I'll admit, I love fluffy shojo funtimes.
And these honeyworks anime have all been utterly adorable. Predictable as hell but fun and sweet and that can be a nice change of pace from.... well the normal soul ripping shit I watch.
This story has the same setting as the other two honeyworks films except it's a 6 episode show (which is the perfect length for something like this)
We follow the story of Miou and Haruki as they fail to close this 10 cm gap between them despite how much they care for each other.
With their dreams seeming to pull them in different directions and random soapopra-ish tragedy plaguing them will they ever manage to hold holds?
It's cute and fluffy and sure there is little to no substance i still really enjoyed it. Do i want more Honey works film or anime? sure! will it make the top 10 anime of the past year? doubtful. but it's still cute and i enjoyed it.
you can watch all the Honey works shows over on crunchyroll and if you want some cute fluff it's perfect for that
I've always lover you: http://www.crunchyroll.com/ive-always-liked-you/ive-always-liked-you-ive-always-liked-you-confess-your-love-committee-721425
The moment you fall in love: http://www.crunchyroll.com/the-moment-you-fall-in-love/the-moment-you-fall-in-love-the-moment-you-fall-in-love-738219
and finally
Our love has always been 10cm apart: http://www.crunchyroll.com/our-love-has-always-been-10-centimeters-apart
Sunday, 31 December 2017
Saturday, 30 December 2017
Kino's Journey -the Beautiful World- (2017)
Many years ago I remember watching (at least partially) the original version of this show.
Now I should mention my memory is a pile of garbage... however one episode really stuck with me.
If you've seen the show... yeah "that" episode.
well I thought this was more episodes (like a second season... btu one that assumes you haven't sene the first so it doesn't leave anything out)... I didn't realize it was a retellign this "that" episode.... so that was fun.
Still while this show overall had little to no "point" and very little in the way of an arch I still enjoyed it. It's very pretty, the music is good and even though most of the stories end up just being "oh boy look how awful people can be based on their upbringing and rules" I still ended up watching the whole show.
The good:
Animation, music, the stories as a series of one shots that have little to nothing to do with each others (except a few episodes which also have little to nothing to do with Kino)
The meh:
Kino is extremely monotone and that can be a bit grating.
if you want a plot or purpose then this isn't the show for you... it's episodic to a fault... you could watch any episode with just kino completely out of order and nothing would change.
Short, it kinda teases that maybe there is more but at the same time it's like "this is the end... but it could be the beginning"
In the end I did like it, I don't think I'd recommend it but I did like it.
Anyways tryign to power through some shows since the end of the year is tomorrow and... well i've got some top 10 lists to write.
Now I should mention my memory is a pile of garbage... however one episode really stuck with me.
If you've seen the show... yeah "that" episode.
well I thought this was more episodes (like a second season... btu one that assumes you haven't sene the first so it doesn't leave anything out)... I didn't realize it was a retellign this "that" episode.... so that was fun.
Still while this show overall had little to no "point" and very little in the way of an arch I still enjoyed it. It's very pretty, the music is good and even though most of the stories end up just being "oh boy look how awful people can be based on their upbringing and rules" I still ended up watching the whole show.
The good:
Animation, music, the stories as a series of one shots that have little to nothing to do with each others (except a few episodes which also have little to nothing to do with Kino)
The meh:
Kino is extremely monotone and that can be a bit grating.
if you want a plot or purpose then this isn't the show for you... it's episodic to a fault... you could watch any episode with just kino completely out of order and nothing would change.
Short, it kinda teases that maybe there is more but at the same time it's like "this is the end... but it could be the beginning"
In the end I did like it, I don't think I'd recommend it but I did like it.
Anyways tryign to power through some shows since the end of the year is tomorrow and... well i've got some top 10 lists to write.
Tuesday, 26 December 2017
Elegant Yokai Apartment
Yushi ends up needing a place to stay when his school dorms end up being damaged... however being an orphan he doesn't really want to ask his adoptive family for anythings else (be it living accommodations or cash)
Luckily he happens to find an amazing deal on a cute little apartment complex...
the only downside seems to be that it's mostly full of yokai.
This show had some potential to be a cute little maison ikoku style show with a yokai twist, however the final result is a show that is fine but overall is just wasted potential.
The show never quite figures out what it's about.
Is it about a boy who feels like an inconvenience to everyone and is just trying to find his place in the world? sometimes.... when it feels like it.... but not really.
Is it about dealing with learning new things about the world that change how you view it and how that can change you as a person? a little fore like...3 episodes.
Is it about the variety of people that can all inhabit the same space in some kind of odd properity? not as much as you would think.
Is it about a magic book that has the power of the major arcana? kinda but said book isn't introduced till like.... episode 10 or 11?
Is it about how to deal with people who's world views are different then yours? only on the barest surface.
Is it a study on the human condition as well as manipulation techniques involving mob mentality? again for like 3 episodes yes...
Is it about rich people getting away with everything..... probably yeah... i mean it's the longest ongoing theme.
is it a cooking anime? at times.
is it about strengthening yourself through training... i guess for a bit in the middle..
It's all these things and more and because of that it just becomes a mesh of themes that in the end feels both rushed and pointless.
Had they just focused on a few things... like.... oh i dunno
dealing with the fact that he's an orphan.... dealing with living with all kinds of different people and awakening to a new power that you had no clue even existed..... if it had just been that this could have been a really cute little show.
Instead yushi does everything in his power to avoid the biggest main theme... this book he inherits near the midpoint of the series.
a book that i may add has little to no point... except for the last two episodes.
But if it's such a mess why did i stick with it? cause it was fine... it was never so dull that i wanted to do something else but it was never so exciting that i just had to figure out what happens next...
it's fine... nothing more nothing less.
I can't recommend it, but i don't begrudge watching it. However you can give it a try, it's all over on crunchyroll.
Luckily he happens to find an amazing deal on a cute little apartment complex...
the only downside seems to be that it's mostly full of yokai.
This show had some potential to be a cute little maison ikoku style show with a yokai twist, however the final result is a show that is fine but overall is just wasted potential.
The show never quite figures out what it's about.
Is it about a boy who feels like an inconvenience to everyone and is just trying to find his place in the world? sometimes.... when it feels like it.... but not really.
Is it about dealing with learning new things about the world that change how you view it and how that can change you as a person? a little fore like...3 episodes.
Is it about the variety of people that can all inhabit the same space in some kind of odd properity? not as much as you would think.
Is it about a magic book that has the power of the major arcana? kinda but said book isn't introduced till like.... episode 10 or 11?
Is it about how to deal with people who's world views are different then yours? only on the barest surface.
Is it a study on the human condition as well as manipulation techniques involving mob mentality? again for like 3 episodes yes...
Is it about rich people getting away with everything..... probably yeah... i mean it's the longest ongoing theme.
is it a cooking anime? at times.
is it about strengthening yourself through training... i guess for a bit in the middle..
It's all these things and more and because of that it just becomes a mesh of themes that in the end feels both rushed and pointless.
Had they just focused on a few things... like.... oh i dunno
dealing with the fact that he's an orphan.... dealing with living with all kinds of different people and awakening to a new power that you had no clue even existed..... if it had just been that this could have been a really cute little show.
Instead yushi does everything in his power to avoid the biggest main theme... this book he inherits near the midpoint of the series.
a book that i may add has little to no point... except for the last two episodes.
But if it's such a mess why did i stick with it? cause it was fine... it was never so dull that i wanted to do something else but it was never so exciting that i just had to figure out what happens next...
it's fine... nothing more nothing less.
I can't recommend it, but i don't begrudge watching it. However you can give it a try, it's all over on crunchyroll.
Friday, 15 December 2017
Recovery of an MMO Junkie
I'll be honest.
After the utter disappointment "GAMERS!!" was after episode 6 I almost didn't want to give this show a chance.
However all that changed about 2 seconds into the intro song.
I knew immediately that not only would i love this show... it would be one of my favs of the season and probably in my top 5 of the year.
We follow Morioka Moriko, a woman in her late 30s who recently left her job so she could become a NEET (or as she puts it... Elite NEET).
The previous MMO she played however shut down so she looks for something new to fill the void.
Wanting a change from real life she chooses a male avatar and works hard to get the hang of this new game "Fruit du Mer".
She's utterly terrible until she bumps into a healer named Lily.
Together they go on adventures and over the course of the show we see hoe much the online world and real world are connected.
This show is sweet, sincere and overall just a joy to watch. The smaller cast allows for some interesting meet ups and I cannot even begin to describe how nice it is to see older gamers not portrayed as awful lazy slobs.
It's funny, it has just the perfect amount of MMO referencing and my only complaint is that as of right now it's only 10 episodes + 1 OVA.
Considering how popular the show has become though... I wouldn't be surprised if we got another season down the road... because even though the story has a wonderful finish there is always more to tell.
I do think people who have never touched an MMO would still get a kick out of a series like this since overall the show focuses more on the real life then the game and i think in the end thats why this succeeds where GAMERS!! utterly failed.
I hope the manga also gets licensed eventually because I would love to read it.
Also I was watching quite a bit this season so these may end up being a little rapid fire..... man this years top 10 is going to be hard (other then number 1 which i already know and if you know me.... well you know my number 1 as well...)
After the utter disappointment "GAMERS!!" was after episode 6 I almost didn't want to give this show a chance.
However all that changed about 2 seconds into the intro song.
I knew immediately that not only would i love this show... it would be one of my favs of the season and probably in my top 5 of the year.
We follow Morioka Moriko, a woman in her late 30s who recently left her job so she could become a NEET (or as she puts it... Elite NEET).
The previous MMO she played however shut down so she looks for something new to fill the void.
Wanting a change from real life she chooses a male avatar and works hard to get the hang of this new game "Fruit du Mer".
She's utterly terrible until she bumps into a healer named Lily.
Together they go on adventures and over the course of the show we see hoe much the online world and real world are connected.
This show is sweet, sincere and overall just a joy to watch. The smaller cast allows for some interesting meet ups and I cannot even begin to describe how nice it is to see older gamers not portrayed as awful lazy slobs.
It's funny, it has just the perfect amount of MMO referencing and my only complaint is that as of right now it's only 10 episodes + 1 OVA.
Considering how popular the show has become though... I wouldn't be surprised if we got another season down the road... because even though the story has a wonderful finish there is always more to tell.
I do think people who have never touched an MMO would still get a kick out of a series like this since overall the show focuses more on the real life then the game and i think in the end thats why this succeeds where GAMERS!! utterly failed.
I hope the manga also gets licensed eventually because I would love to read it.
Also I was watching quite a bit this season so these may end up being a little rapid fire..... man this years top 10 is going to be hard (other then number 1 which i already know and if you know me.... well you know my number 1 as well...)
Tuesday, 12 December 2017
Zwei: The Ilvard Insurrection
Also known as Zwei 2.... which yeah is pretty redundant.
Anways This game is about Ragna Valentine after he crash lands on Ilvard and is saved by making a blood contract with a Vampire Alwen du Moonbria.
two two decide to team up inorder to get Alwen's castle back so she will break their contract.
The controls are fairly simple.
Ragna fights with an anchor gear, this can slash or spin and later on in can even grab and glide (honestly gliding was wasily my fav)
Alwen fights with Magic... each spell had a different attack pattern... my favs were force arrow (yeah the very first one you get) and Holy Lance (it's a lit like force arrow just much horter range and stays where you fire it.
as you got through dungeons you get new abilities which allow you to explore more dungeons and so on.
The leveling system is the real unique bit because you level by eating food. I like this concept in theory... in practice enemies do not drop near enough food and even with quite a bit of grinding i was still two levels short for the final boss.
Overall the story is good... nothing amazing but it's sweet and funny and really well written and acted (even if the music often overpowered the voices in cutscenes.... even though I lowered it....)
The music is fantastic and fits the feel of the game perfectly (but this is falcom so of course the music is good)
Finally the art direction is lovely... i kinda wish falcom would make more games that look like this (don't get me wrong Ys 8 is beautiful but i'm always a sucker for more stylized games) and now that i have seen the sprite work for Zwei 1..... yeah i really wish ore falcom games looked like this... it's just so pretty.
Is it one of my altime fav Falcom franchises now?
no
Do i hope that eventuall we may see zwei 3?
hell yes... I mean it'll never happen but if it did i'd be right there.
I have no idea why this game did poorly in japan... it's really really enjoyable and at about 20 hours isn't too bad as far as length is concerned. I will probably go back and try to tackle those lv 99 dungeons (which should be super fun at level 27 : D )
but for now i'm just glad i got to finish out the year with this sweet little game.
You can get it on Steam and GoG and it ran perfectly fine on the highest setting on my computer that is pushing 6 years old.
and now to wait for Tokyo Xanadu Ex+.... it came otu dec 8th but VGP hasn't shipped it yet : ( may not see it till the new year....)
Anways This game is about Ragna Valentine after he crash lands on Ilvard and is saved by making a blood contract with a Vampire Alwen du Moonbria.
two two decide to team up inorder to get Alwen's castle back so she will break their contract.
The controls are fairly simple.
Ragna fights with an anchor gear, this can slash or spin and later on in can even grab and glide (honestly gliding was wasily my fav)
Alwen fights with Magic... each spell had a different attack pattern... my favs were force arrow (yeah the very first one you get) and Holy Lance (it's a lit like force arrow just much horter range and stays where you fire it.
as you got through dungeons you get new abilities which allow you to explore more dungeons and so on.
The leveling system is the real unique bit because you level by eating food. I like this concept in theory... in practice enemies do not drop near enough food and even with quite a bit of grinding i was still two levels short for the final boss.
Overall the story is good... nothing amazing but it's sweet and funny and really well written and acted (even if the music often overpowered the voices in cutscenes.... even though I lowered it....)
The music is fantastic and fits the feel of the game perfectly (but this is falcom so of course the music is good)
Finally the art direction is lovely... i kinda wish falcom would make more games that look like this (don't get me wrong Ys 8 is beautiful but i'm always a sucker for more stylized games) and now that i have seen the sprite work for Zwei 1..... yeah i really wish ore falcom games looked like this... it's just so pretty.
Is it one of my altime fav Falcom franchises now?
no
Do i hope that eventuall we may see zwei 3?
hell yes... I mean it'll never happen but if it did i'd be right there.
I have no idea why this game did poorly in japan... it's really really enjoyable and at about 20 hours isn't too bad as far as length is concerned. I will probably go back and try to tackle those lv 99 dungeons (which should be super fun at level 27 : D )
but for now i'm just glad i got to finish out the year with this sweet little game.
You can get it on Steam and GoG and it ran perfectly fine on the highest setting on my computer that is pushing 6 years old.
and now to wait for Tokyo Xanadu Ex+.... it came otu dec 8th but VGP hasn't shipped it yet : ( may not see it till the new year....)
Friday, 24 November 2017
A silent voice
I saw this a while back in theater and forgot to write a ramble.... my bad!
I went into this having read the manga. Seeing how the interpreted some things so flawlessly in animation was a treat.
This film is a wonderful visual representation of dealing with anxiety, ptsd and seeing how people treat those who don't quite fit into the norm.
at times it feels like kyo ani is just trying to be like "how pretty can we make the scenery" but unlike a few of their latest shows i didn't find it too distracting.
it's a sweet film that will probably make you cry... i'm glad they cut out what they did since it helps the flow. I hope to own it on dvd sometime in the future.
I went into this having read the manga. Seeing how the interpreted some things so flawlessly in animation was a treat.
This film is a wonderful visual representation of dealing with anxiety, ptsd and seeing how people treat those who don't quite fit into the norm.
at times it feels like kyo ani is just trying to be like "how pretty can we make the scenery" but unlike a few of their latest shows i didn't find it too distracting.
it's a sweet film that will probably make you cry... i'm glad they cut out what they did since it helps the flow. I hope to own it on dvd sometime in the future.
Persona 5 (spoiler free)
Took me a little longer then most to beat this game but now that I have it's time to talk about it... without spoilers of course.
I guess it's best to start with my history/bias towards this series.
Back in high school all my friends were talking about Persona 3 and how it's the best thing ever. I had never heard of it but when they told me the FES edition just released that there was never a better time to jump in.
I remember looking at the back of the box and thinking "80 hours? yeah OK I doubt it"
120 hours later.... i was hooked.
I love the characters, the art, the music, the life sim aspect... it was all so new and different.
Eventually persona 4 came out.... and i played the shit out of that (until i got one shot in a dungeon and lost all my progress for that day [enemies shouldn't have insta kill attacks when the main character can't be revived by friends]... and then i put the game down till... well till i got the vita versions....) And i loved this even more. the deceptively lighter tone, the same and yet better music, art, dungeon design and gameplay... it was all so wonderful and i was sad when it ended.
So that pretty much gets us to the present right?
well not exactly.
I have tried to play both person 1 and 2... and while i did like the latter a bit more i didn't get far in either. apparently I'm not a fan of first person grid based dungeon crawlers.... who knew.
So now... having loved half the series and..... experienced the other half how was persona 5 going to fare in my eyes.
Well right off the bat I loved it. It came out at the worst time for me because I was literally going on a trip to japan for three weeks shortly after it came out... but still I played what I could and knew I'd get back to it when I returned.
However besides that one little hiccup I was in love. this game oozes style, the music fits perfectly and the art makes me want to push myself as an artist. Hell I even enjoyed the "stealth" mechanic and the only thing I hate more then first person grid based dungeon crawlers it's stealth... The battles had a few more kinds of attacks and the dungeons were so much more interesting then the previous two titles.
So then why did I find it so hard to sit myself down and just beat it?
Why did i end up taking it out of my ps4 for other games.... why did other older titles keep beating it out of my currently playing slot (ok obvious answer is they were all falcom games and falcom wins every time for me)
As I got further and further in I felt there was one truth about this game that I couldn't ignore.
I didn't like the theme.
Or more accurately... the theme of persona 4 resonated with me so much that the fact this theme didn't hook me made it hard to get into the game.
Persona 4 deals with that ugly voice that sometimes pops up that we try to ignore or deny... it's something that is universal... we have all had thoughts like that... and we all have the capacity to be better people despite our occasionally ugly nature.
Persona 5 deal with Corruption... a very real corruption that I think everyone is seeing in the day to day life of the world... and while the game has a message of hope... it's hard to feel like you have any power in the situation... in the end I'm just one voice...
I want to say the theme rings a bit hollow to me but that is not accurate, more like "I wish there was more I could do to see a similar outcome" and perhaps that is the point... to spur people to do what they can to show that corruption can't win.
still I did love the game... well most of it.
Remember that I mentioned I didn't mind the stealth in this game... yeah about 3/4th through the game I realized "no i still hate stealth" and by the end of a certain dungeon i was just wanting it all to be over.
Also the fact that the dungeons are no longer procedurally generated (excluding mementos) led to some awesome puzzles and set pieces..... on the other hand it made the dungeons incredibly long do to the fact that a lot of the puzzles involve backtracking which just feels like padding for an already long game. (my play though was around 95 hours)
Still I did enjoy it... I know I'm being harsh but trust me I really did love it and I got emotional more then once.
Is it my game of the year? probably not but I can see why so many others say it is.
I may do a newgame plus run of it... see what trophies I need and try to platinum... no promises though since it is a bit of a beast.
If you haven't picked it up yet and you were curious or you loved any other persona or SMT titles then yeah i would say give it a try.
Nothing is done poorly and all my criticism is 100% due to things I like or dislike in games.
Still I do wish other games had even 1/8th the amount of style this game has. you could teach a course on the menu design alone.
Alright that is enough rambling for now... time to figure out what to play next! (probably tokyo Xanadu ex + since that comes out in a few weeks.)
I guess it's best to start with my history/bias towards this series.
Back in high school all my friends were talking about Persona 3 and how it's the best thing ever. I had never heard of it but when they told me the FES edition just released that there was never a better time to jump in.
I remember looking at the back of the box and thinking "80 hours? yeah OK I doubt it"
120 hours later.... i was hooked.
I love the characters, the art, the music, the life sim aspect... it was all so new and different.
Eventually persona 4 came out.... and i played the shit out of that (until i got one shot in a dungeon and lost all my progress for that day [enemies shouldn't have insta kill attacks when the main character can't be revived by friends]... and then i put the game down till... well till i got the vita versions....) And i loved this even more. the deceptively lighter tone, the same and yet better music, art, dungeon design and gameplay... it was all so wonderful and i was sad when it ended.
So that pretty much gets us to the present right?
well not exactly.
I have tried to play both person 1 and 2... and while i did like the latter a bit more i didn't get far in either. apparently I'm not a fan of first person grid based dungeon crawlers.... who knew.
So now... having loved half the series and..... experienced the other half how was persona 5 going to fare in my eyes.
Well right off the bat I loved it. It came out at the worst time for me because I was literally going on a trip to japan for three weeks shortly after it came out... but still I played what I could and knew I'd get back to it when I returned.
However besides that one little hiccup I was in love. this game oozes style, the music fits perfectly and the art makes me want to push myself as an artist. Hell I even enjoyed the "stealth" mechanic and the only thing I hate more then first person grid based dungeon crawlers it's stealth... The battles had a few more kinds of attacks and the dungeons were so much more interesting then the previous two titles.
So then why did I find it so hard to sit myself down and just beat it?
Why did i end up taking it out of my ps4 for other games.... why did other older titles keep beating it out of my currently playing slot (ok obvious answer is they were all falcom games and falcom wins every time for me)
As I got further and further in I felt there was one truth about this game that I couldn't ignore.
I didn't like the theme.
Or more accurately... the theme of persona 4 resonated with me so much that the fact this theme didn't hook me made it hard to get into the game.
Persona 4 deals with that ugly voice that sometimes pops up that we try to ignore or deny... it's something that is universal... we have all had thoughts like that... and we all have the capacity to be better people despite our occasionally ugly nature.
Persona 5 deal with Corruption... a very real corruption that I think everyone is seeing in the day to day life of the world... and while the game has a message of hope... it's hard to feel like you have any power in the situation... in the end I'm just one voice...
I want to say the theme rings a bit hollow to me but that is not accurate, more like "I wish there was more I could do to see a similar outcome" and perhaps that is the point... to spur people to do what they can to show that corruption can't win.
still I did love the game... well most of it.
Remember that I mentioned I didn't mind the stealth in this game... yeah about 3/4th through the game I realized "no i still hate stealth" and by the end of a certain dungeon i was just wanting it all to be over.
Also the fact that the dungeons are no longer procedurally generated (excluding mementos) led to some awesome puzzles and set pieces..... on the other hand it made the dungeons incredibly long do to the fact that a lot of the puzzles involve backtracking which just feels like padding for an already long game. (my play though was around 95 hours)
Still I did enjoy it... I know I'm being harsh but trust me I really did love it and I got emotional more then once.
Is it my game of the year? probably not but I can see why so many others say it is.
I may do a newgame plus run of it... see what trophies I need and try to platinum... no promises though since it is a bit of a beast.
If you haven't picked it up yet and you were curious or you loved any other persona or SMT titles then yeah i would say give it a try.
Nothing is done poorly and all my criticism is 100% due to things I like or dislike in games.
Still I do wish other games had even 1/8th the amount of style this game has. you could teach a course on the menu design alone.
Alright that is enough rambling for now... time to figure out what to play next! (probably tokyo Xanadu ex + since that comes out in a few weeks.)
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)