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まおちゃん (Mao-chan) Vol. 4
Keinosuke Urashima has another debut when the girls go to Nanasegawa's Hinata Hot Springs. Same situation as what happened in the anime, but different story. So this is the last volume of the series. It feels a bit contrived, but I like how it ended. Don't remember much from the ending to the anime, but I don't think it had a conclusion like this one. Included in this manga are two one-shot manga. One of them is a Mao-chan one that was in Shonen Magazine last year (I must have read it, but don't remember). The second one is completely unrelated, but the main character looks almost identical to Kinomoto Sakura. 24. すてきな記憶を防衛です (Protect the Wonderful Memory): After visiting the grave of his wife, General Onigawara lights his cigarette in a place where gas has been leaking and causes an explosion that sends him to the hospital. Kagome sits at his bedside and when he awakes, he thinks he's back in his 20s and Kagome is his wife, Kunie. They go out to the ocean cliff and the General starts being romantic with her. Kagome would love to play along, but can't so she tries to tell him that he's actually an old general. This revelation makes him want to kill himself by jumping off the cliff. Kagome tries to grab him, but they both fall down the shallow ledge. In the water, he sees her underwear and Kagome punches him, causing him to regain his memory. 25. 温泉旅館を防衛です (Protect the Hot Springs Resort): The kids and generals go to Hinata Hot Springs for some rest and relaxation. However, they go and find that the hot springs is in shambles. Nanasegawa tells them that a previous guest and wrecked the place. That guest comes back, a large white blob surrounded by a bunch of guards and is called the Hot Springs King (it's actually the king of the aliens, but they don't know that yet). Mao and the kids try to convince this Hot Springs King to let them enjoy the place and Mao ends up in a ping pong competition with it. The King loses and starts pouting. He jolts the place up and causes cracks in the ground which start spurting water. Mao and the King promise to be friends and only then, when they leave in a spacecraft that the adults realize something isn't right. The king now wants Mao to himself. 26. 作戦部長の逆襲です (The Commander's Counter Attack): The commander of the aliens wants to catch Yuriko and Chinami for failing their duties and both of them get caught. He then sends out an alien, small dinosaur, to spy on the 3 girls but it eventually gets caught by the citizens. When they call for the alien's death, Mao protects it and lets it go home. Mao is now concealed so that she can't be found, but the alien commander sends a dog that can sniff her out. They eventually find her, but Kagome has already prepared and unleashes her 101 Mao look-a-likes to confuse the aliens. Meanwhile, the real Mao rescues Yuriko and Chinami with the help of the dinosaur that she previously saved. However, they then realize that the sky is starting to rain alien capsules. 27. エイリアンは１０００体です (1000 Aliens): The aliens come by the numbers and steal all of Japan's treasures, including Mt. Fuji. The alien commander says that the only thing to save them is to hand over Mao and they have one hour to decide. During the hour, Mao thinks about her past when her dad told her that when she reached a certain height, should who know what her duty would be. She's not at that height yet...unless she stands on her tip-toes. She accepts and allows herself to be taken away. However, right before she gets snatched, the dinosaur grabs her. It turns out that the dinosaur was a double-agent and in fact, is Mao's father. 28. 日本奪還作戦です (The Plan to Recover Japan): Mao has a dream about Mii-kun, not the tank, but the cat that the tank was named after. When she wakes, she says goodbye to the tank just in case she doesn't come back. The three girls then travel to the alien's spaceship. There, they find the king with all of Japan's treasures. The king recognizes Mao from the hot springs and says they're best friends. However, Mao disagrees because he broke the promise to not be alone. So the king and the three girls make another promise and spend the time playing. Meanwhile, the other aliens are getting restless and finally, after the king hasn't come out for a long time, the elder in the group decides to call the final attack on earth. 29. いつもカワイク防衛です (Always Protecting Cutely): The final attack involves summoning the Omega, a super-sized cat. It easily stomps the king in the spaceship and starts attacking the people inside the ship, causing a hold in the ship's hull. It then recognizes Mao and it turns out that Omega is Mii-kun from Mao's past. However, the damage has been done and the ship crashes to earth, but Mao and the others have a soft landing thanks to Omega. Mao pleads for his grandpa and others to allow the aliens to co-exists, but the prime minster sees this and won't allow it. He orders his troops to kill them all, but they're too cute. 3 years later, everyone's doing well. |
Title: 陸上防衛隊まおちゃん (Mao-chan) Vol. 4 |
双恋 (Futakoi) OP/ED Single
With all the character singles that have been released, the opening and ending theme to the anime is a disappointment. It's not that the singer doesn't have a high-pitched voice, but the tune and lyrics don't convey the same mood and feeling that the other 6 CDs have. They're both pretty mellow songs with a more sentimental feel, but I'm sure that the anime and story are a little more light-hearted. At least that's what I'm getting from what I read in Dengeki G's Magazine and the Futakoi Visuals book. |
Title: 双恋 (Futakoi) OP/ED Single |
少年マガジン (Shonen Magazine), '04 Vol 51
New series starts this week, 神to戦国生徒会 (God and Warring Nations Student Council). It has its share of funny moments, but I think it'll be "darker" than what the first chapter shows. The Kondansha tour manga, "mou shimasen kara" features the 4 women from CLAMP. Speaking of which, more hints to some big news in 2 issues for Tsubasa (Tsubasa is off next week). The two cover girls are Ms. Magazine and Ms. Shonen Magazine. Student Council: ＃１アナタだけのもの (Something That's Yours Only): 葛城武蔵 (Musashi Katsuragi) has just started high school after a month delay because his parents died in an accident. He has two childhood friends who attend the same school, 茜 (Akane, girl) and 椋鳥かおる (Kaoru Mukudori, guy). Before he even gets to class in the morning, he gets into a fight with some punks at school who are picking on Kaoru. He takes out two of the guys and the others soon recognize him as "The Unsinkable" Musashi from middle school. The others try to gang up on him again, but mysterious girl, 神楽魔魅 (Mami Kagura) appears. She's the vice-president of the student council and for some strange reason, the punk kids are afraid of her. He later learns that Mami has been a bit odd lately and has told the students that this school is the center of the universe. Musashi walks around the school and sees an old school building and Mami inside. However, just before he gets to explore the place, he bumps into Kaoru. They talk and Musashi tells Kaoru that he can't depend on Musashi to keep on protecting him. Later that night, Musashi gets a call from Mami telling him to meet her at the old school building. There, she tells him that "if you become the president of the student council..." He takes her home and she finishes with "I'll be your servant." She explains that because the school is in the center of the universe, the president of the student council will be the king and can get anything he wants, including her. Despite his protest, he allows her to stay for the night. As he's sleeping, she crawls into bed with him saying that she's his property.
Negima: ７５時間目 濡れた瞳の論理 (Wet-eyed Logic): Saotomi wakes up in her robotics lab and rides her Segway to school. There, she finds out that Chachamaru has been acting a little differently lately. The robot's has become a bit more fashionable and a bit more clumsy. Saotomi does a check up on her creation. In the lab, Saotomi can't find anything wrong with Chachamaru. Konoka suggests that Chachamaru might be in love. Saotomi does a few trials by measuring Chachamaru's system status as she dresses her up in pretty clothing. She then digs into Chachamaru's memory and sees what pictures she's storing. The other girls are watching, but Chachamaru manages to push them away before the Saotomi's screen shows pictures of Negi. Chachamaru starts malfunctioning and Negi manages to stop her from self-destructing. Saotomi then promises to help her be more attractive. Suzuka: ＃３８霹靂 (Thunder): The track team is about to leave Hiroshima. As a gift, Honoka gives Yamato a cell phone strap that matches hers. As they're boarding the bullet train, Yamato arrives a little late since he was buying some drinks for the ride. He stumbles and drops the cans in front of the train. Suzuka just happens to be there and runs out to help him. The train door closes starts rolling. The only person who see them left behind is Miki. Honoka tries calling Yamato, but Yamato's cell phone is on the train. Suzuka and Yamato try to find a way back, but there are no more rides back to Tokyo operating for the rest of the night. Tsubasa: ６３もう一人の少年 (Another Boy): The castle has risen and Yasha, Fye, and Kuro disappear. Sakura wakes up and Mokona tells him that Shaoran has come back with the feather. Shaoran tells her about Fye and Kuro in this world. They're supposed to have blue and red eyes, respectively, but the two people he saw had black eyes. Flash to 飛王リード (Flying King Reed), which was the mysterious character that seemed to be in charge of Shaoran and gang's leaping from way back in the story. He's told by his assistants that things are going out of control. Reed decides to rush and release...another Shaoran. King's Sword: １３関羽戦う (Kanu Fights): Kanu chases after the bandits who are chasing the kids. He manages to protect the kids and have them escape back to their father. However, he gets knocked down and right before the death blow, he sees Ryubi's while stallion, Tekiro run off without a rider. The bandits decide that the horse is a better price and leaves Kanu there thinking what has happened to Ryubi. Full Swing: ９気がすんだか？ (Are You Feeling It?): Shun and Tama have their match. Tama starts off winning the first two games. Then Shun starts playing seriously and wins the next 6 to win the set. Tama vows not to give up. Changing Now: ２９猛追 全開マシンナー (Hot Pursuit, Full Throttle Machina): Machina and the villain are racing each other on their motorbikes while Dog Fighter is sitting in the back. Machina gets to the finish line first and is declared the winner. However, much to Dog Fighter's dismay, Machina and the villain give each other high-fives and ride off together. |
Title: 少年マガジン (Shonen Magazine) Vol. 51 |
電撃大王 (Dengeki Daioh) November '04
While I was looking up some more info for Kashimashi, I found out that it's in the works to becoming an anime. Ichigo Marshmallow is in the same situation. I'd better clear my DVD backlog before then. New series starts in this issue, "To Heart~remember my memories~" I looking into this series some more and discovered it's a pre-2000 series based on a game. That's really too old for me to buy DVDs for, so I'll pass and just stick with this manga for the series. The artists for "To Heart" is the same as the one who did the previous Muvluv. Bonus comes with a sticker sheet for cell phones and a pull-out poster. There's a one-shot manga here with three young girls protecting the earth. No it's not Mao-chan. To Heart: 1: It's been a year since the story from the first series and 藤田浩之 (Hiroyuki Fujitaka) and 神岸あかり (Akari Kamigishi) are now third year students needing to decide on what they want to do for the future. They make rounds, finding out what their classmates are doing. Hiroyuki then sees his old robot friend, Maruchi standing outside the school gates looking as if she doesn't remember anything. Hiroyuki asks her developer and he responds saying that she's lost her memory. Yotsuba to: 21よつばと花火大会 (Yotsuba and the Fireworks Celebration): Much to Jumbo's disappointment, Asagi couldn't accompany them to the festival. Yotsuba, her father, Jumbo, Ena, and Miuchi spend the night enjoying the festivities and finally seeing the fireworks show. Kashimashi: 5: Everyone treats Hazumu as a girl, even her parents have her dress in cute outfits and take pictures of her (him). However, she's still not that sure that she's fully accepted that, especially her emotional part. However, he has a run in with Yasuna in the schools garden and she almost kisses Hazumu before some guys interrupt. This has Hazumu thinking about her previous crush (when she was a guy). Muv-Luv: 3: As Takeru is looking for Yuuko, he enters a room and sees a strange girl with a uniform that sports a patch with the words "Alternative." He leaves her and finally finds Yuuko. He asks her if she's found anything on Sumika in this world. Yuuko responds in the negative. He then asks about the strange girl and Yuuko explains that her name is 社霞 (Kasumi Yashiro) and waves him off saying that she's busy. In bed, Takeru pulls out his gameboy from Earth and reminisces about his past with Sumika and Meiya of his former world. The Meiya of this world enters his room and sees his gameboy as contraband. Ichigo Marshmallow: 3: Chika is trying to study and do her homework, but the other girls are also in the room creating a racket by playing ball (which hits Chika's head), watching sumo and re-enacting it, and having pillow fights. |
Title: 電撃大王 (Dengeki Daioh) November '04
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