Oxenfree [PC Game]

Olly Olly Oxenfree.
Olly Olly Oxenfree.
So the children sing and play games, and when the games ends they can all come out from hiding.

Again - on a boat.

The Vanishing of Ethan Carter redux [PC Game]

Click to expand these images so you can see how gorgeous they are.

Welcome to the fourth installment of 'Games I recently bought on a Steam Sale.'
I've reviewed a Surival game, an RTS game, and a ... I can't even define it FP-S game? What would you call The Stanley Parable? I want to say it is an exploration game, but that may not be right either because this review's game is a true exploration game.

Limbo [PS4 review]

I like to review the free games that one gets from PlayStation Plus (PS+).
It makes me feel the $50 a year is for more than just online gaming.

The Dunwish Horror and Others [Book Review]

That is the biggest image I can find for this book... sad.

Years ago, a good friend gave me a set of H.P. Lovecraft collections.
Due to circumstances, I only recently finished the first volume.

Darkest Dungeon [PC Game Review]

Well the Steam Summer Sale is over... but I did grab a few more things before it ended.
This is the review for one of them.
This is the review for Darkest Dungeon.

Bloodborne [PS4]

 I've got to learn to not buy into the hype around video games. I almost got sucked into buying The Order 1886, which admittedly I'm still interested in but I'll wait until I can get it for maybe $20. Instead I moved my preorder over to Bloodborne. 

Doctor Who Series 8 - Listen (Episode 4) [TV Review]

 Peter Capaldi's chalkboard handwriting is absolutely atrocious.
Yes, that is the first thing I'm going to say about Series 8, episode 4, Listen.

Dance in the Vampire Bund [Manga Review]

First, a short apology. There was no Monday update because I was feeling quite terrible. I'm better now, so here is the new review. But wait you say, you've reviewed Dance in the Vampire Bund before.
Yes, I reviewed the anime.

Dance in the Vampire Bund [Anime Review]

I watched this primarily because I had just recently picked up the manga in omnibus form, and found it to be amazing. Then I found the anime on sale, and this review is the inevitable result.

HOME [PC Game Review]

Steam had a Canada Day sale just a little while ago. I decided to buy one game. A game I had heard of through Extra Credits, I think.

Helix - Survivor Zero (ep.7) [TV Review]

Welcome back to the weekly review of SyFy's new thriller(?), Helix. I still hate the tag lines, but the show every now and then does show some glimmers of quality. It can come out and be interesting and intriguing. Thankfully this week was a good week for the show, it's back up from the week before.

Helix - Aniqatiga (Ep.6) [TV Review]

 Welcome back to the weekly Helix episode review. I'm doing something somewhat different this week. I'm typing it while watching the episode. Well, during commercial breaks.

Helix - Season Premiere [TV review]

I've yet to do this, write a review for the premiere of a television show.
When I first heard of Helix, connected to Ronald D. Moore (Battlestar Galactica), I was actually quite thrilled. He produced BSG, an excellent show, so I began with high hopes. Were they justified?

Sankarea, Undying Love [Anime Review]

Holidays are more or less over, and I'm back! 

Ok, on tap today is a review of Sankarea. 
I've put off the review of this anime for some time now. I've written other reviews, and kept pushing it back. Why? Because it is both good and it is dark. 

Ghosthouse (1988) [Rifftrax Review]

I love watching bad movies. They really make you appreciate the average mediocre drivel that comes out of Hollywood. Thankfully, there is a tried and true method to watching bad movies. It was created in 1988 by Joel Hodgeson and it is called Mystery Science Theater 3000, which celebrated it's 25th anniversary this past November. There are two modern sucessors to MST3K's legacy, Cinematic Titanic and Rifftrax.

Today's review is a Rifftrax riff of Ghosthouse (1988), a horror movie so bad that it's actually funny.

Attack on Titan [Anime Review]

Attack on Titan, or Shingeki no Kyojin (進撃の巨人 - literally 'Advancing Giants') does not sound like a very good anime at all. The first time I heard the name I had terrifying flashbacks to the regrettable animated film Titan A.E. which does not evoke a sense of quality drama. 

Ok. See now this already looks better than Titan A.E.

However a friend convinced me to try an episode.




Blown. Away. 

The introduction episode was more than I ever expected. I was hooked.

Killroy was here.

I have watched every episode currently subtitled, well all those I don't have to sign up to see. I wait weekly to see the next episode (the previous weeks episode).

It is a very engrossing story. You become entangled quickly in both the characters and the mysteries.


However, lets do the usual, a quick introduction to the show.

The mid episode bumpers have world details.

Humanity is a cowed race. It lives behind three massive concentric walls that are about ten meters thick and fifty meters tall. The outer most wall, Wall Maria, the middle wall, Wall Rose, and the smallest and most inner wall, Wall Sina, surround all of humanity that still lives.

Oh come on...

A salute. It's a bit odd, but makes sense.

Outside the wall are the Titans. Giants standing up to fifteen meters in height who prey upon humans. They are almost completely immune to human weapons, even cannon shells that rip open the Titan's skulls do little more than slow them. They regenerate at an amazing rate.

The year is 845 and humanity has cowered behind the great walls for nearly a millennium. Humanity has begun to grow complacent, secure in the safety of their walls.

Small bands of humans, the Survey Corps, explore beyond the wall. They are responsible for studying the Titans, however to the public they simply waste lives and taxes.

Young Eren Yeager (one of our protagonists) wants to become a member of the Survey Corps because they are the only humans to have left the wall in a very long time. This of course is against the wishes of his parents and adopted sister Mikasa Akerman (another protagonist).

It's Grizzly Adams the Titan!

One day they are hanging out with their friend Armin Arlert when their entire world changes. A new Titan, a Colossal Titan standing over fifty meters appears in a flash of flame and light. It kicks in one of the great gates on the Shinganshina district of the Wall Maria. The Shinganshina is a outer bulge on the wall, protecting the main gate of the Wall Maria.

Titan's flood in. People die. An armored Titan smashes through the gate inside Shinganshina breaching Wall Maria. The Wall is breached... Everything changes.

This show might kill more characters than GRRM.

Enough.

That's the quick summary of the events that occur in the first episode or two. I've left out a lot on purpose.

I have been utterly flabbergasted by this series. The twists and turns are fantastic, the characters very well crafted both visually and via personality.

Mikasa using 3D Maneuver gear.

You never know exactly where the story will go next, what turn it will take, but you know it will be good.

I see what you did there. I still don't care.

Visually, while sometimes the animation is a bit simplistic, it is absolutely gorgeous. I get swept up in the motion and the fluidity of scenes, pulled along with the characters on the 3D maneuver gear. And I even like the mid-episode bumpers (shown above). They remind me of the art style at the beginning of the Dragon Age games. It's not absolutely the same, but it has the same feel.

And the music.
My recent anime selections have all had such wonderful music. Something quite amazing as far as I'm concerned. Even Elfen Lied (which I panned) had quite good intro music. The same goes for Attack on Titan. The intro song is amazing... the ending songs, not so much. Attack on Titan leads with the best song forward one might say.

This series is absolutely outstanding. I highly recommend it. You can go watch it for free (or sign up and watch it in higher quality) at Crunchy Roll, right now. So... what are you waiting for? Oh yeah, my final review score:

5.0 Stars.

I'm going out on a very sturdy limb here. I'm honestly not sure I've watched another anime I have enjoyed as thoroughly. There have been some very very very close contenders. But this one is just astounding. I am eagerly awaiting the eventual Blu-ray. Is it perfect? No. Is it about as close as it gets, yeah. That's why it gets the full five. I cannot recommend this series enough. Now, stop reading, go watch it!

Dusk Maiden of Amnesia [Anime Review]

There are love stories.
There are love stories where the lovers stay together beyond the grave.
But there are very few love stories where the love is across the grave.
Dusk Maiden of Amnesia is one of these.

Darkness and Light.

The story begins at Seikyou Private Academy where Teiichi Niiya is a member of the schools Paranormal investigation club.


Seikyou Private Academy is an old school. But when the school grew and expanded, instead of knocking down the old buildings, they just added on. Now hallways turn in odd directions or simply end abruptly. Rooms have been lost. Such an old school has its fair share of ghost stories, so it makes sense for there to be a Paranormal Investigations club.


The benefit for the Paranormal Investigations club is that they have a ghost president. A literal ghost president.

The episode bumpers are quite cute.

Yuko Kanoe, the ghost president is actually the subject of many stories that circulate in the school, but in truth she is a normal (save for the being dead part) high school girl in love. Of course her past is a mystery and she cannot remember any of it. But that does not bother her.

It bother's Teiichi, and he seeks to find what has been lost for many many years.

How to greet in Japan (anime-style): Open palm, apply to breast.

That's the short and simple introduction to the story.

Dusk Maiden of Amnesia is a very good love story, mixed in with a touch of horror and a good dose of mystery, and just a touch of humor.

The story will span life and death. It will span decades and generations. It will delve into the light and the dark. It is a beautiful story. It is one of love, and one of loss. It is of seeking and finding and hiding.   

And the music. The music is excellent. I was shocked to see the Blu-ray came with 2 CD's but those are a welcome bonus. Listen.

I'm actually having trouble writing a long review because the story is so encompassing, and anything I might mention could be a spoiler. I really don't want to spoil anything. This is one worth seeing.

Dead or Alive, that's a look to speed up any man's heart.

So I'll have to make is short and sweet.


Tonikaku...


This is a really good love story. Is it as good Mysterious Girlfriend X? No... but really close. There are lots of stories were the love story is the side story, tacked on romances and the like. This is not one of those. The romance is central to the story, it is the real story.

4.0 Stars

A ghost dressed as a ghost, how surreal.

HOTD - High School of the Dead [Anime Review]

Elfen Lied - A Dusty Shelf Review [Anime Review]

I buy & watch a significant amount of anime. The result is that sometimes a series gets missed, overlooked, or lost in time, and ends up sitting on a shelf for months or even years before I watch it. But rest assured, I will watch it.

So I've decided to create a new review segment I'm going to call the Dusty Shelf Review. All of these reviews will be for series I've left too long.

Gore in the beginning. Gore at the end.

The first Dusty Shelf Review: Elfen Lied.

There are not a lot of anime that I actually regret buying. This is one. I had to wrack my brain to find an element I liked. It's not like the animation is bad - it's acceptable. Neither stellar nor terrible.

I will give a warning now, because I expect to reveal more spoilers in this review than in any other I have ever written.

 Be Warned: There Will Be Spoilers!

Innocence?

The story:

A new subspecies of humans has evolved(?) on earth. Their only motivation - the complete and total elimination of all humans. This is preferably done in the most bloody and gory ways possible. Ripping heads and limbs off is common place, and seems to be a theme in every episode.

Lucy, one of these new subspecies (Diclonius) escapes a locked chamber in a remote lab that is studying the Diclonius. She murders dozens (hundreds?) of guards, and escapes. However in the course of the escape a single bullet (fired from an A.T. rifle) actually hits her, causing her to develop a split personality. Now she is wandering around naked on a beach. She is found and taken in by a college student named Kouta.

Kouta has just returned to town after 8 years in order to attend college, and has his own place (which will promptly be filled with Lucy, his cousin Yuka, and a few others).

A strange boarding house... to say the least.

Now Lucy has the mind of a child. She is unable to speak or anything. Kouta names her Nyu, after the only sound she makes.

Meanwhile the lab dispatches an immoral mercenary to kill Lucy.

Nyu (Lucy) breaks a treasured memento of Kouta's (from his past, that he has blocked because it is tramatic) and he yells at her. She runs from the house to find a replacement.

A battle between Lucy and the mercenary occurs, he is badly maimed. This prompts the remote lab to dispatch a second Diclonius, Nana (#7), to deal with Lucy.

Messier than a Jackson Polluck painting.

I'm going to skip a few details. Why? Because I want to get to the real messed up bits.

Okay so we know that Lucy is a Diclonius whose sole goal is to wipe out the human species and replace it as the new dominant species.

Or is she? You see this is the assumption of the remote lab's scientists. Most of whom are only scientists in that they wear lab coats. They are super stereotypical mad scientists who seem to be suffering from Immortality Immorality.

However we learn that in fact Lucy is an abused orphan who watched a dog get murdered, literally beaten to death by children right in front of her. They quite literally Kick The Dog, and it is a sign of a series that is just giving up. In addition, Lucy is unable to trust others because one of the children, whom she thought she could trust, lied to her. This lie directly led to the puppies death. Of course, then she slaughters every child in revenge for the dog. After that she proceeds to slaughters whole families in order to squat in their houses... so she goes from revenge murder to complete psycho in about three heartbeats.

I have a rule of entertainment - Never Kill the Dog (goes double for cats). Killing the dog is a way to throw up your hands and just admit you are a bad movie/series/book/game, you get the picture.

Super Spoiler: Your Traumatic past is a plot contrivance!

Of course she is befriended by young Kouta. Emotional pablum occurs. They become friends, and a bit of puppy love occurs. An insane voice tells Lucy to kill everyone, and she promptly strangles Kouta (not to death, just close). But no worries, all is forgiven because, to put it bluntly, Kouta is far from the sharpest knife in the drawer. All seems fine, but then Kouta says that he is going to a festival with his cousin. He lies and says his cousin is a boy (Yuka is a girl, just FYI). Lucy catches them at the festival and, since she feels betrayed, murders everyone nearby.

It's one of the few semi-likable characters. She has character development!

So... Is she a traumatized psychopath? Is she a new species whose only drive is genocide? Don't worry, this will NEVER be answered.


But we will pile trauma on top of trauma. Seriously. He is an aside in the story: Young girl is raped by her step-father. Tells her mother. Her mother beats her for lying. She runs away. Look! Trauma.




But that's not all... seriously. This whole series is nothing more than gore and trauma, interspersed with a touch of nudity, and jealousy.  I actually had trouble watching it all the way through. I did, although my DVD set was so old that it didn't have the OVA and maybe that single episode answered all the questions. If so, Wow. Way to not end a series properly.

Klimt's "The Kiss" and a version with Lucy.

Okay. I never leave a review with only the bad.

There are some good things.

For one, the introduction's artwork is an excellent selection of the works of Gustav Klimt, modified with the shows characters. This very beautiful... and really has no bearing on any other part of the anime.

The second good thing is the Intro music. The song is called Lilium, and I've linked it to the intro video and the lyrics. The lyrics are based around a Gregorian chant called, "Ave Mundi Spes Maria." Music and a music box play an important role in the series. Which is too bad... you see in my research for the series (after the watching), there is a character focused around singing called Nozomi who only appears in the manga. even worse, she teaches Lucy the song called 'Elfen Lied' - yes the shows freakin' title! They cut this whole bit from the anime... why?

I think, perhaps, this is an anime that suffers very badly by becoming an anime. There might have been a strong story in the manga. There might not have been quite so much trauma for the sake of trauma. Characters might have grown, plots might have developed, and the gaping maw of a plot hole (Lucy's drive to destroy humanity - is it genetics or childhood trauma?) might have been closed.

Sadly, because this is an anime, I can only review the anime...

1.5 Stars

I cannot, in good taste, recommend this series...

If you must buy it, get it on BD. You'll get the OVA at least.