Misaki Chronicles, Divergence Eve 2 – Anime series

Title - Misaki Chronicles, Divergence EVE 2
Languge - Japanese
Genre - Anime, Sci-Fi

Misaki Chronicle is the 13 episode sequel to Divergence EVE and is set almost directly after first series.  I advise that you watch Divergence EVE before Misaki chronicles as the characters are already established and you do need to know the story.

Misaki Chronicle can be split into two parts, in the first part we find (in the second episode) the habitation ring of Watchers Nest, which was used as part of the evacuation at the end of the last series has travelled through the wormhole and attempted to enter into an orbit around earth but as they try to enter orbit, what looks like a number of Ghoul travel to earth which is then surrounded by a green energy barrier.  The habitation rings set up orbit around the moon and start to investigate what has happened.  The barrier turns out to be a temporal barrier tuned to various times in Japans history; although this is the history from Divergence EVE so some of the time periods are still in the future.

Lyar & Kiri are sent down to Earth to find out what is happening. 

The first two episodes, at first seem to be a prequel to Divergence EVE (We don’t find out about waters nest until the beginning of the second episode and even then we are told what has happen in bits) as we follow Misaki, first with flash’ s of when she was a little girl and then as the joins the Space core and goes through her training on earth, during this time Lyar has come through the barrier and follows a signal which she believes is a Ghoul  but, when she finds what is causing the signal she finds a young version of Misaki.  Following the young Misaki, Lyar find the current Misaki who is thinking of leaving her training.  While Lyar & Misaki talk they are interrupted by the manifestation of a Ghoul, at the same time the other members of Seraphim (Except Kotoko-01) who are also training.  When Lyar returns to Watchers nest we find out that Seraphim did not meet up until they were on Watchers Nest.

The next couple of episodes are set during historical periods in earth’s history; I won’t give too much away except to say that Misaki is present in all of the time periods trying to change history to make things happier, when she needs to use more force Misaki appears in her ghoul form (as seen in Divergence eve.  Episode 5 is set during the training Misaki’s farther had to undertake to be sent out to watchers nest. As Lyar & Kiri leave earth at the end of this episode the green temporal barrier changes almost trapping them in the past and, when they return to the habitation ring they find that there is now two versions of Watchers nest, the one that is now orbiting the moon and the original one.  This leads us into the second part of the which sees Lyar, Kiri, Kotoko (upgraded and given a ‘cuter’ look) and Susanna (who, at first thinks she has been recruited to help but who later gets her memories back) travel to the original watchers nest where they meet up with Misaki’s human form & find her ghoul form holing back a ghoul invasion.

 The second half of the series continues the story from Divergence Eve where we find out more about the necromancers (the dead in the Rampart armour who haunt the planet below Watchers nest) and the connection to LaBlanc and Alchemy, we also find out why Prim was working for Alchemy and the true purpose of Watchers Nest.

I had a bit of a problem getting a copy of Misaki chronicles here in the UK but I am glad I managed to find one.  Misaki Chronicles is a good follow up to Divergence EVE and expands well on the science used in the original it also tie’s up the loose plot lines (even a couple you may not have noticed ) and follows the darker tone that is present at the end of Divergence EVE.  There are a couple of hints that leave an opening for a 3^rd series but, as far as I know this is the end of the anime.  There is a bit of the ending that I did not think was altogether necessary but that was added on to make the ending a bit happier.  In saying that Misaki Chronicles does end the two series’ well and has the right amount of humour in it to stop it from being a very dark and depressing series and, of course there is the same camera shots of large breasts  and some nudity for fan service.

Sekirei season one

Title - Sekirei season one

Language - Japanese

Genre – Anime, Sci-Fi, Ecchi  

“The Sekirei Plot has begun”

Sekirei is a ‘Harem’ anime and the first few episodes focus on the female Sekirei, introducing us to the different characters and their powers.  Most of the Sekirei are ‘moe girls’ that is big eyes, big breasts and certain hair styles and during the fights between Sekirei one of them normally loses at least some of her clothes.

There are certain types of female characters that appear in anime and manga and most of them are present in Sekirei, for example:

There is the fighter

Twins

The computer geek

A young girl

Someone in a maid’s outfit

Characters with animal ears & tails are missing from Sekirei but there is a lot of fan service in the series which is ok if you are a fan (& I amJ)

Sekirei is a fun series that doesn’t take too much thought and is well worth a watch but be aware that it could be classed as ‘Ecchi’ so may not be suitable for younger viewers.

The first season of Sekirei is a 12 episode anime.  In the first episode we are introduced to Minato Sahashi who has just failed his college entrance exams for a second time.  On his way Minato hears someone show and looks up just in time to have a girl land on him, before he has time to recover they are attacked by two more women who are firing lightening out of their hands.  The girl grabs Minato and they run to get away from the attackers. When they are safe the girl introduces herself as Musubi, a ‘Sekirei’.  Musubi is not sure why she grabbed Minato when she escaped as she was could have got away quicker without him and he was in no danger as the two attackers, who are also ‘Sekirei’ were after her because she was ‘had not yet been winged’ and should have been an easy kill.  As the first episode continues Musubi realizes that Minato must be her ‘Ashikabi’ and when she kiss’s him she gets her wings.

As the series continues we learn that the Sekirei were found on board a crashed alien spaceship by Hiroto Minaka, head of the MBI, a large and mysterious company. 108 Sekirei have been turned lose as part of the ‘Sekirei plan’ which is a battle royal of the Sekirei with the prize that the last surviving Sekirei and their Ashikabi will be able to stay together forever. The series starts during Phase one of the ‘Sekirei Plan’ where, although the Sekirei can fight with each other the main objective is for them to find their ‘Ashikabi’ who is a normal person who is genetically linked to the Sekirei. Once a Sekirei is linked they will gain more power and fight for and to protect their Ashikabi.  Some Sekirei count themselves as their Ashikabi’s legal wife.  An Ashikabi can have more than one Sekirei but a Sekirei can only have one Ashikabi.

As Minato is drawn into the world of the Sekirei he meets other Ashikabi’s and their Sekirei, some are friendly while others just want to fight.  There is also a ‘un numbered Sekirei’ hinting that there are more than the 108 that have officially been set loose.  Minato also learns the different way’s a Sekirei can meet and be joined with an Ashikabi.  The normal way is that a Sekirei will find their Ashikabi by accident and it is hinted that the MBI have arranged for people they know to be Ashikabi’s to be in the city for the Sekirei to find.  A Sekirei can also try to find their Ashikabi through their dreams and help the Ashikabi to find them. A Sekirei has one Ashikabi they are meant to be with but once someone finds out that they are an Ashikabi they can take a Sekirei by force.

As the series moves on the Sekirei plan enters phase 2 where the city is cordoned off by the MBI and no Sekirei and Ashikabi are allowed to leave, this is where the battle royal is meant to fully start but some Sekirei do not want to fight and Minato and his Sekirei try to help one pair to escape.

The tone of the series gets more serious from this point as the level of danger rises for the main characters but, as it continues the main themes of the power of love & friendship is built upon.  If these themes were covered in a different way then Sekirei would be a different show and would probably be classed as a romance but with the comedy playing of the Sekirei fighting over Minato and the many times the characters lose their clothes this is definitely one for the guys. The end of Sekirei ties up most of the series plots but there are still some un answered questions not to mention ‘To be continued’ so I’m looking forward for season 2.  

Fades (BBC3 9..-10.PM Wednesday’s) vs. Bleach (on-going anime)

 

A new supernatural series, Fades, started on BBC3 yesterday and yes, it was good but I was only about 10 minutes into the episode when I started to notice a few similarity’s to an anime called Bleach.

First off let’s start off with an over view of the shows.

 Fades follows Paul a young man who starts to see ‘Fades’, these are the ghosts who have not gone above (to the afterlife) but have remained on earth.  When Paul starts to see the Fades he is in a rundown shopping centre where he meets Neil and the badly injured Sarah who are fighting ‘something’ (when asked if it is a fade the reply is ‘no he is something else’).

As well as the ability to see Fades Paul is also having dreams about the end of the world, a talent he shared with Sarah.

Paul meets up with Neil again who starts to help him use his abilities. 

Bleach is a Japanese anime that follows the adventures of Ichigo, a 17 year old High school student who has the ability to see ghosts.  Ichigo finds that there is something attacking the ghost’s and ends up helping woman named Rukia when the creature (called a Hollow) attacks her.  Rukia turns out to be from soul society (the afterlife) and, due to being injured she passes on her power to Ichigo who she then trains in fighting the Hollows.

So, both shows follow a main character that have the ability to see ghosts when most people are not even aware of their existence.

Both shows have one afterlife as a pose the normal (western) 2 (Heaven & Hell)

Both main characters have a trainer who is slightly outside the law, Rukia from Bleach passed her powers onto the mortal Itchigo which is a major crime in soul society.  Neil, in Fades uses guns (illegal in the UK) and is always on the move, as we have only had one episode of Fades we don’t know much about Neil’s past but it is likely that he is living outside of the law.

Both shows have spirits that have stayed on earth instead of going to the afterlife.  In Bleach this either because they have a reason to stay or they are scared to cross over.

In Fades we are first told that it is because many of the paths to the afterlife have been blocked by concert but, at the end of the first episode a spirit does not cross over seemingly by choice (I’m trying not give too much away)

Both shows have a secondary type of undead which is the main enemy of the show (I know Bleach has more than one type of undead antagonist but it also has over 400 episodes, as Fades only has one episode at the time of righting so I’m using the first series of Bleach)

The Hollows in Bleach are formed from an angry ghost who cannot Passover to the afterlife because they are attached to the world for an reason, normally, greed or another selfish reason, this eats away at them leaving them empty or hollow, once they pass the point of no return they become a Hollow.

Although we don’t yet know what ‘He’ is in Fades we know that he is a form of undead and that He has only recently been able to touch/harm the living and if He makes it across then others will follow.  We are also told that the ghosts who remain on earth cannot touch any living matter because it will burn them; this leaves a lot of them feeling angry and empty.

Ichigo has supernatural help in the form of Rukia and it is hinted that there will be a ghost helping Paul at the end of episode 1.

There are also supporting cast members who have different but useful powers to the main charter. Ichigo has a number of friends with powers the main 3 are:

Orihime who can heal

Yasutora (Chad) who has extra strength

Ishida who has wepons of faith

Again I know there are a lot more characters in Bleach but you tend to pick up a big supporting cast in 400 episodes.

In the first episode of fades we have been introduced to Helen who has the ability to heal, like Orihime it takes a lot to use this power, unlike Orihime Helen can heal with the power of touch  and not with the help of fairy’s but we  did see a moth come out of her mouth after the healing.

As well as the characters and plot the two shows have a similar feel, true Fades is played a bit more for jumps but both shows follow a hero who is different but who needs the help of his friends.  The settings and camera angles in both shows are very similar as well as the look and feel of the ghosts.

I am aware that, as a species we share many myths and significant archetypes but Fades breaks with at least one current western myth by only having one realm in the afterlife instead of the generally know two (Heaven & Hell).  To get so many similarities into a show which has had only one episode and a show like Bleach strikes me as a bit odd especially as Bleach is from Japan, a country which, in many ways is culturally different from our own to the extent that their cultural archetypes can be seen to be different.

In saying all that there has only been one episode of Fades so it could easily take a different turn. If not expect possessed stuffed toys, creepy shop owners who know what’s going on, women turning into cats and a visit from whoever lives in the afterlife.  Even if Fades does take a different turn I wouldn’t be surprised to see at least one of those to turn up and if it’s the cat women let’s hope she has the same sense of humour as Yoruichi 

Nude Nuns with Big Guns (2010)

Title - Nude Nuns with Big Guns
Director - Joseph Guzman
Language - English
Genra - Grindhouse, action, nunspolitation (is that even a word)









"Who the F@*k are you" almost every cast member to Sister Sarah.



Right, today's challenge is to review this without having to to change my settings to the ones for a mature audience or offending too many people.
 
Sister Sarah is a nun who has been sent from her convent to a church in Mexico because she sinned, her sin was being caught with another nun.  Unfortunately the church she was sent to is involved with the manufacture and supply of drugs, and prostitution.  When Sister Sarah is caught trying to hide a pack of drugs she is given to the local bike gang who also run the local brothel were she is kept on drugs and raped until she is almost dead which is when she is given to the closest thing the bike gang have to a doctor to either revive or kill.  Mr Foo, the doctor revives Sister Sarah who tells him that she died and saw God who told her:
1) She was not read to died
2)She has to kill all those who are sinning in his name
So Sister Sarah sets out on a mission of revenge against the church & the "Los Muertos" biker gang.

I think I only remember about 5 scenes where everyone has all their clothes on (I'm not complaining, just saying), There's plenty of violence and more than one lesbian (I suppose that should be more than two, one lesbian would have limited appeal).

It is Questioned in the film whether Sister Sarah is really on a mission for God or the Devil or was she just hallucinating from all the drugs. Who she is working for doesn't really matter Sister Sarah is the closest thing 'Nude nuns with Big Guns' to a  morally good character, if you ignore all the killings and lesbianism (I'm not saying being a lesbian is a bad thing but in the context of the film , and as Sister Sarah is a nun it's a bad thing to the other characters).  The only other characters with any redeeming features are Sister Angelina who joins Sister Sarah and becomes her lover, Mr Foo (he may be part of Los Muertos" but he does try to help Sister Sarah and gives her her first set of guns so with out him it would be a  short movie), and a family who just happen to stop for gas at the petrol station run by Los Muerto, I think their there to show just how bad the gang are.  We are given more evidence that Sister Sarah is fighting on Gods side in to ways:
1) she is only ever hit by one bullet (& not at the end of the film as you may expect) but she manges to kill almost everyone whit one shot.
2) the closer to the end of the film we get the whiter & cleaner her habit becomes symbolising the righteousness and purity of Sister Sarah and her cause.

There seems to be a bit of an anti male theme running through Nude Nuns with Big Guns, the only two good characters are lesbians, with one exception all the bad guys are male.  Although both sides use sex to get information Sister Sarah is seen seducing Butch (the female owner of a motel)  and only goes far enough to get the information she wants where as "Las Muertos" have 'Kickstand who specialises in raping people to the information they want and the victim usually end up dead.  The (almost) final scene is also a pretty anti male (or at least anti sex) message that seems to imply that the source of all evil is the penis.

I do have to admit that I did enjoy 'Nude Nuns with Big Guns'  but it is defiantly not suitable for the young or easily offended & here's hoping that the 'To be continued' ending is followed through