Ookami-san to Shichinin no Nakama-tachi – Episode 6

That hat looks so nice, I’ve always wanted a hat like that…

Here’s Ringo!

No one can see me now!

Hmm… that’s not observing, I’d call that stalking

That’s just creepy now…

Get a room!

As Ryouko heads to the gym Ringo notices something wrong. Outside, Ryoushi is walking Elizabeth and Francoise, and he looks rather depressed as he thinks about the confession he made during the first episode. He also noticed that Ryouko’s not been acting herself lately, so he calls Ringo out and asks her what Ryouko’s history is with that Hitsujika. But Ringo refuses to tell him anything and says that if he can gain Ryouko’s trust, she’ll tell him.

At the bank, Alice is taking a different route of finding about Hitsujika by searching through some database. But his information were all deleted.

Back to the dorms as Ringo looks at a photo album of her and Ryouko at highschool she recalls their first meeting. It was when the teacher asked her to deliver some things to Ryouko as they live in the same dorm and Ryouko’s absent with a cold.

Even after hearing horror stories of what a violent delinquent Ryouko is, Ringo visits Ryouko’s room later anyway. The door was open already, so she cautiously enters. She saw her sleeping on the bed and crying in her sleep, with that cute sleeping face, Ringo knew she wanted to know more about her.

Ringo refuses to leave even when Ryouko wakes up and made her some porridge and cleaned her room. And only then did she leave, but with a friendship was in bloom.

We now see Ryouko in the gym, she sits down and recalls her memories of when she and Ringo first met. After that day when she caught that cold, Ringo would follow her everywhere for some reason. Even though Ryouko acted as though she doesn’t want her there, but she really didn’t mind.

One day, as Ryouko is heading home after a session at the gym with Ringo following behind, she sees three delinquents picking on a kid, so as everyone would expect, she goes to help him. However, it’s three versus one, so she ends up getting beat up, only to be saved by Ringo pretending to be calling over police.

Ringo figured that Ryouko was like her, in the fact that they both hide their feelings behind something. When Ringo heard what she said when she was asleep, she thought that Ryouko was just a gentle girl inside, and that’s why she wanted to become friends. Ringo says that she won’t betray Ryouko and she can trust her for anything. With a teary hug, their friendship starts. And that night, they told each other everything about themselves.

Ryoushi thinks over what Ringo said to him and then remembers when he first met Ryouko. He remembered that Ringo seemed to be the only person she opened up to, and after carefully observing/stalking her he found out that she’s gentler than she pretends to be. He wondered why she always kept up that tough exterior and steered people away, so he kept observing and soon, he fell in love with her. With that he followed her more and wanted to protect her.

Now at present day, Ryoushi wants to become stronger, so he can actually protect her, like a man. He rushes to the gym as Ryouko comes out and gives another sudden love confession and states that he’ll become stronger so he can protect her.

Well, from what I can gather from this episode of Ryouko’s past I’m going to speculate that Ryouko and Hitsujika were going out at one point but then she did something to upset him or it was his intention in the first place and was dumped. And then Hitsujika with the kind hearted, bishounen like exterior knows that no one will believe Ryouko if he does something bad to her and he does something traumatic to her. Don’t really have a clue what is it so I’m not going to speculate on that.

I can’t believe Ryouko was such a brute to Ringo when they first met and to think she loves cute things. Though I guess her heart must be aching then so I can forgive her. And lets not forget that Ringo’s a devilish child too, that smile hides a lot.

Is it just me, or is Kuroko’s snide comments getting so much better. I laugh at her commentary more than anything else in the anime now. Her voice is so perfect for this, just the tone of it. Dunno what is it. Then again, she has been the centre of the comic relief as the show seems more romance than comical now, and more heart warming and touching too.

Awww, Ringo said I won’t betray you. I’ve heard that phrase so many times already this season, probably because of Uraboku, but I seem to remember it from somewhere else as well, maybe Amagami somewhere.

So stalking and then falling in love with her, an interesting way into love. That’s one way of doing it, not really legal and not really recommended, but I guess it works out if he means no harm. And I have to give him my compliments to be able to see through Ryouko’s exterior.  Falling in love with her true self and not her facade, that’s what love’s about.

I liked this flashback episode. Nice to get more information about the main three characters and how they all met and how they were  panned out. We can now see how strong Ringo and Ryouko are connected and why Ryoushi is perfect for Ryouko even recommended by Ringo. We also saw how girl like Ryouko was all those years ago before she was traumatised, that was a lovely scene. I’m guessing it’ll be the end of flashbacks and background stories for a while now.

I guess I’ll say what everyone wants to say. Keep going Ryoushi, become the man you want to be and make her say yes.

Guest Post 2 – Halo Legends Series (Anime)

Halo Anime Series: Halo Legends – Review

Hello again. If you read my last blog on the Halo series you would have seen a brief comment about the Halo Anime series Halo Legends, this however is far from a brief comment, in this blog I’ll be reviewing and summarising every episode.

First of all I’d like to say that even if you’re not a Halo fan or just a casual player that most of the episodes will still be very watchable and very enjoyable, though for some episodes having a good idea of the Halo Universe would be advisable. There is however an episode called Origins which covers most things you’ll need to know, though it does contain spoilers of Halo 3 (This episode will also mean A LOT to fans and those curious about Halo 3’s ending). One last thing before the reviews Microsoft hired some of the best in the business to make these episodes such as Production I.G of Ghost in a Shell fame and Toei Animation who worked on Dragonball Z and Digimon so real care and thought have gone into these episodes and there should be something for everyone amongst all the fantastic anime styles on offer.

Episode 1 – The Babysitter (Studio 4°C)

This episode revolves around a team of elite soldiers called ODSTs; it starts onboard a human ship in space and introduces the ODST team, soon after they are given a mission to kill a covenant alien leader on a hostile planet with a Spartan in charge of their mission. After a bit of a rocky landing the team starts to regroup and the Spartan immediate shows the signs of a strong silent character. The episode progresses with some nice action scenes and an amusing relationship between the ODST leader and the Spartan, though being just under 20 minutes long the episode soon reaches its climax. Overall a decent episode with a few nice nods to the series, the ending is a little cliché and off canon but still enjoyable, a welcome start to the series.

Episode 2 – The Duel (Production I.G)

The Duel focuses around the enemy alien race in Halo, the Covenant, and more specifically follows  one of their Arbiters. Arbiters are covenant dressed in ceremonial armour for religious reasons and are often sent on sucidal missions in order to regain their honour after they commit what’s seen as a bad deed. This episode shows how Arbiters came to be as they are in the Halo games. One thing about this episode I must say is that it has a very unusual (for me at least) art style kind of being 3D and shaky, you’ll either you it or hate it, but for me personally I find it unique and refreshing.  The Arbiter in the episode Fal, does not agree with the Covenant Leaders methods and ideas and is accused of trechary. This leads the Covenant to go after Fals wife and what follows is a splendid tale of honour and tragedy with plenty of excellent battles in the mix, ultimately making one of my favourite episodes.

Episode 3 – The Package (Casino Entertainment)

This episode will probably be a favourite of gaming fans of the series. This is because it is done in a full 3D CGI style has first person perspectives at times (similar to the games) and shows another tale of the iconic Master Chief. In it he is leading a team of Spartans to a nearby Covenant ship in space to collect an important ‘package’ onboard, but of course things are never that simple. The opening space battle is spectacular and what follows is even better, and stays very true to the series. The plot runs at a brilliant pace and the story quickly becomes pretty epic. There’s nothing I can really say about this apart from that it’s simply amazing, it has the style, the writing, the execution and fits brilliantly in Halo canon. Overall, this is definitely my favourite episode.

Episode 4 – Origins (Studio 4°C)

*This episode contains BIG spoilers for those who haven’t finished Halo 3*

In terms of the Halo story this is probably the most important episode as it follows Cortana and Master Chief as they are drifting through space in the remains of their ship and are slowly heading towards a mysterious planet. In this Cortana goes over past events and all she knows about the mysterious ancient Forerunner race, Origins also shows us for the first time what the Forerunner race actually looks like, and to be honest I’m quite surprised. Throughout the episode Cortana tells the story 1000’s of years ago when the Forerunners were attacked by the ancient infectious plague-like race called the Flood. She then goes on to explain why they built the Halo rings to destroy the Flood wiping out everything in the universe showing how they killed themselves to save the universe from the Flood and set up robots to release eggs and specimens to repopulate the universe. Ultimately this episode is very heavy on information and generally tells the big picture of the Halo story as a whole, there is little in the way of action however the episode will still be very entertaining and very important for halo fans and those new to the series.

Episode 5 – Homecoming (Bee Train & Production I.G)

Homecoming goes back to the usual and opens with a group of soldiers and one Spartan codenamed Daisy leading the fight. When they call in for back-up Daisy has a flashback to her childhood. In this it tells the story of how when Daisy was younger and in the Spartan program, during a moment of frustration she decides to try and escape and go home. After reaching her home she soon realizes that there was a clone of herself in her place living her original life before becoming part of the Spartan project, not having the heart to kill the clone she returns to the project. Overall this episode is quite an average affair with a half decent story and a few action scenes, one for a casual audience on the whole.

Episode 6 – Prototype (Studio Bones)

Prototype follows the story of a soldier nicknamed Ghost for his cold personality in battle. In it his mission is to destroy a prototype weapon and the data based on it. In memory of a tragic past mission he disobeys direct orders and uses the prototype weapon a combat suit to hold off the Covenant while his troops escape showing he has regained his lost humanity. Again this episode is pretty standard in what you’d expect from the series, though it does stand out with plenty of pretty good combat scenes and a very human story. Though being only about 12 minutes long you feel that it could have been even better with a run time similar to the other episodes (18-20mins).

Episode 7 – Odd One Out (Toei Animation)

This is the last episode in Halo Legends, and as the title suggests it is in fact the odd one out, this is because it is not part of Halo canon and is instead a comical spoof of a tale following a Spartan suitably numbered 1337 who is cursed with bad luck. It starts with 1337 comically falling of a drop ship and Master Chief amusingly saying it happens all the time, this sets up what to expect in the episode perfectly, as what follows is more somewhat goofy comedy. When 1337 gets up after his fall he is greeted by a group of stranded children and a planet filled with dinosaurs. The Covenant then sends their latest but somewhat dim prototype warrior Pluton to kill the Spartan. You’ll be pleased (or not!) to know that 1337 eventually overcomes Pluton with a little help and amusingly saves the day (and is then kidnapped by a pterodactyl!)

Overall this episode can seem childish but it’s sense of humour can be enjoyed by halo fans and by casual viewers (It’s humour echoes Dragonball Z to me) and after the more serious tones of previous episodes Odd One Out feels like a slightly offbeat and irregular but pleasant ending to the series.

Ultimately Halo Legends is a fun and enjoyable mix of anime episodes based on the Halo Universe, they overall feel very mixed but that is no bad thing as this mix means both hardcore fans and casual viewers can enjoy the series. There is a lot in Legends for big Halo fans to enjoy and 6/7 episodes are considered canon, and Legends also has something for viewers new to Halo with lighter episodes and by explaining a lot in Origins. I would definitely recommend that Halo fans check out Legends if they already haven’t and that casual fans or those curious about the series do as well as I’m sure everyone will find something they enjoy.

Thanks for reading!