Haikyu!!

Wow everything is ending this weekend... and i mean... i don't think i have any continuing shows except Sailor moon.

Anyways back when i was small.... well smaller... i played two team sports for my school. Volleyball and Basketball (though i enjoyed Basketball more cause at least people weren't afraid of the ball, plus my speed was put to good use)... i also did some track and field but i don't count that since everyone in my school was forced to... it was manditory (i think i was just one of a few who liked it.)

Anyways I enjoy playing lots of sports... not the biggest fan of watching them.
A few years ago Kuroko no Basket came out and i loved it.... it went a bit downhill in season 2 and i'm worried i'll outright hate the show in the third season but the show overall taught me that i should give some sports anime a shot.
So when i saw haikyu!! was abotu volleyball i was excited. And the show is really good, no one is naming attacks (like... characters call a move the "god like quick" but the character doesn't actualyl say that as he's doing the move) the rules are all layed out and followed and no one is purely good... they all have flaws...
I mean i'm sure it's a matter of time till shit like "the zone" (aka what ruined Kuroko no basket) or naming moves comes into play but looking at this single season as a stand alone it's really good.

I assume Season 2 will come out sometime in the spring but who knows... i don't think it has a date yet.

There is one little thing that annoyed me.

There is a lot of reused animation... especially when someone tried to receive the ball and fails... you will see this one bit of animation done by different characters multiple times in a single episode... and it was really distracting for me.
Also the music can be kinda lame in spots and for a sports anime the music helping you get all excited for the scene is part of the fun.

But the characters are wonderful, Hiroshi Kamiya is in it as well so that was a nice bonus (also two shows in one season? jackpot!) I hope next season focuses on some of the other characters while still not forgetting who the main ones are (another failing of Kuroko no basket season 2)

However if you don't like sports anime or hate volleyball for some reaso ni doubt this show will change your mind.
The animation is good, the character designs almost alwasy look angry and some of the stretching can be over the top but i found it kinda endearing.

Boy i hope season 2 doesn't suck.

Anyways later today i have Monthly Girls Nozaki-Kun
then i may or may not catch up/finish DRAMAtical Murder. (may hold off till tuesday since so many shows)
and then tomorrow Hanayamata and blue spring ride (so.... lots of crying i guess)
and then i finish this off with seeing if there was any point to Glasslip on thursday(i'm going to go with no...)
 

Aldnoah Zero

*speachless*
Well... that is a thing.... that happened.
um... unlike Captain earth where i didn't know where to start here i honestly don't think i can say anything.
well other then go watch it.

It's like if Attack on titan met a mech anime... it's got such a grand scale... and yeah... it's really good.
the music is great too, especially the intro song that is done by the same group that did the ending song to madoka magica.

but yeah... i can't say anything... you have to experience it.

also there is a season 2 coming in January.... looking forward to that.

so yeah.... i'm gunna go process what i just saw... and maybe get some rest cause i think i'm running a fever... oops.

oh... and i probably wont be byuing this series any time soon cause the aniplex tax is too high... but Aniplex is bringing it over so thats good.

but yeah...
wow

Captain Earth

I honestly don't know where to start... i have no clue what to write... i was thinking of doing a voice recording but honestly i don't know what to say and my voice is pretty hoarse from this cold... so... guess i'll figure something out.

Let's get some things about me straight.

1. I don't like sci-fi.... especially when that Sci-fi goes into space and starts blowing shit up... i have extreme Astrophobia... so yeah it makes enjoying this one genre damn near impossible for me because i will have panic attacks.

2. I don't give a shit what anyone things.... i like what i like and i don't like what i don't like.... i don't care if it's popular or unpopular or done by a certain creators... half the time i don't even know why i like something. sometimes something just resonates, i never expect that it'll be the same for anyone else.

3. I have strange taste, i don't know how to describe it other then my likes and dislikes are wide and varied and make no sense...

Now, story time (i swear all this has a point)

On August 2nd 2014 i finished a little chibi fanart of Daichi Manatsu. 

Now for me fanart is actualyl very difficult.... but i had a blast drawing him. I uploaded him to all my normal sites and then i got to DevianArt. (DA)
DA has a feature called groups, you can gjoin a group of people with like minded interest and submit art to get a more focused viewing audience.
I Put him in a few groups for users of PaintToolSai (PTS) and a few more for Chibi art and even one for fanart in general.... btu then i thought. "may as well find a captain earth group"
There wasn't one.... which i found odd.
theres a group for damn near anything you can think of no matter how niche or obscure.
So i figured reverse search the club... find other fan arts and see if they submitted to a captai nearth club.
i found, on a site with THOUSANDS of artists.... 3 pieces of fanart.
out of curiosity i hopped over to tumblr....
i found 2 other pieces of fanart...
I was baffled.... i love this show... it's well animated... full of colour, great music..... it must have some kind of fanbase.... i mean.... it's a currently running show.... someone must have seen it....
everything has a fanbase... doesn't it?

So then, because i was curious, i did something i have never done before.
I looked at some reviews.
all of them
every single one panned this show
they HATED it.
and i just sat there wondering if i watched the same thing as everyone else.
then i shrugged and chalked it up to my strange taste.... and finished two more piece of fan art.

So that being said, Yeah i love the show... despite the fact that i hate sci-fi, despite the fact that shit blows up in space... i still love this show... i look forward to owning it. (thank you Sentai)
BUT i realize i am in the minority on this one so you may not like it as much as me... and thats fine, having different taste in things it what breeds conversation (as long as you never try to argue your opinion as fact)

SO quick synopsis and then we'll take it from there.

Captain earth follows Manatsu Daichu, a teen who's father died when he was young, through his boring final day of school before the summer vacation.
He is bored and has grown to hate the scenery surrounding him. One day he gets a bad feeling about something and through a series of even he ends up with a gun called a livelaster and the ability to pilot a mech that is needed to stop these space creatures known as Kiltgang from reaching earth.
He ends up joining forces with a mysterious girl he met as a child named Hana, the boy who introduced him to the girl named teppei and a self proclaimed magical girl hacker Akari.

Together they work to protect the earth from the invading Kiltgang while also trying to not be killed by a group known as Salty Dog who feel These four pose more of a risk then anything else.

Now side stepping for a second... the main complaint i saw in reviews was that the plot did not make sense.... this confused me cause it's litterally "boy in mech stops bad things from getting to earth... rinse repeat" so i think what they actually mean is that the plot has a lot of terms that are never explorered or explianed.
and they aren't wrong.
Anyone who shoots a livelaster gets called a Neoteny.
Whats a Neoteny you ask? no clue.... i guess using context it's someone who can shoot a livelaster.... thats all you get.
why is there a girl with blue hair playing a recorder? beats me.... personification of the livelaster i guess... they say it's an alien race controllign humans so it's entirely possible.
also whats a livelaster? a gun that appears when you want it to and shoot energy.... sometimes the enegery is stronger if you are more emotional....
or hell what is a kiltgang? well they are ego blocks.
whats an ego block? the thing the kiltgang use to jump through space even though their physical bodies are on earth already, it also makes them technically immortal.
I could go on.... yeah... theres a lot of stupid bullshit terms that don't get explained...... so?
No i'm serious.... why does that matter? so the terms aren't explained in great detail describing every little feature... you still know what they are talking about.

The other complaint i saw mainly was that it was boring and nothing happened. *shrugs* okay, if you say so... thats a very personal assessment...
is it a bit slow? i guess but i liked the pace it went at... but i already established that i like the show... i will go as far as to say it's one of my favs of this and last season.

But again, i am the minority... i understand this... i'm just saying go in with an open mind and you may enjoy it.... or you may be bored and think it's dumb.

I would also love a second season for it but considering no one cared for it and it obviously had a decent budget (the animation is lovely) the chances of more episodes are slim to none... and thats fine too.

So yeah... in my personal opinion

The good:
Animation - it's been a long time since i've seen a show with such vivid colours and wonderful animation, truly lovely to watch.
Characters - they all have personalities and goals and arcs.... everyone... including the antagonists.
Music -

Nuff Said.
actually.

Also i purposfully picked stuff with animation so you could see my point on how fluid everything is.
Lots of references to Midsummers nights dream and i just like when things refference real life things... it's fun. 

The not so good:
Yeah the plot is dumb
I don't care
it hits all the beats it needs to and personally i never felt bored.
Could more things have been explained? yes... did they need to? no. 

The bad:
I only got to watch the ending song once and that was a mistake... i didn't have a full blown panic attack but boy was i unhappy.
It has no fanbase, no one likes its and that means there's no one to fangirl over it with and that upsets me.... but hey... thats why i write this... i write this to vent and get out how much i love something when i know no one around me even remotely cares.

So yeah... despite my utter loathing of Sci-fi for fear of panic attacks... i love this show... and it's not my only sci-fi show this season... now i'm gunna go watch aldnoah Zero (which, spoilers, is also really good with amazing music and you should watch it)
also if you like this show let me know cause i would love to have someone to chat about how fun it is...
and if you hate it then thats fine too, as long as in the end you are happy.
In the end thats all that matters.... i'm just one person with a very strange opinion of things.

oh and just in the interest of full disclosure... yes... Hiroshi Kamiya plays Teppei.
and yeah Teppie is one of my fav characters....
that is all.

Oh and you can wtach it all over on Crunchyroll and make your own opinion... or wait till Sentai releases it and buy it i guess if you wanna take a huge gamble. 

Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair

I'm a little sad it's over...
heres hoping for Danganronpa 3? (it's more likely then Zero Escape 3)

I honestly don't know where to start.

Danganronpa is a Visual Novel with a lot of action elements. (at least more then any other VN i can think of)
While playing i constantly wondered if the game was a work of genius... or madness and i feel confident in saying both are true...
but i'm getting ahead of myself.

First: you probably can play this without having playing the first.... but you will miss out of so much and certain events will not make sense.... so play Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc first.

Second: if you plan on playing either game do not under any circumstances look up artwork or merch from it... you'll probably be spoiled.

I will try to make this as spoiler free as possible... which means i cannot talk about some of my favourite events... well not easily at least.

anyways, you wake up in a classroom with 15 other students, all claiming to be the new batch of ultimates for Hopes peak academy. However theres something odd... you can't remember your talent... and before you know it the walls fall down and you find yourself trapped on a deserted island.
According to a magical girl bunny rabbit all you have to do is spend a happy school field trip with your friends, collect things known as hope fragments and then you will all be able to graduate.

However.... no video game would ever be that simple... especially not one in this series...

Serious talk for a second... 4 out of (?) chapters got me crying... i think only one or two chapters of the old game got me sad... disturbed yes but not crying... this is much much different.
though i guess that being said... if you hate Visual novels or didn't like DR1 you may not like this game? i mean the two are quite different but they do have similarities.

Still i don't wanna say much without spoiling so.... i'll say this.
This game has some of the best character arcs i have seen in a while
not to mention one of the most [spoiler] characters i have ever seen in anything and they could easy be nightmare fuel.
The game continues to get darker... just when i thought it couldn't get any lower to the depths of despair it does... for me at least.

I just want to sing this game all the praises i can but i don't wanna ruin anything for anyone so all i can say is if you like VNs.... or better yet if you like Ace Attorney but wish it had a bit more action in the courtroom scenes... this is the perfect game for you.

one aspect i didn't like is that early on some characters would swear to the point where it comes across as if they are a child who just learned a new word.... but there is a point and by the end it works. (read as some characters swear less and others swear more.... nice balancing act)

The music is also a lot better Especially past the midway point of the game

 and even though i personally saw some of the twists coming there was a lot i didn't expect.

The good:
character design and art style, still unique and lovely.
Music is fun and rages from tropical to chiptuny... a nice mix.
great moments of utter despair as well as hope
4 dark Devas of destruction.... who also happen to be hamsters... cute wittle hamsters.

The sad:
the whole game is very sad and may be hard to stomach in large doses but i promise all the moments that break your heart get paid off in full.

The ugh:
Zero escape 3 may never happen at this rate... Danganronpa is just so much more popular so Spike chunsoft focus on that... *sighs* but that ciffhanger.

i'm pretty sure in my DR1 review i said i still liked zero escape more.... i think they are more on par now... both are so good.

[incoming rant, i'll let you know when it's done]

As for controversies over Translations... i'm sorry but some people must turn everything into a fight.
I'm pretty sure i've lost a friend thanks to this shit.
mostly concerning the first game but it still applies.

In the english Localisation for this series i heard two things.

1. Calling them ultimates sounds so stupid!

2. The translation of the characters names/the fact that some use nicknames is insulting to North Americans.

ok... one at a time.

1. Ultimates is dumb!
oh i'm sorry... "super high school level" isn't the dumbest thing you've ever heard?
i mentioned this in my review of one but ultimate is the PERFECT word since in english the word tends to be used for BEST but the actual meaning of the word is more akin to LAST.... the double meaning here
if i had to spend this game listening to "super high school level hope or despair" i may have chucked the game out the window cause it wouldn't make sense and it takes away all credibility.
Finally~! Having heard the japanese voice acting, to me it sounds like they are saying "ultimate" it's more tongue in cheek but it still sounds like ultimate.
not to mention all the japanese merch i have seen says ultimate...
In conclusion I 100% feel that ultimate was not only the best translation but also the correct translation... the sup[er high school level thing came from a fansubs... get over it.

2. Insulting names.
where do i even begin.
well first one the person who said this to me had only read transcripts of the game, never played it and more importantly never played this version of it.
so... lesson learned, don't jump on a bandwagon that you have never personally experienced and let me know about it cause if i have play/watched/read the thing in question i will rip you a new one. (with evidence of course)
Second of all, no they aren't.
thye just aren't
in the first game there is a case that depends on how characters address each other.
 fun fact: in english we don't really have multiple ways of addressing our peers.
shocker right? almost always when talking to people who we consider friends we use their first name... or if we are close a nickname... we just don't have the same varying level/gender specific of name types.
how the game addresses this.
some characters called everyone by nicknames.
some called everyone by last names
and some by first.
I found it worked perfectly well, the best they could have done with their situation.

but no somehow changing their names was insulting...
mmkay.... coming from the people who say Monobear instead of Monokuma... yes, Kuma means Bear... you can't bitch when they change things and then expect them to change other things.

in the end though, DR2 kinda just shows how wrong they are.
no names are changed... everyone is called by their full first name.
no matter how many syllables
no matter how silly sounding
so your argument is completely unfounded.
not everything is a controversy.... i just want play games and have fun and talk about them without having people jump down my throat.

Sorry i know that rant is more related to the first game stuff but it's been building on my chest for a while and i just needed to say it

[END RANT]

i'm sorry for any who read that... just... the way games are getting talked about lately has been really depressing.
either nothings good enough.... or everything is a controversy thats so bad we should rip companies a new one... or the future has no hope and we may be headed to a crash (which i don't  believe for a second.... i think things will change... and get worse before they get better.... but it will get better... that is my hope.)

but yeah... all i can say is i had fun, despite the tears and the the annoyance at some gameplay mechanics.... i still had fun.
which in the end is what it's all about... right?

Top ten male anime/game characters

So, i saw a news article over on cruchyroll "top ten sexiest Male characters"... and normally i do a thing where i say if i agree or disagree with the "otaku's" choices.

yeah i disagree with all of them....

So here's mine....
and i added game character cause screw you i do what i want... my ramble filled blog *grins* also i'm not worried about doubling up characters cause.... yeah i just don't care.

okay.


Honourable mentions:
Damn near every Megane (character that wears glasses) ever.
there are exceptions... but not many...

Matoba Seiji - Natsume yuujinchou
If he didn't scare the shit outta me he would probably be sexy.... but no... he's scary... and has major personal space issues.

Ryuuji Takasu - ToraDora!
He is just an all around nice as hell guy and he's just so adorable i just wanna hug him... however i'm not sure cute =sexy so yeah... here he is.

Sasame - Pretear
If i had to pick a guilty pleasure show this would be it.... it's Snow white and the seven dwarves.... though the "dwarves" are bishonen who combine with snowhite to become her outfits.
Anime can be weird....
anyways i love it... and my fav character design has to be Sasame

however because of [spoilers] he can't be on the main list....

lets throw another Megane here.
Yukio Okumura - Blue exorcist
If he didn't whine so much... he would easily be on the main list... but just too damn mopey without doing anything about it.

10. Hibiki Kuze- Devil Survivor 2
hey technically a game AND and anime... win win.
I love his character design.... i mean... look at him

i love his fluffy black hair... i love that he has access to Ma-level spells right off the bat (i mean watch the anime... i swear he uses Maziodyne or mabufudyne like... immediately)
and i love his hoody... his adorable bunny hoody.... i want one.... but too lazy to sew and i've seen how much other charge.
oh and the fact that he's voice by Hiroshi kamiya does not hurt at all... not a bit.
but personality wise.... meh? thats kinda the problem with main characters in SMT games... they are by nature blank slates so you can give them personality... but they just didn't give him enough character in the show.


9. Yatogami - Noragami
hey.... another Hiroshi Kamiya character... how did he get here again...
ok so i like his voice....
but look at Yato's design.

hm... well... okay thats not getting his sexyness across...

thats better... anyways i like how he's a loveable and pitiable god, but he does have a dark and dangerous side.
however... so low down the list cause getting involved with someone like that would just be too dangerous *nods*

8. Rin Okimura
again, his design is lovely... and he tries so hard and is hated so much for something he cannot control... but yeah it's his work ethic i find wonderful... he never gives up even when he really should... and yeah... another one of my figure pictures.

7. Gies - Ys Series.
While Ys 6 may be my least fav of the series.... i am so happy it introduced this character

he has a greta flushed out backstory that gets even more interesting when Ys 7 is introduced. (his hair also gets lighter and fluffier but i couldn't find a good pic.
 I would love if an Ys series focused on him but i understand why they don't... i hope he's in Ys 8 (though i have heard 8 will take place between 5 and 6 so it's unlikely IF that is the case)

6.  Lias - Atelier Meruru
he is not the only Atelier character on here...
and i'm not sorry
nope
not a bit
Atelier has some of the best designed male characters in gaming
Period.

Plus Lias tries so hard to be recognized by his older brother... i don't normally like the 'tsundere' type that anime likes to add to everything with him it works.
but he's not the sexiest Atelier character so he's not higher on the list.

5. Sterk - Atelier games (arland trilogy)
Specifically his Totori look cause....in meruru the hair is a bit stupid and i haven't played rorona........ yet.

I love that everyone is afraid of him and i'm just like... how do i get him in my party.
he has such a complex about his scary face too it's just adorable... but at heart he is a knight (despite the fact that he doesn't really have a kingdom to serve)
but yeah lovely character design.


4. Natsume takashi
yes... another Hiroshi Kamiya voice.... i know... i'm weak
i love natsume but I think my love of the show may have bumped takashi's spot a bit...
well... that and the bathtub scene from the show.... good times.

but i mean... look at him

I love everything about him, his design (which differs between the anime and manga and i like both.)
his personality, his snarkyness... the fact that he tries so hard.... just a wonderful character. But yeah despite being my fav show he is not the sexiest character i can think of.

3. Logix Fixario - Atelier Escha and Logi

I thought the red character would be more of a trend in my list but nope they are nice and spread out. I am so happy that you get to pick between Escha and Logy... cause as cute as the female characters are in that series i really do enjoy having a party of pretty boys... and the fact that he is dressed in red makes it that much better.
Plus he can be so clueless and that's always fun. but yeah.... anyone who knows me knows what my next 2 will be.


2. Kyon - Haruhi Suzumiya

 Maybe if her was wearing the glasses he'd be number 1?
Sad truth, my wallpaper for my crappy not at all smart phone is a picture of Kyon with Glasses on... makes me so happy.
But yeah, Kyon and Natsume are the two character i have the most figures of. Again it's a mix of harcater design and personality... he is just so snarky and plus i like the fan theory that he is actually the god of his show not Haruhi... fun times....
kinda sad it's over

1. Adol Christian - Ys Series
and no one was surprised in the least.
like.... not even a little

Sad truth: All pages of my vita wallpaper are different pictures of Adol from Ys 4.... cause i'm super pathetic like that.
I love his design
i want a figure of his Celceta outfit...
i'm probably going to mkae my own soon cause male characters never get figures even if they are the mains from their series.
his design in 7 is also really nice........ but yeah... 4 wins... that white hoody/red bolero compbo and the pointed shirt... so nice.
plus red....
there is only one way he could be better...

 if he just had some nice glasses... that would be perfect.
but he doens't... and i can live with that.

So yeah this list ended up being more... top 10 male character.... i dunno... either way... Adol and Kyon would be near the top
cause i'm easily the most transparent person ever....
also if i ever upgrade my phone... adol would win that wallpaper battle... though natsume may get a screen or two cause he's just o pretty.

ok... i'm rambling....
this of course is all just for fun and i never expect anyone to agree with me cause my taste is strange...
ok.... off to dive into despair and finish off Danganronpa 2.

So happy

This is probably the blogiest blog post i will ever do, i'm sorry.... but at the same time no i'm not.

Today has been a great day, yesterday was great too but today was simply amazing.

A friend of mine who lives out of town came to hang out since we tend to only see each other at con time.
This is the same friend who likes natsume Yuujinchou and we are constantly throwing what if scenarios dealing with the show at each other and it's really fun.

Yesterday i showed her the OVAs and Musical theater DVDs i got a while back and today, still being in the moon for natsume, we watched all the matoba episodes.... the moon splitting festival arc and the going home arc.

we watched other stuff (like the Toradora dub [which is amazing] and the new cardcaptor sakura dub [which is probably the front runner for the worst dub i have ever heard]) but then it hit me
I haven't checked Ami ami yet.

See a while back (i wanna say over a year ago but that may be an exaggeration) there were rumors that they were going to resculpt the Altair Natsume Yuujinchou figure that has Takashi sitting on a tree with a foot touching the water.
This was the best news ever because
a) that sculpture was lovely
b) i wasn't a fan of the show when the sculpture first released
c) that sculpture now a days goes from 200-500 dollars and i am cheap.

but there was no confirmation that it was actually a thing and worse no hints at a preorder date.

Then the grey sculpt came out.... and i had my mission
check the site every day so that when it came on i could order it immediately and not miss out again
but because i had a friend over i hadn't really touched my computer... so i open it up and refresh the page and gasp.
"Kat what is it?" she asked.
"pre-orders or up" (though i was probably a muttering mubly mess cause when i get that happy that fast i lose the ability to speak)
so i immediately order it, log out, pass it to her... she orders it
and the best part?
66ish bucks.
i am so happy
getting to fan girl over natsume all day in a way that annoys no one AND getting to order the one figure i have wanted more then anything?
couldn't be better
then i had to walk through a thunderstorm but still it was all good... too happy.

a warning for late november/early december... there will be pictures
and fan art
and rambles
and i may watch the shows again
and re-read all the manga...
but yeah... best day... so incredibly happy. 

Disgaea 4: A Promise Revisited

Yay for Vita ports~ even though i now own the system that the game was originally on..... granted i didn't own the system when i bought the port... and honestly i prefer these kinds of games on handheld so yeah... yay port.

So, this games endings are a little different then the other disgaea games...
Instead of a few bad, a normal, a true and some alternate path endings.... you really just get Alts (which always require losing in certain matches.) Epilogues (which fall under normal endings which seems to only have the requierment of beat the game) and True (which requiers Valvatorez to be lv 500 Minimum................... pass... for now at least)

I got, without looking up how to get endings, Alt: Emizel and Epilogue: Artina
and yeah even though there are A LOT of other endings i am happy with that. I may go back and get some more, repeat playthroughs of disgaea games can be so short (considering everything transfers) but Danganronpa 2 is on it's way and i'll be playing that before i try and beat this again.

Okay before i get into it i gotta mention i love disgaea games a lot... so i'll be rambling.

Disgaea 4 follows Valvatorez, a Vampire who refuses to drink blood. His extremely loyal Servant Fenrich (seriously Fenrich is easily the most loyal character in any of the disgaea games...). A Prinny that has a human form and thinks everything is a dream named Fuka, A money grubbing angel known as "Vulcanis" who just happens to look like someone from valvatorez' past. Emizel, death himself (other then the fact he has yet to reap any souls. and Fuka, a final boss in training.

the netherworld is losing power. Humans no longer fear demons and have lost their faith in god and angels. Valvatorez was simply minding his own business instructing the prinny's of their duties now they they need to atone for the sins they had as humans... when suddenly a group of assassins come and try to kill all the prinnys... and whats worse they try to fire Valvatorez.
however he made a promise to the prinnys that when they were done training they would each get a sardine and these assassins are getting in the way of that promise.
that of course sets off a huge chain of events that all lead up to trying to solve the energy crisis.

This series is full of humor and this one in particular has a running gag of valvatorex praising the gloriousness that is the sardine.
I could imagine most people find this grating
i know i sure did.
but about halfway through it's not mentioned as much so yeah if that turned you off then try to get past it and there is a good story in there.

This is also the smallest cast i can think of for any of the turn based strategy NISA games which is kinda nice. it allows for more character interaction as well as being able to use everyone.

If i had to rate it's story it's probably my second fav of the 4 i have played... Disgaea 1 will always be my favorite Disgaea game... if not my favorite strategy game overall... it's just got such a special place in my heart.
the reason why i'm unsure if it's second or third is because disgaea 3 is also really good... this kinda gets the edge cause i liked Valvatorez WAY more then i liked Moa but Disgaea 3 isn't as gag heavy (at least not food gag heavy i guess)
I also like that this game doesn't make any of my characters unplayable for the final battle... thats something that still pisses me off about Disgaea 1 (also cause that character was my fav and i trained them so much)

They have also streamlined the combat a lot more in this, instead of having to redo your choice in where you move you can just tell the character to move again. You can promote character instead of reincarnate (difference is going back to lv 1 with a lot of growth under your belt vs just going up a class and not having to get back to your level. )

The game does deal with some..... theological themes so if you are easily offended by that kinda thing... may not be the game for you. (lets just say you have to pull and Adol Christian in order to get the true ending...)

The ninja, my favorite class, doesn't feel as good as it used to... i mean i was able to heal it with my cleric..... thats just wrong... but it does feel like they have balanced him out a bit more.... or perhaps transferred his godly dodging skills to the masked hero class.... but i like my ninjas broken and dodgy.

The "final chapter" is very very very long... longest "final chapter" ever.... thats fine but i thought i was beating this game yesterday... and then it just kept on going.
oh and the last few maps are really really tough, lots of instances of great difference in height

The sprite art is lovely, the subtle emotions that are able to be conveyed on their faces is pretty impressive... we have come a lot way from disgaea 1 in that regard.

there are "past" chapters... depending on the level needed to play them i will probably check them out before danganronpa arrives.
and i am curious about that true endings... but level 500.... (i'm around 150 at the moment) we'll see.

But yeah if you like disgaea games then this is another great one and the vita version is so nice.
if you already played the ps3 version from what i understand the main difference is that all the DLC is present and the past chapters may be new? or just DLC? i dunno.

but yeah i enjoyed this game a lot, it's funny... I didn't cry but thats okay since not too much sad in this one (probably saved for the past chapters)
You may get sick of hearing about sardines and promises but i think it's worth it in the end.

now i just gotta get Disgaea D2 (but first tales of graces f and Xillia 2)

Oh.... and what happened to flonne? how did she become what she is in this game? i mean... i feel like theres a chunk missing there... hmmmm
curious... i'm sure it's explained somewhere.
anyways yeah, get this game... and all the other disgaea games... even 2 (it may have the weakest story but the main character is quite litterally a ninja class so thats a LOT of fun)

The good:
Story, humour, characters, combat system, Music.... it's all pretty damn good.... unless you don't like turn based grid based strategy rpgs.

The not so good: 
while it never sais anything bad about theology near the end of the game some things happen and i know a certain type of person may be offended..... but i also think that same type of person wouldn't play a game series where you are literally Demons in hell and occasionally trying to take over earth and/or celestia... because thats what demons do.
on the flip side i think is has some interesting concepts dealing with advancement of technology and erosion of fear of the unknown and consequently erosion of faith but i have known people who would totally get offended at concepts in this game so i figuured best to let you know.

The annoying:
The "Final chapter"... seriously it's almost longer then the rest of the game.

But yeah, great game... so happy i finally got to play it... and disgaea 5 was just announced.... yay.
okay that's enough rambling for one night.