Gundam 00 S2 Episodes 19 and 20

Sorry, only reviews and screencaps again. Might have to do this for the next couple of weeks, seeing as University is keeping me quite busy.

Episode 19

This was a highly exciting episode. It had some great action, yet the most interesting parts came around the end. Anew has been activated as an innovator, and has essentially betrayed the crew. The way it cut out as she shot at Lasse was one hell of a cliffhangar, and it really makes you feel for Lasse. The poor guy never catches a break. The other big thing is that Nena finally betrays Wang Liu Mei. I was also happy to see the Gundam Throne Drei return. I always did figure there was more to Nena’s little shuttle, and it wouldn’t have made sense if she just ditched it, seeing as it was in near perfect condition at the end of the first series (I believe it was only missing an arm from the battle between it and Throne Zwei) It was also nice to see Louise and Saji finally talk to each other, though again Andrei ruins it. Seriously, someone needs to kill that guy already.

Episode 20

This was perhaps the best episode to date. It had everything. Intense action, great character interactions, romance, and great drama. Suprisingly, Lasse survives, but is wounded quite badly. The battle this episode was one of the best we’ve had in awhile. Anew pilots a new GNZ unit, this one based around GN Fangs. It was very cool to see it go against Cherudim, seeing as both use remote weaponry. It was also quite sad when Anew died. Throughout the entire episode, you could see that perhaps some part of her regretted what she was doing, and Lyle did manage to get through to her near the end, only to have Ribbons screw it up and make her continue fighting, forcing Setsuna to kill her to save Lyle. Setsuna defenitly did the right thing, though Lyle doesn’t seem to agree.

This episode is also the debut of Louise’s new Mobile Armor, the Regnant, and it is a beast. It managed to totally negate Seravee’s Hyper Burst attack, and has a beam cannon which fires a beam that can be bent to change direction. Pretty awesome if you ask me. Louise is defenitly going to be a major threat for the Meisters in the future. Its funny, I would never have thought that during the first season.

Team B’s 4th stage – Perhaps the naughtiest to date

So you remember my review of Team B’s fourth stage from a few weeks ago. You’ll also remember I had nothing but praise for it, seeing as its just that awesome. Well, we finally got the lyrics for the songs, which is pretty sweet, as we can finally see what these songs are about.

And lets just say, one of my personal favorites, Kuchi Utsushi no Chocolate (which stars my favorite AKB48 girl Yuki Kashiwagi) is without a doubt AKB48’s raunchiest, perverse song to date. Check out the lyrics for yourself:

(ALL credit for this translation goes to Youkokurama over at Stage48 forums)

feeding you chocolate mouth-to-mouth, and not just the usual boring kiss
チョコレート　口移しして, いつものキスじゃつまんないよ
thrusting it, forcing it in…
強引にねじ込んで…
as the chocolate melts in your tongue, I want to lick your love
チョコレート　舌で溶かして, あなたの愛を舐めたいの
with lips protruding…
唇をはみ出して…
with moans and groans
ヤラシイ音を立てる

I don’t care if people see us. it’s our freedom, right?
人目を気にしないで, 私たちの自由でしょ？
being seen by others only makes me wilder
誰かに見られてると もっと大胆になれる
in the middle of an open cafe
オープンカフェの真ん中
as I climb on your lap just like that cute girl betty blue
あなたの膝によじ登って「ベティーブルー」みたいに可愛い女の子よ

loving each other under the blue sky
青空の下で愛し合えるのは
this feels even better than being naked
裸になるよりも気持ちいい

feeding you chocolate mouth-to-mouth,
チョコレート　口移しして
hugging you across and going for a deep kiss
ディープなキスをするように, 斜めから抱きしめて…
a bitter-sweet chocolate, your poison is so delicious
チョコレート　甘くビターな, あなたの毒がおいしいの
no need to close your eyes
目を閉じちゃもったいない
wanting to get into a lot of trouble
いっぱい困らせたいの

I just want to be honest with this feeling I have
自分のその気持ちに, 正直でいたいだけよ
people can after all become the animals they are
人間は誰だって　ただの動物になれる
spilling a cup of cocoa, spreading thru-out my uniform
カップのココアこぼして, 制服に染み広がっても
who cares about that
そんなのどうでもいい
all that matters is what’s going on right now
大事なのは今だけ

flying so high into the sky
上空　飛んでる
no longer able to hear the sound of a helicopter
ヘリコプターの音も
no longer able to hear anything, that’s what love is
何も聞こえない　愛とはそういうもの

feeding you chocolate mouth-to-mouth, and not just the usual boring kiss
チョコレート　口移しして, いつものキスじゃつまんないよ
thrusting it, forcing it in…
強引にねじ込んで…
as the chocolate melts in your tongue, I want to lick your love
チョコレート　舌で溶かして, あなたの愛を舐めたいの
with lips protruding…
唇をはみ出して…
with moans and groans
ヤラシイ音を立てる

feeding you mouth-to-mouth
口移しして,
hugging you across and going for a deep kiss
ディープなキスをするように, 斜めから抱きしめて…
a bitter-sweet chocolate, your poison is so delicious
チョコレート　甘くビターな, あなたの毒がおいしいの
no need to close your eyes
目を閉じちゃもったいない
loving your panic stricken face
困った顔も素敵よ
See what I mean?

I think the only AKB48 song that even comes close to this is Seifuku ga jama wo suru, and even I don’t think its as nasty as this.

Doesn’t lessen my opinion of the song though…hell if anything it makes me love it even more…though, one has to wonder if it was a good idea putting a young member like Oota Aika in this song.

Yet another AKB48 Graduation

Yeah…it happened again.

It what seems to be shaping up as the seemingly genocide of AKB48’s original members, Team K member Hayano Kaoru announced her graduation today.

This is an interesting one as she recently moved to a bigger talent agency, and some people saw that as preparation for an upcoming graduation. Guess they were right.

Its also the first Team K graduation in some time.

Now, I’m all for AKB48 members leaving to move on to bigger, more awesome things, but these graduations are getting out of hand. I mean, its not even 3 months into the year and we’ve had 3 graduations announced in the last month or so. I’m starting to think the management is perhaps getting rid of the old and bringing in the new…if you will.

More Gundam 30th Anniversary news – New Universal Century Series

So some new info has surfaced since I posted the scan of the Rx-78-7 Gundam. Seems it is indeed the MS of a new Universal Century series. Here’s all the info we know abotu at the moment:

(info courtesy of Gundam|News)

Title: Unknown

Mechanic Design: Katoki Hajime
Character Design: Suzuki Tatsuya

Mobile Suit: Phantom Gundam Unit No.7

EARTH FEDERATION PHANTOM SWEEP TEAM

Hughes Curro: Male. Age 32. A veteran officer who leads the Phantom Sweep special forces unit charged with hunting for Zeon remnants. He has a bitter experience in which his unit was annihilated in the past.

Sherry Allison: Female. Age 24. She was serving as a test pilot but was assigned to the special forces unit as a replacement.

ZEON FORCES INVINCIBLE KNIGHTS

Erik Blanque (Blank): Male. Age 20. A young officer whose family is a distinguished family in the Principality of Zeon. He takes command of the “Invincible Knights” in order to execute a counterattack operation against the Earth Federation Forces.

Story: The time is Universal Century 0081. It’s been one year has passed since the war. Although the world was regaining order, small-scale battles continued in various places by the Zeon remnants who still continued to resist. During the situation, an veteran soldier of the Earth Federation Forces is appointed to a cleanup operation of the Zeon remnant forces. Feelings mix on the battlefield as the young Zeon officers promote the top-secret strategy for the revival of Zeon…

Am I excited…damn right I am. Its about time a new UC series started. And it will be interesting because the time period between 0079 and Zeta is a time period not fully explored in depth yet (aside from the Advance of Zeta manga/photobook series)

I’ll bring you more news as it surfaces.

New project for Gundams 30th Anniversary

A big event is coming up soon; the big 30th Anniversary of everyones favorite mecha anime; Gundam. There’s been a lot of speculation on what the new series will be for this big event. One speculation common amongst fans is an animated version of Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn…something I’d personally love to see.

We haven’t gotten much info on what the big project for the anniversary will be, but today, a new scan related to the 30th Ani was revealed today:

Now at first, I thought this was a redesigned RX-78 Gundam, but I’ve come to learn that it in in fact the RX-78 7th Gundam, redone by Hajime Katoki. The original, shown below, was of course designed by Kunio Okawara:

The RX-78-7 also has two variations, a full armor variant and a heavy full armor version:

It will be interesting to see if these two versions get redesigns along with the base model.

So what does this all mean? We don’t know yet. I guess we will have to wait and see if this redesigned RX-78-7 is put into a new series, or if its just a new model or figure or something. Fortunately, we should learn of the new series when Gundam OO ends, which is very soon.

The Slaughter Continues, AKA: It sucks to be a Team A fan right now…and some other thoughts

So if the graduation of 5 of Team A’s original members at once wasn’t bad enough awhile ago, 2 more original A members have announced their graduations as of late; Oshima Mai and Kawasaki Nozomi. Its become quite apparent that if your a big Team A fan right now, then it sucks to be you.

Now, these graduations are big news, but the AKB48 fan community has taken these graduations a lot better than the 5 previous A graduations. One reason? A lot of fans, myself included, saw these 2 coming long ago, even before the 5 previous grads. Both girls are quite busy outside of AKB48, so in reality, graduating from AKB48 is a good thing for them, as they will be able to concentrate more on what they want to do in life, and really isn’t that the point after all?

I for one have to admit something…I’m excited to see them off. Not only to see what they do outside of AKB48, but to see who replaces them in AKB48. Not all the fans would agree with me on that last point, but I for one am always excited about new members being put into the fold. In fact, quite a few of the Research Students are exceptionally talented, and I actually like some of them more than regular AKB48 members. It will be interesting to see who is brought in to replace Mai and Nozomi.

Here’s the other thing, when Mai and Nozomi graduate, there will be 4 open spots over all 3 teams; 3 on A and 1 on B.  It will be interesting to see who gets added. No matter what, I do hope Chikano Rina is among them. Of all the current RS, she’s my fav (especially after watching B4, which she actually has a big part in) so I hope she gets promoted soon…to Team B of course. Though, I just hope she gets promoted to any team really…

SKE48’s First Original Stage – Te wo Tsunaginagara (As we’re holding hands)

So you’ll remember back awhile ago I reported on the whole SKE48 thing back when it was first announced. Well, they’ve been around for a bit already, but only recently started their own original stage. For ahwile, they were stuck doing their rendition of Team A first stage,  which is unfortunate, because I personally think its a particularily boring stage.  Now, however, they have their very own original stage and original songs to boot, which is always cool. It also introduced us to SKE’s first team, Team S, and a glimpse at whats to come in the form of the upcoming Team K II (yes…thats what the second team will be called)

First, here’s the list of selected members of Team S’s first Stage:

Selected Members:
* Oya Masana
* Ono Haruka
* Kuwabara Mizuki
* Shinkai Rina
* Takai Tsukina
* Takada Shiori
* Deguchi Aki
* Nakanishi Yuka
* Hiramatsu Kanako
* Hirata Rikako
* Matsui Jurina
* Matsui Rena
* Matsushita Yui
* Mori Sayuki
* Yagami Kumi
* Yamashita Moe

Kenkyuuseis:
* Inagaki Honami
* Ozeki Kiharu
* Sato Seira
* Sato Mieko
* Shibaki Aiko
* Maekawa Aika

I do find it interesting as to how the member system works in SKE so far. Seems like members can be switched around between selected member and Kenkyuusei. In AKB48, its big news if a member is demoted to RS status, but I guess they do things differently over in SKE.

And now, the setlist:

Setlist
1 – Bokura no Fuu
2 – Mango No.2
3 – Te wo Tsunaginagara
4 – Chime wa LOVE SONG
MC
5 – Glory Days (Kuwabara, Matsui J, Nakanishi) + RS Backdancers
6 – Kono Mune no Barcode (Ono, Deguchi, Takada)
7 – Wimbledon he Tsuretette (Mori, Takai, Yagami)
8 – Ame no Pianist (Yamashita, Matsui R, Matsushita)
9 – Choco no Yukue (Hirata, Oya, Hiramatsu, Shinkai)
MC
10 – Innocence
11 – Romance Rocket
12- Koi no Keikou to Taisaku
MC
13 – Daisuki
——–ENCORE——–
14 – Rope no Yuujou
15 – Kayoubi no Yoru Suiyobi no Asa
MC
16 – Tooku ni ite mo

Before I continue, let me redirect you to this youtube link, which has some previews of some of S2’s songs (link courtesy of lolqhkf over at Stage48 )

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-afJVjdji4

So I gave this video a watch to see how some of SKE’s first original songs would fare, and I won’t mince words…I’m disappointed. Now, granted this isn’t the full stage, it was a good number of songs, and not one of them appealed to me. They all sounded kinda mediocre at best. There was not one song preview in that video that made want to say “I need the full version RIGHT NOW, not like what the preview for AKB’s latest single did. I heard the preview, then immediately wanted the full version. None of that going on here. They also lacked a certain energy which is present in some of AKB48’s stages, and especially B3 and B4, my top favorite AKB stages. Now, obviously, when we get the full stage to listen to, I will be back with a proper review, but so far, its not looking good.

I think another thing that brings about my disappointment is I have yet to really get into SKE48. None of the girls really appeal to me, and I absolutely do not like their precious little frontgirl, 11 year old Jurina Matsui. Although, that might be due to the fact that she’s been hoarding in on AKB48 since Oogoe Diamond came out, and I’m a little sick of seeing her take away the spotlight from actualy AKb48 members. Maybe when I get to listen to the stage in its entirety, I will have found a favorite member, but right now, its not looking good.

So there you have it. Like I said, when we do get a full audio/video file of the stage, I will being you a full review. So look out for that in the days to come.

Team B Fourth Stage – Idol no Yoake

So at long last, Team B’s fourth Stage, Idol No Yoake has begun. And after watching the LOD video of the first show, I have to say that this is by far the best stage any of the 3 teams have ever done…EVER. Every song in this stage is a winner, and it exceeded my expectations in every way. I was somewhat worried that it wouldn’t be as good as the awesomeness that was B3…but B4 blows B3 (and every other AKB stage) out of the water and continues the level of greatness that is Team B.

First up, here’s the set list:

M1. Idol no Yoake
M2. Minnasan mo go Isshouni
M3. Haru Ichiban ga Fuku Goro
M4. Kobushi no Seigi

M5. Zannen Shoujo (Nakatsuka Tomomi, Watanabe Mayu, Uchida Mayumi)
M6. Kuchiutsushi no CHOCOLATE (Oota Aika, Kashiwagi Yuki, Hirajima Natsumi)
M7. Kataomoi no Taikakusen (Chikano Rina, Nitou Moeno, Yonezawa Rumi)
(BD uriya akane , suzuki mariya, satou sumire, saotome miki, nonaka misato, ooya shizuka)
M8. Tengoku Yarou (Urano Kazumi, Nakagawa Haruka, Kohara Haruka, Nakaya Sayaka)
M9. Itoshi no Natassha (Tanabe Miku, Sashihara Rino, Katayama Haruka)

M10. Joshikousei Hayamerarenai
M11. Suki to Ieba Yokatta
M12. Sobakasu no Kissu

EC1. B Stars
EC2. Yokosuka curve
EC3. Arigatou

The opening song, Idol no Yoake really surprised me with its style. It wasn’t what iw as expecting, but I really loved it. The whole routine is that of a marching band, and the girls use various instruments during the song. What was awesome for me was that Yukirin was playing the trombone, the very same instrument that I played back in elementary school (and likely would have played in hish school if I continued with it). How awesome is that. The song is a very cute song, and a really cool opener.

Next up is Minnasan mo go Isshouniis, a very fast paced song, and one of those classic hyper, sugary songs. Its very cool to listen to, especially the opening instrumental.

Haru Ichiban ga Fuku Goro is third on the list.  This song is also a bit of an unbeat song. It has a somewhat somber feel to it, yet its still a feel good sounding song.

Kobushi no Seigi is next, and it is just awesome. The girls wear some really badass costumes for this one, and it fits with the songs hard-rock sound. I can’t really say anything other than this song rocks to the max. Its just that good, and gives Team B another new image; hardcore and badass.

Zannen Shoujo is the first of the unit songs, and is probably one of my favorite songs out of all of B4, and mainly because it a) has an incredible sound and b) features new Team B member Nakatsuka Tomomi. I was excited to see her in B4, and she is phenomenal in this stage, and this song in particular. I absolutely love her voice, as its quite strong. Tomomi was also quite prominent throughout the whole stage, as I noticed her quite a bit.

Kuchiutsushi no CHOCOLATE is another great song, and quite an interesting member lineup. I was worried how Yukirin would do with Naachan and Lovetan, as she’s a far stronger singer than either of them, but she manages to make it work, and the song is great. Then again, Yukirin is in it, so how can I not love it.

Kataomoi no Taikakusen is ridiculously awesome. I was glad to see Yonechan finally featured in a unit, and she’s absolutely amazing in this song, along with Moeno and Rina. THis also brings me to another point; Chikano Rina needs to be added to Team B…right now. I absolutely love her in this song, and if she gets promoted to any other Team than B, then I’ll be pretty upset.

Tengoku Yarou is a song that is just so funny and hyper…and insanely crazy. Just watching this performance is a laugh riot, and its really just one of those wacky enjoyable songs.

Itoshi no Natassha is another of my top favorites, mainly because it features Haachan (doing her best to be as sexy as she can…and she pulls it off quite well) and it also features Tanamin, who is usually quite neglected, but she’s phenomenal in this song. It begs the question as to why she was so neglected before. She’s a great performer and a top notch singer. Sashi is also great in this, and I’m starting to like her alot more nowadays.

Joshikousei Hayamerarenai is up next, and this song is very cool. However, as soon as the song started, I was reminded of Morning Musume’s hit song Love Machine, and it shows throughout the whole song, as its VERY reminiscent of LM. However, it doesn’t take away from the song, and its still a cool song.

Suki to Ieba Yokatta is next, and is another top notch upbeat song. A great song overall.

Sobakasu no Kissu is a fun song, and a little slower than the rest of the stage. Its still a very bubbly, upbeat song, and another great song for a great stage.

Tanpop no kesshin is really one of the only 2 slow songs of this stage. Now, I’m normally not a big fan of slower songs, but I really like this one, along with the other ballad, Arigato. This is a very sweet sounding song, and not boring in anyway, which is usually my issue with slow songs.

B Stars is just beyond cool. I guess you could say this is Team B’s new anthem of sorts, and what an anthem it is. Its just so fast paced and… awesome. This is without a doubt my favorite song of the stage. I really can’t do this song justice, you have to give this one a listen.

Yokosuka curve is just a really cool song, and I love the beat and pace of the song.Another of my top favs of this stage.

Arigatou is the last song of this epic stage, and its a great way to end the stage in my opinion. Its a slow song of course, but its sweet and somber sounding, and I think does a good job of closing things up.

So as you’ve noticed by now, I have absolutely nothing bad to say about this stage. And how can I, its everything I was hoping for…and much much more. It really is, in my humble opinion, the best AKB48 stage to date, and it really shows off how awesome Team B is. Congrats to Team B, for another epic Stage show!

Gundam 00 S2 Episode 17 and Episode 18

Been kinda busy this week, what with school and many new Gundam kits to build, so I’m just gonna do some quick reviews for both episode 17 and 18 (no summaries, sorry) along with some screencaps. I’ll be back with full posts for next weeks episode though.

Episode 17:

Talk about an epic, yet devastating episode. One of the Orbital Elevators is brought crashing down to Earth, and the various factions band together to try and save the day. I thought it was awesome how even A-LAWS joined in on destroying the debris, and the scenes of the various forces working together were really fun to watch. However, this episode is not without tragedy, as Sergei and Hercule are killed by Andrei at the very end. It was kind of bittersweet, as it seemed like everything was going well, then Andrei comes out and kills both of them, thinking that Sergei was with the coup forces. It was really sad to watch him go, as he was one of my favorite characters out of them all, and was an all around nice guy. I can only hope Andrei gets whats coming to him.

Episode 18:

Another fantastic episode. Though things are nearly not as hectic as last week, they still are exciting. Seems like Anew and Lyle are a couple now, and we now have confirmation on Anew being an innovator, though its still unknown whether she knows and is a spy or was planted in CB and is unaware. Either way, the Innovators are using her to know the location of the Ptolemaios. It also seems Setsuna was infected with fake GN particles when he was shot by Ali a few episodes ago, and it also is apparent that the same has happened to Lasse.

Next week should be interesting, as we’ll find out whether Marina was shot or not, and we’ll hopefully get to see Mr. Bushido and the Masurao in action.

Kit Review – MG MSN-06S Sinanju “Ver.Ka” Part 2

First up will be the weapons/equipment and the completed Torso/Head:

The weapons included are 2 beam sabers, 2 beam axes with 2 different blade lengths, a beam rifle with a detachable grenade launcher, and of course its fancy shield. As seen by the second picture, the grenade launcher attaches under the rifles barrel, and when not attached can be placed on the underside of the shield. The Beam axes also attach to the shield, and the blades can be attached to them to form a very cool looking double bladed shield weapon. The axes can also be joined together to form a double bladed axe.

Now on to the Torso/head:

The torso is probably one of the more…shinier parts of this kit, seeing as it makes good use of the gold decals. Its also interesting to note that the head does indeed have a mono-eye, much like every other Zeon MS, however its almost completely unoticable as its so tiny, and the facial structure obscures it considerably.

As you can see from these shots, there is an openable cockpit hatch, though this one has 3 parts that open/lift to expose the cockpit.

Stay tuned for more to come!