What's Coming Up!

Sorry for not being on top of what I had planned for the weekly Throw-Back Thursday Reviews. I have been a bit busy and occupied with real life. On the other hand, I finally managed to get a copy of One-Punch Man V.01! So next reviews on the list will be One-Punch Man! Both V.01 and V.02 will be reviewed!

I also picked up another random series, Ninja Slayer Kills! V.01. I will be reviewing this as well. From the artwork, it seems I may enjoy it. This was a blind buy, so it will be fun to review something I don't really have much knowledge about.

Now all I need is to get through Naruto V.60...

Review: Inuyashiki V.01

Title: Inuyashiki
Volume: 1 (of 3+)
Creator: Hiroya Oku
Format: Right-to-Left
Original Publisher: Kodansha
US Publisher: Kodansha Comics
Release Date:  8/25/15
Pages: 208
ISBN: 1632361213
MSRP: $12.99
Genre: Seinen
Rated: OT (Ages 16+)

Description: Ichiro Inuyashiki is down on his luck. While only 58 years old, his geriatric looks often have him written off as a pathetic old man by the world around him and he's constantly ignored and disrespected by his family despite all that he's done to support them. On top of everything else, his doctor has revealed that he has cancer and it appears that he has little time left in this world. But just when it seems things couldn't get any worse, a blinding light in the night sky strikes the earth where Ichiro stands.

He later wakes up to find himself unscathed, but he soon starts to notice that there's something... different about himself. However, it turns out that these strange, new changes are just what Ichiro needs to take a new lease on life and now it seems like there's nothing to stop him from being a hero worthy of the respect that he never had before... unless, that is, there was someone else out there with these same "changes"...

Contains Chapters 1-8:

• Chapter 1: The Vicissitudes of Life
• Chapter 2: Abnormality
• Chapter 3: Oh My God
• Chapter 4: No Tears
• Chapter 5: Violence
• Chapter 6: Help Me God
• Chapter 7: Ichiro Inuyashiki
• Chapter 8: Man Without An Inside

Review:

Cover Art: The front cover features our protagonist, Ichiro Inuyashiki, smiling wide on a green cybernetic looking background. The series title is displayed on the right side, going down the cover vertically. The volume number and mangaka are on the bottom left corner.

The spine from top to bottom has the publisher, series title, volume number, and mangaka.

The back cover has the volume description on a light green background, displayed on the left half of the cover. The right side has more of the cybernetic background effects on a darker green color.

I honestly like the cover for this series. It isn't too busy and it shows the carefree look of our hero. If you don't know what the series is about, it kind of doesn't appeal to the overall series, but it does give somewhat of a carefree innocent backdrop for what this title really contains.

Artwork: Hiroya Oku is a pretty famous mangaka already, with a bit of a darker appeal to readers (his other work was GantZ). The style used in this volume is very similar to his drawing style from GantZ, which I honestly have no need to really complain about. He really pays attention to detail and never does he try to make anything look simplistic.

Translation: The translation was pretty accurate for the volume. All Sound effects and names were left unchanged. I also really liked how they included tons of Shonen Jump, One Piece, and GantZ references. Since Kodansha doesn't own the rights to any of the above titles, it was surprising they were still allowed to use them.

Extras: N/A

Content (Warning: May Contain Spoilers): Ichiro Inuyashiki just moved into a new house with his family. He looks a lot older then what he is cause he has worked such a hard life, and his family treats him like crap because of it. None of them want him in their life, nor do they really want to be a part of his. Ichiro gets a dog however and the dog seems to show him the compassion he is lacking.

One day, as Ichiro is at a doctors appointment, he learns that he has cancer and has about three months to live. He doesn't know how he is going to tell his family, as none of them really have the time to hear about his problems. That night he goes for a walk with his dog to a nearby park, when a mysterious object in the sky crashes down and kills Ichiro and a nearby person. Whatever killed them rebuilds their bodies as living weapons and cover up the hole in the earth that was left by the object.

The next day Ichiro wakes up in the park not knowing what actually happened to him, but he quickly begins to see that his body is different, and with his new power, he decides to use it to help others as well as making himself feel good along the way.

I am not going to spoil any more then what i have already covered. This was an amazing read from cover to cover. I loved the pacing of each chapter as it never left me bored for a second. My only real problem is that I loved GantZ, and I was expecting a bit more violence then what was presented in the first volume. I won't be lowering the score based off of this though as I was still quite surprised by the entire read. We did get to see a glimpse of the other person at the very end who was also killed in the accident, but it doesn't look like we will be seeing much of him and his GantZ manga obsession until V.02, which I am very much looking forward to. This is a must read for the older manga crowd, especially the sci-fi readers.

Objectionable Content: 

• Language: Yes
• Violence: Yes
• Nudity: No
• Sexual Situations: No

Overall Rating: 10/10

Where Purchased: Barnes and Nobles

Original Review Date: 8/26/15

New Releases: Week of 8/25/2015

This week has a pretty good list of mangas coming out, as well as a couple of classic anime tiles being re-released

Anime:

• Appleseed (Blu-Ray/DVD)
• Patlabor 3 - WXIII (DVD)

Manga:

• Ajin V.06
• Attack on Titan V.16 
• Attack on Titan V.16 Special Edition (Includes Playing Cards)
• Attack on Titan - Before the Fall V.05
• Attack on Titan - Harsh Mistress in the City V.01 (Novel)
• Dance in the Vampire Bund Omnibus V.06
• Devil is a Part-Timer V.02 (Novel)
• Fairy Tail - Blue Mistral V.01
• Inuyashiki V.01
• Let's Dance a Waltz V.04
• Maria The Virgin Witch - Exhibition
• One Punch Man V.01
• One Punch Man V.02
• Say I Love You V.09
• Your Lie In April V.03

Highlighted titles will be my definite purchases. The italicized titles are stuff you guys should definitely worth checking out and buying. Of the releases this week, Inuyashiki V.01 will be the next new review (I already have it in my hands, and will be starting it tonight). One Punch Man will also be another future review, once I find copies of them.

Sorry for no Throw-Back Review last week, there will be one this week though, so keep a look out for YuYu Hakusho V.02, as well as the other mangas I mentioned above.

New Releases: Week of 8/18/2015

To keep my blog active, I will be starting to add New Releases once again to help out the people who do read my blog, as well as myself, up to date on what is coming out in the world of anime and manga. If it is Highlighted, its part of the buy pile.

Anime:

• Future Diary (Blu-Ray)
• Hayate The Combat Butler - Season 1 Complete Collection (Blu-Ray)

Manga:

• Alice In The Country of Hearts White Rabbit Afternoon Tea V.01
• Ani-Imo V.04
• Barakamon V.06
• Bodacious Space Pirates Abyss Of Hyperspace V.01
• BTOOM V.11
• Cage of Eden V.18
• Devil Is Part Timer: High School V.01
• Dorehedoro V.16
• Emma V.01 (Hardcover)
• High School DXD V.06
• Is It Wrong To Try To Pick Up Girls In A Dungeon? V.02
• Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer V.04
• Noragami Stray God V.06
• Puella Magi Homura Tamura V.01
• Rust Blaster
• Street Fighter Legends - Chun Li (Hardcover)
• Tokyo Ghoul V.02
• Trinity Seven V.02
• Ultraman V.01

As far as this week goes, We have a bunch of odd titles in the mix. Noragami will be the only purchase this week. We bought Tokyo Ghoul V.02 already at Anime Expo, which was an amazing read so definitely pick up that series if you have not yet. 

Throw-Back Thursday Review: Yu Yu Hakusho V.01 - Goodbye, Material World

Title: Yu Yu Hakusho
Volume: 1 (of 19)
Creator: Yoshihiro Togashi
Format: Unflipped
Original Publisher: SHUEISHA Inc.
US Publisher: VIZ
Release Date: 6/30/03
Pages: 199
ISBN: 1569319049
MSRP: $7.95
Genre: Shonen Jump
Rated: T (Teens)

Description: It was a typical day for Yusuke — go to school at noon, get kicked out by the teacher, fight with his rival Kuwabara, and head for home in time to wake his mom from her drunken stupor. But when he throws himself in front of a car to save a little kid’s life, he becomes Tokyo’s toughest teenage ghost! While his childhood friend Keiko grieves over his comatose body, Yusuke has one chance to return to life: raise a “spirit egg” at the behest of the comely Botan (aka Death) and her boss Koenma, lord of the infernal bureaucracy. But the creature that hatches from the spirit egg will be determined by the good or evil in Yusuke’s soul — if he’s not careful, he could create a monster!

Contains Chapters 1-8:

• Chapter 1: Goodbye, Material World!
• Chapter 2: Test for Resurrection!!
• Chapter 3: Time for Departure!!
• Chapter 4: The Old Dog and the Boy
• Chapter 5: Her First Christmas!
• Chapter 6: The Lonely Journey
• Chapter 7: The Promise!
• Chapter 8: The Temporary Resurrection (Part 1)

Review:

Cover: The first Volume of Yu Yu Hakusho is identical to the Original Version. The main pic has a sky like border. It has a profile shot of Yusuke, and in front of him appears to be Keiko with a worried expression on her face (probably because she found out what happened to Yusuke in this chapter). The title Yu Yu Hakusho is on the top with blue and yellow coloring. The cover as a whole is black with a blue tint. The bottom has the Mangaka’s name, followed by the Volume Number.

The Spine is white. It has the “Shonen Jump” initial logo (SJ) in blue and white. Underneath hat is the title, Yu Yu Hakusho, the Volume Number (again!), and the Mangaka. The pic on this volume is Yusuke. He has a blue tint to him.

The back is the same color as the front, black with a blue tint. The top has the title, Yu Yu Hakusho (. . .), followed by the Volume Title, Goodbye, Material World!, followed by the Volume Summary. We also get the Volume Number (yet again!) and a pic of Yusuke trying to look scary.

I am really getting tired of how VIZ structures their manga covers. All their new covers have the Volume Number and Series Title at every corner. This gets a little annoying. Tokyopop has the Series Title and Volume Number on just the front and the spine, while VIZ goes to the limit and spams every corner of their mangas.

Artwork: Volume 1’s Artwork I did not care for that much. Togashi did not stay consistent with. While some of the chapters have art that seems to be new and fresh, others look grainy and chalk like.

Translation: The Translation of Yu Yu Hakusho stays true to the original, except for the Sound Effects, which are dubbed English. They can be dealt with, but it does ruin the artwork, in my opinion.

Content (Warning: May Contain Spoilers): I fell in love with Yu Yu Hakusho back in the Mid-90s. It was not just the plot that pulled me in, but the characters. The characters are so well driven and have great personalities, who can’t fall in love with at least one.

This Volume begins the series. Yusuke, the main character gets hit by a car as he saves a little boys life, who ran in the street for a ball. After Yusuke dies he meets Botan, the grim reaper, who she takes Yusuke to see the son of Lord Enma, Koenma. Koenma tells Yusuke that he wasn’t supposed to die, so he gives Yusuke an egg that Yusuke must do good deeds in order for it to hatch. If Yusuke does enough good deeds, Yusuke can be resurrected. If he does bad deeds, a monster will hatch and devour Yusuke’s spirit.

So, Yusuke has to return to the real world and tell his loved ones about the situation at hand. Yusuke enters his rival’s body, Kuwabara, and finds the women he loves, Keiko, and tells her that he will be back on Earth soon. Yusuke then leaves Kuwabara and begins his quest for resurrection.

This whole volume is all filler episodes on how Yusuke does good deeds in order for his resurrection. The last chapter though is part 1 of a 2 part mini-series. Yusuke gets a chance to be alive for one day, in order to revitalize his physical body. In this little time, Keiko gets kidnapped by a local gang. Yusuke can not save her either, cause if he lets Keiko see him, he will not be revived.

This volume was a little slow. The last chapter was a little interesting. It leaves you wanting to finish the mini-series, as well as finish the whole ARC on Yusuke being dead. I admit, I don’t really care for the beginning part of Yu Yu Hakusho, however stick with it. Yu Yu Hakusho has a great story and it does get better in future Volumes (it gets good starting with Volume 3).

Objectionable Content:

• Language: Yes
• Violence: Yes
• Nudity: No
• Sexual Situation: No

Overall Rating: 1 (Out of 5)

Where Purchased: Orbits (Local Anime Store)
Original Review Date: 11/9/03

Reviews, Reviews, Reviews...

You all might notice the side bar has a bunch of new titles across it. I updated my Reading Backlog to actually show all the titles I have so far in my backlog. I also updated the upcoming reviews section. Not all of those titles are definite, however if it has the TBT in front of it, that is one of my old reviews, so those will be coming out. This Thursday expect a review of Yu Yu Hakusho V.01. The second volume will follow next week on Thursday. The throwback titles will be going into different genres eventually, so don't think that I will only be doing Shonen Jump/Shonen Sunday titles for mangas.

I will be playing catch up with a few of my other manga series in reading so my next review manga I will probably be reading in about 2 or 3 mangas from now. Please look forward to a NEW manga review possibly this weekend. As far as more Sailor Moon Crystal, the earliest I will probably get to reviewing them is September.

Review: Magi - The Labyrinth of Magic V.13

Title: Magi - The Labyrinth of Magic
Volume: 13 (of 26+)
Creator: Shinobu Ohtaka
Format: Right-to-Left
Original Publisher: SHOGAKUKAN
US Publisher: VIZ
Release Date: 8/11/15
Pages: 192
ISBN: 1421559633
MSRP: $9.99
Genre: Shonen Sunday

Rated: T (Teens)

Description: Alibaba, Aladdin, Morgiana, Hakuryu, and Kogyoku each leave Sindria on their own quests. For the first leg of their journey, they will all be aboard the same ship, and Alibaba can't resist stowing away on it too. The high seas are dangerous though, and an encounter with pirates will lead them on a journey they never expected to take...

Contains Chapters 119-128:

• Night 119: Parting
• Night 120: Zepar
• Night 121: Setting Sail
• Night 122: Voyage
• Night 123: Pirates
• Night 124: Zagan Unleashed
• Night 125: Storming In
• Night 126: Pirate Fortress
• Night 127: Ice Spears
• Night 128: Mother

Review:

Cover Art: The cover features Kogyoku in her Full Body Djinn Equip form. The blue and pink colors correlate really well together, but it does take away from some of the other features on the front cover, mainly being the series title, the mangakas name, and the volume number, All of which are present, but are fizzled out with the coloring scheme used with the overall image. Another thing that the Japanese Tankoban has that the US Release doesn't, is the full name of the series, The Labyrinth of Flames is no where to be found anywhere on the cover, and you actually need to flip to the inside pages to see the full title of the series, unless you look at the back of the cover, which shows it, but it is not really noticeable.

The Spine is pink and from top to bottom has the Shonen Sunday logo, the series title, the volume number, the mangaka's name a smaller cropped picture of Kogyoku from the front cover, and a magic lamp.

The back cover has a cool picture of Aladdin with Judar. This honestly makes no real sense to me as Judar makes only one appearance in this entire volume, and it is a one panel flashback scene.

In a nutshell, the artwork for this cover is superb, but it leaves me wondering if people would walk by it if it was not showing the spine, as it is very hard to see what series it actually is.

Artwork: The artwork for this volume follows in the same style as previous volumes. It is a typical Shonen manga series so it has similar styles of artwork like Fullmetal Alchemist and Black Clover. One thing that I love is how the mangaka can transition so well between moods in her art form. The comedic parts can be a bit simplistic and cartooney, but when the story shifts to a serious point, the artwork does as well.

Translation: As I have not read much into the Japanese version of this series, I can not fully judge the series entirely on it's full translation. There are English Sound Effects used though to replace the original Japanese ones. All character names are kept the same. I have to question though at times they seem like panels can be edited to make the series a bit more "Young Teen" friendly.

Extras: There is one extra in this chapter, a bonus Night 122.5 mini chapter, which elaborates a bit more on Alibaba rejoining his friends on the ship.

Content (Warning: May Contain Spoilers): The volume begins fresh, as the previous volume ended the current storyline of the series. We have Alibaba questioning why he still is not as strong as his friends, and when Kogyoku runs into him, they decide to show each other what they have learned. Kogyoku has already achieved the power of Full Body Djinn Equip; Sinbad sees this and tests her strength to see how far along she has come since learning this new technique, but finds out she still has a long ways to go before they can fight on an equal level.

Alibaba then decides he needs to become stronger somehow, and as his friends are about to leave on their own separate journeys by boat, he decides to sneak on board with them to find his own place to get stronger. Alibaba is eventually found out that he is their and Aladdin and the others welcome their friend back to the group, but it is short lived as the boat is attacked by pirates. Our heroes are not that strong to defeat the pirates just yet, but Hakuryu manages to put a tracking spell on the pirates as they escape.

Back on dry land we learn that the pirates are kidnapping children from the slums and are taking them someplace. Because of Hakuryu's tracker, our heroes end up going on a new adventure to the pirate's island hideout. This time, our heroes are more prepared and defeat most of the pirates, but they call out for their "Mother," a strange woman named Madaura who has horns. Madaura destroys the island and then uses a Magic Tool that makes anyone who it affects not able to attack her, but feel them with the comfort of motherly love.

The volume of course ends with a cliffhanger in which our heroes are now at risk of not being able to defeat Madaura. I really enjoyed this volume, as it kept me entertained through my entire read. It had lots of action and a few light hearted humorous moments that really made my laugh. I really liked how they are beginning to focus more on the characters backstories a bit. when "Mother" was brought up, we start to see who actually had an actual childhood out of our heroes, and the effects of what not having one has on the other characters. Overall, this was another amazing chapter in the Magi story and I can't wait until the next volume is released!

Objectionable Content:

• Language: No
• Violence: Yes
• Nudity: No
• Sexual Situations: Yes

Overall Rating: 8/10

Where Purchased: Barnes and Nobles

Original Review Date: 8/11/15

What's To Come...

I'm sorry I didn't deliver the final review on time for Sailor Moon Crystal's Dark Kingdom Arc as I originally had intended. However, it is finally done and up for everyone's reading pleasure. The Dark Moon Arc will come... eventually. But I will be doing some new reviews for a while to show that I don't just like doing Sailor Moon stuff. Keep looking forward to new Throwback-Thursday Reviews (not really new reviews, but they are new to this blog). As you can see from my backlog of stuff, I have a wide variety of New and Old stuff to read, I usually don't like to do reviews to series that I am in the middle of however, due to possibly confusing people with the actual content portion. If a series however starts a new story arc, I may do reviews for volumes then and continue moving forward with new ones.

As of right now I may do a review on the current manga I am reading, Magi V.13, since it does actually start a new Story to the overall series (V.13 starts the second Anime Series as well). If not, expect one of probably My Hero Academia V.01. I'm also thinking of maybe going and doing some reviews of older mangas (reread them) that continue from some of the Throw-Back Thursday Reviews once I catch up with certain series.

Other then that, expect something in the manga category in the next few days or so. Until then, later...

Review: Sailor Moon Crystal Act 14 - Conclusion and Commencement - Petite Etrangere

The Silver Crystal changes into its final form and is added to the top of Sailor Moon's Moon Stick, now Moon Scepter. Sailor Moon vows she will defeat Metallia, in the name of the Moon and as Princess Serenity. Sailor Moon fires a shot from the Moon Scepter right at the gem in Queen Metalia's head. The attack seems to not even phase her. It is then with the help of all of Sailor Moon's friends, she is finally able to eliminate the threat of the Dark Moon Kingdom once and for all, but at the cost of her own life.

With the Dark Kingdom destroyed, The Moon castle is restored to its original state. Tuxedo Mask kisses the lifeless Usagi, giving her some of his life force and restoring her to life. Tuxedo Mask uses his powers to locate the rest of the Sailor Senshi in the Arctic Circle. Usagi learns that they are all dead. Luna contacts Usagi and Usagi reveals to Luna that her Compact has been destroyed, Luna tells Usagi she still has the power inside herself. Usagi prays to the Silver Crystal and teleports away from the empty battlefield.

Usagi and Tuxedo Mask arrive on the moon and are greeted by Luna and Artemis. They all go to the Prayer Room where it is revealed that Usagi will be the new Queen Serenity. Usagi tells Luna that she does not want to give up her life on Earth yet. Queen Serenity's hologram appears and grants Usagi her wish, along with a new Transformation Brooch. Usagi uses her new power to transform back into Sailor Moon, "MOON CRYSTAL POWER, MAKE UP!"

With her new power, Sailor Moon revives the Earth, along with all of her friends. A brand new day begins!

Now that everything has returned back to normal, the Sailor Senshi can live peacefully once again. That is until Rei sees a dark premonition in the fire at her shrine.

Usagi and Mamoru go on a date in a park and are about to kiss, when a mysterious ball drops out of the sky that looks a bit like Luna. The Luna Ball is followed by a  little girl with pink hair who slams down right on top of Usagi's head. The girl knows Mamoru's name, and reveals she is Usagi. Usagi tells the little girl she is Usagi. The little girl then pulls out a gun and aims it right at Usagi's head and demands she hand over the Silver Crystal.

As this episode is technically the end of the Dark Kingdom Arc of Sailor Moon, it also sets up The Dark Moon Arc. The episode follows the manga chapter exactly. In the original, we also have kind of the set up to the next arc as well, so this was a bit expected. The only real change I noticed with this episode to manga comparison was when we have Luna on the Moon as she is praying to help Sailor Moon defeat Metalia we get a glimpse of her human version, which is part of a Short Story in the original manga (the story that was used for the Sailor Moon S movie). I found this rather neat that they included this little thing in the anime version, as I highly doubt if they ever do continue the series past the Dark Moon Arc, we will see the Short Stories adapted into an anime version. Overall though, the finale to this story ended on an almost perfect note.

Rating: 8/10

Review: Sailor Moon Crystal Act 13 - Final Battle - Reincarnation

Sailor Moon kills Endymion and herself. The Silver Crystal then puts a sacred barrier, in the form of a large crystal, around both of their bodies. Metallia attacks the Sailor Senshi and then consumes the Silver Crystal that Sailor Moon and Endymion were protected inside. The Sailor Senshi teleport back to the surface and arrive at the arctic circle. Queen Metalia is waiting for them. The Sailor Senshi use the Sailor Planet Attack on her, but it is still not strong enough to defeat her. Queen Metalia's powers begin to spread out across the entire planet. All around the world, people begin to attack each other.

Luna and Artemis go back to the moon to visit the Sacred Prayer Room. Luna begins to pray and beg for the help of Queen Serenity to help the Earth.

Back on Earth, the Sailor Senshi think everything is over, they begin to have memories of their times with Usagi and begin to have a new reason to fight. They believe Usagi is still alive and with their power, they bring back the Moon Sword which still has the Silver Crystal's power. The Sailor Senshi sacrifice their own lives and use their life force to awaken Usagi inside of Metalia.

Sailor Moon is once again alive, and the Silver Crystal is finally restored to the way it was meant to be. Metalia begins to taunt Sailor Moon inside of her body and tries to merge Sailor Moon with herself. Sailor Moon uses the Silver Crystal and blows apart Metalia from the inside, freeing herself and Endymion from their prison. Endymion was also reincarnated from the power of the Senshi.

Metalia however is still alive and will do everything she can to destroy Sailor Moon once and for all. Sailor Moon uses the Silver Crystal once again, but she can't do it alone. Endymion gets a ghostly visit from the four generals, his own soldiers, and they give him hope to pass onto Sailor Moon. Sailor Moon declares she will finally defeat Queen Metalia.

I had absolutely no problems at all with this episode. Every scene was practically taken from the original source material. Since everything is properly aligned at this point as well, there really is not much that should be changed or altered to cause the series to explain where it was heading with the finale. The action sequences were also handled very well. With the final Act coming up, their really is not a lot of room for their to be any drastic changes to the anime version of this epic series.

 Rating: 8/10

Review: Sailor Moon Crystal Act 12 - Enemy - Queen Metalia

Our heroines, all except Makoto, face off against not just Tuxedo Mask, but Queen Beryl as well. Beryl reveals that Prince Endymion has died, and if it wasn't for the power of Queen Metalia, he would not have been resurrected. Tuxedo Mask attacks Sailor Moon, but Jupiter arrives just in time to block it. As the Command Center is about to be destroyed, The Sailor Senshi teleport everyone but Luna and Artemis away to a secluded area. Beryl then captures all of the Senshi in her hair. Venus remembers a bit more of their past, specifically how Beryl sold her soul to Metalia and how she is also being controlled by Metalia through her necklace. Queen Beryl proclaims she will rule the Earth with Prince Endymion before she begins her final attack on the senshi. Venus calls forth the Moon Sword and breaks everyone out of the hair prison. She gives the sword to Sailor Moon. Everyone attacks together, shattering the necklace with the Moon Sword, which is now powered up by the Silver Crystal.

Beryl has a flashback of her past life and how she used to watch Endymion from afar, before she finally turns into dust. Endymion however is still under Metalia's control and uses his power to steal the Moon Sword.  Endymion runs through a dimensional portal, with Sailor Moon right behind. It closes before the other Senshi can make it through.

Sailor Moon chases Endymion through the Dark Moon Kingdom's fortress. Sailor Moon tries to break through Metalia's curse over Endymion by revealing she is Serenity. Luna and Artemis trace Sailor Moon to be at the North Pole. The rest of the senshi travel to the Dark Kingdom's Fortress where they run into the four generals. The senshi try to break through Metalia's control over the generals by bringing up their past lives, but it is not enough.

Inside the fortress, Metalia has now exposed herself to Sailor Moon and attacks. Luna contacts Sailor Moon and tells her the reason Endymion is so strong is because of the piece of Silver Crystal that is still inside of him. She must use her heart to get back the crystal from inside of him. Sailor Moon tries to reason with Endymion one final time, showing him his watch. The spell begins to break. Sailor Moon uses her Moon Stick on Endymion.

Back at the entrance to the Dark Kingdom, the Senshi use the Sailor Planet Attack on the generals, defeating them once and for all, and finally freeing them from Metalia's control.

Back inside the fortress. Sailor Moon does the only thing she can do. If she can't live without Tuxedo Mask, she might as well kill herself as well. For her final attack, she kills Tuxedo Mask and herself.

As far as this episode was handled, there was actually quite a lot of filler that was not present in the original manga. The Queen Beryl final fight was not as heavily battle focused as it was in the manga. There was also no final encounter with the sailor senshi against the four generals, as they all died very early within the series. Besides that I felt the rest of this episode was handled very well. I really enjoyed all the moments with Endymion and Sailor Moon inside the Dark Kingdom, especially the final climactic death scene.

Rating: 7/10

NEW BLOG FEATURE!

So the new Blog Feature is based off of Throw-Back Thursdays that people do around the net. Instead of me posting Pictures from the past, I will be posting Reviews that I did from my days working at ListerX.com.

Also, I apologize for not following through with my last two Sailor Moon Crystal Reviews, but I will be doing them tonight! As well as possibly the final episode review as well of the Dark Moon Kingdom Arc. So please look forward to them later this evening, or in the early morning hours!

Throw-Back Thursday Review: Naruto V.01

Title: Naruto
Volume: 1 (of 72)
Creator: Masashi Kishimoto
Format: Unflipped
Original Publisher: SHUEISHA Inc.
US Publisher: VIZ
Release Date: 8/15/03
Pages: 192
ISBN: 1569319006
MSRP: $9.99
Genre: Shonen Jump
Rated: T (Teens)

Description: Naruto is a young ninja hoping to pass the difficult test to enter the Ninja Academy; deal with his rival, Konohamaru; and learn to get along with his new classmates, Sasuke and Sakura. Assigned to a three-person team, Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura must survive a brutal test against their upper-level ninja instructor, Kakashi. Only two can pass — will Naruto be one of them?

Contains Chapters 1-7:

-Number 1: Uzumaki Naruto!
-Number 2: Konohamaru
-Number 3: Enter Sasuke!
-Number 4: Hatake Kakashi!!
-Number 5: Pride Goeth Before A Fall
-Number 6: Not Sasuke!
-Number 7: Kakashi’s Decision

Review:

Cover Art: The Shonen Jump line of Mangas did something a little strange. Some Mangas kept their original covers, while others got a horrible facelift. As for Naruto, luckily it was left pretty much unchanged. The cover has a pic of Naruto, standing on the heads of two frogs. On his back are two brushes. He has a scroll in his mouth, as he prepares himself to do a Ninjutsu Technique. Under the pic is the original Naruto Logo, followed by the Mangaka’s name and the Volume number.

The Spine has the Shonen Jump Logo (an orange and white SJ), the manga title (again it is original), the Volume number, The Mangaka, and the same pic that was used on the cover of Naruto, followed by the VIZ logo.

The back has a pic of Naruto, walking through mist. The top of the cover is black, with the Shonen Jump Logo. Underneath is the Naruto Logo again. Underneath that is a short description of the Volume, followed by the Volume number, and a warning telling people that the book reads from right to left.

Honestly now, do you need the Volume number, title, and the Shonen Jump title at every corner of the cover. It gets a little irritating. Speaking of how they announced in the Shonen Jump Magazine that there is no brainwashing material. All in all, the Cover is nice, just slim down on a lot of the “Shonen Jump Graphic Novel” series stuff.

Artwork: The Artwork of Naruto is fairly new. The series is not all that old, so it has a lot of clean and crisp images. One thing I do like about this Manga Volume is it has early concept art of characters. You can see how the Mangaka originally had the characters of Naruto planned out before he actually started the story.

Translation: The translation of Naruto is pretty dead on to the Original Japanese Manga. The only problem I have is the Sound Effects. All the Sound Effects are dubbed to make them Americanized. Instead of seeing the usual Hiragana and Kata Kana letters that are in a lot of Mangas, we get the words “Whoosh” and “Splash.” Not only is this irritating, but it also takes away from the art of the manga.

Content (Warning: May Contain Spoilers): I have been reading Naruto for quite some time now, so when I saw the Manga come out, I had to buy it. Naruto is a great series for new anime fans to start on. It has a basic plot, well driven characters, and a lot of action.

Naruto begins with a legend. There was once a demon fox that destroyed anything in its path. The strongest ninjas in the world fought against it, but only the strongest, a powerful Hokage, managed to seal the fox up, into the body of a small baby boy. The Hokage died in the process, and the baby grew up being an orphan and a loner. He was shunned from society, as people believed that one day the demon would be released and destroy the world once and for all.

Several years later, Naruto grows up into a mischievous preteen. On the day he is supposed to graduate from his Genin Ninja level, he fails his test of making a replica version of himself. He is the only one that does not graduate.

Naruto is bummed that he did not graduate, so one of his teachers tells Naruto of a scroll that will give him all the knowledge of the most powerful Ninjutsu. All Naruto has to do is steal it, which he does. All the ninjas of his village, Konoha, begin a search for Naruto. When Naruto’s instructor, Iruka, finds him, Naruto has already read part of the scroll. The teacher that tells Naruto about the scroll wants the scroll for himself. So, a battle is fought for the scroll. Naruto wins by using the attack he learned from reading the school, which he creates thousands of copies of himself. Because of the attack, Iruka lets Naruto graduate.

Since Naruto finished his Genin training, now he must go on missions. But before he can do that, he must first go through a training process. Naruto is hooked up with two other young ninjas, a female, Sakura, and an arrogant rival, Sasuke. They are assigned a new teacher, Kakashi. Kakashi makes the ninjas introduce themselves, and then they go through a survival training the following day.

Kakashi proposes to them that they can not eat until they grab one of the bells that he has. Kakashi only has 2 Bells, so one of them will not be eating. All three Genins work together to try to get the Bells from Kakashi. Kakashi however has many tricks up his sleeves and manages to outsmart all of them. In the end, none of the ninjas manage to get a bell, but because Naruto snuck off and tried to steal the food while Sakura and Sasuke were dealing with Kakashi, Naruto doesn’t get the food, and Kakashi tells them that they will never be Shinobis.

Objectionable Content:
-Language: No
-Violence: Yes
-Nudity: No
-Sexual Situations: No

Overall Rating: 5 (out of 5)

Where Purchased: Borders
Original Review Date: 11/07/03

Updated Schedule

As of right now, I have 3 more reviews I am committed to do before moving on to something else, the remaining Episodes of Sailor Moon Crystal's Dark Kingdom Arc. After these, I will be moving back to doing some manga reviews for the time being since they are a bit easier for me to write up and I can do these a bit quicker since I don't have to typically write a synopsis of what I watched/read. That being said, here is what to expect this week:

• Tuesday 8/4/2015 - Sailor Moon Crystal Act 12
• Wednesday 8/5/2015 - Sailor Moon Crystal Act 13
• Thursday 8/6/2015 - NEW BLOG FEATURE
• Friday 8/7/2015 - Sailor Moon Crystal Act 14
• Saturday 8/8/2015 - NEW SERIES Review

It's a new month and all, so I am gonna try my best to make a commitment to everyone with doing something possibly daily. I will be introducing a new type of blog feature and I will see how well it does, as well as how long it will last for.

Till next time... Later...

Review: Sailor Moon Crystal Act 11 - Reunion - Endymion

Usagi has a dream that she is on the moon once again. She sees Tuxedo Mask this time and chases after him, but is woken up by Luna. Usagi wonders where Mamoru is now that he has been abducted by the Dark Moon Kingdom. As Usagi walks to meet the other senshi she runs into Mamoru, who doesn't seem to recognize her at all. Mamoru's watch begins to work again.

Mamoru goes to the Crown Arcade, where he hypnotizes Furuhata into thinking he is his friend Endo. Furuhata's girlfriend comes to visit him and she realizes herself that this is not his friend Endo.

Usagi and the other girls go visit Ami at her apartment, where they examine the Moon Sword. They begin to see what kind of power it has, and it appears that is powerful enough to break Diamonds. The sword is made of a type of poisonous stone that possibly the entire Moon Kingdom is now made out of as well. Usagi ends up falling asleep at Ami's and has another Dream about Mamoru. She wakes up and leaves Ami's and heads to the arcade, where Furuhata introduces his new friend Endo, but Usagi believes its Mamoru. Endo asks Usagi to show her how good she is at the Sailor V video game. Usagi now intrigued by it begins to beat the game and helps Endo get closer and closer to reaching the Command Center.

The next day at school, Luna confronts Usagi about Endo not being who he is and for her to stay away from him. Usagi doesn't listen and goes back to the arcade to meet Endo, who already knows she is Sailor Moon and begins to hypnotize her with his powers. Usagi breaks from his spell and leaves the Arcade.

After hours at the arcade, Endo tries to get closer to the command center. Makoto tries to stop him, but ends up in his trance, and she leads him right into the command center. Usagi and the others head to the command center, where Makoto is waiting for them. She tries to steal the Silver Crystal, but ends up getting knocked out. Tuxedo Mask is there and reveals he is Endo all along. All the Senshi transform except for Makoto and battle Tuxedo Mask. He overpowers them completely and ends up taking the Silver Crystal. Luna tells Usagi she needs to fight. Usagi finally realizes that she needs to fight and transforms. Sailor Moon uses her Moon Stick and heals all of her friends, before turning the wand on Tuxedo Mask. Tuxedo Mask blocks the attack and it is revealed that Queen Beryl is behind him. Queen Beryl reveals that Tuxedo Mask really is Prince Endymion, and now Sailor Moon must make a difficult choice. Will she be able to defeat the person she loves the most...

This episode was a spot on retelling of the Manga. The Dark Kingdom Generals were not present, which is a plus since they technically should be dead by now anyways in the series. The overall feel of the manga you can tell was the writers and director's intention as well. It got straight to the point and covered every aspect of this chapter completely. As far as this episode ranked with the rest of the series, it is an over all improvement. Let's just hope with three episodes remaining of the Dark Kingdom Arc it continues with this same vigor and does not sizzle out like how the beginning of this series started.

Rating: 8/10

Review: Sailor Moon Crystal Act 10 - Moon

Luna prepares the girls for a journey to the Moon, so they can learn a bit more about their past lives and the Dark Kingdom. On the night of the next full moon, Usagi and the rest of the Sailor Senshi transform and make their venture to the Moon.

When they arrive, they find the ruins of the Moon Castle. They make their way to the core of the ruins where they find the Prayer Room. In the center of it is a Sword in the stone. The Four Guardians remove it with their combined strength, causing a hologram of Queen Serenity to appear and begin to reveal to our heroines tragic past lives and why they were sent back in time. It was basically a Romeo and Juliet type of love story. The Moon Princess fell in love with the prince of Earth. However, there was a group of people who did not want this love to be, The Dark Kingdom. Metallia, using Beryl, tried to kill the Moon Princess, but the Earth Prince sacrificed himself to stop her. The Moon Princess could no longer live so she sacrificed her own life. Queen Serenity was deeply saddened so with the power of the Silver Crystal sent everyone back in time to relive the events and possibly prevent what happened in the future. Sailor Moon and the Sailor Senshi return to Earth with the new knowledge and the Sword.

Queen Beryl discussed with Metallia what to do with Mamoru since a part of the Silver Crystal is inside of his body. The four generals overhear the conversation, and they begin to also experience memories of their past lives and how they were Endymion's Soldiers. Beryl sees this and uses her powers to hypnotize them into doing the Dark Kingdoms bidding once again. The four generals attack Earth once again, and the Sailor Senshi do battle once again. Sailor Venus knows the truth of their past lives as well and tries to reason with them. The generals still attack, but Sailor Moon uses her Moon Stick to try and heal them, along with the Sailor Planet Attack by the Sailor Senshi. The Generals flee from battle.

Back at the Dark Moon Kingdom, Beryl uses her power to awaken Mamoru as an enemy.

This was an amazingly handled episode of the series. I really enjoyed how they did the past lives of our heroes. This was also an episode I was really looking forward to watching due to them showing the Moon Sword. The Back story was present in the original anime, but everything else was all a part of the manga that was omitted completely. My only complaint, like previous episodes, was that the Generals are still completely alive and well. At this point of the series they should all be dead and we should be moving right into Mamoru being the enemy until the finale. With four episodes left of this story arc, let's hope it at least ends appropriately.

Rating: 8/10

Been Busy...

Very sorry everyone for the lack of posting, been very busy the last couple months with real life issues, serious and some fun stuff. I will try to post some more soon, It hasn't been as long as my last previous break, so I will be trying my best to do quite a bit on here. First and foremost, I need to finish the remaining reviews for the Dark Kingdom Arc of Sailor Moon Crystal. I have 5 more reviews to wrap up the first story arc with. After that, I will try to do a few manga reviews that I have recently read, before picking back up with anime stuff again.

Catch ya all soon...