Negima! Vol 19 (Ch 174) *SPOILERS*

Thanks to AQS for the scans.

Chapter 174: Now that summer vacation has started, Yuuna is staying with her dad again and sleeping in. She gets up and putting on a bra, notes that she's going to have to get a bigger one. Her dad is reading papers on Fate Averruncus (last seen in volume 6 after deciding not to fight Eva) when Yuuna busts into his study. He quickly hides the papers, but Yuuna sees this and is suspicious about what he's hiding. When she goes for it, she extracts ero magazines, which she throws at her father.

As Yuuna prepares breakfast, she decides she doesn't mind her father having such magazines around since he's an adult. She's stunned to learn her father has only been eating instant food stuffs and not preparing real meals. He compliments her on her cooking, stating she'll make a good wife. She replies (jokingly) that she'd like to marry him, which causes him to respond that maybe she shouldn't say things like that. She gets embarrassed because she was joking and trying to be cute.

Yuuna is a bit frustrated at her dad's slobby appearance and feels he's no good without her to look after him. She sends him off to shave and notices a photo fall from him. It is a picture of a blond woman and has a telephone number. As her father asks about Negi, she tells him a few things while pondering who this woman is. The phone rings and the number on the caller-ID is the same as on the photo. She gives the phone to her dad, who after talking a bit, hangs up and tells Yuuna he'll be late.

Later, Yuuna tells Makie, Ako, and Akira that her father is cheating, even though he's not currently married. They tail her father to his meeting with the blond woman. She's not happy with this woman and despite her protests, the other girls see nothing wrong, commenting that Yuuna's "Papa love" might be going a bit too far.

Professor Akashi and the blond woman talk while sitting in the outdoor section of a restaurant. She notes Yuuna and her friends spying on them, which he states is his daughter and her friends. Keeping up the appearance of normal talk, the two discuss Fate and the lack of a connection with Chao as well as his connections with the Graf.

Makie and Ako decide to check things out better while Yuuna and Akira are left behind. They learn the woman's name is Donnet McGuinness from England. Returning to Yuuna and Akira, Ako and Makie think Donnet is good, but Yuuna is not convinced. That night, she has trouble sleeping because of this and when she does sleep, she has a memory-dream of herself as a kid, holding a practice wand, walking home with her mother.

The next morning, Yuuna tells her dad they are going on a father-daughter date, no matter what. They spend the day together, spending lots of his money, and when the date ends, Yuuna tells her father that she's OK with him marrying the blond. He's puzzled by this but when Donnet shows up, Yuuna learns that Donnet was an old friend of her mother. Yuuna is embarrassed by this and when they walk home, Yuuna asks if he still like Mom. He says he still loves her. Yuuna tells him she won't get mad if he gets remarried and he reminds her he has no partner.

Thoughts: While we've seen cameos of Yuuna's dad from the festival, it was neat seeing how he is studying about Fate. That he and Yuuna's mother were mages seems obvious. Too bad we didn't learn what became of Yuuna's mother. For Akamatsu-sensei to do a whole chapter solely about Yuuna (with hints of Fate and the Graf also thrown in), I can't help but wonder if somehow she'll now be a factor in the upcoming Wales arc.

"Futari Ecchi" Coming to America?

It what I find to be a truly shocking event, TokyoPop has licensed Futari Ecchi, calling it Manga Sutra - Futari H. So why is this so shocking? Well, officially, Futari Ecchi is a manga published in the seinen (young adult) magazine "Young Animal." It is the story of Makoto and Yuura, who are still virgins when they are arranged to be married. The manga then covers their journey of learning about sex and also explores the sexual lives of people around them, thus the mangaka can cover all sorts of sexual topics. While each chapter has some amount of sexual congress, the title avoids the "hentai" label by keeping the amount of hentai material below a certain percentage of the chapter. The mangaka also adds sex-ed charts, drawings, and information, though it is all very dated today (the manga started in 1997).

I became aware of the title when a fansub group did the OVA's. Later I read a thread on a message board where folks argued over whether the manga was a hentai title or not. So, I borrowed the first few volumes and read them. My conclusion? It's a hentai title.

In Japan, it is illegal to show reproductive organs, whether in drawings or in actuality. To comply with this law, Katsu-sensei uses a less obstructive form of censorship. He either has the genitals strategically blocked or makes them invisible. But the reader still gets a very clear picture of what's going on -- major sexual activities. Katsu-sensei also uses sex-ed diagrams at times to show a penis entering a vagina legally. Ha!ha! Isn't he ever so clever?

In addition to Yuura and Makoto's sex life being looked at, we see Yuura's sister younger sister Rika (early 20's). She has not one boyfriend, but four. She has her main squeeze, who's her age. She has the rich guy (I think in his early 30's) whom she bangs in exchange for a taste of the rich life (gifts, fancy places, etc.). She has her sex-friend, whom she hooks up with from time-to-time when she needs a no strings attached shagging. Her forth boyfriend is her pity-sex friend. He's younger than her (he calls her "senpai"), he is not much around girls, and so comes to Rika for advice. Rika feels sorry for him and allows him to bang her.

But no, this isn't a hentai title at all.

I could keep going on, but why bother. You get the point.

Well, lets hear what the man has to say.

"This is not a hentai manga, rather an erotic manga for the thinking mind. It is a compass of love and sex, a reference dedicated to all readers who seeks the ultimate pleasure in life. This is for real. I am not lying..." --KATSU Aki, introduction to volume 1 of Futari Ecchi.

Oh, that is such a laugh. While hiding behind the educational, comedy, and even story elements, Katsu-sensei knows full well that his goal is to produce a manga that just barely fits into the seinen label, but provides "meditation" materials for those horny guys dreaming of marrying a girl like Yuura-san (or banging one of the other girls in the series).

I did end up reading five volumes (I think) before I was totally sick of it. I don't care for hentai. I don't care that TokyoPop has licensed the title. So why the rant? I sense that TP will also try to deny this is a hentai title, and that started with the title change ("Manga Sutra" -- please.). Plus, I suspect that TP will want to modernize and domesticate the title a fair amount to attempt to grow sales beyond horny American otaku who wish to scream out, "Yuuna-san! IKU!" while meditating. Even if this isn't a title I'd buy, those are things I strongly object to. I also object to attempts to label this as non-hentai. It is a hentai title, so if you are going to license it, admit it and go on about it.

Gah! I'll admit that this may be one of the stupidest rants I've done since the title's not out officially in English yet. I already hear some people wondering if America can handle this non-hentai hentai title and ranting about the evil religious right (or some other such nonsense). I guess that's what really annoys me when it comes down to it, with the possible TP domestication coming in 2nd.

Hayate no Gotoku 12

SPOILER Summary: In a flashback, we see young Hayate reading his report in school, which relays a sad tale of how bad things are at his home. He doesn't seem sad as he reads his report, but the report has his class shocked. Before he reveals what his dream is, he awakens and remembers his visit with Nagi's grandfather.

Later as Hayate and Maria are cleaning, he asks her what her dream is. Maria states her dream is for Nagi (name unsaid) to become a good adult. She wonders about the question, and Hayate states that dreams are motivation for people to live, which shocks Maria and makes her own dream seem rather worthless. Hayate presses the point, citing people in history such as Mozart.

Meanwhile Nagi hasn't been able to sleep because she remembers what Hayate told her -- that he'd protect her from those who'd make her cry. She comes out of her bedroom and sees the excellent cleaning job Hayate has done and she and Maria talk about Hayate. Maria tells Nagi about how hard Hayate is working and how he has a purpose behind it. Nagi imagines this to mean a future for herself and Hayate (complete with him in a wedding dress). Maria asks Nagi about her dreams and Nagi replies how she wants to become a mangaka and sell 100-billion copies of her works. This shocks Maria (and depresses her a bit), but when Nagi asks further about Hayate's dream and Maria says it must be big, Nagi gets that love-love feeling, which Maria understands may be misplaced.

Outside while cleaning, Maria asks Hayate about his dream and learns his dream is to live in a 3LDK -- meaning his dream is to live in a house (own it?) where there are separate rooms for the living room, dining room, and kitchen. We see a flashback to Hayate at school revealing this dream, which has his classmates and sensei in tears. Maria is stunned by this and Hayate wonders if such a dream is too big. Maria assures him that big dreams are best. She tells him to purchase a new cell phone and to take the rest of the day off since he needs a break.

Purchasing his new cell phone, Hayate wonders about his old high school -- Shiomi Municipal High School. Figuring that since he's paid the tuition, he can return and so does so. However, he gets cold feet at the school's gate until his female classmate, Nishizawa-san, sees him. She wonders where he's been and he tells her in brief, everything including how he's working as a butler. She figures he has to be joking. As they talk, other classmates come by including Souya-kun. He figured Hayate had dropped out and begins teasing Nishizawa-san regarding Hayate's return since she has a crush on him. This results in Nishizawa's wrath coming down on Souya-kun.

A sensei comes up and wonders why Hayate is there since he dropped out of school. This brings Nishizawa's wrath upon the sensei, but it turns out that Hayate's parents filled out the dropout paperwork and took the remaining tuition money, which was money that Hayate paid with his own money. The sensei continues to talk trying to defend what happened which results in more wrath from Nishizawa.

Hayate decides to leave, so Nishizawa decides to confess her love for him. He's surprised by this, but he thinks of Nagi and so turns her down. Initially, he states his reason is that he's only interested in 2-D girls (including a censored image of what appears to be Suzumiya Haruhi). He tells them that's a joke and says he has someone he can't leave alone. This brings the wrath of Nishizawa on Hayate. Hayate returns home and Nagi takes his cell phone and puts herself into his #1 slot.

At Waturu-kun's video store, Nishizawa returns some videos and is wanting to understand men. When the discussion turns to anime, Nishizawa ends up making a retreat. Hayate comes to the same video store and returns some videos. He liked them but Nagi didn't like them much. As Nagi and Waturu talk, Nishizawa remembers she was supposed to pick up a video for Kazuki and returns to see Hayate leaving the store and figures she has a 2nd chance to make things right with him. She tries to catch him but continues to fail to do so. She ends up at Nagi's mansion where she sees Hayate enter. She's stunned by this and realizes that Hayate's story must have been real, only he's got to be held captive by yakuza. Before she can do anything, she's captured by Nagi's security forces. They consult with Maria, who thinks it could be a friend of Hayate's and asks them to let go of her hands. They completely release her and Nishizawa is off in a flash.

Having lost the security on Nagi's vast estate, Nishizawa is spotted by Tama. Nishizawa is stunned by a tiger being on the grounds, and takes off running. Tama finds he has no choice but to chase her. He wonders if this is his natural instinct kicking in and when he catches up to Nishizawa, his instinct is to lick her all over. She screams for Hayate and he comes to her rescue, kicking Tama away.

Before they can talk much, Nagi comes and immediately, Nagi and Nishizawa see each other as rivals. Nagi's fighting force shows in the form of a Chinese dragon and Nishizawa's form is that of a hamster, which is immediately eaten by the dragon. Nishizawa retreats, vowing to come up with a stronger hamster and Nagi wants to make sure that Hayate doesn't leave her.

Nagi reflects on everything Nagi has done for her and decides she must do something for him.

Thoughts: This was a very funny episode once the story got to Nishizawa. It was even funnier how powerful she is with everyone else, but when it came to Nagi, her power was that of a hamster. I now know why Nishizawa kept being shown in cameos though seeing as how she will apparently have a greater role to play in the story. Love-triangles in romantic comedies are often funny.

Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children

Like virtually every other gamer on the face of planet, I own a copy of Final Fantasy VII. I tried to get into it several years ago when all the popular gaming sites hailed it as the best role-playing game ever. The gameplay never drew me in, and so while I have a passing familiarity with its characters, it was never something I thought much about after trying it for several hours. I saw Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within back when it hit theaters. Like many, I didn't think it had much of a plot but thought it looked spectacular. Several years later, I'm back taking a look at Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children. It acts as a direct sequel to the story found in the game while sharing the brilliant computer-generated animation of its film predecessor (with whom it shares no plot). And make no mistake, fans of the game will love this movie. No, in fact, they will probably adore this movie, seeing just how lovingly made it is. But as someone who was just vaguely familiar with the whole thing coming into it, I found it almost completely incomprehensible.

To sum up the game: crap happened to Cloud and his friends. Cloud, the one with the inconceivably huge sword, saved his planet from absolute destruction at the hands of madman Sephiroth. Along the way, however, friends were lost, prices were paid, and identities came shattering down. Now there's a pathogen that's caustically affecting the skin of the planet's people, especially the children, and no one's sure how to cure it. In the midst of this epidemic, a cruel gang of ruffians hatches a plan to revive Sephiroth and his aborted plans for carnage and chaos. Cloud's once again called upon to save the world, but he's quite sure he no longer wants to be the hero. As Cloud's old friends rally around to try and engage him in the cause, he must decide whether he's going to mope through the rest of life or engage his destiny.

Now, before getting into the reasons why you should probably skip this film, there's something I should say: find a friend who owns a copy, borrow it, and start it about the 55 minute mark. That way, you can see the absolutely amazing animation during one of the best scenes in the film. Frankly, CGI animation has never been done better. Even the technically impressive Spirits Within doesn't look half as good as this. The detail on various surfaces is so good that the DVD looks like Blu-Ray or HD-DVD. With the sound turned up on a 5.1 system, you can get immersed in one of the most visually astounding pieces of animation you've ever seen. And for perhaps 15 minutes, you will be awestruck. Any animation fan should see the highlights of Advent Children just to revel in the possibilities.

But before you get too excited, realize that I still thought this film was a major disappointment. I could handle some of the absurdities that naturally had to be transferred over from the game (like Cloud's aforementioned behemoth of a weapon). But what I couldn't handle is the plotting department, which seems to figure that everyone who watches this film will be thoroughly aware of what has come before. That's understandable in the third part of a filmic trilogy, I suppose; for example, if you don't know who Han Solo and Luke Skywalker are by the time you see Return of the Jedi, you're not going to get much backstory. But we're talking about completely different mediums here. The only way to have experienced the full plot of Final Fantasy VII was to have spent well over 40 hours playing the game. Most casual gamers don't put in that kind of time. What's more, the plot that is here really isn't very worthwhile. I mean, all it really consists of is a plan to resurrect the game's villain, which isn't a scripting masterpiece. The movie is a long coda that gives a final warm and fuzzy sendoff to Cloud, who didn't get his own happy ending at the conclusion of the game. The action is a veneer to hide the fact that there's little story here. To top that off is the use of terminology that's never explained. If you've played the game and know what the lightstream/lifestream is and can figure out all the vocabulary, I'm happy for you. But for the novice, the dialogue was indecipherable. The only clues to understanding much of the language came from the simplicity of the overall storyline.

I could forgive most of that, but the thing that sent Advent Children into the realm of the "not recommended" was the fact that I just didn't care about these characters. Every last character arc of merit took place in the game already. The movie just assumes that you are already in love with these folks and know what has happened to them...but the average person isn't and doesn't. It's one thing to have a plot that's lacking, but to have characters that are ciphers is unforgivable. Quite honestly, I've never been so bored by a movie with this much action going on, and it was because it didn't matter what happened to the players involved. Even in the most basic of action films, say The Transporter, the lead character has charisma enough to make you interested in seeing if he's going to succeed or not. Cloud has so little stage presence, so to speak, that if he lives or dies matters little.

That doesn't mean this experience has to be a total failure, of course. The easiest thing to do would be for the creators of this movie to go back and tell the right story, the one that drew in millions around the globe, in feature film form. Yes, I would recommend them make a true Final Fantasy VII movie that gets us up to speed on this tale. Sure, the DVD of Advent Children includes a 30+ minute "reminiscence" on the story of the game, but it's nearly as incomprehensible as the film itself. It's nothing more than some of the cutscenes from the game, which now looks pretty threadbare in terms of graphics. They should do it right and make the big story a full feature; then perhaps Advent Children would be worth recommending to a larger audience who wants more substance than eye candy.

Until that point, however, this film is a wonderful-looking curiosity that will bore all but the faithful who waded through the whole game. And if you are one of those folks who did and are angry with this review, don't send me any nasty letters. You know you already bought this film the first weekend it came out anyway in the special edition with all the character statues and trinkets and doodads anyway. This review's for the rest of us who might find the movie visually stunning but too boring otherwise to merit anything more than a passing glance

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