The Idolmaster Ep 21-The Hidden Voice of 765 Pro

Chihaya came up clear with her past thank to their reporter friend, Yoshizawa and she and the rest of the girls are preparing for the upcoming Idol Jam live concert. Kuroi was furious that his plan to discredit 765 Pro failed and swore to ruin them at the live concert.

The girls were in their dressing room when Ritsuko found out that their make-up artist was misled to think that the concert was cancelled. However Haruka suggested they help one another to put up the make-up themselves which worked.

Kuroi spoke to the music coordinater to sabotage 765 Pro which Touma saw them from a distance. The coordinater lied to 765 Pro that their songs were misplaced. Akabane gave them a new cd and accompany him to finish the songs.

Ritsuko was left in-charge of the girls and Chihaya left for the first act however she overheard the rest of the girls are trying to save the show. Haruka saw Chihaya and ask what's wrong. Chihaya broke her silence to everyone and want them to give her a chance for everything they have done for her.

The translated title of this song is "Sleeping Beauty"

They agreed and Chihaya went on stage and started singing an Acapella solo. The crowd and the girls love it which angered Kuroi more. Touma confronted him and asked him to stop this obsession. Kuroi was pissed off and left in a hurry where he saw Takagi. They never spoke a word but Takagi could hear the crowd cheering for Chihaya.

The girls congrats Chihaya and continue their acts. Akabane saw Jupiter and Touma apologize to him for Kuroi's actions. He even told Akabane that they quit however they will start all over again to challenge the girls.

After the concert, Takagi ordered Akabane to drive the girls to a special place for their success. They arrived in a high-class pub where they saw Kuroi and Yoshizawa drinking at the bar. Iori was ready to give a piece of her mind but was stopped by Akabane.

Kotori really looked different with make-up!

They sat down and were surprised to see Kotori as the singer of the pub. Her voice was pleasant to everyone as Takagi and Kuroi began to drink. He complained to Takagi that this is not over and he will prove that Idols are nothing more than tools. However Takagi claimed that a producer and an idol must work and understand each other to achieve greatness. Kuroi, being a sore loser left the pub in a hurry.

Later, Akabane asked Kotori why she stopped being an idol. She kept it as a secret as her job is to make the girls the best idols they can. Even Haruka, Chihaya and Miki asked what is it mean to be an idol? Miki replied to stand on stage and be the shining star for everyone. Chihaya added that it is give happiness to everyone. A cold breeze blew them and they realised it will be Christmas soon...

Kuroi tried one last time to sabotage the girls and it backfired. Touma finally stood up against him and now they knew Kuroi was just using them as tools for his revenge. There were two things that stood out in this episode, one was Kotori singing for the girls and I realised she is actually the eldest female in 765 Pro. Her voice was smoothing like a jazz blue singer through I prefer Chihaya's Acapella solo which again prove she is one of the better singer among the girls. Her past as a former Idol could be interesting to tell if they even want to do a side story of her and the reason of Takagi and Kuroi's fallout.

The other thing was Kuroi was in the same bar and Takagi had a drink with him. It was even confirmed though a photo that they help Kotori as an idol in the past. I guess they want to show that even though they disagreed and hated each other, they could sit down in the same place and had a drink which show true gentlemen spirit. (Although Kuroi couldn't stand Takagi's insults and left in a hurry, I could tell that we won't be hearing from Kuroi for a while)

So with Kuroi out of the picture, what could happen next? Well, we are getting a Christmas episode even though it is a month away to the real thing but in this show, anything could happen!

(I can't wait for the subs version that why I might not be able to interpret completely what is really going for this episode but the gist is mostly there. Hope you can understand!)

Fate Zero Ep 9-Parallel Lives

Archibald saw Lancer's past life in his dream. Lancer fell in love with his Lord's wife which result him being killed in the end. Archibald was tied up on a stretcher with Sola attending to him.

She explained that his magic circuits are destroyed which mean he can't use magic anymore. Sola suggested to him that she will be Lancer's master. Archibald warned her that Lancer can't be trusted as he has a hidden agenda for not wanting the Holy Grail. Sola threaten him to give her the command seals by breaking his pinky which he finally did.

Iris has just healed Maiya's wounds and Saber suggested to her to talk to Emiya of finding Caster. Iris found Emiya in the diner room and he is planning to kill Archibald. He knew that Iris will talk him into finding Caster but choose to ignore it. He claimed that saving a few children is not going to win the war and should look at the bigger picture of defeating the other masters.

Sola ordered Lancer to appear and told him that she is his new master. Lancer told her that he only serve Archibald due to his pride as his knight. Sola told him that if they got the Holy Grail, they could use to restore Archibald's magic circuits. Lancer obliged to her after that.

Rider was enjoying a drink with Waver's grandparents and was reprimanded by him. Waver took out his alchemist kit and started experimenting the river water he collected. He found out that someone is using magic near the river and locate the source of it. He deduced the location of Caster's hideout which Rider planned to attack him. Waver warned him of attacking in Caster's home ground but Rider rebutted him to seize the advantage now.

The two of them charged into Caster's hideout but no one was there. Rider warned Waver not to go further however he ignored it and found dead bodies everywhere. Waver was stunned and nearly ambushed by Kirei's Assassins. Rider defended him and the Assassins retreated. Rider destroyed Caster's hideout and retreated too.

Later, Kirei reported to Koyomi of Rider's actions however Koyomi took it easy and planned for their strategy. Kirei felt a sense of dislike for Koyomi as what Archer has told him before a very "Boring" person...

I remembered in FSN, Shiro saw Saber's past when he was unconscious. Now Archibald experience Lancer's past which I now realise that even though the masters and servants have different thinking, they have a lot in common.

Emiya want to save the world while Saber want to save her country, Archer and Koyomi are both very egoistic, Waver want to prove himself just like Rider want to prove he can conquer the world, Archibald and Lancer due to their relationship to women, Kariya wanting to save Sakura from his grandfather just like Berserker wanting to save Guinevere from King Arthur, Ryunnosuke and Caster have serious obsession and Kirei and Assassin who hide in the shadows.

Sola threaten Archibald by breaking his pinky was amusing and crazy as she prove she will do anything to be with Lancer. Unlike Lancer's past love, Grainne who did nothing other confessing her love to Lancer, Sola showed her affection to Lancer which I am sure Archibald will kill them both in the future.

Waver again prove that despite being a third-rate mage, he used Alchemist to aid his work which even Rider was impressed by him. Even though he flip out after seeing the dead bodies in Caster's hideout, Rider didn't blame him and joke that he will punch him if Waver felt unmoved.

Next episode, we move away from the adults and focus on Little Rin as she want to help her father and she ran off to the city.
 

Fate Zero Ep 8-The Strength of A Mage Killer

Iris and Maiya were away from the castle when Iris could sense Kirei's presence. The two women disobey Emiya's order and planned to stop Kirei.

Emiya fire a special round and pierce Archibald's defence. It injured him and Emiya escaped further. He knew the next round, Archibald will raise his defences using his mana and counting on it.

Kirei was attacked by Maiya but he was too strong and took her down. Iris faced him and used a magic wire to create an eagle to attack him. She managed to bind his hand to a tree however Kirei broke free using his internal strength.

Saber and Lancer took a chance and she fired Air Strike which cleaned a path for Lancer to hit Caster's mage book. This caused all the monsters to be destroyed which angered Caster to retreat.

Archibald confronted Emiya and he fire another special round which Archibald's sphere absorbed it. However the round prove it's worth as Emiya remembered a woman named Natasha in his younger days explaining to him that the rounds which is mixed with his ribs can damage a Mage's magic circuit causing them to lose their powers and sometime killing them.

Archibald suddenly was in pain and was defeated. However Lancer came to his aid after Caster has retreated. He told Emiya that he will not kill him as a debt to Saber but will fight with her in fair terms. He retreated with Archibald after that.

Kirei held Iris by the throat and found out that she is a fake master to protect Emiya and she is a vessel carrying the holy grail. He could not understand why she want to protect him when Assassin informed him that Saber is on her way. Kirei stabbed Iris and escaped.

Saber arrived to Iris's side however Iris has already healed from her wounds. She did not explain to Saber that Avalon was placed inside her as order by Emiya to protect Iris from harm. Iris then went to heal Maiya and also realised Kirei is the most dangerous enemy they have to face...

So we can see that both Emiya and Kirei are really tough as they displayed how dangerous they could be against Mages. Emiya who was given special rounds mixed with his ribs is able to cause Mage's magic circuit to overload and his strategy in using Archibald's defence against him work. Kirei is like a tank who can take machine gun rounds and even destroy a tree which is totally ridiculous. No wonder Emiya Shiro had a hard time defeating him in FSN.

We also got to see Avalon who happened to be part of Excalibur which is now in Iris's body. Avalon is supposed to be the ultimate defence shield and it has the ability to heal any wounds. However given the circumstances, I got a feeling that Iris will eventually pass Avalon to Emiya and she will pass on. Emiya will then used Avalon to save Shiro's life before the events of FSN.

From the next episode, it seems that Sola suggest to Archibald that she will be Lancer's master while Rider seems to be pissed after Waver got hurt...