Dead Mount Death Play season 2

 I didn't get the hype after the first season, though I must say the second was better in my opinion.

 

And the reason for this was pretty simple, less comedy, more mystic horror, which was the premises of the series to begin with.

 

The second season focusses more on the battle between criminal organisations and the police force, with Polka (aka the Corpse God) and his band in there as a wild card.  Heck, one might even say that for a large part of the season, he has become a side character...  until all the arcs start to converge, and his friends get threatened as a result.

 

In order to protect them, he must use his necromantic powers to uncover all the connections and be able to save them, resulting in a large threeway confrontation that bridges bot his old and his new life.  The whole Sabaramond arc gets more intense, which also helps phasing out the often comical relief (or attempts at...) that where in the first season.

 

So yeah, this was a good season, though I won't call myself a fan of the franchise at all, it was let's say in enjoyable in between watch.  But as I didn't get hooked like crazy, took way to long to get through the 12 episodes of the season, so for my next series I'll better pick something that grabs me and wants me to binge through it all to get back on viewing schedule for this year.

 

Let's go and choose something from my to large to watch list... 

Wednesday season 2

 The hit series is back on Netflix, and I must say I enjoyed the first one.

 

And this time, it doesn't only focus around the titular character, but the whole family gets involved.

 

As Wednesday returns to Nevermore, she has Puglsey along this time, and he decides to keep a pet zombie he found.  Which of course is always a good idea... But Wednesday herself also has problems, as in her investigations she suddenly loses her psychic gift.  This influences her behaviour at school, as one of her last visions was her roommate Enid being killed, and she gets an actual stalker / fangirl in the form of Agnes.

 

As she looks further into the matter, the new principal, Dort (an awesome Steve Buscemi as always) enlists her mother Morticia to help in a fund raiser, and wants to bring Wednesday's grandmother in to make huge donations.  Which he of course does by not to legal means, like enlisting a student with siren powers.  And then the zombie escapes and turns out to be Isaac Knight, a former friend and co-student of Morticia and Gomez, and as it turns out the reason Gomez has no abilities.  His goal is to heal his former lover from her Hyde curse, which her son Tyler inherited.  They are sprung out of the assylum even with Wednesday and Fester trying to stop it, and go on a rampage.

 

It also turns out that Thing is actually Isaac's old right hand (literally) as the family opposes him after unraveling the whole fundraiser charade, resulting in Enid fleeing in the outback towards Canada, while Tyler loses his mother but is recruited by dr Capri, a werewolf herself.  And played fantastically by Billie Piper (hello Rose).

 

This was a really fun season, and actually more of an intense affair then the rather dark who-dunnit style of the first.  This also means a totally changing viewing experience, which some approve and others (like myself to be honest) find that it makes the season while fun, not as top tier as the first one.  

 

On the other hand, it is quite fun that it has become a "full" Addams Family show instead of a Wednesday solo adventure, as the other members have great things going about them as well.  Yeah, looking at you Fester, you loveable lunatic!

 

So surely check it out, it makes for some great laid back entertainment and one of the better series on Netflix at the moment for sure. 

Owari no Seraph: Nagoya Kessen-hen

 The second cour for Seraph of the End, it picks up where season one ended, right at the beginning of the battle for Nagoya.

 

With the lines drawn in season one, de Deamon Army and the Vampires now stand across each other, and a savage battle is about to begin... which will span the entire season!

 

As Yu and Guren become comrades, and finding out he is part of an experiment as he was told by Mika, they get ready for the battle.  Yu confronts his spiritual guide, as Yoichi defeats the first of the Four Horsemen of John.  Kureto deploys Guren and the military at Nagoya, as the vampires move to Tokyo for a month.  Mika receives a secret task from Krul as he feeds from her.

 

Yu and his squad are tasked to find Lucal Wesker, killing his servant Esther Lee in the process.  But lucal fends them off, but Yayoi distracts him but he kills himself to prevent capture.  In the meantime, captured soldiers commit suicide to prevent the vampires learning of their plans, but not before Aiko passes a message to Mika.  Yu confronts Crowley as the rest of the squad free the remaining hostages.

 

Kureto prepares to leave with Mirai as an experiment, as Yu finds an inner power after taking two pills and falling unconcious.  Mika saves him, as Yayoi and Taro are killed in the vampire attack, while the remaining soldiers are all moving to the airport.  But Kureto has other plans, and Guren leads the vampires to the airport to stop him completing it, but he manages to become the Fith Trumpet Abaddon and goes on a rampage, as Yu awakens himself as the Second Trumpet, destroying Abaddon.  

 

Ferid kills Krul for betraying the vampires, and Yu and his friends abandon the military.  Four months later, the army conquers Sanguinem as the vampires meet Lest Karr, another progenitor vampire like Krul...

 

So this was a heavy action season for sure, and it isn't a bad series at all.  Maybe just not entirely up my alley, but worth a watch if you like shonen vampire series. 

Alice in Borderland season 3

 Let's get one thing straight from the get-go: I hate it when it's called "the Japanese answer to Squid Game", not only is the television series actually older, we won't even talk about the comics it is based from...

 

No, this stems more from the movie classic Battle Royale... google it, watch it, enjoy!

 

 The third season numbers 6 episodes of about an hour in length, and deals with events five years after the meteor strike.  Arisu is interviewed by professor Ryuji Matsuyama, who is obsessed with the afterlife, and investigating the existence of Borderland.  Arisu and Usagi have married in this time, as Ryuji is brought to the edge of Borderland through a lethal seminar game.

 

Usagi has a flashback about their time in Borderland before disappearing, as Arisu is approached by Ann who still remembers the events.  Whe he finds Usagi and Ryuji in a coma, he is brought back to the game land with the help of Ann and knows he needs to face the final card of the deck, the Joker.  Joining with a group of survivors of the first game he must play, he goes in search of Usago, but the games are different now as they are steered to the next one instead of having a choice of game and difficulty.  

 

Joined by Rei during a zombie game, the team of Arisu encounters Usagi and Ryiju briefly during a runaway train game.  During the semi-final games, both groups lose members of their team, before meeting in a maze like game, which predicts their final lives as an outcome.  If they choose wrong, points are deducted and reaching 0 means instant death after a final movie of how their life played out.  

 

Arisu is forced to stay behind in the final room, making him the actual winner as Tokyo starts flooding on the outside, as he is met by Banda, a citizen who wants him to join their ranks.  Arisu rejects and breaks out to help the others as Borderlands starts to fall apart.  Banda is killed when he wants to shoot Arisu for rejecting him by a Watchman, who reveals the Joker is not a person but merely a symbol, and reveals a bigger disaster is coming then the meteor strike.  Arisu still chooses life and leaves with Usagi, as well as all the other survivors except Ryuji who picked death after coming to see how wrong his actions where.

 

Some time later, as Usagi is expecting their baby and Arisu interviews other survivors of the previous Borderlands games, giving some closure to where they where and what they have been up to without really remembering the events that transpired.  The news warns about multiple earthquakes taking place all over Earth, as we see some american clients in a diner stateside, served by a waitress called Alice...

 

And so the series ends, with the possibility of a fourth one.  Which I hope they make, but don't change it to an american action series though... only time, and Netflix, will tell I guess... 

Owari no Seraph

 The next of the list from Noshi's anime list that I haven't watched yet, as we are doing a serious end sprint to this goal.

 

Though I can already say, I won't be making it.  Not enough days in the year left anymore hehehe...

 

Based of the manga with the same name, Owari no Seraph (or Seraph of the End in english) is a post-apocalyptic vampire hunting series.  An unknown virus has killed the world population except for children younger then 13 years, and left those at the mercy of vampires.  Yu and Mika are residing in the orphanage in the vampire capital Sanguinem, but the children are killed by the vampire Ferid Bathory, Yu being the only survivor.  During his escape, he meets Guren Ichinose.

 

The series jumps forward four years, and Yu has joined the Imperial Demon Army, eager to join the Moon Demon Company that is tasked with hunting and killing the vampires, led by Guren.  He meets fellow recruits Shinoa and Yoichi, and after they help in holding off a vampire attack on the school, they are invited for recruitment training.  During training, they learn that Yu is possessed by a demon inside.

 

Mika is revealed to be alive, but has been turned into a vampire by Krul Tepes, who is assembling the vampires to declare war on humanity.  In the meantime, Yu, Yoichi and Shiho obtain their Crused Gear, demon powered weapons capable of defeating vampires and destroying them, and join the Moon Demon Company.  By saving a young girl and her orphanage, they learn where the vampires are amassing, and leave for the front lines.

 

During the battle, Mika attacks and injures Guren just as Yu arrives.  Yu hesitates to finish Mika, as Ferid lures Guren and Yu away, but seeing his friends in danger he loses control of his powers, slaughtering vampires all around.  Mika protects Shinoa, and she manages to calm Yu down, and the battle is delayed in a stalemate.  Mika allies himself partly with the humans, as both sides prepare for the final confrontation.

 

A high action packed series, and I must say I love the animation style of the characters.  A good one, and now onwards to the second season to see where this all will lead to! 

 

 

Gakusen Toshi Asterisk season 2

Back to back with the first season, I binged through the second one as well.

 

And while not to wild of the first one, this allowed me to scratch of another one from Noshi's list that I didn't watch yet. 

 

It picks up where the first season left, full in the Phoenix Vesta tournament, and as Ayato and Julis defeat their next opponents, maid Flora Klemm shows up in the locker room to meet Julis.  In the next encounter, Ayato is forced past his timelimit of his powers, and seriously battered up as a result, Julis able to save him only just.

 

Ayato unlocks his second seal in his pain, resulting that his power extends to an hour now, defeating their opponent while Saya and Kirin start their semi-final against the robot team of AR-D and RM-C.  They have the upper hand, but then the robots play their trump card, linking up into one powered up machine and defeating the girls.  During the match though, Flora is kidnapped, who demand that Aayato puts a freeze on his Ser Veresta, so he can no longer use the weapon.

 

As a rescue party is formed, Ayato battles without using his special weapon, to give the illusion he has put the lock on it.  Saya and Kirin arrive at the mafia hide-out, while Ayato and Julis face the robotic team in the Vesta finals.  As Flora is rescued, Claudia announces this over the arena's speakers, allowing Ayato to end the ruse and bring out his Ser Veresta, engaging the AR-D merged machine in a duel.  Julis transfers her energy to the weapon, and the big machine is brought down, Ayato and Julis winning the event.

 

They travel to Lieseltania for the winter break where Julis goes to meet her family.  But during the ball that evening, Gustave Malraux asks if Ayato would leave Claudia's team.  When he refuses, he is attacked by a huge Chimera, whom he defeats with his friends.  An old friend of Julis, Ophelia, also turns up, and teams with Gustave against Ayato and Julis.  Claudia arrives to defeat the two chimera's they summoned, and the injured Ayato is brought to hospital.  When he wakes, he learns the history between Julis and Ophelia.  

 

When Gustave attacks the Lieseltanian capital, they raly to hold him off, Kirin capturing him as Ayato finds his comatose sister Haruka, and meets Hilda Jane Rowlands, who offers to heal her by making her a genetically altered fighter, which Ayato refuses.

 

And the series ends there, at the verge of another tournament and a lot of ties still loose.  So in order to know how the story continues, one must go read the light novels, as there hasn't been a third season made so far... 

 

It wasn't bad, just like the first season an enjoyable adventure, but it won't leave a lasting impression though.  Check it out for some laid back entertainment is my advice for this series... and then go hunt for the books to learn it's conclusion! 

Gakusen Toshi Asterisk

 Time to scrape off another series of the list that Noshi saw, yet I didn't.

 

And that is Gakusen Toshi Asterisk, or The Asterisk War, a fantasy series with a bit of ecchi-ness to it apparantly.  (Spoiler: it has not past like episode 1, and only a single coming out of the shower scene).

 

Ayato Amagiri is a young male Genestella who is in Seidoukan Academy, who accidentally gets in a duel with fellow student Julis-Alexia Von Riessfeld.  The student council president Claudia Enfield intervenes, as he is fully enrolled into the Academy.  he blends in, starting to form a friendship with Julis, as he gets control of the Ser Veresta weapon during a test duel.  

 

Soon he discovers there are fierce rivalries running amongst the schools, as Seidoukan students are targetted for random attacks by Le Wolfe students.  This is done to injure as many as possible before the Phoenix Vesta tournament takes place, as such to increase their own chances to win.  Claudia strikes a partnership with Arlequint for research and development, as Ayato, who holds back, is defeated in a duel by Seidoukan's top student Kirin.

 

During a training session, a dragon and shapeshifting lizards intervene, but Ayato overcomes them, and Kirin who tells him her story decides to ally up with him instead of her uncle.  Saya and Kirin form a team to enter the Phoenix Vesta, as Ayato will join Julis.  Le Wolfe's student Irene Urzaiz, freshly out of prison, is given orders to defeat Ayato in the Phoenix Vesta, which also features a team of battle robots.

 

It turns out Irene is a vampire of sorts, needing to suck the blood from her sister Priscilla who has regenerative powers.  This in turn power her weapon, the Gravi-Sheath.  As they strike up a friendship, Ayato and Julis learn that Irene is indebted to the Le Wolfe leader and that is why she fights.  As they face off, they defeat Irene in the arena but the limit on Ayato's power is revealed as a result.

 

And so the first season ends in the middle of the tournament, and that means I'll swiftly catch the second one as well.  It's not an amazing series, but it has this enjoyment factor that just wants you to see it through, and that is after all what it is all about, isn't it? 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

K-Pop Demon Hunters

 I'm hip, I'm cool, I watched the hype that is amongst the youth these days, K-Pop Demon Hunters...

 

An american production riding on the high of K-pop music these days (bands like BTS being all the thing it seems), it's basically humans hunting demons and catchy music.

 

Long ago, demons prayed on humans, the demons ruled by Gwi-Ma.  Three women became the first demon hunters, and this has passed on through the generations, sealing demons away with the power of their singing behind a barrier called the Honmoon.

 

Current day, these hunters are the K-pop girl group Kuntr/x, comprised of Rumi, Mira and Zoey, guided by Celine.  The latter is a former hunter that raised Rumi, who has a secret demonic heritage only Celine knows about.  Another K-pop group, the boysband Saja Boys, are actually working for Gwi-Ma, led by their singer Jinu.  Jinu serves Gwi-Ma after his gift of a singing voice helped his family out of poverty over 400 years ago.  The plan works, as the Honmoon weakens and more souls are stolen by demons.

 

During a concert at the Idol Awards, Rumi's marks are exposed to her fellow bandmembers, but she manages to break the trance Gwi-Ma has placed over them by stopping the performance from the Saja Boys.  A repentant Jinu sacrifices himself to save Rumi from Gwi-Ma, and they manage to restore the Honmoon, and reconciles with Mira and Zoey.

 

Okay, so it wasn't actually bad at all, and the music is catchy.  But I admit, I am getting to old for these sorts of movies... 

Charlotte OVA: The Strong Ones

 Following in the trail of the Charlotte anime I recently completed, I also viewed the special OVA released afterwards, The Strong Ones.

 

This special extra episode was released about a year after the series, and takes place in the first half of the series, where they still work out from their highschool organisation.

 

It tells about Iori Sekiguchi, a mind reader and as such very hard to find.  Having been selected by the student council, Yuu and Nao must find a way to work around her mind reading powers to try and approach her, which is something made very difficult due to her powers.  

 

 

She can figure out the team's next moves, they eventually figure a way to work out what to do and bring her to the folds of the school. They do this by taking her out on a pleasant day to the amusement park, as they learn the girl has actually an incurable disease that will take away her mobility, and the problems this causes with her best friend.  But Nao manages to consolidate the two together, and Iori vows to do her best to fight the disease.

 

A nice little extra for the series, even though it doesn't resolve any of the loose ends left behind by the main series.  But when binging the series these days, it is best to view this OVA between episodes 4 and 5 for the timeline.

 

 

Charlotte

Time to pinch off another anime series that Noshi watched and I hadn't so far.

 

And this time, it is Charlotte, an anime exclusive from 2015.

 

Taking place in an alternate reality where the comet Charlotte passes Earth every 75 years, it spreads a dust over our planet that triggers special powers in certain children.  In Japan, Yuu Otosaka, receives the power to possess others for 5 seconds, using this to live a carefree life at school.  But he is caught out by Nao Tomori, and is forced to join Hoshinoumi Academy.  

 

Here he meets other people with powers, like Takajo who can move at incredible speeds.  He joins the student council, who's job is to prevent children falling in the hands of organisations wanting to exploit their powers.  A Japanese idol, Yusa, is also recruited, who is a medium to her deceased older sister Misa, who can take over her body and in doing so use her own pyrokinesis skills.  When Yuu's younger sister suddenly manifests a power that causes things around her to collapse, she dies in this event.

 

This causes Yuu to fall into a deep depression, going out to beat-up low level crooks to alleviate his loss.  Nao manages to pull him out and when he attends a concert of the band Zhiend, he thinks about his older brother, now deceased, Shunsuke who could time-travel.  He also learns his ability's true nature actually allows him to steal other people's powers, and uses the powers of his brother to go back in time to prevent his sister's deadly accident.

 

Nao and Kumagami, one of Shunsuke's closest friends, are kidnapped by a terrorist organisation, and Yuu tries to free them.  However, Yuu is seriously injured in this event while Kumagami is killed, and when he awakens from his injuries Yuu vows to travel the world and using his powers to protect all ability users.  This puts a drain on his memories and he collapses after finishing his job of stealing all the powers around, but he is taken back to Japan left with no memories by Shunsuke.  Nao tells him she is his girlfriend, and they set out to make new memories of their own...

 

A nice little, highly enjoyable series it must be said, and I binged through it over the time of two shifts as it has that little "addictive" trait of wanting to know what happens next.  

 

Certainly recommended!

Angel Beats!

 So, time to watch the first anime of the "Noshi has seen them but I haven't" goal of this year.

And that is Angel Beats!, a highschool afterlife series where students end up after suffering trauma and hardship in life.  So, not really my cup of tea, but let's have a look, and it comes highly scored on MAL as well.

 

It is also labelled as one of the "saddest anime ever", though I doubt it would wreck my like You Lie in April did...

Yuzuru Otonasho ends up in this afterlife, suffering from amnesia.  He meets the founder of the Afterlife Battlefront, Yuri Nakamura, who leads an organisation rebelling against whatever God has deviced in this cruel existence.  Their enemy is the student council president, a girl named Angel, who with her supernatural powers is believed to be an associate of God.  Other then the rebels, the afterlife seems filled with fabricated students and teachers, whom Yuri refers to as NPC's.

They undertake several missions even though they question the morality of them at times.  One of their members passes on from the afterlife during a concert after having achieved what she didn't reach in life: satisfaction of her music.  They manage to get Angel demoted from her position, as Yuzuru regains parts of his memory.  Yuzuru learns that Angel's true name is Kanade Tachibana, and he befriends her, remembering more of his past when he is in her presence. 

He helps her make peace with the rebels, and learns the purpose of this afterlife, reinstating as such Angel as the student council president as they help others finally pass on.  But mysterious shadow creatures start appearing, attacking the residents to turn them into NPC's themselves.  Many decide to pass on instead of getting stuck in that limbo, as they discover that the creatures where made to prevent love happening in the afterlife, to prevent it turning into a paradise where no-one would like to pass on from.  

Only five of them now remain, and after a graduation ceremony the others bar Angel and Yuzuru pass on.  He confesses he has fallen in love with her, and wants to stay with her in the afterlife to help others pass on after arriving there, but she moves on herself as she was unable to thank her heart's donor, Yuzuru, in the real life, leaving him behind alone.  Later on, two people resembling them meet in the real world, as in an alternate epilogue Yuzuru becomes the student president, helping others while he waits to see Angel again...

So, it is a sad anime indeed, but as I stated at the beginning, it didn't tear me up like April did.  Never the less, for me it was enjoyable, but not as great as it's MAL score reflected, but that is a matter of taste after all...

 

 

Ao No Exorcist the Movie

 I liked the Blue Exorcist series, and will definitly be watching the new series soon.

But there was also a movie, and that was the most recent anime I have taken a look at.

 

The story begins with a demon getting the sympathy of villages centuries ago, but as they spend all the time with the demon instead of tending their lands, the demon is sealed away.  In the current day preparations are taking place for a festival held every 11 years.  Rin, Yukio and Shiemi are send out to exorcise a Phantom Train, that got out of control after Rin and Shiemi tried to set free the ghosts still on board.

 

 

One of the demons inside escapes though, as Rin runs into a little demon he calls Usamoro and is still a child.  An exorcist wants to take him but Rin opposes, receiving the duty to babysit him instead.  Usamoro turns out to be a benevolent Kami that turned demon after suffering the pain of betrayal by those he tried to take care off.  He has the power to erase bad memories, trying to make people happy that way instead.

 

Usamoro uses this power on Rin and his friends, but this also makes them forget their duties of being responsible for the protection during the festival.  As a result, demons roam free, and Rin learns Usamoro is the same demon from a tale about a village his father used to tell them when they where children.  Thanks to the bonding they formed, Rin can make Usamoro see it is actually important for people to have bad memories though, as it helps them grow and evolve.

 

 

Although he accepts Rin's proposal to become part of his family, he sacrifices himself in order to stop the demon attacking the city, and it seems everyone now seems to forget about him as he erases all the memories of himself being present in their lives.  But Rin keeps remembering Usamoro though, and promises never to forget him as he goes visit his shrine.

 

This was a fun movie, with a rather dramatic ending to be fair, Usamoro really is cute and gentle, though driven by unknowing the consequences of his powers.  But a good stand alone instalment in the Blue Exorcist series, so worth checking out!

Shamaran season 2

 Back to back with the first season, me and Noshi dived in to watch more of this turkish fantasy romance.

And with Shamaran starting to awaken in Shashu and Lilith coming out of her well to get her vengeance, it looks like it will go up a notch.

And that it does right from the get go.  Maran's father Ural and his siters are slaughtered by the re-awakened Lilith, leaving him all alone and full of rage.  In the meantime, Lilith's followers gather as well, but Maran sniffs out Cihan's father as the murderer of one of his sisters, killing him as well in return.  

This causes Cihan to turn fully to Lilith, who wants to bring down Maran and Shashu by turning the basilisk people against them.  They both go into hiding in the basilisk area of the city, where the people are exploited in the local factory, working in bad and dangerous conditions.  Mirac fights mostly against this injustice, as a sort of union man, not caring to which side this means he must attach his fate.

But in order to awaken Shamaran, Shashu must undergo 3 trials, each at a personal loss of her own.  She accepts this fate, knowing it might be the only way to save humanity from her sister who is out to avenge the wrongs done to their people, caused in the far past by Camsap, who resides in Shashu's grandfather.  

Through her actions, Lilith even manages to create a revolt amongst the basilisks, something stopped by Shashu.  She revives Maran's youngest sister Diba as an assassin for her older brother, the attempt nearly succeeding but Shashu, awakening the power of Shamaran, prevents him from dying but costing him his snake part of his being.  Now a mortal, he never the less tries to fulfill the destiny still.  Camsap is finally freed from his curse, only to be immediatly killed by Lilith.

This means the cycle is broken, and the trials will end.  But Shashu / Shamaran sees one more way to restart the cycle after she seals her sister away again.  She allows herself to be awakened at last, and lures mr Mesut, Mirac's boss, to find her.  Terminally ill, he wants to slay her to gain the cure from her tale, and she allows this to happen before the eyes of a grief stricken Maran.  Maran was tricked by her into leading Mesut to her place, restarting the cycle a new, but poor Maran now having become the new Camsap as he who let the humans to Shamaran's hideout and causing her to be killed...

So that was a pretty good second series, and I really loved the conclusion and the all but happy ending this series has.  A very good Netflix find!

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

 The latest movie Noshi and me saw, this little 2016 box office hit is a fun family fantasy movie.

Though according to our Netflix, we have already seen it, yet neither could remember this, odd...

Jake was told stories by his grandfather about how he battled monsters and spending his childhood at Miss Peregrine's House for Peculiar Children, a magical place on the small island of Cairnholm in England.  All possessing paranormal powers, but when one day Jake finds his grandfather dying with his eyes removed, he is told to go to the loop of September 3, 1943.

The traumatic event causes him to start following therapy with Dr Golan, and together with his father Frank he travels to England to find closure.  He discovers the home destroyed from a Luftwaffe raid back in 1943, but when he enters the ruins he finds the children from his grandfather's stories.  They take him through a portal that wisks him back to 1943, with the house still intact.  

Miss Peregrine explains she belongs to a class called Ymbryne, who can transform into birds, and she and the children hide in a timeloop she created to not being prosecuted in the outside world.  This allows them to relive the same day all over, and prevent them from aging as long as they stay inside the loop.  Jake learns he is also a peculiar, being able to see invisible monsters called Hollows.  These hunt peculiars to consume the eyeballs, in order to maintain a human form, albeit with mily white eyes.

A wounded Ymbrine, miss Avocet, arrives, telling she was attacked by the head of the Hollows, Barron, in the 2016 Blackpool loop and he killed all her children.  Barron manages to get inside the loop, and reveals he has been nursing Jake to find and bring him to this loop, posing as his therapist and all.  

As another Hollow attacks, killing miss Avocet, Jake and the children escape and go after Barron and the captured miss Peregrine to Blackpool, restoring a sunken boat to do so as the home is destroyed by the Luftwaffe this time, breaking the loop.  They catch up to Barron and his monsters, and overcome them, Barron getting killed in the process.  

Jake says goodbye and goes to find his grandfather, as due to Barron being killed in an early loop, he never got to go after his grandfather.  He finds them and receives a map with the international time loops, using it to travel through time, serve in WW2 and eventually reuniting with his friends in 1943, where they go and seek a happy timeloop to live their lives in.

So this was one of those really amusing films to watch in the couch, and of course Eva Green adds that extra touch to everything, but I might be biased on that account.  But if you haven't seen it yet, surely go take a look at it, it's worth the time.

Shamaran season 1

The fun thing about Netflix is that at times you watch series you would never think about otherwise.

 

 

And one such series is Shamaran, a turkish romance fantasy series based on one of the tales from 1001 nights.

 

Based on a mythological prophecy that will turn out to be real, our heroine, Sashu, has travelled from Istanbul to Adana to seek out her estranged grandfather. He had left her mother when she was still at a young age, depressing her all her life.  Now that she has passed away, she brings him that news together with a rose seed her mother saved all her life.

She meets him, a man called Davut, as he shows her the letters her mother wrote, so she actually knew where he lived.  She also takes up a semester job as a teacher assistant at the local university for her stay.  She meet Maran, the son of davut's neighbour who lives there with his three sisters, and Cihan, an assistant at the school.

During a fire at the town festival, Sashu is saved by Maran, of whom we learn he is a Basilisk, half-man half-snake people that live hidden amongst the humans who worship Shahmaran.  His family thinks Sashu came to Adana to help fulfill a prophecy in which she and Maran must fall in love.  Cihan is also a basilisk, the son of one ot the believers, Lakmu, a good friend of Maran's father Ural.

A strange man in a black hoodie however stalks Sashu, and no-one can discover his identity.  He sets a trap for Sashu in the university basement, but the quick intervention of Diba (one of Maran's sisters) and Cihan save her.  But as she and Maran get better friends, Cihan gets more and more jealous of them, getting in league with the hooded man to kidnap her.  He is caught out however and beaten up by Maran, before being incarcerated by the family.

As more and more omens take place, including the fatal brithgiving of one of Davut's friends to a snake, it seems the prophecy is indeed going to be fullfilled at last.  Maran saves mr Davut from a heart attack, but in doing so he reveals his identity to Sashu and tells the story about who her grandfather really is: the immortal Camsap, human lover of Shahmaran who betrayed her trust for the benefit of helping someone out.  As a result Shahmaran was killed, but Camsap who received a portion of her can't die as a result, even though he keeps trying.  The prophecy also tells how Lilith, Shahmaran's sister, plots revenge from the vault she is locked away in.  

And as the season closes, she is awakening...

This definitly wasn't a bad discovery at all, and we will be watching season 2 over time as well, certainly worth checking out!

Date a Live V

 Shido and his harem of mighty spirits are back in the fifth season of Date A Live!

And he still has to try and steal that kiss from Kurumi!

The story picks up immediatly after the previous season, with Shido confiding with the girls that he has died 204 times before, and Kurumi all the time rewinded events to save him.  As the DEM is still out to kill him though, he must start taking preparations to stop them.

The DEM fleet appears at their vessel, and battle commences.  They have managed to gain the support of Mana and Origami's old forces, but are still heavily outnumbered.  But as battle commences, Kurumi takes out a part of the enemy fleet, claiming she is coming to the DEM's leadership head as the city itself changes into a cannon heavy defensive line.

Together with Kurumi, Shido and the spirits start to overcome the enemy.  As they discuss the path to take, Kurumi offers her kiss to seal her should Shido defeat DEM, but then suddenly the Spirit of Origin brusts from Kurumi.  In a flashback, we learn Shido was originally called Shinji, who lived together with his sister Mana.  One day, a spirit is found in their home, and they call her Mio, Shinji taking her out on a date.  But she is hunted by Westcott and his men, and while they flee Shinji is mortally shot.  Mio absorbs him, in order to recreate him so they can be together again and swearing she will always be at his side.

Back to the present day, as a dead Kurumi tumbles to the floor, Mio manaifest herself.  Shido remembers what happened, but he doesn't approve her methods of sacrificing others for her goal, as Reine, who was a part of Mio's consciousness, merges back with Mio to complete herself again.  As the spirits are one by one defeated by Mio, Shido faces Isaac Westcott.  

Westcott tells him how he is actually one of the last remaining Magi, looking for vengeance against humanity for wiping out his people in the far past, and he created the Spirit of Origin.  Shido defeats him eventually, but Mio succeeds in absorbing the Seraphs of all the others, completing herself to reunite with Shido / Shinji.  But Tohka, being the only "pure" spirit apart from Mio, breaks free and engages her, even pushing her back before being erased by her angel.

A clone from Kurumi, send into the future intervenes and while defeated shows the way to Shido on how to defeat Mio.  By using Zaphkiel, he travels back to the past, asking Reine out on a date in an effort to seal Mio before she appears.  But the DEM and Westcott are also still in that moment in time, and having learned through Beelzebub they change their attack plan.

Shido fails to seal Mio, and as she manifests Kotori and Mana join him in facing off the forces of the DEM.  Kurumi assaults Westcott, taking and absorbing his seraphim, as Shido once again kisses Mio in an effort to stop her.  The result is that they end in an closed pocket dimension, where not only he and Mio are, but also Reine and Shinji as seperated entities.  

Shido confronts Mio with the truth about why he was created by her, as Westcott plays his last trump card: to become a Spirit of Origin himself.  Together with the other spirits they face him, but his powers go out of control.  This forces Mio to use her angel's cancelling powers on him, resulting in both being whisked out of existence, and her finally reuniting with Shinji in the afterlife.  

Awakening on the beach, Shido suddenly receives Reine's little teddybear, together with Mio's sepiraph crystal...

And so the fifth season (and the series?  I haven't read the light novels) comes to a close in which was a pretty intense adventure, definitly a highlight season in the franchise.

Demon Slayer: Hashira training arc

 It's time for the new season of Demon Slayer, and as we already saw in the cinema with the special preview, it starts with a bang as the Poison, Obonai and the Wind, Sanemi, Hashira's discovered Muzan's castle.

But as the Hashira need extra forces, Tanjirou and his friends are subjected to a special training regime to boost their strength and power by a multitude.

Tanjiro convinces a gloomy Giyu to join the training program as an instructor, as he was the only Hashira not to participate, even Tengen coming out of retirement to help training the Corps's recruits.  And in doing so, he learns more about Sabito, the ghost boy that helped him pass final selection, and his connection to Giyu.  But as the training continues, Upper Four is infiltrating the training village, searching for the location of Nezuko, now Muzan's prime target as she has overcome the sunlight curse.

After a mock training duel with Tengen and boosting his recruits morale, Tanjiro progresses to the class thought by Tokito, the Mist Hashira.  During the night, Tokito sneaks out to have training battles with the Mist and Poison Hashira, to keep their own skills honed as well.  Tanjiro  quickly masters his class, and is send onwards to the next training ground, which is held by the Love Hashira, Mitsuri.

 

 

At Mitsuri, he is trained into being flexible before moving to the Poison Hashira.  In this cruel training, he is learned to strike while being faced with obstacles, in this matter tied up fellow Demon Corps recruits.  Only when he manages to clear his mind and focus purely on his target he manages to overcome the test and land a succesfull strike on the Hashira, causing him to pass his training.

 

But for the next training, he faces the volatile Wind hashira.  When he runs into him having a discussion with his sibling Genya, whom he despises, Tanjiro intervenes.  The result is a huge brawl, and Tanjiro being forbidden to come near Sanemi aymore, banning him from this part of the training.

 

As he progresses together with Zenitsu to Gyomei, the Stone hashira, they reunite with Inosuke during a training that while seemingly simple, is gruelling hard.  The focus lies on the development of the lower body, by standing under waterfalls, lifting logs and pushing huge boulders.  Gyomei acknowledges Tanjiro, even though he is reluctant to accept this honour.  Gyomei tells him how he became a Demon Slayer, rumoured to be the strongest of the whole corps, accepting Tanjiro as one of them.  Sanemi discovers one of the eyes spies of Upper Four, as Muzan makes an appearance and goes to visit Ubayashiki, now bedridden due to the poison ever spreading further through his body.

 

 

It is revealed they share a slight bloodline, but Ubayashiki has boobytrapped his house, blowing it up together with his family and injuring Muzan.  Tamayo also intervenes as the Hashira, now finally united in purpose, arrive to engage him.  While seemingly at a disadvantage, he activates his plan, opening the Infinity Castle and having all the located Corps members by Upper Four fall inside...

 

So, the arc was shorter then the previous ones, counting only 8 episodes (though both the opener and the finale are double length features), and it has been announced that the Infinity Castle arc will be made as three movies.  And that also means this has been the final series for television of this gorgeously drawn and highly engaging anime series.

 

 

Tokyo Ghoul "Pinto"

 Part of the backlog cleaning, after watching "Jack" last week, I sat down for the second OVA of Tokyo Ghoul, "Pinto".

 

And I must say, I found this one very fascinating.

 

This OVA deals with the intrests ghouls take in normal humans, and the other way around, and how at times strange friendship's can be formed.  By using side characters, this also doesn't impact the main storyline that heavily.

Shuu Tsukiyama is such a ghoul, but one night while relishing on a victim, he is photographed in the act by Chie Hori.  An amateur photograph, she presents him with the perfect picture of his true nature, tingling his hedonistic nature.

Shee needs to clear the situation out, and finds she attends the same school as him.  He grows ever closer to the absent-minded, odd girl that Chie is, and challenges her that they both learn more of each others worlds, promising she will have better pictures as a result.

He takes her to a hospital where a nurse, whom he calls his white angel, beats and abuses an elderly man.  He intervenes at the last moment, allowing Chie to make photo's, but then throws her out of the window as he tells her she cannot have evidence of his being.

But he jumps after her and saves her in the end, realising he became to like her to much as a friend and they keep sharing desserts and plan the next events for phototaking.

This was as such a nice sidestory in the franchise, pretty intense on emotions I must say, and one of the best things so far I have seen in the whole Tokyo Ghoul series.