To V

I want to read whatever you have to say, so I hope you keep blogging. Not because I'm looking for guidance or for something to make fun of, but because I find you interesting. I hope that's reason enough for you to continue.

Dream

Last night I dreamed I had two sons, who looked almost exactly like Connor and Logan. The first part of the dream involved me trying to spend time with each of them individually, and also teaching them how to share with each other.

Later, I realized that I kept calling the older one "Connor". I tried and tried, but I could not remember his actual name. "What's your name?" I asked him, but of course he wouldn't tell me--either he thought I was joking or he was shocked that his own mother didn't know his name. Eventually I discovered that his name was Sandy. (I would never name my son "Sandy", but whatever.) The name just didn't suit him, and I was sure I would forget it again. "Now that you're grown and I know your personality better, how about we pick a name that fits you?" I asked him, but he was too busy playing with his video game to answer.

By the way...

...this is totally wrong.

What, were they twins or something? I mean, neither the elder von Wincott nor Lindsey looked one bit like Julia.

Wouldn't it be weird if he and Yuuri became friends? Seems like that would be awkward.

Kyou Kara Maou 80 and 81

Okay, so, that was resolved quickly, wasn't it?

The new season pretty much takes up right where season 2 left off, which is why it starts with the ten (well, nine) aristocrats meeting to pick the new Maou. We saw the usual characters discussing it in episode 78, but there wasn't a hint that anything had really happened before Yuuri came back. Now we know why everyone was at Shinou's tomb just in time for Yuuri's reappearance.

Speaking of Shinou...he is evil!

The thing everyone was talking about secretly in episode 79 was whether or not Yuuri could remain the Maou. Some of the aristocrats were fine with it and some were not, Waltorana von Bielefelt most notably.

I did not expect Maou-mode Yuuri to attack Wolfram, so it was quite a relief to see that he redirected his power back into himself. Would Wolfram have been killed if he hadn't smiled softly and said, "Be a good Maou"? That's kind of troubling.

I am a little bothered by the art, too...there's something not quite right about it. It's better than the OVA's art, though, which felt a little too indulgent.

Ultimately I am enjoying this, even if the huge conspiracy theory I had got laid to waste within three episodes ;>

More thoughts on KKM 79

Josak: Is it okay not to let him know about it?

Gwendal: There is no proof as of yet. If he knows about it, I'm sure he'll do something unnecessary.

Josak: Yeah, this is Yuuri we're talking about. He'd probably run off on his own. Or he might even start thinking his own existence is a burden...

It's got to be politics. Somebody, maybe Sara, maybe whoever we're seeing in the wintry shot that looks like Big Cimaron, maybe even a country that is supposedly part of the alliance, is pressuring Shin Makoku by planting seeds of doubt in the other nations of the alliance.

"They aren't even following their own traditions! The Maou hasn't undergone his coming-of-age ceremony, even though he's already 16! How can we trust the mazoku to be true to their promises if they eschew tradition when it's inconvenient?"

And so, just in case, the Ten Aristocrats went ahead and picked out a replacement Maou.

There has got to be a reason that it's Wolfram, some political reason. Gwendal apologizes for the trial he's put his little brother through. Maybe he was the only quasi-neutral candidate (non-head of house) that Gwendal could think of who was nobility and still close to Yuuri in some way.

There is also something else going on, some sort of plan that the Ten Aristocrats have been asked to agree on beyond simply picking Wolfram to replace Yuuri. There's evidence of this, I think, in the way the castle retainers discuss the vote.

Anissina: I have received a message from my brother on the matter. The von Karbelnikoffs have no objections.

Conrad: Lord von Wincott gave us a favorable answer as well.

Celi: My brother [Lord Stoffel von Spitzweg] stated various things, but Raven will do something about it.

Gwendal: All we're waiting on is a response from Lord von Rochefort and Lord von Gyllenhaal then.

Gunter: As of right now, they have not broken their neutrality. I don't blame them. However, when His Majesty's coming-of-age ceremony ends...

Gwendal: That is why it must succeed, no matter what.

Obviously, what they're doing is not trying to manipulate Yuuri out of the throne, but keep him in it, though the actual strategy remains unclear. It looks like we have 5 votes for the measure: von Voltaire, von Christ, von Karbelnikoff, von Wincott, and von Spitzweg; one abstention: von Grantz [is Adalbert head of house or are the von Grantzes absent for some other reason?]; two votes up for grabs: von Rochefort and von Gyllenhaal; and one household decidedly against the whole thing: von Bielefelt. It's apparent that they hate the plan, want Wolfram to stay in their territory, and possibly don't support Yuuri as Maou--Wolfram's line "There is only one true king in Shin Makoku!" seems to be a direct response to his family's position.

It also appears the von Radfords voted no, since they weren't mentioned in the list of supporters. That makes it 5 to 2 with one abstention so far. Gwendal will need at least one more vote to get the majority. There might be a rule that you have to have 7 votes to pass something, since 7 is a lucky number, but then again this is a demon kingdom, so I don't know if 7 would have the same meaning there.

So, as usual, I'm making wild guesses about everything without enough information ;> Remember when I thought Shinou wanted to destroy all humans? (Though I suppose that I was technically right, given that he was possessed at the time :>) Regardless, I'm really looking forward to seeing what develops.

This season may answer some questions about Gwendal and Wolfram's fathers. We see Lord von Bielefelt at the beginning. Is he Wolfram's dad? If so, why did he and Celi split up when Wolfram was still a toddler, as seen in the original anime? If not, is Wolfram's father dead? Is this perhaps his dad's brother, or some other relative? This list indicates Wolfram's father is dead, according to the light novels, but I'm not quite at a level where I can read those yet. (Translation please?)

Gwendal, of course, is the head of his house, meaning his father is either dead or retired. In the original anime, when we see Castle Voltaire, we don't see any other nobles, so that's still up in the air.

We know all about Conrad's father...let's show the other brothers some love! ;>

I'd also like to know more about the other Ten Aristocrats, and why they don't have representatives at court. Actually, I wonder if Effee is related to any of them. Yes, she's a maid, but she could also be...a spy!

All right, that's enough conjecture for now. I need to pack up and head off to Kentucky :)

Edit: As I was packing, it occurred to me that the problem could easily be the fact that Yuuri chooses to go back and forth between worlds. Someone who wanted to get rid of him could argue that it's hard to have confidence in a Maou who only spends half his time in his country. They could back that up with the fact that Yuuri lets Gwendal do everything--maybe that's why Gwendal sourly told Yuuri that if he was an adult, he needed to start acting like one and performing his duties.

Kyou Kara Maou 79 (season 3 episode 1)

WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!?!?!?!?

Okay, so, seriously. I liked the music, a combination of old and new. I liked the introduction of the girl from the OVA, though that makes me wonder what the timeline actually is here. All the characters were pretty much themselves. The OP and ED are kind of mellow, but okay.

But oh what an opener. We saw the heads of all the ten aristocratic families (who were all male except one, I wish to point out) for the very first time. And...Wolfram is to be the next Maou? But why? Is this just in case Yuuri isn't worthy? Surely he's proven his worth by now; what's the point of a big fussy ceremony?

Don't they realize he won't use his powers to protect himself? He never has. Every time, it's been to protect someone else, or out of anger over someone else's suffering. The only reason he's not dead yet is because he's been lucky, or because his retainers have been there.

I have the sinking feeling he's going to fail his test against the sand bear. And then what will happen? Will he be forced to leave Shin Makoku? Will Sara use all this to his own benefit, convince Yuuri he can get him back in with his friends, only to try to manipulate his power?

Argh :>

(I'm so happy...)

Recent NOM NOM NOM

Teriyaki flounder, stir-fry veggies and rice


Salmon croquettes and grits, Boll Weevil


Fried grouper sandwich and fries, Palmetto House at Seven Gables


Vegetable quiche and curry noodle soup, New Moon Cafe


Eggs over easy with hash browns, sausage and toast, Waffle House (Atlanta)


Kari (curry) Pop at the best restaurant on Earth, Penang in Chamblee (Atlanta)


Spaghetti at Sbarro (Atlanta)


Spicy beef, Zyka (Atlanta)


Chicken salad sandwich and fries, Cotton Patch


SuperSonic Breakfast Burrito, at my desk


Leftover spaghetti, salad, fruit, and yogurt, at Riverwalk


Seared ahi tuna appetizer, PF Chang's


Dali chicken, PF Chang's

Places I need to go

England, to visit Brooke and David;

Malaysia, to visit Dawn;

California, to meet Hai and Ross;

Colorado, to meet Jered;

New York, to meet Marie and Ed;

DC, to meet Merujo;

Huntsville, to visit Sam; and

Japan, to meet Jeff, Miklos, Kayo, Harvey, and Karen.

I need to figure out a plan to actually do all this traveling, or it will never get done!

Kyou Kara Maou OVA

Last night I watched Kyou Kara Maou R in its entirety. I had seen the first four episodes previously; finally I found a raw version of episode 5. The quality wasn't great, but I was pleased to discover that I could follow what was going on without subtitles, like I did back when I was anxious to see how KKM season 2 ended.

(There are also some errors in the fansub of episode 4 that I was able to recognize, such as Gwendal's line, 「それはりすちゃんだ」, which means "That's a squirrel", not "Her name is Risu-chan". I only picked up on this because I already knew that people tend not to recognize the animal Gwendal is trying to make. In this case, Greta thought it was a fox.)

The five episode OVA starts with the first part of a new adventure involving Small Cimaron's king, Saralegui.

After that it goes into three stand-alone, humorous episodes whose only purpose seems to be to reintroduce Shinou to the world. There's a worldwide festival held in Shin Makoku, unthinkable before Yuuri's time as Maou; an ancient magical device that shows people their most dreaded future, with which Shinou decides to play a prank; and a story about on the level of season 2's "Baby Panic", in which pink bear bees spawn and give their love to dragons thanks to the power of Gwendal's obsession with cute. Then we go back to the Sara story.

Episode 5 was hands down the most epic. Yuuri, Conrad, Wolfram and Josak head to Small Cimaron with Sara and Beries; Murata brings Shori to Shin Makoku on Shinou's request, and they meet up with the retainers Yuuri left behind to try to find a way to save Yuuri from Sara; another function of Morgif is revealed; Beries demonstrates his powerful houjutsu, ultimately facing off with Adalbert (I LOVE ADALBERT!); and Sara finally reveals his evil powers and demands. If you've watched this show at all you can probably imagine how it ends, but it's still worth seeing for yourself.

The humor is great, too. My favorite part has to be when Shori complained to Murata, "What am I, a battery charger?" XD

There were things I didn't like about this OVA. A lot of the new music was boring, and some of what wasn't boring was blatantly ripped off existing pieces. For example, the music played in episode 2 when people are arriving for the festival is essentially "Fireworks" by Nicholas Hooper, from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Plus, in that same episode they introduced some less-exciting Maou-mode music, much to my dismay. It was used again in episode 4, but, thankfully, in episode 5 they went back to the real deal.

Yuuri was still Yuuri, but he was unfortunately much more...uke. He blushed all the time, and in episode 5 he even grabbed Sara's hand. I can't speak for how he is in the novels, but in the anime he is very straight--you could argue he borders on homophobic. In the first few episodes he can't get over how "fundamentally wrong" it is that it's even possible for him to be engaged to Wolfram. Sure, he gets used to the open homosexuality around him after awhile, but I would hardly say he embraces it.

Yuuri's reactions to Wolfram are part of the comedy of the franchise. He doesn't reject Wolfram because he doesn't like him--he obviously cares a great deal about Wolfram, to the point of risking his own life. He rejects Wolfram because he is not attracted to men. He's a self-described "dirty baseball boy"...he's not going to go around holding hands with men.

There is a running joke about who he'll end up with romantically, and a sort of underlying belief/hope that he will come around eventually and get with Wolfram or Conrad or some other guy, but it seemed throughout the first two seasons that this dynamic was meant to be permanent and subtle, not that he is going to actually grow into being homosexual. The OVA refutes this, and it's jarring.

Another thing that was far more subtle in the anime was Gunter's crush on Yuuri. The OVA is ludicrous by comparison. Don't get me wrong, Gunter's pretty ridiculous in the anime, but the OVA not only crosses the line, it blasts through it like it was never there. He's constantly having nosebleeds and muttering about seeing Yuuri naked. Again, it's just jarring.

An OVA is by nature shorter and more concentrated than a drawn-out story, but there's no need to exaggerate personality traits like this.

Ultimately, though, I did enjoy the OVA. It had all the good stuff: Yuuri's policy of believing in people, the mazoku retainers' endless loyalty, bravery, and asskickery, some good seibai, and an interesting new villain. It was a good way to curb my appetite for KKM while I await season 3...which has just started in Japan. Now I'm just hoping someone will pick up the North American license that was abandoned when Geneon stopped distributing anime, so I can own all of KKM on DVD.