Looks like I need to write up another apology. The kombine moved over to a new server over the weekend so there are still a few kinks, though the site is mostly functional. Just a few missing bits here and there which I’m looking for and getting restored. But I can still post and, with [...]

Looks like I need to write up another apology. The kombine moved over to a new server over the weekend so there are still a few kinks, though the site is mostly functional. Just a few missing bits here and there which I’m looking for and getting restored. But I can still post and, with the new season just starting, it looks like a good a time as any for the usual roundup post! First up, a look at the shows just gone!

Best Show

Ginga Kikoutai Majestic Prince

If I had a larger readership, I’d probably get roasted for this choice but this show is solid! Shingeki no Kyojin would be an obvious choice but I had read the manga long before the show started so I knew exactly how things were going to turn out. Valvrave is another choice but the reason why ppl seem to love it is also the reason why I chose majestic prince over it! Valvrave is an absolute mess of a show. An entertaining mess, but a mess none the less. The creators of Valvrave seem content to just throw all kinds of twists and WTF moments and see what sticks. Majestic Prince is more of a workhorse. It knows what it is and what it needs to do and it simply gets on with it. I like that straightforwardness in the show.

Worst Show

Date-A-Live

HANDS DOWN the worst show of the season and one of the contenders for worst show of the year (tho it doesn;t come close to Natsuyuki Redezvous). Had I gone into the show blind, I would have probably just dismissed it as a sub-par harem show with combat elements in it. But, since I had read the first 3 volumes of the translated light novels, I know just how much of a travesty this adaptation was and the staff should be ashamed of their work! So much was wrong, from the pacing, to the removal of small elements which really help form the characters and make them more likeable…

God, this show was bad…

Biggest Disappointment

Man, the pacing of this show is all over the place. Guess that’s one of the problems of making a show whose storyline intersects with another which was aired a long time ago. The sisters arc seems so pointless when it’s stretched so long but we already know what the outcome is (was?).

Biggest Surprise

Mushibugyo

Not sure what I was expecting from this show but it was rather fun!

The rest

• Oreimo 2 was exactly how everyone expected, right down to the troll ending!
• Not sure if my expectations were simply too high, but I don’t think Red Data Girl was one of P.A works better shows.
• Suisei no Gargantia was a very interesting show but, like Fractale, needed more time to expand things.
• It’s way less interesting watching Shingeki no Kyojin when you know what’s going to happen.
• Mix up a lot of random elements to a simple sentai Mecha show, throw in a few twists and several helpings of super stupid WTF moments and what do you get? Kakumeki Valvrave!
• haiyore Nyarlko-san W was fun but markedly inferior to the first season, just like BakaTest!
• Dansai Bunri no Crime edge is a poster child for “utterly forgettable anime”
• Hayate no Gotoku Cuties is an entire series of filler!
• I did enjoy Hataraku Maousama tho, although the adaptation felt off in places. Just not to the level of Date-A-Live
• I’m 100% certain that Devil Survivor 2 was dumbed down a ridiculous amount from the source material (game is not available in the EU)!
• After following behind shows like OreShura, Hentai Ouji to Warawanai Neko just felt really bland.
• Hyakka Ryouran Samurai Bride focused way too much on the service this time around. Wish they spent more effort on the story like in the first season.
• Photo Kano was just Amagami SS lite

That’s it for last season. Here’s what I’m picking up from the new shows!

Must Watch

Genshiken Nidaime

Damn Straight!!

High School DxD NEW

Believe it or not, this show has a really interesting plot! I’ve read further in the light novels and it’s pretty fun so I’m looking forward to how they adapt some of the later arcs, even if they shoehorn way more fanservice than the original material suggested.

Rozen Maiden

DESU!

Hyperdimension Neptunia

The show is going to be bad but as a player of the first 2 games (hell, I completed the first game! True ending and all!!), I find myself drawn to this title and my tolerance level is insanely high!

Interesting but Meh

Monogatari Season… 3?

I’ve lost track of how many seasons we’ve had of these adaptations now, it’s at least the 3rd now (with bakemonogatari and nisemonogatari, but we’ve also had nekomongatari…) but TBH, I’m getting monogataried out. It doesn’t help that the show is very heavy on the chatter and very VERY light on the actual animation. Literally nothing happens for entire episodes apart from 2 ppl talking. I’ll still watch it but I’m not putting it high in my list.

Danganropa

This show has an interesting premise but I don’t really know enough about the source material. Otherwise this may have made into the “Must watch” bracket

The world only God Knows: Goddess arc

Sequel so it gets in. Also, more Haqua is always a good thing!

Symphogear G

Its a sequel. Symphogear was also a surprisingly entertaining show!

Gin no Saji

I’ve been reading the manga for a while and I quite like it. I just don’t know if the adaptation will do a good job.

Kami-sama no Inai Nichiyoubi

The premise of the show is enough to garner interest so I’m checking it out!

Why am I watching this?

Inu to Hasami wa Tsukaiyou

I’ve heard things about this title for some time, since I did a bit of digging after Satoshi Toda made a GK of the main girl. But after a few episodes, it’s turning into a bit of a slog. It’ll probably end up as one of those shows I keep cos I just put too much time into it already.

Stella Jogakuin Koutouka C3-Bu

This show gets in purely cos I do enjoy a little bit of gun stuff. Hell, I found Upotte! fun for the same reason!

Kitakubu Katsudou Kiroku

I’m not sure what to expect from this show but I’m hoping for something along the lines of GJ-Bu

GATCHAMAN Crowds

I must confess that I was never a fan of the original Gatchaman, tho I did watch some when I was younger. Just remains to be seen if this twist is going to be worth watching.

Shows I will NOT be watching

Normally, I don’t do this but just to nip the tip before someone asks, I’ll be saying this: I will NOT be watching FREE. The reason is simple, it doesn’t interest me. A show about a swimming club without some sort of hook beyond “it has an all male cast” has no interest to me. If the characters were all like Hosaka from Minami-ke, then we have something. Otherwise, I just don’t care about it and I’m not going to watch it simply to find myself pulled into the purile and downright stupid arguments on the internet about it being a show for Fujoshi or how it highlights sexism in the community.

I’m also not watching Kimi no Iru Machi. The reason for this will take longer but in short, Seo Kouji, the mangaka behind the title, cannot write a good female lead to save his life. In fact, every female lead character in his stories are all BITCHES!! And Eba Yuzuki is one of the worst! It was bad enough when we had to go through Suzuka, since the side characters were way better than the main girl (I, like many others, wished the manga was called Honoka…) but in Kimi no Iru Machi, we have a girl who is such a bitch, she screws over 2 guys at the same time!! The manga was pretty decent during the first arc and it got back to it’s more lighthearted and fun storytelling mode later on but the middle arc was just rage inducing. The stuff which happens and the characters reactions are ridiculous, even by fiction standards and I have no desire to be reminded about how fucking retarded the whole thing was… Nobody in their right mind would stick with Eba after what she did!

Anyway, that’s it for my pics this season. What is everyone else watching?

All images are copyright to their respective owners

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C³-bu would have to qualify as the surprise of the season for me. It wasn’t even on my radar when we did our Summer Anime List post, but the good reviews in the Summer Preview Guide at ANN convinced me to give it a shot. Boy, am I glad I did! I guess I expected a “cute girls-with-guns” show to be kind of exploitative and prurient, with fan service and the implied imagery of moe girls polishing gun barrels to be the main attraction of the show. What I found when I watched C³-bu was a far more subtle, thought provoking, and heartfelt series that I had any right to expect.

Synopsis: Yura Yamato is a first year high school student at the exclusive Stella Women’s Academy. She hopes that going to this “rich girl’s school” will help her change herself from the sad, lonely wallflower that she was all through middle school. When she arrives in her room, she finds a realistic looking airsoft pistol under the pillow on one of the beds. It isn’t long before she is approached by the rather eccentric members of the C³-bu, which stands for “Command, Control, and Communication Club.” It is a club for girls that enjoy survival games played with airsoft guns, the president of which happens to be her roommate, third year student Sonora Kashima. Is this the boost that Yura needs to build her own self confidence to the point that she is able to interact with others on an equal footing in social situations?

Impressions:

I really wasn’t expecting this show to be good. At this point, it is my number 1 show of the season!

A large part of the reason has to do with the leading lady. Yura is just a bundle of cute wrapped in a blanket of insecurities tied up with ribbons of doubt. When you see her twisting her hair on her finger trying to work up the courage to speak with someone it can make your heart ache for the poor thing. You just want to give her a hug. However, there are other aspects of the show that draw attention as well.

The animation in the show is wonderful, with lots of action sequences during the survival games that highlight the quality and completeness of the animation job. The character designs are a bit standard moe designs, but they are very pleasing. In particular, the main character, Yura comes across as innocent, sweet, and frequently bewildered nicely with the way she is drawn, yet she has multiple facets. When she is sad and feeling that she just “isn’t good enough” to make it in life, her design really gives you the need to just give her a big hug and tell her that everything will be alright. I realize engendering those type of feelings is a common goal of the moe archetypes, but I guess that what I’m suggesting is that, in her case, it is well done and works! Another facet of the character is a surprising amount of raw beauty in certain scenes, such as when she is lying on her dorm room floor with her hair splayed around her. That came as a surprise to me, as I expected this character to be presented more on the plain side universally, and this more glamorous look really suggests that the plan for the character could be headed in a different direction than I expected, as it shows her as a more “diamond in the rough” type than a plain girl who learns to have self confidence.

The production staff for this anime has an interesting mix of experienced and new people. For instance, the Animation Director, Hiroki Matsumoto, has a number of titles under his belt, including several recent shows such as A-Channel and Strike Witches and Kotaro Nakagawa has been in charge of Music for a couple dozen shows, including one of the finest in terms of the musical score, Gosick. On the other side of the coin, the Character Designer, Manami Umeshita, and the Director, Masayoshi Kawajiri are both novices, with this being the very first title in this role for both of them. Considering the inexperience of the director, I am even more impressed by the first two episodes of this show. I have to wonder if we have a major new talent on the rise here?

Being curious about the show after seeing the first episode, I thought I would check out the source material. The manga began in may of 2012 and there are only two volumes published. It is a seinen title, published by Kodansha in it’s weekly “Young Magazine”. It is also a sequel to a web-manga about several of the girls when they were in the same club in middle school. It was published by Entbrain on the “Famitsu Comic Clear” site between April 2010 and February 2012. Having found only two translated chapters of C³-bu, I was shocked to find something I have only rarely ever found: The adaptation is far superior to the original! The chapters are exceedingly short, with the first chapter being the longest at all of about 12 pages, and the art and story progression in the early manga are rather poor. They fleshed out the story considerably in making the anime and it is far better than the manga. A pleasant surprise, to say the least, as it gives me hopes that my enjoyment of the first two episodes is not a fluke.

Episode Recaps:

Episode 1:

It was a world I had never seen before. A world the I had never known, that I thought was beyond my reach. And now, I’m about to take the first step into that world.

These words at the start of episode one, introduce our young protagonist, Yura Yamato, as she is literally dreaming about her upcoming arrival at the school of her dreams, Stella Women’s Academy, a “rich girls’” school, as she refers to it. In her dream she is in a horse drawn carriage very reminiscent to Cinderella’s pumpkin and the school is a castle with all the fairy tale bells and whistles.

When the bus she is riding in arrives, the reality of the school is not too far from her dream, sans the horse drawn carriage. It is situated on a hill, with a long, pink, double staircase with a waterfall sparkling in the middle. When she reaches the top she sees the school itself, which is majestic, huge, and almost aggressively girly with its pink walls, columns at the entry staircase, floral patterned carpets, and a beautiful walkway behind that is lined by blossoming cherry trees, whose petals flutter in the wind.

Before she gets there though, a fellow student asks her if she knows the way to the dormitory, at which point Yura’s idyllic visions of her sparkling, rose colored high school life come crashing back to reality, as she is still the same painfully shy girl who nervously twirls her hair around her index finger when confronted with a social situation and cannot muster the courage to utter even a peep, let alone answer the other girl’s question. Before the awkwardness gets too oppressive, another student, who happens to have gone to middle school here at SWA tells the other girl that she can show her the way, and the potential new friend strolls past the terrified Yura and goes off with her new friend, asking her to show her around campus now that she knows how to get to the dorm. This scene, juxtaposing Yura’s obvious hopes for changing herself with the sad reality of her devastatingly painful lack of self-confidence, is where the show really grabbed me, somewhere between my Adam’s apple and my belly button, and proceeded to twist. It was a simple little scene, but presented so well that it nearly brought a tear to my eye, all before the opening credits.

She finds her way to her room and discovers that she is to be roommates with a third year student named Sonora Kashima, who when home for break but will return soon. The room is everything she dreamed a “rich girls’” school dorm room would be, spacious, luxurious, and comfortable. She is in heaven. As she flops on her bed, wondering what kind of girl her sempai roommate is and hoping she will be the nice kind of sempai that she can have a wonderful, idyllic, sorority girl like, and possibly yuri relationship with, she finds the first big surprise of her high school career: a gun under the pillow.

The scene then shifts to the club room of the C³-bu (read “See-cubed”), a survival game club. the C³ stands for ”comand, control, and communication”. The girls of the club, second year students Honoka Mutsu and the blond, half-Japanese Karila Hatsuse and fellow first year students who went to the Stella middle school, Rento Kirishima and the pint sized Yachiyo Hinata are discussing strategies for increasing their membership. It seems that they have had trouble recruiting new members over recent years. They acknowledge that survival games are not for everyone and are kind of a weird thing for girls to like. The also mention the bad reputation that guns have in the culture at large, which is a very interesting aspect. (I was impressed that they actually addressed the fact that there is significant backlash against “gun culture” in society at the moment, making their hobby even more weird.) But, they all agree, once you actually play the games, it is sooooo much fun!!!!  They realize that they are perceived as weirdos and actually refer to themselves as “freaks”, so they need to look for somebody that is seriously strange to get them to join.

Back in her room, Yura wonders if Sonora-sempai is into drama or film appreciation? A quick glance at the shelves in the room seem to confirm this, as there is an impressive amount of DVDs stacked on the shelves. Then she decides to look around to see if there are any other surprises and finds a drawer full of airsoft guns and more in the closet, along with military looking clothing. She decides that maybe her roommate has a preference for a particular genre of movies. But looking at all of these things has given her an idea. She looks a little embarrassed about it…

Back in the club room, the eccentric bunch that makes up C³-bu are making their plans to get more recruits. Their plans to ambush the post-opening ceremonies club information fest are hilarious, making their sad faces as the wistfully wish they could actually carry out such a plan without getting in trouble or expelled even more funny. In the end, Karila decides that what they really need is a quick game! They agree to play a game of ‘Rambo’, but for that, Karila wants a special rifle so she asks Rento to get one from Sono-chan’s room. She gives a salute and heads off to do her sempai’s bidding.

When she gets there, she finds more than the machine gun Karila wanted. She finds, in her words, “A weirdo! …. I’ve found a weirdo …. I’ve found a real freak!”

What she found is Yura, watching one of Sornora-sempai’s movies, wearing a military uniform, and acting out the movie in her room. Yura is dismayed that someone saw her doing something so embarrassing. One thing that this scene highlights that seems to be a recurring gag in this anime is that Yura has an extremely overactive imagination. Over and over, she has little fantasy sequences that demonstrate how much fun she is having or, on the other end of the spectrum, how badly she is feeling. It is a persistent personality trait that I hope they use as a catalyst for Yura to break free from her paralyzing social awkwardness, but that remains to be seen.

Rento brings Yura back to the club room with her to try to seal the deal, since she obviously is prime freak material. When they are introducing themselves to her, each member of the club calls her some twisted version of her name until it gets to Rento, who simply calls her Yura-chan while giving her a slice of cake, which causes her to brighten up. The club members misinterpret this as meaning she has a “weakness” for cake. Yura wonders if this is one of those clubs where you just sit around, eat cake, drink tea, and talk about nothing. Then the girls tell her what their club is all about, with each explanation adding to the previous one to paint a darker, more ominous picture of the club, leading her to escape and head back to her own room. The club members seem down that they seem to have scared her away, but Rento seems to have an idea and a lot of determination!

On her way back to her room, Yura seems rather down.  She was a bit freaked out by the club… and war games aren’t for girls, right? She meets the girls that she met earlier in the hallway and works up the courage to talk to them briefly, but when the woman that works at the front desk calls one of them to get her luggage that her parents mailed they walk away without so much as acknowledging her existence. Yura goes back to her own room and begins unpacking her own luggage and her overactive imagination kicks into high gear again, this time with a more depressing scene that is reminiscent of the opening dream sequence, but from the sadder part of the Cinderella story. She pictures herself as the put-upon girl left to toil night and day while the fashionable girls go to balls. Then we get a glimpse of memory, with scenes from Yura’s middle school years. In each one, Yura is by herself while groups of girls have fun together, with her afraid to join in the fun. The Cinderella girl returns to her mind, but when she comes back to reality, it isn’t the imaginary Cinderella version of Yura that is crying, it is her.  She throws a little mini-fit, angry at herself for not being able to handle her “high school debut” and wondering how she will deal with college and work if she can’t deal with starting high school?

Hearing the girls in the next room laughing together, friendly as can be, most of them only having met today is too much for her to bear. She decides to go somewhere else and leaves her room. While walking down the hall, she spies a plate with a piece of cake on it, wondering if someone left it there by accident and picks it up, thinking that she needs to find some plastic wrap to save it for whoever lost it. When she picks up the cake, Rento springs into action! Yura has fallen into her cake trap! She tells her that she is caught and she must play one of their survival games with them! She seems a bit overwhelmed, but agrees to go with her.

Now we get to the absolute best part of the episode, the survival game! The girls welcome Yura to their game and explain how it will work for her, even making an extra effort to help her out by using wireless headsets for her side of the game. There is a cute little chibi graphics section when they explain the games rules, similar to what they did earlier in the episode when planning their dream assault on the opening ceremony. The game they are playing is “Rambo”, which is a all vs. one battle where the winner is determined by the last side with one player standing. The rules are simple: If you get hit by a airsoft pellet, regardless of whether it was fired by the enemy side or your own side or even by your own gun and hit you with a ricochet, you yell “I’m hit!” and exit the playing field. Since it is an all vs one battle, Karila, who is “Rambo” gets an advantage. She gets to use a machine gun and a “knife” (which is actually a piece of wrapped candy). Everyone else plays “Peace Officers” who are restricted to single shot handguns. They go into the woods where a warning sign states that there is an official C³-bu game in progress and not to enter the marked area. When the horn sounds, the game is on!

Watching the experienced girls move stealthily through the forest, using hand signals and head movements to communicate is a sight to behold for both Yura and the viewer. It isn’t long before she is watching the others with a sense of awe and clearly thinking, “These girls are soooo cool!” I was too… One by one, Karila eliminates the Eventually, Yura’s imagination kicks into gear and we get her “Rambo” daydream sequence, complete with bandoleers of bullets across Karilas chest and a bandana tied on her blond hair. The scene ends with Yura repeating her thoughts from the opening scene as the machine-gun toting blond spitfire who has “killed” the rest of Yura’s team turns her sights on her.

It was a world I had never seen before. A world the I had never known, that I thought was beyond my reach. And now, I’m about to take the first step into that world.

Then we shift to a scene of a girl shooting targets with a real gun; her shots all clustered neatly in the center circle of the target; her “USA Gun Shooting Cup” score card sitting on the bench next to her with showing her perfect score in the competition and her name: Sonora Kashima – Yura’s roommate.

Episode 2:

That game was incredible… Fun? Scary?
“I don’t even know!”

With this bit of though/talking to herself, Yura has collapsed onto her bed thinking about the game of “Rambo” and is pretty much in a daze. Now, when she is talking to herself, is the perfect time to meet the roommate, don’t ya think? Enter third year student Sonora Kashima!

The closest the series comes to fan service would be this scene, with Sonora coming into her room straight from a shower. This has the predictable impact on poor Yura. But soon the two are introduced, with Sonora adding Yurarin to the collection of name variations Yura gets to be called. She asks if Yura has gotten used to living on campus yet. Yura says no, she just got here, and Sonora assures her that “this is heaven!” Yura quickly falls into her familiar pattern of hair twirling and looking down, but she manages to try to make small talk, which seems like a step forward. After a rather noisy stomach grown, Sonora eyes the rice balls sitting on the table between them and asks if she can have one. Yura tells her it is yesterday’s rice so it may not be tasty, but Sonora doesn’t seem to mind.

One bite and Sonora appears to be shocked about something. The thinks to herself that the rice ball is perfectly made, “squeezed together without being squeezed!” Cue flashback mode: Sonora as a cute little girl making rice balls and some strange guy she calls master who trims his Bonsai tree with something that looks like an uzi sub-machine gun. She asks him why she has to keep making rice balls and he comes to test them. She is hopeful that they are good, but no: this one is too tight, this one too loose, the special gun he has won’t be hers for a little longer. “Squeeze without squeezing. Once you learn how to do that, shooting will come naturally. You’ll be able to feel it. You’re almost there, Sonora.” Could Yurarin have mastered the secret to holding a gun without being taught? Could she be… a natural, so to speak?

Of course, this prompts Sonora to ask Yura if she has decided on a club yet. Yura tells her that she “got an invitation from some weird girls with guns, and we fired guns at each other.” She says she got shot in the end and comments on how realistic it seemed. “It was amazing…”

The girls in the club room are making their plans to seal the deal with Yura. Even though she looked scared, she also looked like she was having fun. It shouldn’t take much more to get her to join…

After they finish their rice balls, Sonora comes right out and asks Yura: “How about it? Want to join C³? Yura looks confused and asks if that is “the one with the weird girls who shoot each other?” Sonora confirms it and adds, “I’m the club president.” Talk about embarrassing! The poor girl just called her sempai roommate a weird girl! But Sonora is not phased, they are weird, after all. She asks her if she had fun and Yura waffles, just as the announcement of the welcome party for new students is made. Listening to the happy, sociable girls chatter as they get ready to go, Yura goes into low self esteem mode. “It’s not that I’m not interested. But I don’t know if I can fit in… I’m sure I’d cause trouble for everyone.” Sonora, reading the mood, totally relieves the pressure on her, saying there are lots of other clubs as she heads off for a run. After she leaves, Yura gets a smile on her face and says, “C³, huh?” Maybe she does want to join? Meanwhile a smiling Sonora is thinking, “Yura Yamato, huh?” It looks like she isn’t going to give up!

The rest of the club finally catches up with their leader and ask if she has finished recruiting Yura yet, since she is her roommate and all. She tells them Yura turned them down, but it seems these girls won’t take no for an answer. It is time to pull out the underhanded tricks. 

They try a few ways to trick Yura into signing the club application, but she isn’t fooled and they end up chasing her around the school. Up on the roof of the school, Sonora just shakes her head at the antics of her group of weirdos.

After the chase is over, the girls from the club confront their leader about being lazy in helping recruit their new friend. She looks a bit sheepish, but before she can protest, Yura shows up… to apologize. It isn’t clear why she feels she needs to apologize, other than the fact that she naturally feels that she is a bother to others. The girls tell her that it’s her own fault for not giving them a clear answer about whether she’ll join the club. She continues to waffle and Sonora gets a positively maternal look on her face. It is clear that this girl needs help, the kind of help that only a group of real freaks can give her! Sure enough, the girls in the club have a plan: a showdown! Yura and Sonora against the other four. If Yura and Sonora win, Yura doesn’t have to join the club and Sonora doesn’t have to try to recruit her. If they loose, Yura joins the club and, in another bit of fan service, of sorts, Sonora has to polish the clubs guns wearing a school swimsuit. It is clear that there is a bit of yuri going on, at least with some of the girls in the club, and Sonora is the one they all idolize. Before Yura can protest, Sonora accepts the challenge, but wonders if 4 on 2 is really fair? She decides it isn’t, so she will have to beat them without holding a gun!

The other girls quickly get the gist. It is a VIP battle. Yura is the guard, Sonora the VIP, and the other team are all assassins. Team VIP starts on the third floor of the “old school building”, which appears to be on the edge of being condemned, and their objective is to exit the building without Sonora getting shot. If Sonora gets shot, they loose, if they get out, they win. Simple! But to make it a bit more of a challenge, they cannot use the same staircase twice in a row, so if they exit a staircase, they have to get to a different staircase to go to the next level or go back up. The only thing that bothers Sonora is why she has to wear this frilly dress! They tell her that is the VIP costume and there is nothing that can be done about it, but it does look awful on her!

The game is another fantastic set of action sequences, this time sprinkled with a little bit of teaching by Sonora and some great tricks to eliminate the assassins. Yura has some more great fantasy moments, with her the dashing body guard in a tux and Sonora the damsel in distress. In the end, a kind word for Yura by her sempai gives her the confidence boost she needs to pull the trigger and end the game with a win. How does Sonora manage it? The rice balls, of course. After she asks Yura to call her Sono-chan, she tells her that holding a gun and squeezing the trigger takes the same touch that it takes to make the perfect rice ball that sticks together in your hand, but falls apart in your mouth. Her rice balls were really, really good. She already knows how to do it.

After the game, Sonora and Karila are discussing strategy and tactics and the other three club members are depressed that they lost and Yura won’t be joining the club. Yura walks behind them, watching them, and her heart starts to beat harder and faster. She realizes that these girls, these weirdos, this bunch of freaks, really do want her to join their club. For the first time in her life, she starts to believe that she could belong somewhere, with friends that will support her and teach her and just be her friends! 

Yura stops and watches them with wide eyes and blushing cheeks. “I’ll join the club.” When they ask if she is sure, after all, she won the challenge, she says she has made up her mind.

She finally has stepped into that world she longed to see! The world that has friends in it.

I don’t know if this show can keep up the quality of storytelling and emotional impact that the first two episodes had, but if it does, it will easily be one of the best anime of the year. I also don’t know how much yuri there will be. It could be just a glimmer of admiration and idol worship, or it could be full on yuri romance. I don’t care one way or another. I plan on enjoying the ride.

From the OP, it appears that there are at least three other teams of girls that they will eventually compete against in survival games. I look forward to watching Yura grow as a person and mature as a tactician and marksman as she takes her place on the C³-bu team. I expect that, if they take the story long enough, she will be the club president as a third year student and brimming with confidence, just like her sempai that she admires so much!

OP Screenshots:

ED Screenshots:

Slideshow of screen shots from Episodes 1 amd 2

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Hi there, I’m another new writer on the blog. Sleepy is my un-creative name and I’m here to spread the love for Ogura Yui.

Yup, there is another seiyuu Otaku here! I love all things cute and fluffy and Ogura Yui is both cute and fluffy. But the things that I will be covering here other than Ogura Yui are mainly photography, event coverage and some anime that really catch my eye.

if you like this and want to do photoshoots in Singapore feel free to comment. *cough cough*

I hope you will enjoy my pictures, and if you are in the area, join us at events!

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This week we have a song from KuwagataP. This one’s not too old, composed around the end of 2011.

KuwagataP’s a relatively well-known producer, with most of his works having achieved more than 100k views. KuwagataP specializes in the Rock genre and uses mainly Miku and a bit of Luka. KuwagataP’s style is quite distinctive. His songs typically has very solid guitar sounds and the songs builds up from the relatively calm verses to high-powered choruses. His most popular works are Kimi no Taion, Puzzle and this song right here.

Interviewer doesn’t deviate much from KuwagataP’s usual style. The guitar is solid and crisp, the melody nicely flowing. The main draw of this song is probably the great emphasis on the guitar sounds which gives the song a really nice atmosphere. That breath at 3:17 is a really nice touch too. Not much composers bother doing it but it makes the vocaloids sound more realistic. This song is one of the few songs where the original can stand up to the covers. Luka’s voice is perfect for the song and her tuning is amazing.

The lyrics for this song is rather sad. It talks about unrequited love. No, there’s no happy ending at the end of this song. I really should stop picking such depressing songs all the time… Anyways, you can read the romaji and english lyrics here.

Here’s my recommended covers for this song:

wotamin uses her deeper voice here which fits the song really well.

This is Ren’s cover. This cover shows his versatility with his high and low voices overlapped.

In this cover, MidoriInu uses her rarely heard deeper voice. It works nicely with this song.

Yuuto’s voice is nice and clear here and he sings this quite differently than the original, as with the covers you’ll see from here on.

Dasoku’s deep voice has that “lazy” quality to it and it’s really obvious in this song.

Usa is simply amazing in this cover. Her range is simply astounding. Just listen to it and you’ll see what I mean.

Itou Kashitarou’s cover. That voice is just too damn good. It doesn’t matter if your singing style is unique or whatever, you just can’t beat pure auditory pleasure.

Enjoy!

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Yup, there will always be photographer walls…

So my first post here will be about the (not so recent) Cure Festival which was on 18 May 2013 for those wondering.

And squeezing into photographer walls…

The event itself is pretty much a dragon boating competition with cosplay thrown in.

I mean look at those deltoids!

It was a rather interesting event to go to as I did meet up with a few new friends from school. That was something new for me as most of the time you don’t meet schoolmates at these events.

“Mama… you look different!”

The events they held at the stage were rather interesting as they had a Jojo themed event and it involved people having to do poses. Which was hilarious.

CAN YOU FEEL THE BURN?

Not only did I met up with old friends, I made several new ones and we even grabbed dinner together! Getting to meet people at events sure is fun! The prata we had as an after event party was fantastic as well. It’s hard to explain what the event was like so I’ll let pictures do the talking, but basically it’s one of those events that people go to so that they can practice for bigger events like AFA or Cosfest.

Overall, it was a fun event for cosplayers, photographers and friends to go and have fun.

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Kimi no Iru Machi used the flashback route to tell this part of their story. It was effective in many ways and could bode well for the future path of the story. There are some issues with the show, but it is still a story I adore, so I am really enjoying it.

Impressions: The art in this series is frustrating. At times it is fantastic, especially the background art, but the character animation is spotty and sometimes jarringly bad. The best aspect of the art in this week’s episode was the backgrounds. There was a consistent soft focus to the backgrounds in the flashback parts of the episode, with a watercolor-like quality that really made the scenes more dream-like. There were also several still drawings used to enhance this effect. It made for a moody, atmospheric episode, which fits the story with the way it is being presented. However, the suspect character animation that I noticed last week, but didn’t mention due to the relative lack of stuff to animate in the episode was more glaring in this week’s entry. There were many times that the animation seemed off, including minor things like off-model character designs when shown at a distance, which happen in most shows, but also some spots where it was just poorly done, like the part near the end of the episode where Nanami comes running out of the bath and she seemed to jerk up and down for some reason. One area where the animators seem to have been successful is in depicting small changes in facial expression in order to express emotion. This is something that Seo-sensei uses to great impact in the manga, so it is good that they have retained this style in the anime. (See the recap section for a good example.)

However, most everything else about the show is going very well so far. I really love the music used in the show, and, unlike many comments I have seen around the web, I love the voice actors. In particular, Yoshimasa Hosoya’s Haruto is perfect, with the right amount of gruffness and, for lack of a better term, rural character. Also standing out, now that we have had a week with her actually speaking a few lines is Megumi Nakajima’s Yuzuki. She is spot on. Of course, these two are reprising their roles from the OVA, so they are familiar with the material.

Plot wise, I see what the director is doing with this story at this point, and I approve wholeheartedly. In episode one, he start with Haruto’s seemingly inexplicable move to Tokyo chasing after a girl who cut off contact with him, dumped him (through a letter), and says she has a new boyfriend. Why would anyone do this? Well, it all has to do with the kind of person Yuzuki is. So in episode two, he takes us back to when they first met and shows us one example of what Haruto knows is one of Yuzuki’s driving personality traits: she puts other people’s feelings ahead of her own, without fail. With that, let’s head to the recap…

Episode Recap:

We begin with some playful banter between Rin and Haruto, with Rin even going so far as to suggest that he try stalking her, since her sister doesn’t want him anymore. When Haruto presses on, she gets a little angry and tells him that he is going to make her sister miserable, and wonders if that is really why he is here, revenge. Haruto indicates that he doesn’t want to play games and kind of scares her a little. She says she will go get her sister. When she goes inside, Haruto see’s movement in one of the upstairs windows. It is Yuzuki, peeking out at him. The look on her face is positively painful. She seriously did not want to see Haruto, but you get the distinct feeling that it isn’t because she hates him, but exactly the opposite.

[Note the subtle change in Yuzuki's face in the 2nd and third images. Very effective use of facial expressions to show how sad/worried she is!]

[[Visit blog to check out this spoiler]]

Yuzuki moves to Hiroshima from Tokyo and lives with Haruto’s family. Their fathers are old friends and her father is originally from Haruto’s rural Hiroshima town. Since they will be in the same class in school, Haruto’s mom suggests that he take Yuzuki to see the school the day she arrives. He agrees grudgingly, thinking to himself that she is such a bother and grousing that she can’t even ride a bike, so he’ll have to take her places, since it is far to long to walk. When they approach the convenience store that is on the way to school, Haruto sees Nanami Kanzaki, the girl he has had a crush on for the past three years but has never had the courage to even talk to, coming out of the store. He pretends that there is a problem with the bike, and hopes she won’t notice them. She does, and Yuzuki trots off to meet this beautiful, short haired girl who looks like she is about her age. Haruto freaks about Yuzuki announcing that they are “living together”, and makes sure Nanami knows that it is a favor to her parents.

On the way home, Yuzuki asks Haruto if, perchance, he likes Nanami? His reaction tells her that she was spot on. He then asks her why she moved from Tokyo to Hiroshima. Her answer is that she visited the town a few years earlier and really liked it, so she wanted to come here. His response indicates that he doesn’t really buy that as the whole reason, but she indicates that she isn’t going to give him more detail.  When they get home, Yuzuki is looking at the fish in the koi pond and falls in. Haruto brings her a towel and gets a nice glimpse of her form through the shower door, much to his embarrassment. When she gets out, she asks Haruto to take her to the store. He asks her what she needs to buy and she is very reluctant to tell him, but eventually whispers it to him: underwear. He takes her to the store, believing that she had no underwear to put on after falling in the pond and his old friend Takashi rides along on his bike. Haruto is rather rude to him, in order to keep him from riding next to Yuzuki and seeing up her skirt. After they leave the store, she asks Haruto if he doesn’t want his friends to see them together. He says that it would be bad, for both of them. She doesn’t really understand why, then a breeze blows and her skirt flies up, showing that she is wearing panties after all. Haruto stares for far to long at them, getting a well deserved convenience store bag to the face for his troubles. Yuzuki finds it hilarious that he thought she wasn’t wearing any panties, telling him it was that she didn’t have clean ones to wear tomorrow because her cloths haven’t arrived yet. However, she thanks him for trying so hard to protect her.

On the way to school, Haruto parks at the convenience store, making them walk to school from there so he doesn’t have to deal with the embarrassment of riding double all the way to school with her. He also asks that she not tell anyone that they will be going home together. At school, she meets Haruto’s other childhood friend, Akari, and is surprised that there is only one class per grade in their high school. After school, he goes to meet her at the convenience store, but she isn’t around. Nanami comes out of the store and they talk about Yuzuki and about how Haruto would always look away from Nanami when they were in middle school, making her think he disliked her. She says that she wants to become better friends now that they are in high school. Then they hear Yuzuki scream. She is back by the sakura trees and some bugs were crawling on her. When he asks her why she was back there, she says it was because Nanami came and she didn’t want her to see that they were going home together. Nanami comes to make sure she is OK and Yuzuki has an idea. She asks Nanami to go with her to the local Hot Springs bathhouse.

At the bathhouse, Yuzuki is very exited and she asks some embarrassing questions to Nanami about things like cup-size. (And there is some well done placement of objects to prevent having to obscure nudity. Not quite to the level of humor as the bathhouse scene in Hyouka, which I suggest you watch if you haven’t, but it made me chuckle none the less.) Haruto is mortified that he can hear everything from the men’s bath. After getting out, Haruto is making airplane noises with a fan and is startled by Nanami. She obviously thinks it is cute and sits down to do it herself. They talk a bit, she gets them drinks, and they appear to be getting along pretty well. Nanami then checks on Yuzuki, since she hasn’t gotten out of the bath yet and it turns out she has passed out because she stayed in too long.

On the way home, Haruto asks why she was so silly as to stay in the bath until she passed out. Yuzuki starts to answer, then asks if it OK if she leans on him for a while. She then tells him that she was working hard to make sure he and Nanami had more time to talk. The look on her face as she leans on him tells the viewer that seeing Nanami dating Haruto is the last thing that Yuzuki really wants to happen for herself. It is obvious that she has feelings for him. Yet she was willing to go so far as to put her own health in danger to make him happy by getting him closer to the girl of his dreams.

The scene shifts back to Tokyo and Haruto looking up at Yuzuki’s window. That behavior, Yuzuki’s tendency to put other people’s feelings before her own and even do things that were not only not in her best interest or what would make her happiest, but to do things that were potentially harmful to her at times, in order to make someone she cares about happy. That is the root of the reason why he moved to Tokyo. He was afraid that she was doing something like that again, and if he could help her, he wants to.

  

  

 

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持ってんじゃん | Mottenjan | You Had It All Along

DEM ABS!!!

A shocking revelation!!!

*Full caps: 01, 02, 03, 04, 05
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The slice of life sweetness continues with Potte having to face her next arduous duty as president of the Photography Club: the club recruiting day presentation. Once again the art, music, writing, and animation are all spot on for this lovingly created healing anime. Will Potte’s club gain new members, or is she doomed to spend her time with her friends in her club room with no club to speak of?

Impressions: I really don’t have much to say about this episode. It was sweet, it brought a tear to my eye at least once, and so far I really like the new character, Kanae Mitani. When I first saw her I thought she looked like a bit loli, then I was surprised to find that she is a third year student. But when she stands next to Potte, she looks like her sempai, and she is so darn cute!

Episode Recap:

As she heads to school, Potte looks positively terror struck. Seeing her friend, Kaoru realizes that today is the “big day” when all of the school’s clubs get to make presentations to the students to recruit new members. Potte is nervous beyond belief and barely manages to get out a feeble “Let’s Photo!” before dissolving into an incoherent babble. Her friends, adviser, and homeroom teacher all hang their heads in defeat, but in the back of the room, someone is watching with great interest.

Afterward, the girls are sitting in the club room eating and Potte realizes she forgot to actually mention the name of the club. Moen reminds her that she at least mentioned the word “photo”, so it should be OK. But the real concern is not the recruitment presentation, but what happened when the third year, award winning photographer Kanae Mitani came to the club room the other day. What we saw before was her opening the door and saying, “I heard you made a photography club.” It turns out that after she said that, there was an uncomfortable silence and she simply said “Bye” and left. They all really wonder what her deal is.

The club adviser comes in with information on photography competitions and wants Potte to fill out the one she wants to enter and says she’ll send it off the next day. Potte reminds her that she has to take the picture first, which again demonstrates how much of an airhead this teacher is. But there’s more, she has a pile of paperwork that Potte has to fill out describing the clubs goals and stuff like that, as well as any equipment requisitions, all due this week. It seems that creating a club is a lot of work…

While Potte works on paperwork, the other three decide they’re going to investigate Mitani-san and see if they can talk to her. They find her, but she runs away from them. Meanwhile, Potte is filling out her club goals but has trouble getting past “Take Photographs”. She looks at Kanae’s photograph in the magazine and has a thought. She adds: “That bring hearts together”. She is her father’s daughter, after all.

Kanae sees the girls leaving school and zooms in on Potte. She seems to be fixated on her quite a bit. Kaoru’s sister has sent  them all a text telling them to come to Cafe Tamayura after school. They’re wondering what it is all about, but happy to have some of Potte’s grandma’s latest dessert, a strawberry and cream filled crepe. It turns out that they were called there so Kou and his friend Komachi have made a banner congratulating Potte. It is quite cute. They talk about the problem with Kanae and how she seems to want to say something to Potte about the club, but can’t do it. After getting other peoples’ advice, Potte decides she has to talk to her.

She is working up her courage when Dougou-sensei calls Potte to the office. The reason he did it was really to advertise Potte’s club by talking about it over the loudspeaker system. However, he also has an idea: he wants Potte to talk about her club at the upcoming Sakura Fair. Kaoru is on the planning committee it seems, since her parents are the main event planners for the fair, but she seems unsure if it is a good idea. Potte, however, seems very determined. She’ll do it!

The rest of the girls tell Potte that she really seemed “presidential” when she decided to speak at the fair. She says she will be happy with just one or two members joining, but she really wants to find someone to share her love of photography with so they can learn from each other. That is why she started the club, so she will go and talk to Kanae Mitani-san and find out what she wanted to say to her the other day.

When Potte finds Kanae she immediately turns away from her, running up the stairs, but Potte follows after and calls out to her from the landing. Kanae then turns to Potte and apologizes for taking her picture without permission. Potte tells her that wasn’t a problem and asks if she can talk to her. [As an aside, this is something that I had wondered about since the whole contest photo thing came up. It is standard practice for contests to require model release forms for photos with people as the primary subject of the work. In this case, she really should have gotten a release from Potte, either before she took the picture or after she took it, when she knew she was going to use it in a publication...]

The go to the club room and Kanae seems a bit reluctant, but comes in. Then she sees Potte’s photos stuck on the whiteboard across the room and is instantly drawn in. The look on her face as she appreciates the photos is priceless. She turns to Potte, seemingly a different person, much kinder and gentler than she has seemed before, and tells her that she thought of starting a photography club too. Potte apologizes for having done it instead of her, but she tells her it isn’t a problem. She thought of it as a freshman, but when she thought about how much work it would be and the fact that she would have to be the leader of the group, she couldn’t do it and put the thought aside as too much trouble. She tells Potte that she is always like this, over-thinking things and failing to accomplish anything. She isn’t really sure how she even managed to send the picture in to the contest. She also tells Potte that she went to the We Exhibition and saw her photos there, but when she realized that Potte was the girl whose picture she took without permission, she couldn’t work up the courage to talk to her, though she really wanted to talk to her and tell her how much she loved her photos. She loved seeing Takahara from another person’s perspective. Kanae thinks Potte’s pictures are much better than hers.

Potte says she doesn’t think so and she really wanted to meet her and see more of her pictures. She wants to find out how she takes them, how she chooses her subjects, and learn about her photography and to share her own ideas with Kanae. So will she please join her? Will she become a member of the Photography Club?

Kanae agrees, saying that she probably wouldn’t have had the courage to join if Potte hadn’t invited her. They celebrate by taking a picture of the two club members on their first day together as a club.

I love this show more and more each week. It is sweetness and light personified, but with a depth that really touches the heart on a regular basis. The happiness the two girls felt at finding someone to share their love of photography with reminded me of some of the great people I have “met” online at various photography sites and made me think I need to start posting my photography to more places again, something I have gotten away from over the past few years. While it may seem like a little, light weight piece of fluff anime, Tamayura ~More Aggressive~, indeed, the whole Tamayura franchise, is really a very powerful story, with the ability to do what Potte wants to do with her photos: bring hearts together.

Enough gushing… until next week at least… Here is the slideshow of this week’s screenshots:

EDIT: thank you for all the advice and kind comments!

Dear Readers,

Don’t worry, this isn’t a post to say I’ve decided to quite blogging, in fact this post is here to say the exact opposite. I want to revive Anime Princess. So why has my blog dramatically slowed down in the past few months? Well, I was writing elsewhere because the opportunity came, but it has now fallen through. There is more than one reason as to why, but mostly it’s because I came to a point where I just wasn’t enjoying my writing.

Lately, I feel lost about life. Nothing feels right and I’m not really sure how to fix things. I’m in a rut you could say, and my writing was reflecting that. Not to mention, I’m not one to follow schedules, and due to not being able to find much time in my life for anything, I had to dedicate all my time writing for another site over this one. I’m still happy for the time I dedicated over there, but I feel for this summer I need a break from at least a few stressful things in my life. I need to figure out how to manage my life and find joy in the things I once did. Blogging was never supposed to feel like a chore. I want to write things when the inspiration strikes and be able to create content that really reflects the emotions I need to have written out on a page. My writing is something very personal, and I know it’s nothing fancy, but it’s the only way I know how to express myself and I wouldn’t want to change that.

I just needed to get this out there, and I apologize for the rather cryptic rant. All this is to say that I want to try to go back to the days where my life wasn’t one giant stress. Where I could watch something without trying to think of what I need to say about it or dreading each week where I had to come up with new content. I want to go back to the aniblogosphere, read more blogs, and socialize more on twitter. If a new opportunity knocks on my door, I won’t hesitate, but in the meantime I just want to sit back and try to return to those good old days.

Thank you for listening, I hope to talk to you all much more in the coming weeks!

Song: She is my Senior
Artist: supercell
Album: The Bravery

naiteru atashi MAMA ha sotto shitoitekureru
amai amai KYANDI sotto oite shiranpuri shite

When I cry, my mom gives me space
and leaves a sweet candy for me, pretending not to know.

shoppai namida
karakkarana namida
MAMA mo kitto shitterunda

Salty tears,
cold tears.
I’m sure mom knows…

kou yatte chotto zutsu
atashi ha kitto otona ni nareru
kanashii koto datte itsuka ha zenbu
sore mo atashi datte omoeru kara

Going through this,
I’m sure I’m slowly becoming an adult.
One day, I’ll look back an think
that feeling this sad was also a part of me.

koi shiteru atashi PAPA mo kitto shiranai kao shite
tobikiri no koi wo ima shiteru no yo gomenne PAPA

I’m in love, but looks like my dad doesn’t care.
I’m having a very special love experience, sorry, dad.

mukashi itteta
MAMA to no koibanashi
PAPA ha donna PAPA datta no?

What kind of person
was my dad
in those old love stories mom told me about?

kou yatte chotto zutsu
atashi ha kitto otona ni natteku
ureshii koto toka kasanateitte
shiwa wo fuyasu no
soshite nee kiite yo
atashi MAMA mitai ni naru no
MAMA ha sonna atashi no hanashi wo kiite
nandaka komatta kao wo shita youna ki ga shita

Going through this,
I’m sure I’ll become an adult.
Gathering more happy experiences,
I’ll get more wrinkles
and then, listen,
I want to become like my mom.
But when she heard me say that,
for some reason, made a worried face…

Time to get back into the throes of painting more garage kits! Recently acquired another to the “to do” pile in the shape of the Charagumin Shinguji Sakura from Volks so I can’t let the pile get any bigger!

I asked some groups online as to which kit I should build next out of the [...]

Time to get back into the throes of painting more garage kits! Recently acquired another to the “to do” pile in the shape of the Charagumin Shinguji Sakura from Volks so I can’t let the pile get any bigger!

I asked some groups online as to which kit I should build next out of the Try-GK Yoko and Dead Master and it was actually a tie. But in the end, I chose DM because I have a stupidly large number of kits which are predominantly black and doing them in a row will be trying so I’m going to try and space things out. Off the top of my head, the black colour scheme characters are Laila, Akane, Bayonetta and Fate (True sonic form). Definitely going to need more black paint for all of them. Heck, Bayonetta is 1/4 scale!! But for now, it’s all Dead Master

I wrote a better preview post on dead master a while back (back in 2010) when I first got her so it may be better to have a look there for more complete pics and whatnot. but things haven’t changed since then. It just took me this long to get to her (and I still have the World is Mine Miku to do as well, and she’s even older!).

I still don’t like BRS or any of the characters involved but the high quality of kiking kits and the sheer rarity of the kit pushed me into buying her, despite the massive hurdles it presented. In any case, this will be the first kiking kit I will be making (of 2) and she should be a lof of fun! I mean, look at the sheer detail of her scythe!!

Just hope I can do the kit justice. One thing which bugs me though… why does the body piece of this kit have a huge hole in it?

Any suggestions?

Well, it finally happened. Just when pretty much everyone (including myself) had given up on the game, P4A FINALLY got a UK release!! Also, Microsoft announced their next generation Xbox, called the Xbox One. I can sum that up in one sentence. If I was a white, jock, suburban american male, who loves his [...]

Well, it finally happened. Just when pretty much everyone (including myself) had given up on the game, P4A FINALLY got a UK release!! Also, Microsoft announced their next generation Xbox, called the Xbox One. I can sum that up in one sentence. If I was a white, jock, suburban american male, who loves his american sports and doesn’t actually play games, then it was great!! Otherwise, it was pretty crap! Microsoft seems to be digging the hole even deeper by confusing everyone with their stance on pre-owned games and the “always-on” internet checks. They have to pull out an absolutely incredible E3 to pull gamers back in, but to be honest, I don’t think they care. And neither do I.

Anyway, back to Persona 4 Arena, a game which has been delayed for almost a YEAR since its initial release in other territories. It was like we went back to the 90s in terms of Euro game releases. Sadly, the scene is barely recovering from the snub and people are still picking up the game but any enthusiasm for the game has been long gone. In fact, I had cancelled my Pre-order for the game which I put on amazon a long time ago, but I seemed to have also put one on shopto. Not sure what insanity got me to do that, but I forgot about that pre-order and so I ended up with a copy of the game on release.

In the interest of completeness (cos everyone knows what this game is about), P4A is a fighting game from arc system works (makers of Guilty Gear and Blazblue) using characters from Persona 3 and 4. It features an original story, set about a year after P4 and works the ideas from both P3 and P4 to set up some sort of sequel in the future which could involve characters from both games. So, how is the game?

GOOD

• Low execution barrier – the moves in the game aren’t very complicated and the gameplay itself feels simpler than the likes of Blazblue but it still shows a considerable amount of depth
• Online Play – the game is by arc system works so just like BB, there’s some voodoo magic going on under the hood to make the online matches incredibly pleasant. There is still lag, but not enough to throw most peoples games off.
• It’s a fighting game but still distinctly Persona!! – everything from the characters to the moves and the music are all from the previous persona games so even though there’s a massive shift in the game type, it still feels like part of the series.

BAD

• Story mode – Basically, you start off with 4 characters and playing through some will unlock other characters. Unfortunately, initially, you will only be able to get to a certain point in the characters story before you get hit with a “to be continued” screen. You have to complete Labrys story mode to get the full endings for the characters, but it doesn’t stop there! Each character basically has an independent story which doesn’t link up with the others but follows the exact same pattern, so you’re basically playing the same story with some slight differences 8 or so times! Some of the other characters add a little insight to the bits before the game picks up (the P3 characters, basically) but it’s just a laborious visual novel with no options to choose from and needs to be played multiple times to finish…
• Execution barrier is a bit too low… – Basically, every character has a special preset combo which can be performed by pressing the light attack button several times. It’s a nice trick to get players performing high level stuff pretty quickly but it’s far too easy to take the combo too far and, since most of them end with a super move which takes up 50% of your bar, it can leave you in a vulnerable situation.

Ultimately, the game is a very solid fighter, but it remains to be seen if it will have the ability to last. I doubt Arc System Works will update it as regularly or thoroughly as Blazblue so it may have its time in the sun and then fade as other, more traditional Persona games get released. And that’s part of the problem. The time in the sun is now, but europe is only getting to grips with the game RIGHT NOW! By the time we are up to speed, the game might very well be brushed aside for the next major title. Blazblue Chrono Phantasma is waiting for its home console release (Wonder how long a delay we’ll need to put up with this time?) and arc just announced a brand new Guilty Gear!! With all this, I don’t see persona 4 arena sticking around in the minds of the FGC for long. And then there’s the matter of price. PQube is selling the game as a full priced title, which is too much, given the delay.

The bottom line is that P4A is a good fighting game. Just not good enough to justify its current price tag and massive delay…

Song: SMALL WORLDROP
Artist: Annabel
Album: SMALL WORLDROP
Other: Opening Song for the anime RDG -Red Data Girl-

kimi no koe ga
yobiau sono hikari he

Your voice
calls mine towards the light.

usuginu goshi ni ima sekai wo mitsumeteiru
tobenai kago no naka hane wo chijimete

I’m looking at the world through a veil
and contract my wings inside this cage I can’t fly from…

kaze wataru mori he to sakitsugu hana-tachi no
kokyuu wo mane shite hane wo sotto yuraseba

Flowers bloom towards the forest the wind passes through.
If only I could copy their breath and spread my wings…

hora kimi no koe ga
kataku tojita mama uzukumaru kono ashimoto wo terasu yo

See, your voice
lights the way for my cowering stiff feet.

kizamareta mirai ga tooku mienai basho demo
osore wo nugisutete kimi no moto he

Even if the future is far away and in a place I can’t see,
I’ll cast away my fear and go towards you.

fureawanakutemo tsutawaru tashikana omoi ga
nando demo mukau tsuyosa ni naru

These certain feelings are conveyed to you even if we don’t touch
and they become the strength to keep on facing everything…

kawatteiku tame ni

So I could change myself.

minasoko ni shizunda sekai wo mitsumeteiru
chippokena negai ni mimi wo sumashite

I stare at the world sunken in the riverbed
and listen closely to a tiny prayer.

oshiete hoshii kimi wo kanashimaseru subete
kokoro no manazashi de itoshisa wo ageru kara

I want you to tell me everything which makes you sad.
I’ll give you love from the bottom of my heart.

hora kami wo naderu kaze no muku hou he
hateshinaku hirogatteiku PANORAMA

Come, look towards direction of the wind brushing your hair
and you’ll see an endlessly expanding panorama.

takanatta kodou ga tooku kyori wo koeteiku
massugu mayowazu ni kimi no moto he
aimaina ishi ga erabu hitotsu ni imi ha nai
hontou no kimochi wo sakebu kara

Our heartbeats overcome this long distance,
heading straight right to you.
There’s no meaning in choosing a single vague purpose
if we’ll just shout our true feelings.

te wo te wo kasaneteite

Take your hand, and my hand, and join them together.

kitto kimerareta mirai ga shiroku togireta toshitemo
watashi ha mayowanai kimi no moto he

Even if the future decided for us is white, or blocked,
I won’t hesitate anymore and go towards you.

umarekawaru hikari ga ima toumeina hane ni
nando demo yume wo kanaderu darou

This reborn light become my transparent wings
and, time and time again, compose my dreams…

kawatteiku tame ni

So I could change myself.

Song: Baby Sweet Berry Love
Artist: Ogura Yui
Album: Baby Sweet Berry Love
Other: Ending Song for the anime Hentai Ouji to Warawanai Neko

kimi ni Baby Sweet Berry Love HONTO NO KIMOCHI dake
wakeaetara ii noni na negai wo kanaete yo

You’re my Baby Sweet Berry Love, but if only I could
share my true feelings with you and make my wish come true.

c-u-t-e funny cat
give me give me shiny time
p-r-e-t-t-y tiny tiny berry love

daisuki! no HA-TO mo
GOMEN ne no NAMIDAmo HONTO ha sunao ni misetakute
tsutaetai omoi to uragaeshi no taido
jouzu ni narenai KOKORO moyou

I actually wanted to show you
my heart filled with love, and my tears filled with apologies.
But what I do is the opposite what I want to say,
it seems my heart won’t let me be honest…

doushite KARAMAWARI mune ga GYUtto naru
chikai kyori ga modokashii yo nee
todoketai no

Why do these fruitless efforts make my heart tighten?
This short distance between us is so frustrating,
I want to reach in even closer.

kimi to Baby Sweet Berry Love
kitto gikochinakute demo ne massugu ni mitsumete
SORA-IRO utsushitai
motto Baby Sweet Berry Love
semete kimi no mae de ha
waratte okotte afureta ari no mama de itai
dakara Baby Sweet Berry Love issho ni hajimeyou

You’re my Baby Sweet Berry Love!
I may be clumsy, but look at me with honesty.
I want to see the sky reflected in your eyes.
My Baby Sweet Berry Love,
When I’m in front of you,
I at least want to be myself by showing my laughter and anger…
So, my Baby Sweet Berry Love, let’s start together!

c-u-t-e funny cat
give me give me shiny time
p-r-e-t-t-y tiny tiny berry love

kajirareta HA-TO wo sagashitemiru
keredo HONTO ha jibun no oku ni aru
marude, samishii noni sumashita mayoi neko
koboreta yuuhi ni shitto shichau

I tried looking for my bitten off heart…
but it was actually deep inside me.
I’m like a stray cat. It’s jealous of the setting sun
but acts composed when actually feels lonely.

fuina yasashisa ni hashagu mune no oto
DOTABATA toka KARAFURU de KYUNto michiteiku no

My heart fills with its colorful and loud beats
when you’re casually nice to me.

kimi to Baby Sweet Berry Love
nanka mujun darake
daiji de areba aru hodo gomakashite shimau no
dakedo Baby Sweet Berry Love
jibun no KOKORO made wakaranai toki ha
kimi to tashikameaitai no
dakara Baby Sweet Berry Love
onaji basho ni itai

My Baby Sweet Berry Love,
I’m full of contradictions.
The more important it is, the more I try dodge it..
But, my Baby Sweet Berry Love,
when I can’t even understand my own heart,
I want to figure it out with you.
So, my Baby Sweet Berry Love,
stay with me!

kimi ni Baby Sweet Berry Love
jibun wo mamoru yori taisetsuna KOTO ga aru no
konna ni mo chikaku ni

My Baby Sweet Berry Love,
there’s something more important than protecting myself…
it was always so close to me.

kimi to Baby Sweet Berry Love
kitto gikochinakute demo ne massugu ni mitsumete
SORA-IRO utsushitai
motto Baby Sweet Berry Love
semete kimi no mae de ha
waratte okotte afureta ari no mama de itai
dakara Baby Sweet Berry Love konna ni mo SUKI da yo

You’re my Baby Sweet Berry Love!
I may be clumsy, but look at me with honesty.
I want to see the sky reflected in your eyes.
My Baby Sweet Berry Love,
When I’m in front of you,
I at least want to be myself by showing my laughter and anger…
Because, my Baby Sweet Berry Love, I love you so much!

c-u-t-e funny cat
give me give me shiny time
p-r-e-t-t-y tiny tiny berry love

zutto Baby Sweet Berry Love

Always my Baby Sweet Berry Love!

Song: YUKI TOKI
Artist: Yanagi Nagi
Album: YUKI TOKI
Other: Opening Song for the anime Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Comedy ha Machigatteiru

hi no michiru kono heya
sotto TOKI wo matsu yo

I’m in this sunlit room,
waiting for all of it to melt.

kidzukeba ukan de nagameteru hako
onaji mesen ha naku
itsushika kokoro ha hakushoku futoumei
yuki ni ochita hikari mo chiru

Without realizing it, I’ve been looking from high above
with no one to have the same point of view as me.
Eventually my heart became white and opaque…
and the light falling into the snow dispersed.

kumo kara koboreru tsumetai ame
me wo harasu no ha tooi haru kaze dake

Cold rain comes down from the clouds
and only the distant breeze of Spring can clear it away.

AZAREA wo sakasete
atatakai niwa made
tsuredashite tsuredashite
nante ne
shiawase dake egaita otogibanashi nante nai
wakattteru wakatteru
soredemo ne
soko he ikitai no

Let the Azalea bloom
in a warm garden
and take me, lead me, to it…
or something.
This is not like a fairy tale with a happy ending,
I know that very well,
but even so,
I want to go there…

muzukashii suushiki dare mo tayorazu
toiteakashitekita
atarimae datte omoitteita kara
nani mo utagawanakatta kedo

I was able to solve
a difficult math formula without the help of anyone.
I thought it was natural to do it alone,
so I never doubted it…

ima kisetsu ga owarou to shitemo
tsuitekuru no ha jibun no kage hitotsu

but now, as the season is about to end,
the only one with me… is my own shadow.

kooritsuita michi wo
hana no ame de umete
mayowanai youni chanto
oshiete ne
kiseki dake dekita kanzen kesshou ha nai
dakara sou hitosu zutsu
yuukuri to te wo tsunaideiku no

The frozen pathway
is buried by the rain of flowers
so properly show me how
not to get lost.
There are no perfect crystals created by miracles,
that’s why we, one by one,
start to join hands.

mune ni haritsuita GARASU toketenagareru
hikari afureru sekai
mou sugu

The glass clinging to my heart melts and streaks down
into a world filled with light…
and soon…

hitori de mamotteita chiisana ano heya ha
sukoshi dake aiteiru basho ga atte
zutto shiranakattanda
futari demo iindatte

That small room I kept safe
still has that empty space.
I never knew
that I was fine with it being just the two of us.

wakarazuni matteita ano hi ha mou
yukitoke to issho ni haru ni kawatteiku yo
toumeina mizu ni natte
soushite ne
AZAREA wo sakasu yo
nagai fuyu no ato ni
nando demo nando demo
hi no michiru kono heya no naka de

The day I waited for without realizing
has already melted away with the snow and soon Spring will come.
It will become clear water
and then…
it will make the Azalea bloom.
But even after the long Winter is over,
I’ll always, always,
be in this sunlit room.

Song: Hello Alone
Artist: Hayami Saori & Touyama Nao
Album: Hello Alone
Other: Ending Song for the anime Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Come ha Machigatteiru

KIRARI aoi sora de hikatta
Airplane kanata no sora no kanata made
mune ni tsumatta nanika ga sawaida

*glitter* Something shined from the sky.
Airplane, it shined from far in the sky
and something in my heart moved.

iitai kimochi ha tojikome
ienai KOTOBA ni henkan suru
saigo made boku ha sunao janakute
tsunagareta ito wo waza to
motsuresasete kirihanashita

I swallow the feelings I wanted to say.
They become words I can’t say…
Even until the very end… I couldn’t be honest.
I purposely tangle the thread connecting us
and cut it.

HIKO-KIgumo ga nijinde
kieteshimau mae ni
aitai to ieteta nara Wow
owari no nai setsunasa kara mo
nukedaseteita no kana
mata kimi to futari bocchi
Hello Hello, Alone

The vapor trails are fading,
but before they disappear,
I should have said I wanted to see you. Wow
Did you ever break free
from your endless suffering?
You and I are alone again,
Hello Hello, Alone.

tooku warai koe hibiku
soshite kikoenakunatta kedo
muri ni waratte wasureru yori mo
shizukesa he to shizumikonde
tomatta mama kizutsukitai

I heard laughter from afar,
but I suddenly couldn’t hear it anymore.
I force a smile, and rather than just forget,
I sink into silence.
I want to punish myself for standing still…

yuuhi ga umi no hate ni
kieteshimau mae ni
uso datte tsutaetetara Wow
ano mabushi sugita mainichi wo
torimodosu koto dekita?
mata kimi to futari bocchi
Hello Hello, Alone

Before the setting sun
disappeared into the ocean,
I should have at least have said a lie. Wow
Were you able to get those
radiant days back?
You and I are alone again,
Hello Hello, Alone.

kotoba ha azamukushi yasashisa ha urahara de
itsumo taisetsuna toko de

I decieve my own words and contradict my kindness
at the very most important times.

jitsu ha nigete bakari ita kamo
amaesugiteita no kamo
ima sara osoi kedo

I may have actually just been running away.
I may have been too naive.
But it’s too late now…

tomerarenakatta namida
ochiteshimau mae ni
gomen ne to ieteta nara

I should have apologized
before the tears I couldn’t stop
ran down my cheeks.

HIKO-KIgumo ga nijinde
kieteshimau mae ni
aitai to ieteta nara Wow
owari no nai setsunasa kara mo
nukedaseteita no kana
mata kimi to futari bocchi
Hello Hello, Alone

The vapor trails are fading,
but before they disappear,
I should have said I wanted to see you. Wow
Did you ever break free
from your endless suffering?
You and I are alone again,
Hello Hello, Alone.

Quick history lesson, back in the late 90s there was a game released on PC by the now defunct Bullfrog Studios. It was marked as being one of the earliest games where you played the villain of the piece instead of the usual hero. That game was Dungeon Keeper! You were basically given to role [...]

Quick history lesson, back in the late 90s there was a game released on PC by the now defunct Bullfrog Studios. It was marked as being one of the earliest games where you played the villain of the piece instead of the usual hero. That game was Dungeon Keeper! You were basically given to role of a near godly overseer of an underground dungeon and you needed to mine gold, expand your lair and entice monsters to joining you, and beat up wayward heroes who stumbled into your domain.

The game got a sequel in 99 which, to this day, remains one of my favourite games ever made! There was also a teaser video in DK2 for another sequel where your minions made it to the surface and were ready to wreak havoc but nothing ever came of it. Then, the series pretty much died. EA didn’t see much in the series and bullfrog closed its doors so it seemed like we would only ever get Dungeon keeper 2 to keep our evil sides entertained. Then, I found out about a kickstarter campaign for a game called war for the overworld. They claimed that it was a spiritual successor to the dungeon keeper series so I was more than a little intrigued. I’m not usually a fan of kickstarter, due to the whole uncertainty of the thing but when Dungeon keeper was invoked, all bets were off and I pledged a sum to see the game made!

And then I kinda forgot about the whole thing until a friend reminded me of its existence thanks to a well timed tweet! Turns out that, since I pledged a decent sum to the development of the game, I got free access to the beta, which is now available on steam!!

And all I can say is, this isn’t a spiritual successor to Dungeon Keeper 2. it IS dungeon keeper 2!! Only a sandbox version is available for testing, which allows you access to build 4 rooms and a large area to build in but no objectives or heroes to defeat. The interface, the look and feel of the game, everything just screams Dungeon Keeper… and I LOVE IT!!!

At this stage, things are looking rather rough, bugs are present and controls are a little fiddly but the core gameplay is there and everything points to good things happening when this game gets released!

If you’re even a passing fan of the old series, you owe it to yourself to earmark this game!!

You know you’re getting old when you forget dates which are meant to be important to you. I think the first one to go was my own birthday. I usually get a text or quick call from a family member which serves as a prompt reminder that it’s that day…

And now, it wasn’t my [...]

You know you’re getting old when you forget dates which are meant to be important to you. I think the first one to go was my own birthday. I usually get a text or quick call from a family member which serves as a prompt reminder that it’s that day…

And now, it wasn’t my own birthday which escaped me but also the birthday of this blog! It’s now 6 years running!!! Let that sink in for a bit. 6 years… Damn…

Anyway, as is customary, I’ve collected up my purchases and completed kits from the last 12 months and grouped them together! This is turning to be something I start dreading as it’s quite a nightmare to pick all the purchases, take them out of the boxes again and set them up for a group shot! But at least this time, I was able to fit them all into one pic as opposed to last year!

Really, this should have been done last week, as that would nearly land the birthday to the day as opposed to just being the last week of May. Still, the weeks delay did have the benefit of adding 2 new additions which would have otherwise missed this post. This is actually the second attempt as the first one omitted one of my GK. She just slipped my mind until I had almost finished packing everything away again. Sods law!

Time to take a closer look!

First up are the mecha. Gunpla are still being represented, in this case by the RG Freedom Gundam, but I’m finding myself less and less interested in the gunpla releases these days. It didn’t help that gundam age had pretty crap designs! The nu gundam Ver ka looks neat tho! Anyway, next to the RG freedom is the Revoltech Vox Aura from Rinne no Lagrange. This one actually transforms, unlike the robot damashii version, which is why I went for it. Sadly, the other 2 never made it! And finally, there’s the playarts Kai Raiden from the limited edition Metal Gear Rising… And it’s CRAP! The articulation is super limited, it barely stands on it’s own (and usually falls without help soon after) and there’s very little to recommend it. It’s my first playarts kai but will also probably be my last!

Next up, we have the poseable figures. Imouto goes here cos there wasn’t enough space for her in the next photo (and I’m still waiting for Ryoko and Mikuru. We know they exist as we’ve seen them at events but they haven’t been put up for sale yet!!). I did reviews for both figma Samus and Ignis for tomopop so you can check over there for my impressions!

No new Busou Shikis this year but who needs them when my prayers have finally been answered and I got a release of GUNDAM GIRLS!!! We also have Laura Baudewig with her IS unit from Infinite Stratos, figma T-ELOS and the plamo KOS-MOS from Kotobukiya!

Onto the PVC purchases next and we have Zero Suit Samus, Towa Erio and Alicia Ilinichina Ameilla! Alicia was a very recent addition. I was on the fence when she was released and procrastinated so long that she was sold out by the time I made a choice but I was able to find her 2nd hand for a reasonable price so picked her up! Erio just missed out on last years post and remained in her box until this shoot. And a part of me wished that I had kept her in the box. removing the packaging inside was a major hassle!!

And now it’s time for the big guns!! I’ll come right out and say it, Racing Miku 2011 is the only miku design I can say I actually like!! That’s why I have her! As for Noel, how can I NOT get her?? She’s easily my fave PVC purchase of the past 12 months!!

If you think that this year was a good year for the Sheryl Nome army, you’d be wrong! EVERY year is good for the army!! 9 new additions with another on its way and the max factory release on the horizon!! All hail the Galaxy Fairy!!!

And we finish, as always, with the completed garage kits of the past 12 months. A respectable 4 completed. Dead Master was finished just last night but she still needs a little touch up. Expect a full post for her soon! But I have to say, for a character I have no love for, the kit was a hell of a lot of fun to paint and looks rather cool to boot! It hasn’t turned me into a BRS fan (hah! Fat chance of that!) but it’s still pretty cool!

And that’s it for this anniversary post. My thanks again to 7 for the hosting and to all the readers, frequent or not! I’ll do another one next year. Probably.

My memories of the keynotes from last year are not exactly pleasant but we have 2 new consoles on the horizon and a lot of stuff to prove from both Sony and Microsoft. Microsoft has been having a hard time in recent weeks, with their stance on their system requiring online checks and generally being [...]

My memories of the keynotes from last year are not exactly pleasant but we have 2 new consoles on the horizon and a lot of stuff to prove from both Sony and Microsoft. Microsoft has been having a hard time in recent weeks, with their stance on their system requiring online checks and generally being anti-consumer. Sony, meanwhile, have been very quiet so everyone was wondering what they would do at E3.

Well, on the good side, all 3 has gotten me somewhat excited about the next 12 months of video games but I don’t think I’ve seen such a one sided event well… Ever! I’ll just let these gifs explain what happened…

Yup, that was pretty much a killing the likes of which we have never seen! Meanwhile, nintendo just did their own thing, as they do!

So what caused this massacre? This…

That’s right, this one slide merely confirmed what we consumers have begun to expect from our purchase of games and it led to one of the biggest cheers of the event and was close to a standing ovation!

Just think about it. Sony say they’re sticking with the status quo and they get a huge cheer. That shows how unpopular microsofts policies were. Just check it out!

Like I said, status quo.

But if we’re going to break it down…

Microsoft

Basically, Microsoft picked up where they left off a few weeks ago at the xbox one unveil. They had games and were more than happy to show them. The only problem is that the games were all just rehashes of the popular game types. Xbone exclusive Ryse was a 3rd persion action game where you played a roman soldier. It was heavy on the scripted events and QTE. Basically, it was Crytek trying their hand at god of war.

Only a 1st party game in the shape of Forza gave any indication of the much vaunted “cloud computing” which Microsoft was hyping up (and hoping to convince the public that the horsepower shortfall can be overcome this way, which is complete bulls**t btw) in use and all it was for was some AI computing which was done by GT5. Titanfall (from respawn) was interesting but not a system seller. The biggest surprise was a reveal for a reboot of Killer instinct. I loved the first games before the series died but the more I read about the game, the less I like it. Apparently, the game is free to play but only comes with 1 character. All the rest need to be bought. The game developers also don’t have much of good rep sheet. and the original guys aren’t involved.

Basically, it would have been a fine keynote for a mature console but not one for a system about to be launched. Microsoft also didn’t step away from the controversial DRM built into the Xbone so we can’t trade in our games, can’t loan them, have to go online once a day for checks if we want to play games, etc. Oh, and the console will £425! No wonder gamers are pissed! Should be interesting to see if Microsoft backtrack after this.

Sony

Things started off slowly for Sony as they continued to push games for PS3 and Vita, which is fair. But when it came to PS4, it has to be said that their games selection were similar to Microsofts selection. They did give some time to some very interesting indie devs and their games to ram home their commitment to gamers and they also had some new IPs from big name 1st party devs, such as the order. A game with heavy steampunk influences! They also showed off the PS4 console which, tbh, looks too similar to the xbone. Then came the  bit in the video above…

Still it wasn’t all rosy. Hidden in the messages was news that online mulitplayer on the PS4 will require a PS+ subscription (though the media stuff will not). Also, there was no news on the last guardian (which is now confirmed as being “on hiatus”) and Final Fantasy Versus XIII is now Final Fantasy XV (like nobody could see that coming) and kingdom hearts 3 is also coming but they are multiplatform. Still, with all this vitriol against the Xbone and the restrictions on purchased games, I wouldn’t be surprised to find that almost all the games will be purchased on PS4.

Sony have also undercut Microsoft as well! The PS4 will cost £350!! Of course, this is without any extras like the PS eye while XBone comes with kinect but at least it’s an optional extra as oppose to being forced on you.

TBH, I was way more on the PS4 boat as I’m a vita owner and I’m interested in how the 2 will work together but it always helps when the company sweetens the deal!

Nintendo

Ninty don’t have a console release since they’ve already done that (and it’s not selling too hot either, but I digress). In fact, they didn’t even do a keynote. Instead, they did a nintendo direct video to showcase new games. Some pokemon stuff, wind waker, Mario Kart 2 and super mario 3D world started things off but my interest was in the release date for Wonderful 101 and more footage of Bayonetta. There was also more stuff on the new “X” game from Monolith soft and the announcement of a new Smash Bros game, with new characters from animal crossing and Wii Fit girl (no, I’m not kidding!). Also, Megaman has been confirmed as a guest character, just like sonic and solid snake! Personally, I was sold on the remixed Megaman 2 music and I hate smash bros!!

This year, E3 belongs to Sony, without a doubt. But I do wish that they won their kudos for something other than giving us services which we already enjoy! And it should be noted, that the ability to block used games and region locking is still available to game publishers. Sony have gone on the record to say that they won’t apply it to their first party games but that doesn’t mean that other publishers will do the same. *cough*AtlusP4A*Cough*. Still, while the option is there, on the PS4, the default is off while Xbox one has the default as on. That’s a major difference.

This, of course, doesn’t mean that the Xbone is doomed to fail, but Microsoft just handed Sony an incredible lead in the next gen war. One which may prove to be more significant that the 1 year lead they had before the PS3 launch. They tried to pull an apple and tried to tell consumers what they want before they themselves know they want it but it looks like it’s blown up in their face. Sony, on the other hand, have tried to show that they are listening to their customers and trying to maintain consumer trust. Looks like it’s paid off very well for them. I think most gamers have written off the Xbone now, at least in the short term. Right now, everything is all sony and PS4.

Well…it seems my blogging absence is turning more and more into a semi-hiatus, but it’s nothing official or anything and I’m just taking it all one day at a time. On account of that, I guess a lot of really late posts will be popping up here and there, so thank you for still wanting to read them.

Anyway, back to my late Anime North coverage…I have been going to the same anime convention for the past five years, so I fiured it was about time to expand my horizons. I decided to go with the biggest anime convention in Canada because although I’d love to go to Anime Expo, I would need to save a lot more money! Either way, Anime North turned out to be a definite treat that I would no doubt return to!

DAY 1

The first day when I left Montreal turned out to be a rather unenventful day. My friend and I got to take a train (I seriously love trains, deifnitely a highlight) and we were on our way to Toronto! Considering our hotel checking was only at three, we had some time to spare and ended up sight-seeing a bit. That ended quickly when realized you have to pay 30$ to go in the CN Tower and otherwise there wasn’t much to see that was close to the station. We did go to the market place, as someone had suggested, but it was mostly a meat place so for two vegetariens it didn’t offer much. Still, I got to see a seagull steal a girl’s lunch! WORth it.

Anywho, I was staying at a hotel which was about a 20 minute walk to the convention, not bad in my opinion. I’m used to going to a convention on a much smaller scale, so when I finally arrived at the registartion area, I was no doubt surprised by the huge amount of people! The weather wasn’t perfect (just cold, I’m happy there wasn’t rain at least), but the atmosphere brought on from the crowd seemed to suggest otherwise! There was a DJ booth setup and nearly everyone was in some sort of costume. As always, it’s definitely just cool to walk around and get a good look at some of the talent the cosplay world has to offer.

As I always plan for these things, my first destination was the Dealer’s Room. I have a shopping addiction when it comes to conventions and with a notebook filled with prices to match with products, I came prepared! Both the Artist Area and Dealer’s Room were more grand than I could have imagined! My wallet was no doubt lightened by the end of the weekend by all the money I spent! Oh well, I like to pretend the stuff I bought was totally awesome. (To see all my purchases, keep scrolling down)

Day one ended as my friend and I scouted the area and all the participating hotels that had a section dedicated to the convention. If I’m not mistaken, there was about five hotels you could go to that all had one event or another happening at it. Keeping all that in mind, we rested to prepare ourselves for the events of Saturday.

DAY 2

As any convention goer should know, day two is when everything really goes down. After some crazy long Timmies lines, I was as caffeinated as I could hope, and ready for more purchasing and events to go to. I stopped by at some of the more random little events offered at the convention, like the wrestling, which in my opinion was just sorta disturbing to see. Elmo was being beat up by Wario and then I sorta lost track of the rest. There was a crowd for it, but there wasn’t much appeal in it for me…

My friend and I made our way to the Funimation Panel, and although it was interesting enough, it was more about just some upcoming releases to DVD and their new website launch. I’m pretty glad to see they have a new version on the way, because their site at the moment is one of the slowest ones out there! They showed off their trailers and although some were bad, I’ll give them credit for their Eureka Seven Ao and Lupin The Third trailers, which were pretty well done.

I also visited the Pokemon Cooking Panel, where it’s title should be taken as literally as possible. It was a panel to discuss which Pokemon would be edible and which one would be best to use in a survival scenario. It was interesting and the people who were running it were charming, but the appeal was quickly lost when an audience member solved their dilemma about ten minutes in. They were trying to question what Pokemon would be best to bring if you were stuck in a desert with no sign of land anywhere, and although they were taking just about everything into consideration, they forgot about how they could have just picked Alakazam or something which would teleport them out of that problem.

the third panel of the day was one about Miyazaki’s work and how he does it. It was taught by someone who really knew there stuff and he carefully analyzed the opening scene to Porco Rosso. It definitely made me want to rewatch the film, since it never was one of my personal favourites, but I feel I watched it when I was too young.

The rest of the day, was spent heading over to hotel dedicated mostly to Yaoi/Yuri. Panels and events were visited, and we made our way back to the hotel only passed one in the mor.ning. My only regret for the day is that I missed the Masquerade, but I heard it ran late anyway. Also, I had no idea you had to get badges or whatnot before hand to be able to enter. Either way, Day 2 was no doubt a highlight of the weekend for me!

DAY 3

Sunday was a day where last minute shopping was done and a quick visit to Doll North was made. Those dolls are so damn expensive! It’s a part of Japanese culture I don’t quite get, but they are no doubt beautiful to look at. Although, the ones with thier eyes closed are sorta creepy. Also, the rather dark and quiet basement of a hotel definitely didn’t help to add less to the eerie feel of this part of the convention. Either way, it was really interesting to get a peak into a world I’m not well acquainted to.

I also went to the fashion show, which was probably the best part about Sunday for me. Call me whatever you want to, but I think I got a deifnite taste for lolita fashion. I was drawn to it every time I saw it. I can’t imaine spending so much for one dress, but I am damn tempted to! All I need is one dress and then I can hang out with others and have picnics and tea parties. It sounds fantastic!

Besides the lolita, the steampunk was also great, sadly I couldn’t hang around for the finale with the kimonos because the day was reaching its end as we had to head on back to the train station to get back home after a wonderful weekend.

Although I could go into much deeper details on what I did, to put it simply, I had a great time at Anime North. The atmosphere was vibrant and fun, as were the people. I wish I could have met up with more people from the aniblogosphere, but my days were pretty packed as it was and I had a friend who I think would probably feel uncomfortable about it all. Nonetheless, I would love to go next year and I hope to see some of you there as well! Heck, maybe if I start saving I can make it to Anime Expo? I’ve had a taste for the finer conventions in life now, so it’ll be harder to go back to the small town one I’m used to.

THE LOOT

And now to show off all the money I wasted. Honestly, if there was one thing I wish I bought, it was an alpaca plush. They’re so expensive, but also so damn cute! I was hoping to find one on Sunday, but I swear they were more or less sold out everywhere!

Anywho, for starters, these are my things from the artist tables:

I actually wish I better took advantage of the Artist area because I could have easily bought a ton more stuff, but as you can see here, I bought some gorgeous Hannibal posters (because I’m sorta obsessed if you didn’t already know) and a great set of pins that I can’t wait to show off. I think when I go to Otakuthon this year (I have decided Iwill), I’m mostly going to stick to artist things, since as you’ll now see, I have more than enough anime/manga merchandise to last me a while….

The Funimation was selling all their their DVDs without taxes and with five dollars off, it was hard not to splurge on some of their titles that I’ve been wanting to watch and own for a while. Squid Girl Part 2 was a must have to simply complete my shelf. My attempt to complete the many series I have already begun collecting, is no doubt an on going journey for my manga shelf as well. I get all the manga titles for cheap too, and I definitely have a good haul of shoujo literature to keep me going for a bit.

THE COSPLAY

As always, I end my convention post off with some of the cosplay I managed to capture. There was so much talent to see and honestly not enough time to get a picture of it all! Here are some of the pictures of the one’s I did manage to get. Thank you for reading, I’m excited to hear everyone else’s convention stories!