Reviews

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Cross Ange Episode 18 – To answer the previous question: Of course not.

Kuizzu desu – Who was it that nobody cared for until I put on the mask!?

Well to absolutely no surprise, Ange spends most of the episode under water with the remnants of Arzenal. Also to absolutely no surprise, Commander Jill’s kinda gone a bit crazy. Still reeling from the assault on Arzenal, she’s now gone down the path of being Little Miss Machiavelli, willing to sacrifice anybody who aids in Libertus (including potential DRAGONs). Of course, Ange and Tusk (ah fuck it, I’m invested enough to refer to him by his real name now), think that isn’t cool and thus have to make a daring escape now that they realize everybody sucks but DRAGONs. read more

Juu-kuchiby Juu-kuchi•
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Batman Eternal #43 Review

Steph’s in the lair of the Cat, where the two of them chat, they’re joined by the Bat, and Harper thinks Steph’s a brat, all in this forty-third installment of DC’s weekly Batman serial. Cullen is recovering and back home, which is also where our fair haired ninja girl is staying now. Selina has a little theory about her loyalty to her father and Harper thinks she’s just being stubborn (look who’s talking, girl). And aside from some of the weird noses, David Lafuente’s art combined with the coloring makes for some great visuals, and a good issue becomes even better because of it. read more

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Cross Ange Episode 17 – A Return to Norma-lcy?

Tame that Tusk

Looks like my hopes were somewhat dashed when I said Ange, Not-Kira, Vivian, and Salamandinay would return to Earth and start a ruckus. They do return, mind you, but only into the waiting trap made by Embryo and his new squadron of Black Vilkisses, pilots of which are a few familiar faces. So as a result of this, the entire Misurugi Empire invasion is delayed indefinitely. Now Ange, Not-Kira, and Vivian have to deal with not only old friends who are new foes but also what the remnants of Arzenal will want to do with her when they meet again. read more

Juu-kuchiby Juu-kuchi•
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Batman Eternal #42 Review

Pictured: A thing that does not happen until the next issue.

 

Bluebird attacks, Hatter’s back on the rack, Batman gives a smack, and Steph fades to black in this forty-second (don’t panic) issue of DC’s weekly Batman hootenanny. We discover that Mrs. Brown has awful taste in decor, vigilante action is harder than it looks, Batman’s had enough of his rogues piling on, and Tim’s pity party isn’t bullet proof. Bluebird’s action debut is a comedy of errors… or is it action of errors? Whatever it was, it was still very awesome. Who can keep track of all those pouches? Not me. read more

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Cross Ange Episode 16 – Interspecies Intramurals

Well finally the show is getting somewhere. After two episodes of world building and exposition, Salamandinay gets a chance to shine as a character instead of be this enlightened figure of wonder. So what does that mean for the audience? It means it is time for a bonding episode! A DRAGON Princess dedicated to the fall of Embryo! A disenchanted former Princess cum Paramail pilot! Now unencumbered by the necessity of explaining what the shit is going on, they can now move forward to an ever greater union through competitive sports battles spanning from tennis to Twister! read more

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Batman Eternal #41 Review

Hey, Tim… Tim… uh, you got a little something on your face…

A bird of blue debuts, nanomachines imbue, the Bat-Family looks screwed, and Steph gets out-kung-fu’d in this forty-first entry in DC’s ongoing weekly Batman parade. We finally see what that final push that makes Harper Batman’s newest partner is. We get the inclusion of yet another Batman rogue (who I should have seen coming), the comradarie and contentions both between Tim Drake, Barbara Gordon, and Jason Todd, and Harper’s fateful decision. What we don’t see, however, is Batman! Eh, it’s all right, we’ve seen a lot of him lately. read more

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Cross Ange Episode 15 – How to Drain your DRAGON

Note: Well unfortunately my other venue is no longer available to me so if you haven’t found out yet, this is where you can capture my Cross Ange stuff until the end (plus anything else  I feel like talking about in terms of anime or animation)!

Ange and Not-Kira make a DRAGON Porno

Well after the lull that was last week’s episode we kinda pick things back up with the full-on formal introduction to the DRAGON Princess. Salamandinay, the strangely awesome mouthful of name they call said DRAGON Princess then proceeds to info dump for most of the episode about the world of DRAGONs. Turns out a prediction I made to myself a few eps back came true, as DRAGONs are used in Ange’s world to power the Light of Mana, and that all those DRAGON attacks throughout the first half actually had some rhyme and reason behind them. Neat I guess. read more

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Batman Eternal #40 Review

Batman plays in the snow, Selina’s car blows (up), there’s something Warren knows, and Corrigan makes Maxie glow in this fortieth issue of DC’s weekly Batman series. Even though the direction the story has taken is a major improvement, I still can’t help feeling the writers are dragging their feet here and there to fill in 52 weeks of content. They really could have combined most of what happened from this issue and the last one into one issue that was just a couple of pages longer, if at that. But this could just me being impatient while waiting for the big reveal of who’s behind it all (Lincoln March). read more

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Cross Ange Episode 14 – Turn ∀nge

Note: Because of some strange circumstances on other, my original venue for Cross Ange episode reviews is no longer accessible to me. Until shit gets straightened up, this is the home of any and all future episode reviews.

[Unfortunately this is the most interesting shot in the entire episode]

Feelings are mixed about this episode. On the one hand, Ange and Not-Kira really need some downtime to work on those feelings they have for one another. On the other, there is nothing much spectacular or interesting once the not-quite-startling revelation how a big war messed up der world with the Ragnamails, and that they’re in Tokyo/the Misurugi Empire 500 or so years after the fact. You’d think a revelation like that would have been held with much more importance and be dealt with in the most impacting way possible, bearing the crux of the drama within the 25 minutes of episode airtime. Here it is exposited to us with all the force of a sales representative who lives to be procedurally polite, even if she is only an AI. read more

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Batman Eternal #39 Review

Subtle.

Riddler drops some hints, Batman might need a splint, and we see the death of print in this thirty-eighth canto in DC’s weekly Batman epic. The past few issues have been a really bumpy ride, with some unaddressed avenues in the storyline and some truly disgustingly terrible art. We saw how bastardized Bane could get, spent more time with that loser Jason Bard then I’d care to, and were thrown into the temple of Selina Kyle, who doesn’t jump rooftops anymore, preferring to stand around being boring, barking orders to gangland cronies. So, will this issue bring us back to the nanomachine virus, Jim Gordon’s situation, and the rise of Harper Row as Bluebird? Well… uh… no. But we do get the glaringly obvious references that should help us decipher the dastardly figure behind all this chaos! Because I totally hadn’t figured it out a long time ago, right? Well, at least we get The Riddler. The art’s not bad, either. Most of the time. read more

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