New post! :D

I actually have an update! I'm a little late, though.. sorry, sorry.. I was a little distracted by some things.. anyway, we have the usual three updates here, naruto-bleach-reborn, plus a new chapter for 07 ghost. :D

erm.. I mean, reborn will be coming tomorrow, of course.


Bleach 364: Grinning Revengers

Last week we were left with that weird looking kid, whats-his-name-dun-know-dun-care, and that big thing the kid was leading into karakura-not-really town. And of course, instead for running for cover, or trying to get the upper hand by either attacking first or gathering to plan, the shinigami stand useless and gaping. Like it helped to gape. -shakes head-

Anyway, fox-face (argh, what was his name again? Komamura?) somewhat recognizes the thing (although the resemblance he sees is very sketchy, but you know how it is with manga). I don't suppose that knowing what the thing is will do anything for the Shinigami, although it did do something for the Arancar. OTL. GEEZ. Like I said, gain the upper hand. -shakes head- Poor Ukitake.

But I've got to hand it to that kid, he (? looks like a boy to me) has guts. -snigger- Yeah, bad pun, but I couldn't help it. Some try for UkitakexKyouraku, but it fails utterly. I wonder if Ukitatke is okay... ;A;

The kid, though, has weird powers. >D You'd have to read the chapter to see, although looking at him, no one would be able to tell for sure. As I suspected, the enemies are being revived (duh, this is Bleach. The enemies are giants and the protagonists are just mere specks of dust. But one way or another, the win at the end... weird), and even those who were certainly, irrevocably dead have risen once again.

God, Bleach is full of zombies.

-sigh- of course, the moment all the arancar come back to life, the biggest hurdle also comes back. Words will not do the last pages any justice, so just go and read. I beg you. Read and be amazed at how HOPELESSLY HOPELESS it is for the protagonists. They've totally lost. They are done.



BUT THEN, SHINJI CAME.


GODDAMNIT, AND ALL WILL BE WELL.


Damn you, Shinji, I've been waiting for you for 100000000000000++++++ chapters! THEY'RE HEEEEEEERE~ >D

God, that last spread needs to be colored! Next week should be good! FINALLY we move on!



sidenote: Ahaha, Shuhei's one shot at being seen again after he gets completely forgotten for another 10000000000 chapters failed. A bubble covered his face, but you can clearly see his body. Good shot for Kira, though. :D




Naruto 454: The Five Kages

Last week, we left with the Sand siblings! After having so many characters die after his own death and revival, we finally get a glimpse of Gaara again! But this week, we start with Iwagakure and their leader, the Tsuchikage.

The Tsuchikage reminds me of someone.. although I'm not sure who that someone is, orz. Someone from a game perhaps? Or DBZ? Not too sure, although you might remember. Go see the Tsuchikage and have a little laugh at his expense. He seems like one of those crazy old coots... and of course, I smell Naruto-bait. Hmmmm.. >D

I just noticed, though... if Sandaime were still Hokage, then at least two Kages would be balding (if not already bald) old geezers wearing funny fats and bringing along their cute jailbait apprentices. LOL, I smell lots of Naruto-bait here, hey. Is Kishimoto-sensei adding some more characters? Please don't tell me he's going to do a Bleach here, that would be really annoying. Although I also smell some Tsunade-rivalry, LOL! I wonder if that's the same technique, or if she really is that young...

OTL what is it with Naruto women and their men issues? It's either they love their men but the men are dead, or they're surrounded by men who want them but they don't like men at all! -shakes head- But I guess that makes it more interesting? Or maybe just crazy. Totally bat shit crazy. XD

I'm happy, though, that Kishi had the sense to include a dark-skinned Kyuubi-vessel. And a dark-skinned kage. And dark-skinned shinobi who kick ass. It's not that I'm implying any discrimination here, but I guess the only anime I've ever seen that many dark-skinned characters (who weren't extras, had real kick-ass powers and had very significant roles for the plot) is Gintama... which is not really saying something, since Gintama "has it all" so to speak.

But back to Naruto...

XD LOL, there are some more questionable Naruto images here, folks! Page 12.. god, page 12 rocks! >D Aaah, poor Naruto.. being dragged into the far off place and being prepared to be raped.. XD Kidding! But the scene is quite... >D Naruto, it's like you're inviting me to pair you up with just about everyone... specially Sasuke. Page 13 is also a key page for Naruto (specially SasuNaru) fans. And page 15.. page 15, we finally see just how much Naruto has grown and matured (and turned into a true blue masochist. Sai will be so proud..)


And what's this, Danzo has tracks to cover! Will Anko be killed? Next week has the answers, so we'll have to wait. In the meantime, why don't we enjoy looking back and misinterpreting Danzo words... I believe the exact quote is, "He might know about me and Orochimaru." I believe a simple >D is sufficient? >DDDDDD

sidenote: Darui reminds me of Ginchan.. <3

Katekyo Hitman Reborn 248: The End of Genkishi

I was in the middle of an Adam Lambert interview when I remembered that I haven't read/done the KHR update. So being the good little fangirl I was, I clicked on the Onemanga shortcut in my browser and went to the new chapter. 

While waiting for the page to load, I went back to reading the interview. I finished two pages before remembering to go back to the new KHR chapter, and so I clicked on the KHR tab and --- WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT MARSHMALLOW BOY?!

Commencing eyetwitch.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, that is Byakuran. -twitch- I can't believe.. erm, okay, yes, I can. But-but-but-but-whimper-THAT'S BYAKURAN!

-shudder- For some insane reason it fits him. Really. It's weird. Because I don't want to like Byakuran, because I like what he's wearing, because I don't want to think Byakuran is hot, because I think what he's wearing is hot, because I want to hate Byakuran, because I really LOVE his tattered smexy clothes.. 

;A;

A-and for some reason, I keep thinking "Gokudera!" everytime I see this picture. Does anyone else think that this get up is something that our pretty boy Dera would wear? Certainly not Byakuran, but, DAMN, he looks good in those. XD

A-anyway, -cough- let's get writing about this new chapter, okay? And let's stop talking about this new Byakuran image.. -shudder-  I'd want Dera to dress like that, though...

So last week, Yama began to totally kick Genkishi's ass. This week we see the conclusion! XD Oh Yama, you've gotten so strong.. You have to tell us what Squalo did to turn you into such a superb fighter! XD

And Yama fans, we get to have a nice treat! Head to page three and look at the last row, first picture... Isn't Yama just cute and precious? (8059 fans, there's also a little something for us here, hey.. XD) Going back to Yama though.. isn't he just squishable? So cute and happy, gyaaah~  XD  So so so so cute! -pinches Yama's cheeks-  Ahahah, he's really like a little puppy, huh? : D

Kikyo.. eh?! What's this, my predictions are going a little off! And here I was, thinking it would be Dera facing the pretty blond guy with the sort-of-curly hair... What the hell is going on! Why did he just... O.O  Oh dear. Oh dear, this is bad... So this is what Byakuran is really like! o.o

This is really bad for Tsuna and the others... although I do feel bad for Genkishi. For him to end up like that after all that he's done... But I guess we already saw that coming. Genkishi, you have done your part well. But now we must move on... And apparently, my predictions are still correct, if just a little off with the timing. It's still Dera vs. Kikyo (or as the plan says, anyway), and Tuna-Yama vs. Target boy whose name I have forgotten.. XD

Only, that will have to wait until next week. =3=  Damn, Dera's going to be in deep shit next week! He's going to be facing cloud man! I wonder how he's going to fight.. ;A; and that weird ability! How is Gokudera going to fight that?

Good thing it's not Hibari facing him, then, since Hibari's a close combat type. Gokudera's a mid-range fighter, so he should be safe from Kikyo's attack; however, we never know if Kikyo has other kinds of destructive attacks up his sleeve - attacks tailored for midrange types. ;A; Oh Dera, please be careful! (Darn it, why does Dera have to be the one to face the hard opponent!?)

Ghost_07 44: Fate

The story thus far: Teito Klein, a boy with minimal recollection of his past, ran from the military after finding out that they were the cause of his "father's" death. Upon escaping to the normal world, he ends up in the Church, and is nursed back to health there. However, things are not going as well with the friend he left back in the military - Mikage, the same boy who helped him escape. After being interrogated by Ayanami (the man Teito is running away from), he is turned into a half-winged Kor and is sent to either retrieve Teito or kill him. Mikage is reunited with Teito, and after a few days, the inevitable happens. Mikage reveals that Ayanami gave him an ultimatum - either bring Teito to him, or his family. Mikage gives Teito the chance to escape, but Ayanami takes over his body and begins to hunt Teito down. 

Teito escapes Ayanami's clutches, but Mikage's life is sacrificed. He succeeds with the help of the seven ghosts (or at least three of them) and with the help of a strange device (alter-ego?) called the Eye of Michael. 

Teito decides to leave the Church, but Frau (bishop and incarnation of one of the seven ghosts, Zehel) stops him and urges him to take the bishop exam instead. Because of his lack in power, he reluctantly takes part in the exam, meanwhile making friends with a member of the Oak family (surprising because an Oak heir bullied him while he was still in the military academy). Hakuren Oak not-so-quickly becomes an important person to Teito, and they pass the Bishop exam together with flying colors. 

However, upon finishing the exam, Frau takes Teito to run and bolt from the Church since the military's men have come after him. They embark on a journey to recover Teito's lost memories in an attempt to discover how Teito can control the Eye of Michael (which he had already lost to Ayanami just before he and Frau escaped), what really happened to the priest who raised him (and consequently Verloren's body) and to find a way to avenge Mikage's death.

Now here is where things get a little blurry... Of what Teito can gather from his messed up memories, the priest he was with was collecting passes from the seven ghosts - you have to go to the houses which bear the name of the seven ghosts. The first in they got to was Castor's. I'll skip over this one so you have reason to read the chapters.. XD

The next one they got to was the Barsburg Empire (apparenlty, this was Teito's real home). Again, I'm skipping over this one so you have reason to read the chapter. This is where Teito will recover most of his memories - of his past life, of his parents, of that mysterious priest and of how he came to possess the Eye of Michael. Teito and Frau share some moments here, and Mikage has a lot of participation in plot development as well.

So for this chapter, Teito remembers something the priest told him - that if he were ever separated from the Eye of Michael, he still had a way to contact it. He uses that, and is able to stop that thing inside him from advancing too much. However, it is only for a short period of time, and he will have to depend on Frau to keep him safe for the time being.

I'm not too sure about how the next chapter will play, but the ending for this chapter does not bode well for Teito. I wonder if they'll be able to escape Ayanami's clutches once more.

And so that ends this week's set of updates! I wonder what next week has in store for us, fufufufu~  :D

Edit: Anyone here familiar with "Tayong Dalawa"? XD  I've always liked Coco Martin (Ramon), even when he was more known for his indie film roles. I first saw him in Masahista, and of course, because I am such a big yaoi fan, I started to look for his other gay-themed films.

I was not disappointed. The guy, even in those films, showed massive potential. Lots of talent. The kind that can't even be considered raw anymore; he's already evolved by himself, and his style has become very unique and distinctive. He has a different way of acting compared to other stars - just take Tayong Dalawa as an example. Jake and Gerald are more of the OA types (over acting, but then again, Gerald's face has only one mode anyway, so maybe OA isn't the right term) - they have to make these big gestures and have to raise their voices and "super-crunch" (or in Gerald's case, "perma-crunch") their faces in order to even make the scene just a little convincing.

Coco, though, has perfected the art of subdued acting - he never makes any over-the-top actions and simply conveys his feelings through small gestures. In my opinion, his eyes are the ones which allow him to do so. He has, what some people might call, a powerful stare - it feels like his eyes just bore into your head, like all of his emotions are written and can be readily read through those eyes. Expressive does not do those eyes justice.

Another part of Coco which allows him to use subdued acting is his "maamong mukha". Counterpart in English... I'm not sure if there's any, but the closest I can get is meek? Erm, for lack of better term, I guess he has what yaoi fangirls would call an "uke face". Yes, he's that cute. Having such a face, he is expected to act accordingly - like a cute, lost little uke... but then when you see him in Tayong Dalawa, you'd really get the shock of your life. XD  He isn't the type of person you'd expect to shout and rant and cuss in a very fluent manner. "Matigas siyang magmura," is the thought I want to convey. "Kaya niyang manakot gamit lang ang kanyang mga mata." (He can scare people even by just using his eyes.)

He can get mad, laugh, be evil and be cute and not give off a feeling that he's only forcing the feelings behind the actions. There has been a lot of good examples throughout the show; just a day ago, I remember that he laughed so heartedly during a scene with his grandmother. It wouldn't be so remarkable if it were just a simple laugh in a light and funny scene, but the laugh actually happens in between angst-emo-I'm-going-to-be-bad-and-kill-people-but-I-don't-really-want-to-be-bad scenes. It was just so amazing that he could still produce such a real-sounding laugh, and then just as abruptly as he started, suddenly go back to being serious and angst-ing and being the big bad boss everyone fears. 

The point is, I'm really impressed by this person, and I just wanted to relay to everyone that. I think it's good that he got Ramon's role in the series, because now that I think about it, I can't imagine anyone else doing Ramon and getting him right, they way Coco has. Yes, there are different styles to acting, but the thing is, there is also the concept of profiling. Coco's Ramon has all the qualities of what I imagined a real Ramon would have - this deep jealousy for his "better" brother, this confusing somewhat-resentment for his mother who seemingly gave his "better" brother more love and attention, this hatred for his real father who never wanted to know him, this envy for his "better" brother's kind father, this anxiety to keep striving harder and keep doing better in order to have that mother look at him and praise him like she does for his brother...

Ramon's character strikes me as the I-don't-want-to-be-bad-but-I'm-in-too-deep-to-back-out type, a character who had this idea fueled even further because of his family hang ups. I think Coco does a great job in trying to make the viewers see (and consequently understand) that no bad guy is a bad guy from the beginning - there is always a catalyst that provokes the character to turn bad - and that no person can be completely bad through and through. Coco's Ramon is a beautiful mix of a son wanting to make his mother happy, safe and proud; a brother wanting be the better one for a change; and simply a guy who turned bad because it was the only path he saw himself walking. He's awkward, he's crass, he's got no finesse whatsoever, but he's also a good son, grandson and brother, a dedicated admirer, and he's got too much conscience to be a bad-to-the-bones villain.

I've been trying to watch this show if just for Coco's Ramon. I suggest those who are into acting (actors and enthusiasts alike) to swallow their local tv bias and try to watch even just one episode. Try to observe the differences in style that the actors have - from Kim's never-ending waterworks, to Gerald's absolute perma-frown, to Jake's too confident too OA stints, to Alex's crude and shameless portrayal of today's "practical woman", to Coco's "barumbado" attitude. Just.. try. And see for yourselves the differences between an experienced actor, and an actor who can't make two separate faces for a smile and a frown. And then maybe you'd be able to appreciate local tv more, maybe even start to watch more of these so-called "jologs" tv series...

Or maybe not. I guess I'm only being honest to myself when I say that the only reason I can tolerate any of the bumbling idiotic messes the other inexperienced actors are making is that I get to see Coco's Ramon and Agot's Ingrid. They truly bring out the flavor in this otherwise "epic fail" drama.  : D