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Hurr, Morino-kun’s hunter mode is damn manly.

I wasn’t expecting much from Ookami-san after the initial lackluster episodes, but after episode 6, the show shot up from mediocre to interestingly watchable. Well, it’s pretty much still a predictable storyline but at least it’s an engaging one. Better than having them do random episodes with no coherency anyways.

Arai Satomi’s narration remains as awesome as usual, although steadily declining in number of laughs/lines lately. Not a bad thing though, since the story is getting quite a lot more serious.

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One word perfectly describes this episode: D’aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.

Well, it was pretty certain the whole episode was being setup for a Crowning Moment of Courage, Heartwarming and Love, to the point of being rather blatant about it, but hell, I don’t dislike things like this once in a while. Especially with characters that I like.

It’s almost criminal how little screentime Eila and Sanya have gotten so far, this episode partially makes up for it I guess.

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Slowpoke accusations be excused, I finally got to watch Inception on the big screen last night.

It was so utterly brilliant and mind-bending. Half of my mind is currently inaccessible, pondering and de-constructing the whole movie in my background of my subconscious; a huge problem at work. But then again, this always happens to me whenever I finish a story so brilliant and cathartic at the same time. It’s exactly the same state-of-mind I was stuck in when I first finished Evangelion^*1 (up to EoE).

Inception is one of those rare productions that not only is brilliantly layered and steeped with imagery, it also manages to touch out to something innately in my soul.

An example is the time-dilation effect in the movie is something that I experience daily, as a master of catnapping. I always wake up feeling as if I’ve just experienced a period of time a few times much longer than the real duration of my naps, and I daresay many will find that similar. Inception using that as a central plot device really resonated with me.

The overriding consensus about Inception is that it is a movie about filmmaking, and it’s something I highly agree on. But one of the best views about it that I subscribe to now after watching states the whole movie is basically a dream and there isn’t a ’solid’ reality grounding it, which is basically as meta as fuck as you can get.

This brings me to a book I believe that really should be read in accompaniment to watching Inception; The Stories of Ibis. The idea of layered “realities”^*2 that is shared between both works offers a really interesting complementary view between each other, yet it is amazingly contrasting in origins. More importantly, while “inception” is the device driving the plot in the eponymous movie, Stories of Ibis ends with the inception of an idea; both works masterfully using the concept as a cathartic device.

Ah, but enough of the literary-wannabe comparisons. That is the problem I have with my own string-of-consciousness writing. The really appealing part of Inception is just how it captures my imaginations so easily, leaving me changed yet still feeling essentially same apart from the feeling I’ve had a new dimension opened up to me. A new angle and view that feels it has been a part of myself for a long time, but only just noticed it was there.

Inception is utterly brilliant, smart and left a parasite of an idea and worldview in my mind; staying rooted in my mind and making it’s indelible excellence in it. It is an example of works that transcend boundaries; of media, enviroments and even plot holes. The fact that the ending is kept ambiguous^*3 is icing on the cake.

———————–

¹One of the interesting similarities I noticed with Inception and Evangelion is the concept of a whitespace – a Limbo – that is the depths of our subconscious and can be molded and shaped by the characters themselves. It’s also interesting to note that whenever characters in Inception dive down to Limbo, they end up on a shoreline, which instantly recalls to me the memories of EoE’s enigmatic ending. Not actually a surprising similarity but Christopher Nolan uses it in a more utilitarian manner than Anno did, although Anno’s creations arguably had a more grounded reality compared to Inception, relatively speaking.

²Forgive the liberal usage of “reality” here, but in a sense, the ideas are relatively similar between both works. The dreams in Inception are the mind’s subconscious constructs, while in Ibis the Layers are also similar excepting that it is created by the AI’s own self-conscious programmings based on their learning experiences. I really should finish that Ibis article languishing in my Drafts folder for a month or two, by now.

³I believe that the top eventually stopped spinning. I must add that the totem idea was severely underutilized in Inception.

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Even during the zombie apocalypse, it’s always important for girls to maintain their personal hygiene!

Bitchdere meganekko sure has a sensitive body.

But of course, Hirano is our true hero and winner this week. Look at DAT FACE when he found those pimpin’ guns in the house.

Gawd, it almost looked like he was about to rape someone he’d been desiring for 20 over years but continuously rejecting him over and over again and now that he’s caught her, tied her up and thoroughly prepared her for his “consumption”. Fuck, what did I just say? Suffice to say that’s probably the closest a guy can get to a ahegao equivalent.

And of course, he makes the most sense out of this shitty zombie apocalypse. No talks, no white flags, just them vs a bunch of murdering motherfucking brainless monsters.

Oh I am sooooooooooooo glad to see Hirano finally getting some action from the girls. He deserved that kiss a whole episode ago. Fuck yeah, a Real Otaku Hero.

To sweeten things even more for him, look at that post-devouring kissing face… >DAT FACE… Nurse is making. Fuck, that must’ve been one heck of a kiss there. Go go Hirano!

Of course, not forgetting the sheer awesomeness of Saeko-senpai with her oh-so-casual-my-clothes-are-in-the-wash naked apron. While Nurse is going slut, Rei going emo and bitchdere sleeping, she’s just casually making supper and lunch while wearing just and apron, with two guys in the house, as if the zombie apocalypse happens to her every day and they’re all gonna be going on a little field trip tomorrow morning. Albeit in to a city full of murderous zombies with a few insane anarchists thrown in to the mix for good measure and variety.

Seriously, I’m enjoying Highschool of the Boobs Dead a bit too much now, probably too much for my own good and reputation as well. But holy shit, isn’t this show doing just about everything fucking right with the action, zombies, tits and ass? Let’s hope it stays that way from here on.

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I just rewatched Sora wo Kakeru Shoujo, this time on the goodness of 1080P (but with bleh subs though), and I found myself liking it a lot more than I did; well I did quite like it enough to place it in my Awesome Tier of 2009 shows; but rewatching it again gave me higher level appreciation of the show.

I was quite right when I said this show was Sunrise’ exploration of the random, but surprisingly the final arc of the show is well structured and thought-out once you peel the layers of gimmicks off. There should be a message here somewhere that it intends to say but I’m surprisingly at a loss as to which is it because there is so many different messages it can be sending out.

I’m feeling extreme melancholy on finishing the show this time however. Somehow it just feels cheating for Sunrise to end the show at it’s happiest moment after the final battle, just like that. Too bad the picture dramas didn’t supply an epilogue. But then, it just seems like the show to do it that way, anyways.

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So…. it’s belly buttons this time. Ewwwwwwww.

Yeah… uh, I’ll just take your word for that.

Oh shitzor’s Miya saw it happening.

Durr hurr hurr >DAT FACE. She’s gonna enjoy blackmailing her nii-nii~. Man Miya needs her own spinoff!

Well, I don’t mind if Junichi likes belly buttons and kneepits, I just hope Kaoru has a very good hygiene regime.

And yeah…. I think I know why this arc is boring for me. Junichi’s boring character + Kaoru’s faux-tsundereness + WAY TOO IN THE FRIEND-ZONE for me derp.

So shoot me for not liking her much, but some people hated Haruka anyways.

Who’s next after sexhair? I hope it’s Nanasaki.

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Boob Smother attack!

And Ms. Medic’s boob buddy, Ms. Sniper gets her first appearance!

He’s lying. He’s really enjoying it. And she’s really freaked out about riding on that bike.

Okay, boobs aside, this was probably the most enjoyable episode of HotD so far, mainly because they decided to act less like a bunch of desperate refugees from the plague and more like a bunch of people not giving a fucking shit about the plague anymore and generally treating it as a minor annoyance to their daily lives and they’ll be DAMNED if they let that screw them.

Hirano in particular, was a fucking hero this episode, what with him shooting that faggot teacher in the face and then pulling off a fucking double tap with a revolver.

Dear god, just look at his fucking face when he got that little baby.

I’m not even going to nitpick at that crazy move Komuro pulled with Busujima-senpai and the bike… you’ve gotta watch that to believe it.

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… but surprisingly, they aren’t that vulgar anymore. Or maybe I just got used to them doing it.

In any case, it’s still a bit sad that the funniest joke in the show was this scene.

Really, the show’s weird without them making sex jokes every other scene.

And Hata’s biting comment to Suzu was really ouch…

Especially the Agnes Chan extra sub there. Good lol, Ayako.

Tsuda’s imouto shows real promise though…

… which isn’t surprising, since I just found out this episode that the manga-ka also did Imouto wa Shishunki. Which is even more vulgar. I should’ve known.

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Now I need to rewatch Ryusei no Gemini.

I doubt I’ll still be able to understand all the Izanami stuff though. I guess they are going to leave that for the extra materials or something.

One thing is for sure though, Hei and Yin will never get to live peaceful lives together.

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Eris and the gang head to Nakano Broadway for “cultural research” (read: buying otaku goods by the boatload) where they are ambushed and Eris is kidnapped by a stateless 12 year old Greek-American ojou-sama shipping line heiress who is also the leader of nekomimi fetishist cult known as Cat Ear Church and has an army of maids well trained in black-operations as well as setting up barriers and using shikigami.

No. I am not kidding.

Did I mention that this is the BEST show of the season?

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