Felt like going a bit more in depth this time.
I’ll split the chapter to these sub-parts:
- Kan-pei revives
- Shuu possessed Sonsaku
- Ankoku Gyokuji Psycho awakening
- Darkness abound in Rakuyou
- Ryuubi returns
- Kan-pei succeeds Kan-u

The following pictures does not cover the whole chapter, I did skip some.
But I’ll try to cover most of the chapter in words.

And also there seems to be pictures of probably another set of Sangokuden exclusive weapon parts on the net, more on that after the chapter.

Continuing from last month’s losing (also action-packed) struggle of the Kan-u team and Taishiji in the darkness overran Gou…

Kanpei revives

[Unhealed wound opens]
Shuusou: Kan-u hold on there
Shuusou: Lets retreat for now!
Kan-u: ARGH!! W..What hero!!
Kan-u: Not being able to save one’s beloved son..what
Kan-u: Whats about being unequaled!! ARRRGGGHHH!!

[a light from the skies shines on the frozen Kan-pei]
Shuusou: w..wha..
Kan-u: (T..This light. Ryuubi-dono…)
[Kan-pei revives! Equipped with the Ryuukihou armor, Kan-u's piece]
Kan-u: Kan-pei
Kan-pei: Th..This armor is!?

skipping some pics.. chunks of text means picture skip :P
Kan-u reminds his son of the task at hand, to extinguish the dark flame (which is coming out from the mouth of a great tiger statue atop a cliff). With an Oogakiringeki, Kan-pei smashes the tiger statue to pieces.
But he seem to have awoken and freed something thats inside…

Shuu possessed Sonsaku

I’ll refer to him as Shuu

Shuu looks down at the three. Kan-pei is scared stiff at this monster before him. Kan-u and Shuusou look from below. Without warning Shuu threw tentacles of dark energy towards Kan-pei throwing him against the rocks.

As the dark energy weave through the grounds, Kan-u comments on the overwhelming level of dark energy.
A struggling Kan-pei wonders why this monster is in Gou…

Ankoku Gyokuji Psycho awakening
Darkness abound in Rakuyou

At capital Rakuyou, in the secret shrine of the giant Ankouku Gyokuji…

Shiba-En held on to his left chest. Seems to be pain. He is forced down on his knees. “uu..th..the Darkness…”

En: The Darkness…is coming
[A piece of the giant Ankouku Gyokuji cracks off...]
[The palace rumbling...]
**After his last appearrance in April, he is now in Gundam mode?**
Kyou-i: W..Whats going on?
Kyou-i: Got to go protect his Majesty
[Kyou-i hurries off...]

Kyou-i: Your Majesty
Kyou-i: What!?
[scene of blood greets Kyou-i]
Teiiku: u..uuu
Kyou-i: Sensei!!
Kyou-i: Hang in there Sensei, what happened?
Teiiku: T..Take this to Shou…
Kyou-i: This is?
[as Kyou-i receives the scroll...]

The Emperor parts and the 2 swords are now with Souhi

[Kyou-i fends of the sneak attack]
Kyou-i: Your Majesty?
Kyou-i: Enryuu Kiringeki!!
[Kyou-i escapes and looks back at the darkness overrun Souhi and court officials]
Teiiku: Hurry..to..Shou
Kyou-i: SENSEI!!

Ryuubi returns

Back at Gappi, Gou…

Kan-pei is having a hard time battling Shuu, being thrown about and finally Shuu chance upon a fallen Kan-pei. But Kan-u rushes to cover for his son…

Shuusou: General!!
Kan-pei: Father!! **kanji writes foster father but hiragana writes father**
Kan-u: GUAAAA!!!

Kan-u: Even if this body crumbles
Kan-u: For Mirisha…our country
Kan-u: DAOOOO!!!

Kan-u lands the hammer onto Shuu, pieces under the head is knocked out. Under which revels a shadowy face which Kan-u recognize. But before he could say more, Shuu stranggles Kan-u and crush him into the rocks. Kan-pei rushes over but suddenly there is a streak of light…

Ryuubi: Alright there, Kan-u?
**look at Kan-u’s expression, priceless :P**

Kan-u: Ryu..Ryuubi-dono!!

Kan-u: Ryu..Ryubi-san
Kan-pei: Father!
Ryuubi: Be on your guard
Kan-pei: ?
Ryuubi: Its not over yet
[Shuu comes up, using darkness to control the frozen marines]

Possible new variant of the old Ryuubi kit with new swords…

Ryuubi: The ones who are trapped by darkness
Ryuubi: This spell, the dragon shall break!!
Shin Ryuuteiken Hajyakensei !!

**not sure where the 4 are now**
Bachou: This is
Chou-un: The Ryuukihou is shining..
Kochou: Why is this happening
Chouhi: Don’t tell me Aniki has..
Koumei: The power of the dragon which purifies darkness…finally
Sousou: It is time

From Ryuubi a power burst out in the form of a flame dragon. As the dragon weaves through the marines it freed them from the darkness. Ryomou and Kannei regain their selves. Taishiji unfroze. “Is Gou saved?”, he asked. “No, not yet”, Ryuubi replied.

Shuu, with darkness smoking out, doesn’t look pleased. “Ryu..ryuu..te..i..ke..en”, Shuu speaks. The worn out Kan-u arises wanting to finish off Shuu but he is at his limit. Kan-pei runs over to him as he coughs…

Kan-pei succeeds Kan-u

Kan-u: Kan-pei, what are you doing
Kan-u: If you are a man you sould know what you ought to be doing
[Ryuubi understands Kan-u]
[Ryuubi handing over Kan-u's Oogaryuugetsutou]
Ryuubi: Kan-pei, are you going to do it?
Kan-pei: I..I

[Kan-pei receives the Oogaryuugetsutou]
Kan-pei: (T..This is father’s..)
Kan-pei: Father
Kan-pei: I’ll finish the rest.
Kan-u: umu
Ryuubi: Let’s go
Kan-pei: Yes!

Kan-pei and Ryuubi charge towards Shuu as they stake their lives to defeat Shuu…

[Kan-pei gives it his all]
Shuusou: General, now is the time to tend to your wounds
Kan-u: I’m fine, Shuusou
Kan-u: To be able to see my beloved son giving his all
Kan-u: The pain of the wound..

Kan-u: (You’ve become strong, Kan-pei..)
Kan-u: (Fu..that figure its like)

Kan-u: (- no, its not like me..)
Kan-u: (This father knows better than anyone)
Kan-u: (You have become a man, Kan-pei!!)
**Kanji writes “hero” but hiragana writes “man”**
Kan-pei: (Please look, father)
Kan-pei: (Right now, right here, everything that is inherited from you!!)

Heres a list of the manga chapters of Sangokuden Part 3: Senjin Kettou Hen and happenings of that chapter (previous parts are released in compiled volumes already) :

1) Splendid lion of the azure sky Bachou!
– Establish characters Bachou and Houtoku, Bachou vs darkness overrun Houtoku, Bachou kills Houtoku, Bachou goes berserk, masked man(Sousou) returns Bachou to senses

2) Kanchu laments
– Bachou wanders into Kanchu, Bachou meets and travel with Kachou to Shou, turn back but too late to safe Kanchu from Giga troops, Giga troops cleared out by Kochou, Gien and Bachou, Berserk Bachou mistakes Kan-u, Chouhi and Chou-un as Giga troops

3) Arise! Five Tiger Generals!
– Berserk Bachou attacks Kan-u, Chouhi and Chou-un, Kochou clear things up, Kaku sets the immortal soldiers on the five, almost overcame by darkness, the Ryuukihou armor saves them

4) Untitled
– Five Tiger Generals thrash immortal soldiers, Sousou awakens, Sousou and Bachou defeat Kaku, Bachou learnt to control the dark blood

5) The crouching dragon, once again
– Koumei, Kougetsuei and Sonshoukou venture to Nanban, Koumei thrashed by Four Heavenly Kings and Shukuyuu, Koumei receives new form

6) Dragon and Phoenix
– Armored Moukaku vs Nuu Koumei, Moukaku and Koumei vs Houtou, the past of Koumei and Houtou, Houtou’s defeat and death

7) The new darkness
– revealation of the Shiba family, beginning of the fight of Kan-u Team in Gou

8) Revival of the War God
– covered above

Finally the bit on the possible new weapons parts.

Tadaa!!
Twelve weapons, interconnectable with each other to form all kinds of weapons

Twelve weapons, wonder how many more extra kits one must get to complete the set. (Three or four weapons per runner?)
Clever marketing? :P

Looks similar to the clear Ryuukihou armor.

Anyway I’m not sure if this is new stuff or confirmed stuff, just happened to chance upon it at a Chinese imageboard. Ok, found the original source right here (more pics of the twelve weapons there).

Almost forgot.
This month’s Kero Kero Ace has got three “Hero Seals”

Front face

Reverse face

Flimsy as they are just stickers.

Ok, its the end of the long Sangokuden post.
Hope you enjoy it!

Next month then!

Many fans have asked if theres any anime of Sangokuden after watching the animated promo clips of the series. The news was announced on Thursday(today) at the Bandai booth in the 49th All Japan Plamodel Hobby Show. More details to come at a later date.

Pic from twitpic, news source ANN

From that picture it looks like it might be a 3DCG (I think the term is cell-shaded?) anime like the previous SD Gundam Force anime, perhaps in the style of the recent Senjin Kettou Hen PV. Will be disappointed if its 3DCG but happy nevertheless for SD Gundams getting another anime after a long time.

Do drop by at Ngee Khiong’s to see pics of many new kits including pics of the new Sangokuden and Sengokuden releases. (Doubt that I’ll have time to do some rant post about them)

[EDIT] Added the teaser video from Ngee Khiong’s into the playlist.

Looks like amazon.jp has updated their database and the last disc for Kara no Kyoukai wraps up the 7-DVD plot. You can pre-order now, link on the Japanese text above. Cover looks damn sweet, a must buy for me.

Release date for the DVD is on the 9th of December this year. =D

I have never touched on the anime, but after hearing Parallel Hearts and MAZE up ‘live’ at Animelo 2009 this year with Fictionjunction and Savage Genius feat. Tomoe Ohmi respectively, there might be a slightest chance I’ll catch the anime when I have the chance.

Thoughts on the PV: I think that the PV does injustice to these beautiful singers; they look way better than that in person! The only person who looks the same would probably be Wakana, perhaps.

MAZE by Savage Genius feat. Tomoe Ohmi : ED for Pandora Hearts

Not to mention that the anime’s soundtrack was superb, as expected from Yuki Kajiura.

Thoughts on the PV: I am not used to Aa with permed/curly hair. She looks a lot better with her soft curls. Costume is not fugly, but doesn’t really suit her either. Perhaps the PV’s director wanted to experiment with another image for our dear Aa? Reminds me of Minorin, with drastic image change from long figure-hiding dresses to hot pants that showed off nice legs and peacock hair.

Here’s a performance of the 2 ladies in an early anime show; probably during May this year? because Aa surely didn’t have her hair this short at Animelo this year. Or she could be wearing a wig for this one, or have hair extensions during Animelo. Either way it’s possible….. hmmm….

Despite all that jizz from me about the PVs, I highly recommend their Animelo 2009 performance to all Anison lovers out there when the DVD/Blu-ray releases.

Or rather, doujinshi on local news. This is the first time I’ve seen doujinshi mentioned on a newspaper, so congratulations are in order.

Click on the thumbnail for the full scan. Source: The Sunday Times, Lifestyle (8/23/09)

The not-at-animelo emo session Natsu Matsuri idiocy follows after the jump, in the form of a single, long JPEG.

Ume, out.

The Melancholy Of Haruhi Suzumiya Season 2 : Episode 1
My first impressions

Well here we are again with a new release of the well rumoured Haruhi Suzumiya season 2, a lot of people stated it was fake, wasn’t going to be made etc etc. But here it is surprising everyone and looking good with a kick-start that everyone wanted to see

the episode revolves around the “Quad Scribbles” incident were Haruhi was said to have drawn a strange symbol on the school Quad. and it goes back into the first ever Haruhi episode. were this was mentioned and Haruhi says to Kyon “have we met before, like in a past life or something”. turns out they had met before. Well without giving away to much detail and spoiling it for everyone I have to say this episode was a great way to kick of the new season, and I look forward to the english dubbed versions’ to come out soon enough.

Keep on rocking, Haruhi!

Review: The Meloncholy of Haruhi Suzumiya
Rating: 9.2/10

Thoughts:

Well coming right off the bat i’ll have to say this is a very decent anime to anyone, even towards the non anime freaks, it can be viewed in full english which not many anime do these days or in Japanese which is a bit of a bonus.

The story is quite impressive, bringing 5 people together and many character’s into a vital story and going through strange experience’s together, Haruhi herself has to be the best character, she’s always ready to go and get out there.

No doubt Kyon is great, he’s the one keeping haruhi at bay. but i wont give away to much, the graphical design is beyond clear which is greatly done. pleasing to the eye, no doubt its light hearted. Which is what I enjoyed about it the most is amongst the serious side, they kept it funny, enjoyable and extremely light hearted and fairly sensible.

Though no doubt it holds its dramatic moments to keep you wondering whats going to happen next and has it’s morally intriguing points

Great series and a great anime, soon i will blog about season 2.

Yup, the manga for the series will start this month on Kero Kero Ace.
Theres a short preview manga on the August issue of Kero Kero Ace, thought that I can share it with everyone.

So get to know more about the “shadow” after the jump!

Onto the manga, more talk after it:

Do you know about “shadows”?
Yes. That familiar guy that stretches out from your feet.

But this guy is a bit different.
He fights… to change the world.

Eeh?
You never seen this before?

In that case, I’ll let you see.
His name is -

The battle with the world as stake begins now!!!

Preview chapter
SD Gundam Bind
Bun Bun Bind Do ! (?)
Manga/Sasaki Shin

Here is the setting of the story.
“MS World”

“Unification organization Myxis” led by the dictator Eiros!!
Because of them the world is entering the dark age.

[MS slapping hand]
LISTEN UP~
YOU BASTARDS~!!

[sidebar]
The keyword of the story is “shadow”!!

[Zaku]
I know that this guy is seeking refuge here!!
Hiding him will do you bastards no good!!

How about this?
Maybe you will understand if an example is set!?

[MS feet]
Hold it!

[Zaku]
Hmhm, there you are.

[Zaku]
Traitor of Myxis… Gundam!!

[Gundam]
I have 2 things..to tell you
Let go of that kid!!
Next is…

REPLACE THE PHOTO ON THE WANTED POSTER!!
this photo is truely horrible!!!

[Zaku + others]
So thats the other…

[Zaku]
Are you sure?
Talking like that…

[Gundam]
You too, are you sure?
I’ll call my “shadow” up.

[Zaku]
Y..You, don’t tell me that…

[Gundam]
Yup! This is my BIND!!

Bind!!
The warrior that appears from the shadow!!
Why does Gundam have this “power” and what is it really!?

What is the motive of the mysterious organization Myxis – !?

Serialization starts next issue on Kero Kero Ace September issue!!
See you then!!

[sidebar]
Super hardcore battle managa starts serialization at last!!!

Ok, there it is.

A pretty rough translation, kind of guessed what the terms “Myxis”(seeing the Qubeley makes me think of Axis) and “Eiros” are in english.

Sasaki Shin(佐々木 心) is the mangaka for this new manga. His art for the Gundams looks good. Nice, angular (Naoto Tsushima’s art is more roundish and organic), not too flat and regularly proportional (Koichi Tokita’s SDs go out of proportion sometimes). Masato Ichishiki’s SDs looks good too but I like the style of Sasaki Shin best as it has the Susumu Imaishi(MARSHI) feel which I prefer. Looks like he is a SD Gundam fan too from his site.

Haven’t seen much of his works, only his previous work on Kero Kero Ace “Slayers: Light Magic”. According to his profile some of his works include mangas and 4koma anthologies of series like “Dual Maid”, “Ar Tonelico 2″ and “Rockman ZX”.

Anyway a special SD Gundam Bind figure is coming as a gift with this month’s Kero Kero Ace.

Basically its Bind Gundam with Bind God Gundam’s arm and sword plus original wings. I like free gifts, this issue has a Keroro Quest card and Battle Spirits card :) By the way, those 2 characters are from a toy introducing manga of Kero Kero Ace.

Ok, a bit on the Gachapon series. Each of the Bind figures comes with a “Bind part” and the Bind parts combine to form “Mythology”(kanji equates to “Saint Beast”) which is pictured in the previous post. Interestingly each of the Bind parts have a Gundam face hidden in the design, maybe the manga explain it?

At the official site of SD Gundam Bind, I found more text about the series. A rough translation below:

“Binders”, the MS that possess the parts of Mythology – “Bind Parts”. The shadow clone that only they can discover… that is “Bind”!

With the Bind Parts, the abilities of the MS will increase, the power of the soul of that MS will become the strength of the Bind!

The Bind Parts are powerful but can be a double-edged sword, MS that is weak of heart will have their minds taken over.

But when the 5 Bind Parts come together, the existence beyond legend Mythology will revive!

Now, surrounding Mythology the battle of the MS begins!!

More info from the site. The other gundams have all lost their memories and got different memories transplanted by the General(Eiros I suppose). The motives of Gundam is shrouded in mystery. The Mythology is named “Hadia” so there must be more Mythologies (how can I forget that its a toy series!). I thought Hazel’s Bind is Bind Apsalus III but its not, both their Bind and host are not in the Series 1 lineup.

Nice art with some mystery set up.
Good, I like :P
Looks like I’ll be following this one.

So I went around looking for links, and found 2 non-English sites that covered quite a bit about them. But one of them is their own blog. HAHHAHA.

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Niki, and her blog スタート – ACG | 声優 雜談 talks predominantly about Nana Mizuki and Kalafina. The blog’s in Traditional Chinese, but her comments and ‘reviews’ are quite amusing and slightly fangirl-ish.

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Of course, the next one is Kalafina’s own blog. Wakana likes to write entries that are broken up (similar to May’n’s), Keiko occasionally has weird kao-moji, and Hikaru’s the prim and proper writer in the group… somewhat. Their staff also updates the blog occasionally. Not to mention that they have nice and large pictures taken before and after their live performances <3