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Can Nanami play cupid for her fellow students? Perhaps, but it may be beyond her powers to deal with her own budding affection for Mr. Grumpy Fox.

What They Say:
Ep. 7 “The God Asks A Boy Out On A Date”

Nanami experiments a little with her divine powers while she struggles to define exactly how she feels about Tomoe. And Kurama, being the yokai who has more experience with humans, offers some words of advice to Tomoe.

The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
So, Nanami is over her cold and back to school, though things are not going swimmingly for her. It’s near the end of the term, so she is studying hard for her exams. Academics, however, are not her strongest suit. Tomoe tells her to quit school again, since she’s not up to it. Nanami, of course, has no plans to quit, but Tomoe then reminds her of the weakness of her god powers. Perhaps if she could at least improve her divine powers, she might get some grudging praise from Tomoe?

In an attempt to be more useful to others, Nanami tries to help Nekota, the girl who was almost molested by the pervert monster in the previous episode, get into a situation where she can thank Kurama for his help to her when he and Tomoe (disguised as Nanami) saved her. Using her magic a bit, Nanami does help Nekota get closer to Kurama, though Tomoe brushes off Nanami’s meddling, asking if she thinks Nekota would be all that happy if she found out that Kurama is a tengu.

The bigger question, however, is the relationship between Nanami and Tomoe. While it’s clear as day to all of us that Nanami is in love with Tomoe, Tomoe disbelieves in the possibility, even when Kurama takes a moment to explain to Tomoe that Nanami is probably in love with him. Nanami is herself unsure, as she even tries to help a freshman in her school get closer to Tomoe, though Tomoe shoots her down quickly and tells Nanami to stop meddling. Nanami now looks deep inside herself and decides to ask Tomoe to make a detour from their usual trip straight back home together after school. She drags him to an aquarium and to see the cityscape from a tall building. This is most certainly a date. But Tomoe, oblivious, or rather, refusing to believe that this is a date, acts as if he is being punished. Near the end, in a fit of pique, Nanami almost dies because she does not want Tomoe to touch her when he has no feelings for her. Tomoe goes ahead and touches her (he has to hold her to stop her from falling to her death), but Nanami is clearly not happy with the results.

I guess it’s going to be a rocky road ahead for Nanami’s desire for romance. While Tomoe does not appear to hate humans, he does feel very strongly that there must be a firm wall between humankind and the supernatural. Never the twain shall meet, in his opinion. Nanami thinks differently, but events so far seem to support Tomoe’s side as being the more realistic. I’m not sure how long this issue is going to take to resolve, but it seems to be a major issue that will have to be tackled.

The problem is that it’s not a particularly interesting issue. If there is a problem that this show appears to be displaying at the moment, it is that it is doing very little to generate much interest either through plot or character development at the moment. The personalities of Nanami and Tomoe seem pretty much set, we really don’t need to see more examples of what they are like. There is no real plot to speak of, though that is not in itself a problem. But at this point, with the cast fairly well established, either a new personality or a new development in terms of setting or situation really needs to occur, otherwise, well, otherwise you’re going to have boring episodes like this one where it feels like the show is just treading water. We already knew several episodes ago that Nanami likes Tomoe. We have known for some time that Tomoe is against the idea of humans and yōkai being romantically involved. So we have nothing new to take away at the end of this episode, except that Nanami now knows that Tomoe does not reciprocate her feelings. Which changes just about nothing.

In Summary:
Nanami uses her divine powers and instincts a little bit to meddle in others’ possible love affairs, but she seems powerless to influence her own situation with Tomoe. When she takes him out on a date, he makes it clear that he does not share her feelings, and cannot imagine being romantically involved with a human. I sense trouble ahead. I also sense trouble ahead if this show doesn’t do something interesting soon.

Grade: B

Streamed by: Funimation

Review Equipment:
Apple iMac with 4GB RAM, Mac OS 10.6 Snow Leopard

Well, that was easily the best episode yet.

What They Say:
Many years ago, the last remnants of humanity were forced to retreat behind the towering walls of a fortified city to escape the massive, man-eating Titans that roamed the land outside their fortress. Only the heroic members of the Scouting Legion dared to stray beyond the safety of the walls – but even those brave warriors seldom returned alive. Those within the city clung to the illusion of a peaceful existence until the day that dream was shattered, and their slim chance at survival was reduced to one horrifying choice: kill – or be devoured!

The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
I’m going to include a secondary warning: this review has even more spoilers than usual, because I enjoyed this episode so much that I just had to put all of its main events into my own words. If you have any interest in Attack on Titan but haven’t caught up to this week’s episode, stop reading this right now and go watch it.

Episode 6 is all about Mikasa. Almost immediately we’re introduced to a greedy tycoon who has blocked off the town’s only evacuation route. He’s trying to get the people to help shove his oversized wagon of expensive merchandise through the gate. Titans are still flooding into the city, but he and his guards are essentially holding the people hostage over a few material goods. Of course, eventually a Titan finds the crowd of trapped humans and charges toward them at full speed. Enter Mikasa: flying swiftly past the other soldiers to catch up to the rampaging Titan, she expertly slashes into the back of its neck, and it tumbles to the ground right in front of the terrified crowd. It’s the first time we really see a person defeat a Titan, but she makes it look easy.

Climbing down off of its body, Mikasa is horrified to find that the gate has been blocked. The tyrannical guild boss protests that it’s the job of the common folk and the knights to put themselves on the line to serve wealthy higher-ups like him. She strolls over to him, knocking both of his bodyguards aside with a single blow from her swords. Holding a blade to his throat, she says, ‘If you expect someone to die for the sake of another, I’m sure you’ll understand that sometimes a single, noble sacrifice can save many lives.’ Suddenly he becomes very cooperative.

A fellow soldier asks Mikasa how she came to be so impossibly badass, and this triggers her memory of how she met Eren for the first time. She used to live in a nice log cabin with her family, off in the middle of a forest somewhere. One day, she and her parents were talking happily amongst themselves when they heard a knock on the door. Sometime later, Eren and his father arrived at the house to find her parents’ blood splattered all over the walls. Mikasa was nowhere to be found.

Cut to another house where three bandits have taken her after slaughtering her parents. They plan to sell her, reasoning that as one of the last surviving descendents of the mysterious land of Asia she’ll fetch a high price in the sex trade. Eren then arrives at the kidnappers’ hideout looking scared and explaining that he got lost in the forest. The man tries to reassure him while the camera angle tilts down to reveal the gleaming knife Eren is holding behind his back. He confidently plunges the knife into the man’s chest then swiftly closes the door. The other criminal jumps up to follow him, but Eren charges at him holding a broomstick with his knife tied to the end. He savagely slices the man over and over, yelling at the top of his lungs, “This is what you deserve!”

Mikasa is stunned, both by the death of her parents and by Eren’s violent rescue. As he is cutting off her bindings, she mutters to him that there was a third bandit, just as the man rushes into the room and starts choking Eren up against a wall. He’s dropped the knife; Mikasa is free to grab it. But she hesitates. Eren tells her to “fight,” that she has to “win” to survive, and that losing a battle is equivalent to dying. This is the moment of Mikasa’s awakening. She remembers images of death from her childhood: a praying mantis eating a butterfly, her father bringing home a dead goose for dinner. Her epiphany: “This world is cruel.” Mikasa’s hands stop shaking; her eyes focus. In an instant she is transformed into the girl who will one day be the army’s most powerful knight. Cleansed of all reservation, she drives the blade straight through the man’s back and into his heart.

In Summary:
I really can’t overstate how powerful Mikasa’s “awakening” scene is. Maybe that’s why I spent a whole paragraph trying to describe it. We also get to see her defeat a hungry Titan and lay down the law on an evil rich guy. But Eren gets some time in the spotlight too. As a young child, he tracks down a captured person he’s never met, tricks and then kills 2 of her kidnappers, and somehow knows exactly what to say to trigger her warrior instinct. When they reunite with Eren’s father, Mikasa says she’s cold and has nowhere to go, so Eren extends a hand to welcome her into his own family and gives her that red scarf we always see her wearing. How could she not fall for a guy like that? I’ll leave you with a telling line that Eren delivers while explaining his actions to his agitated father: “I got rid of dangerous animals…Animals that happened to resemble humans!”

Grade: A+

Streamed By: Crunchyroll

Review Equipment:
Insignia 1080p TV, PS3 with Crunchyroll App; Occasionally 17” Toshiba Satellite Laptop, 2.13 GHz Core i3, 4GB RAM, Windows 7

While the anime adaptation of Nisekoi is working through its production stages, both for the TV series and the couple of OADs that are still coming, some new casting has surfaced. The second season of the show is set for a spring 2015 debut as we learned at the Jump Festa 2015 event previously, and now it’s been revealed that voice actress Kotori Koiwai has joined the show to take on the role of Fu in it. Her joining the series comes after the previous announcement that that Ayane Sakura has boarded the series as Haru Onodera.

Check out an image of the character design below!

Nisekoi is based on the manga by Naoshi Komi which has been appearing in the US version of Weekly Shonen Jump since 2014. The series began back at the end of 2011 in Japan and has been running since.

Plot concept: Raku Ichijo is an average high school student. He also happens to be the sole heir to the head of a Yakuza Family called the Shuei-gumi. 10 years ago, Raku made a promise… a secret promise with a girl he met. They promised one another that they will “get married when they reunite.” Since then, Raku never let go of the pendant the girl gave him.

Then one day, a beautiful girl named Chitoge Kirisaki transfers into Raku’s class. Their chemistry was more than off. There was not a moment where they were not fighting. But, by a weird turn of events…Raku and Chitoge agree to become fake lovers. Although his heart is really interested in his classmate Kosaki Onodera…Raku must continue pretending to be Chitoge’s boyfriend.

How far will you go for a love that is truly fake? Which girl holds the key to Raku’s pendant and to his heart?

[Source: ANN ]

With the overall success of Queen’s Blade in getting more product out there in art books, figures and other merchandise, it’s no surprise that an anime adaptation of their work with Megahouse is resulting in a Bikini Warriors anime project. With a summer 2015 premiere set and a manga and video game planned for this year as well, the project is bringing together an array of creators to design the characters – which look good in those forms and a bit less so in the key visual you can see to the right.

Check out the character designs below and join us in anxiously awaiting the fanservice event of the summer season.

Plot concept: Set in an RPG world with swords and magic, warriors must form a party to defeat the demon lord. But, these warriors are all wearing Bikini armor!! (Source: Official site)

TC Entertainment is bringing out one of their lesser known properties in Japan this coming February with a new DVD release of the 1998 anime series Princess Nine. While it wasn’t huge in the US, it had and has a good following that made for a lot of fun when ADV Films originally released it and delighted fans with new exposure for it when Nozomi Entertainment re-released it this year. Now TC Entertainment has set a new February 27th, 2014 release date for the set with some form of digital remastering for the twenty-six episode run. The show will be priced at 20,000 yen for the set and no extras, first press materials or packaging designs have been released yet.

You can read our review of the series here .

Plot concept: Hidehiko Hayakawa was a pitching legend, and his daughter Ryo has inherited his gift. She plays on the local sandlot and can strike out any challenger with ease. But one day, two goons show up and challenge her to a duel. Who sent these men and why?

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9M7lJer-pw?rel=0&w=420&h=315]

[Source: Princess Nine DVD-Box ]

It’s a busy day on the Project Itoh site as one of the projects coming up has had a lot revealed about it. The feature film The Empire of Corpses has now revealed its premiere date of October 2nd, 2015 and will be directed by Ryoutarou Makihara based on the character designs by redjuice with animation done by WIT STUDIO. The site has revealed the new promo teaser that you can see below as well as the first visual for it to the right. EGOIST will be performing the theme song for this feature film, which you can hear in the promo below.

The cast includes Yoshimasa Hosoya as John H. Watson, Ayumu Murase as Friday, Taiten Kusunoki as Frederick Barnaby,Daiki Yamashita as Nikolai Krasotkin, Shinichiro Miki as Alexei Karamazov, Kana Hanazawa as Hadary Lilith, and Akio Ohtsuka as M.

Plot concept: Taking place in 19th century Europe, and revolves around John Watson. He is scouted by the government to become a secret agent- However, Watson lives in a world where “Frankensteins”- human corpses that are re-purposed with a false soul in order to use them as laborers- are used to improve industrial development.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0tMZku3idc]

[Source: ANN ]

Just this week I attended a fun event at a local educational game store. Marbles: the Brain Store invites teachers to come out one Tuesday evening a month and try out some of their games. The staff was a lot of fun, and really got us involved. We played a few that required visual memory, and I came in last place every time. Then we played one that was more about being flexible and creative… and it got me thinking…

What games would some of my favorite Star Wars characters like to play if they came to visit for a day?

Snake Oil was the game that started me down this particular path. One person at the table chooses a customer type (in our game we had “ninja”, then “vampire”). The others get 5 randomly chosen object cards, and have to combine two of them into a product, which they then give a quick sales pitch to the customer. I could easily picture Lando Calrissian being a master at this game, given his slick sales style.

My sons bought themselves a fun ball called the Perplexus Epic that challenges fine motor and dexterity skills. When I asked them to tell me which Star Wars character they thought would enjoy this one, they both agreed it would be perfect for Jedi younglings in training. This, of course, was followed by at least 10 minutes of discussion on exactly how the younglings would use the Force to hold the ball up and move it around. Judging by the number of times my boys needed to take a deep breath and control their emotions to be successful, I’m sure this toy would help keep young Jedi busy for hours at a time.

Fast Track was another huge hit with the boys. With its quick pace, the ability to fling little wooden disks across the board, and the occasional disk flying across the store all made this game a total giggle fest for them. We all agreed that Han Solo would love Fast Track, especially since he’s so quick on the draw. He might have to rethink his competitive nature if he played Chewie though. Would he “let the wookiee win?”

While the games I’ve mentioned above are all tabletop or electronics-free games, I just have to mention one final arcade-like mocked up game that is online. You see, when I started writing this post I had trouble getting any ideas to flow. So I took to Twitter to see if I could get some crowdsourced ideas. My twitterpal @Geeksoap is a bit of a Greedo fan. For some reason, she thinks that Greedo would be addicted to playing Q*bert. There must be some obscure internet rule that states, “If you can think of it, it exists somewhere online”, because one quick search later and I found a masterpiece… Go ahead – click it . You know the curiosity might just kill you if you don’t.

What games would your favorite Star Wars character like to play? Leave a comment or tweet us an idea! Until next week – may the Force be with you.

Have fun, laugh, and maybe even learn on vacation!

If you’re like me, then you know that panels are one of the best parts about conventions, and Otakon is no different. There is always a wide variety of programming on the panels track going on day in and day out, and there is always something for everyone. Rather they’re industry panels where you learn about all the new and upcoming relases from the companies that make up the anime industry, or a beginners introduction into how to play the Pokemon Trading Card Game, you’ll always find something to do. I went to a number of panels have pulled a few highlights to talk about that really stood out at and made my Otakon 2013 convention experience.

Anime Industry: The Before Times

With this being Otakon’s 20^th year, there were a number of industry personnel in attendance both new and old. This panel was made up of some of the people who got the anime industry rolling in America in many ways, or who have worked in the industry for so long they can provide a unique perspective on how things have changed over the years. Panelists included David Williams, who was one of the founders of ADV and currently works for Sentai Filmworks, and Trish Ledoux, who started AniMag out of Berkley University and eventually would go on to become the editor of Animerica, published by Viz some years later. Other notable names included Robert Napton, formally of Bandai, Kevin McKeever of Harmony Gold, and Ken Iyadomi, one of the founders of Bandai Entertainment. This panel was an abridged journey through each of their introductions into fandom as well as some highlights and funny stories about kickstarting the Anime industry in America. What was probably the most enjoyable part of this whole panel was many of the panelists owned up to the fact that they had very little clue what they were doing when most of them started, and that many mistakes were made. It’s rare that people in the industry are so willing and ready to own up to errors or mistakes they made these days – as most if not all of that is handled through a PR rep at this point – but many of them talked about the errors and lessons they learned in their early days, some of them very humorous and some not as much. It was a great look into the industry’s early years in the States and a very candid conversation with the fans who attended.

Anime’s Craziest Deaths

This has become one of the staple panels that is presented every year at Otakon and the line to get in starts forming hours before and it can get pretty rough at times to try and make it into the panel – they always put it in one of the biggest rooms available and it always fills to maximum capacity. Hosted by Daryl Surat, of Anime World Order podcast and contributing writer for Otaku USA magazine, the panel showcases some of the most gruesome, bizarre, and hilarious death scenes that have appeared in anime over the years. Daryl himself is a very funny panelist that always brings new material every year and keeps the crowd on their toes with insane amounts of gore, one liners, and screams. A highlight panel of the show and one that you should definitely see if you can (though it is in the late hours of the show, as it is an 18+ panel – remember your wristbands!)

Panel to the West

Anime draws from a wide variety of sources both inside of Japan and out for its stories, but one of the most commonly used stories is that of the Monkey King, most commonly referred to as “Journey to the West”. It has been represented in anime in many different forms over the years including Saiyuki, several tropes are used in Dragon Ball, and it has been adopted into several live action and animation shows across the world – there was even a short clip produced by the guys who do all the animation for the Gorillaz who did a piece depicting this story for the Olympics when they were held in China. It was fascinating the amount of different takes there have been on this story, and presenter Michael Toole, who is one of the best and most engaging presenters I have ever seen, did a great job of being both informative and keeping the audience engaged at the same time. He also does another panel quite often called Dubs That Time Forgot where digs up obscure, old, hilarious dubs from around the world, and shares them with the audience. Mike has been a presenter at the show for many years now, and is entertaining whenever you can hear him speak, no matter the subject or topic.

Along with these were many other great panels – a few of which I’ll outline below. There’s always so much to see and do that there is never enough time in the days to do it! But hopefully, at your next show, if you’ve never gone to many panels, you’ll take a few minutes to stop and read the schedule, and look for something that you’d be interested in – it’s almost a guarantee that there will be.

Highlight Panels:

45 Years of Shonen Jump

50 Years of Anime: Openings

Anime’s Online Expansion

Beautiful Backgrounds

Fifty Years of Tomino

Intro to K-Pop! Repackaged

Let’s Talk Swords: Props/Armor

Macross/Robotech: Mythology

Science in Anime

Toonami: A Look Back

Voice Actors After Dark

It’s hard to top what came before, but what comes after the prison begins the new exploration of survival.

What They Say:
After – Rick deals with old wounds; prison residents consider if survival will be enough.

Content:
Though I could certainly understand the issues some had with the slow build of the fourth season of The Walking Dead in the first half, when you view those eight episodes in full and look at what they were doing, it definitely works. The building of suspense, the uncertainty for some events and an amazing couple of episodes that brought the Governor back into play and finally made him into a compelling character made the show a fascinating watch, especially upon a second marathon style viewing. But the show also needed to hit certain marks beyond that and giving us an end to the prison with the Governor and his group running over it and then having a good wave of undead doing the same really made it exciting. Throwing everyone to the wind only added to it and leaving some deaths uncertain raised interest all the more so. But ending it with the image of Rick and Carl walking off, so close to what was in the comic at the time, simply made me giddy.

But now, it’s after.

Though not as far away after as one might expect as it kicks off with Michonne trying to get back to the prison to some degree, slicing a few walkers along the way and seeing what she can find there. It certainly makes sense to not cut and run entirely with all they had there, but there’s also the concern that it has been overrun as much as it has and the level of danger is significant. But there’s also the fact that she knows how to survive this world and it’s almost like it’s back to when we first met her as she gets her two slaves to provide cover for her as she moves about. Going back to the whole armless and mouthless tied up guys is a certain amusement to it. But that’s also quickly quashed as she has to do the hard deed of taking out Hershel. Which we all thought was dead obviously, and he was, but hey, a head can keep on living all by itself. That’s comical sounding but it’s just so sad when you see it that it’s easy to get caught up in it.

One of my more anticipated aspects of this post-prison period though is seeing how everyone ends up, especially Carl and Rick since the two of them had one of my favorite arcs in the comics. While Carl is obviously still young, and there’s a certain invincible nature that comes from the age, he does handle what’s going on pretty well. Largely because you sense he just can’t trust Rick to be capable of handling things in a competent way like he once was able to. Rick was taken down so hard by the Governor before and is showing it and feeling it physically that Carl knows he really has to take charge of things here and has no problem in subtly – or not so subtly – making that clear to his dad. There’s always rebelliousness when it comes to fathers and sons but it has a whole new layer here with survival at stake. Never mind the resentment that Carl has to be feeling towards Rick over the loss of not just Judith but also his mother.

Flashbacks have been far and few between for the series in general and what few we’ve had have been pretty specific. With this episode, we get some interesting time with Michonne as the episode goes on and we see some of her life before the fall as she goes through the nightmare of the situation that her mind is playing out and that also shows us more of what kind of person she was, which is definitely different from who she is now. And we’re getting more of her emotional side as well which is pretty nice to see. But the whole thing is bleak in its own way as we get to touch upon the end of civilization in this haphazard way and to see what she had to go through before she ended up coming across Andrew originally. Everyone has lost something here and we’ve known that she has as well but this just makes it a bit more intense and personal in a way that we hadn’t connected with before.

With Rick pretty much out of it at this point from all his injuries, and nearly comatose because of it after awhile, a lot of living falls down to Carl to make happen. Of course, Rick would prefer if he just sat around and waited for him, but Carl’s not the type to do that and starts investigating some of the house nearby after taking down a couple of walkers, not that he did it all that efficiently. But he’s learned from his time with everyone else and we can see the way that he’s adhering to some of the basic rules and figuring out how to live and survive on his own. There’s just that natural gut feeling that he has to figure it out in order to make it in the world but also because he’s lost so many people and it’s likely only so long until he loses Rick as well. But as good as he has gotten, he still makes a slew of mistakes, especially when it comes to wasting ammunition and not truly securing a place before going into things more. Unfortunately, he’s not really all about the salvage and search for food here but almost has a kind of casualness about him which puts him in some real danger.

As the two stories progress, we do get good things from both of them including Michonne really getting to use her sword for a bit as she’s unable to handle the things her mind is playing in front of her, making her see not only a dead version of herself all around but also those that were close to her back in the real world. It’s one of those good moments in that you just enjoy that she handles the sword so well and in a straightforward way. Playing that, and her getting closer to Rick and Carl, with Carl having to cope with the potential turning of his father brings a lot of emotional weight to things here. Not that Rick really comes across as well here with how he’s handling himself, but at least you can attribute a lot of it to the condition he’s in and all the pain. The three main characters that we get to follow here definitely makes for a good pair of stories that slowly connect together.

In Summary:
While I obviously want to know where so many of the others ended up, who really survived and the fallout from the prison, I’m definitely glad that we got just the time with the three characters in here in two separate storylines that really lets them shine. Rick is kept to the smaller part, which is definitely not a bad thing, and that means Carl has to carry things again as is becoming his lot in life. Chandler Riggs has definitely made this character a lot of fun to watch, much like he grew in the comics, and seeing him trying but screwing up is done in the right way. Getting more of Michonne’s past here is a surprise but that definitely makes her more compelling as well, something that she’s definitely needed since her introduction but had to come at the right time. And this definitely fits that need here now. Everything comes together in a great way here at the end with a kind of emotion that makes you grin stupidly, and that’s because you do care for them.

Grade: A-

Crunchyroll continues to expand its offerings for the winter 2015 anime season and the latest one to get the nod is the third season of Dog Days, which is going by the name of Dog Days Double Dash. The series premiered today on the service with new episodes going live every Saturday at noon ET for premium members and a week later for free members. The series has a bit of a limited amount of streaming as it’ll be open to members in Asia excluding China, Korea, India.

This new series takes place a couple of months after the second season in terms of continuity. The series is based on the original work by Masaki Tsuzuki, who is doing the series composition for this, and will be directed by Junji Nishimura with Katsuya Kikuchi serving as the assistant direction. Osamu Sakata will be handling the character designs for it and Seven Arcs is handling the animation production.

The main cast of characters has also been announced with their actors with Mamoru Miyano as Shinku Izumi, Yui Horie as Millhiore F. Biscotti, Nana Mizuki as Ricotta Elmar, Ami Koshimizu as Leonmitchelli Galette Des Rois, Mikako Takahashi as Rebecca Anderson, Aoi Yūki as Kuberu E. Pastillage and Ayana Taketatsu as Eclair Martinozzi.

Plot concept: Republic of Biscotti faces a predicament by the invasion of Galette Leo Knights. In order to save the country, Princess Milchore summons a “hero” from the outer world. Cinque, a junior high school boy living on the Earth, is chosen as the hero.

A new threat arises that has the magic community getting tense.

Creative Staff:
Story: Tom Taylor
Art: Bruno Redondo & Xermanico

What They Say:
The war with the Green Lanterns is over, but it claimed a civilian victim–one whose death John Constantine will not let go unavenged.

Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Originally started a couple of years ago as a prequel to the game Injustice: Gods Among Us, the series has totally taken on a life of its own. While it runs as a digital series, it’s later collected in print and collections which can be easily added to most game stores to cross promote, or just to be visible in bookstores that can draw in more attention. I was certainly curious about the book when it started, but I wasn’t particularly keen on a weekly digital at the time and I never made it to picking up the trades, having lost it along the way only to realizes that it’s become quite popular. So when offered as a free book for the start of the third series, I was definitely game.

And the payoff is strong right from the start. This series exists in its own continuity rather than the mainline DC Comics world, so that gives it a lot more freedom to work with things and make real changes along the way, particularly with the whole heroes having gone bad and fights among them to try and fix things. This installment picks up after a war with the Green Lantern Corps that has caused a lot of pain and suffering around the world, which is noted as we see John Constantine in Liverpool, England visiting a house that had one of the Corps members fall on it after he was killed. The house had a lot of magical wards on it that basically made it invisible to magic based people, but it didn’t account for this kind of accident that would destroy its secret. And what a secret it is. While the two adults inside died, young Rose Constantine survived. And now something big and evil from the magical side of the world is going to be coming for her.

Constantine’s serious nature is one that I like, though we’ve also seen some real soft spots from him over the years as well, so his time with Rose is nicely done. But his main presentation of himself is there as well when he figures the safest place for her is in the otherdimensional Tower of Fate, where we see Dr. Fate and Zatanna conversing over the rising evil that they can feel as well. Bringing them all together is done well and we get a good bit of establishing dialogue for things, and a decent bit of snark as well. Constantine’s interactions with others are always fun and seeing them hash out a bit of the potential of who it could be works nicely, as does the very welcome twist when he heads off to get help from the World’s Greatest Detective…

In Summary:
Having not read anything prior to this in this universe, what we get is still largely accessible to comics fans because you know the characters and some of the personalities. What I liked in particular here is that it went without the big guys as there’s no Batman or Superman or any of the other top tier well known characters. We get Constantine kicking off the story, a welcome visit to Dr. Fate and Zatanna and a nice twist at the end that made me smile. Tom Taylor captures the tone of the characters well and moves through the issue at a good pace, taking time to give us some real dialogue and exposition. All of it is well complemented by the artwork from Xermanico and Bruno Redondo as they bring the magic side to life but also the very human side, while also touching a bit on the war that was. I may not dip into the other issues, but I’ll definitely be hunting up some trades.

Grade: B

Age Rating: 13+
Released By: DC Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: September 30th, 2014
MSRP: $0.99

I ended up suffering a bit of public shaming today when it was revealed that, even after owning Lawrence of Arabia on DVD since its initial released almost a decade ago, I still haven’t watched it. It’s still wrapped. That went into a discussion about my watch/unwatched ratio, which is horribly skewed by the sheer volume I process regularly, but it covered other areas as well. Those who follow me on GetGlue know I watch a heck of a lot more than anime, but the anime does dominate and often pushes other things down the list a bit. My book reading pile is horrible, largely because I’m in the midst of a four volume ebook collection of the Game of Thrones books. But that’s impacted my comic book graphic novel reading, which now has some seventy-five volumes I’ve bought in the last three years sitting on the shelf.

So, I know my backlog is horrible, though not when it comes to anime. How’s your backlog when it comes to anime, manga, books, comics or films? Share your pain with my pain!

Sound off in our comments section below or drop in to our forum for the subject and let us know. No registration is required for that particular section, though you can certainly register and you can connect via Facebook as well to post.

Questioning Fandom appears on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays with different topics where we want to know where the fans stand on them. Check the forum for past topics and join in the conversation. You can also suggest topics in there as well!

The folks at ICv2 have put together their look at the direct market for March 2015 when it comes to graphic novels that are sold and it’s certainly an interesting month overall with what hits the top. While it didn’t seem to get much press, the debut of Nemo: River of Ghosts as part of the final trilogy or League of Extraordinary Gentleman took the top spot for IDW Publishing. The top ten is fairly varied overall, though Marvel has the most spots with the second Ms. Marvel collection coming in at the second spot. Image comics makes out well with Low and the foruth installment of Saga as well as Deadly Class and Birthright rounding out the top ten. Dynamite Entertainment’s pursuit of licensed properties has gotten them the tenth place spot itself with the first Bob’s Burgers collection. DC Comics highest ranked title is at fourteen with Justice League. It is amusing to see the way things are reversed here as DC Comics tends to fill a lot of the bookstore channel rankings while Marvel is under represented there.

On the manga side, the highest ranked is Yu Gi Oh 5DS with the seventh volume placing at twenty-four while Kodansha Comics has their highest ranked with Attack on Titan Volume 1 at 199th place. Yen Press gets its highest ranked title at 153 with Sword Art Online: Fairy Dance Volume 3.

Top 300 GNs – March 2015
Rank	Index	Title	Price	Pub	Est.Qty
1	9.35	NEMO RIVER OF GHOSTS HC (MR)	$14.95	IDW	6,848
2	7.37	MS MARVEL TP VOL 02 GENERATION WHY	$15.99	MAR	5,400
3	7.24	LOW TP VOL 01 THE DELIRIUM OF HOPE (MR)	$9.99	IMA	5,303
4	6.61	HAWKEYE VS DEADPOOL TP	$16.99	MAR	4,846
5	6.13	SAGA TP VOL 04 (MR)	$14.99	IMA	4,492
6	6.11	DEADPOOL TP VOL 07 AXIS	$17.99	MAR	4,475
7	5.96	DEADPOOLS ART OF WAR TP	$12.99	MAR	4,364
8	5.75	DEADLY CLASS TP VOL 02 KIDS OF THE BLACK HOLE (MR)	$14.99	IMA	4,216
9	5.53	BIRTHRIGHT TP VOL 01 HOMECOMING (MR)	$9.99	IMA	4,053
10	5.37	BOBS BURGERS TP VOL 01	$17.99	DE	3,931
11	5.24	SAGA TP VOL 01 (MR)	$9.99	IMA	3,841
12	5.15	LAZARUS TP VOL 03 CONCLAVE (MR)	$14.99	IMA	3,775
13	4.76	COPPERHEAD TP VOL 01 A NEW SHERIFF IN TOWN	$9.99	IMA	3,486
14	4.45	JUSTICE LEAGUE TP VOL 05 FOREVER HEROES (N52)	$14.99	DC	3,262
15	4.22	WALKING DEAD TP VOL 01 DAYS GONE BYE	$14.99	IMA	3,091
16	4.10	CIVIL WAR TP	$24.99	MAR	3,002
17	4.04	WAYWARD TP VOL 01 STRING THEORY (MR)	$9.99	IMA	2,963
18	3.95	NAILBITER TP VOL 02 BLOODY HANDS (MR)	$14.99	IMA	2,894
19	3.71	SUPERMAN WONDER WOMAN TP VOL 01 POWER COUPLE (N52)	$16.99	DC	2,715
20	3.63	WOLVERINE ORIGIN II TP	$19.99	MAR	2,656
21	3.43	SAGA TP VOL 02 (MR)	$14.99	IMA	2,510
22	3.41	BIG HARD SEX CRIMINALS HC (MR)	$39.99	IMA	2,497
23	3.31	SEX CRIMINALS TP VOL 01 (MR)	$9.99	IMA	2,425
24	3.11	YU GI OH 5DS GN VOL 07	$9.99	VIZ	2,279
25	3.09	ROCHE LIMIT TP VOL 01	$9.99	IMA	2,266
26	3.06	GUARDIANS GALAXY PREM HC VOL 04 ORIGINAL SIN	$24.99	MAR	2,241
27	3.05	BATMAN TP VOL 01 THE COURT OF OWLS (N52)	$16.99	DC	2,231
28	3.04	ADVENTURE TIME TP VOL 06	$14.99	BOO	2,226
29	2.99	BATMAN 66 MEETS THE GREEN HORNET HC	$22.99	DC	2,189
30	2.89	TINY TITANS RETURN TO THE TREEHOUSE TP	$12.99	DC	2,120
31	2.88	MORNING GLORIES TP VOL 08	$12.99	IMA	2,108
32	2.86	TEEN TITANS GO TP VOL 01 PARTY PARTY	$12.99	DC	2,099
33	2.86	BPRD HELL ON EARTH TP VOL 10 DEVILS WINGS	$19.99	DAR	2,095
34	2.86	SHE-HULK TP VOL 02 DISORDERLY CONDUCT	$15.99	MAR	2,094
35	2.83	MARVELS AVENGERS TP AGE OF ULTRON PRELUDE	$16.99	MAR	2,072
36	2.81	SAGA TP VOL 03 (MR)	$14.99	IMA	2,058
37	2.68	SHAOLIN COWBOY HC THE SHEMP BUFFET	$19.99	DAR	1,963
38	2.65	DEATH OF WOLVERINE TP WEAPON X PROGRAM	$19.99	MAR	1,942
39	2.60	Y THE LAST MAN TP BOOK 02 (MR)	$19.99	DC	1,905
40	2.59	ALL NEW X-MEN PREM HC VOL 06 ULTIMATE ADVENTURE	$24.99	MAR	1,901
41	2.58	PROPHET TP VOL 04 JOINING	$17.99	IMA	1,891
42	2.54	HUMANS TP VOL 01 HUMANS FOR LIFE (MR)	$9.99	IMA	1,864
43	2.51	ALEX + ADA TP VOL 02	$12.99	IMA	1,842
44	2.46	SUPERMAN DOOMED HC (N52)	$49.99	DC	1,801
45	2.45	WICKED & DIVINE TP VOL 01 THE FAUST ACT (MR)	$9.99	IMA	1,793
46	2.43	WALKING DEAD TP VOL 22 A NEW BEGINNING (MR)	$14.99	IMA	1,784
47	2.43	JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA TP VOL 02 SURVIVORS OF EVIL (N52)	$16.99	DC	1,778
48	2.43	INHUMAN TP VOL 02 AXIS	$15.99	MAR	1,777
49	2.41	AVENGERS TP VOL 05 ADAPT OR DIE	$19.99	MAR	1,764
50	2.38	MS MARVEL TP VOL 01 NO NORMAL	$15.99	MAR	1,745
51	2.30	SEX CRIMINALS TP VOL 02 TWO WORLDS ONE COP (MR)	$14.99	IMA	1,687
52	2.26	SUPERMAN WONDER WOMAN HC VOL 02 WAR AND PEACE (N52)	$24.99	DC	1,658
53	2.26	WALKING DEAD TP VOL 02 MILES BEHIND US (NEW PTG)	$14.99	IMA	1,653
54	2.24	SEX TP VOL 03 BROKEN TOYS (MR)	$14.99	IMA	1,644
55	2.21	BATMAN BEYOND JUSTICE LORDS BEYOND TP	$16.99	DC	1,619
56	2.21	BATMAN TP VOL 02 THE CITY OF OWLS (N52)	$16.99	DC	1,617
57	2.20	UNITY TP VOL 01 TO KILL A KING	$14.99	VAL	1,610
58	2.19	SHADOW TP VOL 01 FIRE OF CREATION (MR)	$19.99	DE	1,607
59	2.18	COLDEST CITY HC	$19.99	ONI	1,600
60	2.17	DOCTOR WHO 10TH HC VOL 01 REVOLUTIONS TERROR	$19.99	TTN	1,588
61	2.15	NEW LONE WOLF AND CUB TP VOL 04 (MR)	$13.99	DAR	1,572
62	2.11	BATMAN THE KILLING JOKE SPECIAL ED HC	$17.99	DC	1,547
63	2.09	NARUTO GN VOL 69	$9.99	VIZ	1,532
64	2.07	SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN HC VOL 03	$34.99	MAR	1,514
64	2.07	DOCTOR WHO 11TH HC VOL 01 AFTER LIFE	$19.99	TTN	1,514
66	2.05	RAT QUEENS TP VOL 01 SASS & SORCERY (MR)	$9.99	IMA	1,503
67	2.01	AVENGERS OMNIBUS HC VOL 02	$99.99	MAR	1,469
68	1.96	BATMAN TP VOL 03 DEATH OF THE FAMILY (N52)	$16.99	DC	1,435
69	1.93	HULK TP VOL 02 OMEGA HULK BOOK 01	$19.99	MAR	1,412
70	1.92	SUPERMAN RED SON TP NEW EDITION	$17.99	DC	1,410
71	1.92	FLASHPOINT TP	$16.99	DC	1,406
72	1.92	JUSTICE LEAGUE UNITED HC VOL 1 JUSTICE LEAGUE CANADA (N52)	$24.99	DC	1,404
73	1.88	UNCANNY X-MEN PREM HC VOL 05 OMEGA MUTANT	$24.99	MAR	1,380
74	1.87	CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS TP	$29.99	DC	1,369
75	1.84	ASTRO CITY VICTORY TP	$16.99	DC	1,349
76	1.81	DEADPOOL KILLS MARVEL UNIVERSE TP	$14.99	MAR	1,327
77	1.81	CRIMINAL TP VOL 03 THE DEAD AND THE DYING (MR)	$14.99	IMA	1,325
78	1.81	USAGI YOJIMBO SAGA TP VOL 02	$24.99	DAR	1,323
79	1.74	ALL NEW X-FACTOR TP VOL 03 AXIS	$24.99	MAR	1,273
80	1.73	SECRET AVENGERS TP VOL 02 LABYRINTH	$12.99	MAR	1,269
81	1.72	WALKING DEAD TP VOL 21 ALL OUT WAR PT 2 (MR)	$14.99	IMA	1,259
82	1.65	RUNAWAYS COMPLETE COLLECTION TP VOL 03	$39.99	MAR	1,206
83	1.64	SOUTHERN BASTARDS TP VOL 01 HERE WAS A MAN (MR)	$9.99	IMA	1,201
84	1.61	SUPERMAN EARTH ONE HC VOL 03	$22.99	DC	1,182
85	1.61	MMW INVINCIBLE IRON MAN HC VOL 09	$75.00	MAR	1,181
86	1.60	DEAD BOY DETECTIVES TP VOL 02 GHOST SNOW	$14.99	DC	1,170
87	1.59	UNITED STATES OF MURDER INC PREM HC VOL 01 TRUTH (MR)	$24.99	MAR	1,163
88	1.57	ROCKETEER THE COMPLETE ADVENTURES TP	$19.99	IDW	1,151
89	1.57	BATMAN TP VOL 04 ZERO YEAR SECRET CITY (N52)	$16.99	DC	1,147
90	1.54	SUPER VILLAINS UNITE TP COMPLETE SUPER VILLAIN TEAM UP	$34.99	MAR	1,129
91	1.54	WALKING DEAD TP VOL 03 SAFETY BEHIND BARS	$14.99	IMA	1,126
92	1.52	ALL STAR WESTERN TP VOL 06 END OF THE TRAIL (N52)	$14.99	DC	1,114
92	1.52	KINGDOM COME TP NEW PTG	$19.99	DC	1,114
92	1.52	SEXCASTLE OGN (MR)	$15.99	IMA	1,114
95	1.51	ASTRO CITY PRIVATE LIVES HC	$24.99	DC	1,103
96	1.50	TREES TP VOL 01 (MR)	$14.99	IMA	1,098
97	1.49	AMAZING SPIDER-MAN EPIC COLLECTION TP ROUND ROBIN	$34.99	MAR	1,094
98	1.47	GODZILLA CATACLYSM TP	$19.99	IDW	1,079
99	1.46	HAWKEYE TP AVENGING ARCHER	$34.99	MAR	1,073
100	1.44	DEADPOOL TP VOL 01 DEAD PRESIDENTS NOW	$15.99	MAR	1,056
101	1.44	EAST OF WEST TP VOL 01 THE PROMISE	$9.99	IMA	1,052
102	1.43	LETTER 44 TP VOL 02	$19.99	ONI	1,050
103	1.42	FLASH TP VOL 01 MOVE FORWARD (N52)	$16.99	DC	1,040
104	1.40	CHRONICLES OF CONAN TP VOL 29 SHAPE IN THE SHADOW	$19.99	DAR	1,026
105	1.39	INFINITY GAUNTLET TP	$24.99	MAR	1,017
106	1.36	JACK KIRBY MISTER MIRACLE ARTIST ED HC	$95.00	IDW	993
107	1.33	WALKING DEAD TP VOL 20 ALL OUT WAR PT 1 (MR)	$14.99	IMA	976
108	1.33	OUTCAST BY KIRKMAN & AZACETA TP VOL 01	$9.99	IMA	972
109	1.33	BALTIMORE HC VOL 05 APOSTLE & WITCH OF HARJU	$24.99	DAR	971
109	1.33	OH MY GODDESS RTL TP VOL 47	$12.99	DAR	971
111	1.32	ODDLY NORMAL TP VOL 01	$9.99	IMA	968
112	1.32	WALKING DEAD TP VOL 04 HEARTS DESIRE	$14.99	IMA	966
113	1.32	GOD IS DEAD TP VOL 04 (MR)	$19.99	AVA	964
114	1.31	BLACK SCIENCE TP VOL 01 HOW TO FALL FOREVER (MR)	$9.99	IMA	960
115	1.31	GEORGE ROMEROS EMPIRE OF DEAD TP ACT TWO	$19.99	MAR	959
116	1.30	MU ULT SPIDER-MAN WEB WARRIORS DIGEST TP VOL 01	$9.99	MAR	949
117	1.29	ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN TP VOL 03	$16.99	DC	948
118	1.27	AGE OF ULTRON TP	$34.99	MAR	929
119	1.25	ALL NEW ULTIMATES TP VOL 02 NO GODS NO MASTERS	$17.99	MAR	914
120	1.24	WALKING DEAD TP VOL 05 BEST DEFENSE (NEW PTG)	$14.99	IMA	912
121	1.24	DEADLY CLASS TP VOL 01 REAGAN YOUTH (MR)	$9.99	IMA	911
122	1.21	SKYLANDERS CHAMPIONS HC	$9.99	IDW	885
123	1.20	MOORCOCK ELRIC HC VOL 02 STORMBRINGER	$14.99	TTN	878
124	1.18	SONIC SAGA TP VOL 07 DARK MIRROR	$11.99	ARC	862
125	1.17	BATMAN HUSH COMPLETE TP	$24.99	DC	860
126	1.17	FINAL INCAL HC (MR)	$34.95	HUM	857
127	1.16	COURTNEY CRUMRIN SPEC ED HC VOL 07	$24.99	ONI	848
128	1.15	WATCHMEN TP	$19.99	DC	844
129	1.15	TRANSFORMERS PRIMACY TP	$17.99	IDW	839
129	1.15	BONE COLOR ED HC VOL 01 TRIBUTE EDITION	$14.99	SCH	839
131	1.14	FINAL CRISIS TP NEW EDITION	$19.99	DC	833
131	1.14	JUSTICE LEAGUE TP VOL 01 ORIGIN (N52)	$16.99	DC	833
133	1.14	OINK HEAVENS BUTCHER TP	$17.99	DAR	832
134	1.13	SANDMAN TP VOL 01 PRELUDES & NOCTURNES NEW ED (MR)	$19.99	DC	825
135	1.12	BATMAN DARK KNIGHT RETURNS TP	$19.99	DC	824
136	1.12	MARCH GN BOOK 01	$14.95	IDW	822
137	1.12	FABLES TP VOL 01 LEGENDS IN EXILE NEW ED (MR)	$12.99	DC	820
138	1.11	CHRONICLES OF KING CONAN TP VOL 10 WARLORD OF KOTH	$19.99	DAR	816
139	1.11	REVENGE TP (MR)	$14.99	IMA	814
139	1.11	IRON FIST TP RETURN OF KUN LUN	$34.99	MAR	814
141	1.10	DEATH OF WOLVERINE HC	$24.99	MAR	806
142	1.09	WALKING DEAD TP VOL 18 WHAT COMES AFTER	$14.99	IMA	802
143	1.09	WALKING DEAD TP VOL 17 SOMETHING TO FEAR (MR)	$14.99	IMA	796
144	1.08	NAILBITER TP VOL 01 THERE WILL BE BLOOD (MR)	$9.99	IMA	791
145	1.07	SECRET SERVICE TP KINGSMAN MOVIE ED (MR)	$12.99	MAR	785
146	1.07	WALKING DEAD COMPENDIUM TP VOL 01 (MR)	$59.99	IMA	783
147	1.06	INFINITE CRISIS TP	$17.99	DC	778
148	1.06	ZOMBIE TRAMP ONGOING TP VOL 01 (MR)	$14.99	ACT	776
149	1.06	AVENGERS BY BUSIEK AND PEREZ OMNIBUS HC VOL 01	$125.00	MAR	775
150	1.04	WOLVERINE OLD MAN LOGAN TP	$29.99	MAR	765
151	1.04	GUARDIANS OF GALAXY TP VOL 01 COSMIC AVENGERS	$19.99	MAR	764
152	1.04	LOCKE & KEY TP VOL 01 WELCOME TO LOVECRAFT	$19.99	IDW	763
153	1.02	SWORD ART ONLINE FAIRY DANCE GN VOL 03	$13.00	HAC	750
154	1.01	OCEAN ORBITER DELUXE ED HC (MR)	$29.99	DC	742
155	1.00	FADE OUT TP VOL 01 (MR)	$9.99	IMA	731
156	1.00	WALKING DEAD TP VOL 06 SORROWFUL LIFE (MR)	$14.99	IMA	730
157	0.99	AVENGERS QUICKSILVER TP	$34.99	MAR	726
158	0.99	STARLIGHT TP VOL 01	$14.99	IMA	723
159	0.98	BLACK SCIENCE TP VOL 02 WELCOME NOWHERE	$14.99	IMA	721
160	0.98	EAST OF WEST TP VOL 02 WE ARE ALL ONE	$14.99	IMA	718
161	0.97	EAST OF WEST TP VOL 03 THERE IS NO US	$14.99	IMA	714
162	0.97	MARCH GN BOOK 02	$19.95	IDW	713
163	0.97	CLAYMORE GN VOL 26	$9.99	VIZ	712
164	0.96	X-FILES YEAR ZERO TP	$19.99	IDW	705
165	0.95	BLACKEST NIGHT TP	$19.99	DC	696
166	0.94	ARCHIE GIANT COMICS PARTY TP	$7.99	ARC	686
167	0.93	MURDER BOOK TP	$17.99	DAR	685
168	0.93	PREACHER TP BOOK 01 (MR)	$19.99	DC	678
169	0.92	WALKING DEAD TP VOL 19 MARCH TO WAR	$14.99	IMA	672
170	0.91	CRISIS ON MULTIPLE EARTHS TP VOL 01	$14.99	DC	666
171	0.90	IDENTITY CRISIS TP	$17.99	DC	657
172	0.89	NIGHT OF LIVING DEADPOOL TP	$16.99	MAR	649
173	0.85	HAWKEYE TP VOL 01 MY LIFE AS WEAPON NOW	$16.99	MAR	623
174	0.84	SILENT HILL DOWNPOUR ANNES STORY TP	$17.99	IDW	616
175	0.84	WALKING DEAD TP VOL 07 THE CALM BEFORE (MR)	$14.99	IMA	614
176	0.84	CONAN HC VOL 17 SHADOWS OVER KUSH	$24.99	DAR	613
177	0.83	ANGEL AND FAITH SEASON 9 LIBRARY ED HC VOL 01	$29.99	DAR	607
178	0.83	DEADPOOL BY DANIEL WAY COMPLETE COLL TP VOL 01	$34.99	MAR	606
179	0.82	BATMAN THE LONG HALLOWEEN TP	$24.99	DC	603
179	0.82	JOKER DEATH OF THE FAMILY TP (N52)	$24.99	DC	603
181	0.82	MASTER KEATON GN VOL 02	$19.99	VIZ	602
182	0.81	WALKING DEAD TP VOL 08 MADE TO SUFFER (MR)	$14.99	IMA	597
183	0.81	V FOR VENDETTA NEW EDITION TP (MR)	$19.99	DC	596
184	0.81	BATMAN GOTHAM BY GASLIGHT TP NEW ED	$12.99	DC	595
185	0.81	BATMAN YEAR ONE DELUXE SC	$14.99	DC	594
185	0.81	NIXONS PALS HC (MR)	$19.99	IMA	594
185	0.81	RESIDENT EVIL MARHAWA DESIRE GN VOL 03 (MR)	$12.99	VIZ	594
188	0.80	HELLBLAZER TP VOL 01 ORIGINAL SINS NEW ED (MR)	$19.99	DC	583
188	0.80	DEADPOOL KILLS DEADPOOL TP	$14.99	MAR	583
190	0.79	X-O MANOWAR TP VOL 08 ENTER ARMORINES	$14.99	VAL	578
191	0.78	SOUL EATER TP VOL 25 (MR)	$13.00	HAC	575
191	0.78	SECRET WARS TP	$34.99	MAR	575
193	0.78	INJUSTICE GODS AMONG US TP VOL 01	$14.99	DC	569
194	0.77	AVENGERS VS X-MEN TP AVX	$34.99	MAR	567
195	0.77	AQUAMAN TP VOL 01 THE TRENCH (N52)	$14.99	DC	564
196	0.76	HARLEY QUINN HC VOL 01 HOT IN THE CITY	$24.99	DC	560
197	0.76	FLASH TP VOL 02 ROGUES REVOLUTION (N52)	$16.99	DC	557
198	0.76	REGULAR SHOW TP VOL 03	$14.99	BOO	555
199	0.75	ATTACK ON TITAN GN VOL 01	$10.99	RAN	547
199	0.75	UNITY TP VOL 04 THE UNITED	$14.99	VAL	547
201	0.73	REVIVAL TP VOL 01 YOU’RE AMONG FRIENDS	$12.99	IMA	536
202	0.73	SUNSTONE OGN VOL 01 (MR)	$14.99	IMA	532
203	0.72	DEVIL IS PART TIMER GN VOL 01	$13.00	HAC	530
204	0.72	NISEKOI FALSE LOVE GN VOL 08	$9.99	VIZ	527
205	0.71	WALKING DEAD TP VOL 12 LIFE AMONG THEM	$14.99	IMA	523
206	0.71	ONE PIECE GN VOL 74	$9.99	VIZ	521
207	0.71	WONDER WOMAN TP VOL 01 BLOOD (N52)	$14.99	DC	519
208	0.70	SHAME GN VOL 03 REDEMPTION (MR)	$9.99	REN	516
208	0.70	SUPER STREET FIGHTER HC VOL 02 HYPER FIGHTING	$34.95	UDO	516
210	0.70	SUICIDE SQUAD TP VOL 01 KICKED IN THE TEETH (N52)	$14.99	DC	514
210	0.70	DEADPOOL TP VOL 05 WEDDING OF DEADPOOL	$15.99	MAR	514
212	0.69	AMAZING SPIDER-MAN TP VOL 01 PARKER LUCK	$17.99	MAR	509
213	0.68	EXTINCTION PARADE TP VOL 02 WAR (MR)	$19.99	AVA	500
214	0.67	DRAGONS RIDERS OF BERK GN VOL 04 THE STOWAWAY	$6.99	RAN	494
215	0.67	FLASH TP VOL 03 GORILLA WARFARE (N52)	$16.99	DC	492
215	0.67	CHEW TP VOL 01 (MR)	$9.99	IMA	492
215	0.67	WALKING DEAD TP VOL 10 WHAT WE BECOME	$14.99	IMA	492
218	0.67	CHEW TP VOL 09 CHICKEN TENDERS (MR)	$14.99	IMA	490
219	0.66	Y THE LAST MAN TP BOOK 01 (MR)	$19.99	DC	487
220	0.66	FLASH TP VOL 04 REVERSE (N52)	$16.99	DC	485
221	0.66	POKEMON XY GN VOL 02	$4.99	VIZ	484
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Note that you can now fin

The matches reach a conclusion at this segment before moving on to the next phase.

What They Say:
Leorio is in a gambling showdown with their remaining time limit on the line. Soon enough, Leorio only has 10 hours remaining. With no room for error, Leorio turns to a bet involving rock, paper, scissors. Leorio was confident going in, but he falls to his opponent’s mind games. Two wins, two losses. The group is in a tight spot and their fate rests upon Killua.

The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
After an amusing round that had one of the criminals basically playing possum for as long as he could to try and run down the clock, which certainly makes sense considering their situation, the show moves to a new and more specific round as Leorio gets to go up against Lourette. When she reveals herself, she’s definitely a cute and wild haired young woman, but she strts the tone off right by making a gamble with him about whether she’s really a she. And since verifying the claim involves getting quite hands on with her, his dirty old man self comes out swinging in a big way.

What Lourette ends up working over with him is a series of bets that will challenges with their time being bet against each other at different levels. Lourette thinks she’s playing against an older man based on his looks though and doesn’t realize that Leorio is just a teenager himself, simply a really older looking one. The challenges are more mind games than anything else as she plays him against himself, especially as he’s down to his last ten hours to bet with. And since Lourette is just trying to draw things out herself, it’s to her advantage to play with him as long as possible. Leorio’s personality is one that definitely doesn’t handle this kind of threat well and looks to be at least one of his weaknesses as he gets in a panic over the way things unfold.

Thankfully, this only takes up the first half of the episode since you kind of feel bad for Leorior and it moves on to Killua who gets to go against the next and final member of the criminal opponents as things are all tied up. Amusingly, the final opponent is one that even the other criminals are scared of and we get a really good look at why right from the start as he’s just a brutal personality. Johness is a criminal with a nearly thousand year sentence because of the severity and brutality of the murders he’s committed over the years and even the game runner in the Trick Tower really didn’t want to let him go and be used here, hoping things would finish out before hand. Setting him against Killua is perfect though since it gives us a great look at both of them and the power sets that are really involved. Especially when it comes to personality and temperament, making it a truly impressive sequence in its very own special way.

In Summary:
Changes haven’t been huge here when it comes to the original manga, being a fairly faithful new adaptation with some different pacing and a bit smoother of an approach. We get a neat little twist that speaks far more of Killua’s personality here with the result of his match which I found to be rather neat and cruel all on its own. Leorio’s match is simply amusing to watch and that helps bring some balance to the episode overall so that it’s not so dark and not so silly when you get down to it. This part of the Trick Tower always felt like the longest since it was going through the five person majority rules gig, and it felt it even more so in watching it weekly. But it still kept me pretty interested in what was going on and seeing the challenges that they had to go through. Now things are close to moving to the next phase and I’m eager to see what’s next.

Grade: B+

Readers Rating: [ratings]

Streamed By: Crunchyroll

Review Equipment:
Sony KDS-R70XBR2 70″ LCoS 1080P HDTV, Dell 10.1 Netbook via HDMI set to 1080p, Onkyo TX-SR605 Receiver and Panasonic SB-TP20S Multi-Channel Speaker System With 100-Watt Subwoofer.

Marvel Comics is looking to do a bit to boost up the Spider-Woman series that debuts next month by providing a new variant for the second issue that lands on December 17th, 2014 – not long after Guardians of the Galaxy arrives on home video. The issue, which hasn’t had its own cover revealed yet, will have a variant that will feature a pretty good image for Rocket and Groot as they continue to find their way across a lot of variants this season. This one is being illustrated by Simone Bianchi.

“We were totally overwhelmed by the response to the Rocket Raccoon & Groot variants when we released them last month,” says Marvel SVP Sales & Marketing David Gabriel. “When Simone Bianchi said he wanted to do one too, we couldn’t resist! We couldn’t be happier with the stunning cover he turned in.”

“Rendered in Simone Bianchi’s unique style, this previously unannounced variant provides a classic homage to the iconic cover to Amazing Spider-Man #129 – starring everyone’s favorite Guardians of the Galaxy! Marvel urges retailers to check their orders on the final Rocket Raccoon & Groot variant of the year when SPIDER-WOMAN #2 hits comic shops in December!”

SPIDER-WOMAN #2 ROCKET RACCOON & GROOT VARIANT (SEP148238)
Written by DENNIS HOPELESS
Art by GREG LAND
Cover by SIMONE BIANCHI
FOC – 11/24/14, On-Sale – 12/17/14

FUNimation is continuing their work on Ultimate Otaku Teacher where, in addition to recently announcing the English language dub cast ,  they’re also bringing out more clips from the show in its subtitled simulcast form. The latest is a fun three minute piece that delves into the mysterious, curious and familiar anime cliche of maid cafes.

The original work from Takeshi Azuma has had the cast revealed recently and it included a bit of a surprise for many with Rena Matsui being a part of it. The series is directed by Masato Sato based on series composition by Atsushi Maekawa and character designs by Isao Sugimito. The cast includes Hiroshi Kamiya as Junichiro Kagami, Rena Matsui as Suzune Kagami, Sora Amamiya as Minako Kanou, Suzuko Mimori as Koyomi Hiiragi, Saori Onishi as Makina Momozono, Azusa Tadokoro as Kiriko Shikishima, Rina Hidaka as Kanan Chinami, Ayane Sakura as Kisaki Tenjouin and Aki Toyosaki as Koutaro Araki.

Plot concept: Kagami Junichirou was known as a physics genius when he was a teenager, and he was even published in “Nature.” However, after college, he suddenly lost all interest in science. As a NEET, he’s devoted himself to his anime blog and nerdy collecting habits. He claims he has a serious illness called “I can’t do anything I don’t want to do.” Desperate to get him to do something with his life, his little sister manages to get him a job teaching physics at his old high school. He’s certainly an unconventional teacher, but he becomes fairly popular with the students. After helping a girl who’s being ruthlessly bullied, Kagami finds that he actually likes teaching. Will he continue his career as a weird teacher? Will he go back into physics? Or will he end up back where he started?

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DuGs5j_r91g?showinfo=0]

What They Say:
This is the story of the Shirai Ryu, a proud ninja clan lead by the most bad ass of ninja generals: Hanzo Hasashi, also known as “Scorpion.” After being ambushed by Sub-Zero, Scorpion rushes to try and save his family and clan, but the damage has already been done.

The Review: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
The episode picks up right where the last one left off: Scorpion getting his ass kicked while the Shirai Ryu are attacked by the Lin Kuei. His young son, Jubei, watches in the shadows as his mother is being manhandled by a couple of ninjas, but in the corner of his eye he sees the legendary weapon that his father uses.

But enough of that, we have a ninja fight to watch!

Much to my delight, both Scorpion and Sub-Zero use the moves that they’re known for. Sub-Zero uses his ice against Scorpion while Scorpion uses his harpoon and screams, “GET OVER HERE” before he hits Sub-Zero — in Japanese, no less. Scorpion defeats Sub-Zero… but at what cost? He rushes back to his village to see that everyone is dead, including his wife and son who have been completely frozen, but Scorpion doesn’t even get the chance to grieve as Sub-Zero comes up behind him and kills him. One of the other Lin Kuei approach Sub-Zero and if you’ve been watching the series since at least episode three you’ll recognize the ninja as Shang Tseng. Sub-Zero then changes into the vile sorcerer, Quan Chi, revealing that the entire attack was an elaborate plan to get Scorpion to fight for the Netherrealm in Mortal Kombat. It’s at this point that fire starts to burst from the frozen Scorpion, turning him into the ninja warrior that we all know and love.

In Summary:
I know that I always talk about how short these episodes feel, but this episode just went way too fast. The epic battle between Scorpion and Sub-Zero just didn’t feel intense enough. These two characters are the most iconic fighters in the franchise, but their fight was pretty lackluster. Yes, it was cool that their signature moves were included, but Jax, Sonya, and Kano had more action in their two part episode. Also, I wasn’t a fan of the generic hero formula being used — lead character gets the crap beat out of him then pulls off one move to win the day. Scorpion is better than that, and this is coming from a person who wanted him to win the fight. It didn’t feel worth it because it was so quick and easy — one harpoon and that’s it? Really? Then again, with the later reveal of Quan Chi, I suppose we could maybe say that Quan Chi threw the match so Scorpion could run home to a dead village.

In my last review I said that I just knew that little Jubei would have to try and fight off some ninja baddies. I was right! Except… we don’t see the fight, we just see him getting dragged away and screaming for his father. This was kind of a let down and I feared that this episode would end on a lame note, but what it lacked in action it made up for in emotion. Scorpion running home to a village full of dead bodies is one thing, but having him run to his wife’s side, hold her hand, and watch it slowly crack since she’s completely frozen punches you in the heart.

But no, the Scorpion pain doesn’t end there.

After finding his young son’s dead body Sub-Zero kills him from behind. As Scorpion is frozen to death he keeps staring at his son, his sight freezing over as he dies. I had wondered in my last review if it would be possible to make this scene tragic since Mortal Kombat fans know the story already, but this episode pulls it off. Scorpion’s seething hatred towards Sub-Zero is not only explained, but it’s completely justified. And to those fans who were in a huff about the last episode “not following the canon since Quan Chi wasn’t involved,” I suppose your complaints were heard since this episode followed it as accurately as possible.

There’s only two more episodes left until the series is over and it’s pretty obvious that we aren’t going to make it to the tournament. With so many characters left — including Liu Kang, champion of Mortal Kombat — I wonder who the series is going to end with, or how it will end period. There’s talk of a second season already, which is great because there definitely needs to be one. I would love to see how the tournament is approached, to see who fights who, and to see the characters really go in and kick some MK ass! Until then, this week’s episode ends on a depressing note as Scorpion becomes a bitter spectre… but does he have a skull head? Inquiring minds want to know.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQv-kYsclSM?rel=0&hd=1&w=560&h=349]

Let’s get Hime into a swimsuit.

What They Say:
The story follows Hime Arikawa, whose absent parents have left with saddled with a huge debt. After being saved from debt collectors by three girls on the student council, in exchange for paying off his debt, he agrees to spend the rest of his high school career dressed as a girl.

The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Shifting the show to the school pool for some fun is obviously going to be complicated as Hime gets forced into a girls bathing suit, which obviously has him sensitive to his appearance but also the oppressive leers of the boys. Which in turn becomes a lot of hands on moments with some of them getting all close to him. With the club there to help the swim team practice, that just leads to some complications between them and the student council that is frustrated by their regular involvement in all things. How best to settle it all? A race is in order of course in the pool. That gets some wet and slippery swim time going and some awkward humor along the way.

In Summary:
Playing with gender is part and parcel with this series and there is a good bit of silly fun with it since Hime often forgets that he’s actually a he since he’s treated as a girl so much. Forgetting that does lead to some amusing gags and there’s the ongoing issues in dealing with the others on the council, especially 18+ since she seems to have a few more feelings to him, but mostly we get what you’d expect here with some goofy fanservice, a danger plot device you can see a mile away and a rescue attempt that reaffirms the position that Hime has with the student council. Cute and silly and over quickly, which is probably for the best.

Grade: B-

Streamed By: Crunchyroll

Review Equipment:
Sony KDL70R550A 70″ LED 1080P HDTV, Apple TV via HDMI set to 1080p, Onkyo TX-SR605 Receiver and Panasonic SB-TP20S Multi-Channel Speaker System With 100-Watt Subwoofer.

One of the bigger frustrations fans of The Walking Dead have had is the lack of a certain character named Tyreese. While we all knew T-Dawg was not going to fill that role and they ended up giving him more of a personality after his death, we’ve mostly been kept happy by the creation of Daryl, a TV original character that has won quite a following since we’ve gotten to know him. But as the prison arc continues on in the third season, there’s still that lingering question of where one of the bigger and more enjoyable characters of the story is. The show has certainly deviated from the books in a lot of ways that have generally worked out well and kept fans guessing, but it’s hewed to a lot of aspects that have surprised as well. But Tyreese is one of the mysteries.

Now, Entertainment Weekly is reporting that the third season mid-season finale due out on December 2nd will introduce a new character according to Robert Kirkman.  “A big deal fan favorite from the comic book is introduced into the show in this episode, so be on the lookout for that.” While Kirkman is playing coy as to who it is, as he does love that game, the articles does have a hint that if it is Tyreese, there’s a good chance that we know who the actor for it is. While many were surprised by the revelation of the actress for Michonne being such a well kept secret, reports in Atlanta have showed that Chad Coleman of The Wire has been seen around there. With just a few weeks until the mid-season finale, we’ll know one way or the other, but Coleman would definitely be an ideal choice .