Blade & Soul

That’s how I signed up and I don’t have a fb. I tried to get one but they needed a phone number to confirm my identity (so they said) so I abandoned that pursuit.

Sentai has been sending out this newsletter for a while now and this is the first time that it contains any info that wasn’t “ninja’d” by this forum lol. Perhaps the people raging at Sentai in the blade and soul announcement thread on Ann will see Sentai grab the shows that they want it to still…

They’ll probably still whine, since Chaika probably won’t be one of the 3 if they do have it.
We probably won’t hear about the Kadokawa licenses for quite awhile, since their new pattern seems to be announcing Kadokawa stuff right before solicitation time for it.

If I was a licensor, I’d put it in the contract how early they’d be allowed to announce that they had a title. That way you wouldn’t have to worry about reverse importation killing your domestic sales.

I’m trying to remember why the description didn’t interest me enough to watch when CR announced it.

Sounds like the CR description was as meh as the show. I can only hope that Hollywood doesn’t also catch the “based on an MMO” bug.

Except for the “Hey, of course she’s good, she’s so good that she made me, the village idiot, pee himself out of fright because of her badassery” line there wasn’t much in this one. It’s Seven Samurai with a naked girl, there’s girl on girl knife fighting action, then they “subvert” the seven samurai thing and…yeah, it’s not even close to being the best Sentai show of the season.

What…? Don’t know what you’ze all were expecting from a video game based anime. Me on the other am enjoying it quite nicely: it’s this season’s Queen’s Blade and that’s what I expected going into it.

Queen’s Blade the good one that Sentai has? Or Queen’s Blade the meh ones that were, well meh?

I was more drawn into Queen’s Blade: Rebellion than this. This was “we need a badass to save the village” (cough Seven Samurai cough) so let’s get one and, surprise surprise, she’s a naked quasi-moe girl who makes guys who are destined to be dubbed by Greg Ayres lose bladder control. So then the village has their resident badass girl (so why’d they need to go on safari to find one?) vet the new, nude girl’s badassery and she passes muster.

But then it turns out that the nefarious forces of darkness or whateves are after the new girl and so the whole Seven Samurai thing was, as they say, “subverted”.

Queen’s Blade had me ROFLing at the pirates who could jump 50 feet in the air, the accordion steampunk robot and the woman who could move like goku despite having a ginormous ball and chain affixed to her ankle. Episode one of that also set up the idea of some interesting overarching plot of plotliness. This show didn’t have much appeal. I blame the unoriginal story and the art/CG. Gonzo needs to up its game.

BLADE & SOUL coming to Anime Network Online Player in May

Starting: May 4th @ 4:00 AM EST / 1:00 AM PST

All Episodes after Ep. 01 will be @ 4:00 PM EST / 1:00 PM PST

Episode 01 is now live at ANO

Episode 5 –

Elle Karen seems to wield a lot of power and influence. Even the village leader seems to fear her. Alka is working for a man that wants to get rid of the village leader. He says that he’s a man of justice and he wants to destroy the heaven’s spirits that the village leader grows. Alka’s master had told her that heaven’s spirits are poison, but they seem to be a lucrative drug trade around here.
*
The man tries to win Malna to his side, but Hazuki has found Alka again, so I’m sure things are about to get messed up. Alka and the man also discover that Elle Karen owns the village and that she hired the village leader. No wonder he fears her. I can also see Malna’s point, but the girl does need to decide things for herself.
*
The man threatens to burn the fields, and it turns out that the village leader is a real wuss. It is Elle Karen that confronts the man and stops him from burning the fields. He pulls a knife on her and Malna grabs him. But the man is just as upset with her for her fealty to the village leader. The man orders Alka to kill everyone, but Alka doesn’t move, so he fires her.
*
The man goes after the village leader, intending to stab him, but Malna protects him with her body and takes the strike herself. The fact that he’s killed an innocent woman makes the man stop. But he puts the blame on everyone else and the heaven’s spirits. Screaming that he still intends to get rid of the place, he’s surprised when Elle Karen stabs him with her hair ornament, killing him. A stunned Hazuki witnesses this and is no longer in the mood to go after Alka. It ends with the village leader begging Alka to save the dead Malna. I suppose the heaven’s spirits are the root of evil after all.

Episode 02 is now live at ANO

Episode 03 is now live at ANO

Episode 6 –

The Pleasure Gang hopes to make a comeback, so Loana and Elle Karen have parted ways. Another band of misfits hopes to go up against the Palam Empire, but I don’t think they have a chance. They are supposed to be getting reinforcements from Kulum, but I sense betrayal and so does Yuu. It turns out that help is really coming from Palam itself and that can’t be good.
*
Yuu is being forced to be the figurehead, but he never wanted to fight. He tries to make his own deal with Jin Varrel and that’s probably a mistake as well. He tells them that Palam is about to betray them, but Yoo Ran doesn’t believe him and even if she did, Jin Varrel is not one to run away.
*
Yuu escapes, but that only makes Jin Varrel want to attack the village sooner rather than later. Allegations are made that Yoo Ran is also a traitor, and she’s left behind at the camp. Meanwhile, Hazuki is beginning to have her doubts about Elle Karen and Loana invites her to join the Pleasure Gang. It’s a nice idea to get to Alka, but Hazuki doesn’t like their outfits, and refuses to join them even when Loana tells Hazuki that she can have all the alcohol she wants.
*
Jin Varrel advances on the village, but is betrayed by her own men. With the help of heaven’s spirits, the three men attack her at the same time the village does. Her Impurity takes care of things, while Yoo Ran and Ga Gante take care of the army coming to back up the three traitors. The traitors and the village are destroyed, as well as the army. I still wonder how Jin Varrel is connected to Alka. It seems too that they have the same wound on their hand. There appears to be two sides to Jin Varrel and I am wondering if Alka is her other half somehow. And the strange musician makes another appearance.
*
Yuu never made it back to the village and perhaps that was a good thing. He arrives now to find everyone dead. Now that Palam has lost the chance to get rid of Jin Varrel, it’s decided to have her Flower Monks incorporated into the Palam army. But her Impurity takes care of that as well and Palam backs down.
*
In the end, Hazuki does join up with Loana. I suppose the alcohol deal was too much for her to resist. But she does absolutely refuse to wear those spikes! LOL And Loana thinks they’d look good on her. At the inn, Elle Karen touches her hair ornament and says that revenge is silly. Jin Varrel continues her search for Alka. Alka herself finally makes an appearance and I can’t wait for the next episode!

Ep. 05

Wow.
They’re rather good at emotional side stories.
I just hope they can keep that with the actual story.

So this show gets better than Episode One suggested, where a guy,ah, soiled himself and boasted about it?

For me, yes.
For you, no.

Episode 7 –

spoiler

Alka happens to meet Morii again. Morii has changed a lot but notes that Alka hasn’t changed at all. Morii asks if Alka has gotten her wish of revenge. When Alka tells her that she hasn’t, Morii tells her that she must be tired of having Palam chase her. She offers Alka a chance to rest and takes her to her home. Morii also makes mention of “Mother”.

I think Alka has just walked into a cult. Everyone at the “Boat of Cleansing” has marks like Morii’s on their faces, red for the women and blue for the men. One of the girls, Reika, doesn’t like Alka. More so when Morii says that she wants Alka to meet Mother. When Morii takes Alka into one of the buildings, there are potted plants and flowers everywhere.

Morii leaves Alka in a room and goes to see Mother. This is an older lady with purple marks on her face that scolds Morii for bringing a stranger to them. Morii tells Mother that she wants to “save” Alka. Mother relents. She also talks about how everyone there is a family and that it will soon be time for the first ritual. None of this sounds right. Mother directs Morii to get Alka, and comforts the frightened Reika.

Morii tells Alka how Mother saved her as she takes Alka to meet her. Reika is terrified of Alka. Mother tells Alka that she is “impure” and must be cleansed. Meanwhile, Lon has arrived at the Boat of Cleansing to do some business. He’s a little surprised to see Alka there and asks Mother if she’s joined her family, but Mother explains that Alka is just a guest.

Knowing that slimy merchant, I don’t think the Boat of Cleansing will be lasting too much longer. I am sure Lon is going to sell the information to Palam that Alka is staying there. Elle Karen also receives word of Alka’s whereabouts and isn’t very pleased to know she’s at the Boat of Cleansing. Morii tells Alka a little more about the Boat of Cleansing. She has given up on her revenge and feels sorry that Alka cannot give up hers. Morii sounds as if she’s been brainwashed. Alka turns to find Mother lurking in the shadows.

Mother pulls on a rope and the sound is deafening. Alka covers her ears and screams. It looks like Alka’s “purification” has begun. The rest of the “family” gathers around as Mother explains how Morii was reborn. Mother encourages Alka to listen to the “Song of Souls” as she cowers on the floor, trying to keep her ears covered. Alka reaches for her blade, but Morii stops her. Alka then passes out.

The Pleasure Gang has a new base and a new mission – to kill Jin Varrel. Hazuki just looks bored. She’s only there for Alka anyway. Alka awakens, tied up between two pillars, in some kind of altar like place. Mother orders Morii to take out her heart and hands her a blade. Mother appeals to her family, telling them that they will bathe in tainted blood and be reborn. She really has brainwashed them all. Everyone screams in agony and Morii steps forward to kill Alka, but a Molotov cocktail stops her.

The Boat of Cleansing is suddenly under attack! Morii still tries to kill Alka, but is kicked aside. A spinning blade cuts one of Alka’s ropes. Mother tries to kill her next and Alka evades her as well, using her blade to free herself and flee. Walking along the beach, Alka collapses. It seems that Lon was her savior, as he comes up beside her. She gives Lon what money she has, which isn’t much, in payment and continues on her way. She doesn’t get very far before she falls again. Her ears must still be ringing with all that horrible noise.

Alka is still trying to catch her breath when Morii comes out of nowhere and attacks her. Alka tosses her away. Morii keeps going on about Mother as she prepares to attack Alka again. Lon has had enough and leaves. Morii continues to attack Alka and it’s obvious that Alka doesn’t want to kill this girl that was once her friend. Morii knocks Alka down and is about to kill her when surprisingly – or perhaps not – Elle Karen stops her. Even as Elle Karen tries to talk Morii out of her revenge, the girl pulls a knife and holds it to Alka’s throat. Screaming, Morii repositions the knife and brings it down! But only into the sand next to Alka’s head. Morii’s tears fall onto Alka’s face.

Morii has passed into insanity as she continues to stab into the sand, crying and screaming that she wants everyone to die. Elle Karen helps Alka to stand and as they walk away, Alka turns back to take a last look at her one-time friend, now in the depths of madness. Dawn finds Elle Karen and Alka still together. Saying that there is something she wants to know, Elle Karen kneels down to whisper in Alka’s ear. Alka eyes widen as a scene shows one of Alka’s past assassinations. Elle Karen says it happened three years ago, and asks Alka if it was her. Alka nods once and Elle Karen stands up. She thanks Alka, saying that she feels better now. And I am left in frustration again as the episode ends here! LOL

Ep. 06

It makes one wonder, since this is Alka’s story basically, how in the world can she not only fight, but win against someone as powerful as Jin Valel is.

unless Alka is Jin… or at least Jin’s Good half

Between this, and being informed by my anime bros that watching this show had become a “non optional social convention” I went through a few more eps and it did get much better than Ep 1.

It’s neither Witchblade(also Gonzo) nor Samurai Champloo, and it is so tongue-in-cheek that it is risking rupture but it is fun. Besides, in the fight against the moeblob monopoly I believe that I am obligated to support every show that tries to have art that isn’t cloning K-On’s. :stuck_out_tongue: