I had read some good things about Tokyo Ravens and thought I'd give it a shot. It went pretty well up until episode 10 or so and then it sank into a bog. Good action for the most part falls straight into episodes you would normally see at the beginning of a bad harem show.

I know. It's a harem show, but still. Get this crap out of the way early while I am still expecting the flotsam to float on by, not right after you finished two pretty good action arcs.

I do hope it gets better.
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Posted by: topmaker at 09:44 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Is there a torrent program that works better than others? Is this even a question i should be asking???

For instance,I want to be sure that nothing runs when I don't want it to. I also don't want spyware as part of the deal, etc.

So what is reliable, safe and allows me to chose which files I can download?

Posted by: topmaker at 01:41 AM | Comments (12) | Add Comment
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Dragonar Academy starts off with a woman speaking to a boy who appears dead, lying in a pool of blood, missing an arm, with a young blond haired girl by his side.

She speaks some words to start our tale off and the show starts rolling.

Later on we witness a scene (in a dream) where a young boy carries a young blond girl piggy back through the woods searching for someone.

It doesn't take too long for the viewers to guess who the two young people are, and who the lady is. What we do not know is what happens between those two points. How the boy loses his arm and how he "gets it back".

I started reading the light novel about where the series ends off, which is not always the smartest way to go about, but is certainly the most lazy leisure way.

We get the rest of that early story from about this point. In a nutshell:
Ash seems disinterested in this required process from the get-go. In spite of this, he receives the gift of the pal bestowed upon him from the Mother Dragon. Knowing how desperate Sylvia was to become a Dragonar, he forcefully rejects the gift - through the "Seikoku" that is writing itself into his flesh, and imparts it to Sylvia.

In doing so, his body reacts to the rejection by explosion due to the energy transmitted. His arm literally rips itself apart, where, after noticing the successful transfer, he passes out near death. Sylvia, overwhelmed by all the blood, passes out from shock.

So how does Ash get his arm back? There is just a bit of confusion about that, and there is other info as well, below the fold (spoilers)
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Posted by: topmaker at 09:00 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Merry Christmas to all of you who have helped me and read this bit of fluff.

You are a great bunch.

Posted by: topmaker at 02:44 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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One of the first and of the few light novels I have read through to current translations on BT is the Index stories. It has been announced that the light novels have been licensed for release in English, so BT has decided to abandon the translations, at least for the "old testament" (the beginning through about the end of World War III).

BT has split Index into two different sections. The split would be the point where the licensing ends, which is here, and the part they are still leaving open, which is here.

There is a good breakdown of the event here.

I had either read, saw or both the first two seasons of the anime, plus WWIII, but I realized that I had missed the early side stories. That's what you get for not paying attention. It has been stated that there are PDF versions on the tubes, so I will look for them.

I am also going through some of the later side stories, including one that was hinted at in the end of the sister's arc of Railgun: Liberal Arts City. This is a great story, especially for those who like Saten Ruiko. She is, next to Misaka, the most prominent of the quartet in this series. It also introduces characters you will be hearing from in the main stories.

I made the decision to buy the volumes as Bob has them available. Call it guilt buys or the appreciation to the creators. It puts money in Bob's pocket.

Posted by: topmaker at 07:21 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Back about here I mentioned a manga I had only read one chapter of. It looks like it will be getting a series in the new season (right hand column, fifth row down). While it is a "Boy gets unique powers" story, it is thankfully not another "Boy gets powers only previously allotted to girls" story.

From the first chapter we have two harem members, so that's hurdle number one, but I've gotten somewhat inured to that.

I had been waiting for updates, but this might be even better. Time will tell.

Posted by: topmaker at 03:31 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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The manga series Koe no Kitachi has just wrapped up.Starting off as a one shot that garnered enough focus and praise it converted to a full series. Now that the series is over it has been chosen to become an anime series.

I am not prone to read stories that are angst ridden or tragic, but this one was a bit different.  The pessimistic story always became intertwined with instances of optimism and hope.

The story has a very uncomfortable beginning: a deaf girl was bullied to the point of leaving a school system, and the boy who was the prime instigator was himself bullied as a result. His growth and emerging humanity starts him down a road of seeking forgiveness from the girl, her family, his former classmates and himself.

Most of the side characters have their own issues to define why they react the way they do in situations. The reveals are not used as excuses, merely exposition. In fact, the series goes out of its way to avoid both justification and condemnation.

It was a weekly series that lasted about 62 chapters.

My biggest fear is that the anime will drift into a preachy treatise on bullying and how to treat the handicapped. Everybody deals wit the female MC's deafness in different ways, and that is one of the great elements of the story. If it becomes influenced by an activist  mentality, they will ruin a good story. 

Posted by: topmaker at 08:52 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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The CIA viciously rejects the report on techniques used to interrogate prisoners. Former Director George Tenet complained the report was "biased, inaccurate and destructive."

However, if I might point out, this is the CIA we are talking about.

I ask "Who are you going to believe?"

I mean really. Here we have a group that relies on subterfuge, lying, spying, denying, underhanded tactics, undercover antics, secretive process and seems to be concerned more with mission than public safety and the general welfare of the American people.

On the other hand we have the CIA.

So, really....

Posted by: topmaker at 10:04 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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...and may I just say that, to us diabetic older types, describing ED as the end isn't funny.

World Trigger, 7 Deadly Sins, Vanadis and some others all seem to have quite a bit of show left after the ending credits, and sometimes take up a fair amount of time before the openings

Or maybe I'm just imagining things.

Such as no Countries.
Or Religion.
It's easy if you try.

Posted by: topmaker at 04:12 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Cool roller coaster in Japan that slips through an opening in the water.



I'm not sure where it is, exactly, but I'd like to ride it.

Posted by: topmaker at 09:40 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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