2009 January « アスラクライン

Sora Wo Kakeru Shoujo eps. 1 – 3

January 31, 2009 at 12:15 am | In Plans | Comments Off

Guess what, I have picked up another SunRise show to watch. That makes it 3, with Gundam 00, Tales of the Abyss and finally Sora Kake. Let me be brief since it’s already the 31st January now at 12:05am. I was busy with preparations for the start of college life on monday. That means I have to juggle work with College so I may not post those episodic blogs anymore. But I don’t think anyone even reads them, I just do them for the sake of venting my anger and frustrations with the blog on certain anime episodes.

The reason for suddenly watching sora kake and not watching Index is shocking to me. Yes, there is a reason for this since I have decided not to pick up this ecchi girl mecha anime. Let’s just say I may be needed to translate 1 episode as a backup TLer. It’s always my habit to be sure of what i’m translating so I got to watch and have a background of the anime first. However, it seems that when I asked the translator to rate this difficulty level of Sora kake on the scale of 1 – 10 with 10 being the hardest, he claimed a 6. Only until I watched the first episode (with subs) then did I realise his 6 is equivalent to my 9… I wish myself all the best if I have to be called up for backup TL together with hectic work and college. I may die prematurely.

Things to do for the next few days b4 monday when college starts:

0. TL White Album ep. 05 on Saturday, soon 1 hr later from now (SumiSora)

1. TL Zettai Shougeki Platonic Hearts OVA 4 on Saturday

2. Watch Sora Kake ep 04 raw (since subs are not out)

3. Index ep. 16 ( Delayed for almost a week due to sudden Sora Kake)

4. Smallville ep. 13 (One of my must watch)

Stalled animes:

1. Asu no Yoichi (from ep. 3-..)

2. Akikan (From ep. 3 -..)

3. Tora Dora (From ep. 16-..)

Kimi no Iru Machi Chp 29 – As Family

January 29, 2009 at 3:08 pm | In Kimi no Iru Machi | Comments Off

After 3 weeks of wait, Kimi no Iru Machi is back with Chapter 29.

The previous chapter left off where Haruto finds out that the Ebas are constantly lying to him, that includes Yuzuki as well. As such, he tells Yuzuki to wait at the station and he will come and find her.

In chapter 29, Haruto locates Yuzuki at the station. Yuzuki still continues to lie by showing a cheery facade and a few exchanges of jokes. Haruto, however, tells her to stop doing that. He informs Yuzuki that he has met Rin. Haruto then takes Yuzuki to his sister’s place where the dorm keeper has given him (Haruto) permission to stay for the night since Haruto told the dorm keeper that he had missed his bus.

Yuzuki then tells Haruto about her family and the complicated situation. It is revealed that Yuzuki and her siblings are not related by blood. Yuzuki turns out to be related to blood to her father and the other 2 siblings Rin and a brother are related by blood to her foster mother. as it turns out, Yuzuki’s father divorced her mother and remarried to her foster mother. Now it all makes sense.

Yuzuki eventually cries, for the first time, in front of Haruto. She was touched when Haruto told her that she need not hide her misery and he (Haruto) will save her. It is still not elaborated what the siblings did to her but mainly Rin seems to be the likely perpetrator. Subsequently, the doorbell rang and Haruto opens to find Yuzuki’s brother. The chapter ends after that.

Read Kimi no Iru Machi here.

Chrome Shelled Regios ep. 03

January 29, 2009 at 8:20 am | In Koukaku no Regios, chrome shelled regios | Comments Off

This episode is mainly about patching up things between Layfon and 2 of the platoon members, Nina and Felli.

From the previous episode, we finally witness Layfon’s true abilities since he was a Heaven Sword Wielder back in his previous regios. I’m just going to spoil the plot a little bit by saying that the reason why Layfon left his previous regios is because he was forced to.

SPOILER: Layfon is an orphan and grows up in an orphanage. There he met Lilin and lived together with the orphans. He realised that the director of the orphanage is not having enough funds due to various reasons(you will find out soon) and hence the orphanages don’t even have enough money to put food on the table. As a result, the orphans are often starving and without food. Layfon, however, was born with a gift that is he is able to produce external Kei which differentiates military artist from normal people. Layfon was then scouted as a potential fighter and was raised. He trained hard to be strong and the only thought spurring him on was money. (Yes, it’s for money and not for the glory of being the chosen few to protect the city.) Eventually, Layfon became one of the 12 Heaven’s Sword Wielder and he used this title to take part in fights. The fights originate from other military artists who will challenge Heaven’s Sword Wielder. Those who are defeated will be stripped of the title and the title will be passed onto the winner. Layfon, of course being how strong he was, won almost every match there was. He then made use of his ability to gamble and the orphans will then have money. He earned money in this filthy way which is not acceptable. One day, another military artist found out that Layfon was gambling on his fights to earn money and threatened to reveal his secrets to the whole city. Layfon could not risk that since he needs the title to help earn money for the orphanage to survive. So the military artist tell him that he and Layfon will fight and Layfon will lose to him on purpose so that he can become the Heaven’s Sword Wielder. When the fight comes, Layfon tried to use the fight as an excuse to “accidentally” kill him. However he failed and only managed to break his arm. The military artist then revealed his wrong doings and Layfon was caned and eventually expelled. That’s why in this episode we saw Layfon mentioning that he had already failed once.

As for the episode itself, we take a glimpse to Nina’s past where we saw the reason for her wanting to be strong. Nina noticed a few fairy stealers in her previous regios which is famed in creation of fairies. Nina noticed and tried to stop him. In the process she fell from a great height and was on the verge of death when the fairy from the regios sacrificed her existence to save Nina. From then on, Nina sworn to become stronger to protect the ones she want to protect. That also explains why she was furious with Layfon’s attitude.

As for Felli, Layfon patch things up with her with some idle talk. Felli wants Layfon to address her as Felli instead of Sempai. This is a sign of indicating closeness, in Japan, calling people directly by their name means either you are a couple or are very close to one another. Felli in turn will address Layfon as Fon Fon as she got jealous of Meishen and her gang who called Layfon Lay-ton. Subsequently, we saw that Felli used her psychokinesis ability and managed to detect a filth monster a distance away from Zuellni. That will be the filth beast that Layfon will handle soon.

As for Nina’s side, we saw her becoming unconscious after she encountered a bunch of fairy stealers. A person, can’t remember his name, but possibly a strong military artist, helped her and erased her memories after that. Nina was then found unconscious by Layfon and sent to the hospital. There, Halevy, childhood friend of Nina, told Layfon about Nina’s past. Layfon seems to be starting to find a reason to fight once again. But he will be trapped between a few girls’ decision with Felli wanting him to pretend to be weak by not giving a damn whereas Nina wants him to give it his all. Ultimately, love and affections play a part as we also see Lilin meeting seemingly the princess of her regios but in disguise as Leisler, an identical Heaven’s Blade Wielder currently taking her position.

Sharnid, the sniper for Platoon 17.

Naruki, Mifi and Meishen

Lilin's expression when the letter Layfon wrote to her flew away

Layfon

Layfon with Felli

2 identical queens, one of which is the one who fondled with Lilin's breasts earlier on

Nina

A younger Nina spoting a much more feminine look with lenghty hair

Zuellni, the fairy of the city which Nina is protecting.

A filth monster (pollutant beast). Apparently there are different stages of a beast. Their strength also varies with stages.

Tales of the Abyss ep. 17

January 28, 2009 at 9:10 pm | In Tales of the Abyss | Comments Off

I find it increasingly hard to find time to watch the weekly animes and I am stalling some fan-service and ecchi animes aside. Mainly, Akikan and Asu no Yoichi. Tora dora may also be stalled for some time.

In tales of the abyss episode 17, we see that the action and fighting is finally heating up and things get more serious as the character developments come to a near close. This time round, we see Tear’s weaker side which Luke wants to protect as Tear will put a strain on her body as she descends the sephiroth due to the miasma particles. She may die in the process but nevertheless she is still needed because she is the descendant of Yulia and has the ability to activate the passage rings. Luke was seen supporting Tear whenever she passes out on the remaining passage rings.

Tear also made a resolve to stop is brother, Van, after she has seen his evil intentions. Tear has always wanted to persuade his brother to stop his evil doings but decided that Van cannot be persuaded. Tear than assures the crew that she will go all out to stop Van. Van makes a brief appearance and is stopped by Asch. We see Natalia tending to Asch but Asch rejects her kind intentions but noting that he doesn’t have time for “this”. Here, we can see the affections of Natalia and Asch which has not been elaborated much. The other obvious couple is Luke and Tear.

The crew then made their way to Mt Rineal where the final passage ring is located at. Along the way they met Dist whom Jade easily managed to force him to reveal Van and the Six-God General’s next move. The crew made their way to Mt Rineal and fought 3 of the remaining generals. Jade managed to come up with a clever plan by directing his magic to create an avalanche. The crew then made used of Tear’s fonic hymn to shield themselves. This successfully rid them of the generals. The crew then made their way to stop the final sepiroth from falling but it turns out that Van had already hatched a plot. The absorption point has been reversed and all their efforts were undone. The episode than ends shortly after that.

Tear regaining consciousness after she fainted at the previous episode

Luke worried about Tear. Their relationship is getting closer as the episodes pass.

Tear trying to hold back her tears in front of Luke

A solemn looking Tear

Clannad AS ep. 15 ~Summer Memories~

January 28, 2009 at 11:20 am | In Clannad, Clannad ~After Story~ | Comments Off

Clannad After Story gets serious and this episode marks the process of Nagisa’s pregnancy. The episode begins with Tomoya and Nagisa making an important decision which Nagisa first initiates. Nagisa wants to give birth to their child at their home. This is a dangerous but possible process and given Nagisa’s weak boday, it will have high risks. Tomoya and Nagisa discuss this with the Furukawas and they did not object. Rather they showed concern over the safety of the delivery and Akio states that if delivery at home is not a problem, then there isn’t any reason not to do so. Ultimately it was up to Nagisa and Tomoya since delivery at home enables the father or the mother to get the first touch of the baby. On the other hand, it is always the doctors in the hospital that get the first touch. This is the sole reason why Nagisa wanted a delivery at home.

However, at the later part of the episode, Nagisa’s health takes a drastic turn. Sanae-san upon receiving a call from Nagisa came with Yagi, Nagisa’s Midwife, and found Nagisa lying on the floor. When Tomoya go tback, he got anxious. Sanae also added that she would be coming to stay with Nagisa until after her delivery. The following day, Sanae meets Tomoya at the cafe which Nagisa works at. They talked about the most important issue of Nagisa’s health. It has been told by the doctor that due to Nagisa’s mysterious illness, the delivery will put a much bigger strain on the Nagisa than of normal mothers. Sanae told Tomoya to make a decision and the decision lies on Nagisa and Tomoya. Ultimately it is Nagisa’s decision as Nagisa could die in the process. Note that the alternate adaptation of Clannad in the form of a motion picture as well as the visual novel shows a worst possible scenario as Nagisa dying after successfully giving birth to their child. This is of course not what I look forward to but it could well happen.

Sanae then tells Tomoya to break the news to Nagisa and urges them to think it over carefully. Nagisa answers firmly by saying she wants to go ahead with the delivery. Tomoya then visited the Furukawas and this time round, Tomoya tells Akio about it. Akio tells Tomoya to follow him and brings him to a place where he is “guarding” ever since an incident, rather a miracle, that took place. Akio took Tomoya to a barren place where a new hospital is on the process of construction. Akio tells Tomoya that Nagisa went down with fever when she was really young. Both Akio and Sanae had to go to work and left Nagisa alone. When they came back, they found Nagisa outside collapsed. Apparently Nagisa was waiting for them to return. Nagisa was then on the verge of dying and this was the part that Tomoya was never told about. Akio carried Nagisa and ran to a place, (the now barren area) and knelt down praying. The sun then rises, and a miracle occured. Nagisa was cured but still falls sick regulary each year. Her illness is mysterious.

After telling Tomoya, Akio tells him that the most important thing is to give your very best till the end. It will never go as bad as you think and Akio remarks that Nagisa, the one suffering the most, should make the most important decision and Tomoya and the family should stand by her decision. Akio for once called out Tomoya’s name and assures him that they are a family and will be there for one another.

Subsequently, Nagisa went to the beach with Tomoya and they mention that they would not be able to come to the beach together due to the final pregnancy stages. Tomoya and Nagisa then thought of a name for the baby. The name will be Ushio and will be applicable to both males and females. They then share a promise to come here (The beach) together will Ushio next summer. The episode then ends.

The next episode has the title White Darkness. We see Nagisa struggling in the preview and the return of the mysterious girl and the robot made of junk. Somehow, things will start linking together. Let’s hope for the better.