Hunter x Hunter 2011 Anime Episode 147 Mini-Review

This is just a mini-review because it mostly focuses on one particular part of episode 147. Needless to say, this post has spoilers for the Hunter x Hunter anime (#ad) and manga series by Yoshihiro Togashi, particularly the 147th episode of the 2011 anime. So what’s wrong with said episode? What’s there to hate about it?

In episode 147 of Hunter x Hunter, there’s this part where this pink Chimera Ant bear thing talks to this female Chimera Ant who has Kite’s (Kaito's) memories. This scene takes what feels like forever to end. Seriously, it felt like it just went on and on, and it honestly seemed so pointless and useless. In short, I totally hated it.

I mean, we didn’t even get the bear’s name (at least, I don’t remember if we did. Did we know him?). Plus, his human self wasn’t even anyone that we’d ever met (we didn’t get his name either or even the girl’s name, the one that the bear was talking about).

If he’d actually been Gyro, it might have been better, but he’s not. So, really, seriously, what is the whole point of this scene? It felt like such a complete and total waste of time. Why did we need to see this anyway?

Since we don’t really know these characters, it’s hard to care about them or what happens to them. The whole time this was going on, I couldn’t help but want it to just end already. Why couldn’t we just get to the part where the female Kite and Gon Freecss talk?

You know what’s even more annoying? Female Kite spent more time talking to the bear than she does with Gon. It’s like Gon and Kite only got to talk for a short bit while Kite and the bear went on and on and on with their pointless and useless conversation. What’s up with that?

Instead of this pointless and useless scene, I wish we could have seen how Gon and Killua Zoldyck got reunited and how the former got introduced to Alluka Zoldyck. I wanted to see Gon’s reaction about finding out about Alluka and how Killua actually has a sibling that he likes, etc.

These scenes would have been far more interesting than this one. Why’d they have to skip the interesting bits in favor of this scene? Ugh. I mean, seriously, Gon and Killua are the main characters, so we naturally care more about those 2 than some pink bear thing.

Besides, are we even going to be seeing this bear again or what? Plus, isn’t the Chimera Ant arc over already? Why’d we need to see this scene?

What do you think about all this? Feel free to share your thoughts and opinions by leaving a comment below or by rating this episode using the widget below. Personally, my rating for this episode is going to have to be a 1 for the reasons stated above.


*Notes:
- This was previously published on my Soyuz Mir Tumblr blog on 11 October 2015
- Pic is from Amazon.com; link shown above

Results Of The Favorite Valentine Poll

I added an Opinion Stage poll to this post where I talked about characters from two different series who happen to share the same last name. The name in question is "Valentine". The characters are Faye Valentine from Cowboy Bebop and Vincent Valentine from the Final Fantasy series.

Cowboy Bebop is an anime and manga series. The anime was animated by Sunrise Studio, directed by Shinichirō Watanabe, and written by Keiko Nobumoto. The manga was published by Kadokawa Shoten and Tokyopop and written by Yutaka Nanten. Faye Valentine (#ad) is one of the main characters from this show. She is a bounty hunter who has no memory of her past.

She was severely injured in an accident, which led to her being cryogenically frozen until a cure could be found for her wounds. After 54 years in suspended animation, she was finally woken, only to find out that she couldn't remember anything and she'd incurred a huge debt. Since she couldn't and didn't want to pay her debts, she decided to run away and become a bounty hunter instead.

On the other hand, Final Fantasy is a series of video games for different platforms including PlayStation and Wii. It was created by Hironobu Sakaguchi and developed by Square Enix. Vincent Valentine (#ad) is one of the characters from this series.

He's the main character in the Final Fantasy VII: Dirge of Cerberus game. He appears to be a loner though he does have some friends. He's a capable fighter whose weapon of choice is a three-barreled revolver called Cerberus.

Anyway, for reasons that I'll talk about in another post on another one of my blogs, I've decided to delete the Opinion Stage poll and replace it with one from SurveyMonkey instead. The poll in question was created on 06 Dec 2014.

On my dashboard on the Opinion Stage site, the statistics page for this poll looks like this:

This is the new favorite Valentine poll from SurveyMonkey:


So, what about you? Who's your favorite Valentine? You can share your thoughts and opinions by voting or by leaving a comment below.

*Notes:
- Pics are screenshots from my Opinion Stage account
- Pics from the first screenshot and photos from the poll are from Amazon.com; links shown above

Faye (Cowboy Bebop) Versus Vincent Valentine (Final Fantasy)

Cowboy Bebop is an anime and manga series. The anime was animated by Sunrise Studio, directed by Shinichirō Watanabe, and written by Keiko Nobumoto. The manga was published by Kadokawa Shoten and Tokyopop and written by Yutaka Nanten.

The story is set in the future (year 2071), and it follows the adventures of a group of bounty hunters as they travel around on their spaceship known as Bebop. The show explores philosophical concepts like existentialism, existential ennui, and loneliness.

On the other hand, Final Fantasy is a series of video games for different platforms including PlayStation and Wii. It was created by Hironobu Sakaguchi and developed by Square Enix. The main plot or storyline of the games is usually centered on a group of characters who are trying to save their world from evil.

What the 2 series have in common?

One of the things that the 2 aforementioned series have in common is how they each have a character who share the same surname. The last name in question is "Valentine" and the characters are Vincent Valentine (#ad) from the Final Fantasy series and Faye Valentine from Cowboy Bebop.

It’s interesting to note that these 2 are both from Japanese anime and yet their last name isn’t really something that one would associate with Japanese or anime. Since it’s a surname which the two share, it’s not really surprising that they are of different genders.

Faye Valentine from Cowboy Bebop

Faye Valentine (#ad) is one of the main characters of the Cowboy Bebop series. Thanks to an accident which killed her parents and severely injured her, she had to be cryogenically frozen until a cure could be found for her wounds.

She spent 54 years in suspended animation. When she was finally woken, she finds out that she has incurred a huge debt and she has no memory of her past. Unable and refusing to pay off her debts, Faye decided to run away and become a bounty hunter instead.

She is a strong and confident person with a bit of an attitude in her personality. She has a very tough exterior, owing to her past and experiences as well as being a bounty hunter. She’s very much capable of taking care of herself.

Vincent Valentine from Final Fantasy

Vincent Valentine is the main character in Final Fantasy VII: Dirge of Cerberus though he also makes an appearance in other games. He appears to be a loner though he does have friends. It just seems like he prefers to be alone.

He comes across as rather cold-hearted who is also wont to brood over his dark and mysterious past filled with secrets. He’s a very capable and powerful fighter as he is very much adept at utilizing his weapon of choice, which is a three-barreled revolver known as the Cerberus.

Your favorite Valentine?

Both characters are interesting and unique in their own way since they are filled with much depth that really add to their persona. So, which one do you like best? What do you think of them?

You can share your thoughts and opinion by taking the quick poll below. Know another Valentine or like another one who isn't mentioned here? Feel free to tell us about this character. Mention their name and the series they're from in the comments section below.


Aside: this post is part of the Names Series, a series of short articles intended to showcase some characters who just happen to share the same name even though they’re from different shows and series.

*Notes:
- First pic is a screenshot of the favorite Valentine poll from my Opinion Stage account. It was created on 06 Dec 2014
- Pics from that screenshot and from the poll are from Amazon.com; links shown above
- This was previously published on my Tumblr blog on Jun 20th, 2015 4:25:35pm

Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal Anime Episode 47-54 Review

Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal (#ad) is an anime and manga series by Kazuki Takahashi. The story is about aspiring duelist Yuma Tsukumo who wants to become a Duel Champion and Astral who is a messenger from the Astral World. Yuma is helping Astral collect the Numbers Xyz cards. These cards are actually the pieces of Astral's memory.

The following are my thoughts on episode 47-54 of this anime show in no particular order:

Kotori Mizuki / Tori Meadows

She gets a section of her own because she is just that bad. In this post where I reviewed the first 46 episodes of Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal, I talked about hating her. Well, I still hate her. Unfortunately, she hasn't gotten any better. She is still the most useless and unnecessary character in this series.

The worst is how she shows up in pretty much every episode, but she doesn't really do anything. She's not even a duelist. She just stands there, doing nothing. More often than not, most of her dialog consists of her screaming Yuma's name.

I'm still firmly of the belief that Zexal would be infinitely better and way more interesting if she wasn't around. Kotori doesn't contribute to the plot in a meaningful way, so take her away, and the show doesn't lose anything.

It can still go on without her. Sigh. I'm really starting to loather her. I wish she'd either start being more useful or just be removed from this show.

Numbers Club Members

I'm starting to get sick of the characters that make up the Numbers Club. I still hate Kotori more, but these guys are starting to get on my nerves. They come across as extras that seem to exist just to watch Yuma duel. At least they're better than Kotori in that they're actually duelists and it's clear their lives don't revolve around Yuma all the time.

Bronk Stone / Tetsuo Takeda is the one I like best out of all the members of this club. It's too bad he doesn't do much. So far, I think his only major contribution to the plot was when he fought against Number 96: Black Mist (Number 96: Dark Mist) and managed to win. That was a pretty fun duel.

I still hate Flip Turner / Tokunosuke Omoteura. I'm neutral towards the class rep (Caswell Francis / Takashi Todoroki). He's better than Kotori. Well, at this point, every other character is better than Kotori.

I find Cathy Katherine (Cathy or Cat-chan) way more useful and better than Kotori. She has a crush on Yuma too, but at least it doesn't seem like her life revolves around Yuma. She can function without Yuma, and she doesn't need to hang around him all the time. She's also a pretty competent duelist.

Actually, if you really look at it, they're all okay and competent duelists. I mean, Yuma's the inexperienced one when compared to the others, but he manages to win because that's what the plot demands, because he's the main character and can't lose important duels. Since Cat-chan's not the main character, of course she and the others will have to lose their duels.

She can even communicate with cats, and she's used this ability to help Yuma like that time dogs took Yuma's heart pieces and she sent her cats to search for them.

Then there was that time when she was the only one who was able to escape from Jin / Fortuno and warn Yuma about the guy who'd kidnapped the rest of their friends.

She was also the one who was able to reveal that the Kite / Kaito Tenjo watching the duel between Jin and Yuma was nothing but a statue. Compared to all that, what has Kotori done?

IMHO, in terms of likability, I would rate the Numbers Club members in this order with number 1 being the most likable and number 5 being the least likable.

1. Tetsuo
2. Cathy
3. Class rep
4. Tokunosuke
5. Kotori

Episode 47

When Numbers 33: OOPArts Super Weapon - Machu Mach / Number 33: Chronomaly Machu Mech destroyed Gagaga Magician, shouldn't he have been revived because Bound Wand was still equipped to him? Or did I miss something here?

In the anime, Bound Wand's text says:

"Equip only to a Spellcaster-Type monster. It gains 100 ATK × its Level. If the equipped monster is destroyed by battle and sent to the Graveyard, Special Summon that monster from the Graveyard at the end of the Battle Phase."

Episode 48

Once again, Number 39: Utopia / Numbers 39: Kibou Hope shows up. Did not miss him at all. In my review about the earlier episodes, I talked about being sick of Kibou Hope because it shows up pretty much all the time, and I would have wanted to see Yuma use the other Numbers Xyz cards at his disposal.

Well, at least in this episode it made sense why Yuma summoned Utopia. Astral was supposedly dead and had apparently left him with only Kibou Hope.

But I do have to wonder why Yuma didn't use Chaos Xyz Change (Chaos Xyz Evolution) in this episode to turn his Utopia into Number C39: Utopia Ray / Chaos Numbers 39: Kibou Hope Ray. At this point, his life points are already below 1000.

If I remember correctly, his life points are now only 400, so he could have summoned Hope Ray. If he summoned Kibou Hope Ray, it would have had 3 overlay units (the two attached to Utopia and the Utopia card itself).

He could then use Overlay Eater's effect (he already discarded this to the graveyard to activate Flelf / Full Elf's effect) to get the last overlay or Xyz material attached to Machu Mach (Overlay Eater's effect allows it to be banished from your graveyard so you can take one of your opponent's Xyz materials. You can then attach this material to one of your own Xyz monsters).

Doing this would have given Ray 4 overlay units. If Yuma had used up all of those units, Ray's attack would have been increased (it would gain 500 ATK for each Xyz material detached from it) and Machu Mech's attack would have been decreased (thanks to Hope Ray's effect, Yuma can choose one monster his opponent controls and have it lose 1000 ATK for each Xyz material detached from Ray).

Wouldn't this be enough for Yuma to win? Even if it's not, doing this could have given him the advantage since Number 33 would have been destroyed, he himself would still have Hope Ray on his side of the field, and III's life points would have been heavily reduced. So, why didn't Yuma do this? Was he needlessly trying to prolong the fight, or did I just miss something or what?

Also, I wonder if the audience is really supposed to believe that Astral is dead. Well, for me, I don't believe it. I mean, Astral is one of the main characters. He and Yuma are a team. They're partners. Plus, the entire plot is basically about Astral needing to collect the Numbers Xyz cards to restore his memories.

And we, the viewers, have yet to find out the mystery of the Astral World and why Astral was sent to Yuma's world. So, I find it hard to believe that they'll kill off Astral at this point in time. There's just no way that's going to happen. I know he'll turn up again sooner or later.

Episode 49

For this episode (and the ones after this), I'm writing this review while watching it. Or to be more precise, I'm writing the draft of this review while watching this episode. I just pause every time I want to comment on something. I'll just fix up this draft before publishing this post.

Anyway, so Yuma finally summoned Utopia Ray. It just makes me wonder why he didn't do this in the previous episode. Once again, he's in a pinch, but I'm not really worried. For one thing, we already know how this is going to turn out. Somehow, Yuma is going to win. Most likely by cheating via the Shining Draw thing again or by creating yet another new card out of thin air.

Another thing I really have to comment on is how seriously annoying it is to have the camera cut to show the members of the Numbers Club watching the duel between Yuma and III. I'm getting really sick and tired of seeing these extras. Why can't we just focus on the match between Yuma and III? Why do we need to see these other characters anyway?

It's not like they're even saying something useful. They're basically just saying or pointing out things that the audience already knows. For example, they'll be like "Yuma only has 50 life points left" or they'll scream Yuma's name, and I'm like "I already know all of this. I was watching the duel. So there's no need to tell me." Argh!

This is so frustrating and annoying. Can Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal please stop having the camera cut to them after every pause in the duel? Ugh. Honestly, it's like they're just being shown to remind the viewers that, hey, these guys are still around. And I'm like, ugh, yeah, unfortunately, please don't remind me.

Can we just get back to the duel now please? It's infinitely more exciting than watching the Numbers Club members standing there doing nothing, or screaming Yuma's name and giving us commentary we already know.

One thing I like in this episode is how there's a consequence for III (Trey) for obtaining and being able to use the power of Numbers 6: OOPArts Atlantal / Number 6: Chronomaly Atlandis. To use such great power, he has to suffer and feel pain. I wish it was actually like this for Yuma.

Because things are way too easy for Yuma. Supposedly, by using the power of Zexal, Yuma will lose something important. Supposedly, in exchange for great power, Yuma has to give up or lose something important.

But we've seen no evidence of this so far. I want to see Yuma struggle because it will make his victory and triumph over his opponents that much sweeter and more deserved especially if he wins due to his own strength and not because he somehow managed to create a card out of thin air or perform yet another Shining Draw.

Speaking of Yuma cheating- ugh, I'm not at all surprised that Astral's back and Yuma just fused with him. Also, here we go again with the Shining Draw thing and creating yet another card out of thin air. Meh. With this kind of power (*cough*cheating*cough*) on Yuma and Astral's side, then it's no wonder that they'd win their duels no matter what.

Episode 50

My first reaction upon hearing the new opening theme song (Soul Drive by Color Bottle) was that I don't like it. It's nothing when compared to the previous opening songs. The very first OP was amazing. The second was good too. But this one was just meh.

About Yuma forgetting the invitation- I get that this was meant to be funny, but I would have thought that Yuma would have made sure that he had the invitation with him before leaving his house especially since he was so excited to go to the party.

It was nice of Gauche / Nistro to help out Yuma and his friends get into the party by vouching for Yuma. The least Yuma could have done was to thank the guy for his help, not just immediately run off on him.

I missed Kite and Shark (#ad) (Ryoga Kamishiro / Reginald Kastle). They need to show up more often. I still find them way more interesting than Yuma. And, yup, I still think either of them should have been the main character instead.

Kite and Shark need to show up more often. I find their storylines way more interesting than Yuma's. Their characters have depth and personality in a way that Yuma, and even Astral, just doesn't have and can't hope to have because Tsukumo is way too pure and way too good to be true

Tron (Vetrix) sounds insane especially when he's laughing. He's really weird. I wonder if he really cares about III. It seems like he does since he held his hand when III asked him to. But then when he spoke with IV (Quattro), he said he wants results and that if he can't get results from IV and III, then he can get it from other people like Shark. So does he care or doesn't he? And why are III, IV, and V (Quinton) so loyal to him anyway?

It was quite surprising to see that Droite seems to care about Kaito Tenjo. When she and Kite first appeared in the same scene together in an earlier episode, I didn't get that impression at all. It was also a surprise to find out that V and Kite apparently know each other and that V was apparently Kite's mentor.

Much like with the new opening theme song, my reaction to hearing the new ending theme song (Wild Child by moumoon) was that I don't like it. It's better than the new OP, but compared to the previous ending songs, this one just isn't up to par.

Episode 51

There should be a limit to how much of an idiot Yuma can be. There are times when he comes across as way too dumb to live. At this point, it's bordering a bit on unbelievable now. He was so excited to participate in the World Duel Carnival finals that he even slept outside the entrance.

So how could he possibly forget the heart pieces that he worked so hard to collect? Also, when Yuma found out that he didn't have his heart pieces, why doesn't he bother calling his friends and family to ask if they'd seen it?

Kari / Akari Tsukumo, Yuma's older sister, Haru Tsukumo, Yuma's grandmother, and Obomi, the cleaning robot, find Yuma's heart pieces. How come Akari calls Kotori then has Kotori call Yuma instead of calling Yuma herself?

This is ridiculous. Akari could have called Yuma herself. Why does Kotori have to be the one to do it? It's really like the show has to keep on shoving Kotori down the audience's throats.

I thought it was quite touching for Yuma's sister and his friends to help get the heart pieces to him, but I hated that Kotori ended up joining Yuma. The entire incident where she ended up next to him came across as contrived and unbelievable. How come Kotori had to join Yuma and Astral in the Duel Coaster? Why couldn't she stay with the rest of the audience instead of being right there getting in the way?

She's not even a duelist. She's not needed there. She's just getting in the way like the useless character that she is. Ugh. This just makes me hate her all the more especially when she starts screaming. Couldn't Yuma stop the Duel Coaster to drop her off? Am watching this for the duels, not to see Kotori be useless and screaming her lungs out because she's scared of how fast the Duel Coaster is going.

Mr. Heartland says, "The Coasters were originally made for one." If this is really true, then how come the Coasters are two-seaters? It's like they did this just so Kotori could join Yuma. But why does she need to join him anyway? Ugh. Also, why would Mr. Heartland allow Kotori to join Yuma? What would he get out of doing this?

In conclusion, I would have enjoyed this episode more if Kotori hadn't been around. I mean, other than screaming and just sitting there, she doesn't really do anything, certainly nothing useful.

I'm half-dreading the next episode. While it'd be interesting to see a three-vs-one duel (hopefully, there will be no cheating involved in the form of fusion and Shining Draw), there's the fact that Kotori is going to be present. Again. Truly, she is the worst character in Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal.

Episode 52

Still hate Kotori. Nothing new there. As usual, she's useless and doesn't do anything to help. In contrast to that, Anna Kaboom / Kozuki was way more helpful and useful. And her character is way more likable than Kotori's. I also like her deck. It's fun. And I like how Gauche also ended up helping Yuma.

I do have to wonder how Anna managed to get in here though. When Yuma first met her, she'd said she wasn't participating in the World Duel Carnival, and she didn't seem to be interested in it either. So how was she able to get the heart pieces required to power up the Duel Coaster?

I was really surprised when Yuma ended up Xyz summoning a new monster (One-Eyed Skill Gainer). Honestly, I thought he was going to summon Utopia again. I wish Yuma would do this more often. He shouldn't have to rely on Utopia all the time. But without Anna's and Gauche's help, would Yuma have been able to summon this card? Or will this be the first and only time the audience will ever see him use One-Eyed Skill Gainer?

I like that the Fallguys / Triad of Terror really seem to care about each other. With how they're trying to protect and look out for each other, it shows some depth to their personality, so they don't just come across as the usual bad guys or villains.

It looks like Anna now has a crush on Yuma. Well, better her than Kotori. I wish we could see more of Kozuki. She's way more interesting than Kotori. Overall, this was a fun episode, and I think it would have been way better if Kotori hadn't been around.

I'm trying to ignore her, but it's hard when the show seems so keen on shoving her in front of the audience. She's always there, but she's so useless. She's just sitting there, shouting when Yuma gets attacked or saying his name. Ugh. She gives Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal a bad name.

Episode 53

There are 14 duelists left in the World Duel Carnival finals. I look forward to seeing all the duels. Am just hoping that Yuma and Astral wouldn't resort to their usual cheating via Shining Draw and using the power of Zexal.

I still think the finals would be way more interesting without Kotori getting in the way. Can't she just go back to where the rest of the audience are? It'd be easier to tolerate her annoying presence if she wasn't being shoved down the audience's throats all the time in practically every single episode, even the ones where she's not the least bit necessary.

Well, if you want to be technical about it, that would be all of the episodes so far. Truly, she's one of the most useless and annoying characters ever. It's too bad she wasn't the one who got hit by that trap card. Maybe then she could have been ejected out of the Duel Coaster.

I wonder what happened to the One-Eyed Skill Gainer that Yuma managed to summon in the previous episode. Shouldn't that Xyz monster still be on his field? It hadn't been defeated or destroyed in Episode 52.

In fact, it was the one who managed to get rid of Electromagnetic Magnedragon, so where did it go? Is it because two of the Xyz materials used to summon this monster don't belong to Yuma (one belongs to Anna and the other belongs to Gauche)?

Gauche vs V (Quinton) - I think V's going to win this battle, but it should be interesting to see how it goes. I'm disappointed that we didn't get to see this fight from start to finish. This could have been a good opportunity to show just how strong V is.

Also, did V just activate a trap card without setting it first, or did I just miss something? I wish they'd make the rules clearer since it's apparently different from the normal gameplay now that they're on Duel Coasters.

Since Yuma only has 600 life points left, I was disappointed that he wasn't trying harder to increase his life points or, at the very least, keep it from decreasing further. It's like he doesn't even care with how he recklessly activates trap cards that ended up dropping him down to 200 life points.

There should be a limit to how much of a reckless idiot he is. This doesn't make me want to root for Yuma. It just makes me really disappointed in him because his reckless actions seem to show that he just doesn't care. I think he should be taking this more seriously.

When Yuma encountered The Paths of Destiny (toss a coin. If you get heads, you get 2000 life points. If you get tails, you lose 2000 life points) trap card, I already knew that he would end up winning the coin toss and getting 2000 life points because there's just no way he's going to be allowed to lose.

That's what makes his reckless actions even more frustrating and infuriating. It's like Yuma can squander his life points as much as he wants to, but he doesn't have to worry about losing because he's not allowed to.

He's the main character, so he can't lose right now. It's too bad. I would have wanted to see Yuma lose the coin toss, lose his remaining life points and be ejected from the competition. Then he could take this as a learning opportunity and try harder next time.

I thought it was the end for Gauche when V managed to counter his attack. It was nice of Yuma to go and save him (after all, in a previous episode, Gauche did the same for him), but I'm still mad at Yuma for his recklessness and for the blatant main character favoritism he has going for him.

Someone remind me again why Tron doesn't want V to get rid of Yuma right now. Let me guess, it's because he's the main character and he's not allowed to lose this competition. Also, let me guess, Yuma'll end up being the winner of the World Duel Carnival, right? Someone prove me wrong. I'm rooting for Kaito to win. Who cares about Yuma?

I'm surprised to see Kotori be the one to get hit by the trap this time. Yuma just doesn't learn, does he? Is he incapable of learning or what? Why can't he try to pay more attention to what's going on around him? I don't find him losing life points because he keeps running into trap cards amusing because he doesn't suffer from the consequences of his actions.

No matter what, he still manages to get away without losing. This wouldn't be so bad if he actually manages to survive because of his own strengths. But, no, it seems like the only reason he manages to survive is because he's the main character.

They're trying to hype up Tron by having him manage to defeat three people with seemingly only one hit. And these 3 all had monsters with high attack power as well as a lot of life points. Unfortunately, this falls flat for me. I'd be more impressed if they showed us, the viewers, how Tron managed this. What spell/magic or trap card or monster card did he use to defeat 3 people with one hit? This doesn't seem believable.

Looks like IV (Quattro) and Shark are going to be fighting. I'm hoping Ryoga wins. Am worried that the victor might turn out to be IV.

I found it touching that Droite (Dextra) wants to protect Kite by fighting Tron for him. I already know she's going to lose even after spending a lot of time increasing her life points up to 9000 (now 8000 since she used 1000 to get Kaito out of the way).

Episode 54

This episode features the Droite vs Tron duel. Like I said in the previous episode, I can already guess that Droite is going to lose. But this duel's bound to be interesting anyway since there will be no cheating via Shining Draw and there'll be no deus ex machina in the form of using the power of Zexal.

Droite admits that she's in love with Kaito. Initially, I thought it was just a crush. I wonder when this happened. I really didn't get the impression that they were all that close. Kite seems oblivious to her feelings.

Looks like Droite started falling for Kite when he saved her during that duel as shown in the flashback. Kaito was really cool in that scene. Once again, viewers can see just how much he cares about Hart / Haruto Tenjo, his little brother.

The Tron vs Droite duel begins with Droite having the advantage. She has way more life points than Tron. In the very first turn, she was able to Xyz summon a monster (Photon Papilloperative / Photon Butterfly Assassin). Plus, she was able to activate 3 magic/spell cards that can help her. Tron is acting all scared, but I can see right through him. I know Droite will take the lead at first, but Tron will eventually manage to win.

There's no way the outcome could be different because Yuma has already fought against Droite, but he has yet to face Tron. Plus, the show has been hyping Tron and his power practically since his first introduction and particularly in the last episode where he apparently manages to defeat 3 people with a single hit. Still, even if Tron's victory is already assured, I hope Droite still manages to reduce his life points by a great amount before she loses.

Why does Yuma need to be present during Droite's and Tron's duel? How did he even end up in the Jungle Field? Shouldn't he be in some of the other fields so he can duel with the other finalists of the World Duel Carnival? He shouldn't be allowed to be here right now. Sheesh. Is he going to be watching all the other competitors duel?

Nice. Great job, Droite. She actually managed to get Tron's life points down to 100. Looks like it's now time for Tron to retaliate. I still don't like Yuma, Astral, and Kotori being present during this duel. They have no business being here. They should leave already.

I knew Tron would win. I didn't expect to hate him this much though. Initially, I was lukewarm towards him. He came across as weird, crazy, and strange, but I neither hated nor liked him. But now I hate him. He went too far with what he did to Dextra. I feel bad for what happened to Droite. It made me wish that she had won the duel instead.

According to the next episode preview, the next duel is going to be between V and Kaito. I'm worried. I want Kaito to win. I hope he does. Yuma doesn't need to face V. Can we just leave V's defeat to Kaito?

Miscellaneous

I'm still wondering why the dub changed some of the names, but not all. Is it because the names are hard to pronounce? Are they trying to Americanize the names or something? But names like Vetrix and Quinton don't really sound American. And how come only some of the names have been changed, but not all?

Is there something wrong with some of these names? For instance, in the Japanese version, III's archetype of cards are known as OOParts, but in English, they're known as Chronomaly. Why the name change?

The way Mr. Heartland says "Heart burning" is kind of amusing. I like the gratuitous use of English in the Japanese version, like the way some of the cards and attack names use English words.

Share your thoughts and opinions

So, what about you? What do you think about all of this? Feel free to share your thoughts and opinion by leaving a message in the comments section below.

*Notes:
- Pics are from Amazon.com; links shown above

Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal Anime Episode 1-46 Review

Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal (#ad) is an anime and manga series by Kazuki Takahashi. It belongs in the fantasy and adventure genre. It's the third spin-off to the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise. The story is about Yuma Tsukumo and Astral. Yuma wants to be a Duel Champion, but he's bad at dueling.

During a duel, he meets Astral who is a messenger from the Astral World. Thanks to Astral's help, Yuma is able to win the duel. Astral needs to collect the Numbers Xyz monster cards to restore his lost memories. Yuma helps him with this task. They work together to collect the Numbers cards and win duels.

The following are my thoughts about the first 46 episodes of this anime in no particular order:

Number 39: Utopia / Kibou Hope

I like this card, but I'm getting sick of how Yuma summons it all the time. It's like every other duel has to involve this card somehow, like he can't win without using Number 39: Utopia. I wish he would summon some other card instead.

Seriously, doesn't he have another rank 4 Xyz monster to summon? Why does it always have to be either Kibou Hope, or its evolved form Number C39: Utopia Ray / Chaos Numbers 39: Kibou Hope Ray?

Numbers Xyz Monsters

Speaking of Numbers Xyz monsters, by now Yuma has already collected a lot of Numbers cards like Number 11: Big Eye, Number 61: Volcasaurus, Number 17: Leviathan Dragon, etc. So how come he doesn't use any of these cards? Why does he keep using Utopia? Also, why does he keep using rank 4 Xyz monsters?

I wish Yuma and Astral would actually use the other Numbers Xyz cards at their disposal, particularly those that aren't rank 4. I want to see them use higher-ranked cards especially since I'm so sick of seeing them summon the usual rank 4 cards (*cough*KibouHope*cough*).

I think the duels would be more interesting if there was more variety to it and if Yuma and Astral put a bit more effort into it. For instance, their usual plan is just to spam level 4 monsters (For example: Gagaga Magician and Gogogo Golem) on the field then overlay them to Xyz summon Utopia. But what if they actually had to get out monsters that are level 5 or higher? Wouldn't that be much more interesting?

Besides one of Yuma's favorite cards (aside from Utopia) is Gagaga Magician, and this monster has a really cool effect which allows it to change its level from 1-8 each turn. I wish Yuma and Astral would actually use this card to its full potential. They could have used this card to help them Xyz summon higher-ranked Numbers monsters.

Astral

I like Astral. He can be pretty funny and amusing at times like when he doesn't understand how this world works, and he has to ask Yuma to explain things to him. Of course, Yuma isn't very good at explaining things, which just makes things funnier.

I also like how he was actually scared of Kaito. This gave him more personality and made him more interesting because it shows that he's not perfect. But I wish he'd found a way to win without having to resort to a deus ex machina in the form of combining or fusing himself with Yuma and then doing a Shining Draw.

It's practically cheating, and it just made me root for Kaito instead because at least he didn't have to create a new card or do what Astral and Yuma did just to win (or force a tie, in this case).

Kotori Mizuki / Tori Meadows

I hate Kotori Mizuki. I find her annoying and useless. I think she's the most useless and unnecessary character in this series. She's just an extra who gets in the way and isn't needed for the plot.

I don't think the show is going to lose anything if she wasn't around. Why does she need to be here anyway? Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal would have been much more interesting without her hanging around the main character all the time.

Honestly, I wouldn't mind there being more female characters in Zexal, but Kotori can hardly be considered one seeing as how she doesn't actually do anything. There's no depth or personality to her character.

Most of the time, she just stands there, watching Yuma duel. Take her away, and what does the show lose? Nothing. Because she's not necessary to the overall plot. She doesn't contribute to the plot in a meaningful way. If she's not there, the show can still go on. She's not even a duelist.

It seems like she only exists to cook and clean after the MC (main character) and be his love interest. But how old is Yuma anyway? Does he really need a love interest? Him being oblivious to the attentions of his admirers and those who have a crush on him, not to mention him looking like a little kid, just shows that he's not ready to be in a romantic relationship.

Another thing I hate about Kotori is how her entire world seems to revolve around Yuma. She doesn't have any dreams or aspirations or goals apart from wanting to be with Yuma. In fact, most of her dialog consists of her saying or screaming Yuma's name.

It's like she's literally nothing without a man in her life, which is just insulting. I really hope she gets better and improves in the coming episodes. By now, I think it's too much to ask for her to just not show up anymore.

Also, what is up with Tori's hair? It's so weird how it defies gravity. Like that time when Obomi, the cleaning robot, takes her ribbon, her hair stayed in the same bun shape. And why does she have to feature so heavily in the show's opening and ending songs? They're making her out to be some important character when the truth is she's just an annoying, useless extra who does absolutely nothing of importance.

Yuma Tsukumo

For the most part, Yuma Tsukumo is not that bad. He's a pretty okay main character. He's certainly way better than the useless Kotori. One of the things I like is how Yuma doesn't win all his duels.

I like seeing him lose because it makes things more interesting. It's just not fun if the audience is expecting him to win all the time. I prefer characters who struggle. I want the characters to work hard for their victory because it makes their story much more compelling.

However, much as I like Yuma, there are times when I find myself hating him. For instance, there was that time when he says he doesn't understand why Shark (Ryoga Kamishiro / Reginald Kastle) wants to use dueling to get revenge. He comes across as self-righteous here because Shark already explained that he was doing this for his sister who was hurt because of IV (Quattro).

What if it was Yuma's sister (Kari / Akari Tsukumo) or a member of his family who had been hurt? What if he found himself in the same position as Shark? What would he have done then?

It's easy for him to say things like don't duel for revenge or to want people to just have fun while dueling because he's not going through the things they're experiencing. He hasn't been accused of cheating or been disqualified, his sister is fine and not dying or sick, etc.

The way Yuma sounds sometimes, it's like he wants his way of dueling to be the only way. He doesn't want others to use dueling to attain their goals (like revenge), and yet isn't he using dueling to attain his goals too (he wants to be a Duel Champion)? Besides, how is Yuma expecting Shark to resolve his issues with IV if he doesn't want the two to duel?

Ryoga Kamishiro and Kaito Tenjo are way more compelling and interesting than Yuma. Why couldn't they be the main characters instead?

They seem to live in a world where dueling is common. Even the security systems make use of duels. Then there was that time when Kaito Tenjo's brother was kidnapped and to save him, Kite and Yuma had to duel III (Trey) and IV. This just goes to show that dueling is a big thing in this world, and that most things are resolved through dueling.

So Yuma showed just how much of a hypocrite and self-righteous fool he was by disapproving of Shark wanting to duel IV for revenge. What did he want Shark to do instead, kill IV or something?

Also, I don't like how he says he doesn't care about winning or losing duels. It doesn't sound believable at all, and it just makes him come across as a hypocrite. It's so easy for Yuma to say words like this because he doesn't lose. He ends up winning most of his duels, particularly the important ones. And he doesn't really lose anything even if he doesn't win.

If he were to lose something (like Astral and his Numbers cards), then he manages to win the duel or something happens so that he doesn't have to face the consequences of losing. For example, when Kite was about to defeat Yuma, his younger brother collapses and so he has to cancel the duel to go check on Hart.

Then there was that time when Yuma and Shark fought during the World Duel Carnival. If Yuma had lost this duel, he wouldn't have been able to advance to the finals, and he would have lost Astral and the Numbers, so it ended with Shark just letting Yuma go and not finishing the duel.

Speaking of duels, sometimes, I really hate how contrived some of these duels are, particularly the ones involving Yuma. It's like Yuma just has to be able to draw the right cards at the right time. It's come to the point where the duels have become rather predictable, where it usually ends with Yuma winning after being able to summon Utopia or Utopia Ray.

Then there was that time where Astral and Yuma actually fused together and ended up looking like one of the Super Saiyans from the Dragon Ball anime. I didn't care for that at all especially when they proceeded to do a Shining Draw. Wasn't that just blatant cheating? Not only were they able to get the right cards at just the right time, they also pretty much managed to get or create a card out of thin air. This is way too much deus ex machina.

I wish Yuma and Astral's duels could be a bit more natural. I want them to lose more often. I want to see them make more of an effort. I don't want them to be in a tight pinch only to get out of it all because they managed to create yet another card that didn't before exist in their deck. Let them have a hard time in a duel. Let the audience think they might actually lose.

Even if they don't end up losing, at least have them turn the tables on their own without having to resort to things like Shining Draw. Let them use their own wits during duels. Let them rely on their cards, on the ones they currently have. Don't give them new ones as the plot demands, at least not during a duel.

When things like Shining Draw happen, I end up rooting for their opponents to win, so I was really glad when Kite managed to end their duel in a draw instead. I found him much more impressive in that duel when compared to both Astral and Yuma because at least Kite dueled with his own strength.

He didn't have to resort to what basically amounts to cheating just to win. I wish Yuma would duel like the other characters in the show without having to resort to creating new cards and using Shining Draw. Wouldn't his victory be much more satisfying then?

Kite / Kaito Tenjo and Ryoga Kamishiro / Reginald Kastle (Shark)

I like Kaito and Ryoga (#ad) way more than I like Yuma and even Astral. I just find them both much more compelling, so much so that I wish either of them had been the main character instead. They come across as real because they're not perfect. They act like actual humans who have reasons for doing the things they do. For example, Kite is collecting the Numbers cards for his brother.

As for Yuma, he comes across as too perfect and too pure sometimes, especially with how the Numbers cards don't affect him. But wouldn't it have been more interesting to have Yuma be affected by the Numbers in much the same way that Shark had been influenced by them? Shark was able to overcome the control the Numbers had over him.

I wish something like that had happened with Yuma too. It would have been more believable too. After all, the Numbers are said to be able to possess the ones who have them and bring out their darkest desires. Why shouldn't Yuma have a dark desire too? He's supposed to be human, not some perfect Mary Sue / Gary Stu.

I also like how Kaito is such a caring, protective, and loving big brother to his little brother Hart / Haruto Tenjo. Definitely nothing at all like Marvel's Thor who is arrogant, entitled, and couldn't seem to care less about his younger brother if he tried. He likes to call Loki his brother, but has no qualms telling others he's adopted.

And for someone who claims to have missed and mourned Loki, Thor couldn't even be bothered to spare a few minutes asking his brother if he's all right and what's going on or what happened to him when he fell off the Bifrost Bridge. No, instead Thor just grabs Loki by the neck and hurls them both out of a flying plane.

In effect, this basically boils down to Thor liking to say that Loki is his brother, but he doesn't act like it at all. He acts more like a bully. I'm really glad Kite is nothing like that especially considering how Haruto appears to be so much younger than him.

I like seeing them interact because you can really see that they care about each other. Kaito is collecting the Numbers cards for his brother's sake. He himself says that he sold his soul to the devil for his brother who is sick.

That scene where Kite gives his brother caramel was also quite touching. Then there are scenes where Kite can be seen desperately trying to protect and get to his brother, which really shows how much he cares about Hart.

It's no wonder then that Haruto returns the sentiment and even gives the remainder of his powers to his big brother, so Kaito can win the duel against III and IV by being able to summon Neo Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon. Well, it is a bit contrived, but at least there was no Shining Draw involved, and he didn't end up fusing with anyone.

Also, at least there was a good and believable reason why this happened. It was already established that the brothers care about each other, so it made sense that Haruto would want to give his powers to his brother to help him.

Plus, so far (haven't gotten to watch the rest of the series yet), this seems to be the only time Kite ended up with a card that was created from out of nowhere unlike with Yuma and Astral who seem to get new cards every time they're in a pinch.

Nistro / Gauche vs Nelson Andrews / Fuya Okudaira (Sparrow / ESPer Robin)

Because of the way Yuma and Astral duel as mentioned above, sometimes, I prefer to watch duels that don't involve them. These duels are much more interesting, not to mention less contrived, because you can see the characters trying to win using their own strength and wits without outside influence. There's no deus ex machina that will ensure they win.

A good example of this is the duel between Gauche and Robin. I found this one particularly exciting. You can see how good both characters are with the monsters they've been able to summon and how they're able to counter each other's plays.

This duel also came across as more natural because no card got created out of nowhere and there was no Shining Draw to influence the match. It was just two characters dueling and doing their best.

Why couldn't Yuma win like how Gauche managed to win in this duel? Gauche was in a pinch too, but he was able to turn the tables in a way that didn't come across as a deus ex machina. I want to see Yuma in such a situation and then see him and Astral try to figure out how to win without resorting to cheating.

Hair

This gets a section of its own because the hair in Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal is truly ridiculous and crazy. I already talked about Kotori's hair, but, really, hers is nothing compared to the others. For instance, let's take a closer look at the Tsukumo family. Yuma and Akari's hair look a bit similar, and they even have the same color (or at least part of Yuma's hair seems to share the same shade as his sister's).

But what about their parents? Kazuma Tsukumo and Mira / Mirai Tsukumo look nothing like their children. Where did their kids inherit their hair from then? Even their grandmother Haru Tsukumo's hair looks so different from theirs.

Then there's III, IV, and V who are apparently brothers (at least, III refers to IV and V as Brother), but the three of them look nothing alike. It's not just their hair. It's their entire appearance. Are they actually related, or are they just calling each other brother because they're close? Have they been adopted into the same family or something?

Also, what's with the multi-colored hair that some of the characters have? Yuma's a prime example. But there's also Kite's hair. Is that green thing on his head part of his hair? Why is it green? Why couldn't it just be the same color as the rest of his hair? And what about Haruto?

Without knowing anything about this anime, I never would have guessed that Kite and Hart are supposed to be siblings because they look nothing alike. But I guess the difference in their hair color could be explained by saying that Haruto's sickness caused his hair to turn out like this. Still doesn't explain how Kaito has those green things on his hair though.

Then there's Shark. His hair looks normal compared to the hair styles and colors of the other characters in Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal, but what is that silver or light blue crown thing on his head? Is that part of his hair, or is that some sort of accessory? If it's part of his hair, then why couldn't it just be the same color as the rest of his hair? Really, none of this seems to make sense. It's all so strange, isn't it? I mean, I'm all for characters having different hair colors and styles.

Even the multi-colored hair thing doesn't bother me. But can't characters who are supposed to be related to each other at least share the same hair color or show a bit more resemblance to indicate they belong to the same family? What do you think about the hair styles and colors in this series?

Music

I love the music in Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal. The opening and ending theme songs are amazing, not just in terms of the sounds or music, but also the lyrics. So far, I've seen two OPs and two EDs.

1. Masterpiece by mihimaru GT - the first opening song
2. BRAVING! by KANAN - the second opening song
3. My Quest by Golden Bomber - the first ending song
4. Longing Freesia by DaizyStripper - the second ending song

Miscellaneous

• I like the way Kaito says, "Hametsu no Photon Stream (Photon Stream of Destruction)"
• I like the gratuitous English in this show
• Why did the dub change the names of the characters? Is it because they're trying to Americanize things? But they didn't change the names of all the characters (Yuma is still Yuma), and some of the changed names don't really seem to be American (Nistro). Is it because it's hard to pronounce some of the names or something?
• I'd like to see Yuma lose and really face the consequences of this loss. Maybe he could lose the Numbers cards he and Astral have already obtained, and he has to duel and win to get them back. I wish he didn't have to lose Astral if he lost a Numbers duel, so there could have been more opportunities for Yuma's growth and development as a character
• I hate the character of Flip Turner / Tokunosuke Omoteura. I think Yuma should have called him out on how he cheated to try to get into the World Duel Carnival finals.

It would have made sense since Yuma is the one who seems to consider dueling sacred and wants people to just have fun while dueling without having to think about winning or losing. Yuma comes across as a hypocrite here for not even telling off Flip and getting mad at him for daring to cheat.

• I think Gauche was going too far in wanting to beat up Tokunosuke, but it was fair to want to disqualify him and ban him from competing because he did cheat and he was caught cheating
• I find the characters of Droite / Dextra and Gauche interesting. I want to find out more about them. The same can be said for III, IV, V (Quinton), and Tron (Vetrix)
• I thought the revelation that Shark cheated didn't seem very believable. I mean, it's not like he was shown rifling through IV's deck. He just happened to see the cards because they were left lying around there unattended. It seems like anyone else could have seen those cards. Also, the only card he seems to have recognized and remembered was Mirror Force.

This trap card is one of the most well-known and powerful cards in the game (it can destroy all of your opponent's attack position monsters), so isn't it natural to expect that this card would be in someone's deck?

Regardless of that, wasn't it only natural for Ryoga to be wary of his opponent's face-down cards even without knowing what those cards might be? If you see a card in an opponent's spell or trap card zone, doesn't that call for caution? In conclusion, they should have tried harder to make the whole Shark cheating thing believable.

• In the very first episode of Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal, we see this mysterious door. There's a mysterious voice talking about receiving power in exchange for losing something important. This shows up again in the episode where Yuma and Astral end up fusing and doing the Shining Draw. They also get a new card.

I really hope there is way more to this than just a way to give the main characters new powers as the plot demands. I don't want this to be just yet another deus ex machina.

I want to see them face the consequences of getting this power. I want to see them actually lose something important in exchange for this power. If they're not really going to lose anything, then the entire thing falls flat. Like, what's the point of saying they'll lose something when they're not really going to lose anything?

It would be much more interesting to see Yuma suffer from losing something important to him, and yet he still struggles and does his best anyway. Wouldn't that be more compelling as opposed to making things way too easy for him by giving him all this power without having to face the consequences of using said power?

I also hope Astral's memories or the missing Numbers cards isn't the something important the voice was talking about. Because this doesn't really seem like a loss. Yes, it's too bad that Astral has amnesia, but he and Yuma have already started collecting the pieces of his memories and they're making a lot of progress towards this goal.

Plus, Astral doesn't really seem all that affected by his memory loss. I mean, he's still able to function well enough. He doesn't seem to be dying unless they're in danger of losing a Numbers duel, which is never going to happen because they're not allowed to lose those kinds of duels no matter what (*roll*eyes*).

Share your thoughts and opinions

So, what about you? What do you think about all this?

*Notes:
- Pics are from Amazon.com; links shown above

Results Of The Favorite Asuka Poll

I added an Opinion Stage poll to this post where I talked about characters from two different series who happen to share the same first name. The name in question is "Asuka". The characters are Asuka Kazama from Tekken and Sohryu Asuka Langley from Neon Genesis Evangelion.

Neon Genesis Evangelion is a mecha anime series produced by Gainax and Tatsunoko Production and written and directed by Hideaki Anno. Sohryu Asuka Langley (#ad) is one of the main characters from this show. She is designated as the Second Child and the pilot of the Evangelion Unit 02.

She is 14 and was born in Germany to an American father and a Japanese-German mother, which makes her 3 quarters German and 1 quarter Japanese. She comes across as proud, vain, and arrogant. She is extremely confident, but she has insecurities and issues that she tries to hide from everyone else.

On the other hand, Tekken is a fighting game series, which can be played on several different platforms including PlayStation, Xbox, and Wii. The franchise was created, developed, and published by Namco or Bandai Namco Entertainment. Asuka Kazama (#ad) is one of the playable characters from this video game. She was first introduced in Tekken 5.

She is a 17-year-old high school student who is actually related to Jin Kazama, the main character of the Tekken series. Like Evangelion's Asuka, she has a very confident personality. She's a brilliant fighter who has no problems starting fights, but she does try to break fights between other people.

Anyway, for reasons that I'll talk about in another post on another one of my blogs, I've decided to delete the Opinion Stage poll and replace it with one from SurveyMonkey instead. The poll in question was created on 12 Jun 2015.

On my dashboard on the Opinion Stage site, the statistics page for this poll looks like this:

This is the new favorite Asuka poll from SurveyMonkey:


So, what about you? Who's your favorite Asuka? You can share your thoughts and opinions by voting or by leaving a comment below.

*Notes:
- Pics are screenshots from my Opinion Stage account
- Pics from the first screenshot and photos from the poll are from Amazon.com; links shown above