Romeo x Juliet (Episode 19)

Update: The escalating conflict in Myanmar is a necessary cause for concern (aside the fact that Myanmar is in the same region with Malaysia). Honestly the news didn’t budge me a bit not until the casualty of a foreigner. What’s more is that he is a journalist. I have the believe that the media or the press should be given the immunity of neutrality to feed news to the international community but the junta’s iron-claw crackdown cried cold brutality. Images of Kenji Nagai in his dying moments still etching in my mind. If that, not enough for a reason, then think about the oppression the people of Myanmar need to face now, especially in the midst of the conflict. Think of the countless and needless killing. With these, I voice my support for a democratic Myanmar. My voice may not reach many but I surely believe I will be heard and more will be concerned about the worsening situation.

Excitement builds up for Darker Than Black as it approaches the finale. But hey, I won’t be reviewing so soon. I’m planning to make two at a go so as I won’t kill the suspense just yet. Now lets get to Romeo x Juliet. We have witnessed the great achievement by Romeo who managed to turn a desert into home. Now it was Juliet’s turn to make a difference. So far, we see little done by Juliet in her fight against Montague. Somehow she had a renewed determination to achieve by stepping forward as the Red Whirlwind, the long-gone iconic hero of Neo Verona. The fact that the real fight has finally begun brings the story back to track and incite more interest into the building plot. Although in the beginning I sought to see William was the one responsible to bring Juliet’s story to the people and bring the forth the revolution but Juliet took matters on her own to spread hope to the people of Neo Verona. Finally our heroine is bringing some action. Also in store in this episode is the real reason behind the Red Whirlwind.

“Let the show begins.”

Although Romeo did a lot for the village, he still believes that more needed to be done as he plans to bring everyone’s families to the village and live there. Romeo also promised to work hard for the day when they both can be together happily. Later Juliet and Curio took their leave. Before leaving, Curio approached Romeo and word his intention to punch him once he met him but refused to do so as he did not want to offend Juliet as well. Inspired by Romeo’s determination, Juliet too wanted to work harder. That night, it was a full house at the theater staging for William’s play. Expected, everyone was captivated by their intense performance and without any of the audience noticing, it is actually the true life story of the sole Capulet survivor, Juliet. This ploy was a genius work of William to spread Juliet’s story throughout Neo Verona to rise up a revolution against Montague. William proved his wits this time. Anyway towards the climax when Juliet was supposed to appear on stage, things working out of hand as Juliet was nowhere to be found. Instead she appear on top of the theater as the Red Whirlwind. This sparked awes among the audience.

Darker Than Black (Episode 23)

Much was revealed of the past regarding Hei and Amber but those are not enough. This probably because the past was seen from Hei’s perspective and apparently he have little recollection about the Heaven’s Gate disappearance and also about his sister Bai. I like the slow progress of the story in this episode while waiting for the brewing climax of the coming finale. It seems that everyone is able to lead a normal life despite the ongoing conflict between the not-so-mysterious Syndicate and the Contractors (under the name of EPR). Somehow it felt like the tension is killing the patience in me. Although Gai and Kiko remained to be the unnecessary element of the story (yet they make such great filler), the least is that Gai’s script in this episode is more sensible and match perfectly to the unnoticed building confrontation. Another confusing thing is that Hei was seen to attempt to strangle Bai whom he love the most. Speaking of which, it is also surprising to know that Hei was not a Contractor five years ago and yet he was skillful to kill Contractors back then. Is it possible that he gotten his power from his sister whose current wellbeing is unknown? The writers are playing sneaky as ever even towards the end of the story. Overall this episode is already the beginning of the end.

Hei’s sister, Bai

It back to Hei’s past when Hei battled a Contractor in South America and surprisingly he did not have any Contractor powers back then. Even so, he managed to kill that Contractor and eventually caught up with his sister Bai who was seen standing in the middle of a pool of water filled with dead bodies. So Bai is a Contractor – a scary strong one. Fast forward to the present days, Kurosawa Gai (I really hope this will be the last of him) was requested for an assignment from a parent to search for stories regarding the old stars (before the fake ones came). In short, she wants Gai to do her son’s homework. This all came to light as the rumour goes by saying that tonight is when the real stars would appear back temporarily. With a hefty payment, the job was accepted (by Kiko, of course). Meanwhile Hourai queried Misaki about her relationship with November. Misaki said it was strictly professional. Hourai suspected November is a member of the EPR but restrained Misaki to investigate further into details as they have no authority to do so despite the suspicious involvement of PANDORA. Huang told of the story about Hei when a dispute went on within the Heaven’s Gate and Contractors were sent out as weapons. Back then, Hei worked together with Amber and he was not a Contractor. That time, the reputable Contractor was Hei’s sister Bai. Indeed she is a scary one.

Romeo x Juliet (Episode 18)

This episode fared badly in story development but this got to my favourite so far. We know a lot of Montague’s past in the previous episode, which is dreaded with negativity. A stark contrast in this episode as it is full of inspiration and motivation, especially in Romeo’s effort to rebuild a desert land (sort of). It’s a good thing that things work out well for the prisoners of Gradisca or should I say, ex-convicts, in that village. However that is not the reason why this episode is so emotionally engaging. Did I mentioned that it is emotionally engaging? If you follow up with the story well, you know how tough life would be for Romeo and Juliet, especially for them to be together. Somehow at the end, when they were reunited, it was rather touching. Keep watching and you’ll get what I mean.

Hypocrisy is a virtue in politics.

Conrad and the rest were discussing about their attack plan and wondering of their anti-Montague allies in Mantua. Then Balthazar came with a cart full of apples but hidden inside is a cart-full of swords. However Juliet was worried of countless of people being hurt in the coming fight. They made a point that it is necessary to bring down Montague. In the wake of Titus’ death, a service was held in his honour. Among those attended are Hermione and Montague (the killer). Even then, rumours go around that Titus’ death was intentional and some suspected that Montague was responsible for it. Meanwhile Romeo was starting a new life on a barren land somewhere nearby Gradisca mine. Romeo worked hard though some of them were reluctant to help. Then Pietro came to bring food bought from the town of Mantua, traded for weaponries. Giovanni suspected a war is brewing. Gotten his water supply from the river, Romeo ran into an old man whom he met earlier with Juliet at a spring. Being helpful as ever, the old man gave Romeo seeds that are able to grow in the harsh conditions. Magical beans of some sort. Then the old man walked away.

Darker Than Black (Episode 22)

Despite the update, I am still not able to catch up with my ongoing assignments, pushing my reviews further back to the back of the calendar. I will make another update as soon as I’m done with one assignment, as I plan to do reviews on those intervals. God! Take away this burden!

No denying that this is the best episode so far, if not the most high-impact episode in the series. The whole mystery about the Syndicate is unraveled in this episode. By now, we know who are involved with the Syndicate and their motives. One eerie revelation is the affiliation of PANDORA with the Syndicate. Why? The hint is Eric and Sergei (from episode 11 and 12). What’s more is that Decade (November’s boss) is also a member of the Syndicate. However the revealing truth is the Syndicate’s intention to eradicate all Contractors. Since the most mysteries were solved in this episode, including the answer for the disappearance of Heaven’s Gate in South America, what is left is the key events in Hei’s past. I just want to know how Amber was involved with Hei and who Bai really is. Also the episode is in grief with its own as November is finally done with his final mission to investigate the Syndicate. As consequence, he is now dead. November had been my favourite character in the series and now he is dead. Such untimely death, so soon.

Little kitty is in big trouble.

Mao woke up in an unknown room with the thought that Contractors are able to think rationally and adjust themselves well in any situation. In the room, he spotted November stark naked. Then Amber, Wei and Brita entered the room. So Mao tried to walk out from the room, pretending as though nothing is going on but Amber stopped him as she asked him where is he going. Running out of options, the best plan he could come up with is to meow. Meaning that he will remain with the enemy. Meanwhile Misaki is recovering from her arrest by PANDORA and her colleagues criticized PANDORA’s rough action to intervene into the matter. Then she was called up by Hourai. Inside his office, Misaki met with April, July and Decade, the director of MI6 of Far East Division. The meeting was to inquire about November’s whereabouts. Decade asked Misaki that question but Misaki was clueless about November’s location as well. Even April failed to make contact with November. Decade was worried if November is changing side with the enemy.

Darker Than Black (Episode 21)

It seems that I have to call out for a hiatus since I am not able to catch up with my increasingly busy schedule. Not to mention that I rarely make regular updates, so this call is timely. Hopefully I won’t stretch it out for too long. Possibly that I will take a week off before resuming my anime reviews. Now, lets forget about that and back to the review. This is when the story gets really, really, really interesting. No surprise to consider that Darker Than Black is coming to an end, having only 4 episodes left. The main conflict will initiated from this arc before progressing to the closing chapter. So no more personal (character-related) episodes and sadly, no dedicated episodes for Mao. Nonetheless, I am thrilled on how will the story would end as I can’t really predict on how the story would develop from this point on. This arc may not be the best (from my perspective) but it is one of the most exciting ever.

At the PANDORA centre, a scientist managed to resolve a research that he had been conducting. His excited state went rather coincidental with the appearance of a naked lady in front of him. That surely made him looked like a pervert. Then the lady approached him and gave him a peck. By then the alarm went off and the guards rushed in, only to see the clothes left behind by the scientist with him missing. Eric Nishijima was informed soon after. Sometime later, Misaki and her colleagues managed to apprehend a runaway Contractor who was carring bombs inside his bag. Reporting back to Hourai, Misaki informed him that the Contractors (there are others) were ordered by EPR to bomb the American Embassy. Asked of the clues leading to the mastermind, Misaki added that some memories from the Contractors were altered including the memories of their leader. Misaki gave reasonable doubt that some other organisation besides the EPR may be at play as the EPR was behaving differently compared to previous cases. This is rather creepy and interesting. So Hourai ordered to increase security at the American Embassy and have Misaki to meet the Embassy’s Director of Security, Harris Vernom.

Don’t get too excited, old man.

Can’t blame him anyway. Free nude show is hard to come by.

Romeo x Juliet (Episode 17)

Just three weeks since I have bought my iPod nano, Apple has announced the new generation of iPods, including the amazing fully touch-screened iPod touch. Suddenly I wanted to buy a new iPod already.

I know that there has been a huge delay in my anime reviews these days. This is due to the ongoing assignments that needed my immediate attention. Expect more delays for the whole month. Worse comes to worst, I might call for a hiatus. My reviews on Darker Than Black is right on track but I am falling behind on reviews on Romeo x Juliet. I am hastening this with my best effort. So in regards to the episode this time, it’s about time that Tybalt’s share of the story is told and it was definitely intriguing. Much of his mysteries were untold, some were unexpected. I am glad that the writers were able to put the story in the best possible manner. Also what we had been expecting since the previous episode has finally foretold in this episode. Now that one point deducted for plot predictability.

Giovanni seriously needs some anger management.

“Odin is cosplaying as Juliet? No? Juliet is cosplaying as Odin?

Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei (Episode 4)

I have decided to drop Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei from my review. It’s not that the anime is not good. In fact, it is too hilarious. The problem is that I am not getting enough time these days to do some decent review. Given that I’ve been following Darker Than Black and Romeo x Juliet since episode 1, it is fair for me to drop this anime title.

To be frank, I did not enjoy the previous episode as compared to this one. This episode of Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei is just damn hilarious. I like the part when Fuura actually looked onto the positive side when a tiger was about to attack her. Even in the verge of death, she was being so optimistic. At least she accepts death better than Nozomu who tried to commit suicide numerous times but cowered in the end. Also, in case you did not notice, each episode of Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei consists of two parts, of which each part introduces a character from the story. And trust me, each character has a wacky story to tell. Probably this wackiness craves me for more for this anime. So people, indulge yourselves.

Rumours goes around about a student from Nozomu’s class; Kobushi Abiru, that she is always injured from the parental abuse – in short, domestic violence (DV). Because of that, Arai asked Nozomu to meet Abiru’s father. Guided with a photo of Abiru’s father, he never thought of him as a violent judging from him appearance. Coincidentally he found Abiru’s father at the shopping district and decided to tail him. As Abiru’s dad stop over a few stores to buy some products, Nozomu immediately warned the shop owners about the man’s alleged violent nature. The poor fellow was not able to buy anything as he was chased out whenever he wanted to make a purchase. The initial problem is Nozomu jumped to a conclusion about the man’s DV towards Abiru without any probing.

Kobushi Abiru

Domestic violence in SZS!

Two Reasons to Celebrate 31 August 2007

Interesting insight by Kenny Sia. Read all about it. Hints? Patriotism and conspiracy. Hey! This can make up a good conspiracy story. Kenny Sia is a conspirator.The obvious speaks for itself. I list my reasons to celebrate 31 August. Not just any 31 August but this year’s 31 August. Now for starters, I had done my explaining on my post dated 31 August 2007 – the Merdeka celebration. In fact, it is no ordinary Merdeka day. It’s Malaysia’s 50th birthday bash. Again, happy Merdeka to Malaysians! I’m not the only one feeling the excitement, by the way. The whole nation is celebrating and the grand event is the most grandeur ever. I was not there, so it’s a shame that I didn’t get to witness such event with colossal proportion. Well I’m not the only unfortunate one.

One golden celebrationNow another cause of celebration is the premiere of the director’s cut of Death Note. Fans of Death Note are in for galore as special three-hours episode (or rather a movie) entitled Death Note: Rewrite (Death Note: R in short). I’m an avid fan myself, so this episode is not to be missed. However it is uncertain for me to review this, considering that it is just the same old story with minor additional scenes. But if you are a fan, you would be watching this.

Death Note: Rewrite