Bright Slap

Summer Preview: Seikimatsu Occult Gakuin

jimbobaka@yahoo.com (Jim and Gian) — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 00:20:00 -0700

After a heaping serving of horror courtesy of Highschool of the Dead, for those looking for a more supernatural anime with a sprinkle of comedy, Seikimatsu Occult Gakuin is right up your alley!

The episode opens up with what seems to be a setup for a future plot involving a group dedicated to fending off unearthly beings. After the catchy intro plays, the show introduces us to Maya Kumashiro, preparing to make the trek to her father's prestigious academy because the old man's croaked. As she comes in dressed in white to her father's funeral, a farewell tape is played for the student body. It seems that Maya's dad was into some weird business because he recorded himself reciting a spell to bring forth an evil spirit. This entity possesses the deceased dad's body and begins to terrorize the student body.

If you're starting to wonder where all the comedy is laced in this series, it's all in the execution. Rather than trying to scare its viewers, Maya helps us poke fun at the occult and pretend to be a skeptic in a situation where clearly some otherworldly events are happening around her. Although Maya clearly states her hatred for all things occult (espers, aliens, ghosts, etc.) she has a vast knowledge on the subject.

The episode proceeds in a small flashback to explain Maya's disdain for ghosts, ghouls, and goblins. It seems that she was at one time fascinated by the subject, but as her dad became more obsessed with the occult, their family life began to suffer. Eventually both Maya and her mother were pushed out of the picture and Mr. Kumashiro was left to brood within his precious Waldstein Academy without his family. This caused Maya's love for the weird and strange to wither away and in time blossom hatred for the subject.

The hilarity ends when Maya beheads her father's possessed body and puts an end to the hijinks of the evil spirit. Before the closing credits play, a strange man begins to descend from the sky in a beam of light...completely naked. Now if that's not enough of a cliffhanger for you, I don't know what is!

This first episode is a great lead off into a unique and fun series that looks both beautiful and plays out like a Goosebumps novel (I use to love those when I was a kid). What I love about this series is how it is clearly not trying to scare you, but get you to laugh at what should be serious situations. Maya's personality is stone cold, but because she use to enjoy the occult I can't help but wonder if she still secretly loves this stuff. The artwork is topnotch and the character design for Maya is simple and sexy. This episode also introduces what seems to be an interesting set of supporting characters: a spirit dowser who's pretty unsure of his own power, and a mechanic that can well...beat stuff up.

I seriously thought that this was going to be a more traditional, haunting and scary series but instead I was treated to something entirely different. An anime that's full of style, humor, and a great taste in the supernatural, and Maya is just the pretty little cherry on this otherwise delicious sundae of anime goodness.

4 out of 5

Bottom Line: Maya is basically the anti-Haruhi Suzumiya. Instead of being aloof to the occult that surrounds her, Maya refuses to accept it. At this point of the series you could summon a demon in front of her and she'd probably argue that it is an elaborate costume, and will proceed to look for its zipper before beating the snot out of it.

Chanes of Jim following this series: 90% I'm sure the female ghost living in my room would much appreciate it. As long as the writers continue to spin Maya's charm and keep messing around with what should be some scary issues, this series is going to be difficult to pass up. It's definitely got the brains that Highschool of the Dead is missing, probably because the zombies ate it AND that series is doing great by following traditional "zombie conventions."

Impressions: Ōkami-san to Shichinin no Nakama-tachi

jimbobaka@yahoo.com (Jim and Gian) — Fri, 9 Jul 2010 16:10:00 -0700

Before I write about my thoughts about Ōkami-san to Shichinin no Nakama-tachi I have to admit that I probably ended up going overboard with my episode preview/guide. I'll probably end up doing shorter summaries in the future. Well, let's get down to business ~~to defeat the huns~~ and get to my impressions on the show right after the jump.

The first thing I noticed when watching Ookami is how she looks strikingly like Taiga from Toradora. This is probably because J.C. Staff worked on both series; they somehow decided to use a redesigned version of her and transformed a tiger into a wolf. I may have to research that some time in the future to see what really happened. Some of the other characters in this show reminded me of other series' characters as well, such as Ringo being a baby version of Minorin from Torada, and Ryoushi being a wimpy version of Koyomi Araragi from Bakemonogatari. I kind of wonder why they decided to use the character designs they're using, but I can't complain, since I really enjoy how the characters look so far. I especially like what they did with Ookami's look; she really does like the human personification of a wolf minus the "furry" features. I'm really glad they didn't take a page from Strike Witches and add a wolf's tail and ears to Ookami.

Knowing that Ōkami was going to parody fairy tales, I immediately tried to look for clues on which fairy tales they would be covering with hopes that the ones covered would be mostly, if not all, be English fairy tales instead of what could be considered a Japanese fairy tale. That way, I would actually be able to understand what they were trying to do with the parody.

The first obvious fairy tale parody is "Little Red Riding Hood." Ringo obviously is Little Red Riding Hood and Ookami, which actually means wolf in Japanese, is our wolf in the form of a typical tsundere trope. It only hit me later on that Ryoushi was suppose to be the hunter that saves Little Red Riding Hood from the wolf, at least depending on what version of the fairy tale you read. It's kind of interesting to see the wolf being best friends with the girl she was suppose to eat, and the hunter being in love with the beast he's suppose to kill. Maybe Ryoushi will kill Ookami's wolf like tendencies and they can live happily ever after. I know I'm reading too much into things, but it's kind of fun to look at the symbolic aspects of things.

While watching the show, I was reminded of "The Taming the Shrew" by Shakespeare for some reason; in this classic comedy we have a strong, independent woman that is uninterested in men, but ends up falling madly in love with her suitor through various psychological torture. It's kind of funny to think that Shakespeare created tsunderes before Japan thought of the concept. I wonder if Ryoushi will tame his shrew by the end of the series. He's at a decent start so far. On a side note, when I say tame, I'm thinking of Ookami actually opening up like the typical tsundere archetype, but not actually be subservient like in "The Taming of the Shrew."

Another minor parody I've noticed is hinted in the title, which is roughly translated as wolf and the seven friends. I'm guessing this is somehow related to "Snow White and the Seven Dwarves." We do have our seven friends already represented by the Otogo Bank. I'm not quite sure if this is what the writers are going for, but it should be interesting to see what they do in the subsequent episodes.

The last parody is fairly obvious and it's Cinderella. We have the pumpkin carriage, a prince (of tennis), and a shoe left by a girl in her haste to get away. The part I loved about the Cinderella parody is how Akihiri decided to find the girl that kicked him was to have every girl in the school kick him. That definitely got some chuckles from me and I'm sure other people will love that part as well.

One last thing I want to talk about before I wrap up my thoughts is the narrator. I'm really glad they decided to have a voice narrating the anime. It really does make the series feel more like a fairy tale. The best part of the narration is how the narrator makes fun of the characters forcing them to break the fourth wall as seen above.

To sum up things, I would have to say that I really enjoyed the series and I will definitely be following the rest of the episodes. Great characters, funny parodies, and fair tales - how could I not watch the series. Rather than give the episode some arbitrary score, I'll just recommend the series to anybody that likes romantic comedies and/or fairy tales.

I recommend Ōkami-san to Shichinin no Nakama-tachi.

Ōkami-san to Shichinin no Nakama-tachi 1 - Episode Summary

jimbobaka@yahoo.com (Jim and Gian) — Fri, 9 Jul 2010 13:24:00 -0700

I can't remember how I heard about this series, but as soon as I read the premise and saw the art style on Anime News Network, I knew that I had to check the anime out. The series itself is suppose to be a romantic comedy and to differentiate itself from being another generic title in the genre Ōkami-san to Shichinin no Nakama-tachi will be modeling their characters and episodes off of fairy tale parodies. Having viewed the first episode, I can already tell you that I'm digging the fairy tale aspects and I look forward to seeing which fairy tales the show will be using in the future. With that said, I'll kick off my preview of Ōkami-san to Shichinin no Nakama-tachi with a summary of the first episode and complete it with my thoughts in another post.

The series jumps into the frey right away with our main characters, Okami (left) and Ringo (right), chasing after some street thug. We find out that she's from some organization called the Otogi Bank, which sent her to prevent the thug from stalking another woman. The thug proceeds to pull out a knife in hopes to intimidate Okami, but unfortunately for the thug, Okami came prepared with a pair of cat boxing gloves.

Okami easily takes out the thug with a punch Bright would be proud of. With the thug taken care of, Okami and Ringo head back to the Otagi Bank to report in.

Here, we are introduced to the rest of the Otogi Bank. Starting from the top left we have the president, Liszt Kiriki. Next, we have the maid Tsurugaya Otsuu. Third, is the president's cousin Alice Kiriki. Finally, the last two members shown above are Taro Urashima and Otohime Ryugo. The group begins to discuss whether or not they should recruit a new male member considering how dangerous Okami's fight became earlier that day. The president ends up deciding that they should be on the look out for a potential new club member. Okami reluctantly agrees and heads off to go about the rest of her day.

As Ookami heads down an empty alley towards home, she hears a voice call out her name and confess a fondness towards her. She turns around to see nothing, but an empty alley and shrugs it off as she continues on her journey home. Suddenly, the voice called out again and with an annoyed look on her face, she sees a nervous wreck of a classmate standing a block behind her. The classmate stutters as he introduces himself as Ryoushi Morino from her same class, which didn't remotely ring a bell for Ookami as she simultaneously decides to continue her walk home. Roushi then pathetically tries to get her to stay as he clung on to her leg, but ends up failing miserably in the end.

The next scene, we find Ookami and Ringo relaxing at home as Ookami tells the other about the confession that she rejected from some stalker classmate not too long ago. This news piqued Ringo's curiosity, and she ends up doing research on Ryoushi.

To Ookami's dismay, the very next day, she sees Ringo with Ryoushi trying to recruit him to join their club. The Otogi Bank end up learning about his skills as a hunter, and his abilities of remaining unnoticed. The only down side to Roushi's abilities is that he freaks out when people stare at him causing him to be paralyzed with fear. The club ends up putting him on a trial case for a new clientele that happens to arrive at the same time he was being evaluated.

The client Kakari Haibara explains to the Otogi Bank that her senpai, Akihiri Oji (aka the prince of tennis) is resigning from the tennis club due to an injury and she wants them to stop him. We then learn what the Otogi Bank does; clients ask them for favors and in exchange, they can ask those clients for a future favor in return. The club ends up accepting Kakari's request and assign Ryoushi to get the case done.

Ryoushi proceeds to stalk Akihiri using his hunting abilities in order to prevent him from getting his resignation signed, but he ends up failing in the end when he freaks out as soon as people notice his presence.

In a last ditched effort, the Otogi Bank receives help from a witch, Majolica le Fay. She provides them with a pumpkin carriage to transport themselves fast enough to stop Akihiri from resigning from the tennis club.

Ryoushi rushes Kakari over to where Akihiri, but ends up in another epic fail moment as he freaks out and hits a bench causing the carriage to flip over.

As Kakari is tossed from the carriage, she uses her amazing body control abilities and tries to keep herself from landing in a way that would injure herself, but in the process of her series of flips she ends up stopping her senpai's resignation with a swift kick to his face.

Mission accomplished, let's get the hell out of here!

With the mission complete, we find Ringo and Ookami dicussing the day's events and the latter of two comes to the conclusion that Ryoushi is useless and denies his acceptance to the Otogi Bank. As shes comes to this conclusion, the two are interrupted by the thug they defeated not too long ago, but now he brought some friends.

Ookami makes short work of the band of thugs, but becomes too overconfident in her abilities and forgets to guard her rear. A voice yells out in the distance to warn her, and the very next moment we see Ryoushi taking the blow from the head thug. He had been ~~creepily stalking~~ watching the girl's backs the whole time and tells Okami that he can be her shield. This gesture finally wins her over and she decides to accept him into their group.

This episode's story doesn't end with Ryoushi's acceptance, but rather at school where we find our prince trying to find his Cinderella. All the girls in the school line up to try out the shoe and kick the prince.

Kakari finally arrives and the prince finally finds his perfect princess; a princess with great body control that can play tennis with him happily ever after...the end.

Summer Preview: Highschool of the Dead

jimbobaka@yahoo.com (Jim and Gian) — Thu, 8 Jul 2010 23:27:00 -0700

As you can tell from this blog, I'm a big fan of anime. What you may not know is that I'm actually a pretty avid zombie fan. I enjoy all the Romero films, and have an extensive knowledge of the Zombie Survival Guide. So what happens when you take my two favorite things and splice them together?

A summer series that is clearly aimed to win my heart but most likely would prefer to eat my brain!

I've actually been following this series for the past year and was begging the "anime gods" for this manga to get animated. Well low and behold, Madhouse came to my rescue and delivered a delightfully gory, stylish, and sexy adaptation of Daisuke Sato's story.

The series kicks off by introducing our angsty hero, Takashi. He's had a crush on his childhood friend Rei, but it seems that through the years they've been growing apart and thus Rei's feelings have gravitated toward his best friend Hisashi. As Takashi is sulking outside, he spies at what seems to be a drunk man ramming his body onto the school gate. Wanting to show off to his attractive co-worker, the PE teacher decides to rough up the stranger, only to be greeted by his teeth. The wound proves fatal, and the instructor expires only to rise up again as a walking corpse. Of course, the other teachers do not realize this and succumb to vicious attacks from what use to be their fellow peers. Takashi grabs hold of the situation and pulls Rei out of her classroom, along with Hisashi. The three fight their way to the school roof, with Hisashi taking a bite to protect Rei. After much deliberation upon their makeshift safehouse, Hisashi realizes that he will turn into one of "them." Takashi is now tasked to kill his best friend, much to the dismay of Rei. On the first day of their new semester Takashi ends up killing his best friend, embracing the girl he's been in love with, and witnessing the beginning of the zombie apocalypse.

Madhouse has done a fantastic job splicing in horror, action, and ecchi all into one neat package. The feast of flesh on screen is portrayed with students and teachers getting slaughtered, with buckets of blood decorating the campus. The scene of sakura trees mixed in with a horde of zombies is both ironic and somewhat of a beautiful nightmare. The character models for each potential hero and herione look gorgeous, even though all the ladies seem to be extremely well endowed (I'm looking at you nurse with the boob pillows).

This show plays off all the zombie conventions in one swift motion. From "Infection is transferred through physical injury like a bite or scratch to the realization of a zombie's only weak point, the head." The anime does not try to add in anything new to the zombie formula, and that's what makes it work. I'm glad there's no character with super powers or explanation as to why the zombies showed up. Taking a page from George Romero, the madness just happens and the viewer will now be following the survivors of this undead carnage.

This show has a lot of promise for me, and I pray that the animation will not take a huge cut after the 2nd or 3rd episode. Even though I know what's going to go down in the next couple of episodes, I'm curious to see how they handle all the action sequences and the much more erotic scenes (I'm sure the use of steam will be in order). Seeing as this is an anime, I'm sure there will also be content that is added to space chapters of the manga out and flesh out points that were quickly glanced at. My only real concern is how Madhouse will find a great stopping point for this series because it is still ongoing. The manga has an erratic release schedule, so I can only see this series going so far. Either way, I'm glad that I finally get to have my two favorite things in the world come together in one big fusion: panty shots...I mean anime and zombies!

Score: 4.5 out of 5

Bottom Line: Zombies + Panty Shots + Beautiful Animation = A No brainer hit with Jim...because the zombies basically ate the brain.

Chances of Jim following this series: 100% success rate. I've seriously been waiting for this series since it was announced in the winter. I could turn into a zombie right now, and instead of feasting on flesh, I'd be plopped down on my computer watching this show.

Anime - Summer 2010

jimbobaka@yahoo.com (Jim and Gian) — Wed, 7 Jul 2010 22:40:00 -0700

It's the beginning of the Summer season of anime (well, technically it started in June), so Jim and I will try to roll out some previews for our picks of the season. Rather than attempt to create a list of the new anime this season, I'll just refer you to this visual guide created by chartfag, since out of the lists I've previously encountered, he has created the highest quality guide in my opinion.

Time permitting, I'll try to get some previews out for my picks throughout the rest of the week. So, here are my picks for this season so far:

Ookamisan to to Shichinin no Nakamatachi
Amagami SS
Highschool of the Dead
Mitsudomoe

I've also been debating whether I would be covering each episode of the series like most anime blogs, but unfortunately I'm not sure I'll have the time to achieve that considering I want the highest quality possible in the things I create. I might end up doing things differently by covering episodes in batches, or possibly covering the series by parts, such as beginning, middle, and end. We'll see what happens.

Anime Expo 2010 - A Small Recap

jimbobaka@yahoo.com (Jim and Gian) — Tue, 6 Jul 2010 01:38:00 -0700

I've had a pretty tiring weekend. It was so tiring, I actually woke up today in the afternoon. It goes to show, that Anime Expo can really take a toll on a person. It makes me wonder how people that attend the entire expo do it.

Well, anyway, I had fun at Anime Expo as always. I wouldn't say it was my favorite one by far, but it definitely did not disappoint. Rather than provide a full recap of everything Jim and I did at AX, I'll talk about a few hits and misses in this year's AX.

Panels:
As panels go, there really wasn't anything I was really looking forward to except for the premiere of the Black Lagoon OVA. The panel was delayed for awhile and ended up starting late. On the bright side, I was able to see a pretty badass Dutch cosplay while waiting in line. Jim and I finally got in 10 minutes later; we got decent seats, but unfortunately there were people taller than me sitting right in front of me. Needless to say, I had a pretty tough time reading the subtitles. On the bright side, I'm somewhat caught up with the manga and knew what was going on. I would have to say that the premiere did not disappoint. Black Lagoon is definitely one of those series that needs to be watched rather than be read in a manga. The animation and voice acting was great as always. The audience definitely enjoyed Revi's rude behavior and off-color remarks, but I would have to say that the new character Fabiola stole the show. If you have no idea how she looks, think of the typical moe maid duel wielding guns. The premiere ended leaving the audience wanting more, which is a credit to how well done the OVA was. I just hope that it gets released in the U.S. soon. I believe Funimation picked it up, which is definitely a good sign.

There were other panels besides the Black Lagoon panel I attended that I'll briefly discuss. Jim and I attended some workshop panels in hopes to improve our blogging and podcasting skills. I for one am no journalist, so I'll gladly accept some helpful tips and constructive criticism. Most of the things I heard during the workshop/panels were things I already knew, not that I am an expert anything. In the end, it's all about passion, hard work, and networking. I will definitely need to work on the latter of the three if I were ever to get really serious. Other panels I attended consisted of future releases from Viz and and Funimation. I don't remember much from the Viz panel other than them pushing Naruto and Bleach. The Funimation panel was more interesting; they played around 5-8 clips from upcoming anime. I was hoping to find "the next Kenichi" but I didn't see anything too exciting. Out of all the upcoming shows, My Bride is a Mermaid is something I want to check out. I'll probably end up stealing it from JIm one of these days.

Exhibit Hall:
The exhibit hall is always something I look forward to at AX, but this year I was somewhat disappointed in the lack of selection. Jim informed me that there were less exhibitors due to some extra charges for bringing merchandise in. In the end, that was kind of a downer because this was the first AX I had cash to spend with nothing to spend it on. I ended up spending about 3/4 of my time walking aimlessly hoping to find merchandise from shows like Toradora, Bamboo Blade and the Familiar of Zero. I did find some figures, but they were rip offs. All was not lost though, I ended up with a Dom from Mobile Suit Gundam and Yui from K-on.

Well, that wraps up things for my recap. I hope you enjoyed the read. Jim and I will try to put out our recap podcast by the end of the week. Also, we plan on covering some shows from the upcoming summer season. More in a later post.

Hits:

Black Lagoon
Random loot: Dom, Toradora Box Set 1, Yui
Dutch cosplay

Misses:

Gimped exhibit hall
Smelly people
Bad cosplay (I'll spare you from the details)

Episode 4 is up!

jimbobaka@yahoo.com (Jim and Gian) — Fri, 2 Jul 2010 10:44:00 -0700

Jim and Gian skip formalities this week and go straight into the nitty-gritty. The hosts discuss their AX game plan, and go into a mad discussion about figures. Tune in for some helpful tips when purchasing in the dealer's room, and what panels interest the Bright Slap cast. A brief rundown of the episode goes as follows:

- Quick Introductions and an "Epic Fail" for Day 0 of AX
- Thursday plans for AX
- Jim and Gian talk about their top priority figures, and perhaps a trip to Ikea
- Friday Jim attempts AX's "Last Comic Standing"
- Saturday is the day both members of Bright Slap will be at AX
- Sunday has two podcast panels that help improve the quality of Bright Slap!

Link to the Episode Page on Podomatic!

And that's about it for this week! Next episode will be a post-show of AX and be a little more formal with discussions of "What we're watching."

Review: The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya

jimbobaka@yahoo.com (Jim and Gian) — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 00:38:00 -0700

I literally just got home from the movie, so I better start blogging it up while its all fresh in my head.

Okay so plot wise, we're looking at what seems to be another romp through North High, with the SOS Brigade planning their Christmas party. Haruhi fans feel right at home as soon as Kyon begins his sarcastic barrage with Ms. Suzumiya. Just when our narrator thinks he's going to be dragged into another outlandish scenario courtesy of the brigade chief, something strange occurs. Kyon arrives at school the following day noticing that the seat behind him is vacant. As he asks his classmates around him where Haruhi is, they reply "Haruhi who?" The tension only escalates as the student who is occupying the seat behind Kyon is none other than, Asakura Ryouko. The film only gets stranger from there. Soon parts of season one and two tie into the story and we begin to unravel the mystery behind the literal disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya.

This is where the film delivers it's biggest drawback: the references. In order to enjoy this movie in its entirety, and appreciate the madness that Kyon is going through, the audience must be familiar with the source material (be it the light novels or anime). There's no way that you could show a Haruhi neophyte this film and expect him/her to have a great time with the movie. They'd be just as lost as Kyon! Characters constantly reference past (or future) events, and a great handful of the jokes are only laughable if their knowledge of the film extends to previous story arcs.

Despite that major flaw, the film looks gorgeous. The backdrops look almost photographic, and the movement of the characters are fluid. There is some use of CG here and there, but it's well integrated into the film that it doesn't detract from the overall experience. The voice acting is done by the original cast, and sound superb in their roles. The performance of Yuki Nagato's voice actress, Minori Chihara , was simply sublime in this film and needs to be recognized. Without giving anything away, just know that Yuki truly shines in this movie and basically steals the spotlight off Mikuru and Haruhi.

So what's the final verdict? The film is a great supplemental story for existing Haruhi fans to rave over. Past story arcs are weaved in, and new ones are alluded to by the time the credits roll. If you enjoyed both seasons of Haruhi Suzumiya, then by all means you must watch this film! And to the individuals who have yet to experience "Haruhism", get cracking on both season 1 and season 2 of this series because this movie will only make you as confused as a guy who has to put up with an alien, esper, and time traveler.

4 DKT's and 1 sniffle out of 5.

It's...it's a Gundam!

jimbobaka@yahoo.com (Jim and Gian) — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 22:18:00 -0700

The RX-78-2 was recently assembled again in Shizuoka. It now comes complete with a beam saber melting a sign. I would have to say that it has always been my dream to go to Japan to see and enjoy what the country has to offer. I never really had anything planned, but now I actually have one thing that I have to do; I have to visit the Gundam during the trip. I for one have never been one of those anime fans that go through extraordinary lengths to celebrate my love for anime, but I would definitely have to make an exception for a 1:1 scale Gundam. You know, it goes to show how great of an impact the Mobile Suit Gundam series has had on Japan for them to spend the time and money to create the model. I can't help, but reminisce about coming home from school excited to watch Gundam on Toonami when I see the RX-78-2. Aww, the good 'ol days...

Source: http://ngeekhiong.blogspot.com/2010/06/11-gundam-rx-78-2-statue-in-shizuoka_21.html

Bright Slap Episode 3 is up and we have a new host!

jimbobaka@yahoo.com (Jim and Gian) — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 03:57:00 -0700

This week Bright Slap is fortunate enough to have a new co-host! We welcome Jenny to the podcast this week, and give her a proper welcome by grilling her top 3 anime series of all time. We also dig deep into our memory banks to recall how this mysterious love for anime developed.

A rundown of the show goes as follows:

- Introductions

-Jenny tells us about her top 3 animes of all time

-We discuss what we're currently watching, and tease Jenny about her venture into the Twilight series.

-Each hosts recalls how they were introduced into anime and discuss how their fandom has evolved over the years.

-We close the show with our usual goodbyes and ask Jenny if she'd like to be an official member of Bright Slap!

You can find a link to the podcast below! Don't forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes and if you have time, write a review! We're still going through our "Training Arc" so we need the encouraging words or criticisms from our listeners in order to Power Up to the next level!

Download Episode 3 Here!

Podomatic Website is here, subscribe while you're on the page!

Bright Slap Episode 2 is up!

jimbobaka@yahoo.com (Jim and Gian) — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 12:28:00 -0700

The new podcast is up!

A quick rundown of the show goes as follows:

-Gian and Jim talk about what they're currently watching. Look forward to a small discussion to Glee's season finale, a micro-review of Valentine's Day, and discussion of Kenichi!

-The Antarctic Treaty continues as Jim tackles his fear of Initial D's "unique" art style. Next, Gian gives his perspective on Strike Witches parade of panties!

And that's all for this week. Stay tuned for the next episode where Gian and I will mix things up with a discussion on one of the hot topics in anime and manga as well as a review of an anime.

You can download the episode on our Podomatic website at:

Bright Slap on Podomatic

or here's a direct link to the download Here.

Or if you have a nifty little iPod, find us on iTunes and SUBSCRIBE! As of my posting right now, our latest episode is not listed but as long as you subscribe you will be able to download the most recent podcast episode regardless of the iTunes store's listing!

First Impressions - Emma: A Victorian Romance

jimbobaka@yahoo.com (Jim and Gian) — Wed, 9 Jun 2010 13:31:00 -0700

I have the same post on my own blog, but thought I'd share my thoughts on an anime I've seen recently that I think is extremely awesome.

Okay so I've been wanting to check this anime out for almost a year now. The price-tag was way too intimidating when this series first came out as box sets from Nozomi Entertainment. Thankfully, their online store, RightStuf, FINALLY had both seasons on sale for a ridiculously cheap $26.99 each (plus an additional 10% off from their spring sale). I quickly tossed both seasons of Emma on my virtual shopping cart, looking forward to this "blind" purchase.

The premise seems simple enough: A young man from a wealthy merchant family falls in love with his retired teacher's maid, all set in late 19th century England. I'm a sucker for a good romance story, especially when the romance branches into a "love conquers all" relationship, so my opinion for this show may be a little biased. William and Emma's budding love is truly "love at first sight" and you can't help but cheer the two of them on. William may seem pushy at times, but I'm sure that's how men went about courting women at the time. Emma is also no virgin to attention, since it seems as though she has many admirers who she respectfully turns down. For some reason, she allows William into her life. The main hurdle in their relationship will be the barrier between their social/economical class differences. After watching the first episode, you would swear that you're watching a romance movie with the way Emma JUST misses catching William, in an attempt to return his gloves.

Something that might catch viewers off-guard is how much detail is poured in to really bringing out the backdrop of the show. The cast will often spout out points of interests found in England from time to time, and Emma's maid uniform is authentic(you won't see her in a "French Maid" or "Moé maid" outfit). I can honestly say that Studio Pierrot has done their research in order to faithfully recreate Victorian Era England. The music is simple and the way that the opening theme song is laced into the show under different arrangements is splendid. Most likely, I'm going to start searching for a copy of the Soundtrack after I've completed season one. If you're looking for J-Pop influenced openings and endings, look the other way because 19th Century England is all about the instrumentals. I do wish Emma had a more traditional anime opening animation, with Emma and William being juxtaposed upon one another and briefly running through the entire cast of supporting characters.

The only real flaw of this show feels more like a missed opportunity. Nozomi Entertainment was unable to provide a dub for their American release of Emma most likely due to financial reasons. Seeing as this being such a niche title, the expectations on sales for this anime were set relatively low. The current pricetag on this series when I purchased it may reflect how relatively small the sales were for these box sets and the need for RightStuf to push out their surplus of DVD's. If Emma had a tolerable English Dub (with or without British accents) it would have truly enhanced the reality of the series. Dubs like Baccano! expanded the legitimacy of the series, with my hat firmly tipped at Isaac and Miria's English voice actors.

I look forward to finishing this anime and have my fingers duct-taped in a crossed position, hoping for William and Emma to break through whatever obstacles preventing them from being together. Also, please note that Emma's mistress/master, Kelly Stownar, is awesome. She can be snappy and witty, but at the same time extremely caring and heart-warming. The way she pokes fun at Emma about her obvious feelings for William is hilarious, yet supportive.

If you like your romantic relationships to start with tons of blushing, then this anime is for you. For future reference, I will write all my First Impression ratings as if the anime is someone I just met at a school setting because most of our "First Impressions" began in those years.

First Impressions of Emma: A Victorian Romance: She'd be the new girl I immediately develop a crush on, but am too scared to approach her. I'd pray everyday for the teacher to pair us up in a group project together.

Kenichi: The Mightiest Disciple - A (not so) Mini Review

jimbobaka@yahoo.com (Jim and Gian) — Tue, 8 Jun 2010 21:15:00 -0700

Synopsis: Kenichi: The Mightiest Disciple is about a 16 year old high school student named Kenichi Shirahama. He's the typical untalented, arguably weak protagonist that makes up for what he lacks with sheer willpower and perseverance. Kenichi's world begins to change when he befriends a mysterious exchange student, Miu Furinji, whom invites Kenichi to her dojo in order to train. To Kenichi's dismay, his master forces him to do intense strength training rather than teaching him how to fight. Miu realizes how disappointed Kenichi feels and decides to teach him a basic stepping technique he can use in a fight against his fellow karate club members. Kenichi ends up beating a high ranking karate club member with the technique Miu shows him, which results in him being a target for progressively tougher opponents.

I first heard about Kenichi almost a year ago during 2009's Anime Expo. I was sitting in the back of a Funimation panel checking out what they had in store for the future when they started to play a trailer and some clips from the anime. I couldn't help but feel unimpressed as I watched one of the most seemingly generic anime to date. Despite my initial reaction, here I am now writing a review of the show after having bought and watched all 50 episodes of the series.

So, why the change of heart? Let me tell you, that it's a classic case of "don't judge a book by its cover." Yes, Kenichi is probably up there with one of the most generic shonen story lines that exists to date, but when you think about, that can be said for most story lines these days. In the end, it's all about the execution.

One of the things that makes Kenichi great is that it's another underdog story. People just can't help but cheer for the underdog. It would be less exciting if the main character in a show was all powerful and talented. There wouldn't be any suspense whatsoever; the main character would just be mowing down bad guys left and right with little or no effort.

Another reason why Kenichi is so appealing is how they execute his character progression. Kenichi starts of weak and unknowledgeable, but then progresses towards the status of history's strongest disciple. You get to see Kenichi get stronger and stronger each episode as his masters put him through ridiculously tough training that would kill a lesser man. The cool thing I found about this is that Kenichi would actually use the moves his masters taught not too long after having learnt them. This strays away from shows like Dragon Ball Z and Bleach where the main characters use 2 or 3 moves that are enhanced by some new powerful form. Kenichi never gains a super saiyan form, but grows stronger as he adds moves to his repertoire.

The last reason (but certainly not restricted to the 3 points covered in the review) Kenichi is a great anime is the action. The fight scenes are animated very well, and you can't help but get pumped up as you watch Kenichi put his hard work into action. I have to admit though that there are certain parts that could have been done better, but I would have to guess that the studio did not have enough time and/or money to animate a more fluid fight scene as the anime would use stills with the camera panning to simulate action. Regardless, these scenes are still done very well and did not hurt the series in my eyes.

In the end, I would have to recommend Kenichi to any anime fan that loves action/comedy series. It has a solid story that does not let you down.

Pros:
Great characters and character progression.
Exciting action scenes.
The show will make you laugh at its random antics.
Excellent dub, although I wish they could have done a better job with one of the later characters (Sigfried's lines weren't the best, but I understand how tough it was to write).

Cons:
The show is considered to be an echi series, so fan service may or may not be a con for some people; the ridiculous boob proportion is the only thing that really bugged me.

jimbobaka@yahoo.com (Jim and Gian) — Thu, 3 Jun 2010 01:57:00 -0700

Bright Slap: Introduction to the Hand

This is our very first episode! Please forgive the sub-par mic and Jim's excessive use of the word "uh." It actually gets better towards the end and once we found our own groove the conversation does get interesting.

Episode Synopsis:

- Host Introductions

- Top 3 Animes of all time (for the time being)

- The Antarctic Treaty: Initial D v. Strike Witches

- Closing remarks

We appreciate any and all feedback. Just like any Shonen Hero, we need to go through our absurd amount of training in order to power-up! We WILL be getting a new mic soon and Jim WILL say "uh" less frequently. Suggest new segments, tell us if we talked about something that's false, and overall have fun listening to two guys talk about anime.

If you wish to download our podcast, visit our Podomatic website (hint: click on the link!).

Click to Subcribe!

Bright Slap: Introduction to the Hand

Jim Sonza's Podcast

Welcome

jimbobaka@yahoo.com (Jim and Gian) — Wed, 2 Jun 2010 23:54:00 -0700

Hello, and welcome to Bright Slap! This blog was created to go along with a podcast that my friend Jim and I created. The site may not look like much now, but Jim and I will do our best to fine tune things as we go along. So, stay tuned for more updates and a link to our very first podcast.