final impressions

Game Review: CLANNAD SPELUNKER

May 22, 2010 by Chikorita157 Leave a Comment

Just don't ask why the hell I'm playing this…

On Wednesday during the week of finals, someone on Twitter was playing this game called CLANNAD spelunker, which is essentially a Clannad themed version of the original Spelunker on the Atari. If it has Clannad characters, it must not be that bad… you will be mistaken when I show how hard this game really is.

Warning: There is a lot of swearing when I made the post.

It is pretty odd to have a game such as spelunker and slap Clannad characters in it… Well, yes… it’s so out of place… Now to the gameplay:

Character Selection Screen

Although I can’t read Japanese, it doesn’t really matter since its pretty obvious. In Clannad Spelunker, you can play as Nagisa, Kotomi, Tomoyo and Yukine. I’n guessing that each character has different abilities… I don’t know… but whatever.

The Gameplay

The goal of this game is to explore caves, collect treasures and defeat enemies… Sound easy, right? You will find out sooner…

What? I just died from that jump? WHAT????!!!!!

That is fucking bullshit! I died from that fall? Yep, I did and it wasn’t that high… Note that when you lose a life, you go back to a place in the level… Note that when you hit a checkpoint, you will get sent back there when you lose a life

The game fools you in thinking the game is easy. Compared to the original spelunker which is one hit and game over, Clannad Spelunker gives you 4 tries and you can replenish them by collecting the hearts. Not only that, its pretty hard to get on the damn ropes that you will end up falling when I realized that I need to use the double jump. You are going to use the double jump a lot to get to these places. However, the controls feels like shit that you will end up doing a single jump and lose a life because of the fall. That is fucking horseshit!

In Super Mario Bros, you can jump further without dying even if you fall from a high platform, but in Clannad Spelunker you die from a high jump. The developers made the game feel so hard that nobody can beat it in one sitting or without saving. Believe me, you are going to die a lot in this game. And yeah, if you lose all your lives, there are NO continues…

Forgot to mention, there is a save function, but I have no idea how to use it.

Seriously, this enemy looks stock…

It seems that the makers of Clannad Spelunker are not creative. We get stock characters like ghosts, bats, blobs and witches. Can’t the developers be a bit more creative? They should have added dangos or starfish… but whatever… Not only that, they have insane amount of hit points. It takes 6 hits just to defeat that ghost. Not only that, if you don’t hit them fast enough, they get you and you die… and you know thats bullshit!

Fuck! That is not fair! I just respawned there and I died just like that… Thats bullshit!

An enemy right near the checkpoint. When you respawn, you get hit again and lose a life. That is just fucked up.

What is a wedding head dress doing in a cave? Also, it looks cropped out of somewhere.

After dying so many times in getting to that treasure chest, I finally get to it and what I found? A head dress? What the hell is a wedding head dress doing in a treasure chest? I would have thought there would be something like gold, but no. I think they had done this since it’s Clannad themed. This wedding head dress from what I recalled is from Kouko Ibuki from Fuuko’s Arc. I grabbed the key and bullshit…

Fuuuuuuck! I fell and now its game over… I was so close, but now I have to do that over again? F that!

I died… I gave up afterwards since I couldn’t even beat the first level!

What is this game intended for? Certainly not Clannad fans or fan of Key…. It disappoints everyone just because the game is too fucking difficult! Even with the four lives compared to the original, it’s still too fucking hard. It even compare to the difficulty to Transformers: Convoy no Nazo, which is known to be the most difficult Transformers game out there. Clannad Spelunker is on the same level difficulty as the latter. Clannad Spelunker just redefines the definition of Nintendo Hard, a game that is very difficult and gives no mercy.

What would be my suggestion? Stay the hell away from this game, unless you like dying every time you fall or hit an enemy… This game is basically trial and error. Every time you play, you will get better until you get stuck again… and believe me… you will die a lot and I mean it!

Overall Picture

Pros: It’s a Clannad themed Spelunker game!

Cons: Intense difficulty, poor controls, stock enemies, unfair respawning, no continues (without saving).

Verdict

6.2/10, D-, Below Average

Category: Clannad, ReviewsTag: final impressions, games, key, nintendo hard, opinion, strawberry sundaes

Review: iPad and Anime Blogging

May 18, 2010 by Chikorita157 2 Comments

I have finally decided to get myself an iPad, which some people say it’s a big iPod Touch or iPhone and seem to hate it so much. I played around with my 16 GB Wifi iPad, loading some Anime Blogs from Anime Nano and the functions on the iPad. I even Jailbroken the device. So far, my experiences with it is great and its better than any Netbook out there. It won’t replace my Macbook Pro anytime soon, but it will definitely kill netbooks or make them evolve into multitouch tablets without keyboards and trackpads.

Design/Connectivity

The iPad is really light and weighing only 1.5 pounds and almost just as thin as the iPod Touch. Here is a comparison between a iPhone 3GS, iPod Touch 2G, Nintendo DS, the Macbook Pro and the iPad:

iPad features a 9.7 inch LED display with IPS Technology. Most netbooks come with TN LCD panels and most of these netbooks uses CCFL backlighting, which makes them thicker and use a bit more power. There are some people that say the backlit display will hurt someone’s eyes and e-ink is better for long use! From using it for hours, it did not strain my eyes considering that it uses a IPS LCD panel. It also depends on the brightness, which the screen is set at.

Although the iPad only comes with a dock connector, there is a connectivity kit that is sold separately. It provides a USB connector that allows users to hook not only digital cameras, but USB Keyboards and headsets. Jailbroken iPads can use USB storage devices with some hacking. It also comes with an SD adapter to load pictures, but cannot play back video from it.

iPad also comes with Bluetooth. If you don’t like the touchscreen keyboard, you can pair a Bluetooth keyboard to the device. I own an Apple Wireless Keyboard which I paired with the iPad. It makes input a lot easier than the touchscreen keyboard.

The iPad is pretty minimalistic. The only controls is the volume, orientation lock and power/sleep button. This doesn’t matter much since the iPad is controlled mainly by the touchscreen.

Experience

iPad runs on iPhone OS 3.2, which is also used on iPhone and iPod Touch. However, iPad can now use iPad applications that feature more functionality than the iPhone/iPod Touch apps. I loaded Twitterriffic, a Twitter Client and some weather apps. They look amazing.

Youtube is also upgraded on the iPad too because of its big screen. Not only you can view videos in full screen, you can change the view to show other information while the video is playing. You can also play embedded Youtube videos within Safari without leaving the application like on the iPhone/iPod Touch.

MobileSafari is like the one on the iPhone, but upgraded. You can now add bookmarks to the toolbar for easy access. Since MobileSafari is based on Webkit, websites will load just as they would on the Web Browsers on your desktop/laptop. When I first unboxed the iPad, I loaded up Melative and the library updating works perfectly.

Some may be disappointed that there is a lack of Adobe Flash. This is because Flash is known to be a resource hog and the primary cause of browser crashes. Instead, HTML5 is implemented for video and stuff. Some sites are already adopting the service, but not all sites have it fully implemented.

How about WordPress on iPad? WordPress loads fine on the iPad. You can make new posts with the WordPress iPad application or the web interface. However, the visual editor does not work on the iPad nor uploading new content. This can be a problem if you want to upload pictures. The good thing is that you can write up new content and then add the pictures before publishing.

WordPress on iPad with Wireless Keyboard

The other functions on the iPad such as the iPod is just the same as seen on the iPhone/iPod Touch, but expanded. There isn’t much needed to be said about them.

The iPad comes with a full size keyboard on the touch screen, which is better than the netbook keyboard. I found that the landscape keyboard a lot easier to use, but I still need the time to get used to it. I won’t use it for prolonged use.

iPad also contains iBooks, which is a ebook reader. It allows buying of books from the device. It also allows users to import e-pub ebooks. So, if you want to import a translated light novel that wasn’t licensed yet, you can do so by converting it. I haven’t tried iBooks extensively, but it looks nice.

iPad at the moment does not have multitasking, although iPhone OS 4 will provide multitasking. Jailbreaking at the time being can give users the ability to multitask (with ProSwitcher or Backgrounder). I done this on my iPhone 3GS and I didn’t notice an impact on performance.

However, there is some things that the iPad cannot do. Viewing Fansubs is one of those things as they require a special player like mplayer to play them and iPad does not support MKV files. They need to be converted to be played on the iPad, which can be time consuming. If you want to watch Anime on Crunchyroll, it will work on the iPad, since they already have an iPad app.

Another thing the iPad won’t do is run desktop applications. Sure, iPad has an office suite and can do pretty much anything the App Store provides, but if you want to use a desktop application such as Photoshop, you still need a computer. Want to play computer games like Audiosurf, Half-Life 2, Portal or visual novels? You still need a computer for that.

Lastly, you are pretty much stuck what the AppStore provides. Unless you jailbreak your iPad, you are stuck with what you have. With a jailbreak, you can do pretty much what you want to do with it. I do this with all my devices so I can customize and add functionality that Apple won’t allow.

Battery Life so far is pretty good. For use at 50% brightness with volume set on high, the percentage didn’t drop so much… but still not sure it last 10 hours, although there are reports that it lasted more than 10 hours.

Conclusion

While the iPad can do most of the basic tasks such as surfing, music playing, viewing photos, email, Instant Messaging and Twitter, it still not a complete replacement for a Laptop/Desktop. iPad is the role model of what Netbooks should be. Traditionally, I found Netbooks completely stupid because they use a bloated OS like Windows and come with small keyboards and trackpads. The iPad will push competitors to change their model and start making netbooks that uses only a touchscreen, some form of Linux and using mobile processors like ARM. Several competitors are already doing this such as HP’s WebOS Slate and others.

While iPad won’t replace the computer since you can’t watch fansubs or run Photoshop on it. However, it will allow the full web experience without flash and allow you to make posts on your WordPress blog. So if you out often, you can take your iPad and make you blog post on your Anime Blog and then edit it later when you get back on the computer.

Would I recommend it? Probably, but before making fun of it irrationally and saying it is just a big iPod Touch, play around with it to see if it fits your needs.

Category: ReviewsTag: final impressions, iPad, opinion, review, unboxing

Review – Girls Dead Monster – Thousand Enemies

May 11, 2010 by Chikorita157 3 Comments

General Information

Album Title: Thousand Enemies
Artist: Girls Dead Monster (Singer: LiSA)
Catalog Number: KSLA-0052
Release Date: May 12, 2010

General Thoughts

The Crow Song Album and marina’s singing has proven to be mediocre because something was missing from the vocals… expression! As a result, the vocals sounded so dull and flat that it lessened the playing of these songs. If I were Jun Maeda, I would be crying in my sleep because the vocals ruined my music composition. With the new singer for Yui-nyan, do you expect a fangirl of Girls Dead Monster to sound better than the predecessor? I have to say that the vocals in this album sounds marginally better than the previous, but it is not perfect.

Thousand Enemies

If we compare the instrumentals from Crow Song and Thousand Enemies, there are some obvious differences. Crow Song had more energy, but not so good vocals. In Thousand Enemies, we have better vocals, but lacks that energy shown in Crow Song. So, there is a tradeoff here: more energy but not so good vocals or good vocals but lack of energy. Pick your poison! Also, I found something wacky with the vocals midway of the song (around 3 minutes in) in the following:

Mayotta toki ni ha kokoro no chizu wo atashi ni misete hoshii
Sore nara yukisaki sugu wakaru kara
Jibun ja wakaranai dake

Something doesn’t sound right with these lines. It seems that LiSA’s vocals for those phases went out of tune or something… Overall, it is a good sounding song, but not nearly as rememberable as Crow Song, despite the not so good vocals.

Rain Song

Rain Song sounds like a JPop Rock song. Comparison to Alchemy, this song seems to be more polished since we don’t have stuff like vocals going out of range. Like with Listen!!, they seem to play it safe after the big disaster they have with the vocals on the first single. Not perfect, but a good listen.

Highest Life

I can’t say that the albums aren’t consistent as it follows the pattern from the last single. Highest Life is a ballad but unlike My Song, this song is not an acrostic. Highest Life is a good song, but has flaws. In some instances, LiSA seems to go out of range for a few seconds, but not like marina, which seems to get the worse of the out of range vocals.

Overall, LiSA’s vocals seem to be a big improvement over marina’s mediocre vocals, but that is saying too much about the album. Comparing the instrumentals to Crow Song, the former had a lot more energy and excitement, but if we had better vocals, it would have given a better result. That excitement was simply not present in Thousand Enemies, but in return, we had better sounding vocals for the most part.

Lastly, I don’t get this… Why assign dedicated singers to these insert songs instead of using the voice actors? I’m guessing they want a professional to do it, but come on… you have to give them a chance!

Verdict

7.7/10, Good

Category: Angel Beats!, ReviewsTag: final impressions, key, music

Kobato – Final Review

March 28, 2010 by Chikorita157 4 Comments

Kobato is one of those CLAMP animes where it starts off slow until towards the middle/end where it gets all complicated and they end simple. Kobato is one of them, a naive girl sent on a mission to fill a bottle with a stuffed dog named Ioryogi. To get konpieto, you have to heal people’s hearts. Since Kobato is still an ongoing manga series in a shouen magazine (yes, Kobato is a Shouen anime, not Shoujo), there are going to be filler episodes. Although they managed to pull it off, only a few episodes were mixed bags, especially Episode 21. Yes, that episode…

Down to the story, which like mentioned earlier, Kobato needs to fill this bottle to the top with konpieto to go to some place she wants to go. To do that, you need to fill the bottle, but sometimes she fails to do so because she does other things besides doing that. On top of it, there are loan sharks who want to close down the nursery, soKobato attempts to help the nursery while finishing her mission. At least the first half was about that. Second half seems to use original material including the decision of closing down the nursery, which irked me a bit since Sayaka actually liked that loan sharker all along… and yeah… The last two episodes screams Clannad and then a few years passed and stuff… Overall, the ending redeemed itself to be at least a good story, but with a good number of flaws.

Some have pointed out that the character designs are different than the manga. Kobato is stupid than naive and Fujimoto is a jerkass more than ever. I can’t recall how many times Kobato said “You are so mean” and “meanie” because of it and it’s moe as well, which is why it’s Shouen. Anyways, throughout the story, Kobato seems to mature alot and towards the end. Fujimoto tries to push her away until that very last moment in Episode 23 and it’s obvious who is Kobato’s love interest is… since it’s romance after all. Besides the main characters and the children at the daycare, as usual, CLAMP loves to make cameos in their works. These include characters from Chobits, Wish, and Tsubasa Chronicles. Yep, that hows it goes.

Madhouse seems to have done a really good job with the animation. No wonder… They animated several CLAMP productions and some notable recent productions such as Summer Wars. Music for the most part is good, although the new ED was only used for the last few episodes… ouch…

Overall, Kobato is a good watch, but has flaws as mentioned. Some people may complain about the slowness and then the complicated plot towards the end, but nevertheless, shouldn’t really write it off so quickly. What the content has shown in the anime pretty much shown that it’s somewhat rushed since it only had 24 episodes, but if it was a bit longer and there was more manga content to work with, I think it would have done a little better. Anyways, if you still want more after this, read the manga. I’m pretty sure that the manga ending is going to be different from the Anime since of length constraints and allow for a bit more in depth storytelling.

Final Grade

8.7/10, B+

Category: Kobato, ReviewsTag: clamp, comedy, final impressions, Madhouse Studios, moe

Sora no Woto – Final Review

March 23, 2010 by Chikorita157 3 Comments

Unoriginal and Uninspiring”

If you have the sense or feeling that modern anime are heading this way, I don’t think not. Yes, anime adapted from source material can be viewed by some as that following quote I have used in a editorial against Miyazaki’s views* on modern anime, but a effort to change this tend comes in from of TV Tokyo, Aniplex and A-1 Pictures, called the Animeno Chikara project, or The Strength of Anime is a project where they produce completely original Anime and broadcast it. The first project they done with the project is Sora no Woto. People when they first saw the first shots of it accused it being a copy of K-ON! and that it’s going to be a moeblob show since the characters looks vastly similar. That wasn’t the case at all when I was blown away by the first few episodes of Sora no Woto and I liked the story and the setting. Hardly any moe at all, besides that Episode 8.

With original productions, you are left with a clean slate of expectations. With adaptations, the viewers expect that it will be close to the original source material and when they find out that they changed or left something out or that the series has too many fillers, they will start complaining and drive their expectations down. I had no expectations when I first watch this production and it leave me a very good impression, allowing one to have an open mind. Original productions, you don’t know what will happen next or expect how well it is going to be until the next episode, which makes people eager to want the next episode soon. Also, they allow the producers to become more creative and original as opposed to adaptions, where you have to stick to the source material and you are pretty much limited on what new characters or plot you can put into the series without making the viewers angry.

Anyways, since I finished the introduction, first I’m going to focus on the story. The story is pretty deep and takes place in a town called Seize in Helvetia after the war have finished. This is where Kanata gets sent to and she has a very optimistic view about the future. As time goes on, we learn more about legends, past stories from various people and also Princess Iliya!!! The episodes that I felt that had a very good impact is Episode 3, where Kanata gets ill and we first hear “Amazing Grace”, Episode 5, where Noel, Kanata, Kureha goes onto the field trip and we are first introduced to No Man’s Land, Episode 6 is Misho’s story, Episode 7 with Filicia, getting over her loss of her friends and the first time we see Princess Iliya, Episode 9 with Klaus not disappointing Kureha by saving her and her keeping her faith in him and finally the last two episodes. “Amazing Grace” and legends are the most important and underlining of the story, which is shown throughout the season and time after time. However, with the seriousness, the happy and cheery ending theme ever gets so inappropriate that it becomes a mood whiplash, pretty much seen in Clannad After Story and Elfen Lied for examples as they used happy ending themes after a serious episode at the end of the episode. The story even after 12 episode seems that they could of gone a bit more in depth, but due to length constraints, they unable to do so which is fine… but if it was a little longer, I think the story can hold up even stronger. (Keep in mind, we are also getting 2 bonus episodes, possibly tie up loose ends.)

Music was pretty much good overall. Despite Kanata’s absolutely horrible playing in the beginning, but ended up turning out good when Amazing Grace was played in Episode 12 and it just sounded great. The opening theme, Hikarino Senritsu is really good considering how well it fits to the overall setting and story. However, even though I liked the ending theme, Girls, Be Ambitious, it became inappropriate several times after a serious scene happens towards the end and BAM! we are hit with a happy and go lucky tune… I would rather for them to use the other track, but oh well. For the background music, I have no opinion yet since the OST isn’t out yet, but I’m sure down the line, someone will review it.

Now for Characters. Yes, they look very similar to the characters from K-ON!, but I feel that they are different. Why? Kanata is not much of a moeblob and in contrast to Yui, I can’t picture that kind of behavior from her. Noel is the only character that has absolutely no relation to K-ON! (yep, they cut out Ritzu) and more like Nagato, but towards the end, she seems to have more emotion than the latter. Also, the voice acting for these characters are great… The only problems is character development, well mainly because of time constraints… I can’t complain much, but it’s worth saying they didn’t copy everything from K-ON! at all or if we did, well… who knows… From all those characters, I see Rio, Filicia and perhaps Kanata to be the strongest in terms of character development.

Overall, I think Sora no Woto is a outstanding series and I would recommend for those with a open mind. This is not K-ON! and Strike Witches smashed together, but I think with it’s strong setting, great storytelling and the eyecandy, I can say that Sora no Woto is a very interesting series that pretty much kept me watching. Hopefully, this production will encourage some more studios to start pumping out good and original Anime that can catch the viewer’s attention and keep it interesting so that it keeps the viewer watching. This pretty much proves that studios can produce original and inspiring anime if they work at it. They should use Sora no Woto as a model (but don’t copy the story/setting) and try to use the tactics used to create an original story that viewers will probably like.

Don’t say that I’m finished with Original Animes, the next one up is Angel Beats, which I will cover when it starts next week…

Final Score

9.04/10

Notes

*I’m no way against Miyazaki’s works at all, I think he did a good job in producing movies that I did in fact enjoyed, but I just don’t agree with any of his politics and his views on Anime

Category: Reviews, Sora no WotoTag: A1 Pictures, aniplex, comedy, drama, final impressions, review

K-ON! – Episode 14 (OVA) Thoughts and Impressions

January 19, 2010 by Chikorita157 Leave a Comment

Seriously, does this patch go on the case or what? Nope... 😮

This is a rather refreshing episode to get back on the K-ON! mood since after all, there is another season… Wait? Another season of K-ON! So, more cake eating and tea drinking, cosplaying and beach scenes than actual practicing?

Hold up… We are not there yet. They decide to do a live performance at a Live House, although Azusa and Mio doesn’t want to, but they give in. With their first time, Yui is so excited for it that yeah… her usual personality. Sticking the backstage sticker all over the place, asking for help with the performance sheet and other things that causes the viewer to have a moe~ nosebleed. They got too excited and nervous, that they messed up the first rehearsal, but with the help of the other bands, they got it just right for the live performance. Ui, her friend, Nodoka and also Sawako…

After their performance, they partied all night until midnight, where they slept.. They go see the sunset without Sawako and Yui notices that Azusa’s tiger ears were still on… Moe~~~~~

What? Azusa is still wearing the tiger ears?

Overall, besides the moe, this was a very enjoyable and fun episode… a thing that relieves stress from college work. If you contrast with Sora no Woto, I can see the difference clearly… K-ON! is moe~, Sora no Woto is not… and difference in character designs… So yeah… this should make most people excited for another season… yet it feels so nostalgic. Can I survive another season after watching this? YES I CAN!

Verdict

8.7/10

Category: K-ON!Tag: comedy, final impressions, kyoani, moe, music

Seitokai no Ichizon – Final Impressions

December 27, 2009 by Chikorita157 1 Comment

Seitokai no Ichizon is one of those anime that you like or you don’t and is the black sheep of this season. People dismissed it as being a plotless reference show… or is it?

The anime proved itself to be a very enjoyable experience that have very funny moments and references that fit in nicely. In contrast to Lucky Star, Seitokai no Ichizon focuses less on the moeblob, high amounts of moe and Haruhi references that have been overdone. Seitokai had something that Lucky Star didn’t have… some plot and a male lead who wants to build a harem!

Content

Seitokai no Ichizon does not follow the light novel at all… well, some content came from the light novel, but it was a completely different experience. It seems that this kind of series are fit to be in Manga or Anime form than light novel form. The story of each episode consists of them doing stuff in the student council… except they don’t really work and talk about stuff, which can be on Anime, Manga, Boy’s Love, Gaming, H-games, Harems and etc. There are several references from notable anime like Suzumiya Haruhi, Lucky Star, Clannad, Higurashi, K-ON!, DragonBall, Full Metal Alchemist, Death Note and several others… and even visual novel stuff from Key for example (wow, I must be a Key fanboy at that moment) .

The more you know about other animes, the more you will enjoy it… although it’s subjective since you can still enjoy it without knowing all the references.

Animation

In contrast to Lucky Star, I liked the animation style of Seitokai no Ichizon more than Lucky Star for many reasons… It simply more appealing to the eye than Lucky Star and is more detailed… Of course, Lucky Star meant to have a simplistic style… but… your milage may vary on that one.

Characters

Most of the Student Council features mostly beautiful girls and Ken (also known as Key-kun, Ki-kun or Senpai) is the only male in the student council. He seeks to make the student council his HAREM… and also constantly annoying the others with his harem and bishoujo/H games fantasies.

Kurimu is the President and is very childish for her age and is the shortest. She reads children books (Red Riding Hood), eat “usa-maru” since it “taste like happiness” and works at a nursery just to act like a child. She is constantly teased by Ken because she looks like a loli and she is a pettanko, something she is NOT proud of. Kurimu helps Ken by suggesting him to play Bishoujo/H Games.

Chizuru is the secretary. Unlike Kurimu, she is tall and is well endowed, but she brainwashes Ken and Kurimu. She treats Kurimu as her sister and sometimes abuse her. However… She has a very cute side when she is dressed as a really cute sheep… and says Mokyu~… Something that everyone will go moe for… Chizuru heals Ken’s heart when they met in fall.

Minatsu is the Vice President and also a tsundere (with the addition of her twin tails). She is a tomboy and have great athletic skills and is into hot blooded, shouen action packed anime and manga. Minatsu tells Ken not to be lazy and work. She has a younger sister named Mafuyu.

Mafuyu is Minatsu’s younger sister and is the treasurer. She is a bishoujo, but is afraid of men, except Ken of course. She is into games and Boy’s Love. She imagines Ken with another male character she imagines, which causes Ken to go crazy. She also works on a gaming wiki, play games mainly on a Playstation Portable and operates a tsundere blog called “Organ Explosion!” Mafuyu helps Ken during the middle of winter in a chatroom (using the name Yuki) about her feelings and his. She eventually confesses her love to Ken, but is not willing to go on a date since she wanted things to stay what they are.

In addition… We have
Lilicia, who is the president of the Journalism Club and voiced by Noto Mamiko, which she had voiced Matsuri (sola), Haruka (Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu) and Kotomi (Clannad). Lilica writes tabloid articles on the student council because they don’t accomplish anything, except socializing and that she didn’t win a position. She gains interest in Ken after he said that the double-timing incident was true. She has a longer sister named Elise, which seems to like Ken and causes Kurimu to become very jealous… and being very mature for her age.

Music

Seitokai features a OP called Treasure, which sounds great… For the ED, there are several versions. One song called Mousou Fetish!, which is a cute sounding song which causes a earworm. The second is Ue Ue Shita Shita Hidari Migi Hidari Migi B A, a remix of Mousou Fetish with different lyrics and have a electronic feel… Funny on how they use the Konami Code as the title of the song. Lastly, we have Yurupa Wonderful, a hotblooded, rock remix with different lyrics. There are also songs with completely different lyrics for comedy effect. For example, Episode 11 with the president, Kurimu singing… with hilarious lyrics that can’t make you stop laughing… I am dead serious…

Overall, the songs sounded good..

Conclusion

Seitokai no Ichizon is one of the best comedies in the Fall 2009 season… Where Nogizaka Haruka Purezza fails, Seitokai succeeds… for some odd reason. Seitokai have some similarities to Lucky Star in terms of references, it’s no means the same since it’s all about harem, has a little more plot than Lucky Star and does not have too much moe and doesn’t go overboard with the damn Haruhi references (Haruhi is a bitch). The way they put the references made it so that it actually worked instead of putting it in random places. Most will find this anime very enjoyable, but for those who don’t like Lucky Star may not like it… so your milage may vary… but it’s a recommended series to look at if you not looking at too much moe and want a good comedy and/or mindless anime that you can easily enjoy…

Too bad there isn’t more… they should really make a second season, but the current trends how second season anime is run… I may think twice. :p

Verdict

Overall Grade: 8.79/10, B+

Attribution Information

Picture used in this post is made by まなK.

Category: Reviews, Seitokai no IchizonTag: comedy, final impressions, moe, review, Studio DEEN

Clannad – Kyou’s Arc – Final Impressions

December 24, 2009 by Chikorita157 1 Comment

If you have recalled, I have written a review about Kyou’s arc several months ago. However, the visual novel contained a lot more plot, which was missing… The actual Kyou’s arc in the visual novel is a big emotional roller coaster ride towards the end of her arc compared to the OVA… Well heres why…
…

Category: Clannad, ReviewsTag: drama, final impressions, key, visual novel

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

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

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

Clannad – Motion Film Final Impressions – Grade: 6.8/10

September 20, 2009 by Chikorita157 1 Comment

Wait, there is a Clannad Movie? I decided to watch it this Sunday afternoon and after watching 30 minutes of it, it’s nothing that special, but still continue to watch it anyway. Unlike the Clannad TV series which I could say Kyoto Animation did a great job of being faithful to the original source for both seasons, I can’t say for the movie. The Clannad Movie which was made by Toei Animation, who worked on the Air Movie and the first season of Kanon (before it was remade in 2006) released a month before Kyoto Animation’s version was aired on television.

My impression it… Not great, as expected since I have already completed Kyoto Animation’s version and now the movie feels inferior to the television series… Most Key/Clannad fans would feel this way because Toei Animation in the past aren’t that faithful to the original source, meaning the visual novel.
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Category: ClannadTag: comedy, comparison, drama, final impressions, key, movie, review, toei animation

Suzumiya Haruhi Second Season Final Impressions – Grade: F (5.93/10)

September 17, 2009 by Chikorita157 3 Comments

Once upon a time in May, we were excited that Bamboo Leaf Rhapsody was going to be aired after we waited a whole 3 years for a second season. The first new episode was well received. When June came around, Endless Eight aired and we thought that episode was the only one… We were mistaken by despair as Endless Eight repeated for most of the summer, which made fans go on a frenzy outrage by raging at Kyoto Animation, Kadokawa or even both. Some fans go so far and smash Haruhi figures and rip apart the light novels. We have thought that the series have finally jumped the shark and the whole series was ruined forever, but fortunately, Kadokawa wasn’t insane enough to do that, so it ended in the 8th episode and the week after that Sighs aired, which is apparently the lowest part of the light novel series because primarily, Haruhi becomes the biggest b$%#& in the whole world that everyone wants to have and/or avoid, until Kyon straightens her up and finally conclude the recording of the film, which was miraculously edited. After the airing of the last part of Sighs, it seems that most fans are in despair since Disapparence have disappeared (no pun attended).

In the review, I will be reviewing some positives, but mostly negatives because Kadokawa could have done better in managing this so that it won’t become a complete disaster like it is. Some Haruhiists may disagree, but this is my take… it’s F%$%ing horrible!

Content

This is the weakest point in the whole season, honestly… mainly because of Endless Eight. Rhapsody and Sighs (although good, but not very good) was the only arcs that did fine in this season. The rest is a disaster, because Endless Eight repeated more than 8 times which is completely unnecessary. I would rather watch K-ON! than watch this piece of s$%^ Endless Eight and that is my feeling on Endless Eight. Endless Eight in my opinion is a middle finger from Kadokawa saying, “HA! Do you want Disappearance, but you aren’t getting it!” Every time Endless Eight repeated, It makes my blood boil and want me to rage about Kadokawa again.

I found that the repeating of Endless Eight 8 times was completely unnecessary, it should have been at most 3 episodes and one loop. The light novel does not repeat it more than 3 times, so why should it repeat 8 times in the Anime. Thats because, Kadokawa is the biggest trolls on the planet.

Sighs was okay, but it’s nothing that hits home because some of the content was already presented in “The Adventures of Mikuru Asahina, Episode 00” in the first season. Sighs is just behind the scenes making of the movie, which some people may not find that interesting until towards the end of Sighs when Kyon finally blows up at Haruhi for smacking Mikuru around. Otherwise, Sighs is good and faithful to the original (hopefully) and also the same case with Rhapsody.

Characters

Theres not much to say, but the Sighs arc made me hate Haruhi forever… because she is a absolute b%$#& and why would anyone be around her if she is going to act that way… but she atleast shaped up…

The scene where Kyon flips out is probably a reason to admire the other character for taking Haruhi as being a jerk. Also, love the talking cat, which only talked briefly.

Animation

The animation was a disappointment just like Endless Eight. The animation and art style in Suzumiya Haruhi 2009 was mediocre/below average, mainly because, someone in Kadokawa decided… Hey, why not make it look like K-ON! The K-ON! art style works only with K-ON!, put it anywhere else and it surely won’t be well received… it would just be like using Lucky Star art style in something like Kanon… You sure get the fans raging…

The K-ONification of Haruhi was pretty much another debate that was happening throughout the whole season… Some may notice that the first episode had this treatment as well… If they going to use that art style, they should just rename the show, Haruhi-ON! and have the SOS-brigade eat cake and crumpets all day long and do moe stuff and of course, play music… oh wait… Thankfully it improved towards the end of the season, although there were faint elements from K-ON!

Music

The music was not great… Tomare was okay, but Super Driver is the WORST OP I ever heard (Yes, this tells you why it’s not good) and made my ears bleed. Personally, I’m not to fond with Hirano Aya’s singing, except the first season songs since most of her songs aren’t that great and she isn’t a great singer compared to other J-Pop artists.

Conclusion

Although Sighs and Rhapsody was good, Endless Eight, poor sounding OP, average to not good art style and the trolling of Kadokawa is what made the season downfall like a hubristic hero. Kadokawa’s arrogance with the amount of trolling they have done to the fans (for example, Second Season announcement in Newtype and showing the Nice Boat parody video) and hubris with the handling of the Haruhi Franchise after it became highly successful caused the franchise’s downfall as a whole with Endless Eight and Haruhi Franchise as a whole will never be at the height as it was three years ago ever again. It’s such a shame, really since I expected this season to be great, but it ended up to be a total disaster after Endless Eight repeated 8 times and I felt it was a waste of time repeating and reanimating Endless Eight because the resources can be used on adapting other interesting arcs, but Kadokawa had to blew it and give Kyoto Animation a bad rep because of it. If there is ever a third season, I will still watch it, but I won’t be expecting much after this disaster of a season.

This is why Haruhi 2009 got a big F, merely because it’s a big disappointment. If Endless Eight haven’t repeated so much and the art style was a bit better than what they shown, I would have give it a better or at-least a passing grade.

Overall Rating

5.93/10, F

Category: Reviews, Suzumiya HaruhiTag: comedy, failure, final impressions, Haruhi, Kadokawa, kyoani, strawberry sundaes

Suzumiya Haruhi Second Season Episode 14 – Sighs IV (END)

September 16, 2009 by Chikorita157 1 Comment

Finally, a episode where Haruhi doesn’t act like a complete jerk. The conclusion of Sighs is pretty good, but still there was a few things that bothered me about it.

As the SOS-Brigade wants to complete the movie, something happened the night while Kyon falls asleep while editing.
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Category: Suzumiya HaruhiTag: comedy, final impressions, Haruhi, Kadokawa, kyoani, moe

Air in Summer – Final Review

September 11, 2009 by Chikorita157 Leave a Comment

Air in Summer was essentially the extension of the Summer arc which covered parts in the Air Visual Novel that was abridged in the main TV series. The difference with Air in Summer that it is actually more lighthearted than the whole TV series.

This special mainly focuses on a more detailed escape from the temple at night, the relationship between Kanna and Ryuya more in depth (in the first part) and also the scene where Kanna lowers her Kimono to show her love towards him after hearing his story as Uraha instructed, but ended up as a failure (in the second part).

Content

Well, as you expect, Air in Summer looks out of place compared to the Air TV series since there isn’t really a whole lot of melodrama in the special. You might find that the two episodes to be rather enjoyable, to the fact that there is a lot of comedy, mainly in part of Kanna, who qualities almost resemble a tsundere.

As you expect, Air in Summer is a continuation of the Summer Arc with parts that were not covered in the TV series. Air in Summer pretty much clears up the ambiguity or the feeling that something is missing or rushed from the Summer Arc in the TV series. The special mainly put focus on the relationship between Kanna and Ryuya and Kanna learning about things in the outside world. Although, Kanna may be conceited and irritated easily (such as water being poured on her head and herself fighting with a chicken), she eventually warms up to Ryuya,

Characters

Like already presented, there are three characters in this arc:
Kanna, or Kannabi no Mikoto is a young girl which have wings on her back. She pretty much stays at the temple and believed to be the last winged being. She wanted to see her mother again so the three decided to escape the temple to go on a journey to find her mother. Kanna, being at the temple most of her life, have not experienced the outside world and learns from the other two.

Kanna, in my experiences of watching is a tsundere which vasty resembles Makoto Sawatari from Kanon since you know that Kanna seems to be naive and does not have enough knowledge of the outside world. She also irritated at Ryuya the most, although she eventually warms up to him, in contrast of Makoto warming up to Yuuichi after the 7th episode.

Then, you have Ryuya, which is a low-ranked, but skilled samurai which he protects Kanna. Like suggested, Ryuya resembles Yukito, obviously, but like with male leads, they sometimes are sarcastic which probably is why Kanna gets irritated with him most of the time.

Lastly, you have Uraha, which is a servent at the temple and also a friend of Kanna. The last thing you want to do is to get her upset by burning those ancient poems and say breakfast was tasty after burning the poems. Also, she tells embarrassing stories regarding Kanna.

Animation

Like with Air TV, Air in Summer Animation and Art style pretty much remained the same, since the special was aired several months after Air TV have finish airing.

Like with Kyoto Animation, the animation was great, considering it was 2005… but sure, the animation will surpass some of Kyoto Animation’s not so great art style to the likes of Lucky Star, K-ON! and Suzumiya Haruhi Second Season.

Music

Music sounded great, although, I don’t quite understand why they use the same exact OP and ED… although they change some of the OP animation for the special.

Conclusion

Air in Summer is a great way to ending Air’s bittersweet ending… since it’s just too lighthearted… The animation, story and the characters are great as expected with Key… The lightheartedness of Air in Summer may make some people prefer this over the main series. Overall, this is a recommended watch if you have finish watching Episode 8 of Air or already completed it.

Overall Rating

9.5/10, A

Category: AIRTag: drama, final impressions, key, kyoani, review, tsundere

Nintendo DSi Unboxing and Review

August 13, 2009 by Chikorita157 2 Comments

The Nintendo DSi I have sent away for have finally received in the mail. While North America have to wait several months to obtain one, the Nintendo DSi was released late last year in Japan. Nintendo DSi meant as a successor of the Nintendo DS Lite with new features including a bigger screen, two cameras, Wireless G and also WPA security compatibility, ability to use SD cards, plays and records sounds, and also buy downloadable games off the Nintendo DSi Store.

If you want a DSi, I suggest not getting rid of your old DS since it doesn’t have a GBA slot (so no more transferring Pokemon from your GBA games to your DS games)

Warning, rest of the review is image heavy.

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Category: ReviewsTag: final impressions, review, unboxing

Endless Eight is no longer Endless – Final Thoughts

August 6, 2009 by Chikorita157 4 Comments

Endless Eight with the airing of the ninth episode shown the ending when Kyon finally decides to have the group finish his homework at the cafe scene towards the end finally breaks the endless loop. Endless Eight is probably the worst, not because of the animation, but because of the repetition. This caused a mass outrage of Haruhi fans and also cause the rating of the show to nosedive to 7.28 just within a few weeks… but now that is over.
Endless Eight, because of the r repetition and how Kadokawa done it in the anime was horribly done. Although Kyoto Animation got the animation right towards the end, the lack of new content caused the arc to become very unwatchable and irritating. I would have done a 30-page long chapter with 2 episodes, 3-4 at the most, but they gone and decide to do 8 which is WAY TO MUCH and meanwhile irritating the whole fandom and causing some of them to give up on Haruhi all together. If they have done it within 2-3 episodes, the arc itself would not be as bad as it would.

Within the last 5 Episodes, the members at AnimeSuki have negatively voted majority of Endless Eight Episodes. Also, back where the episodes were aired, the reaction to the repetition of Endless Eight started to become negative. Atleast Kadokawa and Kyoto Animation have the sanity not to keep going on with the Endless Eight madness past Episode 9.

This is the rating breakdown on Haruhi S2 with the data gathered from the polls.

This doesn’t mean Kadokawa is off the hook, since I’m still angry about what they did with Endless Eight and remember the trolls they done with the first Episode of Haruhi-chan and Second Season being canceled. Although Endless Eight reduced my expectations drastically, I don’t except the rating of Haruhi S2 for what I see so far be any higher than a 7. Endless Eight… Worst… Anime… Arc… Adaptation… Ever… Just read the light novel for this one.

Hopefully when they Air Sighs in the next few episodes, hopefully it won’t turn out bad as the Endless Eight Fiasco.

Verdict

Endless Eight Arc: 4.275/10 (Average of all the ratings of the Episodes in the Endless Eight arc including Episode 9. Don’t complain about this score)
Episode 9: 7/10

Attribution Infomation

Fanart used in this post is made by chocolat.

Category: Suzumiya HaruhiTag: final impressions, Haruhi, Kadokawa, kyoani

What Anime songs you play with Audiosurf?

August 4, 2009 by Chikorita157 2 Comments

While one other Anime Blogger mentioned Audiosurf and Audiosurf his whole music collection… I actually did the same…

What is Audiosurf anyways?

Audiosurf and it’s purpose is to “ride your music.” Just put Rock Band/Guitar Hero and put it on a F-Zero track and you get Audiosurf. Like Dance Dance Revolution and Beat Mania, the blocks in Audiosurf represents the beats in the song and it’s automatically generated, so the tempo and the blocks are created according to the song you chose to play. There are various modes, but the most easiest to get the hang on is Mono, which you hit the color blocks and avoid the grey blocks. If you don’t hit any grey blocks, you get stealth bonus, which is 30% bonus. Also, there are puzzle modes like Pointman, which you have to match a cluster of color blocks (red and yellow matches give you the highest points while the others give you lower points). Other modes have similar concepts to Pointman, but have different abilities. Audiosurf also feature Ironmode, which makes the song even harder, but sometimes, you can earn even more points.

Audiosurf is relatively cheap ($10) off Steam and have unlimited replay value depending on how good is your music collection.

Audiosurf runs great with the highest settings if you have a decent graphics card (My Unibody Macbook Pro plays Audiosurf with good framerates at native resolution).

What are the best anime songs to play on Audiosurf?

Most of the time, songs with a downhill pattern and high traffic (150 or higher) gives you more of a enjoyable experience. If you still get a uphil pattern, suggest adding [as-steep] to the song title (Suggestion: Just make a copy of the MP3 file and add that tag at the end of the song title), but it will create a different scoreboard.

Lia

Most of Lia’s songs work great with audiosurf since most of her songs are trance, which most of the time create high traffic and downhill patern.
Suggestions:
– Tori no Uta – (Air Opening Theme)
– Light colors – (Tomoyo After Opening Theme)
– Toki wo Kizamu Uta (Clannad ~After Story~ Opening Theme)
– TORCH (Clannad ~After Story~ Ending Theme)

Ayana

Same as above, although Kaze no Tadori Tsuku Basho have higher traffic count.
– Last regrets
– Kaze no Tadori Tsuku Basho

Suzumiya Haruhi

Suggestions:
– God Knows
– Lost my music
– Yuki, Muon, Madobe Nite
– Bouken Desho Desho?
– Hare Hare Yukai (any version)
– Koi no Mikuru Densetsu
– etc.

Lucky Star

– Motteke! Sailor Fuku
– Kaeshite! Knee-socks
– Koi no Minoru Densetsu
– Kosutte! Oh My Honey
-Yuuchou Sentai Dajare Ranger

K-ON!

– Cagayake! GIRLS plus the Image Song
– Don’t say “lazy” plus the Image Song
– Fuwa Fuwa Time (both regular and Yui version)
– Tsubasa wo Kudasai
– Practically all the Character Image songs.

Others

– motto hade ni ne! (Kannagi Opening Theme, although adding [as-steep] makes it more interesting)
– Shiawase Sagashi (motto hade ni ne! Image Song)
– Shoujo no Gensou ZTS Remix (Remix of Shoujo no Gensou, Clannad…)
– Little Busters! (Little Busters! Opening Theme, duh!)
– Megmeru (Clannad Opening Theme, depending on what version)
– Any of Touhou songs and remixes
– Kumikyoku Nico Nico Douga (Pretty epic song and it’s 10 minutes long)

What songs you play in Audiosurf in your opinion that is Anime related that give you a enjoyable experience? If you don’t own Audiosurf yet, I suggest you to get it… it’s a awesome game (and it’s very addictive)!

Also, you can check out my recorded Audiosurf runs (mainly Anime and casual mono since Fraps kills the framerate alot) on my Youtube account.

Category: UncategorizedTag: final impressions, opinion, review

Mai’s and Sayuri’s Arc: VN and Anime Differences

July 19, 2009 by Chikorita157 4 Comments

Sayuri's laugh is probably the best thing from Mai's arc!

Instead of wasting my time watching Endless Eight and ending up with unnecessary rage, I decided to play more of the Kanon visual novel and now this time… Mai’s and Sayuri’s arcs. Although there are a few differences from the Anime and the VN concerning Mai’s and Sayuri’s arc, they managed to adapt the whole arc with some changes… ones that will be mentioned below (contains VN spoilers)
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Category: KanonTag: drama, final impressions, key, moe, visual novel

Shiori’s Arc: VN and Anime Differences

July 17, 2009 by Chikorita157 1 Comment

As I have mentioned several months ago about Shiori being my most favorite character and it still is… but I started on playing Shiori’s arc in the Visual Novel… but noticed some differences… but the anime seems to be very accurate and also left out some parts since Ayu is the principal character that Yuuichi ends up in the Anime.

This is what I noticed: (VN spoilers ahead)

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Category: KanonTag: drama, final impressions, key, moe, visual novel

K-ON! (First Season) – Final Series Review

June 27, 2009 by Chikorita157 Leave a Comment

Notice: This is a review of the first season of K-ON I have written two years ago, not on the second season. A full review of the second season will be written in the near future.

After watching all 13 episodes of K-ON!, it is probably the most enjoyable slice of life/comedy/music anime so far in the spring season. Despite some drawbacks in a few episodes, the content of the series is pretty good and paired up with better animation than Lucky Star, K-ON! Is probably the 2nd best Kyoani comedy/slice of life series behind the Haruhi series.

Content

K-ON! Anime adaptation is adapted from the 4 panel manga which two are published so far up to this date and still continuing. The story involves with a new freshman named Yui and don’t know what club to join. Meanwhile Ritsu and Mio wants to join the light music club, but since there is a lack of members, the club was almost about to be cut. Soon, Tsumugi, a high-class girl who owns a music shop joins after changing her mind about joining the chorus club. Then, After Yui saw a poster on the light music club, she decides to join, but not able to play the guitar. After she obtained the guitar, over time she got better at playing. Club activities usually involve having tea and cake after school and cosplaying by Sawako towards the middle of the season. Next year, Azusa joined the club and soon they perform at the 2nd festival and named the band “Afterschool Tea Time” (or something like that)
Although there were a few instances of the beach episode being complete rehashes, the most of the series were different and also enjoyable with good comedy. In some report, the anime series cover 90% of the manga, although some of the content is made up to fill in the missing parts like in Lucky Star, it’s still good.

Animation

The animation style of K-ON! Is a mix between Haruhi and Lucky Star, but K-ON’s animation was a lot more detailed compared to Lucky Star. However, the animation is lacking a bit and not up to the beautifulness of Kyoto Animation’s Air, Clannad, and Kanon remake and the awesomeness of Haruhi and FMP.

Characters

In K-ON! We have the four main girls, including two others who play a part later of the series and also the irresponsible teacher, Sawako-sensei who rather drink tea and also cosplay with other members.

Many will find who watched Lucky Star that the character designs are very similar with some exceptions. Ui, Yui’s younger sister who is a lot more mature than Yui and takes care of her and Azusa-chan, a Tsundere, but not that much… and have a very timid personality.

Lucky Star to K-ON! Character Comparisons (for comparison
sake):
Tsukasa -> Yui
Kagami -> Mio
Miyuki -> Tsumugi
Konata -> Ritsu

Music

Although some will find the background music somewhat bland, the performances are the selling point of K-ON! The performance music and the single albums of K-ON! sound outstanding although there are a few instances. Another thing is that the OP and ED sold over 100,000+ copies within a few weeks which means that it’s proved as a success.

Conclusion

K-ON! is a great, lighthearted slice of life/comedy series that most people who are a fan of slice of life/comedy series should watch. However, some naysayers continuously said that the series is horrible… which isn’t the point. K-ON! may disappoint some because it’s not like Beck which have music performances frequently also with some fights, but if you look for what it is and have a open mind, you may end up enjoying it. Although some may be bothered by the moe factor in K-ON, the moe don’t bother me nor I have praised it because it have moe. However, if you enjoyed Lucky Star, you will definitely have no problem enjoying K-ON! Like Lucky Star, some people might want another season… but with the fate of FMP so far, not for awhile.

Overall Rating:

8.8/10, B+

Category: K-ON!Tag: comedy, final impressions, kyoani, moe, music, review

Clannad Series Impression

March 29, 2009 by Chikorita157 1 Comment

As with life, all good things must come to a end. Clannad and Clannad ~After Story~ has ended up as a masterpiece which has exceed the level of Kanon (2006) in terms of storyline, music, and character development, but it doesn’t mean it doesn’t have flaws… just a few.

(Click Read More to read the review since it contains spoilers)

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Category: Clannad ~After Story~Tag: drama, final impressions, key, kyoani, review