"Experimental Ectoplasm!" Abra's Anime Update!
This week Abra talks about the latest One Piece, and Naruto, as well as Pumpkin Scissors, and High School Debut!
One Piece - Good god, Oda's taking a break at a time like this? Bastard. I'm crazy worried about Luffy as well. It's not like him to just go all comatose like that. I think the emotional scars from this are going to cause him trouble later on. Either that or he'll strive extra hard to become Pirate King so that Ace's sacrifice wasn't in vain. Personally I hope it's the latter. Also, dandywonderous and I were talking about when the crew is going to start showing up. Dandy has her bets on either Sanji, because he wasn't to leave Kambakka so badly, or Robin, because she was freed by the Revolutionaries and that where Iva and Jimbei are taking Luffy now. My bets are on Robin, for the same reasons, or else I think that they will show up in the order in which they first joined the crew, though where that leaves Nami, I'm not sure. But what I'm hoping for, is for the crew to show up in the middle of some crazy battle and pull a deus ex machina... though I think I may have mentioned that before...
As for the One Piece anime, Iva is... giving me the creepers. Bon Kurei never bothered me, but Ivankov sure as hell does. And we're gonna be stuck with him/her for a while... Eesh.
Naruto - Recently, my hatred for Sasuke has turned completely into pity. Really, his life has been Hell, though how much of it was his own making is a matter for later discussion. Itachi, I love, and I cried when he died. Danzo can go to hell, the bastard. So can Madara. If Sasuke keeps listening to Madara, he's going to lose any chance he might have had at redemption, though perhaps he doesn't want it. The last page of the latest chapter had me babbling like a brook. It was like this: "No, Sakura, Watch out! Ohmygod, Naruto, swoops in from nowhere! Go Naruto! Oh god, Kakashi! Ah, No! EEK!" or something like that. In the words of mishagirl "This is what I've been waiting for since the time jump started!" And it's true, and I'm sure everyone else feels the same. Next chapter, I expect an epic battle, and if I get any less, I'll be pissed, mkay.
As for the the anime - I still dislike Hotaru. AND GOD FINALLY SAKURA'S BACK. Sheesh. Took 'em long enough. And there's been like, no plot developement! GET MOVIN'!
Pumpkin Scissors - "The story is set up in a region of a fictional world strongly resembling Western Europe during the Interwar Period. Wireless communications do not exist not do fully automatic weapons, and semiautomatic weapons are still technically novel.
A ceasfire ended the long war between the Royal Empire and the Rebublic of Frost. Three years later, the Empire is still plagued by starvation, pestilence, and soldiers turning into bandits. To aid the war relief effort, the "Imperial Army State Section Three", also known as the Pumpkin Scissors was established.
The name for the group was an idea from one of its officers, the Second Lieutenant, Alice L. Malvin. According to her, in their war relief efforts they must face the threat of corrupt people who protect themselves behind lies, power, money, and many other layers around them like the rind of a pumpkin, and the Section Three must act like a pair of scissors, cutting through those layers and deilivering justice to them.
Considered a waste of resources by some, and an instrument of propaganda by others, the Pumpkin Scissors still take their duty to assist the war relief efforts seriously. One day their lifes start to change when Randal Oland, a veteren soldier with a mysterious past, joins their ranks." (Summary from Wikipedia.)
I started watching the Pumpkin Scissors anime a few weeks and I FELL IN LOVE! The main characters(And also possibly the main pairing) are 2nd Lieutenant Alice L. Malvin, and Corporal Randal Oland, are both wholely likeable, as are Warrant Officers Martis and Oreldo. Even Lili Stecchin, whom I found annoying at first, became well-liked once she had more dimension to her. Also, there's Captain Hunks, and the messenger-dog Mercury, who has a bad habit of biting people's heads.
The series ran for 24 episodes, though the possibility of a Season Two has been hinted at. I have yet to start reading the manga, but it should be good. ^^
High School Debut - I started reading the manga the other day, and holy crap, this is AWESOME. It's even better than Ouran High School Host Club! I can't say much without revealing the plot, but it's amazing, and shockingly clean for a Shojo manga. The characters are likeable, especially Fumi-kun, and unlike most Shojo manga, it's not the least bit fantastical. You can totally bring yourself to beleive that this could happen to real people. I recomend it to anybody who likes Romantic Comedy!
That's all, folks!