Koutetsujou no Kabaneri - Episode 4: Contract

The last time we saw Ikoma, he was out of his mind, and was pinning down Ayame. Now, in this fourth episode of Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress, Flowing Blood, we are treated once more with another episode full with action, after last week's rather peaceful one. So, spoiler alert as usual, intentional or otherwise.

No big surprise when Kurusu appears once more to knock Ikoma off, and now once more kabanes are on their tail.

One interesting part was that Ayame relented her master key to the the anti-kabane men in the Koutetsujou quite willingly. I suppose this could have made for a better political conflict, but perhaps that was the best a woman could do back in those days.

And with the anti-kabanes in control, Ikoma's friends were also confined to the back.

Once more, this could have evolved into a more bitter political story with the anti-kabane sentiment, but from where the story shall go, it seems that they won't press on that for too long, for this may just be a usual action-oriented story. It seems that Takumi and friends were just sent there to give Ikoma's gun (and glasses), and a rather tickling scene when Mumei was still asking for blood.

As expected, just before the anti-kabane people succeeded in decoupling the last car where Ikoma and the others were at, they were surprised by the kabane. The interesting thing? Those seemingly mindless zombies leaped from above the tunnel entrance. 

And one of them was carrying a pair of swords. Now that's new.

And thus, the action starts from here on out. After the cars were barricaded, the soldiers engaged. Here, for the first time, we see Ayame bring out her bow and arrow: an interesting steam contraption. 

Let's just pause for a second here, just why did the soldier that committed suicide blast a hole on the side of the car? The last time the little explosives pack was used, there were just enough sparks to destroy the heart.

Anyway, Kurusu was apparently amazing with a katana, with those leaps and slashes.

And then, the sword kabane appeared. Apparently, even Kurusu could not penetrate the iron frame of the kabane, and in the confusion, got stabbed by the stomach.

Well, to be fair, this one fight was a little bit choppy. For example, when Kurusu tried to slash sword against skull, the transition and lack of reaction made it a little bit strange.

However, the scene going at the same time was perfect:

Yes, they used the scene from the preview. What was even better, though, was that in addition, there were even more kabane being defeated above the train.

This sequence just did it right. No more comments needed.

With Kurusu out of the picture, Ayame braved herself to get into the top of the train to meet Ikoma.

And here, the most symbolic scene so far, the blood contract, the real start of the humans and kabaneri working together. And with her blood, Ikoma defeated the kabane, no problem.

Thus, the conclusion was all to predictable. As Ayame vowed to supply blood to the kabaneri in exchange for helping them, the others joined in as well. Here, I think that the anti-kabane overthrow at the beginning was actually unneeded except for giving a gun to Ikoma. They will continue to live in peace after all, and no one should overrule the blood contract. At least I think so.

The ending was relaxed, unlike the other episodes. Finally, they could work together--for whatever is to come next episode.

And beautiful art.

Speaking of art, there was another form of art on display: the ending song. They played the second stanza of ninelie. It was also beautiful. Again, no comment needed.

Bungou Stray Dogs - Episode 5: Sherlock Has Come

When last time we see Bungou, we see the Detectives easily destroying the Port Mafia hitmen, and Atsushi settling in. And now, for the first time we shall see the enigmatically eccentric Edogawa Ranpo in action, in the fifth episode of Bungou Stray Dogs: Murder on D Street. Spoiler alert, for both intentional spoilers and otherwise.

Right after last episode, the headquarters was still in ruins, and yet Ranpo was just chilling around and playing around with with a marble. Without looking at the explanation at the end of the episode, it could already be understood that he holds quite some influence, as a respected member of the Detectives.

And here we see Atsushi being sidelined for once, to help the comically clueless Ranpo. Stereotypical genius that has no idea how to do usual day-to-day stuff.

Yes, we shall go along with the classic storyline. The tried and proven private eye was shoved from the case by a new investigator. Although, in this case, Ranpo took that relaxedly.

On another note, the case seems to also be just another classic murder. Bungou's first fray into mystery could perhaps be just that: a collection of used plotlines.

Well, mixed with Bungou's running joke, that is. The moment they caught a man in the net, I already guessed it'll be him.

Oh, it's been quite a while since last hearing Dazai going on and on about ladies and double suicide, since that one time last episode. However, they never really told us about why he ended up in the river, other than "going for a swim." Perhaps it's just that we were seeing the story from Atsushi's perspective, after all.

On to more laughs, when Ranpo challenged the sergeant to solve the case in sixty seconds.

It was quite a miracle that he didn't outright panic and thought about the murderer's MO: the same as a Port Mafia execution. However, once more this turned out to be the same recipe as a usual crime story: a red herring.

But when Ranpo used the ability, to my surprise, they threw all usual means of making a good murder story by outright telling us who the killer was.

To my surprise, the sergeant.

The moment he hesitated to pull out the gun for examination, the investigator pleaded that his subordinate can't be wrong. Now that was some tense moment, but I thought that he relented too quickly. His ego seemed big enough at the start of the episode.

The deduction was finished, and all it was left is to hear from the perpetrator how it went to be. It was a classic tale, once again, not really much to be commented; the usual corruption and evidence that he needed to retrieve, then the accident where the victim was killed.

But Bungou flipped the pattern of deduction. Ranpo never told anyone how he did it. On the other hand, Dazai did explain the case like Sherlock. But he not being a master of deduction, it seems not all strings were tied; not all questions answered. I thought they just couldn't find a way to connect the clues.

And the last reveal, the most shocking one of all, it turned out that Ranpo wasn't Gifted after all, just a super talented person who could deduce in under a minute: Sherlock on a different level.

But the most striking thing was that Ranpo was, according to Dazai, just convincing himself that he was Gifted. Such was the childish personality of this eccentric man.

That's about it, actually. Until next week, where I do hope they return to chasing the Port Mafias.

Koutetsujou no Kabaneri - Episode 3: Settling Distrust

With the kind of action Kabaneri gave us the last two episodes, and the promising plotline, the third episode would explain to us more, and make Ikoma settle with being a kabaneri, and coping with the fact... and that there's something more sinister to being one than first thought. So, spoilers ahead, intentional or otherwise, in this third episode of Koutetsujou no Kabaneri: Prayer Offer.

We started right where we left off, and it seems that Kurusu once more leveled his gun at Mumei, still uncertain of the nature of the kabane and kabaneri. Thankfully, Ayame stepped in and decided to trust these newcomers. Perhaps a cliched character, the fair princess.

However, Ayame here could prove to be interesting. Cheeky, or perhaps sassy, may be the way to describe her. All-around, not someone you want to mess with. Just look at how she kicked Ikoma down under.

Speaking of which, that part hit home. I didn't quite expect her to be so forceful to him and the humans to accept each other.

See? Not someone you'd want to mess with. Smooth showdown, if a little embarrassing for Ikoma. Also, it seems she's opening up to a fellow kabaneri: that her tie constrains her powers, but the curse will make her fall asleep after a while. Interesting; while this answers one question, how the virus works is a question I hope Kabaneri will answer.

As said before, being the sassy girl, Mumei ignores everything else and exits the boiler room, ignoring a previous promise, to check on a hunch--perhaps a kabane on board. Again, this scared the hell out of people, and once again Kurusu appeared out of nowhere--like he shall always do, perhaps--and, once again, Ayame appears to stop them.

This is getting quite repetitive, really. If not for the fact that the people are now really agitated.

Also, this show show hard it really is satisfying the people and your own morals, where people were yelling to throw the kabaneri overboard, while others were urging to stop the train to hold a funeral.

The train did stop, to fix the water tank. And a funeral was also helped.

And here, where the two kabaneri were still confined. Finally, Mumei asked about the little gem in Ikoma's hand, where we launch into a flashback.

And a touching one, at that, where his old home was overran by kabane, and he cannot help his sister of fear. This made him swear never to leave anyone else; surely a major driving force in his life (though, once again, a cliched and Attack on Titan-like premise). The most touching part, however, is that Mumei said that this tale is a dime a dozen. Quite tragic, that.

While they were discussing, disgruntled people outside tried to assault the car.

Here, Mumei leaped to meet the opposition, while Ayame called for a cease--quite an influential woman for the time. At that, she leaped again, this time to cuddle some kids by the fire.

Here, though, I find the tendency of Kabaneri to spill out secrets a little bit annoying, where the pregnant woman seen earlier was actually a transforming kabane. Looking back, so was the scene where we were given a sight of the sleeping Mumei, in the last episode. 

Anyway, Ayame did another unexpected thing: stabbing Ikoma and asking his allegiance. And here, we see the wholehearted pledge, that he already vowed to never chicken out. Perfectly dramatic, this one.

The show surprised us once more --spoiler alert-- as Mumei asked to be fed blood.

Let's add vampires to the list of blended themes: samurai, steampunk, and zombies.

Anyway, the people backed down, and rightfully so. Just how would they coexist, now?

An even harsher blow: when the pregnant woman really turned into a kabane and Mumei immediately struck. Those eyes of regret upon knowing that she was pregnant would be something that'll impact her, no doubt.

And then, Ikoma lost consciousness.

And after that, he pinned Ayame, who was tending to him, perhaps of the same bloodlust kabaneri have.

What a cliffhanger. Everything shall change after all of this, then, where secrets have been revealed and relationships strained even further. We shall see next week. 

Bungou Stray Dogs - Episode 4: Desperation

After the bloodbath we had last week, Bungou returned to quite the usual goofy show, though indeed, Atsushi would become changed by those past events--and those to come in this fourth episode: The Tragedy of the Fatalist. Beware of spoilers, intentional or otherwise.

Truly, the backstory and connection with Atsushi's previous experiences are some of the nicer points of Bungou. Here we have Atsushi thinking back that he would only injure those around him, making a worst-case scenario.

And for once, Kunikida would play some big role in his thought process, by telling him to focus and think about what he could do himself.

...and losing his cool.

Coupled with the really awkward scene involving Junichirou and, surprisingly, Yosano, who hasn't really appeared since episode one. And who knew she'd be that lewd.

A new man with a cool new power, to break solid matter, who works for the Port Mafia. He infiltrated a factory, and after squeezing a man to death, smokes while his goons opened fire. He might be interesting enough, with his eccentric acts, but we'll see.

 

And, after that, who knew that Atsushi would phone the mafia and declared that he quit. And really do that.

The emotions stirring in him is just really obvious, making this show quite touching, really. Here, his thoughts return once again when he was kicked out of the orphnage; a unifying theme in this show, and it was just sad that the only thing he could focus on doing was to quit.

These three guys of the Black Lizards, the Port Mafia hitmen, could be an interesting bunch, the usual quarrelsome mob leaders. Else, why did they give us their names?

And thus, as Atsushi quit thinking he won't harm the Detectives, the Lizards prepare to knock down the headquarters. Ironic, really.

These two scenes, Akutagawa and Dazai. I have no idea what they mean. Perhaps that is Akutagawa's servant or something. Perhaps Dazai is just being Dazai and appears just for the sake of appearing.

Oh, here we'll have a nice fight...

...or not. Shame, I would've loved to see more action here, seeing what they are capable of doing such as in last episode. Atsushi, in his disbelief of hearing gunfire in the headquarters, rushed there, where he was met with equal disbelief in the calm scene, with all of the Lizards defeated and being thrown off the window.

Apparently, the worst case scenario is having a raid and having the budgets being thrown way off.

Seriously, in the end, they were just messing around with us in this episode, just for the sake of Atsushi.

Even Dazai didn't appear in the battlefield. I mean, come on.

However, this episode did end quite satisfyingly. Well, other than Atsushi's tears being stopped by the yelling Kunikida. Perhaps those tears are of being accepted. This episode, I would say, will make him stay with the Armed Detectives for the rest of Bungou.

Sketching: Edward Kenway, Assassin's Creed IV

I've finally, after some good long while playing, finished the main story arc of Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag. So, naturally, I made some form of art of our dear Edward Kenway.

"We Could've Been Heroes." -Edward Teach
Also on display in my DeviantArt.

This whole piece took around six or seven hours or thereabouts. Not on the level of Kylo Ren, to be sure, as this was made on half an A4 paper. And even then the image only occupied the center right.

This image was used for reference, and I added some more for the right hand, as I decided to mix up the pose a little bit.

This was just a sketch made late at night. I later changed it up and ended by simply erasing everything completely.

The first sketched done was in HB pencil. crude, and only halfway done when I started shading in.

Now this was the face of an overgrown monkey. I would have changed that many times by the time I was done.  That wasn't as bad as how it was at first, though.

I used my 6B very much here, and HB for the lighter parts. After that, brush everything with a cotton swab. Also, in the meantime, I worked my way downward with the sketch.

Changed up the face a bit, and proceeded with the collar. The skull pin proved to be something annoying.

Then, I went in and shaded in the hand and gun. Actually, I didn't need to edit this out much at all.

I detailed the vest and flintlock in the belt. That part I needed to deviate from the reference, for the in-game shot of Kenway didn't have straps for the guns. I think it was also at this time I started to use the 2B more, and also tampered with the face (yet) again.

The rest was quite straightforward. The lower part of the vest were only hampered by my schoolwork.

Then, the belts and clothes were shaded in. That also wasn't too bad. Also, having learned about the problem with the guns' straps, the lower flintlock was a breeze.

All that was left was the arm. I decided to leave it at that and add some smoke effects.

Then, on to Photoshop to balance out the contrast, and I moved the eye a little bit to make it more striking. And that was all.

The result? The face was strange but at the very least recognizable (according to my friends). The smoke needs work. But that was all. And that is all from me for now.

___

Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag is a game by Ubisoft.

The Making of Kirito's Coat

I never expected that for our design class, we would be doing cosplays. Sure, some groups picked Kylo Ren and Rey and Cinderella, but I never expected more picked guys like Kaneki and Sora and Erza Scarlet. And finally, I never expected nobody picked Kirito. So me and Mr. Arno, my partner for this one, did.

Our school uniform consist of a labcoat that we must wear in the lab. we found that these coats would be an easy start for Kirito's Blackwrym Coat.

Some teacher's policies: if you forget your labcoat, buy another. Amusing that some could have 5 or 6 labcoats at a time. So we bought from a friend at two for the price of one.

Dismantling continues. It seemed that I needed to remove every joint of one piece and sew it to the other labcoat to make the sleeves and underside longer, matching Kirito's specs.

At this point, Arno already said that I shall wear it during the show at the end. Dang. But that'll be cool. Probably.

The Blackwrym's sleeve extensions were tough. I finally found a piece big enough that I could cut parts from. Then, the rest I could cut out parts for the belt.

No one said that we need to sew ourselves. It would take years.

So, after 45 minutes hanging around telling the tailor what to do, Kirito's coat is constructed. I know, the stitches will show, but we're running on low budget here. All of that and what will come cost below Rp 150000 (around US$ 11.50). Good enough.

And thus, the Blackwrym was dyed as it should be. Actually the proper procedure was to heat it up as it was submerged, but my house didn't have a used pot.

So I dyed it twice.

Result? Very grey. It was not the color I was hoping for, where the real Blackwrym was pitch black, but good enough for an amateur.

It turned out that the white rims could't be sewn on due to the size and funky places, so I was forced to glue on each part to make the deadline.

Meanwhile, my partner made the 'metal' bits, including Elucidator, from cardboard. I left him to that.

Then, he spray painted them. Shame the Elucidator was a bit wobbly when I held it, but meh. Details.

 Flashy.