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Have you read the Mahorafest arc yet?
No, it was implied to actually have meant something for her sentimentally, which is actually rather creepy considering it happened when she was still a child.
edited 24th Oct '16 5:48:39 PM by NapoleonDeCheese
Even in these times, Life goes on
@Napoleon: Read it a while ago, but haven't read it recently. I have the Mahora Fest arc mostly surrounding the Budokai Tournament with Negi focused and the Mages vs. Martians battle, but not the follow up the tournament.
'If you fall seven times, stand up eight.' The cry of the Undead.
IIRC, Mana and Setsuna work together occasionally. Don't quote me on that though.
Actually, he's closer to Asuna in spirit then Negi...but fails at being used anywhere near as effectively as she was. He could have been easily salvaged if they actually rolled with him not being interested in fighting, or played up some of his more domestic qualities. Surprise though, that'd be pretty boring, but at least then there'd be a slow burn on how he progressed in fights.
Oh, and not giving him every power under the sun. Seriously, the gravity sword should of been his gimmick, not two of the strongest passive abilities in the series.
edited 24th Oct '16 7:13:44 PM by SkormSnow-Strider
It would actually make for a pretty interesting read if he were written as medically bipolar. At the very least we'd get scenes of him seeing a doctor and being needed to be reminded to pick up his meds.
I'd say "That's why we have Fate", but I think he just legitimately snapped at some point after Negi got Maker'd.
Psychologists appearing in a Japanese work of fiction? What madness this be?
Not shrinks. Brain drugs!
Currently trying to make my third attempt to sit through Highschool DXD, and it looks like I finally can diggest it this time around.
Maybe I should also try getting through Infinity Stratos again now.
himitsu keisatsu
It helps stomaching Dx D if you don't ever take it seriously.
Though I do warn you that while Issei is tolerable and sometimes even fun in the first season, his obsession with breasts makes him downright intolerable later down the line if you aren't as obsessed with huge tits as he is.
himitsu keisatsu seifu chokuzoku kokka hoanbu na no da himitsu keisatsu yami ni magireru supai katsudou torishimari
The only one worth rooting for in Infinite Stratos is Charles. They're the one building up a harem. Seriously, bland guy is not only bland but stupid to boot. He doesn't even have the excuse of being talented like other protagonists, he REALLY SUCKS at what they do. He's only good at fighting finale enemies, and only because the writers have to let him win. My advise, skip all the portions that aren't about the girls.
If you need a pallet cleanser, I recommend Date A Live. Shidou is out of his depth but actually learns from his experiences, brave, and when he realizes he has powers he takes extremely painful but calculated and not foolhardy risks. In short, he never loses his functional braincells, even into the second season.
edited 24th Oct '16 8:07:10 PM by SCMof2814
Also, this morning I watched Memories, the anthology anime film. I already had read and bought, several years ago, the manga version by Otomo Katsuhiro, which only shares the Magnetic Rose segment with the anime.
Stink Bomb was the best segment by far, I think. Also, I watched the Spanish (Mexican) dubbed version, by the way; I wasn't even aware the film had been dubbed. Must've been a dub originally commissioned by Locomotion, as it has many of the classic greats from that era, including Irwin Daayan, Cesar Arias, Humberto Solorzano and Cris Hernandez.
The only one worth rooting for in Infinite Stratos is Charles. They're the one building up a harem. Seriously, bland guy is not only bland but stupid to boot. He doesn't even have the excuse of being talented like other protagonists, he REALLY SUCKS at what they do. He's only good at fighting finale enemies, and only because the writers have to let him win. My advise, skip all the portions that aren't about the girls.
Actually, the one who turned me off was the main girl (Houki, right?) I don't throw the 'autist' term lightly as a 4-channer, but dammit, that girl sure tempted me to slam the label on her. She's like this agressively obtuse emotional wreckage on legs who makes early Louise La Valliere looks like a social butterfly. Ichika is a bland bore but easy to ignore. If anything I think he's more annoying in what I read of the light novel, since actually reading his thoughts makes him more grating rather than sympathetic.
edited 24th Oct '16 8:25:07 PM by NapoleonDeCheese
Okay, Houki is also unwatchable. Seriously, she's practically a boring male protagonist in her own right. Nothing fun ever involves her.
Incidentally, I've started watching Dragonball Super.
Its...something. I don't know what, but its something.
Believe it or not, it does get better.
...Actually, that's not hard to believe at all. The start of Dragon Ball Super sucked. Once they stop rehashing the movies, the show improves dramatically.
World's Cutest Direwolf
On Touta, I miss the days when I thought UQ Holder was going to be him and older Eva on a wacky road trip.
edited 24th Oct '16 11:37:21 PM by rikalous
Yeah, that's what I heard. I actually don't mind it all that much, except the animation looks...rough.
Honestly, I was first disappointed by the fact that he and Kuro didn't come out of the underground maze thing years later like it was supposed to take. For a series that was supposed to be about immortals (at the time), not actually having that point utilized was a pretty big red flag.
himitsu keisatsu
It's best to just watch the movies and skip the anime versions of them. The movies are much better, both in terms of plot and animation.
The main difference is that Goku and Beerus are significantly stronger in DBS than they are in Battle of Gods (since in the former, their fight threatens to destroy the universe).
himitsu keisatsu seifu chokuzoku kokka hoanbu na no da himitsu keisatsu yami ni magireru supai katsudou torishimari
"EEEEK!!! CATS!!" "Setsuna? Chill out."
@OM Try to not take HS Dx D seriously. And this is coming from the guy trying to write a crossover with Negima. I keep finding the Alternate Character Interpretation arguments for that series. Really a pain to watch/read.
For that matter, don't take Infinite Stratos seriously either if you do watch it. Charles is practically the only one not Dain Bramaged with Kanzashi and Cecilia fighting it out for second place.
Madman with a box? I'm a madman with a semi, a pretzel bender and a Heart of Gold!
With DXD, something in the second episode puzzled me. After Issei is attacked by this Fallen Angel woman in the street, he goes back to the Club, is very gently told by Rias next time to not try and fight her alone next time, then Issei acts as if he's been scolded badly, agrees, walks away rejectedly. When he's gone, Akeno asks Rias if she hasn't been too harsh on her, and I'm like hello? At no point Rias raises her voice at him, she concedes the situation wasn't his fault, and overall treats him pretty well (ironically, so far the demons seem to be the most decent people in the academy by far, since all the muggles seem to do is to act like shallow fanboys/fangirls or jerks in herds).
I'm glad the newbie protagonist isn't outright treated like a doormat by the others for once (it wasn't their fault he couldn't activate his powers to teleport and he had to bike his way around, and doing the tasks he was charged with is relatively light fare for the anime new guy standards. True, they should've foreseen the enemy might go after him if left alone, but still didn't seem a malicious oversight), but the disconnect between treatment and reaction (I'd chalk it up to Issei being a pussy if Akeno and Rias herself didn't seem to agree he was treated sternly) makes me wonder if the scene didn't play much more hashly in the light novel.
edited 25th Oct '16 9:53:25 AM by NapoleonDeCheese
Magic is what you want it to be.
Since their early childhood, they had found themselves at odds with each other, frequently since their families shared the same higher echelon social circles, and had eventually enrolled them in the same Academy, with direct instructions to never be overshadowed by the other. Their relationship had come to mirror that of their respective fathers, but it never was as mutually abrassive as it, or as the rivalry between Kagurazaka and Yukihiro. For one, Fujino had become much more skilled than any of the others mentioned in this paragraph to elude direct confrontation; while her father would never back away from open conflict with Mr. Suzushiro, his daughter was subtle enough as to strike at Haruka’s weak points by making herself more popular and charismatic, the kind of affable lady who would never need to sully her image with the kind of hot headed altercation Haruka favored.
They had found some sort of strange simbiosis born from a long standing Cold War, with their respective faults replacing the threat of mutual nuclear annihilation; Shizuru was not, despite the appearances, any sort of skilled administrator, and left to her own devices, she’d have hopelessly sunk the Student Council before long. But she had the gift to mannipulate masses without them ever realizing they were being used, or rather, gently directed into achieving Shizuru’s goals for herself. She had a gorgeous face and a smooth voice oozing Kyoto-accented honey, able to charm anyone but Haruka. Haruka herself was attractive phsyically, no one would deny that, but her firm, direct personality tended to turn off all but those who knew her very closely. Once you got to know her well, she’d earn your undying love (like in Yukino’s case) or at least your begrudging respect (like with most of Ala Alba). But most often, you wouldn’t let her get that close, and she was too proud to try and gain you over with sweet words and melodious promises. That wasn’t the kind of person she was.
Still, Haruka, unlike Shizuru, was a competent hands-on-woman, the kind of person who could get things done, who could push the potential out of others through hard work and no-nonsense. Haruka would never win an election, but Shizuru never could capitalize on the results of any election she won without someone like her by her side. So they didn’t like each other, not even now, after all those years together. Kagurazaka and Yukihiro did actually like—love, even—each other despite all of their protests on the contrary. Shizuru and Haruka just didn’t click together beyond the mere necessities.
Right now, they needed to squeeze each other’s hand.
So they did.
They faced the gigantic, larger than life entrance to Honnouji Academy, the feared Black School of the Four Schools District, which waited at the end of a long, narrow pathway over a tall, terrifying abyss even more intimidating than that at Evangeline’s resort. The limousine’s driver had left them here as per his orders and quickly burned rubber away, all too glad to head back to proper civilization, where the sun shone brighter without all of the gray clouds hovering over the mammoth city-academy of impossibly high walls and fences.
They walked together, hand on hand, along that dizzying corridor, strong winds blowing over them, as if threatening to push them over the edge. Normally, Haruka would have briefly indulged herself on the fantasy of pushing Shizuru aside, but right now she only squeezed her hand harder. Partly because she knew it’d cause her pain, but mostly because not even Fujino deserved even the shortest thought of dying in a place like this.
If the squeeze was causing her pain, Fujino did not let it show, for if anything she only squeezed harder herself. “Is it,” she wondered aloud, “to make entry harder, or to make escape harder?”
“Both,” Haruka, who knew more on the hardships of life and the ornate prisons of the powerful, like her own father, replied, trying to keep on her best brave face. And then all of that faltered when they saw what there was attached to the top of the collossal arc set over the stone gates of the Academy itself, at the other end of their fearsome path. Bound by his wrists and ankles, exposed to the cold winds in nothing but his striped boxers, there was a chubby, short, heavily bruised young man, barely younger than themselves, as a matter of fact. He seemed unconscious or worse, his head hanging over his chest, his chin buried in his sparse chest hair. Fujino stiffled a faint cry of shock and disgust, until the young man lifted his head, with no small amount of effort, and shouted.
“Not dead yet!” he proclaimed in a voice that was nowhere as majestic as it should have sounded. Rather too nasal, instead. Before the girls could even guess what to do about him, the massive gates flew open, and out walked another young man, but this one as tall and muscular as a giant. He wore a shiny, brand new all white uniform with resplandent golden buttons all across his wide, angular chest and gorilla-sized cuffs, his jacket as well pressed as his pants, his blond hair perfectly combed and slicked back. His skin was darker than the Japanese average, although of a much lighter tan than Mana’s or Cocone’s. His looming shadow fell over the much smaller Haruka and Yukino, before the young man yelled, very formal and martial, a vigorous greeting at them, with a voice that was as booming as he was big.
“Fujino Shizuru-sama! Suzushiro Haruka-sama! I’m Ima Gamagoori, Representative of the Honnouji Student Council, Ma’am, Ma’am! Welcome to Honnouji Academy, Ma’am, Ma’am! Kiryuin Satsuki-sama regrets not being able to welcome you personally, Ma’am, Ma’am! But she’ll meet you by dinner, Ma’am! Ma’am!”
And he bowed as deeply his forehead almost touched the ground, in spite of which he still towered over both of them. Shizuru’s mind, frankly, boogled, more than ever since that fateful night Arashi-san had first contacted her.
Haruka, instead, just pointed up and said, “Sir! You happen to have a nearly dead man hanging from your gates, Sir!”
The titan looked up, folding his arms behind his back, and informed, “Ma’am, that’s a thief and betrayer, caught this morning in the act of stealing a Gokou uniform from our research laboratories! You don’t need to concern yourself over him, Ma’am! We have him well controlled!”
“Y-Yes, I can see that,” Haruka gasped, a side of her face twitching slightly, “but what if he dies up there?”
Gamagoori’s austere, stony expression briefly turned into a harsh smirk that tugged at one corner of his mouth, a fleeting flash of perfectly white teeth peeking out. “He won’t, Ma’am. At Honnouji, even the vilest of weeds are stronger than that.”
Before either of them could ask him what the hell he meant, the young giant turned around on his heels and stiffly marched back inside, every step making the thin structure of the pathway boom and tremble ever so slightly under Haruka and Shizuru’s feet. “Now please follow me. You will be shown the wonders of Honnouji before having the honor of sharing Satsuki-sama’s company and extending your invitation personally.”
The girls shared a haunted glance they never had allowed themselves on each other before, and Haruka whispered, “Next year, we’ll just send them an e-mail, won’t we?”
“Haruka-han,” Shizuru reminded her in the same hushed tone, “by this time next year, we’ll have graduated, remember?”
“That’s only if we have survivorated this,” Haruka pointed out.
“Oh yes, there’s that,” Shizuru agreed, but still, since none of them would admit defeat, they still walked in together after the behemoth.
The gates loudly slammed closed after them.
And for a moment there was the most chilling of silence.
“Could someone get me a soda, pleeze…?” sounded the nasal whine of a crushed shell of a student.
Oh for God's sake!
Is that the canon reason Haruka hates Shizuru?
himitsu keisatsu
@NDC
It's even more puzzling when you consider Akeno is a sadist. And I mean an actual sadist - she legitimately gets off on inflicting pain.
himitsu keisatsu seifu chokuzoku kokka hoanbu na no da himitsu keisatsu yami ni magireru supai katsudou torishimari
In canon, it's just Shizuru keeps outdoing her and surpassing her and outvoting her without even trying, despite, in all fairness, Haruka doing most if not all of the actual work.
Looking at the descriptions of Shizuru and Haruka, one sounds like Hitler, and the other sounds like the sort of rising Yakuza boss you see in a movie. ![[lol]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lol2v12_4863.png "[lol]"){kind=small}
I find that hilarious.
edited 25th Oct '16 5:41:36 PM by SCMof2814
Just a professional one.