Blade of the Immortal 23 finally came into my hands, every time one of these comes out it seems cause for celebration. It takes far too long. This volume is still a transitional book as everyone starts to get in to position, and much traveling occurs for each group, for the final act to commence. This book actually doesn’t feature Manji and Rin all that much, despite their very recent reunion, instead putting the focus on the Itto-Ryu and Habaki’s deathrow Rokki. Since Anotsu and gang are fleeing, they set a number of traps for their pursuers. It is nice to see Magatsu around again, though I had to laugh when Soma attempts to take him on solo, better luck next time lady. There are also some tender and powerful moments between Maki and Anotsu. A good volume, as usual, but mostly a set-up for things to come.

If anyone was ever curious the person who does most of the links on the blog is me. In doing so I often stumble upon little bits of information like the existence of the  Slayers – The Hourglass of Falces manga. A complete 4-chapter story that is unusual in the fact that it has the standard Slayers crew we all know and love plus Luke and Milina from the later novels that were never translated. Lina and company are shipwrecked on a tranquil little island that has an idyllic town of friendly people. Due to the strange currents around the island they cannot causally leave. As they look for a way off the island a busty pirate shows  them there is something more sinister going on behind this utopia. Oh and there is one other major difference between this and the normal Slayers stories people are used to: Massive amounts of T&A. I don’t know much about Milina but Amelia’s breasts are definitely increased to be Naga sized and there are frequent panty shots. So the fan-service is distinctly on display in the manga. The story is a nice little story that is reminiscent of some of the better filler arcs in a regular Slayers TV series. It even manages to tie together the first and second series of Slayers novels. I just wish they toned down the gratuitous fan service.

Now that Cartoon Network has finally gotten around to airing new episodes of Scooby Doo! Mystery Incorporated, I’m catching up with the series (up to 19 so far). The 15th episode about the Wild Brood, a motorcycle gang of monsters, has a fantastic and hilarious twist. The Vincent van Ghoul episode was priceless (no pun intended). Humor has been high, but the obviousness of the culprits has also been higher. Mister E hasn’t been making as many appearances lately which is kind of a bummer since we all want to know what the secret to Crystal Cove is, but we have encountered more about the missing Mystery Incorporated kids.

If anyone has an encyclopedic knowledge of the writings on the site they may remember that I have talked about the first episode of  Hi-Speed Jecy in a previous Ongoing Investigation. But I watched the episode raw so I decided to go back and watch again with subtitles to see how much I had correctly interpreted and what we missed without subtitles. Overall I got the gist of what was going on. Jecy and Tiana are brother and sister who seem to be tracking down the space pirates who killed Jecy’s parents. Fork Green (what a Tomino name) is a frenemy that seems to be along for the ride as well. The woman Terenu who hires Jecy and Fork is actually working with the bad guys to kidnap Tiana. Jecy and Tiana don’t seem to be blood related explaining the sexual tension between them. So overall I was pretty much right on the money. About the only thing I don’t remember picking up on was that Fork is actually a priest with the Heartland religion although it explains his odd get-up. Hi-Speed Jecy is one of those old school sci-fi adventures from the late 80s and early 90s. It is not super smart but very enjoyable and at 12 episodes it is hardly a massive time investment. As the 5th episode was just recently fan-subbed I might give it a look to encourage the group working on it to finish. I mean this episode did end on a cliff hanger.

 I watched Hideki Anno’s early short, Explosion!, which you’ll be surprised to learn has many, many explosions. It is about a teenage girl making her way to school though a lot of chaos. There is no voicing and the animation is expectedly rough, but you can certainly see the makings for the Diacon animations here. This video also reminded of how totally awesome explosions were rendered in the 80’s.

After listening to a recent Gundamn episode I had to see Model Suit Gunpla Builders Beginning G. This is clearly anime an anime about selling you on how amazingly cool it is to build Gunpla. If you needed any better sign of this than just look at the fact that we are first show the GPB-X80 Beginning Gundam it in a box that is horrifically well animated so you know exactly what to buy after you watch the show. It starts with Haru Irei seeing the life-sized Gundam with his dad and best friend. He is inspired to start building Gundam models and use this new arcade system that lets you scan your models and fight them in virtual battles against other model builders. So Haru and his friends must learn to compete in the world of Gunpla Battle. If you are looking for a serious business Gundam story you have come to the wrong place. There is a man named Boris Schauer who looks pretty much like Char and rides around everywhere on a horse. There is the GPB-04B Bearguy that has a recorder beam cannon for crying out loud. This shows does not take itself too seriously unless they are talking about the manly passion one feels building Gunpla. But the show does tip its hat to all the long time fans who will have a field day finding all the obscure suits and shout outs through out this 45 minute series. It is definitely something you can sit back and enjoy in one sitting especially if you are a fan of mobile suits.

 I was awed by this deconstruction of Blade of the Immortal.