Tag: monk
Kuromukuro – 03
After the yellow "Demon" retreats, Ouma spots another part of the world (other than the mountains) that hasn't changed since his time: a castle. When he calls out to be given an audience and gets no reply, he is confused. When he gets a look at Yukina's outrageous-for-his-time outfit, he scolds her.
When Yukina starts talking to a "box", a lady appears inside of it, and the castle's floodlights come one, he believes it all a matter of demon trickery. This is a man stubbornly clinging to his time, but this week he finally relents, even if it means becoming, as he sees it, 'useless'.
What Ouma does not and will not set aside is his honor, which means even though he considers Yukina his hostage, he shan't lay a hand on her, nor any woman or child. That policy is tested when he's quickly re-captured by the UN, escapes again, and comes afoul of Sophie. She surprises him by taking him down and putting him in a hold, but she releases him when he gropes her. While not every female soldier in this day and age would have reacted as Sophie had, in this case he was lucky.
What's nice about Japan is that many man-made things haven't changed much in four centuries; not just the castle: Yukina's uncle Yakushi Osho is a monk, and wears the same basic threads as his forbears of yore. He manages to finally calm Ouma in a great little scene in which the two men sit together and speak plainly.
Even so, when Ouma is in transit flanked by UN guards, he runs into Yukina's precocious little sister Koharu, who came to the lab to see her sister and wandered off on her own. Koharu gets in trouble with the guards holding Ouma, who knocks them out for threatening to raise a hand to a child, something he cannot abide in any century.
Now, it's a bit implausible and convenient for Koharu to have such free rein in a high-security facility, and that of all the halls of the vast complex, she crosses paths with Ouma. Then again, Ouma seems to be a bit of a man of destiny, while Koharu is a known "adventurer", as some little kids tend to be. She's also a bit of a samurai otaku, and cheerfully greets him with the traditional –de gozaru vernacular.
She also follows him out into the woods, but it isn't long before a demon "Cactus" gives them the jump. Koharu is captured, and Ouma must run back to HQ for help—and his "steed." He enlists Yukina's aid, promises seppukku if it turns out he's wrong, and the steed flies to his location to scoop the two of them up.
A thrilling ride ensues, with the steed flying over the massive dam and through the river's canyon, with Yukina using her phone's GPS to locate Koharu. They find her just moments before the Cactus makes off with her (covered in some kind of cocoon) and with some UN assistance, Ouma is able to slay the demon.
For his heroics, he is pardoned for his latest escape, but more than that, this whole ordeal ends up leading to Ouma's final realization that much time has indeed passed since he went to sleep in that cube. He knows this because the landscape tells him: a great rock cleaved in two by his own (relic's) hand so long ago, now covered in plants.
Meeting again with Yukina's uncle, with no lord to serve Ouma knows not his purpose nor why he is alive anymore. But I will rest assured that purpose will be revealed to him in due time, if it hasn't already. I presume he was awakened so he could join Yukina (distant relation to his former lady?) in fighting the new scourge of demons poised to wreak havoc across the globe.
That he was able to rescue Koharu can be a purpose in and of itself, though it's true she only ended up in danger because of him. Still, before long everyone may be in danger, at which point his new purpose—to protect those weaker than he—will be clear.
Author braveradePosted on Fri, 22 Apr 2016 Fri, 22 Apr 2016 Categories Anime Reviews, Kuromukuro, Spring 2016Tags artifacts, クロムクロ, demons, fish-out-of-water, GAUS, geoframe, kennosuke, kurobe dam, kurobe lab, little sister, mecha, monk, new age, ogino mika, old-fashioned, osho yakushi, ouma kennosuke tokisada, p.a. works, purpose, rescue, samurai, samurai films, shirahane hiromi, shirahane koharu, Shirahane Yukina, Sophie Noelle, united nations, vernacular
Shokugeki no Souma – 02
SnS keeps the energy pot at a rolling boil this week, delivering another gemstone to be played with by a dog such as myself. I can't remember the last time I had this much fun staring at a glowing screen. Probably because I stare at glowing screens too much. But one thing's for sure, SnS has got it goin' on.
Souma's dad ships him off to transfer at Totsuki Teahouse Culinary Academy, telling him from the dining room of a swanky hotel in Manhattan (where everyone from congressmen to monks would give their left nut to eat his food) that if he can't get in and graduate, he has no business harboring dreams of surpassing his dad.
Souma doesn't question any of that, but he knows it will be an uphill battle, as he sticks out like a sore thumb on a campus full of pompous, entitled asses, all of them with some kind of elite pedigree in the food industry.
The most pompous of them all has been chosen to evaluate the transfer applicants, including Souma: the arrogant, imperious Nakiri Erina-sama (Taneda Risa), whose superhuman palate has earned her the nickname "God Tongue," which if ever taken out of context, could really give some people the wrong idea…especially when you consider she has no problem using her power to melt the hearts of smitten subordinates like Arato Hisako.
Erina has been rejecting food since her first words decried a dearth of flavor…in her mother's milk. Her whole life story is probably embellished, but the point is, she knows food, and she's at the top of the food chain. And Souma's at the bottom.
Even though all the other applicants, dozens of them, flee upon being given permission to do so from Erina (so as to spare themselves being finished in the food world forever if she were to shoot down their food), Souma stays, because he's got a job to do: surpass his dad. That means he needs to get in, so he mostly ignores the eccentric behavior of all these rich dummies, remains calm, and starts cooking.
The exam revolves around the use of the egg, which is simultaneously the easiest food to prepare and the easiest to mess up royally. You want to know if someone can cook? Ask them to make a simple fried egg or omelette. This is essentially what Erina does, and while she maintains a strict dubiousness that this shaved gorilla from the muck will ever hope to excite her royal palate, his white rice seasoned with chicken wing/bonito aspic and egg does just that.
Erina is the queen of bizarre flavor metaphors, from being hit with a jukebox under a waterfall, to baithing in a hot spring with a gorilla, to being tickled by angel feathers in heaven. But when those angels in her "ha-food-cination" start to bear the commoner Souma's visage and they start to get all grabby with her sheet, she's suddenly turned off.
In this case, Souma's food really did excite her palate, and indeed her whole body, but it's interesting to see that everything is relative in SnS. It was far easier to tear the evil developer and her goons' clothes off than those of one of the most refined palates in the world. On top of that, no matter how phenomenal Souma's food is, Erina is simply too prejudiced against his bottom-feeder background and his tendency to, uh, treat her as an equal human being (how dare he!).
Simply put, she doesn't like him, so she fails him. While certainly a setback for our hero, there's zero doubt he'll find his way into the academy with or without Erina's approval…probably without, which will mean the beginning of a tense rivalry between them. Still, for at least a time, Souma has to stew in the gross injustice of being rejected despite not only facing a formidable foe with unblinking eyes, but actually impressing her. What's a bloke gotta do to get some respect around here?
Fortunately for Souma (and us), Erina doesn't run the academy; her grandfather does. And he happened to eavesdrop on Souma's exam, and sneaks a taste of his rice. And because he's not a stuck-up brat, he's able to dive fully into the flavor and let it wash over him, leading him to shed a bit of his clothing in clear approval. Souma's back in!
Author sesameacrylicPosted on Fri, 10 Apr 2015 Categories Anime Reviews, Shokugeki no Souma, Spring 2015Tags arato hisako, aspic, bleach, cooking, cooking school, developer, ecchi, evaluation, exam, 食戟のソーマ, father, food wars, foodgasm, goons, grandfather, hussy, J.C. STAFF, kurase mayumi, land shark, monk, nakiri erina, nepotism, orgy, palate, pork roast, raunchy, restaurant, seasoned rice, shonen, silver spoon, totsuki teahouse culinary academy, yukihira souma2 Comments on Shokugeki no Souma – 02
RDG: Red Data Girl – 01
One morning, the shy, passive Suzuhara Izumiko decides to cut her bangs. At school, it gets mixed reviews, and when her class must gather info on the net using computers, she ends up using them as a conduit to video-chat with her father in America, then disables power to the whole school with her mind. A helicopter lands and Izumiko is taken away by Sagara, who turns out to be a mountain monk charged with protecting her. She learns that she is the "Himegami". Sagara orders "reinforcements" in the person of his son Miyuki, who isn't keen on hanging out with the dull Izumiko.
This episode starts off establishing the beautiful environs of a village in the Kumano mountains. We found out this was directed by Shinohara Toshiya, who also helmed The Book of Bantorra, but while that series was awesome, it was a bit lacking in production values; not so here. Like Tari Tari and the excellent Another, this series not only looks, but sounds and feels fantastic. Despite all the natural beauty, there's a deep melancholy about the beautiful but unpopular Izumiko (appropriately voiced by Hayami Saori), which stems partially from her never having made a decision for herself. If her life is like the river in her village, she's never once paddled against the current…until she decides to cut her hair and makes a stand about where she wants to go to high school.
What's also engrossing about this series so far is that it doesn't come out and explain exactly what makes her so special. We see an awesome sequence where she finds herself underwater in the computer lab, and then she knocks out the power in said lab when she snaps out of it, and we hear a lot from Sagara, but not too much. Like Izumiko herself, we're still mostly in the dark about who the Himegami is and why she must be isolated and protected. But we certainly feel her pain. Sure, she has nice friends who defend her from bullying, but they don't even have her phone number, and she doesn't even have a phone. She wants to take control of her life, but isn't sure how. Her dubious "manservant" Miyuki doesn't have high hopes for her, but who knows: she may just surprise him, herself, and a lot of others when all's said and done.
Car Cameos:
Mazda MPV/Toyota Noah
Author rabujoistaffPosted on Thu, 4 Apr 2013 Thu, 4 Apr 2013 Categories Anime Reviews, RDG: Red Data Girl, Spring 2013Tags EMP, ESP, hayami saori, himegami, kumano mountains, monk, p.a. works, rdg, sagara miyuki, sagara yukimasa, suzuhara izumiko, wamiya2 Comments on RDG: Red Data Girl – 01
Kyousogiga – 04
This segment is told from the perspective of the monk Myoue of Taganoo. His master bestowed the title of high priest upon him, and told him to watch over things until he came back at a time he did not specify. Myoue has waited ever since, in a manner similar to that of Hachiko, a real-life dog so faithful, it kept coming to the station to meet its owner long after that owner died (and whose statue stands outside Shibuya Station). He wonders if his master in fact returned in the form of Koto, so he takes care of her while waiting for confirmation of some kind, which comes when Koto echoes words his master left him with about returning with "a beginning and an end"; Koto's twin "brothers" are named A and Un (beginning and end).
This was a far quieter, more wistful episode than the last two, which were more manic and action-packed. It's basically a day in the life of Myoue, a monk who spends his days waiting for something he knows not what; something that may have already come in Koto; he's just not sure. Pride, honor, and a sense of duty and loyalty drive his actions, qualities he resents at times but cannot fight off, so he waits. Like the previous episodes, we only get a small slice of the whole picture here, with much left unspecified and unexplained, but so far the series has excelled at building an achingly gorgeous, wondrous, fun world, with no fewer mysteries than our own; just different ones.
Author rabujoistaffPosted on Sun, 9 Dec 2012 Sat, 22 Dec 2012 Categories OVA ReviewsTags a and un, beginning and end, Hachiko, high priest, kato, kyousogiga, monk, Myoue, ona1 Comment on Kyousogiga – 04