Go Princess Precure Ep 30 Top 3 Moments and Review: The Secret of the Lost Keys Part 3

Gokigenyou! This is my review of Go Princess Precure episode 30 and can the girls finally get back their stolen keys from Lock?

No 3: Onward into the castle!

Puff could sense the stolen dress up keys inside the castle and the girls were determined to get inside. Lock send one of his clones to deal with them and Cure Scarlet stayed behind to deal with him. Haruka and the others then transported into the castle (Using the Royal Fairies' powers) and were confronted by another one of Lock's clone. Aroma hold him off this time and the girls arrived at the throne with the original Lock sitting on his throne.

No 2: We will fight on with or without power!

Lock started mocking them as he claimed he is not working for Dyspear but for himself as he wanted to be the Despair King and turned the world into his personal playground. Although the odds are against the girls since they have no base key to transform. Lock took down very easily but the girls took a gamble to rush to open the Zetsuborg lock (where the keys are) and tried to distract him.

However Lock was too fast and knocked all of them down again. But Puff took the Sakura key and ran as she could. Lock hit her when suddenly Haruka hold onto the key and managed to unlock the Zetsuborg lock.

No 1: The New Toy...I mean Power! Princess Palace!

After the dress up keys were freed by Haruka, it returned back to the girls and they quickly transformed. The other two clones of Lock returned to him and he transformed to his real form-A giant toad creature. The girls tried to use Trinity Explosion but it didn't worked on him.

Cure Scarlet arrived to aid them and somehow their teamwork and minds became one which caused the new four keys-Sakura, Sango, Ginga and Sun keys to unite all the rest of the keys and it actually wiped out the Zetsuborg Flying Fortress.

It then became their new power up item-The Princess Palace! With their new keys, they finally defeated Lock with Precure Éclat Espoir. Lock returned back to normal (minus his getup) and a mysterious crow took the Despair gauge and fled.

Meanwhile, the girls returned to Yui and now have the Princess Palace on their side...

So let me get this straight. The last three episodes (Including this one) is actually one long TV commercial? I was watching the live streaming of this episode and you know what? Before the ending credits start, there was a commercial of the Princess Palace with the four new keys. Well, that is Toei for you-Taking our money since 1971.(That was the year of Kamen Rider first appearance on television)

Back to the episode, it is a pretty good episode with non stop action and how the girls actually used their wits against Lock despite having no powers. We also find out that Lock has been scheming all along when Dyspear retreated to heal her wounds. His plan was to overthrow Dyspear and become the new ruler of both the Hope Kingdom and Earth. Well, his plan almost succeed if it wasn't for four girls, a dog, a bird and sentient (I think) keys that destroyed the Zetsuborg Flying Fortress (and probably ruined Towa and Kanata's home in the process)

Of course, the main highlight was the Princess Palace item. I like the new form for the girls which is similar to Heartcatch and Happiness Precure's all white forms. The girls used a overkill version of their first attack to defeat Lock and from the look of it, he will be out of commission for a while. But who is the black crow who took the despair gauge from him?

Overall, I gave this episode an A minus. It was a bit too fast on how the girls got back their keys and the inclusive of the Princess Palace is another toy commercial for little girls to get it which I hope Toei don't do it again but then I could be wrong based on their track records.

Next episode, it is a new school term and Haruka make friends with a fellow student who cared about gardening. However new enemies arise and the return of an old foe! Until then, see you next week! Gokigenyou!

Graphic Novel Review: ULTRAMAN Volume 1 (Retro Hero, New Concept)

Hello everyone! This is my review of ULTRAMAN the graphic novel volume one!

I am a big fan of Ultraman since I was a kid. I watched every series thank to the advent of Internet and with the coming of the 50th year anniversary approaching next year, Ultraman is still going strong despite tough competition from the other big two toku series-Kamen Rider and Super Sentai.

So what happen if you put Ultraman, Men In Black, X-Files, Teenage Drama and Iron Man's suit and blend them all in one? You get this manga-ULTRAMAN and I have one word to say-Awesome!

Synopsis: Years ago, Ultraman merged with Science Patrol member Shin Hayata and defended the Earth from all sort of Alien invasions. When Ultraman finally separated from Hayata and left Earth, he has no memories of him being Ultraman but decided to keep quiet about it. Soon, he got married, became the Minister of Defence and had a son, Shinjiro. However after a near freak accident which leave little Shinjiro unharmed, Hayata started to suspect something is wrong with his son and himself. As Shinjiro begin high school, he too suspected something was wrong with him but before he could find answers, an old enemy from the past attacked him and Hayata. Both Father and Son are thrown into a destiny they cannot escape any more...

If you watch one Ultraman series, you probably watched them all. Since the concept is similar with aliens invading Earth and Ultraman support team will investigate and the final act will be Ultraman battling a monster and save the day. This manga is not your father's Ultraman!

Here, the idea of what happened when an Ultra Being leave your body for good and you went back being a normal person? In the case of Hayata, he actually retained a small portion of Ultraman's powers. Named Ultraman Factor by his close friend and former comrade, Ide, Hayata somehow passed on to Shinjiro some of Ultraman's powers to him.

The first chapter is from Hayata's point of view as he tried to piece together the events before he became Ultraman and it was nostalgic to see how things went through during his time as Ultraman. The shocking twist was Hayata's former comrades in the Science Patrol already knew that Hayata was Ultraman but played dumb in order to protect him from government hands. Ide even mentioned that the Science Patrol still exist despite being a front for tourists to see the museum in the day. Ide later showed Hayata a recent airline disaster and revealed that aliens are already on Earth and the Science Patrol has covered the matter from the public. Hayata then decided to join Ide to take on the alien invaders.

The following chapters showed teenage Shinjiro as he could not explain his new powers to anyone. When he nearly killed a thug with his bare hands, he ran away from everyone however an alien named Bermular appeared and tried to kill him. Hayata appeared and tried to fight Bermular but was too weak and Shinjiro decided to help his father-Wearing a new Exo Suit created by Ide, Shinjiro became ULTRAMAN...

Shinjiro played the good natured teen with a sense of justice. However he could not control his strength and nearly killed a person which reveal his fear of hurting another human being. But when Bermular (who is the first monster that Ultraman faced in the original series) claimed that both Hayata and Shinjiro are ammonites and must be eliminated. The fight scenes were pretty hardcore detailing ULTRAMAN as acrobatic with his stylish moves and Bermular who fought with fury. Even the color timer on ULTRAMAN's suit bring a moment of nostalgic and his final attack- Specium Ray left me waiting for more.

But once the battle is over, more questions were revealed since who is Bermular and why Shinjiro and Hayata are marked for death? Furthermore, Ide and a mysterious Alien were beside Shinjiro's sick bed when he woke up. In the end, it is a great start for one of the most beloved Tokusatsu heroes of all time!

Overall, three and a half stars since it took four chapters for ULTRAMAN to get into action! But we are just getting started!

P.S: I actually started reading the Mandarin translated version of ULTRAMAN a while back and in this universe, Ultraman was the only Ultra Being that came to Earth. However we will be getting more characters from the original canon like a certain man whose name is Seven. Go out and get this book if you love Sci-Fi actions or a true Ultraman fan like I am! If you can read Japanese, there is actually a web comic in the Tsuburaya Channel on Youtube based on the first few chapters of this title and I will said this manga has the potential to be animated!

Light Novel Review: Kantai Collection Kakuyoku no Kizuna Vol 2

Hello everyone! This is my review of the Kantai Collection light novel series-Kakuyoku no Kizuna volume two!

Synopsis: After winning a major turning point in the previous volume, a new and unknown Abyssal was spotted by the Submarine Musumes and it was reported back to the Admiral. He decided to begin the next phase in their operations and initiated a three night battles to take back a strategic island. However tragedy strike as Hiei who tried to win the heart of her elder sister, Kongo suffered a horrific defeat which scarred her badly. At the same time, Zuikaku and Shoukaku went to meet the Naval's final weapon-Yamato. She refused to fight in the front lines and had one request-to end her life by her fellow comrades...

If the previous volume didn't get you all pumped up, then this volume is full of action all the way. From the beginning of the new operations of how Akagi and Kaga encountered the new Abyssal force who nearly decimated them to Zuikaku and Shoukaku tried to convince Yamato into joining them.

In the anime series, Hiei was more of an annoyance but her love for Kongo was extreme in the novel. She is willing to do anything to win her sister's favor but at the cost of her life. Haruna actually show more concern to Hiei since she was with her throughout the ordeal. By the way, Kongo's attitude is bit of hard love since she doesn't want Hiei to feel sorry for herself and spend the whole volume avoiding her.

Yamato actually have a personality in the novel unlike the anime series where she only appeared in two episodes with little character development. In here, she still retained her memories of what happened in her maiden battle and blamed herself for the lives of those on board her ship. Of course, Zuikaku who is stubborn as a bull refused to give in to her childish thoughts and came up with a plan and I was actually touched on how she and Haruna helped both of them to overcome their traumas.

In the end, this is a great volume with dramatic moments and an awesome finale battle that lasted for more than an hundred over pages. A great follow up to the first volume and a must read if you want to see how Hiei overcame her fears and how awesome Yamato can truly be if she joined the battle early in the war.

Robot Girls Z Plus Ep 4 Review: The Naked Truth!

Hi everyone! This is my review of Robot Girls Z Plus episode 4 and the powerful Pikadron appeared in front of the girls!

Continuing from last episode, Pikadron challenged the girls to a battle. Geccha and her team tried to take her on but she keep absorbing their energy based attacks, Suddenly Pikadron shot a beam which reveal their weakness and they were defeated.

Team Z and Team Gou tried to stop her but failed. Gai Chan suggested to combine their powers (Actually Gai Chan took her two team mates armor parts by force) and she became Gai Chan the Great (Based on Gaiking the Great) However Gai Chan is pretty dumb and keep on using all her energy based attacks which deemed useless.

Suddenly Gai Chan activated Take Off the Great Mode (Which is actually Face Open Mode) which got Pikadron freak out at the sight of it. Gai Chan then used Burning Deadstorm which revealed Pikadron is wearing a power suit and it is connected to a truck. Bossborokko found a wire connected to her and a group of people are actually powering the suit.

Geccha got mad and used Shining Spark to defeat Pikadron and after that, everyone teased Geccha of her weakness...

Liger Sama can't read Kanji...

Po Chan is a fan of a constant defeated baseball team..

Geccha at home..?!

No comment!!!

This is a pretty funny episode especially seeing what the girls' weakness are. The only ones we didn't see are Team Gou and Grenda's weakness which spooked Pikadron. (Could be something so bad that they have to put mosaic in it) Geccha's weakness is a bit of surprise as she is not really a rich lady but actually wore simple clothings and behaving like a nerd at home.

Gai Chan is pretty awesome since we got to see Gai Chan the Great form although she is a complete idiot who keep using the same kind of attacks over again. If you want to know, Face Open Mode in the original is removing the face plate on Gaiking and revealing the internal parts of it. It is pretty scary at first but you get to use it.

Of course, Bossborokko saved the day by revealing Pikadron's power source and the group of people in the truck are victims who suffered the Robot Girls' constant attacks every day and ruining their business. Can't blame for being mad against the girls' collateral damages on them...

Overall, a fun episode to watch! Until then, see you next month!

Go Princess Precure Ep 29 Top 3 Moments and Review: The Secret of the Lost Keys Part 2

Gokigenyou! This is my review of Go Princess Precure episode 29 and how the girls are going to find back their stolen keys? (I have changed the title to Lost Keys instead of Sun Key since it is more of the girls finding the final keys)

No 3: Puff smell a Lead!

As Haruka and the others were pounding on their stolen keys by Lock, Puff had a dream that night which showed her a lead (in this case, smell a lead) to where the keys are. She told the girls and they entered the forest behind their school with Puff leading the way.

When Towa, Yui and the two fairies arrived at the beach after the forest, they realised that Haruka, Minami and Kirara were missing. In actual fact, the three girls were led to another path and entered a strange but familiar place where they were greeted by three different girls who were dressed like princesses.

No 2: Legacies from the Past!

The three princesses invited the girls to tea and started asking what their dreams are. They replied back their dreams however they had lost the will to move on because of "something" they lost.

Suddenly, a Zetsuborg and Dyspear appeared to attack them. Everyone fled however Haruka and the others stayed behind to allow the princesses to flee. They got caught by vines but their willpower managed to break the vines with a new resolve.

The three princesses then granted the girls a Dress Up Key and they quickly transformed to battle. After dealing with the Zetsuborg and Dyspear mysteriously retreated, the three princesses were revealed to be the previous Princess Precures from Hope Kingdom.

They explained that the girls have entered a world of memories and this place was once the Hope Kingdom. Because of their stolen keys, the girls felt despair which affected them too. But now they got a new resolve, the previous Princess Precures granted them new keys-Sakura, Sango and King Key to the girls. They also told them that a powerful Darkess will be arriving soon and they must be vigilant...

No 1: Behold! The Zetsuborg Flying Fortress!

Lock used the stolen keys to power the Despair gauge and turned the entire castle into a flying fortress. When the girls returned to the real world and reunited with Towa and the others, the sky cracked open a hole and revealed the Zetsuborg Flying Fortress on Earth!

The girls were speechless at the sight of the fortress...

What an episode with the introduction of the previous Princess Precures and how their pep talk gave the girls the courage to overcome their despair. Despite this plot line has been done to death for many anime series and TV shows, (Especially Toku shows) I like how the girls used their willpower and resolve to overcome their weakness.

Although I was a bit disappointed that the Previous Princess Precures just stood there with no action scene but I am surprised that they got back Fujita Saki as Chieri/Previous Cure Flora, Yukino Satsuki (Cure Melody's mother) as Yura/Previous Cure Mermaid and Shimizu Kaori (Another School Rumble Alumni) as Sei/Previous Cure Twinkle. Their civilian forms turned me on and their Precure forms were similar to Haruka and the others but their hairstyles and flare were unique from them.

Cure Scarlet is on stage for this week's ending!

Overall I gave this episode a B minus. The battle was expected and probably Dyspear was just an illusion to test the girls. But now the girls had a major pitch at hand since Lock had brought the entire castle into Earth and it is powered by Zetsuborg energies and the stolen Dress up keys! Can the girls get back their keys and face Lock in a battle to save the world? Find out what happen next in the next episode! Until then, Gokigenyou!