I wonder if glowing eyes affects her vision? In fact, how does she get her eye to be luminescent? Is it moss? Yeah, its probably moss.

There can only one reason why they are so dressed up: fanservice…

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Arago and Ewan Hunt witness their parents death at the at hands of a mysterious being known as the “Patchman”. Fifteen years later, the brothers live drastically different lives until their paths cross again following the trail of the Patchman’s latest victims. Their latest encounter with the being left both at the edge of death. But the Patchman wouldn’t have that — he needs one of them to be his new body. Using parts of Ewan, he revives Arago only to have his powers stolen by him. With his brother’s death weighing on his heart, Arago dedicates his life to saving others with his new powers. By day, he is a detective; by night, he’s fighting demons and spirits until the line between his double life blurs.

Recap of Pop GO posts published on Aug. 4, 2012.

Opening

• Art Of Fighting

News

• Daleks Call Out For Asylum In Newest “Doctor Who” Teaser Trailer

Reviews

• Anime Review: Hunter X Hunter - 37-41
• Comic Review: Animal Man #12
• Manga Review: One Piece - 676

Segments

• Mangaka of the Week: Rumiko Takahashi

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Rumiko Takahashi-sensei is considered to be one of the most affluent mangaka in Japan and one of its wealthiest citizens. It is no wonder why sensei acquired such wealth and fame — she is the best selling female comic artist in history. With titles such as InuYasha, Ranma 1/2, Maison Ikkoku, and Rin-ne under her name, it is only right that sensei would have such a position.

1. Devil Summoner: Kuzuha Raidou Tai Kodoku no Marebito

Author:        Atlus, RA-SEN  
Artist:          AYAMURA Kirihito 
Genre(s):    Action Fantasy Romance Shounen Supernatural

“Based on the Shin Megami Tensei series of the highly successful Persona 3 and Persona games by Atlus, this manga is a spinoff of the Devil Summoner PS2 games. The Narumi Detective Agency is where the people of old Japan go to for mysterious and supernatural cases. But Narumi is just the face of the operation and the real hero is Kuzunoha Raido, the devil summoner. As a devil summoner, Raido can call upon many different demons to assist him in solving cases that deal with other demons causing harm in the human world. Lately, there have been a surge of cases and a powerful summoner seems to be behind all the incidents. Is the Narumi-Raido combo strong enough to overcome the demon force more powerful than anything they have experienced before?” -Fallen Syndicate

Click below to view the rest of the notable manga from 7/15 - 7/22.

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I may be a shoujo manga reviewer, but there is a deep love for anything shounen in my heart. The first anime I ever watched was Naruto and I’ve been hooked ever since. Soon, I got into shoujo as well through a mutual friend and I fell in love with it. It was after this that I realized that I am unable to watch just one type or the other by themselves. I need a good balance of both for my entertainment purposes and I think that others may benefit from watching a type of anime they aren’t used to. You may really be a pure-action sort of person, but trying out a different type of show my benefit you more than you think.

As a super fan of both types of anime, I’m here to help! Read on for my thoughts on what a shounen lover may like about shoujo and what a shoujo viewer could get from shounen series!

Shonen manga, stories often celebrated for their authentic feeling of excitement and fun, are a staple in today’s marketplace. These stories, enriched with excellent and intricately crafted worlds of fun and adventure, are only amazing with excellent protagonist leads that complement stories of friendship and bonds and pursuing ones dreams.  The times of the past had characters who made many manga unique and creative, for example, Syaoran in Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles or Mashiro and Takagi in Bakuman, and even Ikki in the recently concluded Air Gear.

For some currently serialized shonen manga — both up-and-coming and established and long-running (with no end in sight) — they’re home to protagonists who are currently the most memorable and unique.

Read on to find out who these five definitive protagonists are in my opinion.

Those who attend will automatically be entered for a chance at prizes, and will also have 10 chances at being interviewed and featured by us in our Hi 5 segment!

If you’re a fan of shonen manga and video games (among other things), this is the chat for you. Come join!

Previously in Bleach: Ichigo was transported into Riruka’s doll house and pitted face-to-face with a cute yet menacing pig.  Chad, coming in at the very last moment, attempted to help Ichigo think of something to help him unleash his fullbring power, but it came a few seconds too late. How did Ichigo respond to the sudden change in his foe, was he able to bring back his powers? Read on to find out if these questions and more were answered in this weeks chapter of Bleach!

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Plot Continuation:  Before returning to Ichigo, Kubo focused the readers’ attention to the now named, Giriko (who looks like Furher Bradley from Full Metal Alchemist). We find that he has a time based fullbring (the was the second time a character in the manga has used some aspect of time for their power). He delivered an explanation of his power to Chad, whom responded by wishing that Giriko would deactivate it, but, like most would predict, that wasn’t possible.

The scene switched to Ichigo who we found was still dodging but finally managed to retaliate, giving him some time to find a corner and think. 

Like the previous chapter, Chad once again burst in with input to help Ichigo think of that which he fights for (his pride). As an aside, considering this appears in Shonen Jump alongside Katekyo Hitman Reborn…are the characters in that not also fighting for their “pride” as well; how interesting that manga share themes concurrently.  Once again, the chapter ended abruptly with Ichigo’s moment of realization!

Artwork:  The comparison between Giriko and Furher Bradley was hard to avoid. Prowling the web it seemed that many fans agreed that they are strinkingly similar. That being said, I thought that the character design is fitting for the role that Giriko plays and his power, however a truly original non lookalike character would have been better.

Scenes with Ichigo in motion looked great with the lines that have been drawn around him conveying motion.  

The scene with the flashback was great as well, and worked to bring back memories of past times. They are greatly detailed too, with Ichigo delivering a smile when he had that bandage on his face. 

Concluding Remarks:  Kubo fail victim to reusing elements.  First Giriko’s character design looked similar to some other character, second, time had already been used as a power (Espada number 2, Barragon, aging, time field, remember?), and third, Chad blurted out again, like in the previous chapter. Apart from a change in circumstances, it felt like the concluding moments of last chapter were on repeat for this chapter. There were great moments but the feelings of reused elements and deja vu, definitely brought the chapter down; there could have been some originality as well (like letting Ichigo reach the conclusions himself?).  The chapter felt too short as usual. If I had it my way, Bleach would be the manga that deserves to have more than 20 pages a week. 

GO Rating - 3 / 5

[Mangastream]

Previously in Fairy Tail: With the expeditious conclusion of the explosive Mirajane v Azuma fight leaving readers in a daze, Hiro Mashima changed scenes and brought us to Ultear v Dark Mage Zeref…How did this encounter turn out? Read on to find out if this and more was answered in Fairy Tail 221!!!

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Plot Continuation:  Because of the way Mashima laid out the chapter (Wendy x Natsu, exposition and minor shuffle/showing of Grimoire Heart and other Fairy Tail mages, and back to Zeref) the middle exposition of the chapter was forgettable. Although the ultimate magic world is the title of the chapter, it felt like readers would be more interested in Ultear v Zeref than that which we were shown (the conversation with Ultear occurs before the exposition on Zeref was given). Ultear should have been the one delivering the lines, and that which happened between the two should have been shown in panels, rather than off panel…

Although the plot moved forward, it was done in a disappointing method.  Fan favorite characters were not in action (such as Gajeel who is still in recovery), Zeref proved to be disappointing (defeated by Ultear offpanel?!), and the fighting that was shown was forgettable.  This is perhaps the weakest and most disappointing chapter in this arc thus far.

Artwork:   The plot is complemented with stellar artwork.  The strike a pose while attacking the enemy was my favorite one of the bunch as it highlights an interesting new character design from Mashima.

Landscapes in the chapter looked on point and nice, especially the one over Tenhou Island (not pictured). The facial impressions of Ultear and the dark mage conveyed the emotions of their statements quite well and looked believable.  

Concluding Remarks:  The plot moved forward but in a way that was disappointing. The dark mage had so much potential but fell flat.  Knowing how most shonen manga go on to other events and will not focus on the main event, will show us that Ultear v Zeref is probably going to not be in the immediate future and we will instead return to, hopefully, Erza’s fight or back to Gray’s, Lucy’s, and Loki’s. And if I may speak on speculation, I still hope for the dragonslayer team up with this dark mage to take down Grimoire Heart…it could happen, because as it stands right now, there is no way that Grimoire Heart can lose.

GO Rating - 2 / 5

[Mangastream]

Previously in Fairy Tail: Natsu, now empowered with new found strength after finding Makarov beat down, felt invigorated and faced Zancrow head on! Can he defeat him?! Read on to find out if this and more were answered in Fairy Tail chapters 219 and 220!

Previously in KHR: The battle for the armbands reached epic proportions when Hibari unleashed a series of powerful and mighty attacks that eliminated all of Adelheid’s blizzard droids.  How does Adelheid retaliate? Read on to find out if this question and more were answered in Target 323.

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Plot Continuation: Hibari immediately closed in to land an attack on Adelheid. She quickly had her rejuvenated Blizzard droids hone in on attacking him. Declaring that they were no longer a threat to him, Hibari immediately destroyed them.  With sheer determination and strength, he lunged powerfully at her Ice Castle shielding. Surprisingly to us readers, he managed to only get a crack in it.  Hibari launched a few more attacks before standing still and revealing the final move in this battle.

Adelheid, arrogant behind her own shield of ice, was defeated instantly!  

Artwork:  I do not think that the mangaka’s strength lies in her portrayal of the action scenes, speficially those in which characters such as Hibari are in motion. Although, she does great with the characters of focus in these scenes, I can not help but notice details on character models are just missing in these moments. Characters have barely noticeable expressions and other general details in terms of the background are just missing. 

What she excels at, is that her art style for these moments of action do work to convey the sense of strength and power that the characters pack. For example, in the scene above, the way she has drawn it and with the lines of motion, it excellently shows that he is approaching Adelheid at a very fast pace to deliver a powerful blow to the ice shielding.  Finally, she must be commended on her greatly detailed drawing the expanded needle spheres in a panel further in the chapter (not pictured); it was simply outstanding and stunning.

Closing Remarks: With this battle for armbands coming to an end, it seems that those who speculated that Hibari would be victorious, called it right. If I recall from a previous review, I stated that Hibrari would win as well. Mukuro/Daemon Spade spoke of Adelheid as if she was impossible to defeat, and even she believed it, which, more often than not in most shonen manga, signals that a character can and will be defeated.  Though it would have been a shocker if Hibari was defeated. How would this arc then turn out?  

Ultimately, the battle ended in a great and over the top manner, delivering fans of the series that which they wanted.  Now that it is over and Adelheid is about to be taken away, it will be interesting to see another revelation of the past with the Vongola and Simon, as well as what Daemon Spade’s next move is.  I wonder, will the one who is in the hospital be the next too arrive…

GO Rating - 4 / 5

[Mangastream]

Previously in Bleach: With more revelations, Ginjou told Ichigo and Chad of how humans, like Ichigo, possess powers. He further told them of the what Xcution wants to gain or lose and then reached out to ask Ichigo if he would like their help. Ichigo, with the support of Chad, agreed to allow the people of Xcution to aid him in getting his powers back. 

Previously in Fairy Tail:  Right off the thrilling conclusion of the Hades v Makarov fight, Natsu went head to head with one of the seven kin of purgatory, the fire godslayer, Zancrow. In explosive fashion, fire went against fire. Zancrow proved too much for Natsu and he was knocked down. Will Natsu be able to overtake this powerful opponent? Read on to find out if this and more was answered in Fairy Tail chapter 218!