Monday, October 27, 2008

Mobile Suit Gundam 00: Episode Guide

Season 2, Ep 1: The Angel's Second Advent

4 Years have passed since the final battle with Celestial Being and the government has formed a group called the A-LAWs. A rebel group called Kataron has formed to try and oppose the A-LAWs. The remaining Celestial Being members gather together to stop the ruthless methods of the A-LAWs. First they must discover if Setsuna F Seiei is alive and able to continue the battle.

Aired: 10/5/2008

Season 2, Ep 2: Twin Drive

Setsuna goes down to Earth to locate Celestial Being strategist Sumeragi Lee Noriega and to recruit Lyle Dylandy, brother of the late Neil Dylandy (also code-named Lockon Stratos). Lyle is to become the new Lockon Stratos within Celestial Being. The three return to space but intel is leaked that reveals the position of the Ptolemaios 2 and the ship is attacked by A-LAWs. With only two Mobile Suits, Setsuna and Tieria must try to fend off the enemy even though the new 00 Gundam is unstable.

Aired: 10/12/2008

Season 2, Ep 3: Operation Allelujah Rescue

Celestial Being discovers that Gundam Meister Allelujah Haptism is alive and being held prisoner in a Human Reform League prison facility. Along with the intel, they also find that Marina Ismail of Azadistan is also a prisoner. At the same time as the rescue mission, Kataron mounts an offensive to free their captured comrades thanks to intel from Lockon. Before Allelujah escapes in his new Gundam: Arios, he is stopped by Lieutenant Soma Peries. Allelujah tells her that her true name is Marie Parfacy.

Aired: 10/19/2008

Season 2, Ep 4: Reasons for Fighting

As the Ptolemaios escapes underwater, Marina asks to be transported to Azadistan. On the way, they are ambushed by A-LAWS and their new underwater mobile armour: the Trilobite. Setsuna defeats it and then he and Allelujah head for the surface. Their attack on the main ship is cut short by Mr. Bushido(Graham) and Lieutenant Peries. Both Gundams are having trouble when Kataron intervenes with support suits. After the battle, Shirin Bakhtiar comes forward to Marina to say that she has joined Kataron.

Aired: 10/26/2008

Season 2, Ep 5: Homeland Burning

Saji, unwilling to remain with Celestial Being or Kataron, escapes in a car only to be captured by an Earth Federation ship. He is interrogated by Colonel Smirnov who believes that he is innocent but Saji's information is leaked to the A-LAWS and Smirnov releases Saji when he can no longer protect him. The A-LAWS attack the Kataron base with Military Automatons that kill soldiers and civilians alike while Soma Peries can only watch in horror. Meanwhile, Setsuna and Marina arrive in Azadistan to find it in flames with Ali Al-Sarchez in the middle of the chaos.

Aired: 11/2/2008

Season 2, Ep 6: Scar

When the Gundam Meisters return, they are accused by Kataron of leaking information. Tieria sees Saji looking in horror at the carnage and interrogates him. Meanwhile, Sumeragi has disturbing flashbacks of the death of her loved one and she faints. The A-LAWS attack again and Setsuna goes after Mr. Bushido while Allelujah tries to get through to Soma Peries.

Aired: 11/9/2008

Season 2, Ep 7: A Reunion and A Parting

Setsuna tries to activate Trans-Am to fight off Mr. Bushido and he gains the upper hand but before he can strike the final blow, the Trans-Am fails and Mr. Bushido leaves in disgust. Allelujah grabs onto Soma Peries suit with Arios and they both plummet to the ground. They exit their Mobile Suits and Allelujah tries to get through to Soma saying that she is really Marie Parfacy. He manages to break through to her other personality and they stop fighting. Sergeant Smirnov arrives but after hearing the explanation he says he will let them be together.

Aired: 11/16/2008

Season 2, Ep 8: An Innocent Distortion

After listening to the Innovator, Regene Regetta, and hearing his thoughts on Aeolia Schenberg's plan, Tieria and Setsuna infiltrate a party which Livonze Almark will be attending. When hearing of this intel, Tieria volunteers to go for recon with Setsuna going as backup. At the party, Livonze reveals to Tieria that he should have died in the battle four years ago with the rest of Celestial Being. Livonze extends an offer to Tieria to join him but Tieria refuses. Together with Setsuna, who has been compromised in the presence of Louise Halevy, Tieria makes his escape only to run into Ali Al-Sarchez in the air.

Aired: 11/23/2008

Season 2, Ep 9: Unerasable Past

Setsuna and Tieria face off against Ali Al-Saachez's Arche Gundam, but are outmatched by the new machine. Lockon learns the circumstances behind his brother's death. A message to Celestial Being leads Sumeragi to realize that Kati is a member of the A-LAWS.

Aired: 11/2/2008

Season 2, Ep 10: Heavenly Light

The surviving Katharon members plan for negotiations with the Seele Kingdom to oppose the A-Laws. Meanwhile, Celestial Being return to their asteroid base, where Setsuna retrieves the 0-Raiser. Meanwhile, the A-Laws fire a particle beam with their new orbital weapon, Memento Mori, destroying the Seele Kingdom's capital and the Katharon agents who were negotiating with the Seele government.

Aired: 12/6/2008

Season 2, Ep 11: 00's Voice

After Memento Mori is fired Katharon begins planning an attack to destroy the superweapon. Tieria decides to tell his comrades about the Innovators. A-Laws launch an attack on Celestial Being's asteroid base forcing everyone to flee. During the battle Ian is injured, leaving Saji to deliver the 0-Raiser to Setsuna. The combined unit, the 00-Raiser, is able to dispatch the A-Laws. Saji and Louise are shocked to learn that they are fighting on opposing sides.

Aired: 12/14/2008

Season 2, Ep 12: Waiting in Space

00-Raiser's increased Trans-Am rate enables it to outclass and outmaneuver the Innovators' mobile suits forcing them to flee as their suits are destroyed. Louise concludes that Saji has always been a member of Celestial Being and gets rid of any memory she has of him. The Memento Mori's second barrage destroys a military base and simultaneously kills innumerable civilian refugees. As the Katharon space force approaches the Memento Mori, the superweapon turns its laser on the fleet and annihilates half of the ships.

Aired: 12/21/2008

Season 2, Ep 13: Offensive Operation: Memento Mori

The meisters launch a daring and dangerous attack on the orbital weapons system in order to destroy it once and for all.

Aired: 12/28/2008

Season 2, Ep 14: A Song is Heard

After the Memento Mori's destruction, the Ptolemaios is forced to descend to Earth. Separated from his comrades, Setsuna is lured by Ali Al-Saachez into a meeting with Ribbons. In a heated battle Setsuna manages to destroy the Arche Gundam with the 00 Raiser's Trans-Am system, but is unable to kill Ali himself. Meanwhile, the Ptolemaios is attacked by the Innovators and Tieria reveals the Seraphim Gundam hidden in Seravee. Tensions between the A-Laws and the Federation Army continue to rise to the point of an emerging coup d'etat.

Aired: 1/11/2009

Season 2, Ep 15: Paean of the Rebellion

The crew of the Ptolemaios calls for assisstance from Katharon to complete their repairs. Meanwhile, a wounded Setsuna must also seek help from Katharon and is once again reunited with Marina. Hank Hercule's coup d'etat also begins in Africa throwing the Federation into chaos and unexpectedly aiding the Ptolemaios. Setsuna once again encounters the mysterious Mr. Bushido and his new machine, Masurao.

Aired: 1/18/2008






Friday, August 22, 2008

Gundam 00 season 2

Second Season

4 years since the final battle between Celestial Being and the UN Forces. Humanity, having established the Earth Sphere Federation, forms an independent security preservation force, Arrows, separate from the formal Federation army to further unify nations and the will of mankind. But the reality was the inhumane oppression of misuse of powers, doctrines & ideologies in the name of unity.

Saji Crossroad, who followed the path to becoming a space engineer to keep a promise to Louise Halevy and fulfill a dream, she is also compelled to become involved in Federation government reform.

Meanwhile, Setsuna F. Seiei, surviving the final battle 4 years ago, saw the future of the world that had been changed by Celestial Being. With the defeat of guardian Alejandro Corner, he dreamed of a peaceful world without conflict. But before his own eyes was the reality of the continuing strain on peace, the oppression caused by Arrows. He decides once more to fight with Gundam, the power with the potential to change the world.






Gundam 00



The series is set in the years 2307 AD of the Gregorian calendar. During this time, fossil fuels became exhausted and the distribution of fuels became imbalanced. Humanity must rely on an array of solar power generation systems orbiting the Earth, and supported by three orbital elevators, each one pertaining to one of the three "major powers" on the planet.

With this infinite source of energy benefiting only the major powers and their allies, constant warfare erupts around the globe for fuels and energy. The nations that rely on fuel have plunged into poverty. Many believed that solar energy threatened the "promised land of God". The chaos led to the formation of a private military organization, called Celestial Being, dedicated to eradicating war and uniting humanity with the use of four humanoid machines called Gundams. Mobile Suit Gundam 00 follows four mobile suit pilots termed Gundam Meisters, sided with Celestial Being. The protagonist is 16-year old Setsuna F Seiei, a quiet, taciturn young man who grew up in the Kurdish Republic, and a Gundam Meister for two years. He pilots the GN-001 Gundam Exia, a high mobility mobile suit effective in melee combat. Confronting the armed resistance of the three world superpowers, the Gundam Meisters were forced to fight several opposing aces, such as Ali Al-Saachez, a mercenary who was responsible for the death of Setsuna's and Lockon's family.

Facing this new threat, the three major powers eventually unite into the United Nations Army in order to counter Celestial Being's armed interventions. In order to fight the Gundams, the United Nations Army employed the help of Laguna Harvey, a Celestial Being intelligence agent who provides them with 30 units of the GN-X, a series of special mobile suits equipped with pseudo-GN Drives that are on-par with the Gundams spec-wise. As the United Nations resist Celestial Being's interventions, a second team of Gundams, known as Team Trinity, appears and assists in the Meisters' eradication of war, albeit in a much more cruel and cold-blooded fashion, in contrast with the original Meisters' more pacifist and less-aggressive nature of armed intervention.

Celestial Being's supercomputer Veda, located on the moon, was later shut down by Alejandro Corner, a former Celestial Being observer who plans to make use of the chaos and destruction created by Celestial Being to rule a reconstructed world. Without the organization's artificial intelligence, Celestial Being was subsequently overwhelmed by the equally powerful GN-X units and their superiority in quantity.

The United Nations Army initiates Operation Fallen Angels to destroy the Gundams, having discovered the location of the Meisters' mothership, Ptolemaios. During the operation, Ali Al-Saachez, now piloting the stolen Gundam Throne Zwei, kills Lockon Stratos after a climatic battle. Alejandro Corner, in his unique custom mobile armor Alvatore, attacks Gundam Exia as the GN-X units destroy the Ptolemaios and the remaining Gundams. As Exia struggles with the monstrous Alvatore, Alejandro reveals his true plan to Setsuna; to destroy and rebuild the current world and achieve world domination. Setsuna, who for long had attempted to understand and correct what he perceived as a distortion, proclaims Alejandro as the source of said distortion and was eventually successful in defeating Alvatore, killing Alejandro in the process. Just as Setsuna begins to catch his breath, Graham Aker, an ace pilot of the United Nations Army, approaches with the Union Flag Custom II and challenges Setsuna to a fight, seeking revenge for his fallen comrades and questioning the purpose of Gundams' existence. The fight results in the destruction of both suits, with the fates of the pilots unknown.






Thursday, August 21, 2008

Vampire Knight Season 2 Announced



Exciting, yet unsurprising news, the second season of the anime adaptation of Matsuri Hino's original manga "Vampire Knight" has just been confirmed for broadcast this October on the TV Tokyo station. The 13th and final episode of the first season will run next week in Japan.
The fifth manga volume will be released in the U.S. this September by Viz Media.



Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Soul Eater




Soul Eater primarily revolves around students classified as meisters at the Shinigami Weapon Meister Vocational School , or Shibusen for short, located in the fictional Death City , in Nevada, United States. The school is run by Shinigami, the God of Death himself, as a training facility for weapons and the human wielders of those weapons, the meisters. Each meister has at least one demon weapon companion which has both a weapon and human form. Shinigami created the school as an organization that enforces peace in order to prevent the rebirth of the "kishin", evil demon gods that nearly destroyed everything by plunging the world into chaos. Human souls that have become evil by straying from the path of humans have a high risk of becoming kishin, so evil humans are constantly being hunted down and killed by the students trained at Shibusen. The ultimate goal of the students with their weapons is to have their weapons defeat and absorb the souls of ninety-nine evil humans and one witch, which will dramatically increase the power of the given weapon and thus be capable of being used by shinigami. In order to ensure this is done in a timely manner, all students and weapons attend classes regularly and are given homework or supplementary lessons to further their training. The meisters have a rating system that goes from one to three stars which usually measures soul energy. It is important that the meister and weapon can tune their "soul wavelength" to perform high level attacks and bring out the weapon's full power.

Maka Albarn is Soul Eater Evans' meister. She is the more level-headed of the two but when her anger gets the better of her, she will put her foot down. Where Soul Eater seems to be the brawn, Maka is the brain. She always tries to think of a way to beat their opponent by exploiting the opponent's weaknesses. Soul Eater, or simply Soul, Maka's Demon Scythe partner; he has a personality which mainly consists of what he considers"cool". Being a "cool" guy, he almost always uses the direct approach which most of the time fails. He sometimes becomes too driven by the idea of eating souls, which leads him to bicker with Maka, but in the end they remain friends and partners.

Maka is friends with a meister named Black Star who is Tsubaki Nakatsukasa's meister. He comes from a family of ninjas known as the Star Clan, and uses ninja tactics during battles. His biggest weakness is that he is a total show-off and thinks that he is some kind of star, which he happily proclaims, defeating the purpose of the ninja arts. Black Star hates it when someone gets more attention than him and is determined to show them who the real star is. He is also able to use his soul wavelength in hand-to-hand combat. Tsubaki, Black Star's Dark Demon Blade partner, can change into multiple ninja weapons when in battle. She is most of the time disheartened by Black Star's loud self but she still puts up with it because that is what she likes about him. She has a very forgiving personality and always tries to help everyone even when she has no idea how to help.

A third meister, Death The Kid, is Patty Thompson's and Liz Thompson's meister and Shinigami's son. Otherwise known as simply Kid by his friends and family, he is completely obsessed about everything being symmetrical and takes the idea of perfection to the extreme, which seems to indicate that he has obsessive-compulsive disorder. To him, anything symmetrical is beautiful and if it is off by any measurement, he will try to correct it right away. Showing Kid anything that is too asymmetrical or mentioning his hair will send him into a state of massive depression (which normally takes encouragement from Patty and Liz to break). Patricia and Elizabeth Thompson, commonly "Patty" and "Liz", are Death The Kid's Double Team Demon Pistols. Patty is the younger of the two and is naïve compared to her more mature older sister Liz. She and her sister used to live on the streets of Brooklyn before being found by Kid. Both Patty and Liz admireKid's dignified soul, due to their being from the streets. Even without Kid around, they are able to use each other's transformed state as a single gun, switching places to avoid attacks.


Monday, August 18, 2008

About Code Geass


CODE GEASS UNLEASHED ON DVD TODAY!
Code Geass invades DVD stores today in North America!

Be sure to look out for the following four ways to purchase Code Geass TODAY!

Code Geass PART 1 LE (Episodes 1-9 with English and Japanese audio w/subtitles all regular DVD extras (Picture Drama, Audio Commentary, and more), Manga Vol. 1, Collector's Booklets 1-3, Clamp Character Sketch booklet, Original Soundtrack, and Sound Drama featuring English Voice Actor cast)

Code Geass Part 1 (Episodes 1-9 with English and Japanese audio w/subtitles and all regular DVD extras (Picture Drama, Audio Commentary, and more)

Code Geass Vol. 1 (Episodes 1-5, English and Japanese audio w/subtitles and regular DVD extras).

Code Geass Vol. 2 (Episodes 6-10, English and Japanese audio w/subtitles and regular DVD extras).


The Holy Empire of Britannia conquered the country previously known as “Japan.” They were forbidden to use that name, and is now called “Area 11.”

The people who live in “Area 11” are known as “Elevens.” The governing ruler is from the Britannia Empire, and reigns in the name of the Emperor of Britannia. The people of Japan were stripped of their rights to self-govern, and their pride—stolen.

The empire has been using their military power to conquer various countries as “areas.” Their strength is based on robotic weapons called “Knightmares.” The power these “Knightmares” exhibit during war is devastating, and it is what supports the world domination of the empire.

It seems that no one could stop the great power of the empire.
But someone is about to stand up against it.

Lelouch, the “black prince,” has fiery ambition in his heart and will stop at nothing to achieve his goal. He obtains the power of the “Geass” and decides to use that power for the sake of his sister Nunnally and to build a world based on his ideals.

Suzaku Kururugi, the “white knight,” aspires for justice and strives to live an honest and fair life. Suzaku is assigned to pilot the Knightmare Frame “Lancelot” and tries to achieve his ideals while overcoming the hurdles of reality.

The paths these two take will change the relationship of the Britannia Empire and “Elevens.”

The events in Area 11 are about to cause a stir.

STORY

STAGE 1

The Day a New Demon Was Born

Seven years passed since Japan lost the war against the Britannia Empire and became its territory. The country name was stripped away and renamed to Area 11.

Lelouch was spending an inactive life while attending the school for Britannians, the Ashford Academy. The tragic incidents he experienced during war made him resent Britannia, but he couldn't do anything about it. All he could do was beat Britannians in chess to release his anger.

One day Lelouch is involved in a battle between terrorists and the Britannian Forces. Taken to the underground area of Shinjuku Ghetto, he meets his old friend Suzaku Kururugi. Although Suzaku is an Eleven, he has joined the Britannian Forces as an Honorary Britannian. The two enjoy their reunion, but tragedy comes with the appearance of a girl. Suzaku is shot by the Britannian Forces when he tries to protect the girl and Lelouch. As Lelouch is devastated over the death of his friend, the girl gives Lelouch a power. That power was the ability to manipulate people as he pleases.

STAGE 2

The White Knight Awakens

Among the battle at Shinjuku Ghetto was Kallen, a student at Ashford Academy. Lelouch maneuvers the terrorists so they could escape the Britannian Forces. He uses the power he obtained from the mysterious girl and steals a Knightmare from Villetta, a Britannian soldier. He pilots the Knightmare and moves the terrorists as if they were chess pieces. It was his first battle, but Lelouch was certain he could win. But an unknown Knightmare Frame stands in his way. It was Lancelot, a new weapon developed by the Britannian Forces. Highly skilled in combat, Lancelot fights against Lelouch's Knightmare. Lancelot is piloted by none other than Suzaku, but the old friends do not know they are fighting against each other. Will Lelouch be able to escape?

STAGE 3

The False Classmate

Lelouch faces the third prince of Britannia, Clovis. The two are stepbrothers. Lelouch's past is revealed-Lelouch is formerly the eleventh prince of Britannia Empire. When he was in court, his mother was assassinated. He lost his place and was sent to live in Japan with his little sister Nunnally, who lost her sight and mobility during the incident.

Lelouch uses his newly obtained power, the Geass, to interrogate Clovis about the persons responsible for his mother's death. And then he points his gun to his blood brother.

Back at Ashford Academy, life went on peacefully as if nothing happened at Shinjuku Ghetto. Lelouch faces Kallen, one of the members of the terrorist group. Kallen is suspicious that the voice that ordered them at Shinjuku Ghetto belongs to Lelouch. Both are cautious of each other finding out about their secret identities. That is when the death of Prince Clovis is announced, and the suspect shown on TV was Suzaku Kururugi.

STAGE 4

His Name is Zero

Kallen meets the mysterious man who saved her and her group at Shinjuku Ghetto. She doesn't realize that this man who calls himself Zero is her classmate Lelouch. As Zero, Lelouch tells Kallen that terrorism would not change the world. If she really wants to change the world, she needs to start a war. And he states that he will show her his power to make the impossible possible. Arrested with charges of assassinating Clovis, Suzaku was heading to military court, with hundreds of Britannians observing from the roadside. Zero claims that he will save Suzaku. Kallen and her group are in doubt, but agree to help anyway. Zero appears in front of the jeep that carries Suzaku, and states that he was the one who killed Clovis. And he succeeds in manipulating Jeremiah with his newly obtained power. However, Suzaku refuses Zero's help and continues to head to court.

STAGE 5

The Princess and the Witch

Zero showed himself to the Britannia Empire to save Suzaku. There, he claimed that he was the one to blame for Clovis' death. The incident spread his name throughout Area 11, and the Britannian Forces start to move to find and capture Zero. At the academy, Lelouch returns to his room at the clubhouse and is welcomed by his sister Nunnally and C.C.. C.C. was the girl who gave Lelouch the mysterious power of Geass. Lelouch is flustered by C.C.'s appearance, and even more so when she decides to stay with him. Meanwhile, Suzaku is released because of lack of evidence and meets a girl named Euphie. Although they've just met, Euphie asks Suzaku to show her Area 11. The two head to Shinjuku Ghetto, just when a battle between the purists of Britannian Forces erupts. Suzaku rushes in the middle of it, despite the danger. But it was Euphie who stopped the battle - it turns out that she is the third princess of Britannia Empire.

STAGE 6

The Stolen Mask

Suzaku Kururugi transfers to Ashford Academy. There he is reunited with Lelouch as a classmate. But the other Britannian classmates do not welcome Suzaku, for he is an Eleven and the former prime suspect for the murder of Prince Clovis. During that time, something dangerous happens to Lelouch. His mask of Zero was stolen! He chases after the culprit in fear of his secret identity being revealed. Milly and the members of the student council order the entire student body to look for the thief as well. The reward is a kiss from any student council member of your choice! Among the commotion, Lelouch continues to hunt down the thief. Who was it that stole his mask?

STAGE 7

Attack Cornelia

Cornelia decides to clean up the terrorists who hide in Saitama Ghetto. Her real objective is to create a situation similar to the Shinjuku incident and lure Zero to come. Even though Lelouch knows of Cornelia’s trap, he heads to Saitama Ghetto as Zero. He obtains an enemy Sutherland using his Geass and gives instructions to the terrorists to attack the Britannian Forces and force them to retreat. However, everything was part of Cornelia’s plan. She was able to read Lelouch’s strategy and crushed the terrorist units with her loyal subordinates. Even in a bind, Lelouch continues to give instructions to the terrorists. However, to the terrorists who do not trust Zero completely, the instructions were futile. Lelouch, finally trapped, has no other choice but to surrender...

STAGE 8

The Black Knights

Devastated by the power of organization Cornelia showed him in the last battle, Lelouch leads Kallen and her group to form the “Black Knights.” At the same time, the largest anti-Britannia organization in Japan, the Japan Liberaton Front, was taking hostages at a hotel by the lake. Among the hostages were members from the Ashford Academy student council and the third princess of Britannia Empire, Euphemia. Cornelia and the Britannian Forces plan a rescue mission, but cannot act because they are worried about Euphemia’s safety. Lelouch comes forward as Zero and tells Cornelia that he will save Euphemia. Even if that means that he will fight against Elevens, he claims that the Black Knights are allies of the weak and “work for justice.” But when Lelouch faces Euphemia in the hotel, he points his gun at her. That is when Suzaku’s Lancelot charges in.

STAGE 9

Refrain

As Lelouch claimed, the Black Knights continue to operate as allies of the weak. They find more members and the organization grows. But Suzaku criticizes the action of the Black Knights as self-righteousness. He insists that they should not use power to attack the system from the outside, but to change the structure from the inside. Suzaku, who is an Eleven but affiliated with the Britannian Forces and Lelouch, who is a Britannian but vows to crush Britannia, has opposite visions.

Kallen is half Britannian and half Eleven, but her complicated family situation made her resent Britannia. She feels a pang of doubt towards the unidentified Zero, but also feels that he is necessary to change the world.

The Black Knights take on a new mission, to stop the illicit sales of a drug called “Refrain” that is popular among the Elevens. At the site, Kallen sees a person she knows.

STAGE 10

Guren Dances

A Britannian applies to join the Black Knights. His name is Diethard Ried, a TV producer. The members of the Black Knights think he is a spy for Britannia, but Lelouch uses the information Diethard brings and heads to the Narita mountains. According to the information, Cornelia is about to attack Narita where it is believed the headquarters of the Japan Liberation Front is located. Is it Diethard’s trap, or could he be for real? Lelouch uses his Geass to infiltrate the Britannian Forces’ watch-house and is successful in manipulating information. Futhermore, he inspires the Black Knights who are terrified of fighting Cornelia by saying he would create a miracle. The Japan Liberation Front is crushed one by one by Cornelia’s troops. During that time Lieutenant-General Tohdoh, known as the Japanese soldier of miracle, prepares for battle too. Lelouch launches the first Japanese Knightmare, the Guren Mk-II.

STAGE 11

Battle for Narita

Zero and the Black Knights were able to isolate Cornelia and her unit. Tohdoh launches his unit according to Zero’s plans. Zero was finally able to surround Cornelia, and orders her to surrender. But Cornelia refuses to throw away her pride as princess and is willing to fight until death. That’s when Suzaku’s Lancelot appears and changes the turn of events. The Black Knights have no other choice but to retreat. Lancelot chases after them to capture Zero. He succeeds without knowing that it is Lelouch under the mask. Just as Zero is about to be caught, C.C. appears and uses her mysterious powers to stop Suzaku. C.C.’s powers penetrate Suzaku’s brain and countless images of horror go through his head. Lelouch touches C.C. and is also able to see inside of Suzaku’s brain. Inside his mind, Suzaku was facing his late father...

STAGE 12

The Messenger from Kyoto

Shirley is flustered about the relationship between Lelouch and Kallen. She gathers up her courage to ask Lelouch out on a date.

During that time, Kyoto, the organization who controls the terrorists behind the scenes, was requesting to meet the Black Knights in person. Lelouch decides to turn down Shirley to go see Kyoto. The representative of Kyoto orders Zero to show his face, even though he doesn’t show his own. But the other members of the Black Knights wanted to see Zero’s face too. Unperturbed, Lelouch takes off his mask. Lelouch already knew who the representative of Kyoto was. His name is Kirihara, a man who knows Lelouch and his background.

Meanwhile, Shirley is waiting for Lelouch. Lelouch is surprised to see her long after their appointment. Shirley just came back from Narita where she identified her father’s body. Lelouch comforts Shirley in the rain...

STAGE 13

Shirley at Gunpoint

The casualties from the Narita Battle was great and included civilians. The fact that Shirley’s father was one of them pains Lelouch and Kallen. But Lelouch reasons with Kallen that because there are sacrifices they must go on. This was what Lelouch wanted to tell himself. Lelouch obtains information from Diethard about Cornelia’s next move and attacks. There, he is forced to battle Suzaku’s Lancelot one-on-one. But he is distracted by Shirley’s existence in the battlefield and takes a fall. Shirley was there because Villetta had told her that Lelouch was involved with the Black Knights. In order to avenge her father, she points a gun toward Zero.

STAGE 14

Geass vs Geass
Lelouch had lost consciousness in the last battle. When he comes to, he finds that his gun is gone and there is blood on the floor. He is suspicious that Shirley found out his secret identity. He follows her to Narita with C.C.. C.C. asks what he plans to do if Shirley did know, but Lelouch doesn’t have an answer.

In Narita, Shirley meets a mysterious man named Mao. He seems to know what Shirley is thinking. He even knew that she had shot someone to protect Lelouch.

Mao is a Geass user. Shirley, manipulated by Mao, decides to kill Lelouch and herself to pay for the sins they’ve committed. Against a Geass user who could read his mind, there was nothing Lelouch could do. Just then, C.C. comes to his aid and faces the man she gave the power to. Meanwhile, Lelouch decides to say goodbye forever to Shirley.

STAGE 15

Cheering Mao

Everything is the same at Ashford Academy, except for the fact that Shirley lost her memory.

Mao is back to taunt Lelouch. Mao is a Geass user who accepted C.C.’s power a long time ago, but failed to fulfill her wishes and now his power is amplifying. Lelouch criticizes C.C. for giving power without taking responsibility. But C.C. responds by saying that she will break her contract with Lelouch and go back to Mao.

C.C., instructed to show up at a theme park, faces Mao alone. C.C. knew that Mao’s objective was to get her back. And to take responsibility, she points her gun at Mao. But she can’t pull the trigger. Meanwhile, Lelouch figures out a way to defeat Mao. How do you use your head to win against someone who can read every move you come up with?

STAGE 16

Nunnally Held Hostage

While Lelouch was gone, Nunnally was kidnapped. It was Mao. He had escaped from the police to have revenge on Lelouch. Mao uses Nunnally’s life as a prize of a game and challenges Lelouch. The time limit is 5 hours. But Lelouch doesn’t even know where Nunnally and Mao are.

Suzaku finds out about the kidnapping, and tries to help Lelouch. Both think hard to come up with a plan, but Mao can read their thoughts as long as he is within 1/3 of a mile. They figure out that he must be within that range, and find Nunnally. However, a bomb had been set, about to detonate the instant someone moves it. Lelouch faces Mao and admits defeat, but that was part of his genius strategy. Mao is caught once again, and in the process he leaks a secret Suzaku has been hiding.

Friday, August 15, 2008