Anime

Chris Walden

Hunter x Hunter Episode 46

It's taken a while, but we finally get to see Neon's true colours. Well played Hunter x Hunter, it was very easy to assume she was a normal girl caught up in a terrible situation. She showed absolutely no care when hearing about the death of some of her bodyguards, and it certainly caught me off guard. Looking back, it shouldn't have been all that surprising, but seeing her fret more over a few collectibles than the lives of those who protect her was just going to draw out the viewers reactions. 

As expected, Uvogin isn't satisfied with leaving Kurapika alone. After working out where he could possibly be hiding, he sets off alone in order to set things straight. Kurapika, using his newfound badassery, decides to wait for him rather than run. I suppose it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the guy, but it takes some guts to fight Uvogin after he's already seen what he's capable of. Rather him than me, at any rate.  

We finally get to see what is going on in Camp Gon, as the trio finally join the hunt of the Phantom Troupe. Of course, this is for money reasons rather than any kind of payback, but that isn't going to stop them when there's a copy of Greed Island at stake. The Troupe certainly seem like formidable opponents, but I can't help but think that they could bag themselves one or two. That, or perhaps Gon just gives in and steals the game...

[Hunt for this show on Crunchyroll!]

Josh Tolentino

Naruto Shippuden episode 279

Dog-kicking! That said, perhaps Akamaru had it coming for doing that stupid move of his with the fire-hose peeing and all that. 

Other than that, this brief saga of Team 8 and the case of "Which One Is White Zetsu?" looks like the first round of filler to pad out the war. In retrospect having the army take a break until the morning back in the original manga seemed almost tailor-designed to allow for side stories like this to take place, such as locating the hole where the white Zetsu impostors were coming out of to attack camp.

If nothing else, asides like this give now-sidelined characters some screentime, but also, their plots make little sense, particularly Shino's logic for finding the true impostor. It's a tradeoff, and from the looks of things, one that may happen next week as well.

Manga

Josh Tolentino

Bleach chapter 507

Old man badass returns (though he never left) to explain his bankai, "Zanka no Tachi", which is soooooo hot that it raises sales of bottled water, chapstick and moisturizer by orders of magnitude whenever it's turned on.

Also, since Kyoraku said a few weeks ago that "common sense" doesn't apply to someone as old and strong as Yamamoto, he's the only guy with two powers to his bankai, one to improve the cutting, another to act as burning armor. That would make sense, but you know who else has two bankai powers? The protagonist, that's who.

At least, it makes two if you count the clothes and speed boost as separate from the regular Getsuga Tensho. I do, because it supports my point, ensuring that I'm not wrong! And if I am wrong, I'll be right sooner or later, because he's the protagonist! He can't not be less powerful than someone, eventually!

Naruto chapter 601

The natural first question to ask upon beginning the chapter is, of course, "If Zombie Madara's here, what happened to the Kages?"

Here's one answer at least:

And to think it's the closest anyone has come to dying this arc. I wouldn't be surprised if it ends up permanent. After all, Naruto has to become Hokage somehow.

That aside, we do get glimpses of the big plan Madara and Obito apparently came up with to set all this in motion. More next week.