In the past, I have written some initial impressions or full reviews of video games from Japan. Of course, most of what I covered is ones related to Anime such as the Idolmaster games and Pokémon. Now I’m going to do something slightly different and share my thoughts about a pretty obscure game called Atelier Meruru. (Image Source)
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Reviews
Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai – Final Review
Back in 2010, Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai light novel was given an honorable mention in a Kyoto Animation award competition. Obviously, this means that they will eventually make an anime based off this work. (Image Source)
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Dog Days 2 – Final Review
When I first watched Dog Days on my Macbook Pro while heading to Minnesota back in 2011, it was a fun show. However, the story was average and the injection of drama did not fit well with the lighthearted feeling of the show. A year later, we now have Dog Day’s Dash, which is the sequel where Shinku returns with his childhood friend, Rebecca to the fantasy world of Flonyard. Also, his older cousin, Nanami joins in the fun. With Seven Arc’s track record on second seasons being better than the first, I wonder if the same can be said for Dog Days. Let’s find out! (Image Source)
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Tari Tari – Final Review
For a while now, PA Works have earned a reputation for it’s excellent production values, probably to the point where it can rival Kyoto Animation. They have done mostly original stories, which is one of the reasons why their shows tend to start on a good note. However, they also have a tendency to go sour at the middle and it was especially apparent with Hanasaku Iroha where it looses track of what it originally set out for and goes to the uncharted territory of uneasiness like unnecessary crossdressing and senseless love triangles. With Mari Okada completely out of the equation, will Tari Tari address the issues that the studio’s other works had? We’ll just have to find out. (Image Source)
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Hyouka – Final Review
For this year’s project, Kyoto Animation decided to adapt Hyouka (氷菓, lit: Ice Cream), a set of teenage light novels involving a Classic Literature Club. While the show is slightly different from what they usually do, it is rather unique on how it uses Mystery to develop the characters. In turn, it creates an enjoyable experience for various reasons. (Image Source)
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Shining Hearts ~Shiawase no Pan~ – Final Review
Being a fan of Japanese RPGs, I always find these adaptations rather interesting because of the setting and the characters. Shining Hearts is a Japanese RPG made by Sega that is part of the Shining Series that received a Japan only release. Since it’s an RPG adaption, I thought it had potential. Sadly, it kind of fell on its face for being an over glorified commercial promoting bread and happiness. Its kind of disappointing if you think about it since the actual game (which I’m ironically playing at the moment) is much more than just baking bread. I think there are several reasons why the show is a let down, although it’s not terrible by any means. (Image Source)
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K-ON! The Movie – Movie Review
Since the London Summer Olympics began just a few days ago, I feel the need to finally watch the K-ON movie since it takes place in the same city. As hinted in the Episode 27 special, it’s quite obvious that the Light Music Club will go on a Graduation Trip and it actually happened. (Image Source)
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Natsuiro Kiseki – Final Review
During the last season, there were two shows that focused on idol groups, each taking a different approach. Although I dropped AKB0048 since I didn’t like the AKB48, there is one show that intrigued me. This is mostly contributed to Natsuiro Kiseki’s (Lit: A Summer-colored Miracle) main cast consisted of members from Sphere. When I realized this, it already caught my attention. (Image Source)
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Tantei Opera Milky Holmes Second Season – Final Review
Ever since the airing of Tantei Opera Milky Holmes in the fall of 2010, I never expected it to become the most entertaining comedies of the season. When a sequel got announced last year, I naturally got excited since I wanted to see more hysterical moments between Milky Holmes, the Genius 4 and Gentleman Thieves. As you expect, it’s the same show that we come to love, but taken to the next level. (Image Source)
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Amagami SS Plus – Final Review
In the summer of 2010 when I was on vacation, I had some urge to watch Amagami SS, which is an adaption based off a romance visual novel by Enterbrain, which only got a Japanese release. While Haruka’s, Karou’s and Tsukasa’s arcs were good, the others just disappointed me, Rihoko especially since the writer decided to become a jerk-ass and Friendzoned her! That conclusion just ruined it for me, which is one of the reasons I never finished the first season until days before the sequel airing.
Amagami SS Plus is a continuation of the girls’ arcs from the first season. Will Junichi live up to his interactions with them? Let’s find out, shall we? (Image Source)
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Working’!! (Second Season) – Final Review
I have to admit that while the first season of Working had some flaws, it was one of the most enjoyable comedies because every worker had a quirk that contributed to it. With the second season completed back in December, it improved a lot while showing more of what I liked about the whole show. (Image Source)
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Shinryaku!? Ika Musume – Final Review
During the fall of 2010, Ika Musume had become a wild success in Japan and overseas. It was so popular that it got another season, which contains more of same squid girl antics. Since it’s over, how does it compare with the prequel? That answer lies below. (Image Source)
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Secret Santa Review – Kuragehime
Preface
First off, for those who celebrate Christmas, I hope you enjoy the holidays. Just like last year, I have decided to participate in a Secret Santa Anime project hosted by Reverse Thieves. In this project, you give a list of what you watched to a person, which is randomly selected. Then, they suggest three shows to watch. After receiving suggestions, you pick one or more to review. In this review, I will focus on a 2010 Josei Anime called Kuragehime (海月姫, lit Jellyfish Princess). (Image Source)
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Nichijou – Final Review
In the past, Kyoto Animation has made a few notable slice of life shows involving a bunch of schoolgirls. Particularly, Lucky Star and K-ON is their most popular works in the genre. With the production of Nichijou, it takes a slightly different take of the genre opposed to gradual character development and references from the Otaku subculture. Instead, it focuses mostly on slapstick comedy sketches that place characters in wacky situations. (Image Source)
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Hanasaku Iroha – Final Review
It’s a known fact that PA Works is well-known for their original productions. In particular, True Tears, Canaan and especially Angel Beats had garnered a lot of attention. Although their production values are great, the stories get a bit too ambitious mostly because of the length. This eventually caused them to get a bit off track from the original premise as seen with Hanasaku Iroha. (Image Source)
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Ikoku Meiro no Croisèe – Final Review
With the start of the 21st century, the so-called Iyashikei genre became popularized, especially with Aria through its gorgeous scenery, focus on friendship, and lighthearted feeling. I tend to enjoy them as it melt the stress from life that gives you a good feeling.
Ikoku Meiro no Croisèe is just that, except it involves a really cute and young Japanese girl living in a foreign country like France. (Image Source)
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Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha (TV Series) – Final Review
In my last review, I have reviewed the first Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha Movie, which is essentially a summary of the first season with more backstory. With this review, I will focus primarily on the television series, which aired in 2004. (Image Source)
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Summer Vacation Marathon – Dog Days Final Review
Second in the Summer Vacation Anime Marathon, I watched Dog Days, a fantasy adventure original anime made by Seven Arcs, the studio known for their work on Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha. While people find the story to be pretty shallow, I have actually enjoyed this show because of characters, the lighthearted feeling, and various Eastern RPG elements incorporated in the story (Image Source).
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Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha Movie 1st – Movie Review
First in the summer vacation marathon, I have watched the Nanoha movie (most namely, Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha The Movie 1st), which focused on the events involving Nanoha’s befriending of Fate in the original season. Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha has been a very enjoyable magical girl series to me as it differs to the traditional genre. It caters to the moe crowd while appealing to others with a rather complex magic system (with some elements of mecha), males using magic and of course yuri. Of course, the first season of Nanoha is not entirely flawless since the animation was lackluster and some important details were left unexplained until the movie came out…
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Fractale – Final Review
Traditionally, noitaminA shows tend to cater a different audience as an outlet for creativity among other things while holding a good reputation. Although Hourou Musuko brought out the greatness from noitaminA from the Winter 2011 Anime Season, Fractale was a different story. Fractale was an original concept written and directed by Yutaka Yamamoto who has previously directed various shows from Kyoto Animation and most famously Kannagi. Sadly, the show was a tad too ambitious that it collapsed under it’s own weight, which could explain the reason why the show disappoints. (Image Source)
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Hidan no Aria – Final Review
In our last Spring 2011 Anime Season review, I will review Hidan no Aria, a harem action comedy with a Rie Kugimiya loli tsundere and badass adorable girls with weapons (Image Source).
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Gosick – Final Review
When Gosick started airing back in January, the mysteries in the beginning left the glass half. While the show had some interesting mysteries, I felt that the show’s strength lies in the underlining adventure with Kazuya and Victorique as they uncover the secrets of Sauville (Image Source).
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A Channel – Final Review
At first, A Channel gave me the feelings that it will have some similarities to K-ON. As the series went on, the show became an enjoyable experience with the girls’ personalities driving the comedy along with great production values.
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Reflection & Review: Madoka Magica is still Captivating.
Ever since the finale of Madoka Magica, which aired two months ago, the series has definitely become one of the most captivating and memorable show of 2011 in my opinion. While Madoka has some of the traditional magical elements, it had a darker story filled with despair that made the overall premise rather interesting. Despite the minor flaws in storytelling, the show has definitely redefined certain aspects of the magical girl genre (Image Source).
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