Personal preference, but I don’t like the character art. I’m probably too used to SEED and 00, so this seems a bit ghetto to me (I can’t really say that though, since I haven’t watched their predecessors in the Gundam franchise yet). The Gundams themselves are pretty spiffy, however (see image above).

But for me, the characters make or break the series; and at this point I’m really not sure. Halfway through the episode, I found myself getting bored, because it really didn’t hook me; after dinner, I couldn’t bring myself to complete the episode. I’m probably missing the climax or whatever, but I don’t have much faith in this OVA even though it’s only six episodes. :/

Random thoughts while viewing after the jump.

The first few scenes started like with promises of change, which is pretty normal. I was expecting some huge terroist attack from the very beginning, and I got it! And it kinda broke down after that.

Marida Cruz totally reminds me of a Coordinator, and her mobile suit reminds me of a moth. Her introduction was definitely the best one, though; playing favourites already yep.

Wow, 360o classrooms! AND I SEE HARO. It’s so cute ahaha “Banagher, toilet?”

Ohkay, I see the unicorn. I wasn’t really expecting anything from the name, but apparently it really was a Gundam Unicorn… It seems pretty cool, but I’d prefer a better looking pilot LOL (even though it’s a test of some sort).

There’s some romance and potential love triangles, but it really doesn’t catch me. I’m usually such a sucker for them, so I really don’t know why. I don’t think I’ll have much to say about it so I’ll end here; half the episode is good enough for an impressions post for a series I’m iffy with. And it turns out I’d rather watch the Olympics than finish the episode, so… :/

(I hope it doesn’t seem like I’m being too negative; I enjoyed it technically to be sure (yes I know, shiny unicorn, Kiseki), but like the comments point out, I’m too ignorant of the Gundam universe to really appreciate it. I’d love to like it more, but it’s hard when I haven’t been a fan of this franchise for all that long )

Kyfni has been slacking on her Gakuen Alice impressions because she has no clue what’s going on anymore. I do have some Spotlight series lined up though, so I’m taking advantage of that category. And the fanart will be updated…! Eventually. After thumbfails (intentional). orz

In any case, go Canada! /it’s (partly) my blog and I’ll say what I want? :’D

When I ran the cover text through Google translate, it gave me some anti-feminist sounding caption. Well, it has something to do with Mikan's pretty outfit, I guess :3 (She also doesn't look 10/11...)

In a nut shell, Youichi’s being chased and gets rescued by an axe-swining Mr. Bear. At the hanahime den, Hayate’s being teased with a piece of cake, then grown-up Youichi shows up all brusied. Then they have a dangerous ablities type reunion thing, it’s kinda cute. xD

Back with the main group, when it looks like they’re about to be captured by lackeys, it turns out it’s just the Somatic Representative (forget his name) in disguise.

Then he tells them about what happened (I think) especially about Yuka and the high school principle, and there’s a panel with the teleporting keyhole door. And then our of nowhere, a bag of Alice stones appears alongside a note from Mikan’s mother.

She ends the letter with “Please, be safe” which makes Mikan cry. I don’t know what the rest of the letter says, but it’s probably something sweet. >w<

And then I'll quote Kiseki’s twitter. -w- “Am I reading this right? o A o Mikan now can absorb Alice stones, thus able to use their powers, right…? Wooow…”

So now Mikan’s going to save the day by being all-powerful? Not quite sure I like this concept, but let’s see how it develops. (I want more romance!)

Yea, I know that this episode just came out, but I can understand a tiny bit of Japanese and it’s pretty easy to know what is going out right? ╮|▰´・□・`▰|╭ I apologize if I got anything wrong, but this is kind of an impression/review post. Anyways, enough of the whining… (｡￣m￣｡)

Nice ones Anri. =u=;;

… The opening starts off a tiny bit different because there is a introduction of what happened in the first episode. (｢・Д・)｢ The recap wasn’t necessary but I enjoyed Mikado going all ‘0′ at Sterluson again. ╰|≧▽≦ | It’s the first day of school and Mikado and Kida aren’t in the same class. |✿・ლ・| Instead, he’s with this girl called Sonohara Anri who has big breasts and is at the top of the class. (=3=;;) She looks like a nerd and some pedo teacher was eyeing her at the opening ceremony. LMFAO. ⊙～⊙

Watcha looking at you little punk?

ヽ[＾◡＾*]ノ This guy called Seiji comes into class 1-A but he refuses to sit down and talks about school being… (didn’t understand it) and then he walks out of the class room. LOL.Good news-ish is that the girl who got kidnapped and escaped in episode01 is in Kida’s class, 1-B. She tells her story and I think she is a new student as well. (▰＾_＾) I didn’t understand it all that well but she had a pen/email pal who she contacted a lot when she was younger. She got a letter in the mail that showed pictures of her dad picking up girls on the streets and bringing them to bars. [￣ω￣*] She becomes depressed-ish because she shows the pictures to her mother anomonously but at dinner the couple still act normal.

Hey honey, wanna come to ma place?

NOTE THE NEXT PART IS ABOUT EPISODE 01 FLASHBACK

(❛m❛#) Well the plot pans to the past into more detail, where she recalls her kidnapping and then a doctor like person who leads the black rider AKA Sterluson out of a garage (says something to her) and then she nods and drives out into the night. So-so so far but then a new character gets introduced. Yea, it’s Shizuo Heiwajima who apparently lent money to some groveling man and he gets angry when the guy is all “sorry I can’t return it”. ╮[๑`・A・´]╭

SELF EXPLANATORY

Shizuo rips up the vending machine and throws it up high in the air  in his anger but it did not hit the smelly old man…. (where sterluson, kida, mikado all saw it at the same time)  ┐[・ρ・▰]┌  So then Sterluson recieves a phone call (the events of episode 01 are coming together now) and it’s from the information dealer Izaya (ahhh I LOVE HIM ┐(╹ワ╹▰)┌）He gives her information about the kidnapping and then thats when she goes and beats all those dudes up. ( ‘ ◡ ‘ ) b  She rescues the girl, the girl gets a ride on a horse-in disguise to her house. (How awesome is that <(◕ˇ◡ˇ◕｡)/)

BECAUSE UR NOT SUPPOSED TO DIE U BOZO

[｡・～・｡]  It’s all a blur now, but I seem to know what happens. Izaya talks to the girl for a while on the roof of her apartement, and after he leaves (and scaring her by almost throwing her off the building) she tries to suicide again. There was a blood stain on the floor and I’m suspiciously guessing that it was hers. She jumps and then Sterluson saves her using her awsome dark powers (LMAO) and she asks Sterl’why she saved her. Sterluson types something on her phone and shows it too her but I couldn’t read it, it’s something about  the world. [｢＞△＜]｢

I TYPED IT UP. あなたが考えているほど世界はどくないから。

RATINGS overall : [8.3/10] didn’t really strike me as WOW but it was pretty good ;D the plot came together really well… I WANNA KNOW MORE ABOUT SHIZUO. LOLS.

ANIMATION : [8/10] Not an expert about this but it’s fine, except for the talking. PLEASE SYNC THE MOUTH WITH THE VOICE -3-

Sable Prince by Nesumi Chisato; a shounen-esque shoujo, but it's actually the romance (?) that's holding me (normally I'd go for the plot more) :D

Sable Prince by Nesumi Chisato is being scanlated by Scarlet Carnival, and they recently finished volume 1. I’ve been following this for a while (since the second chapter, I believe) but didn’t really find a reason to blog it until this one. :3

The story is basically about an heir to the demon throne (Vilof) who is travelling alongside a “mysterious” companion (Pierre). Despite it being “shoujo” and not “shounen-ai” I honestly thought it’d be one of those subtle friendship mangas at the very least. (Okay I lied; Hetalia has corrupted me, I was kinda thinking shounen-ai…)

Was I ever wrong.

FWAAAH PIERRExGIZELO! Click for the full version, if you're like me and can't handle mere thumbnails of such panels. *A*

Eff yes! Knight/princess love, and I’m loving it. Uh yeah, he’s a guy with really long hair (he untied it to give the ribbon thing to his lady teehee).

I want to know their back story; forbidden loves are always interesting, so I’m looking forward to this one. Vilof won’t seem to care though, so I think things’ll work out (save me the typical shoujo drama of a girl caught between two guys, please). He says he’ll write her “another” letter, which means he’s in regular correspondence with her?

Makes you wonder though, whether or not Pierre has an ulterior motive. :/

Otherwise, so far it’s been a series of stories about their encounters with random villages etc., so I’m hoping everything will culminate in the second volume and that little flesh-eating girl will come back. I kinda liked her, she was fun.

Lapis Lazuli no Oukan by KAWASE Natsuna

This was licensed and published in English as The Lapis Lazuli Crown. I started reading this over a year ago, but the scanlating group dropped it and only recently were the remaining chapters uploaded, so I thought I might as well post a short review. :3

Before the series review, a note about the new category.【Spotlight】is where Kyfni (or one of her partners-in-crime) will review completed series, since there’s no point in creating a category for them when they aren’t going to be used again, right? So of course, spoilers abound. (:

Also, updates to the fanart will be late this week because my thumbnail-creator (i.e. Photoshop) doesn’t like me. :/

【Lapiz Lazuli no Oukan】

I’m a fan of KAWASE Natsuna; except I’m not sure what it is exactly about her works that appeal to me. The art’s pretty average (cute, yes), and the plot isn’t deep or particularly unique, so it’s probably the magic. A lot of her series have some kind of sci-fi/fantasy element involved, which is arguably my favourite genre~

Radi and Miel; radi like 'radiant' and miel is French for 'honey'~

The protagonists of this story are Radi and Miel(/Mieru), a prince and the descendent of an aristocrat. In their world, they are two of a handful of people who can use magic (channelled via precious stones like Lapis Lazuli, also the national gem), but for one reason or another Radi never uses his magic publicly which causes a certain degree of mistrust from his subjects. His brother Citrona on the other hand (who is four years younger) has immense magical power, and it’s no secret that one of the highest ranking aristocrat families want him to control the crown’s barrier instead (the most important duty of their kingdom, since the crown has a lot of power sealed within it). The catch is, Citrona’s power is unstable;

That’s the basic plot, but I found that it wasn’t want struck my interest. I liked to read about the girl with unnatural strength, whose goal was to ’seduce the crown prince’ yet unknowingly met him on the street. She’s not a very good magic user, but her determination to enter the palace and help him was what drove the story forwards; and her enormous strength proved to be beneficial in relation to her magical capability.

It was cut a bit short due to an untimely ending, but it was wrapped up pretty nicely along with a few omake panels at the end of the volume. We probably could have benefited from a few more chapters, but again, it wasn’t the plot that held my attention in this case. The heroine was strong not only physically, and the hero was fun to follow. To be honest, their personalities were a bit bland, but it was nice to read something without the thousand servings of drama per chapter.

Happily ever afters are best, though I would've liked to see how Radi would have dealt with all the marriage proposals he predicted Miel would receive... :3

There are some side stories with her family and friends, and this guy who makes Radi jealous (teehee) but I loved the interaction between Miel and Radi the most. They’re just so… pure? Love was a theme, but it wasn’t a “love will conquer all” manga. I’m not really sure how to say it other than that, but it was fun watching Miel mature and Radi… well, be Radi.

The tone is mellow, and I’ll probably re-read this a couple of times. It’s memorable because it’s sweet, and the bits of humour are more adorable than funny. Also, I rather like Radi with long hair; he actually looks like he’s 18. xD

【Rating】8/10 ;; for being a refreshing read, and the magic gives it bonus points. ♦

The cast of Chibisan Date! We have four males and four females, hmm~ :)

Trying a slightly different collaboration style; summary on top (click the pink link for the collapsable text block!) and commentary at the bottom. Hopefully this’ll help churn out our posts faster; and let us actually follow our schedule. ^^;;

Chibisan Date is written and drawn by Himaruya Hidekaz, mangaka of Axis Powers: Hetalia fame. We love APH, and the same holds true for this new series; and the art is amazing. Scanlations by an anon on 4chan, retrieved from the LJ community. :)

Impressions of the first three-and-a-half chapters, click the jump!

His friends and housemates seem to be really supportive of him; with friends like these, why so sad, Seiji?

Summary ;; Seiji the uninspired artist :(

The main character reminds me of a bunch of Hetalia nations… but he’s unique enough and I’m growing to like him. I like the tone of this manga, it’s so calm; and I’m really looking forward to the development of Seiji’s character. The introduction of nearly the whole cast (referring to the title spread) might have been a bit too much, but the chapter length was adequate and I think it really emphasizes their closeness on this island. ♥

Anything that uses Himaruya’s art is going to remind me of Hetalia ffff. Seiji kinda reminds me of Nihon, but the more I read the more I see he’s different. Such a cutie. >w< And he lives on Alfred's ahoge hurrhurr /yeahI'mgoingtomakealotofAPHreferences. Artist's block, don't I know that feeling too xD

In which Honorat channels Francis, and the boys bond a bit more.

Summary ;; Do artistic minds think alike?

Uhm it might just my Hetalia-corrupt mind, but about Seiji moving countries, USUK anyone? /shottt

Ohohoh Kyfni. Thank you for giving me reasons to ship even though they’re not even in this XD

Anyways, I find it really sweet what Fischer’s doing for him, and I really hope Seiji finds his muse. (Maybe it’ll come in the form of a person? That’s just the fangirl begging for romance, ignore her. -w-)

Well, romance would be s-s-so cute ;w; This story just like, radiates sweetness. :3

B-but just imagine, Seiji might have a British accent… *instant fan!*

Hosnap that would be epic win. *A* Well if he grew up there, then… C: We’ll see I guess. xD

Seiji reads Margaret's exchange diary and finds a little bit more about his lady friend, including what might be a confession?

Summary ;; Seiji and Margaret are love ♥♥

Seiji doesn't have any questions to ask at the moment, hm~? And the diary's written in English!

My OTP. I love this romance already, it’s so very peaceful~ and you can tell she really likes him even though he doesn’t know it (yet). Their interaction is really nice too because their contrasting personalities are evident~ maybe she’s the muse he’s looking for! Hope we’ll get to see more development, ’cause that would be lovely.

Oh gosh, the cuteness it KILLS. So sweet. ;w; Margaret’s such a sweetie lol. The easiest way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. 8D LOL I agree.

And I love that the diary is in English. Takes place here in America, so it makes sense yay~ I half expected it to be scribbled or in Japanese xD

Seichii is cute, cute~

Summary ;; Hair musings

Chibitalia~! Again! I’m loving all these APH references. But nyuu, don’t do it Seiji—I like your hair as-is. ;A; And efff lol, he’s waaay too adorable. *h-huggles*

alskdj;alsdkfjs;foishgsk HE’S SO CUTE. ;A; -also hugs him-
Kyfni you think our husbands might get a little weirded out by this post, maybe. XD
No worries they’ll never see~ plus they have each other still

We love them too much and this image was too perfect not to use~ even though Prussia is missing. Happy 2010, and best wishes for the new year! We're sure looking forward to it (and the third season of Hetalia too!), aren't you? ;D

Hello, all! Hope your countdowns were amazingly fun to welcome in new year. The start of another decade, and we’ve decided to add onto this milestone and re-kickstart of our blog. So come on in, and make yourselves comfortable; that’s what we aim for with this layout. ^^

We’ll start reviews shortly (too much HTML/CSS/FTP pwn’ing to manage this grand re-opening and all in one day) but until then, we have something to share~

Mainly for us, since we don’t want to forget~ but we hope you enjoy browsing too. For our commentary, scroll down and click the cut~

So! In an effort to be more organized, we’ve devised a schedule. Click the banner below to check it out and stalk I guess.

And of course, a few housekeeping things as well. The four avatars to the right link to the section we’re respectively in charge of~ so expect more frequent updates of AMVs and win scenes, Vocaloid reviews, doujinshi suggestions, fanfiction recommendations and gorgeous fanarts. Starting… now! So click and gogogo! A few pages here and there have been swept and tidied; the mp3s have been removed at our host’s request, but there’re always other sources for your viewing (or listening) pleasure.

That’s it from us (for now~), so please enjoy your stay. We look forward to fangirling with you in the future!

With love,
Mitsukyen ♥

【Version 3 ♥ Banner Commentary!】
Click the thumbnail for the full banner. :D

This one was made ’cause it’s my OTP, because that’s how much I love Prussia (and Hungary). The text reflects how they’re mainly a childhood love pairing, though I WISH they’d be featured more canon-wise.

Min loves the Asia-tans of Hetalia, and this image was too pretty to pass up. It’s so happy and cute and awww~ >w<

*COF* Sorry late reply hgnhgnhgngh;;; anyway even though its actual is gonna be far from now BRACK WROCK SHOOTA gonna be da bomb

Boyfriend is ending at 11 chapters nyuu~ there weren’t many images to work with, but I really liked the colours. The awkward square used to be filled with Hijiki’s thoughts, so I worked my way around it. xD

>//< Haha~ I used so many sparkly brushes on this one. WEWT, WINRY AND ED ARE LOOKING HAWT. *pats al*

I wanted a random banner. With paw prints. And I love Mr. Bear…?

I had almost given up on Ribon but kyaaah~ I love her art, and after seeing this calendar scan~ kinda wish I could’ve done something to pretty up the hearts, but oh well. It kinda looks like a Venn diagram OTL

THIS PIC, was in bad quality, I did the best I could. Haha, not very pleased with it.

This fanon pairing was the main reason I started reading KHR. There was prettier fanart, but I like how simple this was. And sunset-like (but why would you need an umbrella in the sunset? Maybe it just rained).

Ah~ I love Kobato and her squeaky voice. ;u; Tsk tsk Ioryogi, what are you drinking? l<

My winter anime banner LOL /was too lazy to make the rest But hopefully Sora no Woto will be awesome ouob

HGNNNH Starry Skys hot bishies were to hawt to resist TuT So I got sucked into the fandom ;u;u;u;b *IS BIASED TO LIBRA*Banner to commerate STA SKY ~in spring~ anime ouob

For Minchii and I, because we miss TRC to death and these were our favourite characters. We shall love you forever ♥

WEWT. One of the most pwnsome animes ever, I can imagine Battler saying… “OBJECTION!” Ace attorney has messed me up pretty badly…

It was another image I thought was cute. >w< And there are four characters there, so its perfect. ;D It’s only a fraction of how truly spazztastic we really are. XD

Luckily, my knowledge of Japanese allowed me to understand like, a tinyyy bit of what was going on. So yeah. Don’t laugh if my interpretations are wrong. XD

My overall impression of this episode: TOTALLY LULZY LIEK OMG AHAHAHHA

Nihon why so cute

So yeah, Nihon has to like shadow France around or something, idk lol

Lol for once he doesn't creep me out

But it’s funny. France does that shiney-flower kisu thing where girls go kya, and Nihon tries it too. C:

I don't know whether to laugh or facepalm. XD

BUT. ASLJDKF;LSKDJFEOI;;;;;;;;;;

commence Kagamin dying in 3...

2....

/faints

"Eh? Did I hear a squeal and then something hitting the ground?"

/brb dead.
SO ANYWAYS~ Uhm, France notices Japan copying him, then tries to do the old “Furansu-niichan is amazing and blahblah” but Japan says like 4 words then notices. xD I lol’d at the sfx.

Yeah, then it moves on to some scene I didn’t get, BUT!

ISN'T HE JUST SO CUTE OMG.

He looks like a Japanese schoolboy. So cute. XD
Scene cut to Canada [da yo]~! Being the normal and wondering how he can find a way to stand out. -w-

Kumatan so cute. ;w;

And he comes up with something…

THE MOE HAS IDEA OWO

Dun dun duuuun. It’s putting a maple leaf sticker on his forehead. XD

"Look Alfred aren't I a genius ^o^"

Lol so cute, Matthew. But America has other ideas. =w=

*SMACK*

I apologize in advance about my country's actions towards Canada. :'D

Alfred I love you. xD
Cue ending theme, America’s version lol. Then some stuff afterwards…

ALFRED Y SO CUTE OMG

Ahaha, gawd I love him.

And nao have some Nihon before you go lolol

Woot. So yeah. I liked this episode. Very much. XD

A bit late, but we’re on hiatus as we wait for the winter break! Read: school is keeping all of us quite occupied, among other things; but we’ll be back & better than ever as soon as we can.

Fate seems to be quite a predominant theme, and these red strings really tie things up */shot*

I quickly merged the colour spread, and let me say this from an editor’s perspective: despite the two sides actually matching up, the quality was… atrocious to work with.

Still though, lovely chapter. Thanks to raw-paradise for the scans! Won’t even attempt to translate this time (except once…), much too wordy. Just cleaned up some scans to make this post sparkle.

We ended off last time with the news of Kaoru’s death, which visibly shocks everyone. I have never seen Natsume this sad ;~;

There’s a ton of dialogue next, between Yuka and who I suppose is some important figure in ‘Z’ but I’ll leave my analysis of that for after the scanlation comes out.

The bottom line though, is that Yuka is more determined than ever (probably to fix things and end the Elementary School Principal’s reign of… clones). Followed by a touching moment of YukaxShiki and flashbacks of everyone. >A<

I have a feeling that we probably won't see some of these faces for a while... >A<

Here’s the heartwarming moment of this chapter: following Tono’s lead, everyone gives Mikan their Alice stone to protect her. Aww~ and Natsume finally tells her (in his indirect way) that the Alice stone she received on her birthday was from him. s2 I love this scene!

Mikan gets a kiss from Tsubasa, no fair! Even if just a peck... anyways, they're all so sweet! Fwaah~ I honestly want more NatsumexMikan, so I hope he goes with her or something...!

Back at the High School Principal’s office, however… there’s nothing there except a mess of papers and broken glass. Pretty much official conclusion to the flashback arc.

They are so supportive, it's incredibly touching~ in contrast, the right scene is quite eerie...

These past few chapters have really portrayed the seriousness of their situation quite well; namely, that of children caught up in the affairs of adults. Maybe they’re a bit mature for their age, but to be honest, the fact that they’re 10-11 years old flies out of my head when I’m reading this (not necessarily a bad thing). I’m guessing that this exactly what Yuka feared: that their brief reunion would be their last. But if Yuka’s no longer here, then what about Mikan’s choice?

I’m not sure, but the scene doesn’t seem to be one where a major struggle occured. They either ran away, or they were captured; I’m doubting any deaths at the moment, but… welcome to the world of Alices. *shivers*

Next chapter out on December 5th; so far away! ;A;

Plug (again): I’m scanlating the “prohibited questions” pages of the Gakuen Alice art fanbook here so please enjoy them~ latest is Natsume; confessions (or not) of a tsundere.