Asuka Changes Everything in Evangelion Eps. 8&9

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Paperclip Millionaire – Dantalian 8 and Japan’s 1920’s Europe

The first half of Dantalian episode 8 revolves around Camilla’s quest to obtain a rare and expensive teddy bear through a sequence of trades made possible by a phantom book’s guidance. The half-episode is titled “The Straw Millionaire,” after the Japanese folk tale on which it is based (and which Camilla verbally alludes to in the episode).

Interestingly, the sequence of trades begins with a red paperclip that Camilla takes off of Huey. This is an obvious reference to the One Red Paperclip project, wherein Canadian blogger Kyle MacDonald obtained a house through a series of internet trades beginning with a red paperclip—a real-life, modern enactment of the folk tale.

I learned about the red paperclip project from researching the straw millionaire story, but what caught my attention in the first place was that the last place I’d encountered this folk tale was in the JRPG Shadow Hearts Covenant. Early in the game, there’s an NPC who tells you that he became a millionaire from a series of trades beginning with a piece of straw, and then gives you one so you can try it for yourself. Throughout the game, you can make trades with NPCs which eventually lead to obtaining a secret weapon. This is noteworthy because Shadow Hearts Covenant takes place in Europe in the time after World War I—the same period and setting in which Dantalian takes place.

Why on Earth does this story come up in two different tales of 1920s Europe? It would make sense for this to happen if the Japanese folk tale had somehow achieved popularity in Europe during that period, but I can’t find any evidence to suggest this from my minimal google research. Still, it’s way too weird to be a coincidence. What gives?

Fucking MADLAX Episode 8

[Note: I’ve finally gotten through all of the posts that I wrote while I was in the Philippines (about a month and a half ago)! Note that I watched episode eight and wrote the opening paragraphs at that time, but the rest of this post is fresh, so if there’s a change in voice, that would be why.]

I have to admit, I was worried for a minute there. What if Madlax suddenly turned out to be a good show? What if EVERY Bee Train show turned out to be good after a rough beginning?! All the work on this site would be for naught! Alas, my fears were needless, as episode eight of Madlax is a huge pile of shit.

(800) Days of Fuzakenna! And Eight Awesome Eighth Episodes of Anime

I tend to miss my blog’s benchmarks. I realized in June that my third anniversary had passed in April, and I’m not sure when I broke 300,000 hits, but I’m already halfway to 400,000. But most of all, I’ve missed my specially-numbered posts, or realized after the fact that I’ve made them. Well, today I was lucky and noticed that this will be my 800th published post! It’s a great mark to have, because 8 has always been a special number to me (I was born on August 8, weighing 8 pounds and 8 ounces) so to mark the occasion, I’ll be listing 8 of my favorite ‘episode 8s’.

8 tends to be an important episode number in anime. In a lot of 26-episode shows, the 8th episode marks the transition from plot set-up to actual movement of events, and will often feature a shocking twist or revelation that changes the way things will happen from there on out. This is a common enough practice that I could make a list of just transitional eighth episodes, but of course, being an important episode doesn’t necessarily qualify as being a memorable and awesome one, so this list will take eighth episodes from any series. The requirement for consideration on this list was that the eighth episode wasn’t just great, but was one of the most memorable or amazing episodes in the entire series. Oh, and you can count on there being spoilers for each episode.

Great Scenes in Anime 1: Gakuen Alice ep. 8 – "Can I Call You Jii-chan?"

This is the first in a post series I’ve been hoping/trying to do for a long time, called “Great Scenes in Anime”. As the name implies, it’s a series dedicated to taking a deeper look at some of my favorite scenes in anime. For the most part, these won’t be those big scenes that everyone knows, like character deaths, endings, etc. – instead, they’ll be smaller but meaningful moments that many wouldn’t stop and consider on their way through a series. I’ve been gathering a collection of scenes for a long time, but today I’ll cover one that I just watched from Gakuen Alice episode 8.

If you’ve already seen this episode, you can skip down to the parenthesis below or skim the summary to refresh your memory.

Canaan 8 – Now With More Lesbian! (A Studious Observation!)

Okay! This is my first Canaan post, and I’m trying to blog it episodically from now on! So far, yuri anime Canaan is by far my favorite show of 2009 (though admittedly, it’s the only one I’ve seen more than 6 episodes of!) Every episode is a total blast, and it’s definitely the best action show I’ve seen since Baccano! So today, it’s episode 8 time, and I’ve brought back regular co-host No Name to help me through it! GET SOME!