We’re finally back, now in 720p since I finally got an HD Capture device. Therefore, I decided to the Extra Episode, which is an addition for the Playstation 3 version… Hopefully this should give a taste for people who own the 360 version of how this story goes.

As promised, I’m redoing Iori’s arc again, because I like Kugimiya Rie tsunderes. (Image Source)

Some things to note:

• This is not an actual produce since you cannot change the song, costumes and accessories. Instead, you pick a character to guide. From the choices you pick will influence how many memory appeals you receive.
• There are three festivals to beat and each one gets progressively harder.

 ¶

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Post tags: Let's Play, tsundere, Video Games

You look good in it...

The mystery regarding Eru’s uncle deepens…

Up until now, mysteries in this show primarily focused on trivial stuff around the school. Things like the locked door, hidden note and the smoking are meant to show Houtarou’s deductive skills along with his treasured ability to make a conclusion with the least amount of energy used. This episode is no exception, except that Satoshi actually contributes to something that is very important.

Strangely enough, the males are actually being productive...

Although there is a lot of dialog in this episode, the way that this episode incorporated historical events is rather interesting. Satoshi mentions the protest that involved students regarding the “Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security” between the United States and Japan that occurred in 1960 as it could have some connection of what happened at that school. In a way, they applied this event to the mystery as students protested against the shortening of the Cultural Festival by the Principal. Jun, who was the Classical Literature Club president, rallied support to put pressure on the school administration to return it back to its original length. In exchange of this concession, he got expelled. Although it wasn’t as obvious, I think the reason why they had this mystery is to show that Eru’s uncle might have experienced the same thing. Still, it was rather good in comparison.

Time to use my energy conservation skills while solving it...

From the four episodes, I think the series is gradually catching my interest. While the reason why her uncle didn’t tell her about this in the first place was strange, there were other things that added to my enjoyment. Things like Houtarou getting lost in the mansion and having to use more energy trying to find the bathroom was hilarious. On the other hand, we do get a peek into Eru’s room and apparently, she loves research. Also, she looks criminally cute in that ponytail. Even so, I think the male characters shines a lot in Hyouka, which is a change of pace since the females usually takes the spotlight. This show pretty much uses them to keep the audiences’ attention and initiate a new mystery. Who knows, but I hope they will develop later on the series so all the characters have a fair chance to solve them. ¶

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Post tags: historial events, kyoani, mystery, ponytails

Believe it or not, there are many people who are like this during school.

Believe it or not, I’m also like this during college since I’m not a morning person…

Using the power of GRAVITY to push stuff = Awesome!

As expected, this is yet another “cool down” episode as the yacht club cleans up their ship. Marika also picks up the garbage and belongings that they left on the Bentenmaru. Obviously, cleaning a ship is a tiresome and tedious task since one has to throw out the garbage, put valuables in containers and carry them to the right area. I find it amusing how Marika uses the power of gravity to make moving stuff a lot easier despite having some problems like having garbage scattered in the gravity-less air.

At least both princesses had some fun.

Aside from the cleaning, there is some conflict between Grunhilde’s envy over Gruier being closer to Marika. I can understand how she feels since sibling rivalry happens often both in real life and in frictional stories because one will always have an advantage over the other.  With Marika’s sleepiness and her carelessness from dropping the ring, it gives Grunhilde an opportunity to have the whole yacht club unlock the Bentenmaru and dock it. That is rather nice of them and I liked how the producers effectively used all the characters in the show. However, this was rather sneaky since she didn’t give the ring back to Marika until trouble occured.

Ai does some sailing...

While the third arc comes to an end, I’m somewhat disappointed that Misa finally returned. Apparently, some people just find her really annoying. Even so, it looks like Kane will make a comeback as the Yacht Club’s advisor and teacher. From that, the next episode gives us a beach episode with sailing and fighting simulations for some competition. Although not actual piracy, I wonder how that will go… ¶

© chikorita157 for Chikorita157's Anime Blog, 2012. | Permalink | 2 comments | All text in this post is covered under Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 license.

Post tags: pirates, princesses, science fiction, spring cleaning, you should get some sleep

What should I do with him...

Quite a fitting episode for Mother’s Day even though it was sad…

Surprisingly, Natalia took him in as her son after he escaped from the island that got decimated by an outbreak of “Dead Apostles.” From there, she simply used Kiritsugu’s ability to her advantage. This is interesting since it influences Kiritsugu to become an “emotionless killing machine,” thus strengthen his ideal of killing one to save many. Also, the creation of the mystic code that he used on Archibald gets explained in the beginning, although we knew some details about it in the first season.

At least she taught him well...

However, that wasn’t the thing that caught my attention, but the remarks she said several moments before the plane got shot down. When she mentions that he can kill people without any thought like a machine, it shows that he hasn’t gotten over the event that caused his trauma. In fact, the towns getting slaughtered by people like his father had worsen the situation since it reminded him of all the people he couldn’t save. His ideals and inability to convey any feeling after the incident feels like a Shakespearian tragedy.  He can kill one or a group of people to save many just to have another bunch killed by another individual. He simply learned the wrong lesson that could haunt him for the rest of his life.

His breakdown was bound to happen...

As for this tragedy, it’s foolish to think that this mission will be a piece of cake since she didn’t realize that the magus had killer bees inside his body. Not only that, she didn’t have a parachute packed into her supplies to allow her escape. However, I think Urobuchi intended on having her stay on the plane to reveal the flaws of Kiritsugu’s beliefs as shown with his decision to shoot down the plane. For most people, they would just allow her land the plane because of their close relationship. On the other hand, he simply pulled the trigger without any hesitation to sacrifice her and prevent another outbreak. Although her death is not as emotional, I still felt the impact since she is his mentor. Still, it’s surprising that he didn’t cry specifically over the death of her, but Shirley instead. I understand since she was his crush and it’s devastating to have two people that he loves gets taken away from him. At least Natalia died happy and knows that her foster son is not a failure.

From the two episodes, the back story shows a lot why he took the actions in the first few episodes in the second season. While this doesn’t change my feelings towards his character, I felt sympathetic towards him for all the despair he went through. His broken philosophy is not doing any good for him and only leading him to the path of destruction.  Hopefully, the grail has an answer in redeeming himself from all the terrible acts he committed. ¶

© chikorita157 for Chikorita157's Anime Blog, 2012. | Permalink | No comment | All text in this post is covered under Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 license.

Post tags: drama, tragic childhood memory, Ufotable, vampires

I wished Hyper Rainbow Bread made an appearance in Shining Hearts since it tastes AWESOME compared to Rick's Bread!

Continuing on “the rememberance of love,” I dived deeper into the second quarter of Clannad After Story.

For a girl like Yukine, she is a rather odd character besides being cut from the roster of main heroines. Although she is cute, kind and smart, she actually takes care of delinquents or rather, gang members. It’s rather risky since they have a bad reputation. Still, the part that surprised me the most is how she breaks up the fight. She simply disguises herself as her older brother and in the process, get punched by the rival gang leader before he found out. Although hitting a girl is wrong, I admit that it’s an emotional way to reveal the truth so they can resolve their differences. Aside from the drama, the Hyper Rainbow Bread with Akiko’s Jam was the funniest part of the battle since it’s the deadliest combination in Anime history. ¹

After those two episodes, this is where the After Story truly begins. Yeah, Nagisa getting held back again and Tomoya had a fit over wanting to stay back a year instead of graduating is predictable. Still, he develops further when he gets a job and his own place. From this, he truly shines as he becomes more responsible while getting even closer towards Nagisa. It shows especially with his desire to marry her after they visit his father in jail. Also, I liked how she got stronger throughout the story despite her hidden illness.

Lastly, Yoshino’s story in Episode 12 was very interesting to me for the fact that some of the elements felt similar to The Idolmaster. Obviously, being a musician or even an idol is not easy since fans have high expectations and you have to deal with it. Not only that, we need a reason why we are making and singing these songs. Apparently, he forgets about writing songs for his crush, Kouko that everything gone haywire towards the end besides the pressure from his fans. Creator breakdown was bound to happen, but him turning to heroin totally killed his career and dream. Even so, it’s fascinating how the writers used his story as foreshadowing to Tomoya’s father going to jail. Tomoya loses the job offer for a higher position as a result. That… just sucks!

Next Week:  Hopeful beginnings and tragedy

Incomplete List of Participants (Week 2)

• Justin: Remembering Love: Reliving Daikichi and Rin Once More part II
• Kluxorious: Detroit Metal City
• Glo: How Samurai Champloo Made Me Remember…How Awesome Anime Is
• Trzr23: Haibane Reimei: A Whole New Level
• Deluscar: Gintama and The Art of Seriousness
• Marina: Aria The Natural and Neo Venezia’s Cat Kingdom
• Ty-Chama: Rock Lee Vs Gaara, A True Underdog Story
• Nadav: Aria
• Foomafoo: Kare Kano: Role of Family Background to Character Relationships
• Nopy: Martian Successor Nadesico Part II
• Ahelo: Kimi Ni Todoke

Some Notes

 ¶

© chikorita157 for Chikorita157's Anime Blog, 2012. | Permalink | 8 comments | All text in this post is covered under Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 license.

Post tags: analysis, key, kyoani, Lets us Remember Love, opinion, personal experience

This is what you are up against...

This voice sounds very familiar…

Quite frankly, I have experienced many roles from Kugimiya Rie, who is supposedly the “Queen of Tsundere.” Although some of her roles sound slightly different, the voice has a similar quality to it. Melty is no exception with her somewhat flat chest and short stature. Not to mention, her voice reminded me of Minase Iori and Aria, except she is the ice cream witch. Quite fitting since tsundere girls tend to have cold personalities. Even so, I admit that she is kind of cute despite abusing the crap out of Sorbet, which is a cute imp thingy. I felt bad for him for all the mistreatment he takes from her.

However, I admit that she looks cute with twin tails...

Aside from her tsundere greatness, there is a lot of bread and sweets in this episode. This is a let down since the last few episodes took the emphasis off of it. Despite this, it’s necessary to develop Melty a bit more as she discovers the bread of happiness and it enables her to make great ice cream. So, being more open does wonders since it gives some meaning to your work.

She finally gets it...

So far, I suppose Shining Hearts is a somewhat entertaining experience with the character designs even though they talk too much about bread. Sure, Kugimiya Rie Tsundere will probably push me to play Iori’s arc again because I love these characters, but the next episode looks promising. Rick takes out the sword once again while the others help him with their weapons of some sort against some fox girl. ¶

© chikorita157 for Chikorita157's Anime Blog, 2012. | Permalink | 2 comments | All text in this post is covered under Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 license.

Post tags: ice cream, moe, Production I.G, tsundere

Having two Natsumi's sleeping in one bed = a very bad idea...

Having two copies of oneself can never become this amusing.

Natsumi having an upcoming tennis match and an exam must be difficult. Believe it or not, I have finished all my exams and papers in the past few days, so I’m free like a bird. Even so, would you wish to have two copies of another person to ease the load? Yuka apparently thinks so and it results in this…

No wonder Saki stopped being friends initially... she keeps fighting!

This wish is just as hilarious like the body swap, except that there are two Natsumis. Somehow, they keep fighting with each other. No wonder why she argued with Saki back in the first episode.

While it eased the load, it caused problems in the end as her other-self continued to mess up in the actual tennis match by hitting the ball too hard. From this, it’s counter productive since both of them can’t share the same knowledge. What a shame, but at least she became one and managed to score some points.

It's all her fault!

On the other front, I found it funny that Rinko gets left out from the chaos caused by the other girls. The only exception is Saki’s and Natsumi’s revenge wish with her getting stuck with Yuka. Perhaps she is not as noticeable compared to the others that nobody bothered to do anything silly to her. Then again, she is Yuka’s best friend, so she won’t wish anything bad upon her.  Then again, Yuka has better things to do as convincing the girls to do the idol thing, which is not going anywhere. Hopefully, something will come out of it even though the other girls seem uninterested. ¶

© chikorita157 for Chikorita157's Anime Blog, 2012. | Permalink | No comment | All text in this post is covered under Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 license.

Post tags: comedy, double the trouble, moe, sphere, Sunrise

I know it’s late, but I decided to take part in trzr23’s new project called “Lets us Remember Love.” This is where we rewatch our favorite Anime and talk about it. When I came across some of these posts, I see why not even though a few days passed.

If you seen my about page, I listed some of my favorite anime. However, there is one in particular that influenced me the most since it’s the first title I blogged about when I began my Anime Blogging career. That show is of course Clannad After Story. (Image Source)

Needless to say, Clannad is probably one of the last and best “traditional” works from Key before they started other projects outside the genre like Little Busters and Angel Beats. Like Air and Kanon, this show is probably the strongest out of all the adaptations Kyoto Animation ever produced. While the first season has its share of comedy and drama, the second season is where the show starts to shine, especially in the second half. But for now, I will only talk about some of the things in the first 6 episodes.

Since the second season aired a year later after the first, the Baseball episode does a good job in reintroducing the characters. Yes, it’s very light-hearted, but it has some great moments. In particular, Kotomi calculating where to hit the ball, Tomoyo’s attempt to hit it in a more feminine fashion and Yoshino’s speech. Although filler, it’s fun to watch.

After that, we jump into the side characters’ arcs. The first is Sunohara, which is funny because the same voice actor is currently voicing a similar type of character in Hyouka. Although the soccer team bullying Nagisa, Tomoya and Mei is brutal, the fake girlfriends added to the arc’s enjoyment. Not to mention, in one of the images I used for the fall, Sanae apparently becomes Sunohara’s fake girlfriend. It was enjoyable since she is still cute for her age. Of course, there is Mei who calls Tomoya “older brother” during their faux date. When I heard that and the girls’ reaction to it, I laughed so hard that I literally fell out of my chair.

Lastly, there is Misae’s arc and the cat, which is actually Shima during the flashback. Although it’s sad that he suddenly disappears in his human form shortly after their confession, I just couldn’t take the scene where he cries about Sanae’s crush too seriously since she keeps throwing down to the ground while melancholic music plays in the background. Although not on the same level as Angel Beats, it felt out of place.  Even so, the prank that her friends pulled on her by having him dressed as a girl was the funniest part ever since he looked so cute. While he looked good in it, it can never top the level of crossdressing Ryou Akizuki does…

Next time: The conclusion of the side characters.

Incomplete List of Participants (Week 1)

• Nopy’s Blog: Martian Successor Nadesico
• Trzr23: Clannad–Beauty in Negativity
• Marina: Uchuu No Stellvia: Heading Off To Space
• Deluscar: Gintama: The Art of Randomness
• @fkeroge: Sibling and Filial Drama in Kanon (2006)
• Kluxorious: Opposite Attractions in Lovely Complex
• Temporal Vortex: Kare Kano–Obsession to Popularity
• Ty-chama: Death Note and Its Characters’ Questionable Morals
• Justin: Reliving Daikichi and Rin Once More Part I

 ¶

© chikorita157 for Chikorita157's Anime Blog, 2012. | Permalink | 7 comments | All text in this post is covered under Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 license.

Post tags: key, kyoani, Lets us Remember Love, personal experiences

I wish I can hide from this terrible show...

Like expected, this episode is not any better than the first.

When I watched the first episode, I wasn’t expecting much except for the ridiculous and terrible premise. Although I have been rather harsh on the show just on the first episode, I decided to give it another chance with the second episode. Also, I saved my sanity by muting the video in the first episode. This time, I’m going all out!

So much for being friends...

Just to be fair, I know that the girls are inexperienced in voice acting, but this is terrible. Nagisa’s voice bothered me the most since it feels extremely out of place for her character and it made my ears bleed since it sounds bad.  Not only that, her character bothers me the most since she makes one of the dumbest mistakes that could have killed her. She simply went back to the room so she can retrieve the ribbon she lost and the enemy robot grabbed her. Although I was rather harsh in saying that since it was something special her mother made, this action lacked any common sense.

On the other hand, the characters in general are bland and there is no charm in them. AKB48 fans will think otherwise since they should know the personalities of these idols. For viewers who aren’t familiar with them, I find them rather boring. At one point, Chieri was about to rip Nagisa apart so she can become the successor of the AKB0048. Even her character put me to sleep even though she was rather cold at first.

Hand over your Idol goods now!

After watching this episode, AKB0048 is a train wreck in slow motion. I don’t expect anything good to come out of it after watching two and three wouldn’t make a difference. Yeah, mecha and fighting is great and all. However, shows like Macross Frontier and Senki Zesshou Symphogear has better fighting scenes than this. This is just robots raiding a ship while firing at it since there are some girls who are participating in the audition. That is rather lame since I expected something more exciting out of this. Aside from that, I may as well put it out of its misery and give it the drop hammer. ¶

© chikorita157 for Chikorita157's Anime Blog, 2012. | Permalink | 2 comments | All text in this post is covered under Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 license.

Post tags: action, Dropped, extremely boring experience, idol, moe, Slatelight

Like any child of her age, Eru looked cute when she was young.

The search for the club’s anthologies continues…

Compared to the previous episodes, the mystery was a lot deeper, which is definitely a plus even though it’s still a bit mundane. Even so, the most interesting part is the café scene from the last episode. Apparently, Eru is trying to find something out about her uncle that she hasn’t seen since her childhood. She believes the anthologies have something about him regarding the Classic Literature Club. With something personal like this, this reason she told Houtarou instead and not the others since he has great mystery solving skills that he won’t admit. Even so, I think trust is one of the factors as she became attached to him throughout the first two episodes.

Search the whole school? I can't let this happen!

As for the mystery in this episode, it involves finding the safe that stored all the anthologies. Apparently, the newspaper club has the safe and never gave it back. Although the president is very sneaky, Eru saying that she will search the entire school was simply hilarious. Imagine how much energy Houtarou has to use now if that goes through. It won’t look pretty!

You mad?

Aside from that, it’s clear that this person is hiding something. With all the fans on, windows open, the transceiver on the desk, use of air fresheners and Eru’s coughing, it’s becomes very suspicious. Yep, the person in the clubroom is trying to hide his smoking of cigarettes.  Like all high schools in the United States and Japan, it’s illegal to smoke on campus. If a person does so and gets caught, the person might get expelled and people will consider them as a delinquent. Even though it’s naughty, the way he used the safe and the methods of masking it was rather interesting.

While they have all anthologies, they are still missing the first volume. So, the search is still on. Still, the animation still continues to amaze me and I liked how they did the story picture book when Eru retells some of her childhood memories. It looked gorgeous. ¶

© chikorita157 for Chikorita157's Anime Blog, 2012. | Permalink | 6 comments | All text in this post is covered under Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 license.

Post tags: kyoani, mystery, smoking is bad

You should never get Chiaki mad or otherwise this will happen!

Yeah, you should never get a girl angry or they will release their wrath.

One of the things I noticed in the first half is Jenny wearing a wedding dress after changing out of it in the last episode. This looked silly since she can’t possibly put on the makeup and stuff in a short period of time. Even so, this isn’t too important as they successfully escaped from his war ships and headed to the ship where Junigh is on.

When the Bentenmaru invades the Glorious Coolph, I liked how they managed to hijack the broadcast to show the entire universe how corrupt the politician Jenny supposed to marry is. Of course, Chiaki shooting her laser gun at the revolutionaries while wearing a shrine maiden outfit was the best part and I really enjoyed it. Although Jenny’s uncle came to the ship shortly after, Marika revealing the acts of conspiracy between him and Junigh regarding the selling of weapons to anti-government forces was simply the best retort ever. It’s clear that there is a lot of corruption involving some politicians these days, but it mostly involve things like money laundering and sex scandals. The good thing to come out of this is, her uncle won’t be bothering her since he will stay in jail for several years.

Before I end things off, here is some more yuri...

With the third arc coming to an end, I think it was decent even though it’s not the best. Watching the girls manage the Bentenmaru successfully with a few hiccups while successfully carrying out their pirating duties was a big accomplishment. Still, it appears that the regular crew has to clean up the mess the girls left behind before heading to the last arc of the season. I look forward to it! ¶

© chikorita157 for Chikorita157's Anime Blog, 2012. | Permalink | 2 comments | All text in this post is covered under Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 license.

Post tags: pirates, political corruption, princesses, science fiction, yuri

Good things comes to an end relatively quickly...

Now, Kiritsugu’s past and how everything started.

One of the minor problems in the first season is the underdevelopment of Kiritsugu compared to the other characters. This has caused many to view him as a man without any ethics from the cold-hearted killing in the last episode. With this, I think this episode does a good job clearing some things up as it shows his childhood on an island in the Philippines.  There were a few lighthearted moments such as him playing with his friends and spending time with his childhood friend named Shirley. When she calls him “Kerry,” I found it rather amusing since many people in the US tends to botch up the pronunciations of Japanese words.  But still, she is rather cute, until the second half of the episode.

Believe it or not, this scene freaked me out...

On the other hand, Shirley is a tragedy waiting to happen.  It’s a known fact that Kiritsugu’s Father is a mage that is currently researching on something. However, I didn’t know that it’s something that dangerous. Like any teenager, she decided to experiment on herself by taking a potion to prove his research without knowing the effects. Well, she became a failed “Dead Apostle,” which is basically a type of vampire that is hard to kill and begs Kiritsugu to kill her. This is possibly where he got his ideal of “killing one to save many.” If he euthanized her, the whole island would have got spared from that fate. Probably the reason he didn’t do it because of the dramatization. Despite this, I think this incident was preventable if his father kept his experimental potions well protected and hidden.

This feels good...

Lastly, there is the awakening of the Kiritsugu we know now. When Natalia hires him to kill his own father, he just did it in cold blood. I suppose he assumes that his father would continue his research that might give the same result. On the other hand, it goes downhill from here with him becoming the “Mage Killer” to eradicate the evil that plagued his childhood.  Sad, isn’t it?

After watching several episodes of Fate/zero, I’m amazed of how it progressed. Yeah, the shock value in this episode easily beat the bug pit scene with Sakura in Episode 1. On the other hand, it explains more about the incident that caused Kiritsugu’s post dramatic stress, which he never really gotten over. Also, the village being set on fire gave a similar feeling at the beginning of Fate/stay night with the end of the 4^th Grail War. With that, the next episode will show the escape and the mage training before we head back to the last part of the Grail War. ¶

© chikorita157 for Chikorita157's Anime Blog, 2012. | Permalink | 2 comments | All text in this post is covered under Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 license.

Post tags: drama, nice job breaking it Shirley, tragic childhood memory, Ufotable, vampires

She looks rather cute...

This cat girl looks lovely…

She also looks nice in her swimsuit...

Like the last episode, the obsession over bread is toned down a little. However, I have a sense that the story is not going anywhere since Kaguya is still recovering after resting in the bed for so long. The only exciting part is the girls’ swimsuits and Xiao-Mei. She apparently seeks for some of the treasure that is under the ocean. Although the first attempt was a failure, it was funny when she gets Hank to help them since his machine basically demolishes some parts of the ship. When this happens, she freaks out about it. She should have bought insurance if this was the end result. Oh well, at least they have the booty, except…

My booty!!!

Dammit, the forces took it away since they apparently own everything that is in the ocean. That really sucks because you wasted all that effort in getting the huge box, but receive nothing in the end. Even so, there is some progress in the plot as that box that Hank found could potentially destroy the whole island if he inserted it into the mechanical doll. I think the forces are aware of this, which is why they took all the stuff. It makes sense since they want to protect national security! If Marika were in charge, she wouldn’t let them take it away since everything always goes in her favor!

From the looks of the preview, it seems that the tsundere Ice Witch finally appears and guess the person who voices her. The answer should be obvious by now! ¶

© chikorita157 for Chikorita157's Anime Blog, 2012. | Permalink | 2 comments | All text in this post is covered under Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 license.

Post tags: catgirl, moe, Production I.G

Yuka is very disappointed...

Apparently, you can catch a cold in summer…

After the insanity in the last episode with Yuuka taking over Saki’s body, things get toned down a little. One of the things I noticed is that the wishing rock never got used in this episode. Well, they almost cast a wish to cure Yuka of her cold, but she appeared before they done that. Still, that is beside the point since I laughed at the beginning scene where Yuka receives a mecha poster instead of the “Four Season” one. Yeah, she is better off ordering it online so they don’t mess it up every time.

Even though Rinko is sick, they are still energetic...

Aside from the funny business, there were some great moments in friendship. While Rinko comes down with a summer cold, she dreams about a large whale that is swimming above her. When I saw this, it looked like a Wailord from Pokémon. Still, she mentions this when she has a fever during her elementary years. Apparently, everyone made fun of her except those three girls that she became friends with. Also, they are fans of the “Four Seasons,” which is a plus.

Everyone is happy, except for Rinko...

Although they have done pretty selfish things to each other in the past such as attaching the two bodies together and switching bodies, they still remain best friends. It shows when Yuka is absent and the girls including Rinko gets excited about not having to deal with her annoying personality. Shortly after, they start to notice that things don’t feel right without her around and now they want her to become healthy. In a sense, people have a few bad qualities, but friends just accept who they are since maintaining a relationship is more important than that.

This scene is just heartwarming...

While it’s not as exciting compared to last time, this episode had a lot of heartwarming moments. Things like Yuka watching the “Four Seasons” concert Blu-ray in Rinko’s room and Rinko checking to see the poster came are some of the little things that matter. Unlike AKB0048, Natsuiro Kiseki shows the beauty of friendship with its ups and downs. This is one of the things that make life exciting. ¶

© chikorita157 for Chikorita157's Anime Blog, 2012. | Permalink | 2 comments | All text in this post is covered under Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 license.

Post tags: friendship, sphere, Sunrise

Given the various posts floating in the blogosphere about the Aniblog Tourney and competition that came after the first round, I like to share some of my thoughts about the negative externalities of competition and why it’s not necessarily a good thing. (Image Source)

If you browse through all the posts on Anime Nano, Anime Blogger Antenna or any indexing site, you might notice some campaign posts or potshots regarding the AniBlog Tourney. Although the tourney’s original intension is to promote new blogs, it has created a bad feeling in the blogosphere where competition becomes the center issue while everything else like content becomes a second thought. Stuff like voting solely on design, begging for votes on social networks, vote manipulation and messing up the seeding shows that some people desperately want to win a popularity contest. I feel that stuff like this can become harmful for the blogosphere since the drama could turn off readers. Still, the tournament is not the only reason why it’s bad, but the purpose of blogging as a whole.

Several months back, AceRailgun brought up a good question, “Should people view Anime Blogging as a competition?” It’s understandable that some people care about how many visitors, page views, comments and subscribers they receive on their blog. For me, getting 300-500 visitors and 600-800 page views a day is nothing to become all excited about since it’s not an indicator for success. Sadly, some believe that because having high numbers will boost their ego, thus enable them to brag and put down newer blogs that struggle to get any. To me, this is rather childish to blog for popularity since you have to earn it by writing interesting content. Not to mention, people who blog for this reason can impact a longevity of a blog since the writer is only motivated by high numbers and can burn out easily just to maintain that number.

As for me, the reason I continue blogging after all these years is to share my thoughts and passion about the medium. For that reason, I never write posts just to grab attention and increase my hits.  I only write what comes to my mind and I enjoy doing it. In addition, I like interacting with other people because it generates discussion and adds a sense of enjoyment. I have said this various times in the past, but Anime Blogging should be a fun activity. If this was the reason, people shouldn’t become too concerned about these statistics and just blog.

Even though most view competition as a good thing in real life, it doesn’t necessarily mean the same applies to Anime Blogging. It’s true that becoming popular is not easy since you have to write interesting posts and proofread them to build readership. People who just write for popularity won’t necessarily have the same passion, thus leading to an endless hiatus. Also, the tournament should make some more reforms to reduce the issues they currently face, especially for some new blogs who doesn’t stand a chance against the established ones. ¶

© chikorita157 for Chikorita157's Anime Blog, 2012. | Permalink | 9 comments | All text in this post is covered under Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 license.

Post tags: aniblog tourney, AniBlogosphere, competition, fandom, opinion

You can't escape from my curiosity!

After solving two simple mysteries last, it’s time to tackle one that takes a bit more thinking with an additional member.

Into the second episode, it seems that Hyouka finally introduced all the main characters of the show as Mayaka joins the crew. Apparently, She has a huge crush on Satoshi, which is kind of funny since he teases her. Still, they make a fine couple even though he doesn’t recognize her feelings towards him, mostly because she is too harsh. Believe me, being in the Friendzoned is painful since a certain girl has been there until recently…

Eru compels you to pick this instead...

As for the mystery in this episode, it was definitely more elaborate than last time, but not too groundbreaking. Apparently, Mayaka wants to know why someone keeps checking out the same book and return it the same day. Yeah, that is kind of strange since most people wouldn’t waste his/her effort in returning the book the same day and just wait until it’s due. Even so, I find it amusing how Houtarou complains about using his energy because he used some to figure out that some girls used it as a prop for a painting and nobody else could get it. At this rate, he may as well use it all since he wastes more than saving.

Although scary, she is still cute!

Of course, the part I liked about this episode is Eru. She is rather cute, especially when she forces Houtarou to pick the recommended item on the menu and shoving the book in front of his face. Also, she looked cute in a ponytail and the dress she wore while visiting him at a café. With that, hopefully the next mystery goes a bit deeper as they seek for the collection they desire. ¶

© chikorita157 for Chikorita157's Anime Blog, 2012. | Permalink | 2 comments | All text in this post is covered under Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 license.

Post tags: kyoani, mystery

My thoughts exactly...

I fear this day… Now, I can never see idols in the same way thanks to this anime.

Needless to say, I don’t expect much when I first saw the premise of AKB0048. It’s just ridiculous to have something like prohibition, except it deals with entertainment and Idols aren’t allowed to have live performances. Add the secret police, some mecha and other things shooting at the girls while they fire back while singing, you have one big clusterf**k as shown in the beginning. I wouldn’t mind if the girls focused on fabulous singing and dancing. However, when you add other crap too it, it just makes it so chaotic.

I hate you dad!

Aside from the guerilla warfare concert, the story fast forward to four years later when Nagisa, Yuuka and Orine gets invited to compete in auditions for the next generation of AKB0048. Yeah, that is interesting at the very least since Nagisa’s dad disapproves the whole thing and Yuuka’s boyfriend not wanting her to do it. Combine it with Nagisa’s crying and indecisiveness from what her parents said, I just didn’t feel the emotion in the drama at all.

After completing the first episode, I pretty much got the same feeling Caraniel had when she shared her experiences with Inushinde. To me, this show was so bad in an outrageous way and it wreaks Xenoglossia. From this, I feel that AKB0048 can never top the greatness and the awesomeness of The Idolmaster Anime (also, the performances in that anime was a hell lot better than all that vomit-inducing CG in this show). Although its creative, the idea of warfare and idols just do not mix. Then again, I will probably enjoyed it more if I had a drinking game. With that, I officially announce the “AKB0048 drinking game” and alcohol is not necessary! Just take a sip when…

• The idols throw bombs and fight the police
• The police fire their weapons at the idols
• Explosions
• The sight of the “No Idol” sign
• People telling the girls not to sing or do anything Idol related
• Any remark that Nagisa’s father says
• Yuuka calling Nagisa a coward
• Nagisa cries
• Any type of Drama

You will be like this once the episode done... (excuse me for my crappy Photoshop skills)

Believe me, you will do a lot of drinking before the episode ends. So if you are brave enough to do it, just contact me on the SCCSAV Google Group or on Twitter and we figure out a time this Saturday to have some fun. Aside from that, I probably won’t blog much about this show because have better things to write about. ¶

© chikorita157 for Chikorita157's Anime Blog, 2012. | Permalink | 10 comments | All text in this post is covered under Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 license.

Post tags: action, AKB48, drama, idol, moe, music, Slatelight, what is this i don't even

Each picture tells a thousand words, but this... WOW!

Honestly, I never thought that would happen… but it did!

Compared to the last episode, this was a lot better since it didn’t give an embarrassing feeling with cosplay and silliness. On the other hand, Jenny hiring of the Bentenmaru to protect her came at no surprise. It’s kind of funny that Chiaki initially went against the whole thing as kidnapping crosses the line and the possibility of Marika losing her pirating license. Thankfully, Jenny escaped on her own accord so that the Space Yacht Club didn’t have to go in and raid the place. Not only that, the insurance company and the actual crew approved the job, so it’s not a big deal.

Of course, this is not the moment that surprised me in this episode. It’s Jenny’s reunion with Lynn that shocked everyone. They simply made out with each other while the others watch. I know that they were really close with each other, but I didn’t know it would be that intimate. With that, I highly approve of this.

She is now ready to face her relatives.

Underneath the Yuri and undertaking the job, another interesting aspect of this episode is the negations and politics in business. It’s clear that Jenny’s relatives don’t want her to inherit the family business. Therefore, they want to marry her off with a politician that she doesn’t even love. From this, I notice that this is a common theme with other shows as the family has special interests and would rather sacrifice rather care about the recessions. This is no exception, although it’s interesting how Jenny manages to convince the Howard Insurance Company to ignore the lies from her relatives and take on the job. With that, the next episode should be interesting as her family attacks the ship and Marika finally confronts them. ¶

© chikorita157 for Chikorita157's Anime Blog, 2012. | Permalink | No comment | All text in this post is covered under Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 license.

Post tags: pirates, princesses, science fiction, yuri

Let's start with a calm picture before something more grim...

It seems that Kirei finally showed his true colors… after three episodes of killing.

Oh crap, he actually did it!

When I witnessed Tokiomi ’s death at the end of the episode, I thought it wouldn’t happen so soon. It’s true that Kirei planned on doing it when he gets dragged back to the Grail War along with his strong desire to kill his father and take his master command seals. However, the funny thing about the relationship between him and Tokiomi is that he never sees this coming and trusts him as a student. He even gives him the family dagger and doesn’t realize Kirei’s suspicious expressions before the inevitable happened. On the hand, at least he did the dirty work, which Kariya intend to do in the first place.

From the looks of this, he foreseen his death ahead of time...

Aside from the obvious, it’s kind of sad to see the downfall of Tokiomi . Yeah, he made bad decisions in the past such as giving up Sakura to the Matous and letting Kirei plan his betrayal secretly. However, this will have an emotional impact on Rin since she looks up to her father a lot. Once she finds out about it, I think she would become devastated and vow to plot revenge when she grows up. Even so, his farewell before confronting Kirei is a clear sign that he might not return alive once the war ends.

In the last three episodes, they were certainly brutal as we see four deaths including Lancer’s, which is perhaps the most dramatic. Conversely, I don’t see the same sympathy since Tokiomi has made really bad decisions to make his siblings the “elite.” He cared more about getting the Grail rather than his family, which ultimately contributed to his downfall. With that, Archer partnering with Kirei will ultimately affect the outcome of the war for the worst. I wonder how the others will adjust to this change. ¶

© chikorita157 for Chikorita157's Anime Blog, 2012. | Permalink | 4 comments | All text in this post is covered under Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 license.

Post tags: betrayal, drama, Ufotable

Considering the troubles Scamp had with WPWebHost (visit if you want the worst hosting experience) for being too popular and the downtimes in the past, I decided to initiate the move immediately to get away from these jerks (although the account is still active since I can’t transfer the domain at the moment). After painful hours in the SSH terminal to optimize and harden the server, I finally got it up and running smoothly on an affordable Virtual Private Server located in the Midwest. Besides the increased speed, you can now access my blog via IPv6 if your ISP supports it.

Aside from that, if you encounter any issues or have any feedback, just leave them in the comments. I’m new at managing a server, so there are probably a few bugs in the system. With that, I should have the Fate/zero Episode 17 post done by 9:30 PM EDT. (Image Source) ¶

© chikorita157 for Chikorita157's Anime Blog, 2012. | Permalink | 2 comments | All text in this post is covered under Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 license.

Post tags: goodbye WPWebHost, new host, update