review

Kannagi: Crazy Shine Maidens Vol 1 Unboxing and Impressions

August 10, 2009 by Chikorita157 Leave a Comment

The first volume of Kannagi have arrived in the mail. Bandai seems to have worked hard to quickly release the first volume after shortly releasing it in July 17, 2009, the release was okay considering there is no dub, but it shouldn’t discourage people from watching it.

Unlike the other boxsets I own which have episodes on DVDs, with the lack of dub soundtrack, Bandai made it possible to fit all seven episodes while including the credit-less OP, and two EDs. Inside the case, is just the DVD… nothing else unlike the Kanon Boxset which was filled with Funanimation advertisement crap.

Kannagi Vol 1 seems to be only available at Rightstuf at the moment since Bandai have a exclusive deal with them, but it should be available through other stores later on. The second volume releases in late September.

Now I can finish Episode 6 and 7 legally… until volume 2 comes in the mail (yes, I preordered it)

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Category: KannagiTag: A1 Pictures, aniplex, review, unboxing

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

Haruhi S2 OP – Super Driver – Impressions

July 10, 2009 by Chikorita157 Leave a Comment

Every anime always have a OP, no matter what… but the recent Haruhi S2 OP does not sound good or bad… it sound really strange…

But the funny thing is that the OP is almost something that would come from a visual novel… since visual novel OPs show the character with their name… For what I seen so far, Clannad and Air does that… Thank god Kanon doesn’t do that…

Comparison:

It looks like Kadokawa, trolls they are… are planning to make a Haruhi Visual Novel soon….

Unlike the first Haruhi Op, the animation seems to be fun to look at and it seems that they put alot of effort in the animation… but the song… meh… Bouken Desho Desho? sounds even better than that…

Overall, the Haruhi S2 OP is a mixed bag… The song doesn’t sound great… but the animation looks good to the eyes… Too bad I’m not seeing any more of it since Kadokawa decided to repeat Endless Eight so many times.

Category: Suzumiya HaruhiTag: Kadokawa, review

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

Haruhi-chan and Churuya-san… Worst comedy anime seen so far from Kyoani?

June 13, 2009 by Chikorita157 1 Comment

There are a few people who seems to disapprove of K-ON!, but I think Haruhi-chan and Churuya-san is the worst show done so far besides Munto seen from Kyoto Animation. Don’t get me wrong, I like Suzumiya Haruhi Season 1 and I also think they did a good job accurately adapting more of the light novel in Season 2, but Haruhi-chan and Churuya-san was extremely disappointing because of the poor animation, production values not usually seen by Kyoto Animation compared to other adaptions and rehashed comedy, done over again… alot more than just one episode of K-ON! I was disappointed about recently.

I may be a little harsh on it because it’s material is based on 4koma which is also the same for Lucky Star and K-ON!, but I was disappointed to the fact that each episode is actually very similar in nature which made the originality go down the drain. The poor animation and art style doesn’t help either because Haruhi (normal series) had alot better art and animation style which compare to the likes of Kyoto Animation’s Key adaptions… I know this is supposed to be a parody of Suzumiya Haruhi… but I expect them to have better animation style and have more originality instead of having every episode of Nagato abusing Achakura every time and Churuya-san wanting “smoked cheese” in every episode which drove me to put it on hold and eventually dropping the whole series all together.

Although Haruhi-chan is pretty mediocre (a step down from Lucky Star, atleast a 7/10), Churuya-san is alot worse from the two….

Category: Suzumiya HaruhiTag: editorial, Kadokawa, kyoani, rant, review

Kanon Complete Series Boxset Unboxing – First Impressions

June 8, 2009 by Chikorita157 Leave a Comment

It’s the “girls in the snow ani…” Oh Shi—-
Since the ADV meltdown occurred, it became increasingly difficult to obtain 6 DVDs of Kanon just as mentioned in the unboxing of the Air Boxset until ADV transfered it’s licences to Funianimation…

Here is the unboxing pics:
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Category: KanonTag: key, kyoani, reaction, review, unboxing

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

Clannad (Season One) Final Review Part 1

February 17, 2009 by Chikorita157 Leave a Comment

This one takes the cake home! Finally finished it… After Story… here we go!

But before diving into Clannad ~After Story~, I thought best to write a somewhat meaningful review… In three parts

At first, people have labeled Clannad as “moe-bishoujo crap,” (most of the negativity is from Haruhi-tards, no offense.) but if you watched the whole season, that wasn’t the case at all. Clannad is the first of Key’s work that actually appealed to the mainstream crowd, because the plot is less complicated than Kanon and Air and also contained 2x more comedic scenes compared to the latter two, thus making it more enjoyable while still maintaining dramatic moments. Clannad is essentially the marriage of Kanon and Air with some comedic moments from Haruhi with 1.5 less supernatural elements. Yes, Clannad seems to be more realistic (besides Fuko’s arc) compared to previous adaptations.

The adaptation of Season 1 of Clannad seemed to be done well compared to Toei Animation’s adaptation of Clannad which is done poorly and will spoil Clannad ~After Story~ if you watch the movie, so don’t.

Next review will cover the important aspects of the series, the Story, Animation and Characters and I’m doing individual episode reviews too.

Category: ClannadTag: key, kyoani, review

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