Monday, December 30, 2013

[anime] Little Busters: Refrain

Finally, Little Busters! Refrain is achieved as anime. OVA were announced. Little are the happy about it.



Little Busters! is originally a Visual Novel from KEY, the company that wrote Clannad, Air, Kanon, Rewrite and Angel Beats (in addition of other titles..).

Best of 2013

Yeah I know everyone does this but I love making lists. Rather than make a bunch of lists broken down by categories I've just tossed in all my favorite stuff from the past year onto one list. This includes my favorite movies, comics, TV shows and what not from 2013. What are your favs?

1. PACIFIC RIM

Guillermo Del Toro delivered the giant robot vs giant monster movie I'd been waiting my whole life to see. My favorite part? When Gypsy Danger unveils it's colossal sword out of no where! Now where's my Voltron movie?

Liebster Awards

About a week go, I was nominated by for the Liebster Awards. Admittedly, I'm not really familiar with it (incidentally, I found out these series of Liebster chain posts had been going around way back from 2010, or perhaps even further back), but here's a basic rundown.



THE LIEBSTER AWARD IS INTENDED TO GIVE SOME EXPOSURE TO SMALL BLOGS WITH LESS THAN 200 FOLLOWERS. THE RULES ARE AS FOLLOWS:

Sunday, December 29, 2013

Missing events of 2013 that you've not seen on my blog

Hello lovelies! Today might be special post because it's the last Sunday of 2013! Gosh time files soooo fast and it's almost new year! :O I'm not sure if you've noticed that some highlights of my life in 2013 that I have not post anything about them because; ONE: BUSY WITH OTHER REVIEW AND ADVERTORIAL POSTS and TWO: I WAS HECTIC WITH EXAMS AND ASSIGNMENTS and it would be awkward to blog about something that has passed soooo long ago and there's some memories that I've forgotten by the time I wanted to blog. So, this is sort of a flashback of missing events that you've not seen on my blog.

#1 CNY @ CAMERON HIGHLANDS & PENANG 2013 Let's start from Chinese New Year of 2013. CNY 2013 was truly an holiday getaway as my dad drove us to Cameron Highlands to have a cold CNY and I'm seriously in love with that place. Even though that place doesn't have any entertainment (I meant by games and stuff) but I love the cool nature environment and amazing view of green hills. Don't forget those yummy strawberries! :DAs far as I remembered while looking at those pictures, we stayed a couple of days at Equatorial Hotel with a cozy fireplace during the night (first time seeing a fireplace with FIRE lol) and during the day, we visited a temple at Brinchang town and saw that little Stitch? We managed to get from a claw machine for only RM1 hahaha it's a keychain by the way! That few days of humid cold weather was awesome :D


Friday, December 27, 2013

My Top Favorite Manga

Without I realize, my blog had gotten more than 50.000 views. Banzai! To commemorate this, as usual, I intend to write something personal. And this time I want to write about my favorite manga of all time. As you know, I'm an avid reader of manga and I've collected several series which crowded about 4 of my bookshelves. I would not include manga that still on-going on this list, so you would not see One Piece or Skip Beat. I will only include manga that had already ended. Okay, here we go:



small part of my bookshelves

Thursday, December 26, 2013

In 2014, All You Need Is Kill

In June 2014, Edge of Tomorrow, a Hollywood adaptation of Japanese light novel All You Need is Kill will be released, starring Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt. Today, it was revealed that the new year will herald yet another adaptation of the science fiction novel though, as it has just been announced that Takeshi Obata (artist of Death Note) will be illustrating a manga adaptation of Hiroshi Sakurazaka's original novel in Weekly Young Jump from 9th January, 2014. What's more is, the manga will be released simultaneously in English via the Weekly Shonen Jump digital magazine!



When aliens known as "Mimics" invade, Keiji Kiriya is one of many new recruits forced into what is essentially a suicide mission where he is killed in mere minutes. However, he finds himself being reborn each morning to fight and die once more. On the 158th loop, he sees something different - a female soldier known as the Bitch of War. Could the Bitch of War hold the key to Keiji's escape, or his final death?

Wednesday, December 25, 2013

12 Days of Meditations: Character vs Plot

Merry Christmas! For this year, I'd like to talk about anime, and not just specific shows that I watched this year. I'd still mention some of them, don't worry! It's just that enough people are doing that already, so I'd like to bring something new to the table.



This year, I started writing harder. Not hard enough as I would like to, but it's a start, and one of the steps I took was educating myself by reading writing books.

Monday, December 23, 2013

Secret Santa Project 2013

So since I'm back home again I decided to participate in this year's organised by - because I appear to love attempting to write all the posts ever at the end of the year when I'm insanely busy.The concept is simple; you get three series recommended to you by an anonymous blogger based on your , and you have to review at least one of them before Christmas Day.Somehow despite my best intentions I've ended up cutting it rather close again this year and only managed to watch the one show.



The three shows I was given were , and - so I didn't do too badly at all (even if they're all 2 cours shows), so thank you Secret Santa for not being evil and suggesting crap for me!I wanted to watch both One Outs & Yamato 2199, but could only manage to get One Outs completed - will get to Yamato when shortly though.Anyway, on to the actual review.

The Significance of Foil Characters

What is a foil? This is a literature term where it defines a character trait contrasting to another character, usually the protagonist in this case. The contrast can be acquired in a number of ways - by showing extremely different designs, personalities, ideals, mindset and mentality between the two of them. However, even though they are very blatantly different, both of them have a few similar qualities that will help tie both of them - so that, we, the third-person viewers, can compare them in the first place. Basically, in order to create a foil pairing of characters, they obviously had to be different so as to contrast, yet, possessing a similar foundation beneath their character design. Evangelion plays with this concept a lot, and chances are, if you had watched Death Note, Kira and L as well, is a prime example.



Togami: That isthe truth? But, Naegihow could you ? How could someone worthless like you reach this truth ? A truthI couldn't reach myself !

Death Note Graphic Novel Box Set available at 50% off from RightStuf

Death Note is about a creature from the shinigami realm, Ryuk, who drops his Death Note in the human world where it is found by Light Yagami, a brilliant high school student. Light finds that, as the note's instructions indicate, when the Death Note's owner has a person's face in mind and writes that person's name in it, that person will die. Light decides to use the Death Note to rid the world of criminals. This sets off a cat-and-mouse game between Light and L, an equally brilliant young man who is capable of solving crimes that leave everyone else mystified.



I first became aware of Death Note when the three live-action films were released on DVD. (You can read my review of the Death Note II: The Last Name movie .) However I really wasn't familiar with the original manga with story by Tsugumi Ohba and art by Takeshi Obata.

Lost Girl Episode 6 Season 4 Review: ''Of All the Gin Joints''

(Ps: English isn't my first language, so, I'm sorry for possible mistakes)



Another week, another Lost Girl's episode surprises me! I'd never thought it was possible to see two of my favorite things on screen, together! I LOVE Opera ( yeah, I used to sing it when I was younger, No... I'm not an ET) and I'm addicted to Lost Girl, soooo... I'm happily dancing with it (Doctor Lewis style!)! Thank you, again, Writers! And I mean, Thank you for blowing my mind!! Really?! Kenzi and Hale, Evony and Lauren, Ianka (Lara Jean Chorostecki), more dancing!!! I'm starting to be a Happy Lost Viewer!

Sunday, December 22, 2013

News roundup (mostly movie stuff edition)

How about that new Godzilla trailer, huh? Well, that's not the only one to be released recently, just the "drop everything and repost this" one. Here's a roundup of other happenings in the field of Japanese SF-ish cinema, etc.



* A new is up teasing Heisei Kamen Rider vs. Showa Kamen Rider: Kamen Rider Wars (featuring Super Sentai). I guess they figure there are 15 of each (if you count Shin, ZO, and J as Showa-era, Black and Black RX as separate characters, Riderman as his own protagonist, and don't consider Kamen Rider G), so why not do a movie war? I've gotta level here: expectations are pretty low for this thing. Sowhatever happened to that Kikaider project that was teased as the end of Super Hero Wars Z?

Dec 22 news round-up

It's time for a summary of neat stories and trailer that've arisen sincewell, since the last time there was a news round-up.



* Yuichi Fukuda, director of The Hero Yoshihiko and Hentai Kamen, has a new movie called Joshiku in the works, an all-female Sentai parody. It's due in Japan in early summer. [via ]
Issue #26

December 22, 2013

North Republic Industries

Saturday, December 21, 2013

Anime! Yay!

OKAY. SO, I'M GOING TO START WITH MY TOP FIVE ANIME SERIES.



NUMBER ONE: SOUL EATER.

The 24-Day Xmas Gift Guide : Day #16

BOX SETS!



Stuck on what to get the genre reader who has everything? Why not grab a box set of their favourite series! Box sets make a great keepsake gift, and usually cost significantly less than buying the entire set individually.

Friday, December 20, 2013

Death Note Musical to Premiere in Japan and South Korea 2015

DEATH NOTE MUSICAL TO PREMIERE IN JAPAN AND SOUTH KOREA 2015



The famous DEATH NOTE manga series is getting adapted into a stage musical and will premiere in Japan at Tokyo's Nissay Theater on April and the musical will move to South Korea at Seoul's LG Art Center on July and August. What's special about this adaptation is the Japanese AND U.S. team that is going to be working on it. Here's a to purchase tickets if you happen to be in Japan or South Korea during those times (site in Japanese).With it's anime and live-action movie adaptations, DEATH NOTE will soon be the most powerful contemporary manga.

Genkina Hito's Winter 2014 Anime Selection

My is up and running on Anime UK News and while writing it I noticed that the number of shows was up on previous years and that among them are a nice selection of titles that range from the familiar trend of light novel/manga adaptations and sequels to some interesting looking original series. I used the chart on the right (which I got ) as a basis and went researching for a day. Anyway I culled the best shows from that list to put in here.



The winter may be coming and yet I still haven't finished the autumn anime selection (there are about three weeks left) but I can say that I love this autumn's shows and will continue to watch Samurai Flamenco. Indeed I wrote this while listening to the OP for over and over.

Thursday, December 19, 2013

Black Lagoon: Roberta's Blood Trail

RONAN DALY SHARES HIS THOUGHTS ON BLACK LAGOON: ROBERTA'S BLOOD TRAIL, THE FIVE-EPISODE THIRD INSTALMENT OF THE BLACK LAGOON ANIME SERIES, BASED ON REI HIROE'S MANGA OF THE SAME NAME.



Set in the mid-'90s, Black Lagoon follows the exploits of Lagoon Company, a team of mercenaries and pirates operating throughout Southeast Asia. The real-world locations and relatively contemporary setting for the series set the scene for what can be considered a 'more realistic' anime series - at least insofar as there is a lack of magic, monsters or superhuman abilities. However, action scenes still tend to be over the top and may feel slightly more at home in a world where characters could also slice mountains with their eyes or run on water. Nevertheless, the show remains grounded in its realistic premise, making few other concessions to the fantastic.

Anime

-Those ears! =QxQ= -

I am a fan of anime, I became a fan of anime after watching my very first anime on Adult Swim. I was in a good mood jumping on the bed (single digit age) and after 9 PM Cartoon Network turns into Adult Swim. Well this anime show came on with the very first episode. I watched it and fell in love with it. I loved everything about it! The half dog demon, the ending theme song, and the mix between love and gore that I liked. After I became handy with the computer, I finished the series and learned about "anime" overall. Then watched many other shows and soon fell in love with Asian culture.


Winter 2014 Anime Preview

Hey all, it's season preview time again - doesn't time fly!?Anyway this upcoming Winter season is surprisingly decent looking, which is a good thing since it's cold and I don't want to go outside.These days it feels like the quality shows are being more evenly spread out over the year, rather than being clustered into the Spring & Autumn seasons - those seasons are still bigger, but Summer & Winter are definitely much more packed now than they were in the past.Hopefully the trend continues!



Right on to the preview then~!
Issue #25

December 8, 2013

North Republic Industries

Death Note Manga to Be Adapted Into a Musical

Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata's popular manga property Death Note is being adapted into a stage musical, and is slated for a run in Japan and South Korea in 2015, via Tokyo Nissay Theatre and Seoul's LG Art Center, respectively.



American composer Frank Wildhorn, who previously wrote the music for the Jekyll & Hyde, The Scarlet Pimpernel, The Civil War, Carmen, Wonderland, and The Count of Monte Cristo musicals, and has also composed songs for artists such as Natalie Cole and the late Whitney Houston, is handling the score. The script is being written by Ivan Menchell, while Tamiya Kuriyama is set to direct. There are no details regarding the cast yet.

Update! Dec. 19

Hey guys! I'm super excited to go on a vacation after almost 9 years. Man it's going to be fantastic. Anyway, there's not much to say other than to see what's going on in the winter lineup. NouCome is already finished (I think), and as for other series such as Walkure Romanze, they only have one more episode left. I started watching Death Note and to be honest, the story is really great. Unlike when I first began watching anime, I would always skip parts in my mind since I couldn't fully understand what's going on. I guess I really like Death Note as I can full understand what's happening, but obviously I don't have the deduction skills as L or Light do. On a final note, I finally finished and framed my Erza drawing. Got that awesome feeling when friends who also like Fairy Tail kept asking me to give them the frame. That's about wraps it up for 2013. See you guys in the new year! :D



Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!

Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Year End Manga and Anime thoughts 2013

2013 was a year in which the Manga "fandom". For me became less of a part of my life not in giving up or burn out but simply that I don't bother to interact with others online or in real life out of a simple choice to want to be left alone or avoid the more toxic aspects of fandom (trolls, crazy super fans, and creepy perverts). I also buy less part of this is cold hard economics and it's partially I simply don't want to be "locked in" to buying a series I'm only mildly interested in or ambivalent about. Thankfully with the growth of legal online streaming I'm able to watch more Anime for free. As far as thoughts on Anime in general with a few major exceptions (Kill La Kill and Gallie Dona come to mind), Anime releases are very much part of a franchise either being adaptations of a light novel, Manga, or Visual Novel or a continuation of a previous season. Some of these aren't bad but it speaks to the lack of original content and most of them feel like generic re-treads of the same tired concepts except instead of being heavily based around Moe it's mostly Fan Service (this was especially true of The Fall season). As far as what was good in Anime it's debatable as is any kind of art sure there are shows I'm watching that are entertaining but ultimately inconsequential, or leave no impact like Infinite Straitos 2 which is simply a generic harem series with some okay mecha design and action. All the girls simply end up being one note stereotypes or archetypes, while Outbreak Company which from how it was being marketed sounded awful ended up being a pleasant surprise able to juggle real emotion and the some times pander heavy fan service that seems to be what is thought to make money these days. I also have to say that Gingitsune goes down as one of the better series I've seen this year although I watched very little during the summer and spring was depressing due to having to slog through a number of creepy fetishistic harem and light novel derivative titles. As Gingitsune, takes a very Japanese concept a young girl whois the heir to her family's shrine and can see the spirit guardian of the shrine a large grumpy fox named Gin with a fondness for Tangerines and makes it a sweet relateble series about growing up and coming to terms with life while also running a winsome thread of spirituality through it punctuated with slapstick comedy and honest morals to various episodes. Also Non Non No Biyori the spiritual successor to Barasui's Strawberry Marshmallow (in my opinion) holds a special place in my heart for capturing the feel of a real Moe series instead of the multiplicity of series that feel like they where done by committee or made specially just to sell merchandising. Also being produced by Studio Silver Link helps as they are one of my favorite Anime production companies and the only reason I even finished Oniai. As far as thing that where bad or "worst of's" most of the things that where truly bad or uninteresting I dropped the long stalled Blaz Blue Anime was indecipherable after three episodes and did nothing to counter the almost universally low opinion Anime adaptations of fighting games have in Anime fandom. It looked nice but the story seemed to be only a mishmash of references to a series of games I doubt most of the western audience has played while also having parts of it feel like fan service to the fans of the games as several characters seemed to appear just to do their "special move" than disappear. Other low lights include the Madoka Magica Spinoff Manga series which made me think that the reason we haven't seen a lot of really bad "Madoka clone" series the way we did with Neon Genesis Evangelion is because Madoka Partners is doing a fine enough job destroying their own brand with inferior spin offs that have none of the deep philosophical concepts or well written characterization of the original TV series while I have no interest in the movies even if the third movie is completely original the TV ending works just fine for me. Also I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Oreimo in my worst of as this is the best recent example of a series's ending ruining what could have been a interesting concept along with a turgid second season of the Anime that left a lot of people feeling as if they'd been tricked. The second season of Genshiken could also be added to my worst of simply because it goes nowhere and replaces the original cast with a almost completely new cast of characters who all seem the same while the Mangaka becomes progressively more obsessed with one new character to expense of everyone else. My three picks for best New Manga meanwhile are idiosyncratic and obviously not going to be what everyone considers the best but it's my list so their and it's in no particular order from best to worst or anything. #1 Monster Musume by Okayado: This title is simply put a harem series with Monster Girls I think it's one of the best new series out because it's just a harem title it's not trying to be an action series and a harem series or any kind of harem plus anything it's simply the story of a put upon guy who ends up with a bunch of cute monster girls living in his house it's a simple concept but it works and never feels as if it's trying to be more than what it is. #2. Watamote: This is the manga for anyone who hated High School or is tired of series like Kimi No Todeki that paint an unrealistic saccharine picture of High School or alternatively make it like this epic angst riddled struggle like Devil and Her Love Song. Focused around the failures and self deluded antics of Tomoko Kuroki a girl who thinks that everyone else is the problem to her becoming popular. It's alternatively one of the funniest series currently in print and one of the most depressing due to the presentation of Tomoko being so honest and unafraid to present her as an often vindictive and judgmental but ultimately extremely lonely and teenager which I'm sure more than accounts for her extreme popularity online as the ultimate "Anti-Moe" character while also hitting too close to home for some having to drop the series because of that. #3 Helter Skelter Fashion Unfriendly: I did an entire review explaining why I liked this, simply put it's not something you see released much it's a dark jaundiced view of humanity and most Manga that get released is simply escapist entertainment this is a work that goes deep into the ugliest parts of human nature for being that against the current grain of cutesy consumerism that Japan tries to palm off as "Cool Japan." I can't praise this series enough. 2014: Titles I'm looking forward to and trends I want to see die #1. Title: Arpeggio of Blue Steel: Originally serialized in Young King Ours (home to Trigun and Hellsing at one time) is a post apocalyptic Sci-Fi story based around the crew of a Submarine who battles the invading alien forces known as the Fleet of Fog the secret to their victory being that their sub is a former fleet of fog ship. Also all the Fleet of Fog ships have AI called Mental Models that take the form cute girls. When I first heard about this series I was instantly intrigued having watched the Anime now I really can't wait until June as this series seems to have an engrossing Sci-Fi plot mixed with epic military battles and a smattering of cute girl fan service in short it's got something for everyone along with an art style that looks all it's own. #2. Title: Strike Witches: Strike Witches is one of my favorite series the Anime's first season was near perfect and the second season despite some filler and an over abundance of fan service in some parts carried the story on while also feeling like a good way to end it. The manga had never really been on my radar until Seven Seas announced they had licensed the first series. Than subsequently several other titles, it's a great way for me to become reacquainted with the girls of the 401st while also getting a chance to have more stories on this great Mecha Musume series also, I'll be particularly interested in seeing the art style and character design. #3. Title: Say "I Love You": Licensed by Kodansha from their older teen Shojo/Josei magazine Dessert and due out in Spring of 2014, I came across it from watching the Anime adaptation which had wildly different opinions on it some thinking it was great others thinking it was terrible. I came away from it convinced that I had to read the Manga of it as it felt like a Manga for young women or older teens who had a brain and could actually think instead of simply regurgitating tired plot ideas and tired character archetypes. I think this could be the first Shojo title outside of Sailor Moon that I've actually liked putout by Kodansha as Missions of Love became too squicky after four volumes and Tokyo Mew Mew felt like Cash Grab: The Manga. Trends I want To See Die: #1. "Rapey" Romance and Supernatural Romance Titles: I know in a objective sense titles like this won't go away because they continue to sell as the Manga equivalent to bad bodice ripper fiction and it wouldn't bother me that much except all that seems to come out or sell briskly now as far as Shojo Manga is this type of stuff. In which a heroine has a guy pressuring her to have sex with him for whatever contrived reason. Or she's forced into some kind of "pact" or sham marriage with him for an equally contrived reason, and it ultimately feels like the audience is supposed to find the heroine either a ridiculous cipher they can feel superior to or is supposed to find the prospect of potential ravishment "Exciting" only further testifying to how sexually broken we are as a society this side of The Fall. Again it's more the amount of this kind thing instead of the fact that any of it gets put out at all that bothers me and at least with the release of titles Voice Over Academy it seems to at least be slowing down a little. #2. Moral Crusader Syndrome: This is the trend of people feeling that in the need to protect other people's children or in over reaction to their own child getting a hold of a Manga title that might be age inappropriate or something they wouldn't want them to read. They than try and ban all Manga or Graphic Novels this seems to happen every six month to a year like clock work from the woman in Florida who claimed her son was traumatized by a copy of Gantz and had to go into therapy because of it. Or the mother who wanted to ban Death Note because she felt it was wrong for middle school aged children to read. Thankfully groups like The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund exist to stem the tide of ridiculous parentaly motivated book banning and we can chuckle a little at these examples . But there's also the much more serious problem of governmental censorship in Canada (a country where you can not only be prosecuted for having Manga but also for speaking out against Homosexuality so at least their equal opportunity tyrants). Along with movements in Japan to have Lolicon declared hate speech by certain sectors of the Feminist movement or child pornography by traditionalist conservatives. Along with recent prosecutions such as the Brandon X case and the Handly case from 2009, I can only hope that in time people with "cooler heads" will realize that reading Manga won't turn you into a sexual predator and that a drawing of child is not a child. Best Reissue: Dance In The Vampire Bund Omnibus: Dance In The Vampire Bund is a series I love it's a mixture of solid action sometimes insightful character writing and a alternatively lush and epic, and hard boiled writing style. With the omnibus reissues the series get an oversized edition collecting three volumes per omnibus fixing the cramped style that detracted from the detail in the original individual volumes. Making for a much more satisfying reading when the epic battles of the latter half start, while also giving more for your money with three volumes per omnibus so it's also economical as well. I'm still a little amazed this sells and has sold as well as it does. Given the content I've even gone so far as saying this is the title I'm 90% sure would send me to prison if it fell in the wrong hands. I still can't help but sing the praises of this series for all the good in it and the omnibus only show why it's such a big seller for Seven Seas. Honorable and Dishonorable Mentions: Dishonorable Mentions: K-On! High school and College: These where the sort of sequels that continued on from the original four volume series from the beginning they where fraught with controversy, from angry Otaku worrying about their Wifu haveing her "purity" sullied in the College series to the uninteresting bland antics in the high school series and the degraded art. In the end both series ended at one collected volume each and except for completeists was promptly forgotten by almost every one it was a cynical cash grab and had none of the charm of the original which it's self is quickly heading into obscurity. Dragon Ball Z Ocean Dub DVD re release: Simply this is a repackaging of an old dub for the chance to get the money of old DBZ fans with more money than common sense. Of course Funimation is going to put it out because it's a guaranteed way to make money but it's still kind of an insult to the intelligence of fans I feel. Attack On Titan: After I read the first two Twilight novels I made a solemn vow to myself that I wouldn't get sucked into something because of the hype for this reason I've not watched the Anime adaptation of Attack on Titan and having read the first two volumes of the Manga I found it the equivalent of a series like Death Note where it conflates violence and shock value with maturity. I honestly don't have much to say except this is a series I passed on and my reasons for passing on it still stand Honorable Mentions: Silver Spoon Season One: The latest work by Fullmetal Alchemist Mangaka Hiromu Arakawa is a simple story of a city boy who transfers to a High School in Hokkaido only to find out it's a agricultural school and that he'll be forced to do hard labor on top of having to deal with the ethical implications of farming as well as animal slaughter for food. The Manga has been extremely successful in Japan (I don't know why Viz still hasn't licensed it), the Anime captures a story full of heart, courage, and an overall sunny Shonen vibe that's odd for a series serialized in the often more cerebral Shonen Sunday. Chronicles of the Going Home Club: Yes it's a "cute girls doing cute things" series but it captures a more off kilter Otaku feel to the genre as opposed to the "forced Moe" of series like Good Job Club with the girls feeling like actual characters while also making over the top beyond the impossible physical comedy some found it shrill I found it hilarious in the over the top nature of it and skewering of tropes and conventions along with the winking self awareness of it.
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Anime Love

Source:



I'm a late bloomer regarding this viewing pleasure. If I haven't met friends who are avid fans I'd be missing out a lot of the amazing and extraordinary world of Japanese Animation.

Misa Amane

ANIME: DEATH NOTECHARACTER: MISA AMANE



I watched this when I was in high school so that was about5 years ago. At the end of the series shortly after Light's death, Misa is seen standing on top of a ledge of a tall building alone. Although it is not shown, it is possible that she committed suicide following Light's death.

On The First Day Of Christmas My True Love Sent To Me: Death Note

Hi everybody!



As promised this is my own personal twist on the countdown to Christmas, bringing you all my favourite Animes in the run up to everyone's favourite time of the year. Just a disclaimer, these are some of MY PERSONAL favourites. There is no set order to these Animes and you may not even agree with the whole idea of'The 12 Days Of Anime' but I thought it was a fun little thing to do... So here we go!

Time for Anime!

YES, I have recently got into anime, and out of respect for some of my new favourite cartoon shows, I decided to make the following list...



Top 11 Hottest Anime Guys:

Anime Mondays #41

So, you know how I've been talking about making the transition to youtube?I pretty much have the whole theming planned out, along with a filming location I just need to learn how to use iMovie.This is going to be interesting.Look for a 2014 debut.In other news, this "Timber" song by Ke$ha is really distracting and stupid.Spotify, you are failing.



All images below are from , and there are spoilers up to the episodes listed!

Friday, November 29, 2013

Guilty Crown Part One

RONAN DALY PEEKS BEHIND THE VEIL AT GUILTY CROWN (PART ONE), THE FIRST HALF OF THE THRILLING ANIME SERIES DIRECTED BY TETSURO ARAKI (BEST KNOWN FOR HIS WORK ON THE DEATH NOTE ANIME SERIES).



Guilty Crown takes place in Japan in the year 2039, ten years after the horrific Apocalypse virus brought the country to its knees and left the population paralyzed with fear. As a result of the devastation wrought by this virus, Japan had no choice but to accept massive levels of international aid. This effectively left Japan at the mercy of the organisation known as the GHQ. Now, a decade later, the country remains in a state of fear, with GHQ authorised to exterminate any possible cases of infection or any threats to GHQ. One group, known as the Undertakers (or Funeral Parlour to some), is fighting back to regain independence for Japan and hope for its people, all the while being slated as terrorists in the media.

Thursday, November 28, 2013

Cosplay Trends 2011

It's pick a year and any convention season and with that come was a "cosplay trends".

The "Cosplay Trend" appears to find something to help both sunny and bad.

It's photography toasty when something gets popular, any more great actually do it, pick a cleaner the anime/game/mange found for uncertainness befits, any fresh it becomes.

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Issue #24

November 28, 2013

North Republic Industries
Hello to the person who reads this blog, in this blog you find a lot of about my life, tastes, hobbies and my biography.



MY LIFE

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Divo of The Day "Zac Efron" (11/19/13)

ZACHARY DAVID ALEXANDER "ZAC" EFRON, was born October 18, 1987. Zac is an American actor and singer. Zac began acting professionally in the early 2000s, and became known as a after his lead roles in the , the series , and the 2007 film version of the Broadway musical . Zac has since starred in the films , , , , , and (voice only).Zac's surname, "Efron", means "lark" (a bird) in Hebrew, and comes from Zac's Ashkenazi Jewish paternal grandfather. Zac's recent ancestry also includes English, German, Irish, and Scottish. Zac took his first step toward acting at the age of eleven, after his parents noticed of his singing ability. Singing lessons soon led to an appearance in the production of "Gypsy" and he was hooked.Zac Efron (Photo by Just Jared)



UPCOMING ROLES

German anime blogs are baaaaaaad

More news at six.



Hooray for even more lazy filler output. Don't worry, I'll get to the super-deep posts some other time. Perhaps in a few weeks. Who knows.

Danganronpa afterthoughts

Oh DanganronpaI finished watching this show and yet I can't say if it is a good or a bad show. I stopped reviewing it after episode 8 (that has nothing to do with the show's quality) so I guess first I better give you my opinion on the last episodes.



That was one impressive moment. And one unnecessary death.

PR: Viz Media Highlights A Score of Manga Releases That Make Ideal Gifts

VIZ MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS A SCORE OF MANGA RELEASES THAT MAKE IDEAL GIFTS FOR FANS THIS HOLIDAY SEASON



2013 Holiday Wish List Includes New Manga Box Sets, Shojo And Shonen Manga Series, Deluxe Omnibus Editions, And Other Exciting Gifts
Issue #23

November 17, 2013

North Republic Industries

Top 10 Anime Duos

OTAKUNUTS' ONE-YEAR ANNIVERSARY!



Top 10 Anime Duos

Dat Character Development

Hey everybody! Hope you had a good Halloween (for those of you that celebrate it), and for those of you that celebrate Thanksgiving, I hope you'll give it the breathing room it deserves before the Holiday Rush. I know I will: I vow not to watch a single holiday movie until at least after Thanksgiving (a rule I didn't follow last year and ended up watching them all in November, leaving me nothing in December). That and now that Halloween's done I can move on from my marathon of Tim Burton films and the like and go back to catching up on more anime, since the hunger for it's still alive and kicking (though I may need to set aside a block of time to rewatch Hunger Games before Catching Fire comes out WOOT!). But on the subject of anime, despite the fact that I've got a ton of other blog post drafts in my line up, I had to bring this topic up almost immediately as I've been giving it a lot of thought, especially while I'm continually working at the editorial process of my novel.



In terms of storytelling, the medium of anime has a lot going for it, since a lot of shows that are considered to be anime (whether you consider shows like Avatar: The Last Airbender, The Legend of Korra, and RWBY to be a part of that is a whole 'nother kettle o' fish) not only come up with some of the coolest and most creative premises (right up there with BBC's Sherlock and The Walking Dead*), with a long history of taking its viewers on flights of fancy from epic space mech-battles to quirky romances with kitsune (fox-demons) and everything in between, but they ALSO, when done well, open some of the most delightful avenues for character development, since most animes (with the exception of OVAs) tend to consist of a series of episodes that can be anywhere from thirteen to fifty episodes long (or longer if we're talking the ongoing march of Naruto, Bleach, or One Piece).

Anime Characters?

Greetings Guys, Gals, and Pals,



WARNING: MAJOR SPOILERS FOR DEATH NOTE AND CODE GEASS CONTAINED HERE. DO NOT READ PAST THE THIRD PARAGRAPH IF YOU WON'T WANT ANY SPOILERS.

some animes.

Last summer, a friend of mine drew my attention towards anime series. Although I had watched some before (e.g. Yu-Gi-OH!), I had'nt really liked those with japanese audio and subtitles. But he showed me that watching series with subtitles is not uncomfortable at all. So I was really into animes since last may until september (then I stopped, because it took up too much time and I felt I had already seen all good series). Though it was only a short time, I have watched many animes. I want to write about some of them here, especially those, which are not so well known (so not something like Death Note). Please note, these are not all the animes I have watched, and not all my favorites (maybe I'll write a post about the best ones later). However, lets's start:



WORST ANIME: MM!

Thoughts: Log Horizon Episode 8

I just recently watched the newest installment of Log Horizon and I was expecting some action again but instead of them being in an actual battle, the episode seems to have taken the intellectual battle path.I would have probably said that this path is what makes me bored in seeing in anime or movies but Log Horizon made me stay on my chair and watch the entire episode with me wanting more.It looked like it will become one of my personal favorites, along with Sword Art Online, Death Note, and Code Geass.A total of 25 episodes and not yet halfway, everything is looking good on my end.Log Horizon delivers what I wanted and the only thing missing would be someone cosplaying Akutsuki and I get to have a picture with her.



Just a quick though post about the anime, nothing to spoil it too much but if you haven't watched Log Horizon, start watching it today with episode 1!I'd rate it a 9/10 now but it may change depending on how the story flows and how they would end it or have it setup for a second season or even a full-blown long series like Naruto and Bleach.Man, those two anime are long but filled with fillers.Hope they don't do that kind of thing but I guess I can't complain much since Log Horizon is doing better.

Tokyo Toys: Anime Merchandise

(Photos of mug.. TBC)

Another product review coming your way... So on Thursday I was browsing on one of my favourite anime merchandise sites which isI have recently fallen in love with the new anime series Shingeki No Kyojin (also known as ATTACK ON TITAN) and I have wanted to buy a piece of merchandise of that anime for quite a few weeks now so I looked at their designated page on their website for Attack on Titan merchandise and saw awith the main characters on it. I have always been intrigued with wall scrolls as they look really nice and come in cool designs, and are also very different to your average posters. So I decided to purchase a wall scroll from that anime and also following my love for the anime series Ao No Exorcist (BLUE EXORCIST), I then looked at the merchandise they have for that and saw a , I was intrigued when I saw this because I thought you get 1 Rin & 1 Yukio mug but when it arrived it was 1 mug with both of them printed on each side. Productshere is the place to go. Range of Products: 5/5 They have a wide range of anime merchandise from the mainly popular animes including: Pokemon, High School of the Dead, Vampire Knight, Attack on Titan, Ao No Exorcist, Death Note, My Neighbour Totoro, Black Butler, Naruto, Bleach, Puella Magi Madoka Magica and lots more. They also have a wide range of items from: cosplay outfits, figurines, onsies, key-rings, posters & wall scrolls, purses + wallets, contact lenses, bags and other fashion accessories.
Full Post

The Death Note dilemma

Would you do it?

If you had a Death Note, where if you could write down the name of any individual and kill them, would you choose to do it? And if you had that sort of ability, how often would you use it? The idea of writing off some horrible person, like a dictator, or mass murderer seems really appealing, and you might think you're doing a just and moral thing, but are you really? How guilty is the murderer of a murderer? Everyone at some point has had these sort of dark and destructive emotions towards another person, and you've wished with all your might that the person who did you wrong would just drop dead. It is a very natural feeling that we all have from time to time. Still, if a Death Note fell onto your lap, would you be able to write someone's name in it, knowing you caused someone's demise?


Sunday, November 3, 2013

Anime Vegas 2013 (and reminiscing about Anime Vegas in general)

One of the things I always loved about Vegas before I even lived there and was just going for vacational purposes, is Anime Vegas. It's the biggest anime con in Vegas held once a year usually every Labor Day weekend though lately it's also been held during Veteran's Day weekend. It's been held at the Cashman Center most often than not, but it has also been held at the Renaissance Hotel (including this year) and the Alexis Park Hotel. It's organized by Richard Stott, a dude that pays out of his pocket year after year to make it happen. I know the con has had its ups and downs throughout the years, but regardless we have him to thank for his efforts to keep it going.



Rich Stott, the man that makes it happen. He actually has a panel at the end of each con called the 'Bitch at Rich' session where people can complain about what sucked about the con so that he can hopefully improve it the following year.

Saturday, November 2, 2013

My Top Anime Series

A list of my favourite anime series. It will be continuously updated.



The first 5 series are my top 5, but after that, I just list them in no particular order. All are really good anime series that I would recommend.

Friday, November 1, 2013

A Few Thoughts on a Few Anime

At last, I have watched Coppelion and Samurai Flamenco.Also, my dear readers, my brother is now enjoying Hajime no Ippo Rising with me.Actually, there is one more show which I have not mentioned yet: Freezing Vibration.Allow me to give a few brief observations on all of them lest I already fail to keep my goal of writing one post per diem!



1) Coppelion - 3 episodes

Horror Movie List Update

Somewhere along the way we started watching a lot of horror movies in October. It started with shows that were suitable for adding some fun to The Kids' preparations for Hallowe'en, and the tradition grew through the years. Now I try to see a few I've never seen before. This is the list we have so far. I'm trying to update code for films where the embed code I used no longer works. I'm surprised at how often public domain films disappear from one place and have to be relocated somewhere else. If I've written a blog post about a particular film, that post is linked below:



pre-1920:

Thursday, October 31, 2013

Na, na, na, na, Here at the Con

At the end of this week I plan on attending an anime convention on Detroit called Youmacon.It will be held at the Detroit Ren Cen and Cobo Hotel with a lot of panels and plenty of guests.It'll be my first convention I won't see Vic Mignogna at, but this will give me the chance to focus on other guests.



The guests I'm most excited for are:
Issue #22

October 31, 2013

North Republic Industries

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Death Note Review S1E1: "Rebirth"

"That in time, no one would do evil . . . Then the world would truly move in the right direction.And I would create a new world of earnest, kind humans."



-Yagami Light, Death Note S1E1: "Rebirth"

Animes i have seen

All the anime/manga i have watched/ read. Okay this won't be exact because i have watched and read A LOT of different series so this is me trying to remember



* Bleach

Anime Review: Attack on Titan

Every few seasons, an Anime comes around, that every one seems to be talking about before it even started airing and once it actually starts and seems to be decent, the fanbase around it grows bigger and bigger with every episode until it seems to have consumed every other fanbase around it. It gets so popular that even people that usually don't watch Anime get aware of it and start trying it out. This year's spring season Anime "Attack on Titan" is nothing but a summary of exactly this phenomenon, as it started off strong and kept growing, until it was almost as big as the big 3 themselves. Ladies and Gentlemen, today's topic shall be the immensely popular Anime from the spring season of 2013: Attack on Titan, or as others might say Shingeki no Kyojin!



Story:

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Bakuman Series

I recently completed watching the final episodes of Bakuman 3 after picking up the series from the beginning approximately a month ago. I really did not expect to complete a 75 episode series within such a short amount of time, especially while keeping up with school and the ongoing Fall 2013 season. I must say that I did not expect to enjoy this series as much as I did since I had brushed it off so many times in the past before actually deciding to watch it. Be warned that this post contains SPOILERS so those who don't want to be spoiled, you have been warned!



CHARACTERS:

Clannad

Clannad is one of those shows that I love and hate at the same time because sometimes I feel like; OH MY GOD, THIS IS AMAZING! and other times I have a disappointing feeling like; really?



This show revolves around the lives of Tomoya and Nagisa (and an assortment of other people such as friends, family, and landlords) and I get that there supposed to be all "hormonal" with "impaired judgement" along withhaving "rough teenage lives" but some of the reasoning that goes on in their head really does not compute (in my opinion.If any of you found Clannad to be an emotionally powerful story I don't mean to say that that sounds silly.)

Monday, October 28, 2013

Sunday, October 27, 2013

05/10/2013

Last weekend was the Paris Mangamostly just shops, and it was very overcrowded, but I still had fun hanging out with people~

I didn't bring any actual cosplays to France, so I did my usual lazy thing where I just throw together some clothes and a wig in the morning and try my hardest to look like an anime character:SKIRT: Rose Melody (Taobao)

BLOUSE: Warehouse

Saturday, October 26, 2013

Bibliophilia: Bond Ruskin Bond!

Got my hands on a short story collection of , the famous Indian children's story writer. This collection is titled, "POTPOURRI", which means "a mixture of things" or "a mixture of dried petals and spices placed in a bowl to perfume a room". Origin, French - a rotten pot.



The meaning and the origin are the courtesy of THE OXFORD POCKET ENGLISH DICTIONARY which I have here by my computer table with its hard-covers ripped off with a few pages indexing the words initialized by 'Z', missing. There is nothing more satisfying to a reader (and a writer) than a worn and dilapidated dictionary. It is so fulfilling. Just by looking at it for a few microseconds you begin to feel proud/content with your vocabulary and literary achievements. If placed on a coffee table or somewhere in the living room, it will surely elicit praise and admiration from your guests and friends, as a symbol of your literacy and knowledge. (Irrespective of the fact that I have weak spelling retention but, a great meaning retention capacity.)

Thursday, October 24, 2013

Asexual Anime and Manga Characters

I had a completely different post planned this weekend, but then I decided to do something to commemorate Asexual Awareness Week. Unfortunately, even if , there isn't much representation in anime and manga, as is the case with other forms of media everywhere. I decided to start with what and weed out preexisting conditions that would affect sexuality (alien species, robot, sociopath) , traumatized individuals, and instances where aromanticism is confused for asexuality (sexual attraction does not equal romantic attraction).What's left is small, but it's a starting point.



MITSUYA ("SWEET PRISONER", MIGITE NI JUU, HIDARITE NI AI) - He's the closest we get to an explicit canonical asexual character.He says he's neither gay nor straight and doesn't respond to sex.It's really cool to see a story about characters with different sexualities, but I do take issue with how Mitsuya's asexuality is treated as a problem to be solved.

Recent Purchases #7 ~ DS collecting

Ok, so I've been pretty busy this summer, a lot of stuff has been happening; issues with university such as exams and dissertation topic for next year, finding a flat for next academic year and leaving the flat I was in, arranging two work placements with optician multiples (Boots Opticians and Specsavers), fitting in a summer holiday to Chamonix in the French Alps and then a few days in Brugge in Belgium and unfortunately having some relatives and family relatives passing away, so quite a hectic rollercoaster of a summer so far, and we're approaching winter pretty quickly it looks like...



I've not really done one of these posts since back in February 2013, I believe...I was planning on doing a post where I kind of went in to more detail about what I've been up to this summer, and I think I may do that, but I found that I had this post as a draft from a while back and thought I'd finish it off. That was quite a slippery slope however, as I looked through my backlog I uncovered more and more games that I'd bought since I last posted... So lets get into the games I picked up, and wherever I can, I'll talk about my history with the series, and thoughts on each games.

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

ANIMAX UK to Launch Anime Video On Demand Service

Japan's leading anime destination, ANIMAX, today announced further details regarding its UK Video On Demand launch, going live this Friday 25th October at www.animaxtv.co.uk. The platform aims to become the UK's ultimate anime destination, showcasing a unique model providing free limited anime content for all users, in addition to a subscription service offering unlimited advert-free access to the genre's best movies and series, and authentic, addictive, UK-first content.

Under the SVoD service, for a monthly fee of EUR5.99, subscribers can expect to indulge in

complete seasons of the world's most loved anime, including BLACK LAGOON, DEATH NOTE,

Who's Your Favorite Sociopath?

is about a straight-A, high school senior named Light Yagami, who - through arbitrary circumstance and a Shinigami's boredom - comes across a mysterious notebook called a Death Note. Light learns that if you write someone's name (and envision their face) in the Death Note, that person will die. He then proceeds to use the Death Note to kill heinous criminals, to whom he feels deserve capital punishment, in an effort to create a better world...and be regarded as a "god" of this new & better world.



Unfortunately for Light, the police notice the several dozen criminals meeting an unfortunate demise and come to the conclusion that, somehow, someone is responsible for this. They hire the legendary, world-famous detective, known only as L, to solve this mystery - along with a task-force of the police's best officers (which includes Light's father).

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Ghost in the Shell

So I've written about my favorite anime TV show (Mushi-shi), I've written about my favorite manga series (Bleach), now I shall write about my favorite anime movie; Ghost in the Shell.



Not much can be said about this movie without revealing its plot, and the plot itself is so complicated I don't think I could properly describe it.I had to watch the movie three times before I understood its entire plot; there are many pieces to the story, and the film itself is not long so viewers really have to pay attention to every detail.
Heyhoguys,



The new hostel we went to (Pentlands) was pretty nice - a small clean hostel with a familiar atmosphere, located in Mt. Eden. Pretty weird: Mt. Eden (where the Eden Park - the rugby stadium is located) is a suburb about 30 minutes from the city centre, but it's so quiet and dozy there one could think it's an American provincial town.

Monday, October 21, 2013

Deathnote chapter 1 review

In the first chapter of Death Note two very different locations are set up, the Shinigami Realm in which the Gods of Death reside, and the Human Realm in which the main story takes place with Light Yagami in Japan. Ryuuk the Shinigami goes to the human world to look for his Death Note after supposedly 'dropping' it there. The Death Note is found by a high school student named Light Yagami. The Death Note is a supernatural notebook owned by Shinigami that has a lot of rules but ultimately will kill anyone whose name is written in it. Sceptical at first, Light Yagami tested the notebooks powers out of curiosity, and to his surprise, it worked. With his new God-like powers, Light decided to use them to exact his own brand of justice by killing criminals through heart attacks in the hope that people would realise someone is doing it and rejoice whereas criminals would live in fear. Ryuuk met Light and after they conversed he decided to stay with him, not as his partner or to aid him in anyway, but as an entertained spectator. At the end of the chapter, the police are in debate over the recent events, and a mysterious figure is introduced claiming this is a case he cannot pass up.



The overall theme of Death Note is morality; and in the way of justice the lines can be so blurred. Light Yagami is a straight A student and a respectable member of society. His initial intentions are innocent; in his eyes he is cleaning up the world and making it a better place by removing all of the villainy from it. Lights actions are something I believe most people of this generation would do if given the opportunity. The dilemma is, humans should not have authority over each others lives, in the end it is still murder regardless of intention, just like robbing a bank to support your family is still stealing, and that is why the police take it upon their selves to catch him. Feeling guilty about his first two kills, Light has an epiphany in which he concludes he has to carry on because he is the only one who could and would do what he's doing, narcissistic tendencies and a fixed perception of justice convinced him it was his personal responsibility to remove the world of evil and eventually, to furthermore, be worshiped as a God of the new world.

Fate Series

The three main characters of Fate/Zero: Saber, Kiritsugu Emiya, and Irisviel von Einzbern (Image taken from: fanpop.com)



Alright, the Fate series was an utterly fantastic series in my opinion. The order or publications in comparison to the storyline order is probably the only negative I truly saw. Fate/Stay Night was put out first, but the two Fate/Zero seasons are prequels to Fate/Stay Night. Despite the reverse order, I watched Fate/Stay Night, and honestly it didn't really spoil Fate/Zero but rather assisted in understanding what was going on sooner. Anyways, the entire series focuses upon a Holy Grail War amongst mages whom have summoned partners (like Saber) whom represent heroes from history and are fighting each other for the Holy Grail, which is believed to be an all-powerful wish granter for the winner of the War. Of course there's a catch, and twists in the plot and whatnot, but that's the gist of the storyline, mages with powerful summoned partners fighting for a wish granting object.

Sunday, October 20, 2013

Sony TV to Launch Animax in the UK

Sony Pictures Television Networks has recently announced plans to launch a version of their anime channel, Animax, for the UK using a subscription VOD model. In support of the launch, Viz Media has signed a multi-year volume deal with Sony in order to be the exclusive content provider for the new service.



The initial catalogue that will be offered on Animax UK will include UK premieres such as Death Note and Vampire Nights, as well as other popular series such as Bleach and Black Lagoon.

Thursday, October 17, 2013

Day 10 in South Korea-Snowpiercer, takoyaki, and lavender tea in Myeongdong

So today I finally managed to arrive on time for something! Day 10 in South Korea was a rather uneventful morning at Hanyang, an afternoon spent in Lotte Deparment Store, and an evening talking in Starbucks at Myeongdong. :)



This is a picture that I took of myself that day. I didn't intend to get my fascinating shower/sink contraption in the picture, too, but I'm glad I can share that with my readers in the United States who have probably never seen these. It's basically an open shower connected to the sink (you pull a knob to switch from the sink to the shower). I found it slightly frustrating because: 1. you cannot keep toilet paper in the bathroom 2. you must keep your clothes outside or in a cabinet in the bathroom and 3. if you left the shower head hanging up like it is in the picture, it would spray under a crack in the door and into the entrance way of our dorm, where we would then slip on the water because of our bare feet. Other than that, I really liked this contraption and found it incredibly convenient!

More Fall Impressions

ARPEGGIO OF BLUE STEEL

Seiji Kishi pulls the classic "show random action scene in the beginning to hook the viewer's attention because the exposition right after is going to be really, really mind-numbingly bland"


Wednesday, October 16, 2013

ANIME REVIEW: Gatchaman Crowds

The Summer of Anime has just ended a couple of weeks ago. With that, it is time to take a look back at four shows that have piqued my interest. This is the first of a four-part, post-season review series, in which I share with you fellow geeks the ones you might might to consider watching while Fall set of shows is just starting.



Superheroes. This is a concept anime has toyed around for decades. From robots to special beings, to just oridinary humans with ridiculous costumes and fancy gadgets, they have always represented the ideas of justice, courage, and hope for humanity. We have looked up to them, and during our childhood we dreamed of becoming just like them, fighting monsters and world-threatening evil.

Monday, October 14, 2013

Appleseed XIII (2011)

RONAN DALY GEARS UP FOR APPLESEED XIII, TAKAYUKI HAMANA'S (FROM SUCH ANIME SERIES' AS PRINCE OF TENNIS AND SISTERS OF WELLBER) CGI ANIME ADAPTATION OF MASAMUNE SHIROW'S SCI-FI MANGA, APPLESEED.



Set after the events of World War V, Appleseed XIII follows the story of Deunan (voiced by Death Note's and Soul Eater's Maaya Sakamoto in Japanese and Elfen Lied's and One Piece's Luci Christian in English), a young woman and her cyborg companion, Briareos (voiced by Koichi Yamadera from Cowboy Bebop in Japanese and David Matranga from Devil May Cry in English). The two are ever on the lookout for 'paradise', a home where they can escape the violence and tragedy that made up their life on the road together. The series' main focus is on these two and their life in Olympus city, a vast metropolis made up majorly of bioroids, genetically designed humans programmed to work for the benefit of natural humans and for society in general, with some cyborgs and robots thrown in for good measure, and their time in ESWAT, Olympus' elite special police force. Pieces of the pair's history are revealed through frequent flashbacks of their time on the road together.

Top 10 Anime Antagonists

Top 10 Anime Antagonists



Written by: ClayDragon and Shiggins

Steins; Gate (Part 2)

RONAN DALY WADES THROUGH TIME PARADOXES AND STEPS ON MANY A PREHISTORIC INSECT TO REVIEW STEINS; GATE, THE TEMPORAL LEAPING ANIME SERIES BASED ON THE VISUAL NOVEL VIDEO GAME OF THE SAME NAME.



A self-proclaimed mad scientist. A microwave that seemingly just turns bananas into green, gelatinous blobs. A murder. These are the main factors setting the scene for the events of Steins;Gate, an anime series that manages to take the classic time travel adventure premise and turn it into a high-stakes game of fourth dimensional chess. Rintaro Okabe (voiced by Death Note's Light Yagami; Mamoru Miyano in Japanese and Deadman Wonderland's J. Michael Tatum in English), the aforementioned mad scientist and founder of the Future Gadget Laboratory lives in constant fear of the 'organization', which he maintains is out to get him for his insane brilliance, while everyone who knows him tends to write off his claims as a part of his abundant eccentricity. Events take several bizarre turns following the revelation that the remote controlled microwave he'd been working on is actually a functional time machine, allowing text messages to be sent into the past and alter present reality. What's more, only Okabe himself seems able to notice these changes as everyone else is absorbed into new realities seamlessly. As work on the time machine advances and nears perfection, Okabe's conspiracy theories prove to be more than a little accurate and he's soon battling with the past itself to combat a vast and uncompromising enemy without damaging the lives of those he loves.

The Worst Of The Worst

I love villains. I love good villains: great villains: AWESOME villains. That's why I'll be posting villain related entries this month, it's a fitting subject for this scary season. That said, there are some villains I just dislike. As in, they really make me hate them not for being so good in their role as villains, but for being so DULL. I like bad guys to be as interesting, entertaining, and fleshed out characters as good guys. These are the antagonists I consider to be very weak, bland, boring, unenjoyable villains.

THESE FOUR DISNEY VILLAINS: Edgar from "The Aristocats", Madame Medusa from "The Rescuers", Rourke from "Atlantis: The Lost Empire", and Alimeda Slim from "Home On The Range." UsuallyDisney Villains, even the lamer ones like Prince John and Governer Ratcliffe, will have something about them that makes them entertaining. Not these four: they're total bores. Edgar's a greedy, bumbling, almost too polite and even sympathetic to be a bad guy Butler who never leaves a last impression at all. Medusa's a vain, temperamental, ugly witch whose "funny" moments are not at all funny and who is also motivated by petty greed. Speaking of, Rourke is also only in it for the money and his plan is particularly stupid because he wants to commit genocide against an entire lost civilization just so he can get richer off of the valuable relics than he already would be anyway for even freaking discovering the lost empire to begin with! His voice is well performed, but when he's revealed as the villain, his character becomes this smirking, sneering, joke cracking asshole who is just plain bland. And Slim is the worst. A stereotypical cartoon western outlaw with a talent for yodeling. Need I even elaborate? What a disgrace to Disney villains!

CARS VILLAINS: Of all the bad guys to appear in Pixar movies, these guys were the worst. Chick Hicks from the first "Cars" is basically a more jerkish version of the protagonist minus the character development. He's just some asshole who wants glory. Take away Michael Keaton as his voice and he's got nothing going for him at all. Even worse is Dr. Z and Miles Axelrod in the sequel. Z is a tired mad doctor cliche who lacks any threat or presence, and Miles is the equally cliched corrupt corporate executive who wants to extort money from others. LAME!

Sunday, October 13, 2013

The Return Of The Maniac To Cosplay Mania

Over the weekend last week, Cosplay Mania - the Philippines' biggest and most well-known cosplay convention, was held at the SMX Convention Center in SM Mall of Asia, Pasay City. With so many cosplayers, cosplay enthusiasts, photographers, otakus, as well as people who are casually into geeky stuff from all over the country as well as from other countries (especially Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore), it is one grand two-day feast in celebration of popular culture and visual media, with a much greater focus to cosplaying in general. But to me, this is just a footnote to what Cosplay Mania means to me. (click to read about my first Cosplay Mania, which is also my first ever cosplay convention) - a world where characters that I only find in anime shows, manga and comics, and movies come to life, a world that caused me to meet new true friends and pretty girls that are either real or fake (most recent one is fake), and a world that made me realize that I want a reinvention and become a fictional character myself on certain days of the year. Thus, this year, as a nod to the cosplay and otaku scene becoming a great part of my life and to the convention that opened this secret realm, I return for my third and so far the best Cosplay Mania I've had.



DAY 1

Friday, October 11, 2013

Manga Review: Bakuman Vol. 20

Bakuman is the latest collaboration of Ohba and Obata, the creators of the wildly popular Death Note series. Unlike Death Note, Bakuman is more or less grounded in reality, but it is no less entertaining as it follows the ups and downs of a mangaka duo as they strive to make it big in the publishing world!



This series is a personal favorite of mine, and Viz Media has just released the final volume. (My reviews of earlier Bakuman volumes can be found .)

Thursday, October 10, 2013

My relationship to Anime

It's been years since I watched anime, last one I remember picking up and actually enjoyed was Ouran High School Host Club. I sometimes watch afew episodes here and there, I think I've seen episode 9 "A Challenge from Lobelia Girls' Academy" at least ten times and I still think it's funny. After that series I never really picked up any, most of them looked all the same and I got bored, I turned to other interests and never looked back only watching a Ghibli movie or anything from Satoshi Kon once a year or so.

Thinking back at it there's very few anime's I watched overall, sure I've given them a try but almost all turned out to be a disappointment or I just got bored. Take Naruto for example, I was 13 I watched it with my friend. I watched up until their tests came or whatever that was and, I realized I didn't like it. It was 25 episodes of the same thing.

1. People staring at each other2. Long fights stretching over several episodes.3. Repeat the first two and you have 90% of the series.

Well, I guess this is another apology

Yesterday's in-bed-sickness was a mixture of upsetting and depressing, with just a hint of boredom. I woke up with a choke that ended with a sob of relief when my mom told me she wouldn't require me to attend school, due to my inability to stand on my own two feet without collapsing in a pool of weakness.



I mean

Ten favorite antagonists and antiheroes in anime

The world of literature and movies is full of good guys, bad guys and some in the middle. Sometimes, or even too often the baddies are forgotten, while we tend to concentrate on cheering for the hero; for example I've hated all the villain characters before, but now I've grown to like some of them. So this time I've decided to write a post about my ten favorite antagonist and antihero characters (not in order) appearing in different anime/manga series, one character per each anime/manga. Except these opinions, none of the material of this post belongs to me.

Warning! This list may include spoilers, blood and violence. So be extra careful, especially with the videos! Or two certain videos, to be exact. I'll warn you later again~

LIGHT YAGAMI

Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Attack on Titan

Most of the people who stumble across this article are probably going to be more familiar with Attack on Titan () than I am. I don't read much shonen manga, but this is a series that has really gained a lot of attention and success over the last few years.



I picked up a new Sony PRS-T3 e-reader this week, it seems to have come under the radio without much fanfare. It's only an incremental update from the T2, but a big improvement from my old PRS-650. It included a few vouchers for the Sony e-reader store, so picked a few manga that I've been eyeing for a while, Attack on Titan was one of them.

Anime Corner: A Review of Death Note (the Anime)

"" is a name you may have heard by now, thanks largely to a devoted fanbase of teens and older anime fans.It has also created its fair share of controversy across the pond, as several countries have seen their schools ban the books for fear of kids emulating them.So you just KNOW it's gonna be good!



The idea behind "" is that there exists shinigami (basically gods of death), horrific looking creatures who keep with them a notebook called a Death Note.But the Death Note is no ordinary notebook.It can actually cause a person to die by simply writing their name in it.The person who controls a Death Note can even determine the specific way a person dies by simply writing it next to their name.

Death Note

This week's post will be about the anime show and manga series Death Note.



My favorite anime show and manga series has changed countless times over the years I've spent looking at all the available material, and even though my favorite anime series is Mushi-shi, and my favorite manga series is Bleach, Death Note vol. 1 is the best manga book I have ever read.

Rise of the Anime Titan: Shingeki no Kyojin (Attack on Titan)

This past year started out like any normal one for otaku worldwide.The spring calendar was full of colorful moe shows, a few comedies, a chunk of fan-service shows, and a couple of surprises.However, out of the few surprises, which included three mecha shows, no one saw this one coming. Written by Hajime Isayama and published by Kondansha (Kodansha Comics USA stateside), Attack on Titan (Called Shingeki no Kyojin in Japan), animated by Production I.G. (Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex)made its debut and did more than conquer Tumblr, Twitter, and Facebook for a few days.Attack on Titan has managed to do the one thing that hasn't been done since the heyday of Naruto, Bleach, Death Note, Fullmetal Alchemist, and even Spirited Away: Make fans of anime, new and old, care again.



Hailed by many as "The Game of Thrones of Anime," Attack on Titan is a dark fantasy series focused on humanity's fight for survival against the indomitable gargantuan creatures, The Titans, which loom over the populace in their domed cities and rain down havoc and destruction at each turn. Eren Yaeger, a young man from the first city hit by the Titans, rises to oppose the creatures after watching his mother die at the hands of these monsters.Hell-bent on revenge, Eren, along with his adoptive sister, Mikasa, and their friend, Armin, join the military with a number of others to combat the beasts, using equipment and skills to perform action-packed feats that would make Spider-Man proud.Although it seems like a simple premise, there is more than meets the eye here (Yes, I went the Bay route).More twists than a pretzel and surprises abound in this series that is currently at 25 episodes. It's a mystery wrapped in thrilling action.Even the fans following the source material (the comic book) have been left guessing what happens next.

#AnimangaMonday: HanaKimi

Hana-Kimi or known originally as Hanazakari no Kimitachi e is a sh jo manga series written by Hisaya Nakajo. The manga series was first serialized in the 20th issue of Hakusensha's semi-monthly sh jo manga magazine, Hana to Yume in 1996. Its serialization continued until August 2004, where the series ended with 23 collected volumes. Hana-Kimi was also published in English by Viz Media. The English release was previously only limited to Waldenbooks from February to May 2004. It was then made available to other retail stores after May that year.



The series centers on Mizuki Ashiya, a Japanese girl who lives in the United States. One day, she sees a track and field competition on TV, and becomes attracted to one of the high jump competitors, Izumi Sano. She begins to idolize the young athlete and eventually transfers to Japan to attend the same school that Sano attends. There is a catch, however: Sano attends an all-boys high school, named Osaka Gakuen and Mizuki must disguise herself as a boy to enter.

Death Note Prompt #1

A fictitious death note is created in this manga. At the first few episodes, it provides many detailed description on how to use death note. Therefore, compared to other mangas, we can see more words in each balloon or panel. We have to pay more attention on the words rather than the pictures in order not to lose any clues to solve this case. Moreover, it's tricky that Ryuk doesn't tell Light all of the rules at first. We have to read all the episodes, and then we can understand the rules of death note little by little.



Based on the basic settings, Light and L start their battle of wits. Light knows the rules, and he makes use of it. Light tries to kill all the bad guys in the world, and create a world full of peace. However, as the story develops, Light's value seems to be twisted. He starts to kill someone who is not a criminal just to prevent himself from being caught. L, who doesn't know anything about the death note, wants to find out the murderer step by step. I think they are somehow playing chess. Both of them have to pay attention to their next step, or one may easily lose this game.

Miyano Mamoru Budokan report

Prolific seiyuu Miyano Mamoru, the voice of Light from Death Note and Ichinose Tokiya from Uta No Prince Sama, successfully had his first Budokan live show this October 4 in Japan and at the show, he ANNOUNCED THE RELEASE OF HIS 10TH SINGLE, which will be the opening theme of the second season of the Wooser's Hand-to-mouth Life anime that is due in January 2014 where Miyano voices of the main character.



Miyano's Budokan live show also marks the first solo live show at Budokan by a male artist who is also a voice actor.

Monday, October 7, 2013

Top 5 Anime Protagonists

Top 5 Anime Protagonists



Written by ClayDragon

Ryuk: Prompt 3

I know it may be weird to say, but in all actuality Ryuk is my favorite character in both the manga and the anime. Light is a little to insane for me to like him and his god complex is a little ridiculous. L I like as a character, but I think there could be more character development for him, he is kind of personality-less. Ryuk on the other hand is just full of spunk and charisma. He starts this whole situation simply for the fun of it. The amusement he seems to get out of humans is like the fascination people have with car accidents. It's tragic but curiosity always gets the better of people and they can't help but stare. Ryuk is content to sit back, relax and watch this train wreck unfold before him. I can understand how he might be equated to the devil of the crossroads because he is in a way making a deal with Light to protect and use his book, especially because at the end Ryuk is the one to kill Light. So it is somewhat a selling of the soul type deal that you would make with the devil. Personally I don't see Ryuk as a devil; however, he is not the one to corrupt Light. Without his help or guidance Light begins to kill people and "purify" the world on his own. Ryuk simply drops the book to the human world, it is simply chance that Light decides to pick up the book and bring it home with him. Now had Ryuk specifically chosen Light or actually given him the book it would have been a different situation. I do think Ryuk does play an important role in the manga though.He is the reason this epic power struggle between Light and L begins. Without Ryuk's Death Note, Light would never have gained the power to start his fight against the corruption of the world and L would never be tasked with ending his "righteous" crusade. Ryuk almost becomes an innocent bystander in the manga, as he is always at the sidelines of the action. But without Ryuk the manga would not have the demonic and threatening overtones that occur throughout the book. He is the mystery and the darkness that makes this manga so incredibly compelling to read.
Full Post

Ryuk: Prompt 3

I know it may be weird to say, but in all actuality Ryuk is my favorite character in both the manga and the anime. Light is a little to insane for me to like him and his god complex is a little ridiculous. L I like as a character, but I think there could be more character development for him, he is kind of personality-less. Ryuk on the other hand is just full of spunk and charisma. He starts this whole situation simply for the fun of it. The amusement he seems to get out of humans is like the fascination people have with car accidents. It's tragic but curiosity always gets the better of people and they can't help but stare. Ryuk is content to sit back, relax and watch this train wreck unfold before him. I can understand how he might be equated to the devil of the crossroads because he is in a way making a deal with Light to protect and use his book, especially because at the end Ryuk is the one to kill Light. So it is somewhat a selling of the soul type deal that you would make with the devil. Personally I don't see Ryuk as a devil; however, he is not the one to corrupt Light. Without his help or guidance Light begins to kill people and "purify" the world on his own. Ryuk simply drops the book to the human world, it is simply chance that Light decides to pick up the book and bring it home with him. Now had Ryuk specifically chosen Light or actually given him the book it would have been a different situation. I do think Ryuk does play an important role in the manga though.He is the reason this epic power struggle between Light and L begins. Without Ryuk's Death Note, Light would never have gained the power to start his fight against the corruption of the world and L would never be tasked with ending his "righteous" crusade. Ryuk almost becomes an innocent bystander in the manga, as he is always at the sidelines of the action. But without Ryuk the manga would not have the demonic and threatening overtones that occur throughout the book. He is the mystery and the darkness that makes this manga so incredibly compelling to read.
Full Post

Attack on Titan Final Thoughts

Huge Spoilers and a huge wayward post listing things I loved about it.



I started reading the manga in 2011 (it began publication in 2009) around the time . I was reading a lot of dystopian manga like Eden: It's an Endless World and King of Thorn and I was immediately drawn to Attack on Titan's story of survival in a strange world full of mysteries and giants gobbling up cool looking characters. It had many elements that only anime and manga seem to do that I love such as an intriguing dystopian world, slight tweaking of gender roles - intelligent males and aggressive and confident female characters, and a boatload of existentialism that pointed out the cages humans make for themselves and give fancy labels like society, family and religion. While I'm no anarchist but I do like a story which tears these things down or at least questions them and to see characters do their best to survive in the word and transcend their circumstances.

Blog Prompts for this Week

Since we have our Midterm Exam on Thursday and will only be covering one text this week, the prompts below are the same for Tuesday and Thursday posts.



1. In contrast to many shonen manga and anime series that focus on physical action and adventure, Death Note is far more cerebral in its overall narrative mode. Discuss how this plays out in the manga and explain why you think it does or does not manage to create appropriate suspense for readers. Be sure to talk about some specific examples or moments in the story.

Prompt #3, Shinigami Ryuk!

Ryuk is definitely the most obscure character in the Death Note series. Despite of not knowing much, he still has quite some depth to his personality and is my favorite character. He finds humans amusing and really enjoys devouring apples!



I found Ryuk to play a influential role on Light. Even though Ryuk boldly stated that he would be hanging around in the human world purely for amusement, his commentary stimulates Lights cat and mouse game with L. In the very beginning, right after Light was outplayed by L who faked his death and then confirmed about Lights location, we could see Ryuk laughing, and exclaiming the brilliance of L. Light considered himself "The God of the new World" as the Death Note gave him a sort of supernatural power. Being outplayed by a mortal with no supernatural ability was bad enough, but having a Death God acknowledge the mortal and laugh at the scenario made it far worse. If Ryuk hadn't been there, his ego wouldn't have been damaged as hard as it was.

Sunday, October 6, 2013

Top 10 Horror TV Shows: The television programs that entertained and terrified us.

This year, I'm going to try to do a Top 10 or two every weekend, so today, I'm counting down the top 10 horror-oriented television programs. (No miniseries, so no IT or Salem's Lot)



10. "Masters of Horror": This anthology series gets it's title from the fact that each episode is directed by a famous and influential horror director, including people such as Dario Argento, John Carpenter, Mick Garris, Jon Landis, Tobe Hooper, Tom Holland, Stuart Gordon, Larry Cohen, and Takashi Miike. It was created by horror filmmaker Mick Garris. Despite the episodes being hit-or-miss, the series is very entertaining, and, like the BBC series Sherlock, each episode is like it's own short movie. Unfortunately, Showtime no longer wanted to show the series after season two, so Garris edited the content down, and transformed the third season into a new series on NBC, Fear Itself, which had a similar premise as this series but only lasted one season.

Saturday, October 5, 2013

Attack on Titan (2013) Review

Attack on Titan is the blockbuster summer anime of 2013. It's the show everyone is talking about, and above all, raving about. In fact it almost seems like if you aren't watching this show, you're missing out on the coming of Christ. But is this show as amazing as everyone claims it to be? Welllllllll



Attack on Titan drops us into a world where humanity is almost extinct and their natural predators are creatures called titans who are as tall as buildings and only exist to eat humans. Due to this danger, humanity has safely confined itself inside 3 incredibly huge walls, that is until an even larger titan shows up and smashes a hole in one of them. Here's where we meet Erin Jaeger who barely escapes the destruction of his hometown with his two friends Armin and Mikasa. After witnessing his mother become titan lunch, Erin vows an oath to kill all the titans and thus he and his friends join the military. From there we encounter many an epic battle with the titans, but for the sake of spoilers I won't go into details.

My Inspirations: Bennett The Sage

I' am a self proclaimed anime Otaku. As a result, I feel that I' am a member of a private club of some kind; to some extent at least. Additionally, I feel an incredible sense of camaraderie when I meet people who are just as devoted to the medium of anime as I' am. Have any of you guys experienced a similar emotion when communicating with another Otaku? Regardless, I remember when I was a member of an anime review organization while I was studying at Michigan Technological University. I have some very, very fond memories of my time there. In fact, I get a little misty eyed whenever I look back on those days. I was a different person back then but, even now I can still feel the weight of those memories within me. Anyway, not only was I a member of H.A.R.O, the Houghton Anime Review Organization, I was also living in close proximity to people who were Otakus much like myself.



My old roommate Josh was one of them and he and I had a lot of fun watching anime in our dorm room. He had a massive television and practically everyday he would let an entire anime play out on that television. It was a glorious time I must say. One of my favorite memories ofMichigan Tech was one weekend Josh and I watched the entire Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion series in one sitting. I remember watching the Sun rise as we got further and further into the series. It was also in my dorm room that I first saw series like Rosario + Vampire, School Days, Elfen Lied, High School of the Dead, Durarara!!, Another, Seto No Hanayome, and Mirai Nikki to name a few.Watching School Days in particular was one of the most memorable experiences of my life but, I really don't feel like talking about it right now (In the meantime I recommend that you go and watch the series for yourself).

Review: WataMote (2013)

NO MATTER HOW I LOOK AT IT, IT'S YOU GUYS' FAULT I'M NOT POPULAR!Sounds familiar? Yes, been there before! One look at this eccentric anime title and we're sure it will quickly convince you to watch the show within seconds. Also known as Watashi ga Motenai no wa dKangaetemo Omaera ga Warui! or WATAMOTE for short, this black comedy show will -- without a doubt -- serve your curiosity.



At first glance, many would have assumed WATAMOTE to be another classic SHAFT production like Sasami-san@ganbaranai. Not only does it display a variation of illustrations and animated styles from retro to simplified, but it tends to cheekily play tribute to many mediums such as Yugioh, Death Note and also famous artists such as Picasso and Salvador Dali.

Friday, October 4, 2013

Cosplay Dos and Don'ts

Greetings, blog readers! I recently received a guest post submission from user AAPPOLON04 over at . I thought her article was perfect because I've been wanting to add more cosplay stuff here on my blog for quite a while now.



Here goes:So, you want to do a cosplay, but you don't want it to look like something your mother threw together the night before your local Con after you showed her a picture of the character and she had to ask you what that was?Well, there are certain ways to go about cosplays that make them look authentic and believable.No matter where you go to cosplay, you should keep these ideas in mind whether it's in an exotic location or your own backyard. (Which, if you are interested in exotic vacations, you can )

A clash of cultures

My daughter recently checked out the first volume of Death Note (manga) from the school library.She says they also have Bleach there, so I told her to get the first one for me so I could see what it looks like.



Anyway, the other day she got out the Death Note book so she could show it to me, and she flipped open the front cover.I told her, "You know you have to read that from front to back, bottom to top."

Thursday, October 3, 2013

Foundations of the Anglican Church XLIII--The Rise and Fall of Thomas Wolsey, I

Hampton Court, Gate House



Before we go too far on into Henry's split with Rome, we need to tie up a few odds and ends here.I want to take a look at the rise and fall of Cardinal Thomas Wolsey and of Lord Chancellor, Sir Thomas More.I also need to introduce you to a third Thomas, Thomas Cranmer, the Archbishop of Canterbury who granted Henry's annulment and was his ecclesiastical agent in the break with Rome. And as long as we are looking at Thomases, we will add a fourth--Thomas Cromwell, the secular agent of the break with Rome.But let's start with Wolsey.

In One Week, In Two Weeks

Next week sees the launch of Shaolin Cowboy, Coffin Hill, Superman/Wonder Woman, Forever Evil Arkham, Memory Collectors, Triple Helix,Three, Rocket Girl, the final issue of America's Got Powers, the beginning of Walking Dead's All Out War and new Infinity



There's also Paul Pope's Battling Boy from First Second, Afterlife With Archie and Death Note from Titan.

Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Sandman Overture Tops Advance Reorders. Both Covers.

Greetings from the coal face of the direct comics market. Where retailers try to increase their orders of certain comics ahead of sale. Where supply and demand and most accurately reflected, where you can see which books are hot, where new orders are coming in and how retailers are reacting to new, unanticipated desire!



Has everyone worked out that Sandman: Overture is going to be a really big seller. Retailers seem to be getting there. Especially when DC Comics has made the book returnable if retailers order enough. But will anyone be able to strip covers of any excess copies without feeling a complete Philistine? Maybe that's what DC is banking on.

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

World Aoyama Nakagawa Wallpaper Anime

Claim A Anime Girl Closed Forums Myanimelist Net.



The World God Only Knows Aoyama Mio Nakagawa Hd Wallpaper Of Anime.

Monday, September 30, 2013

Best Anime Series of 2007

After a few posts on AKB48, here it is back on an anime topic. Many people on the netsphere considers 2007 to be one of the best, if not the best years of anime. They certainly contain some of the most well-known animes, both widely and within specific anime community (Death Note, Gurren Lagann, Lucky Star, Nodame Cantabile among them). Therefore, this is the year that I am particularly interested in seeing which anime series comes out on top.Note that similar to other analyses I did recently, I am considering an anime to be of a particular year based on when it finished, thus Code Geass, Death note and Nana (all released in late 2006) are considered as 2007 anime in my book.



Without further ado:10. DENNOU COIL ()

Autumn 2013 Anime Preview

I'm back bitches~!I have been back in the warm embrace of my PC & wonderful internet connection for three weeks now - it's been a strange experience.For a start Ireland feels bloody tiny, but the crap public transport means that I am sorely missing not having a car.I am pretty much bankrupt thanks to my trip (which was loads of fun) so had a frantic first week home of job searching.Thankfully I got a temporary 2 month contract to tide me over for a while .which meant very little time being a NEET and catching up on things.



Being the obsessive fan I am, I did manage to keep up with a choice selection of shows from the seasons I was AWOL, but still have a lengthy list of things I want to check out - will get round to them eventually.But anyhoo, you're here for the Autumn Preview, so lets get cracking! (Can't tell you how much I missed doing these things - exhausting, but satisfying~!)

Sunday, September 29, 2013

Friday, September 27, 2013

Death Note: More to it than meets the eye?

Recently, there has been heavy discussion about symbolism in the stories that we have read in class. I thought this was a great opportunity to talk about symbolism in one of the most popular anime series of all time in the U.S. and Japan: Death Note.



In Death Note, there is a Shinigami (God of Death) named Ryuuk who follows around the main character (Light Yagami) and gave him a Death Note (A notebook that all Shinigami have. Any human's name who is written in it dies in 40 seconds of a heart attack unless otherwise specified in the Death Note after their name.)Light Yagami is the main character and an anti-hero who has his own idea of justice by killing criminals, and later on, generally whoever stands in his way. He is careful to hide his identity, and everyone generally refers to the mysterious murderer as "Kira." L is the world's best detective and the main character who opposes Light throughout the story, by attacking him psychologically. For example, L first had a publically announced global news broadcast where he put a prisoner on Death Row with the nameplate of his name by him on the screen. He then has the criminal claim to be L and give a provoking speech that belittles "Kira." (L has yet to reveal his true identity or face to anybody at this point in the story) Light is provoked and kills him with the Death Note. L later reveals that he only broadcasted that TV program in a certain region of Japan, so he immediately finds out Kira's general location. He also figures out from this that Light/Kira needs a name and a face in order to kill. L's and Light's ideas of justice are very different.Justice has many underlying meanings. If there was a poll asking all the people on the planet "what is right and what is wrong?" the majority will probably say something similar to what is stated in the 10 Commandments. L says that Kira has a childish concept of right and wrong. (although this is primarily to provoke him)In the series, before Light has Rem (another Shinigami that Light gains control over by endangering a human that it cares about) kill L, L receives premonitions of his death in images and dreams. In the same way, Jesus prophesied that He would be betrayed and killed. Jesus also washed the feet of his disciples, including Judas, just before Judas betrayed Him. L actually washed Light's feet after their conversation in the rain about lying. Clearly, L is representative of Jesus Christ in this series.

Attack on Titan

Several hundred years ago, humans were nearly exterminated by titans. Titans are typically several stories tall, seem to have no intelligence, devour human beings and, worst of all, seem to do it for the pleasure rather than as a food source. A small percentage of humanity survived by walling themselves in a city protected by extremely high walls, even taller than the biggest of titans. Flash forward to the present and the city has not seen a titan in over 100 years. Teenage boy Eren and his foster sister Mikasa witness something horrific as the city walls are destroyed by a colossal titan that appears out of thin air. As the smaller titans flood the city, the two kids watch in horror as their mother is eaten alive. Eren vows that he will murder every single titan and take revenge for all of mankind.



Based on the popular manga series by Hajime Isayama, Attack on Titan is simply one of the few anime series to come out roughly every several years that rises above the mediocrity and becomes something quite memorable. Director Tetsuro Araki, who directed the prominent anime adaptations of Death Note (2006) and High School of the Dead (2010), once again ventures into dark territory with this series. In the likes of Death Note, High School of the Dead, and Code Geass (2006) before it, Attack on Titan is simply a series that is highly distinctive in terms of its premise, easing us as viewers into a world of fear, violence, terror, and even shades of darwinistic thinking. This develops the series as a very genuine and frightful look into the sociological and psychological ramifications that develop within a civilization that is on the brink of utter destruction. It is for these reasons alone that Attack on Titan is undeniably one of the best anime series to come about in quite some time.

Thursday, September 26, 2013

Accel World

is an anime based on the Light Novels by Kawahara Reki, the author of , in fact, I've decided to watch this show after as much as I did. Unlike Sword Art Online, I hadn't read the books, and as such this review would be based only on the anime, and perhaps a couple of points would be drawn from SAO and other media, as usual. I also want to note that the seed of the idea I'll use in this post, of the show's protagonists as villains had been planted by , reviewing the show.



Let's begin with the show's premise, or the world it's taking place at, and how it develops it: In 2046, people can access a virtual network known as the Neurolinker via their cellphone terminals. A perpetual victim of bullying, middle school student Haruyuki spends his time absorbed in games in a corner of his local network. One day he is approached by the most famous girl in his school, Kuroyukihime (Black Snow Princess). She gives him a strange program called Brain Burst that has the power to "accelerate the world." (Source: ).

RAW: What I have learnt from the movies

I haven't been writing much of late. Instead I have been quite demotivated, and turned my attention to my bed, movies and countless TV series. After two weeks, I realised something was wrong. My life has turned into a battle of the mind and I don't like who I am becoming.

I'm ever so uncertain how I arrived here. I have always been motivated with my store, blog and university work, but here I am faced with this feeling that I no longer am doing what I love, but rather for the sake of doing it. It's a rather difficult space to be in; call it writer's block, but I forgot how important writing is to me and acts much like my personal therapist. I sit here and reflect the cause behind my downward spiral and I am clouded by the very things I do. I suspect that I was consumed in events, renovating the website and awaiting my summer stock to the point where I lost interest in my vision and goals. Instead I retreated to the safety of my home, under a blanket; thinking things would change itself if I laid there and forgot to care about anything else.

What I have learnt from my bed in the last few weeks is mainly due to the movies I've been watching. I have noticed the countless messages which have been communicated to us and have shaped the way we both perceive and react to the world around us. In a way it has helped ignite some motivation within me to get back up on the horse.

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

One Piece (Uncut) Collection 3 (Episodes 54-78)

RONAN DALY SETS OFF ON AN ADVENTUROUS VOYAGE TOWARDS PART 3 (EPISODES 54 TO 78) OF ONE PIECE, THE ANIME ADAPTATION OF EIICHIRO ODA'S CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED MANGA OF THE SAME NAME, THE HIGHEST SELLING MANGA SERIES IN HISTORY.



One Piece is set in a world which, for many years following the death of the pirate king Gol D . Roger, has been experiencing the "Great Pirate Era", with pirates all over the world scrambling to find Roger's treasure, the One Piece, a symbol of the pirate king and a guarantee of glory and power for anyone who finds it. As the threat of piracy grew, so too did the marine corps of the World Government, the seafaring police force and enemy to all pirates. As the story starts, a young man called Monkey D. Luffy (voiced by Dragonball Z's Mayumi Tanaka in Japanese and Fullmetal Alchemist's Colleen Clinkenbeard in English) sets out into the world, leaving behind his small island home in the East Blue ocean on a small makeshift raft, beginning his quest to become the pirate king or die trying. Through a charming combination of persistence, optimism, luck and inspiration, Luffy manages to assemble a craft and crew to tackle the ocean and its threats with.

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

The Beginner's Guide to Anime, No. 22

Continuing the current mecha theme, this week is all about a series in which mecha do play a part, but they only form a small section of a much bigger story.



To give the series its full title, Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion, began in 2006, broadcasting two series on TV spanning 50 episodes, and a series of Original Video Anime (OVA) which are currently still being made and released. The series is at times quite complicated, given that it is set in a world with an alternative history, but there are great moments too. Part of this relates to the mecha battles, but mostly it is the psychological and thriller aspect concerning its antihero-like central character, Lelouch Lamperouge.