WSR 7-30-13

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Magi 191

Last time we thought Alibaba and Kouen’s combination might have destroyed the medium, but that’s not the case. It at least severed the connection between the medium and “Father”, however

Aladdin wonders why Kouen’s flames are still going even though the Extreme Magic is over and Kouen replies that his flames can stay for all eternity until he dissipates them. He’s using them to destroy any Black Djinn that come out of the medium, eventually hoping to expend all its magoi that way.

As Kouen and Alibaba go to the lava flow to restore their magoi, tendrils come from the black spot and suck all the magoi and rukh from the lava flow, rendering it inert and black as if it’s dead. The Medium also sucks in all the black djinn as well. It then reconstitutes itself into a slender and tall humanoid entity. It’s somewhat skeletal in appearance and the skin it has resembles Mogamett’s, which is interesting, since he did contribute a lot of his black rukh and magoi in it as well.

Kouen is astounded at the new form and even notices Astaroth’s flames are disappearing. The giant doll form sucks out the rukh from the flames, turning it black as well. It then touches the ground and we see everything in the area around its hand lose its rukh and turn black, dead and lifeless. Aladdin realizes this and says it cannot get to Magnostadt. Kougyoku asks if it’s possible that it could do that, since supposedly only Il Irah could do such a thing. Gyokuen explains that the medium is already adjusting to Father’s power and is now starting to develop power. But like the Juubi in Naruto, it’s still in an infant stage

The giant slender doll thing then sprouts countless tentacle hands, looking like an eldritch horror. Alibaba attacks it as it tries to pull Il Irah down from the clouds. It counterattacks, blocking Alibaba’s attacks and then sending the tendrils after him, eventually grabbing him and throwing him down. Kouen takes his place, seeming to do more damage, but the monster quickly grabs him, sucking away his power. Kouen uses one of Astaroth’s flame dragons to cut the arm off, but even as he stands up, it’s revealed that the entity pulled off his Djinn equip, ripping skin off of his human body to expose muscles. The same happened to Alibaba’s arm that was struck.

Kougyoku is furious that Alibaba and Kouen have been attacked (she had developed a friendship with 

Alibaba and Kouen is her flesh and blood), using her own Djinn Equip and a powerful magic that creates spears from water. Gyokuen and the others in Al Sarmen say it won’t work, but the chapter ends with some of the spears piercing into the body. And this isn’t even her Extreme Magic she used against Sinbad. The chapter ends as a good deal of the water spears stab the body, pushing it back

I’m thinking it’s the element or the nature of the attacks that manages to effect the monster, but we’ll see next time. Maybe Hakuei and Kouha can contribute as well?

World Trigger 24

Main Border headquarters had a ship come in last time and we find out who’s in it this week. It’s the top A Rank group, with the #1 Sniper and #1 and #2 Attackers in Border. They’ve brought more Triggers from the Neighbor world, which Border plans to use to advance their technology further. The Sniper, Isami, complains that the ship is too small, but the tech expert of the admins explains that it’d use too much Trion if it was any bigger.

Boss Kido then gives them a new mission: to take out the Black Trigger that joined Tachikoma: Yuma. Miwa explains the situation, recapping their fight and the abilities of Yuma’s Trigger: to replicate other Trigger abilities. The group is surprised to hear that a Neighbor joined (though one of them observes that Tachikoma is the most sympathetic to Neighbors, their engineer being a Neighbor) but also that the balance of Border is threatened by Tachikoma, one of three factions in Border, having 2 Black Triggers.

They inquire about Yuma’s activity pattern, figuring out there’s a point every day that they can attack, since they want him to be alone, not wanting to take on all of Tachikoma.

One of the admins suggests making a plan, but Kei, the leader of the “Super” A Rank group, says they have to attack tonight. He explains that Yuma could be figuring out their powers as they speak, so they have to move as quickly as possible to secure his Black Trigger.

Back at Tachikoma, the others are impressed at Chika’s level of Trion, said to be Super A Rank, comparable with the Border members we just met at the beginning of the chapter. Konami says Yuma has great potential too, at least B rank already, A Rank once he gets used to Border Triggers.

Kyousuke suggests Osamu has some work to do, making a joke to lighten things up that Osamu said Konami was cute, which takes advantage of her gullibility. The group then starts training again, Osamu motivated to work harder to get to his comrades’ levels of skill and power, even if he has less Trion and less battle experience by comparison to Chika and Yuma respectively

The chapter ends as the Super A Rank trio goes to take down Yuma, but are intercepted on the way by Jin who moves to challenge all three.

This battle is hopefully not going to disappoint, since we’re talking about the only S rank Border member known in the series and one of only 2 people known to have a Black Trigger. He may have some problems, but the sheer level of Trion and the potential powers of his Black Trigger will make this battle something we’ll enjoy.

This series definitely has potential and it’s lasted longer than 2 other series I’ve read that were cancelled before they got to 20 chapters, but it would have to go past Cross Manage’s 42 chapters to warrant more confidence in its survival.

Naruto 641

Minato, Sasuke and Naruto were in danger from true Jinchuuriki Obito’s new powers, attaching one of his Tailed Beast bombs to Minato’s arm.

Tobirama comes in, however, and saves things, using his version of the Flying Thunder God technique, which Minato technically stole in a sense from Tobirama, the originator of the jutsu. He teleports himself and Obito away, the bomb exploding from a distance, everyone but Tobirama unscathed. Tobirama had managed to attach his seal when he made contact with Obito the last time in utilizing the Converging Explosion Seal

Meanwhile, Hashirama and Madara continue to fight, Madara talking as if he’s purposely fighting Hashirama to distract him from helping with the fight against Obito, though with Obito as he is, I’m not sure Madara realizes how large the gap is becoming between them.

Other ninja marvel at the sheer power of these two legends of the ninja world. They feel insignificant by comparison, but Shikamaru encourages everyone, still connected to the army as a whole with Ino’s jutsu. He says that they can still contribute, even if it’s small compared to others. Ino thinks to herself that Shikamaru has some potential to be Hokage, at least in bringing people together. He did succeed in keeping everyone from panicking and plunging into despair at the devastating power before their eyes.

It's revealed that Obito managed to defend himself from the blow at the last second, so this will be more difficult than previously thought.

Minato says he’ll create an opening with the technique we may never see, Tobirama agreeing. But before they even try to start, Sasuke uses Amaterasu, which Obito easily blocks. Sasuke and Naruto then start to move as a team to distract Obito while Minato and Tobirama reveal they have to use the Simultaneous Switching Flying Thunder God, a simple use of the technique with clones apparently not able to cut it for some reason I’m not quite sure of.

Sasuke reveals how he can sync his chakra so well with Naruto’s, through the use of his Sharingan. The two 

combine their major attacks into a much stronger one with both fire and wind elements

Tobirama appears behind Obito and as Sasuke and Naruto move closer to attack, Minato takes the attack, surprising everyone. This was intentional, catching Obito off guard from what he thought their strategy might be. He and Tobirama use their new technique, teleporting Obito in place of Minato, taking the attack of Sasuke and Naruto, while Minato and Tobirama get off scot free as well. The chapter ends as Hinata observes Sasuke and Naruto smiling, telling Sakura this.

I doubt this is the end of Obito, but the new techniques appearing one after another is a refreshing thing, since we haven’t had that for a bit.

I hope the Third Hokage comes back, and we still have to see what Hashirama and Madara will contribute to the battle overall.

One Piece 716

Last time we were introduced to more of the major fighters in C Block, especially the Funk Brothers. It’s revealed this time that Kerry Funk ate the Jake Jake no Mi and became a Jacket Man. When anyone wears him, he controls their thoughts and actions. He uses his brother’s huge and body that’s tough enough to withstand Haki enhanced blows to fight at full power. The chapter still doesn’t explain how he was able to block the blow, sadly

It’s interesting how it works. Kerry literally becomes flatter, turning into a jacket and then Bobby puts him on like clothes. One of the most unique Devil Fruits I’ve seen in this series.

Now that Boo’s out, his brother and grandfather are going after the Funk brothers duo. Kerry taunts Sai that Boo was defeated, Sai unable to help him. Sai responds that Boo slacked off on training, but emphasizes that because he is more dedicated, he won’t mourn his brother’s loss. Kerry throws a flurry of punches, but Sai manages to literally walk on the punches, seemingly moving in slow motion and taking out Kerry and Bobby with one blow, emphasizing that he will always support his men. He’s succeeded his grandfather as the head of the Flower Country’s navy, so he’s definitely stronger than his brother.

Don Chin Jao explains briefly to Luffy why he seeks revenge on Garp. Luffy’s grandfather stole Don’s fortune and took him down from his great position of power in the past. Luffy still insists he should take it up with Garp, but Don responds that Luffy should suffer so Garp can know what it’s like to lose something precious.

Jean Ango responds to Luffy as he tries to take back his hat that he’s been getting lots of money since Luffy did the prison break at Impel Down. His major targets now are the highest ranking prisoners, like Shiryu and Ivankov, among others. Apparently the Jail Break Team, as they’re called, wasn’t officially disclosed, since Buggy, one of the members, is now a Shichibukai. But Jean managed to find out. He’s frustrated that he can’t hit Luffy. But he managed to hit Don Chin Jao, who takes Jean out with one blow, slamming him into the wall near the arena.

On the other side of the arena, Sai and Ideo are fighting and are fairly evenly matched, which is surprising, since Ideo doesn’t necessarily appear to have Haki, though someone speculated he uses Haki to enhance his shoulders so he can punch harder.

Don Chin Jao and Luffy yell at each other across the arena, running to collide and in the heat of battle, they knock out Ideo and Sai, clashing in the middle with Haki enhanced punches, which sends a huge shockwave through the arena. This is only made more impressive as there’s seemingly electricity crackling between them, their Conqueror’s Haki colliding.

This battle certainly has potential, though I don't know how long it will last. The bigger fights will be in the finals or semifinals. But Don Chin Jao is fairly impressive as a fighter, so Luffy may have some difficulty at first.

Toriko 244

We were stunned to see Frohze’s face after Jirou cut away Joa’s cloak. Meanwhile the tsunami is still bearing down on the island.

Joa/Frohze seems to shed the cloak and jumps up, using her knife to literally cut through the tidal wave at the center, dissipating it. This, of course, astonishes everyone.

Setsuno recognizes the technique as Frohze’s, so she and Jirou tag team, Setsuno’s Waterfall Spit (Takitsuba, not Takitsubo like I said last time) changes form and Jirou puts on a clawed gauntlet. Their attacks blend together in a spiraling attack that comes up at Frohze in the form of a glowing canine face.

Frohze then activates her Gourmet Cells and gives a glare and then uses another skillful technique, blowing away the attacks.

Jirou and Setsuno discuss this briefly, Jirou saying her Goumet Cells showed themselves, meaning she’s fully tapped into their power. This suggests that she’s really Frohze, since only she and Acacia ate his full course. Jirou insists it must be Frohze, but Setsuno says otherwise, noting that the attack and the cells are the same, but the face when using God Cooking was different, not to mention Setsuno apparently has confirmation that Frohze is truly dead. My first theory is that this is an advanced clone using Frohze’s Gourmet Cells.

Frohze then notices the dragon thing that Starjun called a few chapters ago and we see Starjun carrying Komatsu. Frohze notes this and reveals Komatsu was the chef she was looking for and asks Starjun to hand him over. She refers to Starjun as the second strongest in Bishokukai, which means the only person stronger than him is Midora.

He responds, saying he realized that there were spies from Neo in the Bishokukai back in the Regal Mammoth arc.

Frohze repeats her request, but Starjun denies her, the chapter ending with their conflict on the horizon.

Somehow I don’t see Starjun winning, especially after taking such a beating from Toriko. Komatsu’s going to be captured either way, it’s more a matter of who. Neo being the new enemy would be a nice change, since the Bishokukai would be better as the final villains, especially with Midora. This Frohze clone (that’s my base theory) is definitely a step up.

This is feeling a bit like Bleach, though this is the first time they’ve had a rescue arc. We don’t know where Neo’s headquarters is, but I’d imagine it’s in the Gourmet World. Buranchi may join the group to save Komatsu, especially since he’s gained a new respect for Komatsu in this.

And everyone is going to wonder if anyone’s going to technically win the Cooking Fest, which is the last thing on most people’s minds now.

Fairy Tail 346

Natsu had suffered the same fate as Erza last time and now we go back to Erza, who finds out that she can still use her magic, but it expends more magic and the exquip takes longer.

Suddenly, Minerva appears and Erza recognizes the seal. It turns out Minerva didn’t make a new guild, she just changed from Sabertooth to Succubus Eye, which is a dark guild, doing illegal underworld activities. Minerva challenges Erza, knowing that she doesn’t stand much of a chance in her present state. Erza thinks Minerva caused the time regression, but Minerva says it was another member of the guild, noting all the amazing magics you can find in the underworld of guilds

Meanwhile, Natsu is still confused, thinking the guy in question is a thief, but he responds that he’s a mage. Natsu tries to fight, having similar difficulties adjusting like Erza did. Even his magic is weaker, which he says is weird, since he used fairly powerful Dragon slayer magic as a kid. The user, still unnamed, explains that the magic’s primary purpose is to weaken the target’s abilities. Turning into a kid is a secondary effect and doesn’t actually effect time itself. So this is technically a debilitating magic. Even Natsu’s defenses are weakened, a single punch sending him flying 20 feet away

Natsu changes tactics, acting like there’s something amazing behind his opponent and then running away in the confusion.

Pulling down his bandana across his face, the Succubus Eye member reveals that he’s not a human, referring to himself as a non human. So there are demi humans/beast people in this world, it seems.

Wendy and Lucy are still looking for Gray and are being followed by Sylph Labyrinth, unsuccessfully hiding themselves as cats. After realizing they’re not fooling Wendy and Lucy, they decide to go on the offensive. 

After Wendy explains that they’re trying to help the giants, the treasure hunters respond that they don’t care, attacking the stone giant, cracking it a bit. Wendy attacks in frustration. She and Lucy resolve to fight, but the sniper’s causing them issues. But out of nowhere, Flare from Raven Tail appears to support them, making this a fair fight, 3 on 3.

The chapter ends with an observation that Flare’s guild crest has changed, but it isn’t Fairy Tail or Raven Tail. That question will hopefully be answered next time.

A fight of purely men vs. women would be interesting, especially with Flare’s sex appeal factoring in.

The fact that there are more than 2 races in the Fairy Tail world, 4 if you count the giants, is a nice development, since we’ve basically been stuck with a world with humans and anthropomorphic talking cats. Now we have demi humans and giants to consider as well. I would hope the lore gets explained more.