Completed: Ancient Book of Ys

But Rai... you beat that DS port a long time ago...
you are correct..... i did beat that game a while ago.... but this is the 7 ep OVA based on that game...
Now i think we all know that movies based on games tend to suck cause your compacting a lot of info into a short amount of time...  well most of the time the same is true for OVAs but it tends to be worse cause they make it in such a way where only those who have played the game/know the story will enjoy.

However overall i think Ys did the best job it could... i'll be comparing it to the Tales of Phantasia (ToP) OVA which was four episodes to show what ys did right.

now as i mentioned... i have played and beaten the game so i know the story going in... but i think someone who had never heard of the Ys games (which is a lot... people need to play more Falcom games) would be able to watch this and get the story.... but they still may not like the show overall. Unlike ToP which you have to have played the game in order to figure out whats going on...
So falcom successfully gets it's plot in two ways.
1. more episodes so obviously more story.
2. Ys is a short game... i think book 1 can be beaten in 5-10 hours other then the fact that it's really really hard (damn near unplayable as the ds version.... but i haven't played the psp one so who knows i keep hearing it's better) so that length of story can easily be condensed cause well most of that time is spent grinding so the boss doesn't kill you.

However OVAs are released in a very odd way.... lets just put it this way...
 Episode 1 aired in nov 1989... episode 7 aired in Sep 1991
so while watching you can see the gradual change in style (mostly in eyes and colouring) over the years... it' kinda fun but a little distracting

Also the animation overall is terrible... you can tell they were trying hard but it's just not as good as it could be... my favorite part is at sunset when the shadows are orange..... and lighter then every other colour on screen....good times.

but yeah it's Adol first adventure so if you come across it, are curious about the Ys games (3 and origin are out on steam you should at least check 3 out!) but don't want to play 1+2 (they are bundled in north America and out for ds and psp... psp version is better) then give this series a shot at it will give you the basic story... however all ys games for the most part are stand alone... you may miss some references but other then that there no harm just jumping in! but yeah this anime was fun... silly and badly animated but fun

Completed: Anime North 2012

so i've been going to AN a long time, my first time was way back they were in the Constellation hotel instead of the doubtletree/congress center. so i think about.... 9 or 10 years...
some years ahve been better then others and most of the time there are good deals and fun people to hang out with.
This year was the first time they placed a cap on the number of people who could attend.
so i'll just do a quick day by day retelling of my time at the con.

Day 1

 After a pretty relaxing day i pack up all my things and wait for my friend to get off work since i'm getting a ride in... this is my first year staying at a hotel so i just packed enough to survive the 3 days.

We get there around 4 - 4:30 and we see the line to get in... it's huge for preorders BUT we think it should go pretty fast because...
a) everyone on friday had to be a preorder.... according to their website they sold out of friday tickets/weekend passes.....
b) due to the fact every onepreordered it would literally just be showing them the confirmation page, checking that it's real (they had an app for that) and then handing us a badge.

for some reason i still can't figure out it took over 2 hours to get through this damn line.
how do i thin the problem could have been solved? have more people helping with preorder tickets OR let people start picking up tickets sooner.... yes there is a thursday thing were people can pick up preorders but most people can't get to that part of town so very few do it..... on the friday they start handing out tickets around 3...... why not start handing them out at12.... or even ten.... yeah the dealers room doesn't open for a while but at least people wont have to wait in a stupid long line for it... anyways we get the tickets and check out the flea market since it' right there and it's jam Packed.... couldn't see anything.... oh well... we head out to eat then we get in line for anime hell and finally i head back to the hotel.

over a fine albeit uneventful day.

Day 2

Lots of things planned only got to do a handful of it.... first the one group of friends wanted to go to the masquerade so we got tickets for that... i figured why not since the 404s show was right after and i wanted to see them more so why not waste some time at the masquerade... it could be fun.... more on that later...

so after gettign the tickets we head over to the NIS America panel which was pretty good other then when the q&a starts we had a "that one guy" complain that NISA anime prices are too high.... this confused me since on their website special editions (13 eps [dvd and blue ray combo]+really nice box/art book + free things like post cards or magnets) see for about 55 and their standard editions (13 eps in a dvd/blueray case) go for about 30.... those prices are AMAZING compared to aniplex who enjoy selling 4 episode special editions for 75 or funimation who enjoys selling combo packs for around 70... yes those versions have dubs but i don't mind sub only for the prices i listed. but yeah this guy had been playing doubt the online price and was bitching at the company since he bought it in retail.... yeah thast not NISA's problem... you want a deal... go to their website.

anyways after I go to lunch.... then FINALLY end up in the dealers room.... where i proceed to buy a lot in a short periode on time.
p.diva extend on psp - 65 (considering i didn't have to pay shipping not a bad price)
vantage master - 30... yay for liking games no one has heard of.
Nyanko-sensei plush - 30.... not a bad price cause of playing for shipping but honestly this and my next purchase will lead up to a rant
Nyanko-sensei pillow/muffle head thingy for 40...

now the quick rant.... normally when you go to a convention  a few things are universally true.

1. there will be some good deals since you took the time to pay to get in and stay the weekend
2. the vendors will be willing to haggle since your business is more important at this kind of event
3. if you pay in cash you wont get charged tax however debit and credit are fair game
4. you will probably find some rare things for a decent bargain.
5. Prices will be cheaper on sunday.

yeah..... this is the first year where NONE of that was true.

the two nyanko-sensei things were bought from 1 vendor... i saw the second thing after the first.... she was asking 45 so i ask since i bought the other thing can i have it for 40.... she pauses agrees then charges me tax bringing my total to 44..... now i don't mind this but no other vendor would haggle at all for anything... it was just strange
Also most places were overcharging things.... but thats a rant for near the end.

where was i.... oh right.... so after dealers room I hang out with some people until the masquerade.... which had a huge line and started 30 minutes later then it's supposed to.... and ended an hour later then it was scheduled.... yes it was fun but i was still annoyed cause i wanted to see the 404s. so Yeah masquerade committee  heres something to think about.

1. start on time.... this shouldn't be too hard... every other panel seems to have the hang of it. 
2. if you know how many people you can fit into 2 hours then go with that many... cap the amount of entries.... or...
3. if you know you have a tendency to go over then book the room for an extra hour on either end.... that was you give a chance for people to get out safely and no one is pissed that there event is cut short by an hour.

so then we have to leave the room get back in the line for the 404s late night improve show.... which was a blast but i could only manage it for an hour.... so tired. 

the second night we flipped a coin for who got the last spot on the bed... i won but the person sleeping beside me didn't like it cause i moved in my sleep.... sorry i did try to stay still.

Day 3

last day.... really only there for the deals in the dealer room.... however most places jacked up the price on the last day...
what is with this? sunday you should drop the price so you don;t ahve to pay as much for transportation... ah whatever i found a few places who had good prices and got...
Ys book 1 and 2 dvds for 5 each.
PMMM madoka soulgem+ring for 14
PMMM madoka nendriod figure for 45

and thats it i believe.... went for sushi with friend... i'm a zombie by this point and so we all headed home around 2-3... i get home drink a lot of tea and yeah.... recover.

overall it was fun but yeah the overpricing thing pissed me off.... people were selling those nisa boxes i talked about earlier for 120 instead of the 50.... that's insane... and jacking up the price on the last day? or being like "oh this ps2 game is new and sealed! 80 bucks please!" no.... if it were rare then maybe but it's not! and yes someone who doesn't know what this stuff is worth may waste there money but everyone has the internet on their phone now a days and can double check the price online and if it's cheaper to buy there and not pay for shipping then fine but that was so rarely the case!

ah well otherwise i had a good time just the dealers room and some other BS that i wont mention was pissing me off.... will i go next year? probably.....
all three days? no.... i highly doubt it. unless they lower the cap or figure out how to streamline everything.... ah well.... more p.diva time~ 

Completed: 3 seasons of Sgt. Frog

well i finished the other two seasons a long time ago but i wasn't writing these back then....
so i'll do a quick summary of all three seasons and hopefully it wont take too long .

Aliens crash land on earth hell bent on taking over the planet.... can't even take over the house they crashed into.... hilarity ensues.

yeah that's..... pretty much it.

Okay a quick note.
I watched this show with English dub... why? because it's the only way to get some of the jokes... i know quite a bit of Japanese cultural references but still most of the stuff would go right over my head.... so for comedy anime i make a point to watch it in English first then later watch it as it's meant to be seen.

however i have listened to a few episodes in japanese and i can say the main differences

1. English Version has a narrator, from the episode i saw the japanese doesn't... just those subtitles that pop out to deliver some jokes.

2. those subtitles i just mentioned are changed in the english version to make sense to an english speaking audience.... one scene has almost the entire screen covered in writing but the subtitle just says "a lot of crap" i think this kind of stuff adds to the humor.

3. the english voice cast is almost identical sounding to the japanese cast except Keroro who has a much more gravelly voice in the original version.

again i will watch it all in japanese i'll probably do a versus so all i'll say for now is it was fun.... but i have so much more to go and i don't know is Funimation is releasing anymore...it just finished last year at 358 episodes over 7 seasons.  (in japan it's 7 seasons.... FUNimation is sellign it like 26 eps is a season so.... yeah.... way more seasons in english)
and i just finished episode 78... oh boy..

well since i don't have much to say from here.... STORY TIME~

back in high school my friends were really into this series (in manga form cause it took YEARS to finally get to dvd) and for some reason they decided to attach a frog to members of our group of friends...
So the one who likes the show the most was Keroro, soon followed by our friend who was a bit of a techy being Kululu, our friend whom we deemed was a ninja both in past and present life was Dororo... the other girl in the group was Tamama cause he's so cute... despite the dual personalities.... and I was given the title of Giroro... the angry red one who enjoys nothing more then fighting... he also likes cats, cooking and has to deal with unrequited love.
Yeah i think it was more of a slam then anything but Giroro fits into my personality frighteningly well (other then the fighting.... i'm too lazy to fight) and he's my fav colour so it was a bonus.... and even though i wasn't into the show before that but i gave it a shot and yeah it was a fun time. I'm normally not into comedy anime but this one has a charm probably because of my friends including me into this group of frogs lol.

Primadonna -from... um... finish...-

i don't know why i didn't scan in the line art.... oh well i'll fill a blog about this...

So one of my all time favorite shows is Princess tutu... i love the characters, the story, the art... and the voice acting in english is just so much fun.... that right... i prefer the dub....

anyways i flt like playing with the metallic paint some more so just take my word that there are levels on shiny to this piece that a scan just can't show
but i did want to try something that could be turned around...

it's postcard size 5 x 7 hot pressed watercolour paper and i tried to use inking pens and coloured ink with this one as well...

So yeah i drew a little tutu first, very very small and then i did....

Kraehe who has a fun costume but it's hard to paint cause it's lacking in colour...

still this was fun... the writing in the back is the intro to Akt.1 in my chicken scratch which i tried to make messier to make the text even harder to read~ yay

and.... um... thast all i have to say about all that.... happy mothers day?

Spring 2012 First Impression

the new anime season has hit and here's my first impression on some of the shows i've checked out so far.
all of these shows are seen on Crunchyroll since it's the easiest place to legally watch anime.

 Kids on the Slope
So far this is my fav of the season, i love slice of life shows which i would say this falls into.
It's about a new transfer student who has anxiety issues becoming friends with the class 'thug' and the class president through their mutual love of music. after only one episode it just seems like an adorable show with great animation, characters and music.

Hiiro no Kakera
it's a reverse harem show that seems to follow all the reverse harem tropes so far.... you all knwo who she'll end up going for cause.... well it's always the same with these shows.... it's not bad but 3 episodes in and i really hope it gets better or i'll give up on it.

OZMA
.... Yeah.... i know the creator is a huge deal in the anime world and i know it's blasphemous for me to have not seen harlock or galaxy 999.... but just because they have created classics in the past doesn't mean everything they touch is gold. I watched one episode of OZMA and i really didn't like it.... the story isn't very good the characters are really unlikable i had no idea what was going on and i find that all the girls he has drawn tend to have the same face and that's distracting.


Space Brothers
so far it's cute and it's got some humor... you can tell it's trying to educate people and try to get more interest in space and astronauts... which is fine but they are using NASA a lot and it's a bit distracting since NASA isn't planning on going into space any time soon... granted this does take place in the future so they could just say well people changed their mind. also the art is pretty interesting... it's nice to see a slightly more realistic style instead of the moe crap we've been getting

Folktales from Japan
whenever i want to go WTF i put this on.... it's just.... they have some really odd stories. but i really like the style... and i love that each little story gets it's own style to depict it... but yeah.... very very odd but still something fun to watch.

Sengoku Collection (Parallel World Samurai)
yeah.... i will state right now i don't know the story of Oda Nobunaga.... but in the past year or two there have been 5 or so titles i can think of that try to use this story as a base.... most of them takign the genderbender approach.... it's not new.... it's not funny and we see it as just a blatant way to show your fanservice in.  i have only given this show one episode so i may try again later... but right now this show doesn't impress me.


Kuroko's Basketball 
The other show i'm really enjoying this season... i normally hate sports anime but i guess since i played basketball as a kid i'm enjoying this one? the art is good the characters are fun and i'm looking forward to how the story progresses.

Mysterious Girlfriend X
i think the show lost me when she vomited a crapload of drool because she was... and i quote... 'excited'.... yeah i REALLY didn't like this... just a little too gross for me.... the creator seems to have a fetish for drool.... which is fine just.... keep it to yourself... and it's a shame cause the art is really cool art and the concept of a boy coming to the age of being curious about being with a woman could have been handled in an interesting way... but no.... we get drool and LOTS of it. I'm not saying it's bad it's just.... not for me


Tsuritama
This show is odd..... i think i need to give it a few more episodes before i can even sumemrize the plot.... all i think i know is mind control watergun.... and even then i'm not entirely sure.... still the art is cool and the intro song is fun.... i'll keep with it for now...

Dusk Maiden of Amnesia
Love it so far.... second episode doesn't air till fairly late tonight but i really look forward to seeing more.... it's about a paranormal club where the president just happens to be a ghost.... just so much fun.

Medaka Box
Oh yay.... another fan service show... cause we don't have enough of those....  i'm being unfair cause i only got 5 mins in before i declared boredom and went off to do other things with my time... maybe it has a good plot or interesting characters.... from what i saw it was just the same old fanservice crap

so yeah... i think that's all i've seen so far... i've heard lupin is good and funimation is simulcasting and i'm not sure if i can watch their stuff in canada.... maybe i'll try later.

but yeah... things to keep in mind....
I'm not the biggest fan of Moe or fanservice.... I don't mind if the show has a little moe here or a little fanservice there... it's when the show feels those aspects are more important then having a plot.... so thats probably why i'm really harsh on some shows which are getting great reviews.... this is all my personal opinion and i'm not saying i'm right... it's just how ive felt about what i've watched so far.

Completed: Magic Knight Rayearth (anime/spoilers)

Yes i'm going to focus mainly on the Anime but honestly.... all CLAMP Anime follows extremely close to it's manga counterpart.

So Magic Knight Rayearth is pretty easy explain. there are a bunch of school who have gone to Tokyo tower for a field trip and there is a bright light... suddenly one girl  from each of the three schools gets teleported to the land of Cephiro.

They see the large ocean, a floating island and a large volcano in the distance as they hurtle through the sky towards their death.... luckily a giant flying fish saves them.
they meet a very small man in a very funny outfit named Clef and he explains that Cephiro is a land controlled by ones will, he then teaches them magic and explains they need to save the pillar of this world and grant her wish before they can return to Tokyo.

To be able to grant the princess' wish they need first get weapons made of a certain material that will evolve as they get stronger and then they need to find the Rune gods to be able to fight off the high priest Zagato.... then clef gets turned into stone and the girls have to navigate this foreign world on their own.

they meet friends and some characters even die and eventually they get the weapons and the rune gods and they defeat Zegato before they find out that he is not the final Boss...the princess is... see she's tired of praying for the world and wants to be with Zegato but will only be able to be with him in death...

oh yeah totally a happy fun time magical girl story.... ok.... where to start.

The good:
Despite seeming like your typical magic girl show it has some fairly dark themes, characters die for good (... well... at least in this season... i'll get into that later) others get injured and bleed.... and in the end even though your just trying to complete your mission of granting the wish of the pillar of this world you have to soil your hands with the blood of someone who has done you no wrong
Also, even thought Hikaru is technically seen as the leader of the group there is no real leader.... by that i mean in shows like sailor moon when new powers are given it tends to go...
Sailor moon>Mercury>Mars>Jupiter>nevus.... almost always this order.... slight variations randomly but nothing major.
In MKR it's random... each of them have a chance at being the one to learn the skill first or get the first rune god.... you don't see this a lot in magical girl anime so yeah.... bonus.
The character design is really good, extremely colourful and just pretty to look at... i believe (i'm probably wrong) MKR was their breakout hit that put CLAMP on the map... and it's easy to see why, the story is well done and the characters are likable....

The not so good:
Mokona.... i don't like this thing only because it feels a little cheap when that go "oh we need this" then Mokona pops in and goes "Puu Puu~" and magically they now have what they need. it's just way too easy and honestly it doesn't add to the plot at all (well.... in the first season at least....)
the animation, epecially for filler episodes, is not the best.... this is in part because of clamps style not easily translating from Manga to Anime... but it's better then macross which is a plus.
Forgettable.... i've read the manga and watched the show 2 or three times now... and i still barely remember whats going to happen next... it's just this blank void in my mind.... don't know why.
The dvd.... I have the media blaster dvd release which just plays the english right when you pop it in.... so i have to hear a few seconds of that terrible english dubbed intro while i hunt for the remote to get to the Japanese settings...

so yeah it's not a bad show but it's not my favorite CLAMP adaptation.... no that will forever be held by Cardcaptor Sakura... but that's for another time.

Completed: Working!!

Also known as Wagnaria!!

just a cute fun comedy show about the odd group of people that work at the inn.

We have Takanashi, the boy who is the newest employee, he only joined cause a cute small girl asked him to... he really likes small things... to a point where it's pretty creepy.

then we have the previously mentioned small girl Popura, she constantly has to deal with being htought of as a elementary school student as well as constant teasing from the main chef.

The there is the main chef, Sato, Former gang member this university student sticks out with his tough attitude and his blond hair.... however he' realyl a softy at heart and has a crush on the main waitress.

Of course the main waitress (who's name i can only remember as being 'chief' so we'll go whit that) is completely clueless about the fact that he likes her.... part of the reason she just doesn't get it is cause she wont shut up about the owner.

Yachiyo owns the restaurant and is a former gang member (different gang then Sato) the problem is she spends more time eating the food the restaurant produces instead of...you know.... doing work.

Our last important waitress is Inami who is an Androphob, she fears all men and has a tendancy to punch them... this makes working difficult. 

Then there's the other cook.... who has dirt on all the previously mentioned characters, whatever the situation he has the picture or the juicy secret to torture/blackmail the other characters with...

and thast pretty much the main cast... other characters come and go but these are the main ones.

the story focuses mainly on them... and it's just a good time. it's a slice of life show that currently has 2 seasons, 13 eps each... go check them out on crunchyroll or buy season 1 from Nippon Ichi Software America (NISA) online store.

Completed: Persona 4

i will specify that this is the anime.... though i'm like... one dungeon away from beating the game as well.... and the two are pretty much the exact same thing....

Also looks like i've gotten through that huge queue of old reviews, this means they probably wont come daily anymore but i'll try to keep the blog active with sketches and such.

So.... my history with Persona.

Back in the olden days of highschool my friends were all abuzz with a new game that had coem out called Persona 3, when i asked them what kind of game it was all they could really say was "it's a life sim/dating game/turn based roleplaying dungeon crawler..... and it takes place over a year of ingame time... and you fight by shooting yourself in the head."

well.... naturally i called bullshit cause nothing could be that crazy... and just kind of brushed it off to the side until Persona 3 FES came out shortly after.... my friend had already bought it and after lookign at the cover and the opening song i decided.... ok why not give this a try.

first thing, i scoffed at the "80 hours of gameplay" on the back cause...
a) i just couldn't fathom the game being so long.... yes it takes place over a year but thats in game time and sometimes chunks of weeks are skipped.
b) i have a tendency to beat games quickly.


so...... 80 hours later i get to the final boss... which in and of itself takes an hour to two to beat (lets just say you'll hate tarot cards after this match) and then i get to the end which to my surprise.... after all that wasn't terribly happy.

this made my day cause i like bitter sweet or unhappy endings and Persona 4 had been announced and would be released in a bit.
Now despite the whole shoot yourself in the head thing i really liked everything about this game and i looked forward to what they would do in the next one... i probably should have played the extra game fes added known as "The answer" but it claimed to be another 30 hours and i did have other things i wanted to play..... if i ever do go back and play it i will give 3 a full review but for now just understand that i really liked it. 

SO.... persona 4 gets released and i get the preorder bonus of a little art book.

normally i would be happy about the little artbook but i made the mistake of looking through it on the way home from the game store.... this is when i spoiled the ending for myself.... that kind of sucked.

so i played it like crazy, it felt a bit faster paced then the first one cause instead of things being determined by the full moon you had to worry more about the weather which felt like it was a bit faster.... i don't think it actually is but there was more a sense of urgency.

then i got to kenji's dungeon and i kept getting one hit killed, see if Protagonist dies it' game over.... the enemies know this and target him with light and dark attacks which are both insta kills.

so.... i put down the game for a long time, last summer before i started work i went back to playing it and like i said got to the second to last dungeon...

so when the anime started playing i started telling myself "better beat the game before i watch the show.... even though i know who the big bad is"

yeah i never did....

also before i start getting to the actual review... i do own persona 1 and 2...
1 i don't understand what the hell is going on.... i will beat it eventually but it's not really fun when your in the first area and have no idea what your suppose to do.... two i'm just past the tutorial.... but then i got into the Ys and Legend of Heroes series so yeah.... i will go back to it one day... maybe.

onto the show....

we start with Protagonist who has been given a real name! Yu Narukami, he's just moved into town to stay with relatives because the plot says so.... he's only staying for one school year.
he makes some friends really quickly but these strange things start happening in town.... on days where there is fog, people who had vanished shortly before show up dead and hanged upside down.... you also find out that you have the ability to go through the television....

Unfortunately when you make it to the other world you can't see properly thanks to the fog, and your being attacked by strange shadows.
luckily you are helped out by the punniest Bear around, he gives you glasses and you find the inner strength to draw forth your first persona.

so that's the basic set up, you are able to call forth the personas so maybe you can help solve the mystery....

But you don't have to do this alone, when you bring your friends in while you search for those who have disappeared your friends end up facing their personal shadow, things that they hide deep in their heart... this ranges from things as simple as a hero complex, to things as complicated and sensitive as Gender confusion. and each one of them is handled really well... with each saved person you get a new party member

I love how the show uses things from the games like the calendar or the emoticons and of course the music. it was all just so fun and a great option in case you don't want to plug 80+ hours into a game... a really hard game at that...

so i say go watch it, it's over at Anime Network on demand online for free.

alright back to painting, i may even finish it soon at the rate i'm going~ probably not though....

Completed?: Brave 10

um.... the reason i'm unsure if this is finished or not is simple.... the show leaves itself wide open for a sequel but also says Fin at the end....

i kind of hope it isn't the end cause that ending was.... kinda lame....

granted the show as a whole.... not the best thing i've ever seen.... the character design is nice and the ending song is really catchy....

but otherwise? i dunno.... kinda forgettable... if it gets another season i may give it a shot now that everyone is introduced.... but if the story continues to go nowhere then yeah.... don't really care...

still it's viewable on crunchyroll so go watch it if you like.... um.... magical warriors in ancient japan? yeah that's close enough....





and yes... if the music is good enough i can push through mediocre shows.... i'm odd like that

Completed: Le Portrait de Petit Cossette

Originally published January 24, 2012 on tumblr


….
….
…
..
.
Yeah…. i don’t really know where to start.

Um…. ok… so it’s about a boy named Eiri who can see a girl in these glasses he acquired…. then he sees her and somehow makes a blood pact with her…

and then he turns into a demon… and…. yeah that's about the time when i got lost…

but that's not really what the story is about…. it’s really about this Arist Marchello who would paint the young Cossette… one day in a state of madness he murders her and her entire family… her possessions witness this and get mad and vow revenge on Marchello’s soul.

then again…. i’m not sure if that's what this show is about… hm…. okay i got this
This show is about being as artsy in 3 episodes as humanly possible.

yeah that pretty much sums it up.

so yeah if you hadn’t gathered yet…. i didn’t really like it…. now it’s not bad… it’s just not something i enjoy… it reminds me a lot of the story Lolita which creeps me out… when marchello is cornering cossette and saying things like “why do you insist on getting older?” yeah…. that’s horrifying… to many people i could see that being the moment where people really enjoy the show… i just found it way too creepy.

which the anime is pretty decent i really hate that faux realism some anime tries to accomplish… and the eyes just look so dead… and yeah that’s kind of the point but just cause something is meant to be that way doesn’t mean i have to like it. Also the whole show seems to be drawn at a dutch angle or from angles where we can see up the characters nose… i personally don’t like when those angles are used to a point where you can notice how much they are being used…

also the story made no sense…. i can’t even begin to describe the last episode… yeah tons of symbolism but i didn’t care enough and it all just felt forced…

music was pretty interesting though.

i have known about this series for a long time thanks to the music, my friend played it once in the car… and he did say i probably would like the show… now i understand why…

but yeah it’s not Bad… it’s not bad at all… i just don’t like those kind of stories.

Completed: Kowarekake no Orgel (spoilers)

Originally published January 12, 2012 on tumblr


aka My half broken music box.

a 1 episode OVA that at first glance looks like chobits….(spoilers ahead… can’t talk about 1 ep without it unfortunately)

and it is…. but i think i would take this 1 episode over all 26 of chobits.

We start off with the main character finding this computer robot (known as a parent) in a dump when he dropped something off.

well obviously she’s been thrown away so he picks her up and brings her to a mechanic.
unfortunately she’s an old model and they can’t get parts for her…. he plans to put her back in the dump come morning.

however he wakes up to the robot having turned on and she has made him a rice omelet…. with a bottle of Tabasco sauce in it.

anyways she gets to work cleaning and he realizes she’s odd for a computer… she can’t calculate quickly and she forgets things so he buys her a picture journal for her to fill in.

they do lots of things, go to festivals, buy watermelon… he teaches her to ride a bike (a fundamental computer skill if you ask me) he even tries to get her to make friends.

the newest thing she wants is to go to the sea… but unfortunately whatever shut her down the first time seems to be at work again. shes having a hard time staying out of sleep mode and some of her gears are not moving the way they should…

after hearing on the news that beach season is over The robot (whom he names Flower) is heartbroken… quite literally…. she tried to calm down and say “well i’ll always be with you so there is always next year” but shortly after her system crashes and she powers down.

again he goes to the mechanic but there is nothing to be done. He knows this is the end so he brings her to the beach despite the time and weather. as he sits there with her he looks through the picture diary. it talks about every day and always ends with “it was fun”
except the last page which simply states. “i don’t want to be lonely”

through the episode she wanted to hear him play his guitar but ever since an accident took his family he’s never had the inspiration and it forced him to quit his band…. still he brought it to the beach and tries to play… suddenly flower starts humming a song she found thanks to his computer.
they sit there while she hums and finally turns off for good.

fast forward a little… he has rejoined his band and he is holding a music box that has been made from Flowers parts. so in the end they will always be together.

she had earphones on and he left those on a flower stock near the sea.
I just found the show very sweet… there is apparently a movie version which is longer and slightly different.

but yeah in my opinion this was chobits done right…. i liked chobits…. it got a few laughs BUT i did get annoyed that the whole show was “look how horrible relying on computers can be… some people are even falling in love with these things and it’s destroying their friendships with others….” then at the end he picks the robot…. i dunno it just always irked me.

this show though has a sweetness and instead of showing computers as good or bad he shows that yes it’s sad to lose people and yes you will eventually lose people but it’s how you deal with the present and work to have fun every day that’s truly important. it just had a much better message and i love that even though she was done he took what he could to make something new and to essentially make sure she wouldn’t be lonely.

Compelted: Ano Natsu de Matteru

yes.... almost all the shows i'm watching end this week so i'm making quite of a few of these.

So Ano Natsu de Matter, it's a cute little slice of life show that uses comedy and sci-fi as well as a lot of romance.... lets just say it takes he likes her but she likes him and he likes someone else to a new level.

um... apparently it's directed by the same person who made Onegai Teacher/twins.
i will be honest.... i've only seen half an ep of teacher and none of twins.... i hear it's pretty good but the anime club at my high school wanted to watch Great Teacher Onizuka instead....

so as far as that goes i can't make comparisons other then there seems to be a similar style and apparently some throw back jokes to the previous series.

Did i like the show? yeah it's pretty cute, Alien crash lands on earth and ends up living with the boy she nearly killed.... typical plot right?

well it is more complex, she's a senior at his school and he seems really interested thanks to the vague flashbacks he has of nearly dying... but he can't remember... so he just asks her to be in the movie they are filming that summer.

if you like a fun show then this is definitely one to watch, it streams for free on Crunchyroll and it's only 12 episodes long.

plus the music is really good.... which is surprisingly important to whether i like a show or not...

Completed: Akira

Originally published January 15, 2012 on tumblr


okay…. i know it’s damn near blasphemy to be a fan of Anime and yet never having seen this film.
but i have known about it since i was a kid, my dad even has a figure of the iconic red bike. We never owned it VHS and if we did it probably got ruined over the years…. anyways he didn’t see the need to own it on dvd… he had seen it…

but i hadn’t.

so about a year after geneon went out of business i was at a con and they were selling Akira really cheap…. like 5 or 10 dollars. so i said “you know what…. it’s iconic and i want to see it and if that means buying it then fine… gladly”

so i did… and brought it home and dad went “oh cool, let me borrow this… “

so for many years it sat in the computer room where dad had watched it…. and i forgot about it cause i don’t go down there if i don't have to… i have a comp in my room so there is no need.

anyways he did recently give it back…. but i was swamped with classes so once again it got put in the “need to watch/read” pile where it stayed.

Now…. last week was my first week back from break, my web images class told us we needed to watch a movie from a list of 5….

after picking a group an the movie inception (i swear this IS relevant) we decided why not come to my place… watch it AND watch black swan which i hadn’t seen and neither had another group member… seeing as my boyfriend hadn’t seen it either we invited him as well and had essentially a movie marathon…. started with black swan… then right into inception.

then at the end of inception when they are limbo my boyfriend states. “ah this scene is right out of Akira with the water and the crumbling buildings… i just love the look” he probably mentioned it cause we commented how the earlier gravity defying hallway reminds us of a scene in Paprika…

anyways that reminded me that i still owned that damn movie and still hadn’t seen it…

well i was done putting it off… and my group member whom is also my friend hadn’t seen it either… so when my BF had to leave she stayed and we watched it.

(see…. told you the tangent was relevant)

so after all that… what did i think?

two things

wow…. that was really good, everything was really engaging… okay i really didn’t like the music but it worked so not too many complaints.

and

omg jonny young bosche is in everything…

well not everything but the version of akira i have has him as the main character… and then i put in gankutsuou…. where he plays Albert… so off to imdb we went… and yeah…. he’s done a lot… mostly main characters on top of all that… easily impressive.

so yeah…. go watch it…. even considering how old it is… the animation is gorgeous… simply amazing.

Completed: Chihaya Furu

I normally dislike anime about sports cause almost always the main character wins everything.

This show is an exception.

We start the series with a girl named Chihaya and she is extremely pretty.... as well as fairly dense.... mostly because ever waking moment of her time is spent on Karuta

what is Karuta? it's an old Japanese card game that's kind of like memory on crack.
there are 100 poems each split into two cards... one gets read while the other is on the playing field. players have to find and take/knock away the match to the card being read.
the goal of the game is to clear your side of the field of cards.... so if you take a card from the opponents side you give them a card from yours or if they make a mistake you give them one of your cards.

Chihaya is introduced to the game in elementary school when Arata, the new kid who's being bullied but she stands up for, invites her over and she finds a desk... he asks her to play...
and promptly wipes the floor with her, this kid is so good when he hits the cards they are imbedded in the wall.

Chihaya fights in vain to try and get even one card from him... and she does.... she remember the card because it starts with Chiha like her name...

the amount of fun the two have together and the new friendship helps her love the game.... her other friend Taichi still wants to bully Arata so when the school holds it annual Karuta tournament Taichi takes Arata's glasses.... Arata tries his best to play based on memory but at the cards get moved around it's impossible.... Chihaya pushes her way into playing the match for Arata.... she loses again cause she's not good but Arata appreciates the gesture... and soon all three are friends. they join a local Karuta society and start to practice... they even try to win a competition.... but just as they are all getting to be closer... Arata's grandfather becomes Ill and Arata need to move again.

Fast forward to highschool.
Karuta isn't particularly cool but Chihaya wants to make a club for the school... they need a minimum of 5 members. the show is mainly about how she acquires more members and how each person plays the game a little different... some more with technical skill, others with gut feelings and some who just love the poetry aspect of the game.

I really liked this show... yes it is about a sport that as someone who isn't Japanese i know NOTHING about... but the show knows that may be the case and introduces the rules fairly slowly.... in fact we don't even start with any rule other the pick the matching card till after the required members are brought it.... which means about halfway through the show. And while the main focus is the sport there is so much character development that i found it extremely enjoyable.

it's lovely to look at and is really quite touching in some scenes... i will admit it made me cry quite easily.... especially in the beginning.... and the middle.... and i guess the end too.... hmmmmmmm.
but it made me cry so much because when the character were in pain i could feel it, i cared about these people and wanted them to keep fighting even when things seemed impossible.

also they seem to have left it open for a second season... here's hoping.

Completed: Natsume Yuujinchou (season 4)

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why are you still here? go watch it over on crunchyroll.com ...

go..... now....


ok in all seriousness it's really good.... the last episode claimed to be 'the end' but considering how nothing is really finished.

we still have names to give, still have more to find out about Reiko... we have to have natsume dealing with the fact that he can see spirits and possible telling his family....
oh and i want to know why there are picture of natsume floating around for a story arc that has yet to be animated.... show can't end until that's all wrapped up

.... i wouldn't be surprised at all by a 5th season.... but considering it was a 3 year gap between season 2 and 3.... it may be a while...

but yeah, if you like slice of life that doesn't focus on romance and has some action? this is pretty much the perfect show for that....

now because two things finished today....

Versus: Spiral: ~The Bonds of reasoning~

Originally published January 6, 2012 on tumblr


A new series that people probably wont care about…. yay.

a long time ago, i honestly don’t even know when…. after 2002 but i think before 2004… a friend of mine…. the same one who suggested i watch Air… told me about a show called Spiral that was really good and had an interesting mystery.

Normally i’m indifferent about mystery shows… Don’t know why they just never did it for me.

However when i saw the character design…

I thought…. you know what he looks really pretty…. i will give this show a chance.
 
yes i am incredibly vain and will give things a chance if they ‘look’ nice.

the show was 25 episode long (it’s been a long time since i re watched it) with a kickass intro song…. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vO7Roa5Ab34 kibouhou by strawberry jam (btw love the simplistic vector style of the intro… such impressive use of shape…. anyways back on topic) and after finishing the series i felt one thing.

Disappointment.

Nothing is resolved…

The plot focuses around these ‘cursed’ children known as the blade children. They are all extremely smart and talented and really deadly. However Ayumu Narumi, the main character, is also really damn smart. in the first episode (or first few eps…. it’s been so long since i got the veridian collection) he manages to show that a suicide was actually a murder and he gets thrown into this situation with the blade children who try to kill him multiple times.

BUT even though these children try to kill him they claim that they don’t want him to die sicne he will be there salvation according to Narumi’s older brother who vanished a few years prior leaving a cryptic message of “gone to deal with blade children bye byes”… okay it was more serious then that but you get the point…

so he solves mysteries and avoids death and then…. it kinda…. just…. ends…

My theory on this is that the show wasn’t popular enough for a second season…. it finishes right around the time Kanon is introduced which is a good place to end the season…. but not the entire show… so they must have been counting on getting picked up again…. that was almost 10 years ago so i think it’s safe to say chances of season two are slim to none.

not impossible of course…. just unlikely.

Still while the show was on i really liked it…. it ended up being more of a thriller mind game then a mystery series and that appealed to me more…. so many years later i saw in my Comic preview book that Yen Press was selling spiral… this was around the time volume 4 was out.

Yen Press is good but they tend to only sell a little bit of a book and very rarely will they make another print… broccoli is also fond of this “get it while you can” mentality. So i was warned by the place i buy my manga from that it will be tricky to get the first few volumes but they would try…

and they succeeded.

Unlike the anime the Manga is quite long…. 15 volumes.
and kanon is introduced about halfway. so i’m loving that there finally feels like there is more to the story.

yes parts of the book felt like deathnote tennis talk to me… by that i mean

The main character thinks to himself “if i do this they’ll think that so i’ll do this other thing instead”
The villain smirks “ah he’s thinking that if he does that it’ll be too obvious so he’s going to do this other thing…  will do this to counter that”
ect… i hate when stories do this…. i get its a necessary evil but it still annoys me.

but still i was enjoying the story and learning more about the blade children, Ayumu and his brother as well as the girl who always follows ayumu around.

so i got pretty much exactly what i wanted… there is a lot of talk of gods, devils, demons, fate and so on near the end but the fact that the whole series is pretty much ayumu going “i don’t care about fate i will make my own choices in life” makes all that fate talk bearable.

i do have to say i saw the twist of who/what Ayumu is coming from a mile away. But in the end…. so did Ayumu so i guess we were supposed to figure it out? maybe…

and while in the end the blade children aren’t really saved (though they are on the path) and maybe things are uncertain about many characters i felt like the ending was the perfect way to finish it….
So i called this segment Versus because i wanted to compare the two right? (hopefully i’ll remember all these questions when i do this again…. if i do it again)

When it comes to story the Manga wins hands down since it actually gets to tell one.

When it comes to Art i have it give it to the anime just because the show is really pretty.

when it comes to characters again i have to give it to the anime… yes none of the characters get to be fully developed but the blade children get more development in 25 episodes of the show then they do in 15 volumes of the manga. they just don’t get to complete their arc.

How similar are they to each other? almost exact duplicates… a few stories are added in for the Anime that show the blade children as being evil when necessary but overall when they tell the same plot they are exactly the same.

If You can only pick up one then get the manga… only because it actually tells the story and doesn’t leave you hanging.

Which one did i like more…. i don’t know why… maybe cause i saw it first… but the Anime…. even though it’s not really complete i think it’s really good for the 25 episodes that are there.

Ah this was fun…

Okay so how to get it…

The anime is being distributed by Funimation, there is a Verdian Collection version which is nice and compact and really friendly on your wallet BUT since the entire case and everything holding the disk in is paper (well some kind of cardstock but still) if your not careful it’s possible to scratch the disk so it’s a bit nerve wracking.

The manga was originally licensed by Tokyopop but Yen Press currently has the rights, it may be trickier to find earlier volumes but this show is surprisingly popular despite being old so you may be able to get yours hands on it….

and yeah…. i think that's good enough for now… like i said i may do this again…. maybe for dub versus sub… it’s all just for fun in the end.

Completed: Air Tv (spoilers cause the show is pretty old)

Originally published January 3, 2012on tumblr


this was my 3rd chem re-watching it… possibly my 4th….
how i cam across this show. a friend of mine from class liked anime and wondered if i had seen a show called Air. He described it as a show that looked really pretty and had a kind of interesting mystery plot.

i had never downloaded anything and was skeptical but i eventually caved and watched it.
And thus i was introduced to the world of Visual arts/ Key.

Now i will say this… the show has not aged well at all… the eyes look extremely odd and are too far apart…. the character have chins that could be used as weapons they are so large… BUT the animation is still really nice and fluid. The music is memorable and characters for the most part are well designed.

To date (as far as i know) there have been three adaptations of Visual Art/Key games. Kanon (which was adapted both in 2000 and 2006), Air (which got a tv show and a movie) and Clannad (which got two seasons and a movie. ) and out of all of that…. Air is probably my least favorite. It’s still good but boy does it have problems.

out of the three it is the shortest (i didn’t see kanon 2000 which i think is also 13 eps but in this case i’m not counting it) and each story is told in fairly concise arcs.

First we have Kano’s arc which takes place over 3-4 episodes…. she seems to have multiple personality disorder thanks to touching a magic feather when she was young. Yukito, the main male character, eventually uses some of his telekinetic ability to heal her or something….

Then we have Minagi’s arc which the bulk of it takes place over 2 eps but goes on at the same time as the Kano arc…. so i’d say again 3-4 eps… more tragic then Kano’s story in my opinion… she is always found playing with her younger best friend Minagi since her mother is going through trauma after having a miscarriage. this is that baby would have been called Michiru and the mother even has forgotten about Minagi and is calling her Michiru…. but it gets better… the young best friend Michiru really is the dead baby who asked for life from the girl with wings…. but due to…. whatever it’s time for her to go… the scene where she leaves always brings tears to my eyes. it’s really well done.

Next is Yukito’s arc where we learn more about why he searches for a girl with wings…. again this lasts most of the show but is focused on in 2 episodes… as Misuzu, the main girl, continues to have dreams and gets weaker he tries to leave her to avoid getting ill himself…. however he learns that he doesn’t care anymore and goes back to her side…. again through means that aren’t ever completely explained he gives up his life through a single wish to try and help her.

The we have the winger being arc…. lasts 2 eps (not including the special episodes) and we learn more about the winged beings, the curse and why yukito has powers….

then we get what i call the crow arc…. because we start back at the beginning of the show but instead Yukito is a crow…. human yukito is there as well but we never see his face… we get an exteremly condences recap but instead we see there's a crow with misuzu…. which is odd cause throughout the show we see this crow but now it’s not in the same place and…. ugh my head.

the crow arc lasts till the end of the show… other then one instance Yukito never comes back and misses out on the last episode drama. The last episode… though not the saddest key/visual arts moment is pretty high up there. in fact i think this is the only key/visual arts story where there isn’t a later retcon to being someone (or multiple someones)back from the dead.

so then the story ends on disk three….. but wait i have another volume…. special episodes…. one that can be called misuzu’s arc (it’s just everything from misuzu’s perspective with both yukito’s story and the crows mixed together…. so a glorified clip show) then two episodes to go more indepth into the past.

so by the end of this show…. it’s recapped 3 times.

That is probably my biggest issue with this show…. second issue is the fact that yukito… who is the main character in my opinion isn’t technically there…. yes he’s a crow but thats not good enough in my opinion. A lot of things think they are explained… but they aren’t…

why does michiru suddenly have to go? why does Kano have a mark on her wrist and was it there before she tried to commit suicide? how does Misuzu know that that one night was her last dream, why does yukito turn into a crow of all things… i get that's it’s for him to have wings but why specifically a crow which tends to be a bad omen. why does the dog say “piko”?
and why does it need to recap so much? granted it doesn’t recap 8 times (no i will never let that go) but still it’s too much for such a short show.

It is still a good show…. you can tell it’s one of the first titles from a company (dunno where it falls in game wish but i know the anime was done after Kanon so i will assume the game came after kanon as well) and you can tell they wanted to try new things. i also love how fluid the animation is even though the faces can look really funny.
also between air, Kanon and Clannad i’d say this show has the best intro song next to After story’s intro.

if you get a chance pic this show up… it was licensed by ADV before they went down but i think Funimation holds the rights now… shouldn’t be too expensive. if you want a shorter summation then get the movie… it’s pretty much a retelling of the anime but with more focus on the past….
it is odd to think that this is based off a hentai game since
a) the girls are a little young
b) i don’t see where it could really fit in other then the arc in the past.

the game has been released many times in japan…. it’ll probably never come over to North American soil cause there doesn’t seem to be as much of a market for it…

also these things keep getting longer and longer…. oh boy

Completed: The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya Season 2

Originally published January 2, 2012 on tumblr


32 times….. that's how many times i have sat through endless 8… 16 times in japanese and now once in English….

anyways…. i have a major love hate relationship with this show.

may as well start at the beginning… so way back in…. 2006? yeah i thinks thats when it first aired…. anyways my friend told me “hey this show is great…. i think you’ll like it…” granted this is the same person who said princess tutu was stupid based off episode 1 but still he did know my taste and most of the time he recommended good shows…. so he put on episode 00…. and i just kind of stared at him and sighed.

“what the hell is this?” i asked as i stared at my friend
“trust me and watch the next episode… that episode is supposed to make you think wtf”
so i sighed and watched the next episode…. and then i understood.

however the show had a really long title that i had a hard time remembering (suzumiya haruhi no yuutsu) so when i got home i forgot about it for a while… eventually…. like a month or so later i got curious and asked him what the show was called and where i could see it and i got that info and watched it…. and it became one of my favorite shows of all time.

the very second it came out on dvd i bought it…. in fact i was one of those fools who bought the 70 buck special edition (granted i only paid 70 for the first part…. i payed closer to 40 for the other 3 parts)

i loved everything about this show, the animation is pretty, the music is fitting, the character design is fun and i loved the characters… specifically the titular character and Kyon. i was so excited for season 2 because the story in both orders just kinda ends (more so in chronological order)
so a year passes…. nothing

another year…. still nothing….

rumors rumors rumors and finally in 2009 they start re-airing the first season…. which in japan is odd…. they are notorious for no reruns….

they were showing it in chronological order and i think it was after the melancholy arc we got a new episode “Bamboo leaf Rhapsody” and it was really good… interesting plot, great animation and we see more of the characters powers….

then it went back to season 1 episodes…. it was clear… we were going through this watching with both seasons mixed together to make the chronological order make more sense.

The next episode probably brought on so much fan rage i’m surprised the building was left intact…. they did receive threats…. but i should explain.

endless 8 started as a fun summer episode where haruhi orders everyone around in the last two weeks or summer so they can have the best summer ever
however by the end of the list she wonders if they did enough. oh well they did do a lot of things…. she hands kyon the bill and leaves….
end of episode.

not so bad right? nice filler episode right? wrong.

they repeat this episode the next week…. only this time it’s a little different and the characters start having a sense of deja vu
they find out that they are in a time loop and have repeated the same two weeks for 595 years. one of them remembers all of this… the Alien Yuki Nagato… however since her purpose is only to observe she didn’t tell them earlier.

ok that's still fine though… i mean… it’s a good way to show that they are repeating time…. since once again haruhi isn’t satisfied…. it’ll all be finished the next episode right? i mean…. everything in threes right?

NOPE.

cause see the title of the episode is endless EIGHT…. some retard thought it would be a brilliant idea to have this season… which is 13 (or 14… don’t remember) episodes long…. and make 8 of them the same thing.

so…. each episode is 22 minutes long…. times 8

nearly 3 HOURS of the same thing repeating with SLIGHT changes. this arc went on for around 2 months of airtime cause there is only one episode per week

so…. understandably so…. people were angry…. we waited 3+ years to get 8 episodes of the same thing. and to be fair…. this was based on a 30 page chapter in the original novel which only went through the final loop. the studio was of course unapologetic….

on the 8th episode it’s all solved…. Kyon just needed to finish his homework : D

so…. i think there was an ep or two of old episodes and then we get the sigh of haruhi suzumiya….
which is probably my favorite arc of the show so far.

it deals with all the chaos that ensued when they were shooting the movie which is episode 00
it’s brilliant…. it renewed my love in the show and even though it ends and we are still in season 1…. i didn’t care… i was happy…. and the movie had been announced at the point. so i could deal with all the bullshit.

so last Wednesday i went and finally picked up season 2 for a decent price… and a few days before bandai closed down so that was lucky….

I thought about abridging it and only watching 3 episodes of endless 8…. but i watched to watch the whole thing… and to be fair…. when it’s just 3 hours of the same thing instead of 2 months of it… it’s actually quite effective… you really do feel that this is endless so the resolution really does fell great….

still mad about the whole endless eight thing but you know what…. i can’t help but love this show…. i feel like a puppy that's been beaten yet i still come back….

also the movie “the disappearance of haruhi suzumiya” is really good and if bandai hasn’t licensed/released it yet i hope someone else will since bandai is no more : (
alright…. natsume yuujinchou season 4 is about to air…. so off to crunchyroll ^^

Completed: Peach Girl

Originally Publushed December 24, 2011 on tumblr


this is my second time watching the show…. and i used to like it…. but this time…. i actually got little annoyed

first there is a little controversy with some of the art relating to the show… unfortunately i can’t find the link but there are issues of stocks being used and if they were paid for or not…. but i can’t find the link so i can’t be sure if it was this series or her next project pappillon so i wont discuss it further.
the plot in a nutshell? Main girl Momo has been in love with middle school friend Toji but she was told he doesn’t like tan girls… and she was on the swim team and has a lot of melanin and therefor has enough of a tan where people think she’s a Gal. So she has told herself she will confess once she’s paler then him….

but that’s not complicated enough is it…. okay…. her ‘best friend’ Sae is a major copycat…. copies everything momo plans to do… but she does it in a way where she looks like the one with all the taste…. plus she’s small and pale and very cute… for some reason momo continues to deal with her even when Sae blatantly asks who Momo likes…. and after she points to the local in their year Hottie, named Kairi, Sae saunters up to him and tries to confess…. not even missing a beat or going behind momo’s back. so we see why Sae can’t know that Toji is who she really likes.
again though…. this is shoujo…. not complicated enough.

after Sae is rejected by Kairi rumors are spread about Momo kissing Kairi… this boy apparently has the standard crazy japanese fan club that beats up other girls that threaten their position…. that we see in so much shoujo… anyways they go to beat momo up and Kairi comes in to…. sit down and watch the cat-fight. This, rightfully, pissed Momo off and she rushes over and punches him…. he laughs and the fan girls run away cause it seems a girl who swam every day is actually pretty strong.
So momo is pissed about this rumor, she thinks her love will never think about her now since she is the school slut and she didn’t even do anything.

kairi has a plan to fix everything though… the rumor is that they kissed? well the way to fix it is obviously to make it true so he grabs her and kisses her.

oh we are so close….. but the setup is’t perfect yet…. oh i know

Toji overhears Momo and Kairi talking about how Momo likes Toji but he doesn’t like tan girls…. later of course he goes up to her and mentions that he doesn’t care if she’s tan he likes her anyways… and they start dating.

and that concludes the first episode.

i’m not kidding…. that's the set up….

this get more complex as the two date, Sae finds out and does everything in her power to break them up…. up to and including nearly getting momo raped (nothing happens) and blackmailing her boyfriend into dumping her and then making him date her even though he hates her. so momo starts goign out with Kairi who she built a friendship with over time…. Kairi sees through all sae’s lies and seems to keep her away so that works…. then they start goign out….. but oh no Kairi actually is still in love with his first love…. but he loves momo too but he can’t decide…. so he goes on a spirit journey thing to discover himself….

momo gives him a deadline and sais she’ll wait 5 mins…. does to shit happening to his family he can’t…. she thinks it measn he doesn’t love her….. but no he followed her thought a typhoon on foot… but she needed up going away with toji who is no longer being blackmailed because sae found her true love in kairi’s older brother who is an asshole…. so kairi gives up…. then he doesn’t…. then she’s forced to pick and oh no who should she choose? the boy who protected her without her knowing or the one who….. who…. um…. well i guess kairi makes her laugh and happy…we’ll go with that.

so yeah….. this series gets unnecessarily complex.  but normally i like that stupid ocmplex bullshit in shoujo…. it’s half the fun.

but this being my second run through…. i realized i hate all the characters.
Momo is really a bitch who flip flops between two really amazing guys and seems to always worry more about how she feels then how her indecisiveness makes them feel…. also she’s rash… in one scene where Toji is not believing Momo and instead is listening to Sae’s lies she goes to his hospital window (cause he got appendicitis) which is three floors up and threatens to not come back in unless he listens to her.

Look sweety…. if your boyfriend is taking your friends words over your own…. either try to explain the situation calmly OR dump him… no need for nearly falling out a window.

Next~

Toji. he is so perfect it’s sickening. this guy can do no wrong…. he doesn’t pressure her into sex even though they have the house to themselves. he buys her the best birthday present, he is good at school and sports, he stands up for everyone and he is just perfect in every way…. and even when he is breakign up with momo in the meanest way possible he still cries cause he is sadface…. he’s just too damn perfect that he has no personality….. yes he tries to force himself on momo a bit more near the end but she’s being a bitch and he’s worried about how indecisive she is…. but that's the only time we see him not be perfect….

Next~~

Kairi…. well at least he goes through a character arc…. and he has more of a character then Toji but i don’t get why he doesn’t just say “pick me, i walked through a typhoon for you”…. dramatic tension i guess….

Next~~~

Sae…. why would anyone be friends with her? they do deal with that question but still she is terrible….. still she also goes through a character arc. so i have to give her credit there…. hell she may even be one of the best characters.

but yeah…. mom is just terrible and as a main character she never really has to work for anything… except when she changes herself to better suit the guy in the start of the story…. i mean she gives up swimming which she loves just so she wont tan….. argh

so yeah…. used to like this series and it still has it’s cute moments but damn it’s annoying.

Completed: Tales of Phantasia (OVA) (spoilers)

Many years ago, 8 or so, a friend of me felt i should broaden my RPG knowledge away from mainstream games like Final Fantasy, he suggested I play a RPG that had been released for the SNES a long time ago "Tales of Phantasia". Seeing as how at this point it had never been released to North America he set me up with an emulator and the fan translated game.

I Loved the game, it quickly became a favorite and I played it till i get 100% of everything.... except levels... i think i was only around 95 or 98. Anyways it was the only time i ever played an emulator but it left an impression on me.

Why bring this up? There's a bit of controversy with the character names among fans... see when they eventually did get a version of the game to North America on the GBA the official game had some changes to the names.

Cless became Cress
Klarth became Clause.
the others pretty much all stayed the same.

However to two little tiny changes can cause a huge uproar among fans, What is my stance on the issue? Well considering Japanese is a phonetic language it's really hard to have a translation for words that everyone can agree on.
ex. Natsume Yuujinchou, Natsume Yuujin-cho, Natsume Yujin-cho
or
shoujo, Shojo / Shounen, Shonen

I think it's Less an issue of which one is right and more an issue of which one you are used to... for that reason in this review I will be referring to the two characters as Cless and Klarth... be it right or wrong, i don't care it's what i'm used to calling them.

Now that's out of the way, onto the next story.

As mentioned above I loved the game, so in 2004 when The first episode of the OVA was released i was extremely happy. Watching it had the memories flooding back to me, it was exactly like the game... by the time all 4 episodes were released (which took two years) I was so happy, yeah they cut out some of my favorite scenes from the game but it's a long game and only 4 episodes... they did manage to keep a lot though...

But.... i started to think.... did i only like the show cause i loved the game?

Fast forward a few years, Geneon releases all 4 episodes on one disk and i scoop it up right away, luckily too since not too long after that Geneon closed their doors....
Fast forward to earlier the year, thanks to this completed series i've really enjoyed re-watching shows, i saw the disk and thought. "hey, why not? it's only 4 episodes long"

So i watched it again and i still loved it.... but now i really wondered if i only liked it cause i played the game.

So i posed an experiment, I have a Friend who when she was younger didn't get to play many games... if any at all.... she had never played ANY of the tales of games and had no prior knowledge of stories/characters/controversies.... SO i lent it to her with the stipulation that she must watch all 4 episodes, no matter what.

So she did and she came back to me "i like it but the last episode confused me"

I was stunned, it was not the result i was expecting, i was POSITIVE it would make no sense... but no after asking her to tell me the plot she got pretty much all of it right till the last episode, she didn't understand the point of the ninja girl and the whole revelation around Dhaos of left her wondering why she should care.

So i got ready to write the review when my other friend sees the dvd and goes "hey, is that related to Tales of Symphonia? i loved that game"
The answer is yes, Phantasia takes place 4000 years after Symphonia so the two are very loosely connected... anyways it got me thinking, would someone who had a little bit of knowledge of the game enjoy it? She doesn't watch as much anime as me or play as many games so it was a perfect middle ground between me and my first test subject.
So i lend it to her but i don't say she has to watch all 4 episodes.

So after a few weeks of no news about it i ask her "have you watched any? what did you think"

"It makes no sense, i even had a friend over and we tried to make sense of it but we couldn't"
 See that's the reaction I was expecting... and i got it from an expected place. however with that knowledge in place i think i should FINALLY get to the review.

Tales of Phantasia is about Cless Alvein a Swordsman who has hid hometown destroyed because of a trinket he carries from his father, Mint Anadade a Cleric who gets taken from her family for a trinket she possesses and Chester Barklight a archer who lost his family and little sister because of the destruction of Cless' hometown.

Apparently their necklaces (which are exspheres... tee hee hee) are the Key to releasing Dhaos, the Big bad of this series who had been sealed for almost 1000 years.

So Dhaos is released and the only key to stopping him is magic.... too bad in this time the Tree Yggdrasil is a rotting mess and seeing as it's the source of all magic that means the only people who possess any form of magic are Clerics.... yeah too bad they aren't terribly offensive.

So a Mage who happens to be there when Dhaos is awakened  send Cless and Mint to the past, poor little Chester is left behind to serve as a distraction.

Why the past? oh because at this point in time Magic uses still exist, they are tasked to find Arche Klien, the half elf Mage and Klarth. F. Lester a Summoner.

so they do, they help protect a town that has technology that can send them back to their own time. Unfortunately the town also has this Canon that uses up all the mana in the area and it is the reason why there's not enough mana for the future. hence no magic users...

Dhaos doesn't seem too trilled by the canon and does his best to try and stop it from firing, he fails and then the Tree that is the source of all Mana starts to die. Mint who has Martel, the spirit within the tree, calling to her goes to heal the tree... and is helped by an unlikely source... Dhaos also does his best to feed mana into the tree.

Well that's odd...  anyways they eventually get back to their time and fight Dhaos, but he gets away.... damn him and his time travel abilities. Well they have no idea where he went so their job is done right? Wrong.

someone from the future come to the past looking for the Time Traveling heroes.... Chester tags along despite being much weaker then the others and they go on an adventure to find a way to keep Dhaos in one time....

Apparently they need the Origin Sword that the Summon spirit Origin can create. it's guarded by the elven village.... which Arche can't enter.

anyways they do get the sword and the contract for Klarth... now off to Dhaos' castle which the sword leads them to.

here is where suzu comes in, in the version i played she was a side character who had her parents controlled and she eventually has to kill them.... in later versions she's a playable character... though in this her role seems to be closer to what i described and it really doesn't add anything to the story.

So they go and fight Dhaos with their magic, they win and oh crap... thanks to you killing him his entire planet is going to die, see this world screwed up the flow of mana when the tree died and that completely screwed Dhaos home world over since the two are connected.
well that sucks.... oh well....
everyone goes back to their own time, Arche manages to see them all again in present day since she's a half elf but Klarth can't cause.... yeah he's probably dead. anyways the work hard to try and help the tree get healthy again since mint helping in the past seems to have done something.


It's a really pretty Anime... it's really well animated and it's fun seeing the characters i love so much with so much life. However as my experiments proved.... without prior knowledge of the series as a whole it's damn near impossible to understand... it jumps all over the place... and even if you get most to a point the ending will leave you baffled.

So with a heavy heart i know it's not a good show.... but i still love it... i kind of wish they had done the unicorn scene from the game but i understand why they didn't fit it in...

I do however recommend the game if you can find the GBA version... it's not the best port in the world and the audio is terrible due to limitations of the hardware but still... great story. i know there's a PSP version as well but i'm not clear on if it was released to North America or not.

Alright, wow didn't mean for this to be so long.... oh well~