GO! GO! GOKAIGER! (Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger 1)

OMG it the return of good Sentai! (not to be confused with good hentai, something completely different) Goseiger was so g*d*mn terrible, but now it's over and we don't have to see them again (until the 35th anniversary movie, but hopefully everyone else will drown them out >.<); if you couldn't tell, this fact makes me very excited. The new series is pretty sweet to boot, as it features a leader named CAPTAIN F*CKING MARVELOUS, possibly some dimensional shifts/time-hopping and piracy on the high seas/stars.

1 has been out for a bit, 2 just release, but 'll only be covering episode one in this summary. Like with every Sentei series, we get a brief overview of the new teams weapons, personalities, team mechanics, villains & henchmen and, of course, mecha. Gokaiger is no different, as we see the team whip out their mecha, the Gokai Galleon, during their first on-screen appearance, decimating an entire fleet of Zangyack (these are the new baddies for this series; basically they are space pirates with bad 'tudes) ships before heading to Earth in search of the universe's greatest treasure.

The team consists of the aforementioned Capt. Marvelous (Gokai Red), the fearless leader; Joe [really, Joe?] Gibken (Gokai Blue), the cool yet serious firstmate; Luka Millfy, (Gokai Yellow) the sly, tomboyish lookout; Don Dogoier (Gokai Green), the hapless ship mechanic; lastly, Ahim de Famille (Gokai Pink), the newest member of the team and the pretty face. The team is also accompanied by a mechanical parrot named Navi.

Giving overs to the human race . . . like a boss!

After arriving on Earth, the team announces to the population that they are in search of the treasure, and no one can stop them form obtaining it. Everyone listening to the announcement is confused, failing to understand the gravity of the situation in which they are now involved in. Slightly defeated, Capt. Marvelous gets Luka to sell one of her rings for 10 million yen, which they use to grab some cheap curry; meanwhile, the main invasion force of the Zangyack arrive to find their advance fleet obliterated. Suspecting the pirates Gokaiger, they proceed with the invasion of Earth anyway, which ends up ruining the meals that the team just purchased.

ka-BOOOOOM!!!

Pissed off and hungry, Capt Marvelous leads the team off in the first roll-call and attack sequence. This was by far my favorite moment of the show; the fluid battle style that this crew has developed is quite a wonder to behold. They flick, toss and kick weapons to each other, opening up new avenues of attack and attacks of opportunity. As the second wave arrives, the team seamless shifts between Gorangers, Shinkenger and Magirangers to stop their foes in their tracks. Shifting back into Gokaiger henshins, the grew takes out the enemy commander Shikabanen with a team Gokai Saber tech, Final Wave.



I am very much looking forward to the development of this Sentai group, and can't wait to watch episode 2 once this torrent ends . . . which is now! SEEYA!

. . .9/10

The Justice Mini-Arc Complete (Kamen Rider OOO 21-22)

JUSTICE!!! This is a fantastic arc, filled with heroes, pseudo-heroes and punks. Lots and lots of punks. This one a double-dose of OOO, so time to dig in!

The mini-arc deals with justice, in all of it's dimensions. Shintaro, Eiji and the crew are out buying supplies for the Valentines Day festivities at the Cous Coussier when they notice a grown man picking on a little kid. Shintaro rushes out to scold the man, with Eiji following close behind. The boy's father shows up soon after, and Chiyoko recognizes him as her old classmate Susumu Kanbayash. His son, Takashi, just like his old man, has a strong sense of justice and punishment for the wicked. Susumu wants to become a lawyer, and in a flashback we discover that he's run away from his wife and kid until he manages to pass the exam.

Susumu takes Takashi away and warns him to watch himself, which leads to Takashi cursing his ol' man and running off. Failing to give chase, Susumu is approached by Uva, who spawns a Yummy from his desire for justice. Meanwhile, Eiji presses Ankh for information on why he cannot obtain his true form, even after collecting more of his cores. Before he can reply in full, he sense a Yummy. They race to the scene to find Susumu, bruised and unconscious, and a Hopper Yummy . . . beating up a purse-snatcher??? What's going on? Eiji transforms, defeats several Trash Yummies, but lets the Yummy escape after he witnesses it give the purse back to a terrified woman.

Confused, they head back to the Cous Coussier, where Chiyuku patches up Susumu before he runs off to his part-time job. Later that night, Susumu confronts some loud youths, blaring music in the park. The Yummy appears again, as if summoned by his will, and proceeds to f*^k their sh!t when OOO and Birth drop in on the scene. Uva shows his face to tip the odds back in his favor, forcing Eiji to use the new ability Giga Scan by means of the Kujaku Core. Right as he is about to unleash his fury, Susumu gets in the way, he wants to use this power to punish the wicked. Inspired by this father, Takashi also shields the Hopper from an attack.

Takashi and Susumu leave to go off and punish the wicked. Elsewhere, Shintaro is still trying to master the Birth Buster, improving ever so slightly with every passing day. While Maki is completely opposed to the idea of Shintaro training to take over for Date, Date forces the scientist to understand. As Date and Shingo wrap up a training session, the Yummy makes his move. OOO shows up first, goes GataToraBa to clear out some Trash Yummy, then questions Susumu's sense of justice as he allows his Yummy to attack a defenseless coward. Date and Shintaro show up, Date goes Birth and helps combat the Yummy and meddlesome Uva while Shintaro tries to get Takashi to safety. Birth and OOO team up to weaken Uva enough for him to abscond, and OOO delivers a Giga Scan straight to to face of the Hopper. Now that is what I like to call . . . JUSTICE!!!

Everyone heads to C.C. for a good time, and everyone lives happily ever after. For now. These episodes are gonna have kinda a weird scoring. 21 is a 5.5/10, 22 a 6/10, however together they make a 7/10 arc because there is enough good stuff in both to out-weigh all the crap.

'Knuckle Down' and Grit Through it! The Ends Justify the Means! (Bleach 438)

What can possibly follow one of the best chapters of Bleach in resent arcs? Some sneezing, self-punishment and a merchant of death. But enough talk, let's hop right in!

If you have not read 438, then click here.

Bleach is really starting to heat up now that Ichigo isn't just a useless baby anymore. Of course, they still need to tie-up some loose ends before moving along with Ichi's training, while creating even more questions about the true nature of Ichigo's Fullbring. After Riruka breaks her Fullbring, Ichigo notices something odd about his badge: it seems to be talking.

Elsewhere, Inoue has her own problems to deal with, as she is confronted by Moe Shishigawara, a punk who can't beat up girls. After a slip of the tongue, Moe slips that he may have been responsible for Uryu's attack, and Inoue preps for battle. Suddenly, Uryu's real attacker appears, sticking fear into the heart of both Moe and Inoue. OMG NO! After what's been going on with MSPA, I can't take anymore main character deaths!

But he can't strike her! How could you break such a beautiful frame?!?

439-442 should be a blast, depending on exact goes down between Moe, Inoue and (slight spoiler) Tsukishima. Just have to wait and see. 6/10

Well That's Something I Did Nazi Coming (Bleach 436 & 437)

Hey all! How's it hanging? Sorry about the absence, I haz so many irons in the fire. In fact, I have all of them. ALL OF THEM!!! Anywho, time to catch up on some Bleach, eh? I figure no one will mind me merging my review and impressions of the last two chapters into one review, since 436 is kinda boring. If you do have a problem with this, take it up with the complaint department.

So 436 really felt like a filler chapter, as nothing really happens that advances the plot. In fact, when I was going to do the review of 437, I forgot that I hadn't done 436, since it just re-affirms some long standing ideas that I held about the story. The only cool part about the chapter involved the revelation of Giriko's Fullbring ability, "Time Tells No Lies."

It seems that Giriko can put a timer on any object, and if the conditions of the timer a broken, that object and any other object linked to that timer are consumed by the flames of time. Pretty cool, eh? I look forward to seeing this ability in action later on in the series, but for now, it is quite the ingenious way of framing a training exercise.

After that, there is more running and yelling, with the obligatory flash back to Ichigo's and Chad's pasts, and suddenly we are in chapter 437, where all the awesome shit happens.

First off, let me say that a battle-swastika is one of the best ideas ever. I don't support the Nazi agenda in any way, form or fashion, but you have to admit that the weapon looks cool as shit.

Anyway, this Fullbring ability seems to to have similar properties to Zangetsu flange attack, but it can only maintain that power as long as Ichigo is holding the badge (awww, no swastiken!). he can use it as a shield, and he is also able to produce a Getsuga Tenshou release from the Fullbring.

This chapter is a definite 10/10 for this scene alone, but it doesn't end there. You'll see . . .

As for chapter 436, eh. 5/10. Kinda forgettable, imo.

TAJUDOR!!! /droll (Kamen Rider OOO 20)

FINALLY!!! TaJuDor is revealed, and it is so damn awesome. Just look at it for a minute. LOOK AT IT!

OMG YES MORE!!!

OK, now that we are done with that . . . for now, let's move on to the recap of KR OOO 20! So if you tuned in last week for episode 19, you was Kazari come damn near close to completely reviving. Not only did he have eight of his Core Medals, he held in his hands Ankh's O Medal Holder! But just as all hope seems lost, Kazari opens up the case only to find Cell Medals. Looks like someone just got punked.

And so, Ankh sets up a trade: in exchange for his Core, he will make Eiji give Kazari the location of his final Core. Only thing is, Eiji knows nothing about this hiding place, since Ankh is just bluffing.

You coy b!tch!

When Kazari makes his move, Ankh throws Eiji off the building into the waters below. As Kazari gives chase, Hina gets pissed off my Ankh's trickery and steals his Core Medal.

Giving chase, Ankh ties Hina up and dangles her over the river, holding her hostage until he relinquishes his newly obtained Core. Meanwhile, Eiji is nursed back to health by Yusu, that weaselly bastard. On the other side of the city, Gotou and Date catch up at the Cous Coussier when Date decides to train Gotou on how to use the Birth Buster, just in case he decides to leave it all behind.

It a bit much for Gotou right now, be Date leaves him with the Buster anyway so that he can start training with it. All of a sudden, the Yummy decides to go on another rampage, and Eiji, Ankh and Date all respond. Things are going extremely well until Satonaka, on the request of Kougami, shows up with Ankh's other Core.

Mayuko Arisue, you're starting to give Rina Akiyama a run for her money as hottest Rider Girl.

Pissed that Eiji hid this info form him, Ankh reluctantly lets him use all three to go TaJuDor, which is totally awesome (not sure if I made that clear yet), and Eiji easily defeats the hybrid Yummy before passing out from exhaustion. Ankh then takes his Cores back, but when he incorporates them into his/Shingo's body, only a rainbow-colored wing appears. The wing appears to put immense strain on Ankh, then disappears without warning. Why is it that Ankh can't regain his form?

10/10! If you have to ask why, then obviously you need to see this again.

DEAL WIT IT!

. . .And This Little Piggie Cried, "I'm Gonna F^ck!ng Kill You!!!" (Bleach 435)

Oh the Bleach train keeps chug-chug-chugging along. Next stop? PIG BATTLE!!!

That's right, Bleach 435 picks up in Riruka's Doll House, with Ichigo training against a giant pig doll to help him get in touch with his Fullbring abilities. Honestly it's become more interesting than I originally anticipated, but it's still in it's infancy right now. There is definitely some potential for 436 to be really fantastic.

It's much better to face these kinds of things with a sense of poise and rationality.

As Ichi runs from the stuffed menace, he begs Riruka for a hint on how to unleash his potential. Scoffing at his inquiry, she notes that there are not hints or secrets. All of the members of Xcution have had these powers since birth, with no clues on how to control them or to harness their full abilities. At that moment, the pig-bear starts to talk!

Yesh, Ichigo he can talk. He can also kill.

Turns out that Riruka kidnapped a member of the yakuza and sealed his soul into the pig-bear, making him a . . . OMG MANBEARPIG!!! N0t only that, it is on a 15-minute timer. What happens when the timer is up? Well, I guess we'll see, in time. What we do know is that he doesn't kill Ichigo within the time limit, he'll be stuck inside the Doll House forever.

As Ichigo flees will concocting a strategy, Chad enters and gets the news: Ichigo is in a fight for his life with no knowledge of how to defend himself. Ripping the lid off the Doll House, Chad slips Ichi some knowledge: he should use his Shinigami Badge, for it is something that he deeply cares for and always has on him. Ichigo agrees, but right as he reaches for the badge, the time goes out. And all hell breaks loose.

I believe there is a term for this type of scenario: ohfuckrunweregonnadie.

Like I said, the next chapter looks exciting, but this one mainly filler till then. 7/10. Until next week, folks.