Everybody has a job to do, and obligations to a higher cause. With Scrapped Princess 20, we start seeing some very clear indications of where everybody’s loyalties really lie. Finally we get an indication of Major Sturm’s loyalty to his crown as opposed to his loyalty to his people. We see how far Shannon is willing to go, and get a glimpse at why he has tried so hard to shelter his little sister. And hey, you gotta love any episode in which Shizu gets more dialogue than Pacifica! Get it while it’s hot!

Scrapped Princess has been on the air for eighteen episodes so far, and has been positively received amongst my personal anime-sharing buddies. Since last I wrote regarding this sword-and-socery sometimes-comedy, sometimes-drama, six episodes have hit our shores via a handful of fansubbers. Most significantly, what initially appeared to be an episodic series of mini-adventures is starting to come together into something much grander in scale. By the 15th episode, the loose ends start clearly converging, and by the 16th episode, every character from the Heretic Inspector to the Assassin Bard to the army Weapon’s Master that the Castle family has left in their wake is converging in an increasingly clear way.

What the final resolution will be remains cloudy: How will Pacifica Castle, the poison that will destroy the world, fare against the many and varied forced rallied against her? What will Christopher do with his special task force, with his conscience increasingly set against his duty? How will Shannon protect his sister with Shizu hounding him everywhere he goes? I really don’t know, but if the writers handle the rest of the series as artfully as they’ve scripted the last three episodes, I’m sure we’re in for quite a show.

The next episode airs on August 26th, so I hope to have a copy within the week.

The guy who wants to eat Fugu has taken an enforced break from translating Tenjo Tenge (volume 10 isn’t in print yet, and who really wants to scan off the original serial? The paper sucks). Instead he is bringing us some love in the form of Vulgar Ghost DayDream, what he describes as a “Shounen Horror” manga. I think he has put it rather well: the plot revolves around a shapely female who starts the comic in a short skirt and thigh-high boots (hence the Shounen). Additionally this female, the main protagonist Misaki Saiki, happens to be a “necromancer.” From the first chapter, we can glean that a necromancer in this context is somebody who is able to see and converse with spirits, is qualified to perform exorcisms, and has crazy bondage gear on under her clothes that act as an impromptu bodyguard as the need arises.

If you are offended by references to people pissing on each other, or humor about panty-sniffing stalkers, stay clear of this series, as I’m sure that’s just the tip of the iceberg here. As always, when you use BitTorrent to download a copy, please leave your client on for a couple of hours to help with the distribution process.