chikorita157

Seitokai no Ichizon – Episode 11 Thoughts and impressions

December 19, 2009 by Chikorita157 Leave a Comment

Well, this episode is just as funny… but what made it epic is… errr… Mafuyu confesses to Ken, which is totally unexpected… You got to remember this, Mafuyu is apparently the easiest girl Ken could get…

Besides from that, the episode starts with Ken (as Key-kun) talking to Yuki (Mafuyu) online and talking about his goal of being in the student council a year ago. Back in reality, they find out that Ken was sick, so they finally had a meeting without Ken. They talked about part time job like Chizuru working for a company and protecting a 1 million dollar yen check. Minatsu, baseball, Mafuyu working on her blog on games and boy’s love and lastly, Kurimu working at a nursery just to act like a child and then going out with Chizuru for a parfait.

Is this the Mugivision I'm talking about?

However, they forgot the stack of paperwork they had to do, so they try to find the approval stamp (no, it’s not the FLAT stamp) in Ken’s bag, which that had alot of weird stuff. The phone rang ann Chizuru picks up the phone and Ken told what happened. Kurimu and Minatsu panic about something said on TV (with Singapore and the earth being destroyed.) and he mutes the TV. Ken tells them where the stamp is and they finished the work when evening came, that Ken usually do. Mafuyu suggested to visit Ken at his house. They went to the store to buy some things, which Lilicia was. Lilicia follows them secretly, when the Chizuru, Kurimu, Minatsu and Mafuyu finds themselves talking to two men, who disapproves Ken. They end up being them up, since they said bad stuff about Ken. Eventually, the went to his house and were cooking. Ken wakes up and finds out they were there…

Overall, it was a pretty funny and epic episode… never knew Mafuyu would confess at the end… well yeah… Also, the ending theme for this episode was hilarious… can’t stop laughing…

Too bad there is only one more episode of this… it was a very good ride…

Verdict

9.5/10

Category: Seitokai no IchizonTag: comedy, moe, Studio DEEN

Kobato – Episode 10 Impressions and Thoughts

December 18, 2009 by Chikorita157 Leave a Comment

So little and so cute... but so grumpy... — So little and so cute… but so grumpy…

Another filler attacks, but a rather decent one to say. Especially on a hot summer day when in real life, it’s only 20 degrees out and freezing. Well, Kobato decides to go to the Nursery, Sayaka decides to tell a story when they are airing out the futons about Fujimoto’s childhood when her father takes him in since he was a orphan. We was a loner and the children didn’t like him because of it. One event changed everything when two guys looking for the soccer ball and one of the guy fell on the sunflower plant. This gets Sayaka upset and hey apologized. They left and Sayaka ties the plant up with a pole. Then, Fujimoto started to play a song on the organ and children was singing… This is when he started to warm up…

Unfortunately Iroyogi got exhausted from the heat… and while Kobato was walking back, Kohaku call her over to offer Iroyogi beer… yep and he was excited about that… The funny part when Kobato and Sayaka was airing out the futons is Iroyogi became completely dehydrated…

I find it funny how Fujimoto doesn’t want everyone to know about his childhood… but it was too late.. Well, you won’t get very far in life if you become a complete loner and not being able to communicate… it’s essential.. Although he isn’t that quiet anymore, he is still very anti-social and doesn’t have any friends… wow…

Got to say, it was a good episode… but what comes next?

Verdict

8.7/10

Category: KobatoTag: clamp, comedy, Madhouse Studios, moe

The Journey in Creating a MyAnimeList Client

December 17, 2009 by Chikorita157 8 Comments

MyAnimeList clients are at their infancy. Before the API came out, MAL Updater was your only choice and it only worked on Windows. The problem is that not everyone used Windows and used different OSes. MyAnimeList is a staple for most anime viewers and bloggers out there who use it to keep track what they are watching.

If you recall a few months ago, I have complained there was a lack of a MyAnimeList Client for Mac OS X. I haven’t checked hard enough and there was a program called iMAL that allows you to update MAL… The only problem is the program is very unstable and every time I tried to use it, it crashes on me… and I even recompile it and it’s even more unstable. Another alternative is AniChou, which is open sourced. The only problem there is the interface looks like crap (except in Liunx) and it was difficult to install since I have to install additional packages to make it work on Mac OS X. With that, MAL Updater has way too much features, the interface is cluttered and it’s closed sourced, which isn’t good. However, there was light at the end of the tunnel. Unofficial MAL API made this possible since the APIs are alot easier to use than the official API and they are planning to add Manga support right after they made some fixes to some search bugs…

After I complained about not being a really good MyAnimeList client for Mac OS X and discovering a easier API to use, I went to work and created this. I used RealBasic 2009 to create this client and wanted to make as close to a Mac experience as possible without having to learn Objective-C and Cocoa (and I don’t want to spend time trying to fix memory leaks). I was able to at least get the most basic features to work after three days of programming (you can check out some of the early screenshots I made of the program in early development). It took that long since RealBasic was a little different from Visual Basic .net and I haven’t worked on that stuff ever since I switched to a Mac in late 2006. Just within a week, I added status updating with 2.x and you could add new titles to the list, update them or even delete them for the list.

However, by the time I have used melative for my live micro-blogging when I go and watch some episodes of Anime… so guess what, I have decided to add melative support to MAL Client OS X since media is all about experience. MAL lacks the ability to express what you want to say about a episode you are watching. This reduces the need to update both melative and MAL separately, when you can do it the same time. If you have nothing to say when you go update, it will just sync the information you updated on MAL to your melative library.

The reason I didn’t add any additional features like auto-sorting of media files and skinning support since it’s unnecessary. Most people would use AnimeSuki, IRC, or even licensed retail discs anyways, so I don’t see the point of MAL Client OS X do the work since you have it done already. Skinning support is a niche feature, especially on Mac OS X and Linux. Rarely, you will see any skinned programs on those platforms and it’s too Windows-like and make things more complicated. MAL Client OS X is all about simplicity and not all about features. Having a lot of features in the world don’t make your program any better if the implementation sucks and not easy to use. This is the reason I created MAL Lite, a simple, lightweight, minimalist client for Windows and Linux as an alternative. Along with it, I made a GUI for MAL Updater OS X scripts so it will be a lot friendlier and people can scrobble their anime while they are watching it.

There is a reason I used RealBasic over Adobe AIR. For one, RealBasic can make native apps and uses less RAM as a result. Adobe Air, on the other hand is notorious for using a lot of RAM and is not native. Also, I can access the OS features with RealBasic and do a lot more than I could in AIR…

The future… Once manga support gets added, I will start working on adding it to the program. Hopefully, the program will hit the final stages with version 1.0, and by then, RealBasic 2010 will be out with Cocoa support…

Category: EditorialsTag: editorial, macs, MyAnimeList, updates

Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu Second Season – Episode 11 Thoughts and Impressions

December 15, 2009 by Chikorita157 Leave a Comment

Yuuto... you are truly pathetic... (or is he?)

Yuuto’s pathetic self can’t get any worse when he actually believe the words Yayoi and Nozomi said and let them get away with their shenanigans with Haruka… They are trying to take Haruka away from you… are you possibly going to let them get away with it. The first half had him moping around… hopeless with depression. Mika and Shiina tries to help you and you push them away? There might be something wrong .

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Category: Nogizaka Haruka no HimitsuTag: comedy, Diomedea, moe

Seitokai no Ichizon – Episode 10 – Thoughts and Impressions

December 13, 2009 by Chikorita157 1 Comment

This episode can’t get any funnier, but I will highlight the funniest parts. Kurimu start with telling a tear jerking story with a mother mouse giving all her cheese to her child that made her cry since the mother mouse died. Another instance when Mafuyu tells a story when she loses her memory and forgot all the sweet times spent with Ken. Ken says he loves her, but she treats him as a freak and when she regains her memory, he is dead? This causes him to complain…
However, Chizuru’s idea was alot more harsh. In her story, Ken was about to confess her love for Chizuko. When she came, she tells about her new boyfriend and how great and leaves. This leaves Ken crying. Another instance is when he leaves the school hopeless, a stack of books hit his head and he was put in a hospital with jhis memory lost. This left everyone but Chizuru crying… Then Chizuru gave another idea with Chizuko and Kenichi with old age, which Kenichi dies of something and Chizuko saying everything is her. This is where the funny part come when Ken, Minatsu and Mafuyu raged about Chizuru’s ending and Kurimu crying a puddle of tears. The most funniest line that came out of this:

Mafuyu can’t take that! Mafuyu will sue her.
– Shiina Mafuyu

There is always a minority of this tear-jerking story backlash like in this instance. I have seen it when Misuzu dies in the end causing some fandom rage and also near the end of Clannad After Story when they killed off Ushio… Fan dumb at full force… right?
Next, they perform their own tear-jerking story, but ended up being entirely funny because the way they done it… I couldn’t take their story seriously… Eventually, they gave up on it.
Soon, it was the end of the festival and… Chizuru is dressed in her sheep outfit again… Mokyuu~? Next, they have to go through a pile of lost items. When going through the stuff, Ken discovers someone panties… which caused everyone else to be disturbed… but he finds out that Mafuyu wasn’t wearing any…

Next, they worked quietly , except Ken who said a overly long monologue, which annoyed them… Next, he said something like a drama CD and another instance he mentions pokkoncho and Kurimu, Chizuru, Minatsu and Mafuyu start asking what is a pokkoncho with the Nico Nico Douga-like commenting in the background…Ken tries to change the topic, but they won’t stop asking…
This episode was extremely funny. I couldn’t stop laughing because the material was that good. It’s so sad I don’t know most of the references, but in the end, it was golden… This is probably the best slice of life comedy for the season and got better for the second half of the season… too bad there is two more episodes and I will pretty much miss it after once it’s done…

Don’t forget the Mokyuu~!

Verdict

9.4/10

Category: Seitokai no IchizonTag: comedy, moe, Studio DEEN

First Anime Audiosurf Competition is now Live

December 11, 2009 by Chikorita157 12 Comments

Now with the song selection done, here is the songs that people who are participating needs to play in Audiosurf:

1. Honda Mariko & Saito Yuka & Togashi Misuzu & Horinaka Yuki – Treasure

2.fripSide – only my railgun

3. Maaya Sakamoto – Magic Number

Before playing, you must add the [AAS-Holiday09] at the end of the title.The title should look like this:

“Treasure [AAS-Holiday09]”

To edit the tag, make a copy of the file first and right click > Properties. Click on the Details page and double click on the song title. Then do the change I have reflected in this example. You have until December 30th at 11:59 PM EST to complete your runs and you may redo them as many times you want since I won’t be recording any scores until then.

For more details, click Read More

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Category: UncategorizedTag: fandom, just for fun, updates

Kobato – Episode 9 Thoughts and Impressions

December 11, 2009 by Chikorita157 Leave a Comment

Fillers galore, we are yet hit with another filler episode. While not having reading the manga since I don’t really have the interest to do so, it was a good episode, but there are some flaws and pretty much cliched.

This episode starts in the start of summer and Kobato wants to go to the summer festival while she was bathing Ioroyogi. The flier flew off and somehow Natsuki got it and Kobato finds her with it. She hands it back and notices that her hands mere a mess. Natsuki gives a cloth to Kobato to clean her hands. Then, another girl Yukino trips and falls onto the ground while she uses her cellphone and they left. Kobato forgot that Ioroyogi was still wet and she squeezed the water off him. He was angry and about to spit fire, but couldn’t. While Ioroyogi was drying, Fujimoto told where that girl’s school was which was a all girls school. After she goes there and watch through the window, she finds Yukino and Natsuki, but gets caught by a teacher. Kobato runs and hide in the bushes and Yukino finds her while trying out a camera. They went to the pool area where Natsuki was working and handed back the towel…

Why do I need to tell you this… Well, the rest of the story is about Natsuki’s and Yukino’s friendship becoming distant ever since Yukino started to act strangely. In the past, they had matching phones and they needed a way to tell the phones apart. They got their charms and they exchanged it (Natsuki gets a snowman and Yukino a watermelon slice). With their friendship distancing, Natsuki decided to work harder in school. Not knowing that Yukino was working in a part time job to buy a new camera and finally got the money to buy one at a sale, Kobato goes to the mall and she finds Natsuki looking at the two other girls and Yukino. Without thinking, Natsuki said something that she didn’t intend to say, but it was hurtful.

You guys are so stupid! Even photographs that just mimic an advertisement can be seen as pretty good, so alot of people are mistaken about good photography…Even though you’re an amateur with no talent, you pretend you’re a pro. You’re pathetic
-Natsuki

That moment pretty much sums up this episode… Well, the accusation of Yukino being a poser is pretty lame, don’t you think. Also, the charm which Natsuki was panic about when the charm is missing go through the trash and with Kobato taking notice of it, helps her but finds it near a bucket… HOW DID IT GET THERE? It must be some kind of magic since it couldn’t walk off like that. Natsuki finds it and Kobato takes a picture of it and sends it to Yukino. When Natsuki meets Yukino, she reveals that she kept her charm on a necklace… thus their friendship is healed and Kobato gets another konpeito.

Although this episode is not that bad and was good… it was pretty much cliched… How many shows employ this kind of plot? Does anyone know. Another complaint I am hearing that Kobato is butting into others people’s problems, although it’s the thing she does best, or she wouldn’t be healing these people.

Another thing that bothered me is Yukino using her cellphone during class. Why would you use a cell phone during class? It seems like alot of teenagers in high school spend their time texting on their phones secretly during class while the teacher is teaching and high schools usually ban cell phone use… In college, they don’t even care, but it’s quite risky since you might lose important information on a topic. Yukino did not realize that using a cellphone camera will make a noise… I noticed all Japanese mobile phones does that, except my iPhone 3GS since I can turn off that sound by turning on the silent switch. A great way to get caught easily…

Is this the last of the Fillers? Who knows, but they aren’t that bad considering that I haven’t read the manga or have any interest to do so.

Not to mention, Kobato looks really cute in her new outfit, especially in her yukata…

Verdict

8.8/10

Category: KobatoTag: clamp, comedy, drama, Madhouse Studios, moe

Moments in Anime of 2009 – The Bad, The so-so and the Good…

December 10, 2009 by Chikorita157 1 Comment

2009 was a pretty dismal year for the economy in general, but not for Anime… I will be discussing several moments in Animes I watched that were good to the ones that are horrible. Let’s start with the bad, shall we.
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Category: Clannad, Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu, Seitokai no Ichizon, Suzumiya HaruhiTag: editorial, fandom, final impressions, review

Moments in Anime of 2009 – The Bad, The so-so and the Good…

December 10, 2009 by Chikorita157 1 Comment

Category: Clannad ~After Story~, Editorials, K-ON!, Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu, Seitokai no Ichizon, Suzumiya HaruhiTag: editorial, fandom, final impressions, review

Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu Second Season – Episode 10 Thoughts and Impressions

December 8, 2009 by Chikorita157 Leave a Comment

Our evil schemes can't be stopped. MHAHAHAHAHAHA!

When you think about idol, what comes in mind… The game iDOLM@STER by Namco? White Album? What? Yayoi, the “clingy girl” b**ch wants Haruka for herself to make her into a idol and she doesn’t want Yuuto in any part of it… Let’s try that again… She loathes Yuuto that much that she want to split the relationship between Haruka and Yuuto so she can have her to her self… Thats more like it…

Miran makes a reappearance in this episode and most likely in the next two episodes. Yuuto becomes a manager for her and we get some back stage appearance with Miran with her photoshots… There is one crucial quote she made about Yuuto which is apparently true.

I don’t even consider you as a guy, so it’s fine.
– Himemiya Miran

Apparently true since he doesn’t fight against Yayoi and defend Haruka, his girlfriend… What would a guy do if another man hits on your girlfriend… Of course, you would defend her… but apparently not so with Yuuto because he is way too nice… Being nice is a good thing, but you must do all means necessary to denfend your girl before someone go take her away… I’m sure you don’t want that.

Beside her shallow Tsundere personality, she does have a soft side.

Besides the behind the scenes with Miran and the Anime recording, we get another reference… The N’s which is basically Noto Mamiko & Gotou Mai & Shimizu Kaori & Ueda Kana & Satou Rina and Yuuto voices as a Lizard and he gets a servenior, which he intends on giving to Haruka… but… yep, the evil managers. Miran almost revealed about Yayoi, but probably much more in the next two episodes.

I have the feeling that Gentou should send his Hell Hound and infiltrate the whole building with soldiers with M5 surrounding it… If that were to happen, that will teach that b**ch a lesson…

In a side note, Yuuto does what Mika suggested and uses a chocolate bannana with Alice-chan licking it for more innuendo… but that did not go well for Ruko and Yukari…

I see some people complaining about the series because it’s not focusing on Haruka’s and Yuuto’s romance officially… I for one think that this series is rather enjoyable, although not the best in terms of content compared to the first season… but it can’t get any worse than Kampfer…

Verdict

8.2/10

Category: Nogizaka Haruka no HimitsuTag: comedy, Diomedea, moe

Winter Comes Again. Time for Kanon Again?

December 7, 2009 by Chikorita157 Leave a Comment

I’ve always live in this town, but cold is cold. But I love this town… In winter, it’s covered by white snow… In spring, the streets are full of falling sakura petals… In summer, it’s noisy with cicadas… In autumn, I’m surrounded by the falling leaves and then, the snow starts to fall, and the winter that I love begins again. This town is nice, isn’t it?
– Nayuki Minase from the Kanon Visual Novel

Winter is a few weeks away and with the latest snow storm that hit where I live reminds me of something. What is it?
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Category: KanonTag: drama, final impressions, key, moe, visual novel

How about an Audiosurf Contest with Anime Music?

December 6, 2009 by Chikorita157

Maybe the Karaoke contest isn’t a good idea since no one sent anything… so what else can anyone participate in… Well how about a Audiosurf competition since the game is cheap (only costs $10 off Steam) and can play on any computer. Perhaps some Anime Bloggers already have Audiosurf on their machines already. Readers can also participate as long they hade a valid email address and a Melative and/or MAL account.

More details below…
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Category: UncategorizedTag: audiosurf, contest, update

Kobato – Episode 8 Thoughts and Impressions

December 5, 2009 by Chikorita157 2 Comments

Episode 8 is really ~~Nyandaful~~ cute. Why? It contains a really cute kitty, which Kobato tries to take care of and also try to find a home since pets aren’t allowed in the apartment. However, this brings trouble to everyone when she tries to find a home for it and soon the Chi twins tries to help. Who wouldn’t want to keep a kitty that is so cute!

She tried many places, including the nursery. Kobato actually brings it there and all but one of the kids enjoyed him… Why… He had cat allergies… (does this remind you some other anime about cats?) and to the point where Fujimoto say to Kobato is that she is only bringing trouble by bring the kitten in and should of left it alone. Ironicly, Fujimoto helps find a home for the Kitten by telling to one grandmother that Kobato helped her with the crying baby by singing a song. Chi twins and Kobato when they got back to the apartment decides to give the kitten to the grandmother since her grandson enjoys animals and don’t have cat allergies. With this, the Chi twins had the feeling of sadness of missing the kitten… Who wouldn’t since noone want to really part from their pet they beloved most.

They insists on Kobato singing the same song that she sung before and she accepts and sings… Oddly enough, the twins went to sleep and Kobato receives more konpeito… two of them… but Ioryogi having to deal with the kitten gives her a 0, although she is excited of getting it since it’s just as round the bowl the Kitten was using and he actually makes it her grade, which causes to complain…

Domoto makes an appearance again and tries to help, but this time, Fujimoto helps out… This make me think that there is some kind of love triange with Domoto and Fujimoto with Kobato in the middle of it… Oh, this will be interesting if this was actually a romance anime, but it’s not really…

Verdict

8.9/10

Category: KobatoTag: clamp, comedy, drama, Madhouse Studios, moe

What to expect in Key's new Anime Project, Angel Beats!

December 4, 2009 by Chikorita157 2 Comments

Having discovered the greener side of Anime and also Visual Novels of Key/VisualArts with my first encounter with Kanon remake by Kyoto Animation and soon after, the epicly long Bishoujo visual novel, Clannad, which was completely clean that I played for several hours (think of the Tetris Effect, I was so addicted to it.) Eventually, it led me to watch the whole Clannad Anime, no wonder I got hooked on them… The stories are beautiful with cute, beautiful girls filled with so much moe (more so with Kanon with all those verbal tics/catchphrases) and also great music that I keep coming back for more… That is pretty much why I played the original Kanon visual novel and finished Nayuki’s, Mai’s and Shiori’s arc within a few weeks or days in July… Not only that, but I picked up and started the Air anime, which I haven’t finished yet… I’m that dedicated.

As you remember a few months back, Key have announced a new project called Angel Beats! with the collaboration of Dengeki (if you don’t know, it’s a magazine mostly on Bishoujo games and related manga and light novel. Something that Ken will go crazy for.) Knowing their track record with Air, Kanon and Clannad, I have high expectations with this original work and it seems like it’s some parody anime since the main character oddly resembles Haruhi… but then again, it’s Key and they will probably slip in tearjerking moments underneath the comedy… which make us shred manly tears (or girly tears.)

What do we know so far… well, P.A.Works will be animating this. If you don’t know it by now, they recently made Canaan which was aired this summer and also True Tears, based off a visual novel… and Jun Maeda is back and character designs are being done by Na-Ga so you shouldn’t expect too much disappointed there. The question is, will they pull it off? Who knows… but I know one thing… It’s not going to be a total disaster like Endless Eight and Suzumiya Haruhi Second Season… now thinking about it gives me second thoughts about Haruhi’s future… Then again, Angel Beats may as well end up as being another Little Busters since that had fighting scenes, right?

Meantime, you can learn more about it at ASuki if you feel like getting the latest information. Anime releases next year in Spring 2010 and have 13 episodes. Can’t wait… and I seriously hope there is no Hirano Aya in it.

Category: Angel Beats!, EditorialsTag: editorial, key, P.A.Works, speculation

Seitokai no Ichizon – Episode 9 Thoughts and Impressions

December 3, 2009 by Chikorita157 Leave a Comment

Episode 9 is a mix of serious and funny moments and focusing more on Chizuru.
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Category: Seitokai no IchizonTag: comedy, drama, moe, Studio DEEN

Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu Second Season – Episode 9 Thoughts and Impressions

December 2, 2009 by Chikorita157 Leave a Comment

Wait... Haven't we gone on a date before?

Haruka asks Yuuto on a official date after 20 EPISODES?! What do you mean? Are those dates on Akiba, the Christmas party at Yuuto’s house and the place where Haruka’s mother and father went to on New Years Day, are those dates… Not according to Mika since she considers them only to be outings…. ouch… I thought by now that they would have gone out on a date…

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Category: Nogizaka Haruka no HimitsuTag: comedy, Diomedea, moe

Kobato – Episode 7 Thoughts and Impressions

December 1, 2009 by Chikorita157 1 Comment

Sorry for the delay… but you can never be late for Kobato, can you?

Continuing Kobato’s quest of getting more konpeito, she finds out from being a dojikko with the paint and spilling the paint all over the place that she got Fujimoto angry again… Fujimoto always seems to be one of those characters that get mad easily and Kobato takes it the wrong way when she calls him mean for not helping the girls at the university. Whoops!

The highlight of this episode: Kobato shoves his paper to his chest.

Why in the world sould Fujimoto bail out irresponsible college students that go off and party and not do their homework or take notes? I wouldn’t and he is right… but it seems that Kobato takes it the wrong way and saying it’s right for people to copy your work so they can get a better grade… What ever happened to Academic Integrity? Hell, my university won’t allow me to get bailed out for being absent most of the time… No way jose… You earn your grade… so remember college students or students that will enter college next year, YOU have to earn your grade and no one is going to BAIL you OUT or you might get caught cheating! It’s not fair when students get bailed out when I have to work my butt off to get the best grade, but it happens… However, Domoto, the nice guy he his (way too nice than Yuuto from Nogizaka Haruka) and let others take advantage of him and Kobato okays that…. Wow… that is messed up, but it’s better than having a jerkass like Shute Shutherland…

On a side note, the robots from Chobits makes a reappearance since Episode 3. The funny thing is when the children play hide and go seek with them… one girl don’t know which one and as a result, she got found. =O

Besides the pet peeves with someone actually bailing out students and Kobato saying that it’s okay to do so, I find the episode rather funny… and cute… Kobato may as well be the biggest dojikko out there… more so than Yui from K-ON!

This reminds me of something… I have finals coming up in a few weeks. =o

Verdict

8.7/10

Category: KobatoTag: clamp, comedy, drama, Madhouse Studios, moe

Otaku Elimination Game does show what’s wrong with the Anime Blogosphere

December 1, 2009 by Chikorita157

After the overwhelming response I had with the previous editorial I wrote on how the Anime Blogosphere is filled with posts that are not even closely related to Anime and filled with boring rehash of mostly news and photoshots of figurines, no wonder AnimeNano are filled with not so interesting or good quality posts. I decided to write a second part of the editorial… How OEG shows what’s wrong with the Anime Blogosphere.

When the Otaku Elimination Game post it’s first review of select blogs, people have shun it outright for being a troll blog, but they do bring a point…. Anime blogs are becoming less about Anime and more about pointless stuff like random Japan news, photo shots of figurines and how much RAM you use on your computer, etc… It eeems that these days, Anime Blogs are becoming way too personal and people are beginning to post personal experiences too much compared to the ratio of actual anime/manga reviews and anime/manga related editorials and commentaries. Sure it’s okay to add your own thoughts to news, but the problem is that news even though you add thoughts to your news can outrun your anime content.

The problem is that the Anime Blogosphere is filled with alot of not so good blogs, believe it or not… Sturgeon’s Law is alive… and 90% of the blogs you see on AnimeNano and in the Anime Blogosphere is crud … and most of these blogs die after a few months and never become active again… The problem is that fansubs have gotten so easy to obtain that bloggers want in and we see more quantity over quality. We seem to forgot that years ago when Anime Blogs are less about what it is today and more like spoilers… The problem is that people seem to not put enough effort in their Anime Blogs, which can we see from the overwhelming majority of not so good blogs on Wordpress.com, and most of these bloggers complain they don’t have enough time and end up not updating. We see way too many copycats of successful anime blogs like That Anime Blog, Random Curiosity, or even Danny Choo that Anime Blogs seem to have no uniqueness, which the OEG seems to be stressing greatly… Bloggers should be more creative and make their blogs more unique… perhaps making your own format and even doing something more creative… Innovation isn’t the problem, but quality of content and the number of copycat blogs out there…

Lastly, AnimeNano seems to be less about Anime and Manga, but more on pointless and uninteresting things about Japan and Anime/Manga/Visual Novel/Light Novel unrelated stuff. As pointed out, AnimeNano atleast doesn’t have Sankaku, but it still doesn’t make it any better because there is still blogs like Sankaku out there that doesn’t even talk about the stuff I mentioned… Anime Nano seriously need some kind of feature that allow you to flag that kind of content so that it won’t pollute AnimeNano… (No offense to anyone who operate that type of blog) or a better way, have a option to view Anime/Manga/Visual Novel/etc related stuff in one feed and another feed with Japan stuff, video games, etc.

The OEG should make people want to improve their blogs, not go in the corner and fear about their blogs being attacked and not doing something about it… Also, Bloggers should blog more, emphasizing on quality posts and make their blogs more unique from other blogs.

Note: I’m not against any kind of censorship whatsoever. I’m hoping I’m not beating a dead horse over this… but this will be the last post on this matter.

Category: EditorialsTag: editorial, fandom, response

Editorial: What ever happen to innovation in the AniBlogosphere?

November 30, 2009 by Chikorita157 17 Comments

My view of the Anime Blogosphere in General...

The OEG attempted to jumpstart the half-dead blogosphere, but it seems to only cause people to question them or even outright show themselves as internet trolls by other bloggers and one blogger did their work for them already. The problem is that the Aniblogosphere in my view is alot less on Anime and Manga or anything exciting and more about just news on Japan, which we can get from ANN or even Danny Choo. We don’t need the same post on Final Fantasy XIII elixir… It’s already covered nor we need to know about random Japanese news or happenings… It’s been done by so many blogs that it’s not funny anymore… just look at the few posts I found on AnimeNano…

The same, old... news. Nothing interesting about it. — The same... old... news. There's nothing interesting about it.

Posting news is pretty generic and not exciting in my opinion nor it will help solve the ever troubling problem of the half-dead Anime Blogosphere. Bloggers should not only review Anime, Manga or even anything related to it, they should drive innovation and do something that haven’t done like a project or something that will interests the readers such as sharing your thoughts about other things like visual novels or making commentaries on characters or anime you have interest in or do something creative besides posting news… That’s Anime News Network’s job, not yours. I highly doubt you will get a lot of viewers that way… It’s not wrong or anything, but bloggers should tone it down a bit and start doing something innovative besides copying like Microsoft copying ideas from Mac OS X and KDE/Linux/whatever for example. That way, bloggers can be more happier that the Anime Blogosphere isn’t half-dead anymore.

Remember, it’s you that can reignite the Anime Blogosphere by innovating… It’s not my job to push you to innovate, it’s yours. Otherwise, it will stay like that if nothing is done and most wouldn’t like a half-dead Anime Blogosphere, would you?

Category: EditorialsTag: editorial, fandom, opinion, rant

Hayate no Gotoku – First Impressions

November 28, 2009 by Chikorita157 3 Comments

What sorta interests me about this anime is pretty much the third episode of Nogizaka Haruka Purezza, although the parody of a episode is similar to Hayate no Gotoku, but the original always a bit better. Touka and Nagi, ironically is voiced by the supposed by the Queen of Tsundere, Kugimiya Rie, the voice of other famous loli-tsundere characters like Shana, Louise and Taiga.

From watching the first five episodes of Hayate no Gotoku, it was pretty entertaining comedy. Hayate, a unlucky, ordinary sixteen year old boy is forced to work since eight years old since his irresponsible parents and he ended up getting fired because of his age. Knowing that his parents sold him to some “very nice people” (actually a Yakuza, Japanese mafia) and he runs away. He ends up in the park and sees a little girl and then confess to her with his intentions to kidnap her, but that girl actually took the confession seriously. He tried his plan, but failed and collapses. A woman gives him a scarf and he wakes up. He finds out that Nagi was kidnapped, so he took the woman’s bike and cases after the kidnappers and eventually saves Nagi, but he was injured and he was treated at Nagi’s mansion where his wish comes true, he gets a job as Nagi’s butler. He becomes officially a butler after proving himself by defeating the robot, although he ended up getting electrocuted and having to be treated again.

The episodes were pretty funny and had several references to other anime and also a complete parody of the typical action shouen anime, although there isn’t really much action to be seen and it’s mainly for comedy purpose. Oddly enough, although Hayate is pretty strong, his appearance looks vastly young and rather effeminate, a main reason why Nagi and Maria would eventually dress him in feminine clothing… (haven’t got there, but it would be pretty funny.) Like always, Nagi is a uber tsundere paired with her twin tails… more so since she is voiced by the tsundere queen. The animation was good, so I have no complaints about it…

Would I continue…. Yes, I probably would, but I would get the DVDs first before continuing, but would I blog it… Not so much since the number of episodes are pretty big (52 episodes) and it would take alot of work to blog it.

Category: Hayate no GotokuTag: comedy, first impressions, JC Staff, moe

Seitokai no Ichizon – Episode 8 Thoughts and Impressions

November 27, 2009 by Chikorita157 1 Comment

Episode 8 was even funnier than the last… and Ken seems to become even more indecisive than ever and Elise-chan, Lilicia’s younger sister, which was sent for her evil scheme of writing libel about the student council, but it sorta backfired.
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Category: Seitokai no IchizonTag: comedy, moe, Studio DEEN

Some things before Thanksgiving

November 25, 2009 by Chikorita157 Leave a Comment

Thanksgiving is tomorrow, so I won’t likely make any updates on this blog, but before I leave for a day, I will make the following updates reguarding the Karaoke Contest and also MAL Client OS X and MAL Lite:

Karaoke Contest

I have made a change earlier that no effects or any alterations of the recording may be used. You may only use effects to reduce any grainy/background noise, but anything but that may not be used. I will be posting further details after I come back from Thanksgiving and hopefully start it on Monday.

MAL Client OS X and MAL Lite

I have made several changes to the MAL updating program for Mac OS X and also the lightweight, minimalist solution on Windows and Linux. MAL Client OS X 0.3.6 now features a new interface similar to the one on Finder. If used on Tiger and Panther, the interface will default to a sheet metal feel. Manga list lookup is added, but when you double click on a item, you can view the information about it on the browser. No manga updating is added yet since there isn’t enough API to implement it yet. Lastly, Melative updating can be done without updating your MAL status. You can make a update by going to the anime information window and clicking “Post Melative Update” on the toolbar.

I apologize that I can’t get the help updated and the Sparkle appcast updated since the FTP is down. Once it comes up, I will post the Sparkle update. For now, you need to download the disk image.

Download MAL Client OS X 0.3.6

For MAL Lite 1.1.2, I restored the full list featured on MAL Client OS X and added a tray icon. Download 1.1.2

I hope you a nice and joyful Thanksgiving… I will resume blogging on Friday after shopping on Black Friday and hopefully cover Kobato Episode 7 and Seitokai no Ichizon Episode 8.

Category: MAL Client OS X, UncategorizedTag: updates

Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu Second Season – Episode 8 Impressions

November 25, 2009 by Chikorita157 Leave a Comment

Oh no... more girls in Yuuto's "Unwanted Harem?"

This time it’s a Mika centered episode and yes, it’s the last of the episodes that don’t focus on Haruka and her secret (which so far about 4 episodes in the season don’t have her in the spotlight, which some of the complaints are coming from.)
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Category: Nogizaka Haruka no HimitsuTag: comedy, Diomedea, moe

Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu – Final Impressions

November 23, 2009 by Chikorita157 Leave a Comment

I have completed the first season nearly a week ago and it was a pretty good concept of a story which is pretty unique. In this story, they took a extraordinary nice guy and a high class girl who have one major flaw of being a otaku. That is just the surface of the story since Nogizaka Haruka is not entirely about otaku subculture in shows like Lucky Star. This twist, however makes things more interesting, but is it well executed? Let’s find out, shall we?

Content

The story is a typical romance story… a ordinary guy meets a girl. However there is a big twist in this story. Nogizaka Haruka, an ojou is the most unattainable girl in school with rejections up to the triple digits. Yuuto bumps into Haruka in the library after Yuuto returns the book and the magazine she took out revealed her secret, her love for Anime and Manga, which is viewed negatively for people of her class. However, Yuuto accepts her secret and will keep it as a secret. Throughout the series, the relationship between Haruka and Yuuto builds up with some help of Mika (Haruka’s sister), Nanami and Hazuki. Also with that, another girl is thrown in called Shiina which Yuuto accidently bumps into which causes her to gain some kind of a romantic desire of her becoming his boyfriend, although Yuuto only seems to like Haruka.

The series itself throws some references to other anime. The most references shown is Shakugan no Shana.

What this anime tries to shows the sad realization of how Otaku are viewed in real life. In real life, Otakus are viewed negatively because Otaku means house in Japanese, meaning that people who are otakus spend time watching and obsessing over anime, manga or playing games/visual novels and never leave the house, meaning that it can cause a lack of social skills. This is viewed when Yuuto tries to over up Haruka’s secret when a comiket catalog falls out of her bag when she fell and her father, Gentou which does not want her daughter to watch anime and read manga, but eventually allowed with the help of her mother.

There are some fanservice moments in Nogizaka Haruka, but nothing too excessive.

Animation

Diomedea did a pretty good job with animating Nogizaka Haruka, so there isn’t really much to comment here.

Characters

The characters in Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu is what you expect from a romance comedy, but not so much. I will talk about the most important characters, but besides from those, Nanami and Hazuki, Nogizaka’s maids who seems to be shown most of the story and help with Haruka and Yuuto and also help stop Gentou before his wife comes. Another is Ruko and Yukari, who seems to be alcoholics and finally, Haruka’s parents, Gentou, the hot headed father and Akiho, the seemingly beautiful, despite her age and intelligent mother.

Ayase Yuuto – The seemingly, extraordinary nice guy who seems to understand everyone’s feelings… This is somewhat the departure of the losers and jerks that are typical in harem/romance comedy anime, but there are some flaws that are more apparent in the second season with his character. Also, his personality seems to be more of a gentleman, although his class is lower than the jerkass Shutto, which in contrast is a spoiled brat and causing him at sometimes, being unworthy for being Haruka’s boyfriend, although he overcomes it, but the notion of him being a lower class than Haruka will be stuck in his mind for some time.

Nogizaka Haruka – The moe ojou and also have a terrible secret of being a Otaku, which is viewed negatively, especially in the higher class she is in. Haruka seems to be a very sweet character, which mainly causes most of the terribly sweet moments between Haruka and Yuuto. Although Haruka is really smart and is top of her class, she is somewhat a dojikko.

Nogizaka Mika – Haruka’s younger sister, but seemingly dirty for her age and already talking about sexual stuff? Mika in comparison is more easygoing and not as naive as Haruka… and even calls Yuuto, “Onii-chan.” It makes me wonder.

Amamiya Shiina – The second girl in Yuuto’s love triangle, although Yuuto does not have any romantic relationship with her and her being only a friend. With her bumping into him causes her to have a romantic interest with Yuuto.

Music

The music from Nogizaka Haruka was pretty good… We are presented with a pretty catchy opening theme which seems to have a fast pace and a ending theme with maids (seriously, who doesn’t like maids). The extra image songs not played in the anime sounded pretty decent, so no complaints.

Conclusion

The first season of Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu is a pretty good watch for those who are sick of a indecisive harems and romance comedies filled with too much fanservice and a jerky male lead. For those who are looking for a deep romantic story or a non-cliched romance anime, you may come off disappointed. Nogizaka Haruka is a pretty good comedy romance anime in my opinion so far… but I would say since I haven’t watched other yet.

Once you finish with the first season, I suggest taking a look at the second, although it’s somewhat weak in content and have a little more fanservice, but you may find it just as enjoyable.

Overall Rating

8.72/10, B+, Outstanding

Attribution Information

This image is from here

Category: Nogizaka Haruka no HimitsuTag: comedy, Diomedea, final impressions, moe