Stepping up to the anime plate

Black Rock Shooter: The Series Episode 1

2012-02-08T18:41:00.000-07:00

Black Rock Shooter was released a while back as an OVA, that raised more than a few questions that were not answered. Well, here comes The Series, which provides answers to more than a few of the questions that the fans have been asking.

It's Mato's first year in Junior highschool, and things seem to be going smooth, at least for her. In an alternate world, a girl who looks similar to Mato is fighting for her life. Black Rock Shooter is a warrior who fights the same battles as Mato, just in a slightly different way. While Mato must battle the pain emotionally, BRS must fight against a manifestation of the problem which she takes care of the only way she knows how: by kicking it to the curb!

Mato meets a girl named Yomi whom she decides to befriend after finding their common intrest in a childrens book called "The bird and the colors". But after a rough confrontation with Yomi's only other friend, Kagari, Things take a turn for the worst. Seeking Emotional help, Mato goes to the school counselor who seems to know Mato a bit better than she leads on. She also seems to know about BRS and her fight against the Manifistation of Kagari's hatred of others besides Yomi.

I like this, I honestly do.

The concept of the show is quite interesting. Certainly original, and a decent story to start off from. But I do have a slight problem with it. I watched the OVA when it first came out. So, I figured it would stay pretty close to the OVA when it came to the story. One of the biggest changes I noticed was the fact that the way that the story plays out is somewhat backwards. One of the differences involves Yu, who is Mato's best friend in the series, was met after Yomi became friends with Mato in the OVA, whereas In the series, Yomi was met after Yu became best friends with Mato. The Music was done quite nicely, and I did not find any pieces that were out of place. The voice acting was very good, although we have yet to see a voice for BRS, but I'm sure we'll hear one in future episodes.

Characters: 4/5
Plot Advancement: 3/5
Creepy children: 5/5

Sword use: 4/5

Animation Quality: 5/5

First Impressions: Smile Precure

2012-02-06T09:49:00.000-07:00

As I've mentioned before, it's no secret that I'm a diehard magical girl fan. And Pretty Cure, or Precure for short, is one of the best-known magical girl franchises out there. The eighth series, Suite PreCure, recently concluded, and in its place is a new series, Smile Precure. Naturally, there's a high standard, both as a Precure series, and from me as a magical girl fan.

The Books, the latest film from Alfred Hitchcock's ghost.

Miyuki Hoshizora is a transfer student into a new school. Naturally, she's late on her first day. Suddenly, a book comes flying down, and out pops this series' mascot, Candy, who a lamb... thing. This is just a passing meeting, as Miyuki continues on to school, where she introduces herself, and the other girls, who I'm guessing will be the other Cures, are name-dropped. Later on, after school, Miyuki is walking home when she sees Candy yet again. This is the beginning of Miyuki's adventure as Cure Happy.

I must admit, after the disappointment that I got from Suite Precure, I'm a little skeptical about Smile Precure. However, I was very pleased with how this first episode played out. The pacing was balanced, and the characters aren't annoying little sh*ts, like the two Precures in Smile's predecessor were. On the other hand, Smile does everything by the book, and nothing terribly new was brought to the table in the first episode.

Overall, Smile Precure produced a quality first episode. It did most everything right, although I'd like to see it set itself apart from other magical girl shows by doing something unique. I will definitely keep watching this, but I simply don't have the time or drive to review this show every week for a whole year. I highly suggest trying this series out if you have the time and can tolerate the bright colors.

Smile Precure! 1

Character Design: 3.5/5
Plot Advancement: 4.5/5
Bright Colors: 4/5
Writing: 3/5
Henshin Sequence: 5/5

Overall: 4/5

The Newest Member of The Family

2012-02-02T23:22:00.000-07:00

I recently recruited a new member of the Anime Plate family. I'd like to welcome J to the team. J is a freelance writer, and he asked me about writing for this site. So I guess I didn't recruit him. J has volunteered to review the Black Rock Shooter anime that is airing this season, so look forward to that.

As for me... Well, I've been really busy with school. Too busy to review anime, apparently. The fact that most of the anime these days is either too awful to put myself through, or it's a slice-of-life show. That's why there hasn't been too many reviews.

But, yeah, at least there'll be stuff to post, between the Black Rock Shooter reviews and a convention report for Anime Boston in April, plus a podcast appearance on Otaku In Review. It'll be fun, and I hope my readers haven't abandoned me in the drought of posts.

12 Days of Anime: #1: My First Anime Con

2011-12-25T13:27:00.001-07:00

Every anime fan would kill to go to a con. Or they can join a local anime club. Up to them, really. I don't condone violence, just FYI. But I'm getting off-track again. The important part is that everyone wants to go to at least one anime convention in their life. I had the opportunity to do so over Memorial Day weekend, at FanimeCon 2011, and boy did I ever have fun.

This being my first con ever, I was overloaded with excitement. I didn't want to leave the con center, and for one night, I didn't. I looked at the screening schedule and saw that there was a Dirty Pair screening at 6 AM. I realized that I had a knack for waking up at 8 AM or so, which meant I'd miss the screening if I went back to the hotel as usual. So what did I do? I stayed up all night. From 10 PM to 7 AM, I was at the con center, subsiding on caffiene. I must have spent $30 just on sodas that night, and I discovered that it was not even close to worth it, and I'm never doing that again.

The other fun part of conventions is the dealer's room. Here is where the big money is spent. There are dealers selling everything, from figures to towels to manga to ~~drugs~~ DVDs. I also found some Tokyo Mew Mew merch, which meant a lot to me. In total, I spent around $300, having to go to the ATM twice in the same day. I hope to be a bit more restrained in my spending at Anime Boston.

You cannot discuss a convention without mentioning the cosplayers. Oh, boy, the cosplayers. I saw everything from Touhou to the Burger King. Yeah, that's right. Someone was cosplaying The Burger King at an anime convention. There were also ponies cosplayers, which made me really happy. Granted, I'm pretty easy to please. Either way, I took a lot of photos, which you can find here. Sure, one of the club members called me a stalker for chasing down a Taiga cosplayer. But aren't all cosplay photographers stalkers, under that logic?

I had tons of fun at Fanime, and I didn't even cosplay. Yet, somehow, I got interviewed for a cosplay DVD. Funny how things turn out, huh? I was actually pretty bummed when the con ended. Then I remembered that there's always next year, provided I can afford it. After all, Anime Boston's going to put a heavy dent in my wallet. Ah, well. I'll burn that bridge when I get to it.

12 Days of Anime: #2: ROAD TRIP!

2011-12-24T10:50:00.001-07:00

In May of 2011, 2 of the biggest joys of the year occured, both of them being related to conventions. Of course, because the local anime club is fairly thrifty, we drove to San Jose. And road trips ALWAYS have inside stories that are only funny to the people that were on the trip. The ride to Fanime was no exception, even if there weren't many stories.

I was only present on the ride to San Jose, since I flew back. But what a time I had in the car. There were 4 people in the car, and it was a fairly long trip. So long, in fact, that we had to stay overnight in Laughlin, Nevada. The other people in the car ragged on me because they couldn't go through the casino because I wasn't 21. I just shrugged and told them, "Next year." Additionally, on the second day of driving, we almost got lost in Bakersfield, California, because everything looked exactly the same. Made me wonder what San Jose itself was going to be like.

Well, with the adventures that the trip had, there was no way that San Jose wouldn't have similar adventures. And, lo and behold, that first evening, we boarded the light rail the wrong way and had to wait for the next train to get back to the hotel. We never made THAT mistake again. And then I took a solo adventure at the convention, but I'll save that story for the next post.

Road trips definitely generate stories. I learned a few weeks later that the drive back from San Jose was equally entertaining, due in part to the giant foam leek one of the club members had bought. I also learned that, due to the size of said leek, it was sticking partway out the window. Man, I'd have killed to see that. Oh, well. I'm sure I'll get to take part in return trip shenanigans in 2012 or 2013. Provided that, y'know, the world doesn't end.

12 Days of Anime: #3: Let's Make A Deal

2011-12-23T12:50:00.000-07:00

As a broke otaku AND a broke college student, finding good deals on anime and manga is a must. RightStuf.com usually has awesome sales, but if I'm going to a brick-and-mortar shop like Hastings, where such sales are less frequent, I often resort to the clearance bin for good deals.

The clearance bin is a great way to not only find out-of-print DVDs and manga, but often find them for insanely low prices. And for someone with very limited income, like myself, this is huge. Finding a volume of a popular series like Chobits for under $3, for example, is one such bargain available in the clearance section. Another one is finding DVDs of UFO Princess Valkyrie and All-Purpose Cultural Cat Girl Nuku Nuku for $5 total. Sometimes, there's an upside to a distributor going under.

RightStuf.com is great, because it effectively cuts out the middleman, and ships the stuff directly to me. The regular prices are lower than I'd find somewhere like Hastings, and shipping is incredibly affordable. The best part comes when they have sales on certain distributors. I've saved a lot of money shopping at RightStuf, and gotten a good number of hard-to-find manga and toys from them.

Raiding the clearance bin or aisle is a great way to save money, especially in a hobby where the merch can get rather pricey. $1-$8 a pop for manga, and shipping as low as $5. Can't really beat that, honestly. Being otaku OR college student might be suffering. I happen to be both, and it is suffering. Finding bargains helps me support the American anime industry without murdering my bank account. I'm bi-winning, I guess.

12 Days of Anime: #4: Censoring The Censor

2011-12-22T13:34:00.000-07:00

Recently, the US federal government drafted a bill entitled the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA). This bill, which was so poorly written that it didn't even have countermeasures written in, threatened to effectively censor the internet. Now, how does this possibly relate to anime? Just sit right back, and I'll tell you...

Living outside of Japan, the only way I can watch new anime is to download or stream it from the internet. SOPA would effectively shut down even legal sites like Crunchyroll and Netflix, since the bill is so vague about streaming. This would create a domino effect that would hurt the anime industry in Japan, which kills said industry in the West.

So what measures did I take to help fight the bill? Well, I increased the amount of viewing I do via streaming, in the hopes that someone would notice. Seems like my efforts helped, since the vote on the bill won't even happen until next year. Another victory for ~~bronies~~ the internet! We will fight until the bitter end! We will not submit!

Censor the internet? Like hell. And even if it DID pass, people would find a way around it. You can't underestimate the internet generation. 'sides, it's not like the Prohibition did anything... History buffs, you guys rock. Ah, now I'm getting off-topic, so that probably means I need to wrap this up. Sorry that it's thinner than usual.

12 Days of Anime: #5: Calendar Shenanigans

2011-12-21T17:20:00.000-07:00

Starting with the 2011 calendar, I have taken to ordering a calendar on J-List every year. They have so many calendars, it's sometimes hard to choose.Once I finally decide on a calendar, I wait a few weeks until it eventually comes. It's fun, because every calendar is different, yet one thing is true: the art is beautiful.

For 2011, I ordered an absolutely beautiful calendar featuring art from the film The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya. Perhaps you've heard of it? Even when I took it down the other day, I kept it because I loved the art so much. Well worth the $50 price tag, I'd say. But, there comes a time when change is needed, and I felt that time had come.

So I decided "out with Haruhi, in with Railgun", and put up a 2012 calendar for the series A Certain Scientific Railgun. I love the series and its characters, and I had missed out on buying the 2011 calendar. So I jumped at the chance this time. I can't say I regret it, either. Even though it's a poster calendar instead of a traditional one, I still love it.

Since I started buying anime calendars, I've felt more complete as an anime fan. Plus, I can keep the calendars as autograph material at conventions. Now, if only I could actually GO to conventions. That'd be even better. It'd sure beat sitting around and watching anime and Whose Line all day. Conventions is a topic for another post.

Top 5 Anime of 2011

2011-12-20T19:40:00.000-07:00

The end of the year is close, and that means it's time for a top 5 of the year post. As before, I'll decide what I feel were the 5 best series of the year. And I saw quite a lot of anime this year, so this will be tougher than it was last year. Well, while I have the Bakacast crew in my ears, it's time to do this thing.

#5: Ben-To

Picture for a second, that you're in a super market. Suddenly, a massive brawl breaks out in the back of the store. People are bleeding. No one is calling the cops. That's Ben-To in a nutshell. No-holds-barred fights over half-priced bento boxes. The male lead almost DIES in the first episode. It's a concept stupid enough to work, and I love it. The only thing that keeps this from being above #5 is how repetitive the fight scenes get, as after about 7 episodes, it stopped being absolutely awesome.

#4: Moshidora

It's not exactly a secret that I'm a huge baseball fan, so when I saw Moshidora on the season chart this Spring, I was kinda thrilled, especially since the start date was timed to coincide with Major League Baseball's Opening Day. Then the Japan earthquake happened, putting pretty much everything on hold until things in Japan got straightened out. I must admit that managing a baseball team using business management ideas is somewhat unique, yet Moshidora's novelty quickly ran its course.

#3: Level E

Imagine, if you will, that Earth is not just inhabited by humans, but by many alien races disguising themselves so they blend in. One of these aliens, the Prince, is a rather big troublemaker/troll. His antics cause stress for his bodyguards/caretakers, not the mention the owner of the apartment he arbitrarily freeloads at. In short, Level E was absolutely hilarious, and should be on the list of anyone who wants a good laugh.

#2: Steins;Gate

The world is made up of several "world lines", each one, stemming from another. That is one premise behind Steins;Gate, an adaptation of a visual novel of the same name. Rintarou Okabe lives in his ~~apartment~~ Future Gadget Laboratory with his ~~friends~~ hostages Mayushii and Daru. Together, along with Makise Kurisu~~tina~~, they develop what amounts to a time machine, and go on wild shenanigans. Of course, these shenanigans come with a cost...

#1: Puella Magi Madoka Magica

Yeah, yeah, call me a hypocrite for ragging on this show when I was reviewing it. Honestly, I went back and watched it again, and I saw how fantastically written this show is. I loved it enough to buy a Homura Akemi figma. The combonation of director Akiyuki Shinbo and writer Gen Urobuchi makes for a surreally entertaining deconstruction of the magical girl genre, with a show that could easily be considered the Evangelion of the magical girl genre of anime. With only early animation flaws hindering the show, it easily takes #1 on my 2011 anime list.

12 Days of Anime: #6: Just Whose Line IS It, Anyway?

2011-12-20T13:21:00.000-07:00

The other day I was watching reruns of the British/American game show Whose Line Is It Anyway. Now, before you run me out of here, I want to justify why I brought this up. There are many games on the show that I really like, and Film, TV, and Theatre Styles is one of them. One day, while I was watching, this game was played, and anime was one of the styles selected.

Film, TV, and Theatre Styles is fun because the host take suggestions from the audience. This sometimes gets absolutely hilarious when styles like kabuki and porno are suggested. Well, one time, anime was called out, and the host wrote it down. The results were absolutely hilarious, and the performers' actions were exaggerated, much like characters in anime.

To be honest, I was a bit surprised by the performers' familiarity with anime. They knew all the tropes to a T, and did a rather good job. The scene was great to watch, and the dialogue was pretty cheesy, much like a lot of English anime dialogue in the late 90s. I also liked that there were people in the audience who even knew what anime was. After all, the industry in the US was really still fairly small, though bigger than it was, say, 10 years prior.

It's the unpredictable things that are sometimes the funniest, and anime is certainly unpredictable. And when American culture is mixed in, there's really no telling what the results will be like. It could be downright awful, or it could be absolutely hilarious. There's just no way to tell unless you try it.

12 Days of Anime: #7: Casting Pods

2011-12-19T12:45:00.001-07:00

Over the last year, I had an opportunity to participate in a few podcasts. Of course, this necessitated buying a headset. Nonetheless, I found myself with a cool opportunity to get myself a little exposure. It also made me feel like I belonged somewhere. I also discovered a few other things about myself by podcasting.

The very first podcast I did was technically in 2010, but it was still significant. It was the Otaku In Review podcast, and I was a nervous wreck. I never spoke unless spoken to, and frequently stumbled over my words for the first 20 minutes or so. I knew I was just starting out, and that I'd get better with more experience. And then Dustin of Project Haruhi approached me.

When Dustin and Jon asked me to fill in for Jon on Bakacast for a couple weeks, I was ecstatic, as I'd been getting along with them pretty well. I felt more comfortable, and knew what to expect, since I constantly listen to Bakacast. I was still fairly nervous and somewhat quiet, but I blame my shyness for that. Somehow, being on that podcast made me really happy. I started to relax a bit.

Evidently, Scott liked my Otaku In Review appearance enough to want me back to discuss Touhou. I obliged, finally getting around to it in June. I was much more relaxed, and there was a different co-host this time around. But that didn't faze me. I came on the podcast, and I discussed Touhou for about 45 minutes. And I certainly had more fun than the previous time. I thought about doing regular podcasts after that.

For a while, I had been doing semi-regular podcasts, mostly on Bakacast. But, deep inside, I longed to have a regular spot on a podcast, something I knew I wouldn't get on Bakacast. But, just like when Dustin approached me for Bakacast, Ryan of Anime Pulp talked to me about a regular spot on their podcast. I accepted, though the gig lasted for about 4 episodes. I did enjoy it, though, because it got me to watch some interesting stuff.

In retrospect, doing podcasts really helped to kill my shyness. I went from a nervous wreck to a cheery co-podcaster. Even though I've mostly been jettisoned from Bakacast in favor of someone else, I hope I can get back to doing that one. I'm planning on being on the Anime Boston 2012 episode of Otaku In Review, so maybe that'll be fun. Until then, I guess I'll keep doing my thing.

12 Days of Anime: #8: Shaken Earth

2011-12-18T18:00:00.001-07:00

This next topic is related to anime, and at the same time, it isn't. In mid-March, a very large earthquake struck Japan, throwing the whole country into turmoil. The timing of the disaster wasn't that great, either.

When the earthquake hit, the anime series Puella Magi Madoka Magica had hit its climax plotwise, and everyone was waiting for the next episode to see what would happen. The earthquake delayed the series' epic finale by 2 or 3 weeks.

I was on a vacation in Phoenix, Arizona at the time, and I had just woken up and turned on the news. Once I saw that an earthquake had hit Japan, I switched the hotel room TV to NHK World. The TV stayed on that channel all day, and I rarely left the hotel room

Over the next few months, I consistently made donations to both Red Cross International and, through J-List, Red Cross Japan. Even though it was thousands of miles away from me, I did whatever I could to help a crippled nation.

One thing I've learned in life is that sh*t happens, and that was entirely true on March 11, 2011. Thankfully, Japan rebounded well, and is running just as well as before. But for 3 months, many countries united as one.

12 Days of Anime: #9: Raw Novels

2011-12-17T20:06:00.000-07:00

Last year, I read my first raw manga, which was fun. After that, I thought "Why stop at manga?". So I went to browse Amazon.com, and found the first Haruhi novel in paperback for, in its raw Japanese format. I was thrilled, until I came to a realization.

Upon opening the book, I saw that only some of the kanji had helper kana next to them. This posed a major challenge to me, as I had relied on the aforementioned kana in the raw manga to help me out. In the novel, I had no such luck, and was left hanging about half the time.

Being left hanging is no fun, and that was the situation I was pushed into. I frequently found myself perusing the English version of the same novel to figure out where I was. Aside from key dialogue that I'd heard a million times in the anime version, I was struggling to find my spot repeatedly. It was not a pleasant experience at all.

In retrospect, I probably wasted my money, since I still haven't finished the raw novel. It's too bad, because I REALLY like ~~her mane~~ the Haruhi Suzumiya series. I want to buy more raw novels, but my poor run with the first one kinda soiled the experience. Ah, well. No way to learn but through experience.

12 Days of Anime: #10: Figures

2011-12-16T18:03:00.001-07:00

Figures are a key part of a hardcore otaku's life, and I'm no exception to that. Sadly, I could barely afford a basic figma until recently. This, again, connects to the convention, where I doubled the size of my figure collection in one weekend. What sorts of figures reside on my shelf? Well, I'll tell you, if you'll just be patient...

One of the most affordable types of figures, and easily my favorite, is the trading figures you can get in capsule machines. These generally cost around $3-5 a pop, and require little assembly. I can safely say that these types of figures are great for anyone looking to start a figure collection at an affordable price level.

My second-favorite kind of figure is the standard figma. These are usually poseable, and come with several cool accessories, like weapons and different faces and hands. Figmas generally cost around $35-45 each, but it's usually worth the investment, as they can command upwards of $90 if you miss the pre-order deadline.

The last kind of figure that I tend towards is the PVC variety that require more assembly than a regular figma. These can be particularly frustrating to assemble, especially if you have shaky hands like I do. Slightly more expensive than figmas, you can usually find a good deal on Amazon for this kind of figure. I'd buy more if I had steadier hands.

I feel like I'd do an injustice to figurekind if I didn't mention Nendoroids. These adorable figures are super-deformed versions of characters, and come with just as many accessories as a figma. Nendoroids usually cost around the same as a figma, so it's really a matter of taste whether you invest in figmas or Nendoroids.

Despite the wide varieties of figures, there is one constant: figures for the Touhou Project, of which I am a huge fan, are insanely expensive, and generally add AT LEAST $20 dollars to the price tag. That price tag is the only thing that stops me from blowing all my money on Touhou figures. I've seen 1/8 scale figures that cost upwards of $150, so it's pretty clear that being poor Touhou fan is suffering.

12 Days of Anime: #11: The Anime Club Experience

2011-12-15T12:59:00.000-07:00

Technically, I joined the local anime club in 2010. But I feel that 2 months isn't enough time to really say anything significant. In 2011, though, many great things happened in that club. Of course, some bad things happened, too. But I'd rather focus on the positive. Today, I'll recall a few things that happened during the year 2011 in the University of New Mexico Anime Club.

First and foremost, the highlight of every semester in Anime Club is the convention trip at the end of the term. Over Memorial Day weekend this year, I was able to attend one of those trips, which I'll cover in more detail in a later 12 Days post. The club drives to the conventions, which creates its own stories before the con even starts. Again, that's for another post.

While it is an anime club, it also doubles as the video game club. There are generally 2-4 TVs, all hooked up to different consoles. Despite not being the vocal point of the club, this part does attract a good chunk of the members. I will admit, I find myself wandering over to that room quite often. After all, the screening isn't always something I like, so there needs to be an alternative activity.

Last, but certainly not least, is the week-to-week activities, such as maid cafe, cosplay day, swap meets, and the Halloween party. The various events the club puts on add variety to the club, instead of it being monotonous every week. Additionally, the screening themselves are usually themed, which is nice. It lets me decide if I like the theme of the anime screening, and if I don't, I go to the video game room.

A year later, I'm really glad I joined the anime club. It's given me something to do after work on Saturdays. It's also been good for my social life, as I've made several new friends, either in club or at the trip to Denny's after the meetings. I also gained a place to chill after class during the week. So, if you're an anime fan who's worried about your social life... join an anime club.

12 Days of Anime: #12: My Addiction to bad anime

2011-12-14T22:49:00.000-07:00

Hi. You may remember me as the owner of this near-forgotten blog. I've been hearing everyone in the blogsphere talking about this 12 Days of Anime thing, and I thought I'd give it a shot. So, without further ado, I give to you my first post in 12 Days of Anime.

Long ago... okay, several months ago, my friend Jon from Project Haruhi re-introduced me to a show I had tried to follow as it was airing. That show was Kampfer, and Jon sold it to me on the basis that it was "so bad, it's good". Of course, me being as somewhat naive as I am, was completely convinced and proceeded to watch it. I was instantly hooked not only on Kampfer, but on bad anime in general.

Look at her, jumping like that. She's the male lead.

Following my experience with Kampfer, I would look at the charts for the upcoming anime seasons and pick out the absolute worst anime I could find in addition to the other shows I legitimately want to watch. Of course, since there are two kinds of bad anime, my results ranged from complete trash, like Maken-ki, to amusingly bad shows like Kore wa Zombie desu ka. Such is the gamble of my addiction.

Was it worth it watch such awful anime for my own amusement/addiction? Well, not every season can be a gem, and the bad anime helps to make some seasons look halfway decent. Additionally, not every bad anime can be Kampfer. Some were truly atrocious, some were just as good as Kampfer. Granted, that's not saying much, but still...

Yo, dawg. I heard you like blog posts...

2011-11-14T08:52:00.000-07:00

Yeah, yeah, I know I haven't posted in Haruhi knows how long. I've had work at a baseball stadium (<3), school, and saving for conventions. That's why I'm trying to make up for it. I can at least give you folks the pictures I took at FanimeCon 2011. Lotsa Touhous in this one.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tnelson027/sets/72157626728219845/with/5782605968/

As mentioned earlier, there a lot of Touhou cosplayers. My only regrets are that I did not find a Reisen Udongein Inaba cosplayer, and that I did not cosplay. I did, however, get interviewed for a documentary. All of this at my very first anime convention.

On the subject of Touhou, the 13th Touhou game came out recently, so that's been taking up a good portion of my time. I gotta say, I was rather disappointed. The game was absurdly easy, and ZUN's drawing ability is deteriorating A LOT.

I also purchased a good number of figures recently. As a result, I'm almost broke right now. Being college student is suffering. And being otaku is suffering. FIGURES Y U SO EXPENSIVE?

So... yeah. That's why I haven't posted here for a while. I hope y'all can forgive me. *moe eyes* Please?

What's the difference between laughably bad and terrible anime?

2011-09-05T14:35:00.000-06:00

Isn't she cute? No way her show could be bad... right?

Over the last few months or so, I've developed a reputation, it seems, for watching a lot of bad anime. But how does one differentiate between "so bad, it's good" anime and just plain terrible anime? Stick around, and I'll tell ya!

Is it bad? Is it good? Is it both? Find out after the break!

Hello, plot abandonment.

First off, I want to just make it clear that I wholly prefer the "so bad, it's good" variety of bad anime. As such, I'll start with that. For a show to be so bad, it's good, it either needs a laughably stupid premise or a cast of Large Hams. Kampfer is a very good example of such an anime. The premise is VERY busty girls fighting to the death... at first. Not only does it abandon this premise very early on, but it does in such a way that you can just laugh at it infinitely. For the "cast of Hams" variety, take a look at Gurren Lagann. The show wouldn't have been nearly as interesting if Kamina and Simon didn't yell in every episode.

'sup, false advertising?

Now we've all seen that horrid anime series that we just want to forget. That's the defining trait of a plain terrible show: you pretend it doesn't exist. It's so bad, you want to gouge your eyes out, because that would be more enjoyable than, say, marathoning Highschool of the Dead. You would rather watch Boku no Pico than this crap. Even KissxSis would be a better fate.

As mentioned above, I much prefer shows like Kampfer, where I can at least laugh at how bad it is. Shows like HOTD, a show so bad, you run out of things to mock after about the 4th episode, are not my preference. If you're up for a nice headache from how stupid it is, I highly recommend watching Kampfer. Your pharmacy bill will thank you later, after you stock up on aspirin.

Now you know the difference between "so bad, it's good" anime and downright awful anime. And knowing is half the battle!

Why don't anime licensors advertise on TV?

2011-06-28T11:04:00.000-06:00

After consistently watching anime over the last few years, I've started to notice something, and that something is that anime licensors like Funimation and Bandai don't spend money on TV ads or try to put their shows on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim or SyFy's Ani-Monday blocks. Why is that?

More thoughts after the break!

One potential reason for NOT putting out ads is possibly a pre-concieved notion that the fanbase is large enough that they don't need to spend the money on ads. For shows like DBZ or Naruto, this may be true. But, for less-prominent shows like Kampfer or Nyankoi!, sales won't come on the already existing fanbase alone. Put Nyankoi! on an afternoon TV block, and put Kampfer... somewhere. BAM, potential new viewers who might buy the show on DVD or Blu-ray.

Obviously, it costs money to to pull out a nice 20-second commercial for a show. And it costs money to get the TV timeslot. But look at Aniplex, who just recently got the hit show Durarara! onto Adult Swim. Success often comes with taking risks, and, sometimes, that risk is taking out a TV ad, or trying to get the show on TV. But what bugs me is this: few companies don't even TRY to get a show onto a TV block. I mean, shows like Kiddy Grade and Dirty Pair seem perfectly suited for a primetime TV block, possibly alongside Detective Conan and Lupin III. Right there, 2 hours of good TV.

It really isn't that hard. Just put the ads you see on DVDs, put 'em on TV. There you go. Was that so hard? I just do not understand why companies can't be bothered to do something so simple. It takes so little time to put the ad on a disc and send it to a network. I'd like to know what you think about this topic, so leave a comment!

Yuri's Summer 2011 Season Preview

2011-06-13T20:39:00.000-06:00

Well, spring almost over, and we all know what comes after spring: summer. And, as many fans became well-aware last year, summer is often just a buffer season for fall, which is why I'm not getting my hopes up. That said, there are a few interesting things on the chart for the summer days. Let's see what will entertain me when I'm NOT at the baseball stadium, shall we?

Ah, hell. Might as well get the terribad show out of the way first. Manyuu Hikenchou. The concept: a ninja clan can help people grow big boobs, which equate to power. I'm hoping this will be so bad it's good, like Kampfer was. But odds are, it'll be Highschool of the Dead bad. Ah, well. Not everything can be Squid Girl, after all. Hell, if I can watch Nic Cage's version of The Wicker Man and not suffer a stroke, I can watch this. Not reviewing it, though.

Next up is Mayo Chiki, a show about a boy? who works as a butler... until it's revealed that "he" is actually a girl. Yet another "trap/reverse-trap" show. Yeah, it's of the reverse variety, but that doesn't stop it from being completely unoriginal on paper. Potential upside is merely that it's not a standard Hideyoshi trap and that the writer was the writer for Tokyo Mew Mew. Otherwise, a rather bland show. Watching, no review.

Third on my list is Ro-Kyu-Bu!. The coach of a high school basketball team falls in love with an 11-year-old girl. Now, there's the first and biggest potential issue of this show. The lolicon aspect of this show may be a major turn-off for fans, depending on how it is handled. Second, it's yet another show about a club in danger of being dismissed. Think with me for a sec. K-ON! had the Light Music Club in danger of being dismissed. Haruhi had the Literature Club in peril of dismissal. This is so far from an original idea. The only unique part is the basketball club aspect.

Next, we have GAINAX's newest creation, Dandelion no Shoka. Since this IS the same studio that gave us Evangelion, Gurren Lagann, and Panty & Stocking, I'll let myanimelist.net explain:

Hugh Anthony Disward inherits an old mansion and a personal library from his grandfather. In the basement of the mansion, he meets a mysterious girl Dalian. She is a Dantalian and a gateway to "Dantalian's bookshelf", which stores the prohibited books of the demons.

"Gensho (Illusory Books)", the prohibited books, endanger the balance of the world but people are fascinated by the taboo. Huey and Dalian solve the cases involving Gensho with their ability to access the Dantalian's bookshelf.

Yeah. GAINAX is filled with geniuses, so I have hope that this will be the summer's diamond in the rough. The concept, while a bit confusing, shows some promise, and that's better than a lot of things on the chart. I'll watch this, and probably give it some reviews, too.

The kiddy show I'm watching this season is Nyanpire. The premise is simple: a cat is infused with a vampire's blood, and now has vampiric qualities. Nothing too confusing. It'll definitely be a mellow-down show. Oh, and did I mention that GONZO is doing this one? Watching, no reviews.

I just watched this, as of this writing, and I really should have finished the TV series first, but I was immediately drawn in by the Kore wa Zombie desu ka? OVA episode. I guess I'll write a mini-review for it here. Let me say this first: this had absolutely no relation to the main plot of the TV series. Good thing, too. Not sure how you relate a summer festival to where I left off in the TV series. The characters where noticeably pervier, and that irked me a bit. Bright side: great animation. Downside: derailed characters, and predictable writing. Watched, reviewed.

Overall, summer doesn't look promising. But what should I expect, after what last summer spit out? I guess, if nothing else, I'll have Steins;Gate. Because hearing Mayushii go "Tuturuu~!" never gets old. Ah, well. Look towards fall, pretty much. I hear there's a new Shana anime...

Review: Kampfer fur die Liebe

2011-06-01T17:32:00.000-06:00

I recall mentioning that Kampfer is something of a guilty pleasure for many. And, for some reason, I got excited when I saw the PV for Kampfer: fur die Liebe, which is rough German for "Warrior: Fight for Love". And there was a whole lotta love in the TV series. While these are listed as continuations of the plot, I'm puzzled by one thing: How do you go about continuing the BS ending from the TV series? And, for that matter, what plot? The TV series was 75% lesbianism. Will it continue here?

Boobs and aliens after the break!
For those who don't know, Kampfer is a story revolving around Natsuru Senou, a Kampfer. However, Natsuru is a boy, and Kampfer must be girls. Cue genderbending and wacky lesbian antics. And... that's about it. Seriously.

My immediate thought upon watching the first episode, which is supposedly continuing from the BS that is the 12th episode, is that the writers are trying to prompt Akane x Mikoto shippers, seeing as the two: take a bath together, KISS, and tease each other throughout the episode. Mikoto also falls into a trap later on, but you wouldn't notice, thanks to the tsundere stuffed penguin voiced by none other than Rie Kugimiya, which is promptly lampshaded by Mikoto. Oh, and Natsuru is dumber than a bag of rocks, as per usual. Status Quo Is God, and Natsuru's stupidity IS the status quo.

The second "episode" is what you might call filler. It kicks off with male Natsuru running through a crop circle. No, seriously. Natsuru is promptly operated on for no apparent reason, and Harikiri Tora is TOO LATE, as Natsuru is suddenly a woman. He/She is... a KAMPFER. Cue sequence of female Natsuru groping herself while every other girl in the class turns lesbian. Again. Lesbian antics abound as Natsuru must claw together the money to buy a new bra...

The first episode was all too predictable, but I knew that was coming. Ode to Joy was back, and it was easily the highlight of the episode. And in an episode filled with lesbianism equal to the entirety of the 12-episode TV series. I knew this was coming, and I really don't care. It's terribad. Not just regular bad. Terribad.

I... I have no words for the second episode. To absolutely no one's surprise, it's more of the same: fanservice abound. Now, I don't have a problem with fanservice, as long as it's not the sole focus of the show, which it seems to be here. And there were some pretty bad animation gaffs in the TV series, Natsuru is still the densest material known to man. Basically, more of the same.

To conclude... Well, it's Kampfer. What the hell were you expecting? Haruhi forbid Kampfer is ever GOOD. Honestly, bad anime once in a while is good for the soul. It balances out masterpieces like Madoka and Squid Girl. But that's a tangent for another time. This show doesn't even DESERVE a screencap, partly since half the show is pretty NSFW. At least it's more enjoyable as a bad anime than Highschool of the Dead...

Kampfer: fur die Liebe

Animation Quality: 3/5
Characters: 1.5/5
Comedy/Sexy: 2/5
Episode Plot: 0/5 (WHAT F*CKING PLOT?!)
Plot Advancement: 0/5 (Again, what plot?)

Overall: 1.5/5

Bakacast - Three Angry Men

2011-05-24T11:12:00.000-06:00

Bakacast - Three Angry Men

As of late, I have been appearing on Project Haruhi's podcast, Bakacast, quite often. Here's my latest appearance, where I boldly do what no idiot has done since the first week of the season: give Battle Girls a rather high score. Also discussed is my issue with sparkling. Thank you, Hanasaku Iroha.

Review: The World God Only Knows II 4

2011-05-14T21:10:00.000-06:00

*serious face*

I must apologize for being so late with these reviews. Last week was finals week, so I had to put all my time into studying, which left no time for anime. Seems I didn't miss much, so here we go. Demons and spirits and galge, oh my!

This, and more, after the jump!

One thing was readily apparent when this episode started: when it's crunch time, Haqua means business. The header screenshot is proof of that. But why's she so serious? The loose soul in question for this arc is the one Haqua let escape. Seriousness justified. Oh, and loose souls apparently have levels, said in Engrish, a la Raildex. How strong is this loose soul? So strong it starts using nearby students as puppets to attack Elsie and Haqua. And Keima is "just an innocent bystander". Well, at least these puppet-students are more competent than the protaganists in Highschool of the Dead.

At last, a very nice change of pace. I like that the writers decided to shake it up a bit in episode 4 by revealing more about how loose souls work. I'd also like to state that the loose soul's face looks vaguely like that of Charlotte, of Madoka fame. Doubt that it was intentional, though.

I found Haqua's insistence on going alone, despite being obviously incompetent on her own, rather annoying. Addtionally, this arc was noticeably more serious than previous arcs, possibly due to Haqua's grudge/f*ck-up/whatever. I hope having Haqua around doesn't bring down the rest of the series, because I want to ~~sparkle~~ really like this series. The series does well with its light-hearted humor, and if having Haqua around means abandoning what made the show enjoyable, then I want no part of it.

As mentioned above, straying from what worked is this arc's major flaw. The campy, light-hearted humor worked for 14 episodes, so why the sudden mood change? Other than that big flaw, nothing really jumped out at me. It was otherwise more of the same TWGOK formula. Just an average episode in my book. Despite that, "average" is not what I am expecting from this show, and am hereby dropping it. Two straight rushed story arcs made the series hard to enjoy, and Haqua came off as VERY depressing.

The World God Only Knows II 4

Animation Quality: 4.5/5
Dramedy: 2.5/5
Characters: 3.5/5
Plot Advancement: 3.5/5
Episode Plot: 3/5

Overall: 3.5/5

Status: DROPPED

Review: The World God Only Knows II 3

2011-05-02T17:48:00.000-06:00

At your service.

Last week's rushed arc conclusion did not sit well with me, resulting in low hopes for this week's episode. Not exactly the best first impression ever. I was expecting more of the same from the first season, and I got that. However, I was also promised a new demon. And I'm hoping said demon is introduced soon.

Upon starting the episode, we see Elsie trapped in a detention bottle, with someone lecturing her. Finally, that promised demon, Hakua/Haqua du Lot Herminium, depending on who you ask. (For the purposes of this review, I'll be using Crunchyroll's spelling: Haqua.) It seems Haqua and Elsie were classmates at... I guess you'd call it demon school. Haqua sees the kind of person Keima is, and promptly calls him "incredible". Turns out that Haqua has captured no loose souls, despite being a Section Chief, while Elsie has captured 5 in the last 14 episodes, or 2 months.

I was thoroughly amused by Keima's antics with his ~~PSP~~ PFP throughout the episode, particularly when he was up on the balcony where Haqua was, claiming there was great reception... while his PFP made dial-up noises. Um, DSL doesn't work that way, but whatever. Speaking of Haqua, I'm glad she was introduced here. It will be a nice relief from Elsie's mildly grating voice. Hopefully.

As mentioned above, PSPs do not make dial-up noises when they connect to the internet. As a slight computer nerd, this irked me a bit, and I confirmed my thoughts with actual PSP users. That aside, there really weren't any flaws in the episode that I noticed.

Overall, another great outing. The beautiful animation, off-beat humor, and well-written dialogue add up to a great episode. It's not up to the level that the first season was, but it's decent on its own. Despite that, this show is on thin ice, along with a few other shows. It needs to really impress in the next couple weeks, or it will be dropped.

The World God Only Knows II 3

Animation Quality: 4.5/5
Episode Plot: 3.5/5
Comedy/Character Introduction: 4/5
Characters: 5/5
Plot Advancement: 3/5

Overall: 4/5

I'm Joining Anime Pulp!

2011-04-25T09:50:00.000-06:00

Yes, in case you're thicker than Natsuru Senou, I am joining the Anime Pulp blog team. I will be posting my reviews both here and on Anime Pulp. Additionally, I'll be on that blog's podcast each week. Please subscribe to Anime Pulp.

The Anime Pulp podcast