Deadpool [Movie Review]

I had to sit and think about this movie for a long time before I could decide on a rating.
It was not an easy decision. Keep in mind that I do not read 99% of modern American comics (the new Star Wars comics are the exception). I did not have the immediate reaction I had with Where to Invade Next.

Final Episode of Top Gear [TV Review]

As you may well know, not too long ago, the good folks at the BBC let Jeremy Clarkson go over a fracas he had with a producer. I'm not going to talk about that at all in this review. This review is for what I consider to be the Final Episode of Top Gear.

Infinite Stratos 2 [Anime Review]

I never wrote a review for the first season of Infinite Stratos.
I think I watched that well before I began my blog.
This poses a problem.

The World God Only Kows - Goddesses (Season 3) [Anime Review]

 The last time I wrote about this anime series was way back in 2013, in the early days of this blog. My first review of The World God Only Knows was my ninth review. There is no star rating, my format was different... oh, how the world changes. I do not even know if I reviewed the second season. It might be buried somewhere in a review the covers multiple series.

Disney Animation Trifecta (Wall-E, Tangled, Frozen) [Movie Review]

Okay so my title image is not working out quite right. I probably need to
resize my site. That however is an issue for another day.

I said, last week, during my review of Wreck-it Ralph, that I was going to be doing a large animated movie review. I could have simply said I'd be reviewing a block of Disney films. I probably have not seen an animated Disney movie in theaters since... Pocahontas? Huzzah Amazon.

Noucome [Anime Review]

My Mental Choices are Completely Interfering with My School Romantic Comedy

Welcome to a review for what may be the longest titled anime ever. I'm not certain, but the length of the title is absolutely insane. Here it is in Japanese, 俺の脳内選択肢が、学園ラブコメを全力で邪魔している,... which is just a mouthful.

To Love Ru Darkness [Anime Review]

I'm actually shocked that a factoid about this anime escaped me. The name of the series, To Love Ru is actually the English word Trouble. ToRabuRu, right up there in hiragana, is the Japanese phonetic (is that the right word in this situation?) pronunciation of Trouble.

Date A Live [Anime Review]

The first thing I thought of when I looked up this anime was this:
"what the heck does that title even mean?"

Haganai NEXT [Anime Review]

I don't think it was too long ago that I wrote up my first blog post covering Haganai. December of last year, actually. So I was thrilled to get my hands on Haganai NEXT so quickly.

So I Can't Play H [Anime Review]

Some anime have titles that are really inaccurate, Attack on Titan's English title is pretty... miserable actually. Shingeki no Kyojin (進撃の巨人), or Titan's Advance, is so much more accurate. So I Can't Play H (だから僕は、Hができない, Dakara Boku wa, Ecchi ga Dekinai) is yet another series suffering from totally inaccurate titles.

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. 

High School DxD [Anime Review]

Our main characters, sans the males, the reason you'd watch this...

This is going to be a rather short review. This is a pretty simple and straightforward anime to review. So without further ado, I present High School DxD. 

Horizon in the Middle of Nowhere - Seasons 1 & 2 [Anime Review]

There are some anime series that just beg you to watch them.

This is one of them. Everything I learned about the series before I sat down to watch made me wonder what the heck I was getting into.

A classroom filled with the student council. Leaders of a nation.

And now that I've seen both seasons, I'm still not sure I can tell you completely what I watched. This is a very Japanese anime, in that it appears to be an insane jumble of a hundred ideas all at once. Take a look at a Japanese magazine. That's what this anime is like. Lots and lots of information and action and dozens of characters thrown at you.  

Tori, our Hero?! Yes... yes that is our main protagonist.

Ok. I'm going to give a real brief overview of the world the story takes place in. Well, I'll try to be brief... that could be tough because the idea is rather bonkers.

In the future, humans try to flee a devastated Earth. But they can't travel through space for some reason... I do not remember the reason being explained, seriously. Plot contrivance!

Humanity returns to Earth, but the only land that remains inhabitable is Japan (sure, why not, I suppose if an American wrote this it would be set in California or New York). But humanity cannot fit on Japan so they create pocket dimensions to live in. Fine. That sounds perfectly reasonable. 

But that's not all. See, humanity still wants to escape into space. So in order to do so they begin to reenact history according to a Holy Testament. Now, this is just weird but it doesn't stop there. Eventually the nations of the pocket dimensions invade Japan and conquer it, dividing Japan into six Feudal nations and forcing the Japanese to flee. That was five hundred years before the main story starts.

It is 1648 of the Testament Era and Musashi is a city-ship that travels about their lost homeland of Japan. This is where our story begins. Rumors of a great war and of the oncoming apocalypse begin circulating through the Testament Union. When the Testament ends the Apocalypse will occur. There are forces both seeking to usher in the apocalypse and other forces opposing its arrival. 

I'm serious, he's our Protagonist.

 Into this chaos steps Tori Aoi, student council President of the Musashi Ariadust Academy, the ruling body of Musashi. He goal, well... to marry his dead friend. Oh, and maybe retake their homeland in the process... 

Shakespeare vs Toussaint Neshinbara, I think.

Was that confusing enough?

Tenzo, he's kinda the co-protagonist of season II.

That's not even much beyond the introduction of the very first episode. Not even half an episode which spends most of its time introducing you to a class full of characters and their abilities. But don't worry, there will be loads more characters introduced through the season and a whole bunch of English characters introduced in season II, like Shakespeare and Francis Drake.

Now don't get me wrong.

Horizon is a fun series. It's just a whole lot of series jammed into two 13 episode seasons. I re-watched the first season twice in a row just to try and comprehend it. I've seen this anime both subbed and dubbed (both were fine).

Also, he wins the series so far...

It is fantastically animated, you get sucked into the insanity, and once again I've stumbled upon an anime with an excellent music. Unlike the past few anime I've reviewed the intro music is not as excellent. In this series its the insert music, the music in the episodes. Specifically the song sung by a character called P-01s. The song is called 'Toorimase' or 'Let us pass.' A sad melancholic song, but very beautiful.

Excellent music, odd but fun story, and very good animation. I'm looking forward to a third season, but I doubt that either the light novels or the game will be localized this side of the Pacific.

I am confident in my rating for this series. It's biggest faults are too much information and too many characters. Everything else, from the comedy to the drama, from the animation to the music, is very good. It's a solid viewing experience.  It's definitely one I look forward to seeing more of, and there better be more...

4.0 Stars

And you can buy a Tenzo hat! With alternate expressions!

HOTD - High School of the Dead [Anime Review]

Time and Eternity [PS3]

Today I'm going to be reviewing a recent PS3 release; Time and Eternity.

The animation is VERY nice.

The game centers around a trio of main characters and begins on their wedding day. No, there is no mistake there. You see, and this is really not a spoiler, two the characters reside in the same body (it actually makes for one of the better mechanics of the game). Their names are Toki (時) and Towa (東和)... I'll give you until after the next line to guess what those names mean.

  Give up?

Clowns with sickles? At a wedding? How deviant!

I hope not.
They mean Time and Eternity.
Yes.

Ok, well lets get things rolling with a slightly better synopsis than that. I won't go too deep as usual, but give a brief overview of the introduction to the game, then we'll talk about mechanics.

You are the mascot character!

Time and Eternity begins the day before you and Toki (redhead above, in the foreground) are to get married. She is the princess of the kingdom and you are but a knight sworn to defend it. You've already got a house together and her three friends are over. Things happen, mostly they raz on you. 

Get used to this view.

The next day you are 'going to the chapel, and you are going to get married.' Or so you think. You and Toki give your vows, and just when you are about the kiss the bride a gang of assassins show up and cut you down. Of course you threw yourself infront of your bride, but still, you took a blade right in the chest.

Great. Game over man!

Or not.

3D landscapes + Cell-shaded Animation? Ok!

You see your bride can manipulate time. Or perhaps I should say your bride is Time (時 Toki). In a fit of panic over you bleeding out, she sends herself back 6  months. You go back too as your spirit is yanked along.

She goes back and ends up as her self, 6 months before you are going to get married. You... you get jammed into the body of her pet dragon, and you can't speak.

Let the hilarity begin.

It's a JRPG. There is a gallery. Unlock it!

 Time and Eternity is actually a pretty simple game when it comes down to it. I mean overly simple at times.

Skill Tree Example.

The game is super simple. You are given a quest, you complete it. Along the way there are monsters. Some quests are irritating, most are easy. Complete the quest get money and GP (gift points). These unlock new skills for Toki and Towa.

You will fight monsters along the way. These are either depressingly easy to defeat or unfathomably irritating. There is no middle ground. Every monster though is actually rather simple once you figure out its pattern. Every monster has a pattern; some complex, some super simple. Memorize, counter, kill. Kill the monsters, get XP, chronos (money), and a small amount of GP.

When you get enough XP you level up, and Toki becomes Towa. Level again and Towa becomes Toki. They each seem to have affinities for certain types of spells and certain styles of attack. Toki is the rifle user, Towa the knife. Both will use both as you fight, but the rifle seems to be used the most. However these weapons are nothing compared to spells. Spells deal far more damage far faster.

Thanks to the skill tree there is some customization that can occur, but not a lot. Customization allows you to max at 12 spells/abilities and a lot of passive skills. Many of the abilities are shared.

Now, just like Toki and Towa look the same (although for some reason switching souls swaps hair and eye color...) monsters look the same too. There might be two dozen monster templates in the game, tops.

Copypasta Monsters. The monster on the left is the same template as on the right.

So as you fight your way through the game you will run into Ninja Alpha, Ninja Beta, Ninja Delta... and so on. The same tactics employed vs Alpha will also kill Delta. Nothing new. Just stronger. Bloody Palette Swaps!

The odd battle style.

That's pretty much the mechanics of the game. No complex crating... oh, but there is a relationship bar. When Drake (you, the pet dragon) helps in battle by healing, and a few other things, Affection and love can increase. I honestly can't tell you what difference Love makes other than the kind of meal your current fiance will prepare for you. Why do I say that... well to see that you'll need to actually beat the game on your own. Essentially, you can see two of the three endings (not really much of a spoiler) from one play through no matter what the love level is. Just make sure to use multiple save slots (always a good idea in any RPG anyways). This helps fill out the gallery for all you Trophy seekers. 

I made sure to get every treasure chest and do every side quest my first time through, for the Trophies! Save the DLC ones. Not really sure if I want to drop more money on the game.

That being said, final review scores after the next image.

Fan Service, even in battle.

I'm going to do this somewhat differently than I reviewed Tomb Raider 2013. I'm not sure which method of review I like best yet. Give me some feedback.

Review Time:

Game Play: Simple combat, simple progression, no real challenge.

1.5 Stars

Graphics: Nice animation (with the oddity in conversations), nice 3D environs... don't quite mesh.

3 Stars

Story: Simple story. Lame jokes. And I met Ray Amuro, Lucy and Linus. Never thought I'd encounter a Gundam pilot with Peanuts characters. WHY?

2.5 Stars

Music/Sound: This is the winner. The music is really good. Nice wonderful songs. I know why it came with a CD. (So did Tales of Xilia... we'll see how that does.)

4.5 Stars

Overall: A bit of a let down. Will I do the second play through for the third ending? Probably. I'm that kinda person. Still there are some serious flaws that should have been addressed.

2.5 Stars

Mysterious Girlfriend X [Anime Review]

Double Anime Review - HMP & Maid-Sama

Review Time...

First up, Heaven's Memo Pad. The title is a rather off handed line from the head NEET detective explaining her business to her less than swift new assistant. Well, that's mean... her assistant is rather forcefully dragged into a world he does not exactly fit in (in the beginning) and only really bumbles at the start.

So, the show is a coming of age story for a Japanese high-school boy. How common - trope city in fact. It seems so common, so over used. But this is a nice turn on the old motif. He is forced into a world he did not expect, filled with odd characters - most of the NEETs. 

You can barely see it... but I envy that computer set up.

I expect I should explain NEET here... but why? Just click the link.

Various cases are solved, friendships formed, it really does seem average on the surface. But the series really wins at the end. At the end of Episode 9, the series does something that was completely unexpected. And it does it well... especially for what comes off as a coming of age story - one that is more character driven by the side characters than normal.

Good characters, very well animated, wonderful music (the opening few notes of the title music is beautiful), and a real solid twist. Worth watching.

Heaven's Memo Pad

3.5 Stars

Now on to...

Kaicho wa Maid-sama! 

This really starts off as your typical Romantic Comedy. Misaki Ayuzawa is Student Council President, very strict, good grades. The boys at school are irritating, rather boorish, and of course they rail against Ayzawa's efforts to improve the school (in an albeit strong handed way). But of course, she has a secret. She is dirt poor and has therefore taken a rather uncharacteristic, but high paying job, to help her mother and sister out. She works at a Maid Cafe.

Next time I'm in Japan I'm going to one...

Cafe Latte.

Anyways, as stories go, someone must discover her secret. One of the boys at school, Usui Takumi, constantly breaks the hearts of girls since he always flatly turns down their advances. (See where this is going?)

 Usui, and a group of three guys who later become known as the Three Idiots, discover Ayuzawa's secret. Comedy ensues. All four boys do work to keep her secret, but for their own selfish reasons. Thus more comedy ensues.

Sta-a-a-r-e [I so love these scenes.]

It is a very typical comedy. There is misunderstandings, innuendo, cross dressing (both sexes), accidental moments, and lots of dead-pan moments. 

It seems typical. It really is.

But I laughed, alot.

And more Sta-a-a-r-e... with takoyaki.

I was also frustrated a lot. This time, not because the main male character is ignorant of others feelings, but because in this series, the female lead refuses to accept that the male lead is actually serious. Now Usui does pull some nonsense stunts that make him seem very flippant, but he also has his serious moments. His obviously serious moments.

There are endearing qualities to the series, and some less than stellar ones too. The introduction of a character in the last four episodes... not thrilled. Too 'deus ex machina' for me... too forced.

"We're just filming a movie!"

Lots of humor. Lots of predictability.
 

Dogs. But seriously, do not just throw new characters at me.

It's good... but its not really new. I think the anime lacks what the manga gives - length. There is much more than could have been done to expand and work on certain themes (the male lead helping the family, etc). There was mystery about certain characters that was not cleared up. The manga, I can only guess, expands on these. Like many series that move from black and white pages to the full color screen, things are left behind. I do love the staring... that was a well used bit of humor.  


This could have been better. But it was still a good romantic comedy, formulaic at times, but those same formulas are used because they are truly solid. Enjoyable, but do not expect a ground breaking series like Steins;Gate (a real 5 Stars) here.

Kaicho wa Maid-sama!

2.5 Stars

The World Only God Knows [Anime Review]

Ah, yes the Sony PlayFation Portable.

So what does God Know? God knows one thing, and one thing only - Dating Sims.