In Code Geass – So, about this second season thing dot dot dot I lamented the fact that CG was going into a second season. It may have been planned, but at the time I was fairly sure they were going to kill the show by “milking” it to death. I mean, we were talking about a show that was prostituting itself out to pizza-hut.

I think someone did a post on product placement in anime a long time ago? Did anyone do a post on fake products in anime? Anyway, I digress. Let me get back to my main points, which were the consequences of my post.

So, I was like . . . .pizza. . .T_T, but only for Code Geass.

I was willing to concede because I didn’t know how much power I had at that point. I did make some demands. Specifically—and I quote–, “More Geass, Lelouch should just start geassing everybody.”

Then this happened.

Yeah, you read that right. I asked for it and I got it! Okay, technically I wanted it during the second season, but I’m not a picky anime blogger overlord, so I’ll take it.

Now, where is my evil twin C.C.?

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Yeah, I have a really elaborate fantasy life =)

This episode may have just changed my mind about the whole second season thing. Humm, decisions between emotional fulfillment (closure) and seeing Euphemia do some ethnic cleansing.

Why do they want to make my life so hard?

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I was very excited when I heard about the RightStuf’s ADV sale a few weeks ago. I missed their previous sale because I was lazy. By all accounts the Geneon sale was “better,” simply because there were more shows available that many of you and I would have preferred to buy. For example Texhnolyze, Last Exile, and various OAVs/Movies. They did close the ADV sale down early; so, maybe it did better than I thought.

Everything was wrapped.

The ADV sale was lacking in the A-grade anime areas. Hence, there you have the title of this post. I realize that “A-grade” is a bit of a subjective viewpoint, but I don’t think many will disagree when I finally get to the listing of what I bought. I’m pleased with my purchase, but there are some other aspects to this that we can talk about later.

Here is the setup: 10 DVD’s for $50 or 25 for $100.

I also, would like to say that I was very impressed with RightStuf. There was a problem with my order and they managed to get it fixed for me, it had to do with billing. It delayed my order shipping for a while, I just got this stuff the other day.

The booty:

Yumeria DVD 3 : The End of a Dream
Yumeria DVD 2 : Tossing and Turning
Yumeria DVD 1 : Into the Dreamscape

I’ve watched disc 1 of Yumeria. It’s funnier than I thought it would be, but it is the usual harem type magical girl show. It’s literally the one male character and everyone else is a female with the exception of the teacher with a Lolita Complex.

Sukeban Deka DVD

I’ve watched Sukeban Deka before. It isn’t the best show ever. However, it is entertaining. I need to learn to fight with a yo-yo.

Slayers Return: Movie 2 DVD
Slayers Gorgeous: Movie 4 DVD

I love all the Slayers incarnations. The story is about Lina Inverse’s search for love, money, adventure, and a way to make her boobies bigger. It’s a classic.

Shuten Doji DVD 2 : Nightmare
Shuten Doji DVD 1 : Birth of Demons

I’ve heard that Shuten Doji is really bad.

RahXephon Theatrical Movie DVD

I bought this one to finish off my RahXephon collection.

New Fist of the North Star DVD 3
New Fist of the North Star DVD 2
New Fist of the North Star DVD 1

Someone told me that the old Fist of the North Star was good. So, I thought I’d give these three a try. Plus I got the crappy box.

My Dear Marie DVD

I bought this based on the ANN plot summary.

Dragon Knight: The Wheel of Time

I think this was just a random pick.

Diamond Daydreams DVD 3
Diamond Daydreams DVD 2
Diamond Daydreams DVD 1

The animation looks good. It can’t be all that bad. . .can it?

Curse of the Undead Yoma DVD

Another random pick.

Chance Pop Session: Session 3
Chance Pop Session: Session 2
Chance Pop Session: Session 1

I’ve watched some of this show before. It wasn’t too bad. I thought I might as well finish it.

Birth DVD

1984, yeah you heard me. . . 1984.

Aquarian Age DVD 3
Aquarian Age DVD 2
Aquarian Age DVD 1

Aquarian Age is a good show. I’ve watched it once before. I’m actually looking forward to watching it again. Plus, I got what ADV considers a collector’s box.

There you have it. Probably the best part of this sale was that most of the shows could be bought in their entirety because they were either 3-4 or 13 episode OAVs.

I can’t honestly say that I had any intention, at first, of watching Pumpkin Scissors. I waited until well into the series until I picked it up. There was an aversion on my part totally due to the name of the series. Really, “Pumpkin Scissors” doesn’t convey anything about the story. I can’t say that isn’t too unusual for an anime title, but the fact that it was English makes it more cryptic, oddly. I suppose that was the intent; to surround the series with a little mystery and nudge the curious to find out about the show. I fell for it.

It was a good series. I really enjoyed it. It had its faults, but I was largely willing to overlook most of them.

In the end it is evident that the show’s main focusing was on Alice (2nd Lieutenant), which I wasn’t expecting. I fully expected the show to revolve around Oland (the big guy). Please don’t misunderstand me; Oland’s part is huge, but the series’ abrupt end leaves Alice in the limelight. It may have been more interesting if they fleshed out the Oland story, but in hindsight the eventual meaning may have become overshadowed if that was the case.

So what was the story about? You ask. PS is about a rag-tag band of misfits who despite all odds against them manage to do good in a world that tries very hard to oppose them. It was also about Alice, a noble, whose sense of duty and seemingly misguided feelings of honor and faith lead her to rash actions; all in pursuit of fairness and a better world.

If one were inclined one could map this story over many real-life acts of good and charity. Sure, there are good people that do good things. Sure, there are bad people that do bad things. More often than not, it is very hard to tell the difference.

To the viewer, it is clear who is good and who is bad. At least, it would appear to be so (it usually flips around a bit). To the characters, specifically the ones that SS III is supposed to help, it is clear that all those in power are self-serving.

There stands the edifice that is good will. The job of Section 3 is war relief, but they become charged with fighting corruption in the military and government. The implied message is that when those that are governed have no voice, someone must speak for them. Giving voice to the voiceless is perhaps the most that could be accomplished by a realistic SS III. Being that this is an anime, I would be more inclined to believe that it all ends with a superhuman fight.

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I knew someone would post these to youtube the moment I watched the episode.

Now, the best scene…possibly ever.

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Stekkin should have her own show. Just between you and me, I harbored a small hope that Stekkin would be some type of super killing machine, you know, in between periods of seeming inept. Right up until the end of the series I was hoping that she would bust through a window and start using the pumpkin scissors chop attack.

I hope you all enjoyed the comic from last time.

I didn’t realize that it had been a week since my last post. I was planning to do something on Simoun. I’ve been trying to work in a Simoun post for the last three months, without any luck.

You may recognize the characters from Les Miserables. I’m inclined to believe that Les Miserables is being underrated this season, but I haven’t really had that much time to determine what people think of the series.

This is what you get when you add (me + Calvin & Hobbes + 300), weird huh?

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Note: yes, these are screen-caps from the first episode.