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I started this game right after I finished Air in mid-November and after taking December off to finish all those manga, I started it up again and only recently finished. It seems like a pretty short game with only 20-25 hours and if you exercise the fast-forward option, it takes about 30 minutes to speed through the game.
The story was surprisingly good and it's one of those that half way through, you realize the various connections that happen in the story. The annoying thing is that the main character is very oblivious to this until the very very end even though the player knows it. It starts when a mysterious girl, Asuka shows up at the school's drama club and presents a play that she wants them to do. In particular, she wants Makoto to play the lead and Koyuki to play the female lead.
The game has a star cast for voice actresses. For the lead of Koyuki, they have my favorite Yui Horie. In addition, the other characters are voiced by pretty big names like Yukari Tamura, Sakura Nogawa, and Nana Mizuki. In addition (although not noted on the packaging or liners), Yuu Asakawa plays the evil mother. They only mention it during the ending credits, but I knew it was her from the way she said "Kisama" and any of the negative verbs "-nu" as Motoko uses those words a lot.
The music is very fitting for the game. Unfortunately, they don't have a BGM soundtrack CD. My favorite tune is probably the tune that's played during the night as it's very atomspheric and sets the mysterious mood. The intro song is one of my favorites and the accompanying video is great, although they use clips from the game so it spoils it a bit if you realize that.
The cover art is pretty nicely drawn, but the in-game graphics has the characters with a slightly larger head than I would have liked. I only noticed it when I started the game and got used to it a while. In accordance with the story, there's a lot of reuse of characters with only their clothing and hair styles changing. The CG scenes could be improved upon a bit, but that's because of my own character design prejudices.
The gaming system is one of the best that I've seen. You can pretty much control everything in the game, including turning off the voices for each individual character (very tempting for Shin and his annoying Osaka accent). The game has auto-skipping and fast-fowarding too. You're allowed to scroll back in the history and play back the voices. The most interesting part (to me at least) is that if you don't press any buttons, after a while, Koyuki tells you that the game is still on.
First edition, limited to 20,000 copies, comes with a small script and a pass for the play. It comes in an oversized box and I believe the game itself has a different cover than the regular edition.
The story is a love story between Seimei and Yuki that started more than a thousand years ago. Through various re-incarnations, they've never been able to life happily ever after...
I've only played Koyuki's route, which given the story, is probably the most appropriate.
Primary Characters:
Makoto Kusanagi: Main character of the story. He belongs in the school drama club and is the playwriter for Asuka's play.
Koyuki Kusanagi: Main female character. She's actually Makoto's cousin, but calls him "brother" anyway. She just started at Makoto's high school.
Asuka Izumo: A mysterious new student who shows up and presents an old book that she wants them to perform.
Present Day:
It is summer break, but there are still a few students in the dorms including Makoto and his room mate Shin (name is actually Makoto also, but can be pronounced as Shin so they do that for distinction). One of Makoto's favorite places near the school is a place called the "Sealed Hill." He goes there and finds that his cousin, Koyuki is there. She informs him that she's going to be attending his school. They go to the drama room where she meets the other students of the club that have remained. They decide to do a play for the schools opening after break but don't know what to do. Then, Asuka walks in with an old book and says she wants it acted out. Makoto is put in charge of writing the script based on the book.
Act I, Heian Period:
Seimei (played by Makoto) is a mage during the Heian period who can summon up various creatures. As he rids some robbers, he stumbles onto a young girl (played by Koyuki). At first, he tries to scare her with his beasts, but it turns out that she's blind. She has no memories of who she is and where she's from. He takes her in and gives her the name "Yuki (Snow)." On his way back from a festival, they find Tamamo (played by Asuka) outside their door. He also takes her in. Later Seimei runs into Hidesato (played by a teacher) who he has been led to believe killed his father and has been seeking vengence ever since. Hidesato tries to explain to him that his father wanted to die (they were at war and didn't want to die from an enemy's wound) and he was the one who had to do the deed. Yuki also steps in and stops Seimei from killing him. After the incident Seimei explains to Yuki the situation. Seimei meets his mom, Kuzuha, some time later and she gives him a sword to use on Hidesato for killing her husband, but to use it, he has to kill Yuki who's apparently the keeper of the sword.
Present Day:
Nana, another student, doesn't seem to be able to play the part of Kuzuha's shikigami. But just their luck, another new student, Madoka, shows up. She's perfect for the part.
Act I, Heian Period Continued:
After a few more encounters with Kuzuha (through her shikigamis), Seimei and his mother get in a scuffle and Yuki gets killed while trying to stop them from fighting.
Present Day:
They formally invite Madoka into the group, Makoto prepares the second act, and more everyday life with the characters. Nothing too interesting.
Act II, Kamakura Period:
The second play happens during the Kamakura period and starts with Oohime (played by Koyuki) whose about to be wed to Yoshitaka Kiso (played by Makoto). Their wedding is more politically motivated than anything as her father is a lord as well as his father. She really doesn't want to be married off and just wants life to continue as it always has, with her doll "Tsuki (Moon)," and her two maids, Mikuri (played by Asuka) and Yae (played by Nana). When he comes to visit, she gives him the cold shoulder and despises him. However, when she drops her doll down a cliff and Yoshitaka goes to retrieve it, she starts to like him. Days later, he meets a monk (played by the teacher who played Hidesato) who comments on the sword that Yoshitaka carries around. He tells Yoshitaka to rid the sword as it's a bad omen. But as a samurai, he refuses to part with his sword that's been in his family for generations. He then finds out from Yae, who's playing a double agent for his dad, that his dad is planning to attack Oohime's father and wants Yoshitaka to kill Oohime. He refuses to do so. And runs away with Oohime when the army comes. He tells Oohime to run ahead and he'll meet up with her later. She gives him her doll, Tsuki as good luck. He then meets up with Oohime's mother who turns out to be the re-incarnate of Kuzuha and Tsuki was her brainchild to keep tabs on Oohime, who's Yuki re-incarnate. Yoshitaka then realizes that he's Seimei. The mom and son kill each other and again, Seimei and Yuki's love is broken. Oohime keeps on waiting for him to return, even when she knows he's dead.
Present Day:
Koyuki seems very bothered by the play, but Makoto doesn't seem to understand why. Asuka asks Makoto if he feels anything for Koyuki, but he's still clueless. At the "Sealed Hill," Sakura flowers suddenly start blooming.
Act III, Taisho Period:
The last act happens during the Taisho period with Shinichi and Seiji Nakamoto, a pair of male twins both (Makoto). They live in an apartment building with Asuka Kuze (played by Asuka) and Yukimi Asou (played by Koyuki). Yukimi is apparently the landlady, but she has a terminal disease so she has to stay quarantined in her outhouse. Asuka visits Yukimi often and tells her story about Seimei and Yoshitaka. Seiji also visits her and has fallen in love. Despite the fact that his brother is the novelist, he tries and starts writing down the stories that Asuka tells Yukimi about the people in the past. One night, he has a dream about a kimono girl and wakes up hearing a scream from the "Sealed Hill." The legendary sword has been unearth. Things then start becoming very strange as Seiji feels like Shinichi is acting a little different. Seiji also has more and more dreams of killings followed by actual slayings in his city. At the climax, it's revealed that Seimei has been re-incarnated as both Seiji and Shinichi, but that Yukimi, Yuki's re-incarnate loves Shinichi and Seiji's memories about her are all Shinichi's. He was also the one killing people (in his jealously, I suppose) and has now killed Yuki. When he realizes this, Seiji kills himself and waits for their next re-incarnation.
Present Day (Sakura):
Makoto finally realizes that he and Koyuki are Seimei and Yuki, Yoshitaka and Oohime, and Shinichi and Yukimi. Asuka and the teacher (both re-incarnates themselves, but knew it long before) find out that the sword, which was hidden in the "Sealed Hill" has been unearth and taken. They try to take Yuki away, but she comes back. Turns out that Madoka is possessed with Kuzuha's spirit and they have their showdown in the church where they rehearse. Makoto and Koyuki defeat her and Kuzuha gets re-united with her husbands spirit. On the day that school starts, Koyuki stops calling him "Onii-chan" and calls him a more appropriate (for lovers), "Makoto-san."
While not as life changing as Air or Kiminozo, I thought the story was good and is supported by an excellent cast and audio experience.
Rating: 4/4
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Title: ドラゴンマガジン (Dragon Magazine) October '04
Issue Date: 10/1/04
Publisher: Kadokawa (Fujimi Shobo)
Pages: 210
The new series that starts this week is Kimiboku (You and Me) by the author of Scrapped Princess. The special feature this month is with the "Legend of the Legendary Hero" (cover), "Stigma of the Wind," and Kimiboku. In addition, the comic included is a special one-shot of Supasu-pa where Itsuki sees Haruna and Suzu changing.
I had originally intended to start reading from Kimiboku as it seems like something I would be more interested than a story about dragons. I also like the artwork a little more than the other, but it would have been a waste to just let the September issue go without reading anything.
Bonus comes with a huge poster featuring the "Black Blood Brothers." On the reverse side is a chart of all the trading cards for a Dragon Magazine series and also comes with a trading card.
キミボクそして私が立つ今日 (You and Me, and Today I Stand)
Author: 榊一郎 (Ichirou Sakaki)
Illustrator: 狐印 (Koin)
New Characters: アグニエシカ・グラバルティック (Agnesica Grabaltik), ヒムリーム (Himurim), 鈴乃宮詩月 (Sizuki Suzunomiya), 長居優樹鵜 (Yuuki Nagai)
Chapter 1: Years ago during the war, many students died when Suzumiyano Private School was bombed and the students inside burned to death. Present day: Agne works for the occult group in the Ministry of Education and has been dispatched to investigate students who have been mysteriously disappearing at a school in the country side. So she, and her talking chipmunk, Himurim, travel there under the scorching sun. She finally comes up to a vending machine, but it's broken. As she kicks it in anger, it falls off a ledge and she falls with it. When she wakes up, she notices that the day is fine and she's in front of a school. She's met by a girl, Shizuki and 4 other students. While they look normal enough, some of the students start losing their limbs and reattaching them. As Agne tries to escape into the building. When Shizuki has her cornered, a male, Yuuki shows up telling Shizuki to knock it off. Yuuki then explains to Agne about how Shizuki is embodiment of the spirit of the school and that people who come in can't leave.
聖竜伝 (Legend of the Sacred Dragon)
New Characters: ファナ (Fana)
Chapter 2: Shin and Latkis escape from the flying dragon only to come back to the villiage to be caught by slave traders and are waiting to be sold. Shin spots a young girl who he thinks shouldn't be a slave as she's too young. Later, they see outside their cell that there's a fighting dragon that has gone out of control. In the confusion, the two of them escpae, but rather than just fleeing right away, Shin goes and finds the girl. At first, the girl doesn't want to leave but with the raging dragon around, she clings onto Shin. When they reach the outskirts of town, Shin and Latkis meet up again. They find out that the girl is a mute and that her name is Fana.
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Title: Comic Megami Magazine Vol. 1
Issue Date: 2/1/04
Publisher: Gakken
Pages: 216
Megami is one of the magazines that I would love to subscribe to, but vowed a long time ago that I wouldn't buy a single issue as it's more of a picture book rather than content (same with Dengeki Moeoh). I'm not willing to buy something just for the art. But then I saw this and decided why not. It's the first issue, so I don't feel like I'm starting off in the middle. It's also more of a manga magazine, so at least I can justify it to myself.
The comics in here are primarly done by relatively new-comers as I've never heard of them nor do they have profiles of past works. The format has mostly 4 panel comic, so it's something that I can just pick up and read without having to know background information for. However, as such, most of the stories and puns are pretty generic.
Bonus comes with a cut-out standee and a pull-out poster of the cover art.
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Title: Sakura〜雪月花〜 劇中歌全集 (Sakura~Snow, Moon, Flower~ Complete Vocal Collection)
Original Creator: Circus, Princess Soft
Vocals: 堀江由衣 (Yui Horie), 田村ゆかり (Yukari Tamura), 野川さくら (Sakura Nogawa), 氷上恭子 (Kyoko Hikami), 水樹奈々 (Nana Mizuki), and 豊嶋真千子 (Machiko Toshishima)
Release Date: 11/6/2003
Catalog No.: KICK-615
Rating: 3/4
I've had this CD for a while now and have been waiting until I finished the game so that I could listen to the other songs on the CD. I love Yui Horie's intro to the game and the full version is included on this CD along with the karaoke. I believe it's one of her best songs out of all her works. Part fo the reason why is because the song is produced by CooRie and so it captures a bit of CoorRie's soft style. Koyuki's ending is also sung by Yui Horie and is also pretty good although I prefer the intro.
The only other song that has a karaoke is the image theme song sung by Sakura Nogawa. The other 5 songs are the endings for the other characters. I haven't played through the other endings, so I have no contextual relationship with lyrics. About the only song that doesn't agree with me is Yuuko's song because I can't imagine how the heck the story could ended up Makoto and her.
All the songs on here are slow, so they're good to listen to as background music.
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Title: Sakura〜雪月花〜 ビジュアルファンブック (Sakura~Snow, Moon, Flower~ Visual Fan Book)
Original Creator: Circus, Princess Soft
Release Date: 10/8/03
Rating: 3/4
Like the mook for Hourglass of Summer Colors, this one also comes with a CD. In fact, there are a couple of drama CDs for this series, but most aren't available retail.
The book itself is has a ton of information about the game from the story, to the individual characters, interviews, artwork, and even a complete walkthrough. It's about as complete as they come. It also has a very nice pullout poster.
The drama CD contains two tracks, the first is a little background during the Heian period. The second one is a off-the-cuff story with Shin, Koyuki, and Asuka.
1. 零章・始めの始まり (Chapter 0, The Start of the Beginning): This track is split up into three segments. The first has Seimei explaining how he betrayed his mother because of Yuki and Tamami. The next scene has Yuki explaining why she left that one night (which happened in the game). She leaves because she, as a guardian of the sword, will only bring grief to Seimei. Tamamo's monologue starts there too where she sees Yuki go out alone but admits that despite being a shikigami, she's a real person to Yuki and actually a friend. Even though she was supposed to not tell that Yuki had gone, she informs Seimei so that he would go bring her back. Ends 4 years after Yuki's death where Seimei hears Yuki's voice telling him that she would wait forever for him.
2. 真の受難 (Shin's Agony): Shin, Asuka, and Koyuki are the only ones in the dorm for tonight. Shin wants to get close to Koyuki, but Asuka gets in the way and scraps with him.
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Title: ドラゴンエイジ (Dragon Age) January '05
Issue Date: 1/10/2005
Publisher: Kadokawa (Fujimi Shobo)
Pages: 778
The bonus this month is the 3rd Zero In drama CD. Since the complete drama CD is coming out with the 3rd volume of the manga, I'll save the summary until then. There are also two one-shot stories, "Samurai Boy" which is definitely a misnomer as it's about skiing. There's also a story by the author of Supasu-pa titled "Quartet side Harue." It's a moving story about a girl who falls in love with a man who eventually dies of cancer, but keeps his dream of running a restuarant alive.
The more I look at Maburaho Colorful, the less I like the art. It's definitely better than the first artist, but is far from the original character design. I missed reading the last page of Girl Following last month and so I was pretty surprised with what happened at the beginning of the story this month. What a change to the plot line.
Tsubame Syndrome: ACT13[夢見る歯車] (The Gear From the Dream): Rumor has it that a meteor fell in the city last night. It's Cocktail, a female robot who has come from outer space in search of Taiga as she also has a Origin Heart. At first, she's quite annoying as she tries to keep Taiga for herself. Taiga scolds her but eventually accepts her into his family.
Maburaho Colorful: 第2話「りん、藍いろのこころ」の巻 ("Rin, Blue-Colored Heart" Chapter): In a little scuffle with some girls from Rin's dojo, Kazuki gets her sword broken. Yuuna says that there's a famous swordsmaker in the mountains so the girls with Kazuki go. The other girls become tired and stay behind in the mountain. Kazuki decides to accompany Rin to the top. They go and spend a week there training to earn the sword. When they come back, they find out that it's only been 2 hours since they left as there was a time barrier at the swordsmith's house.
Karin: 恥の21「血の接吻とヴァンパイアの眠り〜thantos〜」 (Bloody Kiss and a Vampire's Slumber): At the school festival, Karin is afraid that her grandmother would go out again and attack her classmates. She has some help from Anjyu, but her grandmother still goes to the school and collects blood from a female student. Her plan was to bring it back for her husband (Karin's grampa), but they find out when they open his coffin that he's dead (even for a vampire). The grandmother gets over her saddness and decides to sleep again in her coffin.
Zero In: Piece16 AGE. 16: Mikuru still thinks about her father and Kina, but vows to get stronger and more independent. She tries to go back to enjoying school. On the rooftop, she sees Kou with another girl and tries to shrug it off. That night, she breaks down as she feels like everyone important to her has left her.
Full Metal Panic: MISSION55 Strike Back: Kurtz manages to kill the traitor, Gwen with help from his sister. Meanwhile, Sosuke brings Kaname to the LC, a secret room in the submarine with a special seat. On the deck, Galon thinks he won, but the screens suddenly go blank and Tessa, using her "Whispered" abilities takes over the ship.
Maid Guy: 2: The Maid Guy, Kogarashi is really getting on Naeka's nerves as everything he does seems to be perverted in some way. However, her grandfather still wants to keep her protected until she's 18. Naeka's brother's female maid gives Naeka a whistle that's supposed to be painful for the Maid Guy and in fact it is, but she finds out that it would kill him if she blew on it for more than 10 seconds.
Girl Following: 第3話「たましいのいれもの」 (Soul's Container): After jumping down from the tree, Natsuru gets hit by a truck and dies instantly. Eitaro is now filled with regret as he allowed her to go by herself to find her keychain. When Miori brings some flowers to the place where she got hit, she gets possessed with Natsuru's spirit (like how it was in the one-shot comic a few months ago). She spends time with Eitaro but knows that she's just a ghost. Miori/Natsuru then passes out.
Taisetsu na Koto: Step 11: Nami makes the connection between Sumomo's muteness and her mother's accident before falling ill with a cold. Ryutaro seems to be getting along better at school. At least he's attending. On top of that, he decides to try out at track and sets a record. The classmates find out about his part time job (as working is forbidden for students). Meanwhile, Rieko seems to like Ryotaro and Chika has been asked to bring Nami's work home for her. While Nami's asleep, Chika doesn't accept the fact that Nami likes Ryotaro and gives her a kiss (!?) before running off.
Love Dog: 第3話「わんわん★ラブシック」 (Woof Woof, Love Sick): It's mating season and Amane seems to be a little more self-conscious. She's really bothered with wondering whether Shinichiro likes her just as a dog or as a girl. After creating a scene, Shinichiro says he likes her as a girl.
Nodoka Nobody: 六の湯「おもてなしのこころ」 (6, One-Sided Heart): The client that Nodoka and Miki have now is the owner of a hot springs where she wants to have the larger rooms fitted with a bath. The first thing that they notice is that the people at the inn are overly nice, almost to the point of being pushy. As the building is being renovated, Nodoka hears how the owner scolds an employee for not being hospitable enough by not carrying their customer's luggage. However, with the completion of the bath, Nodoka gets the owner to talk to the employee and understand that sometimes, people don't need to be helped.
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Title: 魔法遣いに大切なこと: 太陽と風の坂道 (Mahou Tsukai ni Taisetsu na Koto: The Sun and the Breezy Hill Road) Vol. 2
Author: 山田典枝 (Norie Yamada)
Artist: よしづきくみち (Yoshizuki Kumichi)
Book Size/Pages: B-6, 180pp., w/furigana
Original Serialization: Monthly Dragon Age 7/04-11/04
First Printing: 12/1/04
Rating: 3/4
The only chapter that I haven't read yet is the first one as it came before my subscription. After reading it though, I finally understood the story a lot better as that chapter contains one of the key plot elements for Ryutaro's character with him going back to his old city and the people that he meets there. While the title still uses "What's Important to a Magician," there's hardly any magic used in the story.
The first four pages are colored. If I could only draw like that...
Step 6 浜風と龍太郎 (Hamakaze and Ryutaro)
Step 7 駆ける少年 (Running Boy)
Step 8 心の熱帯夜 (Warm Night in the Heart)
Step 9 明日へのSTEP (A Step Towards Tomorrow)
Step 10 龍太郎の告白 (Ryutaro's Confession)
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Title: 電撃大王 (Dengeki Daioh) January '05
Issue Date: 1/1/2004
Publisher: メディアワックス (Media Works)
Pages: 594
Nothing in terms of bonuses for the January issue. There's a trading card and a double-sided pull-out poster. I'm still waiting for the second volumes of Tsukihime, Hayate Cross Blade, and Eternal Alice Rondo so I can be caught up with what's running in the magazine. They should be out pretty soon, if not already. This month's Gunslinger Girl is a bit confusing as it jumps from past to present. Fortunately, the author makes the it pretty obvious which panels are the past and present by the black backgrounds.
Yotsuba to: 22よつばと勝負 (Competition with Yotsuba): Yotsuba and her dad are playing a more violent version of paper-rock-scissors when Jumbo comes over and they start badminton. Ena and Miuchi drop by and Miuchi explains how during summer vacations, he doesn't go out much because his dad is busy. Jumbo gets moved and wants to take him to the beach and/or mountains.
To Heart R: 3: Hiroyuki and Maruchi get invited to a summer house. While Ayano and Aoi practice their fighting, Maruchi and her fellow robot, Serio, go pick strawberries. They meet an old man who apparently owns the place and allows them to gather the fruit. He unexpectedly collapses and Maruchi takes care of him even though she herself starts overheating. After he recovers, he gives the authorization to continue work on Maruchi (apparently, he's the head of the company).
Ichigo Marshmallow: ?: Chika and Miu go through an old photo album and see pictures of Nobue smoking, even when she was young. Nobue explains her past. They then see a picture of Miu taking her underwear from Nobue's families laundry. Years ago, she had wet her bed and went over to Nobue's place to do her laundry.
Gunslinger Girl: 第24話 カテリーナ (Katerina): Story goes back to Franca, Franco, and Pinocchio. Franca's real name is Katerina and in the past, she had been close with Patricia and had told her she would quit school because of her father's death. In current time, she returns to a vineyard and leaves Franco and Pinocchio there while she goes to Rome. In Rome, she gets discovered and taken captive. Franco and Pinocchio hear about her abduction and go rescue her.
KuraKURA: 5: Ruuna's mother goes to school give her absentee note dressed as a student. She then has a flashback to her past with her high school flame and how she couldn't protect him.
Muv-luv: 5: After Takeru trains with Meiya, Yuuko comes in and tells them that they're going to the south islands for a vacation. However, despite Takeru's initial impression, it's not a going to be a leisurely one.
Kashimashi: 7: Hazumu is still preoccupied with Yasuna's incomplete drawing that has a group of kids drawing, but the guy's face is not drawn. The class goes outdoors and draws and when they come back, Yasuna talks to Hazumu. She explains that she's never been able see nor draw the faces of males and since he was a male at the time, she couldn't draw him. However, she's now a girl. Yasuna gives Hazumu a kiss just as Tomari comes in.
Psiren: 6: Soichiro won't get compensated for his dinner with Meruna as it really looks like a personal date despite his insistence that he was investigating. To prove it, he's going to set up another date and get some information. He sets up an appointment with Meruna, but due to some circumstances in the office, he has to delay it. The date happens several days later, but not without problems.
Uta-Kata: 4: The girls go out to the fireworks festival where they are joined with a couple of male classmates, one of whom is Nozomi. Satsuki has a crush on him and wants to watch the fireworks with him, so Ichika and Manatsu help out with their magic. However, underneath the fireworks, Satsuki sees Nozomi kiss Keiko.
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Title: 少年マガジン (Shonen Magazine) Vol. 8
Issue Date: 2/2/05
Publisher: Kodansha
Pages: 494
No Tsubasa this nor next week. CLAMP is in fact sick with one of the four having an injured hand and the other with eyes that bother her. Cover girl this week is 17 year old Yuki Shimizu. There are two chapters of Toto this week. There's also the first of four bonus chapters for Kagetora, a comic running in Magazine Special.
Negima: 81時間目 痲帆良際、大開幕 (Mahora Festival, Grand Opening): The 78th Mahora Festival starts and Negi goes to his class's haunted house. After being scared out of his wits, he suddenly collapses into Konoka's arms. The all-nighter he spent with his students is getting to him, so Setsuna accompanies him to rest in the nurses office. However, the two of them oversleep and he misses his date with Nodoka. They panic and activate the watch that Chao gave him and suddenly, it's 10am that same day.
Suzuka: #45秋雨 (Autumn Rain): Yamato stays after school to work out, but Honoka has to leave early and can't accompany him home. After practice, Suzuka chooses to stay at school to finish a report. She and Miki meet up with Yamato, who doesn't have an umbrella on this rainy day. Suzuka then changes her mind and offers her umbrella to him and says she'll go home with Miki. Yamato leaves and Miki asks Suzuka if she likes him. Suzuka denies it.
Toto: 6「魔犬の正体」 ("Magical Dog's True Self"): Kakashi and Dorothy escape and find that the army is attacking the transformed Toto. From the head officer, they learn that Toto is a failed experiment. Toto then starts "melting" as his body can't handle all that stress, and when he becomes just a lump, Kakashi approaches it and gets swallowed.
Toto: 7「トト!」 ("Toto!"): Dorothy fights the officers to to prevent them from killing what's left of Toto and Kakashi. Inside, Kakashi sees the little dog he used to know and grabs his magical collar. Just as he does so, the army fires a missile at Dorothy and Toto. As the smoke clears, Dorothy is standing there with Kakashi and Toto as his left arm. Toto had stopped the projectile.
Student Council: #8狼の息吹 (Wolf's Breath): Musashi and Kaoru are still fighting. Mami throws a bracelet to Musashi and using that, he is able to unleash even more power in his attacks.
Hamanaka Ai: 067エロ本を読む人々 (People Who Read Porn): Ai finds some bundled erotic magazines and gives them to Masahiko because she hasn't seen any in Masahiko's room. During their conversation, Nakamura and Rinko both admit that women reads those things too. His mom comes in and sees it and tells Masahiko to properly store them as she knows where he usually hides them.
King's Sword: 20血路をひらけ (Open Up an Escape Route): Ryubi, Kanu, and Chohi fight the bandits and then spot the leader of the gang.
Changing Now: #35策略!!史上最悪の罠 (Trick!! The Worse Trap in History): There's a fake Dog Fighter beating up the innocent, except that he doesn't look a bit like the real hero of justice. However, when other see the two of them, they believe that the fake Dog Fighter is the real person.
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Title: 少年マガジン (Shonen Magazine) Vol. 9
Issue Date: 2/9/05
Publisher: Kodansha
Pages: 458
No Tsubasa and M.I.Q. ends this week (not that I follow it). Nothing really special about this issue except that a little more is revealed about Negima's family tree (or so it seems).
Suzuka: #46白川 (Shirakawa): Yamato and Honoka are shopping in a CD shop and he tells her that he loves the singer, Nana Shirokawa. Honoka asks if that's the type of girl he likes. Meanwhile, Miki invites Suzuka to sing some karaoke that night, especially the songs of the new star, Nana. As Yamato and Honoka eat a mean, Nana shows up and sits next to them. Apparently, she and Honoka are good friends and go back a long time. The three go do karaoke and when Honoka steps out, Suzuka comes in and sees Yamato with another girl. After the confusion gets cleared up, Nana starts to see the love triangle.
Hamanaka Ai: 068打倒中村 (Nakamura K.O.): Ai feels like Nakamura has been teasing her and she wants to get back at her. She asks her old boyfriend about her weaknesses, but doesn't get much. When she meets Nakamura again, she mentions in passing that Nakamura's strap is showing. She freaks out, but for another reason.
Toto: 8「トト融着」 ("Toto Metamorphosis"): Kakashi and Toto (his left arm) knocks out and disables the entire company that was went out to eradicate Toto. The leader of the army is stunned.
Negima: 82時間目 痲帆良際、再スタート!? (Mahora Festival, Restart!?): Setsuna and Negi (with Kamo) realize that the festival has just started. They go outside and almost bump into their previous selves. Because they have time now, they spend it enjoy the other events at the festival. Setsuna seems to have grown fond of little Negi, but Kamo interrupts their mood. Setsuna bumps into Chao and interrogates her about who she is with this power to harness time and what she wants. Does she want to backstab Negi. Chao explains that she would never hurt Negi as they share the same blood.
Student Council: #9強すぎた力 (Overwhelming Force): Musashi defeats Kaoru, but then hurries to rescue him as he vowed to just beat his power to save him. On the side, Mami is visited by a new character, 天田秀光 (Hidemitsu Amada) who she apparently knows and he tells her that tomorrow is the day that everything will become clear. As Kaoru is recuperating in the hospital, Musashi confronts Mami and asks her what's going on. She explains how he has latent powers in his DNA from beasts humans evolved from. She then takes him to a door where she explains that the original student council from 10 years ago entered this door and never came out.
Changing Now: #37凄絶!! 3vs3 (Extreme!! 3-on-3): Dog Fighter fights against his impostor and finds that he's a formidable enemy. Velveteen Rose fights against Machina VV, her brother.
King's Sword: 21黄巾賊の最期 (End of the Yellow Headband Bandits): Ryubi meets up with the leader of the bandits, but when he takes off his headband, it turns out to be just another soldier. He spares his life. For now, the bandits have been defeated at this village. After the fighting, Chohi goes to find Meishien, but as he does so, she gets hit in the chest with an axe.
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Title: イリヤの空、UFOの夏 (Sky of Iriya, Summer of UFO) Vol. 1
Author: 秋山瑞人 (Mizuhito Akiyama)
Illustrator: 駒都え〜じ (Eiji Komatsu)
Book Size/Pages: A-6, 309pp.
Volume: 1/4
Original Serialization: Dengeki hp 7/01-9/01
First Printing: 10/25/01
I had imported the first volume to this series from overseas, but imaging how astonished I was when I found it locally, at Bookoff no less for $5 bucks a volume. So I bought up the rest of the series and some Maburaho too, although I won't get to those for a while. Even Kino and Asahiya don't sell these types of novels.
Anyway, like Maburaho, this series is illustrated by one of my favorites, Eiji Komatsu. It's rather lengthy for a bunko novel at 300 pages and took me a week and a half to finish (given that I have been working on the web page too). I'm aiming towards finishing all four books by the end of February for obvious reasons.
As for the story, it took me on a little loop. At first, I thought it would be a regular boy-meets-girl love story, as it advertises. Despite the UFO in the title, it didn't seem all that supernatural. And then the second chapter threw me off, but the third chapter came back to a regular love story. As I haven't read many novels (in fact, this is the first novel I've read from cover to cover), I'll withhold ratings on it. However, the story goes SOOO slow for the number of pages it has.
Bonus includes a pull-out that has faux movie posters for each of the chapters and a large Kana illustration as well as a letter from the author at the end.
(Disclaimer: This is how I remember I'm too lazy to meticulously cross reference everything so there might be some errors, but it should be mostly correct.)
The main characters for this chapter are, in order of appearance: 浅羽直之 (Naoyuki Asaba), 伊里野加奈 (Kana Iriya), 榎本 (Enomoto), 水水前寺邦博 (Kunihiro Suizenji), 須藤晶穂 (Akiho Sudou), 椎名真由美 (Mayumi Shiina), and 浅羽夕子 (Yuuko Asaba). The story takes place in 園原 (Sonohara), a small country town that has an airbase.
1. 第三種接近遭遇 (Close Encounter of the Third Kind): Hearing from Suizenji that it's feels good, on the last night of summer before the start of the semester, Asaba sneaks into the school's pool for a dip where he finds a mysterious young girl, Kana Iriya, who has a round dome on her wrist. After startling her and ending up teaching her how to swim, she gets taken away by another mysterious man (Enomoto) who claims that he's like her brother.
Flashback to the beginning of summer where Suizenji, a tall, popular (with the girls), and a bit eccentric guy who aspires to work for the CIA has the idea that he and Asaba, who along with Akiho make up the journalism club at school, has the idea that they should camp out in the mountains. He's fascinated with UFOs and at times at odds with Akiho because of his interests. While Suizenji stays there the whole time, Asaba comes home every-so-often during the summer.
Flashback to current time where it's the first day of school and there's a new student in class, Kana Iriya.
2. ラブレター (Love Letter): Asaba has thoughts that she's an alien coming to take over the world. However, her story is that she's just returned to Japan and is living with her brother on the base. She wears some conspicuous wristbands. When some of the girls in class try to befriend her, she tells them to go away. When Asaba notices that she's spotted him, he decides to go to the bathroom. Akiho follows him there and talks to him once he comes out. She knows that he had met her previously as he asked her about the school's female swimsuits. He suddenly feels lightheaded and passes out. When he wakes up, he's in Mayumi's office, the nurse. Mayumi has him rest in the office and gives him some sedatives. When Akiho leaves, Mayumi places a call and Asaba hears something about someone giving him a dose of something last night.
When he's finally out of nurses office, he goes into homeroom and notices that no one is around. He decides to fumble through Iriya's bad and finds some strange items with strange letterings on them. In particular, he finds a telephone card-like item and pockets it. However, he gets caught red-handed when Iriya shows up behind him. She then gets called away to the teacher's office. After school, Suizenji gets really excited when Asaba tells him about this new girl as she lives on the airbase. The next morning, Suizenji makes an appearance in Asaba's classroom and gives Iriya flowers and invites her to the journalism club.
Later that day, the air sirens sound. Asaba's pretty sure that it's just a drill, but Iriya freaks out. She takes him into the shelter, uses the strange telephone card, changes the codes, and arms Asaba and herself. Iriya mentions that "the war has already started. It's just that no one knows about it." While they're inside, they get a phone call from Enomoto who says that it was only a drill and they'll need some time to unlock their way inside to rescue him. Iriya finally calms down. While they're waiting, he asks her about the gaming device that she has and she teaches him how to play the simulator. Suddenly, she has a spasm and Asaba calls Enomoto for help. He tells him that she needs to be injected in the heart and there should be a mark on her chest where he should stab when he takes off her clothes. Just as he's about to do so, the shelter door opens.
A few days later, he receives a note in his locker. He thinks it's a love letter, but in fact, it's just a notice saying that Iriya wants to join the journalism club. For the reason though, she writes "Because Asaba is there."
3. 正しい原チャリの盗み方 (How to Properly Steal a Mini-bike): The weekend after their first week, Asaba is going to go out on a date with Iriya. The way this came about was that Suizenji has this brilliant idea that if Asaba can get close to Iriya, maybe she will talk, so he has him ask to go to a movie with Iriya.
Yuuko, Asaba's little sister who has no respect for his brother woke him up that morning and noticed that he was acting a little different so he looks around his room and finds a magazine with a movie and time circled. She then finds Iriya's club-entrance notice and sees why she wants to join. Yuuko can't believe it so she follows after her brother.
Outside the theather, Enomoto and Mayumi are spying. Yuuko bumps into Suizenji who are also spying on the new couple. When they enter the movie theater, the two groups follow, not knowing that they're both trying to listen in. Suizenji has bugged Asaba so he can listen in on his conversations. Enomoto gets a call with info that there's been some strange radio activity in the area. He looks over and thinks he sees Suizenji. Suizenji leaves for the bathroom and comes back, sitting on the other side of Yuuko. Enomoto knows he's been spotted and drags Mayumi out. Suizenji also knows about them now and he chases them out of the theater taking pictures of them. Asaba looks back at the ruckus and soon after, the movie is halted.
Bonus. そんなことだから (It's Because of That...): Mayumi has just moved into her new apartment and is going to start her new job as school nurse in three days. Just as she moved in, Enomoto calls her and has her watch a TV show where the guests are talking UFOs. Enomoto has a good laugh while watching, but then the TV show hosts get a fax from the Sonohara school newspaper about canisters with alien bodies inside. He freaks out and Mayumi sees that soon after, the hosts are at the base with their cameras demanding to see the canisters. It turns out that they're just dummies. However, since them, Mayumi remembers the school newspaper.
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Title: ドラゴンマガジン (Dragon Magazine) September '04
Issue Date: 9/1/04
Publisher: Kadokawa (Fujimi Shobo)
Pages: 210
This is one of the the things that I've wanted to do since last year. In fact, I been subscribing since the July issue (manage to buy a few past issues at the bookstore), but this is the first month where a new series has started so I can start from here.
Dragon Magazine is the sister magazine to Dragon Age and is a serialized novels. Physically, it's quite large and is the same size as Newtype (damn, I'm becoming a Kadokawa poster boy), which I particularly like because I can opening it up and read it without having to worry about breaking the spine. While it's a collection of novels, there's always a one-shot manga in every issue. On the novel side though, many a series like Saber Marionette, Slayers, and Full Metal Panic started here along with my current favorite, Maburaho. It'll be a loong while before I catch up to any of the current running series, but I can always start with the new series that show up every so often.
This issue has special coverage on Maburaho, Full Metal Panic, Arian Road Replay, and a thorough introduction to the new series, Seiryuuden (Legend of the Sacred Dragon). Bonus comes with a bookmark and a special Slayers card.
聖竜伝 (Legend of the Sacred Dragon)
Author: 冴木忍 (Shinobu Saeki)
Illustrator: 森田柚花 (Yuzuka Morita)
New Characters: シン (Shin), ラトキス (Latkis)
Preface: Five King Dragon gather round to discuss what to do as the High King Dragon has passed. With the passing, the age of the dragons is closely coming to an end. They decide on whether to stay or to go like the High King. The Red Dragon says he'll stay, while the others say they'll follow. Regardless, soon after, the King Dragons all disappear and leave the earth to the humans without the protection of the dragons.
Chapter 1: Shin wanders around riding his racing dragon the plains and finds the hideout where the bandits are. Apparently, he can claim some ransom if he brings them in. He kills 4 of them and is about to apprehend the last one, who's riding on horseback, when Latkis finally shows up on his dragon. They tie him up but it's soon getting late and they probably can't make it back to town before midnight. On top of that, Shin doesn't particularly like the owner of the dragon's he's borrow from. Latkis tells him that they could just ditch their barter and escape with the dragons and the bandit's loot rather than go back and meet the owner. However, Shin won't allow that as Latkis has items from his deceased family that he left as a trade for the dragons and Shin won't let him just abandon those personal treasures. As it's getting darker, they spot a bonfire and Shin goes to check it out. It's a group of religious druids who manage to kill Shin's dragon with their poisonous arrows and take both Shin and Latkis hostage. Since they're about to kill them anyway, they don't telling them what they're doing. They're trying to find the remains of the High King Dragon as they believe that ingesting it will give them immortality and allow their leader to revive their cult. They've already got one of the High King Dragon's scale so they know their close. However, all of a sudden, a real flying dragon appears and swoops down upon them. The druids get knocked over in the ditches they're digging and stab themselves with their poisonous arrows. Shin and Latkis manage to run away, but not before seeing the dragon, which is supposed to be long since extinct, fly in the night sky.
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Title: いちご100% (Strawberry 100%) Drama CD 3 「好きで悪いか!? 北大路さつき登場!!」 ("It's Wrong to Love!? Satsuki Kitaoji Appears!?")
Original Creator: 河下水希 (Mizuki Kawashita)
Release Date: 12/10/04
Catalog No.: SCD-905849
Rating: 3/4
Another great drama CD for Ichigo 100%. The only complain I have about it is that they got rid of the catchy tune that they used in the first two CDs and used a remixed version that doesn't sound as good for the intro and cast credits. Like the previous CDs, this follows the manga pretty closely with a little more exposition as it doesn't have visuals to show the listeners. Unlike the second CD, only one of the short stories was insightful into the character. The other one was just a minute long.
The 4th drama CD has already been announced as well as the character image song single. I hope they bring back the Ichigo 100% tune again.
Bonus includes liner notes and a couple of mini-standees.
1. オープニング (Opening): Yui and Tsukasa introduce the show as they look from afar at the incident that happened when Satsuki first met Junpei (chap. 19). The do color commentary as Satsuki grabs Junpei's video camera and toss it into the river. Only then do they realizes that the strange guy with the camera is Junpei.
2. 第7話「恋の花咲くダイビングヘード」 (Love's Flowers Bloom, Diving Head): Covers chapters 20 to first half of 21. Junpei has been accepted into Izumizaka High School and finds out that he's in the same class as Aya. However, during the new student ceremony, he, Sotomura, Komiyama, and Satsuki get called in and are informed that they just barely made it in the school. It's there that Junpei meets Satsuki again as he remembers her as the girl who threw his video camera into the river. Satsuki and Junpei get more acquainted when they do the after school cleaning. Meanwhile, Aya is getting to be really popular for her looks. Since she's the bashful one, she decides to go to school with her big glasses and sure enough, she gets ignored. In fact, she has a bump in with a few guys and almost gets in a scuffle when Satsuki jumps in. On their way home, Aya asks Junpei how she should dress. He responds that whether she wears glasses or not, she's still Aya.
3. 第8話「体育館倉庫の乱」 (The Incident in the Gymnasium's Storage Closet): Covers the latter half of chapter 21 to the first half of 23. During PE, Sotomura pesters Junpei with all this strange thoughts concerning the women that surround him, Aya, Satsuki, and their teacher. Later, Junpei accompanies Aya to the storage shed to get a stop watch. She accidentally knocks over a few boxes and Junpei jumps in to shield her. They end up in a position where he's on top of her with heavy boxes on his back. Being the guy he is, he can't allow himself to lay on her, so she tries to wiggle around. She can't get out either, but now her clothes have rolled up a bit from her movements. When Junpei doesn't show up for the next class, Satsuki comes looking for them and find them. In her anger, she twists her own angle in the shed and Junpei, despite having a broken finger, carries her to the nurses office. From then on, he notices that she's become much more nice towards him.
4. 第9話「夢への第一歩」 (The First Step Towards the Dream): Covers chapters 24 to 27. Junpei decides to start up a film club at school since there hasn't been one for a while. He gets Komiyama and Sotomura to sign up. He then asks Satsuki, to which she replies in the affirmative. However, Aya overhears this and becomes a little jealous so when he invites her, she says she's already in the literary club. Feeling down, he wants to ditch class. When Satsuki tries to cheer him up, he tells her to leave him alone. She then blurts out that she can't do that as she loves him. The next day, he finds out that his club has been approved. After school, he sees that Tsukasa is outside his school. They go on an after-school date and that night, under fireworks, she confesses to him that she still loves him. The next day, the club convenes for the first meeting. When it concludes, Junpei walks out bummed because Aya isn't a part of it. He then sees her and she brings in a tape of the former club. She says that after watching it, she became enthused about it and wants to participate in making a film.
5. SS1「唯の王子様!?」 (Short Story 1, Yui's Prince!?): Story occurs as Yui is studying to enter high school. While having problems with her studies, she thinks back to when she was living next door to Junpei and the day she told him that she was going to move to the countryside. She then falls asleep and has a dream where her prince comes, but she it turns out to be Junpei. She wakes up and finds that she's not wearing anything and tries to find her strawberry underwear. She comments that hopefully that her habit of sleeping without any clothes on will be cured when she enters high school.
6. SS2「ラブラブ戦隊登場!!」 (Love Squad Appears!!): The club is trying to figure out what to do for their next film. Their first idea is a show with 5 Rangers of love, featuring Satsuki (Green Berry), Aya (Red Berry), Tsukasa (Blue Berry), Yui (Yellow Berry), and Junpei (Pink Berry). That gets shot down as well as their next idea.
7. エンディング…!? (Ending...!?): Junpei wakes up to find that Aya has become his teacher wearing a mini-skirt, Yui has become his maid who likes to disrobe, Tsukasa has become a nurse, and Satsuki has become his bride. The four girls then fight over him. He then realizes that it's a dream, but decides to go back to sleep and keep on dreaming.
8. クレジット (Credits): The cast say their names and characters.
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Title: いちご100% (Strawberry 100%) Vol. 14
Artist/Author: 河下水希 (Mizuki Kawashita)
Book Size/Pages: Small B-6, 191pp., w/furigana
Original Serialization: Weekly Shonen JUMP Vol 34, '04 - Vol 43, '04
First Printing: 1/10/05
Rating: 4/4
Yui and Satsuki get gipped in this volume as it focuses mostly on Kozue and Tsukasa. The first half of volume focuses on Kozue and how she falls in love with Junpei, much to Aya's surprise. The latter half has Tsukasa running away with Junpei for a few days. Among the two, I still prefer Kozue as her wild imagination always cracks me up.
Bonus comes with profiles of Kozue and Mai and a parody manga, Ichigo 10~11%.
117. DREAM重なって (Dreams Piling Up)
118. 初めての…!? (The First...!?)
119. ○○○なっちゃった (It Came to ___)
120. 着せ替えヒロインズ (Dress-up Heroines)
121. 心、胸、サンドイッチ (Heart, Chest, Sandwich)
122. ふたりで電車で (The Two of Us On the Train)
123. FIRST DAY
124. SECOND NIGHT
125. MIDNIGHT
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Title: 少年マガジン (Shonen Magazine) Vol. 6
Issue Date: 1/26/05
Publisher: Kodansha
Pages: 524
Yuuko-rin! The bookstore go this issue about two days later due to the New Year's holiday. The clerk explained it to me when I went asking if this issue had arrived. This issue has some wonderful shots of Yuuko-rin. It's hard to believe that she's only 4 years younger than I. There's also a special documentary comic in this issue, part one of two. It's a comic that depicts the events told to the Kodansha staff by Allen Nelson, author of the book "Mr. Nelson, Did You Kill The People?" I can't find it on the US Amazon site, though. He is a Vietnam vet who describes the horrors of war and they lead it off with current events happening in Iraq.
No Tsubasa this week as CLAMP is "called in sick" again. Full Tama (i.e. Full Swing") ends this week.
Suzuka: #43衝動 (Impulse): It's the start of the second semester. Despite Yamato thinking that his relationship with Honoka is a secret, Yasunobu tells him that everyone knows. He proceeds to give Yamato a condom and tells him that that's what couples do. Yamato goes home thinking what a stupid idea to have such a thing. Since no one else is at the apartment building, he has to make dinner himself. Honoka shows up unexpectedly and makes him dinner. Meanwhile, he keeps thinking about what Yasunobu told him earlier. Afterwards, as she volunteers to do his laundry, he grabs her arm and lands atop her.
Toto!: 4トウモロコシとたつまき少女 (Corn and The Tornado Girl): After landing safely, Kakashi starts his journey on foot. He becomes hungry and sees a lunch just sitting out. After finishing it, he finds out that it belongs to a girl, Dorothy, who had just gone to wash her hands. While he's hiding, his dog runs out and brings her an ear of corn. She decides to keep it and name him "Toto." Kakashi then jumps out saying that the dog is his. Suddenly, a few soldiers come and want to take Toto away. Dorothy kicks their butts with her martial arts skills and they ride off on a motorbike.
School Council: #6選ばれし者 (The Chosen): Mushashi discovers that Akane has run away to the park and may be in danger. Mami tells him that he's in no condition to fight Kaoru, but he goes anyways. Despite seeing Kaoru standing over a passed out Akane, Musashi refuses to fight. Kaoru beckons him by attacking Akane instead. Musashi then decides to fight, but he affirms that he's not fighting Kaoru but rather, he's fighting his powers instead.
Negima: 79時間目 世界樹伝説のあま〜い真実 (The Sweeet Truth About the Worldly Tree Legend): The class is preparing for their festival when Setsuna and Negi get called to a meeting. The headmaster has gathered all the magic users at the school together to call upon their help. To Negi's surprise, there are a lot more of them than he had originally thought. The problem is with the tree. Kotaro explains that the buzz going around concerning the tree is that there's a legend that says that every 22 years, something miraculous happens to the tree. On that day, any wishes made will come true. The headmaster explains that it's happening a year early and what really happens is that confessions of love gets answered, and is more like a curse. So, he wants the magic teachers and students to stop anyone from getting close to the tree. Apparently, Sayo's been listening in along with Saotomi and Chao. After they disband, Negi finds Chao in trouble.
Hamanaka Ai: 065 1月4日初詣 (Visiting the Shrine on the Fourth of January): The gang goes to the shrine a little later mostly because they wanted to avoid the crowds. After they do their prayers, Masahiko explains that he wished for the him and the 5 girls to be together forever. The girls interpret this as him wanting to do a 6-some.
King's Sword: 18花の名前 (The Name of the Flower): The girl tries to attack, but Ahi manages to disarm her. As she's restrained, she asks Ahi to kill her. He lets go and she explains her history, about how the gold headband bandits came and killed her family. Ahi tells her that at least she's still alive and should strive to live. He learns that her name is Meishien and takes her to safety.
Full Swing: Final break: これからもずっと (Always, From Now On): After playing a match where Tama beats Koto, she reflects back on how much he's improved. That night, they go to the festival together and Tama asks that she always support him. She agrees.
Changing Now: #34特急!! クリスマスの危機 (Express!! Christmas Crisis): Machina is now a express delivery person and one of his clients, who happens to be Crimson Bunny, is in need of a delivery on Christmas night. He comes and picks it up. After many apologizes, she gives her envelope to be deliver. However, after he leaves, she thinks he looks familiar.
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Title: 少年マガジン (Shonen Magazine) Vol. 7
Issue Date: 1/31/05
Publisher: Kodansha
Pages: 514
While last week's issue was late, this week's issue came really really early to the bookstore. It got here on Saturday (1/8) although the sale date wasn't until the 12th. It was so early that even the people in Japan were still wondering what was in this issue (especially with Tsubasa) when this came to the bookstore.
Although this issue has some tidbits about Tsubasa anime, it's ultimately a Ken Akamatsu issue. He has the cover art, a few pages interview (and a photo with 6 of his seiyuu including Yui Horie, lucky bastard), and "Mou Shima" the Kodoansha staff manga features him this week. The results of the latest Negima poll is released too. The top five, in order, are: Setsuna, Nodoka, Asuna, Konoka, and Natsumi (!?). Chisame has dropped significantly.
Changing Now is off this week. And surprise, surprise, CLAMP plays hooky again. The news is that Kinya and Maaya Sakamoto will be doing the intro and ending songs.
Negima: 80時間目 胸騒ぎの前夜祭 (Fonding at the Night-Before Party): Negi, Setsuna, and Kotaro protect Chao and find out that the people who were chasing after her were fellow magic school teachers. They want to erase her memories because they found out that she had been spilling their secrets to the students. However, being her teacher, Negi prevents that from happening. Later on when the tree lights up, Saotomi, Chao, and Chachamaru seem to planning something.
Suzuka: #44後悔 (Regret): While he's on top of her, Yamato gives Honoka a kiss. However, she runs away and passes Suzuka along the way. Suzuka asks Yamato what happened and he says nothing. The next day, he tries to apologize to Honoka, but she's been avoiding him. He manages to meet up with her and she explains that she doesn't hate him, she just doesn't know how to face him after the incident. Anyway, they're on good terms again. When he goes home, Suzuka asks if he's made up to her. She says yeah. After he goes in his room, she wonders to herself why she even cares.
Toto!: 5「楽しい世界 醜い世界」 ("Fun World, Ugly World"): In his excitement, Kakashi flips over their motor bike and they have to start walking. After a while, Dorothy gets hungry and they meet an old man who provides them food and bath. When they're sleeping, he rips off his mask and reveals that he's a soldier. He ties the two kids up and takes away Toto. He then sets the house on fire. Kakashi and Dorothy wake up and barely escape. While Toto's being taken away, he transforms into the beast.
Student Council: #7渇かない涙 (Wet Tears): Kaoru encloses Musashi in a sphere and has his birds do the attacking. Musashi gets knocked out and falls down. However, as he's about to deal the final blow, Kaoru starts tearing up. Apparently, the human Kaoru inside of him is sad to see his best friend and hero battered. Musashi wakes up and sees that Kaoru is still inside of him. He then summons his powers.
Hamanaka Ai: 066若田部風乙女心 (Wakatabe's Feminine Heart): Hamanaka is snowed in and so she calls Masahiko saying that she'll be late. Meanwhile Ayana arrives and starts having thoughts about how guys always look a little downwards at a girl's chest when talking. She notices that Masahiko has been doing it. When he mentions chest, she freaks out.
King's Sword: 19黄巾賊 襲来! (Yellow Headband Bandits, Attack!): Ryubi gets news that the army has surrounded the bandits, along with their two leaders, and will lay siege when they meet in the city. Ahi hears this and asks for some time so he can inform Meishien and help her escape before the battle begins. He finds her and takes her to a safe place in the woods. She tells him to be careful and when he returns, the bandits start to arrive.
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Title: 赤灯えれじい (Redlight Elegy) Vol. 2
Artist/Author: きらたかし (Takashi Kira)
Book Size/Pages: B-6, 209pp., w/o furigana
Original Serialization: Young Magazine Vol 32, '04 - Vol 43, '04
First Printing: 12/6/04
Rating: 3/4
This is the last of the three series that I'm following from Young Magazine, along with XXXholic and Minamike. I've already read half of the volume. In contrast to everything else I read, this is probably a series that is most out of place with everything on my bookshelf. While not vulgar like some other Young series, it's pretty crude. The story continues with Satoshi and Chiko developing their relationship in a very dysfunctional way. After moving out and living together, the two decide that they ought to have sex, but their plan is foiled when they can't find a love hotel.
Bonus comes with a colored page and a peek into one of the author's previous works.
12. 金髪記念 (Blonde Commemoration)
13. とりあえずポケットに (Meanwhile, In His Pocket)
14. 伯父さんになってしまるんか!? (I'll Become an Uncle!?)
15. 部屋探しは甘くないわぁ (It's Not Easy Looking For a Room)
16. 新生活 (New Life)
17. 歓楽街の二人…前編 (The Two At The Strip...First Part)
18. 歓楽街の二人…後編 (The Two At The Strip...Last Part)
19. オフロで (At the Bath)
20. おかあさんといっしょ (With Mother)
21. ほな、しょっか♡ (Well, Let's Do It)
22. ラブホへGO!? (To the Love Hotel!?)
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