Ceres: Celestial Legend

This was a show i was curious about when i was younger... when i saw it was all on crunchyroll i figured this was the perfect chance.

and yeah... it's an anime... that exists i guess

It's about twin, Aya and Aki... who are reincarnations of a celestial maiden and the man who stole her celestial robe.

a lot of characters die... Aya seeming falls in love with characters really fast... like so fast it kind of comes out of nowhere... lots of characters die... like next to Natsume Yuujinchou one of the bloodiest Shojo anime i have seen.

but in the end it's all just so quite and even though everything is resolved... next to nothing is accomplished. it just felt way too rushed to be enjoyable.

So yeah it's not bad... but it does show how far we've come as far as storytelling and character development in anime.

I will also say good job on not romanticizing incest... i was worried for a bit there but you always showed it to be bad and that is very refreshing... cause yeah getting a little tired of "oh we aren't really related" being a thing in anime.

also according to MAL i had watched 7 episodes of this who knows how long ago...
i.... do not remember that at all.... like... not even a little.

anyways you can watch it on crunchyroll if you are curious
However it seems you need a subscription to watch it so keep that in mind.

ok shonen maid ends tomorrow and then the summer season starts... looking forward to all the new shows 

My Hero Acedemia

I wasn't expecting to enjoy this as much as i did.

The world has gone though another stage of evolution. now people can be born with abilities ranging from controlling electricity to super strength to gaining characterist of certain animals. Almost everyon is now born with an ability that manifests around kindergarten.
Almost being the key word.

I will be honest, shonen shows are not my jam cause most of them time they somehow end up in a tournament and WOW are those boring. Either you know the main character will win OR you have to spend time focusing on characters you don't care about... or they lose and you focus on character you don't care about... anyways for me it's a no win situation.

This first season... no tournaments... yay! we will see what the future has in store i guess.

Anyways my fav thing about this show is actually character design, everyone looks so different and unique, like if you did a silhouette chart you could easy tell every character apart and that is so nice.

The one thing that surprises me is that it's only one cour so far, they have confirmed another one is on the way but no set date as of yet. Shonen almost always just continues so yeah... not quite sure whats going on there... it sounds like there is enough material in the manga to continue but maybe there isn't? i haven't read it.

Still whenever we do get the next season i am looking forward to it... even if i know what will probably come down the horizon... but hey... maybe they'll do that type of storyline well...

The good:
Animation (seriously Bones outdid themselves with this), character design and personality, music, getting me all emotional.

the not so good:
Short... the ending was a perfect midpoint... now it just kinda ends up being a hype cliffhanger. hopefully we wont have to wait long for season 2

You can watch season 1 over at Funimation

Kiznaiver

Kiznaiver is about a group of 7 teens who are all in the same class obtaining a wound that forces them to share their pain 7 ways.
Other then this wound the 7 chosen have nothing in common. one of them actually completely lacks the ability to feel any pain.
Eventually it transcends physical pain as their bond grows deeper and deeper. They continue to learn more and more about each others pasts and eventually how to open up to people.

This show is beautifully animated, Trigger really outdid themselves with it. The music is good and the story is well done... however
as i sit here i can't help think it's just okay...

It's better then mediocre... it can feel a bit rushed at points but it never feels like it's wasting it's potential... but for a show about resonating with others it never really resonated with me.

It's bit disappointing cause i wanted to like this more but in the end my relationship with trigger's anime has been spotty at best and it could just be i had my guard up and therefor couldn't connect with it... i honestly don't know.
But i think i can say it's a good show... it's not a waste of time at least. I'm glad it was the other show i marathonned a few days ago cause yeah waiting week to week would have made me lose interest completely.

The good:
Animation (but i mean Trigger stuff is always very pretty and colourful)
Story, characters and music.

The not so good
I never got into it... i didn't dislike it... it just never made me care.

oh Shonen maid is over too... alright i'll get right on that!

First Impressions: Tokyo Mirage Session #FE

*takes a deep breath*
let me start with a quick story time.

When they announced a SMT x FE title many years ago i knew it was going to be so up my alley that even if it was an unplayable piece of crap i would adore every minute of it cause.... SMT.... and FE... together.

then we didn't hear about anything to do with it for quite a while.

Then one E3 in... uh... 2014? 2015? around then... they showed this adorable colourful game where crazy costume, idols and Performas (honestly that still makes me chuckle) and they called it possibly the dumbest name i've every heard... Tokyo Mirage Session #FE

now a sane normal unbiased person would look at that and go "wow thats going to be awful"
I however looked at it and said "I WANT TO PLAY IT NOW"

Everyone around me was saying how stupid it looks and how it's going to be awful and i would just reply with "I don't care... i will buy it... hopefully there is a special edition... but it will be mine no matter what"

and here it is.
My special edition arrived just over an hour ago and after DLing all the DLC that the special edition offers i played through the prologue.

So first off... did it live up to my over hyping myself.
...
YEP
I'm so glad no one else was around to watch me fangirl over this game.

First off it is so pretty... i mean graphics wise it's not the most realistic game you will ever play but it's so colourful and vibrant and  just a joy to look at... it actualyl makes me super excited for persona 5.

Second the battle system is really smooth and fun (my only complaint is that there seem to be some lines that aren't subbed in fights... Tales of hearts R had that issue as well... for someone like me who is learning the language it's not a big deal but i worry others may miss story bits) it takes more from SMT then FE... using all the SMT skills and menu setup.
The characters however are all (or at least so far) Fire emblem based and guessing who's who before they are introduced is too much fun. I am going into this game completely blind (despite nintendo's best efforts to share every little think about it) so yeah just having a blast.

Third... the music... it's like Persona and FE had a baby... cause they kinda did. again it mostly has the feel of SMT music BUT there are bit of FE sprinkled in and it just makes me so happy because besides the obscene amount of falcom music i have my next two faves are SMT and FE songs.

I heard a lot of people bitching baout censorship... i honestly don't know much of what was censored besides a few costumes but i will say this.
People were complaining that most of the Cleavage was edited out.... trust me there is still plently... one character has the buttons of her shirt popping open because of them... i mean i get around that by not wearing buttoned shirts but to each their own.
Either way, as long as they didn't censor story elements i don't really care... i'm having fun. and even if they did... screw it i'm still having fun.

Is there a way to make this better? Yep, add in Falcom...
other then that.... no this game is exactly what i wanted when i saw a colourful idol setting with SMT and FE attached.

Maybe my tune will change as i play more but for now i cannot reccomend it enough.

one side thing that has to do with the Special edition.
I love that in the CD there are cards with the romanji lyrics for each song on it.
i wish it was more then 13 songs but for a sampler from nintendo thats not too bad so i'm not going to complain.

oh before i go... will you like it if you know nothing about SMT or FE?
Honestly... i think so.
The game is good all on it's own... the battle system is pretty much the same as it is in most other SMT games... so as long as you like turnbased type games i think you can get into this one even if you know nothing about either property.... you are just going to get a bit more if you know a little going in.

Final thought.
The menus in this game are adorable, everyone is laying down in a grassy field and as you meet more characters they join you in the menu and it's so cute... all menu's need to learn from this and persona 5... just so much style and world building without having to beat the player over the head with it.

Alright i'm off to go play some more!

The Lost Village (spoilers kinda)

This is one of those anime that you can't describe without spoiling something so.... guess i'm not even going to try because i honestly didn't care for this show and would rather no one else waste their time.

A large group of people who want to leave their past lives behind go on a tour but the Lost Village (Nanaki Village)
each of them have their reasons for joining the tour but when they find the town it seems like no one is there... despite it being reticently lived in.

Soon after mosters start showing up... except no one seems to be able to describe the monster.... or at least all the descriptions are different.

It was at this point where i went "Oh... this is the Illusion card episode from Cardcaptor Sakura stretched out into a 12 episode series"
And in the end i wasn't wrong... it even has a similar moral to that episode.

anyways presented with all these mysteries and possible danger the group must decide if they want to continue to throw their previous lives behind and stay in the village or deal with the monsters and leave.

When this show started i thought "well this is a rather large cast... it probably needs an episode or two to get going"
This time i was wrong cause the show never fully realizes the potential for the story is has presented... and the ending is one of the most rushed and wishy washy wastes of time i have experienced in a while.

Is it bad enough to get in my top 5 least fav/most anger inducing shows? no... cause it's not terrible... it's just mediocre which is worse.
if it had been terrible i would have stopped after a few episodes... but that potential had me curious... kind of.

Originally i did only watch 2 episodes but i had a friend say it was neat so when it hit 10 episodes i marathoned the rest... and that was a good decision on my part cause waiting week to week for this dull show would have been far more annoying.

Can i recommend it? No, but it's on Crunchyroll so please feel free to see it for yourself and make your own opinion

The good:
Intro song - it's well animated and gives a good quick overview to the large cast of characters... it also manages to give those characters more personality then the show ever does.
Concept - it could have been really well done... more on this in a bit

The not so good:
Concept: due to large cast and short amount of episodes as well as a large group of characters that are just downright unlikable we know nothing and more importantly can't care about any of these people.

The annoying:
here is where i spoil the show so... read at your own risk. 
For a show that is literally about facing your own past trauma it is incredibly blasé about it... and based on what little we see no one actually deal with their trauma.
Literally all the people we see accepting it are just like "it's ok, this isn't so bad after all, i'll just accept the pain" and as someone who has gone through trauma i find that a little insulting.
oh so your saying i just have to go "that thing that happened two decades ago doens't bug me anymore" and i'll be fine? cause..... no.
EXCEPT that ISN'T what the show is trying to tell you.
a large group stays behind for... reasons...
i mean we know nothing about these people so yeah... reasons.... some just saying "my trauma is too hard to deal with" and others being like "there is no life waiting for me if i go back"
Again.... NO... that isn't how shit works. yes trauma sucks, you just have to deal with it... you shouldn't forget it or pretend it doesn't bug you cause it makes up part of who you are but you also shouldn't wallow in it... there is a happy balance that this show chooses to ignore and that is kinda infuriating...
especially considering there was so much chance for character development and pretty much no one changes... and if they do change it's instant and really doesn't matter cause we literally don't see them again till the end.
but in the end... the most annoying this is that it could not exist and nothing would really change... it brought nothing to the table. completely and utterly pointless.

hm... ok maybe it's a little worse then mediocre.... but only a little

Bungo Stray Dogs

End of the episode: To Be Continued.
me: . . . they... have never done that before... don't tell me the show is taking a break! *checks MAL* comes back in October... ugh i hate waiting.

On the other hand now i have an excuse to talk about this show... so that's something

Bungo Stary dogs is about a detective agency full of gifted people. The story focuses on Atsushi who meets the agency by chance and ends up joining since this will allow him to not be a starving orphan and it'll protect him from this mysterious group that has a rather large bounty on his head for some reason.

Well i mean i know the reason but i try to make these things spoiler free so... yeah thats the best i can do.

At the beginning of the spring season i pretty much knew instantly that this would be my fav show of the season.
I mean the characters are great, I love magic (for lack of a better term) in modern settings, the animation is just so much fun and full of so much colour..... and it just happens to have Hiroshi Kamiya in it. (who is my Fav voice actor)

Did it live up to that lofty goal of being the best this season?
Yes... but if this season had been stronger... it might not have been.

Do not get me wrong, i love this show. it made me smile every time it updated... i'm really annoyed that i have to wait 3 months for more (especially considering it'll be up against season 5 of my fav show) I just know that if this season had been stronger it wouldn't be my top pick.

However Summer 2016 is looking pretty good and Fall 2016 is going to be (for me) the best season of anime in the past 4 years (even if i'm literally only watching Natsume yuujinchou 5 and Bungo Stray dogs 2)

Anyways back to the point I really enjoyed the show... a little annoyed by the ending of this season just cause i want to know more about certain character that were just introduced but knowing that i only have to wait till October is a bit of a comfort... i can think of it like a birthday present i guess?

The good:
Animation, seriously is is stunning and fluid and other then a few scenes where they couldn't even be bothered to draw faces it's really detailed.... just you know cost savings and all that.
So many lovable and memorable characters, even though this is mostly Atsushi's story he is rarely the main focus as every character gets their chance to shine.
Did i mention the art? part of me wants to study it since it's very different from how i draw... but i'd just get too focused on the eyes and hair probably.
Also Hiroshi Kamiya.... just... love that he's there and his character is so goofy.

The not so good.
this season is only 12 episodes... and waiting 3 months for more kinda sucks.
Not drawing faces shouldn't be considered a cost saving measure... i know animation is expensive but there are a few episodes where it's litterally just long shots of characters talking with barely any movement.... maybe the bluray version will have faces? i'll only find out if it's brought here for a reasonable price.
also look at MAL and seeing that no one has licensed this for bluray sales makes me sad.. .add that to the not so good list i guess.

other then that can't think of anything too bad.

if you are curious about Bungo Stray Dogs you are in luck, you can watch it on Crunchyroll for free.

now onto the next show!

Joker Game

Well... that certainly doesn't feel like an ending.

OK...

Joker game is a 12 episode show about a Group of Elite Japanese spies known as D-Agency. It takes place around the second world war and other then a few 2 parters most of the episodes are completely stand alone.

Normally i am not the biggest fan of these types of shows because they are so unconnected and the ending doesn't feel worth it but one fact alone had me coming back week to week.

The art is stunning.

It has this Persona vibe to it... and other then the Art Director (Yoshio Tanioka) having worked on Persona 4's anime as the art director i can't really find any other connection. If you asked me i would have completely thought Shigenori Soejima had something to do with this but i can't find anything to suggest that being the case.
In the end... it doesn't matter cause wow this is pretty, all the characters look unique and even though they are supposed to look like people who can blend into a crowd they still exude character.

The biggest disappointment is that it's 12 episodes.... with not a lot of closure cause
a) it's episodic and none of the episodes truly connect
b) we all kinda know what happened to that country in that war.

Still part of me really does want more.
each episode was truly something special and considering how many episodes have a 'mystery' feel to them they are all set up so well. you are given all the evidence the characters are given you just have to be perceptive enough to catch it... and oh man did i love that aspect.

Anyways, i highly recommend this show, it's quite short but very well done.

The good:
Art, Animation, Character Design and Music. Also the story, while unconnected, is very well done.

The not so good:
Stories don't connect enough for my personal taste granted if you just want to watch different unconnected stories with a basic premise then this may be a plus in your view... for me i was hoping for a little more.

The bad:
Short... so very very short... and not enough closure to certain stories but that could just be my curious side complaining.

You can watch Joker Game on Crunchyroll

I didn't end up watching a whole lot of shows this season so it should be pretty easy to space of these rambles.  The only shows i know are ending soon are Kiznaiver, Shonen maid and My Hero Acedemia... looks like everything else is continuing. i'm probably missing osmething but we will see. Have a good night and watch Joker Game!

Asagao Academy

This has been a long time coming...
Normally i write these immediately after i beat/finish whatever i'm writing about...
however this time was slightly different... cause just before i beat the game i was in the middle of an 11 image series involving all the characters in this game.... and i didn't want to have the art go to waste so...
i decided i was going to use them as banners~ yay
however I needed to beat the game to know how i wanted to draw all the characters...

then a week or two went by after i finished all the images and i still hadn't written this.... i have no excuse... other then i still have no idea how i'm going to tackle this... all i know is it'll be spoiler free.... and probably pretty long.

In this Dating sim you play as Hana Mizuno, a transfer student with bright pink hair. By chance you meet one of the members or the coolest club in school... the Normal Boots club.
In an effort to change her life she works as hard as she can to try and join this club... and maybe enjoy a romance along the way. With her best friend Mai's help she will get Sempai to notice her!

The story is broken into 9 routes... i'm going to give breif descriptions of each, my fav route (not always the bets route apparently) and how the route resonated with me. again no spoilers.

In order of completion

When i frist heard about this game i knew i would go for Jareds route first....
but then on my first playthrough i said i would go through it exactly how i would act in those situations... and i couldn't go against me just to go for jared... so PBG won out.
and what an adorable ball of Floof.

PBGs route focuses on on a few things, The past and how it effects the present... and trusting that people know their limits. if you use your head and listen to those that know better then you it's pretty hard to get a bad ending.

In my opinion a very easy route. perfect for the first route (plus he gets pretty pouty if you dont pick him) of my first dating sim ever.

My fav route is the Best ending, it's just too cute to not love to bits.
I am also glad they changed the endings slightly to have someone have a bit more closure and seem less.... well just less... i can't explain more.

Second route i went for that Sparkly pretty boy.
And wow... it resonated with me probably the most out of all the routes.

Jareds route deals with balancing what it means to have unpopular hobbies and be perceived a certain way. It also deals with trying to be perfect, or at least not being seen as a failure... which wow... just.. yeah.

While i love the best ending... from a story telling perspective i actually think his Bad ending (or very bad?... i can't remember but in my vague description you'll probably understand) is my fav.
Something happened that actually made me tear up because even though Asagao jared probably didn't think about how incredibly cruel it was to do what he did... it was just so incredibly cruel... and cruel story lines tend to make me grin (especially know how good the best ending was)... it was one ofthose moments of "did you rally just do that to someone who should at least be a friend if nothing else?"

One thing i didn't like about this route... there is on conflict you have no choice in... and that was really really annoying... other then that little bit of irritation definately the route i connected to the most... anyways onto Shane!

... That... isn't Shane...
So when i went for Shane... i triggered Ian/Hidden blocks Route... which i didn't even know was a route.
I love this route because it's not romantic... It's more about trying to make sure Ian is happy since he seems to be troubled by something. it was just so sweet and it's easily the route where Hana ends up the happiest. There is only one ending and it's just precious... perfect sweet fluff before the pain that would end up being the shane route.

This Route.... this is EASILY the most difficult one.
It feels like if you make one mistake too bad! bad ending... i felt like i tried EVERYTHING but no best ending for me.

his themes... uh... not being judgemental of someone because of something they can't change... and not letting the past rule your present.
Also baking is the best way to a mans heart.... as long as you don't nearly kill him along the way... nearly killign people with food is bad... (also side note... I'm allergic to Capcaisin... so when a certain spice was used in a certain volume all i could think was "we'll i'd be dead..." which was great since they kept one saying how 'not deadly' it would be... just fun note)
Anyways forgive me for i have commited a gaming sin.... i looked up a walkthrough to get the best ending for shane... i just couldn't figure out what i was doing wrong... and i was really close to getting it...

My fav route of his is probably the best ending... just because the struggle to get it was so real. also it's just super cute.

when i first played Satch's route i wish i had played it last cause it is so different from all the others. having beaten the game there is one other route i would rather have finished with... but this should definitely played closer to the end.

Out of all the main routes this is probably the least openly romantic... and i wish that wasn't the case... it's more of a case study with how you deal with friends in tough situations... and trust... so much trust.

A lot of people i see consider this route difficult... for me it was one of the easier ones. probably just meshed with my personality (and my somewhat scrappy nature)

Fav ending... hmm probably the bad ending since you inspire someone to follow their dreams. even if it means you have to deal with a bit of sadness. his best ending is pretty cute too though.

... is it odd that from a gameplay standpoint... from a commentary on the illusion of choice in video games... this is easily my fav route of the entire game..
like... i think it's really well done, it's creepy and poignant... is 9 Person 9 Hours 9 Doors level of the most interesting use of mechanics as metaphor i have ever seen? no... but dammit it's close.

much like the hidden route i found this one not knowing it was there... if you are just... cold to everyone you can 'date' Jon's Bird. and the results are... well kinda nightmare fuel-y.

and the best part is... there is not much you can do about it...
In this route certain characters really shine and it hints at something that is joked about in all the other routes.  making a certain characters actions in those other routes a little... sadder? i dunno if i were to write a fanfiction about this game (and i have two ideas so... it'll probably happen) this route would be the catalyst for one of them.

otherwise this route is just kinda horrifying... but oh man i loved it.

I had heard Jirards route was pretty easy... and my friend streamed a bit of it so it was quite a while before i got around to it.

This is one of the more openly romantic routes which was nice but the theme is more about how much passion is too much... when does it become destructive.
My fav part about this route is actually the Real Jirard reacting to it... apparently some stuff hits close to home and i love that about a game where they dind't talk to any of the people about what was in their routes.
also i want that itty bitty kitty shirt.

Before today i felt like his route felt incomplete... that has since changed and while i don't get the overall mindset of Asagao Jirard... i know that feeling in the end so in this case... that ending is my fav of his 'route'
that counts right? well it's my ramble so of course it counts.

This is the route i wish i did last.

The focus of this route is more on trying to be liked by others, and what it means to be in the spotlight.
Also yes... his eyes in the game are brown... his real eyes are blue... i'm going with real for my banner.

My only gripe with this route is that the focus is more so on Hana then the others (the same could also be said for Satch and Jacques i guess) this makes for an interesting post story... but means we loose out on so fluff with these two.
also there is a concept that is introduced and never really followed up on... and thats where the second fanfic idea would come from... cause i would love to explore that idea....
not that i'll ever write these... (i probably will... i am in too deep)

Still the best end is my fav... i just wish there was more Joshualina... she seemed pretty cool.

I am glad this was the final route i did, in school i was a drama/art kid so i wanted to do the drama route last.

But man it was not an easy route for me... the major theme is dealing with mistakes and grief. and i just didn't know how to handle Asagao Jon without pushign him to hard.

this route did resonate with me more then expected, it's also the route where the guy probably grows the most.
plus all the costume changes are just perfect.

My fav ending is the best one... mostly cause it pretty much outright confirms something about a certain robot... which i wish we learned more abotu but maybe thats fanfic number 3?... oh wow in too deep.
but yeah this was a great way to end the game (especially considering which of the endings is technically "true")

I adore this game... i have drawn a lot of fanart for it (and i plan to do more over time) i want to write stories about it and in the end... it makes me want to creat something... a dating sim of my own? a manga? a different type of game? i'm not sure yet... but i just want to create something.
I think thats why i've been waffling about actually posting this... how can you put into words that this game inspires you... without over hyping it?

In the end this game means smoething special to me... but there is something i want to adress.

I have been asked "if you didn't know the content creators the characters are based on... would you still like the game"
completely... 100%
the characters are all fully developed and different from their real world counterparts. Any similarities to the real people is mostly coincidental as the content creators had no say in how their routes played out. it's just a well written and well made game with the bonus of stunning art.

I am so looking forward to what Illus Seed has in store for the future.
if you want to try this game, it's completely free (but you could always throw them some money) 

me right now... i have lots of stuff i want to make... and i hope one day i'll be able to inspire someone else like Illus seed has inspired me.

also if you like my little banners... you can see all my Asagao Academy fanart here! (been having too much fun with it... sorry but not sorry)

but for now... i have a few games to finish
and shows
and books...
but seriously play this game!