#jesus kaito omg XD

[meimi-haneoka]

Thoughts on Clear Card Chapter 29

So let me just start this post from the bottom, telling you that Chapter 30 will be featured in the next issue of Nakayoshi (the February one) out on....DECEMBER 28TH!!! Yes, you heard me right, they usually anticipate the release of the first issue of the year because on New Year’s it’s national holiday :) So this month we’re basically getting...TWO FULL CHAPTERS...and it’s not over...cause at the end of Chapter 29 they said next one is gonna be Special cause there’s going to be an additional SHORT STORY!!! I mean, Christmas present everyone??? Feels like a blessing!! XD

So after this happy announcement, let’s get going with the thoughts on Chapter 29 (after the cut, not only to protect fans from spoilers, but because there’s going to be major screaming) !!

(thanks Horitsuba for finding the wonderful clean scan of the splash page) So let me just start from the AMAZING, WONDERFUL splash color page... I fell instantly in love with it the moment I saw it. Maybe it’s because of the upside down position that reminds me of a Clover illustration, maybe it’s for her delicate lipstick and her small smile or the overall strong vibe of “Hey, our cherry blossom is growing up!”. I know I have complained countless times about Sakura & co. looking younger in Clear Card than in the old arcs, but this looks definitely more like what I expected to see in this sequel. Good job Mokona, good job.

The summer uniforms

So let me just scream for one moment.....

AAAHHHH!! ABOUT DAMN TIME!!!!!!!

I’ve been asking for them since god knows when and finally, after two years, the characters have been granted SUMMER UNIFORMS.

This also means we’re finally being lead into summer, so more occasions to go out, make school trips, GO AT THE BEACH, go to summer matsuri, overall it seems a much funnier season....

Also they have saved the students from having a heatstroke since they’ve been using winter uniforms past the beginning of June (in the anime) and Sakura said in this chapter that “lately it’s been a bit hot so I’m glad”....I guess CLAMP was aknowledging the torture inflicted on their characters? XDDDD Anyway, they’re pretty cute. They have many elements in common with those of the Blood-C characters but we’re not gonna say that 

OH COME ON NOT AGAIN

I mean, this should’ve come as a suprise, but those who have watched the anime closely (and know CLAMP) had probably already guessed that something was wrong with Kero-chan, since he kept sleeping soundly both in Sakura’s bag during class, both outside, often being absent during “action times”, but what really made go “NO F*CKING WAY, WHAT IS HAPPENING HERE” is when Sakura said in the anime that  Kero-chan went to sleep without even eating dinner. THAT gave it away, but there were still people not grasping it.

Now, with Yukito falling asleep as well, we can pretty much scream with confidence that WE’RE F*CKED. Beware, though: it seems this isn’t just a matter of “Omg Sakura is getting weak magically again”. No, because Kero-chan should be able to produce his own survival power (as said in the old manga) and shouldn’t get sleepy if this was just about a power shortage from Sakura. Just like in Sakura Card arc. So this must be about something else. What the hell is going on? While everyone is panicking, I’ll throw my 2 cents here to see if I’m right: I think this time we might be witnessing the opposite, that is, Sakura’s magical power is getting so damn strong that she’s “numbing” the magical creatures connected to her by the “contract”. Since the Cards are with Syaoran and temporarily living off his magic now, that makes only Yue and Kerberos taking the effect of it. Like when you eat too much, you know? You usually get sleepy. The same might be happening here, since Sakura is not controlling her power at all.

Also, let me vent here for a moment, but SAKURA, JESUS CHRIST, LOOK AT YOUR GUARDIAN, DOES IT LOOK NORMAL TO YOU THAT HE FELL SUDDENLY ASLEEP AGAIN AFTER SLEEPING A WHOLE NIGHT? What the hell girl, what the hell. You’re a mess, WAKE UP!

The parallel

So I’m not gonna say that I called it, but....yeah, I CALLED IT.

I mean, it’s been pretty apparent that CLAMP silently and consistently tried to draw a parallel (a baffling parallel) between Kaito and Syaoran from the beginning. Both set on their goal, both wouldn’t stop in front of anything, both are ready to sacrifice themselves for it, and both are hiding important things from the girls in love with them. This makes Akiho and Sakura even more bittersweetly similar, because they share this affliction too. I wonder if the parallels stop here...? Anyway, this whole conversation between Sakura and Akiho made my heart wrench....a heart that has been torn apart cannot be mended easily like a piece of fabric....dear god. And those ass squids in the background were....unnerving.

The magic artifact

I would swear left and right if I was on my own but maybe it’s not proper in the open like this.

STILL, WHAT THE FUCK DOES IT MEAN THAT AKIHO IS THE MAGIC ARTIFACT MADE BY HER CLAN AND THE MAGIC ASSOCIATION??

Sweet Jesus can we leave Akiho alone for like, 5 minutes? Now what, are you going to tell me that they experimented on her? 

Is this poor girl even human at all? I mean, she must be, right? That’s what they showed us some chapters ago...she was a newborn and everything.... But maybe the fact that she didn’t have magic lead them to do something unspeakable and turn her into a “vessel”, as they were saying in the last chapters. The mere thought is scary, just like the artwork in the last page, Sure, it’s beautiful, but those chains at her ankle are creepy as hell, despite being “toned down” by being made of pearls. What Kaito wants to do with her? Is he going to “use” her or is he doing all of this *for her* like many have thought until now? With Kaito it’s like going constantly on rollercoasters.

We definitely entered into an eventful part of the story, I’m really glad about this!

[sambart93]

Messiah: Polar Night [Review]

I got to see this movie two times in two days! Monday and Tuesday -- I shouldn’t say ‘got to’ because I didn’t enjoy it! Messiah, in true Messiah style, hurt all the feels we fangirls have once again. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

Official Site here Official Twitter here Trailer here and here

NON-SPOILER REVIEW Overall: Messiah, in true Messiah style, did what it does best: Hurting our feelings and the characters feelings. This was a very interesting movie, and having Amane and Misu as the center story was amazing! It’s a prequel to Akatsuki so gives us more introduction to the three new cadets. While it does rip your heart out in the end, there are quite a lot of funny moment which I thoroughly enjoyed. I am, though, not happy with how they treated and extended Mamiya’s story line. I just feel like they’re making him out to be more evil than originally perceived but that’s me being Mamiya bias. Thanks for breaking my heart once again Messiah! Why do I continue to stay with this abusive boyfriend?! Rating: 7/10

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Now for the spoilers!! MWAHAHAHAHA So be warned; I’m going all out!

*Disclaimer: I do find Messiah difficult to understand at times, so if I get anything wrong, let me know, and don’t take my story 100% as the truth xD

I’ll try and keep in order of how the scenes happened and try to keep chronological.

The opening has this water effect that’s super, super pretty!! But OMG the foreshadowing even in the opening! I didn’t realise until the second time around just how much the opening credits like foreshadows the shit that goes down towards the end. And attention to detail in the opening too is amazing! 

I love how it starts with Misu waking up from a nightmare (pretty close up shot) and then we immediately see that Amane is in his bed! Of course my Bl-poisoned brain was like ‘that bed is big enough for both of them! Let them sleep together!’ But of course, Misu is just being a gentleman and logical and a nice friend so let Amane have the whole bed.

The opening credits is so sad because Amane up and LEAVES Misu! And he just leaves a note ‘三栖さん、今までありがとうございます 周’ so I was straight away up and crying! Amane!!! Don’t LEAVE Misu!

The next scene I also really love. It shows Misu working out and being all sweaty and doing these awesome movies. I love Misu okay -- BIG massive warning: I love Misu! Okay! So I am going to flail about him a lot. Good? Good!

We see Misu joining a new police force under the command of Shikura and when I noticed that the second in command is freaking NAKAMURA SEIJIROU!!!!! I FREAKED OUT!! TWO TOKIENTA* BOYS ARE IN THIS!!! I fangirled so hard! I really liked Nakamura’s character in this. But with this film being a prequel, I was immediately wondering ‘well why wasn’t he in the stage Akatsuki?’ but by the end of the film they explained why he wasn’t in the stage.

In this new group there’s obviously Amane Gwen (Guen) Shougo and I giggled so hard at Misu's reaction when Amane is introduced himself. Misu’s reaction was EXACTLY the same as my reaction when he was introduced in Akatsuki. me and Misu are clearly soulmates. 

Of course, Amane knows Misu is an (ex?)terrorist so doesn’t trust him at all, so Nakamura is like ‘well lets do some training and fight it out’. OF COURSE Misu kicks everyone’s butts! Seeing Amane all bloody after fighting Misu was actually pretty sexy. The moves they did too were impressive. And then we got Misu and Nakamura fight which was even more badass -- but there is a dodgy ‘trying to be slow-mo but very obviously not slow-mo’ shot.

And then we finally get to Sakura and we have the introduction of the new guys: Miike, Kugure and Yuuki. Miike being a fucking brat straight away, ugh but he’s an intelligent one -_- and they’ve been given a mission by Ichijima to find out why there’s been so many bombs around Tokyo recently, who it is and to decide and find out where the next one(s) will be. Naturally Yuuki and Kugure do and they’re told but Miike gets bored easily and is like ‘lets have some tea time!’ and also leaves the room very quickly -- he’s taken away by the sound of a violin.

While the new cadets are doing this, Shirasaki is in his room, sitting in silence, absolutely torn. His phone rings and he dreads picking it up and keeps getting on Ichijima’s case ‘do you have any news on Kaito?’, to which Ichijima always says ‘あなたが知るはず淮斗くんの情報がない / There’s no news on Kaito that you need to know’ (I wish I could remember the exact quote, it was a good line)’ which pisses off Shirazaki and ultimately he makes the decision to run away from Sakura and find him himself. But in reality, Ichijima knows jack shit about both Kaitou’s disappearance AND about what happened to Mamiya because the high-ups are refusing to trust and tell Sakura anything, and are in fact, deciding to give all the information to the organisation Misu is now a part off. So naturally Ichijima is pissed he’s not being told stuff, but keeps calm around the cadets.

I still don’t like Ichijima and I’m annoyed he’s back (give me back Goumoto Naoya and Kamikita NOW!) but I get why he does what he does and he’s good at what he does. But I’ve just never trusted him -- ESPECIALLY in Akatsuki when he was the main suspect for everything bad that happened in that storyline. I don’t trust him; never have, never will. I think his ‘leg click and fight’ fighting is badass though and I do like the actor just... thanks but no thanks Ichijima. ANYWAY! Back to the movie!

Eventually the two allumni of Sakura track down and find Amane, three times today, and tell him that he should join Sakura and that it’s his fate to join them. Every time he replies ‘I’m never going to join because those outfits are awfuk’. But eventually, in order to help Misu out and in order to stop the next bombing, he decides to go to Church and help them out. Once he’s there Ichijima says the cadets are free to attempt to beat Amane in a fight but naturally he woops all the new cadets’ asses, commenting that ‘I remember old Sakura being much better’. He ends up trying to attack Ichijima but in true Sakura style, Ichijima stops him.

Before he gets taken to Church though, he goes to the allumnis onsen/public bathhouse -- yes they’ve upgraded from a barbers to a public bathhouse -- and he has a public bath with Yuuki and Kugure -- it’s fucking hilarious! He’s like  ‘ -____- Why do I have to take a bath? Just take me to Church already!’ xD

With Shirasaki gone; Eiri and Haku join in on finding the pattern between the bombs, predicting when the next one is, figuring out what the hell the Mamiya report is, and finding and stopping Shirasaki.

Thanks to the cadets scouring the security cameras around Tokyo, they find Shirasaki with Misu. Misu gives him the directions to Hopporengo while Shirasaki hands over the Mamiya Report which is a music sheet with a hidden code in it.

Shirasaki, obviously, gets found by Sakura, and has a knife pinned against his throat from Kuroko who doesn’t want to kill him but threatens to.

There’s a super funny scene when Amane comes in to help Eiri and Haku and immediately Haku sits down (his computer desk filled with wrappers and candy) and offers some to Eiri, who immediately replies ‘ / I don’t need any’ and then he offer Amane who replies exactly the same. ALSO! Freaking Haku’s keyboard is BENT which I found hilarious!

Also the password to cracking the Mamiya code was ‘Messiah without G String’ which made me laugh SO hard but also the grammar-nazi in my was like ‘THE!!!!’ This is where Ichijima literally explains Mamiya’s entire life story and I can’t quite decide which way the story went: *UPDATED

A. Mamiya was brought up to be able to pass messages onto the rest of his terrorist group via the melody he played on his violen.

OR

B. He was trained to give messages via his violin and he didn’t realise he had been under Tstutsumi’s command and didn’t realise the manipulation until Hagane and Eiri/Haku’s mission that he’d been manipulated and by that time he’d already gotten in too deep.

Especially because they found the Mamiya report information in a capsule in his stomach during the autopsy and it had been swallowed 4 hours before he was killed. Also, Ariga mentions that Mamiya’d been playing the violin more frequently towards the end of Haku/Eiri’s mission -- I guess this was when he figured he’d been manipulated to send messages this way.

Swear to god if it’s route A then I’m going to be pissed. he is NOT the bad guy here!

Anyway...

So they finally find where the next omb has been placed and obviously Hopporengo are guarding it so Amane, Amane, Misu, Yuuki, Suwabe go in; either to the control center, or to kill the terrorists, or (for Misu and Suwabe) to get to the bomb and get rid of it. Of course it doesn’t go according to plan because...

And the biggest rage of this entire movie: They fucking KILLED Misu!! They KILLED HIM! THEY DROWNED HIM! His nae is MISU! Don’t take it or make it so meta oh my god! I cannot believe they killed him. before he went out on the mission, he spoke to Amane and was like ‘lets go eat after this. Make sure you make a reservation.’ and as SOON as he said that I started crying because I fucking knew they were going to kill him off and they did! I cried the entire way home (which is two trains and about 30minutes). WHY DID YOU KILL ANOTHER OF MY FAVOURITE CHARACTERS?! You’ve killed TWO out of my THREE favourite characters now! Fuck you Messiah... Fuck you. But jesus christ, Tamaki’s acting as he’s screaming for Messiah, the police and for anyone to just stop the water from going into the tunnel where Misu was, was so heart breaking and real and raw to watch. It’s so heartbreaking! And Misu dies starring the water right in the face and giving it the middle finger and just... I’m going to cry now...

...

..

.

Towards the end, Miike leaves a note for Ariga and he goes down the where the violin and some plant is, and soon Mamiya reveals himself to Ariga. It’s this moment that Ariga says ‘You’ll always be my Messiah, but I have Itsuki now’ and Mamiya goes to speak, he starts with ‘from here on out-’ but fucking Itsuki freaking interrupts with his yelling from the top of the stairs and when Ariga turns back around, Mamiya is gone -__- but I do love Ariga’s last line where he yells “KAGAMI!!! .... Urusai / You’re fucking loud / You’re annoying’. It’s such a predictable moment but also a very good moment but god dammit! Give me that message Mamiya wanted to say!! RAGE!!

And then we’re back in the onsen. It goes (left to right) Ichijima, Yuuki, Kuruge, and Itsuki. Miike is, for some reason there, but outisde the bath fully clothed and just hanging there. Itsuki is sulking ‘Ariga told me ‘nothing’s wrong’ tut. But clearly something is wrong!’ xD

Ichijima yelling about Kaito being dead in front of Kuroko and Kuroko being dead scared of him. Ichijima was pissed at Kamikita the entire movie for some reason...

I absolutely love the ending! And by ending I mean POST CREDIT SCENE! We follow and suited figure walked down the aisle and then going into an office which has Amane’s letter and Misu’s picture and teddy bear and then the camera pans around to reveal Amane. He looked very sexy in that suit and glasses. He stars right at the camera and says ‘Okay Misu-san... 俺たちの革命の始まりだ / This is were our revolution starts’ and he smiles and BAM ending!

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Some scenes I don’t remember what order they were in but I liked:

There’s a scene where Misu and Amane are in the car (a flashback) and I did not pay attention to conversation because the BL-idiot in me was like ‘are they gunna kiss?! Just kiss!’ xD I thought they were gunna kiss xD damn my brain!

James in a suit!!! He looked so good and he spoke Russia for most of his screen time which was interesting! But unfortunately I don’t know ho accurate it is xD

Also, upon the first watch, it looked like Amane Shougo had let James in and acknowledged his presences when he first walked into the cop institution.

After seeing this movie, some questions, theories and comments I want to make are:

What the fuck is up Miike? He’s able to hear Mamiya’s violin and sees him and obviously talks to him a few times. And Ichijima clearly understands what’s going on with Miike because he lets him relax rather than participate in the mission! Some ghost whisperer or what?! 

Is Shikura Misu's dad?!?! At the end Misu is like, ‘it was you who sent to teddy bear wasn’t it?’ and Shikura is like ‘yeah’ so he’s known Misu since he was  tiny boy! He’s gotta be the dad!

Also, I am convinced Kugure and Ichijima are related. They have the same speech pattern and speed, their way of thinking is the same, Kugure is always standing RIGHT next to Ichijima and sometimes a little too close. And they look similar and wear glasses.

Why, why, why, why did they kill Misu?!???! 

And what's Amane gunna do after this?!?? He’s on his own now! I thought both TamaChan and Nakamura were leaving Messiah for good but with THIS ending then... Amane’s gunna be getting some shit blown up right?! He’s clearly still going to be involved... but why did you have to kill Misu?!

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PHEW! I’m done... goddammit Messiah! Why you gotta break hearts?! Can we not have a happy story for once?!

*TokiEnta = Toki Entertainment Company which Tamaki and Nakamura, (other like Baba Ryoma, Tomita Sho, Takasaki Shouta, Aramaki Yoshihiko) are part of.