#so curious where midorikawa's gonna go with him next

[loquatenjoyer69]

"There are some barriers set up, like with Hakozaki-san. Yorishima was once an exorcist family to rival the Matoba clan. But these days he's closed up shop and secluded himself in these woods."

"I know-"

"Natori, lately you've come to resemble the Matoba brat."

"Yorishima-san was once an exorcist, but has now quit and shut himself away deep in the mountains."

"Matoba-san... haven't you ever wanted to quit being an exorcist?"

"No. Not even once."

"...I see."

"For some reason, I was relieved to hear that. I wonder about Natori-san, that kind person who is always wavering..."

"[Matoba-san,] haven't you ever wanted to quit being an exorcist?"

"Those who can't heartlessly dedicate themselves to it aren't fit to be exorcists. If you stand up for ayakashi, that kid Natori's just gonna falter."

"...You should stop playing nice, or I might not be able to tell which of us is the monster."

"[You are an ayakashi,] which I have decided to spend my life fighting."

[ick25]

Rockman.EXE Episode 43 Review.

Ahhh! Where did that woman come from?!

Hi everyone, we have stumbled across the third episode that was never aired outside of Japan, why is that? I don’t know, but let’s try to find out.

Oh man, I know nothing about baseball, this episode is gonna eat me alive! T.T

We start the episode in Netto’s house one evening where he and Rockman are focused on a baseball game.

Aren’t they adorable? But now I’m curious, is Rockman watching from the same TV as Netto or he is live streaming it online? It could be a live streaming because we also see Dekao watching the same game from his computer.

Maybe Dekao doesn’t have cable?

They are watching a player name Hoshida Kyuuma who surprises everyone with a homerun. Both Netto and Rockman cheer for the player as he runs the bases making some famous gesture he has of scratching his nose, something that Netto copies before the title screen appears.

Nihon Senators? It’s not bad, but at least make up something creative, there is a real Japanese team called the Ham- Fighthers after all.

The next day, Netto greets Dekao and Tohru on his way to school taking part in the stereotypical guy exchange of “did you catched the game last night?” With Meiru and Roll stereotypically uninterested in the subject.

“Next thing your gonna say is that cars are cool”

At school, Mariko-sensei introduces a new student to everyone who just so happens to have the same last name as the baseball player they saw last night.

Geez, what a depressing looking kid. He looks sadder than Tohru’s picture in the N-1.

After introducing this new character, we then cut to them at P.E. where Netto and the rest of the class are playing, coincidentally, baseball.

Uhg, somehow Dekao in sports cloths looks fatter than usual.

Netto is at the bat, Dekao is the pitcher and Yaito is the catcher who makes hand signals to the pitcher behind the batters back. Looks like Netto sucks a this because Yaito kicks him out after calling Dekao a cheater and only getting two strikes.

I never thought I would miss their Navis commentating. It feels boring watching them on their own for so long, especially doing something unrelated to the net.

Mariko-sensei models her pink sweatsuit as she calls the new kid at the bat. Dekao is confident in his pitch, but Kyuuta shuts him off by hitting a homerun and surprising everyone.

As Kyuuta runs the bases and scratches his nose, Mariko-sensei reveals to everyone that he is the son of the baseball player Hoshida Kyuuma.

This is enough to make him “mister popular” since Netto and his friends start talking to him.

“So... Do you like Net Battles?”

He doesn’t seem happy with all this attention since he suddenly stands up after Yaito mentions his dad being transfered from another team.

Turns out Kyuuta is sad because he misses his friends since he is sitting alone after school looking at a baseball covered in signatures and starts crying. Netto walks in and asks him if he wants to walk home together (lucky bastard), but he ignores him and accidentally drops his baseball that rolls over to Netto’s feet. Netto picks it up and then notices that Kyuuta was crying.

Wish I had someone like Netto ask me to walk home together back when I was in elementary school. Sure, it’s dangerous for kids to walk home by themselves in Costa Rica and my house was pretty far, but I was a very lonely child, okay? :c

Kyuuta wipes his tears and just leaves Netto with the baseball. In the next scene we see Kyuuta arriving at his house.

You should answer when your mom asks you a question! I can never get away with that!

I wanna point out something first. This anime is not the best at portraying good mom characters, you know how I constantly call Netto’s mom a useless woman? Well this one right here I’m gonna call her... Sad face woman in the corner. It seems cruel, but believe me, you’ll see why.

We see Kyuuta sulking in his room when Netto and his friends arrive at his house to return the baseball he dropped. Kyuuta just puts on his shoes and tells him that he doesn’t want that ball anymore and runs out of the house.

See? She did it again.

Anyway, as Kyuuta is running in front of the sunset, his mom tells everyone that he is sad because he is constantly changing schools because of his dad getting transfer to other teams, but in the last school he was in he made friends with the kids in a baseball team and had to leave them behind to go to Akihara.

Kyuuta’s dad overhears this and gets all fired up for some reason while the mom does what she does best and goes hide behind a corner to cry.

THIS is when you realize this episode is not to be taken seriously. It is obvious that they are making fun of something. I would say this is a satyre of sports anime, but since the only sports anime I know is Captain Tsubasa I’m not really sure if there are others like that one.

So Netto and his friends along with Kyuuta’s parents find him and say that everything is alright since they figured out a way of solving his problem, by using the net!

They tell Kyuuta to go to a stadium where he finds his friends from the baseball team on a huge screen. They ask him to play baseball with them, Kyuuta doesn’t understand what they mean and that’s when Netto and all his friends including Tohru, Higure-san and the Net Agents, explain to him that thanks to the internet and some super special equipment installed in that stadium, they can play baseball using their Navis.

And of course Kyuuta just happens to have a Navi name Leagueman, but I have no idea why he has restrains.

Right before commercials we see Dekao planning to get his revenge against Kyuuta as we see Gutsman in a baseball uniform at the bat, only to return with Midorikawa as the commentator and Gutsman getting three strikes in a matter of seconds.

Aren’t they just balls if the batter doesn’t swing?

So yeah, in this episode we get to see some of our favorite Navis, and Glyde, playing baseball and wearing uniforms. Skullman is up next where we can see how the field switches from humans to Navis.

But I can’t tell if they are like holograms or if there is a seperate cyberworld for them with the same field.

Skullman proves to be a good player because of his speed and attempts to steal the bases as Glyde is next at the bat. Leagueman quickly get the upper hand by making Glyde strike out before Skullman can steal all the bases.

Thumbs up at Glydes pants.

Now it’s Woodman’s turn at the bat, but he quickly gets three strikes off screen and Saloma confesses that she have never played baseball before, to which Miyuki replies with annoyance as we see Skullman’s image break down and regenarating into Miyuki standing on the same base.

Again, making it very confusing how the set up is suppouse to be like.

Now we get Midorikawa naming the line up for the Akihara team.

Rockman looks so cute in that uniform! But I don’t understand why Gutsman has a plant in his mouth, is that like the Japanese version of the old gag of baseball players chewing tabacco?.

Roll-chan is the pitcher, and yes, she throws like a girl, and maybe that’s the reason why most of the balls she throws are hitted.

The batter hits the ball, but luckily the cute shortstopper catches it for her.

Their interactions are just so cute.

Now, if you are a baseball expert, unlike me, then get ready for to see how crazy Navi baseball can be.

The batter hits the ball, but it’s too high for Numberman to reach it, so Woodman creates a platform for Numberman so he can stop the ball and “pass it” to Skullman.

Kyuuta’s father, who is with Midorikawa at the commentator booth, praises their teamwork, a confused Midorikawa asks him if that is allowed, but then she gets this.

Thanks to the subs and by searching on google I figured out that this guy is actually doing a play on words. “Ari” is also used to affirm something in a sentence and he dresses up as an ant because Ari also means ant in Japanese.

We get more Navi baseball madness when Iceman freezes a ball to catch it and throw it at Woodman.

“Ant, I mean, yes.”

I haven’t seen these many fouls in a sports game since Space Jam.

Now the moment we’ve all been waiting for, it’s finally Rockman’s turn at the bat! Yaaaaaaaaay!

Save me from this nonsense, Rockman!

The humans are replaced by their Navis, and is it just me or is Netto and Rockman’s art a little diferent in the last panels? Either that or they suddenly got dirty

Leagueman does a ballet pose and throws the ball in a weird way, Rockman is ready to hit it, but the ball suddenly splits in two.

Rockman get’s his first strike. Midorikawa asks Kyuuma what just happened, he explaines that it’s a move called the “Mayor ball”. Leagueman put pressure into the ball and mixed with the sand from his kick created an illusion of a second ball. That’s quality BS right there, and WHY THE HELL IS HIS LINEART SUDDENLY DIFERENT IN THIS SHOT?

It’s like seeing an Archer crossover. o_o

What is the meaning of the dragon vs tiger scene? Because this also happend in episode 40.

Leagueman throws the ball again and Rockman gets a second strike. You would think that this time he would go for the first ball, but they reused the animation from before.

 After their second stike Rockman and Netto figured out a way of outsmarting this move, if they can’t tell which ball is real then they’ll just have to hit both with this over the top anime scene.

If Rockman wears pants, does it still count as a butt shot?

Rockman hits a homerun and Leagueman praises him after he runs the bases, but then Commander Beef ruins the moment by anouncing that it is Sharkman’s turn at the bat and then getting three strikes.

It looks like Sharkman is bitting his tongue. :P

Then Higure pushes the commander out of the way to plug in Numberman, and what a surprise, he gets three strikes as well. So in short, everyone sucks except for Rockman.

We then get various shots of the rest of the game and for some reason a close up of Gutsman’s jaw plant.

Oh great, Rush is there too, now I definitely have no idea if this shot is from the real world or the cyberworld.

The series of pictures ends with Roll-chan looking tired and Midorikawa telling us how it looks so far.

I have no idea what she just said, but I guess that is baseball talk for “Akihara team is losing, and with Leagueman at the bat they are pretty much screwed”

But worrry not since Akihara still has their secret weapon, Rockman! With Rush calling to change the pitcher because apperantly he’s the coach now.

I did some research, and it seems to me that the shortstop position is kinda important, so why the hell is Rush a better option than Roll?!

So once again Rockman, Netto and now Leagueman’s lineart changes, (along with a coloring mistake on Rockman’s neck) Rockman pitches and Leagueman gets two balls, not strikes, balls.

Rockman throws the ball a third time breaking Leagueman’s bat.

I don’t know if that counts as anything. Has this ever happen in baseball?

Now get this, since Leagueman’s bat is broken, Kyuuta’s dad leaves the commentator booth to give HIM some special red bat he had with him and says how Netto and the others are very good friends to him since they are giving him a good game.

Those last shots just made things even more confusing! Can he see Rockman standing there or was he just looking at Netto the whole time?

Kyuuta accepts the bat from his dad that somehow ends up in Leagueman’s hands and we get this last shot of sad face woman in the corner watching from afar as always.

Still, she cares more about her son than Netto’s useless mom does for him. She even came to watch him play, so this is the best mom I’ve seen in this show which is pretty sad if you think about it. 

Rockman pitches one last time with the whole dragon vs tiger background again, where Leagueman finally hits the ball and it’s a homerun!

And of course he has to break a light with that homerun, or is it a cyber light? IDK O.O

Leagueman runs the bases scratching the nose he doesn’t have, Netto congratulates kyuuta and the episode ends with Midorikawa announcing Kyuuta’s team as the winners. Oh, and a little sceane with Rush losing to a Metool virus.

Admit it, by good players you just mean Rockman.

My thought?

This episode was crazy! A little confusing, but fun to watch. It’s nice to see some of the characters play a casual game of Baseball because its something diferent to what we normaly see. The episode was obviously a satyre of sports animes (Again, I dont know any sports anime besides Captain Tsubasa), the overdramatic characters, the over the top animation, the art style, the firing up thing that happend like four times in this episode mostly from Kyuuta’s dad, and maybe other things that I didn’t catch.

This episode is indeed a filler, but that can’t be the only reason why this episode was never dubbed. So I made up these criterias to figure out the reason why it didn’t aired in America.

1. Was an important new character introduced that will appear in future episodes?

2. Does it introduce a new game, style or battle system that fits in with the theme of the show and will be mentioned again?

3. Will the dubbing for this episode be worth the effort?

Let me explain using episode 40 as an example. With the first criteria, even though Torakichi and Kingman never appear again in future episodes, they were still considered important characters in the Battle Network series, especially since the purpose for the episode was to promote the upcoming Battle Network 3 game.

Yes and no for the second criteria. It fits the theme of the show because it combines Net Battles with chess, but it is not mention again.

And for the third criteria, it was not hard to dub, there was no reason to explain Net Chess Battles because we already know how Net Battle works and Chess is already world wide knowen as a game.

Now for this episode. First, no. Kyuuta, leagueman, his parents and his baseball friends are not important in any way and are never seen again. 

Second, it was just baseball. Even though we saw the Navis used their abilities during the game, it was still baseball. It did not have Net Battle rules and it is never mentioned or seen again.

And third, it was not worth the effort to dub. Trying to explain how Navi Baseball worked, especially since Japan didn’t do a good job in explaining it, would’ve required unecessary effort. They would have skipped the ant joke, but how would they explain how the Navis seemed to be in the real world? It was terrible confusing because it is the first time we see something like this on the show. People would get curious to see this again only to find out that this was a one time thing.

So that’s strike three and this episode is out of the dubbed version!

[ick25]

Rockman.EXE Episode 22 Review.

I have a bad feeling about this episode.

A VERY bad feeling.

We start the episode... with a clock?

Nope, this is Enzan and Blues’s probability of success.  A 97.4% chance of winning in their battle against Rockman.

Are you crazy?! If you do that the whole show will be over!

Enzan and Blues are training for their battle against Netto and Rockman, how can I tell?

A fake Rockman appears only for Blues to slice him, this was cutted out from the american dub, in case kids get confused over this, I guess. Anyway, this scene was played out of order to start the episode with Netto and Rockman’s next scene. 

After the title card we find Netto somewhere outside the dome watching the sunset (and some weird looking CGI seaguls) with Rockman.

This is followed by this adorable moment!

SO CUTE!!!!

But the beautiful moment is interrupted by their friends.

Masa, Miyuki, Saloma, Higure, Mariko, Tohru, Dekao and Meiru appear to cheer for Netto, as well as their respective Navis in the cyberworld for Rockman.

Nobody thinks it’s strange that Sharkman just happens to be there without Commander Beef around? Speaking of Navis without their operators, Yaito isn’t there either.

We cut back to Enzan and Blues leaving for the match, and we see that he was using a training machine inside his very own trailer.

As he leaves his trailer, he sees Yaito running towards him.

She then runs away, only for her to stop and turn around again.

What was that all about?! Just a scene with Yaito acting like a tsundere? This entire scene was cut out from the dub for some reason.

After this, Enzan still wonders about the 2.6% of losing as the scene fades to the tournament, with Midorikawa and Higure-san ready to begin the much anticipated final match.

There is a completety different atmosphere going on as the arena slowly reveals the two challengers rising from the floor.

Everyone awaits the final battle of the tournament, even the World Three operators have a moment to talk about it before the match.

Have we forgotten that you tried to KILL Netto before?! Why are you smiling?!!!

Not only the World Three operators, but Dr. Wily is looking foward to the battle so he can finally see which Navi has the Ultimate Program he so desires.

I’m curious to know what he will do once he finds it.

The match begins, both Navis are plugged in and Rockman starts the battle with a cutted shot of him firing his Rock Buster at the screen.

These shots of Rockman firing his Buster at the screen are always cutted from the american dub.

Blues avoids his shots and attacks with an Aqua Sword, only for Rockman to avoid it by jumping and landing on a pillar.

Blues attacks again with such force that he slices the pillar in half.

At the same time the pillar falls, Meiru and Dekao feel a tremor from their seats, implying that the force of the pillar falling has an effect on the real world. Naturally, this isn’t confirm, but as the battle continues, something seems wrong with the underwater structure of the dome.

The workers detect this, and while they try to find a solution, inside the cyberworld we see a new mysterious Navi waking up.

We return to the battle with Rockman jumping on the pillars so fast that I could barely catch him on screen, and he shoots at Blues who deflects them with his sword.

“They said you have a 2.6% chance of winning, but I doubt you’re that lucky”

Netto starts sending his Mini Bomb chips like a pro, overwhelming Blues with the explosions.

This is followed by Meiru telling Dekao that Netto’s slot in movements have become smoother after practicing for the Program Advance so many times.

After the smoke from the Mini Bombs clears out, Rockman sees that Blues isn’t there anymore, he turns around to see that Blues is behind him, all of this while Enzan talks about how lame Netto’s PET is.

Didn’t YOUR company developt the PET? Yours being red doesn’t make it any different.

Blues does the same swing from before, only this time his attack somehow turns into a giant tornado that moves towards Rockman.

“2.6 % my... WHAT?!”

I like how Rockman is panting after avoiding it.

“You’re not my mom! She doesn’t even care about me enough to be here!”

The battle continues, Enzan sends a Flame Sword to Blues, and Netto sends the Elec Sword to Rockman leading to an amazing sword fighting animation.

But the scene is followed by more underwater supporters breaking and the entire dome begins to fall apart.

NOW THEY STOP THE MATCH! WHERE WERE THEY WHEN THE DOME TURNED INTO A GIANT OVEN BACK IN EPISODE 13?!

The entire Mega-Float is sinking, how exactly? Yaito explains that to Masa-san.

Thanks, Yaito.

Everyone evacuates the tournament before and after commercials. Wow, that’s a lot of people.

Our trusty Net Agents make sure everyone runs away, but shouldn’t they be telling people to stay calm and evacuate in an orderly fashion or something like that? Are the people in Japan this disciplined?

Ha ha. XD

 But wait, if the World Three isn’t behind this, then who is?

Everyone seems to have made it to the mainland safely, because the bridges soon begin to go down.

The N-1 bridge is falling down, my fair lady.

So just like in the game, the final battle of the tournament had to be posponed. I guess we’ll never get to see who is stronger.

Damn it.

The anime differs from the game again, because Netto and Enzan are too stubborn to leave and save their lives! And it turns out that they are not the only ones who stayed behind.

Even in a death threatning situation you can’t shut up, can you Midorikawa?

Don’t encourage him! There is a difference between being brave, and being stupid!

Anyway, the battle continues with Rockman and Blues still sword fighting, with the same animation from before. Meiru, after learning that Netto is still there, decides she can only do one thing, cheer for him, with the others slowly joining in.

Since she sucks at operating she has to be good at cheering for the hero.

We get a new cool animation of Rockman and Blues still sword fighting, only this time making things intense by making Rockman having his cheek scratched, which was cutted from the dub.

Did Rockman try to cut his head off? That’s hardcore.

The intense sword fight ends when Blues manages to push Rockman into a pillar, but our blue heroe wont give up so easily.

They then begin to race eachother when suddenly, they transform into energy and start fighting as ligth orbs.

I can’t make this up. What does it even mean? Is it a way of making the battle seem even more intense?

One last collision from the two orbs creates a powerfull light that covers the whole arena, the light can even be seen from outside.

I still don’t know what’s going on. Can someone explain?

... THAT DOESN’T EXPLAIN ANYTHING!!!

Netto is ready to win for everyone, Enzan finally understands why Rockman and Netto are so strong, it’s because he is fighting for all of his friends who are cheering for him, will understanding this help him get the upper hand?

One last collision ends with Rockman flying towards a pillar for the second time.

The dome is still falling apart, even worst than before, a boulder falls next to Netto with a piece from it cutting his cheek.

SOMEBODY GET THESE KIDS OUT OF THERE! Don’t they realized they’re in danger?!

The time has come to make things even more intense by having a double Program Advance.

For some reason the program advances colission turns into a glowing sword fight that ends in a huge explosion.

After the smoke dissipates, we get a stand off between Blues and Rockman, one of them falls over and a countdown begins from out of nowhere.

The countdown was cut to five seconds in the dub.

You don’t need a dramatic reveal to see that the Navi that fell was Rockman.

But we get one anyway.

Rockman pants heavily on the ground (with a coloring error) and the match finally ends with Blues as the winner.

Netto jumps over the battle machine to go to his fallen partner and we get the second most adorable scene from this episode.

Awww.

And the moment is ruined by Masa and Higure crying as well.

Why was this last shot cutted? I honestly dont know.

Blues helps Rockman up as he tells him that he gave him a great battle.

*Sighs* However... Tragedy strikes.

Rockman senses an attack heading for them and quickly tackles Blues out of the way, with the attack piercing through his body. Complete silence from everyone as Rockman says one last thing before his data begins to dissapear.

Rockman is deleted, leaving Netto in shock.

The attacker then reveals itself before Blues as Pharohman.

Pharohman attemps to delete Blues as well by destroing the entire battle field, but Enzan manages to plug him out just in time.

The entire tournament has finished sinking into the ocean, and Dr. Wily, somehow, was able to keep watching the tournament after everyone had evacuated. Did the cameramen stayed behind too?

As Wily starts laughing, we see that everyone who stayed behind was rescued by some helicopters.

Including Masa who is carring Netto. Netto is still in shock as his PET confirms that Rockman has been deleted and he ends the episode screaming at the sky.

My thoughts?

WHYYYYYYYYYYYY???!!!!

This episode traumatized me, I couldn’t believe they killed off Rockman (even knowing he was gonna return later since he is the main character). The entire episode was stressfull, not knowing who was gonna win, and seeing the place litteraly falling apart around them, but the biggest shock of all was Rockman’s sudden deletion, especially in front of Netto. The way Rockman was deleted was harsh and so sudden, there was no time to react.

The dub cut the parts where Rockman and Netto get their cheeks scratched and also changed the order of the first two scenes. Since they cut out the part where Blues slices a fake Rockman and Yaito’s tsundere moment, they decided to merge the two clips, making it look like Enzan just had a talk with Blues before heading to the arena.

Rockman’s final words were also changed in the dub to keep the lip synking, instead of saying his operator’s name, he says “De-le-ted” as if it was something Navis automatically say before dissapearing.

Enough of this, let’s lighten the mood. Like I mentioned before, the N-1 Grand Prix finals in the third game had to be posponed, it was interrupted by a member of the World Three, who was also the producer of the tournament. He wanted to send a message to everyone by taking Enzan’s father hostage since IPC was the sponsor. During Enzan’s confrontation with the World Three operator, Netto breaks in and knocks the operator unconscious by throwing his PET at him. I am not kidding.

This part always makes me laugh. XD