I was checking out the weekly best buy deals at Buy.com just to see if there were any thumb drives or [preferably] external hard drives that were within my price range when it dawned on me that I still hadn’t gotten around to reading the latest chapter of the Naruto manga.

So, fully expecting another disapointing chapter, I headed over to OneManga.com and read chapter 485 of Naruto. And while the chapter was disappointing (I mean come on, Naruto, get over Sasuke, stop whining, and just kill the psychopath!) I was highly amused by Sasuke’s former healer and fanatical-fangirl Karin. Yes, you read that right, former fangirl. :rofl:

Is that awesome or what? I knew there was a reason I thought Karin was funny and better (in some aspects) to a lot of the Konoha kunoichi. I mean shesh, Sasuke betrayed her once and she says “fuck you!”. And as fans may recall, Ino and Sakura are still all wishy-washy over Sasuke despite abandoning Konoha and vowing vengeance on Konoha. Looks to me like Karin has a better grasp of reality then some important characters do.

That’s actually sad though when you think about it.

And yeah, I’m not even going to touch the whole psycho!Sasuke vowing to kill everyone in order to exalt and revive his clan. Yeah, the falacies in that logic are just…wow. And to think, he’s supposed to be a genius!

In other news, at least the battle with Aizen is totally rocking. Bleach doesn’t disapoint there. And I got caught up on all of the episodes for Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood just in time for the new episode (#47 Yami no Shisha) that comes out tomorrow! Which is good because I can’t wait to see Pride in action against Lin and Ed. *bounces* So exciting!!

For some reason I was really excited when I saw the commercials on AdultSwim announcing the premiere of Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood. So I stayed up just so I could watch it and it’s on right now. So far, it looks like Funimation did a good job on the dub. I don’t really care for Mustang’s voice though, or Armstrong’s. I think they should have just gotten all of the same voice actors from the previous anime to return and do the voices again. I mean, we the fans, already associate certain voices with characters. Edward’s English VA is the same, why not the others? Sure, a lot of the Japanese seiyuu for the new series are different too, but the voices are close. Where as in the English dub some of the voices are way off from the previous ones. So weird.

It was good seeing Maes alive again though. I’ve been following the episodes online in Japanese, the last episode I watched was forty-two, so yeah, definitely good to see old characters and re-watch it again from the beginning.

I love that this series is staying more true to the manga too. While the other storyline in the anime was good, the real storyline is so much better and includes some awesome characters that got ignored last time around.

Loved watching the scene were Armstrong starts ripping off his clothes to “inspire” Ed and Al. Good thing he left the breeches of his uniform on at least. Gotta love the sparkles. Armstrong is definitely one of my faves, but his older sister is the coolest member of the Armstrong family.

Now, after watching the English dub of episode one, I’m gonna go back and re-watch the series that has thus far been released online in Japanese.

Heh, I meant to get this post up a few days ago and somehow I just never got around to it. Well, first of all, I hope everyone had a good Christmas themselves. Mine was okay, nothing really great about it sadly (as I spent the day alone for the most part) but really it wasn’t that bad.

I got a number of awesome gifts from friends and family. Some were very practical, others fed my addiction to all things anime, and others were just….out there. Some items of note were:

• an ipod mini (orange!)
• a tin piggy bank with Gaara and Naruto on it
• dvd boxset of Bleach
• a polar bear fleece throw and a leopard print one (from two different people!)
• tin of fudge
• elliptical (still need to assemble it)
• a care package filled with yummy treats
• and too many gift certificates and cards to name

Strangely enough, I think my favorite gift out of it all was boxset and the Naruto piggy bank.

To be honest, when I created my very first fanlisting I never thought the day would come when I decided to give it away. I just could not fathom the thought of adopting out a fanlisting. Why would you do that? And yet here I am planning on finding new homes for a few of my babies.

A little while back one of my listings was removed from the Animefanlistings.org network, it had been troubled but I never knew until it had been removed and opened for application. Even then, the only reason I knew something was up was because I had posted on the TAFL message boards checking to make sure an application form I sent in went through and was shocked to be informed that my email was bouncing. On the off-chance that something had been troubled I checked the network update blog and was astonished to see my Naruto & Temari fanlisting had been troubled, and with no response, was removed. A thorough check of my email account showed that I had received no notice of this but that I had received a lot of emails about fat burners and other things I neither care about or understand.

As you might have guessed, my emails at nanashi-inc.net have been flooded with spam. To be honest, it’s a rather overwhelming amount of spam and it’s been happening for a few months now.

Thankfully my NaruTema fanlisting has been re-added to the TAFL network, and to avoid a repeat, I’ve changed my contact email at the networks to a non-domain email account. While doing this I was determined to track down the flood of spam and soon identified the culprit: DodosMail a php mail form that I used for my contact forms at various fansites, fanlistings, and other sites here on the N-I.net network. Apparently the script is insecure and allows for multiple ways for spammers to abuse it. I’d used DodosMail for years now, literally, and everything seemed fine but when I thought about it I realized that there was a noticeable increase of spam to the email accounts associated with the form. After deleting it and installing Jem’s php mail form there was a very noticeable drop in spam. Instead of pages and pages of spam delivered by the hour (including mailer-daemon notices for emails I never sent) there was just the odd handful.

While fooling around with the mail forms I started noticing a lot of listings whose coding was just embarrassing. Stuff like using tables in lieu of divs, deprecated coding, in-code styling that should be in a stylesheet, and so on. I started fixing it up listing by listing and while doing so I started thinking about the listings I owned as I worked on them. While doing this I came to the realization that for some of these, while I’m still a fan, my interest has waned dramatically. In some cases I can’t help but wonder if the fanlisting really would be better off in the care of someone else. After those depressing thoughts I realized that if I’m thinking those things then they probably would be better off with someone who could better love them and properly care for them.

Which brings us to the point of this post. It is with a heavy heart that I am placing the following fanlistings up for adoption:

• Objects: Samsung SCH-a950^x
• Anime/Manga Songs: s-CRY-ed: All I Need is Love (insert song)^x
• Anime/Manga Songs: s-CRY-ed: Drastic My Soul (ending theme)^x
• Songs: Bands/Groups: I’m So Sick (Flyleaf)^±
• Songs: Bands/Groups: Move (Thousand Foot Krutch)^x
• Food/Drinks: Hershey’s: 5th Avenue^x

^± – means the KIM list has been contacted
^x – means the listing will be closed if no new home is found

I’ll be posting adoption threads for these listings at the TFL and TAFL message boards shortly and will be contacting the members of the listings in a week or so.

If you are a fan of one (or more) of these subjects and would like to adopt them please visit this page to read my guidelines for adoption (very basic) and fill out the application form located there.

I got an interesting email a little while back. More messages about a new or great health insurance lead or checking one’s credit scores? No, nothing as blegh as that. I got the approval from The Animefanlistings.org to run the fanlisting for the Godaime Mizukage from Naruto!

I spent a couple of days working on the layout and getting it up. And then, because the Mizukage is hawt and awesome, I had to add some content to it so that it was no longer just a fanlisting but a fansite for the Mizukage. It’s finished now, for the most part, and new content will be added when new information about her becomes available. I present to you Boiling Hot: the Godaime Mizukage fanlisting and shrine:

For those that don’t know or recognize this character, the Godaime Mizukage made her first appearance in chapter 454 of the manga when the Kage of the other five major villages were getting ready to attend the Kage Summit to deal with the threat that Akatsuki poses. If you’re only following the anime (Japan or US) you will not have met her yet sadly. I’m not up to date with the manga as it is released in the US so I’m not even sure if the US fans who are only reading the English manga have even met her yet. I don’t think so though. There is a wealth of information on her at the fansite though, so if you’re curious please visit and take the time to get to know this awesome character. She’s one of few female ninja who kicks butt and looks good while doing it. And of course, if you’re a fan please consider joining as well.

About the same time that I got the approval to build the fanlisting for the Mizukage I was already working on a new layout for Whirl: the Temari and Uzumaki Naruto fanlisting. I’m still not sure that I am completely satisfied with the final product, however, it was time for a new look. The old layout had been up for quite some time now and consisted of images from before the time skip. Specifically the chuunin exam and rescue Sasuke arc. We’re well into Naruto Shippuuden now so I felt it was time for an upgrade.

And since Whirl got a new layout and Boiling Hot was all new I decided it wouldn’t be right to ignore Bonds of Friendship. Just yesterday I got the new layout for Bonds of Friendship: the Sai and Uzumaki Naruto fanlisting and fanshrine put up. It’s very green, yes I know, but it is much easier on the eyes than the old orange and black layout was.

So how about that, all of my Naruto fanlistings got new layouts (in a sense), new link buttons, and I had my own layout marathon! Makes me wish I had joined in on of the anime layout marathons going on, but oh well.

Are you a fan of any of these subjects? If yes, and you haven’t already, please consider joining them. If you own a Naruto-related fanlisting or fansite and would like to affiliate please don’t hesitate to let me know.

Honestly, it’s about damn time Naruto finds out who his father is. Kishimoto really dragged that out to the extreme. I mean, it was pretty damn obvious from the get go that the Yondaime was his father. I still don’t understand the purpose behind taking forever and a day to reveal the Yondaime’s real name. Especially since he doesn’t share the same surname with Naruto. Was he trying to build suspense? If so, he failed miserably.

But I am glad to see that finally Naruto is going to be told that the Yondaime is his father. And hey, since it’s taken this long for him to be clued in I guess it’s better that the Yondaime himself is going to tell him. Huh?! Yup, in chapter 439 of the manga, Naruto is just about to rip the seal and call on nine tails of power in order to defeat Pain when he’s stopped by none other than his dad:

Apparently, as a fail-safe, if Naruto ever drew on nine tails of power, Minato’s consciousness would appear to stop him. Daddy’s looking out for him…finally. Sorry, a part of me still thinks that the Yondaime is an idiot for expecting people who had just suffered losses to see Naruto as a hero and not taking measures to ensure he was well cared for. And I still think the Sandaime was way too lax on his care as well. But that’s another rant for another time.

Now, it’s great and all that Minato’s showed up to stop him from calling on all nine tails but…what will it accomplish? We saw how bad calling on six tails of power messed him up in chapter 438 and now, after calling on eight tails, he’s not looking any better:

Yeah, that’s Naruto with eight tails. Makes having a cerebral palsy look tame doesn’t it? Naruto was seriously messed up when he called on four tails of power, six tails tore away all his flesh and revealed his vertebrae and leg bones. With eight tails it looks like his body is trying for build itself into Kyuubi’s likeness. Just how badly messed up is he going to be when he sends the Kyuubi’s chakra back into the seal?

Chapter 417 of Naruto is much more entertaining then it has been for a while. I gotta say, I love the Raikage. We even share the same opinion “why the hell did it take so long for the Hokage to deal with the Uchiha?!”. Seriously, I never did understand why they didn’t just force some common sense, or at least the rules, down Naruto, Sakura, and Kakashi’s throats. Sasuke left, tried to kill a teammate, and joined with a known traitor. He’s a traitor, that’s all there is, just kill on sight. Done and done.

I’m probably the only female fan who never liked Sasuke to begin with though, so I wouldn’t be surprised if I was the only one sharing the sentiment.

Aside from the awesome Raikage and his advisors, we got a glimpse of some of their other nin, in particular three of his elites. Thus far, I’m thinking everyone in Kumo spends their time lifting weights. Seriously, they’re all ripped. Even the females look like they got some muscle on them, their kunoichi are definately not wimpy fangirls like Konoha. That’s not to say that all of the females in Konoha are wimpy, just that they’re, for the most part, kind of whiny. They’re more likely to pop Leptovox and antidepressants while Kumo’s females seem more likely to pop solider pills and keep kicking ass. Hehe, but I digress.

I think it is awesome though that the Raikage is doing something that the Hokage and Kazekage should have done a long time ago – summit of the five kages. Gaara is a young kage still, so him not putting these things into motion is understandable, I guess. But why the hell did Tsunade never do anything, besides creating the nijutai specifically to fight Akatsuki? Tsunade appears to be a truly lazy kage. It’s because the shinobi world is so fractured and none of the leaders are willing to share information with their allies that an organization like Akatsuki was even able to survive let alone thrive. I mean, for crying out loud, we now know Madara was at one point the Mizukage!

I’m glad that Naruto’s sage training is just about finished. I want to see him and Pein go head to head.

And of course I want to see Sasuke killed, but I know that’s probably just me. Everyone else seems to still want him redeemed. To me, the only Uchiha that was ever worth bringing back to Konoha was Itachi. Even before we knew the truth behind the Uchiha Massacre, a lot of fans had already guessed and worked out for themselves that there was more to Itachi than being a pyscho brother. Sasuke, well, he’s just a spoiled child who really doesn’t understand anything.

If you haven’t had a chance to read the latest chapter of the Naruto manga, chapter 415, go read it now. I’m sorry, I know the series is all about second chances, especially since Naruto, Sakura, and Kakashi want so desperately to bring Sasuke back to the leaf, but his actions are now completely unforgiveable.

It became apparent when he joined up with the Akatsuki that he wanted revenge on the council elders and Danzou for giving the order to have his clan eliminated. Never mind that the Uchiha clan were planning a coup d’etat and that their elimination was necessary to protect the rest of Konoha. Oh no, he had to be the stupid and self-centered child he had always been and sided with the ultimate Uchiha traitor, Uchiha Madara. Still, people were crying that he was still “good”. After this chapter though I think the Konoha would have to be fucking stupid, excuse my French, to ever accept him back into the village again.

So, what did he do? Why, he just used Ameterasu, one of the eye techniques of the Mangekyo Sharingan, to incapacitate the Hachibi jinchuuriki, Hachi Kira. And yes, his group, Taka, have collected him and are returning him to the Akatsuki for extraction. And as they set off Sasuke has some ominous words to leave for the readers “but now…” before he trails off.

Seems pretty obvious to me that this guy is just too self-absorbed and obsessed with power. His so-called bonds mean nothing to him, because even if he acknowledges (which admittedly he does) he has no qualms using them to further his own goals. Not to mention, it’s pretty obvious that he sees Naruto as just another jinchuuriki, another container to collect and extract a Bijuu from.

Even if, for some odd reason, Sasuke turns over a new leaf and refuses to capture or extract the Kyuubi from Naruto, as far as I’m concerned, his capture of the Hachibi is completely unforgivable. My only hope is that since some of the ninjas from Hachi Kira’s village saw it all go down and spied the Uchiha crest being brandished arrogantly on Sasuke’s back, word will get back to Konoha and finally Tusnade will put a stop to Team 7’s attempts to bring him back, if Naruto and the others aren’t disgusted by him themselves. Not to mention, the political fallout that would occur if he was brought back. Hachi Kira, jinchuuriki or not, was the Raikage’s brother after all.

So, could someone please just chopped his head off and pluck out those stupid sharingan eyes already?

So, Hachi Kira, one of the coolest Jinchuuriki of all time, is about to be defeated by Sasuke just because he’s finally “grown up” and realized that he always had friends from the get go (Naruto, Sakura, Kakashi). Someone is about to die and be handed over to Akatsuki for Sasuke’s selfish foolishness once again? Don’t believe me? Read chapter 414 of the manga.

I still don’t understand why Sasuke’s sharingan looks so different from Itachi, Kakashi, and Madara’s either. I guess I’m just going to have to chalk this up to another instance where plot and development is sacrificed to make Sasuke “cooler”. I swear Kishimoto has totally screwed up his own series.

At least Naruto has finally learned to sense and use Sage chakra though! Although, the whole Sage chakra thing definitely has a DBZ feel to it. I like how Naruto’s eyes change though, when he’s channeling the sage chakra. Unlike Jiraiya who gets all warty, only Naruto’s eyes change. Sweet.

But of course, there is one important question that needs to be answered still. What about Konoha? Pein was on his way with all seven of his bodies. Is Konoha even going to be left standing after this? Of course, I still don’t understand what purpose Sasuke even has by joining the Akatsuki in the first place.

I think I just want this series to come to an end now. It’s not making any sense anymore.

Until recently I had only watched the first two episodes of Rosario + Vampire, and even though it was amusing, I wasn’t sure I would bother finishing the series. However, I’ve been religiously following The True Monster, a fanfiction by Lord of the Land of Fire, and my interest in the series has been increased. Initially it was just out of a desire to have a better understanding of the series and its characters so that I could better understand some aspects of the fanfiction, but as the story has progressed, I find myself just downright interested.

Of course the cute school girl costumes that the characters sport have nothing to do with it at all. And yes, as you’ve probably surmised from the main cast picture in this post, the series is definately a “harem” one.

You’re probably wondering why I started reading a fanfic that revolves around a series I haven’t even fully read and watched yet, right? In actual, the fanfiction is a crossover between two series; Naruto and Rosario + Vampire. Hence why I started reading it.

A Rosario Vampire and Naruto cross over. Naruto, the hated Kyuubi jinchuuriki is sent to a school for monsters to complete his education before he can return to Konoha. But in a place filled with monsters he wonders just who the true monster is.

It’s a very interesting fanfiction, well-written, and contains an interesting premise. Not to mention, if you’ve been following the Naruto manga of late, you’re probably well aware of the fact that the series has totally gone down the crapper. Frankly, I’ve found quite a number of fanfics that are more interesting than the original manga. Sad really. Kishimoto had a great series, but now it’s just all about making his favorite character (who isn’t the protagonist but actually a bad guy by all counts) and giving him godlike abilities.

If you’re a Naruto fan and enjoy fanfiction I definately recommend giving this story a shot – it’ll be well worth it.

When Yumichika faced off against Charlotte Coolhorn, one of Barragan’s Fracción last week in chapter 320 of Bleach and Coolhorn released his zanpakutou I firmly believed that the time had come and fans would finally get to see the ability of Yumichika’s zanpakutou that allowed him to take down Shuuhei.

Guess what? I was right! In chapter 321, not only do we get to see Yumi’s zanpakutou in all it’s glory, but Yumi’s reaction to the eye-sore that was Coolhorn’s released form was also priceless. Poor Yumi looked like he was going to be sick.

Yumichika’s zanpakutou, Fuji Kujaku, is a kidoh-type zanpakutou. However, since the 11th Division frowns on those sort of zanpakutou and prefers that one’s zanpakutou be used directly in a fight, he hides the ability of Fuji Kujaku. This is the explanation that he gives Shuuhei anyway, and so for all intents and purposes it appears that Yumi’s zanpakutou, upon release, just takes on a sickle shape and the blade splits. Because of the fight with Shuuhei, we knew (the readers) knew otherwise, but never got to see it in action. However, during his fight, Coolhorn unleashes an attack which surrounds Yumi in black brambles and hides everything from sight. Upon realizing that no one would see his fight, Yumi revealed the true ability of his Fuji Kujaku.

To initiate the reiatsu draining ability of Fuji Kujaku, Yumichika uses the command Sakikurue (split and deviate) Ruriiro Kujaku (lapis peacock). His zanpakutou’s blades flare and take on the appearance of peacock feathers. The strands then reach out and bind his opponent, and as the opponent’s reiatsu is absorbed flowers bloom on the strands signifying the drain of their reiatsu.

Considering how many of the blooms on Ruriiro Kujaku are already fully bloomed, and the white rose in Coolhorn’s attack is disintegrating on the last page I think it might be safe to say that Yumi has won this fight.

I could really care less about Ikkaku and Kira’s fights though, I hope we get to see Shuuhei’s fight. I want to know the name of his zanpakutou and its abilities. Not to mention, I just really want to see Kensei and Shuuhei finally meet up again. 69 FTW! :luv:

By chance, I only now realized that there had been a new chapter released for Yagi Norihiro’s manga Claymore. Chapter 82 was released by FrankyHouse on the 4th of August, but I only noticed it today when I checked to see if new chapters had been released for Naruto and Bleach yet. I really wish he would churn out chapters once a week like most other series do. Instead of this irregular trickle he does. But damn, this series is good enough to make me tolerate it though!

Now, there have been instances in the series where I have been left wanting answers and when Norihiro provides the answers I’m always left anticipating the next revelation. Like the times before, this is no exception.

Rafaela and Luciela’s reunion and subsequent fight, for lack of a better term, left me unwilling to believe that that was the end of it. Rafaela was insanely powerful, a former #2 in the organization, and only relegated to the #5 slot because the Organization’s ego was wounded that their experiment wasn’t perfect. Despite her strength, I found it a little hard to swallow that Luciela could be defeated so easily by her sister, but at the same time I didn’t think she (Rafaela) could be dead either.

This was an interesting twist though, Rafaela used her youma power to kill her sister and save her at the same time. Now they’re fusing together! Not exactly dead, but definately not “alive” either; nor do they don’t respond to outside stimulus. Now Riful’s insistence on finding a Claymore who specializes in energy reading and awakening them makes more sense. She needs someone like Clare, Tabitha, or Galatea who can read a being’s flow of youma energy and manipulate it. In theory, they could provide the needed stimulus from within this Rafaela-Luciela being and awaken them that way. If the being that is now a combination of Rafaela and Luciela awakens it will be mighty scary. I mean, after all, it will have the combined power of an abyssal one and a former #2. I think Riful is taking a huge gamble though.

Will it be strong enough to take on Priscilla though? And what’s up with her traveling with Raki anyway? She’s shrunk in size because she hasn’t devoured a human in six years – that’s both scary and amazing! It looks like a confrontation between her and Clare is, at long last, on it’s way.

One question remains that I desperately want answered, is Irene still alive? I still find it horribly suspicious that Norihiro didn’t show us her battle with Rafaela and left it so open-ended. Sue she was severely weakened, and sounded like she was defeated, but Irene has proven that she is a survivor.

Damnit! I can’t wait until the next chapter comes out.

The latest manga chapter to be released for Naruto this week was a major disapointment. It was barely amusing in some instances; I just like it when Sasuke’s opponents make him look like the spoiled, tantrum-throwing child that he is. Really though, it just basically sucked, which is something the manga has been doing for a very long time now, sadly.

Thankfully that isn’t the case with Bleach! As always, I quickly read the latest chapter and I am already eagerly awaiting the arrival of next week’s chapter. There is a ton of anticipation packed into the chapter. It’s what we all want to see and have been dying to get to for so long, but there is also some comedy and feel-good mushy stuff to make you smile as well.

I am really, really, really enjoying the battle between Ayasegawa Yumichika and the arrancar Charlotte Coolhorn. From the very beginning, when Yumi was first introduced in the series and did his little spiel on beauty and the unfairness of fighting ugly opponents, I have been dying to see him pitted against another “pretty boy” like him. I’ve also just been dying for the chance to really see him have a good fight too. Because Yumichika is Ikkaku’s friend, and Ikkaku always wants to fight, we rarely ever get to see him fight. Even in his battle against Shuuhei we really didn’t get to see him fight. We saw the beginning of the fight, where Yumi explains why he holds the 5th seat instead of 3rd, and then the tale end of the fight. All we learn is that he got his ass kicked initially by the vice-captain of the 9th and then released his zanpakutou, which appears to absorb his opponent’s reiatsu, and that was through Shuuhei’s flashback.

Yeah, sure, there is the filler episode of the anime, and I think he might have had some minor fights in the Bount arc, but that really doesn’t count much at all. Then of course there was the battle with Luppi, the deceased sexta espada. Again, didn’t get to see much there either. Although I was slightly appeased to see Yumi make his digs on Luppi’s ugliness, given Luppi’s very feminine appearance, but it didn’t play out like I had hoped.

But the fight with Coolhorn is turning out exactly as I had always hoped it would! Even better really because the Arrancar looks like a muscle-bound drag-queen who thinks he’s the prettiest thing from all three realms! I can’t wait to see that fight continue as it promises to get even better, what with Coolhorn releasing his zanpakutou and all. Reina de Rosas indeed. His released state is even more of a riot. I can’t wait to see what Yumi’s reaction will be to it. Yumi, poster boy for beauty and acne products, because his skin is flawless and beautiful, and Coolhorn a poster child for all things gone terribly wrong. Yes, I am aware that these fights are kinda just there to keep the grand battle from ending too soon, but they’re definately interesting none the less.

I thought the little bit with Gin being pleased to know that Kira is doing well to be cute. I’m kind of curious how the Gotei 13 could even trust Kira though, he doesn’t seem to have done anything to redeem himself. Remember everything he’s done since the betrayal that is redeemable that we’ve seen is anime-filler stuff and not cannon per say. I’m still eagerly awaiting the reunion between Shuuhei and Kensei though, I figure that one has to be damn good. Kubo owes that meeting to us!

I just got finished reading the latest chapter of Sasuke Shippuuden, and boy let me tell, it was boring as hell. I can’t wait until the manga stops focusing on the hero and gives some attention to the secondary character Naruto. I mean sure, Uchiha Sasuke is the hero of the story and his battle with the eight tailed jinchuriki should be epic, but really, I’d just like to see how things are going with Naruto. Is the idiot ever going to get a brain, will he learn how to do the sage techniques, stuff like that.

Not to mention Pein (Pain) is on his way to Konoha to capture Naruto, but as we all know, he’s with the Sage Toad at Mt. Moboyuki (did I spell that right?) and not at Konoha. So what will happen? Will Pein attack Konoha, will Naruto’s friends be in danger? That sub-plot is so much more interesting than the main character.

Wait, what’s that? I have it wrong? Oh I’m so sorry! I thought the manga was called Sasuke since, ya know, every time we turn around the plot is focusing on him. Not to mention during the two and half years he’s been training with Orochimaru, the same amount of time that Naruto trained with Jiraiya, Sasuke seems to have developed god like powers. Seriously, he uses chakra-intense techniques, and seemingly suffers no backlash from them. Then there is the fact that these last couple of “arcs” have mostly focused on him as well.

Can we PLEASE GET BACK TO THE MAIN CHARACTER!! Really now, the series is called Naruto so maybe the author should pull his head out of his ass and actually give the main character some true development. Instead of just changing his wardrobe, making him taller, and calling it done. Where the hell is his development? How can he possibly be expected to take on Pein, Madara, and Sasuke? They’re all out of his league now!

Just finished re-reading chapter -99 “Turn Back the Pendulum” of Bleach last night and I think I have to revise my opinions now. You know, I spent a good amount of time thinking of Aizen Sousuke (Bleach) as a gray villain, but after this latest chapter in the manga I just think he’s an out and out bastard.

Of course, since we now know that Tessai and Urahara made it to the scene in time to see what had happened, I have to wonder what the hell Soul Society was thinking. We know the Vizard will be seen by all of Soul Society as “shinigami who have crossed into Hollow territory and illegally obtained Hollow powers” and that Urahara will be sent into exile, with (obviously) Shihouin Yoruichi and Tessai following him of their own accord. But why? How could this have happened and Soul Society not be clued into who Aizen really is? He destroyed so many lives, you can’t even begin to count the sheer number of lives that were shattered, affected, or lost because of him.

Of course, my estimation of Shinji rose tremendously though. He alone saw Aizen for who he was and vowed to keep a close eye on him. It’s sad though, that because he didn’t trust Aizen that that opening was granted to Aizen. Poor Shinji, it’s clear that he blames himself for the fate that befell him and the Vizard. He kept Aizen close because he and he alone did not trust Aizen, but in the end, even he couldn’t see everything that was bound to happen.

I’m also convinced that the bond between Hiyori and Shinji is very strong indeed. She had already has her complete Hollow mask on, a stage when all others are lost to their Hollow side, and she still managed to recognize Shinji and tried to rise to his defense.

I must say though, my opinion of Soul Society has really dropped now. All this happens right under their noses and we know that, for another century, Aizen will not be suspected and will have the chance to play Soul Society for the fools they are. He’ll be made captain, his latest recruit, Ichimaru Gin, will become his Vice-Captain and then will become a Captain of his own division, and his loyal servant Kaname Tousen will also rise to become a Captain.

Soul Society is clearly blinded by their own “superiority” and “duties”.

It’s coming to select theaters on June 11th and 12th only anime fans, so if you want to see this awesome movie on the big screen mark it on your calendar and get your tickets now to ensure there is a spot for you. If you’re sitting there with a “huh” look on your face, let me spell it for ya, Bleach the Movie, entitled Memories of Nobody is coming!

I saw this movie a while back, long before I even got caught up with the current anime, and I loved it to pieces. Specifically, I loved the heroine Senna. When she shows up to deal with the “strange spirits” (later revealed to be Blanks) that Ichigo and Rukia stumble upon she wastes no time bothering to figure out what they are and immediately brings out her zanpakutou (soul slayer) Mirokumaru. Her zanpakutou takes on the form of a shakujo and whips up these tornadoes that blast the enemy away. But, there is much more to Senna than meets the eye, as you’ll soon discover. Add in the fact that the dimension between Soul Society and the real world has expanded and connected the two, and a group of exiled Shinigami (soul reapers) are hell bent on locating the Memory Rosary so that they can destroy both Soul Society and the real world, and you have one action packed movie that’ll keep you hooked from finish to end.

And don’t think that only Ichigo, his friends, and Rukia get to see any action either. Everybody makes an appearance, well except Aizen, Tousen, and Gin of course. In particular, we get to see Soifon, Kenpachi, and Toushirou in action. Yeah, everyone else gets air time and a lot of shinigami get some action, but these three are my favorite Captains and I never get enough of them.

Now, I think the reason I happen to like Senna so much is because she reminds me of several of my favorite characters from different series. Not to mention, I’ve always thought the name “Senna” was pretty. Her name doesn’t have a deeper meaning like Ichigo; who gets razzed about his name at every turn. Honestly, the meaning behind his name (first protector) is cool, but most hear “ichigo” and think strawberry. If I was a manga character I’d want something cooler, like Sai. Sai can be a boy or girl’s name, not to mention it’s also a type of weapon as well. If you don’t know what a sai is, think of Elektra from Dare Devil or Rafael from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Are you planning on seeing the movie when it hits theaters? Will you be buying the dvd when it comes out in October? As for me, the answer is “yes” to all of the above. What kind of Bleach fangirl would I be if I missed this?

I just got a chance to finish reading chapter -100 and I swear I started tearing up after reading page five and six. Ise Nanao, an itty-bitty little girl, is already a member of the 8th Division. Every month she spent the evening with the then Vice-Captain, Yadomaru Lisa, who would read with her. Seeing Nanao asking Kyouraku where Lisa was and hearing him assure her that she’ll be back in the morning made me want to start crying. In fact, the only thing that stopped me was the fact that I was in a public place and didn’t feel like getting stared at.

Still though, Kubo really knows how to mess with his reader’s emotions. Lisa is on the mission that will inevitably change her life forever (remember Mashiro and Kensei are already in their Hollow forms after the sneak attack). She’s getting sliced up badly and there’s this young little girl waiting for her to return so that she [Lisa] can read to her. You know that even if she does return in the morning, like Kyoraku promises, she’s going to be a Vizard or at least not in any shape to read with Nanao.

I don’t want to spoil the chapter too much more, but suffice it to say, we see exactly who attacked Kensei and Mashiro in the previous chapters. Who got the ball rolling, and just what Shinji meant when he told Ichigo all those chapters ago that they [the Vizard] were aware of Aizen’s plans long before he came along. Bastard Aizen!!

I swear, here I thought my fierce determination to go to some anime cons this year would break me, now it looks like I’ll be broke long before then! So many awesome artists are showing their goods on their blogs and giving folks who won’t be attending the con that they, the artist, will be selling their merchandise at, a chance to buy some. There are some key chains from one artist I really want. Another made some absolutely adorable plushies that I just have to buy – in particular she made a Hollow!Ichigo and a Sai & Naruto plushie with their hands sewed together. Must buy!!

I can just see the numbers in my savings accounts dropping to 0 over this and the balances on my credit cards rising. *sigh* But who can resist?

I’ve become increasingly dissatisfied with the way things have been turning out in this series. Now, before I progress, you should be advised that if you’re not up to date with the manga there may be some spoilers ahead. Obviously if you’ve only watched the episodes currently aired in the US you are way out of your league here.

When Naruto returned from his three year, actually two and a half, training trip, I expected to see some growth, and not just vertically either. I expected to see some maturity, to see his skills developed, and instincts honed. While he’s not a complete idiot anymore, I’ll give Kishimoto that, for having been trained by Jiraiya exclusively for so long he hasn’t learned squat. The only jutsu he still really knows is Kage Bunshin (I am so tired of that trick), he demonstrates no strategy or forethought and still rushes in. When he finally created a new jutsu of his own, the Rasenshuriken, he still relied heavily on his clones in that battle and the “strategy” that gave Kakashi pause and made him reminisce about Naruto’s father was amateur at best.

In the mean time we’ve seen Sasuke grow by leaps and bounds, to the point he takes down Orochimaru and an Akatsuki all by his lonesome. Maybe he should have called this series “Sasuke” and “Sasuke Shippuuden”?

And that brings me to yet another thing that’s pissing me off – Akatsuki. These guys are supposed to be the baddest of the bad and yet they’re dropping like flies. Let’s review:

• Sakura and an old lady (Chiyo-baasama) kill Sasori
• Sasuke kills Deidara, with pretty much no effort mind you
• Shikamaru “kills” Hidan
• Kakuzu was thrashed and left dying by Naruto, and finished by Kakashi
• Kisame is alive, but last seen facing off against Sasuke’s “Hebi” group so who knows
• Itachi, killed by Sasuke

Now these are all evil and powerful bad guys. Kisame and Itachi had the jounin of Konoha on the ropes when they infiltrated Konoha years back and they weren’t even winded. Now all of a sudden the new generation is that damn tough? How? We’ve seen no real growth for them, just a radical leap that has us going “what the hell?” over it all.

Then there’s the Itachi bit. I liked it, but then I didn’t. Why? Very simple, I was writing a fanfic where the Uchiha had planned a coup to overthrow Konoha and Itachi was the double agent.

I can name over twenty other fanfics where this thread was explored and hashed out long before the time jump even happened. It was a great twist, but it was one we saw coming a mile away. That was just so disappointing.

In short, I’m finding myself less and less interested in Naruto now. I have visions of Naruto finally making the complete new jutsu, remember that the Rasenshuriken is also flawed and imperfect, and taking down Pein and Madara with it like it was no big deal. Oh wait, despite Naruto being the hero, things seem to be mostly revolving around the arrogant-emo-bastard Sasuke. So maybe he’ll take down Madara and Naruto will take down Pein using the new technique and his shadows clones. You know, despite the fact that someone with Jiraiya’s skill got killed by him.

Well I had a bit of a blonde moment earlier. Actually, I guess if I just didn’t know, then it’s not so much a blonde moment but an “idiot moment”, right? Anyway, my grandfather was moaning and groaning about how after spending the morning at the doctor’s office (routine stuff by the way) he got dragged all around town looking at Asanti grilles, none of which met with the satisfaction of his friend who wanted one.

Now see, I didn’t realize what Asanti grilles were and I thought it was some special brand of grills, as in barbecue grills. So I told him to tell his friend to just chill and wait for the ads, since Memorial Day is coming up there are going to be a bunch of barbecue and picnic stuff going on sale. Right? Needless to say he busted up laughing at my stupidity.

Now here’s the “blonde inspiration” bit of the post. At long last, Got A Problem the Anime Haters/Bashers Hatelisting has a new layout! I only had the old one up when I first created the hatelisting…back in 2005.

Layout version 2.0: Angry Blonds, features, from left to right, Sarugaki Hiyori (Bleach), Robin Senna (Witch Hunter Robin), Uotani “Uo” Arisa (Fruits Basket), Temari (Naruto), Seto Ringo (Angelic Layer), and Shiina Yuuya (Samurai Deeper Kyo). In the statistics box there at the bottom of the screencap you can Yamanaka Ino (naruto) as well. I was watching some old episodes of Bleach recently and Hiyori’s violent reactions totally inspired me to get my ass in gear and get a new layout up for the hatelisting. I had to make a layout with Hiyori in it, and then after that I just decided to make a layout featuring some well-known and not-so-well known angry blonds from multiple series.

On top of the new layout I had to do some major cod tidying up as well. Lots of open html commands that should have been closed, not to mention style coding in the content that could better be handled in the stylesheet, and even some garbled bits that I had no idea what I was trying to do. I also made 42 new link buttons for people to link back with, bringing the listing’s total to 133 with more planned for later this week. So…what do you guys think of the new look?

Now, if you dislike/hate anime-haters/bashers, why not come and join?