Anime blog that focuses on Yuri and School Girl Slice of Life Anime and Editorials
I know most of the people wanted a formal review of the opening single “Connect” by ClariS… So, I worked hard during the last two weeks to get the review perfect. Hopefully you will enjoy my review of the single.
(Also, post your comments at Anime Instrumentality Blog.)
(Image Source)
I have told everyone that Rio: Rainbow Gate is a really bad show not because of the fanservice, but the complete randomness. If the overall premise of the show is horrible, how about the music? Besides the opening theme, I took a look at the ending theme sung by ULTRA-PRISM, whom also created the Ika Musume OP. Sadly, “Miracle Chance” did not live up to my expectations since it felt so dull that it would put me to sleep. After reviewing it, I have absolutely no motivation to listen to the opening with the assumption that it would be absolutely mediocre too.
Next time, I’m going reviewing a good single instead of reviewing bad ones… Perhaps Kalafina’s Magica or something that would be enjoyable to review.
(Also, post your comments at Anime Instrumentality Blog.)
As you might know already… I loved “MOON SIGNAL,” which is one of the best openings in the Fall 2010 Anime Season. This review only took a few hours to write since there wasn’t that much to nick picking compared to the previous singles such as MM! OP review and K-ON! 2 Yui Character Single. While “MOON SIGNAL” remains the best song out of sphere, “Now Loading… SKY!!” remains my second favorite. Also, the B-side in “Now Loading… SKY!!” is a bit better than “Climax Whistle.” So enjoy the review of “MOON SIGNAL” and be sure to share your thoughts about the single at the Anime Instrumentality Blog.
(Comments are disabled in this post… Make your comments in the actual review. Image Source)
When you have an Anime that has masochism written all over it, you can expect that the songs would be a masochistic experience…
From listening to the songs, Taketatsu Ayana is a really bad singer. This makes Hirano Aya’s and Toyosaki Aki’s singing sound 2x better! It’s like mixing two of the horrible pop singers (Lady Gaga and Katy Perry) and have a song that is a pile of crap.
Then again, it was not horrible enough to make the song unlistenable. It had some redeeming factors if you take out the vocals. I think this single could be considered as “So Bad Its Good.” Yes, the singing from Ayana is horrible and the electronica is out of place in the second track, but it was slightly enjoyable as receiving pleasure from masochism. I just can’t take my eyes off of it unlike Sae’s Ending from Amagami SS, which had nothing redeemable whatsoever.
So, enjoy this masochistic review of this single… and it’s just in time for Halloween! I will probably make another review on “Moon Signal” in a few weeks.
MM OP Review at Anime Instrumentality Blog (Make your comments over there, not here.)
Original Image Source
Since the girls in K-ON!! finally graduated from their high school, I decided it would be fun to review the most popular girls’ character sing, Hirasawa Yui sung by Toyosaki Aki.
This review was a bit different experience compared to my previous reviews. Reviewing music singles are not easy as it looks since you have to convey what you heard into words. Even though I have a musical background, it took me some time to get it right. So, if you are interested, you can read the review by following the link below.
Read it at Anime Instrumentality > (Discussion about this single is done in this post only)
For those who are wondering, I will be contributing more reviews in the future (as in the coming months). These may include:
I will not review any more Girls Dead Monster singles/albums since they really suck and I don’t want my ears bleed more.
Note: Fanart used in this post is made by ぽにし。
Or rather how you price gauge your customers with the items you find in the dungeons FOR FREE! This game pretty much makes the executives at AIG look like greedy wusses… Or maybe not since they are not nearly as adorable like the girls in Recettear.
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Kanon, released on June 4, 1999 was a visual novel that changed the bishoujo game industry forever. It featured deep melodramatic story lines for each girl that gave a sense of sympathy and sadness (along with the optional eroge scenes). The one that was behind this masterpiece is Key/VisualArts. They continued to create other masterpieces like Air and Clannad that released several years later.
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When I watched the first few episodes of Working, it felt like it was going to be a typical slapstick comedy anime. Not to mention, the running gag of Inami punching men was getting out of hand that I complained about it. However, that pretty much changed when we got to the more interesting and entertaining parts with Souta’s sisters, Yamada who now lives at the restaurant and Souta crossdressing to save Inami from her father.
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WordPress 3.0 is the next big installment of the popular WordPress blogging platform used by the majority of Anime Bloggers. Automattic, the maker of the WordPress have been working on 3.0 since the early of this year and there had been some Beta and Release Candidate builds. Currently, they are very close to releasing WordPress 3.0, which brings a new array of features to bloggers. I will discuss some of these features that could be useful to the Anime blogger.
This only applies if you have a self-hosted WordPress, not blogs hosted on WordPress.com
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Album Title: Little Braver
Artist: Girls Dead Monster (Singer: LiSA)
Catalog Number: KSLA-0055
Release Date: June 6, 2010
If you haven’t heard enough of the rather mediocre music from Girls Dead Monster, there is more! A few weeks back, there was a promotional video on Little Braver, but I didn’t take a look at it because I don’t want to go and spoil it. Several weeks later, the single is released. Have LiSA improved her rather mediocre and rather forgetful performance of the “Thousand Enemies” single? It’s only slightly better, but I am still not convinced if it’s good enough. LiSA seems to sound good on the lower notes, but she still goes slightly out of tune in some areas. Not as bad as Thousand Enemies, but that is saying too much about it. The songs are still pretty forgettable and made me wish that they had better singers singing these songs…
Little Braver is the song that was shown in the promotional video. It starts off with a calm intro and when LiSA enters. This is where the good composition gets drown out by the mediocre vocals. It does sound slightly better than Thousand Enemies, but it’s slowly goes downhill from there. The songs feel pretty dull and the higher pitches like with the previous album sounds slightly ever out of tune. Not only that, Little Braver is pretty forgettable several minutes after. Little Braver is an okay song, but it doesn’t try to go beyond the mediocrity of Girls Dead Monster.
The intro of Shine Days sounds pretty well like the intro to Alchemy and it’s a pretty upbeat song. This is probably the best song out of the whole single, but it’s hardly perfect. It still have several flaws like the slightly out of tune pitches on the higher octaves and it’s slightly dull. It’s an okay song, but still forgettable like the rest of the songs LiSA has sung. It’s worth mentioning that at 4:30, her vocals are barely audible…
Lastly, we have Answer Song, which is probably the most disappointing song out of the whole album. The performance of the song felt a bit messy and somewhat dull. I don’t feel any energy in this song, except mediocre singing that could put me to sleep. Probably the worst song I heard from LiSA.
I don’t know what they are getting at by not letting the seiyuu sing! I’m pretty sure Eri Kitamura and Miyuki Sawashiro are fully capable of singing, but no! Lets pick two amateur singers that doesn’t necessarily represent Japanese Indie scene and fuck up all 9 songs! Thats how I feel about the whole Girls Dead Monster thing and it’s a big disgrace. Jun Maeda does a wonderful job in composing these songs and these singers go out and ruin the work he worked hard for. It’s just like making a good game with good game play, story and graphics and the orchestra go and fuck the music up. Like I mentioned in my rant in the last paragraph of my Pure Pure Heart single review, they choose singers that can’t sing properly and resulted in the mediocre and disappointing performance of these songs. Girls Dead Monster will never reach the appeal of Houkago Tea Time because their songs continue to have flaws with the vocals, which make them rather forgettable. Houkago Tea Time is simply more polished, sounds better and the vocals don’t go out of tune so many times that it makes me cringe.
Not only that, there is more Girls Dead Monster singles that is coming out and what can you expect out of them after hearing the first 9 songs? More disappointment. They are making a mockery out of Girls Dead Monster and milking it what its worth from the hype. Believe me, My Soul, Your Beats!/Brave Song sounds like heaven compared to the mediocrity of all the Girls Dead Monsters songs combined.
7.0/10
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.
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.
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 KeyboardThe 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.
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.
This is the last of the Anime Music reviews for a while… until the Angel Beats! OP/ED comes out or some Insert Song Album shows up. Further ado, now onward to the K-ON!! ED Single Review, Listen!!
General Information
Album Title: Listen!!
Artist: Houkago Tea Time (Toyosaki Aki, Hikasa Youko, Satou Satomi, Kotobuki Minako, Taketatsu Ayana)
Catalog Number: PCCG-70073
Release Date: April 28, 2010
Tracks
1. Listen!!
2. Our MAGIC
3. Listen!! (Instrumental)
4. Our MAGIC (Instrumental)
General Thoughts
It has been proven that Hikasa Youko is a better singer overall compared to Toyosaki Aki. Proven with the single, “Dont’ say lazy” that was released last year. Not only that, she managed to pull off Fuwa Fuwa Time pretty well and bring out a very fluffy and catchy song that brought out her character’s “cute” side. Does Listen!! delivers on that consistent quality the last two single albums have done after the disaster called “GO! GO! MANIAC.” We will find out soon enough.
Listen!!
Listen!! has energy, but not as much as the predecessor, “Don’t say lazy.” They seem to play it safe after the big disaster they had experimenting with GO! GO! MANIAC. The vocals are more present, similar to the style in “Don’t say lazy” and also, very catchy. Some may find the longer version better than the TV version… It is obvious that Hikasa Youko is a lot better than what I have seen with GO! GO! MANIAC.
Nevertheless, it was pretty damn close, but only a bit off of being just as good as the predecessor and is still a good addition for this season.
Our MAGIC
A bit slower than the last side and is more of a pop song that has a 60/70s feel as some people say. In contrast to the B-side from the “Don’t say lazy,” it is very different as it doesn’t have the rock feel. Our MAGIC is a very catchy song. As they say, this song sort of didn’t suit Mio’s character just like “Hello Little Girl” from Mio’s Character Album that released last year. Perhaps it could of suit Kotobuki Minako better, which had a pretty good singing voice from my experience… but I don’t know… Despite that, Hikasa Youko has done a pretty good job with this song.
Overall, Listen!! is definitely a better single album than GO! GO! MANIAC and a decent addition to K-ON!. It may not be on the same level as the predecesor, but it was pretty damn close. This pretty much proves Hikasa Youko is simply a better singer than Toyosaki Aki… As always, the animation of Listen!! is top notch just like “Don’t say lazy” from the first season.
And wait… Didn’t Hikasa Youko sing songs for Chu-Bra!! a long with Kotobuki Minako? Well, yes… of course. Although I didn’t heard any songs from that Anime since I have no interest in it, I’m positive that it is probably around the same level from my assumptions. I may be wrong, but oh well.
Verdict
8.5/10, Outstanding, but barely.
General Information
Album Title: GO! GO! MANIAC
Artist: Houkago Tea Time (Toyosaki Aki, Hikasa Youko, Satou Satomi, Kotobuki Minako, Taketatsu Ayana)
Catalog Number: PCCG-70071
Release Date: April 28, 2010
Tracks
1. GO! GO! MANIAC
2. Genius…!?
3. GO! GO! MANIAC (Instrumental)
4. Genius…!? (Instrumental)
General Thoughts
K-ON! in the first music had a very good amount of good pop music that sounded very good and very catchy. Did Go! Go! Maniac fulfill the promise to be better than the opening of the first season? Far from it since from first time listening to the TV version, it was a complete mess. However, does this album fixes that messiness. Not a chance… and you will find out soon enough.
GO! GO! MANIAC
Well, in comparison to Cagayake! GIRLS from the first season, GO! GO! MANIAC is two leaps backwards. The problem? The vocals are sadly a big mess. Toyosaki Aki’s vocals were a big mess compared to her first single, love your life, which sounded a lot better than this… The problem is that the messiness comes from the lyrics being sung way too fast and causing some squeakiness. I think the trend of Kyoto Animation providing not so good opening themes is becoming a reality since Suzumiya Haruhi S2’s opening theme, Super Driver, was also considered a disaster because of the not so good singing from Hirano Aya.
Oddly enough, taking the vocals away makes the song less cringing… but it doesn’t change the fact that the song was ruined by the vocals.
Genius…!?
Genius…!? sounds better than the former and Toyosaki Aki’s voice not nearly as bad, but fits in and pretty catchy. However, as with the overall horribleness of the opening song, this song simply doesn’t have the energy and sounds pretty simplistic.
From Toyosaki’s performance of these songs, the overall performance of the songs in the album was average. The problem is the opening song is obviously a big mess to make the song slightly unlistenable. I have heard a a lot better from Toyosaki Aki from the Houkago Tea Time Album and also Yui’s character Album. GO! GO! MANIAC did not deliver at all and was actually worse than the former OP in the first season. Even Toyosaki’s version of Fuwa Fuwa Time sounded better than this… Way better. From my impressions, it is clear that Hikasa Youko will perform better on the ending theme, Listen!! which I will review next time.
Verdict
7.2/10, Average
If the artist name doesn’t ring a bell, well don’t worry. This single obviously contains the insert songs in the Spring Anime, Angel Beats! that is currently airing. It surprised me on how early in the season it was released, but then again, the K-ON!! singles just released recently as well… Sorry if I’m not good at music reviewing. Probably Anime Instrumentality Blog will do it better?
Album Title: Crow Song
Artist: Girls Dead Monster (Singers: Marina and LiSA)
Catalog Number: KSLA-0051
Release Date: April 23, 2010
The Album sounded fairly good, but it is not without flaws… Like with the music oriented K-ON! which had the characters playing with some rather good music, this is the same effect, but not perfect… Overall, the vocals were good for all the three song, except that the feeling in the vocals was somewhat missing or something as they sound a bit flat. I noticed this on all three tracks. If I compared this to Fuwa Fuwa Time or even Houkago Tea Time back in 2009, I think they done pretty close, except the flaws I mentioned.
This song is the insert song played in Episode 1. The overall song sounded really good and really like the instrumentals and had a lot of energy.
Alchemy is an album insert song. Although this song sounded good, but not as good as Crow Song as the energy wasn’t there that would make this song a bit forgettable. I think it would have sound better Live or something. It is sad that this one hasn’t been used in the Anime let.
This song is an insert song played in Episode 3 and it is a ballad. I haven’t watched Episode 3 yet, but it is a ballad. The song itself is powerful, and liked the acoustics. A bit better, but the vocals are still a little flat…
Overall, I think the instrumentals sounded really good because they are obviously composed by Jun Maeda which have made some really good music in past works. The only problem is with the vocals I mentioned earlier. While it is almost damn close to the K-ON! songs released last season, I think the flatness of the vocals is the problem I see here. If it wasn’t that flat, I think it would have done better…
7.6/10, Good
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…
9.04/10
*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
Well, yes, it’s another game that is terribly addictive. This is a remake of the Pokemon Gold and Silver games that came out nearly 10 years ago on the Gameboy Color. I remembered playing this on the Gameboy Color and well, nostalgia will hit again once I start playing this remake on my Nintendo DSi.
Alot have changed during the last 10 years with game mechanics and also the capabilities the Nintendo system had. Back in 2000 with the Gameboy Color, it could only show a certain amount of colors and there was no wireless features except the IR censor on the top of the system, but now with the Nintendo DS or the DSi, alot of change, thus more features were added.
Inside the box reveals instructions for the PokeWalker, which allows you to send a Pokemon over for something and use it without needing a DS and well, the game that comes in a separate package from the box.
Inside the game package is obviously the game and instruction manuals. So that is pretty much it. Anyways, if you are interested in my progress, I will write entries over at my Sideblog, Shiori’s Diary with some screenshots. For now, I’m just going to get started with the game, so I will post a little later. :p
Anyways, what do you think about the remakes?
Also, I will still continue to blog about Anime despite playing this game…
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.
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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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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Well, while I was at college learning, the final two DVDs I have preordered have finally arrived in the mail and yes, sola seems to finally materialize instead of being delayed indefinitely…
Like with the first Kannagi volume, Kannagi second volume have the same format as the first, but now featuring Zange-chan/Hakua. The DVD features extras like a creditless Opening/Ending and also trailers. The DVD Menu is the same format with some background changes. The only problem right now is that Kannagi is only available at Rightstuf at the moment (talking about monopoly), but I hope it changes in the future.
Another surprise is that sola have finally came in after the many times raging about how many times they delayed it. Given how many times they delayed it, they seem to got it right this time. As you see, there is nothing special with the case, but the series came on 3 seperate discs and features a creditless Opening/Ending themes. There is nothing special with the DVD menu and looks plain, but the picture quality is good enough. sola should be available in other retailers today.
I’m expecting to start at least one episode of sola this week, but the exams that is going on, it’s going to take awhile… I can’t wait. (click Continue Reading to see the pics)
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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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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).
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,
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.
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 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.
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.
9.5/10, A
Maybe K-ON! strongest point is not the story, but the music… With all the albums sold up to this date, 552,491 albums, about half a million are sold up to date since 5 months ago when the first two albums are sold… which is impressive compared to how many albums are sold in the time period for Suzumiya Haruhi in total (this should make the Haruhiists jealous)…
Here is the rough data of how much are sold:
Death Devil – Maddy Candy – 15464 total sales, #31 for the week
Don’t Say Lazy – 161163 total sales, #59 for the week
Cagayake Girls – 144909 total sales, #79 for the week
Hokago Tea Time – 100221 total sales, #37 for the week\
Fuwafuwa Jikan : 77804 total sales (current, was not in top 100)
Mio Character Single : 51897 total sales (current, was not in top 100)
Yui Character Single : 50196 total sales (current, was not in top 100)
Data is gathered from this thread and CDJapan.
The music is pretty much the strong point of the anime… Rarely, the ED doesn’t give that much attention, but Don’t say “lazy” became insanely popular after the first episode that many people like with Hare Hare Yukai started to imitate it or even try to play the piece. If you were to search on Youtube, you will find a good amount of people playing it or even MADs that have it.
Also, believe it or not, Cagayake! GIRLS is also popular as well… Although not as popular as the ED, it’s still pretty popular that some people plays it… In my opinion, both of them are just as good… I really don’t have much of the preference…
The next album is Fuwa Fuwa Time (Lit: Light and Fluffy Time) and there are two versions of it, the first with Hikasa Youko (Voice of Mio) and second with Toyasaki Aki (Voice of Yui). Fuwa Fuwa time pretty much brought out a lighter side of Mio, however, after hearing both of them, Yui’s version was a little bit better since her character suits her for that song alot more and in my opinion, on the same level as God Knows and Lost my music… Also in the Fuwa Fuwa Time album is Tsubasa wo Kudasai performed by all 4 voice actors of the K-ON! Club and sounds pretty good…
Next is the character image album… The only ones that I heard so far are Mio’s and Yui’s and most of the songs sound pretty good as well. The only song that didn’t fit well is “Hello Little Girl” in Mio’s Image Album, but still sound good… The favorite songs from both of these albums are Heart Goes Boom!! from Mio’s Image Album and Sunday Siesta and Guitar ni Kubittake from Yui’s album… They sound great… but I can’t give a final verdict on these since I haven’t heard the rest of the image albums (I expect that they will be good.)
Also, the recently released image album,Houkago Tea Time with the full versions of Watashi no Koi wa Hotch Kiss (lit. My Love is a Stapler) by Toyosaki Aki and also another song, Fude Pen ~Ballpoint Pen~ (lit. Calligraphy Pen ~Ballpoint Pen~) sung both by Yui’s and Mio’s voice actors… Also included is Yui’s version of Fuwa Fuwa Time as mentioned earlier. Both of these songs undoubtedly sounded great… but haven’t heard the live mix yet.
Overall, the K-ON! music is what make K-ON! what it is… Even if you think the story line might not be the strongest… you have to agree that the songs in K-ON! are pretty appealing… more so than Super Driver and Tomare! which is terrible or average sounding at best (Again, this opinion is not meant to offend Haruhiists. I have to agree that although Hirano Aya is a good voice actor, she isn’t a great singer, but some of Haruhi S1 songs are pretty good). The songs sound good that it ended up on the top ten on my Last.fm charts:
Note, Top 11 was added due to a duplicate.
Yes, I have to admit that I am also a big fan of I’ve Sound/Key Visual Arts stuff and also Lia… mainly because her songs sounded beautiful (Tori no Uta, Light colors and Toki wo Kizamu Uta).
Note: K-ON! soundtrack isn’t mentioned since it doesn’t really have anything that interesting and it will probably put me to sleep (more so than the Visual Novel BGM (like Kanon and others of sort), which is alot more exciting) and Kyoani isn’t great at making BGM.
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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