Noblesse #242

Did he go this far?

In Noblesse 241, we continued to take a look at Frankenstein's initial encounter with the noble clan leaders of Lukedonia.  As someone conscious of numerous mutant attacks (mutants are beings created by humans who have contracts with nobles...think a feral vampire), Frankenstein had beef with Lukedonia.  Taking the fight as a chance to "get more data" on the Dark Spear, Frankenstein summoned the demonic weapon to use against Ragar Kertia, leader of the Kertia clan.


Noblesse 242 picks up right where we left off, with Frankenstein having summoned the Dark Spear.  We learn something interesting about the Dark Spear; rather than being simply the weapon of a demon, it was created to copy the power of the soul weapons used by clan leaders.  Since humans possess a finite lifespan, the weapon was created using the souls of countless humans (Frankenstein references plagues and wars being used for this purpose...it really could be millions of souls)

Suddenly this panel makes sense...

At some point after the weapon's development, Frankenstein obtained it, and has been using it sparingly (this is my assumption, since he seemed pleased to find an opponent he could use it on).  Gejutel remarks that even so, Frankenstein doesn't have complete control over the weapon, to which Frankenstein responds that of course he's aware of that.  His purpose, he tells the two, is to show them that humans aren't weak.  At this point, he begins his assault using the Dark Spear, and despite Ragar's abilities (including stealth and being able to create copies of himself) he finds himself unable to subdue Frankenstein without killing him.  Realizing this, Ragar asks Gejutel for his assistance, and we finally get to see Gejutel's soul weapon, Regasus.

Not bad, not bad

The chapter ends with Gejutel, Ragar, and Frankenstein clashing as Frankenstein's power gets out of control.  Next chapter, I predict that they will successfully drag him before the Lord and/or Raizel, and we will finally get to see why Frankenstein serves Raizel so loyally.  Again, this chapter leaves you impressed with Frankenstein.  To be able to fight with a clan leader while using his soul weapon is a feat on its own, but to do so while fighting against your weapon as well...Frankenstein is something else.  The fight he had with Ragar was basically a rehash of the fight we saw between him and Rajak, so there's nothing to be impressed by there, but seeing the root of Frankenstein's anger toward Lukedonia was good.  I give this one a 3/5, if only because I LOATHE rehashes...it's like using stock footage in anime...that's that shit I don't like.

Noblesse Oblige

DARK FUCKING SPEAR

In case you weren't aware, I actually AM a nerd.  So I read a bunch of manga/manhwa, and I do other nerd shit.  Noblesse is a Korean webcomic that I read weekly...the storyline is interesting, the characters are neat, and the fights are good.  Really, Noblesse has come a long way, in both art and storytelling, which I'm sure is a result of the increase in interest in it.  The characters are mostly "pretty" and the art itself isn't bad...the fact that every page is in color is also a great help in terms of obtaining new readers.  Anyway, I figured that since I won't be doing any reviews of Bleach or Gamaran (this could actually still happen) that I should do reviews of one of my favorite manga that I am reading.

Noblesse #241

In Noblesse 239, we started to get into Frankenstein's past.  I'll do an overview of the Noblesse plot at some point soon, but Frankenstein is the #1 subordinate of the main character, Raizel.  He's an immensely powerful human who has lived for centuries, probably due to his use of demonic power.  His past is mostly a mystery, so getting these backstory chapters has been great.  With #241, we continued exploring Frankenstein's past, with the appearance of two clan leaders, Gejutel (whom we've already seen) and Ragar (who is presumably the father of the current Kertia clan leader, Rajak).  Clan leaders are on a completely different scale than any character we've seen, with the exception of Raizel (who is stronger) and Frankenstein (who is on their level), and it's obvious that Frankenstein hadn't encountered one as of yet.  They banter for a bit, and it's really surprising how similar Frankenstein was to M-24...Raizel had commented on it before, but....

So disrespectful

He was really that disrespectful to freaking clan leaders?  Frankenstein truly gave no fucks.  After getting into a bit of semantics about whether a noble is responsible for the actions of one subordinate to it, Frankenstein showed some true M-24-level anger issues and attacked Ragar, sparking the fight.

Well then.

Aaand...yea.

Ragar easily takes care of Frankenstein's initial attack, something he CLEARLY isn't used to seeing...but in true Frankenstein form, he responds with hundreds of the same attack at once.  The two fight to a stalemate at which point Ragar decides that, if he is going to take Frankenstein back alive, he will require his soul weapon.  After Frankenstein remarks that he knows that it's a soul weapon, he proceeds to summon his own weapon...the awesomely epic DARK SPEAR

ANSWER MY CALL.

HAAAAAAANH

Of course, that's how the chapter ends...but man.  I'm very excited to see how this turns out.  We pretty much know that Frankenstein ended up meeting the Lord and Raizel, so we can kinda guess that...Frankenstein and Ragar fought to mostly a standstill, then Gejutel got into it and they were somehow able to take him back without killing him.  I don't know how Raizel got involved (possibly because he could sense the fight?), but at some point Frankenstein becomes subordinate to Raizel, so considering his attitude in this and previous chapters (using nobles for experiments and such), something drastic had to happen for Frankenstein to become unconditionally loyal to Rai.

Frankenstein is really an awesome character...at this point, we've seen be kind, ruthless, inquisitive, and mischievous.  He has incredible depth and his backstory is already ridiculous...performing experiments on nobles?  Really?  Hahahahaha he's terrible!  I'm definitely ready for the next chapter, I'm giving this one a 5/5, even if only because of Frankenstein's hilarious banter!

Naruto 593 - OROCHIMARU BACK

This motherfucker...

So last week, the chapter concluded with Sasuke's determination to meet Orochimaru.  Any of us who have followed the manga remember that Orochimaru was able to escape Sasuke's body since Sasuke took him over....it was really weird how they (didn't) tried to explain it, but basically, you could assume that if Orochimaru put part his chakra in you, then he could escape your body (really, if you continue with the Orochimaru = Voldemort thing, it makes sense. Consider anyone who has ever received a curse seal or his chakra as a horcrux, and it makes complete sense).  I felt that Sasuke would simply extract him from Anko, similar to how Itachi sealing Orochimaru removed the curse seal from Sasuke, and they did something similar.

Bottom-right panel

What they ended up doing was weird as fuck.  Basically, Juugo took a piece of Kabuto, added it to Anko, and Sasuke did a reverse seal to resurrect Orochimaru...who was of course NOT SURPRISED AT ALL.  This guy really just knows everything.  The REALLY hilarious shit to me though....was Suigetsu's reaction to the entire thing.  First, he didn't want Sasuke to resurrect him...like he hated the idea completely, and tried to convince Sasuke to not do it.  THEN, when Orochimaru was resurrected, he was fucking SHOOK.  I've seen Suigetsu go up against Kisame, Darui, and fucking Killer Bee in his Bijuu form, and he did all of these things without a problem....he sees Orochimaru and his face turns to this shit.

LOOOOOOL

Holy fuck he was shook, lol.  Just tells you how dangerous Orochimaru is...and really, we should already know this.  How many Kages died because of him?  Hell, how much shit in the story happened in part due to his actions?  And now we find out that he can just get information from random people who have his curse seal?  Fuck, this guy is an unkillable piece of shit.  Isn't he supposed to be in Itachi's Totsuka no Tsurugi?  Or maybe Itachi even knew that getting rid of him wouldn't be that easy, but was cool with just getting him out of Sasuke.  Whatever.

Anyway, Orochimaru's ambitions remain the same: he wants to take Sasuke's body to accomplish his goals.  I'm assuming at this point that he wants to awaken the Rinnegan (and thus learn every jutsu in the world) and basically become the next Rikudo Sennin.  Now he's acting like some wise elder and shit, which is fucking weird.  They've kinda developed this persona through the Kabuto backstory; now I'm supposed to think Orochimaru is this caring father figure?

............................

FUCK OUTTA HERE DOG WE REMEMBER THE SHIT OROCHIMARU DID.  So he's going to help Sasuke get whatever info he wants...probably because he knows he can't take Sasuke's body now (hell, he couldn't do it BEFORE Sasuke got the MS, what's he going to do against the EMS?), but it's Orochimaru, so you have to think that he has another plan.  Fuck.


Overall I liked the chapter.  Getting Orochimaru back is fucking great.  Watching Madara troll the Kages was getting annoying and I haven't been interested in Naruto's part of the story since he trolled Yondaime Raikage.  Still VERY interested in what was in the scroll, where Sasuke-tachi are going, who they're meeting, and what Sasuke will do at the conclusion of it all.  I'm going to give it a 4/5 because they really have pulled some fuck shit with this Orochimaru shit.  Orochimaru's awesomeness can't make up for all of the bullshit.  Juugo's act toward Sasuke is also getting boring, and wtf is Kabuto going to do for the rest of his life?  Lmaoooooo ultimate troll move.

The Third Way

Orochimaru back?

A common theme in manga/anime is that neither the "good" nor "evil" side is truly right.  In Gundam especially, that's typically how the series ends.  Naruto is appearing to reach a semblance of this, with Sasuke seeming to not desire to fight alongside Naruto's group or Madara's group.  Interestingly enough, this "third way" seems to involve Orochimaru, who we've seen be sealed within Itachi's Totsuka no Tsurugi.  Since Orochimaru's chakra was present in Anko, and is in Kabuto as well, I'm curious as to how Sasuke will encounter Orochimaru.  Even when we were shown the 1 little snake escaping from the Yamata no Orochi, that snake got burned by the Amaterasu wave later...so just how did Orochimaru survive, if indeed he did?

Snake's burned, bruh

Moving from that point to the rest of the chapter, we continue to experience Madara's arrogance.  This guy...rather than simply kill the Gokage, he decided that fighting them was a waste of time, and that he'd rather just seize the Kyuubi.  Maybe it's because they haven't been able to do anything to him, and yea, that's true, but...are you serious?  You kill your enemies.  Period.  So when Madara inevitably loses, I'm sure that it will be related to the fact that he didn't kill the Gokage when he had the chance.  Cocky fuck.

Suigetsu and Juugo continue to be a couple of the few characters who remember that they're in a ninja story. I remember hearing from other people that they should be pissed that Sasuke abandoned them...they knew what they were getting into at the Gokage Summit.  Why the hell would they be mad that Sasuke pursued...you know...THEIR GOAL (Danzou) instead of staying behind while they got captured?  It's suddenly his fault that they couldn't handle the battle?  The only person with a valid grief there is Karin, since...Sasuke kinda did this:

Stabbin Danzou, stabbin Karin at the SAME DAMN TIME

So yea, she can be mad.  Them other niggas need to just get over it (which they did).  I'm still curious about what is actually in the scroll, and hopefully we get to see that next chapter.


Then we get to Jesus Naruto, Kakashi, Guy, and Killer Bee fighting with Tobi.  How the hell can Naruto use Kyuubi mode again when he had supposedly exhausted himself deflecting...you know...FIVE FUCKING BIJUUDAMA.  I can't deal with Naruto sometimes...people bitch about Uchiha hax, but I think we've seen Naruto be exhausted for more than 1 chapter...maybe once.  I can't even remember seeing that shit.  But yea, that fight is still going on, and it's still mostly boring.  Now, it seems like Tobi is bored with it as well, and he might be summoning the Juubi?  I don't know if he's aware of what's going on with Madara, but him trying to use the bijuu power he has while Madara is showing up to take the Kyuubi might turn out TERRIBLY for everyone involved.

Basically though, the only thing I'm worried about is what Sasuke will do.  I want the Sasuke vs. Naruto fight to happen.  I want Sasuke vs. Madara to happen.  I dunno, I want everything that I've been promised, to happen, hahahaha....no more of this boring bullshit.  Bad enough that I got cheated out of my 7 Shinobi Swordsmen fights.

My other obsession

OK, so you should know by now that I'm pretty big on sports, politics, and music (specifically hip-hop).  My other passion is....manga/anime.  Yea.  Like Lupe Fiasco.  I'm not ashamed to admit it, I'm a nerd.  Been a nerd for a long time, will probably die a nerd.  So, I'll be watching anime and reading manga until the day I die.  With that in mind, I'll probably do some reviews of manga chapters as they come out; the manga I will be reviewing will most likely be Naruto, Gamaran, and Shaman King: Flowers.  This first one is going to be for Naruto, specifically Chapter 591.

Before I go any further, let me state that I'm not linking to any images or adding any images to my manga reviews....I'm not about that get my blog seized on some copyright infringement bullshit life.  If you're a manga fan, you know where to find the stuff.  Buy it online or at a bookstore.  Or...do whatever.


So Chapter 591 picks up where 590 left off.  Itachi, having ended the Edo Tensei, revealed the truth of the night of the Uchiha massacre to Sasuke, and reassuring Sasuke that no matter what path he chooses, he will always love him, returns to the realm of the dead, with his spirit leaving the sacrificial body it was housed in.  The Konoha sacrifice fell to the ground, and while Kabuto stood trapped in Izanami (damn, the shit lasts even after the user dies), Sasuke seems to come to some realization about his future goals...of course Kishimoto chooses not to reveal what said realization is.

As the remaining Edo Tensei return to the land of the dead, we get a forced recognition of Itachi as a true hero through the ending of the Edo Tensei, as if killing his own clan, keeping Akatsuki away from Konoha, and remaining silent about what he knew about Konoha weren't already enough.  Idk, it really irked me how forced the recognition seemed.  We finally get to see Dan's Reika no Jutsu (Spiritualization Technique) and it's fucking OP.  You send your spirit to inhabit another shinobi and murk them.  Goddamn, that's broken as fuck.  It's basically a better version of the Yamanaka Clan's techniques, IMO.  Madara launches a "final" assault on the Gokage, trying to land a blow before he is eliminated, but thanks to Tsunade's Byakugou no Jutsu, she's able to fend off his fire attack.  The jutsu runs out, but Tsunade is content knowing that Madara has been defeated, but...........

Come on bro, there's no way you thought Madara was going out like that.  It's annoying enough that Itachi basically made Kabuto's contributions to the war worthless, you couldn't expect him to also get rid of Madara, who really seems like the only villain competent and powerful enough to be the final villain.  Besides, it keeps with Itachi's story...a very talented, selfless shinobi who always fucking failed.  But that's why he's my favorite character.  He's not perfect, he never pretends to be, and no matter how broken his abilities are, no matter how great strategically he is, no matter how powerful he is overall, he never actually succeeds at shit.

Anyway, so Madara regains his ET body and almost kills Tsunade, but Dan's OP Reika no Jutsu allows him to reach her, inhabit her body, and move it to dodge Madara's attack.  Either the Gokage fight was really close to where he was or that technique is way too fucking OP.  Fam.  Between Dan and Minato, how many shinobi do you think were murked without even seeing their opponent?  Holy fuck.

We get the Dan/Tsunade meeting that all of us expected after seeing him resurrected, and in a reversal of what happened before, Dan kisses Tsunade on the head...how cute.  So you were talking about how if Jiraiya came back alive, you'd be better to him, but you're still sprung off Dan.  Fuck you, Tsunade, smh.

After the touching reunion, Madara reveals why he's still around: the drawback to Edo Tensei is not Itachi's existence (although in this instance, I guess it kinda was, lol), it is that any ET that knows the seals can undo the summoning contract and free him/herself from the summoner.  The ET is then an independent, immortal, infinite chakra (someone tell Muu and the Niidaime Mizukage that they had infinite chakra at their disposal, LOL) being who is close to impossible to stop.  Madara undoes the contract, and we're sure to see the Gokage get their collective asses kicked next chapter.  That's the end.


Overall, I give the chapter a 4/5.  We already knew there would be a loophole for Madara to survive, but rather than it being the Rinnegan's resurrection technique, it is Madara's knowledge of Edo Tensei.  So instead of Madara simply coming back with a normal human body, he retains his ET body, which is fucking ridiculous.  Itachi is gone, so now we have to wonder, how in the world will Madara be defeated?  Will Sasuke join up with Naruto to crush him?  I'm really curious to see what happens.  I took a point off for them waiting so long to have the Dan/Tsunade meeting happen, and then having it happen so ridiculously.  How in the world did this guy die in combat?  Luckily they got him in the barrier early, and apparently Kabuto summoned him purely for his relationship with Tsunade, rather than knowing the techniques he knew...if he DID know that Dan had that technique, then Kabuto is a fucking idiot.


Predictions for the next chapter: we get to see Madara do some damage, and we get a return to the Tobi vs. Naruto/Gai/Kakashi fight.  I don't really care for that fight, but maybe Tobi can make it interesting.