Asakomi

Tired.. sick.. busy.. no feel like bloggy.. Ren go sleepy now.

Ps. Black Cat rules, and not only because Train sings, in english(/engrish), a song all about milk.

Trust me. It’s hilarious.

So Yamato’s plan was to be number #1 so he can show Suzuka that he’s worth her time, and that would give him justification for confessing to her again. However, both the race and his second confession go terribly wrong.

You know, I really agree with Kabitzin: “Unlike in less realistic shows, Yamato doesn’t just power up overnight; in fact, for all his talk about pushing his body past the limit he ends up sucking out and crying on the floor after yet another rejection.”

I also love the small things that show how Suzuka is softening - not only did she go to make Yamato eggs because she knew he was bummed, but she washed his dishes too. It was also sweet of her to tell him stories of her own struggles when she first started track so he wouldn’t be so hard on himself. At last she is beginning to truly look beyond her own pain to see those around her, though when she realizes people are seeing the cracks in her rough exterior she throws up her walls again.

It must’ve been weird for Suzuka to hear Yamato so hell bent on becoming number one. After all, wasn’t her main complaint about him at the beginning of the series that he had no goals and he was too careless about everything? Boy, things sure have changed haven’t they.

In fact, all the girls have noticed the change in him. Miki marvels that he’s so determined and correctly figures out that winning Suzuka’s praise is the motivation. Honoka watches from the shadows, overhears their conversation, and her heart is broken once again. She admits to Nana that she had intended to confess to Yamato again, but now she doesn’t know if she should bother. Nana gives some great advice at this point - forget about a guy who won’t even look at you because, darlin, there are plenty of fish in the sea.

I’m glad that Yamato told Suzuka to shut up for once when she was criticizing him. And kudos to him for asking her point blank just what it is about him that irks her sooo much. Too bad she didn’t have the guts to answer. ;-). Still, he shook her up enough to make her stop him from leaving so she could apologize in a truly sincere tone.

Ah, our poor conflicted heroine.. will you ever sort your feelings out?

At the end of last episode we learned that Creed is still alive. Not only that, he’s the leader of the Apostles of the Stars (that would be what Kyouko and Charden are a part of). They’re going to be throwing a festival of sorts (read: kill a bunch of important people) to announce themselves to the world. Train rushes off to face Creed, Sven tries to stop him and again we have delicious fight scenes. Train is back to his brooding self as the mere mention of Creed brings back memories of Saya’s death.

Creed really is the jealous lover type. He killed Saya so she wouldn’t influence Train, and when he sees Eve, Sven, and Rin gathering around Train he looks upon them with disgust and vows to get rid of them as well. He’s desperate to bring Train to his side.

Now, normally I hate opera, but the operatic score that played in the background during this episode was absolutely beautiful and helped contribute to the “something catastrophic is about to happen” kind of mood. I love ALL the background tracks in this show. But I think I’ve said that already.

Black Cat delivered an emotionally powerful episode this time around and even threw in some backstory for Sven too. I’m so glad that the subbers are still putting this out even with the rumour of Funi licensing it floating around. I hope I get to see more episodes, but I guess its fansubbing fate remains to be seen until an official announcement is made.

Gyanza Rujike is target for today. The Taoists have him on their list and want to give him a flask of Shinkitou, which is the drink that awakens the power of the Tao. Team BlackCat! go after him because Rin wants to get the flask before Gyanza drinks it so she can study it. Oh, and Gyanza’s really pissed at Sven for having captured him “back in the day”

This was a highly entertaining episode. Train’s new demeanor is definitely growing on me as the interactions between him, Sven, and Eve are just priceless. I was also rolling on the floor as Kyouko drooled over Train and kept trying to kiss him, only to have him dodge her and make her kiss a cat instead. (Where does he keep that thing? Ha). And let’s not forget lady Sven and his beautiful dress. He’s so..errr… pretty? I hope he never decides to be a transvesite because the look so doesn’t suit him.

Omygosh! I almost lost hope that any more Basilisk would ever be released. Please please don’t let it be months again before the next episode is released. There are only four more to go!

The flashback with Tenzen and Ogen was quite informative. He saw that Ogen couldn’t kill Danjo, which might have made his disgust over Oboro not being able to kill Gennosuke all the more intense. He probably thinks women are weak and can’t make good decisions or be good leaders because they end up having feelings for some guy, which would of course mean he, with his lack of human emotion/compassion, would obviously be better fit as a leader. HA. You vile man. You have no consideration for human life and would make a horrible leader. I hope you die…. errrr… stay dead.

The battle between Kagero and Akeginu was amazingly intense. We really got to see the power of Akeginu’s emotions propel her. And even though Zaemon was part of the plot to lure Akeginu to Kagero, it seems he may be starting to feel remorse over what’s been happening between the two clans.

4 episodes to go and only Oboro remains of the Iga. I can’t wait to see how this is going to end! (But I’ll probably have to.. a long long time.. sigh..)

So now that Yamato has admitted to himself that he still likes Suzuka, he wrestles with the pros and cons of confessing to her a second time. He figures it’ll probably just turn out like last time so he shouldn’t bother at this point.

Now, that guy on the track team (who’s name escapes me at the moment) describes Kazuki as stupid, irresponsible, overconfident, anad he fought with Suzuka all the time. Going by that description there is one difference between Yamato and Kazuki - the latter was serious about track.

Seems Yamato gets this because this episode he is dead serious about becoming number one. Second place is not good enough, he’s going to be the number one athlete in Japan.

A lot of people probably will criticize his motivation here. Heck, I’m sure I have in previous posts. But when I think about it a little bit more how many people in sports have truly pure motivations? How many athletes out there are playing just for the love of the game? I’m sure there are some, but the vast majority are undoubtedly fueled by the desire for success, recognition, money, acceptance, etc. etc. I won’t harp on Yamato for wanting to be good at track just to impress Suzuka.

In any case, it seems to be working. I think she is impressed, though she’s not really showing it at the moment, at least not to him. At the very least he’s getting her to think about him more.

… I don’t think I like the noisy, happy, genki Train.. I miss my melancholy mysterious brooding hero. It’s sooo weird to see him laughing and smiling. It’s going to take me some time to adjust to this..

Anyhoo… this time around we are introducted to two Tao wielders - Charden (who has a ridiculously tall hat, by the way) and his female partner Kyouko. They want to destroy Chronos, and part of their plan is to make people drink this special liquid that will give them taoist powers. Well, that’s one way to recruit! Only problem is their recruits usually end up going psychotic and literally self-destructing.

Our target today is a guy who likes plants a little too much and goes a wee bit nutso when Eve steps on his flowers. Charden and Kyouko had given him a little flask of that liquid earlier, and he takes his opportunity to drink it. Eve tries to fight him on her own, with little success. But in the end Team Black Cat! prevails.

Again, it’s weird to see Train so… animated. I still enjoyed this episode because the interactions between the characters are just so amusing and the action scenes are always lovely to behold. My absolute favourite thing this time around though has got to be the music. I so need this soundtrack.

Yamato is upset that Suzuka is mad at him and it’s affecting his performance on the track team. Miki tries to help him out, but he’s still distracted.

This causes him to reflect on all the mistakes he’s made in his relationships with Suzuka and Honoka. He then asks himself the all important question of, “What is it that I really want?” His immediate need is to be friends with Suzuka again, so he decides to come clean with her but he can’t figure out how to tell her.

In the end, he just goes for it. He’s never been the most eloquent speaker but at least he finally tells her the truth. She’s understandably upset. He keeps trying to lighten things up betweeen them, but Suzuka, in typical i’m-confused-about-my-emotions-so-
i’ll-just-turn-them-off fashion, reacts coldly to all his attempts. Also typically, she eventually breaks down and ends up screaming at him.

Cutest Suzuka moment: her being too embarassed to take out her laundry when Yamato is there because he might see her underwear.

Yamato may be dumb, but man Suzuka doesn’t help lessen any confusion. “I’m not hungry, stop talking to me.” “I am hungry, give me some of your food.” “Leave so I can take my laundry out, I’m embarassed!” “Where do you think you’re going? I can’t eat alone!”

At least he figured out in the end that he still likes her. Maybe now we’ll see some real progression in their relationship? C’mon people there’s only 5 episodes to go! (Wait, only five more? Booooo)