Of course, Keiichi plays an important role, as he is a gear head, but this is Belldandy’s episode. And Hasegawa’s. We get to explore her character and backstory as well, which makes her one of the more fleshed out minor characters after this episode. Really, this episode is worth the wait. I just wanted more.

Now, the show really gets on the serious track when Marller turns up. She’s a demon who was sealed away by Belldandy and Urd but is probably the worst at being evil. She’s got the will but not enough competence to pull off most of her plans. She conspires with Sayoko to get Keiichi to dump Belldandy, to hurt her, but it doesn’t work. She’s actually a very funny bumbling nemesis. Until she tries to release the Lord Of Terror.

She thinks that she can be the host. Nope. It’s Urd, who’s recently lost her Goddess License because she helped Belldandy. So, she’s mad and then she gets this offer of power, all she has to do is embrace her Demon side. So she does. But, not all of her does. There’s part of her that’s still good, trying to stop the Lord of Terror.

I won’t ruin the end of the season, because it’s just that good. What you need to know is that the mythology used for the show is based on Norse stuff. Just from a Japanese point of view. One thing I find rather amusing is that we see magic and technology at use in the show, pre-dating the whole “no difference between magic and science” in the MCU.

Rating: 4 out of 5
Suggestion: Give it a chance if you like romance, magical stuff, or slice of life stuff, it’s a good one.

Manga: Crescent Moon, Volume 1

 

Content Warning: Some blood, parental death.

Welcome back to “Magical May!” This week, I’m delving into another genre with magical elements, the “Urban Fantasy” genre. While much more popular in the West with Young Adult (YA) audiences, it does do fairly well in Japan, too. If you’re a fan of the genre, you’ll be able to pick up on the themes pretty quick.

“Princess, princess, why do you cry?” This line is etched into my mind. I stumbled across this series years ago and thought it was pretty good. But does it hold up?

Our story begins with a rather brooding looking young man threatening a young woman with death. And then we get narration from Mahiru about how unlucky she is while others glomp her to get good luck, while we get the Japanese names and portents for the phases of the moon (or the names of the characters she’s going to meet). When she falls into the water, we discover that she sees visions of a Yokai man and the moon princess. No, not THAT moon princess, the one from Japanese myth.

Anyway. The story really gets started with Mahiru talking about how she has a dream when there’s a full moon and when she’s on her period about Princess Kaguya, the aforementioned moon princess. Mahiru also scores some points on the Young Adult Protagonist Scoreboard because her parents died when she was young and now lives with her aunt. We see more about her life, with her hanging out with her friends, and discussing how unlucky she is and she scores more points on the Scoreboard. Eventually, she leaves her friends to go hang out on a sea wall around Tokyo Bay. There, she ends up getting found by the guy who said he would kill her at the beginning. They have a very brief conversation and she runs away. From here, she goes to the library and she keeps running into people that will be important later. They’re trying to layer on the myster but it gets annoying quickly. Between the fact that we have to fill in the story from the opening pages, learn a bit of a fairy tale, and have all this mystery faffing about. On the re-read, it’s rough.

Quickly, Mahiru goes with the two mysterious boys she met at the library, gets attack by the angry emo boy, and gets taken to a club by a werewolf. Yeah, a werewolf. You see, Mahiru is the descendant of the Princess and these people are all members of the “Lunar Race.” Werewolves, vampires, Tengu, Kitsune, and others, the monsters of myth and legend are what makes up the Lunar Race and they want Mahiru’s help. She says nope and runs all the way home. The group, except angry emo Mitsuru, the Tengu boy, agree to keep an eye on her and protect her.

Mahiru agrees to help the group, giving them her power to power them up, while they try to steal a Teardrop Of The Moon that’s on a dinner cruise in the bay. We’re also given an introduction to the antagonists of the series, the detectives who are chasing after the thieves (the main characters) and we get a little bit more exposition. The heist goes fairly well, due to Mahiru’s help, but the detective wasn’t effected by the magic and is heavy armed. They manage to escape but Mitsuru’s magic fails while returning to shore and Mahiru has to save him because he can’t swim.

In the next chapter, we find out what exactly the Teardrops Of The Moon are. They’re ancient gems that were stolen by humanity from the Lunar Race and now they’re being collected. The reason why will be explained later. We also see Mahiru returning to her normal, schoolgirl life, while the gang watch over her. She goes back to the Oboro’s night club and we learn about the Lunar Race and their love of music. Oboro is the group’s leader, an older man, but we don’t find out exactly what kind of “monster” he is. The group is trying to get Mahiru to move into an apartment at the club, under orders from someone, a young boy who seems to be important, but she hesitates and Mitsuru makes it quite clear that he doesn’t want her there. You see, Mitsuru was raised by humans and is still learning how to control his powers, and since Mahiru makes them get a boost, he can’t control his transformation when she touches him. Akira, the werewolf, forces them to touch and he goes berserk, transforming and flying away in broad daylight. The group, with Mahiru, go chasing after him. Using song, they’re able to calm him down and Mahiru accepts that he isn’t a monster.

And that’s where this volume ends. It really gets going in fits and starts, with that action opening, then doing a bunch of flashbacks and exposition dumps, before getting the story started. There’s a lot of gaps and things left open, most of which are explored in later volumes. I remember that it took me a while to really get into this volume, perhaps to the half way point, before I started to really enjoy it. The characters are probably the biggest selling point for me, as well as seeing YA done with a different basis for the myths, magic, and monsters compared to the ones we see in the West.

Rating: 3 out of 5
Suggestion: If you can find it, and you like urban fantasy or magical girl type stuff, it might be worth a read.

Manga: Magical Girl Spec-Ops: Asuka, Volume 1

 

Content Warning: Violence, gore, fatalism, violence towards children by cute mascots, and PTSD

This ain’t your daddy’s Magical Girl manga. Since we’re in Magical May, it’s time to cover something current. I know, some people reading my review of Sailor Moon might be younger than the show, so I think I need to cover something more recent. Don’t want to lose the younger folks. When it comes to how I came across this series, I was walking through a book store with a buddy (remember being able to do that?) and saw the cover. I glanced at the back and flipped through it and thought that it looked like an interesting read. Oh, boy, this isn’t what I expected.

Our story begins with a flashback to Mount Aso, with a ton of soldiers dead and military equipment destroyed. Two soldiers, a Russian with the GRU and a Japanese man from the Japanese Ground Self Defense Forces, encounter each other on an empty battlefield, with the Japanese soldier having lost and arm and is high as shit on the painkillers. Because he’s just that badass. We then cut to a group of Magical Girls about to engage with a large monster that looks like its made up of magma. Before throwing themselves into the final battle, we see the group motto: He who laughs last, laughs loudest.

Three years later…

We meet Nozomi and Sayako, a tomboy and nerdy girl in gym class, watching Otori Asuka kick ass in gym class. We get a bit of exposition here, with it revealed that Asuka is a recent transfer student but doesn’t seem to have a lot of friends and isn’t part of any clubs. Asuka, is of course, the title character of the manga and part of the group of magical girls we saw a few pages ago. We then follow Asuka around, getting a glimpse of the American Magical Girl, Mia Cyrus. Gee, I wonder how they picked that name? We also get one of our first glimpses of horror as Asuka mistakes a costumed mascot for one of the monsters she fought, ripping a child apart. The child is fine, Asuka just can’t forget the horrors she’s seen. I have to say, until I saw online that she has PTSD, I didn’t understand this scene, but in this context, it makes sense. As my grandfather used to say, the war is right behind her. That means to say that the war may be over, but it isn’t far away from you. Anyway. Nozomi and Sayako then have a run in with a rude adult and Asuka proceeds to take him to the ground, stopping herself from breaking his arm. Later that day during a break at school Nozomi and Sayako interrupt Asuka’s reading of Franz On The Shoreline to thank her for kicking that guy’s ass. This becomes a turning point in Asuka’s life as she starts to open up a bit about herself and adapt to a normal life, kind of. This is interrupted when Iizuka, the soldier from the opening with a badass cybernetic arm, turns up at Asuka’s school and offers her a chance to join a new Special Forces unit he’s in charge of named M Squad. Asuka turns him down and we get some more back story. The real important part is that the enemy, the Disas, kidnapped her parents. She said she’d give up everything to get them back but the cute little mascot animal things working of Disas say they’re going to return her parents to her, piece by piece. My blood went cold when I read it, every damn time. The art also changes from the standard style to this very minimalist style that reminds me of horror manga, which is a solid choice.

From here, Asuka tries to live something resembling a normal life, ignoring the problems of the world around her. She still has trouble fitting in to the normal world but it’s clear that she’s trying to forget the last few years. All that comes to a crashing halt when a terrorist group tries to free their leader as he’s being transported through town. Sayako happens to be in the area, as is Asuka, and is about to be gunned down by the terrorist when Asuka transforms and uses her knife, Karambit, to cut them to ribbons. No joke. She goes absolutely ballistic on them. And they can’t even scratch her, even with a .50 on a truck. During this, there’s a lot of explanation of magical Girls and their powers, so I had to re-read this more than once to really get it.

After this, the main plot really gets started, with the introduction of the main villainess (who doesn’t get revealed for some time), as well the first evil Magical Girl Asuka faces. They’ve teamed up with the terrorists to cause some mayhem, unleashing Disas biological weapons. This shit gets real, let me tell you. During this attack, we meet another one of the “Famous Five” Magical Girls from the beginning, War Nurse Kurumi, who has a history with Asuka. Kurumi does her best to fight the Disas monsters but she’s not exactly a combat specialist, more of a support Magical Girl. After defeating the monsters, Kurumi and Asuka catch up and we find out that Kurumi has some baggage about her life before she was made into a Magical Girl. And this is why I like this series, these characters feel a lot more human and normal than most others I’ve read in the genre. But, let’s wrap this up.

The volume ends with us following around Mia Cyrus, the American Magical Girl who’s weapon is, of course, a gun. Hey, it’s what we’re known for, I’ll leave the political commentary for the people who get elected to office. Besides, any joke I could make about gun-toting wouldn’t age well, and I’d rather not give them any of my time. Mia and her two military companions are raiding a place in Tijuana, Mexico and proceed to kill the ever living fuck out of everyone inside except for a weird old man who’s mumbling numbers. He then gets crushed into a magical cube while muttering “Babel Army Corps.”

And that’s where things end. Well, there is a bit that sets up the next volume but you can buy it yourself if you like what you’ve read here.

All in all, this is very much a “Magical Girl manga for boys” sort of thing. I really find the characters and the setting interesting but I’m no longer a teenage edgelord, so the violence and gore turns me off. That said, I did end up buying the next two volumes and might end up continuing from there. If you want me to keep reviewing the series, let me know. 

Rating: 4 out of 5

Suggestion: Gritty and intense magical girl action is found here. It that’s something you like, pick it up.

Anime: Sailor Moon (Season One, episodes 1 to 5)

 

Content Warning: None really

Welcome to the first “Magical May” here with the Anime Necromancer! Yeah, I’m doing themed months. I mean, I did already in March with “Mecha March” but thought it sounded kind of stupid to type it out. Now, since I’m going be talking about something that most folks would find embarrassing to talk about out loud, screw it, we’re going to be out in the open about stuff.

Since you’ve already seen the title of this one, you know where we’re going today. Sailor Moon isn’t the first Magical Girl show (I think Milky Momo holds that title) but it was one of the most popular and introduced something new to the genre that has become standard: The Magical Girl team. You see, the creator of the show looked at Sentai (think Power Rangers) stuff and worked it into what would become Sailor Moon. And even Sailor Moon wasn’t her first Magical Girl work, that would be Sailor V, who later got retconned into Sailor Venus.

One final thing before we get started, I’m only doing a review of the first five episodes as there’s 200 in the original run of the show, and I don’t have time for that right now. While I’d like to revisit this thing again, I make no promises. If you want more, let me know. Otherwise, we might be waiting until May 2022. Oh, and I’m using an old fan sub of the original, none of that DIC bullshit. With that out of the way, let’s get started!

Episode One: The Crybaby: Usagi's Beautiful Transformation

Our story begins with Usagi waking up late for school and rushing off, and almost forgetting her lunch. On her way there, she finds a group young boys harassing a cat. Usagi comes to the rescue and removes a bandaid on the cat’s head. Underneath, there’s a crescent shaped bald spot on her forehead. Usagi gets to school and gets sent to stand in the hallway, not only for being late but for getting 30% on her English test. After this we get introduced to her friends, Naru and Umino. Naru’s mom owns a jewelry store and Umino is a nerd. There’s a brief discussion of Sailor V’s latest escapade and then visit the jewelry store, where there’s a lot of stuff being sold. All of this is of course the evil plan of the week to drain humans of their energy. We also see that Naru’s mom has been turned in the Youma (monster) of the week. Usagi leaves and runs into Momaru, who calls her Dumpling Head for the first time. Things pick up after some introduction of Usagi’s mom and younger brother, and her punishment for failing her English test. Finally, Luna catches up with Usagi and talks to her. Yeah, Luna is a talking cat. Her mission is fight the enemies the police can’t fight and find the others and the princess. If you’re familiar with the show at all, you already know who the princess is but I’m going to leave this as a mystery for anyone new to the franchise. It’s worth it. Usagi transforms for the first time with a shout of “Moon Prism Power Makeup!” and becomes Sailor Moon for the first time. Just in time, in fact to save Naru from the monster impersonating her mom! Funny how that works, isn’t it? Come on, it’s a kids show from 1992, you can’t expect much. Sailor Moon fights the Youma and her human slaves, one of which is armed with a broken bottle! Just when things are looking to go badly, Tuxedo mask shows up for the first time! Hell, I’ll swoon over him, because he’s just that awesome. After some crying from Sailor Moon, we get the first Moon Tiara Action and Sailor Moon saves the day for the very first time! I have to be honest, a lot happens in just a few minutes but the episode doesn’t feel slow or rushed. It’s not a bad way to kick things off.

Episode Two: Punishment Awaits! The House of Fortune is the Monster Mansion

This episode opens with a bit of a recap and then with some women getting their fortune read using the I-Ching method. Which, if you don’t know what that is, go look it up. Educate yourself. We also get some conversation from the baddies, talking about the crystal they’re hunting for. But they also need energy. Because reasons. When we get to school, we see that Umino has a huge crush on Usagi. Which isn’t a surprise at all. After Usagi gets her fortune read, we get to meet her crush, Motoki, who works at the arcade. God, will kids even know what those are these days? Don’t mind me, just feeling old. After the arcade, Usagi runs across Momaru again and ends up going home. Meanwhile, Umino has gone to the new fortune teller who uses Tarot cards. And is our Youma of the week. She uses a card to corrupt Umino, as well as others, I’m sure. The next day at school, the new and improved Umino comes in a suit, asks Usagi out on a date, and then flashes the teacher’s panties to everyone. We also see that some of the other boys have been corrupted and start throwing rocks at the school’s windows. Our Youma uses the Tarot cards they’re carrying to collect energy. Umino then tries to kiss Usagi but her crying drives him and the other boys away. Usagi goes to investigate the fortune teller and transforms into Sailor Moon. She then catches the Youma trying to convince the boys to do even worse things. And just like the other fight, Sailor Moon runs away from the Youma and zombies, only to be saved by Tuxedo Mask. After getting her pep talk, Sailor Moon easily defeats the Youma and frees the boys. The next day, Umino is crushed by what he did under the Youma’s control. But Usagi’s forgiveness brings him back.

Episode Three: The Mysterious Sleeping Sickness: Protect the Girls in Love

In the DIC version, this is the second episode, for those of you who are confused. After the recap of who we’re watching and what’s going on, Jadeite gets orders from Queen Beryl to do his job. Then we get a shot of Tokyo Tower and then see all the girls in the show, including the teacher, listening to a radio program (and I feel old again). And then in the morning, there’s an exposition dump about people suffering from a sleeping sickness. Haruna-Sensei is late to class, even later than Usagi, and seems to be in a daze, and is wearing a pretty purple flower. Which is clearly consuming her energy. While walking after school, Usagi is walking with Naru and talking about her “future boyfriend” when she runs into Momaru. Yeah. Real subtle. Usagi then tries to write a love letter to her “future boyfriend” but can’t come up with anything. Usagi also discovers that there’s no such show as Midnight Zero, the show every woman and girl is obsessed with. And yet, the show still comes on. And Naru gets her letter read that night. In the morning, Naru has her flower broach, which is the same as Haruna-Sensei’s. And starts draining Naru’s energy, too. And even drains some of Usagi’s, too, making her dream about Tuxedo Mask. Later, Usagi is trying to sneak into the radio station and gets her transformation pen, using Moon Power to look like a newscaster. And she looks great, just going say. It’s a fun way to give your character a new look when you need it. This also allows Usagi to confront Jedeite directly without giving her secret identity away. Which is good when the Youma of the week attacks and she transforms into Sailor Moon. She fights the Youma and manages to use the tiara attack without help from Tuxedo mask! She tries to attack Jedeite but fails because he’s too powerful. As all hope looks lost, Tuxedo Mask arrives and scares off Jediete. Usagi then starts writing a love letter to Tuxedo Mask before class, arriving early to school for once. Then Naru tries to read it and even Haruna-Sensei gets involved.

Episode Four: Learn How to Be Skinny from Usagi

Oh boy… This one is going to be a trip… You see, Usagi has put on some weight, which is devastating for a 14 year old girl. As her family points out, she eats a lot and doesn’t work out. Her and her girl friends at school have a conversation about weight and diets and stuff like that. Umino, creepy stalker that he is, shows them pictures of how Haruka-Sensei has lost some weight. Usagi and her friends show up at the gym, Shapely, and join for free. Of course, this is where Jedeite has set up shop. Usagi’s aversion to hard work saves her from being put in the pods that drain the fat and their energy. After leaving on her own, Usagi runs into Motoki, almost passing out from hunger. And then, after being told that Motoki likes them full figured, grabs some Bao. And then runs into Momaru, who makes fun of her. When he makes fun of her, she throws one at him, which is a serious insult in Japan, but he catches it. Usagi then returns to the gym to work herself to death. There, Luna sees Haruna-Sensei going into one of the energy draining pods in the basement, discovering the evil plan. To save Haruna-Sensei, Luna gets really scary and gets Usagi to change into Sailor Moon. Sailor Moon confronts Jedeite in the basement and the workers, who are being controlled by the things on their heads. We get to see Sailor Moon go hand-to-hand with these big burly guys, it’s pretty cool. She then uses the Tiara to break the circlets and free them. After getting back, Jedeite says that Sailor Moon will die by his hand.

Episode Five: Scent of a Monster! Chanela Will Steal Your Love

This is another skipped episode from the DIC version, so let’s see if we can figure out why… After being saved by a nightmare by Tuxedo Mask, Usagi wakes up to Shingo freaking about Luna in her brother, Shingo’s room. It turns out that he hates cats. Usagi wants to make Luna the family pet but Shingo will have nothing to do with it. After school we meet Shingo’s love interest, Miko. Together, they go to a pet shop and Shingo finds a Chanela, which looks like a guinea pig in desperate need of a hair cut. Of course, these things are the new weapon used to collect energy from humans. After bringing the Chanela home, Shingo kicks Luna, the little bastard. Of course, he’s actually under the control of the furry little monster. These monsters have spread to Usagi’s school, with most of the girls in her class having one that they’re brought to school. Going to investigate, Usagi comes across Momaru. Yes, I know we haven’t officially learned his name but it’s better than calling him “that weird guy who keeps running into Usagi and they exchange insults.” Of course, Usagi falls under the control of one of the monsters and even ignores a little girl that falls off her bike, but Luna cheers her up. After breaking free of the little thing, Usagi tries to help her brother but even slapping him doesn’t help. I think I’m beginning to see why this episode was dropped from the DIC version… Anyway, as Sailor Moon, she returns to the pet shop and controls the Youma of the week, a scary lizard woman who has turned all of the kids with Chanelas into lizard people. Sailor Moon gains a new attack in this one, Moon Tiara Stardust, which frees all the kids. But there’s still the Youma to deal with and she chops off her tail, killing her. And no help from Tuxedo mask! Shingo tries to get “Sailor V” to sign something, and even accepts Sailor Moon as herself. Usagi uses the situation to manipulate him into accepting Luna.

And that’s it for now. I’ve been a fan of Sailor Moon since I first watched on TV in school. Back in those days, there were only two big anime that people watched or knew about in may age group: Dragonball Z and Sailor Moon. And I was a fan of Sailor Moon. DBZ bores me, not going to lie. But, for some reason, Sailor Moon is engaging and something I can get behind. I mean, uh, enjoy. It’s funny, and sometimes serious, but what draws me to it is that there’s heart behind it. It doesn’t waste time with filler and power ups, it’s about the characters and being a better person. And, yes, it does it dark later on. But it doesn’t want to grind you down, it wants to lift you up. And if you haven’t seen it, you really need to. It’s a classic for a reason.

Rating: 5 out of 5
Suggestion: If you haven’t seen Sailor Moon, you are missing one of the fundamentals of not just the Magical Girl genre but anime as a whole, so you really need to invest the time to watch it.
Five down, 195 to go. Heaven help me...

Anime: Agent Aika

 

Content Warning: Nudity, violence, sexual assault, incest, tentacles, body horror, and almost 200 panty shots.

Well, if that content warning up there doesn’t scare you off, I want to let you know that it isn’t that bad. But it’s not exactly good, either. It is, however, something you’ll probably only see here. Because they don’t make them like this anymore.

Our story begins with a nice little exposition dump in the form of a tour boat going over the remains of Tokyo, with the mandated shot of Tokyo Tower having seen better days, finding out that there were massive earth quakes and volcanic eruptions, followed by rising sea levels, putting most of Japan under the waves. And probably other places as well, but this is made in Japan, so we can excuse the narrow focus. The point of this little exposition dump is explain what our characters do.

Speaking of characters, we’re then introduced to Aika and her “thirsty” assistant, Rion, who work as salvagers. Using minisubs with movable arms, they’re recovering some kind of locked case from the current sea floor. We then get to meet Aika sexual harasser and love interest, Gusto, and his partner Bandra, the cyberpunk grandmother you never knew you wanted but now need in your life. After a brief tug of war, Aika and Rion get the prize and bring it back. Of course, since it’s been damaged, the client wants a discount. This is also where were meet Rion’s father, Gozo, who runs the salvaging company. Rion and Gozo argue, then Gozo gets a call for a job, tries turning it down, only of Aika to grab the phone and accept it.

When they meet the client for the briefing, in an underground garage, we find out that Gusto has also accepted the job. They learn that they need to find a ship and gather data on something called Raggu. Insert culinary jokes here. Of course, they get attacked by a bunch of women dressed in black kind of maid looking uniforms. Aika and Gusto make quick work of them, causing a bunch of panty shots, but get stopped by the Dominatrix looking Neena, who loads up the girls in the back of a truck with the help of more women in blue uniforms. I have to say that while the panty shots are excessive, it is realistic. If you wear something with a skirt that short and get in a fight, it’s not going to obey “skirt physics” that you see in other stuff. However, there’s so many of them you get desensitized to seeing white cotton undies rather quickly.

We then cut to Aika getting in an old fighter jet (which doesn’t seem to be too heavily armed) and taking off to find this ship. Of course Rion has hidden aboard it and didn’t bring a helmet. In fact, neither of them are wearing a helmet. There’s a reason why pilots wear helmets, which our heroes find out when they have to dodge the Stinger missiles launched by the girls aboard the ship. Gusto and Bandra are also there in their own plane, but they seem to make it out better. Neena also boards a plane of her own, launched by the ship, but Aika and Neena enter the Raggu zone or whatever and their planes suffer massive systems failure. While Neena barely makes it out, Aika is screwed. But we find out that she has a super corset. I’m not joking. It rips off her clothes and then becomes a battle bikini with tentacles. The tentacles restart the jet turbine and Aika is able to land the plane. Once landed, they get picked up by the ship and Aika starts get molested by Hargen, the commander of the ship and Neena’s brother.

While Aika is subjected to Hargen’s very unwanted touching and groping, Neena punishes the members of the crew in a sex dungeon, and Rion wakes up. She’s able to get free and dresses up as one of the crew. Along the way, she finds another woman who’s been able to slip aboard and dress up as a member of the crew. This is Maipin, an “A-Class Spy” who even carries business cards. James Bond, eat your heart out. Gusto also got aboard and is able to KO the girls with a single punch, leaving a trail of knocked out girls, showing off their panties, in his wake.

During all of this, Hargen explains to Aika what exactly is going on. Raggu is an extremely rare material that has the potential to create a lot of energy, but is usually found deep in the earth’s crust. The last time it came to the surface, it caused the earthquakes and floods that destroyed Japan and much of the world. Hargen has been able to harness the power of Raggu to power his ship and make weapons. He also takes the super corset and is able to figure out what it is. The corset is made up of Ultranate, some kind of super metal or nanomachine with some intelligence. We also see Hargen and Neena sleeping together, after we find out that they’re brother and sister. There is not enough EW for this.

As Hargen collects the Raggu in the island Aika landed on, he convinces Aika to sleep with him to collect the information she’s looking for on Raggu. Thankfully, Gusto shows up and prevents things from going all the way. They’re able to get away, but end up leaving Rion behind on the ship. Aika and Gusto, along with Bandra, land Aika’s plane on what was once a mountain gas station but is now an isolated island. I have to say, as much as I feel like the setting has been ignored, the bits with the islands with old highways and stuff on them are really nice and a subtle way to remind you that things have changed. Of course, there’s more panty shots while Rion and Maipin try to stay out of sight and there’s an extra creepy scene with Hargen putting magical Ultranate panties on Neena. Because… I don’t even want to know.

We see how powerful the Raggu weapons are as a naval group tries to stop Hargen and gets destroyed easily. It turns out that Hargen wants to use his ship, turning it into a rocket with a quick change of the back end of it, to draw up all of the Raggu and wipe the planet clean of humanity. He’ll use the Raggu to restore the old environment and repopulate the world with his children and create a utopia. If you were wondering why Hargen has a ship with nothing but women, here’s your answer. It’s his harem.

As the ship gets ready to take off, Aika and Gusto try to slip aboard. But they end up having to use a space shuttle, along with Gozo and piloted by Bandra, to dock with it once they get in orbit. There’s actually a really cool space battle using the main guns of the ship in space that I really enjoyed. That’s the thing about this OVA I found: Lots of things I like around a bunch of needless panty shots and weird sexual stuff.

Once aboard, Rion, Gozo, and Gusto are able to start causing problems and laying down some explosives, while Aika gets her Ultranate stuff back and fighting Neena and her Ultranate. The fights are really good and show how power isn’t as important as experience and a clear head when fighting. Of course, Hargen forgot to tell Neena that Ultranate was developed as a weapon but wasn’t used because it takes a very rare type of person to control it. Of course, the only person who has control is Aika. While Neena devolves into a body horror monster, Hargen tries to kill Aika. After wounding Hargen, Aika is winning. That’s when Hargen gets snagged by the monster that is Neena and it doesn’t end well. Having caused enough damage, the crew of the ship is forced to abandon ship, leaving Hargen and Neena to perish together in space.

And that’s the end. Of the first series. Oh, yes, there’s more.

There’s episode 4.5, which is mostly filler, but explains how Gozo and company now have an office and introduces the company’s new employee, Michikua, a pretty boy with an empty head. It’s actually a fun watch and is a welcome rest from the weird shit from the previous four episodes. It also sets up some stuff for the next three.

The second series centers around the survivors of the Delmo Corps, the women who worked for Hargen, trying to kill Aika as revenge for killing Hargen. Which is incredibly dumb. I mean, he was a monster that was sleeping with his sister. Plus, the captain of the group is in a relationship with another woman, which they did telegraph in the episode where the ship launched into space with one of them putting her hand over the other’s on the throttle and they exchange a look. I have… I got no words, honestly.

And they have a very dumb idea for their first plan. The leader of Gold ranked team (in case you couldn’t tell already, the color of the women’s uniforms denotes their rank) is going to use another woman to pretend to be a man, seduce Aika while the crew is on vacation and then ambush her. The whole point of this is either queerbaiting or girls kissing girls fan service. Whatever the reason for it, Aika is charmed by “Pierre” and ends up getting drugged by “him.” Gozo is also being tracked, as are Rion and Michikura, by other members of Delmo. Well, things go bad for them as Aika flips her shit when she finds out that Pierre is really Valarie and the Delmo call in a pair of armored cars to be air-dropped into the resort. If you have resources like this, why are you wasting your time with girls kissing girls for fun and profit?!? Anyway, we get to see Gozo and Aika get inside the armored cars that are driving around INSIDE the hotel using creative methods. The use a fire hose to flood one of them, which is rather creative. And fun to watch. Of course, our heroes win and the Delmo retreat.

The next episode has the Delmo lure Aika and company to what was once Russia to try to find something left over from before things went to hell and… It’s just a ruse to get them there, which makes no sense, as they want to collect data about Aika. Not kill her, not really attack her, just get more information so they can kill her later, I guess? I don’t fucking know, man. I just watch this stuff. I like how no one in the group even notices that the entire base is run and staffed by women until it’s too late. Aika gets in a thing and ends up blacking out at 10 or so Gs. Gozo ends up getting drunk and they distract him with Karaoke. Meanwhile, Rion notices that one of their guides is wearing her Demlo uniform under her clothes. For some reason, Michikura ends up dressed up in one of the black uniforms. Soon enough, there’s a fight between Aika and the Delmo, Gozo singing and fighting more of them, and Rion and Michikura running around. Aika ends up defeating the Captain, and her lover, and getting her data back. They end up escaping in the plane she was suppose to fly and using the magnet sensors to confuse a missile launched at her, which ends up blowing up the cargo plane they arrived in.

The final episode has the last two Gold rank Delmo, a melee fighter that uses claws like Vega from Street Fighter and a demolitions expert, blowing up the group’s office with Aika inside. When Gusto shows up and finds out that Aika is dead, he swears revenge. Using Michikura’s friend, Maipin, they manage to infiltrate the Delmo base. They actually do pretty good on their own, until they encounter the Gold rank group. Of course, Aika is still alive and kicks their asses. This makes the Delmo give up on hunting down and killing Aika. For now.

And that’s it. Okay, there is a live action episode but it’s just women in latex outfits that end up getting taking out with special effects and showing off their white cotton panties. I wouldn’t be surprised if the actors are all Japanese AV (Adult Video, or porn) stars. You can really skip this one unless you have a panty shot fetish. Which is saying a lot from this series.

All in all, this series isn’t bad, it just sacrifices plot and character for cheap fan service. It’s got some really good things here and there but you just have to wait between some less than stellar stuff to get to it. If you edited down the first four episodes into a 90 minute movie, you could have something special. I’m also surprised to find out that there’s no other media that came before. It feels a lot of like an OVA series that was based on a manga or light novel. If the first four episodes was half of that and they focused more on the Delmo Corp, which was a much more light hearted and fun series, it would have been a much better work.
 

Rating: 2 out of 5

Suggestion: Watch it if you really want to, you perv.

Manga: If It's For My Daughter, I'd Even Defeat A Demon Lord, Volume 1

 

Content Warning: A single corpse

In case the name didn’t give it away, this manga is based on a series of “Light Novels” (read: novellas). I know this was also made into an anime but I just happened across this manga at a local bookstore which is just reopening, so I thought I would share. And, yes, I will be covering the books in the future (but probably not the anime).

Our story opens with Dale, an adventurer in a typical J-Fantasy world, sitting around a fire, frying some fish and drying off his clothes after an encounter with some stinky frogs. He sees something in the woods and discovers that it’s a child of the Demon Race that looks in pretty poor shape. Since Dale knows some magic, he’s able to communicate with her in very basic terms. He gives her one of the fish and then finds the body of her father. After doing the right thing and burying him, he offers to take the girl, Latina, with him. He takes her to the Mackerel Tabby, the Adventurer’s inn he’s been staying in. The Tabby is run by Rita and her husband, Kenneth. There, Dale bathes Latina and they go to bed.

In the morning, Rita has prepared a list of things that a girl needs, as well as giving her a ribbon to wear in her hair to cover her horn (the other one is broken, a sign of a criminal in Demon Race culture). They go out and buy a whole lot of things, including picture books so Latina can learn the human language. We also see that she’s one smart cookie, figuring out greetings by context. After this, Dale has to go and collect his reward for the stinky frogs he killed, leaving Latina with Kenneth and Rita. While she’s there, business picks up, and she starts to help out. Kenneth finds out what’s going on when one of the grizzled adventurers, Jilvester, pointed out the young “waitress.” Kenneth is impressed and later makes a special desert for Latina. When Dale learns about this, he’s the proud parent. There’s this whole thing of him being overprotective towards her and impressed by her. I suppose this the “Moe” (mo-eh) thing I remember hearing about…

Next, we see that Latina has learned how to read and write in the local language and Dale takes her out to buy more notebooks. Along the way, they run into Jilvester, why slyly asks what she’s going to be making when she helps in the kitchen. File this away for a minute. The pair gets back to the Tabby and Dale has to hold himself back while Latina peels the potatoes. Before long, the Tabby is full and Jilvester orders a round of mashed potatoes for him and two others. That’s because, as soon as the rest of the adventurers discover that Latina made the mashed potatoes, there’s a rush for them. You see, Latina has stolen the hearts of all of the grizzled men that visit the Tabby. She’s pretty much their mascot. And it’s so wholesome, I love it. Having played a lot of D&D, I can tell you that there’s nothing quite like having a little girl around to motivate a group of dirty muderhobos to do the right thing.

Which is what happens next. While walking with Kenneth for sundries, Latina wandered away, and got lost. When Dale finds out, he runs out to search for her. Rita, being the brains of the show, posts a quest for the return of Latina, offering a free tab if they look for her and an extra reward if they find her. One by one, the customers make excuses to leave and go on the hunt for her. While this is happening, Latina is confused and scared, trying to figure out where to go so she can get home. She runs across a trio of boys, Rudy, Marcel, and Anthony. They ask her who she is, where she’s from, and why they haven’t seen her before. Of course, Latina is scared and has trouble answering, especially with Rudy being a bit rude. This is when Chloe arrives and flying kicks Rudy and fights with him and Marcel. Chloe is the best kid, behind Latina, just saying. After the scuffle, we find out that Latina can use healing magic. The kids, now working together, figure out where Latina needs to go, and bravely set off. Because the south side of the city caters to the adventurer type of people, it’s rough and tumble, and their parents have told them to stay out. But, helping someone overrides that and they make their way there. Along the way, they come across the various shop owners who know Latina. When they return, Latina apologizes to Kenneth and Rita, and Rita gives the kids some candy, completing their very first quest. Soon, the customers have returned and Latina is thanking them for looking for her. When Dale comes back, she bursts into tears, afraid that he’s going to be mad at her. Of course he’s not mad and she ends up falling asleep from the stress.

After this, we see that Latina is now officially friends with the group, spending time with them. However, Dale has to explain the concept of friends to Latina. It turns out that the Demon Race has a very low birth rate, so there weren’t any kids for her to play with before coming to the city. Now she understands and there’s a very touching moment. However, Latina hasn’t really talked about where she comes from and what her life was like, leaving a door open for further volumes.

And that’s where it ends. I really did like it, it tugged at my heart strings. I have some… Concerns going forward, as it’s become a more common trope for daughter characters (not actual daughters, unless you read hentai) falling in love with their father figures and I get the feeling that this is setting up for that. Other than that, it’s a fun little story and I want to see what happens. I might have set up to order, ahem, all of the manga that’s currently available… But I’m not going to admit that. Nope. Not saying a thing about it. And, given the title of the series, I know that Latina is going to turn out to have a big role in the Demon Race’s politics or mythology or something. But, she’s just so damn cute, I’m along for the ride.

Rating: 4 out of 5
Suggestion: If you want some sweet and wholesome fantasy stuff, give it a try. You might just like it.