Bleach Ep. 20: Gin Ichimaru’s Shadow

The final episode of Bleach’s first season contains every element that makes the series worth watching. Ichigo and his friends complete their training then take a time out before the assault on Soul Society. As an added bonus, a review of an extra from the season one box set is included.

When you see the title graphic, it does not fit where the story left off last episode. But no worries, it does fit this episode just not right away. With Ichigo having briefly turned into a hybrid of Hollow and Shinigami before regaining control, it is time for him to move to phase three of Urahara’s training. We have to wait a bit for that to resume, though.

A brief recap of Byakuya’s announcement of Rukia’s execution in 25 days starts the show and we get a further teaser of Soul Society. It appears to be inhabited by very shady characters, two of whom show up to needle Captain Kuchiki over his sister’s impending execution. One is a trickster type, Captain Gin Ichimaru of Squad 3 and the subject of the episode title. The other is Squad 11’s one eyed captain, who tries his best to provoke a duel with Kuchiki. All in all, Soul Society does not look like any kind of heaven and seems savage.

Global Tensions Rising: China and Japan

Things seem to be escalating quickly over a group of islands, with one Chinese general telling his troops to prepare for war with Japan. This looks awfully calculated given the other aggressive actions in the region, but there is a component to it that is not traditional posturing. Instead it is an aspect of asymmetrical warfare being given a test run with Japan as a proxy for the United States.  Asymmetrical warfare involves using methods other than overt military force to bring down a foe perceived as more powerful. Propaganda, cyber warfare, and attacks on financial infrastructure are all key parts of this approach.

The latest tiff has led to threats of using Chinese ownership of Japanese government debt to bring them to their knees. Do not think this is disconnected from the U.S.A., for yesterday’s demonstrations briefly attacked the Ambassador to China’s car. The demonstrators knew what they were doing and chanted anti-American slogans during the incident.

With the two largest American bond holders in an intense war of words that could go hot to some degree (how hot? Ask the Chinese.), this is not something that should be ignored right now. The threats being made to undermine Japan’s economy can be made against us.

It should be noted that such a threat only works if a war does not actually follow. In war time, all debts to an enemy are declared void. Quite a tricky balancing act for China’s rulers, eh?

Gamera: MST3K (1991) Review

An epic battle between Sandy Frank’s version of the 1965 giant monster classic and the occupants of the Satellite of Love completes my review trilogy of the first Gamera movie. Love is found amidst carnage when a giant turtle meets a young boy named Kenny and the world conspires to keep them apart. Expect explosions, inventions, voodoo, and robot abuse when Mystery Science Theater 3000 first encounters Gamera – for the second time!

Most Americans associate Gamera with Mystery Science Theater 3000 (MST3K) if they even have a clue what the flying turtle is. If it were not for Sandy Frank’s particularly bad dubs of those old monster films, it is questionable whether or not MST3K would have become as big as it did. Thanks to a sale at Amazon, I ended up getting my hands on the box set of those episodes for less than half price a mere week after whining I couldn’t afford it. Maybe I should whine publicly more often?

For the storyline of the movie, please consult my reviews of the original film and the American version.

 

If you are not familiar with the show, MST3K featured a janitor launched to a space station by mad scientists where he was forced to watch “cheesy movies” as part of experiments. To alleviate his loneliness, the janitor named Joel built robots to be his friends. It is all an excuse to riff on and mock bad movies for laughs.

This classic episode opens with Joel (Joel Hodgson), Crow (Trace Beaulieu), and Tom Servo (Kevin Murphy) warming up in preparation for the next experiment, or film as we would call them. While the lone human stretches, the bots go through vocal exercises. Yes, it is sheer lunacy, which is what this show is all about, so go with it. Just relax, like the theme says…

Some Guitar Fun

A video from a father and son duo I am friends with. It has been a trip watching Chris Jr. move from drums to guitar and then evolve as a player. The kid has a lot a talent and learns it all by ear.

"Just Because" is a fun tune and this noodling around turned out well, I think:

Health 9-17-2012

I despise colds. ‘Nuff said.

Bleach Ep. 19: Ichigo Becomes a Hollow!

The mini training arc continues, Bleach style. Slapstick comedy mixes with an intriguing dive into Ichigo’s very soul when his quest to regain his lost powers takes a very dark turn. Will he survive his training? More importantly, will he survive being abused by little kids?

I think everyone has had one of those days where they have found themselves restrained in a magical straightjacket and subjected to torment by small children. I hate when those happen, they are real downers. So when saw Ichigo go through the events of this episode I empathized deeply with him.

But it is Rukia who gets the short end of the stick, both in events and screen time. The episode opens with Renji freaking out when he finds out Rukia will be executed and his captain, her brother, approves of this. Byakuya may be a pretty boy by anime standards, but his personality is cold to say the least. There is not a trace of positive emotion shown toward his sister and the whole encounter leaves her in a deep funk while she tries to let go of all emotions like a proper noble woman. That is all we get to see of her.

While she is in a black hole of despair, Ichigo is in a hole of his own.

China Doesn’t Just Copy Electronics: The J-21

The military aviation world got a surprise a couple of years ago when the Chinese government took the wraps off of the J-20 stealth fighter, but that is nothing compared to what just showed up. Roughly in the F/A-18 Hornet size range and possibly a competitor to the F-35 Lightning II strike fighter, it is clearly derived from stolen data from Lockheed and subcontractors of the F-22A Raptor program. That is a scaled down F-22 if I have ever seen one with a radome more like the F-35. The proportions made a lot of us on the Net think it was a Photoshop at first, but I had a pit in my stomach when I studied the photos and better ones came out.

I knew our defense programs has been thoroughly compromised by the Chinese, but seeing the tangible results has been an unpleasant experience. As far as cyber security goes, our most classified and protected programs are in the hands of a hostile foreign government. It makes you wonder if the federal government is competent at anything at all.

Meanwhile, China continues to push claims on disputed territories with no fear of being countered.  With the continued aggression in the Pacific against neighboring countries, is it any wonder an arms race has begun in the region?