If you thought this is the only argument, think again...

As Junichi and Kaoru miss the bus, they find themselves alone in the service plaza. Thankfully, someone came to help them find a place to stay for the night.

It ends with a great kiss...

Last time, it seemed that Kaoru made the wrong choice by having an eel and tea set at a restaurant. I have mentioned that everyone makes mistakes sometimes. However, they should have known about the times. Even so, I noticed that they keep arguing with each other numerous times throughout the episode. From this, it makes them look like they are a couple that fights over the silliest of things. Although I never experience a relationship in my life, this actually happens in real life as my parents sometimes fight over anything and make up afterwards. For Kaoru and Junichi, they stop fighting towards the end of the episode and eventually, we saw them kiss on the beach.

Aside from the fan service, there is also a lot of blushing, mostly from Kaoru.

Despite the bickering, there were some fun moments. Apparently, the truck driver drops them off at a hot springs inn, giving us some moments of fanservice. This includes Kaoru bathing in the springs and of course, her wet shirt. Clearly, Junichi enjoyed it a lot despite getting slapped, hit and have things thrown at him for being a pervert. To sweeten the deal, the owner of the inn actually puts the beds together, leading to more bushing. From the looks of it, people apparently knew that they were a full-blown couple.

In the end, I admit that Kaoru’s arc was a bit better than the other arcs shown thus far. Sure, Junichi somewhat annoyed me in this episode than the last. At least Umehara saved the day like he did in Ai’s arc. No matter what, it seems that Junichi always land himself in a really tough spot and needs help as a result. Aside from that, Sae is up next and I seriously hope that the annoying narrator will go away in her after story. ¶

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Post tags: AIC, comedy, fanservice, hot springs, romance

I'm using Milky Holmes's picketing for my own agenda against the wealthy 1 percent! Take that Fox Noise!

In the last two weeks, I have mentioned about having to put Milky Holmes Second Season on hiatus due to lack of subs with the stream being two episodes behind. Since niconico has finally caught up a bit more and gave us Episode 5, it’s even crazier than what happened in the last episode.

Compared to the last episode, this one was just plain crazy. Somehow, there is a pervert on the loose who opens his trench coat in front of women. The only one who can solve this case is Koron, a really young, female detective that came from a rich family. Needless to say, her personality is hilarious. Heck, her toy is more so since it tells a random gag and then, hits her on the head.  However, it doesn’t stop there. She fights Twenty and eventually puts his deformed nipples into some kind of sauce. No matter what, he never fails to make the show more hilarious than it already is.

She actually did it!

On the other hand, I’m quite surprised that Hercule gone long with the trench coat thing and eventually being the only one naked in the battle against the Gentleman Thieves. Throughout the whole series, she was so painfully shy that it even exceeded the levels Yukiho can’t ever reach. When Hercule revealed that she is not wearing anything under the coat, it surprised me since no timid girl would ever do it. Even so, her reaction after telling the truth was cute, although she is now on the road to becoming a pervert.

The shocking truth is right here.

At the end of the day, Koron or rather her alter ego, Po was the pervert who loves being naked.  If that was the case, she could always go to the hot springs or bathhouses. The girls did just that despite the G4 getting the actual pervert.

Aside from that, this episode brought some detective work back to the mix while maintaining the same level of comedy.  Not only that, Kokoro in the embarrassing costume returns with another mascot that resembles Wall-E, which has the same personality as her. The sight of Sheryl saying their names with “〜ちゃん” at the end earned her another hit from the robot. From the looks of the next episode, it gets even crazier as the girls attempts to solve a train mystery. ¶

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Post tags: comedy, JC Staff, moe

During my first year of college, I had a lot of free time, so I started watching Anime. I usually finish all my homework at school and study before watching anything. As the semesters went on, the courses got harder, thus I have to scale back and use my time wisely. This is the main reason I can only handle a maximum is 5 shows since I also blog what I watch.  Furthermore, I only watch one episode a day (with exceptions when college is not in session) with episodic posts taking 1 to 2 hours to write and proofread. For editorials and reviews, the writing process takes longer as I have to organize my thoughts and then type it in a word processor.

In addition to Anime, I hardly play any games when college in session since it takes my attention away from the important stuff. The only exception is handheld gaming consoles. I will occasionally play with them when I’m out. However, if it’s during summer or winter break, I will spend a good amount of time playing games depending on my mood. Otherwise, I spend most of my time lurking on the Internet or doing my homework if any.

Lastly, I have my Japanese Self-Study, which I have started since October of last year. Since I want to learn a second language to benefit myself and to increase the chance of getting a job, it has become important to practice every day. I usually do this on my free time or with my homework so it will stay fresh in my mind. In addition to finishing the worksheets and making out sentences, I study the vocabulary every night through a program called Anki so I can remember them. Hopefully, I will pass the beginning level (N5) of the Japanese Language Proficiency Test this December with all the studying and practicing I’m doing now.

After my blog survived three years without any long periods of inactivity while I maintained a reasonably high GPA, I felt that I have accomplished a lot while keeping myself occupied. In a sense, good time management is closely related to active anime blogs. In turn, the opposite can happen, which is the reason why we see blogs die or frequently going on hiatus. As for me, things might change when I start my master’s degree in 2013. Therefore, I might find myself having less time to blogging than what I have now. Even so, I’m confident that I can adjust when the time comes and continue what I enjoy.  ¶

© 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: fandom, opinion, personal experiences

Where am I? Did my ship got blown up or something?

It seems that some Piracy had a huge negative impact on Marika’s time management skills.

As with anything in life, you can’t focus too much in one thing and expect to perform at the same level. Unfortunately for Marika, she had a bit too much fun with her new job as captain that she let everything slide. It shows with her failing grades on all the quizzes and tests after taking the new job. It’s not too surprising since she sleeps during class from staying up too long. I know how it feels because I go to sleep at midnight and feel tired in the morning despite getting my work done ahead of time. Occasionally, I find myself sleeping in class, although this didn’t happen often because I’m fully awake during the afternoon. Still, she really needs to manage her time correctly by not taking the part-time job. That way, she can use that time to study for better grades.

Cutest Reaction from Chiaki yet!

Aside from that, Chiaki appears again to eat another parfait. It’s blatantly obvious that she came to visit Marika, but still won’t admit it. Even so, it’s interesting how Mami says that Marika is brilliant and wants to become like her mother. It shows when she doesn’t want to drop out of school or stop her part-time job. She may look bold, but sometimes, you can’t do everything at once. Eventually, she has to give up her job at the maid café in order to achieve her planned goals.

This doesn't look right on her...

Overall, this episode is a build up on what will happen next time. She essentially did her pirate act while wearing all that makeup. I do admit that having all of that on her face doesn’t look right. However, it does bring a surprise. Apparently, a child that is a princess secretly boards the pirate ship. This only makes things more interesting considering the prospect of her trying to run away from home or something. Either way, we will learn about her situation in the next episode.

Surprises that keeps on giving...

  ¶

© 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: pirates, science fiction, this is what happens when you don't study, treasure hunting

Junichi has a very active imagination!

It’s now Kaoru’s time to take the spotlight and damn, that segment in the beginning was amazing!

Knockout!

From the beginning, Kaoru had a lot of charm from her outgoing personality and level of naughtiness that rivals Haruka’s. This episode was no exception. Apparently, they decided to take a part-time job to raise money for their last summer break trip.  This involved taking roles in the live action performance of “Inago Mask” with Kaoru being the announcer and Junichi, the grunts. Eventually, he stops following the script and did his own thing to entertain the crowd and get back at her. Through his multiple forms, he gave her a wet shirt, bondage and a tentacle grab. Not so surprising since they are having a field day despite the management getting angry.  Even so, I enjoyed it a lot since it caught my interest while being entertaining.

Let's do this!

Aside from that, there are also other shenanigans between the two. First, Kaoru helps Junichi finish his assignment while rubbing her butt on his crouch area. Although he enjoyed it, the bus ride is where things got interesting with the erotic eating. They simply took a piece of candy and tried to separate it without touching the lips through their mouths. This results in some interesting reactions from the passengers since it looked like they were kissing. Not only that, I laughed pretty hard during that segment since it looked astonishing. If I did that in real life with a girl, I would just faint from embarrassment (although, I wouldn’t do that since it’s a stupid idea to begin with).

I SCREWED EVERYTHING UP! T_T

In the end, they manage to conceal their stuff and went out to eat. When they came back, the bus was gone. I know that people make mistakes sometimes since we aren’t perfect. At the same time, it was a dumb move on their part since they knew about the 20-minute time limit. Let this be a lesson, being early is “on time” and on time is “late.” Either way, I wonder how they are going to get out of this mess considering that the luggage is on the bus.  Judging from the preview, they decide to go on an adventure by foot. So thankfully, nothing is lost besides their belongings.

  ¶

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Post tags: AIC, comedy, moe, romance

It feels like yesterday since I started blogging back in 2009 during my freshman year of college. Since then, the overall anime blogosphere landscape changed a lot since then.  I saw some bloggers quitting/going on an endless hiatus along with others starting new blogs replacing the dead ones. Also during these years, I got to know a good number of bloggers in the blogosphere and fans. For that, I feel that this is a good time to look back and comment on it. (Image Source)

When I started blogging about anime back in February 17, 2009, I didn’t really have a specific goal. I just blog what came into my mind or what I have seen. If you take a look back at the posts I made back then, it doesn’t look like something of quality. Slowly, I addressed these issues by focusing on impressions/analysis for episodic posts opposed to synopsis, paying close attention to my grammar/spelling, and writing more editorials/reviews. Eventually, I got better at it despite leaving few errors in my post once in a while.

[Show as slideshow]

Secondly, my blog’s appearance had evolved as time went on. Although the theme wasn’t as important compared to the content, it had to look professional at a minimum to stand out. The first theme I used (as pictured above) had a lot of bloat, lacked threaded comments, and bugs. Overall, it doesn’t look great. Therefore, I overhauled the appearance by making my own theme before the first Aniblogosphere Tourney started. Since then, I have made many refinements following the theme. Eventually, I shifted from using Thematic to Genesis so I can provide a better experience and have a constantly updated theme framework. Even so, it looks a lot better than what I had in the beginning.

In addition of improving my writing and improving on the appearance, anime blogging had a huge impact in my life. Initially, I have been really picky of what I should watch since I was afraid to watch things out of my small comfort zone. Gradually, my tastes expand as I tried out new anime and I started to enjoy it a lot more. Eventually, it convinced me to learn Japanese so I can play games related to the series and of course, the ability to play Pokémon in Japanese. Still, the social experience is the most important thing throughout my three years of blogging. It allowed me to become more open and I got to know more anime bloggers/fans that shared the same interest of enjoying Anime and such. Not only that, I started commenting and reading other people’s blogs. In turn, it sometimes generated ideas for editorials, which is a win-win on both fronts.

Either way you look at it, I enjoy anime blogging and I don’t expect to stop in the near future. Although getting my masters and getting a job might reduce my free time available, I expect to manage my time so I can continue what I enjoy. So, with that, I’m happy that my blog has passed the passing of time and hopefully I will trudge along to the 4^th year.

Raw Statistics at the writing of this post:  827 posts, 1769 comments, 41 completed series, 167365 visitors, 297910 pageviews (since June 15, 2010 when Piwik got installed) ¶

© chikorita157 for Chikorita157's Anime Blog, 2012. | Permalink | 17 comments | All text in this post is covered under Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 license.

Post tags: blog milestone, meta, site news

If you notice the lack of weekly Anime Digests, it’s mostly because I didn’t have much to say for the past two weeks. Therefore, I’m won’t be doing them until the spring season. For now, the focus is now on the midseason impressions for the current season.

Compared to last year, this year has been pretty underwhelming season considering that we had two great shows (Madoka Magica and Hourou Musuko), which you may already have fresh in your mind. Nevertheless, I managed to find shows that entertained me for the season, so it’s not that big of a deal. (Image Source)

Amagami SS+ Plus

I have to admit, while I feel that Haruka’s, Kaoru’s and Tsukasa’s arcs were the best out of possible six in the first season, the show only turn out decent since it didn’t really stand out much besides the story format. Not only that, Ai’s and Rihoko’s arcs suffered from poor story direction and/or endings. From watching the second season, it’s an improvement from the last season since Rihoko finally got a good ending and that Ai has gotten out of the slump and redeemed her own story. My only complaint that I have now is the length of the after stories since they seemed short. Besides from that, I’m pretty satisfied on the direction it’s heading.

Mouretsu Pirates

This show was a treat to watch even though I don’t really watch much science fiction shows involving space. The show’s title is what you expect, actual piracy in space with girls wearing skirts. Although the show has a bit of fanservice like girls wearing maid outfits and stuff, it’s mostly the subtle kind. Not only that, the characters are enjoyable, especially Marika and Chiaki for obvious reasons.  Also, I like the developments taking place thus far and technology they have in the future, which make me want to watch more.

For that, this wraps up what I have to say about the season overall. I know that I had to hold off on Milky Holmes II due to lack of availability of subs despite the show being streamed online legally. Still, I haven’t forgotten about it and will catch up as the episodes become available. ¶

© 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: midseason impressions, opinion

For those who celebrate, I hope everyone a Happy Valentines Day/Singles Appreciation Day. To commemorate this faithful day, I want to focus this week’s opinion piece on my favorite idols from The Idolmaster. I know people will have different opinions since they are many to choose from and I will respect that. (Image Source)

#1 Chihaya Kisaragi (如月千早)

Age: 16

Three Sizes: B72 W55 H78

Although she is very self-conscious about her chest size since it’s the smallest out of everyone else’s, I really liked her character. She has an amazing singing voice as shown in most of her songs such as “Blue Bird,” “Sleeping Princess,” and “Promise.” This gets backed up by her highest total image stats in the game, 71. Even so, I like her personality because she is cool and collected while having a strange sense of humor. At the same time, it’s very difficult to manage her expectations if you don’t understand her. Although this is less of a problem in the second game, producing her in the first game can become challenging. If you do or say anything wrong, her tension levels will quickly drop to very low levels and stay there for some time.  Despite this fact, her arc in the Anime had made me appreciate her a lot more.

#2 Azusa Miura (三浦あずさ)

Age: 21

Three Sizes: B91 W59 H86

Needless to say, I like big sister characters since they are mature and tend to have a sweet personality. While Azusa cuts her hair to a short bob in the second game, she is no exception.  Her personality is what makes her amazing. Besides looking for the destined one and her older sister persona, she has a poor sense a direction. With Episode 8, this makes it one heck of an adventure with her bringing the engagement ring back to its rightful owner. For this reason, I like her singing voice since it sounds sweet and she holds two of the slowest favorite songs out of the other characters, both of them about her destined. Not only that, she is also the oldest and bustiest (Takane is the second biggest) idol out of the whole group.

#3 Takane Shijou (四条貴音)

Age: 18

Three Sizes: B90 W62 H92

While not much is known about Takane, I admit that she looks like a princess judging from her lovely appearance. Then again, it’s probably her long silver hair, which makes everyone think that she came from the moon. Even so, she is my favorite because of her extremely polite speech (using 私(わたくし) and not using a hint of casual speech), the ability to eat a big bowl of ramen and sense of humor. Just like Chihaya, Takane also has a great voice even though she can’t compare to the amount of songs recorded from the former.

Honorable Mention – Yukiho Hagiwara (萩原雪歩)

Age: 17

Three Sizes: B81 W56 H81

Some people may find Yukiho rather irritating because she is a “shrinking violet” and fears for men/dogs ¹, you still have to admit that she is endearing. Despite the voice change in Idolmaster 2 that irritated me sometimes, she surprisingly has a great singing voice underneath it all. Because of this fact, I tend to have her take the center for most of my productions without actually being the leader. Also, some her reactions are rather funny even though I feel bad at the same time.

This eventually wraps up my favorite fictional idols. If you have played with the game and/or watched the Anime, I’m quite curious on what is your favorites and why. I know everyone has different preferences, especially when there are 12 to choose from (15 if you include the ones from Dearly Stars).

Some Notes

 ¶

© 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: favorite aidoru, opinion

You are coming with us...

Finally, Marika decided to become captain of her father’s ship… Now it’s just a matter of learning her job while focusing on her schoolwork.

I thought she would get a one-day break before jumping into the job when she wanted to relax with her friend. Sadly, that wasn’t the case as she gets taken away to fill out a lot of paperwork. The registration process to become a legal pirate certainly looks tedious. It’s just painful to see her having to read/sign a stack of paper work, stamping them and then carry heavy stacks of paper to the capital so they get approved. In fact, it’s just as bad as getting your first driver’s license. To get one, you have to pass a test, get paperwork to prove your identity and other things. The good thing is that it lasts for three years, so you don’t have to constantly renew it every year or so. It’s quite the opposite with the “Letter of Marque” since that only lasts 50 days if you don’t engage in piracy. It’s a big pain in the butt, but I doubt that any captain will stay inactive for a long period of time.

Admit it, she liked it...

Not surprisingly, Chiaki makes an appearance to help Marika out on her pirate training. When Marika hugged her, it’s apparent that there is a hint of yuri going on with her blushing. Still, she comes off rather cold hearted by saying that she becomes unhappy when looking at her ditzy face.  Even so, I think she will come back for more because inside her heart, she actually likes being around Marika.

Time to get mah treasures...

Aside from that, the training Marika receives was rather enjoyable. Yes, she epically fails at the simulation, but her invasion of the cruise ship was hilarious. When she jacked the ship and announced that the ship got taken over, everyone laughed like it was some kind of joke and willing to give up their valuables. On the other hand, the swordfight with her instructor is where things got exciting. Despite losing, she shots him (no, he’s not dead) and takes the booty. From her first experience, that was a pretty good start for her and from the looks of the next episode, things are about to get tougher. ¶

© 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, science fiction, treasure hunting

So, I heard you like nekomimi...

As I go into my fifth week of college, Spring Break approaches in about a month. Therefore, I’m finally sharing my plans of the first video “Let’s Play” of The iDOLM@STER 2.

Of course, there are reasons why I held this off for a bit. First and obvious was SOPA/PIPA, which got defeated. If those legislations were to pass, it would have been illegal for me to record footage, put commentary on it and upload it even though it’s legal under fair use. Second, I want to become confident enough and get the “true ending,” which I did in my last play through back in the second week of January.  Therefore, I feel ready to start making the recordings when the time comes and spend my entire weekend recording until I finish my produce.

So, how will this work? I already have a standard definition capture card, a good video editing program and the game. I still need to get a S-Video cable for the Playstation 3 to improve the picture quality. Once I get that, I will do a full recording with my commentary when I go on break. During the gameplay, I will explain how the game works in the first 10 weeks and do the vending machine tutorial. However, I won’t be able to translate any of the dialogs since I still haven’t got that far in my Japanese self-study. Even so, I won’t skip through it so you can read it on your own time. Once the recording gets done, I will release one episode each week in the “Idolmaster 2 Let’s Play” category, which will consist of 10 in-game weeks each episode.

Aside from that, this is what I have planned thus far for the play through in March:

Unit Name: 春(はる)女(おんな)の子(こ) – (Lit. Spring Girls)

Tentative Unit Members: Miki (Leader), Chihaya, Yukiho

Tentative Song List: (any song over 150 BPM), Relations,七彩(なないろ)ボタン,Do-Dai, (DLC Song? -自分(じぶん)Rest@rt or Change!!!!)

For now, if you have any suggestions or concerns, voice them in the comments and be sure to check it out once I’m ready to publish them! ¶

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

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

Yep, he was able to go on a date after all...

As Junichi gets dragged into training camp, will Ai lose out on her Christmas Eve date that she looked forward to? We’ll just have to wait and see…

That person, I don't know him at all...

Needless to say, it’s somewhat depressing to see Ai all alone on her faithful day. With Junichi growing anxious at camp, he couldn’t take it and had to escape. It’s amazing how he got the guts to sneak out in order to go on a date with his girlfriend. Not only that, it’s amusing how the instructors dressed as secret agents are out to find him. Thankfully, his friend saves the day by misleading them. Even so, I felt that her depression in the first half was too exaggerated despite turning out well shortly after.

I need to win this race!

Aside from that, he finally buys her a new jacket to replace her bubble jacket as a present. When I saw her wearing the new coat, it’s style somewhat similar to the one Yukiho wears if you don’t have fluffy stuff. Still, Ai definitely looks better compared to her old one. In addition to that, he takes her to other places and unintentionally walks into the hotel district. They also ran into his teacher and quickly escaped while Umehara hits on her. That one scene just made my day as it made me laugh so hard that I fell out of my chair, literally.

Miya is in her own dream world now...

Overall, the date in the after arc felt somewhat dull from the one in the first season. However, I expected this considering that their relationship was already fully developed. On the other hand, the ending was sweet as them living together years later. Therefore, I’ll give it a pass since her after arc was a huge improvement over the one in the first season. Also, the scene with Miya using Sae’s chest as a pillow was also a treat since it looked so naughty. I guess we can’t blame her since she still suffers self-esteem issues regarding her bust size.

For next time, it looks like we skipping Sae for now and going for Kaoru. From that, I expect some more excitement from where they left off. ¶

© 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: AIC, cutting camp, moe, romance

I have to admit that while the first season of Working had some flaws, it was one of the most enjoyable comedies because every worker had a quirk that contributed to it. With the second season completed back in December, it improved a lot while showing more of what I liked about the whole show. (Image Source)

If you watched the first season, the whole cast makes a return. The only difference is the introduction of some new minor characters and Inami’s classmates. First, you have Kyoko’s old gang members, Yohei and Mitsuki who are twins, which don’t get along with each other. The former is a NEET and the latter is business lady. In addition, you have Aoi’s older brother, Kirio who is constantly looking for his younger sister and gradually develops a crush on Mahiru. Lastly and astonishingly, Otoo’s long lost wife, Haruna makes a surprise appearance when she came out of the sewers. Needless to say, the new characters are enjoyable as they are just as weird compared to the employees despite appearing only in a few episodes. Also, Maya receives more lines in the last episode after being in the background for all twelve episodes.

As for the story, it was a big improvement over the former. My constant complaint about the last season is Inami’s excessive punching of men. Thankfully, this occurred less in the second season as she improved a great deal in solving her androphobia. Instead, you get adorable moments with her and Souta, especially when he pets her head and receiving her text messages. Not only that, Aoi got a bit more screen time along with the developing relationship between Jun and Yachiyo. Although their relationship only got the spotlight for only two episodes, I’m glad there is another couple in the story besides Inami and Shouta.

As a whole, the second season of Working was a very enjoyable experience. Although the opening/ending theme was a mixed bag for some people, the production values remain relatively the same. With that, if another season gets announced in a couple of years, I hope that Inami and Souta on an actual date with her androphobia gone for good. If that comes true, we should celebrate with a party.

Overall Rating: 8.8/10, B+, Very Good ¶

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Post tags: A-1 Pictures, comedy, final impressions, moe, slice of life

Like Anime, video games had played a big role in my life after I was introduced to it during my childhood. After some thought, I felt the need to share my experiences with video games and how it influenced me to watch Anime since these two mediums are closely related to each other. Not surprisingly, most anime fans are probably gamers as well. (Image Source)

When I watch anime, there are always some shows that make references back to popular video game culture as shown in Lucky Star, Seitokai no Ichizon, Ore no Imouto and Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai. In a way, video games and Anime industries have a very close relationship with each other as shown through anime adaptations of video games and the other way around. I always felt that both of these mediums shared a common theme of escapism and fantasy. This is why you see adaptations of visual novels/video games like Kanon, Fate/stay night, Pokémon, The Idolmaster and Utawarerumono to name a few. Although video games never give the same experience every time he or she plays the game, it still has a plot. Therefore, making an anime based off a game gives a person an idea of what the story is about and can potentially convince them to play it if they want more. Not only that, some Anime series have a game released to expand on the storyline and also, allows people to experience how it’s like in the show. The possibilities are endless.

As for me, I grew up with video games ever since my childhood and it had a strong impact on my life. I recall my father buying us a Super Nintendo as a present for Christmas. This was one of the first video game consoles my sister and I ever owned. Additionally, we got the original Gameboys. Eventually I upgraded to the Gameboy Pocket and then, the Color. The portable systems eventually got me hooked with Pokémon when I played Blue version while my sister had Red for the first time in the late 1990s/early 2000s. Since then, we got every main Pokémon game to date along with the other Nintendo consoles (Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, Gamecube, Wii and the 3DS), despite skipping some of the spinoff games. Aside from that, Pokémon also got me into Anime as it started airing in the late 90s. We used to record Saturday mornings and then watch them after returning from Piano lessons. We eventually stopped as the dub cast changed and I lost interest in watching the show, thus I just focused my efforts on the games.

Sometime in 2004, we got introduced to the Sony Playstation 2. Although I didn’t play many games on it until the Playstation 3, my sister started getting into the Kingdom Hearts series. It’s not until I got the Playstation 3 with backwards compatibility I started playing more games on the Sony consoles. This is where I got hooked on the Final Fantasy series (VII, X and XII) along with other JRPGs like Eternal Sonata. Not only that, it opened a door to other games that only got released in Japan. Unlike other consoles, Sony’s Playstation 3, Playstation Portable and the Vita are the only ones that have no region locks. With that, it eventually motivated me to learn Japanese and enabled me to play The Idolmaster 2, a game that Namco never intends to release outside of Japan and it was a very enjoyable game. Like Nintendo, Sony’s Playstation also influenced my gaming hobby as it opened a different library of games not available on the former.

Fast-forward to the present, my view on video games has not changed since I still view myself as a hardcore gamer. When I’m on break (college not in session), I usually spend my free time trying to beat a game and become better at it. For me, the immersive experience is important since it provides a sense of enjoyment, just like with Anime. This is true when I’m playing a game on any console or PC. However, it’s the opposite with the increasing trend of smartphone gaming.

If you haven’t seen my numerous rants on Twitter and my side blog, the mainstream media and naysayers who keep putting down Nintendo and Sony have increasingly enraged me. They saying that these companies should “give up” their console business and publish games for the iPhone or Android because everyone’s doing it. This really got my blood boiling because they do not understand gaming at all. Not only that, I have tried out games like Angry Birds and Cut the Rope and it’s utter garbage since I got bored within three minutes of playing it. The main problem with these games is not only for the awfully boring gameplay along with the lack physical controls, it can never provide the same experience real video games provides. Although simple games like visual novels will do fine on such a platform because it doesn’t require physical controls, I feel that the only things that can provide the best gameplay experience is handheld/regular consoles and the computer with everything else providing a subpar experience. To make matters worse, most mobile games are rushed, rip-offs, clones, have poor gameplay and/or something that’s not worth playing in the long-term.  To me, mobile gaming is the fast food of poor quality games and I won’t be surprised if the mobile gaming market crashes in a few years like it did in 1983 for the same exact reasons.

Looking ahead to the future, my relationship with Anime and Video Games is not likely to change since both are closely related and both are one of my favorite hobbies. When I get better at Japanese, it’s only going to open a door to other games I never heard of. Additionally, Anime can potentially motivate me to play the original games if something about them interests me.

Aside from that, I leave you with this question:  How does video games influence how you look at anime and vice versa? ¶

© 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: fandom, opinion, personal experiences, Video Games

Checkmate!

It’s the episode everyone waited for since it will put Marika’s attack plan in the hot seat…
While the first half doesn’t hold much excitement compared to the latter since it’s all about making the final touches to the attack plan, I can understand the complaints of the first half being dull. On the other hand, it had to happen since you don’t want the girls make a mistake that will cause them to lose control of the ship and jeopardize their lives. In the end, these small changes were worth it as it added anticipation to the cyber warfare that lies ahead.

Didn't you know that my father is also a pirate and I am his daughter...

When the girls wake up and start executing their cyber attack plans, it was an enjoyable sight. As you recall in the last episode, they made a dummy clone of the ship’s system, thus making it look like they were attacking the real thing with fake pictures of empty halls and captain sleeping in his room. The enemy (Lightning 11) did just that successfully and thought that they won. After receiving a surrender note, the reactions the girls gave were hilarious while they send the insulting message back at them and started attacking their systems. The plan was really clever and a success. Sadly, the enemy showed how despite they are by resorting to energy canons and started firing at the girls’ ship.

I decided to become captain! Now where is my pirate gear...

In the end, Bentenmaru and Barbalusa fired their energy canons at Lightning 11, thus obliterating it forever. With the fireworks set off, Chiaki reveals that her father is a pirate. I wasn’t surprised by this discovery since she knew too much when she met Marika. Either way, I’m glad that Marika finally decided on becoming captain and stopped being so decisive. Since she finally got on board, future episodes look bright as she starts doing some piracy. ¶

© 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: enemy got owned!, pirates, science fiction, strategic planning

As you expect, the short form is different from polite form, not because it’s shorter, but it’s mostly used in casual speak. In short form, です becomes だ ¹, questions end with a question mark opposed to adding か and verbs in the present tense keeps it’s dictionary forms. In the list below, it will show how verbs and adjectives in the short form look like:

る- verbs

始(はじ)める- to begin

• Present – 始める
• Present Negative – 始めない
• Past – 始めた
• Past Negative –始めなかった

う verbs

歌(うた)う- to sing

• Present –歌う
• Present Negative – 歌わない
• Past – 歌った
• Past Negative –歌わなかった

なadj

親切(しんせつ)な – kind

• Present –親切だ
• Present Negative –親切じゃない
• Past – 親切だった
• Past Negative –親切じゃなかった

い adj

痛(いた)い – painful

• Present –痛い
• Present Negative – 痛くない
• Past – 痛かった
• Past Negative –痛くなかった

The congregations for the short forms were easy since it’s just adding ない to る verbs and for うverbs, cutting off the うat the end and adding あない ². The past tense conjugates like the て form, but you add た instead.

Aside from casual speak, short forms has many uses as shown in few of the examples below:

Refraining someone from doing something:

ここで食(た)べ物(もの)を食(た)べないでください。

Please don’t eat food here.

Quotation:

（私は）美希(みき)はハーニーが好(す)きだと思います。

I think Miki likes Honey.

私の妹(いもうと)は、あしたケーキーが要(い)ると言(い)っていました。

My litter sister said that she needs a cake tomorrow.

Because (から、ので – casual)

雨(あめ)が降(ふ)るから、今日(きょう)公園(こうえん)に行(い)きません。

I won’t go to the park today, because it’s raining.

Aside from the sentences above, there are other uses for the short form I have learned, but won’t explain because there are other sources that explains it better. I just want to show everyone who is currently learning the language that casual forms are just as important as the polite forms. Knowing their existence and learning them will make life easier if you decide to converse with other people, experience Japanese media or study abroad.

Some Notes

 ¶

© 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: analysis, Japanese, personal experiences

In Junichi's imagination, Tsukasa feels sadistic today.

It’s Nanasaki Ai’s time in the spotlight and as you expect, there is a lot of girls in swimsuits.

Miya in a Swimsuit... win!

From the last season, her arc left me with a somewhat disappointing impression since it lacked excitement and the bowl of ramen thing was pretty dumb. Hopefully, her after story will improve where it got left off, just like Rihoko in the last episode.  After watching the first episode, I felt better not only for the heartwarming moments between Ai and Junichi, but Miya joining the swim team. This only makes it a bigger treat as he gets into more trouble for peeking in at the girls while they use the pool.

Ai feels brave and caring today for letting him lie his head on her stomach.

On the other hand, Junichi is apparently preparing for the entrance exams and had to attend cram school to get a good grade. Although the entrance exams are different in America compared to Japan, the SATs and a lesser extent, the ACTs were a pain in the butt to take and prepare for.  I remember going to these test tutors during my senior year of high school, but it didn’t make much of an impact. Eventually, I got my foot into a good college and working at my goal. Even so, I can sympathize with him since he had little rest from all that non-stop studying. It was nice for Ai to calm him down and let him rest on her belly while singing a lullaby. Her soft singing sounded sweet.

She feels bad that Cram School took Junichi away, thus ruining her planned present giving.

In the end, Junichi did badly on the practice exam for one mistake we might have done while filling out the Scantrons. It happened to me several times during high school and college, although I fix it before handing it in. Apparently, he messed up all his answers by ONE ROW, thus getting the rest of the answers wrong even though they were correct if it didn’t happen. The funny thing is that Ai apparently accepts it even though she regretted what she said after he got taken away a day earlier when she intends on giving a gift to him. Just hang on Ai! He will eventually come back and conquer the exams so he won’t face any repercussions! ¶

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Post tags: AIC, moe, romance

"Don't call me Kokoro-chan~"

If you thought the second season of Milky Holmes can’t possibly get any crazier, wait until you see their dreams!

Dreams can't possibly become ilke this...

Although this episode is not on the same level of ridiculousness like the last one, that is an understatement because of Cordelia. She is always obsessed with flowers until a foot lands on her face during the night. In the morning, Nero and her gets into a fight, thus leading us to the wackiest dreams anyone can have, which includes:

• Cordelia facing off a Lion directed by Nero
• Sheryl eating fish paste given by Henriette and Kokoro
• Hercule doing some more poses…

Their dreams only gets crazier when they are faced with a bad situation and they subconsciously activated their toys to fend it off. From there, you get Nero transforming into a pillow-throwing robot, Cordelia using Sheryl as a shield, Sheryl repelling everyone off the bed and Hercule lifting the bed. The results were rather hilarious as Hercule takes over the bed and left the others on the floor without knowing it. To add the cherry on top, yuri between Cordelia and Nero got added to the mix even though they were in a fight between each other on the bed. Despite the wackiness, this is probably one of the craziest dreams I seen in any anime. The cutest moment out of all the  girls’ dream is Kokoro hitting Sheryl and continuously saying, “Don’t call me Kokoro-chan,” which is one of the cutest ways to say her famous catchphrase. I dare anyone to watch that one scene on loop for 15 minutes. I bet most of you will go insane after 5 minutes.

I really suck at Jenga and I know it!

Aside from their dreams, there were other moments that also brought some laughter. This includes Sheryl failing at Jenga and Cordelia cosplaying as Aresené, which looked good on her. With that, it seems that Milky Holmes has finally got their act together after a four episode long soul searching and now ready to do some detective work. This only makes me wonder how ridiculous the upcoming mystery might become in the next episode. Only time can tell… ¶

© 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: comedy, JC Staff, moe

Marika sure surprised everyone by her secret of becoming a captain of a pirate ship...

With the sails fixed, are the girls finally out of the woods yet? Hell no as they found a hostile ghost ship that might attack them out of the blue.

From the last episode, Marika had accepted the fate that she is putting everyone on board in danger by going on this practice voyage. This unfortunately comes true as she finds a ghost ship that might potentially launch a cyber attack on the ship. Needless to say, her denial of becoming a pirate captain still surprises me from how she reacts.  No matter what she says, it doesn’t really match up to her actions of staying up all night to plan the attack and willingly jump into a head on cyber attack with the enemy with the possibility of having their systems compromised. I speculate that she is trying to outdo Madoka with her denial when inside, she really wants to become a pirate from her detailed attack strategy. You can’t fool us here! Just admit that you will become captain already because everyone knows about the whole thing!

Aside from that, Episode 4 was mostly a setup of what will happen in the next episode. Although Chiaki felt somewhat down from not having her parfait, I hope Marika’s plan will go through smoothly. Otherwise, we are in for a wild ride.

Oh yes, not to mention… Misa looks lovely in this episode like she always do. ¶

© 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, science fiction, strategic planning

Also, I decided to watch Mouretsu Pirates since I got bored of not having enough stuff to watch (Image Source).

Ranked Episodes

1. Amagami SS+ Plus – Episode 4

I was really happy with Amagami SS finally giving Rihoko the good ending after she got friend zoned in the first season. Not only this made me so delighted, but she also got a kiss. I’m sure many Rihoko fans are satisfied with the ending. It kind of shows that having a girl say something first eventually lead to results.

2. Mouretsu Pirates – Episode 4

Not much happened in this episode since it’s mostly a setup for the cyber warfare in the next episode against a ghost ship. Still, Marika’s denial of becoming a captain of a pirate ship is apparent and she can’t really hide it anymore.

3. Tantei Opera Milky Holmes S2 – Episode 4 (Pending)

Backlogged Episodes

Mouretsu Pirates Episode 1, 2 & 3

So far, I love the setup and the characters, especially Marika and Chiaki as they make a fine partner. Despite the slow development, I still enjoy it.

Tantei Opera Milky Holmes Second Season Episode 3

Mud Boats, Sea Cucumbers, a musical number, Cordelia freaking out and Twenty’s Nipples… That is all. ¶

© 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: anime rankings, opinion

Time to set sail... OH CRAP...

I hope you like sea cucumbers because there are lots of them in this episode.

Needless to say, the whole premise of this episode was extremely ridiculous. It’s apparent that the girls need to save the school from getting shut down, but taking occupied land that houses a federal prison (think Alcatraz Island) isn’t the answer. This made me wonder, why the hell anyone would make a boat with mud¹? Not only it wouldn’t float, it will fall apart in the matter of time. Even so, someone should really test this myth out to see if it actually works in real life. I dare you to!

Hey look, I cooked a huge octopus!

On the other hand, the girls find themselves locked up in a prison and having to pick up sea cucumbers on the beach for prison work. During the work, it’s funny to see Cordelia get all freaked out about touching these ugly creatures, thus refusing to do the job. Then again, it gets worse since she gets locked up in a dark room that has these creatures with Twenty going crazy with his extendable nipples. Oh boy, things certainly don’t look good for her. Thankfully she got out with her inner powers. As for the others, Nero manages to press the button to turn off the pancaking machine, Hercule successfully escaping from a shark and Sheryl, cooking the big octopus. Even so, the execution traps looked really lame since anyone with enough power or common sense can easily defeat it.

G4, saving the city from Milky Holmes's stupidity...

In the end, Milky Holmes pulls the flower of “hope” from the ground, thus demolished the whole prison and letting the prisoners free. It’s very ironic since those prisoners tried to burn down the city shortly after. Therefore, the G4 had to arrest them again and send them to jail. It’s quite obvious why they got locked up In the first place since it was a federal prison. Even so, this incident only undermines the credibility of detectives even more. I guess the girls need to devise a better plan that ensures success, even though the chances for failure are very high. But hey, they will eventually hit it.

Some Notes

 ¶

© 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, jailbreak, JC Staff, moe, omg sea cucumbers