Update 4/20/14

Happy Easter! (if you celebrate it) Quick story. This would have been the first time in almost 5 years that I would have been able to spend Easter morning with my family. I have always had to work and would arrive late on Easter to a family member's house. However, I wound up with Pneumonia and am pretty much on bed rest until my antibiotics kick in. So my question to you is:


Have you hugged a bunny today? Naruto has. >.<

Hey guys, I have brought you a good one once again. This is going to be a very special Kat’s Anime Corner update because this week I am reviewing my favorite series. If you don’t know what this series is before I start this update, I suggest you go back to the beginning of this and read my top 10 favorite anime list. I mention it several times. So without wasting more time:

Welcome one and all to the world of my favorite series. 

Set in the fictional 19th century, Allen Walker a fifteen-year-old Exorcist finds himself on the road to defeating the ultimate evil. Based on the manga series by Katsura Hoshino, TV Tokyo brought to life a 103-episode anime. There are notable difference between the manga and the anime, but overall it was an excellent reproduction. Unfortunate circumstances regarding Funimation led to the English company only gaining rights to the first 2 seasons of the show. The reason I say unfortunate is mainly because the second stage is by far the best in the series. Everything finally begins to come together. The introductions were part of the first stage. Mind you, the entire anime series is only the first 16 volumes of the manga. Though I highly recommend reading the entire manga series because there is a whole lot that happens in the manga that they exclude from the anime. Also there is a lot more information about Mana and Nea. 



Speaking of...

Want an insight into the world of the characters that you don't get in the manga? Want to know about Lavi's Exorcist friend? Want to know how Mana and Allen met? Want to know about Bak Chan and Komui's Rivalry? Then I definitely recommend D. Gray-Man Reverse. These are novels joined by new pictures from Katsura Hoshino. Now as far as I know, this series hasn't been released in English yet, but it is in Japanese. 

Wonder when the manga series will end? It has been announced that volume 24 will be released on August 5th of this year. It is stated that it is the "last volume in the English series" but it still says that the series is on going in Japan. It makes me wonder if that will be true. 

Now, as a fan I have stayed up to date with scans of the chapters, so I know that the last released chapter was a cliff hanger. I will be absolutely furious if that is how it ends. I am hoping that she either adds to it or that the source was just mistranslated in the news about the 24th volume. 

So let's talk characters. Probably one of the things I love about this show is the amount of likable, lovable characters. Good guys and bad guys alike. Allen, Lenalee (though there are a lot of haters), Lavi, Kanda, Bak, Road, Tyki, Lero (he could also win most annoying or obnoxious), etc. The list goes on. Plus you grow so attached to the characters after learning their individual stories that if they I don't know die suddenly like hmm maybe Daisha Barry you can cry your heart out because you feel the pain like you have lost that character too. Sorry. That is the only bomb I will drop. That was a really unfair death and I am still angry about it. 









Another interesting point is the antagonists. For the first season all you have is the Earl and his Akuma. Then at the end of the first season you are introduced to the Noah. By season three you are so intimately involved in the lives of the Clan of Noah that you feel like you know it all. Haha. Think that as you may my friends, but unless you are a fan of both the anime and the manga, you may be missing details. So you can't have just read the manga or just seen the anime to feel like you know these characters, you have to have experienced both. The fun thing about anime is that the author gives some filler ideas that can help the creators then develop a specialized anime-only arc that gives further insight. Yeah everyone hates fillers because they seem absolutely pointless but take Naruto for example. The current anime arc about Kakashi's ANBU days is dragging on and taking away the excitement that you experience in the war going on, but it is also giving further background that will help out with continuing the storyline. It gives you a whole new perspective on a character's life. Like Kakashi and Minato, you got a sneak peek into their lives that you don't get to see in the manga. So fillers while absurd and sometimes pointless, can be chock full of fan only insight that will be useful.




Okay...I think I just lost momentum there. Oops. Where was I again? Ha...ha......ha. Shit. Oh well. So my point is, if you have read the manga please give the anime a chance. D. Gray-Man manga fans will love the added scenes, though I am right there with you about the IDIOTIC choice to change the timeline of a few events. Like Allen and John meeting. Can I say "Jack Russell who"? That was supposed to happen before Allen joined the Order and it happened in the sixth episode of the anime. Haven't seen the anime and failing to see the point? Allen joins the Black Order in  the second episode of the anime titled The Black Order. Yeah. Clearly skipped some stuff. Or how about the filler episode that kind of amplified Komui's CRAZY SISTER COMPLEX. Yeah if you are a fan of the anime, you know I am talking about the episode 'Lenalee's Love'. The episode where Lenalee gets the day off and goes shopping with surprise, surprise Jack Russell. See fillers utilize made up characters so as to not detract from the main character development too much. Now a filler episode that I thought was PERFECT was 'Lost Miranda' which helped to give you an idea of what has happened to this character that you met at the beginning of season 1 and don't actually see until season 3. Yeah she goes missing for a while.



Now something I want to talk about seriously is the fact that the second stage, so seasons 3 and 4, are the serious episodes. I mentioned that before but now I am going to clarify. This takes place from volume 6 'Delete' which picks up right when they are departing from China and are attacked by a horde of Akuma to volume 16 'Blood & Chains' when the Earl has now gathered most of his Noah and are discussing the plan to find the heart before the Exorcists do. At this point in time the Earl is already speculating that there is more to Allen Walker than meets the eye. He has dispatched Tyki to kill him for fear of Allen's involvement with the mysterious 14th Noah. The Earl is also setting out to Edo, Japan to gather the Noah and 'the box' which we later find out is Noah's Ark. While Allen has been 'killed' by Tyki, his team sticks on their road to finding General Cross who happens to be in Edo, Japan. Allen is left behind in China, his teammates believe him to be dead, and he is left to recover at the Asia Branch of the Black Order. This is the storyline. It sticks pretty close to the storyline and doesn't stray too far. Sure a lot of scenes are more drawn out but when you have a half-hour animated show, you can do a hell of a lot more than you can in a small 190 page manga. So Allen's encounter with the Earl after his recovery is a lot more drawn out than it is in the manga. Actually episode 75 'Clown and Auguste' is one of my favorite episodes. Not only does it have comic relief but it starts to show the reality of the fact that Allen will have to be the one to go up against the Earl in the end. And that's it. That is all I will tell you. Want to learn more about this show? Watch the anime. Read the manga. Or hell I'm sure if you are extremely lazy and don't want to do either of those. The Wikia and Wikipedia pages are fairly informed. But I truly recommend this show and it is worth all the hype that I am giving it. Or at least I feel this way. 




Plus, I have two words to say about the Funimation English dub, and if you have stuck with me long enough, you should know what words are about to leave me mouth. TODD HABERKORN. 



Enough said. Watch the show. 

Haha. You don't have to, honestly. I just wanted to share with you what makes this show and manga my absolute favorite and how precariously close it is to losing its spot to Naruto with however the end of the manga pans out. 

If you do watch the show or read the manga on my recommendation, let me know. I would love to talk to you about it. Tell me what you like, what you dislike. What you would change. I am ALWAYS looking for new insight. 

FUN FACT INSERT: My current favorite show of the season is a tie between The Irregular at Magic High School and Black Bullet. 

Okay, so moving on to this next topic. What you thought I was going to do this review and then move onto the character of the week? No, no. Next up I am going to answer a question that you may or may not have wondered. Okay so maybe you didn't really care but I really want to talk about it. Sorry. 

Yaoi. So clearly I have posted a few things in regards to the BL genre of anime and manga. I do actually love yaoi. Maybe it's the storylines or maybe it's the drawing, but I just love them. If you were to open my manga reader on my iPad you would see a LOT of yaoi. I use the MangaRock app for iPhone and iPad. I have over 400 favorites saved to the app. I won't go into listing them all because that would take far too long. Could you imagine the length of this update? Listing 425 manga along with that HUGE review of D. Gray-Man? I'd would cry with you guys. I don't want to have to read through that to edit it, so I know you wouldn't want to read through it. Now a few (and when I say few I literally mean I went in and selected some manga I like at random to get the information) authors that I read. Minase Masara, Honjou Rie, Sakuraga Mei, Akira Norikazu, Kisaragi Hirotaka, and Takatsuki Noboru. Just to name a few. The more creative and emotionally involved the better. So BrotherxBrother by Kisaragi Hirotaka is one I read over and over. You become so attached to the characters and emotionally drawn in. You can't help but fall along with them as they grow and fall in love. Or in some cases fall out of love. If they experience pain you feel like you are right there with him. Maybe it's just me, but I have always been this way with every one of my favorite stories. Just like you get attached to the characters of Naruto, Bleach, etc. you get as equally attached to the characters of yaoi but sometimes it is a faster attachment because most yaoi is a short read. 








As for anime, there aren't a lot out there. There are more BL games than actual yaoi anime. I have seen a fair portion of this category and always love to see new ones. Of course you can't talk yaoi without talking Junjou Romantica and Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi. Yep, I've watched and read them. Yes I like them. Don't get the big deal? Just watch or read. That's it. They aren't the graphic nature most of my favorites are but they have excellent developing story lines that intertwine. I won't go into it, they are big enough that I don't need to talk about it. 

A new series you should look out for is Love Stage!! coming in July. I have talked about this show before but I cannot stress how much I love this manga. 

Moving on...

Some fave anime? Geez. That's tough. Kirepapa is alright. Papa to Kiss in the Dark is kinda creepy. Sensitive Pornograph (though the title is very true to how much you see) is decent though the one character's voice is the Voice Actor for Lavi from D. Gray-Man. I am really blanking on the anime people. I would give you more but I haven't really seen that many. There is such a small amount already and to have only seen a handful. Sorry. 

So what is your favorite manga, anime, or game from the BL/yaoi genre? Do you even like yaoi? What would you recommend? Leave a comment below. 

Okay I am finally done. Now it is the time you have been waiting for. CHARACTER OF THE WEEK. This one is a big surprise *sarcasm*. 

The Character of the Week is: 

Allen Walker from D. Gray-Man. 





It isn't creative reasons that I chose to do Allen this week, I just really wanted to do a spotlight on one of my favorite characters and this just so happened to be the perfect update. 

Now Allen is '15' years old. I say that tentatively because yes he gets older in the manga but even Allen himself is unsure of how old he actually is. He was adopted on Christmas by his foster father Mana Walker and given the name of Allen. (Want to see this story? Read D. Gray-Man Reverse) Plus there is a scene in the manga that makes EVERYONE question how old he really is. Is he like Road who hasn't aged in SEVERAL years? Or is he truly 15 and just looks like someone from the past? So many questions and mysteries surround Allen which makes him an awesome character. You learn enough about him that you fall in love with him, but at the same time there is so much mystery that you find yourself drawn in to him without knowing what it is about him that attracts you. 




Allen is a "Parasitic-Type" Exorcist. This means that he has innocence inside his body. His left arm was born with innocence embedded within it. This gives his left arm the ability to change into a weapon. Allen's innocence is by far the most special type of innocence we have seen in the series. It has been shattered to dust and still is able to function properly. Again, a mystery about this teenager that still hasn't been answered. 

Allen's greatest weapon is the Sword of Exorcism. You get to see it for the first time in Noah's Ark when he is fighting Tyki. By gaining the ability to call forth this sword, Allen has now become so powerful that Road says that his power level feels similar to that of the Earl. This is a foreshadowing hint that helps to give perception into what is to come later on. 




Allen is always graced with the presence of his golem Timcanpy who is often referred to as General Cross's Golem, but a tidbit that is dropped later is that Tim actually belongs to a different master and it isn't Cross. It is said that Cross is just safekeeping the golem for a while. This is a whole part of the secrecy behind the mysterious 14th Noah. 

Allen is a very cheerful, friendly teen that has a dark and twisted past. Probably more so than the other because he has no memories of his past prior to finding Mana. 






So if you are ever looking for a lovable character with a dark and mysterious past, this is one of them for you. Plus he gets cuter as he gets older. 

Question time: What is your absolutely favorite show that nothing will ever change it? What is a show you would highly recommend to someone? 

Also if you have any suggestions for Character of the Week, drop me a comment on here or a tweet on Twitter. 

For those of you that won't read the spoilers about Naruto and Bleach, see you next week. For those of you who wait impatiently every week for the newest chapter, step forth into the darkness. 

SPOILER ALERT!!! - READ THIS SECTION AT YOUR OWN RISK - SPOILER ALERT!!!

Naruto

Holy crap guys! Can you believe it? I was right again. Sauske now has the Rinnegan. Naruto is evan even more powerful sage. Gaara acquired a future alliance between Sand and Leaf when Naruto is Hokage. O.M.G. *takes a deep breath* 



This chapter was so full of wow. I was speechless and eagerly moving onto the next page. Naruto collabs with Son to create a special Rasen Shuriken that knocks Madara on his ass and destroys the tree. 



Sasuke has the Second Hokage teleport him to where Naruto is. The Second Hokage realizes that something has happened to Sasuke. 



After Naruto requests that Gaara and Lee protect Gai, Gaara asks Naruto that when he becomes Hokage "let's be allies" to which Naruto replies "yeah". 



Inside Kamui, Sakura thanks Obito despite the fact that he is their enemy still. Naruto picks up his father's kunai and puts the handle in his mouth standing prepared before Madara. Madara, the dumbass he is, states that Naruto can't beat him to which Naruto states that he isn't going to beat him by himself, then Sasuke arrives and they state their intent and prepare for battle. 






I just can't even...there are no words for how excited I was to read this chapter. I don't think I can go on...

Bleach

Still no effing Ichigo. End of review. The end. Goodbye. Geez. So anyway, in the last chapter douchebag quincy summoned a meteor. Not a smart idea. Well to counter the summon, Zaraki has called the name of his Zanpakuto. You thought Zangetsu was big? Combine Zangetsu with Jindanbo's ax and you'll have a pretty close visual of Zaraki's Nozarashi. 



He pretty much destroys the meteor in one go. The meteor that had Shinigami and Quincy alike in a tailspin, he scoffed at and annihilated. 10 points to Squad 11. Other than that nothing else happened. Pretty much the last few chapters have been one big thing and done. Not a lot happens. 







What were your reactions to this weeks chapters? Anything that stood out to you? Let me know.

See you all next week.

Ja ne. 

xx Kat
=^.^=


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